I would have a small mention to make, regarding the bit of elven language about to be used in this chapter, and probably many more to come.

There is currently no Forgotten Realms translator to suit my needs; the few that exist are not complex enough to support more than strictly basic language. Given that fact, I have used Grey Company resources, since at least its origins lie in the Realms, although it has extended to other things.

I'm composing the phrases myself, by abiding to the grammar rules found there, but it's my first real attempt to do so and I might have gotten things wrong. Kindly tell me so if that is the case. Thank you.

Chapter Sixteen

Torri's arms were already tired and aching by the time the tangle of bushes began to rarefy, and her armor, no matter how light, was still metal and starting to feel like it. Night was almost upon them and there had been no other signs of any possible clearing than this newly begun thinning of the hedge they'd been hacking through. And even that could mean anything else than that they were actually approaching the clearing.

Which it did. The only thing they found themselves facing was a rocky canyon, running through the forest like a deep, barren gash, as old as the world itself. Nothing even remotely green grew along its edges, or anywhere closer than about twenty feet from it, for that matter. Looking to the left and right, they discovered its ends, but both were very far away; the forest continued on all other sides, but there were no means to secure passage across, unless they could miraculously grow wings and fly.

Torri was a bit more cautious – or perhaps less used to precipices – than Solaufein, and she stopped a little bit behind the drow, placing her hands on her hips and pursing her lips contemplatively. "What now, Master Pathfinder?" she asked, her obvious sarcasm sharp and taunting.

"Your comments are not doing anything in the way of help, either," he pointed out calmly, still studying the edges and walls, and trying to determine the canyon's exact depth.

"Maybe," the moon elf admitted, a malicious smirk coming to life on her lips. "But at least they amuse me?"

"And also place you in no position to speak about MY inefficiency," he combated that new reply, totally unaffected. "At least I am -trying- to do something." He was growing quite used to her hostilities and had resorted to a general state of resigned boredom.

Torri grumbled. Somewhere in the back of her head she knew he was right, and she knew she should probably be doing something else than picking on him. But she just couldn't restrain herself. "Whatever," she rolled her eyes, deciding to pick up the mantle of leader. "I'll go scout up along the edge, to the left. You take the right path, and we'll meet back here to exchange opinions."

Solaufein nodded his agreement and they both started off in their given direction, pledging their devotion to the task at hand.

Torri concentrated on the forest, rather than the canyon, because she didn't think much would come out of her scouting a barren crack in the ground, no matter how big it was. Except for the wind rustling in the leaves, it was unusually silent, but she attributed that to the approaching nightfall, which sent most of the day birds, insects and animals to sleep, while the nightlife was not awake yet.

After walking a good portion of ground, the only realization she had come to was that nothing at all was to be found there, except the same narrow path framed by trees on one side and a would-be abyss on the other. She wasn't a ranger, but she would have made out at least some of the more recent tracks, had there actually been any, but there weren't. She didn't know whether that should trouble or appease her, but the only logical decision for her to come to in any of the cases was that of returning for the drow, so she promptly followed that course.

Caution struck her immediately upon the sight of his distant figure, who was no longer alone, but had a rather hostile companion. Even from where she was, Torri could distinctly make out the archer, his bow strung and ready with an arrow tip aimed at the drow. I couldn't care less if the stranger kills him, she tried to convince herself. The involuntary realization that it was not the truth only made her hurry along. Apparently, the two figures were still parleying and not attacking, but she couldn't know for how long.

"Hold," she requested, gesturing to the archer, who was the one facing her out of the two, as soon as she got close enough to be noticed and heard clearly.

She took a good look at this new 'element' in the whole picture of the situation she was in. The archer was a wood elf, by all appearance, which didn't surprise Torri in the least, given that they were in the Forest of Tethyr. His features – especially the blond hair and blue eyes – were quite rare for one of his kind, though, except for the mild copper tint of his skin, which was the exact detail giving him out for what he actually was. Also, his slightly stronger and taller build, though still not comparable to that of a human, was specific to the forest-dwelling subrace of elf.

The archer was just preparing to say something to the tense and unmoving Solaufein, when Torri's call caused him to finally notice the moon elf had gotten that close. He regarded her suspiciously, even as she was stopping at the drow's side, but nevertheless lowered the bow a little, granting his muscles some amount of relaxation.

"Amin ilnae duilien ele Teu'Tel'Quessir (I was not expecting to see a moon elf)," he confessed, his previous assumptions obviously contradicted by her appearance.

Torri sighed, shaking her head as she cast a side glance to Solaufein. "As much as I enjoy the sound of my native language," she began tentatively, "I would ask of you to speak Common."

After a half-glare at the drow, his suspicion rising anew, the wood elf reluctantly nodded his agreement and concentrated on Torri, though he obviously remained ready to shoot his arrow, should Solaufein move.

"Thank you," the drow addressed Torri shortly, expressing his gratitude, which remained apparently unnoticed as the moon elf thought.

"The drow is my c... one of my companions," she finally spoke, testing the ground. "He will not attack when you lower your guard."

"I see," the wood elf sighed his acceptance out heavily, though he still glanced at Solaufein begrudgingly. "I apologize." His arms relaxed completely, and the bow came down in one hand, the arrow in the other, with a swiftness that could hardly be tracked by the eye. "I thought he was the scout for a war party."

"Your caution is understandable," Torri interjected before Solaufein could, her tone rising slightly to point out just that simple fact to him – he should remain silent for the time being.

