Kissed By a Goddess
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tales_of_faerunKissed By a Goddess (7553 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 2/?
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Elf Character(s), Mielikki [Forgotten Realms], Drizzt Do'Urden, Uoundeld Aerasumé
Additional Tags: Background Relationships, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Family
Summary:
Vhaeraun was torn. In preserving the male drow at birth, stealing him at the moment of sacrifice, He had carried off a brilliant coup. It had gained Him a noble House in Menzoberranzan from which to scheme as well as denying His mother one more soul. That it had also appealed to His particular ethics, of preserving drow life from senseless slaughter was secondary. Ethics were not one of his top concerns.
But now, in the heart of the Neverwinter Wood, that boy was showing all signs of having had his nature defiled by the spell performed by his mother in his birthing. Every ounce of ambition, avarice, and self-serving thought was gone from him. The boy was, without a doubt, entirely too un-drow, being of a truly Good nature.
Looking forward had never been Vhaeraun's domain, yet He itched when He strode through the boy's dreams. Something in the future was already calling the boy, a destiny that was stamped in danger. Was the danger for Himself, all drow, or merely the Lolthites? Perhaps the danger was solely meant for the boy.
Still, Vhaeraun could not order the child's death. Yet at the same time, delivering a destiny-touched good drow to His sister was anathema to His plans of the future, ones where He pulled His twin to Her proper place at His side.
Something different was necessary. Something… unusual. Yes, that would be the way to go, to touch the boy firmly with His magic, so His sister was suspicious, but to choose some foolish good deity to deal with the odd boy.
Mielikki was not unaccustomed to having Her domains invaded. Various evil deities over the years had sought to kill or capture Her, using Her love of walking the Material Plane against Her. Some protection was afforded by taking the guise of Khalreshaar, and confining Her wanderings to the lands still heavily under the sway of the Seldarine believers.
Foresight was not chief among Her gifts in any aspect, but the moment She found the toddler under an enchanted — divinely so — sleep in the woods, She thought the boy had to be bait in a trap. No drow lived here; the last entrance to the Underdark in the region that had been closed had happened centuries before.
Yet the boy was most decidedly a drow. She brought the wild animals nearer to Her, using their sense to further discern threats. Then, She turned toward divining what She could of the child's advent, and the lingering magics.
Shadow-touched, those were, but the boy himself was as innocent as all children born. Only, seeking deeper, Khalreshaar touched the soul and experienced a deep shock. The child was Good, not a trace of inherent Evil lurking there. That made this a ripe possibility, and she wove her magic around the boy, considering if She should —
— a stag warned of impending danger then. She side-stepped off the Plane, but remained near, and no arcane magic could hide the force that Her creatures saw and felt disturbing the peace of the woods. With the child shielded by a pair of does, She let Her anger and wrath descend upon the orcs, in the forms of both predators and prey driving through them with singular focus, to trample and strike as many as possible so that the elves were alerted.
She had placed Her claim, and She would watch over the drow child fondly.
With warning, the band of thirteen elves had been able to make use of the chaos the orcs seemed to be caught in. The four half-elves, in particular, had wreaked havoc on the band, and their father was quick to effectively use the fighters he'd brought with them.
After, he left the investigation to the elder pair, and took the younger pair with him to circle the kill zone. That so many different kinds of animals had plunged straight through the war band had his curiosity up for more than who had sent them.
It was Elin who spotted the does ahead, both quivering with fear of the hunters, and refusing to yield their place to flee.
"There's something between them," Ghael said, once he'd looked. "Father, stay close to Elin," he added, moving forward slowly once he'd handed his bow to his father.
"Be careful," father and brother alike said.
With every trace of wood-craft he'd learned as a boy, Ghael approached the does, eyes fixed on the thing between them, until it truly came into focus.
Black skin, white hair, wrapped securely in a blanket of… well, not spider silk, thankfully. It looked surface-woven even.
"You're protecting this?" Ghael asked, a sense of wonder at war with his paranoia. The larger, elder doe looked him dead in the eyes, and for a moment, he felt the Divine in that look. "Oh… squirrel nuts," slipped out, as he understood all of this was well above his expertise or chosen path.
The does ran then, as if released from the spell, and Ghael continued forward. He knelt carefully near the child.
"Father, there's a drow here, doesn't even look like they should be true-weaned yet."
"The day grows strange indeed," was Sharr's rejoinder before he and Elin joined Ghael. It was Sharr who noted the blanket seemed padded or bulky where it wrapped around the child's back. He reached, carefully picking the child up and that 'padding' shifted in ways that prickled along the man's nerves.
"Dad…" Elin said in a warning tone, but Sharr was already unpinning the blanket.
The padding, it seemed, was a set of fine, white down wings, much like the foals of the pegasus herd were first seen with.
"I don't think strange is enough to cover this," Ghael said in awe.
Ghael had warned their elder brothers. Still, the furor that erupted when Sharrevaliir revealed the impossible child was only slightly mitigated by the pair being a voice of reason.
"Enough." Sharr did not shout, conscious of the child sleeping in his arms. "The child is touched by a god. It was protected by the wild life, and that protection is what saved us from the ambush. No matter the color of skin and hair, I will not turn my back on an offering from the gods, and the responsibility that comes with it.
"I had already intended to step down for the rest of my youngest son's childhood; now I invoke that with the addition that I will see this feather-kissed champion raised as a child should be, and then guided to be all that it can be for its patron!"
There were grumbles, but to do less risked righteous wrath turned on their own people. Sharr delegated Dol, his chosen regent for his duties, to begin the process of their walk home, but took the time then to more fully inspect his new child. Why the goodly drow was so far from Eilistraee, he had no idea. That would need to be learned. And the fact it had been the wildlife protecting the boy, as he now knew, indicated that maybe it was not the Dark Maiden at all who had chosen this one.
As he was inspecting the child for any harm done to him, the boy finally stirred, slowly blinking his eyes -- such a shade of lavender! -- open to peer at Sharr. Fear warred with curiosity, making Sharr even more certain this was going to be unusual in all ways.
"Ilham? Ilhar?"
Despite the small size, the boy had words already. Sharr thought he'd heard those from his niece. He could guess they were parental words.
"I don't know your language, little one." He smiled, and fished out a piece of dried apple, offering it to the boy. "Eat..." He wracked his brain for the few words he did know of the drow tongue. "Cal."
The boy took the sliver, sniffing it, then put it in his mouth to suck and chew on, eyes wide and taking in all the movement around them. The wings fluttered a couple of times in reaction, but the boy never cried.
The day after the battle with the orcs — which Andy had asked his ranger aunt and one of the arch-mages to come finish investigating — the four wizard-fighters divided the party among themselves, and delivered them back to their home villages within the High Forest. Dol took responsibility for their father, strange new little brother, and the one other hunter from the Refuge of the Oaks.
Sharr had managed to convert the blanket to a sling, and had Drizzt, as the boy insisted his name was, tucked against his chest with a corner of the blanket up to protect the skin and eyes so accustomed to darker places. He did not stop to talk to anyone, going straight for Charic's home. Dol, with the other hunter, would make the report to the Elders.
"Morning sun, where are you?" he called, the endearment warning the priestess that this was going to be interesting. She came out of her still room, where she had been turning the tinctures and inspecting those that might need replacement.
"I thought we sent you out to hunt a stag," she said in bemusement.
"Please don't be too loud or fierce," Sharr said, undoing the sling and helping Drizzt settle on his own two feet on the floor. Wide purple eyes stared up at a new stranger, before the wings flattened to his back and he reached for Sharr's hand for reassurance.
"Lady bless us all," Charic breathed, understanding her co-leader's warning to her. "He's tiny! And those wings!"
"The boys can feel shadow-magic residue on him, but fresher divine energy over top of it," Sharr said. "Can you determine who he should be raised for? I know sometimes, with a feather-kissed, when they are born this way, they aren't yet committed to a single one."
"I can meditate when he naps, and see if answers come to me then." Charic knelt down on the floor, reaching out to the tiny winged drow child. When he slowly let go of Sharr's hand and came to her, she rested her hand on his face, feeling the innate goodness radiating through him. "The elders are going to be in an uproar."
"No doubt. Dol will handle them. Now, more than ever, I need to take Del, and Drizzt here, to Silverymoon," Sharr said.
As if on cue, Del came racing in and pulled up to a stop as he saw the boy with his mama. "What…"
"Who," Charic corrected gently. "His name is Drizzt. Doesn't seem to speak our language."
Del dropped on the floor, staring at the strange child, eyes full of wonder. "Is he my little brother now? Or do we have to give him to my aunt?"
Sharr smiled. "I plan to raise him, unless she objects, so yes, he is your little brother for now."
Del opened his arms, reaching… and after a moment's hesitation, Drizzt left the safety of Charic's arms to go, not understanding any of the words, but drawn to the good emotions around him.
