Crash Landing

[Collector of Rarities]

It was a quiet night like most others when a shooting star flitted across the night sky. At first no one payed it any mind, but it didn't vanish like every other shooting star. It grew larger and larger as it headed for the countryside. Eventually, the star became a large ball of fire, hurtling toward a small village. The ball of fire crashed into a cornfield, tearing a large gash into the earth and eventually coming to rest inside of a barn.

From the wreckage of the barn stumbled a lone figure; it wore a suit of high-tech black armor with red trim. It had a sword in a sheath at one hip and a pistol in a holster on the other. The armor covered the figure's entire body: not even its face showed. It was difficult to tell the figure's gender because the armor added height as well as thickness: the wearer of the armor could have been a woman as easily as it could have been a man.

Although what remained of the barn was on fire, the figure's armor was cool to the touch. The figure moved with a limp, obviously injured despite the thickness of its armor. It looked about, attempting to determine if it had landed in a hostile area.

 

[Kolath]

Sharalyn came out of her bed with the first explosion, her sharp magically augmented ears picking up on the sound that most would have missed. She stood pulling on her dress settling the material for ease of movement as well as proper attire. As she dressed her mind reached out tracking the explosion finding its source just as the star crashed to earth. Feeling and hearing the rumble of impact Shara, could feel herself shaking. A fallen star was important to everyone, many people wanted them for the power they contained, while others like the village that she had sworn to protect needed the basic metals and the more base magic properties to help with everyday life.

Grabbing her staff she rushed out just as everyone else was just reacting to the sound of it crashing. "Kvaad!" the spell left her lips as she rushed through the forest that was between her and the crash. With the added boast of speed she covered the distance across the forest and then the field in mere moments, arriving just in time to see the dark figure coming out of the burning barn.

Raising her staff another spell leapt to her lips, "Resrs Urb." With a flash of light from the gem on the end of her twistwood staff, an orb of light shot into the sky lighting the area around the barn up like day light. Holding the staff out toward the figure she let the magic glow in the gem, "I am Sharalyn, wizard of the fourth order. You will surrender that star to me."

 

[Collector of Rarities]

Lua'nal Val'Nareth stumbled from the wreckage of her ship only to be confronted by what appeared to be a half-fox girl brandishing a staff at her. The glowing light that shot from the end of her staff was unmistakably magical in nature, but appeared to be non-threatening. The fact that the residents of this world still used staves to channel magic told Lua that their technology was primitive compared to hers. Her largest problem right now, though, was that she didn't understand what the other woman was saying.

Unfortunately, while her armor's shields had protected her from the majority of the impact, her leg had been injured and she now walked with an obvious limp. Even with her power armor enhancing her strength and speed, she doubted that she would be able to close the distance between them before the fox girl could hit her with a spell. Sighing, she drew her gun with her left hand and aimed it at Shara.

"Who are you?" demanded Lua. "Lower your weapon and tell me where I am!"

Just as Lua didn't understand Shara, Shara couldn't understand the drow. Furthermore, Lua's helmet distorted her voice slightly, making it difficult to determine her gender.

 

[Kolath]

Shara swallowed hard as the figure pulled something from her belt. That voice was so beyond anything that Sharalyn had ever heard, there was no tone no inflection, it was like something that wasn't living. Of course Shara had never heard synthesized speech before, the metallic sound was throwing her off. It didn't help any that the language was still so foreign.

Shara could only assume that whatever it was that the figure was pointing at her was some kind of a weapon. The closest thing she had ever seen to that was a wand carried by a wizard, and that was never a good thing to have pointing at you. Stepping slowly forward closing in on the figure, Shara shifted her hand not on the staff in front of her. Hanging from her wrist was a shield bracelet that could absorb a large amount of magical energy, if it came down to a fight she would be ready. "I don't know what you are saying but put that down and leave and I won't have to hurt you."

 

[Collector of Rarities]

"Stop!" commanded Lua, aiming her gun at the center of Shara's chest. As the girl came closer, she crouched slightly, preparing to spring forward the second she came withing reach. "Don't come any closer!"

