Hello, it's been a loooong while, so I hoped you haven't forgotten me
:)

C&C totally appreciated (and gives me impetus to write more - hint
hint! :P)

Thanks to Matthew Campbell and Freemage for pre-reading.  All rights
to Ranma and co. go to Takahashi-sama and Viz, et al.  I ain't making
no money off of this, not. ^_^

D.Fire

What has happened before:  Ranma and his friends have been living in a
magical world for the last ten years, having been de-aged to
six-year-old initially.  The entire crew have grown up living with the
curses and Ranma (now known as Raeni) is a well-adjusted, powerful
teenager.  He/she search for his friends to gather them for a future
confrontation.

Last time, Uerris tried for furious revenge for her losses, and Raeni
met up with Aarun, Uerris' father.  Uerris' (Ukyou) entry into this
world was revealed, and  Aarun was taking Raeni to meet his mysterious
allies in the dark place they wound up.

Sword and Sorcery
Chapter 16

by D.Fire
phongb9@idt.net

	As Raeni and Aarun approached the end of the tunnel, a small
blockade stood in their way.  It really wasn't much of anything,
acting more like a speed bump along the tunnel.  It was made of some
sort of canvas, which emphasized its flimsy nature.  The tarp was
spread over a makeshift skeleton of wood that barely held it up.
Raeni could tell the wood had been cannibalized from weapons like
spears and arrows and she guessed that a good sneeze would bring it
down.

	Its only value had to be more psychological in nature, Raeni
supposed.  She assumed she would have done the same, had she been in
their situation.  It was never comfortable to leave the front door
wide open.

	Behind the 'barricade' crouched three creatures, and beyond
them, Raeni saw the tunnel widen into a chamber.  From her position,
she could tell that the room beyond was dimly lit, but definitely not
by a fire.  A low, steady glow emanated from the room, a glow that she
couldn't quite place her finger on.

	Dark, glittering eyes stared at Raeni, reflecting from the
torch Aarun carried.  As he approached, he extinguished his own light
and spoke in a high-pitched squealing tongue which Raeni guessed to be
Orcish.

	The three figures peeking from behind the barricade seemed far
smaller than the orcs she had fought just a little while ago.
Although the other orcs had been about two-thirds the height of a
normal man, these figures seemed to be a head shorter than that.  It
was still to tell, since they still stayed mostly hidden and warily
eyed her.  From this distance, in the dim light, the mage couldn't
make out any features whatsoever.

	After a lively exchange, Aarun came back to her side and told
her, "They don't like it, Raeni.  But I've given my word that you'll
behave."

	Incredulous that the ranger would even bother to make a
promise to mere orcs, Raeni only snorted.  She didn't voice her
thoughts, but instead said, "Okay.  I told you, though.  If they
attack, I'll show them no mercy."  She allowed threat to harden her
features to show she meant it, and then relaxed her stance to
something suitably neutral.

	Aarun took the young sorceress by the arm, intending to escort
her past the 'guards', but Raeni shook off his hand, saying, "I've
said it before.  Don't treat me like a girl!"

	Raising his arms in a 'no touch' gesture, Aarun replied,
"Okay!  You don't have to jump down my throat."  Bowing mockingly, he
swept his arms in a courtly gesture.  "Ladi ... You first."

	Fuming a little, Raeni walked past him and approached the
sentry position.  She moved slowly, with her arms held casually at her
sides.  Although her instincts screamed at her to blast the 'monsters'
and move on, she held them in check, not even letting a twitch show in
her demeanor.  So long had she thought of orcs (as well as a rather
large array of other monsters) as the enemy, Raeni had to consciously
curb her thoughts of violence.

	'Come to think of it, I don't even think I know what female
orcs look like.'  The thought had entered her mind unbidden.  She
imagined the faces she had glimpsed before in the short battle with
the male orcs, except this time, she put wigs on top of them.  The
resulting picture was ridiculous.  She let loose a bark of laughter
suddenly, startling herself, Aarun, and the orcs she neared.  She
uttered an embarrassed "Oops."

