Resurrected as a Drow 3 Chapter 1 Bit late on chapters. Just got this done in time!

The cheers and applause from the crowd rang in my ears as I shook my head, which was still reeling from my underground forays. Tryss seemed to notice my discomfort, and she extended her hand to cup my face. I nuzzled my cheek into her hand and closed my eyes as her thumb stroked small circles below my eye, but then my eyes flew open as I considered something.

“Wait, do I still have to pretend to be in Ozin-Na? If that’s the case, I shouldn’t be seen so publicly with you.” I shot a concerned glance at the crowd where the Matron Mothers and priestesses were still watching us.

“Don’t worry about that,” Tryss said with a wicked grin. “There have been some, ah, updates since you’ve been busy with the maze and its preparations.”

“Oh?” I asked with a curious lift of my eyebrows as I peered into the beautiful priestess’ coy face.

“Mother has a plan.” Tryss smiled.

“Of course, she does.” I grinned back as I shot another look at Mother in the stands. I could see the glamoured Nodrin whispering into her ear, though they both held their gazes steady on me. “What are they plotting?”

“Well, after Daria-Zephyr traded you to Kun-Valdar in exchange for Nodrin, Mother approached Kun-Valdar herself,” Tryss explained.

“Okay,” I said slowly as I tried to fit this new information in. It hadn’t been part of the original plan, but I could see how it made sense. If Sevahtra wanted Kun-Valdar to believe the rivalry between House Claden’Du and House Ozin-Na was alive and well, then it made sense she would approach Kun-Valdar about the fate of her beloved wizard that her enemy had sold off. I recalled how Kun-Valdar told Daria-Zephyr of her attempts to train Nodrin for the Blind Maze, and how the attempts ended with her breaking the wizard’s legs, so I knew the meeting with the Matron Mother of the Twenty-Eighth station wouldn’t have been easy for Mother Sevahtra. She would have wanted to slay Kun-Valdar right there.

“It’s a trap, of course,” Tryss said as her eyes searched my tired face.

“Of course.” I nodded. “Revenge for Nodrin, right?”

“And others,” Tryss said grimly, and when I gave her a curious look, she explained further. “Mother has recently learned of ongoing activities she was previously not aware of. When Claden’Du was thriving, there were over eleven hundred active duergar guards on duty at any moment.”

My mind flashed back to my first day in the drow realm when Belia Ozin-Na infiltrated the House of Claden’Du and slaughtered all of the duergar guards while she amplified the horrifying sounds to Mother Sevahtra. My jaw tightened at the memory, but I nodded for Tryss to continue explaining.

“Well, it’s not a stretch to imagine that not every single duergar guard was loyal to the House of Claden’Du, since the drow and duergar have a complicated history,” Tryss continued while she crossed her arms and drummed her long fingers against herself. “And Mother has been made aware of the dealings of the disloyal guards.”

“Uh-oh. What did they get up to?” Possibilities crossed my mind, I was learning that there were few limits in this realm. Interspecies crossbreeding? Now I knew how terribly that was regarded, so I knew it wouldn’t be a good look for the House of Claden’Du.

“Trafficking,” Tryss said as she pursed her lips. “There was one duergar guard in particular, Ganer’if, who was making a side profit by selling off workers into slavery after reporting them as having died on the job.”

“And Elviramosa Kun-Valdar of the Twenty-Eighth station was buying them,” I pieced together.

“Correct,” Tryss said. “Amongst others.”

“And of course, Mother Sevahtra doesn’t like her chattel being messed with.”

“No the fuck she does not,” Tryss confirmed with a grin.

“How long had this been going on?” I asked.

“Decades.”

“Oofttt,” I said as I sucked air in through my teeth. “That’s a lot of revenge to be had. But what about, what was it? Ganer’fi?”

“Ganer’if,” Tryss corrected gently. “He was killed in the raids, thank gods for him, otherwise he’d have to endure the wrath of Mother.”

“I wish I could’ve seen that,” I said with a wicked grin. Mother Sevahtra was a secret softy, but she was also ruthless when she needed to be.

“You may get to yet, if any of his descendants survived the raids.” Tryss returned my grin as her eyes flickered up to her mother in the stands again. “Her wrath will come down as if it was inflicted upon Ganer’if himself. And Kun-Valdar, in due time.”

“Excellent, so what’s the plan?” I asked, and I shook my head quickly to fight off the exhaustion that was creeping into my peripheral vision.

“There’s plenty of time for scheming yet.” Trissy reached her hand out to cup my face again. “You’re exhausted.”

