The warm bed beckoned Shara back to slumber, but it was pointless. She was well and truly awake, and no amount of wishful thinking would change that. Despite this, she stubbornly remained abed, unwilling to relinquish the warm cocoon of blankets that enfolded her. She burrowed deeper under the covers, trying to block out the sounds of activity emerging from the surrounding camp.

What wasn't helping matters was her sudden recollection of her conversation with the Seer and the subsequent revelation she'd had. She had been so sure that a little sleep was all she needed to make things clear. Unfortunately, that did not seem to be the case. Well rested she might be, but Shara had no more idea what to do than she had the night before.

Somehow, she forced herself out of bed and began to rummage in her pack for some clean clothes. It didn't take her long to find the desired items, but as she was doing so, her hand brushed against an all too familiar object. Her fingers wrapped around the leather bound hilt and she slowly withdrew a small dagger from the pack. Shara wasn't sure how long she sat there, her eyes fixed on the blade, but from the stiffness in her shoulders, she guessed it had been some time. She set the dagger aside for a moment, a small tremor running through her hands the only sign of her agitation.

She turned back to the clothes she had found, donning them in short order. Her armor took a bit longer, as she extracted it from the heap she had left it in the night before. A few pieces were going to need some maintenance soon, but it wasn't anything that she couldn't put off a bit longer.

As Shara tightened the last of the buckles that secured her leathers, her gaze once again fell upon the little blade. It was an unassuming thing, a plain steel dagger with a well-worn leather wrapped hilt, sheathed in dark stained leather, nothing that merited the pure loathing with which the half-elf was regarding it. Shara sighed and shut her eyes. It was well past time for her to face her past, and stop letting these memories haunt her. She reached out for the dagger as if it was a viper ready to strike, quickly placing it on her belt opposite her rapier. She cinched the belt around her waist, trying not to think of the last time this dagger had sat at her hip as it did now.

Shara slipped on her new gloves, smiling a bit as she did so, and took a final look about her room. Everything was in order, so there was no reason to delay any longer. She might not have any idea of what she was going to do about Valen, but she was resourceful, she'd figure something out.

------------

The activity in the camp seemed to have reached almost frenetic levels during their absence. Any idle hands were quickly snatched up and set to work, be that securing the defenses at the gates or seeing to the supplies needed for the inevitable siege. The troops, once a ragtag assembly of rebels and outcasts, were actually beginning to function as a cohesive unit. Imloth had definitely been the right one to leave in charge.

Valen took this all in as he sat with the commander during a brief break in the drills. "You've done well with them, Imloth." he said, nodding towards the troops. "They may just be ready to deal with the Valsharess' army this time."

"I certainly hope so." His gaze flickered briefly across the camp. "I don't think we have much time left."

Valen looked over at his companion, a worried expression stealing across his face. "How much more time do you think we have?"

"At this point, I'm not really sure. My scouts have been reporting increased activity around the Valsharess' forces. " The drow paused for a moment, his expression mirroring Valen's own. "I'm guessing we have at most a week, if we're lucky. If not, it could be a matter of days."

"Damn it! We need more time." Valen leaned back, staring up into the heights of the cavern, as if a solution to their problems could be found hidden in the shadows above. "As it stands, we probably only have time to deal with one more of her allies. Any thoughts on which one, Imloth?"

Imloth shook his head with regret. "I don't know, Valen. Removing either of them would be a great help. Both would be ideal, but as you said, we don't have time for that." He paused for a moment, thinking. "Honestly, I'm rather surprised that the two of you have gotten as far as you have. Shara isn't exactly what any of us expected."

A slow smile spread across Valen's face. Secretive and stubborn almost to a fault, the shadowdancer had somehow turned his life upside down in a brief matter of weeks. He never quite knew what to expect when he was around her. To add to the matter, he found himself thinking of her at the oddest of times. No, she certainly had not been what he was expecting.

He caught Imloth eyeing him curiously, and fought off a ridiculous urge to blush. "Umm… she definitely is more than just a simple thief." Valen shifted uncomfortably, realizing he sounded rather foolish. Thankfully, Imloth let the moment pass with no more comment than a raised brow.

Just at that moment, he spotted Shara walking across the encampment. "Speaking of Shara," Valen said, nodding in her direction, "I'd best go talk to her. We need to figure out what we're going to do next if we're to make the most of our time. I'll stop by before we leave to see if you need anything."

