Fate - First Reply No rest for the morally unconventional.

[Sazalam]

The fog rested on the water like a blanket. The still pond, a ways from the border of the Anirian Republic, had been privy to some of the worst of the recent border attacks of their latest bloodthirsty campaign.
Somewhere in his dark and wasted heart he felt admiration for those who took what they wanted while pressing their hand on the worlds throat.

It reminded him of the good old days. When an Orc was an ally for the will of dark gods and the surface dwellers knew which folk to fear.
Alas, current trends of the age he now found himself in saw multiple people's all step in line under laws that promised much but delivered little.

Perhaps there in lay the heart of the issue.

Promise little and deliver little instead seemed far more reasonable to him.

He picked over the dead. Anirians were Human to a one but the Cortosi saw a mixing of elements from all over. A cat-man caught his attention. Lovely fur but they had been killed in such a way as to make the pelt useless, a pity really.

Who had won he could not say. It seemed the Human crusaders were bent on destroying all. Ironic that at one point in history his people had attempted the same but to the Humans.

History did seem to love its little ironies.

A motion caught his eye in the gloom of the fading sun. A shadow that was not a shadow moved and Sazalam moved to intercept.

He was not the only person picking over the dead this evening.

 

[Zathria At'Arel]

Zathria had been trailing the violence that had been carving its way along the borders for a while now. Taking a small team of her most loyal fighters they had been looking for opportunity and while they hadn't found much by that stretch yet, they had found ways of keeping their expedition funded by looting the dead.

Her scouts had gone ahead to continue trailing the horde and Zathria had remained behind. The soldier's intuition told her that something else was out here in the settling darkness and her eyes flicked around the dim light in search of the source of the sound.

A flash of movement caught her gaze and her bow was drawn, arrow nocked, but bow string still lax in her hands as she looked out to whatever was moving. It wasn't an animal. It didn't move like an animal. The gate was that of a biped from the sound, and she wasn't sure if that made her more or less on guard.

Who goes there? she said, her voice running like ice, simple and direct.

Sazalam

 

[Sazalam]

"A humble son of the ever dark."

An older greeting when men addressed women of his kind but well enough known.

His approach halted and he opened his cloak to show he had not drawn his sword. Head tilted down slightly, not looking Zathria in the eye, as was proper for his gender's status.

"I came to scavenge what I could from these unfortunate creatures."

A dismissive look to their surroundings followed.

"But I had no idea this salvage was claimed already. If it please you, I will leave you to your prize."

A low bow, perfectly observed punctuated his statement.

Zathria At'Arel

 

[Zathria At'Arel]

Zathria was actually surprised to see another of their people here who weren't part of her own skirmish team. She lowered her bow so it wasn't pointed directly at him at least, though she kept it in her hand for the moment.

I didn't expect to see one of our people up here. What brings you to the surface? she asked. She was never afraid to jump into the questions and began to put away the bow and arrow, still ever-so-aware of her swords should she need them.

And so far from home at that. How long have you been up here? she asked, thinking about opportunity already.

Sazalam

 

[Sazalam]

"I came to see how these surface world savages conduct themselves. with my own eyes."

Following protocol he kept his sword hand to his chest as he spoke, a sign of no threat and ultimately submissive vulnerability.

"I have been on the surface only a three years and if I may presume upon your interest in my being here a hair more, I find myself I'll impressed with what I have seen so far."

Sazalam allowed himself a small smile as he remembered himself and who he was speaking to.
"But forgive my manners, the surface taints all with its lack of decency. My name is Sazalam and as a Daughter of Darkness I am at your service Mistress."

The way of the Dark-Elf was power and submission, all else was lies and vanity.
He was relieved to fall back into the familiar way of his people.

Zathria At'Arel

 

[Zathria At'Arel]

Zathria was already starting to like him. A male who knew his place and whose memory hadn't been scrubbed by being on the surface.

[colro=violet]I am not new to the surface, though this area is a new venture for me,[/color] she admitted. The time spent in exile on the surface had forced Zathria to adapt to much and she couldn't wait to return to the activities of Zar'ahal. The flow and life of that place was so much more natural to her than the surface. Even the most cutthroat up here were not the same. The cutthroats of the surface lacked discipline and order. Most were just... barbarians.

I am Zathria. Tell me what you know of the area, Sazalam, she said. She wondered what it was that had driven him up here and she didn't discount the possibility that he was a criminal on the run from their people. She couldn't drop her guard, especially not with the rest of her team having gone ahead already. Risks would get her killed, and this place was enemy territory to her mind still.

