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Zak and Jarl were bored. Neither one of them cared that they were missing out on the slaughter that was taking place only a hundred yards from them, for neither one of them harbored the same instinctual hatred for surface elves as did their companions. And even though the massacre was taking place so close to them, they had not heard one cry or any of the other sounds that usually accompany battle.
There were several reasons for this. Perhaps the biggest though was the fact that drow raiders excelled at stealth. Like almost every other race at night, the elves were most likely sleeping right now. The drow, under Dantrag's command had been instructed to wake each victim right before they were killed. These surface elves were to be given as battle sacrifices to Lloth, and Dantrag wanted to make sure each elf was fully conscious at the time of death.
Even if there had been no rain and no thunder to drown out any potential cries, Zak and Jarl doubted there would be any. This was a large village, but with the sentries taken out quietly, and the rest of the village asleep, the drow would be able to move unhindered throughout the grove killing the entire community quietly.
Upon inspection of the dead elf sentries that Dantrag's group had left for Zak and Jarl to guard, the two saw another reason for the silent slaughter. Even if the village had risen up against the attacking drow, the absence of any metal objects on the three dead guards would have made for a very muffled fight.
The drow were all taught about one of their most hated rivals, the svirfnebli. The deep gnomes lived with the stone around them in a far more intimate manner than did the drow. To the drow, the stone was not special in anyway, but it had practical uses and was usually the only thing available to construct their cities. If there were trees in the underdark, the drow would likely substitute wood whenever possible if it better served their purpose.
The svirfnebli were not like that. They worshiped the stone and used it for things even the drow would never dream of. These elves were like that with their trees. Even the arrows they carried lacked metal tips and were instead sharpened to a wooden point. Their armor was made from the hides of the various animals that lived in the woods. They carried no swords, but were equipped with sturdy staffs and stout clubs.
Drow lived for conquest and power. Svirfnebli lived for a peaceful existence with their stone surroundings. Zak imagined that these elves were the same way with their trees. And now his people were killing them for absolutely no reason at all.
"Let's go," Zak said suddenly, not even using the hand code.
"You want to fight?" Jarl asked, knowing how much Zak despised this raid.
"Not into the village, into the mountains," Zak corrected, gesturing off to where he knew the mountains were, though he could see nothing beyond the trees around them.
This interested Jarl. He had thought about this raid at great length and how he would react to what could happen. He had also spent a great deal thinking about what Zak would do and how it would affect him. Jarl prided himself in being ready for everything, but he had not expected this.
"You just want to abandon our post and leave our companions to die?" Jarl asked, more than a little sarcasm in his comment.
"Yes," Zak said, very little sarcasm in his voice. "Think about it," he continued, trying to get his friend to think seriously for a moment. "Think about all the adventure we could find on our own in this fantastic new environment."
"Adventure?" Jarl mimicked. "Why would I want adventure? My house is fourth in all of Menzoberranzan, and I have been promised riches and prominence if I protect that status."
"Fine," Zak said in an angry voice. "We can both go back to our houses as weapon masters and obey our matron mothers' whims and desires. And no matter our skill or success or whatever foolish promises that have been made to us, we will always be treated as second class citizens. Or we can go into those mountains and meet with things we've never seen before with no one to answer to but ourselves."
"What about when the sun comes up?" Jarl asked. Each drow in the raiding party was required to do reading as to the horrors of the surface, and there were quite a few accounts of what the sun could do to drow equipment and in fact to drow themselves.
"You've faced both me and Dantrag in battle and you are still scared of a little light," now it was Zak's turn to be sarcastic, but he had a point.
Jarl was quiet for a while, thinking about something Zak had obviously already given a great deal of thought to. "What about the races of the surface? You might not believe the stories about how evil our surface cousins are, but you know first hand how evil we are, and you have to believe that the races of the surface teach their kids the same thing we were taught in reverse. The difference is that those tales have quite a bit of validity attached to them."
