Eliel sat in the grass of the clearing, looking around. There were several mounds of stacked rock set on the edge to the clearing, equally spaced. They, used with his tower, formed a sort of sundial. He turned his attention on the space before him. He had been moving a particularly large rock, with Gwen’s help, for the last of his time markers, when it had rolled over a weak spot in the earth and had sunken in, into a tunnel he had assumed. It sat at half its height, hanging there, held up by the ground around it and the rock on the tunnel.

Darkness was here, Eliel was waiting for Cordelia to show. He’d sent Abel off with a letter describing what happened and to come over quickly. He’d sent it a while ago, even with Abel’s wingspan it would take some time to arrive at Balefire.

Eliel yawned and lay back on the grass, laying his head on Gwen’s side and dozed off to sleep, waiting for her to arrive and dreaming of the darkness of the tunnels, the things that could inhabit them.

* * * *

Eliel sneezed, waking. Stars were out, the sky was clear. He sat up, stretching. Cordelia should be here any moment now. Eliel yawned and walked over to the small pond, full of lilypads, guarded by a boulder. He splashed the fresh water into his face to wake himself.

Earlier that evening Cordelia had received a letter from Eliel, delivered by Abel. At first she had been completely disinterested in whatever the letter said, but in time she had picked it up and now her curiosity had set in. Eliel’s life was filled with adventure; it seemed to follow him. It was inevitable… even in his own backyard adventure found him. Honestly, sometimes, Cordelia felt as if she had another child with how much trouble he got himself into.

Sweeping the drow piwafwi around her, Cordelia made her way to Norwood to Eliel’s house, the sheath of the poison blade bouncing lightly against her leg with each step she took. For once she wasn’t wearing her red jacket; instead there was just a plain, black shirt underneath the cloak. Any other adornments would have been a bit much, especially if this led to where she thought it would lead to.

Looking down and away from the path, Cordelia turned her attention to the somewhat wrinkled paper in her hands, reading over the words quickly again. Tunnels and boulders… she really was hoping this didn’t lead to another adventure. The last time they had gone on one of those silly things, Eliel’s sister had been killed and then he had gone crazy.

Pocketing the paper, Cordelia raked a hand through her hair and looked up to see she was already at the tower. She contemplated knocking on the door but decided against it and instead made her way to the back of the house, where she assumed the sundial would be. She arrived in time to see him splash water on his face and cleared her throat to make her presence known.

“You requested my presence?” she stated in the form of a question, extending her arms off to her sides to show that she was here. “So what’s this all about, hmm? Something about a sundial and boulder and a tunnel… oh hell, I don’t know.” Cordelia walked closer to him, folding her arms over her chest as she waited for a deeper explanation.

Eliel peered over to her with a smile. “What? Is it so bad to simply wish for your presence? Perhaps I simply wanted to see your face and a bit of help from a strangely strong vampire.” He said innocently. “Of course, i do have a reason for inviting you.” He shrugged helplessly.

Eliel stood and waved an arm at the boulder sunk in the ground, with Gwen laying next to it, a large mass of black fur, gently rising and falling. However, she was awake, her eyes were open and following their movements. Eliel rolled his eyes at her. “Gwen, get up. I doubt you’ve slept since yesterday, have you?” He said with a cocked eyebrow.

Looking at cord and clapping his hands together, he chuckled. “Just thought it might be nice to ask you in person if you’d like to risk your life with me again.” He smiled, honestly seeing nothing wrong with what he was saying. For such an experienced, talented man, he was rather naïve.

Eliel walked over to Cordelia and beamed at her. “Now how about helping me move this rock, eh?” He asked her with a smile, walking over and placing both hands on it’s rough face, a knee on the ground, toes dug into the dirt.

“Doubtful.” Cordelia gave him a knowing look; he wouldn’t waste her time calling her here just to see her face. Then again, he probably would. Eliel was annoying enough to do such a thing and she put a great amount of trust in his stupidity. As he said he had a reason Cordelia continued to wait, at least until he waved toward the boulder. At that point Cordelia made her way over to the location, her eyebrows lifted in wonderment.

