I'm kind of on a roll right now… (pats muse on the head and feeds it a cookie)
Chapter Ten – Tensions
"Any sign?"
Nathyrra's concern threatened to swallow her as Szinaufein looked over his shoulder and shook his head.
"None, Nathyrra… I fear we have taken the wrong fork. I haven't found any trace of either of them. I am sorry."
The young drow looked so dejected at having failed her, Nathyrra couldn't help but emulate the Seer by reaching out and touching him briefly on the shoulder; a touch that, to her dismay, he instinctively shrank back from before offering her a nervous smile. Shaking her head that such an innocent gesture of comfort could still be misconstrued in such a way even after all the Seer had told and taught them, the assassin sighed.
"We'll give it a little longer… if there is still nothing, we'll head back to Jehk'ril and the others. We'll just have to hope that Valen and Xen'shai have more luck. If not…" she trailed off, unwilling to even think about that possibility. Without Jen, the Seer's visions couldn't possibly be true, and that was something the former Red Sister didn't particularly want to face at that moment.
Seeing her moment of introspection, Szinaufein nodded slowly before nervously taking his place at her side.
"Jabbress Nathyrra… may I… may I… ask you a… question?"
At first, Nathyrra frowned at the young ranger's hesitancy, but quickly turned it into a smile as not to put him off from asking what was bothering him.
"Of course, Szinaufein," she answered with a certain level of forced joviality. "What would you like to ask?"
The ranger paused for a moment, caught between surprise at being allowed to speak so freely and not knowing exactly how to express his question without causing offence to the powerful female that walked beside him. Eventually he grinned timidly and shrugged his shoulders a little, hoping that the gesture would indicate that he did not want to cause her any insult.
"It is about Mother Seer… why, uh, that is, I do not mean this with any offence… I… it is mere curiosity and you can tell me to hold my tongue at any point, of course…"
"Szinaufein," Nathyrra sighed, rolling her eyes and smiling affectionately at the much younger drow. "I am not about to beat you in the name of the Spider Queen for asking a question. Out with it!"
"Yes, Jabbress!" the ranger replied, his anxiousness seemingly rather perversely overcome by her forthright manner. "Why… uh… why are you so sure that Mother Seer is correct in her visions?"
For a moment, Nathyrra was struck dumb.
"I, err, I… just do," she replied eventually, knowing that her answer was poor at best. She turned her face away from Szinaufein so that he would not be able to see the conflict that battled there. "She has not given me any reason to doubt her."
"Valen is not so sure…" the young drow continued hesitantly.
"Valen is simply sore that he has been usurped in some way… in his eyes, anyway. That is all," chuckled the assassin good naturedly, glad to talk about the tiefling rather than herself at that particular point. "He is a good warrior and an excellent Commander, but he lacks foresight when it comes to seeing the whole picture."
Szinaufein nodded thoughtfully.
"So you do believe that Mother Seer's visions are correct and that Jenalil is indeed the one who will lead us to victory over the Valsharess?"
Nathyrra looked back over at the ranger and locked his eyes with hers.
"Yes, I do. Do you not?"
It was Szinaufein's turn to look away and pause.
"I… I do not know," he answered eventually. "I want it to be true, but she is so… young. She seems only a little more experienced than I am, and I know that I could not defeat the Valsharess with an entire army at my back, let alone on my own."
Nathyrra sighed and the two drow walked a few more paces in silence, both lost in their own thoughts before the assassin looked back over to the ranger.
"I know what you mean," Nathyrra answered eventually, her tone heavy. "The way Mother Seer spoke about her… I was expecting a great surfacer champion to arrive; one with decades of experience under her belt who would come and sweep our enemies from the map with a simple flick of her sword..… but instead, we have Jenalil." She paused for a moment, unsure of how to express her concerns and doubts… or indeed, even if she should to someone who, at the end of the day, was still a virtual stranger to her.
Seeing the conflict that battled across the female's face, Szinaufein studied his surroundings for a moment before hesitantly speaking up.
