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Chapter Six:
Feral
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When dawn breached the night, Jaelyn arose out of the Land of Nod to find that for once, she had made it to consciousness before her other two companions.
She sat up on her bed roll, stretched and looked out across the gently churning ocean. A small crescent of orange light straddled the horizon, painting it in soft shades of yellow and gold with a bit of pink mixed into the depths. The vault of the sky was fading from that star-decked, black velvet into hues of gray, blue and lavender.
It was the type of sunrise that would make landscape painters snap their paintbrushes in envy and have poets stand about scratching their heads in silence. It was beautiful and breath-taking beyond anything paint on canvas could ever produce or skillfully woven words could describe.
It was strangely quiet and peaceful, the only sounds being those belonging to nature.
Jaelyn had never cared much for civilization as a whole (or even in small pieces), but out here, she could feel its absence. She didn't know whether she missed it or not. It felt strange, that was for sure. She kept expecting farmers or something to burst out of the woods, wielding pitch-forks and shovels, and shouting her heritage at her. It was an unsettling feeling when she looked back at those woods and no such thing happened. She was a little confused as to why she was disappointed that there wasn't a mob out there trying to kill her.
Then there were the trees. They were eerie things, those trees. Last night, they had been groaning, as if in pain and, of course, she hadn't forgotten the fact that Bishop had nearly been strangled by a vine.
Those trees were alive, that much she understood, and as mentioned before, the term alive meant exactly that, that those trees and possibly even a few shrubs and other miscellaneous flora were actually living, breathing, and intelligent, which was an alarming actuality. She'd heard of dryads before and in her travels, she'd actually come across one, and she'd considered the possibility that the trees having such...personality was probably due to the fact that one of the sylvan creatures, or possibly many of them, were dwelling in them. Or the trees might be ents, though if they were ents, she figured they would be moving around a bit more than they were. And, as of yet, they had seen no dryads. Still, one couldn't rule out all possibilities.
Jaelyn preferred to think it was dryads or ents out there than the actual trees and plants possessing enough intelligence and sentience to groan in pain and attempt murder. The thought made her shiver.
The air still had that hot, menacing smell to it, faint but offensive. It was a scent that induced apprehension, a scent of malice. It was intimidating and threatening, as if it were a warning in the air.
Jaelyn quietly pulled her boots on then stood up from her bed roll, stretching once more, and decided to go into the woods, despite the events of last night and the warning in the air. She had remembered from their first trek through the wood that there was a patch of blueberry shrubs in a small clearing about less than a mile away. And considering they had all missed out on dinner last night for obvious reasons, Jaelyn thought it a good idea to pick them something to eat for breakfast, and perhaps hunt something as well if she happened to come across anything worth eating.
The short journey to the clearing was peaceful. The trees were silent, yet still maintaining that very tall and looming demeanor. There was a light breeze weaving through the forest, carrying with it the salty scent of the ocean, and leaves rustled quietly on swaying limbs. Other than that leafy sound, there were no other noises to be heard. It was eerily silent. She didn't even hear any birds, and birds were notorious for their spirited morning twittering. There was nothing, not so much as a chirp. And actually, as Jaelyn thought about it, she hadn't recalled seeing any birds on the island yet, not in the trees (which really wasn't surprising, if one considered the fact of the trees being alive and having a tendency to get violent) or flitting about in the sky. It was very strange.
The drow located the blueberry shrubs, nestled together comfortably in their little patch. She bent down and reached out a tentative hand to pick one of the berries. She was uncertain if this particular shrub was 'alive' or not. Smiling slightly, she let her fingers touch the leaves first, caressing them in a soothing fashion.
She then looked around herself to make sure no one was watching. It was more of a cautionary act. As far as she knew, she and her companions were the only ones on the island. However, that damn ranger had a tendency to appear during those distressingly convenient moments when there was a chance of her getting 'caught in the act' and becoming embarrassed or flustered. She was about to have one of those distressingly convenient moments.
Satisfied that there was no one around, she looked back down at the shrub and and smiled again.
"Would you mind if I picked your berries?" she asked the plant, which listened with shrub-like interest. "You see, my friends and I missed dinner last night and we're a little hungry."
There was no objection from the plant; it just sat there.
"Good." she spoke again with a smile. "I was hoping you wouldn't respond."
Between her ears came the voice of Sanity.
You do know you're talking to a shrub, right? I think this is a bad sign that I'm on my way out.
Jaelyn knelt down on her knees, created a neat little fold in her skirt and began picking blueberries contentedly. There was nothing as peaceful as foraging.
Jaelyn thrust her hands into the depths of the shrub...and something furry brushed her hand. She jerked back with a slight gasp and peered between the foliage. Two large, yellow, slit-pupil eyes stared back at her from deep within the blueberry shrub. There was a soft, pained chittering sound coming from the shrub that was heart-wrenching to hear. Whatever it was, it was hurt.
Jaelyn reached in gently for the creature and her hands slipped into thick, silken fur. It was bigger than she thought.
