The Journal of Keledrial Nightstar

by Azurielle

Elven wizard and elven berserker, Keledrial's life has gone through one change after the next. How will he handle it all?

4. Chapter 4

Sera is growing bigger, and she has stared flying…hovering about in the loft.  And she's started to talk.  I guess that dragon babies advance faster than human, or elven ones, that's for certain.  She's only got single words down, right now…like "food," "sleep," and "Kele."   She calls me "Kele," I think, because she's heard Rosaleen call me Keledrial…but can't manage the full name yet.  Still…I think that, for her, Kele is more of word like "mother" than a name, anyhow.  I did read that most baby things think that the first thing that they see is their mother, so I generally assume that Sera thinks the same of me.  Funny…of all the things I thought to be some day…a "Kele" is not one of them.

       Sera's almost two months old, now.  I can't begin to tell you the shock I had when I woke up from one of my rare naps, the other day, only to find that Sera was gone, and there was a small, elven child sitting on the floor of the loft, playing with the music box that the party had found, so long ago, among the things that the giants, up in Neverwinter, had stolen.  We never found a buyer for the thing, so I had put it away in the drawer of the cabinet. Sera liked to listen to it, but I would not let her play with it, because I knew that she might accidentally break it.

       Any how, I nearly panicked when I saw a little girl, and not a little dragon...then I remembered that one of a silver dragon's innate skills is the ability to change their shape.  I looked closer and realized that the elven child had hair the same color as my own, but silver eyes. 

       "Sera?" I called, and she looked up, wide-eyed.  A moment later, she stood and brought the music box over to me.

       "Kele, play," she said, holding the box out, not I the least bit sheepish that I'd caught her playing with it.  At the moment though, I was too relieved to scold her.  I wound the music box up, and as the tinkling melody began, Sera started dancing about the room happily.  When the song wound down, and I had managed to gather my wits, I called her over again.

       "Sera, how did you…change?"  I asked.  She shrugged, and reached up to be picked up. 

       "All right…why did you change?" I asked her.  Again she shrugged, and laid her head against my shoulder. One of her hands snagged a fistful of my hair, and she giggled.

       "Same!" she stated. 

       "Yes, the same color…but how did you know to look small?" I asked, trying to figure out why she had changed into a child version of an elf.  She jumped down, switched back into a dragon, which was very disconcerting to witness, and went to the window in the loft.  She flapped her wings, until she was hovering at eye level, and looked out, pointing at something.

       I looked out to see what she was pointing at.  Down, in the street below, I saw people walking by.  It was the usual scene, since it was nearing noon…just people.  She made a noise and pointed again.  This time I saw what she meant…a family was walking boy…a mother, a father and a little girl. The little girl had the same color hair as her parents, but still looked very different.  I understood that she had been looking out the window and that was where she had gotten the idea to change.

       I plucked her out of the air, and smiled at her. 

       "Good girl, Sera.  Can you change back, again?" I asked.  She nodded, her blue-gray head bobbing once, before she morphed back into the little elven girl. 

       Now, Sera developing her ability to change her shape had its up and downsides.  I would not have to be so careful about hiding her anymore.  A dragon is one thing, but an elven child is completely different.  I could always tell people that she's my daughter, or niece or something.  And no one would hurt an elven child just because she is an elf.  The problem was, that I had to get her some clothing, since it wasn't appropriate for her to be running about without anything on, in the middle of winter.  No one would believe she was an elf, if she did.  Unfortunately, I know about as much about buying clothing as I do about taking care of baby dragons…not a whole lot.  My mothers always took care of my clothing for me, so it was never a problem.  Ingrid used to sew my clothes, but I can vaguely recall being taken to a tailor, when I lived on Evermeet, so I decided to find one here. 

       For temporary covering, I dug out one of Tobias' shirts…one that he hadn't taken to the tavern he and the others were building, and hadn't been ruined by Sera's claws.  She struggled and fussed when I tried to put it on her, but in the end, my determination was greater than her protestation.  I told her that she had to make certain she stayed as an elf, and did not change again until we came home.  Whether or not she understood me, I do not know, but she nodded, and remained in her elven form for the rest of the day.

       I will not go into the details of the tailor shop, only suffice to say my ignorance made me look like an idiot, and I am certain the woman who ran the place over-charged me. As soon as I walked into the place, with Sera, she made some loud, clucking noise, that reminded me of an irate chicken, and told me that I was holding Sera wrong…that one does not hold children as though they were a bag of meal.  I don't know why the wench got so upset…Sera never seems to complain. Then she fussed, and demanded to know why Sera had no clothing.  I believe I gave some pathetic excuse about her clothing having been wrecked in a fire.  Then the endless puttering and measuring!  She kept asking me things about material types, and buttons, and latches, and designs, and a thousand other things. I had no idea what she was talking about.  Then she started measuring me for clothing…all in all, by the time we were done at the tailor shop, I had spent a great deal of money on outfitting Sera, and ended up with some new clothes as well…although on the subject of the latter, I am not exactly opposed, seeing as adventuring is rather hard on my clothing, and I have no mothers left to make me new ones.

       The only thing I insisted on with Sera's clothing was that the dresses and tunics have no buttons on them.  For one, I do not have the patience, and for another I wanted her to be able to get into and out of her clothes easily enough, so that she wouldn't wreck them when poly-morphing between forms. 

       Sera seemed happy, though, with her clothing, and with the day outside of the loft.  I am not able to take her outside very often, for obvious reasons, although I have taken her outside of the city once or twice, so that she could play in the snow, without prying eyes.  Still, perhaps it wasn't such a brilliant idea to let Sera near normal children…after a few hours in the shop, where a pair of human girls were also being fitted for clothing, I noticed Sera beginning to mimic them…their facial expressions, body movements, and manner of speech…not that she can say much at this point, anyhow.  I shall have to be certain to teach her the proper way of things…it would not do at all to have a dragon who acts like a human, after all.

       I did well enough, for a while longer, but my lack of attention to my own self caught up to me on the 8th day of Ches.  I guess that not sleeping very much, and not remembering to eat on a regular basis, combined with trying to take care of Sera, work, and meet with Rosaleen every few days was not a very healthy combination.

       I ended up collapsing, while working on a short sword at the forge.  One minute, I was doing my work, and the very next, I was on the floor of the shop, being shaken awake by none other than my employer, Brian.  Sera was wailing like banshee, tugging at one of my hands.  Before I could clear my head, the boy who tends the fire came running back into the store, followed closely by a harried looking Celedor.  I sat up cautiously, feeling like a fool…and feeling weary beyond belief.  It was strange, considering I had felt fine a few minutes before.

       "Keledrial, what happened?" Celedor asked.  I shrugged. 

       "I guess I am a little tired," was my reply. 

       "Tired?  Look at you," Celedor stated, almost angrily.  "When was the last time you took reverie?  Or ate?"  Again I shrugged.  At the time I wasn't even certain what day of the week it was, so I really wasn't sure of the answer to his question. Sera's wailing was beginning to make my head ache, so I grabbed her and told her to stop crying immediately.  Strangely enough, she listened, and her tears dried up when she saw that I was conscious again.  She calmed, and stuck her thumb in her mouth…another habit she picked up from watching human children…and sat down quietly, snuggling against my side.  I turned my attention back to the matter at hand.  Celedor poked and prodded at me, and mumbled a few chants, for spells.  I took the fussing stoically, and waited for the scolding.

       "Well," he finally said.  "There's nothing wrong with you that several nights of rest, and a few good meals won't cure.  The only problem is that you're so stubborn, you refuse to accept that you might need help."  I need precisely what he meant…that I should go to the others…but let us just say that the Anauroch desert will freeze over before that will happen.

       "I do not need help…I've just had a lot to worry about…and I forgot to do some things, that's all."

       "You forgot to eat and rest?!" Celedor snorted, sounding very unpriestly at the moment.  "Horse shit, Keledrial!  And this better not be some sort of new way you've thought up to punish yourself…I have told you…"

       "Celedor!" I interrupted, before he could blurt out all sorts of things about myself that I did not want my employer to know.  Speaking of Brian, he had his arms crossed, and a disapproving expression on his face.

       "I knew you were overworking yourself.  I told you to take a break, and now I am ordering you to.  I don't want to see you in here for at least half a ten-day, Airk.  I mean it…I can't have my smiths passing out from exhaustion.  Take a break, or I'll have to find someone who will."  I was shocked.  Brian would fire me because I refused to rest?! 

       "But I'm not overworking," I protested.  "I worked longer hours on Ruathym, and I like to work!"  Neither Celedor nor Brian were having any of that.  They didn't care my reasons.  They both ordered me to go home and go to sleep.  Banned from my own job for half a week! 

       After a bit more scolding, several curious glances at Sera, and extracting a promise that I would come and talk with him before the end of the ten-day, he left.  Brian was a little more obvious in his questions about Sera.  He asked who she was, and if she was the reason that I had asked to work nights.  I nodded and gave the excuse that she was my daughter, and said that there was no one I trusted to take care of her during the day.  He shrugged and said it was my business, but that he'd meant what he said.

       I probably would have been angry at all of the high-handedness, but truthfully, I was really beginning to feel the affects of exhaustion.  I gathered up my things, Sera and Sanhandrian, and returned to the loft.  I sent a note to Rosaleen, asking for her to come over as soon as she could.  I needed someone to keep an eye on Sera while I caught up on the rest I had been ordered to take.  I fully intended to stay awake until Rosaleen got there, but as soon as I got back up into the loft, and sat down on my furs, I passed out again. 

       When I woke up again, it was to the smell of smoke.  I bolted straight up, and blinked, afraid of fire, or that Sera was hurt.  It hardly seemed that I'd been resting more than a short while…I certainly still felt bone-tired.

       When I finally managed to keep my eyes open, and wave away the smoke, I saw who had caused it.  The party…all four of them, were in the loft.  Ranon was next to me, watching with his "cleric expression."  Hank was the cause of the smoke, as he waved some odd, smoldering leaves that smelled foul, around, claiming that they would wake me up, even if I were dead.  Calvin was standing by the trap door, looking distinctly uncomfortable, and disapproving.  Tobias was poking around near the cabinet.  There was no sign of Sera.  Needless to say, the last worried me the most. 

       "Sera!" I called out, and a moment later she burst out from where she was hiding, in the cabinet, and ran over, hiding behind me.  I would have been amused at the bewildered expressions on the faces of the others when they saw her, had I not wanted to lay back down so very much. 

       "What are you doing here?" I asked them, noting that even my voice sounded tired.  I was really not awake enough to have to deal with this at the moment.  I batted Hank's hand away, as he continued waving the smoking herbs about.

       "And stop that," I snapped at him.

