FF: Two Worlds (Chapter 15: Digging and Discovering)

["cilia" <cilia@xxxxx>]

Title: Two Worlds
Chapter 15: Digging and Discovering
Series: Royalty (Book Three)
Author: Cilia
Edited and Revised by: Brndn
E-mail: cilia@xxxxx
Feedback: Please god yes
Distribution and Archiving: Sure go for it
Summary: You know this dont you?
Missting Parts: E-mail me and I'll send you what you need.
Notes: A Big Thanks to my beta "brndn" for getting me started on this again.

Two Worlds
Cilia

Chapter 15: Digging and Discovering

As Cordelia awoke, stretching, she looked over and gazed at the beauty
beside her. Stjar'a was still sitting in the same spot she'd been in the
night before.
"That can't be comfortable," she said, rubbing her eyes and
yawning. "Why didn't you wake me so I could take over?"
"I just couldn't," Stjar'a answered with a smile. "You looked so
peaceful."
Cordelia smiled and pecked her on the cheek, "Are they on the
move?" she asked, still stretching out the kinks.
"Yea, they left just before sunrise. I think they'll reach their
destination by nightfall. We should probably wait until then and then follow
their trail," Stjar'a answered. She turned around just in time to see her
lover stretch her lithe form. Cordelia had come a long way from the girl she
'd met not so long ago, Stjar'a thought. Her muscles were well defined now,
not that there had been anything wrong with her before and her hair fell
down onto her mid back, kept at bay in an elaborate braid.
"You're staring again," Cordelia said teasingly, poking the elf'
s ribs as she sat down again.
"But I like to stare." Stjar'a pouted.
"Well, just don't start drooling," Cordelia stated pointedly.
She tried to look her ast'one in the eyes to share a smile, but Stjar'a's
gaze had shifted.
"Star, what is?" she asked and reached for her staff that rested
by the tree.
"Something." Stjar'a was unfastening her bow from her shoulder.
".that does not belong," she finished slowly and then she was on the move.
"Oh great," Cordelia answered as she followed her lover deeper
into the forest. "First thing in the morning and we have to deal with
something that doesn't belong." she muttered as she pulled herself into the
tree to perch beside Stjar'a, her eyes followed her girlfriend's gaze and
saw the source of Stjar'a's feeling.
"Ew! What are those?" she exclaimed quietly, pointing to the
hulking creatures sleeping on the forest floor. Cordelia also noticed an
unconscious man that was bound to a nearby tree.
"Forest Trolls." Stjar'a's said and the response dripped with
contempt.
"And let me guess, he's lunch?" Cordelia asked indicating the
bound man.
"Pretty much," Stjar'a said as she jumped down from the tree and
landed quietly on the soft forest floor.
"Rescue and retreat?" Cordelia whispered as she landed next to
her.
"It is our duty." Stjar'a nodded. "We are to protect any beings
within King Vitor's lands," she finished and took a silent step into the
small clearing.
The pair crept carefully into the clearing so as to not disturb the snoring
trolls. They slowly made they're way towards the unconscious man.
"He's a thief." Stjar'a commented as they leaned in to cut the
ropes.
"How can you tell?" Cordelia asked as she looked at him. He
looked to be fairly young, probably around her age. He had a shock of unruly
blond hair, a drawn out face and nose that looked like it had seen its fair
share of breaks.
Stjar'a showed her the man's wrist, "Guild tattoo," she
explained.
"Well, thief or not, we have to get him out of here." Cordelia
said and hooked her arm under him. Glancing at the snoring heaps, she
offered, "and we should probably hurry."
"Agreed," Stjar'a nodded as they hauled the man up.
They were just taking their final steps out of the clearing and back into
the forest, when Cordelia snapped a small twig.
"Shit," she cursed as one of the trolls stirred.
"Into the forest quickly," Stjar'a hissed. They stepped up their
speed.
Another troll sniffed the air and growled.
"Can we take them?" Cordelia asked dropping the unconscious heap
behind a tree.
"I think so, yes. But I'd rather avoid the delay," Stjar'a
answered. There was a mighty crash as a boulder came flying by them,
smashing into a nearby tree, too close for comfort.
"Don't forest trolls and trolls in general fear fire?" Cordelia
asked.
"How did. never mind," Stjar'a said shaking her head. Her
girlfriend never ceased to amaze her.
"Read it somewhere. Now all we need." Cordelia said, pulling an
arrow from Stjar'a quiver. ".is some fire."
"There's never a mage around when you." Stjar'a trailed off as
Cordelia clasped her fist around the arrow tip and closed her eyes. "Cordy,
what are you."
"Elemental of the fire spirits, I summon thee!" Cordelia
pronounced and small dots of fire started circling her hand. When she
released her grip on the arrow tip, it seemed to absorb the glowing dots
until a flame danced to life. "Here. Light up," she said and lit the three
arrows Stjar'a had loaded into her bow.
Accuracy not being an issue, she wants fire coverage, Cordelia thought,
wondering how Star planned to shoot three arrows at once.

