Post by Aurac on Apr 8, 2005 17:12:11 GMT
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"Silence," she signaled to her troops behind her. Varena peered
out of the cave entrance and into the starlit night. She flinched
slightly. Even starlight was uncomfortably bright for a drowgar's
eyes. She moved silently forward into the mouth of the cave and
crouched down once again. Her patrol came up to her and crouched,
"Do you see anything," the patrol's lead male asked her in the silent
code. "Silence," she signaled back. Her eyes scanned the trees
slowly, trying to force her eyes to adjust fully to the light of the
night sky. She raised her hand and signaled to her troops, "Move
out." The rear two males quickly shuffled out of the cave entrance
and took positions behind a bush and a tree on either side of the
mouth of the cave. They both in turn signaled and all clear. Varena
motioned the remaining two males behind her patrol leader to fan
out. The elves ran to the trees further out from the cave without a
sound. After they signaled that all was clear, she and her patrol
leader moved out from the cave mouth and moved to the frontmost
elves. She scanned the trees ahead once more and then called for the
males to form up behind her. Their eyes adjusted and no apparent
ambush waiting in the trees for them, it was time to start their
patrol of the small mountain range that the drowgar lived far beneath
in the deep, dark cave they called home.
***
"Hold," he whispered back to his patrol. The ranger held still
while his companion sniffed at the air, searching for the source of
the scent. The enourmous gray wolf lifted his head and inhaled
sharply, and then whined softly at him. Dorendar sensed that his
wolf friend had only picked up a deer in the brush ahead. He quickly
surveyed the area and motioned his troop onward. They picked through
the bushes silently as they began patrolling the small mountain range
under which the drowgar lived deep down in a dark cave. The Elven
Defense Force recon was on the lookout for drowgar patrols tonight.
***
"Hold," Varena hissed loudly. The male in front was the greenest
in the patrol. His foot hovered barely a finger above a dead branch.
He peered fearfully at the branch, and then sighed silently in
relief. A flash in the corner of his eye, he looked up just in time
to see something streak toward him in a blur. The young drowgar fell
to the ground with a thud. He never even had the time to register
the arrow standing out from his chest, nor the arrowhead piercing
his heart. Varena instinctively flexed a thought in her mind.
Purple flames suddenly appeared and danced in front of her in the
form of five elves and two enourmous wolves. One of the wolves
bounded over her and latched onto the arm of her patrol leader, who
had stood up to unsheath his long sword. They fell into a chaotic
ball of black skin and gray fur. "Attack now!" Her voice fell on
deaf ears. Her troops were already fighting all around her. She
quickly scanned the fiery forms and spotted a curious form. He was
just standing there, staring at her from behind his group of surface
elves. He seemed confused. She clenched her teeth and growled
fiercly. She lifted her mace and charged the obviously inexperienced
elf. Seeing a charging drowgar sparked some sense in the elf at the
last moment and he instinctively side-stepped her charge. Her mace
caught his tunic, spun her around and pulled them both over the
edge of the hill. They tumbled and rolled down the steep, rocky
hillside.
Dorendar awoke beside his adversary. It was morning and the sun
shown on her black skin and white hair. She was utterly beautiful.
A headache hit him and reminded him of the night before. Her mace
had left his shoulder wounded, as well. He picked up her light,
limp body. She breathed slowly and quietly, and on the verge of
death he guessed. As he moved her, he saw where her tunic had been
torn by the wild ride down the hillside. Rocks had bruised and cut
her deeply. He took the drowgar priestess to his home high atop an
ancient tree. His treehouse was hidden above the tree's lowest
branches. He stitched up her wounds and set her bandanges. She
slept day and night, and he watched.
Darkness. A smell reached her nostrils. The smell of... wood.
She was still on the surface. Why was it dark, she wondered. She
tried to move, but her hands were bound behind her. She was tied
to a bed, she reasoned. It was soft, so probably not an altar. A
blindfold was wrapped tightly around her eyes, blocking out all
light. She sighed heavily, wondering if her captors were going to
eat her, or sacrifice her to some god, perhaps. Her head swooned and
blackness fell over her again.
Darkness again. This time she smelled him in addition to the wood
she'd smelled before. Him. It was the elf that she'd attacked.
What had happened? Her mind raced to remember that night, but his
soft voice broke her thoughts, "Welcome to the land of the living."
"What do you want with me," she asked the darkness angrily. "Be
at peace. I intend you no harm." He was a surface elf and was not
to be trusted. His kind were evil and he was lying. He probably
planned to kill her for sport once she was well enough to try and
defend herself. Or perhaps he'd not wait and he was going to kill
her now while she was helpless. She felt her hands being untied and
smelled his sweet breath waft past her nose. He'd been chewing some
kind of plant, she guessed. She reached up to remove the blinfold,
but his hands firmly grasped hers. She struggled to remove his
hands from hers but he was too strong. "You'll hurt yourself if you
remove the blindfold now. Trust me." He let go of her hands and
walked out, shutting and locking the door behind her. Trust him?
