Disclaimer: Usstan xun naut ehmtu lil Drow xor Faerukkin d'lil Coast. Usstan xun naut ehmtu jalbol! Kampi'un? Nau'shindcal kulten.
(No Drow word for 'coast')
Well, um, now that that's out of the way, switching back to English now. Those of you who have absolutely no idea of what I just wrote, go to my homepage. You'll kampi'un.
And I'd like to make some things clear:
Uss, when I upload my documents, the computer likes to takecertain spaces in between the words and annihilates them. Very annoying. Now, I don't know why the computer does this, but I try to find all the non-spaces and put a space between them, but when I save the spaces disappear again.
Grrr. If I don't get all of them, please just ignore it.
Draa, I type fast, and as I mentioned before, the spellchecker has been having some problems, as my sister, who's seven, wrote a bunch of mispelled words (like Teh and lik and thay) onto the computer and Added them all. GRRRRRRR!
Quarval'sharess, vel'bol xun Usstan inbal ulu xun?
Well, anyway, now the durned thingy doesn't catch my spelling mistakes, and when Ireview my stuff before I stick it upthrough I miss some. Also, I am very BAD at spelling, as my spelling tests prove.
Dro xuil ol. (Live with it.)
So PLEASE stop with all the flaming on these two subjects! I appreciate the fact that you all are trying to help me improve my writing, but hearing the same thing over and over again, espeically when I can do little about it (I tried going through with my mom's big college dictionary, but it took wayyy to long and the print was so tiny and faded it gave me a major headache while trying to decipher it) is very, very, very ANNOYING!
Ahem. Please read, and my eternal gratitude to all those who review (hint).
Chapter Five
Cold Steel
Mina sat alone, in the room that had been her home for nine, ten years, now. Today she would be leaving it. Kneeling on the cold stone floor, she examined her treasures, her earned treasures. The maces swung awkwardly in her hand - she had no idea how to use them - and the jewelry glittered in the lavender light, drawing her eye to their sparkle.
How lovely.
And they were hers.
She, however, had no time to brood on her prizes, or the cost of such prizes. Sighing, she packed her items and took a minute to make sure the idol was perfect. Tapping her trunk - which rose up on eight spindly-looking but undeniably strong spider legs and scurried after her - she stood and walked calmly out the door, following Arduldriira.
They exited the room and turned left down a narrow, winding passageway, then right onto a larger corridor, then down to a lower floor (both drow levitated, while the trunk scurried down a stairway), which turned out to be a circuler corridor that led to an octagonal room made of black stone with dark-colored doors.Arduldriira walked right across the room and knocked on the door exactly opposite herself.
"Come, child. Don't be afraid." she chuckled, then added, "Nalrysin, the Weapons Master, and your elder - but not eldest - brother, won't bite. Slash, maybe. Cut, maybe. But never bite. Nalrysin does not settle for so crude a method."
Mina stepped forward uncertainly, her fears far from dispelled, and unable to surpress a shiver.
There was a click, then the door swung open. Nodding, Arduldriira stepped foward. This time, instead of waiting for Mina, she caught the girl's wrist and dragged her along like a disobedient male. Once inside, she let go, and Mina rubbed her wrist.
"Don't dally, you silly girl." she remarked, and Mina's skin burned with embarressment and humiliation. Silly girl?
They stepped into a large square room. It's walls were bare and cold, it's ceiling dark with shadows, it's floor was smooth, cold stone. The room had a sense of hushed lonliness, and in the back of her mind Mina could swear she heard the clash of adamtite ringing in the room. She stayed very still behind her amber-eyed sister, head down. Why, she didn't paticularily know.
Arduldriira seemed either not to notice the room's demenor, or simply not to care. Mina supposed it was the latter. The powerful, beautiful High Priestess seemed somehow above caring. Sweeping into the room, she called out gaily, "Little brother? Exuse me . . . Weapons Master of House Qed'Vursys? Come on out, I can see you."
Mina felt a brush of air on her cheek, then cried out in shock and fear as two slender hands gripped her shoulders in an iron grasp. "Reflexes need tuning up. We'll have to work on that."