Stjar'a, holding her bow level with the ground, let the flaming arrows fly.
Each one hit its mark and Cordelia was more than a little impressed.
"How did you," T-T-Twang, "know how to summon," T-T-Twang, "the
spirits?" Stjar'a asked. Cordelia was applying the flame to the arrows as
quickly as Stjar'a could draw and fire them.
"I.I don't know," Cordelia stammered. The trolls were finally
backing away from the fiery assault. They could take a lot of damage, but
fire was the bane of their existence. After the last had retreated, the
small dots of light floated from the tip of the arrow to circle Cordelia's
head before they sailed back into the forest. The couple just stared at each
other for a long moment before a groan snapped them back to reality.
"Whoa.where am I." the man groaned and blinked his eyes several
times. "And why is my head so much larger than it was yesterday? Ug," he
groaned again.
"Kind of a long story," Cordelia answered with a smile.

-

Tark arose at the crack of dawn. Waking to such a bright light was
definitely not in his nature. But his new capacity required him to start
early. As general to the army of King Vitor, he answered only to the King
himself and The Red Mage, to whom he was currently on his way to report to.
He pulled the forest green cloak, which marked him as a general, around his
neck and tied his long hair back. Now he was ready to face the world. He
pulled the hood over his head to help his eyes and stepped out into the
sunlight.
Mage Willow, he was told, was at the Healers hut, receiving lessons. That
was something that surprised him; Mage's weren't usually that caring of
other beings, usually being too caught up in their own power struggles. He
walked through the herbal gardens towards the low wooden hut. Stopping to
smell a yellow flower, he heard soft laughter from across the gardens. He
looked up to see a young elf girl giggling at him. He smiled politely and
walked on, missing the girls' blushing.
"Mage Willow?" he called out as he stepped into the hut.
The Mage looked up and smiled. She was mixing a potion under the watchful
gaze of an elderly elf healer. "I'll be with you in just a minute, General,"
the Mage said turned back to her work.
Tark had to step lively as an elven child brushed quickly passed him.
"Litni! Do you remember what I told you about running in the
work hut?" the old elf admonished.
"Yep," the little one answered proudly, "Don't do it." she
scrunched up her face, "or the drow will come out of the ground and getcha!"
she looked up at the stranger and Tark, surprised, looked back down at the
girl.
"Is that really what they say?" he asked the girl.
"Yep. All parents say it," the girl answered matter-of-factly
and ran back out. Never realizing that she had just talked to a drow.
"Well, I think I'm done," The Mage said, standing. "We can talk
now. Walk with me?" she asked as she dusted off her hands.
"Very well," Tark nodded and followed the Mage outside. Odd, he
thought, that she didn't have the radiation of power that most mage's
constantly seem to emanate. Still she seemed to be different, somehow, from
normal human girls. He smiled to himself, not that he had met that many to
be able to pass judgment.
"You're eighty two years old, aren't you?" she asked after they'
d walked through the garden for a while.
He raised an eyebrow, "That is correct, honoured mage," he
stated.
"Please, call me Willow," the Mage offered.
"Very well, Willow. Yes, I am eighty two seasons old," he said.
"The little girl's comment didn't it bother you?" Willow asked
as she sat down on tree log and patted a spot beside her in invitation.
"No. We drow know that we are feared though out this Realm," he
answered as the mage nodded calmly. Preferring not to sit, he leaned against
a nearby tree. "I was just surprised the child said it in front of me."
"Out of the mouths of babes," Willow quoted. "You're an honest
being, Tark and that's a quality I appreciate," she added, "I also sense
compassion within you. That is something I did not see in many of your
brethren."
"I thank you, Ma. Willow," he nodded.
"Now, you are to be given command of our fifth regiment. It's
currently made up mostly of young recruits. They are going to need to learn
respect and discipline, both of which I am sure you can give them," Willow
said after having studied him for a moment.
"Then I shall put forth all my effort to imprinting upon them
what I know," he said firmly.
"We ask nothing less," The Mage said smiling. She stood to
continue walking but paused, and turned around. "I just want you to know
Tark, that should you ever need a friend, you know, someone to talk to, my
door is always open. Seeing as how we are both strangers in this land and
all."
"I may just accept that offer after today, Ma.Willow," he
nodded, genuinely impressed with her openness towards him. "Thank you, and
good day to you," he turned and walked away, but not before seeing a small
bird landing on her outstretched hand. As he walked down the path and out of
the garden, he spared a glance at the elf that had laughed at him earlier,
and the little girl now climbing a nearby tree.

