Light and Shadow

Her magic was depleted and the dark mage knew it. "Give up. You're finished. It's over." Concentrated evil took the form of a shadowy dagger in his hand. "Submit to me" he said through his smugness. But Kora could only smile as she reached into her bag of holding. "You're right. It is over'' she said. She reached deeply into the bag and her face fell. It was gone. If ever there had been a moment to seek divine intervention, it was now. For a moment she panicked, feeling around the inside of the bag, her hand briefly making contact with bandages, potions, food and spare equipment, but the small effigy of Sune was gone.

She could feel the shadow mage's eyes on her. A satisfied smile played around his lips. He seemed to be enjoying the sight of her last hope failing her. "Oh dear," he said silkily, annunciating each word clearly and deliberately. "Not going so well for you, is it?"

Kora dropped the bag and held out her hands in front of her in a gesture of supplication. "We appear to be at a bit of an impassé," she replied, her trained voice calm. "What are you going to do about it, mage? Are you going to kill me?"

He kept his dark eyes fixed on her violet ones, as if to consider the matter. He was a drow, his skin midnight blue, so dark it seemed to absorb all the light around him, his hair raven black.

"That all depends!" he replied smoothly.

"Depends on what?" she retorted, a little on edge now.

"If you're going to prove yourself useful." He looked around at the stone walls that surrounded them. "This labyrinth... it is proving more troublesome than I had anticipated. Help me acquire the object we both desire and I might let you live. That is what you came for, is it not? The staff? The Staff of Synthesis?"

She didn't reply. This god-awful labyrinth. She hadn't been able to call on her wings in here, or he would never have managed to subdue her like this.

"Well, suit yourself!" He snarled. "But I'm not taking any risks with you. Give me your wrists." He bent down to grab some rope from his pack, his shadow knife still out in front of him, his eyes never leaving hers. Kora saw him wince as he moved. The sight filled her with some satisfaction.

"Not going so well for you either by the looks of it?" she said coldly as he started tying the black rope around her wrists. "Not so keen on light magic, are we?" He merely scoffed, concentrating on his handiwork. She noticed his elegant, skilled fingers as he deftly tied her wrists together, his dark hands cool against her warm skin. Like with many of her kind, her skin was pale, almost translucent, yet filled with an inner radiance that made a stark contrast to his darkness.

When he was finished, he turned his back and started building a fire. She didn't blame him, she wouldn't have gone any further without resting either. This was her third day in this bloody place and it had been nothing but trouble. There had been several scrapes where she'd only just made it out alive. Perhaps he had a point, perhaps as much as she detested him and everything he stood for, working together might be the only way to make it out of here alive.

She edged closer to the fire and awkwardly sank down into a cross legged position. She was exhausted, her mouth parched and her stomach starting to growl. She could see him rummaging in his pack for some rations, before he gingerly peeled off his dark shadow mage robes.

She couldn't help her involuntary intake of breath as he revealed his naked torso. She hadn't been wrong, her light magic had done a significant amount of damage. Her sunbeam had left a broad line of blistered, weeping skin all across his chest.

As a divine soul sorceress she had considerable healing at her disposal. Even in her depleted state she would still be able to take care of that wound. What was more, she wanted to take care of that wound. It was one of those moments where she hated herself for being who she was. He did not deserve any care and attention from her, he was a bloody shadow mage for goddess's sake.

But as she watched him unpack some foul looking unguent, she couldn't hold back.

"You're not going to use that, are you?" She said in disgust.

"What's it to you?" He growled.

"Arachnid saliva, really? And you're expecting this to work?"

He growled again.

"Listen...I make you a deal. You untie me, share some of your food and water, and I fix that for you." It was a perfectly fair deal, Kora thought, and one that might yet work out in her favour.

"Why should I trust you?" He scrutinised her face, trying to figure out if she had another agenda.

"Oh, you shouldn't! If we weren't stuck in this labyrinth, I'd kill you without hesitation. But I fear you're right - if either of us ever wants to see daylight again, then we need to work together. But then, it seems that you're not particularly keen on daylight,"she smirked.

"Funny!" he snarled, raising an arrogant eyebrow, then winced again. "Okay, you've got your deal. But I'm tying you right back up, after you've done your healing thing."

