44 – Moonblades

Eilistraee stepped, smiling, from the woods near the path where Sigmundurr’s sword was swirling in wide arcs, managing to keep the majority away but Kreet saw two of the bandits were drawing their bows.

“Hello gentlemen,” Eilistraee said in a voice soft yet penetrating. “Mind if I interrupt your playtime?”

“Eilistraee!” Kreet called, relief washing over her. The bandits obviously did not recognize the name, and it was then that Kreet noticed her hair. Rather than floating around her head as she’d seen before, it was instead hanging long and luxurious over her shoulders.

“Holy shit!” one of the bandits said, breaking off his attack on Sigmundurr.

“Oh my. What’s a pretty drow like you doing out of your caves?”

“And out of her clothes! Check out those boobs!”

“Oh, you like? And I thought you boys just liked playing with old men,” Eilistraee was grinning now. She was obviously enjoying this. “And kobolds I suppose.”

“What, this fat guy? We were just going to shave some excess weight off him. Wait, where’’s Ulder?”

One of the men noticed their compatriot sleeping on his back nearby. “Just sleeping.”

“Sleeping? Wait a minute. Are you some sort of caster, you drow bitch?”

The first had woken the sleeping man.

“Oh, I don’t need magic,” Eilistraee laughed, and produced two silver swords from behind her back. Kreet realized she’d seen the same thin blades during her dance the night before. “I think these will do just fine.”

“FA!” one of the men laughed. “Toys! Here’s a real sword!” He swung his huge bastard sword through the air.

“Well, if you really want to play with me, I would enjoy it. But I should warn you, I’m pretty good with these ‘toys’.”

“Tell you what, darkskin, why don’t you put those away and I’ll show you an even better sword!”

“What, just you? You think a single man is enough for me? I’ll take you all on.”

The bandits had left Sigmundurr behind, two keeping an eye on him. Sigmundurr wasn’t hurt, but he was winded. “No sneaking up on us, big guy!” one said to him.

“Pfft. Me? I’m just a spectator now! You ‘boys’ have at it. This should be fun to watch.” Sigmundurr said between breaths.

“Oh, it’ll be fun alright. Listen bitch, this is your last chance. You can put those little pigstickers down and we’ll treat you to all the swordplay you can handle. Keep them and you won’t live to regret it.”

Eilistraee twirled one around while leaning on the other. “Oh, I’m sure I won’t regret it.”

The lead bandit tested her with a swing. She danced back out of it’s arc and tapped the sword with her own as it passed.

The others formed a circle around them, effectively preventing her from dodging too much. Then the first tried her again, an overhead swing this time. She deflected it with one blade and tapped him with the side of her sword on his wrist.

“Nice, lady. For a darkskin, you’re not too bad. But you made a mistake. Apparently you think this is a GAME!” and with that he lunged at her in earnest, taking a vicious swipe at her legs. She leaped over the blade and before he could swing it back around he suddenly was clawing at his neck. Blood spurted from the thin line before his head tumbled off his body which crumpled to the ground.

“Holy FUCK!” cried one of the men.

“Rush her, she can’t take us all!”

“Damn you drow, I’m gonna…”

And on that cue they all rushed in, blades first. Eilistraee laughed and speared two through the stomach as she ran between them, their blades crossing where she had been but finding nothing there. They went down screaming.

The other three looked at each other, eyes wide. Then they ran for the woods at top speed.

Eilistraee complained, “Wait! I thought we were going to play!?” and she threw a sword end-over-end at their backs. It skewered the hindmost dead center and he dropped like a rock, dead before he hit the ground.

“I can get the other two, if you want,” Sigmundurr said loudly over the screaming of the two with hole through their abdomens.

“No need, I don’t think. But thanks for the offer. As for you two….” she said, and passed her hand over them.

They stopped screaming. They stopped moving. They stopped breathing.

“You killed them?” Kreet said, horrified.

Eilistraee nodded. “Sorry Kreet. I know you don’t like killing. But sometimes it’s necessary.”

