***

Chapter 18:

Allies

***

It was full night when the Blades finally arrived in Athkatla. The journey had been a full day and a half, and they had not stopped even for a moment. Brynn was not usually inclined to put her friends on the march for that long, but this time she decided, and they all agreed, that it was a necessary evil.

Time was short, and after her conversation with Elhan, Brynn's temper was even shorter. An unfortunate pair of guards at the city gates found that out the hard way when he tried to deny Solaufein access to the city.

"Two in one bloody day!" the guard exclaimed irritably. "Sorry, Lady Trueblade, but your friend can't come in the city."

The guard's companion muttered under his breath, "Is she collecting the damn drow or something? First that damned Priestess and now erp" The second guard's words trailed off as he found himself on the receiving end of one of the coldest, angriest stares Brynn could manage.

"Shut up," Brynn told him bluntly.

The guard swallowed hard and firmly clenched his teeth together.

Brynn turned her attention back to the first guard. "Solaufein will not be staying outside the city, he is one of the Blades of Honor now, and he is under my protection." The first guard looked like he might say something, but Brynn forestalled him by adding, "Be quiet! I'm in no mood to argue the point with you right now, and if you insist on pressing me I'll probably do something rash."

Like his companion, the first guard swallowed hard and worked very hard to breathe very quietly.

Brynn paid no more attention to him. She growled something under her breath and waved the rest of the Blades forward as she stomped into the city.

Haer'Dalis paused briefly to bow deeply to both of the guards. "I apologize for Lady Brynn's curtness, gentlemen. Send the bill for clean trousers to the Copper Coronet." He chuckled quietly to himself as he spun around, and ran to catch up with his companions.

***

Bernard ran to meet the Blades as soon as they entered the Copper Coronet. As exhausted and irritable as she was Brynn was alert enough to realize that something was afoot. She schooled her features into something more pleasant than the scowl that seemed to have become customary for her during the past few hellish weeks.

"I'm so glad to see you again!" Bernard exclaimed, throwing the group a big smile. The smile faltered for a moment when Bernard's eyes fell on Solaufein –which was becoming a pattern since Solaufein had joined the Blades- but it was only a little falter and soon enough the smile was back full force. "Jaheira, how are they treating you?"

"Fine, thank you," Jaheira replied, stifling a yawn.

"Good, good!" Bernard continued almost before Jaheira had finished. He seemed to Brynn to be awfully anxious about something. "Lady Trueblade, early today some people stopped by and asked after you. I told them that we weren't expecting you back for sometime, but"

"But what?" Brynn asked, annoyed that the man couldn't just spit it out.

"But they insisted that they had been told you would be back today and so they decided to stay and wait for you. Were you expecting anyone?"

Brynn's hands slipped to the hilts of her katanas. "No, no I wasn't, Bernard. Maybe you'd better tell me where these strangers are so I can go meet them."

"No need."

And in an instant Brynn had whirled to her right and drawn both of her blades. Steel clashed against steel and Brynn found herself looking through a web of katanas and scimitars into a pair of violet eyes set in an ebon-hued face. She knew those eyes, and that face, and she knew those scimitars too. But that didn't mean she was going to put her blades away just yet. She couldn't put her blades away; the four weapons were pressed together so that for one of them to get free both parties had to withdraw.

"Ah If I had known that you would react like this I would have waited until Bernard introduced us," said Drizzt Do'Urden.

Brynn narrowed her eyes at the famous dark elf between the mesh created by their four blades.

"Nice block," she said. "I'd shake hands, but" she shrugged. Drizzt let up with his right blade, freeing Brynn's left, and then Brynn let up on her right blade freeing Drizzt's left.

"Uh yeah, this is them," Bernard said lamely. "Do you need any?"

"Everything is fine, Bernard, go do what you have to do," Brynn told the portly bartender as she sheathed her blades. Bernard heaved a sigh of relief and retreated quickly to his bar. He didn't go back to work though, instead he kept an eye on Brynn and Drizzt.

"So," Brynn said, sitting down at the nearest table and kicking a chair out for Drizzt with one foot, "you were looking for me because someone said I'd be here today? I didn't even know I was going to be here today until I got here." She glanced over the dark elf's shoulders at his four companions, a blonde human that might or might not have been taller than Minsc, a petite human woman, a halfling male scowled at her from behind a bushy red beard. "Tell your dwarven friend to stop fingering his battle axe, it's making me nervous, and I don't like it."

