This scent was so familiar to me. It smelled softly of Night Orchid and something I hadn't noticed in the Underdark in a long time. It was a slightly sweet, fresh scent. I followed it through Drezz'Lynur to Traaskl Thorog but did not approach the cities any further.
When I was hunting for fresh meat a few days ago, the scent grew more dominant, as if it was passing me by. It seemed to come from one of the two Drow, who ran past me almost blind while I was grazing out a Svirfneblin (Deep Gnome) as if they were on the run. However, that wasn't the only scent I noticed. The smell of lots of adamantine and sweat followed them. But there was something else. Something unknown. A hint of death seemed to follow them.
(c) Art by Amionna
After fortifying myself, I continued to follow the tracks and found the two Drow fighting with only a handful of soldiers while the rest of the battalion seemed to just stand there waiting for something. Suddenly, however, they seemed to be retreating, and soldiers in black, light full body armor sprinting towards them on a path through the other. They appeared to be sparsely armed, but their movements suggested excellent training in a martial art.
It didn't take long either when more new smells entered the battlefield, and the two hunted got support. It smelled of humans. A disgusting smell. But there was more. Was this an Aasimar? An undefinable, warm aroma and a soft, shiny aura moved toward the Drow, who began to scream out bitterly after the sword-spider stabbed her friend.
What followed was spectacular. The lightning, which seemed to come from her body, illuminated the entire vault in glistening light before they disappeared again into the ground. I quickly sought protection from the unusual weather phenomenon, which began to rage with storm and rain in the middle of a cave, in a small shelter from which I could continue to observe the show. Rumbling, tireless, and with a thundering rumble, she slaughtered all the enemy soldiers with a whip formed of light with such speed that it seemed as if she was made of pure energy. Lightning struck randomly around her, incinerating every unfortunate soldier who was hit in seconds. I had never seen anything like it. So much power in just one unremarkable person, and yet it still seemed uncontrolled.
When the Aasimar managed to restrain this enormous power amid the storm, I followed them to the surface. As gentle as this man was towards this Drow, I was sure that he seemed to have powerful feelings towards her.
I used the nights and their rest to look around on the surface. Everywhere these new, pungent smells and sounds, with which I had to deal and made the hunt very difficult to me. But I should get probably the most oversized meat platter, which I ever saw.
Focusing on this little Roth, waiting for the perfect time to strike it down and feast on its fresh, warm flesh, I suddenly realized where I knew that sweet, fresh scent from. Those soft movements of the white-haired Drow with unusually lighter skin color lovingly caressing this Aasimar. Those dark eyes that gave off an ultraviolet glow when exposed to light. It was Naldela. That Drow who found my cocoon and fostered me tenderly. Put on armor to protect me and hunted by my side. Until the time, many years ago, when I had to flee from enslavement from Menzoberranzan. Even though she was not of my race, the word mother would describe her best.
I let go of the mini Roth, and just as I was about to approach Naldela, they were attacked out of nowhere by large green creatures. This horned one and the small blue snack were agile and fled in circles, while the impressive Drow shield carrier easily blocked the strikes of the much larger creatures and easily lifted rocks from the ground, which she threw at them. My gaze, however, focused out of hiding on Naldela and her Aasimar. They were surrounded, and except for one, the lightning strikes didn't seem to bother the creatures much. But before these monsters rushed at them, I jumped at them with a hiss over Naldela's and Ykril's heads.
With ease, I tore apart this soft, green meat and pierced two more with my legs. They were already lightly fried by Naldela's lightning, which only seemed to make them more delicious to feed my bloodlust. As I sprinted at the last one, which the two had encircled, another flew past me to a tree, to which I pinned it with one of my legs while I finished off its friend.
It wasn't long until things quieted down, and while I was feasting on the dead creatures, I could hear a frightened conversation starting behind me and someone touching my abdomen. In the corner of my eye, I realized that it was Naldela, and I could continue to eat feeling safe.
They set up camp a bit away from me, and when I had finished eating, I tried to approach slowly. But the screaming of the horned one with her energizing voice, when she noticed me, made me take a step back again. Only when Naldela knelt down in front of me and spoke to me in her soft voice, I approached her, laid my head in her lap, and took in her fresh sweet scent, which I knew so well. I gently wrapped my front legs around her, pressed her tighter against me, and enjoyed her tender caresses over my head. After such a long time, I was finally back with my family.
