Adobe Acrobat Format - The Grey Company

"My friends, your struggle will not be in vain." Dae whispered to himself. The wild elf dropped the
sword from his remaining hand and, reaching under his long, black hair, he touched a symbol of a huge red
comet tattooed there ages ago. The room crackled with powerful magic as the wild elf changed from the
copper color of his skin to a very bright red.
The form of Dae Draug melted away as he became an enormous fiery comet. The huge red comet
flew off down the tunnel and incinerated the entire group of drow. Dae slowly floated back into the chamber
a short while later and collapsed to the floor. The tunnel behind him still glowed red from the intense heat.
Dae looked at his friends and smiled weakly. Then looking up toward the ceiling of the cave, he
called out in the ancient language of wild elves. "Meilikki, I place myself in thy glorious hands." With his
final breath, Dae bid farewell to Tizer, Sheil, and Nalynn and asked them to pass his parting words on to the
other great members of the Grey Company.
* * * * *
Blank and Macheala had been sitting at the bottom of the wall all night, cold, tired, wondering if it
was possible to break into Nightsedge after all. They had hunted all night for a door, drudging the woods
and stirring up all sorts of foul creatures, but through their troubles they found no solution.
They saw off in the distance, the faint beginnings of dawn, and they knew that with it, they would
be allowed entry to Nightsedge. However, they knew also that they were too late. The mayor would be
angry with their tardiness, and though it was not their fault, they would not get the job they had worked all
night for.
After several minutes, the glow on the horizon had not moved. This puzzled Macheala immensely.
What startled them both was another dawn, another rising sun, far distant to the one they had been
watching.
"Blank," Macheala said, "let's get a closer look at that sunrise...," pointing to the glow behind the
trees.
* * * * *
The three elves wandered through the forest looking for where the raven had landed. Riklaun, with
his mental link to it, moved quickly. He heard the voice of the bird in his head saying that it had flown into
a tree.
The bird led Rik to the tree. "He went in here." Rik said.
"That cannot be. How can a bird get into the trunk of a tree?" Modar asked.
The three elves searched the tree for a lever or button. They found none. Riklaun closed his eyes
for a moment. "A cave-in has happened in the passage farther down." he said.
"Well I cannot find anyway of opening the passage up," Starrbolt said, "so I will resort to magic."
He prepared a knock spell and cast it. Nothing happened.
"Let me try." Modar said. "Stand back." Modar stood about twenty feet away from the tree. He let
loose a lightning bolt spell and it hit the tree, sending chunks everywhere. The three elves peered down the
hole created.
"Let's go" Riklaun said. They dropped into the passage and started down the corridor. The raven
flew up and perched on Riklaun's shoulder. The elves continued down farther until they came upon the
blockade. Searching, they found no way around or through the cave-in. "This is not good. Brisid and
Nalynn went this way. We need to get through." Riklaun said. Starrbolt came up to Riklaun, handing him a
note. "I found this on the floor. It's about Brisid..."
* * * * *
"Hey, yous oer der. Wake oop!"
Brisid slowly opened his eyes and looked around. A dim light illuminated a small cavern. He was
surrounded with metallic bars that glowed of their own accord. Not wishing to try his luck, he kept his
distance from them. At his feet was a small bowl of foul-smelling gruel. He wasn't going to try that either.
Glancing around, he noticed the owner of the voice. A short gnomelike figure stood a few feet away in
another holding cell.
"You're a faerae elf, aren't ye?" the figure asked with a heavy accent the elf didn't recognize, his
features indiscernible in the darkness.
"Yes. Who are you?" Brisid responded curiously, examining the stranger.