When she was finally able to pull it out, she found herself staring into a dark brown, beige-stripped, furry face that was almost sickeningly adorable. Jaelyn had never seen an animal like this one before. It was a cross between a cat and a bear cub. It had the yellow, almond-shaped eyes, whiskers, long tail, and retractable claws of a cat and the size, stance, thick fur, long snout and rounded ears of a bear cub. It looked at her with its pitiful, glistening yellow eyes and won her heart immediately.
Jaelyn's face broke out into a wide grin. "What manner of creature are you?"
It responded with a small wailing sound that had the same effect on Jaelyn as the harrowing cry of a baby might have on its mother.
She cradled the animal and searched it for any injuries. There was a small, but obviously painful pebble wedged in the padding of its paws. It was bleeding a bit, but nothing serious. Jaelyn reached for it, but the animal jerked away with a whimper. There was a perfect expression of fear on its sweet face. Jaelyn rocked it gently against her in a comforting manner, as one might do an upset infant, and made soft shooshing noises to it. After a moment, the expression was gone and now it just looked worried.
Jaelyn reached down again and yanked the pebble out swiftly in an effort to minimize the pain. The creature moaned and held its paw out limply. The drow sat the creature down and for a moment, it simply stood there on its hind legs, considering her and then it looked down at its paw as if suddenly realizing something. Its tail began to move in a side to side frenzy and without warning, it leaped on her and covered her face in vigorous licks of appreciation. It had a rough tongue like a cat.
Jaelyn laughed and tried vainly to push the animal back. It seemed to be very grateful to her for removing its suffering.
Finally, it stopped drenching her face in saliva and merely rubbed its furry face against her chest. Smiling, Jaelyn gave it a caress and then got to her feet, holding the fold in her skirt up so she didn't spill her blueberries.
She figured the animal would go off on its business now, but the animal had other plans.
Jaelyn spotted a few apples on the ground beneath an apple tree and went to investigate their ripeness and if they were especially deficient of worms or other insects. She saw that she was immediately being followed.
The drow glanced down at the cat-bear creature and was startled to find it grinning at her. The animal was quite intelligent, it seemed, for not many animals could muster human expression this adeptly.
"All right, you're cute and friendly. I get that." she said to it. "But you can't follow me around. Go on, now."
Jaelyn bent to pick up an apple and was further surprised when the animal reached down and picked it up for her between its paws and gestured it to her.
She gaped and after a moment, took the proffered fruit.
"Uh...thanks."
It grinned again.
"You're quite smart, aren't you?" she said. "Do you understand me?"
Its response was that deep chittering sound, which seemed to come from the very depths of the creature's being, because when it rubbed against her leg, it was vibrating with the sound, almost like a cat's purr.
She couldn't resist giving the cute little thing another caress behind the ears. It chittered more violently and its body was nearly convulsing in delight.
Jaelyn collected a few more apples and then headed back for their camp. She had a bad feeling she was going to be followed.
"Look, you can't come with me." she told it. "I'm sorry."
She kept on walking. The animal stood there a moment, its head leaning to one side and then it bounded after her on all fours until it reached her side. It stood up on its hind legs, like a bear, and walked contentedly beside her.
"This isn't going to work out."
It made a pleading noise and pressed against her leg again.
The drow looked down at it and sighed. How could she refuse that face?
"All right," she gave in miserably. When it came to wretchedly adorable animals in need of rescue, she just couldn't help but turn into pudding. "But just for now."
When Jaelyn and her new companion reached the edge of the forest, she caught sight of smoke coming from the direction of their camp and guessed that the other two were up and about now.
She made her way down to the beach, seeing Quin and Bishop sitting at the campfire that had been lit. Something was roasting on it and there was that maddening, delicious aroma of cooking meat.
The creature struggled to keep up with her longer strides and when Jaelyn finally reached the camp and stopped, the little bugger ran right into her legs with a squeak.
Bishop was the first to look up and the first thing he noticed, of course, was the creature peering around Jaelyn's leg. There was a very nonplussed look on the ranger's face.
"What in the Nine Hells is that?"
Jaelyn glanced behind herself and then brought her gaze around to him again with a slight smirk. "What in the Nine Hells is what?"
He gave her a thin look of reproach.
Jaelyn's face broke out into a grin as she scratched behind her ear and dug the toe of her boot into the sand innocently.
Quin watched the creature eye them with something between wariness and curiosity.
"Cute." he noted. "Where did it come from?"
"I found it hiding in a blueberry shrub." said Jaelyn. "It was injured."
"And you just had to go and save it." said the ranger, caustically.
The drow glowered at him. "Shut your mouth."
Bishop was undoubtedly about to reply with some cutting barb, but Quin interrupted him before he could get to it.
"What is it?" the halfling asked. "I've never seen an animal like that before."
Jaelyn shrugged and looked down at the cat-bear like creature rubbing its face against her leg. "Neither have I...until now."
