"Wil! Wil, please wake up!"

The young man awoke to the sound of Eretria's frantic voice.

For a moment, he was disoriented—but as his eyes slowly opened to see the dark outline of his house and yard, the recent memories ran through him like a jolt.

With a surge of energy that caught his girlfriend off guard, Wil quickly sat upright. A quick survey of his surroundings told him that the fury had been successfully vanquished, and the dull throbs of pain emanating from his hand and ears seemed to confirm his hazy recollections.

The attack.

The elf stones.

His dream…

All of that had been real, and Wil felt a wave of nausea swirling in his stomach as he tried to come to terms with what that meant. Knowing exactly what he was about to find, he raised his left hand to his ear and traced the long, smooth edges of the elven point.

Jerle Shannara. His parents. That had been more than just a regular dream, and everything they had said about the consequences of his actions had come to pass.

Wil Ohmsford was an elf now.

Not a mongrel, not a Halfling, but an elf.

Mortified by this new, unwelcome, development, he glanced towards Eretria. He could see that her eyes were just as wide as his own and he was almost certain that he could sense her disappointment and revulsion. He was certain that she was upset, and all of his mother's reassurances to the contrary seemed to fade away.

Sure, Eretria had always said that she loved him for who he was—and he supposed it must have been easy enough for her to look past his "short tips." But now, like this, he couldn't ask her for the same sort of acceptance. She had never signed up to be with a fully fledged elf—and as many girls had made clear to him in the past, human women didn't want freaks. They wanted to be with their own kind.

Wil had been so thrilled to offer Eretria that during these past few months. It had been unbelievably wonderful to live as two normal humans in the countryside. Perhaps she had claimed that physical traits didn't matter to her, but he could tell that she had been so much more relaxed recently.

Their lives had been easier without having to constantly hide his unpleasant secret.

But that was all over now. He would never be human again, no matter how many spells he cast or elixirs he sought. Magic didn't work that way, and everyone had made it quite clear that there was no going back now.

"Eretria, I…"

He wanted to apologize. To tell her that he understood that this changed everything. But his words seemed to be failing him and Wil felt a lump building his throat as he choked out those few syllables.

He could see her reaching up towards him but he instinctively jerked back. He didn't need her pity or her false assurances. He knew, more than most, how this world worked—and he knew that he had to get away.

It wouldn't be fair to hold on.

It felt like most things were suddenly out of his control, but he knew that he could at least spare her from a life of misery. A life like the one his poor mother had led— ridiculed and cast aside because of her association with a freak.

He loved Eretria, and she deserved so much better than that, no matter what she said.

"Will—"

Before she had a chance to finish her sentence, the young man pulled himself to his feet and steadied himself against the side of the cottage. His head was spinning from both the physical and emotional weight of that evening but he had been through worse and he managed to muster all of the strength he had left to get himself moving.

"Wil, be careful, you used a lot of energy and—"

"No, I'm okay. It'll be okay. I'll go. As soon as I can. Tonight. I just need to collect a few things."

He knew that he sounded frantic, and was barely making sense but, his eyes set with determination, Wil stumbled towards the door and burst into the small cottage. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. Each step felt like a monumental effort, and he was breathing heavily by the time he made it to the hallway mirror.

Although Wil knew that there were more pressing things to do, he could not resist pausing for a moment to confirm the horrible truth. He had already felt it—he knew what was there. But actually seeing his new reflection made everything even more real.

The last time he had looked into this mirror in shock, he had been filled with an overwhelming joy. He had seen a human refection—the reflection he had always yearned for—for the very first time.

But now that moment felt like a distant fantasy.

There, in the cold dark hallway, he found himself looking at the unmistakable face of an elf. An otherworldly creature who was not native to these lands.

After months of masquerading as a human, it was probably more shocking than it would have been before. He had almost forgotten what he had looked like with his pointed ears—and now they were much more pronounced than they had ever been. The ridges and shorter tips that had once marked him as a Halfling were gone and his new long, curved ears stuck out dramatically from beneath his blonde hair. Hand shaking, he reached out to touch them once more, his thumb brushing against the unfamiliarly smooth tip.

Although he now seemed out of place in this very human cottage, he knew that would have fit in perfectly on the streets of Aborlon. He looked like every other young elf he had ever met.

His heart sank as he continued to stare. He looked so much like his father…

Before he could spend another moment wallowing in self-pity, the sound of another voice once again snapped him out of his daze.

