Out Of The Shadows

Chapter Eight:

The Edge of the World

Never judge a book by its cover… that's what Imoen had been taught in Candlekeep, where they certainly had a lot of books so presumably knew what they were talking about. The monks there strove to have a copy of every book ever written on Toril, adding a mile of shelf every year. That meant that if Imoen ever finished writing her book, '1001 Ways To Really Annoy A Candlekeep Monk', then somewhere in it's vast, dusty old halls, someone was going to have to store a copy of it. She'd been forced to leave her childhood home and it was unlikely she would ever be able to return, but it was nice to think that she could live on there in some small way. And, who knew, maybe in a couple of century's time some bored little girl would find her book and be inspired by it.

Ah… but she had to stop all this digressing. Terrible habit that she had; she kept digressing while writing her book as well. That was why it was taking so long, but… anyway… never judge a book by its cover. The living proof of that axiom was standing opposite her in a little makeshift ring they had prepared; they'd drawn a circle in some dirt. Both Imoen and Aerie were armed with wooden swords and shields; like the Avariel had said, the circus sometimes staged mock battles and so there were a number of practice weapons around. And while they practiced, the bustle of the Circus and other business in The Promenade that morning went on around them as usual, despite all the recent events. Humanity was resilient in that way.

The thing was, almost anything you might assume about Aerie just by looking at her was likely to turn out to be wrong. If you assumed she was some dumb or fake blonde, you were just completely wrong. But if you assumed she was just a completely sweet, innocent, wouldn't hurt a fly the little wingless angel, you were wrong again. There was anger in her, willingness to fight. Imoen had first really seen it when Aerie had stood up, clenching her fists after being pushed by Tira, just able to stop herself punching the bully which would have ended disastrously for the Elf at that moment. And then again when she'd rushed off, utterly determined to save Quayle despite all Imoen's sage advice... Imoen was glad to have seen it though, because to survive in the world out there you needed a little bit of anger and determination sometimes.

The problem she was experiencing now though, was that while Aerie had no problem swinging her glass sword at illusionary beasts, she was extremely reluctant to take a swing at Imoen even with just a wooden one.

"Hey, kid… don't worry about hurting me," Imoen guessed that was the problem; wooden swords could still sting quite a bit. It probably didn't help the blonde either that, even though it was still early, there were still quite a few people about who could see them. The Elf kept glancing all around, then quickly lowering and hiding her head every time she thought someone was glancing in her direction.

"B-but…" the Elf stuttered, looking uncertainly at the weapon she carried in her hand.

"Listen; we do this sort of thing all the time," the redhead explained. Even though both she and Aerie were spellcasters, they couldn't always rely on magic. You could run out of components, or if enemies got too close they could make it seriously hard to concentrate on casting. Although rare, there were even places and artefacts in the world that could cancel out magic completely. In Amn there was the additional problem of the Cowled Wizards possibly beaming in if you were seen casting battle magic in the open. So it was important they be able to defend themselves using more conventional means as well, at least well enough so they could escape or survive long enough for the likes of Minsc or Jaheira to rescue them.

"I won't get mad or start hating you even if you do beat me. Of course," Imoen stretched herself, holding her wooden sword across the back of her own neck very casually, "there's really not much chance of that, anyway, is there? I seriously doubt your best shot would even come close… " Ah, there, Imoen grinned. There was definitely a flash in Aerie's eyes.

"I… I'm not weak, you know," the blonde grumbled slightly.

"Yeah? Well why don't you prove it, kiddo?"

"I-it's just that…"

"What?"

"Well," Aerie took a deep breath, "I-I think the only reason you're making me wear this shield is so I have to hold my sword in my right hand, and you know I'm left handed…"

"Aerie!" Imoen gasped in mock horror, "as if I would resort to such underhanded tactics just to win a friendly sparring match… what kind of person do you think I am? I'm, frankly, shocked, that you would have such a low opinion of me, after all we've already been through together. I… I thought you liked me," she hung her head and then shook it slowly, her lower lip appearing to tremble slightly. "How… how can you say such nasty things? Accuse me like that? But, I suppose if that's what you think, I'll just leave you alone here, then… with your guilt."

