A Big Shiny Blue Marble Ch. 55

By the time that he was done, he'd used most of the thirty round magazine, but between them, the six beasts lay dead -- well, one still twitched. Darji switched his rifle to his other hand and drawing a long-barrelled Colt from the holster on his hip, he pulled back the hammer and added another opening to its head. He could see that there had been eight, but that the three had killed two before he'd arrived.

The room was still echoing from the gunfire or so it seemed by the way that his ears rang as he released the half-shot mag and inserted another. Releasing the bolt hold-open, he set the safety and picked up his shotgun to begin reloading it when he noticed that the room had gone still. He looked up.

The first thing that he noticed was that two of the others here who he'd helped were females. The third one was male -- he guessed and that one looked quite similar to the one with the bow. He stood in some light leather armor with a long dagger in his left hand looking back at Darji. He was horned as well and about the same height as the one with the bow, and just about as slim. The next thing that he noticed was that he'd never seen anyone like these three in his life and for a moment, he wondered if he was hallucinating or something.

But that wasn't the important thing here, he decided.

The wet and bloody point of the fast one's sword was near his throat and there wasn't even a little bit of shake to it. The owner stood at the other end of the thing looking at him levelly. Off to the other side, he could see the female horned one looking at him for a moment before she began to walk around the chamber pulling her arrows out of her victims. Darji noticed that at that point, she'd been out of arrows. The next moment was a shock to him as he really looked at her.

She was thin and fairly tall, coming, he'd have guessed, up to his own height, including her curled horns. Taking her face as the reference point, her forehead was about at the level of his mouth. Her eyes were a tan color and the irises and pupils were horizontal lines, similar to the eyes of a goat. All of that, and she looked to be at least partly covered in fur, and what he could see did not appear to be clothing of any sort. As his gaze went lower, he was astounded to see that her legs were unlike the one with the swords' legs -- or his own. Her thighs were fur covered and below her knees, they seemed to be bent backward, sort of like the legs of a dog.

And then there were her long fetlocks and her uh, hooves. He wondered what had been in the water then.

The fur grew longer the lower he looked and he saw again that those legs ended in large hooves, so he rather doubted then that he'd been hallucinating. The male was the same though he wore that armor. She was walking away from him, looking for more of her arrows and it brought her behind into his view.

That sight alone seemed to hit him pretty hard. What he saw was a view which stirred something in Darji, deep down. He'd seen quite a few female backsides -- some which might even be termed beyond merely beautiful, and a few had been what might be termed magnificent in their feminine perfection.

But nothing that he'd seen in his life could compare to the way that this brief sight could captivate him. Her thighs were lovely and her bottom could mesmerize him by only the movements that she made while looking for her arrows. He looked toward her face to see if she was aware of her effect on him, but if she was, he saw no sign of it in her. She seemed intent on looking down. He guessed that to her, the arrows were hard to come by down here, about as difficult to find as 5.56mm full metal jacket ammunition or twelve-guage shells loaded with double-ought buckshot. Any way he looked at it, there was reason enough for her to be searching to retrieve her arrows.

It was her tail which sort of snapped him out of the enchantment. He almost felt his mouth begin to curl into a smile at the thought. To think that the sight of a little tail like that and the way that it flicked involuntarily could rouse him so. His attention was drawn to the male one as he began to look for something as well. Darji assumed that he was looking for her arrows too, and he found himself looking at another pair of legs and a back end which grabbed his eye for a moment. The male's hair was even lighter, though most of his fur was darker. But then something else pulled him from his reverie completely and rather abruptly.

The one in front of him with the sword took a half step forward, bringing the point against Darji's throat. He wasn't amused by this and he slowly pushed the hot muzzle of his shotgun against the part of her breastbone that he could see as skin.

She stepped back instantly to where she'd been and he regarded her for a moment. From her expression and the way that she rubbed the round burn that he'd left on her, he could see that she'd gotten the message that she ought to keep her distance.

