A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 61: A Way In

This caught Caleldir's sensitive ear. "What do you mean, 'free to roam'?" He asked. "Are you trapped? If so, I can free you."

"We are tasked with guarding this way into the city." One said with what was probably perfect honesty - or at least a very good appearance of it. The other made a hissing, scoffing noise at the word 'tasked,' which the first speaker ignored. "But if you never came this way in the first place, well, that is not our fault, is it?"

"Quite right, sister." The second one said - the one who had spoken wistfully of being able to roam.

"In fact..." The one identified as female continued thoughtfully. "No." She decided, and both naga's expressions fell to regretful sadness. "We are not to be freed. They will find us and bring us here to an existence worse than before."

"It would not be the first time." The other agreed.

"Ah, so the letter of the law, not the spirit. A classic move by those compelled to do something they dislike." Caleldir observed. "Who are 'they'?" If someone is keeping you here against your will, I can put an end to it. Trust me on this: whatever power is keeping you, short of the gods themselves, I can take them. Or, at very least, my friends can. So help me on my way, and I will free you from your imprisonment!"

As if they didn't even realize what they were doing, both naga braced themselves and held on to the body of the third. That was the only warning given for the next surge of water to flush down the tunnels. The source of this must have been close, since there was no roaring sound. Worse, the rush was so must stronger than the last one.

Caleldir managed to, barely, grasp onto a bit of the wall so that he was not completely flushed out. Was it normal for a sewer to have this many blasts of clean water? Was it clean because someone was periodically flushing out the system? That, actually, would make a lot of sense.

Thankfully, Selene still clutched the Paladin's hand. When the water returned to normal, Selene still (sort of) stood there next to the nymph. She couldn't help the noisy splutter, and probably should have quelled the soft string of profanity that left her lips when she took in her surroundings again. Ashyr was gone.

It seemed that the flush of water didn't move either of the naga - indeed, they didn't even notice that it had happened. But they did hear Selene's voice. The naga went on sudden alert. "You seek to ambush us?!" The one identified as female demanded. "Show us the rest of you!" There was a clear threat in her voice.

"Not an ambush." Caleldir said quickly, getting back to his feet. "If it were, you would already be dead. Instead, my friends did not want to make themselves known unless you were friendly. I cannot die, so they waited to see how you would react to me before appearing." He turned around. "You can come out now! I think negotiations are going well!"

The naga looked sort of offended that this puny little male-thing would have the audacity to say that they would already be dead of these interlopers had wished it. The female hissed low to herself in aquan, while the other just scowled. But they seemed to be willing to let them pass, since the strangely pretty male seemed far more helpful than any other being that they had encountered recently.

Althaia stepped out of hiding. Since she was still holding Selene's hand, the drow reluctantly followed with her. They immediately found themselves being intently inspected.

"He speaks truth," Althaia said. "We did not know if you would attack. But our friend was just washed away in that current, so I have to leave now to find her anyway." With that Althaia hurried back down the passage, looking for signs of Ashyr.

Caleldir gritted his teeth. This infiltration was going poorly. He turned back to the Naga, who let the two women go back without complaint. "So... about what I was saying before? Who is it that imprisons you?"

"They." The other hissed as if uttering a great curse.

"Them." The female agreed, and then the pair of them launched into an explanation where they took turns to speak in the fluid sort of way that only long-time companions could achieve. Both also dropped their voices in a conspirator's tone, and quickly began to sound like an old half-mad woman or a sailor deep in his cup telling stories of creatures they barely dared to describe - let alone mention.

"The ones who keep us here are like her."

"Her, but not. You, but doubly not."

"Hair like beautiful tails of gold, brown, black. Chase. Choke. Torture."

"Songs that break hearts and draw in souls."

"If your friend is gone, then she is going to visit them now."

"Take the path you have not yet taken, down into the depths beyond our sewers. If you kill them, we can get away. And you can go into the city above untouched by us." The female concluded.

Caleldir was not certain what sort of creature they were describing, but he had several guesses. "Sirens? Lorelei?" He muttered. Like nymphs, but cruel, mind-breakey, and with magical singing voices. That sounded the most like Lorelai, but there were a great number of bizarre creatures in this world, so it could easily be one that he had not heard of. "I will defeat them and free you." Caleldir said with confidence. "Or 'negotiate' for your freedom, at very least. I prefer not to kill unless they leave me no choice. But if Ashyr has gone to meet them, well, I had better head that way very quickly."

He began to turn to leave, then stopped, and looked back at the naga. "If I do manage to free you from them, I would like to speak to you again before you go running off. So, if you would be so kind, could you stay there until we return? Thank you."

"We will be around. There is no other place for us to be until we are sure of your success." The female agreed bitterly. "We hope to talk to you again as well." Because that would probably indicate that their captors were dead, while their would-be rescuers lived.

"Good luck." Both hissed. It was an honest wish, but with their twin naturally breathy voices, it probably sounded menacing.