Chapter 40: Darkness and light
After leaving the sewers they had arrived to a long alleyway. Everything was going well, like it had been planned for a long time. Entreri had been surprised of how quickly Dwahvel had found out the necessary information, but then again, there were halflings everywhere, and almost all of them answered to Dwahvel. Entreri had no doubt that if she had wanted, Dwahvel would have been able to take over some of the more powerful guilds with only a little trouble. But he also had no doubt that Dwahvel would not do this. There was no point risking her status, which at the moment kept her away from most of the problems and allowed her to act quite freely.
Entreri shook off the thoughts about Dwahvel, they were not relevant at the moment. He stopped when Eliza, who was walking in front of him, stopped and raised her hand. The halfling signalled that she would go ahead on her own, to check something Entreri imagined. The men waited in the alleyway until the halfling returned.
"There are ten guards ahead, but I found a way to get past them," she whispered, leaning very close to Entreri and speaking as quietly as she could. "Well, actually I found a way to distract them a bit so that you can get past."
"We can get past?" Entreri asked. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to be the distraction," Eliza answered, grinning evilly. "Me and about fifty sheep, thirty cows, a large number of pigs and one very old donkey that are in a pen nearby, waiting to be taken to the market tomorrow. I think that an assortment of farm animals rushing towards a man is enough to distract him from people moving very quietly and discreetly in the shadows nearby."
"One very old donkey?" Erik asked. "That should do the trick."
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The evening had been quite uneventful and Gwean, leaning on a wall half asleep, was once again wondering whether he was paid enough to guard the guild. He was thinking again about his brother, who was a sheep farmer and had offered to employ him in his farm if he wanted to leave Calimport. He had thought about the offer more and more in the last days, mostly because his dislike for his commander, Reanan, had grown into pure hate, and he was certain that in one of these days he would do something to insult the man and would end up dead. There were rumours going around about Reanan, and from what Gwean had seen he was ready to claim that any rumour of Reanan's cruelty could not do any justice to what the man was really like. Reanan's cruelty was something that Gwean thought only existed in pother planes and...
His thoughts were distracted by shouting from the far end of the square, where three guards were supposed to be guarding the open gate. Gwean moved a bit to get a better look and almost dropped his lantern when he saw what was coming towards him. The three guards, running like their lives were at stake, rushed towards him, followed by a herd of animals. Troy, another guard standing close to Gwean, dropped his lantern and rushed away, speeding towards the other gate on the other side of the square.
Gwean was ordering his feet to move, but his eyes were still fixed on the approaching herd. Then he snapped back to his senses and, realizing that he wouldn't make it to the other gate, rushed behind a pile of empty wine barrels, hoping that the animals wouldn't knock them over. There were no raised lanterns, no vigilant eyes, and nobody noticed a couple of shadows that seemed to be alive. After a while it was a bit quieter and Gwean dared to look up. Some of the guards were nowhere to be seen, others were trying to herd the animals that had calmed down. Gwean got up and felt a tug on his trousers. A very old-looking donkey was trying to rip open his pocket.
"That's it," Gwean said mostly to the whole universe, but partly to the donkey. "I'm leaving."
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Reanan was looking out of his window at the interesting performance going on in the square, wondering whether he could hit one of the sheep with his crossbow, when he heard a cry from the main hall. Whirling around, his hands ready to reach for his weapons, he walked lightly across the room and slipped into the corridor.
"Nice work, now you gave him a warning and he might run away," Alenson said to Mark, who hadn't grabbed the final guard in the hall fast enough. The man had had one chance to shout, and that kind of mistake could be fatal.
"He won't run away," Entreri said. "I'm sure that he would like a chance to fight with Artemis Entreri!" Entreri shouted out his name to the horror of Alenson. For a moment there was a silence, and then they heard a sound of someone clapping his hands.