She turned the gun to one side and pulled the trigger, shooting a pulse of magical energy into the ground at the young mage's feet. The ground exploded with a crackling of electricity, leaving a small dent in the ground where the magical bolt had struck. Having fired her warning shot, Lua pointed her gun back at the center of Shara's chest.

"Do not move or I will kill you," shouted[/i] Lua.

 

[Kolath]

For Shara moving was the last thing on her mind. The needed opportunity had been given, the figure had attacked first. All the restrictions placed on wizard's magic came off freeing all her magical energy for the battle ahead. Planting her feet letting her stance widen a little she cast the first spell of combat, "Kreard." With that word a glowing energy shield came around her protecting her from the blast of the weapon as well as the future assaults, or it at least should.

Her eyes burned a dark red as she gathered the energy for her next spell preparing it to be loosed. The gem at the end of her staff glowed red storing the energy. Her voice had changed gaining a almost other worldliness to it, a slight metallic sound as though speaking for far away through a tunnel. "I warned you, do not force me to harm you. All I want is the star, your life is yours to keep."

 

[Collector of Rarities]

Lua could feel her power waning quickly: her power armor's shields had drained a massive amount of mana during the crash. If the face-off lasted any longer, she wouldn't be able to remain standing, let alone remove her armor. She decided that the best move would be to end the situation in a single lunge.

Coiling her legs, Lua dashed forward with surprising speed. As she put weight on her left foot, however, a sharp pain shot up through her leg, causing her to stumble and collapse. She dropped the gun, which tumbled out of her reach. As she struggled to stand, she felt the last of her power draining. The only thing she could do to keep herself from being trapped in her armor without any sort of life support would be to remove it. Using the last of her mana, she rolled onto her back and sent a pulse through the suit, causing the helmet to fold away from her head and the front of her armor to open up.

Inside the suit was a woman with ebony black skin, silver hair and lavender eyes. She was 6'2" tall and her muscles were well-defined, much like a warrior's or an athlete. She wore nothing under the armor, revealing shapely C-cup breasts with gray nipples. Her crotch was bare, save for a small strip of silver hair over her sex. The woman was breathing heavily and her eyes were half-shut as she struggled to remain conscious.

 

[Kolath]

Sharalyn had been ready for just about anything. Had the figure attacked as it looked like it was going to, she would have fought as hard as she could. However watching the figure tumble over dropping to her back was a complete shock. Shara just stood there open mouthed, as the armor of its own accord opened, revealing the breath taking body of a woman. Waiting for a moment to make sure it wasn't a trap she finally let her shield drop and came over kneeling down near the prone woman.

Shara couldn't stop her amethyst eyes from wondering over the beautiful form before her, a slight blush creeping into her fair face. Her hand came to rest lightly between those shapely breasts feeling the heart beat beneath the skin before moving up to touch the dark skined woman's neck. She could still feel the heart beat and the flow of her mana, just both were weak. Looking down into the woman's barely open eyes she smiled, "Don't worry I won't hurt you."

 

[Collector of Rarities]

Lua glared up at Shara from her half-lidded eyes, but didn't have the strength to muster a response. She feebly lifted a hand to try and push away Shara's, but could only manage to put her hand on top of the fox girl's before her eyes drifted completely shut and she slipped into unconsciousness.

It was customary for the wearer of a suit of power armor to wear the armor and nothing else: the inside of the armor was padded for comfort and clothing, unless specially designed, tended to interfere with the flow of mana from the wearer's body to the suit of armor. Lua's nudity didn't bother her in the slightest; she had been brought up in a culture with very little modesty: sexuality and nudity were not taboo in drow culture. Furthermore, she had been on a military vessel for the past several years where there were many other soldiers who wore power armor as well, so nudity was fairly commonplace among the soldiers.

 

[Kolath]

The woman passed out in front of her Shara sighing deeply in relief. She took a moment to stabilize the woman, with what little gift of healing magic that she had before turning to the star. Looking over the outline of in she frowned deeply seeing the perfect shape, even if a little banged up. She had seen a fallen star or two in her time, and they never looked like this. She would need to look into this deeper. With a wave of her staff and a simple spell slipping from her lips Shara cast a cloak of hiding over the "star".