The voice was a melodic alto and smooth as glass, but with an undeniable edge of cockiness, of sure confidence, of mocking laughter, as was the male's smirk. Mina watched him as he stepped gracefully around her, throwing his piwafwi off one shoulder in a rakish manner and bowing equally gracefully. "High Priestess, Ssin'urn Uss, to whom do I owe this great honor to? You grace me with your holy presence, dear sister."
Arduldriira, spinning gracefully, walked up to her brother. "You owe the honor to this little copper-haired female here, Nalrysin. And quit with the theatrics, you're fooling no one." though her tones were sweet yet clipped, she smiled nonetheless.
Mina stared hard at her brother from beneath her lashes. He was as she had seen him, so very long ago: tall, almost Arduldriira's height but not quite. Silver chainmail beneath black armor, cunningly crafted and beautifully fitted and bearing the sacred symbol of Lolth, bended as easily as silk when he moved. Two long and slender swords were belted casually on his hips,along with a wickedly sharp dagger, a long and curled whip, a small hand-held crossbow, and two cases of quarrles, along with two healing potions and a potion of cold, all three marked with Lolth's symbol.
He was handsome, for a male. Large, ruby eyes glittered in his face, framed by silky white lashes and satiny dark skin. White hair fell to his shoulders, shorter than most males wore their hair, with a roguish air. His lips were an unusually dark red, and seemed permanently curled in a cocky smirk. He walked with a slight, lithe swagger up to her and bowed slightly.
"Minalylrisse Qed'Vursys." Reaching out, Nalrysin caught her chin in his delicate, gloved hand and stroaked her cheek. "The copper-haired pixy LiNeerithra managed to complain about for ten years. What a pleasure to meet you at last, Iniul Abbil! Any one who manages to annoy dear LiNeerithra is an allyin my mind. I am Nalrysin Qed'Vursys, Secondboy and Weapons Master of the exalted House Qed'Vursys." bowing, the male spun away from her, letting his hand slide off her cheek, and adressed Arduldriira again. "How old is she?"
"Twenty-six years old."
"Ah, fresh from the Chapel. What weapons do you want her schooled in, O Exalted One?"
"The mace, the sword, the crossbow - both hand and otherwise - and daggers."
"That is all?"
"Yes. She is to be a priestess, after all."Arduldriira tossed her head, flinging her pearly hair over her shoulder in a flirtatious manner. Nalrysin grinned.
"Of course, O Lovely One. Consider it done. Come back for her in five years' time."
"Knowing you, I will." With a nod, the female turned on heel and glided out the door, closing it with a hollow click behind her, leaving Mina alone with this dangerous male.
They trained daily: first with the twin maces, than with the swords, then the crossbows and the fine art of throwing daggers. Mina learned manuever after maneuver, attack after attack. She and her brother fought, his swords to her maces, adamtite ringing, both of them layered in sweat. Every night she collapsed on the bed, exhasted and worn.
Not only that, Nalrysin hardened her emotionally as well with gibes and stinging remarks, and, as a younger sibling, Mina was something of a servant to the arrogant male. She brought him meals, cleaned the training room, carried messages back and forth over the level that the room was on, all while forcing her stinging body to move. She was, however, allowed a suficient amount of time for Reverie, so her exhastian purely came from the training.
Nalrysin attacked her relentlessly, slapping her with the stinging flat of a sword whenever she left an opening and doing the same with sharp words. By the time she was done, her body tingled and stung painfully, her hands bled from clutching the weapons, tiny cuts and scraped covered her body, and her eyes ached from trying to follow the rush of his blades, as well as her insides burned with anger and humiliation.
Blades was not all she learned: her body, too, was a weapon, Nalrysin said. Her feet could kick, her elbows dig, her knees bash. Working in harmony with her twin maces, she used these inborn weapons whenever she could.
And she got better. She learned to inticipate attacks and even scored a few minor hits now and them, as the years went on. Nalrysin taught her how to care for her weapons, and every night she dragged her body up from her bed and cleaned her weapons, scrubbing and sharpening.
And she did get better. Four years went by, and she got still better. Nalrysin pitched her against other students, commoners come to learn the basics before entering Tier Breche, and she steadily improved, beating one and then another and learning to take a defeat.
But that was not all she learned. Nalrysin taught her to move silently, to glide from shadow to shadow as easily as anything, to seize every avantage given to her. Avantages were oppertunities: don't miss them.
