Monsters

The romantic interlude concluded, you both got yourself dressed and left your apartment. Your face grew warm as the door opened, as Armandra made quick contact with your eyes as she leaned against a lamp post. How long she was waiting, what she may have known or suspected, was worrying. If she already suspected the budding feelings with you and Fineth, she didn't seem to be bothered enough to comment or stop it, at least not with you.

""Feeling better?" She asked, which hadn't helped the situation. Though it was, on it's face, an innocent question, and there were no hints in her tone, it was open ended enough to have a double meaning, implying she may either know something or expect you to divulge something. You played it as innocently as you could.

"Oh, yes. Much warmer now, thank you. Being in soggy clothes feel heavier than the armor does" You said as you moved your sword arm, showing a range of motion.

"I'll take your word on that Brenvira. Never been in either position, can't imagine I'll be in either anytime soon, if I can help it." She looked towards the afternoon sun, quietly gauging the time in the day. "Are you ready to get after it than? It's going to be a bit of a walk, and we may not have much daylight left."

"I think we should make our best effort of it. If someone is waiting for us already, it won't help us to make them wait more."

"Well, they've already been doing a share of waiting, which works to our benefit."

"What do you mean?" Fineth asked. "What's going on?"

"Farmers are having some trouble" Armandra responded "Someone or something is messing with their crops. The Empire didn't do anything about it, so here we are." She moved her attention to Fineth, and your eyes followed shortly after.

He rose his hands in defensive attitude. "Hey, don't look at me. It's not may fault. Just because I'm an agent of the Empire doesn't mean I had anything to do with it. I mean, even my father doesn't have anything to do with that, and he's up there."

"Noone said it was your fault" Armandra said with a slight smile "If it was in your power to fix, I'm sure you would have done it by now. I was just curious what you thought."

"Oh, well thank you" Fineth adjusted himself slightly as he walked himself back from feeling accused of something. "I can't speak to why that may have happened, other than managing resources. Can't be everywhere at once, you know. Beyond that, I think this is actually perfect for you, Brenvira."

"How do you figure that? This is hardly a move for conversion. Sounds like a trivial concern, whatever is going on."

"Not to them, I'm sure. Even more important, is the narrative and message you're sending. A drow in service of Varissa is stepping up to help her cousins when their own government ignored them. It might not sway every mind, but I'm sure it'll impact someone."

"That's a very good point. Hopefully it works that well. Let's go"

It was a considerable walk through the Sylran capital of Egrodimna, a metropolis you still have only seen a small part of in the few days you've been here. By the time you reached the gate, it had nearly seemed as though it were larger than your entire island. Though you had kept it to yourself, you saw that for all of the glamour and prestige around the centers of power, there were rough parts here too. They likely still had a better fortune than your kin, though it still you gave you some new perspective that your plight wasn't necessarily unique, but rather a variance of degrees.

That sensibility became more evident leaving the city gates itself, and walking out through the pastural fields and farm lands. It reminded you of home, though admittedly, these families seemed to fare far better. The island of Hylsa had little arable land, making the struggle to survive all the harder.

Journeying up the hills and across many of the family farms as the sun was a few hours from setting, you came across something that caused you to stop. Behind a short wall of white rocks, was a group of six children, ranging in ages from very young to near adolescence. Judging on the similarities of their faces and hair color, it was safe to say that they were family, likely siblings. Having seen you, the shouting and games came to a quick stop, as they coalesced together, whispering loudly. They seemingly made no effort to hide the fact they were talking about you. Intrigued, you decided to stay for a while, as Fineth and Armandra quietly stood behind you.

The group had seemingly nominated, or intimidated, the presumed middle child of the family to step forward. Slowly, he walked towards the gap in the wall, where you met him face to face, bent at your knees to speak at eye level.

"Hello there young one" You spoke in your gentlest tone "What's your name?"

The child, a boy, was clearly nervous, despite your best efforts "Ha-ha-Harzin"

"It's nice to meet your Hrazin, My name is Brenvira"

"Are you an Orc?" He asked bluntly, which caused a slight, nervous laugh

"No, I'm an elf, like you."

"I've never seen an elf that looks like you before" His shyness clearly didn't interupt the childhood tendency of open honesty "You're really beautiful though." He looked particularly at your bun of white hair "Are you older than my Nanna?"

"Oh, I don't think so Harzin. My hair has always been white" As you gave it a gentle touch "Same with my family. Always living in the ground.." Your attempt at explanation was swiftly cut off.

"Like the monsters do?"

You swiftly turned your head back to your friends, ensuring they heard it, as you seem to have a lead. Returning your attention to the boy "Are there monsters around here?"

