The Cunning Shadow - A Drow Story

Chapter IV Unresolved

"I know every faces there is in here she-elf, do you really think you can get pass me unnoticed? Undetected? How foolish of you! Now tell me exactly who are you!" said the queen to the she-elf while Kliraith, her general holding the eight feet tall creature on her soft and glowing hair.

"Me Serei lith fi nei atum!" chanted the she-elf.

"Are you that stupid? This place is hovering with my spells. You have no power in here she-elf and I' am loosing my patience!" said the queen who pointed to Kliraith's and nodded, gesturing to hurt the elf.

"aaaah.....," agonizing scream from the she-elf in pain as she was kicked below her breast.

"Tell me who you are," said the queen calmly while backing off and heading towards her throne.

"It's that simple really," added the queen as she slowly settles herself on her golden throne.

"I'd rather you kill me!" shouted the she-elf.

"Oh yes, I will my darling. For sure I will, but I need you to answer me first," answered the queen with an apparent irritation on her face caused by this delay.

"Kliraith, bring me dwersk," said the queen.

Dwersk is her most loyal subject as she likes to describe it, she said it's an augmented part of her hand and her soul as she like to think. It has a body of long cords of leather covered with small piercing metal spikes attached to a metallic handle. The name arrived from and the old Drekush word meaning "Screamer", for with every whip of dwersk summons a loud piercing cry from its victims.

"Dwersk can make everyone talk. If you want to die distinguishable from pig food you better talk sense now," said the queen as she introduces the menacing whip on her hand with a smug on her face.

Elves heal a lot faster than any other creatures, but in this doomed hall full of enchantments and counter spells she won't be able to recover at all. This chamber was made solely for the purpose of capturing enemies and torturing them, sometimes for interrogation but most of the time, it was for sports or for fun.

This chamber is none other than the hall of the throne, where a massive stalactite sits on top of the ceiling cave, hanging twenty feet below the ground from where the golden throne rest upon. Since the day the sovereign was overtaken by queen Higr', she decided to switch things around and decorated the castle with more of her darkness, leaving the impression that something awful is about to unfold.

Elves could certainly see in the dark, but their eyes are keener with added light such as the light emitted by these glowing stalagmites surrounding the huge space of the chamber. The glow in two different colors, blue and green. These colors are essential for knowing where they are in the moon calendar. Green is for the first half of the a thousand cycle year, which means combat training for every one especially to students, they will be dedicating half of the year to enhance their skills in fighting.

"Oh elfling, elfling," mocked the queen, her current clothes and her skin have been morphed into a scaly and keratinized substitute in red and green pigment. Her eyes glowing whiter while she gripped strongly on her dwersk. Her devilish smile revealed her long tongue cut in half as she was fully transformed into the likeness of a serpent.

The she-elf was in shock, for in their country it was told that this is was just a myth and that it has never been done by any creatures in the world of Tairiad. She thought to herself that this witch must have successfully summoned and merge with the 'Merikith', the demon god shapeshifting to the form of a serpent. What could possibly be the sacrificed she had to give to achieve this madness? The next question that popped into her head.