Chapter Sixteen

(A/N:  My most sincere apologies on the length of time that it took me to update.  Writer's Block's a bitch.  Yeah, you all know what I'm talking about - you know the major points, but can't figure out how to connect them.  And, then, of course, it got put to the wayside so I could work on all the other materials I've been cranking out.  So, if you want me to email you to tell you the next time I update, send a quick note to Mystra1215@hotmail.com and I'll do my best.  R/R/E!)

Disclaimer:  Nire is mine.  As is anything having to do with Azazel of Belasarius.  Nire's walking song is, as she states from 'Lord of the Rings', and owned by JRR Tolkein.  And, yes, I did actually memorize it and put it to tune.  The land of the Lythari belongs to WotC, however, the five Lythari are mine.  Makaila is mine.

            Nire automatically froze as everything changed.  She had always been able to sense if there was magic near.  Why hadn't that particular talent worked this time?  Was it failing her?  Oh, that would just top off everything that had been happening to her lately.  This was most definitely the place she was looking for.  However, she was not prepared to go venturing today.  She had only planned to find the place, memorize its location, then go home and collect everything she would need - namely another person or two for backup.  She turned to go backwards, to exit from the maze.  Much to her dismay, she took half a step and was barred from continuing any further.  There was an invisible wall, from the ground to the sky (At least, as far up as she could reach).  And it extended from wall to wall.  Nire let out a string of curses, swearing at the dead mage, her bad luck, and the world in general.

            Once she was done flipping out, Nire quickly fashioned a gate.  She wasn't sure if it would work - with her luck, it wouldn't even come close.  But, to her surprise, it formed.  Granted, she could sense something was wrong with it - it was supposed to go to her room, but she didn't think it did.  Nor was it stable, flickering in and out insanely.

            Well, she could either continue on - something she was not ready for today - or try the tenuous gate.  If the gate went wrong, she could be stuck in limbo forever between worlds.  But if she continued, with only the barest of weaponry and magic, she would surely die.  Damned if she did and damned if she didn't.

            Nire long-windedly cursed her luck again, not feeling the two ancient pairs of eyes that were watching her from a scrying pool.  She'd try the gate - she had always wondered what limbo was like.  Stepping through, she wholly expected to find herself in some hellish place.

            The actuality of where she ended was a rather pleasant surprise.

            She was in a forest of tall, majestic trees - an eldritch version of the Tethyrian Forest.  Their limbs stretched for the havens and spread out towards trees to the side, almost fully obscuring the sky above.  And yet, soft light still danced across the forest floor, golden shadows of the late afternoon.  There was not a soul in sight.

            Nire sighed desolately, muttering to herself, "Great.  So, not only am I completely *lost*, I'm all on my lonesome and completely lost.  Not even any natives to direct me to the nearest Mickey D's."

            Her eyes tracked flickering in the trees around her.  She could not decide if they were real or imagined, and it didn't matter anyway.   With a huff, she sat down on the forest floor.

            "Fine.  I'm just going to sit here until someone finds me."  Out of habit, she spoke the Common tongue of Faerûn.  She *could* attempt to gate out of wherever she was, however, since she wasn't one hundred percent positive *why* she had been thrown here, she wasn't going to risk a gate again.  Jander would find her soon enough when she never showed up or 'pathed to him to say good night, a habit she had grown into.

            Quickly bored with sitting, she got up and began to walk.  The reason why she didn't just 'path to the vampire elf for him to come get her was her insatiable curiosity.  Now that she over being pissed and had made her point to the powers that be, she wanted to explore and find out more about this freakishly beautiful place.

            As she walked, she had the distinct impression that she was being followed.  Eyes were on her back, on her sides, even watching from the front.  She did *not* like being surrounded.  Especially when she couldn't see who was doing the surrounding.  But happy butterflies fluttered around her stomach - she might get to fight people who weren't her friends.  This would be the first time she tested out her skills in a real battle.

            The scenery never changed as she walked.  It seemed as though the forest - and the twilight - never ended.  Her soft boots made nary a sound traveling across the soft mossy carpet of the forest.  Out of the corners of both eyes, she could see silver shadows racing along the forest floor and flitting between the trees.  But when she turned to look dead on, she saw nothing.  To say it was getting on her nerves was to say a whale was a little fish.

            She went in circles, wandering, hoping to stumble on something or for the people who were tracking her to appear.  She was on the move for hours.  The shadows never left her sides, ands he soon pushed them to the back of her mind.  As her feet took her where they willed, she sang her walking song.

