A Big Shiny Blue Marble Ch. 32

She felt her hot tears to think of an ending like this.

It was nearly dark when she stood at the place where Xunafae had made her desperate stand. The corpses of wild dogs lay everywhere, but there was no sign of the fugitive princess, only something which told the warlock that she wouldn't be dropping a marker that night – not until she had some answers to her own questions beforehand. She sent Nika to see what else there might be to know of this. In the fading light, Nika ranged in widening circles, straining to see through the darkening forest from above.

Ksyusha needed to know what had happened here. It was obvious that the princess had died, but how did a fugitive running for her life manage to kill the pack which had been at her heels for a good distance and then end up as the tiny bits of windblown ash which floated around her in this little clearing? Why? The dogs were dead, the threat to her removed.

She looked at the snow and decided that not all of the blood had come from the animals. There were entrails here which had plainly not come from any of the canines. The way that the blood had spread told her that Xunafae had been dying. How had she killed the animals when there were no weapons left behind? The wounds on most of the dogs indicated that bladed weapons had been used. That was fine, she thought, but knives don't turn to ash, so where had they walked off to, now that they were unemployed?

Ksyusha had to ask these questions, because she knew that they would be asked of her. As well, doing the investigative work allowed her to take her mind away from the obvious. The reason that she'd been hunting now was no more. The hunt was over, unless she could prove otherwise and then what? What would the tyrant prick have her do for him then?

There wasn't enough light for even her eyes to see the many tiny details which she knew had to be here. Frustrated, she threw out her hands and a brilliant ball of Witchfire blazed above her so that she could see. It hung there low in the air, floating along wherever she went as she looked.

Ksyusha was getting a clue here. Xunafae had not been alone when she'd died. There had been another here, by the slight marks in the snow, invisible to any but one of the Elder races, and a good tracker at that, to be able to piece together a little story such as this. For her to see them was as nothing.

There had been someone else here at the time, and by what she saw, it could only have been an elf. Ksyusha began to run down the list of them all, trying to determine what sort it might have been. All that she could come up with were a few of the lower kinds who might be out here working at menial jobs in the towns, as stablehands and assistants to the cooks and waiters. Some of the High Elves passed through once in a while, but they were on their way to leave, not hang around.

She walked forward looking at where the trail led off to. There had been someone else here and they'd gone in this direction, she thought as her ball of Witchfire nodded along before her until it stopped, and she almost walked into it.

Just at lower edge of the brilliantly lit blaze, she saw a pair of boots, and it reminded her that there was one sort which she'd left out of her list. The one kind which weren't here, as far as anyone knew. The one sort who wouldn't have been here anyway, even if they were in the area, since this had happened during the daytime, and that sort only came out on the surface at night.

Which, she noted, it was now - almost. She'd never met one of that kind.

She looked up just as the Witchfire was knocked aside and flickered crazily from the snow where it had landed. In that thin sliver of time, she saw the Drow who had been watching her with his red eyes while she'd been too preoccupied to sense his presence.

He was tall and large for one of the Elder races, she noted. Most elves were shorter than she was, but not this one. As she raised her hand to erect the defensive circle around her, he stepped inside of it with what looked to Ksyusha to be a really handsome smile.

Before she could react, he blew a gentle puff of air in her face and she fell into darkness.

When Nika returned to tell that she could find nothing, she saw only the Witchfire, sputtering faintly and going out.

Finding the trail of the Drow wasn't a hard thing to do for her, once she saw a little movement far ahead as he carried Ksyusha across a clearing near the mountain, but though she raced to follow, she was too late as he entered and closed the doors behind him.

Nika flew around the entire mountain for hours, seeking a way to follow.

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Cha'Khah stood on the one of the maintenance balconies, holding her new daughter and thanking her goddess before asking for her help and guidance so that she could become the mother that the little one needed so much.