"Let them see us for who we are," Zak said.
"Will they?" Jarl responded. "Word of what is going on behind us right now will definitely be spread across the land. With our appearance so soon after such a massacre, do you think we will be viewed in a favorable light. Our own scouting made this raid possible, and our skill inspired Arach Tinilith to choose our class. I hardly think we are guiltless."
"Still," Zak pleaded, "we have a better chance of happiness on the surface than with our people in the underdark."
Jarl laughed out loud. Zak gave him a fierce glance, thinking he was the butt of the joke. "No," Jarl said, deflecting the look, "I've just never heard of a drow seeking happiness before. Peace of mind maybe, but happiness ... Are you sure you are a drow?"
"Sometimes I wonder," Zak said under his breath.
As the two continued to discuss their options, they were being scouted from above. Ryun had made his escape while Dantrag had been slaughtering his father. He had skirted the grove and came to the point where he knew the drow would have had to enter the grove. He had picked up one of the bows discarded by the dead guards, and had an arrow knocked and pointed at Jarl's back.
Ryun had been trained on the weapon briefly, but he had no real proficiency with it. His training had been very different from his brother's, who could put an arrow in each of the drow before either knew he was there. Maybe if it was a bright day and the distance to his target was half as much, he might have had more confidence in his shot, but as it was, in the pouring rain and darkness, he was scared he would miss. If he missed and announced his position to the deadly enemies, he knew he would not last much longer.
He lowered the arrow, lamenting he had not chosen the path of his father and brother. Still, he was almost a full-fledged druid, and they were powerful in their own rite. Just because these drow used straightforward tactics to do battle did not mean that was the only way to fight them.
Ryun put the bow down for now and began to fall within himself and call out to the forest around him looking for assistance. Down below, the hair stood up on the back of both drow's necks as the air about them hummed with magical energy. They both became very quiet and drew their weapons.
Zak and Jarl searched the area around them briefly, but did not have time for a thorough search as three huge bears came charging out of a thicket to their left. Neither drow had ever seen one of these animals before, but they did not need any foreknowledge to know the bears were formidable opponents.
For their enormous size, they were amazingly quick and agile, leaping over a fallen log and pouncing on the unprepared drow. Zak and Jarl dove to the side at the last second, not wishing to get crushed beneath the incredible bulk of the animals. Two of the creatures turned on Zak, and while he thought his weapons could cut one of them down easily, he knew the other one would be free to attack him.
Instead of a frontal attack, Zak needed to dance around the hostile creatures, nicking and cutting them while staying just out of their reach. Zak finally got one of them to cut the other off, and he was able to wade in with his blades. The bear's fur offered little protection against the drow weapons, and Zak had placed three separate lethal wounds on the creature within a second. Instead of slowing the animal, it only enraged it more.
One of the dying bear's paws lashed out at Zak. He got a blade up to block the blow, but the strength of the attack was not something the drow was prepared for. Though he cut the bear severely on the arm, he was thrown violently back into the trunk of a strong tree, blasting the wind from his lungs. The wounded bear came at him still, swiping a clawed paw right at Zak's face. Though he was dazed, Zak had enough presence of mind to duck and glanced up as the bear took a huge chunk out of the sturdy tree.
In a crouched position, Zak thrust both of his weapons up into the belly of the bear, cutting a huge gash into the already dying creature. Adrenaline could only take the bear so far, and as its strength left, it made one last effort to crush the elusive drow, falling straight down. Zak tried to leap to the side, but he tripped over a root, and caught a trailing paw of the dead bear on the leg, cutting a deep gash in his calf.
Before Zak could analyze the severity of the wound, the other bear was on top of him. Still on the ground, Zak tried to roll away from the creature, but its quickness defeated the drow, and the bear kicked him into another tree. Zak curled himself into a ball, but the trip over the uneven forest floor and the ending collision with the tree nearly knocked him out.