       "Your boss sent a message to us…told us you were sick," Ranon stated.

       "So what?  Why should it matter to any of you anyhow?" I asked, rudely.

       "We're you're friends, that's why," the odd dwarf said.  I laughed…not a very healthy sounding laugh, mind you…all high pitched and bitter. 

       "My friends?" I repeated.  "That is a jest, and not a very good one, at that."

       "Just what do you mean by that?" Ranon asked. 

       "Friends," I spat the word out as though it were a curse, "do not forget about the existence of each other…nor do they condemn each other.  Since the four of you have done both to me, I do not think you deserve the right of calling me friend…nor, indeed, would I ever call you mine." I sneered.  I was almost surprised at the expressions on their faces.  Tobias looked as though I'd just slapped him.

       "What in the nine hells do you mean by that?" Tobias demanded. 

       "You figure it out.  I am quite certain that Ranon and Calvin have told everyone all about what a horrible creature I am…and I know, quite well that that is the reason you have all turned on me," I leaned up against the wall, crossing my arms.  I wanted them to just go away, but it seemed that they were not going to.  They all began speaking at once.

       " I didn't say anything to the others!" Ranon protested. 

       "Whoa, wait a minute…you're the one that has been impossible to get a hold of," Tobias stated.  " You're never here anymore!"

       "What the hells are you talking about?" Hank asked.

       "No one has turned on you, Airk," Calvin added.  "We thought to give you time to yourself…to think about things."  Calvin I believed least of all.  I'd seen his face…the expression of disgust on it…they might have given me time, yes…but I am thinking it was more time to realize that they neither needed, nor wanted me in the group anymore.  I shook my head, trying to clear the fog in it.  I wasn't certain what to say first.

       "Look…I know what's been going on…I am not an idiot, nor am I ignorant, contrary to popular belief…You're all building some sort of tavern…you don't need me, nor did you want my assistance…in fact, no one ever bothered to mention that you were doing so, to me…of course, that could be because I've not seen any of you at the tavern for months, now.  The tavern…or any of the other places you used to go.  If you don't want me around any longer…fine.  I don't need any of you…I'm nothing more than a shield to some of you," I looked pointedly at Tobias… "Or a mindless barbarian, who can not read, control my temper, or conceive of any concept beyond killing," I glanced at the others. 

       "Since I tire of being thought of in such terms, perhaps you would do better to find someone else to aid you with your…well, with whatever the hells you've all decided to do, since going after the people who attacked us doesn't seem to be high on your lists of priorities." 

       At that point chaos seemed to break loose in the loft.  Protestations, and questions flew back and forth between all the others.  No they did not think of me as I had stated, they said…Liars.  Tobias and Hank claimed that had no idea about what was going on, looking to Calvin and Ranon for answers.  Calvin claimed that he'd said nothing of what I had told him and Ranon, and added that he had not forgotten about our quest.  Ranon shouted that he hadn't said anything, for he'd not been around the rest of the party, either, working, instead at the Plinth. He was not even involved in the whole tavern scheme, that the others had told him nothing of that as well.  Sera, growing less shy, began to walk about, poking at the others…pulling at the dwarves beards, grabbing Tobias around the legs…I just managed to catch her before she managed to get hold of Calvin's knife, shouting at her not to take things that weren't hers.  She started running about the room, and then to make matters worse, up through the open door came Lita, not Rosaleen. 

       The human woman began to laugh when she saw everything that was going on. The others fell silent, and turned to regard her, even as Sera ran back to me, giggling over how she had managed to elude Tobias. 

       My head began to hurt.  I only half managed to pay attention to the rest of the conversation.  I vaguely recall introducing Lita to the others, saying that I had hired her to help us against the Shadow Thieves and the Stained Blade mercenaries. I think that the others might have given me surprised looks, that I'd hired a thief to help us, but I was too busy trying to keep Sera from running about. 

       I was almost thankful that the conversation shifted from me, to the subject of what we were going to do next.  I almost laughed seeing as it had appeared that the others hadn't heard a word I'd said.  They acted as though the past months had not happened, and as though everything were just fine and normal, when things were anything but.

       Lita spoke with the others about her qualifications, and I recall her asking if our party had a name or a title, as some adventuring groups do, or were we just "five guys without a clue?"  Ranon immediately replied that the latter would be more appropriate to us, seeing as we could hardly agree on small things, let alone a party name. 

       They spoke briefly about their tavern, saying that it was almost done, and that as soon as they'd finished, we need only wait for the snows to clear up, to leave of Llorkh.  I told them that I cared little enough, one way or the other, but warned them that I had heard that the snows were unusual and probably wouldn't let up for months. The others seemed to think that if the snow did not let up soon, that we would just ride through it, anyhow.  Finally, conversation began to die away, and I was having trouble keeping my eyes open.  Lita shooed the others out, and shut the door.  She told me to go back to sleep, and as I lay down, I heard her begin to tell Sera some story about a girl from a place called Calimport.

       Things got a little bit easier the next few weeks.  I no longer had to keep Sera hidden, so I was able to go out during the daytime.  After having spoken with Celedor at length, explaining all the current problems I was facing, I felt a bit better…especially knowing that he knew the truth about Sera.  He seemed very startled to learn that I had a baby silver dragon in my care, but he did not try to convince me that I should give her up, or anything.    

       I know that in the long run, I am fool, but part of me still wanted to recover the friendships that I had thought were growing in the party.  To that end, I did two things…one; I lent money to Hank and Tobias, when they came by asking for it.  They said they needed a small "loan" to finish furnishing their tavern.  Although I did not like the idea, and was still quite bitter about things, I gave them the loan, with the warning that it had better be paid back within a year.

       The second thing I did smacks even more of idiocy, but I did it anyhow.  I bought a horse.  Now, when I went looking for one, thinking it would amuse Sera to spend a day outside, looking at horses, I did not imagine finding a horse would be such a difficult task…but for some reason, it was.   It seemed that almost every one of the horse merchants in the city was out of merchandise.  I did not think to ask why, although I do wonder about it now.  Finally, I found a man with a horse he was willing to sell.  I took a look at it, wondering why in the nine hells I had taken this idea into my head.  It was a huge, black beast, with a long, flowing white main, and tail.  I am no judge of horseflesh, but I could see nothing wrong with the animal.  When I asked the man why no one wanted the horse, he said that it was because the beast had a temper, and was stubborn as mule, for one thing.  The man had thought to breed the horse, but with the horses temper, no one had wanted to risk their mares.  He told me that he'd only just decided to sell the black, which was probably why I had managed to find it all. 

       So I went up to the horse, looked in the eye.  He snorted, and tossed his mane, as though daring me.  I am no coward, and though I do not like horses…in the slightest, I decided to accept that challenge, in the hopes that Calvin would perhaps respect me more if I proved to him that I could ride one of his beloved horses.  He'd mentioned something, back when he'd gotten drunk in Skullport, about how he'd never be able to trust a man who hated horses.  Maybe it is taking the path of least resistance, but I suppose we all do what we must.   This is something I felt I must do.  After all, it is not that I don't know how to ride a horse, just that I don't like to.  So I looked over the black one final time and bought him.  So the beast is stubborn and has a temper…so do I.  We should suit well, I suppose.  I named the horse Lashrael, after one of Corellon's celestial servants, then I sent him to where I knew Calvin would be, with a note, that read, "If you will train him, I will ride him.  His name is Lashrael.  Keledrial"

       We shall see what happens.  Meanwhile, Ranon has taken to pestering me as soon as I get off of work.   He and Rosaleen both seem to think that I need to go out more, and the two of them are almost a united front to see that I do, even if it's just going down to a bar for a few drinks. Ranon told me that he, too, has been slighted by the others for some reason…that they did not include him in their little tavern-building scheme, either.  I suppose I believe him, but I can't imagine why they would slight him…after all, he's the party's cleric…then he mentioned something about how he went to talk with Elaith.  At first I was angry with him, seeing as he'd gone to Elaith to warn the older elf away from me…but apparently, he'd mentioned some things to Elaith that he shouldn't have…something about the Craulnober Moonblade, which had angered Lord Craulnober.  It seemed that the others all though Ranon was a fool for his deed, and that they were all afraid that Elaith was going to kill all of them out of hand.  I laughed, for I'd never heard anything more ridiculous.  Ranon tried to warn me that Elaith meant to call in all of the favors one of these days, and that the task he would have me do would be a dangerous one.  I believe I gave the dwarf a strange look, and replied that I well knew that, already, and that it was a matter of honor.  Elaith had given me aid, and information when I could find it no where else, so needless to say, I will aid him in whatever task he may someday require of me, as long as it not one that will endanger innocent people.  I fully expect my own life to be endangered…but then, I am an adventurer, and my life is endangered in a similar fashion during every "quest" we set out on.  Ranon did not seem pleased with my response, but he finally shut up, after I told him that the subject of Elaith Craulnober was closed to him for discussion.

       I think, that all in all, I have been rather good-natured about Ranon's presence, as he can be rather irksome at times, and somewhat oblivious at others.  He keeps insisting that he is trying to prove that I have one friend left in the party, and that he has forgiven me for my past.  I may believe his attempts at the former, but latter…I think not. 

       I gather that part of his estrangement with the others stems directly from Tobias, though.  Apparently, Ranon has gotten fed up with my fellow elf.  Tobias, you see, has this annoying habit of casting silence spells on people, whose voices he no longer wishes to hear.  Since Ranon and him have not been in agreement for sometime, Ranon is most usually the recipient of said spells…Tobias doesn't dare try the same with me.  I gather that Ranon finally got fed up with it, and he and Tobias are not on speaking terms.  Finally, I had to give the dwarf a bit of advice.  As a divine caster, he too, can cast silence.  I just told him to prepare some counter spells, so that Tobias' magic would not work…and failing that, to turn the tables, and silence Tobias.  I could tell by the vindictive gleam in Ranon's eyes that the idea held merit for him…and I almost pity Tobias.

The only thing that has been actually irritating me though is Lita.  Sera seems to have taken a liking to the human woman, and her stories.  It would not be a bad thing, in and of itself, it's just that I have no idea what Lita is telling Sera, and when I look over to wherever they are, the two of them giggle like it was me they were talking about.  It is most bothersome, and I worry about Sera picking up annoying human traits.  The only reason I allow it at all, is because Sera is a little girl, and I think that she needs some interaction with other females…still…I wonder if it was a good decision to let that woman be Lita. 

Other than that, though little of interest has been happening of late…but I have been getting more rest, thank Corellon for that.  I was beginning to feel weak again, and I cannot tolerate that.

Something occurred last night that considerably sped up our decision to leave for Llorkh…in fact, come morning, we are all heading out.