He squatted down in front of her and got busy with her ropes. Kora watched him work. The flickering firelight animated his midnight skin, muscle rippling under the surface. He smelled faintly of moonflower.

He caught her staring and met her gaze. "See anything you like?" he asked, looking amused.

"Don't flatter yourself!" She retorted and shook her wrists as her hands were finally freed. "Now, lie the hells down and let me work."

He opened his mouth to give her a comeback, but shook his head and lay down on his bedroll by the fire. Kora knelt next to him and looked closely at his blistered chest. "Ok," she said at last, "I'm going to put my hands on you now. Expect some energy flow sensations and a fair bit of pain. Typically it gets worse before it gets better."

She placed her hands gently on his skin, sensing the depth of the damage. She could feel his breathing accelerate and his muscles tense under her hands. "Try to relax."

She closed her eyes to focus on her heart centre, drawing on her celestial energy, gently directing it out through her finger tips and letting it flow into his flesh. He started to shiver under her hands and she could see the lines of pain on his forehead. An involuntary groan escaped from his throat, despite his best efforts not to let her see any weakness. "Shh," she soothed, "it's ok. It'll transform any second now."

She sensed the change in him immediately. She knew well the effect of celestial energy, especially on those not accustomed to it. She knew that right now, the pain would disappear to be replaced by indescribable sweetness. Celestial energy had its own intelligence, it would find the places in the body where it was most needed. Kora heard him sigh as the sweetness hit his chest, all the tension departing from his body. She continued to let it flow, feeling pleased, not caring that this was her enemy, caring only about relieving his suffering. He started to get restless again under her hands and Kora briefly opened her eyes to see what was troubling him.

He was staring at her, his face flushed, a questioning look in his eyes. Her eyes scanned his body and it was immediately obvious what was happening to him. "Don't worry," she said kindly, "this happens all the time."

What didn't happen all the time was for herself to get aroused when she was healing somebody. This never happened. But there was something about the rawness in his face, that midnight skin whose smooth path her eyes followed down to his breeches, and the extent of his involuntary arousal. Kora caught herself holding her breath and clenching her thighs. She tried to gather herself and check his chest again. The blisters had disappeared and new skin had formed in their place.

"Hmm, good...yes...fine. I think you're done," she said, sounding a little flustered. He started to sit up and she realised that she hadn't removed her hands from his chest yet. As she pulled them away, he caught one of her hands in his, and held her gaze.

"Thank you," he said hoarsely. He broke eye contact briefly and cleared his throat. "Now let me tie your wrists again."

"You can't be..." she started, but he put a finger to her lips. "Less talking." he said softly and took hold of the rope again. He started to tie her wrists once more, very slowly this time, taking great care with each knot, his calloused fingers lingering on her skin a little longer than necessary. He admired his handiwork and ran a gentle finger over the pulse point on her wrists. She looked up at him, his eyes gleaming in the firelight. The moment hung between them, unbidden but not entirely unwanted.

Kora cleared her throat. "We had a deal. Food? Water?"

He reluctantly moved away and reached for his supplies. He grabbed his water skin and carefully brought it up to Kora's mouth. "You want me to...?" She asked in disbelief.

"Open!" He said softly, but with an unmistakable tone of command in his voice. She opened her mouth, unable, or perhaps unwilling, to resist. As he brought the water skin up, his fingers gently tilting her chin, she took a tentative sip, the liquid cool against her tongue.

"Good girl!" he murmured, still resting the nozzle of the water skin against her bottom lip.

"What?" she snapped. "You bastard!" Her sudden movement knocked the water skin almost out of his hands. The water splashed, her robes now clinging to her in wet patches, revealing more than they're meant to.

"You appear to have got yourself a little wet, my dear." He said with a smirk. "I think you should probably dry these robes by the fire."

"That was a cheap shot." she growled.

"Oh?" He feigned innocence. "And there was me thinking I was looking after your wellbeing."

His hands, deftly slipped off her outer robes, baring her skin to the warmth of the fire and the heat of his gaze.

