Kono, Futa Drow Ranger

Kono looked around the elder's hovel, it smelled overwhelmingly of herbs and flowers. The drow thumbed through one of the elder's tomes while she waited. The thin pages only showed rituals for soil health and herbal recipes. The elder woman must only practice hearth magic, not surprising in these times. Any magic a woman held here was strictly for planting and harvest. Not even a scribble of anything offensive, anything that could be dangerous. Kono shook her head as she replaced the book. If the elder allowed herself any magic with bite I wouldn't need to be here. Pathetic.

The elder returned with a tray of hot tea, its aroma even more aggressive than the horticulture plastering the walls. She set the tray down at a small table, and gestured for Kono to sit. With a polite wave of her hand Kono rejected the offer. That chair would put her back to the door, instinct often outweighed courtesy. "Suit yourself traveler, we're not paying you to drink tea. And it means more for me!" The woman chortled at her own joke, Kono was relieved she wouldn't have to find out what that smell tasted like.

"I'm here about the disturbances. I saw your request in White River and I'm with the guild; I can show you my seal."

"Oh there's no need for that" The woman replied, clearly she had a distaste for formalities "Why else would someone like.. you be here?" The woman stuttered a little, uneasy at her choice of words.

Someone like me...

Drow were only spoken of in anger or resentment amongst human lands. It made sense the woman would stumble over her words trying to bring it up. Kono caught the elder's eye, naturally honing in on the moment of weakness. The drow's red eyes were fierce and beautiful, though they relayed no animosity.

"A drow you mean?"

The elder shuddered a little, looking away from her piercing gaze. Kono allowed the retreat.

"The war has left the midlands lacking in defenses, which provides good work for independents like me." She could tell the elder was nervous. So all of the tea and pleasantries were just to hide her fear. She must be from an old generation.

Kono caught movement out of the corner of her eye, a wisp of blonde hair and the sounds of heavy breathing.

"Is she here? Is she here?!" A girl came bursting into the hovel, she was lithe with a bow swung around her shoulder and a full quiver bouncing against her bum. "Oh my gosh she is!" The girl exclaimed before eyeing Kono up and down. Despite having the body of an adult her mannerisms were that of a child. She must have just come of age recently, though it was an odd sight to see a human girl wearing a hunter's bow. Kono paid little heed to the intrusion, turning an inquisitive eye to the elder woman, who looked relieved that the subject had changed. "Ah sorry, this is Amelia, she'll be your guide."

"My guide?"

"Yes, Amelia came of age last year and is the one who reported the monsters. You wouldn't know it by looking at her, but she's our finest hunter."

Kono looked back to the petite girl. Amelia's face was beaming with pride, marred a little by the trickle of sweat running down her forehead. "That's right miss! I even took a shot at one, and I got him too!".

Kono rubbed her chin a little. This complicates matters. Hunting monsters was one thing, but having to drag around a guide would either be a help or a hindrance. I do not appreciate games of chance. Still the sooner she got out of here the better. "Very well then, Amelia." The young girl stood up tall at hearing the drow say her name "Show me where you saw the monsters. And thank you Elder, for the tea, and the work".

The fresh air was a relief, but Kono squinted as her eyes adjusted to the noon day sun. She had traveled the surface for decades now but still could never get used to the brightness. The drow pulled her hood up over her head. A useful garment, it both shielded her from the sun and protected her ears from prying eyes. Amelia stood at the hovel door, looking Kono up and down in the light. Her bright blue eyes ate up every detail of Kono's equipment. So young and full of hope. I must look like a hero from one of her stories. The blue eyes wandered down Kono's sleeveless lamellar chestpiece toward her short sword, and then towards her waist before quickly looking down and away. Or perhaps she knows more. "Shall we be going?"

Amelia regained her composure and gave Kono one last look over and a nod before starting down a path, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Yes of course!"

As they walked through the village Kono took stock of the people. Mostly women, only a few elderly men and some children, none old enough to hold a spear. The war must be going worse than I thought. She turned her inquisitive gaze to her guide. The girl was a few inches shorter than the drow, and had long blonde hair tied up in a tight and high ponytail that swayed side to side as she walked. In the old elven style. The bow on her back was well maintained, but its draw weight couldn't have been enough to pierce any real armor. She wore a fitted vest and pants that were a little too small, they were formed from a hardy leather perfect for hunting and also perfectly formed to Amelia's well toned ass. She holds that bow confidently, but without any armor or melee weapon she wouldn't last a minute in a real fight.

