From the Spine

While this wasn't my first time away from the Spine, it was the first time either Miz or I had been so far away from home without either her father or my grandfather. The two men had more trade routes to run, making it impossible for them to make the journey to Stronghold to gather more goods or make better deals. So they sent Miz and I, away from the Spine and out of the Underdark to the capital of the Human Empire, just so they could make a quick buck.
 
I was glad for the travel. I had stopped having things to read being stuck in our camps in the Spine. Miz's book was worn, almost illegible in places where I had rubbed the pages thin. It was a surprise to me when I found out she was traveling with me, but I welcomed the company of her and Belwar, her squirel-like companion. She could teach me her language as we traveled, passing the many days to Stronghold quickly.
 
Miz was a good friend, although time in her company was often spent silent. We came from very different worlds, her skin dark, much like the place she came from. That hadn't stopped us from becoming friends through my many visits to the Underdark. I just had never expected her to travel across the surface.
 
But her travels on the surface seemed to be an exile of sorts. She didn't speak much of it, becoming very tight-lipped and almost angry when I tried to ask why she had come with me. Her lavender eyes burned with a fire uncommon in her dark elf peers, it scared me as much as it thrilled me.
 
While we were both diplomats, we were also trained fighters, although in different disciplines. We chose to spar while we traveled, attempting to pass the time more quickly. While drow were welcome in most places, Miz always kept us from towns in favor of the deep growth of the forest. It was fine for me, I had never spent much time in a city, let alone a large one, so the solitude of the forest was more like home.
 
From the Spine we went, but to the Spine we might not return. While this was a business trip, we very well may choose to travel the world, sending our answers on the backs of creatures instead of our own tongues. What better pair to travel the world than a dark elf and her barbarian.