She knew he had been going to say that. Sighing, Cordelia put her head in her hands and began to shake her head, her laughter quiet at first before gaining in volume. After a few moments she lowered her hands and stopped laughing, though she still continued to shake her head. “Eliel, we both have families and you still want to put us in danger for a bit of fun? I swear, I will never understand you.” Cordelia looked up at the sky before clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, returning her gaze to Eliel. Already she could feel herself giving in, but for the sake of her sanity she would do her best not to give in so easily.

Rolling her eyes, Cordelia took her place by his side at the rock, studying it for a moment. She looked down at her belt and removed her berserk potion, taking a small sip from it before returning it to its place. She didn’t really need it, being a vampire and all, but whatever got this over with fastest…. “If I get killed because of you, I will come back and haunt you, are we clear?”

“You are so lucky I like you,” she grumbled, rolling up her sleeves and sweeping the sides of the cloak behind her shoulders. She took a stance similar to Eliel’s, placing her hands against the side of the boulder and pushing her weight against it. “Otherwise… I would never even consider doing this sort of crap for you!”

Eliel smiled at her as she walked over, sipping her potion and pushing with him. The boulder groaned, shifting a little. Eliel dug his feet into the soft ground and gave a heave, Gwen pushing along with him. The boulder ground against something loudly, then rose and was pulled out of the hole. It set down on the edge, both Eliel and Gwen moving away from it at the same time.

Eliel chuckled. “Very good.” He moved closer to the hole, looking down. A hollow sort of sound echoed down it, growing quieter. He frowned, shifting his spectrum of light. The cavern gave a cool black, lighting up. He grinned a little. “Ah, I should have known. I looked at so many maps…” He chuckled.

“It appears I live on the obsidian tunnels in the dark lands.” He grinned. “If I remember correctly, this particular section leads north, towards the mountains.” He grinned at Cordelia. “So. Will you come with me? I can assure you it will be worth your time.”

Eliel chuckled, walking over to Cordelia with a toothy smile. “I’m going to go get ready. Make yourself at home.” He walked to the right of his tower, to the double doors. Placing a hand on it, he pushed, heavy doors swinging open. Stifling a yawn, he walked inside and upstairs, slipping out of his dirty shirt and getting dressed.

Cordelia looked down at Gwen when she came to help, not giving her too much attention before her focus was shifted to the task at hand. Once the boulder began to move she pushed harder, glad to see that this hadn’t taken very long. If they had spent the whole night just trying to move some oversized rock she would have been very upset. She backed away with the other two, folding her arms over her chest and rubbing the opposite arm with each hand. It hadn’t put too much strain on her – in fact, it had been relatively easy – but she still felt the need to put on the dramatics.

At the mention of the Dark Lands, Cordelia’s jaw dropped, a look of disbelief entering her eyes. Was he even serious? “No, I’m not coming!” she shrieked. “The last time we went anywhere near that damned place you turned into some demonic-Eliel thing and your sister –” Cordelia stopped herself suddenly, sure that the subject of Mena’s death was still a sore spot for him. She sighed and looked away, lowering her arms. “I’m sorry.” The words came out mumbled, but they were sincere all the same.

“I have no choice, do I?” she asked, exasperated. “Someone has to make sure you come out alive when you do this stuff…” Cordelia smiled weakly before grinning, lifting her hands together and cracking her knuckles. “I swear, sometimes I feel like your mother.” She shook her head and turned as he began to walk toward his tower, following after him. She stepped inside the house, staying in the main room to wait for him.

“You’d better hurry up! I won’t wait for you!” she called up the stairs, unsure of where his room was and if he could hear her. “And you’d better not leave precious Nemael here all by himself, you terrible father you!” She was joking with the last part of the statement of course, but she really didn’t want that baby to be left here alone.

