The Burned Drow: a novel

[Galadria]

All right, with some prodding, I am going to post my second novel, here. Thanks to Kaltia and Caelethis for asking, and to Attalus for liking it. [img]graemlins/kiss.gif[/img]
The same characters are in it as the first, woth the exception of one: The title character. BTW, please don't expect her to be like Viconia. She isn't.

Early one morning, a heavily cloaked figure slipped into the quiet side street where sat the House of the Dome, the moderate-sized dwelling of the magician Galadria and her husband Attalus. The figure seemed to study the address plaque, and apparrently satisfied, pulled the bell cord firmly. The bell rang in the quarters of Galadria's cook, Lania, and her husband, Rantis, who served as the porter. Shortly thereafter, Attalus and Galadria were awakened by an urgent knocking on their bedroom door. Answering it, sword in hand, the big knight was surprised to see Rantis, still in his night clothes.
"My Lord, there's someone at the door, asking to see you or my Lady.," quavered the man. He didn't at all like mysterious visitors in the dark to disturb his rest.
From the bed, they heard Galadria's voice: "What kind of visitor do we have?" As usual, the mage awoke instantly, but in no good mood.
Rantis turned to her. "I cannot tell, my Lady," he replied, apologetically, "she is hooded, and there is no moon. She did give me a name, though."
"Well, tell it," the mage said impatiently.
The man paused to recall its unfamiliar syllables, "Chorantis, my Lady, or something like it."
Attalus exchanged glances with his mate. It had to be Chorania, the drow. She had been one of the companions that had liberated Galadria's sister Noemi from the necromancer Smaractus' prison, but they had parted ways since then, and this was the first news they had of her. They rushed to the door, the knight prudently retaining his sword in case of ambush.
Upon opening the door, they saw in the darkened street a small figure, heavily cowled. Galadria ran to her immediately, caution be damned. "Chorania, is that you?" she asked eagerly.
The cowled being at first made no answer, instead pulling back her hood. The mage was shocked to see the elf's once beautiful face was marred by an oozing burn of the left cheek and neck. Her snow white hair was dirty and uneven, jagged and grey on the side of the burn. "Yes, it is I." she finally said. The proud mouth drooped, and her eyes, dark violet, though in the dark looking as black as Galadria's, were slightly downcast, as in defeat.
Galadria and Attalus were horrified. "Cho, what happened?" the mage cried, moving closer to examine her. "Good Tres, this must be treated. Come in at once. Attalus," she turned to her husband," go get Noemi. And Sefa," she added as an afterthought. She hustled the woman into the house and laid her down on a cushioned bench.
An extraordinary expression of relief came over the elf's dusky face as she sank down with a sigh. "Finally!" she said softly, "I have been trying to get here for eleven days, abbil." That was an untranslatible drow epithet that meant a combination of trusted comrade and leader. In Chorania's mouth, it was close to an endearment.
Lania, roused by Attalus, came rushing in with a basin of warm water, soap, and towels. Galadria stripped the robe from her friend to fully assess the damage, and grimly noted that the burn extended to her left breast down to the side of her belly.; the left shoulder and arm were involved, also. The mage plunged into the task of scrubbing grime and foul-smelling ooze from the surface of the burn with warm soapy water, discarding the towels when they grew dirty. She glanced at Chorania's face from time to time, but she showed no sign of pain. She never had, she reflected.
Noemi came rushing in, having hurriedly pulled on her black tunic. Her red hair was afly. Seeing the drow's ravaged body, she drew back and gasped. "Cho! What happened? Gal, what can I do?"

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

prodding? me? (A) [img]tongue.gif[/img] great start, erm, will you be posting some more? I assume that it carries on from your last novel, (well you said it did) erm, what I really mean is what time span is it? (drat, Im not putting it correctly) how many years from the last novel? (there, at last I shouldnt type to myself, or you'll have me locked up [img]tongue.gif[/img] lol, escape forumns. ignore that, whimsical humor [img]tongue.gif[/img] ) seriously tho, it sounds great! [img]tongue.gif[/img] is there a cleric in the house?

[Galadria]

LOL, the action takes place about six months after the close of The Pit Lord. Here is some more.