"Don't worry about it, Valen. Just get out there and help Shara do whatever it is she's been doing. That's what we really need." Imloth waved the tiefling off towards the half-elf, smirking slightly as he did so.

By the time he had caught up with her, the half-elf had made it to the far side of the camp, and had settled herself on an outcropping that had an excellent view of their surroundings, an obelisk serving as a convenient backrest. She was so deep in thought that she didn't actually notice him until he was almost right next to her. She glanced up at him, and Valen was relieved to see that the shadows under her eyes had lightened considerably. She had enough on her shoulders without having to deal with lack of sleep.

Shara shifted a little to make room for him, and motioned to the spot next to her. "So, what did Imloth have to say?"

Valen let out a startled laugh as he settled himself next to the half-elf. She had appeared so absorbed in her thoughts, he hadn't thought she'd noticed anything beyond her immediate surroundings. He smiled, shaking his head in amazement as he looked over at her. "There isn't much that gets past you, is there?"

Shara smirked a little, clearly proud of herself. "Valen, I'm a spy. When I'm working, I have to stay aware of everything going on around me. My job, and often my life, depends on it. It's become a bit of an ingrained habit." Her smile turned mischievous as she continued. "Actually, I could probably guess at what you were talking about. You were near the troops he's training, so you would have begun by discussing their progress. The approach of the Valsharess is on everyone's mind, so that would have been a natural progression of the conversation."

She paused, pressing a finger to her lips as she pondered something. "There is one thing I can't figure out, though. What inspired the look that was on Imloth's face when you left?" She turned her gaze towards him, her eyebrow raised a fraction.

Valen cursed her observational skills, having fallen victim to them once again. "Umm… I'm not quite sure myself, though you were dead on with the rest of the conversation." Valen hoped she would accept his plea of ignorance and let the conversation move away from the incident.

Happily, she obliged him, turning back to her first question, though her lips twitched slightly in a repressed smile. "How much time does he say we have? I know he sends out scouts, so he should have a reasonably good idea."

"Less than a week." Valen turned to her, a hint of desperation touching his eyes. "Shara, there isn't enough time to do everything. Both the undead and illithid's are still allied with the Valsharess, but we will only be able to deal with one of them. The question is, which one?"

"Well," Shara began, her brow furrowed in thought, "from what I understand, the only way to really deal with the illithids is to negotiate. I for one am not looking forward to that prospect."

He nodded his agreement, his lips thinning in distaste at the thought of dealing with the illithid. "Avoiding them is probably for the best. I don't tend to be very diplomatic with anyone who keeps slaves."

Shara's gaze softened at his words, and a sad smile touched her lips. "I imagine you aren't… but then, neither am I."

Something in the tone of her voice made Valen look at her more closely. Her eyes were filled with compassion, but beneath that was something more… a touch of understanding, a flicker of remembered pain. His gaze fell to her hands, the heavy scars concealed behind her new gloves. Could she too have fallen victim to slavery? He raised his eyes to her face to find her expression turned quizzical, if a bit apprehensive.

"My lady, you have never mentioned slavery before, but you speak as one who knows how it feels to be owned." He could sense her anxiety increasing with his words, and regretted speaking them immediately. When would he learn not to press her like this?

Slowly, the fear in her eyes turned to a kind of determined resolve. She let out a shaky breath before speaking, her voice quiet and thick with emotion. "You are partially right, Valen. I have never actually been a slave, but I do know how it feels to see your worth counted out in coin and passed from one to another." She closed her eyes as the memory washed over her. "That is not something anyone should have to experience."

No wonder she reacted so strongly to his words. As he had feared, he had touched upon one of her more painful memories. "No, that is not something anyone would want to live through." He cocked his head over to one side, thinking through his next words carefully. "What I don't understand is how you could have experienced that, and yet never have been a slave."

Shara leaned her head back against the obelisk, staring out into nothing. "That will take a bit of explaining."

"There is no need, Shara. It is not my place to pry into your past." He had already pressed much further than he should have. He would not be able to forgive himself if he caused her any more pain.