	That's why she was stunned after she came close enough to make
out facial features.

	Raeni stopped dead in tracks, surprise having overwhelmed all
other the other neurons firing in her brain.  She almost gaped in
shock but retained enough manners to not do so.  Soft, dark hair
framed slender faces, and large, doe-like eyes stared at Raeni.  Their
mouths had thin lips and pouty expressions.

	Cute, pug noses finished off the petite faces.  In the male
orcs, the pig-like snout had definitely made them look like animals.
In the females, though -- What a difference!  In short, these orcwen
looked to be extremely cuddly, a sharp contrast to their counterparts.
Involuntarily, Raeni let slip a "Kawaii!"  She flushed red in
embarrassment, grateful that no one else here knew Japanese.

	Raeni made no objection this time when Aarun, as he walked by
her, snagged her arm and guided her gently into the chamber.

	***

	Raeni sat against one wall of the room.  Actually, she was
sitting against the only wall of the room, the chamber being formed in
a smooth, hemispherical shape.  A short distance from the mage, Aarun
crouched, speaking in a low voice to a female orc laying on a pallet.

	The young sorceress was still a bit stunned from the shock she
had received a short while earlier.  Unconsciously, her eyes swept
across the room, taking in information but not really seeing.  'Oh, I
see.'  The soft glow seen outside came from what looked to be fungus
growing out of the wall.  (It didn't register that the 'fungus' was
too evenly spread to be natural.)

	As Raeni's eyes moved across the room, she couldn't help but
notice the sad state these ... orcwen, were in.  Many lay sleeping on
small pallets, but others huddled together in small groups.  Even from
a distance she could tell they were miserable.  Miserable and scared.
Pity creeped slowly into her heart as she watched the abysmal scene.
Even the ones that moved about the room showed the signs.

	Plink!

	A moment of clear introspection struck her.  She was thinking
of them as ... people.  She had felt emotion for the enemy.  'Well,
not quite the enemy,' Raeni reasoned.  After all, if what Aarun said
was true, then they were as much victims as she was, even the males
she had fought.

	Plink!

	The assembled creatures no longer fell into the category of
'monster' in her mind.  Before now, she had considered the orc race to
be 'mindless creatures bent on destruction', a notion carried over
from her studies of the past.  Master Hariule had voiced his
displeasure at her generalization of good and bad, and although she
had retracted her statement to please him, she had, deep within her
heart, guiltily retained the sentiment, but orcs in the past had
proven themselves to be barbaric and war-like.  This group seemed diff
--.

	Plink!

	What was that infuriating sensation?!  Raeni jumped to her
feet, startling the clustered children around her.  In her
distraction, Raeni had allowed the orc children to gather around her
stunned form.  Looking down, the mage saw two or three seeds on the
ground.  The seeds laid at rest after having been bounced with skill
from her still figure.  She allowed her gaze to slowly rise.  There!
One child, largest of those assembled around her, stood paralyzed at
her reaction.  The young female orc held in her cradled hand many
seeds, all similar to those strewn around Raeni.

	Raeni pointed to the young girl.  "You!" her voice boomed
ominously.

	The girl singled out squeaked in terror, dropping her handful
of seeds.  Raeni stalked slowly over toward the young one, emphasizing
each step with a stomp.  When the mage was two steps away, the girl
bolted.  Raeni gave chase, scooping up some seeds as she passed by the
discarded scattering.

	The little bugger was fast, Raeni gave her that.  The child
stood no chance, despite her weaving in and out of the sleeping
figures.  She was agile, too, Raeni realized, since none of those over
which the chase progressed even twitched in response.  The child might
have escaped had Raeni not had special training.

	During her childhood (she considered herself an adult now),
Raeni had chased the woodland creatures that had lived near Master
Hariule.  Her master had laughed when he first saw her running after a
cute, brown rabbit.  She would always remember the look of surprise on
his face after she had brought the harmless creature to him later,
subdued and cradled softly in her arms.  That was the first time, but
not the last.  Over the years, she had chased and caught all sorts of
creatures.  She had even caught a skunk one time, without a doubt a
most memorable experience (unfortunately).

