Disclaimer : (paces impatiently) Oh I hate doing this. (a letter falls
through the mail slot) Oh a letter. (grabs the letter, tears it open and
reads it out loud) "Dear Miss Semdai, we regret to inform you that your
request to own the Forgotten Realms characters has been denied." (wads the
letter up and throws it over her shoulder) Damn, back to the drawing board.
(leaves)
Mirror Me Dark
By Semdai Bloodquill
Chapter Two - Remnants
Lazuli ran the brush through her jet-black hair, then tossed her head, sending the ebony waves cascading down her back.
" You remind me of your father so vividly," Jarlaxle remarked from the doorway, " you have his eyes and hair, but I see your mother's lovely frame and her angular eye-shape." Lazuli turned her head to regard the intruder.
" Who asked for your opinion," she asked coldly, although she was truly glad for the drow's company. Jarlaxle read her like an open book.
" And you have your father's acidic mood," he added in a sweet tone as he seated himself comfortably on her bed. Lazuli smiled and went back to brushing her hair, using her mirror to watch Jarlaxle as she spoke.
" What was my mother like," she asked. Jarlaxle leaned against the wall and locked his fingers behind his bald head.
" She was beautiful, Lazuli, there are no other adequate words to describe her," the drow recounted, " physically at least."
" What did she look like?" Lazuli had finished brushing her hair and was sitting backwards in her seat facing Jarlaxle with her arms crossed over the back of her chair, waiting for him to continue.
" She was tall, almost taller than Entreri," the mercenary continued, " her hair was a silvery color and very wavy, like yours is. She was half elvin, you know," Lazuli quirked an eyebrow, "We knew she had elvish blood because she had elf eyes, big and slanted and colored the most remarkable shade of yellow, but we never could tell if it was surface or drow elf, she was caring and respectable but had the most vile temper. Lovely singing voice, though."
" She sounds very beautiful," the young assassin pictured.
" She was," Jarlaxle assure, " she could put a real, genuine smile on even Entreri's face. And she cared about things, like animals. She loved animals, usually had one with her at all times. Oh, she was gifted wen it came to animals." Jarlaxle would have gone on to recount how Lazuli's mother had once wreaked havoc on a market place by charming a flock of pigeons into bombing the shoppers, but he was interrupted by a nasty fit of coughing.
" Jarlaxle," Lazuli grew concerned when the dark elf continued to choke as if he had something in his throat that he couldn't quite cough up, " are you all right?" Jarlaxle couldn't respond for he was doubled over and shaking as the fit subsided. For a fleeting moment, Lazuli wondered if the drow was acting, but she dismissed that notion when Jarlaxle straightened and leaned back against the wall, moisture rimmed his eyes and made them glint in the light. The drow's chest heaved as if trying to regain lost breath.
" Just a bad cold," Jarlaxle insisted breathlessly, " it will pass." Lazuli wasn't so sure. She rose from her seat and strode over to Jarlaxle.
" Hold still," she instructed, sitting down next to him on the bed. The young assassin pressed her ear against the drow's chest and listened to the furious and erratic beats of his heart. There was no rhythm to the pulse, only one desperate thump after another, as if Jarlaxle's heart was struggling just to beat. Lazuli grew very worried. Elves were generally immune to common diseases, and Jarlaxle was a pure-bred drow elf, a creature of the savage Underdark, a survivor in an unmerciful place where the weak were quickly devoured or destroyed.
" You're sick," Lazuli stated, fearful for the dark elf who was, though she would never admit it, very dear to her.
" It will pass," Jarlaxle repeated, taking note of Lazuli's concern and brushing one of his slender, black hands across her cheek, " don't worry about me."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Antioch worked his two scimitars in an intricate dance, both blades moving in perfect harmony with eachother. Dantrag found himself sorely missing his enchanted bracers, but he could do nothing to regain them.
Unless he went along with his sister's plans of course.
Metal screeched on metal as Antioch threw himself into a frenzy. Dantrag parried Antioch's blows almost methodically. It became evident to the former weapon master why Antioch had finished second in his class while his younger twin, Zandrath, had finished in first. Zandrath had no heart for the fight, no desire to master the swords he carried, he was not blinded by any passion to excel, enabling him to absorb the teachings of the masters at the Academy and bend them to his sparse purposes. He was a follower of no rules, the embodiment of patience and tranquillity. So unusual for a drow.
Antioch, however, was made of passion and desire, hunger and primal rage. Possessed of the complete confidence in his skills, the young drow was very arrogant in his view. Boasting that he could beat his brother any day, but when they sparred he fell to Zandrath's unnerving calm. Always. Antioch had no patience or control. Because he was also narrow minded, he lacked originality in his style, often setting his mind on one routine and never stepping out of it, no matter what.
Dantrag easily slipped his boot under Antioch's wall of steel and pulled his student's legs out from under him. Rage flared up in Antioch's emerald eyes right after the initial second of surprise as he found himself on his back with the tip of Dantrag's fine sword lightly caressing his slender throat just below his chin.
" You lack originality," Dantrag stated, applying just enough extra pressure to the sword so that a slight trickle of blood ran down the length of Antioch's gullet.
" You don't scare me," Antioch glare at his teacher through slitted eyes.
" I am not here to scare you," Dantrag stated flatly, withdrawing his sword, " that is Lady Lolth and Matron Triel's duty. Your brother surpasses you because he is calm in all things and understands his place. You think you are better than him and it makes you weak."
" I will kill him and you someday, and prove my worth to Matron Triel," Antioch promised darkly. Dantrag tried very hard not to laugh.
" You are a fool," he spat, " do you think that Matron Triel cares about you? Why should she? After all you are just a male. Likely she will give you to Lolth when she finally produces a string of daughters. Zandrath will likely become Weapon Master of House Baenre, the position you so desire, and you will fall by the wayside." The words were coming easier for Dantrag now that he had accepted them.
