Eliel padded down the path, entering the gate of Balefire. He got a couple of looks, but weirder had entered the city before than a huge black wolf. He walked slowly as he hit the city road, looking around sheepishly.

He was looking for a house, to find someone who could possibly have nothing to do with him. A week ago, he and Cordelia had gotten into an actual fight, and the only thing that had stopped him from killing her completely was Gwen.

Eliel didn’t know where Gwen had gone, nor what had become of his scimitar, which he’d left behind in his anger. Had Cordelia taken it? Had some thief stumbled by it? Or was it still laying in the ruined roads of taras? He wouldn’t know until he did this

Eliel was here to apologize, recent events, namely becoming something he both hated and feared, had led him to realize he couldn’t afford to lose her. She was his best friend in Imythess, and something had come over him that had made him forget that. He didn’t feel any anger for her. She knew he wasn’t himself, and there was a chance she would forgive him.

It was a hell of a chance, however.

Eliel approached her door and swallowed, his heart in his throat. With a grimace, he hammered on the door with one big black paw. He sat down in front of the door and hun his head.

At the sound of something against her door Cordelia looked up from the sign language book, her eyebrows lifting slowly. It seemed that as of late people just kept stumbling upon her; Alaina, Shagarez… Manic. The last person on the list made her shrink back into the couch somewhat in paranoia and she looked around the small room, debating what to do. It was at that point that she realized whatever had knocked on her door hadn’t entirely sounded human, so that ruled out basically everyone that might have wanted to hurt her or Kaiden.

Throwing the book down onto the table Cordelia stood and straightened out her jacket, huffing to get a few stray locks of black hair out of her face. She didn’t have time for this, nor did she have the patience. She glanced at the scimitar that leaned up against the back of the couch, debating taking it since she didn’t have any of her own weapons on hand at the moment. This was her house, after all – she was supposed to be safe here.

Grumbling a few choice words under her breath, Cordelia reached around and took the scimitar, a bit of sadness resting on her shoulders. She had taken it after the fight with Eliel, since he hadn’t, having intended to give it back to him once he was himself again. Shaking the thoughts from her head Cordelia proceeded to the door, undoing each of the many locks that kept her and her child safe from the outside world.

Once the door was completely unlocked she took the handle and slowly opened it, enough not to see anyone at first. However as she looked down she saw the wolf. At first she thought it was Alaina’s, but as she dug deeper into her memory she recognized it as the form Eliel had taken when leaving her.

Rage filled her in that moment of recognition and a deep set look of hatred that only being betrayed could produce came into her eyes. Her features hardened and she almost closed the door in his face, her hand shaking on the doorknob as she still entertained the idea.

“Leave.” Her voice came cold, staying true to her nickname as the Ice Queen. “Leave, now, and don’t you ever come back, are we clear? I don’t have time for your games and I certainly don’t have time for any of your crap right under my own roof.” Cordelia took in a deep breath, feeling stronger now that she was able to say that. Her hand tightened around the hilt of the scimitar, keeping it behind her and out of sight for the time being.

Eliel felt a pang when she opened the door, not recognizing him at first. But when she did, he could see in her eyes that it was going to be one hell of a time. He sighed and looked up at her, sorrow in his eyes. Just in case, he place a paw in the doorway, to keep her from shutting the door. He simply looked at her.

Eliel couldn’t speak in this form, but if he turned back now there was no telling what would happen if he turned back into himself. He traced a few words on the doorstep, but they were in elven, and he knew Cordelia could neither read nor speak elven.

Eliel bowed his head once more and gave a small whine, using what very little knowledge of telepathy he’d learned from his brother to send her an apologetic feeling, hoping she would realize he couldn’t speak and didn’t want to turn back.

Eliel pulled a piece of scrap wood from the street and carved into it the picture of a drow, then made an x through it.

He looked at her with sad eyes. He moved his nose towards the house, silently asking if he could come in.

