Eliel walked with Fefnir, walking up the glistening grassy field leading to the ancient city. He looked around, observing the broken buildings, the rubble, all of it glowing silvery in the haunting moonlight. The drow was at home here, able to see everything, courtesy of a race-inherent infravision. The ghost holding the red, rusty lantern walked by them, providing light. Eliel had a hand on his scimitar, the blade holding a new place in his heart. It was a blade blessed by the goddess of blades, Veronna.

“We'll go to the cathedral to practice. Nobody ever shows up here, so don't worry. If someone does, i'll be with you. It's all good.” He chuckled, wishing he'd brought along Gwen, but Silendra wasn't home and the tower couldn't be held by Roy alone.

Eliel opened the giant wooden doors with a groan of ancient wood, almost warped beyond movement. The cathedral air hit them, carrying the smell of rotten wood and mildew. A steady drip could be heard as the roof drained the rain from the night previous.

“Here we are.” He said, picking a large circular spot that was clear of debris.

Fefnir walked a bit to the side of Eliel, both of his longswords in hand. He still hadn't gotten the hang of the damned things. Though using them both at once had seemed easy enough to begin with, the boy soon found that whenever he tried, the blasted things got in each others way. They would clank against each other, sending out a ring into the air, sometimes causing one, or both, of them to fly off.
He would use only one in their spar, seeing as he couldn't dual-wield the things to save his life at present.
He looked around, the cracked, ancient rubble decaying around them. There was wood, old as the forests and rotting, covered in ages old stone, withered smooth. He swung the two swords slowly through the air, attempting to get the hang of having two blades cutting through air before him
We'll go to the cathedral to practice. Nobody ever shows up here, so don't worry. If someone does, I'll be with you. It's all good.
Fefnir smiled, turning to Eliel. "Eliel! I thought you knew me better! I fear no man!" and it was with that bold statement that Fefnir dropped the blade in his left hand. It clanked on the ground, the sound echoing around them. The unexpectedness of the volume caused him to drop the other sword, which landed with a clank in turn.
Laughing, he bent down to pick up his blades. "Whoops." he mumbled, sheathing one of them. He would try again later.
When Eliel opened the old, rotting door, Fefnir saw nothing. It took a moment for the ghostly light to reach the area inside, and when it did it was illuminated. For the most part. The circular platform that had been cleared clashed with the rest of the cathedral, every inch of its interior littered with ancient debris. It w

The ruins weren’t exactly her favorite place after all that had happened there. Still, her return seemed necessary; she had found her signature red coat missing a button or two. It was highly unlikely that she would find them here, but her days were tedious enough that she had figured she had the time. Tapping her left index finger to her chin, Cordelia proceeded to search the area slowly, eyes narrowed on the search for the buttons. They could have been easily replaced in any store, but these were the original buttons. New buttons would seem so tacky and there was no way she would get an exact match.

Upon hearing voices her head shot up, only to see the two figures head into the cathedral. She had grievances with that place as well. Scoffing slightly, she returned to searching for the buttons until she realized that one of the voices had belonged to Eliel. There was no mistaking the sound, or his figure, despite her distance. Having known each other for over a year they were close friends, he being one of the few of hers and her being the first he had made after leaving the Underdark. It couldn’t hurt to go say hello, just for a moment.

As she neared the cathedral, a smirk spread across her face as she got an idea. The other person that had been walking with him seemed to be young, perhaps easily impressionable. Cruel as it was, Cordelia felt like having a little bit of fun. Hopefully Eliel would go along with it; it would be such a shame for her evening to be ruined just because the drow was unable to take a hint. She laughed quietly to herself before quickening her gait, setting a scowl across her face and an enraged look in her eyes. It wasn’t often that she got to perform like this, so she was going to try and do it the best she could.

“Eliel, how lovely, we meet again,” she said once she had caught up to the two of them, her voice smooth but coated with a feigned venom. She glanced at Fefnir, snorting in derision before returning her gaze to the drow. She allowed a quick, lopsided, and barely noticeable smile to cross her lips before winking. If he was as quick as she believed him to be, he would catch on. “Been a while, hasn’t it? I’d ask who the boy was if he meant anything in our vendetta, but he doesn’t, so I’ll ignore him until you’re dead.” Her hand slid down to the poison blade at her side. “Shall we finish this now, while the boy still lives? Or later once he’s gone, so he won’t have to bear witness to your mutilation?” The vampire woman cocked her head to the side, a malicious smirk now spread across her face.

Eliel smiled at fefnir's comment, knowing that it wasn't true. The boy wasn't even an adult yet, and he held precious little skill with the blade. Eliel thought it was funny the boy would try to use two blades, but he knew that fefnir held a better chance at the moment than he did. If he tried to learn it, his blades would likely get in the way of each other. Sure, the technique could prove useful, as one could not easily keep track of two blades at once, and the attacker held an advantage in both offense and defense. But Eliel had his gauntlet, which was as good as any sword for those reasons.

Eliel chuckled at the boy when he dropped both blades, sheathing one and mumbling. “Smooth one, Fefnir.” He said with a smile. He turned to get a better look at the cathedral. There was a pile of broken pews, about his height. They were all rotten and dead wood, ready to break at the lightest touch.

Eliel heard a sound coming from nearby, footsteps. He half-turned and saw it was a woman, unable to see more until she walked into the light. Cordelia stood, there, an enraged look in here eyes. He was slightly confused until she winked. He smiled, looking at Fefnir before putting on a similar face.

“Cordelia. How... unfortunate that we have to do this in front of the boy. I'd rather he sees you fall to my blade, a lesson to him.” Eliel drew his scimitar, curved blade gleaming with a black light. He pointed it at her and let it slowly fall to touch the ground, veronna's mark shining visibly.

“So let's do it now.”

Fefnir looked from one to the other, eyes wide. Another testimate to his prior thought. Eliel's life was the stuff of legends. Though he had no idea what was going on, one thing was clear at least. The woman wanted to kill Eliel. They both seemed a bit... full of themselves, but Fefnir knew by now that that's just how Eliel rolled.
"What was that part about, while the boy still lives, lady?" he asked, glaring at her. He might not be great, but he was far from defenseless. No way would he go down without a fight.
"What's your problem with Eliel anyway?" he asked, walking up beside his drow friend. "Are you an assassin or something?" he asked, remembering the story that Eliel had told him. Exiled from his home, assassins sent after him...
The air was musky, full of the stench of rotting wood. A faint dripping sound could be heard, echoing from some discrete, dark corner of the cathedral. It sounded rhythmically, like a natural clock to keep the time.
Fefnir slashed his sword through the air, grinning. "I suggest you leave, before things get ugly." he said, his blade shining with light. Truthfully, he was getting caught up in the moment. A little voice in the back of his head told him to shut up and hide, but he didn't listen. His chest puffed out, he maintained the Light spell he had just cast on his blade, it shone brightly, as if blessed by a god, though, to the trained eye, obviously not.

Cordelia was so relieved when he caught on. If he hadn’t, this whole thing would have blown up in her face and she would have looked like an idiot. Even if she looked like an idiot most of the time, she didn’t really want to look like one on such a large scale as this. Her jaw clenched, trembling slightly from the tightness, as he spoke. However, when he mentioned falling to his blade, a loud, almost nasal laugh came sounding out. This wasn’t too hard, actually. All she had to do was pretend Eliel was someone she hated more than anyone, like Fehade. “You think I’m going to fall to scum like you?” She hissed. “If anything, the boy will learn that it isn’t wise to step out of their place and to obey those who are better than him!”