Charic had determined Khalreshaar or Mielikki (as it felt blurred between the aspects) had laid a light claim and protection on the boy. Del was happily telling the boy names of things, helping develop the use of Common, since they would be going to a city that used it more than Sylvan. Sharr saw to wrapping up his affairs, not yet reaching out to Qilué, even as he realized that he very much wanted to help raise Drizzt to adulthood.
Maybe it was selfish of him, but the touch of what had to be Vhaeraun on the boy was surely reason enough to keep him away from Eilistraee's people as a safety measure. And the Forest Queen, under either guise, was sacred in Silverymoon.
Ghael was the one to take the trio to his mother's city, amused at how much the small boy's wings fluttered at the change of placement. Elué, bless her, had already dimmed the lights in the room they arrived at, and was waiting. She kissed both of her sons' cheeks, then her consort, before being introduced to her new son.
"I did already speak to my sister, love," she said firmly. "And Qi does not feel she can provide he safety he should have, even as she regrets it."
"Ahh, well then." Sharr let Drizzt get down, smiling indulgently when the boy went to take Del's hand instead. "We need to introduce him to the Ladyservant."
"He has been warned," Alustriel answered that, but her face was soft at seeing her last-born being so indulgent of the toddler's smaller steps, of how well Del was bonding to the boy. "Welcome home, all of you. Ghael, I had a request for you to visit the Harpers while here."
"I will do that later today," he said. "Nosy busybodies probably want an update on the weirdness," he added in amusement.
"Likely. Now, let's go get the boys settled into your room. When is Korvallen expected?" Alustriel asked.
"When Dove and Laeral are satisfied they can't learn anything else," Sharr said. "He'll ask one of the boys to bring him."
"How is he handling this?"
The laughter from Ghael, the grin from Del, and Sharr's rueful look were a partial answer.
"It's a child, so he's being fierce… but the drow part is making him want to stay hands-off," Sharr admitted.
"That won't last, but let us hope it doesn't take a century."
Norvor had been irritated enough by his elf teleporting to the north to actually land in a courtyard of the palace, and unleash the bellow of an indignant pegasus. In short order, Sharr came down to him, ready to placate his friend, with Drizzt in an improved sling that supported but didn't push the wings in against his back.
Norvor, whose eyes were not as sharp as they had been, had been stamping and making noises of his discontent until Sharr was within a few paces… and then he saw the white hair and fuzzy foal-wings.
"This is why I had to teleport. He's too young to be in the wind yet," Sharr said, slowly undoing the sling so that Drizzt could be on his own two feet. The boy toddled right over to the stallion, fearless in this, and completely full of wonder at the giant thing with wings.
Slowly, Norvor investigated, with neck outstretched, until he was satisfied the drow child really was a winged creature like himself. With care, the old stallion brought himself down to lie upon the flagstones of the courtyard, making it easier for the boy to explore him. Sharr relished the moment that Drizzt tucked in under a wing, with both his old friend and his new son thinking this was perfect for a nap.
Korvallen did show up about a week later, brought by Andy, and accompanied by Kolarven. Before anyone could find out why the younger fighter had come, Kolarven had given excuses and vanished into the city. Andy likewise went his own way after greeting his father, a line of research percolating in his head.
"Village was stifling them," Korvallen told Sharr, as they walked up to the suite on the family league. "Wants to make something of themself, without me pulling strings."
Sharr smiled indulgently at that. "Then I will look the other way I if I see their name on any enlistment papers. Been lending Besnell a hand as he gets his head wrapped around the duties of leading the Knights."
"More likely to go for the Silver Watch, I think," was Kor's opinion.
"They are a people person, and the Watch has that," Sharr agreed.
Sharr was watching closely as they entered the room and was amused when Kor flinched slightly at seeing the drow child, wings carefully tucked back, showing Del as he worked a shiny pebble across his fingers in a dexterity exercise children twice his age would have struggled with.
Del actually looking at the pair coming in broke Drizzt's concentration and it fell, before he scooped it up and turned to look. The droop of the little wings said everything about Drizzt remembering the cranky elf.
"Uncle," Del said, gently tugging Drizzt back into his lap, careful of the wings as always.
"Hello, Del. Drizzt."
"Hi," the little one said, shy about it to the point of turning his face into Del's chest.
Sharr could see the struggle in his heart-brother, before Kor moved and sat cross-legged in front of the boys.
"Show me?" Kor invited the small drow, when Drizzt looked at him, and that made Drizzt take the pebble back on a 'walk' across his fingers, but on the other hand this time.
"Does he always switch?"
"Uses both hands for anything and everything," Sharr answered.
"Well." Kor smiled, a tight line, at the small boy. "Good," he added, and Drizzt's wings fluffed out more fully, satisfied by that.
When Drizzt was ten, Del helped smooth and braid his hair, got him into a good tunic, one of the pretty ones with silver threads all through the green rippling colors.
"Is it a festival? I didn't hear about one," Drizzt asked his brother. They had, just this past spring, moved out of Papa's and Uncle's suite to one of their own on the same hall.
"No, little brother. You get to meet another aunt and uncle, and even a cousin, tonight. Mother let Taern take over evenfeast, and she will be there with Papa."
"What about Uncle?"
"No, Uncle is busy elsewhere." Del didn't necessarily lie, but he knew Kor had volunteered to help at the local temple of Sehanine Moonbow just to escape the dinner.
Drizzt's wings flicked a little, and Del remembered he needed to believe harder in the truthful answers he gave, even if they were incomplete. Fortunately, Drizzt let it go.
"Alright, stay clean, scamp, while I put my nice tunic on. Think you can put your good shoes on without help?"
The wings fluttered even more indignantly this time. "Of course!"
When Del came back to find his little brother, Drizzt was in shoes, and looking a little uncomfortable about it.
"Are they too small?" Del asked in concern.
"No, just heavy and blocky and I don't like them."
"Ahh, well it's just for a few hours."
"I can do it," Drizzt, normally barefoot, wearing pants and little else, while scampering in the gardens or the Sacred Glade, would be civilized. It had to be important after all.
Drizzt was not as shy as he had once been with strangers, but after several years of not seeing people like himself, and having learned why drow were feared and reviled, he found his wings tightening around him, and wished they were big enough to truly cloak him from being seen.
Three drow sat there with Mother and Papa, and they were smiling, but the red eyes reminded him of the long-ago when he had lived in mostly dark spaces. The lights were at the low level Mother used when she was teaching him for long times, so Drizzt knew they weren't used to bright light like he was.
He couldn't imagine not going out in the bright sun and feeling it warming his wings even if it did sometimes sting his eyes and he couldn't see as well.
"Drizzt, do you want to sit with Del, or come up here by one of us?" Mother asked, and he reached for his brother's hand for answer. "Alright. Sit with us, both of you, so we can introduce our family guests."
Drow. Other drow who were family? And Del had said that, earlier. So it couldn't be terrible, Drizzt reminded himself.
Once he was settled, wings draped over the low-backed chair, and Del was right next to him, he peered more closely at the trio. He thought the one woman was very close in age to his big brother, that the other one looked sad even when she smiled at him, and that the man was mostly curious.
"Drizzt, this is my youngest sister, Qilué Veladorn, her consort Elkantar Ilium, and their daughter Ysolde," Alustriel began. "I do ask that you not talk openly about meeting drow, though you can speak of them by name."
Drizzt nodded; he understood. He'd grown used to people being shocked by him, and knew that drow were supposed to be dangerous and evil.
"Tell us how your day was, Drizzt?" Sharr invited once food had been served to all of them by the unseen servants.
"I started by keeping vigil in the Knight's courtyard, and then Uncle Korvallen let me practice throwing knives," Drizzt started. "Del took me to the Glade for lessons there. I slept in the Glade for a little bit while he went to the Vault.
"After, we came back and I joined some of the pages for their lessons and games. Then we got ready for dinner," he said. "It was a quiet day."
"He didn't fall out of a tree once," Del said, getting a mutinous look from his little brother.
"I don't fall. I drop and see if my wings can slow me yet," the boy said with all the offended dignity of a ten year old.
~Weapon practice already, sister?~ Qilué sent in concern.
~He gets bored with dexterity exercises, and feels a need to do something. Knives were a compromise,~ Alustriel sent back.
"You sound like you stay busy," Elkantar offered.
"I don't like to be bored," Drizzt said. "Learning, practicing? Make me happy."
"I make certain he spends a good bit of time with the children of the palace," Del said warmly. "But yeah, little brother gets restless if he's not doing something."
"Do you like being out in the open?" Ysolde asked.
"No better place to be! Up in the trees, running on grass? Best thing ever," Drizzt said. "Papa and Uncle even take me into the Silverwood sometimes, and I see different animals and find out how they are doing!"
"That is a hard thing for many drow to be happy with," Elkantar said. "I am glad it comes easy to you."
