(Some of you may have read this one before as I have posted it before... but since today is 9/11, I wanted to post it again.)
Note: The following story is not a political piece in any way, shape or form. It's simply a reflection of emotions and thoughts I had after the 9/11 tragedy happened. Like many authors and creative beings, I dealt with it through writing.
It's not that I want to remember these bad times so badly... it's just that I think it's important to bring it back now and then so we don't forget the emotions and the unity and everything we experienced as a nation in the wake of 9/11. This is not a master piece. It's just a random blurb of emotions and thoughts.
"I wrapped myself in a blanket and woke up to a war zone."
It was late Monday night. I started yawning louder and louder and finally I brushed my teeth and went to bed. As always I wrapped my big soft comforter around me, fluffed my pillows and sunk my head into them. I snuggled up to my husband and closed my eyes, soon enough I was sound asleep. On the opposite end of the country, someone else was just getting out of bed as I tucked myself in. Performing her usual morning ritual, she made her morning coffee and read the morning newspaper before it was time to wake the kids and her husband and get them all out the door. As her kitchen started populating and coming alive, she watched as her kids fought over the last scoop of cocoa puffs, and her husband was on his cell phone while getting ready for the day's meetings. A car horn honked from outside and he looked at his watch and sprung from his chair. He normally carpooled to work with a couple of friends. They all worked in the same building, so it made sense.
"My ride is here. I'm late,” he said."I'll be back late tonight, who knows how long these meetings will last." He gave his wife a quick kiss on his way out. She was standing on the doorstep, waving until the car had disappeared into the horizon, then she went inside to get the kids dressed and sent off to school.
In a hotel room not far away, a business man was packing his suitcases. His eyes softened as he picked up the bright red fire truck he had bought for his son, the stuffed animal he had picked out for his daughter and the diamond earrings he had gotten for his wife. Gently he caressed each gift and a smile spread across his face as his thoughts went home to them. Then he packed up the last items and zipped up his suitcase.
Two doors down from him, yet another hotel guest was busy packing their suitcases as well. He spoke on the phone in a foreign angry language. Sweat was breaking out on his forehead. He tried wiping it away with a restless arm, but new sweat kept pouring out. His hands shook violently as he packed his shaving kit and dropped it into his carry-on luggage. He was constantly looking at his watch. A sly smile spread across his dark face as he left the hotel room and flagged down a taxi. With his hand he patted the outside of his jacket to make sure the plane tickets were still there on his inner pockets. Boy, wouldn't it have been embarrassing to forget the tickets. "Master would be displeased with me," he mumbled. "But master will be pleased with me." His phone rang and his stomach turned. He felt like throwing up all of a sudden. His partners were already waiting for him. He waved at them as he entered the airport. They all looked at their watches. Nervously. But they were excited when they headed for the check-in line. They had a flight to catch.
I was sleeping. People were kissing goodbye before scattering in every direction. Some even scattered before they saw each other that day. Friends and families were saying their good-byes at the airport.
"Call me when you get there to let me know you're safe"
And I was peacefully asleep; unaware of how busy our country was in another time zone. I probably had a nice dream. I don't remember. All I remember was quiet. All I remember was the earth shattering sound of the telephone, cutting like a knife into my comfortable world of dreams and relaxation. From a distance I heard the answering machine pick up and I heard our friends’ voice.
"Oh my God!"
The seriousness and desperation in his voice slowly woke me up. I thought he was in trouble somehow. And he was. We all were. Vaguely I heard something about New York being on fire. I didn't understand what was happening. My husband grabbed the remote and flicked the TV on, just to see one of America's landmarks on fire. Still struggling to wake up, still struggling to understand what I was seeing there, I witnessed the second tower of the world trade center collapse like a row of dominos pieces. And there were people inside.
People.
People talking on the phones with their clients. People chatting with their fellow colleagues, discussing where to have lunch. People writing up reports while thinking of their wives and girlfriends, fondly remembering what a good time they had last night, making sweet love in the candle light after a nice dinner and perhaps wondering if he should buy her a rose bouquet on his way home from work. Or would she prefer chocolate instead? Fathers thinking about how they have to get out of work early tonight because they have to take their kids to soccer practice. People in meetings, discussing how to get as much money as possible out of their new clients, how to best please and suck up to someone to land that million dollar contract that's floating around and is up for grabs. Women! Some married, some single. Some wondering if he will call them back after last night's date, or if that was the first and last time they saw him. Tourists. Tourists who have been saving up for years to finally be able to visit the United States, enjoying a piece of the big apple before they move on to other destinations. And then. Nothing matters. They didn’t have lunch that day. He never made it home early for his kids’ soccer practice and at home sat his wife, who would never receive his roses. Everybody lost out on that million-dollar contract. She never received the phone call from the guy she was out with last night, or if she did, she wasn’t there anymore to pick up the phone. We were left with terrible grief and a billion thoughts whirling around in our minds.
I'm angry. I'm angry because someone is so heartless and so evil and such a big coward, that he sends other people to die for him, to kill thousands of people, to break up thousands of families. To break our hearts. I'm angry because he used other human lives as weapons; ingeniously he programmed them and sent them out to kill. These people, because of him, that is all they know. And they think they are doing something good, they think that killing thousands of people gets them in favor with God. And he himself sits in his cave without getting his hands dirty, mastering his puppets. Because it's a puppet show. They are nothing but puppets. He is the master. They are his puppets. He pulls the strings. And they dance.
I'm scared. I'm scared because someone with great intelligence, a great sense of perfection and coordination, was able to plan this and execute this, without anyone knowing about it. They all kept quiet. Yes, hints were dropped. But who would take it seriously. And if anyone took it seriously, who would've known. Just who … apart from the puppet master … would know. Not even the puppets knew. They were nothing but cold steel weapons in the hands of an assassin. And it scares me, because what if he has other tricks like these up his sleeve. No matter how prepared we could have been, can we ever be prepared enough? Is it possible?
I feel privileged. I feel privileged because I still wake up every morning next to the person I love with all my heart. I feel privileged because I can still tell him every night and every day how much I love him. I feel privileged because I have friends around me, who I can talk to, who I can hang with, and we comfort each other. I feel privileged because every morning I wake up and my dog is there, wagging her tail, just happy to see me. She has nothing but good in her heart, she doesn't know evil the way we do. She just wants to love us. And that's a privilege. To be loved.
I'm proud. I’m proud of the way everyone is handling this catastrophe. I’m proud of how fast planes were grounded and how they probably prevented this disaster from growing even bigger. I'm extremely proud of our firefighters, police men and emergency crews. How they faithfully work day and night to find survivors and bodies. How they see horrible things in this line of duty that will haunt them for years to come, yet they keep digging. Faithfully. Hopefully. I can't begin to imagine what their nightmares are going to be for the rest of their lives and I pray that people will never forget to support them and listen to them for the rest of their lives, to help ease the pain. I bow my head in respect. I'm very proud of the President of the United States. The pain he must be feeling inside is as great, if not greater than each and every one of us. Yet he stands strong and firm on his podium, leading the nation through this crisis with a firm and strong hand, while planning on how to respond, seeking to please and seeking to revenge. Yet he too is nothing but a man, flesh and blood, with feelings and emotions like the rest of us. I'm proud of news reporters. They are working day and night, bringing the nation together from east to west, so we are all able to unite somehow, and mourn together. They work 24/7 to bring us the latest, to make sure we know what is going on. They bring us all the emotions and they reassure us that we are all a part of a big and strong unity.
I feel helpless. There is so much I want to do. I want to take each and every one of the victims in my arms. I want to hug them, comfort them, make sure they know that they have support from the entire world. Yet no words can ease their pain, no words can bring back their loved ones. This empty hole they have inside of them will be a part of them from now on. Maybe it will fill up little by little, but it will never fully close. I see the pictures on TV, I see people crying and asking for information on their loved ones. And all I can do is bow my head and cry with them. I feel guilty.
I feel guilty because I'm thinking about myself and mundane situations that I need to take care of, when there's families that have been torn apart for no reason. I feel guilty for thinking about the WebPages that I need to get done, what is a webpage, what is a business, its nothing but cold money. I feel bad for being upset over the fact that my parents aren't gonna make it out here to visit me, yet so many people aren't ever going to see their parents again. Or their kids. Their husbands, their wives, their brothers and sisters and friends. And there's sadness. There's tears threatening to break through every moment I hear the national anthem, every time I hear a memorial song or see another picture of another victim.
I just want to wrap up in my blanket and go to sleep again, just to wake up to a normal Tuesday. But the giant empty hole in the Manhattan skyline is a constant reminder. If I wrap myself in the blanket and go to sleep, I will still wake up to this horrifying sight that has been haunting us for days. The world will never be the same.
God bless America.
© Laila Roknian 2001 - no permission is granted for reproduction in any manner
Friday, September 11, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Waltzing with the Grim Reaper
It was a grand ball. I was standing in the corner, watching elegant ladies in big fluffy dresses and handsome gentlemen in smart penguin outfits. They were whirling around on the dance floor, apparently having the time of their lives. I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing here, I felt nervous and somewhat out of place.
Never in my life had I seen such an elegant mansion, or such a huge ballroom. It was covered from floor to ceiling in black marble. Torches were lit around the room, and the live flames kept the room heated, even though all the dancing already provided plenty of heat.
This was definitely more than just an average party. My past experiences with dances and parties usually involved 20 people crammed into my friend’s smoke filled basement, or hundreds of people milling around in a disco, desperately holding on to their pint of beer while fighting for a spot on the dance floor by waving their arms around as much as possible so that nobody dares to stand close. I had never seen a problem with this sort of behavior, or this sort of dancing, until now. Here it seemed like everyone had their own private spot on the dance floor and there seemed to be plenty of room for others to join in so there was no need to get violent to secure a dance space.
I was watching them all dance, and wished I could dance like that, but I was nervous too.
If anyone were to approach me and ask me to dance, I would have to turn them down.
I didn’t know this dance.
As my eyes wandered around the room, one man in particular caught my attention. He seemed to be very fond of dancing, he had asked virtually every lady in the room for a dance already, and I couldn’t see one drop of sweat on his forehead. Obviously this man had to be in very good shape. He was tall and dark, and I couldn’t get a clear vision of his face, but I knew without a doubt that he would be the most handsome man I had ever seen. His long raven-black hair was flowing down his back like a dark shimmering velvet waterfall. He was draped in a black velvet cape, and underneath it he was wearing a black tuxedo, accompanied by a black silk shirt. He must have noticed me staring at him, because he turned around with a confident, sexy smile on his lips. His eyes were like onyx. They captured me with no intention of letting me go, and as he approached me, I knew that he would teach me this dance, whether I wanted to or not.