"No! T-that's not what I," Aerie gasped in actual horror, not wanting to be left anywhere or to have upset… but then, her look changed to one of suspicion. "You… y-you're mocking me, aren't you?"

"No Aerie, I would never mock a nice person like you," Imoen looked up and returned Aerie's narrow gaze. "I would never say they ye're just trying to make excuses 'cause you already know you're gonna lose, yer weak kneed, lily-livered knave, you."

"Stop it. If… i-if you think you'll beat me easily then… you're wrong," the Avariel boldly declared, grinning a little as she assumed a fight stance. "From what I've seen and heard, y-you're not all that much better than me. I'm going to try my best!"

Aerie certainly made good on that promise. Imoen was taken completely by surprise at the speed of her attack, immediately forcing the redhead back and on the defensive. Obviously, she was no Jaheira, who had devoted much of her life to martial pursuits, but for an amateur who had learnt just by watching actors she was in fact quite skilled even with her weaker hand, the redhead only just managing to block and avoid most of her attacks. There was a horrible moment for Imoen as she started to fear she was actually going to be embarrassed by the newbie. That was all her self-confidence needed right now…

But, Imoen recovered. Aerie moved with surprising and showed surprising agility as dodged out of the way of one of the redhead's few early attempts to counter attack. But as quick as she was, Imoen was just a bit quicker. She fell back, blocking sometimes, occasionally countering but with no real conviction; it was just to encourage Aerie to keep moving forward. She felt that if the Elf managed to corner her, the blonde might be able to give a real hammering. But, so long as she stayed just out of reach… she felt and heard Aerie's breath when they locked. Fast, heavy… the Elf couldn't keep this up for too long. The redhead grinned and winked as she broke away. It wasn't long before Aerie started to slow down, and gradually the tide of battle shifted toward Imoen being on the offensive. Finally she broke through the Elf's guard, striking her across the chest with her shield. When Aerie opened her eyes, she found herself looking up at Imoen who had her sword pointed down at her neck.

"You're dead," Imoen chirpily pronounced. Aerie shut her eyes again, and groaned frustratedly and miserably. "That was way, way too easy," the redhead smiled victoriously, leaning back and resting the sword on the back of her neck once again.

"I… I-I could have… could have had you," the Elf insisted, still trying to catch her breath as she crawled slowly to her knees.

"Yeah… you could have," the redhead admitted. She was finding it hard to think of any really useful tips she could give… Jaheira really should have been out here, but as far as Imoen could tell the fighter and druid hadn't woken up yet. Not that she was expecting things to go back to normal so soon, or ever, really… but it felt odd. Jaheira was usually the first up, right at dawn.

"Anyway," Imoen said, dropping her weapons and holding out a hand to the defeated Elf, "don't be too disheartened, kid. I am a really famous and beautiful hero, after all…"

"Left hand," Aerie said suddenly as she pulled herself back up.

"What?" The redhead blinked in surprise.

"I-I think I can fight better with my left hand," the Avariel explained, "so let's lose the shields. Oh, u-unless of course," the Elf said with a little smile appearing on her lips, "you're afraid of me hurting your looks, oh beautiful hero…"

"Aw… shucks, Aerie. You really wanna end up on a temple slab on your first day, huh?" Imoen laughed. Of course, she had known that Aerie would be at a disadvantage using her right, but that was the way you had to fight with a shield or else you'd leave your whole left side exposed, so she'd wanted Aerie to get used to it. She supposed after winning the first round, it was okay to let Aerie have something her own way though. "Oh well… if you insist," she sighed a tad theatrically, picking up her sword while the Elf did the same.

They faced off again, both determined not to lose. Aerie wanted to prove that she could fight, and Imoen… well, it just wouldn't do to let the new girl win. Got to leave her with something to aim for. But, they were smiling nonetheless. They both wanted to test themselves, become better, stronger, and at the end of it they would both get to walk away with no hard feelings. Well, maybe some hard feeling for an hour or two, but after that they'd get over it.

