Sabriel pinched the small blade between her fingers. The metal was cool under her touch, a quiet contrast to the warmth of the burned-out forest. Snow sat in clumps around them, some melted, slushy, and quickly refreezing where they were.

She closed her eyes reaching out with her senses. Every life was a pinprick in her vision. She could see them, big and small, all moving in the dark. Leaves shuffled, an insect landed on her face and yet she didn't move.

It buzzed off, leaving a tiny imprint on her cheek. Her hand moved up to wipe the impression away from her dark skin. The dark skin of a drow, a dark elf, resident of the Underdark.

The ranger sighed and pulled up her hood. There was no sign of their pursuers. That meant nothing. There were many ways to hide your presence. Their purpose had been to capture her. The fact that there was drow among them meant she was dealing with more than just the usual slaver. It was specific to her. 

The thought of the slavers and their dirty line of work was enough to call back her innate magic to the surface. Her skin grew warm to the touch. As a half-drow, her mother's people had been subject to these men. Her mother had been captured in raids by both them and other drow taken down to the Underdark where Sabriel had been born a slave.

Beside her, Lem, a human from the southern regions, regions that Sabriel wasn't all too familiar with shuffled in place. The cold of the north kept most troublemakers at bay. But the problem with that was it often attracted those who didn't want to be found. Which was a kind of trouble all on its own. 

A raiding party had slaughtered Lem's village and it was no secret that he was bent on revenge. It made their current working relationship interesting. She'd slowly gained his trust over their travels. But separated from their friends was taking a toll on both of them.

She pulled back and opened her eyes, light almost luminescent in the dark. "Keep moving."

"Did you sense them?" He whispered following her lead.

"No, and that's the problem, we know there were at least twenty in that party, many drow." She chanced a glance at him, noting how his fists tightened. "And yet, not a single creature moves or stirs. There is too much silence."

Lem nodded. The dark green of the snow-covered forests were as alien to him as if he'd been dragged into the Underdark. The ground crunched under their shoes, the sound was faint as they moved but there never the less. The pursuit had lasted long into the night and they were both exhausted.

White flakes began to fall. Sabriel ignored them, telling herself they could keep going when their pursuers would be forced to stop.

"Sabriel, we need shelter," Lem said. There was a sound in the background, one she'd been ignoring. She realized it was both of their teeth chattering from the chill. 

"Shit," she muttered. "You're right, I'm sorry." She pointed to the left, and a line of rocky clefts opened up towards the sky. In the spring there would be a waterfall but right now there was just ice. But behind the waterfall was a cave, a small hideout where she sometimes stashed clothes when she burned out of the latest pair.

As she turned an arrow hit the ground where she'd been standing.

"Move!"

They were sprinting, feet squishing into the ground. Arrows whizzed by and she could hear the sharp yells of men as they chased after them.

For once she was glad they had no horses. The woods were thick here and the animals were more of a hindrance than a help. They entered the trees, Lem grunting as he broke into the tree line.

"Stay low, move fast," she whispered tugging his arm. She knew these parts like the back of her hand. The falls were not far ahead. If they could make the cave, it would be far easier to resupply arrows. She could defend that position with just the two of them for a while. Hell, she could even get a signal out of there to the ranger station from here.

The shouts were closer, and the hoofs slowed. She moved delicately avoiding snapping branches as much as possible. The limbs were thick here and there wasn't much snow on the ground.

And then suddenly there was a rock wall in front of them. Lem bumped into her when she stopped abruptly. She bounced off but stayed upright grabbing his arm and jerking him to the left.

There was a small ledge that she balanced on. Lem didn't have time to think about whether or not he would fall. She pushed into a small nook, barely noticeable at all if you weren't looking for it, and shuffled behind an ice wall on a small path that only fit one of them at a time.

"Hurry," she got out, her voice barely above a whisper. They moved, around the falls and higher up until she rounded an edge into the cave. Sabriel turned behind her to see his reaction as he moved in. The human was in a small state of shock. Greeting them was the dog from earlier. The half-wolf, who bound joyously up to the half-drow.

Sabriel buried her face in the animal's white fur, contrasting with her dark skin and red hair. "Sitka," she muttered. "You always come back."

