"It seems," Green Lucifer said in a tone that echoed in the open space of the warehouse, "that Orion has a problem with the way that I choose to run things around here. Is that right, Orion?"

All eyes in the room went to where Orion and Kellan stood at the top of the stairs, and Kellan was suddenly aware of how quiet it had gotten. She held her breath, heart pounding, as the Ancients waited for Orion's response. She realized that Green Lucifer was giving Orion one more chance to change his mind, to admit his mistake and smooth things over. He looked across at Green Lucifer, not taking his eyes off the gang leader for a moment.

"That's right," he replied clearly. "I say you're selling us out."

Suddenly, the elves on the floor below moved as one, parting like leaves in the wind. Green Lucifer descended to the bottom of the staircase and moved out into the circle formed by the members of the gang-

"Stay on the stairs," Orion said to Kellan.

"Orion:," she began.

"Stay on the stairs," he repeated, then he turned and walked slowly down the stairs. Kellan followed close behind, staying on the next to the last step as Orion stepped down and walked into the circle.

One of the Ancients held out a scabbarded sword to Green Lucifer. He grasped the hilt without taking his eyes off Orion and drew the blade from its sheath with a slither of steel on steel. The razor-sharp edge gleamed in the dim light of the room. Orion reached over his shoulder and slowly drew his own sword. Both men raised their blades in a ceremonial salute.

"Li-ha?" Green Lucifer asked Orion with a curl of his lip and the raise of a brow.

"Sidle," he replied, raising his sword in answer.

A moment of stillness hung over the room, and Kellan held her breath. An elven woman stood at the edge of the circle and raised a hand.

"Akan!" she said, her hand dropping.

There was a whoosh as Orion swept forward with his blade. Steel rang on steel as Green Lucifer blocked: high, low, then to the side. Then the gang leader came in at Orion and his blade flashed, blocking the incoming thrusts: one, two. They spun apart like dancers, facing each other.

They circled around each other warily, the first strikes just probing, testing the other's defenses. Orion lunged forward again, and Green Lucifer blocked. A sweep of his blade pushed Orion's aside, and he slashed. Orion ducked and his opponent's blade cut only empty air. He spun as he came back up and thrust, but Green Lucifer's blade whipped up to block again.

They circled. This time, Orion paused, letting Green Lucifer come at him. He ducked low to avoid a high swing, then leapt up and over, his opponent's blade passing beneath him. Kellan watched as Orion somersaulted over Green Lucifer's head to land on his feet right behind him. But the gang leader spun in time to block Orion's strike, their two blades momentarily locked together. Then Lucifer rolled back, dropping to the floor and planting a foot in Orion's stomach. With surprising strength, he heaved the other elf right over him, but Orion tucked into a roll and landed on his feet a short distance away as Green Lucifer came back up onto his feet to meet Orion's next lunge.

They circled and stalked in a rhythm punctuated by sudden flurries of attacks and blocks; the ringing of the swords, the slap of booted feet and the controlled, heavy breathing of the duelists the only sounds in the cavernous warehouse. Kellan's knuckles were white on the metal railing of the stairs as she watched. It was clear the two men were both masterful fighters, but Orion's posture and manner were deadly serious and Green Lucifer's face never lost its wicked, mocking expression.

It's like he's just playing with him. Green Lucifer took every opportunity to mock his foe with each move, every flourish of his blade, every expression, even in the way he stood. It was taking its toll on Orion. The younger elf came in each time with an attack more fierce and furious than the last, only to be repelled.

"Shata, goronagit!" Green Lucifer sneered, and Orion rushed at his opponent with a loud battle cry.

Both their blades were blurs of silver as Orion struck and Green Lucifer blocked, over and over, in the rhythm of the deadly dance.

Then the Ancients gang leader feinted. Orion dropped his guard for a moment. A swing came in too high and Green Lucifer's blade caught his. There was a twist, a flash of metal, and Orion's sword clattered onto the concrete floor a short distance away. Kellan's breath caught in her throat.

Green Lucifer's blade flashed and Orion cried out, dropping to one knee on the floor, a hand clutched to his face. Kellan could see blood dripping between Orion's fingers, gleaming wetly on the tip of Lucifer's sword.

Kellan didn't even think as she rushed into the circle, to where Orion knelt. Instead of striking a killing blow, Green Lucifer put up his sword, raising the blade before his face for a moment in salute, then swept it to point down and outward.

"Carronasto," he said quietly.

Kellan knelt beside Orion, but he put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her away, rising slowly to his feet, his right hand still clutched to the side of his face. He stood and faced Green Lucifer in the middle of the circle.

"Goronagee irenis," the Ancients' leader said flatly. As one, the assembled gang members standing in the circle turned to face away from where Orion stood.

Slowly, Orion walked over to where his sword lay. He picked it up with a bloody hand and slid it back into its sheath. Kellan saw now that Lucifer's sword had cut a bleeding gash along Orion's cheek; blood already staining his T-shirt red on one side.

Without another word, Orion turned and walked away from Green Lucifer, out of the circle of the gang members. Kellan glanced back at where the Ancients' leader stood, watching Orion go, with no trace of emotion on his face. The other elves were the same: like cold, beautiful statues. Kellan followed as Orion walked over to his Yamaha Rapier, mounted up and started the engine. With only a moment's hesitation, she climbed on behind him. Orion made no move to stop her.

He revved the engine and two of the gang members moved to open the door of the old warehouse. When it was open, Orion put the bike into gear and roared out into the night. Kellan glanced back at the tall figure of Green Lucifer standing framed in the doorway as it closed behind them, bloody sword still in his hand. She saw the elven gang leader's face twist into a bitter, mocking smile as they rode off.

Orion barely reacted as the street doc ran the surgical stapler along the gash on his cheek. Of course, she'd stuck a patch on the side of his neck providing enough beta-endorphin that Orion probably wouldn't have flinched at much of anything. He'd resisted the offer of anesthetic at first, but Dr. Fait insisted. "Or else I can't be responsible if I happen to stitch your mouth closed," she said. Orion didn't argue with her any further.

The elderly woman apparently knew Orion quite well and greeted him by name when he and Kellan went to her makeshift office in the basement of a building in Puyallup so Orion could get patched up. The street doc saw Orion immediately, ahead of two other patients. Fortunately, they didn't complain.

Dr. Fait must have been in her sixties, but her gnarled hands were still deft, and her touch steady. She carefully closed up the cut on Orion's face, squinting at her work as she went.

"You're damn lucky," she said to Orion as she worked. "It's a clean cut and you got to me right away. If you manage to keep out of trouble for a little while, it shouldn't even leave much of a scar."

"Oh, it'll scar," Orion muttered. His mood had been grim since they left the Ancients' headquarters. He'd barely said two words to Kellan the whole time. Under the effects of the anesthetic, he was becoming a bit more talkative, though apparently no less depressed.