	After a chase halfway around the room, all the while targeting
the orc girl with perfectly thrown seeds, Raeni caught up to the
fleeing child.  "Ah ha!  Now I've got you," she crowed.  Not noticing
the alarmed stares from all around her, the young mage continued, "Now
you will know what it means to disturb the Great Raeni!"  The poor
girl looked scared out of her wits.  Not even giving the young orc a
chance to respond, the sorceress dealt out the punishment to those who
would plink her.

	Mercilessly, Raeni began tickling the helpless child.  At
first, nothing registered, but as the tickling overcame the shock, the
child began giggling uncontrollably.  Not giving a respite, Raeni
meted out the punishment in good humor, releasing the girl after a
short time.  By the end, both she and the child were laughing
uproariously, the child having at some point overcome her captor and
turned the tables somewhat.

	They ended up in a pile with all the other children.  The
others, having seen what a great time one was having, dogpiled the
pair with the intent of getting some of the fun.  Eventually Raeni
pulled herself and the girl out of the general melee and gave an
exhilarated yell.  Behind her, the fray continued unabated.  That's
when she noticed the stares.  'Damn.  What the heck am I doing?' she
berated herself.  'Guys don't do this!'  Gathering her composure, she
tried to sweep together the shattered shards of her dignity.

	Cautious but non-hostile gazes came from the various orcwen
around the chamber.  Even those previously asleep watched with
curiosity, having been awoken by the children's play.  Aarun looked at
her from his original position, relief evident in his eyes.  The
female orc to which he had spoken watched with amusement, having been
recently propped up to a sitting position on some rolled sleepsacks.

	The female orc, who Raeni guessed to be the pro tem leader of
the tribe, gestured for her to come closer.  To her surprise, the
young orc girl trailed after her.  The smile, which had made the
child's face cute, had been replaced by a neutral expression caused
by... not quite fear... trepidation perhaps?  Quite subdued, the young
orc followed silently.

	As the young mage got closer, Aarun stepped forward to
introduce her.  "Gihari, this is Raeni.  Raeni, this Gihari, the wife
of the tribal leader."  Reaching behind the sorceress, he gently
pulled the child following her closer.  "And this is Nanobi, her
daughter."

	Raeni looked in surprise at the girl.  Nanobi meekly smiled
back and gave a sheepish wave.  It made sense, though, and explained
her brazen assault.

	"I trust my daugh-ter has not given you too much ... trouble."
Gihari's voice was soft and low, so low that the young mage could
barely hear her.  The near-perfect speech in Common was another
surprise.

	"Uh, no.  Ma'am.  It was all in good fun."  There was no use
getting the girl in trouble.  'And it WAS fun,' decided Raeni.  It had
seemed unfair to her when she was younger that no other children lived
nearby.  Although study, practice, and training had taken most of her
time, at points in the young mage's life, she had wished for friends.

	Being raised in such an isolated location as Hariule's house,
Raeni had no chance to play just as she had a few minutes earlier.  In
some ways, it was worse than her upbringing as Genma's son.  In this
world, she didn't have any friends at all whereas she at least had
Ucchan before.  Watching others through the scrying crystal had
sometimes helped, but more often than not, it had only made her
sadder.

	"Please excuse me for not rising to greet you.  I ... have not
been well."  The orcwan obviously spoke the truth.  She was too pale,
even accounting for the poor lighting conditions and her long
captivity.  The few others Raeni had seen close up still retained a
light yellowish pigmentation, much lighter than the normal orc yellow,
but still somewhat normal.  Gihari was almost white, and her hair laid
limp against her brow.  Not only were the physical symptoms glaring,
it was her bearing and her eyes that showed it the most.  She
looked... beaten.

	"Is there something I can do to help?" offered Raeni.  "I know
of some herbs if you have them ..."

	Weakly, the orcwan  waved her off, shaking her head slightly.
"No me-di-cines can help me now," she added sadly.

