Chapter Sixteen – Revenge

Pain seared through her abdomen as she began coming to consciousness.

'I want you to beat that spawn of that ranger out of her belly.'

The drow mercenary's words echoed her mind as she opened her eyes and looked around. Cold stone lit by a single torch that was in the room looked back at her eerily. Bile lined her throat and mouth, making her choke and cough. Her throat was dry and the coughs were painful.

Her body was wracked with pains that were similar to those that she got during her normal blood cycle. Raising shakily onto her arms, she coughed up a liquid that was warm and burning in her mouth. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was blood.

She had coughed up blood.

Choking back a sob, she curled up on the floor, clutching her stomach with her hands. The small round lump that had developed during the four short months of her pregnancy was gone. There was a warm and sticky wetness between her thighs and when she looked, the young woman realized that it was blood.

Tears flowed down her cheeks as quiet, wracking sobs shook her slender frame.

She had lost the baby.

She was shaking and her skin pained her all over from the beating that the drow mercenaries had given her. She knew that she probably had bruises all over her body and more than likely at least a few broken ribs.

What would Drizzt think if he ever found out?

Her eyes widened as she thought about her husband, what had happened to him. The memory flashed through her mind as if it had happened only yesterday.

She cried out when she saw Drizzt's eyes roll into the back of his head and he crumpled before her. Zaknafein's hand tightened on her arm, preventing her from rushing forward. Kelnozz smirked as he walked closer to her, purposely stepping on the ranger's deathly still form. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at her still husband.

What if he hadn't survived his wounds? There hadn't been anyone nearby that would've been able to heal the arrow wound and the blow to the back of his head. Despair was easily read in her expression as she curled around herself, arms around her now flat belly. A soft voice and familiar pair of eyes startled her and she looked towards the corner of the chamber.

"He's alive and that's all that I'm going to let you know."

Something flashed through those amber depths that made Catti-brie believe them.

It was as if the spirit of Zaknafein was fighting for release.

The door to the master bedroom opened with a faint creak as the four-year-old peered in through the crack in the door with wide lavender eyes. Above her, a pair of cerulean eyes peered in, from her twelve-year-old elder brother. Catti-brie was her youngest and eldest children through her eyelashes as little Aimee snuck into the room, small pink tongue sticking out from between her lips as she approached the bed.

Getting there, she reached little hands up onto a mattress that came above her head, eyes narrowing in concentration. Swinging her little feet, she hauled herself onto the edge of the mattress closest to her sleeping father. Determination etched clearly in her bright eyes, she reached over and carefully shook him out of his light sleep.

"Come on Daddy!" She whispered excitedly when he looked at her through bleary eyes. "If u don't be gettin' up, we'll be missin' the sun risin'!"

He chuckled softly as he sat up in the bed, pulling his shirt from where it hung on the corner of the bed. "Alright, little squirrel," he lightly kissed her on top of the head. "I'm going. Don't worry, just give me a few minutes and I'll be out there. We'll see the sunrise. Now, you and your brother can go downstairs and put your boots on."

She giggled happily, but did her best not to awaken her 'sleeping' mother. After letting him lower her to the ground, she walked quietly out of the bedroom, relaying the message to Zak – who was still waiting outside the door.

Catti-brie listened as they went down the stairs to put their boots on. Opening her eyes all the way, she watched as Drizzt pulled his arms into the sleeves of his shirt and tunic. She smiled as she observed the familiar movements.

"Those two are becoming more and more like you." She said quietly, surprising him. He turned and smiled at her, bending down and kissing her tenderly. "I think that they'll both become rangers like you – especially Aimee. She learns as quickly as you do. She's already learning how to speak two other languages. And don't forget that she already knows how to read drow and common."

He chuckled as he lightly kissed the top of her head. "Yes, but they get their stubborn streak from you and you alone." He belted his weapons around his waist. "The twins inherited that from you also, though not nearly as strongly."

She smiled as she watched him walk out the door, pulling his well worn cloak from the hook next to the door. He walked quietly down the stairs and pulled on his boots on the threshold before joining his eldest and youngest outside. After helping Aimee to do the new clasp on her cloak correctly, he led them to the private ledge on which they were able to watch the sunrise without anyone else finding them.



That afternoon, Catti-brie made her way towards the open fields where she knew that there would be other children playing. Normally Aimee went off on her own, or with her father, but that afternoon, Zak was having weapons training, so she couldn't play with Drizzt. She had decided to go and play with the other children of Lonelywood.

