What has happened before:  Ranma and his friends have been
living in a magical world for the last ten years, having
been de-aged to six-year-old initially.  The entire crew
have grown up living with the curses and Ranma (now known
as Raeni) is a well-adjusted, powerful teenager.  He/she
search for his friends to gather them for a future
confrontation.

Last time, Uerris tried for furious revenge for her
losses, and Raeni met up with Aarun, Uerris' father. 
Uerris' (Ukyou) entry into this world was revealed, and 
Aarun was taking Raeni to meet his mysterious allies in
the dark place they wound up.

Sword and Sorcery
Chapter 16

by D.Fire
phongb9@idt.net

	As Raeni and Aarun approached the end of the tunnel,
a small blockade stood in their way.  It really wasn't
much of anything, acting more like a speed bump along the
tunnel.  It was made of some sort of canvas, which
emphasized its flimsy nature.  The tarp was spread over a
makeshift skeleton of wood that barely held it up.  Raeni
could tell the wood had been cannibalized from weapons
like spears and arrows and she guessed that a good sneeze
would bring it down.

	Its only value had to be more psychological in
nature, Raeni supposed.  She assumed she would have done
the same, had she been in their situation.  It was never
comfortable to leave the front door wide open.

	Behind the 'barricade' crouched three creatures, and
beyond them, Raeni saw the tunnel widen into a chamber. 
From her position, she could tell that the room beyond was
dimly lit, but definitely not by a fire.  A low, steady
glow emanated from the room, a glow that she couldn't
quite place her finger on.

	Dark, glittering eyes stared at Raeni, reflecting
from the torch Aarun carried.  As he approached, he
extinguished his own light and spoke in a high-pitched
squealing tongue which Raeni guessed to be Orcish.

	The three figures peeking from behind the barricade
seemed far smaller than the orcs she had fought just a
little while ago.  Although the other orcs had been about
two-thirds the height of a normal man, these figures
seemed to be a head shorter than that.  It was still to
tell, since they still stayed mostly hidden and warily
eyed her.  From this distance, in the dim light, the mage
couldn't make out any features whatsoever.

	After a lively exchange, Aarun came back to her side
and told her, "They don't like it, Raeni.  But I've given
my word that you'll behave."

	Incredulous that the ranger would even bother to make
a promise to mere orcs, Raeni only snorted.  She didn't
voice her thoughts, but instead said, "Okay.  I told you,
though.  If they attack, I'll show them no mercy."  She
allowed threat to harden her features to show she meant
it, and then relaxed her stance to something suitably
neutral.

	Aarun took the young sorceress by the arm, intending
to escort her past the 'guards', but Raeni shook off his
hand, saying, "I've said it before.  Don't treat me like a
girl!"

	Raising his arms in a 'no touch' gesture, Aarun
replied, "Okay!  You don't have to jump down my throat." 
Bowing mockingly, he swept his arms in a courtly gesture. 
"Ladi... You first."

	Fuming a little, Raeni walked past him and approached
the sentry position.  She moved slowly, with her arms held
casually at her sides.  Although her instincts screamed at
her to blast the 'monsters' and move on, she held them in
check, not even letting a twitch show in her demeanor.  So
long had she thought of orcs (as well as a rather large
array of other monsters) as the enemy, Raeni had to
consciously curb her thoughts of violence.

	'Come to think of it, I don't even think I know what
female orcs look like.'  The thought had entered her mind
unbidden.  She imagined the faces she had glimpsed before
in the short battle with the male orcs, except this time,
she put wigs on top of them.  The resulting picture was
ridiculous.  She let loose a bark of laughter suddenly,
startling herself, Aarun, and the orcs she neared.  She
uttered an embarrassed "Oops."

	That's why she was stunned after she came close
enough to make out facial features.

	Raeni stopped dead in tracks, surprise having
overwhelmed all other the other neurons firing in her
brain.  She almost gaped in shock but retained enough
manners to not do so.  Soft, dark hair framed slender
faces, and large, doe-like eyes stared at Raeni.  Their
mouths had thin lips and pouty expressions.