" I will bring back the hearts of a hundred surface elves to prove that I am more worthy to be our Weapon Master than my weakling brother," Antioch snarled, staring his teacher in the eye having stood up during Dantrag's short soliloquy, " I will slay the rouge Do'Urden and prove that I deserve to be the weapon master."
Dantrag threw back his head and laughed, " you could slay a thousand surface elves and bring back the corpse of Drizzt Do'Urden a hundred times again and it would only expose how truly pathetic you are. If I drive this sword through your heart," Dantrag brought his sword to bear to emphasize his point, " your mother would beat me and punish me, but I would live to train Zandrath for many years to come and she would not waste a single breath in lament for your loss." Dantrag took confidence from Antioch's silence, " you could bring her the death of every being she hates but in doing so you would have to bring her your own death as well. She hates the fact that you, the oldest of her children, are male. No matter that you are skilled with your blades, you will never be more than a worthless male in her eyes."
Antioch exploded into motion, his rage engulfing him fully as he attacked with all his heart, having every intention of killing his teacher. But Dantrag was laughing at him.
" Killing me will not change your sex," the older drow reminded, " Triel cares nothing for me, her own brother, but she will punish you for killing one of her prized fighters." Antioch lashed at Dantrag as he tried to shut out the words. He would prove he was better. He would show his mother than he was the best. Or he would die trying.
Dantrag easily parried Antioch's blows, again they were mechanical. Lashing out incredibly fast he drove his sword's pommel into Antioch's face, shattering the younger drow's nose and jabbing the sliding hilt into his left eye. Antioch howled and jumped back, dropping a scimitar and clutching his eye, from which blood was flowing freely and mingling with the same blood as it poured from his broken nose. Dantrag was on him in an instant, again pulling his feet out from under him and adding a second cut to Antioch's throat.
" I will kill you someday," Antioch promised grimly, still holding his eye, " I swear you will die with my blade in your heart."
" I will die however Triel commands when she finally grows weary of me," Dantrag corrected, sheathing his swords and waiting for Antioch's next remark.
" You will pay for the insults you have given me this day," the hot-headed drow spat, rubbing his neck where the burning cuts still stung.
" Better your pride cut than your throat," Dantrag remarked, " though it seems I have gotten better since my days with my own brothers and I have managed to cut both for you." With a smirk on his angular face, Dantrag strode from the room.
" Yes, better to cut your pride than your throat," he remarked to himself once he was out of Antioch's earshot, " or your heart..." He reached inside his tunic and felt the healing scar on his chest. He looked over his shoulder to make sure that Antioch was not following him and headed for his rooms, staying alert for the young drow in the gym who would like nothing better than to put his finely made scimitar through his teacher's heart.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The ship, a sleek, powerful vessel built for speed and agility, glided swiftly through the water, the hot, southern winds full in her sails. The ship was one of a kind, built and designed by a particularly powerful pirate. Her trio of wizards, all of them masters of their craft and familiar with the workings and powers of the ocean, were enough to scare off any challenger, but just in case she carried two deadly catapults and a mighty balista, all manned by teams of highly experienced pirates.
The ship's name was Crimson Fell Beast. And she was the flagship of the most powerful pirate to ever sail south of Baldur's Gate. Her captain, a foul tempered creature who was nicknamed 'Living Dead Girl' by her crews, sailed under a flag of her own design. The flag depicted a snarling, red dragon lined in swirls of blue against a black background, and it was whispered in the taverns along the Sword Coast that Living Dead Girl herself could bring down red dragons on her prey or pursuer.
Crimson Fell Beast was the ruler of the southern seas even though it was only seen half as often as Living Dead Girl's other ships, all of them able vessels that the pirate had captured, renamed, and added to her own fleet, which was rumored to number great enough to challenge the armada of Calimshan. Crimson Fell Beast would be a prized capture for any pirate hunter, especially if she could be caught without excessive damage and her captain, the ever equivocal Living Dead Girl, was taken alive.
Thus was the source of Sea Sprite's glee when her lookout identified the pirate flagship. If they could defeat Crimson Fell Beast and take her captain alive...
It was a mixed set of feelings that Captain Deudermont felt as the Crimson Fell Beast became clearer. The flagship was almost never seen on the water by any outside her crew, and never captained by anyone other than Living Dead Girl herself. The old captain was excited at the sight, of course, but he knew the stories of the Crimson Fell Beast's crew and, even more so, her vicious captain. This would be a very difficult battle. One that might see the end of the Sea Sprite and her noble crew.
What seriously bothered Deudermont was the seeming fact that Crimson Fell Beast was alone on the water. The old captain had heard many stories from survivors of the flagship's raids about sighting the deadly pirate ship alone and suddenly being flanked by two more pirate ships, the cagey Spookshow and her sister ship, the elusive Scarlet Gypsy.
Any second, Deudermont expected his lookout to cry out that more ships had appeared. He didn't like the situation.
Back on Crimson Fell Beast's deck, the crew was scurrying to their battle stations. Living Dead Girl, perched on the prow of the ship and communing with the ocean, had ordered for battle with the pirate hunter and they would obey their captain, so loyal and confident where they.
From her perch on her flagship's prow, Living Dead Girl fell deep into her trance, reaching into the depths of the ocean for the power and guidance she knew she would need for this battle with the pirate hunter. They would not run, could not in fact. It wasn't the chance that they couldn't out- run the Sea Sprite, a feat not impossible for the pirate, it was the threat to their name. If it was whispered that Crimson Fell Beast had run from a battle, even a battle with Sea Sprite... Living Dead Girl knew she had to win or go down fighting for her ship. There could be no other outcome.
But if Crimson Fell Beast did defeat Sea Sprite, what would they do with her? The prospects and promises of adding Sea Sprite to her fleet were tantalizing for the pirate leader. With Sea Sprite sailing under her colors, Seivriel Versail, the Living Dead Girl, would know respect from every port along the Sword Coast, even mighty Waterdeep would speak her name with fear. Perhaps she could extend her arm into the waters north of Baldur's Gate, the realm of her rival, Sheila Kree.