       Last night, you see, we were all attacked…all of the known party members.  Attacked by assassins.  I was working late at the forge…only a little seeing as I wanted to finish up the weapon I was working on.  Ranon had stopped by and demanded that I meet him down at the bar once I was through.  Sera was asleep in the corner…I still brought her with me, despite the odd looks I got from some of the others smiths…but at that time, I was alone save for the boy who watches the fire. 

       I did not see or hear a thing.  I don't even know how the bastard got in unseen, but he did.  All of a sudden, I felt agonizing pain rip through me, as my attacker drove a knife into my back.  Had the wound been only an inch or two to the left, the strike probably would have killed me.  It did not though.  I dropped my hammer onto the anvil, and summoned my axe into my hands, yelling at the boy who kept the fires, to go and get the guard…more to get him out of harm's way than any need I had for help.  Then I turned on my attacker.  He stepped from the shadows, silently…a half orc dressed all in dark clothing. He had no weapons save for the one that was still in my back.  I felt strangely calm as I attacked him.  It seemed surreal to me that I had been attacked in a place I had assumed to be safe.  My first attack connected, and the tusker grunted.  He moved on me, using his fists as weapons, bruising me, but little else.  I guess he'd assumed that the first attack would kill me.  When I moved again, however, a felt something burning and surging through my blood, poison I assumed…I lost my grip on my axe, in an attempt to keep whatever it was from affecting me.  I did not have time to search and retrieve my weapon from the other side of the forge, and had no others with me…so I picked up my smithy hammer to use instead. 

       In open, fair combat the ½ orc was little enough challenge.  Two more hits felled, the last I slammed the smithy hammer so hard into his skull that I had to use a bit of effort to pull it free.  His skull was crushed, and his life ended with it…as he'd meant to do the same to me.

       As soon as the battle was done, Sera came from the corner where she's been hiding.  She was crying, and upset, and I focused my attention on calming her, rather than on the awful, throbbing pain in my back.  I did not want her to be any more upset than she already was by knowing that I was hurt.

       After she was calm, I set her down, and told her to be still, as I searched the pockets of the corpse.  The first thing I found was a note, which I stuffed in my pocket to look at later.  He had several potions, and a ring on, but as soon as I touched the items, I felt something terribly, awfully wrong with them. 

       I have explained that I can sense magic in a thing, just by touching it…but what I felt on these items was not so much magic, as it was the absence of…or more like the opposite of magic.  It felt cold and wrong in my hands, and I dropped the items to the ground as though they'd burned, shattering one of the potions straight off.  I wiped my hand several times on my tunic, but it was almost like I could still feel the stain of the foul items on my hand.

       At that point, Ranon showed up, along with the guard.  The dwarf looked a bit worse for the wear, and quickly informed me that he, too, had been attacked.  The one who'd attacked him had been human, though, and had gotten away before Ranon could engage him in combat.  The dagger that Ranon had was a foul looking thing, with a symbol of a human goddess, called Talona on the hilt…Ranon said something about how this Talona was a goddess pestilence and sickness. 

       Meanwhile the guards bombarded me with questions, demanding to know what had happened. I explained as best I could, and when they seemed satisfied, they took the body away.  Not before, I took the head, though.  Yes, I know it seems barbaric, but after Ranon the letter out loud to me, I had a plan for the killer's head.  The letter read:

By order of Severn Swiftblade of the Stained Blade

For One Hundred Platinum pieces up front and One Hundred upon completion, an assassination order is issued.  The party is highly distinguishable by its party members; a tall, blue haired, berserking elf, a winged dwarf, a dwarf with a plant-like beard, an elven bard, and a human paladin of Tyr with a silver arm.

      For payment, bring the heads of each of these party members and their weapons, the dwarf's wings and the paladin's arm to the Stained Blade Mercenary Headquarters on Broken Cane Street in Llorkh.

Ask for Thendel Black.

Severn Swiftblade

Needless to say, I was not happy.  Finally, I leaned down, and quietly told Ranon to remove the dagger from my back, with out letting Sera see it.  I didn't want her overly upset.  To his credit, he did what I asked, and healed the wound at the same time, with no sound of protest out of me, though it hurt like the hells, and took a great deal of willpower to remain silent.

With the wound taken care of, and fortunately, the poison that had been on the blade did not seem to have affected me, I told Ranon to go find the others…to warn them if the attack had not yet happened, or to aid them if it already had.  Meanwhile, I took Sera, and went to find Lita.  Although she had not been mentioned in the letter, I thought it would be a good idea to make certain that she was all right, or at least warn her of the danger.  I told Ranon to bring the others back to town

Fortunately, I found her talking with Rosaleen.  She had not been attacked, but then as I said, she'd not been mentioned in the note.  I doubt anyone knew that she'd joined us yet.  We waited there at the bar, with the others, for a few hours.  Finally, they showed up.  Calvin and Hank looked all right, but had a bit of blood spattered on them, but Tobias looked like death warmed over.  Apparently, though, that was just what he was.  They'd all been out at their little tavern, when they'd been attacked, the same as Ranon and I.  Tobias had been killed by the first attack, while Calvin and Hank had survived and managed to kill their attackers.  Using gold they'd found in the assassins' pockets, they'd had a priest of Tyr bring Tobias back before his soul had gone too far.  I couldn't say that I approved, but the deed was already done, and I did not like the idea that Tobias might even now be dead, so I said nothing.

       We decided, that with this latest attack…on us specifically, that we could no longer afford to wait for the snows to clear.  We made the choice to leave for Llorkh as soon as possible, hoping that we if the assassins who'd failed returned, that we would not be far behind them, and we would still have the element of surprise on the mercenaries who'd ordered our deaths.  It meant that we would have to travel a fairly long distance, though potentially heavy snow, though, so we had a bit of preparation to see to, and little time in which to do it. 

After working out the details, of what needed to bought, when and where to meet, and so on, the others brought out the "loot" recovered from the assassins' bodies.  The money was gone...having gone to resurrect Tobias, but as with the one who attacked me, there were several potions, and rings, and a wand or two…but everything had the same…miasma of darkness about them that made me feel vaguely sick to touch.  I warned the others of what I felt about the items, and they seemed confused…Tobias in particular.  He claimed he felt nothing wrong from the potions or wands, and he, too, was a wizard.  I insisted there was.  Finally, I took one of the potions…meant to be a potion of healing, I think, and a regular one, that had been bought at a church, and held the two together.  Looking closely, there was a slight difference…the normal one was just that: normal…but the other…it seemed almost shadowy…as though it were trying to avoid light, or something.  It is very hard to explain…no one seemed to have any idea what the phenomenon was, but as I refused to touch any of the items, the others seemed almost leery of doing the same.  As a test, though, Tobias, ever curious, tried out one of the wands, on a mouse…the mouse died, as per the spell…but immediately there after, Tobias claimed he felt a terrible draining effect when he'd used the wand. 

Since it was not that late yet, we went to the one place where it was likely to find answers…the mage's guild.  One of the older, human, wizards knew exactly what was wrong with the items, as soon as he took one look at them.

"Shadow magic," he stated, a note of disgust in his voice. 

"It is not magic," I insisted.  "I've cast detection spells, and nothing registers…and I can feel it…it's not magic…more like an absence thereof."

"It is not magic in the sense of the weave," the other clarified.  "It is more like the darkness in the spaces between the weave…like a kind of dark, opposite version of true magic.  It is mostly used by the followers of the goddess Shar."

I had heard nothing like such…not in any of the books I've read, and that is saying something.  But this Shar, is a human goddess…and that makes sense to me.  No elf would ever tolerate the use of such a foul energy…it had to be human in discovery, use, and origin, for only humans would be ambitious enough to use a force so blatantly wrong.

With that knowledge, we now had another reason to be on guard…for shadow magic, so the wizard had said, could not affect true magic, nor could true affect shadow…and that is a dangerous problem.

We gathered all the supplies we needed the next day…food, warm clothing, and so on, packing up weapons and armor.  I did consider leaving Sera behind, but in the end, could not.  For one, I did not trust anyone enough to care for her for so long, and for another, the mere threat of being left at the church, or with anyone but me sent Sera into gales of hysterics…I hate to see her cry.  Yes, I know that taking her with me is dangerous as well, but I have no other option acceptable.  She will be safe enough, for she already knows to hide if anything dangerous or unknown approaches…and in the pocket, she is perfectly safe.  However, after almost being killed, it occurred to me, that there was a very good chance that I might not survive the next encounters…so I decided to make certain that Sera would be cared for.  I wrote out a will, in which I gave everything that was mine to Sera in the event of my death.  Sera herself would go to the church of Corellon in Waterdeep and raised there.  The guardian I named for her was Elaith Craulnober.  Now, I am certain the others would think me a fool for the latter, but I think of it this way…Elaith is someone who has not yet betrayed me…and if nothing else, he has a daughter…one that he cares for…and that was enough for me to give him trust of Sera until she was of age. I left copies of the document at the church, along with a large portion of money. Celedor claimed he would keep care of the document, but he did not look happy at all…I did not inquire as to why.  Another copy was sent to Elaith, and I carry the third with me…just in case.

Finally, all was in order…my absence for the next few months had been reported to all those who needed to know, and all necessary items and been packed and bought for the journey. Rosaleen was not at all happy at my leaving, but that is too bad, I have little choice at this point, for I will not just sit here, and wait for more assassins to be sent after me…perhaps next time to succeed.  All the same, part of me was a bit saddened as we left Waterdeep…for I had begun to grow comfortable in the routine I'd established there.  A greater part feared that, though. I did not want to feel comfortable in a human city…it is just a place to wait until I could go home again.  I will not let it become anymore than that.

Well, it has been a very long journey, and we are now but a day or so from Llorkh.  I write know, after so long an absence, because I do not know when I will next have a chance to do so.  The snows seem almost never ending, and trudging through them grew tiresome after the first ten-day.  Once I managed to establish who was in charge, Lashrael and I get along well enough that the damnable beast does not dare through me, as much as he tries my patience.  I think, though, that my goal was not accomplished, in that Calvin does not seem to see that I can ride, only that I still dislike horses, no matter my skill.  The damned human is impossible, I vow.  I have not written much, for there has been little to write about.  Sera has learned more words, and is more and more precocious…needless to say it has been quite a trial to keep her true form from the others, but I think that I have managed it.  Like all dragons, though, she has already begun to develop a fondness for gems and coins, and things that sparkle, and she has begun "collecting" such items, and hiding them in the pocket, or in her backpack…which she insisted I buy for her, to keep her "things" in.  As far as I know, she keeps nothing more than her "treasures" a wooden doll I bought her, and a few odds and ends in, though. 

