3 comments/ 3456 views/ 7 favorites Disposable Hero Ch. 03 By: Bokhun The long awaited 3 Chapter is finally here. This chapter focuses on Shynta, Mica and Zilvra more than Henri. I want to thank everybody for their comments and feedback, you all have been a great help in making this story better. This tale would not be possible without the incredible team. My rough editor Anubismark who gets to see my awful rough drafts and makes them understandable. My continuity editor Traff who helps me keep to the story. My finishing editor BunLover who helps put the final and often embarrassing finish on my work. Please Vote and Enjoy this episode of Disposable Hero. Thank You Bokhun ***** The Gathering Adjusting to the Surface Even before Shynta's lifeless body hit the floor, she could see her cold eyes and knew at that moment what had happened. She continued to watch the battle as she was pulled away from her body. Turning, she saw a bright light yet this light did not hurt her eyes in fact it felt warm and inviting. The draw was irresistible and called to her like a moth to a flame. Entering the light, she was blinded for a moment as her eyes recovered she noticed that she was back in her room. Looking around, she noticed that she could not hear the sounds of battle. As she was about to leave her room she saw the door shimmer and a woman walk out of the shimmer. This woman looked human except for the large pair of white wings behind her. She gave off the same warmth as that light she had seen, this warmth unnerved her as it did all Drow, such things were to be feared. Reacting on instinct she took up a fighting stance and readied herself for the torment to come. The winged woman said, "My name is Michaela and I am your death guide. I am here to advise you on your choices for the afterlife and then take you there. In that role I must tell you that your goddess has claimed your soul and returning to your body is beyond the power of those on that plane. Your choices are to go back as a spirit and become what your kind call a Banshee; if you choose this I must tell you that you would be hunted by those who hunt the undead. Or you may proceed to the Demon Web and your goddess, and reap what you have sown. Make your choice. If you fail to make it I will send you to your goddess and honor her claim." Shynta wanting to return asked, "There is no way for me to return to Henri?" Michaela smiled warmly and said, "If you wish to return now then it would be as a Banshee. However, I must inform you that you could not follow the Keeper. He must return to his home, and Banshees are bound to the world they died on. Before you ask, only those who are a threat to their realm are unbound and sent to a realm of their making, only the Keeper can free them. If you go to your goddess you will be able to see him again after the Renewal is over. Time is running out for you to make your choice, so choose soon." Shynta knew what awaited her in the Demon Web; all Drow did, and asked, "How long will it be till Renewal?" Michaela put her hand on her shoulder and said, "Your choice is made then. I will tell you and we will leave for the Demon Web. Depending on when, or even if, Henri opens the gates; about one to one and a half years. If he hasn't by a year and a half, they will open of their own accord and you will have no Renewal." With that they left Shynta's room and as they headed to the Web Michaela said, "Do not worry, The Great Creator and Great Destroyer have given Henri more than enough power to survive, and your sisters are with him so fear not and survive. When Renewal begins run and Henri will hunt you, know that he, and those with him, will give you a trial. Should you be found innocent you will return to the living." A brief smile crossed Shynta's face when she heard that and she saw the smile on Michaela's face. This moment was cut short as the smell of sulfur and the feeling of dread flowed around them. Michaela landed and kneeled before Lloth saying, "I bring the soul of Shyntaunlin Hla'ath to you for interment until Renewal." Lloth smiled at the sight of an angel on her knees before her. She lived for the day that they would do so as her own forces. Lloth knew they would not release any soul unless the contract was fulfilled and lied, saying, "I accept the soul of Shyntaunlin Hla'ath until Renewal may she find forgiveness and grow beyond this plane." Michaela grimaced knowing Lloth would not keep her word, but she had no power to deny the contract between the Great Gods and the mortals that became Gods. She released Shynta and watched as she reformed into the Drowess she was in life. With her job done Michaela left Shynta to receive her punishment at least that was how Michaela saw it. Shynta saw with her own eyes the twisted form of her goddess who was surrounded by very large driders. Shynta mouthed the most feared words any Drow knew, Handmaidens. This is what became of the leaders and high priestesses, they were turned into mirror images of Lloth. Lloth grabbed Shynta by the hair and lifted her to her feet saying, "If it isn't failure number one. Normally I wouldn't waste my time with someone as lowly as you. However, your actions with Henri have drawn my attention and you are aware what happens to those who draw my attention, aren't you?" Shynta knew her torment would be even worse because she had submitted to a male and to make it worse a non-Drow. If Lloth knew how she cared for Henri then who knew what Lloth would do. Lloth watched her and relished the fear but she had other plans for Shynta and said, "Oh don't worry, I know you think you love the human so I have prepared something special for you and your failure of a sister." Almost on cue she saw Michaela again, and watched as she presented another soul to Lloth. Shynta wondered who it was, and smiled as she saw Mica, her killer, kneeling before Lloth and telling her how she had been a loyal servant. Lloth backhanded Mica across the room maybe 200 feet, her eyes glowed red and fire came from them as she said, "Loyal? You were my priestess, and as such you had three duties. Did you do those three?" Mica knew she had and said, "Mistress I have done as you commanded of all your priestesses." Lloth, still not satisfied, ran a clawed finger along her left ear, down the chin, and up the right ear. She smiled as she pulled the face off of Mica, who howled in pain. As her face regrew she heard Lloth say, "I ask three simple things and you failed me. Removing your face was nothing, next I will remove your womanhood and watch as it grows back and enjoy your screams as it does. Did you serve me with all your black heart? No, your mother and sister were still above you. Did you spread my message to those on the surface? No, you never once brought those who your own house kept to me. Were you fruitful and multiply? No, instead you spent your time in the beds of your fellow priestesses, your kin and other women. What is the punishment for not having children, let alone for preferring women?" Mica's eyes went wide in horror. Her own goddess knew she was a lesbian and the punishment was the destruction of her very soul. Not having children went against everything Lloth had taught. The only time a Drowess was safe from harm was when she was with child, or the child was too small to defend her or his self. Mica pleaded knowing that Renewal was real, "I swear I found no male that caught my fancy, had I, then I would have given you many future priestesses." She knew for a fact that many of her fellow priestesses used potions to become even more fecund. She justified her actions in her mind thinking, 'Is it my fault that males are so disgusting, so pathetic? No, of course it isn't.' She continued along this line thinking, 'Is it my fault that Drowesses have such full kissable lips, soft skin, even give off such wonderful sounds when we are together? No, of course not, they liked it just as much as I did maybe more.' 