Before the second round could actually begin however, one of the caravan doors flew open and that jungle woman, Tira, tumbled out. Imoen had chosen this spot for their practice for a reason, and that reason was she wanted to see the results of last night's foray. She gestured for Aerie to stand down, and turned to face the bully as the performer picked herself up.

"Well now," Imoen said with a big grin as she crossed her arms, "that's… a bold new look for you, isn't it?"

Tira, her hair dyed bright green, looked up at the Elf and the redhead standing side by side. Slowly, realisation seemed to dawn on her, and her face started into a feral snarl that suited her costume. She was about to rush at them, but more pressing matters were upon her… she suddenly blinked, her mouth and eyes becoming perfectly round as she crossed her legs and started to bob on her knees slightly. She then did rush, away from them, to find a latrine.

Imoen shared a satisfied giggle with her new elven friend. It had been worth the wait.


It was short time later when Jaheira found herself squinting as she opened the door to her caravan. The Sun seemed like a strange sight to her.

She supposed Imoen thought she was doing a favour, making sure that old Gnome gave a place she could be alone. But in truth, the isolation had done her little good. It was the first time in a long she had rested somewhere alone… she hadn't rested well. Awake half the night, remembering, remembering that all she could do now was remember, and weeping sporadically… she supposed she was glad no one had seen that, especially Imoen. Although, after her initial breakdown, Imoen seemed to be coping quite well, now. Maybe she didn't need Jaheira to be strong after all. Maybe she needed a friend, and that's what she seemed to have found in Aerie.

The druid slowly made her way outside. The world around her didn't seem real, like she could see it but she wasn't really a part of it. Unfortunately, she knew it was and everything that had happened the last few days hadn't been a dream. This world was real, and so she was going to have to deal with it. Not so long ago, she thought she could beat the world into whatever shape she wanted to be. The folly and arrogance of youth.

She walked, starting to feel the Sun on her skin, not really thinking about where she was going. She was going to have to fit into the world, somehow. What had anchored her here up to now had been… taken. But Khalid wouldn't want her to stop; he would want her to keep going, and keep their promise to watch over the child. Where it he alive and not her, that's what she would have wanted too. And so that is what she would do, while giving herself a new purpose, a new reason to live and stay anchored to this world.

Those damn wizards had better not have done anything stupid. No one was to kill Irenicus except her. If he was alive, he was bound to attempt to recapture Imoen eventually… although she felt it better to go after him first, rather than let him plan everything again. There was also the matter of Eldoth Kron; she hadn't failed to notice that he was the only with them that night who hadn't been in the dungeon. But he was nothing. He could wait. She would use every resource available to her to find him at some point, but after dealing with Irenicus.

In the meantime, she had to find out what Imoen's plans were. The girl seemed to want to start being more independent, make her own decisions… but Jaheira was of course going to make damn well sure that she made all the right ones.

It wasn't hard to find Imoen. She heard the all the clattering of the wooden practice weapons and found her ward sparring with that blonde haired elven girl, Aerie, the one who said she was Avariel. She certainly fit the description, minus wings… pale, almost white skin, eyes that were slightly larger in proportion to her head than most, which of course did give her a rather child-like face by other races standards, especially when combined with her other elven features.

Jaheira had said she had no objection to the Elf joining them, and she hadn't. She had proven she had courage, and skill in the use of magic and, watching her now, she wasn't completely terrible with a sword either, although she did need a lot more practice still and to work on her fitness. Coming from a travelling Circus, she could probably weather most of the hardships an adventurer would endure as well. At least, she presumably knew how to pitch a tent. So, if Imoen wanted a friend or a little sister along, this one was fine…

The only problem was they might not have much time before having to face Irenicus again. She gathered that Aerie, a former slave, hadn't seen much of the world outside of this Circus. That was not her fault, of course, but there were many out there who would very quickly take advantage of a naïve and pretty young thing like that. There was no time to break her in gently; she was going to have to figure things out and get tougher, fast. And let's face it, it wasn't going to be Imoen who took care of that, was it? No, it was all going to fall to Jaheira, again…

She watched the pair of them fighting for quite a while, even though she found it one of the saddest spectacles she had ever beheld. Aerie… her stance was all wrong. And Imoen… did she practice anything Jaheira had taught her? They fell and rolled around, wrestling each other like children… and they laughed. They actually laughed… Jaheira gritted her teeth, started clenching her fists, suddenly very furious.

