The fire crackled in the midst of the tall trees, insects creaked and chirped, animals moved in the underbrush. The forest was pleasantly noisy.  The once-ruler of the Desert Kingdom might be a stranger to this land, but he knew that a quiet forest was a sign of trouble.  He stirred the kindling to stoke the flames, watched the red embers float up like fireflies, and sighed.
        “Rufus, this is seriously sick and wrong.”
        To his side, curled up at the edge of the firelight, his desert steed yawned and shifted its bulk.
        “We shouldn’t be sitting here waiting for Wade and Monique like this!  There’s a war brewing and we’re the only ones who can stop it!  If the Dragons assault the Angels, it’ll mean carnage!  Thousands could get killed!  Maybe even K...”
        He sputtered to a halt.  As he had so often lately, he hefted the broken remnant of his once-feared sword and gazed at its shattered blade.
        It seemed so long ago, but really it had been only a matter of weeks. Ron had been the ruler of the Desert Kingdom, a land since ancient times protected by a guardian Angel.  For as long as he could remember, the Angel had kept him and his lands safe.  The sight of her ivory wings and copper hair has always filled him with a sense of peace and perhaps... something more.  Then, catastrophe.  The goblins had always been a nuisance to the kingdom and their assaults were usually turned aside with ease, but on this day they came in numbers unknown.  The Angel could not be everywhere and the soldiers fought valiantly to defend the walls.    Then, word came from far within the Keep, a small force of goblins had tunneled into the center of the castle and was making for the Angel’s Sanctuary.  What’s more, it was reported that the Goblin Queen herself was with them!  Ron had realized immediately that the assault was a diversion and whatever the Queen was up to was far more dangerous.  He gathered as many as the defenses could spare and charged for the Keep.  The invading goblins fought and bit to hold them back and, in the end, only Ron himself reached the Sanctuary.  There he saw the Queen and the last two of her guards at the Altar of the Angel.  The Queen had some gem raised above her head and was chanting an ancient rite.  Ron dashed for the altar, swinging his heavy blade.  The guard goblins went down with a shriek and he raised his blade over he head, preparing to strike down the evil queen.  Suddenly a great force stuck him from behind, tearing into him and throwing him across the room.  The breath was knocked out of him when he crashed into the wall.  As he struggled to rise, the first thing he saw was the broken pieces of his sword, lying strewn on the floor before him.  Then as he forced his eyes further upward, his mind failed to accept what he saw.  The Angel, the guardian of his kingdom, floated in the air, her radiant aura streaming out, but her eyes were blank, unseeing mirrors of the gem the Queen now wore around her neck as she laughed mockingly.  Ron would have perished there, but his troops had come charging into the room along with his desert-rat.  As Rufus gently picked him up and tossed him across his saddle, the soldiers tried to attack the Goblin Queen.  Ron’s last sight before he lost consciousness was the Angel of his kingdom, now a mindless puppet of evil, striking down his own forces.
        “We’ve got to save her, buddy.”
        “Save who, Warrior of the Desert?”
        Ron yelped and leapt to his feet.  He swung his sword towards the voice and peered into the darkness.  His rodent-mount raised its head curiously, but it sensed no danger.
        As Ron stared, it seemed a shadow detached itself from the trees and took the form of a young woman, cloaked in dark armor, her face half-hidden by a bandage-mask.
        “My apologies if I startled you, Warrior of the Desert.”
        “Oh, no.. no... not really.” Ron said, trying to maintain his cool. “Yori, of the Shadow Clan, right? I always react this way when I meet someone who stabbed me through the chest!”
        The Shadow-Walker tilted her head, regarding him curiously.  “Had that been my intention in this encounter, I would not have announced myself so informally.”
        “Good.  Good,” Ron nodded.  “So where are you planning to stab me?”
        The ninja’s eyes crinkled in mirth.  “You are very amusing  for a great warrior.  I come in peace.  Your colleagues, the Wyrm Rider and Artifact Mage, sent word that I could find you here.”
        “Ah,” Ron said, still trying to come to grips with current events.