"Listen, lass, the elf don't tell me ta do nothing!" the dwarf retorted indignantly. "Why don't ye tell that bunch a' idiots behind ye ta"

"Bruenor" the halfling began.

"Shut yer mouth, Rumblebelly," the dwarf growled. After that he muttered a few rude things under his breath about Brynn's parentage –if only the grouchy old dwarf had known the truth! - but was otherwise quiet.

Brynn raised an eyebrow and returned her attention to Drizzt, who was unsuccessfully trying to hide a smile of amusement at the old dwarf's tirade. "An answer would be nice, but if you really don't have one I've got to get some rest. I've been on the road since yesterday at sunset."

"No, there is an answer," Drizzt replied.

The Blades and Drizzt companions settled into chairs, and Drizzt went into a long explanation of how he ended up in the Copper Coronet looking for Brynn. The date of Brynn's arrival at the Copper had been predicted by a mage from the Harpell clan, Harkle by name, who insisted that the Companions of the Hall –as Drizzt and his friends were called- would want to be in Athkatla then for 'something very important that I just can't quite remember,' as Harkle had put it. That had been three weeks ago, and during that time Drizzt and company had traveled down from the north to Athkatla.

"And so here we are," Drizzt finished with a shrug. "Do you by any chance have an idea of what Harkle's 'something very important' was?"

Brynn was silent for a while. She did indeed have an idea, a very good one, but she did not want to speak of it in the middle of the Copper's common room. "Come with us up to our headquarters," she said, nodding her head in the direction of the stairs. "We can discuss it up there."

The Companions of the Hall shifted in their seats and stood up, as did the Blades of Honor, and the two groups made their way up the stairs into the Blades' headquarters. Minsc shut the door behind them all and stood in front of it, guarding it like some sort of monolithic stone statue one that had a small golden hamster on its shoulder. The tall barbarian warrior, Wulfgar, took up a position on the other side of the door. Always the hostess, Nalia gathered up chairs and directed Aerie to get cushions and Anomen to drag the chess table out of the center of the room. When everyone was seated and comfortable again, Brynn began to explain the situation.

"Tomorrow, as soon as the sun rises, we are attacking a vampire stronghold beneath the graveyard district," she said plainly. Her words elicited a noise of surprise from Cattie-brie, the petite human woman, mutter of dismay from the halfling Regis, and a grunt of respect from Bruenor Battlehammer. Drizzt only blinked briefly, raised one white brow and waited for Brynn to continue.

"The story is a long, drawn out one," Brynn went on, "but I will sum it up as briefly as I can. Bodhi and a mage named Irenicus" she spat the name out; it left a bad taste in her mouth and made the rage sing with a thousand voices, "have stolen an artifact called the Rhynn Lanthorn from the elves and with it somehow managed to seal the elven army, who were battling a drow army, outside the city of Sundanessellar. Irenicus is in Sundanessellar, no doubt killing and ravaging as is his wont, and Bodhi was entrusted with the Rhynn Lanthorn's safekeeping here her graveyard stronghold." Brynn paused to allow the Companions to soak that up, and then continued. "I have my own battles to fight with both Bodhi and Irenicus, and since I need to get into the elven city as much as General Elhan and his army I agreed to retrieve the Rhynn Lanthorn."

***

While Brynn was talking Solaufein leaned over and whispered to Jaheira, who via a spell was able to converse understandably with the drow, "What did she just say?"

Jaheira shushed him.

Solaufein sighed and wished for the umpteenth time that one of the others had been put in charge of communicating with him.

***

"Well," said Wulfgar, speaking up from his post at the door, "I guess that's what Harkle thought was important.

"How could he forget somethin' like that?" Cattie-brie mused aloud. "Suren he's absent-minded, but this is somethin' else altogether."

Brynn laughed politely. "Do you want to help?" she asked Drizzt. "An extra arm or five would be useful." She had been keeping an eye on the ranger since she had started her tale, gauging his reaction to her words. Where Drizzt went, she figured, so would go his friends.

