tales_of_faerun | Entries tagged with character: vierna do'urden

Sealing the Future (22801 words) by Sharpest_Asp, Ilyena_Sylph
Chapters: 6/6
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Vierna Do'Urden, Zaknafein Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden, Ensemble
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family Dynamics, Ensemble Cast, Canon Typical Violence
Summary:

Life continues to move forward, with peace and threats alike, for the Do'Urden family.

Sealing the Future: Chapter One

Zaknafein eased back from the door with enough nuance to his motion to make it clear Yasdra was asleep. He was very curious about his son's welfare, but as Vierna had returned alone, all must be well.

Once she was in, he went and used a silence cantrip on his younger daughter, Vierna's heiress in all likelihood, before moving her to her own room. Once that door was shut, he could talk to Vierna freely.

"You stayed away longer than I expected," he began, once she returned from getting into more comfortable clothing. "What foolish thing has Drizzt done this time?"

Vierna glared at the wall and raked her fingers through her hair, before flinging herself into one of her chairs. "Oh, he only nearly bled to death from having run himself to exhaustion and then fought entirely too long against an invasion of the town-lands by the barbarian tribes up there. Why he bothered to lift a finger, given the way they treat him, I cannot understand! But we owe a debt to Termalaine, for their Spokesman's protection and care for him."

Zak grunted at that, shaking his head. "I'm never going to understand that boy." He made himself breathe slowly; Drizzt was alive, if a little worse for it. It wasn't as if he had never been on death's door, but Zak had never had much choice in it. Drizzt throwing himself into such fighting for the choosing of it? Was too strange.

"Nor am I," Vierna agreed with a sigh. "I tracked him down, healed him, and took him back to his cavern to recover properly. Then I let him escort me to the portal back here. I waited an hour or so after i got back to my portal up there, then went hunting for the barbarian king who had given him the worst of his wounds. Drizzt knew he had wounded the man, but the barbarian's guards had intervened and dragged the king away.

"I hoped I would find a corpse. I did not... but there certainly was one by the time I left that encampment."

Zaknafein smiled with pride at his daughter. "Good. One less ghost to chase him," he said. What even was his life where he could feel and show pride in this daughter of his? "Hopefully Drizzt learns something about not giving everything he is to people who are not family."

"I hope so," Vierna said, with no particular conviction that it would happen in her tone. "I would have liked to poison the entire encampment, but... he would not be pleased by that. So." She shrugged, mildly vexed.

"No, he'd fuss, and that might abridge the truce between you two about actions taken." Zaknafein nodded. "You handled it the best you could of, removing an enemy and keeping his conscience clear."

He then gave her a searching look. "Have you eaten? I can make something for you." His fatherly concern over his son could be put to use for the daughter here and now, much as he was aware he'd fuss over Yasdra when she woke.

Vierna's brows creased. "Drizzt fed me before we left for the portal," she said thoughtfully, "but... no, I haven't since. You're right, I am hungry."

He stood, came over to pet her braids, then continued on to the kitchen. He didn't like that his son had faced death very nearly, but there was nothing to be done for it, beyond what Vierna had done already.

Over the years, Drizzt had been 'borrowed' by Dove Falconhand's nephews, sisters, and even her childhood guardian (which had Drizzt vowing never to believe Elminster's appraisal of a situation).

This visit, though, by one of the eldest nephews just as winter was gearing up, was different. Dolthauvin, called Dol, arrived alone by teleport, and happily took refuge in Drizzt's home, noting the touches that made it truly livable. The door was obviously a dwarven ingenuity, and the various pegs plus shelves inside showed similar craftsmanship.

"You know, I kept hearing you had dwarven allies, but it hadn't really sunk in," Dol told him, admiring everything. "It's not a region I'd expect them in, but then, I can't see an elf making a home up here for long, either." His last words were teasing in Drizzt's direction.

"I probably could not have survived long without their aid in mastering the place," Drizzt agreed. "And once they chose to trust me, I could not conscience leaving, as my best friend among them is in need of someone to give her protection to be out from under rock, teaching in the way of bow and sword, as well as an alternative point of view from her clan.

"That I learn as much from her is the wonderful part."

"I hope to get to meet them, especially your friend," Dol said. "If you don't mind me intruding long enough to get the version of elf-drow history you originally learned, and any variations you have learned since your family went to a city of the Masked God."

"I certainly don't mind company," Drizzt answered, shaking his head as moved to rearrange a few things to make more room for his guest -- as he was rather taller than Catti -- to be comfortable. "Especially not in winter. It's still more than a moon before I would normally go visit my father and sisters, even!"

"You know my entire family is absolutely amazed at how you balance being a ranger of Khalreshaar and Eilistraee with having a high priestess of the Masked God as a sister, right?" Dol asked, even as he stayed out of the way, seeing Drizzt knew exactly how to do what needed doing.

"Oh, I know," Drizzt agreed, "it is absolutely amazing I survived, after all. Vierna -- even being Vhaeraun's, and not the Spider Queen's -- should have revealed me to the Matron to be sacrificed, if only to save herself and cement her position."

Dol felt his skin chill at that idea. The Realms without Drizzt Do'Urden? With all the man had done, it did not bear thinking about.

"I think I see the shape of that, and it absolutely terrifies me to consider," he managed to say after not too long a pause.

Drizzt stopped and came to lay a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "I am well, and -- blessedly -- she was not inclined to reveal me. She has told me, now and then, that trying to keep me from doing something that would expose me, or her, was a trial through my childhood. I forgave her for all the beatings years ago, after she stole Father and I right out from under the Spider-Queen's nose and told me why it had had to be so."

"She took the time to explain," Dol said slowly. "Drizzt, your sister defies so many ideas I have long held about folks committed to evil. It's no wonder Aunt Qi said she admires your sister, despite being on opposite sides of things."

Drizzt beamed, delighted at the praise of his sister both from his friend and from Qilue, who he respected immensely. "She did. She had us kill her whip, and along the trip she explained much. I still cannot accept Vhaeraun's desire for conquest, or His love of treachery and stealth, but He forbids murder of drow among drow, and House Wars in the cities He has power in -- so I respect Him. He protected Vierna all her life, and told her to flee with me to preserve my life. She tells me He is pleased enough to have gotten her, and Father, and Yasdra out of His investment in her, and is not too enraged by my following my own nature.

"Eilistraee, I think, takes some hope in that Vierna and I can love each other, despite that -- depending on which spells she's taken that day -- sometimes she makes my skin hurt, and I trade my weapons out so that their blessing does not do her harm while I'm in the city. Truly, he has been so, so good to Vierna and to us. She is honestly happy now, after so long living in terror of our Mother and sister."

"That... that's good. And of course you're opposed to it; we all would have been knee deep in a tar pit a few years back if you weren't." Dol half-grinned at that assessment. "I really wish my father could have met you."

"I wish I could have met him," Drizzt agreed, thinking of the stories he'd heard of the Lore-Keeper who had raised such a number of sons. "He sounds like he was remarkable."

"He really was," Dol said with a wistful sigh. "So, in exchange for your tales, would you like one in turn? Since Andy and I were eldest, our first adventure was under both our parents' eyes, and I have fun telling it when Andy's not here to counter me."

"I would, yes, absolutely," Drizzt agreed with a bright smile, "just let me finish getting things rearranged!"

He moved to finish that up, buoyed by the recognition of how amazing his sister was.

"Thanks for giving me more leg room," Dol said with a grin, before he settled, having already hung his robes on a peg, and brought out his quill of recording with a sheaf of paper. Those he put beside him. "I can throw up a mansion later, if you're craving food you didn't cook and a hot bath.

"Just let me know what part of the world to pattern it from."

"All of you spoil me ridiculously," Drizzt told him, chuckling and choosing to answer the offer first, "and given how few regions I know, why don't you shape it for somewhere you'd like me to try?

"So let me tell you the history as I was taught it, yes, to start our tale-trading?"

"Let me just get the quill set up, and yes. I promise not to be too distracting as I react to your tales," Dol promised.

Catti-brie had been watching the weather, and as soon as a day was clear enough to allow her time to run up the Cairn, she did so. She just barely beat the howling winds rising up, sliding inside and closing the door swiftly. That was when she noticed Drizzt wasn't alone, and she frowned.

"Who be ye?" she asked with typical dwarven bluntness.

"Dolthauvin Aerasumé, please call me Dol. Father was far too fond of traditional names, and we all use our short form."

"Catti-brie, clan Battlehammer," she said of herself before stripping off the outerwear to hang on her peg. "Ye cannae be terrible, or me ranger'd not let ye be stayin'," she added.

Dol studied her, blanking his face against shock at hearing that long dispersed and much reduced clan roll off in the older dwarvish brogue. She looked to be in her mid-teens, if he could judge humans at all, auburn hair and with the supple strength of one accustomed to hard work. She didn't look malnourished, appeared healthy, and Drizzt had rearranged himself to let the girl share his seat easily enough.

"Our family has learned to rely on Drizzt's estimate of others," Dol agreed with that, smiling a bit at the young ranger. "I'm a nephew of his ranger teachers." How could a group of dwarves be up here, using that name… and how had they changed to the point of adopting a human? He had so many questions.

Drizzt ducked his head slightly, but he smiled for both Catti's defense and Dol's content agreement. "So he is," he agreed, to Catti, and to Dol, "and Catti is my student -- as Bruenor and I agree she will never have the mass for axe and shield. Better to work to her advantages. Dol came to get some of my perspectives on the ancient history of our peoples. It has been entertaining for us both, I think."

"It definitely has been, and I almost wish my father had lived long enough to hear this all," Dol said. "Only almost, because it would also involve a lot of spluttering, as he was actually a dedicated Lore Keeper."

"I ken just enow tae be certain the tales would be very far apart," Catti-brie told him. "Drizzt has the best tones tae show how idiotic some of what he learned is." She smiled at her dearest friend. "Keeps the winter friendly, tae listen tae his tales."

Drizzt chuckled at her, nodding. "Dol has heard some of that by now, yes," he agreed. "How fares the clan below? The aunties and uncles?"

"Elder Uncle is enjoying trying to work with the rothe hair ye brought back from the northern caves, and the rest are doing as ever — sleeping when they can, fussing at e'eryone when they can't," Catti-brie told him. "Me Da said ye best come down at least once a'fore ye take yerself tae see yer kin," she added. "He's still all tied up with tryin' to domesticate that boy."

"I'm sorry, what?" Dol inquired as the sentence made little sense in context of dwarves.

"Barbarian lad as hit me Da in the head, got laid out but didnae die," Catti-brie answered. "Me Da wouldnae turn him over for the towns tae lynch, nor send him back tae be sacrificed for failing in battle. But the boy is stubborn and resisting what's good for him, that he is still breathing and only has tae work off his people's debt to our people."

Drizzt sighed -- he still was not certain of that decision, but it had been the best Bruenor could do for the child. "I will certainly come down," he agreed, "I would not leave without seeing Bruenor, and if he is so entangled, he won't have the time to trek up here." Also, the cold did no good for his friend's older bones, but he would never say that aloud!

"Do you think your father would mind if Dol came along, to the trading cavern at least?"

"When this storm passes, aye, ye can bring him with ye," Catti-brie said, using all the authority of her place as chieftain's daughter to make that pronouncement. Dol did not smile to hear it, but recognized it from those times when Andy would actually be the lord he was born to be.

"Thank you, Catti-brie. I look forward to hearing what tales your people might share," Dol said. "While I am not a trained bard as my aunt Storm, there's some similarity between a history collector and her functions."

Drizzt laughed wryly. "I think the Reghedmen see no difference at all," he said, relaxing a little at Catti-brie's approval.

"Not that I know of, no," Dol agreed, before settling back in his seat. He did not want to intrude on whatever the pair would normally set to doing, and he had much to think on before he got to go down and learn if this really was the clan he'd given aid to and traded with as a much younger man.

~Brothers mine, clear your agendas if you can for the coming spring,~ Dol started the sending late the next night, after a very emotional day with the clan chieftain and his few surviving elders.

~Do tell us why,~ Ghael drawled cheerfully. ~What has our favorite ranger found for us to quest after?~

~Clan Battlehammer, about two hundred of them, with the last king's own grandson.~

~Son of a three-eyed newt, WHAT?!~ came Elin's immediate outcry, more strongly than any of the other protests. It took a bit for everything to calm down, to allow the sending anklets to work properly.

~Twin, that's amazing, and yes, we eldest ones did look, but no one in their right mind could have predicted the Icewind Dale as a destination,~ Andy sent at last to get things on track.

~It's too late for them to stock up, but they have knucklebone for me to trade, so we can make supply depots,~ Dol told them on an answer to his twin, then forged on with his own. ~This place just had a war in autumn, so there's not much to forage.~

~We take the knucklebone, spread it out in markets that have grain that early, and help,~ Ghael agreed.

~How many clerics to multiply it, as we should save some back for their other needs,~ Methri pointed out.

~None, little brother. They get by fully on natural ways… and Drizzt, now he's here.~ Dol's voice was quite grave on that matter.

~Right, I'm hunting through those down here to see who got cleric trained,~ Elin declared.

Other smaller details were discussed, and the feasibility of clearing — and securing — the old trade town if it hadn't been swallowed by the woods was debated. It was a good project, and each one of the Tall Ones took on tasks willingly.

They all existed as a gift of magic between humans and elves, so they felt it was their duty to give back to the goodly races, to justify their elf-long years.

Drizzt was expected, so Zak was a little less paranoid opening the door than usual. His son slipped in, hugged him tight, then hurried to his room. Even with the protective sheathes on his blessed scimitars, they still agitated Vierna at times. The swords were changed out for his ones kept here, and his holy pendant was also left with the surface swords. It was his concession for visits, a token offered to keep the peace with her.

He should see about acquiring a bag of holding to put them away in, so he could keep them on his person. Until then, he'd made certain to warn both of his goddesses that he would be lacking the usual charms They had bestowed on him in his last surface vigils.

All that seen to, and a piwafwi pulled over his armor, he went back into the room to find his little sister — not so little now, and beginning to show more sedate manners — waiting for him.

"It's good to see you, Yasdra." He opened his body language, to see if she wanted to hug him, and was smiling as she threw herself into it with abandon. He put his cheek to her hair, holding her close, just soaking in being back with his family.

Zaknafein took in that picture of them, and committed it to memory. He lived for his family, he would kill for them, and he would not hesitate to die for them if it would protect them. As Drizzt and Yasdra took their places on the sofa, he went to start a meal to feed all of his children, knowing Vierna would be home soon enough.

Vierna did, at about the time Zaknafein was finishing making the meal, return to their quarters -- and a delighted smile crossed her face as she saw Drizzt sitting with their sister. "Well! Good evening, brother! Good evening, sister."

Drizzt smiled broadly in turn, permitting himself to pet Yasdra's hair once before escaping her being glued to his side, telling him all about her lessons. He moved to Vierna and tucked into her arms for a long hug, despite having seen her more recently than the others.

"I have news that might not make you happy," he warned quietly, "as it means I will be moving from the portal you created for us."

Vierna took a deep breath and did not growl at him. She had put twenty years of her life into those two portals, what in Vhaeraun's name did he mean he was going to leave them?!

"You had better be going south," she said first, as quietly as he had, as she tried to work out some way that this wasn't something for her to be angry about. She could use teleport now, her god had been generous in that. And if someone ever tried to track her to Drizzt through the portal, well, if she then teleported it would be much, much harder for them.

He squeezed her and nodded, before just turning his face into her braids and neck for a long moment. Once he felt steady, having told her that, he did pull back and give her a faint smile. "Shouldn't keep Father waiting with food, Vehna," he said playfully at a more normal level of speaking.

"No, we shouldn't, brat," she agreed with him, reaching to ruffle his hair gently for a moment before letting him go and heading towards the table.

He gave his hand to Yasdra, wanting to swing her up on his hip like he used to, but conscious of her being older now. She took it, and walked with him to the table, even grinning a little when he pulled her chair out for her. Zak's chest was tight as he saw that, still amazed at how close-knit his children were in the affection they shared.

"Let's eat," Zak said, once he had the meal in the center of the table, leaving all conversation of serious topics to the side for now. Later, he'd find out how well his son had recovered, and other news they should know.

Much later, after a solid spar and Yasdra going to bed, Drizzt was sprawled on the floor, showing his endurance had not yet fully recovered, though he'd lasted a good long while.

"As I told Vierna earlier, I will be moving from Icewind Dale. One of my teacher's nephews came to visit and on being introduced to my friends, gave news that Bruenor has more people from his ancestral Hall," Drizzt began. "Plans are in place, including a way to supply the clan on the move, with a destination in the Frost Hills, on the southern side of the Spine.

"Once he gets his people unified, then he intends to try and find the Hall, and I will be involved in that." He looked over at Vierna. "He's too good a leader to make southern-adapted people move to him, but he can't have his clan fractured, now that he knows. And if we can't find the Hall, or it's uninhabitable, then we'll set surveying teams out, to try and find other mines to build."

Vierna sighed. "Why do you have to be friends with dwarves?" she complained, mostly in resignation rather than frustration. "At least this one has sense enough to get his people out of that wretched cousin of the Abyss your current abode is, I suppose. I am not building you another portal, even once you're settled.

"You can cozen one of your Surface friends into crafting you a pair to the portals there. There are enough of them with the power to do it, after all."

That had come to her while they ate, and she was not particularly displeased with it.

"I may ask," Drizzt surprised them by answering. "As portals back to those would make it easier for the wizards I know to get knucklebone where it is cheapest, and apparently it takes spells well." He chuckled. "Even if it is not a goddess laying the spells.

"Apparently my pendent is now able to help me against undead things."

"Always a useful thing, when you don't have a cleric right there to control them," Zak said wryly.

"Given the kinds of trouble you get into, I approve of your having another defense," Vierna said, though she was doubly grateful he had taken the wretched thing off. "And good."

"I love you too, Vierna," Drizzt said, tone playful. "I don't think I remembered to tell you both Catti-brie was grateful for the suggestion I teach her knives. And she has since graduated to the sword — singular — which she wound up using to defend a tunnel during the invasion, deterring an idiot Tribesman who had gotten turned around from his host."

"You're not teaching her two-handed stances, are you?" Zak asked.

"I am doing my best to remember strictly single-sword stance and recovery," Drizzt promised.

Vierna chuckled softly. "You know this means Father is going to drill you one-handed the rest of the time you're here, right?" she teased, smiling down at him.

"That will be good for me; some of the spells I can learn do need a free hand," he told her. "Now that I am returning to the lands below the Spine, I plan to pick up my studies with any rangers willing to aid me.

"As I will not be far from Silverymoon, so I will be able to meet others there."

He was not thinking about the fact he would also be able to renew Lady Silverhand's acquaintance, having found her presence and charm soothing despite his raw edges as he brought Crenshinibon south, years before.

Vierna gave a small shudder at the mention of the city protected by some warding that barred all beings like her from entry, but nodded.

Zak, for his part, was struck once again by the fact that his son could and did cast divine, as his daughter did, even if his son's magic came from one of the two goddesses he could not understand. That they helped to protect his faerie-hearted child, and chose to gift him with Their power... all he could do was marvel for a moment.

"Then we have something to work on," he said mildly, well-pleased with that.

"I look forward to it, Father," Drizzt said happily, soaking in the ambiance of being home with his beloved family all over again.

Sealing the Future: Chapter Two

Late 1355 D.R.

Getting Bruenor's clan settled into their home had taken most of a year to move, find the place, and evict the occupants. Vierna reaped the benefit of her brother's efforts; the dragon within had been named as an enemy of Vhaeraun's centuries before the thing had taken the Hall. Vierna was exasperated but pleased, with the exasperation being connected to Drizzt having taken the brunt of an attack to get the dragon lined up for a killing blow.

She would grudgingly admit that he'd been well-cared for, even if he had been inside that city where she would never be able to reach him.

She carefully did not tell Dhaunae that Drizzt had found a love match, dispelling the idea that he was completely without interest in sex. She wasn't truly certain what to feel about him tying his life to a wizard of that level of power. On the one hand, he was completely worth someone of renown. On the other… Silverhand was a very powerful woman, and Drizzt was still so young.

Her father's contacts had indicated something was stirring in their former city, which normally would have been of little concern to her — except there was the unresolved matter of her unlamented elder sister hanging over their heads.

It wasn't going to do her any good to worry about Briza... but having had her brought back to mind did make Vierna nervous. Which was not a state she particularly enjoyed.

"You're thinking too loud," her father said, Yasdra currently being in a class with Nalatar. That cleric was one of a very few people Zak could trust with his children's welfare. It was also helpful, as Nalatar understood the surface language more than well enough to teach Yasdra, and she wished it, since her brother spoke it fluently.

"Then what am I thinking about, if I am doing so too loudly?" Vierna asked, trying to be playful.

"Something affecting our family," Zak said lazily. "Your shoulders are tenser than usual, your jaw is tight, and you have that crinkle in the middle of your brow that you and Drizzt get when you're trying to carry the weight of protection all on your own."

Vierna found herself smiling at the comparison to her brother more than indignant at the commentary, and she sighed and nodded. "Your news brought what the eldest daughter of our House did to herself back to mind," she admitted. "It might have been for nothing... or it might have been accepted. And that opens a variety of terrible possibilities. Few of which my Lord can give me any warning of, given it is best for Him to avoid the Demonweb Pits."

"Hmm. And my contact certainly will have no awareness of anything at that level," Zak said, frowning. "I believe, daughter, we need to shake up our own routine a bit more and further delay building the House we mean to have. Our fighters will wait; they like temple stipends after all." The one that Drizzt had spared so long ago had led to others, ones who would accept a place in House Do'Urden in a heartbeat.

Vierna nodded her agreement -- she had not found anyone she was willing to accept as a consort, or a mage she was willing to bind as kin, so... it was no great trouble to delay a little while longer. "All true," she agreed, "and likely best."

"I'll speak with Nalatar when I go retrieve Yasdra; I do trust them beyond the rest of your cohort of clerics," Zak mused. "They might have contacts to parlay with in exchange for Drizzt acquiring things for them from the surface."

He had no compunctions against selling Drizzt's skills, knowing his son would gladly offer them for the family. The boy could not live with them full time, but the family still came first.

Vierna nodded. "They're the best choice, by far," she agreed. Nalatar had deep connections among the mages, which might, in fact, be the best angle to find help.

He nodded to that, then dragged himself back up. "Come, my student. Enough exercise of the mind; how are your maces today?" he challenged, so they would both put this aside… and sharpen their skills further for the eventual fight.

"Let us find out," Vierna replied, finding a smile of agreement with his blatant goals for him.

Drizzt was laughing brightly as he sparred Catti-brie on one side of him and Lespur on the other, all while the barbarian youth Bruenor had brought with them watched, ostensibly learning. His scimitars were darting left and right, fending off the short sword and pike both while the women — girl in Catti's case — tried to make a teamwork effort.

All of that crashed to a halt as a shadow near them deepened, and Drizzt broke off, knowing that could be a threat… or a message from his sister. Lespur got between the pair of youths and the reaching shadow.

The shadow finally spit out an imp that appeared to be made of shadow itself, and Drizzt saw the city symbol of Rilauven stamped in the swirl of darkness, leading him to look expectantly at the creature.

"Greetings from Silent Sable Nalatar," the imp said. "They request that you meet them near your 'unfortunate experience above' by the next dark of the moon."

That was going to be a tight schedule for Drizzt to keep, but his worry for the family at why it was Nalatar reaching out made him agree with a sharp nod… and he found a coin that was glittering in its shine to give to the creature before it vanished away.

"Drizzt?" Catti-brie asked, stepping past Lespur to reach for his shoulder.

"I have to go. If one of the Tall Ones comes in my absence, ask them to convey my regrets to their mother I will be unavailable," he told his young friend. "Lespur, will you see them both back inside?"

"O'course, and ye be careful, lad."

Drizzt nodded, putting away his blades, and ran up to his own home, above the entry to the Hall, so that he could get his pack and bow.

"I donnae like this," Catti-brie said. "Before, it was always through the rock he keeps."

"Aye, lass, and all the more reason tae do as he said and go inside." Lespur looked at Wulfgar standing and gave grudging approval for his obedience. Him respecting her, Catti, and their elf had been hard won, but cemented by the battle to take the Hall.

Drizzt had made the agreed upon meeting point with time to spare. He noted that the town still had trade with the drow, two nights later, when the wagons rolled beneath his hiding place in the dark of the night.

Nalatar rarely attended to trade — ahh, there his teacher was, toward the rear of the group. A word passed with a guard and Nalatar turned off, no doubt with the excuse of gathering a rare surface component. Drizzt tracked the priest silently until certain that they would be alone, and dropped out of the concealing trees with enough noise to warn the other drow.

Nalatar was versed enough in battle to not be someone Drizzt would sneak up on.

"My family?"

Nalatar blinked, then huffed out air. "I should have realized your thoughts would turn to danger for them, and in a way, that is correct, but not immediately." Nalatar beckoned for Drizzt to walk alongside them, heading toward a thicket.

"Danger, but not immediate?"

"Your father's contacts in your former city indicated something very major is being planned. While that cannot affect us all the way in Rilauven…"

At Nalatar's words trailing off, Drizzt's jaw set grimly. "They are not so far from my new home, are they? And I could be used against my sisters or father."

"As best we can determine, yes. We bear no love to your dwarven allies, but a favor is owed, for killing that drow-murdering shadow dragon," Nalatar told him. "Consider this for that."

"I will not waste the warning. But surely there is more, for you to bring me to your side, my friend." Drizzt held some of the thorn-brake apart, seeing what Nalatar wanted to harvest.

"No, that is to be certain your family is protected more fully. Your father wishes Yasdra to have a dagger like the Redeemed Shade's, and has entrusted me with the enchantments. I would like, if at all possible, to have a blade of mithral to work with, as the girl is nearly as quick-minded as you are, and thus an engaging student."

Drizzt smiled indulgently at that. "Young for your tutoring, but I approve deeply." He wouldn't even have to go back to the Hall to arrange that, as he was carrying a slim mithral blade in his boot that should work. Uncle the Younger had made it for him, when the elderly dwarf had decided he simply had to work mithral once more before he died.

Uncle would understand the need to pass a gift like that to a younger sibling.

"You feel there is some direct threat, though, one they have not spoken of to me?" Drizzt asked after Nalatar had secured the night-blooming flower and its roots.

"I thought they might be holding back something," Nalatar agreed. "I do not know the full extent of it, but some action by the zealot had given our Redeemed Shade reason for wariness. I was asked to seek out the edges of any Abyssal interest toward our city.

"Your father offered me your services in procuring items of the surface in exchange."

"Ask him to send to me, any time, and I would gladly do so," Drizzt pointed out.

"I know." Nalatar slipped the component into their expanded pocket after wrapping it carefully. "Any move against you is likely to be the first attack against your sister, as you well know. My own measures indicate it will be a simultaneous attack, though."

Drizzt frowned. "I should come to the Temple."

"And forfeit the trust and allies you hold on the Surface?" Nalatar pointedly asked. "That would be a victory of its own against your family. It has proven advantageous to us, after all, that you can act as an intermediary with … those who follow our Lord's Sister. Your assistance in defeating the dragon has earned you a more hospitable place among us, yes, but you are most valuable above.

"Even if you do not fully espouse our Lord's ways, you help manage the peace we need to grow strong enough to eventually overthrow Her," and Nalatar's hands twisted in the dying spider gesture.

Drizzt inclined his head, slowly, accepting the logic of that. "Very well, my friend. I will remain away… as me coming outside of my usual winter visit would seem odd to any spies."

"Ahh, you learn intrigue and caution at last!"

Both of them laughed, even if Drizzt's was a touch rueful, before scouring the area for more useful things. Drizzt would give over his knife before they parted ways… and consider most carefully what his next steps needed to be.

Yvonnel Baenre had watched the Houses settle themselves out in the aftermath of the Fifth and short-lived Eighth Houses both falling in a short time. It had been a few decades, with new fighters coming to maturity, and the feeling of discontent brewing just under the surface with matters.

It was time for something to shake things up, and fortunately, her goddess agreed.

Between her finger and thumb, she toyed with a thick tooth, before calling for her nearest daughter to put things in motion to ready the city for a campaign against dwarves, with riches beyond compare… and a prize to bring to the altar.

Her smile was cold and cruel, making Quenthel shiver in anticipation of just what these next years would bring for their House. She was unaware that other, more divine strikes were going to be orchestrated, to bring the upstart Masked God to his knees in a far-away city as Menzoberranzan enriched itself.

Sealing the Future: Chapter Three

1358 D.R.

Even long-lived species like drow and dwarves could not stay on the edge of impending doom constantly. The warnings were passed where they needed to be in the Hall, and in the city that was Drizzt's other home. Time passed, and nothing stirred, dulling the anticipation.

The anticipation re-awakened after a clumsy attempt on Vierna's life in Rilauven, and Drizzt decided he had waited too long, that he needed to see if he could learn anything at all about Menzoberranzan's proximity to Mithral Hall. With that in mind, he brought his piwafwi and Underdark-forged weapons back with him, protected in the cunning haversack that Thyl had gifted him with, so that he could do some scouting.

He did not tell his sisters or his father of his plans, knowing one of them would protest, if not all. Even Yasdra understood now that he was not just strange, but antithetical to most normal drow. If he was caught… it would not go well for him at all.

Drizzt, however, had spent his entire life trying to be as good as his father in stealth and combat. While he was not certain he'd be able to call on his goddesses' gifts once he was in the Underdark, given he tended to lean more on his Surface Lady, he did not rely heavily on those.

"I will worry, but you must follow your heart."

Alustriel's words sat deep in his soul, having found a kinship in many ways with her since moving near to her city. Those, and Catti-brie's rougher warning not to get himself killed, kept him buoyed through the first several days of exploration, guided by what he'd gleaned from Nalatar during his visit home.

He took it as a sign that the first trace of civilization was a mining crew of the svirfnebli, one of the few good races in the Underdark, and he made up his mind to approach them in peace, to trade for information if they would just listen to him.

Belwar Dissengulp was aware enough of the unease about Menzoberranzan that having a drow walk into their midst, hands away from hilts and open, was invitation to violence even before he had processed it fully.

The drow, though he did draw blades, was fighting in defense only, his speed blinding yet managed with care so that the crew who swarmed him with tools and weapons alike were sent staggering back, unharmed save for a brief stun.

It was unnerving, making the miners certain a larger group with magic was lurking in the dark, ready to swarm and enslave them — or worse.

"Enough, all of you!" the drow snapped out in a moment where he'd managed to clear a circle around himself. "If I surrender will you let me talk?!"

What in the names of every rock and magma stream was this?!

"Stand down!" Belwar hissed, and one of his fellows managed to pull back the only one who didn't listen, trying to get at the ancient enemy.

"My gratitude," the drow said, blades vanishing with that infernal speed once more. "I mean it. I will surrender if I may have honest parlay with your people."

"You stand over there, and we'll stay over here," Belwar said, pointing to the most vulnerable, unprotected spot in this tunnel. Amazingly, the drow obeyed that, going to stand where he had no rock for shield, too low a roof to levitate, and was visibly hotter than the air around him — where that drow-crafted garment wasn't hiding his body from sight.

"My name is Drizzt Do'Urden," the drow began calmly, as if he hadn't just defended himself against a score of veteran svirfnebli trying to club him down. "I am seeking information, to defend my allies above from a threat by the people I was born to.

"I can offer information about potential trade with those allies, in exchange for this."

"There is only death above," Belwar said, though a memory of fleeing duergar being chased away from their own mines intruded. At the time, the svirfnebli had decided anything to turn that race to terror was something to avoid. Could it be that the allies mentioned were a threat bigger than drow themselves? Was this man an agent of violence trying to lure them into a false sense of security?

"Only to those who do evil deeds, Saer," Drizzt answered that. "We killed Haerinvureem, who held a dwarven stronghold above. The dwarves have returned to the mines, and would be willing to trade with other good folk, if you wish to seek that out.

"All I am asking is what is known of Menzoberranzan in these tunnels, so I can better protect my allies, some of whom I count as close-kin by choice."

"Lies. Drow lies!" one of the junior miners hissed.

Belwar was not so convinced, but he looked the drow over closely. "You say you are from above, yet you wear the garb and weapons of a true drow."

Drizzt inclined his head. "I have business and family in a distant drow city. It is better to use and wear things from here when below, and keep them from fading when I am above." He focused on Belwar, tuning out the agitated others. "I have made no offensive moves. I approached openly and with hands in view.

"Please, good saer, either say that you have information you will share, or send me on my way to scout as best I can. The safety of my friends is my priority, I swear upon my blades."

"Not my place to bargain with a drow," Belwar finally said. "But you can camp near, and word will be sent, to see what is known. If you stay peaceful a day or two, you might have your information without further trouble. If you don't?" He let his words hang with threat.

Shockingly, the drow smiled at him, bright and sincere. "I saw a mushroom grove not far from here. I will go and gather, to await, return to this spot in… two days, if you do not seek me before that?"

Magga camara, what was this strange one?

The thought flitted through Belwar's head, but he gave a sharp nod, and kept watch as the drow departed. They would set a watch, double even, while their best runners went for the city, and Councilor Firble. Drow were his headache!

Drizzt moved with all of his stamina and speed to get back after he met the expert on Menzoberranzan, his worries for the people he loved and protected high in his mind. Once he had almost hit the faerzress, he decided it was possibly best to give warning to his family as well.

~Guard yourselves well; our former city is stirring to an invasion sooner than later. No time frame to give.~ The sending was to his father via the stones they had, and he truly hoped he had not intruded on anything too important, as disruptive as it could be.

~I hear you,~ his father answered, ~we will, and expect me asking you tomorrow how the hell you have news of that pit.~

Drizzt almost grinned, hearing the exasperation in the tones. He'd managed his task without getting caught, and had the warning they all needed. His father could just be a little miffed with him for taking the risk, later.

That sobered him up. He had to believe there would be a later, that this was just one more trial to overcome.

Once he reached the barricades to the lowest levels of the Hall, he rapped on the gate, called the pass-phrase once they slid the peephole open.

"Good yer back; king's been frettin'," the senior guard said, after they got him in and he stood guard while they spun all the locks back in place.

"I told him it would take me weeks to go and come back," Drizzt said, shaking his head. "Anything I should know?"

"Princess is frettin' too?" the junior guard said, and Drizzt had to laugh.

"Alright; let me go up and find them."

Word passed as he started moving up into the Hall proper, and by the time he reached the more habitable section of the Undercity, he had Bruenor approaching from one side, and Catti-brie on the main ramp coming down to him. Soon enough the three of them were in one of the store rooms, settling on barrels with the door shut.

"Ye be lookin' dire, me elf," Bruenor said in a low voice.

"It is dire, but I cannot tell you a true time frame," Drizzt answered. "Menzoberranzan is training her people under lights, to accustom themselves to it. They have been focused intently on the city, doing little more than guarding their approaches.

"No, Catti; I did not go into the city. I made the acquaintance of deep gnomes, and they brought one to speak with me." Drizzt focused on Bruenor after aborting her attempt to upbraid him. "The deep gnomes, svirfnebli as they are called, will send a delegation to see about trade based on mutual assistance. As their city, though hidden well no doubt, is between the Hall and the drow city."

Bruenor eyed him sharply. "Ye trust them?"

"My friend, they are one of the few goodly races of the Underdark. I do. You'll need to ask Cobble or one of his students to keep tongues on hand to translate for you."

"And why won't ye be handling that, me ranger?" Catti-brie asked.

"Because I need to go recruit wizards and clerics for us," Drizzt said.

"Me Hall can — "

"Not provide the magic assistance we need, Bruenor." Drizzt pinned him with a firm look. "Every dwarf that falls in battle can be expected to be made undead and used as a shield wall for their fighters. Their clerics and wizards are terrifyingly vicious and very, very well-trained. We need as many Tall Ones as can come, and likely Harpells, since they've been solid allies to you as well.

"While my own first Lady cannot truly aid within the stone, I may be able to ask of the other's followers for aid."

"Better than askin' fer yer sister," Bruenor grumped, grudgingly agreeing.

"I would not even if someone hadn't tried to kill her, and if we didn't fear an attack while I am tangled here," Drizzt admitted, and both Battlehammers looked sharply at him.

"Yer family is in danger? And ye be here?" Catti-brie asked.

"Yes. It was our choice; she and Yasdra have Father for protection; all of you only have me for knowing something of drow ways," Drizzt told them. "My place is here."

She flung herself over and wrapped a hug around him tightly, while Bruenor sighed deeply.

"Ye be too good for most of yer people… and if'n yer family chose this with ye, then I take back some of my muttering about their evil ways."

Drizzt snorted, but closed his eyes and held his dear friend close. Like with his fears for his family, he could not abide the thought of any evil drow laying hands on her, or Bruenor, or countless others he cared for.

Alustriel smiled gladly as she saw her ranger at the foot of the stair leading up to her rooms, but the sense she had of him was that his mission had netted ill results. She could take joy in him being safe, for now, though, and let him fill her in once they were private.

"My Lady, you look divine — truth in advertising?" he greeted her, eyes sparkling with mirth even as he appreciated the finery this night's festivities had required.

Alustriel laughed softly, reaching out to brush her fingers against his cheek lightly, tucking back an errant strand of hair. "You, my ranger, are a charmer. Thank you. You look... well, but not entirely at ease. Shall we go on up?"

"Yes, please." He pushed into her touch a brief moment before setting his feet on the stairs, walking up with her so that she could get comfortable before he had to ask her aid.

That he was so willing to ask for help had been built strongly on a few things. The entire family had been quick to ask aid from him, once Dove had vouched for him, and he saw it as a good thing to not risk failure for lack of asking. But most firmly, he knew that his entire family would never have survived had it not been for the help given to his sister for long decades by her god. Help, no matter what alignment called to a person, was the backbone of success.

She went up just as lightly, her fingers brushing against him now and then from her relief at having him back, and moved to get out of her formal attire and into a comfortable robe -- a much easier task with his help -- before settling on the couch and reaching for him. "So?"

He willingly tucked into her arms, finding the way to lay there with ease of habit. "Menzoberranzan is planning an attack. They are training under light, and focused solely on a common goal at this point. I managed to secure potential allies for Bruenor in the shape of deep gnomes, and they were my source.

"I have no reason to disbelieve them, especially as the counselor I spoke with looked relieved to have a possible fallback for the young and old of his city. As Blingdenstone sits on the path to Mithral Hall from the city of my birth."

"That's certainly concerning -- one of the things that saves us is how much drow violence is turned against each other -- and... how terrible for them," Alustriel murmured, about the deep gnomes. "I am glad, though, to hear Bruenor will have more allies in the future. That might even be a route to supply the Promenade with some of the things they long for without so much risk, in time..."

"I had not considered that, but the Promenade is one of two things on my mind — that are not you, and enjoying a night in your care," he said, smiling softly up at her for the last. "I must ask to be put in touch with one of your sons, and then get myself down to your sister's demesnes, to plead for aid.

"As solid a cleric as Cobble is, he is but one man with a handful of acolytes. And we have no wizards." Drizzt sighed. "I've been trying to get Bruenor to employ one regularly, but he says they can get by."

"Of course," Alustriel replied, with an affectionate tightening of her arm around his back, "I'd have it no other way. I'll ask the boys who can be here in the morning, but I'll wait until you're done with that to warn Qi you need to go down there."

~Boys,~ she sent, across the anklet, aware some of them would be asleep, ~work out who of you can be here in the morning to talk to Drizzt on King Battlehammer's behalf, won't you?~

~One of us will be there, Mother,~ Tar sent back, his mind bright and alert in a way that said he'd been up to something.

~Always willing to help the Hall,~ Elin said, more drowsy but not sleep-laden, the vaguest impression of domestic peace flavoring his words.

Drizzt closed his eyes with a nod, thinking that was wise. He hated to ask any good drow to face their own people again, but at the same time… who better to coordinate resistance to drow magics?

~Thank you, loves,~ Alustriel answered, before turning her attention to the man she loved home safe in her arms. "Did you see anything particularly beautiful on your trek? Or particularly deadly?"

Drizzt considered, then began telling her of the journey, his brief skirmish with a juvenile hook horror, and the way the Underdark had looked to him this trip down, settling into this moment of peace with his beloved, knowing it for a treasure in the face of violence to come.

Elin was one of the two Tall Ones that appeared, joining Drizzt just after his vigil, and then Rae arrived just as the pair were breaking their fast with Alustriel before her busy day. Drizzt kept the topics light-hearted over the meal, and when the four left, the boys had to grin at each other for the deep kiss their mother shared with her chosen ranger.

That let Drizzt guide the pair back to his quarters, wanting to be as comfortable and as informal as he could be with the men he had aided more than a few times. He indicated they could have the couch, before snagging his stool to use so he could face them.

"I appreciate both of you coming," he began. "I scouted into the Underdark, on suspicion that plans were moving forward, after my winter visit in Rilauven revealed a clumsy attempt to assassinate my elder sister had happened."

"She's obviously alright," Elin began, an amused quirk to his mouth that the fate of an evil cleric mattered to their family, through him. "But… plans?"

"Drizzt mentioned a while back that there had been information indicating a two-pronged attack might happen on his family. One at him, through the Hall, and one on his family in the Underdark," Rae said. "I think you were mostly traveling with Lyrei and none of us wanted to bother you.

"We couldn't find anything from the Surface side."

"No. It is the city of my birth," Drizzt said. "They are training for a Surface attack, with the city lit to break their eyes of the blindness so many have under light.

"And the informants I found — deep gnomes — feel the attack will be sooner rather than later."

Elin frowned. "King Bruenor never did hire in a wizard staff, did he?"

Drizzt shook his head, and the elder half-human squared his shoulders. "Then one of us needs to go, and the rest of us be on standby, or rotating in and out, laying traps in his low tunnels."

"Against a whole city?" Rae pointed out.

"I suggested to Bruenor that perhaps the Harpells could also be involved," Drizzt said.

Rae and Elin both smiled, and nodded. "What they can do, with their stranger takes on magic," Elin began, "should half make up our inexperience with drow magic."

"I can handle that, and go be the coordinator for the king," Rae said. "What else? I know you, Ranger. You make multiple plans when you have time to prepare."

"I planned to get myself down to the Promenade, either by asking for a teleport or one of your mother's phantom steeds, since they last long enough to cross that distance.

"As Cobble is still the only full cleric, and if any of your aunt's people are willing to aid, they would be the most versed." Drizzt spread his hands helplessly. "I hate the idea of asking them to face other drow, and yet, needs must."

"Oh, you'll have enough volunteers to make the king nervous he'll have a colony of good drow to settle," Elin said firmly. "Aunt has a small cadre of people who exist for thwarting Lolth in all ways. She'll probably be glad to loan them out for something this big, and they'll be quite happy to have such a target."

Drizzt blinked. "Oh. I… did not know that."

Elin grinned. "They try hard to rein in the bloodthirst, to live peacefully, but they're the ones that most often go below to bring up new people when the situation could be very violent."

"I look forward to meeting them."

"Drizzt, you said the attempt on your sister was clumsy. Not the true attack?" Rae asked.

"No. And no, I have no idea what form of danger they will face, but as I told Catti and Bruenor… they have each other. The Hall only has me, for drow knowing. So. I stand with the Surface, and pray that my sister's Lord is as clever as ever in helping her evade harm."

