That evening Akuchi and Aquillia headed back to his barracks. It was alive with activity, several people filling the room, including Mayu and Nurarfed. The soldiers in the barracks were in various states of dress—some undressed, others wearing some form of nightgowns. In the middle of the room sat Mayu. The room buzzed with activity. People were talking in small groups and others were sitting on their bed listening to the conversations.

When Akuchi walked in with Aquillia in tow, he walked up to his bed and noticed an adjacent empty bed.

“You can put your things in here.” Akuchi pointed to the empty trunk.

“Thanks.” Aquillia smiled and placed her weapon into the trunk.

Akuchi placed his falchion into his trunk and then divested himself of his trousers. Then he walked over to where Mayu stood. There are so many people here; I hope I don’t embarrass myself.

Aquillia removed her skirt and slipped it into her trunk and followed Akuchi.

As Akuchi approached, Mayu turned and greeted him. “Akuchi, have you met everyone in the barracks?”

“No,” replied Akuchi. “I have been kept very busy since I arrived.”

“This is Lyuba Timko, and Borka Janda.” Mayu indicated to the two women standing with her.

“Nice to meet you,” Akuchi greeted, as Aquillia wandered over. “This is Aquillia Fidelis.”

Lyuba was muscularly plump; her dark black hair was tied by a band at her back. While larger than normal, her body didn’t have any fat on it. Instead, her body rippled with muscle.

Borka was the opposite of plump to the point of being gaunt. Every bone was visible and her hair was cut close around her ears. She looked fit but her muscles were thin on her frame and she had no fat on her body.

“Akuchi, Aquillia, Lyuba, Borka, and Nurarfed, I want you to join me on a scouting mission,” Mayu explained.

“Sweet, it has been a while since I have left the fort,” Lyuba exulted.

“Is it wise to take fresh recruits on a scouting mission?” Akuchi asked.

“Nurarfed, is more skilled at fighting than me,” explained Mayu, “and Aquillia being an elf is most likely a better fighter than you.”

“He actually held himself up better than I expected,” commented Aquillia.

Lyuba, Borka, and Mayu all chuckled at this as Akuchi stared at Aquillia with a shocked expression on his face.

The conversation moved on. Akuchi didn’t hear much as he processed this news. He had come freshly minted from the army but Aquillia was very experienced. She did mention that she was three hundred years old. A wave of embarrassment swept over him as he considered the sex he had had with Aquillia not a couple of hours ago. If she was that old surely, she had made love before…

“I think I will go to sleep now,” Akuchi excused himself. A round of good nights was returned to him from the people standing in the circle. He walked over to his bunk and climbed inside, and he watched the circle of people that he had just left. They all seem so confident, so comfortable. Even Aquillia seems so at ease in the nude.

As the sun set and the room grew darker, other soldiers started to go to bed and the noise level dropped.

Aquillia was the last to go to sleep. The dwarf, Nurarfed had not propositioned her tonight which had been a nice change. Aquillia folded her legs and sat cross-legged on the bed, and watched the soldiers fall asleep. She contemplated Nurarfed and Akuchi. They were so different; it was hard to work out which she liked. Nurarfed was long-lived like she was; he was also very crude—he hadn’t taken his eyes off her while talking to her in the group. Admittedly he did have an exciting aura of desire pulsating around him, which drew her to him. Akuchi was short-lived but his body was so well sculpted that she went weak at the knees around him. After the revelation that she was a better fighter he hadn’t quite recovered; all being said Akuchi was the gentler soul.

She reached across the space between her bed and his and gently stroked his face. His skin was rough under her delicate touch. The sensation sent ripples of anticipation down her arm. Akuchi’s eyes opened at the touch and saw Aquillia pull her hand away from his face.

“Do you want something?” Akuchi whispered.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to wake you,” Aquillia whispered back.

“It’s okay,” he murmured. “Are you really over three hundred years old?”

“Yes. My people didn’t consider me an adult until I was three hundred. My people live a lot longer than yours do. Until I return I am not considered of age.”

“Do you age slowly or at the same speed we do?” Akuchi asked, propping himself up on his elbow.

“I am not sure what you mean.” Aquillia’s brow furrowed.

“Well for us, we can have sex at about fifteen years old,” Akuchi explained.

“Oh,” said Aquillia. “In that respect, we are much the same.”

“So, is your skin really green?”

“While at home before our three hundredth birthday our skin is blue. When we leave, it is painted green and when we return it is washed off altogether,” she explained. “The paint doesn’t come off with water, but with special tree sap. Elves with colored skin are considered unattractive by other elves, and since we don’t leave until we are three hundred, we don’t encounter anyone willing to make love to us until then.”

“Wow,” exclaimed Akuchi. “That sounds elaborate.”

“It is. Every so often a couple of young elves will overcome the restrictions and make love.”

“What happens to them?” Akuchi asked.

“They are cast out of the community and never heard from again,” Aquillia answered eyes downcast.

“Did you know someone that was cast out?”

“Yes,” Aquillia said. Moisture gathered at the edge of her eyes. “My big brother and his mate. They were cast out three years ago. I hope to find them one day.”

“Have you learned anything?”