-

The Mines, a maze of tunnels, were filled with the constant sound of
pickaxes colliding with the hard rock and of shovels moving the rock around
once it had his the ground. Work platforms, some of them four stories high,
reached up along all the walls. They were lined with dwarves, each scraping
and digging at the mythril veins and other precious metals buried within the
rock face.
"Wow!" Joyce exclaimed as they walked down the tunnels. "This is
incredible!"
"Tis' th' ol'part o' th'mine," Gymli explained, waving his arms
at the walls, and to a couple of dwarves that had noticed him and waved. "We
're a' headin' down inta th' newer parts. Thas where the real diggin's a'
bein' done," he added.
"I don't remember ever agreeing to digging," Theris exclaimed.
"No ya didn't elf," the dwarf grunted, "Yer 'ere ta scout. Ya
High Elves bein sensitive to nature and all, I was a'thinkin maybe ya could
scout out a new vein er two, eh?" Gymli said with a nudge to her arm, which
knocked her off pace and over a few steps.
"Oy! Grank! Got ye some surface dwellers 'ere wantin' t'work,"
Gymli called out to the foreman, once they had reached the fresher parts of
the tunnel. The foreman turned around to face them, a cloud of dust rising
around him as he moved.
"Gymli, ya ol' bastard! Ya bringin' me two humans n' an elf?"
the foreman huffed. "What'm'I supposed ta do wit'em?"
"I be bringin' ya two strong diggers and scouter," Gymli argued.
Theris ran her hand over a rock wall her eyes fluttering. "There is .some
mythril not to far into this wall," she said slowly, as if thinking.
"Anyone got a pickaxe I could barrow?" Joyce asked and then
easily caught the one that came flying through the air from a nearby miner.
"I ah.would take a step back, if I were you," Al'x said and took
a big step away from his student.
The dwarf in charge cocked an eyebrow at the humans warning, "An' why should
I." the foreman stopped as Joyce swung the pick and slammed into wall once,
twice, three times in quick succession, sending gravel and dust flying all
over him. When the dust had cleared, several moments later, a large vein of
mythril was visible.
"Two diggers an' a scouter ya say," he said as he blew dust from
his mouth and patted his now gray mustache. He looked down, and his gray
beard. He looked further down, and his now gray leathers.
"Oy." Gymli nodded, obviously pleased with himself. Theris
walked down the mine, looking pensive, carefully feeling the walls.
"Gems," she announced, patting a spot on the rock face.
Al'x winked at Joyce, did a fancy turn and swung at the wall, taking two
swings before reaching a sizeable outcrop of crystals. The group was now
drawing attention from the other miners.
"Gymli, me thinks I be owin' ya a mead," the foreman said as he
followed the trio and inspected the crystals. "Or two," he added with wide
eyes.
"Gold," Theris exclaimed, patting another spot a little further
down, "pretty far in. but it feels like there's allot of it," she added and
soon a group of dwarves were busy picking at the rock.
"Dwarves have infravision, right?" Joyce asked just for
curiosities sake as she and Al'x pounded on the rock.
"Yep. And you know what, I don't think Theris will have to pay
for her mead the rest of our stay," Al'x nodded and swung.
Joyce grinned as she quickly out dug him. Working her way deeper, she was
still grinning, sweating and swinging in the deepest end of the mine when a
loud crash vibrated the tunnels.

