A Multiplicity of Crossings (10,378 words) by
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somarielChapters: 3/3
Other Fandoms:
Wheel of TimeRating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Warnings Apply
Relationship: Alustriel Silverhand/Sharrevaliir, Alustriel Silverhand/Drizzt Do’Urden
Characters: Alustriel Silverhand, Drizzt Do’Urden, Sharrevaliir, Laeral Silverhand, Korvallen Senahye, Bruenor Battlehammer, Bright Eyes, Ensemble Cast
Additional Tags: Fusion, Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, Developing Relationship
Series: Part 11 of
A Crossing of the RealmsSummary:
My brain dropped on me the idea of merging the fics "Impossible Connections" and "Ranger and Pegasus" and the fic series "SharrSapphire" and "The Ranger and the Wheel". This is the result.
Beginning notes
As this fic is a merging of multiple AUs, I highly recommend making sure you are familiar with the following fics and series before reading it: senmut’s solo fic Impossible Connections, senmut and ilyena_sylph’s fic Ranger and Pegasus, the entirety of their series The Ranger and the Wheel, their series SharrSapphire through “The Sapphire’s Secret”, my fics SharrSapphire in the Wheel and Soulmarks in the Wheel, and my series Ranger and Pegasus in the Wheel.
Additionally, this fic contains a small amount of borrowing from “The Sapphire’s Secret” and my fic “Becoming with a Pegasus”, and somewhat more borrowing from some of the fics in the series “The Ranger and the Wheel”, as well as from my fic “Soulmarks in the Wheel” (which in and of itself contains borrowing from some of the fics in “The Ranger and the Wheel).
Chapter One: Beginnings
1324 DR, spring
Waking one day, some twenty-six years since Sharr had gone missing, to find she now had a second soulmark was not a welcome shock for Alustriel. Her mark for Sharr was still as clear as it had always been, so she at least did not have to worry about that, but it was hard for her to imagine any new relationship going well when Sharr’s uncertain status would almost certainly cast a shadow over it.
And she was also somewhat concerned about how Del and Korvallen would react to such a relationship—Del because of how young he had been when Sharr went missing, and Korvallen because of how strong his feelings for Sharr were.
Nevertheless, that night, she told her sisters and her sons about the new mark, sharing her vision so they could see what it looked like, and asking them to keep an eye out for anyone who might be her second soulmate.
1333 DR, early spring
Andy had been thinking hard about how to bring up with his mother what he had glimpsed during his lesson with Drizzt earlier in the day, and had come to the conclusion that it would be best to be fairly straightforward about it.
So that night, when their conversation came around to Drizzt, as it usually did on the days that the ranger had had lessons with him, Andy said, “I saw something rather interesting during today’s lesson.”
“Another sign of how much Mielikki favors Drizzt?” Alustriel asked. “Or was it something else?”
“Something else,” Andy replied. “His sleeve fell back while he was reaching to stroke Bright Eyes’s head, and I caught a glimpse of a silver mark on the inside of his wrist.”
“Well, drow do scar silver, but I’m guessing you don’t think it is one.”
“Can’t be one. It’s positioned right on the tendons, and is big enough that such an injury would have impaired his use of that hand. Add that to the fact that he uses twin scimitars…”
“You think he might be my second soulmate,” Alustriel said.
“I do.”
1335 DR, summer
It had been nine long weeks since Laeral had informed her that Drizzt Do’Urden was indeed her second soulmate, but her sister and the ranger were finally done with their journey into the elan-lands and Laeral had teleported the two of them, and Bright Eyes, to Silverymoon this morning.
And now, having changed out of her evenfeast gown into something more casual, Alustriel was heading to Laeral’s rooms—as those were more neutral ground than her own—to properly meet Drizzt.
A knock on the door when she arrived at them got her permission to enter, and when she stepped into the outer room, she was quite pleased to see that Laeral had set things up so that Drizzt could choose which of them he wanted to sit with, while still allowing for easy conversation—the divans had been arranged so they were facing each other, and Laeral and Drizzt were currently seated on one, close to, but not directly beside, each other.
Taking a seat on the other divan, Alustriel looked to Laeral to see if her sister was going to start things off, or if she should.
Laeral smiled at her, then said, “Drizzt, this is my sister, Alustriel Silverhand. Alustriel, this is Drizzt Do’Urden, rider of Bright Eyes.”
“I am very pleased to finally meet you, Drizzt,” Alustriel said, “and for more reasons than just that you are my soulmate, as Andy told me much of you while you were taking lessons with him three years ago.”
“It’s good to meet you too,” Drizzt replied. “And Laeral mentioned that your entire family has been intrigued by me since then, so I’m not surprised by that.
“Though I will readily admit that I’m still uncertain how I feel about you being my soulmate.”
“Because I am Andy’s mother, and he is your friend, or is it because I am a woman with power?”
“The second.”
Alustriel did not sigh, though she very much wanted to. Thankfully, she had anticipated that this might be an issue, and taken steps to mitigate it. “I suspected that might be the case, and have had some long talks with Qilué since Laeral told me that you are my soulmate. And I will say, right now, that if anything I do or say makes you uncomfortable, please tell me. I can’t stop doing whatever it is if I don’t know it’s making you feel like that.”
The conversation rambled somewhat from there, as the two of them got to know each other, with Laeral contributing anecdotes and tales that hopefully helped make Drizzt’s image of her more grounded and approachable. And eventually, when Drizzt mentioned that his Ogier sister had been the one to explain to him what soulmarks were, Alustriel found the opportunity to bring up the matter of Drizzt not being her only soulmate.
“Did Lindsar ever say anything to you about the possibility of multiple soulmarks?”
Drizzt blinked twice, then looked at her quizzically. “No, she didn’t. That’s actually something that can happen?”
“Only among long-lived peoples, but yes,” Alustriel answered. “And I’m bringing it up now because I have two soulmarks.”
“I… can I see?” Drizzt asked.
“Of course.” Alustriel pulled back her sleeve and showed the inside of her wrist to him.
Drizzt looked at the marks for a bit, then nodded. “The scimitar-like one is clearly for me, but what is the other one, and who does it represent?”
“It’s the ancient elven glyph for ‘knowledge’. Sharr—Sharrevaliir, in full—was the Lorekeeper for the elves of the High Forest.”
“Was?” Drizzt tilted his head thoughtfully. “That makes it sound like he’s dead, but Lindsar said that soulmarks fade once the person they represent has died, and there wouldn’t have been any reason for you to bring up multiple soulmarks if that was the case.
“So what happened to him?”
