Chapter Eleven
Weapons in hand and finding the reek of orcs and goblins, Drizzt eagerly jumped into action as he was led outside fast by his friends.
Excitement coursed through his veins as he heard the rush of the disgusting creatures coming towards him. Using senses honed by a half-century of practice, he was able to determine friend from foe easily, thankful now for the training he had gone through in Melee Magthere on blind fighting.
With a shout of pent up frustration, he waded into the enemy, Twinkle and Icingdeath going to work hacking orcs and goblins apart. For the first time since the fight began, he realised belatedly that there were humans among the numbers of enemies...in fact, the human population of attackers was higher than the fodder that was being used.
Dodging all the blows he could, he heard the sound of one of his scimitars going through leather armour and flesh, even as the young male fighter screamed out his hate as death claimed him.
An angry shove from behind him whirled him about and Drizzt was only just quick enough to get his scimitars up to block an angry attack from another young fighter. From the scream of rage, he knew this one to be a female. With a few deft moves and feints, he had soon dispatched the enemy and left her lying as dead as her partner.
Moving quickly to where the sounds of heavy combat greeted his ears, the world singing with nothing but shouts, screams, moans and the loud clashing of steel on steel, Drizzt was soon once again in his element.
The excitement of the event rang in his blood, making him feel like everything was once again right in the world. If he could still fight this well, then he would not be such a big burden on his friends after all. This was one thing he knew he could still do.
Before he was ready to end the fight, he heard what little was left of the enemy run. He managed to take down one of the human fighters and keep him still, long enough for his comrades to help move the prisoner to the dungeons.
Breathing hard as the adrenaline of battle wore down, Drizzt was soon joined by his friends and was led back inside. A loud crash to one side room was heard, followed by a scream, before running feet came dashing towards him.
Not knowing if it was friend or foe, he did nothing, but he soon realised one of the cities attackers had breached the walls of the Palace, as Delly came panting into the room screaming to stop him.
Wulfgar soon put an end to the rogues run...and life.
"Are you alright, Delly." Wulfgar asked, running over to his wife and holding her near.
"It hurts." She whispered, not too loud, but loud enough for Drizzt to hear with his heightened sense of hearing.
"What happened?" He inquired, wanting to know if there was anything he could do to help the obviously distressed woman.
"He came from out of nowhere and tried to...take me by force. I hit him hard with a bottle I was holding around the back...he retaliated by punching me in the stomach..." The woman's voice stopped talking then as she began to cry, one hand clutching at her stomach.
Drizzt suddenly felt like he was intruding on a very private moment so he quickly signaled to Catti-brie that he wanted to go back to his room. Together, they soon made it to his private rooms and sat down on one of the couches.
"They'll be devastated." Catti-brie stated, leaning her head on Drizzt's shoulders.
"If what? Delly is fine, if not a bit shaken from what almost happened to her." Drizzt answered, suddenly very aware of the closeness of the human woman to him.
"Use ye brain Drizzt. She was hit in the stomach. If the blow be strong enough, she could be losin' the baby."
Drizzt closed his eyes and bowed his head. Of course! He had forgotten about the baby. Wulfgar and Delly had been trying for their own child for a long time and now they could lose one after they had finally succeeded.
A hand was felt running through his hair then and he let out his breath hard. "Do you think they will lose the child?" He asked, more to himself than the woman beside him.
"I'm not knowin', but I be hopin' they don't. A little brother or sister for Colson would be good." Catti-brie muttered, before leaning forward and kissing him slightly below his ear.
Drizzt's eyes closed and he let the gentle kisses soothe him. He sighed as the small, feathery touch of her lips on his skin was felt along his neck, before Catti-brie found a perch on his lap and began to kiss his mouth instead.
This he enjoyed. He let the kiss deepen, wanting to be as close as possible to the woman he loved. He pulled her closer until their hips were touching, letting her know how much this was affecting him.
The kiss turned very passionate and soon both were panting for breath. Drizzt ran his fingers up and down Catti-brie's back, pushing her even closer to him. Swollen lips met again in a bruising kiss and both moaned in sudden need to further things.
