A force against which a conventional army would quickly fall was finding itself ineffective against this single demon. And it looked like one of them was about to fall.
That was when the streaks of silver flashed from the tree lines and struck into the monster. The creature dropped Akane in shock and pain from the energy projectiles, and Akane dropped and rolled easily away from the monster, silently thanking whoever had come to their aid.
Their rescuers attack was not yet over, though. As Akane rolled to safety a searingly bright light struck outwards and slammed into the demon along with a showering cone of what seemed to be water drops moving at such speeds as to be knives. Silvery arrows flanked the attacks and speared into the monster as well.
As these staggered the monster the coup de'grace was lowered as the space about the creature was illuminated from above by rays of seeming moonlight that struck it with force, but merely passed through Akane.
A group of six...people strode out of the forest and started speaking to each other in a language none of them recognized.
There were three women, two men, and a young girl. All of them were black skinned. Not dark brown like the people in those American movies back home, no. These people had a pure, dark, black skin. They were short, slender and graceful with angular faces and somewhat larger ears that came to a point.
Of the two men, one was dressed in a long, many pocketed coat of some sort and seemed to present a rather studious and poetic air. The other male was dressed in silvery chain mail and weilding a short spear. Hanging from his back was a well-made longbow that most likely fired the arrows. The studious one had short, pale blonde hair, while the other had long white hair, despite a young face, that he left hanging free.
There was one woman, shorter than the others, but the way everyone turned to her showed that she was the definite leader of this party. There was some bickering between others, but all treated her with respect. She had long silver hair that was braided to be kept out of her eyes.
The other two women were only slightly taller than the first, who had Ranma-chan's height without the curvy figure. One was obviously in a sour mood as she immediately turned to her companion to start snapping at her about something. The angry one's hair was a pale blonde that almost seemed white at first.
The third woman seemed almost depressed, seemingly overall morose and dazed, and took her comrade's tongue-lashing with a bowed head until the the leader interrupted the situation. She had shoulder length white hair.
All three of the women wore large, european style swords against their back, and all three wore a suit of silvery chain mail, though the morose one hid most of it with outer leathers of a dyed green color.
The girl, who walked along quietly with the leader, was somewhat different. She seemed a great deal more quiet and depressed than even the older warrior woman, and looked to almost be needing to dragged along, though the group's leader was obviously treating her gently. In contrast to the pale colors of the rest of the group, her hair was a startling sapphire blue color.
****
"Myth Drannor," the angry one snapped. "We've wandered all the way to Myth Drannor. That's more than five days travel home. If we go straight, if we don't have to avoid that bastards bootlickers and slavers, if we didn't have that child to take care of, if we didn't have to worry about these humans we just found..." she took a breath. "If our ranger doesn't get us lost again!"
The leader kneeled down to look to the child, who seemed to look about emotionlessly. The elder drow was not fooled, however, the child, young woman really, had very expressive eyes, and she could see the fears and concerns written within.
"She is right, Lady Jhaelrnya," the quiet one said. "I have been a failure to guiding you in these woods."
"I'll have no despair, Xuni'th," Jhaelrnya said, addressing the morose ranger. "And I'll have no blame, Irrilva. There is no fault that cannot be laid at the feet of Vhaerun and his following. We've all known where we were heading for two days, but there has been no other path with paths as dogged as they have been."
"Understood," Irrilva said glancing toward the other woman who merely nodded. Jhaelrnya sighed and passed close to the angry female.
"Vhaerun learned the art of dividing friends from his mother," Jhaelrnya whispered, almost imperceptibly, even to the close drow. "You lost a brother, she lost a lover. She suffers as you do." Irrilva nodded reluctantly at that and the leader walked back to the young girl before looking to the obvious mage.
"I sense no further demons in the immediate area," the male in the robes said. "That doesn't mean there isn't something else of course."
"Thank you Vosstyre," Jhaelrnya said, she turned to the spearman. "Shadowdale. What is your say Szarn?"
"It is the closest," Szarn agreed.
"Will they let us in?" Irrilva asked. "Or will they mistake us for Vhaerunian or Spider-Kissers." She'd had a bad encounter, once, with the deservedly paranoid Mistledale Riders.
"My sister apprenticed with Elminster," Jhaelrnya commented. "I'm known there."
"Is that where that half-drow came from?" Vosstyre asked with a sly humor. Jhaelrnya leveled an exasperrated look his way.
"Where do you want to sleep?" she asked in a mockingly threatening voice. The mage laughed quietly and raised his hands to forestall the threat. "Shadowdale it is then, and perhaps we'll be able to contact Amra's family."
They all looked to the oddity among them. Some decades ago the an moon elf of decent standing went into the High Forest and was never heard from again. Obviously she and her comrades had run afoul of the Vhaerun followers there that had since moved to the Elven Court.
Why that was obvious was the drow girl they had with them. Amra Braegen, daughter of Jastra Braegen by the moon elf's own dying admission. When they had made a sortie against one of Vhaerun's strongholds, they had not expected to rescue prisoners, and subsequently be hounded deeper into the forest for days afterward.
Amra presented a problem for them. They weren't sure whether to treat the girl as a drow or a moon elf, and they had even more doubts of her moon elven family to her. And with what her life had been like to this point, she needed support.
Amra for her part only held the symbol of Sehanine Moonbow in her hand and quietly hummed while listening shrewdly to everything going on around her. That was how she had survived to this point, listening, obeying what she was told and quietly singing to sustain herself. These people want to help her, but they weren't free yet.
****
"Maybe we should talk to them," Ukyou suggested.
"How?" Akane asked. "I don't know that language."
"Stay on your guard," Kodachi said. "I do not like the look of these fiends and it would seem to me that we are facing a nother set of demons."
"They good warriors," Shampoo noted. "But not so good as us together. Angry one and spearman most dangerous. But they have witches. We no win, but they not attack yet."
"Excuse me," Kasumi said, silently praying to her ancestors for aid. "Can you tell us where we are?"
((AN: I'm assuming Jhaelrnya as a dedicated cleric, Irrilva as a fighter with a couple of cleric levels, Szarn as a straight fighter, Vosstyre as a straight wizard, Xuni'th as a split cleric/ranger, Amra as a low level bard and Kasumi as a low level shaman from oriental adventures...community and healing domains....it would account for the calming effect she has...a lot of low level divine spells create no noticeable effects. In general the drow are about level with the fiancees in experience, but the fiancees lack the magic or chi power they needed to fight demons...
also...while Vhaerun encourages equality between genders, some of the less prosperous Vhaerun settlements...being mostly male...make a habit of either accepting or kidnapping females (human, drow, elven, half-elven, whatever) and holding them for the purpose of breeding))
"They're all cute."
"True."
See other episodes by Thrythlind
(Posted Thu, 21 Nov 2002 11:21)
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