But if Seivriel claimed Sea Sprite as her own, she would forever have to beware the retribution of Waterdeep. The lords of the City of Splendors would not let their prized pirate hunter go without a fight. She would never be able to dock the ship, even under a different name, anywhere except for her own secret port and possibly the pirate cities of the south waters. The ship, like her own, was one of a kind and too easily recognized. She turned to the sea for guidance.
The sea would not let her down, she knew. She had been born and raised on the rolling ocean waves. Born on the brink of the fire and water signs, Seivriel had learned long ago how to tap into the powers of fire and water. The sea would tell her what to do and she could trust in the strength of her pyrotic abilities. She would face the pirate hunter.
Crimson Fell Beast readied her weapons and her three wizards waited for their captain's signal. They waited for Living Dead Girl to strike the sounds of battle and let loose her hounds.
~*~*~*~*~*~
" Thing was huge," Bruenor recounted his encounter with the invader of the tunnels, " seven legs, two arms, tough skin." If drow skin could pale, Drizzt's did.
" The upper body," he demanded, " was it humanoid, with black skin?" Bruenor thought for a moment.
" Yeah," he decided, " yeah it was." Drizzt and Nessa both fell back in their chairs, shocked and terrified expressions played out over their sharp features.
" Drider," they said together.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Deudermont was not surprised when the pirate flagship turned about to face the Sea Sprite. The old captain and the pirate leader were cut of similar material and they both knew it, though the Sea Sprite had never before faced of Crimson Fell Beast's underships, let alone the flagship herself. This fight would be a clash of titans.
" She wants to fight," Robillard, Sea Sprite's wizard, remarked from Deudermont's side.
" She HAS to fight," the old captain corrected, " if she runs, Crimson Fell Beast and her underships will loose much of the respect they have earned in these waters."
" Do you think Living Dead Girl is there," Robillard questioned, not taking his eyes off the magnificent ship before them, bravely flying their tell- tale flag.
" She is there, but we will not get her," Deudermont replied. He knew that the pirate leader would not allow herself to be taken.
" Of course we will get her," Robillard balked, " you said yourself that she will not run."
" She will not let us take her alive," Deudermont specified, " she will throw herself upon her own blades before she will allow herself to be taken, and likely her crew will torch the ship and follow her into death if they loose this fight."
" And why would her crew kill themselves beside her," Robillard asked, not believing that pirates could be honorable or loyal.
" Because their captain will kill them herself if they don't," Deudermont replied simply, turning to face his wizard and friend, " this will be the hardest fight we have ever fought, my friend."
" We will prevail, Captain," Robillard assured, facing his friend.
" I hope you are right," Deudermont sighed. The old captain gave the order to prepare for battle. Then he heard the music.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Nessa had seen many driders during the years when she lived in Menzoberranzan, the city of her and Drizzt's birth. It was the ultimate punishment in drow society to become a drider. Usually the creatures were kept as slaves to their masters, the fact that one was wandering around the dwarven tunnels apparently alone was more than a little unnerving to the drow female.
Drizzt was equally perplexed about the situation and more than a little shaken. His own brother, after all, had suffered the punishment of becoming a drider.
The two drow, along with Catti-brie, Bruenor, and a score of dwarves, made all haste down the tunnels to the area where a group of dwarves had the drider cornered.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Haunting, harrowing notes stretched to their very longest floated out across the water, making the surface tremble and writhe as if living creatures were trying to escape it.
" Hear our song and know your doom," the notes cried in tormenting voices, " Watch us as we veil the moon. Listen as we kill your light. You cannot beat us in this fight." The voices exploded into an eerie song in a strange tongue that, though none aboard the Sea Sprite knew the words, rang out as a herald of doom.
The song became louder as Sea Sprite neared Crimson Fell Beast for the pirate crew was singing in tune with the seductive song. They didn't know the words anymore than the Sea Sprite's crew did but they had been sailing with Living Dead Girl long enough to memorize the sounds.
Seivriel, however, knew the words and their meaning. She twisted and spun and writhed in her erotic dance, the horrifying music pouring from the demonic violin in her hands as she played it with faultless perfection. Her crew scampered away to give her the room she would need.
' You play well,' a voice in her head complimented.
' I have held you for many years,' she replied.
Robillard gasped at the sight of the pirate, twisting and turning wildly yet playing her violin with unworldly skill. Never before had he seen such awful magic as the like that surrounded that pirate woman as she danced to the rhythm of her sentient instrument.
' Faster, faster,' the violin urged. The instrument so wanted this, the few moments when Seivriel, one of the greatest wielders the it had ever known, would play and dance to the song they had devised together.
' Patience,' the pirate ordered the violin, slowing the notes to bring on another of the demonic violin's tricks.
" Bring her down!" Deudermont shouted, " Kill the one with the violin! Kill her!" A dozen archers took aim and fired at the violinist. Not a single one struck her. Each arrow burst into flame as it neared her and fell harmlessly into the water below. She stopped dancing and the notes became even slower, ringing the ears of those close to the pirate. Her eerie, black eyes glimmered with wicked glee.
" Did you think you could kill me so easily, Captain Deudermont of the Sea Sprite," she yelled over the quieting notes, " the spirits of the ocean and the Song of Mizutatsu are my guides and guardians! How could you ever think that you could defeat them?" She screeched the last note of the song and the water around the Sea Sprite exploded.
' Our song has come to fruition,' Mizutatsu cheered, exhilarated that it had been played.
' We are powerful, you and I,' Seivriel complimented, lowering the sentient instrument from her chin, ' the hounds will ready us for boarding.'
' Where are the others,' Mizutatsu asked.
' They will be ready,' Seivriel assured her violin as she strapped it to her belt.
" Nauticals," Robillard cried when he recognized the creatures that swarmed across the Sea Sprite's deck. Huge, blue-furred, dog-like monsters with long, whipping, snake-like tails ending in strong fins, and powerful jaws with rows of serrated teeth they were. Standing easily as tall as a man and weighing around one hundred and fifty pounds, the Nauticals desecrated the weaponry of the brave Sea Sprite. Normally the water hounds would have gone for the crew, but Seivriel had ordered that they only kill if it was necessary.
