(A/N: Again, sorry for the delay and thanks for all the reviews! As you'll notice in this chapter, Cavallas and the Reaper have both been cut out of the story. This is mostly because they contribute nothing plotwise, but also because a story can only have so many mysterious hooded figures. "Artistic license" is my middle name.
Disclaimer: Neverwinter Nights does not belong to a fuzzy caterpillar hiding under a leaf in Spain, nor does it belong to me.)
Chapter Seven
Deekin dozed off eventually, images of the day flying through his mind in warped dream incarnate. When slumber dissipated and his eyes slid open, they were met with the darkness usual to this place. It took him a few moments to make sense of that which hovered over him.
"Boss? That be you?" he muttered uncertainly, thinking his bleary eyes and waking mind were coming together to play tricks on him. A long black finger pressed up against his snout told him otherwise.
"This one is none other," Umbra responded quietly.
"Umm... how long you be standings there?" he puzzled, blinking and sitting up with a mild stretch to renew his tendons.
"...not long," she said at last.
"Deekin happy to sees you, Boss," he said, "don't gets Deekin wrong. But... Deekin not thinks you supposed to be in here."
"So they said," she replied. "But this one sees no reason that should be."
"Yeah, Deekin guesses," he replied, though a little shaken by the sudden appearance. Looking around, he saw that the room's other occupants were still asleep. "How long Deekin be sleepings?"
"Six hours, perhaps seven," Umbra answered easily, making Deekin really wonder how long she'd been standing over him after all.
"You can't sleeps, Boss?" he guessed.
"This one cannot," she affirmed. Deekin stretched again, slipped off the bed and worked the straps of his pack and lute-which he had remembered to remove shortly before falling asleep-back over his shoulders. He started to strum the lute's strings to make sure they were in fine condition, then remembered the need for silence and stopped himself. Looking up at Umbra, he asked with a grin, "Since we be awakes anyway, Boss, you wants to go explores drow place, maybes?"
"That settles with this one," Umbra responded, and began to walk away, expecting him to follow. It always amazed Deekin how silently his Boss could move when she wanted to. He went as quietly as he could, but with each stel his toenails met the floor with a resounding clatter. Fortunately, the noise that boomed for the unwary kobold failed to rouse any of the drow.
At last they neared the door, by which Valen slept. The horned man's pointed ear twitched; Deekin froze in his tracks, seeing a glimmer of blue past slightly parted eyelids. Umbra opened the door and ushered Deekin through before he could stall any longer.
The temple was mostly empty, but for a single silver-dressed figure knelt down in its center, hands clasped and head bowed down. Finishing her prayers, the Seer moved to her knees and turned around to face them.
"Did you sleep well?" she quested. If she knew that Umbra had entered the males' sleeping chambers, she wasn't fazed by it.
"Yep, bed was really soft," Deekin nodded. "Deekin was very comfy. Boss couldn't sleeps, though." The Seer looked at her with concern.
"I am sorry to hear that," she apologized.
"Do not be," Umbra assured quickly. "This one is merely... excited, is all." The Seer smiled and nodded at this.
"I can understand that." She looked behind her, at the door presumably leading out of the temple. "I take it you're leaving now. I recommend that you speak with Commander Imloth first. He trains our troops, and can tell you that which must be done." The Seer knelt back down and clasped her hands again. "Now, I must return to praying to Eilistraee for guidance."
"Eilistraee?" Deekin repeated. "Deekin reads abouts her! She be nice drow goddess that flies around nak-"
"Indeed," the Seer interrupted. "Eilistraee has gifted me with the visions that have aided her followers. It was she who told me that Umbra Lumina would be coming."
"Oooh." Deekin grabbed his notebook and scribbled this detail down as Umbra opened the far door. A burst of-not fresh, but different air flowed in, indicating that it did lead outside.
"Come now," Umbra asked, striding out as Deekin dedicatedly followed.
The area outside the temple was an incredibly vast cavern, stalagmites poking up hither and thither, stalactites dripping slime from above; but what caught one's attention was the city built there. Black buildings rose up out of the rocky ground, warped and twisted, of odd drow make. Drow themselves rounded the corners, talking to each other in their own tongue. Gray-skinned merchants sold wares from purple-canopied bazaar stands; brown-haired, cattle-like beasts called deep rothes crowded together in small pens; the hubbub of subterranean life echoed throughout the place.
