Warnings with a Pegasus
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tales_of_faerunWarnings with a Pegasus (4,539 words) by somariel
Chapters: 1/1
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Bright Eyes, Sharrevaliir, Charic Taran'ru, Korvallen Senahye
Additional Tags: Canon Divergence
Series: Part 2 of A Crossing of the Realms
Summary:
Inspired bysenmut and ilyena_sylph's fic Ranger and Pegasus and senmut’s fic Warnings Lead to Sanctuary.
In addition to the linked inspiring fics, this fic also assumes that the events of the Ranger and Pegasus ‘verse - Telling Sharr chapter of my fic “If He Was Alive…” have happened.
The scene in italics at the beginning, and the italicized sections at the start of the third and fourth scenes, are all direct excerpts from “Warnings Lead to Sanctuary”. Much of the rest of this fic is altered borrowing from that same fic.
If you are confused by this fic, please go read the linked inspiring fics, as this fic very much assumes familiarity with them.
It was never a good sign when Sharrevaliir was moved to take up the aspect of war entrusted to him as the Lore Keeper for the High Forest. Corellon generally left the weight of that role on him lightly. When his consort, cleric of Sehanine, was also dreaming of taking up the bow, as a peaceful healing cleric, he knew something terrible had come to the High Forest. The answer of where came to him from his youngest son, who came racing in, wild-eyed like he wasn't already a mature half-elf beginning to adventure with his brothers.
"Father, a white unicorn! I heard whispers from her, and she asks aid to the east!"
When a unicorn spoke, Khalreshaar was likely at hand, Sharr knew. The half-elven goddess was honored in the Refuge of the Oaks, and the human goddess She was more properly known as was one of the most sacred in Silverymoon, where his other consort ruled.
"Then you will go with us, to be our scout, for She told you more than the rest have intimated to us," Sharr decided. "We leave at dawn."
Drizzt had fully intended to press on until he found—and dealt with—the source of the evil that was pressing so strongly against his senses, but when Bright Eyes had gone from determined to distressed, he had chosen to turn back.
However, the wing injury she had taken from one of the deer that had come so close to running over him had meant that they could not do so by air, and it soon became clear that the evil had decided to pursue them. So now the two of them were preparing to make a stand in this clearing, under a full moon in a cloudless sky.
When the unicorn had said east, Sharr had not expected their journey to take them all the way past Turlang's Wood, nearly to Stone Stand. He was wondering just where the threat was, as they had pushed themselves for two and a half days, moving with gods-graced speed through the forest canopy.
The baying of a wolf—no, that was not a wolf. That was the elongated howl of a lycanthrope!—gave a further clue as to where the danger was. It was closely followed by the challenging scream of an equine, and Sharr was not the only one to pick up his speed at that sound. The trees thinned out into a clearing, and in the center, a grand battle raged.
Sharr picked out at least seven lycanthropes still standing, still fighting. Six more were dead or dying around the center of the battle, a center held by—
—a drow? Fighting alongside a pegasus?
Something about that jarred his memory, but he did not have the time to chase it down now. “It does not matter what the warrior is,” he said, though he could tell that there was more confusion than hatred settling among his band. “Those lycanthropes are an abomination, and must not be allowed to pollute our lands.”
That pulled the fighters away from both racial hatred and confusion, and they swarmed down onto the field, while Charic remained in a tree with Del and Tyresia both, to provide magical aid and stay safe enough to help should anyone be bitten or scratched.
Numbers and skill saw the battle to an end before the night came to a close. The last lycanthrope died with Sharr’s own sword through its neck, as it had ignored every other mortal wound to try and claw its way to the drow.
If Sharr never saw lycanthropes in a religious frenzy again, it would be too soon.
He brought his eyes up to see the drow, who had turned, putting his back to a solid tree, to appraise the war band. Sharr had looked up just in time to see those eyes flick up, briefly glowing to seek who was above him by using his darkvision.
They’d glowed purple, which was confusing.
“Anyone scratched or bitten?” he called, making his fighters take stock of themselves instead of remain focused on the drow that was—if he was judging it at all right—Korvallen’s near equal. “That includes you, stranger, especially as I highly doubt you provoked this fight to take their curse.”
Of course, the only reason he did not think that likely was because the pegasus had followed the drow over to the tree and started nuzzling him, and the drow had responded by placing one of his swords against the tree and starting to pet… her, Sharr saw, now that he took a closer look, with the hand thereby freed.
The drow tipped his head. “How can I trust a faerie to treat with me honestly, no matter which way I answer that? Grateful as I am for the aid, you have numbers on your side currently.”
Did this drow truly have no idea what it meant that a pegasus was so clearly friendly to him? Sharr sized the other fighter up again. All surface clothing, twin blades that glinted of steel, and he’d spotted a surface pack, quiver, and bow discarded on the edge of the battlefield.
Add that the words had been well-said, with an accent often heard in the hill country to the north and east of the High Forest, and Sharr concluded that no, the drow most likely knew very well what a pegasus’s friendship meant, but was still wary of Sharr and his people and wished to test things.
“And you have a pegasus on yours,” Sharr said. “But let’s start over, then. I am Sharrevaliir Taran’ru,” he introduced, using the family name of his consort in these woods, as was their custom. In the north, it was Silverhand, and few knew what it had been when his mother still lived, for good reason.
“Drizzt Do’Urden,” the drow offered then. “If you mean no harm to me, whether or not I am injured, we may know peace.”
Hearing the drow’s name dredged up the memory that had been jarred on seeing a drow and a pegasus fighting alongside each other, of a conversation with Thyl and Lin about two and a half years ago, about a drow ranger with a pegasus friend. But that was something to address later, as Drizzt was waiting for his reply, and Sharr was certain that the only reason none of his fighters had protested was because of how clear it was that the pegasus—Bright Eyes, if he was remembering her name correctly—adored Drizzt.
