Drow Hunter

I was having one of those weekends where I really didn't feel like writing much so that allowed my mind to go wandering and this is what it found. I am the sole originator of this story, and it is a work of fiction, any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. Any mistakes are of my own doing, this story may not be copied, reproduced or retransmitted in any way known or unknown without my express permission. If you like what you read be sure to like, vote, follow and comment below.

Now on with the show.

I heard them long before they came to the junction for the narrow trail that led up the mountain to the lower pass between the Dagger and Shield mountains. The Shield protected the lowlands from a majority of the storms that came South every year out of the dark lands in the spring and fall. It didn't always work, but it did keep the smaller storms from destroying every small village and farmstead that were slowly creeping North into more productive land.

I heard the skitter of small rocks and readied my trap, there were 10 of them walking exactly 2 and a half paces apart, just like they always did. Fuck! could they be any more predictable? As the last one passed, I twitched the thin string and heard all 12 crossbows fire and they dropped. I pulled out the short sword that I had taken from one I had killed about 5 springs back and stabbed each body through the neck as I walked past them.

The 3rd one in line was still alive, the bolt had gone through his neck at an odd angle, he must have turned his head at the last second. He was gripping the tail of the bolt but not pulling on it, I finished stabbing the front 2 and walked back to him and pushed the hood of my cloak back a little, letting him see my face and knelt down next to him.

'Yes, you black devil, I am the Ghost, and I will be the last thing you see before the Night Kings dogs claim your soul, such as it is.' I told him and quickly stripped him of his weapons and the fine silvery chainmail armor he wore. He had new forearm bracers that were lined with the chainmail armor and strips of metal, I took them for myself, they would be a welcome addition seeing how I hunted these black devils alone.

I had tried it with a partner or a small party and had lost more than we had killed, several times I had managed to escape by just the hair on my balls. To many egos in a party and it seemed that everyone wanted to be in charge, and no one wanted to listen. I had left more than one and went off hunting by myself and had lived to tell the tales.

I reached down and batted his hands away and gripped the shaft that protruded out and smiled at him. 'This is for my mother, sister and baby brother you slaughtered 14 years ago. Fucking pig!' I told him and pulled the barbed arrow out. I heard a squelch as the head pulled out and a strangled gurgle as his eyes went wide then glazed over. I watched his blood pour out of the wound and smiled yet again. 'Enjoy your time in hell you offspring of a female dog.'

I checked him over yet again and threw him into the deep crevasse that bordered the trail. I searched and disposed of the remaining bodies in the same manor then spread rock and stone dust to hide the blood I had spilled; the next time a storm blew through, I knew the area would be washed clean and I would be able to reset the trap yet again.

I hid the looted weapons and armor along with my own stuff several yards off the trail in a small split between 2 rocks. I places several more rocks over the opening hiding it from all but an intense search, I placed the new braces on and adjusted them to my arms then flexed several times to get the feel of them. They were only a few weeks old and still had that fresh new smell and feel to them, I would put them to good use soon enough.

I slid further down onto the dark lands and started my hunt; I wanted them to know they weren't safe even in their own lands. I had lived in a small village that wanted nothing more than to live in peace and to farm the lands around us. I had been 10 and the man of our house after my father had died while coming home from another town the year before. The area we lived in, violent storms blew up without warning sometimes.

Drow raids came without warnings also, but they usually didn't attack small settlements like ours. I remember the screams in the middle of the night during the rainstorm and I thought it was a windstorm hitting the area. The flaming arrow that crashed through the small window told me different, I grabbed the sword my father had left me and had my mom gather my brother and sister up and get them out the back of our hut.

I grabbed my small bow and quiver and ran out behind them and went to join the men who were trying to defend our families. I shot a few arrows and then remember being hit in the arm with one of their black arrows, it dropped me at once, and the pain knocked me out. I remember nothing about the rest of the night.

I awoke the next day I managed to remove the arrow shaft from my arm and started looking around to see what was left. I found the men dead, and all the huts burned to the ground, searching around I managed to find what was left of my baby brother, he had been hacked to death along with other kids that lived in our village. I spent the next 2 days digging graves and collecting what I could find to bury.

3 days later while walking south towards the next village a mounted patrol of rangers found me and made me one of their own. The next 7 years were the toughest of my life, I learned to fight with sword, staff, dagger, bow and by hand. I was taught my letters and numbers, how to read a map and to plan an attack so that I always had a way out if something went wrong. I became a keen tracker and could find the smallest of spoor even after several days. Over and over again they drilled the basics into me then would hit me with a new problem to keep me on my toes.