'If they didn't want that then they wouldn't have slept with me, so what have I done to deserve this treatment? Nothing, I have been a loyal follower.' Mica was snapped out of her justification when she heard Lloth say to her sister, "You keep that smug look. I will enjoy watching it fade away when you realize that Henri didn't care for you. He shed no tears for you; he does not mourn you because he never cared. Well look upon your beloved Henri now." Shynta looked and saw Dirzune beseeching Lloth for healing to save Henri; she turned and saw the look of pure joy on her goddesses face as she ignored the request. Her eyes flashed red as she watched Dirzune give up on saving Henri. She knew from experience that a heal potion would only stop the bleeding on those several occasions she had whipped him, potions on such a wound would not stop the bleeding, or remove the poison, that required magical healing. She watched Belar and Zilvra try and heal Henri, her smile returned as she watched his wounds close. She turned to Lloth her smile still on her face as she said, "My sisters and his protectors have saved him, this is all the proof I need that I might be here now but I will not stop fighting you. I deny you now as I should have done before I died. If Henri doesn't mourn me, then that means he will come for me and since you wanted him protected that means he is more important than you are. You are nothing, and I laugh at your home, what are you going to do torment me? What can you do that we do not do to ourselves? I know you will truly torture me by being kind and nice." She laughed in Lloth's face, her bluff was a good one but she was certain Lloth was going to do something, and Lloth had never been kind, so why not make her angry. Lloth roared with laughter, clearly not a good sign, and looked the much shorter Shynta square in the eye as she spoke slowly making certain Shynta understood every word. "I have something special for both you and your sister, so please keep that fight up. I will enjoy your fall all the more. I don't want to keep you any longer from what you are expecting, I hope I meet your standards. I know you have already exceeded mine, don't let me down Shyntaunlin I have high hopes for a glorious fight and an even more glorious downfall. I wonder which of my minions both of you will turn into." Lloth spun towards the demonic Driders and told them to get both of them out of her sight as they were dragged off to whatever Lloth had planned for them. *********** On the largest of Alitora's moons Gabriella watched over Henri as he slept and wondered when she should make herself known to him. She was also deciding if he stayed with these Drow because of who he was, or because they were the only ones he knew. She studied him and saw that sure enough the codex was now part of Henri. What she found more interesting was that a small part of the codex was inside of the Drowess lying next to him, she wondered if that meant she had to present herself to Zilvra as well. With dawn breaking, Gabriella watched as Zilvra was awoken by the sun's rays hitting her skin. The warmth felt good on Zilvra's skin, as she opened her eyes the light hurt her immensely. She got up and stumbled into the cave. As she entered the cave Zilvra's eyes still hurt but not as bad, though the splitting headache wasn't going away at all. Inside the cave were all the others except for Henri of course Alak would walk out for a few minutes and then head back to the cave. Henri was dying of curiosity and asked, "What exactly are you doing?" Alak having done this several times said, "Our eyes are very sensitive to light and when we first come to the surface they can only stand a little bit of time. I can stand more because I have come to the surface before, you do realize that it will take a month, or more, before we can see with a little pain but always in some pain." Henri offering, "I have a device that can keep track the next time you come out, I can time you and them so you can know exactly how long it will take." Alak smiled and agreed. Henri surmised that Rikton was clearly older than Alak, assuming that blond hair meant they were old. Henri thought it might be like gray hair to humans. He walked in the cave with Alak. Alak looked astonished and asked, "Your people have that deafening stick and can keep track of time without a candle or glass? Next you will tell me that you people fly without wings or magic." He started to laugh, but stopped when he saw Henri smirking and trying to tell him that they had. Henri replied, "It is called a gun and some of them are so quiet you wouldn't know they had fired. I have tools that can count very accurately, and yes Alak we can fly without wings like a bird or spells." Alak never had a need to track time and asked, "Why would you need to keep track of time?" Henri said, "When you are fighting several miles away from each other and want to attack at once how do you do such a thing?" Rikton who had been listening from the cave thought for a second, stepped out into the morning sun, winced in pain and said, "We use a message spell, but we would never attack over several miles our armies are too small for that." Henri nodded, from what he had seen their city was very small, more like a town in population and said, "We set the attack for a certain time, and at that time we attack across many miles to confuse the enemy, how far does your message spell travel?" Rikton couldn't take the pain and walked back into the cave thinking as he did and said, "About two miles or so, why?" Henri shook his head and said, "That wouldn't work very well for us in our last world war the Germans one of the nations on my planet invaded another nation and that attack covered thousands of miles and it started at the same time. Remember that you are looking at a lot more land on the surface and much bigger armies." Zilvra heard that and wondered how much bigger they could be. "How big are armies on your planet?" Henri remembered how big the American military was and replied, "Before the war, the nation I represent had about one and half million soldiers, and it wasn't the biggest." The Drow all looked at him dumbfounded as Dirzune asked, "So your people are a warrior people, if everybody fights in your army? Are you raised to be warriors?" Henri looked at her strangely and said, "No, the American military which I am part of was voluntary at that time but now we take able bodied men and women when they turn eighteen years of age unless they are an only child, or medically unable." Rikton got lost at the thought of volunteering to die. "How many people are in this America place?" Henri wasn't sure and said, "About one hundred and fifty million, or so, I guess. I couldn't really tell you for certain because we are at war and the losses have been high over the last ten years." Again a look of shock came over them as Belar asked, "This America must be a huge empire to have so many people. Does it control your planet?" Henri smiled and said, "America tries to control it, but with war all over the world it is hardly able to control its own people, let alone the other billion plus people on Earth." Rikton remembering what he had seen in Alak's collection said, "You should see their cities here they are truly amazing from the drawings that Alak brought back. How many people live in the capital Alak?" Alak was trying to remember which drawings Rikton was talking about and said, "I don't know Rikton they said the largest city was Deep Water in what they call the Star Isles, wherever that is and I was told that had one million people and growing." Zilvra said in disbelief and even a hint of fear, "I knew humans bred quickly, but that fast they could defeat us easily by throwing soldiers at us till we tired. Why haven't the other races done something about them?" Henri just listened and learned as Alak said, "From what I understand the humans like huge tracts of open land, so our