Zak was covered with multiple bruises, and the wound to his leg hampered his movements. The bear did not stop though, and rushed the crumpled form of the drow. Zak came up slowly, prepared to fend off any attack, but the bear did not swing its deadly paws and tried to crush its opponent against the tree.
Zak got his back off of the trunk behind him just in time to save his life, but he did not move quick enough to stay out of the bear's long reach. The huge creature grabbed the relatively small elf in its arms and tried to squeeze the life out of him. Zak's arms were pinned to his side, and useless as his breath was quickly crushed out of him. He could feel his slender ribs begin flex under the immense pressure and knew he did not have much time left.
It was a monumental effort to levitate under these conditions, especially with the weight of a quarter ton bear hanging on to you, but Zak was out of options. Calling on the magical piwafwi he had just been given and the magical talent he had mastered during his time at Sorcere, Zak was able to bring himself up just high enough to lift the bear off the ground half a foot.
The creature was not stupid, but it panicked none-the-less releasing its prey and falling safely back to the ground. Zak, on the other hand, with the terrific weight of the bear released so suddenly from his levitation spell, shot up into the branches of the tree. The bear looked up into the darkness, wondering what in the world he was fighting. The bear thought about climbing the tree, but circled it once, just to make sure the dark elf had not dropped out on the other side.
Just as the bear got both its paws on the trunk, Zak dropped out of the tree onto the back of the bear. Both of his weapons dove into the back of the bear's neck, biting deep into the vital area. Adrenaline or not, the bear crumpled beneath the drow, dead before it hit the ground.
Zak stood, panting heavily and favoring his injured leg. He looked about for Jarl, and tried to test exactly how hurt he was. He did not get much chance to rest though, for Ryun was not finished yet. As soon as Zak had engaged the two bears at once, the druid in training realized they would not be enough to defeat him. Instead of staying within the forest to call for aid, Ryun reached out to the nearby mountains, falling deep within his magical calling.
He touched upon several powerful creatures, but none of them would be able to traverse the distance between them fast enough to make a difference. Then he felt a creature whose power so nearly overwhelmed him that he almost lost consciousness. Ryun fought against the will of this beast, bending it to his own, and the creature was helpless to refuse the call.
Confident that more help was now on the way and knowing he was too weak to summon anything else, Ryun raised his bow and followed Zak's fight against the two bears hoping that a clear shot on the drow would present itself. After both bears were dead, and Zak was left standing alone, Ryun almost let his shot fly, but he felt the other creature that he had called approaching, and he held his fire.
Zak sensed the presence of the new creature as well and looked around frantically in the woods for it. It was only at the last second that he looked up and saw the wyvern descending right for him. Zak dove to the side, favoring his leg and just avoiding the creature's deadly claws as it landed in the small clearing.
As Zak came up to analyze this new foe, the first thing that entered his mind was that he was faced up against a dragon. The wyvern was powerful, but it was no dragon. It was not nearly as intelligent as its distant cousin and had no arms to attack with. Perhaps the biggest difference was its size - only a quarter as large as an average dragon. Its best attack was swooping down on its prey as it had almost just done to Zak, but it also had a poisoned tail, which it now swept at the prone drow.
Zak ducked behind a tree for protection and the wyvern nearly ripped the roots out of the ground. Zak could see he had the mobility advantage in the crowded forest, but it was his only one, and with his injured leg, it was not as pronounced as it might have been otherwise. Zak ducked another tail sweep and charged toward the creature, hoping that without arms, the beast would be defenseless against close attacks.
The wyvern waved one of its mighty wings at the running drow and blew him from his feet. It then beat its other wing and hopped into the air, trying to land on the sprawled drow. Zak rolled at the last second, lashing out with his weapons at the powerful leg that landed next to him. The creature was scaled, but Zak was able to slip under the armor and score a hit on the leg.