Cordelia noticed the look in his eyes, but she only hardened herself more to keep from giving in. It should have been difficult to maintain her cold demeanor around Eliel, but after all he had done to her it came with ease. She stared down at him, straightening her posture so that she appeared more intimidating. She rested the scimitar behind the door, then brought her hand to her hip, glowering down at him.

The Elven didn’t matter; the only languages she knew were the common tongue and sign language. The telepathy mattered little as well… he might have been sending an apologetic feeling but that’s all it was, an emotion. Emotions could be feigned, used to twist people around and force them to capitulate. Cordelia knew that better than anyone and she shook her head, utterly resolute.

“I told you to leave,” she said, her voice grinding somewhat due to her impatience and suppressed anger. The last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene and wind up scaring poor Kaiden. If it hadn’t been for the boy she would have had much more to say to Eliel, but Cordelia knew what was appropriate and what wasn’t when a child was near. “Instead you sit there, reduced to something that can only be called pathetic – and stupid, too. You know I don’t understand Elven, I don’t believe the whole apologeticness, and I sure as hell don’t understand what a person with an X through them means. And no, you’re not coming in here – I’m not alone. You can stay here on the street with your little canine diseases, mmkay?”

Whether he was carrying some sort of disease didn’t really matter, considering vampires were immune. She took her foot and pushed his paw out of the doorway before stepping outside and slamming the door shut, hearing the scimitar crash to the floor. Sighing softly, she acted as if it was nothing and turned onto the steps, continuing to look down at Eliel.

“What the hell do you want, mutt?”

Eliel sighed s she reprimanded him, shaking his head as she said to go away. He simply shrugged when she said he could stay in the street. She kicked his paw away from the door and walked into the street. Eliel was a little surprised, even hopeful.

He walked next to the house, in a dark alleyway. Eliel jerked his head, telling her to follow. He stood in the darkness while he waited and looked at her, turning to face her fully.

Looking around to see if anybody was spying on him, he turned back into himself, wolf pelt falling to the ground. He stood up at his full height, around six and a half feet. He stretched his spider limbs and his arms, having cramped up in the pelt.

Eliel looked at her sadly, speaking in a silky voice. “ Cordie…” He said at first, not knowing what to say. “I was so stupid. I’m sorry I acted like an ass.” He said, looking to the side.

“but I have a bit of a problem, as you can see.” He sighed and waved an arm at his spider features. Eliel looked at her with sorrow in his four red eyes.

“I’m sorry Cordelia.”

Eliel turned into the alleyway next to the home and Cordelia glanced back at the door, grumbling reluctantly. Her eyes caught Eliel just as he gestured for her to follow and she did so tentatively, not entirely trusting him. She didn’t believe his apology or his sorrow to be genuine and frankly thought it all to be an act. At least if he tried to hurt her she was right by her house and could run inside to get her weapons, considering at the moment she was completely unarmed besides her fangs.

Before her, however, was not Eliel. Her eyes widened as she stared at the lower half of his body, the eight spider legs. Soon enough it hit her that he was the very same sort of creature that had imprisoned them when they went to the Menzo-whatever and she took a small, wary step back, still looking at his lower half until his voice reached her.

Sorry? He was sorry? “Sorry isn’t good enough,” she snapped, her eyes lifting to his face. She didn’t have to bend her neck too much to look at him, since she was nearly six feet herself, but it took away from her intimidating factor unfortunately. She noticed the two extra eyes and squirmed a bit inside, but she made sure the only emotions she revealed were those akin to anger.

“After what you did you deserve to be like this!” she yelled finally, kicking at the ground and looking away from him for a moment. “Do you not even understand the weight of your actions? Oh, stupid me, I forgot – you don’t because you don’t care.” She swallowed roughly, a lump starting to grow near her larynx that she didn’t want there. “You deserve to be a drider thing, you jackass. You deserve to be one of the things that imprisoned and killed your sister! You don’t just have a bit of a problem, you have a huge problem! Hell, you have multiple huge problems! You know, including trying to murder me! ME!”