            "Upon the hearth the fire is red, / Beneath the roof there is a bed; / But not yet weary are our feet, / Still round the corner we may meet / A sudden tree or standing stone / That none have seen but we alone. / Tree and flower and leaf and grass, / Let them pass!  Let them pass! / Hill and water under sky / Pass them by!  Pass them by!"

            When she was seven, and read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, she had memorized the words to the walking-song of the hobbits and put them to a tune.  She went through the three verses of the tune time and time again.  She was walking, wandering, and having fun.  Admittedly, it would have been much more enjoyable had Jander been on one side of her and Azrael on the other.  But, nothing was perfect in her life, nothing ever would be.

            Checking her watch, she saw that it was already midnight.  Before she tried to go back to her room, or to Jander's room, she wanted to know who had been following her.  She had managed to ignore whoever, or whatever it was and calm her annoyed nerves fort eh duration, but her curiosity finally overwhelmed her apathy.

            She stopped and looked around, sizing up the location and speaking to the shadows she knew were there.  "A'ight, I'm done playing your game and letting you follow me," she called out in Faerûnian Common.  "Why don't you come out where I can see you so I know who's been tracking me."

            She tried to read the minds, searching for any clues on the top layer.  But everyone had shields up, everything.  She knew that there *were* people following her, but beyond that, there was nothing.  Nothing at all.  That pissed her off royally, a self-righteous anger.

            After a pause, where the whole forest seemed to hesitate, five elves faded out of the forest to stand in front of her.

            To say they were elves was almost ludicrous.  They, their fey grace and eldritch aura, made Jander seem like a clumsy human.  Each sharply triangular face was pale as porcelain and framed by shimmering silver hair.  As they stood there, they regarded her, speaking in a language different from Common and the elven Jander spoke.  Different and even more beautiful to her ears.

            "We cannot let her remember any of this."

            "She is a human."

            "She is a danger."

            "She could sense we were near, which makes her even more of a danger."    

            Nire did not like the direction the whole conversation was heading in.  In typical 'Nire fashion', she spoke up, switching to their language.  "Yeah, um, first of all, I can understand you, so stop talking about me like I'm not here."  The fifth elf in the back, the one who had not spoken, smiled slightly in amusement.  Nire could see a potential ally in him.  "Second of all, no one's messing with her mind."  Her shields were up as tight as she could get them.  "And third of all," she stared at the last one who had spoken, "don't even *think* about that option."  One hand rested easily on the hilt of her sword.  She was more than ready for trouble.

            The one in the back spoke for the first time.  "She is but a child, Almohai."

            "That does not matter, Elbereth," spoke the one Nire assumed to be Almohai.  He appeared to be the leader of the all-male group.  "You know that.  She cannot be allowed to return and lead more *humans* back here."  He spat out the word 'humans' as though it was dirtying his mouth.

            "Who says I would?" Nire interrupted.  "You're making an awful lot of assumptions here."  It had become painfully obvious to her that they weren't going to allow her to leave alive, much less with her mind and memories intact.  Once more, the reasoning part of her brain had taken a while to catch up to her belligerent nature.  She had barely been able to defeat her three friends - although it galled her to admit it, what chance did she really have against five elves?  They would tear her to shreds.

            "How did you find your way here, anyway?" one of them asked.  They were slowly easing out to surround her.  It was fairly ridiculous to Nire's eye s- she was only one human.  Why the caution?

            "I'm not quite sure, to be quite honest.  I'd gotten lost in the Tethyrian Forest, and made a gate to go him.  It was all flickery and crazy, but I had nothing to lose, so I went though.  And now I'm here, even though I'm not sure where 'here' is."

            She started inching backwards and around to counter their slow circling action.  She knew that the question had merely been aimed to distract her, but didn't allow it to as she continued to slowly counter their movements.  Rule number two was never let the bad guys get behind you (rule one being the bad guys aren't allowed to attack you in your home).  Elbereth spoke up, hanging slightly back from the rest of the elves.

            "You are in the land of the Lythari."

            "And if you could fins your way here, you are much to dangerous to be allowed to run around Toril."  Almohai shot a glare at the Lythari who had said that.  By the look, Nire marked him as the young, inexperienced member of the group.

            "Ri-ight.  You're not going to let me just go home, are you?"

            Almohai shook his head grimly.  Nire could feel them attempting to break past her tight mental shields.  She wasn't having any of it, rudely thrusting them out, still backing away as they stalked her.

