Samheen 6, Out of one darkness… and into another...

[Sarendara]

Sarendara blushed, slowly realizing that what she had said could be offensive. So much for speaking my mind. She sighed and listened to the clearly peeved man with great anxiety. How dare he call her young! She was not young, she had gone through too much to be considered young.

The idea of punishment struck Sarendara even harder. Punishment for what? What had she done? She had gotten attacked by an orc. AN ORC! And he was trying to punish her. How dare he! Sarendara's eyes flashed and she glared at Kelrick, perplexed and annoyed by her own situation.

Sarendara could not think of any way to get out of the mess. Besides, what did he mean by someone outside the camp? Who was outside the camp? What weapon would she use? Why did she have to fight anyways?

Sarendara, desperate to get answers, and very annoyed by her friends lack of assistance, spoke coldly. "I meant you or your people no harm. If that is what you believe, then that is what you believe. I am allowed to believe otherwise. What would have happened if you had not been there?" Sarendara bit her tongue to stop herself from saying anything else.

Looking around, Sarendara collected herself and continued. "If a fight it must be, then a fight it will be. Who is outside the camp? I will use my quarterstaff." Sarendara sighed again, suddenly realizing how tired she was. Trying to conserve all the energy she had, Sarendara waited.

[Windrunner]

Windrunner could not believe what she had heard. Certainly, Sarendara's saying orcs were more harmful then a flame wasn't exactly a smart or polite thing to say in the situation, but forcing her into battle for it seemed to be going a bit far. She opened her mouth to say something, but then wondered if it would be that smart to disagree with Kelrick when he was in this sort of a mood. But still, Sarendara could be hurt here, even killed, and doubts were flaring in her mind over whether Kelrick could be trusted either. "I know what she said may have been wrong and foolish, but isn't making her battle like this going a bit far?" Windrunner asked, hoping she could convince Kelrick and not have something similar happen to her.

[Elvin Motricé]

Kerlicks eyes flashed amused: "Oh maybe I didn't express myself very well. Every one of you is going to take on a combatant. Not only as punishment for abusing my trust but more so because by walking outside this tent and being capture by an Orc that I had to kill you've proven yourself weak and these creatures do not have any respect for someone who is weak. If you do not prove them wrong they'll kill you."

A roar of rage sounded from outside the tent and Kelrick turned: "What? Oh not again." He threw his hands up in the air walking outside.

[Raevyn D`Altamooriana]

Raevyn wasn't facing him when he spoke, but she did manage to catch a glimpse of him as he stormed off out the door. His words still rang loudly in the dark elf's ears. She pouted mockingly and turned to face the others. Her demeanor changed almost instantly.

"Consider yourself lucky wood elf," Raevyn then said to Windrunner with half a smile that was part grin, part sneer. "Lucky that we do not have to fight one another." Again came the sinsiter smile from the dark elf. Her animosity towards the wood elf was growing by the moment.

From there Raevyn began to get ready. From her pouch she withdrew two vials and gave them very close examining. A few flickers later she said, "That is the one," and put the the other one back. Next she took out her two assassins daggers and carefully began to pour the contents of the one vial into the narrow channels hidden inside both of them. Raevyn glanced up at Windrunner momentarily then continued.

After she was done, put the vial back in her pouch and stood back up. She then carefully put the dagger back into their sheathes strapped to her boots. Next she checked her other two daggers that were sheathed at her waist. Her breathing was slow and meaningful. Raevyn rolled her head from one side to the other, then stretched. Punishment, the word echoed through her mind.

As Raevyn grabbed for her crossbow and bolts she paused and looked at Kael's sword that was laying right beside it. The dark elf wanted him here now. It was as if his annoying presence there would somehow make her feel better about the situation. She would leave the crossbow for now, figuring her chances would be better without it.

"If I were you," Raevyn said to Sarendara as she made her way towards the exit, " I would choose the gnome." Raevyn stopped short and looked into her eyes. Would it be the last time she got to look into her eyes the dark elf wondered?

Unless...

That was the problem with Raevyn, she thought too damn much. What was the commotion going on outside. And how could she use it to her advantage?

[Sarendara]

Sarendara could not suppress a slight grin when Kerlick explained that everyone was in the same shoes she was. It was a large relief to the high elf's stress. Sarendara nodded and turned to her companions, wondering how they would react.

