Often shifting is the world of dreams, and few may ever fully understand the power that they hold. One such being that has often had such dreams as can never be fully understood, perhaps not even when the physical reality of the dream is upon her, was Aradia. The drow tossed and turned in her restless sleep as she envisioned things that were to come...

No wind sprang from the air around her. Not a blade of the tall grass in which she concealed her slender and beautiful ebony-skinned elven form stirred either at the hand of nature or against the presence of her own movements through the grasslands she now temporarily inhabited. There was no one about at this late hour of the night, save for those too cowardly and too blind to work in the darkness that was broken by the stars and the moon high above them. There was no disturbance here, nothing to indicate that a drow – a dark elf, as they were often called on the wretched surface world these pathetic beings called Arda – was now picking her way slowly but surely through the lands of Salquedor at a pace that most on the surface world might have called grueling at best. In truth, her movements – were they to be seen by onlookers – would have been a blur of motion. She was but a shadow amongst shadows.

Indeed, Aradia – a Feir’dal, a drow female – was not to be underestimated in the slightest. She was a drow, certainly, and it went without saying that drow were as dangerous and deadly as the best of assassins – more so in most cases – but Aradia was also much more than ‘just’ a drow. She was a High Priestess of Lolth, though she no longer held that title as she once did in the endless stone caverns and magical tunnels of the Underdark that surrounded the fabled city of the drow. Menzoberranzan was a long way from the surface world, and any entrance there might have been to the Underdark from the Salquedor Grasslands was nowhere near where Aradia swiftly paved her own path through the endless sea of golden-brown and green that spread for hundreds of miles in every direction.

As she picked her way between the blades of four-foot-high grass under the night sky, Aradia kept her ears perked up as she had always done. She listened for the slightest sound that was out of place in this mundane land of those who knew not the Spider Queen, the slightest unordinary vibration that would set her on her guard – as if she wasn’t already. She had been on her guard always in Menzoberranzan, but that had only increased in intensity since her House had been destroyed. Just the thought of that was enough to spark a foul curse penetrating the still night air, but Aradia had no time for cursing now. Whist she hunted, she too was hunted. Assassins trailed her, but they could not see her. They were not wizards like those that had attacked her before, nowhere near as strong or as fast as the ones from which her temporary rauko slave had saved her life – hard as that was to admit, even to herself. She was a drow after all, and a drow female to boot, yet she had been beaten by assassins.

Drow-trained assassins, no doubt, Aradia thought to herself as she moved along her present course toward the path just a few short miles ahead of her. But it was a fleeting thought, one not worth keeping in her mind. She focused on her destination only as she moved with blinding speed across the silent weeds and soft dirt beneath her light-footed steps.

It wasn’t long, perhaps ten minutes at most, before she began to see evidence of the path before her up ahead: horses. There were four of them and they were wild; they had never known the whip or the saddle, never worn the bridle or reins placed on such beasts by the surface dwellers. They were perfect. She moved swiftly still, but she finally began to slow after just a few more moments and it was only a moment or two later before she’d come to a complete stop altogether.

Aradia surveyed the surrounding area, searching for any sign of life (or death) of any kind that might plague the ground this night besides her own luscious figure and the strong bodies of the three wild mares and the wild stallion that slept and fed in peaceful solemnity nearby. There was nothing: no shifting of dirt, no parting of grass, no flapping of a cloak or sound of breath. Aradia had solitude this night.

“Good,” she dared to utter in the barest of whispers, one even the horses grazing just fifteen feet to her right didn’t even notice. She moved just as quickly as before, but this time she did not have the cover of the grass immediately about her. She had it to the sides, but not around her. Her strong fingers held a dagger as though it had simply popped out of thin air and she drew an inverted pentagram with a circle around it. She drew many strange symbols originating from the ancient beginnings of the drow language, a tongue forged so long ago by the elven peoples that served the Spider Queen Lolth that only its modernization was remembered except by the Masters of Sorcere, around the outer edge of the circle. Finally, she sat cross-legged at the zenith of the strange spell base she’d drawn into the ground and rested her wrists on her knees with her open palms facing the bluish-black sky an endless distance above her. She closed her eyes and began to chant.

