From The Night Below

[Tebryn Denoir]

It could be worse....I could be dead. Or in the hands of those nasty squid faced demons.

Tebryn dragged himself from the pool of water and growled in pain as he realized he was more injured than he thought. He looked down at his side and grimaced as he saw the handle of a knife driven into his flesh. The drow gripped the handle and quickly pulled the blade from him. Blood flowed and ran into the pool of icy water.

Nice parting gift. What a pancake.

He crawled over to a large rock and sat up against it, appraising his situation. His memory was spotty at best. One of others....one he trusted had betrayed him. Then he ran. Ran like hell.

The voices were still in his mind.....them. They had stolen his mind, hurt him and relished in that torture. All that remained now was the memory of her, driving that knife into him as they tried to escape.

It was surprisingly warm this deep beneath the earth. Warmer than usual but the young dark elf welcomed the warmth after a frigid swim that lasted for several hours. His red tinted eyes scanned the cavern where he had washed in. Unfortunately all of his equipment had been washed away, save for his clothing and backup weapon. He took a moment to gather his thoughts and take stock of what little he did have.

A decent sword. A dagger. Clothing. No reagents. No spellbook. No survival gear. That was going to make things even harder.

Tebryn pulled himself up, clutching his wound to stem the blood loss. After a few moments of looking around the small cavern he found some moss that would suffice as a dressing. He packed it into his wound. It burned like hell but he figured it was better than bleeding to death.

Gotta get out of here....before they find me.

There were two exits from the cavern one led back to....he shuddered. The other seemed like it was the best course. Anywhere but back to them.

With his sword in one hand he moved as quickly as he could down the tunnel. His senses told him that the floor was shifting upwards, the air was less dank and stale than he was accustomed to in the depths of the earth. He travelled for a while longer and slowly his vision shifted into the normal spectrum. It was getting lighter in the tunnel.

The more he moved down the tunnel, the brighter the tunnel became. His eyes began to burn and water...brighter than anything he had ever seen. He stopped abruptly, glancing behind him through his watering eyes. The whispers...lots of them. His keen ears could hear the rustling robes on the ground. Then everything went black.

They found me. Gotta get out of here....

The whispers came closer and he felt a blast of energy hit him dead on. The energy tore through him, attacking his mind and weakening his body. He pulled himself along the wall through the spell of darkness that enveloped him. The whispers still came closer and he moved faster.

Tebryn exited the field of darkness only to have his eyes burn from the bright light pouring into the opening of the tunnel. He heard the crashing of waves and water far below. Unable to see and only knowing he had to escape, he rushed into the stinging light and jumped from the tunnel opening into the roaring ocean below.

 

[Tebryn Denoir]

He felt battered and broken. He could vaguely make out the shape of a woman, with white hair and white eyes. A hu-man...possibly. Tebryn had only heard stories of them. He wasn't sure which hurt more, his eyes or the rest of his body from the fall into the choppy waves. The light....Gods the light hurt his eyes so badly, he thought he may have to cut them out himself to make it stop. The drow watched her weakly as she looked at him with a bemused look on her face. Like a child who had found a new toy. Or perhaps a spider who had captured a fresh meal.

Maybe if he had been stronger he would have fought, but the female grabbed him up easily and tossed him through a moongate before he could even think of stopping her. Tebryn lost consciousness, welcoming the darkness that soothed his burning eyes and skin.
He awoke abruptly as his head hit the ground of a cell.
At least that blasted light is gone. Gods...how do they live up here with THAT?

The female watched him intently as he struggled to stand...noticing for the first time that his strength had returned. Tebryn reached down to his side, the stab wound had vanished. She spoke to him....accusing him of being a Drithiil (surface elf). The mere mention of the tree worshipers caused the chaos in his veins to flare and he growled.
How dare she insult me. Calling me an inferior....one of the lesser races. The weaklings of the surface who cast us below....

"I am not a Drithiil....one of the weak surface elves. I would gladly kill them for you if you hate them so much. They have done far more to me and my kind than you ever could. I am Drow....their superior. "
She gave him an odd look and seemed to ponder that answer.
She bade him to follow her....without thinking he did as he was commanded. Why...the young male did not know. Before he knew it, he was lying on a table and she was restraining his wrists. She seemed to recall his race as she studied his black skin, white hair, red eyes and hatred of her own enemies.

"Kill me. I welcome it. It would be a release compared to what the squids did to me. Why waste such a valuable tool against your enemies?"

This made the white haired woman pause and she smirked a bit, slowing her restraining of his left hand. He took the opportunity and grabbed the woman's throat and squeezed enough to get her attention, dragging her closer to him. He stared at her white eyes.

"Let me fight the drithiil. We shall claim their ears together." This seemed to get her attention. Apparently he was not the standard elf fare that she was accustomed to. "Well...you are prettier then they are..."

The woman said nothing and lashed her tongue out to his lips. He flinched back in disgust.
Hu-man filth. She shall have no such pleasure with me.
"Release me. Now." she said to him. After a tense moment of staring he did as she asked. Since strangling the woman would bring him no closer to freedom. He released his right hand, freeing him from the table. Oddly enough, her animosity seemed to fade and she seemed more interested in helping him then gutting him.

They talked then for some time. She questioned him about his past. There were no answers. All Tebryn could remember was the hatred of the surface races. The stories. The names, the family....what had happened during his time with the squid faces was all gone. The more he thought about what he could not remember, the more it made his brain throb and hurt. This woman seemed confident she could help him remember his past. What he had lost.

What did they do to me?

It felt as if those memories had been torn from his mind. Chopped away with an axe.

She provided him with food and a new set of clothing, which greatly improved his physical condition and it was only after she showed him to a comfortable room that she introduced herself as "Jacuyl". He responded by giving her his own name....Tebryn. There was more to his name....a house name that he could not recall.

She left him alone then, to sleep a fitful sleep. A sleep of nightmares and forgotten terrors.