“We still don’t know for certain,” Alustriel said, “but he’s been missing for nearly four decades.” She went on to explain the events that had led to such a situation, ending with, “…and the only reasons we’re sure he’s still alive are because my soulmark hasn’t faded and the Warder bond is still intact.”
“I hope he is found soon,” Drizzt said. “I would very much like to meet him myself.”
The next evening, Drizzt was somewhat more comfortable with Alustriel, enough so that she was willing to risk asking about what his life had been like before he came to the surface. Thankfully, he did not have a problem with telling her about it, though she frequently found herself horrified by what he was saying and had to expend a good bit of effort to not let that horror affect her reactions to him.
And then he mentioned that he had not yet finished his schooling when he was dumped on the surface, which, combined with Andy’s previous estimate of his age, left her curious.
“Your pardon, Drizzt,” she said, “but Andy was quite certain, when he met you three years ago, that you weren’t even fifty then. So I find myself wishing to know exactly how old you are.”
Drizzt blinked twice, wondering why it mattered—and surprised that neither Laeral nor Qilué had told her—but he answered the question readily. “Thirty-eight.”
Swiftly back-calculating his age at the time of the Blight push, Alustriel was not pleased by the result. “So you would have been twenty-eight or twenty-nine when the Blight push occurred?”
“Twenty-nine, yes.”
“You weren’t even of age by Lolthite standards, and your teacher took you to that?!” Alustriel knew that silverfire was sparking in her eyes as she spoke, but she couldn’t quite manage to care. The forced maturity of Lolthite society was upsetting enough, but that goodly people had allowed Drizzt to participate in an event as harrowing as she had heard the Blight push had been, when he hadn’t even been an adult in the eyes of the people he was born to, was infuriating!
Drizzt was fascinated by the manifestation of the silverfire he was seeing now, not having realized that it could happen outside of deliberate use, but then he was distracted by a warm spot developing on his chest. Reaching up to touch the magical sapphire he wore around his neck, he confirmed that that was the source of the warmth, and a quick look down confirmed that the stone wasn’t glowing, making this the second time it had reacted to silverfireby growing warm, but not glowing. That was something that would have to be investigated, but first, he needed to defend Aronna's decision—and probably Lindsar’s as well.
“Neither Aronna nor Lindsar were pleased that I insisted on leaving the stedding so young,” he said, “but they could both see how strong my need to explore and actually use my skills to defend others was.”
Alustriel sighed. If that need had been anything like the chafing Del had felt over the village’s smothering before Samiar took him as an apprentice, she could understand why the women hadn’t protested his leaving more strongly. But still… “Was it really necessary for your first true actions as a ranger to be at the Blight push, though?”
“Perhaps not. Lindsar was certainly not happy when she found out Aronna had brought me to it. But Aronna had wanted to go, even when she thought that she would have to miss it due to teaching me, and if we had not gone, I would not have become a Dreadbane. And bearing that title has eased my way just as much as—if not more than—the Ogier motifs on my faceguard and scimitars.”
“That… is a reasonable point,” Alustriel reluctantly agreed.
Turning his attention to Laeral, and cradling the sapphire in his hand, Drizzt said, “To change the subject entirely, I think you need to take a look at this gem, my friend.”
“Oh?” Laeral said. “What makes you say that?”
“This was the second time it reacted to silverfire by growing warm, without glowing—the first was when you and Qilué removed the shroud from me. And maybe I’m being overly suspicious because of what my soulmark is, but while I was willing to ignore such once, that it has now happened twice makes me wish to have it investigated.”
“I don’t think you’re being overly suspicious at all,” Laeral said. “That is definitely worth investigating. Unfortunately, I don’t have any of the necessary spells memorized today, so it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”
Analysis of the sapphire had proved it to be a soul trap, but between needing to find someone with gemstone tools to break the stone, arranging a room in the Spellguard Tower to use for the breaking, Laeral and Taern's caution regarding the alignment of the trapped soul, and Alustriel’s desire to be present for the breaking, it was not until lunchtime the following day that they were actually ready to break it.
The first blow only shattered a spell that had been on the stone, but the second one broke the stone. A bright flash of blue light brought the smell of a spring day in the forest, and when the light faded, a full-blooded elf in hunting armor with ornate patterns was there.
“Sharr?!” The cry came from three voices simultaneously, Laeral, Alustriel, and Taern all not believing their eyes at first, though Alustriel could feel that the Warder bond was fully open again, as she was buffeted by a wash of emotions not her own.
“A little less loud, please,” the elf said, his own senses trying to take in everything now that he had eyes and ears and a nose, not just moments of consciousness and detection.
“Sorry,” Taern said.
Laeral and Alustriel, however, just continued to stare. He… that was Sharr, in the armor he’d disappeared from that battlefield in, the proper ceremonial armor for a Lorekeeper in a ritual hunt. And then, having wrestled down the flood of both her emotions and his, Alustriel all but threw herself at him.
“I… stars, you… you’re here, you…” Alustriel knew she was not really coherent as she wrapped her arms around her beloved tightly, but she couldn’t find it in her to care at the moment.
“I am, my star, I am,” Sharr murmured, returning the embrace just as tightly.
Laeral had sent to her nephews and shared her vision with them while Alustriel and Sharr were still embracing tightly in the first rush of emotional reaction to their reunion, but once both of them were willing to break the embrace, she and Taern had corralled the two of them—and Drizzt, too—back to Alustriel’s rooms.
Taern had then gone to speak to Alustriel’s secretary about rescheduling everything for the next few days, and while Laeral had stayed a bit longer—mostly to make sure Drizzt didn’t feel like he wanted her support—she was now on her way to the Knights’ wing of the Palace to find Korvallen.
Asking the squire on duty had gotten her directed to Korvallen’s quarters, and the door opened soon after she gave a brisk knock.
“Laeral?” Korvallen said, feeling a bit puzzled. “Is something wrong?” He hoped not, but he was not sure what else might have caused her to seek him out.
“No, nothing’s wrong,” Laeral answered. “It would even be fair to say that something has gone very, very right, but Alustriel does need you.”
“Alright.” Korvallen stepped out of his rooms, then closed and locked the door before moving to follow Laeral.
Quickly recognizing that Laeral was leading him to Alustriel’s rooms, that left him free to wonder what Laeral had meant by ‘something has gone very, very right’ and why Alustriel would need him if that was true.
He hadn’t managed to reach any reasonable conclusions by the time they reached Alustriel’s rooms, so he set his puzzling aside, knowing that he would soon find out anyway.