Sazalam

 

[Sazalam]

"I am making a report to the great seats of learning in Zar'ahal about the current political climate of the surface Mistress."

Another smile parted his lips and his black teeth glinted like pearls in the dark light and though he knew her name he had not been given permission to speak it.

"I am to record the war between the Anirian human nation and the Cortosi alliances."

Wind swept his cape and made him appear bulbous for a moment before settling again.

"The Cortosi appear to be losing from what I have seen but it is far from decided yet."

About them the wild things, scavenger species, had already begun to take their own riches of blood and flesh from the dead.

@Zathria

 

[Zathria At'Arel]

Reporting back on behalf of the scholars, eh? That was interesting. If he was killed, they wouldn't mourn the death of a single maleling, and if he survived he would bring back useful information.

I have to assume you have a wide array of skills if you've made it this far on your own. The scout companies normally come up here in groups, she said. The question was something of a probe, admittedly, but a well disguised one at that. She had never enjoyed the political game, but every noble in Zar'ahal had to have at least some level of familiarity with it.

Come, we should continue this discussion in a less open area, she said, stepping over the body of one of the fallen and doing her best not to leave bloody footprints behind as she moved away from the open fields of grass and dead and in the direction of a small outcropping of rocks.

By her estimation, the morning would bring the return of the victorious army to loot and bury the dead. They had only a few more hours to work, but Zathria couldn't pick through the whole field even if she wanted to. She found that this one was a more valuable potential source that the jingle of the newly acquired coins in her pocket.

Sazalam

 

[Sazalam]

"As you wish Mistress!"
Sazalam followed respectfully before he answered the pertinent questions. The dead had ears and cunning could make them talk.

"The Mistress flatters me."
He continued as the settled to a stop some ways into the brush and out of sight.

"I was schooled in dark Sorceries, swordplay and languages which I put towards my ends here. My skills suit me best if I work untethered."
Years of the game had left Sazalam adept at answering questions without giving too much information away.

"If I may be so bold as to ask why the Mistress is alone? Surely you had an entourage when you left for the surface."
His eyes never left the ground even when they were walking and while he asked his own questions he bowed lower.

Zathria At'Arel

 

[Zathria At'Arel]

Zathria wondered quietly if he was from the magic academies or the military academies. Probably not the latter if he wasn't associate with the military, but you never knew.

You serve one of the noble houses? she asked, making an educated guess that that was who had sent him up here. And if so, which noble house had the surface interests, she wondered?

I'm not alone up here. I have scouts with me, she said, referring to members of the scout company.

I'm more than capable of taking care of myself, though, she said. Her eyes scanned over the horizon around them, the darkness causing no problems for her vision.

You been inside the cities at all? I'm starting to fancy myself a poke around on the inside, she said with a faint smirk of self-satisfaction at the thought.

Sazalam

 

[Sazalam]

"I have not Mistress."

Sazalam's voice rang with contrition.

"Times of war make every outsider an enemy and children of darkness are suspected even in peaceful times. It appears to be the only time these barbarians think of any security at all is when they have been half destroyed by their neighbours. Is it any wonder the Anirian's got so far so quickly. The Cortosi were blind to their aggression until it was too late."

Another smile, one full of a sense of smug superiority, came to his lips.

"Ever the teachings of the Shadow Mother ring true. A friend is but an enemy in waiting."

Zathria At'Arel

 

[Zathria At'Arel]

Zathria nodded her head, knowing it made sense that he hadn't been inside.

Then we'll have to do it quietly, she said, although she wasn't sure if even she could manage to get inside. And what was the value in it for all that risk? The thrill was certainly a reason, but not a good one. There was information about the inner workings to be gained, but she was left with questions about just how much they would learn.

You're not wrong about that one, she said with a snort. That was a common and not incorrect mentality among their people.

That was when she heard the sound of something else rustling nearby. She ducked lower behind the stones, reaching once again for her bow as she saw something moving like a shadow within the open battlefield. Monsters were known to feed on the bodies of the dead in places like this and she guessed the surface was the same.

Sazalam

 

[Sazalam]

"I will go where the Mistress commands and aid how I can. I have maps of the area committed to memory and while I have not breached the warning cities, there are places where the defences are weak and one may pass with skill and..."

The sound made his ears twitch and his eyes shot to the direction of it's coming. His hand went to his sword faster than a shrew's blink.