"I was in my last year of our city's Melee-Magthere when the army of the Valsharess arrived," he began, his voice soft. "Cheth Rrhinn was one of the first cities to be overrun. The Valsharess had sent an envoy ahead to demand that we all pledge fealty to her, but none of the Matron Mothers believed her… they all just thought her another upstart in need of a good lesson. It wasn't until she arrived at the gates with her army in tow that anyone thought to possibly take her seriously." The young drow hung is head for a moment, making Nathyrra feel a little uncomfortable. She remembered Cheth Rrhinn only too well…
"We were ordered to defend the city to our last breath, but in our arrogance, we were woefully unprepared. The Valsharess already had scores of allies: drow, duergar, a few illithid plus a multitude of summoned planars… we didn't stand a chance." He sighed. "We still fought, though, even though we all realised pretty quickly it was essentially futile." He looked up and gazed into the distance. "I lost a great many friends that day…"
Upon seeing the conflict of wistful memory and deep pain etched upon the young drow's face, Nathyrra had to look away and battle with her own emotions. She had been there, at that time a staunch supporter of the Valsharess; for a brief moment, she wondered how many of Szinaufein's friends had died at her hands.
"I… I am sorry for your loss," she near-whispered in return, an uncharacteristic lump welling in her throat at the memory and realisation, threatening to choke her.
Szinaufein just shook his head.
"Why are you apologising? Looking back, they weren't really my friends… just allies and people who weren't out to kill me as soon as look at me. Anyway, it's not your fault." Before Nathyrra could rejoin, he held up a deceptively delicate hand, forestalling her. "I know enough of your history, Nathyrra; you were once a Red Sister, and that means you were probably there at Cheth Rrhinn." He looked over at her, a small smile upon his face. "I don't blame you. You were doing exactly the same as the rest of us: simply following orders." He paused again. "Funny how things turn out, isn't it?"
Nathyrra looked confused. "Funny? How? I don't understand?"
"We were once on opposite sides of a battlefield… now we fight together." At his odd intonation, Nathyrra couldn't help but glance over at the ranger, but his face was once again as unreadable as a mask.
"Yes… we do," she replied a little awkwardly, unsure of exactly what he wanted her to say. "I… I guess Mother Seer has helped us all in some way."
Szinaufein just nodded thoughtfully.
"And now Mother Seer has brought us the Jallil d'Ssussun," he said after a long pause.
"Yes… she has." Nathyrra's brows creased a little in consternation as she tried to figure out exactly where the young male was going with his train of thought.
"And that is why I believe. If Mother Seer can bring deadly enemies together to fight side by side, then anything is possible."
The conviction is Szinaufein's voice made Nathyrra stop in her tracks and regard him incredulously; never before had she heard any of the drow outside of Eilistraee's followers speak of the Seer in such an earnest way. At her expression of surprise, Szinaufein's face broke into a grin before he gave her slightly roguish, decidedly conspiratorial wink.
"Has it ever occurred to you that Jenalil is not actually a 'saviour', and that she simply may be the catalyst that unites us all… and that we may all be saviours in our own way just by working with her?"
Surprised by his logic, the female drow just shook her head dumbly and shrugged her shoulders whilst she battled with the realisation that the young male was far more intelligent and perceptive than she ever gave him credit.
"Food for thought," Szinaufein continued, his grin still firmly in place at her confusion. "Nothing more." He then glanced up the tunnel they were travelling along. "Shall we continue, or shall we turn back?"
Nathyrra paused thoughtfully.
"Let us continue a little further. Just in case."
To that, Szinaufein smiled.
"Agreed. Just in case…"
o0o
"Someone definitely passed through here recently; look at the edge of this patch of fungi. I think we're on the right track."
Valen straightened up, dusting his hands on his thighs whilst Xen'shai stroked his chin with one long ebon finger thoughtfully.