She shifted herself, turning to face him fully. "Valen, after everything I've put you through over the past few days, you deserve to hear my story." He opened his mouth to object, only to have Shara's fingers pressed against his lips, forestalling any response he might have made. "There's more to it than that, though. I trust you, Valen. I don't think there's anyone I trust more than you right now, actually." She ran her fingers along his face, brushing her thumb lightly against his cheek. "I… I want to tell you." Her voice trailed off, a desperate hope lingering in her eyes.

Valen reached out to enfold her hand within his own as it fell away from his face. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it had taken for her to speak those words. "My lady, I am honored by the trust you've placed in me. I promise that you will never come to regret it." Impulsively, he brought her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles lightly. "If you wish to tell me your tale, I will happily listen for as long as you need me to."

Her eyes traveled from his face down to their entwined hands, a smile slowly forming on her lips. "Thank you, Valen. That means a lot to me." Her smile turned rueful. "Of course, this means I have to figure out where to start."

Valen reluctantly relinquished her hand. Sometime in the last few minutes, they had gone from the wary trust of new comrades, to a closeness he wasn't quite sure what to make of. The one thing that he was sure of though, was that this was a good thing. He wasn't about to do anything to endanger it. However, that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun.

"Well," he began, a mischievous smile spreading across his face, "I've always found that it works best to start at the beginning."

Her laughter rang out across the cavern, causing a few heads to turn their way. It was a beautiful sound, made all the more precious by the scarcity with which it was heard. His smile deepened, pleased immensely by her response. Shara grinned back at him and rolled her eyes. "Yes Valen, I probably should start at the beginning. That is the standard way to tell a story, after all."

Valen settled himself into a more comfortable position, prepared for what he suspected would be a lengthy tale. The half-elf pursed her lips in thought, the mirth slowly fading from her face. "I've already told you how I got my start as a thief, but that's not really where all this starts. No, the real beginning was when I met Devyn." She sighed, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her chin upon them. "It's not really important how I met him, just that I did."

"We traveled together for almost a year, looking for whatever adventure or opportunity we could find. Not once did I ever suspect what was to come. Eventually, we found our way to Waterdeep, where he claimed to know a man who had a job that would leave us well enough off that we wouldn't need to worry about coin for a fair bit of time." She shook her head, not in denial, but in apparent disgust with herself. "I trusted him blindly. I was such a fool."

All her earlier gaiety had drained from her completely, leaving the half-elf staring forlornly off into the distance. "I don't really remember where he brought me, I've spent so long trying to forget this. I knew something was wrong the moment I stepped through the door. There wasn't much I could do about it though, considering someone grabbed me from behind immediately after. I was so shocked, I didn't even put up a fight when they bound my hands."

Shara appeared to be lost in thought, so Valen gently prompted her to continue. "What of Devyn? What did they do to him?"

She laughed bitterly in response to his inquiry. "Oh, they didn't do a thing to him. You see, he was in on it from the start." She turned her eyes to him, the pain in them seemingly bottomless. "He sold me, Valen. He traded my love for a bag of gold. That was all I was worth to him."

He reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder, willing her to believe his words. "He was a fool then. No amount of gold could even touch what you are worth. Don't you ever let yourself believe otherwise."

She smiled wanly at him and nodded before continuing, her voice flat. "I imagined all manner of unspeakable fates for myself. None of them could hold a candle to what was actually in store for me." Her voice started to shake, and her eyes became distant as she recalled the events that ensued. "They took me to the cellar. It was cold and damp, much as you would expect in that regard, but this was no ordinary cellar. It was almost entirely empty. The only thing breaking the monotony was a single set of chains hanging from the ceiling. It wasn't hard to guess that the manacles hanging from them were meant for me."

Her voice was shaking violently by now. In fact, her whole body had begun to tremble. Valen wanted to tell her to stop, that she didn't need to go on, but in his heart he knew she needed to finish this story. She wasn't in any state to do that right now, though. Shara was completely lost to the present, immersed entirely in the horror of her past. She had buried her head against her knees, but he could still see the tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.

Unwilling to let her suffer through this on her own, Valen wrapped his arms around her, pulling her as close as his armor would allow. He stroked her hair and murmured soothing nonsense as she sobbed quietly into his chest. It took some time, but eventually her tears stopped and she calmed enough to speak coherently. "And to think, that wasn't even the worst of it." She sighed, gently extracting herself from his embrace, glancing about to make sure her outburst had not drawn too much attention. "I started this though, so I have to finish it."