“We have peace, then, as we were called to aid, and rightfully so.”
Drizzt hesitated, then gave a slow nod. “While your people are checked, I will wait.” He put his other sword against the tree, then, and actually looked at himself, taking his eyes off Sharr’s people.
That was a step forward, even if Sharr strongly suspected that Drizzt was counting on Bright Eyes to keep watch for him. Sharr turned and made sure every fighter was doing a thorough self-check, saw some going up into the trees to let Charic heal them. By the time the fighters were all reassembled on the ground, opposite the most unusual pair, Drizzt had finished his check, cleaned his blades, and put then away.
“Do’Urden?” Sharr said, deliberately using the family name, since while he knew who Drizzt was, he was quite certain that the ranger currently had no idea who he was. “My fighters are done.”
“I found a scratch. Not deep, but… I know the danger.” The chin tipped up a little. “I would prefer no such evil has access to my abilities, if your cleric will aid me.”
Given those abilities, Sharr agreed entirely. He gestured, and Charic dropped to the ground, her bow and quiver passed to her son, no doubt. Drizzt came forward, past all the bodies, and held out his right arm, having already rolled back the fabric and removed the guard. The scratch was shallow, and had run along the guard before puncturing and dragging a bloody line down the ebony skin.
Sharr noted how tight the ranger’s jaw was as Charic moved to touch him, and stayed focused on him. He did not actually expect any duplicity, given the pegasus, but it was better for the others to see that he had noted the tension and was prepared to act if needed.
And then he knew he had been correct, the ranger’s tension melting away as the healing magic worked on him.
“I’m still surprised when healing doesn’t hurt,” Drizzt said, voice quiet, but not quite a whisper.
“Healing should not, Saer,” Charic said, surprised into actually speaking to the hereditary enemy—not that this drow was an enemy, but he was drow, nonetheless.
“During my first healing on the surface, I was in enough pain that I did not notice if the potion added to it, and I’ve only had reason to use a potion once since then. All previous times, the price for healing was pain.”
That sounded horrific, and increased Sharr’s curiosity about this most unusual drow.
“Do’Urden, as this was your fight, and you and your friend had seen much of it before we arrived, will you come with us and share a camp?” Sharr asked, ignoring the muttering of his own people—not that there was as much of it as there would have been without the pegasus.
“You should,” Charic said, helping reinforce her consort’s offer in her own way, more to make the others behave.
“Please, call me Drizzt. And if you will all move away from here, I will see to inviting the scavengers to clean this up.”
“Korvallen, take the band to that last stream,” Sharr said. “I’ll wait with our ally of the moment. Del can stay with us.”
“As you wish,” his brother of the heart said, and while there was enough gravel in the words to make Sharr aware he didn’t like it much, there was also less than Sharr had thought there would be. Del dropped from the tree then, and leaned against it to watch, while Charic joined the others and they moved on.
Drizzt didn’t touch a focus, or even really seem to pray or utter any words, causing Sharr to remember Lin’s comment about Mielikki favoring this ranger. He just saw a brief frown, then relief replace it when the first of the scavengers appeared, followed by two more. That done, the ranger walked over to them, followed by the pegasus.
Sharr could tell when Drizzt got close enough to notice Del’s similarity of features to Thyl and Lin, because the ranger blinked twice, took a moment to very clearly study Del, turned to look at Sharr, blinked again, studied Sharr for a moment, and then shook his head.
“Thank you,” Drizzt said, inclining his head. “And I apologize for my rudeness earlier. Even with my friend, I am still not accustomed to fair treatment, and to be honest, I have not actually met any full-blooded faerie since she joined me.” The pegasus gave a reassuring nicker at those words, and bumped her nose into Drizzt’s arm, prompting him to raise a hand and begin petting her neck.
“It’s all right. There’s not very many of you that are worth giving a chance to at all,” Sharr admitted. “But your friend actually counts for quite a bit among elves, even without the shared cause as a starting point.”
The pleased snort from the pegasus aborted the side-eye Drizzt had started to give Sharr, and then the ranger indicated they should reach the others, rather than give any suspicion of foul play.
It had taken him longer than he really liked, but Drizzt had managed to connect the faerie’s ‘very many of you’ to Thyl and Lin’s lessons about the Dark Maiden and her followers by the time he had settled with food and water by a tree as far from the band of elves as he could get and still be in their camp, Bright Eyes happily cropping the grass nearby.
Which meant that he was now mulling over the fact that the one called ‘Del’ looked so similar to Thyl and Lin, even beyond the eyes and ears that he now knew indicated a half-elf, and that the leader of the band looked similar to all three half-elves.
He suspected it meant that Del was one of Thyl and Lin’s brothers and the leader was the father of all three, but he was not certain. And for all he wanted to be more present with them, wanted to learn and actually converse, the… unwelcome… was still apparent, despite the leader’s control over them.
As if in answer to unspoken wishes, the leader came over, food and drink in hand, and settled facing him.
“They’re wary, though less so than they would be without your friend there, I’m curious, and you’re very obviously not Lolthite,” Sharr said cheerfully. “So. Care to chat?”
Drizzt smiled despite his own wariness, and the elf’s smile brightened.
“What about, Saer?”
“Call me Sharr, you are Drizzt, and we could discuss how you came to be involved with a wild hunt… or maybe the fact that I am very pleased to finally get a chance to meet you, as I’ve heard a fair bit about you from two of my sons.”
“So you are Thyl and Lin’s father, then,” Drizzt said.
“I am,” Sharr said. “And as I’m sure you’re suspecting, Del is one of their brothers.”