	Cute, pug noses finished off the petite faces.  In
the male orcs, the pig-like snout had definitely made them
look like animals.  In the females, though -- What a
difference!  In short, these orcwen looked to be extremely
cuddly, a sharp contrast to their counterparts. 
Involuntarily, Raeni let slip a "Kawaii!"  She flushed red
in embarrassment, grateful that no one else here knew
Japanese.

	Raeni made no objection this time when Aarun, as he
walked by her, snagged her arm and guided her gently into
the chamber.

	***

	Raeni sat against one wall of the room.  Actually,
she was sitting against the only wall of the room, the
chamber being formed in a smooth, hemispherical shape.  A
short distance from the mage, Aarun crouched, speaking in
a low voice to a female orc laying on a pallet.

	The young sorceress was still a bit stunned from the
shock she had received a short while earlier. 
Unconsciously, her eyes swept across the room, taking in
information but not really seeing.  'Oh, I see.'  The soft
glow seen outside came from what looked to be fungus
growing out of the wall.  (It didn't register that the
'fungus' was too evenly spread to be natural.)

	As Raeni's eyes moved across the room, she couldn't
help but notice the sad state these... orcwen, were in. 
Many lay sleeping on small pallets, but others huddled
together in small groups.  Even from a distance she could
tell they were miserable.  Miserable and scared.  Pity
creeped slowly into her heart as she watched the abysmal
scene.  Even the ones that moved about the room showed the
signs.

	Plink!

	A moment of clear introspection struck her.  She was
thinking of them as... people.  She had felt emotion for
the enemy.  'Well, not quite the enemy,' Raeni reasoned. 
After all, if what Aarun said was true, then they were as
much victims as she was, even the males she had fought.

	Plink!

	The assembled creatures no longer fell into the
category of 'monster' in her mind.  Before now, she had
considered the orc race to be 'mindless creatures bent on
destruction', a notion carried over from her studies of
the past.  Master Hariule had voiced his displeasure at
her generalization of good and bad, and although she had
retracted her statement to please him, she had, deep
within her heart, guiltily retained the sentiment, but
orcs in the past had proven themselves to be barbaric and
war-like.  This group seemed diff --.

	Plink!

	What was that infuriating sensation?!  Raeni jumped
to her feet, startling the clustered children around her. 
In her distraction, Raeni had allowed the orc children to
gather around her stunned form.  Looking down, the mage
saw two or three seeds on the ground.  The seeds laid at
rest after having been bounced with skill from her still
figure.  She allowed her gaze to slowly rise.  There!  One
child, largest of those assembled around her, stood
paralyzed at her reaction.  The young female orc held in
her cradled hand many seeds, all similar to those strewn
around Raeni.

	Raeni pointed to the young girl.  "You!" her voice
boomed ominously.

	The girl singled out squeaked in terror, dropping her
handful of seeds.  Raeni stalked slowly over toward the
young one, emphasizing each step with a stomp.  When the
mage was two steps away, the girl bolted.  Raeni gave
chase, scooping up some seeds as she passed by the
discarded scattering.

	The little bugger was fast, Raeni gave her that.  The
child stood no chance, despite her weaving in and out of
the sleeping figures.  She was agile, too, Raeni realized,
since none of those over which the chase progressed even
twitched in response.  The child might have escaped had
Raeni not had special training.

	During her childhood (she considered herself an adult
now), Raeni had chased the woodland creatures that had
lived near Master Hariule.  Her master had laughed when he
first saw her running after a cute, brown rabbit.  She
would always remember the look of surprise on his face
after she had brought the harmless creature to him later,
subdued and cradled softly in her arms.  That was the
first time, but not the last.  Over the years, she had
chased and caught all sorts of creatures.  She had even
caught a skunk one time, without a doubt a most memorable
experience (unfortunately).