Raevyn's words surprised Sarendara. How had the dark elf come to hate Windrunner so much? It seemed... cruel. Sarendara bit her lip and decided not to say anything until the day was over. Yet, something needed to be said.

Sarendara bent down and picked up her short sword and then her quarter staff, looking each of them over. How was she going to do this? She had never actually faught anyone before, unless running away from thieves counted.

Raveyn's words to Sarendara caught her unaware. Perhaps her friend was trying to make everything easy for her... but it was so demeaning. Sarendara could feel her body quiver and she sat back down. The gnome.. the gnome. No never. Sarendara sighed and shook her head. "I guess we are all in this together. No use fighting against each other. We need to survive."

[Windrunner]

"It seems a fight between us is inevitable." Windrunner replied, hoping Raevyn would be convinced otherwise before she found her chance but fearing that would not be the case. As for what weapon to choose, she was as uncertain as she was with the first battle. A bow had worked well last time, but if the orc got in close, it might all be over. But at the same time, could she win at all in hand-to-hand combat? She didn't think so, so picking up her bow and arrows, she got ready for her battle, hoping that when this all ended the three of them would still be alive.

[Elvin Motricé]

A thundering voice sounded from the outside: "Elves us! They good: cook, slave, mate! Want them!" An enormous Orc spoke, towering above Kelrick. The Human didn't seem the least impressed, nor did he speak. An enormous shadow darkened the camp and the Orcs began to scream. Still Kelrick didn't move. The Orc that faced him looked at the sky in awe trembling on his legs.

[Sarendara]

Sarendara remained inside of the tent, determined not to do anything rash. The human seemed to have everything under control. Besides, if she appeared outside the Orcs might become even more angered. Sarendara sighed and looked at her friends. "Please stay inside. I don't want anything to happen to us." She looked at Raevyn, wondering what the dark elf was thinking.

[Raevyn D`Altamooriana]

"I think this just might be the chance we needed," Raevyn answered Sarendara as she stepped away from the exit of the tent. Quickly the dark elf went over and grabbed Kael's sword and her crossbow. It took her a few flickers to load it, and she looked back at the high elf.

"Whatever is going on might distract them long enough for us to get away." She then looked at her crossbow and then back to her friend. "And maybe enough time to land one of these into the back of Kelrick's head," the dark elf answered as she held up her loaded crossbow.

[Sarendara]

Sarendara shook her head, determined to stay in the tent. "You don't understand. We can't leave. He is the only one protecting us from them. We don't even know how many of them are out there. Raevyn!" Sarendara's voice started to turn pleading.

Sarendara looked outside of the tent at the darkness and shuddered. "Besides, I don't want to know what that darkness is from. He is a mage Raevyn! A mage!" She bit her lip and looked around.

The high elf soon found herself picking up her sword and staff. Just in case. "Besides, you know what happened to our last plan!" Yet, Sarendara had to admit. Raevyn was probably correct. Yet, the dark elf did not understand that she could not do everything. Sarendara, in fact, could barely do anything.

[Raevyn D`Altamooriana]

Nothing like Sarendara's wisdom to deflate Raevyn's ballooning hopes of escape. Undaunted she then replied, "Maybe it is just some more of his magic. Just like the flames were. Besides Sare honey, we can run faster than them. We are smarther too. We are.... ELVES," Raevyn then said enthusiastically.

"If that does not work, we could always leave the orc lover behind for them," Raevyn said while nodding her head ever so gently in Windrunner's direction.

[Sarendara]

Sarendara sighed and rolled her eyes. "Raevyn, we can not leave anyone behind. Think of all the questions everyone would ask! Besides, we all deserve to live." She grinned hopefully, wondering if Raevyn honestly disliked Windrunner.

Sarendara looked outside and shook her head. "Even if that is his magic, he has a lot of it. Something tells me there is something inside that tent that holds a lot of power. If the man can do this, think of what that other thing can do. It instills fear in orcs!" Sarendara sighed, trying to be as logical as possible.

"Besides... we can't run fast with this armor. I can't just leave this hear. But..." Sarendara stopped, suddenly realizing that the human wanted them to fight with others. The prospect of running off suddenly seemed much more appealing.