He nodded quickly "Ya, they steal from the farms around here, and whatever they can't take, they burn"

"Have you seen them Harzin? Can you tell us what you know about them?"

"No, my older brother says they're afraid of the light. We've heard them though"

"Do you know where they might be coming from?"

Harzin turned his body to look behind him, pointing near the coastline "Near the shoals"

"Thank you, my smart brave little boy. My friends and I are here to fight the monsters, okay?"

"Will you come by and visit after you get rid of them?"

"Absolutely" With that, the young elf scurried to his siblings, as you rose to your feet and rejoined your comrades.

"Well," you began "It sounds like we have something"

"You're going to trust the kid?" Armandra asked.

"You haven't spent much time around them, or remember being one, do you?"

Fineth spoke up first "I wasn't really allowed, if you catch my meaning" there was a humor in his self deprication "As that may be, so what?"

"Children want validation from grown ups, especially if they get to seem smart"

"Makes sense" Armandra commented, her arms crossed "What the Army or the guards didn't do anything about it doesn't."

Fineth countered "They didn't care. Not long enough to stick around and see, at least"

"Well, with nothing better to go on, I say we investigate"

The three of you journeyed towards the s hoals. There were clear signs of the destruction the young boy had mentioned, and even a feeble defense created to try and prevent it, but no sign of who or what the cause may have been.

"No sign of the usual suspects that I can see" Armandra said openly "Any ideas?"

"We'll find out easily enough if we go in after them." You said quickly.

"I applaud your confidence" Fineth began his retort "But there's alot we don't know. We might be getting into more than we can handle. An ambush would let us set the terms, including a retreat, if needed"

You felt a tinge of pain in your chest, knowing what had been missed. You grew up in a community of soldiers, mentored by one of your great Generals, and yet the Empire's hold was so tight on what you could learn and practice that even these two held a better grasp on tactics than you had. Not ready to have that conversation, you merely went with the superior idea.

The three of you worked with the remaining light to form an impromptu trench, waiting for the enemy. Fineth was seperate as a look out, leaving you and his female companion alone together. Martial discipline held o ut longer you than her, who broke the long silence.

"So," she began "you seem to have formed a strong connection with Fineth, and pretty quickly at that" YOu sense that she was trying to pry; find details of your relationship. You were **** to give her that, hoping broad answers would silence her.

"He's proven to be a better friend than I could have hoped for when I left my home. My mission would be impossible with him. What about you? THere's clearly a past between you."

"We journeyed for a while together, yes. Fineth was dependable. Funny. Always willing to put others ahead of himself, as you've seen. It helped fill the hole inside, I think"

"Hole?" You asked, incredulous

"I'm just guessing. He does things for others so they like and appreciate him. Helps him feel like he's valuable and important. No thanks to his portulant father, he probably doesn't that enough on his own feet."

"That has to be rough" You commented quietly, as you reflected on your own past. For as rough as the island was, as often as you remember your parents and the other adults struggling to be good effective parents, you never had to doubt that you were loved, or your own worth.

"Still" Armandra continued "His past made him who he is, Same as any of us. You have to take the good with the bad. It's that part of him that's made him such a good friend."

"Quite true" You acknowledged, hoping the conversation would end there.

"It's also probably why he's so good with his tongue" Armandra added, in an oddly deadpan tone. You felt your face warm in an instant of embarrassment. Looking at her, there was a gleeful face. Whether she was boasting or prodding you to conform, you couldn't tell, and couldn't summon the words for it.

Not that there was a chance, as rustling and a light in the distance pulled your attention away, back to the mission. Even with your hushed conversation, the enemy seemed to be oblivious to your presence. With their loud screams and yells, it would have been difficult for them to notice you. It was a cacophonous, garbled sound, from some lowly being that couldn't have been born of the Six Sisters. They were bipedal froglike beings, standing slightly shorter than elves. Their skin was a mix dark green and brown, seemingly covered in an oily film of their own secretion. Carrying large clubs, the four of them were small in number, but were enough to cause havok, and scare the nearby residents.

"Boggards" Armandra set in a quiet tone. "This is odd, normally don't see them around here"

"Are they dangerous?" You asked, feeling the adrenaline coursing through your body.

"For the likes of us? No way. They're usually cowards as soon as there's a bigger threat. Fineth and I will cover you."

You waited until they nearly passed you until getting up, charging them with your sword drawn. The sudden blindside on the flank scared and disoriented them, allowing you an easy attempt to strike. Their clubs were no match for the sword of General Khilgana, or your protective armor. You drove your sword sharply into the chest of one in a fierce piercing attack. As the other three tried to surround you, a pair of bolts from crossbows flew by, one of which pierce a boggard in it's squishy forehead. The other injured in the shoulder, it and it's uninjured friend quickly reverted to instinct and tried to flee. You tried to chase them down, a foolish move in hindsight, encumbered as you were in your armor. You hadn't needed anyway, as the superior accuracy of your compatriots brought them down in a hurry.

