Clean Cup

[Valfaran]

Valfaran did not repeat the small rite as she continued to eat other mushrooms, but grinned slightly as Rakeleer mimicked her actions. \"You have quite the talent for cultural adaptation, have you not?\"

After contemplating his question a moment, she said, \"Not that I am so old, but we have for as long as I can remember. From how I hear others of my village speak, I assume our kind have been here for an epoch at least. None truly know how we came to be, but it is widely believed we are a summons or creation of the god Talad.\"

Standing and brushing her rough homespun trousers off, Valfaran padded over to the small stream. Bending over, she cupped her paws to scoop up some of the cool, crystal-clear water. \"My people are called the Enkidukai. I am not certain what that translates to in any language, but I do not believe it means anything so foreboding as yours.\" She brought the water to her mouth and drank, the sweet liquid a welcome to her parched throat.

[Rakeleer]

\"Being adaptable is what I\'m alla bout.\"  He grinned and took note that the ritual was only done before the first taste.  Then laughed at himself.

\"Really, I\'m what they call a half-breed, which of course carries a stigmata back home.  Hopefully,\" he grew less jovial, but only a little, \"that won\'t translate here, either.\"

\"So, do the Enkidukai do the bidding of Talad?  I\'ve always found religion to be a bit tricky, so please tell me if I offend with my questions.\"

As he was talking, Rakeleer noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye.  Some type of local fauna, perhaps, but just in case, his muscles slowly tensed into ptential energy they were trained to unleash.

[Valfaran]

Turning back around and sitting on a small ledge, Valfaran closed her eyes and breathed in the moist air. \"The people here are used to oddities. I am sure you will get no more than an empathetic shake of the head from some. The Ynnwn are halfbreeds, and they are respected for it, in fact.\"

Touching a small, glassy-smooth stone on a leather strap around her neck, the Enkidukai female sighed pensively. \"Not all choose to follow Talad. Nor do all choose to follow Laanx. I, for one, believe they are present, but do not worship them. I am a believer more of virtue and some of fate, the same as many of those in my village. Your questions are welcome, though; it is refreshing to be able to explain all of this to someone willing to listen.\"

[Rakeleer]

\"Well, best to know what I\'m about here.\"

There was that movement again.  He searched Valfaran\'s face for a sign that she knew of the disturbance.

\"Tell me about Talad and Laanx.  Are these the only gods in the world?  And how are they regarded by, for example, the Enkidukai?  Where I come from there are dozens of gods.\"

Rakeleer nonchalantly sat up against the cavern wall, his eyes only momentarily attempting to scan the darkness in its recesses.

[Valfaran]

With a slight nod, Valfaran slid off the ledge and nonchalantly walked across the cavern, sticking to the wall. \"Laanx and Talad are the most commonly worshiped. It is said that there are other gods, ones who helped Laanx and Talad use the Crystal to create life, such as Vodul.\"

She paused a moment, finally seeming to acknowledge the movement in the darkness. Despite, she continued, \"They say that many who came through portals worshiped other gods. However, in witnessing the power of the Gods of the Glyphs, as they are called, many gave up their old faiths.\"

Her clawed fingers drummed against the side of her leg. The Enkidukai seemed torn, as if she could, for the moment, not decide what to do. Her keen eyes locked on the spot where she had last seen the movement. Oddly enough, she continued speaking as if nothing were amiss.

\"Laanx and Talad are somewhat of enemies. We Enkidukai tend to worship Talad, as he is the kinder and more balanced of the gods. Thus, Laanx is somewhat regarded by the Cat-People...distastefully.\"

[Rakeleer]

Mentally filing the information away for use, Rakeleer was relieved  when  he saw that the Enkidukai was aware of the presence of other life.

\"So...  Beneath the Azure Sun we have Enkidukai and.... was it Ynnwn?  And the other god is called Laanx and is not entirely respected by the Enkidukai.\"

He speaking just to make noise, now.  To maintain the rhythm of the conversation, so as not to throw off whatever was stalking, or nosing about the cavern.

He straightened one of his arms, and let the throwing knife in it\'s holster fall into his hand, a reassuring weight.

But Valfaran seemed torn, so perhaps this was not pray, or foe, but another of the Azure Sun\'s thinking beings.

He continued to summarize Valfarn\'s teachings while he waited to see...

[Valfaran]

Hesitantly, Valfaran opened her mouth to speak, but did just the opposite. Holding up a paw to indicate silence from Rakeleer, she cast an ear towards the entrance of the cavern.

Above the sound of trickling water rose the clatter of claws upon stone. The noise grew, and it was apparent that the creature it was originating from was advancing quickly.

In one swift movement, Valfaran drew the two short swords  sheathed on each of her knee-high boots. Their gilded blades glowed an eerie blue-green shade as they reflected the light from the fungi. She stood in a defensive stance, prepared for whatever might burst through the tunnel mouth.

[Rakeleer]

In the instant Valfaran\'s speech failed, Rakeleer ducked low and flipped back the throwing dagger in his hand.

From the darkness of the passageway an enourmous beast charged.  It had many legs, more than Rakeleer could count, and it\'s head sported huge, hard black eyes - like stones in a river.

