A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 06: Rescue

"You can drop the 'Ms,'" Ashyr said as she began to lead them back through the castle. She actually sounded slightly annoyed about it. It reminded her of people and times she'd rather forget. "Duskhaven or Ashyr works fine."

"Ah, then I will do that. 'Duskhaven' it is, then." Caleldir agreed.

Though she had to skirt a few guards on the way, they made it there with little effort. Celeste fully healed Artur when the group appeared in the deserted washing room. Then drow, caravan guard, and elf got a relieved hug whether they liked it or not. Caleldir and Atur's hugs were decidedly platonic. Celeste held on to Ashyr, however, for perhaps a bit longer than strictly necessary.

Caleldir was nearly as glad to see Celeste as he had been Ashyr. He did not notice the looks and touches that occurred between the two women, mostly because his imagination did not really admit of such things. Usually, at least. "I am glad to see you, Celeste. You look as radiant as ever." He did note that the two women provided a nice contrast with each other: Ashyr's fierce dark beauty complemented Celeste's delicate fairness quite nicely.

"Everyone." The blonde said before they going moving again. "This is... er... Fucking." She gestured toward the small goblin who walked around the corner cautiously. "Yes, that is his name. No, he doesn't want another. He was a major help in this. Please be nice to him. He's coming with us."

"Yes, yes, that's fine." Ashyr said with plain impatience. "Wait, heh, Fucking?"

Caleldir was not quite as pleased to see the goblin. Even less so when he heard the name. 'Fucking,' was it? It was not hard to imagine how a goblin would acquire such a title. "So, you are called by an expletive?" He shook his head. "That is an unfortunate twist of fate." As a rule, Caleldir preferred not to use such coarse language. The monks had really, really hated it whenever such vulgarities had been used around the monastery, and his monastic aversion to profanity had stuck. "Forgive me, 'Fucking'" - the words tasted strange on his lips - "if I refrain from using your name more than strictly necessary." He did not hate goblins, but most of them were of low intelligence, high cunning, and higher malice, in his experience. Still, it was best to give him a chance.

"Ex... pa.. spla? A what?" The Goblin asked, confused.

"We'll explain it to you later, big guy." The drow's eyes shone now with very definite amusement. She seemed to enjoy both the goblin's name and Caleldir's reaction to it.

"Well, now that we have a full party of five, how are we getting out? Through the sewers or the laundry? Those would be my first two choices, at any rate. Plumbing is usually safe from investigation, for the obvious reasons." Caleldir mused.

"Sewers, I'm sorry to say." Ashyr said as she looked toward the chute that the washing water used to exit the castle. No more than one person at a time could get through the hole, and they would have to crawl.

"Fucking assures me that it widens out after a bit and connects with the sewers. And that we will not be going through the 'dangerous part' of the underground." Celeste continued, also looking amused. She at least had the decency to blush, though. "Lead they way, little guy. I'll be right behind you." The blonde said.

"I call next!" Ashyr said quickly, which made Celeste blush even harder..

Caleldir thought Celeste's blush rather odd. What was the reason for her embarrassment? Shrugging, he decided that it was not important. What was important was who was going next into the exit. For a moment, he felt a powerful urge to go himself, for reasons that had nothing to do with the view of Ashyr's femininely curved rear that he would have. He shook his head violently. No, there was no good reason for him to go next, and several good reasons to have Artur go. It was far more sensible for him to bring up the rearguard. Reluctantly, he motioned Artur to go on ahead. With some regret that had nothing to do with a missed ogling opportunity, he followed Artur into the passage.

The goblin was right about how the passageway widened. He seemed very insistent that everyone stay absolutely quiet as they traveled through the tunnels. It was dark and wet; Celeste almost slipped a couple times. The two women ended up holding hands with their fingers intertwined. Then Ashyr, with her inherent drow vision, could keep her from landing in the sewage. Fortunately, Caleldir could also see in the dark. So while Ashyr and Celeste held hands, Caleldir got to guide Artur along. Which was for the best, most likely. Fucking led them all the way toward an outlet, and motioned for everyone to be very, very careful.

Somewhere in the distance, alarms began to sound.

"Quickly, quickly. River below. You must jump." The goblin said. Then he jumped.

Eventually the passage came to an outlet that seemed to empty into a river. Caleldir smiled. He was really, really good at swimming. He got that from his mother's side. He did not advertise the fact: but he could outswim most fish. And breath like them for that matter. He looked over at Celeste, Ashyr and Artur, observing that Ashyr quickly kissed Celeste, claiming it was "For good Luck." Hmmm... come to think of it, Ashyr was oddly affectionate with Celeste. What if... no, that was just his imagination.

"I don't think I'll be needing a good luck kiss." Artur said with a wry smile. Then he jumped as well and likewise signaled.

"What about you? Want a kiss for good luck?" The drow asked as she turned to Cal. Her face was full of mischief. "I don't think Celeste would mind."

