The Drow Partner Ch. 01-09

Akasha sat patiently at the table, no longer touching any food. After about 20 minutes, she invented an excuse to leave the table and head upstairs for a short while. Although her real excuse was legitimate enough, it wasn't time to alarm everyone; especially because she had no idea who was involved and who was oblivious.

Akasha left abruptly, but not before restoring some order. She told Kristalla to watch over the guards, and gave a large majority of them orders herself. It appeared all the guards left didn't even notice they were missing a guard captain. As she entered the main hall, she noticed the nearest senior guard and approached him.

"I want everyone to use their double spell guards," she ordered. "Globe of Invulnerability, magical resistance, spell immunity wards, whatever you have. Use them right now, and do it properly! I don't want to hear about wasted effects. Is that clear?"

The guard simply nodded. He was a tall S'zarkai with long black hair that seemed to spike in certain cases. He took a firm stance and started making rounds informing of the orders. When Akasha growled, he started running instead of briskly walking. Afterwards, she headed upstairs and then down to the far end of her hall. This was where her private storage chambers were located.

She opened the lock to the dusty door with a magical incantation and then with a small key shaped like a crystal that she carried on her person in stasis. The torches in the room lit automatically and she entered quickly, closing the door behind her.

Using some cantrips and a couple minor spells, she went through the many desks ands magically enchanted cabinets until she located what she was looking for: her Maelstrom Crystal Ball and its Dragon Claw Base.

Essentially, it was a very power variation of typical Crystal Balls and the attached base made it almost impossible for others to resist the effect. It wasn't completely avoidable, but it was a far stronger effect than personal spells. Akasha hurried back to the large marble desk in the room and placed the artifacts on it, preparing them for use.

She spoke the proper incantation, and then thought of her target. At first she chose Linara, and waited for results.

She had to concentrate fairly hard to receive any sort of reading, but there was definitely something. The Dragon Claw was effective, but the shielding used to hide Linara was extremely powerful. The claw was powerful as well; it seemed certain layers of the shield magic were blocking her scrying but not all of them, specifically Linara's life force, which couldn't be hidden by any kind of magic. It appeared she was alive and not well, but her location and exact condition were concealed.

Her patience wearing thin, she tried the same thing with Lance, which in surprised showed a result. She could see Lance… lying on the ground in some kind of canyon. It was at this time that Akasha felt a pang of anger and then a wave of nervousness sweep over her.

Lance's life force was fading, it wasn't fading quickly but he was definitely hurt and needed help. Akasha couldn't go now, his exact location was being diffused and it would take her at least an hour to locate him. Damn! She cursed to herself, if this ridiculous family gathering was over with she could go locate him… but then again if the gathering didn't happen she wouldn't be in this situation to begin with.

She ceased concentrating and sat still, the anger brewing inside her; she had to decide what to do first. She kicked the crystal ball into the wall, which did nothing but made it bounce around the room due to the magical nature of the object. In fact it probably did more damage to the wall.

At the very worst case scenario, she could revive Lance… but she was more worried about Linara. Sar'kriva simply did not have the power to wipe the memories of an entire room full of Drow while simultaneously disabling magical alarms and teleporting targets against their will. How could that happen? What spells did she use? These were all questions Akasha needed to know the answer to immediately. It could have been divine interruption; although what divine force would help a sniveling bitch like Sar'kriva was totally beyond Akasha.

Akasha crossed her arms and made another disgusted face. She sat back down and used Telekinesis to draw the ball back to its base, then she paused. She remained still thought for a good moment… she should probably try and located Sar'kriva. However that was a bad idea and a good one at the same time. Sar'kriva probably had several magics set up knowing that Akasha would attempt to locate her, and although a bastard weasel in disguise, Sar'kriva could pose a minor threat if not dealt with appropriately.

Just as Akasha was about to use the ball on Sar'kriva, a horrible noise echoed from downstairs. It sounded like an explosion that ended it a pattering of some kind. Akasha couldn't really decipher what it was purely based on the sound; causing her to go investigate. She thought of using more spells in case it was nothing, but with the direction this night was going that was probably a bad idea. She quickly put the room back in order, and then left, locking the door behind her and sealing it.

She walked down the stairs, noticing at first that there were no servants in the hall. She put that on her list of 'things to investigate' and continued down the stairs. She stopped just short of the doorway and peeked over rather obviously. She saw a short view of the top of the hall and then become confused for the first time in almost a year.

At first she didn't really see anything, but then she noticed the problem. There should have been some kind of patrol in this hallway, but all she saw was greenish guts on the walls. Just at that moment, an obnoxious dragging noise came from the other end of the hall that wasn't visible from her angle. She the rest of the way down the stairs and peered to the direction of the noise. That side of the hall she saw the floors stained with blood… and some strange… thing that resembled a corpse dragging itself across the floor.