Catti-brie soon made herself more comfortable on his lap, straddling him as Drizzt's hands found their way under her shirt and felt the smooth skin of her bare back.
A hand was fumbling at his belt, trying to open it. It was then he froze. His breath stopped as he realised what was about to happen and quickly pulled her arms away.
"Stop, please." He panted, not thinking it possible to get the words out any better.
Catti-brie did as he asked with a slight growl. "Drizzt, I have done nothin' but stop for years now." She stated, getting off his lap and walking to the other side of the room.
"I am sorry. I am not ready to..."
"Ye're never goin' to be ready! It just happens like it's supposed to!"
"You don't understand."
"No ye don't be understandin'! I can't be waitin' my whole life for ye to be realisin' that ye want me."
"But I do! I just am unsure of why I do. I do not want to jump into a relationship based solely on lust. I don't want that! I have to know! I am young for my kind and you are now getting older! But...I don't know whether this was a good idea to start even with a kiss! You will probably die before I am even classed as an adult!"
"Oh, so ye're sayin' nothin' will happen because ye don't want to be hurt, or simply because I am old!"
Drizzt cursed out loud. "Stop twisting my words! I did not say you were old, I said you were older...I meant for a human! I am drow! An elf! I could live eight centuries!"
"Or ye could die tomorrow in a fight against some enemy or another! We live by the sword! It is not the best way to live if ye be wantin' to last all those eight centuries!"
"I know that! You think I would not like to live any other way?! I have tried. I get restless. I cannot help but fight sometimes! But I do have feelings you know! I get hurt, I get tired, I get sad and I can fall in love!"
"Then prove it! Why won't ye be givin' us a chance?" The angry shouts thrown a few seconds had died to angrily whispered words from the woman.
"Catti-brie I...cannot explain in words you would understand. To be with someone so young in my life, what would I do for the rest of my life if I am not with you?! You will not always be here! I am afraid that if I do go further I will find myself bonded to you and will never be happy again! I...I cannot unless I truly know."
He could feel Catti-brie's eyes on him and he bowed his head and looked away. He didn't want to fight with her, he hated hearing her raise her voice in anger. He heard her walk towards him again and sit down next to him, gently grasping one of his hands in her own.
"What if it is real and ye don't be givin' it a chance?" She asked softly, kissing his hand, before getting back up and quietly exiting the room to leave the troubled drow to his thoughts.
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Tarathiel was smiling as he made his way to the ranger's room. He had spent the last few nights, the full moon and the nights before and after it, locked in a cage down in the Palace's dungeons. He had gotten his wound from the werewolf binded in time, the curse of Lycanthropy not taking its hold on his body.
He knocked on the door to the room of the only drow he would ever class as friend and waited for a reply. Not getting one, he gently pushed open the door and peered into the room.
"Drizzt?" He called out quietly, not wanting to wake the dark elf up if he was sleeping.
"What?!" Came a crisp reply from the couch. Tarathiel turned in that direction, closing the door behind him. Stepping so that he could fully see his friends' features. He was not expecting the lost, empty look in the drow's lavender eyes.
"What happened?" The elf asked, watching as Drizzt turned his sightless gaze away from him.
"I have ruined everything." Came the mumbled reply. "I thought that this time...but I keep pushing her away."
Tarathiel blinked and sat down near the brooding ranger. He gently placed a hand on Drizzt's shoulder and squeezed.
"You keep pushing her away? You have never..."
"No. Don't you start on this as well! Please! I tried to explain, but I do not even know how to put it in words."
Tarathiel laughed quietly, earning an angry growl from his forlorn friend. "I think I understand the problem. You know the right thing to do and think you might have told her your decision. She will still try though...let me go talk to her. I think I might be able to make her understand a little better than you could."
Drizzt sighed and nodded silently. "Fine. Though I feel terrible, sad, angry...frustrated." The last he added reluctantly, before he got up off the couch he was on and wandered over to a window.
"I want to. I really do but..."
"But she is not right for you. You might love her, but if nothing is going on between you now, then you will have a chance to find someone else when she is gone."
Drizzt chanced a slight look over in the elf's direction. "I forgot for a moment that you are an elf." He sighed loudly. "You would understand then."
"Yes."