"Bravery is a wonderful thing," a voice said, and a man stepped out from the shadows up in the staircase in front of them. "And so is trying to lure me here by shouting out your name," he added to Entreri, eyeing him. "I am Reanan," he continued, walking down the stairs calmly. "And I have to say that I don't see what Shandara ever saw in you. You may have some agility, but you are getting old, aren't you? I'm twenty-eight, which I believe makes me a lot younger and also more agile, faster, and the likely candidate for walking out of this encounter alive. Your little friends can try their skills against my guards, but you..." he looked at Entreri with a cold look that lacked any compassion and - Entreri realized - sanity. "I'll take care of you personally. And then I'll go and find Shandara and see how well she screams after all these years."
Entreri was moving before Reanan had finished his sentence, but the man had also drawn his weapons and Charon's Claw clashed with Reanan's sword. In the meanwhile three portals opened and let in at least dozen guards. Jarlaxle threw a dagger at the first man coming out of the portal closest to him, and then drew his swords and met the next two. Alenson had already killed one guard and was fighting with two others. Mark snatched a chair and threw it towards one guard running from the second portal. While the man was dodging the sloppy throw, Mark threw a small dart at his hand. The guard tried to move, but the paralysing poison was already working and he fell straight in front of the other guard coming in through the portal. First one of them was also hit with Mark's dart, but the other one fired a crossbow, and the bolt hit Mark on the shoulder, making him drop the rest of his darts on the floor. He didn't try to pick them up but drew his sword and charged towards the guard who gave up trying to reload the crossbow and dropped it, drawing his own sword.
A fourth portal opened and more guards tried to run to Reanan's help, but Erik threw a small portal spell right in front of them, causing the floor to open up and drop them downstairs. He wasn't paying any attention to what was happening behind him when he cast the spell and if Angus hadn't rushed to his help, one of the guards would have plunged his sword to the mage's back. In Copper Ante Dwahvel stared at the sphere her mages had conjured up to see what was going on. Although she didn't wish to get involved any more than she already had, she was prepared to send some of her fighters to help Entreri if he was in real trouble. Sometimes she was ready to brake her own rules to help friends.
Entreri noticed that the guards weren't attacking him while he was eyeing Reanan who had retreated after their first encounter. He wondered how Reanan would punish the person who interfered with his fight and for once was glad that the man was so insane that his men didn't dare to break his orders even to help him.
"Come on, master of assassins," Reanan snarled, making a false attack towards Entreri. "Show me your skills. Or have they diminished while you have been sleeping with that whore?" Entreri controlled his anger, not rushing towards Reanan although it seemed that there was a weak spot in his defence. He saw from the corner of his eye that a fifth portal was bringing in guards, but he also saw that they were more cautious in their actions, as if waiting to see what happened to Reanan.
"She will die and you can't help it!" Reanan shouted. "I'll have her and I'll play with her and then she'll die!" He rushed towards Entreri, who blocked the fierce attacks and counter-attacked by conjuring the wall of darkness. Reanan shouted something and then rushed through the wall. Entreri, who hadn't been expecting this, was put off his guard momentarily, and Reanan's sword cut a wound on his left arm. Entreri moved to right and then rolled through the wall to the other side, waiting for Reanan's new attack. He widened the wall of darkness, making it stretch through a larger area. Somebody stumbled through it, but it was only a guard. Entreri snatched the man's arm and threw him to the nearest corner, then turning back to meet Reanan, who had taken advantage of the distraction and rushed to him. The man moved very skilfully, and before Entreri had the chance to react, Reanan had cut his left arm again and when Entreri dropped his jewelled dagger, Reanan kicked it away from him, through the wall to the other side of the room.
Entreri moved backwards, blood flowing from his arm, feeling surprised by the skill Reanan displayed. He had to admit that he had read him wrong, he had thought that the man's insanity would be his disadvantage, but in reality it seemed to fuel him. Reanan was staring at him and then, instead of attacking, he snatched something from his pocket and threw it toward Entreri. The assassin dodged the item, but it hit the wall behind him, causing a large explosion. The power of the explosion hit Entreri hard and he flew a short distance away from Reanan.