	Raeni was about to ask what was wrong, when she caught a
glance from Aarun.  Although no words passed between them, Raeni
received the distinct impression that the ranger was asking, no,
begging her, to let the subject go.  Puzzled, she reluctantly complied
and resolved to ask him later what was going on.

	Gihari dismissed her daughter with a slight flick of  her
eyes, and Nanobi silently withdrew.  "But we have busi-ness to
discuss.  Aa-run has told me that he believes you can help us out of
this prison."  Her words spoke of hope, but the tone in which they
were spoken was dead as last year's leaves.  Not a single trace of
emotion showed in her voice.

	Raeni found it completely unnerving.  She asked, "Can you
please tell me all you know?  I know magic, myself, and I think I can
get us out of here."

	"A mage."  Some emotion came through, disbelief.  "Do you
think a child will be able to break the magic of an age-old demon?"

	Raeni wanted to take offense at the words, but their content
intrigued her more.  Ignoring the inadvertent insult she pressed,
"Demon?  What demon are you talking about?"

	"She's talking about Daved, Raeni," interrupted Aarun.

	"You could not sense the evil inside the elf?"  This time, the
tone was solidly incredulous.  "If you couldn't sense it, how can you
hope to defeat him?"

	"Hey!" yelled Raeni defensively.  She looked around the room
as her yell had attracted the attention of everyone.  Lowering her
voice, she hissed, "I was busy!  Do you think it's easy beating an
assassin of the Order of Night?"

	The pale orcwan's eyes hardened.  "So at least you know about
that."  She gestured weakly to the room.  "We have been his captives
for over two seasons.  When we first came here, we did not live in
this under-ground chamber.  We had to fend from above. We lost many."

	"Losses?  What happened?"

	"At first, we made camp in the darkness and all seemed normal,
aside from dark sky and odd ground.  But our light attracted...
creatures."

	"Can you describe them?"  Raeni hadn't asked Aarun yet what
these creatures were, but she hoped that she would recognize them.

	"The creatures stood on two legs.  Although their size
var-ied.  Some were as tall as a male.  Others were twice that height.
But all had the same color as the sky.  They looked like half-formed
men."

	"Half-formed?  You mean they had no faces?"  This was sounding
more and more like golems of some sort.  "How fast were they?"

	"They moved slowly.  They lum-bered.  But they had no
weakness."  Grief finally washed over her features.  "T-that night.
They took my son."

	Aarun continued after seeing that Gihari couldn't.  "The
things were relentless, Raeni.  The orcs tried all of their weapons,
but everything bounced off harmlessly."

	"All of their weapons?  Did they have anything magical?"  This
point was important.  If these things were only affected by magic, she
had to know.

	"N-no.  Even the shaman's staff, m-my staff, broke upon
impact," sobbed the distraught female orc.  "They took my son from my
arms.  T-they finally left after that."

	Turning to Aarun, Raeni asked pointedly, "I thought you said
you fought some of these things off?  How?"

	At this, the ranger blushed a beet red and he stammered out,
"W-well, y-you see."  Giving a sheepish grin, he continued, "T-that
was a euphemism for 'I turned tail and ran'.  Fortunately for me, they
seemed unwilling to follow me down here."

	Despite the seriousness of the situation, Raeni couldn't help
but smile.  Restraining the chuckle that threatened to erupt, the mage
asked in a controlled voice, "But did you try anything?"

	Looking somewhat offended, the ranger huffed, "Of course,
Raeni."  He held out his sword for Raeni's inspection.  "This is
magical, or so I've been informed, and it's been in my family for
generations."  He added bitterly, "The elf didn't think it worthy of
being a danger to him, so he tossed it in here with me."

	Taking the offered sword, Raeni ran her hand over it slowly.
'Oh, yes.  This is magical all right.'  She felt the tingle of age-old
mystic energies, and she spoke softly, "It has magic, Aarun."  Turning
to the wall she turned a querying gaze toward him.  "May I?"  She
indicated that she wanted to strike the wall.

