Rivin woke again with a start; he instinctively tried to move his arms, and found that, miraculously enough, he was no longer restrained. His eyes whipped around the clearing; one of the Elves, the male, was standing fairly close and was undoubtedly the one who had untied him. Instinctively, he rolled over several times, creating some room between them, before springing up to his feet.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Why'd they cut my ropes? Are they stupid?</span>he thought as he stared around at them distrustfully. He knew better than to assume they had done it as an act of kindness. Perhaps they planned to kill him, and they simply didn't have the stomach to slay an elf while he was still tied up.<br/><br/>He shifted his attention from the trio of Elves to the Dwarf, who, like the others, was watching him warily. While the Elves looked dangerous to an extent (particularly the Si'akt, who had a murderous gleam in her eye), it was the Dwarf that he feared above the rest. His magic would be next to useless against him.<br/><br/>Once, when he was eight years old, a Dwarf working in the mines near his home had plunged into a pool of stagnant water and had emerged, sputtering and shivering, calling for the Dark Elf child they had all grown accustomed to having around. Rivin had stared at him, lost for words, as he demanded the young Elf throw<span style="font-style: italic">several</span>fireballs at him. By the third one he was dry, and the fourth nearly singed the end of his beard- but aside from that the man was unharmed.<br/><br/>Although back then Rivin was nowhere near as magically powerful as he became later on (by the time he was 15 he could open his hands and form ten miniature fireballs, one at the end of each individual finger), the experience had taught him something very valuable.<span style="color: #00FF00">"If you ever need to kill a Dwarf with magic," </span>the miner had told him as he hefted his pickaxe to resume his work,<span style="color: #00FF00">"you'd better make sure you have room to run." </span><br/><br/><br/>Rivin could see that this particular Dwarf had an enormous battle-axe on his person, and although he thankfully hadn't drawn it, Rivin knew that this was most certainly a case of not having enough room to run. Between the Dwarf, three elves and very little open space around them, it was no wonder they'd felt safe untying him. Against these odds he stood no chance.<br/><br/>Suddenly remembering something, he stared around, seeking out the last member of the group. When he was lying on the ground, he had distinctly heard a fifth person, moving around outside the clearing.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Unless… of course, it's a trap! The last member of the party is probably up in a tree, an arrow already aimed at my neck</span>, he thought as he stared up, alarmed, his eyes searching the branches overhead.<span style="color: #00FF00">"Where is he? I know I heard someone else. Over there,"</span>he gestured, pointing off to where he'd heard the rustling and the snapping of a dry twig.<span style="color: #00FF00">"What are you trying to pul-"</span><br/><br/>He broke off, glimpsing something in the Elf man's grasp. It was his flask of kavodrum. Instantly, all other thoughts and considerations were swept aside.<br/><br/><span style="color: #00FF00">"Gah! That's mine!"</span>he said with a snarl, as if his firstborn child was being abducted in front of his very eyes.<span style="color: #00FF00">"If you're going to kill me so be it, but I'll be <span style="font-style: italic">damned</span> if I'm going to stand here and watch you drink my kavodrum."</span><br/><br/>A small fireball the size of an orange formed in the palm of his left hand, without his even realizing it- they sometimes formed when he was agitated, but they never launched themselves without his intent behind them. He glanced down at it, and it shrunk down to the size of a marble. He returned his stare to the Elf.<br/><br/><span style="color: #00FF00">"I swear, if there's even a sip missing…"</span>he said as the ball of fire grew to the size of an apple, then wavered, shifting down to marble size once more.