The thing was about the same mass as a humanoid body… but it was just a mass of guts and parts. It slid across the ground with some sort of unseen force. Bits and pieces of intestine and other muscle tissue hung all over the place, dragging on the floor as the thing moved. At the center of the mass was a large spherical sac about the size of the crystal ball Akasha was just using. The sac was clear, with a greenish tint and has some disgusting brown fluid inside it. A hand, a tongue, and some other familiar parts were also dragging attached to the mass… along with some obsidian armor, the same kind her guards wore…

Akasha didn't have time to figure out where this thing came from, and why. At this point, her list of investigations was becoming too large for someone with limited patience such as Akasha. She used a disintegrate spell to turn the pile of guts into a pile of nothing. She then moved toward the audience room. As she got to the doorknob she heard some drow curses come from the room, her sisters probably, as well as what sounded like a mass of hissing beetles.

She was about to open the door when one of the guards down the hall started to convulse and shake. He fell to his knees as his eyes started to bleed. His hands raised up to grip his face, only to be covered in a shower of blood as his stomach exploded. Intestine and muscle spewed out over the ground and another of those sacs fell out of the now gaping hole. The body seemed to be dragged with it by some mysterious force. This caused the remaining body parts to dismember and crumble together, following the disgusting sac around.

It was obvious something was done to her guards, but she didn't have time to figure that out either. Her home was in chaos and the only family she had any care for was missing. She had very little room for any emotions except pain and rage. She ignored the blob and turned the knob into the audience room, preparing herself for the worst.

"Vermin?!" she yelled to herself. That is all the great Sar'kriva sends me? A bunch of bugs?

In the middle of the room a gaping hole had funneled through the floor. It was probably coming from one of the caves from inside the mountain… as Akasha recalled this room was directly above her fungal room… which was sort of humorous after she thought about it.

Out of the hole poured hundreds of small leech like creatures. They appeared to be giant maggots mutated in some way shape or form. Most of the family guard in the room had become those disgusting sac creatures, causing mass panic and chaos to ensue from most of her family members.

It wasn't long before they started fighting their attackers and forming attack groups. The elder family members in a drow family were, in fact, very strong. Most of the males formed a protective shield of flesh around the more powerful members of the family, including her sisters and aunt, batting away the annoying vermin.

Even with the intelligent tactics and spells being flung everywhere, the worm things were beginning to massively outnumber Akasha's family. There had to be thousands of them, and they were still coming out of the ground!

Toward the back of the room, where Akasha was sitting, her immediate family formed a small attack pattern with magic. A few of Akasha's personal guard remained, but they weren't going to stay that way for very long. A gap in protection was opening toward the north wall… Akasha had to do something.

Akasha begin to move across the room, but not before disposing of the pile of guts in the hall. She moved along the west wall, trying, at first, not to attract too much attention. After a minute of moving slowly she decided to change her mind.

Akasha summoned a large flaming rock, similar to a druid spell she could remember but more deadly. Using her mind, she began to roll the rock in front of her while she was running. The rock was not only covered in flame, but wreathed in spikes powered by negative energy. The bugs were mercilessly crushed and splintered to dust by the rock.

Akasha started to walk backwards while she moved to the side of the room with her sisters. She used burning hands and fireball to dispose of the vermin behind her while controlling the rock with her mind. The smell of burnt goop filled the air as she savagely barbequed everything that was trying to flank her.

A whole lot of the lower guard had been killed when she got to her sisters; at this point they also were using spells to deal with the creatures… that were still pouring into the room.

That hole had to be plugged, and quickly. Akasha used a thrust of telekinesis to make the rock bounce around the room and smash enemies at random for its remaining duration. At the same time, she stood in-between her sisters. She searched her mind for a spell that could work, wasting valuable time she didn't have. She had a spell in mind, but she wasn't sure if it was the time to use something so powerful.

Meanwhile, the battle with the creatures was proving to be much more then Akasha had anticipated. The slugs seemed to secrete some kind of acid. Akasha watched as a pile of them engulfed a helpless guard from her sister's entourage that had entered the room. Once they moved over him, nothing was left but bones and ashes.

Something else was going on, but Akasha couldn't quite focus enough to figure that out at the moment. To her immediate left, a few men blocking attacks from a younger female cousin seemed to be getting fatigued rather rapidly. Akasha took a moment to fling some magical enhancements their way. With their renewed strength they whipped their swords through the layers of bugs splattering them into pieces.

The small creatures seemed to form a central intelligence; they started forming tactics of their own. They had already demonstrated their ability to fling themselves into the air with short notice. They recently began doing this to one particular target and now to one particular target in a weakening fashion. They started talking down the cannon-fodder of the family in short work. Akasha had to think fast.