“Milady,” he bowed and I didn’t know what I was doing, but found myself curtseying before him. I looped my arm under his and he led me out to the dance floor.
“I don’t know this dance,” I mumbled and concentrated really hard so I wouldn’t step on his toes.
“Nobody does,” he smiled and with a steady hand he twirled me around the dance floor, making me feel like I was a professional dancer. All of a sudden I felt self conscious, and my old jeans and my Black Sabbath t-shirt that I was wearing felt inappropriate for the occasion. He must have read my mind because he pulled me closer and held me in a comforting grip.
“Look at yourself,” he whispered in my ear, and I did, just to find myself draped in a flaming red silk gown. It was a big, beautiful fluffy one, similar to what the other women were wearing.
As he confidently swung me around on the dance floor, I looked around, and to my surprise I recognized several of the ballroom guests. There was my great grandma, whom I had never met before but I recognized her from the picture that was hanging on the living room wall at home. I thought for a second that I spotted James Dean, but that couldn’t be. Why would James Dean and I be at the same party? The dancing must have made me dizzy.
I returned my attention to my dance partner. His eyes were black and shiny, like two smooth marbles under a spotlight. As his fascinating glare intertwined with mine, I didn’t have the willpower to break eye contact, although I realized that I should have done exactly that. His hands held me in a warm, firm grip. Everywhere he touched me, he lit a new flame and I found myself only wanting more. All of a sudden it felt like it was just he and I, all alone on that gigantic ballroom dance floor. From a distance I could hear the violin music playing. He spun me around and around and around on the dance floor, and everyone around me merged together, transforming into a blurry rainbow of dark and abstract colors. I felt like we were riding the fastest merry-go-round in the world.
I could sense his strong body pushing against mine, and I found myself clinging to him, seductively rubbing my own body against his. What was wrong with me?
He had to know that he was deadly attractive. I suspected he got this kind of treatment from every other woman who crossed his path, and I hated to be like everyone else, but something about this man made it impossible for me to keep my hands to myself. I simply couldn’t help it. He was breath taking. He could have his way with me anytime.
My hands were brave now and I started exploring his muscular body. Finally I got to touch his long black hair and it was just as soft as I had imagined. I could hear his soft laughter as he softly planted a kiss on my cheek, leaving me with a soft fuzzy feeling that was spreading like wildfire throughout the rest of my body. I realized that I could burst into flames at any minute, and the cool, marble covered ballroom was a deep contrast to the fire that was raging through my own carcass.
“Open your eyes princess.”
I heard his raspy voice speaking to me, and I opened my eyes again. I was breathing heavy and felt like I was about to explode with passion. I drowned myself in his dark gaze and was waiting for him to bring me back to life with his kiss. His face approached mine. He parted his full lips in a sensual smile and was so close that I could virtually taste him. My lust, want and desire for him were revealed through my staccato breathing and I was aching for his warm mouth to cover mine.
“I usually don’t kiss on the first date,” he whispered. I could feel his warm breath on my lips as he spoke and my quivering body was begging for him to make an exception this time.
He lifted a hand and ran it across my cheek, while smiling his slow sexy smile.
“Until we meet again,” he said.
“How do you know we’ll meet again?” My voice was weak and trembling, just like my knees.
“I will come back for you,” he said with a confident smile and twirled me around for the last time. The music was still playing but he escorted me off the dance floor towards the door.
“Our time for finishing this dance has not yet arrived,” he smiled and kissed my hand before he brushed his fingers across my forehead.
“And please…don’t wait up for me,” he whispered and his black eyes were serious as he gave me a last long look before strutting across the dance floor, heading for another lady who was eagerly awaiting his affection and his dance.
I wasn’t jealous. I knew I wasn’t eager to finish his slow dance or to taste his sweet lips. I would spend time thinking about this dance that nobody could turn down, and I would be preparing for this kiss that he had been so hesitant to offer me, but I would waste no time longing for it, nor waiting for it and with a smile I realized I wasn’t afraid of the dance floor either. There was still a lot of dancing to be done before he showed up again to finish our waltz.
Never in my life had I seen such an elegant mansion, or such a huge ballroom. It was covered from floor to ceiling in black marble. Torches were lit around the room, and the live flames kept the room heated, even though all the dancing already provided plenty of heat.
This was definitely more than just an average party. My past experiences with dances and parties usually involved 20 people crammed into my friend’s smoke filled basement, or hundreds of people milling around in a disco, desperately holding on to their pint of beer while fighting for a spot on the dance floor by waving their arms around as much as possible so that nobody dares to stand close. I had never seen a problem with this sort of behavior, or this sort of dancing, until now. Here it seemed like everyone had their own private spot on the dance floor and there seemed to be plenty of room for others to join in so there was no need to get violent to secure a dance space.
I was watching them all dance, and wished I could dance like that, but I was nervous too.
If anyone were to approach me and ask me to dance, I would have to turn them down.
I didn’t know this dance.
As my eyes wandered around the room, one man in particular caught my attention. He seemed to be very fond of dancing, he had asked virtually every lady in the room for a dance already, and I couldn’t see one drop of sweat on his forehead. Obviously this man had to be in very good shape. He was tall and dark, and I couldn’t get a clear vision of his face, but I knew without a doubt that he would be the most handsome man I had ever seen. His long raven-black hair was flowing down his back like a dark shimmering velvet waterfall. He was draped in a black velvet cape, and underneath it he was wearing a black tuxedo, accompanied by a black silk shirt. He must have noticed me staring at him, because he turned around with a confident, sexy smile on his lips. His eyes were like onyx. They captured me with no intention of letting me go, and as he approached me, I knew that he would teach me this dance, whether I wanted to or not.
“Milady,” he bowed and I didn’t know what I was doing, but found myself curtseying before him. I looped my arm under his and he led me out to the dance floor.
“I don’t know this dance,” I mumbled and concentrated really hard so I wouldn’t step on his toes.
“Nobody does,” he smiled and with a steady hand he twirled me around the dance floor, making me feel like I was a professional dancer. All of a sudden I felt self conscious, and my old jeans and my Black Sabbath t-shirt that I was wearing felt inappropriate for the occasion. He must have read my mind because he pulled me closer and held me in a comforting grip.
“Look at yourself,” he whispered in my ear, and I did, just to find myself draped in a flaming red silk gown. It was a big, beautiful fluffy one, similar to what the other women were wearing.
As he confidently swung me around on the dance floor, I looked around, and to my surprise I recognized several of the ballroom guests. There was my great grandma, whom I had never met before but I recognized her from the picture that was hanging on the living room wall at home. I thought for a second that I spotted James Dean, but that couldn’t be. Why would James Dean and I be at the same party? The dancing must have made me dizzy.
I returned my attention to my dance partner. His eyes were black and shiny, like two smooth marbles under a spotlight. As his fascinating glare intertwined with mine, I didn’t have the willpower to break eye contact, although I realized that I should have done exactly that. His hands held me in a warm, firm grip. Everywhere he touched me, he lit a new flame and I found myself only wanting more. All of a sudden it felt like it was just he and I, all alone on that gigantic ballroom dance floor. From a distance I could hear the violin music playing. He spun me around and around and around on the dance floor, and everyone around me merged together, transforming into a blurry rainbow of dark and abstract colors. I felt like we were riding the fastest merry-go-round in the world.
I could sense his strong body pushing against mine, and I found myself clinging to him, seductively rubbing my own body against his. What was wrong with me?
He had to know that he was deadly attractive. I suspected he got this kind of treatment from every other woman who crossed his path, and I hated to be like everyone else, but something about this man made it impossible for me to keep my hands to myself. I simply couldn’t help it. He was breath taking. He could have his way with me anytime.
My hands were brave now and I started exploring his muscular body. Finally I got to touch his long black hair and it was just as soft as I had imagined. I could hear his soft laughter as he softly planted a kiss on my cheek, leaving me with a soft fuzzy feeling that was spreading like wildfire throughout the rest of my body. I realized that I could burst into flames at any minute, and the cool, marble covered ballroom was a deep contrast to the fire that was raging through my own carcass.
“Open your eyes princess.”
I heard his raspy voice speaking to me, and I opened my eyes again. I was breathing heavy and felt like I was about to explode with passion. I drowned myself in his dark gaze and was waiting for him to bring me back to life with his kiss. His face approached mine. He parted his full lips in a sensual smile and was so close that I could virtually taste him. My lust, want and desire for him were revealed through my staccato breathing and I was aching for his warm mouth to cover mine.
“I usually don’t kiss on the first date,” he whispered. I could feel his warm breath on my lips as he spoke and my quivering body was begging for him to make an exception this time.
He lifted a hand and ran it across my cheek, while smiling his slow sexy smile.
“Until we meet again,” he said.
“How do you know we’ll meet again?” My voice was weak and trembling, just like my knees.
“I will come back for you,” he said with a confident smile and twirled me around for the last time. The music was still playing but he escorted me off the dance floor towards the door.
“Our time for finishing this dance has not yet arrived,” he smiled and kissed my hand before he brushed his fingers across my forehead.
“And please…don’t wait up for me,” he whispered and his black eyes were serious as he gave me a last long look before strutting across the dance floor, heading for another lady who was eagerly awaiting his affection and his dance.
I wasn’t jealous. I knew I wasn’t eager to finish his slow dance or to taste his sweet lips. I would spend time thinking about this dance that nobody could turn down, and I would be preparing for this kiss that he had been so hesitant to offer me, but I would waste no time longing for it, nor waiting for it and with a smile I realized I wasn’t afraid of the dance floor either. There was still a lot of dancing to be done before he showed up again to finish our waltz.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
T'risstree - A Tale of Silver, Onyx and Rubies - Part 3
NOTE:
Before reading Part III of this story (& the conclusion I might add), I highly recommend that you read part 1:
http://lailaroknian.blogspot.com/2009/03/trisstree-tale-of-silver-onyx-and.html
and part 2:
http://lailaroknian.blogspot.com/2009/03/trisstree-tale-of-silver-onyx-and_19.html
Thank you for reading my humble writings & I hope you enjoy the conclusion of my short story about T'riss.