The horses started nervously as they felt a breeze come to them, seemingly focused on the center of the markings Aradia had made in the dirt path upon which she now sat chanting the ancient language of the earliest clerics of Lolth. The wind picked up more and more until the horses, sensing it was no ordinary wind, screamed and galloped as fast as they could away from that unholy ground. Soon the lines of the markings began to fill with what looked like oil and the lines blurred until the spell base she’d written into the ground became nothing more than a black, slick spot upon it. It began to shift and writhe, slowly taking form, as Aradia intensified her summoning ritual. Eventually, as the last of the incantation began to take affect, the full force of the spell began to form the oily figure into something much more distinct than a mere black blob.

The demon that stood before Aradia as she finished the last of the spell and her eyes popped open wide rose from the ground almost ten feet and spanned nearly the entire width of the path before Aradia. It stretched its wings, each twenty feet in length from base to tip, and rolled its shoulders and neck. It flexed its muscles – all of them – and the massive juggernaut became more than a monstrosity: it became a speaking rauko, one much more powerful than the one sent to protect her. It’s deep, low voice rumbled out as it spoke.

“You have released me from the realm in which I was imprisoned. Lolth will not be pleased.”

Aradia sneered.

“I have already lost Lolth’s favor, or I would not be here. Don’t tell me I summoned a stupid rauko.”

The rauko glared down at her.

“No,” he replied calmly, knowing full well the implications of such a summons, “You did not.”

“Good. Then let us begin. I have a task for you for tonight, and it is only the beginning. I only had enough magic left in me from my House’s pendant to perform this one summoning, so you will have to act quickly. Your seven days of servitude has begun. Go to the farm just a short distance from here to the north and destroy it completely. It is a large farm with many people. I want to test your abilities.”

The rauko nodded and turned slowly as Aradia stood. She watched him run off at a speed that would have made her seem as though she was standing still when at a full run. As silence set in once more, however, her keen elven ears picked up the sound of movement nearby. Whoever it was, they were trying not to be seen. She turned around slowly until she came to face the direction from which the cleverly concealed – though not cleverly enough – sounds emanated. Her eyes narrowed.

“Show yourself, intruder, or die where you stand.”

She awoke bathed in a cold sweat, an extremely rare occurrence for any drow but especially so for one who'd never seen the future in her dreams. Yes, she had seen the past and present, and it was true that she had seen the future through other means, but this was a first for her. The problem wasn't the dream, though; the problem was the confusion that swiftly followed.

Aradia remembered every detail of the dream in perfect detail, but from a third-person point of view. The dream was nothing out of the ordinary; it was something that she most likely would have done. She was always eager to conjure some demon or another to do her dirty work for her; she was lazy in that manner, she supposed. But the fact that it had scared her - and she didn't know[/i] why [i]she'd been scared, or what exactly had scared her into waking - was immensely unusual. Drow were rarely scared of anyone or anything. Cautious, yes; wary, most defintely. But rarely (if ever) truly frightened.

It was only an hour later that she had bathed and dressed. Her weapons and other possessions were ready to go. Night had finally fallen, and she could see through the window that it was a cloudy night. Good. She put on the spider-shaped mask she'd recently acquired that pressed close to her features like a second skin, revealing only her eyes and so concealing her identity as a drow, and then she put her hood up. Her ears would tell her everything she needed to know - she didn't need peripheral vision, useful though it was on occasion - and so she had no problems completely covering her face and head in this manner. She completed her wardrobe with a pair of soft leather gloves and headed out. She dropped the key onto the front desk as she headed out of the building. The innkeeper was nearly asleep and hardly noticed as she left; he didn't even glance up from his book, a book Aradia was sure he wasn't really reading.

The night air was cool as she stepped outside, a clear sign of rain to her, yet no droplets fell and there was no moisture in the air. An oddity, to be sure. She stepped quickly through the village and was about to step off of the boardwalk when she saw someone coming toward her. She readied herself; it was probably just a passer-by heading for the tavern and inn she'd just exited, but one could never be too sure - especially on the surface world...