"We is really in Underdark," Deekin gaped in awe as it really sank in. "We is really, really in Underdark! This be wonderful!" Deekin ran around on the spot, waving his hands in the air excitedly. "Deekin read so much about Underdark, now Deekin actually be here! This be so good for Deekin's book! 'Epic hero goes to the deadly Underdark'! Sequel be greatest book ever!" Umbra was notoriously quiet as Deekin revered this change in their journey. At last, the kobold stopped to notice his hero's silence.
"What be wrong, Boss?" he queried.
"This one is not so happy to be here as you are, friend," Umbra shrugged.
"You not be happy?" Deekin's tone was incredulous, and he stared at her as if she had suddenly turned into a green ape. "Why you be not happy?"
"It is dark here," replied Umbra.
"But you comes from place even darker than this," Deekin reminded.
"Darkness is to this one as sleep is to a narcoleptic," Umbra explained. "Relieving, familiar and dreaded. Better to suffer the pain of light than return to the oblivion of dark." Deekin wasn't quite sure what to say to this; but that was fine, as Umbra then added, "We are to find Commander Imloth. Let us continue on."
"Okay, Boss," Deekin accepted, writing in his notebook before doing so. It always amazed him how, no matter how much he wrote, he was always leaving something out.
They passed several domed black houses, displaying all sorts of odd, spider-like designs carved or impressed in silvery inlay, which gave Deekin plenty to write about. The drow they passed muttered foreign words and made strange signs, which most likely meant something crude. Fortunately, neither kobold nor cowled figure seemed to notice. Eventually, they passed into the bazaar district. Deekin wondered what sort of wares these merchants might possess, but hadn't the time to ask. Near one of the purple-canopied stands, a group of drow gibbered to each other.
"Mayhaps they could inform us of Imloth's whereabouts," Umbra suggested, candidly striding over. The drow barely looked up as she and her henchman approached; apparently, they were busy quarreling. Deekin also realized that what he had taken to be a shop stand, in fact was a small bar. The bartender behind the slim, dark counter seemed oblivious to the squabble, scrubbing away at a tiny speck on the countertop; no doubt he was used to such, and knew better than to get involved in his patrons' arguments, for the sake of keeping business coming. There were obviously two opposing sides; one pacific and dressed in humble rags, the other harsh and garbed in richer stuff, with a few drow or so for each side.
"Look at these pathetic Eilistraee scum," scoffed a well-dressed one, with gaunt cheeks and fleshy lips. "I have no idea why Matron Myrune has thrown our lot in with them." From what Deekin had gathered from the talk of passersby, Matron Myrune was a prominent figure in the politics of this place. Perhaps a ruler, even.
"Just ignore them," a sallow-faced pacifist encouraged his fellows. "Eilistraee teaches us tolerance and acceptance even in the face of hate."
"Listen to those cowards," a finely attired drow snorted, green lights emanating down his wrists and encompassing his fisted hands. "There's no way an army full of their type will ever stop the Valsharess! I say we teach these worms a lesson!"
"Oh-oh, Boss," Deekin remarked, writing once again, unsurprisingly enough. "Looks like somebody is spoiling for a fight." At these words, one of the followers of Eilistraee noticed Umbra standing nearby. Gesturing toward her with confidence, he said, "We have faith in the Seer's vision. The Valsharess will fall. Umbra Lumina here will guide us to victory."
"Is that so?" one rioter smirked. "Well, surfacer... any advice on how we can win a war when you're stuck with a bunch of pacifists like the followers of Eilistraee on your side?"
"You might ask the man hiding not ten yards behind this one," Umbra replied simply. Instantly, all eyes darted beyond Umbra, save for Umbra's own. Sure enough, a telltale barbed tail waved cautiously from behind one of the stands. Hearing of his discovery, Valen wandered out, pale face somewhat flushed, though he quickly covered his embarrassment with a grimace.
"I was just-" Valen started indignantly.
"Spying," Umbra finished. "Yes, this one has known for the last... well, ever since you left the temple in that ungainly armor of yours. A metal golem would do better to conceal itself." The opposing drow temporarily forgot their feud and chuckled to themselves, earning a burning red glare from Valen that sufficiently caused them to scatter.