I fear something greater than just a thieves' guild is on the rise in Faerun, though.  Just yesterday, we only managed to avoid a huge hoard of creatures, orcs and goblins and the like, which passed by us.  Now, initially, I had wanted to attack them, though they greatly outnumbered us, for letting such evil walk about unhindered felt wrong to me.  After a bit of arguing, Calvin agreed, but the others would have none of it, saying that an attack would be foolhardy and suicidal.  I knew the chances were slim, but that did not change my mind…I grumbled that it would only be just if the circus where Tobias hailed from was in the area, for the hoard to attack, but Tobias cheerfully assured me that they would be further south for the winter.  Without the backing of the rest of the party, I knew that attacking would mean certain death…and I am not so foolish yet.  My death would leave Sera and my corpse in the hands of the party, and Corellon only knows what they might decided to do…although I did tell Lita that should anything happen to me, that she must see Sera to the church in Waterdeep.  She seemed surprised to hear that there was elven temple there, but assured me that she would do what she could.

Our next task was to get into Llorkh, as it was a walled city.  We did not want the mercenaries to be warned, so our best plan was to come us with some sort of disguises, so as to hide our more noticeable features.  We argued for a bit over the type and nature of the disguises.  Finally we settled on a traveling troupe of bards, seeking refuge from the snows.  Lita insisted on non-magical disguises, though, claiming that magic was too easily dispelled or seen through.

So we all sat there, in relative and collective misery as Lita changed our faces, races, and so on.  Calvin acquired a beard, and a several scars.  Ranon's wings vanished, and was given a fancy cloak to distract the eyes from his face.  Hank's beard and hair looked more like actually hair, and less like vegetation.  I swear I almost called the whole thing off when she came after Tobias and I with pots of foul-looking paint…Tobias' green hair, and my own silvery blue locks soon turned black, our skins darkened to a humanish tan, our ears hidden beneath stupid looking hats, and so on.  I balked when she wanted me to put on some strange looking outfit, that I was positive would not fit, anyhow.  I insisted on magic, using one of the affects of my armor to change the appearance of my attire.  Upon getting a glance at myself in a mirror Lita had, I swear I almost fell over.  I looked nothing like Keledrial, or even Airk…but far more like some greasy, human hack of a wizard, in gaudy robes.  In short…it was a great disguise, but horrified me nonetheless.  To save the trouble of having to disguise Sera, I took her out of sight of the others, and convinced her to change her form to match how I looked now.  Thinking it a game, she did so, turning from a pretty little elven girl, to a human child, with dark hair, and round ears.  When I brought her back with me, the others all gave me strange looks that demanded explanations…of which I gave none.

So we made our way into Llorkh.  It didn't prove to be overly difficult, especially with Lita dazzling the male guards with her…assets.  As soon as we got past the front gates, Calvin mentioned that both of the guards had been evil.  That was comforting. 

The were only two inns in the town…and the first one we went to, the Hanged Dwarf was entirely unacceptable…even beyond the most obvious reason of the name.  The owner was a fat, disgusting human, who made his distaste for any non humans well known, he served watered down liquor, the place was ridden with vermin, and the patrons were all less than savory looking.  So we went to the other place, called the Slaughtered Cow…lovely names.  It far more satisfactory, run by a human woman, who shook her head when she learned we'd gone to the Hanged Dwarf first.  She gave us fair enough prices on the rooms, and the food was actually edible.  Plus, she wasn't evil, although Calvin claimed the other man had been. 

She only had four rooms, however.  Hank and his menagerie took one, while I claimed one for Sera and I.  Lita claimed that she would share with Calvin, laughing about who better than a paladin to protect her virtue…though I question whether she has any, anyhow…after all, she certainly doesn't act like some virginal maid…at least I don't think she does.  She's always making these lewd comments to all of us…not that I mind…but Calvin tends to blush.

That left the last room for Ranon and Tobias, who seemed to be about to pummel each other.  Their little argument had not gotten any better in the four months of travel it had taken us to reach here. But since they had no other choice, they put up with it.  I do hope they don't murder each other.

So we sent Lita out to find where the mercenaries were located. She returned a few hours later with the necessary information.  Then followed the several hours long planning session.  For about the first hour, the only thing we could all agree on was that chagrining in blindly was a very dumb idea.  Several plans were brought and up, summarily discarded, until we finally came up with an idea we thought just might work.

It was decided that two of us, namely Calvin and myself, would go into the guild, looking for a reward.  We would disguise the preserved head of the ½ orc who had attacked me, as my head, with spells, and say that we'd met up with the ½ orc, and killed him in a fight…found the letter and the head, and decided to come claim the reward.  We would act as though impressed by the set up of the place, and see if we couldn't get a job there.  One or the other ruse would be most likely to get us in to see Severn Swiftblade.  The rest of the party would follow us in, invisible for the most part, and wait for Calvin and I to begin the attack.  Then we would finish off what the damned mercenaries had started.

To go through with the plan, Lita claimed we would need to change disguises again.  Using spells, and more of her foul substances and disguises, Calvin and I were made to look as warriors, but more like a pair of human, Ruathym warriors, and less like our usual selves.  Calvin's holy symbols were hidden away, and his arm concealed under a glove and long sleeved shirt.  Lita insisted on making me wear some stupid piece of fur in my face, insisting that I still looked to elven.  No matter how I protested, she wouldn't give in, the evil wench.

So our disguises were in place, and we cast the invisibility spells, and so on. We wanted to do this as soon as possible…before anyone had a chance to realize that the group of bards in town, were not a group of bards at all…and since I'd had the nagging sensation of being scryed on all day, we decided the sooner, the better.

Gaining entrance to the Stained Blade mercenary house was as easy as expected.  The men at the door fell for the story…especially seeing as we had both the letter, and a head… although, I must admit, it is a bit disconcerting to look at one's own "severed head." 

The man who came to speak with us about the reward was called Thendel Black, a black-haired brute of a human that reminded me a bit of a weasel.  He laughed when he saw the head, and letter.  After examining the head for a moment, he stuck it on a candleholder, with a sickening crunch.  He asked where the weapons were, and I showed him my axe, but added that I'd be keeping the weapon, as I'd developed a fondness for it, using my best Airk voice.  Calvin added that we were both out of work, and wondered if there might not be an opening for a few decent fighters.

"You're warriors, eh?" Thendel asked.

"No…he's a wizard, and I'm a paladin of Tyr," Calvin replied.  I might've hit him, but Thendel started laughing, as though the statement had been an amusing joke. I suppose it was, for anyone looking at Calvin and I, as we were disguised, would probably never have guessed what we really were. 

Thendel took us exactly where we wanted to go…to see Severn Swiftblade.  We were lead outside of the building, to a walled training ground, where there were at least fifteen or so human men, and a few ½ orcs training.  The training, I immediately noticed, was brutal.  One man was being carried away, with an arm nearly severed, as we walked up.  The leader, Severn was watching from the sidelines with a critical eye.  He was human, with dark brown hair, dressed in plain clothes, with a Great sword on his back.  In the center of the yard, wiping blood from his weapon was none other that the Orog who'd taken Calvin's arm on the bridge…the weapon he carried was the same foul axe that had done the deed.  I saw Calvin stiffen a little, and hoped he would not attack rashly…as I would have done…we needed just a little more time for everyone to move into positions.

Thendel approached Severn and they talked for a few moments, before both of them moved over to speak with us. 

"So you want to join, do you?" Severn asked.  We both gave affirmative answers.

"Well, if you're fighters, then you won't be adverse to a bit of a test…to see what your skills are."   Again, Calvin and I nodded our agreement.

"Well then, you'll be fighting Carver.  Why don't you," he pointed to Calvin, "go first."

I watched as Calvin hesitated, then agreed.

"You can take him, Calvin," I stated.  He made some flippant comment, but I could see that he was tense.  Here was his chance for vengeance…or justice…whichever way he wanted it.  I would let him have the fight, give him the chance to make amends for his arm…and then we would start the fun.

I stood at the corner of the field, and watched as Carver and Calvin began to tear into each other.  The rest of the fighting stopped as people gathered around the field to watch the battle.  Calvin's fighting skills were good, as usual, and he hit Carver nearly every time…but for all that Carver lacked finesse, his blows connected, breaking past Calvin's guard, and hitting with far more force than Calvin was able of summoning.  A minute passed, and Calvin was bleeding freely from many wounds.  Carver hardly looked winded, though he, too, had several wounds.  Realizing the fight was not going as well as I had hoped, I realized that now was the perfect time to begin…when everyone was distracted.  I took a few steps back, and pulled two red dragon scales from my pocket, planting the tip of my axe in the ground in front of me, so that I could pick it up quickly, when I was, inevitably attacked.

The first fireball I aimed to the exact opposite side of the field, where Severn had stopped for a moment to speak with Thendel.  The scale in my hand was consumed, as I moved my fingers through the necessary gestures.  A ball of orange roared from my hands, and exploded…with Severn as the center.  Before anyone had a chance to recover from the shock, I cast again, an another fireball exploded, this one engulfing the men nearest to me, and just catching Carver within the blast, giving Calvin time to step back from the fight, and lay on hands to himself, healing the worst of the wounds.  I had time for one more spell…to make certain that I would strike true, before the nearest men charged me, weapons drawn.  I vaguely caught sight of the rest of the party beginning to appear about the field.  Hank went after Thendel…who was beginning to change…in fact, he grew larger…more furry, and his face took on a distinctive wolf shape to it.  A werewolf!  Ranon appeared near Calvin, alternately healing the paladin, and attacking the men around him.  Calvin still struggled with his battle with Carver, but someone had tossed the Orog his evil axe, and it seemed to be doing more damage to Calvin than possible.  There was no sign of Lita yet, but I could hear Tobias singing, his song magical in nature, and bringing better focus to my attacks.  I hacked though my attacks as though they were little more than wood.  One after another attacked me, and yet missed, falling instead, to my axe.  At first I though to move my way towards Severn, who had his sword drawn, and men with him, but seemed more to be watching… waiting to see how this would all end.  Unfortunately, I turned to see Calvin take a hit that nearly felled him, and with Ranon working to keep to attackers at bay, the two seemed to be in dire straights.  I charged at Carver, axe readied.  He did not expect an attack from behind, I think, for I cleaved him nearly in two with the force of my blow.  He fell, dead at Calvin's feet, and Calvin gave me a grateful look.  Shaking my head, I glanced about.  Hank seemed to be having a bit of trouble with the werewolf…in fact, a lot of trouble, as I saw the creature that had been Thendel take a bit out of him…but even as I moved to help, Lita finally appeared.  She leapt onto the werewolf's back, and wrapped a bit of wire around his neck…she locked it, somehow, and leapt off, as Thendel began to gag, and gasp, his claws digging to get the wire off…but to no avail.  When he realized that he was going to strangle to death, with no way to escape his fate, he seemed bound and determined to take at least Hank or Lita with him.  Tobias saved the day, though, when he threw a small, black bead at Thendel.  It exploded, and when the fire cleared, Thendel was imprisoned within some sort of circular force field that he was unable to escape from.