Her voice faltered then and she looked down completely, hair falling to hide her face. Her fists clenched at her sides and she let out a shaky breath.

“I have too much on my plate right now for you to try and feed me this bullcrap about being sorry….” The last word came out whispered and the whole statement came out strained. Her night would have been perfectly fine if he hadn’t shown up, perfectly and utterly fine and then he had to go and ruin it.

“What do you even expect me to do about that, huh? Not like I plan on it. It’s your own damn fault, whatever the hell you did.” She still wasn’t looking up at him and her voice was becoming thick, that lump in her throat growing and not listening to her inward pleas to just go away.

Eliel looked at her sadly, a knot in his stomach. She wasn’t about to forgive him. Didn’t she realize what had happened? It wasn’t Eliel that had tried to kill her. So why be mad at him? He sighed. He saw himself as two completely different people, Eraspeola, and the life he took up after shedding his drow life.

Eliel looked at her with a half-sad, half angry look. “I don’t care? I did something stupid after a couple problems, namely having my soul ripped away from my body only to be haphazardly put back and watching the last member of my family who didn’t try to kill me die while I got away. So yeah, Cordelia. I do have a few problems. My wife’s gone and disappeared on me and I’ve been turned to the one thing I’m actually scared of, okay?” He said shakily. “In what, a month?” He sighed, looking at her lowered head.

Eliel extended a hand to put on her shoulder. “Cordelia, I know what I did was the most stupid thing I could have ever done, I take responsibility for that. But you were my closest friend in Imythess. And I hope it doesn’t stay were.” He said, a tear rolling down his cheek.

Eliel backed away and watched her. “If you still want me to leave, I will. I understand. But I need you, Cordie.”

Cordelia listened to him as he spoke, every word making her ears ring and the instinct in her stomach scream no. He was wrong; he didn’t understand anything, maybe he did care but he didn’t understand. It might have been a month, but what he had done was more than a ‘stupid mistake’. It was a mistake that had been the last straw, the one thing she had never expected. Fights with Manic she expected, assuring Kaiden he wasn’t a burden she expected, but Eliel trying to kill her? Never in a million years would she have imagined such a thing and probably would have laughed at how stupid the idea was. She wasn’t laughing now, though. Not now.

“Well…” she began, only to stop and sniff loudly, unable to go on. She felt his hand on her shoulder and flinched a bit, unsure if she should shrug away from him and chastise him for touching her or just let it be. In the end she decided to allow it and folded her arms over her chest, clenching her eyes shut to stop blood tears from rolling down her cheeks. She didn’t want to cry right now. For God’s sake, this was Eliel. He might have been her only friend but he shouldn’t have meant that much to her.

As he backed away she rolled her shoulder once, the bone clicking as she did so. “Need me for what?” she asked finally, looking up hopefully. She liked the feeling of being appreciated, of being needed; it made her feel like she actually had some sort of purpose in this world. She had no goals of her own other than to raise Kaiden, so to know that she was considered necessary for someone else… well, to put things simply, it made her feel fuzzy inside.

“It wasn’t just a stupid mistake Eliel. You’re my only friend, do you understand what that means? Only. As in, singular. And you went and did that! I understand about your wife leaving, I was abandoned too and I know how it feels, but dammit the whole soul thing and now being this drider crap… that’s not a good excuse.” She paused, her lip trembling before the only important words came out.

“You’re forgiven.” She paused again. “You do anything like that ever again though and I swear Eliel, I will kill you. Do you understand that? Are we clear on that?” Her eyebrows furrowed and her lower lip poked out sternly, hoping the message got across.

Eliel smiled at her. He didn’t know he was her only friend. She was nearly his only, he had few. Eliel smiled at her as she accepted his apology. “Cordelia, if I ever do that again, I want you to.” He smiled at her. “God, woman. I’d hug you now but that would probably give you nightmares. Being hugged by a half-spider can end up rather morbid and creepifyin.” He chuckled.