“I am,” I agreed, and with the words, the exhaustion crept in more. I felt the muscles in my arms grow heavier as they tried to recover from the hours spent digging the rest of me by hand out of the death trap that was the Blind Maze.

Literally.

I wasn’t meant to survive that maze, and the realization that someone would be very upset that I had started to manifest itself in my brain. Everything had happened so suddenly, I hadn’t had much time to process anything.

One minute I’d been sitting and having tea with Kun-Valdar and Zephyr, an ally changeling who was disguised as Daria Ozin-Na. They’d been discussing the trade of, well, me as Kun-Valdar’s House representative for the celebration known as Qorin-Kai, where representatives competed in what was known as the Blind Maze. Each year, the racers were sent into a maze that was enchanted with a light spell to make the surroundings impossibly bright. Due to my mysterious background that I didn’t even have a hold on myself yet, I was blessed with what I referred to as my Dark Eye. The eyesight in my Dark Eye wasn’t normal, and it allowed me to see through the brightness of the light spell. But, shortly after my tea with Kun-Valdar that turned out to be spiked, I was taken to see Drogu, for the half-dozenth time in my short existence.

Drogu, the spider queen goddess of chaos, informed me that someone had changed the rules, and the Blind Maze would take place in darkness this year. She also warned me that the Maze was actually a trap, in which all contestants were sent to die. And, well, that meant I was shit out of luck. Luckily, Drogu had a soft spot for me, and she promised me I would make it out of that Maze alive.

The next thing I knew, I woke up in the middle of the Blind Maze.

No prep or anything. Goddess of Chaos indeed.

The gorgeous spider goddess didn’t just throw me to the… furry things that run fast. Dogs? No.

Wolves.

Oh, yeah, there were also the random memories of another life that punctuated my already confusing existence.

Anyway…

Thrown into the Blind Maze that was dark instead of light, with no preparation, and an army of soul-eaters intent on sucking my soul out, which was the cherry on top.

That phrase came to my mind easily, though gods only knew from where.

Speaking of gods, Drogu came through for me again. I didn’t know if it was my roguish charm, my well-endowed appendage between my thighs, or something else that I wasn’t privy to yet that kept her sweet on me. Only time would tell, I was sure of that much at least. But in my time of need in the maze, she’d sent me her spider friends who helped convey to me the need to dig through the ground. It was my only escape from the maze, and though I could barely stand now, it was worth it. Now I was freed, with my lover by my side.

For now.

I stretched my arms out and flexed my fingers back and forth. If I weren’t looking directly at them, I’d be worried they were about to fall off from all the digging.

“How long was I down there?” I asked as I shook out my weary muscles.

“About three hours,” Tryss said before she reached forward and grasped my right hand lightly. Then she started kneading slow, methodical circles into my tired hands.

“Hmmm, that feels nice,” I sighed, and I let my head fall back as I closed my eyes and enjoyed my lover’s deft fingers while they worked their magic on my hands.

“Don’t get too comfortable yet, my love,” Tryss said with a grin. “You have just become House Champion, there’s to be a celebratory feast in your honor.”

“Ohhhh,” I groaned right as my stomach grumbled. The thought of a lively feast and excited chattering after hours of digging wasn’t appealing, but the thought of the food made my mouth water and my stomach grumble even louder, and I grinned. “I guess I could feast.”

“I thought so.” Tryss smirked as she gently dropped my hands from her grip and slid an arm through mine, and then we leaned on each other as we slowly walked away from the maze. “It is only halfway Kels’Rin-Kai, afterall, you had to assume there would be a feast.”

“It does make perfect sense.” I nodded.

Kels’Rin-Kai was an eight-day long celebration of the spider goddess Drogu. One day for each of her legs. A celebration without a feast during Kels’Rin-Kai would be like…

Christmas without presents.

I wasn’t entirely sure where that came from, but I could picture a small green tree inside a cozy dwelling with boxed gifts wrapped in shiny paper displayed beneath it. It was a warm, happy memory, but the details eluded me, like they often did when I was hit with a wave of past memories from another life.

Whatever Christmas was, it wasn’t like drow celebrations. I was learning drow celebrations were more… carnal. Feasts were common, but so were orgies.

That sounded like the proper way to celebrate.

“The rules dictate that the House of the champion and all other Houses who placed a wager on the champion will get together in a House of their choosing,” Tryss pressed on as we continued our leisurely stroll. “Of course, Mother insisted that Elvy host, and she was more than happy to accept.”

“That’s right.” I nodded as I recalled the pink-clad Matron Mother of the Twenty-Eighth station. She was like a peacock, eager to show off. “Ever the show-off. And she’s still convinced that both the Claden’Du and Ozin-Na Houses are alive and well?”