"So you're a hunter then? Very odd to see a female hunter, or any hunter at all in a manor village"

Amelia looked back with a bright smile as she led Kono toward the woods.

"Yeah I've been hunting the lord's woods for a year now. He left with the second tour, and all his guard too! They never told us we could hunt the woods, but then they never told us we couldn't either." The girl grinned mischievously.

"And what about the men?"

"Left with the third wave, and the boys with the fourth. Only adults left here are women, but that's alright. We can hold our own when we need to!"

Kono offered her a slight smile. Clearly you can't if you call for a mercenary at the first sign of trouble. "These monsters, is this the first time you've seen them?"

"First time in the flesh yeah, but I've found evidence of poachers in the forest, well you know, besides me."

A lord's forest ripe with game and free for the picking. I'm surprised it's taken them this long.

"It's just up here uhh.. I just realized I don't know your name..."

"Kono."

"Whoa, cool name!"

I could pick my nose and you'd think it was fascinating.

They approached a small clearing when Amelia stopped, Kono sensed the girls breathing pick up a little.

This must be the site of the attack.

"This is where I was atta-"

"Yes I know" Kono was more interested in the arrow she was examining than whatever the girl had to say. It was shoddy, made of blackened wood, the feathers plucked poorly and glued on with some kind of mushroom residue. The head was formed from a sharpened flint. Goblin make.

"Oh wow, I didn't see that one! They shot a few at me but I ducked away quick."

"It's a good thing you did" Kono held the arrow up to the sunlight, a black goo was coated onto the flint head. "Poison..." She held some between her gloved fingers, and watched how it crumbled. "Some kind of psychedelic, from a cave mushroom. If that got in your blood you'd effectively be paralyzed."

Amelia's voice came out a little surprised. "Wow they poison their arrows to hunt?"

"Not to hunt game" Kono looked at the young girl to see her reaction. Amelia's complexion grew a little pale, she quickly realized the implication.

"They were hunting me..."

Kono's tone was matter of fact. "Correct, and they must have been stalking you for some time to prepare this poison. It looks like you aren't the only hunter in these woods."

It was a shame really, such a lovely girl could have been stolen away from this world. Kono sighed quietly to herself. Goblins? This far south from the mountains? The war really was ruining this kingdom. Well, at least there's money in it for me.

"Then we have to kill them" Amelia's voice was small, but determined. Kono reassessed the girl. Even with obvious danger she still wants to fight. Foolishness is often mistaken for bravery, this girl wasn't even properly equipped. But still... Amelia's stunning eyes stared up at Kono, and her beauty stirred something within the drow. The way her hair flowed in the breeze a little, in that high and tight elven style, the way her fitted vest clung to her petite figure and how easily Kono's eyes could rest on her alluring face and body... Kono looked away to regain her focus.

"We? I'm sorry brave Amelia but I can't bring you with me into combat."

The girl gasped in frustration. "Why not? It's my village, I'm of age, I know these woods and I'm a good shot!"

"Your skill has nothing to do with it. You don't have armor, you don't have a proper weapon or a shield. One lucky arrow, or one sneaky blade and you'll be dead weight, or better yet just dead."

"I refuse."

Kono shot an angry glare at the girl. "Excuse me?"

"I-It's simple. I refuse. I will go with you and you cannot r-restrain me, stop me, or refuse to escort me!" This girl does know more than she's letting on.

Kono did her best to intimidate the girl, staring daggers into her, but those beautiful eyes would not back down. And it's not like Amelia was wrong either. Guild mercenaries were bound by a certain code, never to harm innocents, or refuse to protect a contract holder. Technically the girl held the contract on the goblins. How obnoxious... this hunter has guile.

Kono stood up, running her fingers up and down the arrow shaft thoughtfully. "Very well then, you've found yourself a loophole. Try not to hang yourself with it."