Looking at her with a chuckle, he let go of her shoulder and stared her in the eye. “I need your help. I need to find the woman that did this. Shouldn’t be too hard, she’s a merchant with a couple wagons.” He gave a small growl. “Name of Ruby.” He crossed his arms.

“And I’m going to get her to turn me back.” He snarled. “Will you help me?” He asked Cordelia with a hopeful look.

Eliel swept on his wolf mantle, looking at her before turning into a wolf. The big black canine gave her a toothy grin, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

((OoC: I feel like it's crappy... but you know I'm not having a good day so this is all I feel like doing. >.>;))

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Cordelia took a bit of a step back at the mention of a hug, lifting a single eyebrow. He might have been her only friend, but hugs were reserved for Kaiden alone and sometimes Alaina. “I’d rather you didn’t, anyway,” she said. “Not because it’s creepy. Hell, I’ve seen uglier things than you.” A smirk tugged the right corner of her mouth upwards, satisfied with her response. “You know how I am with hugs.” She wrinkled her nose somewhat, then shrugged her shoulders. It really wasn’t so big of a deal that it needed to remain a topic of conversation.

“Will I help you… now let’s see.” She lifted a finger to her chin and tapped it lightly, clicking her tongue against the back of her front teeth in thought. While she did want to help him, she wanted to see him suffer immensely for what he had done. Yes, he had apologized and she had forgiven, but that didn’t truly mean he was forgiven. She wanted to see him in pain for just a little while longer before she actually took action to help him.

“Eventually I will. But first you need to suffer for a little while… it makes me happy inside. Just a little.” She winked before laughing; a deep and malicious sound that only a woman such as herself could produce. An innocent grin worked its way onto her face to replace the wicked look, although that did nothing to make her seem less serious or less of a threat.

“But, I will. You just –” At that point Eliel turned into a wolf and she sighed, her hands lowering to rest at her hips. “Now you can’t very well talk to me like that. That’s rude. I want information on this Ruby and I definitely want to know how the hell you got yourself into this in the first place. And how you plan to go after her. That too.” She shook her head, leaning down to pat him once on the head.

Eliel rolled his red doggy eyes at her and licked her hand playfully, tongue hanging out and panting. His tail swished back and forth, sweeping the alleyway. He winked at her and stood, shaking lightly. He could make a good dog. For now, at least. He walked past her, over to the door. He made a whining sound and clawed at the door, looking at Cordelia.

He wanted to go inside, he hoped she had his scimitar and knew Gwen was hanging around Balefire somewhere. She never came home from Taras, leaving him with Abel, who was not generally the best sort of fellow for a conversation.

Eliel looked at various passerby, many different looking folk. Drow and human alike walked the streets, not seeming to mind each other's presence too much. A wagon rolled by, drawn by horses, followed by a man atop an umbra.

The umbra made him worry about Gwen. He tried to reach out to the thing, sending it an image of the cat. It looked to him and nodded once, blinking as it sent the image on. Soon enough, Gwen, who resided in a dark, damp alleyway near cordelia's home. She got up and shook herself off and began walking to her house, spotting eliel.

Eliel saw her and padded out to meet her. The two looked at each other, eliel faltering under gwen's stern gaze. She saw herself as eliel's superior, perhaps as her kitten. Eliel looked away and the umbra smiled, rubbing against him.

Eliel and gwen's head rested on each other's shoulder for a few moments, no other movement besides the wolf and cat's breathing.

Cordelia wrinkled her nose when he licked her hand, staring down at the dog saliva on her hand. She wouldn’t have made any move to touch him if she had known that he would do that. Wiping her hand down and across her pants, a soft sound of disgust came from her throat and she wriggled her fingers. She turned once he walked past her, holding her dirtied hand a little bit off to the side of her. Her eyes narrowed as he began to claw at the door, remembering that his scimitar lay behind it. He seemed normal for the most part, and he was going to need it if he was going to find Ruby. But did he really, truly deserve it?