I grew to stand 6' with a slim, lean build the hid my strength well, I had long dark hair and gray eyes that seemed to always be in motion. When I was angry, they turned black and became lifeless and cold as the darkest night. Several of those that knew me said I had become the perfect soldier under their tutelage, my only stated goal was to hunt and kill the Drow. I gave up my birth name and been dubbed the Ghost by my peers.

We also found that I had a keen mind for military tactics, and could see patterns that others missed, this was how I had figured out their spacing and had used it to great effect. I grew tall and strong under their hand and finally the commander had called me in and told me that I was trained so well that I could receive a commission if I so chose. What I really wanted to do was hunt and kill the Drow for the crimes they had committed against us.

He wasn't happy to say the very least, but he did understand my burning need to avenge my family and friends, I left that very night and headed north towards to dark lands. In the 7 years I had learned to kill as silently as the grave and to lead them to me when I wanted. I dressed as they do in indigo spider silk pants and shirts, the boots adorned my feet were finer than those made by the finest human hands and allowed me to slide over the earth and leave no trace.

I had long sense given up my long bow and take their black oak bow and arrows, with them I could hit a Drow size target at 200 paces with deadly accuracy. They stood about half a head taller than I did and had dark skin and pale hair the looked white. The had dark eyes and pointed ears and were said to be relatives of the wood elves that lived in the Eastern Great Forest, I had met an elf many years ago when I was still at the ranger citadel. He took one look at me, and we had somehow connected, from that moment on my training took on a life of its own. He spent 2 seasons there and had taught me the art of moving silently and how to track nearly anything or anyone.

His greatest skill was with a bow, and I had spent many a day in front of the target bails sending arrow after arrow onto them. before he left my skills rivaled his in several areas that I knew I would need to survive. Skills that I used and continued hone to this very day.

I came off the mountain and slid into the forest that bordered the lowlands, I stayed off the trails and ran a cold camp when I did stop to rest. Sleeping in the trees and avoiding the few scattered huts that I would run across from time to time. I built up and extensive knowledge base of the terrain for the areas I passed through and put it on paper in a small ledger each night I stopped.

I knew that if we humans ever came into the dark lands, we'd need good maps to find our way through, the Rangers had taught me that skill as well. I stumbled across a small town 4 days into my recon and spent the next 3 days watching it from the tree lines. I would pull back each night to a safe location, well as safe as it was when you're in enemy territory that is and commit the days observations to paper.

On the evening of the 3rd day, I was pulling back to move out when I stumbled over a Drow female who had been out gathering berries. I quickly stunned her and placed a gag in her mouth the bound her wrists to her neck in a reverse prayer position. I tied her elbows together and hobbled her knees together then her ankles, I places a spider silk bag over her head and lifted her light frame over my shoulder.

SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! FUCK! I now needed to clear this area as quickly as I could without being seen, heard or followed. I knew she wouldn't make this easy either and if I had to, I would kill her, but I needed more information about this area. I spent the rest of the night and well into the next day before I finally stopped and dumped her off my shoulder and scouted the area.

2 hours later I came back, fairly sure we were alone or at least not within earshot of anyone who would make my life miserable for the foreseeable future. I found her as I had dumped her and sat her up against a tree and removed the bag from her head and sat back to get a good look at her finally. She was very pretty even with her mussed hair and sweat streaked face. I gently removed the gag and held out one of the water bags I carried, she took a quick gulp, I replaced the stopper.

'There is no one to hear your screams girl, so please let us not start down that trail. It'll save us both time in the long run and you a lot of pain.' I told her in a low voice. 'What is your name?' She looked around trying to figure out where she was at. 'I assure you girl we are many leagues from where I took you and you would be hard pressed to find your way back before I caught and slowly skinned you, after raping you that is.'

I watched her swallow hard, and I knew that Drow children were raised on tails of how humans would capture, rape, kill and eat them if they were bad. Well so far, I had done one and threatened her with 2 others, I let her sit a minute and slowly started pulling out the small skinning knife I carried. 'Twillaa, my name is Twillaa sire.' She quickly said.

I nodded I pulled a small square of pressed meat out and cut a small piece off for her then held it before her mouth. 'Eat Twillaa, it isn't poisoned. I took it off a Drow boy I killed a few days ago in the pass.' I put the piece in my own mouth and began to chew on it as I cut another sliver off for her. This one she took and slowly chewed it as I looked around.

'Those braces your wearing sire, where did you get them?' She asked in a quiet voice. I looked down at them and then back at her. 'I took them from a boy who had a crossbow bolt through his neck along with the 9 others who were with him. Why do you ask girl?' I said.