With a bit of work she got the woman that was passed out up and back to her home. Searching for any wounds that needed healing she found only the leg. With a simple spell she reduced the swelling letting the natural healing take over from there. All that was left was to wait, covering Lua with a sheet, Shara settled down in a chair and dosed off herself. The woman's weapons hidden in a closed magical chest that would be difficult for any mage to open.

 

[Collector of Rarities]

Lua slept restlessly through the night, waking several times for a brief moment before slipping back into unconsciousness. Any mage who had ever completely drained their mana would know the sensation: it felt like you had just sprinted a marathon, but without the ache in your muscles. Every part of Lua's body was both numb and felt like it was made of led: she couldn't have moved even a finger if she wanted to. This sensation slowly fade as her body regenerated mana, but come morning she still felt sluggish.

Lua sat up with a groan and began to look about the house for her equipment. She didn't bother looking for clothes for the time being, largely because she doubted that the fox girl from the previous night would have anything large enough for her. She eventually found the chest but, despite her best efforts, couldn't get it open. With a curse, she kicked it before going off to the kitchen to look for something to eat. After rummaging around in the cupboards for a little while, she grabbed some cheese and some dried fruit before settling into a chair to eat.

 

[Kolath]

Sharalyn had gone out early since she didn't have anything that would fit the larger woman, so had gone to get something. While out she had also stopped to pick up more food as her larder was almost bare as it was. Along with the shopping she had gone back out to the crash site moving the ship with a rather complicated teleport spell to someplace closer to the village where others would find it.

Coming back to her home she came into the kitchen and stopped dead, the woman was sitting there eating, naked. Shara blushed slightly and set the packages down on the table looking across it at her guest. "Good morning, I'm glad to see you are feeling better." She picked up the package of clothing she had bought for her and placed it about the middle of the table. Pointing at it she then motioned to Lua, "I wasn't sure what size you were but I thought this would fit." Taking a moment more she turned and started putting the food away.

 

[Collector of Rarities]

Lua took the clothes, a fairly simple robe and a pair of sandals, and put them on. It wasn't the spider silk that she was used to wearing, but it would do for now. Once dressed, she went back to eating. Food was an excellent way to replenish her physical strength as well as her mana. After finishing the fruit and cheese, she turned to Sharalyn and gave her an appraising look.

"I know you probably won't be understand this," she said, "but the best way for the translator to work is for you to talk to me and for me to talk to you. The more we say to each other, the more the translator has to work with."

Now that Lua's helmet wasn't distorting her voice, Shara could clearly hear the tones and inflection of the drow language. Her voice was melodious, but the words she spoke had a harsh undertone, making her language sound just a little bit unsettling.

"I don't suppose you have telepaths on your planet?" she asked, sighing and rolling her eyes.

 

[Kolath]

Sharalyn sighed as it became clear that there was little if any way that they could understand each other, there was magic to allow them to speak to each other, but Shara was unable to cast it. That along with all other divination spells, which any number of them could have allowed her to understand Lua in some way. It just something that she wasn't gifted in, and her people had yet to unlock the magic potential within all of them, that covered all magic, they still relied on a person being born gifted.

Sighing she smiled and moved over to the sink, and without knowing why just continued to talk to the strange woman. "I suppose it is silly to ask what you would like for lunch, I was thinking some kind of stew." She looked back at Lua brow crinkling in consternation. "Well this is difficult isn't it, how to bridge the gap this time huh?" she could help but smile and laugh a little at how silly she was being talking to someone that couldn't understand her.

 

[Collector of Rarities]

Lua sighed and leaned back in her chair, starring at Shara. She laced her fingers together in front of her mouth and rested her elbows on the armrests.

"This is going to be a long few days," she grumbled. "It feels like I'm hitting my head against a wall here. I should have taken those telepathy classes. Well, hindsight is 20/20."

 

[Kolath]

The next few days passed slowly for Sharalyn, she kept trying to talk to her guest and was surprised to find out that slowly she seemed to be learning to understand at least what was being said. They hadn't really gotten into much of a conversation yet, and what little Shara could learn from the short one they had was not helpful. The woman seemed to think the star was more than that and that she had ridden on it?