Aquillia shook her head and climbed under the sheets. She and faced away from Akuchi before falling asleep.

Akuchi looked at the green-skinned elf in front of him and whispered, “I hope you find them.” He then lay back down and closed his eyes.

“I hope so too,” murmured Aquillia into the darkness.

Akuchi, Mayu, Aquillia, Nurarfed, Lyuba, and Borka gathered in the muster yard at dawn. They mounted up and Mayu took the lead on her horse. The gates opened and they left the fort. As they crossed the grasslands, Mayu led with Nurarfed half a length behind her. In the middle, Lyuba and Borka rode side by side, and Aquillia and Akuchi took the rear. The day waxed and waned without much talk.

At nightfall, they came upon a small gathering of trolls. Four trolls marched two by two, each with long pikes and scimitars in hand. Mayu called a halt to the horses and Akuchi came up beside her.

“Dismount,” Mayu called out.

They all dismounted, holding the horses' reins.

“Akuchi, tend to the horses,” Mayu barked.

The order surprised Akuchi as he took the reins from the other members of the scout force. He took out a stake from a saddlebag and rammed it into the ground. He then tied three horses to the stake. Aquillia did the same with the other three horses. Once completed, they approached the remaining soldiers as Mayu gave orders.

“Lyuba and Borka will flank the trolls.”

Aquillia and Akuchi drew their swords as the others did. Mayu and Nurarfed moved off in opposite directions keeping low under the grass line.

“Lyuba, what is the plan?” Aquillia asked.

“We attack now,” answered Borka, as they both charged at the four trolls.

Aquillia and Akuchi followed them. The trolls formed a line and lowered their spears as Lyuba and Borka came crashing out of the grass and onto the clear ground that made up the trolls' camp.

Lyuba and Borka stopped outside of the spears’ reach as Akuchi and Aquillia burst out of the grass. Aquillia side-stepped the spear pointing at her and twirled her blade past it, taking the spearhead off in one clean movement. Akuchi followed her lead and cut off the spearhead on the other side. Aquillia stepped forward and charged up to the troll at the far end of the line. The troll dropped his broken spear shaft and drew his sword. He raised it to block Aquillia’s downward stroke. Akuchi also charged the troll on the opposite side. The troll dropped his spear shaft, drew, and raised his sword to block as Akuchi brought down his falchion. Mayu and Nurarfed charged out of the grass and thrust with their swords, impaling the two trolls blocking Akuchi and Aquillia. As the bodies crumpled to the ground, Akuchi and Aquillia turned and skewered the last two trolls.

With the trolls dead Mayu glared at Akuchi. “Why did you do that? That wasn’t part of the plan”

“Maybe if you informed us of the plan,” Aquillia responded in a smooth calm voice, “we would have known what to do.”

“I didn’t tell you the plan because I wanted you to stay by the horses!” yelled Mayu.

A loud horn echoed across the plain. Mayu turned to face the source of the noise and her face went pale.

“Get back to the horses,” she ordered as she started running through the grass.

They all raced after her and untied the horses from the stake in the ground and mounted up, before bolting away from the second horn bellowed.

A loud cry echoed, and the sound of many running feet caused the ground to rumble. The sound increased as several drums sounded a driving pace following them. On the back of his horse, Akuchi looked over his shoulder and spied a large host of trolls running after them.

As they raced back to the fort at full gallop, the trolls kept pace with them, growling and snarling at their heels through the chase.

The fort came into view, the gates swung open and they raced through, once they were all through, Mayu called, “Shut the gates. The trolls are upon us.”

The soldiers at the gate reversed the crank and with a small sound of grinding closed the gates. The trolls came up to the gate and beat on the gates in frustration. A soldier standing in the gatehouse opened a hatch in the floor and dropped a large rock on the trolls' heads killing a couple of them before the rest pulled back to a safe distance.

Oghenekaro emerged from his command tent and took Mayu’s reins. “What happened Sergeant?”

“We encountered a small squad of trolls,” Mayu informed as she dismounted.

“They were, pike trolls,” Aquillia said as she dismounted.

“I instructed Lyuba and Borka to run at the trolls and stop short, creating a distraction,” continued Mayu, “but Akuchi and Aquillia attacked with them and destroyed the plan.”

“We killed the trolls, how is that a failure?” Akuchi asked.

“We needed one alive,” Mayu growled, turning on Akuchi. She rested gloved hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

“Which we would have known if you had informed us of the plan,” Aquillia defended.

“Enough,” Oghenekaro commanded, “Mayu, come with me. The rest of you stable the horses then sentry duty on the wall.”

Mayu turned and left with Oghenekaro. The rest of the team led their horses into the stables.

“What did you do to piss her off?” Nurarfed questioned, walking alongside Akuchi and Aquillia.

“Did she tell you about wanting to capture a troll for interrogation?” asked Aquillia.

“No, she didn’t.” They walked over to the stables in quiet, Akuchi’s mind a whirl. What have I done to incur Mayu’s wrath? She has barely spoken to me in a month and now she is mad as a summer storm. She didn’t tell anyone about the plan to capture a troll. Though I am not sure it would have been successful without us all knowing about it.