She fell asleep. This time it was peaceful. She dreamed. She
dreamed of him.
She awoke again. She felt well rested and strong. She reached up
to remove the blindfold but it was already gone. She dared open her
eyes. Slowly her eyelids raised and she saw that the room she was
in was dark. She lay there, staring up into the darkness as her
eyes began to pick out the details of the room. The ceiling was
made of wood, but the wall next to her was... bark? She saw a door
to her right and could see faint light through the cracks around the
door jam. She sat up slowly and blood rushed to her head. Her head
throbbed and she waited for the dizzyness to pass before standing
up. She made her way quietly to the door and tried the handle. The
door was unlocked. Opening the door without a sound, she left the
room and found herself on a wooden platform high above the ground.
She was in a treehouse. Stairs led from the platform higher up
into the tree, and down to the ground below her. Music reached her
ears. She looked up and saw the faint glow of a candle. She
climbed the steps slowly. Her side ached still. She walked up to
the table that he sat at. His back turned toward her. "Feeling
better, I see," he said without turning around as he set his flute
on the table behind him. "What do you want with me," she demanded.
"I want nothing with you. You are free to go." She turned to
leave. "But," he continued, "I invite you to stay as my guest."
She stopped and turned. "Where's my mace?" "Here." He stood and
pulled her mace from his belt. He offered it to her and smiled at
her. She snarled as she grabbed the weapon from his hands. She
quickly raised the mace into the air and brought it down, aiming for
his head. With lightning reflexes he quickly dodged the blow, caught
her main hand in his, grabbed her with his other arm, and held her
pinned against the table. She gave a fierce, almost primeval growl.
He fought back a chill at the sound. She stopped struggling as she
realized that she was going nowhere. He was just too strong, and
she was still weak. He stared into her eyes emotionlessly. She
stared back. Her eyes betrayed her to him. She wanted him. "Sit."
He let her go and she sat on the wooden bench. "I'll fix you some
food. You haven't eaten in at least three days." He left down the
stairs. She sat on the bench motionless. She was confused. What
were these feelings she was feeling for him? She was feeling...
love? She loved him. How could that be? He was a surface elf.
She wasn't supposed to fall in love with him. It was against her
beliefs, against her very being. She struggled with thoughts.
"Silence," she signaled to her troops behind her. Varena peered
out of the cave entrance and into the starlit night. She flinched
slightly. Even starlight was uncomfortably bright for a drowgar's
eyes. She moved silently forward into the mouth of the cave and
crouched down once again. Her patrol came up to her and crouched,
"Do you see anything," the patrol's lead male asked her in the silent
code. "Silence," she signaled back. Her eyes scanned the trees
slowly, trying to force her eyes to adjust fully to the light of the
night sky. She raised her hand and signaled to her troops, "Move
out." The rear two males quickly shuffled out of the cave entrance
and took positions behind a bush and a tree on either side of the
mouth of the cave. They both in turn signaled and all clear. Varena
motioned the remaining two males behind her patrol leader to fan
out. The elves ran to the trees further out from the cave without a
sound. After they signaled that all was clear, she and her patrol
leader moved out from the cave mouth and moved to the frontmost
elves. She scanned the trees ahead once more and then called for the
males to form up behind her. Their eyes adjusted and no apparent
ambush waiting in the trees for them, it was time to start their
patrol of the small mountain range that the drowgar lived far beneath
in the deep, dark cave they called home.
***
"Hold," he whispered back to his patrol. The ranger held still
while his companion sniffed at the air, searching for the source of
the scent. The enourmous gray wolf lifted his head and inhaled
sharply, and then whined softly at him. Dorendar sensed that his
wolf friend had only picked up a deer in the brush ahead. He quickly
surveyed the area and motioned his troop onward. They picked through
the bushes silently as they began patrolling the small mountain range
under which the drowgar lived deep down in a dark cave. The Elven
Defense Force recon was on the lookout for drowgar patrols tonight.
***
"Hold," Varena hissed loudly. The male in front was the greenest
in the patrol. His foot hovered barely a finger above a dead branch.
He peered fearfully at the branch, and then sighed silently in
relief. A flash in the corner of his eye, he looked up just in time
to see something streak toward him in a blur. The young drowgar fell
to the ground with a thud. He never even had the time to register
the arrow standing out from his chest, nor the arrowhead piercing
his heart. Varena instinctively flexed a thought in her mind.
