The Avenger
The Avenger. An elvish weapon from years ago, when the ancient city of Myth Drannor was still young...
Sinji, a very ambitious elf whose thirst of adventure was only surpassed by the devotion to his family and friends, was visiting his best friend Damron. Damron, a powerful human wizard, had just crafted a beautiful longsword for Sinji. The wizard gave his friend the enchanted blade, and watched as the elf walked out of the wizard's laboratory and into the world. The last words Damron heard from his friend were," I shall call you Avenger.".
Sinji was gone for many years with Avenger. Thousands of orcs, beasts, and constructs had fallen to the elf's blade. There seemed to be no creature, no matter how evil, how powerful, that could withstand the elf's green glowing blade.
One day while searching for food, Sinji was attacked by a powerful demon. The elf had managed to slay his attacker, Avenger's blade bathing in the demon's blood. Without thinking about it, Sinji started to hear his sword talk to him. "Go and show Damron how powerful you've become," the sword Avenger had suggested to him.
Sinji followed the sword's suggestion and went back to Myth Drannor with Avenger in its sheath. As he entered the city, he founds orcs were attacking his city. An uncontrollable rage filled inside the elf, and he killed any orc that he came across.
Like so many times before, Avenger found itself slashing through dozens of orcs. Sinji was able to make it to his best friend's house. As he opened the door, he found five more orcs standing in the living room, eating his friend's food.
Without even thinking about it, Sinji and Avenger ravaged though the five orcs mercilessly. Within moments of killing the orcs, Sinji's eyes focused on the horrible scene, and they filled with salty tears when he realized what he had don
What he thought were five orcs were actually his best friend Damron, his wife Arial, and three small children. "What have I done..." Sinji gasped in horror, and though he couldn't hear it, Avenger seemed to be laughing.
Sinji wanted to end his life there, and he was ready, until the hilt of his sword pressed itself inside his body. The elf began to feel his soul seep from his body and into the sword. The demon's essence that was trapped inside Avenger was joining itself with Sinji's soul. All of a sudden, Sinji found deep within himself unknown hatred he had towards humans a little before he first met Damron...as well as a thirst for blood and devastation.
After it was done, Avenger set itself back in the elf's hands. The body of Sinji stood up, but had no free will of its own. Deep from within the sword, Sinji commanded his body to find a lantern and burn his best friend's house to the ground.
Sinji's body eventually was destroyed, but his spirit inside Avenger lived on, looking for a new elf body to possess..
Surrounded by seven cloaked figures, The Avenger, self proclaimed champion of Lolth, stood before the three women, examining them closely.
Typical humans, thought the assassin as his good eye passed over the blond haired female. He stopped at the dark haired human female wearing a holy symbol with a skeletal hand holding scales. Besides her wearing a symbol of a human god, there was something about her that he sensed was a danger to him. She'll have to die first, before she can call on her pathetic god.
Then his eye landed on the halfling. He laughed, thinking this halfling had no chance of defeating a warrior of his caliber..
The Avenger motioned his robed men to remove their hoods, revealing their grey hairless mangled faces. Aliyah and Deidra looked horrified as they turned to Stephanie, who remained calm in their present situation.
"What are those things?" the ranger asked her sister.
It took Stephanie a moment to think of the specific name of these particular undead. Then she remembered her training. "These are just zombies," the cleric of Kelemvor responded," but it seems these corpses were touched by pure evil."
Aliyah and Deidra exchanged looks, then watched as Stephanie pulled out her silver holy symbol. The cleric concentrated as her energy channeled though her body and into her symbol, hoping to banish these abominations.
As soon as The Avenger yelled his minions to attack, a bright yellow light burst from the cleric's symbol, blasting at the zombies.
Three of the zombies were destroyed, but the other three drew morningstars and charged at the three ladies.
Deidra was the first to be reached by the three zombies. The halfling dodged the attacks made by the first two, but the third zombie had manage to hit her in the shoulder.
Jumping in front of her halfling comrade, Aliyah prepared to face the three zombies. With her right hand, Aliyah quickly slashed her scimitar Harmoni across a zombie's shoulder, then snapped her left hand forward, Tendirhart stabbing the corpse's chest.
As the ranger withdrew her weapon from the zombie's chest, the wounded zombie wrapped its decayed grey arms around his attacker's neck, causing her to drop both scimitars to the ground.
Aliyah could feel the zombie's cool rotten fingers tighten around her throat, choking the life from her. Air was escaping from her body, and she had to think quick. She looked up into its emotionless eyes. The ranger was ready to apologize to Kelemvor for the remarks she made about him, but a thin smile crossed her lips as a long blue flame had tore though the zombie's chest, then ripped through the chest of another zombie.
Azrael plunged deeply through the back of the remaining zombie, a faint blue light glow from inside the zombie's body.
The zombie released his hold on Aliyah and dropped to the ground. The ranger coughed as she picked up her weapons, then looked up seeing a big smirk on her sister's lips, then it was replaced with a look that said, Now is not the time for bickering and smart comments.
Aliyah and Stephanie turned their heads, seeing Deidra stepping towards the elf assassin. "So its the halfling who wants to fight me," yelled Avenger, as the body he controlled drove the blade towards the halfling.
