Chapter 24

Can-Thur, ancestral home of the Clans of the Shoc-Du, Dragon Back Mountains, Andor.

While the women gathered around Anna to screen her so she could change in relative privacy, Reg took the opportunity to comment on something to Aaron.

"I must say you used great restraint back there," Reg remarked. "More than I would have, I think."

"What do you mean?" Aaron replied, looking at Reg intently. "Anna wanted it to be her show. A fatherly indulgence."

"No, not that really, but now I understand the whole thing a little more," Reg replied. "No, I was remarking on the fact that you did not kill every Dark Elf in there. If they had done to me what they did to you, I am not so sure I would have acted with as much restraint. I commend you for it."

"Reg, you misunderstand completely," Aaron replied with a chuckle. "I did not get my Shoc-Du reputation, or name for that matter, because of my actions when I was captured or eventually escaped. I received them after returning. I exacted my revenge not long after I recovered from my stay here. I hunted every war party, every hunting party, every slaving party, or even just two Dark Elves out for a stroll. I killed them all. I disrupted every supply train, everything and anything that went in or out of this mountain. Eventually they had enough and sent out an emissary to plead for a cessation of hostilities between us. It was after that that I was named and recognized in a ceremony. One held outside because I had no intention of ever setting foot here again. I hold no animosity against them now."

"But you did," Reg remarked. "Come back down here, I mean."

"Yes. Yes I did," he replied with a shrug. "Coming here is something one does for the people they love."

"Thank you for clearing that up. I thought that perhaps you had mellowed some."

"No, nothing like that, I can assure you. Come, Anna is almost ready and we need to get moving."

Anna had just finished dressing, while the rest of party was just getting into position when Dae-Re approached her. Rac-Nur paused and turned to see what was going on.

"An-Na, before we leave, will you show me?" Dae-Re asked, reaching for Anna's hands.

Anna looked to Rac-Nur, who nodded, and then she removed the leather cuffs revealing the wyvern and panther brandings on the inside of her wrists. Dae-Re nodded and turned to Rac-Nur.

"You are her Sen-Sai?" she turned and asked Rac-Nur.

"Could we hurry along now?" Aaron asked pointedly, interrupting their discussion. "There will be time for questions and answers later."

"Here," Dae-Re said, handing the cloth wrapped bundle to Anna. "These belong to you."

Anna accepted the bundle and unwrapped the cloth revealing her felldaggers, swapping them with the daggers in her back sheaths. She laid the plain daggers on the cloth on the ground and left them. She took her position beside Aaron.

"Thank you for that," Anna announced suddenly and kissed Aaron's cheek. "I know it was probably hard for you."

"You asked to be the lead, so what else could I do?" Aaron replied and shrugged. "It is what you wanted. What you needed to do."

"I realize that in the end it did not really matter," Anna replied. "Not to disparage you, but I realized that is not me. I cannot be a cold blooded killer."

"No insult taken," Aaron shrugged. "I know what I am, what I have become and I can live with it. I had always hoped to shield you from that. I must admit however that finding out that you had become a Thief and a Nin-Ja, and yes, I know what those marks mean, filled me with a certain fatherly pride. It also concerned me that perhaps I might have misjudged you. I am glad that I have not."

"These," Anna replied, showing her wrists. "Were all about having the necessary tools to protect myself. So was talking Master Drexil into training me. It really was all about understanding my clientele better and not having to depend on someone else for my protection."

"And perhaps a little gravitas?" Aaron added.

"Yes, I wanted and want to be taken seriously," Anna replied, lowering her head. "Everything I had was because of your name. I wanted to make a name for myself."

"That is nothing to be ashamed of," Aaron replied, lifting her chin up. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. We had better get moving before my own words are thrown back at me."

"What, that we need to hurry along?" Karith asked, joining the two and their conversation.

"Yes, those very same words," Aaron smiled.

The rest took their positions and Rac-Nur and Dunin opened the amphitheater's doors and checked that the immediate area was clear. The hurried back and gave a sign that all was clear. Graydon and the rest entered the passageway.

"All right, everyone," Aaron started. "Let us remember that we are unwelcome guests and the Dark Elves will be looking to evict us. Stay on your toes and report anything out of the ordinary. Lead on Graydon."