As he drew his scimitar, Cordelia gripped the hilt of her own blade, pulling it out of its sheath, accompanied by a long scratching sound. The jagged edges shined and were apparently hungry for whatever blood they could get. A grin crossed her face, her fangs showing clearly. “Your arrogance will be your downfall, Eliel. It’s too bad you won’t live after this to put the lesson to use!” It was then that she caught the mark of Veronna on his scimitar, causing her wide grin to pull into a tight frown. “A servant now to a god…? How pathetic, especially when she won’t be able to help you.”

"What was that part about, while the boy still lives, lady?"

When the boy spoke, her eyes flicked over to him. The act was working, it seemed; that was good. “It means precisely what it sounds like, boy,” she said. “One step out of line and you’re dead, just like your dear friend here. I’m usually above killing children, so please don’t make it come to that.” Her eyes held a warning look. She hadn’t thought about the possibility that the boy would want in, especially if the trick worked. She didn’t want him to get hurt in this, even if this wasn’t a real fight.

“You talk a lot,” she growled when he continued to ask questions. “And no, I’m not an assassin. I’m a vampire, get your facts straight. I don’t need to explain the story to you, kid. You have no value in this fight and therefore you have no right to know anything about this. Eliel and I have been at this for a year now, that’s all you need to know.” She began to walk toward the drow, her methodical steps malicious in every sense of the word. “And please, don’t give me petty little threats about this getting ugly. Don’t get involved. Just stay to the sidelines and learn your lesson.”

With that said, Cordelia full on ran at Eliel, lifting her sword and swinging it for his sword arm, the poison inactive. Eliel was her closest friend; she wasn’t about to poison him when she didn’t have the antidote.

Eliel clenched his jaw, teeth grinding together as she spoke. He chuckled at her comment on veronna. “Hardly a servant to a god. Think student to a very good teacher.” He laughed coldly, mock fury in his eyes. Acting wasn't his thing, but it was made easier as he looked at her, thinking of his mother's face instead of the vampire's. Eliel gave a genuine snarl.

“She's an evil witch, that's what she is.” He said to the boy, voice dripping more poison then her blade ever could. “I beat you once and I can do it again!” He said, watching her footing as she walked. He was enjoying himself, even if it wasn't quite visible at the moment.

Eliel met her attack, slapping her blade away with the heavy steel of his blade. It curved upwards, coming down at her shoulder. Eliel could do so much more, he was an excellent swordsman, a master of the blade, but he went very easy on the woman, making several flashy moves designed to look like he was attacking.

Eliel pretended her blow was stronger than it was, reeling a bit. His scimitar made to slash at her, fast, but not too fast for her to dodge.

“And to think I left you alive last time. Such a naïve decision, no? I should have skewered you where you were.” He was referring to the death bolt.

Fefnir watched, captivated as the two of them fought. It was strange, their blows seemed... tame somehow... It was like they were dancing more than fighting, as if it were an elaborate ballet.
Perhaps it was just him... But the battles he'd seen at the Academy of Arms had been faster, more exciting than this... but this was real life, you can't expect reality to live up to when you play pretend.
"Hold on Eliel!" he called out, jumping forward. Eliel was his friend, not matter how recently they had met. The drow wasn't in this alone.
Holding a hand in front of him, he chanted a spell, sending a magic missile flying towards Cordelia.
But the boy wasted no time, running towards the woman, sword held ready. He didn't know that they were playing, to him this was reality, he wasn't holding back.
His footsteps echoed off the walls of the cathedral, out of rythm with the constant dripping of the dark corner. His second sword beat his side as he ran, as if keeping time for this strange dance. Except, Fefnir wasn't in this number. He was dancing to a tune of his own, a tune that said attack.
Through the clinking of the sword against his thigh, and the dripping in the darkness, a squeaking could be heard, that of a mouse. It was soon joined by another, squeaking just as loudly, as if in response.
Once he reached her, he swung the sword at her, holding nothing back.

“Hardly a servant to a god. Think student to a very good teacher.”

“No excuses. It’s all the same, really,” she hissed. Cordelia was opposed to the idea of serving anyone, but she was going a little bit overboard simply to make it look like she hated him more than she really did. She did think a little bit less of him for doing such a thing, but it wasn’t her place to control his life, unfortunately. If he wanted to be an idiot and pledge his allegiance to a god who may or may not abandon him, then he could go right on ahead and do so.

“I beat you once and I can do it again!”

He was still going on about that? They both knew that it was her that had almost defeated him, not the other way around. Had she not made such a careless mistake she would have been able to kill him where he had been standing, and she was sure that he knew that. Cordelia wasn’t the most patient vampire woman around. “I’m sure you’ll be saying that when you’re chopped into little pieces,” she said angrily. It was a tad cliché, but it worked for the purposes of this fight.

She allowed the blade of his scimitar to graze over his shoulder, forcing out a hiss to make it appear that the wound hurt more than it actually did. Cordelia knew he was going easy on her, and for that she was grateful. Had he not done so, then she would have been beaten already. She knew how good he was at fighting; clearly acting was something he was good at as well.

Her eyes slid to the boy when he launched the magic missile at her. It was too bad he wasn’t afraid enough to back off. Everything would have been far simpler if he had just backed down and hid somewhere safe where he wouldn’t get hurt. Whatever happened to young children being selfish, wanting to preserve themselves first before anyone else? Admirable as it was, it was foolish and completely unnecessary. Deciding to get magic involved in this fight, Cordelia threw up a magic shield to protect her front, where both Fefnir’s and Eliel’s attacks were aimed. Once the missile had dissolved into the shield and Eliel’s attack had failed, she took the shield down and swung again for Eliel, using all of her strength but not all of her speed. She wasn’t as good as him, so doing that was required. When he mentioned skewering her, a small smirk tugged at her mouth, knowing completely what he was talking about. “Oh, me, skewered? We’ll see, we’ll see…” He didn’t know that she had more spells than she used to. She now had every intention of getting revenge for their last little meeting.

And the boy was at it again! She wasn’t great at two handed fighting, but she couldn’t fight Eliel with one weapon and block the boy’s with the same one. Her right hand slid to her dagger and pulled it out, thrusting her arm out to meet his blade. Her right arm wasn’t as strong as her left, considering she wasn’t right handed, but she was at least stronger than him and that was all she had to know. “I told you not to get involved!” she shouted. She cast the ‘cause fear’ spell with the kid as her target, hoping that the added fear would make him more wary and would cause him to back off, though it wasn’t really a guarantee. “Eliel, tell your little delusional friend here to get the hell away! You wanted this to be a lesson to him, so unless you want him dead because of you, you’ll do it!”

Eliel laughed cruelly when she spoke of beating him. “Oh, likely.” He sneered, laughing triumphantly as his blade cut her. There would be time to heal afterwards, he would use his bishop to do so. Eliel cursed mentally as Fefnir cast his magic missile. He was feeling a mixture of emotions for the boy, pride, humor for his charging into a fight between a vampiress and a drow swordsman.

Despite her words, both of them knew who would win in a sword fight, no amount of boasting could change that. Even with strength, his blade was both heavier and unbreakable except for other weapons blessed by a god.

Genuine worry entered his eyes as she replied. There was a tone there he did not like. Could she actually still carry a grudge from the bolt? It had been a way to end the fight, that was all. He was unsure how many spells she knew, but her casting the fear spell meant that she had once again thrown away the blades only part of his duels.

“What, can't deal with a boy without spells, eh? How very sad.” He said with a laugh, a chilling sound. He let his scimitar come in in an arc, at her leg. The action required he shift positions, and his foot caught on a piece of wood, making him stumble back, a second wide opening.