Did they think it was a game? That any of this was a game? Did they think their enemies would run them through, and then shrug and apologise and everyone carry on like nothing had happened… like no one had died…

No… no. Calm down… overreacting just a tad there, dear. She should not begrudge the girls whatever enjoyment they had, even if she was finding it hard to be light hearted at a time like this. She did though; she was still furious. But she didn't have to show it. She tried to focus instead on what she needed to do to help them both improve.

Imoen was getting the better of her rather less experienced opponent. Aerie's main weakness was her stamina, and she obviously knew it too. That was probably why she kept trying to rush Imoen and finish her quickly. Unfortunately, time and again she didn't quite manage to and was then very vulnerable to the counter attack. They could work on her stamina, and in the meantime she should learn to pace herself better, slow it down to what she could manage, make her opponent come to her more. And as for Imoen, Jaheira had obviously already worked on her quite a bit. Still, her strikes were clumsy and amateurish, hardly improved at all since she'd first met her… a lot more practice. For both of them. Today though, let them have their fun.

"They seem to be enjoying themselves, don't they?" Jaheira looked down and saw the old Gnome, Quayle, standing beside her. She had no idea how long he had been.

"Yes," she agreed, "they seem to be." At the moment, she was still finding it very hard to empathise with anyone enjoying themselves, though.

"I've never seen Aerie laugh like that," the old Gnome sighed, "she's always so… withdrawn. Usually very quiet when she meets people for the first time. And then Imoen comes along and suddenly she's… doing all this," he gestured at the pair, still fighting and giggling, despite all the eyes now surely on them.

"Imoen stores a lot of energy for one person. Sometimes it infects others."

"It's… nice to see, isn't it?"

"I suppose so," Jaheira sighed. In truth, neither of them really seemed committed to that statement.

"Heh… I should be happier for her, shouldn't I? Hmph… instead, I feel like the world has ended, and been replaced by a much stranger one," the old Gnome said. Jaheira watched him curiously as he started to hobble away. "It's always like that when you lose someone dear to you."

"You… you have not lost her," the Druid, said, perplexed by the statement that seemed to echo her own feelings, even though the situation was clearly very different. "She is over there, still. And I am sure she will return to see you some time in the future."

"Hm, yes, but will I be here?" The Gnome turned back with a gentle smile. "When you're as old as I am… well, if you're lucky you won't get to be as old as I am."

"Do not talk to me in riddles. I do not have a head for them. I have a head for head-butting people, but not for that," Jaheira sighed wearily.

"Well… you know, I was married once, a very long time ago."

"You were?" Jaheira raised an eyebrow, finding that rather hard to believe for some reason.

"Oh, I haven't always been the wise old sage you see before you now. When I was young I had lots of lovely young ladies after me. It was the pointy hat, you see; girls love a Gnome who looks good in a pointy hat. But there was one in particular I fell for; we were going to settle down, raise a family together. But it never happened."

"Did she die?" Jaheira asked, not sure whether she should sound sympathetic or not.

"What? No. She left me for someone else; one of those blasted Jansens. They've always been stealing from me, that lot. Stole a lot of my best inventions, too," the old Gnome grumbled with what seemed like genuine resentment. "Anyway… I never got over it. Never remarried, never settled down until now. And then I realised that I'd become an old man with no real family left. I suppose, in my addled old brain, I thought Aerie could take the place of one. That she would continue my legacy after I am gone," he looked back at the Elf and Imoen again, sadly. "I never paid any attention to what she wanted. Oh, she tried to tell me many times, so did a few others, I knew she was growing more and more restless but… I was really no better than the Slavers who brought her here. Tried to keep her locked in a cage, all to myself. How could I have expected her to want to stay, after all they did to her here? And so I've lost her. And now I'm just a lonely old man again."

"She… seems a nice enough girl," Jaheira tried to reassure him; in truth, she didn't enough about Aerie yet, but she did seem nice, she supposed. "I am sure she must be grateful for all you have done for her."

