A Little Fall of Rain

[Goku]

It was as though the Moors were rewarding them for the needless blood which had been shed. Three days and three nights they were hauled along the road, barely seeing another soul. Those who they did pass refused to meet their eye or acknowledge them.

It was time they sorely needed. Goku was able to heal, his haphazard efforts to channel the new power within him finally bearing fruit on the second day, enough that he could sit up and join the conversation once more. Both he and Justin seemed blissfully ignorant of the dark acts necessary to secure the transport they now enjoyed. Would that the same could have been said for the rest, but a malaise had set in over the guards. The mood was dour, and the quiet suffering of his new friends even dampened Goku’s spirits. He wasn’t sure what had happened whilst he was unconscious, but he knew that he didn’t like it one bit.

The going was slow, and made worse by the tension in the air. At least the food was good, with the supplies stolen from the merchant lending more flavour to their meals than simple gruel and water had been able to achieve. Even that wasn’t enough to lift their spirits, though, as to those who knew where it came from, it tasted sour indeed.

And on the third day, whatever favours the corrupted world was doing for them came to an abrupt end.



There was a terrifying splintering sound and an almighty crash as the wagon bucked against a pothole and its axle was brutally torn asunder. The vehicle lurched to the side and the crates within toppled over, lids thrown open and glass shattering as valuables were thrown wildly around. Justin squealed in panic – gratifyingly, everyone else was startled but managed to hold on to their dignity.

“Is everyone okay?”

Gabriel pulled himself from the wreckage, and the rest of the party followed a few moments later. The horses looked at each other, as though sharing some private joke at the expense of their human masters.

“I think so!” Goku replied, rubbing his head as he looked over the mess. Once everyone was out, he reached down and grasped the bottom of the wagon, straining as he tried to lift it up – and was surprised to find that his strength had been reduced to the point where lifting a fully-loaded wagon by himself was… not actually feasible any longer!

“Hnngh!” After a few moments, Goku stopped straining, and laughed, “Ah, well, I guess if we want to fix it we’ll have to unload it first…”

“Don’t bother.”

Gabriel cast an appraising eye over the cart, and then shook his head. Walking around to the horses, he freed the animals from the wreckage.

“We don’t need it any more. You’re healed. We’ll return to going off-road. Justin, you take a horse, it’ll help speed us up.”

The astronomer clambered up into the saddle, and Goku looked up at the slate-grey sky. It really was very overcast. He could barely make out the sun at all. “Okay, shall I go up again or…?”

Gabriel was about to answer, when Justin suddenly toppled over from the saddle, landing with a heavy thump on the hard ground below. The bodyguard looked stunned, and was down next to his friend in an instant. “Justin? What’s the matter?”

The astronomer let out a low groan, and as Gabriel turned him over the source of the problem was revealed – a tiny feathered dart stuck into the side of Justin’s neck. Gabriel’s fingers closed around it and pulled it out. Behind him, Juliet gasped.

“Drow!”

That exclamation was all the warning they had before the Sisters were upon them, and everything went very wrong very quickly.



There were three of the women; slender elves with jet black skin and sharp, pointed facial features. Goku had rarely encountered anyone who could sneak up on him as easily as these three had, but it was as though they simply materialised out of the air; impressive, given the flat, featureless terrain surrounding them.

They were all dressed in shades of black and purple, their hair brilliant white in sharp contrast. Goku – and his companions – were taken by surprise and the Sisters moved amongst them as though they were statues. Goku did his best to distinguish between the three, trying to work out which he ought to focus on first.

One seemed to be wielding some sort of quarterstaff with a spider motif – in his mind, he put her down as the most likely to be a martial artist. The shortest of the three (though none of them were particularly tall; perhaps just over five feet with the tallest) was carrying a pair of wickedly-curved daggers dripping visibly with a clear liquid; poison, most likely. The third had produced a whip which, even now, was transforming into a snake! Okay, so all of them were clearly menacing in their own right and all of them needed to be dealt with if they were going to get through this.