"Is this where you live?" Lem asked. The cavern was small, but there was a bed, boxes, and bags which he guessed were supplies. He couldn't imagine how many trips she'd made to fill the place. Light shined through the ice into the room, casting a low glow. Sabriel's eyes lit up, eerily luminescent. He wondered if all drow looked like that underground.

Sabriel stood and moved. She stripped off her wet cap and outer cloak.

"It's just an outpost, somewhere I stash extra clothes when I... have an incident." She turned away.

An incident was a hell of a way to say she blew up sometimes.

"An incident?" Lem said. "They didn't cover that when they suggested your help."

He moved to the back, long strides taking him to the back of the cave in no time.

"Well, now what?" he asked as she settled down, peeling off his own cape.

"We resupply and wait."

The wolf-dog lay on the floor between them. She growled in his direction and he made no move to get any closer. Sabriel smiled without turning around. There was no threat from Sitka, but Lem didn't need to know that just yet.

She was already throwing off her top. Lem looked away embarrassed. But he couldn't help but glance back at the shiny dark skin. So different from his own shade of brown, but yet something that had kept her separate from the world. He stared pointedly at the wall.

"You ready?"

Lem looked back at her again. She was dressed, her expression placid.

He shrugged his cape back on.

"They find this place, we fight. There is one good thing about drow, they are excellent trackers in spite of their time underground."

Sabriel paused. A calm descended on her. Sitka turned to her, keeping her eyes on her mistress.

She nodded at the door. "They'll be coming through that door any moment. You good?"

Lem could only nod. He was confused at her sudden change. She could see it on his face.

"What is it? You look like you know something I don't?"

"There's nowhere to run," she whispered. Sabriel checked a glance back over at him. They'd been in many battles together but still, he didn't know that much about her.

But she knew he understood the sentiment. He stood and drew his sword, a black-bladed beauty that he'd created himself. The blade hummed as it pulled out of the scabbard. It was always hungry for blood, singing its revenge. He'd told her once he'd poured out his anger, and thoughts of revenge into creating it.

She believed him.

The hum filled the cave and brought with it a searing readiness for battle.

Sabriel knew what was coming. They'd show up a few at a time. To soften them up. The first would be mid-range fighters to test their mettle. If those died, they would send in some throwaways to lose their energy. When those died the real fight would begin. They'd be tired by then. Perhaps already wounded. Some of their energy would be spent.

The lights were already dimming as the moon ducked behind a cloud. Sabriel held onto the faintest hope that the group would pass them by. Slavers were known to be relentless in their quarry. That didn't mean that they were perfect.

She held her breath listening to the sounds of men. They'd gone faint before but now they were doubling back around the falls.

Lem tensed behind her held onto his sword and she slowly drew her scimitar from its scabbard.

There was always an odd moment right before a battle. The calm before the storm they called it. Sabriel closed her eyes feeling the time slowing down. She exhaled and her breath floated visibly out in front of her, a small white puff in the cold. Just outside a small trickle of water descended the falls. A microcosm of the power the falls would bear in the spring. The trickle would turn into an unstoppable force. Behind her Lem exhaled slowly, the sound of his breath barely noticeable over Sitka's panting.

She opened her eyes again. Torches flared up outside the ice around the edges. They were searching for a track.

"They can't have gone far," came muffled through the ice. The two in the cave never wavered as they waited. Each hoped the moment would pass without discovery.

"A ledge!" Someone shouted.

"That's not a ledge!" Another voice called.

"Hold," Sabriel whispered as Lem tensed. Long experience taught her that just to move in panic or even tense in place would let a predator know where you were. The drow would scale that ledge with no issue. She had to hope the humans would be the ones who passed on the opportunity.

No such luck.

"Climb it."

The voice was clear, and commanding. Drow.

Sabriel exchanged a glance with Lem. He inhaled but nodded. Slowly she pushed her scimitar back into its sheath and grabbed her bow. It would conserve their energy for the time being. She glanced at Lem and motioned for him to get behind her. Her skills with the recurve were legendary and she'd had more time to hone them than any other human rangers. 

Boots scraped against rocks. Sitka growled and Sabriel put a hand on the back of her neck, a motion she'd been trained to understand as "be silent." The dog quieted but her teeth remained bared and her body tensed.