"I know that. She's just… she's no longer my nice girl."

"Yes, well… everyone has fly the nest eventually," Jaheira said, "so long as she remains with us, I will see to it that no-one takes advantage of her, and that she is taught to look after herself."

"Thank you," Quayle said with a warm, grateful smile. "You know, Jaheira, you're really not such a bad person underneath that grumpy face. You're still young too, you know… you don't want to end up like me."

"You are absolutely right about that," Jaheira nodded, smiling slightly, "also, my face is stern not grumpy."


"W-what… what will we do, now?" Aerie sat up, panting. Imoen sat up opposite her, pretty exhausted too, so the two had mutually agreed to end their contest for today. Imoen knew she had won, so that was fine.

"Well… I guess… I guess we'll find a store and get some things," the redhead puffed, "and then… then we'll… I don't know… go somewhere else, I suppose. I suppose we'll have to see if we can find out what's happened to Irenicus."

"Hm… 'shattered one'," Aerie strangely said. They were both feeling that way, but…

"What?" Imoen asked.

"I,,, Irenicus. Shattered one… t-that's what it means. I-it's elven," Aerie said, now looking strangely at Imoen. "I… I thought you knew that."

"No," Imoen shook her head. Maybe Jaheira did, but she hadn't told her… the redhead had no idea whether it was important or not.

And that's right; Aerie was an Elf, wasn't she? Pretty obvious because of the ears, but Imoen really hadn't thought about it because Aerie seemed so, well, human, in a way. Most of the other Elves Imoen had met were a bit stuck up and arrogant, but Aerie was almost the total opposite of that… anyway, somewhere she had some papers she still had some papers she'd taken from inside the dungeon that she believed was a journal written in Elven. They'd be with her other belongings that were packed away when the Avariel had found her. She could get Aerie to translate it. It might not yield anything, but… later though. There were lots of other things to do first.

"Listen, kid," she said. This time, she and Aerie were helping each other to their feet. Both found themselves a bit unsteady once they did, and were leaning with their foreheads pressed against each other. "If you ever think you know something, please tell us, okay? At least tell me. Even if it turns out to be wrong, it's not anyone's going to shout at you or anything."

"O… okay."

"Great," Imoen patted her on the cheek, "now, let's get packed and ready, shall we?"


Early in the afternoon, the adventurers paid a visit to a store owned by some old acquaintance of Jaheira's, a jovial fat man named Ribald. His reaction to her was a puzzling mix of wariness and joy. It was called The Adventurers Mart, and it wasn't just a clever name for a shop that sold fishing and mountaineering equipment. It sold everything an adventurer needed.

Uncle Quayle had spared them a bit of coin, so they were able to get some basic equipment. Spell components, lockpicks, backpacks. For Aerie, she was out of her old dress and into a new tunic; sky blue, with grey pants. The colour suited her, just as Imoen had predicted. She also got some boots; big boots up to her knees, which Aerie loved. She immediately felt stronger and safer somehow as soon as she'd pulled them on. Imoen herself got a similar outfit, but hers was much darker, almost black, and had a hood. The rest of them had already helped themselves to some new armour and weapons yesterday.

And so, not long after Imoen and Aerie had got their clothes sorted out, which was the most important thing after all, the Avariel found herself once again stood at the archway exiting the west side of The Promenade. Today she was going to actually step through it… off the edge of the world, or her world anyway. For long time, this was the only thing she had wanted. But the thought scared her too. The Circus had so many unhappy memories, but even she wouldn't call it home, it was a place that was familiar and Quayle had taken care of her. But now she was going to make a new life for herself. Ever since she was a child she'd wanted to see the world; really see it, not just look at it from afar like other Avariel. Nothing that had happened to her had changed that, really. And Quayle's stories of his own adventures helped reignite some of her old passion. She had to be brave now, and take that first step into the unknown…

"What are you waiting for; summer solstice?"

"Oww…" Aerie rubbed the back of her head that had just been slapped by Imoen.

"Move it, kid."

"S… s-sorry…"