Caius sat tapping his finger on his desk in the barracks of Lomedor. Papers were strewn about the desk, each detailing a report that he had thoroughly gone through. The fact that Caius had to worry about was whether or not the reports were totally accurate or not. This could easily be that latter of the two in this case, but he could not be sure. What it came down to now was his prejudice on the subject, no matter how much he hated to admit it. Caius never loved non-humans, elves were included in this very broad subject. But a drow elf…

“Are there any actual eye witness accounts? During daylight?” Caius asked. In front of him was a member of the watch sitting on the opposite side of his desk. He had just gotten off duty and Caius wanted to speak to him before he investigated.
“No. Sadly they are just rumors, people who claimed to have gotten a glance at the drow when she pasted by them.”
Caius nodded. He rested his elbows on his desk and folded his hands together. He pondered for a few moments the factuality of the rumors. He had never gotten a stream of them on this subject matter ever before which is what perked his interest in the whole thing. “Where was the creature last seen?”
“The Inn at Estolad…”
Caius snorted and pounded his hands down on the table lightly. “That’s out of my jurisdiction.” He said. “I can’t do anything about-“ He was cut off by a soldier who entered his office.
“My lord, urgent message from they mayor of Estolad.” He said. By the Caius and the guard looked at the soldier and then back at each other.
“Lets have it then.” Caius ordered.
The soldier tossed a letter onto his desk that Caius quickly scooped up. Written in black ink, very quickly the mayor was obviously in a rush to get this to him. His eyes skimmed the letter and when he finished he tossed it back onto the desk.
“Ready my equipment, the mayor has personally asked for me to show up to Estolad and look into the subject of a Drow.”

By nightfall Caius had arrived. He had ridden on the back of cart and when which the soldier had taken with him to Lomedor to give him his letter and get supplies. By the time the two arrived the sun had set and a cool air had fallen over the village. Caius quickly gathered his things as and tipped the soldier for the transportation. You could not mistake Caius for any commoner. He dressed in all his fancy royal blue uniform and cloak which flashed the royal crest of house Lucius. Not to mention the elaborate etches of silver in his robes made him look even more prestigious.

His first destination was the inn in which the drow had last been sighted. He quickly trotted down the streets towards the inn when he past a cloak figure. He stopped and turned getting an eerie feeling from the whom ever it was. Not mention he could not see any details of his or her face. He watched the figure pass but the task at hand returned to his mind. He made his way to the run down inn and barged through the entrance. The inn keeper awoke with a start and gasped in shook at Caius.

“What do you want!?” He said as soon as Caius looked at him.
“I’m looking for a drow…” He said. “Have you seen any suspicious looking customers or folk lately?”
The inn keeper shook his head. “No, everyone comes in and leaves in the morning and I keep an accurate record of check ins and outs.”
Caius eyes snapped to the keys which had just been carelessly tossed on his counter and not put away with the rest of the keys. “Then who just left?” He said motioning towards the keys. The inn keeper looked at the keys dumbfounded. “I don’t know.”
Then he realized the cloak figure in the street. “Blast!”
He ran out of the inn and into the street and back towards the way he came. He could see the cloaked figure in the street. “Halt!” he shouted. “Don’t move!”

The shout came swiftly and loudly and Aradia stopped and turned. She didn't stop because she had to, though; she stopped because she had a feeling that the shout was meant for her. Why would anyone be shouting at her, of all people? She had done nothing wrong - yet. Well...there were the elves that now lie in the river bottom just a few miles east, but that was of no concern to her. If she was going to be attacked because of a couple of elves that were more arrogant even than she was, then perhaps she should simply kill the person shouting at her.

The man was a noble of some house or another. That much was obvious by his robes alone, not to mention the cloak or the weapons he carried. The way he held himself also gave away his social status. But noble or not, he was a male - and not even a drow male at that. He was of no concern whatsoever to Aradia. Yet she had nothing better to do, so perhaps she would wait around for him.

Her prominant breasts were revealed as she turned fully to face the man, her mask and hood still concealing her identity as a drow and the display of said bosom revealing all too clearly her gender. She had paid for a room at the inn just recently, but the bartender's ability to sleep more soundly than the dead and forget everything short of his name (and it was a wonder he remembered that) had probably gotten her in trouble this time. Whatever the trouble, though, a drow was never relaxed even when they were most at ease. So, despite her nonchalant appearance, Aradia was more than ready for a fight should one come...

Arpad stopped as the lady turned. From which he could tell as soon as she turned. Who ever this woman was she was in fact... well fed, and had good portions to show off. But like all cloaked women in the night who showed off thier bodies first were nothing but usually trouble, a lesson Caius had learned very quickly. How ever Caius still could not see the features of her face, He squinted at first but realized she had it well masked.