"Mielikki says She's happy about it, that I can go day or night into the outside and be near Her," Drizzt answered happily.
The startled response of the drow went unnoticed, because Drizzt had realized one of his favorite stuffed mushrooms was on his plate and attacked it with his eating tine.
Sharr just quietly nodded at them, that yes, his youngest child had a goddess who talked directly to him.
"I would have expected Khalreshaar," Qilué offered after getting past the shock.
"Sometimes, but this is Mielikki's home," Drizzt told her. "She is very busy, but tries to have time for me to explore."
"Lessons in the Glade are not always with the people, but sometimes the creatures that live there," Del said. "It was a shock, the first time I found him sleeping in the local badger's den."
"I suppose that would be," Ysolde said.
"Ysolde, why don't you tell Drizzt a little about our project near the coast, so he can see what our lives are like?" Qilué invited, studying the gods-touched boy a while longer, and deciding that they had made the right choice. No nature loving elf or drow would ever be comfortable under rock, like many of their shelters were.
The note that arrived for Sharr was unusual in that the acolyte of the Sacred Glade looked a shade nervous and also overawed at once. He broke the seal, having noted it was from the Ladyservant himself, and read the words. A brief frown touched his lips, but honestly, they should have expected this at some point.
"Please tell the Ladyservant we understand, and will be patient for his return."
"Yes, Saer," the acolyte said with a little relief showing now. She saw herself out, and Sharr went to find his other son in residence. Del was in the library, magical tomes all around him, as he studied.
"Son, you don't have to go pick up Drizzt this evening," Sharr said softly once his son had noticed him and stopped making notes.
"Did they bring him home?"
"No. Mielikki has taken him from the Glade, and we must wait for Her to bring him back. The Ladyservant anticipates at least a few days. They will see to returning him here."
Del frowned fully, and did not let go of that immediately. "He's still a baby!"
"His life is Hers," Sharr said, not liking it, but reminding his son that duty was not something they could go against.
"Yes, Papa."
When Mielikki had come for him, Drizzt had been excited. He might be thirteen years old, and far too big to be picked up, but he didn't even protest the ten foot tall goddess doing just that and tree-walking them to this place, Her home on the Material Plane, in the Unicorn Run. He'd heard of the place of course, being very eager to learn everything about the goddess who had chosen him to be Her champion.
She did set him on his own two feet, and smiled when his wings did the flutter of balancing him. They reached past his waist now, though they still had a lot of downy feathers mixed in.
"You have grown a lot since I first saw you, Drizzt. You are always questioning My rangers and druids who come to teach you. As I have arranged time to be free to you, what questions would you ask me?"
His eyes lit up and he knew it, his smile so broad, and the goddess found Herself receiving a warm, intense hug where he could reach Her before the words began to spill in an excited torrent.
Drizzt was gone for three days, so far as Silverymoon was concerned. That he had put on a little height and his wings were less juvenile told the family and his teachers that he'd been gone for far longer. He did not, however, seem to wish to speak of his journey at his patron deity's side, only saying he had learned much.
"Someone should check on Aunt Laeral," he did mention to Del, who dutifully reported it back to their parents.
When that turned into a multiple person affair, to include not just Syluné but the Simbul herself, Elué came to see her youngest child.
"Drizzt, how did you know that Laeral needed to be checked on?"
He met her eyes, his wings flattening to his back. "We explored, and there was a place where magics were being used under the ground, the kind that can poison the wilds." He grimaced. "Mielikki knew the Nine used that general area.
"I hoped it was her friends, not her, but Del told me she was in the middle of it all?"
"I wish he hadn't heard that part to pass on, but yes, she was." Elué opened her arms, and Drizzt came to her, tucking in as best he could. "Syluné took her home. She will be well. So will her friends, in time. I was worried you had seen her."
Drizzt shook his head. "No, just felt a sickening of that area, so close to Her home."
"You did well, my son," she praised, then sat holding him until he could wrestle his emotions to a resting state.
Drizzt often made the walk back from the Glade alone now, having argued that he was a little older than the younger pages who moved back and forth on their own in the city, developmentally. He knew he was safe in his mother's city, so the first prickle along his spine almost went unnoticed.
Almost.
Much of his time with Mielikki had been learning the wilds in full, but She had also exposed him to dangers, to help him hone the in-born sense of good intent versus evil intent. The frisson on his spine was of the latter nature, and it was all he could do to keep from mantling his wings.
That would betray his awareness.
He focused, like his Lady had been teaching him, narrowing down where the person was, and then changed his path by turning down a side street. His body language implied he'd meant to turn, while his ears caught the sound of someone picking up pace.
Then he heard the 'thwip' of a dart being expelled, making him bring his wings around himself. Something hit one of them, but while they hid his chest and hands, he was pulling the pair of throwing knives he always carried.
Instinct made me him throw his wings out and high, startling two humans he did not know, both of whom had long hunting knives in hand, and swords on their belts that might come into play if this turned even uglier.
The one spell Mielikki had deemed him ready for, a variation on the light cantrip, came to mind and he quickly cast it. The sudden flare of light in a shaded alley both inconvenienced his would be attackers, and acted as a beacon to the city folk nearby. He slipped his knives back away, choosing not to throw as the pair attempted to escape, only to be slowed and pummeled by those who came to see.
Neither managed to get too far, before a pair of Silver Watch members wrapped entangling bolas around their ankles. After, it was just a matter of securing them, and Drizzt finding the dart that his wings had protected him from, so the incident could be investigated.
Sharr came to retrieve his son from the Silver Watch, amused despite his anger, to see Drizzt was regaling the constable present with a tale about rescuing a badger from the vat it had gotten stuck in recently. The messenger had come, explained the incident, and while Sharr came for Drizzt, a trio of Knights, two squires, and one Spellguard were retrieving the pair of attackers for questioning in the Glade.
Elué could have claimed precedence, but ultimately the clergy of the Sacred Glade of Mielikki would need to have a say. Sharr even agreed it had been best to turn the matter over from the beginning. He didn't even say anything about the fact Korvallen and Methri were following more discreetly, so that he and Drizzt had extra protection.
"Hello Papa," Drizzt said, giving that cheerful smile he met most of he world with. The wings even looked relaxed, so Sharr held his hands out, and his son came to be hugged.
"Thank you, Saer," Sharr told the constable.
"Always a delight to see the young lord," she told Sharr. "Take me serious, lad, and get you an arms-man for your walks. We need the Lady's Grace to see you grow up all the way!"
"I'm thinking on it," Drizzt promised, before leaving with his father. "I do not want to go back to a Leaf or a Needle escorting me, and Brother has complicated lessons now," he said to Sharr once there was a door between him and the constable.
"Still, you were attacked, and that means you are marked as a threat by someone. Or it might just be an attempt to harm your mother," Sharr chided.
Drizzt turned his face toward Sharr, but kept walking. "I want to learn swords."
"You're only … well, I'd say thirteen, but with the height and smoother feathers, you might be almost sixteen now. Still too young, even for a half-elf, let alone a full one," Sharr said. "And 'swords'?"
"Twin curving blades, like Mielikki. I want to master Her weapons." Drizzt tipped his chin up. "A noble drow would begin learning the basics of his future craft at sixteen, uncle Elkantar said."
"And he also said it was ridiculous to rush into such," Sharr said, grimacing when Drizzt's wings mantled a little. "Son, it was one attack."
"There will be more, and anyone assigned to protect me would have their blood on my hands eventually, if I am attacked again. I only want to learn, and it would mean me staying in the Palace more," Drizzt wheedled.
"You convince Kor," was Sharr's final word on the matter.
Korvallen had not been warned what Drizzt wanted to discuss with him, but there was something to his nephew's body language that promised this was not going to go easily. He continued inspecting his sword, have oiled it today and checked its edge, making the boy sit patiently.
Terrifyingly, Drizzt was doing just that. There was no rustle of feathers in impatience, just quiet, dogged determination to obey Korvallen's dictum of 'wait'.
When he at last could not possibly drag out the care of his sword longer, Korvallen sheathed it and looked at the youth on the bench, noting the wings were not truly relaxed, but weren't fully mantling with whatever Drizzt was feeling either.
"Alright, boy. What do you want?"
"To learn weapons. Swords specifically. I know the basics of archery and knives. I should know spear, maybe shield, but I truly wish to learn the art of the curved swords."
Curved — ahh. He meant to emulate his goddess then, in Her weaponry.
"Too young. Don't care you spent years away in the three days you were with Khalreshaar. You're not full grown."
Drizzt's jaw shifted to that stubborn line that was far more like his own than Kor liked admitting.
"I should be learning the footwork, the motions, at the very least now, even if I can't choose my adult weapons yet. Because I need to be the best I can be, to seek my eventual destiny," Drizzt stated in his calmest voice, and the wings remained still. "I will be a ranger. I will also be a true fighter.
