Chapter Seventeen

(A/N:  I'm almost done with 'A World in a Grain of Sand', so this one should start being cranked out more regularly.  If you want to read more about Nire's adventures, her future adventures, check out 'A World in a Grain of Sand', 'All the World I've Seen Before Me Passing By', and 'Short Stories from Nireville'.  She's in 'em all.  They do, however, contain some spoilers, so… be warned.  If you haven't already, remember, drop me a line if you want me to notify you personally when I update.  Mystra1215@hotmail.com.  It's people who review and let me know that they're reading who inspire me to continue this horrifically long fic.  R/R/E!)

Disclaimer:  Nire is mine, as is Elbereth, Azrael, and anything having to do with Azazel of Belasarius.  Nire's family and house are mine.  Jander, Raitlsin, and Faerûn belong to WotC.  Gar and Alea belong to Christopher Stasheff.  The Lythari belong to WotC.  Almohai is mine.

            It was Friday afternoon.  Nire was nervously going through all of her supplies again, making sure she had everything.  There was every single weapon she owned, every single weapon accessory, spread out across her bed.  Everything she would need for any of the magic she knew was piled on her pillow.  The spells were all memorized in her head.  It would be beyond despicable if she forgot something and was stuck up a creek without a paddle.  She wasn't sure how much trust she could put in Elbereth.  The whole deal with the Lythari would be so much easier were she to be dead.

            Nire finally flopped into her rocking chair, setting the relaxing creaky chair into its soothing motion.  Something gnawed deep in the pit of her stomach - nervousness.  She was worried about tomorrow morning's venture.  Khelben had filled her head with stories and legends of Azazel on that night.  She did not try to fool herself - there was the distinct possibility that she would not get out alive.  The thought of death made her nervous.  Not the realization that she would cease to exist - after all, who could prove to her that it was any different from before she was born?  No, it was the process that she feared - the pain of dying.

            It had finally sunk in that, in her attempt to get this gift for her friend, she might not survive.

            Nire immediately knew that she had to go and say goodbye to her friends without actually saying it.  She owed them that much for being there for her, for allowing her to invade their lives.  Absently, she wiped away a tear that trickled down her cheek.  She'd miss Jander if she died most of all.  He of the golden heart and the dark secret, who had been there for her even when she had not wanted it.

            Nire suddenly laughed, a harsh sound in the deathly silence of her room.  She was getting herself worked up over nothing.  The thought of death was a distant impossibility.  She would survive, as always.  The ability of the gates would save her if things got hairy.

            But just in case…

*  *  *  *  *

            "See you later, Nire."

            The girl smiled at Gar and Alea.  "Yeah.  And, hey.  I just wanted to say…" She paused, trying to figure out what to say.  "Thanks for everything.  Thanks for putting up with me all these years, thanks for teaching me all that stuff.  I don't know what I would do without friends like you guys."

            She quickly turned and disappeared through the gate she had made.  Alea and Gar shared a Look.  That had been a decidedly odd visit.  There was almost a finality to it.  They turned together to go eat dinner; not needing to speak to know that was where the other was heading.  As they walked, Gar's hand brushed against Alea's.  A seemingly innocuous act, but Alea had to suppress the tingle that went down her spine and warm feelings that flowed through her whenever they chanced at physical contact.  It was too dangerous.

*  *  *  *  *

            Raistlin's hourglass eyes watched as Nire fashioned a gate.  "Leaving so soon, lass?"

            She smiled slightly at the term of endearment.  "Yeah.  Darkness has fallen.  I have to go talk to Jander and Az.  And then I need to go to bed.  I have to be up really early tomorrow."

            The mage nodded, still regarding the child who had managed to worm her way into his cold heart.  There was something off about her tonight, something he couldn't put his finger on.  The fact that something was wrong was clinched, however, when she came over and hugged him.  That was not even close to normal behavior for Nire.

            "See ya, man."  She disappeared before he could question her.

            Jander, He sent out his mind to his best resource when it came to Nire.