"She managed to open quite a distance between us in that short amount of time, didn't she?" commented the Deathsinger. "It proves she is resourceful, even under the effects of the confusion."
At Xen'shai's observation, the tiefling Weapon Master said nothing and just continued to scan the ground sullenly for any more evidence of Jen's passing.
All your fault…
Closing his eyes momentarily, Valen willed the tiny, treacherous part of his mind that continued to taunt him that if only they had followed the half elf as soon as she had run off rather than arguing with the drow, she wouldn't have been able to set up such a distance between them all in the first place to shut up and leave him be. However, it was nothing compared to the even smaller, even more secret voice that kept trying to tempt him into giving up the search all together and returning to Lith My'athar to take up his rightful position as Commander again…
Straightening himself up, the tiefling scowled and without saying a word, marched purposefully forward. With a long suffering sigh, Xen'shai passed a hand over his face in an attempt at sublimating his own irritation with the temperamental Weapon Master and followed him.
"The fungi was still secreting fluid – I suppose that is a good thing. Means she did not pass through here long ago," the Deathsinger commented in an effort to make small talk.
Valen simply grunted in reply.
"If indeed it was her that crushed the fungi in the first place. I am only guessing it was her because it would be highly unlikely for a drow to leave such a clear mark as to their passing."
Valen grunted again.
"Oh, this is why I am so ecstatic to be your partner in this search," Xen'shai sighed sarcastically. "You're such a wonderful conversationalist, aren't you? So full of the joys of life… please, Weapon Master, regale me with yet another tale of great cheer! Or are you all out of inarticulate grunts and snappish threats today?"
Valen felt his hackles rise instinctively, but struggled to keep his temper under control. He knew the Deathsinger was needling him, and was determined not to give him what he wanted. Realising that he wasn't going to get a rise out of the tiefling that easily, the drow tried another tactic.
"We're going to an awful lot of trouble to look for this female," he commented, his light tone contradicted directly by the decidedly wicked smile that crossed his ebon face. "I wonder exactly how grateful she will be when we find her…"
The drow's smile deepened as he watched the Weapon Master stiffen slightly.
Ahh… by chance, was that a nerve...?
"Maybe this little excursion should take us a little longer than expected, hmmm?" The Deathsinger's voice was now softly beguiling as he leaned in closer to the tiefling, a conspiratorial look upon his face. "Give the jallil a chance to pay her, uh, shall we say… respects?" He waved a hand airily. "It is the least she could do for us, considering the trouble she has caused us… pay her dues, so to speak." The drow then allowed himself a cruel chuckle as he watched Valen tense up further. "Lord knows, you could do with some kind of relaxation…"
Valen's gauntleted hand shot out as fast as a striking snake and grasped Xen'shai by the throat before slamming him against the nearest rocky wall, knocking the breath out of the surprised Deathsinger for a moment. Snarling, the tielfing then pulled the drow's face close to his so that their noses almost touched, breathing heavily.
"If you DARE insinuate that again, I will castrate you myself. Do I make myself clear?!"
At first, Valen witnessed probably the first instance of open shock the Deathsinger had ever displayed; this was, however, quickly buried under a disdainful sneer that promised nothing less than murder.
"I suggest you unhand me, klu'chud e'trit," he snarled back, mustering as much menace as he could through his constricted throat. "Unless you wish the tale of your miserable existence to end here, of course."
Still snarling, Valen felt the unmistakeable prick of a dagger against his stomach through the chinks of the chainmail he wore under his breastplate; for a split second, he considered just ramming the drow as hard as he could against the wall again and breaking his back, but the words of the Seer and their last meeting swam to the forefront of his mind through his rage.
We need all of you to succeed…
Growling to himself, the tall warrior lowered the Deathsinger reluctantly to the floor and snatched his hand back from around his throat. Gasping a little, Xen'shai rubbed his neck, gingerly feeling for the beginnings of the inevitable bruises he would soon carry with one hand, and sheathing his dagger with the other. For a long moment, the two males simply eyed each other, each with naked hostility written openly upon their faces as they both thought through their respective choices on how to end this situation. It was Xen'shai who straightened up first, smoothing his features from a snarl back to his facade of faint amusement as he made a show of adjusting the bracers that adorned his forearms.