“You could just as easily healed them! I know you could have.”

“Yes, I could have. But you don’t see the world as I do little one. You’ll have to trust me on that. Both they and the world are better off this way. You cannot know the future, so for you it’s best to be gentle and good. However, if you were in my place… Well, you’d understand better anyway.”

“Then you could have just killed them instantly!” Kallid said, taking up Kreet’s defense.

“…and spared them the suffering.”

Eilistraee nodded. “Yes. I could have. I’m sorry. I’m not above having a little fun.”

Kreet shot her an angry look. Eilistraee may be a goddess, but Kreet would never worship her. She had a mean streak.

As if reading her mind, Eilistraee sat down on the ground, making a dismissive gesture towards the bodies. At that, they disappeared, blood and all.

“No, I’m not a goddess of morality or good, Kreet. Most consider me good because I believe in harmony among the races, but I carry some aspects of the drow too. Your Pelor now… He’s a Good god. He would agree with you. We get along, but he wouldn’t deign to intervene in a petty squabble like that. He’d just erase them from existence and move along. But, you know, some good will come of that. Those last two… they will be better. Not good, but better men than they were. So they continue to exist at the cost of the other four.”

“That doesn’t seem right, still,” Kreet said, sitting in front of the goddess, and Kallid sat beside her as if in support.

“You’re not my cleric, Kreet. We do disagree on some things. We’ll have to leave it at that. And yet, Sigmundurr… What do you think?”

“I think you should have killed them all when you got here.”

“Ah! Now see, there’s something I can work with! Come on now. We’ve a long way to go this evening and we still won’t get to that village tonight.”

“You got here awfully… conveniently.”

Eilistraee sighed. “I know. Of course I knew what was going to happen. I could have been here earlier. That’s why we gods really shouldn’t hang around mortals too much. It’s difficult. We’re not perfect either Kreet. We have emotions too. I enjoy being with you, but it’s taxing. You don’t understand what I do or why I do it, and I can only give you a glimmer of what we know. Please don’t ask too much of me. I will disappoint you, and I don’t want to do that.”

“Well… no more killing, okay?”

“Not even if, say, Kallid were in danger?”

Kreet thought about that a second, then stood up. “Well… no. That would be okay.”

Eilistraee stood again, joining her, and her hair began to flow around her shoulders eerily. The goddess was back.

“See? There are, circumstances. And the more you knew, the more circumstances you’d find. There are even circumstances where killing a good person results in greater good than letting him live, if those circumstances require it.”

“Sounds like you’re saying we shouldn’t trust you,” Kallid said, eyeing the goddess.

“You probably shouldn’t. Not because I intend you harm, but because you don’t know my reasons. You can’t know my reasons. And so, it’s probably best from your perspective if you don’t. The Capricious God, you’d say. And yet, from my point of view, I’m anything but capricious. I like you. Even Sigmundurr. And I’ll try and keep you on the right path as long as I can, and I’m not just talking about this road.”

“That’ll have to do, I guess,” Kreet said, and they continued into the night of the second ‘day’.

41 – Romance

As they continued, the path was remained clear and Kreet felt like she’d never known a more perfect night in her life. Eilistraee began to hum a tune then. It was, perhaps, a bit melancholy, but somehow Kreet felt it reflected her mood perfectly. The worst thing about a perfect night is that it doesn’t last for long.

“Are there lyrics to that?” Kallid asked the goddess when she stopped.

“Oh yes, indeed there are. I’m afraid it’s a pretty standard love ballad though. Star-crossed lovers, you know. They always have to end tragically. But I love to dance to that melody.”

Suddenly Eilistraee brightened up. “Say! We’ll make the cave in plenty of time before daybreak. Would you like to visit a little place I know? Just for a little bit. Let me dance for you! It’s not far.”

“Is it safe?” Kreet asked, but Sigmundurr answered her before Eilistraee.

“Gator, when a goddess asks if you’d like to watch her dance, there’s only one answer!”

