Going Feet First Ch. 05

The Commandant prepared to draw a weapon as she turned to check on her followers. Both her aids stood with glazed looks in their eyes as they stared blankly ahead. Felyn, whose empathy was constantly probing at every being she could see, wasn't even reaching out with her ability. Even Galen had become enthralled by whatever magic was at work. Not that she expected him to have any form resistance.

Just as Dreek was ready to part her daggers from their sheaths, another powerful force bore down on her mind to bring her focus back to the woman. Though the Sun-Kissed leader tried to turn away, the sweet smile of this mystery Drow quickly became an intoxicating feature on her already divine face. She seemed to revel in this attention, though at the same time she had a humbled look about her joined with an invading influence over the Commandant's mind.

Able to block even Jrastra's level of empathy, Dreek scowled and tried to dig her nails into her hands to fight back this impossible power invading her core. Her shields couldn't stand, her mental walls crumbled as her body began to relax. In moments calm had begun to claim her. Her muscles were melting as though they were being graced by the fingers of a master masseur. Even as she called upon her every resource to hold back these feelings, all it took for this mighty leader of the Sun-Kissed to fall under the spell was for this magnificent creature before her to give one final bat of the lashes.

Holding a simper on her lips, the woman then rose to her feet, her smooth legs lifting her perfectly curved body up from the stone street until she stood straight. Careful not to damage the fabric of the dress she wore, she dusted off her bottom and stretched out her arms above her head, showing off the perky tips of her breasts poking out through her attire. She then lowered her arms back down and drew them behind her back, smiling at how deeply enthralled the Drow leader had become.

In slow, purposeful strides, she sashayed up to the Commandant, her pale blue lips sparkling with a fine silver dust as she took her face in her hands and leaned in. Dreek's eyes fluttered as their lips met, her tongue coming forth to touch with the woman's only to reel back as a light zap sparked her teeth and sent a wave of fatigue through her body.

In a peaceful, drowsy manner, Dreek's eyes slipped shut, her body soon collapsing into the arms of this divine woman, smile and all. Yet even the weight of a Drow warrior dressed in armor plating and a heavy cloak proved no issue for the enchanting beauty as she easily handled the Commandant's body as if she weighed nothing at all.

"There, there," she whispered while gently laying Dreek upon the ground. "You can sleep now. Rest peacefully and wake refreshed."

With her main obstacle cleared from her path, the woman turned to Galen, placing a hand on the side of his cheek and touching her fingers to his temple. "Hello, Galen."

"Hello..." he responded, his mind still numb from her magic.

"Would you like to rescue Celia now?"

At once his stance straightened up, his rifle coming to the ready as he nodded to the empty space in front of him. "Yes, ma'am."

The woman giggled and ran her hand down his face and over his shoulder, hooking it around his arm and taking a place at his side. "Come with me, then. We shall leave this cave and seek her out."

The Private remained silent as she began to nudge him forward, encouraging him to take a step with her toward a nearby alley. But the soldier wouldn't move.

"Galen, please, come with me."

"I gave my word..." he mumbled, making the woman give him a curious look as she gazed into his eyes.

A familiar tingle rattled his head as his mind shifted around, memories and thoughts being extracted from his consciousness in a way he recognized all too well. It was like when he initially attacked Pretayus' camp, in the back of the B-25 when Necela dug into his head to learn how to revive the machine guns...

Necela...

"Necela," Galen whispered as his last thought clicked into place, the numb feeling suddenly purging itself from his mind.

The Private immediately looked to the ground to see a passed-out Dreek. Behind her both Keetle and Felyn were stuck in a trance and staring blankly at the spot where their Commandant once stood without any sign of noticing either Galen or the goddess beside him. They were numbed in the head just as he had been, perhaps even more so now that he had been freed.

Having taken in the situation with clear thoughts, Galen took a step back from the Goddess, looking her up and down with a very confused look to his face. "Is it really you, Necela? Or one of your puppet... thingy, whatevers?"

An amused smile grew on the goddess' face, and she gave a single nod. "A puppet it may be, Galen, but it is still me. I have taken on this Drow form to help me- Eep!"