The day had been an incredible one for her and she now honestly couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry her joyous tears, though she was always mindful of the terrible way that this gift had come to her and the price that Xunafae had paid. She kept this foremost in her mind and asked that the Wild Elf be welcomed wherever she was to go in her whatever afterlife there was for her.

She'd been busy all day and hadn't seen her cousin in hours, so she hadn't heard his warning. No one else told her, since they'd all heard that Vadren had captured the threat that he'd detected and no one knew that there was another small detail which had been overlooked.

That was why Cha'Khah didn't notice the inky blur which came rocketing out of the night sky to pass her by as it shot through the opening of the blast valve into the mountain.

A few minutes later, her observances complete, Cha'Khah went back inside and closed the valve before walking down to see if Barrett had found a suitable bed for Mo-Wenn. She doubted that he would find a crib or anything like that. She didn't mind so much, if they had to sleep together with the little girl between them, then so be it.

When she met Barrett, he told her that Vadren had captured the hunter, and Cha'Khah handed Mo-Wenn to him as she walked quickly to where Vadren would be.

She was unaware of the spot of darkness which followed her high above the lights, watching from above.

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When Ksyusha awoke, she was naked and suspended in an upright position in the air somehow with her arms and legs out. There were no restraints on her – she just couldn't move and she could see a little of her hair at the edges of her vision. A quick shake of her head told her that her braid had been undone.

It also gave her an instant headache.

The Drow sat at a table, a little far down in a chair with his long legs stretched out before him. He wasn't looking at her.

He appeared to be lost in thought looking at what she knew was a chess board. She knew it because she'd found a large stone board and carved gamepieces in her tower when she'd taken up residence and she'd wondered about it for a while before she found any information out. She looked around and saw a huge animal, roughly like a dog, sitting on its haunches looking at her through glowing red eyes. She noted that it didn't have to look up all that far, either. The thing was massive.

She'd never seen anything like this one. Besides its incredible size, the thing looked to be made of some sort of sandstone or something. They looked at each other for a long minute before Ksyusha tried to turn its mind.

The reaction to her attempt brought an intense shock to her mind as though she'd been hit in the back of the head with a plank. When she'd recovered a little, she looked again. The creature only continued to look at her with the same disinterested expression, though it did blink once.

Ksyusha found it a little disconcerting when the creature began to speak to the Drow, all the while never taking its eyes off her.

"There is no enjoyment to me if you are only going to consider the pieces on the board all evening, "the creature said to the Drow, "I have taught you the game. Mastery takes some time, even for one such as you. Look all you like, it is still checkmate. Now concede and we will begin again.

Oh, and your captive is awake."

"Has she attempted anything?" the Drow asked, still preoccupied, and not even looking over.

"Yes," Arrax replied, "She tried to force my mind to do her bidding so that I would kill you."

"Mmm," Vadren said, as though it wasn't really noteworthy, "Well if she was a little more patient, she'd see that you are accomplishing it very slowly. A few more matches with you and I will cut my own throat." Vadren chuckled.

Ksyusha was a little surprised to find a Drow speaking English, since it was something that almost never happened for all that she knew of them, the race were widely known to be snobbish – unless there was gain in it for them, of course.

She was upset at finding herself like this, and if she could have, she'd have killed him, though she did like the way that he looked and his accent was intriguing and more than a little endearing and quite charmi-.

She shook her head to get rid of the thought.

Which made her head throb even worse.

"Where am I?" Ksyusha demanded, "Where are my clothes?"

The Drow sighed and spoke without looking at her, "A little quieter, if you please. I am trying to learn this infuriating game."

He sat up and leaned forward, pushing his very long white hair over his ear.

"Your clothing was rather dirty and the hems were splashed with mud. You fell into, - well, it might be better not to say it, and so I have washed them carefully. The cloak is dry and hangs behind you, but the other garment is made of a thick and soft velvet and it takes a lot longer to dry unless you wish for a fine thing like that to be damaged. I have also untied and washed your hair."

"Why? "she asked, not thinking things through uncharacteristically, "And why aren't you even looking at me? It is rude."