" She is playing with us," Deudermont realized as he saw a pair of Nauticals take out his balista, and the crew member who tried to fend them off. Suddenly, the water hounds, now with nothing left to destroy, leapt from the ship and into the ocean, except for the last one, who, with a tremendous leap, made it back to Crimson Fell Beast to stand beside the pirate with the violin.
" What are they doing," Robillard cried when he reached Deudermont's side, " why aren't they attacking?" Deudermont pointed to the water behind and to the sides of their position, showing Robillard the three ships flanking them, all of them flying the flag of Living Dead Girl.
" Because they are teasing us," the old captain stated. The four pirate ships had Sea Sprite completely boxed in. They were so close that Deudermont and Robillard could clearly read the names on their prows. Behind them was Spookshow, a ship known to appear out of nowhere to attack her victims. To their left, Scarlet Gypsy, a vessel known to disappear leaving only bloody water in her wake. On the right rested Demon Pinion, the most commonly seen of all the fleet's ships and easily one of the most ruthless. They were trapped
~*~*~*~*~*~
Two dozen dwarves had he drider flanked on all sides by waiting axes. The abomination, missing one of its eight legs and bearing several bad scars on its hard exoskeleton, was more confused than it had been in a long time. Had its mutated and bloated face been capable of showing emotion it would have shown panic.
" Ugly thing ain't it," Bruenor remarked.
" And sad," Nessa added, " to think that this drider was once a drow elf." Drizzt felt a similar feeling.
" Amazing," came a whisper from the shadows, which Drizzt and Nessa instantly recognized. With a flick of two drow wrists, the three young Do'Urdens were lined with faerie fire and completely visible.
" And what are you three doing down here," Drizzt asked sternly. The trio hung their heads in submission.
" We wanted to come," Sordath spoke up after a long moment had passed. Drizzt shook his head in defeat.
" Well you're here now you might as well stay," he conceded, turning away, his children sighed with relief but where cut short as he whirled back on them and added, " but if I catch you sneaking around where you're not allowed to be again there will be some sorry, little drow in these tunnels."
The trio were skeptic about their father's threat. He had never physically beat them, but rather hounded them with statements of disappointment that made them all prefer that he had hit them. Their mother, however, had struck them plenty of times, though only when they had truly deserved it. They decided they would be careful.
The drider drew the attention back on itself by lashing out at one of the flanking dwarves. The dwarf struck the drider's arm, tearing a wide gash across the black flesh. The abomination howled and backed away.
" Might as well put the thing out of its misery," Catti-brie resolved, taking aim at the drider's chest with her deadly bow, Taulmaril. Drizzt's hand shot out and snatched the arrow from the bow before Catti-brie could fire.
" What're ye thinking, elf," Bruenor demanded.
" Hold for a moment," Drizzt ordered, his eyes locked on the drider and something he had seen in the creature's face. Not waiting for a reply, the drow stepped into the ring of dwarves, who parted to admit him. Drizzt stared hard at the drider, somehow it seemed so familiar to him. He held out his hand tentatively. Nessa fell into the trance of spellcasting.
" Dinin?" The drider stopped moving at the sound of Drizzt's voice and stared hard the drow before it. Its twin axes clanged to the floor. A guttural sound came from its throat, as if it were trying to speak.
" Drizzt," the drider managed to say. Drizzt's heart skipped a beat.
" Is that you, my brother," he asked in the drow tongue.
" Stand back, Drizzt," Nessa ordered. Drizzt turned back to see the drow female glowing with bolts of silvery, psychic energy. On instinct, Drizzt leapt to the side as Nessa loosed the bolts at the drider.
~*~*~*~*~*~
" What do you say, Captain Deudermont," The violin wielding pirate teased, " may we board and inspect your lovely ship?" Deudermont knew that if he refused, the pirates would destroy his ship and slaughter his crew, perhaps he could negotiate with them.
" If I can have your word that you will not harm my crew until I have had a chance to speak with you," Deudermont dared to request. The pirate smiled and patted the Nautical at her side.
" We have an accord, Captain Deudermont," she agreed. As if on cue, four planks dropped onto Sea Sprite's deck in unison. Three, elegantly dressed, pirates boarded from the surrounding ships, each one escorted by a pair of wizards. The trio, obviously the captains of the other ships, strode to the upper deck to stand before Deudermont and Robillard, who was resisting the urge to strike down the three pirates who were eyeing the Sea Sprite with glee. Lastly, came the violin wielder, a trio of wizards at her back and the Nautical at her side. She glided across the deck, Deudermont's crew lurching back to get out of her way.
" Greetings," Deudermont saluted, bowing low to the violin wielder as she ascended to the upper deck to stand with her fellows.
" Well met, Captain Deudermont," she returned, also bowing, " the Sword Coast authorities know me as Living Dead Girl, and my fellow pirates know me as Commodore Dead Girl, but you may call me Seivriel Versail." Deudermont realized that the pirate had just shown him a great deal of respect in telling him her real name so he bowed low again. Seivriel smiled, showing pointed eye-teeth and stroking the violin hanging at her side as if it were a favored pet.
' He will ry to bargain,' the instrument warned.
" Is there something I might offer you, Lady Seivriel Versail, that might appease you into allowing my crew to live," Deudermont questioned, taking great care in his word choice.
' I told you,' Mizutatsu insisted.
" If I knew what you had to offer then I could answer that question, Captain," Seivriel replied simply, ignoring the voice of the violin. Her fellows snickered quietly, but a glare from their leader quickly shut them up.