A knock on the door got a response of “Come in”, so he opened it and stepped into the outer room of the suite. And then, as soon as the door was no longer obstructing his sight of the room, he stopped dead. That was… Sharr? In the armor he had been wearing on the hunt where he disappeared? And a drow? Sitting on the other side of Alustriel from Sharr? He reached up to rub his eyes, but the bewildering sight remained. “Sharr? Drow? What in the Abyss?”
Alustriel sighed. “No, you’re not imagining things, Kor. Sharr is here, and there is a drow sitting beside me.” Giving her sister a mildly annoyed look, she added, “Though Laeral really should have warned you.”
“I thought it was only fair for him to be as surprised as we were,” Laeral said, amusement in her voice.
“And yet you didn’t mention Drizzt, either.”
“Sisterly wrangling later,” Sharr said, placing a hand on Alustriel’s shoulder. “Right now, Kor needs an explanation.
“Alright,” Alustriel said. “Do come sit down, Kor.”
Kor came over and sat down on the unoccupied divan—Laeral taking a seat beside him—before saying “So explain.”
The explanation given—Alustriel having multiple soulmarks, the drow being her second soulmate, a magical sapphire that reacted to silverfire and turned out to be a soul trap, Sharr having been the one inside the soul trap—did not do much to reduce Korvallen’s bewilderment, but he knew that once he’d gotten over the multiple shocks he’d had, it would be easier to absorb and work through everything.
The city had reacted to learning of Sharr’s return by throwing a spontaneous festival, and between that and reunions with his loved ones, it was nearly two weeks later before Sharr truly had any quiet time to himself, but once things settled down, he made a point of seeking Drizzt out during the times Alustriel was occupied by her duties as a ruler, in order to get to know the ranger beyond the impressions he had gotten while still trapped within the sapphire, and so the ranger could get to know him.
He had only had to spar with Drizzt once to confirm that the ranger was indeed as highly skilled as his impressions had suggested, and after Drizzt had beaten Kolarven as well, Sharr was able to convince Korvallen to spar with the ranger. That match had left everyone quite impressed with Drizzt’s skill, and Korvallen had taken it on himself to improve the ranger’s single-blade techniques.
Sharr had also fairly quickly realized that Drizzt was much younger than his skill would suggest, and after learning the ranger’s actual age, was quite relieved that Drizzt and Alustriel had agreed to take things slowly.
As time passed, Sharr and Korvallen settled into a routine of spending spring and summer in the village, and fall and winter in Silverymoon. (Officially, Korvallen had been given a permanent assignment to protect Sharr when Sharr wasn’t in the city, but everyone knew that it was just an acknowledgment of what he’d be doing anyway.)
But even with that routine, Sharr still made a point of coming up to Silverymoon for at least a few days every time Drizzt visited the city, to continue the progress of him and Drizzt getting to know each other better.
Korvallen usually came with him, to spar with Drizzt and continue the ranger’s training in single-blade techniques, and Sharr eventually noticed that Drizzt seemed to find those spars and lessons to be almost exhilarating.
Asking the young drow about it one evening produced a surprising answer. “Korvallen reminds me of the House’s Weapon Master, back in Menzoberranzan,” Drizzt said. “He is the only person on the surface that I have ever met who would be able to give the Weapon Master a true challenge. And the joy of facing the Weapon Master and being pushed is literally the only thing I have ever missed of that city.
“To be able to know something like that again, and with one who shares many of my values? It is a true delight.”
Chapter Two: Moving Forward
1347 DR
Sharr and Andy abruptly stopping their conversation and getting the distant look that Korvallen knew meant they were talking over Alustriel’s anklets was not a good sign. So when both of them lost the distant look and refocused on him, he was ready for whatever the bad news was.
Or at least, he had thought he was. But Andy’s report of “Drizzt has a large Shadowspawn army incoming, up at the Reghed Glacier, and needs all the clerics we can get up there by dawn, as well as as many of our family as can come, for magical assistance” was significantly more trouble than Kor had been expecting.
And a single look at Sharr showed that he was going to need to head off some more. “You are not going,” Kor told his brother of the heart.
“But-”
“No. You’re bonded to Alustriel; Drizzt isn’t. And taking the risk of her losing both of you up there isn’t worth it.”
Sharr sighed heavily. “You have a point,” he agreed reluctantly.
Turning his attention to Andy, Kor said, “You teleporting up?”
“I am.”
“Then I’m going with you.”
Once the battle was finally over and he’d done at least a basic check of his people, Bruenor set Lespur and Fender to doing a more thorough check and making sure someone got some stew started, then went looking for Drizzt.
He’d been wandering the battlefield, calling for his friend, for long enough that he was starting to get a bit concerned, when he noticed a pegasus following a pair of people off the battlefield. One of them had dark hair, and looked like they were wearing plate armor, but the other had Drizzt’s pale hair and green cloak.
Bruenor hurried to catch up to the group, wondering which of the southerners the other person was.
He didn’t manage to do so before they left the battlefield, but he had at least gotten close enough to see that Drizzt was leaning on the dark-haired person.
The group’s pace had picked up slightly once they were out of the battlefield, so even once Bruenor had made his way out, he still didn’t manage to catch up to them until after they had reached the southerners’ camp.
“…any idea how risky that was?!” the dark-haired person—an elf, by the ears—was saying as Bruenor got within earshot of them. “It could very easily have ended with you being impaled by both of them, instead of the Fades impaling each other! I know better than to assume you weren’t thinking at all, but I’d love to know what you were thinking!”
The strange elf was scolding Drizzt like he was a child?! And his friend was just sitting there and taking it?! Bruenor’s temper roused and he stomped up to the southerner already bristling with anger.
“Where'd ye get off with scoldin’ me friend like that?!” he snapped. “Weren’t fer him, the entire Dale would’ve been overrun by that army!”
The elf turned to face Bruenor, his own face twisting up into a scowl, but before he could actually say anything, Bright Eyes stepped between them and gave an annoyed snort.
The look on the elf’s face shifted from a scowl to consideration, and then he opened his mouth anyway, but a shove from Bright Eyes made him snap it shut without saying anything. But before Bruenor could feel too pleased with things, the pegasus shoved him, too.
“Thank you, Bright Eyes,” Drizzt said. Turning to look at the elf, he said, “Korvallen, would you mind going to get me something to eat while I reassure my friend here?”
The elf—Korvallen, apparently—gave Drizzt a long look, cast another at Bruenor, then turned a considering one on Bright Eyes, who had started preening her wings, before sighing and saying, “Alright. But we will be resuming this conversation later.”