Slowly she exited the alleyway, following in Eliel’s wake toward her doorstep. Within a few moments however Gwen came into view and she nodded once, having known that the cat had followed her to Balefire. It wasn’t like she could go anywhere else, with Eliel being as stubborn and cruel as he was. She turned her head over her shoulder to watch, hoping that Gwen’s opinion of him would mean enough to really make him feel guilty.

It seemed that the umbra had forgiven him as well. Nodding once, she took the handle of the door within her hand and pushed it open a few inches, gesturing back for them to follow her. The door jammed after a moment, which she assumed was due to the scimitar. She twisted herself around the door and grabbed onto it, holding the hilt with one hand and laying the blade flat on the palm of the other. She opened the door fully and stood there in the threshold, holding the blade out.

“Now if you take this, I don’t expect you to use it like Eraspeola did,” she said. “And if you do, I will personally make sure you’re incapable of ever handling a blade again. Then again, there isn’t much you can do without hands.” She paused for a moment in contemplation before shrugging, figuring it wasn’t too important. “Do we have a deal now, Eliel?”

Eliel looked at cord and turned back into himself, lowering his torso to the ground. He smiled a little and nodded his head while he took the blade. The black metal gleamed as it twirled in his hand, catching bands of light and throwing them across the room with a purplish hue.

Eliel’s nimble fingers traced the familiar hilt, sliding along the carving of the snake smoothly, feeling each obsidian scale. The body was built out of the same black metal as the blade, small intricate scales of obsidian set into its body. Two small, round, dark amethysts were set in its eye sockets, purple eyes ever watching. He smiled and set its tip on the floor of the home, resting on it. Veronna’s mark caught the light, showing up clearly.

Eliel watched her. “I really have little plan to go on. Mostly hunt and gather. I hunt her down and gather the information I need, turning back into a drow. I actually have a plan to do it without her help, however. If you would like to hear my ridiculously stupid plan, say so.” He said casually.

Cordelia’s hands slid down to her pockets when he took the blade, her eyes lingering on the fine metal for a few moments. She really wished that he hadn’t come in, especially looking like the arachnid that he did. A single hand was removed from her pocket just to run through her hair before returning, lost in thought for a few moments until the sound of his voice brought her back.

Her eyes flicked up to his face then instead of the scimitar, taking in what he said. A smirk curled onto her mouth, somewhat lopsided but that didn’t take away from how interested she looked. Her eyebrows lifted and she took her arms, folding them over her chest and propping one arm upon the other and resting her chin in her left hand.

“Oh, please, do tell,” she said. “Ridiculously stupid plan. Yes, I need to hear this.” She nodded, as if she for some reason needed to confirm the statement even more. “So what does this involve, hmmm? Because honestly, when it comes to you, ‘ridiculously’ stupid is quite a broad term.”

Eliel shrugged and gave her a nod. “Fair enough. I don’t suppose most of my other plans have been in the interest of general well-being for anybody.” He said thoughtfully, scratching his chin.

“But this one has some small risks.” He said, a pearly sphere of sweat rolling down his brow. “Namely me returning to the underdark, joining the enemies of my own house, and asking Lolth her forgiveness.”

Eliel looked to the side and coughed lightly, examining the wall with great interest. “Of course, Gwen will be assisting me.” Gwen shot him an incredulous look, as if to say ‘I am?’

Cordelia stared at him, blue eyes growing wide and her jaw dropping somewhat. How stupid could he be? The last time they went there his sister had been killed and they had all been hurt. Besides, when he had come back… well, Eraspeola had happened. Hadn’t he already learned his lesson?

“You stupid, stupid man!” she said, her hands flying to rest against her temples, a sigh passing through her nostrils. “Do you really think that Lolth person-thing-whatever is going to forgive you? And do you really think it’s a great idea to go back?” Again she sighed. There was no point in trying to change his mind; that much she knew. Eliel was a mostly reasonable person, and she might have been his best friend, but in the end he was going to do whatever he felt necessary and she couldn’t change his actions.

“Poor kitty,” she offered to Gwen, noticing the look she gave him. “I’d help, but, well, you know. It’s dangerous and I have things to attend to.” She shrugged. She probably could have gone, especially to get the cloak, but it wasn’t too important.