cousins stay in the forests and away from them. Besides, they love to war with each other and when they fight the Orcs I have been told it is a sight to see." Dirzune said showing she was used to such talks, "If they ever pulled together they could be a threat. We should try and stay allies to those Orcs if they can keep them at bay we could stand a chance." Alak said, "It isn't that simple, you see when the Orcs invade the humans call a crusade and unite. Plus I have seen them use magic, and while they don't live as long as we do they are very versatile. A human fighter with some training would be able to hold his own against any of our own." Zilvra said her voice thick with disbelief, "Alak you are saying these humans would be able to best me or Belar, is that right?" Henri interjected, "I think he was saying that underestimating anybody is dangerous and twice so here, none of you are used to the sun. How well will you fight when they have numbers and half the skill of you two?" Zilvra sounding agitated at the back handed insult said, "You don't think we can fight without being able to see?" Henri remembered Alak talking about his deafening stick and knew this would end the conversation. He asked Alak, "You said you saw humans using guns? What did they look like, the men fighting were they in formations, or not? Did they have big guns that made a lot of noise?" Alak always loved telling tales and was glad to spin a yarn, "The one group had those big guns that fire very far and are really loud with a lot of smoke. The other had big guns and one that was pointing upwards. Thesoldiers walked towards each other with guns longer than yours and a knife on the end. They had horses with them as well, but they kept them in the rear of the fight, or sent them into the woods. The first army had a few horses too, but fought mostly on foot. When they all fired it was hard to see through the smoke." Henri thoughts raced trying to figure out the thick smoke and after a few seconds and asked, "Did they walk in lines like this?" Henri drew ranks on the ground, and when Alak saw this he nodded. Henri continued, "Ok so they are using black powder muskets and have basic cannons. If you see anybody with those muskets don't worry, they are highly inaccurate, so one on one charge them. If you see many, stay away. Muskets are only accurate in a volley, which means it would take thirty shots to hit you and even then you might not get seriously hurt. Only an army would have cannons, so we don't have to worry about that. If we see anything over six hundred men we will know well in advance and can get out of their way." Rikton wondering if Henri had better weapons asked, "Do your people use the same weapons?" Henri said, "No, we use rifles and have contained shot. "Remember when I showed you my round, well armies here have to load the charge and a ball before firing. Here look..." he took out a clip and showed all of them and asked Alak, "They would shoot, and then set the gun down to reload it, right?" Alak nodded and said, "Yes, but they also threw things at each other that exploded. When they got close enough they started to stab each other." Belar could tell Henri knew what they were doing and felt certain of the answer asking, "Are your weapons more advanced?" Henri said emphatically, "Yes, from the sound of it they have grenades, so that would put their weapons about four hundred years behind mine." They all looked shocked again, as Henri looked out of the cave and into the spring sun he remembered that Zilvra wanted to learn martial arts and he did want to practice the sword with her. He could feel the warmth in the air and it would be a beautiful day to practice. Disposable Hero Ch. 03 Pt. 02 The Gathering Adjusting to the Surface Walking about five hundred meters away from the camp, Henri stopped and looked at the ground, clearly displeased the tracks looked similar to wild pigs but much bigger. Zilvra was lost wondering why he was looking at the ground all she could tell was that a short animal had made a path. She asked wondering, "What are you looking at?" He said softly, "I think this is a boar run. Boars are a small, yet very powerful animal, and good eating, I might add. This isn't good, having boars this close to our camp it will only be a matter of time till we have a problem with them, they are very territorial." She looked at the path, wondering why their territorial behavior would be a problem, and asked, "How big are these boars? Are they poisonous?" He answered, "They are about as tall as those bushes and weigh more than I do with very sharp tusks that would split your lizard's skin open very easily. We need to kill the boars. Once we do, we will have fresh meat for about 3 days, and if your family has anything to cure the meat then it can last longer. Besides with a build as big as you are we need to increase our caloric intake of food if we are going to be working in the sun, it will cause us to burn more calories so being this thin isn't good, we need a little more mass on us." His attention was caught by the wind as it changed. He got up and took a deep whiff, his stomach grumbled and smiled at the memories that smell brought up. By comparison Drow eat like birds and he had had enough of their diet and the thought of grilled boar was great but this smell was even better. 'A smoke house, perfect' he thought. He signaled to Zilvra as she caught up to him, she was lost as to what had caught his attention. As he followed the smells for about two kilometers he came to a clearing, as he looked at the house Henri saw the cows in the pasture. Zilvra was surprised by his sense of smell; she didn't smell anything but smoke until they got to the clearing, when the smell of cooking meat came to her. In her defense, with all the new smells around her, she couldn't tell what was what. Henri told her to stay there, he was going to go and talk to the people at that farm. He just hoped his fatigues wouldn't cause too many problems. Stepping out of the woods and across the road, Henri started calling to the house not wanting to shock anybody, he told Zilvra to stay hidden and wait for his return. When he got about fifty meters from the house a little girl, about eight years old, came out of the front door and looked at him. Henri waved and smiled his best 'I'm not here to hurt you' smile while asking, "Is your mommy or daddy home, I need to talk with them." Before she could answer, a woman of about thirty came out. She saw the sword at his side which sent her back inside where she began whispering something to the girl. The little girl ran further into the house, as the woman spoke but Henri could see the fear in her eyes, "What is your business here?" She looked at his sword fearfully, this wasn't good, if she thought he was a threat she wouldn't trade. Henri smiled at her and in a very friendly tone said, "I smelled your smoke house and wanted to do some trading." She looked at him and said still not trusting him, "Where are your goods to trade?" Out of the door came three boys, one holding a crossbow, the others with spears in their hands. Henri kept his hands in view as he didn't want this to get ugly. Henri carried on talking, "My goods are back at my camp site, I found a wild pig run and was going to hunt the pigs. I stopped when I smelled the smoke. I would like to trade any meat I kill for some smoked meats for my trip to Delliletum" She smiled and told her boys to lower their weapons. Her voice showed her relief, "You would get rid of those bothersome pigs for us? My husband has talked about hunting them down because they keep destroying our fields, and he will be thrilled if you have taken care of the problem for him." Henri smiled in relief, happy this was going to work out, "Then we have a deal? I'll bring some coin and maybe I'll buy some fresh goods if you have some. I'll come by in the evening then." With that he bade them goodbye and was happy