"I know." He brushed a few stray tears from her face. "Just remember you aren't alone."

This time her smile held more confidence. "Thank you, Valen. It helps… a lot."

She took a deep breath and forged ahead. "At that point, I fainted dead away. I'm rather glad of that, actually, since it meant that I wasn't aware of the indignities that followed. When I came to, I was stripped naked and hanging by my wrists from the ceiling. There was only one person in the room, the same man who had bought me from Devyn." She spat this last out, her hatred for this man clearly still ran strong. "I got my first good look at him then. There really wasn't much special about him, he was the type of man who could blend into the crowd effortlessly. It was the pendant hanging from his neck that grabbed my attention, a gold medallion bearing the image of a nine-tailed whip, a blood red ruby set at the tip of each strand. I was at the mercy of a priest of Loviatar, the Maiden of Pain."

Valen had been watching her closely as she continued her story. It clearly pained her to speak of it, but she seemed to be holding up much better than before. Her voice has only shaken slightly as she spoke the goddess' name. If that name implied what he though it did, they had more in common than he ever suspected. "My lady, I have little knowledge of the gods, so I do not know of whom you speak. If her title is any indication, I don't imagine it wasn't a particularly good predicament to find yourself in."

Shara let out a short, humorless laugh. "That has got to be one of the biggest understatements I've heard in a long time. No, it was not a good situation." She smiled grimly at the tiefling. "You told me that demons know how to torture. Well, Loviatans could probably give them a run for the money. This man, who I learned later was called Saldos Jharzund, was very, very good at what he did. With only a simple dagger, he made the next few months of my life a living hell."

She reached down to her waist, unsheathing a dagger that he was sure had not been there the previous day. She turned it about in her hands for a moment, her lips pressed into a thin line. "I had felt the cut of a blade before, but nothing like this. Normally a cut is painful but quick. When it is done slowly though, it is absolutely excruciating."

Valen watched in horror as she slowly traced a line along her knee with the tip of the dagger. She wasn't even using enough pressure to cut the fabric of her breeches, but the sight still sent a chill down his spine. He reached out to halt the movement of her hand. "Shara… stop." She didn't look up from her hands at his words, but did allow him to carefully remove the dagger from her grip.

Her eyes never left the blade as it moved from her possession to his. The look of fear and loathing on her face made him realize just what it was that he was now holding. "This is the dagger he used, isn't it?"

She nodded, the look of distaste lingering on her face. "I don't think there was an inch of my skin that didn't feel the bite of that blade. The only reason I'm not covered with scars is because he was almost obsessive about healing me. I guess that's understandable, since his intent was to cause pain, not kill me." She stared at her hands for a moment, as if she could see the scars hidden by her gloves. "The scars on my wrists are the only ones left. Since he never let me out of the chains, the manacles just kept rubbing my wrists raw, and they never really had a chance to heal till I got free."

The tiefling couldn't help but wonder just how she had gotten free. He was all too familiar with the difficulty of doing this, so he asked her as much.

The corner of her mouth quirked up at his question, a hint of a smile playing at her lips. "Believe it or not, he let me go. I'm not quite sure why, but I'm not one to argue with good fortune. One day, I woke up to find myself alone in the room and free of my bonds. There was a small pile of food and clothes in the corner, with that dagger sitting on top." She inclined her head towards the little blade he was holding before continuing. "I wasn't in much shape to go anywhere right then, so I took some time to rest until the food ran out. When I finally left, I didn't have anything but the clothes on my back, but I was too bloody proud to accept charity." She looked sourly off into the distance. "Kind of ironic, considering what I ended up doing."

Shara's expression became grim, and she kept her eyes firmly focused straight ahead. Whatever she had done, it was not something she was particularly proud of. Valen gently took her chin in his free hand and turned her face to his. Her eyes shifted away as he did so, unwilling to make contact with his own. "Whatever it was that you did, Shara, you should know that I won't judge you by it. I, of all people, should know that what we have done in the past is not necessarily representive of who we are in the present."

The half-elf shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, that doesn't change what I did." Her eyes glanced up warily to his, darting away before he could read anything from them. "I was obsessed with vengeance, and would do anything to further my quest. Thieving wasn't getting me very far, so I turned to the one tool every woman has at her disposal, my body. The term prostitute is much too polite for what I did… whore is far, far more fitting." Her mouth twisted around the word, the extent of her self-loathing clear in her voice.

