Dark of Night

Dark of Night: Part Two



Characters:

Windige

Gabonno and Jhalil Mbongja / Malrath and Perion D'havok




       Coiling and spinning through the air, the Himmel avoided some lightning before descending downwards, having spotted the carriage lying astrew on the side of the road. Winding in for a landing, Windige skidded to a halt in her hurry, scaring the one horse that was alive that shied away from her in fright. The other horse was dead, hit by a boulder that had smashed the one side of the carriage. Quickly, Windige rummaged through the mess, finding the one suitcase Gabonno had mentioned, grabbed it, and went immediately back into the sky. The whole process only took a few minutes, but it was long enough for Windige to grow frantic.

Gabonno, after some wild finagling, managed to remove Jhalil's chain shirt. He made a mental note to have their armor modified so it could be easily doffed.

The skin underneath Jhalil's armor was not the same as his hands and face. Rather than being a deep brown, his chest was as black as the deepest night. Because of his skin color, it did not show the heavy bruising across his stomach as paler skin would. But Gabonno could clearly see that without more attention, his brother would slowly fade away and die. He had too many broken ribs, and there was probably extensive damage to his organs. Gabonno glanced up, searching the dark and stormy skies for Windige, but he couldn't see very far due to the rain.

A soft noise to one side sounded through the air, and Windige's form loomed above him, with the suitcase held in a claw. "Is he any better?"

Gabonno accepted the case and immediately opened it, revealing numerous odds and ends. One side of the suitcase, various wigs, foundations, skin powders, and paints filled the space. Gabonno ignored this part, not caring if Windige saw what was inside. Instead, he pulled several supplies from the other side: two vials filled with more of the silvery liquid, gauzes, ointments, and bandages.

"I'm no surgeon," he admitted glumly as he popped the cork on the first vial and poured it down his brother's throat, massaging the other man's neck to induce swallowing. "My brother and I rely on ourselves and each other for everything. So we make sure to have supplies to fill in for what we lack." It became clear that the silver liquid was some kind of curative drink that, once imbibed, flowed throughout the body to aid and speed the healing process.

For many long minutes, Gabonno continued to work on his brother's prone form, patching up the cuts he had sustained and finally wrapping Jhalil's ribcage with bandages to reinforce the broken ribs. The healing potions had apparently done their part but were far from complete or perfect, but after nearly half an hour of work, during which the rain continued to pour, Gabonno straightened and wiped his forehead with his sleeve--in the process wiping away the brown paint on the skin there to reveal skin as black as coal.

"I suppose you've already figured out we are not who we seemed to be at first," he told Windige. His emotions were carefully guarded, but a hint of regret, doubt, and tension radiated from him. "Malrath," he said at length, then waited for a response.

She wasn't sure what the last thing he said was, perhaps another word from their language. "I already knew that..." Windige replied quietly, placing her body so that the rain would stop hitting them. "From the very beginning you were not what you seemed to be." She leaned her head down, nosing his chin where her tongue had licked off the makeup, from before.

The conscious brother nodded but said nothing. Instead, he walked out from underneath Windige and into the rain, where he pulled off the brown dreadlocks to reveal disheveled, white hair that hung down below his shoulders behind his head. He pulled a small clip from the top of each ear and let them unfurl, coming to points three inches long. Taking off his glasses, he stood there in the rain, letting the water wash the foundations and paints from his face that made him Gabonno.

Then, turning to Windige, the dökkálfar regarded her gravely. "Gabonno Mbongja does not exist to the world. I am Malrath D'havok, the Chain Which Breaks." He inhaled, giving off a distinct aura of resignation. "The one whose life you saved tonight, ussta jallil, is Perion D'havok, my brother."

Her head turned to watch him walk out, no facial changes on the Himmel's face when he fully revealed to her what he was. He was most certainly not human. Now what he had said about his ears made sense, and she moved herself so that only her tail was protecting Jhalil- now Perion. Supporting her body on her back legs, Windige extended her arms out, as if looking at her palms, but her eyes were on Malrath. "When Ramsies told me I had to hide who I actually was to his comrades, he did this to me."

Malrath, now soaked to the bone, looked over at Windige. "And what is that?" he asked, looking at her arms.

"You... don't know what this is?" Windige was puzzled; all humans knew this, so Ramsies had told her, "It is a hug." Her arms extended out a little more, expecting him to return the offer.

Malrath's violet eyes bulged, and his emotions flashed with confusion. "I..." Then he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You have much to learn about me and my brother," he said, but he came forward anyway, tentatively, radiating uncertainty, as he entered the space between her large paws.

Slowly she encompassed him with her arms, holding him with as much tenderness as his brother, awkwardly patting his back while bringing her head down towards him. "This is also a sign of trust, from me to you." She whispered, to be barely heard over the rain, "True, I do not know much about your brother and you, but you saved me, for higher purposes, or not, I thank you. Although I am going against my inner warning to flee, I am going to trust you, and hope, that you come to trust me."

Malrath let Windige embrace him, though he was clearly uncomfortable with the experience. "Ussta jallil..." he started. "I... Perion and I know little about trust. It is something we have not experienced once during our lives. He... is all I have, and I, all he has." He took a stabilizing breath and let one arm curl up to touch the fur on Windige's arm. "But... thank you. I can make no promises except for the one I made as Gabonno. As long as you are with us, we will keep the foul creatures known as humans away from you."

She nodded, "Well, you now have me. However I will let you know now," Her teeth separated close to his ear, "I don't like being threatened, and I have a feeling you don't either." Windige released him and leaned back, keeping herself above his brother. "Malrath, there are good humans in this world, if there wasn't, I wouldn't be here."

The dark-skinned elf sighed, straightening his soaked clothing. "I know, ussta jallil. I know some good humans, but my experience with them has mostly been negative." Overhead, lightning flashed, and three seconds later, thunder pealed out in the night. "And... I'm sorry for menacing you. It... I was afraid for my brother's life. It has been a trying night." He trudged over to the rock wall of the cliff and kicked stubbornly at one of the giant's stones that had landed there before plopping down in a slightly drier spot. At great length, as his emotions gave off a steady uncertainty, he added, "I have never hugged anyone but my brother, Windige. It... was not an unpleasant experience. Just... I don't know."