A sharp look from Drizzt and Bright Eyes both kept Bruenor from saying anything while the elf walked away, but once he was fairly certain the elf was out of earshot, he turned to Drizzt and said, “Why were ye just lettin’ him scold ye like that?! Ye’re no’ a child tae be scolded and sent tae bed wi'out supper!”
“Peace, my friend,” Drizzt replied. “Korvallen truly meant me no harm.”
“Harm or no’, he had nae right tae be scoldin’ ye like a child!”
“Actually, he does.”
Bruenor gave a disbelieving snort at that, but Drizzt was already continuing. “As not only is he close kin of a sort, he is keenly aware that had I been born in any goodly elven community, I would be barely more than halfway to being considered an adult, and he has many nephews—all older than I am—who have honed his protective instincts. Perhaps overly so, I will admit, but I find that preferable to the opposite.”
Bruenor considered his friend’s words carefully. Alright, if all that was true, then maybe the elf did have that right. “How’d a surface elf come tae be kin of any sort tae ye, beyond the most general?” That was the one thing in all of that that made no sense to him.
Drizzt pulled back his sleeve and showed Bruenor the inside of his wrist, where there was a mark of a silver flame sitting right on the tendons. “Through this.”
Well, that was surely a soulmark, no matter that Bruenor had never seen one before. But… “Nae way he’s yer soulmate, so ye’d better give the full explanation, me elf.”
“You’re right, he’s not; the Lady Alustriel is my soulmate. But Korvallen is brother-of-the-heart to her other soulmate.”
Knowing Drizzt’s tendency to downplay his fatigue when there were still threats to be dealt with, Korvallen insisted on staying with Bo and Laeral to find whatever it was that the ranger had been drawn up to Icewind Dale to deal with.
And while actually finding the damned thing had been easy enough, that it had tried to ensnare both Drizzt and Bo had been worrying enough before Laeral identified it as Crenshinibon.
Once that was known, Korvallen flatly refused to leave Drizzt’s side until it had been dealt with. Or at least, that had been his intent.
But between seeing that Drizzt really was taking it easy during the few days they spent in Shadowdale while Elminster, Syluné, and Laeral worked to figure out how to destroy the crystal, and knowing that Drizzt and Laeral would have to wait for an entire week for Valamaradace to get to where they were going to do the destruction, he decided that since they had already had to come to the Silver Marches just to ask Valamaradace for her assistance, there was no point in him actually continuing on to see the destruction, and chose to go back to the village once Vala's help had been secured.
1349 DR
Like he had with the Shadowspawn army, Korvallen had participated in the battle to reclaim Mithral Hall so that Sharr would be less displeased about not doing so himself, which meant he was present when Laeral decreed that Drizzt should be taken home to his stedding to recover from facing the shadow dragon. And since Drizzt was in no shape to keep himself on Bright Eyes’s back—the pegasus had, quite unsurprisingly, insisted on being the one to carry her person—Korvallen volunteered to be the one who rode behind him.
Bright Eyes gave several loud neighs once they had landed near the stedding, and fairly soon, the undergrowth moved slightly and a tall Ogier stepped out. Obviously male, by the long eyebrows, mustaches, and full beard, and wearing the camouflage clothing of a Protector. Korvallen was quite impressed by the man’s woodcraft, as he had not realized that there was anyone near until just before he had appeared. The Ogier's eyes did not quite brush past him to focus on Drizzt, but Korvallen had the feeling that if he had not still been behind Drizzt on Bright Eyes, the Ogier barely would have noticed him.
“Drizzt?” a deep bass voice said worriedly. “What has happened to you? What do you need, kinsman?”
Korvallen was prepared to answer if Drizzt was too out of it to do so, but the ranger was at least aware enough to say, “I want to go home, but do not trust my feet to carry me, Voran. Bright Eyes and my friend Korvallen got me this far.”
“Then we will go,” Voran said, and came over to stand beside Bright Eyes. “Do you wish me to carry you, or will you remain on Bright Eyes?”
“With Korvallen’s support, I can stay on Bright Eyes,” Drizzt said.
Voran then turned his attention to the elf behind Drizzt, bowing slightly. “My greetings to you, Korvallen, and my apologies for hastiness. We may be properly introduced later, but my kinsman needs to be within the stedding.”
“No apologies needed,” Korvallen said, even as the Ogier—Voran, apparently—turned and began to move through the thick undergrowth at a speed that had Bright Eyes trotting to keep up.
While there was no obvious marker of the stedding’s boundary, Korvallen could tell when they had entered it by the shift of Drizzt’s weight against him—the ranger sitting up a bit more, supporting a little more of his own weight—though Voran stepping to the side and turning to wait for them would have been a large clue anyway.
“Shall we bring you to the healers, Drizzt, or only to Lindsar?” Voran asked, once Bright Eyes had come up alongside him.
“Lindsar, please. I just want to rest.”
If Korvallen had not felt the instant improvement in Drizzt’s state simply from crossing the boundary into the stedding's magic-null zone, he would have spoken up to suggest Drizzt be taken to the healers anyway, but since there had been that improvement, he was willing to let the matter lie for now.
Drizzt drew in a deep breath of good air, that smelled like it ought to. “I have missed you all.”
“Of course,” Voran agreed, and resumed his trek, though at a slower pace this time, Bright Eyes staying beside him. “She is weaving today, not on the borders, so she will see to you. Truly, kinsman, what happened to you? Or is it too much to speak of?”
“Had to help my friends take back their home,” Drizzt said. “A shadow dragon… from a different plane, not Leafblighter’s forces… had taken their Hall. I was most useful at keeping the dragon distracted while wizards dealt with it.”
Korvallen snorted. “You certainly did distract it, but it could have been managed with less risk to yourself.”
Voran looked from Drizzt to Korvallen, then back. “Did the risks he took play a role in the dragon harming him so?”
“No,” Korvallen said. “The risks he took were physical ones, the harm the dragon did was magical. Which is why Laeral insisted he be brought here.”
“What did it do, then?” Voran asked, unsettled and uncertain. “Did it… breathe upon you with some fume only the Elders who study such things would know?”
“Dragons exude dragon fear. Shadow dragons more so. And… they are more unnatural than a native dragon, making it worse for me.” Drizzt shuddered a little. “It is… the world trying to turn itself inside out to be near one, for me. And it is evil, with no chance of redemption.”
“Terrible,” Voran said, and then he sped up just a little, so he could open the door of Lindsar’s home before Bright Eyes got there.
As the door opened, Lindsar settled her loom so that her progress was not in danger, and then turned to see who it was.
