ONE - The Graduate
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Not far away but some time later, another man awoke suddenly, for a second the dream and the waking world confused with each other until his own eyes cleared and he felt the softness of the bed linen, the warmth of the air. There was a weight on his legs and he nearly started for a moment until he heard (felt?) the soft purring. Reality asserted itself and he realised it was just a cat that had probably come in through the open window during the night. He shifted and felt the furry intruder move as well; it stretched, mrowled and jumped off the bed.

A few minutes later, Virintehp was dressed, lacing his boots and donning his light leather armour over a dark blue tunic; a longsword hung in an ornate scabbard at his side. He hefted his backpack, light and neatly slung over his shoulders. Checked the pouch hanging from his belt, nodding to himself as he felt the shafts of several pointed-tipped arrows; stringing the longbow and slipping it onto his right shoulder. He was ready. Today was a very special day.

Virintehp nodded to Pavel as he headed out; the latter replied with a friendly smile. "Good day Virintehp. I though you'd sleep all day!"

The elf grinned. "I thought I nearly had when I woke up! The cat wasn't your idea was it?"

"What cat?"

"I thought as much." Virintehp winked at his friend. Pavel had a penchant for playing tricks on his fellow students. "Will I see you at the ceremony today, Pavel?"

"I wouldn't miss it! I hear Lady Aribeth herself will be there."

"Really?" Virintehp raised an eyebrow. Somehow it suited him, went well with the pointed ears. "It was Lady Aribeth who invited me here. Seems I'd become somewhat - notorious - in my home city and - well. Elves hear things from long distances, you know!"

Pavel laughed. "I'm sure! You're very lucky, Virintehp. Lady Aribeth is one of Neverwinter's greatest champions - and word has it she's very beautiful, too."

Virintehp smiled ruefully. "If this plague is everything we've been told, I don't think any of us new recruits will have much time for, erm, sightseeing."

"Maybe not. I don't hear much from the outside, but the guards are saying it's even worse than before."

Virintehp shook his head sadly. "Hard to believe. It was terrible even when I arrived here."

"Too true. Anyway, I should let you go. I'm sure Captain Herban will want to see you before graduation and you know how he is!"

"All too well. All right Pavel. I'll see you later!"

Virintehp nodded to Pavel's brother Bim as he left the students' quarters - "Good day Bim!" - and headed for the main training area where Captain Herban was waiting. Studying the instructor's face, Virintehp suspected Herban had gotten out of the wrong side of the bed this morning - either that, or his dog had just died of the plague.

"It's about time you showed up!" Herban snapped. "Thought we'd sleep in today, did we? Bah! You do know you've got your final tests today, recruit?"

Virintehp raised his eyes to the heavens for a second - just for a second, but the instructor caught him.
"Hmph! Just because he got a personal invite from Aribeth, he thinks he can disrespect me. Well you've got another think coming! Got a surprise for you, boy!"

Virintehp forebore to inform Herban that the latter was young enough to be his grandson, instead choosing to simply reply, "And what would that be?"

"Simple, recruit. You're not taking your final combat test with Dendy over there, seems he's got some other useless lumps to examine. You're sparring with me today!"

LATER

Virintehp entered the Graduation Hall slowly, garbed in his best equipment. He had exchanged the lighter leather armour for a suit of polished chain mail; a long black cloak slung over his shoulders, his father's longsword at his side. The blade was always chill to the touch even on the hottest summer day (although today hardly qualified...), and Virintehp suspected some enchantment had been worked deep into the steel at its forging. His family had possessed the weapon for generations, but it hadn't seen service in battle for many years. Maybe it would, today. Maybe... He flexed his arm and winced a little; right on the site of the bruise Herban's training sword had given him!

He gazed straight ahead. Academy training had driven much of his former self-doubt away, leaving him stronger in body and heart, and ready (as he thought) to face almost anything. A silver ring gleamed on the third finger of his right hand - another heirloom from his father. His blue-grey eyes reflected the torchlight in the Hall, for even at the height of day, the light that came through the high, narrow windows was seldom enough to illuminate the entire place.

She stood in the centre of the Hall, resplendent in her plate armour, armour that did little to hide her figure. A pang struck Virintehp as he laid eyes on her: Lady Aribeth de Tylmarande, Champion of Neverwinter, Paladin of Tyr and one of the Neverwinter Nine. Her face possessed the ethereal elven beauty of Virintehp's own people; her delicate features framed by light-brown hair that made Virintehp wonder how it would feel to run his fingers through it... He snapped himself back to reality before she caught him staring, and approached her.

"Lady Aribeth, I presume?" He bowed his head to her, raising it again to gaze into her soft brown eyes as she spoke.

