Hello everyone! I've always wanted to write my own story on this, and now I can! This'll be novelistic in that it comes in chapters, so this will be first chapter and my next post will be second. And this takes place outside of Drizzt's story, so I wont be putting his name in here anywhere (he just doesn't fit in anywhere in my story), so don't ask and don't complain. Here we go!
Disclaimer: I don't own Forgotten Realms, if I even can, but I do own all created characters in this story, so DON'T TAKE EM!
Prologue
Far up in the northlands, past the Spine of the World, lies Icewind Dale, the forbidding wasteland of near-everlasting winter. This day, deep into the winter season, the Dale was covered in fresh snow from the previous night's blizzard, covering everything in white as far as the eye could see. Tundra Yeti, one of the most dangerous beasts to roam this barren land, were out this day, a few even leaving their formal holes and milling about in search of food. The gates to all the cities of Ten Towns were closed, and few people, if any, would be out this day. But one young man, a middle height, average weight, black haired boy barely into manhood, stood out in the snow, basking in the meager sunlight that shown down. He wore a long sleeve black tunic and black slacks with dark blue runes and designs stitched in all over. His skin was rather tan, and his hair was cropped short, his face cleanly shaven, unusual for one from such a frightfully cold place. Over his tunic he wore a steel harness with black, steel reinforced leather covering his chest and sides. This harness only held it all together, giving little actual protection except for the metal shoulder guards and tasset that hung down at his hips over his dual steel swords in their black, blue-rune covered sheathes. The end of the hilt of each blade held a single sapphire that glimmered in sunlight.
He was traversing a rather dangerous section of the tundra where the ground was all ice and held numerous gorges that were difficult to see unless one were right before them, making it difficult to move quickly. He leapt carefully from one thin walk space to another, crossing a particularly large gorge, and found a tedious hold. He had made his way to the mountain Kelvin's Cairn, a lone mountain in the middle of the tundra, and was heading for a large cave when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps around him. The sound was cleverly disguised, having been made the same moment he'd landed, and wouldn't have been noticed by most others, but this man was far off from the norm.
The moment the sound was made, he was off, sprinting with impossible speed along his current walk space, somehow managing to keep his balance on the slick ice, and then leapt again, clearing another gorge and then falling into a roll down the side on his newest perch, seeming to fall over the edge. As he rolled, he drew one of his swords and stabbed it into the icy wall behind him. There, he figured, none would be able to find him. But suddenly he heard the screech of an unknown beast, some creature not even of this plane by his knowledge, and he looked up into the sky to see a gigantic, featherless, seemingly decaying bird with a black robed man atop it. "A Summoner," He muttered under his breath, then shifted his balance and pushed off the wall, landing lightly across the gorge, catching the edge of the next walk space and pulling himself up onto it. Then he dashed off into across the tundra once again, straight into the cave.
"Blast! He got away!" one mercenary shouted, letting out a stream of curses. He was a small man, and rather weak of arm, but fast and by reputation very stealthy. Unfortunately, however, not stealthy enough to have escaped their target's detection. The rest of the mercenary band, five members in all, the Summoner on the ethereal bird, and a single extra man, their employer, all stood around him, watching his little tirade. "Calm down, Caddus," said the employer, a tall, light skinned man standing at full height closer to seven feet than six. "We have him cornered, there's no way out of that cave except the way he went in." The mercenary leader stopped abruptly, as if realizing this for the first time, then gave a toothy grin and muttered for the rest of the group to follow him to the cave entrance. When they made the cave, Caddus barked at two of his men to stay at the entrance to make sure their quarry didn't back track past them and leave the cave, then moved on inside followed by the three remaining members of the group. The cloaked man paused before moving in, watching the three mercenaries walking ahead of him, then smiled and muttered to himself, "Alright then Bane, let's see how you've grown."
