a little history for the halfling.

Alec had been given bar duty. It always amused him when that happened. Here he was, no where near legal -in the human lands- and he was serving up all sorts of intoxicating beverages. Still, he liked being up in front, watching all the customers. They were so eclectic. Humans and fae alike all mingling in this border village. Most of all, he liked watching one of the barmaids. His mother refused to let anyone call them wenches.

She had large hazel eyes and long caramel colored hair that she kept in a braid. It swung back and forth as she walked. She wasn't as busty or as tall as the other maids, but still she had something about her, a certain charismatic charm. Especially when she flashed a smile at him.

They were going to get married. In three months, two weeks, and five days. Yes, he did count the days. He didn't think it was silly at all. He just couldn't wait. The first day of summer seemed achingly far away. Years away.

Still, they were together, and she smiled at him whenever they caught each other's eyes. The others who worked at the Inn teased him constantly. Calling him a love sick puppy. And they were right.

A yell startled him from his thoughts and he looked up to see one of the regulars towering over her. She didn't seem afraid at all, glaring back at him.

"I said come here," the man growled. A large burly man who looked almost like an ogre, he did manual labor in the village. Alec couldn't remember his name. Perhaps he never knew it. All he did know was that he was threatening his girl.

"And I said no," she retorted. "Now sit back down or leave."

Alec moved out from behind the bar, ready to throw the man out. At eighteen the man was easily twice his age and three times his weight, but he had other ways of dealing with him besides complete brute force. Most of the regulars knew enough to respect the innkeeper's son.

But the man was clearly overly drunk. "We're cutting you off," Alec said as he came up to the man. "Now do as the lady says or else I'm going to have to toss you out."

The man shifted his attention to him. "Is that so, boy?" He could see that the man had entered that drunken stage of clear, but irrational thought. He knew he had to get the man out. And fast.

"Yeah, that's so."

With a massive paw of his hand, the man swiped the girl away from him, sending her tumbling down to the floor. He barely had time to see that before the man made a grab for him. Dodging out of the way, Alec gathered up his power and glowered at him.

"Last chance. Leave or get tossed out."

"Not a chance in hell, boy." The man snorted like a bull and charged Alec.

Without even blinking, Alec sent a blast of fire and wind at the man, blowing him through the wall of the tavern. Panting a bit, Alec wobbled, that was a bit much for him. He managed to sit down on a chair, before looking around. He saw a couple of the other barmaids huddled around his girl.

One of them turned to look at him, her face pale and drawn. "I'm ... Alec... she's dead."