"You know, I don't doubt that you actually have prayed to Him, probably made offerings for that… and it's got to be so perplexing to Him," Elin said, making them all burst out laughing. For someone as good as Drizzt to reach out to an evil deity was rather ludicrous. And yet, Drizzt knew it was one more part of why he and Vierna were both important links in the plans that each of the Twins had, for their ability to remain family, despite it all.

With Drizzt soundly asleep — still a precious gift, that he trusted her security enough to give himself to true rest — Alustriel reached out for her youngest sister ahead of the usual check in with all of them.

~Qilué, Drizzt will be coming that way on my phantom steed in the next few days; it is a dire situation.~

~If he is coming here, he must need drow assistance with it. Did he give any indication what he would need?~ Qilué asked. She then began her own sending. ~So that I have an idea of who he will need to speak to. We have many people out of the Promenade currently.~

~Specifically volunteer wizards, clerics, maybe fighters to defend Mithral Hall from all of Menzoberranzan invading there,~ Alustriel replied. She waited out the ten minute recharge, then sent again. ~He is very reluctant to ask other drow, and yet who better to advise the king and his people?~

Qilué's answer was immediate and filled with slight mirth. ~Oh I know just who to call back to speak to him. I will arrange it.~

They let that drop then, as Storm was calling for all of them, to share a happening out of Cormyr… and the Realm business never stopped for them.

Lleona had heard of Drizzt Do'Urden; there were not many in the far-flung enclaves of Eilistraee who had not by this point. She was surprised that none of her band had actually met the man, but his visits to the Promenade had been rare, and he did not range in the areas covered by the moving bands. Given how often the Marauders were actively hunting Lolthite trouble, she supposed it did make sense they hadn't — yet — overlapped.

She was very curious why the First had requested she get herself and the others back to the Promenade swiftly, and what the purple-eyed Ranger of Two Ladies had to do with it. She quelled Starneth's irritable complaints with a Look, the one that meant she would enforce discipline if he pushed her, as they set to making their camp in one of the glens near the hidden portals. There was no sense in going inside when the ranger would be arriving near here, and everything she'd heard said he was far more at ease in the wilds of the Surface than under rock.

Cirtlari finished tying off the last of tent ropes, checked the tensions, and stretched backwards, putting her fingertips on the ground behind her for a moment before she rose again. She took the couple of steps to reclaim her halberd, and moved to prowl the outer edge of the encampment.

Ilmryn cocked his head at their leader and asked, "Are we going to be here long enough for it to be worth my warding the camp, Lleona?"

They all knew that the Vhaeraunites of Skullport, and any number of other malicious folk, often prowled around the mountain, but the warding spells were some of his more powerful ones.

"Shouldn't," Lleona told him. "The Ranger is en route now, and while the First told me I had better make certain he rests at least a day, we may well be moving quickly after, if he has a quest to share with us."

"She says 'shouldn't' and that's going to mean trouble comes right away," Starneth muttered, making his cat lash her tail around his ankles. It got him sighed at, but they all knew he couldn't help but be the eternal pessimist.

Zira looked his way to say something to try and keep him from deteriorating in his mood, but her eye was caught by movement above the tree-line. She marked it as a phantom steed, tracking it, even as Mynera was. The creature was going to the nearest open spot to land, and yes, that was a drow upon its back. None of them broke cover, even when the magical creation vanished after the drow dismounted. They took in the small details that confirmed who he was — twin scabbards, forest-green cloak, unbound hair, and the faint amethyst glow of his eyes in the growing night's darkness — but made him find them.

Which, as a ranger, was a simple enough thing even with their custom of pitching camp to fit the land and blend in. He came close, but not into the true perimeter, and paused.

"I am seeking those the First Sister said may choose to help me," he said in an odd accent, at least to their ears.

"We are here," Cirtlari said, breaking her cover to come out with her halberd, "as you can be no-one but Drizzt Do'Urden. I am Cirtlari."

"Greetings," he said, inclining his head to her before looking at the impressive pole-arm. "I am already intrigued; not many fighters I have seen specialize with that kind of weapon." He smiled before looking toward Starneth who had defiantly pushed forward, Shasta now on his shoulders and digging her claws into the reinforced cloth there to hold on. Behind him, Zira pushed to her feet, wishing their sorcerer had more self-preservation.

"Starneth. And Shasta, as I know you nature-types prefer to talk to the animals. She's my familiar."

"She reminds me of one I owe my life to, long ago," Drizzt answered that.

"Zira, and please don't mind Starneth's manners; he lost them at birth," the taller woman behind the magic-user said.

"I live among dwarves," Drizzt said, to show he understood ill manners.

Ilmryn chuckled for a moment at that. "I have never met any, but I have heard much. "I am Ilmryn. Welcome."

Cirtlari smiled. "I was a tizzin-rider, once, which meant training to use the halberd on and off my mount. Once you have rested, I would be interested in sparring with you. But for now, come and sit, meet the rest of us."

"I never refuse a spar," Drizzt said, following into the camp proper and setting his pack down for a backrest, before looking at the rest. One by one, Mynera, Nalaessysn, Jhuldrin, Ginnim, Ranearid, and Neerbryn were all introduced, with Drizzt only pausing briefly on Mynera as she looked almost familiar in the way she wore her hair. Living among dwarves had given him an eye for spotting braid patterns.

Then Lleona pulled his attention with the subtle presence she used on others. "The First Sister said that you needed us, but not why. Care to open up now, or after a rest?"

"I've been on the steed most of the day; there's nothing truly to rest from," Drizzt said. "Bluntly, the city of my birth is planning an excursion close to the Surface, by invading the dwarven hall I protect and sometimes live within. Dwarves do not run strong on magic or numerous on clerics.

"And they have never faced drow. I hesitated to reach out, to ask other drow to come fight beside us, but have been assured that some of us see it as an avocation."

"We do, at that," Ilmryn agreed, baring his teeth, his silver hair gleaming. "Our Lady might prefer to rescue them, but those who fully serve the Spider-Bitch, and have Her power, have to be stopped. And when they come to assault those who have no protection from them, they have to be stopped hard. You came to the right group."

"When you say 'city'," Lleona began, "what do you mean?"

"I mean that the entirety of Menzoberranzan is training under lights, and means to send a full army," Drizzt said soberly. "My friends need clerics versed in dealing with undead, in stopping the clerics they bring from animating the dwarven corpses, in negating evil cleric spells.

"I need fighters who know how to avoid spells thrown at them to back me, as I plan to make it a very costly invasion for them."

"You? How?" Zira asked, seeing a passion in the ranger she could admire, where it came to protecting his friends.

"I mean to hunt the high priestesses that come, Matrons or elder daughters — the fastest way to rout a drow force is to punish those in the Spider's grace." Drizzt shrugged. "I just need to be able to get to them, and make a difference for my friends' sake."

"He's nuttier than me," Starneth declared, as most of their band stared at the quiet confidence that this ranger could make that much of a difference.

"I can help get you to them," Ilmryn said, "but getting through their magical defenses to actually strike them..."

"Leave that to me," Jhuldrin said, grimly. "Just get me somewhere defensible and I'll make an anti-magic field gem, command-word activated. I do need a month to do it, and I'm going to be useless for anything else. But I can do it."

"I want to watch you do that," Starneth decreed, curious if he could ever figure out artifact making. Something like that would be priceless.

"Any components used, as well as your time and energy, will be compensated," Drizzt said, his eyes shining with hope at hearing that from Jhuldrin. "They are dwarves, and believe in fair bargains. When we took the Hall from Haerinvureem, they paid an ounce mithral dust to every gold piece value of the materials used by the Tall Ones.

"The Tall Ones refused compensation for their time or fighting, because a shadow dragon was a potential threat to their own homeland." Drizzt smiled fondly.

"That'd go a fair way toward getting us weapons, maybe even armor," Ranearid said with a nod. "And think of how much gear infused with faerzress we can take to offer here, or stash for our own use below."

"That will be our price then," Lleona said. "All the drow gear, plus cost of components."

"Bruenor will agree," Drizzt said. "As even the svirfneblin will not want the gear." He held his hand out to the bard, offering the Surface custom for sealing a deal.

Ilmryn nodded, finding that a good deal, and looked to see Lleona take the ranger's hand and shake.

"Now, food, and sparring," Nalaessysn said, having been considering the twin swords, and wondering how he'd do with his wrist buckler and short sword against them.

Drizzt just grinned. "My two favorite things."

Sealing the Future: Chapter Four

Zak -- once he had gotten a few more sendings out of his son via their stones, and had a better understanding of what his idiot child had done -- had gone off to the fighters' school and found one of the better instructors to spar with for a few hours until he could get his vexation under control. He returned for dinner and kept his demeanor light and even for Yasdra's sake, until they had her tucked into bed for the night, then he settled with Vierna, his hands flashing.

"Our damned fool son has gone down into the Underdark under Mithral Hall seeking information."

"He did what?!" she signed very sharply back at him. All of the ways that could have gone wrong flashed through her mind, spiking anger and fear along her veins.

"I know," Zak agreed in frustration, watching as his daughter's cheeks and throat heated slightly with her distress. "He's back to the Surface safely, and he had sense enough to go seeking Blingdenstone rather than the city itself, but still."

He sighed, shaking his head. "He somehow managed to get the gnomes to talk to him," how that had happened, he had no idea, though he had no particular worry over Drizzt's ability to protect himself against gnomes, at least, "and the word isn't good. They're training the soldiers under light, in that city."

Vierna's lips thinned as she knew what that meant. A Surface attack, or near enough, and her brother's damnable dwarven denizens were the most likely target, even without prior warning. "So he will be tied down to that place, until the attack is managed," she surmised. "I will have to point out that an attack on Temple grounds is likely to the Temple Herald." She had done what they could to only involve Nalatar, as a proven ally, and occasionally Dhaunae, who seemed willing to help.

However, she did not dare risk whatever was afoot angering the High Priest of her Lord to the point that they lost refuge here.

Zak nodded. "Likely wise."

It would not be beyond the Spider Bitch to use Menzoberranzan readying for mischief in one place to hide an attack against his daughter, who had deceived her for so long.

"We know something is coming; that is more warning than we've had at times." Vierna gave a half-shrug. "We will meet this and defeat it, my father.

"And, even if our son manages to do something stupid and get himself killed, I have no doubt that his wizard-lover won't let that stand for long."

"There is that," Zak had to agree, "there is that."

Such a strange thing, to think of a woman willing to expend so much in resources and connections for a male, but... he did believe it of that one.

One of Her minor servitors came floating through the chaos of the Demonweb Pits, chirring and hissing. That one, She had set to watch a very particular cocoon, placed exactly where it could draw power from the Abyss, from Her, from the souls of Her faithful -- the demon Her once-priestess was becoming must be freeing herself.

What a time for it, She thought, with Menzoberranzan planning to attack the dwarves that sheltered the remaining son of a fallen house. She rose, laughing to Herself -- all around Her, souls and demons cringed from Her laughter -- and went to observe.

Indeed, the hanging cocoon was shredding, showing flashes of jet black and bright white, and Lloth waited, two fingers against Her jaw. It did not, really, take long for the demon within to claw the cocoon apart enough to be seen.

The face was -- mostly -- still drow, though her original two eyes were now larger, multi-faceted, and she had two more, just before her ears. Her red lips bulged slightly over... ah, yes, fangs in her mouth, Lloth saw as she took a deep breath, surely full of a terrible venom. Her hair was still fine-stranded, thick and white as could be, unruly at the moment.

Plates of obsidian chitin streaked with red and gold covered her brow, shoulders and throat, wrapped in bands around her ribs and belly, fanned down from her hips and protected her thighs. Likely she had no sex organs remaining -- Briza had never cared at all for that pastime.

When she could stand, Lloth thought she would be more than eight feet tall, with the breadth of shoulder to match. Her arms had an extra joint, now, and each hand's ring-finger and thumb had changed to end in glorious claws. A bit like her abyssal widows, her once-priestess had a set of spider-legs -- obsidian streaked with ruby -- extending from her mid-ribs and curving forward, the claws on those thrust out through the cocoon clicking. Hmmm, no, not only claws, spinnerets had migrated there, how fascinating!

Her legs and feet were still very drow, no further joints, no changes to claws or other mutations -- she would stand as light and easy as she ever had.

The lids over the main eyes blinked -- an odd sight -- and then the demon moved, looking for ground. She jumped from the wrappings and landed, folding down to kneel at Her feet, bowing her head to her chest, hands and the claws of the spider-legs pressed to the stone. "My goddess," the demon that had once been Briza Do'Urden breathed, "what is Your pleasure?"

"Oh My pleasure will be seeing you hunt your prey, My beautiful destroyer," Lloth crooned as She took in all of the changes that would make this one an effective match for not just the traitor but her blasphemous father!

"You're younger than your brother for formal training," Zaknafein said, moving around his youngest child and adjusting her feet with his own, then her arms. "But he came to me already knowing how to hold a knife, even how to throw it properly. One of the others had probably shown him how and set him to hunting the spider-killers while he was Page Prince.

"You did well on throwing knives this past year, so now — you will learn close fighting with the knife your brother sent back for you."

Yasdra tried to be malleable to the movements, the corrections, knowing that no one had wanted her to start learning this at her young age, but everyone had conceded she was — by virtue of youth — the most at risk in their family.

"Nalatar said it took the spells, keen and call to hand, beautifully. They did not want to risk those by adding any cleric spells," Yasdra said.

"I know." Zaknafein then moved to where he was beside her, and called up his faerie fire so that the reflective surface could show her his movements. "Match me, daughter, as we walk through the basic stances. You will practice them daily, until perfect, at least two hours a day."

"I will not fail you, Father." She made up her mind to perfect this skill swiftly, so that she too could join in the sparring that made her siblings and father breathless with joy.

"You never do, my little shadow."

Kadresh Olonrae was not an unapproachable man. He'd had no reason to regret backing Malavon Despana in the coup that had brought their god to prominence, and he'd managed to stay high in Vhaeraun's favor, a fact highlighted by them acquiring the Masked Traitor from Menzoberranzan and her family, giving them unprecedented access to knowledge of Lolth's inner workings in Her church.

He rather regretted, on one level, the necessity of today's interview, and arranged for it to be in his apartment, not the chapel or any of the offices maintained for the day in and day out work of managing the temple and school.

His personal shadow-helper answered the door for him, then guided Vierna to the chair opposite Kadresh's own.

"Good evening, Vierna," he said, setting a less formal tone on purpose.

"Good evening, Kadresh," Vierna replied, matching informality for informality, wondering -- and fairly certain she knew -- what the purpose was. With Vhaeraun actively concerned about some threat to her, and the news from Menzoberranzan all being bad... her family might well be too great a danger to the Temple itself, now. "Has the day treated you well?"

"It has. I spent much of it in a meeting with my friend, Malavon." Kadresh waited a beat while she placed the name as the Arch Mage of the city, the de facto ruler of it all, in fact. "I wished to keep him apprised of developments, after you spoke with me last, and today was our first chance to do so.

"You are very aware that we must maintain the upper hand of strength, and that includes protecting our future fighters and wizards, as well as the acolytes here, Vierna. Your dedication to preserving drow lives for future endeavors is rather legendary."

"I thought this might be your purpose," Vierna agreed, nodding, "and I cannot disagree. What suggestions do you have, for the protection of my father and sister, without endangering the whole of the Temple and Academy?"

Kadresh smiled at how easily she had accepted the necessity. He did admire her; her deception had run longer and deeper than nearly any performed within their own city to make certain the coup here had not cost too many lives. That it was the protection of her father and her sister-heir only added to her prestige in his eyes.

"A small house, temporary as I know you have plans to found your own in time, that sits near the concourse leading up to us here," he offered. "Near enough that our experienced combatants can get down to you at the first sign of intrusion, yet away from our vulnerable youth.

"We see this as a fight for all of Vhaeraun's faithful, given any intrusion of the Dying Spider is an insult and threat all in one."

Vierna considered that, then nodded. Unlike in Menzoberranzan, she did not doubt that if the Twilight Herald said there would be experienced fighters, they would come when the threat showed itself. It was a strange feeling, to have any such faith in an outsider, but he had proven himself worthy of that trust over the years her family had lived here. "That seems reasonable," she agreed. "Will you go with me to inspect the one you have in mind, or is there another you plan to send? And when do you have in mind?"

"We can walk down and see the location now, if you wish. You may direct your chosen people to go and prepare it as you wish; they will be removed from the rosters and assigned to you," he began. "This is only a prelude to your future; you will overcome whatever difficulty comes your way.

"But you should begin with those you, and your father, have chosen to trust for your eventual House."

Vierna smiled at the obvious certainty in the Twilight Herald's voice, and felt it buoy her up a little more. "I am finished with my tasks for the day," she agreed, "so it seems a good time. May I avail myself of the Temple's Provisioner to arrange provisions, once we have moved?"

Vhaeraun could provide, if utterly necessary, but it was best not to ask her god for what mortal effort could provide except in extreme need.

"You have more than enough credit built from your efforts — and your odd brother — to request all of the starting goods." Kadresh stood up then, gesturing for her to join him. "I will be certain to make it known to provide all assistance within reason."

Tokrasz, once of House M'lnath, now loyalty-sworn to House Do'Urden, was not about to let his Matron or her kin find him lacking as he personally kept an eye on the moving in. He might have begun as a fighter, and would always choose his blade over most things, but it was not right for her or her father to have to see to the minutiae. He had been the first to swear loyalty to the House, because of Drizzt Do'Urden's ability and his compassion in not killing him once the younger man had incapacitated him.

He had done everything he could since then to learn to be a stronger fighter, and to give neither of the elders of the House reason to reject him. This, overseeing the situation of their goods and the other fighters so all was in line for their observation later? That was done out of sheer respect for the Matron's father, who had helped him grow stronger.

"Seems you took my suggestion to heart," Zaknafein said, which did actually startle Tokrasz halfway to the Pits, but he managed to contain the reaction — and caught the bare hint of approval in Zak's eyes for managing that. "How many weaknesses have you identified?"

"If I have found even half the ones you already have, I will count myself lucky, and try harder to see the ones you point out," Tokrasz told him, knowing Zak did not want subservience to the point of being a lackey.

"Walk the property with me; I think Yasdra is of half a mind to try bossing the others around," Zak drawled in a droll tone. Tokrasz grinned; the young heiress was very firmly aware of her station, but also doing all she could to be worthy of her title. He liked that, much as he liked most things about the family he now served.

"We won't remain here," he did broach, once they started walking. "It's lacking."

"No. This is just a step forward. We'll brief everyone after Vierna is satisfied with our settling matters."

"Good," the young man said, glad that his Matron wasn't being slighted with such a small property. Zak clapped a warm hand on his shoulder, and they saw to finding all of the defensive holes in the property.

There was nothing quiet about an abyssal gate opening, and every magic user that had thrown their aid into making the wards on the property took psychic wounds from having them breached so violently. The fighters were moving, converging on the invasion, giving the wizards and clerics time to gather themselves, and Vierna's phalanx of skeleton fighters were rising to meet the foes first.

The cambion — given lordship over the draegloths and leaning hard into his task to avoid being made a slave of any fiend again — was positioning them to break apart the undead, sizing up the living fighters with swords and shields and crossbows. Those were fired swiftly at the chwidencha pair that emerged behind the first four invaders, in hopes of slowing the grotesque but dangerous spider-legged monsters with poisons that had been brewed for maximum lethality.

Behind all of these foes for the House to fight came the true threat, one that ignored the pitiful prey in front of her — for now — and leaped to the upper balcony, hunting the heretical traitor that was her true target. She could taste the blood that had once linked them as sisters, ached to tear apart the treacherous one bit by bit in honor of her goddess. Alongside that drive, she would have the pleasure of destroying the blaspheming male that her weak mother had kept at her side for far too long, allowing his poisonous ways to seep through the House.

Zaknafein had, in setting the defenses, given Tokrasz command of the forces, intent on staying near Vierna. It was sheer bad luck and timing that Yasdra had been with them when the wards blew, and he flicked a command to her to go up, into one of the alcoves, as better than nothing for protection. If he could move the fight away from this point, she would flee with stealth.

Why in all the names of his blades hadn't he traded with her mother to actually take the girl until this was done?!

Vierna was doubled over, hands clutching her temples, for three long moments, before she pulled herself together. She'd known by the spells not being the ones she'd intended to pray for that she had come out of her meditations with that today was going to be a difficult day. She still hadn't expected this!

She activated the cloak of Chaos sitting in her mind, wrapping it around herself, Zaknafein, Yasdra, and -- no, no-one else was in range, damn. So long as the attack came quickly (it seemed to be) they would have some minor advantages.

Briza -- for she knew it was Briza coming -- wanted to bring demons? Well. Two could play at that. She gave thanks to Vhaeraun and called a babau she knew well to her. "Attack anything from the abyssal planes, Toraigath, and enjoy your feasting!"

With luck, Vierna's junior cleric had also been gifted with better spells to suit the fight ahead, while she knew that the woman's consort kept combat spells at hand; it was one thing he'd promised when she accepted his family. His apprentice — their daughter — might well be incapacitated just by the wards being blown to pieces, as she was just truly settling into the crafting of them.

The sound of battle being joined on the lower level was reassuring in itself; Zak had personally trained Tokrasz for years now, and while the man wasn't naturally gifted for combat, he had a keen mind for tactics and would be a strong leader. Right now, he needed to find every advantage he could keep against what they must face.

Toraigath gave a cruel, vicious smile with all of its sharp teeth visible, rushing to get his fill of the abyssal creatures, pleased to have the alliance of one so favored who asked so little of him. His hissing screech as he saw the demon upon the gallery of this floor was warning enough to the family to prepare. He flung himself down, though, sensing the divinely unholy power driving this thing that was like, but unlike, the abyssal widows.

That screech was no portent of anything good, Vierna was certain, but she could do little against what came until she could see it.

What filled the entry point of the common room next was something out of Zaknafein's worst nightmares. Standing over eight feet tall, a demonic creature that had some points in common with the abyssal widows, yet... not as ineffectively. The spider legs in their ruby-streaked obsidian terror were clawed, the remaining drow-like body showing red-gold streaked chitin armor plates, while white hair clouded around a face featuring faceted eyes, with an extra pair. The mouth was more muzzle like, extending out, but the lips were drawn back showing fangs that threatened venom with their bite.

Even at that, he could see that this bore resemblance to the eldest child of his one-time matron, and a small voice in the back of his mind said 'beastly' had become truth in form as much as spirit.

A guttural growl escaped his throat as the presence of this creature drew forth all of his anger, all of his suffering, and every need to protect his family.

It took Vierna no longer than it had taken Zaknafein to recognize what had once been her sister, and she cursed under her breath -- this was going to be awful. She wrapped her hand around the symbol of her faith hanging around her throat and cried out the trigger word for the most powerful destructive spell she had. It didn't have the effect she wanted, this demon was strong and tough enough to shake off the full instantaneous cremation, but she did snarl in pain.

The demon locked eyes with her, made a small gesture, and Vierna felt the hideous effects of a spell she'd only ever read about -- she didn't yet have the strength to cast it -- begin to take hold. With all her strength, she resisted the effect, and felt it fade from her. First blood to her, and her sister's first spell failed, if barely.

Zaknafein had to employ every trick of control he'd ever learned as the demonic creature was situated perfectly to block any chance of getting this out of the enclosed space — and entirely too close to the alcove that Yasdra was hiding herself in. Those spider-legs looked fully functional, but most of the weight and momentum seemed to be in the drow pair. His eyes took in the subtle differences that indicated the spider-legs could probably support wall climbing, meaning the battlefield could be vertical even without levitation. The plates of chitin meant his attacks of opportunity would need to slide between them… and all while avoiding claw and fang.

He took in every advantage and disadvantage in the same space of time that the two had used for spellcraft, with his first rushing attack going for the leg furthest back, just to test the edges of his ensorcelled blades on that chitin. He had no intention of staying in close, but it also allowed him to change his vector to be able to more directly tangle the demon up to keep it away from Vierna.

The spider-limb on that side swung at him, claw raking against armor without piercing, and the demon shrieked with rage as she lost control of the spell she had been in the middle of casting. His blade did shear into the chitin, drawing dark blood, another shriek, and a swing of one fist towards him that just barely missed.

Vierna took a breath of relief and flung herself into the ethereal plane, fading out of sight. As soon as she was solidly in the ethereal plane, she ran towards the shadowy form of the demon as quickly as she could, then around it. Zaknafein would not believe she had abandoned him, but the demon might. She just had to get to where she could get her hands onto the demon.

There was a surge of something visceral, a satisfaction that one daughter was out of the danger zone, as Zaknafein his speed to attack limbs, not the body, dodging the counterattacks with the skill of centuries. He had to keep her from noticing —

— and too many years of being out of the danger of constant eavesdropping on his mind chilled his blood, or maybe it had been a scent that drew the demon's gaze. Was the demon seeking something to lure her true target back into the fight, or had Zak's worry over Yasdra shifted some of the attention up?

Vierna made it behind the demon, jumped for the demon's shoulders, and phased back into reality. She caught chitin plates in both hands, shoved her feet onto the body-joints of the spider limbs, and started converting every spell she still had into pure attacks of negative energy. With every fifth breath, she slammed another bolt through.

The demon went berserk under her, trying to reach around and grab her -- probably to return the favor -- and she was taking harm just from having hold of such a malicious force, one intended specifically to find and destroy her, but if Briza didn't pay attention to what was in front of her, Zaknafein would cut her throat.

True to that prediction, Zak came in with a dual attack, making her have to pull back to evade, using one spinneret to spit web-silk — venom-laced — to try and slow him down. As he was dodging that, she bunched her muscles and then shook, attempting to fling her prey off her to get a better stance against both.

Vierna had the best grip she could, but she was between her attacks and went flying. She caught herself with her levitation half a heartbeat before she slammed into her little sister -- and the demon was turning towards them!

She kept herself hovering there, praying for Yasdra to get more behind her, lighting her hands with darkfire, ready to throw as soon as she could.

Yasdra was afraid. It was not an emotion she had known until the demon came into the room. Hiding, remaining still, these were the things she had been meant to do. Her knife, though, the one with spells on it, had come to her hand in response to fear for their lives. And as her sister slammed into her, she did not lose hold of it. She was as much a child of Zaknafein as Vierna, though, and instinct guided her to throw the knife as a distraction, to buy seconds.

Father said battles were decided in seconds.

Even terrified, her aim was impeccable, and Briza could not quite protect the eye the missile came at, the secondary one nearer to her ear on that side of her face. It was a minor wound, a small inconvenience, but Briza had never tolerated such. She keened, her demonic origin making the sound reverberate through the room and house with challenge, calling fear into the souls of those that heard it.

A father who had been given the chance to raise one child, to see another fully into adulthood, who fiercely loved the daughter who had made it all possible could not — quite — shake the fear it brought in him, preying upon his dedication to his family. With the demon looking up, that fear translated immediately into action, and he was engaging the demon with no thought but destroying it.

Vierna flung her darkfire at the demon's face, following Yasdra's knife, and Briza's hair ignited in a stinking blaze, and cast a dimension door behind her, with its other end on the far side of the room, next to the door, to get Yasdra out.

Her little sister dove through it, rolled as she hit the floor, and ran out the door.

That two imps made of shadow-stuff came out with her was one more sign of Vhaeraun's favor on them. The imps were staying close to Yasdra, one taking her hand, the other obscuring the air around them with shadow-smoke, so they could protect the heiress, taking her to the cook's protection, where there were smaller places to be hidden.

Briza was screeching violently, her limbs all working to try and stop the relentless assault on her from two enchanted swords in the hands of a master. Zaknafein felt no pain as her claws or blows landed. Every strike released more demon ichor, every parry of a limb took away chitin or flesh. He was silent, death in its most dangerous guise, though his teeth were bared in the ferocity he used to cleave away at the demon.

Vierna dropped to the floor, rolled towards the melee, caught the demon's ankle in both hands and slammed another bolt of negative energy into their foe. 'What is it going to take to kill you?!' she thought, almost in despair, before she had to roll away from the sick color of a disintegration spell somehow fired from Briza's palm despite how fractured her concentration had to be with the wounds she was taking. It left a ten foot wide pit in her floor, down to the next level, making things dangerous, but she was alive.

The demon had tried to kill Vierna. That spell left nothing to bring a person back from, despite that Zaknafein would sell himself into slavery to do so.

He slammed his blade into the demon's torso, breaking ribs. He used it to pull himself up, keeping it as his anchor, shortening his grip on the second sword. He saw that awful maw coming for him, fangs bared and ready to rip into him, but he never faltered, driving the second sword up from the belly into the heart region.

Vierna got to her feet only just in time to see fangs and claws sink into her father, but also to see the life-heat spilling out in gouts of blood from the horrific wounds Zaknafein's reckless attacks had torn from the demon's core. She grabbed on to him as the demon started to topple into the pit, bracing herself to keep him from falling with it and her ears heard the crunch of chitin and flesh as the demon hit the floor below.

There was a shriek of fear from a voice she did not recognize, and then a shout of a spell of destruction.

Zaknafein was limp in her arms as she got further from the drop, possibly the heaviest weight she'd ever carried, and she stumbled, going to her knees in her exhaustion, reaching for her healing spells -- but she had spent all of those carefully prepared spells, so unnatural to her, in her attempt to kill the demon. Nothing came to her, as she tried to staunch the bleeding from his throat.

She'd pushed herself too hard, trying to cast that on top of everything else, and she felt herself sliding into black unconsciousness.

Sealing the Future: Chapter Five

Tar was up at the Surbrin Gate, looking at ways to rig traps in case the drow decided to earth- or rock- shape their way to the surface. There was always the off-chance that Lolth would call on those few surface deities She had dealings with to make life difficult from both sides.

He looked over as an incoming teleport started, the shimmery light of a full moon seeming to highlight the area that was in deep shade, and had a distinctive rock outcrop to help matters.

There was no need to be worried, he decided, even if it was a dozen drow, because he knew the garb of surface drow well — and hey, that was his mother's ranger! More, the wizard wiping his brow after managing his half of the teleport on the side closer was well known to Tar, and he excused himself to jog over.

"Jhuldrin," Tar said, not quite able to help the slide in his voice.

It got a chuckle out of the wizard, even as he was scanning the other half being brought in by Nalaessysn. "Hey there, handsome," the drow wizard said, before taking in the dwarves and humans that were observing them now. "I know we are expected but… wow, liking the discipline."

"Yeah, once the Lady of Silverymoon," and Tar's eyes sparkled for being formal about her, "passed on that the ranger had gone for allies, I have been talking up your band. So has Rae; he's somewhere in the mines right now. But we both have met you."

"It's appreciated," Lleona said, having taken in everything. "Jhuldrin's going to need a workspace, Tar; he's got a crafting to tend to. Nalaessysn and both clerics can work with your brother — brothers? — to see to preparing the passages with their own tricks.

"But first, we should be introduced to those in command, the king and his advisers, aside from this absolutely terrifying ranger."

"I am not," Drizzt defended himself.

"I'm on her side," Tar said. "Catti's coordinating the surface side of things, Drizzt, but the last I knew, Bruenor and the others were down below the city and forges; they're using the inner guard station as a planning point. And yeah, the deep gnomes sent envoys with more knowledge while you were gone.

"I can take Jhuldrin to the workshop, and Drizzt can guide the rest of you?" Tar did not comment on her not having assigned Starneth to trap duty; he remembered the sorcerer was rather high-strung.

"That will work nicely," Lleona told him. "Ranger?"

Tar noted that Drizzt had that look, the one he got whenever anyone deferred immediately to his guidance. Mother said it was even funnier when it was herself or one of the aunts, so that was probably in play. Lleona was very put-together in how she ran her band after all. He slung an arm around Jhuldrin's shoulders, guiding him to the wizardly maker-space, intent on learning what he could… and didn't sigh when both Starneth and Zira peeled off the main group to follow them.

He'd just have to be quieter with his flirting, if there were opportunities to do so.

Bruenor sized up the band of drow, nodding that three of them were up above still, but all of them were wearing garments with moons and swords visibly stitched in, setting them apart from any potential sneaking evil ones. He rather liked the look of that one fighter, Cirtlari, and how she handled herself. It was also good to see his own elf settled in his skin around other like him.

"I will be handling most of the counter-prayer spells," the one cleric… Mynera… was saying. "That will free Ilmyrn to actually stick close to Drizzt when he takes the fight to the leadership."

"The rest of us will stay focused on picking off as many wizards and weapon masters as we can," Ginnim added. "We've never gone up against a whole city, but we've seen odds of four to one in a lot of our actions down below."

"Any and all help will be welcome, aye," Bruenor said. "Ye certain the terms fit?"

"The gear we salvage will help expand the farming caverns for our people," Lleona told him. "What can be salvaged and un-cursed might be useful to us in our caches we keep below the faerzress for our own operations. And the cost of components is a simple necessity we bow to, because we must have the tools of our trades."

"Aye, there's always that. Cannae smith with nae hammer," Bruenor told her with a nod. "Glad tae have yer band with us, aye!" and he shoved his hand out to shake on the deal. She took it gladly, ready to canvas the battleground to keep her band alive through it, and as many of these dwarves as possible.

Jarlaxle, leader of Bregan D'aerthe, often disliked the life around him. For one, he had to manage all of his people, keep them from stepping over often invisible lines of behavior so no idiotic priestess killed one of them just because she had a bad mood that day. In this case, though, it was the head of the city being an idiot. He'd couched his advice to her as diplomatically as possible. He'd tried to nudge Gromph — who was not going, and that meant Gromph was hoping Jarlaxle was right — and Triel alike to see reason.

So, time to plan. He would see this through as anything less would have his band killed out of hand, or tortured for all time, and either way, there was no profit. Yet, he wasn't ready to cut his purse strings where his most reliable source of information outside of Lloth's reach was concerned. He worked out his contingency plans, and muttered a few times that Drizzt Do'Urden better appreciate being kidnapped if that was what it came down to!

Mynera dropped beside Drizzt after a long day of preparing what they could, the latest in a long line of such. None of the others were with them, and Drizzt's staring down the corridor that led to the main gate was worrying. The longer preparations dragged on, the more edged, the more silent this man became. Mynera agreed with Lleona; Drizzt was terrifying, both in his weapon skill and how close to Destiny he seemed to walk.

"You had asked why I seemed familiar," she began, taking up a previous conversation. "Heard you talking about family in Rilauven. That's where I am from, House Vaer."

Drizzt's eyes widened, and then he nodded. "I helped teach a few younger fighters of that House, when I still lived there," he said. "You wear your braids in their style still. I think I was failing to parse that because you are so favored by the Dark Maiden."

Mynera laughed. "Yes, She does. My House turned before the full coup that came after I left. My uncle, who had been the driving force behind managing that, liked the spirit I had when I declined both the Spider and the Masked God as patrons."

He nodded. "It is good, though, that family matters strongly for the Masked God's followers in that city. I have not found it as strong, or the command to not kill other drow needlessly, in some of their enclaves I have ran into. To those places' detriment."

"Lleona tries to keep us out of fights with their people," Mynera admitted, "as some are halfway to a better understanding of life. But we will defend ourselves. Our true fight will always be with Her." She made the dying spider gesture, and Drizzt nodded.

"Our people as a whole cannot move forward until that one's reign is ended, yes," Drizzt agreed.

"All of us… we've had to learn a lesson," Mynera began. "If we let what She has done to our people shape us too much, we become part of the problem." She met his eyes. "I know you are worried for your friends here and the family you have elsewhere, but I say this with a knowing of who we are.

"Do not lose yourself in hating what Her people are doing, or you may find yourself at that edge."

Drizzt considered her words, felt the shape of them. "I cannot, will not, betray all my sister is, all she did, or all that I am drawn to be by falling into the hate. I swear it."

She smiled softly, then pushed back up to go find her friends, more secure in trusting the ranger not to lead them into a no-win situation.

The first attack came soon after their band had arrived, an assault with enslaved ettin and goblins against the lowest doors. Cirtlari was awakened by the noise of the first warding spell Nalaessyssn had set not far out from the doors, rather than the hammering on them, and hurried to join those waiting. The doors would fail eventually, in the face of clerics and wizards if not to the slaves or even common soldiers, but they had time enough to settle and respond to it.

Dagna had stationed solid fighters at this point, and one of them blew the whistle that made no sound… but alerted every primary leader of the rest of the units to rouse and be ready. Ginnim could distantly hear the shifting of weapons and armor, but he was with the second line of defenses. Once Cirtlari, and the first line, fell back behind their shield and lance wall, there was a trap to trigger, to turn the concourse between them and this door into acidic mud.

Nalaessysn had mentioned wanting to learn that variation.

All too soon, the first of the splinters from the door flew, and it was not much after that for the full combat to begin. The drow working with the dwarves — under illusion this time, to keep from being targeted — used all of their expertise to keep their allies alive. Retreat, strategically planned in advance, would bring the invaders into ever heavier, more deadly traps. The defenders just had to keep their enemies from realizing that was the goal.

Drizzt, with his team, were waiting in a hunter's blind, outside the main defenses, with the ranger as deep in prayer as he dared go. Their part of the plan hinged on him being able to find the head of the army, those who were guiding it, and wreak havoc there. His body was relaxed, his armor and swords darkened with spells to hide them as surely as the gear their enemies would be using. His hilts were in his hands already, blades crossed over his bent legs, always a solid focus for him, no matter which goddess he called upon. Mielikki, after all, used the same style, and Eilistraee was Mistress of Swords.

He did not mind that he was, to his way of thinking, putting himself deeper in Their debt; he would never stop aiding Their causes short of death. The number of lives he could save now, the ability to keep drow poison from getting a grip on land so near the surface, meant he felt it wise to call on all his abilities… including divine favors.

Dimly, he knew when the alerts carried into the Hall, as the enchanted whistles were attuned to all the clerics had blessed for the day. Without conscious thought, still focused on the divine requests, he let one sword go and picked up the Gutbuster potion at his side, draining it. It raced through him, enhancing stamina and reducing his ability to feel pain.

And then he could see the distinct layers of rock in a specific tunnel, long-since learned by him in preparing for this day. Some brave lizard had been found by his primary patron, to show him his targets. The potion flask was left to lay there, hilt back in hand, and he sprang to his feet, plotting out the fastest course to the coven of evil clerics. His team would keep up with him; he knew better than to out-pace them at this point.

Ilmryn ran behind Drizzt, watching the altered fluidity of the ranger's always-lithe stride with a flicker of concern -- what was that brew, to have such an effect? -- and keeping eyes out ahead. Spells to block malicious spellcrafting, to break wards, to dispel malign magic waited behind his lips as they raced along the tunnels. Jhuldrin ran behind him, the exhausting work of a month in a separate pouch around his neck, waiting only the keyword to release.

The fastest way there was not the easiest, requiring the trio to squeeze through a fissure barely wide enough to allow the passage, but that was the only moment in which Drizzt slowed. He paused on the other side, got his bearings as the two men joined him, before taking off toward the corridor the women were going to intersect very shortly. There, he did stop, and activated the ring of spider crawl, the design mimicking the pirate spiders Vierna had raised — heretical in their care of young and mates — so that he could go up, situating himself in the darkness there.

Nothing could yet be heard, but both Ilmryn and Jhuldrin knew the ranger had asked for divine aid in this hunt, so the enemy would soon be here, a place that favored the ranger for fighting… and offered shadows enough for his allies to work from.

Ilmryn took advantage of that they weren't present yet to dart halfway to the intersection point. He started pouring a thin stream of mixed holy water and silver dust along the edge of the wall, crossing the tunnel, and backwards. He successfully enclosed what he reckoned would be the battleground, and began calling down Eilistraee's blessing on this cavern. Every slight advantage they could get, he would take. Hidden deep in one of the shadows, he waited with the last syllable held behind his teeth, burning against his lips, until half a dozen women had crossed the line of silver, then breathed it out.

The sound of matron mothers stifling sudden noises of pain were a delight to his ears. The fact that the mind flayer -- shit, no-one told him about a mind flayer! -- also cried out was even better.

On the opposite side of the cavern, Jhuldrin lifted his hand and cast disintegrate at the mind flayer hovering slightly above the rest of the group.

Drizzt would have cheered for that, if he wasn't keeping as silent as possible, judging the pack of women, the filthy dwarven prisoner in the midst of them near the withered, ancient —

— Baenre!

He might be decades away from the city of his birth's lessons, but no drow was so small and withered as she in all he could remember!

He counted his targets, making certain to embody Baenre's death in every thought he held, to give the city he'd been born to a true chance to change away from her iron grip of Llothite fear and customs.

The clerics were attempting to regroup, trying to target their attackers, and when Jhuldrin activated the anti-magic artifact, Drizzt was already dropping into their midst, a deadly whirlwind of skill and determination.

Ilmryn drew his own longsword -- not consecrated, inside the range of Jhuldrin's work, but still a masterwork blade -- and followed Drizzt into the fray with all the skill centuries of training in the physical worship of the lady of the blade had granted him.

Jhuldrin was the one who actually saw the dwarf prisoner manage to turn on his captors, whirling a piece of heavy chain into the face of the old crone before attacking her with all of his physical mass and natural weapons. The wizard would add careful crossbow bolts — tipped with drow-brewed poisons even — to help slow the enemy, but he could see that without their magic, without their whips, the clerics were going to be hard-pressed to escape the battle-raged swordsman in their midst.

One matron vanished with two of his crossbow bolts in her throat, despite the anti-magic field still holding -- how had she done that?! What was she?!

Ilmryn did not see the matron vanish, he was busy dealing with the others... and then he had to, somehow, keep the dwarf from harming him, or Drizzt, as the melee began to end with the bodies of matron mothers sprawled on the ground and cooling. "Stop," he called to the enraged dwarf in gentle Common, "we are not your enemies. Peace, and we will guide you to your kin."

"You can't chase wherever that one went," Jhuldrin called to Drizzt, whose muscles were bunched to run down the tunnel.

That made their ranger actually note the still present potential threat, before leaving that to Ilmyrn. He studied each of the bodies, lunging and putting a point through the ribs of one to actually kill her.

"What in the Halls of Dumathoin have me heirs been doin'?" the dwarf demanded, but he settled back from the killing rage, with one final kick at the eldest body in the cavern.

"Making odd friends," Jhuldrin said with humor, knowing he was breaths away from the wild exultation of such a dramatic victory over the damned Spider Queen.

Ilmryn chuckled softly, "We have all been making odd friends," he added, before offering his hands -- from a slight distance. "Are you injured? I am a cleric, of a goodly goddess. I can help you, if you are. Then we will go."

The dwarf took a deep breath, looked at the silent killer next, who blinked twice, slowly, like some cat from his long-gone childhood.

"I… I am friend to Bruenor Battlehammer, eight king of Mithral Hall," Drizzt managed to say. "I asked for others like me to come, on his behalf. I am Drizzt Do'Urden."

"Me own son's name… but all the way tae eight? Now there's a thing." The dwarf made it over to Ilmryn, accepting the hands. "Like as no, need a touch," he agreed. "Me name be Gandalug."

"I hear a tale, but the fighting is not yet done," Jhuldrin told him. "So try not to get in the path of danger as we head back; we all want to hear it." He added a smile, relieved that Drizzt had found his words.

