Anara's eyes cracked open to the violet traceries of light that were open and visible to the Kaldorei.
That must have meant that night had fallen again.
She couldn't feel the strain against her shoulders, in fact, she seemed to feel that her arms were at her side and she could feel something pressing evenly against her back, rather like solid ground.
Slowly voices came fluttering through her sun-cracked mind. But they spoke in gibberish, like no language she'd ever heard before.
Intellectually, she was deciding that she was obviously hallucinating somewhat and that the dull ache in her shoulders meant she was losing sensation.
When a figure dipped into her view, bending over her as if she were lying on her back, she had to admit some feeling of hope slipping in that she was rescued somehow.
But there was no one to come for her, she'd come out to investigate this rumor on her own, without leaving word of where she was going.
She slid back unconscious, certain it would be the last time.
****
Kodachi looked up from where her patient had fallen asleep again and then back to the web-covered entrance to the cave they had taken shelter in. The outside was camouflaged to look like the rock face, but if people came looking for a lost prisoner, they might know the lay of the land and remember that there should be a cave here.
She sighed, legs skittering about so she could turn to the potions and compounds she'd brought with her. Reaching toward one pocket, she took out a small vial and drank it down before counting how many others she had of that particular formulae and then drinking down another of vial.
Kodachi sighed. They had packed for this trip assuming just the two of them and taking some notes on the lay of the land. Their precautions hadn't taken into account rescuing someone.
Her venom was gone for the moment, replaced by a medicine to encourage quick recovery. Likewise, she was only producing medical silk, embedded with anti-infectious compounds. And that wasn't particularly suitable for fighting.
That meant, no ribbons or nets for her, and she hadn't brought any spiders with her on this trip. She knew a few minor utility prayers or spells, and she had several flammable compounds that could be used once battle started, but...other than that her combat usefulness was almost negligible.
She sighed and lowered herself down to take the purple-skinned woman's arm and sinking her fangs into the arteries, at least she hoped they were arteries, so that the alchemically altered venom could flow into the woman's veins and help her recover.
****
The second time that Anara awakened, there could be no doubt.
She was alive and no longer tied to the stake out in the sun.
A hazy glow filtered in through a part of the wall and confused her nightvision briefly before she could identify herself to be in a cave of some sort.
She took in her condition and noted the silken bandages wrapped around some of her burns and injuries. Looking at her wrist, she saw a series of small pinpricks, like bites that were quickly healing.
She heard voices again and followed them to see two figures near the covered entrance talking in hushed tones towards each other.
One of the figures was almost certainly a human male, but the other looked only partially humanoid, much less human.
The words were still gibberish.
She tried to sit up and was unable to prevent a loud groan from escaping her lips as she did so.
The two figures in the almost-light that kept her senses confused turned toward her. There was a another brief moment of gibberish in a feminine voice and then the larger of the two figures, the one with the inhuman silohuette, moved forward out of the mix of light and dark.
"Nerubian!" Anara gasped as she saw the spider-body lined in the violet light visible to the Kaldorei.
"What!?" the spider-woman declared, folding her arms over her chest. "Nerubian?! Why...you insult me. I am Kodachi, Black Rose of the Saotome you grape-flavo..."
A bit of gibberish from the human as he stepped forward stopped the young woman in mid-rant.
"Yes," Kodachi said as she cleared her throat. "My apologies, but I mean you no harm. In fact, I have been treating you this past two days."
Anara calmed down, it was becoming obvious that this was no undead creature, unless she was hiding behind a spell of some sort. That still left what she was to a question, however.
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(Posted Sun, 17 May 2009 03:31)
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