            Hello, Raistlin.  Nire just got here.  Do you want me to-

            No! Raistlin exclaimed.  She's why I'm talking to you.  Keep an eye on her.  There's something… off about her tonight.

            All right.  I'll keep that in mind.

            Raistlin would rest more easily now, knowing that he'd done his part.

*  *  *  *  *

            Nire finally stretched and sighed; the time reached nine at night.  "All right; I have to go get some sleep.  Where's Az so I can say goodbye?"

            "He's down, eating.  The boy's got a bottomless stomach."  Jander found the question odd, though.  Usually, she just told him to tell the lad goodbye.  Then again, as Raistlin had forewarned him, she had been acting strangely all night.

            Nire trotted out to where Azrael's thoughts were emanating from.  He had just sat down to a big bowl of soup.  As she snagged the chair across from him, he looked up.

            "Hey, Nire."  A large spoonful of broth was slurped into his mouth.

            "Hey man.  Just came down to say bye.  I gotta go home."

            " 'Kay," Azrael responded.  "See ya later."

            "Yeah.  Bye."

            She returned to Jander's room to see him thoughtfully staring at the wall.  As son as she entered the room, though, he turned his head to meet her eyes.

            "Do you want me to gate you home, little one?"  He stood up, all the while searching her eyes for any clue as to what was up with her odd behavior.

            "Nah.  Like I said, I gotta be up early, so I gotta be tired enough to fall asleep right when I get home."

            Trying to get some information out of her, Jander queried, "Where do you have to go so early?"

            Nire shrugged a she fashioned a portal.  "Eh.  I have stuff to do.  Gotta see a man about a horse, ya know."

            Jander's brow crinkled slightly at the unfamiliar expression, but decided she meant that is was none of his business.  Surprisingly, Nire came over and gave him a quick hug, backing away before he could react.

            "I'll see you later, little one."  Something unidentifiable passed through her eyes when he said that.

            "Yeah.  G'night."

            "Sweet dreams," he called after her as she stepped through the gate.  Immediately, he contacted Raistlin.  At least, he tried to.  Unfortunately, the mage slept.

            That did not matter.  Jander would keep a mind out for the girl, a light telepathic touch she wouldn't feel.  If anything untoward happened to his little one, he would know.  Hopefully, he would know in time to help her, save her.  Come to the rescue like the gallant knight he wasn't.

*  *  *  *  *

            Nire woke herself half an hour before dawn.  It was hard to force herself out of the warm cocoon of her snug blankets, but she did it.  She had warned her mother she was going to be gone all Saturday, meeting subsequent questions with vague answers.  By the time the sun crested the horizon, she had dressed, tied back her hair, and armed her self with metal and magic.

            She gated to where she had said she would meet the Lythari.  He was already standing there, awaiting her arrival.  The early morning sun shimmered on his short silver hair.

            "I never inquired your name last time," he immediately said.

            "Nire," she answered shortly, beginning to walk and expecting him to follow.  "You're Elbereth, right?"

            His footfalls made nary a sound as he followed her.  "Yes, I'm Elbereth.  Where are we going?"

            "To the entrance of the maze.  The only thing I know for sure is that, once you take a step forward, you can't go back.  Something blocks you.  And I'm assuming that any magic one tried to work gets fucked up.  The gate I made to get out of the labyrinth after I discovered I didn't go back was s'posed to go to my bedroom.  Went to your realm instead."  She stopped in the middle of the woods. "That there's the point of no return.  See the shimmering above the trees?"  She pointed up at the sky.  "That's some sort of shield that makes everything inside of it invisible.  Ready?"

            "Wait.  What about a plan?" he asked her.  "Don't you have some sort of plan?"

            Nire looked at him like he was an idiot.  "Yeah.  Get in; get out; stay alive.  Duh.  Ready?"

            "No!  We need *some* kind of plane," he tried to argue with her.

            "No we don't," she patiently reasoned.  "First of all, we don't know enough about the inside to formulate any type of plan.  Unless you know stuff that I don't."  Elbereth shook his head, so she continued.  "Besides, people only make plans so they have an excuse to be pissed off when something goes wrong and aid plans are shot to hell.  Ready?"