The wyvern shrieked as the blade cut him and tried to stamp its attacker, but Zak was on the move again, rolling up under the belly of the huge creature and stabbing his weapons into the chest. The attack was made from Zak's back, and the wyvern thrust its head down to catch the drow in its mouth. Zak quickly abandoned his attacks against the vulnerable underbelly and used his blades to fend off the mouth of the angry beast.
The two swords created an impenetrable shield above the drow, clicking off facial armor and teeth several times each second. After many attempts to get past the painful blades, the wyvern changed tactics and hopped away from Zak and swept its tail in from the side. Zak rolled up into a crouch and got both weapons up vertically in front of him as the tail came crashing in. Like when he fended off the first bear's attacks, his blades bit hard into the sweeping tail, but he was also thrown backwards.
Zak was prepared this time and had a levitation spell ready. By elevating his flight path, Zak collided with the less sturdy branches in the tops of the trees around him, avoiding the painful trunks. The wyvern saw its prey fly into the branches of a nearby tree, and craned its neck to go after him. Finding his footing within the branches of the tree, Zak fended off the thrusting attacks by the head of the angry creature and was also able to throw in a few of his own strikes.
As Zak timed one of the head thrusts, he was able to jump to a higher branch and thrust down into the wyvern's eye. The enraged creature cried out in pain at the attack and turned about. Zak took this opportunity to leap on to the wyvern's back. Bracing his feet on the wing joints of the much larger beast, Zak went to work on the wyvern's neck. His thrusts hit more often than they were deflected by the scales, and the wyvern cried out even more.
Much to Zak's discomfort, his mount tried to take to the air. Blinded by pain and only with the use of one eye, the wyvern was not able to escape the tangling branches of the trees about him. What it had intended to be flight, turned into just a frantic flapping of its wings and a chaotic dance through the trees.
This unorthodox method actually proved far more effective in protecting the wyvern from the drow on it back for Zak had to relent in his attacks to pay attention to the countless branches that scraped across the back of the wyvern, threatening to hurl Zak to the ground where he would be fair game for the claws and teeth of the desperate creature.
Zak gave up all together when a significantly large limb clipped him on the shoulder and nearly threw him off his perch. The scales of the wyvern were wet from the rain and offered no grip to the precarious drow. Zak fell to his chest on the back of the huge neck he straddled, wrapping his arms around the wyvern to hold on for dear life.
As he did this, he felt a very fleshy section of the wyvern's neck just above its chest and below its head. Altering his grip slightly, Zak was able to thrust one of his swords into the unprotected area. If the wyvern had been frantic before, now it was doubly so. It thrashed about so violently that it tore several of the smaller trees out of the ground as it tried to throw the drow from its back.
The harder it tried to remove Zak, the more it sealed its doom, for with every jolt that he took from the numerous branches that struck him from every direction, Zak's blade twisted and turned inside the wyvern's neck. The weapon finally severed one nerve too many, and the wyvern's actions began to slow down.
With the onslaught of the tree branches lessened, Zak was more able to guide his blade inside the creature, which was far more effective than his random cuts of a few moments before. The great creature finally came to rest on the ground, its tail switching back and forth as the body convulsed in the final stages of death.
Zak was barely able to pry his arms away from around the neck he had held onto in a vice grip that mimicked what the second bear had done to him a few minutes previous. He crawled off the back of the dead wyvern, his breath coming in desperate gasps. There was not one part of his body that did not ache. His injured leg was screaming out to him now after being beat upon so relentlessly on the back of the wyvern.
Zak could not find the immediate strength to stand and knelt on the ground as he tried to bring his pulse and breath under control. An arrow nicked him in the side and sent him spinning to the ground. From above Ryun cursed himself for his miss and turned to get another arrow. When he brought his weapon back in front of him to line up a second shot, Zak was gone.