“Oh, don’t be like that Sigmundurr,” Eilistraee complained. “It’s just an idea I had. You can say no. Please don’t think of me as a goddess… too much anyway. It’s so nice to be with good mortals that don’t have all those ulterior motives and schemes. As for it being safe… well, there are some perks to being a goddess. There won’t even be any insects, I promise. Just a cricket or two and maybe some little frogs for ambience. What do you say?”

“Well then, lead on Dark Dancer!” Kreet laughed.

“It’s just a little farther up the path, then we’ll turn off and go through the woods for about a mile. Oh thank you! It seems like I never get a chance to show off anymore.”

True to her word, they turned to walk through the woods at her signal. The brambles and underbrush disappeared as they passed, reappearing behind them.

“Nice trick!” Sigmundurr said. “I know a ranger who would love to know that one!”

They walked through the woods, not on any path, but following the glowing hair of the goddess until the woods fell away and they came upon a wide shallow lake. The grass was long but inviting as she ushered them to a spot at the lake’s shore. The woods surrounding them were dotted only by fireflies, and Eilistraee assured Sigmundurr that he wouldn’t need his sword, so he lay down beside the two kobolds and pulled a jug of water from his inventory which he shared with the others, not forgetting to offer some to Eilistraee.

She laughed at that, but accepted the jug anyway and drank delicately, even though she surely didn’t need it. Perhaps it was just to make them feel more comfortable with her, but Kreet had a suspicion it might be the other way around. Maybe, she thought, being a goddess isn’t all that great after all.

“Just one thing,” she said before she started her dance. “Don’t try to touch me while I’m out of my Avatar mode, okay? You’ll know when that is. But mortals… well, it’s probably not a good idea, that’s all.”

And then she began to sing, low and quiet. Her image dulled until she was only visible as a silhouette against the moon’s reflection on the water, and her voice became even quieter until it was lost behind the groaning of the frogs and the chirping of crickets. And finally, the voice and the silhouette were gone.

But before they began to get worried, the crickets and frogs stopped their eternal songs too and there was complete silence over the lake. A ripple began, far out on the lake, as of a breeze stirring towards them. It approached and the breeze ruffled the grass around them and across their skin and scales.

And then a face appeared among the stars. Eilistraee of course, showing off. The song started again, shifting to a major key. The words again were in that foreign tongue but understandable as any in Common. They told of a meeting between two lovers, though what race, age, mortal or not wasn’t clear. And then the dancer came into view, as graceful as they could imagine – floating among the stars above them. They lay back, and Kreet lay her head on Kallid’s chest. He draped his arm lightly around her and they watched the dancer overhead.

Her size was un-guessable since the distance wasn’t clear, but Eilistraee was pulling out all that stops, that much was plain.

She clearly was enacting a pursuit, the fearful maiden being chased by her brazen lover that the song described. Yet, with subtle smiles and pirouettes, it was clear she had no intention of escape.

And then she was caught, and she tumbled in the sky as if rolling in the embrace of an unseen lover. The three gasped at the artistry, but couldn’t tear their eyes away.

Eilistraee began to undulate provocatively, slowly, the lyrics to the song no longer intelligible but there was no need. Her dance made it abundantly clear that the lovers were intertwined in the act. Such was the Dark Dancer’s skill that her small audience almost felt they could see the invisible lover as much as herself. The dance began to quicken, the poses becoming more suggestive, and Kreet felt Kallid’s hand stroking her side almost reflexively in sympathy. If it strayed a bit farther afield, she didn’t mind. It felt… wonderful.

And then the dance and song stopped, yet the dancer remained in the stars, heaving breath as if she was spent and exhausted. Kreet took the opportunity to turn towards Kallid and nuzzled his neck and he returned the reptilian kiss before they went back to watching the goddess in the sky.