“So… you’re basically going to betray your goddess again? How the hell is that gonna please her?” She shook her head slowly; when it came to gods and goddesses she didn’t really care, but she sure as hell didn’t want Eliel to have his head served to that woman on a platter.

Eliel looked at her with a shrug. “it all works out. I know it will. See, you forget.” He looked back at her with a wild grin. “ That you, who know little to nothing about drow except that they’re handy smiths and weavers, could not understand the intricacies of my plan, formed with two centuries’ experience under my belt. I think I know what I’m doing. The drow life is complicated, but to us it makes perfect sense.” He chuckled.

The ‘intricacies of his plan’ were little more than what he’d told her so far, go to the place where he was hunted, ask forgiveness from a deity that wanted him dead, waltz into the palace of his greatest enemy, and join their ranks without a hitch.

Well, there was room for improvisation.

Eliel smiled at her. “pity.” He said when she said she couldn’t go. “I’m sure I’ve drag—I mean invited you to join more dangerous adventures than waltzing into the most dangerous place in Imythess.” He smiled naively. He actually believed every word he said.

Eliel was back.

“Intricacies of your plan?” she repeated, absolutely bewildered. Yes, Eliel was back all right – back to his normal self. How could he be that naïve? “Considering the fact that they had assassins after you and when we fell we all got attacked immediately, I don’t think any of your ‘intricate plans’ will mean anything.” Was she the only one who even thought about anything? She cared about Eliel, there was no denying that, but sometimes she really wondered if he was capable of thinking something through without being incredibly impulsive.

She rolled her eyes at his next words, unable to stop a short, sharp laugh from coming out of her throat. “Well now, Eliel, you don’t have a son to take care of. You can do whatever you want.” She wasn’t about to put herself in even more danger than she was already in. Kaiden needed her, she needed him, and she had to do everything in her power to stay with him.

“I’m glad you’re back to your old self, but I really don’t want you to get yourself killed so soon,” she said finally.

Eliel rolled his eyes at her. “I’m perfectly capable, dear. It seems I’ve gotten myself out of most situations without a scr—lethal injury.” He said, correcting himself for the second time during this same conversation.

Eliel inspected his hand, looking at the scars with a bewildered look, as if he hadn’t noticed their presence before. “oh my. This is bad, isn’t it?” he said, tracing the scars with a single claw. A couple of them had scabs on them, pulled away by the metal talon.

Eliel looked at her and sighed. “Very well. How do you propose I go about returning myself to my previous form?” He asked, with open arms. “I’m open to suggestion.”

“You didn’t notice them before?” Cordelia asked, bewildered herself by the fact he hadn’t noticed the very scars he had intentionally created. “That angelic blade of yours did it. You picked it up to show me what it did – you know, before trying to stab me with it.” Her voice took on a sudden bitter tone and she huffed, turning her head away for a moment. She didn’t forgive him for that, really. She was a vampire; holy objects could probably hurt worse than fire did. She didn’t know and in all honesty she didn’t care to find out.

She became speechless when he asked her for a suggestion, babbling a few incoherent syllables before becoming completely silent. How could he even expect her to come up with something? She knew nothing about drow society and their little magic tricks. “Pfft, don’t ask me!” she finally exclaimed after having found her voice. “I’m just trying to talk some sense into you because you never seem to think at all. I just don’t think it’s a very good idea to go with just Gwen, is all. No offense to her of course.” Cordelia nodded to Gwen, just to let the proud kitty know that she meant no harm.

“You’re the drow – you know the place better. But you’re underestimating them and that’s going to hurt you,” she said.

Eliel smiled at her. “you’re cute when you’re baffled and clueless, you know that?” He chuckled and flexed his hand. “hmm…” he reached back and took the blade with his left hand, scimitar wobbling on it’s tip. He raised Luriel to eye level and frowned, reaching a finger to it.