"I don't want to waste the time I could be ingraining the motions in muscle, Uncle."
Korvallen frowned, looking at the half-grown boy again. "Why rush to your destiny, Drizzt? We have no idea when or how you will be called on to face the trials you were feather-kissed for."
"And if it is sooner than later? If Mielikki chose to give me personal training so young, would I not be remiss if I do not train now? Better to learn, and not need it soon, then be unprepared when the time comes."
"Is this because of those two adherents of Talona?" Kor demanded.
"Yes. And more. I am known to exist. What better way to eliminate a deity's advantage than to maim or kill me in childhood? If they send humans, we now know they can evade the protections of the city."
Dammit, but the boy was making entirely too much sense.
"Footwork, motions, yes. Go see the palace craftsmen to have wooden blades made to meet your wishes. You will not, hear me, practice with steel until I say so." Kor held the boy's eyes, but Drizzt smiled, a blaze of joy, and Kor knew that his nephew was intent on this path.
Might as well embrace it, Kor decided, before he found an inferior teacher and picked up bad habits.
"Thank you, Uncle," Drizzt said warmly.
Del smiled at his little brother testing the fit of his new armor. The restriction on using Steel had lasted three full years. Now, at twenty or so, Drizzt had graduated to being allowed to wear the lacquered wood-and-leather plates that had been designed to protect him without impeding his wings at all. Elin had put a lot of the design work into it, with his consort making a very small model of it in foil and wire to show the armorer.
"So you're going with me to meet the herd?"
"Yes." Drizzt flexed his wings again, and smiled at his brother. "Elin is brilliant. This works perfectly.
"Is Papa going with us?"
They had grieved Norvor's passing not long after Drizzt began learning weapons. By Norvor's own wishes, several of his feathers had been harvested to be used for Drizzt, should his own wings become injured. It had driven the feather-kissed up into a tree in the Glade to know that, and he'd stayed there for two days after, just existing inside of nature. Knowing a pegasus loved that intensely had made Drizzt swear never to bond one. The losing would hurt him too much.
"He's not ready," Del said sadly. "Ghael is coming for me. He can teleport three as easily as two."
"Wait, didn't Rua abandon him to go mate a couple of years ago?" Drizzt asked, grinning. "We'll get to meet Rua's offspring!"
Del laughed. "I'm kind of hoping whichever it is likes me. Even if they would be too young for me to learn to fly with, I think it would be good for my first to be the offspring of one of my brother's pegasi."
"I think so too." Drizzt returned to testing the armor fit, putting his sword belt on, then his pack, a modified haversack spell having been applied to one designed to be worn at the small of the back, its rigidity only extending part way up so it did not interfere with the lower connection point of his wings.
"I think both of our brothers did well designing your gear," Del said, taking in the full effect.
"Me too."
Ruakerym's mate proved to be a kinder pegasus than the feisty stallion had ever been. While Del wandered under the watchful eye of all the adults in this gathering, meeting the fillies and colts from the past three or four years, Drizzt was submitting to having his wings preened diligently by the mare.
Ghael had to smile every time he looked away from Del, seeing the blissful peace on Drizzt's face as the mare fussed over his wings. He knew Norvor had done that from time to time, but put it down to Norvor being family. This was a wild mare… and she seemed intent on inspecting every feather.
Honestly, the fact Rua had brought his mate and their filly, just past the year mark, spoke of Rua's intent toward Del. That wasn't surprising. Since Elin had settled firmly as a wedded elf with Lyrei, Ghael had not made any bones about the fact he meant to mentor his last-born full brother. The trio were too wild still, Bo was still apprenticed to Blackstaff, and Methri had his hands full with Tyresia.
He supposed Thyl and Lin could have stepped up, but that pair had gone traveling right after sorting out how to make a haversack spell fit something Drizzt could actually wear.
Del would be grounded with any young pegasus under four full years old, but Ghael needed time away from the southern lands anyway. He could take up residence in Silverymoon, probably in his own place, so Del could get away from being under their parents' direct supervision, for a few years.
Ghael wanted to be a little more hands-on with Drizzt, as well, and knew his youngest brother would not be allowed to travel for years still — barring Mielikki abducting him again, anyway.
"I think she's the one!" Del called, with a filly — definitely Rua's get despite the dainty conformation — planting herself fully between Del and the rest of the young.
"Yes," Drizzt called, showing he had been paying attention despite the feather-preening. Rua snorted and then neighed approval, before strutting toward Ghael with an 'I told you so' attitude. Ghael just had to laugh at his cocky stud, accepting that it had gone just as expected.
Kor sighed, watching as Drizzt's wings kept rising, the spacing of the feathers growing so that the effect was as intimidating as possible.
The squire was too stupid to realize just how frustrated and angry his words were making Drizzt, so Kor almost pushed off the wall to go over, break it up before something more than threat display started from his entirely too skillful nephew.
"Have you ever, in all your life, actually seen a drow?" Drizzt's words rang clearly, and Kor stopped. "Other than myself who doesn't count, as I am told repeatedly, even in your own diatribe."
The squire mumbled something, and the wings clamped tight to the young fighter's back at that.
"Perhaps, before you count them as 'stupid, useless beings that should be driven into their holes', you might want to consider why they are so feared. Every evil creature you just ran down as inferior has exceptions to their nature, and every single race of them has strengths to make them true dangers. Continue to dismiss them all, and you will find yourself dead if you ever venture past the safety of these walls."
With that, Drizzt turned on a heel, and leaped, powerful wings making a down-stroke that stirred the dust of the courtyard all around the squire. Kor made note of which one it was, with intent of telling Besnell to keep an eye on him. If the boy learned from the lecture, fine. But the Knights were commanded to keep an open mind and also not to underestimate the city's enemies.
More concerning was the fact his nephew was flying, and had obviously done it more than once, as Kor watched him go to the highest tower of the Palace to perch up high. Why had the boy not shared that yet, and what in hell was Kor going to do about the way the wings gave so much away?
Drizzt came into his rooms — lonely ones now that Del was off traveling with Ghael — to find Korvallen on the sofa.
"Wanted to talk to you quietly about the incident today," his uncle said.
"Hadn't realized you were watching," Drizzt said with a flick of his wing tips showing he wasn't happy about it.
"You said the right things," Kor told him, "and I told Besnell that the squire might need more lessons on understanding the true nature of being a Knight.
"You have got to do something about your wings, though! The amount of emotion they give away is ridiculous."
Drizzt shook his head. "I do control them when I hunt. I will control them when I face enemies. But to do so all the time? That would be too much like lying to people who deserve better."
Kor grunted at that; Drizzt knew his personal moral code was a little too chaotic for his uncle to understand, but having said that, Kor would drop it.
"How long have you been flying?"
Drizzt took a deep breath and went to his favorite chair, letting his wings drape along the special rests built into it. "A few days after Del left. I was lonely. There weren't any rangers or druids available to go with me into the Silverwood. And Papa was gone with you to the villages.
"I needed… something. Escape? And the next thing I knew, I was flying, all on instinct. I've practiced a few times, late at night, always within the city wards."
Kor nodded. "Then bring your spear and shield tomorrow. We'll start working out flight tactics for you."
Drizzt felt a deep relief at that, and smiled. "Thank you, uncle."
"I gave up on stopping you from what you were going to try when you talked me into sword practice. But it does mean I need to change what I teach, so you can keep adding to your abilities."
"Yes… it does."
Sharr put his sword away, set the shield down, and then came to embrace his son. "Damn good spar. You had me on points, and a bit longer, you would have just had me!"
"I try to do well by Uncle's teaching," Drizzt said, separating from his father so they could both go get water and wipe the sweat away.
"You know an official courier came this morning," Sharr began after they were walking inside, the cool of the Palace a welcome respite from the heat of the day.
"You are needed?"
"Yes. I know you wanted to start testing your abilities; do you wish to come to the High Forest?" Sharr asked.
Drizzt considered, then shook his head. "No. My duties should be here, at least at first. I have places I wish to explore more that I have learned harbor trouble, to test myself."
That got a sigh, but Sharr had expected the answer. "Promise me to come home if it is bigger than you can handle?"
"I will, Papa. I know where my allies are, and I will not risk myself much, not when my very birth means something powerful could be unleashed on the Realms any time now," Drizzt said. "I know no one is happy with me growing up so swiftly, but I do take time to live freely, to enjoy life.
"I won't let adventures rob me of that."
"I hope not, son." Sharr rested a hand on Drizzt's forearm for a moment. "Make sure you get an anklet before you leave."
"Mother started it a week ago. I think she knew."
"She always seems to," Sharr agreed, accepting that his foundling, his youngest child, was going to be out and about, risking his life.
"I will always come home," Drizzt promised, as if divining those thoughts.
"So you will."
Chapters: 2/?