	After a chase halfway around the room, all the while
targeting the orc girl with perfectly thrown seeds, Raeni
caught up to the fleeing child.  "Ah ha!  Now I've got
you," she crowed.  Not noticing the alarmed stares from
all around her, the young mage continued, "Now you will
know what it means to disturb the Great Raeni!"  The poor
girl looked scared out of her wits.  Not even giving the
young orc a chance to respond, the sorceress dealt out the
punishment to those who would plink her.

	Mercilessly, Raeni began tickling the helpless child.
At first, nothing registered, but as the tickling
overcame the shock, the child began giggling
uncontrollably.  Not giving a respite, Raeni meted out the
punishment in good humor, releasing the girl after a short
time.  By the end, both she and the child were laughing
uproariously, the child having at some point overcome her
captor and turned the tables somewhat.

	They ended up in a pile with all the other children. 
The others, having seen what a great time one was having,
dogpiled the pair with the intent of getting some of the
fun.  Eventually Raeni pulled herself and the girl out of
the general melee and gave an exhilarated yell.  Behind
her, the fray continued unabated.  That's when she noticed
the stares.  'Damn.  What the heck am I doing?' she
berated herself.  'Guys don't do this!'  Gathering her
composure, she tried to sweep together the shattered
shards of her dignity.

	Cautious but non-hostile gazes came from the various
orcwen around the chamber.  Even those previously asleep
watched with curiosity, having been awoken by the
children's play.  Aarun looked at her from his original
position, relief evident in his eyes.  The female orc to
which he had spoken watched with amusement, having been
recently propped up to a sitting position on some rolled
sleepsacks.

	The female orc, who Raeni guessed to be the pro tem
leader of the tribe, gestured for her to come closer.  To
her surprise, the young orc girl trailed after her.  The
smile, which had made the child's face cute, had been
replaced by a neutral expression caused by... not quite
fear... trepidation perhaps?  Quite subdued, the young orc
followed silently.

	As the young mage got closer, Aarun stepped forward
to introduce her.  "Gihari, this is Raeni.  Raeni, this
Gihari, the wife of the tribal leader."  Reaching behind
the sorceress, he gently pulled the child following her
closer.  "And this is Nanobi, her daughter."

	Raeni looked in surprise at the girl.  Nanobi meekly
smiled back and gave a sheepish wave.  It made sense,
though, and explained her brazen assault.

	"I trust my daugh-ter has not given you too much...
trouble."  Gihari's voice was soft and low, so low that
the young mage could barely hear her.  The near-perfect
speech in Common was another surprise.

	"Uh, no.  Ma'am.  It was all in good fun."  There was
no use getting the girl in trouble.  'And it WAS fun,'
decided Raeni.  It had seemed unfair to her when she was
younger that no other children lived nearby.  Although
study, practice, and training had taken most of her time,
at points in the young mage's life, she had wished for
friends.

	Being raised in such an isolated location as
Hariule's house, Raeni had no chance to play just as she
had a few minutes earlier.  In some ways, it was worse
than her upbringing as Genma's son.  In this world, she
didn't have any friends at all whereas she at least had
Ucchan before.  Watching others through the scrying
crystal had sometimes helped, but more often than not, it
had only made her sadder.

	"Please excuse me for not rising to greet you.  I...
have not been well."  The orcwan obviously spoke the
truth.  She was too pale, even accounting for the poor
lighting conditions and her long captivity.  The few
others Raeni had seen close up still retained a light
yellowish pigmentation, much lighter than the normal orc
yellow, but still somewhat normal.  Gihari was almost
white, and her hair laid limp against her brow.  Not only
were the physical symptoms glaring, it was her bearing and
her eyes that showed it the most.  She looked... beaten.

	"Is there something I can do to help?" offered Raeni.
"I know of some herbs if you have them..."

	Weakly, the orcwan  waved her off, shaking her head
slightly.  "No me-di-cines can help me now," she added
sadly.

	Raeni was about to ask what was wrong, when she
caught a glance from Aarun.  Although no words passed
between them, Raeni received the distinct impression that
the ranger was asking, no, begging her, to let the subject
go.  Puzzled, she reluctantly complied and resolved to ask
him later what was going on.