So, with the rest of the party taken care of, I continued to cut my way over to where Severn was.  Finally, I noticed that I had no opponents left, as the last few ran in terror.  I had killed upward of ten of the humans, and 3of the half-orcs…actually beheading one of them…and I had yet to take a single scratch. I suppose that that is a bit intimidating.

When I moved into position in front of Severn, hoping for a real fight, at least, he merely grinned, but did not bother to bring up his weapon.

"You know, if I were hiring now, I would definitely offer you a job, but since I have a war to start, I believe I'll be off, now."  Before I could do anything, he vanished, leaving only a strange, familiar smell behind that I could not quite place.  I do not know what he did; only that he had not cast magic, nor used a device that was magic related.  Needless to say, I was…irked.

I may even have destroyed a few things, as I went through the mercenaries' house.  I did manage to calm down though…after all we had gotten most of them, and while searching through the building, and the belongings of the mercenaries, we did come across a letter that gave reference to Severn little comment about a war.  The note we found spoke of killing the council of a city called Mirabar, and making it look as though Luskan was behind the deed, to begin a war between the two cities.  Now, I did not so much mind the idea of a war between Luskan and anyone else…so long as the Luskanites were thoroughly trounced…still I cannot, in good conscience dismiss the idea that innocent people would be killed to start said war, so we began to try and figure out what to do next, even as we finished stripping the house and the corpses of anything worthwhile…after all such a long journey costs money, of which, I notice, the party never seems to have much of…except for me.

Since the danger had passed, I let Sera come out of the pocket, where she's been told to stay, on pain of punishment.  I did not try to hide the bodies or anything from her…yes, she is a little girl, but she is also a little dragon, and one that is being raised by myself…so she might as well get used to the sight of blood.  I believe her response to the sight was something to the effect of "ick."  She daintily kept from stepping in the blood, and kept her face pressed against my leg, so as not to see the "dead, bad, men." However, she was not so disgusted that she did not manage to "find" a few gold pieces to "play with," or that she did not find a small magical item...a feather, in the pockets of one of the mercenaries cloak, and declare that it was hers, with all the imperiousness of any princess.  I suppose I spoil her a bit…seeing as I usually give in to the least expensive of her demands, and often give her a coin to distract her if she's being difficult…she does seem to be entranced by the sparkle of anything shiny…but her taste invariably runs towards that which is most expensive.  I think that she is already beginning to collect a hoard…it must be something subconscious on the part of all dragons, I guess.

While we were poking around, Tobias came upon a small map, hidden in a secret draw of a desk.  The map looked as though it were a normal map of Llorkh, except that it had a word marked in the basement of one shop: portal.  We had to hope that this meant there was a portal there…hopefully to wherever Severn had gone.  Our only choice was to follow, for there was no way for us to reach Mirabar in time to stop the attack. Mirabar was several months travel away…the attack was set to occur on Midsummer's night…a little more than three ten-days away.  Strange that the weather is still so cold and damp, when last year at this time, it was warm as any summer.  I suppose that it is merely a quirk of nature, or the whim of some god. 

We dragged all the bodies into the mercenaries' house, and left.  Some one would find them all in a day or two, but we would, hopefully, be long gone by then.  We returned to the inn, and gathered our things and steeds, and then found the shop that had been marked on the map.  It was a wine shop, and the merchant was not too happy when we entered and demanded to see his basement.  A small stack of coins, and a determined look eased our passage…but when we got below, there was no sign of the portal.  The shop keeper claimed to know nothing of what we spoke, and he seemed so bewildered, I think I believed him. Tobias inadvertently found the way, when he held the map up to a candle, to see if there were not some clue that we had missed.  When the light shone beneath the paper, it illuminated some words on the parchment that we had not seen before…some kind of ink that could only be read by candlelight was the reason for it…or so Tobias claimed, as he read what was written.  The words contained the instructions for how to activate and use the portal.  Since we would be going through momentarily, those of us with animals went upstairs, and led them through the shop, and down into the basement.  Lashrael was the only problem, as the beast's hind-quarters barely fit through the narrow openings, and a bit of pushing had to be done to persuade him to enter the building in the first place.  Fortunately, I am far more stubborn that he is.  The shopkeeper gain protested but was ignored.  Tobias activated the gate, and we stepped through, one at a time, weapons readied, just in case.  When we stepped on ground, again, it was onto cold, hard dirt, with patches of snow still scattered about.  About a hundred yards away, a city rose up before us.  When we got closer, and made to enter the place, which was fairly large, the guards confirmed that it was Mirabar, although they did seem a bit curious as to why we would not know the name of the city.

Once inside, I first noted that there were a great many humans…and then, that there were a like number of dwarves.  Mirabar, it seems, is a city that is split between the mayflies and the diggers.  Wonderful.

We found a nice enough inn…human run, called the "Battle-axe and Tackle…whatever the nine hells such a name is supposed to imply. Still, it was clean enough…the food was good, and they were able to provide a bath, so that I could wash the hideous black coloring out of my hair. It took me two whole tubs of water, and more scrubbing than I care to think about to completely wash all of Lita's horrible paints and powders from my hair and skin.  By Corellon, I hate disguises!

Sera had a bath as well, and changed herself back into her normal form, when she was done, delighting in being a dragon again, and flapping about the room, exploring things.  She declared that she wanted to sleep in the closet that was in the room, so I set her bedroll up there.  I can hardly think why she always chooses such small dark places to sleep…although most dragons do seem to live in caves and the like, so perhaps that, like the hoard gathering, is inherited.  Dragons are quite odd indeed. 

We all met downstairs shortly after, to discuss a plan.  It was decided that Lita and Tobias would try to ferret out where Severn could have gone in the city, since they are both more adept at that sort of thing.  Calvin we decided would try to find a way to speak with the members of the council that would be meeting, and try to warn them of the danger.  After all, it was far more likely that a group of councilmen would listen to the words of a paladin of Tyr than anyone else…why would a paladin lie?  Add to that the note we had found in the mercenaries house, and if the council did not believe him then, then perhaps hey were fools and deserved their fate.

That left nothing for the two dwarves and myself to do.  The dwarves claimed they would ask about for Severn, aw well, in the dwarven part of Mirabar…Lita however, nixed that idea, claiming that if they did such, Severn was certain to learn that we were here, and might change his plans.  So as I said, that left nothing for me, or the dwarves to do…well, actually the dwarves did have things to do.  Ranon claimed he would be working on re-enchanting his wand of curing wounds, and that we were to leave him alone for a few days.  Hank had to find some belladonna and wolfs bane and a priest who could potentially help with a lycanthropy infection, since he had been bitten by a werewolf.  So he, too, was not seen for a day or so.

I wandered about the city for the first few days feeling rather bored.  I had nothing to do to keep me busy, which is not something I am used to.  Oh, Sera was trouble enough, I suppose, but she's not really that hard to deal with, now that she seems to understand more.  I did spend a good bit of gold on buying things for her…mostly clever toys that had been made by the dwarves.  I couldn't be upset about the expenditure, though, for the toys occupied her hands and her mind, which I can only think are good things for a small child.  I, on the other, am always curious about different forms of smithing…and being that Mirabar had a great deal of dwarves about, it seems there was a different forge at every corner.  I was surprised to find that most of the owners of the places were not unfriendly, and more than willing enough to let me watch them work, and explain some of their techniques.  I think that some of them thought me very young, despite my size and height…or perhaps they did not realize that I already knew the craft very well. In the three weeks we had before Midsummer's, though, I learned a few new techniques that I was itching to try out.

On the third night in Mirabar, I happened to turn around to see that my "shadow" had returned.  Tobias was following me.  Now, I was still angered at the actions of the others…in case you can't tell, I am not exactly pleasant when it comes to grudges… still, Tobias' defection had hurt the most, seeing as he was the only other elf I had to speak with on a daily basis.  I asked him why he was bothering me, and he claimed that he was bored.  In a sneering tone, I told him that if he was so bored, why did he not go bother the dwarves…or Calvin…or build himself another tavern for that matter.  He seemed almost comically confused by my ire, and asked if I was still sore that they'd not told me about the tavern.

"No," I stated, calmly.  "I am not "sore" about that…only wondering why it is, that you suddenly decided that a dwarf and a human's company is vastly preferable to mine, after you have made jests time and time again about them."  I think I managed well, hiding my hurt.

"Look, Hank and Calvin aren't that bad," he replied. "You just have to get to know them a bit."

"I have not been extended that option," was my retort.

"Look, Calvin said that you needed some time…and you were never around to be found anyhow.  Besides…you've been keeping secrets too…like whom the girl is," he pointed to Sera, who was chasing Sanhandrian about.  My familiar was not overly upset though, and seemed to think it was a great game…or at least he thought it was fun unless Sera managed to catch him.

"She's my daughter," I stated, using the lie I had adopted…only it wasn't so much of a lie…she was a bit like my daughter, since I am raising her, and am the only parent she has.

"She is not…for one, she's too old…you said when you met me that I was the first elf you'd seen in four decades."

"I lied," I stated…unconvincingly.  He shook his head.

"The problem is that you're not any good at lying, you know.  I know she's not your daughter.  For that matter, she's not even an elf, is she?"

"Of course she is!  She's mine!  Look at her…she has my same hair!  She looks just like me…a little tiny me, anyhow." I protested, not liking that Tobias was getting so close to the truth.

"Why can't you just trust me with the truth? "

"Because I don't trust you, and you do not trust me," I replied, irritated. 

"But you trust Elaith Craulnober, though," Tobias stated.

"No…and that's not the issue here.  Even if I did, he's certainly done more to earn it than you have," I snapped. 

"Do you know he threatened to kill Ranon?" 

"If he did, then Ranon probably said something stupid to earn such a threat…and I will not listen to any more senseless accusations about Elaith Craulnober.  I cannot understand why it is that you all hate him so…oh, wait I know," I sneered.  "It is because none of you think that those of us who make terrible mistakes should be forgiven."

"Look, for the last time, I don't know whatever it was you told Calvin and Ranon.  Your past is your own business.  Besides, do you think I haven't messed up before? I was raised in a circus, for Hanali's sake!  I was born causing trouble!"  I said nothing, just continued walking once more.  Tobias seemed determined, though, and kept following me.

"Where are you going?" he asked me.