            "You're a bit eager," Elbereth commented.

            "Damn fucking right I am.  The sooner we get in, the sooner I find what I need and get home.  You ready?"

            Elbereth smiled slightly at her impatience, his bright green eyes sparkling.  "Lead on, lass."

            "It's Nire," she napped, stepping forward and disappearing.

            Elbereth appeared behind her in moments.  "Now what?" he asked her.  He would allow her to lead, allow her to direct him.  This was her adventure.

            "We walk, keep an eye out for danger, and hope we're not killed."  She set off walking, once more just assuming he would follow.

            Elbereth did follow, after attempting to move backwards.  She had been right - he was met by a smooth wall of invisible resistance.  They walked without incident for a while, moving in complete silence.  Well, not complete, because Nire hummed ditties to herself.  But she steadfastly ignored Elbereth.  He was there to back her in a fight, nothing else.  Butterflies fluttered through the girl's stomach.  She was going on an adventure!  She was going to kick some serious ass today.

            The stopped at the first fork.  "Which way, señor?" Nire asked.  "Fifty-fifty."

            "Well, to get to the center, you're always supposed to go left," he mused.

            Nire quickly thought that over.  Were this maze hers, she would make the way to the center be mainly through right-hand forks.  That would confuse veterans, and mess up newcomers even more.  "Then we go right."

            They set off down the right-hand side.  Nire continued to him happily, walking quietly for a human.  Elbereth followed, his step silent on the carpet of leaves.  The girl was on high alert now, knowing that this was when things would start to happen.  Had they gone down the right path, they would be safe.  But the wrong path would lead them to a trap of some sort.  From the back, she seemed an unconcerned child out for a walk.  But her eyes darted around, searching for anything out of the ordinary.  Her ears strained for sounds that weren't made by Elbereth.  Everything was deathly silent - no animals chattered in the bushes.

            They came to another fork, leaving Nire to assume that she had chosen the correct way.

            "Right again?" Elbereth asked.

            "Logic says eyes," Nire shrugged.  "But paranoia says if we were mart enough to figure out to go right, then we'll try to go right again.  This, make the correct way go left.  However, paranoia also says we'll figure this out, go left, thus the true path is right."

            He raised a silver eyebrow, fighting the urge to take over all decision-making.  "So we go…"

            Her shoulders rose and fell in a careless shrug.  "Left is right and right is wrong.  Let's go left."

            He followed her down the left path.  This was going to be interesting, to say the least.  Interesting and confusing.  The logic she used so far to determining which way to go was sound - and it was logic he never would have though of.  After ten minutes of walking or so, a faint acrid scent began to burn his sensitive nostrils.  It was the smell of burning wood.

            "You smell smoke?" Nire asked suddenly.

            At the confirmation of his thoughts, Elbereth paled slightly.  Never would he admit it to those who knew him, but he had a fear of fire.  The flames had robbed him of the most important thing in his life.  Hungry dancers that ate up all in heir path - they frightened him.  There was no guarantee that this young child, with a spirit so similar to Makaila's, wasn't going to go the same way.

            He paled even more as a ball of fire began to form, ten feet away.  It quickly formed a heads, arms, and legs, cricking its 'neck' when it was fully grown.

            Nire exhaled a single, long syllable.  "Fuck."  It lasted a god half minute, the tone lowering gradually.  She half-glanced back at Elbereth, noting the paleness of his face.  "Dude, are you okay?"

            He nodded quickly, swallowing.  This elemental - for he was sure that was what it was - was completely different from the conflagration that had swept his town.  A dry tongue flicked out to lick his dry lips.  He was Lythari - he did not have panic attacks.

            Nire squarely met his eyes, which had changed to a pale green, with her cold gray ones.  She could see the lie in his face, in his eyes, in the tense lines of his body.  Elbereth could feel her disdain for him radiating in waves from her - disdain that hadn't appeared until her had  opened his mouth.  Nervously, his flicked to the stretching fire-monster, then back to hers.