"I'll have you know," Valen refuted stiffly, "that I was not spying. I just..."
"You loses a coin?" Deekin suggested, delighting in Valen's lost pride. It served him right for being suspicious of the Boss.
"...no," Valen said. "I was-"
"Goings to buys some strawberry jams?" Deekin tried again, ever chipper.
"...yes, that," Valen sighed, realizing he wasn't going to get a better excuse than that. Though expressionless as ever, Umbra was clearly not buying it.
"It is fortunate you followed us, at any rate," Umbra dismissed. "You can take us to Commander Imloth."
"Why Commander Imloth?" Valen questioned, raising a dark streak of an eyebrow, which stood out in comparison to his head of scarlet hair.
"Well, paying him a visit would be quite unnecessary if you were to tell us what we are to do," Umbra supposed. "Your Seer said something of weakening the Valsharess's forces, this one recalls."
"Of course," he accepted. "The Valsharess commands a massive army, and it's not just the drow who follow her. She's recruited all sorts of Underdark creatures to her cause: beholders, illithid and even the undead. The Seer was thinking that you could weaken their forces by killing off, or dealing with their leaders."
"Understood," Umbra said. "Where are they to be found?"
"We are uncertain of their exact coordinates," Valen shrugged. "To be honest, we've been more preoccupied with keeping the Valsharess's forces at bay than tracking them down. They lie somewhere in the vast wilderness to the west... we know that much."
"You calls caves wilderness?" Deekin piped. "Deekin grows up in caves, and kobolds never calls them wilderness. They never says 'Deekin, go into that wilderness over there and gets me mushrooms'."
"The Underdark is very different from the caves of your youth, I think you'll find," Valen said heatedly. He wasn't one to appreciate being interrupted.
"Deekin knows that," Deekin acknowledged, doodling an unflattering caricature of Valen on a spare page of his notebook.
"Perhaps it would be best if you came with us, Valen," Umbra offered. Deekin froze in the middle of drawing the cartoon Valen a snake tongue. The real Valen put a hand on his chin and looked Umbra over, sizing her up. This act caused Deekin to bristle.
"The Seer believes you are our prophetical savior," he remarked, "our only hope of defeating the Valsharess. I, however, do not believe in prophecies. Still, you are obviously capable in your own right. And we need all the help we can get if we are to win this war. So I'm willing to take a chance."
"We are all on the same side, Valen," Umbra assured him.
"Yes, we are," Valen responded. "Which is why I'm willing to help you, despite the fact that I know nothing about you. Hopefully you'll prove that the Seer's faith in you is justified."
"It be more than justified," Deekin retorted indignantly, though Valen ignored him. The way his luminous blue eyes were trained on Umbra was making Deekin increasingly uneasy.
"Provide your answer now or not at all," Umbra commanded. "Will you join us?" Valen considered her request for a long time before making his reply. "I don't believe in the Seer's dreams, Umbra... though I do believe you want to stop the Valsharess." Valen nodded. "Yes, I think it would be to everyone's advantage if we were to join forces."
"Then so be it," Umbra said. "Take us out of the city, and our journey shall begin at once."
"It might be a wise idea to eat first," Valen proposed, gesturing to a stand nearby that appeared to sell food.
"Oh... of course," Umbra replied. "This one hungers not, though. Might you not take Deekin with you to eat?"
"...fine," Valen said reluctantly, walking toward the food stand. "Come on, kobold."
"Deekin coming, Deekin coming," Deekin answered, shading in the Valen caricature's snakelike pupils and hurrying after, casting Umbra a curious look as he went. She only stood there, no trace of emotion ever coming over her face. Sometimes he wished she would show what she was feeling... just a little.
The drow man at the food stand appeared to have sampled more than a few of his own wares, judging by his rotund nature. He scrutinized Deekin carefully, but looked up at Valen's approach brightly.
"Welcome, Valen," he greeted. "What'll you have?"
"Something that isn't alive this time, thanks," Valen said with a pinch of disgust.
"I'll let you choose for yourself," the drow decided, flipping over the top of the bar to reveal a hollow interior. Stacked in rows within were a series of small clay pots, each filled with some manner of dark, slimy substance, some of which slopped over the sides as if though they were, indeed, alive. With some disdain, Valen selected the most inanimate and laid a solitary gold coin in the drow's waiting palm.