Kono squinted up at the sun, evening was approaching and a light breeze ruffled the canopy leaves. The drow suddenly crouched low, sliding behind a trunk nearby. The birds had gone quiet. They must be in the trees... no cover in this clearing. Amelia followed suit, leaning against a tree and knocking an arrow into her bow. She kept dead quiet. Kono brought her hood down and produced her own bow, knocking an arrow while she did her best to listen. Another ambush? In the same spot? Foolish goblins, though I suppose we walked into it. Perhaps some magic... I'll have to expend a little mana here while I'm at a disadvantage. I won't be able to assault their nest today anyway, not with the tag-along.

She thought back to her life in the Subtennebrae, the shadows with no sun to break them, the caves with their smooth walls, how easily sound bounced off of them. The spell she chose to cast was one of the first any drow hunter learned, Echolocation. Amelia watched with frightened amazement as Kono's eyes shifted from their fierce red to a murky blind white. Kono felt a branch under her foot, and pressed down, producing a sharp snap. The noise rang out, and to Kono there was no other sound, she felt it bounce between the trees, their shapes blending together, expected, obvious, unimportant. What was important was the new shapes, small, hunched, flesh, close.

If I shoot now they'll have a chance to hit the girl with the return volley... best to move in close, make myself the threat. Flint won't easily penetrate the plates of my lamellar. With her strategy set she returned to normal, the spell faded from her mind like a distant dream. She set down her bow, and grabbed her sword at the hilt, her shield hand rummaged through her waist satchel shortly before producing a small bomb. Can't believe I'm wasting a smoke on goblins. Alas, it would be a shame to see Amelia's first adventure be her last. Kono waited just a little bit longer, no doubt the goblins were moving toward her position, the branch gave it away after all.

A bird fluttered from a tree about fifty meters away. The frightened animal had just begun the combat. Kono leaped from her cover, lighting the fuse on the bomb with a flick of her finger and tossing it toward the noise. She saw three small green figures for only a moment before the smoke enveloped them. Kono dexterously slid left, and in turn three arrows flew in the general direction she had just been. Good, they're predictable. She sprinted fast toward her enemies drawing her shortsword with a skilled hand. A satisfying chorus of coughs and confusion erupted from the smoke, but Kono would not let it linger for long. Just as she reached her targets she swiped the air in front of her with her shield, shouting an ancient word of power. A sudden gust of wind blew away the smoke, and revealed the confused goblins within. Her sword quickly found its first mark, an exposed neck. The blade slashed and caught easily on the goblins flesh, with a quick pull Kono sent blood gushing from it and quickly stabbed the blade into the next hapless goblin's chest.

The third had stumbled backward in the confusion and quickly righted himself, grabbing a spear from the dirt and lurching it toward the drow. She dodged back, but her sword had become stuck in its victim's chest. The goblin's attack wasn't a straight shot and deflected harmlessly off of the waist of Kono's lamellar armor. The misplaced force of the blow sent the goblin falling forward into the bloodied dirt. In response, Kono brought her foot down hard on the spear, cracking it in half while she secured a better grip on her sword and yanked it free. The goblin had only a second to realize his mistake before Kono stabbed the blade into the nape of his neck, a clean and instant kill.

The forest was quiet once more. Damned goblin blood, it clogs wounds and makes weapons stick. I should have slashed instead. Kono only needed a few seconds to meditate on the battle, trying her best to learn from the blood she had spilt. She looked back at Amelia, who was peeking up from behind her hiding place. "That was all of them, Amelia, it's safe now".

Amelia leaped up and ran to Kono, her eyes wide at the fresh corpses and splatters of blood. "That was amazing! You cast magic! Real magic! I saw you do it! And your swordplay, graceful like a dance!" Seeing the pretty girl praise her felt primitively satisfying, but Kono wouldn't miss the opportunity to lecture. "Graceful perhaps, but look here" She showed Amelia the spot on her armor where the spear had been deflected, on her protected waist just above the thigh. "If I hadn't been armored with lamellar and gambeson then that spear would have immobilized me." But Amelia wasn't looking at the armor, she noticed something else about Kono. "You really are one of the drow... with magic and... everything"

Kono considered slapping her, but that might sour the mood. Why not revel in her victory a little, if she was forced to bring Amelia along she might as well indulge her... and perhaps herself as well. "What do you know of the drow?" Kono asked, her voice soothing, yet commanding. Amelia looked up at her, those blue eyes as entrancing as ever, but there was something new bubbling to the surface.