"My name is Sir Caius Lucius, I am the Knight of Lomedor." he said with confidence. "I am undergoing an investigation for the mayor of Estolad. Since you seem to have no badge to indicate your social rank or status I would like for you to reveal yourself, present your name and occupation, and owner if you are a slave or serf."

Caius wondered how she would respond. But a moment of confidence held within him as he realized that the woman had made no attempt to move, flee, or attack him... yet. Thus he asked the lengthy question, the next stage in any investigation of a possible witness or criminal. But he usually never made it past the part where he was the knight of Lomedor.

Her silence did stir him a little. He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and with his right hand and raised the guard of his shield slightly incase she should suddenly attack him. Possibilities of attacks or spells played through his head, but none of them had any foundation without him seeing who his opponent was to formulate a plan.

She studied the man for a moment. He had good features for a human male, but he was certainly no drow and typically not worth her attention. She didn't miss the movement to his sword or his shield, however, for rarely were such things missed by one who had spend the bulk of their life in the Underdark. She narrowed her alluring blue eyes slightly at the sword and then glanced up to the man's own. He thought very higly of himself, didn't he? Yes, he most certainly did - which is why he would fall, not she, should the battle be joined.

"You are swift to strike at a lady, knight," she said, her emphasis on the word 'knight' clearly marking it as a sarcastic mention of feigned respect. Clearly, she respected this man not at all. She revealed nothing in her words, however, for her tone was flat save for the emphasis on that single word and she moved not at all save for her eyes as she watched the man and waited to see what he would do. She remained at the ready, of course, but to anyone else she probably seemed rather relaxed and apathetic to the entire situation and toward the knight.

She said nothing more, gauging his response both in his actions and in his words. She had done nothing wrong this night, nor had she intended to. This man was quick to point the finger, though. What if she had been a human female, very badly scarred and so very modest regarding her not-so-delicate features? She sneered at the thought, of course, but it was a look hidden by the mask. Only the icy blue of her eyes shone up at the man, reflecting the light from a torch in a wall sconce on the side of the building not ten feet away.

Arpad smiled and chuckled. "Just playing it safe, more women have tried to but me in the ground than I can shake a stick at." He was not going to bite for the insult. "But even then you would have to quailify to be lady in the first place. Running around at night concealed in a cloak hiding your face is not something very lady like. Should you not be at home sleeping, preparing a meal for your husban who after he is done with your meal, will bed you so that he could claim one of the children he has was not illegitimate." Caius was trying to be insulting as possible, something that he could be good at.

"Or perhaps maybe your and thief or an assassin on an important mission, wishing to only to dismiss me so you could do your dirty work." He did not stop. "Or maybe you are a prostitute, another illegal trade off to your masters house to be his late night mistress."

He narrowed his eyes and this time wrapped his finger around his sword. "You do not haft to make this hard on yourself. Tell me your social rank or status I would like for you to reveal yourself, present your name and occupation, and owner if you are a slave or serf." he said using the same line as before to order her.

Haft the people who were guilty did not realize that if they acted guilty they would be treated guilty. She could make her world much simpler if she just done what he ahd asked the first time.

"And what if I am scarred beyond recognition?" she asked. "Perhaps I am modest."

It was a fair question. It was also a falsehood, though there was no falsehood in her words. It took all her effort not to clench her fist at her side, not to mention the effort of not trying to put a dagger between his ribs. But she relaxed quickly, letting go of her anger - though that was a wondrous feat in and of itself - and waited calmly for the answer to come.

A couple of people walked by with their curious eyes staring, but though Aradia made a subconscious note of them via her peripheral vision, she made no movements. They were not her concern, though she kept her eyes and ears wide open at all times, and so they were ignored for the most part. Let them look. Indeed, perhaps they would have a good show. Perhaps not. Hopefully not. She was confident in her abilities, but a guard was something else again.

Besides that, she would be hated simply for having ebony skin that gleamed in the moonlight. None trusted a drow, and rightfully so, but the fact of the matter remained that every drow that had come to the surface had been treated with the utmost hostility and outright violence. Most came to the surface for raids, but those few that had specific missions given them by their House or by the ruling Houses of Menzoberranzan were treated as nothing short of hellspawn. She was not about to incite a riot just because this idiot didn't trust her.

"It does not matter your reason. I'm a noble, thus I am the law and I'm giving you an order to reveal yourself. State your name, rank, occupation, and owner." He said with a firm tone. She was avoiding him, the scarred beyond recognition card would have worked maybe the first time. But her persistance to not listen made her made him doubt her.