"Fine, I'll tell you then," he sighed, turning his head to face her, "I washed your lovely hair to get the entrails which you landed in out of it. And I did that because I thought that it was only right, since I caused you to fall where you did. It is the same story with your clothing.

I was not looking at you because, while I grant you that it is a little rude to speak to someone and not face them, I thought it would be a lot more rude to speak facing you while you are there wearing nothing. I thought that you deserved some respect and your dignity, but I guess that you see things a little differently.

Oh, and I washed you as well," he said, "While it may not get me the answers which I seek, at least my nose will not be offended."

Ksyusha was furious, but she couldn't summon much in the way of her abilities at the moment and it perplexed her. "Did you enjoy it?" she sneered.

"No," he said, looking a little put-out that she'd not at least thank him for it, "I didn't.

I don't know if you've ever tried to bathe an unconscious person, but it's not easily done. It's even less appealing if they're wearing someone's innards at the time. It was a lot of work to keep you from drowning at my hands while trying not to cause you any more harm. Even harder to do because you're quite lovely, but I need to speak with you, and I had to do it this way.

One look at you and I knew that you wouldn't just stand there and pass the time of day with me. Most people see me and run. The ones who do not only try to kill me. You were putting up your wall. So this was how it had to be, but you were standing in gore, so that's what you landed in.

If this all bothers you, or if you feel shame at how you are," he said, "I can cover you with your cloak. I had really wanted to have your clothing dry by now and put back on you. You'd wake up, notice that everything was clean and wonder how I'd done it, but the velvet takes so long."

Vadren sighed to himself. She didn't deserve the frustration that he felt rising up within himself, but it was there nonetheless. He was still trying to get over losing Cha'Khah – though he was very happy for her and Barrett – especially since they now had a little one to raise.

But try as he might, he was saddened for himself. He thought it was a rather selfish way to feel, and so he kept it hidden, but that didn't make him feel any better. To find that he might have seen Xunafae once more and that the opportunity had been missed by mere minutes only added to how he felt. They might have had something once again or not, but to have her torn apart by a pack of curs while she was so close to safety was hard for him to bear. He found that he'd been looking at the floor as he'd had these thoughts and so he looked up at the rather mysterious and beautiful stranger.

"Instead, here you are, a little angrier, and here I am, frustrated and annoyed that my efforts don't even merit a half-hearted word of thanks. To say the truth of it, I feel a little tempted to drag you out by the hair and throw you onto a cow flop. Perhaps you'd notice the difference if I began to act in the manner which seems to be expected of me. Doing the right thing buys me nothing."

"I would have expected you to kill me," she said in her accented speech, "and what is cow - ..."?

"I'd never do that," he said, turning back to the chess board, "at least not until after I'd thrown you into the cowshit. It's a lot easier dragging a living person by the hair than a dead one."

"That is not what I meant," Ksyusha said, "I meant – "

"I know what you meant," he said a little angrily, "I'm not stupid. You're about to tell me that you would have expected me to kill you out of hand – for nothing. Why would I do that? More to the point, why is that your expectation of me? You don't know a thing about me, so I must want to murder you on sight. Just tell me whose books you read, so I'll know the name of the idiot author who needs to be killed."

He looked off straight ahead for a moment and realized that Dahlgren had a conversation something like this once with Selena. It made him wonder.

He turned to her then, "I found someone stumbling around a place where something which upsets me very much happened. Not that you'd likely care, but I found you captivating in spite of the strong sense that I get from you that your specialty involves playing with some rather dark powers. If it weren't for your skin and your size, I'd almost think that you are a High Elf somehow, still burdened with the main difficulty of being a High Elf, for that is their trouble. They all walk around with a pickle up their assholes and think they're above every other form of life on the planet.

Well they're not and you aren't either, you just can't see straight for all of the shit backed up inside you. It causes you to have these stupid and dangerous prejudices."

"I am not any sort of elf," Ksyusha said, "You are hardly being fair, and you show your own prejudice to me when I am not even what you hate."

