The snap of the feared snake-headed whip rang hard on the young drow's skin.
Zax cried out, despite how hard he tried to hold it in. It gave his mother satisfaction.
" You brought shame upon your family! You have displeased Lolth by failing to bring back the rouge! " His mother, Briza, shrieked.
" Matron moth – "
His mother's angry response was another whipping for speaking without her permission.
Zax bit his lip as he felt the sting of the whip again.
" Never speak without my permission! I told you to find Drizzt and you come back to me without him, mumbling lame excuses! "
Zax wisely said nothing as his mother continued to yell at him.
" Go now to your quarters, before I decide to give you more time for you and my whip to know one another…" His mother sneered.
Zax stood, shakily. He turned around to face his mother and bowed low before racing out the door.
There he found his uncle Dinin, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
Dinin was the only one in the family that Zax got along with, the only one that he felt he could trust.
" Dinin! " Came Brizza's scream.
Dinin sighed, placed a hand on Zax's shoulder to offer comfort, before heading through the doors.
Zax took a deep breath, his eyes closed, already knowing that his uncle was going to get the same punishment as he had.
The two of them had gone on patrol through the Underdark, looking for Drizzt and had not found him even after days of searching.
Zax sighed and walked down the hall, hearing the slap of the dreaded whip hit Dinin's skin.
He switched his pace into a run, trying to escape the cries of pain coming from behind.
" Well, well look who's back from the patrol so soon. " Came a sly voice from behind one of the many pillars in the hallway.
Zax slowed down to a stop, searching for who ever it was that had spoken.
His older brother Lucareus, stepped out from behind a pillar beside him, a smirk on his face.
" Mother wasn't pleased when she learned that you two were on your way home with no prisoner. "
" No, she wasn't pleased…" Zax scowled.
Lucareus' eyes narrowed.
" Don't speak to me like that Secondboy…"
Zax didn't reply.
" … the Weapons Master is waiting for you in the training room, brother. " Lucareus sneered before leaving.
Zax continued on his way, left in a sour mood at his brother's cocky attitude. One day, Zax would be Elderboy. He would make sure of it.
….
Zax made his way to the training room, drumming on the hilts of his two twin-bladed baton swords. They were rare in Menzobarranzan, Do'Urden being the only house that had a set, thanks to the , now dead, legendary weapons master, Zaknafien. The weapons master had gotten them on a raid to the surface.
What the new Weapons Master wanted with him was a mystery to the young drow, for he had only two weeks before graduated from Meele Magthere. He had trained with the new Weapons Master, Argorth, at an early age. Argorth had noticed that Zax had a way with his hands, that he would be a good swordsman and had at the age of ten, begun to train him to be as powerful a swordsman as his infamous uncle Drizzt. They wanted Drizzt dead and the only way they would be able to do that is through Zax they believed, because if Dinin and even Zaknafien himself, couldn't beat the renegade drow then no one else could.
Zax hated having so much weight forced onto his shoulders, they truly expected him to be an amazing swordsman. If he didn't exceed their expectations, Zax was punished.
Lost in his thoughts, Zax didn't see the bugbear cross his path and nearly tripped over the hairy creature.
He caught himself though before he fell and whipped around, drawing his swords and aiming them at the slave's throat.
" How dare you! " He hissed.
The bugbear's eyes widened in fear and mumbled something in it's own language that Zax could not even begin to understand..
He slapped the worthless creature upside the head with more strength than he thought he had, sending it flying into the nearby wall.
" That'll teach you. Never get in the way of a Secondboy…" He snarled to the pathetic bugbear slave.
" Sorry…master! " It mumbled, in hardly distinguishable drow tongue.
Zax pivoted on his heel, sheathed his swords in one fluid movement, and continued on his way in a very bad mood.
He reached the door to the weapons room fairly quickly, quicker than usual, and threw open the door to see his former master standing there, facing the weapons rack.
" Welcome home, my boy. " Argorth mumbled, turning around to face Zax.
Zax bowed.
" Master. "
Argorth chuckled.
" I'm no longer your master, boy. You're a drow warrior now. "
Zax couldn't help but smile slightly.
" Yes. I suppose. What did you want of me? "
" … spar one last time with me? "
Zax's face showed surprise at the request.
" Spar? " He grinned and nodded.
" I knew that you'd agree. " His former master smirked and drew his twin swords.