Ryun spun all about on his perch, searching the ground for where the injured drow could have gone. He could not have moved far, Ryun thought. Still, there was no trace of him anywhere. The elf was getting desperate, and he kept spinning around, not letting his back stay pointed in any one direction for too long. It was a noise at his back, though, that alerted him to the drow's position. Ryun spun about and saw that Zak had levitated up to his perch and was less than two feet away. The range for the bow was point blank, but Zak batted it aside as Ryun fired, sending the arrow harmlessly away.
Ryun held his bow in front of him as he scrambled for the staff slung to his back, but Zak was too quick and forced Ryun to abandon his quest for a weapon and just try to get out of the way. As the surface elf backed out of Zak's reach, the drow changed his strategy and hacked up the limb Ryun was balancing on.
Under the fine cuts of drow made weapons, the limb did not last long, and Ryun went tumbling out of the tree, landing hard on his back. Zak was quick to follow and floated down so he stood over the prone elf. Zak poised his weapons over his enemy's neck, and Ryun did not offer any resistance. The surface elf just closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.
Zak paused. He had told Jarl back in the Academy that all he wanted to do was see a surface elf so he could determine their true nature. Now he had his wish, and he was just going to kill him. As Zak paused, his weapons ready to dispatch death at the slightest movement from Ryun, he analyzed the elf below him.
Two things were obvious right away.
The first was that Ryun was not only ready to die, but content to do so. Ryun looked calm and relaxed even though Zak was about to violently rip his throat open. Zak had never stood over a drow like this with life on the line, but he had placed several of his classmates in a position similar to this in the grand melee. They had been anything but calm. Even though they knew they were beat, and all Zak was going to do was prod them with a dull wooden pole, they put up a furious protest.
Here this elf was expecting death, and he welcomed it gladly. What awaited him when he died? His deity. What awaited a drow when he died? Lloth. Zak did not look forward to his death, because he knew the abyss would not be kind to him, and he doubted even the most devote of Menzoberranzan's priestesses really looked forward to the time they would stand before Lloth in person.
Apparently this elf served a god that was kind to his subjects. He welcomed his followers into the afterlife with open arms and affection. Ryun would go to be with his father, mother, and brother and was actually looking forward to it. How Zak wished for such security!
The second and more painful thing by far was how this elf accepted death without protest. Even though death was not that terrible a thing for this elf, life still had to be far preferable. This elf did not plead for his life because he knew that the drow above him would not offer him any mercy. Ryun knew his killer was an evil drow and death was certain.
This judgement levied against Zak by the simple elf struck deep into his heart. Any idea of a possible existence on the surface fled in that moment. How he wanted to be judged fairly and not be taken at face value, but how could he argue with the judgement? This elf was just defending his grove, taking on an enemy that was obviously his superior. How did Zak respond? Did he try to reason with the elf? Did he try to show the elf that he was not evil like the rest of his comrades? No. He had reacted like he had been trained to do, like any drow should. He had attacked and tried to kill the elf.
Zak pulled his weapons back, stepping away from his potential victim. After waiting for too long, Ryun opened his eyes to see what was wrong. He found himself looking into a very humiliated drow. Ryun had defeated him more soundly than if he had been able to summon a red dragon to fight the drow.
As Ryun slowly propped himself up to regard this dark elf that continued to step away from him, Zak pointed one of his weapons toward the woods. "Go," he said weakly. Ryun looked confused, for he did not understand the drow's language. "Go!" Zak screamed, taking a menacing step toward the elf.
Ryun understood perfectly now and jumped to his feet and scampered off into the woods, fatefully back in the direction of the grove. Zak was lost in emotion when he heard the cry from the direction in which Ryun had run. It was terror stricken and ended suddenly, like someone had severed the elf's vocal cords right in the middle of it.
Zak blindly ran after the elf, almost tripping over Ryun's decapitated body just a short way into the woods. He recovered just in time to get one of his weapons up to block a blade that seemed to swing in from out of nowhere. Zak backpedaled and gathered himself as he prepared to meet this new attacker. Dantrag stepped out from behind a tree, Khazid'hea gripped tightly in his left hand.