" I will turn over myself and the Sea Sprite in exchange for the safe return of my crew to Baldur's Gate," Deudermont offered. The pirate captain of Spookshow, a scrawny, dark skinned, whisp of a girl with darting, brown eyes and pinned up, black hair, snorted and flicked her left ear. Demon Pinion's captain, a tanned, well muscled man of about twenty, brushed his index finger vertically over the bridge of his nose. Scarlet Gypsy's captain, a woman with black eyes and long red hair, combined her middle and index finger and passed the two fingers over her right eye.
" A puzzle," Seivriel mused, " one captain says 'take it,' one says 'deny it,' and the last says 'ask for more.'" Robillard scowled, Seivriel was playing with them. He had read her thoughts and discovered that she was going to kill the Sea Sprite's crew and captain, though it remained unclear as to what she would do with the actual ship.
Deudermont started to feel light-headed, then he felt himself lifting and his vision went black.
To the pirates and their wizards, Deudermont seemed to disappear into thin air. The three captains of the flanking ships cried out in rage. Seivriel was much calmer as she strode up to Robillard, her face only inches from his. Deudermont's crew cheered, glad that their captain was safe even if they were not.
" You were very brave to do that, Wizard Robillard," she stated, " and very arrogant to think that you could read my thoughts so easily without my knowing." Robillard gulped but held his ground, he couldn't tell if Seivriel was angry or amused.
" Keel haul the dog, Commodore Dead Girl," Demon Pinion's captain yelled. Scarlet Gypsy's captain put two fingers over her lips and flicked them from left to right. Several of the wizards flicked their right ears at her suggestion, which to them was a sign meaning, 'dead men tell no tales.' Seivriel was unfazed by the opinion's of her underlings.
" I wish you hadn't done that, Wizard," she said calmly, " now I will have to punish you." Robillard narrowed his eyes and stared hard at her.
" Do your worst," he dared, " Bitch of the deep." Just as Robillard finished the insult, Seivriel spun around and launched a dagger at the group of crewmen. One fell dead a second later, the dagger buried to the hilt in his eye. So quick and clean was the blow that the man simply fell, without a sound. Seivriel turned back to face Robillard, a nasty grin on her angular face.
" Now look what you made me do," she whined in a false tone. Her captains and wizards all snickered at the display. The pirate leader didn't silence them this time. " Care to insult me again?" she asked sweetly, it made Robillard sick.
" Play him a lullaby, Commodore," the captain of Spookshow proposed, her overly large eyes gleaming with excitement. Seivriel grinned.
" How about it, Wizard," she asked, " shall we keep up this game," she spun and took down another of Deudermont's crew with a dagger throw to emphasis her point, " or do you want a lullaby?" Robillard paused. He didn't want to watch the crew die, as he knew they would, but he was afraid of what the 'Lullaby' was. Seivriel killed another crewman for good measure, or to satisfy her impatience.
" Lullaby," Robillard declared loudly. A great cheer went up from the pirate ships. The Nautical even joined in with a watery howl. Mizutatsu cheered gleefully in Seivriel's head. Everyone who sailed with the Living Dead Girl knew of The Lullaby and its horrors. Lullaby was Seivriel's ultimate punishment and the worst torture she could perform. And no one performed it better than Seivriel Versail, after all, this was the practice that earned her the name Living Dead Girl.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The psychic bolts struck the drider in the chest. The creature howled as the energy twisted around it like electricity. It swayed dangerously for several seconds, scattering the dwarves, before toppling onto its side and writhing as if in terrible pain.
A sickening popping sound echoed as the drider's body twisted and molded. Seven legs became two, bloated flesh smoothed itself, sparks of life flickered in hollow eyes. The transformation from drow to drider reversed. Binx and Sordath had to turn their heads from the sight. Monty watched in horror and fascination.
A motionless, drow body lay curled up on the ground where once a drider had stood. Drizzt dropped to his knees beside the unmoving figure.
" Dinin," he tried, gently shaking the unmoving dark elf, who managed to open his weary eyes.
" Drizzt," Dinin reached up to touch his brother's cheek, " it is you." He spoke slowly, breathlessly, in the drow tongue. Drizzt took his brother's hand and wrapped him in a loving embrace, pulling him up into a sitting position as he did so.
" Yes, my brother," he reassured, speaking the drow tongue so that Dinin would understand him, " it is so good to see you again as you should be." Dinin was exhausted from his time as a drider and perfectly content to rest where he was, safe in his brother's arms. The tired drow let his head rest against Drizzt's chest, let the rhythmic beats of his brother's heart lull him to sleep.
" You know him," Catti-brie asked, kneeling down in front of the pair and making sure to keep her eyes from roving down too far.
" His name is Dinin," Drizzt explained, brushing a strand of long, white hair, away from Dinin's sleeping face.
" Friend o' yours," Bruenor asked, readying his axe just in case.
" My brother," Drizzt specified, " or rather half-brother. We had the same mother, but different fathers." Bruenor lowered his axe immediately, a smile brightening his ruddy face.
" Seems you've got kin left in the world yet, elf," the dwarf noted.
" So it seems," Drizzt agreed, studying his brother's face. Dinin moaned and stirred in his sleep. He was thinner than Drizzt remembered, his skin seeming to hang off his bones, which were clearly visible in many places, particularity his ribs, and his eyes seemed puffy from endless, sleepless nights.
Nessa came over and offered Drizzt a cloak, which was promptly wrapped around Dinin (much to the relief of Catti-brie). Drizzt's three children drifted over as well, anxious to see Dinin.
" Kids," Drizzt began, using the term he always used when addressing all three of his offspring at the same time, " this is your uncle, Dinin."
Dinin remained fast asleep in Drizzt's arms...
AN: Well that's it for this chapter. Seems to go by so fast even though when I look at the bottom of the document it says 14 pages. Oh well, hope you all enjoyed and will read the next chapter. Must go seek nutrition before I collapse.
Mirror Me Dark
By Semdai Bloodquill
Chapter Two - Remnants
Lazuli ran the brush through her jet-black hair, then tossed her head, sending the ebony waves cascading down her back.