"I have forgotten all courtesy," the archer shook his head and offered an apologetic smile. Then, stepping closer and holding out a hand to the moon elf, he continued, "My name is Ivendil Adai'riel." Concurrently, he nodded briefly to the drow.

"I am Toreen of Sareil," she replied, taking his hand and shaking it firmly, for a short moment, her eyes never leaving his bright features. "And this is Solaufein." A small gesture pointed out the cause of the archer's still obvious distress.

"It is a pleasure meeting you..." he hesitated, "...both. But the situation would require that I ask about your reason to be here at the moment."

"I wasn't aware we nee..." Torri bit her tongue to stop the first reply. "My apologies. Ah... we are lost," she admitted finally.

One of the archer's brows came up in a fine line as he eyed her amusedly. "That still doesn't motivate your presence," he noted. "But I may be of use. Where exactly is it that you should be?"

"Me and my gold elven companion, who is not present at the moment, as you can see, were heading for Suldanessellar," Torri punctuated firmly. "However, disturbances have... abated us from the original course, and we've also gained... other companions. That is not the point here."

"Go on," Ivendil bid her when he saw she had stopped, the amusement not gone from his features.

"I...," she stammered, looking for a proper way to put things and make them less embarrassing. "I am afraid that our magical means of transport... failed in a way, and we don't know the area. We should, supposedly, be getting to a clearing, northeast of this... rock... with caves... err... a clearing with a river crossing it." She almost felt the need to smack herself when the entire phrase didn't come out as intended at all.

The wood elf held back a small chuckle, and shook his head, obviously quite entertained there. "I know of that clearing," he spoke softly, smiling to the moon elf in a much too sympathetic and superior way for her liking. "In fact, I have just come from there. My own companion is a mage; moon elven, like yourself. I left him camped there so that I could do some scouting."

Torri cleared her throat, realizing that the confused and insecure expression on her face probably did nothing to help the impression she had made. A great interior effort steeled her features into a stone-cold sober composure. "I don't suppose you would mind if we tagged along on your way back, then?" she inquired, trying to remain polite and distant.

"... No," Ivendil shrugged, only after eyeing Solaufein once more.

That only caused the drow to shift impatiently and roll his eyes with sheer exasperation at the charade not being over yet. "I am not a monument to be admired," he pointed out.

"Can we just be off?" Torri urged, not liking the new exchange of glares the two were sharing right before her helpless self.

"Of course," Ivendil nodded politely and turned, with a courteous half-bow to her. "This way," he continued, pointing back into the forest, in a direction pretty much the same as the one they had come from, if a bit more northerly. Then, he started away.

"I just have to praise your orientation," Torri remarked sarcastically, addressing Solaufein, as they followed.

"I told you I did not know where we were going, to begin with," the drow replied, the exasperation not having left him.

Torri rolled her eyes, and hurried to catch up with the wood elven archer, who had already found a path decent enough to allow passage without a sword to hack through the bushes at hand. Solaufein followed, a bit less enthusiastic about the whole thing, but still relieved, for several reasons.

"Who are your 'other companions'?" Ivendil inquired from the moon elf, while his eyes drifted from one tree to the other, attentively searching for marks he knew.

"A human and a gold elf, both mages, like your own companion," Torri replied, attempting to follow the row of his glances at first; she gave up soon, his experience and familiarity with the forest making it too difficult.

"Your party is... odd, to say the least," he remarked dryly.

"Well, at first it was just Nirra and me, but..." Torri explained, only to be interrupted by his sudden flinch.

"Nirra?" he asked, his face brightening as he came to an abrupt halt and spun on his heels to face her.

That caused both Torri and Solaufein to startle and stop before they bumped into each other, and consequently the wood elf. "Err... Nehera Erenlin, my gold elven friend," the moon elf replied, arching an eyebrow.

"I know her," Ivendil confessed with a fond smile. "You must be her Torri, then. I apologize... she spoke of you often, but never told me the full name."

"Must have been that one single time we've been apart for longer than a couple of days," the moon elf reasoned, then just shrugged that unimportant matter aside.

"Her friends are my friends," Ivendil bowed most respectfully, which only served to further take the already stunned Torri aback.

"A courtesy I will not take lightly," she assured, as formalities required, though a new spree of indefinite quick blinking was necessary to express her surprise.

"I am glad to see you have common friends," Solaufein interfered from behind the moon elf, shifting uneasily. "However, can we hurry along? I... sense danger at hand."

Ivendil nodded, his glee fading away immediately to be replaced by grim determination. "I do, as well," he admitted. "Let us be off."

They resumed their short-winded journey, which had been made much easier by the archer's knowledge of the wild forest. The order remained the same in their short line.

"What... kind of danger?" Torri asked, glancing about.

"I've sighted a large group of humans in the region," Ivendil replied hurriedly, eager to have his attention get back to their surroundings alone.

"Humans?" Torri pressed on, hoping he would give out more.

"Mostly Priests of Talos," the archer satisfied her curiosity furthermore, but dismissively so.

The moon elf startled and fell silent, after exchanging a small, meaningful look with Solaufein. The drow couldn't possibly know, but Talos was the God of Storms and Lightning, if she had things correctly, which could only explain the unusual weather that had stranded them... but she couldn't know anything else. She remembered Knave's strange behavior, and the concern Nirra shared with the human. Some questioning would be done soon, and imperatively so.