Eliel turned his head as she mentioned Mena. He brushed it off however, turning to look at her. Apparently it made her feel bad enough to take back her statement about not going. He smiled at her. “You shouldn’t feel like my mother. You’re not that terrible a person.” He poked his tongue out.

Once finished dressing, Eliel went downstairs and smiled at Cordelia. “Nemael’s fine, left him to his wet-nurse in Norwood this evening. She’s a fine woman.” He winked at Cordelia. “In several ways.” He laughed and walked to his hidden space between the bookshelves, pushing it in, a spring releasing the compartment door. Eliel took out everything, all of his swords, both daggers, his wand. He walked over to the mannequin and took his armor off it, sliding it on. He chuckled as it slid over him perfectly, custom fitted. He took his piwafwi off as well and slipped it on, looking at Cordelia. He smiled as he realized something.

Eliel nodded towards the cloak as he picked up the green gem set in gold, his earthmeld gem, and slid it under his gauntlet, onto the back of his hand, pressing into his skin lightly He smiled. “Remember that pelt I had? That let me turn into a wolf?” He smiled, rubbing at the new black wolf fur lining. He pulled the hood over his face and spoke a couple arcane words, activating it. The lining expanded and covered him, turning him into the big black wolf with crimson eyes. Eliel turned back, piwafwi returning to normal.

Eliel smiled, picking up a large leather pouch with an ornate buckle. He undid it and smiled, strapping Luriel to his belt and his scimitar to his back. He placed the black steel dagger on his thigh and the silver dagger in his boot, slipping his wand to its rightful place.

With a wink, he opened the bag and set Lan de Yue Jia above it, sliding it easily into the much too small bag. Tossing a few other bits in, including Roy, he closed it and smiled at Cordelia. “Useful thing, this bag.”

Walking to the door, he waved at Cordelia. “Come along, then. Before it gets light out.” He walked out back to the hole. “Ladies first.” He said with a grin, bowing slightly and waving a hand to the gaping maw of a hole.

A short, sharp, but loud laugh came from her when he mentioned his mother. It wasn’t the fact that his mother had been a despicable woman that was funny, but rather the irony of it all. “Oh, bah,” Cordelia said. “She doesn’t count. You should know that.” She waved her hand in dismissal. People as horrible as Eliel’s mother didn’t count as parents, or even people for that matter. Cordelia wasn’t the shining representation of holy, but she knew that there was a line and she tried not to cross it. Sometimes.

She waited at the foot of the stairs for Eliel, unintentionally scowling when he mentioned the wet-nurse. “Can you trust that woman with him for the night?” she asked warily, suddenly feeling panicked. She ignored his statement about her being a nice woman – that didn’t matter right now. “She won’t hurt him, right? Or, or, or kidnap him, right? What if, what if – Eliel!” Cordelia whined. It was silly to be this distraught over something this miniscule, she knew that, but she just couldn’t help herself. The vampire lady sighed and ran a hand through her hair, messing it up and then pushing a few locks of black hair out of her face. “He won’t need her for very long, right…? He won’t come to think of her as Mommy, right?” There was a hint of jealousy to her tone. If Nemael wound up thinking that random, strange woman who Eliel probably didn’t even consider a best friend was his motherly figure, then Cordelia had absolutely no purpose in his life! That was outrageous!

While she had been throwing a fit Eliel had been taking his weapons out of the cabinet and getting ready. Cordelia had no reason to do such a thing; she had both of her main weapons on her and her magic was always with her. When he mentioned the wolf pelt, she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “Don’t remind me, please.” She rolled her eyes when he turned into the wolf. “You’re a really ugly dog, you know that?” She wrinkled her nose, scoffing somewhat. She didn’t like animals, animals didn’t like her, and she would be a lot more comfortable if Eliel would just revert to his true form.

