Author's Note: I haven't read Well of Darkness or Icewind Dale, but I have a friend who read Icewind Dale and is a total Drizzt freak. I would borrow the book from him, but unfortunately he's been living in Kazakhstan for the past three years and only comes back to visit for about a week each summer.

In response to Regrem Erutaerc's reviews, I'm pretty sure there won't be a Red-Eye/Divine fusion. There might be some other fusion characters, I don't really know yet. About the reviving of past Dragoons, I've already brought back Shirley; maybe there are others on the way. I'm not telling.

The reason I update so quickly is that I have nothing better to do with my time.

Chapter 34

Shade stood up, regarding the long-dead Silver Dragoon with a curious stare. "I thought you had departed for heaven a thousand years ago."

"I did. But I have always maintained a strong spiritual connection with this place, built in my own name. I was able to travel from the world of the dead."

"World of the dead? That doesn't sound much like heaven."

"It isn't. There is no heaven, or at least if there is, we weren't there. The world of the dead is empty, filled only with souls. It is endless, as undoubtedly your friend could tell you. He came for a brief visit, if the news I received was reliable."

Shade nodded. "So, do you know what's wrong with him?"

"Yes. There is an evil force attempting to seize control of him."

"Who would do that, and why?"

"Isn't it obvious? They want to sabotage your quest. Your mission is conflicting with their objectives, whatever they are. They're attempting to destroy your group from within, by breaking you apart."

Oraeus spoke up at this point. "Then wouldn't it make more sense to attack us all at once?"

Shirley shook her head. "It's not that simple. They can only access someone's mind through part of themselves that they had willingly given up."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "So Rayen gave something that was really important to him away to someone else and the bad guys got their hands on it?"

"More or less."

Shade sighed. "It would be so easy if he was missing a finger or something obvious like that. Did he tell you about anything like that, Oraeus?"

The half-Giganto shook his head. "No, or at least not directly."

"Keep in mind that it may not be a physical possession. It could be emotional as well."

Now it was Shade's turn to shake his head. "He would never fess up to something like that. Let's hope it's not emotional or we'll never get it out of him."

"I must be going. I cannot keep a material body for much longer. I will come back if there is any more substantial advice I can give you."

Shade and Oraeus paid their final respects to the Silver Dragoon before she departed back to the world of the dead. After she was gone, Rayen stirred and sat up.

"What the hell happened?"

Oraeus and Shade filled Rayen in on what had happened during his incapacitation. When they spoke of him giving up a part of himself, a blank look crossed Rayen's face.

"I can't think of what that would be... a part of myself..." Rayen shook his head.

"Well, let's not worry about that now. The next piece is in the forest."

Rayen blinked. "If there was a piece in the forest, why didn't we just get that one first and then go to the Shrine?"

Shade shook his head. "Because that forest is totally impassable by road. We have to go on foot from here."

Rayen pocketed the staff fragment and the three Dragoons left the Shrine, leaving the spirit of a 12,000-year-old Dragoon behind them.

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Although the Snowfield was a very small area, only a few yards long, a brutal blizzard swept the plain, making progress almost impossible. After several hours of grueling labor, they managed to reach the mouth of a small cave.

Phil yelled over the roar of the wind. "Maybe the piece is in there!"

Kyra nodded, although it was difficult to see her through the perpetual shower of frost. "Even if it isn't, we can't go much farther in weather like this!"

They dragged themselves inside the dry cave and discarded all of the superfluous layers of clothing that had protected them from the blizzard, which were no longer necessary away from the biting chill. A small fire crackled solemnly in the center of the cave. Phil plopped down onto the cave floor.

"Damn it, we're going to one bad climate after another. I wish that just once during my life, I could visit a perfect place. You know, like a paradise. A utopia."

Before the two girls could respond, a hollow voice sounded from a corner near the fire. "I was a lot like you once. I wanted to see our world become a utopia. Only just before my death I realized that utopia was not what it seemed."

The three very alarmed Dragoons whipped around. In the corner sat a man in metallic winged armor, his silver hair spilling down his shoulders. Kyra recognized him immediately, for he was a legendary figure in the history of their race.

"It's impossible. You're dead. You have been for over a thousand years."

The famous, or by some standards infamous Wingly Lloyd nodded. "I am. But I didn't see fit to leave quite yet."

Dawn looked curiously at the Wingly. "Why did you appear for us?"

"Just to give you a message. Heaven, utopia, and perfection, they are all lies, concocted by minds hungry for an excuse to strive for something they don't truly understand."

Kyra tried to speak. "I don't understand. You sat in this cave for a millennium just to give us a ten second message?"

"Yes, but heed it well. It may be your salvation... or your undoing."

With that, the Wingly disappeared, and the fire extinguished. In the pile of ash, the fifth piece of the Dragon Block Staff lay glimmering in the low light coming from the mouth of the cave entrance.

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Sean tossed and turned in his sleep, reliving experiences he had buried deep within his façade of determination and toughness.

"You ran away again, you asshole! Do you realize how bad we look when the cops have to bring you back every two days?"

Sean heard his own voice echoing throughout the confines of his mind. "If I made you all look like jackasses, so much the better!"

"You ungrateful little bastard! We took you off of the streets, and you've never shown an ounce of gratitude!"

"I'd rather live on the streets than live in under constant tyranny!"

"Shut up, you son of a bitch! I'll teach you some respect!"

He relived the blow that had been delivered, and his hard fall to the ground. The strokes continued to rain down on his back, beating him into submission. He had escaped, ran to the graveyard, where he had met Rayen for the first time.

Suddenly, the scene disappeared. Sean stood alone in a void of emptiness. Almost as suddenly as his own arrival, a pale-skinned woman in purple armor appeared next to him. When she spoke, her voice was hollow and echoing, as if it was only a shadow of what it had formerly been.

"Your friends will be in need of you soon. They will come back upon completion of the Dragon Block Staff, and you must come with them."

"Who are you? What if they don't listen to me?"

The woman tossed her long black hair in impatience. "My identity is irrelevant, at least for now. You must convince them. Due to the Dragon Block Staff, their own Dragoon powers will be rendered useless. Therefore, you can be of assistance even though the Sea Dragon no longer accepts you as its owner. If they need further convincing, give them this."

A strange ornament appeared in the woman's hand. It was a small Dragon's skull, with the lower jaw missing. Sean took it without really understanding what it was. Rayen and his friends could probably tell him about it later.

"Do not worry. You will not be forced to watch from the sidelines for much longer."

With this somewhat ominous statement, the woman returned to the void and Sean awoke, the Dragon skull still clamped tightly in his fist.