Caius cared not of what on lookers did as they pasted by, his attention did not break. He was fixed only on the woman infront of him and nothing else. He began to grit his teeth in frustration. He wanted the mask off right now. Time was wasting and he had a began to believe more and more that she was the drow he was looking for. The timing was perfect and doubt that would be to conceal herself and refuse to listen to him.

"Perhaps if I make the offer that no harm will come to you should you stand down and reveal your face. I swear it on my oath as knight, something I take very seriously." He said. "You are placing yourself in a more difficult situation as you refuse my orders."

If she had reason she would listen to what he said. The offer was to good to refuse.

No harm would come to her? She laughed inside her head at the ridiculous statement the pitiful human male made, for he was most certainly in no position to make such foolish promises. If anything, she would allow him to live - unless he attacked her, of course. Finally, though, she had a mental sigh and decided just to do what he said - and then kill him if he decided his oath as a knight was far too gracious for a drow.

Slowly, she reached up and touched the mask. She blinked. She adjusted it slightly, and then removed it even more slowly than she had placed her hand up to it. As she did, her soft, deep voice rang out once more, almost in a whisper. It was an act of being timid, and one that she pulled off very well. She would have done well as an actress on the wretched surface world, had the desire ever touched her.

"And would you hate me as well?"

The face she revealed as she lowered her mask was one of great beauty, the beauty of an elf - but an elf with black skin. The smoothness of her hairless face, the flawless perfection of her striking features was one that many males praised very highly indeed - yet it was the face of a drow, and this was a human. She wore no expression as she stowed the spider mask in a hidden pocket of her piwafwi. She merely stared at him with a meek look.

Caius sighed as she finally began to remove her mask. Sure enough it was a drow. Ebony skin, white hair, thin frame, Caius had never seen one in his life before but the textbooks at the univeristy of Lomedor did do justice. He studied her for a moment before making a move. This may be one of the few times he may see a creature like this ever.

She no doubt would not take him as inferior as in drow society females were dominant over males. This could make thing complicated as she would most likely question and refuse anything he ordered or said. Yet he held a stone face not showing any expression even after she revealed her self.

"Drow. Its not common to see your kind on the surface." Caius said slightly amused. "Your kind is usually killed on site, but I'll honor my bargain if you will cooperate." He also had heard the drow could never be trusted. "I'm guessing your a high-priest and cleric as women of your rank usally are in drow society. Which places you in a position of authority. The only question in that sense is the rank of your house amoung the others."

Caius mused why she really was here. Was it a raid, a scout operation, personal gain, a holy mission. These creatures were devout followers of their Goddess Lolth. A notion which he found curious as he was an non-believer himself. "Tell me why your here."

((Textbooks on drow society?! :blink: ))

This male seemed to know an awful lot about drow society. It was disturbing, frankly. How had someone infiltrated Menzoberranzan? How had someone even lived long enough to get that far? The Underdark was dangerous even for drow, which was why their patrols never took them past a certain point beyond their city and why their patrols always consisted of a large number of people from different Houses. He wasn't about to tell this idiot that she no longer had a House, though, and she wasn't about to open up to him either.

Her eyes hardened for a moment, turning as cold as the ice their color represented, that quickly passed. She kept her face perfectly pristine as she looked upon this inferior race and gender. She was not a citizen of this place and would never desire to be, therefore his laws did not apply to her. That's the way she saw it, at any rate. She also didn't need to justify her presence on the surface world to him, for he was nothing to her. This was precisely why drow that consistently completed missions on the surface world never stayed any longer than they had to: there was always a chance they'd be caught and killed. Aradia wasn't about to be, though.

"Why should it concern one such as yourself, high above the huddled masses as your social status puts you? Mere travelers are not your concern, knight. Perhaps you should focus on a more real enemy - such as the goblins that infest the lands surrounding this village, for example. I hear they're rather dangerous."

That was as much of a jest as any drow would have had when speaking with a surface-worlder. It was also rather ironic despite the sarcasm; if anything, the goblins were terrified of her kind at the very least.