The Himmel raised her lip as she laughed heartily, "Being hugged by a giant cat-creature, I can imagine, just might confuse a person." Her chuckles disappeared into the rain as she turned it to a quiet sigh, "You and me, and your brother, we're more alike then I first thought."

Malrath gave her a half-hearted smile. "And more than you like to imagine, I think," he replied. "You know, during the ever-so-brief time you knew me as Gabonno Mbongja, I was trying to tell you to stop thinking of yourself as a mere animal, but rather as a person, an individual." He pulled out his glasses again and began cleaning them, though it was a futile effort. "Perion and I know what it is like when the world thinks of you as less than a person."

"My whole life Malrath, that is how I've been treated." She shook herself, sending water flying before she growled and looked upwards, "This damn rain, dampening my spirits..." Her body hunched, like when they opened her cage, and the fins only seen when she was touched upon the god given gift within her. Slowly, the rain started to cease, and the air dried her fur and the clothing that Malrath wore as the temperature steadily rose. "...I can keep this up for as long as we need to, preferably... not very long." Windige's fur twitched as she moved very stiffly.

Malrath gave an impressed laugh. "You are the one stopping the rain? Then, indeed, you are no animal, ussta jallil." He stood up and spent several minutes wringing out his drenched clothing. They went from soaking wet to merely wet. "Admittedly, you are not the first non-human to discover our true forms, merely the one to find out the soonest. My brother and I have been doing this sort of thing for... a while, I suppose."

She snickered, "I am an elemental my friend, not just a normal Himmel." Windige shook herself again for the final time, moving as if she were carrying a heavy weight on her shoulders as she waddled to a tree off to the side, glancing at him, before going behind it. Since the rain had stopped it was easy to hear the sound of liquid being spilled against its bark. She let out a quiet cough, "Sorry, using makes me urinate."

Malrath snorted and stood up. "I'm going to see what those giants left us in the coach." He looked pointedly at Perion. "Would you... would you mind watching over him for me?" His emotions vibrated with a mixture of uncertainty and embarrassment.

The Himmel finished and waddled back around, to face him before nodding, "You can trust me with him." Windige said solemnly, laying herself down next to the unconscious brother and giving Malrath a small grin.

"Don't let her pee on me," Perion suddenly said, his voice groggy and not very lucid.

Windige's eyes widened and she looked down at him, "Now why would I pee on you?" Her tongue wiped his face clean from the make-up, "Ah, there you are." Her teeth did quick work of the clips on his ears, and she brought her head back to see him how he really looked. "It is good to meet you, Perion."

Perion's eyes fluttered open, but they didn't focus on anything in front of them. All he could reply with was a loud and very stretched-out, "Owwwwwwwww!"

Malrath chuckled again and came over to see his brother. "Now, now, dear brother mine. That's no way to greet the lady who saved you from quite a fall." Then his face grew serious. "You'll survive?"

"Ungh."

"Sounds like it," Windige said, smiling in her own Himmel way. With her concentration broken, the clouds in the dark sky rumbled menacingly, warning them of the rain that wanted to continue. She grimaced at the sound and looked up like before, "We should get a move on," Her voice back to the familiar tone and quietness.

Malrath shook his head. "Perion's not going anywhere in this condition. How was the carriage? Any chance it might roll again? Were either of the horses at least still alive?"

"Smashed open, one horse dead." Windige tore up some wet dirt with a claw before adding, "-you could take the horse, and I can carry Perion. I can't keep this rain off us forever, we should move now." Her nose wrinkled as she glanced over at one of the giants corpses. "And, they stink."

"Giants... do," Perion wheezed. "Can't you... stop talking... about me... as if... I weren't... here?" He weakly raised one arm to tenderly feel his chest, wincing and withdrawing his hand at the pain.

Malrath thought about it for a moment. "It might be better to find shelter somewhere and leave come morning. There won't be any travelers on this road, anyway. At least, not those in their right minds."

"Which explains... why we're... here," Perion added.

"Perion?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Windige's ears pricked up at this completely different banter from them being 'Gabonno and Jhalil' to Malrath and Perion. However something felt wrong, and as her hackles rose slowly to that feeling she turned her head to the darkness and squinted. "I... will drag their bodies away from here, they will bring bad things, then, I will find a way to shelter us." With that said, the Himmel rose and stepped away from them and into the trees, not going far before she lifted a leg on the tree she had watered earlier, and set her musk upon it. Quickly, her nerves settled as whatever had been out there had left.

Malrath nodded at her. "Stay here," he said to Perion.

"Not going... much of... anywhere," the younger brother replied.

Malrath jogged the short distance back to the carriage. The remaining horse had moved away but was still easily found by its hoof prints in the mud. After several minutes spent calming the beast, Malrath brought it back, re-saddled it with a riding saddle and bags, and loaded the creature up with everything he could salvage from the carriage. Ten minutes later, he, leading the horse, walked back to Perion, carrying the other two suitcases with him. He glanced around for Windige.

Moving the corpses was no easy task, but for the most part she succeeded, kicking sod over the blood and viscera scattered on the ground to decrease the smell. Shaking her fur free of grime, Windige trotted back to Perion, checked him, then walked down a little ways along the cliff face. When Malrath came back, Windige looked at him till he saw her, "I'm going to make us a cave."

"If you think it's necessary," Malrath said, glancing up at the sky, which gave no sign of letting up with the rain anytime soon. "Perion and I can probably shelter under any small overhang." Then he raised an eyebrow, now white that the rain had washed away the dark dye he had used. "You can make a cave that quickly?"

"I will try..." She braced herself with her back legs, feeling along the rock with her paws for any cracks, checking above her height before fingering along the edge she wanted to make. A few times she had to side step and retry, but it wasn't long before she found a spot that would suit her. "Stay back," Windige warned Malrath, in case he came forward to help.

Her thick tail, which had previously not shown any use till now touched against the rock, then she brought it back and slammed it across. A loud crack sounded, and Windige, now letting her tail drag, touched against the stone again. Her claws found the crack, pulled at it, then took out a large chunk of rock.