        Last he had seen Yori, she had been plunging two blades through his chest.  Thanks to Wade’s Golden Myrs he had survived, but a miscast spell had knocked him out immediately afterwards.  When he had awoken he was draped unceremoniously over Rufus’s back and Monique told him they had left the ninja tied to a tree.  Why they were telling this assassin where to find him was still a bit beyond him.
        As he wrestled with this new information, Yori had slipped into the camp and came up on Rufus, still lounging comfortably on the ground.  “The situation with my clan has changed,” she said stroking the hairless rodent-of-unusual-size. “The Assassins’ Guild has joined forces with the Dragons.  The Masters of the Shadow Walkers no longer feel that neutrality in the upcoming struggle is truly possible.  As such, the contract our clan had with the Goblin Queen for your life has been cancelled.”
        Ron slid his shard-sword back into its sheath.  Rufus was happy to have this ninja stroke him, and Ron had learned to trust his riding-rat’s instincts.
        “So... you’re here to tell us the Shadow Clan is on our side?”
        “No, Warrior of the Desert.  The Shadow Clan must still look out for it’s own interests in this matter.  But the Assassin’s Guild is a great rival of our clan.  If they go to war against the Goblins, any pact we make with the Queen will be used as a reason to attack us as well.  The Shadow Clan must do what it does best: disappear.”
        Ron plopped himself down and tossed another stick on the fire.  “Ok.. I guess that makes sense.  Kinda.  So you tracked down my friends, found out where I was, and came all the way out here... just to tell me you were going to ‘disappear?’”
        The black-armored girl seemed to hesitate for a moment.  “I-it was a matter of honor.  I did not wish you to think we had simply abandoned you for no reason.”
        “Actually, since I thought you were out to kill me, ‘abandonment’ would have sounded pretty good!”
        After a second’s pause, she came over and knelt beside Ron.  She began, “Warrior of the Desert...”
        “Yeah, you know the ‘Warrior of the Desert’ thing is getting kinda old.  My name’s Ron.  Are you always this formal with people you’ve disemboweled?”
        Yori laughed and lowered her head.  “Very well... Ron-san.”
        Ron smiled.  “Good!  Now, why are you here exactly?”
        Yori reached up and pulled the mask from her face.  Even in the dim light of the fire, the sight caused Ron’s heart to skip a beat.  ‘Burning sands!’ he thought. ‘She’s beautiful!’
        They sat in the flickering light, their faces inches apart.  Ron could see she was building herself up to say something.  He found himself lost in her eyes.  He barely heard Rufus sniffing the air and then growl softly in the suddenly silent forest.
        Silent..?!
        “YORI, GET DOWN!”  he yelled, throwing himself on top of her as an arrow passed through the space his head had been.  Suddenly the darkness was alive with small, moving figures: goblins!  The ugly homunculi streamed from the underbrush as the heroes leapt to their feet.  Ron’s blade, though broken, could still cleave a mighty swath through their ranks.  Rufus leapt and charged through them, his heavy feel trampling and his great teeth chopping.  Yori was unstoppable and  moved through them like a ghost.
        When the battle quieted, Ron surveys the site.  Bodies of goblins lay everywhere, Rufus licked at a small wound where a spear had grazed his shoulder, and Yori was gathering up a few of her throwing daggers that were protruding from the enemy.
        “So,” Ron said casually, “You were about to tell me why you were here?”
        Yori looked at him, then smiled and started to undulate towards him, her eyes never leaving his.  He felt his throat go dry as she stood just before him and placed her left hand behind his neck, pulling herself closer, and then...
        He stiffened as his periphrial vision caught a glint of steel.  She had a knife in her right hand!  It was drawn back, ready to strike!  He stiffened, moved to push her away, too late as the blade flashed forward and through  his chest.
        ...actually through his chest.  The shadow-blade phased harmlessly through him, skewering the goblin that had been sneaking up behind him.  It squealed and died.
        Yori stepped back, sheathing her dagger.  “I have come to fight at your side, Ron-san, if you will have me.”
        Ron gaped.  A hundred questions ran though his mind, but he realized that, for now, none of the answers would make a difference to his decision.
        “Thank you, Yori,” he said. “It would be my honor.”
        It was that moment, he later realized, that his entire reason for fighting changed.