A/N Song is "Finding Myself" by Smile Empty Soul.
Chapter Twenty-One – Revenge
Drizzt looked down into the pleading blue eyes that were looking straight into his own pale lavender ones. He was slowly shaking his head back and forth. He had dropped the long knives that he had sought to learn to use in such a short period of time. The metallic clang echoed in the silenced room. He bowed his head, fists visibly shaking as they clenched at his sides.
"What have you done?!?"
His voice was angrier than she had ever heard it. It shook with emotion that, if she hadn't known him as well as she did, she would never had thought that he could contain. His eyes held within them a barely contained fury that seemed as if it would burst to a psychotic rage; the pupils shrinking and making their already light colour seem paler, and causing them to stand out more against the ebony of his skin.
Kelnozz's laugh was maniac as he threw his head back, full and throaty, but his grip on the knife and his captive didn't lessen at all. Drizzt's eyes narrowed as a low growl of anger came from his throat.
I don't care anymore
If I let you down
I believe that I need to be free
I'm so used to my life with you around
I don't know anymore the real me
"What do you think I have done to her, dear ranger?" His smirk widen across his face as he delicately pressed harder on the knife he was holding, close to, and yet not, breaking the skin on Catti-brie's neck. "Look at all the marks on her body and you will see, what we have done to her in order to punish you. We would have done it to you, but you slip out of our grasp all to well, and she, carrying your spawn when we caught her, was less likely to struggle, and more likely to scream."
His grin widened. "Oh, and yes, Ranger Do'Urden, I did have my fun with her. And believe me, it was the most wondrous lay I've had in a long time. She struggled more than any other woman we've captured."
Anger rode over his senses, and he found himself taking a step forward, sliding one of the stilettos from the sheath on his left wrist into his left hand, preparing to throw it from behind his back. Zaknafein remained behind his son, watching how all of this was handled and trying to find a way to get that knife away. He would've used his whip, but the length of the leather thong wasn't long enough to reach that far, nor would he be fast enough to do so.
Kelnozz pressed on the blade hard enough to break the skin and allow a small dribble of blood to run down her throat as she made a pained noise. His smirk had disappeared and had been replaced with a deep scowl.
And I thought that I found myself today
And I thought that I had control
All the change in my life just fell away
For a moment I didn't need you
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, renegade and slave of Mielikke. The closer you get the deeper this knife cuts. And you wouldn't want it to cut too far now, would you?"
"Leave her out of this Kelnozz!" His voice was sharp and biting. "None of what you are doing has anything to do with her. Take me in her stead. You know that I will last longer that she ever could in these dungeons. You can do more to me, and I will be able to take and heal that damage faster and better than any human." He voice had softened, pleading and almost desperate. "I beg of you, take me as your own whipping post, or whatever you want to call it, just let her go to the surface and be safe away from here."
Catti-brie's eyes widened as she realized what he was offering. She knew that he would throw himself willingly into the hands of the drow if it meant that it would save someone he loved from a fate worse than death. And he didn't care if he was faced with the torture and suffering that the drow loved to place upon someone. The tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked at the resigned and determined look in his eyes.
He spoke again. "And you know that I am worth more than she is."
Kelnozz's smirk returned as he listened to the offer. How he would enjoy giving the renegade years upon years of pain, but he knew that that would hurt the drow less than any small amount of harm done to his beloved. No harm that he could lay on that scarred black flesh would bring as much hurt to him as if he watched his dearly loved wife and friend. It just wouldn't be the same. Besides, he would also resign himself to his fate and wouldn't give the screams of pain that he had the last time he had been in these dungeons.
All these tears I've cried you
Must be tired of taking care of my but
It's what you do best and I'm a liar
Cuz really it's what I need
"What makes you think that I would ever let her go to your arms, even if she did contain the strength to move?" His voice held a cold tone that sent shivers down both her spine and his. "You know what I am and what has been happening, and yet you assume that I would give her to you without a thought?" He gave a low chuckle. "You are a funny one, that you are."
Drizzt's eyes opened and closed slowly as he listened to the mercenary speak. His grip tightened on the knife in his hands, and he suppressed the urge to bury it in that bare black skinned chest that was bare to the cold air of the room. He had expected this, but had been clinging to a small hope that Kelnozz would accept the trade.
Catti-brie gasped and closed her eyes in pain as she felt his fingers tightened their hold on her scalp. His fingernails dug in sharply, and, being pressed against her back as tightly as he was, she could feel that her pain and fear was exciting him. She tried to pull away, but she was too weak, his grip to strong. The cut on her throat deepened as she felt him press harder on the sharp adamantine blade.
His laugh filled the room as she tried to pull away from the blade. He turned and met the angry eyes of the ranger that he had placed between a rock and a hard place. "I was thinking, rather, that I kill her slowly, in front of your eyes, allowing you to watch her die slowly, without being able to do anything about it. Then I would take both you and your father as my slaves. Eventually though, I would allow him to die, also before your eyes, and you would have only yourself to blame. I would let you go, then, after I know that any friend you once had on the surface had died, allowing you to live a lonely and heart broken life without the ones that you care for."
And I thought that I found myself today
And I thought that I had control
All this change in my life just fell away
For a moment I didn't need you
His left hand clenched tightly about the knife as he bowed his head, stray hair falling into his face and shielding his pale lavender eyes from view. Catti-brie watched the fine trembling that found its way down his slender frame. He didn't know what to do, but she knew in her heart that he didn't want to bring any harm to her or his father.