	Gihari dismissed her daughter with a slight flick of 
her eyes, and Nanobi silently withdrew.  "But we have
busi-ness to discuss.  Aa-run has told me that he believes
you can help us out of this prison."  Her words spoke of
hope, but the tone in which they were spoken was dead as
last year's leaves.  Not a single trace of emotion showed
in her voice.

	Raeni found it completely unnerving.  She asked, "Can
you please tell me all you know?  I know magic, myself,
and I think I can get us out of here."

	"A mage."  Some emotion came through, disbelief.  "Do
you think a child will be able to break the magic of an
age-old demon?"

	Raeni wanted to take offense at the words, but their
content intrigued her more.  Ignoring the inadvertent
insult she pressed, "Demon?  What demon are you talking
about?"

	"She's talking about Daved, Raeni," interrupted
Aarun.

	"You could not sense the evil inside the elf?"  This
time, the tone was solidly incredulous.  "If you couldn't
sense it, how can you hope to defeat him?"

	"Hey!" yelled Raeni defensively.  She looked around
the room as her yell had attracted the attention of
everyone.  Lowering her voice, she hissed, "I was busy! 
Do you think it's easy beating an assassin of the Order of
Night?"

	The pale orcwan's eyes hardened.  "So at least you
know about that."  She gestured weakly to the room.  "We
have been his captives for over two seasons.  When we
first came here, we did not live in this under-ground
chamber.  We had to fend from above. We lost many."

	"Losses?  What happened?"

	"At first, we made camp in the darkness and all
seemed normal, aside from dark sky and odd ground.  But
our light attracted... creatures."

	"Can you describe them?"  Raeni hadn't asked Aarun
yet what these creatures were, but she hoped that she
would recognize them.

	"The creatures stood on two legs.  Although their
size var-ied.  Some were as tall as a male.  Others were
twice that height.  But all had the same color as the sky.
They looked like half-formed men."

	"Half-formed?  You mean they had no faces?"  This was
sounding more and more like golems of some sort.  "How
fast were they?"

	"They moved slowly.  They lum-bered.  But they had no
weakness."  Grief finally washed over her features. 
"T-that night.  They took my son."

	Aarun continued after seeing that Gihari couldn't. 
"The things were relentless, Raeni.  The orcs tried all of
their weapons, but everything bounced off harmlessly."

	"All of their weapons?  Did they have anything
magical?"  This point was important.  If these things were
only affected by magic, she had to know.

	"N-no.  Even the shaman's staff, m-my staff, broke
upon impact," sobbed the distraught female orc.  "They
took my son from my arms.  T-they finally left after
that."

	Turning to Aarun, Raeni asked pointedly, "I thought
you said you fought some of these things off?  How?"

	At this, the ranger blushed a beet red and he
stammered out, "W-well, y-you see."  Giving a sheepish
grin, he continued, "T-that was a euphemism for 'I turned
tail and ran'.  Fortunately for me, they seemed unwilling
to follow me down here."

	Despite the seriousness of the situation, Raeni
couldn't help but smile.  Restraining the chuckle that
threatened to erupt, the mage asked in a controlled voice,
"But did you try anything?"

	Looking somewhat offended, the ranger huffed, "Of
course, Raeni."  He held out his sword for Raeni's
inspection.  "This is magical, or so I've been informed,
and it's been in my family for generations."  He added
bitterly, "The elf didn't think it worthy of being a
danger to him, so he tossed it in here with me."

	Taking the offered sword, Raeni ran her hand over it
slowly.  'Oh, yes.  This is magical all right.'  She felt
the tingle of age-old mystic energies, and she spoke
softly, "It has magic, Aarun."  Turning to the wall she
turned a querying gaze toward him.  "May I?"  She
indicated that she wanted to strike the wall.