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Elf Character(s), Mielikki [Forgotten Realms], Drizzt Do'Urden, Uoundeld Aerasumé
Additional Tags: Background Relationships, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Family
Summary:
Vhaeraun knew He could not keep the strange child, but He wasn't giving him to His sister. Better to remove him from drow manipulations altogether.
Foundling
Vhaeraun was torn. In preserving the male drow at birth, stealing him at the moment of sacrifice, He had carried off a brilliant coup. It had gained Him a noble House in Menzoberranzan from which to scheme as well as denying His mother one more soul. That it had also appealed to His particular ethics, of preserving drow life from senseless slaughter was secondary. Ethics were not one of his top concerns.
But now, in the heart of the Neverwinter Wood, that boy was showing all signs of having had his nature defiled by the spell performed by his mother in his birthing. Every ounce of ambition, avarice, and self-serving thought was gone from him. The boy was, without a doubt, entirely too un-drow, being of a truly Good nature.
Looking forward had never been Vhaeraun's domain, yet He itched when He strode through the boy's dreams. Something in the future was already calling the boy, a destiny that was stamped in danger. Was the danger for Himself, all drow, or merely the Lolthites? Perhaps the danger was solely meant for the boy.
Still, Vhaeraun could not order the child's death. Yet at the same time, delivering a destiny-touched good drow to His sister was anathema to His plans of the future, ones where He pulled His twin to Her proper place at His side.
Something different was necessary. Something… unusual. Yes, that would be the way to go, to touch the boy firmly with His magic, so His sister was suspicious, but to choose some foolish good deity to deal with the odd boy.
Mielikki was not unaccustomed to having Her domains invaded. Various evil deities over the years had sought to kill or capture Her, using Her love of walking the Material Plane against Her. Some protection was afforded by taking the guise of Khalreshaar, and confining Her wanderings to the lands still heavily under the sway of the Seldarine believers.
Foresight was not chief among Her gifts in any aspect, but the moment She found the toddler under an enchanted — divinely so — sleep in the woods, She thought the boy had to be bait in a trap. No drow lived here; the last entrance to the Underdark in the region that had been closed had happened centuries before.
Yet the boy was most decidedly a drow. She brought the wild animals nearer to Her, using their sense to further discern threats. Then, She turned toward divining what She could of the child's advent, and the lingering magics.
Shadow-touched, those were, but the boy himself was as innocent as all children born. Only, seeking deeper, Khalreshaar touched the soul and experienced a deep shock. The child was Good, not a trace of inherent Evil lurking there. That made this a ripe possibility, and she wove her magic around the boy, considering if She should —
— a stag warned of impending danger then. She side-stepped off the Plane, but remained near, and no arcane magic could hide the force that Her creatures saw and felt disturbing the peace of the woods. With the child shielded by a pair of does, She let Her anger and wrath descend upon the orcs, in the forms of both predators and prey driving through them with singular focus, to trample and strike as many as possible so that the elves were alerted.
She had placed Her claim, and She would watch over the drow child fondly.
With warning, the band of thirteen elves had been able to make use of the chaos the orcs seemed to be caught in. The four half-elves, in particular, had wreaked havoc on the band, and their father was quick to effectively use the fighters he'd brought with them.
After, he left the investigation to the elder pair, and took the younger pair with him to circle the kill zone. That so many different kinds of animals had plunged straight through the war band had his curiosity up for more than who had sent them.
It was Elin who spotted the does ahead, both quivering with fear of the hunters, and refusing to yield their place to flee.
"There's something between them," Ghael said, once he'd looked. "Father, stay close to Elin," he added, moving forward slowly once he'd handed his bow to his father.
"Be careful," father and brother alike said.
With every trace of wood-craft he'd learned as a boy, Ghael approached the does, eyes fixed on the thing between them, until it truly came into focus.
Black skin, white hair, wrapped securely in a blanket of… well, not spider silk, thankfully. It looked surface-woven even.
"You're protecting this?" Ghael asked, a sense of wonder at war with his paranoia. The larger, elder doe looked him dead in the eyes, and for a moment, he felt the Divine in that look. "Oh… squirrel nuts," slipped out, as he understood all of this was well above his expertise or chosen path.
The does ran then, as if released from the spell, and Ghael continued forward. He knelt carefully near the child.
"Father, there's a drow here, doesn't even look like they should be true-weaned yet."
"The day grows strange indeed," was Sharr's rejoinder before he and Elin joined Ghael. It was Sharr who noted the blanket seemed padded or bulky where it wrapped around the child's back. He reached, carefully picking the child up and that 'padding' shifted in ways that prickled along the man's nerves.
"Dad…" Elin said in a warning tone, but Sharr was already unpinning the blanket.
The padding, it seemed, was a set of fine, white down wings, much like the foals of the pegasus herd were first seen with.
"I don't think strange is enough to cover this," Ghael said in awe.
Ghael had warned their elder brothers. Still, the furor that erupted when Sharrevaliir revealed the impossible child was only slightly mitigated by the pair being a voice of reason.
"Enough." Sharr did not shout, conscious of the child sleeping in his arms. "The child is touched by a god. It was protected by the wild life, and that protection is what saved us from the ambush. No matter the color of skin and hair, I will not turn my back on an offering from the gods, and the responsibility that comes with it.
"I had already intended to step down for the rest of my youngest son's childhood; now I invoke that with the addition that I will see this feather-kissed champion raised as a child should be, and then guided to be all that it can be for its patron!"
There were grumbles, but to do less risked righteous wrath turned on their own people. Sharr delegated Dol, his chosen regent for his duties, to begin the process of their walk home, but took the time then to more fully inspect his new child. Why the goodly drow was so far from Eilistraee, he had no idea. That would need to be learned. And the fact it had been the wildlife protecting the boy, as he now knew, indicated that maybe it was not the Dark Maiden at all who had chosen this one.
As he was inspecting the child for any harm done to him, the boy finally stirred, slowly blinking his eyes -- such a shade of lavender! -- open to peer at Sharr. Fear warred with curiosity, making Sharr even more certain this was going to be unusual in all ways.
"Ilham? Ilhar?"
Despite the small size, the boy had words already. Sharr thought he'd heard those from his niece. He could guess they were parental words.
"I don't know your language, little one." He smiled, and fished out a piece of dried apple, offering it to the boy. "Eat..." He wracked his brain for the few words he did know of the drow tongue. "Cal."
The boy took the sliver, sniffing it, then put it in his mouth to suck and chew on, eyes wide and taking in all the movement around them. The wings fluttered a couple of times in reaction, but the boy never cried.
The day after the battle with the orcs — which Andy had asked his ranger aunt and one of the arch-mages to come finish investigating — the four wizard-fighters divided the party among themselves, and delivered them back to their home villages within the High Forest. Dol took responsibility for their father, strange new little brother, and the one other hunter from the Refuge of the Oaks.
Sharr had managed to convert the blanket to a sling, and had Drizzt, as the boy insisted his name was, tucked against his chest with a corner of the blanket up to protect the skin and eyes so accustomed to darker places. He did not stop to talk to anyone, going straight for Charic's home. Dol, with the other hunter, would make the report to the Elders.
"Morning sun, where are you?" he called, the endearment warning the priestess that this was going to be interesting. She came out of her still room, where she had been turning the tinctures and inspecting those that might need replacement.
"I thought we sent you out to hunt a stag," she said in bemusement.
"Please don't be too loud or fierce," Sharr said, undoing the sling and helping Drizzt settle on his own two feet on the floor. Wide purple eyes stared up at a new stranger, before the wings flattened to his back and he reached for Sharr's hand for reassurance.
"Lady bless us all," Charic breathed, understanding her co-leader's warning to her. "He's tiny! And those wings!"
"The boys can feel shadow-magic residue on him, but fresher divine energy over top of it," Sharr said. "Can you determine who he should be raised for? I know sometimes, with a feather-kissed, when they are born this way, they aren't yet committed to a single one."
"I can meditate when he naps, and see if answers come to me then." Charic knelt down on the floor, reaching out to the tiny winged drow child. When he slowly let go of Sharr's hand and came to her, she rested her hand on his face, feeling the innate goodness radiating through him. "The elders are going to be in an uproar."
"No doubt. Dol will handle them. Now, more than ever, I need to take Del, and Drizzt here, to Silverymoon," Sharr said.
As if on cue, Del came racing in and pulled up to a stop as he saw the boy with his mama. "What…"
"Who," Charic corrected gently. "His name is Drizzt. Doesn't seem to speak our language."
Del dropped on the floor, staring at the strange child, eyes full of wonder. "Is he my little brother now? Or do we have to give him to my aunt?"
Sharr smiled. "I plan to raise him, unless she objects, so yes, he is your little brother for now."
Del opened his arms, reaching… and after a moment's hesitation, Drizzt left the safety of Charic's arms to go, not understanding any of the words, but drawn to the good emotions around him.