He noticed that she was slightly surprised by the information he knew on the drow. "Yes humans know of the underdark. Every once in blue moon a little female like yourself comes to the surface and is caught by our guards. Even your kind could withstand the constant torture and rape they use during their... sessions. The creative sexual methods the more dreadful nobles will apply to get for information is worth money. Scribes, wizards, scholars, generals will all pay a nice price for that kind information or time and record for their own stake at expanding the fields of knowledge. A nice footnote in our books."

He took a step forward to get a better look at her. "Yes goblins," He said noting her comment. "You kill one and ten more take their place. The goblins have yet to show their face around here since the last time I ripped the guts out of their last leader and staked it's head at the edge of the village as a warning not to come back."

"You see your kind, is organized and has enough intellegence to actually invade and do some damage. We set your kind on a higher priorty. Thus brings us back to my question, why are you here."
She was living up to the drow nature and being very elusive. But he would find the answer behind her little trip to this town.

She looked into his eyes and saw that he was a man of courage. Indeed, he was as arrogant and boastful as he was swift with his sword, but a fool's courage often got the fool killed. That, of course, was why drow raids were rare. They were not courageous; they were mechanical. Yet who could truly call them mechanical? For their methods were most certainly not mechanical, however deadly they were.

For the present time, though, there was more at stake than this man's interrogation - as soon proven by someone who just happened to be an elf. She couldn't help but give her lips the slightest curl as she saw him, but her hearing told her that he was telling an elven friend of his what she was - and someone overheard.

A panic ensued then. Screaming broke out immediately - terrified screaming. The source ran off in the other direction as fast as he could screaming about drow. Over the next minute and a half, over twenty people were outside all of a sudden. It didn't take long for a light spell to be cast - and then Aradia whirled about, recoiling from the light. Her eyes burned and she was blinded temporarily. Then everyone began to shout about it. Weapons were drawn and people surged forward: slowly at first, and then more quickly. Battle was about to be joined whether she wanted it to be or not...

"Answer me." He said. "Why are you here?"

But he was running out of time. Some one had been watching them pass by, he could hear the exchange of whispers. Then came the shouting, a riot was something that he did not need right now, this was an interrogation and he need vital information. Yet soon people rallied around the street corners with weapons and torches. "Get back, I'm on official business for Estolad and Lomedor, get back!"

They did not listen, instead they became more restless and began to close in. "GUARDS!" He shouted. But he would doubt that they would come, the man power was never enough to take down a riot. As things got worse a light spell went off and his drow friend seemed to collapse in defeat over such a simple spell. The continued to close, one man holding torch ran forward towards Aradia. He had enough.

There was a sonic boom and the sound of thunder. A bright flash of light blinded everyone but Caius. The man who made his move towards Aradia lay on the ground missing his right arm, he moaned and screamed in pain from the lightning bolt strike. The crowd stopped and began quite. Caius turned to them his hans surging with electricity. "WHO"S NEXT?!"
No one answered. But a few guards pushed there way throught the crowd towards Caius.
"Go home, we have the prisoner!" A guard shouted. "Everything is under control, a knight of Lomedor is peronally attending to the matter. A few more guards arrived on horseback with spear and slowly the mob scattered in fear of being trampled.
"Orders sir." A guard asked Caius. "Secure the drow while she is still blind. Bound the hands and the feet and remove all weapons, blind fold and gag her too. Bring a barred carriage to transport her as well. I want four crossbowman on her at all times."
The men nodded. "Yes sir."

Caius turned back to the drow. "I'm taking you to a secure location back at Lomedor." He said. "You will not be harmed. But your becuase of your race you will not be treated with mercy either. I am sorry."

Two scores of heavily armed soldiers arrived with the carriage. One soldier moved forward with the binds while the other readied and pointed their weapons at the Aradia.

((Sorry, was replying elsewhere. :) ))

Aradia scowled deeply.

"So. You treat one who has made no move toward you an enemy. I have done nothing, fool, and you will not take me so easily."

Aradia moved swiftly, her movements a blur as she replaced the mask and leaped to a crate nearby. From there, she leaped to a perch that led her to the rooftops. She moved like a cat, her motions like those of a huntress fleeing a more deadly predator than she. He was no different than any other human, though she probably would have killed him had the riot not been incited so quickly. Indeed, her hearing had not been damaged and she had known without looking what was happening. She had recovered just enough to get away in the nick of time, and now she swept across the rooftops of the village with hardly a care. Only a mile away lay the city limits, and beyond that a vast forest. There, she would be invincible.