“Completely,” Tryss scoffed. “I’m surprised she’s not been usurped already.”

Matron Mothers were notoriously suspicious creatures, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill even their own daughters at the barest whiff of a betrayal or insurrection, but Elvy Kun-Valdar looked foolishly trustworthy compared to the likes of Mother Sevahtra or Mother Drindessa. Though it was also a testament to Mother Sevahtra and her priestess daughters’, and, well, my ability for deception. We had the rest of the Houses and Council convinced that both Houses were alive and well, through clever manipulation, glamour magick, and the help of our dark fae friends.

I looked up to the stands to see Elvy descending the high stadium steps, and her eyes were pointed hungrily in my direction when she wasn’t focused on not falling down the steep stone steps.

“Looks like she’s ready to meet her prized boy toy,” Tryss said dryly, and I watched as her crimson eyes followed the elaborately dressed Matron Mother.

I couldn’t help but grin at the edge of jealousy in my lover’s voice. Tryskalan was uncharacteristically jealous for a female drow, but our connection was stronger than most. I’d even outright confessed my love for the beautiful warrior, to which she responded by promptly vomiting, but I tried not to take that too personally. She had ingested hyssop, to which she was particularly sensitive.

“Don’t worry, she won’t get far,” I said as I pulled my lover in by the waist so her body was tight against mine. She leaned into me more and sighed happily, and I couldn’t wait until the post-celebration celebrations with my lavender-skinned lover.

Before we could take another step, Tryss clutched her stomach and stumbled.

“Babe?” I reached for Tryss, who clutched onto me with a pained look on her face. Then all the color drained from her pretty visage.

“What is it?” I asked before I felt an unpleasant, yet familiar tugging in my own stomach.

“Anti-magick spell,” Tryss breathed out, and the small drow woman continued to clutch at her gut while my own stomach roiled. The powerful priestess was much more connected to her ether and therefore her magick, so she was much more affected by the spell than I was, though it was far from pleasant for me, either.

“From where?” I grunted as I cast a worried glance around. We hadn’t made it far from the maze, so I wondered if it was from some leftover soul-eaters, but that didn’t seem to fit within the parameters of the contest.

Then I looked back toward the maze to see shadowy figures approaching us.

“Looks like we’ve got company,” I said and jerked my head toward the approaching figures.

“Fuck,” Tryss cursed as she straightened her posture to face our attackers. “This really isn’t your best introduction to Kels’Rin-Kai.”

“I don’t mind,” I chuckled. “Life as a drow is nothing if not exciting.”

“You speak the truth,” Tryss said, and we both fell into easy fighting stances, with our backs pressed together and our weapons drawn as the group of unknown assassins circled us.

“Who are they?” I asked as I searched for some signs of identity on the six approaching figures. An insignia on their cloaks, House colors, distinguishing scars, anything. But their cloaks were plain black, and their faces were obscured, though the assailants came in a variety of sizes.

“I can’t tell,” Tryss shot back, and I could feel her head on a swivel as she took in the surrounding assassins.

“They’re here for me,” I said through gritted teeth. “I wasn’t meant to survive that.”

“Well, you did,” Tryss said. “And you’re going to survive this, too.”

“I know.” I grinned as I fought off the mild claustrophobia I was getting from the assailants closing in. I’d only just escaped my underground hellscape, I needed my space.

And if I needed to take these unknown cloaked killers with me, then so be it.

They continued to press closer, but their attention was all on me. It was clear they were here to finish the job.

“It’s go time,” I hissed.

“Let’s go, then!” Tryss cried out as she lunged forward.

I followed her example, and as I lunged forward, a darkened assassin shot out to meet me. I crossed my dual daggers in an X above my head to block his sword as it swung down above me, and the force was heavy against my weary arms, but I summoned the strength to prevent any serious injury. Then I jumped back and reached for my ether, only to be painfully reminded of the anti-magick spell that had been cast over us.

Damn. I could really use some levitating powers right about now.

I guess I’d just need to get by without them.

The cloaked assailant took a lunge at me, and I spun out of the way as I felt my instincts of unknown origins take over. My stance widened into what I knew to be the prime fighting stance, and my arms were at the ready in front of my chest, with my elbows tight to my body. I could hear the phantom voice of the one I used to call Drill Sergeant in my mind, and he was telling me to keep my elbows tight, soldier, and eyes on the prize.