"Cave in!" "Cave in!" was shouted up and down the mine as the
dwarves rushed to the source of the sound.
"Joyce?" Al'x exclaimed and ran into the deeper part of the
mine. What he found was a scene of horror. Large pieces of the ceiling had
fallen down into the tunnel. The miners working there had no time to react
before the chunks had fallen on them. When the dust had cleared a little, he
could make out that the only thing preventing the rest of the mine roof from
collapsing was.
"Joyce!" he shouted.
"Al'x! " Joyce said through gritted teeth. "Get them out of
here!" Her eyes were literally on fire. The avatar was actually holding the
entrance open. With her hands firmly planted on the support beams and her
feet were almost indenting the floor. Small rocks were falling like rain all
around her. The sweat was pouring off of her, only to be evaporated by the
sheer heat she put off.
"Hurry! Hurry!" Al'x yelled as he helped lift a rock of a miner'
s leg. He looked and saw workers rushing in with new support beams. "Hold
on, Joyce," he whispered to himself as the seconds started to meld into
minutes.
"S'not gonna be holdin much longer," an engineer said. They were
quickly putting up beams and brackets, trying to rebuild, at least crudely,
the entrance. "We be workin' s'fast as we can!"
"How much. time do. you need," Joyce grunted.
"They're on the last one now, Joyce." Theris said as she held a
bowl of water to her lips. "Just a little longer, dear."
"It .hurts," Joyce said between breaths.
"That's the last one," Al'x exclaimed as he carried an
unconscious dwarf passed her.
"Everybody out of the tunnel" Joyce shouted, an amazing feat,
given the circumstances. "Theris! Go!" she stated when she saw that her
friend wasn't leaving.
"You let go and I'll whisk us to safety," the High Elf answered
with a determinate look on her face.
"Okay." Joyce breathed, "On three then," she nodded.
"One."
"Two."
"Three." both women shouted and Joyce let go of the beam.
The ceiling came crashing down with a resounding crush. It shook the entire
mine and blew a cloud of dust up and out the mine entrance.
Several coughs and hacks could be heard as everybody tried to
see through the chokingly thick dust. "Anyone see them? Joyce?" Al'x asked
with desperation in his voice. He was squinting into the dust and spinning
around. What seemed an eternity passed, before two figures were spotted
staggering out of the settling dust. A thunderous cheer erupted. Joyce let
go of Theris and walked on unsteady feet towards Al'x.
"I want. a hot. bath," she said before collapsing into his arms
and closing her eyes. On the verge of happy tears, he gathered her into his
arms and started to turn, but pause to looked back, a hand on his arm turned
him back.
"Get her to the palace." Theris said. "I'll do what I can here."
"Thank you," Al'x said before walking away, receiving several
pats on the back for a job well done. The only sign of life from Joyce was
her softly snoring.

-

Buffy walked through the camp of the drow army, guided by Queen Piratess.
They had tethered their horses and trekked down into a rather large cave,
where most of the army was camped. House banners were flying over the
different encamps. It was obvious that the despite their joint retreat, the
Houses remained slightly apart.
Cant we all just get along, Buffy thought.
"You know, I think Willow did something to this bracelet," Buffy
said as she looked around.
"Why do you say that?" Piratess asked.
"Well, cuz me being human and blind in the dark, I'm supposed to
be stumbling around now, but, I'm seeing just fine," Buffy answered.
"Then take it as it comes," Piratess answered simply as they
stepped into a small banner less encampment.
"Why don't these guys have a banner?" Buffy asked.
"They belong to no house. They are, therefore, yours to lead,"
Piratess explained and motioned for her to step into the camp.
"Soldiers! Line up." Piratess bellowed and moments later the
warriors scurried from various places to line up in front of them. Buffy
looked over her division, a mixture of obvious veterans and fresh recruits.
Some women, but mostly men.
"Hail, Queen Piratess," they shouted as one.
"This," the Queen began, indicating Buffy, "is your new general.
Do not let her race fool you, for she is a fierce fighter and is worthy of
this command." She continued, looking her soldiers in the eyes, "Treat her
with the respect you would any other general." Piratess exclaimed, turned
around and left. This was the second test. Buffy looked over the group
again.
"Ok, whose top dog? Buffy asked
"Top .dog, general?" several asked.
"Who is in charge?" she tried again
"I am, general," an attractive female drow, with short silvery
hair, said and stepped forward.
Come to think of it, a lot of the female drows are rather attractive, Buffy
thought. But, back to business and bad Buffy think Willow, she reminded
herself.
"What's your name?" Buffy asked.
"Xare," she stated, strength clear in dark blue eyes.
"Very good, Xare. You're my second in command. Until you die, or
I find someone better," Buffy stated, her voice firm, "now get back in
line," The drow stepped back.
"You can all call me Buffy or General," she, too, tried to catch
each soldier's eye, "Either way, you now answer to me. Any objections,
questions, comments?" Buffy asked. When no one spoke out, she calmed her
voice.
"Okay. Now if we all could gather somewhere, there are a few
more things I want to discuss," she said and looked at her second in
command.
"The dinning tent," Xare said, indicating the round tent in the
middle of the camp with a nod of her head.
"Very well then. Lead the way, Commander," Buffy said. A wave of
her hand motioned for the drow to lead.
"You heard the General," Xare exclaimed and the soldiers filed
into the tent.
When everybody was inside the tent, Buffy stood there a moment and let out a
long breath. She hoped she had made an impression that commanded respect.
She chuckled to herself. But part of told her she'd sounded just a like
every other sergeant in every other war movie she'd ever sat through. Oh,
how she wished she had Willow here with her to tell her that she was doing a
good job. Of course, some smoochies wouldn't hurt either.
"Well, no time to sit and pout." She said to herself and heaved
her bag onto her shoulder. "Got an army division to command," she added with
a chuckle.