Bishop gave it an uninterested and slightly disgusted look. He was not a fan of anything with the potential for being sickeningly cute and lovable. His brain never hesitated as it filed the creature away under his Repertoire of Contemptuous Things. The animal would now be properly ignored and kicked often if it got in his way.
"Just keep it away from me." he warned and went back to his task of turning the roasting cony on its stick.
Jaelyn rolled her eyes and sat down beside Quin. The creature plopped down in the sand between them. Quin looked at it with a grin and then reached over to scrub under its chin. It made that chittering sound of gratitude and pressed its face more deeply into the halfling's hand.
"I think it likes me."
Jaelyn smiled, tucked her legs beneath her and looked down at the fruit in her skirt.
"Well," she said. "Other than finding a new pet, I also found some blueberries and a couple of apples while I was out. Anyone interested?"
"I'll have an apple." Quin opted. "I don't care for blueberries."
Jaelyn passed him an apple. Unfortunately, the animal snatched it out of her hand before the halfling could get it and began chewing into it noisily. The two looked at it in surprise.
"I guess it's hungry." the halfling said.
"We could always feed you to it." remarked the ranger.
Jaelyn threw a blueberry at his face.
To her surprise, Bishop caught it adeptly, studied it in his palm for a moment (he was making sure it wasn't actually something poisonous) and then popped it into his mouth.
"Thanks, drow." he said, grudgingly.
Jaelyn desperately fought off the urge to send a skirt full of blueberries in his face this time.
Let the smug bastard catch that.
She held back. It would've been a terrible waste of a perfectly good breakfast.
Jaelyn sat in silence for a moment and ate her blueberries. They were astonishingly sweet and juicy. She'd never tasted a more delicious blueberry in her life; it was perfect, the blueberries of all blueberries. It was nearly orgasmic, not that she knew what an orgasm was. But she was making sounds as if she were having one.
"Mmm...Oh, Gods...that's good..." she moaned, her eyes half-lidded in pleasure.
"Are you sitting on something, drow?" commented Bishop in a suggestive tone.
She blinked at him in confusion. "Huh?"
He smirked faintly and shook his head. "Forget it."
He and the halfling exchanged a glance as Jaelyn went back to eating her blueberries with a dreamy smile.
Quin grinned.
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After breakfast, they prepared themselves for a serious trek through the woods this time. They had found a source of food and a source of water, now it was time they explored the island for possible threats and possible allies.
They knew of one threat already and that was the plantlife and they knew of one species of animal that wasn't harmful and that was whatever Jaelyn's new companion was. Whether it was bear or cat, or both, it seemed completely harmless and more like something that could be easily domesticated.
"Have you thought of a name for it?" Quin asked Jaelyn as they trudged through the wilderness, lead by the ranger. One of these days, Jaelyn was going to take the lead, whether Bishop liked it or not.
"I've been thinking of a few..."she replied. "None of them very good."
"Let's hear them."
"Um...Feral." she said.
Quin smiled. "Kind of contradictory, isn't it?"
"That's the point...I think."
"And the others?"
"I've always liked the name Darmon."
"Sounds too pompous."
"How about...Bevil?"
"That sounds like something you'd name an ox." the halfling said with a laugh. "A particularly dumb ox."
"The only other one I can think of is Dahlia, and only because I like the flower."
Quin shook his head. "I think you should name it Feral. It's fitting somehow. Probably because it's ironic."
Jaelyn nodded with a smile and looked down at the creature walking between her and the halfling.
"Feral it is, then."
Ten miles of forest later, they came to a very large clearing with some kind of old stone ruins protruding from the ground. The stone structure was moss and ivy covered, and it seemed to have been some kind of small building before its demise. There was a cracked threshold and then a small window above it, carved out of the stone. The roof was completely gone, leaving behind a jagged rim over the top of the building. It looked strange, as if something had ripped the roof off instead of it just caving in from time or perhaps some battle long ago. Off to the right side, there was a small stone fence with many different sized stone slabs inside of it, spaced apart. It was a graveyard.
"A temple?" Jaelyn wondered aloud.
Quin shook his head. "Too small-"
"And I don't see any holy symbols any where on the structure. You usually see those all over temples." the ranger added.
The drow tapped her chin, thoughtfully. "Maybe it's just a chapel, then."
"What ever it is," Quin added. "It doesn't look like it had been a very nice place. Look, I think I see a sacrificial altar through that doorway."
Jaelyn gave him a dubious look. "How can you tell it's sacrificial?"
Quin's face went grim. "There's blood stains on it."
"Oh, wonderful." groaned the drow.
"Let's check it out." suggested Bishop.
The trio-along with a cat-bear named Feral-approached the ruins tentatively, keeping their senses perked for trouble. The threshold was smaller up close and the ranger had to duck his head when he went in first. Jaelyn followed and Quin brought up the rear, casting a look over his shoulder as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.
Something moved out there in the woods.
The halfling blinked, but when he looked again there was nothing. He had sworn he'd seen a shadow move against the trees a few yards to the right of the ruins. He shrugged it off and blamed it on his imagination.