"So I do," Ilmryn agreed, "I am Ilmryn, cleric of Eilistraee. Forgive my poor manners?" As he asked, he gently directed a healing spell through the old dwarf's body, soothing and easing the myriad wounds. He found himself having to use a second healing spell to finish the healing, because this elderly being had suffered entirely too much, but he finished, and smiled. "There, that should be better. And Jhuldrin has the right of that last. Drizzt, can you get us back, or do I need to find the safe way?"

"A bit longer way, but from Guen, I sense the battle is flagging, and the retreat could come back this way," Drizzt said, abandoning thought of joining the fight from the rear in favor of escorting the dwarf and his friends back. He'd given Guen's figure to Bruenor, since she knew how to hunt drow, and they weren't expecting as much of an attack above, where Catti-brie was going to be using her enchanted bow. "This way."

He turned to guide them around to a secondary passage, one that should not be involved in the fighting, but his stance said that he was still highly alert for threats.

The dwarves were taking stock, mourning their lost ones, moving forward with the divvying of spoils per the contracts with wizards and the drow band. Drizzt had seen Guen briefly before she went back to her plane to recover from her efforts. He had checked on Catti and all of Alustriel's sons, as well as the rest of Lleona's band.

Once he had finally managed sleep — actually staying down for an entire night — he was ready to start combing the tunnels for stragglers.

~Drizzt, it is Nalatar,~ came the somber tones of his teacher, one of the few drow in Rilauven that Drizzt truly believed was a friend. ~Come home, as soon as you are able.~

~I hear you, Nalatar,~ Drizzt replied, well aware he would get no answer to any question he asked, but he knew very well that Nalatar would not summon him home lightly. He could send news of his own that Vhaeraun might not have shared with His faithful yet, though. ~I will come. Menzoberranzan attacked Mithral Hall, Baenre, other matrons, are dead.~

Nalatar had, apparently, arranged to have two sendings. ~Joyous news, that I will pass on. Until I see you.~

~My love to my family,~ Drizzt replied one last time, as there was nothing else he could say that mattered at all.

Sealing the Future: Chapter Six

Mynera had heard the ranger needed to leave, asked for teleport, and was given it, so she approached him. "The other wizards and spare clerics are needed here," she began. "We should all leave. Our Lady graced me with the spell needed, and I am certain one of the other fighters can come with us while the others go… wherever Lleona decided we should."

She watched him way that, but the face she was including a fighter — not that the battle tales of her ferocity indicated she had to have one! — soothed him from asking a cleric.

"I need to go home. I have a way in from the Neverwinter?" he said softly.

"I can do one better," she told him. "I know a portal series that will get you there faster, and we can stay with you up until the very last one. All of them operate, and all but that last are guarded by our own people.

"The last comes out on the northern side tunnels for the city itself."

Drizzt took a deep breath, then nodded, not trusting words when he was overwhelmed by the generous offer, and that meant he could find out what had happened so much sooner. Mynera lightly touched his arm in understanding, then went to tell Lleona and see which of their fighters wanted to spend time with her on this trip.

That freed Drizzt to go find Methri, here as Alustriel's actual representative, and tell him he would be delayed in his return to the city. Beau saw him coming, and made sure Methri turned, given Drizzt just did not know how to make noise when he walked.

"I wanted to ask if you mind passing a message to the Lady," Drizzt began.

"I never mind," Methri replied, shaking his head, "if you want her to hear it from you directly, give me just a second and start speaking when I nod. Or I can just relay the message."

Drizzt looked a little embarrassed at that warm willingness. "Just relay, please. I must go to Rilauven. I am leaving today. I do not know when I will return." He hesitated, then added more personal words. "I miss her, and loathe that I have spent so much time apart from her."

"I'll tell her," Methri answered, before reaching out a hand. "Whatever's drawing you back there, do you need anything we could get easier than the dwarves can?"

He shook his head in answer, a little helplessness around the edges. "I do not know why I have been called back for certain, only that my teacher is the one that did so," he admitted, looking a bit more vulnerable than usual. Methri was trusted; all of his Lady's sons were, and family, even if he'd had little time to bond with them outside of favors done for Dove in the past. "Cleric Mynera is going to help me get there quickly."

"All right," Methri replied, "just... be careful, yeah? We'll see you when you get back."

"All of you be careful too," Drizzt said, before he left to go get ready for a trip below. He needed to see Lleona, and ask if he could take one of Baenre's pieces of jewelry; Vhaeraun deserved an offering to know that one was dead.

Life was as it ever seemed to be through most of the city as Drizzt made his way to the concourse leading up to the Academy grounds, but he was too experienced to miss that the remaining Lolthite Houses had more prevalent physical defenses present. His guts twisted, but he refused to believe that boded ill for him, or his family, personally.

He moved swiftly, nodding to a few familiar faces on his way, and did not miss the longer looks in his direction. None of them felt hostile, despite his nature being known and his face recognizable to so many. He did stop once, when he was high enough to look out over the bulk of the city, taking in that it seemed whole. For all that he could never live here permanently, he did truly think of it as 'home', one of three he treasured.

Then he was moving again, straight to the temple of Vhaeraun, his fears banished, and resolve holding him steady.

As he climbed the ramp to the complex of temples and schools, his eyes saw a drow figure in Vhaeraunite robes waiting before the great ravens that guarded the first bridge across the enchanted stream.

From a few yards away, he knew it was Nalatar even before the other drow spoke. "You made better time than I could have hoped, Drizzt. I am relieved."

"Met a drow once of House Vaer who sped me on my way," Drizzt said, coming within personable range of his teacher. "Dare I ask to be told in open air, or shall I wait for privacy?" he asked, knowing now how to be cautious, but still a more open person than most drow managed.

"Wait," Nalatar said, their mouth tightening for a moment. "Welcome home. Come."

They turned around and lifted hands to mask. A moment later, the ravens folded their wings onto their backs, clearing the bridge for them to cross safely.

Drizzt, as was his custom, inclined his head to the guardians, but kept to Nalatar's pace as they moved. Dread was trying to pry him away from his calm, but he would not let it win. Even as good as he was, he knew that Vhaeraun held some favor for him, not just as Vierna's brother, but for actions against the god's enemies.

Once they were inside the Temple, Nalatar turned to him, stretching out one hand. "Yasdra is unharmed, your friend Tokrasz now has two demon kills to his credit, a cambion and a draegloth and is also well. Vierna is recovering rapidly from her over-casting, though she is not wholly well yet. Two of the Temple guards that were with them died during the assault of a creature I am told was once your eldest sister and her minions, and they did not wish to return to their bodies after having joined our Lord."

Drizzt nodded for that; the afterlife for a favored of Vhaeraun was good he knew from the lessons here. But that his sisters, and his father's student were mentioned, but not — he had to drag in a deep breath.

"My father?" he forced himself to ask, already knowing with a part of his soul. He'd protected his dearest friends, minimized the loss of dwarven life, and yet… his family had faced terrible foes without him. There had been a cost; there was always a cost when things went well.

"Resting in gentle repose in a catacomb of the Temple, with a guardian at all hours," Nalatar replied, "until Vierna is recovered enough to go out on a quest to gain the last experience she needs to join the casting of a true resurrection. She is close, but she has not yet done quite enough to join the casting without taking further harm. I was quite sure you would never forgive us, if we allowed her to leave with a party without you."

Drizzt closed his eyes, relief in his heart. His father would return for them. He had no doubt of that. And of course he needed to be with his sister. He even had some ideas on quests that would offend neither of them to undertake.

"Nalatar, thank you," he said when he opened his eyes. "For telling me, and for sparing her the necessity, and for calling me back to aid in this." He considered. "Is Yasdra to stay with you, or her dam once we leave? As I do not know if leaving her solely to Tokrasz' care is the wisest course." The man would do his best… but Yasdra was noble born and very aware of her station.

"She isn't so fond of her dam as to want to stay with her," Nalatar answered, corner of their mouth turning up in an affectionate smile, "and Vierna asked me to keep her. I am willing to, so that is settled. Also, I think your Tokrasz badly wishes to go with the two of you, which I would suggest agreeing to."

Drizzt gave the slightest hint of a smile. "I will enjoy seeing all he has learned," he agreed to that. "Is my elder sister in her apartments then? Or do you have more I should know first?"

His father had died. His father's body was safe. Vierna would fix this. Drizzt would do all he could to enable her at that task.

"She is," Nalatar replied, closing their hand around Drizzt's forearm for a long moment, "and no, I can think of nothing else. Other than that all of us are grieving for the time Zaknafein is gone from us."

Drizzt tipped his chin up, briefly covering Nalatar's hand. "If allowed, until Vierna is strong enough to go for her quest, I would step in to tutor the fighters, as Father normally did. I believe I have a few new tricks to share." His eyes glinted a little, accepting that even with magic negated, Matron Mothers did know how to fight, and they'd had numbers on their side. He had a new, stronger faith in his ability as a swordsman.

"I am certain the masters will be grateful, Drizzt. Thank you. I will let you go to her now, and not keep you any longer," Nalatar said, and released him gently.

Drizzt gave them a respectful bow in gratitude, then turned off to go to his sister, making himself lock down all of the agitation, so he could just support her.

Drizzt had given Vierna a shoulder to lean on while she recounted how everything had gone, made his way to the offering chapel to give the token of Baenre to Vhaeraun's priest there, and then actually prayed to the Masked God to give thanks for the aid to his family.

As always, that sincere prayer, from such a good person, half-vexed and half-amused the god in question.

The rest of the time that they were in Rilauven for Vierna to reach her full ability again was spent training others at the fighter's school. Those who had known him were mildly impressed at the improvements in his style. Those that were new to meeting him did not know what to make of the laughing, dancing drow who loved the sword-work for itself, not just as a skill for survival.

He briefly paid his respects to his father's body, gratified that the master fighters were the ones keeping guard over the body. Zaknafein deserved that, in Drizzt's heart.

Alustriel briefly reached out to him, but he was loathe to admit to her the full reason of his absence. If he told her, who would not chide him for his softer emotions, it would make it too real, with the possibility of failure. He, nor Vierna, knew how long it would take them to find tasks suitable to the experience she was lacking, but his duty was to his father and sisters before his personal life could be considered.

Early 1360 D.R.

Almost a year and a half of adventuring in the Underdark passed with the small adventuring band wreaking havoc on various other species and their unholy demesnes. Once, Drizzt gained them a temporary alliance with Lleona's band to assault a Lolthite citadel that was encroaching on Vhaeraun's claimed territories. Vierna had gritted her teeth to work with them, but found it easier than expected.

Was this what her Lord saw for them, in her unbreakable alliance to her brother? Was He seeking alliances like this with His Sister to break Their Mother's hold? It was something to ponder for later, she decided. Likewise, she had had to adapt to her brother actually casting magic in his fights.

His amusement about Eilistraee having to take over that aspect had even made Tokrasz laugh. It had, Drizzt admitted, changed the character of some of the spells, adapting them to the Underdark as his second patron was having to do.

But now, finally, they were home again, Yasdra reunited with them, and Vierna's prestige in the Temple running feverishly high with the list of deeds Tokrasz told tales of.

It was one of the other senior priests, not the Twilight Herald himself, who came to get Vierna to teach her the prayers of true resurrection. It did not take long for her to learn the spell in its every nuance, everything that could go wrong and everything that had to go right. The best diviner of the Temple determined the most auspicious (and near) date, after which, there was only waiting until the correct day.

The three of them went to gather their father's body from the catacombs, and brought him to the central altar in the Temple, where the other two priests -- one her teacher, and the other a priest Drizzt had never met -- waited for them. A number of the lesser priests, priestesses, and acolytes waited as assistants, witnesses, and to learn the parts of the ritual that would not blast their minds.

Drizzt had asked, wanting to be certain, if he should even be present, showing more maturity and awareness of how he did or did not fit in this city and its ideals. That he was allowed was one more reason to keep giving respect, if not worship, to Vhaeraun.

His father looked to only be sleeping with the gentle repose on him. He'd warned Alustriel the last time she had reached out that she should not, and for her to warn the rest of the family not to, so that there could be no outside intrusion during the ritual. He stayed focused, obeying the tightest discipline for what was to come next.

Vierna stood at their father's feet, the offerings of diamonds and prized trophies of their triumphs on the altar above his head, the other two priests at his sides, and began the long and intricate chant. The first portion was the invocation of their father's spirit above his body, and only once she saw the faint glow could she breathe, and ask, "Zaknafein Do'Urden, will you willingly leave the realm of the dead and return to your body, your life, your children?"

"Yes," the spirit said with all of his will and faith in his children. For them, Zaknafein would do anything. For any one of them, he would give his life twenty times over, so long as they survived, and he would live for them just as fiercely each time.

Vierna smiled radiantly -- she had been certain, but it was so good to hear -- and began the rest of the ritual, the other priests' voice joining perfectly with hers. The chant rose, they voiced the last syllable, and for three endless seconds the whole of the central chamber was blacker than black, all heat, all darkfire, everything swathed in the perfection of deeper darkness... and Zaknafein Do'Urden breathed in, breathed out, and was sitting up before the darkness faded away.

Drizzt's hands tightened on Yasdra's shoulders to keep her from racing forward, to keep her quiet just in case there was some end to the ritual that must not be interrupted, and only let her go when the other two priests stepped back and Vierna stepped forward to offer their father her hands.

Yasdra went straight to them, but this was her sister's triumph, and she waited, watching closely as Zaknafein wrapped his hands fully around Vierna's. His eyes locked on the priestess he'd once believed lost to him, who had saved them all, and now brought him back to further protect her and her siblings.

"Thank you," he said, and the words were laden with the most honest sentiment he had ever uttered with them. He let go of only one hand, beckoning for his younger daughter, taking in the little bit of height she'd picked up since he saw her before the fight.

"Father," Yasdra breathed, moving to take that hand and be close.

"How could I do anything else, father?" Vierna asked, lifting his hand to her cheek for a long moment, before she let go because Drizzt had followed Yasdra and was now standing close at her side. Drizzt actually put his arm around her, a small embrace for the woman that had made their lives possible, literally now in the case of their father.

"You have a lot of people more than willing to help you get fully in condition again," Drizzt said with a smile, before he did take Zak's hand and squeeze. "I promised to go easy on you."

Zak snorted, squeezing, before taking a deep breath, looking at the others. "All of you, thank you." He wanted to be up and out of here, back in the comfort of their apartment, so he could bask in having all three children safe and alive, the threat of Malice and her other spawn finally at an end.

"We are glad to have you back, Master Do'Urden," the elder of the two said, bowing, "but this is not a time for discussions. This is a time for you to spend with your family. Go. All is well."

"Thank you, elders," Vierna said, having leaned into Drizzt's arm for a long moment, but with the directive to go ahead and leave, there was nothing she wanted more.

Yasdra took to one side as Zak stood, and Drizzt moved to be on the other, just in case. There was the faintest sound of amusement from the eldest of their family, but he didn't protest.

"I take it you still haven't found a patron," he said in the driest tone to Vierna, making Yasdra giggle and squeeze the hand she held.

Vierna snorted. "Who could compare to the two of you?" she asked quietly, not for the first time, and then simply headed for their quarters.

Zaknafein sat in his room, with peace finally settled around him. Yasdra was at lessons, Drizzt had left the day before for his surface life — and that woman — while Vierna had duties today.

How far had he come from that night he argued with Malice to allow him a little space in her second daughter's life? How much had his seemingly hopeless life changed because of that daughter?

He carefully inspected his swords, one by one, and all of his other smaller weapons, cradling the sheer joy of this life within a true family deep in his heart.

senmut

Not That Potion! (300 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Vierna Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden, Jarlaxle Baenre
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Age Regression/De-Aging, Prompt Fill, Writing Genre - Snippet
Summary:

Drizzt was really just looking to distract her.

Not That Potion!

One of the drow Drizzt had killed in his bolt for freedom from the mercenaries under his sister's command had been a wizard. The robe had been grabbed because it seemed to have a heat-shielding built into it, helping him be less visible, and the fighter's gear was in worse shape than the robe.

He just wasn't thinking about how many cuts he had sliced into the fighter as he hovered too near the insanity of the Hunter.

Now, a blade in one hand, his sister in front of him, and his ally fallen, he didn't really think beyond needing a distraction. Hand into the first pocket it found, pulling out the vial he found, and instinct made him throw it, as drow preferred salves to potions for healing. He supposed it wasn't his smartest move, but his sister failed to duck in time, too focused on using her whip against him.

The vial broke on contact, obviously designed to shatter, or maybe Drizzt had put too much force in the throw. Either way, Vierna shrieked, and scrabbled back, opening room for Drizzt to maneuver against the man in the outlandish hat and eye-patch. That one's uncovered eye went large, before a smile broke out on his face.

"Do enjoy your new conundrum, son of Zaknafein!" was laughingly called before the man made a hasty retreat, allowing Drizzt to focus back on his sister —

— and he had to lunge swiftly to kill the fallen whip's heads before they attacked the drow child in a pull of cleric robes.

"Magga camara," slipped from Drizzt's lips as a red-eyed, angry drow child no bigger than he'd been the first time he levitated stared up at him ungratefully for the rescue.

"What did you do to me?!" Vierna cried.

"I have no idea."

senmut

Again and Again (500 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Characters: Vierna Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden, Zaknafein Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Drabble Sequence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Time Loop, Temporary Character Death, Minor Appearances By Other Characters
Summary:

Vhaeraun needs her to succeed. No matter how many times it takes.

Again and Again

Listen to Me, My priestess. The future hinges on your success, and I am giving you this glass of sand. As soon as you know that the path out has failed, crush it.

You will remember, as if from a dream, the choices made. This can continue until you win free — or My Abyssal Mother defeats the magic upon you, and thus Her city.

As Vierna saw Maya stalking Drizzt, with Briza cutting off her escape the other direction, she shattered the glass, and the sand spilled out, before her wean son could die in front of her very eyes.

Hazy recollections of an unguarded moment with her wean-son led Vierna to keep a tighter rein on her feelings for the boy. They made it almost to the time of schooling, and he betrayed his faerie heart to their mother at the worst moment, on the verge of learning to be an adult.

Vierna wept in her heart, but walked outside of the temple-school to a courtyard and crushed the glass of sand beneath her heel.

She had to succeed, either with him at her side, or sent far from them so she could destroy Lloth's hold on her House.

Absolute horror descended upon Vierna as events following the raid spiraled out of her control and guidance. If there was one man in all of existence that held as much of her care as her wean-son, it was the Weapon Master.

The only thing she could do was to throw out a web spell to hinder pursuit of her son. She dared not crush the glass of sand in the chapel itself, or while the focus of Lloth was so close at hand. No, she could bide her time, and force herself to imprint all of her revulsion to memory.

They were on the cusp of escape, and her wean-son was too drugged, too … broken by the unholy ritual that she had failed to protect him from. His slowness to obey might have won praise from her any other time, but now it was only costing them precious time.

When the Weapon Master failed to appear, after being certain of his alliance in this, she knew, bitterly, that she had failed again. She took hold of Drizzt by the back of his neck, pushing their foreheads together.

"I do love you, my stubborn one. Next time, we will do this!"

This time, as Drizzt tried to process revelations in the gym, Vierna was there, finger over her lips, holding a pack. She took his hand, and they went in, where again, silence was cautioned at Zak, before a flurry of signs were thrown.

The trio all but ran from the House, hearing the threat gearing up to take them all to the Abyss on Lloth's altar.

They didn't stop moving for most of a day, nor was there time for words.

Far enough away to feel safe, Vierna checked for the glass of sand to find it gone at last.

senmut

A Demand for His Aid (3004 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Characters: Zaknafein Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Canon Typical Violence, Child Abuse, Attempted Murder, Murder, Family Dynamics, Graphic Description of Injuries
Summary:

When Zaknafein is contacted directly by a god, everything changes

A Demand for His Aid

Zaknafein was headed for his quarters after having dealt with an infraction of discipline in the commoner soldiers. He was not in the best of moods already when there was a very intense hiss in his mind.

~Your children need you!~

The voice was male, with more power to it than Malice had ever brought to bear on him, and he had the fleeting impression of a mask floating in shadows. If he were any other drow, he would have pushed off the intrusion, knowing full well what the mask symbolized, and not wanting anything to do with it.

His weakness, though, was children, with his own first and foremost, even if his daughter was long lost to him.

He turned to go to the chapel where they both should be, and he could hear — and smell — the vicious attack happening inside there.

Neither woman involved in the attack was looking at the doorway. Vierna was caught in a spell, her face twisted in agony, while the boy was being all but flayed alive under the snapping mouths of two whips held by Malice and her youngest daughter.

Zaknafein acted before thought, brought fully to a rage to see the boy, not yet out of the care of his wean-mother, being killed before his very eyes in such a horrific fashion. He could not even take satisfaction in finally killing Malice, barely noting her shriek as one sword went above her cleric robes to take her head.

Maya turned, and his other sword found her heart, enchanted to overcome what pitiful protections she had worked into her robes. Vierna had begun to move the moment Malice's life ended, indicating which one had been holding her, but his daughter was ignoring him and the violence to get to the boy.

"No, no, my little brother, you cannot die on me, you must live!" he heard her say, hands working feverishly to stem the bleeding, raw wounds. "Weapon Master, Briza is out of house today; hold the door against others!"

The words were an order, but the need behind them reverberated in Zak's heart, seeing one child he thought lost trying to save the one that had never been meant to live at all.

"You'll have to hurry, Priestess," he said gruffly, but moved to be certain no others came… or that they died before they could report what had happened.

"Just need to get salve on them," she said, and he would have sworn there was desperation in the words.

He flicked his attention that way, saw that she was applying the salve to a large piece of cloth. That was wise; it could be laid over all the wounds at once. His ears strained for the sound of any approaches, filtering out her flurry of activity. When she snapped her fingers for his attention, he saw she had secured the boy to her with shawls, keeping him against her side.

"Down to the tizzin holding pens, and we can get out a secret way there, with the one that answers to me? Or do you have a better idea?" she asked, her hands hot and almost blurring the signs in her haste.

Well, at least she was smart enough they had to get out. Then again, she had always been exceptional in most regards.

"That works," he replied, coming to her side. "If you have a plan, given this was not on my agenda today," he added, letting his dark sense of humor rear up.

She drew in a deep breath. "I don't know what betrayed us, but yes, I have a plan. I don't dare swing through my quarters, but I leave certain things in my saddle bags that will help us. We just need clear of this place before Briza returns."

Zak nodded, indicating for her to lead, unsurprised when she took him down a back passage from the chapel. He stayed alert, noting that she had the dagger he had given her in the hand not under the shawl holding the boy to her. Zak noted the boy was running hot, not cooling, indicating he might yet live from the torture he'd been put through.

Once they reached the tizzin holding pens, Zaknafein set to getting the one she indicated rigged with harness and added a second saddle to the gear Vierna had indicated. While he did so, she went and opened the gate that would let the mounts reach their feeding paddock, giving them a cushion of time as the beasts would be surly to be called back from food, if pursuit should begin immediately.

"Ready."

Vierna came to his side, using her levitate to rise high enough to get into the saddle, shifting the boy in front of her to better support him. Zak climbed up behind, ignoring the beast's protest, and watched as his daughter used a spell to open a door that had been hidden, one that led to a portal.

"You better really trust whatever that leads to," Zak murmured in her ear, and was relieved by her defiant little laugh.

"Malice should be the only other person who could command it, and it takes time to resurrect someone." She commanded the beast forward, putting them through the opening and into something that was more wild than Zak had seen in centuries. The faintest glow ahead made his eyes try to shift into the visible spectrum, but he focused, surveying everything for dangers.

"Her gathering paths," he said, once he was satisfied.

"I don't think she's done it more than a handful of times since I took the task over," Vierna said, guiding the tizzin to one of the smaller caves she knew to exist. "We are going to have to hole up long enough for me to pray for healing for him, Weapon Master."

"For better or worse, Priestess, I am tied to your fate now. And his."

"I will do all I can to see you never regret that," she told him.

What the hell did he even say to that? He didn't have words, but let her get them somewhere they could be safer fro the moment. When they were inside the small cavern, and the entry sealed with another spell, he almost had an answer, shocking as it was, when she pulled a mask out, tying it on, so that she could reach for divine spells.

His daughter was not Lloth's? She followed Vhaeraun?!

The day was only getting stranger.

The boy — his son — was ashen in color, under the blue faerie fire she pulled up to observe him by. He was far too hot, and Zaknafein could see how discolored both the bandaging cloth and the shawl were from lost blood.

If the boy died, at least he would die free and not in that damned chapel!

It didn't look like Vierna was going to accept even that benediction as she prayed fervently and applied the prayers diligently to the boy's back. Slowly, the heat receded, and some color returned, until finally Vierna had nothing left to give, and the boy's labored breathing could be heard.

"I will ask again tomorrow," she said firmly, letting the mask dangle on her neck before she looked at Zaknafein, face almost challenging him to speak his mind.

"How long?"

"Always."

"How?!"

She smiled, wearily, before smoothing the boy's hair away from his face a little, and off of his back. "Because a man once drugged my nurse, and offered me a gift to learn from."

That didn't answer how, not really, but Zak settled back to weigh his next words. He watched her do small cantrips to get the cloths clean. Once they were, she covered the boy to keep him warmer, eyes tight when it provoked a small sound of pain.

"What happened?" he finally asked.

"Somehow, they discovered my allegiance," Vierna said with bitterness. "I'd been so careful, but maybe… one of his questions was heard, one I didn't punish for and would have, under the spider's demands. They both came, and before I could do anything to defend us, to maybe dispel their suspicion, Malice accused me, and put me in an agonizing hold, decreeing I would watch him be destroyed before she delivered me to her goddess."

"Do you need any salve?" Zak asked, flinching from that punishment. He'd felt it once or twice in his centuries of blaspheming.

"No, if you have some, save it for him," Vierna said. "How did you know?"

"Your god, who I don't like much better than Her, told me I was needed," he told her, not yet willing to lay it out too openly.

Vierna's mouth tightened in a thin line. "He always told me you were my best choice for help, when the time came. Only, that was supposed to be when I was ready to take the House. We never counted on such a strange child as Drizzt is." Her tone was affectionate, as was the gaze she dropped on the boy, and Zaknafein's heart clenched with strange emotions.

"Had Briza been present, I might have been able to take all three, with surprise on my side as it was," Zak mused. "But she wasn't, and we could not have held against what she brought back to the House with her, given that the bitch-goddess would have warned her."

"No. So now, I will take him to one of my God's cities… and I very much would like for you to join me all the way there, Weapon Master."

"Not about to let the two of you wander the wilds alone," Zak told her gruffly. "Especially with his injuries."

She looked relieved… and exhausted, actually showing her true state to him.

"Sleep, Vierna. I can keep a watch, and you said they shouldn't be able to follow until they resurrect Malice."

"I… thank you."

Somehow, impossibly to Zak's view of things, the boy was conscious before Vierna had fully awakened. Maybe it was the pain, even though only a slight hitch of breath had given the boy away before those eyes — such a shade of purple — opened. It looked like the boy was biting his lip against making any more noise, but Vierna had also heard the change in breathing, and brought her hand to the boy's cheek with such gentleness that Zak felt his chest tighten again.

"Easy, my wean-son, easy little brother," she crooned softly. "We are safe, and we will get you healed." Zak knew it was too soon for her to make the effort again; no god was that generous.

"Introduce us, and I will treat his back with the salve," he told her in a quiet voice, as those purple eyes had never left him once they opened.

"Drizzt, this is the Weapon Master, Zaknafein. He can take care of you as I do. He will not hurt you."

The boy blinked once, and that was when Zak realized it wasn't a fever — or merely the fever — that was making the boy's face blotchy. He had a whip strike across his cheek and jaw, making Zak wonder if they had gone for the boy's tongue.

His temper flared, and he truly wished he'd had time to make the deaths hurt.

"No, don't sit up, unless you have injuries on your front," Zak told the boy as he moved closer, pulling his own jar of salve out. The boy stopped moving, and laid very still as Zaknafein pulled the cloth coverings back to deal with the half-closed injuries along the back. His touch was as light as he could make it, but the boy made no sound, only flinching minutely at each touch.

That Vierna was watching, rather than going back to sleep, reinforced her investment in the boy's welfare, especially as she kept her touch lightly on the uninjured side of his face. Zak had to indicate for her to move so he could put the salve on the boy's face, and those eyes closed but still there was silence, even though that had to be more painful than the ones on the back.

He sat back, watched the boy fall into a quieter, more even breathing, and met Vierna's eyes after he put the salve away.

"Always so quiet?" he signed.

"After punishment only. Always questioning."

Zak studied the boy, then her. "Let him ask."

It was bold, a demand, and he half-expected anger from her.

"I plan to."

That… was unexpected, but good.

Vierna decided for them that lingering was ill-advised and had them moving again as soon as she had done her praying. The boy settled in front of her, the sling connecting them still, but Zak had seen his body was much better. Once she had scried the path they needed, Vierna worked some more healing on the boy, and they traveled in silence for several hours, only stopping for brief rests.

The boy slept, enough that Zak was becoming concerned, and brought it up once they reached a defensible camping point.

"Should he be awake more? I could hold him and walk along side, if so," he signed.

Vierna shook her head. "Better that he sleep, my Lord has said, when He gives me the healing. Both for our travel, and so there is no lingering damage.

"But thank you."

There was no sarcasm, only genuine gratitude, the kind of emotion that Zak had seen so rarely in his life. He inclined his head, and continued checking for threats. Once he was satisfied, he settled near them, watching the boy be awakened for the food and drink that Vierna had summoned for them to share. The purple eyes were so odd, but more, Zak could not see anything of himself in the features, only Malice… yet Vierna was much the same.

He focused on the boy's hands then, and watched as both were used with indifference, no slighting of either one, with ease. He looked up at Vierna's face, knowing she was watching him study the boy. She gave a small smile.

"He shares the trait," she signed… while using her free hand to stroke the boy's hair.

That actually made Zak smile, a small twitch upwards of the corner of his mouth.

"We get it from you, don't we?" she added then.

He didn't want to lie to her; they were dependent on each other for the time being. He gave a short nod.

"Well. I am glad, though it does mean I will likely never find a patron worth having at my side. Who could live up to what you have proven a man should be?"

Her words, delivered with sass behind the motions, made him chuckle, rather than dwell on the fact she seemed pleased by it.

"Daughter." He signed the one word, willing all the misunderstandings of the past to be gone.

"Father." She knew the sign for it, usually only seen in the commoners, not using the formal 'sire', and that made his chest tight again.

No one, he swore, was ever hurting them again.

Drizzt did not, really, complain once he was feeling better. He was just a little more active in trying to 'help' his sister get him secured.

Amazingly, Vierna saw the issue and stopped with the shawls, looking at the boy with patient eyes.

"If I let you sit, you have hold on tight to the straps, in case we have to go up. That means not using your hands for anything else."

Zaknafein saw the boy's eyes widen, then he clung to Vierna, letting her finish getting the shawls in place. Once they were moving, the tizzin still grunting displeasure at two riders plus a half-size child, he looked over Vierna's shoulder a few times to see Drizzt moving a pebble on his fingers.

It was never the same hand when Zak checked.

The feeling of pride was growing, as he saw his daughter had kept the ability to care, and his son was as skilled in his hands as Zak himself had been at the same age.

The truce on not resisting being bound to his sister lasted a few days, and Zak, to forestall further concerns, took to walking. "Need to see and feel the tunnels, now that we're away from anything that looks vaguely familiar," he said, waving it off, before wrapping the tethers in a way that made it possible to secure his son in the second saddle.

That it meant Drizzt was hidden from anyone approaching them from the forward position was good enough for both of them to accept the new way.

Along with his body being mended, it seemed Drizzt's mind was becoming curious again, and Zaknafein got to listen as Vierna explained her religion, answered apparently old questions about why the women were like that, and at least half a dozen other topics. Vierna had not been exaggerating; Drizzt was always asking questions now that he didn't have to fear any whips. If Vierna was uncomfortable with the question, Drizzt would stop, but not to flinch.

No, the boy was quick to hug her, having learned he could be as tactile as he wanted with her now. The obvious affection between them was one more ache in Zak's chest.

If all drow had the capacity, why did it have to be the way it had been in their city?

That was something that chewed on his mind for a time, until Vierna's reassurances that her god's city would not be like that at all actually re-ignited hope for him.

In Menzoberranzan, a priestess's body was confiscated against potential use later, while her surviving daughter was absorbed into the Second House, and her assets distributed between First and Second.

In the wilds, Vierna led her family along a winding path to sanctuary that was far from the chaos strewn by their House ceasing to exist in that city.

And a father grew stronger in the care of his children, finding new purpose to living.

senmut

A Family Reunited (3363 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zaknafein Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden, Original Drow Character(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff
Summary:

Zak stole Drizzt, many decades after Vierna stole herself.

A Family Reunited

He'd done it. Zaknafein had managed to escape the House with the son who had survived, somehow, without having to slay every woman in there. No doubt, if he'd planned for that, he could have… but it might have set the city on his trail. Now, though, he had to get them fully out of the Underdark. He suspected Malice would not stop hunting them until she had her prized son back and Zaknafein on the altar.

He had an old map in his head, one he'd seen a long time before. All he had to do was follow that, up and out, with his small son, keeping them fed and protected.

It would not be worth thinking on the price of failure, so he did not. His son's life, whole and as he was, so bright and warm and gentle was all that mattered.

Vierna called a meeting of the adult drow only, those that most often helped with shepherding people up out of the Underdark. She smiled at them, hiding her unease over this coming venture. As always, it would be up to the individuals, but she already knew she wanted to see this one through, if only because it might mean eliminating a risk.

And she sighed inside her own mind about thinking in the negative. Sometimes it was hard to embody hope when her thoughts tended to run in practical fashions.

"Is this about the mystery?"

Trust Sira to jump straight to meat of it as soon as the door was closed for the meeting.

"Yes," Vierna answered. "All of us clerics have been touched by dreams of a father and child in the Underdark, somewhere near enough to us that we are the best option for them." She waited for the shock to die away. "The mystery that was relayed to me is that the father is not one of ours, that he is an apostate of all gods.

"Yet his great need to protect a boy child, one he thinks of as his son, has hit hard against our Lady's mercies and compassion."

"What of the boy himself?" Rafi asked, frowning. Apostates weren't unknown, but had a short lifespan in general.

"He does not exist on the divine plane, and that is th other half of a need for caution," Vierna said slowly. "These things are always voluntary, but this one is even more so. Please do not volunteer for the search unless you are certain you can face the potential risk of a trap."

"I will go," Sira said, shrugging. "I am most recently escaped from the Spider, and might have an advantage in discovering the edge of the trap."

Vierna inclined her head, eyes seeking Rafi. He nodded once; he would be the leader to take the others below, being the most experienced. He had both fighting skill and not a few wizardly tricks he'd picked up over the years to protect them all.

One way, or another, the mystery had to be solved.

His son could count eleven years of life, and had just made his first kill of a creature. Zaknafein felt a deep worry in his soul, until he saw Drizzt's face. There was … remorse? regret?… some un-drow emotion on the boy's features as he worked the knife loose from the smaller lizard that Zak had not seen while dealing with the larger, very territorial one.

He came to the boy, kneeling down to look for injuries. A scrape, likely from the jagged scales when Drizzt had defended himself, marred one hand.

"We need to move on, but use a little water to rinse that scrape. Are you alright otherwise?"

The boy merely nodded, and Zaknafein damned Malice and her daughters all over again for that being the boy's shield, to fall behind silence.

"Here," Zak said, handing over his smaller cleaning cloth for the knife. "Wipe the blade well, after you clean the scrape. The cloth has magic to pull all the blood off and leave no scent."

Again, there was a nod, before the pair were moving. Zak kept Drizzt just in front of him this time, instead of at his side, in case the strangeness in his son made travel harder as he thought on what had just happened.

When Zak found them a place to camp next, he used darkness on the mouth of the small cave, then brought up his faerie fire, despite the effort it took to use two innate powers so close together without an amulet. That let him see his son fully, reassuring himself the scrape was all there was and it looked to heal cleanly.

"Do you want to say anything about earlier?" Zak invited his son who swung between extremely inquisitive and absolute silence.

Drizzt peered at him, weighing the words, keeping in mind how gentle his father had been with them in all their days of travel.

"I did not want to have to kill it."

The boy squared his shoulders and jaw in a way that reminded Zak of himself, but also spoke of too many past beatings.

"But you did, because it surely would have killed or maimed you," Zak said evenly. "Necessity. I don't go out of my way to hunt more than we need, and have preferred to scare off those things we could on our path. Waste of energy and time to kill needlessly."

Drizzt slowly relaxed his posture. "I… yes."

Something in the way the boy still looked thoughtful told Zak this wasn't the end of it, but as long as Drizzt didn't hesitate to defend himself there should be no problems. He saw to a meal, checked their weapons, then settled the boy close so they could rest once the faerie fire winked out.

Drizzt was uncertain of many things, but he knew what fear was. Fear motivated him to go high, using his levitate, at Zaknafein's first shift of 'danger', given he could just make out drow ahead of them in the large cavern.

"We mean — "

The speaker's words were cut off as Zak had drawn and moved to kill, before it looked like he ran into an invisible barrier of some kind.

"Peace!" the speaker managed to say, having scrambled back behind two of the others. That was a woman, but the rest were all men, Drizzt noted, just as Zaknafein escaped whatever was stopping him, both swords at the ready.

"Peace only comes from death," Zak said, and Drizzt wondered if that was true. He didn't want it to be true.

"Warrior, we mean it," the foremost fighter said, armed with a sword in one hand… and the other in a pouch? Drizzt strained to see and hear as best as he could, wishing strongly for his father to be safe.

"Then get out of my way."

"We cannot, until you hear us," the woman said. "My name is Sira, once of Mantol-Dirith. We came to seek you and your son, to guide you."

Drizzt actually winced as his father's muscles bunched.

"Warrior," the foremost fighter called. "We follow a surface path and were guided to help. We are not like most drow you have known. You can see that, in our clothes not hiding us as well!"

Zak considered, put one sword away. The group seemed to relax somewhat, but Drizzt had seen a twitch that mean to shut his eyes.

He did, heard the cries of pain and saw the light behind his eyelids, before a hiss of his name had him dropping swiftly and running. While the group of drow struggled to overcome the light, Drizzt and his father slipped down a secondary passage, making swift progress to escape whatever trickery that had been.

Rafi checked on everyone, and Sira used minor healings to rid them of the headaches the light pellet had caused.

"What now?" she asked the elder.

Rafi considered, then shook his head. "You take everyone home."

She hissed in a breath. "First Sister would tell you not to be a fool. You saw how fast he was."

"Yes, and that is giving me an idea. I could be wrong, but somehow, it feels like our only choice. I can track them, and I can cast haste to catch up. One person alone is less a threat," Rafi reasoned. "Take our siblings home, and with luck… I will follow with our without them in a hand of days."

Sira did not like it, let it show on her face, but she did not have the skill to track them fast enough. "Don't give Vierna reason to learn the spells to bring you back," she said, before going to break the plan to the others. Rafi was handed more of their rations and vials of healing potions, before he broke off and began trying to find a man he half-thought matched tales of his dearest friend's childhood.

Zaknafein knew they were being followed, had expected it. He found a good spot where he could settle Drizzt in with their packs, told him to be silent, and waited. The party would die, and then they could move on. It was as simple as that in his eyes.

He was waiting, therefore, with his body fully hidden from drow eyes, and watched the lead fighter, the one who had magic tricks, come in — completely alone. Nor did Zak's senses tell him that any others were following.

This man was canny, Zak decided, when he stopped, looked around, and then calmly put his back to a stalagmite… after checking it for any predators or nuisances.

"I might be talking to thin air," the man began. "But if not… my name is Rafi. I have sent Sira and the others back to our home above. Yes, I have that authority over a cleric.

"We're different, those of us that choose the surface. We've left the Spider behind us, or in some cases, the Masked God," the man continued. "We chose each other, and we want to help others that wish the same."

Could Zak believe him? The mention of the Masked God stirred unpleasant memories, but this man was … scornful?… about both drow gods, and not pushing a new one in their place. Just… helping others.

One fighter. Zak was almost certain he truly was alone.

"Lies are easy to spin, stranger," he found himself saying. "Of course a cleric would send a mere male alone to bait a trap."

The fighter chuckled. "I can see how one who lived in the Spider's web would say that, even though I've seen centuries of freedom from the city I was born in. The cleric I most care to listen to will probably be aghast when she learns I chose to come alone to speak with you and your son.

"But, I think I have a small thing to offer to you… if you hail from Menzoberranzan. No, I am not prying at thoughts or anything sinister like that. I just refuse to believe that there could be two fighters using twinned long-swords in the northern part of the Underdark that have impossible speed."

"Not impossible, I suppose, but say you guessed right. Curious how any surface dwelling drow could have heard of such." Zaknafein's curiosity was aroused fully.

"Because such a man once gave my cleric friend a gift. A spider, but one that was heretical to the teachings of that city. She spoke fondly of that man, and wonders if he might even have been her father."

No one knew that. No one but he and Vierna, so long lost to them — how in all the abyss could this man know that unless he was the one that stole her?!

Before he went and demanded those answers, the fighter did one more thing that no sane drow ever did… and dropped his sword belt.

"I swear to you, Weapon Master, for you must be that man, I only wish you and your children long, good lives."

Broken blades, but what was Zak supposed to make of this?!

"I'll kill you, over days, if you lie," Zak growled before stepping out and dispelling the protections of his gear.

"I don't lie about Vierna… or pretty much anything, unless it is to protect others," Rafi said, staying where he was. "I am thankful she told me tales, so that I could recognize you, Weapon Master."

"Get your sword back on," Zak said. "Zaknafein," he added absently, before looking toward his son, finding him already slipping out of the hiding hole to come to his side. "I didn't tell you to move."

"But you chose," the boy said, shoulders and jaw firming, readying for a punishment Zak would never inflict.

"We need to talk about your stubborn streak," Zak grumbled, only to hear Rafi chuckle.

"I presume, saer, that comes from you then, as Vierna has never accepted the word 'no' without strenuous arguments," Rafi told him.

"Hmm, I think it might have come from both sides," Zak admitted, before putting a hand on Drizzt's shoulder, his swords having been put away before he stepped out of the shadows. "My son, Drizzt."

"An honor to meet both of you," Rafi said, buckling his sword back in place. "Now, I know a better cavern for rest from here, one that is small and has a trickle of water. I also have rations to share."

"Lead on," Zak said blandly, and the strange fighter did, no matter it left his back exposed.

Vierna's nerves had prickled from the moment Sira made it back to her. She knew Rafi would worry about it later, but she chose to take two of her fighters and go down the main passage leading up he was likely to use. She did not anticipate a long wait, given travel times of the original party and then Rafi himself. Nor was she wrong, as the first sign of the travelers crossing a warning strand she had prayed for let her and her fighters know when to fully cloak themselves.

Her eyes were glued to the entry point of this resting point, and she was so relieved to see Rafi whole and well… before the man from distant memories came into view. She had not truly let herself hope when Sira's descriptions stirred the few good ones for her, yet… that was the Weapon Master. That was the man she had actually missed from her birth-city.

With him was a boy, likely just past his Page Prince year, eyes glowing a cool purple that was so striking… and yet her prayer to determine alignment could not even see him. The man was shockingly neutral, but the boy just did not exist!

