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tales_of_faerun2024-01-15 05:21 pm
senmut) wrote in tales_of_faerun2024-01-15 05:21 pm
Entry tags:
Zak and Kor Fic
Fight or Flight (6948 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zaknafein Do'Urden, Original Elf Character(s), Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Inthylyn Aerasumé
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mental Health Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Summary:
None but the priestess returned, and no one knew how or why. The raid was a complete failure, every single House that had sent someone in disgrace. House Do'Urden was most fallen in favor, having provided two members to the patrol. When House Hun'ett — spared because their wizard had been barred from it — came, Zaknafein did nothing more than needed to survive.
He did take pleasure, briefly, in killing the wizard that should have been on those patrols, cutting away the belt carrying all the pouches, so he would have trade goods. He then took himself away from the conflict, away from the city, re-establishing contact with Bregan D'aerthe in a nearby town with trade to various cities. His soul was numb, but dogged hope remained. He had to know the fate of his son.
Drizzt still felt the fear pounding through him for what he had done, for what he had witnessed. He'd fled blindly from the slaughter, only realizing after that his swords had accounted for at least some of the death. He was injured, had taken one of the overly large but thin bolts from the sky rained down on them from the monsters in the sky.
He couldn't say he was unhappy that the pair of creatures with riders had opened fire, not after seeing the faeries on the ground had been unarmed. Between the bolts, the diving and stomping creatures, it had been a complete rout —
— aided by his swords.
By the blade, what had he done?!
He couldn't think, couldn't fully remember the moments of the brief battle with anything like clarity. It was as if something had possessed him, making him lash out at every lie he'd finally grasped of his life, of the drow he belonged to. It was completely stunning that he'd managed to get under cover and stay hidden from the monsters and their riders.
Now… now he needed to determine how to survive, how to live, and he headed away from the trees, looking for anything that would serve as a sanctuary.
"There was a drow raid nearby, in the forest," Vierna told her fellow good drow. "We will not forage across the river. Anger is higher than usual, and the two pegasi riders that keep an eye on things believe at least one of the attackers escaped.
"Be cautious and keep your attention out, just in case they are correct. New drow who are found must be questioned by one of the stronger clerics." She grimaced. "And necessary actions will happen, if such a person is a threat."
"Yes, First Sister," they chorused, hoping that the survivor, if there was one, stayed very far from their hills.
Jarlaxle set the bundle down carefully, still not best-pleased at this entire idea. However, Zaknafein had more than earned the right to go and try. His work in Mantol-Derith had been invaluable since he took the reins there for Bregan D'aerthe.
"It's a very slim rumor, old friend."
"It's the first confirmation I've had that my son might have escaped," Zak said, "and for that, I will risk the surface."
"How do you manage to hold hope so easily?" Jarlaxle asked him, honestly curious. Zaknafein leveled a patented glare at him.
"It's not easy. But it makes it easier to live, thinking my strange son might have made a life up there, without falling prey to everything we are and become."
"You are only an optimist where he is concerned." Jarlaxle clapped a hand on Zak's shoulder. "If you cannot return through the Underdark, make your way to something called the Neverwinter Woods toward where the ball of fire vanishes.
"There's a group of His followers there, with access to Rilauven, and we can retrieve you from there. It's easier to get to from the surface than the headquarters in Skullport would be."
"I won't be back if he's dead," Zak said gruffly.
Jarlaxle didn't answer that, but did find himself praying the boy had survived… and had not become the monster that most drow were in Zaknafein's eyes.
Zaknafein lingered in the shadowed mouth of the cavern he'd finally emerged from. He drew out the talisman he'd taken when he left Menzoberranzan, years ago, the one that had taken a number of favors to find out more about.
"Guenhwyvar," he said, while holding it, and watched as the monster appeared, tail down and ears back. "Massive," Zak whispered, before pulling out the sealed packet, breaking it open to hold the contents out to her gingerly. "Drizzt. I need to find Drizzt. It's been years, but the wizard said you might … have ways."
Her ears had twitched, but the cat looked at him with narrow eyes, as if only held back by the fact he held her talisman.
Zak growled in frustration, still holding the tunic of his son that he'd stolen and held onto out of sentiment. "Damn it all, why am I even trying it this way?! I want my son back, and you're just a surface monster!"
She lashed her tail a moment, but then she moved, reaching with a paw to snag the tunic. The scent was so old, and he had to be long gone, but she seemed to be investigating it. She then dropped it, making him retrieve it, before turning her head this way and that.
Was there a magical connection, like the wizard had concluded? Zak remembered the man had been intrigued, stating that a second anchor held her, one outside of the figure of wondrous power that Zak controlled.
She stood on all four paws, and started walking in a direction before pausing, looking at him.
"You think you know?" Zak asked, even though it wasn't like she could answer.
She made the tiniest sound to be such a big cat and started walking again. He'd have to follow her lead, and hope — always HOPE with this son of his — she was right.
Korvallen signaled for caution as they approached the bloody battlefield. His keen eyes took in the number of goblins that had been clawed open, and the ones that had been sliced into pieces in some cases. When High Hold had asked for a patrol to go up past the border, Besnell had asked him to handle it. The double patrol was full of veterans, with even the squires close to knighting.
"Fanout, make sure they're dead. Spellguards, ready for a mass burial," he ordered, as their advent disturbed the carrion feeders. "Hell of a lot of goblins, good weapons among them… what did this if High Hold didn't?" he mused aloud.
"Knight-Captain!"
Korvallen turned toward the call and then trotted that way. As soon as he could see what he was being called to, a cloud of bloodied white hair sticking out from under the worg, he readied his sword for a short strike, just in case.
"I think he's breathing, and there's a sword in the worg," Vilmedaren said.
"So there was a fight for supremacy over this war band," Korvallen said, twitching to make a sure killing blow.
"And if he's the one that actually fought them?" Vilmedaren asked, making Korvallen remember his oaths.
"Damn it," Kor growled, but he helped his fellow Knight get the beast off of the unconscious — definitely living but maybe not for long — drow. Well, if the drow couldn't pass through the wards, he'd have another chance to end the foul dark one's life. Until then, he saw to getting first aid measures in place, while stripping the various weapons he could find away.
He noted they were surface made, as the clothing was, but that didn't mean much.
With a summoned mount and a stasis spell from the Spellguards, the patrol started back. Kor was damned disappointed when the wards let the drow pass, but kept it to himself — much as Niska probably was. Then it was a matter of outfitting a room in one of their outer properties to hold a drow, and getting a cleric who was willing to deal with him.
After everything could be done to heal him, and the spells had been removed, the drow was left alone, but under watch through a wall of force that would be renewed as needed. All of the drow's belongings were inspected for traps and carefully catalogued.
The drow came conscious not long after everything was settled, but merely sat up, studying what could be seen through the open door. Jastinathiel was the unlucky elf that got to be stared at, and she let the Palace know the drow was awake but not moving. As food, water, and other necessities were in the room with the man, Jasti let herself just settle to the watch, knowing someone would eventually come to talk to the man, and see what could be learned.
Once the initial interview had happened, Taern Hornblade, one of the few in the city to know certain facts, sent to Thyl and requested his presence in Silverymoon.
The next day, Thyl was told about the encounter and current resident of one of the outer holding houses.
"The drow has given his word to remain in the house, and Talaris, thankfully, has gone to be his liaison. We actually think he means it, because he has a goal of finding a drow on the surface, and we have resources he needs."
"And you summoned me because?" Thyl asked, curious.
"The man's name is Zaknafein Do'Urden, and he's been truthful in all he answered." Taern met the half-elf's eyes. "I know that last name because of your connections."
"Yes," Thyl said, stunned. "I… I'll meet him, and then decide from there. I can't risk them."
"Of course you cannot," Taern said. "We have been thankful for their warnings over the years. The goblin raid was coming out of the Lurkwood, stumbled across him. They wanted him to join them, he took offense, and … well. I doubt many lived to run away.
"But they were not in your friend's territory, just so you can be reassured on that."
"Thank you, Taern. I'll go talk to him now, and see how to handle this."