"I told you not to get involved!"
Fefnir slashed at her again.
"Who said I was going to listen to you?" he yelled, mid-swing. "I'm going to be great, I won't stand down to scum like you!" he yelled, standing his ground.
But then something happened.
Perhaps it was the lighting of the crumbling cathedral, the squeaking of the rats, the dripping in the darkness, or something unexpected, but he was terrified. The way her hair flowed as she moved, the way her blade shone, how she used magic, everything was terrifying.
The boy's eyes went wide, his mouth left agape. He took a step back, his sword still in his hand.
Don't let it scare you!
The voice echoed in his head, a memory... It was the voice of his eldest brother.
Don't run from your fears!
The voice continued, adding to the din inside the boy's mind.
Attack them!
Screaming, Fefnir ran forward, his sword swinging madly. Left, right, left, right, up, left, the blade flew through the air, Fefnir barely even looking at Cordelia. Don't run from your fears, attack them. Destroy them, then they can't scare you any more.
After a flurry of steel, the boy closed his eyes as tightly as he could and stuck both hands in front of him and, practically yelling the incantation, he sent another magic missile at the woman. His yell echoed through the crumbling cathedral, awaking many things long forgotten, things that had slept for a long time.
There was a rustling in the darkness, quiet and imperceptible.
He stood there, panting, both hands still in front of him, one of them holding his sword. Slowly, he opened his eyes, barely daring to lay eyes on the horror that was the woman. Why was she so terrifying all of a sudden?

“What, can't deal with a boy without spells, eh? How very sad.”

“He used magic first,” Cordelia said in her defense. She knew that using magic was against the rules of a duel, but she had no problems breaking rules. Besides, as she had already said, Fefnir broke the rules first; once one person broke them, there was no point in continuing to follow them. His scimitar came down toward her leg, which she spun around and out of the way to avoid. The boy began to speak then, and his words cut through her, causing her to become angry. She moved her dagger again to block his blade, knowing now that she was going to have to deal with him more than Eliel. Eliel at least realized this wasn’t real.

While the affects of cause fear were working their magic, she dropped her poison blade purposely, black energy beginning to crackle between the fingers of her left hand. It began to enlarge the longer it stayed in her palm, becoming more and more eager to cause pain as the moments passed. Once the enervation bolt was at the right size, she threw it at Eliel. It was the only attack that she was hoping would hurt him terribly. If it did, then there would be no more reason to hold a grudge and every grievance she had with him would no longer matter.

Crap. The boy was coming back for more. Quickly Cordelia bent down and grabbed up her blade, tempted to go into gaseous form. The kid really was enraged and really going overboard; there was absolutely no need for what he was doing. “Would you calm yourself down?!” she shouted. Casting enervation and then having to deal with this kid on such a level wasn’t really what she had had in mind when she had come up with the idea for this sort of fight. “Letting your anger control your actions won’t help you at all!” Cordelia was really no one to talk about that, since her own fights were usually powered by hate and rage. Still, though, if the kid wanted to be better than her he needed to learn how to keep his emotions in check.

The vampire lady found herself unprepared when he cast another magic missile. Yelping, she was hit by it full on, dropping both of her weapons as she was knocked backwards into a pile of rotting wood. Her arms flew up over her head to protect herself as some of the wood above her began to fall, cursing loudly. She pushed the wood off of her and sat up, her chest heaving. Cordelia stared at Fefnir, glaring so icily she might as well have been throwing daggers at him with her mind. She was a bit more than pissed off at the moment, but she wasn’t about to start moving. She hadn’t even gotten to see what happened to Eliel, unfortunately, but she wasn’t about to start looking around either.

“You are so lucky I’m nice,” Cordelia grunted, her eyes lifting to meet Fefnir’s. The fight was done, in her opinion. She wasn’t going to keep fighting after that.

Eliel chuckled at her, knowing full well what was running through her mind. Last time it had been her, and Eliel had followed that exact philosophy, ending the fight with an enervation bolt. He chuckled, blocking an attack. Worriedly, he watched fefnir, trying to make sure he wasn't hurt.

All joy he was taking from the fight ended as she dropped her blade and started casting. Eliel finished his swing and looked her in the eyes. “Cordelia...” He said with a worried tone before she threw the spell, hitting him full in the chest.

Eliel was thrown backwards, into a pile of rotting, broken wood. He felt sharp pains through his back and lay there, not feeling up to it to get up. Luckily for him, His piwifwi took the brunt of the blow, leaving him to deal with a much smaller portion of the spell. Smaller or not, it hurt like hell. He lay there, feeling weak and pretended to have died, buried under rotten pews.

Eliel watched the two from a crack, observing the fight motionless. He smiled when she was thrown into a similar pile, then started to worry for fefnir's health. Luckily, she said the fight was over.

In all appearance, Eliel was dead, hit by a death bolt of epic proportions and buried under about a hundred pounds of wood.

You are so lucky I’m nice.
The voice came from the vampires lips, slithering into Fefnir's ears. He stumbled backwards, caught off guard by the woman's terrifying appearance. The spell was fading, but she was still terrifying.
Fefnir watched in horror as the woman's spell flew through the air, hitting Eliel squarely in the chest. The man flew back, landing in a pile of rotten pews, motionless.
Dead.
She'd killed Eliel.
Rage flooded the boy's face, his head snapping back at the woman.
"You killed him...." he said quietly. The boy's sword was in front of him, laying on a piece of wood.
"You killed him...." he repeated, reaching for the blade as he pushed himself off the ground.
"You killed him...." the phrase grew stronger, the blade now in his hand. Fefnir stumbled over pieces of wood, heading towards the woman.
"You killed him." his voice firm now, echoing off the crumbling walls of the cathedral. His green eyes burned with anger.
"You killed him." He was now walking, slowly, towards Cordelia. The rage he felt was all-consuming. This man was the first person he'd met in this land, the first person that'd showed him any hospitality. This man... was dead.
"You killed him!" the yell rang from every rafter in that crumbling tomb of a cathedral, the echos echoing themselves, a persistent ringing hanging in the air. The boy's breaths were slow and deliberate, he at her.
He continued walking, his pace steady, unwavering. The sword glistened in the dim light that permeated the filth-covered windows. Fefnir readjusted his hand on the blade, repeatedly, as if the thing would never sit comfortably in his hand.
"You killed him." this time it was quiet once more, the slightest whisper. As he walked, the boy swung the sword through the air, not taking his eyes away from the woman.
She would pay.
"I'll kill you."

The boy’s voice was growing very annoying. It wouldn’t have been so bad, had he not found the need to repeat the same statement over and over again. The first few times it meant absolutely nothing to her, her head still reeling from being thrown back into a pile of wood. However, when he began to walk toward her, Cordelia finally got her bearings. ‘You killed him’… her eyes widened and shot around the cathedral. “What?” she asked, her throat so suddenly thick that it caused her voice to crack. Finally she caught sight of the other pile of rotten wood, and her eyes widened even more if it was at all possible.

“Oh, by the gods…” she said, her voice shaking. It wasn’t the fact that he might have been dead that bothered her; killing was something she did everyday. It was a necessary to keep her alive. It was the fact that she might have killed Eliel, just because she had to get revenge for hitting her with an enervation bolt. He was a living being, and tough and strong as he was, it made him weaker to such spells. She stared at the weapon in his hand, pursing her lips. She had dropped both of her blades before she had been blasted and they were out of reach. “Calm down, boy… the fight is over, there’s no need for this now…” she said gently. Cordelia moved away the rest of the wood and crawled away from it, putting her palms flat against the floor before slowly pushing herself up. A wave of dizziness crashed over her as she stood up, a pit of nausea and worry engulfing her stomach.

"I'll kill you."