“I think I am pleased to meet you as well, since Thyl and Lin have always spoken well of you.” Then, remembering what Thyl and Lin had called their father’s profession, Drizzt decided to satisfy a curiosity that he had never managed to bring up with them. “Thyl and Lin say you are a Lore Keeper. Can you tell me how the split between the drow and the faerie is taught on the surface?”
“Mmm,” Sharr mused, looking thoughtful for a moment. “Do you mind if I start by asking what you know of how the drow came to live in the Underdark? I’m sure I’ll be appalled, but I’ve never actually had a chance to find out.”
Drizzt gave a wry smile. “Lies, of course, but the history we learn is that the wicked faerie rebelled against Lloth’s rule and brought all of their demonic pretender gods against us. It drove us below, but Lloth was able to adapt us, giving us dark skin to blend in with the darkness, but She gave us the white hair as a caution against failing to learn proper stealth.
“The faerie continued to harass us in the upper levels, and deeper She took us, to grow strong and remember always that She is the source of our lives and existence.”
The look of absolute confusion that gave way to bitter awareness was worth having to recite such things.
Sharr was quiet for long enough that Drizzt started to wonder if the elf was now regretting his request, but then he finally managed to say, “She teaches you the opposite of what we know to be the truth.”
Drizzt nibbled on his food a few moments, considering that. “Normally, I would say the truth should be in the middle. But I lived under Her oppression. And I knew, the first time I encountered faerie—elves, I should say—that they were not the monsters we had been indoctrinated to believe them to be.
“Unfortunately, the rest of my kind with me fell to a killing madness.”
Drizzt knew he had betrayed more pain than he meant to when Bright Eyes came over and started nuzzling at his cheek. And Sharr responded to it by reaching out and touching his arm, just lightly.
“You were on a raid?”
“Yes. But while I was too inexperienced to slay the patrol, especially with one my brother, I killed no elves, and a child was spared, at least that night.”
Even knowing that this was the father that Thyl and Lin spoke so highly of, and that Sharr had said he’d been wanting to meet him for a while, Drizzt couldn’t help but brace for the condemnation, for him to be told to leave—though he knew that Bright Eyes would not let anything worse happen.
“How long ago, Drizzt? I have many allies, and should be able to find the child, be certain they were given proper aid.”
Drizzt truly had not expected that offer, and he shuddered with relief, despite everything.
“Fifteen, possibly sixteen, years. I’ve yet to see the trees I remember, but with how I’ve learned seasons and the lands, I think it was more northerly.”
Sharr nodded, then half-smiled. “Two of my sons settled in the northern woods, their mother lives near there, and I am certain we can find the child. Drizzt, it’s my understanding that the nature of the enmity between our peoples makes it very hard to be rational at all near one another.
“That you spared a child, when all of your party lost themselves in the madness? Speaks nearly as highly of your nature as the fact that you’ve befriended a pegasus.”
Drizzt tipped his head. “You… believe me? Just on my words alone?”
“I do. The emotion under it is too strong to be an act.”
Drizzt lowered his eyes, took a deep breath, and then met Sharr’s gaze evenly. “My gratitude, for myself and that child.” Bright Eyes, sensing that he was feeling steadier now, stopped nuzzling him and went back to cropping the grass.
Sharr and he worked on their food, falling into quiet. Once they both had finished, the elf looked at Drizzt for a long moment.
“You’re tired, I can tell. You’d been trailing them a while?”
“Trailing initially, then attempting to flee the last couple days, as Bright Eyes had become too distressed for me to be willing to continue to press towards them.”
Sharr cocked an eyebrow. “Feel free to tell me it’s none of my business, but if you were seeking to flee them, why didn’t you just get on Bright Eyes and fly away?”
Drizzt sighed. “While we were still trailing them, Bright Eyes took a wing injury from a deer that was fleeing them, and I wasn’t willing to take the risk of permanently crippling her flight.”
“Would you like me to ask Charic—our cleric—to heal her wing?” Sharr asked.
“Yes, please.”
“All right.”
Sharr then got up and went over to the cleric. After a clear exchange of words between them, she got up and followed him back over to Drizzt.
“Sharr says your friend is in need of healing, Saer?” she said.
“Yes,” Drizzt replied. “She took an injury to her left wing while we were still trailing the lycanthropes.”
“Then, if you will introduce me to her, I will take care of it. My name is Charic.”
“Bright Eyes,” Drizzt called softly.
The young mare perked her head up at the call of her name and pranced over to her person.
“Someone for you to meet, lovely,” Drizzt said, scratching behind her ears. “This is Charic, and she can heal your wing.”
Bright Eyes turned to look at the female elf, and snorted once, before tipping her head in inquiry.
“I am very pleased to meet you, Bright Eyes,” the woman said. Then she moved closer until she was able to reach out a hand and place it on the wing that hurt. The wing warmed a bit, and tingled, and then it didn’t hurt any more.
Drizzt smiled, and knew his entire bearing had softened, as he watched Bright Eyes gently flap her wings, prancing and whickering happily.
Charic went back over to where she had come from, but Sharr stayed for a moment. “My word, Drizzt Do’Urden,” he said, “that you may sleep safely. We will not abandon you, nor harm you.”
Drizzt considered for a moment, and then nodded, before shifting to lie down, cloak pulled around him. Sharr left him to it.
Drizzt woke rested, saw that half of the elves had left, but the cleric—Charic, he recalled—, Del, and Sharr were still there with a few others.
Only Sharr, one of the elf fighters, and Charic were awake, and Drizzt saw Charic make a ‘come over’ motion when she saw him sit up. Bright Eyes had apparently chosen to sleep snuggled up against him, and his movement on waking had roused her, so once he had loved on her briefly, he did so, settling on the ground just outside their circle.