to be able to get some real food. When he got back to Zilvra, he was pleasantly surprised to see that she had remained hidden, as she stepped out of the shadows and greeted him. "Well we won't starve out here, and I've made a contact for your family," Henri said proud of his accomplishment. She retorted back like he was a moron, "You expect us to trust those humans?" He shook his head, but understood such ignorance would slowly fade with time on the surface. Henri said trying to sound worldly, "Right now you need all the friends you can get." She couldn't argue about that, but still didn't like the thought of trusting these people, and he really couldn't blame her. When they got back to their camp Henri looked around for a bow and some arrows. He found one and handed it to Zilvra. He asked Belar if she wanted to help, but she shook her head no and told him that her head hurt from the light. He was guessing it would be the same as being outside in winter on a sunny day without something to shade their eyes. Henri looked around and saw that it was late afternoon and the shadows were setting in. As he looked around he saw a length of rope and an excellent idea occurred to him. Henri tried to talk Belar into walking out of the cave where she and everybody else were hiding, but he got nothing but attitude from her about not wanting to go out of the cave because of how much the lighthurt. Henri took the time to speak with Alak about the human farm that he saw and the deal he had made and asked for some money to get the things they would need. Alak agreed, after all he had no real reason to mistrust Henri; it was good to know somebody trusted him. Henri turned back to Belar. He was unsure of the answer but he asked, "Can you make it dark around yourselves?" He had seen Dirzune do this and had seen others do it in the fight at the mansion. Dirzune said, "Yes, but why would we?" Trying not to sound too hopeful, Henri continued, "I need your help with a very big animal that will give us a lot of food when we kill it. Now the best way to kill it is with spears. So if you make it dark around yourselves then I can lead you to the woods where the shade would help you not be so blinded by the sun and you would be able to help me to hunt." After thinking for a moment Dirzune said, "We wouldn't be able to see where we are going. That darkness prevents our dark vision from working." Now, he knew this would happen and said, "Tie this rope around one of you and the other person can hold on to it. Zilvra will lead you to the woods, and then you can stop that blackness." Now, they understood what was going on and agreed, partly because they wanted to see this animal. Henri walked to the fire pit and got the fire going and well stoked as he told them he was ready. They cast the darkness and were enveloped in a globe of darkness five meters in radius that light could not penetrate. Zilvra lead them to the woods and told them to stop. They did and canceled the magical darkness. Even though they were in the woods, they still winced as it was still very bright for them. They got a little more comfortable as they walked deeper into the woods. When they came to the pig run, Henri asked Zilvra, "Are you ready to go wild pig hunting?" She nodded, clearly glad to be doing something, and he thought she must curious about what a boar looked like. He handed her the bow and said, "Get up to some higher ground to get a better shot and aim just behind the front legs." She smiled took the bow and cast a levitation spell and floated up about 2m, he still couldn't believe that her people could do that. Henri put Dirzune and Belar on each side of the run and told them when the pig was there to stick the spears in and leave them in. He didn't like the thought of Belar being involved, she was still with his child after all, but Henri had no choice. He got in the middle of the run and began to make a pig call as best he could. After a few minutes a 200kg male stepped into the run, clearly not happy. It was green and dark brown but this boar was almost three times the size of one on Earth and had six legs not four. Henri took off running away from the big pig because as soon as it saw him it charged after him. As it came past Zilvra, she fired two arrows, one hitting the shoulder, the other hitting the chest close to the heart. Now the pig came close to Dirzune and Belar, and Zilvra screamed "Now!" and they jumped out and shoved both spears into the sides of the pig which caused it to squeal in pain and slow from its pursuit of Henri. Henri climbed up a tree, he saw the pig turn and try to head back towards the direction in had come, he knew it wouldn't live much longer but it was still better to wait and to be safe than sorry. After another minute, the pig dropped to the ground having trouble breathing. He climbed down and walked up behind the pig, took out his Tanto and cut a huge gash in the pig's neck killing it quickly. He called both Belar and Dirzune over and asked if they could carry the pig back to camp. He thrust the boar on to one spear and they each took an end. He told them he would be there shortly after he checked out the nest with Zilvra. Henri fetched the arrows from the pig and handed them to Zilvra, she asked if she could come down now or not. This gave him another idea so he said no and asked if she could move around with that spell. She shook her head, so he took her foot and told her to keep her eyes out for a nest and a female; he explained what it would look like. When they got closer, Zilvra saw a small clearing off the run on the side of a small hill. In the middle of the clearing there was a large female pig grazing with its five piglets. Zilvra raised the Long Bow and fired two arrows hitting the sow in the heart and just behind the heart. The sow squealed and looked to see where the arrows had come from but the sow had no clue. She tried to run into the bush as two more arrows hit her and the sow fell to the ground and started to bleed out. Henri told Zilvra to come down and help him catch the piglets. Upon returning to camp with the dead female pig and the captured piglets, Henri gutted one pig and trussed it up above the fire and told the others in the party to keep turning the pig for the next four hours and it should be done by then. Henri grabbed both his Katana and Wakizashi and placed them one above the other, he took his pack placed the piglets inside and took the sack of money. He had Zilvra come with him as he would need her help to carry the pig. It was dark when they got to the homestead. As he walked up the road Zilvra went with him she knew that humans couldn't see very far at night and she would stay just out of their light. Henri shouted to the family so as not to scare them when he walked up. A short man came out, lit lanterns on the porch of the house, and stood with a crossbow in his hands as Henri came into sight, Seeing the pig on Henri's shoulders the man lowered his crossbow and greeted Henri as he called for his boys to help Henri out. The men stayed on the porch as the farmer's wife came out and they started talking. She said, "I see you got a nice looking sow there" Henri set it on the steps and said, "It is, and I also have five piglets for you" as he took out the scared piglets, which were squealing and gave them to her. Her husband smiled and said, "Thank you friend. I have been meaning to get rid of them for some time, let's talk a little business. My wife said you were looking to trade the boar for some smoked meats, is that correct?" Henri lied, saying, "Yes, we lost our horses on the way to the dwarven Underearth stronghold, and they gave us lizards. It will take us forever to get to the nearest town to get horses and when I saw the pig run and smelled the smoke house I thought about stocking up for the trip." The man couldn't argue with Henri's reasoning. If he only knew the truth, Henri doubted the farmer would have been so