Chapter 17

The two half-elves had left the small entrance cavern filled with sleeping striges and into a much larger cave, its ceiling reaching some forty or more feet over their heads. A fast-flowing stream some five feet wide split the large room in two, in front of two exits and through a third.

"Looks like we can't avoid getting our feet wet, huh?" Saeola whispered with a sigh.

Faelar nodded in agreement, inspecting the last exit to the south, the one the stream flowed through. It was only three feet tall, the water filling it halfway. The thief crept closer, noting several tracks of some creature.

"They look like a large bird or some reptile made them." Saeola noted, leaning over the rogue's shoulder to examine them herself.

"Yeah… I doubt it's any bird, though. Not at dis depth, not naturally." Faelar flicking the loop earrings on one pointed ear, thinking.

"…You're not seriously considering going through there?" His ranger partner asked incredulously, raising her black eyebrows.

"'Ey, now my curiosity's piqued. I gotta see whot's ova dere." Faelar dipped a hand into the stream to test the temperature and current. Not nearly strong enough to sweep him away, but the liquid was rather cold.

"Are you nuts?" Saeola whapped him lightly in the head. "There's no telling where this leads, or if you'll even have enough space to move and breathe further down!"

"Well, dove," Faelar grinned, ignoring her slap, "Only one way ta find out." And with that, the mischievous half-elf hopped into the stream, the water rising to his chest. He crawled through the gap, soon disappearing down the path.

Saeola sighed, blowing her bangs up for a brief moment. "I must be insane." She muttered, wading in after Faelar and following the rogue down the stream. Even with her Darkvision, the passage ahead was hard to make out. The ranger barely managed to distinguish the spots of reddish-orange heat that marked Faelar.

Her companion gurgled something back to her, but before Saeola could reply, she felt water rush into her nose and resisted the urge to gasp. The ceiling dipped down lower here, no more than six inches above the water. It didn't last long before it rose again, but the feeling of ice cold water clearing her nostrils didn't thrill the ranger very much.

The moment she climbed out of the passage and of the stream, into another large cavern, Saeola snatched Faelar by his goatee and pulled him over to her, inches from her face as she growled, still trying to clear the unwanted water from her nose.

"Dammit, Faelar! Why don't you warn me about these things!" She snarled.

"'Ey, I wos tryin' ta, but da water came up too fast fer me to get it out in da air." Faelar defended himself. "Ya think I like getting' water up me nose?" Saeola noted the drip from his own nostrils, thanks to the low stream. Grumbling in defeat, she released his facial hair and pushed him back, still mildly irked.

Faelar rubbed his slightly sore chin, then glanced down at his companion and smirked. "Bit cold in da water, whozonit?"

"Of course it was cold, you moron!" Saeola huffed, "We're probably a frickin' mile underground in a cavern, why wouldn't it b—" She stopped, realizing where his gaze drifted. She glanced down at herself, then blushed furiously, quickly covering her breasts. Saeola attempted to slap Faelar, though the thief easily dodged the blow. "Pervert!" She hissed.

Faelar opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly, a horrible stench attacked the half-elves' nostrils. Coughing, the pair glanced around the cave, finally noticing the gruesome remains of game animals hanging from the wall on wooden stakes. Another glance showed two orc corpses held up in the same manner.

"Eh… Dat's not a goo—" Before Faelar could finish, Saeola pushed him down, a large dart zipping through the space between them, right where the thief's neck had been a moment before.

"One debt paid, two to go, rogue." Saeola smirked, though her face turned serious quickly as she withdrew her sword to face their newest enemy.

Faelar deftly hopped back onto his feet, his dagger and short sword already in hand. Seeing the pair of scaly humanoids before them, he chuckled. "True enough. Ya only owe me two, now."

The snarling monsters flung two more javelins at the half-elves. Now on guard, however, the adventurers easily dodged and closed in on their opponents. The one facing Saeola had used up its weapons, and so it charged at her with its mouth wide open and claws extended. Faelar's foe still had one javelin left, and attempted to hit the thief with it before also resorting to its natural weapons.

The ranger screwed up her face in disgust as she exchanged blows with the troglodyte. "Awful" was an understatement to the stench that emitted from the cave beast. Fighting back nausea, Saeola ducked a swipe aimed at her face, responding with a swift slash across the monster's chest. It screeched in pain, allowing the woman a chance to drive her rapier through its heart, ending the threat.

Faelar had somehow managed to leap atop his troglodyte and was annoying the creature by persistently poking its head with his blades, avoiding all attacks aimed at him.

"Stop goofing off and kill him, dammit!" Saeola huffed, annoyed.

