Chapter 15: A Torch in the Darkness
A dozen black spider web designed capes flapped like a raven's wing in the night. Their beady red eyes were locked onto the glow of a village at the foot of the mountain valley. Almost a half hour's trek away
The ash-skinned elves gestured to each other in their intricate sign language to ready themselves and their weapons for the raid. Twelve Drow lined up against the opening of their cave. The leader among them, a female with long stark white hair with two braids along the sides of her head and the rest of her hair braided into three ponytails in the back, looked over her troops. A snake headed whip clung to her belt. And a shining silver medallion of a spider with eight wiry legs, several ruby eyes, and a silver cobweb surface hung from her neck marking her station as a leader and master.
"Ready yourselves!" whispered the captain in their sub-terranean language.
The warriors licked their lips as they took their positions along the craggy cliff. It would be a short jog down the cliff-face before they begin their attacks. The warriors brandished their swords and loosened their joints. Many impatiently glanced back waiting for their commander to give the signal to begin the assault
One soldier, looked up and squinted at the brilliant silver light coming off the full moon above them. Not many drow from deepest parts of the Underdark would believe that there could be such a light that hangs in the sky.
The captain opened her hand and clenched it shut like she was cracking the shell of a nut. The warriors smiled wickedly as they leapt from the cliffside and slid down the mountain side. Their stances wide, feet moving along the loose pathway, once the ground underneath became firm, they commenced to a run. Their training taught them to always keep moving. A standing target, was a dead target.
At the base of the mountain was the lining of a forest. The sparsely dense cluster of trees gave the slenderly built raiders ample cover to hide behind as they advanced on the village.
An ugly dagger, fashioned at the hilt in the shape of a spider bayed for the sweet taste of Surface-dweller blood. The owner on the other hand, dreamt of the reward he would receive when he returns home with a good stock of fresh slaves. If he managed to capture a few surface elves, he could earn a generous sum for selling them to Lolth's priestesses as sacrifices. The promise of gold greatly outweighed his bloodlust.
Several log cabin buildings were built around a covered well in the center of the village. A communal corral on the east side kept the stock of dairy goats, horses, and mules that the denizens used to work the land. A large field of barley sat to the south of the village. In every cabin, a single candle light glowed from a window. All other parts of the cabin were dark. No doubt the farmers were fast asleep. Soon they shall all awaken to the bloody surprise of the evil invaders
Once they bordered the village, the drow crept forward, crouching low and hiding their swords and daggers, hoping the glare of the moon light wont give away their position. As she crawled toward the village on her belly, the captain's hands sunk into a thin layer of mud. The sticky dirt smelled funny. It was a dull pungent odor.
The warrior's eyes shifted between the visible light and the infrared spectrum. The bodies of sleeping goats and mules glowed in vibrant hues of reds, yellows, and greens. Once inside the village compound, the raiding party broke up into teams of two. They each stalked close to a cabin and readied themselves for the onslaught.
'Kill one from each household.' the order echoed through their minds.
Since the village was small, and no doubt the humans here were numerous, they would have to rely on intimidation tactics to make them submit.
Just before the captain could give the order, a crack from a breaking window caught their attention. Their eyes, still in the infrared spectrum, saw a bright white light shoot across to where the layer of mud was.
"Rabhadh!" the captain yelled, her eyes widened to resembling large rubies at the grave mistake she overlooked. A trap.
The air around the village snapped as a column of fire engulfed the perimeter around the village. the raiders wailed at the sudden bright light shuffled around them. Two of the warriors collapsed, trying to shield their eyes from the inferno. The captain unfurled her whip and barked at the warrior's
"A ghàirdeanan!A ghàirdeanan!" she said grabbing one of the men by the collar of his piwafwi cloak.
The long sharp moot of a horn, followed by two other horn calls, startled the raiders. Never have they heard such a thing from any of the other village raids around the mountain. The doors of the cabins they were about to breach, burst open with a shining armored warrior emerging forth. The flames of the perimeter reflected intensely off their armor. Three heavy armored humans took positions into the center of the village. their swords and axes honed to a refined edge.
"Defenders of the meek! Militant for the faithful! Slay these foul beasts!" ordered a blue haired woman as she lead the charge against the drow.
The blue haired Sergeant charged ahead, falchion swinging over-head. The curved straight edge slashed down severing the arm of a drow, its dark purplish blood splashed onto the breastplate of the holy warrior.
The second paladin, armed with a great axe came up behind the sergeant and swung his axe from the side into the stomach of another dark elf. It's limp body became stuck onto the hulking axe blade. Using the momentum he built up with the first attack, the man brought the axe up and then down onto the one armed drow, begging for mercy at the feet of the sergeant.
The captain, hissed at the sight of the humans. She drew her whip back and cracked it forward, wrapping the tightly woven leather fibers around the neck of the third paladin.. With a surprisingly strong jerk of her arm, she pulled the warrior over to the drow's side where three of the underlings began to assault the poor fighter
"Anissa!" screamed the sergeant. Her grip around her falchion tightened
The axeman and the sergeant charged towards their comrade. The axeman hewn another dark elf in half and buried his axe into the skull of another. The sergeant pulled the youngest of the three to her feet
"On your feet! You can rest when we are back in the barracks!"
"Yes Sergeant Harth!" screamed the young woman as she charged ahead and tackled a drow archer with her shield. She pinned the young drow under her foot and bashed the pointed edge of her shield down onto his neck. Over and over she slammed down the shield till the wretched thing's head was severed in a purple mess.