" You remind me of your father so vividly," Jarlaxle remarked from the doorway, " you have his eyes and hair, but I see your mother's lovely frame and her angular eye-shape." Lazuli turned her head to regard the intruder.
" Who asked for your opinion," she asked coldly, although she was truly glad for the drow's company. Jarlaxle read her like an open book.
" And you have your father's acidic mood," he added in a sweet tone as he seated himself comfortably on her bed. Lazuli smiled and went back to brushing her hair, using her mirror to watch Jarlaxle as she spoke.
" What was my mother like," she asked. Jarlaxle leaned against the wall and locked his fingers behind his bald head.
" She was beautiful, Lazuli, there are no other adequate words to describe her," the drow recounted, " physically at least."
" What did she look like?" Lazuli had finished brushing her hair and was sitting backwards in her seat facing Jarlaxle with her arms crossed over the back of her chair, waiting for him to continue.
" She was tall, almost taller than Entreri," the mercenary continued, " her hair was a silvery color and very wavy, like yours is. She was half elvin, you know," Lazuli quirked an eyebrow, "We knew she had elvish blood because she had elf eyes, big and slanted and colored the most remarkable shade of yellow, but we never could tell if it was surface or drow elf, she was caring and respectable but had the most vile temper. Lovely singing voice, though."
" She sounds very beautiful," the young assassin pictured.
" She was," Jarlaxle assure, " she could put a real, genuine smile on even Entreri's face. And she cared about things, like animals. She loved animals, usually had one with her at all times. Oh, she was gifted wen it came to animals." Jarlaxle would have gone on to recount how Lazuli's mother had once wreaked havoc on a market place by charming a flock of pigeons into bombing the shoppers, but he was interrupted by a nasty fit of coughing.
" Jarlaxle," Lazuli grew concerned when the dark elf continued to choke as if he had something in his throat that he couldn't quite cough up, " are you all right?" Jarlaxle couldn't respond for he was doubled over and shaking as the fit subsided. For a fleeting moment, Lazuli wondered if the drow was acting, but she dismissed that notion when Jarlaxle straightened and leaned back against the wall, moisture rimmed his eyes and made them glint in the light. The drow's chest heaved as if trying to regain lost breath.
" Just a bad cold," Jarlaxle insisted breathlessly, " it will pass." Lazuli wasn't so sure. She rose from her seat and strode over to Jarlaxle.
" Hold still," she instructed, sitting down next to him on the bed. The young assassin pressed her ear against the drow's chest and listened to the furious and erratic beats of his heart. There was no rhythm to the pulse, only one desperate thump after another, as if Jarlaxle's heart was struggling just to beat. Lazuli grew very worried. Elves were generally immune to common diseases, and Jarlaxle was a pure-bred drow elf, a creature of the savage Underdark, a survivor in an unmerciful place where the weak were quickly devoured or destroyed.
" You're sick," Lazuli stated, fearful for the dark elf who was, though she would never admit it, very dear to her.
" It will pass," Jarlaxle repeated, taking note of Lazuli's concern and brushing one of his slender, black hands across her cheek, " don't worry about me."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Antioch worked his two scimitars in an intricate dance, both blades moving in perfect harmony with eachother. Dantrag found himself sorely missing his enchanted bracers, but he could do nothing to regain them.
Unless he went along with his sister's plans of course.
Metal screeched on metal as Antioch threw himself into a frenzy. Dantrag parried Antioch's blows almost methodically. It became evident to the former weapon master why Antioch had finished second in his class while his younger twin, Zandrath, had finished in first. Zandrath had no heart for the fight, no desire to master the swords he carried, he was not blinded by any passion to excel, enabling him to absorb the teachings of the masters at the Academy and bend them to his sparse purposes. He was a follower of no rules, the embodiment of patience and tranquillity. So unusual for a drow.
Antioch, however, was made of passion and desire, hunger and primal rage. Possessed of the complete confidence in his skills, the young drow was very arrogant in his view. Boasting that he could beat his brother any day, but when they sparred he fell to Zandrath's unnerving calm. Always. Antioch had no patience or control. Because he was also narrow minded, he lacked originality in his style, often setting his mind on one routine and never stepping out of it, no matter what.
Dantrag easily slipped his boot under Antioch's wall of steel and pulled his student's legs out from under him. Rage flared up in Antioch's emerald eyes right after the initial second of surprise as he found himself on his back with the tip of Dantrag's fine sword lightly caressing his slender throat just below his chin.
" You lack originality," Dantrag stated, applying just enough extra pressure to the sword so that a slight trickle of blood ran down the length of Antioch's gullet.
" You don't scare me," Antioch glare at his teacher through slitted eyes.
" I am not here to scare you," Dantrag stated flatly, withdrawing his sword, " that is Lady Lolth and Matron Triel's duty. Your brother surpasses you because he is calm in all things and understands his place. You think you are better than him and it makes you weak."
" I will kill him and you someday, and prove my worth to Matron Triel," Antioch promised darkly. Dantrag tried very hard not to laugh.
" You are a fool," he spat, " do you think that Matron Triel cares about you? Why should she? After all you are just a male. Likely she will give you to Lolth when she finally produces a string of daughters. Zandrath will likely become Weapon Master of House Baenre, the position you so desire, and you will fall by the wayside." The words were coming easier for Dantrag now that he had accepted them.
" I will bring back the hearts of a hundred surface elves to prove that I am more worthy to be our Weapon Master than my weakling brother," Antioch snarled, staring his teacher in the eye having stood up during Dantrag's short soliloquy, " I will slay the rouge Do'Urden and prove that I deserve to be the weapon master."
Dantrag threw back his head and laughed, " you could slay a thousand surface elves and bring back the corpse of Drizzt Do'Urden a hundred times again and it would only expose how truly pathetic you are. If I drive this sword through your heart," Dantrag brought his sword to bear to emphasize his point, " your mother would beat me and punish me, but I would live to train Zandrath for many years to come and she would not waste a single breath in lament for your loss." Dantrag took confidence from Antioch's silence, " you could bring her the death of every being she hates but in doing so you would have to bring her your own death as well. She hates the fact that you, the oldest of her children, are male. No matter that you are skilled with your blades, you will never be more than a worthless male in her eyes."
