Drizzt busied himself with setting up camp. He secured the horses for the night while Catti-brie unloaded their packs, pulling out the dried meat and nuts that they had brought with them from Silverymoon.
"Ye know Dinin is just trying to upset ye," the young woman spoke gently as she worked the leather straps on her horse. "Will ye let him?"
Drizzt turned to face her, trying to sort through his emotions, which felt like a turbulent sea in his heart. "It was a mistake to bring him," he commented. "If he cannot bring himself to cooperate, he will be a hindrance. I cannot fathom what I could have been thinking when I agreed to this arrangement."
"Ye were thinking that ye would rather not go against Regis," Catti-brie replied with a sly smirk. "Or myself."
Drizzt chuckled, conceding that point. It was true enough. He didn't know what Regis saw in his brother, but the little Halfling could be persuasive when he wanted to be. "Perhaps he had used that pendant on me," he said jokingly, facing Catti-brie, watching contently as the setting sun cast hues of orange against her hair, her blue eyes regarding him with the kind of wisdom he relied on her for.
"Ye know he didn't," she replied. "Maybe somewhere deep inside yerself, you want to believe in yer brother too."
Drizzt considered that possibility. Traveling with Dinin had been trying, but if it had been so challenging, why had he put up with it thus far? He could have easily left the older drow off at the mercy of the trolls if it had been his wish, Regis be damned. But he didn't. Because maybe, just maybe-
Drizzt's thoughts were ultimately shattered by the most heart wrenching cry of agony from the forest. Nearby, Legolas and Ky'lor dropped the rocks they were gathering to create a fire pit, so startling was the sound.
Drizzt met Catti-brie's startled expression. "Dinin," he said, for he recognized his brother's voice, and before anyone could respond, he ran full speed for the forest, scimitars drawn.
Drizzt gave no regard for the dangers of the forest as he burst through the treeline, scanning the dimmed and darkened surroundings, letting his eyes slip into infrared vision. Confident that the others were right behind him, he frantically searched, keeping his weapons at the ready as he called for Dinin.
He didn't have to go far before he came upon the horrifying scene. The creature, the most hideous thing Drizzt had ever seen, a haggard, emaciated looking humanoid with mottled decaying skin hanging tightly to its bones as it busily stripped off a piece of Dinin's flesh as it sat comfortably on the prone drow's fallen form.
Dinin could only moan in agony as the ghoul dug into the gash it had carved in his side. Blood oozed out of his body, gathering underneath him as his body refused to move.
Before Drizzt could step forward, a brilliant flash of light streaked past him as Catti-brie let fly an arrow from her magnificent bow, her Taulmaril. The arrow burst into the creature's skull, shattering it before it could even react. The headless form toppled off of Dinin and fell to the floor.
Drizzt rushed to Dinin's side, kneeling by his brother's form. "It's enacted a paralysis spell on him," Ky'lor said, pulling out a wand while Catti-brie moved to tear off a piece of fabric from her cloak, leaning over to stem the flow of blood.
Drizzt moved to press his finger to Dinin's neck, trying to discern his condition. His brother was fully conscious, his eyes wide with pain as he uttered guttural moans, struggling to even get the sound out.
"He struggles to breathe," he commented, "he will suffocate if the spell is not lifted." But as he considered his options, he paused when Legolas knelt by Dinin's head and pressed a small dagger to his throat. Drizzt met the elf's eyes and saw anger and hatred.
"Is it true what he said about the elves?" Legolas demanded harshly to Drizzt. Drizzt winced as he tried to calm his own nerves, locking eyes with the elf, trying to reason with him.
"Put your blade away," he demanded. But Legolas only narrowed his eyes, keeping the dagger firmly against Dinin's neck as the drow struggled for breath.
"He gloats about slaughtering innocent elves and you would move to save him?"
Drizzt took a few steady breaths, knowing Dinin didn't have long. He peered down at his brother then, meeting his eyes. His brother's deep crimson eyes widened with fear and agony. They pleaded with Drizzt then. Pleaded for mercy.