Inside the chapel, the trio looked around curiously. There were some old stone benches on either side of the chapel that were cracked and covered in ivy. They moved up the small aisle and came to the altar Quin had seen. It was indeed stained in blood; some stains looked centuries old and others fresh, and there was also a stone bowl in front of it, stained a rusty crimson. Bishop bent over it, ran a finger along the inside and then inspected it close, rubbing his thumb and index finger together.
"There's been a recent sacrifice." he noted.
Jaelyn's eyes went wide. "Then that means there must be people on this island."
He only nodded.
Quin was standing behind the altar, his back to the other two as he stared upward at the wall. He saw something, some kind of etching in the stone underneath the ivy growing up from the cracks in the stone floor, but he was too short to reach up and brush it aside.
"Hey, guys," he said, looking over his shoulder. "There's something here."
Jaelyn approached him, Feral following behind her, keeping close. Jaelyn followed Quin's pointing finger and reached up to tear the ivy off the wall. Underneath the clinging vines was that missing holy symbol. Jaelyn gave a small gasp and stumbled away until the small of her back hit the altar.
"I'd hoped to never see that in my lifetime."
"What is it?" Quin asked.
"Lolth's symbol." she replied. "A spider with the head of a drow woman." She looked grimly at her companions. "There are drow here, or at least there were."
"That explains the sacrifices." Bishop said.
Jaelyn shook her head with a frown. "I don't like this."
Feral rubbed against Jaelyn's leg, soothingly, sensing her anxiety. Jaelyn looked down at it with a small, grateful smile and gave its furry face a scruff.
The halfling looked up at the symbol again and a grin came over his face. "Hey, you think those are real rubies used for the eyes?"
Jaelyn shrugged. "Maybe. I suppose it really doesn't matter, Quin. They're embedded well in that stone."
"Damn."
The ranger moved up to inspect it himself, but came to a halt when there was an unexpected metallic sound in his step.
Jaelyn and Quin turned their heads in his direction and Bishop frowned down at his feet in puzzlement. He brought his foot down on the ground again.
Clunk.
He knelt down, unsheathed his dagger and began slicing away the ivy that had crawled across the ground over time. He uncovered a trapdoor made of metal. There was a large ring on it where it could be pulled open, but it was chained and padlocked. All of it was rusted.
Bishop lifted the lock, gave it an experimental yank and then dropped it again with another loud clunk.
"What ever it is," he said. "We're not getting into it."
Quin gave him a smug smirk and hurried over. "Don't be too sure. You've got an excellent lock-picker for a companion. Let's have a look-see..."
The halfling picked up the pad lock and studied it for a long moment, 'hmm'ing and 'huh'ing every few seconds.
Bishop eyed him impatiently. "Can you pick it or not?"
"Well..."
Quin trailed off as he lifted the lock for a closer inspection, his brow creased in concentration. The ranger's question went unanswered for about fifteen minutes.
Meanwhile, Jaelyn was looking up at the holy symbol carved in the wall, frowning at it hotly. If there was anything she hated in all the world, it was this. She hated Lolth with a passion. She hated what she stood for, hated that she was the goddess of the drow, and hated the drow for following her. The drow were the way they were because they worshiped her.
Jaelyn wondered about something. She cocked her head to the side, staring up at the spider symbol in thought. Then she shifted her gaze to the other two.
"If this is some kind of temple to Lolth," she began. Quin was too engrossed in figuring out how to pick the lock to put his attention on her, but the ranger looked up, having grown bored waiting on Quin. "Then that means, as I said before, that there are drow here...some where."
"So?"
Jaelyn shrugged. "Well, what're they doing here? And how did they get here? They would've had to come up from the Underdark, some how get their hands on a boat and sail all the way to this island. Drow don't do that. When they come up from the Underdark, it's only to kill, as you have often pointed out."
"Maybe they heard about the treasure as well." said Bishop in a very sarcastic fashion.
Jaelyn frowned at him. "Don't be a smart-ass, Bishop, it's very unbecoming."
"As unbecoming as being a drow?"
Her frown deepened and she crossed her arms over her chest in defense. Beside her, Feral sensed her distress, turned its fuzzy face toward Bishop, narrowed those yellow, slit-pupil eyes, and let out a growl.
Jaelyn looked down at it in surprise and with a small smile.
Bishop was not amused.
"If that thing tries to attack me, I'm going to kill it, I'm just warning you now."
Jaelyn shot him a glacial look. There was a sinister warning in her eyes; he knew she had it in her, that dark, mean streak. Her heritage was showing through. One could never escape who they are, what they are, that was something the ranger knew too well.
"You'll go through me first." Jaelyn growled at him, her voice not her own. "And I swear to the gods, you won't last two seconds with me."
Quin paused in his study of the lock and looked over his shoulder at Jaelyn, who was practically fuming before his eyes. He could almost picture the steam coming out of her ears.
"Jae..."
"What?" she snarled, not taking her flaming green eyes off the ranger.
"Uh..." Quin swallowed and wiped his brow. "Are you all right? You sound...different."