*********************************
-8-
“T’risstree, dalnilnuk, open up!”
Triss popped awake. Someone was knocking on her door.
“Malice?”
“I have to talk to you,” Malice whispered and quickly shut the door behind her.
“How are you?” she asked Triss.
“I’m bored out of my mind and my eyes are sore. I can’t wait to get back. And those humans, oh Malice, they are ugly…and lousy in bed. Don’t you think so?”
Malice sat in silence for a while.
“Don’t you think so?” T’risstree repeated the question and Malice evaded her glare.
“Malice, don’t you think so??”
Malice lowered her eyes and shook her head. It was a minute movement but big enough for Triss to notice.
“That man that I’ve been with, he is… He is wonderful,” Malice whispered.
Triss slapped Malice across the face.
“Wake up! You do not belong here!”
“I thought you’d be happy…” Malice smiled. “…If I didn’t return.”
“No! Not like this Malice! We make a good team you and I! We can both go back.
See how well we’ve played the villagers together? Maybe this is what Matron Viconia wanted us to see? That we can work together!”
Malice just shook her head and started walking towards the door.
“Malice, please think about this. It will pass….”
Malice nodded.
“I’m sure it will.”
As the days went by, T’risstree grew tired of pretending that she was having fun with the humans, and the stronger her boredom grew, the more tricks she played on the townspeople.
She had a beautiful stash of treasure that she had stolen from various stores around town with the intention of bringing it all back to the Underdark. She had seduced several males, husbands as well as unattached ones, and she was just as bored and unsatisfied with every single one of them. She couldn’t understand what Malice saw in these boring, ugly creatures.
“Let’s go into the forest,” Andy suggested one night after dinner, and she willingly followed along for a little rendezvous as usual.
He started kissing her passionately and she pretended to melt in his arms when all of a sudden she found herself with a knife to her throat.
“You little thieving wench,” she heard a voice growling. “You thought you’d get away with this, didn’t you?” The voice belonged to one of the shopkeepers in town.
“Andy?” Triss looked around and found Andy cowardly standing a few feet away, determined not to look at her.
“You tricked me! You tricked me!” She snarled at him.
“You’re about to get what you deserve. I knew we couldn’t trust you dark ones!”
“And what do you want?” She changed her tune and traced her finger across his face. He trembled a little and lowered his knife. “You want some of this?” she cooed and pressed her sexy body against his.
“Trevor, you’re losing it,” one of the other males said and whipped out his knife, but he was too slow. The brief distraction had bought T’risstree enough time to pull out one sword for each hand and before the men even had a chance to notice that she was armed at all, the shopkeeper was lying headless in the grass and she was already aiming for another male.
“Die light-lovers!” she hissed before she buried her sword in his body and watched him gargle up blood before he sunk to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
A third male had snuck up behind her with his knife and she cried out in pain as his knife sunk into her shoulder. The male seemed surprised over actually having hurt her and she realized that this was not a regular army. It was merely a bunch of cowards with knives.
T’risstree grinned at the male who was still stunned by his achievements with the dagger, and a silent swoosh was all the warning he had before she introduced his neck to her lightning fast blade.
“Triss,” Andy said and she turned around. He was holding a bow and the arrow was pointing at her.
“Andy you don’t want to kill me,” she said softly. “I’ll leave. I’ll leave right now if you let me go.”
His hands were trembling and she spotted hesitance in his blue eyes.
“I have to do this Triss,” he said and pulled the string on the bow back even further.
“Please don’t lover,” she purred.
“Will you leave?” Andy said.
“I will leave,” Triss nodded. “No more trouble from me.”
She walked up to him and let her lips embrace his. He started shaking and she unbuttoned his pants.
“One last memory,” she whispered and pulled him down on to the moss-covered ground, and he was unable to resist her advances.
“I’m going to miss you T’risstree,” he gasped in ecstasy. As he was busy climaxing, he never saw the dagger that impaled his heart from behind.
“I won’t miss you at all,” Triss growled as she rolled his heavy, lifeless body off of hers and wiped his blood from her chest.
-9-
Hastily she ran to the inn and gathered all her items in a hurry, before she ran over to Malice’s room.
“Malice!” She knocked on her door and after awhile it opened.
“I’m busy.” Malice was half-naked and flushed. There was no question who she was busy with. “Come back later.”
“I have to leave Malice,” Triss whispered. “Are you coming?”
Malice shook her head.
“No,” she said.
“You know what will happen if you don’t return,” T’risstree whispered.
Malice’s eyes darkened and she nodded.
“You will be declared kill on sight in the Underdark,” Triss reminded her. “Do you want to live the rest of your life being hunted by your own?”
“It’s better than what’s facing me back there if I lose,” Malice said.
“But you may win! We don’t know! We can both win! ” Triss tried to talk Malice out of the big mistake she was about to commit. “We can both win! Look at us! We’re working well together! Dalnilnuk, I think this experience has brought us closer. Maybe it is possible for us to both live in peace? We compliment each other, you have skills I lack and vice versa. We can make it work Malice!”
But she could tell by the look on Malice’s face that she was in love and had no intentions of letting him go.
“Goodbye Triss,” Malice whispered.
“Aluve’ dalnilnuk,” Triss replied and started walking away, and then she turned around one last time.
“Malice, I caused some problems… You know how they blame all drow for something that one did wrong. Just tell them what a horrible wench I am. Tell them…”
Malice held a hand up to make her stop talking.
“Shut up and go,” she smiled. “I’m the actress. I know what to say!”
T’risstree held on to her belongings and ran out of the village as fast as she could. She heard screams and loud voices and knew they had discovered her handiwork.
She fumbled for her brooch that Viconia had given her, rubbed it five times but even before she could say the magic words, she was flying through a dark tunnel and suddenly she was back in the Underdark.
“Congratulations T’risstree, you survived.”
Viconia stood before her with a big smile.
“I didn’t even use the brooch?” T’risstree was confused.
“It was time for you two to return. It has been a week. I won’t even leave my worst enemy up there for longer than that,” Viconia grinned.
Then she looked at the empty space next to T’risstree.
“Malice?”
T’risstree lowered her eyes to the floor and shrugged.
“She didn’t?” Viconia grabbed Triss’ face and forced her to look up.
“She did.” Triss’ voice was genuinely sad.
“That coward. If she ever shows herself here again or you run into her up there, she is to be killed. Do you understand that T’risstree?”
Triss nodded.
“I do,” she said.
“Spread the word,” Viconia sighed.
“This is why I sent you there,” she continued. “To see which one of you would survive and whose minds would get corrupted by the light…”
“They are so boring,” T’risstree complained. “How will she survive with them? Not to mention they can’t please a drow in bed and they’re all...”
Viconia chuckled at all her complaints.
“Oh but look what I brought!” T’risstree interrupted herself and poured her bags out all over the floors, revealing all the goods she had stolen and brought back to Xyldynn.
“Triss! What have you done?” Viconia laughed and picked through the treasure pile.
“It almost cost me my life,” Triss said.
“Oh don’t be so dramatic dalnilnuk. Light-lovers are no match for a drow,” Viconia grinned and T’risstree shrugged.
“Unless they get to your conscience and your heart strings,” Viconia continued and Triss knew that she was thinking of Malice’s betrayal.
“I’m going to miss her Viconia,” Triss admitted. “We found each other out there.”
Viconia nodded.
“I know,” she said. “That was part of the challenge. I wouldn’t have had to pick a winner, would I?”
T’risstree just shook her head, and they said nothing more.
-10-
“Traitor!” T’risstree’s voice was filled with hatred as she lifted her crossbow and with a sturdy hand she pulled the trigger and watched the bolt penetrate its way through flesh and clothing, successfully finding its way to the unfortunate victim’s heart and terminating his life.
Triumphantly she pulled the bolt back out, leaving the dead body behind.
“Waste of a good bolt. Now clean it up,” she ordered one of the males.
He bowed before her and quickly ran off to complete his task.
“The last one made his way out Jabbress,” another male said.
“Out? Where?”
“You know…” He lowered his voice. “Out there.”
“The light-lovers world?” she asked and the male nodded.
T’risstree smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
“Good work,” she said with a smirk. “Let’s go get him and you can please me later.”
“Xas Jabbress,” he grinned.
Triss rubbed her brooch three times and muttered the necessary words and they found themselves on the outside all of a sudden. It was dark.
“I’ve been here before,” Triss whispered. “Several years have passed since then, but I was right here in this very spot. It is stained with their blood...and a drop of my own.”
“What’s it like?” One of the males was curious.
“Boring,” she replied. “No fun in bed, no fun anywhere. Just boring.”
“He can’t have gone far,” someone said. “He escaped this morning.”
“It has been daylight since then. We don’t function well in daylight, it’s too … bright,” Triss whispered. “Spread out and go look for him. I’ll stay here. If you find him, come back to me.”
T’risstree hid in the meantime, and her mind went back to the last time she had visited this place and to the bloody fight that had taken place in this very spot.
The thought of it made her smile. She was proud of what she had achieved back then and in the years that had followed.
She had been an excellent matron for the House of Xyldynn, and realized that the right drow had won the challenge. Triss didn’t know how well she would have liked sharing her power with Malice. Did she miss Malice? Not really.
The only thing she missed was not having someone to harass when she was having a bad day, but there was never a lack of servants who volunteered to be harassed by T’risstree.
Lately, Viconia had left most tasks and chores around the house in T’risstree’s hands and these days she was mostly basking in the glory of being the eldest and the wisest.
“Jabbress, look what I found!”
One of the males came back, interrupting her train of thought.
“This is a good catch jabbress,” he said and was dragging something, or someone, along the ground. Brutally he tossed it in front of her feet.
T’risstree gasped as the “thing” looked up at her.
“Malice!”
The male nodded and was beaming with pride.
“Do you want to do the honors Jabbress?” he said and looked at Malice, who was shivering on the ground before them.
“Please T’risstree, please. Let me go.”
“Go on, keep looking,” T’risstree commanded the drow male. “I’ll keep her here in the mean time.”
He spun around and was gone again.
“Please let me go dalnilnuk, please.”
Her red eyes were glowing with fear as she was begging T’risstree to leave her be.
“How is the light-loving world treating you?” Triss asked.