Eliel might have been dead and the only thing he could worry about was killing her? “Oh, shut up!” she snarled. “Vengeance is great, but open your eyes! It was an act, he’s my friend! It was an accident! Oh, Eliel, no…” Calm as she was on the outside, she was filled with guilt inwardly. She still felt numb, really, as she began to take slow steps away from where she had landed. That slow walk soon turned into an absolute run, however, to reach her drow friend.

She got down on her knees frantically began to pull away at the wood, throwing it behind her without any care for where it landed. The constant cracking sounds barely reached her ears. “Dammit…” she forced, her arms and hands starting to shake as the idea finally began to settle in. She had been his first friend after he had left his life as a drow, and after he had protected her and been there for her she might have accidentally killed him just because of some petty little grudge. “Dammit, Eliel, you’d better be alive! Or I’m gonna have to kill you again!” she shrieked, glancing at Fefnir. “Don’t just stand there, get over here and help me!”

Eliel listened to their reactions, a tear in his eye. They'd fallen for it, but their reaction wasn't quite what he was expecting. He heard Fefnir, on the brink of throwing himself into a fully berserk state, repeating the words as if he was hoping they would make everything untrue. Eliel smiled beneath the wood.

He was truly moved at Cordie's reaction. Strange as it seemed, as alien as it was, Cordelia, the vampire, the unfeeling, tough woman, was truly worried, concerned that she may have killed him! She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

Eliel smiled beneath the pile as she shrugged off the boy's remarks and ran to dig him out. Eliel let his face relax, eyes close. He held his breath as the wood came off, uncovering his face. He made his best on looking dead, appearing at peace.

He let a couple moments pass by before cracking an eye open, a wide grin on his face.

“Can you help me up? I think I hurt myself.” He said, opening both eyes and chuckling a little, smiling at Cordelia.

“Are we even?”

"An act?!" Fefnir yelled, outrage in his face. "An act?! You expect me to believe that all of this was an act?" He was infuriated, insulted that she would think he was that stupid. An act? Why would they put on an act? It was insanity, it was ludicrous, it was...

He couldn't see Eliel behind him, nor could hear the movement of the wood through the scream of the blood rushing through his veins. A fireball began to form in the boy's hand. He looked at it, and then lifted his gaze towards Cordelia. The flames in his hand reflected in his eyes, the burning heat visible in his pupils, framed by dark green eyes. He took another step forward, poising himself to throw the flame at the woman, knowing she was still lodged under the wood.

"Can you help me up?

Fefnir's throat closed up, words unable to form. The ball of flames that had formed in his hand dissipated, the heat releasing itself into the air around. He turned around to find Eliel, smiling smugly at Cordelia.

The boy's sword dropped to the ground. He walked over to the man, bending over to see his face closer. He sat there, staring at the smug expression on the man's face.

Then, Fefnir slapped him open-palmed across the face.

"You are an idiot." he said with a smile, his eyes getting glassy. He would have cried, but him and Eliel weren't good enough friends yet, not yet.

Falling onto his bottom, he sat in front of the man. Fefnir leaned his head back.

"And from the look of things, you're just as much of an idiot as he is." Smiling now, he allowed himself to laugh. They'd been stupid, and he was the only one without possibly serious injuries. It looked like there was justice in the world.

"An act?! You expect me to believe that all of this was an act?"

Cordelia shot him a look. “Yes, I do!” she shouted, her voice squeaking inadvertently. If he didn’t want to believe it, then that was his fault, not hers. She wasn’t a saint, but she was a lot better than a lot of other people in this world. Cordelia had her morals, and she knew who to kill, who not to kill, and when the appropriate time to do so was. She continued to dig through the wood, getting closer to Eliel’s body with every piece of wood that was removed. There was a sudden change in the room and all of her movements stop, her gaze returning to the boy. Immediately her eyes focused on the fireball in his hand, causing her to gulp.

“Don’t do anything rash now, boy,” she said gently. Fire was the only thing that absolutely paralyzed her in fear. She had been blinded by that substance and didn’t need any more of it, even if she knew more spells than the kid.

“Can you help me up? I think I hurt myself.”

At the sound of the drow’s voice, Cordelia snapped her neck back to him, a stunned look on her face before she smiled widely. “You’re alive!” she exclaimed, coughing to try and get rid of the knot in her throat. She was so overjoyed to find that she hadn’t killed him! She hadn’t murdered one of her actual friends and the boy wasn’t going to try and kill her as revenge. Everything was all right, so there was no need to get emotional. Cordelia took a deep breath, trying to transition back to the stony woman that she always was. She laughed when Fefnir slapped him and when he called him an idiot, shaking her head.

"And from the look of things, you're just as much of an idiot as he is."

Her jaw dropped at the insult, though she wasn’t how sure how sincere he was. “I deeply hope you’re kidding,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. “Unless, of course, you mean that in a ‘you’re a genius for pulling a stunt like that’ way. Then it’s okay.”

When Eliel spoke again about being even, she slowly looked back to him, lifting her own hand and bringing it down to slap him as hard as she possibly could. She stared at him angrily before backing away a few inches and sitting down, laying her hands on the cold floor. “Now we’re even. And I’m not helping you up. You can sit there for all I care. How could you do that?! The kid was gonna kill me! And I was worried! You’re so… impossible!” Cordelia huffed in frustration and looked away from both of them, a pout on her face.

Eliel reeled as Fefnir slapped him, surprised. He guessed he shouldn't be too surprised, He had been a little deserving of it. For pretending to be dead, that is. Eliel closed his eyes and opened them again, stretching his eyelids.

Eliel felt something, a tingle in his back. He was slowly recovering from the bolt, feeling returning to his chest. The feeling was spreading. Eliel accepted the boy's comment and chuckled with him. “Aye I am.”

The drow looked at Cordelia affectionately as she coughed, regaining her composure. He was relieved when she laughed, after the boy slapping him. He chuckled along.

He saw Cordelia raise her hand, and braced himself. Her blow was a bit harder than he'd thought. There was a pop as his jaw popped. He groaned as feeling returned to his legs. A stranger sensation was in his left leg, a different one. As he fully regained feeling, he clenched his jaw.

There was something in his thigh, buried deep into it. Eliel could hardly move, his head the only thing uncovered. He groaned as he called on the levitation powers of his cloak. He moved upwards, wodd sliding away. He used his hands to clear some away.

Eliel let himself lay on the cold stone floor beside Cordelia, leg bent. Looking, he saw a shard of wood deep in his leg.

Fefnir leaned back a little bit when he saw the piece of wood in Eliel's leg, the sight shocking him slightly, but only a tiny bit.

"Uh..." he said, tugging on Cordelia's sleeve to get her attention. He had no idea how to deal with something like this, his mind was blank. It was like a roller coaster: from dead to fine to a piece of wood in his leg.

The wood in question was of a dark brown, the splintered fragments wet with the drow's blood. It had impaled itself in his calf, coming out the other side. A small river of the drow's blood made its way slowly down the wooden shard, dripping onto the floor beside him. The dark liquid stained the ground, once covered with ancient dust and dirt, now shining with fresh blood. The wood that was in his leg glistened with the drow's red fluid, many of its splinters now covered in the stuff. The red liquid simply oozed from the wound, staining his pant leg.

Fefnir reached forward, a single finger touching the blood-stained wood, as if to make sure it was real. His fingers were stained, and the wood felt real enough. It was there, through the man's leg. How was he so quiet? Through some magnificent feat of self-control? Or because he hadn't felt it yet?

A shiver made its way up Fefnir's spine, it looked bad. He didn't know what to do, the wood simply sitting there, stuck deep in his leg. Should he pull it out? Leave it? How should they tend to the wound? Bind it? Leave it? Get it cold? Get it warm? Lift it? Lower it?

"Lady, come on... I don't think now's the time to be mad at him... unless you want him dying for real..."