"You must be Virintehp Orantar," she said in musical tones, light and calm. "I've been looking forward to meeting you; the Academy instructors speak very highly of you."

Virintehp couldn't resist quirking a smile.
"Even Captain Herban?"

"Especially Captain Herban," she replied. "He didn't want it to go to your head, so he kept it back while you were training, but he assures me you are one of the finest swordsmen he's trained. If a little - reckless," she said, smiling slightly at him.

He returned the smile. "I am honoured, My Lady," he said.

"After the ceremony," she said, "maybe I could speak with you in private? I have something to ask of you - wait. Do you feel that"
He could indeed feel that, a hum in the air, an almost-imperceptible sussuration on the very edge of hearing.

"Brace yourself!" Aribeth cried; he swept the longsword from its scabbard even as she drew her own weapon. "We are under attack!"

Four figures materialised around the perimeter of the hall, garbed in black robes, hooded, chanting words of power to rend flesh and shatter bone. Virintehp leapt to the side of one of the other graduates - a young human woman, an apprentice wizard, her blonde hair flying as she whirled to face the assailant. The intruder raised his (her? its?) staff and spoke in a loud, swift voice. Sparks of lightning came from both ends of the staff, searing into the blonde; Virintehp could smell her burning hair and he swung his sword desperately, knocking the mage's staff to the floor.
"Whelp!" the intruder shouted, raising its hands. Pale, run through with protruding veins, the nails long like hooked claws. The blonde girl next to him was swinging her own staff now, knocking their enemy off guard. Virintehp's blade came down, slicing the pale hands off at the wrists. The mage screamed, a long-drawn-out cry, vanishing back into the maelstrom of energies it had emerged from.

Virintehp quickly turned to assess the situation. Lady Aribeth had already slain two of the other intruders; two of the other graduates lay unmoving on the floor. He ran forward to confront the fourth, even as it charged toward him; there was a sickening squelch and he realised the attacker had collided with him, his weapon running it right through. It gurgled, collapsed; he wiped his sword on its cloak. Then Aribeth was in front of him.

"Listen to me!" she said urgently. "I fear this was no random attack. You might have heard the rumours already, of a plague cure?"

Virintehp shook his head. "No, Lady; I've been occupied with my training."

"Well," she said, "I have consulted with Waterdeep's archmage, Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun, and he believes there may be a cure which we can distill from four magical beasts, which he has sent here - to the Academy - under great secrecy. I fear Neverwinter's enemies may have learned of them and sent these attackers here to stop us finding the cure. You must go, quickly, and protect these creatures! I will remain here to deal with any remaining intruders, but the creatures are being kept in the stables nearby. You must hurry!"

Virintehp did as Aribeth asked without question, weapon drawn, running through the corridors. Unused to the heavy chain-mail, he found himself tiring, but kept going. He met a few scattered goblins in the halls; one blow from his sword dispatched them each in turn, but otherwise he found no-one living. The sounds of combat echoes along the walls as the militia engaged in battle with the intruders. Flames licked up the walls of the library. Another dark-robed mage appeared.
"Ha, what's this?" he cried. "We were expecting Aribeth, not some whelp! No matter!" He disappeared agin, summoning more goblins in his wake; Virintehp was hard put to it to hold them all off and once a dagger pierced his side, but it didn't enter deeply and the goblin was soon lying headless, its blood seeping into the stone floor. Up ahead was a heavy wooden door; Virintehp heaved it open, ignoring the pain from the dagger wound, and hastily scanned the area for enemies. Nothing. But there was someone in there.

"Pavel?"

"Virintehp! Thank Tyr you're here, I thought those goblins would be the death of me!"

In fact Virintehp could see the corpses of several goblins lying around, looking as if their heads had been clobbered with something heavy. Pavel sheepishly gestured to a broken vase.
"I didn't have a weapon on me!"

Virintehp grinned. "Looks like you did a good enough job though"
"I don't know," Pavel said. "I'm still shaking. Real fighting's very different from training!"

"That much is certain," Virintehp remarked.

"Mind if I tag along?" Pavel asked. "I'm not sure I could handle any more encounters on my own!"

"Two blades are better than one!" Virintehp replied, pulling the dagger he'd been attacked with from his belt and offering it to Pavel, who gratefully accepted the weapon.
"Better than a vase, anyway," Virintehp remarked with a wink.

Up ahead the corridor opened out into a wide reception area, and the two Academy graduates warily looked around.

There he was! the mage that had taunted Virintehp, robed in black with red trimmings, raising his hands to cast a spell. At Pavel! Virintehp leapt in front, his blade drawn, slashing and sweeping, goblins scattering in terror. Virintehp squared off against the mage.
"So you survived this far!" the latter cried. "It is of no import! You shall die here!"