On the field, a large, rectangular area had been marked off by long strips of white clothe. On the shorter sides of the area, a tall, rectangle net had been set up. In the middle of the setup field, a group of small children was gathered anxiously around a tall figure holding what appeared to be a ball, in his hands. His golden hair glinted in the sunlight, as the same with the mithril earrings that glinted along the edge of his pointed ears.

"The game that we are going to play today is called football." The elf smiled, his twilight eyes sparkling brightly in his ethereally beautiful face. That smile was infectious and the children all cheered. "I'll split you up into two teams, and your job will be to kick this ball into the net that belongs to the other team. You can choose one person to guard the net. The rules are that the ball can't go outside the boundaries and you can't touch the ball with your hands."

"Can I play Mikhail?" Catti-brie recognized the tall elf as the little elfling that she hadn't seen in years. "I really wanna play!"

Children in the group turned as Aimee ran over to them, stepping over the boundary and running towards the group, her white hair fluttering out behind her. Her lavender eyes sparkled as she walked right up to the elf and wrapped her arms around his legs, smiling up at the familiar face. The other children looked at her and the older ones frowned.

"Why should we let a half breed like you play with us Aimee?" The oldest boy, the same age as Zak, scowled down at her, his pale eyes darkening with anger. "You're too small and slow to play with us."

Other children in the group nodded their head in agreement, all looking the four-year-old up and down. Their young eyes were filled with angry and disapproval.

Aimee's eyes filled with tears and she looked down at her boots, arms falling limply to her sides. Catti-brie started walking faster, seeing the familiar sadness in her eyes at not being accepted that she had seen in the eyes of her other children before. Aimee sniffed and began walking away.

"Now, wait a minute!" Mikhail walked over and placed his hand on the little girl's shoulder. She looked up at him through her bright eyes. "Now, I don't see any reason for her not to play. I've seen her play and I bet that she plays better than most of the people here!" He smiled down at her. "Especially since I've taught her a lot at playing the game myself."

Children looked at him, clearly shocked. "Why did you teach her? She's half drow, and we all know that drow elves are evil and want to do nothing more than kill us!" One of the younger girls piped up, her clear eyes locking with those twilight orbs.

He smiled gently and knelt to look in her eyes. "Aye, drow are evil, but not all of them are." His soft voice was gentle and understanding. "Her father, Ranger Do'Urden, a drow, follows the good goddess Mielikki, and protects your fair town of Lonelywood. He is also the one who saved me from death when I was a child, giving himself over to other drow to be tortured in the process. I owe him my life He is one in a million, and would give his life to save any one of yours."

Some of the other children looked at him in disbelief as he spoke quietly. Aimee sat on his leg, leaning against his chest. She smiled up at him.

"My daddy also stopped a lot of people from bein' hurt when they tried to come up here and make the people dead." Her eyes were bright as she spoke proudly of her father. Catti-brie jumped in surprise as a black-skinned hand came to rest on her shoulder. Drizzt smiled down at her. He had been listening to the small conversation for a while now. "And when I'm bigger, he's goin' t' teach me how t' keep the Ten-Towns safe, like he does!"

His were smiling as he looked at his daughter. The group had started to play and Mikhail was laughed as he refereed the game and kept the score. Aimee laughed and giggled happily as she played with the children.

Her heritage wasn't a problem this time. At least, for the time being.



"So, you are looking to learn how to use a pair of stilettos, my friend." Gabriel's eyes continued to look over the grassy plains that were at the edges of the city. "And may I ask you why you would like to learn how to use these weapons?"

Drizzt looked at the Luchién Lord, looking deep into those violet eyes. His own lavender ones grew cold as he looked at him. "They are better for an assassination type of kill, and they are easier to carry." His voice was soft and as cold as Gabriel had ever heard it. "And besides, I could go through the halls of the layout without gathering much attention."

Gabriel sighed. The ranger knew that he had originally been trained to be an assassin, and was one of the few that knew how he knew how to use the stiletto knife in that type of profession. He hadn't ever wanted to think about that again, but he knew that he owed the drow a favor for what he had done the night before.

"Aye, I will teach you to use them, though you will also want to learn how to use a pair of long knives as well. Stilettos will do you no good if it comes down to hand to hand combat." His voice was soft as he turned to the stoic ranger. He rose and began to walk back to the city. "Meet me here tomorrow morning. Your lessons will begin then."

Without another word, he left Drizzt Do'Urden to his own tortured thoughts.

[A/N]
Stilettos are basiccally wicked cool knives. I got the idea from the books Dhampire and Thief of Lives, where one of the characters uses them for assassinations and weapons. More info in the next chapter. If you wanna see what they look like, do a google image search. Also, please review . . . it really feeds the plot bunnies. Reviews are appreciated.