"Wil!" He heard Eretria snap as she burst through the door, not bothering to close it behind her. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but you had better explain yourself!"

Wil drew a sharp breath, and quickly turned to face her. He could see the flash of anger in her eyes, and he felt increasingly certain that she was upset about what he had become. He couldn't blame her, of course, but it still stung to think about her pending rejection.

"My spell. Everything. It backfired." He managed to reply, gesturing towards his pointed ears. "Allanon said everything has a price, and I think you can see what that is."

Eretria let out a frustrated sigh before taking a few steps towards him. "I'm not talking about that." She stated with a roll of her eyes. "I want to know why you were rambling on about going away! Packing up your things and leaving tonight!? What the hell was that about? You need to take a deep breath and tell me what is going on!"

"Oh." Wil felt his frantic breathing slow as she talked and he opened and closed his mouth several times, feeling slightly dumbfounded.

Perhaps (and hopefully) he had been wrong about her reaction to his altered appearance. Maybe she wasn't as repulsed as he had initially thought.

The young man took steadying breath. "I just figured that it would be easier if I went." He muttered, an unexpected flush creeping up on his cheeks.

Her brow furrowed as she moved further into the house and placed a gentle hand on his cheek. This time, he didn't pull away.

"Why?" she asked, clearly confused by his thought process. "Because you're an elf again? I've told you a million times—I don't care. In fact, I like you this way. When are you going to get that though your amazingly thick skull?"

Despite it all, Wil let out a snort of amusement. Leave it to Eretria to both insult him and make him feel a hundred times better all at the same time.

It felt like an immense weight was beginning to lift from his chest.

"But…" He began, his blue eyes locking with hers. "I'm an actual elf now, and I'm always going to be stuck like this. When I passed out, I had a vision—I saw my parents, and Jerle Shannara. They said this was an inevitable part of using the elf stones, and that there was no going back." He paused before averting his gaze down at the floor. "Alanon warned me about this, but I didn't listen. I was so happy living as a human. We were so happy. I didn't want to face the fact that it might be temporary."

He looked up to see Eretria shaking her head, seemingly bemused. "You've already had a rough night, so I'm going to resist the urge to slap some sense into you right now. But honestly, Wil, sometimes I don't know how you can be so smart and yet so blind." She paused. "Sure, we had a few fun nights out in the village, and I was happy to see you so happy. But, like I told you when you cast that stupid spell that was never what I wanted. I met and fell in love with a kind, gentle, Halfling with adorable pointy ears and a perfectly chiselled elven face. I love you—all of you—and it felt like things weren't quite right these past few months. If I'm being honest, I hoped that it wouldn't last. But you were so excited about looking human that I never told you that."

This revelation took him aback, and his lips formed a surprised "O." He suddenly felt guilty for not being more attentive to her feelings, and it stung to know that she had not been as happy as he had assumed. He had been so wrapped up in his own fantasy that he had lost sight of what really mattered.

"You're sure?" He pressed, his voice softer than before. He knew it was silly to ask her to repeat herself but, after a lifetime of insecurity and rejection, he needed as much reassurance as he could get. "You just said you fell in love with a Halfling. But I'm not a Halfling anymore. Doesn't that make a difference?"

Eretria shrugged. "I'd love you no matter what." She stated before reaching up to place a quick and unexpected kiss on his right ear. He could feel himself turning red. "And besides, I've always pretty much thought of you as an elf anyway."

Wil wasn't quite sure how he felt about that statement. He had always taken pride in his human ties and wanted to distance himself from the elven world and it was strange to know that even his girlfriend had placed him firmly in the elven camp. But, on the other hand if this meant that she wouldn't have much trouble adjusting to the new him, then that was probably a good thing.

For the first time that night, Wil gave her a small smile.

"On the bright side, I guess this means you can't call me short tips anymore." He noted, a flash of glee in his eye.

"I suppose." She conceded, trailing her finger against the curve of his ear. "But long tips has a nice ring to it too…"

Wil let out a sigh of mock annoyance before drawing her in for a deep and much needed kiss.

It had been one supremely messed up evening and his mind was still reeling from it all. There was still a lot to deal with, and many unpleasant feelings to sort through.

But, at least, he still had her.

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A/N Super long hiatus, I know. This might end here, but I have ideas for a few more chapters if I end up feeling inspired! Let me know what you think!