Eliel prodded it and pulled his finger back immediately. But it didn’t hurt. He poked it rapidly a few times, leaving it on longer. Deciding it was safe, he switched hands, holding it with his bare right hand.

Eliel screamed for a moment, receiving an intense feeling from it. He looked at the blade for a moment, silent. Looking up at Cordelia with a serious face, he frowned. “it’s cold.” Eliel waved it around, away from Cordelia. He grunted and put it back in it’s sheath curiously.

“maybe it’s forgiven me…” He shrugged. “in any case. I think it’s you who has underestimated me. We can hold our own in a fight.” He said, holding his nose as high as Gwen did.

She rolled her eyes as he teased her. “Cute, eh?” she questioned. She knew he didn’t mean it and considering he was her best – only – friend, he would be permitted to say such a thing. Had he been anyone else he probably would have been met with annoyance, but Cordelia knew better. She watched as Eliel began to inspect Luriel, anxiety coursing through her at how reckless a decision that was.

When he screamed she jumped back, shielding her body with her arms as a reflex. “What the hell, are you okay?!” she asked, her eyes looking him up and down multiple times to see if there was any damage. There didn’t appear to be, but that didn’t mean that something hadn’t happened internally. What if he went back to Eraspeola? Oh, God….

That didn’t happen, however; there had been no reason for her paranoia. “Don’t scare me like that!” she commanded, her features hardening in frustration and annoyance finally. “That wasn’t funny! I thought you were going to die or something!” Not like he cared. As long as Eliel thought something was funny he was likely to go through with it, just like he had in the Cathedral when he had pretended she had killed him.

“And no, I did not underestimate you. I’m telling the truth. You’re an insanely naïve drow for being over two centuries old, you’re stupid, impulsive, dump… and all you have to protect you is Gwen! She won’t always be around to save you!” She looked down at the floor for a moment. Was there even a point in arguing still? “I know you’re going to do whatever you want in the end, but would it kill you to care about my opinion?”

Eliel smiled at her reaction when he screamed. “Hmm…” He simply said, shrugging. When she said all he had to protect him was Gwen, the umbra smiled a bit and Eliel rolled his eyes. “like hell she won’t. She’ll stick with me till we both die.” He shrugged. “She’s like my mum.”

He looked at her sincerely. “I’m sorry. And I realize that most decisions I make go against your logic… and most decisions I make get us in trouble… and nearly kill us… with poisoned darts… but I have to do this. Believe it or not, it’s not too comfy being half spider.”

He smiled at her. “Thank you for your concern, but I’m going to do this. And you know that.” He smiled at her sorrily. “It’s who I am.” He nodded his head at her. Gwen looked at her, giving her a face much like rolling eyes at Eliel.

“Anyhow, I’m not too sure about Abel. He screams a lot. Kinda annoying. Pretty, but annoying as hell.”

Cordelia sighed, giving in. There was no point in trying to change his mind… getting Eliel to change his mind was impossible; it was like trying to get her to change her mind. It was no easy task to do such a thing and she wasn’t surprised that she hadn’t been able to convince Eliel to do otherwise.

“Fine,” she said softly, backing off. “You know how I feel. You know I think you’re an idiot. Hell, you know you’re an idiot. So go do what you must, and if you die, well… I’ll have to fix that.” She shrugged. Dying was a very likely possibility, especially with the risky plan he had set in place.

“As for the bird,” she began, “you could always kill it and eat it. Then it can’t very well scream and such, can it?” She stuck her tongue between her teeth, laughing quietly. She was only half-joking, of course. After what that bird had done to hurt Eliel, she wanted it to suffer.

Eliel nodded at her, but snapped his head to her as she said fix that… “are you implying you would make me a vampire?” He asked curiously. He always wondered what it would be like. Certainly he would be faster, stronger, more agile. But there would be consequences.

“I dunno. Abel just looks pretty, I think. May not taste very good. Besides.” He poked his black tongue out. “He’s an expensive bird.” He chuckled. It was true, too. Mena had paid a good bit of gold to get her hands on that egg…

Eliel smiled at her. “I’d best get going soon. Need my sleep if I plan to storm the underdark soon.” He smiled at her, strapping the scimitar to his belt.