“You left a big mess for me to clean up Triss,” Malice complained. “But I eventually made them see that I wasn’t like you. And I haven’t been… I’ve been good.
I got married…”
“Married??” T’risstree looked like she had tasted something extremely sour.
“You confined to their institutions and nonsense formalities?? And you have sex with only one person forever?” She shuddered out of pure disgust.
“It’s wonderful Triss, it really is. Now we want children.”
“Do you miss the Underdark at all?” Triss asked her.
Malice shook her head.
“No I don’t,” she said bluntly, but her teary eyes told another tale.
“Don’t lie to me wench,” Triss snarled.
“Well… sometimes I wonder… you know. What you’re doing, what it would be like if I had returned with you. But I made my choice and I have to live with it.”
“That’s for me to decide if you get to live with it,” Triss stated.
“Please let me go dalnilnuk, please.”
A few of the drow males had returned with no result.
“He is nowhere to be found,” one of them said. “We’ll have to look elsewhere.”
“Malice??? MALICE!”
Someone was stomping through the woods, crying out her name.
“That’s John,” Malice whispered.
“So that is John,” Triss grinned. “Let’s invite him to the party shall we?”
“Call him! Call him now,” she hissed and nailed Malice with a pair of fiery red eyes.
“What has gotten into you? I thought we were friends?” Malice said.
“Friends,” Triss spit. “That was before you betrayed us all! Maybe we could have been. But we’re not friends. You’ve made yourself the enemy!”
They heard branches snap as John came running through, and at first he didn’t notice them at all, until he stopped to catch his breath and realized he was surrounded by drow.
-11-
“Malice? Are you okay?”
“Triss… please let us go. Nobody will know. These males are faithful to you, they won’t betray you.”
“But would I want to betray myself?” Triss asked her.
T’risstree nodded to one of her males who flicked out his sword and John found himself in a tight grip with a sharp blade pressing against his throat.
“Please don’t Triss,” Malice begged.
“Remember Amalika?” T’risstree wheezed. Her ruby-colored eyes were flickering with cool hatred.
Malice screamed as Triss signaled the one holding John and he slit John’s throat without a word.
“Now we are even.” Triss stared at Malice, who kept stroking a golden band that was clinging to her left ring finger.
“I could kill you now, but killing you seems like an easy way out, doesn’t it Malice? What would you do now, without him, without us… and without them?”
She nodded in direction of the village and doubted they would forgive the drow again for having killed off another one of their friends. Malice would for certain be chased out of town, if not killed.
Nevertheless she would be declared kill on sight again, this time by the humans.
“The sun will be up soon. We have to go boys,” Triss declared.
“Stay out of our way Malice…and I suggest you start running from them if you want to live.”
T’risstree started rubbing her brooch to return home.
“I’m sorry about Amalika,” Malice wept. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m sorry too,” Triss said. She paused on the forth stroke and glanced at Malice who was readying herself to flee.
“Malice,” she said.
“Malice, look at me.”
Malice slowly turned around to face T’risstree, only to be met by a flying blade.
“I’ll give you the easy way out one last time,” Triss muttered before the sword collided with Malice’s head and they watched Malice’s body sink to the ground next to John’s.
Quickly Triss rubbed the brooch a fifth time and brought them all back to the Underdark.
Viconia met them in the corridor.
“Did you find him?” she asked.
Triss shook her head and the two women exchanged a knowing look.
“Lolth is proud of you,” Viconia smiled and ran a hand through Triss’ silver mane.
“I am proud of me too.” Triss smiled confidently and headed for her room, where she closed the door behind her, hungry to be alone.
She gazed at herself in the mirror and liked what she saw.
“Vendui’ ussta alurl abbil,[1]” she mumbled and looked herself in the eyes.
For the first time, and probably for the last time, in her life, T’risstree shed a tear.
[1] Hello my best friend.
Before reading Part III of this story (& the conclusion I might add), I highly recommend that you read part 1:
http://lailaroknian.blogspot.com/2009/03/trisstree-tale-of-silver-onyx-and.html
and part 2:
http://lailaroknian.blogspot.com/2009/03/trisstree-tale-of-silver-onyx-and_19.html
Thank you for reading my humble writings & I hope you enjoy the conclusion of my short story about T'riss.
*********************************
-8-
“T’risstree, dalnilnuk, open up!”
Triss popped awake. Someone was knocking on her door.
“Malice?”
“I have to talk to you,” Malice whispered and quickly shut the door behind her.
“How are you?” she asked Triss.
“I’m bored out of my mind and my eyes are sore. I can’t wait to get back. And those humans, oh Malice, they are ugly…and lousy in bed. Don’t you think so?”
Malice sat in silence for a while.
“Don’t you think so?” T’risstree repeated the question and Malice evaded her glare.
“Malice, don’t you think so??”
Malice lowered her eyes and shook her head. It was a minute movement but big enough for Triss to notice.
“That man that I’ve been with, he is… He is wonderful,” Malice whispered.
Triss slapped Malice across the face.
“Wake up! You do not belong here!”
“I thought you’d be happy…” Malice smiled. “…If I didn’t return.”
“No! Not like this Malice! We make a good team you and I! We can both go back.
See how well we’ve played the villagers together? Maybe this is what Matron Viconia wanted us to see? That we can work together!”
Malice just shook her head and started walking towards the door.
“Malice, please think about this. It will pass….”
Malice nodded.
“I’m sure it will.”
As the days went by, T’risstree grew tired of pretending that she was having fun with the humans, and the stronger her boredom grew, the more tricks she played on the townspeople.
She had a beautiful stash of treasure that she had stolen from various stores around town with the intention of bringing it all back to the Underdark. She had seduced several males, husbands as well as unattached ones, and she was just as bored and unsatisfied with every single one of them. She couldn’t understand what Malice saw in these boring, ugly creatures.
“Let’s go into the forest,” Andy suggested one night after dinner, and she willingly followed along for a little rendezvous as usual.
He started kissing her passionately and she pretended to melt in his arms when all of a sudden she found herself with a knife to her throat.
“You little thieving wench,” she heard a voice growling. “You thought you’d get away with this, didn’t you?” The voice belonged to one of the shopkeepers in town.
“Andy?” Triss looked around and found Andy cowardly standing a few feet away, determined not to look at her.
“You tricked me! You tricked me!” She snarled at him.
“You’re about to get what you deserve. I knew we couldn’t trust you dark ones!”
“And what do you want?” She changed her tune and traced her finger across his face. He trembled a little and lowered his knife. “You want some of this?” she cooed and pressed her sexy body against his.
“Trevor, you’re losing it,” one of the other males said and whipped out his knife, but he was too slow. The brief distraction had bought T’risstree enough time to pull out one sword for each hand and before the men even had a chance to notice that she was armed at all, the shopkeeper was lying headless in the grass and she was already aiming for another male.
“Die light-lovers!” she hissed before she buried her sword in his body and watched him gargle up blood before he sunk to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
A third male had snuck up behind her with his knife and she cried out in pain as his knife sunk into her shoulder. The male seemed surprised over actually having hurt her and she realized that this was not a regular army. It was merely a bunch of cowards with knives.
T’risstree grinned at the male who was still stunned by his achievements with the dagger, and a silent swoosh was all the warning he had before she introduced his neck to her lightning fast blade.
“Triss,” Andy said and she turned around. He was holding a bow and the arrow was pointing at her.
“Andy you don’t want to kill me,” she said softly. “I’ll leave. I’ll leave right now if you let me go.”
His hands were trembling and she spotted hesitance in his blue eyes.
“I have to do this Triss,” he said and pulled the string on the bow back even further.
“Please don’t lover,” she purred.
“Will you leave?” Andy said.
“I will leave,” Triss nodded. “No more trouble from me.”
She walked up to him and let her lips embrace his. He started shaking and she unbuttoned his pants.
“One last memory,” she whispered and pulled him down on to the moss-covered ground, and he was unable to resist her advances.
“I’m going to miss you T’risstree,” he gasped in ecstasy. As he was busy climaxing, he never saw the dagger that impaled his heart from behind.
“I won’t miss you at all,” Triss growled as she rolled his heavy, lifeless body off of hers and wiped his blood from her chest.
-9-
Hastily she ran to the inn and gathered all her items in a hurry, before she ran over to Malice’s room.
“Malice!” She knocked on her door and after awhile it opened.
“I’m busy.” Malice was half-naked and flushed. There was no question who she was busy with. “Come back later.”
“I have to leave Malice,” Triss whispered. “Are you coming?”
Malice shook her head.
“No,” she said.
“You know what will happen if you don’t return,” T’risstree whispered.
Malice’s eyes darkened and she nodded.
“You will be declared kill on sight in the Underdark,” Triss reminded her. “Do you want to live the rest of your life being hunted by your own?”
“It’s better than what’s facing me back there if I lose,” Malice said.
“But you may win! We don’t know! We can both win! ” Triss tried to talk Malice out of the big mistake she was about to commit. “We can both win! Look at us! We’re working well together! Dalnilnuk, I think this experience has brought us closer. Maybe it is possible for us to both live in peace? We compliment each other, you have skills I lack and vice versa. We can make it work Malice!”
But she could tell by the look on Malice’s face that she was in love and had no intentions of letting him go.
“Goodbye Triss,” Malice whispered.
“Aluve’ dalnilnuk,” Triss replied and started walking away, and then she turned around one last time.
“Malice, I caused some problems… You know how they blame all drow for something that one did wrong. Just tell them what a horrible wench I am. Tell them…”
Malice held a hand up to make her stop talking.
“Shut up and go,” she smiled. “I’m the actress. I know what to say!”
T’risstree held on to her belongings and ran out of the village as fast as she could. She heard screams and loud voices and knew they had discovered her handiwork.
She fumbled for her brooch that Viconia had given her, rubbed it five times but even before she could say the magic words, she was flying through a dark tunnel and suddenly she was back in the Underdark.
“Congratulations T’risstree, you survived.”
Viconia stood before her with a big smile.
“I didn’t even use the brooch?” T’risstree was confused.
“It was time for you two to return. It has been a week. I won’t even leave my worst enemy up there for longer than that,” Viconia grinned.
Then she looked at the empty space next to T’risstree.
“Malice?”
T’risstree lowered her eyes to the floor and shrugged.
“She didn’t?” Viconia grabbed Triss’ face and forced her to look up.
“She did.” Triss’ voice was genuinely sad.
