I put the small skull down gently, dropping it into the water and watching it sink back down to join other grey piles at the bottom of the pool. The muck stirred up briefly as it landed, before settling slowly again, the skull disappearing from the world once more.
We moved as quickly and quietly as we could, passing collapsed buildings, old camps, the remains of caravans, and occasional piles of bones discarded in the darkness. My people were adjusting as best they could to the oppressive darkness as we left the large cavern, but I knew I’d asked too much of them when I heard a short, quickly stifled sob from behind at one point.
Thankfully, it wasn’t much longer before Horkesh spoke up, a small spider appearing and then scuttling away again.
“The Drow are in the next set of caves; they killed the scout that approached them and are stripping her body now.”
“Motherfuckers,” I muttered, shaking my head in annoyance. “Is there any light in there?” I asked, and to my surprise, Horkesh answered that there was. The Drow were apparently seated around a small fire, their lookout having opted to sit with the others in order to consume the spider’s prized leg meat, while another packed away the more valuable alchemical components.
I gathered my small team around and gave them their orders.
With Bane in the lead, we moved slowly into the next set of caves, creeping along the tunnel, until we could see the light and hear the low sound of melodic voices echoing.
Once we were sure of the layout, I let Stephanos and Miren move forward, their bows already drawn, and arrows nocked.
We crept forward as a group, Bane and I directly behind the archers, ready to take point, with Barrett and Lydia flanking us, and Jian and Arrin bringing up the rear with Cam.
As soon as they could be sure of their targets, both Miren and Stephanos fired, the thrum of the bows echoing, and making heads spin to identify the sound. The four Drow sitting around the fire jerked to their feet, rather than dodging.
For two of them, that was a particularly painful error, as the heavy arrows I’d directed them to use punched through the light armor the Drow wore, sending them crashing to the floor.
One was killed outright as the arrow neatly bisected its heart, while the other took it high in his left lung, the tip exiting through his back, and he staggered back with a pained scream.
Both Miren and Stephanos drew and fired again, before ducking back behind us, as Bane and I ran forward, our party following close behind.
The second volley of arrows made the Drow duck and dive aside, their freakily heightened reflexes allowing them the brief time they needed to dodge.
We closed the distance between us as fast as we could, the sounds of our party running echoing around the chamber. Snarls of anger twisted the faces of the Drow as we closed, and they saw our party.
As the first group had with me, these Drow clearly believed we were their lessers, disgust twisting their faces. The dismissal they showed to their injured and killed brethren made me grin momentarily, as our own people would be concentrating on healing, bringing the injured member back into the fight as soon as possible. The writhing, bleeding out Drow on the floor was getting no help from his friends, though, and I loved it.
The pair of Drow that were still standing took up positions on either side of the fire, one facing Bane with two swords, while the one I faced held a shortsword and a long dagger in either hand, grinning at me evilly.
A trio of Magic Missiles blurred past me, and my Drow opponent frantically wove its blades in the air, trying to deflect them. He caught two of them, but the third snagged his left ear and exploded, sending him staggering and disoriented.
He lashed out at me with his sword, trying to keep me back, even as he dropped his dagger and clutched at his ruined face, the grey skin and most of his hair blackened and burnt. He screamed in rage; even injured, surprised, and stunned, his blade wove a deadly dance in the air. I caught it on my own, yanking the base on my naginata around, then forced his sword down, grinning at him as an arrow blurred over my right shoulder to bury itself in his eye.
I didn’t waste the time waiting, as the freshly made corpse gave a twitch, collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.
Instead, I lunged forward. Bane’s opponent was covered in thin cuts as he skillfully deflected its attacks.
The Drow had just dodged another arrow and had been in the middle of some evil villain monologue I’d not even bothered to listen to when the tip of my naginata pierced his side and glanced off his spine. I felt a twang as something under tension gave way, sending the now paralyzed Drow crashing to the floor with a scream of disbelief.
I spun around to search for other enemies, only to see Jian yanking his sword out of the chest of the one with the punctured lung.
The fight was over in seconds, all of us standing around and panting with the sudden exertion. I caught sight of a small spider darting past us into the tunnel leading from the cave, as Horkesh stepped up to dance and skitter alongside me.
“I sent the drones to search for more of them,” she told me matter of factly. “May I eat this?” She climbed onto the dead Drow’s leg.
“Uh, yeah, sure; just let us loot him first,” I said, and gestured to Lydia, who snapped orders to her squad.
I looked around, making sure none of my team were injured, before turning back to Bane, who stood examining the Drow’s camp.
“What’s up?” I asked him,