Malrath watched, and though his face gave away no expression, his feelings radiated with an impressed vibration. While she worked, he went and retrieved the spiked chain he had left in the mud. Even as the weapon had lain, unattended, on the ground, its links had continued to quietly chime and vibrate against each other, stopping only when Malrath coiled the chain and hung it from his belt before returning to Perion's side to watch Windige finish her work.

She did this a few times more, only concentrating on the rock. Not long after am odd looking dent in the cliffs appeared, but Windige was not finished. A dive into the forest retrieved some semi dry leaves which were tossed inside, followed by some actual branches, then she notched a line along the top to trap the water and have it drain. One final touch after she stuck her saddle in there and she was done, sitting like a proud dog next to her contraption.

"She's quite... the architect," Perion said as Malrath helped him to his feet and got him under the shelter.

"Yes," Malrath agreed. His emotions rang with a momentary confusion with a hint of doubt, but at length he told her, "Thank you, Windige."

"This is the least I can do." She replied softly, nodding her head, "I can sleep out here."

Malrath shrugged. "I have already taken my rest in the carriage. Perion, get what rest you can. We'll head out when the rain stops."

"Hope I'm... not walking."

"No, you won't be." Windige said quickly, before turning her head to her tail. Some of the scales were damaged, but she paid them no heed, just focusing on cleaning it before turning her head back to them.

Using some of the sticks Windige had provided, Malrath made a few lean-to drying racks and shrugged out of his cloak, shirt, and chainmail, leaving the former two on the racks and laying the last one out on the ground to dry. Beneath his cloak and shirts, he wore a pair of dastana that protected his forearms and hands, and these he left on, as well as his pants and weapons hung from his belt. "If you wish to sleep, ussta jallil," he told Windige, "I don't need rest anytime soon."

She cocked her head at him, "You barely slept earlier. Your kind... sleeps... right?" They seemed a lot tougher then humans, perhaps they only needed a little bit of sleep to get through the day.

Malrath cocked his head up at her curiously as Perion settled in, and the younger brother soon drifted off into dreams. "You really know little about elves and dökkálfar, no?" He settled down on the ground, with his feet together, his knees elevated, and his elbows thrown around his knees, clasping his hands. "We can sleep, but such helpless slumber is dangerous for those who live in the forest or underground. No, we meditate for a few hours. That way, we remain alert. 'Waking up' is little more than opening the eyes, pushing away idle thoughts, and standing up."

"That is... odd." Windige finally said, "I do not know what elves are, but I have heard the term. As for the second word, I know not of it." Her ears shook as she yawned mightily, stretching out with her paws at the same time before relaxing with her body in a curve, while her neck remained quite straight.

Malrath gestured at the dark landscape with one hand. "You won't find many elves here, anyway, not with the way humans have ravaged and blasted this landscape, and especially not with the lavabeests that used to roam nearby. Elves are... a xenophobic people who seclude themselves in the forest. Dökkálfar," he added bitterly, his emotions swirling with a sudden burst of repressed hatred, "are nothing with which to even concern yourself, ussta jallil. Suffice it to say, my little brother and I do not consider ourselves a part of the dökkálfar people." He closed his mouth and faced the night, eyes narrowed and lips tight. His emotions showed he was clearly attempting to stave off unwanted memories.

Windige remained quiet, watching him for a few moments before extending her neck towards him and bumping her head against his chest sideways. Purring she bumped him again, clearly asking for a scratch as she looked up at him with one emerald eye and her ears off the to side and against his shoulder. Perhaps, if she could get him to scratch her, the memories and anger would fade away.

Malrath reached over and scratched her ears for a while, not saying anything. It took a while, but after many minutes, his pangs of anger faded away, and his emotions returned to neutral. His face, while he petted the Himmel, was a mixture of relaxed and concentrating.

With her body curled up against the wall, and her neck braced by the rock, she laid her head against his leg as her eyes closed from his attentions. Even as the rain began to fall again she didn't move, as the water bothered her not. One ear twitched then went still as his fingers slipped through her fur pleasantly.

Malrath continued to pet the Himmel for some time, as the rain kept pouring from the sky. He watched the stormy night for any signs of danger, even though none presented itself. One corner of his mind, ever alert to even the innocuous-seeming surroundings, listened to Windige as he determined what the Himmel sounded like when she slept versus when she was awake.

However, she was not yet asleep. Her ears were still held erect when she asked quietly, "Have you seen others in your travels... others, like me?" Windige was hesitant to ask this, but she turned her head back, so he could reach her throat and chin before adding, "Don't stop."

Malrath chuckled. "You must be very brave to order me like that, ussta jallil." Then he grew serious. "My brother and I do not respond well to orders, I must warn you. But, I will oblige," the dark elf said with a light smile. He sighed and kept scratching her. "No, I have never met another Himmel, though Perion and I have read every scrap of information about all things living, dead, remembered, forgotten. I have heard of your kind, but the information I have is limited to the dökkálfar word for your kind and a likeness. But I have met all manner of other creatures great and small, familiar and alien." His fingers gently plucked at the fine hair along the edge of her jaw as he spoke before returning to longer scratches along the underside of her chin.

Windige yawned happily, her jaw easily opening to more then a foot and a half wide, displaying numerous teeth. "I understand my dear Malrath, I was joking. You have joked before... right?" She snorted gently before pushing her head against his leg in a nonverbal demand. "No other creatures have spoken to me before, besides humans... and you. I cannot call you humans now. Dokkelfur?"

"Yes, the concept of a joke is not lost upon me, though I am not one to indulge in them often." He glanced over at her. "Despite my penchant for extravagance and theatrics as Gabonno. But no, we are not humans. Dökkálfar are what we are, though others have different names for us. Svartálfar, drow, dark elves... others have invented many words to describe us. It might be best for you to think of us as nothing but wraiths, ussta jallil. It is not often that Perion and I walk the world without a disguise of some kind or another. It may be simpler for you to continue to meet us anew whenever we don new guises. When we are Gabonno and Jhalil, you may think of us as dark humans. And when I get Perion to put on a dress..."