She started crying. 'They were my betrothed I gave them to him 10 days ago.' She sobbed out. I stared at her and could not bring myself to feel any sadness for her loss, I had already been through my moment of loss 14 years ago. 'He died well.' I told her and regagged her and put the hood back on then spent a bit of time looking back down my beck trail. So far, I hadn't seen felt or heard anyone following us, but just in case I left a few surprises just in case someone got curious.

I walked back to where I had left Twillaa and she was simply laying against the tree where I had left her. I lifted her and began moving to the South, I needed to get out of the Dark lands while the getting was good. For several more hours I carried my captive and just after dawn I spotted the very tip of the Dagger through a slot in the trees. I knew that I was still 6 to 8 hours hard march from the foothills and there were raiding parties that would come through at odd times also.

More than once I had run into a party and had to fight my way out killing them before they killed me. I had never made my way out hauling a captive but there was a first time for everything, or so I've been told that is. I was hoping to find out about the dying part for many moons yet.

I found a good hiding place in a gully well away from any trail I had managed to find in this area and holed up to rest, right now I'd get killed after more than 2 days with no sleep and little food. I got Twillaa to take water and meat and then gagged her again and went into a lite sleep that allowed my body and mind to rest without really being in a deep sleep.

My short march turned into a near day long trudge to get out of the valley and up and over the top. It also nearly became my last day on earth as I surprised a 3 Drow patrol coming down the trail. With the trail so narrow their numbers counted for nothing. The last Drow had a bow and was in the process of trying to pin me rock pinacol, I had grabbed the Drow I was fighting and pulled him into the arrows path. I pierced his skull, killing him. I threw my short sword; it took the archer in the guts. I quickly scooped the sword of the one I had just been fighting and decapitated the one with my sword in his gut.

I walked to where I had dropped Twillaa and made sure she was alive and unhurt, for some strange reason I had become attached to her over the last several days. I do know that she had become attached to me, her people would not hesitate to kill her if I got her over the pass. My people would bare her ill will for there was very few families that hadn't been touched by these black devils raids. I also still needed to pump her for information.

I recovered my sword and stripped the bodies then disposed of them the same way I had done years. The chasm wasn't as deep as it was higher up, only around 1000' in this area, but very few were willing to climb down to look for those that I had dumped. I heard the rumble and looked behind me, I could see the clouds forming and knew that a bad storm was going to hit soon.

I gathered what I could and threw the rest away, then scooped Twillaa up and made a mad run for the crest. If I could make it, we might survive to make it to the cave I knew of, the south side of mountain would block the wind and allow us a brief respite. 'Hang on girl, this is going to be a bit rough.' I told her and started running for our lives.

I managed to find the cave and moved the few rocks that helped to keep it hidden. I pulled Twillaas' limp, soaked body in and then crawled in myself sealing the entrance behind me. I located the hidden supplies and found a black candle, a few minutes later I managed to get it lit, it would give us enough light to see where we were going. From the way the mountain was trembling I was glad that we were no longer out there, experience told me that this was a big one and would take the better part of a day, maybe a day and a half to blow out.

I untied Twillaa and removed her damp clothes, her body was slim and very firm. She had small tits with black nipples, the fur above her cunt was as white as the hair on her head. I wrapped her in a cloak and tied her hobbled ankles to a small spire of rock. I built a small fire with dry wood to warm us and stripped myself then laid out our clothes to dry, finally I wrapped myself up and settled down to sleep.

I awoke a few hours later when she crawled up to me and curled up against me for warmth. I placed another branch on the fire and allowed her to remain where she had crawled to. I had no idea what I would do with her when I went to raid the dark lands, I had no family I could leave her with except the Rangers and I hadn't seen them in almost 8 years.

I did leave weapons for them on the plains and when I would comeback they'd be gone, every now and then they'd leave a mark that told me they were retrieving them. Perhaps it was time to pay them a visit and take break, I had several seasons of drawings to translate and assemble into a map for them.

The storm blew out finally and I looked out through the cracks in the rocks checking the area, I went back to where she still sat naked warming herself by the small fire. 'Get dressed girl we're leaving soon.' I told her and watched her stand and pull her dress back on. I have to admit I got hard watching her dress.

I knew about women having spent more than a few nights in a small tavern or inn during my trips to resupply, very few would think to look for someone living practically under their noses. I pulled out clean clothes and quickly dressed then placed things back in their proper places and led her to the entrance stopping her before removing the blocking stones.

'You run and you'll beg for me to kill you long before I'll get around to actually killing you, understand me?' I asked her. She nodded her head. 'Yes sire.' She said and I freed us from the cave that had sheltered us, then blocked it back up and lead her to the trail and then down to the lowlands. Perhaps it was time to take a small break and do the things I needed to do for my Ranger family.