Sabriel listened to them come and put an arrow into the string.

A few more steps and she pulled the arrow back. When the first face appeared around the ledge, a burly fellow with whisps of what used to be blonde hair sticking out from under his gray hat, yellowed teeth from a bad chewing habit, and more than a few pock marks on his cheeks, she let the arrow fly. It hit Yellow Teeth square in the throat just as he was about to yell back. His voice gargled as he dropped his sword and reached for his throat, grabbing onto the red-shafted arrow now emerging from it.

He also backpedaled out knocking the next man behind him out against the ice. It held momentarily. A loud crack resounded through the small cavern and the second man's scream let Sabriel know she'd just taken out two men with one arrow. 

Lem let out a low whistle behind her. She was already knocking the second arrow. Tensed and ready she saw the shield poke around before the man did. She dropped into a crouched position holding up the bow. When the man eventually made it around she let the arrow fly. It stuck into the soft muscle of his thigh, blood squirting out of his leg letting her know she'd hit the femoral artery.

"They aren't wasting armor on these guys," Lem said behind her.

She chuckled but kept her gaze forward. It wasn't the human slavers she was worried about. It was the drow. From her earliest childhood memories, she knew how cruel drow could be. She'd also witnessed their unique skills, their barbarity seared onto her consciousness like flames. They'd have magic, they'd have armor, and a reason to kill.

Lloth never let anyone go willingly. Sabriel had hoped the spider goddess of the Underdark would have no reason to even remember the half-drow, half-human slave born in the darkness to a human mother and a drow father.

But the drow had hunted them down relentlessly. It was her they were after. Everything in her gut told her that. If there was one thing the ranger's guild had impressed upon her, it was to trust in that instinctive feeling.  

The ice cracked again from the outside and Sabriel moved away from it, backing further into the cavern. She had a third arrow already knocked and ready. The ice cracked in the wall forming a line that reached up into the cave. The trickling sound grew louder.

"They're burning it away," she said to Lem. Fire magic. She felt the pull of it, deep inside. It was an element that called to her. 

At least there was no one scrambling up the ledge again.

The crack fell away. The dark face of a drow peered in at them. A face that she didn't recognize. Lem gave a shout behind her but she barely heard it as the blood rushed into her head. The shock of seeing another drow stirred up fear that she'd thought long buried. 

Her fingers let go of the string. The arrow flew and the drow took half a second to register the arrow protruding from his left eye. As he reached up and touched the shaft, his yellow eyes filmed over and he fell back. A splash a moment later indicated he'd hit the water. 

"He isn't floating," she whispered here. Her brain whirled with what little information the surface world had on drow. Much of it she had provided. Drow could levitate in the Underdark but he had been climbing the side of the ice wall towards the hole. Climbing because he was conserving his energy. 

"They're coming in," Lem said behind her, jarring her to her senses. She'd forgotten about him for a second, lost in the reverie.

She held the bow in place and as the first human charged into the room from the ledge. She released the shot, the arrow hitting his chest with a solid thock! He fell forward and the next one behind him jumped over his body sword swinging.

"Duck!" Lem shouted.

She did and felt the whistling of his black sword over her head. When she looked up again the man had been decapitated and Lem was engaged with the next man to come up after him.

Sabriel was on her feet, the arrow knocked as she surveyed the crack. She released the string again. The arrow flew true once more striking a dark-haired man who simply fell off the ledge. The next figure to enter the cavern wasn't a man at all but a pure drow, with white hair and red eyes. He smiled as soon as his gaze fixed upon her. He drew a longsword and advanced.

"This is the famous half-drow bastard that escaped our depths," he said. "You don't look like much effort."

"Just kill me and spare me the gloating," Sabriel snapped. "Or do you plan on talking me to death?"

His smile grew even wider. He leaped forward just as Lem ran the last human in the cavern through. 

Their swords crashed into each other with Sabriel making sure to stay out of arms reach.

The hum of the sword changed and grew darker. The want, need to kill pulsed through the room. She began to wonder if it had called the slavers here when the longsword slashed her way.

She drew her scimitar swiftly leaping back and landing nimbly on her feet. 