"I've heard stories of how drow women are some of the greatest hunters in the world, able to wield magic like an elder, and pull a bow with the strength of three men!" Well more like one and a half men. "And long ago they used to wander the surface, battling monsters for fame and sport, and..." Oh come on, don't stop now.

"And what?" Kono was prodding her, she knew Amelia was uncomfortable with what came next.

"They would... take human women, and make them their slaves, because they... um" Kono smirked, knowing well what Amelia had just seen. The girl's voice came out quiet, more amazed than anything. "Because they have the loins of a man".

Drow pheromones; invisible scents, faint recollections, secret thoughts that can creep their way into a woman's subconscious. Any female of any race was susceptible to it, so long as their mind was unguarded. This girl has no idea the danger I pose to her... but that is not my way. Not anymore. Kono began to clean the viscus goblin blood from her sword. "Not slaves Amelia, slavery implies some kind of force. Those women weren't forced to serve by anything other than their own lust for power." Amelia looked up at Kono again, full of curiosity. It's not every day a village girl gets to hear the secrets of an ancient race. One that almost conquered the surface world just a century ago.

"Power...?" Amelia was clearly blushing now, a bit of hair had come free from her tight ponytail and hung in front of her pretty face. Such a serene creature, the sunlight compliments her. If I'm not careful I might get stuck in the same web she's unwittingly walking into.

"A woman can gain power by undergoing the change, like your elder. To trade the gift of motherhood for the gift of magic. There are many cultures, and many ways to receive the gift. Some permanent, some not. To exchange mana with a drow... requires intimacy."

Amelia giggled a little, pushing her rogue strand of blonde hair back behind her ear, it quickly fell right back down. "Yes I know about the change, where magic comes from, why only women can perform it. I've read all about it! In a lot of books!" Amelia was proud again, Kono watched as her blue eyes began to dream, a dream of power. Kono was very familiar with this dream.

"And where did someone like you get their hands on these books?"

"Why the lord's library of course."

"How did you get in?"

"I snuck in, the old men that live there are easy to sneak by."

"And how did you learn to sneak?"

"Some things just come naturally to me."

"And when did you learn to read?"

"The elder taught me since I was a child. And anything she didn't want to teach me, well I just figured that out myself."

She's being groomed to replace the elder. A cruel fate for someone with so much potential.

"At first I read the tomes about the elder's magic, but they were boring. All herbology and agriculture, it was the history books where I found the good stuff."

"The history of the drow invasion I assume"

"Yes... drow magic has so much potential, so much power. I saw you use it just then, echolocation, and some kind of wind gust! I can't help but wonder why you didn't kill those goblins with streams of fire! Or lightning! Or make them dance on their heads and break their necks!" Kono chuckled mildly to herself. Learned, talented, and bloodthirsty. Like a lot of drow I know.

"Did the author speak of hairstyling techniques as well as fireballs and lightning bolts?" Kono sheathed her sword, looking away from the girl who was now profusely blushing..

"I mean I um, it looks good right? I like it a lot and you know it-"

Kono wasn't really paying attention to the stammering, she was satisfied with just a little teasing. Just enough teasing to lighten the mood, maybe steer her mind away from what Amelia might have seen. She rolled one of the goblin's small corpses over with her foot, studying its tattoos and markings. The creature wore little armor, just bits of wood covering weak points, obviously ineffective. But something caught her eye, a handprint on the shoulder, black as soot. She scratched at it with a knife a little, it was a deep burn, flash fried into the flesh. A branding of some kind. A branding of a hand. Could it be...? Kono stood up with a heavy sigh, she furrowed her brow and rubbed her chin a little with the knife.

"Is it something bad?" Amelie looked on, trying to follow along with Kono's investigation. The return to the job made the girl forget all about how flustered she had been just a moment ago.

"Yes Amelia, like most things with goblins it's both bad and predictable. That hand print branding on his shoulder there, it was done by some kind of mage."