"Wenching," was my answer, hoping it would get him to leave.  After all Tobias had yet to show any interest in the female sex, and despite his claims, I do not thing he knows, any better than I did how to go about talking with them.

"Where?" 

"I don't know yet…I have to find a tavern with pretty wenches, first."

"Why don't I come along, then," he said, casually.

"You?!" I exclaimed.  "You…wenching?  You don't even know how!"

"I do so!"

"Really…" I drawled, sarcastically.  "Prove it."

"Fine…I will," Tobias declared.  And since I am not one to pass up a challenge, I had to do as I had said.  I took Sera back to the inn where we were staying and managed to locate Lita.  The human woman claimed she'd be glad to keep and eye on Sera for a few hours, while Tobias and I…went wenching.  Since Sera likes Lita, there were no major hysterics from her when I left…a few tears which I am certain dried up the moment Lita started telling her some story, or the like. 

So Tobias and I went wenching.  To my chagrin, he did seem to know what he was doing…and by the time I had managed to get the silly wench on my lap to agree to "find a room" with me, he was already upstairs, with his own "companion."  Now, I must admit, that I gained a bit of respect for Tobias, upon learning that he was quite able to meet my challenge.  In fact, when we returned to our own inn, some long time after the sun had set, we were conversing once more in a friendly manner.  Of course, we were both a bit drunk at the time, so it is no surprise that we came up with a "brilliant" idea at the time.  Since the night had been so successful, Tobias and I decided that it might be just the thing to get the entire party back on speaking terms again.  Since we had some three weeks 'til Midsummer's…or rather, Shielmeet, as it would be this year, we hatched the plan.  We spent the rest of the next day seeking out the perfect place to hold this "event."  The Scoundrel's Crypt inn proved to be perfect…just on the edge of the human and dwarven parts of town, it was fairly large, and had just the right mix of dwarves and humans.  The human wenches all seemed fair enough, and we guessed that the dwarven wenches would be sufficient as well…although I admit, I am certainly no judge of dwarven females…in fact, the first one I'd ever seen was at that tavern…and I swear, they look just like the men, only with breasts and without beards.

As dusk approached, we sought out the others.  Tobias was left to coerce Hank, while I got the job of convincing Ranon.  I dropped Sera off with Lita again…I don't think she was awfully happy that I was leaving her again, for the night, and she only consented to my departure after I vowed to spend the next two days at the inn with her.  She is a very demanding child…but then, she is a dragon, after all.

Ranon proved to be not as difficult as I'd expected.  He'd finished whatever he'd been working on, and though the idea of going out to have a drink was a fine one.  He was a bit more skeptical about the wenching part, but I assured him, that as he was such an "exotic" looking dwarf, that the wenches would not be able to resist him.  I do not know for certain whether or not that was true, however, I do know that Rosaleen claimed that that was the reason she liked me so much…being exotic that is.

Once all four of us, non-humans agreed, we went after Calvin, trying to think how to convince the upright, paladin that a night of drinking and wenching was a fine idea, even for him.  He actually did not put up too much of a fight either, claiming that he probably would not have much to drink, and that he did not "wench," for he was waiting for the "right woman."  Bloody fool, if you ask me, but he agreed to come, anyhow…in the name of camaraderie, as he put it.  He added that he'd talked with two of the more important council members and warned them of the danger.  Both seemed concerned enough to hire more guards, and the dwarven one…a councilman, Hungir had invited all of us to dinner the next week, so that he might meet us.  Calvin said that the dwarf meant to invite us to the council meeting, to help keep an eye on things.  So with the work out of the way, Calvin claimed it would be all right to "relax" a little.

We got him to have a few drinks anyhow…not enough to get him drunk, but enough to get him to loose a few of his inhibitions.  The tavern filled quickly, with a multitude of dwarves and humans.  I do believe that, as usual, Tobias and I were the only elves in the place; but I am used to that. 

The wenching went well for Tobias and the dwarves, and sometime around midnight, they each left with their new "friends."  Ranon and Hank had had a bit of trouble at the first, but a bit of helpful advice on my, and Tobias' part remedied their problems. 

I wasn't all that interested in wenching that night, though, and my inattentiveness had the girl warming lap, leaving after a bit.  The crowd was starting to get more intoxicated, and a little rough.  Suddenly, I felt a bit homesick for Ruathym, strangely enough…or maybe Airk…never mind.  In any case, the situation was just right for a fight, and I remembered all the times Eirick and I caused fights back on Ruathym.  Since the only one left in the party was Calvin, and since he would not commit to wither a good, hard-core drinking fest, nor a wench, I decided that a good fight was in order…but first I had to soften him up.  So when a squat little dwarf, with an insanely busy beard walked by, saw me and muttered something about prissy elves in the bar, I immediately perked up for the coming battle.  I muttered loudly about ugly dwarves, too cowardly to insult a man to his face, and the battle was on.  A large area was cleared in a matter of seconds, and I heard people taking and placing bets, even as the first punch was thrown.  I've never fought, fist to fist with a dwarf before, but it required a bit more skill, seeing as he had easy shots at my legs, but his skull was all I could easily hit…and a dwarf's skull is thicker than hewn granite, I think.  The dwarf, "Werrid," by name put up a good fight, managing once to take my feet out from under me.  He grabbed a hold of my ears, and slammed my head into the floor boards, a cheap shot to be certain, but I retaliated, by grabbing a hold of his beard, lifting his feet from the ground, and hurling him into the wall…an amazing feat, considering the bush on his face that he called a beard did not want to let loose of my hands.  In the end though, I was the stronger, and drove him to his knees with a series of punches to his face, and gut.  Apparently, the people in this bar were well versed in bar-fighting etiquette.  Werrid shook my hand, and thanked me for a rousing fight.  I bought him a drink, and sat back down by Calvin.

"Well, you seemed to enjoy that," he stated, with a bit of a grin.  I nodded.

"There's nothing like a good bar-fight to get the blood moving," I laughed. 

"So how does one go about having one," Calvin asked.  I gave him an incredulous stare.

"You've never had a bar-fight?" I asked.  He shook his head.  Amazing.  I suppose, though, that bar-fights aren't something that paladins of Tyr often indulge in. 

"Well, just pick out a likely target, and insult them…if they insult you back, the fight is on," I explained.

"Oh…I don't know if I could do that…attack a perfect stranger, just to start a fight?  But perhaps some one I knew…perhaps a barbaric…ugly, elf?"  I saw immediately where he meant to go, and since the insult had been so pathetic, I did not even bother to take offense.

"Better a barbarian, than a horse-loving, stick up the backside paladin, Calvin," I replied, standing once more.  Calvin stood as well, and stood a few feet away.

"Now what are the rules? " he asked, as he picked up a chair, and hurled it at me.  I ducked, though the leg of it clipped me on the shoulder.

"Well, now my fine horse-lover…there aren't rules, save that you don't use the furniture for weapons," I broke that rule even as I spoke it, by hoisting and throwing a table at him. Behind me, the betting began in earnest. 

"No?" he asked, dodging it.

"And no real weapons either…just these," I held up my fists, and promptly cracked him one in the face.  He spat out a little blood, and held up his own fists.  The fight was on.

Now, I don't know that a punch-by-punch description is necessary…not that I can remember much of the fight anyhow, being half-drunk at the time.  Calvin is a tough fight, something I usually admire him for.  What he lacks in strength, he makes up for in finesse.  Unfortunately for him, I can take more hits than he can, and I dish out more damage than he can.  For all that, though he made an excellent showing.  The fight must've lasted quite a while, and we beat each other black and blue.  I knocked out one of Calvin's teeth in the final punch that drove him to his knees, even though I was hardly on my feet as it was.  I knew for a fact that I had at least one black eye, and I might've broken a finger or two.  I won by the fact that I was still standing, although I collapsed into a chair, moments later.  Calvin pulled himself up into another chair, grinning like an idiot…and looking like one, too, with one of his front teeth gone. 

"You're right…that was fun," he stated, having a drink of ale that had been placed in front of him, bought by one of the patrons in the bar, who'd been entertained by the battle.  Werrid walked by, counting coins, and thanked me for making him a pile of money. 

"A good bar fight is just thing to relax a bit," I replied.  At that moment, I felt a bit a peace, and for a moment, I was reminded of the easy camaraderie I had had with Eirick, back on Ruathym…and though that though they were as far apart as dwarves and elves, Eirick and Calvin, in some ways, were a lot alike.  I guess I gained a little respect for Calvin after that, knowing that he was willing to go such lengths to try and fit in.

I was digging Calvin's tooth out of my knuckle, and flung it behind me, only to hear a familiar "ow!" 

Tobias sat down a moment later, his hair and clothing disheveled, with an irritated look on his face, as he was trying to brush the blood off his shirt.

He handed Calvin his tooth back, and muttered something about how I always managed to cover him in blood, of throw some body part at him.  Then he grinned, giving up on he new stain.

"Well, look's like our plan worked," he stated.

"Indeed," I agreed. 

"Not a bad idea for a couple of half-elves," Calvin agreed.  The reaction was instinctive…Tobias and I both lashed out, and punched the paladin.

"Nice…to see…everyone…agree..ing…a…gain," he mumbled, before passing out.  All in all, it was quite an interesting night.

The next weeks passed slowly, with us not making any progress on locating Severn within the city.  Our only hope was that he meant to go through the attack as planned, and we could get him then.

The dwarven councilor proved a cheerful fellow…gone a bit fat around the middle, but still a fairly formidable character…even more so considering that he was a politician. When he had us over for dinner, he said that he spoken with his fellow dwarven councilmen, and that they were, for the most part prepared for an attack.  He asked that we accompany him to the meting, so that we might be inside, and ready should, the attack come.  After all, he added, this Severn was our enemy as well, and we certainly deserved first crack at him. The food was good, and the drink was plentiful, and I have to admit, that the short councilor won my approval, in his willingness to believe us so readily, and in his great hospitality.  He also managed to charm Sera…although how he knew I had a little girl, I don't know.  When we got there, he exclaimed over her, claiming that she was the prettiest little thing.  Sera loves attention, and so, preened happily.  He completely won her over, with the present of a very pretty doll that he claimed one of his nephews had made.  It was very well made, and even had bluish hair, like Sera's when she was in her elven form.  All in all, it was a pleasant enough night.

We did speak briefly with the human councilor that Calvin had spoken with, as well, but he was less concerned, and less friendly. 

Things were pretty dull, for the most part, though.  We went out for another round of drinking, and so forth, on a few other occasions, but I still felt restless.  I was not used to be so still…having no work or anything to do.  I hate waiting.  I am starting got go crazy in the inn.  And it's still, bloody, snowing!  It's almost the middle of summer, and we're still ankle deep in snow.  I swear, there is something wholly unnatural about the oddity in the weather.

