From: aaron@space.ualberta.ca (Aaron Humphrey)
Subject: Alfvaen: Death and Life
Reply-To: aaron@space.ualberta.ca
Organization: University Of Alberta, Edmonton Canada
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 17:50:48 GMT

They stepped through the ninth and final veil and found themselves in the
center of the City of the Dead.  It looked like an elegant cocktail party.
Alfvaen was confused.  This wasn't what he had expected at all.  He looked at
his companions.  Erenthil, Niamh, and Errol looked similarly confused.  Sai Li
Zen was expressionless as always.

Selatia walked up to them, dressed in an elegant gown and carrying a tray of
drinks.  "Ah, here you are at last!  I've been waiting for you."  She proffered
the tray.  "Drinks?"

Erenthil asked, "Where's Faenye?"  Straight to the point, that one, every time,
Alfvaen thought.

Selatia laughed.  "She's here somewhere.  I've lost track of her.  Why don't
you mingle?  You're sure to run into her eventually."  With that, she swished
off into the crowd, which close behind her.  Alfvaen's fingers were tingling
with the effort to keep from stabbing her.  I've been waiting so long for this,
he thought.  But he had to bide his time.

Then he saw a face in the crowd, and his blood ran cold.  Prejec.  What the
hell was Prejec doing here?  He was dead!  He'd been dead for ten years!  He
found himself pushing through the crowd towards his old friend.

Prejec turned to greet him.  "Hi, Alfvaen!  Glad to see you here!  Grab a
drink.  There's some awesome babes here."

"Prejec--" he fought for something to say.  Finally he said, "You're dead.
Aren't you?  They hanged you!"

Prejec shrugged.  "Yeah, I guess.  And I really don't think it was your fault,
despite what you've been telling yourself.  So no hard feelings, eh?  Just
relax.  Hey, look who's here?"  He waved.  "Elstree!  Over here!"

Oh, Gods, Alfvaen thought.  He heard a soft voice behind him.  "Hello, Alfvaen,
dearest.  I'm so glad you're here finally.  And please don't be sorry for me.
I was in pain, and you freed me.  I still love you."  He turned to face her,
and there she was, as beautiful as ever.  He drew a ragged breath.

"Elstree..." he began, when he heard Erenthil's shout.  

"They're not real!  Don't trust them!"  But they are real, he wanted to say.
I can see them.  Her.  She looks just like I remember her.  Then for a moment
his eyes cleared and he say with clarity the skeletal figures where Prejec and
Elstree had been a second ago, and the weapons they were making ready for him.

With a scream of rage he drew his shortsword and started hacking at them.  He
closed his eyes.  He could hear screams in Elstree's voice, and Prejec's.  He
didn't want to see them as well.  Then the voices changed into rasping croaks,
and he opened his eyes again to see the horde of skeletal forms that surrounded
them.  And his companions, fighting for their lives.

He saw Selatia standing at one end of the room, Faenye suspended above her on
a pedestal.  He forged a path towards her through the skeletons, and saw
Erenthil doing the same.  Errol and Sai Li Zen were fighting back to back, and
Niamh was praying to her god, holding the skeletons back from her.  He and
Erenthil broke through at the same time.  And then everything froze.

Selatia stood smirking over them.  "I still have a few weapons at my disposal.
You silly fools.  You were fun to toy with.  But I really don't see how much
more fun you can be."  She walked up to Erenthil and ran her finger down his
cheek.  "You want your dear Faenye, don't you.  You came all the way here for
her.  And you can see her, can't you?  But you can't get her."  She laughed.
"I forgot, you can't speak, can you."  She snapped her fingers and Erenthil
started swearing violently at her in elven.

Then he calmed down and said, "I challenge you, lady.  We shall fight.  If I
win, we leave with Faenye.  If you win, you have my life."

Selatia considered this for a few moments, then laughed again.  "Do you really
think I am fool enough to fight you, Sir Erenthil?  And if I kill you, I will
have your life already.  Try again."

"How about me?" Alfvaen spoke up.  "If you won't fight Erenthil, then surely
you can't be afraid of little ol' me."

Niamh hissed, "What are you doing, Alfvaen?"

"Shut up, Niamh.  I know exactly what I'm doing."

Selatia thought for a minute, then said, "All right.  If you win, Faenye can
go free, but the rest of you are still here.  If you lose, then I have your
life and soul.  Agreed?"

"Agreed," Alfvaen said readily.  "Choice of weapons?"

"Yours."

"Daggers, then.  Two daggers each."  Hoping my ambidexterity comes in handy
just this once...

"Agreed."

A circle was cleared for them among the skeletons, and all the rest were
allowed to watch.  Alfvaen took out his two magical daggers, and Selatia had a
pair of her own.  She tossed him into the air easily and caught them, one in
each hand.  Oh, shit, he thought.  What have I gotten myself into?

As the fight started he realized that, as he thought, he was hopelessly
overmatched.  But he had expected no less.  He'd heard King Tharya saying how
skilled Selatia was with blades.  All he had to do was keep her distracted.
He fully expected to die.

He put up a fight, though.  He danced around her, dodging her blows rather than
inflicting his own, going on total defense.  She toyed with him.  Then he
nicked her twice in quick succession, and she started concentrating more fully
on the fight.  He saw Erenthil twitch a finger on his sword.  Wonderful.  He
threw himself into full artistic mode, and made the fight a game, a dance.  It
worked. Selatia got more and more caught up in it.  But he could see the end
of the dance.  And gradually, so could the others.

When it came, he wasn't surprised.  He felt the blades enter almost
distractedly, and his collapse seemed almost part of the dance.  He heard
Selatia's scream as Erenthil's sword did much the same to her.  And he felt the
tug at his soul.  He saw Niamh bending over him.  "I knew," he whispered.  "I
saw it coming."  Then he felt the amulet on his chest come alive.  He entered
it freely.

From somewhere, he heard Niamh say, "He's gone!"  And so he was.

ADMIN:  Don't worry, this is leading somewhere...free sample of my favourite
D&D campaign(sadly now defunct).

--
---Alfvaen(a.k.a. Aaron V. Humphrey, Page of Newts)
Canadian Network For Space Research, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
"The bullroarer churns a Moebius strip of sound..."  Anna Amabiaca
Current Album--Debbie Gibson:Electric Youth
Current Read--C.J. Cherryh:Merchanter's Luck