The soldiers might be able to move quickly as a roving force of armed warriors in open ground, but they were vulnerably slowed when faced with obstacles such as trees. Indeed, it was all too easy for Aradia to disappear at night in the shadows of trees - shadows within shadows with darkness layered upon darkness. But for now, there was only the stretch of rooftops across which she flew at a rate that baffled even the fools that moved swiftly through the night...

Caius watched the drow. As the soldeirs made preperation Caius moved over towards one of the soldiers. "Tell the mayor to send a message north of here to the Cresent Farm. Tell them we have a specimen."
The soldier looke confused. "What?!"
"Just tell the mayor to send a preperation message to that farm north here that killed the rauko couple of days ago."
Before the soldier could question him he turned his attention back to drow.

As he did there were shouts of alarm. The drow had escaped, for now. Estolad was small and Caius could corner her.
Her turned to the soldeirs. "I'll go after her." He said. "Throw up some more intense light spells above the rooftops. Place crossbowman on the fringes of the city closest to the forest. Have all guard work in groups and sweep the streets for her." He said.
"Sir?"
"We have top stop her, her best bet is the forest where we can't track her. Send some calavry to patrol the forest line as well."
he did not give the guards time to reply. He climbed up the roof top and began moving from roof to roof at good pace... for a human. But as he jumped to the next roof he realized he would not catch her this way.

As he stood on the next roof a light spell lit the area and he could make out the drow's figure. Caius smiled. Time to even the odds.
"Fly."
His feet lifted of the ground and he surged forward towards Aradia at an insane speed. He flew to his target rather quickly, he was above her before she knew it. As she moved forward Caius shot dowards feet first as fast as the fly spell could go with his feet aimed at her back.

Her hood was already up, covering her head should the need arise, and her eyes were closed. She had studied this village well just a few months before she'd left the Underdark through the scrying bowl. When she'd arrived here, she'd studied it again. She didn't need her eyes, though, to hear the rush of air coming at her. She ducked to the side, rolling to her feet and leaping off the rooftops. She then used her whip to swing around and crash through a window into the building just as the flashes of light went off. She was safe - for now - but she had to move quickly. She put her whip away and went on.

It wasn't long before she was leaping through windows from one building to the next to move. It would be almost impossible to follow a drow through this, for humans were rarely anywhere near as skilled or agile as drow when moving through tight quarters. Such was the benefit of growing up in pitch-black tunnels made of solid rock lying hundreds of miles below the surface world that was Arda.

Finally, though, she ran out of windows. She landed on the ground smoothly and summoned a stronger shadow and a lesser shadow and gave them quick orders in the silent hand code of the drow. One would distract her opponents while the other would act as her guard. The stronger shadow glided alongside her, for even running swiftly as she was the shadows were a shadow's best friend. It wasn't long before she was into the treeline and dodging through the trees toward freedom...

(I'm the slow one...)

Caius wheeled out of control as he missed his target he crashed onto a roof top in heep. As he lay there his vision blurred for a few seconds. He could hear the soldiers shout to him. "My lord!"
"Just get the fracking drow!" He shouted back.
He managed to stand up and dust himself off. The drow female had escaped for now.
It took him a minute to stand back up and get his balance back. He shook his head and realized he had to get to the clearing. Hid feet lifted off the rooftops and surged towards the edge of the city. The men had layed a decent defense. The edge of the city was well lit and crossbowman stood ready with their weapons loaded.

From down below he heard a window break and saw his target emerge and make a break for it. He flew dowards and placed himself infront of her. As his feet touched the ground only meters infront of Aradia he clapped his hands together and shouted.
"Anti-Magical Field!"
His fly spell had been negated but the field quickly did away with the two shadows she had summoned. The crossbowman aimed their weapons, even if she was fast the speed of the crossbow bolt was faster and the range on some surpassed 400 meters. If she went into the clearing she could be hit easily.
"Freeze!" He said drawing his mace. "Put your hands up!"

But Aradia was too fast. She had reached the edge of the city in the same time that it took for the guard to recover, and even a spell of flight could not help him. She rushed him now as she saw him and leaped just as she reached him. She lept to the side, rolled forward, and came up at a dead run. She ducked into the trees as she heard the crossbows fire. They weren't waiting for their leader to give the order to kill a drow. She heard the bolts slam into the trees behind her and she took to the treetops. In a matter of seconds, she had left the anti-magic field and cast again as she felt the presence of her innate powers once more. The shadow came up before her and she rushed past it. The stronger shadow would know what to do.