Jaelyn finally tore her angry eyes away from Bishop and looked down at Quin. Those green eyes immediately softened back to normal.
"Do I?" she replied with a smile the halfling didn't like. It was a confident smile, but that darkness still lingered in it. "I was merely letting him know what will befall him if he tries anything."
"Oh, really?" the ranger snapped. "Go on, then, show me what's going to befall me. I can't wait to see this."
Without so much as blinking, Jaelyn drew her dagger and advanced. The ranger straightened to face the threat, unruffled and slightly amused with her moxie. Quin sighed and sprang up between them, making Jaelyn halt in her stride.
"You two have got to stop this." Quin demanded, solemnly. "How far do you both think we're going to get if you're constantly at each others' throat? I'm sick of having to say this: you both need to learn to get along, or at the very least, learn to argue less violently."
"I'm sick and tired of him insulting me for my heritage!" she shouted angrily. "I'm not going to take it anymore."
"Oh, so now you bother to defend yourself." remarked the ranger with a roll of his eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jaelyn shot back, hands on her hips.
"You let everyone else run you off, wear you down, yet the moment I do it, you suddenly get a spine."
"That's because when you do it-"
She bit her tongue. She was not about to tell this arrogant, self-centered, sarcastic man, who'd been one of the only two people to not outright shun her, that when he insulted her, it hurt a lot more than when anyone else did it, and for the exact reason that he had not shunned her, even if it was just because he didn't care about people in general; it was still nice to be considered and lumped in with general people when the rest of the world considered you unnatural.
Bishop stared at her, a brow quirked and made a proceeding gesture with his hand. "Yeah?"
Jaelyn frowned and shook her head. "Just forget it."
"Fine."
He looked down at Quin with a hard expression. "Are you going to pick that lock or gawk at us?"
Quin made a rather childish face at him. "I don't know. It depends on whether or not you two are going to call a truce. I don't want to have to referee the both of you again."
The ranger shrugged. "I don't do truces. I might consider refraining, but that depends on whether or not the drow gets foolishly bold again."
Quin looked up at Jaelyn, who was seething in Bishop's direction. "Jae?"
She growled. "Fine!"
"Good, now that that's settled..." Quin said and bent back down to the rusted padlock and began working on it.
Jaelyn glared at the ranger and then turned away, looking back at the Lolth symbol on the wall while Feral stood at her side and nudged her hand lovingly. It kept a distrustful eye on Bishop and let out a menacing growl again. The drow soothed her hand through its fur and made a shushing noise. Feral quieted but it still had that look in its eye. Bishop thought it was a particularly intimidating look for an animal, and for a normally cute animal at that. Not many adorable creatures could pull off a threatening look, but that bear-cat, or cat-bear, or what ever in the Nine Hells it was, was pulling it off quite well. He wondered briefly just how far it would go to protect the drow and what it was truly capable of if it ever decided to attack. It didn't look very dangerous. It had fangs and retractable claws, but those were the only weapons he could see. It would probably be no more dangerous than a domesticated cat.
Quin tinkered around with the padlock for a few more moments, using his lock-picks, wiggling them about inside the lock. A little twist, a turn, a small jiggle here and a jerk there and the padlock clicked out of place.
"There we are." the halfling announced with a broad smile. "No problem."
"Took you long enough." remarked Bishop.
Quin shot him a look. "Lock-picking is a delicate procedure. It shouldn't be rushed."
The ranger rolled his eyes in response.
Quin unhooked the padlock from the chains, and then he unwrapped the chains from around the ring and the hook in the floor.
The halfling got to his feet, grabbed a hold of the ring and then lifted.
The door didn't move, didn't even creak on its rusty hinges.
He tried again, mustering all the strength in his tiny, child-like body and failed. The trapdoor was much too heavy for him to lift.
"You two try." Quin said, trying to catch his breath. "It's far too heavy for me."
Jaelyn and Bishop stood over the trapdoor. The drow spit in one palm and then rubbed her hands together, earning a disgusted look from the ranger.
She shrugged. "What? It gives you a better grip."
They both reached down and took hold of the ring, their hands touching, briefly-though both made damn sure they didn't focus on the fact for long-and then lifted the door.
The large, rusted, metal slab opened, revealing a dark hole. They let the door fall back with a bang loud enough to wake the dead. Jaelyn cringed, remembering the little graveyard nearby.
She and Quin knelt at the hole and peered down it, curiously. Feral wedged between them to look down into the hole as well. Jaelyn scrunched her nose up, as there was a very moldy, decaying smell coming up from the abyss.
"Smells like a tomb." she noted.
Quin nodded in agreement. "I wonder how far down it goes."
Bishop stood over them and dropped a stone down the hole. A few seconds later-about seven of them to be precise-they heard a soft thunk as the stone struck the bottom.
"That far."
"And how far would you say that was?" Quin asked, looking up at the ranger.
He shrugged. "Fifteen feet, maybe more."