Graydon nodded and closed his eyes for a moment and reached out with his senses, hoping to glean a direction. When he opened them again he turned and pointed down the passageway away from the direction that they had initially come. Rac-Nur took up position on his right and Dunin on his left and they started down the passageway three abreast. Brother William fell into step directly behind Graydon and then Aaron and Anna side-by-side, followed by Karith with Dana on her left and Beriwen on her right. Reg, Tristan, and Dae-Re brought up the rear, with Reg in the middle and Tristan to the left and Dae-Re his right.

They had not travelled far down the passageway before they heard the sound of many feet behind them. Reg turned and brought TimeKeeper up to the ready as he continued backpedaling down the passageway.

"Aaron, we are going to have company," Reg announced, drawing power. "Continue on, I will catch up."

Reg moved to the center of the passageway, adjusted his stance, and waited. He did not have long to wait as a squad of eight Dark Elves coming trotting up the corridor. Reg fed power to Timekeeper as he started toward the squad, grasping the hilt with both hands and bringing the sword straight up and back by his shoulder. He waited until he was close enough, gauging his distance perfectly, and swung the Runesword with both hands at the first two assailants. The Runesword passed through both Dark Elves cutting them in half as Reg began to turn to his left, letting go of the sword with his left hand and pulling a parrying dagger from his belt.

Reg crashed into the next Dark Elf with his left shoulder, lifting up slightly and continued his turn, trailing the sword, now horizontal, behind him. The third Dark Elf lost his head, which sailed back the way Reg had come from. Reg did not give the Dark Elves a chance to recover from the ferocity of his attack, as he ducked under the swing of the fourth one, chopping his legs out from under him. An arrow whistled close to his right ear, followed by another and two more Dark Elves went down, each with an arrow sticking out of an eye. Reg quickly glanced over his shoulder and saw Tristan notching another arrow into his shortbow.

The last two Dark Elves, seeing six of their number cut down so fast, turned and retreated back up the passageway from whence they came. Reg watched them disappear around a corner and turned to Tristan.

"I thought I said to stay with the others?" he asked, stopping in front of Tristan and clapping him on the shoulder. "I am glad for your help, though."

"Why should you have all the fun?" Tristan replied, good-naturedly. "Come, the others are not too far ahead."

Tristan and Reg jogged down the passageway and found the rest standing at a crossroads of corridors.

Graydon was not entirely sure that his feelings were leading him in the right direction. Then again, there were no other options, so he just continued trusting his instincts. He stopped at a cross-corridor and looked down both directions and then crossed and looked further down the corridor they were currently in.

"Anything?" Dunin asked, using his true-sight to look for himself.

"No. Do you see anything special with your sight?" Graydon started asking when he felt a slight pull to the right. "Never mind, to the right."

"All right then, let us be going," Aaron interjected and turned to see Reg and Tristan approach. "Is everything all right back there?"

"Yes, for now," Reg replied, "but they will be back, and with reinforcements."

"We should be getting gone then," Aaron stated. "Graydon?"

"To the right," Graydon repeated and then turned and started that way.

The rest followed behind, bunching up more than Aaron liked so he commented on that fact and they evened out their spacing.

"Do you know where we are," Anna asked, "other than in the middle of a mountain?"

"Yes, mostly," Aaron replied. "The Dark Elves only occupy a small part of a much larger underground kingdom. Baldukr Keep is vast, although most of it is inaccessible because of cave-ins over the years. There are many hidden passages, as well. That reminds me..."

"Everyone! Be wary of ambushes from hidden passageways. Dunin, I expect you to be shifting back and forth with your special sight. It might also help us find the doorway to The Soulsmith's Hall."

They all nodded acknowledgement and Dunin raised his hand, signaling that he understood. The group slowed a little looking for clues to any hidden passages: a scraped floor, color differences in the walls, a hint of something out of place. The passageway they were in passed under an arched opening and into a vast cavern. The floor gave way to a vast arched stone bridge over a chasm so deep that all that could be seen was blackness below them. Graydon looked around and saw several arched stone bridges dissecting the cavern and varying heights, some above them and some below. The bridges started and stopped at tunneled openings in the sides of the cavern.

Reg turned back toward where they had come from and could hear the sound of many feet coming closer and closer. It sounded about two, maybe three times as many Dark Elves as before.