Ashyr's offer took him off guard. "Err... Umm..." He had to admit that the prospect of a kiss with the beautiful dark elf did not repulse him. In fact, he very much wanted one. But... He let out a long breath. Apparently there was something going on between the two women, otherwise Ashyr would not have mentioned Celeste's possible disapproval. Hmmm... Okay, the monks would really disprove, but he was no longer in the monastery, so it was none of his business. Reminded him of some of... Never mind. Putting those thoughts aside, he broke out into one of his radiant smiles. "Oh, I would love a kiss from such a lovely creature as yourself, Lady Duskhaven." He finally said. Lady was much more gallant than 'ms.' "But to ask for one for good luck would be false pretenses. I do not need any luck to swim." He dropped his voice so that only she could hear him. "My mother was a nymph, more or less. If you know about semi-aquatic fey, you know what that means."

Ashyr let out a dramatic sigh when he turned down her offer. "Shame." She said just before he jumped. The drow looked more amused than disappointed - but there was a hint of disappointment.

The city alarms were getting louder now as the whole place became privy to what was happening. It was unfortunate, but not all that surprising. Someone was bound to find out sometime. Caleldir saw that Ashyr made it out of the water, then looked up toward the city walls behind her. The cliff face they were built on made this part of the city taller than most. There were figures upon those walls, yelling only barely heard orders and information about what was going on. It was far enough away that only those with acute hearing could detect their words. To the others, it was simply muffled voices. One such figure turned and seemed to spot them in the dark. It pointed down and yelled out their position.

Ashyr saw them too. "Run, go. Go! We're not safe yet." She said in a strangled whisper as she grabbed Celeste's hand and began hauling her forward towards the treeline about a hundred feet away. The goblin was already scurrying forward and Artur was not far behind. They were almost to safety when it happened. There was a flash of light bright enough to blind everyone for a few seconds. A thundering noise came almost on top of the terrible light. It propelled everyone nearby forward and the rest of the way into the line of brush and trees and safely out of sight of the wizard on the city walls.

The blast from the lightning knocked Caleldir off his feet. The bright flash did not affect him quite as much as he knew it would the light-averse drow, but it did make him woozy and muddle his thoughts. His hearing was more affected, really, and it was a few seconds before he could make out anything but ringing. When he came to, he looked towards the group to make sure everyone was okay.

"Is everyone - Gods no..." He heard Artur say.

They were not all okay. There was a lump on the grass just beyond the barrier lying face down with blonde hair spilling out over sightless eyes. The grass was singed around her from the wizard's bolt of lightning. There was a sizable hole in the obviously dead woman where her heart would have been. Caleldir heard Ashyr scream Celeste's name. His heart sunk. No! This was not supposed to happen! He was supposed to be the one rescuing maidens, not having maidens die rescuing him! This was all wrong, everything was wrong! The bolt should have hit him! He could take the burst. Sure, it would kill him as surely as it did her, but most forms of death were temporary inconveniences to him. Celeste was not so blessed. Stunned, he was not much help for some seconds, watching mutely as Ashyr desperately leapt towards her erstwhile lover.

Artur reached out in the darkness and snatched at the drow's ankle to try to pull her back. He was nowhere near strong enough, of course. "Girl, no! They'll kill you too - Cal, boy, help me get her out of here." The caravan leader said with grief-stricken voice when it was clear the drow was beyond understanding.

Fucking, for what it was worth, also looked extremely distressed. He, however, tried to grab Ashyr's wrist and also pull her back.

Caleldir did not react until Artur asked for help. At once his path was clear. Celeste may be dead, but he knew that in this world that death was not the end. There were... other options. Options dark and terrible, but he was living(?) proof that death could be beaten, or at least cheated. Celeste deserved whatever chance she could get.

"Ashyr." He said solemnly. "I will retrieve Celeste. She deserves at very least a proper resting place. They cannot permanently kill me with mere lightning. Go on ahead; your death serves no one." So saying, he leapt out of the brush and sprinted towards Celeste. Her wound looked bad. Fatal. She had clearly died instantly.

The next bolt came soon after Caleldir began his sprint. But the instant Caleldir died, he did not fall prone, but instead transformed into a ghost. A ghost just solid enough to pick up Celeste and run back to the group, his feet not touching the ground. When he returned, he was a terrifying sight. Ethereal, insubstantial, and fierce: near-transparent with eyes glowing pools of deathly blue, skin and hair bleached to perfect snowy corpse white. His features and form had an unnatural beauty that went past what anyone could consider appealing and right into terrifying and alien.

-Take her.- He told the group, his voice echoing mentally rather than vocally. -We can give her a decent burial... or try other options. Terrible options. Now hurry away: while I still have control!- With this, he dropped Celeste and hurried away, the trees and grass beginning to wither and die around him.