Still watching the drow warily, Valen slowly allowed some of the white-hot fury he was still experiencing to slip away, back to the carefully constructed prison he held deep within himself and threw the gates of sheer willpower back up, locking his anger up once again. Once he was sure he was successful, he took a deep breath and stretched his neck until it cracked, easing the tension that had built there. He still regarded the Deathsinger coldly, but at least he could think straight now without the obscuring red mist that had clouded his judgement before.
"It was simply a test, Errdegah-chath," Xen'shai said, a hint of smugness jarring horribly with the overall reconciliatory tone to his voice . "I would never advocate harm towards the Jallil d'Ssussun." He smiled slightly condescendingly. "In a way, I am… comforted that you feel so strong about her protection. To have such a strong warrior at her back…" He lifted a silvery eyebrow. Valen just snorted in reply; he knew that the Deathsinger was playing him for a fool, but what kind of fool, he wasn't quite so sure.
The tension was broken almost immediately by a distant scream. Both males snapped their heads around to the direction in which it came from, and after glancing in each other's direction and without another word, sped off into the darkness.
o0o
"What in the Hells was that?!" Jen breathed, ducking behind a large, crystal studded rock upon hearing the unearthly scream from up ahead.
Deekin regarded her with large, reptilian eyes, bewilderment and fear etched clearly into them.
"Deekin doesn't know… not sound like person, though," he whispered back, reaching behind him for his crossbow and sliding a bolt into the groove atop the small weapon.
Jen simply nodded in reply, swallowing hard and unsheathing the heavily enchanted shortsword she carried as her second weapon. For a split second, she wished fervently that she had Enserric with her; as much as the sword annoyed her with its constant chatter, its confidence in her abilities to defeat any enemy they came across was a comfort she could sorely have done with at that moment. Straining her ears, the half elf tried to listen for any signs of movement; upon hearing none, she tapped Deekin upon his shoulder and spoke to him in a low whisper.
"You stay here – I'm going on ahead to see what's going on. Do. Not. Follow. Me. Understand?" She punctuated her point by grasping the kobold lightly by the chin, making him look directly into her eyes.
"But what is Boss…" Deekin began, his eyes even huger than before.
"No, Deekin. I don't want you following me. I'll give you the usual signal when and if I want you to meet up with me. All right?"
Deekin shook his chin from her grasp and looked at the floor.
"Deekin – promise me…" Jen near pleaded, allowing a slight hint of warning to enter her voice.
Shrugging his thin shoulders, the kobold sighed. "Okay, Boss. Deekin promises. Only come when bird call given. Deekin understands." Looking dejected, he then looked around himself; spotting a small crevice in which he could hide himself, he pointed to it. "Deekin hide there. Is okay with Boss?"
Jen nodded. "Yes, that's fine. Stay in there until I either come back for you, or you hear the signal." She patted Deekin on his shoulder again and offered him what she hoped was a reassuring smile before watching the little kobold secrete himself into his hiding place. Satisfied that he was completely hidden, Jen then closed her eyes briefly, searching within herself for a spell that might aid her; deciding to forgo a simple invisibility spell, she chose a more camouflaging spell that would enable her to meld directly with her surroundings, meaning that if she did get into any trouble, she could attack without having to worry too much about the reappearance factor.
Staying low, the half elf called upon all of her resources and focused solely upon the task in hand. Now she was in her element; no longer the slightly awkward, unsure young woman of before, she was now the Scout, creeping silently along the edge of the tunnel, utilising the broken rocks and stands of large fungal growth to her advantage. She took her time, pausing every so often to cock her head and listen intently; this had been a tactic she had learnt when she had trained – and later, excelled – as a scout for the local militia, a tactic that she had further honed during her previous adventures, and it was a tactic that served her well now as a figure walked carefully into view.
