Chapter 22
Traveling the road to the west, Sab'vrae eventually turned towards the south, on the road to Longsaddle. He smiled behind the black cloth, enjoying the pleasant weather. The drow fingered his pack, stored in his pocket. Lathhan had enchanted his pack to shrink and grow to normal size on command, making travel on foot much more easier.
Sab'vrae journeyed through the dusty lands with little action for over a week. During his twelfth day or so on the road, he reached a small town its inhabitants called Ashford. Walking through the cobble streets, he noted a few townspeople gave him odd looks, but didn't seem too surprised. Perhaps they were accustomed to strange visitors. Sab'vrae browsed the market stalls and small shops, searching for any items of possible interest. He restocked his food supplies, but otherwise found nothing he could use.
The fighter/druid looked up, eyeing a wooden sign hanging above a door, proclaiming, "The Happy Jug." Sab'vrae chuckled. Quite a suitable name for a tavern. Though not a huge fan of alcoholic drinks -- he often found their taste too bitter for his liking -- the drow decided a small taste of the local beverages wouldn't hurt. Sab'vrae entered the dimly lit bar, noting the shady characters assembled around the tables. He would fit in here.
Seating himself at a small table in the corner, he waited patiently for the barmaid to serve him. After a few minutes, a young human woman approached his table, empty mugs in her hands.
"Can I help you, elf?" She asked, looking a bit flustered by the rowdy customers.
"A small mug of mead will be fine, thank you." Sab'vrae ordered politely.
"Be right back." The barmaid sighed, weaving through the mostly drunk and jovial crowd. Sab'vrae leaned back in his seat, observing his surroundings.
"Hey, you hear 'bout them impeding orc raids?" a greasy gnome asked his company, a hairy and dirty half-orc man. The large hybrid gulped half a tankard of ale, wiping his mouth off with his shaggy arm.
"So what? We get orc raids quite often here, or, at least, attempts of raids. The clans around here are too stupid and small in size to be any threat."
"Not from what I hear," the gnome disagreed, poking at his half eaten meat. "Word is that the local orc tribes are going to unite so they can effectively ransack the town." Sab'vrae listened intently, jumping slightly when the barmaid set his mug on the table.
"It's three coppers a drink," she said, "Pay me now or the bartender when you're leaving."
"One is plenty, thanks." Sab'vrae turned his ears back to the other table, pulling his face cloth down and sipping his mead slowly. Still more bitter than he enjoyed, but sweeter than most alcoholic drinks he'd had before.
"Oh really?" the half-orc took another swig of his drink, "Orcs rarely cooperate with other tribes."
"True," his gnome companion agreed, "but they say Chief Wrukag's eager to plunder, and is trying to get as many orc tribes under his command as possible."
"Puh. So the thing falls apart if Wrukag's killed, right?" The half-orc rolled his eyes, "Ain't happening. He's a mean one, Wrukag, and no one's gonna want to assassinate him. Anyone that could is out slaying dragons and other bigger fish, anyway."
"Suppose we should get moving before trouble arrives here, then." The gnome noted. Sab'vrae quickly downed his tankard and dropped a few copper coins on the bartender's counter as payment. Walking out of the tavern, the fighter/druid ventured out into the nearby forest to investigate.
---------
As the adventurer neared the deepest confines of the woods, cries and clangs of battle hit his ears. Unsheathing Eilistraee's Smite and Demon Slayer, the drow rushed ahead to the noise's source. He stopped behind a cluster of trees and bushes to quickly examine the scene before him. Near the edge of a ravine, five orcs battled with another adventurer. Apparently, he wasn't the only elf trying to remove the orc threat.
In the center of the five orc attack stood a young elven woman, probably moon elf. Her skin was darker than other moon elves he knew, but still pale in comparison to others. Long, brown hair fell to her mid back. A slight wave in her locks indicated she tied it up often, but, probably, the tie had been torn off in battle. The elven fighter wore simple, scant armor over her reddish brown tunic and pants. Breastplate armor covered her torso, and she wore metal gauntlets over her forearms. Thin metal boots adorned her from the mid shin to her feet; otherwise, the elf wore no other armor.
Yelling incomprehensible battle cries, the fighter charged at the oncoming orcs with a bastard sword in hands. She ducked the swings of the first two and countered with swift blows to the chest and neck. Impressed, Sab'vrae paused in his urge to aid, waiting to see if the woman truly needed aid. So far, she fared well enough on her own. The woman impaled the third orc through the heart, but her blade caught on the creature's spine, deterring her efforts to dislodge it. She kicked the fourth orc away, but the fifth and largest came in fast from her left.
Rushing forward, Sab'vrae slashed his blades, decapitating the orc in a scissors like movement. The fourth orc, recovering from the elf maid's kick, barely managed to block the onslaught of duel wielding attacks by the male drow. Irritated, the orc raised its axe and slammed it downwards. Sab'vrae ducked and rolled away, and the axe hit the ground instead. Seeing his advantage, Sab'vrae stab into the orc's back and kicked its rump hard to dislodge his weapon.
