Going Feet First Ch. 05

Heading full-speed for this vein, the courier pressed his body flat against the back of his mount, holding tight as he prepared for the beast to jump. They were getting close, his lizard readying its leg muscles to leap as it reached the river shore.

CRACK!

The Drow courier looked up to see a stone boulder fall from the roof just as he and his lizard ran underneath it.

A mortifying screech pierced through the darkness as the stone landed on the lizard's back, the sudden stop throwing the Drow mailman from the saddle. His face was the first part of his body to slam into the ground, his body arching enough for his heels to tap the back of his skull.

Past the ringing in his ears he could hear the screeches of his lizard, and with a bloodied face, lifted himself off the floor to see what had happened. Several human men in full plate armor came forth from their hiding places, two moving to his mount while the other four came to him lighting up a pair of lanterns.

His beloved pet howled even louder when it thrashed about trying to break free of the weight on its rear and crawl to him. When his vision began to correct itself, the courier saw its entire hind section splattered under the boulder with only shreds of skin and muscle still attached to its mid-section.

In sheer disbelief the Elf shook his head, his mouth falling open as his chest tightened up. Right then, with little hesitation, the humans drew out their swords and drove them into his mount's throat.

"NOOOO! FER'ZIIN! YOU FUCKERS!" he cried, reaching out for his lizard only for a boot to stomp down onto his outstretched arm while another fell onto his back.

"Quiet, you shit-skin whelp."

The courier watched with watering eyes as his beast's maw opened wide, its tongue pushing forward and its claws slapping at the ground. The humans ripped their blades free from its neck and stepped back as its head collapsed to the floor, its body still writhing. Tears streamed the courier's torn cheeks as he watched the giant reptile twitch uncontrollably in the expanding pool of blood. And then in a moment, as his eyes fell upon his master one last time, Fer'ziin finally stopped moving.

"No... NO!"

"Night-night," a knight chuckled as he stood over the Drow, a battle axe raised over his head. "Enjoy the abyss."

"Stop right there," a female voice ordered, drawing the attention of the men.

The courier turned, watching as a cloaked woman dropped down from the spot in the ceiling directly above his mount. Without a sound she hit the floor and pulled back her hood to let her crystal-white ponytail flow freely down her back. When her deathly black eyes came to down upon him with a smile pasted on her pale face, the Dark Elf struggled to free himself from the boot pressing down on his spine.

With a certain grace to her gait the human woman approached the Elf and closed her eyes to take in a breath through her nose. Having whatever smell she was sampling locked in her mind, she let her lungs out through her mouth and refocused her deathly gaze on the courier.

On her shoulder perched a small lizard creature that stared at him with its head cocked to the side. When its mistress exhaled it had licked its dark lips and flashed a row of obsidian teeth with its tail wagging behind it. A red flare lit up in its eyes and it exploded into a cloud of smoke, bolting downward to the floor.

While the woman knelt before the courier, that demonic creature reappeared beside his head. Up close it appeared to be a creature not unlike Fer'ziin, only with wings sprouting from its back and a pair of horns growing from its brow that curled back on themselves over its scalp. If any stories the Drow had heard of the surface were true, the monster matched the description he had heard of what the people above called a "dragon."

"Xerivan, his satchel," the human female ordered.

"Don't dare touch it," the courier hissed as he looked to the humans standing around him.

"Or what?" she asked. "What enchantment did your Val'sharess place upon it?"

"Dare to open it. Find out yourself, cunt."

He felt the strap going over his shoulder slack off with the snap of a jaw. When he looked to his side, that shadow creature was dragging his satchel away from him. When he reached out to grab his cargo, a sword stabbed through his hand.

"FUUUUUUUUCCCKKKKK!"

"Hands off my little friend, Drow," the woman giggled as she took the satchel from the mouth of the shadow creature.

With little more than a grin to her face, she rubbed a hand over the leather case, stroking its side and examining the steel buckle. Her eyes fluttered as she took in its scent and then pressed her forehead against the front. This earned her several queer looks from her knights, though she didn't seem to care.

"I sense... paralysis curse... blood binding... a mind curse... only those who are meant to read the letters within can open it... perfect."

