Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 33 You Really Are Something.

Lenna ducked quietly back inside the tunnel. She then slowly leaned to the side so she could peer around the corner back into the cavern with as little of herself showing as possible. She waited and watched. Now was her chance to watch her charge in action. This would allow her to gauge exactly how much she would have to worry about him in combat.

Isaac, who was invisible at the time, casually strolled up to the pecurke after dropping his backpack against the wall. He watched them for a moment as they conversed. One of them reached down and grabbed a mushroom off the floor. That one would be his second target. The longer that one was distracted the longer he could focus on the other one. He decided to name the distracted one number two for future reference.

The cavern was silent save for a huffing pecurke and another eating a mushroom. Lenna watched intently, waiting for Isaac to make his move. The pecurke on watch cried out in pain as blood gushed from its knee. In a moment the scene had gone from almost tranquil to a horror story. There was a full sized longsword sticking halfway through it knee and out the other side.

The monster crumpled to the ground as its leg gave out. No sooner had it gotten its hands under itself, to keep from kissing the ground, a dagger appeared in its eye. It howled and reached for its face. It leaned backwards in pain and exposed its throat. A quick slash and a spray of blood as its throat was sliced open.

The cut wasn’t deep enough to kill the monster and it started flailing wildly. It pulled the dagger from its eye and threw it across the cavern into a wall almost two hundred feet away. The second pecurke toppled as its ankle tendons were cut in quick succession. As the first one continued to flail about and tire itself out the second was quickly realizing that it too had been sentenced to death.

The second one swung wide and it felt its claw skip off of something. When it did it was met with a slice along the back of its hand. The first monster stopped swinging and was gasping for air. Its inhale was silenced as a blade was brought down on the back of its neck. The blade cut deep but not deep enough to kill it. The monster swung out and hit something but there was no blood nor sound accompanying the impact.

The cavern fell into silence. The monsters looked around frantically. Lenna didn’t move a muscle lest she be seen. The silence dragged on and on until, just as suddenly as it had begun the last time, the cavern fell into chaos. The dagger from earlier had reappeared and was now lodged in the other eye of the first pecurke.

The monster toppled backwards. It swung, swiped, and clawed in every direction it could while laying on its back howling. The second one looked on in horror from its kneeling position. A blade pierced straight into the second monster’s throat before something pushed off its chest, sending it too falling onto its back.

The second monster clutched its throat, its dull eyes searching for its murderer. It knew it was already dead. It was drowning in its own blood and rapidly losing strength. It rolled over and pushed itself back onto its knees. It swung weakly a few more times until its strength completely gave out and it collapsed onto the ground, dead before it even hit stone.

The mushrooms bathed the bloody scene in their soft blue glow. Many of the mushrooms around the scene were covered in blood or destroyed from flailing limbs. The first pecurke couldn’t see any of it anymore. It was bleeding out but not quickly. Pecurke were known for their resilience and this one was no exception.

Isaac reappeared a few feet in front of the cavern’s entrance. “I don’t really know how to finish that one off without getting hit again.” He said to Lenna while staring at his gruesome handiwork.

“It is safest to let it bleed out. You’re not strong enough to kill it without undue risk.” She told him and walked out into the cavern to stand beside him.

“Yeah.” Isaac agreed. “I wish I was though.”

“I can teach you.” She assured him. She casually walked over to the first pecurke, the one still alive, and drew her sword. Her steps were anything but silent and the beast swung towards her. Her blade coated in flames and she swung with incredible power.

Isaac watched in awe as her blade cleaved through the monster’s thick forearm and parted bone like a woodcutter’s ax through a thin branch. The bottom third of the arm bounced off her pauldron but no blood sprayed. The fire had instantly cauterized the wound. She took another step forward and the beast swung at her with its other hand.

She took half a step to the side and swung upwards. Its hand went flying from its own momentum. She stepped back to where she was and chopped down with her flaming blade. The sword cut through the monster’s throat and bit into stone. The final pecurke went limp.