And they weren’t going to make that easy.

The dagger-wielding drow had picked her target well, and drove both daggers deep up and under Gabriel’s arms, expertly finding the weak points in his armies. The Captain cried out in pain, and crumpled almost immediately, collapsing down to the cold earth to join his downed friend.

“GABRIEL!”

Juliet’s horrified cry was cut short by a blast of bright power from the quarterstaff wielder, which sent the poor woman sprawling to the floor. The snake-headed whip lashed out to bite through the protective covering of Fenchurch’s arm, and he grunted as poison began to course through his veins as well.

Goku again found himself wishing that his senses were as sharp as they usually were; the best he could do was hope that they were still breathing and hadn’t been killed immediately… he couldn’t tell how close the unfortunate souls were, but he was furious. These people weren’t mindless monsters, they were clearly alive, and moving with a calculated, hateful malice.

”Enough!”

Goku’s shout was coupled with a sudden flaring of his power, bright white light coursed around him. That did seem to give the drow momentary pause.

“Why are you doing this? What do you think you are doing?!”

The woman with the whip cast a glance to her sisters as Darius and Johan took up protective stances over the fallen bodies of Justin and Gabriel. Rosalia and Fenchurch – still nursing his arm – flanked Goku, trying to add what support they could and make ready for the inevitable counterattack.

“They are drow.” Fenchurch warned, with a low whisper. “They don’t need a reason to try and kill us.”

The woman with the whip allowed herself a small smile, and cracked her hissing weapon, which spat menacingly, its eyes on Goku. The spiky-haired warrior did his best to keep all three in his eye line – these people were fast!

“My name, male.” She spat, “Is Drisnolu Aleanviir, and you would do well to show me the proper respect I am due as a Priestess of Lolth.”

Goku’s boots dug into the earth and he raised his hands into his traditional fighting stance. “Sorry, I don’t have much respect for people who need to use sneak attacks.”

The woman with the daggers let out a high-pitched giggle, before a sharp look from both her sisters stifled that.

Drisnolu did her best to press on as though her sister hadn’t sounded like an over excitable schoolgirl.

“We are here to claim the Astronomer. He will tell us where to find the artefact, and the power of Menzoberranzan will rise!”

Goku risked a glance to his downed friends. Juliet wasn’t moving. Rosalia was murmuring a prayer of some sort over Gabriel’s body – not a good sign, as far as Goku was concerned.

“I don’t know what this Menzober-whatever is.” He said, “But if you want my friends, you’re going to have to go through me!”

Drisnolu smirked, and raised her free hand lazily. “Very well.” She said, “Schezalle. Redeem yourself for your indiscretion.”

The dagger-wielding woman sprang into action, but Goku was at least expecting it this time. He leapt into the air, heading straight up, and she stabbed her daggers where he had been just a split second earlier. She jumped after him, a cry of anger on her lips… but she could only jump; he could turn, and it was easy to twist around in the air and let her continue her ascent harmlessly.

“HYAH!”

Throwing his hand out, a bright ball of yellow energy slammed into the back of the startled Drow assassin, and – brittle as she was – she hit the ground like a rubber ball, bouncing once before rolling and stumbling back up to her feet.



The guards weren’t about to let Goku turn this into a three on one fight, though! The instant she landed, Fenchurch and Rosalia closed on Schezalle, shields and swords at the ready – though Fenchurch’s sword-arm was held low and shaky.

“Impressive.” Drisnolu conceded to the warrior floating in the air. “You are an outsider in this. I will give you one chance to leave now, with no hard feelings, or else…”

Behind them, Shezalle was having a much harder time fighting the two guards at once. She was at her best in quick bursts, and whilst they couldn’t touch her, she couldn’t find her way past their shields either. Steel rang against steel as the assassin did her best to fend off the guards.

Goku returned the woman’s smile – though his had no trace of bad feeling in it at all.

“What’s the matter?” He asked, “You don’t want to try and kill me anymore? You’re starting to sound nervous.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed, and she snapped her head to glare at the woman with the quarterstaff.