She gave the sudden shriek as Galen pulled her into his embrace, a tear suddenly running his cheek and his rifle hissing as it hit the ground. "Thank God and sweet Jesus Christ! You don't know how good it is to see you! After that whole goddamn..."

Necela's height subtly shifted to a greater stature as she wrapped her arms around the Private, the top of her head reaching his cheek as she rubbed his back. "Shhh, Galen, I know, I know. Everything that has happened on the surface between you and that evil spawn, Pretayus, I know. We will finish the task of ending him together, the both of us, and with the Dark Elves that have promised their aid. You gave your word to help them, as they gave theirs to help you, I shall see this through."

Sniffling and swallowing the small lump in his throat, Galen nodded and stepped back from the Goddess. "Thank you, Necela."

"You are welcome, Galen," she said with a polite bow of her head before her body shrank back down to a "normal" Drow height. "Now, let us wake the Drow Commandant and return to their base. Do play along with what comes next, and please be quiet as to my true identity."

"Not revealin' yourself down here?" Galen asked as he knelt down to pick up his rifle, the weapon giving a low grumble for having dropped it.

Shaking her head in the negative, Necela snapped of her fingers and the crowd of civilians began to clear the street, blindly walking back to what Galen assumed to be their homes and shops. It amazed him how she manipulated so many so easily.

"No, this is not my domain and the goddess who rules down here wishes me not to impinge upon her influence."

"Oh... okay... Then would you mind... doing some magic trick or somethin' to help me out? Felyn here," he pointed to the dazed Drow standing beside the sleeping Commandant. "She's got this trick they call 'empathy' and so does one of the other Sun-Kissed Commandants..."

"And you worry she might pull the information from you using her ability," Necela finished as she looked over at the aid with a curious expression.

"Yeah, especially Jrastra. If there's something-" He paused as he felt his thoughts quickly scramble around in his head, then quickly pull back together.

"You won't need to worry about that anymore unless you allow it," the goddess assured before waving her hand over Dreek and flicking her fingers at the two aids, showering them all in the sparkling silver dust.

Felyn blinked rapidly before she rubbed out her eyes; Keetle ran her hand over her face and gave her head a shake. With a yawn and a drained look about her, Dreek sat up from the ground, glancing around at her surroundings before a deep frown arched over her brow.

The crowd she had remembered being in this very spot had gone, and both her aids appeared as though they were just waking from a nap. Galen, however, was completely refreshed and active, even lively compared to how he had been during the rest of the patrol.

And then there was a new woman standing beside him... wrapped around his arm... The same woman that had been the center of the crowd's attention... Dreek remembered losing control over herself, her mind numbing and surrendering its control as she was made to kiss this... powerful being.

Just what was she doing with her surfacer?

As her aids finally came to their senses, Dreek drew a dagger from its sheath, taking an offensive stance and pointing the tip of her blade to the woman's throat. The soldier came to a state of alarm, unsure if he should draw his rifle to take to the goddess' defence or leave her to her own devices. He needed to make a decision fast, as both Keetle and Felyn, initially bewildered to their Commandant's actions, drew their daggers and quickly moved to flank Galen and Necela.

"Galen, step away from this creature, now," Dreek ordered.

"Dreek-" he started before Necela placed a hand over his mouth.

"There is no need for violence, Commandant," she said aloud in Drow, pulling away from Galen and stepping toward the Sun-kissed leader, who in turn took a step back. "Put your weapons away, please. No one need be hurt."

"What. Are. You?" Dreek hissed, remembering how easily she was taken under this woman's spell.

Giggling, Necela lifted a hand in front of her face, observing her obsidian flesh as though it were some new spectacle recently brought before her. "To tell the truth, I do not rightly know. All I remember... is the pulse of the pillar... and then there I was, flesh and body."

For a good minute Dreek glared at Necela, her blade holding steady over a precious artery where she need only flick her wrist to inflict a fatal wound. Yet this peculiar Drow merely batted her lashes over those solid blue, glowing eyes. She didn't show fear or aggression despite being defenseless and surrounded, and that was what Dreek found the most concerning.

"What were you doing to me and my aids moments ago?"