In the dark eyes like theirs could see far and clear, better than in the day.
Something came out of the brush and began searching, inspecting the dead. It was big as a bull with long spines along its thick mane and a head like some terrible mix of lion and bear. Claws like a great eagle and the tail ended in a singularly beautiful orchid like growth. Possibly for luring in the unwary.

It tore at the flesh and bones of the dead, casting off clothing and armour, stopping only to look up and make sure it was unbothered.
Fortune had the two downwind of it, so they were concealed until the wind changed.

Sazalam signalled with his hand a simple military suggestion.

*Retreat?*

Zathria At'Arel

 

[Zathria At'Arel]

Zathria watched as the creature moved in closer, some sort of hybrid chimera creature. The kind you might see as the result of some dark experiment of a mage in Zar'ahal.

She frowned as she watched it, head tilting to the side as she watched the way it moved over to one of the dead whose armor caught the moonlight just a little more than the rest, grabbing the body within its massive jaws and then dragging it away.

"Those chimeras have a tendency to collect things, don't they?" she gestured in Drow hand signals. If she remembered correctly they were drawn to all manner of magical and shiny things in a way that was inexplicable. They dragged off the bodies of the dead that were laden with jewelry and magical items.

The kind of stash that could be very valuable.

"We should follow it," she gestured again.

Sazalam

 

[Sazalam]

It was the kind of daring Sazalam had forgotten he missed. The kind that dared go where others fear and the promise of what lay there.

"Let me lead, you are too valuable!"

Surfacers would never let a child of darkness at their back but in their culture, to bare ones back was to place trust and respect in the hands of a Mistress and to command obedience if done to a manling.

So it was with simple trust that Sazalam moved, keeping low and slowly followed the great beast back to its lair. If Zathria put a bolt in his back then he chose poorly and by the laws of the Dark Mother he would die a fool, his face in the mud.

So be it.

The great beast went to its lair, a hole in the earth by a creek that ran from a lake. It took longer to follow to keep them downwind but they made it.

"There."

Sazalam pointed towards the entrance, the sounds of the feasting beast could be heard within.

"What do you suggest?"

Zathria At'Arel

 

[Zathria At'Arel]

Zathria was intrigued when he insisted she not risk herself and that he go first. It was smart of him not to irritate her given he didn't know just how unhinged she might be. In her case, of course, she wasn't unhinged, but many times these males got up to the surface and then got all kinds of ideas.

They headed after the creature and came to what looked like its lair based on the sounds that were coming out of it and it gave Zathria pause. There was ever a greater danger in killing something in its lair and she didn't know if it had a mate, children, or - at worst though unlikely - a pack.

"We observe," she signed to him. She had gotten herself into trouble before by not knowing enough about her targets, but that was a rookie's mistake, not that of a veteran commander.

She started inching slowly along the perimeter of the lair, looking for other ways in or areas of escape if this turned.

"Do you know ranged combat?" she signed, giving a glance to his weapons to see if he had a handbow or the like. Poisons weren't terribly difficult to make and Zathria had learned a few since being on the surface, though sometimes the ingredients were hard to find.

"A poisoned arrow could bring it down from relative safety or at least weaken it before an engagement," she signed, and as she did, she realized just how nice it was to be working with another of her people. The efficiency of the hand signals were so much improved compared to trying to whisper like some topside barbarians.

Sazalam

 

[Sazalam]

It occured to Sazalam that he might be showing his hand but the situation called for it.

"I have such an arrow!"

Opening his hand Sazalam willed the magical arrow into being. Sleek and dark it was wreathed in an aura of glowing dark.

"It creates a wound that requires magic to heal."

It was a dark spell, an evil thing and the product of no short amount of study but the Dark Arrow had proven it's worth in lives taken many times over.

"I need only a clear shot Mistress."

He waited for her to confirm the plan.

@Zathria

 

[Zathria At'Arel]

Zathria's eyes traveled over the conjured arrow, her head tilting slightly to the side as she examined it. A dangerous and terrible weapon by the sound of it, and one that she took note of. A powerful tool for bringing down their enemy.

Trust was going too far in this situation, but she thought their interests aligned on this expedition, which meant she would take the risk.

Very well. I'll draw the creature out and you hit it as soon as it is visible, she said.

She crept forward, drawing her twin sabers and crossing her arms in front of her to generate a protective barrier around herself in case the creature got too close or the Salamander decided to betray her.

Oy, creature come out and get us! she shouted as the creature began to creep from its lair.