Charic had determined Khalreshaar or Mielikki (as it felt blurred between the aspects) had laid a light claim and protection on the boy. Del was happily telling the boy names of things, helping develop the use of Common, since they would be going to a city that used it more than Sylvan. Sharr saw to wrapping up his affairs, not yet reaching out to Qilué, even as he realized that he very much wanted to help raise Drizzt to adulthood.
Maybe it was selfish of him, but the touch of what had to be Vhaeraun on the boy was surely reason enough to keep him away from Eilistraee's people as a safety measure. And the Forest Queen, under either guise, was sacred in Silverymoon.
Ghael was the one to take the trio to his mother's city, amused at how much the small boy's wings fluttered at the change of placement. Elué, bless her, had already dimmed the lights in the room they arrived at, and was waiting. She kissed both of her sons' cheeks, then her consort, before being introduced to her new son.
"I did already speak to my sister, love," she said firmly. "And Qi does not feel she can provide he safety he should have, even as she regrets it."
"Ahh, well then." Sharr let Drizzt get down, smiling indulgently when the boy went to take Del's hand instead. "We need to introduce him to the Ladyservant."
"He has been warned," Alustriel answered that, but her face was soft at seeing her last-born being so indulgent of the toddler's smaller steps, of how well Del was bonding to the boy. "Welcome home, all of you. Ghael, I had a request for you to visit the Harpers while here."
"I will do that later today," he said. "Nosy busybodies probably want an update on the weirdness," he added in amusement.
"Likely. Now, let's go get the boys settled into your room. When is Korvallen expected?" Alustriel asked.
"When Dove and Laeral are satisfied they can't learn anything else," Sharr said. "He'll ask one of the boys to bring him."
"How is he handling this?"
The laughter from Ghael, the grin from Del, and Sharr's rueful look were a partial answer.
"It's a child, so he's being fierce… but the drow part is making him want to stay hands-off," Sharr admitted.
"That won't last, but let us hope it doesn't take a century."
Norvor had been irritated enough by his elf teleporting to the north to actually land in a courtyard of the palace, and unleash the bellow of an indignant pegasus. In short order, Sharr came down to him, ready to placate his friend, with Drizzt in an improved sling that supported but didn't push the wings in against his back.
Norvor, whose eyes were not as sharp as they had been, had been stamping and making noises of his discontent until Sharr was within a few paces… and then he saw the white hair and fuzzy foal-wings.
"This is why I had to teleport. He's too young to be in the wind yet," Sharr said, slowly undoing the sling so that Drizzt could be on his own two feet. The boy toddled right over to the stallion, fearless in this, and completely full of wonder at the giant thing with wings.
Slowly, Norvor investigated, with neck outstretched, until he was satisfied the drow child really was a winged creature like himself. With care, the old stallion brought himself down to lie upon the flagstones of the courtyard, making it easier for the boy to explore him. Sharr relished the moment that Drizzt tucked in under a wing, with both his old friend and his new son thinking this was perfect for a nap.
Korvallen did show up about a week later, brought by Andy, and accompanied by Kolarven. Before anyone could find out why the younger fighter had come, Kolarven had given excuses and vanished into the city. Andy likewise went his own way after greeting his father, a line of research percolating in his head.
"Village was stifling them," Korvallen told Sharr, as they walked up to the suite on the family league. "Wants to make something of themself, without me pulling strings."
Sharr smiled indulgently at that. "Then I will look the other way I if I see their name on any enlistment papers. Been lending Besnell a hand as he gets his head wrapped around the duties of leading the Knights."
"More likely to go for the Silver Watch, I think," was Kor's opinion.
"They are a people person, and the Watch has that," Sharr agreed.
Sharr was watching closely as they entered the room and was amused when Kor flinched slightly at seeing the drow child, wings carefully tucked back, showing Del as he worked a shiny pebble across his fingers in a dexterity exercise children twice his age would have struggled with.
Del actually looking at the pair coming in broke Drizzt's concentration and it fell, before he scooped it up and turned to look. The droop of the little wings said everything about Drizzt remembering the cranky elf.
"Uncle," Del said, gently tugging Drizzt back into his lap, careful of the wings as always.
"Hello, Del. Drizzt."
"Hi," the little one said, shy about it to the point of turning his face into Del's chest.
Sharr could see the struggle in his heart-brother, before Kor moved and sat cross-legged in front of the boys.
"Show me?" Kor invited the small drow, when Drizzt looked at him, and that made Drizzt take the pebble back on a 'walk' across his fingers, but on the other hand this time.
"Does he always switch?"
"Uses both hands for anything and everything," Sharr answered.
"Well." Kor smiled, a tight line, at the small boy. "Good," he added, and Drizzt's wings fluffed out more fully, satisfied by that.
When Drizzt was ten, Del helped smooth and braid his hair, got him into a good tunic, one of the pretty ones with silver threads all through the green rippling colors.
"Is it a festival? I didn't hear about one," Drizzt asked his brother. They had, just this past spring, moved out of Papa's and Uncle's suite to one of their own on the same hall.
"No, little brother. You get to meet another aunt and uncle, and even a cousin, tonight. Mother let Taern take over evenfeast, and she will be there with Papa."
"What about Uncle?"
"No, Uncle is busy elsewhere." Del didn't necessarily lie, but he knew Kor had volunteered to help at the local temple of Sehanine Moonbow just to escape the dinner.
Drizzt's wings flicked a little, and Del remembered he needed to believe harder in the truthful answers he gave, even if they were incomplete. Fortunately, Drizzt let it go.
"Alright, stay clean, scamp, while I put my nice tunic on. Think you can put your good shoes on without help?"
The wings fluttered even more indignantly this time. "Of course!"
When Del came back to find his little brother, Drizzt was in shoes, and looking a little uncomfortable about it.
"Are they too small?" Del asked in concern.
"No, just heavy and blocky and I don't like them."
"Ahh, well it's just for a few hours."
"I can do it," Drizzt, normally barefoot, wearing pants and little else, while scampering in the gardens or the Sacred Glade, would be civilized. It had to be important after all.
Drizzt was not as shy as he had once been with strangers, but after several years of not seeing people like himself, and having learned why drow were feared and reviled, he found his wings tightening around him, and wished they were big enough to truly cloak him from being seen.
Three drow sat there with Mother and Papa, and they were smiling, but the red eyes reminded him of the long-ago when he had lived in mostly dark spaces. The lights were at the low level Mother used when she was teaching him for long times, so Drizzt knew they weren't used to bright light like he was.
He couldn't imagine not going out in the bright sun and feeling it warming his wings even if it did sometimes sting his eyes and he couldn't see as well.
"Drizzt, do you want to sit with Del, or come up here by one of us?" Mother asked, and he reached for his brother's hand for answer. "Alright. Sit with us, both of you, so we can introduce our family guests."
Drow. Other drow who were family? And Del had said that, earlier. So it couldn't be terrible, Drizzt reminded himself.
Once he was settled, wings draped over the low-backed chair, and Del was right next to him, he peered more closely at the trio. He thought the one woman was very close in age to his big brother, that the other one looked sad even when she smiled at him, and that the man was mostly curious.
"Drizzt, this is my youngest sister, Qilué Veladorn, her consort Elkantar Ilium, and their daughter Ysolde," Alustriel began. "I do ask that you not talk openly about meeting drow, though you can speak of them by name."
Drizzt nodded; he understood. He'd grown used to people being shocked by him, and knew that drow were supposed to be dangerous and evil.
"Tell us how your day was, Drizzt?" Sharr invited once food had been served to all of them by the unseen servants.
"I started by keeping vigil in the Knight's courtyard, and then Uncle Korvallen let me practice throwing knives," Drizzt started. "Del took me to the Glade for lessons there. I slept in the Glade for a little bit while he went to the Vault.
"After, we came back and I joined some of the pages for their lessons and games. Then we got ready for dinner," he said. "It was a quiet day."
"He didn't fall out of a tree once," Del said, getting a mutinous look from his little brother.
"I don't fall. I drop and see if my wings can slow me yet," the boy said with all the offended dignity of a ten year old.
~Weapon practice already, sister?~ Qilué sent in concern.
~He gets bored with dexterity exercises, and feels a need to do something. Knives were a compromise,~ Alustriel sent back.
"You sound like you stay busy," Elkantar offered.
"I don't like to be bored," Drizzt said. "Learning, practicing? Make me happy."
"I make certain he spends a good bit of time with the children of the palace," Del said warmly. "But yeah, little brother gets restless if he's not doing something."
"Do you like being out in the open?" Ysolde asked.
"No better place to be! Up in the trees, running on grass? Best thing ever," Drizzt said. "Papa and Uncle even take me into the Silverwood sometimes, and I see different animals and find out how they are doing!"
"That is a hard thing for many drow to be happy with," Elkantar said. "I am glad it comes easy to you."
