The Quest of the Red Dagger

XIV: The Drunks

They closed together, backs pressed against each other, entirely ready for a fight. Aven grabbed her sword and pulled herself to her feet as well, figuring that there was no longer any purpose in pretending to sleep. Eldrin emerged from the shadows, his face hidden in the darkened depths of the cave, and Mae dropped from the rocky shelf atop the cave's entrance, silhoutted by the light and gripping her weapons menacingly.

One of the drunk elves held out his weapon in a challenge, pointing it directly at Eldrin, and slurred, "Leave now, or leave never!"

Eldrin frowned at the elf, "You're embarrassing yourself," He warned his fellow creature with a cocked eyebrow, "Why don't you guys just go, seeing as we were here first, and we don't have to speak of this?"

Another of the elves, the third one, snarled furiously at Eldrin. "You can't tell us what to do!" He spat, clearly a lot more sober than his friend. "Who do you think you are, scum?"

Eldrin's expression darkened, "Ever heard of the name Eldrin Grove?" He responded, his voice growing cold.

Sensing his anger, Aven shifted uncomfortably. She shot a glance at Berkem, who was standing stock-still with his eyebrows risen so far up his face that they disappeared into his hair. In any other circumstances, the sight of his comical expression would have sent her into an endless fit of laughter. But, at that moment, Aven wasn't laughing.

As far as she knew, her group could probably beat the elves and drive them off. After all, there were four of them, and two of the elves were, at the least, extremely tipsy. Surely, they couldn't pose much of a threat. But she'd learned not to underestimate creatures, and elves were among the list that had proved to be much more powerful than she'd imagined. There was a definite possibility that she was doing it again, and underestimating her enemy.

"Eldrin Grove?" The words of the elf that had spoken first drew Aven back to the present. She shook her head slightly to clear it, startled when she looked up and saw that the most sober of the elves, the one that had really, truly challenged Eldrin, was staring straight at her. As she met his eyes, a sick, worrying grin spread across his face.

"The very same," Eldrin confirmed, nodding at the creature. "So I suggest you leave us here, and be on your merry way."

"I think not," Aven was still staring into the eyes of the elf when he spoke, startling her. She barely had time to register his words before he was lunging at her.

Aven seemed to see everything in slow motion, watching as the elf leaped into the air on his toe, drawing his sword with the speed of a snail. At the same time, however, she seemed to realize something in real time. Moving as fast as she could, Aven lunged for her sword. The elf still seemed to be hanging in midair when she pulled the sword from its sheathe and whirled around just in time to lock blades with the creature.

His eyes went wide. As Aven struggled against him, pushing her sword against his twin knives as powerfully as she could, he seemed to be stuck in cement. Her speed had obviously shocked him just as much as it had shocked her, but she wasn't dwelling on what she'd just done. Seeing nothing but her oppponent in front of her, Aven struggled forward on her toes as powerfully as she could. The elf was stronger than her, but she had the advantage of her mind being totally there and entirely on track.

And then, suddenly, Eldrin's bow was slamming into the elf's side, knocking him out of the way. Aven suddenly noticed the sharpened end on the bow, like it could also be used as a knife. Alarm thrilled through her body, almost as if the weapon was pointed at her, but she ignored the sensation as best she could. Eldrin was protecting her, not hurting her. Aven drew herself back into the present and focused on the fight before her, silently cheering her friend on. She was grateful for his help, despite Berkem and Mae already locked in battle with the other two elves.