Zaknafein had decided — for now — that biding his time with these surface people was worth it. They had patched him up, had not taken his belongings, and seemed grateful for dealing with the goblins. Once he gave his word, they had dropped the wall of force and asked him to only stay inside the house while they found someone to help him.
If he could find his son faster by relying on accidentally saving them the trouble of a raid, so be it.
The wizard assigned was willing to show him how to manage the strange things, even how to cook food, though Zak wasn't sure he cared to be that close to the heat source. And the wizard even looked remarkably ready to deal with any threats, when a different half-elf showed up, towering above them both.
"You're Zaknafein. I am Thyl," the man said in Undercommon. "Not speak many words, but hello. Spell for better words?" he offered.
Talaris nodded in approval, so Zak decided it was worth the risk. These surface people seemed lacking in deception so far.
The newcomer, Thyl, cast a spell, letting Zak understand and speak the surface language.
"I really should work on learning more Undercommon, but this will work. I'm told you are seeking another drow? I know of some, and might be able to aid."
"Looking for another fighter, like me, but young," Zaknafein said. "Very skilled, missing from me for … I think it has been six years, if the years here and below match."
"From what I have learned, yes," Thyl said. "Why are you seeking him?"
How to encapsulate his reasons without seeming weak?
"He has never belonged among other drow, but he deserves a chance to live well. He is my student."
Zaknafein's heart said other things — son, protégé, pride.
"Those who leave the Underdark often have strong reasons not to go back," Thyl pointed out. "If I give aid, what do you intend with him?"
"That depends on how he has lived, since he was lost," Zaknafein said. "If he has become as other drow, it will be an end. If he is still strange, I will ask his wishes."
That answer was not what the half-elf had been expecting, and it was several minutes before Thyl spoke to him again, having been focused inward.
"What is his name, so I can ask among those I know?"
"Drizzt. Drizzt Do'Urden."
Vierna had been caught completely off-guard by Thyl's sending, and was still chewing on it when he finally appeared the next day. She took his hand, guiding him to her inner office, over a chorus of disappointed young drow and others about him arriving without a pegasus.
"I am very, very concerned," she told him.
"Let me tell you how everything came around, and then you can be more concerned. As I asked another question after I sent to you that I was talking to a Do'Urden." He settled next to her, and laid out the request for aid from High Hold, what had been found, the decision to bring the man back, that he had passed the wards, and all that had turned up after.
"He's looking for a fighter named Drizzt, same family name, and he said, I quote, 'if he's still strange, I'll ask what he wishes'."
"The name 'Zaknafein' is known to me. It's the Weapon Master," she told him. "I do not know 'Drizzt', but Malice — my mother — would have had more children after I left. Likely the secondboy of the House."
"Didn't you say you thought the Weapon Master was your father?" Thyl asked gently.
"Yes. And I desperately want to go and see him for myself, but… I have a responsibility to my people."
Thyl petted a hand over her braids, nodding. "Let us keep him in Silverymoon, try to pick up a lead. As you obviously know nothing of this fighter."
Vierna closed her eyes, thinking over the time. "The raid in the Moonwood. That matches up to how long he says it's been, close enough. We never found sign of the survivor the pegasus riders thought had gotten away, but only thirteen bodies were there. The priestess would not have been on the surface, and we've heard wizards aren't allowed up.
"That brings the number to fifteen… but it should be an even multiple of eight."
"Making it likely there was a survivor, but not proving he survived for long after. Only, no body."
Vierna nodded. "If the fighter is neutral, as you say the Weapon Master was confirmed to be, he should still be someone my Lady can reach. So I will pray to her.
"Tell him — tell him that it is being worked on, but do not mention me directly. Not yet."
"Yes, Vierna."
Thyl walked into the house and gave Kirana a smile, not surprised she had joined Talaris for a meal.
Zaknafein was in his own room, and Thyl tapped on the door, waiting for permission. The drow nodded curtly, and Thyl sat on the stool. Again, he relied on magic for communication, wanting no misunderstandings.
"None of my contacts have heard of the fighter," he began. "However, they will be working on looking, and have resources I don't for that. Their leader asks if you would be comfortable staying here, so they can get word to you, with whatever they find."
Zaknafein frowned. "Would rather be working on it. I have a magical artifact to help me."
Thyl shook his head. "Drow are feared, by good and evil people, with reason. You would be attacked, time and again, if seen. Staying here, letting the drow that know how to move unseen up here do it, at least for a time, is much safer.
"And I will take you to wherever their leads find as soon as they tell me."
Zaknafein grimaced at him. "I can't just stay cooped up inside this house."
"I thought that. And already asked my mother if I could set you up in the Palace itself, in a room that is without windows, but close to a courtyard you could exercise in. And I have a cousin that could actually show you the city."
The suspicion on Zaknafein's face was pricelessly blatant.
"You're not a prisoner. You gave your word, and were honest about it. And we do owe you," Thyl pressed. "My cousin is a fighter too. They like meeting new people, and know enough to not be prejudiced, given they are a half-elf too, and have been badly treated by the full bloods."
"That's an issue? And you say 'they' but mean one?"
"It is an issue. Even me and my brothers, despite the rank of our father when he was alive, catch it." Thyl then shrugged. "As to they, Kolarven isn't a man or a woman by nature, so they don't use the other pronouns."
Zaknafein blinked, then shrugged. "If it gets me out of here, and gives me a chance to maybe work on learning language and move around, I agree. For one month. After that, I will go seek Drizzt."
Thyl nodded. "That's reasonable. If they haven't found him in a month, I'd say it's going to take a lot more. And maybe, by then, you will have a strong enough feel for the surface to not run into too much trouble.
"It's night now, so if you want to get your things, I'll walk you over?"
He was glad he hadn't had to make it about the fact Vierna was an ally to the city, so the conversation didn't get too complicated. His mother had agreed that with all they had discerned, keeping him in the Palace made sense, both for security and as repayment of favors to Vierna. If this Drizzt wasn't found in a month, he'd see if Vierna wanted Zaknafein brought to her first.
Kolarven was not the knight that came to show Zaknafein the courtyard for exercise. Korvallen had heard Thyl's plan and lost his temper.
"That man slew an entire band of goblins and a worg. I am not having my kin anywhere near the ends of that man's blades!" he thundered at his nephew.
Thyl drew in a deep breath. "Then I'll stay in the city and handle it. Maybe he can teach me something his daughter hasn't already," the stubborn half-elf said, dropping the connection in hopes of his uncle cooling his temper.
Korvallen did jerk as if struck, then his eyes narrowed. "What?"
"She can't know for certain, but Vierna's family name is Do'Urden," Thyl said. "And she's long suspected the Weapon Master was her father."
Kor chewed on that in the back of his mind. He'd heard the stories of the 'moon elf' that had joined Elué's campaign as a healer, and then defended the wounded against a sneak attack with skill to rival the best fighters Elué had.
"I'll meet him. You will be there for language only, as I meant it. None of my kin go near his blades!"
From the very first spar, Thyl could see something growing between the two men. Respect, yes, maybe even a wary thaw in their indoctrinated hatred of each other's species. He came for the first two exercises, and was told he wasn't needed after that, as the two men could get by in Goblin.
That was strange to Thyl, but as Korvallen and Zaknafein seemed fascinated by each other's skills, he let it go. Frankly, watching them spar was a little terrifying anyway.
~My uncle has found his match, and he's not happy it's a drow, but it's a good experience for both.~
His sending to Vierna was colored by his wary amusement.
~Well, maybe it will help them both see more in common than at odds,~ Vierna replied.
Korvallen passed the water skin over to Zak, both of them dripping with sweat from how hard that session had gone. The original intent to protect his family had given way to sheer curiosity on how skilled the other man was. That had led to curiosity on other matters, because Zak began every meeting with a request for updates on the search.
So far there had been some rumors, but nothing solid.
"This fighter you're hunting; you mean him no harm?" Kor finally asked.
Zaknafein finished his swallow, and sized Kor up. "My son. Worried over him."
Korvallen's chest ached, imagining any of the boys missing for years on end, not even knowing if they lived.
If it were Kolarven? Kor knew he'd be turning over every rock to find his nibling.
"Good fighter like you?"