“I know you met Charic yesterday, Drizzt, but this is Korvallen,” Sharr said. “We’ve been talking about you some, considering all you did yesterday.”
“Greetings,” Drizzt said, noting the fighter—Korvallen, apparently, and he thought he recalled Thyl and Lin mentioning an uncle by that name—was less inclined to anything but a sharply appraising look his way.
“My son, Tyresia,” Charic began, “has offered to fill in for Sharr for a time. He took Bent Bow’s fighters back to their village. Sharr’s other son, Del, will escort myself and the fighters back to our village.”
“Leaving me, and Korvallen, to travel with you for a bit,” Sharr said, “if you would like. I want to learn more of you than just what Thyl and Lin have told me, and be available to tell you how the child has fared once I know.”
Drizzt considered, then looked at the hard-faced fighter. “Saer? I am a drow by birth, but seek to learn more of the surface for the sake of protecting it. I have long since known I was not as the others, and wish to show that to you, if you are truly willing to travel with me. If not… I will go my own way.”
That… apparently was the right note to take, and Korvallen nodded once. “I will travel with you.”
Sharr smiled fondly at the other man, then touched Charic’s hand gently. “If anything comes up—”
“Our son will handle it or send one of his brothers for you,” she said. “Stop fussing, Sharrevaliir; you’ve been itching to adventure again. And we have been entirely to protective for too long.”
Drizzt put that together with Thyl and Lin’s mention that they had nearly lost their father several decades ago, and swore that no harm should come to this elf while they traveled together. He also took note of Charic’s mention of ‘our son’ and filed it with Del being called ‘Sharr’s other son’ right after mention of Charic's son as something to ask about later.
“Let’s get moving, Sharr,” Korvallen said. “Less fuss if it is a done deed.”
They rose, but Charic reached out to keep Drizzt there while they got their packs.
“Even with your friend’s presence, doing this is still seen as a risk, you understand, but… I don’t think you will prove my consort wrong, will you?” she asked him softly.
“No, Lady,” Drizzt said, even as he filed ‘my consort’ with the other mentions to ask about later. “I am a ranger of Mielikki, and mean my words of protection and learning.”
She looked at him a long moment, then smiled. “I think you have Her favor strongly then, as it was She who gave us the correct direction to go in.”
“My teacher thought so, as She was looking over me and granting aid before I had a name for Her,” Drizzt admitted. “Thank you, Lady. Bright Eyes and I will keep them safe.”
She laughed softly. “Oh, I wish Kor'd heard that. Enjoy your journeys.” She then moved to get her own things ready for when the rest of the fighters woke.
Drizzt moved to make certain he had dropped nothing, and to get his pack on under his cloak. Mooshie’s bow remained unstrung, and he waited for the pair to join him and Bright Eyes, his friend having come to stand beside him when she saw him putting on the pack.
The pair did, and Sharr gestured for Drizzt to take the lead.
He closed his eyes, and headed slightly north, but mostly west, when he opened them.
“How do you choose your path?” Sharr asked, as they settled into an easy stride.
“I listen,” Drizzt said. “The wilds, and my heart. Eventually, I find a threat to deal with.”
“How often do you find threats?” Korvallen asked, curious now.
“Every handful of days sees something cross my path.” Beside him, Bright Eyes gave a indignant snort, and Drizzt hastily corrected himself. “Our path, yes, lovely one.” Turning his attention back to the elves, he continued, “If we are flying instead of walking, sometimes it is more often. Be it a true threat, or an illness in plants or animals. I go where needed, do what is needed, keep moving.
“I promised Montolio, my teacher, to find a place, but even though Bright Eyes has reduced the hostility I get after helping people, I still think he may have held more hope for human understanding than they possess.”
Sharr nodded. “I understand that. And I think, if I were not the elf I am, I’d say he overreached entirely.”
Korvallen snorted. “He didn’t. You just know an odd human, is all.”
That got a quiet smile, but Sharr forged on. “If you wish to find a place, I suggest Silverymoon, Drizzt. It is a more understanding place, guided by the principle of judging on actions, not race.”
“It also happens to be ruled by the mother of Thyl and Lin and his other boys,” Korvallen said in a wry tone.
Drizzt tipped his head curiously, wondering again at the fact that Sharr was apparently not only claimed by two women—and apparently powerful women, at that—he had children by each. It seemed dangerous to his own background. And after a moment to review all that Thyl and Lin had told him of their father, he decided that it couldn’t hurt to simply ask.
“So how does that work, with you being claimed by two powerful women, with children by each?”
Sharr and Korvallen both stopped short at Drizzt’s question, but while Sharr had a look of dawning realization, Korvallen looked more upset. Thankfully, Sharr had noticed that as well, and reached out and placed a calming hand on Korvallen’s shoulder just as the other man opened his mouth.
“From what Thyl and Lin have told me, he escaped from a Lolthite city,” Sharr said, “and has not yet had a chance to learn how relationships work on the surface. It’s a reasonable question.”
Korvallen shut his mouth with an audible snap, but his expression was still displeased.
Turning back to Drizzt, Sharr said, “The way it works is by mutual choice, freely made. It would be just as fair to say that I claim Charic and Alustriel as the other way around—though actually using ‘claim’ or ‘claimed’ tends to carry some negative implications.”
“This is more of how the Surface is different from what I knew before, then,” Drizzt said, after taking a moment to consider what Sharr had said.
“It is,” Sharr agreed.