It\'s mandibles clacked with what Rake presumed was hunger as it charged into the light.

As it threw it\'s body around the room, Rakeleer felt the air move like a great wind.

One, two, three daggers sought the eyes of the beast, and for a split second Rakeleer thought it was finished, as its millipede-like form crashed to the earth, juicing the phosphorescant fungi beneath it.

But a breath later it was up, it was angry, and it was coming for him.

\"Uh oh\"

[Valfaran]

Blades singing through the damp air, Valfaran leapt between the creature and Rakeleer and took a double-strike at what one could only guess was its head. The keen edges only scratched the surface of its exoskeleton, and the Enkidukai searched frantically for a soft spot.

With a quick flick of her wrists, Valfaran severed two of its appendages, which landed with a juicy thud across the cave. Moving again into her defensive stance, she backed up and motioned for Rakeleer to do the same, until the water of the shallow stream flowed around her boots.

[Rakeleer]

Rakeleer rolled across the floor, inches away from the thrashing beast that was now quite obviously enraged.

\"I forgot to ask about dangerous creatures,\" he yelled over the screeching of the giant crawly.

As he came up, soaked and dripping, he drew his rapier in his right hand and a thick glowing dirk in his left.

I hope these things still work, he thought.

I hope Miss Kitty knows how to stop this thing from mulching us, he thought.

The thing, missing two limbs and bleeding some kind of orange ichor, lurched toward the duo in the water, intent on taking its revenge for what was taken from it.

[Valfaran]

Valfaran\'s gaze shifted sharply from the floor to the wall, then to her sword, then back to the floor again, as if she were searching the depths of her memory for something.

\"Marun rathim nae-o, madur taka takim,\" she began to sing hurredly in a low voice. It sounded like some sort of children\'s rhyme, the sort parents often tought to their offspring. After mumbling the next few lines quickly, she finished, \"Alina mahjik dae-o!\"

With a cry of delight, Valfaran leapt forward, then again up, landing on the back of the great beast. Catching her balance, she began to use all her force to lop off the creature\'s legs. In pain, the creature let out a keening screech, but seemed to be more irritated than inhibited.

\"Go for the mouth!\" she cried frantically to Rakeleer, \"Quickly!\"

[Rakeleer]

\"Right, the mouth.\"

Rakeleer shifted and adjusted his balance, the balls of his feet finding sure purchase, even in the water of the stream.

\"Right.\"

He watched the beast thrash for a moment.  It wasn\'t very intelligent.  If it were me, Rakeleer thought, I\'d just bash her against the wall.

Luckily the creature wasn\'t Rakeleer and it\'s head snapped back and forth  in it\'s futile attempts to dislodge the Enkidukai.

Rakeleer gauged the timing, and dashed forward.

His right arm drive the rapier deep into the mandible-covered orifice.

Rakeleer felt soft tissue, and then a sudden resistance.

He pushed hard and simultaneously drove his dirk into the bottom of the head.

The dirk barely penetrated the creature\'s hard chitin, but Rake felt the resistance in the rapier\'s thrust suddenly give.

Suddenly, without aplomb, the beast collapsed, all animation stopped.

Rake removed his rapier, and examined the point of his dirk.

Breathing hard, he looked up to see the fate of his newfound friend.

[Valfaran]

Half-hidden behind the bulk of the enormous beast, Valfaran lay haphazardly against one of its now-limp legs. The Enkidukai?s head lolled to one side, eyes closed, and a large red welt was beginning to form just below her left ear.

One of her blades was lodged between two of the creature?s body segments; the other was nowhere in plain sight. Juices, a mixture of the crushed fungi and the monster?s fluids, began to trickle slowly out from the carcass.

[Rakeleer]

\"Lovely....  First person I meet here, and I manage to get them mauled.\"

Rakeleer stowed his weapons and leapt over the corpse of the beast.

\"Valfaran?  Valfaran, can you hear me?\"

He attempted to shove the carcass off the cat person, but could only shift it a few inches before it rolled back into place.

He cursed.  In several languages.

\"I hope these work, here.\"

From his belt rakeleer unwound a length of gauzy fabric.

Medicinal smells wafted off the solky material, and he began to bind the cat person\'s wounds, desperately trying to come up with a plan.

There WERE other people here... in this world.

But he didn\'t suppose he would be so lucky that one of them would just step into the cavern and offer to help.

[Valfaran]

Mumbling something low, Valfaran\'s head lolled to the other side, and her eyelids flickered. She seemed as if she were about to wake up, but did not.

Her speech quickly became more pronounced, but it was obvious she was, in her own mind, no longer underneath the carcass of a cave-creature in the dimming light of so many crushed luminescent mushrooms.

\"Mrrgmmsar, ragmmall grrshhtop mommrmma, whhat are they doing here?\" The Enkiduaki\'s voice grew to a shout. \"No! No, I won\'t go without you!\" She then began to jerk violently beneath the weight of the monster. Suddenly, she quieted. A small, rough song began to rise from her throat, in another tongue. Her voice was nervous, frightened, and she twitched for a brief period once more before letting out a pitiful cry.

With one long, shuddering sigh, Valfaran went limp, and tears spilled unchecked from her eyes, staining her furred cheeks and then dripping down onto her leather vest.