“That coward. If she ever shows herself here again or you run into her up there, she is to be killed. Do you understand that T’risstree?”
Triss nodded.
“I do,” she said.
“Spread the word,” Viconia sighed.
“This is why I sent you there,” she continued. “To see which one of you would survive and whose minds would get corrupted by the light…”
“They are so boring,” T’risstree complained. “How will she survive with them? Not to mention they can’t please a drow in bed and they’re all...”
Viconia chuckled at all her complaints.
“Oh but look what I brought!” T’risstree interrupted herself and poured her bags out all over the floors, revealing all the goods she had stolen and brought back to Xyldynn.
“Triss! What have you done?” Viconia laughed and picked through the treasure pile.
“It almost cost me my life,” Triss said.
“Oh don’t be so dramatic dalnilnuk. Light-lovers are no match for a drow,” Viconia grinned and T’risstree shrugged.
“Unless they get to your conscience and your heart strings,” Viconia continued and Triss knew that she was thinking of Malice’s betrayal.
“I’m going to miss her Viconia,” Triss admitted. “We found each other out there.”
Viconia nodded.
“I know,” she said. “That was part of the challenge. I wouldn’t have had to pick a winner, would I?”
T’risstree just shook her head, and they said nothing more.
-10-
“Traitor!” T’risstree’s voice was filled with hatred as she lifted her crossbow and with a sturdy hand she pulled the trigger and watched the bolt penetrate its way through flesh and clothing, successfully finding its way to the unfortunate victim’s heart and terminating his life.
Triumphantly she pulled the bolt back out, leaving the dead body behind.
“Waste of a good bolt. Now clean it up,” she ordered one of the males.
He bowed before her and quickly ran off to complete his task.
“The last one made his way out Jabbress,” another male said.
“Out? Where?”
“You know…” He lowered his voice. “Out there.”
“The light-lovers world?” she asked and the male nodded.
T’risstree smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
“Good work,” she said with a smirk. “Let’s go get him and you can please me later.”
“Xas Jabbress,” he grinned.
Triss rubbed her brooch three times and muttered the necessary words and they found themselves on the outside all of a sudden. It was dark.
“I’ve been here before,” Triss whispered. “Several years have passed since then, but I was right here in this very spot. It is stained with their blood...and a drop of my own.”
“What’s it like?” One of the males was curious.
“Boring,” she replied. “No fun in bed, no fun anywhere. Just boring.”
“He can’t have gone far,” someone said. “He escaped this morning.”
“It has been daylight since then. We don’t function well in daylight, it’s too … bright,” Triss whispered. “Spread out and go look for him. I’ll stay here. If you find him, come back to me.”
T’risstree hid in the meantime, and her mind went back to the last time she had visited this place and to the bloody fight that had taken place in this very spot.
The thought of it made her smile. She was proud of what she had achieved back then and in the years that had followed.
She had been an excellent matron for the House of Xyldynn, and realized that the right drow had won the challenge. Triss didn’t know how well she would have liked sharing her power with Malice. Did she miss Malice? Not really.
The only thing she missed was not having someone to harass when she was having a bad day, but there was never a lack of servants who volunteered to be harassed by T’risstree.
Lately, Viconia had left most tasks and chores around the house in T’risstree’s hands and these days she was mostly basking in the glory of being the eldest and the wisest.
“Jabbress, look what I found!”
One of the males came back, interrupting her train of thought.
“This is a good catch jabbress,” he said and was dragging something, or someone, along the ground. Brutally he tossed it in front of her feet.
T’risstree gasped as the “thing” looked up at her.
“Malice!”
The male nodded and was beaming with pride.
“Do you want to do the honors Jabbress?” he said and looked at Malice, who was shivering on the ground before them.
“Please T’risstree, please. Let me go.”
“Go on, keep looking,” T’risstree commanded the drow male. “I’ll keep her here in the mean time.”
He spun around and was gone again.
“Please let me go dalnilnuk, please.”
Her red eyes were glowing with fear as she was begging T’risstree to leave her be.
“How is the light-loving world treating you?” Triss asked.
“You left a big mess for me to clean up Triss,” Malice complained. “But I eventually made them see that I wasn’t like you. And I haven’t been… I’ve been good.
I got married…”
“Married??” T’risstree looked like she had tasted something extremely sour.
“You confined to their institutions and nonsense formalities?? And you have sex with only one person forever?” She shuddered out of pure disgust.
“It’s wonderful Triss, it really is. Now we want children.”
“Do you miss the Underdark at all?” Triss asked her.
Malice shook her head.
“No I don’t,” she said bluntly, but her teary eyes told another tale.
“Don’t lie to me wench,” Triss snarled.
“Well… sometimes I wonder… you know. What you’re doing, what it would be like if I had returned with you. But I made my choice and I have to live with it.”
“That’s for me to decide if you get to live with it,” Triss stated.
“Please let me go dalnilnuk, please.”
A few of the drow males had returned with no result.
“He is nowhere to be found,” one of them said. “We’ll have to look elsewhere.”
“Malice??? MALICE!”
Someone was stomping through the woods, crying out her name.
“That’s John,” Malice whispered.
“So that is John,” Triss grinned. “Let’s invite him to the party shall we?”
“Call him! Call him now,” she hissed and nailed Malice with a pair of fiery red eyes.
“What has gotten into you? I thought we were friends?” Malice said.
“Friends,” Triss spit. “That was before you betrayed us all! Maybe we could have been. But we’re not friends. You’ve made yourself the enemy!”
They heard branches snap as John came running through, and at first he didn’t notice them at all, until he stopped to catch his breath and realized he was surrounded by drow.
-11-
“Malice? Are you okay?”
“Triss… please let us go. Nobody will know. These males are faithful to you, they won’t betray you.”
“But would I want to betray myself?” Triss asked her.
T’risstree nodded to one of her males who flicked out his sword and John found himself in a tight grip with a sharp blade pressing against his throat.
“Please don’t Triss,” Malice begged.
“Remember Amalika?” T’risstree wheezed. Her ruby-colored eyes were flickering with cool hatred.
Malice screamed as Triss signaled the one holding John and he slit John’s throat without a word.
“Now we are even.” Triss stared at Malice, who kept stroking a golden band that was clinging to her left ring finger.
“I could kill you now, but killing you seems like an easy way out, doesn’t it Malice? What would you do now, without him, without us… and without them?”
She nodded in direction of the village and doubted they would forgive the drow again for having killed off another one of their friends. Malice would for certain be chased out of town, if not killed.
Nevertheless she would be declared kill on sight again, this time by the humans.
“The sun will be up soon. We have to go boys,” Triss declared.
“Stay out of our way Malice…and I suggest you start running from them if you want to live.”
T’risstree started rubbing her brooch to return home.
“I’m sorry about Amalika,” Malice wept. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m sorry too,” Triss said. She paused on the forth stroke and glanced at Malice who was readying herself to flee.
“Malice,” she said.
“Malice, look at me.”
Malice slowly turned around to face T’risstree, only to be met by a flying blade.
“I’ll give you the easy way out one last time,” Triss muttered before the sword collided with Malice’s head and they watched Malice’s body sink to the ground next to John’s.
Quickly Triss rubbed the brooch a fifth time and brought them all back to the Underdark.
Viconia met them in the corridor.
“Did you find him?” she asked.
Triss shook her head and the two women exchanged a knowing look.
“Lolth is proud of you,” Viconia smiled and ran a hand through Triss’ silver mane.
“I am proud of me too.” Triss smiled confidently and headed for her room, where she closed the door behind her, hungry to be alone.
She gazed at herself in the mirror and liked what she saw.
“Vendui’ ussta alurl abbil,[1]” she mumbled and looked herself in the eyes.
For the first time, and probably for the last time, in her life, T’risstree shed a tear.
[1] Hello my best friend.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
AWOL / MIA
Sorry I've been MIA lately. I've started a new project that has taken up most of the spare time that I used for blogging. Once I'm caught up with my new project, there will be new blog posts!
So.... hang on everybody! I've got a lot more material to share with everybody! :)
So.... hang on everybody! I've got a lot more material to share with everybody! :)
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Health - Dropping the Diet Coke!
I feel good lately. By coincidence, when I’m feeling good, I develop an urge to be healthy.
Is it a coincidence? Probably not. I’m afraid to delve into the depths of that association, but I’m sure there’s a negative connotation there to the days I’m feeling bad & not wanting to be healthy …. Lol.
Anyway. I’ve been performing some self analysis on myself lately and I’ve been thinking back to the way I’ve been on diets all my life, only to fail and gain back all the pounds I lost… The ones of us who have been there, know that failing a diet makes it a lot harder to even try another diet plan again, and if you do, you expect to fail. It’s sad that we’re starting something new without enough confidence to think that we’ll be victorious.
So I’m thinking to myself that all I really want, is to be healthy. I don’t want to go on a diet that’s eventually going to end, leaving me to fend for myself in a non-diet world that’s just bulging with temptations on every corner. I want to be healthy, let’s say 90% of the time. That leaves 10% of unhealthy time, a time where I can indulge in cookies and cheetos if I so wish. (And I know myself well enough to know … that I WILL wish to indulge in cookies and cheetos from time to time….)
I’ve also come to the conclusion that it’s hopeless to drop ALL of your bad habits at once. When I do that, my body goes into shock and complete chaos… all kinds of cravings start bombarding me from every direction. It’s hard enough dealing with one type of craving, but if multiple hits you at once, that’s a recipe for failure. I can stand strong for a little while but then I’ll cave in to one, or all, of the cravings eventually.
So…I’m going to start out by dropping Diet Coke from my diet. Although it has no sugar, I know that there are some side effects associated with diet coke, besides the obvious side effect that is a heavy addiction! Insulin resistance is one of the side effects, which is in fact associated with PCOS, an infertility condition that I was diagnosed with last year.
I need to find other sources of drinks to replace my Diet Coke habit. For dinner and lunch, I don’t always want water with my meal. I have found that seltzer water is a very good substitute for Diet Coke because it has the bubbles & is a bit more exciting than just plain water, but it’s still water, so it’s good for me.
During the day, I have started drinking tea. I do like a bit of caffeine during the day. I don’t drink coffee and I don’t need much caffeine, but I find that tea was a good substitution for the Diet Coke during work hours. I try to focus on healthy types of tea, such as green tea and white tea, but I like a variety so I’ve also got some chai tea in my desk. I don’t use any sugar in it, just a drop of milk.