"More warm water and towels, Em. And bandages. See if you can find any of that salve that Odo left. It's in the lab." She continued to cleanse the stubborn exudate from the once dark skin. It was pink, now, from the burns. Noemi bustled off.
Galadria's apprentice Sefa, a slight girl of fourteen with curly brown hair, came wandering in, sleepily. Like the others, she was riveted by the sight of her Mistress busily tending the wounds of a dark, naked, elf. She did not fear as others might, making no connection between Galadria's patient and the dreaded drow that lurked at the edges of so many stories. Wide eyed, she came to the opposite side of the bench and asked, "How can I help, Mistress?"
For the first time since the mage had started work on her wounds, Chorania stirred. She turned her ruined face to the girl and muttered, "So, Galadria, who is this? Another stray you have picked up? Your house should be bigger, with perhaps slave pens in the back."
As Sefa flushed with anger, the dark mage ceased her ministering to give the drow an exasperated look. "Oh, hush, Cho. Your mouth is your worst enemy.," she said in stern tones. "This is Sefa, my apprentice. It looks like you will be with us for a time, so try to be gracious, will you?" She went back to scrubbing..
The drow surveyed her burns, what she could see of them. "I fear I have worse," she said tersely. Her lips compressed for a moment. Then, in an almost apologetic tone, she added. "But I am in your house, where I so wanted to be, and you, as usual, are rescuing me. So I will try."
"Well," Galadria scolded, "since it seems you're able to talk, tell me, what in the world happened to you? Why aren't these burns dressed? Why, in the goddess' name, didn't you send for me, if you were hurt? You know I would have been there as soon as I could. I didn't even know where you were. Why didn't you keep me posted?" She stopped as a new idea struck her. "Chorania, have you been a prisoner? Is this torture?"
The drow smiled a bit at all this, and at a gap in the questions, she got out. "Calm yourself, abbil; wherever I have been, I am here, now. This is the result of hatred, not torture, though I could find few tortures more exquisite than walking all the way from Beregost," a town in the south, " to Baldur's Gate, with no food, no money, and only this cloak that I stole. I had no shoes." She looked at her finely shaped feet, battered and blistered from the road.. Galadria noticed the look and told Noemi, rushing in with more supplies, to wash and bandage them..
"Well, Cho, " the dark mage returned with a wrinkled brow, "Who did this? And why? You must have made some enemies for them to do this."
"I think they hated my skin, so they burned it." Choriana answered after a pause, "No, I do not do them justice, they wanted to destroy me, and since they feared me, they set fire to my house in the night, while I slept. I awoke to flames, and when I stumbled out, on fire, they attacked me with clubs and knives. I was in no position to fight, so I fled, and hid in the forest to hear them celebrate their great victory over the drow. There was no pursuit. Fools! I will yet return to destroy them." She glared in fury at the memory.
"But, how did you manage to get here?" asked the mage with a frown. They had encountered this anti-drow prejudice before, but their party, with their bright swords and their magic, was hardly one that people disturbed with impunity. To Galadria and her friends, Chorania was not just a drow, but their ally, difficult and even cutting at times, but true, loyal, and even self-sacrificing.
"I am no stranger to pain, abbil," she said proudly. "I walked at night and killed small animals with snares I made with some wire I found. I rested in the bushes by day, and bathed my wounds in streams. I had no medicines, and no money to seek any, even if I had dared to go into a town."