She barely took a breath before continuing, as if loath to stop and think about what she was saying. "I didn't stop at that, though. The work was profitable enough, it's amazing how much coin some men are willing to part with to get a woman with elvish blood into their bed, but it just wasn't enough." She shrugged briefly, still unwilling to meet his eyes. "My hunt had taken me to some rather disreputable parts, and the opportunity arose to make a little more coin. At that point, I really didn't care that a stranger was asking me to kill a man I was about to bed. Coin was coin, and the job would be easy enough. He was so distracted having his fun, he never even saw the blade coming."

Valen flinched inwardly at her words, not liking the image forming in his mind, but unable to banish it. It had been hard enough to deal with the thought of her with another man like that, but this… He reached his free hand out, gently squeezing her knee, not quite sure if he was trying to reassure himself or her.

"They say the first time is always the hardest, and they're right. It just kept getting easier and easier. Before I knew it, I had added assassin to my list of titles." She pulled away from Valen, closing her eyes and huddling in on herself. "For three years I lived as such, selling my blade and my body in my quest for vengeance. Sometimes," she said, her voice dropping to a bare whisper, "it feels like I sold my soul."

With those words, a weight seemed to fall away from her. The admission she had been so dreading making was past, no longer hanging over her head. "Eventually, I found him. It felt like I chased him across half of Faerûn, but I tracked him down in Westgate. I took his life with the very blade that he had used to cause me so much pain."

Finally, she looked Valen straight in the eye. "I saw what I had become then, and hated it. I wanted to run, but I had nowhere and no one to run to anymore. I lived on the fringes for a while, falling back upon my skills as a thief to get by. It wasn't much of a life, but it was better than sleeping with or killing people I didn't even know."

Shara shook her head, a wistful smile forming on her lips. "I don't know what would have happened to me if Phaedrie hadn't found me."

Glad to see her a bit more at peace, Valen smiled and passed the dagger back to her. "Well, whoever this Phaedrie is, I'm certainly thankful she found you as well."

His statement elicited a shy smile from the half-elf. "Phaedrie is the head of the troop of shadowdancers I traveled with. She saw something in me she could use, and gave me the opportunity to join them, no questions asked. I stayed with them for almost ten years, only striking out on my own a few years ago."

"There really isn't much more to my story. The time since I left the troop has been rather uneventful." She paused for a moment, clearly remembering something in particular. "Well, there was that little jaunt to the Shadow Plane, but…" She shrugged her shoulders noncommittally.

Valen's eyes went wide at this little tidbit. "The Shadow Plane? Wha… how did you…" He sputtered like this for a moment, at a complete loss for words. That she had done even a small amount of planar travel… The tiefling shook his head in amazement. "You are definitely going to have to tell me about this 'little jaunt'."

The mischievous glint returned to Shara's eyes. "You're just going to have to wait for that story. I think I've done more than enough talking for the day."

Valen was slightly disappointed by her reticence, but not entirely surprised. He had a feeling that she intentionally mentioned this just to tease him. "As long as you do intend to tell me about this, that's fine. But if you keep teasing me…" He glared at her with mock menace, his tail flicking about rapidly.

"Oh, I'll tell you…" She glanced at him sidelong, grinning slyly. "…in my own time."

He let out a short laugh and shook his head in exasperation. "In that case, we should probably get going. For all that I'd love to pry that story out of you, we still have too much to do." He rose to his feet and extended his hand, his armor creaking slightly. "My lady…"

Shara's eyes were sparkling in delight as she took his hand, rising gracefully to her feet. Valen noticed that she seemed slightly reluctant as she released his hand, and arched an eyebrow questioningly. For once, it was her turn to blush and look away. She muttered something about needing to check their rations, hurrying off with a promise to find him when she was done.

Valen watched her go with a bemused smile on his face. This day just kept getting more interesting by the moment.

------------

As small pile was forming next to Shara, as she sifted through the encampment's supplies. It had taken her quite some time to collect even this small amount, since her mind kept wandering. She pulled out a few more rolls of bandages, hoping that they wouldn't need them, but knowing that they would. Even with Valen guarding her back, she still seemed to find her way into more than enough trouble for the both of them.