Voran was the one who had opened the door, but behind him, one he had stepped inside and was holding it open, was Bright Eyes, carrying Drizzt and an unknown elf.
“Hello,” Drizzt said, opening his eyes to see one of the most welcome faces in all of existence, having known when they entered the house by the change in the sound of Bright Eyes’s hooves.
“He wished to come home, to recover from a dragon battle,” Voran said, to spare Drizzt the immediate explanation.
“You are always welcome home, my brother,” Lindsar told him. “And it is very good to see you… but I do not like how unwell you appear. Voran, will you do me the favor of going to Jinana’s and asking for two bottles of her restoratives?”
“Of course, Lindsar,” Voran agreed, waiting until Bright Eyes was out of the way before turning to go. “I will be back with them as swiftly as decency allows.”
“Thank you, my friend,” Drizzt said. Then he leaned forward against Bright Eyes’s neck at a tap and a shift from Korvallen, and his friend carefully dismounted.
“Do you need help getting down?” Korvallen asked his young friend, once he was firmly on the ground again.
Drizzt took a moment to assess his condition, then answered, “I think that would be wise.”
Before Korvallen could move to start helping him, though, Bright Eyes gave a snort, and carefully lowered herself to lay on the floor. That made it much easier to get off, though Drizzt was still glad for Korvallen’s support. As soon as he was off of her, Bright Eyes stood back up, and Drizzt leaned against her.
Returning his attention to Lindsar, he said, “Lindsar, my friend here is Korvallen Senahye, Knight-Captain in Silverymoon’s Knights in Silver, and brother-of-the-heart to Alustriel’s other soulmate.” Shifting to look at Korvallen, he continued, “Korvallen, this is Lindsar daughter of Malana daughter of Coera, Protector of Stedding Corwal, and my sister.”
“Greetings, Korvallen Senahye,” Lindsar said, bowing to the elf. “Your name sings in my ears. And if you will forgive my abruptness, I think I should get my brother settled on the couch.”
“Of course,” Korvallen replied, returning the bow, but perfectly willing to skimp on the polite courtesies for the sake of getting Drizzt settled down to rest faster. “And I return your greetings, Lindsar.”
Suiting actions to words as soon as Korvallen had agreed, Lindsar scooped her brother up in her arms and carried him over to the couch, laying him down gently, then began to work upon the laces of his boots.
“Would you like for me to take Bright Eyes out to her shelter and get her settled?” Korvallen asked.
Lindsar paused in removing Drizzt’s boots and looked over at Korvallen. “That would be quite helpful, thank you.”
Bright Eyes gave an annoyed snort at that, and stomped one hoof on the floor, but Korvallen was well used to dealing with opinionated pegasi worried about their riders. “You can keep an eye on Drizzt through that window,” and he pointed at the one that had the best view of the couch, “just as well as if you were inside. And you do need a grooming, plus food and water.”
Korvallen was getting on quite well with Lindsar, but Drizzt was also rapidly improving, so since he had not intended to stay longer than was necessary to make sure Drizzt really was taking it easy, when Lindsar spoke of going to Silverymoon with Drizzt, several days after their arrival in the stedding, Korvallen took the opportunity to bring up the subject of his own return to the city.
Drizzt had agreed that he was feeling well enough to not need assistance to stay on Bright Eyes’s back, though he still didn’t think he was fully recovered, so plans were made for the two of them to leave on Bright Eyes early the next morning.
As the flight from the stedding to Silverymoon took most of the day, Drizzt and Bright Eyes stayed the night in the city, and the morning after they had arrived, Korvallen saw them off again, with a promise from Drizzt that he would go straight back to the stedding.
Though Kor had assured him that Drizzt truly was recovering well from his prolonged exposure to the shadow dragon, Sharr still started to grow somewhat concerned when it had reached the middle of the third month of spring—Mithral Hall having been reclaimed early in the second month—and there was still no word from Alustriel about so much as an estimate from Drizzt on when he might return to Silverymoon.
When he mentioned those concerns to Kor, however, his brother of the heart was quite firm that they were unfounded.
“It’s been five years since Drizzt last visited the stedding,” Kor reminded him. “He has a lot of catching up to do.”
But even with that reminder, he was still quite relieved to hear from Alustriel, most of two weeks later, that Drizzt had finally returned. He was even more pleased to hear that the ranger had brought his Ogier sister with him.
And when Sharr came down to the clearing below the village to call for his current pegasus friend, Korvallen was waiting for him.
“I hadn’t realized that you were planning on going up with me, this time,” Sharr said. “After all, you’ve already met Lindsar.”
“I may have met her,” Kor said, “but I didn’t truly get a chance to know her, as we were both a bit preoccupied by making sure Drizzt actually took it easy and keeping Bright Eyes mollified about not being allowed in the house.
“And I did promise her that she’d get a chance to see me and Drizzt spar, since she’s never had the opportunity to see him in a friendly match, and one certainly wasn’t going to happen while Drizzt was still recovering.”
For all that it had been early spring when Drizzt and Alustriel decided that they were going to go ahead and make their relationship official, everything else that Drizzt had committed to doing meant that it was late fall by the time they actually got a chance to do so.
Sharr and Kor both attended evenfeast on the chosen night, and though they had had to explain the concept of multiple soulmarks to pretty much all of the non-elves who had chosen to approach them with questions about Drizzt, they were quite pleased with the results of their friendly greetings to the ranger and the many conversations they had had about him.
Chapter Three: Continuing On
1349 DR, late fall
Settled beside Kor on the divan facing the one Drizzt and Alustriel were sitting on, Sharr was about to ask if either Drizzt or Kor had had a chance to visit the Tuatha’an caravan that had been the talk of evenfeast that night, when Drizzt preempted him by saying “I’m going to need to leave a few weeks earlier than I had intended to.”
“That it is not much sooner than you planned means it cannot be a pull,” Alustriel said, “and it seems unlikely to be trouble at the stedding that needs your skills, either, so… the Tuatha’an brought word of some trouble in the elan-lands?” She reached out and took one of Drizzt’s hands in hers. “If it is something you can share, will you?”
Drizzt did not remove his hand from Alustriel’s, but the other reached up to run through his own hair, and then he took a deep breath. “I noted corrupted Aes Sedai. Laeral relayed this to her friend Terava Sedai.”
Sharr instantly sat up straighter, and he knew that Kor had done the same beside him. For all that the Aes Sedai claimed to be incorruptible, he’d always had his doubts, ones that he knew Kor and the Chosen of Mystra shared. But this was the first time those doubts had been confirmed as justified.