"Will be better. If he lives long enough to learn more. But yes. Fast, confident, skilled."
"Then, Named Ones willing, he's out there, just keeping himself hidden out of caution," Korvallen said, making up his mind to talk to Elué about the missing fighter.
"So we know he is likely out there," Korvallen told Zaknafein, Thyl providing language support by magic as it could get difficult. "Too many 'might have been a drow' sightings to our south. But Thyl has more information to bring to bear on this."
Zaknafein looked at the half-elf then, eyebrow arched.
"My contacts among the good drow are connected to this in ways that feel almost unreal," Thyl said. "It's not well known that I have a partnership with a drow cleric, leader of the largest community of good drow in the north.
"She had to be cautious, because of the connections," he explained. "Because her name is Vierna Do'Urden."
"What?!"
Korvallen put a hand on his friend's arm to anchor the dangerous drow in the here and now, knowing that had to be slamming wariness and suspicion through him.
"She knew the temple in your city would be a death sentence for her, so she left." Thyl gave a soft smile. "She eventually led a small band to the surface, and they have been rescuing drow, and others, ever since."
"That seems… convenient." Zaknafein looked at Kor for his opinion.
"I was not here, but Vierna, under an illusion, came to serve as a cleric when Elué took her city back last century. There was an attack, and she was credited with turning the tide, using twin swords with speed and precision."
"Swords, hmm?" Zak questioned, but some of the suspicion eased back.
"Eilistraee's clerics are all encouraged to take up the blade, rather than maces," Thyl said. "She has invited you to come to see her, but with the sightings to the south, she understands if you prefer to seek your son first.
"And says both of you will be welcome there, once you do find him. She is appalled she has been unable to scry him this entire time, and the goddess has not been able to find him either. She asked."
That shook the stoic fighter enough to be seen.
"He's even more in need than she is. I will go find him with the cat, and then… come back here, for assistance finding where she is," Zak finally said, having weighed it.
"We." Korvallen took a deep breath. "You need someone to help if there are people involved. And I haven't gone out of the city on a long trip in years. I already asked for a leave of absence to aid you in finding your son. Family is damned important."
Zak nodded, accepting that.
"I'll tell Vierna," Thyl added, leaving so they could ready for their journey.
Guenhwyvar had not been best pleased by the long time since she was called, but now the drow spoke some Common, and there was an elf who did as well. She could still feel the drow she was supposed to be with, the one whose heart matched hers so strongly.
Every day she could be there, she kept them on a path toward that pull, while avoiding other places that had speaking people. She did not want any further delays, and hoped the drow would give up the figure once they found her drow.
She thought they were making good time; that sense was ever-closer each time she was called. She just needed to be patient.
Drizzt looked at his teacher — savior, really — as Gnasher went very alert. He didn't feel anything evil or unnatural nearby, but she could get her impressions straight from him.
Aronna flicked a hand in 'up' and then Gnasher trotted over to the den he'd been using at this camp. There was no fire mark to give them away, and both had disturbed very little. Aronna vanished into a tree shadow before Drizzt had found a place to hide above.
"Maybe call the cat?" was the first Drizzt's ears caught, before he managed to spot the pair moving beneath the trees, an elf and a drow — a drow he thought he knew!
"Too soon," the drow said. "She did think we were close, if her reluctance to leave was anything to go by."
How could the Weapon Master be here? How and why was he working with an elf? Was this a trick? His heart hammered with remembered panic and fear from … however long ago it had been. He wished for Aronna to be closer, so he could warn her how dangerous this might be. The Weapon Master had tried to kill him, and then been very hostile the few times Drizzt had seen him before the raid. Maybe it wasn't him? People looked different under surface light.
Aronna, however, was making up her own mind, and as Gnasher drew attention by moving, she revealed herself in a shadow.
"Why do a drow and an elf walk together in the wilds?" she asked aloud. Drizzt noted neither startled; they both had noted her even as they did have to turn around.
"Seeking another drow who needs help," the elf said. "Saer Druid," he added, inclining his head. "A boy of their people was lost on the surface some years ago."
Drizzt quivered in place, his fear spiking harder.
"Saer Protector," Aronna began, addressing the elf, "surely a drow child would have difficulty surviving days, let alone years."
"Boy was counted as an adult, but still young. No experience."
That was definitely the Weapon Master, even with the oddities caused by surface light to see him by! And… he was working with an elf. This made so little sense, but Drizzt stayed still. Aronna had not let him know it was clear to join her.
"The boy is his son, Saer Druid, and I've given my word to help find the boy, so that my friend here has peace of his heart."
Son? Briza hadn't lied?
Aronna shifted her weight, and Drizzt recognized it as an invitation for him to make his own choice. After a moment, he dropped straight down, perched on the balls of his feet and hands near his hilts, glad she was not as close to the drow as he was.
"Drizzt?" the Weapon Master said, and maybe he did sound relieved, but Drizzt wasn't about to believe it fully.
"My student doesn't speak much," Aronna said for him, "but he can make his own choices easily enough."
Drizzt just kept staring at the Weapon Master… who unbuckled his sword belt and let them fall, putting his hands wide then.
"Keep yours. I know you have reason," Zaknafein said gruffly, keeping it in Common.
Step… step… and then he was right in front of the Weapon Master with his hands both out. He didn't actually expect to be dragged into a hug, but after a brief flare of worry, Drizzt had to admit it felt good.
Introductions happened, and things seemed much calmer. While the pair of drow moved off to the side, and fell into their own language — mostly the elder one — Korvallen sat with the druid.
"Not many as would take in a drow," he began. "I know I wasn't happy about it at first."
Aronna shook her head. "He was half-starved, traumatized, and still defending a doe and her fawn from a wounded wolverine. What was I supposed to do but accept Mielikki was calling to him?"
Gnasher made disgruntled noises; that had been a nasty encounter for them all.
"Wild-called?" Korvallen asked, eyes widening in shock.
"Very. So I've kept us to the druid paths, mostly, unless his instincts or mine call us," she said. "He knows Common now, could survive on his own, but whatever happened that kept him above has scarred him badly in his spirit.
"I think, from glimpses of it in our worst fighting, he may have a touch of a battle-rager in him and it sits poorly. Because he has a gentle nature when he is allowed to."
"His father said he was strange by their ways, but convinced us all he did just want to find the boy, and let him choose a path… unless he'd become like other drow," Kor admitted.
"No. He's as skittish as a wild elf, but he's far from all the tales I know of that race."
"Will you have any qualms if he does go with his father?" Kor asked bluntly.
"No. I'll miss him. But I trust his judgment." Aronna looked at Korvallen firmly. "He's wounded. Soul-deep. I will enjoin you to keep an eye on how that affects his interactions with the man."
Kor nodded, accepting that. He knew about soul-deep wounds.
"Going to have to get used to you being quiet again," Zaknafein said in a quiet voice, well aware the other two were talking about them. "You're safe, Drizzt. Safer even than I could make you in the gymnasium. I have a place for us to go, and if that doesn't suit us, a different one."
Drizzt tipped his head, barely looked at Korvallen, then back to his father.
"His is the second place. Didn't expect to make friends with a faerie, but it suits me. The first place — do you remember the sister I mentioned? I found out she was not stolen, but that she ran away and survived. She's like you, and has offered us a place among others like you."
Drizzt looked surprised by that, then asked one word. "Trust?"
"Maybe. We'll find out, together?"
That got a slow nod, and then Drizzt toyed with the figure of wondrous power Zaknafein had given him.
"Day after tomorrow, you can call her," Zak said. "She's missed you, I think. Pushed us to move as much as possible toward you."
Drizzt nodded, then tucked it away, settling against the tree. More changes were ahead, but he thought he could trust his father now.
They made the city in good time, with the plan being to let Drizzt have time in a civilized bath, get him fed up more — Aronna had done well by him but he could stand to put a little weight on — as well as to re-equip him with better gear.
They didn't expect to have him almost in a panic from seeing a moon-elf. Korvallen wasn't even certain what was happening at first, but Zaknafein caught the muscle-lock, the dropped gaze, and put the pieces together.
"Are any of the more treed areas open at this time of night?" Zak asked, after physically moving his son to be held, tucking Drizzt's head down on his shoulder.