The pop in his jaw was most satisfying. “You deserved that,” she snapped grouchily. Fefnir was right to call the man an idiot. Cordelia wasn’t sure she had ever met a bigger idiot in her life! What sort of person was cruel enough to pretend that his friend had killed him, and then allow another friend to try and kill that friend? As confusing as it was, it had really been terrifying and heartless. “I’m supposed to be the mean one, not you.” She huffed again, still not bothering to look at either of them.

Fefnir then pulled at her sleeve, causing her head to twist in his direction to look at both him and Eliel. As soon as the scent of his blood reached her nostrils she turned her eyes to look at his leg, blinking at the sight of the wood. “Oh, now you’ve gone and hurt yourself. Smart move, Eliel. Any other stupid pranks you want to pull?” She perched herself on her knees and touched the wood, trying to get a better look at the wound. His blood was dripping down onto her fingers, causing her to grunt softly. She lifted her fingers to her mouth and licked them clean, contemplating leaving right now instead of helping him. They were even and they were friends – surely he would understand if she came up with some lie about having somewhere else to go.

"Lady, come on... I don't think now's the time to be mad at him... unless you want him dying for real..."

A sigh passed through her and she closed her eyes. She didn’t want him dying for real; faking his death had been traumatic enough. “Fine, fine. And don’t call me lady. It’s Cordelia, all right?” She offered a small smile, then looked away from Fefnir and to Eliel. “You’re so lucky you have a friend like me, Eliel. You know that, right?” Her eyes opened after the rhetorical question had been asked and she gripped the wood again. “This might hurt. Oh well.” She tightened her grip and pulled it right out of his flesh, a sickening squishing noise following it. She threw the wood away and proceeded to lick away whatever blood was on her fingers before wiping the rest on her pants.

“You think that was the right thing to do…? I’m not good with healing,” she said to Fefnir, running a hand through her hair uncertainly.

Eliel looked at her, mouth open a bit, mostly from the slap, but some from her comment. “Hey! It's your fault I've got this thing in my leg! If you didn't carry a grudge for a year, we'd be dandy, wouldn't we?” He said seriously, but he couldn't carry it. He broke into a weak smile. He simply watched her as she licked her fingers, not minding it, as long as she didn't develop a taste for it.

“ I know.” Eliel smiled at her. He looked at her as she grabbed the wood, looking ready to pull it out. His eyebrow cocked. “aren't you going to--” His sentence was cut out by a yell of pain as the wood came out. He panted for a moment, a fresh wave of blood making him a bit dizzy. “Nevermind.” He said wearily.

His hand fumbled around in his cloak, coming to stop on a white chess piece. He set it on the ground and spoke the release word. In seconds, it grew to full-size. Immediately, it set to healing his wound. The spell made his leg feel warm, healing up. His head began to clear.

Eliel watched her lick her fingers. “You know, that makes me nervous more than the wood did.” He said, eyeing the blood. He seized his jaw and snapped his wrist, popping it again into place with a grunt. Moving it a little, he looked at her.

Eliel looked at fefnir and winked. The next move the drow made could probably make her feel more awkward than anything else he could do. As he was feeling in such a mood at the moment, he did it anyway.

Eliel gave Cordie a quick friendly hug.

Fefnir watched, a little scared, as she licked her fingers. She... was a vampire, he knew, but that didn't mean it wasn't... creepy.

A shiver made its way down his spine.

He reached out, about to speak when she pulled the piece of wood from Eliel's leg, but it was too late, the disgusting sucking noise filling his ears. The sound was disgusting, making him half want to throw up, but he contained himself. People weren't supposed to make that sort of sound, ever.

When the white chess piece was taken out of the drow's cloak, Fefnir knew it would be okay. He'd seen it before, the night they had been attacked by the mob of giant spiders, and that creature...

"Did you really have to... well, you know..." he said, looking at Cordelia as she finished licking her fingers.

Another shiver went down his spine.

Fefnir took a slow step back. He could accept her being a vampire, but maybe not right next to him. A little bit away, sure, but not right next to him.

Noticing his sword glinting on the ground a little bit off, he used it as an excuse to get away, maybe rethink exactly what had happened. So, they had been kidding, joking. They had been playing. It hadn't been real. They'd played him.

He picked up his sword, swinging it through the air before sheathing it with a satisfying, metallic sound. He'd have to get them back, but not today, and probably not at the same time. He smiled mischievously, just in time to see Eliel give Cordelia a hug. Well, this should be interesting, he thought, remembering her cold, distant demeanor.

“Hey! It's your fault I've got this thing in my leg! If you didn't carry a grudge for a year, we'd be dandy, wouldn't we?”

Oh, so now they were playing the blame game? Well that was fine with her! “If you had never used enervation to begin with, I wouldn’t have had to do that,” she snapped. “I’m right, you’re wrong, and you know it.” She glared at him, not going to back down. Arguing with her was futile; changing her mind was like telling a rock to get up and dance. She would never learn, that she was sure of. “You’re in no position to argue, young man.”

A small smile graced her lips when he said that he knew. She nodded briefly and cringed when he screamed, though inwardly she liked the sound. She was a sadist; it couldn’t be helped that she enjoyed other people’s pain, even if those people were her friends. He proceeded to pull out the chess piece and Cordelia instantly recognized it. She backed off a little bit, giving the bishop room to work.

“You know, that makes me nervous more than the wood did.”

"Did you really have to... well, you know..."

At that, the vampire woman threw her head back and just laughed. “For men, you two are really such pansies!” she exclaimed, shaking her head at how pathetic they both seemed. “Please, if I wanted either one of you for a meal, you both would have been dead by now. I don’t attack people I care about, though, or children, so you’re both safe. What’s your name anyway, kid?” She winked and stretched her shoulders and her back, grunting as the bones cracked. She could tell it made both of them uneasy, especially the boy.

“Oh, come now, don’t walk away because of me,” she said, sticking her lower lip out in a pout. “I promise I’ll be good.” She grinned, her fangs bared, before she started laughing hysterically again. “You two are so fun to play with!” She clenched her eyes shut, but they opened immediately when Eliel wrapped his arms around her.

Her eyes widened as she stared at him, her muscles tense. Cordelia laughed nervously and returned the hug quickly before pushing herself out of his arms and backing away a little bit. “Okay, I’ll allow it just that once. You know I don’t like being touched.” She glared at him and shuddered, removing her coat and laying it down beside her. “Now I have your germs on me. Thanks a lot.” She sighed.

Eliel sighed as she argued back. There was little point. Her last comment on the point made him laugh, however. “Dear Cordie, I'm much, much older than you are, don't forget that. At least ten times your elder.” He teased her. “And still in good shape to beat you in any fight.”

He laughed at her pouting at Fefnir. She seemed to make him a bit more nervous than Eliel was. “Oh, quiet you. I'm not that bad. Mind you, I was tasting the blood of my victims when we met. You can't do that much to me.” He chuckled.

Her reaction to his hug made him laugh again. He hadn't actually expected her to hug him back. But he felt good about it. “Oh, I know that. Partly the reason I did it, Cordie.” He teased her again, once again poking the bear metaphorically.

“Right. Now let's play catch up and get-to-know, eh? The boring bits. Not bound to be too exciting after a little spar. Playing with the new kid.” Eliel laughed.

“If you like, we can all see how we do in a real fight. I've gotten a bit better.”

Fefnir blushed a bit when she asked his name. He smiled wide, so wide in fact that his eyes squinted.

"Fefnir Loewen, at your service." he said with a comical bow. His hair flopped down into his face, but a quick swipe of his gloved hand pushed the unruly strands of golden hair out of his face. His initial shock of her was gone, she was a vampire, and promised she wouldn't attack him. Sure, that didn't mean she wouldn't but it was something at least.