Entreri fell to his stomach, rolled around and tried to reach for Charon's Claw, which had flown too far, to the guard, who was still sitting in the corner where Entreri had thrown him, holding his broken arm. When the sword fell in front of him, he snatched it, and begun to scream when the sword's deadly magic started to work on him. Entreri's jewelled dagger was still wherever Reanan had kicked it, and the pain on his left arm was increasing. He heard the steps and rolled around, kicking with his left leg and hitting Reanan on the knee. They were up the same time, Reanan holding his sword and a small dagger, Entreri unarmed, staring at each other. Reanan smiled, a look of complete insanity that Entreri would remember for the rest of his life.
"Great Artemis Entreri, unarmed," he laughed. "I guess this is goodbye," he added, rushing towards Entreri. The assassin stepped aside, snatched Reanan's sword arm and twisted it, while the man plunged his dagger into his side. Entreri, fighting the pain, twisted Reanan's arm more and then suddenly let go of it, falling to the floor with blood flowing from his side.
"Giving up?" Reanan asked, stepping closer to Entreri. But suddenly the smile on his face froze as he couldn't feel his legs anymore. He looked at his arm, and as his grip loosened and the sword fell from his hand, he could see the small dart stuck to his arm right where Entreri had gripped him.
"A paralysing poison," Entreri said, picking up Reanan's dagger which fell in front of him as the man collapsed to the ground. "Good thing that Mark dropped them, which you didn't notice since you were too busy laughing maniacally. It paralyses your muscles. You can't move. But you can feel. It'll wear off in two hours, but I'm afraid you won't be alive that long." He looked into Reanan's eyes, which were filled with mixed emotions of fear and hatred. "You know, in old days I would have enjoyed torturing you for the two hours. Cutting off piece after piece.. But I'm not like that. Not like you. Not anymore. I'm going to show you something you've never shown to anyone. Mercy," Entreri said, raising the dagger and slashing Reanan's throat with it. The warm blood spilled on his hands and he let go of the dagger, getting to his feet slowly.
"He's dead," he shouted through the wall of darkness. "You have no reason to fight for him anymore." Then he walked to get Charon's Claw and stepped through the wall to meet the men who all had frozen to their places. Jarlaxle was grinning, Alenson and Mark looked relieved. Angus was laying on the floor, covered in blood, and because it seemed that there was going to be no more fighting, Erik hurried to him.
"You can continue to fight us," Entreri said to the remaining guards, "or you can tell your boss that one of his henchmen met his just end and see that he is as glad to get rid of Reanan as you are."
"You should listen to the man," Jarlaxle said, smiling charmingly. "It's the best course, believe me." Then the drow walked to get Entreri's jewelled dagger and tossed it to the assassin, who caught it without looking. The guards stared at him, at the wound at his side, and then at Reanan's dead body that had come to view when the wall of darkness was starting to fade. Then they dropped their weapons one after another. Entreri nodded and then looked at Erik. "Is he alive?"
"He'll survive," the gnome answered. "Wait, I'll open the portal."
"The paralysation will wear of in a couple of hours," Mark said to one of the guards, pointing at their paralysed companion. "He may be a bit twitchy for a day or two, but it's just normal."
The guards watched in silence as the six strangers disappeared through the portal. Then one of them spoke in a very steady voice: "Well, I think we'd better clear things up. Leave that," he continued, pointing at Reanan's body. "I think everyone here deserves to see it."
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"Stay still, I said," the halfling healer said in angry voice to Entreri, who was laying on a small bed, trying to ignore the pain on his side. "You've been stabbed and if you don't let me heal it in peace I'll stab you again."
"She means it," Jarlaxle said, looking up from the paper he had been writing on. "The quicker you're healed, the quicker you can return to Athkatla."
"Well, Angus is still in..." said Alenson, who was sitting by the table while another healer was tending to his arm. "Wait. What do you mean 'you can return'?"
"I mean that I do not intend to return with you," the drow replied, finishing the letter. "There are other places to see, other people to meet and other fights to fight."