[Raevyn D`Altamooriana]

"Well," the dark elf started. "You are right, we can not leave the orc lover here. I for one do not wish to see any half orc half elves running around. So the whore can come with us, but she better be able to keep up." Raevyn's bitterness towards the wood elf Windrunner was only dwarfed by her extreme desire of wanting to get out of this tent and back to the barracks.

Raevyn then took Sarendara by a shoulder and looked spoke softly. "Either way is risky, you should know that. Supposed for one moment that whatver that is out there kills Kelrick, or he falls unconscious. Who will protect us from those orcs then? No matter how wide Windrunner spreads her legs, it will not help."

[Sarendara]

Sarendara froze and glared at Raevyn, clearly perturbed by the dark elf's bluntness. "She would never do anything like that. Have a little more faith in her." Sarendara was tired of standing up for the wood elf. Why couldn't she just defend herself?

Sarendara nodded slowly at Raevyn's words and sighed. "I know you are right. He can only protect us for so long. But he does not appear to be loosing. I don't think he will die." Sarendara looked up at the sky and shuddered, "I hope he will not." Sarendara was becoming more and more inclined to Raevyn's offer.

[Raevyn D`Altamooriana]

It would be pointless to discuss the topic further with the high elf. Now was perhaps a better time to plan on finally escaping. Being a captive, a prisoner of war, so to speak, was something Raevyn wished to be no longer. Raevyn had been an unwilling leader before, and it looked circumstance would have her be one once again. Without her they would almost certainly die here. With her, their chances might be just a bit better.

"Enough of this," the dark elf said to Sarendara. "I like our chances better outside of this tent." From there Raevyn began to give the other two directions. The plan was beautiful in its simplicity. With the distraction outside the front of the tent, they could leave out the back of the tent while making it hard to follow them in the process.

"So wood elf you want to gain my trust? Do what I say and do not fail," Raevyn said in elven. ""Knock over what ever you can and place whatever can burn just inside the entrance of the tent." She then pointed to the things that she thought would burn the best. "Once you do that set it on fire and head this way."

"I will cut a whole to escape through over here with my daggers, it should not be to difficult. Sare I want you to have your weapons on the ready. You will take the point and be the first one out. Windy will follow you out, I will cover you both with my crossbow and be the last one out. We have to act fast, now hurry."

Raevyn tossed a few dry objects towards Windrunner and reached for two of her daggers once more. With them she would attempt to cut through the side of the tent that was opposite the entrance. A flicker of a candle later Raevyn was in place, her daggers pointed at the material of the tent. Her hair had fallen into her face and she whipped it to the side with a simple shake of her head.

"On my mark. One... two... NOW!!!!"

[Elvin Motricé]

Yes indeed Raevyn's plan was beautiful in all its simplicity. The two other Elves found enough material to burn and as soon as they ignited it, half the tent went with it. Kelrick turned around and shouted something, which they couldn't hear over the roaring flames.

Cutting the material of the tent was easy enough. It seemed that Raevyn's plan was going to work...

...but every good plan took into account every factor. If she had looked outside and up in the sky she would have discovered a new factor and it might have made her reconsider her plan. As soon as they crawled through the hole Raevyn's daggers had cut they saw something red flashing above them.

What they saw was something both awe-inspiring and fearful: a wingless red creature with long whiskers hovered above the Orc encampment. Surelye one of them had hear stories of the Red Dragons...

[Sarendara]

Sarendara was lulled into the plan slowly and went around, fetching wood. The idea was admittedly a good one, and Sarendara could not think of any faults... except getting caught. Dying was also a possibility. The high elf shuddered and pushed those ideas out of her mind. She was determined to get out, to gain back some dignity.

Sarendara was surprised by the honest effectiveness of Raevyn's plan. She had expected something, but everything seemed to be going well. Sarendara pulled out her short sword and pushed out of the hole.

The high elf, upon getting out of the tent, breathed a sign of relief that was quickly caught in her throat. She gasped and froze, preventing Raevyn and Windrunner from following her. Suddenly realizing that she was out in the open with a... red... DRAGON above her, Sarendara crouched and ran.

No thoughts ran through Sarendara's head about the dangers of a dragon. In fact, she was too numb to think. Raevyn had convinced her that she needed to get out. There was the only way to do that.