helpful. The farmer offered, "I have a horse I could lend. The nearest town where you could get horses is about a day away, unless you try the elven village about a quarter day from here. For a 100 gold deposit, I will let you borrow our horse" 'Shit, just my luck' Henri thought. Henri knew from the Drow, that Sun kissed, or surface, elves hated the Drow and vice versa. Henri's current allies were blind and he was outnumbered by people who knew this land better than he did. Henri thought hard and replied, "Agreed. Can you show me how to get to the elven village Mr...?" The man said, "Mr. Ranchov, Mikhail and your name good sir?" Henri replied, "Henri Bordeaux. It is nice to meet you." Henri extended his hand and greeted his new friend. Henri looked at Mikhail's wife and asked, "Could I get some bacon from that boar?" She nodded and offered, "You said you wanted some fresh goods. Let's go into the larder and I will let you pick a few things. Honey, can we give him a few bottles of that wine the elves traded for meat, for the pigs?" Mikhail nodded and they talked some more in the larder. Henri sampled some of the cheeses and meats they had and made his choices for their trade. With the business done they headed out. Henri said that he would be by tomorrow just after dawn to get the horse and pay them for it. They agreed and Henri bid them good night and headed back to camp. Zilvra joined him when he was out of the sight of the humans. When he got back to the camp, he showed everyone his haul. They enjoyed the fresh bread he had brought from the farm and what tasted like oranges even if it looked more like a lime as well. They found the pig to be very salty; they loved the elven wine Mikhail gave them. For the most part everybody was happy with Henri's first trade. He told them the bad news about the nearby elven village and mentioned that the farmer would lend him a horse. Zilvra looked at him with a very puzzled look and asked, "Do you know how to ride a horse?" His eyes got wide when he realized he didn't. Hell he was used to walking, or riding in an Armored Personnel Carrier. Henri mused and tried to be tough, "How hard could it be?" Zilvra smiled and knew that tomorrow was going to be very funny indeed, she watched him closely as he walked over to the wagon that kept his things. Henri docked his tablet to let it recharge tomorrow and slipped one of the ear buds from his iPod into his ear. As it was nighttime Zilvra saw this movement clearly and looked at the cord going to his ear. She asked, "What is that?" Henri said, "It is more of my people's magic as you call it. We call this an "iPod" it makes music." She looked at him in shock wondering several things like how did he get a group of musicians in such a small thing, or even what music sounded like to this strange man and said, "Can I hear this music?" He took the other ear bud out and set it in her ear. Then he turned the volume down while she watched him as he chose Eric Clapton performing acoustically and let it play. Henri chose Clapton because his father was a big fan and every time he played it Henri felt a little closer to his father, which he could use right about now. Her eyes widened in amazement at hearing music coming from the ear bud. Henri saw everybody looking at them and he asked if they wanted to listen to the music. Of course they all said yes and one by one he plugged in the ear bud and played Layla over and over and over till they had all heard the song. Henri chuckled to himself; he never thought in a million years that he would see people shocked by something he had come to take for granted. This of course led to more questions from Rikton. This was the one person of whom he didn't have a good read. Superficially at least, Rikton seemed fascinated with everything Henri said, like he honestly wanted to know. Rikton asked trying to make a point to the others, "Henri, how would your people act if they saw us?" Henri had all eyes on him as he said, "Well it would depend on where you were. If you were in Japan where I was before coming here you would be walking into a war and at the very least we would look at you as spies." Dirzune knowing how her own people treated spies, wanted to know something else and asked, "From what you have seen, if we stayed true to ourselves how would your people react to us?" It wasn't often that she spoke and Henri found himself wondering what they would think and finally said, "Again, it depends on where you were in a war zone. We have kill on sight orders, so if you showed up there you would be shot at, if not killed. As for your way of life we really wouldn't care as long as the other person agreed to such a thing. So yes, if you went back to beating and killing each other we would stop you. It is against our laws." Rikton asked lost at the thought of laws that people followed and asked, "So your people follow these laws?" Henri said, "Sure. We are for the most part a law abiding people. We even hire people to enforce the laws, without those laws we believe we would have chaos." The other woman who Rikton said was his daughter finally spoke saying, "Why does any of this matter? We are living in the surface wilderness leaving our fates to a human and a male no less. Have you lost your minds trusting a slave?" Rikton knowing that the surface is male driven said, "Ethev that is enough ..." He didn't get to finish as she roared, "Who are you to speak to me, remember your place male, my matron may be soft for you but I have no such compulsions, sire or no." Henri could believe such disrespect to their own father but that didn't mean he liked it and said sarcastically, "On my world we have a saying that children should be seen and not heard. You could learn a lot about the people on the surface by shutting your hole and listening to those who have been on the surface, dumb ass." Her eyes glowed with hatred as she charged him, Henri stayed seated as she went to strike him. As she swung he blocked, rolled and turned then spun her to the ground. Throwing his weight over her chest and started to dislocate her shoulder, only stopping to say, "I guess you never saw me fight in the pit." She screamed in a rage, "Let go of me! How dare you put your hands on the eldest daughter of Dirzune and next head of our house!" Henri laughed at her and just to remind her of the truth said, "You are now the head of nothing, and don't forget that if you want a fight then I am more than happy to beat some respect into you, because that seems to be how your people learn things. I will let you up when you apologize to your father." As he said that he tightened his hold a little more, if he added any more pressure he would dislocate her shoulder. She had gritted her teeth but hadn't said a word as he sat back on her hip and waited. She started to chant and Henri knew she was going for a spell of some sort. He had to let her know that that wasn't happening so he put his left arm around and grab a hold of her breast, giving it a squeeze. She screamed sounding more helpless than anything, "You're dead! You just don't know it yet." Henri replied, "You could have saved yourself from all of this by apologizing to your father, but I must say "That's a very nice rack you have there."" Zilvra, pointing out the obvious, said, "You really think she is going to do something that goes against our nature?" Disposable Hero Ch. 03 Pt. 02 He said, "I can dislocate her shoulder, or just keep feeling her up. Belar can tell you I have a nice touch, right?" Belar had a huge grin and said, "Yes, you do but then again I have never been in that position with you either, maybe we could try that one. You know she is a priestess and can just heal her shoulder so she won't give in? That was a nice move to keep her from the spell she was readying. It would have been interesting to see how much that would have affected you." Henri smiled a twisted grin and looked at both of them as he said, "So I can