At first, the half elf thought it might have been one of her own party, but caution overrode her desire to reveal herself just in case the figure did not turn out to be one of her companions. It was an instinct that served her well, for as the figure crept closer, it became quickly apparent that Jen did not know this drow. Slowly, she crouched, her eyes never leaving the skulking form of the drow, and brought her shortsword to bear in front of her, readying herself just in case she had to strike. As the drow drew closer to her position, she could see that she was a female and that she wore close fitting black and red leather armour complete with the stylised depiction of an arachnid embroidered on to the breast and back of it. Clarification then hit Jen like a thunderbolt; this was one of the followers of the Valsharess – one of the Red Sisters that the Seer had mentioned the first time they had spoken.
Fear blossomed in Jen's breast, causing her heart to race. She fought desperately with an almost overwhelming urge to turn and run, bullying herself into continuing to breathe lightly and steadily. Where there was one, the half elf did not doubt there were more… glancing around herself, she couldn't see any evidence, but that didn't necessarily mean this female was actually alone. On the other hand, if this female had managed to gather intelligence about her little party and was currently on her way back with her report…
It was a risk Jen simply could not afford to take.
Blinking rapidly, the rogue willed her heart to slow as much as possible and concentrated. The drow had now drawn level with her; as far as Jen was concerned, it was a miracle that the other female had not spotted her in her hiding place simply through hearing the thudding of her heart. Suddenly, the drow straightened up and snapped her head in Jen's direction; the half elf froze, not even daring to blink. From above her, an unseen bat sculled past, its wings sounding like sails snapping in a high wind compared to the silence of before. Seemingly satisfied that it had been the bat she had heard, the drow nodded to herself and then continued to prowl forwards until she had passed Jen.
Silently, Jen rose from her crouch and gingerly took a noiseless step forward, pausing momentarily to make sure that the drow in front of her had heard nor sensed her movement. Knowing that she had to act swiftly before she was inevitably spotted, the half elf then lunged forwards, and before the drow could even squawk out in surprise, Jen drew her shortsword along the other female's throat. Keeping the blade in place as to reduce blood splatter, she then wrenched the female backwards into a large stand of fungus as the drow gasped and tried to struggle free before finishing the job with a brutal downward strike that finished what her initial cut had started.
Breathing heavily, Jen drew a bloody hand across her brow, causing the world plunge into a crimson mist, making Jen's heart race again until she realised that she had smeared blood across the moonstone circlet. Carefully, the half elf wiped the blood free from the circlet with a trembling finger so that the world returned to it's former silvery form before she knelt beside the still warm body of the drow female and searched through her pockets and belt pouch, inside of which she found a few glass vials of liquid, a couple of rolled up scrolls and a folded piece of parchment. Stuffing these into her own belt pouch, she then noticed a faint glittering upon the drow's finger; lifting her hand up, the half elf saw an ornately set ruby ring. Lifting an eyebrow, Jen slid the trinket off the dead drow's finger and pocketed it, reasoning that if she couldn't use it, she could probably barter it later, and then took up some of the dead fungal matter that littered the ground under the stand of huge mushrooms and covered the body as best as she could so that it was hidden from casual eyes at least.
Taking in a large, shaky breath, the rogue looked carefully around herself, fearing more drow would now pour out of the shadows, but all was still and silent once again. Slowly she rose to her feet and glanced down to the disturbed litter at her feet that only she knew covered the body of the anonymous drow female; for a second, she wondered who she was and whether she would be missed by anyone and felt a slight stab of remorse for the person the corpse had once been, but that quickly passed when the more logical side of the half elf reasserted itself; she was down in the depths of the Underdark, where survival of the fittest was more than just a hackneyed saying and it truly was a case of 'kill or be killed'. With that thought in mind, Jen slunk back into the darkness towards where Deekin was hiding.