	Somewhat puzzled by what she expected to accomplish,
Aarun nodded his agreement.  Raeni pulled the sword back
and let go a mighty swing, neatly carving a deep gouge in
the material of the wall.  Both the ranger and the orcwan
stared at the result.  "See?" asked Raeni.  "And very
sharp."  She ignored the surprise on their faces and
handed the sword back to its owner.

	The mage turned her attention back to the sitting
orcwan, while behind her, Aarun tried to duplicate her
effort.

	The ranger pulled back the sword as far as it could
go and swung with all his strength at a spot to the side
of where Raeni had struck before.  The sword entered the
wall, just as it had for Raeni, but stuck fast as it
reached the middle of swing.  Aarun struggled with the
sword for a couple of seconds, growing more and more
alarmed as it refused to budge.

	Surreptitiously bumping Aarun aside, Raeni leaned
over and yanked, freeing the sword and handing it once
more to the owner.  Then she asked Gihari, "So nothing
worked?  I hate to ask but did you see where they went?"

	Still stunned, the orcwan slowly replied, "No.  Not
then."  For the first time in their conversation, a new
type of emotion showed in her voice, one there had been no
trace of.  Gihari replied with growing hope, "But we found
out where they went later.  My husband..."  Here, she
faltered again but bravely continued.  "My husband trailed
them after they took a second victim."  Softly, she added,
"He was their third."

	The sick orcwan's composure threatened to break
again, but a she pulled herself together and pleaded with
Raeni, "You must kill these creatures.  And you must kill
the heart of this darkness!"  The fervor in her voice
startled the mage.  "Please save us!"

	***

	Uerris stood supporting herself against the trunk of
a tree.  She was breathing hard.  The chase, in which she
was prey, was coming to an end.  At this point, the
ranger-to-be had run out of options.

	'At least I'm not lost anymore,' she ruefully
thought.  'I'll at least die knowing exactly where I am.' 
During the chase, the ranger had stumbled onto a most
familiar clearing.  It was her clearing, in fact.  Four
years, Aarun, her father, had taken the entire family into
a picnic in the woods.

	Along with the usual picnic basket and the often-used
spreading cloth, Aarun had brought two items that had
puzzled her at the time.  Her father had hidden the
surprises in another basket and toted both baskets into
the forest with Keili and the kids in tow.

	When they had reached this spot, which was quite some
distance from the town, Aarun had stopped to set up for
lunch.  It had been quite pleasant, a cherished memory for
Uerris.  She could still remember what they had that day,
roast venison sliced and placed on toasted bread.  They
had even enjoyed a delicacy from the far south, a sweet
fruit that was yellow and elongated.  Uerris had giggled
when her father had told her its name, "banana".

	After the meal, the old ranger unveiled his surprise.
The young girl she had been at the time was not impressed
with the two saplings sitting demurely inside the basket. 
She had thought it would be some exotic pet.  But even
back then, the solemnity of her father in regards to the
'gift' had affected her that day.

	Uerris did not know at the time what it was, but she
had felt its importance, to both her brother and herself. 
In measured tones, their father had spoken of life, of
nature, and of the tenets of being a Protector.  On that
day, Uerris and Errin had been inducted into the
fellowship of Protectors throughout the land.

	The baby trees had been then planted in the clearing
and a small ceremony had been performed.  Both of the
children had placed their hands their respective hands on
their own sapling.  With a dagger, Aarun pricked one
finger from each and allowed a single drop of blood from
both to fall to the earth to soak into the newly disturbed
soil.

	Oddly enough, the prick hadn't hurt.  In fact, it had
felt like a part of her had been completed.  She couldn't
vouch for her brother, but Errin had had a dazed look upon
his face, so in all likelihood, he had felt the same.

	"As you children grow, so too shall these saplings
grow," her father had told them, his voice seemingly
growing louder as the speech continued.  "As their roots
seek into the earth, your responsibility as Protectors
will move you to seek out and help people and nature."  As
he had spoken, his words had carried into the forest,
seemingly taken up by Nature itself as the wind had
rustled the trees almost in rhythm to his words.

