Tales for another Time

Stories from the Life and Adventures of Elric Theodanis Aldcroft

My Chance

Thirty seconds.

Thirty seconds can change a life, or end it.

I was currently lying on the rocky, dirt strewn ground in some gods forsaken tunnel with a couple of arrows sticking out of me. Aideen, Geff, and I were sent out to scout a few tunnels and, against my wishes, we had split up to save time. My years in the king's army drilled into me a kind of survival instinct. Which just happened to be a healthy dose of common sense, and common sense says stay together in uncharted and dangerous territory.

My torch flickered pitifully on the ground, the wet rock that made up the floor in this cavern caused its flame to dance and sputter as it tried to continue burning, pushing back the oppressive darkness. I had to drop it to grab my bow and sword after getting ambushed. Turns out being surrounded, empty-handed, and outnumbered made for a bad experience; one that left me bleeding out on the floor.

Across the room there were at least three skeletons that I could see, they were currently standing around a small stone I had cast light on and thrown into the center of the room back when I entered the chamber. Stones such as that one, and my torches, were the only means for me to see in the eternal darkness of this underground realm.

Which also meant Geff, the only other member of our group that lacked dark-vision, and I always stood out, perfect targets for all the subterranean creatures of the Underdark.

The skeletons' heads turned back to me once they figured out that the tiny glowing stone wasn't going to do anything anytime soon. Apparently they weren't content to simply stand around and watch me die; they began walking in my direction, their nicked and rusted swords visible in the pale, unwavering light of the stone. I sighed and closed my eyes, letting my head fall back on the stone I was propped up against; it was getting hard to keep them open, everything hurt and I was so tired. I just wanted to sleep.

I tightened my hand around the hilt of my shortsword; its presence was oddly reassuring, despite the pain holding it caused. As I gripped it, I could feel the arrowhead shift along the bone in my forearm as my muscles constricted and relaxed.

Even though it hurt, I couldn't stop holding on. It felt solid, calming. It kept me here, gave me a line to latch onto, a reason to stay on this mortal plane.

But why?

Why stay here?

I have been through some tight spots and my share of bad, even terrible, life-or-death situations. Yet, in all those instances, I had friends at my back. The last time I come this close to death I was narrowly saved by Riven, my drow colleague in the king's army; his arrow pieced the heart of a barbarian just before the brute could strike the blow that would have likely severed my head from my shoulders.

It was a debt I doubt I could repay.

Or ever have the chance to now.

I coughed weakly, the shaking sent shooting pains up and down my body, my mouth tasted like metal. I lifted my left hand to wipe my lips, the back of it was now stained red in the shaky light of the torch when I looked.

Wait… or was it my hand that was shaking? I couldn't tell which.

That must mean one of my lungs is filling up with blood, thanks to an arrow in my chest. Damn archers. I smiled at the irony. I would have chuckled or laughed, but even smiling was starting to hurt.

So, if by some freak accident or some higher being's grace, I don't bleed out in the next two minutes and the skeletons in the room somehow forget I'm here, then I'll have just enough time to suffocate on my own blood…or is it drown in that case?

I don't know, or care, I'm just so tired. Why was I holding on? Maybe if I just laid back I could sleep through my own death.

Again I closed my eyes, pain wrecked through me with every breath, but I felt…lighter for some reason. I could hear the skeletons making their slow, shuffling steps in the darkness, their joints creaking like an inn's well worn stairs. By the gods above how long does it take for them to move! They weren't even a hundred feet away a moment ago, they should be standing above me now.

Somewhere in the room I heard a quick, staccato rhythm striking against stone. I was vaguely aware that it was coming from behind me, must've forgotten another skeleton from the ambush and it wanted the privilege of finishing me off before its fellows.

Gathering enough strength to peek through one of my eyes, I checked where they were; fully expecting my reward for the act would be a sword through the heart. I wasn't far off my mark. Finally, three sword wielding skeletons crossed the threshold of yellow light some twenty feet away.

This is it. This is how I die, in some tiny, insignificant, forgotten hole far beneath the world I know. Killed by a group of shambling collection of bones, unable to fight back; at least I took three of them with me before I fell.

Three arrows: one in my drawing arm, one in the thigh, and one lucky strike in my chest. Oh, and one nice, long, deep gash in my right shoulder. That's what it took to finally put me down, apparently.

Funny how my father's suggestion of becoming a monk wasn't such a laughable idea now.

Then again, I don't regret it, my life and the choices I made. I think I did pretty well with the hand I was dealt, which was far better than almost everybody, I know. But still, I don't regret my past. I regret my future, or rather the current lack thereof.

I regret not being able to see my nieces and nephews grow up, not being home for yuletide and placating my mother during the winter festival by dancing with all the available women she wanted me to marry. I'm sad I won't get to be there for my brother, Dante, as he finally marries and retires from the king's army; hopefully before he ends up losing a body part. I regret not making a bigger impact on the world, leaving something behind to be remembered by, to laud my family's name.

During my reverie, I managed to open both eyes fully. If was going to die, then I'd do so facing the bastards who did, no hiding, not even in unconsciousness.