Akasha had greatly underestimated the threat of these bugs. While they were indeed Vermin, her people often used vermin for powerful spells and sometimes even the smallest spider can change everything for your enemy. If there were any other surprises hidden within these creatures Akasha didn't want to know about them… at least not if they were directed at her.

After a quick work over in her brain, Akasha decided it was time to indeed use her powerful magic. She kneeled momentarily, and then began to rise. "It will be a cold day in the fires of despair before some pathetic slugs touch me," she said seemingly directed at no one.

She began a very complicated incantation which was followed by a gesture requiring both hands and a special gemstone. She kneeled back down, and felt warm golden light filter through her being. She opened her eyes, and looked around the room. Everything seemed to have its own special aura, as if they were silhouetted by magically colored lights.

Akasha took focus on the worms and where they were coming from, and with a large chunk of her own power she began to concentrate. She was attempting to alter the very magic of space and time, creating ripples if it were. She focused her mind on one very simple task: Destroy the Source!

After all, she couldn't be more specific. Although powerful, the spell worked with the very fabric of magic and any complicated or un-necessary commands could cause unwanted and potentially deadly results.

Akasha continued to focus while the spell took effect, the hole in the middle of the room began to close itself. Every time Akasha blinked her eyes a series of slugs would splinter and explode. Certain parts of the room seemed to take damage or repair itself… probably a side effect of the spell.

While Akasha focused, a pile of the creatures got a little too close for comfort. Apparently most of the guard that was left alive had been overwhelmed and were off fighting personal battles with dying friends or to save themselves. Akasha's oldest sister, Triel, was taking defensive stance at this point, and took the opportunity to use several powerful spells of her own; such as wall of swords and prismatic wall. But something was wrong…

Triel turned toward her, she looked pale… which in drow standards was definitely not a good sign. Her skin was turning white, and she seemed to have a hard time maintaining balance. Her magic walls were destroying all the creatures on that side. She shot a glance at Akasha, and that is when Akasha noticed the problem.

A few of the slugs had gotten a hold of her bare skin toward on her calves. They were injecting some kind of fluid into her blood. The blood drained out of her face and she fell to her knee. She used the last of her strength to hold the barrier up.

But... Why? Akasha began to turn toward her sister to fire off some spells to help her, but then stopped immediately. She couldn't! She had to finish concentrating on her own spell first. Damn it! Her sister was dying and all she could do was sit here and watch. I will destroy you Sar'Kriva… your soul will be doomed to damnation and I will be the one to send it there, Akasha thought to herself.

Akasha couldn't watch her own sister suffer, she focused all of her power on the spell, and then forcefully paused awaiting the spells completion. At this time, the room went white and silent…

Akasha blinked a few times, her eyes adjusting back to the normal absence of light. She turned to where her sister was, and cringed. Although the slugs were defeated, they had a chance to finish Triel off first. Akasha stood, and moved over to her location.

Emotionally and physically drained due to the spell, Akasha found walking slightly more irritating than normal. She walked over to the gauntly corpse of her sister, only to find it start seizing.

Her first reaction was to use some healing magic, but that was put to a halt when she say the insides of the corpse start to pour out over the floor. Akasha cursed and took a step forward. In one quick motion, she pulled her ornamental dagger from its hidden location in her arm, twisted it around, and stabbed it into the sac that became visible in Triel's corpse.

"Mistress U', you must see this," a familiar voice said from behind Akasha. It was her aunt, the one she couldn't stand. A grimace formed on Akasha's face… but she turned anyway.

The only image Akasha saw was her aunt standing over a similar looking corpse, except this one was of her grandmother, Baenre. Her corpse was in far worse condition, as if multiple of the sacs erupted out of her at once. Akasha's aunt simply stood, her cloth robes covered in blood from the spattering of magic on flesh.

Akasha dropped to her knees and sighed, unbelieving of what just happened.

Akasha may not like her family, she may even wish a few of them dead, but this was far worse than that. This was beyond Sar'kriva. Someone wanted to destroy her entire family line. Someone wanted the house of U' wiped off the sheen of the Underdark. Her family web was crumbling around her – literally – and all she could do right now was gawk while rage built up inside her like an overflowing water basin.

Where was her other sister, where was Rylain. Akasha struggled to stand up and then started to look around the room, a river of boiling hatred behind her eyes.

Just as she was about to turn around, she felt a prick and then a stab of pain in her lower back. She started turning… but the world got blurry, she felt her strength diminishing. Then she couldn't move her legs, and eventually started to slump over.

Akasha didn't have to strength to be angry… however much she wanted to be. She felt the seething hatred spill into her mind like an infection, but she couldn't do anything about it. She had just enough strength left to turn her head and see her aunt's vile face. The memory loss, the necrotic sacs, the bugs, they were just a detraction from the real problem.

The bitch was in on the whole damn thing.