“I’ll see you later. And by the way, this man…” he frowned. “…Manic. I’d like to meet him. Get to know him a bit, perhaps. Should be quite an interesting meeting.” He cracked his knuckles.

Cordelia shrugged her shoulders innocently. “If that’s what it came to,” she said. If he was hurt and that was the only option left then she wouldn’t just allow him to die. Eliel meant too much to her for her to just allow him to die. “With or without your consent.”

She nodded as soon as he said that he needed to leave. She understood. Besides, she didn’t want to keep him around any longer than what was necessary, considering the state he was currently in.

As soon as he said the name Manic, her face paled somewhat and she became somewhat nervous. He knew that Manic had been the one to blind her, and a long, long time ago she would have been overjoyed with the way he was speaking. Now, though, after everything they had been through, she didn’t like it very much and if Eliel was implying he would hurt Manic she wasn’t going to allow it.

“You hurt him and I swear Eliel, I will….” She bit her lip, not quite sure what she would do. She knew that Manic currently wanted her dead, but she could change that and she planned on it. “You get in the way and I won’t hesitate to hurt you.” Her eyes narrowed, a serious look of malice beginning to form inside of them. “Am I being clear enough?”

Eliel looked at Cordelia with a curious look. She didn’t want him to hurt manic? But he was the one that made her life hell. He was the one who turned her into a crispy vampire with no sight. Eliel frowned.

“Very well.” He said with a nod. “I can respect your wishes.” He winked at her. “For once.” He chuckled. Standing, he smiled at her and glided to her door on his eight spindly legs.

“I hope to the gods to see you soon.” He said with a nod, backing out the doorway. Gwen rubbed against Cordie’s leg and followed Eliel out the door, looking back sadly.

The both of them knew this could very well be their last adventure. “I don’t know how long I’ll be. But I’m going to do it.”

Cordelia sighed in relief when he said that he would leave Manic alone. She didn’t need another person to get involved in this mess, and above all she just didn’t want Manic getting hurt. “I’m not sure I trust you entirely about this,” she grumbled, shifting her weight between her feet out of uncertainty. “But I’ll believe you for now and if you do otherwise I’ll deal with it accordingly.” That was all she could do, anyway. She couldn’t watch over him and make sure he didn’t break his promise, and even if she could she wasn’t about to waste her time with such a thing.

She lowered her hand to stroke along Gwen’s back as the umbra rubbed against her leg and followed her master. She nodded once, agreeing with his statement. “I do too. I wish you’d bring someone along….” She had been about to suggest Fefnir, but decided against it. The boy was still a child and might even be scarred by Eliel’s appearance. “I know you can handle yourself, but still.”

“Good luck.” Cordelia lifted a hand to rest against his shoulder, raising herself up on her toes a bit to be able to do so. “I hope you don’t die or make me come after you.” Straightforward and genuine. If he wound up getting himself killed, she was going to have to kill a lot of people to get revenge and as fun as that would be, it would take quite a long time.

Eliel smiled at her as she put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll be fine. Just don’t worry about me too much.” He smiled at her and placed his hand over hers for a second, backing away. He looked around the empty, shadow-filled streets with a chuckle. This was going to be lighter than it would be for a while. He didn’t know how long he would be gone.

Eliel swept on his pelt and began walking down the street, Gwen following close behind. The umbra blended in with the shadows, Eliel’s black fur growing less visible as he ventured further from the lanterns.

Eliel exited Balefire, looking back at it for a moment before setting off for Norwood, for his home and his homeland. A heavy sadness weighted him down, making each step feel heavier. There was no telling what would happen in all. He would be forced to become Eraspeola once more, in order to fit in. which meant bringing Abel along.

Eliel walked, each step bringing him to a shrouded future, unpredictable. A life of order to cover the underlying life of chaos.

Watch out Menzoberranzan.