Losing its balance, the orc stumbled forward and toppled over the bluff's edge. Panicking, the monster grabbed the closest object -- the elf woman's ankle. Chestnut eyes widening in surprise, the woman was pried from her blade and fell over the edge with the orc. The monster quickly lost its grip on the woman and went tumbling down the rocky wall, the elf woman falling swiftly above it.
Sab'vrae dropped his swords and ran over and dropped to his stomach, thrusting his arm down and latching onto the woman's forearm before she flew out of reach. The woman grabbed his arm with her free hand to reinforce the hold, and he the same. Straining his upper body, the drow pulled himself, and, in effect, the woman, up and away from the ledge. Once she was waist up on the ground, the woman pulled herself up, and Sab'vrae sat back, gasping for air.
"I thank you for your help," The moon elf gasped, clutching her chest to recover her own breath. Sab'vrae merely nodded in acknowledgement. The woman stood, walking over to dead orcs. She kicked the one over on its back and placed her foot on its chest. Yanking hard on her blade's hilt, she attempted to pull the sword out, but to no avail. "Dammit!"
"Here, let me help." Sab'vrae offered, walking over to her. He placed his hands over hers and pulled with her, finally dislodging the crimson soaked blade.
"Thanks once again," the moon elf woman chuckled somewhat grimly, swishing her blade out to remove the blood stains. She slid the sword back into its sheath on her hip. "Figures I manage to wipe out an entire orc band and only get my sword stuck on the leader and his elite squad."
"Wait, you took care of the orc threat?" Sab'vrae asked, half surprised, half disappointed. He retrieved his swords and sheathed them on their cases over his back.
"Yes, though I see you managed to kill Wrukag." The two elves glanced down at the headless orc chieftain. "After I caught word of the impeding threat of a raid, I decided to settle the matter. I found their camp just a few hundred yards from here. Their horde was much smaller than rumors stated, but they still put up a good fight. They're not too hard to kill on a large scale if you manage to sneak up on most of them. Orcs aren't very bright." She grinned, extending her hand out to the concealed drow. "I'm Ky'itae Rilynn'lylth. And you are…?"
"Serosa'ruth. Just Serosa'ruth." Sab'vrae shook Ky'itae's hand. She raised a brown eyebrow at him.
"Are you a druid?" she asked bluntly.
"Well, fighter and a druid, but yes." The drow answered honestly.
"I figured. Any chance I'd be able to know your real name?" Sab'vrae's cheeks flushed, though it was impossible to notice under his green skin enchantment and cloth half face cover.
"Perhaps one day," he shrugged, "In any case, Ky'itae, you've put me out of an orc slaying adventure, so I'm going to have to go on my way. I'm headed towards Longsaddle. You're welcome to join me, if you wish." He turned and walked slowly out of the clearing. Ky'itae rubbed her chin in thought, then ran to catch up with him.
"I think I'll tag along since you'd probably make a helpful ally in battle," she decided, then, added with a poke to his ribs, "And so I can find out what your name is and what kind of elf you are. I doubt you'd tell me that one, huh? I know that green skin's not natural in elves other than perhaps our aquatic cousins." Sea elves could stay on land, but only for a short period of time before they needed to breathe water again. Obviously, this cloaked fighter was a land elf, but she couldn't determine what race.
Sab'vrae chuckled, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. "Perhaps you'll know them both one day, my female fighting companion." Ky'itae sighed in frustration, but let the topic drop. Sab'vrae chortled to himself again, glad to have a traveling comrade, even if it only lasted for a short time. Watching the sun begin to settle below the distant trees, the drow smiled to himself, remembering why he enjoyed the sight so. He wondered where fate and nature would lead him, knowing much awaited him in his future. Presently, Sab'vrae simply continued onwards with his new ally, ready for whatever challenge lay ahead.
Author's End Notes:
Well, that's all for the first book! I hope you enjoyed it. I know, the ending seems a bit rushed, but I couldn't find a better way to depict it. I'm not sure when I'll get the second volume out. I recently restarted my web comic, Samurai BANZAI! (www-sbanzai-hcmworld-com change the "-" to ".") That's almost two years of comics to redo. However, originally I did the comic once or twice a week. Now, I've decided to make it a monthly update, with one chapter per month. I'm in my senior year of high school now, and have already been accepted into Armstrong Atlantic University for college, so I don't know how much writing time I'll get. Neither am I sure if I should write the entire second book first, then release chapter by chapter on here, or just update as I write the chapters. Hopefully, I won't leave this series standing, because I have many ideas I'd like to put to use. Thanks again for reading, and I hope you liked the first Kallo'Yel installment as much as I did writing it.