He looked at her and tucked a stray silver lock behind her ear. "Now...before we eat... is it not customary to exchange names? Nox Penumbra at your service." He did a little mock bow in his seated position. "And who do I have the pleasure of entertaining this evening?"

"Kora...just Kora...and I'm glad you find this entertaining. That makes one of us."

He chuckled. "Now ... for the first and only course, I can offer you a selection of the finest underdark mushrooms. Dried, of course, but I have taken the liberty to reconstitute them for you." He reached for a bowl which he had got ready earlier and picked up a thin, unappetising looking sliver of mushroom. "Open!"

Kora's eyes blazed at him, yet she couldn't deny what this little game of his was doing to her body. As she reluctantly opened her mouth, he dangled the strip of mushroom only just close enough that she had to reach up with her mouth to catch it. "So greedy," he murmured, his voice low.

The taste was not what she was expecting, sweet, salty and savoury all at once. The slippery mushroom slid down her throat easily.

"Blushcap mushroom, enjoy!" he said softly, running a finger down her throat as she swallowed. He brought another strip to Kora's mouth, stroking it along her bottom lip. She made to catch it from him, but he pulled it away at the last second.

"Uhuh, not so quick, darling. Has no one ever taught you the art of patience, little Aasimar? Of making the pleasure last?"

Her cheeks flushed crimson, both from anger and from something else, stirring deep within her. His words, his touch, were playing havoc with her senses. His tone, so mocking, so intoxicating. And that mushroom, sweet and salty and rich as it slid over her tongue. She couldn't deny that some part of her, a part she'd never acknowledged before, was responding to his game.

They made their way through the bowl with him taunting her, toying with her, his deft fingers grazing her face and throat, trailing lines along her collarbone until she could do nothing to deny the desire that was pooling deep within her belly.

"Last piece," he whispered, as his eyes captured hers. Instead of bringing the mushroom to her lips, he slowly brought it to his own, coming to hold the moist sliver between his teeth. He brought his head in a little closer. Kora's heart was beating frantically in her chest, her gaze drawn in by the sight of those sensuous midnight blue lips. She reached up, her lips parting in anticipation, and captured the morsel from his mouth. She closed her eyes, as it slid down her throat, her lips moving upwards searching for his.

She heard him chuckle. "Still so greedy," he murmured, his tone bemused.

Her eyes flew open and she stared at him furiously, his smug face about a foot from hers. She struggled against her bonds, wanting nothing more than to wipe that bloody grin from his face, but it was no use, he had tied her well.

Nox stood up. "Good night, Kora, sleep well!" And with that he picked up his blanket and threw it to her. He settled down in his own bedroll and turned his back to her.

Her eyes bored in his back. He'd left her both hungry and furious, the arrogant bastard and his bloody game, this dance of power and pleasure. One thing was for sure, tomorrow he was going to pay for this.

He'd silently untied her in the morning, his face serious, the playfulness from the previous night noticeably absent.

'Good', Kora thought. They'd have to work together and would have their hands full trying to stay alive. They were both expecting to reach the central chamber of the labyrinth that day. Whatever ideas of revenge she harboured, they would have to wait. Chances were that at least one or both of them would be dead in any case.

Turn by turn they got closer to the heart of the labyrinth, darkness condensing around them like a mist. Ever finding a way back out might have proven to be tricky, but Kora had come prepared for this. A roll of never-ending magical thread was independently unwinding itself wherever she walked. Unfortunately, this was also precisely how Nox had trailed her in the first place, or she would have easily beaten him in the race to the artefact.

They made it past a series of minor chambers, making short work of the creatures they encountered, always mindful to avoid depleting their energies. They soon found that their spellcasting style was diametrically opposed, yet strangely complementary. Kora's natural radiance caused most fiends to back away into the shadows, which was where Nox operated. Kora couldn't help but develop a grudging kind of respect for his work.

Eventually they found themselves at the entrance to what had to be the final chamber. It was a large set of wrought iron doors, the symbol of the labyrinth embossed at the centre.

"Any idea what to expect here?" Nox asked, his voice tight.

"I have some theories, based on certain arcane texts, but they won't do us any good," she replied. "Let's just get in there and see what we can do. Do you want to do the honours?"

