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 :)

Anyway, please enjoy the second part of this story, there will be 1 or 2 more parts following in the next coming days :)

-4-

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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