To YoginiGal: Hopefully, this chapter well explain where the healing is coming from, or at least provide another clue.

A cloaked figure watched the vampire leave the alley. It then proceeded to gather its friend and find out where Artemis was spending the night. Maybe this time it would even get credit for saving him.

3

They had eaten a nice meal for the evening and done their shopping, it was time for Jarlaxle to confront Entreri. He needed to know where all these abilities were coming from. It had been two days since the man had healed Callahan, and the drow wanted to know what was going on.

"Good job healing Callahan," he remarked off-handedly.

Entreri looked up at him. He had been polishing—and talking to—his dagger and hadn't expected the drow to say anything.

"What do you want, Jarlaxle?"

"How did you do it? You've never shown this kind of…power before now."

Entreri looked down, and then looked up again. "I don't really know. Something instructed me. Believe me, I know as much about what's going on as you do."

"What about the fire?" Jarlaxle pressed. Entreri looked away.

"I got angry," he finally said. He turned to Jarlaxle again.

"I wish I could do that when I was angry," Jarlaxle said smiling.

Entreri returned with a small smile. He knew that was Jarlaxle saying that the conversation was over.

33

Entreri was asleep on the floor, and Jarlaxle sat in Reverie on the bed. Wraith signaled for Nightwing to come over.

"Should we go in or wait outside?" she asked.

Nightwing pointed inside. Wraith nodded. The two had gotten very good at understanding each other despite the barriers. Nightwing relied on mental communication, and Wraith didn't have any material mind to target. Nightwing could break through, but only if Wraith let her and with a lot of work.

Wraith quietly cast a spell to make Nightwing incorporeal and the two slipped through the window.

The hairs on the back of Entreri's and Jarlaxle's necks began to stand on end. The two awoke with a start and grabbed their weapons.

Houchie became solid and quickly cast the spell he had prepared. It didn't go off. The vampire cursed as Entreri and Jarlaxle spun around to face their enemy, and he immediately began casting another spell. Entreri charged him to try to stop it.

Jarlaxle heard the words of another spell behind him. He spun around to see what should've been a fellow drow, except that he could see through her. She finished her spell, and the vampire's didn't go off.

She was countering the vampire's spells!

Entreri made it to the vampire and began attacking fiercely. The creature easily dodged, only to feel a different blade bite into his back. He spun around, putting his back to the wall and realized that Wraith and Nightwing were there. Cursing, he became gaseous and left.

"That wasn't so hard," Wraith said happily. She then looked at Jarlaxle and seemed to study him. Nightwing flew beside her friend.

"Who are you?" Entreri asked. He didn't trust them.

"Call me Wraith, and my companion is Nightwing. She doesn't talk except through the mind, and that takes work."

Jarlaxle and Entreri looked at the two beings standing before them. The two newcomers stared in turn at Entreri and Jarlaxle. Finally, Jarlaxle spoke.

"Would your real name happen to be. . ." He paused, not wanting to provoke her to attack, especially if he was right. " . . . Aundrari Baenre?"

The drow ghost smiled. "Indeed, Jarlaxle." She looked at Entreri, then chose not to continue what she was planning to say.

Jarlaxle grinned and silently thanked his grandmother for not continuing.

"You can go back to sleep," he said to Entreri.

"I think I'll take a walk, actually," the human assassin responded. Then, he left.

"Nightwing, I want you to follow him," Wraith requested. The strange creature nodded and also left.

Jarlaxle sat down and pulled out his backpack. Wraith watched as he pulled out a clump of papers. They were the drawings he had found in Memmnon.

Smiling, Wraith went into meditation. She'd need all her spell-power for this mission.

Jarlaxle waited for Wraith to go into complete meditation then started to flip through the drawings. He barely paid any attention to the drawings, however. He was looking for a signature.

333

Entreri entered the room again to find Jarlaxle standing in front of the door with the drawings he had found in his hand. Wraith had left.

"Explain," he commanded, tossing the stack of papers to Entreri. They fell to the floor and scattered in all directions.

"Explain what?" the assassin responded.

"These drawings are yours."

"I drew them when I was a child," Entreri responded evenly. Gods! If Jarlaxle found out he was a noble, the drow would kill him, or worse.

"I found them in the noble's house. Was that your home?" As Jarlaxle asked his question his eyes narrowed dangerously. He didn't like what he was thinking, and there was a reason. That man had been about to torture them. Also, if Entreri was noble Jarlaxle wanted to know why they had gone through all the effort they had to get to the Spirit Soaring.

Entreri lowered his head. "Yes," he mumbled.

"Then why did we go to all that trouble to get to the Spirit Soaring or to get Charon's Claw?" Jarlaxle yelled.

"Because I don't want to be noble, and my father wants to kill me for it," Entreri said sadly. As the man lifted his head Jarlaxle could see the tears beginning to form.

"Why keep that a secret?" Jarlaxle asked. He now realized that he was truly hurting the man.

"People will kill me for it," Entreri answered.

It had happened before so why couldn't it happen again? People wanted to end the Entreri bloodline and if they realized that he really was a member of that bloodline they would kill him, and his daughter.

Then, he stormed out.

Jarlaxle stood there for many moments. How could he be so cruel? Entreri had just been about to accept him as a friend, to trust him. Entreri was right, too. People would kill him if they knew, or they would try to marry into the family. Then, one more thing hit Jarlaxle. He was keeping the same secret from Entreri