"Helping is more or less what I came here to do," Drizzt replied. "Though I must admit I was not expecting something this" he paused, at a loss for words. "Well, suffice it to say I was not expecting something like this."

Brynn nodded. Nobody ever did.

***

As soon as the discussion broke up both parties retreated to their rooms to rest up for the battle in the morning. Except for Brynn. She stayed in the main room of the Blades' headquarters, sitting cross-legged on the wooden floor. As well as training her to use the sword, Touga Kurai had taught her some of the basic elements of meditation, something he said was key becoming a better kensai. It was calming, he said, it allowed one to go into battle without being pressed by outside concerns, and was as restful as a full night's sleep often enough.

Unfortunately proper meditation required the ability to clear the mind. When Brynn closed her eyes, and put all of her thoughts away, the rage sang louder. She could not quiet it, though she tried again and again. The rage still whispered its terrible song in the back of her mind. It wouldn't go away.

Frustrated, Brynn opened her eyes and slammed her fist into the floor in front of her. One wooden board cracked and split down the middle, bowing inward. From the room below Brynn heard the sound of someone shouting a curse and falling out of bed with a loud THWACK.

"Sorry," she muttered quietly. She wasn't sorry in the least though. At that moment she could have cared less if someone had gotten a bump on the head.

Her hand was stinging, so she looked at it carefully and dislodged a couple of nasty splinters, and then got up from the floor and went down to the common room. Closing time had come more than an hour ago, so Bernard wasn't behind the bar. Brynn really didn't care. She went around back of the bar, perused the selection of drinks, grabbed a mug and got herself a little ale. Maybe that would shut up the rage in her head, or at least dull it down so that she could concentrate on her meditation.

And maybe Minsc would one day decided to turn Boo into a hamster kabob.

She sat down on one of the stools at the bar and leaned her head into her hand as she sipped at her ale. Yeah, and maybe one day Aerie would get some backbone, and maybe Anomen would give up the Order 'just because.' Maybe Haer'Dalis would settle down with a nice woman and raise a bunch of kids without wishing he was still out and about. Maybe Jaheira would say to hell with the balance and elope with Cernd after converting him to her chaotic vision. Maybe Nalia would turn into an uppity snob and marry that rich what's-his-name. Maybe Mazzy would take over the Shadow Thieves and rule the Amnish underworld with an iron fist.

Brynn's wild imaginings were interrupted as Drizzt came and sat down one stool down from her at the bar. "As tired as you look might I venture that perhaps you should be getting some rest?" he said in a pleasant voice.

Brynn wanted to punch him for sounding that pleasant –it wasn't fair that he could be so carefree when she was miserable- but that was just the rage talking again, so instead she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes as she took another sip of her ale. "I suppose you might venture such a thing, since you already did, more or less," she replied. "Shouldn't you take your own advice?"

Drizzt shrugged. "I was sleeping, but something made one of the boards in my ceiling snap, at it jolted me out of bed literally."

"That was me," Brynn admitted. "I should let you know that I'm really not sorry, but I'll say that I am. Sorry."

"I see."

Brynn shook her head. "No you don't, but that's all right. Go back to bed. Tomorrow will be here soon enough."

Drizzt nodded. "I will, but first let me ask why you were up breaking boards at this hour?"

Brynn shrugged and drained the last of her ale out of the mug. As she had suspected, the rage was singing just as clearly as ever. "I didn't mean to," she said. "I was meditating like Master Touga taught me, or trying to at least, and that sort of thing builds up a person's ki. I forgot how strong I am right after I meditate like that. I haven't done it in a while." Try for months. There hadn't been a lot of time, and it hadn't been necessary. She had always been able to clear her mind with ease before.

Drizzt seemed to have missed the last part of her explanation. He was peering at her curiously, as if there was something he was trying to remember.

"Have we met before?" he asked.

"Yes," Brynn said. "This evening. We got our swords stuck together. And allow me to clue you in on something: that line doesn't work so well if you've just met that evening, and have been talking for the past few minutes."

Drizzt chuckled. "That's not what I meant. I mean have we met before today. Your face is familiar."

Brynn smiled cheekily. "Well I am famous, you know."

"I am serious."

Brynn sighed and looked forlornly into her empty mug for a time before she replied, "Yes, we have met before, and I hope you remember the other people who've saved your life better than you remember me."