Antioch exploded into motion, his rage engulfing him fully as he attacked with all his heart, having every intention of killing his teacher. But Dantrag was laughing at him.
" Killing me will not change your sex," the older drow reminded, " Triel cares nothing for me, her own brother, but she will punish you for killing one of her prized fighters." Antioch lashed at Dantrag as he tried to shut out the words. He would prove he was better. He would show his mother than he was the best. Or he would die trying.
Dantrag easily parried Antioch's blows, again they were mechanical. Lashing out incredibly fast he drove his sword's pommel into Antioch's face, shattering the younger drow's nose and jabbing the sliding hilt into his left eye. Antioch howled and jumped back, dropping a scimitar and clutching his eye, from which blood was flowing freely and mingling with the same blood as it poured from his broken nose. Dantrag was on him in an instant, again pulling his feet out from under him and adding a second cut to Antioch's throat.
" I will kill you someday," Antioch promised grimly, still holding his eye, " I swear you will die with my blade in your heart."
" I will die however Triel commands when she finally grows weary of me," Dantrag corrected, sheathing his swords and waiting for Antioch's next remark.
" You will pay for the insults you have given me this day," the hot-headed drow spat, rubbing his neck where the burning cuts still stung.
" Better your pride cut than your throat," Dantrag remarked, " though it seems I have gotten better since my days with my own brothers and I have managed to cut both for you." With a smirk on his angular face, Dantrag strode from the room.
" Yes, better to cut your pride than your throat," he remarked to himself once he was out of Antioch's earshot, " or your heart..." He reached inside his tunic and felt the healing scar on his chest. He looked over his shoulder to make sure that Antioch was not following him and headed for his rooms, staying alert for the young drow in the gym who would like nothing better than to put his finely made scimitar through his teacher's heart.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The ship, a sleek, powerful vessel built for speed and agility, glided swiftly through the water, the hot, southern winds full in her sails. The ship was one of a kind, built and designed by a particularly powerful pirate. Her trio of wizards, all of them masters of their craft and familiar with the workings and powers of the ocean, were enough to scare off any challenger, but just in case she carried two deadly catapults and a mighty balista, all manned by teams of highly experienced pirates.
The ship's name was Crimson Fell Beast. And she was the flagship of the most powerful pirate to ever sail south of Baldur's Gate. Her captain, a foul tempered creature who was nicknamed 'Living Dead Girl' by her crews, sailed under a flag of her own design. The flag depicted a snarling, red dragon lined in swirls of blue against a black background, and it was whispered in the taverns along the Sword Coast that Living Dead Girl herself could bring down red dragons on her prey or pursuer.
Crimson Fell Beast was the ruler of the southern seas even though it was only seen half as often as Living Dead Girl's other ships, all of them able vessels that the pirate had captured, renamed, and added to her own fleet, which was rumored to number great enough to challenge the armada of Calimshan. Crimson Fell Beast would be a prized capture for any pirate hunter, especially if she could be caught without excessive damage and her captain, the ever equivocal Living Dead Girl, was taken alive.
Thus was the source of Sea Sprite's glee when her lookout identified the pirate flagship. If they could defeat Crimson Fell Beast and take her captain alive...
It was a mixed set of feelings that Captain Deudermont felt as the Crimson Fell Beast became clearer. The flagship was almost never seen on the water by any outside her crew, and never captained by anyone other than Living Dead Girl herself. The old captain was excited at the sight, of course, but he knew the stories of the Crimson Fell Beast's crew and, even more so, her vicious captain. This would be a very difficult battle. One that might see the end of the Sea Sprite and her noble crew.
What seriously bothered Deudermont was the seeming fact that Crimson Fell Beast was alone on the water. The old captain had heard many stories from survivors of the flagship's raids about sighting the deadly pirate ship alone and suddenly being flanked by two more pirate ships, the cagey Spookshow and her sister ship, the elusive Scarlet Gypsy.
Any second, Deudermont expected his lookout to cry out that more ships had appeared. He didn't like the situation.
Back on Crimson Fell Beast's deck, the crew was scurrying to their battle stations. Living Dead Girl, perched on the prow of the ship and communing with the ocean, had ordered for battle with the pirate hunter and they would obey their captain, so loyal and confident where they.
From her perch on her flagship's prow, Living Dead Girl fell deep into her trance, reaching into the depths of the ocean for the power and guidance she knew she would need for this battle with the pirate hunter. They would not run, could not in fact. It wasn't the chance that they couldn't out- run the Sea Sprite, a feat not impossible for the pirate, it was the threat to their name. If it was whispered that Crimson Fell Beast had run from a battle, even a battle with Sea Sprite... Living Dead Girl knew she had to win or go down fighting for her ship. There could be no other outcome.
But if Crimson Fell Beast did defeat Sea Sprite, what would they do with her? The prospects and promises of adding Sea Sprite to her fleet were tantalizing for the pirate leader. With Sea Sprite sailing under her colors, Seivriel Versail, the Living Dead Girl, would know respect from every port along the Sword Coast, even mighty Waterdeep would speak her name with fear. Perhaps she could extend her arm into the waters north of Baldur's Gate, the realm of her rival, Sheila Kree.
But if Seivriel claimed Sea Sprite as her own, she would forever have to beware the retribution of Waterdeep. The lords of the City of Splendors would not let their prized pirate hunter go without a fight. She would never be able to dock the ship, even under a different name, anywhere except for her own secret port and possibly the pirate cities of the south waters. The ship, like her own, was one of a kind and too easily recognized. She turned to the sea for guidance.
The sea would not let her down, she knew. She had been born and raised on the rolling ocean waves. Born on the brink of the fire and water signs, Seivriel had learned long ago how to tap into the powers of fire and water. The sea would tell her what to do and she could trust in the strength of her pyrotic abilities. She would face the pirate hunter.