That would need to be understood before they went into Spirit Sanctuary, but for now, Vierna moved into view, hand at 'stop' to her pair of fighters.

"Chipped blades, First Sister, what are you doing here?!" Rafi hissed out, noting the pair that just faded into view without being aggressive in their posture. "At least you're not alone, but damn it, you take too many risks!"

"I don't think you get to speak of my risks, my friend, when you walked into the presence of one of the deadliest men's presence, alone," Vierna said cheerfully. "Hello, Weapon Master."

"No longer… Vierna," Zaknafein said, drinking in the sight of her even as she was returning that regard evenly. "You really are alive and well."

"Oh yes, Zaknafein, I am," Vierna told him. "I knew Arach-Tinilith would have killed me, and took my life in my own hands. I have few regrets for doing so."

That seemed to be just the reassurance the man needed, prompting him to cross the distance. The boy did not… but Vierna saw that he was watching intently and staying near Rafi now.

Zaknafein came to a stop at a companionable distance, his eyes meeting hers. "I am very relieved, having mourned you these long years."

"So you are my father? As I cannot see you mourning over a potential priestess with little other than the House to matter."

Zak smiled, nodding once. "She replaced me as Patron because I challenged her over how to raise you," he admitted, holding his hands out.

She took them, gladly, squeezing as that slotted in against his lessons she could remember so clearly. "I am glad you are free now, and intrigued to meet your companion — son, yes?"

"Your full brother, yes," Zaknafein confirmed, turning — not letting go of one of her hands — to beckon. The boy came over swiftly, looking up at Vierna earnestly.

"Hello," Vierna said. "I am Vierna."

"Drizzt," the boy said, then flicked eyes to Zak, as if checking that he wasn't in trouble for speaking up.

"This is your sister, who will be kind to you," Zaknafein told the boy. "She left us a long time ago, because she is more like you are."

Drizzt's face scrunched up as he considered that, then he nodded once before tucking in against Zak's leg shyly.

"I, and all of our people, welcome you both. Come; let's get up to the entrance cave, unless you need a rest? It will be safer to talk there, and Rafi can stop glaring at me for leaving our village."

"No, the glaring stops when we're in the wards," Rafi said idly. "But we are rested; I timed it so we'd come to the entrance at night."

"Of course," Vierna said, smiling for his protective nature, before they set out for the higher points.

Before they exited the cavern onto the true surface, Vierna put a hand on Zak's arm. Drizzt had tired, and Rafi had him currently, a sign of trust in all ways. The boy had nodded off and was sleeping with the peace that few drow children ever found.

"There is a mystery around Drizzt. He cannot be perceived by my goddess, a good drow goddess," she said in a low voice. "I need to unravel that before he can actually go inside the warded village that we keep."

"Wonder what the Spider Bitch did to him when he was spared the night he was born," Zak grumbled. "What will it take?"

"Staying here a night or three, seeing if I can make it make sense, asking for help from strong allies if not," Vierna admitted. "I do not like the delay in having you both home with me, but I must put the lives of all of our people ahead of my own wishes."

Zak reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, already comfortable with the causal physicality these drow used to reassure one another. "I give you my trust, daughter, to free your brother of whatever this is."

She leaned into him, a lump in her throat as she decided Rafi was right. They had gotten their goodness from Zaknafein, even if survival in Menzoberranzan had broken his down.

Zaknafein had been a little less sure when 'strong allies' proved to be faerie-and-human related people. He really didn't know what he felt about the obvious affection between the pair of siblings to his daughter… one in a sisterly fashion and the other as a lover. The very tall woman who looked human but felt like power itself had been gracious and gentle, which only added to Zak's unease. He just did not know how to handle a self-professed Witch of Shadowdale — wherever that was — being kind.

Kindness was going to take time to get used to, but Drizzt responded to it so eagerly. Which meant he needed to learn to be that way, consciously.

His son had been very aware of the power moving around him, apparently, and Zak almost wished the boy wasn't that sensitive to magic. Zak had worked to hone his sense of it, not being as noble-blooded, but it seemed to come to both children easily enough.

Now? Now, he had his stolen son, his lost daughter, and a future that didn't feel as short-lived as it once had. He could thrive… and find out all the stories Rafi would share of the woman his daughter had become while Drizzt grew up.

somariel

Dream Bonds, Drow Raids, and Family Ties (4073 words) by Somariel
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Alustriel Silverhand, Drizzt Do'Urden, Original Elf Character(s), Zaknafein Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ensemble Cast, Soul Bond
Series: Part 20 of A Crossing of the Realms
Summary:

My brain dropped on me the idea of merging the fics "Dreaming of the Other" and "Prisoner of the Drow" and the fic series "Sisters in Spirit". This is the result.

Dream Bonds, Drow Raids, and Family Ties

While it wasn't unheard of for Korvallen to come to visit without warning, the agitation he was displaying was.

So rather than invite him to share her breakfast once Talira had let him into her rooms, Alustriel was more direct. "It's good to see you, Kor, but if you're looking for Sharr, he's up in the Moonwood right now, leading a patrol to investigate rumored sightings of drow."

That only seemed to increase his agitation, and when he spoke, she found out why.

"The rumors are true, because Sharr's been captured by drow."

Alustriel felt the blood drain from her face even as she made herself stand straighter. "Well then. His patrol wouldn't have been considered overdue for return until the morning after tomorrow, but given you must have found out through the dream-bond," and she paused just long enough for Kor to nod sharply before continuing, "then I will go talk to Taern immediately about sending a party to find the rest of the patrol.

"And I'll reach out to the family to start assembling a rescue party while I'm heading over to the Spell Tower."

Korvallen's agitation didn't ease completely, but his shoulders relaxed noticeably as he let out a small sigh.

"Thank you, Elué," he said.

Alustriel had not intended to sleep, not with Sharr in drow hands, but it seemed that her worry for him, helping with organizing the party to rescue him, and starting what was needed for seeing to the aftermath for the two elven villages that had also been destroyed by raids—including prevailing on Mena to go find out if it had been some of Spirit Sanctuary's residents who had been at the one that had clearly been disturbed by other people after the raid—was more tiring than she had expected, when it was piled on top of keeping up with her usual duties.

And so, two days after Sharr's patrol would have been considered overdue, with the rescue party having set off that morning, she found herself sinking into sleep, and then into dreams.

The first dream started out in the darkness she had expected, but before she had registered more than the sense of moving quickly, light flared, and she was able to see that her dream-bonded was engaged in a fight against drow.

He had killed two opponents—and done so so swiftly that despite her faint hopes, she knew this had to be her drow dream-bonded, not Sharr—when he suddenly lunged to one side, shoving someone else... out of the path of a magic missile, she saw, as he turned to face the wizard.

A huge panther moved between him and the wizard, snarling, but not attacking, and there was a stand-off that stretched out... until her dream-bonded threw a knife at the wizard.

The wizard ducked, and her dream-bonded vaulted over the cat, quickly ending the wizard, before retrieving something from the wizard's body.

Then the light faded away, and she could only sense careful steps, with her dream-bonded's hand on the shoulder of someone ahead of him.

But soon enough, they stopped, and blue faerie fire lit up a small cave, revealing that her dream-bonded had two other drow with him, one quite young—young enough to still have traces of baby fat, in fact—and one who was visibly mature.

The mature one's face was recognizable as one she had seen several times before, so she knew he must be from the same house as her dream-bonded, but the young one was entirely unfamiliar.

The young one appeared to be rather surprised by something when he looked at her dream-bonded, but he settled down fairly quickly to clean his own weapons.

After that, he cleaned her dream-bonded's weapon, and then, after a period of silence, said in Goblin—why was a drow using Goblin with another drow?—“Name Drizzt.

Her dream-bonded wrinkled his nose, and then she was utterly surprised. Because what he said—in Goblin, like the young drow had—was "Name Sharrevaliir. Small name Sharr."

The young drow—was he her drow dream-bonded, then?—grinned and pointed at Sharr, then spoke again. "Go up, send out. You leave. You live."

Sharr nodded, but looked between the young drow—Drizzt—and the older one. "You two live, after?"

Drizzt shrugged. "Try."

The older one growled a bit and added. "Will," in Goblin.

Drizzt looked at him, and then ducked his head, before nodding. "Will," he repeated.

And when Alustriel woke, she was certain that Drizzt was her drow dream-bonded.

Even though he knew it had to mean that Sharr had escaped, Korvallen was not entirely pleased by the dream he had had of his heart-brother in a small cave with two drow.

But before he had decided whether or not to say anything about it to the rest of the rescue party, Laeral, Dove, and his nephews all paused in their eating with the expression that indicated they were talking over Elué's anklets.

And when the expression cleared, Laeral said, in a quiet voice, "Alustriel says that her drow dream-bonded and one other drow are aiding Sharr in escaping."

Kor kept his sigh of annoyance entirely internal, hoping that if he stayed quiet, he would be ignored, but Thyl dashed that hope by turning to him.

"Can you tell us anything else, Uncle?"

Kor deliberately took another bite of his ration bar, but the patience with which the rest of the party waited out the chewing and swallowing was enough for him to relent and give some information.

"Him being Elué's drow dream-bonded explains why the young one did a double-take upon seeing Sharr's face under the light of faerie fire.

"His name is Drizzt, and they've given Sharr a sword."

With last night's dream through Kor's eyes placing the rescue party as having started down, Sharr knew he needed to tell Drizzt and Zaknafein that it was coming.

So after he accepted the food that the elder drow had given him, he quietly cleared his throat to get the attention of both of them.

And when they both turned to look at him, he said, in a low voice, "Kin party coming, to bring back to Surface."

That was not in any way anything Zak had expected to hear, but before he could say anything, Drizzt asked the question he would have. "How you know that?"

Sharr tilted his head in a thoughtful manner for a moment, then said, "Sleep, see through others' eyes."

Drizzt's eyes went wide at that, but Sharr wasn't done speaking. "Human mate gave party food, shelter, plans; heart-brother in kin party."

Drizzt's expression turned thoughtful at the first part of that, but before Zak could address his suspicions as to why, he needed more information. "Who coming, how many?" he asked.

"Sons, six." Sharr replied. "Mate's sisters, two. Heart-brother. Eilistraee cleric."

That last required Zak to exert iron control to not show his surprise at how easily Sharr spoke of one of the Dark Maiden's followers being in the rescue party, but he quickly stomped it down to focus on his son.

"Drizzt," he said, "have you been seeing through another's eyes in your dreams?" It was in Drow, which excluded Sharr, but he didn't want to have to take the time to wrestle with the concepts in Goblin, so that couldn't be helped.

Drizzt gave him a considering look, then nodded sharply.

Reverting back to Goblin, Zak asked, "Seen Sharr before, through other eyes?", remembering how surprised his son had been when Zak brought up his faerie fire and they first saw the elf's face in actual light.

"Yes."

Though he wasn't looking at Sharr, Zak could still sense the other man's double-take.

But he recovered quickly and asked, "Seen much or seen little?"

"Seen much," Drizzt replied.

"Know how other person look?"

"Hair silver, round eyes, female, think tall."

Sharr nodded as if he had expected that answer. "Alustriel. Human mate."

Zak narrowed his eyes at that, not liking the idea of Drizzt being dream-bonded to a human, nor that said human was a woman who already had a mate.

But this was also the second time Sharr had specified human mate, so he decided to ask the obvious question. "How many mates you have?"

"Human mate, elf mate, heart-brother mate," Sharr answered. And then he cut right to the heart of Zak's concerns. "Drizzt young. Drizzt control how things happen."

Zak wasn't entirely sure he believed that, but it was enough to settle his concerns for now. Drizzt, however, appeared to be bristling somewhat, and Zak wasn't sure why.

"Drizzt adult," his son said stubbornly.

Oh. Well, seeing how Sharr handled this would be interesting.

"Drizzt thirty, thirty-one, yes?" Sharr said.

"Thirty," Drizzt replied.

"Sharr and Alustriel youngest son almost fifty. Drizzt young."

And that seemed like an impossibility, from all Zak knew of humans, but they really needed to get moving, so he filed it as something to ask about later.

Remembering that the sigil she had seen in her dreams a few months ago had been identified by Vierna as being that of Vierna's own House, Alustriel had sent to Mena to inquire as to a good time for her to come and talk with Vierna.

Mena had sent back that an hour or so before dawn would be convenient, so Alustriel had taken the opportunity to sleep again before requesting a teleport visual from Mena.

And now, as she settled into a chair in Vierna's rooms, she was glad she had, because tonight's dreams had given her a name for the other drow with Sharr.

"So what is it that you wish to speak with me about?" Vierna asked, once she, Mena, and Alustriel were all seated.

"It appears that that my drow dream-bonded and one other drow—whom I recognize as a familiar face from my dreams—have freed Sharr and are aiding him in returning to the Surface."

Vierna's eyes widened in surprise at that news, but when she spoke, there was no trace of it in her voice. "I'd have expected such from your dream-bonded," she said, "but that another of the House is also helping has me... intrigued.

"Because the only member of it whom I would have even considered such a possibility for is the Weapon Master."

Alustriel nodded her understanding, then said, "Tonight's dream let me know that the drow who is not my dream-bonded is called Zaknafein."

"Then he is indeed the Weapon Master." Vierna took a moment to think things through, then continued. "Which leaves me suspecting that your dream-bonded may well be my full brother, as I have long believed the Weapon Master to be my father, and I simply cannot see him caring enough to help with such an escape unless the instigator was his son."

Chewing on her lip as she weighed matters, Vierna decided to go ahead and see if the other connection she now suspected did, in fact, exist.

"Have you seen what color your dream-bonded's eyes are?" she asked.

Alustriel blinked in surprise at the question, but answered it readily. "They're purple. Why do you ask?"

"The younger of the two survivors we found clearly had her survival deliberately hidden," Vierna began, "because although she was found completely covered in blood, her only actual injuries were a bruise and a scratch."

"And purple eyes feature strongly in her nightmares," Mena said, picking up the explanation. "So we think that whoever it was that hid her survival must have had such."

"I see." Alustriel hummed thoughtfully for a moment, then continued. "Then it might be best for us to give some consideration now to how to handle the first meeting between her and Drizzt.

"Given that I'm rather certain he's going to join the rescue party for the return to the Surface, but it would not be a good idea for any drow to openly come to Silverymoon until the outrage over the raids has cooled somewhat."

Laeral was in the lead currently, though Dove was not too far from her.

They came around a bend in the corridor, and Dove suddenly reached for her arm, making her stop.

A faint sound, ahead, not behind, repeated itself, and Laeral cast arcane eye to go in that direction.

She used it to go as far as it could, determining only the expected trio were in close vicinity, then conveyed the information and her plan via the sending anklets, knowing the boys would see her words relayed to the cleric and Kor via a regular sending.

And once she had a nod from Kor to indicate that he had been told, she gently scraped her foot across the floor of the tunnel.

Sharr and both drow startled at the sound, then after a brief discussion, the younger drow pulled something out of a pouch, set it down on the floor, and spoke a single word.

Dark mist gathered around whatever it was that the drow had set down, and then it coalesced into a panther twice the normal size.

The drow scooped up the figure—for that had to be what it was, despite the oddity of how it worked—and said something to the panther, after which it started moving in their direction.

~Summoned panther coming to investigate,~ Laeral warned via the anklets.

And then the panther rounded the slight curve that separated their party from Sharr's, and gave a quiet, but pleased sounding, mrowl.

Continuing forward, it came right up to her and butted its head up against her hand in a clear plea for scratches.

Laeral duly gave some, and then it flowed past her to beg the same from Dove.

Dove kept up the scratching for longer, but by her closed eyes and the expression on her face, she was using the time to communicate with it.

Eventually, Dove opened her eyes again, and the panther sat back on its haunches, then gave a quiet 'yip'.

"She's of astral origin," Dove said in a low voice, "and recognizes the two of us for what we are.

"She's also quite emphatic that her drow is a cub to be protected."

Andy's quiet "Her drow?" overlapped with Kor's strangled "Cub?!", but before either of their questions could be addressed, faint blue and purple light was visible around the curve, drawing everyone's attention, and then Sharr and the drow came around the curve.

Sharr was walking beside the rather young looking one, with the older one a few steps behind them, and both drow had faerie fire limning their hands, which they were holding out in front of them at about mid-chest level.

Upon actually seeing the rescue party, Sharr picked up his pace a bit, to actually get ahead of Drizzt, after pressing his hand down on the young drow's arm as a signal to not match his pace.

And just a few steps later, Kor did exactly what he had been expecting, and rushed over to embrace him tightly.

"Sharr," his heart-brother breathed, and Sharr returned the hug just as fiercely, feeling the same relief that that single word expressed.

"I'm here, Kor," he said. "I'm safely back with you."

Drizzt had not been sure why Sharr had indicated he should not pick up his own pace, but when the faerie rushed over to Sharr and embraced him, Drizzt realized that Sharr must have been expecting such, and had wanted to ensure Drizzt was far enough away to avoid reacting on instinct.

Turning his attention away from Sharr and the faerie that had to be Sharr's "heart-brother", Drizzt looked over the rest of the rescue party with an assessing eye.

The two tall women with pale hair had to be the "mate's sisters" Sharr had mentioned. One was in armor, with a sword on her belt and her hair in a braid—showing the rounded ears that marked her as a human—while the other was in wizard's robes, with her hair mostly loose.

The six faerie just as tall and pale-haired as the women had to be Sharr's sons, and Drizzt was intrigued to see that though all of them wore modified wizard's robes, they all also bore swords.

And their blunted eyes and ears had to be a sign that their mother was Sharr's human mate.

Finally, at the very back of the group, there was... another drow? A brief flash of confused fear went through him before he noticed the moons and swords worked into the robes the drow wore, and he remembered the explanation Zak had given about the drow who followed Lloth's goodly daughter.

And as further reassurance, he noted that the other drow was male, which Lloth would never allow any of Her clerics to be.

Bringing his attention back to the women, Drizzt caught theirs, and then, using the lessons Sharr had been giving him and Zak when they stopped to rest, said in careful Surface Common, "Name is Drizzt Do'Urden. Not speak much Common. Goblin is better."

Using Goblin, the one with the braid said, "Well met, Drizzt Do'Urden."

Then she repeated the greeting in Surface Common, and continued in the same language. " 'My' name is Dove Silverhand."

The very first word wasn't one that Sharr had taught them yet, but based on the firm tap Dove gave her chest as she said it, Drizzt thought it was a possessive.

"My name is Drizzt Do'Urden," he said, to test his guess.

"Yes." Dove was very pleased that Drizzt had correctly picked up the meaning of 'my', and decided to see how much more he could get from simple conversation.

So she pointed to Laeral, and said, "My sister is Laeral Silverhand."

Drizzt repeated 'sister' with a faint frown, then brightened and said the Goblin word for it.

"Yes," Dove said, smiling brightly.

Zaknafein had hung back a bit as Drizzt began speaking with the women, wanting to keep an eye on Sharr and the other faerie, but when the two of them broke their embrace and stepped back towards the rest of the rescue party, Zak moved forward as well.

"My name is Zaknafein Do'Urden," he said, once he was even with Drizzt.

Surprisingly, one of the tall faerie jerked on hearing his name, and although said faerie waved off the quiet question one of the others asked him, Zak noted the reaction as something to follow up on later.

After he finished his portion of food that night, Zak caught the attention of the tall faerie who had been introduced as "Thyl", then tilted his head towards the edge of the camp while mouthing "Talk?" in Goblin.

Thyl nodded in reply, and when he started to move towards an out of the way pocket in the walls of the cave their party had found to camp in, Zak did the same.

Soon enough, they were settled in the niche, and Zak spoke, in Surface Common. "Why you-" and he mimed the way Thyl had startled when Zak had introduced himself, "-at my name?"

"Spell for better Surface words?" Thyl replied—surprisingly enough, in Undercommon. "Not speak much of this; Drow and Goblin bad for this talk."

Zak thought things over for a moment, then nodded sharply.

And once Thyl had cast the spell, he got straight to the point. "I was surprised by your name because I had heard of you before all of this."

That was surprising to Zak, but he controlled his expression well enough to not betray it. "Oh?"

Thyl sighed and ran a hand over his hair before speaking again. "There are two permanent settlements of Eilistraeeans on the Surface.

"And the First Sister—the leader—of the nearer of them is named Vierna Do'Urden."

Zak couldn't help the shocked "What?!" that escaped him as joy warred with suspicion, but he at least managed to still keep it quiet enough to not carry.

"She knew the temple in your city would be a death sentence for her, so she left." Thyl gave a soft smile. "She eventually led a small band to the surface, and Spirit Sanctuary has been a home for drow, and others, ever since."

Having been forewarned of the impending arrivals, Vierna was on hand with Mena to meet Thyl when he teleported in with Zav'ren.

"It's good to see you both again," she said, once she could see them clearly. "Is there anything you feel I should know before Sharr's rescuers arrive?"

"The younger of them is only thirty," Rafi's son said, "for all that the Lolthites have counted him as an adult for most of a year."

Well then. Telling that to Ellifain would undoubtedly help in dealing with her trauma from the raid, once they got that far.

"Drizzt is also your full brother," Thyl said. "And Zaknafein has been told that you are the leader here, though it's clear that he doesn't fully believe it yet."

"I'd be surprised if he did," Vierna replied, remembering how cautious the Weapon Master had been when she was learning from him.

Then she nodded at Thyl, and a moment later, Lin arrived with her father and brother.

Stepping forward as soon as the teleport shimmer had faded, she said, "Zaknafein, Drizzt, welcome to Spirit Sanctuary."

And when she saw the two of them clearly, she was glad for the warning about Drizzt's youth, since it let her conceal her surprise on seeing that he still had traces of baby fat on his face.

But then her attention was drawn away from him when Zaknafein stepped towards her.

"You… you can't be anyone but my student," he said softly. "Daughter."

She smiled, eyes glistening a little at that immediate claim. "Father. My teacher." She offered her hands, and he took them, squeezing gently.

Drizzt had been just half a step behind Zak, so when her father released her hands, she turned to him. "And I am pleased to meet you, little brother.

"You did very well in managing to hide the child's survival, and she will have all the help she needs to recover from her experiences."

Drizzt's eyes widened significantly, and he gaped at her for a moment before stammering "You... you know about that?"

"I do," Vierna replied. "Those moon elves were followers of my Lady Eilistraee, and She asked for whatever aid we could manage.

"So the child was found quickly, and she and the one other survivor are being cared for by the dwarves that live here."

A tension that she had not truly noticed before lifted from Drizzt as she spoke, and when she finished, she found herself having to quickly reach out to support him as he wavered on his feet and tears started leaking from his eyes.

Carefully, she pulled him into a hug, and began rubbing her hand up and down his back as she would to comfort an overwhelmed child.

"Shh, shh," she soothed. "Everything's okay. She's safe and you're safe and everything is going to be okay."

For all that she and Sharr were comfortably curled up together in her bed, Alustriel found herself unable to fully set aside her thoughts.

So with a purely internal sigh, she shifted to where she could see Sharr's face, and said, "What were your impressions of my other dream-bonded, love?"

"He's good," Sharr replied, without even having to think about it. "To a rather startling degree for someone who managed to survive a full thirty years in Menzoberranzan."

Turning to better face her, he added, "And given what you've told me about the child he saved, I think that even if I hadn't been captured, he would have ended up leaving fairly soon anyway."

"And his father?"

"Very firmly neutral—and I had that impression even before learning he's also Vierna's father, though that did add weight to the impression, to know he'd survived that city for so long—but fiercely devoted to his children."

"Mmm." Alustriel shifted to steal a kiss from Sharr, then rested her head on his shoulder. "And I think his children return that devotion, given how Vierna spoke of him."

"I have to agree with that," Sharr said. "Drizzt was very tense when he first appeared, but after what sounded like a brief argument—that I now think might have been over how Drizzt could help an adult faerie, after he'd killed a child—he relaxed and gave leadership to Zaknafein."

senmut

The Ghost and His Daughter (5233 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zaknafein Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Minor Character Death, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ensemble Cast, Attempted Fratricide, Accidental Fratricide
Summary:

Vierna decides to make her play for escape against the patrol heading up for the raid on the faerie village. She will save both men that matter to her.

The Ghost and His Daughter

Vierna strode into the gymnasium, bold and self-assured in her command to the couple of fighters present to get out. Neither was sharp enough to notice her whip was not on her belt, but hastened to obey her. She caught the briefest glower on the Weapon Master's face before he mastered his expression, but that was not so unusual in recent years.

"We need to talk," her hands said, but her mouth had other words. "Weapon Master, escort me. Your view of the Houses above us is demanded."

He inclined his head, sealing his piwafwi to do as bid. Nor did he speak as they walked out of the House, to go on this scouting mission.

"Drizzt's patrol will be going to the surface after their next return," Vierna informed the Weapon Master in a calm, less domineering tone than she had used earlier, once they were well outside the House defenses. Her hands finished the rest of it when Zaknafein looked at her, careful to keep them where only he should see them. "It will not go well for him, as he is unchanged."

Was that truly shock? The man hid the initial reaction so fast that she could not be certain.

"I am certain he will find his way to be a credit to himself, from all I have heard," Zak said aloud. "You tell me this why?" his hands added to the conversation, just as careful on his placement.

"I am just as certain that he will behave exactly as he feels he should in such an undertaking," Vierna commented, her hands adding, "in hopes of saving him, you, and I."

The man's eyes narrowed, before he guided her up, by levitation for their supposed mission. "So it will be, then," he said aloud, and dropped that matter, leaving her wondering just what would happen from him when the time came. "I think the suspicions of a higher House are accurate," he added, to actually fulfill their mission in coming out. "I'll show you the routes most likely to be a vector of possibilities from them."

The note was in the raised script, and Vierna's fingers swiftly read the message in it.

Convince Matron you have a plan the day they leave; meet me above the House.

It could be a trap. She ran a risk just existing here, and was still angry she'd been thwarted in escaping during the graduation. She decided the Weapon Master's actions in the past, the way he acted toward her through her life, made it unlikely.

She could, almost, see the shape of his intentions even. No one would dare make a move while a raid was in progress; that was meant to have Lloth's sole attention in many ways. But that didn't mean Houses would stop spying and potentially laying in wait for individual members to kidnap or kill.

It was a very Llothite thing to do, and would give them time to get ahead of the patrol, as Vierna knew which path up they meant to use.

Of course, it could be a trap, she reminded herself, and she would need to pay attention to how Malice took her maneuvering. Or, more likely, Briza, though she knew good and well that the hatred between the eldest daughter and their Weapon Master ran deeper than any other in the House. So yes, paying attention to Malice's reactions were the smart way to go when she did this.

Malice was sitting in her chair on the dais and Vierna really noticed how small the woman looked, despite the vibrant energy of her eyes darting from one daughter to another.

"No one will suspect us of taking a risk with both sons out of the House," Vierna reasoned. "We know the threat is from above. The Weapon Master has protected the House interests for centuries. I will go with him, we will see to laying a few latent spells, and once our brothers come back victorious, they will be waiting for you to activate, Mother."

Laying into the family title was a risk, but today… it seemed to be the right note for Malice to actually consider it.

"And if the upper House we still have not identified is already plotting their own traps?" Briza hissed. Vierna started to reply, but Malice held her hand up to cut it off.

"Vierna is correct. Go. Take him, and lay the lines of our web. We will ask the question of which House when my sons return, as suggested." She then pinned Vierna with her piercing gaze. "Do not be seen. He will be invisible to most, so you are the weaker point here!"

Vierna smiled with all of her teeth bared. "No one will know where I pass."

She strode out on that note, ignoring the indrawn breath from Briza, and the gasp from Maya. Her mother's laughter said she had measured the woman perfectly; Malice wanted action and results, not questioning.

Those results, Vierna vowed in the protections of her mind, would not be to Malice's liking at all.

Above the House could only mean the access tunnel that was cut there, and Vierna concentrated on two spells at once, having decided that would be best to mask their true intent. One spell was an illusion of herself and Zaknafein moving away from the House until a point where even the best of their watchers could not see 'them'. The other was a variation of her mind protections, keeping the idle plotting thoughts, especially about House liabilities, at the front of her awareness.

She knew how long Malice could usually manage the mental spying the Matron employed so freely, and was still maintaining pretenses on that one when the Weapon Master emerged from the tunnel's shadows. She held a hand up to keep him quiet, moving her robes aside after that to show she had no whip but she did have a pack. He nodded, then reached up to where his House amulet rested in his neck purse. She nodded; that was a good precaution and saw to removing hers.

A warming at her hip, one she usually could not feel so easily, told her when it was safe to drop the mental chatter. She then decided that pulling that source of warmth out might be the quickest way to solve just how far the alliance with the Weapon Master went. Her true holy symbol, the mask that had been given to her in the privacy of the gathering cavern away from the House by a shadow-spirit of her true god, came up to her face in the next moment, and Zak's face showed the shock of the revelation.

That his posture changed, becoming less suspicious, made her certain that he truly was the male her god had suggested as ally so long ago.

"I'd wondered," he signed at her, but she had one last spell to cast. Vhaeraun answered it willing, and creeping shadow tendrils snaked around the pair of removed amulets, making them vanish from the tunnel completely.

"I would have loved to give you a chance to kill the whip, but I felt it might sense the treachery too quickly," she finally said as the mask vanished back into the pouch. "I know the route they were to take. I hope you know how this one connects to it."

"I have many questions for you, but show me their path instead," Zaknafein told her.

It was on their third day that Zak broached his ideas.

"We don't want them pinpointing us as what happened."

"I can't indiscriminately kill other drow," Vierna told him in turn. "Every murder I have had to do in the name of that spider weighs on me; it is not what my god chooses."

"I serve no god," Zaknafein said. "And His inclinations certainly didn't save the bulk of my generation when the hearsay of His worship was found out," he added in a bitter tone. "The only reason I tolerate Him more is because He saved you from becoming all I hate."

Vierna flinched at his first words, then lifted her chin. "That matters to you. And it was your interest in me, as a child, that drew Him to protect me and offer me a better way. Tell me; are you my sire?"

Zaknafein inclined his head to her. "I argued with Malice over your raising, was demoted from patron for it. I think it actually relieved her to do so, over an internal matter, before my death could be demanded." He chuckled softly. "We… were not always as you have most often seen us."

She drew in a deep breath, hating that city, the way it tore apart all of the finer emotions that could exist. She'd dreamed of her god's cities, heard the laughter of drow that lived fully, instead of scheming always.

"An alternative path, then, Father." She smiled as she used the word so seldom heard from noble voices. "Harass them. I can pray for stunning and disorienting spells, in one of the areas with side tunnels. More of the males will live that way… if they have skill to survive past the initial spells.

"The cleric, however, is a legitimate target, even under my restrictions, being a zealot of the spider."

Zaknafein considered, then nodded. "Very well, Daughter. I know how to strike fear without killing."

The first fighter to go missing, with the guard for that shift not having seen anything was unnerving. The cleric with them could not figure it out anymore than Dinin could… and Drizzt had been far forward from where the fighter had been.

The second one vanished on the move, while Drizzt was scouting the route the cleric had told him to check for traps and monsters. After he got back, Dinin put him on the rear guard, trusting his strange brother to be aware enough to at least alert them instead of vanishing silently.

That hope was dashed, when the next rest break found them down to just ten fighters, himself, and the cleric.

"We have to turn back," Dinin said without thinking. The whip struck him in the next moment, as the cleric grew enraged by his blasphemy.

"We are on a hunt for faerie blood for our goddess! Do not dare gainsay that path over the disappearance mere males!"

Dinin did not snarl at her, but he did not provide any reinforcement of where she walked either.

Despite double guards at the next rest, when time to move came, the priestess was still on her bedroll, looking as if asleep until one of the others went over… and realized it was not her robes shielding her body heat from their eyes.

"Throat, dagger…" was all that man got out before looking at Dinin with terror in every line of his face.

"Right in the middle of us? We go back," Dinin snapped. "Tight formation, I want everyone able to hear the breath of the man behind him."

They hastened to do just that, leaving the cleric's body to scavengers in interest of making fast time back to Menzoberranzan. Obviously the faerie were employing demons to block this passages to them!

"We wouldn't be having to hunt him if you had managed to land that stun correctly," Zak signed after realizing they had been led the wrong way.

"I didn't know he was this damned skilled, and had no idea he would resist it that strongly!" she signed back, a little angry that her wean-son, her little brother, was potentially making it back to the patrol.

"Talk in his mind then!"

She did not lose her temper at her father, but only by falling into a breathing pattern to calm herself down. He recognized her frustration at the sound of it, and moved closer, hands to both of her shoulders, and leaning his forehead against hers. He kept his ears and skin attuned to the world around them, but offered that silent apology.

"I cannot send to him or scry him," she admitted.

"We'll find him," he signed, once they were both calmer, and she nodded. They had to, or everything was for nothing. "Don't use a spell on him. Seek his swords, or his amulet."

Her eyes widened, and then she smiled. "That should work."

Dinin, having managed to convince his mother — Matron — to intercede on his behalf, mostly because he had managed to bring the rest of them back safely, was doing his damnedest to heal from Briza's beating for leaving the cleric's body. His pride was wounded, his body sore, and there was still a threat hanging on the House.

He threw himself into checking the defenses, not asking about the missing Weapon Master. That was what had gotten him beaten by his eldest sister. He never got around to asking about the next one in line, not even from his own sister who seemed to be more nervous than usual.

Maybe luck was turning in his favor, as he made out the wizard trying to spy on their House, saw the motion of the body and it etched into his mind as wrong. He'd met the Faceless One, knew that had to have been the Faceless One from the oddity of the glimpse of the wizard's head… and yet he moved entirely wrong to Dinin's memory.

A smile lit his features, briefly, as he hastened to go tell his mot — Matron what he now suspected. Perhaps they could yet salvage this entire mess around them.

Zaknafein actually ran a hand over his hair in frustration, and Vierna had to smile, seeing her own habit.

"We're getting too close to the city, Vierna."

"I know, Father," she answered, reaching out to rest a hand on his shoulder.

He accepted it for a moment before suddenly spinning, and his swords were in his hands. Her own maces followed a heartbeat later, before she made out the faintest whisper of purple in he shadows ahead and above them.

"Drizzt," she called, keeping her voice as calm as she knew how despite the long chase he had led them on. "Please come talk to us."

Was it her tone or the use of the 'please' that had worked? Zaknafein watched the vague impression of motion, could not hear the sound of landing, and then the boy opened his eyes fully, so he could actually see where his son truly was. Clearly he was made for the wild spaces, if he was this good so young at hiding!

"Why did you attack the patrol? Why did you kill the cleric? I found her body, but Dinin moved them too fast for me to find them."

So he had circled back to the last known spot once the confusion of the half-landed stun wore off. How in the Abyss had he evaded them both like that?

"Will you come with us, away from this tunnel? The city is too close." Vierna opened her robes fully. "I am not, have never been, a true priestess of the Spider there, and I want to keep you and our father safe."

Drizzt's head tipped to the side, before he beckoned, showing his back to them and taking point.

"You called me father, twice," Zak signed to Vierna. "That must have been why he ended the chase."

"I see."

Malice was all but crowing with her delight on how swiftly they had been able to cut out both wizards from House Hun'ett, and to find that one of them was actually a DeVir. SiNaFay was now under dishonor as well, for not having followed full custom to kill the male for murdering her own son.

"Dinin, use that creature you mentioned, take a squadron, and find your traitor sister. Maya, accompany him.

"We will regain Lloth's favor when we kill the heretic."

"Yes, Matron," the siblings said swiftly.

Convincing Drizzt of intentions had taken less arguing than Vierna expected. Zaknafein and he had a silent conversation in sign, where she could not see their hands, and when Drizzt hugged the elder drow, she felt her spine relax. Drizzt coming back to her, and kneeling in front of where she sat was unexpected. Then she saw the mischief on his face, and she wondered what he was up to.

"Vehna," he began, slurring her name as he had when he was just learning to talk, "we have peace, yes? No more of what that city made you do?"

She could not help it; she reached out and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight.

"My brother. My wean-son. I hated what I had to do to you, but oh you did not make it easy for me to hide what I was! Or keep us both alive!"

He wrapped his arms around her in turn, and squeezed, letting him feel how strong he truly was in a reassuring hug. "Peace, then."

"Peace."

Just two sleeps after the small family had turned their direction away from Menzoberranzan, Zaknafein realized they were being hunted. He began looking for a suitable place to make it a fight, as they could not possibly keep evading a party all the way to safety —

— especially as they had no idea where safety would be.

"Drizzt."

His son didn't even turn. "I know," was signed back with hastily warmed hands, and Zak felt a swelling of pride all over again. The boy was made for the tunnels, for places not inside the walls of a House, apparently. A glance to Vierna, a quick sign for danger, and the trio were all alert to the potential threats and benefits of the areas they passed through.

Dinin signed for the squadron to stand in place, making certain that Maya was truly hidden from perceptions. He then looked at the giant cat that was the main reason they had picked up the trail. He knew that it had a strange connection to his brother, and was all but certain that Drizzt was with the two he was hunting.

"Guenhwyvar, go home." he hissed the command as quietly as possible, and her ears flattened, making him more convinced about Drizzt's presence. Once she was gone, Dinin had his current scout go forward, then had the rest go in behind, bringing up the rear. His sister better be fast with her spells to take out the renegade, he swore inside his mind, not really wanting to dwell on having to face the two fighters.

Zaknafein waited, counting the full squadron out. He was unsurprised that Dinin was bringing up the rear, but he was concerned that there was no visible priestess. He had to trust in Vierna to be protecting herself from the likely divine attack aimed for her. He didn't look for where Drizzt was —

— and then the boy dropped into full view, right between three separate fighters.

"You should all leave," Drizzt said, flaring his faerie fire around his hands and swords.

The boy had a flair for theatrics, and Zaknafein moved in silence, understanding exactly what Drizzt was doing. He was drawing eyes, throwing new light out there to force attention his way. Vierna had likely moved under that cover as well. None of the fighters Drizzt had chosen as his target cover could hope to touch him, and when they did attempt their attacks, Drizzt fouled them up immediately.

Zak kept holding back, watching his beautiful dancer move with grace and speed to cause the squadron as much chaos as possible, slapping them with the flats of his blades, drawing blood in thin lines. It was obvious he was not actually trying to kill them, making Zaknafein slightly exasperated by him — and marvel he could still be that way. Most of his mind, though, was trying to find where the cleric had to be. Was it Briza or Maya? Was it one of the lesser cousins?

He finally decided he had to intervene as two fighters started angling to get behind Drizzt while another pair did their best to tangle his swords. His first kill was before his feet actually touched the ground, and his presence changed the field entirely. Four fighters focused on him, three stayed on Drizzt with one of those being Dinin.

Maya had waited until the fight was fully engaged, then carefully slipped into the battleground. She honestly did not expect any of the fighters to survive this, maybe not even Dinin, but as long as Vierna died, it would be worth it. Lloth's Web cloaked her completely, a protection that would fail on her first attack, so it had to be calculated perfectly.

She had her whip ready, the venom enhanced for this hunt as part of the rituals Mother had performed over her and her weaponry. As soon as the heads landed on the heretic, she would move in with her mace while the poison pumped in. It would have been good to bring her back for a proper sacrifice, yet the Weapon Master's presence precluded that.

She finally eliminated all the likely hiding places by following the fighters, and aimed for where Vierna had to be —

Drizzt had agreed with the logic of Vierna only joining the battle if absolutely necessary. He did not actually want to kill these fighters, going for injuries that would disable. He was focused on that, and only half-caught a flicker of pressure against his skin. With a very rapid shove of one of his opponents blades off of his left blade, he spun, right sword striking out in a lunge.

It was a stronger strike than he'd been using against the fighters, driven by instinct, because the pressure shift was between himself and where Vierna was.

Vierna had been holding herself in reserve, just as aware as her father that a cleric had to be present. Keeping track of where everyone was, eliminating possibilities for where the cleric had to be, Vierna was certain she was going to come under attack from a specific vector, and had shifted to be smaller in her concealment.

The snapping fangs of a high priestess's whip barely missed her as the heat of a full body almost in her space registered. The blood flowing out of a massive wound made it clear the body was not an issue, and she used the banishment she had prayed for against the whip to eliminate it from the battle. Her eyes went beyond the cleric — Maya, she noted dispassionately — to see horror written all over Drizzt's face.

She jumped forward to protect his back, her maces tasting blood swiftly. Drizzt had stunned one fighter, she had killed the second on her second blow. That left Dinin.

Dinin had seconds in which to choose his fate. Maya becoming fully visible, dying or dead, and Vierna protecting their strange brother, as well as the sounds of death behind him all said he should give it his all now.

Drizzt was dropping to his knees beside Maya. Vierna's maces were in motion —

— Dinin dropped his sword and knife both, crossing his arms over his chest in surrender, calling out one word. "Brother!"

Drizzt looked, and answered the half-plea. "Don't. Don't kill him." His voice was very hoarse, gravel-ridden by his emotions.

"Are you — " Vierna made a choked off noise, and reversed her motion. "Kick them away," she told Dinin.

He obeyed, then knelt, keeping his hands on opposite shoulders the whole time.

He was the last survivor of those he had brought, and he fixed his eyes not on Vierna, but on Drizzt, who was gently straightening Maya's body. What even was the strange brother that had only lived because of him?

Dinin rather thought his own future hinged on that strangeness.

Zaknafein had never had reason to be fond of Dinin. He could tell there was no great emotion between Vierna and the fighter. Even Drizzt, who had been the deciding factor, seemed distant to him. They'd made Dinin leave his House amulet behind, and gathered everything that might be usable from all of the bodies but Maya's. Drizzt was a silent shadow in their midst, and Zak really wished he knew how to reach past whatever this was.

He just didn't understand it enough to even try.

They had traveled a long distance from the killing ground, but were now holed up in a defensible spot. Zak kept his attention mostly on Dinin. With luck, Malice would try for Maya's mind, not find her, and presume Dinin had to be dead as well. He didn't have a second artifact to put the fighter under non-detection like he wore. The fact that Vierna could never reach Drizzt's mind made him hopeful that applied to Malice as well.

They would get to the nearest city, and Zak would give Dinin a chance by pointing him at Bregan D'aerthe, as he thought Jarlaxle's people were the safest bet for the fighter to survive.

He wasn't sure why that mattered, even, except that his son was hurting, and wanted Dinin to live.

Dinin stretched his legs out, having purposefully sat beside Drizzt in this rest.

"She hated you, you know?" he finally said. "I was useful. You weren't."

Drizzt nodded, turning to see his brother, his patrol leader. "She was still our sister. And … I did not wish to kill any drow. Especially my sister."

"I don't understand that, or you. You know that, given that you are here now because of me." Dinin shrugged. "You paid that back by not letting Vierna kill me."

"She doesn't want to kill drow. She's taking us to a place where drow lives aren't sacrificed so quickly," Drizzt said. "I don't know if you can learn that."

Dinin was turning the concept over in his head, and then he felt as if his brother had slapped him. Anger came first, but he remembered that odd feeling, watching Drizzt be gentle with Maya's body. Whatever his brother was, it was not true drow. But the idea of a place where his life might not hinge on keeping the clerics happy… that felt like an offer to adapt, to change so he could be free.

Did he even know how to be free? His life had always been on the sufferance of sisters and his mother.

"Convince her to take me there," Dinin found himself saying. "Let me start over and try."