He wound down then, "I know that you're not a High Elf by your skin. You're right and I'm sorry."

"Even so, " he leaned toward her, "If I was like what you seem to think, you'd have already told me the things which I have not even asked you yet and a lot more, begging me to keep removing your pretty skin and feeding it to you. And in case you're wondering, "he glowered at her evilly, "I know the way to make you want to eat it desperately while I do that.

But I haven't done that, have I? I thought that I might try to do the unexpected and simply ask you. And before you ask, and I have to hear even more absurd things from you, you're there because I am aware of your abilities. It's because I've already sensed what you would do in your mind. You'd do it before I even asked one thing.

One of us suffers from prejudices, and the other one is dragged along reluctantly."

"I agree," she said, "though it seems to depend upon which one of us is speaking."

He sighed, "I should have just left you out there in the shit."

He fell silent then and began to set up the chessboard for another game while Ksyusha considered that he was probably right, even though he was being pig-headed and absurd in what he said to her. She could sense that he was upset and trying not to show it.

It came to her right after she'd considered that he was really very attractive to her and, other than the shade of his skin, he didn't look anything like the way that Drow were supposed to look, by what she'd been told, never having met one before.

"What is the matter with my skin?" she asked quietly.

"Not a thing," he said in a half-sigh to himself, looking at the chessboard again, and trying to resume his puzzling, "I don't really know what you are, but I am certain that I've never seen someone so captivatingly beautiful."

"Thank you," the warlock said quietly, "for what you did if I was so dirty. It is bad to wake up like this. It would be worse if you were not so kind. Thank you for what you said as well. It was unexpected."

He still managed to keep his gaze on the chessboard.

"I'm sorry," Ksyusha said, "I was being an ass. It is a bit much to be indignant when you wake up as I just have. I mean, it can be done, you just can't do it for long. Nobody will take you seriously."

"That's what I'd have thought," he said, still looking at the board, but she noticed that he was at least smiling a little now, "and I was being an ass myself. I don't know where my comparison between you and a High Elf came from. It's not like me and it certainly wasn't fair – as you said quite correctly.

What was your purpose in following the one who was killed?" he asked, "You couldn't have just stumbled upon the scene – not the way that you were looking at things in such an – analytical sort of way."

"Why don't you take off those clothes and come kiss me?" she smiled. She wondered where the sarcasm had come from, though deep down, she really knew exactly where it had come from. Ksyusha was rather chaotic now and then, and well, he was attractive to her. But the way that this was going told her that he was holding back some of his emotion bordering on being upset, and she really regretted saying what she's said, thinking about it like this, but there it was.

He shrugged, "A pleasant thought," he smiled back, "but from what I can tell of you, there is a hint about you of the , ... specialization that you favor, shall we say. A touch from you and I lose while you gain. Worse, it would be an insult to you for me to do it, just as you insult me here with the asking. I find you beautiful. I have no desire to be laughed at by a beautiful female who thinks me stupid.

I have questions. You may try to lie, or you may speak the truth, but do not insult me, not after I have tried to do the right thing by cleaning the filth that you fell into off. I have more pleasant things which I would rather be doing than standing naked in a shower, holding a lovely and unclothed stranger, and cursing under my breath over what I did and how I knew that it would buy only more of your hatred." He sighed, "I knew it even then."

Ksyusha blinked, "What you say does not sound too unpleasant."

"No?" he asked, "You reeked of offal. Offal which to my mind ought to still be inside of the one who died, so washing it from your body was rather unpleasant, since she was my friend once. The rest? You cannot know how it is to be a male, so leave it at that."

"You will not believe me," she said in her soft accent, "but I do not hate you. I do not think that you are stupid. I am only upset, and sometimes I say my thoughts then. If you prefer, then think that it might have been my wish, though I see even now that you think that I lie when I do not."

He nodded to Arrax who changed before her eyes into a tall and powerful fur-covered beast.