A light blue glow illuminated Necela's fingers, the disguised deity clenching them into a fist, and then opening her palm to release a pulse of silver dust into the air. "I was pacifying everyone. So many were so hostile, so much deceit and anger..." she turned to Galen. "Except in him."

Dreek eyes shifted over to her surfacer, then back to Necela. "So you cling to him like a male to his first mate and inflict magic upon him. Subtle magic, but enough for me to sense. Tell me, what did you do, and what do you want with him?"

With a disturbingly bright smile, Necela tilted her head to the side. "I hear the whispers of the divine. They tell me many things... and they say he must return to the surface. The moon goddess commands it, and Lolth, too, wishes him expelled from the underground."

"Lolth?!" Keetle hissed.

"The Spider Queen?" Dreek questioned, both her aids suddenly uneasy in their stances.

"What's wrong?" Galen interjected, only for Necela to cast a look back at him that told him to stop.

"The very same one you worship, Commandant." Necela stated in a pleasant tone as she faced the Drow leader again. "I hear her whispers just as I hear those of the goddess who had created that shard around which your city is built."

Again, Dreek only narrowed her eyes upon this woman. I do not know if she has a broken mind, or if she truly is a messenger of the gods. But her magic... it puts mine to shame.

Clenching her teeth and tightening her grip on her blade, Dreek declared, "I need that surfacer, he cannot leave until he is ready for our mission to the surface."

In that moment, Necela's magic tore into Dreek's mind, the Commandant's eye twitching as her consciousness was pillaged for the active thoughts floating within it. Her plans for the surface, her intentions and goals for Galen, everything. But before Dreek could question the shifting of her mind, the memory of that feeling slipped from her focus, then from her memory altogether.

As if it had never happened.

"After which mission, you intend to leave him on the surface, I presume?" Necela probed.

"He will have filled his purpose," Dreek answered, blinking several times before shaking the clouded feeling from her mind.

"Then he will stay to undergo your training and preparations for your mission. But I am to remain with him, and offer what aid I can to the Sun-Kissed as well."

"And if we reject you?" Dreek questioned.

"You won't," Necela stated matter-of-factly. "Because there is not a force you have that could stop me from taking this surfacer away from here. Consider it a gift that he now remains down below."

To cement her words in the Commandant's mind, Necela released a pulse of magic, strong enough to kick clouds of dust up of the street and flare up the glowing inlays that decorated the Drow architecture. This move did little more than earn her a scowl from Dreek as she hesitantly returned her blade to its sheath. With only one look to her aids, she made them do the same, and with this stand-off coming to a close, the tense feeling racking Galen's nerves settled enough for him to let out a relieved sigh.

"So what do we call you, creature?" Dreek asked aloud. "I'm sure you would appreciate some formality."

Pressing a hand to her chin, Necela looked to the central pillar of the city, the crystal shard that housed a fragment of her true power.

"Zer'tath," she declared, looking back to Dreek. "You will call me Zer'tath."

The Commandant cocked an eyebrow, looking Necela up and down with an inquisitive look. "Very well, Zer'tath. If you wish to remain with my surfacer, then come with me. We are returning to base. Keetle, Felyn!"

"Yes, Commandant!" the two aids responded in unison.

"Spread word to the rest of the squad. Coritika is to assume command and finish the city sweep. I will return to base with Galen and Crystal and..." she glanced toward Zer'tath, "discuss this situation with the first Commandant."

"Understood," Keetle responded while Felyn nodded an affirmative.

The two aids turned away and jogged to their riding lizards, climbing aboard and riding off into alleyways on opposite sides of the street. Just as the foot patter and clinking of the aid's mounts faded off, Dreek gave a hand gesture to her riding spider and the monstrous tarantula pattered over to her side.

"Get on," she ordered aloud while looking to Necela, her tone harsh enough to put a hup-two in Galen's step.

While the Commandant and Private scaled up the side of the eight-legged steed, Necela turned toward a shadowed alley in between two shops, focusing in on the dim, red glowing eyes staring out at her from the darkness. A pair of spectral hands appeared before her, forming words of Silent Tongue, the Drow sign language.

You changed your plan.