She turned and started toward the river, pulling a palm-sized pouch out from under her cloak. "It would take you... what? One more cycle to reach Faerssune on your mount? With all the paths this river takes, the passages and splits in its course, it would take this satchel how long to reach the same destination?"

More tears ran down the courier's face as he gritted his teeth, his glare burning holes into her back.

"I would think about seven," she stated with clear certainty before spinning around to face him. "Do you even know the importance of what you carry?"

At once the Drow fought against the men holding him down, thrashing about as much as possible to break free from the feet bearing down on his body. Before he succeeded, the blade in his hand was wrenched around, making him scream out in pain.

"Stop that," she ordered as she dropped the satchel on the ground and dumped the contents of her pouch onto it. "He needs to be well for travel if he answers correctly."

Holding her hand out, she muttered a few words under her breath, causing a pinkish glow to shimmer over the leather bag. With a smile growing across her face, she turned back to the courier and planted a boot atop his cargo.

"So do you know what you were carrying?"

"No..." he answered with flaring nostrils.

In a way that made him cringe, that smile of hers changed in a manner he found most disturbingly comforting.

"Good."

She booted the satchel into the river and snapped her fingers at the knights. The Dark Elf let out a wail as the sword was pulled from his hand and the boots came off his back and arm. Before he could seize the opportunity however, the woman flicked her hand at him. Without any warning his muscles became numb throughout his body. His arms became too heavy to move, his legs feeling as though they were nailed to the floor.

As this paralysis rapidly took over the Elf's body, the woman approached him again, her shadow demon appearing from thin air and perching on her shoulder.

"You will regain control of your body soon. When you do, we will be long gone and you will have to run off to Faerssune so the intended recipients of your letters can search for them in the moat around the pillar. It will arrive there eventually, and my magic will keep it safe from the elements until then."

"You want them delivered?" the Drow questioned as his tongue lost all feeling.

"Oh yes, but you needn't worry why. If those letters do not arrive, you will die. Not by my hand, but by Driders. Or maybe mine, if you escape your Val'sharess. So be a darling, do your job."

If magic had not frozen his body or stilled his tongue, he would strike out at her with all that he had, his life be damned. But he could only watch as the woman turned on her heel and cast her hand at the river. A path of ice formed over the water broad and thick enough to support even the heaviest of bodies. After signalling her knights to cross, the witch looked back to the Drow courier, bringing her open hand to her lips and giving a wink while blowing him a kiss.

............

Soft clicking sounds echoed from Galen's canteen as he tapped his fingernails against the side of the plastic bottle. Sitting atop the steps leading into the Sun-Kissed base he took a quick drink and at how the cavern had transformed after that wave of magic the week prior. And how the Drow had adapted to this change in their home.

The central pillar continued to glow with the same intensity as the night Necela had awoken it. Though now, roughly around the time Galen's watch hit nine-thirty each night, the crystal dimmed and gave out a light, but sensible pulse of magic. The Private had figured the goddess had to be replicating the day/night cycle of the surface, either for him, herself, or someone else. Few of the Sun-Kissed minded this detail, Dreek herself seeing it as a way to help readapt her troops to the light cycles of the surface.

As he brought his canteen to his lips, Galen looked to the floor of the cavern and the Drow that took to it with blades and axes. He saw the elves hacking down and clearing excess brush and overgrowth along the paths that had been primarily unaffected by Necela's magic. Over in the built up areas of the cavern, plant life that grew against buildings or interfered with normal traffic was being purged while others brought in new resources from the trees by either cart or hand.

"Kivvil!" a harsh voice snapped, causing Galen to snap his arms to the side, canteen still in hand.

"Quit your surface 'drill', human, and face me."

The Private relaxed himself and stood up. With shaky fingers he closed his canteen and returned it to his webbing while turning to face the stone faced Aufryn'uit behind him. The second Commandant towered over him in her battle armor, and even though she lacked the hood and face mask, she still held an intimidating presence. Her short, shoulder-length hair was drawn back to her nape, and though it barely had the length to, was tied up with string to form a stubby tail of hair.

"Jrastra has ordered you with me, so your distance will be as my patience. Short. Sapril and Maeafin wait at the gate."