"Who says I'm a child?" he asked, placing fists on his hips and puffing out his chest. He was being silly, something he did a lot. It was a habit, him having been the youngest in his family, he felt required to brighten the mood. His mother had called him the jester of the family, always ready to make people smile, whether they wanted to or not.

Truthfully, sometimes it was harder to get that smile, but always worth it.

"So, why the idiotry? With the pretending and the swords and the magic..." he was smiling, looking from one to the other. He wasn't exactly sure which part was acting and which was... well, real. Did they actually have a score to settle? What about?

“Dear Cordie, I'm much, much older than you are, don't forget that. At least ten times your elder… And still in good shape to beat you in any fight.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes when he mentioned being older than her. That had absolutely nothing to do with this. Age was just a petty little number, especially for the immortals like herself. She snorted finally when he mentioned being able to beat her in any sort of fight. “Yeah right, Eliel,” she said. “You’re old, which means soon enough you’ll be senile. Just wait for that day to come – I’ll be right there laughing at you.” She smirked, quite proud of herself for being able to come up with something that made so much sense. “Just like any true friend would.” She laughed quietly.

“Oh, I know that. Partly the reason I did it, Cordie.”

The vampire woman growled quietly before once again rolling her eyes. “So, so mean,” she said, sniffling and poking out her lower lip. She was overdramatic; it had to be done. “Don’t worry. I’ll find a way to get back at you.” She nodded, the pout turning into a wicked grin. They were even now and she no longer held any more grudges against him, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t get back at him in little ways like this.

"Who says I'm a child?"

Cordelia turned to Fefnir, laughing when he puffed out his chest like that. She lifted her eyebrows, turning back to Eliel for a moment just so he could see the grin on her face. She was sure he wouldn’t really understand what she was thinking, so she kept it to herself. The kid was brave, though, and actually had a lighter side. His parents had reason to be proud, wherever and whoever they were. “I said it,” she said, looking back to him. “And you’ll soon learn that what I say goes, young Feffy. Ask Eliel, he knows how demanding I am.” These lighter moments were rare for her, but she loved them despite how awkward they could become. “How old are you, anyway?”

"So, why the idiotry? With the pretending and the swords and the magic..."

Did they really need a reason? It was something fun to do, something to break up the monotony. At least for her, anyway. “To scare you,” she finally said, shrugging. “I’d say we did a good job, considering how worked up you got.” A smug look came to her face at the idea of it. Sure, it had been a little bit scary when Eliel pretended to have died, but aside from that it had been fun.

“If you like, we can all see how we do in a real fight. I've gotten a bit better.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said. “You just got hit with a death bolt and got stabbed in the leg and you want to fight? You are an idiot.” Cordelia sighed. Eliel was really going to get himself hurt one day if he kept this sort of thing up, and she wasn’t always going to be around to help save him from danger. “Do what you want, but I’m happy sitting right here.”

Eliel laughed as Cordelia told him he'd be going senile. “Sorry to disappoint, but I think I had it all bound up and let out about twenty years ago.” He laughed when she said she'd get back at him. “There will be a time, and when that time comes, i'll be laughing as you look up at me with yer arse pasted to the ground, grasshopper.” He poked a tongue out.

He saw Codelia's grin and chuckled. The boy was foolish, true, but he was enjoyable. It was part of the reason Eliel kept him around. “Don't worry, Feffy, the mere fact that she hasn't killed you yet means she likes you.” He laughed.

“I may be at that, but it's a simple life and it keeps me amused.” He laughed again. “Besides, the enervation bolt wasn't too bad. Got myself a new cloak, see?” He smiled, showing her the magical drow cloak. “You could do with one of these. Might be able to get one for you, if you pay.”

Eliel smiled at the two, then looked around the cathedral. He held many memories here, his first real fight with Gibbon, his first meeting with Sava. The last part made him wonder, drawing his gaze to a small wooden door in the back of the cathedral.

“Say you two, how about an adventure? I know just the place.” He laughed. He was nearly killed last time he went to the catacombs, but he was better prepared this time. Much better prepared.”

Fefnir un-puffed his chest, regaining his regular composure. It worked, even the stony-faced vampire hadn't been able to keep a straight face.

"Sixteen." he said, firmly but not proudly. She was immortal, age something of little importance to her, and Eliel... well, he was just really really old. Compared to the two of them, he was little more than a newborn, something that didn't go over very well in his mind. He needed friends his own age.

"What was that Eliel? Since she hasn't killed me yet? If I remember correctly," he said, taking up a mock contemplative stance, "Then you," he said, gesturing towards Cordelia, "Were trapped under rotting wood, screaming your head off because I was gonna kill you." he smiled, teasing her. A smirk on his face, ha conjured up another fireball in his hand, simply holding it there. "Or does my memory deceive me?"

He hadn't exactly noticed the fear in Cordelia's eyes when he had last conjured the fireball, he'd thought it was fear for her life, not of the fire itself. It was a harmless gesture, a joke really.

When Eliel suggested an adventure, Fefnir almost jumped, taking a couple quick steps toward him. The fireball had dissipated into the air, as if it was never there.

"An adventure? I was born for adventure! Where to?" his face was full of youth and excitement. This was what he'd always wanted, what he'd left home to do. Adventure, the word harmonized with his soul.

“There will be a time, and when that time comes, i'll be laughing as you look up at me with yer arse pasted to the ground, grasshopper.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes. “We’ll see whose arse gets pasted to the ground,” she said. “I’ll just say it won’t be mine.” She shrugged. That didn’t leave many options left for who would lose. She knew it was cocky, and arrogant, but that was how Cordelia was and there was really no changing it. After a year of knowing each other, Eliel would understand it, especially since he was very much the same way.

"Or does my memory deceive me?"

Her eyes became fixed on the fire. The flames danced in Fefnir’s hand, reaching up and away and looking for something to burn. Cordelia shrunk back, her eyes taking that same fearful, vulnerable look. That sort of thing only happened when fire was near, and she hated it. She had always been wary around fire, but after having been burned multiple times and blinded by it that her caution and anxiety and had morphed into pure and utter terror. Weakness was embarrassing and a disgrace. She was supposed to be strong, unfeeling, stoic, not filled with fear at the mere sight of fire. “That’s not funny,” she said, her voice shaking. “Not at all!”

“You could do with one of these. Might be able to get one for you, if you pay.”

By then the fire had been extinguished, though she was still nervous and jittery. She managed to laugh, though it was a forced sound. “I don’t see why I’d need one,” she said, clearing her throat and running a hand through her hair. At any moment that fireball could come back, but she wasn’t about to tell the whole story. She was ashamed of it, so there was no point in giving any reason. “Nice of you to offer, though. No way in hell am I paying though.” Stealing for a living was hard, even if it wasn’t exactly an honest living.

“Say you two, how about an adventure? I know just the place.”

"An adventure? I was born for adventure! Where to?"

“There’s no stopping you two, eh?” Cordelia let out a deep sigh, looking between the both of them. It would be best to go along, just to make sure they didn’t get themselves hurt anymore. “I guess that means I’m going too. Gods know you need me to keep you two safe.” She rolled her eyes and pushed herself up off of the floor, brushing the wood pieces and dust off of her.

Eliel laughed at cordie's reply. “Then whose? Only time will tell, no?” He winked at her. He knew there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell he could make her admit he was better than her. Eliel smiled knowingly and looked to fefnir.

He saw the fireball in his hand, and the look on cordelia's face, and slapped the boy's wrist with the flat of the blade. He had seen Cordie at her weakest, a blind woman scarred by fire. He knew less than he wanted to, but he could make connections.