I did run across a priest of Tempus while in town.  Since Mirabar is so close to the north, there do seem to be an inordinate amount of northmen wandering about…many reminding me of the Ruathym.  The priest was an aging warrior, who still looked very fit.  I spoke with him about the two parts of the shattered sword I'd found.  He told that he had, indeed heard of the sword, and he knew of where I might find the third piece.  When he seemed satisfied that I was a decent enough warrior as well, and determined to find, and repair the broken blade, he told me that he would give me the information he knew, but at the cost of a "donation" to the church of Tempus.  I gave him the sword we'd taken from the body of Thendel, back in Llorkh.  It was a powerful blade, but carried a curse…it would infect the wielder with lycanthropy.  So I traded the sword to him for the information, disclosing that the sword was powerful, and carried a bit of a "problem," though.  He seemed to be willing enough to "take the chance."  He informed me that the last part of the sword was rumored to be in a fortress, far to the south of Waterdeep, near a place called Baldur's Gate.  The fortress was shaped like a giant gauntlet, he said, and was said to be inhabited by all sorts of animated objects.  It sounds interesting.  Perhaps, when this whole shadow thief/mercenary thing is done with, and I have a bit of time, I'll head down there.  It's not so much that I feel the need to repair the sword, as much as it is a challenge, and one that interests me.  I shall definitely have to think on this…

To occupy myself, I found a small magic store in town, and purchased a scroll with a flying spell on it, thinking it could be useful. After memorizing it, I headed out of town, with Sera, to test it out.  I figured it would give me a chance to test my spell out, and let Sera play for a bit, in her true form.

About halfway out, to a small wooded area, I had the sneaking feeling that I was being followed, but could see no one.

After a few hours, when Sera seemed to be getting tired of the snow, and flying about, we headed back in, and I figured out just who was following us: Tobias.

"Why did you go out to the woods," he asked, as we ran into him, just outside of the city.

"Why were you following me?!" I shouted at him.  He shrugged.

"I wanted to see what you were up to, but then you disappeared into the woods, and I couldn't find you anywhere."

"Don't ever follow me again," I warned him, relieved that he'd not seen anything…particularly Sera in her true form.  That's all I needed.

I took her out to fly again a day or so later, only to hear footsteps behind me. 

"Tobias, if you are following me, I swear I'll cast a fireball at you," I threatened.  The footsteps stopped, and I heard the sound of them returned the way they'd come.  Danger averted.

It didn't matter though, for it was Sera, herself who let the dragon out of the bag, so to speak.  It was the day before Shieldmeet, and we'd, once again, run into Tobias on the way back to Mirabar.  He was chattering on about something, and I wasn't paying any attention, when suddenly a large pile of snow hit me on the chest.  Tobias was standing a few feet away, wiping his hands on his cloak.  Not thinking, I said,

"Sera…bite him!"  I did not think she would take the command so seriously…I suppose I should have known better.  She will take any opportunity to turn into a dragon.  And that is just what she did. 

She polymorphed back into her true form, ripping her clothing, and pounced on Tobias, and began to playfully chew on his arm.  Tobias' eyes widened dramatically, and I stood there, shocked, only able to think that now the entire party would know about Sera.

"I knew it!" Tobias crowed, trying to push Sera away, eyeing her sharp little teeth, nervously.

"Sera!" I shouted, and she looked back at me.  "Bad girl!  How many times have I said it?!  Never change in front of other people!!"  She seemed to think about it, looking directly up at my face.  Reacting to my anger, she burst into tears, and ran back to me, crying that she was "sowwy."  I sighed, and picked her up, as she bawled into my cloak, wrapping her tail around my waist, but I focused my attention on Tobias.

"I knew she wasn't an elf," he stated, as he got back to his feet. 

"But where did you get a…"

"Tobias," I warned.  "If you tell any of the others about her…if you say one word to anyone, I swear I'll make you the sorriest elf to walk the face of Faerun."

"Why don't you want the others to know?" he asked.

"I don't trust them," I replied, calmly.

"You don't trust me, either."

"I don't trust anyone, Tobias…not even myself.  Sera is mine…she's my daughter, even if she is a dragon.  I don't want the others to see her as a dragon, and think that she's a weapon, or try to take her away from me."

"No one would…" he began to say.

"I don't care.  Since I cannot take the knowledge from your mind, I'll have your word, on your life, that you'll keep this a secret."

"I promise," he vowed.  I had no choice but to believe him.

We spoke a bit more, on more mundane things, but I was still angry that he'd found out, so I soon took my leave.  I did mention to him, though, that if anything should happen to me, that the party was to take Sera to the elven church in Waterdeep…and that Elaith would be her guardian.  Tobias seemed not to like that statement at all, protesting that Elaith was not a fit guardian for Sera.  I shrugged and only told him that it was done.  Once again, he muttered on about trust, and my lack of it.  I ignored him, and took my leave, returning to the inn. 

Sera was not happy, in that I made her sit in the corner of the room for a while to think about what she had done.  Not only had she ruined her clothing, but she might've gotten hurt…had it been anyone but Tobias, they might have attacked her.  I hated to have to be so harsh, but it was necessary.  She's my responsibility…I cannot let anyone hurt her.  Each day that passes, she is more and more like a child to me, and I fear that I love her, as I would a daughter.  I cannot let her be harmed…and if I must put up with her tears and pouts over being punished to keep said harm from occurring, so be it.

Dawn came, and with it, the entire party began to ready themselves for the council meeting.  It would be starting around noon…presumably when all the councilors had managed to get their lazy carcasses out of bed.  We would enter with Hungir, and stand along side the other guards that would be there.  There were spells and plans to be prepared.

When all was set and we had our plan, we accompanied the dwarven councilor to the meeting hall.  It was a large round building, within three entrances…one to the front, and two on the sides.  The front had double doors, and led into the speaking hall.  It was a round rooms, with three levels of tiers, containing seats for the councilors. The councilors all began to file in.  Guards were all scattered about the walls and entrances of the room…dwarven and human. 

We decided, as a party, that only Tobias and Calvin would be kept visible.  The rest of us had invisibility spells cast on us, and took up our chosen places.  I was by the main door, with two others guards, a human and a dwarf.  Hank and Ranon were on the highest tier, in the back.  Not even the councilors or other guards knew they were there.  Hank was by one of the side entrances, ready with his bow.  Ranon was to keep an eye on the main councilor, the human Threskirk.  Calvin was by the other side entrance, while Tobias was left to wander about freely, as was Lita, though she did so invisibly..  We figured that, that way, we would have everything ready, should the attack proceed as it had been planned.

Spell-wise, we all had potions ready, potions for extra strength and fortitude.  We'd all had a haste spell cast on us before going invisible, and it would last most of the day before the duration ended.  Ranon had readied spells to dispel effects, and to anchor that bastard, Severn, to the room, so that he could not just flit away again at the last moment.  This time, we meant to kill him.

The afternoon passed slowly, and I quickly made the decision that I wanted nothing to do with politics of any kind.  The topics discussed were dry and boring, hinging on numbers and percentages, and alliances and so on.  People and merchants from the town were escorted in to bring problems before the councilors, who voted to judge the outcome.  All in all, I was about ready to fall asleep, when the attack finally came.

We were ready for them to teleport in, or something like it, but instead, there was an explosion, and the front doors flew off their hinges, and into the room.  One of the doors clipped me in the shoulder with force enough to knock me off my feet.  By the time I'd gained a standing position, seconds later, a large number of mercenaries had already rushed into the room.  Then I noticed that the human guards, had all been slowly moving into position around the room…and many now had blades out, pointed at the councilors.  As it had been before, the mercenaries had attacked from within, as well as without…and we, fools all, had forgotten that and not prepared for such a problem.  The dwarven guards seemed bewildered, and were still on our side, however.  And we would need it.  I quietly cast a spell of fly, so that I might have better maneuverability, even as Severn finally appeared.  He strode into the room, accompanied by three monstrous creatures: large in size, with long claws and teeth, and ethereal wisps of darkness floating about them.  I'd never seen, nor heard of the like.

Severn walked down, to the center of the carpet, as though he'd been invited to speak.  He looked over at Calvin, and then Tobias.

"Have the rest of your party show themselves, or I will kill the councilors, now."

"You mean to kill them anyway, so why should we give up our advantage before the battle has even begun?" Calvin asked by way of a retort, his hand closing over the hilt of his longsword.

"Why be foolish?  You are not part of this…I will allow you to leave without harm, but you must do so now, so that we might get on with our job," Severn stated.

"And we cannot allow you do such an evil thing, mercenary." Calvin declared.

"Come now, Calvin Silverarm.  You and your friends are adventurers.  You go on quests for coin…this is no different. I am being paid to do a job, and you are attempting to stand in my way."

       "What are you are doing is killing innocent people, who do not deserve that fate," I hissed from behind him, even as I put the edge of my axe up to the back of his neck.  I had slowly moved closer while Calvin and Severn had been talking, silent, thanks to my flight spell.

       "Airk…I wondered where you were," Severn stated casually, as though I did not have his neck hostage.

       "Look, you...I care nothing about a war between Luskan and Mirabar…if anything, I would welcome it, in the hopes that Mirabar would wipe that miserable city off the face of Toril," I stated…despite all the progress I have made in the past year, I still bear no love for the Ruathym's age old enemy, Luskan.

       "However, we cannot allow you to kill innocent people to bring it about."

       "Not all of the men here are so innocent," Severn claimed, still seeming more concerned with convincing us that he was in the right, than with his own hide.

       "Be that as it may, we will not allow their murders," I growled.  I did not want to parley with this bastard…I wanted to kill him.

       "Tell your men to step back from the councilors, or I'll take your head off," I threatened.

       "You must understand…I have a contract to fufill," Severn said.  "My contract is my word, and I cannot back away because your sense of right is insulted.  Believe me when I say that most of these men deserve death."  There was some cowering among the councilors at that, but I noticed that all the dwarves were still, waiting for an opportunity.

       "And we have a contract as well," Calvin replied.  "These men's lives are our contract…as a man who understands such things, you must understand, that we are honor bound to stand in your way and protect the council."  Severn sighed at that.

       "Such a pity…are you certain that none of you want a job?  I would be most happy to give you one."

       "We want nothing from you, save vengeance," I growled.  I noticed that the dark creatures were moving closer to me, trying to find me by the sound of my voice, I suppose.  But I was not deterred in the slightest.

       "Ah...yes, vengeance…for the attacks on your persons, no doubt.  Well, it had to be done, I'm afraid.  But remember that things are not always as they seem." Was his only response to that.