"Guess again," Virintehp said levelly, swinging his weapon's notched blade as he whispered the words his father had taught him so many years ago.

And the weapon came to life. Cold flames licked their way down the blade from point to hilt, and the mage took a step back. Not far enough, though, as the weapon sliced cleanly across his chest and a thin rivulet of blood ran down the mage's robe. He staggered, lashed out with his fists, and Virintehp drew back and buried his sword in his enemy's chest.

He turned to Pavel, just finishing off the last of the goblins.
"Now this is living!" the elven warrior exulted.

"If you say so!" Pavel gasped, catching his breath before Virintehp sprinted onwards towards the door and through.

He stopped.
Ahead of him was another pack of goblins, encircling a group of strange beings the like of which he hadn't seen before. He only recognised two of them from books he had read in his father's library: the cold, serpentine features of a Yuan-ti, and a cockatrice, probably the oddest-looking beast that ever grew feather. One of the others was so lovely, she could only be a dryad. He could put no name to the fourth, a monstrous dog-like beast with a huge pulsating mass of grey flesh where its head should have been.

All this he noted in a flash before charging forward to hack a goblin down where it stood.
"Kill the dryad!" another one screeched.
"No!" the lovely wood spirit cried, moving her hands in a graceful gesture and vanishing.
"Free! Free at last! Fools!" the yuan-ti cackled, also vanishing; the other two creatures broke for it and fled through the door ahead just as Virintehp and Pavel took care of the last of the goblins.

"no..." a sorrowful voice came, and Virintehp saw emerging from the shadows a fellow elf, dressed in the simple robes of a cleric.
"The creatures gone, the Academy students slain..."

Another cleric, taller, bald and dressed in red and black, joined the elf.
"I told you we should have entrusted the creatures to my Helmite brethren!" he snapped. "Now look at the results! And this, Fenthick!" He gestured derisively toward Virintehp. "We know nothing about this one, either!"

The elven cleric - Fenthick - drew himself up, although his head was barely level with the Helmite's shoulders.
"You shouldn't say that, Desther! Aribeth - " but the other - Desther - cut him off sharply.

"Pah! Fine! You and your lady love put your trust in a whelp from the Academy. I and my Helmites are going to clear up the mess you've left behind!"

With that he turned, bristling with righteous anger, and stalked out.

Fenthick approached Virintehp.
"Please, forgive Desther," he said softly, a shy smile appearing on his face; Virintehp liked him instinctively.
"The strain weighs heavily on his shoulders."

Virintehp nodded. "True enough. Still, should we not direct our anger at whoever sent these goblins after us?" He gestured towards the carnage on the floor.

Fenthick nodded.
"I know we should," he said, "but it's been difficult for the Helmites in this time. Anyway - I forget my manners. I am Fenthick Moss; I'm a priest of Tyr in the temple here, and in close accord with - with Lady Aribeth. She wishes you to join us in the Halls of Justice; I believe she has another task for you. Will you come?"

"Of course, Fenthick," Virintehp said, sheathing his sword and placing a friendly hand on the cleric's shoulder before turning back to Pavel.

"Are you coming, my friend?"

Pavel faltered for a second, then shook his head.
"No, Virintehp. As much as I'd like to stick by you, the warrior's life isn't for me. I learned that today."

"I suppose," Virintehp replied, "but the Gods test us, and they never give us more than we can handle, wouldn't you think?"

"They gave me just about as much as I could bear today," Pavel said softly. "I think I need to go home. Farming seems like a welcome return to normality for me now!"

"All right. But if I'm ever in your neck of the woods, expect a visit!"

Pavel smiled. "My door will always be open to you!" as he followed Fenthick out of the door.

Virintehp shrugged and followed as well, watching as Pavel turned down a different corridor and out into the city, while Fenthick entered a large, columned chamber lit with many torches. In the centre a priest of Tyr prayed at an altar seemingly lit from within, while off to one side stood Lady Aribeth, and again Virintehp was struck by her grace and lithe movements.

"Virintehp," she said with a smile. "I'm glad you made it here safely. You saw the four creatures that escaped?"

Virintehp nodded, suddenly making the connections.
"Those were the ones sent from Waterdeep, weren't they?"

"Yes," Aribeth said. "And now they're loose in the streets of the city. Most of the guard are busy trying to keep order, and of the Academy students only you and Pavel survived. So I ask you, Virintehp Orantar - you must find them, and return them here. Neverwinter is counting on you now. It's only with the reagents we can obtain from these four magical creatures that we can cure the plague. We need you."

The look in her eyes melted Virintehp's heart; he knew he could refuse this exquisite woman nothing.

"I will do it, my Lady," he said. "You have my word."