I spun back toward the assailant as he recovered from his previous miss, and the large male figure raised his sword above his head and swung it down haphazardly, in a way that made me think he wasn’t all that familiar with the weapon. I blocked his blow again that, while clumsy, still had some weight behind it, and my arm protested against the struggle. I twisted my two daggers so the blade of the assailant’s sword got caught in between them, and then I swung a foot up to kick the cloaked assassin in the chest. Next, I lowered my arms as he fell backward onto the ground, and I shot forward and buried a dagger into his heart before he could recover.

To my left, I heard clanging metal, and I looked up to see Tryss pull off a sexy maneuver with her sword that caused her opponent’s head to roll right off its neck.”

“Damn.” I whistled, and Tryss shot me a toothy grin over her shoulder before we were both distracted by more assailants.

The next cloaked figure approached from my right, and I could tell it was a male figure, but he was shorter and stouter than the one I pulled my dagger from. He also carried a scythe that he looked more than comfortable with. The short assassin gripped the weapon tightly with both hands, and I could make out narrowed blue eyes from beneath his shaggy fringe, but a strip of ragged cloth covered the rest of his face before it tucked down into his plain black cloak.

“Hrrnngg,” the male grunted as he suddenly jumped forward and swung the scythe like a… baseball bat.

I stumbled backward and nearly tripped over the inert body of the recently slain assassin, but I recovered quickly as the sharp blade of the scythe missed me by mere inches.

I instinctively reached for my ether again, but I was quickly reminded it still wasn’t usable, so I crouched down and rolled to the left in one quick movement. The stocky scythe-wielding assassin spun to find me, but I was already on my feet and lunging toward him, and my dagger met his eye with a satisfying squelch. I twisted the blade for good measure, and the male’s strangled cry weakened as he fell to the ground for the last time.

I barely had time to pull my dagger from the dead man’s eye before I felt a blow across the back of my knees. I fell forward, and instinct told me to keep falling until my head was flat against the ground, in case my attacker took a swing while I was on my knees.

Sure enough, I felt a rush of wind above my head as a heavy object cut through the air where my head had been milliseconds before, so I continued to roll until I was on my back and could see my assailant.

Another male figure, midsized, with a long, dark ponytail hanging down his back, and dressed in the same type of unmarked cloak as the others. The ponytailed male spun to face me while he pulled his sword back above his head, but I was renewed with a burst of adrenaline, so I jumped to my feet and readied my daggers.

These fuckers were interrupting my already shitty day, and I was ready to get them over with.

“Hmph,” the assailant muttered as he stepped forward. He was less sure-footed than his colleagues, and he seemed to be internally debating with himself if he wanted to risk going head to head with me.

Too bad for him.

I took advantage of his hesitation and started forward. The amateur assassin startled and raised his sword instinctively, but I had faked the forward movement. Then I stepped forward, when his sword was raised halfway above his head, and crouched beneath him while I swung my dagger up into his soft belly. I felt the blood gush out of the open wound and down the shaft of my dagger until my hand was drenched in the warm, coppery liquid, and I slid the blade down the soft skin and then felt a splattering of organs as they tumbled out of the man’s belly.

“Oh,” he whispered, and his eyes went wide at the sight of his guts literally spilling onto the floor. Then his eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell on top of his spilled organs while I stepped back and wiped the blood onto the back of his black tunic.

“Fynn!” Tryss shrieked from behind me, and I spun around to see the last two standing assassins pressing in on her.

“Tryss!” I shouted as I bounded over the dead bodies and inserted myself between the bigger assailant and Tryss.

This guy seemed less like a guy and more like a beast. His black cloak could hardly contain his hulking shoulders, and his sword looked more like a dagger in his wide, hairy hands.

The thought of this beast threatening my lover had me shaking.

“Hey, shithead,” I seethed as I pointed a dagger at his heart. “Why don’t you fuck with someone your own size?”

“Rrrrrggggghh,” the beast growled as he pawed the ground with his bare, clawed feet that stuck out below his cloak.

“Here boy, here,” I said, and I whistled like he was a dog. I had the vague recollection of people house-training dogs with whistles and treats, so I dangled my dagger in front of me like it was a tasty treat the beast could take. “Be a good boy, sit.”

“Raaaaahhhh!” the beast roared as he leaned back on his powerful haunches and then pounced, but I was expecting him to do exactly that, and I spun my dagger so the pointy side was up as the beast landed in front of me. I didn’t expect his hands… paws?... to be as fast as they were, though, and I’d admit I was caught off guard as he batted the dagger out of my hand.

A large, yellow claw narrowly missed slicing open my wrist, and I jumped backward to avoid another swat by the beast’s freakish claws while I swapped the dagger in my left hand over to my strong hand. The handle was slick against my blood-soaked skin, but I got a good grip on it and eyed my large opponent as he snarled at me.