A whirlwind of steel and shadows, a mesmerizing dance of drow grace and lethal precision followed. She kept up managing to keep the sword between them. Neither gaining around up on the other. She blocked and parried, her red hair streaming behind her, coming out of her braids as she tried to take the measure of the drow male. He wasn't much larger than she was, most drow males were smaller than the females. But Sabriel's human heritage had not given her a height advantage. Where most drow females towered over the males, she remained a short reminder of her failures on both sides of her heritage.

"I expected you to be taller," the drow said. "Tall like--" his voice suddenly cut away as a black blade emerged from his throat.

Shocked Sabriel froze, panting, sweat beaded up on her forehead. 

"He talks too much," Lem said. "Sorry if I interrupted, but what about him?"

Another drow stool there. But unlike the dead one on the floor, this one stood a whole head taller, his skin was a pale gray, lighter than most drow. His hair was white, his ears not quite as long as his companions.

She recognized the tattoos on his arms right away. House Nialo.  One of the upper houses in Menzoberrazan, but not directly at the top. At least not when she'd made her escape. She had a matching tattoo on her shoulder. She after all had been born there. The daughter of a human slave. The lowest of low. 

He began to clap slowly. His red eyes bored into her. His booming laugh filled the cavern. The back of her head buzzed and popped with energy. 

"I wondered what you'd turn out like. At least you learned how to prick with an arrow."

"What do you want?" Sabriel said. "Why are you here?"

He stopped clapping and fixed her with an even stare. 

"I'm here to collect the bounty on your head, the tall drow said. I must admit I am disappointed you didn't recognize me. We are family after all."

Blood calls to blood. Like to like. How many times had her human uncle told her that? She could sense it now. The boiling, festering just beneath the surface. The fire elemental magic called out to her over the hum of the blacksword. They were two of a kind after all. 

"Don't you feel it, sister?" He grinned. "You couldn't hide from me, even if you wanted to."

"I don't think I'm hiding," she snapped, her grip tightening on her scimitar. 

"That's your brother?" Lem took a step back studying the tall drow. 

"Twin," she replied. "It's been a while."

"If we live, I want to know everything. Every detail."

She shot him an angry look. He wasn't exactly the most forthcoming person about his own past. 

Lem took up a position next to her. She realized it was hard for him, even as she focused on Val'Rend. She could sense the tension in Lem as he held onto his sword. The sword was calling for blood. She could feel the call to action. Lem directly connected to the black sword had to have it much worse.

For all she knew Val'Rend could have been responsible for the slaughter of Lem's village. He could take his revenge right here and now. It was all because he'd refused to come with them when their mother had tried fleeing with them both. The tension between them was palpable, their eyes locked in a fierce and unyielding gaze. It was taking a lot out of him to trust her.

"I'm so glad you made friends," Val'Rend said. "It will make you so much more cooperative when I take you back."

Sabriel tensed, her grip tightening on the sword. "I'm never going back."

"What has it been? One hundred cycles? I've lost count." He waved a hand and flames danced around his fingers. He snuffed them out.  "The Matron mother put a price on your head for killing her favorite niece."

"She chose the wrong child to train."

"You mean Father did."

Sabriel ignored the jab. Her father was devoted to the Matron of his house. His Mother had demanded he sacrifice the offspring he'd sired with his human slave. The problem? The slave was causing his devotion to waver. This could not be allowed. Lloth had chosen Sabriel as a sacrifice.

When her mother had chosen to flee rather than lose her child, her father had turned a blind eye. She'd tried to take both children but Val'Rend was training as a fighter and with a discernable talent for magic had refused to go. 

As he stood before her now, she could see the years had been good to him.

His crimson eyes glowed with determination as he stepped forward, his longswords gleaming with a faint luminescence.

"Red," Val'Rend's voice dripped with venom, "you can't hide forever on the surface. Our family's honor demands your return."

"Yeah, well..." Sabriel put her scimitar between them. "I'm not up for holding the family honor too high."

"I was hoping you'd say that." Val'Rend smiled a cold smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. 

He held up a hand to the remaining men coming at his back, motioning them to stay put. 

Sabriel tensed and moved into her own stance. She'd faced down the monsters in many people's nightmares. But this was a whole new level. 

"Do you ever wonder what became of our dearly devoted Father?" Val'Rend began to move closer, his longsword testing the air between them.

