The drow slaver instantly fell; Liana's arrow protruding from his chest.
The ranger and a handful of the former prisoners ran to their rescuer to assess his condition. They picked him up from where he lay crumpled on the ground, and moved him closer to a torch for better light.
One women from a simple farming village gasped when her hand came back from the masked figure's head covered in blood.
She ran to where some of the other prisoners were tending to each other's wounds with supplies they found on one of the carts; while Liana carefully removed the man's draconian mask.
The prisoners who were watching all froze in shock as the figure's face was revealed.
He was a drow.
Short and wild silver hair swept to the side, with bangs that covered his left eye; framed a youthful face of ashen grey. Liana gently lifted an eyelid with her thumb, revealing violet irises with dilated pupils.
"Is anybody here a medic?" She asked, "He has a concussion."
Nobody moved.
"Why would we help a drow?" A larger man demanded.
"Because he rescued us!" Liana exclaimed, "And look at him! He's just a kid!"
Still no one moved; their hatred of the dark elves in general overriding all other thoughts.
Liana shot one more glare at the surrounding prisoners, before gently lifting the drow into a sitting position to examine the back of his head. A large gash as long as her hand, ran from directly behind his right ear, to the back of his cranium.
She was about to go get some of the healing supplies herself, when the woman who had helped her lay the small elf down came back; gently cleaning the blood from his wound with a wet rag.
"Poor little thing.." she muttered as the drow shuddered beneath her touch.
Once all the blood had been cleared from the gash, Liana carefully applied a healing salve, and the woman wrapped a bandage around the wound. Then they lay him back on the floor, with a rolled up cloak cushioning his head.
"We should probably move somewhere else." Liana suggested to the rest of the freed prisoners, "We don't know if any more raiding parties will come by this way."
There was a general hum of agreement, before the large man spoke.
"That is a good idea." He said, "But the drow whelp stays here."
Liana bristled.
"I'm not going to just leave him!" She growled, "He helped us, and got hurt in the process! The least we can do is help him get better!"
Just then the creak of wagon wheels, and tramping of feet reached their ears.
"More drow!" One of the villagers exclaimed, "Run!"
The escaped prisoners all fled back the way the caravan had come, but Liana looked around frantically for a place to hide the injured dark elf.
Spying a small cave hidden behind a rock outcropping; she pulled together some supplies and weapons, before gathering the little elf into her arms and slipping into the grotto.
It was much bigger on the inside than Liana first thought. As the sounds of the approaching raiders drew nearer; she crawled further back into the cave to avoid detection, finding that it opened out into a sizable little cavern with a spring in the middle, lit by bio-luminescent fungi.
Finding a dry shelf of rock, she lay the drow on it, placing the rolled cloak under his head, and spreading a second over his small frame. Gods he's tiny! She thought, putting the medical items on another small ledge, and setting the rest of the baggage on the floor beneath it.
Then she sat down, inspecting the arrows she had gathered before her hasty retreat into the cave. She frowned at some of them, setting them aside for repairs.
After a while, Liana heard movement from the ledge where she had left the drow, followed by a quiet groan. Jumping to her feet, she ran to the makeshift bed, looking down at its inhabitant.
His eyes flew open, vibrant purple meeting emerald green.