"Fuck you," Perion said groggily, rising from his slumber for a moment before settling back down, deep in a healing meditation. Malrath just chuckled.

"Maybe I was untruthful about not enjoying humor," he admitted with a sly twinkle in his violet eyes. He put his hand on Windige's head and went back to scratching her ears.

"Hmmph." Windige grunted, eyes opening as she panted for a moment, before lifting her head slightly and looking at Malrath. Her intense eyes traced his features, looking into his own eyes and along his brow and ears. "No, not human." She said again, "Not dark humans either." Nodding to herself, the Himmel pushed her head against his shoulder purring, "I like wraith, and wraiths I shall call you." Her head settled against his thigh again, nudging him affectionatly.

"That... wasn't quite what I meant," Malrath muttered. "Oh, well. Call us what you will when we are not in disguise. Otherwise, it would behoove you to call us by what we claim to be." He rested his hand on her head and turned around, glancing at Perion, who still rested soundly on the ground, unbothered by the storm overhead.

Her tail tapped happily when she added, "I understand, when you are brown; Gabonno and Jhalil, you are dark humans. But what you really are, truly, you are wraiths." With that said, her eyes closed and her ears laid back against her neck instead of over her face.

Malrath sighed. "Something like that," he replied quietly, blinking his violet eyes once and staring out into the night. Silence stretched between them for several hours. Malrath was not certain if he would call it "companionable," because he had no understanding of that concept, but at least it was not a tense silence. Rather, he joined Windige in watching the storm wear itself out until finally, as the sky was just beginning to lighten, the rain trickled to a halt, and the clouds parted enough to display a brilliant sunrise against which Malrath pushed his dark glasses closer against the bridge of his nose.

"We should go," said the elder D'havok brother, glancing back at Perion, who lay in the same position he had been in for several hours. "I'll gather the horse. Perion can ride it; I'll walk." He pushed himself up from the ground and headed off to where he had tied the horse earlier in the night.

Shaking herself off, Windige sniffed in the direction of the horse and shrugged, "I would be much safer to ride then the horse." She stated, with a little annoyance at the skittish creature.

Malrath shook his head. "Only if you insist, ussta jallil. I will not treat you like the animal you believe yourself to be. But if you offer to carry my brother out of concern... then I will accede. The horse can carry my belongings, in that case."

She lifted her neck up straight and puffed up her chest, "Concern. Besides, you wraiths do not weigh much. In my opinion, if you used me to carry things I would object, but carrying you two, I am more willing." Sticking her head into the make shift cave, Windige licked Perion's cheek before withdrawing out, bringing out her saddle at the same time and slipping it on.

"Ew," Perion said groggily, though his demeanor was light. "We going?" He looked at Windige, then down at his brother.

Malrath nodded. "Yes. How are you feeling?"

"Ow."

"Good enough. Let's get you up on Windige's back. She's offered to carry you." Malrath helped Perion into a sitting position, the latter of whom groaned in pain.

Perion gave his brother a concerned look and flashed his fingers discreetly in a series of signs. Malrath replied in kind for a moment, and Perion shrugged. With Malrath's help, the younger twin rose to his feet and ambled over to Windige. "Giddyap," Perion said cheerfully in the brightening morning, pushing his dark glasses higher on the bridge of his nose.

Windige at the moment was looking into the forest, her nose flaring but at the word Perion uttered she turned and smiled. One might not be able to tell her snarl from her smile, and she did not elaborate on it. "Ready?" The Himmel crouched down with her coils and set her chest on the ground, the saddle now thigh high on the dirt. "There are straps you can hold onto in the compartments in the front."

Perion clambered onto her back with much help from Malrath. When he was finally seated, he was absolutely drained and obviously in much pain. "I... don't think that I'll be able to hold onto much, Miss Windige. If there comes a reason for me to hold on, I think it'll be better if you let me down instead."

She resisted the urge to shrug, and instead turned her head to look at him for a moment. A brace of air cushioned his back, and Windige knew he would feel a slight force of pressure on his legs. "That should help," She commented, more to herself before standing fluidly. Her manner of walking could be compared to a ferret, or weasel, keeping her body fairly close to the ground, but never touching down with either belly or tail, keeping her neck in an arch with her nose pointed downwards. "Ready when you are."

Malrath took the reins of the horse, which he had laden with the belongings recovered from the carriage, and nodded at Windige. "Let's go," he said, taking the first step of many down the road heading north to the place he had promised the Himmel he would take her. The sun rose to their right, and both D'havok twins kept adjusting their glasses on their faces to more completely keep the sun's rays from their eyes.

Thankfully, their trip went without anymore incident for the rest of the day, besides avoiding some other travelers along the road. As the sun started its dip towards the horizon Windige grew a little anxious, knowing they would have to stop soon. However, she knew, slightly to the east lay a haunted place, but it would be the only suitable camping spot for miles. "Do we need to stop soon, Malrath?" She asked softly, unable to hide a slight tremble in her voice.

The dökkálfar started, shaking his head and glancing up at Windige. "Ah, right. I forgot who I was--or was not--for a moment." He looked up at the sky and at their surroundings. "It might be a good idea. I would rather we stop now and then get moving again at night. How long does your kind sleep, ussta jallil?"

Perion, whose face was covered in sweat as he resisted the urge to scream in pain for most of the day, nodded groggily. "I was wondering that myself... whether we could stop, not how long she sleeps."

"I'll be fine if I can get a long rest tomorrow, but I'm more worried about Perion then my own rest. Though, some water would be nice." Windige glanced around for a moment before sighing lightly, "Follow me."

In the area there were many fallen trees, some with scorch marks and others with old scars. A few minutes off the beaten trail led them to a large clearing. When they reached the middle, it was evident that a large tornado had dropped down here, sending skeletons of houses and brush flying, leaving the ground clear. Some grass had managed to grow, but for the most part it was bare. Dropping to her belly, Windige set her head down in the meager foliage and remained silent, with her ears flat against her neck.

The Himmel's eyes closed.