Jaelyn considered it. "It's not that deep. I mean, we could all use the wall in getting down. It's compact enough to put your back up to one side and your feet on the other, and move down it."
"Getting down isn't the problem," Bishop replied. "It's getting back up again."
Jaelyn tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well...maybe we could get some vines and make a rope, and then we can-"
"No way in the hells." the ranger cut her off. "Unless you and the half-man do it. I'm not touching any plant life out here ever again. That shit out there is alive. It's intelligent."
Jaelyn nodded. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that."
"Why would you think you were? After all, it nearly killed me."
"It's strange." she continued. "The trees seem like they're staring at us...and hating us. They aren't ents, I know that much. Weilsung used to tell me stories about them and these trees don't sound like the stories. They don't have faces in their bark and there are far too many of them. Ents are usually only a handful in number in an entire forest, but out here...it's like every tree is alive."
"It's probably some kind of magic. Didn't that map mention something about it?"
She nodded. "It did. Still, I don't like it. The air has a green tint to it. Have you noticed that? And there's a bad scent. It's very faint, but I can still smell it. It smells like..."
"Anger." Bishop finished, grimly. "It's like they're all pissed about something."
Jaelyn nodded in agreement. That was exactly what the smell was: anger. The trees were angry, but about what, she couldn't even venture a guess. Maybe it was the crowded living conditions, or being forced to live with foreigner trees who had no right to be in their climate in the first place and who were cheating native trees out of their shading duties. It was shameful for the natives.
"So," Quin said, interrupting her thoughts. "We're not going down there, then?"
"We'll have to find rope first." Jaelyn said. "And I'm kind of with Bishop on staying away from the trees and plants. It would probably be unwise to anger them any further."
"But...where are we going to find rope?" the halfling inquired, looking between the two tall folk for an answer.
He got a shrug from the drow and nothing but an irritated look from the human.
Quin sighed. "I was looking forward to exploring the hole. What if there's treasure down there?"
"You want to go down there, don't let us stop you." said the ranger.
"We haven't even explored all of the island, yet." Jaelyn added. "There are obviously people here, so maybe they have rope."
"But they're drow, or if there's a chance they aren't, they at least worship Lolth, so they're bound to be evil."
Jaelyn sighed.
"Then we'll take it from them."
"We could be outnumbered."
The halfling and the drow argued the possibilities for several minutes, much to Bishop's ire, but then he heard something over their ruckus and looked in the direction of the cat-bear, which was standing up on its hind legs on the altar and growling viciously at the threshold, its retractable claws out, resembling little hooked blades of menace.
He knew what it meant, and didn't like it.
The ranger snapped his head back to the other two, scowling.
"Shut up." he hissed at them. "Now."
Jaelyn was the first to turn her head toward him, her face creased in a defiant, angry expression. He gave her a warning look that she didn't take any heed to.
"Don't you tell me to-"
Bishop clapped a hand over her mouth, put a finger to his lips and gave her a hard, meaningful glare. Jaelyn stared at him in alarm. He pointed to her animal companion and then to the threshold. She understood immediately.
There was something or someone outside the building.
And as if on cue, a voice rose from the outside of the ruins. It was a masculine voice, raised in command and in a language Quin and Bishop didn't understand. However, Jaelyn did.
The trio were huddled back against the left wall, keeping out of sight of the possible enemy. Feral still stood on top of the altar, growling and looking particularly ferocious. It was baring its fangs and salivating in anger. It almost looked rabid.
"He's speaking drow." Jaelyn whispered to the other two.
Quin looked at her. "What's he saying?"
"He said he knows we're in here, we're defiling sacred ground, and we must come out immediately."
"Oh, really? Tell him to fuck off." Bishop said, dryly.
Jaelyn stared at him for a brief moment and then smiled in amusement. "Uh...I'm afraid my drow vocabulary does not include...that word."
"Compromise then." he replied impatiently. "We're not coming out. I know a trap when I see one."
"Trap?"
"Yeah, trap."
"How do you figure?" Quin asked, stealing the words right out of Jaelyn's mouth.
"Are you really that stupid to not see it?" the ranger said not bothering to hide his disdain. "You think they don't got us surrounded? We walk out there and we're dead."
Jaelyn shook her head. "I don't think there's anyone else out there. I think he's alone."
"You're an idiot, then. A soon to be dead idiot, but maybe that's for the best."
She scoffed, indignantly. "Everyone's an idiot who doesn't think and believe as you do, right? Just be quiet."
"Fine." he snapped, angrily. "Go on and walk right into their trap. I could care less. Just don't expect me to follow you."
"I expect nothing but the worst from you."
"Good."
Jaelyn switched places with Quin so that she was standing at the corner near the threshold. She peered around it and to her shock, there was a drow male standing a few yards from the structure. It was the first time she had ever laid eyes on one of her own heritage, or really, half of her heritage. He was short and lithe, and had white hair that stood in every direction on his head. He was dark-skinned, about the same color as coal, maybe a shade lighter, and even from the distance between them, Jaelyn could see that he had pink eyes. They stood out almost as brilliantly as his hair. He was garbed in dark green and brown leathers with a forest green cloak draped over his shoulders, frayed and faded at the hem. There was a bow in his hand and a quiver at his right hip. A sword hung at his left hip. Most likely, he was a scout.