[Raevyn D`Altamooriana]

Upon exiting the first thing that caught the dark elf's eye was a huge red thing in the sky. She was momentarily mesmerized by it's immense size. What was this new creature she thought for the briefest flicker. Everything seemed to have frozen in time for that brief moment. There was no sound. There were no trees, no tents, no orcs screaming in the backround, there was no human mage. There was nothing except for her and this horrifyingly beautiful creature.

The silence was shattered. Whatever it was it probably had Kelrick's full attention. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sarendara running like she had never seen her run before. That meant trouble the young dark elf concluded. Trouble in the likes of which she had never seen before.

"Run Windrunner, quickly," she found her self saying, yet not knowing why she said it. Raevyn didn't hesitate much longer and was quickly off in the same direction as Sarendara.

[Windrunner]

Coming face to face with the red beast, Windrunner was scared. She had never seen anything of that sort of size in her life, and it's very size was intimidating. Coupled with the fact that it didn't seem very peaceful, and could easily tear her limb from limb, Windrunner ran, and even though she only had basic skill in the matter, hoped that the dragon's size would prevent it from matching her in speed.

[Elvin Motricé]

With supernatural agility the beast whirled itself through the trees, setting in pursuit. A fog rose up from its body and soon they could see nothing around them, nor the dragon itself. They couldn't see the others except for a distant voice shouting. It sounded like Saren to Rae, like Rae to Saren and to Windy... to her it sounded like her old Dark Elf friend.

[Windrunner]

"What the?" Windrunner began, noticing the voice. A beast so fearsome creating a fog didn't seem that weird, and though she should be looking for the others, she didn't even know where to begin. No, it was that voice, the voice of the dark elf she had befriended, the voice of the one who's death served as a catalyst for her changing from an ordinary wood elf living near Kislovan to someone who wandered for eight years trying to find somewhere decent. "Am I dead?" She wondered, knowing the dead certainly couldn't talk to the living. And Windrunner had seen her dead body, seen her slain by those Kislovan elves. And even if she had survived, what would she be doing here of all places, in this forest where orcs dwelt? But it didn't seem like death either, wasn't dying suppose to hurt. Confused, she traveled in the direction of the voice, and while her ears told her it was definitely her old friend, her brain couldn't believe it to be possible, so she had to have a closer look.

[Raevyn D`Altamooriana]

Raevyn ran, and she ran, ran until she was suddenly stopped by a tree that happened to jump in her way. Well it didn't jump but the thick fog that had enveloped her caused her to not see the tree that she slammed up against.

She fumbled around and made her way back to her feet. She wanted to call out to the others, but that could lead to her being discovered by the orcs or Kelrick had he given chase. Sarendatra's voice shouted out and Raevyn wanted to go to it. But the thick fog was playing as much havoc on her as the sound of the voices.

The dark elf slung her crossbow over her shoulder and reached for two of her daggers and held the close to her body. With her back against a nearby tree, the dark elf began to survey her surroundings.

[Sarendara]

Sarendara continued to run, ignoring the noises. She was not consciously running away from the sound, she was just trying to get out. Sarendara knew that Raevyn could deal on her own, and she figured the dark elf was somewhere behind her, but still close by.

Sarendara was desperately aware that she needed to save her own life as it was in peril. She ran blindly, trying not to bump into anything. Slowly she began to wear down. The need to get out became less clear as she heard Raevyn's voice. Sarendara began to unconsciously walk toward it.

[Raevyn D`Altamooriana]

With her vision reduced by the thick fog Raevyn did her best to remain calm about the situation. Her daggers her only real defense against the unknown. It also gave her a chance to catch her breath and think things over for a brief moment.

Surely this was a trick by the mage, or was it that big red thing in the sky. She looked around for any signs of Windrunner and Sarendara in the immediate vicinity. They have got to be close since they were right in front of her a few flickers ago.

After a few moments of observation with no sight of them, the dark elf moved as silently and cautiously as she could to another tree where she would again try to see the other elves. The voices she heard suggested that they were close, but she wasn't certain.

[Elvin Motricé]

Slowly the fog disappated and the creature that had chased them through the forest was nowhere to be seen. A Human man, dressed in the finest of silk and with sharp regal features now stood in the middle of the three who, in same strange way, had all ran to the same place...