“Terava Sedai followed through, but their leads into the full conspiracy were cut when the ones they made out died.” Drizzt half-shrugged a shoulder. “They need me to find new leads, to expose the rot. I can go—I have a standing invitation—and teach more of the Underdark as I recall it for my excuse to be present.”
“The only time you’ve been in the elan-lands with Laeral—or at all, as far as I’m aware—was that trip just before Laeral brought you to meet Alustriel,” Sharr said, “and that was nearly fifteen years ago. It’s taken them that long to run out of leads, and they still haven’t uncovered the full conspiracy? Just how big is it?”
“I have no idea,” Drizzt said, “but from what Terava Sedai wrote, each of the corrupted Aes Sedai can only reveal three others, and some of the ones revealed were long absent from the Tower, so it makes sense that it would take quite a while to get even as far as they did.”
“Are you sure this isn’t an attempt to lure you into the hands of the corrupted ones, so they can get rid of you?” Kor asked. “Given that no one else has ever been able to tell if an Aes Sedai is corrupted, you are a distinct threat to them.”
“Not completely. But given that Terava Sedai was uncorrupted, and Laeral and I gave her the names of all the others we had met that day who were clear, the only person involved who I don’t know for certain is uncorrupted is the Amyrlin Seat.”
“And finding out if she is corrupted is a priority.” Alustriel sighed. “Even with how much faster Bright Eyes makes it, there’s still no point in flying all the way from here to Tar Valon unless you simply wish the journey. We left ourselves a teleportation-marker on the slopes of Dragonmount centuries ago, so I can have you and Bright Eyes there within a few hours whenever you choose to go. A day at most, if I am lacking teleport spells that day and must wait to reacquire it.”
1350 DR
While Sharr and Kor did need to leave for the village soon after Alustriel had teleported Drizzt and Bright Eyes to Tar Valon, they chose to at least wait until after the first of the weekly check-ins Drizzt and Alustriel had agreed on.
That check-in, though a bit earlier than a full week, had brought the confirmation that the Amyrlin Seat was indeed uncorrupted—and quite grateful for the ring of detect evil that Alustriel and Qilué had spent much of the winter making—as well as news of the plans that had been made to maximize Drizzt’s exposure to the Aes Sedai.
The news that the process of ferreting out all of the Black Ajah would be a long and difficult one—and that apprehension would need to be swift and as total as possible—due to two of them being on the Aes Sedai’s ruling council was less welcome, but was counterbalanced by both the protective amulet that the Amyrlin Seat had loaned Drizzt and Drizzt’s own idea to obtain the drow sleep potion for use in the apprehension, if possible.
Even after they returned to the village, Alustriel continued to keep Sharr updated on what Drizzt had shared with her during the check-ins, including her assessment of how heavily it was all weighing on the ranger.
And then, early in the second month of summer, Alustriel began the update by grumping ~Drizzt went and changed plans without telling me.~
~Oh?~ Sharr said. ~How did he do so?~
~He decided to take the long way back to Silverymoon instead of letting me know that they were done so I could teleport him and Bright Eyes back,~ Alustriel said. ~Which, alright, given how much everything has been weighing on him, I can understand him needing the time on the road to settle himself.
~I just wish he had actually told me that. Because he didn’t even bother to mention it during the check-in. If I hadn’t gone and scried for him because I had a feeling that something was off, I wouldn’t even know that he had left Tar Valon.~
Given that the Highharvestide festival had not only been Drizzt’s first as an official consort of Alustriel’s, it had also been his first in Silverymoon, Sharr had taken it on himself to show the ranger around.
Watching Drizzt’s delight in trying all the various foods on offer, especially the ones that were seasonal to the harvest and slaughtering time, had been quite enjoyable for Sharr, and so had watching Drizzt watch everyone else enjoying the festival.
Sharr was as intrigued as Alustriel when, several days after she had brought Drizzt back from his winter visit to the stedding, the ranger had asked her to please see if Laeral could come visit. A time had been arranged, and now, a bit more than a week since Drizzt’s return, Sharr, Kor, Alustriel, and Laeral were settled on the divans in the outer room of Alustriel’s suite, waiting for Drizzt to arrive.
A brief knock preceded his entrance, and he was carrying a pair of cloth-and-ribbon wrapped bundles of equal size—one in each hand—when he came in.
“Hello, my Lady. Sharr, Kor. Glad you could come, Laeral!”
“As though I would refuse you wanting to see me, dearheart?” Laeral asked. From his seat on the other divan, Sharr had seen her brows raise at the sight of the packages—quite large ones, too—Drizzt was carrying, so he was not surprised when she then added, “And what are you up to?”
“Gifts, for both you and Alustriel, as Lindsar declined to keep one.” Drizzt smiled brightly, handing one to Laeral, then the other to Alustriel… and Sharr was amused to see him steal a kiss on her cheek before letting go of hers.
Then Alustriel and Laeral set to opening the packages, and Sharr could not help but let out an impressed whistle when he saw the thickly plush, pure white fur each contained. And that was before Laeral stood up to let hers unroll and it proved to be longer than she was tall and wider than her spread arms, even without counting the width of the legs.
“Drizzt, what is this?” Laeral asked. “Other than impossiblybeautiful?”
Sharr had been wondering that as well, so he was quite eager to hear the answer.
“Giant weasels, gone kill-mad, so I could not just move them on,” Drizzt said. “Lindsar, Bright Eyes, and I tracked them after the Protector that found them told Lindsar and I of one of their kills. Lindsar offered me both pelts, so I would have one for each of you.”
“Amazing,” Alustriel murmured. Then she murmured a few strange words, and her pelt was taken by invisible hands and spread out to display its full size.
Kor had tensed a little beside him as the invisible hands took the pelt, but Sharr had recognized the strange words as being arcane ones, so he laid a calming hand on Kor’s shoulder and whispered, “Unseen servants, no need to worry.”
“The tanning is… so perfect,” Alustriel continued, “they’re as supple as anything I’ve ever felt, for as thick as the skin must have been. She’s sure she didn’t want one?”
“She saw what they had done,” Drizzt explained, “and the pelts would be a reminder, bringing that image back.”
“Your sister, like so many of your people, is a gentle soul,” Laeral replied, before wrapping herself in the full fur. “Oh, it is wonderful! I don’t even know what I want it to be, but it is so very soft!”
Alustriel laughed softly, before sitting forward so the unseen servants could wrap hers behind her shoulders. “Mmm… so soft. And surely warm as anything. I am glad to have it not be an ill memory for her, then, and very thankful.”