For the first time in this encounter, she noticed how much more slender he looked. His cheeks had hollowed and his eyes carried a haunted look. She had seen the long knives that he had carried into the room, and she had known that he had slide a knife into his hand – she had recognized the movement, even if her captor hadn't.
Kelnozz chuckled lightly at the reaction that he had garnered from the ranger. "I never intend for you to have her back, Ranger Do'Urden." His knuckles lightly and a gasp escaped from Catti-brie's throat as his hold on the knife tightened. His eyes darkened in anger suddenly and he growled low in his throat. "And I am quickly becoming tired of all of this." An angry smile plastered across his face. "Let's finish this, shall we?" A cry of pain escaped his captive as he brought the knife down sharply, intending to finish all of this once and for all.
Drizzt's eyes widened and he reached out, dropping his stiletto in surprise as looked on helpless. Anger suddenly replaced the fear and surprise, and his lavender eyes flashed, pale and dilated once more.
Something hot and fierce wound its way through his awareness, seeping into every living joint, muscle, bone, and crevice in his body. It felt as if a heat had seared through him, but he welcomed it, embraced it. Everything he saw was seen through a film of a pale violet, causing the room to become a thick haze around him. Any emotion, any feeling that had been fought and felt over the last months seared through him – anger, sadness, helplessness, regret, betrayal – all of poured into him, causing him to cry out.
Someone like you
Someone like me
Maybe its change
That sets you free
Free . . .
Zaknafein watched as those unique eyes began to glow an eerie violet along with the unicorn pendant hidden inside his shirt and tunic pulled loose from the confining fabrics. His head was thrown back, the leather thong holding his braid of hair coming loose, allowing the thick white strands to whip around his body as a creepy, mysterious wind filled the room. A cry was torn from his throat, and a bright purple light flowed through his veins, shining through his skin as he seemed to become something inhuman. A glowing silver mark shone in the middle of his forehead, forming the sign of a rearing unicorn.
His amber eyes were round in amazement as he watched the transformation occur in mere seconds that seemed much longer.
Kelnozz screamed in pain and reared back – dropping the knife and clutching his hands to his chest as he yells continued to fill the room along with the wind that had come. After being released, Catti-brie had fallen to the ground and had turned to watch what was happening through wide, frightened eyes.
Brilliant violet flames similar to those of the faerie fire limned around him, burning the flesh and muscles. Fires also lined around Drizzt's outstretched hands, but they were harmless. His eyes had turned towards the screaming mercenary, calm and emotionless. He watched as the fires burned his hands to the bone. After accomplishing that, he spoke, looking coldly down at the mercenary that lay curled on the ground, whimpering in pain.
"What has been done to you is the least of what you deserve." His voice was deep and echoing, filling the room. "You have committed crimes against people that can no longer go unpunished."
Chains of writhing thorns wound their way around the stubs that were his wrists, binding tightly and raising him from the ground. The drow was thrown against the wall with a resounding crack that made it known that something had been broken inside of him. The vines remained tight around his arms, digging into flesh and bone.
And I thought that I found myself today
And I thought that I had control
All the change in my life just fell away
For a moment I didn't need you
Drizzt continued to move closer, the winds whipping around him as he stepped around Catti-brie to get closer to his apparent victim. She watched with wide, horrified eyes as he stretched out and arms towards where Kelnozz was laying in a boneless heap against the wall, staring with wide, helpless crimson eyes. With a flick of that slender, deceptive wrist, the drow was thrown against the wall and remained their, apparently held there with nothing but the horned vines.
"Today you shall be punished." His odd echoing voice was darkened with anger as he stopped a few feet away from him. "Today all of your victims shall be revenged. TODAY YOU SHALL DIE!!"
The mercenary screamed as those burning violet flames encompassed his body and burned into him mercilessly. His screams echoed through the otherwise silent room until he had been reduced to naught but ashes.
Drizzt's eyes closed and everything that had appeared around him or inside of him vanished as he fell to his knees. His breaths came hard and difficult and he seemed exhausted from the ordeal. Zaknafein and Catti-brie watched, neither saying a word. What had happened confused and frightened both of them, especially since neither had experienced anything like that before.
When Drizzt again looked up, the colour back to its normal pale lavender and his pupils no longer dilated, he looked automatically around the room to find Catti-brie. Without a word, he crawled, not walked, towards her. She watched him through haunted and frightened blue eyes and tears ran down her hollowed cheeks. Shaking his head, he removed his out tunic, wrapping around her naked body before wrapping his arms tightly around her and clutching her to his chest, burying his face in her hair and whispered prayers of thanks to Mielikke.
She cried against him as she shivered, not looking over at the burn marks on the wall.
And I thought that I found myself today
And I thought that I had control
All the change in my life just fell away
For a moment I didn't need you
A/N
Thank you everyone that has read and reviewed this story thus far!! And a special thanks to SilverWolf7, my 100th reviewer! (dances happily around her computer, complete with happy plot bunnies and ignoring the odd looks of the nocturnal neighbours) I haven't had this many reviews before and it makes me really happy! This is the reason why I have written at night after my parents were asleep, just so I could put up this special chapter – for all of you!! (beams) And please, review! I wanna know what you think of what has just happened!!!