"Yes, Ma'am," he responded.

Without another word Aufryn'uit started down the steps to the compound as Galen picked his rifle off the ground and followed suit. The moss on the stock made a disapproving growl as he closed in on the Commandant, but he merely slung it over his shoulder and jabbed it with his elbow.

"I don't like her much, either," he muttered in Celia's tongue. "But Jrastra posted us with her for whatever training or preparations we have today, so deal with it."

The rifle grumbled begrudgingly and Aufryn'uit glared back at him. "Quit talking to your xsa-us weapon."

"Yes, ma'am."

The Commandant turned her eyes front and shook her head while Galen frowned at her. Dreek had been having words with Jrastra in their study the previous night, a slightly heated discussion in which Aufryn'uit's name had come up several times. Though he couldn't grasp much, Galen understood that Dreek didn't want him in the second Commandant's hands for the day, but Jrastra kept saying something about weapons and armor. All while Necela stayed in her butterfly form atop the tree stump-table in the middle of the study.

With the goddess keeping her word on not interfering where she wasn't needed, and despite his lack of lessons or instruction on the Drow language, the soldier found himself starting to pick up on several words and even the odd sentence. Simple things like "Zer'tath" meaning crystal, "xsa-us" being a swear word to the tune of "fucking" or "damned," "kivvil" a generic term for someone from the surface. Small things that allowed him to have an idea of where a conversation was going.

But as the case was last night, small things were not enough to give him much or an idea what they had in mind for him today.

After nearly a week among their kind, Galen found himself subject to fewer stares and unnerving looks from the inhabitants of the Sun-Kissed home. Even with his greater height he shrunk into the background. Despite his pale skin he began to merge with the obsidian faces that surrounded him. And the reduced attention he received from the people around him did well in keeping that tremble from his hand and his mind on task. Whatever that task currently may be.

"Sut'rinos."

The address from Aufryn'uit's aids was unified as she and Galen reached the iron gate of the Sun-kissed compound. Beside a trio of lizard mounts, the two Drow had been waiting in their battle armor with their hoods down. Sapril, with her hair drawn back into a long pony tail, glared at the surfacer with her deathly red eyes and he merely sighed in return. A noticeable purple tint still encircled the eye he had struck, and a guilty feeling still rung in his belly at the sight of it.

How was this supposed to be a good idea?

The other aid, Maeafin, held only a meager show of contempt on her face. The scar of a blade slash along her jawline twitched as her eyes trailed up and down his body. She huffed, cracking a grin and turning to her Commandant for direction.

Aufryn'uit grumbled in Drow to her aids while walking toward her lizard, a stockier beast with black-green scales under its spiked armor. She hooked her boot into the stirrup and the lizard immediately lowered itself closer to the ground to allow her an easy mount. After getting comfortable in her saddle she pointed with her thumb to the padding strapped to her mounts back behind her seat.

"Sit yourself behind me. Now," she ordered to Galen without bothering herself to look at him.

"Yes, ma'am," was his response as he moved in on her lizard, ignoring the snide smirks of the aids as they climbed aboard their own mounts.

A rumble sounded from the Commandant's beast as Galen climbed aboard. For a moment the Private thought it was about to turn on him as snap at him with its massive jaws before Aufryn'uit jabbed her heels into its side. Now silent, the oversized reptile remained still as its new passenger got into place and unslung his weapon to lay it comfortably across his lap.

"May I ask what today's plan is, Commandant?" he asked as Aufryn'uit grabbed her mount's reins and spurred it with her heels.

The lizard started forward, moving quickly into a brisk pace out the front gate of the Sun-Kissed compound and onto a trail leading into the forest.

"Getting you equipped for the mission," Aufryn'uit answered following a moment's pause. "You've been practicing swordcraft with Dreek?"

Galen shook his head. "No. Ssz'Vasbryn."

"Hmmph. So she gave you a good teacher."

"Yes, ma'am," was his less-than-enthusiastic reply.

Don't see why I need a sword when I have my rifle... and pistol... shotgun... bayonet... its just more weight.