She wore a suit of light mail; tough, lightweight and as dull green as tall summer grass and it ran down to just above her knees. Her feet were shod with boots which looked soft yet substantial. They were fur-lined rough suede and bore laces which ran all the way up the front. Though they looked to be serious travelling boots, the actual shoe portions were more like heavy and thick moccasins. There were guards for her kneecaps and an abbreviated cloak of some sort which was tied back at the moment.

Looking higher up, Darji could see that her arms were bare for the most part, though there were a few leather thongs and her shoulders were protected by ornamented dark green spaulders. What looked at first glance to be wet leaves stuck to the forearms were really just green bracers of some kind.

As far as weaponry, the female carried a cruel-looking sword in one hand, curiously curved in a way that would make no sense to an observer if it were laid down on a flat surface. It was the same with the long dagger. The shape looked to be fairly useless unless they were in her hands. Held as they were now, they looked wicked and formidable.

Her long hair was a dull sort of dark brown and it blended into the overall appearance well. Her skin was a little pale and she wore tattoos on her determined-looking face. That face was rather angular and at the moment, he could see no warmth there at all. There was beauty there, he decided, but not while this girl's blood was up.

She said something in a tongue that he took to be rough Spanish. Her yellow-green eyes and her long ears told him that there was no mistaking that it wasn't her mother-tongue. He could handle Spanish, but he decided that he wanted to know more by trying to see if she understood anything else. He waited for her to try again. When she did in a different language, trying to do the half-step forward thing again, he jammed the muzzle of his weapon against her a bit harder and growled, "Fuck off."

Her eyes opened wide at this and she began to curse in another tongue entirely, coming around to some rather heavily-accented English eventually, "Who are you?" she demanded as he tried to determine just what sort of accent it was.

He didn't smile, though he'd wanted to, "Somebody who just wasted a ton of ammunition on your sorry ass, trying to help you. I see now that it was a mistake, but then, I haven't seen anybody else down here in months -- not alive, anyway, so I thought I'd give you a hand. If I ever get another chance, I'll sit down and watch while those things rip you apart after they..." He stopped then and shook his head, "Forget it."

Just then, there was a cry and a growl as another of the creatures ran into the chamber. The girl with the swords hadn't even turned before the thing fell dead, a thick feathered rod protruding from the side of its head. Darji looked over and saw the other female looking back. The arrow was obviously not the same as what she'd used earlier. To his mind, she was still wiping off the ones that she'd retrieved. She couldn't have nocked an arrow in time.

She indicated the male with a movement of her chin and shrugged.

"Theyl's crossbow," she said.

Darji looked over and saw that the male stood, still holding up a small hunting crossbow. He smiled a little as he lowered it.

"You did not attack that time," the one with the blades said, "You were not prepared?"

"I learn quickly," Darji repeated, "I tried to help and you stuck a sword against my neck. I won't waste my time on you again. This mess here was after you, not me. I figured I had a bit of time, you know?"

She nodded then and looked at the blood which had sprayed onto her with a grimace.

"What's your problem, anyway?" he asked.

"I have no problem, human," she said as she began to wipe off her blades, "You smell badly, but with luck, you will leave shortly -- or we will."

Darji grunted, "You're no spring flower yourself. I'd say that I'm sorry if I've offended you," he nodded looking seriously pleasant, "but it would be a lie."

"We did not need your aid," she said, "so you can be on your way now if it suits you. I can say that it would suit me if you did."

Darji nodded to the other ones, "What about you? Can you tell me how to get out of here? I've been stuck down here for a long time now. Or do you want me to just bugger off too?"

The male plainly didn't understand and he looked to the female. She regarded Darji for a long moment and then she smiled a little, "You ask me? I think you should stay. And forgive me if I say it wrongly, but my thanks to you for what you did."

That made Darji smile a little and it felt so odd to him to feel the expression on his face. It made him realize that he likely hadn't worn the expression in quite a while. "Then you're very welcome."

"We did not need you," Swordgirl said, testily, "We were --"

There was an exhalation of exasperation from the archer, "We were losing, Shey Lann . They beset us, eight of the largest at once against three and it took an age to kill the first of them. My shot at the one in front of our helper was the luckiest I have had in a long while and I am not too proud to admit that it was luck to hit that well in the middle of a fight. I know that you hold yourself to be invincible, but I am truthful enough to say that I grew tired. We only began to make headway when he came in with his loud weapons there. Without him, they'd have won and we would be --"

The other one spun then and glared, "It was not over. You cannot say that we would have lost."