"The Glade. His teacher was Mielikkian, so that might have extra benefits," Kor agreed.
Drizzt didn't even really take the time to appreciate the Moon Bridge, being so trapped in his own head just by that sighting. Still, Zak was able to guide him, following Kor, until they reached the Sacred Glade of Mielikki. Zak felt a little uncomfortable, having forsworn all religion, but his love of his son let him push through that.
Drizzt — Drizzt wasn't with them any more, once they crossed the sacrosanct boundaries, caught up in something that only rangers and druids of the Forest Queen could truly feel. Korvallen noted it, and used the tap code Zak had taught him.
"Let him wander," he said with it, and Zak let go, reluctantly, falling back to trail with Kor as Drizzt walked the spiraling path, lost in something not far from a waking Reverie.
At the center of the glade, Drizzt dropped to his knees there, still unaware of others, so Kor and Zak took up watch from a bench. An acolyte on duty for late offerings, given the night's charity was just past, blinked at having not one but two drow present, yet the Knight-Captain was known.
When a senior cleric came from the cloister, using the portals, and went straight to Drizzt, Zak tensed all over.
"No. That's Grevaine," Kor said softly. "He's probably the third-highest cleric in the church here, and I think Mielikki must have sent him."
Grevaine knelt in front of the young drow, waiting, and when Drizzt did come back to himself, there were low words that neither of the elder fighters could make out. Grevaine then hung something around Drizzt's neck, before he and Drizzt both stood, coming over to the pair waiting.
"Greetings, Knight-Captain. Saer," Grevaine said. "The ranger is always welcome here, or at the cloister," he added. "Mielikki Herself said there is a magic that is a risk to others who belong to the Dark Maiden, though, and wanted you to be aware of it."
Zaknafein almost bared his teeth, because that meant more meddling from the eight-legged monstrosity.
"Our Lady will investigate it, Leaf Grevaine. Thank you." Kor stood from the bench.
"Drizzt, are you going to be alright crossing the city again, or should we get a room on this side?" Zaknafein asked.
"Walk," Drizzt said softly.
Grevaine smiled, and squeezed the young man's shoulder before leaving them to the night.
"I'd ask what he told you, but it can wait," Kor said, noticing the pendant was one of the full unicorn, not just the head, that had been given to Drizzt. After a minute he remembered the difference.
A full unicorn was a warning to treat gently, that the Mielikkian was healing.
Drizzt shrugged a little, before they set off to go back to the Palace.
Because of a small crisis between Nesmé and Mirabar that Elué was negotiating, Kor asked for Thyl to contact either Syluné or Laeral. Somehow this led to both of them coming — Laeral to protect Qilué's interests and Syluné to get away from her tragedies — to investigate the matter.
What they learned was horrifying for all elves, if they ever learned it, and Kor actually spent time in the small glen dedicated to the Seldarine to relay the discovery via prayer. He had no idea if any of the Named Ones heard or cared, but the last thing he wanted was for the fallen drow gods, especially Corellon's Mistake, to launch a new war.
Having two very powerful women in Drizzt's space had been harder on Zak than Drizzt, though, as the young ranger was just grateful to have the shroud removed. Syluné remained longer, replacing the divine spell with a lesser form of non-detection for both drow men, hiding them specifically from Lolth's clerics.
The next few days after that had involved trips to the Glade, much soaking in the baths, and the fitting for armor and clothing. Finally, nearly a month after arriving in Silverymoon, Kor relinquished his friend and the boy to Thyl, so they could go to Spirit Sanctuary, home of the good drow of the North.
Given the reaction to the moon elf, Zaknafein had asked for the first meeting to be handled with only Vierna present, leading Thyl to take them to a private spot he knew of.
Drizzt was preoccupied with the trees, and a squirrel yelling still about their sudden appearance, when Vierna arrived and looked over them all. Zaknafein took in the way she moved — sure and confident even in the leaf litter on the ground — before he went to her.
"You… you can't be anyone but my student," he said softly. "Daughter."
She smiled, eyes glistening a little at that immediate claim. "Father. My teacher." She offered her hands, and he took them, squeezing gently. She then looked past him, with a small smile for Thyl, to see the brother that had only recently been revealed to her goddess. There was something innocent in the way he was patiently feeding the squirrel family bits of nuts from his own pouch.
She'd been warned by Eilistraee that the song was still withheld, because of trauma, but she had made up her mind she would do all she could to heal it.
"Drizzt, come meet my daughter," Zaknafein called, making the young man turn and actually take in the other person.
Vierna took her cue from Zak, even as she ached to claim him as a brother. She could imagine how hard his life had been under Briza, any other daughters that Malice had produced. She slowly let go of Zak's hands when the fighter — ranger, Thyl had said — came close enough to greet her.
"Hello, Drizzt. My name is Vierna, as I think you know. Welcome."
He met her eyes for just a moment, before he looked at her shoulder. Better, she supposed, than the ground, but what had caused such deep wounds in his soul?
"We have several dwarves, a few goblins, even a half-orc, living in our village," Vierna told him. "All of them are escaping evil lives, and living peacefully here. Our village is dedicated to protecting one another, helping people escape, and saving those who wander into trouble up here.
"Would you like to come in with me, and see what life among good drow is like?"
He looked to their father.
"If it's too much, we'll leave again," Zak said, a promise. "But, like your cleric friend told you, you heard the difference between good and evil that night. You acted without thought maybe, but you obeyed your nature to be good.
"These drow are like you. They will understand."
Drizzt looked back to Vierna then, and she held her breath, promising herself she would get what Zaknafein knew later.
Very slowly, Drizzt held his hand out, then the other, to greet her, and she gave her hands to him, palms up, letting him control it. If he was so good without having heard the song, how had he even survived in their birth city?!
"Let's go in, and I'll show you rooms you can both use. Exploring can happen when you feel safe enough."
Drizzt was safely in bed, and everyone was warned he'd be up with the dawn, no doubt. Vierna was sitting with her legs folded up, tucked into Thyl's side. Zaknafein was sitting opposite them, and all of them had a mulled cider.
"Best we've been able to piece together from the work the Glade's clerics did," Thyl began, "is that the attack from above, by creatures he had no reference for, triggered a fight reaction too strong for him to handle."
"Only, he's so damn well trained and skilled, that it was lethal for his targets," Zak said. "The other drow of his patrol."
"That would explain the bodies that had cuts instead of arrows or caved in skulls," Vierna said slowly. "Dhaeln went as our representative, to learn more, when the warning came. So we would know how to protect ourselves. But… he attacked them, not the moon elves, not the pegasi once they were in reach?"
Zaknafein drew in a very deep breath. "All of his life, bottled up by the hatred Malice's daughters heaped on him, enduring everything the school could throw at him? The clerics said his nature guided his actions, even without truly understanding good and evil. He saw a mostly defenseless group in the faerie, saw people defending them from the air, and reacted accordingly."
"But because it was so unthinking, he's locked around guilt for killing his comrades, horror at surviving, all reinforced by however long he was alone and half-starved before the druid found him," Thyl finished.
"He handled himself well, then," Vierna said firmly, having watched him through the community meal, seen the bright curiosity in his reactions to the others, even the younger drow. "We'll see him healed, Father. I know it is hard for most drow to understand the heart and spirit can be injured, but his are.
"We'll help him find his strength, maybe his voice."
Zak nodded. "I… believe that now." He shook his head. "Silence was what he learned to give, when Malice's daughters went after him. Honestly, I think Malice and I were the only two he felt safe talking to."
"Mother?!" Vierna asked incredulously.
"Decided to make him her project, to eventually replace me," Zak said in a darker voice, making it make more sense.
"Well, he'll never have to know that was a calculated ploy, then," Vierna said. "Alright, we handle him gently, coax him to believe in his freedom, and work on being a proper family," she decreed.
"I like this plan, daughter. And I think he'll prove more resilient than even his clerics believed, once he's been free among others for a while."
"We'll give any aid," Thyl said. "Including coming to get him to take him to the Glade, anytime he needs it. Mielikki seems to think he is someone to help, and that's not to be ignored."
