The Forgotten Realms Book 4
It had been a week since Aldalon had fought off an invasion at the small town of West Harbor. The villagers there had decided it was time to seek refuge and help from Lord Nasher in Neverwinter. The young elf, Aldalon, was at the front of the caravan, helping it traverse the Sword Coast. Aldalon's friend, a monk named Vaxel Hian, and a tiefling, named Andill were on the rear guard while a Cleric by the name of Vollor guarded the left side and a young Wizard, named William, guarded the right side.
"Are we there yet?" Andill yelled.
"I don't know!" Aldalon yelled back.
Andill sighed and pulled out a flask.
"What have you got in there?" The moon elf asked him.
"Some cold ale," Andill replied, "It keeps me going."
Aldalon rolled his eyes.
"Hey guys!" Vaxel yelled.
"What is it?" Aldalon exclaimed.
"I think I just saw a bird!" Vaxel said.
"That's great," Vollor sighed, "Now if only you could…"
Before Vollor could finish his sentence the bird hit the ground with a shuriken in its stomach.
"…Why did you do that?" Vollor asked the monk.
"It just didn't look right." Vaxel replied.
Andill laughed, "That reminds me of someone!"
"Oh be quiet!" Vollor replied, "I swear that the thing in the window was a swamp lizard!"
Andill smiled.
"Hey! I think I see something!" Aldalon yelled, "Its Neverwinter!"
Sure enough, the looming stone walls of Neverwinter came into sight. Outside of these walls a refugee camp had already been set up. As the caravan approached the camp, a human male and female dwarf cleric ran out of their tents.
"Firehands!" The male human, who was the bartender from Westgate, exclaimed.
"Aye! We thought we lost'cha!" The female cleric smiled, "Don'tcha ever scare us like that again!"
Aldalon laughed, "Don't worry I won't."
"So where is this caravan from?" The bartender from Westgate asked.
"West Harbor," Aldalon replied.
"I see," The bartender said while Andill walked up to the three.
"I take it you all know each other?" Andill asked them.
"Aye," The dwarf said, "That we do, Ol'Firehands here fought off an invasion of goblins that attacked our bar!"
"The man took the goblin chief's head off with one crossbow bolt!" The bartender exclaimed.
"Really now?" Andill laughed, "Firehands? I guess I could see that."
Vollor, William and Vaxel walked up to the four.
"Aldalon, Andill," William said, "The captain ordered us to speak with Lord Nasher."
Andill nodded, "Come on "Firehands"," Andill said and grabbed the elven sorcerer by the arm and dragged him into the city of Neverwinter. Aldalon remember something as they passed by a store with a sign that read "Sand's Potion Shop" he got out of the tiefling's grip and ran into the shop.
"Well if it isn't one of my kind," The voice of a lecherous elf said, "Tell me, what brings you here?"
"My master, Thaneus, told me about you," Aldalon said.
"Oh Thaneus!" The elf said walking into the sunlight, revealing his slightly tanned skin, green eyes, and brown hair, "How is the old man doing?"
"He died trying to escape Westgate."
The elf paused for a second, "The planes shall mourn his passing."
Aldalon nodded.
"Did Thaneus give you some findings?" Sand asked Aldalon.
Aldalon shook his head but took out the note again, a small sheet of paper dropped out.
"That must be them!" Sand exclaimed and picked them up, his happiness quickly turning to panic, "You must get these finds to Lord Nasher right away!"
Aldalon nodded and began to head for the door.
"There is a catch," Sand said, "Since there are increasing tensions with the Luskans, no one is allowed to see Lord Nasher unless four members of the Neverwinter Nine can vouch for them.
"Who are the Neverwinter Nine?" Aldalon asked.
"They're Nasher's elite bodyguard. I happen to know one of them frequents the tavern across the street. Goes by the name Laryoss, he's a Drow Paladin." Sand handed him a list, "These are the other members of the Neverwinter Nine and where you can find them."
Aldalon took the list and headed outside, the other four party members waiting outside the shop.
"Took you long enough," William said, "Now we need to go see Lord Nasher!"
"There is problem," Aldalon said, "We have to get the approval of four members of the Neverwinter Nine."
"Well, where can we find some of the "Neverwinter Nine"?" Vollor asked.
"There was one in the tavern nearby," Aldalon said.
"Alright! Now you guys are speaking my language!" Andill cheered and made a bee line for the tavern. The others followed into the bar and saw a group of wizards in red robes sitting at a table, talking. At the end of the bar was a man in a black hood. Thinking the man was the druid who had helped Aldalon escape Westgate, the young elf decided to talk to the man.
"Excuse me, do I know you?" Aldalon said. The man got up and backed handed Aldalon onto the ground. The man trudged past more of the bar patrons and removed his hood, revealing an elf with pitch black skin and short, white hair. The elf went up to one of the wizard and slammed his hand on the table.