Drizzt searched his face, considering. Dinin then pulled out the cat figurine, holding it out to him. "Here, a bribe to buy your help," Dinin told him with enough humor in the tone that Drizzt actually smiled, just a little. His hands were shaky as he took the figurine, Dinin noticed.

"Thank you for not making her fight," Drizzt said, and Dinin wasn't sure how to handle that. He thought about showing his reasoning why he hadn't, but that might be the wrong words.

"Just thank me by giving me a chance to get as far from Malice Do'Urden as possible, to figure out what I can do," Dinin said instead, and found he truly meant it.

"I will."

Vierna paid close attention to the reasoning Drizzt used. She even had to admit that sparing Dinin had likely increased her worth in her god's eyes. She just wasn't certain of the rest of it, and tended to agree with their father they should dump him off on the all-male mercenary band.

"What if he betrays us?" Vierna then asked her brother silently. He met her eyes, squared his jaw, and answered.

"Then I take responsibility. In whatever form that must be."

She noted the pain etched into his features as he said it. She didn't understand his psychic wounds any more than their father did, but was letting it go, hoping Drizzt would bounce back from it as they journeyed.

"I will tell Father."

Drizzt nodded to that, then went to ready for another day on forward position, where he was most comfortable. Their father was the better fighter, but he had found a deep affinity for understanding the dangers and possibilities of the wilds they traveled through. Vierna had added that to the list of his strangenesses.

He seemed to be a well-spring of them.

A stop in Mantol-Derith allowed them to trade for new gear for both Dinin and Drizzt, though Drizzt refused to part with his swords. They had none of the specific curve he preferred, and Zak agreed he should have what he was most familiar with.

Dinin took his brother to a tavern while they were there as an attempt to actually get to know the younger man. Zaknafein had misgivings over it, but Dinin didn't dare try treachery where he had no allies. And Zak needed time to speak to Jarlaxle's people here. Vierna also had an errand of her own, seeking the small enclave of Vhaeraun, to be able to make offerings and ask questions.

When the family of four met up again, Drizzt was actually smiling, Dinin was mildly intoxicated and laughing at something, while Vierna was more thoughtful than usual.

"I take it you two enjoyed yourself?" Zak asked the younger pair.

"Your son won me a lot of coin," Dinin announced, before laughing some more.

Drizzt grinned brightly. "They made me take a drink, then added a coin to the stack I would flip after each one. Father, I flipped twelve!"

"At which point no one would add money to the pile," Dinin finished. "And somehow, he's still soberer than me."

Vierna gave a small smile at that, having used Drizzt's childhood to discreetly increase his tolerance of intoxicants and poisons alike, under her watchful eye. Drizzt just shrugged, unknowing of why he could resist, but glad to have made Dinin happy, and share a good thing with him.

"Rilauven is where we were originally going to go," Vierna told the men of her life. "Now, it is to only be a stopping point, because of Drizzt."

That made all three pay attention to her, and Dinin did his best to will himself sober.

"Why?" Zak asked flatly.

"A task suited to my abilities is open, in a space where little brother's stranger ways will not attract so much attention," she said. "As my Lord is uneasy about the fact he stands outside of the spells granted to me, unless I make extra effort."

Drizzt frowned. "But… like Father, I don't care to be caught up in gods' doings, yet I am loyal to you."

She nodded. "He knows this. But not all drow are as Father and I, or as Dinin. You, He has made me see, may have a different road in time, and this place He has chosen for us will let that be a possibility."

"Do you have a name of this place?" Zak asked. "Fre'nzel needs to know, for when Jarlaxle gets the information I asked for."

"We will go from Rilauven by portals to a place called Skullport, above the faerzress but still below ground."

They all took in that information and slowly nodded.

"I suggest we sleep, then, and start out soon after," Zak said. "I'll run my message now, and return."

"Be safe, Father." Vierna then looked at her brothers. "Come on, both of you. It might be our last chance for a bath and a bed for a long while."

senmut

Dreaming of the Other (4084 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Drizzt Do'Urden/Alustriel Silverhand
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Alustriel Silverhand, Vierna Do'Urden, Zaknafein Do'Urden, Laeral Silverhand
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Soul Bond, Age Difference, Power Imbalance
Summary:

Soul-connections are revealed by looking through the other's eyes.

Dreaming of the Other

Alustriel Silverhand did not need to sleep. Under pressure of time constraints and trying to fulfill her personal and divine mandates, she did not indulge in it often. Yet, from time to time, even she wished to let go of the world for a short time, and find rest for body and spirit alike.

This night, having spoken to all of her sisters, each one being of so careful of her fragile emotions, was one such night. She closed her eyes, willed herself to push away from the connection to her lost elf-lord, and let her rest go deep enough to dream.

The dream began oddly, cloaked in sheer darkness, but the feeling of being held by an arm that was slightly cooler than she was accustomed to. The pressure shifted, and then there was a massive flare of light, a light that blurred to her sight, but was tracked as it was brought closer. The light blotted out all other things, as if the eyes seeing it were fixated despite a sense of discomfort.

When the light, a candle she believed, was snuffed out, there was nothing but darkness and that pressure of being held, until even that faded away. The strange dream-sense remained with Alustriel into her waking moments, and all of her grief for her consort welled up at the realization that somewhere, somehow, a new chance for unity awaited her already.

"Live well, wherever you are, and I will try to be ready when you find me," she whispered into the quiet of her room before setting to her day.

Through the next couple of decades, Alustriel found herself experiencing dreams that were often merely pressure or sound around her. The utter blackness of the dreams was surely a product of the Underdark, as dreamers could only see in their natural environments. The sound of language spoken was foreign —

— and the number of times she woke with phantom pain, remembering her potential bond-mate made no sound of their own as they endured, absolutely left her raging.

Was this how Sharrevaliir had felt, dreaming of the breaking of her first family? Or when she had been accosted, just before her magic flared to true life? To know that there was a person suffering, one that would matter to her, and she could do nothing for them was maddening.

It also gave a key to what species he might be, though she would bide her time. Good drow did happen, she knew — but so few of them survived to make an escape.

It was his last night sleeping in his own bed, and Drizzt Do'Urden was not enjoying the rest. His mind had been tumultuous for days, between his most recent fights with the Weapon Master (had that really been a death match? Why had the man stopped? And had he really needed the broken jaw in the one before that?) and then the aftermath of the House punishment.

Now, even his sleep brought pain, as light brighter than any he had every seen flooded his dream, with voices speaking in a language he had never heard. The vague impression of bodies moving in that bright, searing light was present, before it faded away completely and was replaced by a less bright scene, with small lights dotting the air above, and something the color of his mother's faerie fire below. A great monster of some kind was ahead, with large branching clubs coming out of its head, and Drizzt realized it was running away from his point of view.

The brighter shine of a new light source was too much, and Drizzt sat bolt upright, gasping, confused — and certain he had better not mention it to anyone in the House.

Meeting Guenhwyvar in his ninth year of school finally gave context to the dreams that Drizzt had slowly adapted to being able to see details from. Without knowing it, Masoj Hun'ett had engendered a form of loyalty to himself by that introduction. Drizzt could not conceive of murder or theft to acquire the figure, and thus Masoj had to be protected, so Guen would be safe.

It did leave him wondering about the other dreams, the ones in a place that had too much light, and so many colors when it wasn't overwhelming his mind with the brightness. Who was the person he was seeing glimpses of life through, and would she be as good a friend as Guen?

Alustriel had been exhausted by her latest outbreak of fire-fighting in the Silverwood. The initial burn had been needed, yet she was all but certain enemies of hers had fueled it to push it out of control. If she ever found out who the culprit was, she would make sure it was their last time endangering the people and the wildlife that way.

She finally admitted she needed the sleep, and gave herself over to it, rather than just meditate. Almost instantly, she was consumed by a dream, and this time she could see a little. It was very faint but she slowly made out smoldering troll bodies — and pieces of same — in a tunnel, with a faintly burning torch of some kind in one hand of her dream-bonded.

All around were other dark forms that she realized were other drow, including one who came up close enough for her eyes to make out a sigil stitched into the collar of his outer garment. The details were noted, before the torches that had lit this dream were snuffed out, leaving her in the dark with only the faintest sounds until the dream faded.

Those details remained with her upon waking, and a memory of having seen that face more than once before. Could the sigil be a clue to her drow's identity? It seemed likely, given the Spider's Drow tended to be insular to their own families.

Qilué studied what appeared to be a stylized spider wielding eight different weapons, and frowned. "I've never seen this one before. But I feel like it is safe to say your drow is in a Spider-only city. We get far fewer from those than the ones that have factions of my Lady's Brother.

"Still, we have many former traders. Stay for a meal, and we'll pass it around."

"I'd be glad to do so." Alustriel then gestured at the bare rock. "You've taken a larger area than you told us in this place. I'm quite pleased your plans are going so well."

Qilué smiled at that. "I don't want to hex it. But yes, we think we've managed to free enough space to actually move toward making it self-sustaining. Right now, we're still dependent on the gathering and hunting above."

"How do I help?"

Alustriel threw herself into working alongside her youngest sister's people, and when the meal came, she let her sketch pass among many hands. One woman suddenly stiffened as it came to her hands, squinting at it for a moment more before looking up.

"Vassa, from Mantol-Derith, Lady Silverhand. I once was a caravan fighter, and the only time I have ever seen that symbol on a drow? I was in Menzoberranzan. The man I dealt with was not as fearful of me and my women as some of their men were, and he bargained fair. But I was told, after, that the House he belonged to was a ruthless, ambitious rising power within the city.

"They know nothing of other gods, and we were made on threat of torture to never mention the names of any of them, in order to do trade there."

"Oh my," Alustriel said softly. "Thank you, Vassa. I have had an impression of privilege, such as it can be for a male in a city of that one."

"I will pray our Lady guides him safely out," Vassa told her, before the sketch was delivered back to Alustriel, and the meal turned to other topics.

Shock, more than anything, kept Drizzt silent as he rode on one of the tizzin taken from the House. His sister and father were safe on the backs of two others. He knew Vierna was fretting over his scorches and the swollen hand, but Drizzt only needed one to guide his beast, and had carefully splayed the broken one out into the least painful pose possible.

Soon they would stop, and then he would let her heal it. He found himself hoping for a dream of the bright place, as something to shake his mind away from killing Masoj and the Faceless One. He wanted Guenhwyvar to enjoy her freedom, but honestly was struggling to cope with killing drow to acquire her figure.

He remained silent, despite the searching looks from his family — still something he was shocked by, knowing this man was sire to both of them — and took first sleep once Vierna had healed his hand.

As if some true deity were listening, he fell into a room he'd seen before, but it was darkened, the lights dimmed, and a mirror stood there. With a shock, Drizzt realized the one he saw through was standing there, looking intently into the full-length mirror. She had hair that was bright silver, something he'd glimpsed when her hair had fallen forward in other dreams. She looked alien to him, ears all but hidden by her hair, and eyes so small and round, yet he knew someday he would find her.

Now, he knew just what she looked like, and that would be his guide.

Zak noticed the soft look on his son's face while he was still sleepy and not fully immersed in the waking world. He wondered at it, but it was his watch next. They would move after this one, having allowed Vierna to sleep for both watches. She would need to pray, while both men guarded her.

It wasn't until they were riding again — the amulets controlling the beasts answered to Vierna as the only true daughter of House Do'Urden — that he considered it in depth. Was his son, his dancer, afflicted by the dreams? He'd had his since just before he'd come to Vartha's attention, and been groomed to be eligible for Melee Magthere, despite being common-born.

His own bonded had twitted him hard over the years, once they both had been honest about the thing between them. And it was not something ever breathed in drow society, so perhaps he should broach it with his son later.

When they stopped in a defensible spot, he kept quiet at first, still aware that Drizzt was carrying more tension than usual. His brief words about killing Hun'ett's wizards had been clipped, terse even. That was beyond Zak's ability to pry at, so once they had all eaten, he chose to tackle the dreams obliquely.

"Do they teach about dream-bonds to you priestesses?" he asked. "That thing where a person will see things through another's eyes?"

Vierna frowned, then shifted to look at her father intently. "No. But now I am curious. My dreams are always of my Lord's realms, and sometimes His presence."

Zaknafein sighed, aware Drizzt was following the conversation with all he was. "Dangerous, in our old city, to ever think about it. Especially in our House. It was a weakness to be hidden at all costs, or the other person might be used against you.

"No doubt why it's not even taught in the temple school."

"The only mention of dreams I ever heard were those of supposed visions, usually to justify cruelty," Drizzt offered. He was sitting with the black figurine in his lap, as if touching it was helping calm him down.

"Hmm, heard enough of that in my life," Zak agreed. "It's natural to dream, but if the dream was of spiders and House glory, it was not to be said aloud.

"But no, there is a different kind of dream, where you see everything as if through another person's eyes. I'd been working with the other part of mine for over a century before I let slip that I could see his life. He admitted to seeing mine since I'd been born, given he was a good bit older than I was."

"You've lived a long time!" Vierna said, eyes wide as she considered that.

Zak chuckled at her, all but seeing the thought that she thought he was older than most of the men in the city. "It's not Gromph," he assured her, as that was the logical jump. "And it was a very hidden secret on both sides, for many reasons."

"He's there… and you're here," Drizzt said, his face changing to something pained.

"He'll find me in time. He's not as constrained as most males."

"Bregan D'aerthe's leader?" his children said in one voice, fully shocked and a little awed.

"Hmm, looks like you two got all of Malice's brains," Zak said, nodding. "Made for some lucrative deals that she was pleased to take advantage of, but made it all the more necessary to never let on we were more than occasional allies."

"I'd say we get our intelligence from our father," Vierna said with a sniff. She was not, yet, willing to admit anything good about their unlamented mother.

"As you will," Zak said. "So, if either of you dreams of strange places and people… that could be what it is. The best he could ever learn was that it was a connection that could become something more. He swears he knew of a pair that were mortal enemies afflicted by it, and that is a bond of its own kind, I suppose."

Would Drizzt open up about his? After a bit of silence, it seemed not, but at least the subject was out there now.

The oddest thing of this dream was how lit it was. Alustriel had the impression her dream-bonded drow was as full of wonder as she was, but that might have been wishful thinking. The crystalline lights were unlike anything she had seen before. The view of scuttling insects the size of cats added more light, as they were glowing as if small balls of flame. All around the cavern were sights so alien to Alustriel as to evoke a different world.

This, she decided, was why so many drow called the Underdark a beautiful yet deadly place. What provoked the internal glow of the crystals? What had changed the insects to be so large, and full of light in a place where light could bring death?

She would have so many questions for her future friend, including who the man and woman were, having seen them before in rarely lit dreams. She marveled at the huge reptiles, looking so deadly, especially when her dream-bonded fearlessly petted that sharp muzzle. She could ask her youngest sister… but she wanted to wait, for when the drow came above.

Drizzt eyed his family nervously. He'd been very careful not to stand out once they settled. His tricks with animals he kept to himself, his opinions on drow cruelty were never uttered. He had a goal from the minute they arrived, one he doubted his sister or father would agree with.

Journeys above with the traders had only reinforced the idea that his goal was correct for him. Even the trouble with a Lolthite House had not done anything but reinforce what he wanted — to live free, above, and find the silver-haired woman.

"Spit it out." Zaknafein's blunt words put Vierna more on edge than Drizzt's obvious stubborn resolve.

"I mean to travel to the surface, alone, and explore," he said. "I have more than earned the cost of my surface gear, given the fight with the duergar last trip. Nalatar says my Common is more than adequate to any need. And… this place is not safe for me, not forever. I am too different, and it chafes for me to keep pretending to be truly drow."

Vierna's face showed her dislike of it, but she managed to not let it flavor her voice. "A month, at least. I need that to make a sending stone for you to use with father."

"It will take me most of that to acquire useful things and knowledge," Drizzt agreed, clearly relieved that she was not going to argue.

"When you find the one in your dream, you better tell me about them," Zak said casually, causing Drizzt to freeze, his eyes going wide. "You don't hide things well," Zaknafein told him. "You might not ever talk about it, but I figured out when you'd had one early on."

"I… I will, father."

He was on the surface! Not just the brief glimpses in some hamlet, but fully on the surface, without other drow! She would need to carve time out for naps, to allow the dreams to come. A very real, large part of her wished to scry for him and just go, yet she knew his youth. She thought it best to give him time to explore the world, while she tidied up hanging threads of her rule here in Silverymoon.

She was not so naive as to think her city would still wish her to rule if the drow proved to be a constant presence in her life. She hoped they would be, but it was best to plan for the uglier side of humanity to rise up. She'd long-since warned Del and his brothers about the potential future match. When Kor had arrived, she had told him before he could choose to tie himself to her so firmly.

Kor had been more intent on doing so, grumbling that a drow brought all kinds of dangers and enemies. Del had been slow to warm to the idea, but the others had pointed out that Alustriel's bond to their father was not lessened by her finding a new one.

Alustriel reveled in knowing that she would, within a few years at most, meet the drow of her dreams.

Drizzt had, over the years, come to suspect that his mysterious lady possessed great power. He had actually chosen not to speak of her for that reason, to his father or sister, knowing it might have set them against her.

After studying the people of Neverwinter, remaining well-hidden and evading their regular patrols of fighters in uniforms, he'd come to believe she was very distinct in both her looks and her height, the latter being a guess for how she had often been looking downward at others in the dreams.

Finding a place of business that printed information on the workings of the region proved to be fortune turning in his favor, as he learned of a lady called Laeral Silverhand, who lived down the coast, and by the accounts in the information, met the criteria of the woman he was looking for.

Silver-haired witch thought to be behind recent assassination foiling! at least looked like she lived an interesting life!

~Laeral, dear? May I ask you to be somewhat visible in the evenings, but away from crowds?~ Alustriel asked, amusement flavoring her sending.

~Oh this sounds like an invitation to danger, adventure, or mischief,~ Laeral responded. She then picked up with one of her own. ~May I know why, oh my sister?~

~My dream-bonded is most definitely traveling the coast, and is passing the Sword Mountains now. I believe he has heard of your appearance.~

It took a bit of time for the recharge to take effect, but Laeral's laughter was still evident when she sent a new one. ~I will be on the look out for your drow, dear, and see if he would prefer to come to you the quickest way possible.~

~Many thanks, Laeral. Try not to tease him too much, hmm? He seems quite serious.~

The sendings ended then, and Laeral decided she should attempt to intercept the drow before he encountered Waterdeep's outer patrols. Fortunately, her villa was on the northern edge of the claimed territory, and she had that spell she wanted to work on anyway.

The ocean had lured Drizzt down to the beach a number of times in his wandering, though a lack of knowing what he could eat kept driving him back to the grasses or trees at more of a distance. This evening, he decided he wanted to watch the sun set across the broad expanse of water, to see what the colors did.

His eyes still protested the brightness at times, but sunset seemed a little easier than sunrise, he'd discovered. He kept the cloak he'd used to hide his features pulled around him, as the ocean wind was brisk. A quick detour down the crumbling face of a rise, and he was on a strand of the beach smoothed by the recent tidal shift. All he needed was to find —

— somewhere to hide? There was a being at a distance, one that he could not quite make out with the late day light dazzling him where it glanced off the drier sands between him and the person.

"Peace, drow," came words right at his ear, quiet and as if the person were standing beside him. Was it a trick… no. His sight cleared enough to see the pale sheen of hair, and his heart began to race. Rather than look out to the west, he stayed fixed upon the person.

And then, once she was near enough, his hopes failed, and he knew nothing but bitterness for a moment, as this person had the hair and height, but the features were different from the treasured memory of the dreamed lady.

"You are on the right tack, but no, I am not the one you seek," the woman said, now in easy speaking distance of him. "She warned me her dreams had placed you traveling the coast, and asked me to be on hand to lend aid.

"Oh, bother. Do you even understand me?"

"I do, Lady," Drizzt said, his emotions rising once more. "Are you kin to her? She knows of my travels? This is something shared? My father mentioned it should be a shared thing, but I worried.

"I'm sorry, that was all very rude. I am Drizzt Do'Urden."

The woman gave a broad smile. "And I am Laeral Silverhand, younger sister to Alustriel, the one you seek. Shall we enjoy the sunset, as it is close at hand, and then I can offer you a faster passage to her?"

Drizzt laughed, bright and happy at her words, at her lack of fear of him. "I came down solely to see what the sun looks like as it sets over the water, so yes. And … I think I would like that."

"Good."

Alustriel had divested herself of all of her responsibilities as swiftly as possible that night. Near the middle of the night hours, her sister's signature sparkling energy coalesced at the family teleport room, and she caught her breath.

Standing with both hands in her sister's was the drow, his eyes closed against the effect of the spell. Alustriel wanted to bless her sister for warning him of that. Then he was letting go, turning… and she saw the man that had haunted her dreams for the first time.

"Welcome. I hope, in time, you find this to be a home to you," Alustriel began. "My name is Alustriel Silverhand, as Laeral probably told you."

"I am grateful to her for speeding this meeting, and I am Drizzt Do'Urden. I look forward to learning of you, and this place, now that my eyes have adapted to the light better." His smile held mischief and warmth both, lighting Alustriel's own heart with fondness. Maybe he was not as serious as she had thought after all.

"You two, go get acquainted and settle him in," Laeral said with a smile of her own. "I'll talk to your secretary first thing, and see if there is anything 'Alustriel' should sit in on, or if your schedule can be shuffled off to your council."

"Thank you, Laeral." Alustriel held her hand out to Drizzt… and he took it without hesitation or fear.

"I think, Lady, I am going to be far more boring to learn, than you will be to me," Drizzt said softly as they walked out of that room.

"Oh, I doubt that," Alustriel promised him, giddy at this new beginning. They had all the time in the world, but that didn't stop her from wanting to get a solid start on it now he was here.

senmut

In the Aftermath of Crenshinibon (6451 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Inthylyn Aerasumé, Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Alustriel Silverhand, Original Elf Character(s), Original Drow Character(s), Bruenor Battlehammer, Regis [The Legend of Drizzt Series], Wulfgar son of Beornegar
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary:

Hearing the tale of the Far North, Thyl decides to go investigate, and winds up with TWO mysteries. They keep building in a spiral that will tie off in a knot.

In the Aftermath of Crenshinibon

A single trader making it to Luskan before the passes froze, a tale of horrific destruction, and word made it to Longsaddle from there. Thyl's eyes had gone wide at the idea of the crystal towers —Cryshal Tirith — being defeated without a wizard on the side of the defenders.

Just in case it was exaggerated or not a complete tale, he opted for a glamour to appear less like a Tall One, and used a phantom steed designed with the cold in mind. That let him get up to Ten-Towns, and before he was even visible to them, he saw how bad it was.

~Everyone, look,~ he sent as warning, pulling his aunts and mother and brothers in. The snow that had fallen so far had not done anything to hide the devastation. And yet, there were boats on the lakes, and obvious signs of rebuilding. Neither of those would be there if Crenshinibon had still be under the power of a despot.

The babble for explanations was mostly ignored, as Thyl noted a lone figure, a tiny speck, at the mid-point between the towns and the lone peak called Kelvin's Cairn.

~Later, I'll explain later,~ he added on the tail end of Andy's demand for more information. He went to land near the — ahh a hunter? — person contending with one of the large snow birds. A single person might well prove to be able to give a clear account, and less of a danger to Thyl. He waited until the bird was being blooded, staying mounted as he approached.

The hunter turned in moments, causing Thyl to almost gasp out loud, as that was a drow, in surface gear appropriate to this region, and neither spell nor weapon was threatening his approach.

"You're off course, wizard, if you need the towns. Though, I do not know if there is knucklebone to be had at any price."

"Actually, I saw you and hoped I'd be able to get an idea of just what happened. A trader mentioned destruction, but… this is even more than I expected."

The drow shifted posture, becoming even more wary. "Go your own way, ask in town all you like. We've had enough trouble made by wizards, and I will have no part in aiding you in learning how to make more."

With that, the drow turned away from Thyl, his posture so dismissive that the half-elf was actually speechless for the moment.

"I'd like to set up help."

"Go talk to Kemp. To Wulfgar. To Cassius. They might pay you what you seek."

Not really wanting to get into a fight, and not sure he could convince the drow of his honesty, Thyl turned his mount toward Bryn Shander, to go find one of the mentioned people. He wondered if he'd been out from under the glamour if it might have gone differently, but something told him otherwise.

Now he had two mysteries to solve. What had happened to Crenshinibon, and who was the drow?

Thyl was settled in an inn in Bryn Shander, a tiny room with little to recommend it. Most of the rooms were held by the locals, as rebuilding ships had taken priority over dwellings. He supposed it made some sense, too, to keep the non-fishers all centralized through the winter that was bearing down on the Far North.

He took the time to brief his family that he was following up on Cryshal-Tirith, that it did not appear to still be here, and left off the mention of the drow. That would be for later, once he knew more, maybe even had a name. If his aunt knew nothing, his paramour might. From that starting point, he went to mingle in the crowd, hoping these folks' heartiness extended to resisting plagues that followed in the wake of such destruction.

He didn't catch a name for the drow — they called him the "damned drow" or more charitably "the ranger" — but he was picking up enough pieces to know the man had done something to help the towns win. He also was hearing a name the drow had not mentioned. Regis, a halfling, was apparently the savior of the towns.

The halfling also resided in Bryn Shander, so Thyl set about learning where, and opted for that as his next target of opportunity. What he had heard so far was grim, and the mixing of Reghedmen with the motley humans of Ten-Towns added weight to the tales. There was grand talk of smiting hundreds, even thousands of orcs and goblins and giant-kind, but pain under it, for all the souls lost.

He'd have to ask his mother if it could be arranged to set up trade, bringing in supplies come spring for the prized knucklebone, and maybe some craftsmen to speed the rebuilding.

Regis, Hero of Ten-Towns, eagerly shared the full tale — as told by the members of the region. It was almost bardic, the way he parroted all the common 'facts'.

"But did the ranger have a part in it?" Thyl asked, and he all but saw a shift in Regis's eyes, one that didn't translate to the rest of his demeanor at all. Regis knew something and wasn't going to say it.

"I'm sure he was involved, because that's what rangers do." Regis then shrugged. "Maybe you should talk to Cassius or Wulfgar if you have more questions. It's getting late in my day."

Thyl let it go, hearing the same names the drow had given, and left. Maybe he should leave and come back without the glamour, even though it really wasn't their habit of leaning into the reputation they had built.

Cassius's version was close enough to the official story of the towns that Thyl didn't bring up the drow. He was unable to find Wulfgar — apparently the man was helping coordinate hauling out treasure from a dragon's hoard — but the tribes only spoke of their great hero, a unifying king, one who had promised them a better life.

He turned to scouting, didn't find any trace of where the crystal was at all, even after studying where the final tower had been. He was almost annoyed now, because he really needed to know where it had gone!

Yet winter was closing in, and the region could not support those who did not belong. He left the towns, and used a teleport to go home. He'd be back in spring, as himself, with Steelheart.

Thyl watched Ellifain showing a pair of goblin children how to comb the goats for their hair, feeling a spark of pride at the young elf's ability to manage others her age and younger.

"She's taking after you, being a teacher and leader," he told Vierna, sitting there with his hands spread with the yarn around them as she wound it. He was glad he'd come here after doing a little research into Crenshinibon, as it was far more peaceful than Silverymoon. After Syluné's narrow escape from an ambush, his aunt was in the city, recuperating. Those who Harped were busier than ever, trying to figure out where the next attack might come from.

"Hmm, she doesn't need to, but yes," Vierna agreed. "Now, you mentioned last night having a question for me?"

"Yes." He angled his hands better for her. "My aunt knows of no drow ranger in Icewind Dale, so I am hoping you do. Else, there's a drow running around that none of us know about, living on the tundra, and I did not get the impression he was evil at all.

"In fact, given his disdain for me asking questions about something terrible that happened up there, I am pretty sure when they said 'ranger', they meant 'ranger like my aunt Dove'."

Vierna smiled a bit at that last, but she shook her head. "No one from here has gone north to my knowledge. Perhaps there is another group of drow; we can't know everyone that escapes. Do you want me to ask my Lady?"

Thyl sighed. "Qilué offered that. No. She has enough on Her shoulders. I am going back in spring; I'll learn more then."

"Alright."

Steelheart being part of his plan meant Thyl had to plan for after the worst early spring storms, but he was able to finally set out from Mirabar headed north once they were thought to be over.

He did not expect to fly over an odd group of four travelers just passing through the Spine's lowest pass. He strained to see better — the small people seemed to be a dwarf and a halfling, the very tall one had to be a Reghedman.

The last one caught his attention, having noted the rich green cloak in its woodland dappling of color and Thyl indicated they should land close to the group. Steelheart obliged, with a flicker of anger passing quickly to surprise in how her skin twitched.

"He's a good one, like I suspected?" Thyl asked while they were still high enough to be private. She nickered, curiosity rising.

The ones on the ground noted them, with the dwarf's axe more prominent now, and the tall man standing between their landing place and the halfling. The ranger, Thyl noted, took the most prominent point, but did not draw his swords.

"Hello, travelers! My name is Thyl Aerasumé, and this is Steelheart!" he called in greeting. "I heard there'd been trouble in the region last year, and have come to investigate if there is aid to be given."

"Matters in Ten-Towns are being attended to, and there is no need for outsiders," the Reghedman said firmly. "There might be trade for you by now, though."

Thyl did not sigh or otherwise betray his irritation to get the stonewall attitude again. "Be that as it may, I'd be remiss to leave it alone. Silverymoon's tenets dictate I try to lend aid, and that is my home city."

"Quite far from yer home, then," the dwarf said. "None of those that live in Icewind Dale have time for strangers poking in their business."

Still the ranger merely watched, hood pulled low to avoid the glare of the sun beating on the snow still present.

"Bruenor, he's a Tall One. He might be able to help you," the halfling — that was Regis. And Bruenor was the name he'd heard for the leader of the Icewind Dale dwarves. That meant the Reghedman was likely Wulfgar.

"Bah, Rumblebelly," the dwarf grumbled.

"I can walk with you, so I do not slow you, and we could talk on the move?" Thyl offered with as much sincerity as he could muster.

He noted that the dwarf and the Reghedman looked to the ranger, who gave a brief nod, but reached up to sweep his cowl back.

"Suit yerself, but ye make trouble with me elf there, and we'll send ye packing," Bruenor said.

Thyl did not mouth 'me elf' but he felt it, and it helped him show surprise at seeing a drow.

"Rangers are people I've worked with quite a bit," he said easily, because the drow all but screamed his profession from the cloak to the bow and quiver carried for ease of use despite the cloak.

"Wind's picking up; follow us to the next camp so we can talk," the ranger said, drawing his hood back and turning to take point, ignoring the pegasus-rider — but not the pegasus. Steelheart trotted to the man's side, and after some low words Thyl could not hear under the wind, he saw the ranger remove a glove and reach out, stroking Steelheart's neck when she encouraged it.

That was a good start.

They wound up breaking for camp in a protected outcrop of rocks. Thyl still had not learned the drow's name, but he'd officially met the other three. While Wulfgar saw to the fire, the other two set up a ground cover for their rest, and the ranger vanished. When he returned, it was to drop to spitted coneys on the fire, before he settled against a rock.

"Don't mind Drizzt," Regis said, coming over to handle the cooking. "He's had a rough year, and he really doesn't want to go on a snipe hunt, but he's Bruenor's friend, and he promised."

The other two came over, with Bruenor sizing Thyl up.

"What's a Tall One that Rumblebelly thinks I ought tae talk to ye?"

"Wizard-fighter out of Silverymoon, tend to do a lot of problem solving in the Realms," Thyl said easily enough. "My brothers and I are all pegasus-riders, all of us learn both trades, and we were raised to believe that if you have skill and power, you use it to make life better."

"Seen things, heard things, mayhaps know a bit about lore?" Bruenor asked.

"Yes."

The beard was wagging, a sign of a dwarf thinking.

"Just ask, Bruenor!" Rum — Regis, Thyl corrected himself, though the nickname seemed apt — exhorted.

"Ye e'er heard o' Mithral Hall?" Bruenor did ask after scowling at the halfling.

"Yes. My elder brothers helped rescue survivors from there, and I have met a handful," Thyl said. "It's never been found, though, if you're thinking of looking."

Now what in his words could have made a dwarf go that pale under the beard?

"Did you hear that, my teacher?" Wulfgar called. "We have even more reason to see this quest through."

Thyl did his best not to gape at the title given to the ranger, given the height and race differences.

The ranger didn't seem to move, but Wulfgar turned his attention back to Thyl.

"This is Bruenor Battlehammer, son of Bangor Battlehammer, son of Garumn Battlehammer, last surviving king of Mithral Hall," Wulfgar stated in the polished delivery of one trained to be a herald.

"Greetings, Chieftain," Thyl said more formally. "I had no idea an heir survived, or that the clan had people this far from where the others were found."

"I'd nae idea there be others, lad, and yer words hold comfort that none have found me Hall," Bruenor said, having regained his composure.

"May I invite you, and your companions, to come directly to Silverymoon? I would even travel with you, all the way, if you wish," Thyl said. "All I am asking is to satisfy the need of knowing that the crystal towers we heard of are truly vanquished."

"Ye think I can find as what I need there?"

"Any information, my brothers' own testimony, allies among dwarves that follow no king but give service to all," Thyl offered. "Resources for finding the threads of the mystery. I can promise all of this to you."

Bruenor looked over to the drow, who finally pushed off his rock and came closer to the cook fire, angling to protect his eyes from it as he studied Thyl.

"They say a pegasus knows the deepest character of any they interact with," Drizzt finally said. "I pray this is true, for the crystal that caused the terror and destruction is not to be trifled with. You cannot tame its power, you cannot control it. It is a thing of pure evil."

"Yes. My father, who was a Lore Keeper, told us all the horrors it wreaked on the Realms, and it must be destroyed, if it can ever be found and captured."

The ranger held his eyes, and Thyl realized that now with the hood no longer shadowing them, they were purple, raising the hair on the back of Thyl's neck.

"Regis, share the tale."

The tale, it turned out, was similar to the official word, but fully omitted the ranger defeating a balor in combat to learn the nature of the enemy. It left out the desperate run from the Cairn all the way to the site of the last tower. It had not spoken at all of Drizzt doing battle with the wizard's traps and outwitting the wizard.

Thyl absorbed all of the real events with a growing awe for the ranger, who had moved away so the light wasn't an issue.

"And the crystal? What happened to it, after the avalanche?" Thyl asked.

"Had me people tunnel to it in the dark of night," Bruenor said. "Me elf knows a wizard he trusts, hopes to get aid for destroying it. Until then, he has the keeping of it."

"It is in a box that has been dipped in molten lead," Drizzt offered from his place. "I kept it out of light at all times, and the lead was applied with me holding darkness as Bruenor did the dipping."

Thyl's eyes were wide as he looked at the ranger again. No wonder the man looked a little gaunt around the mouth. Even fully quiescent, such an evil thing would have a wearing effect on the spirit.

"Why… why did the tale we heard mention nothing of you?" he finally asked.

"One, I am a drow and was barely tolerated. Two, I asked Regis to try and manage things so I was not mentioned."

"Aye, and with good reason," Bruenor said. "Cannae have trouble beating down our door, any more as ye bring home for tryin' always tae do right."

Drizzt actually snorted at the words. "I am a ranger."

Thyl grinned. "I've heard that before from my aunt who is one. I just feel like insisting on the recognition of your actions should have helped you be better accepted."

"Lad, they didnae want tae admit he saved them all when my boy's people invaded. More than like, they would have said he brought the wizard's evil down on us all, and then where'd he and his bairn be?"

"Oh." The ranger had a child. He lived so far from drow, and he had a child? In that hostile environment? Was it a case of adoption? Or natural born? Thyl's curiosity was burning, but he knew better than touch on it at this point. He'd just have to befriend the ranger, to learn more.

"We know his deeds," Wulfgar said. "A more honorable or brave warrior cannot be found in the realms!"

That was high praise from that man's culture, and Thyl just nodded.

Thyl wound up getting deeply involved in the quest. There was no need to stop in Luskan or Longsaddle. Nesme grudgingly admitted his presence meant the drow could pass. They made good time, especially with Steelheart scouting from the air, allowing them to bypass hazards safely.

And then they hit the wards of Silverymoon, which balked the group completely because Drizzt could not cross them.

"It's the crystal," Thyl said, reassuring them all. "Regis, hold his pack, and then the pair of you try to cross, so you believe me, Drizzt."

That was accomplished, and this time Regis was stopped, not Drizzt.

"Then, this is where our roads part for now," Drizzt said, taking the pack back. "All of you go with Thyl. I'll skirt the Evermoors and go by the road to Yartar to see the wizard I need."

"Ye said he was nae in when ye tried that before; what if he's not now? A full half-month ye'd lose, there and back again," Bruenor argued.

"A suggestion?" Thyl raised, watching stubbornness settle on the dark features. "Let me see them in, get my mother free of her duties, and bring her to you, Drizzt," he said. "Your friends can clean up, eat, and start talking to the Rockcrusher clan.

"She would likely know if this wizard friend of yours would be safe from the crystal's corruption, and is likely to have suggestions on how to handle it."

He'd been talking to her every night when they camped, so he knew she did have a plan already. However, Drizzt reminded him strongly of Vierna once she dug her heels in. It would be better to let Mother handle that fight.

"Alright," Drizzt said, conceding the point. He had no way of knowing, it was true.

Thyl had his mother with him when he returned. Drizzt was not in sight immediately, but Steelheart was certain he was there, and after a moment, the cloaked ranger dropped to the ground from a nearby tree.

"Napping?" Thyl asked playfully.

"I've missed trees," Drizzt admitted, a common complaint on the way here, once they'd hit wooded lands. He then straightened and looked at the lady dismounting from Steelheart, noting her height and silver hair, as well as her courtesy to the mare.

"Mother, may I present Drizzt, ranger of Icewind Dale? Drizzt, my mother, Alustriel Silverhand of Silverymoon."

He deliberately left off the titles his mother carried, not wanting to be overwhelming.

A look at Drizzt told him his friend was already overwhelmed anyway. Oddly, when he looked back to his mother, there was something about her demeanor that suggested there was a deeper curiosity than just meeting the man that had defeated Crenshinibon.

"Pardon me, Lady, but are you any relation to Dove Falconhand?"

"My sister."

"The ranger I've mentioned," Thyl offered.

Drizzt inclined his head then. "I was grateful to her for a letter she wrote some time ago. I only ever saw her at a distance, though.

"Thyl believes that you might have ideas on my accursed burden, or at least can verify if my faith in the wizard I thought to trust is well-placed."

"Certainly. I do not know every wizard, but one strong enough to aid you should be one I know. I also have consulted, at length, with Elminster on this, and we believe we may have a plan for you, Ranger." She gestured, and stools appeared for them all to sit.

Drizzt settled on one, let them do so. He half-smiled as Steelheart came to lip at his hair before going to crop grass. Thyl watched him focus on Mother, and waited to hear who the mystery wizard was.

"I have heard of Elminster, good and bad, but feel like one as old as he is rumored to be would likely not fall prey to the temptations of the crystal," Drizzt conceded. "My one good experience with a wizard, prior to meeting your son, was with Samiar Ravarel, and I have faith he would aid me."

"Oh I am certain he would, if he's attained his full potential," Alustriel said, amused, as Thyl was processing that name and just staring at Drizzt. "As Sam is very firmly a wizard I could trust in my younger days. I doubt he's changed all that much, if he worked with you on some other thing."

"Is that Father's cousin?!" Thyl had to ask, getting a nod from his mother.

Drizzt visibly looked startled at that. "I hope, Lady, he is up to the standards your family seems to hold then."

Thyl felt like there was more than just the business of the crystal involved, for why Drizzt had said that.

"I will be glad to find that out, Ranger. But, as to the ideas we had, Elminster feels your ability to hold darkness on it, without it drinking your magic to fuel itself, implies that it cannot steal spell-like abilities. I am to ask Valamaradace if she agrees — the gold that protects these lands — and then a combination of your ability and hers might see us rid of it.

"With a cleric on hand to protect against any liches tied to it, given how it came to be created."

"There would be few things more destructive than a gold's flames," Drizzt said with appropriate awe. "However, I can't just keep carrying it with me."

"Then you will need to come with me to meet her, for this discussion, and I do think if she agrees, a gold's hoard is a safe place even in your eyes?"

Drizzt chuckled. "Yes, Lady. I would agree, since you say I would be needed for the destruction."

Thyl saw his mother's smile grow at that, and the one Drizzt gave her in turn… well, he thought the ranger looked younger in the moment, like some of the weight came right off of him.

Drizzt accepted the hand up onto the phantom steed that was Alustriel's way off the dragon's floating lair. He was still dazzled by both the flaming chariot to come here, speaking with both a gold and a silver dragon, as well the lady herself.

"Since you wanted to check in on Sam, and I am very curious why he is outside Yartar but has not visited me, and I have the full day to myself, do you wish to go see him?"

"You and Thyl said he was Thyl's father's cousin. That is a child of a sibling to one of the parents, yes?"

"Yes. In this case, Sam's father was brother to Sharr's mother."

"Yet, I never heard your name while I lived with him," Drizzt said, trying to keep his voice polite.

"Elué would have been the name he used for me," Alustriel explained. "Most elves still use it. At least, if they knew me when I was younger."

"Ahh, that name I know." Drizzt squeezed her shoulder as she headed for Yartar. "Yes, I would like this. I have news I needed to give him… about a dozen years ago. And his curse-breaking might help Bruenor remember."

"Is that why you met him? For a curse?"

"Yes. He did break it, just… not immediately after his efforts. So I wish him to know."

"We should be able to find the tree quite handily from the air," Alustriel assured him.

Samiar Ravarel was more than a little surprised to look out and see not one, but two, faces of his past. It was the combination of them that was so shocking, but he was pleased to see both. As he climbed down, Elué let go of the phantom steed, and he swiftly told the wards to let her pass.

"Elué! Look at you being all beautiful still! And Drizzt, my friend! I have been worried about you; I thought you'd said you'd come visit!"

"I did! You weren't here!" Drizzt called back, smiling broadly as they crossed to meet.

"You look so much happier, my friend. I am glad it got settled," Sam said, taking his hands first, squeezing, then looking at Elué. "I mean it. You're just as I remember."

"My dear, it's been nearly two centuries," she answered that, taking his hands, leaning down to kiss his cheek.

"So long?"

"Yes. And we should go sit on that bench I see in your garden."

Something in her tone hit both men, and Drizzt lightly touched her arm.

"I'm going to go rest my eyes in the tree over there," he said. "Call for me once you have your news at an end?"

The look she gave him told Sam that the news was going to be terrible… and that Drizzt had charmed her, at least somewhat.

"Very well."

By the time Drizzt had joined him, Sam had most of his emotions under control. Elué was up in the tree raiding his library, but Sam knew Drizzt preferred being outside as much as he could. He smiled as Drizzt settled beside him on the bench.

"I rather dislike adding to the momentous news she must have delivered," Drizzt told Sam. "But first, thank you. Your effort not only broke the curse, but granted me a very precious gift."

"I'm not following, given you were very much not like this when you left me," Sam said.

"It took most of two years to take effect," Drizzt offered. "I found a ranger and a druid, and when they took me in, we discovered I was pregnant. I made the choice to see it through, and now have a daughter, eleven years old now."