Is this Zaknafein? He is nothing compared to you. He let this weak surface elf escape. Kill him.
Dantrag had not yet learned the ways or desires of his new sword and took the bait completely. "You let him get away," Dantrag said, motioning to the dead elf at his feet.
Zak said nothing. He looked at Dantrag and saw exactly what Ryun had assumed. Dantrag was evil personified. He was the main character of all the stories the goodly races told their children when recounting the horrors of the drow. Dantrag was the reason Zak was doomed to live his life out in the underdark, never able to gain acceptance on the surface. Though Ryun's judgement of Zak had been inaccurate, it rung true with Dantrag. Even though his body had been beaten beyond what he should be able to bear, Zak was more than ready to cut Dantrag down.
"Your skill must not be as great as everyone has said," Dantrag said slowly, drawing one of his other swords to join with Khazid'hea.
"It must not be," Zak said, slowly backing away from the fallen surface elf.
"Perhaps you need another lesson."
"Please," Zak said through gritted teeth, rain water pouring down his stern features, "teach me so I can be just like you."
Dantrag exploded into motion leaping over Ryun's body and swinging his new sword. It was a foolishly aggressive move against someone as skilled as Zak, and the younger drow simply stepped behind a thin tree trunk. Dantrag would imbed his blade into the tree, and Zak would cut him down.
Even as Zak stepped back to his original position to carry out the move, he had not yet comprehended that Dantrag's sword had cut cleanly through the tree trunk and not only was Zak now out of position, but the felled tree was falling in his direction. Dantrag snapped Cutter back across the space vacated by Zak, forcing the Do'Urden to bring up his blade to block it and open his other side.
Zak's second weapon barely intercepted the attack, and he then had to give up both blocks as the tree came crashing down. He rolled to the ground just ahead of the tree, and without the temporary barrier, he might have been struck down right there. Dantrag would normally have to skirt around or over the tree, but with Khazid'hea in hand, he cut right through it.
This second display of how sharp Dantrag's new sword was did not escape Zak's attention, and as he scrambled back to his feet, he took caution to duck beneath it. Zak intercepted Dantrag's second attack with his own blade and then caught Cutter on the return swipe. With their blades locked together, both drow stared hard at each other, their faces not more than a few inches apart, and each hated what he saw.
Despite his weakened condition, Zak was the one who won the shoving match, sending Dantrag back, tripping over the recently felled tree. Like the first bear he had fought, Zak was hurt beyond what he should have been able to endure, and was operating only on adrenaline. He needed to end this fight quickly, or Dantrag would easily be able outlast him.
With that in mind, Zak chased his stumbling opponent. Dantrag was too skilled to be defeated so easily, and feigned to trip over the tree and swiped at Zak's legs as he fell. Zak jumped high in the air, soaring over Dantrag's crouched form. The Baenre fighter tried to cut Zak out of the air, but a blade intercepted the strike. Zak landed with his weapon still in contact with Dantrag's and stabbed back blindly to where he knew his opponent crouched.
The former head master knew his back was vulnerable, and he also swept his weapon back behind himself in a defensive effort. The two weapons collided, and both fighters spun about, keeping their weapons locked to each other so they knew where their opponent was. Zak was standing and Dantrag was still crouched low. He tried to rise, but Zak beat down on him to keep him low, careful to make sure both of Dantrag's weapons were busy so he could not attack his unprotected legs.
Dantrag realized what his former student was trying to do and deflected one strike to the left with enough time to snap the same blocking blade across to the right and catch the second attack, freeing up his other weapon. Zak was forced to back up, and Dantrag stood.
They came together furiously. This was not a sparring session. This was not the grand melee. Aside from Dantrag's less than challenging encounters in the elven grove, this was the first time either of them had been locked in mortal combat with an adversary similar to themselves. Dantrag fought with pride; Zaknafein fought with hatred. Zak's was the stronger and more justified emotion.