            "Uh-uh," she scolded.  "I told you.  No one messes with my mind."

            The backing away wasn't working as they moved faster than her until she was completely ringed in.  This did not bode well for her health and well-being.  She turned in a slow circle, eyes scanning the impassive faces.  When she was facing Elbereth, she stopped, her head cocked slightly, regarding him thoughtfully.  Sad green eyes met her gray ones regretfully.  To him, she was not a human, but a child.  She laughed silently to herself - this was the first time she was ever glad anyone say her as naught but a little lass.

            "Well," she said, still staring Elbereth in the eyes, "I could try to fight you all, but I'd probably lose.  Real nice world you guys have to live in."  Her stomach growled loudly.  "I'm starving, so I'm going home now, to get some grub."

            The Lythari shared a quiet snicker.  She said it so calmly, like it was an obvious thing.  She could not fight her way past them, five Lythari gatekeepers against one human child.  But as Elbereth looked into the girl's cool gray eyes, he saw something in there that told him, without a doubt, that she was serious.  She was going to leave, and they could not stop her.

            As a good guard, he should kill her now.  She was a human, obviously a powerful child-mage, and only a child.  He had been a Gatekeeper for almost a century, and was second in command of his group.  But, regardless of the species, he could not condone the murder of a child.

            Nire nervously said a quick prayer to any higher powers that were listening.  She was about to form the gate that would just allow her to disappear, a long-distance teleport.  If it had been something to do with her that had caused the other gate to malfunction, then this one might prove fatal.  Then again, why should she care?  Death would be a welcome respite from life.

            She grinned suddenly.  "Adios, muchachos!" was her farewell cry as she disappeared with a loud crack.  Immediately, everyone had their swords out, prepared for a fight.  But there was no one there.  Elbereth fought down a grin - she had shown Almohai.  The leader of their group was too arrogant, too full of himself.  It served him right to be bested by a human.  Almohai immediately made to try and find the girl, but Elbereth quickly put a stop to that.  He was not the leader, however he had the popular support of the other three Silver Shadows.

            "No we will not.  If a child is powerful enough to stumble into our realm, then there is most likely a powerful *elven* mage behind her.  Why make the enemy of an elf for killing his prodigy?  Besides," he added at the end, knowing it would hook the other three, "it's time to head back to base - our shift is over."

            "Yeah, let it go Almohai."

            "She was just lost."

            "She's not going to do anything."

            The haughty Lythari had no choice but to give in to the rest of the group.  That would put him in a dour mood for quite a few days, but Elbereth didn't care.  He fell to the back of the group as they spread out through the trees.  Once he was officially off-duty, he would travel to Toril and attempt to find the girl.  He felt this insane urge to apologize, besides, he liked her Devil-may-care attitude.  He could either do nothing for the rest of the day/night, or he could try to find this child.  Searching for a needle in a haystack was better than the boredom of following that same routine he had every day.

*  *  *  *  *

            Nire sighed as she ended up in Tethyr again, in the woods.  She hadn't wanted to go home, not yet, nor go bug Jander.  She would eat her dinner here, in the middle of the forest, then proceed from there.  As he settled on the forest floor with her back against a tree, she pulled out a PBJ sandwich from the pouch hooked on her belt and untied her waterskin.  This was the first meal she had eaten in over twenty-four hours, and she was famished.

            The sandwich was finished, and Nire was brushing the crumbs off her legs when she caught a flickering in the trees.  Sighing, she took a long draught of her water as she rose to her feet, loosening her sword in its scabbard.  While she could not hear any sounds beyond normal forest chatter, she knew that there was someone out there.  Within moments, an elf - one of the Lythari - came into her sight.

            Without a thought, her swords hissed out of its scabbard, gleaming dully in the moonlight.  "I *told* you people to leave me alone!  I doubt I could even get *back* to your world.  Jesus!"

            Elbereth held up his hands in the universal gesture for peace, backing off slightly.  "Please, I mean no harm.  I wanted to apologize for his companions' behavior."  He spoke in Common.

            Nire, too, switched to that language, sheathing her sword.  "Yeah, well, sorries don't cut it in the real world."  She turned away and headed off in a random direction, intent on exploring more of the forest.

            Elbereth stood for a moment, watching her amble off through the trees, before gliding after her.  Not only did he feel bad about everyone planning on killing her, but also he did not want her to go off with such a low opinion of the Lythari.