Sazalam

 

[Sazalam]

The cave did not growl. This thing was a beast yes but it emerged silent as death itself.
First it's eyes, luminous in the night light before a mighty paw and a snout low and steady as stone. It's mane of spines rocked with each step like it was underwater and at last the tail which was the most animated if it's parts twisted and swished behind it, the only hint at its agitation.

There was no roar, no confirmation of challenge. It was easily twice Zathria's mass and it reared up to face her towering high before dropping to a galloping charge. Shaking the earth with its tread.

Sazalam stood straight and tall, perfect form and eyes seeing clearer than in daylight. Outstretching his arm he flexed his fingers and let loose the dark arrow into the monsters side, where the lungs were most open and the creature fell thrashing and recoiling in the creek, splashing with flailing limbs on the rocks.
Now it cried out, mourning and bleating in its lack of understanding. The dark arrow vanished, leaving it's interior punctured and weeping. It grew weaker with every breath as pain and horror racked it's animalistic brain.
Sazalam had no mercy for the weak and no sympathy for lesser beings but he did not enjoy suffering for its own sake.

"The kill is yours Mistress!"

Tentatively he prepared another dark arrow, should the beast not live alone.

Zathria At'Arel

 

[Zathria At'Arel]

Zathria stood uncompromising in her position, knowing that despite her smaller size, her speed and the strength of the Tososs Barra would augment her beyond what anyone her size should be capable of.

She split her sabers and waited, not giving an inch as the creature moved toward her only to be accosted from the side by the arrow shot.

Biting and snapping, it turned its head from her and toward where the arrow pierced, jaws clamping down on nothing but air as the arrow evaporated away.

That was when Zathria lunged and thrust her sword, catching deeply in the side of the creature's neck only to have it wheel around on her again, now assaulting her and reeling away, wrenching her blade free of its throat as it whipped its tail around in an attempt to catch her with a slap of its own.

Her second sword came up to parry the tail aside as the creature began to lunge away from the attacking Drow woman and unwittingly knocking her toward Salamander hiding in the bushes, barreling into him unintentional and knocking them both off of their feet.

Sazalam

 

[Sazalam]

"OOF!"

Sazalam tumbled back with Zathria half caught and half cradled in his arms. They rolled over and under each other twice before they stopped, his torso under her own held from behind with legs all but knotted in a tangle.

The knock had taken the wind from his lungs and they lay catching breath for a moment before he realised the situation. The tumble sent them through the weeds and rushes, they were damp with mud and water and stained from the fall.

Sazalam's words came between ragged breath and in hushed tones lest they attract more attention as he forced his arms out of shock and eased them away from her waist slowly, speed might bee seen as a threat.

"Are you hurt Mistress?"

He did not yet realise his elbows and knees were scuffed from striking rocks.

Zathria At'Arel

 

[Zathria At'Arel]

Zathria had the wind knocked out of her more than she wanted to admit, gasping for air like a fish out of water. She had taken bad hits before and although her mind knew it would clear, the sensation of drowning in air was one that was horrifying on a deep level.

Her lips moved in an attempt to get out words, but they refused to come and she rolled over onto all fours, trying to suck air into her lungs.

I'm... okay... she said, half crawling off of him as her mind tried to parse through the next steps and suppress the feelings of panic. It wasn't working very well.

She threw a look back toward him as she tried to take in the situation.

...in one piece? she asked him, the words coming out as a half-sentence because of he lack of breath before she started going back to pawing through the underbrush and trying to find her swords.

It might have almost been romantic with the two of them lying all atop each other, except that Zathria just had to be Zathria about it. Her mind was locked into fight mode, and that wouldn't allow anything except reducing the encounter to the required series of events to keep her alive. It was a clarity that could be a gift to her on the battlefield and a curse to her in most other social situations. Alas.

She could hear the creature out in the bushes, lurking and hunting for them and it only made her heart pound so hard she could hear it in her ears. She had no desire to fight this thing with only a knife and magic or even just a bow in close range.

Sazalam

 

[Sazalam]

"More or less..."
Sazalam groaned as he sat up slowly, taking time to make as little noise as possible.

"That thing is tougher than it looks."
He whispered, the monster did not seem to hear them, yet. It was working it's way along the riverbank, it would find them soon.

Even slower than before he stood and winced as he patted down his bloody knees.

"What now?"

He asked using hand signs and quite forgetting his honorifics.

Zathria At'Arel