And I ended it there because the rest of “Warnings Lead to Sanctuary” wasn't talking to me, and I didn't see it changing enough for me to feel the need to keep banging my head against it.
somarielChapters: 1/1
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Bright Eyes, Sharrevaliir, Charic Taran'ru, Korvallen Senahye
Additional Tags: Canon Divergence
Series: Part 2 of A Crossing of the Realms
Summary:
What if Drizzt had Bright Eyes with him during the events of "Warnings Lead to Sanctuary"?
Beginning notes
Inspired by
senmut and ilyena_sylph's fic Ranger and Pegasus and senmut’s fic Warnings Lead to Sanctuary.In addition to the linked inspiring fics, this fic also assumes that the events of the Ranger and Pegasus ‘verse - Telling Sharr chapter of my fic “If He Was Alive…” have happened.
The scene in italics at the beginning, and the italicized sections at the start of the third and fourth scenes, are all direct excerpts from “Warnings Lead to Sanctuary”. Much of the rest of this fic is altered borrowing from that same fic.
If you are confused by this fic, please go read the linked inspiring fics, as this fic very much assumes familiarity with them.
Warnings with a Pegasus
It was never a good sign when Sharrevaliir was moved to take up the aspect of war entrusted to him as the Lore Keeper for the High Forest. Corellon generally left the weight of that role on him lightly. When his consort, cleric of Sehanine, was also dreaming of taking up the bow, as a peaceful healing cleric, he knew something terrible had come to the High Forest. The answer of where came to him from his youngest son, who came racing in, wild-eyed like he wasn't already a mature half-elf beginning to adventure with his brothers.
"Father, a white unicorn! I heard whispers from her, and she asks aid to the east!"
When a unicorn spoke, Khalreshaar was likely at hand, Sharr knew. The half-elven goddess was honored in the Refuge of the Oaks, and the human goddess She was more properly known as was one of the most sacred in Silverymoon, where his other consort ruled.
"Then you will go with us, to be our scout, for She told you more than the rest have intimated to us," Sharr decided. "We leave at dawn."
Drizzt had fully intended to press on until he found—and dealt with—the source of the evil that was pressing so strongly against his senses, but when Bright Eyes had gone from determined to distressed, he had chosen to turn back.
However, the wing injury she had taken from one of the deer that had come so close to running over him had meant that they could not do so by air, and it soon became clear that the evil had decided to pursue them. So now the two of them were preparing to make a stand in this clearing, under a full moon in a cloudless sky.
When the unicorn had said east, Sharr had not expected their journey to take them all the way past Turlang's Wood, nearly to Stone Stand. He was wondering just where the threat was, as they had pushed themselves for two and a half days, moving with gods-graced speed through the forest canopy.
The baying of a wolf—no, that was not a wolf. That was the elongated howl of a lycanthrope!—gave a further clue as to where the danger was. It was closely followed by the challenging scream of an equine, and Sharr was not the only one to pick up his speed at that sound. The trees thinned out into a clearing, and in the center, a grand battle raged.
Sharr picked out at least seven lycanthropes still standing, still fighting. Six more were dead or dying around the center of the battle, a center held by—
—a drow? Fighting alongside a pegasus?
Something about that jarred his memory, but he did not have the time to chase it down now. “It does not matter what the warrior is,” he said, though he could tell that there was more confusion than hatred settling among his band. “Those lycanthropes are an abomination, and must not be allowed to pollute our lands.”
That pulled the fighters away from both racial hatred and confusion, and they swarmed down onto the field, while Charic remained in a tree with Del and Tyresia both, to provide magical aid and stay safe enough to help should anyone be bitten or scratched.
Numbers and skill saw the battle to an end before the night came to a close. The last lycanthrope died with Sharr’s own sword through its neck, as it had ignored every other mortal wound to try and claw its way to the drow.
If Sharr never saw lycanthropes in a religious frenzy again, it would be too soon.
He brought his eyes up to see the drow, who had turned, putting his back to a solid tree, to appraise the war band. Sharr had looked up just in time to see those eyes flick up, briefly glowing to seek who was above him by using his darkvision.
They’d glowed purple, which was confusing.
“Anyone scratched or bitten?” he called, making his fighters take stock of themselves instead of remain focused on the drow that was—if he was judging it at all right—Korvallen’s near equal. “That includes you, stranger, especially as I highly doubt you provoked this fight to take their curse.”
Of course, the only reason he did not think that likely was because the pegasus had followed the drow over to the tree and started nuzzling him, and the drow had responded by placing one of his swords against the tree and starting to pet… her, Sharr saw, now that he took a closer look, with the hand thereby freed.
The drow tipped his head. “How can I trust a faerie to treat with me honestly, no matter which way I answer that? Grateful as I am for the aid, you have numbers on your side currently.”
Did this drow truly have no idea what it meant that a pegasus was so clearly friendly to him? Sharr sized the other fighter up again. All surface clothing, twin blades that glinted of steel, and he’d spotted a surface pack, quiver, and bow discarded on the edge of the battlefield.
Add that the words had been well-said, with an accent often heard in the hill country to the north and east of the High Forest, and Sharr concluded that no, the drow most likely knew very well what a pegasus’s friendship meant, but was still wary of Sharr and his people and wished to test things.
“And you have a pegasus on yours,” Sharr said. “But let’s start over, then. I am Sharrevaliir Taran’ru,” he introduced, using the family name of his consort in these woods, as was their custom. In the north, it was Silverhand, and few knew what it had been when his mother still lived, for good reason.
“Drizzt Do’Urden,” the drow offered then. “If you mean no harm to me, whether or not I am injured, we may know peace.”
Hearing the drow’s name dredged up the memory that had been jarred on seeing a drow and a pegasus fighting alongside each other, of a conversation with Thyl and Lin about two and a half years ago, about a drow ranger with a pegasus friend. But that was something to address later, as Drizzt was waiting for his reply, and Sharr was certain that the only reason none of his fighters had protested was because of how clear it was that the pegasus—Bright Eyes, if he was remembering her name correctly—adored Drizzt.