break several bones and she will be fine?" They nodded and Dirzune said, "The bone will reset but she will be sore and weak for about a day while it heals fully. I could try and heal her fully but she doesn't know such things." He asked Dirzune, "So, should I hurt your child, or let her go? If I hurt her, will you heal her?" Dirzune said rather coldly, "Hurt her and she will know you are strong, let her go and she will take it as a sign of weakness that is our way. I won't heal her; she has to learn that humans can be dangerous. If my child is dumb enough to get into a fight with a survivor of the pits she deserves whatever you dish out to her." Henri's mouth was agape he couldn't believe how cold these people be, even after all he had been through he thought all parents would try and protect their children. Henri let go of her arm and helped her up saying, "Just because you people are fucked in the head doesn't mean I am." Rikton not wanting to see his child hurt said, "Thank you for not hurting my child, she is just doing what she was taught is right and I cannot blame her for being that way." Henri walked away, lay down and looked up at the stars. He saw two moons in the sky and the largest was starting to rise into the night sky. It was a not so gentle reminder that Henri was not on Earth as a small part of him had hoped. Still it was an impressive and tranquil sight he thought as he yawned and curled up to sleep. With that they all settled in for the night. As Henri slept, Ethev was planning and waiting for her chance to get even. *********** Over the past few weeks as Belarbreena's pregnancy grew so too did her magical abilities. It seemed that carrying a child was doubling her spell casting. She found that she now had three forms of rest and not two like most Drow. She could still go into reverie, she could go into commune with her child in a dreamlike state and finally she could sleep like humans do. She had found that the more she communed with her child the more she had a desire to be around Henri. Tonight was no different, again she felt the urge to be near him and be touched by him. It made no sense to her, but it felt like this desire came from much deeper. She could no longer stand it, and when she saw Henri head to bed she was going to satisfy this urge and walked over to Henri. As she got closer Belar could feel the urge growing stronger. She cleared her throat to get Henri's attention. Henri rolled over and asked, his voice full showed he was both sleepy and lost over her reasoning, "What is it Belar? Ever since you got pregnant you have avoided me. Hell you have avoided everybody. Are you having second thoughts about keeping our child?" She pawed at the ground like a shy school girl, ignored his question about their child and said, "Do you remember what you said about us when we were in the Foreverdark?" Henri thought for a second about some of their conversations and the only thing he could think of was his comment about being a woman first and asked dumbfounded, "Are you saying you want to be my woman?" She stood speechless and could only muster a nod, although she was not too sure what "being his woman" meant. He took her hand and guided her down to the ground and his bedroll. Where she sat awkwardly, not sure how to react, or even how to proceed. Henri put his arm around her and suggested, "How about we just cuddle, get used to each other and go from there?" She looked at him lost and asked, "What is cuddling?" He was pleasantly surprised and said, "It is a way of being intimate without sex. I will lie down on my back. You can rest your head on my chest and I will hold you while we get some rest." Henri lay down and did as he had said he would. To watch a Drowess try and get comfortable with anybody was almost funny, if it wasn't so sad. Finally she rested her head on his chest looking like she was ready run in an instant if he tried to pull anything. After a minute or so looking only slightly comfortable she said, "Now what do we do?" He looked her in the eyes and could see how uncomfortable she was. He leaned in and kissed her gently savoring the softness of her lips, seeing her relax Henri said, "Get some sleep the sun will be up before you know it." The look she gave him was comical; she must have thought cuddling was something very elaborate. He wondered if Drow men and women had such things but guessing from how Belarbreena was reacting he didn't think so. She tried to say something but he shushed her and said, "Do you feel my heart beating?" She said yes and he continued, "That is what you listen to and know that that is the sound of someone who cares for you very deeply. That is the sound of safety; you will always be protected when you hear it that loudly." Belar closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep in Henri's arms while listening to the strength of his heartbeat. Being with him like this felt so right to her. On top of that, the nagging desire for closeness with Henri was gone. It was replaced by warmth that seemed to radiate from Henri. This sort of thing wasn't done in Drow culture. Once pregnant the sire was not needed, or desired, to be around their child, let alone how this sign of closeness would put him in the crosshairs of anybody who wanted to hurt the Drowess. Despite all of that she could see how something like this can feel so good. She had always liked Drow males but felt that this is something that could never be incorporated, no matter how much she liked it. She quickly fell asleep in Henri's arms and started dreaming. In her dream she was standing on a hill. There were vineyards as far as the eye could see. She heard a sound behind her and spun to see a large house with a very young drowess playing in the dirt. She approached the child, closely looking for her matron. The child turned, looked up at her with deep blue eyes and smiled at Belar. The little girl rose and brushed the dirt off of her dress, she held up her hand looking into Belar's eyes. This was a very strange Drow child or maybe it was her parents who had made her that way. Belar knew that no Drowess would show that kind of affection for any of their children. She debated whether to hold this child's hand or not. The child finally spoke and said, "Fear not. No one will see us. You can take my hand, I won't tell." Belar noticed she had the same accent as Henri not to mention his deep blue eyes and asked, "Who are you?" Those deep blue eyes seemed to look through her as the little girl said, "I am she that is not yet." That was a big help to Belar who looked around and felt the warm breeze rustle her long white hair, this brought a different question to mind as she asked, "Where are we?" As she waited for the answer, she relented and held the little girl's hand. The smiling child dragged her to the other side of the house and said, "We are in my favorite place. This is Papa's family's home. He is hoping that mommy and I can live here peacefully. I hope so. Isn't beautiful?" As Belar looked down the hill she saw two humans walking up the hill talking to each other in a language she didn't understand. She went to grab the child and run for cover as the child said, "Don't worry they are my aunt and uncle, besides they can't see us because we are not really here." Belar didn't like this, whoever this child was, she was playing with Belar and that was going to stop not. Belar asked, "What do you want?" The little girls smile disappeared as she heard the harsh tone and said, "I wanted to spend some time with you and to say thank you for touching Papa." Belar's eyes got wide as the little girl said, "You were afraid to touch him but I need to be touched by him now." She saw the two walking towards them and said, "Those are members of Henri's house? Is she the matron?" Her daughter giggled and said, "No, mommy she is his little sister. Papa would be the head of this house not her, you could be matron of this family as his