"No, my Lady feels the same," Vierna said. "We will get through to him, and it will be better."
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zaknafein Do'Urden, Original Elf Character(s), Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Inthylyn Aerasumé
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mental Health Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Summary:
When the raid is attacked by a pair of pegasus-riding elves, everything changes.
Zak and Kor
None but the priestess returned, and no one knew how or why. The raid was a complete failure, every single House that had sent someone in disgrace. House Do'Urden was most fallen in favor, having provided two members to the patrol. When House Hun'ett — spared because their wizard had been barred from it — came, Zaknafein did nothing more than needed to survive.
He did take pleasure, briefly, in killing the wizard that should have been on those patrols, cutting away the belt carrying all the pouches, so he would have trade goods. He then took himself away from the conflict, away from the city, re-establishing contact with Bregan D'aerthe in a nearby town with trade to various cities. His soul was numb, but dogged hope remained. He had to know the fate of his son.
Drizzt still felt the fear pounding through him for what he had done, for what he had witnessed. He'd fled blindly from the slaughter, only realizing after that his swords had accounted for at least some of the death. He was injured, had taken one of the overly large but thin bolts from the sky rained down on them from the monsters in the sky.
He couldn't say he was unhappy that the pair of creatures with riders had opened fire, not after seeing the faeries on the ground had been unarmed. Between the bolts, the diving and stomping creatures, it had been a complete rout —
— aided by his swords.
By the blade, what had he done?!
He couldn't think, couldn't fully remember the moments of the brief battle with anything like clarity. It was as if something had possessed him, making him lash out at every lie he'd finally grasped of his life, of the drow he belonged to. It was completely stunning that he'd managed to get under cover and stay hidden from the monsters and their riders.
Now… now he needed to determine how to survive, how to live, and he headed away from the trees, looking for anything that would serve as a sanctuary.
"There was a drow raid nearby, in the forest," Vierna told her fellow good drow. "We will not forage across the river. Anger is higher than usual, and the two pegasi riders that keep an eye on things believe at least one of the attackers escaped.
"Be cautious and keep your attention out, just in case they are correct. New drow who are found must be questioned by one of the stronger clerics." She grimaced. "And necessary actions will happen, if such a person is a threat."
"Yes, First Sister," they chorused, hoping that the survivor, if there was one, stayed very far from their hills.
Jarlaxle set the bundle down carefully, still not best-pleased at this entire idea. However, Zaknafein had more than earned the right to go and try. His work in Mantol-Derith had been invaluable since he took the reins there for Bregan D'aerthe.
"It's a very slim rumor, old friend."
"It's the first confirmation I've had that my son might have escaped," Zak said, "and for that, I will risk the surface."
"How do you manage to hold hope so easily?" Jarlaxle asked him, honestly curious. Zaknafein leveled a patented glare at him.
"It's not easy. But it makes it easier to live, thinking my strange son might have made a life up there, without falling prey to everything we are and become."
"You are only an optimist where he is concerned." Jarlaxle clapped a hand on Zak's shoulder. "If you cannot return through the Underdark, make your way to something called the Neverwinter Woods toward where the ball of fire vanishes.
"There's a group of His followers there, with access to Rilauven, and we can retrieve you from there. It's easier to get to from the surface than the headquarters in Skullport would be."
"I won't be back if he's dead," Zak said gruffly.
Jarlaxle didn't answer that, but did find himself praying the boy had survived… and had not become the monster that most drow were in Zaknafein's eyes.
Zaknafein lingered in the shadowed mouth of the cavern he'd finally emerged from. He drew out the talisman he'd taken when he left Menzoberranzan, years ago, the one that had taken a number of favors to find out more about.
"Guenhwyvar," he said, while holding it, and watched as the monster appeared, tail down and ears back. "Massive," Zak whispered, before pulling out the sealed packet, breaking it open to hold the contents out to her gingerly. "Drizzt. I need to find Drizzt. It's been years, but the wizard said you might … have ways."
Her ears had twitched, but the cat looked at him with narrow eyes, as if only held back by the fact he held her talisman.
Zak growled in frustration, still holding the tunic of his son that he'd stolen and held onto out of sentiment. "Damn it all, why am I even trying it this way?! I want my son back, and you're just a surface monster!"
She lashed her tail a moment, but then she moved, reaching with a paw to snag the tunic. The scent was so old, and he had to be long gone, but she seemed to be investigating it. She then dropped it, making him retrieve it, before turning her head this way and that.
Was there a magical connection, like the wizard had concluded? Zak remembered the man had been intrigued, stating that a second anchor held her, one outside of the figure of wondrous power that Zak controlled.
She stood on all four paws, and started walking in a direction before pausing, looking at him.
"You think you know?" Zak asked, even though it wasn't like she could answer.
She made the tiniest sound to be such a big cat and started walking again. He'd have to follow her lead, and hope — always HOPE with this son of his — she was right.
Korvallen signaled for caution as they approached the bloody battlefield. His keen eyes took in the number of goblins that had been clawed open, and the ones that had been sliced into pieces in some cases. When High Hold had asked for a patrol to go up past the border, Besnell had asked him to handle it. The double patrol was full of veterans, with even the squires close to knighting.
"Fanout, make sure they're dead. Spellguards, ready for a mass burial," he ordered, as their advent disturbed the carrion feeders. "Hell of a lot of goblins, good weapons among them… what did this if High Hold didn't?" he mused aloud.
"Knight-Captain!"
Korvallen turned toward the call and then trotted that way. As soon as he could see what he was being called to, a cloud of bloodied white hair sticking out from under the worg, he readied his sword for a short strike, just in case.
"I think he's breathing, and there's a sword in the worg," Vilmedaren said.
"So there was a fight for supremacy over this war band," Korvallen said, twitching to make a sure killing blow.
"And if he's the one that actually fought them?" Vilmedaren asked, making Korvallen remember his oaths.
"Damn it," Kor growled, but he helped his fellow Knight get the beast off of the unconscious — definitely living but maybe not for long — drow. Well, if the drow couldn't pass through the wards, he'd have another chance to end the foul dark one's life. Until then, he saw to getting first aid measures in place, while stripping the various weapons he could find away.
He noted they were surface made, as the clothing was, but that didn't mean much.
With a summoned mount and a stasis spell from the Spellguards, the patrol started back. Kor was damned disappointed when the wards let the drow pass, but kept it to himself — much as Niska probably was. Then it was a matter of outfitting a room in one of their outer properties to hold a drow, and getting a cleric who was willing to deal with him.
After everything could be done to heal him, and the spells had been removed, the drow was left alone, but under watch through a wall of force that would be renewed as needed. All of the drow's belongings were inspected for traps and carefully catalogued.
The drow came conscious not long after everything was settled, but merely sat up, studying what could be seen through the open door. Jastinathiel was the unlucky elf that got to be stared at, and she let the Palace know the drow was awake but not moving. As food, water, and other necessities were in the room with the man, Jasti let herself just settle to the watch, knowing someone would eventually come to talk to the man, and see what could be learned.
Once the initial interview had happened, Taern Hornblade, one of the few in the city to know certain facts, sent to Thyl and requested his presence in Silverymoon.
The next day, Thyl was told about the encounter and current resident of one of the outer holding houses.
"The drow has given his word to remain in the house, and Talaris, thankfully, has gone to be his liaison. We actually think he means it, because he has a goal of finding a drow on the surface, and we have resources he needs."
"And you summoned me because?" Thyl asked, curious.
"The man's name is Zaknafein Do'Urden, and he's been truthful in all he answered." Taern met the half-elf's eyes. "I know that last name because of your connections."
"Yes," Thyl said, stunned. "I… I'll meet him, and then decide from there. I can't risk them."
"Of course you cannot," Taern said. "We have been thankful for their warnings over the years. The goblin raid was coming out of the Lurkwood, stumbled across him. They wanted him to join them, he took offense, and … well. I doubt many lived to run away.
"But they were not in your friend's territory, just so you can be reassured on that."
"Thank you, Taern. I'll go talk to him now, and see how to handle this."
Zaknafein had decided — for now — that biding his time with these surface people was worth it. They had patched him up, had not taken his belongings, and seemed grateful for dealing with the goblins. Once he gave his word, they had dropped the wall of force and asked him to only stay inside the house while they found someone to help him.