"Use her teachings. Don't waste our time," the Commandant hissed, as if hearing his thoughts. "Even if a demon like you no needs has- err... has no need for them in battle, you must still blend in."

The second Commandant turned to him with a dull purple flame igniting within her irises, "And if you bring failure to us, I will pull your spirit from your body and feast upon your essence."

Shivers racked his core and his heart skipped several beats before restarting again.

Staving off that brisk, chill, he puffed out his chest and straightened his back to attempt to mask the quiver in his response, "More than the mission is ridin' on this, ma'am. I... I ain't gonna fail. I either take in the air of victory, or take my last breath tryin' to get it."

Aufryn'uit sneered before returning her focus to the path ahead of her lizard. "Quaint. You still shake like a Cauva hatchling."

...

Few civilians even dared to look in the direction of the Second Commandant's mount as they road through the market district. It was something Galen noticed right away when they moved into the city sector across the moat from the central pillar. When people realized who was passing by, they didn't spend a second more eyeing her.

In the streets among the shops and stalls of the busiest place in the city, everyone yielded in her presence. And it was everyone. From what Galen could tell, Aufryn'uit was known by every Drow she passed as even children and guards lowered their gaze to her. Rank, present company, current task, none of it mattered. She merely showing up brought a boot down upon the backs of those around her.

Just what the Hell did she do to instill this kind of fear? Galen wondered. Aside from having a gaze that ices up your heart...

They rode on for several more blocks until they reached what Galen figured to be the district's "mainstreet." Oddly enough, it wasn't as crowded as he expected. The street itself was wide enough to land a mid-sized plane but most civilians kept to the sides and travelled alone. Crowds, a term Galen could only use loosely, were sparse and spread apart and every Drow kept their personal space. The few real congregations that came together formed around the dozen stalls in the area or inside the shops themselves.

Few of the Dark Elves conversed with each other either. Despite the urban environment the Drow city was quiet in comparison to any other town Galen had been to. If this low volume was cultural or just the effect of the Commandant's presence, he couldn't tell as when the Commandant's envoy passed few conversations kicked up behind them.

With a snap of the reins, Aufryn'uit hurried her lizard toward the pillar at the city's heart. She did not waste time by watching the civilians around her nor did she slow down if they walked in front of her mount. One woman had Galen worried for several moments when she disappeared under the head of the Commandant's lizard. He had nearly been ready to hop off to answer her cries until he saw her scrambling, unharmed, to get off the street.

This concern for the safety of others was something he clearly didn't share with the Sun-Kissed leader as she didn't even flinch at running someone over. In fact she grinned and pressed onward toward a bridge leading over the moat.

Fortified buildings, both three stories high and stretching at least a hundred yards down the shoreline stood on both sides of the bridge. All the windows in the buildings were shuttered, the ones on the ground floor barred, and their front doors iron bound. Atop the building to Galen's right, Drow in red leather armor patrolled the roof tops while a section's worth more watched the defenses from the ground. The building to the left was patrolled by the Drow group that wore the black robes and light blue shawls over their shoulders.

"Red Sisters, and Faerdron," he muttered.

"And your death if your eyes wander," Aufryn'uit warned.

Galen piped down then as the Sun-Kissed leader guided her mount toward the Faerdron building with her aids riding up on either side of her. Right as the envoy stopped beside the main entrance, the door opened and two Faerdron sisters stepped out.

Right away Galen could identify the higher rank of the two, as her robe's hood and sleeves were made from a light blue fabric instead of a flat black. Aufryn'uit and both her aids were quick to start their dismount, with Galen hastily following suit. Where the Second Commandant used the stirrups to step down, he simply slid off the lizard's side, using its armor as a step when necessary. After taking a moment to adjust his coat and webbing to make himself presentable, Galen marched forth with the Sun-Kissed to meet the two Faerdron.

Aufryn'uit was the first to speak, her usual harsh tone dialling back to a more hospitable way of speaking. To Galen's relief, her Faerdron counterpart responded in an equally positive way, and the conversation seemed to play out like they were old friends. Several times the hooded leader looked to Galen and said something aloud in Drow that made the Private feel like he was under inspection, and the way the Sun-Kissed Commandant responded reinforced that feeling.