Dislcaimer:I do not own the Forgotten Realms or any of Salvatore's characters.
CHAPTER TWO:A surpise visit
Shadow watched as the drow carefully set up various alarms around the camp. He was amazed at the percision the elf seemed to work with. "Uh, Mel. These alarms of yours, what if I have to get up in the middle of the might and set one off by mistake?" Shadow asked.
"As long as you remember where they are, you can step over them. You're the one that knows what we're up against, Shadow. Would you care to take your chances with whatever's prowling around"
"Point taken. Er, what kind of weapons do you have? That tiny crossbow of your's doesn't seem like it would do much good in a real fight"
"That tiny crossbow shoots some very poisonous darts. More than enough to drop several large beasts. Those along with my other weapons should be sufficent protection from any mere beast! You do possess weapons for your own protection"
"I got an axe"
"An axe? That's it?" the elf scoffed.
"Well, a knife too. Never really needed more than that"
"You said you saw lots of monsters in those Moonwoods. Surely you took more than an axe and a knife with you"
"I had some friends with me. Some real adventurous types. Armed to they teeth they was, but it didn't make much of a difference. Not against what we fought"
"So you were the only survivor?" Mellifleur asked skeptically.
"Yes, I sometimes wonder how I made it out of there. Why me and not any of them others"
"So what do you call this thing, this beast of yours? I don't even know what it looks like"
"It's a big, black cat. It's eyes are bright yellow, like flames. Some old priest called it The Stalker. Said it was a servent of Malar, the beast-lord. Never saw it myself. But one of my friends, Hawkins, described it before he died. He was the first to fall. Killed the rest later, one by one, until"
"Until what?" Mellifleur asked anxiously.
"Until it just dissappeared. I-I don't recall exactly what happened next. I must have ran out of that forest half-mad. By the time I came around to me senses, I was in Silverymoon. They said I had been raving about black blood and a horrible beast with burning eyes for at least a three days." Shadow noticed Mellifleur staring at him with amazement. "Well, I figured I'd move on after that. No sense tempting fate twice!" Shadow said with a laugh. Mellifleur wasn't laughing however.
"W-why did you go there? What reason could make anyone go into...a place like that?" the drow demanded.
"Money, treasure, that sort of thing. We heard about some old temple. We found it too. Of course there was no horde of treasure, but we did find something." Shadow rumaged through his pack and produced a large fist-sized ruby carved in a likeness of a panther.
"What is it?" asked the elf.
"Don't really know. Maybe some kind of idol I guess. Took a while to disarm all the traps set around it"
"Did this creature attack before or after you took this"
"Well after, I suppose. What does that have to do with anything"
"You say you never saw this creature yourself"
"No, never"
"Did you have the idol with you at all times"
"Yes, in my pack"
"It never attacked you"
"No, it didn't"
"Curious. The tracks I found dissappeared near the river. It might have swam upstream"
"Back towards the Moonwoods? The river Surbrin flows near there." Shadow asked hopefully.
"Possibly. Although, if it followed you all the way here, I find it hard to believe it would give up so easily. Especially considering how visciously you say it attacked your comrades"
"W-we don't even know if it is the same creature. I've heard of other large cats in other places before, like that Guen"
"You seemed convinced when you saw what those tracks looked like. Although, those were only a recreation on my part. Perhaps if I show you the real tracks"
"Look, Mel. I'm just fooling with you. There's no giant cat out there. I-I was just playing with you. You know, having a bit of fun, that's all." Shadow said franticaly. The drow didn't seem convinced.
"Why don't we go and check then"
"No, I'm, er, tired. Yeah, tired. Got to turn in"
"I'll scout around just in case"
"You'll be wasting your time, elf!" Shadow lay down near the fire. Mellifleur shrugged his shoulders and nimbly stepped over one of the tripwires. Shadow turned over and tried to relax, but was haunted by dark memories he thought long forgotten.
Mellifleur silently crept through the trees, carefully listening for sounds of any large animals. He stopped for a second to mull over some of the inconsistencies in Shadow's tale. He found it hard to believe that anyone would be foolish enough to plunder a temple and risk offending a god, much less stealing an idol as well. Shadow didn't strike the elf as a particularly smart human, he might have been guilible enough to think he could handle anything as long as he had someone stronger or tougher to back him up.