	Somewhat puzzled by what she expected to accomplish, Aarun
nodded his agreement.  Raeni pulled the sword back and let go a mighty
swing, neatly carving a deep gouge in the material of the wall.  Both
the ranger and the orcwan stared at the result.  "See?" asked Raeni.
"And very sharp."  She ignored the surprise on their faces and handed
the sword back to its owner.

	The mage turned her attention back to the sitting orcwan,
while behind her, Aarun tried to duplicate her effort.

	The ranger pulled back the sword as far as it could go and
swung with all his strength at a spot to the side of where Raeni had
struck before.  The sword entered the wall, just as it had for Raeni,
but stuck fast as it reached the middle of swing.  Aarun struggled
with the sword for a couple of seconds, growing more and more alarmed
as it refused to budge.

	Surreptitiously bumping Aarun aside, Raeni leaned over and
yanked, freeing the sword and handing it once more to the owner.  Then
she asked Gihari, "So nothing worked?  I hate to ask but did you see
where they went?"

	Still stunned, the orcwan slowly replied, "No.  Not then."
For the first time in their conversation, a new type of emotion showed
in her voice, one there had been no trace of.  Gihari replied with
growing hope, "But we found out where they went later.  My husband..."
Here, she faltered again but bravely continued.  "My husband trailed
them after they took a second victim."  Softly, she added, "He was
their third."

	The sick orcwan's composure threatened to break again, but a
she pulled herself together and pleaded with Raeni, "You must kill
these creatures.  And you must kill the heart of this darkness!"  The
fervor in her voice startled the mage.  "Please save us!"

	***

	Uerris stood supporting herself against the trunk of a tree.
She was breathing hard.  The chase, in which she was prey, was coming
to an end.  At this point, the ranger-to-be had run out of options.

	'At least I'm not lost anymore,' she ruefully thought.  'I'll
at least die knowing exactly where I am.'  During the chase, the
ranger had stumbled onto a most familiar clearing.  It was her
clearing, in fact.  Four years, Aarun, her father, had taken the
entire family into a picnic in the woods.

	Along with the usual picnic basket and the often-used
spreading cloth, Aarun had brought two items that had puzzled her at
the time.  Her father had hidden the surprises in another basket and
toted both baskets into the forest with Keili and the kids in tow.

	When they had reached this spot, which was quite some distance
from the town, Aarun had stopped to set up for lunch.  It had been
quite pleasant, a cherished memory for Uerris.  She could still
remember what they had that day, roast venison sliced and placed on
toasted bread.  They had even enjoyed a delicacy from the far south, a
sweet fruit that was yellow and elongated.  Uerris had giggled when
her father had told her its name, "banana".

	After the meal, the old ranger unveiled his surprise.  The
young girl she had been at the time was not impressed with the two
saplings sitting demurely inside the basket.  She had thought it would
be some exotic pet.  But even back then, the solemnity of her father
in regards to the 'gift' had affected her that day.

	Uerris did not know at the time what it was, but she had felt
its importance, to both her brother and herself.  In measured tones,
their father had spoken of life, of nature, and of the tenets of being
a Protector.  On that day, Uerris and Errin had been inducted into the
fellowship of Protectors throughout the land.

	The baby trees had been then planted in the clearing and a
small ceremony had been performed.  Both of the children had placed
their hands their respective hands on their own sapling.  With a
dagger, Aarun pricked one finger from each and allowed a single drop
of blood from both to fall to the earth to soak into the newly
disturbed soil.

	Oddly enough, the prick hadn't hurt.  In fact, it had felt
like a part of her had been completed.  She couldn't vouch for her
brother, but Errin had had a dazed look upon his face, so in all
likelihood, he had felt the same.

	"As you children grow, so too shall these saplings grow," her
father had told them, his voice seemingly growing louder as the speech
continued.  "As their roots seek into the earth, your responsibility
as Protectors will move you to seek out and help people and nature."
As he had spoken, his words had carried into the forest, seemingly
taken up by Nature itself as the wind had rustled the trees almost in
rhythm to his words.