Dantrag saw immediately that Zak was possessed with something he had never fathomed. Each attack and parry was made with such authority that Dantrag wondered if their weapons would explode each time they hit. They were heavily enchanted, though, and even Khazid'hea would be hard pressed to knick one of Zak's swords. If not their weapons, then their arms, Dantrag thought as he barely parried Zak's latest jarring blow.
Dantrag wondered if he could take advantage of his opponent's over aggressive nature. He attacked with both of his weapons high, and then swept them back low in an almost ridiculous attempt to hit Zak's left thigh. With both of Dantrag's blades parallel, Zak could block the blow with only one sword, and could use the other to make an unblockable attack.
Zak took the bait. He positioned his left weapon to intercept the double strike and sent his right in search of Dantrag's face. Dantrag rotated his left wrist just before his blade hit Zak's blocking weapon and swung it in a rapid circle between the two fighters, colliding hard with Zak's attacking sword. The force of the parry, forced Zak's right arm over his left one, hopelessly pinning his other weapon to his side.
Now Dantrag had both of Zak's weapons occupied with one of his. He quickly freed his right weapon and sent it toward Zak's gut. A half second later he released his left weapon and struck at Zak's face.
With his arms now free, Zak had no chance to block the first attack, but Dantrag had at least expected him to try. The thing he did not realize was that Zak had seen the entire rouse from the beginning. He had willingly fallen into the trap, knowing he had to do it completely in order to catch Dantrag off guard. What Dantrag did not know was that the gash he now placed on Zak's side did not even rank in the top five of most severe already on his body.
Zak shrugged off the searing pain that should have doubled over almost anyone else, and brought both of his weapons up to stop Dantrag's second high attack. Dantrag was so shocked at Zak's willingness to except the vicious wound that he did not pull his attack in time. One of Zak's weapons blocked the blow while the other struck at Dantrag's unprotected wrist.
Dantrag was forced to drop Khazid'hea in order to keep his left hand attached. Still, Dantrag thought that he now had the advantage even though he held only one sword. Surely Zak would not be able to continue fighting with the gash in his side, and Dantrag's wound was only minor. If Dantrag did now have the advantage, someone forgot to tell Zaknafein.
The possessed Do'Urden came on with even more ferocity, fighting off the pain in his body with a primal scream. Dantrag was helpless beneath the onslaught and only because Zak was blinded by rage and pain was Dantrag able to block each attack, for they were not really aimed at anything. Still, Dantrag could not recover his footing, and he soon tripped over a tree root, while Zaknafein blasted his remaining weapon from his grasp.
Zak now had Dantrag in the same place that he had held the surface elf a few minutes before. Zak's blades did not hesitate this time, and as his weapons came down for the killing blow, he was happy to see that Dantrag was not calm about entering Lloth's presence at all.
An arrow thudded into Zak's right thigh, and he faltered. Zak turned to his right and instinctually swung both his weapons in front of him, impossibly blocking the second and third arrows that were aimed at his heart. The hidden archer cried out suddenly and toppled from the tree he was perched in.
Zak ignored this fortunate instance and turned back toward Dantrag without giving the elven archer a second thought. Dantrag was horrified by what he saw. What stood before him was not a drow; it was a demon. To block thrown knives was one thing, Dantrag had done that, but arrows moved too quickly to even see. Dantrag knew he was dead, and waited for the killing blow. It would never come.
With the blocked arrows, Zak had used up the last of his energy reserve, and his adrenaline had taken him as far as possible and beyond. His arms went slack and he lost the grip on his weapons as he crumpled to the ground. Dantrag scrambled to retrieve his most recently lost sword to finish Zak, but as he picked it up, a call from his left caught his attention.
"The archer!"