Sam took in a breath. Yes, this was momentous, but in the fully opposite direction of all Alustriel had said.

"We, my friend, if… if I may know her?"

Drizzt nodded. "She's eager to meet her wizard father. Was disappointed when you weren't here, but she's a good child, and adapted to our home in the north rapidly. She's still there, under care of my best friend and the rest of the dwarves there.

"Once I return to the chieftain, I'll have more work to do, but we mean to bring them all down, once we have a place to go."

"Then, I obviously need to lend my aid, to be certain this happens quickly," Sam said, "as I've lost too many years with her, and getting to know you better."

"I'm glad you said that; there's a curse on the chieftain."

"Even better."

Thyl sat back, watching as the cousin he'd heard so much about but not met talked earnestly with Bruenor Battlehammer about how he could, and would, help.

"…no payment, I insist!" Sam said loud enough to be heard. "You've taken care of my child from what Drizzt has said, and given him both aid and friendship. I am already in your debt for these things…"

What?

~Mother, Sam just said the chieftain has been taking care of his child?~ Thyl sent, despite her having resumed court duties. She was adept at double-speak.

~Apparently Drizzt and your cousin have a daughter. Magic curses were involved, and practical solutions.~ There was a faint amusement with that.

Thyl was still surprised, but that made it even more important to go see Vierna… after he got one more answer from the ranger.

Drizzt looked up from the book he was studying; the Companions would be heading out the following day, with Sam, and a memory potion. Thyl noted the ranger looked peaceful, and almost chose not to bother him, but he did need to know.

Before he went back to Vierna to update her.

"Can I just have a moment, because there's something I've wanted to ask since I could first see your eyes."

"So not the first time I was rude to you," Drizzt said, amused now that he knew the wizard in the autumn had been this man he'd come to see as an ally, maybe even a friend.

Thyl ducked his head. "No, I didn't see them then, not clearly.

"See, I've heard about a drow with purple eyes, from someone I care about. And I am trying to figure out how unusual the color is."

Drizzt closed the book and set it aside. "It is something people note about me. I never saw any like them in my city. But where one exists, maybe others do. Your mother said there actually are good drow on the surface."

"Yeah, I happen to be on good terms with the leaders of both major settlements," Thyl told him. "I'm sorry, there's no easy way to ask.

"About three decades ago, were you at a raid?"

Drizzt's face shut down a little, the eyes became haunted by tragedy, as well as some anger, but not at Thyl.

"Yes."

Thyl breathed out a sigh of relief.

"The child survived, Drizzt. The saviors got there too late for any but her and one other that was not quite dead, and they healed her. She's thinking about learning to be a ranger, while the girl was adopted by their senior cleric.

"Who is my paramour, so the girl — whose name is Ellifain — is a little like a daughter to me."

Now it was Drizzt who had to sit in silent shock, weighing all of that. When he did speak, Thyl wasn't sure he'd expected the words, and yet from what he had learned of Drizzt, they didn't surprise him.

"Thank everything for the child living, and living well, it sounds like."

"Yes, she does," Thyl agreed. "They had to work with her, both of them, about the trauma, because it was goodly drow that went. But they are both part of the community now, very well-loved, and grown strong."

Drizzt closed his eyes. "Then, I am grateful to have met you for one more reason."

Thyl had chosen to see them out, but before they even got out of the courtyard, his aunt Dove was there, larger than life and bounding over.

"Drizzt Do'Urden! You can't leave just yet, or at least let me walk with you! I have to have a chance to give a proper apology now."

Thyl blinked, not because of the greeting, as the tale had come out already over a meal, but because that was the first time he'd heard the ranger's family name.

~Mother, things are even more tangled than we thought,~ he warned her, ~as Dove just called him Drizzt Do'Urden.~

~Oh my. And they're heading out. Which leaves us waiting to find out why his name matches Vierna's.~

Thyl didn't think he could just invite himself along… not when that looked like what his aunt was doing, so Mother was right. He'd have to wait.

Thyl lounged contently next to Vierna, feeling lazy and intent on making her join him in resting as much as possible.

"So what did you learn in all the weeks you were with the drow ranger?" she asked him, putting an end to the lazy feelings. He'd kind of hoped to save that for the next day of his visit, but of course she was more direct.

He loved it about her, usually.

"He has a daughter, who turned out to have a sun elf wizard — my father's close cousin — as the other parent. He ran afoul of my aunt Dove on his second time on the surface, but it got sorted out and she thinks he's someone to watch in the good way," Thyl began. "It was already strange enough to have him touching my family on both sides like that, but because of Aunt Dove, I found out his family name.

"And I had asked him about his purple eyes," Thyl finished, watching her face.

She sat up, and he followed, an arm around her shoulders as she tucked in.

"He's Ellifain's protector?" Vierna asked to confirm.

"Yes. And he's a Do'Urden."

That made her gasp out loud. "Tangled into your family and part of mine, with Ellifain in the middle of it all. What deity has marked his life so vividly?!"

"Currently? Mielikki. Has been watching him since he came up the second time. Before that? I don't know."

"I have to meditate on this, and reach out. My Lady may not know much, but there's too many coincidences!"

Thyl sighed, knowing she was right, but really not happy when she left the bed.

Finding the Hall, getting the dwarven clan down and reunited with others, then actually taking the Hall the following spring had kept things busy enough that Thyl had been unable to share what Vierna had learned from Eilistraee with Drizzt himself. However, Sam was able to report to Elué and Syluné both what he could see of the divine magic on his friend.

Syluné took it upon herself to remove the threat, which meant she was the one to break the news to him that Lolth had used his nature to turn his birth city upside down.

He had taken it poorly enough that she told Thyl, making him choose to wait even longer on arranging a meeting with the good drow so close to where Drizzt now lived with his daughter. After all, Sam deserved to get time with the pair, and Ellifain needed time to process that she could meet the man that had saved her life.

It was mid-summer, just after festival, when Thyl thought things were calm enough — as long as one ignored the growing amount of attraction between Mother and the ranger visiting her every chance he could, on pretext of letting Zanna learn more. He caught up with the small family, since Sam was with them this time, and smiled.

"Hey, Drizzt, can I talk with you a minute?"

"Here it comes, my friend. The concerned son speech," Sam said, making Zanna giggle but they went off. Somehow, Thyl thought Drizzt was blushing under his fond exasperation at Sam.

"What is it?"

"I mentioned the good drow in the nearby region before," Thyl began. "And I have an invitation for you to come meet them. With or without Zanna; they know it's a new thing, and you haven't had any dealings with drow in a very long time."

"Do you trust them?" Drizzt asked.

"Yes."

"Then Zanna will go. She should have her first encounter with drow be ones her kin can trust."

Thyl felt vaguely shaken by that, but nodded.

"I'll stick around, for when you want to go. Best to go by teleport, the first time, let them decide if you can know how to get there the long way." He started to apologize, but Drizzt gripped his shoulder.

"I appreciate the steps taken to protect them," he said, before nodding. "I look forward to it."

Thyl was not surprised that Vierna and Ellifain were waiting on them when they all arrived. Vierna's dwarves had slipped down into Clan Battlehammer without mentioning where they'd come from, given how careful everyone was to protect Spirit Sanctuary. The mix of drow and goblins in the background of the meeting was a little startling for Zanna, but she was a curious, brave child.

"Greetings, Drizzt and Zanna," Vierna said, searching the ranger's features, and both were seeing familiarity in the other. "My name is Vierna, and this is my daughter Ellifain."

"You… you're the stolen Do'Urden daughter," Drizzt said in awe. "Father — Weapon Master Zaknafein spoke of you to me once!"

She tipped her head, then let go of Ellifain's hand to reach for his. "Then you are my little brother in full, and please… give him his title of 'father'. I was never certain, but now I know he had another child so good, I am claiming him."

"I think you must be right; he was pained as he spoke of you, because he knew how to love us." Drizzt took her hands, and squeezed, before he focused on Ellifain. "To you, my … niece? Niece. I am very sorry for what happened when you were young, but overwhelmingly happy you wound up in a good place, with family here."

"It was a bad thing, for both of us to go through," she answered him bravely. She then went to Zanna, offering her her hands. "Cousin. Come with me? We can explore and play, while the adults talk."

"I like this idea. Hi."

Fearlessly, Zanna ran off with her new cousin, and Vierna guided both Drizzt and Thyl to a place they could sit, talk… and manage all of the emotions this meeting was.

Thyl could only hope that every mystery he ever found turned out as well as this one had.

senmut

Practicing (100 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Drizzt Do'Urden & Vierna Do'Urden
Characters: Vierna Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Drabble, Fluff
Summary:

Vierna's brother is not in sight.

Practicing

Vierna almost swore a streak of angry words when she looked up from her studying and Drizzt was not in sight.

"Where are you?!"

"Practicing!"

The voice actually did not help her find him, and that gave her pause. Was her little brother discovering how to make echoes work for him, to hide where he was? That was a useful skill.

She needed a break. She could afford the time it took to find him, and then remedy his hiding skills.

She wasn't expecting it to take so long, or that he'd held his levitation the whole time.

"Well done."

senmut

Rescued by Drow (1029 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Vierna Do'Urden, Original Elf Character(s)
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Slice of Life
Summary:

Kor has a misadventure and meets strange drow.

SiS Kor

When Elué had asked for help to scout the region, Korvallen had volunteered to keep Sharr from offering. He had evaluated everyone else and taken on the farthest route, trusting his experience. Sharr had taken the hint and thrown his effort toward helping the city rebuild. He was the best person Elué could have at her side to rally the elves, and Korvallen knew it.

Now, facing down two worgs and their orc raiders, Kor wondered if this would be how it ended, so far from his heart-brother. He would not stop fighting, giving himself over to the full skill he had built for himself over the centuries. Injuries no longer mattered; just the fight, just killing as many of his opponents as he could.

He didn't register the bird calls, only briefly noticed one orc going down to a well-shot arrow before a blow he could neither dodge nor parry ended his view of it all.

Korvallen hadn't expected to open his eyes. He certainly didn't expect to find every injury bandaged, and the worst of them already half-healed. He sat up slowly, and winced; half-healed was certainly correct.

"You need to lie back down, elf," a woman's voice called, and he turned his head to see a drow sitting there. "And if you're going to have a fit because you're in drow hands, let me say that you would have died down there if not for our hunters."

White-hot anger gave way to darkest cold in Korvallen's guts.

"Am I a prisoner?"

"No. But I don't give you more than ten steps before you collapse and blood fills your insides. Our hunters had to be healed too, and we need time to pray before any greater healing can happen for you."

Korvallen went to test that theory, felt a sharper twinge, and laid back.

Elué would check on him, in time. He just needed to bide his time.

"I'd offer you water, but honestly, all of your moving around just now possibly undid some of our work. Can't give you drink if your insides are bleeding again. So wait for the next cleric to be available, and then we'll see to that part."

That… went with how Charic handled things. He closed his eyes and laid back, wondering which Named Ones he had pissed off to put him in the keeping of drow!

Kor woke back up as the drow watching him traded out with a different one. Her robes were more ornate, with the swords woven into the design being more prominent than the moons.

"You are in a safe place, elf," the new one said. "As soon as we are certain you will not die because we missed something, one of our wizards will teleport you away. You are not a prisoner, but at the same time, you may not see where we are. I have to make certain my people are safe, after all."

That was not the speech he had expected at all, wasn't certain he trusted it, but he gave a nod.

"Now, let me see what we missed in our rush to get everyone treated." She came to sit beside the bed, placing one cool hand on his brow and other over his chest. As the delving continued, she moved them, until he felt warmth pool outward from his gut and the pain eased entirely.

It had felt almost just like when Charic managed his injuries.

"Alright. I would ask that you rest out the rest of the day," she said. "And, to make it easier on yourself, please don't wander out of here. We are a mixed society, but I don't think any of our people would meet your approval."

Korvallen snorted, even as she got up and moved a tray near with water and a crock of soup.

"Do I get to know your name?" he asked.

"Depends on if you are willing to share yours," the woman said. "There being all sorts of strange magics around names according to some of the surface tales we hear."

"That would be fey, not faerie, lore," Korvallen said, but then he noted she looked amused.

He was being teased by a damned drow, and somehow that made it all the more surreal?

"Korvallen Senahye."

Her eyes widened. "Oh. Well, I suppose I need to arrange your repatriation to your people sooner."

"Your name?"

"Call me First Sister," she said instead. "It is who I am in service to my people." She then left him, after moving a relief bucket nearby as well.

Korvallen's gear had been returned to him, with everything mended already, implying magical aid. He'd have one of the boys inspect it for traps if Elué was busy.

He had finished the food, and decided he would prefer being in his full garb and kit even if he wasn't a prisoner. No sooner than he had fastened the last buckle than the door opened —

— and Elué's daughter came in.

"Hello, Uncle."

What in the Named Ones was this?

"Mena."

"I don't know how or why you wandered far enough to brush my friend's territory, but I'm glad they could save you," Mena said cheerfully.

He could only look at her, then he recalled the tale of the sword-cleric that had been present to help Elué's campaign.

"Strange friends. Can you take me back to your Papa?"

"Of course!"

Sharr looked his heart-brother over critically. "Why is it whenever you park me somewhere safe, you go and get hurt?"

"It's only happened one other time!"

Elué laughed brightly. "He has a point; you are rarely far from his side, and yet. Twice is a trend."

Kor huffed out at her.

"Mena did ask that you keep your misadventure's details as much a secret as you can," Elué said. "The world is not ready for good drow living openly, and some would go to a lot of effort to wipe them out."

Kor flinched, knowing he would have joined such an effort. And yet… they had succored him, had allied to Elué in her time of need, and Mena counted them as close to her heart.

"I'll never breathe a word."

senmut

Hunting (2451 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Laeral Silverhand, Qilué Veladorn, Vierna Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary:

Drizzt found a bigger hunt than he should have taken on.

Hunting

Drizzt was bleeding, badly, and yet this was one hunt he could not retreat from.

While he had an advantage when facing down gorgons, able to fight blind from his years of training with his father, they were stronger and canny. He didn't dare bring Guen to the fight, as she was not immune to their gaze.

And, apparently, time was running out. He could feel the fever of their poison in his veins, with only two of them slain so far, and the last one grief-mad in its need to kill him.

He did not regret taking the time to damage the eyes in both corpses, but it had been in doing so that he'd been bit by one of the snakes as it lashed out in the death throes.

He took the time to bind the gash from the first one he had killed. He left the bite wound uncovered, inanely hoping the poison would bleed back out that way. He then drew himself into communion with the land.

It was a risk, but he needed to find the last one, kill it, before it could move on to the hamlet in its grief. He reminded himself that he had warned them to move on, that the first attack had been from one of them.

If only he'd been faster in the original globe of darkness to dispatch them all.

Focus. He needed focus to commune.

There, to his northeast, between him and the hamlet, there was a blight that did not belong! He drew strength from the land, speed from the wind, and moved, knowing that every bit of his drawing on nature sped the poison and the blood loss.

The gorgon hissed and so did the snake-tendrils, revamping Drizzt's childhood rage at such things. They were like the clerics' whips, and he would not let them strike again. Her eyes were coming up, never noting that he only held one scimitar now. The other hand moved, even as Drizzt shut his eyes.

Her howl of anguish told him the slim throwing blade was embedded as he meant, before he rushed with the last of the speed, scimitar going in just below the ribs, angled up.

Her talons managed to rake his cheek, but he leveraged the sword and she breathed her last.

Now, using a foot to place the body's fall correctly, he put the sword through the remaining eye, and danced away from a snake that lashed out.

He'd done it, managed to slay the last. With his body beginning to tremor, he moved away, turning his back on the corpse, so he could look, try to find a safe place to den.

The ground rushed up to meet him, as he paid the price of being a lone ranger pushed too far into the use of the wilds.

The first thing he noticed was how warm he was. He seemed to be under a heavy quilt, in a real bed, with walls around him. There was a contained heat source nearby, a brazier or stove maybe.

He was also not alone.

"No need to sham sleep, Drizzt Do'Urden. You are safe in my home."

He opened his eyes then to see a woman with silver hair that seemed familiar but not known to him.

She was wearing a dress under robes that screamed magic at him.

"Pardon, but you have my name and I don't have yours."

"Laeral Silverhand. Dove Falconhand's sister."

It did not make any sense, not that Drizzt could make work. He'd had the one encounter, that first year, and then the letter the following year. Five years later and he was hearing the name again, while becoming indebted to her family?

What was going on? Had they managed to get a spell on him all that time ago? Why use it now to locate him?

"You are very confused, no doubt." The wizard — she had to be, to all of his senses, strange as it was — leaned toward the bed from her chair. "Dove's husband is a favorite of Mielikki. She implored help for you."

Drizzt closed his eyes at that. Why had a goddess interceded? What price would he ultimately pay for the interest Mielikki had given him over the years?

~You pay it, day after day. You are like Me, and I am like you.~

The words, whispered across his mind, in the voice of the leaves and breezes he so loved, actually did reassure him in his soul. He had agreed to do Her work, so long as She held to her path… and maybe he had paid the price of this help.

"Thank you, for answering that call to aid me," he said. "I know the poison was winning."

"Hmm, yes. That actually required a cleric, but we decided you shouldn't be overwhelmed by meeting two of us. My cleric sister has already left."

Drizzt turned his face to her, eyes opening again, troubled by the amount of effort being given —

— "Ranger Do'Urden, we are the Chosen of Mystra, charged with certain tasks. Any other adventurer that has embraced the life of giving so selflessly as to tackle three gorgons all on his own is the kind of person we wish to invest in aiding!" Laeral said quite firmly. "No speaking of debts, anymore than you as a ranger would accept them from those you save."

"It is hard," he admitted.

"Hmm, yes. I don't manage it often myself, but. It is sometimes needed. Now, drink this broth, sleep some more, and we can discuss things more after," Laeral said, moving to aid him in the drinking.

Drizzt gave in, and found sleep came easier than expected, once he had the warm liquid in his belly.

"Are all drow as resilient as you are?" Laeral asked, watching her guest get his gear fully on.

"I think I may have an advantage," he told her, eyes gleaming a little with amusement. He'd told her his history, and she had been amazed by his ability to survive.

"Well, you should try not to push it so much," she told him. "Do you want to be taken back to where you were, or would you like to explore in this region?"

The offer was tempting, but Drizzt sighed. "I had begun storing food for winter near where I was; I should go there."

"Or you could stay here, and winter with others like you," Laeral tempted. "As the nasty little spell your city's patron put on you is gone, you'd be allowed to join the others."

Drizzt recalled the brief discussion of Eilistraee and good drow, as well as Laeral mentioning the removal of a shroud that hid him from them. He hadn't pieced that together with the idea that these supposedly good drow were near here.

"Then… I will stay."

"Good. You can anticipate them finding you in due time; the song that has been in your dreams will guide you and them toward one another," Laeral explained. She then studied his appearance. "Good luck, Drizzt Do'Urden. I think I will be hearing more of you, in due time."

"Fare well, Laeral Silverhand, and I hope your adventures are smooth."

Sister

After treating the poisoned and injured ranger, Qilué discussed the other matter, and stayed long enough for Laeral to contend with that. She only reluctantly gave in about leaving, understanding from the way the ranger was dressed and his gear that the man had likely been alone a long while.

Dove's own words on the matter placed his arrival on the surface several years previous, so it was likely that meeting a towering drow woman was not a good idea.

With a sigh, she took herself home, but she reached out to the leader of the other major encampment of free drow.

~If you can clear your schedule, my sister in our Lady, please come visit soon,~ she told the other priestess by sending.

She could tell Vierna was startled by that request, but the reply came swiftly.

~It will be a few days, but I will come.~

Qilué guided her fellow priestess to a cozy nook inside the area her own people were shaping into a home.

"I am sorry to pull you from your own people, but I thought this needed said face to face. And to have you in this region, in case you choose to act on it."

Vierna tipped her head slightly, an eyebrow arching. Qilué found the facial construction between this woman and the patient she had left under her sister's care very similar, lending strength to the idea of a relationship between them.

"We did not have much happening," Vierna said softly. "Tell me what it is?"

"I was called to heal a young ranger who had taken on three gorgons on his own, slain them all, but was succumbing to his wounds from communing too deeply with the land to do it," Qilué began. "A goddess had directly intervened to get aid to him, through my sister Dove's husband.

"Laeral responded, and then requested me for how far gone he was." She paused. "And because he was a drow."

"Alright. Was it in the region I try to guide?" Vierna asked, curious where this was going by her face.

"No, he was well away from either of our groups." Qilué took one of her hands. "His name is Drizzt Do'Urden, and until Laeral and Mystra, thank Her for everything, removed a magical shroud, he could not be perceived by our Lady. At all.

"Yet… he is truly Good."

The double impact of that, the shared family name and the idea that a good drow fully cut off from their deity, took Vierna's breath away. Qilué held her hand through it, waiting for her to be able to speak again.

"Where is he?"

"With Laeral, though she says he's recovering swiftly. She's going to try to convince him to stay in this area, winter with us. As she didn't know your family name, I let it go at that." Qilué gave her a soft smile. "He's been alone on the surface for several years. Laeral encouraged me not to be his first drow contact."

"You are… impressive," Vierna agreed. "Which goddess interceded for him?"

"Mielikki. Apparently She's on first name basis with Florin. And more, according to some bard's tales," Qilué said in a lighter vein.

It did make Vierna smile at least.

"Do you think Ravenna would come?" Vierna asked. "My people know her and love her, and she is close in strength to me, so I would not feel I am abdicating duty.

"But I would very much like to be here once this ranger is up and about, if your sister convinces him. If not… I will choose scouts of my own to find him, and try to guide him to us, in the north."

"She probably will. Talk it over with her, and then, once Laeral tells me his choice, I will relay it so things can be arranged."

Vierna thought her fellow drow were wonderful, if exasperating, in that they had carefully avoided the ranger exploring the region, so that she could have the first contact. It was well into autumn when she and Ravenna exchanged duties and locations, as far as the north was concerned, but just truly cooling off down here.

She gave a few days work to the Promenade itself, then took a small pack and headed out into the woods, following the last known sighting of Drizzt and guided by Eilistraee. As he seemed to be moving closer to where the entrance was, either She was guiding him as well, or their people had not been as unnoticed as they thought.

She finally stopped when the song felt like it was a warning, and made a simple camp, just waiting. The very next night, she felt eyes on her, but remained calm — if ready to protect herself should it prove to not be the ranger.

As it was, the ranger was bold enough after an hour or so of her having noticed the feeling. He walked toward her, almost melting out of a shadow, his green cloak's hood thrown back, and his lavender eyes focused on her alone, the gleam of them shocking in that unusual color.

There was a familiarity to the man. Maybe it was the twin blades and hair worn free. Maybe it was the confidence. Either way, Vierna was poignantly reminded of the one good thing of her childhood, the Weapon Master.

"Greetings, Drizzt Do'Urden," she called to him as he approached. He paused, then continued, coming to lean against the tree closest to her camp.

"You know my name. I do not know yours. And you are a priestess."

Oh but that was an indictment of all drow women, she suspected. Even knowing of good drow, this man had been traumatized strongly enough to still be wary.

"I am called Vierna. Vierna Do'Urden, when I care to use the family name. And you are some relation to me, I suspect, as Daermon N'a'shezbaernon is not known outside of the Spider's City," she added.

His eyes went wide, just at her first name, and then as she kept talking, he actually moved to sit close to her. The ancestral name was not widely known or used, after all, and she knew she'd pronounced it correctly.

"My fa — the Weapon Master mentioned your name to me, once. Said you'd been stolen, and never mention you to Briza or Mo — the Matron."

A faint tremor of emotion went through Vierna for knowing the man she had revered had spoken of her, and then she realized that the young man had been raised in such a way that he had been closer to their mother than was safe for any drow male. What betrayal had finally broken that bond, she wondered, but did not press.

"Your father was kind to remember me," she said. "And I envy you the time you had with him, if you were close enough that he would mention me.

"I was stolen — by myself! I knew the temple would kill me, as I had heard Eilistraee all my life and refused to be like them."

He smiled a little, then nodded. "Father thought the school would kill me or make me like other drow. But fighters only endure ten years of that.

"I… did not have the song, but I was strange, to all other drow, all my life."

Vierna returned the smile. "We must have gotten it from him. As I am all but certain he was my father too."

"Then… hello, sister."

"Hello, little brother."

senmut

Fight or Flight (6948 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zaknafein Do'Urden, Original Elf Character(s), Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Inthylyn Aerasumé
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mental Health Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Summary:

When the raid is attacked by a pair of pegasus-riding elves, everything changes.

Zak and Kor

None but the priestess returned, and no one knew how or why. The raid was a complete failure, every single House that had sent someone in disgrace. House Do'Urden was most fallen in favor, having provided two members to the patrol. When House Hun'ett — spared because their wizard had been barred from it — came, Zaknafein did nothing more than needed to survive.

He did take pleasure, briefly, in killing the wizard that should have been on those patrols, cutting away the belt carrying all the pouches, so he would have trade goods. He then took himself away from the conflict, away from the city, re-establishing contact with Bregan D'aerthe in a nearby town with trade to various cities. His soul was numb, but dogged hope remained. He had to know the fate of his son.

Drizzt still felt the fear pounding through him for what he had done, for what he had witnessed. He'd fled blindly from the slaughter, only realizing after that his swords had accounted for at least some of the death. He was injured, had taken one of the overly large but thin bolts from the sky rained down on them from the monsters in the sky.

He couldn't say he was unhappy that the pair of creatures with riders had opened fire, not after seeing the faeries on the ground had been unarmed. Between the bolts, the diving and stomping creatures, it had been a complete rout —

— aided by his swords.

By the blade, what had he done?!

He couldn't think, couldn't fully remember the moments of the brief battle with anything like clarity. It was as if something had possessed him, making him lash out at every lie he'd finally grasped of his life, of the drow he belonged to. It was completely stunning that he'd managed to get under cover and stay hidden from the monsters and their riders.

Now… now he needed to determine how to survive, how to live, and he headed away from the trees, looking for anything that would serve as a sanctuary.

"There was a drow raid nearby, in the forest," Vierna told her fellow good drow. "We will not forage across the river. Anger is higher than usual, and the two pegasi riders that keep an eye on things believe at least one of the attackers escaped.

"Be cautious and keep your attention out, just in case they are correct. New drow who are found must be questioned by one of the stronger clerics." She grimaced. "And necessary actions will happen, if such a person is a threat."

"Yes, First Sister," they chorused, hoping that the survivor, if there was one, stayed very far from their hills.

Jarlaxle set the bundle down carefully, still not best-pleased at this entire idea. However, Zaknafein had more than earned the right to go and try. His work in Mantol-Derith had been invaluable since he took the reins there for Bregan D'aerthe.

"It's a very slim rumor, old friend."

"It's the first confirmation I've had that my son might have escaped," Zak said, "and for that, I will risk the surface."

"How do you manage to hold hope so easily?" Jarlaxle asked him, honestly curious. Zaknafein leveled a patented glare at him.

"It's not easy. But it makes it easier to live, thinking my strange son might have made a life up there, without falling prey to everything we are and become."

"You are only an optimist where he is concerned." Jarlaxle clapped a hand on Zak's shoulder. "If you cannot return through the Underdark, make your way to something called the Neverwinter Woods toward where the ball of fire vanishes.

"There's a group of His followers there, with access to Rilauven, and we can retrieve you from there. It's easier to get to from the surface than the headquarters in Skullport would be."

"I won't be back if he's dead," Zak said gruffly.

Jarlaxle didn't answer that, but did find himself praying the boy had survived… and had not become the monster that most drow were in Zaknafein's eyes.

Zaknafein lingered in the shadowed mouth of the cavern he'd finally emerged from. He drew out the talisman he'd taken when he left Menzoberranzan, years ago, the one that had taken a number of favors to find out more about.

"Guenhwyvar," he said, while holding it, and watched as the monster appeared, tail down and ears back. "Massive," Zak whispered, before pulling out the sealed packet, breaking it open to hold the contents out to her gingerly. "Drizzt. I need to find Drizzt. It's been years, but the wizard said you might … have ways."

Her ears had twitched, but the cat looked at him with narrow eyes, as if only held back by the fact he held her talisman.

Zak growled in frustration, still holding the tunic of his son that he'd stolen and held onto out of sentiment. "Damn it all, why am I even trying it this way?! I want my son back, and you're just a surface monster!"

She lashed her tail a moment, but then she moved, reaching with a paw to snag the tunic. The scent was so old, and he had to be long gone, but she seemed to be investigating it. She then dropped it, making him retrieve it, before turning her head this way and that.

Was there a magical connection, like the wizard had concluded? Zak remembered the man had been intrigued, stating that a second anchor held her, one outside of the figure of wondrous power that Zak controlled.

She stood on all four paws, and started walking in a direction before pausing, looking at him.

"You think you know?" Zak asked, even though it wasn't like she could answer.

She made the tiniest sound to be such a big cat and started walking again. He'd have to follow her lead, and hope — always HOPE with this son of his — she was right.

Korvallen signaled for caution as they approached the bloody battlefield. His keen eyes took in the number of goblins that had been clawed open, and the ones that had been sliced into pieces in some cases. When High Hold had asked for a patrol to go up past the border, Besnell had asked him to handle it. The double patrol was full of veterans, with even the squires close to knighting.

"Fanout, make sure they're dead. Spellguards, ready for a mass burial," he ordered, as their advent disturbed the carrion feeders. "Hell of a lot of goblins, good weapons among them… what did this if High Hold didn't?" he mused aloud.

"Knight-Captain!"

Korvallen turned toward the call and then trotted that way. As soon as he could see what he was being called to, a cloud of bloodied white hair sticking out from under the worg, he readied his sword for a short strike, just in case.

"I think he's breathing, and there's a sword in the worg," Vilmedaren said.

"So there was a fight for supremacy over this war band," Korvallen said, twitching to make a sure killing blow.

"And if he's the one that actually fought them?" Vilmedaren asked, making Korvallen remember his oaths.

"Damn it," Kor growled, but he helped his fellow Knight get the beast off of the unconscious — definitely living but maybe not for long — drow. Well, if the drow couldn't pass through the wards, he'd have another chance to end the foul dark one's life. Until then, he saw to getting first aid measures in place, while stripping the various weapons he could find away.

He noted they were surface made, as the clothing was, but that didn't mean much.

With a summoned mount and a stasis spell from the Spellguards, the patrol started back. Kor was damned disappointed when the wards let the drow pass, but kept it to himself — much as Niska probably was. Then it was a matter of outfitting a room in one of their outer properties to hold a drow, and getting a cleric who was willing to deal with him.

After everything could be done to heal him, and the spells had been removed, the drow was left alone, but under watch through a wall of force that would be renewed as needed. All of the drow's belongings were inspected for traps and carefully catalogued.

The drow came conscious not long after everything was settled, but merely sat up, studying what could be seen through the open door. Jastinathiel was the unlucky elf that got to be stared at, and she let the Palace know the drow was awake but not moving. As food, water, and other necessities were in the room with the man, Jasti let herself just settle to the watch, knowing someone would eventually come to talk to the man, and see what could be learned.

Once the initial interview had happened, Taern Hornblade, one of the few in the city to know certain facts, sent to Thyl and requested his presence in Silverymoon.

The next day, Thyl was told about the encounter and current resident of one of the outer holding houses.

"The drow has given his word to remain in the house, and Talaris, thankfully, has gone to be his liaison. We actually think he means it, because he has a goal of finding a drow on the surface, and we have resources he needs."

"And you summoned me because?" Thyl asked, curious.

"The man's name is Zaknafein Do'Urden, and he's been truthful in all he answered." Taern met the half-elf's eyes. "I know that last name because of your connections."

"Yes," Thyl said, stunned. "I… I'll meet him, and then decide from there. I can't risk them."

"Of course you cannot," Taern said. "We have been thankful for their warnings over the years. The goblin raid was coming out of the Lurkwood, stumbled across him. They wanted him to join them, he took offense, and … well. I doubt many lived to run away.

"But they were not in your friend's territory, just so you can be reassured on that."

"Thank you, Taern. I'll go talk to him now, and see how to handle this."

Zaknafein had decided — for now — that biding his time with these surface people was worth it. They had patched him up, had not taken his belongings, and seemed grateful for dealing with the goblins. Once he gave his word, they had dropped the wall of force and asked him to only stay inside the house while they found someone to help him.

If he could find his son faster by relying on accidentally saving them the trouble of a raid, so be it.

The wizard assigned was willing to show him how to manage the strange things, even how to cook food, though Zak wasn't sure he cared to be that close to the heat source. And the wizard even looked remarkably ready to deal with any threats, when a different half-elf showed up, towering above them both.

"You're Zaknafein. I am Thyl," the man said in Undercommon. "Not speak many words, but hello. Spell for better words?" he offered.

Talaris nodded in approval, so Zak decided it was worth the risk. These surface people seemed lacking in deception so far.

The newcomer, Thyl, cast a spell, letting Zak understand and speak the surface language.

"I really should work on learning more Undercommon, but this will work. I'm told you are seeking another drow? I know of some, and might be able to aid."

"Looking for another fighter, like me, but young," Zaknafein said. "Very skilled, missing from me for … I think it has been six years, if the years here and below match."

"From what I have learned, yes," Thyl said. "Why are you seeking him?"

How to encapsulate his reasons without seeming weak?

"He has never belonged among other drow, but he deserves a chance to live well. He is my student."

Zaknafein's heart said other things — son, protégé, pride.

"Those who leave the Underdark often have strong reasons not to go back," Thyl pointed out. "If I give aid, what do you intend with him?"

"That depends on how he has lived, since he was lost," Zaknafein said. "If he has become as other drow, it will be an end. If he is still strange, I will ask his wishes."

That answer was not what the half-elf had been expecting, and it was several minutes before Thyl spoke to him again, having been focused inward.

"What is his name, so I can ask among those I know?"

"Drizzt. Drizzt Do'Urden."

Vierna had been caught completely off-guard by Thyl's sending, and was still chewing on it when he finally appeared the next day. She took his hand, guiding him to her inner office, over a chorus of disappointed young drow and others about him arriving without a pegasus.

"I am very, very concerned," she told him.

"Let me tell you how everything came around, and then you can be more concerned. As I asked another question after I sent to you that I was talking to a Do'Urden." He settled next to her, and laid out the request for aid from High Hold, what had been found, the decision to bring the man back, that he had passed the wards, and all that had turned up after.

"He's looking for a fighter named Drizzt, same family name, and he said, I quote, 'if he's still strange, I'll ask what he wishes'."

"The name 'Zaknafein' is known to me. It's the Weapon Master," she told him. "I do not know 'Drizzt', but Malice — my mother — would have had more children after I left. Likely the secondboy of the House."

"Didn't you say you thought the Weapon Master was your father?" Thyl asked gently.

"Yes. And I desperately want to go and see him for myself, but… I have a responsibility to my people."

Thyl petted a hand over her braids, nodding. "Let us keep him in Silverymoon, try to pick up a lead. As you obviously know nothing of this fighter."

Vierna closed her eyes, thinking over the time. "The raid in the Moonwood. That matches up to how long he says it's been, close enough. We never found sign of the survivor the pegasus riders thought had gotten away, but only thirteen bodies were there. The priestess would not have been on the surface, and we've heard wizards aren't allowed up.

"That brings the number to fifteen… but it should be an even multiple of eight."

"Making it likely there was a survivor, but not proving he survived for long after. Only, no body."

Vierna nodded. "If the fighter is neutral, as you say the Weapon Master was confirmed to be, he should still be someone my Lady can reach. So I will pray to her.

"Tell him — tell him that it is being worked on, but do not mention me directly. Not yet."

"Yes, Vierna."

Thyl walked into the house and gave Kirana a smile, not surprised she had joined Talaris for a meal.

Zaknafein was in his own room, and Thyl tapped on the door, waiting for permission. The drow nodded curtly, and Thyl sat on the stool. Again, he relied on magic for communication, wanting no misunderstandings.

"None of my contacts have heard of the fighter," he began. "However, they will be working on looking, and have resources I don't for that. Their leader asks if you would be comfortable staying here, so they can get word to you, with whatever they find."

Zaknafein frowned. "Would rather be working on it. I have a magical artifact to help me."

Thyl shook his head. "Drow are feared, by good and evil people, with reason. You would be attacked, time and again, if seen. Staying here, letting the drow that know how to move unseen up here do it, at least for a time, is much safer.

"And I will take you to wherever their leads find as soon as they tell me."

Zaknafein grimaced at him. "I can't just stay cooped up inside this house."

"I thought that. And already asked my mother if I could set you up in the Palace itself, in a room that is without windows, but close to a courtyard you could exercise in. And I have a cousin that could actually show you the city."

The suspicion on Zaknafein's face was pricelessly blatant.

"You're not a prisoner. You gave your word, and were honest about it. And we do owe you," Thyl pressed. "My cousin is a fighter too. They like meeting new people, and know enough to not be prejudiced, given they are a half-elf too, and have been badly treated by the full bloods."

"That's an issue? And you say 'they' but mean one?"

"It is an issue. Even me and my brothers, despite the rank of our father when he was alive, catch it." Thyl then shrugged. "As to they, Kolarven isn't a man or a woman by nature, so they don't use the other pronouns."

Zaknafein blinked, then shrugged. "If it gets me out of here, and gives me a chance to maybe work on learning language and move around, I agree. For one month. After that, I will go seek Drizzt."

Thyl nodded. "That's reasonable. If they haven't found him in a month, I'd say it's going to take a lot more. And maybe, by then, you will have a strong enough feel for the surface to not run into too much trouble.

"It's night now, so if you want to get your things, I'll walk you over?"

He was glad he hadn't had to make it about the fact Vierna was an ally to the city, so the conversation didn't get too complicated. His mother had agreed that with all they had discerned, keeping him in the Palace made sense, both for security and as repayment of favors to Vierna. If this Drizzt wasn't found in a month, he'd see if Vierna wanted Zaknafein brought to her first.

Kolarven was not the knight that came to show Zaknafein the courtyard for exercise. Korvallen had heard Thyl's plan and lost his temper.

"That man slew an entire band of goblins and a worg. I am not having my kin anywhere near the ends of that man's blades!" he thundered at his nephew.

Thyl drew in a deep breath. "Then I'll stay in the city and handle it. Maybe he can teach me something his daughter hasn't already," the stubborn half-elf said, dropping the connection in hopes of his uncle cooling his temper.

Korvallen did jerk as if struck, then his eyes narrowed. "What?"

"She can't know for certain, but Vierna's family name is Do'Urden," Thyl said. "And she's long suspected the Weapon Master was her father."

Kor chewed on that in the back of his mind. He'd heard the stories of the 'moon elf' that had joined Elué's campaign as a healer, and then defended the wounded against a sneak attack with skill to rival the best fighters Elué had.

"I'll meet him. You will be there for language only, as I meant it. None of my kin go near his blades!"

From the very first spar, Thyl could see something growing between the two men. Respect, yes, maybe even a wary thaw in their indoctrinated hatred of each other's species. He came for the first two exercises, and was told he wasn't needed after that, as the two men could get by in Goblin.

That was strange to Thyl, but as Korvallen and Zaknafein seemed fascinated by each other's skills, he let it go. Frankly, watching them spar was a little terrifying anyway.

~My uncle has found his match, and he's not happy it's a drow, but it's a good experience for both.~

His sending to Vierna was colored by his wary amusement.

~Well, maybe it will help them both see more in common than at odds,~ Vierna replied.

Korvallen passed the water skin over to Zak, both of them dripping with sweat from how hard that session had gone. The original intent to protect his family had given way to sheer curiosity on how skilled the other man was. That had led to curiosity on other matters, because Zak began every meeting with a request for updates on the search.

So far there had been some rumors, but nothing solid.

"This fighter you're hunting; you mean him no harm?" Kor finally asked.

Zaknafein finished his swallow, and sized Kor up. "My son. Worried over him."

Korvallen's chest ached, imagining any of the boys missing for years on end, not even knowing if they lived.

If it were Kolarven? Kor knew he'd be turning over every rock to find his nibling.

"Good fighter like you?"

"Will be better. If he lives long enough to learn more. But yes. Fast, confident, skilled."

"Then, Named Ones willing, he's out there, just keeping himself hidden out of caution," Korvallen said, making up his mind to talk to Elué about the missing fighter.

"So we know he is likely out there," Korvallen told Zaknafein, Thyl providing language support by magic as it could get difficult. "Too many 'might have been a drow' sightings to our south. But Thyl has more information to bring to bear on this."

Zaknafein looked at the half-elf then, eyebrow arched.

"My contacts among the good drow are connected to this in ways that feel almost unreal," Thyl said. "It's not well known that I have a partnership with a drow cleric, leader of the largest community of good drow in the north.

"She had to be cautious, because of the connections," he explained. "Because her name is Vierna Do'Urden."

"What?!"

Korvallen put a hand on his friend's arm to anchor the dangerous drow in the here and now, knowing that had to be slamming wariness and suspicion through him.

"She knew the temple in your city would be a death sentence for her, so she left." Thyl gave a soft smile. "She eventually led a small band to the surface, and they have been rescuing drow, and others, ever since."

"That seems… convenient." Zaknafein looked at Kor for his opinion.

"I was not here, but Vierna, under an illusion, came to serve as a cleric when Elué took her city back last century. There was an attack, and she was credited with turning the tide, using twin swords with speed and precision."

"Swords, hmm?" Zak questioned, but some of the suspicion eased back.

"Eilistraee's clerics are all encouraged to take up the blade, rather than maces," Thyl said. "She has invited you to come to see her, but with the sightings to the south, she understands if you prefer to seek your son first.

"And says both of you will be welcome there, once you do find him. She is appalled she has been unable to scry him this entire time, and the goddess has not been able to find him either. She asked."

That shook the stoic fighter enough to be seen.

"He's even more in need than she is. I will go find him with the cat, and then… come back here, for assistance finding where she is," Zak finally said, having weighed it.

"We." Korvallen took a deep breath. "You need someone to help if there are people involved. And I haven't gone out of the city on a long trip in years. I already asked for a leave of absence to aid you in finding your son. Family is damned important."

Zak nodded, accepting that.

"I'll tell Vierna," Thyl added, leaving so they could ready for their journey.

Guenhwyvar had not been best pleased by the long time since she was called, but now the drow spoke some Common, and there was an elf who did as well. She could still feel the drow she was supposed to be with, the one whose heart matched hers so strongly.

Every day she could be there, she kept them on a path toward that pull, while avoiding other places that had speaking people. She did not want any further delays, and hoped the drow would give up the figure once they found her drow.

She thought they were making good time; that sense was ever-closer each time she was called. She just needed to be patient.

Drizzt looked at his teacher — savior, really — as Gnasher went very alert. He didn't feel anything evil or unnatural nearby, but she could get her impressions straight from him.

Aronna flicked a hand in 'up' and then Gnasher trotted over to the den he'd been using at this camp. There was no fire mark to give them away, and both had disturbed very little. Aronna vanished into a tree shadow before Drizzt had found a place to hide above.

"Maybe call the cat?" was the first Drizzt's ears caught, before he managed to spot the pair moving beneath the trees, an elf and a drow — a drow he thought he knew!

"Too soon," the drow said. "She did think we were close, if her reluctance to leave was anything to go by."