“What are you waiting for Phaetlara? Put an end to this at once!”

Now that he was looking more closely, she really did look like a martial artist. The other women were wearing leather or chainmail, heavy armour that would slow a martial artist down. She was wearing cloth robes. Goku hardened his stance, fully expecting an attack from some strange and unexpected direction – these people didn’t seem big on playing fair.

“Why dear sister.” Phaetlara murmured, “You normally get so angry if I cast so much as a simple cantrip without your express permission. But, very well, so be it.”

She kept murmuring, her voice a soft and sibilant whisper, and the quarterstaff in her hand glowed with a sickly green light. Goku’s jaw clenched tight as he prepared himself for the attack – perhaps some kind of beam? Maybe she was just incredibly powerful and that was why she had been holding back so far…

But with a sudden, sharp motion it wasn’t a beam that exploded from the tip of the staff, but instead a burst of thick, cloying white webbing. Goku let out a startled cry and tried to jet backwards, but the spread was too great – he was snared in the sticky strands, as were the injured Fenchurch and Rosalia, the webbing spread out over twenty feet. Shezalle was swift enough, perhaps well-versed enough in her sister’s machinations to be expecting it as well, that she was able to nimbly slip between the sticky strands as they stuck to the defenders.

Drisnolu stepped forwards to the edge of the webbed boundary, Goku caught on the very perimeter of it, and met the brash warrior’s eye. He struggled and strained against the webbing, but it was tough! Pinned down to the earth, much of his tactical advantage was now gone, and his strength wasn’t quite great enough to just tear the webs aside.

“Now then, male.” The Priestess sneered, “I think it is time you learned to respect your betters.”

The snake-headed whip lashed out, and bit deep into Goku’s shoulder. The poison was terrible, like acid injected directly into his veins. It burned its way through him, and he let out a scream of his own. That only seemed to entertain the Priestess more, and she drew back her whip, intending to deliver another punishing strike.

This time, Goku’s hand snapped upwards and grabbed the snake by the head. There was real anger in his eyes now, not just at the pain caused to him, but the underhanded methods they were trying to use to win!

The snake writhed and squirmed, trying to find its way out of Goku’s closed fist, and then… he closed it tighter. There was a sickening crunch, and the ‘whip’ went limp.

“Why you…!”

Drisnolu threw the useless weapon to the side and drew her backup – a long, sharp and silvered rapier. She was just about to strike again when Goku unleashed another bright yellow burst of light, and it was all she could do to roll away before it struck her down.

“Sister!” Shezalle chastised, “We don’t have long before the spell is broken. Stop wasting time and complete the mission!”

As much as she hated to agree with the assessment, Drisnolu couldn’t deny it was true. The assassin had drawn blood on each of her targets, but they were shallow wounds and it was impossible for her to target anything vital thanks to the armour and shields being brought to bear to cover each other.


Darius and Johan remained in guard formation over the two bodies, but now found themselves facing down both Drisnolu and Phaetlara. Goku and the others continued to struggle against the webbing, but there simply wasn’t enough time.

They were brave men, and when they calculated that the pair were close enough, the guards rushed forwards intent on doing what their allies had been unable to. However, just before the two men were on them, Drisnolu raised her hand.

“Xal nindolen rivvilse kampi'un lil' seke arlathil de' oloth!”

The darkness which flowed from around her was not merely the absence of light; it was something deeper. A level of sucking, clawing void brought from the hells of Lolth herself. The assassin let out another unbecoming burst of laughter, and danced backwards across the webbing, to stand atop the ruins of their wrecked wagon.

“You got off lucky.” She said to the assembled masses. “Next time, I won’t go so easy on you.”

She sheathed her daggers, and leapt backwards into the darkness.

When it cleared, the three drow were nowhere to be seen – and nor were Darius, Johan or – most importantly – Justin. Only Gabriel remained, his breathing coming in hard, laboured groans.