"Fine, fine." Faelar rolled his eyes, driving Quickdeath through the unfortunate humanoid's skull. He withdrew the dagger and leapt off the dead monster in one fluid motion, his feet hitting the ground the same instant the troglodyte did.

Saeola sighed, swishing her blade clean and sheathing it. Gagging, the stench of the dead troglodytes lingered in her nostrils, as did the stench from the game hung about on the walls. "Ugh. Let's just get out of here. It reeks."

"M'kay… 'Ow 'bout dat door ova dere?" Faelar, his weapons sheathed, pointed to a plug made out of mud some twenty feet away.

"Can't we just head back the way we came?" Saeola argued, figuring it was the safer route. Her plea fell on deaf ears, as before the final words reached her lips, Faelar was already at the plug, tugging it open with a bit of effort.

The ranger smacked her face in irritation, sighing as the thief disappeared through the doorway. "I swear, this idiot's gonna be the death of me." Taking her longbow in hand and notching an arrow in place – just to be safe – the half-elf followed through the opening.

The duo entered a long cavern that soon broke up into narrow, twisting passages trailing off into the darkness. Though not very tall themselves, Saeola and Faelar had to crouch slightly to fit inside, as the ceiling only went about five feet above the ground. The same horrible stench from the troglodytes filled the air, and the half-elf pair soon noticed more animal remains.

"We really should go back," Saeola warned – or rather, started to warn before something hissed ahead. Detecting the low heat outline of another troglodyte, the ranger cursed and fell to one knee, allowing her more space to aim and shoot her arrow. The missile weapon flew true, lodging itself into the monster's forehead. Before the dead creature hit the ground, another sprang forward.

This one also met a quick end when three small, needlelike daggers dug into its throat. The troglodyte gurgled and expired. Faelar squatted at the ready, three more throwing needles already between his fingers in each hand.

"Backtrack?" The thief suggested, the stench beginning to overwhelm him.

"That's the first intelligent I've heard you say today, if not ever." Saeola snorted, retracing her steps to the mud door while Faelar covered her back. Only one more troglodyte ventured out towards the pair, but the rogue quickly dispatched it with a flurry of needles embedded into its head.

The half-elves returned to the main cavern, pushing the door closed behind them. Faelar muttered something archaic, pressing his gloved hands against the door. With a low flash, the mud warped into stone, merging with the wall.

"Dere. Nothin's gonna follow us from dere, now." He nodded.

Saeola moved to whap him in the head for dragging them in there in the first place, but the thief had already moved on to examine the pond some fifty feet to their left, barely visible with their infrared vision. "Dammit, Faelar!"

Faelar ignored the ranger as she jogged up behind him, leaning down to test the waters. Just as the stream, it was near ice-cold, but he sensed no magical aura in the water, benign or otherwise.

Already knowing his intent by now, Saeola waved her arms in protest. "Faelar, no! We're still soaking wet from the damn stream, and—" The thief ventured into the waist-deep water and began splashing towards the other end. "Fuck it. Why do I bother?" Sighing, she pressed her gloved hands over her eyes for a moment, moving them high to push and grasp her bangs in resigned annoyance. Grumbling, she swung her bow over her shoulders and waded in after Faelar, cursing herself and the rogue the entire way.

- - - - -

The half-elf pair splashed through the pond, coming to another stream. Faelar continued down the waterway, Saeola grumpily following. A few yards down, they noticed an opening to their right leading into a cave. However, they wisely ignored it when they heard hisses from some large lizard-like creature coming from inside. As a precaution, however, Saeola withdrew her rapier once again, and this time kept it at the ready.

Not too far after the suspicious cave opening, the adventurers came into yet another large cavern. Though the stream continued farther into the room, Faelar felt the current pick up very suddenly, and quickly climbed out of the water, Saeola following suite. The ranger saw the wisdom in this action as she climbed out, noting that the stream ended in a waterfall, its exact depths unknown from her vantage point.

She also noted a thin layer of mossy slime on the rock floor near the stream. "Best stay away from there, you'd probably slip right into the stream, and that's obviously not good." She motioned her head towards the waterfall.

Faelar glanced her way and nodded, refraining from commenting as he walked across the cavern, staying clear of the slippery ground.

"You know, we've been here for a few hours," Saeola went on with a huff, squeezing some water out of her cape with her free hand. "Maybe we should just call it a night here. I don't see any immediate danger."

"Eh, I wanna see where dese lead, dove." Faelar pointed to a small stone stairway descending into the darkness some yards in front of them. "Ya can stop if you want, but I wanna look down dere ferst. If dere's nuffink bad down dere, I'm gonna settle dere. If not… Well," He grinned widely, "I'll clear it out, den come back up 'ere."