	That same clearing was the one Uerris had stumbled
across in her headlong flight from the assassin.  She
leaned against her tree in an effort to regain her breath
and her composure, but it wasn't working.

	In a way, the ranger felt complete sorrow at this
being her final resting place.  She shouldn't have to die
in a place that had given her such a beautiful memory. 
'No, I won't die here!' she screamed internally.  If she
had retained her resolve for vengeance for over ten years,
a mere assassin would not do her in!

	'WHAT!'  Where had that thought come from?  Even
after the words had crossed her mind, she still couldn't
recall what caused her to think them!

	A rustling coming from the woods alerted the young
ranger to the killer's approach.  'He's toying with me!'
she furiously thought.  'That noise was completely
intentional,' she realized.  All the other times that the
assassin had caught up, she hadn't even heard him coming. 
She bent down low and scooped up a fallen tree branch. 
Although the weapon didn't compare to her normal ones, she
had to make do.  There!  A glint from the woods.

	Uerris desperately dodged as three daggers came
flying at her.  Taking one with her makeshift club, she
managed to dodge the other two which thunked solidly into
the tree she had stood in front of.  It looked like her
tormentor was still playing his little games, but now she
had hope.

	A part of her flinched at the damage done to *her*
tree, but she had no time to worry about that now.  The
ranger pulled her enemy's dagger from her own weapon.  It
felt good to finally wield some cold steel, even though
this particular dagger had no doubt tasted the blood of
many innocent victims.  Unfortunately, the weapon in her
hand was balanced more for throwing than being wielded. 
Regardless, it would have to do.

	Taking to the treetops to reduce avenues of attack,
she perched on a high branch and scanned for the enemy. 
Her keen sense of hearing wasn't giving her a clue to
Daved's whereabouts.  He had once more turned silent in
his pursuit of her.

	Only using her eyes, she searched desperately for any
sign of the cloaked assassin.  There!  Uerris spotted a
shadow where there shouldn't be one.  The unnatural light
of Raeni's making still lit up the area, but unlike real
daylight, this light left no shadows.  A small part of
Uerris mind had noted this disconcerting fact in her
frantic flight from the assassin.  No shadows were cast at
all; either by the trees or even by herself.  Everything
was simply bright.
	
	But now one shadow was positioned a mere two trees
away.  As soon as she had spotted it, she shifted her gaze
slightly so as to be askew from a direct line-of-sight. 
The ranger-in-training held down the panic that threatened
her composure.  The elf was only about five paces away! 
She pretended to not have noticed his presence but kept
the shadow in view from the corner of her eye.

	As the black area crept slowly toward, Uerris
pointedly ignored it, still 'scanning' for her enemy. 
When the assassin was only one tree away, the young healer
came to a decision.  Deciding to 'flee' the scene, she
jumped toward the tree behind which the killer stood. 
With seemingly all her attention focused on getting away,
Uerris curled into a small ball as she approached her 
touchdown point, a low-hanging branch on the target tree.

	'This is gonna hurt,' was her only thought as she
suddenly stretched out straight, and using the branch as
an gymnast would, Uerris took the momentum of her swing
and flung herself downward at the assassin.  The skin on
her hands tore slightly from the abrasive quality of the
bark, but ignoring the pain, she drew her captured dagger
as she dove upon the deadly killer.

	Not really knowing what to expect, Uerris aimed for
the center of the shadow and used all of her momentum to
embed the dagger into it.  Using her trained reflexes, she
pushed off the ground and the dagger after the blade met
the expected resistance of the ground and of whatever the
shadow hid.  Rebounding from the dagger (and incidentally
driving it in deeper) she jumped away, back to her
original perch.

	From that vantage, she watched as the results of her
handiwork unfolded.  Keeping most of her attention on the
shadow, but still aware of the rest of her surroundings,
Uerris was not surprised as the shadow elongated just as
it had earlier and the black outline of Daved formed from
its amorphic mass.