Suddenly Eilistraee rose from where she lay, looking around as if a menace had appeared, and as quickly a sword appeared in her hand. Then two. Thin, menacing blades of silver flashed in the moonlight, and Kreet sunk back involuntarily into Kallid’s arms. The blade-work was amazing, one moment flashing wickedly in arc after arc as the dancer leaped through the deadly blades, then the next moment she caressed the swords as if romancing them.

Finally, though, and perhaps inevitably, she mimicked being stabbed by them and the tears began to flow. Kreet shot a look to Sigmundurr, and, though he was still watching intently, he had to stop to wipe the tears away from his face. Kreet felt better at that. The man had a heart, after all. She went back to watch the tale unfold in the goddess’ dance above her.

Eilistraee had resumed the role of the female, her lover now dead at her feet. Grief was obvious, not only in her dance but in the song as well, the tune switching to heavily minor scales. But it was not the end of the dance. The grieving woman turned to gaze at the moon, and for a moment it seemed as if the moon gazed back at her. She cried out to the moon, and somehow a voice seemed to cry back from where the moon lay in the sky.

And then she danced in a different mode, no longer grieving. She seemed to have transferred her attention to the moon itself, as if her dead lover had been reincarnated as the great light in the night sky. Before that light, she bared all, giving herself to it’s silvery gaze and hiding nothing. Her hair coiled around her head and she smiled to the moon, her hands outstretched, beckoning it to come to her and rest it’s weary light between her breasts as the words implied.

And it did. The moon moved across the sky, slowly at first, impossibly. Kreet knew she was watching a goddess who could present just about anything to their eyes, illusion or reality. But she cried for joy anyway as the moon came to her and somehow did seem to rest between her breasts. She enfolded her body around it’s silver glow, and the night went dark. Only the glowing outline of the goddess above them was visible now, curled around the moon in an eternal embrace.

Kreet turned to Kallid and hugged him to herself, weeping with joy and not letting any other thought get in the way. She heard the goddess return to her avatar form behind her and speak some words to Sigmundurr, but she wasn’t paying attention. She heard them move off, and she broke away from Kallid just long enough to see the goddess and Sigmundurr walk into the woods, hand in hand, leaving the two kobolds alone. And then she was lost in the blue glow of Kallid’s eyes. Those eyes reflected her own, she knew. The other two did not return for hours, and even then Kreet felt it was too soon. She was in paradise with Kallid, and she never wanted it to end.

40 – Spellbound

Image by ToxicStarStudio here: https://www.deviantart.com/toxicstarstudio/art/Prayer-120352160

Eilistraee passed her hand over the two and both awoke instantly.

“Goddammit Gator!” Sigmundurr started, then he saw Eilistraee and his eyes went wide. “Oh fuck.”

Kallid just stared at the goddess.

“Sig, Kallid, this is Eilistraee. She is…”

But Eilistraee finished for her, “I am glad to meet you both. My name is Eilistraee.”

“Eilistraee!” Kallid said with reverence. “You are the drow goddess!”

“I am, Kallid. But rise. You needn’t fear me. I’ll do you no harm.”

“She saved us all,” Kreet explained.

Sigmundurr turned around and saw the drow standing transfixed by the goddess. He raised his sword from the ground. “No thanks to you, you stupid kobold! What the hell were you thinking?!”

“They wouldn’t have killed you, Sig.”

“I know what they would have done to me, Gator. Next time, would you mind letting me make my own fucking decisions? You’ve got no right!”

“Sorry, Sig. I… It was all I could think of!”

“Well that bitch isn’t getting away scot-free anyway,” Sigmundurr declared and advanced on where the drow stood, immobile.

“Hold, human. You will not harm any of my people. It was not my wish to rouse you, in fact. You may thank your friend here for that.”

Sigmundurr stopped in his tracks, as if he had just recalled who he was in the presence of.

“Now, Kreet, take your friends Outside. I wish to stay and speak with my people for a time. You will not be followed.”

The three stepped across the gate threshold and into the grassy path beyond. But Sigmundurr stopped and turned back once they’d cleared the gates as they slowly began to close.

Kreet and Kallid stopped alongside him.