"Which one should Deekin gets?" Deekin wondered. "They all looks so good!" Kobolds were not, and are still not finicky creatures.
"Uh... whichever one looks best," Valen muttered, reluctantly sipping liquid out of the clay pot with a look of mild revulsion.
"Well, I recommend the rothe headcheese stained with beetle sauce, myself," the drow chef informed helpfully, holding up a pot of the stuff.
"Deekin takes that, then," Deekin decided, digging a gold coin out of a small pouch on his belt and exchanging it for the small pot of rothe innards. Valen shot him a look of disbelief, but the kobold was too busy downing the odd concoction to notice.
"That tastes better than Deekin expects!" he commented brightly to the drow chef after the first slurp. "Especially the beetle sauce... just like Deekin's momma used to makes! How you does it?"
"Ancient ilythiiri secret," the chef said solemnly as Deekin polished the brew off and left to rejoin Umbra. To his regret, Valen had already beat him there.
"Have you had your fill?" Umbra quested.
"Yep, Deekin full," the Deekin nodded.
"Then we are ready to set off, are we not?" Umbra asked.
"We be," Deekin said quickly, cutting Valen off. The tiefling's tail swished impatiently, but his eyes remained a cerulean shade.
"The gates out of the city are this way," he announced, bidding them follow him out of the bazaar and past the rothe pens. Deekin trod nearer the pens than the others as they passed, and reached a wary hand out to one of the hairy beasts, which sneezed a wad of mucus at him in response. Deciding against petting the rothes, Deekin kept on dutifully, writing something in his notebook.
As mentioned earlier, Lith My'athar was contained in a large cavern. Valen, Umbra and Deekin were now approaching one of said cavern's slimy sides, in which was set a large double door, woven of ornate, snaking lengths of metal. It gave it the impression of a lattice overgrown with vines-a nice touch, since vines couldn't actually grow in a place so lacking in sunlight. Valen unclasped a small handle that kept the two double door's halves together, letting them swing inward gracefully. Behind him, the two followed without question into a second cave, almost as large as the first.
In this cave, two buildings had been carved out of rock. On closer inspection, they were part of a fortress meant to keep out invaders, the gap between them closed with an immense double-door mirroring the one they had just come out through. Only a few drow were in sight, the other likely hidden away in the fortress keeping an eye out for invaders, but those that were in view were clothed in regal-looking armor. One drow with a more elegent suit than the rest came up to see them.
"Greetings, Sergeant Osyyr," Valen said.
"And you, Valen," the drow nodded. "This must be Umbra Lumina?"
"And her loyal kobold companion," Deekin added.
"Yes, that is this one," Umbra avered.
"We seek exit out of Lith My'athar," Valen told Osyyr. "Might you open the gates?"
"Of course," Osyyr replied, and shouted out some Drowish commands. The whirring of gears echoed from within the fortress, and the doors obediently parted.
"Thanks," Valen said, walking toward the newly opened exit.
"Just be careful out there," replied the Sergeant as the threesome left.
The gates shut behind them with a resounding clatter. Deekin gritted his tiny teeth at the sound, then perked up with a smile and scratched something down in his notebook.
"As the gates closed shut, the great hero and her intrepid kobold companion-oh, and the mean goat man..."
"I am NOT a goat man," Valen cut in indignantly, looking over Deekin at his notebook easily. Deekin yelped and hid the book, shooting Valen a glare.
"No looks at Deekin's epic tale before it be ready, mean goat man!"
"I'm not a goat man! I'm a tiefling! Half demon, half human!" Valen fumed, tail lashing the air. The fact that the tiefling in question was Valen lessened Deekin appreciation of meeting something so foreign.
"But you is mean," Deekin retorted, sticking out a slim reptilian tongue defiantly and hiding his face behind his notebook as Valen's eyes blazed red.
"Stay your tongues!" Umbra snapped, stepping between them. "We are to defeat a drow wench and her fiendish pet. How are we to do that if we stand about and squabble?" Valen looked away angrily. Deekin resisted the temptation to make a face and looked at the ground.
"Sorries, Boss," the kobold apologized-sorry for upsetting her, that is. Maybe it was because he'd never had to share Umbra with anyone else before, but something made Deekin really dislike having Valen travel with them.