“We have peace, then, as we were called to aid, and rightfully so.”
Drizzt hesitated, then gave a slow nod. “While your people are checked, I will wait.” He put his other sword against the tree, then, and actually looked at himself, taking his eyes off Sharr’s people.
That was a step forward, even if Sharr strongly suspected that Drizzt was counting on Bright Eyes to keep watch for him. Sharr turned and made sure every fighter was doing a thorough self-check, saw some going up into the trees to let Charic heal them. By the time the fighters were all reassembled on the ground, opposite the most unusual pair, Drizzt had finished his check, cleaned his blades, and put then away.
“Do’Urden?” Sharr said, deliberately using the family name, since while he knew who Drizzt was, he was quite certain that the ranger currently had no idea who he was. “My fighters are done.”
“I found a scratch. Not deep, but… I know the danger.” The chin tipped up a little. “I would prefer no such evil has access to my abilities, if your cleric will aid me.”
Given those abilities, Sharr agreed entirely. He gestured, and Charic dropped to the ground, her bow and quiver passed to her son, no doubt. Drizzt came forward, past all the bodies, and held out his right arm, having already rolled back the fabric and removed the guard. The scratch was shallow, and had run along the guard before puncturing and dragging a bloody line down the ebony skin.
Sharr noted how tight the ranger’s jaw was as Charic moved to touch him, and stayed focused on him. He did not actually expect any duplicity, given the pegasus, but it was better for the others to see that he had noted the tension and was prepared to act if needed.
And then he knew he had been correct, the ranger’s tension melting away as the healing magic worked on him.
“I’m still surprised when healing doesn’t hurt,” Drizzt said, voice quiet, but not quite a whisper.
“Healing should not, Saer,” Charic said, surprised into actually speaking to the hereditary enemy—not that this drow was an enemy, but he was drow, nonetheless.
“During my first healing on the surface, I was in enough pain that I did not notice if the potion added to it, and I’ve only had reason to use a potion once since then. All previous times, the price for healing was pain.”
That sounded horrific, and increased Sharr’s curiosity about this most unusual drow.
“Do’Urden, as this was your fight, and you and your friend had seen much of it before we arrived, will you come with us and share a camp?” Sharr asked, ignoring the muttering of his own people—not that there was as much of it as there would have been without the pegasus.
“You should,” Charic said, helping reinforce her consort’s offer in her own way, more to make the others behave.
“Please, call me Drizzt. And if you will all move away from here, I will see to inviting the scavengers to clean this up.”
“Korvallen, take the band to that last stream,” Sharr said. “I’ll wait with our ally of the moment. Del can stay with us.”
“As you wish,” his brother of the heart said, and while there was enough gravel in the words to make Sharr aware he didn’t like it much, there was also less than Sharr had thought there would be. Del dropped from the tree then, and leaned against it to watch, while Charic joined the others and they moved on.
Drizzt didn’t touch a focus, or even really seem to pray or utter any words, causing Sharr to remember Lin’s comment about Mielikki favoring this ranger. He just saw a brief frown, then relief replace it when the first of the scavengers appeared, followed by two more. That done, the ranger walked over to them, followed by the pegasus.
Sharr could tell when Drizzt got close enough to notice Del’s similarity of features to Thyl and Lin, because the ranger blinked twice, took a moment to very clearly study Del, turned to look at Sharr, blinked again, studied Sharr for a moment, and then shook his head.
“Thank you,” Drizzt said, inclining his head. “And I apologize for my rudeness earlier. Even with my friend, I am still not accustomed to fair treatment, and to be honest, I have not actually met any full-blooded faerie since she joined me.” The pegasus gave a reassuring nicker at those words, and bumped her nose into Drizzt’s arm, prompting him to raise a hand and begin petting her neck.
“It’s all right. There’s not very many of you that are worth giving a chance to at all,” Sharr admitted. “But your friend actually counts for quite a bit among elves, even without the shared cause as a starting point.”
The pleased snort from the pegasus aborted the side-eye Drizzt had started to give Sharr, and then the ranger indicated they should reach the others, rather than give any suspicion of foul play.
It had taken him longer than he really liked, but Drizzt had managed to connect the faerie’s ‘very many of you’ to Thyl and Lin’s lessons about the Dark Maiden and her followers by the time he had settled with food and water by a tree as far from the band of elves as he could get and still be in their camp, Bright Eyes happily cropping the grass nearby.
Which meant that he was now mulling over the fact that the one called ‘Del’ looked so similar to Thyl and Lin, even beyond the eyes and ears that he now knew indicated a half-elf, and that the leader of the band looked similar to all three half-elves.
He suspected it meant that Del was one of Thyl and Lin’s brothers and the leader was the father of all three, but he was not certain. And for all he wanted to be more present with them, wanted to learn and actually converse, the… unwelcome… was still apparent, despite the leader’s control over them.
As if in answer to unspoken wishes, the leader came over, food and drink in hand, and settled facing him.
“They’re wary, though less so than they would be without your friend there, I’m curious, and you’re very obviously not Lolthite,” Sharr said cheerfully. “So. Care to chat?”
Drizzt smiled despite his own wariness, and the elf’s smile brightened.
“What about, Saer?”
“Call me Sharr, you are Drizzt, and we could discuss how you came to be involved with a wild hunt… or maybe the fact that I am very pleased to finally get a chance to meet you, as I’ve heard a fair bit about you from two of my sons.”
“So you are Thyl and Lin’s father, then,” Drizzt said.