       "Call your men off!" I shouted, growing frustrated.  This was dragging out for far too long.  Once again Severn ignored the order.

       "Yes…things are not always as they seem…for example, it does seem as though I have been hired by Luskan to do this, doesn't it?  But what if it were not Luskan at all…but rather a traitor in your midst," Severn stated, casually, looking up the tiers to one councilor in particular.  I followed his eyes…as did everyone else in the room…it lead directly to councilor Threskirk …who was looking distinctly nervous.

       "I don't know what you're talking about," Threskirk said, his voice breaking a bit.  

       "Oh, but you do, councilor Threskirk," Severn countered.  "Why don't you tell everyone how you hired me to do this, and make it seem as though Luskan was behind it?"  Everyone looked to Threskirk, who was moving about shiftily. 

       "Whatever are you talking about, mercenary?" Threskirk tried once more, his bluff.  But we saw the truth in his eyes.

       "Councilor…what is going on?" Calvin demanded.  The man opened his mouth, to once more deny, what was becoming very evident by his actions, was the truth.

       "Ranon!" I called. "Stand behind the councilor, and let him know you're there."   A moment later, the councilor straightened up suddenly. 

       "Now, human…tell us the truth.  Are you behind this betrayal?" I demanded, others echoing the sentiment from various areas about the building. 

       Threskirk finally looked down to Severn.

       "Why are you doing this?  I hired you to kill them!" He shouted. 

       "Ranon!" I called again, meaning to tell the dwarf to restrain the traitor…but before I could get the words out, the councilor groaned in pain, blood blossoming from his shoulder, even as Ranon appeared, clutching the dagger that had done it.  It was one of the Talonian daggers that had been used in the attempts on our lives.  The councilor collapsed…not quite dead, but not well either.  He moaned about his eyes, and I assumed that Ranon had used the contagion effect enchanted into the blade.  Damn the dwarf for starting things before I was ready.  Once again, Severn seemed unconcerned.

       "Ah…my thanks good dwarf, for saving me the trouble of having to kill him later."  I gave Severn one more chance.

       "Call off your men, or you die!" I shouted.

       "No," was his only reply.  I drew back my axe, and attacked, swinging to sever his neck.  Unfortunately, he, too, was prepared for the fight, for he had some sort of deflection spell up.  My axe only glanced off his neck, leaving a thing line of blood, instead of severing his head from his shoulders, as I had planned.

       The battle began in earnest.

       Calvin rushed out to engage Severn, as arrows began peppering the mercenaries from above, as Hank appeared.  Ranon, moved quickly, going after the mercenaries in the tiers that were threatening the councilors.  Tobias began to sing, even as he drew forth the whip from his belt.  Dwarven soldiers and councilors erupted into battle, turning on the mercenaries, drawing forth hammers and axes that had been hidden.  I flew up, away from Severn, momentarily, and began to cast.  The fireball spell I had prepared earlier burned from my mind, as fire erupted from my hands, and landed in the midst of the largest concentration of enemies.  I managed to catch Severn in the flames, and avoided endangering any of my allies.  Then I flew back down, to aid Calvin in attacking Severn with actual weapons.

           The battle seemed to go on an inordinately long amount of time, but perhaps that is because I held off on raging.  I thank Corellon that the dwarves were there, and on our side, and prepared.  They kept the majority of the lesser soldiers occupied, leaving the party free to concentrate all attacks on Severn and the three creatures he'd brought with him.  Had it not been for the diggers, would have been overwhelmed, and most likely defeated.

       I would not have though Severn so difficult to beat as he proved to be, on first glance.  However, whatever deflection shield he had up made hurting him extremely difficult.  He had no such difficulties, and cut into Calvin and I, time and again with his great sword.  As our wounds began to mount, Ranon flew forth, to our aid, with healing spells.  I flew back for a moment, trying some more magic on him, and while it did seem to hurt him, it still wasn't doing enough.  Tobias was not faring well with the creature he was fighting, having already lost his whip and several daggers as well.  A few well-placed arrows by Hank, gave the bard time enough to drink down a healing potion a grab up a weapon from a body. 

       Calvin was not doing so well either.  Severn suddenly reached out, and laid a hand on Calvin's sword, and the blade dissolved as though immersed in acid.  I did not recognize the spell, and so assumed it was more of the "psionics" that Tobias claimed that Severn was using.

       Fortunately, the paladin was quick in grabbing a weapon from one of the dead mercenaries, killed by the dwarves.

       The battle raged on, and we concentrated all attacks on Severn, figuring, that if we could just kill him, the others would lose their liking for the fight.  He seemed to shrug off nearly every attack we dished out.  Finally, in a last ditch attempt, I called up the battle rage.

       I do not know if it was that Severn shield somehow went down, or that the strength brought on by the rage gave me enough extra power to accomplish my goal, but my first swing took off Severn's sword arm, causing the great sword to fall to floor along with it.  The back swing took his head off, which, naturally enough, flew back, hit Tobias' tunic, and landed on the singed carpet.

       Using the rest of the rage, I helped the dwarves and the others take out the few remaining mercenaries, and the two creatures that were still standing.  Less than a minute later, the last of the mercenaries were dead, with only the minimal loss of two dwarven guards on our side.  Nearly everyone was wounded, but a moment or two after the battle had ended, clerics of the various religions supported in Mirabar rushed in. Wounds were repaired by divine magic, leaving only a vague weariness that comes with the conclusion of the battle. 

       We were able to take what we wished from Severn's corpse, but the others we left to the dwarves, who'd taken them down.  As the chaos began to calm, Hungir suddenly raised his voice over all the others, and thanked us for our warning, and our aid in saving their lives.  The human councilors proved to be a vehement in their thanks only a moment later.  Threskirk was healed, and had managed to survive, but he was taken off by a pair of city guards, and Hungir claimed that he would be in jail for a long time.

       Hungir said that victory called for a celebration, and declared that his house was where it would be. 

       Several hours later, after washing up, and having a bit of a rest, the entire party went to Hungir's house.  We were welcomed in, and discovered that the victory celebration had already begun.  Councilors and their families, as well as the guards who'd aided in the defense, were all gathered, partaking of the abundant food and drink provided by Hungir.

       Later in the evening, the councilor called a halt to the revel, long enough to declare, that for aid in helping them stand against evil, we deserved to be rewarded.  The dwarves went first heaping rewards of gold, gems, and even magical items upon us.  The humans were not to be outdone, and gifted us likewise.  We received cards to something called the Bank  of Faerun, which was apparently some super-safe, inter-dimensional storage space for money and the like.  The reward was more than generous, and no one was disappointed.  The only who asked for anything beyond what we were given, was Ranon.  He apparently needed something called the "Breath of Moradin," which only the church of Moradin could gift, but had refused to so, earlier in the month.  He asked if Hungir might put in a good word with the priests to strengthen his case, I suppose.

       He seemed happy enough a day or so later, when he apparently got what he wanted.

       The party eventually wound down, and Hungir told us to come by in a few days, when we were ready to leave.  He claimed that they had a wayfarer's guild in town, and that the guild would be paid to send us anywhere we wished to go.

       All in all, it proved to be a most enjoyable evening.

       We returned to Waterdeep some three days later, arriving just outside of the tavern that the others had built.  I was almost sorry that was where we wound up, for just looking at the place was enough to make me angry again. I wondered if things were not about to return to the way they'd been before we left for Llorkh, seeing as the minute our feet hit the ground, the others immediately went into the inn, forgetting completely that I was standing there.  I was…irritated.  And the last thing I wanted to do was to enter that tavern that they seemed to care about so much.  So I grabbed Lashrael's reins, and climbed up.  Sera happily petted the beast on the head…I noticed that the horse seems to like her far more than he likes me…but I think that, at least, we have developed a bit of respect for each other's stubbornness.  Lita was still outside as well, so I offered her a ride into town, which she accepted, climbing up behind me, although I did offer to let her sit on my lap.  She laughed… miserable wench, her.  Of course as much as she enjoys teasing me, I have begun to see amusing in returning thee gesture…especially after I realized that she was just teasing, that is.

       The ride back to town was simple enough, with no shenanigans on the part of Lashrael.  Everything was pretty much just as I had left it, and in a way, that was comforting.  After dropping Lita off, I went around to say hello to all the pertinent people who should know that I was back.  They all seemed glad to see me, but all of them, save for Rosaleen, seemed…preoccupied…and all seemed to have worry in their eyes…even Elaith, for some reason.  I also noticed that Brian seemed rather angry about something…I hope that it is not me.  Perhaps I shall have to question them about it later. 

       After greeting everyone, Sera and I returned to the loft.  After being on the road, and out in the open for so long, the place seemed small, and cramped.  Even Sera noticed it, I think.  Since the reward we received in Mirabar was so generous, and since it seems like we will be in Waterdeep longer than I anticipated, perhaps I should look into finding an actual house to live in.  I can certainly afford it, at this point, with more than enough money to spare. It would give Sera more room to play in…and cause trouble in…and I would not have to worry so much about people barging and discovering what Sera really is.  Perhaps I shall look into it on the morrow.

       So I have bought a house.  As usual, I have seen neither hide nor hair of any of the rest of the party for nearly a ten-day now.  So, none of them know that I have moved.  Hacasian was very nice about it, saying that he could understand why I needed more space, giving a pointed look a Sera, who, at the time was dancing about to music that no one else could hear.  Sometimes, she seems very odd to me.  Hacasian was willing to refund all of the money I had paid towards the end of the year, but I only took half, telling him that the rest was his to keep, for being such a good landlord.  He replied that aside from the visitors showing up at weird hours, that I had been a good tenant as well.  He pointed the way to a place I might be interested in, not too far away, still in trade ward. 

       The house I bought belonged to an old, human couple, who had recently died of old age.  Their children were selling the place.  I looked around inside, and found that it was fairly large.  It had two actual bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom.  The main room, for dining, and sitting was wide and open, and would give Sera plenty of room to run around.  There was also a small loft, upstairs that the people had been using for storage.  Sera liked it immediately, and so I made them an offer.  They countered with a higher price, and we agreed on a price somewhere in between. 

       We moved in two days later, after the whole place had been cleaned.  I'd spent the two days buying some furniture, aided by Rosaleen and Lita, both of whom kept insisting that I needed things like beds and rugs and the like.  I remembered having such amenities on Evermeet, but have long grown used to going without them, and so I thought that such purchases were frivolous in the long run.  Both of them insisted that, for Sera's sake, if not my own, I had to have these things.  So I gave in.  Sera was delighted with her room in the loft.  My room was all right, but I can rest pretty much anywhere, so that isn't saying much.  Despite the things I bought, and the things I brought with me from the loft, the place still seemed empty.