As of today, I have not had a Diet Coke since Monday 3/23. I want to go 1 month without Diet Coke before I drop something else from my diet. If I’m doing good in two weeks and feeling brave, I may up my game and drop something else from my diet, but we’ll see. The weekends are the roughest ones. If I can make it through a weekend without diet coke, then that’s a big victory.
Let’s hear it for seltzer water and green tea!!!
Is it a coincidence? Probably not. I’m afraid to delve into the depths of that association, but I’m sure there’s a negative connotation there to the days I’m feeling bad & not wanting to be healthy …. Lol.
Anyway. I’ve been performing some self analysis on myself lately and I’ve been thinking back to the way I’ve been on diets all my life, only to fail and gain back all the pounds I lost… The ones of us who have been there, know that failing a diet makes it a lot harder to even try another diet plan again, and if you do, you expect to fail. It’s sad that we’re starting something new without enough confidence to think that we’ll be victorious.
So I’m thinking to myself that all I really want, is to be healthy. I don’t want to go on a diet that’s eventually going to end, leaving me to fend for myself in a non-diet world that’s just bulging with temptations on every corner. I want to be healthy, let’s say 90% of the time. That leaves 10% of unhealthy time, a time where I can indulge in cookies and cheetos if I so wish. (And I know myself well enough to know … that I WILL wish to indulge in cookies and cheetos from time to time….)
I’ve also come to the conclusion that it’s hopeless to drop ALL of your bad habits at once. When I do that, my body goes into shock and complete chaos… all kinds of cravings start bombarding me from every direction. It’s hard enough dealing with one type of craving, but if multiple hits you at once, that’s a recipe for failure. I can stand strong for a little while but then I’ll cave in to one, or all, of the cravings eventually.
So…I’m going to start out by dropping Diet Coke from my diet. Although it has no sugar, I know that there are some side effects associated with diet coke, besides the obvious side effect that is a heavy addiction! Insulin resistance is one of the side effects, which is in fact associated with PCOS, an infertility condition that I was diagnosed with last year.
I need to find other sources of drinks to replace my Diet Coke habit. For dinner and lunch, I don’t always want water with my meal. I have found that seltzer water is a very good substitute for Diet Coke because it has the bubbles & is a bit more exciting than just plain water, but it’s still water, so it’s good for me.
During the day, I have started drinking tea. I do like a bit of caffeine during the day. I don’t drink coffee and I don’t need much caffeine, but I find that tea was a good substitution for the Diet Coke during work hours. I try to focus on healthy types of tea, such as green tea and white tea, but I like a variety so I’ve also got some chai tea in my desk. I don’t use any sugar in it, just a drop of milk.
As of today, I have not had a Diet Coke since Monday 3/23. I want to go 1 month without Diet Coke before I drop something else from my diet. If I’m doing good in two weeks and feeling brave, I may up my game and drop something else from my diet, but we’ll see. The weekends are the roughest ones. If I can make it through a weekend without diet coke, then that’s a big victory.
Let’s hear it for seltzer water and green tea!!!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Tattoo Journey - Part 6: The right cat!
Here she is...the undead cat who roamed the farm for 20+ years...
So I've got my photos, now I just need the $$ and the courage lol....as well as a trustworthy artist :)
Thursday, March 19, 2009
T'risstree - A Tale of Silver, Onyx and Rubies - Part 2
Note: This is is part 2 of this story. If you haven't read the first part yet, I suggest you visit the following link: http://lailaroknian.blogspot.com/2009/03/trisstree-tale-of-silver-onyx-and.html and catch up on the tale:)
Also, let me remind you that drow are evil in nature... that's all I will say. I will write more about the drow race at a later time, but if you wish to read more about them now, I advise that you google it... it's a fascinating race after all :)
If Malice had hoped for T’risstree to show any sign of breakdown, she had to be sadly disappointed, as there was no indication of remorse or sorrow. Viconia brought a new
melee trainer in and T’risstree trained with him faithfully every single day. Malice kept close watch, but soon found it to be a waste of time as Triss cared about nothing but the technicalities of how to best swing her swords in order to do the most damage.
“T’risstree, can you tell me the appropriate formula for shooting off a fireball?”
Viconia was tutoring the girls in their arcane studies.
Triss shook her head.
“It was in today’s homework Triss,” Viconia sighed.
Malice replied to the question and looked at Triss with a wide grin.
“I wont stoop down to her level,” Triss thought to herself, but the sword clinging to her thigh almost felt alive and she had to restrain herself from poking Malice’s eyeballs out.
“T’risstree, you must be punished. You are not paying attention like you should. Our goddess will be disappointed.”
Triss lowered her head.
“Xas jabbress,”[1] she muttered.
“You will be locked in your room without sword practice for a week. Study your books and come back to me with knowledge of magic.”
“Xas jabbress.” T’risstree got up from her chair and bowed before Viconia then headed out the door. As she turned around she locked eyes with Malice. If looks could kill, both would have been out cold on the floor that instance. Instead Triss turned around and walked quickly back to her room.
“Malice will get hers,” she muttered. “She better watch her back.”
-5-
It wasn’t the last time T’risstree would be punished for being lazy. She was known for having a mind of her own, and through the following years she spent a lot of time in her room. She was by far the fastest and the best fighter in the house, and quickly she climbed the ranks to the top. Whether she was a good mage or not, she knew how to get her way, which she often did. So did Malice for that matter, who was keener on the arcane arts rather than melee, and in that way they completed each other.
However, the bitter rivalry between the two did not fade. On the contrary it increased rapidly, and soon the entire House of Xyldynn knew the two were enemies and started taking sides. The rivalry turned into war and the House of Xyldynn stood divided.
Viconia was saddened by the event. The day two females had been born into the house had been the happiest day of her life, yet now the two were bitter enemies, and instead of bringing the house to life like they were born to do, they were tearing it apart.
“Jabbress T’risstree! They killed Zaknafein.”
One of her assassins came running and informed her of yet another tragic murder that had taken place.
“Should we go get revenge?” The young male was eager to please his mistress and was already whirling his knife around while licking his lips at the thought of stabbing someone with it.
T’risstree sighed. This had grown out of proportions and she didn’t know how to end it. The opponents would kill one of her servants, and she would kill one of theirs.
“No,” she finally said. “This is getting out of hand. We can’t keep doing this, it’s leading nowhere but to extinction.”
T’risstree went to her room and started pacing back and forth. This blood feud was starting to depress her.
In an attempt to cheer herself up she tried summoning visions of elven faces as her drow army stormed their camps, tears running down their elven cheeks while they were pleading for their petty lives... her slender hand elegantly twirling her sword around, before burying in their flesh one last time before she would walk away with a victorious chuckle. The thought put her in a good mood for only a short second.
Triss sat down and looked at herself in the mirror, which was one of her favorite pastimes. The reflection of her glistening red eyes was gazing back at her as she picked up a silver hairbrush and started grooming her long, thick silver-white mane. Finally she shook her head, sending her hair cascading down her back like a moonlit waterfall.
She reached for her jewelry box and let her hand slide into it. All the nice golden chains and necklaces she had collected through the years seeped through her fingers like it was water and she sighed. Gold was usually a cheerful sight, but this time she just closed up her box without even picking out a piece to wear.
T’risstree walked across the floor and opened the door out to the hallway.
“Xas jabbress, lu'oh shlu'ta usstan kla'ath dos?” [2]
She was pleased to see her pets come running as soon as she showed herself.
“How can you serve me?” She repeated his question with a smirk and put an elegant finger under the drow servant’s chin, cupping his face between her hands.
“Come with me jaluk,” she purred. Willingly he obeyed her and followed her back inside, where she closed the door behind them and had her way with him.
There was always a cure for boredom, even if it was temporary.
The following day, Viconia sent out summons for T’risstree and Malice.
“Girls, this can’t go on,” she said. “You are causing major conflicts around here. Warriors who once used to be friends are now killing each other.”
Malice chuckled and T’risstree just shrugged.
“Survival of the fittest,” she said and glared over at Malice.
“Well, you either fight it out, figure it out or I throw you out, I’ve had enough,” Viconia snarled. “And may I remind you, once you’re thrown out of here, there is no way back in!”
The words had the effect of a cold shower and T’risstree stood up and drew her sword.
“Let’s do it,” she sneered at Malice. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“Not here,” Viconia said. “I will arrange something. A challenge. The winner stays, the loser goes.”
“Goes where?” T’risstree asked her. Viconia just gave her a long look and T’risstree had a feeling she didn’t want to know.
“It will be the end of you,” Malice hissed and pointed at Triss.
Triss just laughed in her face, then spit on the floor in front of her.
“Whore,” she sneered before she spun around and ran out the door, realizing that whore was too much of a compliment for a lowlife scum like Malice.
“You belong with the light-lovers,” she yelled, and her intense voice echoed down the hallways and it silenced them all. They shuddered with fear.
It was win or lose and it was life or death. Actually, it was life or worse than death.
It was life or the abyss of eternal suffering.
-6-
T’risstree spent the next days in her room preparing for whatever would come her way in the contest. At least the killing had stopped for now, but the tension between the two groups was unbearable.
Finally the day of the contest arrived.
T’risstree and Malice were sitting across the room from one another.
“Vendui’ dalnilnuk.” Viconia’s voice broke the stifling silence and they turned their attention to her.
“I’ve been thinking long and hard to find out how to best test you. I know you are both excellent fighters, staging a battle would not be much help as I suspect T’risstree would win the melee battle and Malice would win the arcane battle.”
She walked up to T’risstree and handed her a brooch, then continued over to Malice and handed her a similar item.
“I will send you to the world of the light-lovers. Neither of you can bring anyone from here. We have wounds to patch up thanks to you two. While you’re away, the drow army will be brought back together again. The one of you who succeeds will return to a united house and be matron in the House of Xyldynn.”
“What exactly are we supposed to do there?” T’risstree asked.
“Survive,” Viconia smiled.
“Easy,” Malice shrugged. “I’ve been there before.”
“Your brooches are your teleporters. Rub it three times and act as if you were casting a portal and it will send you up to the surface. Rub it five times, and it shall send you back to the Underdark.”
Viconia sat down in her chair.
“Good luck girls,” she said.
“Can I pack some money and some clothes?” T’risstree asked and the matron nodded.