Purple flames suddenly appeared and danced in front of her in the
form of five elves and two enourmous wolves. One of the wolves
bounded over her and latched onto the arm of her patrol leader, who
had stood up to unsheath his long sword. They fell into a chaotic
ball of black skin and gray fur. "Attack now!" Her voice fell on
deaf ears. Her troops were already fighting all around her. She
quickly scanned the fiery forms and spotted a curious form. He was
just standing there, staring at her from behind his group of surface
elves. He seemed confused. She clenched her teeth and growled
fiercly. She lifted her mace and charged the obviously inexperienced
elf. Seeing a charging drowgar sparked some sense in the elf at the
last moment and he instinctively side-stepped her charge. Her mace
caught his tunic, spun her around and pulled them both over the
edge of the hill. They tumbled and rolled down the steep, rocky
hillside.
Dorendar awoke beside his adversary. It was morning and the sun
shown on her black skin and white hair. She was utterly beautiful.
A headache hit him and reminded him of the night before. Her mace
had left his shoulder wounded, as well. He picked up her light,
limp body. She breathed slowly and quietly, and on the verge of
death he guessed. As he moved her, he saw where her tunic had been
torn by the wild ride down the hillside. Rocks had bruised and cut
her deeply. He took the drowgar priestess to his home high atop an
ancient tree. His treehouse was hidden above the tree's lowest
branches. He stitched up her wounds and set her bandanges. She
slept day and night, and he watched.
Darkness. A smell reached her nostrils. The smell of... wood.
She was still on the surface. Why was it dark, she wondered. She
tried to move, but her hands were bound behind her. She was tied
to a bed, she reasoned. It was soft, so probably not an altar. A
blindfold was wrapped tightly around her eyes, blocking out all
light. She sighed heavily, wondering if her captors were going to
eat her, or sacrifice her to some god, perhaps. Her head swooned and
blackness fell over her again.
Darkness again. This time she smelled him in addition to the wood
she'd smelled before. Him. It was the elf that she'd attacked.
What had happened? Her mind raced to remember that night, but his
soft voice broke her thoughts, "Welcome to the land of the living."
"What do you want with me," she asked the darkness angrily. "Be
at peace. I intend you no harm." He was a surface elf and was not
to be trusted. His kind were evil and he was lying. He probably
planned to kill her for sport once she was well enough to try and
defend herself. Or perhaps he'd not wait and he was going to kill
her now while she was helpless. She felt her hands being untied and
smelled his sweet breath waft past her nose. He'd been chewing some
kind of plant, she guessed. She reached up to remove the blinfold,
but his hands firmly grasped hers. She struggled to remove his
hands from hers but he was too strong. "You'll hurt yourself if you
remove the blindfold now. Trust me." He let go of her hands and
walked out, shutting and locking the door behind her. Trust him?
She fell asleep. This time it was peaceful. She dreamed. She
dreamed of him.
She awoke again. She felt well rested and strong. She reached up
to remove the blindfold but it was already gone. She dared open her
eyes. Slowly her eyelids raised and she saw that the room she was
in was dark. She lay there, staring up into the darkness as her
eyes began to pick out the details of the room. The ceiling was
made of wood, but the wall next to her was... bark? She saw a door
to her right and could see faint light through the cracks around the
door jam. She sat up slowly and blood rushed to her head. Her head
throbbed and she waited for the dizzyness to pass before standing
up. She made her way quietly to the door and tried the handle. The
door was unlocked. Opening the door without a sound, she left the
room and found herself on a wooden platform high above the ground.
She was in a treehouse. Stairs led from the platform higher up
into the tree, and down to the ground below her. Music reached her
ears. She looked up and saw the faint glow of a candle. She
climbed the steps slowly. Her side ached still. She walked up to
the table that he sat at. His back turned toward her. "Feeling
better, I see," he said without turning around as he set his flute
on the table behind him. "What do you want with me," she demanded.
"I want nothing with you. You are free to go." She turned to
leave. "But," he continued, "I invite you to stay as my guest."
She stopped and turned. "Where's my mace?" "Here." He stood and
pulled her mace from his belt. He offered it to her and smiled at
her. She snarled as she grabbed the weapon from his hands. She
quickly raised the mace into the air and brought it down, aiming for
his head. With lightning reflexes he quickly dodged the blow, caught
her main hand in his, grabbed her with his other arm, and held her
pinned against the table. She gave a fierce, almost primeval growl.
He fought back a chill at the sound. She stopped struggling as she
realized that she was going nowhere. He was just too strong, and
she was still weak. He stared into her eyes emotionlessly. She
stared back. Her eyes betrayed her to him. She wanted him. "Sit."
He let her go and she sat on the wooden bench. "I'll fix you some
food. You haven't eaten in at least three days." He left down the
stairs. She sat on the bench motionless. She was confused. What
were these feelings she was feeling for him? She was feeling...
love? She loved him. How could that be? He was a surface elf.
She wasn't supposed to fall in love with him. It was against her
beliefs, against her very being. She struggled with thoughts.