	As he fully came into this plane of reality, Uerris
noted the damage she had just incurred.  His right arm
hung limply at his side only held onto his body by a thin
shred of flesh.  The dagger she had attacked with was
embedded deeply into his shoulder at the juncture of arm
and torso.  She smiled grimly at the results of her
actions.

	After the completion of Daved's transition, he
staggered backwards from the grievous wound, clutching at
his wounded shoulder and the barely connected arm. 
"Bitch!" he ground out.  "I'm going to kill you slowly for
the pain you've caused me."

	Uerris didn't even blink at the insult and threat. 
What she did next was not very nice at all.  Already she
could see the sinews of his shoulder shifting and healing
the damage she just caused, so the healer jumped down and
methodically attacked Daved on his weak side.

	Daved, on his part, was desperately trying to avoid
all bodily contact, dodging her every punch and kick.  He
couldn't attack back because while his left arm was
unhurt, he used to hold the right one immobile, trying to
give it time to fully heal.

	Seeing his desperation, Uerris stepped up the
ferocity of her attacks, and in one shining moment of
glory, she connected.  Her target, of course, was the
disabled arm.  The blow she landed tore the arm away from
the healing shoulder.  Immediately, she flipped backwards
to get out range of any retaliatory strike.

	She needn't have bothered.  This last blow had driven
the assassin to his knees, gasping in pain.  Although
Uerris should have been elated, she felt nothing but
sickness as she took in the scene before her.  The elf 
was on his knees before her, grasping at the stump of his
arm with his one remaining arm, a look of pure hatred on
his face.  The only sound in the clearing came from his
hard breathing.

	The severed arm lay unmoving several paces away from
either of them, having been thrown from the force of her
kick.  Clinically, Uerris noted with relief that it made
no motions to rejoin its former host.  'At least this guy
isn't like a zombie or a troll,' she thought.  With the
regenerative abilities the assassin had shown, a part of
her had feared the arm would be twitching and crawling
back to its master.  She didn't think she could handle the
sight of that.

	She hoped that the arm was truly dead.  It would mean
that Daved could be killed.  No, scratch that.  It meant
that SHE could kill him.  It was a gruesome thought, but
if the arm died when severed from Daved, then taking his
head would have one of two effects.  Either the head would
die, or the body would die.  Either case would be
acceptable to her, but she had wondered if should she even
try?  

	Raeni's disappearance into the assassin's cloak was
very suspicious.  The ease in which she had vanished
seemed to imply that the young mage had fallen into a
portal or some other dimensional gateway.  It meant that
there was a small possibility that Raeni could be brought
back, or at least her body.  If the young healer could not
revive her friend, she would find someone who could.  But
now, Uerris would have to first convince the killer to
disgorge her newfound friend.

	The young ranger's heart ached at the thought of her
friend possibly dead, at the hands of this ruthless
killer.  That carefree smile would never be seen again,
and those lovely baby blue eyes would never shine brightly
again.  'So brave and strong, my Ran-chan,' thought
Uerris.  She'd never be able to lean on his broad chest
and they would never be happily married!  'My one love so
soon found after just being found,' sighed Uerris.  Then
her anger sharply focused on the cause of her misery, the
elf kneeling in pain before her.  This... this...
*monster* had come into her peaceful life and brought
chaos to her world.

	Daved by this time had been distracted from his own
injuries by the sight before him.  One moment, the girl
had been looking at him with battle-hardened
determination, but now it seemed that the girl was in
la-la land while in deep concentration over some internal
matter.  It was even more alarming that in the midst of
her consideration, the girl seemed to glowing a faint
green.  Suddenly, she broke out of reverie and pointed a
finger at him, yelling, "You, the cause of my misery!"  A
large drop of sweat formed on the back of head in
response.

	He watched agape as, out of nowhere, a large kitchen
utensil (??) formed behind the girl while was in the
throes of her righteous anger.  Around her waist and
torso, a strap of smaller items appeared.  Panic rose in
his mind as his once-prey approached him with giant
spatula in hand.

	Somehow, the demon in elf-guise knew he would regret
the next couple of minutes.