Daughter of the Drow - Elaine Cunningham [130]
Finally she sank to the cave's floor, tired and satisfied. "No wizard's eyes can penetrate that circle, not even Nisstyre's. We should be safe enough here."
"Is he so powerful, this Nisstyre?"
"He is drow."
Liriel said this with a mixture of pride and grim foreboding that Fyodor found unsettling. What did it mean, truly, to be drow? He had no real understanding of this fey lass; at their second meeting she was more of a mystery to him than before. So intently did he study the girl that several moments passed before he realized she was observing him with equal interest.
"Do all humans fight as you do?" she asked, her eyes alight with curiosity.
Fyodor stared down at the fire. "No, praise the gods," he said shortly.
"Then how? What magic do you possess?"
He could not bear to speak of it now, after what he had done. The berserker rages took from him his will and his wits: now it seemed they would steal his very soul. What he had done this night was simply not human. "It is a long tale, and I am very tired," he said simply.
Liriel accepted this with a nod. "Later, then. You really must get some rest. But first, tell me: do you sleep, or do you enter reverie?"
"Reverie?"
She paused, searching for words. "You dream."
"Ah! Well, that I do, waking or sleeping," he said with a faint smile. "It is said in my land that there are two kinds of people: those who think, and those who dream."
The drow thought this over, her white brows meeting in a frown of puzzlement. Dark elves either slept or rested in reverie. Whatever was the human talking about? This, and a thousand other questions, danced ready on her tongue. It was clear, however, that Fyodor could not answer them now. But a sudden, outrageous plan popped into her mind, and she voiced it at once.
"We can travel together for a while," she said happily. "There are so many things you can tell me!"
The man smiled, clearly charmed by her beauty and enthusiasm. "Are you always so eager to learn?"
"Always," she promised. They shared a companionable grin, and Fyodor was honestly tempted to accept.
"I cannot," he said with regret. "I must find this Nisstyre and the other drow I fought before."
Uriel's smile vanished. She had forgotten for the moment what the human sought: the amulet she wore beneath her tunic. Nor was he the only one who wanted it!
"Then here, with me, is definitely the place to be," she said grimly. "Why do you think Nisstyre showed up, why he sent the drow hunters back to these caverns?"
So, she was hunted. Why, Fyodor did not understand, but the cold anger the drow wizard had ignited in his heart burned a little brighter. "I will travel with you, then," he said. "When this Nisstyre dies, we may both be free."
Her eyes flashed. "Then it's a conspiracy!"
"In my land," he said, his lip curved in a faint smile, "we call it an alliance."
Liriel nodded agreement. "That works for me."
The fire was fading, so Fyodor picked up a handful of dry twigs to add to it. A tiny brown spider crawled out of the bundle onto his hand. Absently he flicked it off. The blow crumpled the delicate arachnid and sent its body tumbling into the gathering flames.
Liriel froze, her golden eyes wide with horror. Then, shrieking in wordless rage, she leaped at Fyodor. Her hands curved into talons and slashed toward his face.
Fyodor grabbed her wrists and held off her flailing hands, but the force of her attack sent them tumbling. The Rashemi was larger and stronger; even so, he had to battle the furious, thrashing elf for several minutes before pinning her securely under his body. Tiny though she was, it