"Mielikki says She's happy about it, that I can go day or night into the outside and be near Her," Drizzt answered happily.
The startled response of the drow went unnoticed, because Drizzt had realized one of his favorite stuffed mushrooms was on his plate and attacked it with his eating tine.
Sharr just quietly nodded at them, that yes, his youngest child had a goddess who talked directly to him.
"I would have expected Khalreshaar," Qilué offered after getting past the shock.
"Sometimes, but this is Mielikki's home," Drizzt told her. "She is very busy, but tries to have time for me to explore."
"Lessons in the Glade are not always with the people, but sometimes the creatures that live there," Del said. "It was a shock, the first time I found him sleeping in the local badger's den."
"I suppose that would be," Ysolde said.
"Ysolde, why don't you tell Drizzt a little about our project near the coast, so he can see what our lives are like?" Qilué invited, studying the gods-touched boy a while longer, and deciding that they had made the right choice. No nature loving elf or drow would ever be comfortable under rock, like many of their shelters were.
Growing Up in Silverymoon
The note that arrived for Sharr was unusual in that the acolyte of the Sacred Glade looked a shade nervous and also overawed at once. He broke the seal, having noted it was from the Ladyservant himself, and read the words. A brief frown touched his lips, but honestly, they should have expected this at some point.
"Please tell the Ladyservant we understand, and will be patient for his return."
"Yes, Saer," the acolyte said with a little relief showing now. She saw herself out, and Sharr went to find his other son in residence. Del was in the library, magical tomes all around him, as he studied.
"Son, you don't have to go pick up Drizzt this evening," Sharr said softly once his son had noticed him and stopped making notes.
"Did they bring him home?"
"No. Mielikki has taken him from the Glade, and we must wait for Her to bring him back. The Ladyservant anticipates at least a few days. They will see to returning him here."
Del frowned fully, and did not let go of that immediately. "He's still a baby!"
"His life is Hers," Sharr said, not liking it, but reminding his son that duty was not something they could go against.
"Yes, Papa."
When Mielikki had come for him, Drizzt had been excited. He might be thirteen years old, and far too big to be picked up, but he didn't even protest the ten foot tall goddess doing just that and tree-walking them to this place, Her home on the Material Plane, in the Unicorn Run. He'd heard of the place of course, being very eager to learn everything about the goddess who had chosen him to be Her champion.
She did set him on his own two feet, and smiled when his wings did the flutter of balancing him. They reached past his waist now, though they still had a lot of downy feathers mixed in.
"You have grown a lot since I first saw you, Drizzt. You are always questioning My rangers and druids who come to teach you. As I have arranged time to be free to you, what questions would you ask me?"
His eyes lit up and he knew it, his smile so broad, and the goddess found Herself receiving a warm, intense hug where he could reach Her before the words began to spill in an excited torrent.
Drizzt was gone for three days, so far as Silverymoon was concerned. That he had put on a little height and his wings were less juvenile told the family and his teachers that he'd been gone for far longer. He did not, however, seem to wish to speak of his journey at his patron deity's side, only saying he had learned much.
"Someone should check on Aunt Laeral," he did mention to Del, who dutifully reported it back to their parents.
When that turned into a multiple person affair, to include not just Syluné but the Simbul herself, Elué came to see her youngest child.
"Drizzt, how did you know that Laeral needed to be checked on?"
He met her eyes, his wings flattening to his back. "We explored, and there was a place where magics were being used under the ground, the kind that can poison the wilds." He grimaced. "Mielikki knew the Nine used that general area.
"I hoped it was her friends, not her, but Del told me she was in the middle of it all?"
"I wish he hadn't heard that part to pass on, but yes, she was." Elué opened her arms, and Drizzt came to her, tucking in as best he could. "Syluné took her home. She will be well. So will her friends, in time. I was worried you had seen her."
Drizzt shook his head. "No, just felt a sickening of that area, so close to Her home."
"You did well, my son," she praised, then sat holding him until he could wrestle his emotions to a resting state.
Drizzt often made the walk back from the Glade alone now, having argued that he was a little older than the younger pages who moved back and forth on their own in the city, developmentally. He knew he was safe in his mother's city, so the first prickle along his spine almost went unnoticed.
Almost.
Much of his time with Mielikki had been learning the wilds in full, but She had also exposed him to dangers, to help him hone the in-born sense of good intent versus evil intent. The frisson on his spine was of the latter nature, and it was all he could do to keep from mantling his wings.
That would betray his awareness.
He focused, like his Lady had been teaching him, narrowing down where the person was, and then changed his path by turning down a side street. His body language implied he'd meant to turn, while his ears caught the sound of someone picking up pace.
Then he heard the 'thwip' of a dart being expelled, making him bring his wings around himself. Something hit one of them, but while they hid his chest and hands, he was pulling the pair of throwing knives he always carried.
Instinct made me him throw his wings out and high, startling two humans he did not know, both of whom had long hunting knives in hand, and swords on their belts that might come into play if this turned even uglier.
The one spell Mielikki had deemed him ready for, a variation on the light cantrip, came to mind and he quickly cast it. The sudden flare of light in a shaded alley both inconvenienced his would be attackers, and acted as a beacon to the city folk nearby. He slipped his knives back away, choosing not to throw as the pair attempted to escape, only to be slowed and pummeled by those who came to see.
Neither managed to get too far, before a pair of Silver Watch members wrapped entangling bolas around their ankles. After, it was just a matter of securing them, and Drizzt finding the dart that his wings had protected him from, so the incident could be investigated.
Sharr came to retrieve his son from the Silver Watch, amused despite his anger, to see Drizzt was regaling the constable present with a tale about rescuing a badger from the vat it had gotten stuck in recently. The messenger had come, explained the incident, and while Sharr came for Drizzt, a trio of Knights, two squires, and one Spellguard were retrieving the pair of attackers for questioning in the Glade.
Elué could have claimed precedence, but ultimately the clergy of the Sacred Glade of Mielikki would need to have a say. Sharr even agreed it had been best to turn the matter over from the beginning. He didn't even say anything about the fact Korvallen and Methri were following more discreetly, so that he and Drizzt had extra protection.
"Hello Papa," Drizzt said, giving that cheerful smile he met most of he world with. The wings even looked relaxed, so Sharr held his hands out, and his son came to be hugged.
"Thank you, Saer," Sharr told the constable.
"Always a delight to see the young lord," she told Sharr. "Take me serious, lad, and get you an arms-man for your walks. We need the Lady's Grace to see you grow up all the way!"
"I'm thinking on it," Drizzt promised, before leaving with his father. "I do not want to go back to a Leaf or a Needle escorting me, and Brother has complicated lessons now," he said to Sharr once there was a door between him and the constable.
"Still, you were attacked, and that means you are marked as a threat by someone. Or it might just be an attempt to harm your mother," Sharr chided.
Drizzt turned his face toward Sharr, but kept walking. "I want to learn swords."
"You're only … well, I'd say thirteen, but with the height and smoother feathers, you might be almost sixteen now. Still too young, even for a half-elf, let alone a full one," Sharr said. "And 'swords'?"
"Twin curving blades, like Mielikki. I want to master Her weapons." Drizzt tipped his chin up. "A noble drow would begin learning the basics of his future craft at sixteen, uncle Elkantar said."
"And he also said it was ridiculous to rush into such," Sharr said, grimacing when Drizzt's wings mantled a little. "Son, it was one attack."
"There will be more, and anyone assigned to protect me would have their blood on my hands eventually, if I am attacked again. I only want to learn, and it would mean me staying in the Palace more," Drizzt wheedled.
"You convince Kor," was Sharr's final word on the matter.
Korvallen had not been warned what Drizzt wanted to discuss with him, but there was something to his nephew's body language that promised this was not going to go easily. He continued inspecting his sword, have oiled it today and checked its edge, making the boy sit patiently.
Terrifyingly, Drizzt was doing just that. There was no rustle of feathers in impatience, just quiet, dogged determination to obey Korvallen's dictum of 'wait'.
When he at last could not possibly drag out the care of his sword longer, Korvallen sheathed it and looked at the youth on the bench, noting the wings were not truly relaxed, but weren't fully mantling with whatever Drizzt was feeling either.
"Alright, boy. What do you want?"
"To learn weapons. Swords specifically. I know the basics of archery and knives. I should know spear, maybe shield, but I truly wish to learn the art of the curved swords."
Curved — ahh. He meant to emulate his goddess then, in Her weaponry.
"Too young. Don't care you spent years away in the three days you were with Khalreshaar. You're not full grown."
Drizzt's jaw shifted to that stubborn line that was far more like his own than Kor liked admitting.
"I should be learning the footwork, the motions, at the very least now, even if I can't choose my adult weapons yet. Because I need to be the best I can be, to seek my eventual destiny," Drizzt stated in his calmest voice, and the wings remained still. "I will be a ranger. I will also be a true fighter.