How could the Weapon Master be here? How and why was he working with an elf? Was this a trick? His heart hammered with remembered panic and fear from … however long ago it had been. He wished for Aronna to be closer, so he could warn her how dangerous this might be. The Weapon Master had tried to kill him, and then been very hostile the few times Drizzt had seen him before the raid. Maybe it wasn't him? People looked different under surface light.

Aronna, however, was making up her own mind, and as Gnasher drew attention by moving, she revealed herself in a shadow.

"Why do a drow and an elf walk together in the wilds?" she asked aloud. Drizzt noted neither startled; they both had noted her even as they did have to turn around.

"Seeking another drow who needs help," the elf said. "Saer Druid," he added, inclining his head. "A boy of their people was lost on the surface some years ago."

Drizzt quivered in place, his fear spiking harder.

"Saer Protector," Aronna began, addressing the elf, "surely a drow child would have difficulty surviving days, let alone years."

"Boy was counted as an adult, but still young. No experience."

That was definitely the Weapon Master, even with the oddities caused by surface light to see him by! And… he was working with an elf. This made so little sense, but Drizzt stayed still. Aronna had not let him know it was clear to join her.

"The boy is his son, Saer Druid, and I've given my word to help find the boy, so that my friend here has peace of his heart."

Son? Briza hadn't lied?

Aronna shifted her weight, and Drizzt recognized it as an invitation for him to make his own choice. After a moment, he dropped straight down, perched on the balls of his feet and hands near his hilts, glad she was not as close to the drow as he was.

"Drizzt?" the Weapon Master said, and maybe he did sound relieved, but Drizzt wasn't about to believe it fully.

"My student doesn't speak much," Aronna said for him, "but he can make his own choices easily enough."

Drizzt just kept staring at the Weapon Master… who unbuckled his sword belt and let them fall, putting his hands wide then.

"Keep yours. I know you have reason," Zaknafein said gruffly, keeping it in Common.

Step… step… and then he was right in front of the Weapon Master with his hands both out. He didn't actually expect to be dragged into a hug, but after a brief flare of worry, Drizzt had to admit it felt good.

Introductions happened, and things seemed much calmer. While the pair of drow moved off to the side, and fell into their own language — mostly the elder one — Korvallen sat with the druid.

"Not many as would take in a drow," he began. "I know I wasn't happy about it at first."

Aronna shook her head. "He was half-starved, traumatized, and still defending a doe and her fawn from a wounded wolverine. What was I supposed to do but accept Mielikki was calling to him?"

Gnasher made disgruntled noises; that had been a nasty encounter for them all.

"Wild-called?" Korvallen asked, eyes widening in shock.

"Very. So I've kept us to the druid paths, mostly, unless his instincts or mine call us," she said. "He knows Common now, could survive on his own, but whatever happened that kept him above has scarred him badly in his spirit.

"I think, from glimpses of it in our worst fighting, he may have a touch of a battle-rager in him and it sits poorly. Because he has a gentle nature when he is allowed to."

"His father said he was strange by their ways, but convinced us all he did just want to find the boy, and let him choose a path… unless he'd become like other drow," Kor admitted.

"No. He's as skittish as a wild elf, but he's far from all the tales I know of that race."

"Will you have any qualms if he does go with his father?" Kor asked bluntly.

"No. I'll miss him. But I trust his judgment." Aronna looked at Korvallen firmly. "He's wounded. Soul-deep. I will enjoin you to keep an eye on how that affects his interactions with the man."

Kor nodded, accepting that. He knew about soul-deep wounds.

"Going to have to get used to you being quiet again," Zaknafein said in a quiet voice, well aware the other two were talking about them. "You're safe, Drizzt. Safer even than I could make you in the gymnasium. I have a place for us to go, and if that doesn't suit us, a different one."

Drizzt tipped his head, barely looked at Korvallen, then back to his father.

"His is the second place. Didn't expect to make friends with a faerie, but it suits me. The first place — do you remember the sister I mentioned? I found out she was not stolen, but that she ran away and survived. She's like you, and has offered us a place among others like you."

Drizzt looked surprised by that, then asked one word. "Trust?"

"Maybe. We'll find out, together?"

That got a slow nod, and then Drizzt toyed with the figure of wondrous power Zaknafein had given him.

"Day after tomorrow, you can call her," Zak said. "She's missed you, I think. Pushed us to move as much as possible toward you."

Drizzt nodded, then tucked it away, settling against the tree. More changes were ahead, but he thought he could trust his father now.

They made the city in good time, with the plan being to let Drizzt have time in a civilized bath, get him fed up more — Aronna had done well by him but he could stand to put a little weight on — as well as to re-equip him with better gear.

They didn't expect to have him almost in a panic from seeing a moon-elf. Korvallen wasn't even certain what was happening at first, but Zaknafein caught the muscle-lock, the dropped gaze, and put the pieces together.

"Are any of the more treed areas open at this time of night?" Zak asked, after physically moving his son to be held, tucking Drizzt's head down on his shoulder.

"The Glade. His teacher was Mielikkian, so that might have extra benefits," Kor agreed.

Drizzt didn't even really take the time to appreciate the Moon Bridge, being so trapped in his own head just by that sighting. Still, Zak was able to guide him, following Kor, until they reached the Sacred Glade of Mielikki. Zak felt a little uncomfortable, having forsworn all religion, but his love of his son let him push through that.

Drizzt — Drizzt wasn't with them any more, once they crossed the sacrosanct boundaries, caught up in something that only rangers and druids of the Forest Queen could truly feel. Korvallen noted it, and used the tap code Zak had taught him.

"Let him wander," he said with it, and Zak let go, reluctantly, falling back to trail with Kor as Drizzt walked the spiraling path, lost in something not far from a waking Reverie.

At the center of the glade, Drizzt dropped to his knees there, still unaware of others, so Kor and Zak took up watch from a bench. An acolyte on duty for late offerings, given the night's charity was just past, blinked at having not one but two drow present, yet the Knight-Captain was known.

When a senior cleric came from the cloister, using the portals, and went straight to Drizzt, Zak tensed all over.

"No. That's Grevaine," Kor said softly. "He's probably the third-highest cleric in the church here, and I think Mielikki must have sent him."

Grevaine knelt in front of the young drow, waiting, and when Drizzt did come back to himself, there were low words that neither of the elder fighters could make out. Grevaine then hung something around Drizzt's neck, before he and Drizzt both stood, coming over to the pair waiting.

"Greetings, Knight-Captain. Saer," Grevaine said. "The ranger is always welcome here, or at the cloister," he added. "Mielikki Herself said there is a magic that is a risk to others who belong to the Dark Maiden, though, and wanted you to be aware of it."

Zaknafein almost bared his teeth, because that meant more meddling from the eight-legged monstrosity.

"Our Lady will investigate it, Leaf Grevaine. Thank you." Kor stood from the bench.

"Drizzt, are you going to be alright crossing the city again, or should we get a room on this side?" Zaknafein asked.

"Walk," Drizzt said softly.

Grevaine smiled, and squeezed the young man's shoulder before leaving them to the night.

"I'd ask what he told you, but it can wait," Kor said, noticing the pendant was one of the full unicorn, not just the head, that had been given to Drizzt. After a minute he remembered the difference.

A full unicorn was a warning to treat gently, that the Mielikkian was healing.

Drizzt shrugged a little, before they set off to go back to the Palace.

Because of a small crisis between Nesmé and Mirabar that Elué was negotiating, Kor asked for Thyl to contact either Syluné or Laeral. Somehow this led to both of them coming — Laeral to protect Qilué's interests and Syluné to get away from her tragedies — to investigate the matter.

What they learned was horrifying for all elves, if they ever learned it, and Kor actually spent time in the small glen dedicated to the Seldarine to relay the discovery via prayer. He had no idea if any of the Named Ones heard or cared, but the last thing he wanted was for the fallen drow gods, especially Corellon's Mistake, to launch a new war.

Having two very powerful women in Drizzt's space had been harder on Zak than Drizzt, though, as the young ranger was just grateful to have the shroud removed. Syluné remained longer, replacing the divine spell with a lesser form of non-detection for both drow men, hiding them specifically from Lolth's clerics.

The next few days after that had involved trips to the Glade, much soaking in the baths, and the fitting for armor and clothing. Finally, nearly a month after arriving in Silverymoon, Kor relinquished his friend and the boy to Thyl, so they could go to Spirit Sanctuary, home of the good drow of the North.

Given the reaction to the moon elf, Zaknafein had asked for the first meeting to be handled with only Vierna present, leading Thyl to take them to a private spot he knew of.

Drizzt was preoccupied with the trees, and a squirrel yelling still about their sudden appearance, when Vierna arrived and looked over them all. Zaknafein took in the way she moved — sure and confident even in the leaf litter on the ground — before he went to her.

"You… you can't be anyone but my student," he said softly. "Daughter."

She smiled, eyes glistening a little at that immediate claim. "Father. My teacher." She offered her hands, and he took them, squeezing gently. She then looked past him, with a small smile for Thyl, to see the brother that had only recently been revealed to her goddess. There was something innocent in the way he was patiently feeding the squirrel family bits of nuts from his own pouch.

She'd been warned by Eilistraee that the song was still withheld, because of trauma, but she had made up her mind she would do all she could to heal it.

"Drizzt, come meet my daughter," Zaknafein called, making the young man turn and actually take in the other person.

Vierna took her cue from Zak, even as she ached to claim him as a brother. She could imagine how hard his life had been under Briza, any other daughters that Malice had produced. She slowly let go of Zak's hands when the fighter — ranger, Thyl had said — came close enough to greet her.

"Hello, Drizzt. My name is Vierna, as I think you know. Welcome."

He met her eyes for just a moment, before he looked at her shoulder. Better, she supposed, than the ground, but what had caused such deep wounds in his soul?

"We have several dwarves, a few goblins, even a half-orc, living in our village," Vierna told him. "All of them are escaping evil lives, and living peacefully here. Our village is dedicated to protecting one another, helping people escape, and saving those who wander into trouble up here.

"Would you like to come in with me, and see what life among good drow is like?"

He looked to their father.

"If it's too much, we'll leave again," Zak said, a promise. "But, like your cleric friend told you, you heard the difference between good and evil that night. You acted without thought maybe, but you obeyed your nature to be good.

"These drow are like you. They will understand."

Drizzt looked back to Vierna then, and she held her breath, promising herself she would get what Zaknafein knew later.

Very slowly, Drizzt held his hand out, then the other, to greet her, and she gave her hands to him, palms up, letting him control it. If he was so good without having heard the song, how had he even survived in their birth city?!

"Let's go in, and I'll show you rooms you can both use. Exploring can happen when you feel safe enough."

Drizzt was safely in bed, and everyone was warned he'd be up with the dawn, no doubt. Vierna was sitting with her legs folded up, tucked into Thyl's side. Zaknafein was sitting opposite them, and all of them had a mulled cider.

"Best we've been able to piece together from the work the Glade's clerics did," Thyl began, "is that the attack from above, by creatures he had no reference for, triggered a fight reaction too strong for him to handle."

"Only, he's so damn well trained and skilled, that it was lethal for his targets," Zak said. "The other drow of his patrol."

"That would explain the bodies that had cuts instead of arrows or caved in skulls," Vierna said slowly. "Dhaeln went as our representative, to learn more, when the warning came. So we would know how to protect ourselves. But… he attacked them, not the moon elves, not the pegasi once they were in reach?"

Zaknafein drew in a very deep breath. "All of his life, bottled up by the hatred Malice's daughters heaped on him, enduring everything the school could throw at him? The clerics said his nature guided his actions, even without truly understanding good and evil. He saw a mostly defenseless group in the faerie, saw people defending them from the air, and reacted accordingly."

"But because it was so unthinking, he's locked around guilt for killing his comrades, horror at surviving, all reinforced by however long he was alone and half-starved before the druid found him," Thyl finished.

"He handled himself well, then," Vierna said firmly, having watched him through the community meal, seen the bright curiosity in his reactions to the others, even the younger drow. "We'll see him healed, Father. I know it is hard for most drow to understand the heart and spirit can be injured, but his are.

"We'll help him find his strength, maybe his voice."

Zak nodded. "I… believe that now." He shook his head. "Silence was what he learned to give, when Malice's daughters went after him. Honestly, I think Malice and I were the only two he felt safe talking to."

"Mother?!" Vierna asked incredulously.

"Decided to make him her project, to eventually replace me," Zak said in a darker voice, making it make more sense.

"Well, he'll never have to know that was a calculated ploy, then," Vierna said. "Alright, we handle him gently, coax him to believe in his freedom, and work on being a proper family," she decreed.

"I like this plan, daughter. And I think he'll prove more resilient than even his clerics believed, once he's been free among others for a while."

"We'll give any aid," Thyl said. "Including coming to get him to take him to the Glade, anytime he needs it. Mielikki seems to think he is someone to help, and that's not to be ignored."

"No, my Lady feels the same," Vierna said. "We will get through to him, and it will be better."

senmut

Imperfect Plans (Perfectly Done) (1800 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zaknafein Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Drabble Sequence, Family Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary:

After making it back from the doomed patrol, Drizzt and family have new issues to face

Demon

Zaknafein weighed the report from Drizzt and Dinin. He read between the lines. There was an emotion in his chest that he wasn't certain how to deal with.

He felt hope. His son, his shining dancer, was still as strange as ever. The school had not broken him! Any other drow would have removed an elder brother.

Dinin knew it. Dinin was both terrified of Drizzt and oddly reluctant to do anything against him.

It was time for Zaknafein to choose; he was choosing his son's life against everything he had ever known and suffered.

He just had to plan.

Vierna was relieved that the events of the demon on the patrol had broken all thought of a raid on the surface. She had time now, time to plot and plan. Hun'ett was likely their enemy, would possibly strike even with the loss of their younger wizard.

No doubt they were already telling lies about how Drizzt had made a bargain with the demon. It didn't matter that Drizzt had banished it; obviously that was a ruse.

She had to think, to make her aborted plans for graduation work. One way or another, she had to get out, with Drizzt.

Drizzt had struggled. He still remembered the fight, knew there was a tension between he and the Weapon Master. Yet, no further attempt had come, as the House prepared for a war.

He didn't understand why there had to be a war. Masoj's hatred of him had seemed petty, but that was done. No, this was apparently what drow were. His mother — the Matron — was speaking of new moves in the future, ones where he, not Zaknafein, led the House warriors.

There was nothing he wanted less. But Drizzt needed to understand if Zaknafein was truly foe, or a friend.

"The fastest way out of the city for our House is up there," Zaknafein said very quietly, as he was guiding Drizzt on a tour of the defenses. Malice wanted the boy acquainted all of his duties, and Zaknafein knew she was plotting his own death, probably to send him against the other Matron with less than perfect spells.

Well, that was going to fall through the cracks.

"It leads into the wilds, but eventually comes to a trade road. Sometimes wonder what might be out there, if a couple of strong fighters ever chose that way."

Had Drizzt understood?

Vierna pulled Drizzt into an alcove, having made a quiet noise to get his attention first. Even she was not brave enough to risk him being on a hair-trigger after his ability to outwit and defeat an abyssal creature.

She tapped her fingers against his wrist. "Dangerous for you to stay. Too strange. Escape when House attacked."

She met his eyes, knowing she was risking everything, but willing him to understand.

He reached with his other hand, covering hers to make it be still, before slipping away from her.

Damn that boy. Had he understood, or was she in danger?

The Weapon Master and his wean-mother sister were being odd, but not in the ways that usually broke his spirit. They both seemed to be urging him to leave the House, in separate, careful ways.

Dinin was avoiding him.

Maya and Briza only ever bothered to notice him with hateful glares, but neither was all that quick to use their whips to menace him. And mother — the Matron — was still using sweet words under the vague threats his way. She wanted his skills in a higher place of the House. That meant Zaknafein was in danger, and Drizzt hated it.

Zaknafein felt the House shake as the assault began. He was nowhere near Drizzt, had no idea if his son had listened. Malice was in his head, demanding he attend her, and his instincts screamed that there was no other chance.

He had to go, had to get out, and after, if he did not find his son in the conflict, he'd make a different path.

The House would not win if he was not here. They did not have a wizard strong enough to contest the Faceless One. Zaknafein headed for the western tunnel, and held his hope tight.

Vierna cursed as she extricated herself from the living attackers, dealt with the undead ones, and hurried to get herself out of the House as quickly as possible. She couldn't even get to the lizard mounts, the way Hun'ett had cracked their defenses.

She kept eyes and ears out for her little brother, for the Weapon Master, but mostly, she gave herself over to survival. Her god would have liked her to preserve both men, yet the knowledge she could bring was just as important.

She cursed her ill-luck in the timing of this, and wished both men to survive.

Drizzt didn't look back. If drow wished to kill drow, he had no place in this city. His eyes and ears stayed out, and he thought he spied two others moving away, but it was difficult to be certain with the magic being thrown around while the city pretended not to notice.

He did aim for the tunnel, but used an oblique approach that kept him in shadows, going above the tunnel instead of rising up to it. He then waited, listening, as he settled on the narrowest foot and hand holds, listening intently and trying not to watch below.

Zaknafein wanted to curse as not his son, but his daughter, made it into the tunnel. He remained perfectly still, knowing he was all but invisible even to her, and watched as she… got a pack out of one of the high niches? She then went back to the edge, looking down briefly, before falling back to a deep shadow to wait.

What was she waiting there for? Why had she abandoned the House? What vile plan of Lloth was she a part of this time?

If his son appeared, he would kill her, if that was what it took.

Vierna was uncertain if it was the lingering danger of the attacks below, or being so far from others, but she felt as if she was not alone. She slipped a hand into her pocket to touch her mask, but did not pull it out. She was still too close to the city.

Her whip and House amulet were in the trunk in her room, and that was a freedom she could revel in. Her ears stayed tuned outward, waiting, hoping. She was uncertain how much time she would give him, but her love for the boy made her stay.

Satisfied that nothing was moving in the tunnel, Drizzt pulled himself over the edge, trusting in his ability to hold to the rock and let himself see.

A pair of red eyes turned up, before Vierna was in motion —

— and a second motion had Drizzt dropping to defend her.

"No!" he hissed, as she spun, and saw the Weapon Master with swords drawn.

"Explain," Zaknafein hissed just as quietly.

"You both tried to make me run. I did. Now, we need to move… and then talk this out," Drizzt reasoned.

The swords vanished, and Zaknafein gestured for them to go.

Vierna stopped as they came to a tighter turn of the tunnel, and Zaknafein almost drew on her again, anticipating an ambush ahead.

"Weapon Master, Drizzt, can you guard this space while I get my bearings?" she asked — not commanded — and that didn't actually help Zak's nerves.

"Drizzt, rear," he ordered, and his son obeyed without opening his mouth. That was at least helpful. He slipped past Vierna, on alert, and didn't hear or see anything. Half his attention was on the tunnel, half on her, especially when she began to reach into a pocket.

She pulled out a mask.

The mask felt warm to the touch, but wasn't visibly so, and Vierna knew that was her god's way of reassuring her. Drizzt held his silence as she lifted it to her face, helping her cast the spell to learn which way to go once they hit the trade road ahead.

She knew the Weapon Master was distrusting it all, but her brother, her strange wean-son, was accepting it all in stride.

When she put the mask away, she arched an eyebrow at Zaknafein, not Drizzt. "Does that help you, Zaknafein?"

"No love for Him, but it's safer for Drizzt."

Drizzt was very confused, but since the Weapon Master relaxed some, he eased his own worries down. "You don't serve the," and he made the profane dying spider gesture, "and you don't actually hate me," he told each one in turn. "So can someone explain what is happening, given I decided to trust both of you?"

Vierna actually giggled, covered it up, and still wound up laughing again. That brought a smile to Zak's face, before he sighed.

"Your sister just pulled off the biggest lie of all, I hate that place, and you don't fit. So we are together."

Zaknafein knew that the symbol couldn't be faked. He checked his son to be sure the boy had known to remove his amulet, took an inventory of what they had on hand.

Both of his children had supplied themselves well, and that showed how committed to this path each was, even if Drizzt had done it on trust alone. He really was very strange, and Zaknafein would kill anyone that tried to break it in the boy.

Vierna's ability to hide herself had all of his pride in this moment, though, and he would follow where she led them, willingly.

The Weapon Master having recognized the symbol of her god had been surprising, but it made Vierna much calmer. No lengthy explanations were needed for him, and she honestly didn't think they'd help Drizzt much. Her little brother took the calm between herself and Zaknafein as enough of a reassurance, and followed, or led, as they made their way to a new life.

Someday, she would have to learn why he was as he was, but that day was not now. Her god had nothing against Drizzt or Zaknafein, and together, they could — would — forge a life that mattered more.

Long gone were the days when Drizzt openly questioned everything. If nothing else, he'd learned patience. His choice to go to the tunnel had paid off; if he just waited for true safety, then he could ask.

Until then, he convinced Zaknafein — his father! — that he was the better lead, more accustomed to the tunnels outside the city, with his patrol time still fresh in his mind. Every step away from Menzoberranzan was a step closer to a better place, one where he would be able to ask all of his questions.

He could wait, and be happy they'd escaped.

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: "Back to the Rivers of Belief" - Enigma

senmut

Title: Practicing
Fandom: Forgotten Realms/Legend of Drizzt
Rating: General Audiences
Notes: Set in Homeland

( Practicing )

Current Mood: working
Current Music: "It's Not Over" - Daughtry

senmut

Vierna's Legacy Askew (3516 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Original Elf Character(s), Regis [The Legend of Drizzt Series], Vierna Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Background Relationships, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ensemble Cast
Summary:

With Entreri dead, Vierna's attentions turn to Regis instead.

Vierna's Legacy Askew

Back-tracking to Calimport, where the ship that had borne her brother to Waterdeep had last come from had proven frustrating. Eventually the allies they had there, through Vhaeraun's temple in one of the cities under the desert, were able to tell her of the adventure her brother and his party had embarked on in those southern lands.

That proved to be an opening for her to use, as they had left a friend behind, one not truly suited to holding power without a strong backing. Vierna received a message back that she would have word before the spring.

When Regis had first dealt with the shadowy messengers offering to reinforce his holdings as the Pasha, his skin had twitched. Once he knew for certain they were drow, using strange magic to protect themselves above the faerzress, his heart had quailed.

They'd been very persuasive, though, as Regis was a self-identified coward who preferred his wits to stay alive by. Slipping away in the dead of the night felt entirely too familiar to him —

— and not to be repeated twice as a pair of red eyes caught his attention in the dark passage.

He didn't actually see the one that caught him with the crossbow bolt.

The 'message' was a very frightened, comfortably-sized halfling. While her Lord had little use for non-elves among the Surface folk, halflings often ended up under their sway as thieves and spies.

Vierna could tell that was not going to be the case with this one, given how he'd been delivered to her all trussed up and pushed through a shadow gate.

"I would apologize for my colleagues, except I am glad to finally meet you, Regis of Calimport," Vierna said in Common, watching him squirm beneath the faerie fire lamps. She gestured, and all of his bindings fell away, before she indicated the chair near her dais. "Please, be comfortable.

"I do not wish you harm."

"Pardon, Lady — "

"Vierna. Vierna Do'Urden."

Her interruption had a peculiar effect. He did know her name… and he found a spine, plus resolve, as he took the chair stiffly and glared at her.

"Then I definitely don't believe you, and I won't help you."

Damn. Her brother had painted her as one of his problems. Well, that couldn't be helped; she had had to preserve the illusion she served the Spider, after all.

"Not even to aid him in regaining his father?" she dangled as bait, watching the halfling undergo yet another transformation of his features. Hope for his friend, wariness at her… and he tipped his chin up.

"Convince me, and maybe I will carry a message."

Oh he was a brave one, for his friends! Such a peculiar weakness among those who tipped closer to good than evil, but for now, she would use it, and all of her charm, to get what she wanted.

Regis found himself traveling within the month, having been fed well, treated with kindness, and having his head filled with Vierna's words about Drizzt, and about the man she claimed as their father. That struck a chord; Regis knew Vierna was the one sister Drizzt had complicated feelings over.

Even attaching himself to traders out of Waterdeep made the journey take longer than he would have wished, but by late spring, he turned off to go up the road to Mithral Hall, anticipating seeing his friends with joy. Catti-brie and Wulfgar should be married, Bruenor would be a proper king now, and Drizzt?

Drizzt had to be loving the land. He'd often said he missed the trees of the south after all.

The guards he finally reached did not know him — nor did Regis know them, making him panic slightly he'd found the wrong dwarf hall! — but a dwarrow runner was sent for someone. Lespur, however, did know him when she came out, and she grinned broadly.

"Lasted longer than me king wagered; I'll have tae collect me winnings, Rumblebelly."

"I should be offended," Regis said, not admitting that Bruenor had probably been right on the real time he'd lasted. "Hi, Lespur. May I come in, or am I going to have to wait out here? I've got a message I need to get to Drizzt."

"Och, ye'll not be findin' our elf in the Hall," Lespur told him. "But ye come in. Bruenor'll be glad tae see ye."

"What happened to Drizzt?!" Regis asked, even as he moved to Lespur's side. He did not want to have to walk all the way back across the continent, but if something had happened, he'd have to.

"Naught but fallin' hard for softer ways," Lespur said with a chuckle. "He's back and forth, 'tween us and the city o' Silverymoon, and all over the lands between them.

"Bruenor keeps twittin' him that he's lookin' for a wedding of his own."

Regis's eyes widened immensely to hear that; surely Bruenor had to be wrong. "What's Catti-brie think?" he asked as they worked their way into the Hall.

"Willnae say; holds her thoughts close, she does." Lespur blew out her breath irritably, and started ranting about the negotiations that had seen their princess married. Regis half-listened, while his brain tumbled over Drizzt's possible relationship. He remembered the very odd way Drizzt had come to defend Alustriel Silverhand's actions at the city.

Surely — no, he had to be imagining things.

Regis decided, after talking to Bruenor, who arranged to send a bird looking for Drizzt, to go find Catti-brie. She always knew the right things about their friend, being the one he was closest to. He had been kind of amazed that Bruenor had actually hired a rook-master and let a rookery be built, but it made sense to have fast communications.

Catti-brie was out in Settlestone, and all too easily persuaded away from the women of the tribes. She hugged him tight, and guided him to a comfortable place to sit.

Regis noted it was in view but not earshot of others, leading him to wonder if barbarian idiocy was weighing on Catti-brie.

"So I have come to find a new home," Regis said with a sigh, "because things got hot. And I have a message for Drizzt, but he's not here, and the dwarves think he's involved with the Lady?"

Catti-brie shook her head. "Me elf makes his own choices. Ye always have a home here, and me Da better have made that clear," she added fiercely, making Regis chuckle.

"Showed me my room himself," Regis admitted shyly. "C'mon, Catti, tell me about Drizzt? You're his best friend outside of Guen!"

She studied him long and hard, before answering. "He's making those choices, aye, but best not tae press him over them. He ne'er expected tae find a chance at such and it's a bit more complicated for him."

"I won't, Catti, I promise," Regis said.

Hopefully Drizzt didn't get upset with him for the message he had.

Sharrevaliir had to smile as the bird, a gorgeous kestrel, came directly to Drizzt to be relieved of its message. "Why did the king opt for falcons instead of pigeons?" he asked curiously as Drizzt was removing the tube.

"Better adapted to the mountains, able to hunt for themselves, and … they imprinted better with me, when I helped him make the choice," Drizzt answered, before laughing at the imperious demand for a reward. "Here," he said, giving up a piece of jerky from his pouch.

Drizzt then freed the message, read it, and sighed. "I have to leave again. Our friend Regis is there, needing me."

Deysa stomped the ground, not liking that. They had been intending to do some exploration together while Alustriel dealt with all the headaches of trade season.

"We could take you; Deysa's sturdy enough for two now," Sharr invited. "Here, bird. Come to me so he can write his message."

The kestrel complied, well-trained, and waited patiently for the return message.

"If you wish to? I don't mind the run back."

"If I take you, I will be able to tell Alustriel how long we are losing you for." Sharr's words were firmly coaxing, entirely too happy to spend time with their new lover now that he had settled to the idea of being a part of their lives.

"This is true." Drizzt got the message back on the bird, watching her go, before Deysa lipped at him, adding her coppers that she wanted to help. "Alright, beautiful. I'll let the two of you take me back."

"I'll let Alustriel know not to expect us for a few days," Sharr said.

Deysa saw them to the river gate, now able to open both ways, and where they had set up guest quarters for those allowed entry to the upper Hall. She went off to go explore, while Sharr and Drizzt waited in the receiving hall that had been shaped in the rock near where most of the heaviest fighting against the duergar had taken place.

It did not take much past both men washing up from the travel for Regis to show up, his face lighting at Drizzt until he took note of the elf with him.

"Regis, this is Sharrevaliir Silverhand," Drizzt introduced.

"I've heard a few tales, Saer," Sharr said cheerfully. "And your work on Drizzt's amulet is stunning."

That eased Regis a bit, even as he wondered at the surname. Obviously he needed to learn more about the local families of note.

"Drizzt, it's good to see you. Pleasure to meet you, Saer," Regis said, bobbing a nod at the elf in his very fine armor and clothing. "You came fast! Did the bird find you on the road? I must have just missed you if so."

"No, Sharr rides a pegasus, and Deysa, his friend, was willing to convey me," Drizzt said, glowing a bit with his joy at that privilege.

"Oooh. And I heard you met a gold dragon too!" Regis said. "To put an end to that stupid crystal."

"Yes." Drizzt ducked his head a little. "But, you said you had a message? Pray tell me that Entreri is not why you fled? I was told he'd been killed."

"He was," Regis said, and then he looked at Sharr more closely. "The Tall One, was he your son?"

"Fourth born," Sharr agreed. "Though each set of twins swear we mixed up the order at times."

Regis had to chuckle at that, but it added a strangeness to the situation with Drizzt. He wouldn't have thought his friend —

— well, people found relationships in all shapes.

"No, it's not about Entreri at all. I wound up with a drow problem."

He had all of Drizzt's attention then, and it looked… serious. Bruenor had mentioned Drizzt intended to scout below the Hall, but hadn't made time for it as of yet.

"They came, offering to be the muscle I needed, and implying I could stay as the figurehead," Regis said. "I really didn't like them more than the were-rats, so I was going to just leave, and let Lavalle deal with them.

"Only, that was kind of what they expected, and caught me."

"Regis!" Drizzt moved to where he could actually get a hand on his friend then.

"I'm fine. They tied me up, threw me through some kind of gate, and I came to looking at a drow priestess. She'd even lit several lamps with fire like yours, except blue," Regis told him. "She was… kind of nice to me, but that's because of what she wanted."

"And that was?" Drizzt asked, a cold pit in his stomach now.

"For you to come talk to her," Regis answered. "She's your sister. The one that raised you, and she's a follower of Vhaeraun. Said she always was and that it was very, very hard keeping you as safe as she could and not be exposed for a Masked Traitor."

Drizzt sat back, hard, on Regis's divan, shocked.

"You know this is still possibly a trap?" Sharr asked him, just to make certain he was thinking over all aspects. "We don't want to see you hurt again by other drow."

"I know, I just… she's Vierna, and she was always different, and she is my father's daughter," Drizzt told him.

"Very much so!" Regis interjected, glad of that opening. "She wants to know you are well but she also wants your help to get him back! Because she said, and these are her words, 'he suffered too much to not have a chance to live free'."

"The honey is smelling sweet," Sharr said calmly. "But … can you trust it not to be honey of madness?"

Regis wanted to glare, but honestly? Maybe it was good to have someone throwing up warning signs that wasn't involved.

"I can't not go," Drizzt said softly. "You know how much losing Zaknafein ravaged me.

"If there's a chance? I will risk it."

The elf sighed. "Saer Regis, where was this priestess?"

"In Skullport."

"I guess that's where we're going. Or at least to Waterdeep," Sharr said. "Do you mind if we do this the quicker way, give your sister less time to prepare for your arrival?"

Drizzt looked at Sharr with a slow shake of his head. "I will accept the teleport, but none of you are going with me, you especially."

"We can talk about that back in Silverymoon," Sharr said, steel in under the velvet of the words… and Drizzt dropped it.

For now. That just made Regis more curious.

Alustriel came away from talking to her sisters to find Kor, Sharr, and Drizzt still politely 'debating' the course of action.

"Laeral cannot assist," she said in a brief pause. "Qilué, on the other hand, will aid. And invites you, Sharr, to come stay with her while she provides a guide and back up to escort Drizzt to Skullport."

Sharr looked vaguely triumphant, Drizzt resigned, and Kor settled back. He might not like drow in general, but Alustriel's sister would keep his heart-brother safe.

"You will have to wait for after my evening activities for me to take you, Drizzt. My suggestion is to go rest in the Glade; it may be some time before you are back there."

"Agreed, Alustriel," he said. "I will." He got up and departed then, leaving her to look at the other two men.

"You both need to understand he was alone for long enough that putting others at risk on his behalf is entirely too foreign. Especially given the loss of his friend, and how those poor farmers met their end."

Sharr opened his mouth, shut it, and then nodded instead. "Come on, Kor; I'm stealing you for the day."

"Good."

Drizzt had greeted everyone he'd met previously, rested the night in the care of the Promenade, and then with a fighter and a wizard, he'd gone to Skullport.

Those two were staying with allies now, and the wizard would be checking on Drizzt at set intervals as he approached the Temple of Vhaeraun. He was, of course, stopped by the guards at the gate.

"I'm here to speak with Vierna Do'Urden," he stated clearly, hands away from his hilts.

"Why?" one asked with a sneer.

"What my comrade means," the other said, "is that you aren't known to us."

He met that one's eyes, face set in a solid skepticism. "Look at my eyes and what I wear, then say that again. I am certain my sister left word with you."

She flinched, just slightly, and Drizzt knew his sister had power from the woman's whirl away and sharp gesture to follow her.

His eyes had to adjust inside the temple itself; they seemed to use spells to block outside light from entering. He could already feel the headache coming on, but given the stress of this situation, he wasn't surprised.

At least the ever-present sense of evil around him was muted, less active.

They finally stopped outside a room, and the sneering guard stayed with him while the woman went in. After a couple of minutes, she emerged.

"She will see you."

"Thank you, Saers," he said with the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice.

He stepped inside, every nerve strung tight for the least sense of danger. Only… it wasn't anything but a workroom, with books and components and one drow woman in cleric's robes.

"Drizzt."

She was focused on his entry, standing in front of a work table, and he took in just how much less irritated with the world she seemed.

"Vierna. Or do you demand 'Priestess' here too?" he asked, pushing his limits, judging her reaction.

She laughed. The sound of it was not mocking or cruel, and she moved toward him.

"Vierna, or sister, my little brother, is all I wish to hear from you." She held her hands out to him, palms up, and he rested his wrists there, clasping hers. The strong grip that answered was soothing to that part of a drow boy that had yearned for something different from the woman raising him.

"You look well, sister."

"As do you, Drizzt." She let go of one wrist and slid the other grip to his hand, taking him over to the divan to sit. "I must admit, I did not expect you so quickly; did you take up wizarding ways after all?"

He snorted, shaking his head. "Not for lack of people encouraging such." He then got a little mischief in his voice. "I tend to follow my sister as much as our father, having a calling toward divine magic — apparently."

She blinked. "That is what a 'ranger' is? Someone divinely magical?"

"So they tell me. I don't have formal training in it," Drizzt admitted. "And I will never be comfortable asking for it, but others say it does happen when I am in need."

"The human goddess, Mielikki, is so generous with you?"

He gave a short nod, still a little uneasy that She was, but if it let him protect others, he would accept it.

"Then I am pleased, for your sake, my strange brother," Vierna told him. "Do you know why you cannot be scried?"

"Originally? Lloth's doing. Using me as a chaos magnet, we think," Drizzt told her. "Now? Protection put in place specifically against clerics of evil deities." He gave her hand a squeeze. "Sorry; my allies don't trust Lloth not to tie up loose ends some day."

"I understand that concern," she told him fervently. "As I will always be a target for Her people, given what I did."

"Shall we share, truthfully, everything now?" Drizzt invited. "I wish to know of you, the real you, and I know you must want to know about me, given Regis said you kept asking him questions.

"Thank you for being gentle with him."

Vierna gave a nod to that, and began her side of the tales.

The trio of good drow made it back without adventure — in Skullport, anyway. Drizzt had dealt with one of Undermountain's pests on the way back before either of his allies could process what it was.

They'd only stayed two days, but plans had been made to find a more neutral place to spend time together later.

"Will it be an imposition, Lady, for messages to be passed to your merchants for me? I did not want a sending stone that could track me, not yet."

"I appreciate your caution, and it will be fine," Qilué promised. "We do, on occasion, manage trade with the temple people. As they have more reliable access to proper foods from the Underdark."

"Vierna had mentioned," Drizzt said, settling a little more firmly into the arm Sharr had slung along his shoulders. He was slowly coming to terms with them having the beginnings of an alliance, of a plan.

"So it was all legitimate?" Sharr asked, catching Elkantar's smile at that sign of physical comfort.

"Yes! She needs me to find the diamonds. She will work harder to be able to handle the resurrection. And cultivate the wizard it will apparently require."

"Given your stories of him, she may not be able to," Qilué pointed out. "Depending on if he is more firmly in the center of the alignments. There's a difficulty, when the alignments don't match."

Drizzt sucked in a breath. "Those are details we will need to learn; she intended to set one of the wizards she can trust into locating father's soul, to open him to the idea that we are trying."

"I hope that goes well. I am very intrigued to meet a man that could sire such a good man, and a daughter devious enough to lie to the Spider for so long," Elkantar told him.

"Makes two of us, my friend," Sharr said, before he looked at Qilué. "We'll stay another day or two, if you don't mind?"

"Not at all," she said, knowing it would be good for Drizzt to settle before going home.

"You are a pushy elf," Drizzt muttered.

"And you love being pushed," Sharr said evenly, amused… and hopeful for the drow of his heart.

senmut

Family in Exile (2827 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Vierna Do'Urden, Drizzt Do'Urden, Zaknafein Do'Urden, Original Drow Character(s)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary:

Vierna makes a bargain with a dear reward, and eventually finds the other men of her family.

Family in Exile

Vierna had the spell burning in her mind, a gate that she could use once she stepped out of Menzoberranzan's protections. However, she had one set of lingering issues to deal with before she could use it.

Her father and brother had managed to escape, the very night Matron Malice had discovered the crime of allowing a faerie to live. Vierna had thrown every strength she had into hiding her own secrets, and it had taken three years to reach this point.

Those three years had confirmed what she feared happened the night of graduation, something she meant to fix now.

The mercenary gave her a jaunty bow, then passed over the sleeping boy, small enough to yank memories of Drizzt at his most vulnerable to mind. In turn, she passed over the list of dweomer commands, and a lock of Maya's hair.

"Tell the Ghost I'll be looking, when you find him," Jarlaxle said.

"Remember to forget you saw me, until the House falls, or I won't be able to," she answered him with a hard smile, one he returned before she ascended to her escape path.

Rilauven was a challenge, trying to secure her place as well as raise a child on her own. Kastan — the boy had stubbornly insisted that was his name — had been won over by her willingness to answer his questions. Her heart ached, that she had not been able to be this open in teaching Drizzt.

She had to secure her place, though. Reaching out to Zaknafein and Drizzt had to wait, until she had proven her place in the temple hierarchy. She could only lean into her status as a life-long Masked Traitor so much; Vhaeraun expected strong service from His people.

That meant trusting the childcare of the Temple with her nephew, when she had other duties. In that, one of the first to greet her, a cleric called Nalatar, was helpful. They kept the boy, narrowed down a pool of candidates, and helped Vierna choose the acolyte that would best serve her. It was mutually beneficial; Vierna would be expected to teach the acolyte in exchange for the childcare.

Nauven proved that he was more than adept with a child who already knew how to manage his body functions already, and the three of them fell into a rhythm that saw Kastan learning as adeptly as Drizzt had, Nauven progressing in his studies, and Vierna swiftly proving she was every bit the skilled cleric their god had chosen.

Time passed, and Kastan was five years old before she realized it, and she knew she needed to find the rest of their family.

Mantol-Derith had been a starting point. Yet Zaknafein had refused to stay long enough for Drizzt to be seen as odd, or to draw down attention. He got them signed up with traders as arms-men. They kept to themselves, but their reputation built — any wagon they guarded made it to its destination.

They were between jobs, at a small trading post that included most of the races of the Underdark, when Zak felt an intrusion in his mind. He knew it wasn't Malice; he'd felt the ghostly agony of her death at some point in their travels, a last stamp of her on his life from centuries of mind-bonding spells from her.

~Zaknafein, come to Rilauven. It's your daughter, Vierna, and I swear to you on the pirate spiders you gave me that I was never Hers.~

He did not respond to her, though he knew that was part of the spell. No, he looked at his son, trying to decide if it was worth trying to find Bregan D'aerthe to get more information.

"What is it, Father?"

"Nothing to worry over," the elder man said, and shoved the contact to the back of his mind to mull over.

A week of Vierna insistently trying to convince Zak of her integrity and need to see them both had finally made Zaknafein ask a few of the merchants about the city she mentioned every time.

"They overthrew Lolth's clerics," one person said.

"They trade with the surface; it's one of the best cities for acquiring such things as only come from above."

"Every person is counted on their own merit."

"They do it weird — women as true fighters, men as clerics? I hear some women even do magic."

It was food for thought, and after a day stewing on it, Zaknafein found a merchant that would be sending a wagon in that direction soon enough for his liking.

"Next time we roll out," Zak told his son, "we won't be coming back here."

"Why?"

"Heard of a city that might be good for us both, with some … interesting perks."

Drizzt studied him hard. "What perks?"

"It's damned far from Menzoberranzan for one. Two, Lloth doesn't hold full sway there. Three… your sister is there."

That made Drizzt's eyes go wide. "Vierna?" he asked, just to confirm which one, even though their conversations had made it clear that Vierna was his full sister and the only one Zak had ever given a damn about.

"She's been coaxing me to let us go that way for several days now." Zak shrugged. "Don't plan on telling her we are coming, so we can see the city first, and make up our minds then."

Drizzt nodded, full of questions, but knew he'd need to wait for the answers.

Vierna had, of course, made certain guards loyal to the temple of Vhaeraun knew to be the look out for two men wearing equal length blades, probably still wearing their hair loose and pushed back from their faces. Drizzt's purple eyes were a distinctive feature to mark him out further.

She did not, however, immediately go seeking them when she learned two such had rolled in with one of the merchants. The last thing she wanted was to make Zak decide she was a threat.

Still, as days passed, and no message came, she worried. Had the city not met whatever it was Zak was seeking in a place for them? Did he still distrust her too much? Had her strange little brother grown too uncomfortable here and made Zak move them on?

She didn't have message they had left, and yet —

— Zaknafein was not called the Ghost of Menzoberranzan for nothing.

She would just have to be patient, at least a month, and see if the men she dearly loved came to find her. She said nothing to Kastan, now a boy of six, but did tell Nauven that if a message came, he was to pass it to her wherever she was, short of deep ritual.

Zak didn't start the trouble. Drizzt wasn't even the direct catalyst other than existing.

He had paid attention to the prohibition on killing other drow, when the obviously Lolthite woman in her spider-embroidered robes laid hands on his son, while her guards chivvied him. Zaknafein, master of every weapon he had ever touched —

— didn't need one to make a point.