"But how did you get into Baldur's Gate?" Galadria asked with curiosity." The watch would not let a solitary drow through the gate without some kind of escort."
"I sneaked through the sewers," Chorania answered somberly. "Which is why you would best have your lackey burn that robe. I would never see it again, even if it could be made clean again, for the memory of it is as foul as its smell."
Noemi chimed in at that. "Lackey?, Cho, you never change. Are you by any chance referring to me?"
The drow actually smiled at the little redhead so gently washing her feet. "No, m'zint to, I would never call you a lackey. You caused us far to much trouble to rescue for me to admit that I would spend so much effort on a servant. No, I meant this one," she indicated Sefa, "that your sister honors with the title of apprentice, though I'm sure 'house pet' is closer to the mark. Though maybe I mistake, an apprentice is a lackey, no?"
Noemi actually laughed as Sefa bristled, but the dark mage shook her head. "Cho, I thought I told you to watch your tongue." she said resignedly. "A lackey is a body servant. I am teaching Sefa magic, and she is making great progress indeed."
Sefa, greatly daring, made a face at the drow, who surprised her with a gentle chuckle. "Some spirit, I see," she remarked. "Perhaps you are right, something may be made of the brat. Though frequent whipping would doubtless speed the process along."
Galadria caught Sefa 's impudent look out of the corner of her eye, and looked at her sternly as she began to apply salve to the cleansed wounds. "Sefa," she said sternly, "this is my old and honored friend Chorania LeMeaux, and you are not to stick your tongue out at her. You should see that she has been badly hurt, and make allowances for her sharp tongue. Noemi," she turned to her sister who had finished dressing the drow's feet, "Go to your room and get her a soft robe, you're much of a size. Perhaps the old gray one." The redhead hopped to her feet and sprinted out Her dark sister, having applied the ointrment, began bandaging the wounds. This took awhile. Galadria glanced at drow's face from time to time and it seemed to her that a small 'v' between her friend's eyebrows gradually disappeared. Sefa and her Mistress then helped the bandaged elf down to a reclining position on the bench, supported with cushions. The dark mage sat down opposite, at her desk and faced her, but said to her apprentice. "Sefa, run to the kitchen and fetch some lemonade and some bread. She needs to eat. Is there anything else I can get you, Chorania?"
The drow woman smiled and shook her head. "No, that will be enough. I could not hold more down at this time, I fear," she said gratefully. "It is enough that I have reached a haven. I have longed for this day." Sefa scampered out to do her Mistress' bidding, nearly colliding with Noemi bringing in the robe. The little redhead proceeded to put it over the patient's head, and sat down at Chorania's feet, smiling at her in encouragement.
"Do not simper, girl," the drow began, but was cut off by Galadria.
"Oh, give it a rest, Cho, we're all friends, here, and Noemi is just happy that you're here and that we got you patched up. You don't have to needle her right now. You must rest after you eat."
Chorania felt herself relax. The intense burning that she had felt ever since her ordeal had begun was actually going away, though it had seemed worse while Galadria was actuallly cleaning them. She looked at her hostess whimsically. "Are you saying that after eleven days of little rest and intense jouneying, after being graciously welcomed and having my hurts dressed, and being in fear of my life and now being safe, that I might be a little sleepy? That I might be a leetle stubborn? Well, perhaps you are right, as usual. I may even admit that you know what you are about." She laughed her low, throaty laugh.