"Valen, lead the way," Umbra commanded. "Deekin, resume writing." Though livid at being insulted by a kobold and ordered by a stranger, Valen stifled his anger and turned about, starting forward.
"Of course... this way." The cave tapered off into a dank tunnel beyond the gate. It wasn't long walking before they were plunged into darkness-which was quickly diffused by clumps of luminous blue mushrooms. Deekin made a note of them in his epic tale with a great deal of intrigue.
"Nothing like this ever grows back in kobold caves," he remarked with wonder. "Deekin never sees anything likes them. How abouts you, Boss?" He paused, getting no reply, and looked up. Umbra hadn't heard him because she was already talking to Valen. Forgetting the mushrooms entirely, Deekin instead began transcribing their conversation.
"What is it you wish to know?" Umbra was asking the tiefling. Valen regarded her with his intense blue eyes, his gaze seeming to bore into her as he considered his words carefully.
"I wish to know," he began, "what makes you so special?" Maybe it because he was hearing it out of context, but Deekin's jaw dropped at this question. The pen in his hand nearly dropped as well, but fortunately it didn't, and he kept writing.
"What do you mean?" Umbra asked, perplexed.
"I speak, of course, of the fact that you have replaced me as the leader of our forces. I have kept us alive for months, and suddenly you appear," Valen made a slash with his hand, "and it is over." Valen had been leader of the rebel forces? Well, his stringent expression did bring to mind that of a strict war general, Deekin thought.
"According to your Seer," Umbra responded sensibly, "this one is the one that can win." Valen was silent for a long minute, seemingly troubled by his thoughts. Deekin's eyes narrowed despite himself.
"The Seer believes what she believes," Valen shrugged. "Her goddess leads and she follows without question, and this has been enough... so far."
"This one fights for her own reasons," Umbra reminded him. "And this one shall continue to fight, no matter what you or your Seer think." Deekin grinned and nodded, immensely proud of his Boss's skill and determination.
"Is that so?" Valen regarded her with interest. "You sound quite confident. Some might call that bravado, I think, considering what we face." Valen scratched his head, fingers moving around the horns and through the crimson hair. "I believe that the Seer has visions. I believe it may even be that her goddess sends them. I am a being of the planes, however, and I ascribe no infallibility to gods and goddesses. The Seer believes that you will lead us to victory, but nothing is said of what such a victory might cost us." He looked at Umbra pointedly once more. "Some costs, I think, are too high."
"Meaning what?" Umbra prompted, sounding not nearly as offended as Deekin was at this insinuation.
"Meaning that the Seer assumes that you are here to help us," Valen said, face stern. "I make no such assumption." He was past insinuations now. His stare was intense. "I have led these people through every danger so far and kept the Seer safe throughout. I won't see them betrayed." A tense silence permeated the air, broken only by the busy scratching on Deekin's pen. At last, Umbra spoke.
"This one admires your dedication," she said. Deekin tripped over a rock.
"Thank you." Valen's stance did not soften. "But that is why I must have an answer on this."
"What would you have of this one, Valen?" Umbra quested. "Her word she would not betray you?"
Valen regarded her with an arched brow. "Would you give it?" Umbra was pensively quiet.
"Would you?" she asked. Valen was taken aback.
"What do you mean?" he wondered.
"We are on the same side," Umbra answered. "This one is willing to be a faithful ally... granted she can expect the same support from you, rather than the resentful suspicion you have shown. Do you give your word, Valen?" It was Valen's turn to be quiet.
"Yes," he said at last.
"Yes," Umbra repeated. This moment was a little too tender for the kobold's taste.
"No!" Deekin muttered. The other two looked back at him, their conversation over. Deekin froze.
"Uhh... Oh! Deekin stubs toe!" he amended quickly, balancing on one foot. "Bad Underdark rocks! Bad!" Valen rolled his eyes and turned them back to the path ahead, but he could feel Umbra's unseen gaze clinging to him for a time before doing the same. Deekin exhaled at the unwatched relief and added the last notes to his epic tale. Still, he felt... jealous. He shook his head and scolded himself. There was nothing to be jealous of... right?
(Please review! I live in a shoe! Wait, no I don't.)