            "You're going to be completely useless right now, aren't you?" she asked, her eyes flickering between him and the elemental, forever watchful.

            "I don't know," he said truthfully, casting his eyes down.  The straightforwardness of this child shamed him.

            "The why didn't you just say so," she said impatiently, "and stop trying to be the proud elf that's going to get me killed buy choking at the wrong moment."

            Her eyes threw her disgust at him as she turned away.  The fiery beaste's eyes had finally settled on them as it finished working the kinks out of its body.  Nire stepped forward a few steps, purposely putting herself in front of Elbereth as another small slight.  Unexpected tears burned at his eyes, raw memories springing up.  Makaila doing the same thing many a time, when eh was being overcautious.  Makaila's eyes showing exasperation and disgust when he worried about the drunken elves reveling in the streets that might knock over the multitudes of candles and lanterns.

            Nire half-glanced back at him, pity welling up along with her need to fix everything wrong with others, in hope that it would somehow make her life better.  As hard as she tried to be callous, to protect herself, as hard as she tried to hate everyone she met, when someone like Elbereth came along, someone who so obviously carried so much hidden hurt… She could act, she could lie to herself, but in the end…

            She took another step forward as the flaming elemental began to glide towards them.  "Why don't you just go back to wherever you came from right now, so we can cut out this ridiculous charade?  We both know that I'm gonna win, just 'cause there's no way I'm going out at the first challenge."

            The flaming face laughed, a deep belly laugh.  It smirked at them, still chuckling.  A young human child and some breed of elf that was terrified of it.  This would be too easy.

            Nire glanced back at Elbereth once more before returning her attention to the task at hand.  She took a half-step backwards as it glided closer to them, graceful flames leaping towards the sky that glided across the grassy turf, obviously having no intentions other than to toy with them for a while.  It left smoldering footprints in the grass.

            "Nire, perhaps-" Elbereth started, but she cut him off.

            "Looks like it's gonna rain," she commented mildly.  And, with a flick of her wrist, the skies opened up just above the flaming elemental.  It stopped as the downpour sizzled off of it, and turned in a circle, arms up and chuckling.

            Nire look momentarily nonplussed, but quickly threw a mask over it.  She had been so sure that would work - feed it and it lives, give it a drink and it dies.  Her mind latched onto the first part of the riddle as she drew her sword.  It would be ineffectual against the fire, but it comforted her as she thought.  Feed it.  What did a fire need?  Fuel, for one.  An evil grin spread across her face.  A fire also needed oxygen to burn.  Now, since there was no visible fuel, it might also not need oxygen.  But just in case it *was* going to work, she wracked her mind for the spell.  It was one of the first ones Raist had taught her - the control of gases.  She tried to pull up all of her useless knowledge and figure out what gas would be in the atmosphere and be 'poisonous' to fire.

            The elemental was taking its sweet time meandering towards them.  Nire backed up steadily, pushing Elbereth back behind her.  Her mind was drawing a blank on gases.  All she could of was oxygen.  It was driving her insane.

            Elbereth was relieved that they were backing up.  His fears began to ease slightly at the aura of confidence the girl exuded.  She had some sort of a plan.  Even though her sword was out, he had a feeling that it had nothing to do with physical fighting.  She wasn't that foolish.  The heat from the elemental was beginning to draw beads of sweat on his face, but the fact that the child wasn't going to rush the thing and be burned to a crisp before his eyes made him sigh slightly in relief.

            As Nire felt the slight puff of air against the back of her neck, she smacked her forehead with her free hand.  How stupid could she be?  What was the opposite of oxygen?  Carbon dioxide, of course!  She snickered happily.

            "Well, señor fire guy.  What do you think?  One last chance to skedaddle."  The elemental shook its head, a malicious smile upon its burning face.  Nire nodded.  "I thought as much.  My friend, you are going down."

            She began to mumble under her breath, making jerky motions with her fingers as she backed up.  The elemental stopped and regarded her curiously, cocking its head like a giant puppy.

            "What do you think you are doing, foolish mortal?" it asked in a silky voice.  "Your friend seems remarkably frightened of me."