Thunder sounded all around them, as Lavabeest after Lavabeest came at them, Windige barely able to keep up with their movements. Ramsies held on for dear life, a sword in one hand, the other on her saddle. Struggling to breath, the Himmel twirled in the air, fighting for altitude when there was a horrid sound, almost like thunder. She turned with her jaw open in a scream of hatred as a beest, the largest she had seen moved like a whip upwards, grabbing onto the human on her back in its giant maw. His body slipped from her, ripped in half and streaming blood to fall towards the ground where he disappeared into the dust. Hovering in shock, tears rolled down her cheeks as she yowled, emotion flooding from her. The Lavabeests hissed back, as a mindless being they all came at her, and the thunder tolled again. Covered in her blood, and the blood of her beloved, time stopped.

The air howled around her lithe form, hanging in its center as still as stone. A tornado, massive and wide was born, becoming gray with dirt as the wind met from earth to sky. Planks of wood, trees, and pieces of Lavabeest were flung away from her with such force even the grass had been pulled and thrown.

He was dead.

Settling on the bare ground, Windige lifted her head to the sky, letting the rain wash her face clean.

We have chosen you... Echoed a hollow voice, a melding of both female and male.

"Why?" Windige asked sharply, her voice cracking. Fate it seemed, had finally found her.

The spawn of evil must be exterminated. We have given you the power needed to fulfill our plea. You are now an elemental. Use your gift to avenge the fallen, your human, the unprotected, everyone. We are the forgotten Gods, but we have not abandoned this world.



Windige jerked away from the memory, almost dislodging poor Perion, "S-sorry."

Perion let out a whoop of surprise and grabbed on to the saddle horn, barely managing to keep his seat. Shooting pain from the sudden motion and the need to rely on his reflexes made him hiss, but it quickly subsided. Malrath glanced over at the pair with concern, but it was Perion, on her back, who spoke. "It's fine," he said tiredly. "Just try not to do that again. It just might kill me." He coughed gingerly and went on with a weak chuckle, "What was that about, anyway? Did a slug crawl up your belly, or something?"

She turned her head, curling towards her body away from the two humanoids, "Memories..." Windige mumbled. "This... this place is where I was chosen to become an elemental. It should be safe for a brief rest for Perion." Her voice was monotone as she spoke, her ears flickering every which way at sounds that they couldn't hear.

"I see," Malrath intoned with his usual nonchalance. He helped Perion clamber from Windige's back and sat him against a piece of debris from the windstorm that must have struck a while ago. Perion wordlessly leaned his head back and closed his eyes, his features barely concealing his pain, which Windige could readily feel through her empathic sense. After seeing that Perion was settled, Malrath returned to the horse and rummaged around in the saddlebags for a moment, producing some trail rations and two wineskins. He laid half the supplies next to Perion, who ignored them, then moved to stand silently next to Windige as he quietly munched on dried nuts, berries, and meat and sip at the wineskin. After his first sip, he gave the drink an almost comically sad look, as though he wished it were some other kind of drink, which probably wasn't far from the truth.

Windige sighed, letting out a very animalistic whine of sadness.

Malrath let out another sigh. His aura flowed from blank to resigned. "Is the elemental transformation something only your kind do?" he asked in an uncharacteristic display of candid curiosity.

She shook her head, her ears trembling at the motion, "No. When we took down the Lavabeests, there was Ichor, the Ckorrisent, and Lypten, the Phiratiger. And..." Windige bowed her head, "-Avery, who died a redeemed Stormcaller." Windige looked up and looked at Malrath before turning away. "The forgotten gods name whom they choose on a whim."

Malrath blinked behind his violet lenses and turned to face the horizon. His emotions moved with slow tides that brought with them wistful amusement to Windige's senses. "They do, don't they? They do, indeed." He fell into a--perhaps--companionable silence for a time, content to nibble at his food without words to get in the way. Then, after tucking his waterskin under his belt, he cleared his throat. "We should probably turn in. I want to be moving come nightfall, ussta jallil."

Standing, Windige stretched, her hindquarters in the air while her chest was on the ground, yawning. "I will take a kill and blood it, that way I won't need food for another few days." The Himmel shook herself then stood fully, turning to leave.

Malrath D'havok nodded and strode over to kneel in front of his slumbering brother. "Perion," he said, shaking the smaller dökkálfar awake. "Perion, you're shaking."

"Nnh," Perion grunted, opening one eye. "All the blankets are still damp from the rain."

Malrath shook his head. Then he glanced up to make sure Windige had left on her hunt. "Move." He helped his brother scoot forward, then settled in behind Perion, who in turn leaned back against the taller brother and immediately fell asleep. Malrath closed his eyes as he held Perion until his little brother stopped shivering.

Windige had indeed left, but her head turned in their direction as she felt the emotions change, then closed her eyes. She kept walking though, as with her element the Himmel knew she would not run into anything and tears dripped through the fur of her cheeks. Being at this place again was haunting her being, but she needed to focus. Flicking her ears forward, Windige froze, as she set herself into the hunt.

A little while later, Windige returned with a bull type animal in her jaws, bring dragged by its throat. Seeing that they were both asleep, or so she thought, Windige laid down across from them and began quietly sucking out the blood.



"Small wonder they were so difficult to scry," Amondaemmeron Nipherius mused out loud as he looked into the scrying mirror set into the round, oak table around which he and five other wizards of great power sat. His silver-trimmed, black robes swished slightly as he steepled his fingers before his lips. The mirror showed not the ceiling, instead displaying the scene out on the plain. The two dark elves lay, one against the other, against a rock. Their horse milled about nearby, and Windige chewed thoughtfully on her bison.

"Dökkálfar," Hadaran Delkethwyn muttered, his face obscured by the eerie bronze mask he always wore. "Spells bounce off them like water on wax."

"Don't worry too much about that," Chastash reassured him, his crimson eyes smiling in the darkness. "I can deal with my own kind rather handily. Kalkachinth and I will handle our kin. Lacarien, you're on transport duty."

Amondaemmeron hissed. "Silence, Chastash. I will be the one to deliver orders, not you. Rreshic, you prepare the teleportation circles. Your performance in the last assignment was... almost unforgivable. Lacarien, you will be with myself and Hadaran."