	That same clearing was the one Uerris had stumbled across in
her headlong flight from the assassin.  She leaned against her tree in
an effort to regain her breath and her composure, but it wasn't
working.

	In a way, the ranger felt complete sorrow at this being her
final resting place.  She shouldn't have to die in a place that had
given her such a beautiful memory.  'No, I won't die here!' she
screamed internally.  If she had retained her resolve for vengeance
for over ten years, a mere assassin would not do her in!

	'WHAT!'  Where had that thought come from?  Even after the
words had crossed her mind, she still couldn't recall what caused her
to think them!

	A rustling coming from the woods alerted the young ranger to
the killer's approach.  'He's toying with me!' she furiously thought.
'That noise was completely intentional,' she realized.  All the other
times that the assassin had caught up, she hadn't even heard him
coming.  She bent down low and scooped up a fallen tree branch.
Although the weapon didn't compare to her normal ones, she had to make
do.  There!  A glint from the woods.

	Uerris desperately dodged as three daggers came flying at her.
Taking one with her makeshift club, she managed to dodge the other two
which thunked solidly into the tree she had stood in front of.  It
looked like her tormentor was still playing his little games, but now
she had hope.

	A part of her flinched at the damage done to *her* tree, but
she had no time to worry about that now.  The ranger pulled her
enemy's dagger from her own weapon.  It felt good to finally wield
some cold steel, even though this particular dagger had no doubt
tasted the blood of many innocent victims.  Unfortunately, the weapon
in her hand was balanced more for throwing than being wielded.
Regardless, it would have to do.

	Taking to the treetops to reduce avenues of attack, she
perched on a high branch and scanned for the enemy.  Her keen sense of
hearing wasn't giving her a clue to Daved's whereabouts.  He had once
more turned silent in his pursuit of her.

	Only using her eyes, she searched desperately for any sign of
the cloaked assassin.  There!  Uerris spotted a shadow where there
shouldn't be one.  The unnatural light of Raeni's making still lit up
the area, but unlike real daylight, this light left no shadows.  A
small part of Uerris mind had noted this disconcerting fact in her
frantic flight from the assassin.  No shadows were cast at all; either
by the trees or even by herself.  Everything was simply bright.
	
	But now one shadow was positioned a mere two trees away.  As
soon as she had spotted it, she shifted her gaze slightly so as to be
askew from a direct line-of-sight.  The ranger-in-training held down
the panic that threatened her composure.  The elf was only about five
paces away!  She pretended to not have noticed his presence but kept
the shadow in view from the corner of her eye.

	As the black area crept slowly toward, Uerris pointedly
ignored it, still 'scanning' for her enemy.  When the assassin was
only one tree away, the young healer came to a decision.  Deciding to
'flee' the scene, she jumped toward the tree behind which the killer
stood.  With seemingly all her attention focused on getting away,
Uerris curled into a small ball as she approached her  touchdown
point, a low-hanging branch on the target tree.

	'This is gonna hurt,' was her only thought as she suddenly
stretched out straight, and using the branch as an gymnast would,
Uerris took the momentum of her swing and flung herself downward at
the assassin.  The skin on her hands tore slightly from the abrasive
quality of the bark, but ignoring the pain, she drew her captured
dagger as she dove upon the deadly killer.

	Not really knowing what to expect, Uerris aimed for the center
of the shadow and used all of her momentum to embed the dagger into
it.  Using her trained reflexes, she pushed off the ground and the
dagger after the blade met the expected resistance of the ground and
of whatever the shadow hid.  Rebounding from the dagger (and
incidentally driving it in deeper) she jumped away, back to her
original perch.

	From that vantage, she watched as the results of her handiwork
unfolded.  Keeping most of her attention on the shadow, but still
aware of the rest of her surroundings, Uerris was not surprised as the
shadow elongated just as it had earlier and the black outline of Daved
formed from its amorphic mass.

