Defensive Stance

Eleazar and Aurei's group wait impatiently in the Ar'Rilla compound while a gobllinoid army advances upon the Underdark city.

14.

Defensive Stance

 

“We can’t just wait here until the Goblinoid army arrives.”   Eleazar told the others in the basement room, soon after Alleania and Devin left.

“There are few defenses we can muster against them, Duke Eleazar.”   Howst told him grimly looking at his mage’s staff, “Ar’Rilla had considerable magic defenses in place, but with those neutralized; we must rely on the strength of our walls and the bravery of our household troops.”  

 

“Do you know how many of your household soldiers remain?”

“There are perhaps a score of them.    We had twice that number yesterday, but many have succumbed to the foul air.”

“I have an idea on how to combat that.”   Alvis spoke up from the other end of the room, “Cloth dampened with water, then wrapped around the nose and mouth will filter out some of the smoke.    Those who storm burning castles do this in order to fight through the smoke, and I suspect it will work here - to some degree.”

The Drow wizard seemed pleased, “I will order this done for the troops at once.    Duke Eleazar, I am quite sure that our forces would greatly benefit from your and Sir Alvis’ experience in strategic defense.”

“What should we do?”  Aurei asked.

“I don’t know.    I’m concerned about injuries when the fighting reaches this compound.    As we can’t cast spells, perhaps you and Zeatt could find natural healing medicines - if the Drow have any.”

“Alright, but when the attack comes, I’m not cowering in the cellar.   I will be fighting along side you.”

Eleazar squeezed her hand, “I know you will.    See if you can find out how many other secret passages this estate has, and where they lead.   If the battle goes bad, or your mother and the Drow wizard fail in their objective, then we’ll need some way to escape.”

“What about Ollie?   She’s scared to death, Laz.”

“Take her with you.    Have her help you find medicines of healing or cutting strips of cloth for the masks and bandages.    Just get her mind off all of this, if possible.”

“Alright.   Be careful, please.” She kissed him and they parted to their tasks.

 

***

“What is the surface world like?” Ollie asked Aurei a little while later as they helped the house servants dip cloths in water for the filtering masks.

“Well, it is quite a bit different than down here.”   Aurei told her little cousin with a gentle smile, “For one thing, it is much brighter, for the sun shines each day.   Time passes by the cycle of day and night and the changes of seasons.”

“Sometimes it is cold, and then it is warm?”

“Yes, and they follow a set pattern each year.”

“That seems so strange to think about.”

“That is just because you never lived up there.    It seems very odd down here to me.    Another big difference is that up there everything is open.   You don’t have a huge dome of rock over you.   The sky is high above you.”

The Drow girl looked a bit apprehensive as she considered it, “It sounds rather scary.”

Zeatt laughed from across the table where they sat, “Child, it was for me, at first.    You feel so exposed when you first see the outside world.     I couldn’t even see in sunlight for a week, when I first came to the surface.    I would stay hidden during the daylight hours and then travel by night.    But after many days of exposing myself to more and more daylight, I grew used to it.”

“Matron Zeatt, do you think we’ll have to go to the surface?”

“Ollie, I don’t know.    It would be best for you and the others in this household to go up there and escape this horrible smoke.   It will take a long time for it to dissipate.   I’m going to suggest it to Alleania, if we are victorious against this Dragon and survive the attempt.”

The child turned back to Aurei, “You have children, don’t you Aurei?”

Aurei nodded, the thought filling her with a powerful longing to see them, “Yes, sweetheart, I have seven children.   Three are no longer alive.    All but one of them are girls, and the youngest one is younger than you.”

“I’d like to meet them.”

“I’d love for you to meet them too.”

“Matron Mother told me that you asked her not to come back to where you live.”

“Ollie, that was many years ago, long before you were born.    As long as she has her magic jug with her, she is welcome to come to Westmark.”

“Her jug won’t be working now, will it?”   The child asked, and the question made Aurei and Zeatt look at each other in alarm.

“No, I guess not.”

“She’ll have to feed on someone to survive.”   Ollie told them.

“Hopefully we’ll destroy the magic Gem that is neutralizing the magic before she gets too hungry.”   Aurei tried to sound unconcerned so as to not worry the little girl, but Ollie seemed to sense her unease.

“She could bite an Orc or Goblin.”   The child finally stated.

“Yes, maybe she’ll do that.   Don’t worry about her, Ollie, she won’t bite you.”

“Oh, I know that - she loves me.   She loves both of you, too.   She told me so much about you from the time she was around you on the surface.    Sometimes she’d let me watch her crystal ball with her when she looked at what you and your children were doing.”

“Well, maybe you can meet them all in person, soon.”    Aurei tried to sound less somber, “You’re doing a great job with those masks, Ollie.   Let’s take what we have done to Howst and see how many masks they’ve made so far, okay?”

The little Drow girl agreed, and with a glance at Zeatt, Aurei scooped up the stack of damp cloths and led the child off to find the wizard.

Reviews

[Elina]

"Those storming burning castles do this in order to fight through the smoke..." Perhaps, instead, "Those who storm burning castles..." ?
"The child turned to back to Aurei..." You have an extra "to."