“Pack some necessities and return to me. I will send you both out at the same time.”
T’risstree was nervous. It sounded like a simple task, but knowing what was at stake, and seeing that the task came from Viconia, she realized it would be anything but easy. She packed some clothes, her swords and a purse with some gold coins and returned to the matron. Malice joined them seconds later and they were ready.
Viconia muttered some words under her breath. A big white light flashed before T’risstree’s eyes and she felt as if she was in the middle of a gigantic explosion.
-7-
When she opened her eyes again, she was sitting on the ground in a place she did not recognize. Malice was sitting next to her.
“They sent us to the same place?” T’risstree wheezed. “I don’t want to see your ugly face.”
“Fine,” Malice said and got up from the ground. She brushed some leaves off her coat and marched off in to the village. Luckily it was dark outside already. Triss knew she needed to find a place to stay before daylight came to blind her.
She pulled a big coat over her tiny body. It had a huge hood attached to it, which she pulled over her head and tied up so that nobody could see her face unless they looked closely. Swiftly she covered her hands with a pair of gloves before heading in the same direction that Malice had gone, towards the village.
She was almost there when Malice came running back out with a horde of angry villagers after her. They were spitting and waving knives at her. T’risstree chuckled and turned around to watch the spectacle just in time to see Malice making a fool out of herself. She blasted a fireball at the crowd that was chasing her and ran into the woods.
Triss knew her rival would be safe in the forest, since Malice, like most other drow, was an expert at stealth and hiding.
“That was one of them dark ones.” She heard someone talking to her. “Nasty dark folk bring nothing but trouble, I assure you.”
Triss looked up to find a hefty pale matron standing next to her.
“I know what you mean,” she spoke softly. “Excuse me, do you know where I can get a room for a few nights?”
“Sure thing honey. You look freezing cold the way you’re bundled up, let me show you to the inn.”
Triss drew a breath of relief and followed behind the woman. The vision of Malice running for her life followed by a group of light-lovers amused her still, and she had to bite her lip not to laugh out loud.
As soon as Triss was settled in, she tore the big coat off and took a deep breath. It had been hard to breath being so bundled up, but well worth it. As soon as she had taken all her outer clothes off, she realized she was hungry and sighed as she started putting it all back on. It had only been a few minutes and already it was starting to get tedious.
“This is no competition with Malice being so brain-dead. I’ll have to go help her,” T’risstree thought. “What fun is it if she’s defeated that easily? There’s no way I’ll have her deny me some good competition!”
She walked back downstairs. Stealthily she vanished in to the kitchen and stole a loaf of bread and some cheese. She knew she could just buy it, but where was the fun in that? After filling her pockets in the kitchen, she headed back out the city gates and into the woods.
“Malice, where are you?” she whispered.
“What do you care?” She heard an angry voice reply.
“Told you it wasn’t going to be that easy,” Triss said quietly.
“So?” Malice came out of hiding.
“Cover yourself up,” T’risstree sighed. “I knew you were dense, but really Malice! I’m not going to give you that many chances to catch up!”
Quickly Triss spun around and headed back to the inn, and by the sound of it Malice was following right behind her, still not covered up.
“I’ll use my own tactics,” she triumphed as she brushed by T’risstree and strutted back into the village. Triss heard ruckus as the villagers spotted Malice once again and expected to see Malice come running back out in a matter of seconds.
However, Malice never came back out and curiosity got the upper hand of T’risstree.
Leisurely she walked over to a corner and watched Malice in action.
“It’s terrible down there,” Malice sobbed. She was a great actress and had the entire village in the palm of her hand. “I can’t stay there anymore, and I guess I’m not welcome here either so I don’t know what to do.”
All the light-lovers were quiet.
“We’ll take you in for a bit honey,” Triss heard a voice say. “You may have lived a sad and pitiful life up till now, but we’ll take care of you.”
“Are they that stupid,” T’risstree muttered to herself and just about jumped out of her skin when someone joined her on the bench.
“Isn’t it terrible,” the newcomer said. “How they treat them dark skinned ones.”
T’risstree decided to take advantage of the situation and pulled her hood back.
“It is indeed,” she said in a sickeningly pitiful voice and turned her head to face the light-lover sitting next to her.
It was a young male, most likely in his late 20s. He had pale blue eyes, fair skin and blonde hair and seemed taken back by the company he found himself in.
“You are a dark one as well,” he stated.
“Nice observation stupid,” Triss thought to herself but nodded at him with an encouraging smile.
Malice had turned around and their eyes met. A glimpse of jealousy flew across Malice’s face until another young man tapped her on the shoulder and took her hand, leading her towards the inn, where it seemed like the young drow would both be staying for a while.
“What’s your name?” The male asked her.
“T’risstree,” she answered him.
“That’s a pretty name,” he smiled. “Mine is just plain old Andy.”
She turned and looked him in the eyes.
“You are very handsome,” she cooed and let a finger run across his face. He turned slightly red under her touch, and was breathing fast and swallowing hard.
“Perhaps… perhaps you would like to join me for a meal,” he stuttered.
“That sounds nice,” she said softly, even though her pockets were bulging from stolen baked goods from the kitchen.
She grabbed his hand and he escorted them to the inn. At a table next to theirs sat Malice with her foolish admirer, and by the looks of it he had swallowed her bait completely.
T’risstree realized they could have some fun with the light-lovers while they were here. There was nothing or nobody present at the moment that couldn’t be used and tossed aside later.
Malice’s story spread quickly around town and T’risstree knew she owed her thanks for making it easier to walk around without hiding in the big cloak. It was amazing how gullible these people were and T’risstree had no problems taking cruel advantage of their hospitality and kindness.
“It’s their own fault for being so stupid,” she thought to herself and ignored the pull on the heartstrings every time she pick-pocketed someone or stole another item from a store.
She let Andy off easy the first night. He followed her to her room where she gently kissed him on the lips and sent him on his way.
On the third day, T’risstree finally let Andy come inside with her.
“I want to know what a light-lover is like in bed,” she cooed and his kind blue eyes lit up with expectation.
“Really?” he smiled and ran a hand through her silver-blonde hair.
“Really,” she purred and pulled his head down towards hers. She pressed her lips against his and gently played with his probing tongue while he slowly undressed her.
Triss eagerly reached for his clothes and found his pale, naked body totally unappealing.
“Oh, you’re so sexy,” she lied and his soft chuckle filled the room as he carried her on to the bed and started stroking her dark smooth body.
For about an hour, T’risstree laid on the bed, moaning and groaning, pretending to be having a good time, while he took his sweet time with the foreplay before he finally made love to her.
“You dark elves are tigers in bed,” he panted after he was done.
T’risstree cringed at the word “dark elf” but didn’t say anything.
“You’re not bad yourself,” she bluffed and bit him on the neck, while thinking how she couldn’t wait to get back to the Underdark and to her loyal, feisty lovers that were all waiting for her there.
[1] “Yes mistress”
[2] “Yes mistress, how can I serve you?”
Also, let me remind you that drow are evil in nature... that's all I will say. I will write more about the drow race at a later time, but if you wish to read more about them now, I advise that you google it... it's a fascinating race after all :)
Anyway, please enjoy the second part of this story, there will be 1 or 2 more parts following in the next coming days :)
If Malice had hoped for T’risstree to show any sign of breakdown, she had to be sadly disappointed, as there was no indication of remorse or sorrow. Viconia brought a new
melee trainer in and T’risstree trained with him faithfully every single day. Malice kept close watch, but soon found it to be a waste of time as Triss cared about nothing but the technicalities of how to best swing her swords in order to do the most damage.
“T’risstree, can you tell me the appropriate formula for shooting off a fireball?”
Viconia was tutoring the girls in their arcane studies.
Triss shook her head.
“It was in today’s homework Triss,” Viconia sighed.
Malice replied to the question and looked at Triss with a wide grin.
“I wont stoop down to her level,” Triss thought to herself, but the sword clinging to her thigh almost felt alive and she had to restrain herself from poking Malice’s eyeballs out.
“T’risstree, you must be punished. You are not paying attention like you should. Our goddess will be disappointed.”
Triss lowered her head.
“Xas jabbress,”[1] she muttered.
“You will be locked in your room without sword practice for a week. Study your books and come back to me with knowledge of magic.”
“Xas jabbress.” T’risstree got up from her chair and bowed before Viconia then headed out the door. As she turned around she locked eyes with Malice. If looks could kill, both would have been out cold on the floor that instance. Instead Triss turned around and walked quickly back to her room.
“Malice will get hers,” she muttered. “She better watch her back.”
-5-
It wasn’t the last time T’risstree would be punished for being lazy. She was known for having a mind of her own, and through the following years she spent a lot of time in her room. She was by far the fastest and the best fighter in the house, and quickly she climbed the ranks to the top. Whether she was a good mage or not, she knew how to get her way, which she often did. So did Malice for that matter, who was keener on the arcane arts rather than melee, and in that way they completed each other.
However, the bitter rivalry between the two did not fade. On the contrary it increased rapidly, and soon the entire House of Xyldynn knew the two were enemies and started taking sides. The rivalry turned into war and the House of Xyldynn stood divided.
Viconia was saddened by the event. The day two females had been born into the house had been the happiest day of her life, yet now the two were bitter enemies, and instead of bringing the house to life like they were born to do, they were tearing it apart.
“Jabbress T’risstree! They killed Zaknafein.”
One of her assassins came running and informed her of yet another tragic murder that had taken place.
“Should we go get revenge?” The young male was eager to please his mistress and was already whirling his knife around while licking his lips at the thought of stabbing someone with it.
T’risstree sighed. This had grown out of proportions and she didn’t know how to end it. The opponents would kill one of her servants, and she would kill one of theirs.
“No,” she finally said. “This is getting out of hand. We can’t keep doing this, it’s leading nowhere but to extinction.”
T’risstree went to her room and started pacing back and forth. This blood feud was starting to depress her.
In an attempt to cheer herself up she tried summoning visions of elven faces as her drow army stormed their camps, tears running down their elven cheeks while they were pleading for their petty lives... her slender hand elegantly twirling her sword around, before burying in their flesh one last time before she would walk away with a victorious chuckle. The thought put her in a good mood for only a short second.
Triss sat down and looked at herself in the mirror, which was one of her favorite pastimes. The reflection of her glistening red eyes was gazing back at her as she picked up a silver hairbrush and started grooming her long, thick silver-white mane. Finally she shook her head, sending her hair cascading down her back like a moonlit waterfall.