"Tell me where they are right now!" The elf growled.
"I'm afraid we don't know anything," The first red wizard said. The elf picked the first wizard but the robe collar and held a sword to his neck.
"You have five seconds to tell me where you Red Wizards are hiding," The elf growled.
"I swear sir!" The first Red Wizard exclaimed in panic, "We don't know what you're talking about!"
The elf sneered and put the man down, "Very well." The elf said.
The first Red Wizard breathed a sigh of relief, just then the black elf whipped around and decapitated him. He ran over to a second Red Wizard and slammed his face into the table and drove his sword into the human's back. He went to the last one.
"We meet in some place called the Crag in the Sword Mountains!" The third Wizard panicked, "Please don't hurt me!"
A smile crept across the elf's face, "Your five seconds has long been up!" He laughed and kneed the wizard in the gut before severing his neck. The elf regained composure for a brief second and went over to Aldalon, picking him up by the shirt collar.
"What in the Nine Hells did you think you were doing?" The elf growled, "You could have blown my cover!"
"I'm sorry sir, but I'm looking for a Drow named Laroyss."
"That's me," The paladin said, "What do you want?"
"We need you're approval so that we can speak to Lord Nasher."
Laroyss burst into laughter, "You think I would endorse the idiot who almost blew my cover? No, no I would not." The paladin snarled before throwing Aldalon onto the ground, "Now get out of my sight!"
"That isn't typical Paladin behavior," Vaxel said.
"I'm a Grey Guard," Laroyss laughed, "I can do whatever I want as long as I can justify it."
With that the paladin exited the Tavern. The party ran over to Aldalon to see if he was okay.
"I'm fine," Aldalon said and got up, "This is going to be harder than I thought."
"I say we head to the Crag and bust some Red Wizard heads!" Andill said, beating his chest.
"I agree," William said, "It will prove to Laroyss that we're not some weaklings!"
"Agreed!" Andill roared, "Now let's go!"
The party ran for what seemed like forty minutes and came to a small cave in the Sword Mountains.
"I'm going in!" William roared, Andill following in suit.
"Guys!" Vollor exclaimed, "Blast it! We have to go in after them!"
Aldalon and Vaxel nodded, the three running in. When they got into the small cave, they noticed Laroyss facing three Wizards dressed in Red .
"Your time is up!" The paladin yelled.
"What does a paladin like you hope to do against the three of us?" The first Red Wizard laughed, the low growling of hyena men echo through the cave as several gnolls surrounded Laroyss. The drow rolled his eyes and decapitated two of them with a swing of his sword. Andill roared with barbaric fury and ran toward one of the gnolls, driving his axe into its arm. William jumped in after Andill and stabbed another gnoll in the leg. Aldalon shot a ray of icy energy at one Wizard and the cleric began to flank the gnolls.
"What is all this noise?" Another Red Wizard, who was probably the leader, said and walked into the light.
"The sound you will hear before you death!" The Drow paladin yelled and leaped over the other three Red Wizards, stabbing the leader in the chest and letting the blood fly onto his face. Laroyss then took this blood and smeared it all on him and roared with fury.
The three other Red Wizards turned around and began to fire spells at the Paladin, who easily shrugged them off. Andill swung at the gnoll in front of him and cleaved its face in two. William skewered his opponent. Vollor landed a nun-chuck attack to the side of the first Red Wizard's chest. Aldalon caused fire to erupt from his hands and scorched two Red Wizards. Vaxel jumped in front of the second Red Wizard and landed an uppercut to his jaw with tremendous force, sending the head clean off. Laroyss ran forward and drove his sword into the Wizards chest before Andill and William cleaved Vollor's target into thirds.
"Well I'll be damned," The Paladin laughed, "You people actually do know how to pull teeth, I guess we could talk."
"Alright," Aldalon said, "What do we need to do for you?"
The paladin smiled, "You know I'm a drow right?" Laroyss growled, "Aren't all us Drow's evil, elf?"
Aldalon sighed, "Look, first off you're a paladin, second off you didn't kill me when you have a clean shot so you have some morals to you."
Laroyss smiled, "Very well, I need help with getting rid of my past."
"Your past?" Vaxel asked.
"I come from The Underdark, basically, we men are treated like sex toys for the women and I was one to my sister."
Andill snickered.
The paladin gave him a harsh glare, "I escaped her many years ago and now, I wish to pay her back." Laroyss continued, "I need your help to go to her estate and killed our entire family," Laroyss said, "After that, we will burn that place to the ground."
Aldalon smiled, "If we do that, then you'll vouch for us when we speak to Lord Nasher."
Laroyss nodded, "Yes, I will."
"Deal," Aldalon said.
"Very well," The paladin said, "Let's get out of this wretched hive of scum and villainy."