Deidra sidestepped the attack, then brought both daggers on the body's midsection. Blood slowly dripped from the wound, but the body gave no sound. The Avenger began to glow a bright green and four more zombies emerged from the trees, surrounding the halfling.
Fearing for her friend, Stephanie once again concentrated on finding the grace of Kelemvor. The cleric breathed softly, feeling the flow of her god's power inside her. She pointed her finger at one of the zombies, and a thin silver light, shot from it, running through one of the zombies.
The first zombie toppled over, and Deidra spun to her left, slashing both daggers across the it's chest. She was ready to attack, but saw no need to as Aliyah finished the zombie with a horizontal slash from Harmoni.
Still flowing with the grace of Kelemvor, Stephanie released a protection spell on her and the others, while maneuvering around both zombie's attacks.
Standing a few feet away, The Avenger watched with amusement as the three living females were fighting for their lives against his minions. "I should never have sent corpses to do a man's job," he said softly, his green glow becoming dimmer. "Its time I take matters in my own hands."
The assassin looked at the humans, then the halfling. Unable to decide which he would attack, he prayed quietly to his goddess.
"Lady Lolth, see that this attack finds its target." The Avenger commanded his vessel to raise his hand and like the cleric point his finger in the middle of where the three females were fighting.
"DIE!" cried the sword Avenger as the spell fired away, choosing its target.
From within his steel prison, The Avenger smiled as he watched the cleric fall to the ground.
Elisondar slowly moved though his mighty tunnel that he himself had created in the regions of the underdark. On his talon, the dracolich was carrying a small leather sack containing gifts he had received from frightened dwarves he encountered a few moments ago.
He was on his way back to his new lair, where the small temple of Eilistaree once stood, before he brought the eyesore crumbling to the ground. "I do hope that drow priestess survived," Elisondar mused quietly, remembering the dark elf priestess was preparing a spell to destroy him, yet she never saw the large broken pieces of stone coming down on top of her." I should like to have faced her again."
As he emerged from the tunnel, Elisondar's bones creaked and cracked as he walked to the rubble, yet his eyes found something that wasn't there before.
In the middle of the rubble, stood a tall young man wearing a long cloak and a brown wide brimmed hat.
The dracolich was amused this human would have enough fortitude to wait for Elisondar the Mighty in his lair. Elisondar let out a mighty roar, attempting to scare the human away.
Elisondar's bone jaw widened in a smile, as he saw the man was still there. Perhaps he hit his head on the way down here, he thought. It will be fun to destroy him.
"Are you Elisondar?" the young man asked, looking up at the dracolich.
Had he still had an eyebrow, Elisondar would have raised it. The dracolich stood, confused as he wondered how this human knew his name. Maybe he ran into those dwarves. "Yes, I am Elisondar the Mighty.," the dracolich bellowed in a deep voice," Have you come bringing gifts?"
"Actually," the young man responded," I come with a proposition. I was sent here by some people who know of you and your activities. You have two choices, you can leave the Silver Marches, and go far away, or you can be destroyed."
Elisondar started to laugh, which seemed to catch Shadimir off guard. "So the good people of the Silver Marshes want me to leave. I think I will stay where I am." the dracolich stopped for a moment, eyeing Shadimir closely," Wait a minute...I know who you are."
"You do?" asked the young man, who now was confused himself.
"Yes, it took me a while to think of it, but I know exactly who you are," the dracolich moved his head closer to the young man. "You are Danilo Thann of Waterdeep. Didn't actually think someone as well known as you would come all the way just to slay me."
"Um, no. He's actually all the way back in Waterdeep," the undead hunter responded.
"All right, you are..." Elisdonar thought hard about this," You are Tessaril Winter," The dracolich held his head high in the air, proud of himself for what he believed was a correct guess.
"She's a woman, and the lord of Eveningstar back in Cormyr," snapped the hunter, getting frustrated with the dracolich.
"One more guess," Elisondar said, holding a large bony talon in the air. He took one last look at the young man in front of him. The man wore a sword and a mace at his belt, and he saw thin strands of light colored hair under his hat. "Lets see, two weapons, slender build, and light hair. I know exactly who you are. You are Drizzt DoUrden."
"He's a drow," the undead hunter answered, shaking his head. Shadimir looked up at the dracolich and placed his hands to his sides" Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way."
The undead hunter drew his mace and Gabriel, stepping forward to attack the dracolich, but the back of the beast's claw found the hunter first, swatting Shadimir, to the ground, his brimmed hat flying off his head.
Elisondar was ready to finish off the young man, when a large blue dragon flew in front of him. He immediately recognized this dragon, and grinned wickedly. "If it isn't my sister. So tell me, how is Helm's clergy these days? I'm sure you'll be made into a high priestess soon...no matter, he'll have to sit back and watch as we fight to the bitter end."
The large blue dragon had a look of anguish on her face. "I didn't want it to have to come to this Elisondar, but I have no choice."
"Good," the dracolich remarked with a cruel laugh," because I was afraid I'd have to settle with killing Durnan.