As I watched the foremost skeleton come within striking distance, the sound I heard a moment ago was louder, and now I could tell for sure it was the sound of someone running. That damn last skeleton running in to steal the glory. It's a shame, for him, because the one before me has decided to make his move, it raised its arm high above its head, ready to strike.

I watched as the blade fell. A sharp, or sharp-ish, hunk of unfeeling metal coming to end all that I am, was, or ever could be. Before the sword could rend my flesh, a flash of color crossed my vision. A figure dressed in fire and shadow interposed itself between me and fate.

The clash of steel striking steel rang throughout the room as the figure cast aside the skeleton's weapon with her own. I must have done enough good in the world to warrant a saving angel, or at least a guardian to the life beyond this one.

She was beautiful and terrible, with a scowl marring her visage and vengeance in her eyes as she lashed out, kicking her foe back and clearing the space around us. The skeleton and his friends recovered for what passes for shock to undead creatures, they all turned to face this newcomer, determined to end us both.

Or die trying…again.

The first skeleton to try and attack was quickly stopped as my angel parried his broad, overhead swipe with a dagger in her left hand. Catching the sword on the hilt of her dagger she pushed up and shoved him back into the first as that one gathered its wits, causing both of them to stumble into each other.

Turning to the third skeleton, she ducked low to the ground, dodging its attack before jumping back up, writhed in flame, and thrusting forward with her rapier; skewering its chest and head in one motion. For a moment, the magic within the skeleton's form held, causing her sword to be stuck fast within its rib cage as it slowly died.

At their partner's death, the other two skeletons hissed and raised their swords as they charged. To her credit, the angel did not balk or hesitate when faced with their ferocity; instead, in an impressive show of strength, she calmly turned, with the crumbling cage of bones on her rapier still, and raised both her blades to meet them.

The first to reach swung its blade, trying to cleave her head from her shoulders, but it was stopped and its sword was trapped with the rib cage of his brother. Taking a chance, my saving angel flipped her dagger in her hand and struck, stabbing the smaller blade into the skeleton's head, keeping it pinned with her two weapons.

While she held the one enemy at bay, the remaining skeleton took its chance to attack what looked like an easy target, but to its dismay, it too was stopped. The skeleton had reared its arm back and used all its strength to cut a horizontal swathe at the angel's exposed back, she avoided the blow by turning and twisting her trapped foe into the weapon's path. It was skillful, if risky, and narrowly done.

Slashed by its friend and still held in place by a dagger in its head, the other skeleton spasmed as it tried to free itself, which it didn't need to do as my angel let it free. Pulling her dagger out and shaking her opponent's sword free, she gave it yet another kick, causing it trip at the edge of the torch's light and fall to the ground in a clatter somewhere in the darkness.

Facing her last adversary, standing some ten feet away, she lowered herself into her fighting stance, rapier held waist level and back ready to thrust, dagger forward and angled towards her foe. This time the skeleton seemed hesitant to attack; and she seemed too impatient to wait because my angel did for him. In all the twisting and turning of the fight, the limbs and head of her first kill had fallen and been scattered about, but the rib cage remained stuck on her rapier, a fact she used to her advantage.

Growling deep in her chest, she reached back, raising her sword; and then swung down, hard. With the swing, the rib cage dislodged itself and flew towards her target, forcing the last skeleton to block the projectile with its sword; with her enemy distracted the angel lunged, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Reaching low, she slashed twice at its legs with her dagger, staggering the creature, and then popped up and gave it a quick thrust through its head before finishing her hapless foe off with several savage strikes with the dagger.

By the time it was all said and done, the angel stood victorious over the scattered bones of her kills, it wasn't a long fight but it was intense and left her panting slightly. I was struggling to keep my eyes open as my strength began to wane. At the edge of my vision I thought I saw something move. I tried to focus on what was there, my sight blurring as they began to water from the strain, the angel turned towards me and walked in my direction. Through the curtain of darkness stepped another skeleton with a bow in its hands, if it was the one she knocked down earlier or one we both missed I couldn't say.

I struggled to speak, unable draw in enough air to say anything as she continued her leisurely stroll to me. The dark creature began to draw the bow, aiming the arrow at her back. Finally, I managed to croak out a warning. "Behind you!" After which I immediately coughed up more blood.

Without questioning or hesitating, the woman whipped around to face the skeleton, and threw her dagger, hitting the creature square in the chest. It bucked from the impact, and its arrow went wild, sparking off the stone walls one or twice as it careened around the room. The skeleton fell apart like the rest. With the threat gone the woman turned again to come my way.

Letting my head fall back, because my eyes were too tired to move, I finally got a good look at her, now that she wasn't running and jumping around killing things. While I'll stand by my earlier assessment of her being dressed in flame and shadow, I could now see it was slightly off. Although she danced in battle like a flame, she actually had deep, red hair, and she was dressed in tight-fitting black leather armor, further adding to my error. She looked down to where I laid on the ground, her fiery, amber eyes settling on mine.

