A farmhouse and family

Venium looked at her brother suspiciously. She could tell by the spark in his eyes that he smiled behind that obfuscating scarf. He beckoned with a gloved hand. “Come and see. Come and see.”

She nodded slowly. Her hands flew to the others in the sign language of the drow for them to wait, and she moved after her brother warily. As an afterthought, Venium drew her mace.

They didn’t make a sound as they slipped through the benighted pine trees. Soon though the darkness was broken by a light other than the silver of the moon. Venium’s nose crinkled slightly at the smell of fire and smoke. Beldin beckoned her over and the taller elf joined her brother and looked out at what he saw.

A small clearing opened up before them. A lonely log cabin inhabited the space, casually puffing a faint ribbon of smoke from a stone chimney. A window was thrown open, lit by the faint golden glow of a hearth, but even in such sparse lighting for Venium’s sharp eyes it was bright as day. An older human, not yet grey, but muscled from a life of hard work sat with a comely wife in the kitchen, the latter working over a stove while the former sat in a chair by the window, face in profile as he chatted with her.

Beldin suddenly shrank further into the shadows. His sister glanced at him but movement at the farmhouse drew her notice once more. A young woman had stepped around the side. She moved carefully, dressed in a plain white and blue dress. She filled it out, possessing the curves that most elves lacked, and she was far from ugly, though not perhaps near the unearthly beauty Venium called her own. She had soft blue eyes and long earthy brown hair tied with a red ribbon. She was soon joined by a boy, not yet a man though he had the build for it. Muscled and strong, he went about in a coarse linen shirt and pants, carrying a load of splintered wood. His sister, for even at her distance Venium could see the resemblance, opened the door and ushered him in. There was an enthusiastic cry from inside by the father and mother as their children joined them. Soon enough the rich meaty smell of dinner wafted through the chill night air to the silent watchers in the woods.

Venium opened her mouth, teeth bared in a wolfish smile. Beldin glanced back up at his sister, and his eyes became furtive and cautious as she turned to him.

“Bring up the others,” Venium hissed, looking again forward to the farmhouse.

Beldin nodded and moved back into the woods. Within a moment the rest of their party had arrived. Silent all, they watched with gleaming eyes of nighttime predators as the unsuspecting family sat down to dinner. All but Beldin, who watched Venium close.

“What do you intend?” he finally asked.