“That is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” Sigmundurr said frankly, an odd note of wistfulness in his voice.

“It’s not every day you see a goddess,” Kallid agreed, then added. “Say, Kreet – you’re a cleric. Have you ever actually seen Pelor?”

She shook her head. “They say his true form is just pure white light. There is some sort of hierarchy among the gods I understand, though I’ve never been quite clear on how it works. Eilistraee is a lesser goddess, but still a considerable one, especially among the drow. Few drow actually worship her, but none would gainsay a manifestation like that regardless! She is a force of good, which is rare among the drow gods.”

“A man could lose himself to her,” Sigmundur said as the gates boomed closed.

They turned around and continued down the path. There was no way of knowing where they were, what time it was, or where the path was leading – but the night was cool, the stars were bright, and no one felt like sleeping. The fireflies flickered, echoing the starlight in yellow green spots across the path.

“Funny,” Kreet said, breaking the silence. “I thought you’d have some sort of lewd comment, Sig. Reverence isn’t like you normally.”

“She is no normal woman. Even I can see that.”

“If I didn’t know you better, I’d swear you had a bit of the romantic in you.”

“Hey, I may be crude, but only the blind wouldn’t recognize beauty. What about you, Kallid? You wanna bang a goddess?”

The kobold sputtered, “Wha? You’re joking. A kobold doesn’t aspire to such heights. That gets you dead, real quick! No, I’m happy with my own little goddess.” He took Kreet’s hand and she didn’t protest.

“You’re probably right, Kal,” Sigmundurr agreed and hefted his sword over his shoulder. “Ultimate female beauty though… well, in drow form anyway. That’s something beyond lusting for. Even for me.”

A voice spoke softly behind them. “Not ultimate, human. But thank you. For you, that’s pretty high praise!”

“Eilistraee?” all three cried in unison as they spun to see the avatar of the goddess walking with them.

“You don’t mind if I travel with you for a while, do you? The night is inviting and, who knows? You might have use of me still.”

“You’re coming with us!?” Kreet asked.

“For a time. I’m afraid I can only be with you at night. Sort of my ‘thing’. But, if you don’t mind… I’ve not spent enough time with mortals recently.”

“We would be honored,” Sigmundurr said, making a valiant attempt at a bow. Kallid attempted to mimic him as well. Kreet managed to stifle a chuckle at least.

“Well thank you, Sigmundurr,” she said, and kissed his beard.

“Urpf” was what he said, as best can be described, and she laughed at that.

“Oh, lighten up you three. As an avatar, I’m as close to being one of you as I can be. I get a little tired of the grovelling and worshiping sometimes. Can’t I just be one of you for a while?”

“It’s not easy,” Kreet said. “But we’ll try, won’t we guys?”

“I’ll try!” Kallid said, about as happy has Kreet had ever seen him.

“You might catch me staring sometimes,” Sigmundurr confessed. “I can only barely manage not to do so now.”

The goddess shrugged. “You think I manifest like this just to be ignored? Stare away. That’s the idea! Just try not to run into any trees.”

“Well, if you’re going to be traveling with us, maybe you can tell us where this path leads? Or even where Kreet’s home is?”

“I could,” she said. “But where’s the fun in that? Sorry Kreet, but I’m not going to be able to help very much to get you home. Well, not to direct you anyway. The fates will have to smile on you for that. Your patron asked me to help you out of the Underdark. This is my price for that intervention. I want to walk with you for a while.”

“My patron?” Kreet asked, confused.

“Oh, you know. Big white guy? Kinda bright?”

They all laughed at that. It felt weird to laugh with a goddess, but good nevertheless.

“The drow built my gate a long distance from the nearest human town. We won’t reach it till the day after tomorrow, and it’s a very small village. But it will be a safe trip. Once there, you can ask around to get your bearings. I suspect Sigmundurr will recognize the names and the area, even if you and Kallid do not.”

“I hope so. I’ve been in the Underdark so long I’ve no idea how far I am from where I entered it,” Sigmundurr said. “That must have been a month ago at least!”