The long ears on the archer went backward to lie flat against her blondish hair, "Are we to have one of our fights now, Shey Lann? Shall we waste the rest of the day with it and attract more of them with the noise? Come down from your high stump and admit that he helped us. It would not cost you a thing to say that you are thankful."

"I have no need to thank a human," the other one said.

"That's fair," Darji said, "Just don't ever look to me for anything again."

"I shall not," she threw the words in retort.

He lowered his weapon and seeing only that there had been movement, Shey Lann raised her sword again and Darji batted the blade away with his shotgun. The Colt was in his hand in a flash and by the time that the hammer came back with a loud click, the muzzle was underneath her jaw as he glowered.

"Don't do that again. I get that you don't like me and you seem to have something against what I am for some reason. You don't like humans? Fine, but this human -- me - I haven't done anything to you -- yet. You keep up this shit, and I'll get you out of my face for the long term. You want to keep the teeth in your pretty head, then you just leave me alone, got it? And just what the fuck ARE you, anyway?"

She glared at him, but she was silent.

"Shey Lann is an elf, as the word is in your speech," the other female one said, "but her lineage stems from two types, and she is not accepted by either kind."

He looked over then, not really believing what he'd just heard, "An elf?

Really? What the hell are you doing down here then? From the fairy tales that I was told, elves like to skip along happily in the sunshine."

"I see no sunshine," she glared, "Perhaps that it why I am not skipping - happily or not," the elf said," Why do you look so surprised?"

He shook his head, more to himself, "It's just that ... "he looked up, "as far as I knew, elves were just some legends and stories. From what I read, elves were supposed to have moved out of the path of man a long time ago, but taking the view of human science -- and I already know, so you don't have to tell me -- elves don't exist and never have."

He shrugged, "Obviously incorrect, looking at you."

Shey Lann was about to reply in a scathing tone when she just stopped and nodded, accepting what he'd said. "Well, we do. And my friend and companion Bryth there is a faun, as is Theryl there beside her. I guess that they do not exist either."

It took Darji a second to register what had been said, mostly because the word had been spoken sounding like 'fown'. But he had heard it pronounced in that manner before, mostly by Europeans from the continent. It was only said as 'fawn' by people from the British Isles or from North America.

There was also a strange and subtle issue at play here. They could understand each other in English, but now and then, he saw by their faces that they didn't understand something that he'd said. He was dumbfounded anyway. "A faun ..." He looked over and he saw that for some reason, what had been said had made Bryth uncomfortable and she looked down in a bit of shame, beginning to turn away. The male looked at her questioningly and asked something in another language, to which she shook her head.

Darji stepped toward her, "Wait, uh, Bryth. I don't understand why you're looking like that all of a sudden. There's nothing to be ashamed about, is there?"

He smiled, "Ok, I can be a bit of an asshole sometimes, but I don't think I've said anything to make you feel badly, have I?"

Bryth shook her head silently and she turned back to face him, "I have always been ... nervous around humans. The ones that I have met thought me stupid, and --"

"Well, I don't," he said, holding out his hand, "My name is Darji and I really am very pleased to meet you all."

He made a very quick surmisal and rather than take her hand, he gently grasped her forearm for a moment, before doing the same with the male, who looked surprised but looked at his face and gave a slight smile again.

"Since I can't go back the way that I came, can I come with you?"

"Yes," Bryth said quite softy, unnoticed by Shey Lann for the moment as she shook her head, "Thank you, but no," she said, "We have no need of another on the road and -- " She snapped her head around to look at Bryth, "What did you say?"

"I said, yes," Bryth smiled a little, "What is the harm if he comes with us? Maybe another voice would help when we must decide things."

"What is wrong with the way that we were deciding things?" Shey Lann asked, looking a little annoyed.

"Well," Bryth said without reproach, "we always do what you say that we should and there have been times ..."

"Have there?" Shey Lann said as she turned, looking actually annoyed now, "Such as when?"