The flames on her blade died out and she looked over it. There were no dings and the blade was just as sharp as it had been when she had gotten it a hundred years ago. The blood had burned off so she sheathed it and turned to face Isaac. He had grabbed his backpack and was now walking towards her.

“You really are something.” Isaac praised her. “You cut through that thing like it was barely even there.”

“I’m a tenth level paladin with a magic sword. This is normal.” She explained simply.

Isaac thought for a moment. “You are the highest level person I’ve met.” He mentioned, while retrieving his weapons. “Well, maybe.” He continued speaking while cleaning them off with Lenna’s handkerchief. “I don’t know what level that thief girl was but Aria said that she was a high level.” He shook his head to refocus. “Anyway, you said you could teach me?”

“Yes. Is that something you want?” Lenna asked him. She knew that she would be able to teach him swordsmanship and how to better read his opponents. She also knew that their fighting styles would always be on opposite ends of the melee combatant spectrum.

“Hey I’m like level three or four so I won’t say no to getting stronger.” Isaac agreed. “I don’t like there being things that I physically can’t win against. Its one thing if I fuck up and get myself killed because I was an idiot. It’s an entirely different thing dying because something way stronger than me was passing through a tunnel at the same time I was.”

Lenna nodded in understanding. “Let’s talk and walk. We are going to run out of water before we get there.”

“How long before we get there?” Isaac asked worriedly.

“Three to five hours at this rate.” She explained

“That’s not too bad.” Isaac reasoned.

“No. Onto your lesson.” Lenna directed as they moved through the mushroom cavern towards an exit opposite to where they had entered. Lenna had the map memorized by this point. Well, she at least remembered enough of it that she only had to reference it occasionally.

“Yes mam.” Isaac said with a smile.

“Don’t leave your weapons lying around. They can and will be used against you.” She lectured.

“Yeah… that dagger missed my head by like seven feet.” Isaac conceded while scratching the back of his head bashfully.

“Invisibility is your only trick isn’t it?” Lenna asked.

Isaac tilted his hand in a maybe gesture and explained: “Yes and no. I can heal, kinda, mostly just monsters and you though.” He thought for another moment. “I’m working on understanding my power right now. I need to figure out what else I can do with it.”

Lenna looked him up and down. “You can’t heal yourself but you can heal me?”

“Well,” Isaac began and looked up towards the ceiling in thought. “I can only heal creatures that are compatible with my death mana. I can make myself compatible with it but it is both painful and time consuming. I’ve been trying to for days. I’m making progress but at this rate it’s gonna take months.”

“You heal… with death? That’s what you used on me?” Lenna asked.

“Yeah. I can instinctually tell who and what is compatible.” Isaac explained. “You are the first civilized person I’ve met who is compatible.”

She thought for a moment as they walked. “Have you met any other drow?”

Isaac shook his head. “No. You are the first.” They walked in silence for a time before Isaac asked: “Do you have any idea why?”

“Too many ideas to be helpful.” Lenna mentioned. As she saw it there were at a minimum five reasons why his power worked on her and not on other mortals. It could have something to do with her species being Innerworld natives, her broken oath, her broken oath being to the ancient spirits of her dead ancestors, the curse on her species that prevented them from joining the other elves in the heavens when they died, or lastly, her species being considered evil as a default. The last option was not necessarily true but it was true enough. Stereotypes existed for a reason.

“Any other advice?” Isaac asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“It is difficult without actually seeing you fight.” She replied. “Or fighting you myself.”

“I might wanna skip the fighting you option for a while.” Isaac confessed.

“I won’t use my flames on you. They are either on or off.” Lenna explained.

“Still… you are a LOT stronger than me. Also I don’t have a magic sword.” Isaac continued.

“We won’t fight with sharp blades. I am confident in my abilities but I will not risk an accident.” She asserted.