At the sight of the bag and how easily everything fit into it her eyebrows lifted. “You and your trinkets…” she said with a sigh, lifting her left hand to cup her chin and cheek while she waited for him. “If you planned on going on an adventure, the least you could have done was been prompt. You know I wouldn’t have said no and I just hate waiting.” Cordelia lowered her hand and rolled up her sleeve, tapping at her wrist to indicate he was wasting time.

Once he left she followed him, walking by his side toward the hole in the ground. She smirked at his words. “Then why didn’t you go in first, hmm?” Cordelia threw her head back and laughed, stepping down into the hole. She reached back and grabbed his arm, yanking him in after her. “Come along now. You’re leading the way, dear.”

Eliel smiled at her as she began to stress out about Nemael. He turned to her and put both hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. “Cordie, don’t worry. He’s fine.” He chuckled a little. “Abel’s with him.” He chuckled as he remembered bringing Nemael there. “Little man tried to strangle me when I handed him over.” He smiled.

Eliel winked at her. “He only needs her for a little bit more. You’ll be a fine ‘mommy’.” Eliel chuckled and let his hands slide off. He strapped the pack to his side, looking every bit like some warlord from the north in his heavy piwafwi, black cuirass, gauntlet, and blades. “Fineries fit for a king.” He smiled, licking his thumb and running it over a dirty spot in the armor. Satisfied, he left it alone after that.

Eliel fell down into the hole after Cordelia, various armor and weapons pulling him down at a deadly speed. It was a possibility he could be crushed. He fell and seemed to hit the ground, then sink into it without stopping. Eliel was gone for a moment, then the black floor gave a ripple and Eliel seemed to rise out of it upright with a critical look on his face.

“Not a very nice move, woman.” He said, eyebrow raised. He poked his tongue out at her and chuckled. Thinking about his save, he turned his head to her as he began walking down the tunnel, Gwen landing behind them softly. “Trinkets.” He explained with a chuckle.

Eliel looked around with a smile. “Hmm. We’re a bit farther in than I originally thought.” He frowned, thinking hard. Sighing, he opened his pack and reached in, arm up to the elbow in the impossibly large inside of the bag. He pulled out two maps. One was of Imythess, the other of the explored regions of the Dark Lands, fitting over each other. Inspecting each one, he planted a black finger on the dark lands map. “We’re here, right next to this cavern. A little further on, we should turn into this one.” He stated as if he knew what he was doing, though it was evident he didn’t. As he spoke, his finger traced their path, through a small cavern and up into a rather long and large cavern. He knew this section. He had visited it before, with Rith. He had also made a mistake.

“Be careful.” He said with a faint grin. “Big things grow down here.” He heard the sounds of a small pond ahead being moved it, a clicking noise disturbingly loud. Eliel drew his blade with a grim smile.

Cordelia swallowed as he took hold of her, a look of vulnerability coming over her face that could only stem from a mother’s worry. Technically she wasn’t Nemael’s mother, but she would be the closest thing he had to one and she took that incredibly seriously. “But…” she protested still, although she didn’t know what else to fight back with. She whimpered in defeat.

As they descended through the hole Cordelia yelped once, a short lived sound although it echoed around. She, too, hit the ground, groaning and coughing as a cloud of dirt rose around her. She sat up after a moment, recovering rather quickly. She brushed herself off and got to her feet, glaring at Eliel.

“Well I’m not a very nice person,” she said in response, sticking her tongue out right back at him. “You should know that by now. Seeing you fall like that was worth it.” All right, so she hadn’t really seen him fall – but she knew that he had and it was that fact that made it all worth it.

Cordelia watched as he took out the maps, going to leave the navigating to him. She didn’t even want to be here, let alone try and figure out where they were. As he tried to explain what cavern they were in, Cordelia just rolled her eyes. “You think I care?” she asked. “I just want to go and get this over with!”

“… What sort of big things?” she asked gravely, hearing the noise as well. Cordelia’s hand slid to her own blade, noticing Eliel had done so just moments before she had. “I swear Eliel, if I die because of you I will never let you forget it…”

“That I know.” He said laughing as she mentioned not being a nice lady. He shrugged, Luriel shining in the beam of starlight from the hole above. Looking back at her suspiciously, he pouted. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you like seeing me injured, dear.” He sighed.