I didn’t have much time to formulate a plan before the beast struck again, his lightning fast movements almost catching me off guard again, but I was a fast learner, like Mother Sevahtra said. The beast reached his hairy arms out toward me, and I used that opportunity to slice my dagger through the air and create deep slices in the beast’s wrists.

He’d given me the idea, after all.

The beast whimpered as blood streamed steadily out of the two gaping slices and spilled onto the ground beneath us, but his legs continued to propel him forward, and I tucked and rolled underneath him as he sailed through the air. The beast stumbled forward when he landed, so I shot forward to sink my dagger into his back, and the beast howled in pain as he tried to claw at me. The slices in his wrists prevented him from getting any purchase on his grip, so I pulled the knife out and jabbed it three more times into his broad back until he crumpled and fell forward with a pathetic whimper.

I could still hear Tryss fighting with the final opponent behind me, so I jumped to my feet and spun toward the sounds of the battle. As I spun, I spotted Dagwyn running toward the edge of the maze, with the others in hot pursuit behind her.

“Fynn!” Dagwyn shouted as she sprinted and waved her hands above her head. “Fynn, leave one alive! We need to question them!”

“Got it!” I shouted back, and I turned and ran toward Tryss, where she was locked in a fierce sword battle. She was holding her own, but I could tell the small priestess was physically exhausted without the help of her magic to fall back on. “I’m tapping in, Tryss!”

I launched myself at her cloaked male opponent, and while I didn’t have magic, I did have the element of surprise. I wrapped my arms around the assassin’s waist, and I felt the breath leave his lungs as I tackled him to the ground.

Like I used to do in football. An image of a strange ball with pointed ends flying through the air flashed across my mind, and I knew that it was a football, even though I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly.

I hit the ground hard, even with the cloaked male’s body to break my fall. I felt his head snap against the ground, and I sprang up and put a foot on his chest to keep him down, while I felt the others gather around me. Then Tryss dashed forward and kicked the assailant’s sword out of arm’s reach.

“Well done, male,” Dagwyn said, but she shot me a quick wink.

Mother Sevahtra joined her side, along with Elvy, Helera, Nodrin in his glamour, Fespius, and Zephyr.

“Anytime,” I gasped as I caught my breath, and I leaned heavily on my foot while the captive struggled against it.

“Damn, you can really fight,” Helera commented, and she cast her gaze over the dead bodies scattered across the ground before she turned her appraising eyes on me.

I couldn’t help but grin as her gaze fell and raked over my whole body. Dagwyn tutted, and I turned to see the woman’s twin glaring at her. I chuckled at the sibling rivalry, but Dagwyn had nothing to be jealous of. After all, the middle sister and I had enjoyed some fun together not long ago, which left Helera as the only sister unbedded by me yet. Yet.

But with the way Helera was drinking in the sight of me, bloodied and out of breath from battle, I knew I’d get the chance to fill her with my seed eventually. I felt a stir in my gut at the thought of impregnating all three sisters at the same time, but then I shook my head before the blood could rush to the wrong place.

Hey, battle was intense. I guess my body liked intense activity.

“What is the meaning of all this?” Elvy asked primly as she fussed with her elaborate pink outfit. She clearly hadn’t intended to get this close to the maze, she preferred to torture her chattel into doing all the dirty work for her.

“Well, it would appear someone is trying to kill your champion, Elvy,” Mother Sevahtra said in a dangerously sweet voice.

Elvy didn’t pick up on Mother’s tone, she merely continued to fuss with her shiny belt and fixed her wide eyes on me.

“Why is someone trying to kill you now? The Maze is over.”

“Beats me,” I said with a shrug. Then I pressed my foot into my captive’s chest again, and I enjoyed the sensation of him struggling beneath me.

“Let’s find out,” Dagwyn said, and the warrior woman stepped forward and dragged the would-be assassin to his knees. The way she moved him so forcefully, I could tell she was a little jealous of having missed out on the action, and the middle sister hated that feeling. Then Dag ripped the assailant’s face mask down to reveal an ugly, squat-faced duergar male. “Who sent you? What is your purpose here? Speak, male.”

The duergar male let his eyes slide over each of our faces as his face grew into a slow, creepy grin. The grin grew even wider into what could only be described as a maniacal smile while he continued to meet each of our gazes. Soon, the captive threw his head back and began to laugh hysterically. He barely stopped for breath, he just continued to laugh, and I shifted on my feet uncomfortably while Tryss and I exchanged a troubled glance.

Then the duergar male stopped laughing suddenly, and he tilted his head upright and looked me dead in the eye before his head exploded into bloody chunks.