Verah - An EverQuest story

Chapter 1.

The sun beat upon the barren soil like a hammer on anvil, the heat as palpable as that of the forge. Nothing stirred. The animals and birds had found shelter in their underground nests, beneath loose rocks, or under the canopies of the few trees that had managed, against all reason, to survive. Not even insects roamed the cracked, hard land at this hour.

Suddenly the stillness was broken by a sound like cloth ripping, as a new shimmer joined those created by the heat. This one however expanded and grew, the sound of tearing growing with it, until a black disc, about four feet in diameter, hovered vertically above the ground. Small lightning bolts played on its edges but the center was dark as pitch.

A small, dainty hand appeared from the darkness, followed by an equally dainty arm, and then a minuscule woman of exquisite beauty was standing in front of the portal, straightening her clothes and looking around questioningly.

If nothing else she was dressed for hot weather, for her white and pink robes left her arms bare and featured long slits that left her shapely thighs exposed. Her feet hovered inches above the scorching ground – a fact for which she was, indeed, thankful – as her wings beat slowly keeping her aloft. She wore her white hair cut short, and her blue eyes held a fierceness behind them that belied both her daintiness and beauty.

That fierceness now focused on the shimmering wheel behind her and she tapped her fingers against her arm impatiently.

"Am I going to wait forever, wizard?" she asked, looking at the portal.

"Just a second, just a second, I just have to put these away." a voice answered from the blackness, and moments later a dark elf, in a rather heavily-threaded crimson robe stepped through the portal, which promptly winked out of existence.

"By the blasted breath of Fenin!" he exclaimed, "It's hot here!" He wiped his sweating brow with one hand and looked at his diminutive companion.

"Well, we're here... I think. What was so urgent that we had to endure this inferno today?" he asked her.

She looked at him silently, then pulled a tightly rolled scroll from her pack and showed it to him.

"Karadok is supposed to be here, today" she said, waving the scroll up and down like a wand, "and you know how hard he is to find! We must get to him before he departs again!"

The dark elf wizard sighed mournfully, wiped his sweaty brow again and nodded in resignation.

"Very well, let's go find Karadok." He reached over and messed her hair slightly before starting to walk toward the east.

"Men..." she breathed softly, but a smile framed her pretty face and she turned to follow him, slipping her hand in his as she reached his side.

2.

They were walking for hours – or so his feet told him. The sun was now all but hidden by the mountains in the distance, but the ground remained scorching hot and the thin soles of his boots offered very little comfort.

"Karadok... Like he couldn't find a more popular spot to ply his wears, but had to go to the middle of a blasted desert... How classic for a fire giant... By Karana, I am so thirsty I could even drink that filthy stuff the dwarves call "Brell's Finest Brew", he mumbled under his breath. Then his gaze fell on his companion and his expression softened.

"Verah," he said softly, "I'm sure we'll find him on time."

She looked up at him and smiled, and in that smile he realized again all the reasons why he had agreed to accompany her here.

"I'm just missing the girls" she said and squeezed his hand; "I don't like it when I'm away from them, even for a little while".

"They'll be fine with their father" he reassured her, "you know that. And we'll be back in no time!"