A smile slowly spread across her face. She had chosen to accept Valen's offer of help simply for his ability to watch her back. She had never expected to find herself so drawn to the man, let alone find she could trust him with her past. It figures that she would meet him in the least likely of places. Apparently, nothing in her life could be simple.

Shara fingered the bandages thoughtfully. There was more to this than just trust, though. She was beginning to realize that her feelings ran much deeper than that. An ironic smile spread slowly across her face. Here she was, in the middle of the Underdark with an army of drow ready to descend upon her, and she was mooning over a man… though he was a very handsome man. If only he didn't have to wear all that armor…

A light knock startled her from her thoughts, and a moment later Valen entered the room, his pack slung over his shoulder. At the sight of the object of her contemplations, a bright blush rushed to her cheeks. She stammered a greeting, suddenly finding a great deal of interest in the supplies scattered about her. It took a moment before she could compose herself enough to look up. Valen kindly refrained from saying anything, but she could tell from the look on his face that he found the situation humorous.

The half-elf sighed, turning her attention back to the pile in front of her. "I think I've found everything we need." she said, sorting the pile as she spoke. "If there's anything you think I've missed, we can probably find it somewhere in here." Her job was done quickly enough, and she pushed one of the piles towards Valen. "We should probably pack this and go fairly soon. We don't have much time to spare."

Valen nodded his agreement and knelt down beside her, dropping his pack at his side. Shara was amazed by the grace with which he could move in that armor. She was sure that all that weight would leave her staggering like a drunken fool. She tried to focus upon packing her own bag, but couldn't help casting a surreptitious glance Valen's way every now and again.

As they worked, she noticed Valen's mood slowly change, becoming much more contemplative. Eventually, he sighed and turned his gaze towards her. "Shara, I…" He paused, seemingly reluctant to speak. "…I owe you an apology."

His words stopped her in her tracks. She sat there for a moment, staring at him blankly, before speaking. "An apology? Whatever for?"

He pondered this for a moment, obviously going over what he wanted to say before committing it to words. "Ever since the Seer foretold your coming, I have resented you… at least a little. I think… I think it was more because I wanted to be the one who kept the Seer safe. I had been working so long to save the rebels that I did not want someone bursting in and taking all the credit." He faltered for a moment, looking slightly abashed. "So I convinced myself you could not be trusted, that perhaps the Seer's vision was wrong."

Valen stared into the half-elf's eyes intently. "The Seer wasn't the one who was wrong, I was. You have proven yourself time and again. I have done you a disservice with my doubts. I… I am very sorry."

Shara listened quietly to his apology, pleased beyond measure that he had gotten past his initial mistrust. A smile quirked her lips at a sudden thought. Any other time she would have held back, but she was suddenly feeling rather bold. She let her smile widen and arched an eyebrow. "And… that's it?"

Valen seemed slightly taken aback by her response. "What… what do you mean?"

Shara was distinctly beginning to enjoy herself, and her eyes sparkled with it. "Is that how you apologize to a woman?"

He watched her carefully for a moment, a hint of a smirk playing across his mouth. Finally, he executed a surprisingly elegant seated bow. "Of course you are correct, my lady. I humbly beg for the chance to rescind my words. Could you ever see you way to forgiving me?"

The glint in Shara's eyes turned mischievous. "Mmm… perhaps… for a kiss."

Valen was taken completely by surprise, a bright blush creeping up his neck. "Err… surely my lady is joking?"

Shara laughed, delighted to have turned the tables. "Of course not! Why would I joke about that?"

He joined her in laughing, though his blush continued to deepen. "Then I… I suppose I will have to consider that a forgiveness of a sort, yes?"

"Yes Valen, I do forgive you. Though…" She paused, leaning towards him and placing her hand on his chest. "…there still is the matter of the kiss."

Valen's eyes went round, in a delightful expression of surprise. He seemed to be at a complete loss for words.

"Well…" the half-elf prompted, leaning closer to the startled tiefling.

Slowly, he reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. Her heart raced as he leaned down and their lips met in a soft yet sweet kiss. His hand lingered against her face for a moment as he broke away, his thumb trailing lightly along her jaw line when he finally let it fall to his lap.