Sabriel shook her head. She only knew he'd let them go. He was a strange figure in her memories.

"Lloth wanted a sacrifice and since you weren't there, he had to give it. A sacrifice had to be made. Our Matron was furious that she had to do it. He was the best fighter they had."

Sabriel said nothing. She matched his pace evenly. Lem walked next to her.

"I plunged the blade in myself, cut out his heart, while he screamed for mercy and gave it to the goddess."

Sabriel felt sick. Somehow she'd always pictured her father alive all these years. Running training sessions, fighting. Doing the same thing he'd done this whole time. Protecting the House of Nialo. 

"I killed him and took his place. I honestly didn't know he would beg for mercy." He laughed. "From Lloth of all!" Val'Rend looked at her. Curiosity crossed his gray features. "And the human woman who gave birth to us?"

"Our mother?"

He shrugged. "I figured she'd be a shriveled-up old woman by this time."

Sabriel matched his shrug. "Don't worry, she didn't live long past our escape."

His eyes widened just a fraction. Sabriel couldn't read the emotion. His features hardened but he said nothing. He plunged forward blade swinging, and Sabriel with a furious yell went to meet him. She managed to stop the blade but only just. The force of the blow sent her staggering back a few feet. Val'Rend did not let her gain ground. 

The clash of steel rang through the cavern. She jumped back, her back hitting the wall. Val'Rend was in her face, pinning her against the wall. 

"Weak," he spat at her. "You always were. I can't see why Lloth would have demanded your blood instead of mine. Or mother's. He stepped back and let her fall. Too bad I have to bring you back alive."

"No!" She shouted. But before she could move Lem was between them. 

Val'Rend looked vaguely amused. "That blade sings a beautiful song."

"You can hear it?" Lem was surprised. "Not many can."

Sabriel was on her feet, next to Lem. "Leave him out of this, your issue is with me."

"My issue is with whomever I want it to be, sister." He spat the last word out in distaste. "I think I'd like to have that sword as my own."

"You hear that Sabriel," Lem stood between them. "He'd like my sword. I think I should give it to him."

Lem leaped forward the blade singing as it went. Val'Rend's long sword was in and out as the tall drow twisted and leaped nimbly around the black blade. 

Val'Rend pressed the attack his eyes ablaze with determination. Sabriel leaped in when Lem was a hair too slow. She met Lem's gaze and they both nodded. 

Val'Rend leaped backwards towards the ledge and they both chased him. Sparks began to fly off of Val'Rend's free hand and Sabriel moved in front of Lem to intercept the fiery bursts as they came flying at them. And then Val'Rend was forced to concentrate fully on fighting them both. The blades became a blur as Lem and Sabriel both used to their well-practiced rhythm drove Val'Rend closer to the edge. 

Val'Rend feinted left and Sabriel felt the slightest nick in her ear as she moved back just a hair too late. She was tired and she didn't have to look at Lem to know he was tired as well. Val'Rend's blade was a whirlwind of death, one they only barely managed to stop.

Val'Rend threw out a kick at Sabriel but Lem moved to intercept. The kick knocked him back to the ledge. Behind them Sitka barked but knew better than to interfere.

Seeing Lem down Val'Rend turned his full attention on Sabriel, raining blow after blow down upon her. He managed to hit her wrist with the sword guard and the scimitar skittered away.

He snatched her up by her injured wrist and Sabriel winced at the pain as a tendon popped. 

"Always so fragile," he said. "I really thought you'd be more of a chall--" He stumbled dropping Sabriel.

When she looked up she saw the black blade piercing the through the armor of Val'Rends calf. He turned and kicked Lem again, yanking the sword out of his leg in a fury. As soon as his hand touched the hilt the blade song stopped. 

Val'Rend stared at it in aw. He looked down at Sabriel. "It doesn't like me much."

Sitka howled a warning. Sabriel's skin began to heat up. She could feel the power pulling inside of her. 

"Sitka!" She yelled. The dog ran to Lem and tugged on his leg.

"What?" He looked startled and rolled to his feet staring at the sword in Val'Rend's hand.

"Go!" she shrieked. 

Lem stared and then nodded. The ice was melting now as the temperature rose significantly. 

The men who'd watched the spectacle looked around nervous as they began to sweat in their winter clothes.