[Kaltia]

YEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!!!!! *dives around on floor* It's UP!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

Thats great Lady G.. so when are you gonna post some more? *grin* hehe, funny drow insluting the girl like that. [img]tongue.gif[/img] hehe. erm was "pit lord" the last story you posted?

[Galadria]

[img]smile.gif[/img] Glad that you like it. This is the second novel. I am at work on the third, The Child Born of Women. Here is the third installment.of The Burned Drow:

At least, she has a sense of humor, thought Sefa as she brought in the drow's refreshments. She was still smarting under the insults. There was a little table next to the couch where the woman lay, and she deposited the tray there.
"No, Sefa," her Mistress murmured. "Sit it on her lap. Now, Cho, I don't know what you intend, but I want you to stay here for at least six weeks. Your revenge can wait. As you once told me, it is a dish best eaten cold."
The drow interrupted her delicate eating and drinking to look up with a smile. "You remember that? Of course, you remember everything. Even this poor drow debris that washes up at your feet at regular intervals. Don't worry, I shall obey your orders. It seems that every time I do not, I meet disaster. Yes, if you grant me a corner to sleep in, Chorania LeMeaux will obey you until her dying day. Or yours, anyway." She took a sip of lemonade, then it turned to several gulps. She found herself surprisingly thirsty. She emptied the glass, then handed it to Sefa. "If you will refill this, girl, I promise not to upset you for at least another day." The girl blushed, surprised that Chorania had noticed her indignation. She took the glass and left, hurriedly.
Noemi giggled. "Oh, Cho, who could forget you.? I'm glad Gal's making you stay with us. I've written down some of those drow things that you used to call me when we were on the road. You can translate them. Or, maybe I'll just buy a Drow dictionary."
"Do not translate them, brat," the drow growled. "They would fry your little freckled ears. I'll teach you some new ones, by Shar."
When she had finished her light meal and drunk several more glasses of fluid, the door opened and Attalus came in. "Glad to see you looking better, Cho," he said, sympathetically. "We'll get the bastards that did it. I'll send for Odo and Cyth, and then we can go exact some justice." He looked at his wife. "Who did it, Gal? And why?"
Galadria looked at her husband and smiled. "Dear heart, we don't know, yet. But we shall. That I vow." A steely glint came into her eye.
Noemi was talking to her drow friend. "Cho, why don't you just come and live here? We have plenty of room. You can have Morgul's old room." Morgul was Galadria's former apprentice who had been, briefly, Noemi's lover.
Secretly pleased, but not wanting to appear too eager, Chorania replied, "You are awfully free with your sister's property, m'zint to. Why would she want a useless hulk like myself around? Does she need a new apprentice? Is this one so inept?" She indicated Sefa.
The redhead laughed. "Didn't you just promise not to upset her for a day?" Sefa, who was catching on, pretended to bridle. She sat down at her Mistress' feet, arms around her legs possessively. Galadria smiled at her and started stroking her curly hair.
Chorania smiled. "That day is tomorrow. What do you say, abbil? Would not I make a better apprentice than this scrawny little girl?"
Galadria continued to run her fingers through Sefa's hair. "She's not scrawny, Cho," she reproved her. "She's just not as ...developed as you and Noemi. But then who is? Certainly not me. Anyway, why do you want to be an apprentice? You're as bad as Em."
Noemi was conjuring a purple cloud, a standard beginning spell. She sent it over to Chorania where it billowed around her. "Yeah, Cho," she crowed, "I'm her senior apprentice, and you're not up to taking me on."
In her turn, Chorania wrapped the redhead in shadow, so that momentarily she could not see. "Be careful, brat," she growled. "If you get my bandages wet I shall be forced to flay you alive. So, don't, because it is very hard work and, as you say, I am not up to it."
She turned to Attalus, who had been laughing at this exchange. "So, my protector and host, have you heard of your wife's invitation? I am to stay here six weeks. Is it too much to have my unlucky carcass thus thrust upon you? I shall leave at once if you say."
Attalus looked at the much-bandaged dark form and said gently, " I wouldn't let you go anywhere until you are well, Cho, you must know that. Do you not remember the conversation that I had with you right before you left?"
The drow looked guilty, and might have blushed. "Yes, Attalus, I do. You told me not to go, because the surface world is unfriendly to my race, and that I was safer here. All too true, I fear. Do not worry, as I told your wife, I will stay as long as she says." She stood, with a slight swaying. A mist seemed to appear before her eyes but rapidly cleared. When she focused again, Attalus was holding her by the elbow and Noemi had grabbed her around the waist. All were looking at her with alasrm.. She found she was sweating.
Smiling at their concern, she said, "I think I am outrunning my strength. Will you show me where I am to sleep?" They escorted her to the former apprentice's room. Galadria tucked her into bed, and she was asleep before the last one tiptoed out.

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

I *like* this drow [img]tongue.gif[/img] shes funny. [img]tongue.gif[/img] great story, drat I read too fast... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Kaltia]

I like this drow too...LIKE Viconia but less cruel/clingy to the ways of her race (Galadria, officate please [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

[Galadria]

LOL, thanks, I made her like I wish Viconia would have been. Of couse I'll officiate, sweetie, didn't I agree to? Some more:

The next morning, Chorania awoke and, momentarily did not remember where she was. She started up and saw her bandaged form in the mirror. Then, she realised that she was safe at Galadria's house. Examining herself, cautiously, she was relieved to find that the pain from her burns continued to lessen. She sat on the edge of the bed and remembered how they had first met.
She had only been on the surface for a few days when she had run into a group of rowdies. Seeing a lone unarmed drow, they had at once set out after her, with many shouts and predictions of what they would do to her when they caught her. She had dashed into a forest, trying to elude them, but she was weak with hunger and they gained on her. Suddenly, she ran into three young people. The large man was heavily armed, and the redheaded woman had a bow in her hand. The third, a tall raven-haired woman in black mage robes looked at her curiously.
The shouts came closer. The blonde giant appoached her. "Who are you?" he asked. "Who is chasing you?"
For some reason, she did not fear these humans. "I am Chorania LeMeaux," she gasped. "There are men chasing me. I have done nothing. Please help me."
The men, no more than four, burst into the clearing. Seeing an armed man, they suddenly became cautious. They stopped their shouts and approached them.
Attalus, as it proved to be, drew his sword and the women faced her pursuers intently. Noemi put an arrow to her bow, and Galadria began to work a spell. The men stopped again, then one, their evident leader, approached them hand raised in parley.
"Who are you, stranger?" he began, "and why do you shelter a drow? Don't you know that there is a bounty on them? A thousand gold a head. Let's kill her and share the reward."
To Chorania's relief, Attalus had glared at the man. "You would kill this woman for mere gold, when she has done naught to you? Faugh, you disgust me." He spat at the man's feet. "To get her, you will have to come through me." Noemi drew her arrow back and Galadria went into a chant.
The ruffians paled. A lone, unarmed drow woman had seemed easy pickings. A little sport first, then cut off her head and collect the reward. But, they had no stomach for this kind of fight. They hastily ran off, pausing when they had reached the edge of the clearing to shout insults and obscenities. Galadria loosed her spell, and an electrical current went from her hand into the leader. He bellowed in pain before turning and running away, this time for good. They had gathered around her, then.
The dark magic wielder addressed her. "Hello, I am Galadria, and this is Attalus and Noemi, my sister. What are you doing on the surface, unarmed? Don't you know how your race is regarded, here?"
The redheaded archer added, "Yeah, what's your story? I 've read about the raids you people pull, over in the Elf country. But they all say that they are done by men. They don't want to risk their precious females." She turned to the blonde man with a twinkle in her eye. "They regard women as superior to men, you know."
The armored giant grimaced resignedly. "As well they should!" he sighed.
Chorania regarded them, feeling trapped. She had not heard that there was a bounty on drow, and she knew what a drow party under the circumstances would have done. She squared her shoulders and held her head high, but a tear, her first since childhood, crept down her cheek. She dashed it away angrily and said, "I know what you will do. Go ahead and kill me." She ripped open her robe. "I now know that it was a mistake to come here. I should have stayed in the Underdark. Go ahead, kill me and get your reward."
As she stood defiantly before them, expecting a blade to end her sorry existence, she was surprised to see shocked looks on her rescuers. Galadria had gently removed her hands and patted the fabric back into place. "Calm down, Chorania. We are not going to kill you. Why don't you just tell us why you are here, unarmed?"
Puzzled at their attitude, she had said, "I am a fugitive from the Underdark. Lolth hates me, now, and I have no House to protect me. Were I to return to my home, I would be killed, out of hand. I do not know what to do. I have no arms, or any money to buy any. I think my life will be short, despite your mercy, and my soul go to the spider queen at the last."
Galadria had smiled her wonderful smile at her, then, and, despite her plight, for the first time, she felt a little twinge of hope.
"You have no place to go, eh?" the dark mage had said. "Well, neither do we. Why don't you join us? We could use you. Tell me what weapons you can use, and we'll see about getting you some."
"Uh, Gal," Noemi said uneasily, "you know that some people are going to think less of us because she's with us." The drow's heart sank. Was her refuge to be denied? She looked anxiously at the dark-haired woman, who was obviously in charge.
Galadria had reassured her by putting her arm around her shoulder, saying, "Pooh, pooh, we have many enemies. What's a few more?"
The little redhead had smiled then. "Okay, I don't mind, then." She turned to her new comrade and said, "You can tell me all about the Underdark. I hear that it's beautiful but scary. Like Gal, here."
The dark mage rolled her eyes. "Come on," she addressed the group, "we must get back to a town so that our new friend, here, can arm herself. Chorania. That's a mouthful. I shall call you Cho, if that's all right."
"Anything," the drow answered eagerly. "Do you think that you can get me a mace and some armor?"
"I'm sure we can." Galadria replied. "Noemi, how much money do we have? The redhead pulled out a discouragingly small purse. She counted coins. "Eighty-three gold. I think that we can get her a mace, a helmet, and some armor."
"That would be wonderful," Chorania had said. And they had started out on the long road that had led here.

[Kaltia]

I LOVE IT. Keep on, Galadria! *HUG*