Aradia's boots slapped the branches as she made her way from one to the other, using the darkness of the forest to mask her presence. Yet her footsteps too were muffled, for a drow knew well how to move without making a sound. She dodged in and out of the branches, moving from one tree to the next with blinding speed. Her hands grasped branches and she swung herself up, getting higher and higher. Finally, she saw the caves up ahead. Therein, no one could stop her. The corridors were too narrow for more than a single-file line of soldiers, and she knew those caves well. She dashed for them through the treetops...

The men cursed as they missed their target and Caius shouted for them to shoot her. He ran out of the anti-magical field and took to the sky once again as the men scrambled to capture they utterly failed in their attempt. Caius watched in frustration as she escaped. He shouted for them to encircle her, but she slipped away before the could. He sighed.

He floated back down to the ground. Soldiers ran up and around him when he landed urgency in their eyes, they did not like the resolution that had befallen them. "What is beyond the forest? She needs shade before morning." he said.
"There is a caved aread straight in she could hide there." A soldier replied.

Caius turned to the east and smiled... The first streaks of the sun had come up over the horizon. "I'm going in alone, follow me in when the sun comes up."

Caius lifted off the ground flew over the forest. It would not take long for him to find the caves that the soldiers spoke of. And with only in a few minutes he had found an entrance. He landed just outside the entrance and slowly moved inside. He made a makeshift torch with a stick and some cloth. Light was the key to this engagement and would not lose it easily. "Here goes nothing." he said and with a steady pace walked into the caves.

The entrance? Ha! That was the problem...they knew not the caves. Humans knew nothing of caves. Caves were the hives of dwarves and other such creatures, not pathetic humans. Thus it was that they didn't know there was more than one entrance. The stronger shadow followed Aradia as she came to the ground swiftly and silently. She moved not a muscle, listening with all the skillfull focusing her elven hearing could allow for, and then smiled behind her mask. Humans. They were far too noisy and predictable for their own good.

Aradia and the stronger shadow that followed her headed swiftly and silently into one of the countless well-hidden entraces into the caves. Finally, safe within the underground, she moved more swiftly than she ever could have outside the confines of the stone. For stone called to her and her people like it called to a dwarf, but in a very different manner. On stone, even her loudest footfalls were as silent as death itself. She was even more the blur that she had been outside and it was only her peripheral vision that noticed the soldier entering the caves from a 'public' entrance several dozen feet away from her. She ran past him swiftly as she made her way for the complicated network of caves and tunnels nearby. She was in them in seconds and was soon weaving a complicated path that doubled back and circled around a number of times, yet each time she moved into a tunnel or cave it was a half-step back and three forward. She was losing them ever-so-swiftly...

The young knight hestitated a he made his way through the caves. He made his way slowly down deeper into the caves. This was the first time he had ever been inside one. He knew it was dangerous but that was a risk he was willing to take. As he moved forward the he heard something behind him, he turned to see the drow run past him with her shadow summons right behind. He managed to dispell the lesser shadow as it passed but the drow and the greater got away to quickly.

At first he gave pursuit chasing her by listening to the sounds of rocks falling over and whatnot. Yet he found that he was soon lost. Her trail had gone cold and now he could neither find her, nor the exit. He swore to himself. The soldiers would take hours to get here and then try to find him. Caius randomly picked tunnels and walked at a brisk pace through them as he tried to navigate. He a few times came to dead ends and once believed he was going in circles.

Yet after hours of searching for something he ran into another problem. His make shift torch was burning out. He noticed as the area of visible light slowly vanished. He cursed again and realized this was folly. Perhaps the guards would find, or maybe the drow. None the less the last bits of light seemed to vanish away.

During the several hours of time between the entrance of the cave being breached by the beautiful drow female and the one chasing her and the time when his torch began to fail, Aradia had slowed to a brisk walk as well - and then a casual stroll. A smirk penetrated her face as she walked through the tunnels of the underground cave. She was almost three miles underground now. The soldiers would never find their leader, but even if they did, she was already long gone.

As dawn came at last, Aradia knew it not. She judged that the sun must now be rising due to the time she'd spent in the caves now, but she had nothing to judge by and so did not know for certain. Regardless, it wasn't long before she at last descended into the last length of the caves and disappeared...