Something must have been lost in the translation she thought as she walked back through the town once again. She was on her way back to her house after tending one of the sick women in the town, as local wizard it was her duty not only to protect, but also to heal what she could.

As she was crossing the square there was a sudden explosion behind her and it threw her off her feet. Gripping her staff tightly she rolled over not caring about the fruit that lay destroyed at her feet. Pulling herself up she found herself facing a large black wolf. Snarling softly in recognition, she raised her staff. "Carvel the black, what are you doing here?"

The black wolf wasn't alone, there were dozens of other wolfs and predator animals coming up behind them, though clearly from their dress they were the muscle not the brains. The Black Wolf smirked, "Sharalyn, Haverthal's bitch. What do you think to do? Even if I tell you what I'm doing, there is nothing you can do to stop me."

"Why not tell me then? Your ego did always like a good stroking. Oh wait that was something else, when you could find someone to do it that is."

The wolf growled and sent a bolt of force out toward the little fox wizard, and it was clear that Shara was out matched. The bolt ripped right through any defense that she put up sending the little fox spinning through the air to collapse on the ground a good ten feet away. "I want the star cunt, you will not stand in my way again!"

 

[Collector of Rarities]

Lua's translator worked quickly; in just a few short days, she was able to speak the local language as if she had been immersed in it for several years. In a few more days, it would sound like she was speaking fluently. She had tried several times to explain that the "star" Shara had found was in fact an escape pod from a larger ship, but the fox woman didn't seem to get it. After a while, Lua simply gave up and refused to answer any more questions about her ship since none of it seemed to be getting through.

Lua felt the presence of a powerful magic user long before Shara encountered Carvel. While she had stayed in the house the past few days, she decided now was as good a time as any to go into town and investigate. She received several strange looks from the villagers as she wandered through town. She wished she had her sword and gun, but her host had yet to return them, which irked her; they were her weapons, after all, and she should be allowed to have them. When she finally found the source of the magical aura, she arrived just in time to see a large wolf send a bolt of force at Shara. While she didn't know the fox woman very well, she would not stand to see her host insulted in such a manner.

Stepping forward, Lua drew upon her power, causing her eyes to glow blue and lightning to crackle along her arms. She launched a bolt of lightning at the wolf, striking him in the leg. While Carvel might have outclassed Shara, Lua outclassed the wolf. The drow naturally generated large amounts of mana within their body, making even the youngest mage a formidable opponent.

"That was a warning shot," growled Lua. "Limp away now and I will allow you to continue breathing."

 

[Kolath]

The wolf yelped with the sudden attack from the woman that seemed no threat a moment ago. His leg shot through with pain as it collapsed under him dropping him to one knee. His eyes turned to her and growled deep forcing his way back up on one shaking limb. He growled a soft word and the robe he wore took on a soft glow casting a faint black light around him. "Now see here you bitch, you took me by surprise, don't think that you can win so easily with such a weak spell." He brought his hands forward, the index fingers touching his thumbs forming a triangle of sorts. "Let me show you true power, you and the fox slut." He breathed through the opening in his hands sending a gout of flame off toward the two of them spreading wider, clearly not caring if he engulfed the town in the flame as well.

 

[Collector of Rarities]

Lua's body crackled with lightning for a brief moment before she moved forward in a blur. She kicked the wolf in the leg where she had injured him and grabbed him by the throat. Her grip was surprisingly strong; drow women were generally stronger and taller than their male counterparts. Without any mercy, she directed the high-voltage charge that crackled along her body into the wolf's body.

"The drow are strong," she said, squeezing his throat harder. "We kill our enemies without mercy and we protect our allies. Don't worry; you won't make the mistake of crossing a drow again."

 

[Kolath]

Shara had been ready to die in this fight knowing full well that she was outclassed. However it was her duty to protect this village or die trying. After the bolt of force hit her she just lay there feeling the two broken bones in her shoulder and the cracked rib. The pain was over riding the sounds that were happening around her and so she had no idea what was happening to the wolf at that very moment.

The wolf had never stood a chance the fire spell he was casting petered out the moment that Lua was upon him. His leg buckled under the kick and he fell to one knee. He just looked up in horror as the drow woman came over and sent the energy crackling through his body. It was the last thing he would ever feel.