Nox nodded and carefully turned the door handle.

"Shit!"

Kora glanced through the gap to see what he was seeing. A minotaur, of course it was a minotaur! Just not your communal garden variety of minotaur - this one was massive. This last chamber wasn't so much a chamber but an enormous cave. And still, the minotaur was so tall that his giant horns, roughly the length of an ordinary human, nearly scraped the ceiling. Kora and Nox looked at each other. The minotaur had already noticed them opening the door and was now charging directly at them. There was only one thing for it.

At least there was some bloody space for a change, Kora thought as she allowed her wings to unfold. Not a moment too late, she lifted off towards the cave ceiling, the minotaur now only a few yards away from her. She saw Nox dash into the shadows at the edge of the cave, his robes disguising him perfectly. It seemed the minotaur was trying to swat her out of the air like a fly that had become a nuisance to him. Kora ducked and dived trying to avoid his giant hands, succeeding but making it utterly impossible to cast any spells.

The minotaur swiped again. Kora could feel the air current his mighty hands generated. He'd only just missed her by a fraction. Suddenly the air around the minotaur went pitch black. Thank Sune, Nox had cast darkness. Kora landed and caught her breath, concentrating on building her own spell. The second the minotaur stumbled out of the zone of darkness towards her, she was ready.

"Lux solis!" she cried as her sunbeam hit the minotaur square in the face. He roared and for a moment she thought that she had succeeded in blinding him permanently. But she hadn't thought, hadn't thought of the very object they had come here for! The minotaur spun the Staff of Synthesis in his free hand. Even though he did so blindly, unseeingly, both darkness and sunbeam were sucked into the staff and disappeared, neutralised, ineffective.

But Nox didn't disappoint. At the edge of the cave, the shadows started gathering, getting denser by the second, until at last they precipitated into a solid form. Kora couldn't deny that it was beautiful in its own dark, terrifying way and right now it was on her side. The shadow wolf leapt towards the minotaur, snapping at his heels. The minotaur was distracted for long enough that Kora could summon a guardian of faith between her and the minotaur. The large spectral light form reached for the minotaur, blistering his leathery skin, wherever it made contact. They had him trapped now, taking damage from both sides. Kora caught a glimpse of Nox. He shot her a wicked grin from the other side of the cave.

But the minotaur spun the staff once more, causing both the shadow wolf and light guardian to disappear, as if they had never existed. The minotaur leapt at Kora and she managed to take to the wing at the very last second. But she was sluggish, she'd been too sure of herself, already seeing them win this. The minotaur swung at her with his staff. He hit her square in the stomach, winding her for a second. Kora crashed heavily to the cave floor. As if in slow motion, she saw the minotaur raise his heel to pin her down with his feet. In a last ditch attempt, she tried to jump to her feet. Pain shot through her ankle. She was unable to support her weight. What was more she had lost her mental hold of her wings and wouldn't be able to resummon them again until she'd rested. The minotaur's shadow loomed over her and Kora closed her eyes preparing for the inevitable.

A set of strong arms closed around Kora's waist and when she regained her bearings she found herself at the far end of the cave, deep in the shadows.

"Missed me?" Nox grinned.

She had no quip for him this time, just a massive sense of relief spreading through her half dazed brain. He was still holding her close to his chest.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked, suddenly sounding serious. "That was quite a bad fall you took there."

She tried to refocus her vision as she looked up at him. "Yes.... yes, I think so. My ankle is busted and I can't use my wings now, but I can handle that. But what is worse is that this isn't working! We'd do more damage to him individually than we do cancelling each other out all the time. And still neither of us could defeat him on our own."

"I reckon I've bought us a few minutes," Nox said, looking over at the minotaur at the other end of the cave. The minotaur seemed baffled by his opponent's disappearance, apparently having not idea where she had gone.

"Let me think," Kora mumbled, leaning heavily against Nox. She was finding it hard to think, his close physical proximity distracted her, his moonflower scent mingling with the scent of fresh sweat. Her body softened involuntarily in his arms, her breath quickening.

Nox raised an eyebrow. "Well, if I had had any idea you wanted me that much, last night might have gone differently!" He murmured, his voice low.