The creature Shadow described sounded very much like a displacer beast, which would explain why the tracks seemed to dissappear near the river. A more detailed account from Shadow was quite clearly in order. The drow was so deep in thought, he was actaully caught off-guard by the loud snarl. Mellifleur saw two bright yellow eyes watching him from behind some bushes. He lept down and drew his sword. Whatever it was roared loudly before it broke off into a run. Mellifleur chased after it. He heard the branches of trees being snapped in two as if a powerful force were merely pushing them out of the way. The drow contuned to follow the sounds until there were none. Figuring the creatue had decided to turn around and fight, the drow steeled himself for battle. Suddenly he heard the alarms from Shadow's camp.
By the time the elf had reached the camp, Shadow was no worse for the wear. Cursing at himself, he was kicking furiously at one of the tripwires that was tangled around his foot. "Shadow! Are you allright?"Mellifleur asked. Shadow jumped when he heard his voice as he did not even notice the drow had returned.
"Dammed fool!" he spat "I was just taking a leak when I got caught up in one your stupid traps"
"Wait, you set off the alarm by accident?"
"Of course I did! I managed to step over it when I left, but must have tripped over the dammed thing coming back"
"Did you see anything"
"No, why"
"I had a little run in with your friend. Didn't see it, but I definately heard something. Whatever it was, it was fast, not to mention very strong too"
"No, it's happening again"
"I did not get a good look at it, but it sounded very much like you described it"
"You won't get a good look at it, Mel. The only time you see it is when it kills you! I told you Hawkins died soon after he saw it"
"How many were in your party"
"About six. There was me, and Hawkins the mage, and..." Shadow stopped when he heard some rustling from the forest.
"Filthy bastard's right outside our camp!!" Shadow pulled out his knife.
"Shadow! Wait..." the elf yelled as Shadow flung the knife at the sound. They both heard a female scream.
"M-my hand!" said a female voice, obviously in a great deal of pain. Mellifleur walked over and saw a female halfling with her hand impaled on a tree. She quivered in terror as she see the drow come closer. Mellifleur grabbed the knife and pulled it out. The girl collapsed at his feet, clutching her bloody hand. He knelt down and tried to help her up.
"Don't kill me, please!" she cried.
"I'm not going to kill you. Let me help you up." he offered her his arm. She looked at him with hesitation.
"Y-you attacked me"
"No, my idiotic companion did. You're hurt badly and I can help you. Now take my arm before you bled to death." Mellifleur said sternly as he offered his arm again. She quickly grabbed onto it and clung to him as he walked her over to the camp.
"Here's your monster!" the elf said with a twinge of disgust.
"A halfling? What's she doing here?" Shadow asked. Mellifleur applied a healing salve and tried to dress the wound as best he could.
"Who are you?" he asked as he finished.
"I'm, uh, Assilum Brandywine! Are you really a dark elf?" she said as she stared at him.
"Yes, my name's Mellifleur. I'm sorry you got hurt. There's something out there and my friend was a little nervous, you understand." Mellifleur found himself staring back at her. Assilum had light brown hair that she wore in a short ponytail. Her eyes were a light shade of blue. The drow had never seen a halfling so peaceful looking before. He quickly became aware that he was staring and tried to look elsewhere. Assilum smiled athe embarresed elf, causing him to smile back.
"What the hells we you doing sneaking around here at this time of night, I'd like to know?" Shadow interupted.
"I saw your camp earlier, I figured I'd see who you were before I introduced myself, in case you were unfriendly types"
"Make sure she doesn't steal anything. Mel. I'm going to sleep." Shadow spat as he prepared a bedroll.
"He's a grumpy fellow, isn't he?" Assilum asked.
"I really don't know him that well. I only met Shadow a few hours ago myself. Where exactly did you come from? I've been scouting this area quite well over the last couple of days"
"I've been on the other side of the river"
"I haven't crossed it myself, that must be why I haven't seen you"
"I would have probably hid of I saw you"
"I guess you would at that. Tell me, what do you know of my people"
"I've heard you were a race of evil killers, worshipping spiders and enslaving others"
"I really hoped it wouldn't be that bad. It's only going to make things a lot harder"
"What do you mean"
"Well, the irony is, we say the same things about all the other races as well. The worst of them being the elves on the surface"
"Really? I've always heard they were rather nice"
"I wouldn't know. That's part of the reason why I left. A lot of things I was taught never rang true. I decided to seek the answers for myself"
"Did you have any other reasons"
"Yes, but I won't bore you with them now. Does your hand still hurt"
"Yes"
"Here, this might lessen the pain a little." he said as he handed her Shadow's bottle of dwarven brandy. She took a small sip and then handed it back to him.
"You might need some too." she said with a slight laugh. He took a swig and put the bottle down. They continued to talk throughout the night, each revealing a little more about themselves, each unaware they were being watched.