I may have been wrong about her attire, but I wasn't wrong about her beauty. Her face was on the narrow side, with high, sharp cheekbones and a pointed chin. Many would consider it a savage, or feral looking face, but I thought it was perfect. With a tall, lithe form, she possessed a predator's grace; and, although a little lacking in curves, it was nice to look upon.

She knelt down in front of me, crossing her hands at the wrist as they rested on her knees. Atop her head sat a pair of wolf-like ears, the same color as her hair except maybe a shade darker by the tips, like her tail. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about her tail, if I had been able to see that earlier I wouldn't have mistaken her for an angel, at least not one just visiting this material plane.

"Elric." She said dryly.

"Aideen," I coughed out, spitting up more blood.

"Are you sure your actually nobility? I mean you sure you're not some accident or bastard?" She questioned, a little too innocently.

I stared at her, my eyebrows knit together in confusion. What was she getting at?

Seeing my muddled stated, she decided to continue. "I mean, from where I'm standing your blood looks pretty red to me." She smiled devilishly, taking humor at her weak joke.

"Bitch."

"You know," she said, waving a finger in my face, "that would make me angry, if it weren't true."

She started laughing earnestly now, which caused me to laugh as well, her double meaning of the word was actually clever. Of course, that laughing sent pain throughout my broken body again, which in turn caused another coughing fit, this one lasting a good minute and left me struggling for breath. My vision began to worsen, and my head sagged as I grew tried again. Aideen reached out with her right hand to catch my head from falling; her left went to a small bandolier strapped to her thigh, it held three tiny vials, each about the size of a large finger. She pulled one out of its slot and uncorked it with her teeth. I began to worry, because I have seen her use these vials on multiple occasions before, and as far as I knew those vials were full of the poisons she used to coat her blades.

She must have sensed my concern, because she smiled; a genuine, non-mocking smile, which is something I've never seen her give in my general direction. Spitting out the cork into her hand, she spoke. "It's okay, blueblood. It is a tincture that will help your blood clot and numb the pain, this way you won't die before we get back to Naz."

Gently placing the glass to my lips, she continued to hold my head up and help me drink the solution. Thankfully it was sweet, if a little cloying and hard to swallow; given its intended purpose that made sense. When it was finished, she laid my head back against the rock, re-corked and replaced her vial, and stood up. Looking around she saw the bones of skeletons strewn about the room in the two pools of light, and probably more sense she can see in the dark unlike me.

Walking just past the light, she disappeared for a handful of seconds before coming back towards me. When she stepped back into the light I saw that she held a broken bow in her hands, my bow in fact. Luckily it wasn't fully broken, the string had snapped before I could finish off the last archer, which explained the three arrows I was currently holding with my body.

I must have passed out, because one moment I was watching the woman I was fond of holding my bow, and the next I was lying shirtless on the ground. I could feel a bandage wrapped around my back and shoulder, where the first skeleton attacked me. Everything still hurt, and I'm sure if I didn't get help soon I could still die, but the fact I woke back up was promising. Looking around I saw Aideen sitting on her knees a couple feet away from me, observing the darkness around us, keeping a silent sentry. The weak light from my torch beautifully lit up her long, graceful neck, which was currently exposed by her pulled back hair.

When she notice my head moving she turned back to me, her eyes reverted to her more normal cold, impassionate gaze. "Are you ready to move? Cause we need to do so now before you die and waste my efforts from earlier."

Not trusting my voice I simply nodded. With her help I got up to a sitting position before I had to stop, the pain in my chest stopping me, a hiss escaped my lips against my wishes. Aideen's earlier patience seemed gone as she spoke. "Come on, we need to hurry, that tincture isn't meant to last this long, and we've already wasted enough time."

"How long was I out for?" I asked when my breath returned to me.

"Long enough for me to remove your armor and dress your wounds, so maybe three or four minutes." She huffed as she pushed me up to my feet and then threw my arm over her shoulder to help keep off my wounded leg. "Don't worry about your stuff, I hid it and we can come back for it later."

We started to move as quickly as we could, for once I'm grateful Aideen is as tall as I am otherwise this would be a much more painful experience. Stumbling through the dark corridors we ran…shuffled…whatever. In the darkness I could see some luminescent moss and fungus growing along the walls, sadly nothing strong enough for me to see by, I had to trust Aideen for guidance, which I obviously did. The woman saved my life earlier, and, while she may refute it, ever sense we and the rest of the party had been force together by fate, I think we've developed a friendship.

Not to mention, I was more than willing to become closer to her, a sentiment she has vehemently denied multiple times. It was almost frustrating at this point, but I'd be lying if chasing after her wasn't proving a fun challenge.

In our rush I tripped on a chuck of rock jutting out of the ground, making me fall and hit the ground hard. "Aargh! Fuck me through the nine hells that hurt!" I coughed hard again, though without blood this time.

"Only in your dreams, blueblood," Aideen quipped, and for the third time in an hour she laughed, hard and genuinely.

"Come on," she said softly, coaxing me up off the floor to continue our running.

Huh, it seems I may have a chance at winning her over.

I just might have to die to get it.