"What about Isaldora?" Erik said angrily. The gnome had hurt his leg badly, but looked like he was going to jump to his feet and attack Jarlaxle. The drow looked at him calmly. "I haven't forgotten her. Nor have I forgotten our child. But she is with people who love her and who she loves. She'll be fine. And just because I'm not returning to Athkatla doesn't mean that I'll never come there. We'll see each other again some day. But now I need to find a new path. As do you," he added, looking straight to Entreri. "Will you give her my letter?"
"Of course," the assassin said, not even thinking about arguing with the drow. He wouldn't even had the strength for it, the battle with Reanan had been very exhausting, but he also knew that the drow was right. They had been good partners, but now there was the time for them to end the partnership and continue on. Although while Jarlaxle seemed to be certain of where he was moving, Entreri had no idea of waht would be the right path for him.
"So what will you do?" Alenson asked Jarlaxle.
"Our lovely hostess," Jarlaxle was saying when Dwahvel entered the room, "Ah, I was just talking about you. Our lovely hostess has presented a couple of very interesting chances for me and I believe I will be seizing another one of them.
"But enough of that for now," Dwahvel said. "My healers have tended to Angus and he is sleeping now. You all should rest here this night, my mages can open a portal for you in the afternoon, so you can get back to Athkatla. I'm sorry we didn't have enough time to talk, my friend," she said to Entreri, who was trying sit up straight after the healer had finally left him alone. "But I believe there will be other chances for that," she added smiling.
"I hope there will be," Entreri said smiling, although at that moment he had no idea what would happen to him next. Would he stay with the Shadow Thieves or find another employer. Or would he... "I'm sure that there'll be," he said, deciding not to worry about the future now, when his whole body cried for sleep.
"We have prepared rooms for you all," Dwahvel said, and Entreri praised her in his mind. "I believe you all need rest, so that you can leave tomorrow."
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"So you are really staying," Entreri said to Jarlaxle when they were standing in Dwahvel's office, where the mages were preparing to open the portal to Athkatla.
"Seems like the best idea at the moment," the drow replied. "Here, the letter for Isaldora," he continued, giving it to Entreri. "Tell her not to worry. Everything we'll be fine. But I guess she already knows that."
Entreri didn't really know what to say. He wasn't used to goodbyes, and saying goodbye to this drow he had learned to respect and like felt impossible. So he relied to a cliché: "Take care of yourself," which didn't sound even close to right, but was better than nothing.
"I always do," Jarlaxle replied, and from the look on his face Entreri knew that he had understood. Then Erik started to order them to get ready for the portal and Entreri moved closed to the gnome mage. Jarlaxle leaned on Dwahvel's table and when the portal opened he waved his hand to Entreri, smiling a bit. Dwahvel waved too, and then Entreri stepped through the portal, letting the magical stream carry him to other place.
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Entreri walked into the guild house, which had been repaired almost to its old state. There were still much to do, Entreri could see that some rooms were ready to collapse, and the access to them had been blocked. But apart from those exceptions, everything looked like nothing had happened at all. The rumours of their return had spread faster than Entreri's walk from the smaller guild house where the teleport spell had brought them. Everyone greeted him, or nodded to him, some women started to cry when they saw him. He was starting to believe that Aran had been right, the guild needed the revenge to move on.
"I'm glad to see you back and well," Isaldora said, walking to him from the other side of the main hall. "Where's..."
"Don't worry, he's fine," Entreri said, pulling a letter from his pocket. "He sent this to you, and told you not to worry."
Isaldora took the letter and opened it. Entreri saw a little smile creeping on her face as she read through the short text. "I won't worry," she said to the assassin. "I'm surrounded by people I love and trust and I know they will help me whenever there I have any problems with my baby. But why are you standing here talking with me while I know there's someone else you'd like to see?" she asked, grinning, folded the letter and put it back to her pocket, which Entreri took as a indication not to ask anything more about the letter or Jarlaxle. "She's waiting for you in the dining hall. Good luck, I hope I'll see you again some day."
Before Entreri had the time to ask what Isaldora meant, the elf woman had already turned around and was walking away. He turned and walked to the stairs leading to the dining hall and opened the newly repaired doors.