If he could find his son faster by relying on accidentally saving them the trouble of a raid, so be it.
The wizard assigned was willing to show him how to manage the strange things, even how to cook food, though Zak wasn't sure he cared to be that close to the heat source. And the wizard even looked remarkably ready to deal with any threats, when a different half-elf showed up, towering above them both.
"You're Zaknafein. I am Thyl," the man said in Undercommon. "Not speak many words, but hello. Spell for better words?" he offered.
Talaris nodded in approval, so Zak decided it was worth the risk. These surface people seemed lacking in deception so far.
The newcomer, Thyl, cast a spell, letting Zak understand and speak the surface language.
"I really should work on learning more Undercommon, but this will work. I'm told you are seeking another drow? I know of some, and might be able to aid."
"Looking for another fighter, like me, but young," Zaknafein said. "Very skilled, missing from me for … I think it has been six years, if the years here and below match."
"From what I have learned, yes," Thyl said. "Why are you seeking him?"
How to encapsulate his reasons without seeming weak?
"He has never belonged among other drow, but he deserves a chance to live well. He is my student."
Zaknafein's heart said other things — son, protégé, pride.
"Those who leave the Underdark often have strong reasons not to go back," Thyl pointed out. "If I give aid, what do you intend with him?"
"That depends on how he has lived, since he was lost," Zaknafein said. "If he has become as other drow, it will be an end. If he is still strange, I will ask his wishes."
That answer was not what the half-elf had been expecting, and it was several minutes before Thyl spoke to him again, having been focused inward.
"What is his name, so I can ask among those I know?"
"Drizzt. Drizzt Do'Urden."
Vierna had been caught completely off-guard by Thyl's sending, and was still chewing on it when he finally appeared the next day. She took his hand, guiding him to her inner office, over a chorus of disappointed young drow and others about him arriving without a pegasus.
"I am very, very concerned," she told him.
"Let me tell you how everything came around, and then you can be more concerned. As I asked another question after I sent to you that I was talking to a Do'Urden." He settled next to her, and laid out the request for aid from High Hold, what had been found, the decision to bring the man back, that he had passed the wards, and all that had turned up after.
"He's looking for a fighter named Drizzt, same family name, and he said, I quote, 'if he's still strange, I'll ask what he wishes'."
"The name 'Zaknafein' is known to me. It's the Weapon Master," she told him. "I do not know 'Drizzt', but Malice — my mother — would have had more children after I left. Likely the secondboy of the House."
"Didn't you say you thought the Weapon Master was your father?" Thyl asked gently.
"Yes. And I desperately want to go and see him for myself, but… I have a responsibility to my people."
Thyl petted a hand over her braids, nodding. "Let us keep him in Silverymoon, try to pick up a lead. As you obviously know nothing of this fighter."
Vierna closed her eyes, thinking over the time. "The raid in the Moonwood. That matches up to how long he says it's been, close enough. We never found sign of the survivor the pegasus riders thought had gotten away, but only thirteen bodies were there. The priestess would not have been on the surface, and we've heard wizards aren't allowed up.
"That brings the number to fifteen… but it should be an even multiple of eight."
"Making it likely there was a survivor, but not proving he survived for long after. Only, no body."
Vierna nodded. "If the fighter is neutral, as you say the Weapon Master was confirmed to be, he should still be someone my Lady can reach. So I will pray to her.
"Tell him — tell him that it is being worked on, but do not mention me directly. Not yet."
"Yes, Vierna."
Thyl walked into the house and gave Kirana a smile, not surprised she had joined Talaris for a meal.
Zaknafein was in his own room, and Thyl tapped on the door, waiting for permission. The drow nodded curtly, and Thyl sat on the stool. Again, he relied on magic for communication, wanting no misunderstandings.
"None of my contacts have heard of the fighter," he began. "However, they will be working on looking, and have resources I don't for that. Their leader asks if you would be comfortable staying here, so they can get word to you, with whatever they find."
Zaknafein frowned. "Would rather be working on it. I have a magical artifact to help me."
Thyl shook his head. "Drow are feared, by good and evil people, with reason. You would be attacked, time and again, if seen. Staying here, letting the drow that know how to move unseen up here do it, at least for a time, is much safer.
"And I will take you to wherever their leads find as soon as they tell me."
Zaknafein grimaced at him. "I can't just stay cooped up inside this house."
"I thought that. And already asked my mother if I could set you up in the Palace itself, in a room that is without windows, but close to a courtyard you could exercise in. And I have a cousin that could actually show you the city."
The suspicion on Zaknafein's face was pricelessly blatant.
"You're not a prisoner. You gave your word, and were honest about it. And we do owe you," Thyl pressed. "My cousin is a fighter too. They like meeting new people, and know enough to not be prejudiced, given they are a half-elf too, and have been badly treated by the full bloods."
"That's an issue? And you say 'they' but mean one?"
"It is an issue. Even me and my brothers, despite the rank of our father when he was alive, catch it." Thyl then shrugged. "As to they, Kolarven isn't a man or a woman by nature, so they don't use the other pronouns."
Zaknafein blinked, then shrugged. "If it gets me out of here, and gives me a chance to maybe work on learning language and move around, I agree. For one month. After that, I will go seek Drizzt."
Thyl nodded. "That's reasonable. If they haven't found him in a month, I'd say it's going to take a lot more. And maybe, by then, you will have a strong enough feel for the surface to not run into too much trouble.
"It's night now, so if you want to get your things, I'll walk you over?"
He was glad he hadn't had to make it about the fact Vierna was an ally to the city, so the conversation didn't get too complicated. His mother had agreed that with all they had discerned, keeping him in the Palace made sense, both for security and as repayment of favors to Vierna. If this Drizzt wasn't found in a month, he'd see if Vierna wanted Zaknafein brought to her first.
Kolarven was not the knight that came to show Zaknafein the courtyard for exercise. Korvallen had heard Thyl's plan and lost his temper.
"That man slew an entire band of goblins and a worg. I am not having my kin anywhere near the ends of that man's blades!" he thundered at his nephew.
Thyl drew in a deep breath. "Then I'll stay in the city and handle it. Maybe he can teach me something his daughter hasn't already," the stubborn half-elf said, dropping the connection in hopes of his uncle cooling his temper.
Korvallen did jerk as if struck, then his eyes narrowed. "What?"
"She can't know for certain, but Vierna's family name is Do'Urden," Thyl said. "And she's long suspected the Weapon Master was her father."
Kor chewed on that in the back of his mind. He'd heard the stories of the 'moon elf' that had joined Elué's campaign as a healer, and then defended the wounded against a sneak attack with skill to rival the best fighters Elué had.
"I'll meet him. You will be there for language only, as I meant it. None of my kin go near his blades!"
From the very first spar, Thyl could see something growing between the two men. Respect, yes, maybe even a wary thaw in their indoctrinated hatred of each other's species. He came for the first two exercises, and was told he wasn't needed after that, as the two men could get by in Goblin.
That was strange to Thyl, but as Korvallen and Zaknafein seemed fascinated by each other's skills, he let it go. Frankly, watching them spar was a little terrifying anyway.
~My uncle has found his match, and he's not happy it's a drow, but it's a good experience for both.~
His sending to Vierna was colored by his wary amusement.
~Well, maybe it will help them both see more in common than at odds,~ Vierna replied.
Korvallen passed the water skin over to Zak, both of them dripping with sweat from how hard that session had gone. The original intent to protect his family had given way to sheer curiosity on how skilled the other man was. That had led to curiosity on other matters, because Zak began every meeting with a request for updates on the search.
So far there had been some rumors, but nothing solid.
"This fighter you're hunting; you mean him no harm?" Kor finally asked.
Zaknafein finished his swallow, and sized Kor up. "My son. Worried over him."
Korvallen's chest ached, imagining any of the boys missing for years on end, not even knowing if they lived.
If it were Kolarven? Kor knew he'd be turning over every rock to find his nibling.
"Good fighter like you?"
"Will be better. If he lives long enough to learn more. But yes. Fast, confident, skilled."