Drizzt nodded and walked back to the couch, flopping onto it like a rag doll. "What was her name?" He asked, his head bent at an angle that suggested his curiosity was peaked.
Tarathiel was silent for a long time. Finally he sighed, got off the couch and moved towards the door. "I'll tell you later." The Moon Elf muttered before disappearing out of the room.
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Regis, Wulfgar and Colson were waiting outside the Healer's room, trying their hardest to hear what was going on in there. The girl was fidgeting, obviously just as anxious to be let in as Wulfgar was.
"Is Mummy going to be all right?" She asked quietly to her daddy and Regis.
"She will be fine Colson." Regis stated, knowing that to be loosely true. It was the baby that the two adults were worried about.
He was about to leave, when the door to the room opened and Stumpet came out, a grim look on her features.
"Is Delly ok?" Asked an extremely concerned Wulfgar, who was trying to peek through the door to see his wife.
Stumpet stopped him from entering. "She will be fine. She be takin' somethin' to make her sleep so don't go botherin' her right now."
"The baby?" Wulgar was barely able to breathhe the word out. If they lost the unborn child...
"Is still alive. It not be movin' so much, but the blow Delly took just caused stress and nothin' more. That be why Delly was in such pain."
A collected sigh ran out through the adults present. Colson however looked confused, walked up to her daddy, yanked at his leggings like she always did when curious with a question and stated what she wanted an answer for.
"Where's the baby? Why haven't I seen it yet?!" Colson pouted when, after a few exchanged looks from Regis and Wulfgar, the only answer she got was relieved laughter.
A/N - Well, this chapter has gone up a whole lot faster than they normally do! Wow. Hope you all like the battle scene. I am unsure about it, it was my first true big battle I have written and wanted it done fully in Drizzt's point of view.
Well thank you for the 11 reviews I got. ChichiX, TheBladedancer (now writing a Jarlaxle/Zaknafein friendship story, not slash), Tristor, DragonEyeZ, Carlin Robertson, Radiant Sea Serpent, Icingdeath (hope this one has more likable action), She-cat, Oracle, Maffeoel, and last but not least Lady Cinnibar.
Weapons in hand and finding the reek of orcs and goblins, Drizzt eagerly jumped into action as he was led outside fast by his friends.
Excitement coursed through his veins as he heard the rush of the disgusting creatures coming towards him. Using senses honed by a half-century of practice, he was able to determine friend from foe easily, thankful now for the training he had gone through in Melee Magthere on blind fighting.
With a shout of pent up frustration, he waded into the enemy, Twinkle and Icingdeath going to work hacking orcs and goblins apart. For the first time since the fight began, he realised belatedly that there were humans among the numbers of enemies...in fact, the human population of attackers was higher than the fodder that was being used.
Dodging all the blows he could, he heard the sound of one of his scimitars going through leather armour and flesh, even as the young male fighter screamed out his hate as death claimed him.
An angry shove from behind him whirled him about and Drizzt was only just quick enough to get his scimitars up to block an angry attack from another young fighter. From the scream of rage, he knew this one to be a female. With a few deft moves and feints, he had soon dispatched the enemy and left her lying as dead as her partner.
Moving quickly to where the sounds of heavy combat greeted his ears, the world singing with nothing but shouts, screams, moans and the loud clashing of steel on steel, Drizzt was soon once again in his element.
The excitement of the event rang in his blood, making him feel like everything was once again right in the world. If he could still fight this well, then he would not be such a big burden on his friends after all. This was one thing he knew he could still do.
Before he was ready to end the fight, he heard what little was left of the enemy run. He managed to take down one of the human fighters and keep him still, long enough for his comrades to help move the prisoner to the dungeons.
Breathing hard as the adrenaline of battle wore down, Drizzt was soon joined by his friends and was led back inside. A loud crash to one side room was heard, followed by a scream, before running feet came dashing towards him.
Not knowing if it was friend or foe, he did nothing, but he soon realised one of the cities attackers had breached the walls of the Palace, as Delly came panting into the room screaming to stop him.
Wulfgar soon put an end to the rogues run...and life.
"Are you alright, Delly." Wulfgar asked, running over to his wife and holding her near.