Three guards were down, the fourth was struggling to get back to his feet, and Drizzt had already broken the woman's grip, maybe her hand, to get away.

"What's going on?" the newest person demanded, a woman herself, flanked by two men, all three clad in the city's guardian piwafwis.

"The young one is a thief," the Lolthite insisted.

"I have nothing I did not come to this city with," Drizzt said in a low tone. "I had trailed back from my father to look at that merchant's wares," he added, pointing in the direction of the market table.

"He lies," the guard that was not unconscious said.

"We'll take truth spells, in the presence of whoever decides these things," Zak rumbled. "As the four here immediately cut me off from my son, when she touched him unprovoked."

"Saer?" the leader of the city guardians invited. "Are you so willing, or do you withdraw your objection?"

Her comrades were studying the fallen three, fast hand-signs passing between them. Zak thought they were noticing he had not used crossbow bolts to render them non-threats.

"Perhaps my eyes deceived me," the Lolthite said. She then looked at her unconscious guards, rolled her eyes, and turned her back on them, with the fourth one hurrying to try to keep up with her.

Zak then looked at the guardians then. "Are we free to go?"

"I guess, unless you're looking to hire on as one of us; that was quick work."

"He's my only son," Zaknafein answered that, to judge how they understood it.

She winced, and the other two nodded. "You did well, abiding by the law. Go your own way."

"Enjoy your duty," Zak answered that, before guiding Drizzt toward the hostel they were staying at.

"Why?" Drizzt asked once they were away.

"Either the Spider-bitch set a plan in motion, or she just thought you would be pretty in her bed."

Drizzt's ashen features at the latter part of that concerned Zak… and then he remembered what graduation was like.

"I think we should go find your sister, as we just made an enemy."

"Alright," Drizzt agreed in the quietest voice Zak had ever heard from him. That just added to the alarm bells, and made Zak start puzzling at how to ease his gentle dancer over the trauma.

Fortunately — or because her god truly favored her — Vierna was in quarters when the message came that she had visitors.

"Kastan, do behave," she told her nephew, raised as a son. This habit of raising male relatives from a young age was amusing to her.

"I will." He didn't even look up from painstakingly copying the lesson Nauven had left for him this evening.

Vierna secured her maces, stepped out of the apartment, locked the door behind her, and headed for the entryway of the temple. She kept herself as calm as she could, making herself not move with any haste at all.

If it was not her father and brother, she might be cross with whomever it was, though!

Drizzt waited just behind his father's shoulder, and watched as Vierna came into view, wearing robes that were far more concealing, and embroidered in bats instead of spiders. He still wasn't sure what he thought of Lloth's son, but He at least seemed to value drow lives, and that was better than what they had left.

His sister looked radiant! She was smiling, and it was in her eyes! There was no coldness to her at all, and Drizzt began to believe, maybe, really, they could be a true family with her!

"Father. Drizzt, my brother," she said, and Drizzt caught the faintest release of tension as Vierna openly acknowledged Zak as her father!

"My student," Zaknafein said in a lazy drawl.

"Vehna," Drizzt said, mischief in his eyes.

She laughed. She laughed freely and warmly and then reached for a hand from both of them! Drizzt gave his quickly, and Zak followed suit, each getting their hands squeezed.

"I am so very glad you have both made it here," she told them. "Come, let's get out of the entry and go talk about the last few years, hmm?"

"Alright," Zak agreed, and they followed her into the Temple.

Behind closed doors, Vierna startled Zak further by wrapping a fierce hug around Drizzt, then turning to him. It was clear she wanted to — and he allowed it. Holding his daughter, hugging her tight to his chest, eased decades' old pain. She truly was free and whole and not part of all he hated.

"Sit, both of you. Before I take you back to my apartment here, I need to explain something. But first, I want to hear all about your lives since you made Malice the angriest I have ever seen her in my life."

Zak snorted. "Not much to say. We went to find work with traders, so we could keep moving. Have to say, your teaching, my teaching, the school… none of it made a drow out of Drizzt and I'm damned glad of it."

Vierna sighed and ran a hand over her braids with wry frustration. "He made it very hard to be true to my god, and not get both of us killed!"

"I'm sorry, Vierna," Drizzt said. "I figured out, later, just how different you were, but … I am me."

"So you are, little brother, and I think I want that as much as Father seems to." She smiled at him.

"You?"

Vierna looked back to Zak for that single word. "Three years to engineer my escape, to make certain I wasn't leaving a death hunt at my back," she said. "And that included making a bargain with Bregan D'aerthe.

"Jarlaxle said he will be looking for you," she told Zaknafein, who nodded, expecting that.

"We go back," he told Drizzt who had tensed.

"Quite personally even," Vierna teased lightly. "I had something to acquire, he had orders to set things in motion for Malice's fall. We concluded our deal, my god gave me a spell to escape once I left the city wards, and here I am."

She then shifted to get an arm around her brother, having sat down beside him on purpose. "Drizzt, I remember how… withdrawn you were, after school."

He looked away, not wanting a second reminder of that so soon, but she put her hand under his chin and drew his face back around.

"Something good came of it." She put her forehead to his. "You have a son — I might should say we do, just not traditionally."

"WHAT?!"

"A boy child came of it. He was what I named as my price for the aid I gave," Vierna told him. "I've raised him here. His name is Kastan. And I think he's going to be more like you than like me."

Zak moved from chair to the narrow spot on Drizzt's other side, hand going to his back. "Easy, my son," he soothed, watching the heavy emotions wrestle through Drizzt's corded muscles, before he finally managed to bring them under his control.

It hadn't even taken as long as Zak expected, making him proud again.

"I have a son, named Kastan, and he is like me," Drizzt said in more wonder than anything else. "When can I meet him? Does he know about me? Is he going to let me be his father? Does he have the dual-handed gift? Do you think he'll want to be a fighter?"

Zak had to chuckle as all those questions proved Drizzt had landed on his feet with the new situation. They would stay, and be a family, to Zak's glad relief.

Kastan looked up as his mama — aunt and he knew it but she'd said it was okay to be 'mama' — came back in with two men behind her. One, a fierce drow warrior with normal red eyes settled with his back to the wall once the door was shut and locked.

The other, though, had all of Kastan's attention. He was more slender in some ways than the first and, most importantly, his eyes were purple!

Kastan looked at Mama, who nodded once, and he stood up to go to the purple-eyed man — HIS FATHER?! — to meet him. Surprisingly, his father dropped to kneel, so he was more level with Kastan's height.

"You're Drizzt."

That got a silent nod.

"My father?"

The purple eyes were a little damp, but "yes" came out of his mouth.

Kastan stopped just inside of Drizzt's reach, feeling awkward all of a sudden, but the man opened his body, arms out but reaching, and that made up Kastan's mind. Like Mama, this drow hugged, and he liked hugs.

He didn't even mind when Drizzt settled back, dragging him into his lap, even if Kastan was really too old for that, because the song was singing a little louder, and he knew this was going to be even better than having Nauven teaching him.

"Hi."

"Hello, my son."

Drizzt and Kastan had gone to bed, leaving Vierna and Zaknafein in the main room.

"You've done so well, my daughter," he told her quietly. "We will stay, but you should know that Drizzt is nothing like even the people you've seen in this city."

Vierna sighed. "Neither is Kastan, though Kastan has had little reason to rub raw against it, like little brother did," she admitted. "Vhaeraun has decreed that even though Kastan hears His blessed Sister, that it serves a purpose, in time.

"And He's never been able to see Drizzt, which I think is why He was willing to not make me send Kastan to the goodly ones."

Zak sighed. "Well, let's keep them both safe here, as long as we can, and worry about that later."

"Yes, we will. Until then? We are together, and can learn the right way to be a family," Vierna decreed, with his full approval.

senmut

KorVerse Outtakes (699 words) by Sharpest_Asp
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Drizzt Do'Urden/Original Elf Character, Original Elf Character/Original Elf Character
Characters: Original Elf Character(s), Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Inthylyn Aerasumé, Alustriel Silverhand, Naerond Aerasumé, Andelver Aerasumé
Additional Tags: Writing Genre - Snippet
Summary:

A few scenes that were thought of but not included in "Knight and Ranger"

KorVerse Outtakes

~Sons,~ Alustriel began. ~Anyone in the vicinity of where Evgin Morningmist lived, please go acquire any goods that can be salvaged and repaired from her cottage.~

~I'm close,~ Nae began, ~but why? For Mielikki's people?~

~Actually, her last student, a drow ranger now living here. Korvallen asks it.~ She was still amused the gruff man had asked the favor.

~Why? I mean we can, but seems odd that uncle is involved in anything with a drow,~ Andy responded.

~I think he means it to be a courting gift.~

Alustriel had to smile at the variety of squawks and shocked noises on the shared link. It felt good to subject them to the same surprise she had felt, for Kor to have actually opened his heart, and to a man of a species Kor had hated fanatically since his youth.

~We want more details, so yes, be there when we can!~ Nae finally replied to her.

Thyl sat next to Vierna, enjoying the quiet, hating that he was about to upset that calm.

"We have a drow in Silverymoon."

"Hmm? I'm not missing anyone, nor was I requested to find a new one," she said.

"Yeah, he's been on the surface for several years, apparently came up in the Lurkwood and found a human willing to teach him," Thyl said. "He's blocked from your Lady's sight — Mom is going to fix that when she can — but that's not the worst, not for you or Ellifain."

Vierna shifted to look at him intently.

"He's got purple eyes; that's why it will hit Ellifain, once he starts up this way to see about the good drow uncle told him about." Thyl took her hand, holding it, as she processed that.

"Go on."

"Under truth spell, he named himself 'Drizzt Do'Urden, secondboy of the Ninth House of Menzoberranzan', he's a two-handed fighter, and uncle has to pull out all stops to beat him in a spar."

He watched that information land like a hammer on an anvil, before she let out a long breath.

"So I have a brother, full one, most likely, to meet. Once… whatever that is can be removed."

"Mom said the end of winter, before he ranges in the spring. He's a ranger of Mielikki."

"Strange. But why the wait?"

Thyl had to laugh. "Apparently uncle fell boots over helmet for him, so Mom's trying to give space for that to settle."

Vierna could only stare, knowing the tales of Korvallen being anti-drow, and very much a one-elf-for-life person.

"Yeah, we all feel like that."

"Then, come spring, I look forward to this being resolved."

Kor had learned, quickly even, not to trust Drizzt's light sing-song voice when he announced something. So hearing 'I brought you a present' in their outer room had him on guard, half-anticipating some wild animal.

It was not warning enough to walk in there from the balcony and find Sam, Sharr's own cousin, standing there with all the sun-elf height, and a bit of chagrin on his face.

"Drizzt says it's been a bit longer than I thought, among other, less pleasant things."

Kor launched himself at the man he'd grown up with, whom he called cousin as well, and held on tight. He barely noticed Drizzt leaving, or the key turning to lock the door behind him.

While Drizzt's quick reaction to the news had been appreciated, Kor grabbed hold of him, wrapping a hand behind his neck, bringing their foreheads together.

"You're not getting rid of me, nor me you, just because of this. I shared him with Elué for centuries; he'll get used to it this way now."

Drizzt smiled; he hadn't been worried about it at all.

"We are one," Drizzt said softly, "and I have all the faith in that."

"You had better, my wild one."

Sharr rested against Kor, then tipped his head back to see his heart-brother better.

"So, the ranger?"

"Mine, Sharr. Just like I told Elué."

Sharr started laughing, but he wouldn't press, and just seek a friendship with the young drow that had gathered the bulk of the diamonds, seen the Battlehammers back into Mithral Hall, defeated Crenshinibon, and — most impossibly — won Kor's heart.

somariel

A Curse Here, a Blessing There (4355 words) by Somariel
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Original Elf Character(s), Alustriel Silverhand, Vierna Do'Urden, Zaknafein Do'Urden, Inthylyn Aerasumé
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Past Rape/Non-con
Series: Part 4 of Have Your Cake, Part 16 of A Crossing of the Realms
Summary:

Maybe the family isn’t big enough…

Beginning notes

This fic was inspired by

senmut and

ilyena_sylph's fic Making the Most of Magical Mayhem and my fic Magical Mayhem with a Pegasus.

It assumes familiarity with those fics, and the previous fics in the Have Your Cake series.

A Curse Here, a Blessing There

1343 DR

Samiar knew, perfectly well, that drow were excellent liars, and one might be using tongues to speak, but… he also knew that it was not possible to fool a pegasus’s innate sense of a person’s nature. Even so, he still twitched his fingers through the motion for detect thoughts, focusing on the drow. "Drizzt Do’Urden, hm? Well, at least we are even on the matter of names, now, though I still do not know the name of your friend there.

"But what curse troubles you, that your own people could not deal with better than I?" The phrasing of his question was deliberate, as even though Drizzt was very clearly not evil, it was still possible that he was neutral, and a Vhaeraunite scout or information gatherer.

"My friend is called Lothalninil," Drizzt said. "As for my people, while the Dark Maiden has been good to me and my family since each of us escaped the Underdark, I remain wary of divine intervention in my life, nor do I wish to develop a habit of relying on those whom my ranging may have taken me quite far from."

That was the truth and nothing but, Samiar felt, reading the truth of the 'no divine intervention' and the 'don't want to depend on family' alike, though a stubborn thread of 'got myself into this, I'll get myself out of it' was woven through the latter. "And the curse?"

"I made a mistake in the last set of ruins I cleared. While I could feel magic, it did not feel innately tainted or wrong, and the box I took from there called to me, for it was inlaid with a cat much like my companion that drew you here."

Drizzt dropped his eyes, and Lothalninil bumped her nose against his chest. "The curse upon it escaped as I opened the box, and now… I need aid."

"You appear to be healthy enough," Samiar said curiously, raising a brow, then flicked his fingers, "no, no. Come, we will talk within my home."

If the pegasus—Lothalninil, he reminded himself—had not been present, he would have cast an arcane eye to keep an eye on Drizzt Do’Urden as he led the way to his tower, but she was, so he was willing to place enough trust in her goodly nature to expose his back to Drizzt.

Sharing drow culture and society notes, the language and writing examples, was familiar to Drizzt from the time he had spent doing the same with Sharr, whom he very much felt would get along quite well with Samiar.

It wasn't until Sam chose to share the tale of one of his youthful misadventures, however, that Drizzt realized just how correct that thought was. Because the other two elves featured in the tale were Samiar's cousin Sharr, and Sharr's friend Kor.

But although the likelihood of there being two such groups with both that structure and those names was vanishingly small, once Sam had finished the tale, Drizzt asked, just to confirm things, "Do you mean Sharrevaliir Silverhand and Korvallen Senahye?"

"Why, yes. How do-" Sam broke off abruptly and stared at Drizzt as the family names sank in. "Wait, Silverhand?!? Is that actually El-, I mean Alustriel, up in Silverymoon, then?"

Not sure what Sam's source of confusion might be, Drizzt chose to answer in the way he thought would have the least chance of being misunderstood. "Silverymoon's current ruler is Sharr's human consort, if that's what you're asking."

"Then we're going up there. If I'd known that really is Alustriel, I would have sought her and Sharr's assistance from the beginning."

As curious as Alustriel was about the guest that Drizzt had called an old friend of both her and Sharr, the timing of the page's message delivery had been such that she could not actually go find out until after evenfeast.

And now, having changed from her evenfeast gown to something more casual, she stood at the door to Drizzt's rooms and knocked.

"Come in" was called in Drizzt's voice—though, for some reason, it sounded higher than usual—so she let herself in.

As she entered, Drizzt and his guest were busy comparing the papers scattered across the table they were sitting at, but before she could do more than register that the guest was a sun elf, they both turned their attention to her, and she gasped in surprise.

"Samiar?!"

"Hello, Elué," he said, even as he got up and came over to her with his hands outstretched in greeting.

Bypassing any sort of hand clasp, Alustriel embraced Sharr's cousin tightly. He returned the hug with equal vigor, and they held it for a long moment.

When they mutually released the embrace, Alustriel took a step back, and reached out to clasp his hands. "It's so good to see you again. But how in the world did Drizzt find you?"

"He was looking for a cursebreaker," Samiar replied.

At that, Alustriel turned her attention to Drizzt, and had to stifle a gasp. Because though she could tell it was still Drizzt sitting at the table, he now had a female body.

"How are you, Drizzt?" she asked.

"Uncomfortable."

"Understandably." Then she turned back to Samiar. "It's easy to see why you wish to consult with me, but what is it about this matter that has you wishing to consult with Sharr?"

"The inscription inside the damned box that was the trigger is in Seldruin."

"And when I unknowingly triggered the curse by opening the box, the whispered words that accompanied it sounded vaguely familiar from my work with Sharr on comparing Seldruin with Drow," Drizzt added.

Alustriel nodded her understanding. "Well, I'd be asking him to come with Kor anyway, simply because of Sam's return, but I'll make sure to tell him Sam brought a translation challenge with him."

Drizzt had been insistent that Samiar should take some time to actually catch up with his family, so once the cursed box had been secured in the workroom Taern had set aside for Sam and Sharr in the Spell Tower, it was several days before any more attention was given to the matter.

The first day that Sam and Sharr worked on translating the inscription went well enough, with the box safely contained in an anti-magic field, but on the second day, Sharr happened to arrive at the workroom before Sam did.

Since both he and Sam had received a copy of the key for the workroom, Sharr chose to enter anyway, and settled down to review the previous day's notes.

He had not gotten very far into them, however, when an explosion in the adjacent workroom rattled the door and shook the furniture.

Setting the notes aside, Sharr stood up and turned to scan the rest of the room for anything else that might have been disturbed.

Movement on the central table caught his eye, and he experienced a frozen moment of shock as the cursed box slid over the edge of the table.

Then instinct kicked in, and he lunged to catch it. He only just managed to do so, grabbing it a bit below the visible line near the top.

And then, much to his horror, a seam appeared below where he had grabbed it, and the box swung open.

Samiar had just exited the stairs onto the level that held the workroom reserved for his and Sharr's work with the cursed box, when a door-rattling boom sounded from the other end of the hallway—which was where their borrowed workroom was.

Concerned over what effect the probable explosion might have had on the organization of yesterday's notes, Sam increased his pace down the hall.

Very shortly, he had reached the workroom, and was reaching for his key when he noticed that the door was not quite closed.

Knowing that had to mean that Sharr had arrived before him, Sam let go of his concerns about the notes, and opened the door.

But he had not gotten more than a couple of steps into the workroom before he noticed something of far greater concern.

Sharr was lying motionless on the floor, his head almost under the central table, with the cursed box close enough to his hands that it had to have been in them when he collapsed. But the most concerning thing was that Sharr had very clearly been struck by the box's curse.

Sighing, Sam stepped back out of the workroom, and knocked on the door of the adjacent one.

It was opened fairly quickly by a human male who looked to be on the younger side even for humans.

"Yes?" the young man said, a distinct note of nervousness in his voice. Which was not truly surprising, as Sam recalled Taern saying that the workrooms used for doing anything likely to explode were in a different area.

"Samiar Ravarel. Am I correct in thinking that you were responsible for the recent explosion?"

"Stordan Helder. Why do you ask?"

"Because it disrupted my own work in a way that had unfortunate consequences for my colleague," Samiar answered.

Stordan's face paled, and he visibly swallowed a few times before replying in a voice that squeaked with nervousness. "What can I do to help?"

"Go find Korvallen Senahye and bring him here," Sam said.

"I will, Saer." Stordan gave a low bow, then turned and headed for the stairs.

Once the young man had entered the stairwell, Samiar went back into his workroom.

The first thing he did was cast the anti-magic field on the box, but once that was taken care of, he used the sending he had memorized for the day to inform Taern of the incident.

Taern's response had been a sigh, a mutter about headstrong young idiots, and a promise to come as soon as he could.

Then Samiar set about checking Sharr over for any injuries that would necessitate moving him before Kor and Taern arrived.

When Sharr regained consciousness, he had to take a moment to just breathe—which felt so odd with the extra flesh on his chest—and catalogue the myriad new sensations his changed body was bombarding him with.

However, he was still working his way through them when the scrape of a chair nearby caused him to open his eyes.

He was lying on the bed in his own rooms, with Kor and Sam both sitting in chairs pulled up beside it.

"Good to see you finally awake again," Kor said, his voice gruff with worry.

"Finally?" Sharr repeated. "How long was I out?"

"Most of the day," Sam answered. "Which at least proved useful in allowing me to analyze the curse's traces on you."

"Did you learn anything useful?"

"There is an escape clause, and it's tied to both something physical and something time-based."

"Still would have preferred it if you hadn't had the opportunity," Kor grumbled.

Sharr sighed. "So would I, but I'll take it as a silver lining to misjudging where I grabbed the box when it slid off the table."

"How do you feel?" Kor asked.

Uncomfortable. Everything feels so different, and it's making it hard to concentrate right now."

Kor frowned. "That's the only problem, though?"

"Yes."

Kor gave a sigh of relief, and Sam smiled.

"Well," Sam said, "you'll presumably be able to concentrate better once you get used to the new sensations.

"Since Drizzt clearly has no problem concentrating."

"Let's hope so," Sharr said, "But speaking of Drizzt, please tell me that he isn't blaming himself for this."

"He didn't even get a chance to do so," Sam said. "The headstrong young idiot responsible was already defying a direct order, so Taern came down hard on him."

Samiar was indeed correct about Sharr's concentration returning once he became more accustomed to the female body's differences, and a few days later, the two of them resumed their work on translating the inscription.

As the weeks passed, Sharr's sons came by to meet or re-meet Samiar—with Thyl also visiting Spirit Sanctuary, resulting in Vierna and Zak being informed that Drizzt had run afoul of a curse, if not the exact details—and eventually, about a month and a half after the translation work had resumed, Sam and Sharr agreed that they had finally determined the correct one, though the implications it carried were unpleasant.

And with the translation found, Alustriel began working with Samiar on figuring out how the curse might actually be broken.

A bit more than three and a half weeks later—and almost exactly two months after he and Kor had started exploring the more intimate aspects of the female body's differences—Sharr noticed a change in his balance, along with a few other changes in how the female body felt.

So that evening, while he and Kor were lounging with Alustriel in her rooms after evenfeast, he asked, "What sort of physical changes accompany a pregnancy?"

Kor jerked bolt upright on hearing that, but Alustriel just gave him a considering look.

And after a moment, she said, "What changes have you experienced, to cause you to ask that?"

"There's been a shift in my balance, my abdomen feels unusually firm, and the breasts are sore."

Alustriel took a deep breath before she replied. "Well, those are all symptoms of pregnancy, so if you're thinking you might be pregnant, you're most likely correct.

"But if you want me to, there's a spell I can use to confirm it."

"Please."

"Then give me your hand."

Sharr complied, and Alustriel cupped her hands around his, then murmured a single word. And in reaction, a faint silver glow arched in a crescent from her right thumb to her left, over his hand.

Alustriel let out a gusty sigh and released his hand. "You are pregnant. About two months along, according to the spell."

Kor made a strangled sound beside him, and Sharr turned to look at his heart's brother. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Are you?" Kor replied.

Sharr took a moment to actually think about it before he replied. "I... think I will be, once I get over the surprise.

"It's not anything I expected-" Sharr paused for a moment to look at Alustriel, who had made a surprised noise when he said that, but she waved for him to continue, so he did. "-and I'm sure there will be some difficult moments due to the mismatch between mind and body, but I'm pleased to be carrying your child."

Kor sighed and threw his arm around Sharr's shoulders. "Alright. But you will let me take care of you during the pregnancy."

"Of course." Then Sharr turned his attention back to Alustriel. "Why were you surprised I hadn't expected this?" he asked her.

Alustriel again took a deep breath before speaking. "What conclusions did you and Sam come to about the nature of the curse and its escape clause, based on the translation you settled on?"

Sharr knew there was a catch somewhere in that question, but he couldn't see where, so he simply answered it. "It's a lover's curse, possibly a spurned one. And I would have said that fulfilling the escape clause requires sex, but given that it's been two months since Kor and I started having it, and the curse hasn't broken yet, I'm not so sure."

"Men." Alustriel rolled her eyes with that exasperated mutter, then sighed. "May you learn the pain of your deeds most personally, by living the life you have given to me. To me, that says pregnancy, and some amount of time breastfeeding the baby after it is born."

Sharr groaned and threw his head back. "Physical and time-based. Why didn't I see that?"

Alustriel smiled wryly. "Because you're not a woman."

"Fair enough," Sharr laughed. "Fair enough."

Roughly two and a half months after Sam and Alustriel had begun their research into how to break the curse, they reluctantly concluded that the only options were requesting divine intervention or fulfilling the terms of the escape clause.

Drizzt had been just as displeased with that conclusion as they were, but after taking some time to think about it, he accepted Samiar's offer to be the child's father.

Drizzt's decision that he would stay at Spirit Sanctuary during the pregnancy resulted in Thyl—who had remained in Silverymoon after coming to meet Samiar again—going there to give Zak and Vierna a full accounting of the situation, so that, when Drizzt did come, they would not be surprised by either his appearance or Samiar's presence, and once Thyl returned, Samiar started on treating Drizzt as a friend he was interested in intimacy with.

Drizzt proved to be more skittish about the process than anyone—including himself—had expected, but Samiar was very careful about always making sure he was comfortable with whatever Sam was doing, and about a week and a half after they had started, Drizzt felt ready to move on to actual sex.

Which ended up not getting very far at all, as experiencing intimacy while naked caused the long repressed memories that were the source of his skittishness to return in full.

When Vierna emerged from her workroom for the evening meal, she was somewhat surprised to learn that Thyl had arrived on Steelheart not much earlier.

But since she was rather hungry, and Thyl did not appear to be excessively concerned, she was willing to wait until after the meal to learn what had brought him to Spirit Sanctuary so late in the day, when she knew that he had to have come from Silverymoon.

Once the meal was over, however, Thyl actually pulled her aside, and said, quietly, "I need to talk to you and Zak."

Well. That he was asking for Zak as well made it likely that whatever brought him here involved Drizzt, but since she knew how much her brother valued his privacy, she simply caught Zak's attention, and indicated a need to talk, with a tilt of her head towards Thyl, and then in the direction of the exit from the communal dining area that would lead to her quarters.

Zak gave a sharp nod in reply, and was moving towards that exit even as she and Thyl started that way.

The walk to her quarters was accomplished in silence, but once all three of them were settled in the conversation area, Vierna couldn't hold off her concern any longer. "What happened with Drizzt?" she asked.

Thyl sighed. "The careful progress he and Cousin Sam were making hit an unanticipated obstacle."

Turning his full attention to Zaknafein, he continued. "As it turns out that he had rather thoroughly repressed his memories of graduation, but exploring intimacy slowly eroded that, until they fully resurfaced when he and Sam attempted to actually have sex."

Zaknafein couldn't help but wince when Thyl finished his explanation, "I... probably should have considered that possibility," he admitted with a sigh.

Putting what Thyl had said together with her own knowledge of Lolthite society, Vierna came to an unpleasant conclusion. "He was raped. During his graduation."

"Yes." The answer came in two voices, Thyl and Zak having spoken simultaneously. And after they exchanged a look, Thyl gestured for Zak to continue.

"The graduation ceremony is for all students graduating that year," Zak said, "both male and female.

"The teachers from Arach-Tinilith and a favored student summon a demon for the student to have sex with, and the drugged incense induces an orgy among everyone else present.

"The incense is likely why it didn't occur to me that those memories could be a problem, since it affects the memory enough that I just plain can't remember anything between that and the end of the ceremony."

"That's useful to know," Thyl said, "because Drizzt very definitely does remember all of it."

Vierna hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe because of his innate sense of evil?

"Because a demon would be a large splash against that."

"That's probably the best explanation we're likely to come up with," Thyl agreed.

"And to return to the current situation," he continued, "since Drizzt is insistent that he still wants to go through with fulfilling the terms of the curse, any further attempts at sex are on hold until he's received aid in properly processing the trauma and has reached a point where he feels ready to try again."

As the weeks passed, Drizzt made slow but steady progress in processing his rape trauma and coming to terms with what had happened in a way that let him move forward with fulfilling the terms of the curse.

Finally, a bit less than two full months after the memories had returned, he felt ready to make another attempt at having sex with Samiar.

And after a day of careful discussion and planning, they successfully went forward with doing so.

The three week wait until a pregnancy could be detected by the spell Alustriel had used to confirm Sharr's was mildly nerve-wracking, even knowing that the curse had most likely been designed to guarantee fertility, but Drizzt managed to find enough to occupy himself with that he was able to avoid dwelling on the matter.

And once his pregnancy was confirmed, he and Samiar said their farewells to those they wished to give them to, then rode Lothalninil up to Spirit Sanctuary.

Samiar had left Spirit Sanctuary after seeing Drizzt settled in—though not without promising to return for the child's birth—but even so, Drizzt and his family were kept abreast of the progress of Sharr's pregnancy, as Thyl had chosen to remain in Silverymoon at least until Sharr gave birth.

Given that Thyl had been updating them by sending, however, it was still a surprise when he teleported to Spirit Sanctuary roughly three months into Drizzt's pregnancy, about five weeks after the Midwinter festival.

But even with his smile making it clear that he had brought good news, the Do'Urdens still gathered in Vierna's rooms as swiftly as they were able to, in order to hear what news had brought Thyl in person.

And once they were all settled, he launched right into it. "Dad gave birth around dawn," he said.

"Were there any complications with the labor or the birth, or for the baby?" Vierna asked.

"Nope," Thyl said. "Unless you count Uncle Kor almost dropping the baby when the midwife said it was a girl."

"That would only count if he had actually dropped her," Vierna said, before giving in to the giggles she could feel bubbling up.

Drizzt was snickering beside her, and Thyl was grinning broadly, but Zak just looked confused by their amusement, which helped her to bring the giggles under control once she had gotten the first rush of them out.

Seeing that Vierna had calmed her giggles, Zak gave voice to his confusion. "Why is it amusing that... Kor... almost dropped the baby?"

"It's not him almost dropping her that's amusing," Vierna explained, suppressed mirth still in her voice, "it's the reason he did so."

"That reason being," Thyl continued, "the fact that until now, Dad has only had sons. So no one was expecting him to finally have a daughter after thirteen sons."

"Oh." Zak took a moment to consider that, then smiled. "That is amusing."

Finally stopping his snickering, Drizzt asked, "What did they name her?"

"Faeliniel Senahye."

Vierna made a surprised noise at that, and when all three men looked at her curiously, she said, "Why'd they choose to use Kor's family name?

"Given that you've previously mentioned that elves pass family names along the maternal line."

"Because Dad never uses the one he received from his mother," Thyl said. "I don't even know what it is, and he's been borrowing Kor's or Charic's for so long, I'm not sure Mom knows it, either."

"Huh. Do you have any idea why?"

"Given that Grandmother and her brother left Myth Drannor before its fall, my best guess is that their family was of a high enough rank that Dad feels it's not safe to use the name."

Vierna quickly ran through what she knew about the fall of Myth Drannor, and winced. "I can see why."

Samiar returned to Spirit Sanctuary a month before Drizzt was expected to give birth, and just three weeks after the Midsummer festival—about five and a half months after Faeliniel's birth—Zanna Do'Urden was born shortly before false dawn, and experienced her first sunrise half an hour later, when Drizzt brought her along for his sunrise vigil.

Samiar chose to stay at Spirit Sanctuary after the birth, saying that he didn't want to miss a single moment with their daughter, and things soon settled into a routine for the new parents, with Sam doing as much to care for Zanna as Drizzt did, even if Drizzt was the only one who could feed her.

Time seemed to pass surprisingly swiftly with a baby to care for, and it felt like it was all too soon before the next Midwinter festival occurred.

But it was barely a week after that when Samiar received a very welcome sending from Alustriel.

As Drizzt settled down to feed Zanna after his sunrise vigil, Sam sat down beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Alustriel sent while you were holding your vigil," Sam said. "The curse on Sharr broke while he was sleeping."

Drizzt smiled at Sam in relief. "That is good to know. I had been getting a little concerned over how close we were coming to a year since Faeliniel was born without his curse breaking."

"I think we all were," Sam said. "But it appears that the curse breaks eleven months after the child's birth, so now we know when to expect it for you."

Having a definite end to the curse in sight eased something inside himself that Drizzt hadn't even been aware was wound too tightly, and his mood lightened noticeably over the next few weeks.

And sure enough, just a week before the Midsummer festival, exactly eleven months after Zanna's birth, he woke to find himself restored to his proper body.

somariel

Starting to Find Family (2135 words) by Somariel
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Vierna Do'Urden & Zaknafein Do'Urden
Characters: Vierna Do'Urden, Zaknafein Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ensemble Cast
Series: Part 2 of Have Your Cake, Part 14 of A Crossing of the Realms
Summary:

After a god meddles, a father finds his daughter.

Beginning notes

Inspired by my fic Divine Snit Fits Occasionally Bring Good Things.

It assumes familiarity with that fic, and the previous fics in the Have Your Cake series.

Starting to Find Family

Early 1338 DR

Vierna had only just returned to her rooms after singing Ellie to sleep when she heard Qilué's voice in her head. ~Vierna, I need to speak with you. Let me see through your eyes, so I can come to you?~

Vierna knew that her Lady's Chosen would not say "need" lightly, nor would Qilué be willing to use her single teleport frivolously, so despite her own surprise and need for sleep, she responded with ~See~, before focusing on the most distinctive area of her outer room.

Silver stars filled the air a few feet from her, and when they faded, Qilué was standing in front of her.

"I am very sorry for keeping you from your own rest," Eilistraee's Chosen said, "but something unusual occurred just before we started our own ritual, and you need to know about it."

"Don't worry about it," Vierna replied, even as she moved to take a seat in the conversation area. "But now you've roused my curiosity as to what could have happened near Waterdeep that would be necessary for me to know about."

Qilué waited until she had taken her own seat to reply. "We were very close to starting, when a naked drow male just... appeared, accompanied by a musteval.

"The musteval gave a very brief summary of what had caused Someone to send the male to us, and requested that we aid him, then vanished.

"But what brings me to speak with you is that the male gave his name as Zaknafein Do'Urden."

Vierna just stared at Qilué in shock for a moment, before she shook herself free of it. "He's free? He actually escaped?"

Qilué smiled softly. "So he is the Weapon Master you've spoken of so fondly.

"But while he is now free, what the musteval said of the circumstances makes me believe that he had not escaped before Someone not pleased with Lolth intervened in his life."

"My teacher," Vierna agreed, "and most likely my father.

"And while I would like to go greet him immediately, the fact that you believe he had not actually escaped makes me think it would be wiser to wait until he has had some time to become accustomed to freedom."

"That does seem like the wisest course of action," Qilué said. "And given that I did mention that there is another bearing the Do'Urden name among those I serve, it may be best to wait until he asks about who it is."

"Agreed," Vierna said.

As he started to settle in at the Promenade, Zaknafein did his best to give all of his attention to learning these new ways and the teaching he was doing, but his thoughts kept circling back to Qilué's mention of another Do'Urden among her people, and Rylla's comment, after his first spar with her, that there was only one person she knew of who might be his peer with the blade.

And so, just three weeks after his arrival, he chose to broach the subject with Elkantar.

Settled in his own rooms after the evening meal, with the other man seated opposite him, Zak took a deep breath, and said, "Qilué mentioned another Do'Urden among you. Do you know who it is?"

"That would be Vierna Do'Urden," Elkantar said.

"She's alive?!" Zak's voice almost squeaked in his surprise, and after he took a sip of water to wet his suddenly dry mouth, he continued in a more even tone. "Why haven't I seen her here?"

"Because she doesn't live here," Elkantar replied. "She leads our only other permanent settlement, up north in the Frost Hills."

Zak hummed thoughtfully. "Is she the one Rylla mentioned as possibly being my peer with a blade then, or is that someone else?"

"It's her. Rylla went to learn from her at one point, on Qilué's recommendation of Vierna being the best drow warrior under Eilistraee."

"Ah." Zak hummed thoughtfully. "Has she been told that I'm here?"

"Qilué teleported up to tell her the same night you arrived," Elkantar said. "It was actually her suggestion that we give you time to settle in here before we spoke of her by name."

"Understandable," Zak said. "And now that I know, I'd like to meet her again, but... do it here?"

"Wherever you're most comfortable having the meeting happen."

"Then can you speak to Qilué about arranging it?"

"Of course."

The next day, after the midday meal, Elkantar pulled Zak aside, and once they had found some privacy, the other man said, "Vierna suggested tomorrow evening for her visit. Is that suitable for you?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'll get Qilué to pass on your acceptance.

"But on another note, have you given any thought to where in the Promenade you wish to hold the meeting?"

"Other than somewhere private?" Zak replied. "Not really. Do you have a suggestion?"

"Qilué has offered her office, if you don't want to have it in your rooms," Elkantar said. "And I'm sure Rylla would be willing to do the same, if asked."

Zak hummed thoughtfully for a moment. "I'd feel more comfortable in Rylla's office than Qilué's.

"Because she's correct in thinking that I would like to keep the initial meeting out of my rooms."

"Do you want to handle asking her, then, or would you prefer for Qilué or I to do so?"

"I'm fine with doing it," Zak answered.

"Then I'll leave you to continue with your day."

Vierna had been quite pleased when Zak chose to come with her upon her return to Spirit Sanctuary, even though she could tell that there was still something troubling him.

But given that he was still well within the adjustment period that males went through after escaping, she knew it would be best to let whatever it was lie unless he brought it up with her, no matter how much she wanted to make everything right for him.

Which is why she was rather surprised when he came to her the very next evening, after the night's activities had commenced, and said, "We need to talk."

"Of course," she said. "Where do you want to do so?"

"Your rooms would be fine," he answered.

"Very well." Then she turned and headed for them, Zak falling in beside her.

The walk to her rooms was done in silence, but once both of them were settled in the outer room's conversation area, Zak sighed heavily and began to speak.

"When Qilué mentioned another Do'Urden among her people, you were very much not who I was expecting it to be."

"I had guessed as much. But that does leave me with the question of who you were expecting it to be."

"Your full brother. Drizzt."

"Will you tell me about him?" Vierna asked.

It seemed that that was all the prompting Zak had needed, because the tale of her brother just started pouring out of him.

And when he had finished, wrapping up with how he himself had come to simply appear at the Promenade's ritual night, Vierna slowly stood up and came over to his seat.

"May I hug you?" she asked.

Zak's response was a sharp nod, so, being very careful to move slowly enough that he could easily see what she was doing, she wrapped him in a gentle embrace.

After a moment of frozen stiffness, he relaxed enough to wrap his own arms around her.

And when he lowered them again, she released the embrace and stepped back, then took a seat as close to him as she could manage.

"Well, scrying ought to be able to locate Drizzt," she said, "so I can certainly handle that myself.

"But if you will allow it, I think the investigation into Who re-embodied you should be turned over to Qilué. As she has more resources to draw on for such than I do."

Zak sighed. "Given that I recall Elkantar saying something about Qilué being Chosen—with the implication of a stronger connection to Eilistraee than any cleric has—I think you're right. Regardless of how much I would prefer for you to handle it."

"A more direct connection to that deity is one of the benefits of being a deity's Chosen," Vierna agreed. "Though I was more referring to the fact that Qilué is Twice Chosen, giving that service to the human goddess of magic in addition to Eilistraee.

"But going back to Drizzt, can you tell me what color his eyes are?"

Zak blinked several times in surprise. "Huh. I think I want to hear more about how that works, later.

"As for Drizzt's eye color, he has purple eyes. Why do you ask?"

"Qilué's fairly open about it with our people to begin with, but it does tend to end up being a conversation for after newcomers have fully settled in," Vierna said.

"And given Drizzt's eye color, I can confidently tell you that you gained a granddaughter by his actions."

"I... What? How?!" Zak didn't think he could have been more surprised even if Malice herself had declared for the Dark Maiden.

Vierna smiled gently. "Roughly ten years ago, Eilistraee reached out to Spirit Sanctuary for whatever aid might be possible to give to moon elf followers of hers who had suffered a drow raid.

"We found two survivors. And while the elder of them had been injured badly enough that I was almost unable to save her, the younger one—a girl of about five—had no injuries other than a bruise near her temple, despite being covered in blood when we found her.

"Her nightmares about the raid are far less frequent now, thanks to intensive prayer sessions to recede it into distant memory, but the purple eyes of the man who stunned her have been a consistent feature of them from the very beginning."

When Vierna's own attempt to scry for her brother had just plain not worked, with no discernible cause, she had asked Qilué to try.

Qilué having the exact same problem had resulted in the discovery that Eilistraee was, for some reason, completely unaware of Drizzt, even though everything they knew about him indicated that She should be aware of him.

But since that was a mystery that could not be solved until Drizzt was actually found, the task of scrying for him had been turned over to the rest of Qilué's family, and Vierna had filled in Zak on the unexpected obstacle.

He had been just as displeased by the news as she was, but since there was nothing either of them could actually do to help, all they could do was wait.

It was just two days later, however, when Thyl arrived.

But while Vierna had been fully anticipating a visit from him, once he heard about Zak's arrival, she had not expected him to come by teleport.

And when, instead of asking to meet Zak, he said that he needed to speak with both her and Zak, she became concerned.

"Has something happened to Drizzt?" she asked, after she had sent the nearest child to find Zak and ask him to meet them in her rooms.

"No, I have good news," Thyl replied. "It just... needs more explanation than can be easily given by sending."

"Ah."

The walk to her rooms was accomplished in silence, and when they entered, Zak was already seated in the conversation area.

Introductions were made once she and Thyl had taken seats, and then she asked, "So what is this good news that is too complicated for a sending?"

"The good news is that we were able to confirm that Drizzt is on the Surface," Thyl said, "though we do not yet have a location other than 'northern mountains'."

"You're going to keep scrying until you get a specific one, then?" Zak said.

"That's the part that needs explanation," Thyl replied. "From all we can tell, he's been adopted by pegasi."

"Oh." Vierna had, through Thyl, learned enough about pegasi to guess how that had affected the Silverhands' decision making, and it truly was more than a sending could handle.

"And due to that," Thyl continued, "the consensus among the family is that we don't need to keep trying to discern his exact location, because the pegasus gossip network will guide us to him eventually."

Zak's face was a study in confusion, and Vierna had to repress a laugh before she clarified things for him.

"Thyl's family has thirteen bonded pegasus riders in it, and pegasi are at least as intelligent as the average human."

"Which means wild ones are fully smart enough to understand that Drizzt cannot remain with them indefinitely if he's truly going to thrive," Thyl continued, "and seek out a bonded pegasus to request two-leg aid for him."

"Oh," Zak breathed. "You'll still check in on him, though?"

"Of course."

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Tales of Faerun

Entries tagged with character: vierna do'urden

Sealing the Future

Not That Potion!

Again and Again

A Demand for his Aid

A Family Reunited

Dream Bonds, Drow Raids, and Family Ties

The Ghost and His Daughter

Dreaming of the Other

Thyl Goes North

Young Drizzt Drabble

Kor meets Vierna

Drizzt Meets Vierna

Zak and Kor Fic

Demon Sequel

Hide and Seek

Vierna's Legacy Askew, a blending of AUs

Vierna Kastan AU

KorVerse Outtakes

Have Your Cake Part IV

Have Your Cake Part II

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