"I demand that you come out of the chapel!" he called out to them in drow once again.
"We meant no harm." Jaelyn replied in the language. "We were only exploring."
There was silence for a few moments. Then: "How do you know the language of my people?"
"Because I am one of your people, half anyway." she replied.
"Half drow? Impossible."
"I assure you that I'm telling the truth." Jaelyn said. "I was born on the surface...to a wood elf."
"That's disgusting." the male drow stated.
Jaelyn drew back from peering around the threshold and leaned back against the wall with a sigh. It seemed every heritage she possessed shunned her. According to society, there was nothing worse than being a drow, but now it seemed even the drow had worsts to compare things to, and apparently, Jaelyn was one of them.
"This is getting far too ridiculous." she mumbled under her breath.
"What?" Quin inquired.
"Nothing."
She looked around the threshold again.
"I don't care what you think." she said in drow. "All I want is your assurance that you're alone."
"I am."
"Those are just words."
"If I wasn't alone, you'd be dead." he replied. "I wouldn't have bothered alerting you to my presence; my men and I would've just stormed the chapel and killed you and your friends."
Jaelyn considered this.
"Good point."
"Indeed."
She turned back to her companions. "He's alone."
"How do you know?" Bishop demanded, not liking or trusting any of it.
"Because if he had any men with him, he wouldn't have stopped to have a conversation; he would've just killed us."
The ranger frowned. "He's lying."
Jaelyn shrugged. "I'm about to find out if you're right or not."
"Huh?"
"I'm going to go out there to talk to him. He seems to not want to fight." she said.
Bishop snorted. "You do that, then. Nice knowing you."
Jaelyn rolled her eyes and looked out at the male drow again.
"I'm coming out." she called to him in their language. "And I will be unarmed. All I want is to talk."
"Very well."
Jaelyn laid her bow on the ground and cast a look at her comrades. "Wish me luck."
"Luck isn't going to save you from your own stupidity, girl." the ranger replied. "And neither am I."
"That's good to hear." Jaelyn shot back, hotly. "I'll remember that the next time I see you hanging from some vines."
He opened his mouth for some biting retort, but she spun on her heel, white hair thrashing behind her and marched out of the ruins in a flurry of white skirt. Quin took her place at the frame of the threshold, peering out as she approached the other drow.
The male drow and the female half-drow sized one another up with mild interest. Jaelyn, as has been mentioned before, had never seen another drow before, especially no male drow. He had sharp features that she found uncomplimentary and a scar that dented his left cheek.
"I've never seen a half-drow before." he said. "Whatever was one of my kind thinking to mix our blood with a surface elf? Terrible breeding. The features are all wrong. May Lolth curse you and your parents."
Jaelyn frowned. "You're not exactly pleasing to look at yourself."
"That's because you've obviously never set your eyes on a true drow before." he replied with a smug smirk. "You're used to those disgusting surface elves."
She put her hands on her hips. "As a matter of fact, I've never even met a 'surface elf', as you call them. Don't assume things about people."
"You said you were born to a wood elf." he reminded her.
"Yes, I did." she said. "Born to, not raised by."
"Right. In any case, you've trespassed on sacred ground. That's a crime that warrants death."
"Death?" Jaelyn replied in surprise. "But I'm drow and that's a chapel belonging to Lolth. How am I trespassing?"
"Half-drow." he corrected. "And tainted with the blood of a surface elf. You have no right in a holy place of Lolth. Your very presence defiles it."
Behind Jaelyn, Quin watched the conversation unfold beside the threshold, frowning. He sensed the tension; something bad was about to happen.
"I don't like this." he said.
Bishop peered around through the stone threshold with the halfling, narrowed his eyes, and shook his head. "I can't understand a damn word they're saying. I wish they'd stop talking in that language."
"That drow looks angry."
"Which one?"
"Well, Jaelyn does, too, from what I can tell from the back of her head." Quin paused, scratching his neck thoughtfully. "I didn't know the back of a head could look angry, but hers is pulling it off."
"He's going to attack her." the ranger noted, indifferently.
Quin looked up at him with widened eyes. "How do you know?"
"Because I said he would, didn't I?" Bishop snapped. "And she didn't listen. That's usually what happens to people who don't listen to me."
"Well, then we need to save her before he does attack." Quin insisted.
Bishop shrugged. "You go ahead, then. It's her problem. I'm just going to wait back here and practice how I'm going to tell her 'I told you so'. If she survives."
Quin gave him what passed for a mean look for the halfling. It only came out looking weird and slightly disturbing.
Bishop rose a brow in response.
Outside of the chapel, Jaelyn and the drow male argued colorfully, until at last, the male drow tossed down his bow in frustration and anger and drew the sword strapped at his hip.