"Yes, Black Amon," Rreshic and Lacarien replied as one.

Amon held out his hands to either side of him, and those next to him took his hands, and so on until all were joined in a circle. He invoked the Words of Time and Place, and suddenly, six chairs sat empty around the table, and the image in the mirror faded until it showed only the ceiling.



A small point of light heralded the incoming teleportation of the six wizards, seemingly nothing more than a will-o'-wisp in the night. "Kill the drow," Amon ordered in a low whisper. "But bring the Himmel in alive. Emperor Shri needs that essence."

Like shadows in the night, the six wizards flowed toward the unsuspecting trio, spells already forming on their lips and fingertips.

Being that this place already put her on edge, the emotions struck her like spell in itself. "Malrath!" Windige was on her feet in a flash and her fins shimmered into existance a moment after. Her hackles were raised to their full height, making her look quite fierce as she yowled at the approaching threat, prepared to defend them to her fullest extent.

Hadaran spread his hands at the end of a spell some distance away, and ripples vibrated the air, zooming toward Windige.

Something around Malrath's ankle glowed briefly, and suddenly he was on his feet, next to the Himmel. "Perion!" he barked as his spiked chain snaked its way out of his sleeve and into his waiting hands.

Perion, whose backrest had suddenly vanished, let out an, "Oof!" of surprise and awoke with a start. But his calculating mind grasped the danger and Malrath's intent. "I don't know. I didn't see him cast it," he said, his grogginess vanishing. "Usstan shlu'ta'naut llaar malar. Usstan ssrig'luin ulu veldri," he said, eyeing the enemies in the darkness.

Hadaran's spell crashed into Malrath and Windige; the magic swirled around the dökkálfar without effect but clawed at Windige with tendrils of power that tried to sap her strength. "Resist it," Malrath said as he eyed the two dark elves on the horizon.

As ineffective as Hadaran's spell had been, moments later, one of the dökkálfar wizards dropped an enormous cloud of choking, green gas on top of Windige and Malrath. Malrath stumbled from the cloud, coughing and gagging on the fumes. "Great. Wizards who know our weaknesses," he muttered between coughs.

Chastash watched as the dökkálfar stumbled out of the cloud, then turned to his companion. "Go, Kalkachinth."

Kalkachinth, a thin wisp of a mage, nodded and pulled an inordinately-sized greatsword from his back. As he began jogging toward the choking Malrath, Kalkachinth's body swelled and bulged as he uttered words of power. Bones popped and joints cracked for a few seconds, until, instead of a skinny wizard, a black musclebound behemoth with a shock of white hair barreled toward Malrath.

Windige didn't need telling what to do, as she hovered in the air and became calm, the malicious spell coiled, attacking her. Thunder sounded and the spell dissapated at some extent to the Himmel's effort, finally disappearing completely. Though she looked calm, she was indeed quite livid. Snarling, Windige yowled again, the air around her starting to spin.

Malrath coughed once more and looked up just in time to watch the descending arc of Kalkachinth's descending greatsword. Grabbing his cape and whipping it about him, Malrath used the fluttering fabric to conceal his movements as he tumbled out of the way, rolling to his feet as Kalkachinth's sword made a cleft in the ground.

"I haven't had the chance to kill another dökkálfar in a while," Malrath said as he whipped his chain over his head. Its adamantine links crashed into Kalkachinth's sword, and the ringing of the weapons resounded like a lightning bolt's thunder. Angry orange sparks flew from their weapons as Malrath and Kalkachinth fought each other in circles.

Behind them, Chastash uttered the words to a spell, and as he focused on Malrath's dodging and striking form, Chastash began to glow with a faint, silver energy. "Rakhatu," he uttered, and five javelins of magical force materialized over his head and rushed toward Malrath. The elder D'havok brother tried to dodge the missiles, but they homed in on his form and struck him in the side.

Kalkachinth's sword whooshed down less than an inch from Malrath's nose as he stumbled from the force of Chastash's spell. He could feel bruises welling up where the magic had struck him, but he had to shake it off and dodge away from that sword again.

"Funny," Kalkachinth chortled, his voice deep and dual-toned from his transformation. "I kill dökkálfar all the time. You'll just be number... oh, hell, I've lost count."

As the combatants moved away from the other wizards, Hadaran held his hands up in a still position and aimed a new spell at Windige. He sent tendrils of his thoughts out to the Himmel, forcing a command upon her with all his will: Hold!

Windige froze. The air that she had control of also stopped, causing the sand it had picked up to strangely just fall to the ground, with lighter objects like leaves slowly flit to the dirt. Her eyes widened as she couldn't move, but then she squinted as she fought the control, little movements in her figure a testament to this battle.

"I have her!" Hadaran snarled, squinting as he did battle with Windige's mind. "Hurry!"

Amondaemmeron, floating nonchalantly in the air above the battle thanks to a spell, nodded and began casting. He levelled his finger at her and released a beam of gray negative energy that sapped at Windige's strength, trying to weaken her muscles. "I let you get away once before, beast. Not this time." Throwing back his arm like he was casting a fishing line, he drew it forward, and hundred-foot-long tendrils of something black and wet slapped down on Windige's stilled form, wrapping about her and trying to hold her in place tightly enough that Hadaran's spell wouldn't be necessary.

Letting out a quiet gasp, Windige was very glad she had chosen to blood a meal, as it lent her strength and speed she wouldn't otherwise have if she had eaten fully. The Himmel grunted, breaking free her neck which she twisted around to gnaw on the magical bonds that held her. She couldn't stop herself from skidding towards the wizards. Clouds gathered above them as they rumbled in intensity, responding to her anger.

Hadaran blinked and stumbled back. "My spell's failing, Black Amon."

"I'll keep her down," Lacarien said, stepping up and launching three bolts of magical energy at the Himmel, similar to what Chastash had thrown at Malrath.

"Don't harm her, you fool!" Hadaran shouted at the younger wizard, holding out an arm, though the missiles were already on their way.