Determined, Drizzt looked back at Legolas, locking eyes firmly with the elf. "You have every reason to hate Dinin," he spoke. "Surely he deserves his fate for all the cruel deeds he has committed. But I cannot idly sit here and watch him die. I have lived my life by principles, by honoring life, by turning away from Menzoberranzan and its evil ways. Despite Dinin's deeds, he is a sentient being and perhaps even one act of kindness can alter one's path towards evil."
Legolas frowned, hesitating as Drizzt's impassioned words sunk in. Slowly, he moved back, withdrawing the blade.
Drizzt didn't know if he was making a mistake or not, but he clung to his own words as he reached down and scooped Dinin's head and shoulders up, helping to elevate him slightly while Ky'lor aimed his wand at the older drow.
"This wound is deep," Catti-brie commented as she pressed the fabric to the gash, blood staining her fingers.
Drizzt's breath froze in his throat as his heart pounded while he watched Ky'lor move through his spell work. The wizard closed his eyes, chanting in the drow language, his wand glowing.
The ranger did his best to keep Dinin still, keeping his brother's head and shoulders elevated against his own body, feeling his brother's body tremble against him as he closed his eyes, praying silently to the goddess Mielikki for mercy as Ky'lor worked hard on his spell.
Suddenly, light shot forward from the tip of the wizard's wand. Energy emanated and surrounded Dinin's form, and the drow gasped out hard, his lungs sucking in air greedily as his chest heaved desperately. Now his moans were louder, more transparent as his entire body shuttered.
"I cannot counteract the paralysis fully," Ky'lor explained. "He needs a more powerful healer than I. But I have freed his lungs and his throat at the very least. This will keep him alive for now."
"This wound will kill him before any paralysis will," Catti-brie commented as she met Drizzt's eyes, concern evident. "What do ye want to do?"
Drizzt tried to think. They were too far from Silverymoon to turn back and still too far away from Waterdeep. He gazed around at the trees surrounding him, remembering the dangers of this forest. He swallowed grimly.
"There are druid elves hidden in the forest," he began, ignoring a scoff from Legolas. "I know not where they dwell, and I know well the dangers in this forest, but if we can seek them out, their healing can save Dinin."
"You would ask the elves to save one who has murdered their own kind?" Legolas asked incredulously, narrowing his eyes at Drizzt. "Perhaps I entered into friendship with you too precariously, Drizzt Do'Urden."
That surely stung, for Drizzt had grown to value Legolas's friendship. It was, after all, his first genuine friendship with his race's surface dwelling cousin. He didn't know how to make the elf see, despite his impassioned speech, that this was the right course, despite the risks or the repercussions.
"If saving Dinin proves to be in error, I will take the punishment," Drizzt said. "Please trust me, Legolas. I will tell you everything about the massacre, when I am ready. I will tell you everything of Dinin's deeds, but I will not add to his deeds by failing to show mercy when it is warranted."
Truthfully, Drizzt didn't know if the elves would help them. These forest dwellers didn't readily accept intruders and were as likely to attack as to aid. And would they readily come to the aid of dark elves? Especially when they too learned of Dinin's deeds?
Drizzt questioned his own wisdom. That is, until he felt Catti-brie's hand over his, the woman prompting him to look at her. "Mercy is never wrong," she said simply. "Surely the elves will agree."
"H-help… me… Brother…" Dinin's plea came through, strained and gargled, his voice shaking as he took in slow breaths, moaning in anguish. His pitiful pleas struck at Drizzt profoundly. Dinin was helpless, and it was as if everything he had done was erased and he was reduced to a child.
"Let's get him up," Drizzt decided. "Quickly, for it's not a good idea to linger idly in one location in this forest."
Together, the four of them, though Legolas did so reluctantly, worked to make a makeshift stretcher from leaves and twigs, they worked as quickly as possible, then together, laying Dinin down and hoisting the precarious bed up, they began moving slowly through the forest, their course not known. Perhaps they would become lost in this forest, never to see light again.
But Drizzt accepted the risks and accepted that Dinin Do'Urden's life was in his hands.