“I’d think you care, seeing as this tunnel will lead under the dragonspines. Could get rough going.” He shrugged. Smiling and looking to the source of the sounds, he chuckled. “Oh, the usual. Hook horrors, Mole dragons, basilisks. The usual.” He smiled at her. “Nothing too bad.”

Holding an armored finger to his lips, he pointed ahead. “Hook horrors.” He said, looking around the sharp corner, seeing the nine foot beasts in their armor-like shells, bony hooks for hands and elephant-like feet. “very good hearing.” He winked and crept along the wall. The hook horrors were preoccupied, looking for food. Which could easily be them if they made a wrong move. Eliel sank into the wall near one of them, leaving Cordelia in the open with Gwen.

“Of course I do,” Cordelia said innocently with a childish grin. “Not terribly hurt, but you know.” She didn’t like seeing him being mortally wounded; she had learned that back at the cathedral a long time ago when he had pretended to die because of her. Considering Eliel was the only actual friend she had, she didn’t want to lose him any time soon and she would do everything in her power to keep him around. Maybe it was selfish, but there were very few people she cared about and she would be damned if she let herself lose them.

Her nose wrinkled then in confusion. “Dragonspines?” she questioned, feeling a bit uneasy with that mentioned. However, she felt even more uneasy when he mentioned the type of creatures they would encounter. “Eliel… I should kill you right now!” she hissed, lifting her hand, about ready to slap him but holding back. Her once flattened out hand clenched into a fist and she lowered her arm steadily, albeit the tensed muscles were trembling due to just how much she wanted to hurt him.

Cordelia froze when he said the name of the creatures that were near and looked down at Gwen. She bit her lip, walking along the wall silently behind Eliel until he disappeared. Once he did her eyes widened and she banged on the wall where he sank in, regretting the decision immediately. She glanced over her shoulder, hoping the hook things hadn’t heard.

“Eliel, get out of there, what are you doing?” she hissed quietly into the wall, looking to Gwen and then away again, preparing all of her magic.

Eliel’s face appeared in stone, black eyes looking at Cordelia. He needed her to make more noise. And he knew how to do so. “Sorry, love. Out of my control.” He shrugged and retreated back into the wall, the Hook horrors approaching as quickly as their birdlike feet could carry them.

Eliel moved up the wall a bit and emerged behind one of the nine foot monsters, Luriel out and gleaming. The hostile beasts were an evil sort, attacking innocent passerby with no provocation. The blade almost hummed with its own holy anger at the creatures. Eliel slid two finger of his left hand together, making a grating screech. The hook horror paused, rocking forward a bit with its momentum. Out of the shadows behind, Gwen pounced, slamming into the creature’s back. She rode it, using its own momentum and her near equal weight to drive it hard into the ground, leaping off when it slammed into the floor. Her weight made a weak spot in the armor, Eliel taking advantage of it and driving it down.

Eliel felt a moment of resistance before the armor gave in to Luriel’s anger and tip. It slid in quickly, but not quickly enough. An arm had flailed back, catching him full in the face. Eliel’s cheekbone was broken, blood running down the side of his face. Luriel sensed the injury of its owner and drew upon another, newer power. Life was drained from the creature, flowing into Eliel. His cheek warmed and repaired, Eliel pulling away and bouncing back. The hook horror rolled over, showing no apparent pain, getting up. The wound would not close, however, Luriel’s enchantments keeping it open.

The horror fell at his feet, sending a quake through the cavern. Eliel turned around to see two more watching him hesitantly. He smiled and backed up towards Cordelia. “You make amazing bait, dear.”

Cordelia’s jaw dropped in shock, complete and utter shock. How could he do this to her?! She pounded on the wall where his face had appeared, unsure if she had hit him but hoping so. “You son of a…!” she exclaimed, anger boiling in her belly and causing the normally freezing flesh of her face to heat up just a little.