            Nire ignored it and finished speaking to herself.  A proud grin lit up her face as she regarded the leaping flames that resembled the shape of a man.  She waited expectantly for her plan to work.

            "Now, when I kill you," Nire asked cockily, "you're going to come alive again for the next group of adventurers.  Right?"

            The elemental raised a blazing eyebrow.  "You will not survive."

            "Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I know, I know.  You bring doom to those who dare to defy your might.  Or your master's might, or whatever.  But it'd be a real shame to kill someone with such a beautiful voice."

            The elemental chuckled once more.  Elbereth noticed that it seemed a bit smaller now.  "I like you, girl.  It's too bad you will have to die."

            "Doom, doom, doom," Nire said.  "Heard it all before.  Having a little trouble moving now, are you?"

            The elemental laughed again, but a quick look of consternation passed across its face.  "You are a cocky one, my treat.  Big enough to add much fuel to the flames of my fire."

            "And you appear to be shrinking.  You couldn't even light a flicker of a flame now," Nire parried.

            "Oh ho ho," the elemental laughed, even as it stumbled slightly.  "Then you have not felt the flames I can light.  Come a little closer, and I will show you."

            Nire smirked, licking a finger and pressing it to her arm, mimicking the sound of water hissing to steam.  "I'm hot enough already."

            She continued backing up steadily, keeping the same distance between her and the elemental. Elbereth backed up behind her, wondering what she was doing.

            The elemental gasped and wheezed as it fell to the ground.  "What have you done to me?" The shock in its voice was pitiful.

            Nire grinned triumphantly as the wildly flickering flames began to die out.  "I merely poisoned the air around you.  'Twas nice knowing you!"

            She turned and sauntered back the way they had come, intent on taking the other path.  Elbereth watched until the flames died out completely, then sprinted after Nire. His respect for the young child who had shown up Almohai was steadily growing.

            "How did you do that, lass?"

            "Call me lass again and I'll kill ya," she said blandly, heading down the opposite path.

            The special note in her voice stopped him in his tracks - the note that said she would do it, but she didn't care which choice he made.

            "My apologies," he finally said, following her once more.  "How did you do that, Nire?"

            She glanced back to him.  "Fire needs two things - fuel and oxygen.  I couldn't see a way to cut it off from its fuel, so I cut it off from oxygen."

            "But *how*?" he asked again, insisting.

            "Magic," she said simply.  "I was taught to control gases, so I surrounded him with carbon dioxide."

            "Oh."  He supposed it made sense.  "Thank the gods we could move backwards.  Otherwise we would have been burnt to a crisp."  It was said more to himself than to her.

            "Yeah," Nire said distractedly, looking around.  "Thank the gods."  She was getting the distinct feeling that she was being watched, but more than one pair of eyes, too.  It was putting her on edge, making her jittery.

            It took a few seconds for what he had aid to register.  As soon as it did, her head snapped up.

            "Oh my God, we did…" she breathed.  If they did, then that was a way to test which path was the right one.  They could go down a couple feet, then try to turn back.  If they could go back, it was the wrong way.  Otherwise… This was going to be so much easier, now.

            "What?" Elbereth asked, confused.  The slight tremors that had been running down his body since the appearance of the fiery elemental finally ceased.  Now he wanted to know what they had done that put the excited light in the child's eyes.

            When Nire explained it to him, his own eyes widened.  Of course!  Then again… "Why would the creator of this do that?  Is not the purpose of the labyrinth to keep people out?  So why provide a way for people to figure out which way to go?"

            Nire shrugged.  "I'unno.  Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.  Ya know?"

            "That attitude will get you killed," Elbereth commented.

            "Aye, I know.  I think I might-a heard someone telling me once that he'd watch people attempting to get through the maze.  Perhaps it entertained 'im to see if people are smart enough to figure it pout.  But, ya know.  Can we just assume I'm right?"

            She sounded exasperated, but that was the most she'd spoken yet.  And the politest.  Elbereth nodded as she turned and continued on, striding towards the next fork.