“I am,” Sharr said. “And as I’m sure you’re suspecting, Del is one of their brothers.”
“I think I am pleased to meet you as well, since Thyl and Lin have always spoken well of you.” Then, remembering what Thyl and Lin had called their father’s profession, Drizzt decided to satisfy a curiosity that he had never managed to bring up with them. “Thyl and Lin say you are a Lore Keeper. Can you tell me how the split between the drow and the faerie is taught on the surface?”
“Mmm,” Sharr mused, looking thoughtful for a moment. “Do you mind if I start by asking what you know of how the drow came to live in the Underdark? I’m sure I’ll be appalled, but I’ve never actually had a chance to find out.”
Drizzt gave a wry smile. “Lies, of course, but the history we learn is that the wicked faerie rebelled against Lloth’s rule and brought all of their demonic pretender gods against us. It drove us below, but Lloth was able to adapt us, giving us dark skin to blend in with the darkness, but She gave us the white hair as a caution against failing to learn proper stealth.
“The faerie continued to harass us in the upper levels, and deeper She took us, to grow strong and remember always that She is the source of our lives and existence.”
The look of absolute confusion that gave way to bitter awareness was worth having to recite such things.
Sharr was quiet for long enough that Drizzt started to wonder if the elf was now regretting his request, but then he finally managed to say, “She teaches you the opposite of what we know to be the truth.”
Drizzt nibbled on his food a few moments, considering that. “Normally, I would say the truth should be in the middle. But I lived under Her oppression. And I knew, the first time I encountered faerie—elves, I should say—that they were not the monsters we had been indoctrinated to believe them to be.
“Unfortunately, the rest of my kind with me fell to a killing madness.”
Drizzt knew he had betrayed more pain than he meant to when Bright Eyes came over and started nuzzling at his cheek. And Sharr responded to it by reaching out and touching his arm, just lightly.
“You were on a raid?”
“Yes. But while I was too inexperienced to slay the patrol, especially with one my brother, I killed no elves, and a child was spared, at least that night.”
Even knowing that this was the father that Thyl and Lin spoke so highly of, and that Sharr had said he’d been wanting to meet him for a while, Drizzt couldn’t help but brace for the condemnation, for him to be told to leave—though he knew that Bright Eyes would not let anything worse happen.
“How long ago, Drizzt? I have many allies, and should be able to find the child, be certain they were given proper aid.”
Drizzt truly had not expected that offer, and he shuddered with relief, despite everything.
“Fifteen, possibly sixteen, years. I’ve yet to see the trees I remember, but with how I’ve learned seasons and the lands, I think it was more northerly.”
Sharr nodded, then half-smiled. “Two of my sons settled in the northern woods, their mother lives near there, and I am certain we can find the child. Drizzt, it’s my understanding that the nature of the enmity between our peoples makes it very hard to be rational at all near one another.
“That you spared a child, when all of your party lost themselves in the madness? Speaks nearly as highly of your nature as the fact that you’ve befriended a pegasus.”
Drizzt tipped his head. “You… believe me? Just on my words alone?”
“I do. The emotion under it is too strong to be an act.”
Drizzt lowered his eyes, took a deep breath, and then met Sharr’s gaze evenly. “My gratitude, for myself and that child.” Bright Eyes, sensing that he was feeling steadier now, stopped nuzzling him and went back to cropping the grass.
Sharr and he worked on their food, falling into quiet. Once they both had finished, the elf looked at Drizzt for a long moment.
“You’re tired, I can tell. You’d been trailing them a while?”
“Trailing initially, then attempting to flee the last couple days, as Bright Eyes had become too distressed for me to be willing to continue to press towards them.”
Sharr cocked an eyebrow. “Feel free to tell me it’s none of my business, but if you were seeking to flee them, why didn’t you just get on Bright Eyes and fly away?”
Drizzt sighed. “While we were still trailing them, Bright Eyes took a wing injury from a deer that was fleeing them, and I wasn’t willing to take the risk of permanently crippling her flight.”
“Would you like me to ask Charic—our cleric—to heal her wing?” Sharr asked.
“Yes, please.”
“All right.”
Sharr then got up and went over to the cleric. After a clear exchange of words between them, she got up and followed him back over to Drizzt.
“Sharr says your friend is in need of healing, Saer?” she said.
“Yes,” Drizzt replied. “She took an injury to her left wing while we were still trailing the lycanthropes.”
“Then, if you will introduce me to her, I will take care of it. My name is Charic.”
“Bright Eyes,” Drizzt called softly.
The young mare perked her head up at the call of her name and pranced over to her person.
“Someone for you to meet, lovely,” Drizzt said, scratching behind her ears. “This is Charic, and she can heal your wing.”
Bright Eyes turned to look at the female elf, and snorted once, before tipping her head in inquiry.
“I am very pleased to meet you, Bright Eyes,” the woman said. Then she moved closer until she was able to reach out a hand and place it on the wing that hurt. The wing warmed a bit, and tingled, and then it didn’t hurt any more.
Drizzt smiled, and knew his entire bearing had softened, as he watched Bright Eyes gently flap her wings, prancing and whickering happily.
Charic went back over to where she had come from, but Sharr stayed for a moment. “My word, Drizzt Do’Urden,” he said, “that you may sleep safely. We will not abandon you, nor harm you.”
Drizzt considered for a moment, and then nodded, before shifting to lie down, cloak pulled around him. Sharr left him to it.
Drizzt woke rested, saw that half of the elves had left, but the cleric—Charic, he recalled—, Del, and Sharr were still there with a few others.
Only Sharr, one of the elf fighters, and Charic were awake, and Drizzt saw Charic make a ‘come over’ motion when she saw him sit up. Bright Eyes had apparently chosen to sleep snuggled up against him, and his movement on waking had roused her, so once he had loved on her briefly, he did so, settling on the ground just outside their circle.