She reached for her jewelry box and let her hand slide into it. All the nice golden chains and necklaces she had collected through the years seeped through her fingers like it was water and she sighed. Gold was usually a cheerful sight, but this time she just closed up her box without even picking out a piece to wear.
T’risstree walked across the floor and opened the door out to the hallway.
“Xas jabbress, lu'oh shlu'ta usstan kla'ath dos?” [2]
She was pleased to see her pets come running as soon as she showed herself.
“How can you serve me?” She repeated his question with a smirk and put an elegant finger under the drow servant’s chin, cupping his face between her hands.
“Come with me jaluk,” she purred. Willingly he obeyed her and followed her back inside, where she closed the door behind them and had her way with him.
There was always a cure for boredom, even if it was temporary.
The following day, Viconia sent out summons for T’risstree and Malice.
“Girls, this can’t go on,” she said. “You are causing major conflicts around here. Warriors who once used to be friends are now killing each other.”
Malice chuckled and T’risstree just shrugged.
“Survival of the fittest,” she said and glared over at Malice.
“Well, you either fight it out, figure it out or I throw you out, I’ve had enough,” Viconia snarled. “And may I remind you, once you’re thrown out of here, there is no way back in!”
The words had the effect of a cold shower and T’risstree stood up and drew her sword.
“Let’s do it,” she sneered at Malice. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“Not here,” Viconia said. “I will arrange something. A challenge. The winner stays, the loser goes.”
“Goes where?” T’risstree asked her. Viconia just gave her a long look and T’risstree had a feeling she didn’t want to know.
“It will be the end of you,” Malice hissed and pointed at Triss.
Triss just laughed in her face, then spit on the floor in front of her.
“Whore,” she sneered before she spun around and ran out the door, realizing that whore was too much of a compliment for a lowlife scum like Malice.
“You belong with the light-lovers,” she yelled, and her intense voice echoed down the hallways and it silenced them all. They shuddered with fear.
It was win or lose and it was life or death. Actually, it was life or worse than death.
It was life or the abyss of eternal suffering.
-6-
T’risstree spent the next days in her room preparing for whatever would come her way in the contest. At least the killing had stopped for now, but the tension between the two groups was unbearable.
Finally the day of the contest arrived.
T’risstree and Malice were sitting across the room from one another.
“Vendui’ dalnilnuk.” Viconia’s voice broke the stifling silence and they turned their attention to her.
“I’ve been thinking long and hard to find out how to best test you. I know you are both excellent fighters, staging a battle would not be much help as I suspect T’risstree would win the melee battle and Malice would win the arcane battle.”
She walked up to T’risstree and handed her a brooch, then continued over to Malice and handed her a similar item.
“I will send you to the world of the light-lovers. Neither of you can bring anyone from here. We have wounds to patch up thanks to you two. While you’re away, the drow army will be brought back together again. The one of you who succeeds will return to a united house and be matron in the House of Xyldynn.”
“What exactly are we supposed to do there?” T’risstree asked.
“Survive,” Viconia smiled.
“Easy,” Malice shrugged. “I’ve been there before.”
“Your brooches are your teleporters. Rub it three times and act as if you were casting a portal and it will send you up to the surface. Rub it five times, and it shall send you back to the Underdark.”
Viconia sat down in her chair.
“Good luck girls,” she said.
“Can I pack some money and some clothes?” T’risstree asked and the matron nodded.
“Pack some necessities and return to me. I will send you both out at the same time.”
T’risstree was nervous. It sounded like a simple task, but knowing what was at stake, and seeing that the task came from Viconia, she realized it would be anything but easy. She packed some clothes, her swords and a purse with some gold coins and returned to the matron. Malice joined them seconds later and they were ready.
Viconia muttered some words under her breath. A big white light flashed before T’risstree’s eyes and she felt as if she was in the middle of a gigantic explosion.
-7-
When she opened her eyes again, she was sitting on the ground in a place she did not recognize. Malice was sitting next to her.
“They sent us to the same place?” T’risstree wheezed. “I don’t want to see your ugly face.”
“Fine,” Malice said and got up from the ground. She brushed some leaves off her coat and marched off in to the village. Luckily it was dark outside already. Triss knew she needed to find a place to stay before daylight came to blind her.
She pulled a big coat over her tiny body. It had a huge hood attached to it, which she pulled over her head and tied up so that nobody could see her face unless they looked closely. Swiftly she covered her hands with a pair of gloves before heading in the same direction that Malice had gone, towards the village.
She was almost there when Malice came running back out with a horde of angry villagers after her. They were spitting and waving knives at her. T’risstree chuckled and turned around to watch the spectacle just in time to see Malice making a fool out of herself. She blasted a fireball at the crowd that was chasing her and ran into the woods.
Triss knew her rival would be safe in the forest, since Malice, like most other drow, was an expert at stealth and hiding.
“That was one of them dark ones.” She heard someone talking to her. “Nasty dark folk bring nothing but trouble, I assure you.”
Triss looked up to find a hefty pale matron standing next to her.
“I know what you mean,” she spoke softly. “Excuse me, do you know where I can get a room for a few nights?”
“Sure thing honey. You look freezing cold the way you’re bundled up, let me show you to the inn.”
Triss drew a breath of relief and followed behind the woman. The vision of Malice running for her life followed by a group of light-lovers amused her still, and she had to bite her lip not to laugh out loud.
As soon as Triss was settled in, she tore the big coat off and took a deep breath. It had been hard to breath being so bundled up, but well worth it. As soon as she had taken all her outer clothes off, she realized she was hungry and sighed as she started putting it all back on. It had only been a few minutes and already it was starting to get tedious.
“This is no competition with Malice being so brain-dead. I’ll have to go help her,” T’risstree thought. “What fun is it if she’s defeated that easily? There’s no way I’ll have her deny me some good competition!”
She walked back downstairs. Stealthily she vanished in to the kitchen and stole a loaf of bread and some cheese. She knew she could just buy it, but where was the fun in that? After filling her pockets in the kitchen, she headed back out the city gates and into the woods.
“Malice, where are you?” she whispered.
“What do you care?” She heard an angry voice reply.
“Told you it wasn’t going to be that easy,” Triss said quietly.
“So?” Malice came out of hiding.
“Cover yourself up,” T’risstree sighed. “I knew you were dense, but really Malice! I’m not going to give you that many chances to catch up!”
Quickly Triss spun around and headed back to the inn, and by the sound of it Malice was following right behind her, still not covered up.
“I’ll use my own tactics,” she triumphed as she brushed by T’risstree and strutted back into the village. Triss heard ruckus as the villagers spotted Malice once again and expected to see Malice come running back out in a matter of seconds.
However, Malice never came back out and curiosity got the upper hand of T’risstree.
Leisurely she walked over to a corner and watched Malice in action.
“It’s terrible down there,” Malice sobbed. She was a great actress and had the entire village in the palm of her hand. “I can’t stay there anymore, and I guess I’m not welcome here either so I don’t know what to do.”
All the light-lovers were quiet.
“We’ll take you in for a bit honey,” Triss heard a voice say. “You may have lived a sad and pitiful life up till now, but we’ll take care of you.”
“Are they that stupid,” T’risstree muttered to herself and just about jumped out of her skin when someone joined her on the bench.
“Isn’t it terrible,” the newcomer said. “How they treat them dark skinned ones.”
T’risstree decided to take advantage of the situation and pulled her hood back.
“It is indeed,” she said in a sickeningly pitiful voice and turned her head to face the light-lover sitting next to her.
It was a young male, most likely in his late 20s. He had pale blue eyes, fair skin and blonde hair and seemed taken back by the company he found himself in.
“You are a dark one as well,” he stated.
“Nice observation stupid,” Triss thought to herself but nodded at him with an encouraging smile.
Malice had turned around and their eyes met. A glimpse of jealousy flew across Malice’s face until another young man tapped her on the shoulder and took her hand, leading her towards the inn, where it seemed like the young drow would both be staying for a while.
“What’s your name?” The male asked her.
“T’risstree,” she answered him.
“That’s a pretty name,” he smiled. “Mine is just plain old Andy.”
She turned and looked him in the eyes.
“You are very handsome,” she cooed and let a finger run across his face. He turned slightly red under her touch, and was breathing fast and swallowing hard.
“Perhaps… perhaps you would like to join me for a meal,” he stuttered.
“That sounds nice,” she said softly, even though her pockets were bulging from stolen baked goods from the kitchen.
She grabbed his hand and he escorted them to the inn. At a table next to theirs sat Malice with her foolish admirer, and by the looks of it he had swallowed her bait completely.
T’risstree realized they could have some fun with the light-lovers while they were here. There was nothing or nobody present at the moment that couldn’t be used and tossed aside later.
Malice’s story spread quickly around town and T’risstree knew she owed her thanks for making it easier to walk around without hiding in the big cloak. It was amazing how gullible these people were and T’risstree had no problems taking cruel advantage of their hospitality and kindness.
“It’s their own fault for being so stupid,” she thought to herself and ignored the pull on the heartstrings every time she pick-pocketed someone or stole another item from a store.
She let Andy off easy the first night. He followed her to her room where she gently kissed him on the lips and sent him on his way.
On the third day, T’risstree finally let Andy come inside with her.
“I want to know what a light-lover is like in bed,” she cooed and his kind blue eyes lit up with expectation.
“Really?” he smiled and ran a hand through her silver-blonde hair.
“Really,” she purred and pulled his head down towards hers. She pressed her lips against his and gently played with his probing tongue while he slowly undressed her.
Triss eagerly reached for his clothes and found his pale, naked body totally unappealing.
“Oh, you’re so sexy,” she lied and his soft chuckle filled the room as he carried her on to the bed and started stroking her dark smooth body.
For about an hour, T’risstree laid on the bed, moaning and groaning, pretending to be having a good time, while he took his sweet time with the foreplay before he finally made love to her.
“You dark elves are tigers in bed,” he panted after he was done.
T’risstree cringed at the word “dark elf” but didn’t say anything.
“You’re not bad yourself,” she bluffed and bit him on the neck, while thinking how she couldn’t wait to get back to the Underdark and to her loyal, feisty lovers that were all waiting for her there.
[1] “Yes mistress”
[2] “Yes mistress, how can I serve you?”
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