"I don't want to waste the time I could be ingraining the motions in muscle, Uncle."
Korvallen frowned, looking at the half-grown boy again. "Why rush to your destiny, Drizzt? We have no idea when or how you will be called on to face the trials you were feather-kissed for."
"And if it is sooner than later? If Mielikki chose to give me personal training so young, would I not be remiss if I do not train now? Better to learn, and not need it soon, then be unprepared when the time comes."
"Is this because of those two adherents of Talona?" Kor demanded.
"Yes. And more. I am known to exist. What better way to eliminate a deity's advantage than to maim or kill me in childhood? If they send humans, we now know they can evade the protections of the city."
Dammit, but the boy was making entirely too much sense.
"Footwork, motions, yes. Go see the palace craftsmen to have wooden blades made to meet your wishes. You will not, hear me, practice with steel until I say so." Kor held the boy's eyes, but Drizzt smiled, a blaze of joy, and Kor knew that his nephew was intent on this path.
Might as well embrace it, Kor decided, before he found an inferior teacher and picked up bad habits.
"Thank you, Uncle," Drizzt said warmly.
Del smiled at his little brother testing the fit of his new armor. The restriction on using Steel had lasted three full years. Now, at twenty or so, Drizzt had graduated to being allowed to wear the lacquered wood-and-leather plates that had been designed to protect him without impeding his wings at all. Elin had put a lot of the design work into it, with his consort making a very small model of it in foil and wire to show the armorer.
"So you're going with me to meet the herd?"
"Yes." Drizzt flexed his wings again, and smiled at his brother. "Elin is brilliant. This works perfectly.
"Is Papa going with us?"
They had grieved Norvor's passing not long after Drizzt began learning weapons. By Norvor's own wishes, several of his feathers had been harvested to be used for Drizzt, should his own wings become injured. It had driven the feather-kissed up into a tree in the Glade to know that, and he'd stayed there for two days after, just existing inside of nature. Knowing a pegasus loved that intensely had made Drizzt swear never to bond one. The losing would hurt him too much.
"He's not ready," Del said sadly. "Ghael is coming for me. He can teleport three as easily as two."
"Wait, didn't Rua abandon him to go mate a couple of years ago?" Drizzt asked, grinning. "We'll get to meet Rua's offspring!"
Del laughed. "I'm kind of hoping whichever it is likes me. Even if they would be too young for me to learn to fly with, I think it would be good for my first to be the offspring of one of my brother's pegasi."
"I think so too." Drizzt returned to testing the armor fit, putting his sword belt on, then his pack, a modified haversack spell having been applied to one designed to be worn at the small of the back, its rigidity only extending part way up so it did not interfere with the lower connection point of his wings.
"I think both of our brothers did well designing your gear," Del said, taking in the full effect.
"Me too."
Ruakerym's mate proved to be a kinder pegasus than the feisty stallion had ever been. While Del wandered under the watchful eye of all the adults in this gathering, meeting the fillies and colts from the past three or four years, Drizzt was submitting to having his wings preened diligently by the mare.
Ghael had to smile every time he looked away from Del, seeing the blissful peace on Drizzt's face as the mare fussed over his wings. He knew Norvor had done that from time to time, but put it down to Norvor being family. This was a wild mare… and she seemed intent on inspecting every feather.
Honestly, the fact Rua had brought his mate and their filly, just past the year mark, spoke of Rua's intent toward Del. That wasn't surprising. Since Elin had settled firmly as a wedded elf with Lyrei, Ghael had not made any bones about the fact he meant to mentor his last-born full brother. The trio were too wild still, Bo was still apprenticed to Blackstaff, and Methri had his hands full with Tyresia.
He supposed Thyl and Lin could have stepped up, but that pair had gone traveling right after sorting out how to make a haversack spell fit something Drizzt could actually wear.
Del would be grounded with any young pegasus under four full years old, but Ghael needed time away from the southern lands anyway. He could take up residence in Silverymoon, probably in his own place, so Del could get away from being under their parents' direct supervision, for a few years.
Ghael wanted to be a little more hands-on with Drizzt, as well, and knew his youngest brother would not be allowed to travel for years still — barring Mielikki abducting him again, anyway.
"I think she's the one!" Del called, with a filly — definitely Rua's get despite the dainty conformation — planting herself fully between Del and the rest of the young.
"Yes," Drizzt called, showing he had been paying attention despite the feather-preening. Rua snorted and then neighed approval, before strutting toward Ghael with an 'I told you so' attitude. Ghael just had to laugh at his cocky stud, accepting that it had gone just as expected.
Kor sighed, watching as Drizzt's wings kept rising, the spacing of the feathers growing so that the effect was as intimidating as possible.
The squire was too stupid to realize just how frustrated and angry his words were making Drizzt, so Kor almost pushed off the wall to go over, break it up before something more than threat display started from his entirely too skillful nephew.
"Have you ever, in all your life, actually seen a drow?" Drizzt's words rang clearly, and Kor stopped. "Other than myself who doesn't count, as I am told repeatedly, even in your own diatribe."
The squire mumbled something, and the wings clamped tight to the young fighter's back at that.
"Perhaps, before you count them as 'stupid, useless beings that should be driven into their holes', you might want to consider why they are so feared. Every evil creature you just ran down as inferior has exceptions to their nature, and every single race of them has strengths to make them true dangers. Continue to dismiss them all, and you will find yourself dead if you ever venture past the safety of these walls."
With that, Drizzt turned on a heel, and leaped, powerful wings making a down-stroke that stirred the dust of the courtyard all around the squire. Kor made note of which one it was, with intent of telling Besnell to keep an eye on him. If the boy learned from the lecture, fine. But the Knights were commanded to keep an open mind and also not to underestimate the city's enemies.
More concerning was the fact his nephew was flying, and had obviously done it more than once, as Kor watched him go to the highest tower of the Palace to perch up high. Why had the boy not shared that yet, and what in hell was Kor going to do about the way the wings gave so much away?
Drizzt came into his rooms — lonely ones now that Del was off traveling with Ghael — to find Korvallen on the sofa.
"Wanted to talk to you quietly about the incident today," his uncle said.
"Hadn't realized you were watching," Drizzt said with a flick of his wing tips showing he wasn't happy about it.
"You said the right things," Kor told him, "and I told Besnell that the squire might need more lessons on understanding the true nature of being a Knight.
"You have got to do something about your wings, though! The amount of emotion they give away is ridiculous."
Drizzt shook his head. "I do control them when I hunt. I will control them when I face enemies. But to do so all the time? That would be too much like lying to people who deserve better."
Kor grunted at that; Drizzt knew his personal moral code was a little too chaotic for his uncle to understand, but having said that, Kor would drop it.
"How long have you been flying?"
Drizzt took a deep breath and went to his favorite chair, letting his wings drape along the special rests built into it. "A few days after Del left. I was lonely. There weren't any rangers or druids available to go with me into the Silverwood. And Papa was gone with you to the villages.
"I needed… something. Escape? And the next thing I knew, I was flying, all on instinct. I've practiced a few times, late at night, always within the city wards."
Kor nodded. "Then bring your spear and shield tomorrow. We'll start working out flight tactics for you."
Drizzt felt a deep relief at that, and smiled. "Thank you, uncle."
"I gave up on stopping you from what you were going to try when you talked me into sword practice. But it does mean I need to change what I teach, so you can keep adding to your abilities."
"Yes… it does."
Sharr put his sword away, set the shield down, and then came to embrace his son. "Damn good spar. You had me on points, and a bit longer, you would have just had me!"
"I try to do well by Uncle's teaching," Drizzt said, separating from his father so they could both go get water and wipe the sweat away.
"You know an official courier came this morning," Sharr began after they were walking inside, the cool of the Palace a welcome respite from the heat of the day.
"You are needed?"
"Yes. I know you wanted to start testing your abilities; do you wish to come to the High Forest?" Sharr asked.
Drizzt considered, then shook his head. "No. My duties should be here, at least at first. I have places I wish to explore more that I have learned harbor trouble, to test myself."
That got a sigh, but Sharr had expected the answer. "Promise me to come home if it is bigger than you can handle?"
"I will, Papa. I know where my allies are, and I will not risk myself much, not when my very birth means something powerful could be unleashed on the Realms any time now," Drizzt said. "I know no one is happy with me growing up so swiftly, but I do take time to live freely, to enjoy life.
"I won't let adventures rob me of that."
"I hope not, son." Sharr rested a hand on Drizzt's forearm for a moment. "Make sure you get an anklet before you leave."
"Mother started it a week ago. I think she knew."
"She always seems to," Sharr agreed, accepting that his foundling, his youngest child, was going to be out and about, risking his life.
"I will always come home," Drizzt promised, as if divining those thoughts.
"So you will."