Putting his blade away, he smiled again. “right then, you go and steal one in Menzoberranzan then. I'll applaud you if you return unharmed. Scratch that. I'll applaud you if you return.” Eliel laughed.

Eliel grinned at their reactions. “Thank you Cordelia.” he smiled. “Not far, boy. In this city, in fact. Just follow me.” He turned to face the door, heart racing. He walked to it full of anticipation. Eliel opened the door, coming into a private office.

As he'd thought, the mirror stood in it's place against the wall, pieces of glass littering the floor, a layer of dust over them. He stepped over them, making crunching sounds underfoot as he walked through the mirror and into the catacombs.

Fefnir saw the fear, and he felt a deep, burning guilt for bringing it out. He didn't like that look, and it seemed at least twice as potent coming from Cordelia. Luckily, Eliel slapped his hand down, making the flames dissipate into the air, allowing Fefnir to take up his jesterly roll again.

He was glad that he'd managed to at least get the sigh out of her, with Eliel's help of course. The sigh was full of annoyance, but the adorable kind. It was like someone sighing at a puppy for trying to get up onto the table. It was the I-can't-possibly-be-mad-at-you-and-I-hate-you-for-it kind of sigh. Then again, maybe she was genuinely annoyed. Fefnir didn't know, he just met her. And for more than half of the time they'd spent together, he'd thought she wanted him dead.

Then again, maybe she had, and maybe she still did.

He followed Eliel over to the mirror, his steps slowing as he heard the crackling of broken glass under his feet.

"Where does this go..?" he asked, walking through the mirror after him, into a cavern that was dark as it was deep. He could see cobwebs in the corners, proof of its neglection. Who knew what was down here. Eliel, probably. His footsteps echoed a bit as he walked into the catacombs, once again believing Eliel blindly.

She was glad when Eliel slapped Fefnir’s wrist. He was a good friend, really. He didn’t even know the story, but she figured he was smart enough to at least put two and two together. In time, perhaps, she would tell him, but she probably never would. It was too hard to talk about and too embarrassing, considering who she was and the standards she had set for herself to live up to.

“right then, you go and steal one in Menzoberranzan then. I'll applaud you if you return unharmed. Scratch that. I'll applaud you if you return.”

The woman laughed, this time more genuine than the forced one from before. “Just show me the way, dear. I’ll come back with it.” She winked. She didn’t really know the violent ways of the drow, so of course she would assume she could do it. Even if she did know, it most likely wouldn’t have made a difference. Her plans never seemed to work out anyway. “Can’t be that scary, right?” She shrugged, clearly underestimating Eliel’s people.

As Eliel and Fefnir started off, Cordelia glanced at them over her shoulder before picking up her coat and walking off to pick up her weapons. She wouldn’t lose them here; the place was too small. She quickly grabbed and sheathed her dagger, but kept her poison blade in the open, keeping it held down at her side, figuring she would need it wherever Eliel was leading them. She couldn’t protect them if she didn’t have any weapons, even though she had her fangs and animalistic instinct. Hopefully things wouldn’t become that primitive, though; she hated having to resort to that, despite how much stronger she felt. Eliel had seen that instinct first hand the last time they had been in the cathedral and knew how messy it could become.

The woman followed the two of them to the office, disgusted by how dirty and old it all was. Her boots crunched against the ground and she looked down at the glass, rolling her eyes. She was going to have to pick that out now, wasn’t she? She followed them through the mirror and into the dark catacombs there, even more revolted than before. The air was stale here, and the cobwebs and few spiders on the walls didn’t exactly make the place seem homey. The sound of her breathing stopped as she decided not even to try. The air down here wasn’t that great and she wasn’t going to struggle with something she didn’t need.

"Where does this go..?"

“Good question,” she said quietly, her voice taking on a slightly different sound now that she wasn’t drawing breath. It wasn’t strained, but instead almost clearer and sharper. The sound echoed against the walls despite how soft it had been. “As much as I love this place, it’d be nice to know if there’s even a purpose to this. I’m starting to not like adventures.” She looked around and took a few more steps into the place, her eyes adjusting quickly to the darkness. “Eliel, you’d better hope to the gods you don’t get us killed, especially Feffy. He’s still just a kid and it’d be a shame if he got hurt.” She looked at the blonde child and gave a quick nod, not caring if he got offended by that. He was sixteen, Eliel was just plain old, and she was almost thirty. They were both older than him and knew better, even if Cordelia wasn’t the best guardian anyone ever could have had.

Eliel smiled at the two. As a silent warning to them, he slipped on his left gauntlet. They walked through the tunnels. “ The catacombs, which stretch larger than the city itself.” He chuckled at cordelia's remark. “Take a liking to him, have we?” He laughed.

“You all have such little faith in me.” He said disappointedly. Eliel walked down the path a small ways before coming to a seemingly dead end. There was a stone wall here, were there was supposed to be a passage.

Eliel smiled as he tapped at the wall thinking for a moment. He allowed a few seconds for comment and raised his fist, ramming it into a point in the wall repeatedly. A crack appeared and Eliel nodded. With one last blow, the stone crumbled, forming a passageway.

Eliel stepped through it and Started to draw his scimitar, but shook his head and drew Lan de Yue Jia instead. The sword emitted a faint glow and he walked out into the dark caves beyond, into the true catacombs. Beneath all the neat stonework and pillars was a place of dirt, spiderwebs, and bones. Eliel smiled as he walked down a familiar tunnel.

They came to a stop in a chamber , completely void of any bones or life. Eliel frowned, observing the four pits in the wall on the far side.

“Oh, this can't be good.” He said with a sigh. A shriek sounded as his foot pressed upon a loose tile, closing a trapdoor behind them.

Fefnir couldn't see a thing in this place, it was pitch black. Sighing in frustration, he raised a hand and created an orb of light in his hand, it shone brightly, illuminating the dank, cobwebbed catacombs.

"Wow... When you say adventure, you mean it..." he said, half expecting something to fly out at them from the walls. When Cordelia threatened Eliel in Fefnir's defense, he smiled. The truth was, had he been here alone, he would have most likely found the mirror and entered it out of sheer curiosity. It was simply luck that Eliel and Cordelia were there, making sure he didn't get himself killed.

"You needn't worry, Cordelia." he said with a grin once they reached the wall, "I've almost died at least twice in the last month." he chuckled a bit, giving Cordelia a sideways look once Eliel began to bang away at the wall.

He took a step forward, "What are you-" he was interrupted by the wall collapsing, revealing a passage even more devoid of light than the one they were currently in. They walked on.

"Eliel, I'm starting to think that you have no idea where we're going...." he said, his hand nervously reaching towards one of his swords. He followed Eliel, Cordelia close behind, into the strange room. The air was still here, and heavy with the stench of blood and decay. It seemed like nothing had moved in this place for years.

"Eliel-" but he was cut off by their only escape closing in on them. "What did you? Why did that close? Where are we? Eliel, this isn't funny!" His sword was now drawn, the hand with magically-induced light swinging back and forth to find out where they were, and what was there with them.

“Take a liking to him, have we?”

Cordelia rolled her eyes. “He’s sixteen,” she said, although she knew that wasn’t going to be a great explanation. “He’s a kid. There’s no way he can take care of himself.” As soon as the light appeared in Fefnir’s hand, her eyes squinted shut, a soft hiss coming from her. Usually it wouldn’t have bothered her, but her eyes had already adjusted and in such a dark place with no other light source the light seemed brighter than normal. She kept her eyes narrowed, taking in as little light as possible to keep herself from going blind. She’d been down that road and didn’t want to go back.

"I've almost died at least twice in the last month."