"Then, Named Ones willing, he's out there, just keeping himself hidden out of caution," Korvallen said, making up his mind to talk to Elué about the missing fighter.
"So we know he is likely out there," Korvallen told Zaknafein, Thyl providing language support by magic as it could get difficult. "Too many 'might have been a drow' sightings to our south. But Thyl has more information to bring to bear on this."
Zaknafein looked at the half-elf then, eyebrow arched.
"My contacts among the good drow are connected to this in ways that feel almost unreal," Thyl said. "It's not well known that I have a partnership with a drow cleric, leader of the largest community of good drow in the north.
"She had to be cautious, because of the connections," he explained. "Because her name is Vierna Do'Urden."
"What?!"
Korvallen put a hand on his friend's arm to anchor the dangerous drow in the here and now, knowing that had to be slamming wariness and suspicion through him.
"She knew the temple in your city would be a death sentence for her, so she left." Thyl gave a soft smile. "She eventually led a small band to the surface, and they have been rescuing drow, and others, ever since."
"That seems… convenient." Zaknafein looked at Kor for his opinion.
"I was not here, but Vierna, under an illusion, came to serve as a cleric when Elué took her city back last century. There was an attack, and she was credited with turning the tide, using twin swords with speed and precision."
"Swords, hmm?" Zak questioned, but some of the suspicion eased back.
"Eilistraee's clerics are all encouraged to take up the blade, rather than maces," Thyl said. "She has invited you to come to see her, but with the sightings to the south, she understands if you prefer to seek your son first.
"And says both of you will be welcome there, once you do find him. She is appalled she has been unable to scry him this entire time, and the goddess has not been able to find him either. She asked."
That shook the stoic fighter enough to be seen.
"He's even more in need than she is. I will go find him with the cat, and then… come back here, for assistance finding where she is," Zak finally said, having weighed it.
"We." Korvallen took a deep breath. "You need someone to help if there are people involved. And I haven't gone out of the city on a long trip in years. I already asked for a leave of absence to aid you in finding your son. Family is damned important."
Zak nodded, accepting that.
"I'll tell Vierna," Thyl added, leaving so they could ready for their journey.
Guenhwyvar had not been best pleased by the long time since she was called, but now the drow spoke some Common, and there was an elf who did as well. She could still feel the drow she was supposed to be with, the one whose heart matched hers so strongly.
Every day she could be there, she kept them on a path toward that pull, while avoiding other places that had speaking people. She did not want any further delays, and hoped the drow would give up the figure once they found her drow.
She thought they were making good time; that sense was ever-closer each time she was called. She just needed to be patient.
Drizzt looked at his teacher — savior, really — as Gnasher went very alert. He didn't feel anything evil or unnatural nearby, but she could get her impressions straight from him.
Aronna flicked a hand in 'up' and then Gnasher trotted over to the den he'd been using at this camp. There was no fire mark to give them away, and both had disturbed very little. Aronna vanished into a tree shadow before Drizzt had found a place to hide above.
"Maybe call the cat?" was the first Drizzt's ears caught, before he managed to spot the pair moving beneath the trees, an elf and a drow — a drow he thought he knew!
"Too soon," the drow said. "She did think we were close, if her reluctance to leave was anything to go by."
How could the Weapon Master be here? How and why was he working with an elf? Was this a trick? His heart hammered with remembered panic and fear from … however long ago it had been. He wished for Aronna to be closer, so he could warn her how dangerous this might be. The Weapon Master had tried to kill him, and then been very hostile the few times Drizzt had seen him before the raid. Maybe it wasn't him? People looked different under surface light.
Aronna, however, was making up her own mind, and as Gnasher drew attention by moving, she revealed herself in a shadow.
"Why do a drow and an elf walk together in the wilds?" she asked aloud. Drizzt noted neither startled; they both had noted her even as they did have to turn around.
"Seeking another drow who needs help," the elf said. "Saer Druid," he added, inclining his head. "A boy of their people was lost on the surface some years ago."
Drizzt quivered in place, his fear spiking harder.
"Saer Protector," Aronna began, addressing the elf, "surely a drow child would have difficulty surviving days, let alone years."
"Boy was counted as an adult, but still young. No experience."
That was definitely the Weapon Master, even with the oddities caused by surface light to see him by! And… he was working with an elf. This made so little sense, but Drizzt stayed still. Aronna had not let him know it was clear to join her.
"The boy is his son, Saer Druid, and I've given my word to help find the boy, so that my friend here has peace of his heart."
Son? Briza hadn't lied?
Aronna shifted her weight, and Drizzt recognized it as an invitation for him to make his own choice. After a moment, he dropped straight down, perched on the balls of his feet and hands near his hilts, glad she was not as close to the drow as he was.
"Drizzt?" the Weapon Master said, and maybe he did sound relieved, but Drizzt wasn't about to believe it fully.
"My student doesn't speak much," Aronna said for him, "but he can make his own choices easily enough."
Drizzt just kept staring at the Weapon Master… who unbuckled his sword belt and let them fall, putting his hands wide then.
"Keep yours. I know you have reason," Zaknafein said gruffly, keeping it in Common.
Step… step… and then he was right in front of the Weapon Master with his hands both out. He didn't actually expect to be dragged into a hug, but after a brief flare of worry, Drizzt had to admit it felt good.
Introductions happened, and things seemed much calmer. While the pair of drow moved off to the side, and fell into their own language — mostly the elder one — Korvallen sat with the druid.
"Not many as would take in a drow," he began. "I know I wasn't happy about it at first."
Aronna shook her head. "He was half-starved, traumatized, and still defending a doe and her fawn from a wounded wolverine. What was I supposed to do but accept Mielikki was calling to him?"
Gnasher made disgruntled noises; that had been a nasty encounter for them all.
"Wild-called?" Korvallen asked, eyes widening in shock.
"Very. So I've kept us to the druid paths, mostly, unless his instincts or mine call us," she said. "He knows Common now, could survive on his own, but whatever happened that kept him above has scarred him badly in his spirit.
"I think, from glimpses of it in our worst fighting, he may have a touch of a battle-rager in him and it sits poorly. Because he has a gentle nature when he is allowed to."
"His father said he was strange by their ways, but convinced us all he did just want to find the boy, and let him choose a path… unless he'd become like other drow," Kor admitted.
"No. He's as skittish as a wild elf, but he's far from all the tales I know of that race."
"Will you have any qualms if he does go with his father?" Kor asked bluntly.
"No. I'll miss him. But I trust his judgment." Aronna looked at Korvallen firmly. "He's wounded. Soul-deep. I will enjoin you to keep an eye on how that affects his interactions with the man."
Kor nodded, accepting that. He knew about soul-deep wounds.
"Going to have to get used to you being quiet again," Zaknafein said in a quiet voice, well aware the other two were talking about them. "You're safe, Drizzt. Safer even than I could make you in the gymnasium. I have a place for us to go, and if that doesn't suit us, a different one."
Drizzt tipped his head, barely looked at Korvallen, then back to his father.
"His is the second place. Didn't expect to make friends with a faerie, but it suits me. The first place — do you remember the sister I mentioned? I found out she was not stolen, but that she ran away and survived. She's like you, and has offered us a place among others like you."
Drizzt looked surprised by that, then asked one word. "Trust?"
"Maybe. We'll find out, together?"
That got a slow nod, and then Drizzt toyed with the figure of wondrous power Zaknafein had given him.
"Day after tomorrow, you can call her," Zak said. "She's missed you, I think. Pushed us to move as much as possible toward you."
Drizzt nodded, then tucked it away, settling against the tree. More changes were ahead, but he thought he could trust his father now.
They made the city in good time, with the plan being to let Drizzt have time in a civilized bath, get him fed up more — Aronna had done well by him but he could stand to put a little weight on — as well as to re-equip him with better gear.
They didn't expect to have him almost in a panic from seeing a moon-elf. Korvallen wasn't even certain what was happening at first, but Zaknafein caught the muscle-lock, the dropped gaze, and put the pieces together.
"Are any of the more treed areas open at this time of night?" Zak asked, after physically moving his son to be held, tucking Drizzt's head down on his shoulder.