Drizzt cocked his head to one side. "Oh?"

"Oh come on!" Brynn exclaimed, a little surprised. "You've got to remember at least a little bit. I'll give you some hints. You were down a ways south of Baldur's Gate with a whole pack of gnolls riding up your ass and nowhere to turn for help."

Drizzt's eyes lit up. "You were one of the gnolls? I must say that you have gotten a lot better looking and a lot more alive since the last time I saw you."

"I thought you were being serious," Brynn growled. "Of course I wasn't the one of the gnolls!"

Drizzt smiled. "I remember you now. I knew I knew you when I saw that gigantic man with the purple tattoo, I just couldn't remember where from."

"Minsc is rather unforgettable," Brynn remarked dryly.

"Indeed he is," Drizzt agreed. He rested one arm on the bar and shifted in his seat so that he was facing her. "You have made quite a name for yourself since we last met. I was regaled by several people in the tavern before you arrived with tales of the Blades of Honor and their noble leader."

"Yeah, noble," Brynn muttered to herself.

"I think that perhaps they were making sure we were not trying to usurp your position here," Drizzt continued. "You have quite the loyal following, Brynn Trueblade."

"I guess so," Brynn admitted. She had never liked being flattered pointlessly, and she could tell that was what Drizzt was doing. She suddenly had the idea that he hadn't forgotten where they had met before at all. "I'm not a proud woman, Do'Urden, so if you're trying to appeal to my ego you're going to fail miserably. Just say whatever it is you want to say."

Drizzt smiled again. "Sorry," he said a little sheepishly. "Your demeanor did not seem to invite blunt questions."

"My demeanor doesn't invite pussy-footing around any more that it does bluntness," Brynn pointed out. "I may well take you to your doom tomorrow, I might as well satisfy your curiosity."

"What did Irenicus do to you?"

Brynn sat up straight on her stool as if someone had just punched her in the stomach. She forced a laugh and said, "Where to begin?"

"At the beginning?" Drizzt ventured.

"Right, the beginning," Brynn repeated. The rage began to sing louder. "He kidnapped me and my friends, and then killed Jaheira's husband, Khalid, and Minsc's witch, Dynaheir. He raped Imoen, used her like he used his trio of dryad concubines, like a toy, and then managed to get the both of them imprisoned in Spellhold as we were escaping." She paused, looked down at her hands for a moment and blinked away a few tears. The rage sang louder yet. "He planted a man in our group, Yoshimo, and he put a geas on him so that Yoshimo couldn't betray him. And then Yoshimo fell in love with me, and I with him. Then when we went to free Imoen from Spellhold over a month ago, Irenicus called in the power of the geas, and forced Yoshimo to betray us so that Irenicus could capture me alive.

"Irenicus put me in a vile machine and with magic tore my soul from my body, and then tossed me and my friends into the dungeons of Spellhold to die. But we escaped, and we fought Irenicus until he fled." Brynn bit her lip and continued. "But we were a nuisance, and Irenicus thought we were weak, so he sent assassins to kill us before we could leave Spellhold. He sent Yoshimo to kill us. To kill me. But Yoshimo was stronger than that. He wouldn't lift his blade against me, and doomed himself for it. There wasn't any way the geas could be lifted in time to save him so I"

Drizzt put a hand on her shoulder. "Enough," he said gently. "Enough, Brynn Trueblade. I have my answer."

Brynn nodded and Drizzt slipped back to his own seat, turning so she could surreptitiously wipe her tears away and regain a little of her dignity. "That is what Irenicus did to me," she said at last.

Drizzt looked at her carefully, and Brynn had a feeling that he was getting to the point he had wanted to get at from the beginning. "You must hate him," he said.

And you don't want to be a part of my vendetta, Brynn thought. Nor do you want to draw your friends into it. A wise choice, Drizzt Do'Urden. "I do hate him," Brynn said. She didn't dare deny it. That would be as obvious a lie as any ever told. "But I'm not going to him because I hate him. I'm going to get my soul back, and I'm going to rid the world of him so that no one else has to suffer as I have."

Drizzt nodded. "I understand," he said.

This time Brynn really thought he did understand. "Get some sleep," she said. "Tomorrow we kill vampires."