“You sound like me,” she said, her eyebrows lifting. She had too many brushes with death to count. “Hopefully you won’t turn out that way, though…” Her voice trailed off once they had reached the stone wall. The last thing that poor Fefnir needed was to get forced into contracts, burned, and blinded. He didn’t seem like the type of kid to get into that much trouble though, since so far he hadn’t been as rude or obnoxious as she usually was. She just hoped he didn’t become some self-righteous, valiant warrior obsessed with smiting evil or those that didn’t share the same outlook on life as he did.

Her arms lifted instinctively to cover her face when the rock crumbling, bits of dust flying up into the air. She followed the two males through the passageway, not bothered much at all by the night. She glanced at Eliel’s side, where he was drawing another sword that seemed to glow. “It’s not that bad,” she commented, forgetting momentarily that they didn’t have the same vision in the darkness that she had.

Cautiously she stepped into the room after them, glancing back over her shoulder. An uneasy feeling entered her stomach and she contemplated heading back, but they needed her to keep them out of trouble. Besides, as bad of an idea as this might have been, Cordelia’s sense of self preservation wasn’t exactly as sharp as it could have been. She was too curious for her own good and couldn’t have gone back if she wanted to.

“Oh, this can't be good.”

"What did you? Why did that close? Where are we? Eliel, this isn't funny!"

The only way out of this room closed with a shriek and Cordelia’s head snapped to look at Eliel, a fire burning in her eyes. “Now because you two are so impulsive and had to go on this stupid adventure, we’re all stuck in this room! You two are such idiots! Why did I follow you two?! What are we supposed to do?!”

Cordelia inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of death. It calmed her slightly, but it didn’t remove all of her current anger and frustration with Eliel. She didn’t like enclosed areas, nor did she like situations like these. A sudden idea popped into her head and she cast one of her favorite spells, her body becoming misty and translucent. She stepped away from them both and went back to where the original entrance had been, trying to step through it only to fail. She tried again, but once more only made herself look like an idiot since it didn’t work. The effects of the spell wore off momentarily and she returned to the other two, her confusion now about as high as her anger levels. “Well, that didn’t work!” she huffed. “Got any bright ideas?!” she demanded, looking between the two of them.

Eliel nodded at the sword, looking at Cordie. “It's for Fefnir's sake. I can see fine. Besides, creatures of the dark are scared of the light. And believe me, you don't want to pick a fight with the beasts here.” He said with a shudder.

Paying their comments no mind, he turned more worriedly to the pits in the wall. Approaching them, his sword glowing faintly with a gold light, illuminated them. Something had torn it's way out. Eliel sheathed his blade and took his gauntlet off, letting a hand trace the sigils on the stone, a thin layer of bone dust on the floor, the faintest of faint footprints made by a skeletal foot.

Eliel smiled at her attempts to get out. “I'd be a bit more worried about where this thing went.” He said to Cordie, waving a hand to the spot. “These catacombs were built to hide away the many things the church wanted to hide. There are treasures here, and terrible beasts. Unfortunately for us, the thing that they'd wanted hidden away most seems to have escaped.' He sighed. The last he had been here, the three headed skeleton was chained to the wall.

Eliel sighed. “cordie, dear. That's not the only way out of the room. We've no choice but to go ahead. And by that I mean down.” He started walking to the open hallway, drawing forth his star elven blade once more.

Fefnir wanted to protest, opening and closing his mouth in an attempt to coax the words out of his throat, but they wouldn't come. He could think of nothing, the only way out was... well, Eliel knew where it was.

A little nervous, Fefnir unsheathed the one of his blades. He turned left and right, afraid that the moment he wasn't looking, something would jump out at him. Something that was supposed to be hidden. The light in his hand remained bright, illuminating the way.

"I know I sounded excited a moment ago..." he said, carefully stepping over dirt-covered bones which lay on the ground, long forgotten. "But I stand by what I said before that...." he tapped Eliel's side with the flat of his blade, making sure the man knew he was being addressed, "You're an idiot, and if we survive this, you're still going to be an idiot..." The boy chuckled a bit, looking left and right down the passage that they were going down. What could have been hidden down here? What kind of things were so terrible that the church needed to create an underground maze to hide?

"And how... how do you know where you're going, anyway?" he asked, quickening his pace to walk beside Eliel, or as close to beside as was possible in this narrow passage. "If you've been here before, then why bring us down here?"

For the adventure... a voice mused within him. Some people would do anything for an adventure, and Fefnir would take part in many of them, if he was going to be the great warrior he claimed to be on the road to be becoming. Why not go on an adventure with a guided tour?

Because, the voice chimed in again, If you know what kind of adventure it is beforehand, you're suicidal. If you have no idea what you're getting yourself into, you're a hero.

“… And believe me, you don't want to pick a fight with the beasts here.”

Cordelia could have punched him. If they didn’t want to pick a fight with whatever was down here, then why the hell had they come in the first place?! She was all for danger, and she knew she had a terrible curiosity, but she thought Eliel was smarter than to pick a fight with something supposedly perilous. She shook her head, forcing the current up rise of anger away. There was probably nothing down here to worry about. How could he know?

“… Unfortunately for us, the thing that they'd wanted hidden away most seems to have escaped.”

Apparently he did know, then. Oh, if they ever got out of there, she was going to kill him! How could he knowingly put his friends at risk, especially her and Fefnir? Fefnir went on to say that Eliel was still an idiot and Cordelia nodded vehemently in agreement. “The idiot of all idiots! He’s such an idiot he’s… he’s… ugh!” She huffed, kicking at the ground. A rush of dust came up and swelled around her lower legs, settling finally on the ground. She looked at Eliel, quite clearly very impatient. She wasn’t sure if he could see the angry, almost murderous look in her eyes in the dark, but it didn’t matter if he could or couldn’t; the look was still there regardless.

"If you've been here before, then why bring us down here?"

Cordelia heard his words and nodded slowly, not immediately following the two boys. Her pace was slow enough to show that she wasn’t really enjoying this, but fast enough to keep them in sight. She looked behind her shoulder, her eyes narrowing. Surely there was another way out in the original direction they had come from. Now that he had gotten them stuck here she wasn’t so sure she trusted him to get them out. Cordelia was reluctant to follow, but considering Fefnir was so blindly putting his faith in Eliel she had to go.

“I…” she started, unsure how exactly she was to go about protesting. “I hate you. And I will hurt you for this one day.” Maybe it wasn’t the wittiest or strongest thing she had ever come up with, but she couldn’t think of anything else. Cordelia huffed again and quickened her gait, now only a few inches behind them instead of distantly as she had been doing before.

Eliel looked at the two, a critical look on his face. “And what does that make you two for following me into this mess?” He asked with a cocked eyebrow. He pushed away fefnir's blade and looked at the footprints in the dust.

“Right. These were made recently, so he can't have gone too far.” He said, studying them intently. He wished that Gwen was here, but it was hard enough getting through the tunnels without a cat the size of a small pony. He sighed, running a hand through his white hair.

Eliel looked at Cordelia worriedly, but slightly amused. “Cordelia, I'm likely going to get hurt in many ways during this adventure.” He laughed and turned, not knowing just how much of that sentence was going to end up true.

Eliel turned to fefnir. “i know where I'm going because I've been here. And I thought the thing was dead for sure when I was last here, now didn't I?” Eliel said. He groaned and turned into another tunnel. Footsteps echoed through the tunnels, Eliel's elven ears finally picking up the fact that the sound had continued while they were stopped. Eliel drew his scimitar and turned around.

A shadow stood in the corridor, larger than himself by about a foot. It had three heads and strangely long arms, along with a smaller arm on the left side. He would have thought it a monster from below if he hadn't seen it before, chained to the wall.

“Crap. Well, at least I told you it couldn't have gone far.” He said, standing his ground.