Amondaemmeron ignored his colleagues, instead focusing on using his strands of kelp to hold the Himmel in place. "Hadaran, cast your anesthetic spells while I've got her here," he ordered.

Windige struggled, but managed to free a leg, which she braced hard against the rock beneath the dirt, opening her maw in a silent scream. The wind went from completely still to suggestively violent, whipping around her and making her form disappear. Then it started to grow... quite rapidly that it was encroaching Malrath's fight. Deeper within the air was slow, where Windige's figure flickered, her flesh turning crystalline as Nyadwynn, her real identity appeared. Instantly the tendrils broke as her body floated upwards through the center. Her mind was now pure hatred and couldn't be swayed while she was under the other identity's control.

Amondaemmeron quickly glanced at the winds swirling around Windige, as though he could see them. Then, reaching out with tendrils of magical power, he tried to pick apart her ability to control them. But the elemental creature's will was too strong even for the magus, though he did not give up.

A lightning bolt crackled from the ground, aimed by Lacarien. The blue bolt illuminated the air briefly, but just as it would have contacted Windige, the magic curled around her and branched off in a hundred different directions, leaving her unharmed.

"She harnesses the power of air, fool," Hadaran chastised him. "Lightning won't work."

"Then I'm out of ideas," Lacarien replied. "I'm falling back to Rreshic's position."

Hadaran did not watch him go, instead uttering an incantation and then rising into the air, taking up a position away from Amondaemmeron so Windige could not trap them both. Both he and Amondaemmeron nodded to each other and prepared to cast spells just as Windige attacked.

On the ground, Malrath swirled his cloak about his form. Its ends were becoming tattered as Kalkachinth's sword continued to cut through the fabric again and again. But it had the intended effect, which was to conceal Malrath's movements and give Kalkachinth difficulty hitting him.

The two combatants rolled out into the space beneath the furious Windige. Malrath ducked away from the greatsword again and punished Kalkachinth with a bone-shattering blow to one leg. But the transmuted wizard barely seemed to notice the hit.

"You're pretty good," Malrath grunted in near-frustration; he was used to having the advantage in every fight. "But you lack a certain... flair!" As he shouted, he sent his chain snaking out at the muscled wizard, but as Kalkachinth moved to block, Malrath snapped his weapon back in and redirected it at his foe's unprotected flank, drawing a long line of puncture wounds there.

Kalkachinth appeared to shrug it off, but Malrath noted he moved with less vigor than before. The strike had meant something, this time.

Nyadwynn's head tilted mechanically, swirling within her tornado as it began to intensify. She knew that if the two wraiths were caught in it, they would be hindered, if not utterly incapable of denying it's wrath.

Malrath.

She warned him, hoping Perion was out of the way. The tornado howled as its size grew larger and larger, becoming a being of its own creation. It lashed out at the wizards, catching Lacarien in its maw, crashing the screaming man into the ground as he tried to run before lifting his body up and out of sight.

Malrath faltered, and he missed an opening in Kalkachinth's defenses from the sudden thought forced upon his mind. Then, realizing what it was, he snapped his chain back into his hand and dashed back toward where the horse had been--it had long since bolted. A fireball, launched by Chastash almost a quarter-mile away, exploded behind him, nearly catching Kalkachinth in the blast.

The winds tore at Amondaemmeron and Hadaran as Lacarien was bashed to death in the howling gale. Amondaemmeron calmly reached out with his mind and took hold of the fabric of reality, anchoring himself to that point, and he ceased to be blown about in the wind.

Hadaran had no such spell at his disposal, and as he careened around in the air, he spoke one single word, and suddenly his body bulged and rippled, growing claws and wings that spread and beat frantically against the wind. As his face elongated into that of a lion, two more heads sprouted from his shoulders: one, that of a goat; the other that of a black dragon.

Hadarans new wings, combined with his fly spell, enabled him to barely escape the grasp of the tornado, and he dived at Windige, all three heads reaching to bite her.

Blinking, Nyadwynn was slammed into, as they crashed into the ground she lost her focus. An audible crack rang through the air from the ground as the tornado lessened ever so slightly in ferocity. She grabbed onto one head with one claw, another head with her other claw, and snarled at the lions face, dodging snaps and feints. "Damn you." Nyadwynn muttered, trying to claw at his belly with her backlegs even though his weight was crushing. Another crack beneath them.

Malrath cursed his luck when Kalkachinth caught up to him. Hoping to let Malrath's friend kill his prey, Kalkachinth hoisted Malrath by the scruff of his neck and threw him toward the tornado even as the winds began to die down. The dökkálfar rolled and skidded across the ground toward the swirling air.

"Malrath!" Perion cried, leaping from behind a small mound of rubble and limping toward his prostrate brother. "Damn you!" he shouted at Kalkachinth, drawing back his bow and releasing an arrow that buried itself deep in the wizard's side.

"Oh..." Kalkachinth grunted, glancing down and pausing in his pursuit of the stunned Malrath. "I suppose it is time for me to retire." He fell back, slowly making his way back to his master's side.

Perion checked on his brother, but Malrath waved him away, pushing himself to his feet. As he did, Windige and the chimera crashed to the ground not thirty feet from where they stood.

Hadaran's lion and goat heads snapped at Windige, biting her around the face and shoulders. The dragon head, however, had more sinister plans, and as the lion and goat heads curled out of the way, it released a stream of green acid straight down upon Windige's neck before the other two heads swooped in again.

Nyadwynn yelped as the acid burned her before she managed to dissipate away, landing panting and crouched in front of the twins. A crack shaped like lightning raced towards them from where the chimera stood, and he started moving downwards. Then the ground beneath them began to fall, and Nyadwynn slowly seeped out, as Windige panted heavier, the burn red against the brown and green of her lower neck. "Malrath..." She uttered softly, turning her head, her eyes clouded with pain at Perion.

Malrath and Perion both stumbled and managed to keep their feet under them but were unable to move as the ground began to give way. "Why is the ground crumbling?" Malrath shouted over the noise of storm and battle. Hadaran flapped his chimeric wings and soared away from the falling ground, then, after building up some altitude, swooped down at the trio on the ground.