Necela nodded and with her hands held close to her belly and out of Dreek's line of sight, she replied, Yes, aiding your mistress's followers in a way that aids myself.

How so?

That is my own concern. You are invited to observe or intervene still, if you so desire. I do thank you for your help in the manipulation of the minds of all on this street.

Before she could receive another response, Necela turned back for Dreek's mount and approached the spider. While paying little attention to the hatred plainly shown in the Commandant's sneer, she climbed onto the beast's silk sack and cozied up at Galen's back. When the arachnid kicked into motion, she looked back to the alley in which Viekirra resided, passing the Underdark goddess one last smile before looking forward to the path ahead.

...................

A purple hue crept forward to replace the retreating scarlet as it followed the sun down into the horizon. The once-vibrant crowds flocking the streets of Redding steadily flowed away from the markets and back to the comforts of their homes. One by one the shops closed their doors and the stalls packed up their goods under the glow of lanterns being lit by the city guards.

Daytime archers retired when their nighttime counterparts came to relieve them. Cavalrymen, no longer having to contend with dense crowds, rode out into the streets for their nightly patrol. Guards took postings every few blocks while more kept on the move in set patrol routes. When the presence of the local law enforcement reached its peak, a thunderous clap rung from the east end of the city as the massive steel gate was drawn shut.

"You're stuck here for the night, now," Dee said in a low voice, hiding her mouth under the collar of her black coat as she looked to the covered Neko beside her.

Glancing in the general direction of the entry gate, Petra flexed her claws and drew the hood of her cloak further down over her face. The sidewalk was lined with shops and businesses, all locked up with the shutters drawn shut. Had the hour been midday, Petra would've browsed these shops and perhaps purchased some of their goods to hide her true interest in this section of the city: the monster of a house across the street.

Built with its back to the southern wall of the Sundered trench, hidden in its shadow and standing taller than most any building the assassin had seen thus far, was a grand home unfit for anyone but a lord. Fine greystone in perfectly square slabs formed the walkway around the granite privacy wall surrounding the grounds. The walls of the house itself were of red brick, laid with care and sealed with white mortar that sparkled ever so faintly in the moonlight. On the roof was a cap of pure, white metal sheeting trimmed with black eaves and hanging flags on each corner.

Along the front of this "manor," as Dee had called it, bushes blooming with flowers and vines of ivy stretched up the white, marble pillars supporting the balcony over the front door. Wealth and status of the master of this domain was clear, as it had been made clear that he also lorded over this part of the city. Only a man with everything could call such a place his own, though Petra doubted he knew that "everything" included a mark on his heart where she intended to drive her claws.

A man named Fretheim.

What delayed her intent was what she saw roaming around his property. An intimidating amount of guardsman patrolled perpetually with a clear presence and display of force. Full suits of plate armor, men with lances on horses, an archer stationed on the balcony above the manor's front entrance. Enough security covered this estate to keep what little foot traffic that did traverse the street at this time to the opposite sidewalk and away from the watching eyes of knights and their waiting blades. Even for the training and prowess of a Shadow Stalker, this was enough to make her wish to stay beneath their notice.

Aiming to evade the eye of the guards without arousing suspicion, the assassin took her accomplice's hand and pulled her down a side street away from Fretheim's home.

"What are you-"

"Silence," Petra hissed in a hushed voice.

The Neko was careful to watch the rooftop opposite the street from her, more specifically the archer sitting down on the peak of the building roof. When his attention shifted elsewhere, Petra pulled her accomplice into an alleyway, still watching to see if she had attracted any attention.

"Who-" Dee started before Petra clasped a hand over her mouth.

"The man with the bow," the Neko started, purposely making a clear show of looking in the archer's direction. "And I doubt we evaded notice of Fretheim's guard..."

Within moments of those few words, the subtle clinks of chainmail caught the ears of both the women, prompting Dee's breath to hasten as she looked to her friend. Neither of them had done anything wrong, but she did not want a guard remembering either of their faces.

Ensuring she was completely covered by her cloak, Petra took Dee by the hips and pressed their bodies together against the alley wall. When the courtesan went to object, the Neko silenced her by forcing their lips together, moving one hand under her shirt and the other down the back of her pants.