One day Nalrysin and she were forced to halt their attacks by the enterence of Arduldriira, announced by Jhaelriina. Stepping aside, the female entered, greated with bows from both Nalrysin and Mina. Both were covered in a fine sheen of sweat, and Mina bled from a neat nick on the arm while Nalrysin rubbed a bruise from Mina's carefully aimed kick. Arduldriira stared hard at both of them, nodding. Turtning to Nalrysin, she said only two words: "Show me."
Nalrysin bowed. "Right away, my Lady." Gesturing to Mina, he stepped back a pace and nodded to the watching clerics, who easily levitated into the air to get a better view. Swiping the hair from his face, he grinned at Mina, readying the swords. She hopped into a similar stance, feeling quite uncomfortable with the two drow hovering above them, their robes whispering as the cloth rubbed against itself.
Then Nalrysin came fast, one cut aimed for her throat, the other for her chest. Quickly she blocked both, then, using one mace, swung his weapon aside and attacked hard, aiming for his legs. He blocked, then, using a skillful thrust, nearly took the mace from her grasp.
On and on they went, block, attack, block, attack, each alternatingly taking the defense and offense. The two priestesses, watching, nodded, bobbing slightly in the air, their hair-colorless and heatless in the infraspectrum - dancing along their shoulders and down their backs and waists.
Suddenly, Nalrysin stopped and backed away, smirking. "Not bad," he said, flipping one sword high in the air and, in a single fluid motion, grabbing a handfull of small, glass objects and hurling them at her feet. "for a inuil jalil."
Inuil jalil. Little girl.
Rage stung Mina's insides, but she did not allow it to burn her cool away. Leaping high in the air as the glassfire spiders - for indeed that was what the little things were - struck thefloor seconds after her feet left it. Calling upon her natural powers of levitation, the girl floated into the air as fiery, small explosions singed the soles of her boots, the red-gold bursts of flame stinging her eyes painfully. Dimly, she recognized that her cunning brother had closed his own eyes and was up in the air with her, both swords in hand.
Jhaelriina and Arduldriira watched, Jhaelriina with a bit of concern and apprehension,Arduldriira with an impassive amusement.
The swords slashed in, one diving for her throat, the other for her waist. Snapping out her maces, she deflected one sword but did not quite get the other as it jarred her mace and tore a thin red line across her right hip. Angry and frustrated, though unwilling to relinquish her cool to the heat, she brought her foot up and caught the blade squarely, though, since she was in the air, rather than knocking it out of her brother's fingers it merely rammed the blade and whacked Nalrysin's fingers badly.
But not bad enough.
Both swords came back in, as well as her brother's knee. Catching her squarely in the midriff, it slammed her back in the air. One sword banged in, hilt first, slamming into her temple, knocking her sideways. Dazed, she felt the maces slide from suddenly numb fingers as the pain exploded across her head, sharp as any kife. Her body ached where Nalrysin's knee had made contact, and she had the misfortune to have her levitation spell expire at that moment, she being too dazed to maintain it. Down she went, dropping a few feet from the burned stone, several stray peices of glass digging into her skin as she dropped on them. Her head fell sideways, and she knew no more.
Nalrysin touched down next to her, nodding. Arduldriira, following his example, landed lightly at his side, smiling slightly. Jhaelriina, ignored by both of her adopted siblings, staggered as she touched down and knelt beside the unconsious Mina, cradling her head.
"She is decent." Arduldriira nodded. Turning to Nalrysin, she lifted an eyebrow. "Glassfire spiders?"
House Qed'Vursys's Weapons Master nodded and smirked, producing a few from his hidden pocket and presenting them to the priestess. Three or four small glass figures, all in the shape of spider, lay on his dark palm. They were nondescript and one might take them for decoration or simple trinkets but for the small, flickering, red flame in the center of each. Arduldriira nodded, recognizing her brother's trick.
Jhaelriina, on the floor, looked to her superior for instuctions. Arduldriira, noticing this, waved her hand while twisting the fingers to form the word, heal. Then she turned back to her brother.
"Do you believe she is ready for Valvyll?"
"Do you believe Valvyll is ready for her?" Nalrysin smirked as he spoke. "She has fire, though tempered by cool, and I daresay that Valvyll'll find her . .. interesting."
Arduldriira laughed.
What do you think about this one?
Please review!