            "Wait a moment!" he called out.

            Nire stopped.  "What?" she asked grumpily.  Fuck all this - she was going to go to wherever Jander was and try to get some sleep.

            "Um, look," he said uncertainly.  It suddenly struck him how similar her attitude was to that of Makaila, his child.  His child that had died in that awful fire.  "What could I do to make up for our rude behavior?"  Bright green eyes glittered slightly with unshed tears at the sudden memory of his daughter.

            "Noth-" Nire started, but paused thoughtfully.  "Actually, there is something.  Are you good with a sword?" she questioned, staring at him intently.

            He smiled lopsidedly.  "I'm fair with a sword and a quiver of arrows."

            Nire shook her head.  "Don't be so friggin' modest.  If someone were to pick the five best fighters of your world, would you be among them?"

            Elbereth cautiously nodded after a bit of consideration.  "I supposed so."  Why would she want to know that?

            "Ever heard of Azazel of Belasarius?" she asked, withholding all information until he answered.

            "The mage from before the Time of Troubles?" He nodded cautiously.  "Yes, I've heard of him.  Why?"

            "He's got something I need.  Or, rather, there's something I need in whatever's left of the tower at the center of the maze.  I need a fighter to watch my back when I go in."

            Elbereth nodded thoughtfully.  That didn't sound too bad.  There would be much of interest in the home of the famous mage, renowned even in the realms of the elves.  He might as well agree to it - now that he knew that the girl was planning on trying to make it through the maze and the tower, he could not very well let her go alone.

            "Alright.  When?"

            Nire paused to consider for a moment.  It would have to be a weekend, and soon.  "Seven days, meet me back here."

            "Now, wait," Elbereth protested.  "You know where the tower is?"

            A roll of her eyes indicated what she thought of the question.  "Of course I do.  And if I didn't, I'd bet you did.  Seven days at dawn."

            Before the Silver Shadow realized that he had never asked her name, she had strode off through the trees.  Well, he would find out in seven days.  That was good enough for him.

            Nire watched carefully as she walked away from the elf, making sure he was not following.  She'd bet anyone, anything that he was the one who had been sent to keep an eye on her to make sure she kept her mouth firmly shut.  It was late enough that she was tired, and *still* hungry.  After all, she had been moving all day and most of the night, and had only eaten one sandwich in the past day.  It was time for her to go to bed.

            Jander! she called, feeling his awareness of her.  I'm tired - I wanna go to bed.  Come get me.

            He was there in an instant, making a gate and coming though.  Although he glanced curiously at her surroundings, he didn't ask.  "You want me to take you back to your bedroom, little one?"

            No, she didn't.  She had told her mother that she would be gone for a while, so she didn't have to go home at all.  She wanted to stay with Jander.

            "Nah.  Can I crash at your place?  Or are you on the move again?"  She looked at him with calm gray eyes, praying he would say yes.  She did not want to go home and be woken up early in the morning by the noise of her sister.

            Jander's eyes smiled at her.  "No, we're still holed up at the inn.  The snow there is pretty bad.  Come on."

            He ushered her through the gate that glowed a light blue to her eyes.  Once through, she found herself in a room like hundreds before it.  A brief thought crossed her mind, wondering why all rooms in all inns looked the same.  But now that she was in a warm room, in a place where she didn't have to worry about looking out for herself, she was exhausted.

            "What time do you want me to wake you up?" he asked solicitously as she began stripping herself of her weapons.

            "Never.  One of the advantages of having Mum know about you guys.  Don't you *dare* wake me up before I wake myself up."  She mock-glared at him.

            Jander smiled slightly in amusement.  "Okay, little one.  Whatever you say."

            She kicked off her soft boots, letting them drop to the floor, and yawned mightily.  As she yawned, she climbed into his bed, scooting way over onto the left side.  Jander pulled the blankets up around her, tucking her in, and rested his hand briefly on the top of her head.

            "Sweet dreams, little on."  She was already almost asleep and mumbled something unintelligible.

            Jander quietly blew out the candle he had lit and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

            Much, much later that evening -so much later that it was actually dawn - he returned to his room to sleep.  He had been lucky enough to snag a room with no windows whatsoever.  Nire was still there; sound asleep on his bed, sleeping on her right side.  For a long while, he stood there regarding her.  Although he supposed her could stay awake until she left, he was tired.  Should he sleep in the chair?  Would Nire mind if he got into the bed next to her?  Did she trust him enough to stay?  He honestly didn't want to find out, fearing the answer, but he wanted to sleep in the chair even less.  Gingerly, he slipped under the covers next to the girl, knowing it would wake her up.  She just rolled over so her back was to him and muttered something about stealing all the blankets.  He couldn't figure out whether she was warning him not to or telling him that she would.  Either way, it didn't matter.