Dantrag picked up his weapon and dove to the ground as an arrow zipped over his head. He came out of his dive to see the elf that had been knocked out of the tree preparing another arrow. He was favoring one leg, but that hardly affected his aim. Dantrag threw a glance up at where he had been perched before and saw Jarl in the tree. Jarl cried out a second time, and the archer spun around and up to send his next shot into the tree.
Jarl dropped from his perch and the arrow thudded into a tree branch where he had just been. Dantrag charged as the skilled archer quickly prepared another arrow. The sight of a dark elf charging toward him at full speed, made the archer fumble slightly, but he still had an arrow knocked and ready before Dantrag reached him. The agile drow leaped high into the air suddenly, activating a levitation spell.
The surface elf elevated his aim just as quickly and fired at the same moment that Dantrag released his spell. The arrow flew just over Dantrag's descending head, and the drow landed right in front of the unarmed archer. Dantrag swept his blade across the elf's throat as he spun about. He reversed the grip on his weapon and thrust it backward under his left arm. The blade sunk deep into the dead elf's chest and Dantrag spun back around so he could see the expression on the archer's face.
"Never attack a drow from the shadows," he said to the elf, who was not only already dead, but unable to understand his language anyway.
Jarl walked around from the back of the tree now, and Dantrag quickly pulled his weapon back out of the elf's chest. He knew Jarl and Zak were friends of sorts and wondered if the Del'Axle would take up the fight for his fallen companion. Jarl did not even make like he had seen the two fighting.
"I was only able to get at him after he took down Zak," Jarl lamented as he jogged over to the fallen drow. "It looks like you guys had quite a fight here."
Dantrag wondered if he was referring to the fight he and Zak had just had, but then he looked at his surroundings for the first time since entering the small clearing. On the ground lay two huge bears and a dead wyvern. Dantrag did not have any names for the dead creatures, but he could clearly see that vicious wounds had been necessary to kill each one. Drow weapons had definitely made them.
"You must be just as hurt as Zak here," Jarl said as he knelt beside the badly injured drow. Jarl quickly swung his pack from his back and pulled out two flasks containing a light blue liquid.
Dantrag was a little confused as he walked toward the pair and let his vision slip back into the infrared spectrum. He gasped audibly as he looked down on Zak. The gash in his right side was clear enough, glowing a bright red, but it looked minor indeed compared to his other wounds. He still had the arrow stuck in his thigh, plus another gash in his other side that also looked like it had come from an arrow. His leg was torn badly by some type of claw. Plus his face and arms were so badly scraped and swollen, Dantrag did not know how Zak had even been able to move, much less fight.
Jarl was busy pouring one of the healing potions down Zak's throat as Dantrag stepped up behind him. After he was done, Jarl turned to Dantrag with the other potion in hand. He took one look at the drow and shook his head. "You look fine. What happened? Did you make him do all the work?"
Dantrag just stood there dumbfounded, unable to think of anything to say and still very much in awe of what Zak had been through. Jarl kept the second potion for Zak and turned back to administer it, barely holding in his smile. He, of course, had seen exactly what had taken place. He had led the bear that had gone after him on a wild chase throughout the woods before dispatching it. By the time he returned to help Zak, the drow was putting the final touches on the wyvern.
Jarl then watched on in interest as Zak had let the elf go and then in even more interest as he had fought and nearly killed Dantrag. The archer in the tree had escaped his attention until after he had shot Zak, and Jarl made sure there were no other elves about before he had announced his position to Dantrag.
Zak was slowly regaining consciousness as Jarl poured the second potion into his mouth, saving a little to sprinkle over some of his more serious wounds, including his thigh from which he had just pulled the arrow. Zak regained his strength quickly and was able to stand within only a few minutes.
His memory was a little foggy with regard to what had happened right before he had passed out. Dantrag was happy to see the Do'Urden regard him with his usual anger and not the primal hatred that had almost slain the Baenre. Before Zak could truly regain his bearings, Dantrag began to give orders.
"Come with me, you two. The raid should be over by now. We have been victorious this night."
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