Saeola snorted. "Knowing your knack of finding trouble? I think it's best I watch your back."

"'Ey, I can 'andle myself." Faelar stuck his tongue out at her as he slowly walked down the steps, keeping one hand to the wall to preserve his balance, should he slip in his wet boots.

"Sure you can." Saeola chuckled, waiting until he was a few paces ahead before following.

"'Ey, 'ow many life savin's d'ya owe me?"

It was her turn to stick out her tongue, even though his face was turned. "Hey, only two now, thief. Don't forget about that javelin so quickly."

"Point taken, point taken." The rogue chuckled, reaching the end of the steps. He looked around, none too surprised to find himself in yet another large cavern. The sound of rushing water filled his ears; apparently, the waterfall ended up here. To his right was another pond and a stream flowing from it, and rushing into the opposite end of the pond was a narrow waterfall, perhaps some sixty feet in height.

Hands on his hips, Faelar strolled about the area, looking for any exits or dangers. The stream flowed through a narrow opening, but judging by its swift current, it was one trail even he wouldn't want to try. To the south he noted another natural passage deeper into the caves, while to the east were two old wooden doors.

Saeola whistled lowly behind him. "Wow. It's… beautiful."

Faelar had to agree, now that his attention turned to the actual atmosphere of the place. The spray from the waterfall caused the very rock walls to glisten, while strange, colorful minerals and lichens lent some light to the area, giving it a sort of unearthly beauty. The wild half-elf man knelt near the pond, noticing small cavefish and white crayfish swimming about.

"All righ'," He sighed, wading into the water, which only went up to his knees this time. The fish scattered as he entered. "Dere's nuffink dangerous in 'ere dat I can see, so I think 'ere's a good place ta settle fer da night."

Saeola raised an eyebrow, "You plan to sleep in the pond?" She asked sarcastically.

Chuckling, Faelar shook his head, moving towards the middle of the pond. He raised his voice to be heard over the waterfall, "Nah, I kin see dere's a small cave behind da waterfall from 'ere. Jus' cuz dis area is safe now, doesn't mean it'll be dat way all night. Dere's three entrances into dis cavern – four iffun ya count da stairs we took – who knows what might wander inta 'ere while we sleep? At least behind da waterfall, we'll be hidden."

"'We?'" Saeola smirked, "What makes you think I'm gonna follow you again?" Faelar turned to look at her, the water now up to his groin.

Grinning, he simply stated, "It's whotcha been doin' all day, dove." With a wink, he turned around and continued on his way.

Conceding his point – both about her following and it being safer behind the waterfall – the ranger trudged into the ice-cold water. "If I die from hypothermia, I'm gonna haunt you for the rest of your life."

Faelar barked a short laugh, "Fair 'nuff, dove. Fair 'nuff."

Well, I managed to get that up fairly quick as well… Though as stated in the last chapter, since SL didn't co-write this part and hasn't seen it yet, it might be changed around later if she has stuff to add/edit. If there are any typos/errors/etc, please let me know. It's almost 3:00 a.m. now, and I have an 8:30 class, so I can't be arsed to thoroughly proofread this right now.

Feedback is great (and it motivates the writers to move their butts a bit faster), but PLEASE: WRITE MORE THAN "WONDERFUL/GREAT PLOT/GOOD STORY/ETC" WHY is it so good or bad? Be just a little more specific, please. "Great plot" doesn't do me or SL any good other than maybe a little ego boost – which is nice and all, but does nothing to let us know what exactly we're doing right. Not to mention, some readers (like myself) look at reviews first to gain a little more insight on the gist of the story, and "great plot" doesn't give them much of an idea of what's going on… Even just something like "I love Faelar, he's hilarious" or whatnot would be of help… Just… Please, be a bit less vague than "good story" if you're going to review.

…I'll stop ranting now.

One last note to "i": Wow. Thanks for the review… though I actually wasn't talking about you, but another reader who's written a lot of two-word reviews (you know who you are, and I'm happy you like the story, but please add a bit more to your reviews)… Sorry 'bout that, but… yeah… dang. Long review. Woot!

As for Celdern, well, when your friends are already dead and you can't bring them back, you kinda just need to get your butt out of the situation. It's not that he doesn't care, he's just accepted it as a fact of life… That's how he is… But… hmm… If that was your reaction to him, that means I should probably flesh him out a little more… thanks for pointing that out!

Oh, and if anyone's interested in seeing what the characters look like or perhaps a drawing of one of the scenes from here (I'm actually more of an artist than a writer), send me an e-mail (it's in my author profile) and I'll gladly share some drawings... I've got plenty, trust me.

Now, I must sleep…. Zzzzzzzz