"Lavabeests! They must have tunneled under here," Windige huffed out, growing unsteady as she eyed the approaching chimera, preparing to dodge him. Perion was hurt, he wouldn't be able to survive the fall, and since she knew Lavabeests created very large caverns, Windige knew he would need help. Skidding down the falling rock, the Himmel grabbed Perion as gently as she could, clutching him to the side slightly as she fell through a hole. She didn't have time to grab Malrath, and she couldn't remember to fly.

"Oop!" Perion cried in surprise as the floor gave out and Windige snatched him before he could begin to fall. Helpless in the grasp of the Himmel, Perion's frightful shout got caught in his throat on the way down.

Malrath rolled backward, hoping to get away from the buckling ground, but to no avail. The ground there cracked and fell, too, plunging him into the darkness beyond.

Windmilling in the air, Malrath managed to fend off several chunks of stone that fell with him and threatened to batter him to death long before he could do that himself on the hard ground.

As he pondered the exact moment of his death, Malrath realized that barely a foot to his left ran a long stalactite, one that had met up with its stalagmite sibling on the ground. Not one to question his good fortune in the face of death, the dökkálfar reached out and grasped the smooth, damp rock in his hands and between his feet, using it to slow his fall until finally he came to a stop just a few inches off the ground. "That was fun... Perion!" he shouted, looking about for his brother in the midst of numerous sight-blocking stalagmites.

Windige landed a little ways away, wheezing and staying on her back legs. She set the brother down, the hand immediately going to her chest, "Ow... that bastard." She grimaced and looked up, "He's coming at us!" Windige braced herself, as more rubble was falling around them, for his shadow appeared above them.

Hadaran, in his chimera form, landed on all fours several--large--paces away from Windige. The black dragon head reared back, preparing to spit another stream of acid at the Himmel.

"Here," Perion said, limping toward the sound of Malrath's voice. "I'm good, but the chimera's in here with us."

"Lil faern, ichl. Uk zhah wun l'aeros," Malrath replied in their language so as not to give away his realization of Amondaemmeron's presence.

The black-robed wizard floated down to stand beside Hadaran. Amondaemmeron's hair, beard, and robes looked none the worse for wear from Windige's tornado. "This will be quite enough," the human said testily. "Himmel, you have evaded me for long enough. I was hoping not to have to use this spell, because I don't know exactly what it will do, but I do know it will rip your elemental essence from your soul." Reaching inside one sleeve, he pulled forth a scroll. "Hadaran, keep her here until I finish this spell."

Hadaran roared with his lion and goat heads and stepped slightly in front of Amondaemmeron, his dragon head waiting for the right time to spit its deadly acid, should it be needed.

Windige snarled, defiant till the end.

"Do not hurt her." Amondaemmeron growled to the beast, but the Himmel was already rushing at them, prepared to take them down if it was the last thing she did. Bellowing, Windige leapt into the air at the last second and avoided Hadaran, but the wizard already had the scroll out and ready, uttering several dark phrases as the scroll glowed an evil purple, shielding the wizard. At the same time it shot forth, striking Windige in the heart.

Windige screamed in pain, not a bestial scream, but more of her voice. She curled in the air, her image flickering as she twitched in agony then a bright spark burst in the air. A body was thrown backwards, smashing through several thin columns before skidding to a halt behind the twin drow. The image of the Himmel was still there, shrinking before disappearing into a glowing orb that flew to Amondaemmeron's hand.

Malrath and Perion dodged out of the way of falling stalactites as Amondaemmeron's release of power shook the cavern so much that it threatened to collapse on all of them. Stone crumbled, and the floor buckled, but it held, for the most part.

"Let's go," Amondaemmeron said amidst the chaos; because he stood beneath the hole Windige had wrought in the ceiling, they were not in danger of being crushed by falling rocks. "We have what we need. Let the cave itself crush them."

Hadaran's chimera body melted away, revealing a heaving wizard in off-white robes and an eerie, bronze mask that couldn't possibly have fit on a face with a nose. "Yes, Black Amon," the enchanter hissed. As one, the two of them chanted another spell to grant themselves the power of flight, and they rose out of the quaking cave.

Perion took shelter at the base of a solid stalagmite, hoping nothing fell from the ceiling to crush him. In his wounded state, he would not be able to avoid the debris very easily. Malrath, however, fought against the floor to keep his balance even while he dodged falling stone. "Perion!"

"I'm all right!"

"Windige?" he called. "Windige?" He glanced over just in time to see a stalactite rush down at where Windige had fallen, and his adamantine chain snaked out from under his cloak just in time to shatter the stone into a thousand shards that rained down harmlessly onto the floor. At long last, the quake stopped, leaving the trio trapped behind a wall of fallen stone. "Windige..." Malrath said, finally looking down at her. "What the hell?"

A woman lay in a fetal position, naked and covered in rock shards and tendrils of blood. There was a nasty burn on her chest, a glaring red even in the darkness of the cave. Long ears, with a blue backing and the familliar sage green within were partially hidden by medium length brown hair. She was unconsious, her breathing shallow. Windige's facial markings, now slightly glowing a gray blue were alongside her human nose, her eyes tilted and closed. Other than her facial features, she appeared... human.

Malrath paused, staring down at the new creature before him in the utter darkness, which did not bother him in the least. "Well, now," he said pensively. "That's interesting."

Perion rounded the stalagmite nearest Windige. "What's going--whoa."

"Yeah," Malrath agreed, kneeling down and gently removing the debris from Windige's prone form. He touched her neck with three fingers and waited for a moment. "Her pulse isn't weak."

"Is this Windige?"

"I guess so. These markings and these ears? Most definitely. I'm not really sure what to make of the lack of fur, somehow." His violet eyes scanned her naked body impassively. Then, glancing around and finding no source of light to indicate the best place to dig out of the cave, he sighed and removed his cloak. Perion watched as Malrath lifted Windige and wrapped her in the black fabric to keep the cave's extreme chill at bay. "Windige," he said after clasping the cloak. "Can you hear me?" He moved her head side to side and shook her gently.



Dark of Night: Part Three