Shara's hand was still pressed against Valen's chest, and rather than letting matters end here, she slid it upwards, deftly avoiding the ridges of his armor. She ran her fingers along the side of his throat, causing him to shiver slightly, before letting them come to rest at the nape of his neck. "Very, very nice," she murmured, her voice dropping to a husky whisper. "But I think we can do better than that."

Before he had time for more than a startled look to flash across his face, she pulled him close, their lips meeting for the second time that day. The walls she had built to protect herself had crumbled completely, and she no longer felt the need to hold back, to keep herself apart. She poured all her pent up desire from those last few lonely years of her life into the kiss, allowing herself to be lost in it for a brief period of time. After a moment, she felt Valen's arms slip about her, and he responded with a passion she had never encountered before, though she had never kissed a tiefling. It was a decidedly pleasant experience she fully intended to repeat.

When they finally parted, both were decidedly breathless. "Hmmm…" she purred, her hand still tangled in his hair, "that is what I call a kiss."

Valen suddenly seemed to become aware that he was holding Shara quite closely. He withdrew his arms hastily as another furious blush colored his cheeks. "My lady, I… I don't know what came over me. Please, forgive my boldness."

This time, Shara let him go, an unfettered laugh ringing throughout the room. "Your boldness? Valen…" She trailed off, shaking her head incredulously.

The tiefling still looked distinctly uncomfortable, his eyes sliding away from Shara's as he fumbled at another attempt at an apology. "Shara…"

Shara's fingers flew to Valen's lips, partially to halt his words, but also simply as an excuse to touch him. "No Valen, don't apologize. If it makes you uncomfortable, I won't mention it again, but I won't let you apologize for it." She brushed her hand lightly against his cheek before letting it fall away. "I won't forget it either, though."

Valen's eyes locked with hers in an intense gaze. It was a long moment before he finally spoke. "Neither will I my lady, neither will I…" A hint of a blush returns to his cheeks, and he looks away self-consciously. "We should probably get going, my lady. There is little time to lose."

Shara nodded, noticing how Valen now seemed to blush every time he looked at her. She had a feeling that traveling with him was only going to get more interesting from this point forward. She carefully stowed the last of their supplies in her pack before getting to her feet, pack in hand. "Shall we, Valen?" she said, motioning towards the door.

"Of course." he replied, slinging his own pack over his shoulders. He stepped in front of the half-elf, opening the door wide for her, motioning with a gracious sweep of his hand that she should precede him. She smiled at the gesture, noticing that he always seemed to fall back on gallantry in awkward situations. She kept quiet as they walked through the encampment. She had been giving in to her impulsive side so much that she didn't quite trust herself to stop. Valen deserved a break… at least for a little while.

Not long after they passed the main gates, Valen broke the silence. "Shara, there's something that's been worrying me a bit."

Shara glanced at him, a worried frown crossing her face. If something was concerning Valen, it definitely merited attention. "What is it, Valen?"

"Well, it's the archdevil that the Valsharess holds captive." His mouth twisted in distaste at the thought, a flicker of red touching his gaze for a brief moment. "Even if she is defeated, we still have to deal with him, and I have a bad feeling that he is far more powerful than she."

The thought sent a chill down her spine. She truly had no desire to confront an archdevil. "What do you know about him?" Even before he spoke, she knew she wouldn't like his answer.

"Honestly, very little. My old master, however, was a dread Balor known as Grimash't, one of the most powerful of all tanar'ri. Yet an archdevil such as the one the Valsharess holds would laugh at his abilities." Valen's frown deepened. Clearly, he was not pleased with the conclusion he had drawn. "I say this because he may be the primary reason the Valsharess possesses the power she does. If we could find out how she controls him, and perhaps break that control… then we might have a chance."

Shara stopped, her expression souring. "Lovely, just lovely. Now we have an archdevil to worry about as well." She shook her head in disgust, both at her words and the situation. "I guess we always have known about him, I just haven't wanted to think about it."

Valen's expression was grim. "I know, my lady. I've been avoiding the problem as well. Considering we know little at the moment, it probably is pointless to worry about it just yet. Let's just keep going. I'm sure we'll think of something eventually."

The half-elf sighed, wishing she could even pretend to be confidant of their success. Somehow or another, she was sure he felt the same. "I certainly hope your right, Valen." she murmured, setting off determinedly, the tiefling right behind.