“I know you met Charic yesterday, Drizzt, but this is Korvallen,” Sharr said. “We’ve been talking about you some, considering all you did yesterday.”
“Greetings,” Drizzt said, noting the fighter—Korvallen, apparently, and he thought he recalled Thyl and Lin mentioning an uncle by that name—was less inclined to anything but a sharply appraising look his way.
“My son, Tyresia,” Charic began, “has offered to fill in for Sharr for a time. He took Bent Bow’s fighters back to their village. Sharr’s other son, Del, will escort myself and the fighters back to our village.”
“Leaving me, and Korvallen, to travel with you for a bit,” Sharr said, “if you would like. I want to learn more of you than just what Thyl and Lin have told me, and be available to tell you how the child has fared once I know.”
Drizzt considered, then looked at the hard-faced fighter. “Saer? I am a drow by birth, but seek to learn more of the surface for the sake of protecting it. I have long since known I was not as the others, and wish to show that to you, if you are truly willing to travel with me. If not… I will go my own way.”
That… apparently was the right note to take, and Korvallen nodded once. “I will travel with you.”
Sharr smiled fondly at the other man, then touched Charic’s hand gently. “If anything comes up—”
“Our son will handle it or send one of his brothers for you,” she said. “Stop fussing, Sharrevaliir; you’ve been itching to adventure again. And we have been entirely to protective for too long.”
Drizzt put that together with Thyl and Lin’s mention that they had nearly lost their father several decades ago, and swore that no harm should come to this elf while they traveled together. He also took note of Charic’s mention of ‘our son’ and filed it with Del being called ‘Sharr’s other son’ right after mention of Charic's son as something to ask about later.
“Let’s get moving, Sharr,” Korvallen said. “Less fuss if it is a done deed.”
They rose, but Charic reached out to keep Drizzt there while they got their packs.
“Even with your friend’s presence, doing this is still seen as a risk, you understand, but… I don’t think you will prove my consort wrong, will you?” she asked him softly.
“No, Lady,” Drizzt said, even as he filed ‘my consort’ with the other mentions to ask about later. “I am a ranger of Mielikki, and mean my words of protection and learning.”
She looked at him a long moment, then smiled. “I think you have Her favor strongly then, as it was She who gave us the correct direction to go in.”
“My teacher thought so, as She was looking over me and granting aid before I had a name for Her,” Drizzt admitted. “Thank you, Lady. Bright Eyes and I will keep them safe.”
She laughed softly. “Oh, I wish Kor'd heard that. Enjoy your journeys.” She then moved to get her own things ready for when the rest of the fighters woke.
Drizzt moved to make certain he had dropped nothing, and to get his pack on under his cloak. Mooshie’s bow remained unstrung, and he waited for the pair to join him and Bright Eyes, his friend having come to stand beside him when she saw him putting on the pack.
The pair did, and Sharr gestured for Drizzt to take the lead.
He closed his eyes, and headed slightly north, but mostly west, when he opened them.
“How do you choose your path?” Sharr asked, as they settled into an easy stride.
“I listen,” Drizzt said. “The wilds, and my heart. Eventually, I find a threat to deal with.”
“How often do you find threats?” Korvallen asked, curious now.
“Every handful of days sees something cross my path.” Beside him, Bright Eyes gave a indignant snort, and Drizzt hastily corrected himself. “Our path, yes, lovely one.” Turning his attention back to the elves, he continued, “If we are flying instead of walking, sometimes it is more often. Be it a true threat, or an illness in plants or animals. I go where needed, do what is needed, keep moving.
“I promised Montolio, my teacher, to find a place, but even though Bright Eyes has reduced the hostility I get after helping people, I still think he may have held more hope for human understanding than they possess.”
Sharr nodded. “I understand that. And I think, if I were not the elf I am, I’d say he overreached entirely.”
Korvallen snorted. “He didn’t. You just know an odd human, is all.”
That got a quiet smile, but Sharr forged on. “If you wish to find a place, I suggest Silverymoon, Drizzt. It is a more understanding place, guided by the principle of judging on actions, not race.”
“It also happens to be ruled by the mother of Thyl and Lin and his other boys,” Korvallen said in a wry tone.
Drizzt tipped his head curiously, wondering again at the fact that Sharr was apparently not only claimed by two women—and apparently powerful women, at that—he had children by each. It seemed dangerous to his own background. And after a moment to review all that Thyl and Lin had told him of their father, he decided that it couldn’t hurt to simply ask.
“So how does that work, with you being claimed by two powerful women, with children by each?”
Sharr and Korvallen both stopped short at Drizzt’s question, but while Sharr had a look of dawning realization, Korvallen looked more upset. Thankfully, Sharr had noticed that as well, and reached out and placed a calming hand on Korvallen’s shoulder just as the other man opened his mouth.
“From what Thyl and Lin have told me, he escaped from a Lolthite city,” Sharr said, “and has not yet had a chance to learn how relationships work on the surface. It’s a reasonable question.”
Korvallen shut his mouth with an audible snap, but his expression was still displeased.
Turning back to Drizzt, Sharr said, “The way it works is by mutual choice, freely made. It would be just as fair to say that I claim Charic and Alustriel as the other way around—though actually using ‘claim’ or ‘claimed’ tends to carry some negative implications.”
“This is more of how the Surface is different from what I knew before, then,” Drizzt said, after taking a moment to consider what Sharr had said.
“It is,” Sharr agreed.
End notes
And I ended it there because the rest of “Warnings Lead to Sanctuary” wasn't talking to me, and I didn't see it changing enough for me to feel the need to keep banging my head against it.