Bryth looked a little uncomfortable for an instant, but then she rolled her eyes and imitated the sound and mannerisms of the other, "Oh come on, Bryth. What is the harm of we explore a little of this cave? What could go wrong? Why look, Bryth", she went on, "let's use that rope bridge, it does not look to be too badly worn from here. And my very favorite -- wait a moment, I want to try something."

Shey Lann scowled at her own feet for a moment, "I give the point to you. But what about food?"

She took a step closer to Darji, "Look at him. He is not as we are. Can you imagine what it would take to keep this fed? "She reached out and her open hand gently slapped against the bare skin of his shoulder, "He must eat more than all of us together."

"I'll be sure to keep myself fed," he chuckled, "and if there's not enough for everyone, I'd be happy to share what I have. Come on, give me a chance. You can't know how it feels to be alone down here for this long. Please?"

He turned on the charm and for once in his life; he really hoped that the famous Darji Saladin smile didn't fail him. Shey Lann nodded her assent with a grunt, but Bryth and Theyl looked at him, shyly beaming their approval.

"Then we are four," Shey Lann said, "elf, fauns and human."

"Could we just call me a man?" Darji asked, "When you say 'human' it looks like you just found yourself with a mouthful of something unpleasant." He walked back to the opening in the wall where he'd come from and hefted his other pack.

"What is in there, please?" Shey Lann asked.

Darji shrugged, "Ammunition, mostly. I've found and picked up a fair bit of it from dead people that I've run across during my time down here."

She looked back at him blankly, "Ammun .. "

"Arrows," he smiled back, "my kind of arrows."

"The loud kind," the elf said, "the ones which tell everyone where you are."

He then had to explain what that was and why he needed it. That began the questions over how his weapons killed his foes and from that Darji realized that these three had never seen anything like firearms before. It took a little time because Bryth tried to translate for Theryl, who seemed very interested. Bryth admitted that the first time that he'd fired the shotgun had cost her an arrow that she'd loosed in surprise at the noise.

"Can we get back to washing?" she asked, "There is the hot spring there waiting and we all smell. I have just fought and battled those things with nothing on."

Darji perked up then, "There's a place to wash here?"

Shey Lann nodded, "Through there, the air is wet and heavy with steam. We were just about to wash when those beasts came to beset us. If you do not object, I will go first before any more come so that I might at least be partly ready if they do. Please guard me." She walked through the opening and began to remove her clothing.

"Shey Lann," Darji said, "suit yourself, but I think you ought to lay your weapons a little nearby in case more visitors come."

She looked at him for a moment and nodded. As she bathed quickly, Bryth nodded to Theryl and he began to bathe as well while she and Darji stood watch looking outward. When Shey Lann and Theryl returned, it was Bryth's turn, and when she returned to them wearing what looked like light leather armor made up of strips of horizontal bands, (as was Theryl's), it was finally Darji's chance to get the grime of his wandering off of his body.

He wondered how long it had been since he'd been able to be clean and it came to him that it must have been over a week since he'd found enough icy water for this. The hot water which bubbled up through a fissure from deep below his feet felt incredible. His body told him that it expected him to stay in this heat for at least an hour, but he kept it to about ten minutes of purposeful scrubbing.

"Do you need help with your back?" Bryth asked, startling Darji out of his thoughts. He decided that if they traveled together, some rather private things would have to go by the boards. He wasn't completely comfortable with these three yet, but he weighed that against the desire to be clean and her guess had been correct. Without either a backscrubber or a helping hand, the middle of his back wasn't going to get really clean.

"Sure," he nodded quietly as she stepped forward and he turned away and backed up toward the edge of the pool.

She was quick about it, but she did do what felt like a good job of it. "Thank you," he smiled over his shoulder.

Bryth chuckled quietly and grinned, "It is my pleasure to help and I like to see a little." He heard a soft giggle and felt her hand as it quickly grazed his ass once and then he heard her hooves receding. As he put on some cleaner clothing, Darji couldn't help but smile a little. In spite of their rough start, he liked Shey Lann, though he knew that it wouldn't do him a bit of good to tell her. He liked Bryth and Theyl even more, though.