“Well, if you can’t tell us where we’re going, at least do you know what time it is? I feel like I should be getting sleepy by now, but I’m not for some reason. How long before daybreak? Kallid’s not going to like that much. Oh, Kallid! I forgot to ask! Have you ever been Outside before?” Kreet asked, turning back to her friend.

The little kobold nodded, “Oh yes. Many times. But just for a little bit. My old master used to go out hunting. Never during the day of course. But you said you had something for that, right?”

Kreet dug out her improvised sunglasses. “I have these. But they won’t help much. Not until you get used to the light. But we’ll travel by night mostly, so you’ll have time to get used to it.”

“Where will we stay during the day?”

“Well, once we reach a village, we’ll stay in an inn I hope. Sigmundurr, you still have my gold, right?”

“Yup. Right here.”

“You have a good plan, Kreet,” Eilistraee said. “As for daybreak, the night is young. We’ve got hours yet. And there’s a cave you can spend the day in. Don’t worry, it’s not part of the Underdark. But it will help Kallid, and will keep you out of trouble while I’m away. As for the sleep, I’m keeping that away now. You’ll sleep all day in the cave, but I’ll be sure nothing disturbs you. But the night… Ah… Isn’t it glorious?”

Kreet pulled Kallid to her as they looked up at the stars.

“It is,” Kallid said, but Kreet noticed he wasn’t looking at them. He was looking at her, his eyes as blue as ever.

Sigmundurr wasn’t either, but he looked away in embarrassment when Eilistraee caught him.

“Sorry,” he said. “I can’t help myself!”

“Ah, mortal man. No, you can’t. I understand. Let me help you…”

And with that, her hair became even longer, forming a silver dress of sorts around herself.

“Eilistraee,” he said when she was finished.

“Yes?”

“I think that’s worse,” he laughed.

“Oh? Sorry! I just thought my body was a bit too…”

“It is. Perfection,” Sigmundurr said, but pointedly turned away.

She wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned her head on his massive shoulder.

“No, Sigmundurr. You said before I was the embodiment of female perfection. You were wrong about that. Female perfection is achieved when with child.”

“Oh!” Kallid chirped up. “Kreet is pregnant! She’s pregnant!”

Eilistraee looked at Kreet.

“No, Kallid,” Kreet said to him. “I’m not pregnant. Sorry, in all the confusion, I haven’t had time to tell you that. Eilistraee checked.”

“Oh,” Kallid said, and his eyes lost the blue glow. They walked on in silence for a while, still hand in hand, but Kreet could feel his dejection. But then he looked up at her again.

“Kreet,” he said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“Back there. When you put me to sleep…”

She nodded. “Yes?”

“Eilistraee woke us up, didn’t she? I saw her in my dream.”

“She did.”

“And… she didn’t have to wake me up, did she?”

“No. I asked her to.”

“And you knew you weren’t pregnant?”

“Yes. But wait… don’t jump to conclusions, Kal.”

“You wanted me to stay with you, didn’t you? Even when you knew you weren’t pregnant?”

They walked on a way, Kreet looking at him and he looking at her. “Yes, Kallid. I wanted you to stay with me.”

Kallid beamed, literally. She could have sworn the blue light in his eyes was as bright as the moon shining through the trees above them. Thankfully he didn’t say or ask anything more about it. He just squeezed her hand.

“Slave for life,” Kreet thought to herself. “I hope you’re happy, you damned selfish kobold.”

And yet, she was happy. She looked away from Kallid, but if her smile wasn’t evidence enough of that, the blue glow in her own eyes gave it away regardless.

“It’s this night,” she thought. “I’ll come to my senses in the daylight. But, he’s so damn cute.” Then she thought of something, and looked at Eilistraee. The goddess smiled and shrugged, maybe a bit guiltily.

“Well,” Kreet thought. “When under the spell of a goddess, there’s not a whole lot you can do but go with the flow…”