"We need to hurry!" Reg called out toward the front. "We have company coming and we do not want to be caught out on that walkway."

"Get a move on, people, but be careful!" Aaron called out by way of encouragement. "That looks like an awful long fall!"

The bridge was wide enough to accommodate two at a time. Graydon and Rac-Nur took the lead with Dunin and Brother William right behind. Aaron partnered with Dana, Karith with Beriwen, Tristan and Anastasia, and Reg brought up the rear. With no railings or curbs on the bridge, the group moved quickly but carefully. They were about halfway across when arrows began whistling around them.

"Archers!" Tristan cried out, ducking when an arrow got too close.

"We cannot go back!" Reg replied. "They have cut off any retreat."

Dark Elves, two by two, were closing fast from behind. Reg paused and sent blue Eldritch lightning bolts over his shoulder, while trying to avoid going over the side.

"Make for the tunnel at the other side," Aaron hollered. "It is our only choice."

The Dark Elf archers were concentrating on the leaders, figuring that slowing one of them down would slow the whole group. Brother William took an arrow right above the knee, in the fleshy part of the thigh, and stumbled forward and then sideways. Dunin tried to reach for him but he was too slow to stop Brother William from falling over the side to a certain death. Dunin righted himself and cursed before picking up the pace, but that little hesitation slowed everyone behind him. Karith, seeing Brother William fall from the bridge, dove over the side after him!

"Karith!" Aaron exclaimed, watching his mate disappear from view.

"I am fine beloved," Karith's voice echoed in his head. "I have him. Continue on!"

"Karith's fine! She has William!" Aaron called out and continued. "Dana, we need a ward to slow them down."

Dana nodded and slowed, allowing the rest to pass her by and began to weave her hands, drawing power. The ward appeared about five feet in front of her, a pulsing blue flat circular shield of Eldritch. She turned to run, and as she did, she could hear the steady beat of large wings.

"Show off!" she thought out to Karith and heard her mental chuckle in return.

Arrows continued to whistle all around them as Rac-Nur and Graydon reached the relative safety of the tunneled corridor on the far side. They continued along the passageway until they came to a fork, with passages going off in two different directions. Graydon took up position one way and Rac-Nur the other. The rest of the group reached the safety of the tunnel and waited for Karith.

Karith did not think or even consider other options when she saw William take an arrow to the thigh and fall off the bridge. Without regard to her own safety she dove over the side and transformed to her true form. She heard Aaron's cry of alarm and sent him a reassuring message as her wings unfolded and she swooped down and gently grasped the free-falling William in one of her talons. She tucked the leg up under her belly, gently cradling and protecting the wounded paladin, as she turned on a wingtip and bled off speed as she gained altitude. She sprayed the bridge with wyrmfire and turned toward the tunnel where her companions were. Slowly hovering over the bridge, she lowered William to the ground as Aaron and Dana rushed out and grabbed him and took him back into the tunnel. Karith shifted back and gently dropped onto the bridge and hurried toward safety.

"Please tell me next time before you run off and do something rash," Aaron admonished her and kissed her.

"As long as you follow the same practice," Karith replied, causing a chortle of mirth from Dana.

Beriwen had finished tending William's wound and bound the leg. She helped him up and he thanked Karith for the rescue. Tristan tried to tease him about the ride but a quick elbow to the ribs by Anastasia put a stop to that. Aaron checked and once they were ready to continue, had Graydon take the lead again with the rest in their same positions.

"Do you think we have lost the Dark Elves?" Anna asked.

"I am not sure," Aaron replied and shrugged. "If there is another way across that cavern then we will see them sooner than later. Dana, is your ward still standing?"

Dana nodded that it was and Aaron remarked that the ward would hold anything less than another Adept so that way was certainly blocked. He saw Graydon pause at another intersection and test both directions before deciding on the way to the left.

"Damn!" Aaron remarked and shook his head as an idea began to bloom.

"What?" Dana asked from behind them, echoed by Anastasia.

"Wait a moment, everyone," Aaron called out, causing the party to stop.

"DeathBringer, are there any Powers close by?"

"My Lord, it is the Paladin's quest, not yours."

"Nevertheless, I wish to know. I am in a hurry and wish to aid the Paladin."

"There is a Power not far from here."

"All right, are we headed in the right direction?"