wife." Belar looked at her child and said, "Why would I want to be the matron of a bunch of humans? No male can be the head of a house." Her daughter floated up to look her in the eye and said, "Mommy, do you hate me because I am part of them?" Belar looked at her and said, "You look nothing like them and nothing like Henri except for those eyes. What do I call you? I haven't given any thought to your name" Her daughter said, "Is this better?" As she morphed into a mini Henri with a dress on and said, "I am an image of what you want and you want a Drow child not a half-breed. Father wants to call me Lumiere, which is French for light. He sees me as a child of light so I think I like Delharde'lumiere. Mommy, you didn't answer my question, do you hate me because I will be part human?" Belar understood now her child was scared of her and wanted to be comforted by Henri. She said, "Lumiere, that sounds nice. I am angry with my sister for doing this to me, I hadn't planned on being a mother. Yes, I am not thrilled about having a half-human child. I will outlive both you and your sire and that is a strange enough thought." Lumiere said, "If auntie Shynta hadn't done that you wouldn't be here now. Have you forgotten how much stronger your magic is because of what Papa is now." Belar asked, "Just what is Henri now?" Lumiere said, "You were right when you said he is not human any more. He is many things, the guardian, the dragon, Papa, and if you let him, the man that makes you happy till the day you die." Getting annoyed with the conversation Belar probed, "What do you know? You are just a dream that I will forget all about in the morning. I am Drow and hated by the surface people. Keeping you is a mistake, we have to keep moving keep hiding and if found run. Do you really think your sire will help us, me, or for that fact you? No, he will run and save his own ass, or betray us the first chance he gets; he is not so different from us. How my mother put up with this I don't know, but this conversation is over!" Lumiere retorted, "You are wrong and you will see, Papa will always protect us. He thinks nothing like you, he is a good man, a good human. I think it is you who will run, who wants to run. He is different and I am different as well. Ask grandma, she will tell you she did not talk with you just to get feelings and power from bond, she can still have if she rebuilds your bond." With that Belar drifted out of her dream and awoke to a soundly sleeping Henri. She got up and walked away to rejoin her people going against the longing from her child to remain. She had much to think about and didn't want to be influenced by him, or anybody else , she just wanted to be alone. *********** In Undermountain, Halisstra sat in prayer. She had the kind of piety for her god that most Paladins on the surface have for theirs. She believed that her faith was why she had never lost a battle in her life and after seventy victories without defeat she gave all credit to Lloth. In her chambers, a messenger climbed on the walls and began to spin the message on the wall for Halisstra. Not once did the drowess move from her prayers and once finished placing the message on the wall the messenger climbed down and onto her hand. Still not moving from her prayer, she felt a pain her hand and saw a spider biting her hand. As the poison worked through her body she turned to see a message from Lloth herself. The message "read come to Intra'minynda you have honored me greatly and now I wish you to lead my armies once more here, and again at renewal. I await you, do not disappoint me. Halisstra rose and ordered that her things be made ready for her to leave for Intra'minynda at once. As she walked off to grab her armor and weapons she was glad that her goddess had chosen her. She mounted her lizard and headed to the gate wondering what Lloth had in store for her. *********** Mica and Shynta had been sent to a special part of the Demon Web. In this demi-plane they say several male demons lived, mostly of the fiend variety. This was to be expected, what could be worse than torture by a male of any kind to a Drowess? Along the walls in chains, or in many cases in the walls were Drowesses. Shynta recognized many of them as members of her own house including her two sisters who fell in the assault. The others she assumed were those that fell assaulting her home. The sight of those who took part in the battle sent a chill up her spine. Shynta was certain that Lloth was going to do something beyond the normal torment that all Drow expected. Her thoughts were cut off when Lloth entered with her handmaidens. She sauntered up to Shynta and said, "Do you know the best part of your soul being here is?" Shynta could only shake her head in the negative as Lloth continued, "I can do whatever I want to this form and you will regenerate. So I could burn you to ash and watch as you scream in pain as your body heals feeling every last ounce of pain. This is what I am going to do to you and Mica before I send you back." Her smile was that of pure malice that told Shynta and Mica that Lloth had much more planned for them than she was saying. They endured having their spiritual hearts removed and replaced on the other side of their bodies as they screamed in pain as they were gripped by heart attack after heart attack and their hearts moved back to the proper place and move back into the correct position. Lloth smiled at the screams coming from them, she even taunted Shynta saying, "Still think I have no way of torturing you?" She showed her an image of Henri and Zilvra on the surface. Shynta could see that her baby sister was very happy there and Lloth said, "Does that look like they are mourning you? Henri looks so broken up that you are gone. You have studied the humans and you know they are very weak when they lose those they care about. Does Henri look weak to you, because he doesn't to me. Maybe he just didn't care for you at all, or maybe he is more Drow than you are." Lloth smiled and watched as her handmaidens removed Shynta's spine, broke her ribs, pulled her ribs out from the back, and tossed her lungs over her shoulders. The pain was beyond belief as Shynta's lungs moved back into her body, her spine growing back, and her ribs moving back into position and healing. Lloth whispered in her ear, "Soon I will give you back to Henri. You will be trapped in your body and forced to watch as you kill your sisters, matron, sire, and even Henri. See I'm not so bad, I am giving you back to your love." Lloth chuckled as she left the demi-plane. She was enjoying Shynta and could see that Mica was almost ready as well. She would soon have her revenge. ***** This tale would not be possible without the incredible team. My rough editor Anubismark who gets to see my awful rough drafts and makes them understandable. My continuity editor Traff who helps me keep to the story. My finishing editor BunLover who helps put the final and often embarrassing finish on my work. Please Vote and Enjoy this episode of Disposable Hero. Thank You Bokhun Disposable Hero Ch. 03 Henri said, "I thought you wanted to learn how to fight unarmed. I am still willing to practice my sword work." Zilvra's voice picked up at the thought and said, "Of course, where do you want to practice? When would you like to do it at?" He looked around, pointed outside and said, "What is wrong with over there and right now. We'll work up a good appetite and get a start on the day." She wasn't happy with this thought, and thinking of how Belar and Shynta had used their sexuality on him she tried to sway him by striking a sexy pose and saying, "We could practice right here. It is much easier for me to see." No matter what planet Henri was on, women were all the same. He smiled and shook his head at her first attempt to use her sexuality on him. Henri handed her his goggles, which she put on and her eyes felt better in the darkness of his goggles. She