She could hear the feet then and time slowed down due to paranoia. What the hell did she have to fight these sorts of things…? They weren’t creatures she normally encountered; in fact she wasn’t sure if she had ever even heard of a ‘Hook Horror’ before coming down here with Eliel. Squirming slightly, she pushed her back against the wall and looked around, her left hand sliding down to the poison blade at her side. Would it even do any good to use that thing, would poison have any affect? Bah, it didn’t matter. It was sharp and the jagged edges would have to do some sort of damage.

But before she even had a chance or a need to defend herself Eliel emerged from the wall, Gwen taking down the thing and him finishing it off. Relief spread through her and she momentarily forgot the anger she had held for him just moments ago. Within moments the thing was dead and she winced at the tremor it sent through the cavern as it hit the ground.

Again she winced as Eliel neared her, backing up just slightly. Luriel’s intense holy power was a bit too much for her to take and she didn’t want to be near it when it was so angry. At the mention of bait, Cordelia’s eyes widened and she took her chances, speedily putting herself directly in front of Eliel and grabbing him tightly near the base of his neck.

“Bait?! What?!” Cordelia’s voice was shrill again. “What’s wrong with you, do I look like Hook-whatever food to you?!” Her fingers pressed tighter into him, a growl lifting from her throat. “Oh I could strangle you, I could strangle you! Do you think this is funny?! Ugh! I want out of this little adventure now if you’re going to keep doing this to me!”

Eliel’s eyes opened wider as she seized his throat, strangling him, fuming and spouting anger at him in a verbal form. He paused for a moment before finding breath. “If you didn’t notice…” He said, waving a hand at the hook horror. “It’s dead and you’re not.” He said with a smile. “If you like, you can leave now. But the exit is either back through menzoberranzan, or that way, which is relatively safer. But at the moment occupied by two other hook horrors that are drooling and coming after us fairly quickly.”

Breaking away from her death grip, he pointed at the hook horrors coming after them. Eliel cursed as one broke off his way. He tilted backwards, and then moved forward, gaining momentum and charging it. At the last second, he brought Luriel up, swinging it. With a sickening snap, it cracked the plate on one birdlike leg and came through the other side like an axe in wood.

Gwen bounded from the shadows, once more hitting and jumping off the thing’s back. It fell to the ground, unable to get up. Eliel plunged the blade into a seam where two plates of shell overlapped. Luriel slid in, razor sharp tip leading the way. The beast froze, then fell limp.

Eliel felt bruises heal as Luriel healed him, drawing energy from the creature’s life. Looking at the other hook horror, going at Cordelia, he sheathed his blade and reached a hand under his cloak in case she needed assistance with the nine foot, three hundred and fifty pound armored beast.

((OoC: ZOMGZ SHORT. DX lol haha. I would have made it longer but... hell if I know what affects these hook horrors and what doesn't... and I won't wait for you to come on MSN so I can ask.))

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Oh, she could have killed him right then and there, and she really should have. Eliel had a point, no matter how wrong he was to have used her as bait. Cordelia’s eyes, along with her entire demeanor, darkened considerably. “If we ever make it out alive,” she warned, “you’d best watch your back. Hook horrors won’t be the only things after you.” Once everything had settled down she could bash his head in, but now wasn’t the time.

She watched, for a few moments, as Eliel went to meet the horror that was after him. Luriel’s holy power still made her uneasy, both because of her alignment and her race, but as long as it didn’t come in close contact with it she thought she would be all right. She didn’t have much time however to pay attention to his antics, considering there was another one coming at her. Cursing, she cast blink to land herself behind the thing and unsheathed her poison blade, swinging it back around in the hopes she would hit it. With the armor, she wasn’t quite so sure it would work, so with her right hand she cast venom bolt and threw it back at the horror. Cordelia’s gaze shifted momentarily over to Eliel before returning to the horror, eyes narrowed.