There were no signs that there ever had been a fire, the room had been completely restored. Shandara was sitting on a table with many bags on the floor next to her. She was wearing a deep green dress, had her hair plaited and was looking very beautiful, although a little nervous.
"How are you feeling?" she asked in a conversational tone after Entreri had walked a bit closer. "Hungry? Would you like to have something to eat?"
"What..." Entreri started to say, completely confused with Shandara's welcoming words, but the woman hushed him to be silent. "I'm only asking because I don't want you to start complaining that you're hungry as soon as we walk out of the guild house. And the food on ome ships can be pretty terrible, so..."
"What are you talking about?" Entreri asked, stopping in front of the pile of bags and staring at Shandara. The woman hopped down from the table and stepped over the bags. "I've said my goodbyes. To the living and the dead. I've visited Mirjami's grave, all the graves of the people I've lost. I've visited my sister's grave. And now I'm ready to move on."
"Move on?" Entreri asked, and Shandara laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. "Why is it that you seem to lose all capability to rational thinking and talking while you're with me? I'm going to leave. They managed to rescue some of my belongings that weren't destroyed by the fire, or the water used to put out the fire. Some books, a couple of dresses. And then there are some of your things that they managed to save. And then there are some new clothes and other items that I got for us. A new start, my love," she said, stepping close to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "For you and me, if you want that."
"Where would we go?" Entreri asked her, trying to find a good reason to leave the protection and the prosperity of the guild. "Somewhere," she answered. "It's not a real adventure if we truly know where we'll be in the end. Some place we can call home just for the two of us. Well, Baldur's Gate for now," she said after noticing the look of doubt on Entreri's face. "The ship sails this night. It was supposed to sail yesterday, but you took longer to kill Reanan than I expected. So are you coming with me?" she asked, letting go of him and starting to gather the bags on the floor. "The captain is waiting for us."
"I have no say in this?" Entreri asked. Shandara looked at him and smiled. "You can say that you won't leave. But if you're coming with me... You'll have a say once we're in Baldur's Gate, but before that you'll be a good boy and do what I say. An interesting thought, don't you think?" she added with a wink. "So?" she asked, holding out her hand. "Are you coming with me?"
Entreri stared at her, trying to make some sense of the thought flying around his mind. "What if it doesn't work out with her?" one thought insisted. "What if she leaves you? Are you ready for this kind of change?" A much darker voice asked him, accompanied by the pleas of Charon's Claw: "Are you ready to give up on all you have done, all you have strived for? Are you ready to give up on your profession? You are the best after all..." Entreri listened to the darkness of his soul, darkness that had accompanied him for all those years, kept him alive, helped him to survive. Then he listened to his heart, which spoke with the voices of Drizzt Do'Urden, Jarlaxle, Dwahvel, his mother... "She'll help you survive from now on. She'll keep you alive. You need this change. You need her." Entreri released his grip from the hilt of Charon's Claw - he hadn't even realized he was gripping the sword so hard that his knuckles were white - held out his hand and touched the light of his heart.
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Hark: The last chapter and all that... Finished at around two am, so I hope there aren't too many typos. I hate fight sequences, so that's why the "killing-Reanan" bit was so... stupid. And I believe that portals are a very good way of bringing people into a fight scene. And the whole plan with getting to the guild to kill Reanan and the limited number of cronies he had on his side... Well, maybe the people working in the guild didn't like him much and wanted to see him killed. And the donkey thing was... a donkey thing. And the ending was so short because I didn't think it needed anything more. Or maybe it did. A sequel might be a nice thing some day (Written by me? Okay.). But I think that for now I'll concentrate on correcting some earlier chapters and then try to write a humorous fic that Shamiran has asked me to write: Entreri and Jarlaxle end up in Finland after some freaky magical accident. It's winter and Jarlaxle has to wear a stupid hat and Entreri has to wear a yellow coat (also a stupid one). Laughing already? Good, me neither. I'll have to see whether you can write a story based on such a ridiculous idea. Well, I believe that's it's possible to write a story based on anything, even good ideas. I might try that some day too...
Lady Shandara
