Freezing saltwater struck him in the face, violently bringing him back to consciousness. His head hurt, and he thought that the arrow he’d taken was still stuck in his flesh. He was stripped to his undergarments, and his arms were tied backward, around a tree. There were Drow elves all around him working at various tasks, but two men were standing a few feet away, one holding the now empty bucket and the other with his palm on the hilt of his sword.

“He’s so pale. Disgusting!” the one on the left said. He dropped his bucket and stared at their prisoner. Their skin was shiny and black like they were carved from ebony.

“Your kind have been missing for thousands of years, where have you been all this time?” The other one asked. Indrani just looked at them, not speaking. They took his silence as a sign of disrespect. “Merk, show this traitor what happens to prisoners that do not cooperate.”

Merk pulled a leather strap from around his shoulder and gripping it firmly in his fist, he whipped the elf across the chest, leaving an instant bruise from armpit to pelvic bone. Indrani grunted at the pain, and then they noticed that his body was already covered in the scars from countless brutal whippings.

Merk stepped closer, bringing his torch close, “See that Tal? The scar on his neck.” The scar was long, stretching nearly around the side and front of his neck and throat. “I would wager that’s why he doesn’t speak.”

“What kind of scuffles have you been getting into?” Tal asked.

“Do you think he even understands us?”

“They speak the common tongue,” Tal said. The Mavit Tomar told us that they escaped from… somewhere and were now plentiful in a far-off land.”

“If they all bear scars like this one, perhaps they have not had the happy life that we’ve been told all these years. We are angry about them leaving us, forgetting about us, but it may not be by their own choice that we were left alone.”

A warning cry echoed through the small village. People began running around, taking up their weapons, and heading to the shore. Tal and Merk stayed with their prisoner, but almost everyone ran to where the pirate ship was burning. A bird trailing fire from its wings and tail soared over them, then turned to douse the assembled Drow soldiers in fire. Their screams broke the night and even turned Indrani’s stomach, even though he had no love for his dark cousins.

“I don’t know what manner of magic this is, but a hundred good men are burnt to death and I’m sure that it’s because of you!” Tal said as he pulled his sword and raised it to execute their captive. With his arm raised high, it was easy for Charity to plunge one of her daggers between his ribs. She pulled it out and ran the blade across his throat and then let him drop. Merk turned to fight but became encased in a gem that was taller and wider than he was, with a light pink hue to the clear crystal. His face didn’t even have time to register shock, and it was still grimacing with an angry expression. He would still be alive for another minute or so till his air ran out.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Indrani, brother!” Dulcinea said with concern in her voice. Charity cut his bonds, and both the female elves helped him down. He signed a few works to Dulcinea and pointed at the broken arrow still sticking from his shoulder. “I’m sorry. This is going to hurt.” He nodded and growled as she ripped the metal-tipped shaft from his body. There was chaos going on all around them, but she ignored it and began a healing spell. The bleeding stopped and the pain lines in his face slackened.

“I don’t even know these people,” Nicholas said while defending himself against two Drow elves. “I’ve never met a black elf before and now they’re trying to kill me!”

“I’ve known you for years, and sometimes I want to kill you,” Connor replied. He lifted his shield just in time to deflect a thrust from one of the elves. “They are supporting the pirates with weapons and these ‘cannon’ things. Weapons like that can tear down castle walls and shred plate armor like a pen through wet parchment.”

“They dislike us, but they seem to hate our elven friends. I was hoping that we had found a place for the elves to move to; to find a homeland that they can call their very own. They are not getting along with the Inoans.”

“The elves want to put down roots and create a new country of their own. The Inoans abhor the idea of owning the land and denying them free passage across the lands they’ve historically hunted for thousands of years.”

Nicholas swung Soulbane in a wide arc, just trying to create space between himself and one of the opponents he was facing. The blade turned ever so slightly in his hand, slipping under the man’s guard and drawing a short but deep gash across the neck. His opponent gurgled and clutched at his neck as his red blood fountained out of the severed artery. Nicholas pressed his attack, overwhelming the Drow with a flurry of attacks that lacked predictability and flowed with grace and strength.

Radek was only a dozen feet away, with a dozen men at his back. He contemplated his enemy as he launched himself at a pair of them. They are evil and they do evil things, yet their innate nature is not evil like the Banshee. One of the elves he was fighting connected with his shoulder, but the blow careened off his plate mail armor. He felt the impact, these dark elves are strong like their light-skinned brothers, but they wear only leather armor and lack the disciplined stances of a true knight. He hacked at the elf, his blade biting deep into the dark forearm. The man howled and dropped his guard, allowing Radek to push his sword point through the man’s chest.

The fighting was instantly intense, dozens more Drow were coming from behind every tree in the stock of woods. Without warning, a brilliant light appeared a dozen feet above everyone’s head. A ball of pure brilliance cut through the darkness and helped the humans to see what they were up against. The Drow elves on the other hand recoiled at the bright light. They had been toiling away through the night and it seemed that they were nocturnal. They covered their eyes and all who could, ran for the cover of their nearby cave network.

The soldiers turned to see Ingram standing behind them, “I just wanted to help. I had no idea that a bright light would send them literally, ‘running for the hills’.”

“It’s a blessing. Let’s get out of here,” Connor ordered.

“I’m not walking through the woods again,” Dulcinea said as she made a portal.