looked ridiculous in his goggles and he tried not to laugh but his smile couldn't be suppressed. He walked out into the light to hide his grin and to soak up the sun's warmth. He crossed his arms and said, "You are going to have to get used to the light and sun. The more you run the worse it is going to be. Besides how are you going to learn about the things out here? The lack of light up here can mean the difference between something that is good for you and very harmful." Zilvra wasn't going to budge from the cave even with his goggles on. Henri not wanting to wait walked into the cave with an evil grin on his face, which had all of them feeling uncomfortable. He grabbed her, tossed her over his shoulder, and carried her out and into the light. Cursing at him and trying to wrestle free from his iron grip saying, "Ok you win I'll practice out here. Put me down, NOW!" Henri dropped her to the ground with a resounding thump and thought about how she was still having that headache from the sun and wished he could do something for her. While they were practicing Gabriella heard Henri's request and came down and stood on a wagon watching them waiting to fulfill his order. They spent the next hour practicing basic stance and simple strikes and blocks. Zilvra had a basic understanding but had a long way to go. From time to time she would push things a little too far and wind up on her ass smarting from the beating, as Henri smiled at yet another round of revenge. Zilvra liked his goggles they helped her out a lot, the one thing she noticed was her skin getting warmer. All of the Drow came out of the cave and into the light as they finished. Henri checked his watch when they came out and fifteen minutes later they went back in blind saying that they couldn't see anything, only Alak stayed out for another fifteen minutes. In the cave Gabriella came and touched Zilvra, who shivered and turned to look behind her, right through Gabriella. When Zilvra turned around and looked at the light her eyes still hurt but her headache was gone. She had to admit that the pain was worse without the goggles and figured that it was because any light that got in would cause more discomfort. When Zilvra came back out she told Henri her headache was gone and that the light didn't hurt as much as long as she wore the goggles. As they sat down to breakfast in the cave, Henri opened his pack on one of the wagons. He took out the solar panel and placed it out on the top of his backpack and ran the cord into his night vision goggles. He ran a second cord from the panel to the iPad and cable cords so he would only have to change the adapter in order to charge each. He walked into the cave and told Alak that they had been out for fifteen minutes and that he was out for thirty minutes, he asked if he should set a timer that will make noise so they know when to go back in, Alak said he would think about it. The odd thing was that with his goggles Zilvra was fine outside for long periods of time and said she didn't even have a headache. Henri moved the solar panel with his tablet attached and sat down around the fire pit, he turned it on, took out a pencil, and asked for paper, they didn't have any but they gave him some parchment and began to draw the images he had on the screen and labeled them all. Zilvra came and sat next to him and looked in awe at his tablet, she knew his world's magic was great but this little device had captured what things looked like better than any artist she had ever seen, they looked real. Henri saw her looking at the photos and told her it is a picture. He tried his best to make her understand, but she just didn't get it. He held up his tablet and took her picture with its camera. Henri said, "I just took a picture of you look." He showed her the photo and after explaining that he wasn't going to be stealing her soul or anything like that, she relaxed and studied the photo. She was shocked to see her own image and saw how silly she looked in his goggles. She thought, 'His people were truly something to study. They could copy a person on a board and kill at great ranges with a small piece of metal, see better at night than she could if they wore those special goggles.' After breakfast, he dragged her out into the woods to do a little hunting and to look around, he grabbed his Katana because he knew his guns would draw unneeded attention. Henri could see she was amazed at all the shadows and how the light played on everything. She asked questions about the plants that she had seen, her father had taught her some of them. She even asked about the buds on the trees. Her father had prepared her for winter and it was now mid-spring around mid-to-late April or maybe early May back home. While the flora looked much like Earth's, for the most part the biggest difference was that the greenery had a more blueish hue to it. Zilvra enjoyed the way the various colors blended and wanted to see without the yellow of the goggles. This was what she had waited nearly a year for. Ever since Alak started teaching her the surface tongue and explaining that she would learn to use her skills on the surface, she had been hooked on escaping the darkness and the pointless existence of life in the Foreverdark. Now, here she was, free of the darkness, and was loving every minute of it, she wanted to know what everything was. She listened to Henri as he handed her a 4" green strawberry and explained that it was good to eat as he took a bite of a smaller one. She took a bite of the strange green fruit and enjoyed the sweetness of this find. She looked where he was picking them and saw a large blue one and went to pick it, as she did she brought it to her mouth to taste and heard Henri warn her it might not be ripe. She froze and thought that it might be like the Olathni she had found while they were making their way to the surface. Henri led her to a stream that wasn't more than 700 meters away and uphill slightly, it would make a good place for fresh water, baths and cooking. A small pond maybe 8 meters wide was fed by a waterfall and could be used as a shower. She climbed up next to the waterfall and looked out to see what the surroundings looked like. Her only clear view was along the path that the stream ran alongside of, and she could see a vast sea of a grayish green tree, she had been taught were called Abosiri by her sire. He said they were called that because they stayed gray year round unlike the other trees she could see, like the one with the white outside they called Beareza. She watched, almost entranced by the swaying for the trees in the breeze. Zilvra could see fields in the distance and another forest beyond that, the surface never seemed to end. She looked back down at the pond and at Henri, a strange thought ran through her head as she studied him. She remembered him talking about friends and how you could trust them with your life if need be. She knew she had saved his life and hers in the dark forest when they fought the Nautilythiiri, did that mean they were friends now? Her thoughts raced at what else she would learn in this new world, she was free and wanted nothing more than to stay. It couldn't be worse than what she had lived through in the past 186 years. In many ways it was already better than it had been, she was free of her house and of the threat of her sisters. She wondered what else awaited her, she knew humans had their own music and she wondered what it sounded like? She wondered how their wine compared to Drow wine? Was their food as good as that which she had been raised on? Did they like to dance as her people did? What was human dancing like? Even her sire couldn't answer her questions, he even warned her that humans were taught to hate her kind. That didn't stop her from wondering and looking at Henri she wondered if he might teach her about this wondrous land and its people and in the process she might be able to learn about what a friend is.