The three mercenaries made little sound as they wandered the icy cave, even the summoned bird moving almost silently as it circled overhead in the shadows of the many stalactites. The cave was very large with many overhead passages all over, making it easy for one to catch someone off guard. Caddus whispered to his two men to branch off and take a couple of those bridges while he and the cloaked man walked down the main path. The nodded and without a word padded away, leaving just Caddus and his employer alone. Caddus nodded to his companion, then the two of them moved father in. As they made their way down the path, the two other mercenaries periodically poked their heads out over the edge of the bridges they were on and motioned the all clear to Caddus, then continue on, but after a while their reports ended and they no longer gave any indication they were even there. Caddus stopped, turning to his employer with a grim expression.
"Something's wrong here, my men haven't reported in a while." The cloaked man nodded, is face completely in shadow.
"Yes, it appears that Bane has gotten to them."
The mercenary leader gave him and incredulous glare at that. "My men are seasoned veterans! You're telling me that some kid just ghosted two of my best men?"
"No, I'm saying he just ghosted three," he said, pointing up where the Summoner was supposed to be.
Caddus looked up and saw the Summoner gone and the great undead bird disappeared with him. He began to panic, looking all around, his heart pounding in his chest. How! How could this have happened? No man could do such a thing! He gripped the hilt of his silver dagger as he spun around, searching everywhere for the seemingly invisible man. "Where are you?" he shouted, anger and fear apparent in his voice.
"Here."
Caddus jumped and spun, surprised and scared at the sudden voice. After a few moments of staring into the open air where he'd heard the voice, he began again to frantically search the surrounding area. "Show yourself coward!" the mercenary leader shouted, drawing his dagger and holding it defensively before him.
"If that is your wish," the voice said again.
Caddus turned to the source of the voice and before him stood Bane, dual swords in their sheathes, eyes shadowed by the dim lighting of the cave. The sight of this man shook him, scared him so much he nearly wet himself. After a moment, he composed himself to an extent and leapt forward, swinging his dagger in a vicious sidelong slash. Bane quickly dodged the attack, ducking under it effortlessly, then came up with a strong right uppercut, knocking the man out in a single hit. Then he turned on the cloaked man, the employer of the mercenary band.
"What do you want from me?" he asked, his voice dark but his demeanor relaxed.
Despite his seeming security, the cloaked man knew that this warrior was fully prepared to draw his blades before he could get within striking distance. "Why have I been so hunted for these past months?"
"You've a price upon your head; you are to be captured and brought to me, but it appears you've become something of a challenge, and all my past mercenary bands have failed in the attempt to take you. Now I have come to take care of this matter personally." The man let his cloak open revealing a beautifully crafted two-handed scimitar and a suit of black lacquered leather armor with crimson designs and runes oddly similar to the ones Bane wore on every piece. He man slowly drew his blade and set himself into a comfortable defensive fighting stance, blade held vertically before him. "Now I shall finish this business. You shall come with me, or die in this cave."
Bane's smile betrayed the serious look in his eyes as he drew is own blades slowly, then in a blur of motion charged forward at the man. Despite the speed of the attack, the man matched the charge with a sidestep to dodge the first blade and whipping his blade to the side to parry the second. With surprising speed matching Bane's own, the man brought the scimitar back up in a backhand slash would have taken his Bane's arm had he not cross-parried it with both blades. In this position, the two men were unable to get an upper hand either way and were in a deadlock. Their speed and strength were identical, so their blades never moved though both were pushing with all their strength. Then they both leapt back, blades at the ready for another charge. But, instead of an attack, Bane was surprised to see it when his opponent suddenly broke down in a fit of laughter. Sheathing his blade, the man pulled back the cowl of his cloak and revealed his face. When he did this, Bane's hands went suddenly weak, his grip on his blades faltering as he muttered slowly, "Rane…?"
The man laughed again, stepping forward and presenting his hand to Bane. "Yes, it is I, brother. It's good to see you too!"