"It hurts." She whispered, not too loud, but loud enough for Drizzt to hear with his heightened sense of hearing.
"What happened?" He inquired, wanting to know if there was anything he could do to help the obviously distressed woman.
"He came from out of nowhere and tried to...take me by force. I hit him hard with a bottle I was holding around the back...he retaliated by punching me in the stomach..." The woman's voice stopped talking then as she began to cry, one hand clutching at her stomach.
Drizzt suddenly felt like he was intruding on a very private moment so he quickly signaled to Catti-brie that he wanted to go back to his room. Together, they soon made it to his private rooms and sat down on one of the couches.
"They'll be devastated." Catti-brie stated, leaning her head on Drizzt's shoulders.
"If what? Delly is fine, if not a bit shaken from what almost happened to her." Drizzt answered, suddenly very aware of the closeness of the human woman to him.
"Use ye brain Drizzt. She was hit in the stomach. If the blow be strong enough, she could be losin' the baby."
Drizzt closed his eyes and bowed his head. Of course! He had forgotten about the baby. Wulfgar and Delly had been trying for their own child for a long time and now they could lose one after they had finally succeeded.
A hand was felt running through his hair then and he let out his breath hard. "Do you think they will lose the child?" He asked, more to himself than the woman beside him.
"I'm not knowin', but I be hopin' they don't. A little brother or sister for Colson would be good." Catti-brie muttered, before leaning forward and kissing him slightly below his ear.
Drizzt's eyes closed and he let the gentle kisses soothe him. He sighed as the small, feathery touch of her lips on his skin was felt along his neck, before Catti-brie found a perch on his lap and began to kiss his mouth instead.
This he enjoyed. He let the kiss deepen, wanting to be as close as possible to the woman he loved. He pulled her closer until their hips were touching, letting her know how much this was affecting him.
The kiss turned very passionate and soon both were panting for breath. Drizzt ran his fingers up and down Catti-brie's back, pushing her even closer to him. Swollen lips met again in a bruising kiss and both moaned in sudden need to further things.
Catti-brie soon made herself more comfortable on his lap, straddling him as Drizzt's hands found their way under her shirt and felt the smooth skin of her bare back.
A hand was fumbling at his belt, trying to open it. It was then he froze. His breath stopped as he realised what was about to happen and quickly pulled her arms away.
"Stop, please." He panted, not thinking it possible to get the words out any better.
Catti-brie did as he asked with a slight growl. "Drizzt, I have done nothin' but stop for years now." She stated, getting off his lap and walking to the other side of the room.
"I am sorry. I am not ready to..."
"Ye're never goin' to be ready! It just happens like it's supposed to!"
"You don't understand."
"No ye don't be understandin'! I can't be waitin' my whole life for ye to be realisin' that ye want me."
"But I do! I just am unsure of why I do. I do not want to jump into a relationship based solely on lust. I don't want that! I have to know! I am young for my kind and you are now getting older! But...I don't know whether this was a good idea to start even with a kiss! You will probably die before I am even classed as an adult!"
"Oh, so ye're sayin' nothin' will happen because ye don't want to be hurt, or simply because I am old!"
Drizzt cursed out loud. "Stop twisting my words! I did not say you were old, I said you were older...I meant for a human! I am drow! An elf! I could live eight centuries!"
"Or ye could die tomorrow in a fight against some enemy or another! We live by the sword! It is not the best way to live if ye be wantin' to last all those eight centuries!"
"I know that! You think I would not like to live any other way?! I have tried. I get restless. I cannot help but fight sometimes! But I do have feelings you know! I get hurt, I get tired, I get sad and I can fall in love!"
"Then prove it! Why won't ye be givin' us a chance?" The angry shouts thrown a few seconds had died to angrily whispered words from the woman.
"Catti-brie I...cannot explain in words you would understand. To be with someone so young in my life, what would I do for the rest of my life if I am not with you?! You will not always be here! I am afraid that if I do go further I will find myself bonded to you and will never be happy again! I...I cannot unless I truly know."
He could feel Catti-brie's eyes on him and he bowed his head and looked away. He didn't want to fight with her, he hated hearing her raise her voice in anger. He heard her walk towards him again and sit down next to him, gently grasping one of his hands in her own.