            He gazed at the child's body next to him.  Not only had she extended him the warm hand of friendship for the first time in centuries, knowing what he was, but also she had given him the gift of trust.  She may not trust him not to emotionally hurt her, but she physically felt at complete ease with him.  She hadn't even woken up all the way like she usually did hen he came into the room.  The level of trust the child put in him, a creature of evil, astounded him.  It was the greatest gift she could ever give him, one he would remember long after her death.

            The reluctant vampire closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep.

*  *  *  *  *

            Jander woke up much later in the day, in the early afternoon.  With a shock of surprise, he realized that Nire was still there next to him, still sound asleep.  His left arm was now trapped under her body, acting as a sort of pillow.  She had moved over in her sleep so she was next to him, her warm body heating his cold side.  Ever so carefully, he began to ease his arm out away from her.  Vampires were supposed to be unable to move about and be awake during the daylight hours.  For Jander, that had been true for the first half-century.  But since then, as tonight, he couldn't sleep throughout the day, and even had trouble falling asleep in the first place.  He would awake partway through the afternoon and be stuck in a darkened house (or room) until nightfall.

            As soon as he began to move, Nire was awake.  "Damn it!  I was *comfortable*!" She sat up so he could have his arm back.

            "Sorry, little on.  I tried not to wake you."  He smiled sheepishly at her.

            Nire sat up and stretched, yawning, as Jander got up off the bed.  " 'S okay.  Where's your brush?  Toss it to me, will ya?"

            He took I tout of his pack and tossed it so it landed on the bed beside her.  As she began to run the stiff bristles through her wild curls, he took out a fresh block of wood and a carving knife.  When Nire was over, she did not need to have his full attention; oft time, they would both be silently doing separate things, merely enjoying the presence of the other body.

            After tying her hair back in a ponytail, Nire asked, "You want me to leave?"

            Jander's head snapped up, his silver eyes meeting her gray ones.  Had his ignoring her insulted her somehow?  It was almost standard operating procedure.  He did not want one of his few friends to be angry with him, especially not Nire.  Her warm little body next to him as they both slept, as wrong as it was, had an oddly calming effect on his rest.  Although he knew that the odds of a situation such as this occurring again were slim, she was the one he could count on to be there in an emergency.

            "Hello-o."  Nire's voice snapped him out of his reverie.  "Come back from LaLa Land, Jander."

            "Sorry, little one.  And, no, I don't want you to leave.  But won't your mother be worried about you?"

            Nire shrugged, pragmatically saying, "I'm not Kerry.  She's not going to care."  She stretched and yawned again, then shuddered as a chill passed down her spine.  "Oh my God, I am starving!  An, all I had to eat yesterday was a PBJ sandwich.  C'I'ave some money to go get something to eat?"

            Jander's eyes grinned happily at her as he pulled some coins out of his money pouch.  "Between you and Az, I'm going to go broke."

            Jander flinched slightly at the innocuous remark, even though she had meant it in fun.  Nire quickly straightened out her clothes and scrubbed an arm across her eyes to rub the sleep from them.  Shoving a couple of knives in her boots for safety, she stood and stretched once more, trying to get all the kinks from yesterday's walking out of her body.  As she walked out of the room, already wide-awake, Jander was struck by the sudden question of whether she slept with hidden weapons.  He could not picture her ever unarmed.

            When the girl had gone, coins happily jingling in her hands, Jander's attentions returned to the block of wood and knife in his hands.  He did not carve figurines from blocks of wood; he set free the objects that were already in them.  The pieces of material he carved from were already sculptures - he just had to shave off the extra pieces.

            So intent was he on the image slowly taking shape from the smooth wood block that he did not notice Nire coming back into the room.  Respecting his intense concentration, she flopped back on the bed.  There was no way in hell she would return home until she had to.  No one would ever have any idea how relaxing it had been to get out of her house for such a long time.  She felt… refreshed.  That was the word - refreshed.  She would have to figure out how to do this more often.

(A/N:  Don't forget, if you want me to notify you personally when I update, drop me a line at Mystra1215@hotmail.com, okay?)