Quin jumped into action, unsheathing his rapier, but the halfling's quick reflexes had been outmatched by another.
A brown blur zipped across the distance between the altar and the two drow, attaching itself to the male's throat.
"Gods!" Quin exclaimed. "That thing can move!"
Feral-an appropriate name, apparently-sank its fangs and claws into the drow's throat, jerking and pulling at the delicate skin before it burrowed into it in a sickening flourish of blood. Jaelyn stood paralyzed by the spectacle, her eyes wide, and blood spraying into her face.
She was slowly backing away as the drow, who had a perfect look of surprised terror on his ugly face, screamed in agony and tried to remove the vicious creature from his neck and was only successful in furthering its anger. It had a strength and speed to be contended with, and obviously, a homicidal streak to be feared.
Bishop mentally took back everything he'd ever said about the little shit. It may have been small, furry and adorable, but there was a monster underneath that cuteness.
"Now, I wasn't expecting this." he finally remarked.
Quin nodded and then flinched when Feral tore out the drow's larynx with Jaelyn looking on in mute horror.
"We've got a killer teddy bear on our hands."
"I've seen some gory displays in my time. I've even caused a few of them," the ranger commented while watching in fascination as the blood and innards splattered and slung about. "But this by far beats them all."
When Feral abandoned the drow's throat-or now the mushy, gory hole that had once been a throat-for tearing a wide hole open inside his chest, Quin blanched and looked away.
"Ugh. I can't watch anymore."
Bishop leaned back against the threshold to get into a more comfortable position and then smirked faintly. "I could really go for some ale and popcorn right about now."
Quin gave him a revolted look and escaped back into the corner, his back sliding down the wall until he was seated on the floor. With his elbows on his knees, he rested his chin in his hands and sighed. He tried to ignore the sounds of tearing flesh and the moist sounds of entrails being devoured without much success. He felt ill.
Ten minutes later, Feral finished its assault-and feast-on the drow, who was nothing more than a smeared, red pulp and a set of bones on the leaf-carpeted and now blood-stained ground. The animal's brown fur was drenched in blood; its brown hue and beige strips were almost unrecognizable. There were bits of skin, hair, and intestine in its teeth as well as some in its claws.
Feral stood up on its hind legs, walked over to stand beside Jaelyn and began licking its paws clean.
"Guess that drow won't be a problem now." Bishop remarked from behind her.
Jaelyn hardly heard him. It seemed her brain had stopped working. She was still staring, unblinking, in dismay and revulsion at the red mess on the ground a couple of feet away from her. She was covered in the late drow's blood as well, and there was a bit of his liver stuck to her skirt.
"Heeee...frrrraghh...bluh." she muddled.
The ranger peered at her, wondered briefly about her sanity, and then decided that it wasn't worth considering what currently wasn't present.
"What?"
She repeated it perfectly.
"Look, I don't understand drow."
"Heeee...frrrraghh..."
Quin, of a sudden, was at her side, his small hand touching her arm in concern. "Take a breath, Jae."
"Heeee...ffffff..."
"What in the Nine Hells is she trying to say?"
Quin grinned. "I imagine she said 'I have just witnessed a drow being torn apart by a teddy bear...and now I think I'm going to vomit.'"
"You got all that from 'Heeee...ffffff...'?"
The halfling shrugged. "Hells, it's what I'd say if I were in her place."
Quin studied her, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Why don't you try smacking her on the head?"
Bishop looked at him with a bewildered expression. "Not that I'm not tempted, but what exactly is that going to accomplish?"
"Well, sometimes when you smack people with amnesia on the head, they get their memories back. I doubt this is that much different from amnesia. It's like...what do you call it when you've seen something so traumatizing you're shocked out of your mind? Shell shock?"
"Close enough." Bishop replied. "I think your logic is a little off, however."
Quin spread his hands before him in a helpless gesture. "What? It could work. Go on and try. Just for the hells of it. If it doesn't work, then no harm, no foul, as they say."
The ranger shrugged, lifted his hand, drew it back and paused. He looked down at Feral and recalled what happens to people bold enough to attack its new owner. He promptly decided that he didn't want to end up a red smear on the ground and lowered his hand. Even if he could be prepared for the animal's attacks, he still didn't trust its speed. It looked deceptively slow and he remembered how it had been a blur when it crossed the distance to attack the drow. He inwardly shuddered. Nothing is supposed to be that fast. It's unnatural.
Jaelyn jerked back to reality, turned her head about to look at her companions, her eyes so wide they nearly overtook her face.
"Did you see that?" she cried. "Gods! It-It-It mauled that drow! That little thing right there just tore apart something several times its size!"
Quin laughed and slapped her in the small of her back. "Feral must really like you, then."
Jaelyn merely stood there a moment and then looked down at Feral as it finished cleaning its paws and was now working on its arms. It paused long enough to look up at her, sensing her stare, and perform a grin for her. Its razor-sharp teeth were bloody and bits of skin and entrails were stuck in them.
Jaelyn sighed and then fainted.