The woman whimpered as she felt the cool blade slide against her sensitive skin. With one hand clamped over her mouth, the most she could do was that. She could feel her life ebbing away as the knife cut deeper and deeper into her throat. She told herself that she wouldn't scream. She would not scream. A cold chuckle made her very heart stop beating.

"Still won't talk, Rina? You're surely a stubborn one, no? I will ask you one more time. Where did that pathetic, sniveling human and the elf go?" The woman smiled bitterly as the hand over her mouth was lifted and spat. She grabbed the hand which still held the cold steel buried in her throat and pushed it in deeper. Her body fell to the ground with a muffled thump. The brave woman named Rina was no more. A hiss of a curse was given as a shadow examined the woman's body and growled some powerful words under its breath. A sickly green grow surrounded the woman's body and the corpse soon vanished.

"I will not tolerate such embarrassment, Rina. I have sent your body and soul to the Eight Hell. You won't be treated warmly there..." A cold chuckle was given as the shadow melted into the others and was gone.

- The Price of Innocence -

"Sihri, we've been traveling for miles. Can't we please rest? You know we humans aren't as 'athletic' as you elves." The human clad in chainmail complained for at LEAST the eighty-first time. The cloaked figure that had been completely unnoticeable in the shadows snarled in frustration.

"Rilen, our head are worth 100,000 gold pieces, and you want to REST? Every single humanoid being that is capable of reading simple words lusts for our blood to spill. So just shut up and WALK, you weak human." The elf growled back. The human called Rilen shrank back and glared reproachfully at the figure of the cloaked elf.

"Well, pardon ME, Miss Elf. You know very well the capabilities of humans. You know the limits of my body better than me. You now that you can go on for months at a time while I can only go on for a few days, max. And when I'm traveling with you, Elf, I can only go for a few HOURS." Rilen argued.

"Rilen," The elf hissed, "YOU know the dire emergency of our situation. You know tha--Silence!" The elf named Sihri quickly melted into the shadows and the human darted for cover. In the silence, the two companions waited. Rilen trusted Sihri's keen ears. A moment later, he heard a faint footstep in the distance. They waited in the darkness of the night. Then, Rilen saw them. Dark shapes in the distance. He felt something nudge him and recognized Sihri's form beside him.

"Drow," She mouthed. Rilen's eyes widened. Drow? They waited for what seemed like hours, until finally, Sihri gave a curt nod. Rilen breathed a sigh of relief.

"What were they doing here?" He whispered.

"Probably a raiding party. Did you see a female amongst the males?" The elf answered and inquired in one. Rilen shook his head.

"I couldn't see anything." He answered. Sihri sighed and stalked out of the shadows. She reached under her cloak and unsheathed the battered-looking longsword that had been hanging at her waist. She then took a whip into the other hand and glanced at Rilen. He already had his war axe in hand. They slowly stalked forward, Sihri continually looking back at Rilen and scowling.

"Why do you have to make so much noise?" She said through gritted teeth. Rilen just rolled his eyes. This was no time for an argument. They came into a clearing and without a word started setting up camp.

"What if the drow come back?" Rilen whispered. Sihri shook her head.

"They were done for the night. I saw the bags and the treasure they held." She whispered back. Rilen nodded. They both then rolled out their sleeping mats and without another word, submitted themselves to sleep, unaware of the shadows surrounding their campsite.

That morning, Sihri felt something cool on her ankle. She shifted, mumbling something. She felt something hard underneath her. Opening one eye, she realized that she didn't recognize her surroundings. Sitting bolt upright, she realized she was in cell. The elf took a deep breath and stood up. When she realized that she had been stripped of all her weapons, armor, and items, and instead wore only a tunic, she gasped. She shifted and something rattled. She glanced down and realized she was shackled to the floor. It was dark. Amazingly dark, and she knew she was in a cave. There was the steady drip-drip of water. She held her breath, trying hard not to scream. Where was Rilen? What had happened? It was so dark...so dark...She sat down, holding her face in her hands.

"What happened? Was I really that careless?" She mumbled. Suddenly, she could feel it. A presence at the door. The elf jumped up, gripping for her longsword, then making a face once realizing it was gone.

"I see you're awake, stranger." A soft voice reached her ears. She couldn't see far. It was too dark.

"Who are you? Where is Rilen?" She hissed. She heard the door to her cell open and close and there stood a...

"Drow?" She yelped, scrambling back. An amused chuckle reached her ears. It was unmistakable. The black skin, the white hair. Sihri gulped.

'What have I gotten myself into?' She thought to herself.

.End Chapter

Kind of sort of my first fic...heh heh...I know I'm not that good a writer, but oh well. I love it anyway. It's also pretty short but I wasn't really sure whether anyone will read it...I wasn't sure whether Drow take any prisoners, and I'm pretty sure they don't, but oh well. Heh...Bye.