Fire erupted from her hands and then her skin. Anywhere there was an opening the flames crawled. 

Sabriel rose to her feet, a flaming goddess, in front of her startled brother. He took a step back, his mouth moving forming a spell. 

"You want to know how Ariedelle died," she said, her voice hoarse.  "Watch."

She exploded. Flames rushed out of her body, and she screamed her fury and frustration. The ice covering of the waterfall exploded and steam rose from the cavern entrance. Lem and Sitka hit the water. Men screamed as they died, their half-burned carcasses toppling into the small lake under the falls. The entire cavern was an inferno, fire danced in and out. And still, Sabriel's scream went on and on until she fell silent. 

Down below Lem pulled a soggy Sitka from the water and landed on the beach. His injuries stung but it was the cold that would get to him first. He saw nothing but half-burned bodies. The cave was on fire, he couldn't get back inside even if he wanted to. 

"I'm sorry," he turned to the wolf-dog next to him. "She's gone. There's no coming back from that."

Sitka ignored him and stood waiting expectantly as the fire died down. 

"What the hell," Lem muttered. He followed the hybrid back up the ledge into the cave. The ice wall was now a waterfall which would take a few days to freeze back over. Black stained the ground. Sitka stopped before getting too close. The Ground was hot, too hot for her paws. She whined and looked up at Lem.

"I don't want to go in there either," he said looking down at canine. She cocked her head. Sighing he moved to the cave, making sure to touch nothing.

"What the hell..." He rushed forward. Sabriel was laying in the middle of the floor, completely naked, her clothes burned away to ashes. He went to check her pulse and yanked his hand back. She was warm, burning up. He pulled off his cloak, and draped it over her, making sure not to touch the stone floor. Steam rose up around them as he rolled her into the cloak.

"That's some incident," he said to Sitka who was waiting by the entrance. "Is this it? Is this what she meant?" The dog cocked her head again and barked. 

Lem rolled his eyes as he scooped up the half-drow. She weighed nothing.  As he emerged with his bundle he noted the slavers' horses were still there at the bottom where they'd been left. 

He sighed. At least some god was looking out for them. Probably Mieleki, Sabriel's goddess. He put Sabriel on the horse and then climbed up behind her. 

"Only a few hours out," he muttered. "The drow do have it out for you." He pushed the steed into a gallop back towards the Ranger's Guild.

----------------------------------

Val'Rend sat on the opposite side of the cavern watching the sun come up. The bright light hurt his eyes. He sat in a meditative pose, calm, focusing on healing his wounds. Some of his skin sported burns where he'd had to peel melted armor off.

He began to wonder about Lloth's request for Sabriel as a sacrifice. Normally she chose a drow with some ability. Val'Rend had always thought the request was to hurt their father, break him even more than he'd been broken. After all Sabriel's abilities had never manifested to this degree until she'd killed the Matron's favorite niece. But now he began to question if Lloth knew this whole time what Sabriel was capable of. 

"Hi there." The voice was musical in the air. The woman who stood before him was bright like the sun. White winter coat, with a rabbit fur hood around her ears. "I don't usually find someone at my friend's burn site. This is a first."

The sun elf was the complete opposite of the drow. Yellow-haired, and yellow-eyed, her skin was pale and contrasted sharply against the burned-out cavern. 

"I-- I'm her brother," he stammered. 

The sun elf's surprise was quick as she smoothed it away. "I always thought she had family."

Val'Rend studied her again. She was of the healing guild, if her robes were to be believed. A valuable slave, but he doubted he could get her into the Underdark in his current state. 

"I'm Merina," she said holding out a hand. "You are Sabriel's brother?"

He took it and squeezed her fingers. Spots of red colored her cheeks as he stood towering over her. "I am." He said nothing. Perhaps he could play along. Convince the sun elf this was a misunderstanding. She could also heal him a lot faster than he could if the texts were to be believed.

"You are hurt," she said. "Let's get you back to the Ranger's Guild. You'll need a full cleanout on those before I touch them."

"Thank you," he said meekly. There was always more than one to do the job. He was intrigued by the Sun Elf. There was no hurry. Sabriel wasn't going anywhere. And neither was he by the looks of things.

The reunion was going to be interesting.