"The Glade. His teacher was Mielikkian, so that might have extra benefits," Kor agreed.
Drizzt didn't even really take the time to appreciate the Moon Bridge, being so trapped in his own head just by that sighting. Still, Zak was able to guide him, following Kor, until they reached the Sacred Glade of Mielikki. Zak felt a little uncomfortable, having forsworn all religion, but his love of his son let him push through that.
Drizzt — Drizzt wasn't with them any more, once they crossed the sacrosanct boundaries, caught up in something that only rangers and druids of the Forest Queen could truly feel. Korvallen noted it, and used the tap code Zak had taught him.
"Let him wander," he said with it, and Zak let go, reluctantly, falling back to trail with Kor as Drizzt walked the spiraling path, lost in something not far from a waking Reverie.
At the center of the glade, Drizzt dropped to his knees there, still unaware of others, so Kor and Zak took up watch from a bench. An acolyte on duty for late offerings, given the night's charity was just past, blinked at having not one but two drow present, yet the Knight-Captain was known.
When a senior cleric came from the cloister, using the portals, and went straight to Drizzt, Zak tensed all over.
"No. That's Grevaine," Kor said softly. "He's probably the third-highest cleric in the church here, and I think Mielikki must have sent him."
Grevaine knelt in front of the young drow, waiting, and when Drizzt did come back to himself, there were low words that neither of the elder fighters could make out. Grevaine then hung something around Drizzt's neck, before he and Drizzt both stood, coming over to the pair waiting.
"Greetings, Knight-Captain. Saer," Grevaine said. "The ranger is always welcome here, or at the cloister," he added. "Mielikki Herself said there is a magic that is a risk to others who belong to the Dark Maiden, though, and wanted you to be aware of it."
Zaknafein almost bared his teeth, because that meant more meddling from the eight-legged monstrosity.
"Our Lady will investigate it, Leaf Grevaine. Thank you." Kor stood from the bench.
"Drizzt, are you going to be alright crossing the city again, or should we get a room on this side?" Zaknafein asked.
"Walk," Drizzt said softly.
Grevaine smiled, and squeezed the young man's shoulder before leaving them to the night.
"I'd ask what he told you, but it can wait," Kor said, noticing the pendant was one of the full unicorn, not just the head, that had been given to Drizzt. After a minute he remembered the difference.
A full unicorn was a warning to treat gently, that the Mielikkian was healing.
Drizzt shrugged a little, before they set off to go back to the Palace.
Because of a small crisis between Nesmé and Mirabar that Elué was negotiating, Kor asked for Thyl to contact either Syluné or Laeral. Somehow this led to both of them coming — Laeral to protect Qilué's interests and Syluné to get away from her tragedies — to investigate the matter.
What they learned was horrifying for all elves, if they ever learned it, and Kor actually spent time in the small glen dedicated to the Seldarine to relay the discovery via prayer. He had no idea if any of the Named Ones heard or cared, but the last thing he wanted was for the fallen drow gods, especially Corellon's Mistake, to launch a new war.
Having two very powerful women in Drizzt's space had been harder on Zak than Drizzt, though, as the young ranger was just grateful to have the shroud removed. Syluné remained longer, replacing the divine spell with a lesser form of non-detection for both drow men, hiding them specifically from Lolth's clerics.
The next few days after that had involved trips to the Glade, much soaking in the baths, and the fitting for armor and clothing. Finally, nearly a month after arriving in Silverymoon, Kor relinquished his friend and the boy to Thyl, so they could go to Spirit Sanctuary, home of the good drow of the North.
Given the reaction to the moon elf, Zaknafein had asked for the first meeting to be handled with only Vierna present, leading Thyl to take them to a private spot he knew of.
Drizzt was preoccupied with the trees, and a squirrel yelling still about their sudden appearance, when Vierna arrived and looked over them all. Zaknafein took in the way she moved — sure and confident even in the leaf litter on the ground — before he went to her.
"You… you can't be anyone but my student," he said softly. "Daughter."
She smiled, eyes glistening a little at that immediate claim. "Father. My teacher." She offered her hands, and he took them, squeezing gently. She then looked past him, with a small smile for Thyl, to see the brother that had only recently been revealed to her goddess. There was something innocent in the way he was patiently feeding the squirrel family bits of nuts from his own pouch.
She'd been warned by Eilistraee that the song was still withheld, because of trauma, but she had made up her mind she would do all she could to heal it.
"Drizzt, come meet my daughter," Zaknafein called, making the young man turn and actually take in the other person.
Vierna took her cue from Zak, even as she ached to claim him as a brother. She could imagine how hard his life had been under Briza, any other daughters that Malice had produced. She slowly let go of Zak's hands when the fighter — ranger, Thyl had said — came close enough to greet her.
"Hello, Drizzt. My name is Vierna, as I think you know. Welcome."
He met her eyes for just a moment, before he looked at her shoulder. Better, she supposed, than the ground, but what had caused such deep wounds in his soul?
"We have several dwarves, a few goblins, even a half-orc, living in our village," Vierna told him. "All of them are escaping evil lives, and living peacefully here. Our village is dedicated to protecting one another, helping people escape, and saving those who wander into trouble up here.
"Would you like to come in with me, and see what life among good drow is like?"
He looked to their father.
"If it's too much, we'll leave again," Zak said, a promise. "But, like your cleric friend told you, you heard the difference between good and evil that night. You acted without thought maybe, but you obeyed your nature to be good.
"These drow are like you. They will understand."
Drizzt looked back to Vierna then, and she held her breath, promising herself she would get what Zaknafein knew later.
Very slowly, Drizzt held his hand out, then the other, to greet her, and she gave her hands to him, palms up, letting him control it. If he was so good without having heard the song, how had he even survived in their birth city?!
"Let's go in, and I'll show you rooms you can both use. Exploring can happen when you feel safe enough."
Drizzt was safely in bed, and everyone was warned he'd be up with the dawn, no doubt. Vierna was sitting with her legs folded up, tucked into Thyl's side. Zaknafein was sitting opposite them, and all of them had a mulled cider.
"Best we've been able to piece together from the work the Glade's clerics did," Thyl began, "is that the attack from above, by creatures he had no reference for, triggered a fight reaction too strong for him to handle."
"Only, he's so damn well trained and skilled, that it was lethal for his targets," Zak said. "The other drow of his patrol."
"That would explain the bodies that had cuts instead of arrows or caved in skulls," Vierna said slowly. "Dhaeln went as our representative, to learn more, when the warning came. So we would know how to protect ourselves. But… he attacked them, not the moon elves, not the pegasi once they were in reach?"
Zaknafein drew in a very deep breath. "All of his life, bottled up by the hatred Malice's daughters heaped on him, enduring everything the school could throw at him? The clerics said his nature guided his actions, even without truly understanding good and evil. He saw a mostly defenseless group in the faerie, saw people defending them from the air, and reacted accordingly."
"But because it was so unthinking, he's locked around guilt for killing his comrades, horror at surviving, all reinforced by however long he was alone and half-starved before the druid found him," Thyl finished.
"He handled himself well, then," Vierna said firmly, having watched him through the community meal, seen the bright curiosity in his reactions to the others, even the younger drow. "We'll see him healed, Father. I know it is hard for most drow to understand the heart and spirit can be injured, but his are.
"We'll help him find his strength, maybe his voice."
Zak nodded. "I… believe that now." He shook his head. "Silence was what he learned to give, when Malice's daughters went after him. Honestly, I think Malice and I were the only two he felt safe talking to."
"Mother?!" Vierna asked incredulously.
"Decided to make him her project, to eventually replace me," Zak said in a darker voice, making it make more sense.
"Well, he'll never have to know that was a calculated ploy, then," Vierna said. "Alright, we handle him gently, coax him to believe in his freedom, and work on being a proper family," she decreed.
"I like this plan, daughter. And I think he'll prove more resilient than even his clerics believed, once he's been free among others for a while."
"We'll give any aid," Thyl said. "Including coming to get him to take him to the Glade, anytime he needs it. Mielikki seems to think he is someone to help, and that's not to be ignored."
"No, my Lady feels the same," Vierna said. "We will get through to him, and it will be better."