Beside Sharr, Kor gave a laugh of his own. “You’re going to have to improve the gifts you give her now, my friend. Drizzt has just set a high bar to match.”
1351 DR, spring
Less than a week after Drizzt had set out for Mithral Hall to begin the year’s ranging, Sharr was lounging beside Alustriel on one of the divans in her rooms when she suddenly tensed, then sat up straight and cried, “What?!”
Recognizing the signs of talking over the anklets in her gaze, he waited until her eyes focused on him again, then asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Drizzt sent to me and Laeral. ‘Black Ajah sister and her wizard-Warder tried to kill me, should probably be relayed to Terava Sedai.’” The exasperation was strong in Alustriel’s voice as she spoke, and it got stronger when she added, “Said in an entirely commonplace tone, of course, as though he faced murder attempts every day!”
Sharr shook his head and sighed. “Usually, I’d simply say ‘Rangers!’, but that’s excessive even for most of them.
“And if you’re feeling a need to go to him, to reassure yourself that he’s okay, I’ll go with you.”
“Thank you,” Alustriel said. “I didn’t give Drizzt a chance to argue with me about that, but I could tell that he was not happy with the decision, and Taern isn’t likely to be any more pleased than Drizzt was. But between your presence and Laeral’s, that should reassure both of them.”
And with that, she rose from the divan and headed for the door, and Sharr followed her.
After a brief stop at Sharr’s rooms, so he could get his sword, they headed for the nearest teleport point, and soon enough, the two of them arrived in a clearing, where Drizzt was stroking Bright Eyes’s neck, and Laeral was looking at him with a displeased expression.
“Alustriel’s here,” Laeral said. “So explain.”
Well, that probably explained the displeasure, though Sharr wasn’t going to discount the possibility that something else had contributed to it.
Drizzt stopped stroking Bright Eyes’s neck, and looked at the three of them, before pointing to a pair of bodies at the far edge of the clearing. “When I took my spells, the wilds were whispering of danger. And my Lady granted me that which I needed for the danger, though I did not know what it would be.
“The Warder cast multiple spells, before finding his death, and the corrupted one attempted… I think it is called balefire?… when I dropped the darkness I had thrown her way.”
Beside him, Sharr could see the color drain from Alustriel’s face at the mention of balefire, and he wasn’t sure he hadn’t had the same happen. He wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned into the offered comfort.
Drizzt half-shrugged. “I didn’t mean for either of you to come. I just don’t have a way to quickly tell an Aes Sedai that some escaped, and knew I needed to be the one to tell Alustriel.” Looking directly at Sharr, the ranger added, “Thank you for coming with her.”
“You’re quite welcome,” Sharr replied.
“I know you didn’t intend us to come,” Laeral said, and oh, Sharr could tell from her voice that she wasn’t handling the mention of balefire any better than Alustriel was, “you never do. That doesn’t mean there was any chance we weren’t going to, when you sent a message like that.”
Alustriel shifted in a way that indicated she was ready to stop leaning on him, and Sharr dropped the arm he had wrapped around her. She then took a step towards Drizzt, and asked, “Are you certain it was balefire the Black sister used?”
Though most of his attention was on Alustriel and Drizzt, Sharr still noticed when Laeral moved towards the corpses, a glowing mote held where her body could shield Drizzt from it.
“It blinded me in the fashion of what I have read up on, not that I noticed,” Drizzt replied, even as he put on his spectacles and started following Laeral. Alustriel moved to join him, and Sharr and Bright Eyes followed behind them. “Thankfully, I’d begun my throw as the weave was building in my direction, so my blade landed true.”
The four of them had reached Laeral by then, and Drizzt added, “Thank you both, again, for the spellwork on my blades. They served me well.”
The head sitting near, but not connected, to the male body was certainly proof of that, and Sharr quite approved of Drizzt’s choice to handle the Darkfriend in the same manner as required for a Fade.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Laeral said.
And then Alustriel pulled Drizzt in to her, his back to her chest, and her chin tucked over his hair. Laeral took that as a signal to come over and take one of Drizzt’s hands, and Sharr started to stroke Bright Eyes’s neck when she shifted like she wanted to protest the manhandling of her person.
“It’s alright, Alustriel,” Drizzt soothed. “It’s alright, Laeral. You and your sisters protected me! The amulet worked, making it just… vanish away.”
While Drizzt’s attempt to soothe the Sisters was definitely understandable, Sharr also knew exactly why it wasn’t going to help the way the ranger hoped it would. But it would be better for them to explain it.
“So they did,” Alustriel agreed, “so they did. But it’s not only the threat to you that has frightened us, love. We would grieve you, but we could also call you back… if you would agree to return.” Which was something that Sharr knew Drizzt still had some reluctance to consider.
Laeral then picked up the explanation. “If the Black Ajah have rediscovered the weave for balefire, there is danger to the Weave itself, to the Pattern.
“There is a reason that all of those who can use elan made a compact against it long ago. Even before the end of the Breaking. This must be brought to the attention of our Mother.”
“Ahh. That I understand better.” Drizzt then started to describe what he had seen in more depth.
Sharr wasn’t as well-versed in what balefire actually looked and acted like as the Sisters were, but he could tell from the looks on their faces, as Drizzt continued to speak, that they truly were becoming certain that the ranger was correct.
“Everything you say sounds like that weave, yes,” Laeral said, when Drizzt had finished. “Damn and damn. Light scorch them all.”
Then she looked over to the bodies, which had been stripped to their smallclothes. “Let them feed the carrion-eaters, and do some good for once in their miserable, accursed lives. Where were you planning to rest for the day, dear one?”
Sharr quite agreed with that decision about the bodies, but Laeral’s question about a place to rest was definitely a sign that it was almost time for him and Alustriel to leave. And Alustriel seemed to have realized that as well, releasing her hold on Drizzt, which Laeral took as a cue to let go of his hand.
“Hadn’t chosen yet. All of their things are in the haversack Thyl and Lin gifted me with, though, so I can call the carrion feeders now, and we can find a place… if you’re staying with me for a time?”
“I’m sure Alustriel would like to,” Sharr said, “but I rather think she and I had best go back to Silverymoon.”
“You are entirely correct,” Alustriel said with a sigh. “Before we go, however, did the Warder get lucky enough that you need a potion?”
“He’s not hurt at all,” Laeral answered, her tone exasperated, “though he hadn’t even bothered to check until I asked him if he was, despite the fact that the very first thing he said when I arrived was ‘Bright Eyes needs a potion. Do you have one?’”