The battle had been short but exhilarating. You had wondered if you would be able to able to put what little you could be taught away from prying eyes of the Imperial guards would stick when you needed to use it, and it clearly seems to have. Fineth and Armandra regrouped with you.

"Is that it?" You asked "Is that all of them?"

"Can't know for sure. Not without going into the cave near the shoals." Fineth explained "We should let the Army route them, if there's any more in there. They'll be up to the task."

"Will they believe us now?" You asked "They didn't seem to have much interest before."

"Bring proof, and they'll have to" Armandra responded first "Take the body if you want, or just the head if you want to make it a little easier on yourself." You did not look forward to decapitating a corpse, but lugging that dead weight all the way back was even worse. The grizzly work done, you three made your way back, trying to move with speed to get back home and recuperating from an exhaustive day.

You were surprised to see one of the homes you passed by lit and with a commotion of activity. If they were anything like your people back home, you thought, they would be trying to rest for another day's work that would begin before dawn. By the time you realized this was the house of Harzin and his family, things had already escalated to a point beyond control. A group of men, and two women marched towards you. One carried a torch for the rest to see, while the others held pitchforks or clubs. The eldest, a venerable soul and likely multigeneration matriarch of the family, stood at the lead of the group. Her graying hair nearly matched yours, her body in a perpetually humped state from the centuries of hard work.

"What is the meaning of this? Consorting with the enemy! You two should be hung on treason!" She was shouting loud as her voice would carry, a notable sorrow in her protests of anger.

Sensing that you were in peril, Fineth and Armandra tried to intercede, physically. "Ma'am, you're mistaken. She's a member of the Empire, same us. She's no enemy of us" Armandra in particular showed rare solidarity, being the first to speak up. The lady wasn't having any of it, giving the lovely rogue a hard slap in the face.

"I wasn't talking to you!"

"Ma'am" You began, trying your best to be diplomatic "I come from the island of Hylsa. General Khilgana surrendered and were given exile there. I was born there, and am working as an agent of Varissa"

The old elf grabbed a stone from a nearby wall and tried to throw it at you "You don't think I know about the war!?" Her body shook with fury "I lost my husband! And my eldest boys! and now you come around trying to tell my grand son everything is okay?"

You put the Boggard head down along with your sword, walking slowly towards them. Fineth, fearful, grabbed your hand "Brena, what are you doing?"

"Trust me" Your response was nearly a whisper. As he relented, and allowed you to continue, you moved with your hands up, showing a sign of surrender.

"Please miss, I meant no harm, and no offence. I can't say that I understand what you're feeling, but I recognize it. There's a lot of hurt, on all sides. Varissa has granted me her blessings. If I could, I would use them to bring back your family. For now, just know that I'm trying to make it so that no one else has to feel what you're feeling again. I know I'm asking alot, but we can gain even more from it."

In a flurry, the old elf woman tried to grab a pitchfork from one of the men near her and attack you with it. She was restrained by the slightly cooler minds, and you pulled away quickly.

"No one will have to feel this way when the likes of you are all gone! What fool gives quarter to the Drow? I hope you all die!" Her fury reached a breaking point, as she dropped to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. The rest of the rabble, more interested in her than you, tried to either comfort her emotionally or help her up physically.

"We need to go, right now" Fineth whispered loudly. You nodded silently, grabbing your effects as the three of you continued on your way. Wary that someone may still try to attack, you found relief that none had so much as spoken a word as you walked past. You felt a moment of calm, immediately overshadowed by sorrow. Looking at the home, you saw little Harzin in the doorway, along with a few of his siblings. He stared at his grandmother, and than at you. There was clear confusion in his face, along with remorse. Whether it was guilt that he had caused this, or empathetic grief, you couldn't say. Your body lagged behind, wanting desperately to try and speak to the lad again, trying to offer some semblance of an explanation.

"Brena, come on!" Fineth barked to get your attention. Your head snapped to him, and your body followed, hurrying up. There was a long, awkward silence between the three of you, now nearly jogging to get back home.

"I'm sorry that happened" Armandra broke the silence first "I'm sorry you had to see that. Worst of all, I'm sorry she's probably not the only one."

"I know." Your response was short, almost rude "but thank you. I was warned to expect rudeness and animosity. Just, that was different. It's going to linger, I fear."

"Take your time with it" Fineth consoled "we'll keep at it when you're ready. Just some people we aren't going to be able to reach."

"That's what I'm afraid of" You answered in a low tone, the final words spoken on the journey home.