	As he fully came into this plane of reality, Uerris noted the
damage she had just incurred.  His right arm hung limply at his side
only held onto his body by a thin shred of flesh.  The dagger she had
attacked with was embedded deeply into his shoulder at the juncture of
arm and torso.  She smiled grimly at the results of her actions.

	After the completion of Daved's transition, he staggered
backwards from the grievous wound, clutching at his wounded shoulder
and the barely connected arm.  "Bitch!" he ground out.  "I'm going to
kill you slowly for the pain you've caused me."

	Uerris didn't even blink at the insult and threat.  What she
did next was not very nice at all.  Already she could see the sinews
of his shoulder shifting and healing the damage she just caused, so
the healer jumped down and methodically attacked Daved on his weak
side.

	Daved, on his part, was desperately trying to avoid all bodily
contact, dodging her every punch and kick.  He couldn't attack back
because while his left arm was unhurt, he used to hold the right one
immobile, trying to give it time to fully heal.

	Seeing his desperation, Uerris stepped up the ferocity of her
attacks, and in one shining moment of glory, she connected.  Her
target, of course, was the disabled arm.  The blow she landed tore the
arm away from the healing shoulder.  Immediately, she flipped
backwards to get out range of any retaliatory strike.

	She needn't have bothered.  This last blow had driven the
assassin to his knees, gasping in pain.  Although Uerris should have
been elated, she felt nothing but sickness as she took in the scene
before her.  The elf  was on his knees before her, grasping at the
stump of his arm with his one remaining arm, a look of pure hatred on
his face.  The only sound in the clearing came from his hard
breathing.

	The severed arm lay unmoving several paces away from either of
them, having been thrown from the force of her kick.  Clinically,
Uerris noted with relief that it made no motions to rejoin its former
host.  'At least this guy isn't like a zombie or a troll,' she
thought.  With the regenerative abilities the assassin had shown, a
part of her had feared the arm would be twitching and crawling back to
its master.  She didn't think she could handle the sight of that.

	She hoped that the arm was truly dead.  It would mean that
Daved could be killed.  No, scratch that.  It meant that SHE could
kill him.  It was a gruesome thought, but if the arm died when severed
from Daved, then taking his head would have one of two effects.
Either the head would die, or the body would die.  Either case would
be acceptable to her, but she had wondered if should she even try?  

 	Raeni's disappearance into the assassin's cloak was very
suspicious.  The ease in which she had vanished seemed to imply that
the young mage had fallen into a portal or some other dimensional
gateway.  It meant that there was a small possibility that Raeni could
be brought back, or at least her body.  If the young healer could not
revive her friend, she would find someone who could.  But now, Uerris
would have to first convince the killer to disgorge her newfound
friend.

	The young ranger's heart ached at the thought of her friend
possibly dead, at the hands of this ruthless killer.  That carefree
smile would never be seen again, and those lovely baby blue eyes would
never shine brightly again.  'So brave and strong, my Ran-chan,'
thought Uerris.  She'd never be able to lean on his broad chest and
they would never be happily married!  'My one love so soon found after
just being found,' sighed Uerris.  Then her anger sharply focused on
the cause of her misery, the elf kneeling in pain before her.  This...
this... *monster* had come into her peaceful life and brought chaos to
her world.

	Daved by this time had been distracted from his own injuries
by the sight before him.  One moment, the girl had been looking at him
with battle-hardened determination, but now it seemed that the girl
was in la-la land while in deep concentration over some internal
matter.  It was even more alarming that in the midst of her
consideration, the girl seemed to glowing a faint green.  Suddenly,
she broke out of reverie and pointed a finger at him, yelling, "You,
the cause of my misery!"  A large drop of sweat formed on the back of
head in response.

	He watched agape as, out of nowhere, a large kitchen utensil
(??) formed behind the girl while was in the throes of her righteous
anger.  Around her waist and torso, a strap of smaller items appeared.
Panic rose in his mind as his once-prey approached him with giant
spatula in hand.

	Somehow, the demon in elf-guise knew he would regret the next
couple of minutes.