Varris squared up against two drow swordsmen. The dark skinned raiders sprung at her with lightning speed. Each fighting like the single head of a hydra. The sergeant used the width of her longsword to repel a two pronged attack from the duo. As she parried the attack, the sergeant knew she couldn't possibly win against two agile warriors at once. So, she pushed one away while attempting to grab ahold of the other. As fast as they were, she was only able to grasp the flailing edge of its qiwafwi, but this was all she needed to pull the pirouetting drow into the point of her sword. The other head of the duo dashed forward striking towards a blind spot against Varris. The long sweeping blue hair blocked out the ample striking area the drow fighter used to ambush the woman. Her blue eyes widened in surprise
As Varris fought the dark elves, her mind slipped back to a lifetime ago. A time when she had fought the drow in their home turf. It was just like now. Only not as dark, and she had the skills she lacked back then.
The drow jumped forward aiming the spider shaped blade of his dagger at the eye of the sergeant, but the foul beast was cut down by an incoming. Varris blinked quickly, snapping back into reality.
"You okay, Sergeant?" asked the axeman
Without a word the paladin leader gave the man a nod before rejoining the battle
Anissa twirled her sword into a reverse grip before she brought her blood splattered shield up to cover her chest. The young woman charged like an enraged bull at another archer. Just before impact the woman adjusted her weight behind her shield. The little drow felt the iron barrier strike his chest and front of his ribcage get pushed in. as the creature of darkness was flung backwards, it tumbled into the dirt and finally slid into the inferno barrier. It let loose a high pitched shriek as the man's body writhed from the flames.
A raider armed with two daggers rushed Annisa in hopes of using his smaller stature and faster movements against the heavy armored beast. He grappled the warrior's shield as he slashed wildly at the woman's face.
-Slick-
A fine trickle of blood rushed down Anissa's check as she growled at the grinning drow. Anissa flourished her sword over her head and brought the edge down into the neck of the still grimacing drow.
Several torn or dead raiders lay in the center of the village. Their blood darkening the ground. The three warriors wiped the purple blotches of blood from their faces. The remaining raiders couldn't help but quiver at the sights. Three humans, pitiful surface dwellers, slain their comrades with such ferocity and gory manner. It was terrifying to say the least. The final two drow looked to each other and unanimously bolted away. Leaving their commander to her own. A death back in the safety of The Underdark was sure to be a more merciful option than the rancor they faced.
The drow captain screamed as she unfurled her whip back and cracked it against the chest plate of the axeman. Despite being so heavily armored, he knew an attack like that could have pierced his heart. To the man's knowledge, drow were experts that had decades if not centuries of weapons experience under their belts, honed in an unhospitable world of death. He tried to think of a way where the Militiaman could fight at least fairly against the drow woman. When he heard the clank of his comrades armor come up behind him, the man smirked at the drow.
"You're in trouble now."
Varris strode towards the drow woman. She pointed her falchion at her foe and flashed the raider a snarl. The captain understood this gesture. In the back of her twisted and depraved mind she thought that the humans of the surface world may have a small sense of understanding honor.
Varris poised her sword into a defensive stance and waited. The captain begun to twirl the whip in the air the long snake like cord coiled above its wielder and hissed through the air. With a flick of her wrist, the black leather cord flung forward and wrapped itself around the sergeant's blade. Just as it tried before, the drow gave the whip a sudden powerful jerk trying to tear the sword from the paladin's grip.
"Die you scum!" Varris said tugging her sword back and pulled the captain into her. As she flew towards the human Varris swung an iron clad fist into the warrior's jaw. She then grabbed her dazed head and slammed it into the dirt.
The drow laid there: face bleeding, soldiers defeated, and mission failed. She knew it was over. Once they stepped foot out of their cave, Lolth had forsaken them to a cruel fate. She loosened her grip of the snake headed whip and called out her intention.
"Bidh mi a 'gèilleadh"
Although she didn't understand a single word, the elf spoke, a warrior knew the meaning. Varris sheathed her falchion to her waist and dragged her prisoner into position
"Damn, elves." Scoffed Anissa kicked the one that cut her cheek.
"I know." The axeman said dragging the burnt one into the pile of the dead. "Dark skinned, light skinned, they are all the same. Sooner they leave the North, the better. Hey sergeant, we taken prisoners?
"Nope"
The axeman shrugged as he grabbed the severed arm of the first of the fallen raiders and tossed it into the pyre. "Works for me."
The two women leaders looked at each other in total disgust for the other. Varris grabbed ahold of the spider medallion and jerked the chain from its master. She looked down at the vile hunk of silver in her gauntlets. In one powerful crunch, the rubied eyes of the silver spider popped out between Varris' fingers. She then let the crumbled up metal figure fall from her hand into the dust.
"You're heretic goddess won't save you." Varris said lining her sword up for a clear decapitation.
The drow captain smirked at the human. There was no fear in her eyes. There was something else. Something very familiar…Arrogance. In a broken form of the common tongue, the captain began a taunt that struck the sergeant like an arrow
"You fear…you fear, the darkness. It shall meet you. It shall end you."
Using her anger as a mask, Varris brought the blade across the drow's neck, but her aim was made off by the words.
"Sergeant, should we pursue the remaining drow?" asked Anissa
"The rats will go into their hole. We should go and burn their nest." Added the axeman
"No." Ordered Sergeant Harth "Let them go. They will die regardless. The Underdark will claim them soon enough…it always does."