“Of course it was,” Alustriel sighed, and Sharr winced at the exasperation in her tone. He strongly suspected that Drizzt was going to be in for a talk about taking care of himself as well as others, once the ranger returned to Silverymoon. “Of course it was.
“But since that is the case, Sharr and I really do need to leave now.” She leaned down to give Drizzt a kiss. When she pulled back, Sharr reached out and took her hand, and a moment later, they were in her bedchamber.
“Well,” Alustriel said, “I think we should both get some rest now, but do try to help me remember tomorrow that it’s brought up something I need to talk to you about.”
“Of course, my star.” Sharr moved in to kiss her, then turned to leave for his own rooms.
The following night, once Alustriel had returned from the post-evenfeast festivities she had chosen to attend, Sharr asked, “So what is it that you need to talk to me about, that was brought up by the attack on Drizzt?”
“Taking the Warder bond with him,” Alustriel answered, shifting on the divan to look more directly at Sharr. “I’ve been wanting to for a while, but felt it would be better to let him bring it up, because of his history with it.”
“The attack has changed your willingness to wait for that, then?” Sharr asked.
“It has,” Alustriel replied. “Between the fact that I could have lost him, without even knowing that he was in danger, and how close it strikes to what happened to you, I’m no longer comfortable with waiting, though I do plan to ask Laeral for advice on how to broach the subject with him.”
“I have no problems whatsoever with you taking the bond with Drizzt,” Sharr said. “I’ve actually been expecting this conversation since the two of you made your relationship official.”
Sharr and Kor had left for the village before Laeral got back from telling her Aes Sedai friend about the attack on Drizzt, but the conversation with her had gone quite well, as Laeral had actually been thinking about the matter for some time. And now, a month later, Drizzt had returned to Silverymoon, and Alustriel was preparing to start the conversation.
Shifting on the divan to face him fully, she took a deep breath and said, “Drizzt, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
Hearing the serious tone in her voice, Drizzt also shifted to look straight at Alustriel. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Alustriel said, “but the attack by the Black Ajah and her Warder has changed my feelings on an aspect of our relationship that I had previously felt that you should be the one to bring up.”
“And what is that aspect?”
Alustriel took another deep breath. “I want to take the Warder bond with you.”
“How does Sharr feel about us doing so?” Drizzt asked. He knew that it was possible for someone to have two Warders, but he also knew that a second Warder was a choice that had to be agreed to by the first Warder.
“Sharr is fine with it,” Alustriel said.
“Is it just because of the attack, though?”
“No. I’ve wanted to take the bond with you for a while, but given your history with it, I felt it would be better to let you come to me about it when—or if—you felt ready to take it.
“But with the attack… you could have been killed, because I didn’t know you needed help.”
“Even if we had been bonded,” Drizzt said, “it’s not like I would have been able to share my vision with you before the attack was over.”
“I’m working on solving that problem,” Alustriel replied. “Teleportation-markers and the staves of Silverymoon are both things that allow one to teleport to them, so if I can figure out how to adapt the magic, I can make something for you to wear that I will be able to teleport to without error, and without needing your eyes to know where.”
Drizzt gave a wry smile. “I want to take it, too. But knowing the effect a broken bond has, I could not see why you would wish to do so with me, given that it’s a ranger’s duty to risk their life for others. Especially since what happened to Sharr proved that your enemies are perfectly willing to target those you are close to.”
Alustriel laughed softly, shaking her head as she drew him closer. “Aren’t we a pair? Though I will say that the fact that the attack on you reminding me of what happened to Sharr contributed to my decision to broach the matter of the bond with you.”
“A good pair, I think,” he said, leaning in to kiss her. “And I had not considered that perspective on things.”
“Tomorrow, then, after lunch? Since I’ll need to memorize the spell.”
“Tomorrow after lunch is fine with me.”
Late fall
Kor and Sharr were playing a game in Kor’s rooms, having chosen not to attend evenfeast that night, when Sharr suddenly took on the distant look of talking over the anklets. Kor patiently waited for Sharr to come back to himself, and when the other man did, Kor asked, “What’s going on?”
“Alustriel asked me to meet her and Drizzt at Taern’s office,” Sharr said, getting up as he did so. “And your presence would also be useful.”
“Then let’s go,” Kor said, getting up himself.
Not bothering to put away the game, the two of them left Kor’s rooms and headed for the Spellguard Tower at a brisk pace.
Alustriel and Drizzt had not yet arrived when Kor and Sharr got to Taern’s office, but they didn’t have to wait long before Alustriel walked in without even knocking, followed by Drizzt.
“Taern, Syluné needs my help,” she said. “They’re about to be attacked and the others are unavailable. You’re going to have to stay to watch the city, and organize getting as many of the Knights and Spellguards to me as you can.
“My next stops are the magical items vault and the dispensary for weapons to share out and potions for the injured.”
Taern nodded. “I will get that support to you swiftly, Lady. And the city will be guarded well.” He looked at each of the men, catching their eyes and getting brief nods in return, then focused fully. “I do not suppose she said which of her problems?”
“No,” Alustriel replied, shaking her head. “It may not be obvious. Thank you, Taern. Mystra be with you.” She turned and left the office then, followed by Drizzt, and—after he exchanged a look with Kor—Sharr as well.
“So,” Kor said, once the door had shut again, “do you just want me to handle informing Besnell and getting things started for the Knights?”
“Probably better for me to handle formally notifying him,” Taern replied, “but I see no reason you shouldn’t come with me for that, given that I’m sure you’re planning on being one of the Knights who goes. And if Besnell doesn’t ask you to lead them, I’ll be surprised.”
“Fair enough.”
Kor was familiar enough with magic to know that the effort the Sisters had expended in the last push would have knocked them both out, so once the battle was actually over, he went looking for either Drizzt or Sharr.
He found Drizzt first, as the ranger had actually been coming to find him. Drawing him over to a quiet spot to talk, Kor said, “With Alustriel unconscious, that leaves you and Sharr as the ones our people are going to look to for guidance. What do you want us to do?”
Despite his clear surprise at Kor's question, Drizzt gave sensible enough directions, and once all of the uninjured Knights and Spellguards had been set to tasks, Kor turned his attention to the ranger himself. “While we were organizing the cleanup, Aumry told me that Sharr accompanied Alustriel and Syluné off the battlefield, and stayed with them,” he said. “Since that means Sharr has already had a chance to get some rest, you should swap places with him now.”
It wasn’t that simple to convince Drizzt, of course, but soon enough, the ranger had agreed and headed for Chauntea's Temple, and not long after that, Sharr came and joined Kor where he was participating in checking for further traps.
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