"What if it is real and ye don't be givin' it a chance?" She asked softly, kissing his hand, before getting back up and quietly exiting the room to leave the troubled drow to his thoughts.
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Tarathiel was smiling as he made his way to the ranger's room. He had spent the last few nights, the full moon and the nights before and after it, locked in a cage down in the Palace's dungeons. He had gotten his wound from the werewolf binded in time, the curse of Lycanthropy not taking its hold on his body.
He knocked on the door to the room of the only drow he would ever class as friend and waited for a reply. Not getting one, he gently pushed open the door and peered into the room.
"Drizzt?" He called out quietly, not wanting to wake the dark elf up if he was sleeping.
"What?!" Came a crisp reply from the couch. Tarathiel turned in that direction, closing the door behind him. Stepping so that he could fully see his friends' features. He was not expecting the lost, empty look in the drow's lavender eyes.
"What happened?" The elf asked, watching as Drizzt turned his sightless gaze away from him.
"I have ruined everything." Came the mumbled reply. "I thought that this time...but I keep pushing her away."
Tarathiel blinked and sat down near the brooding ranger. He gently placed a hand on Drizzt's shoulder and squeezed.
"You keep pushing her away? You have never..."
"No. Don't you start on this as well! Please! I tried to explain, but I do not even know how to put it in words."
Tarathiel laughed quietly, earning an angry growl from his forlorn friend. "I think I understand the problem. You know the right thing to do and think you might have told her your decision. She will still try though...let me go talk to her. I think I might be able to make her understand a little better than you could."
Drizzt sighed and nodded silently. "Fine. Though I feel terrible, sad, angry...frustrated." The last he added reluctantly, before he got up off the couch he was on and wandered over to a window.
"I want to. I really do but..."
"But she is not right for you. You might love her, but if nothing is going on between you now, then you will have a chance to find someone else when she is gone."
Drizzt chanced a slight look over in the elf's direction. "I forgot for a moment that you are an elf." He sighed loudly. "You would understand then."
"Yes."
Drizzt nodded and walked back to the couch, flopping onto it like a rag doll. "What was her name?" He asked, his head bent at an angle that suggested his curiosity was peaked.
Tarathiel was silent for a long time. Finally he sighed, got off the couch and moved towards the door. "I'll tell you later." The Moon Elf muttered before disappearing out of the room.
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Regis, Wulfgar and Colson were waiting outside the Healer's room, trying their hardest to hear what was going on in there. The girl was fidgeting, obviously just as anxious to be let in as Wulfgar was.
"Is Mummy going to be all right?" She asked quietly to her daddy and Regis.
"She will be fine Colson." Regis stated, knowing that to be loosely true. It was the baby that the two adults were worried about.
He was about to leave, when the door to the room opened and Stumpet came out, a grim look on her features.
"Is Delly ok?" Asked an extremely concerned Wulfgar, who was trying to peek through the door to see his wife.
Stumpet stopped him from entering. "She will be fine. She be takin' somethin' to make her sleep so don't go botherin' her right now."
"The baby?" Wulgar was barely able to breathhe the word out. If they lost the unborn child...
"Is still alive. It not be movin' so much, but the blow Delly took just caused stress and nothin' more. That be why Delly was in such pain."
A collected sigh ran out through the adults present. Colson however looked confused, walked up to her daddy, yanked at his leggings like she always did when curious with a question and stated what she wanted an answer for.
"Where's the baby? Why haven't I seen it yet?!" Colson pouted when, after a few exchanged looks from Regis and Wulfgar, the only answer she got was relieved laughter.
A/N - Well, this chapter has gone up a whole lot faster than they normally do! Wow. Hope you all like the battle scene. I am unsure about it, it was my first true big battle I have written and wanted it done fully in Drizzt's point of view.
Well thank you for the 11 reviews I got. ChichiX, TheBladedancer (now writing a Jarlaxle/Zaknafein friendship story, not slash), Tristor, DragonEyeZ, Carlin Robertson, Radiant Sea Serpent, Icingdeath (hope this one has more likable action), She-cat, Oracle, Maffeoel, and last but not least Lady Cinnibar.