Crimson Fell Beast readied her weapons and her three wizards waited for their captain's signal. They waited for Living Dead Girl to strike the sounds of battle and let loose her hounds.
~*~*~*~*~*~
" Thing was huge," Bruenor recounted his encounter with the invader of the tunnels, " seven legs, two arms, tough skin." If drow skin could pale, Drizzt's did.
" The upper body," he demanded, " was it humanoid, with black skin?" Bruenor thought for a moment.
" Yeah," he decided, " yeah it was." Drizzt and Nessa both fell back in their chairs, shocked and terrified expressions played out over their sharp features.
" Drider," they said together.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Deudermont was not surprised when the pirate flagship turned about to face the Sea Sprite. The old captain and the pirate leader were cut of similar material and they both knew it, though the Sea Sprite had never before faced of Crimson Fell Beast's underships, let alone the flagship herself. This fight would be a clash of titans.
" She wants to fight," Robillard, Sea Sprite's wizard, remarked from Deudermont's side.
" She HAS to fight," the old captain corrected, " if she runs, Crimson Fell Beast and her underships will loose much of the respect they have earned in these waters."
" Do you think Living Dead Girl is there," Robillard questioned, not taking his eyes off the magnificent ship before them, bravely flying their tell- tale flag.
" She is there, but we will not get her," Deudermont replied. He knew that the pirate leader would not allow herself to be taken.
" Of course we will get her," Robillard balked, " you said yourself that she will not run."
" She will not let us take her alive," Deudermont specified, " she will throw herself upon her own blades before she will allow herself to be taken, and likely her crew will torch the ship and follow her into death if they loose this fight."
" And why would her crew kill themselves beside her," Robillard asked, not believing that pirates could be honorable or loyal.
" Because their captain will kill them herself if they don't," Deudermont replied simply, turning to face his wizard and friend, " this will be the hardest fight we have ever fought, my friend."
" We will prevail, Captain," Robillard assured, facing his friend.
" I hope you are right," Deudermont sighed. The old captain gave the order to prepare for battle. Then he heard the music.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Nessa had seen many driders during the years when she lived in Menzoberranzan, the city of her and Drizzt's birth. It was the ultimate punishment in drow society to become a drider. Usually the creatures were kept as slaves to their masters, the fact that one was wandering around the dwarven tunnels apparently alone was more than a little unnerving to the drow female.
Drizzt was equally perplexed about the situation and more than a little shaken. His own brother, after all, had suffered the punishment of becoming a drider.
The two drow, along with Catti-brie, Bruenor, and a score of dwarves, made all haste down the tunnels to the area where a group of dwarves had the drider cornered.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Haunting, harrowing notes stretched to their very longest floated out across the water, making the surface tremble and writhe as if living creatures were trying to escape it.
" Hear our song and know your doom," the notes cried in tormenting voices, " Watch us as we veil the moon. Listen as we kill your light. You cannot beat us in this fight." The voices exploded into an eerie song in a strange tongue that, though none aboard the Sea Sprite knew the words, rang out as a herald of doom.
The song became louder as Sea Sprite neared Crimson Fell Beast for the pirate crew was singing in tune with the seductive song. They didn't know the words anymore than the Sea Sprite's crew did but they had been sailing with Living Dead Girl long enough to memorize the sounds.
Seivriel, however, knew the words and their meaning. She twisted and spun and writhed in her erotic dance, the horrifying music pouring from the demonic violin in her hands as she played it with faultless perfection. Her crew scampered away to give her the room she would need.
' You play well,' a voice in her head complimented.
' I have held you for many years,' she replied.
Robillard gasped at the sight of the pirate, twisting and turning wildly yet playing her violin with unworldly skill. Never before had he seen such awful magic as the like that surrounded that pirate woman as she danced to the rhythm of her sentient instrument.
' Faster, faster,' the violin urged. The instrument so wanted this, the few moments when Seivriel, one of the greatest wielders the it had ever known, would play and dance to the song they had devised together.
' Patience,' the pirate ordered the violin, slowing the notes to bring on another of the demonic violin's tricks.
" Bring her down!" Deudermont shouted, " Kill the one with the violin! Kill her!" A dozen archers took aim and fired at the violinist. Not a single one struck her. Each arrow burst into flame as it neared her and fell harmlessly into the water below. She stopped dancing and the notes became even slower, ringing the ears of those close to the pirate. Her eerie, black eyes glimmered with wicked glee.
" Did you think you could kill me so easily, Captain Deudermont of the Sea Sprite," she yelled over the quieting notes, " the spirits of the ocean and the Song of Mizutatsu are my guides and guardians! How could you ever think that you could defeat them?" She screeched the last note of the song and the water around the Sea Sprite exploded.
' Our song has come to fruition,' Mizutatsu cheered, exhilarated that it had been played.
' We are powerful, you and I,' Seivriel complimented, lowering the sentient instrument from her chin, ' the hounds will ready us for boarding.'
' Where are the others,' Mizutatsu asked.
' They will be ready,' Seivriel assured her violin as she strapped it to her belt.
" Nauticals," Robillard cried when he recognized the creatures that swarmed across the Sea Sprite's deck. Huge, blue-furred, dog-like monsters with long, whipping, snake-like tails ending in strong fins, and powerful jaws with rows of serrated teeth they were. Standing easily as tall as a man and weighing around one hundred and fifty pounds, the Nauticals desecrated the weaponry of the brave Sea Sprite. Normally the water hounds would have gone for the crew, but Seivriel had ordered that they only kill if it was necessary.
" She is playing with us," Deudermont realized as he saw a pair of Nauticals take out his balista, and the crew member who tried to fend them off. Suddenly, the water hounds, now with nothing left to destroy, leapt from the ship and into the ocean, except for the last one, who, with a tremendous leap, made it back to Crimson Fell Beast to stand beside the pirate with the violin.
" What are they doing," Robillard cried when he reached Deudermont's side, " why aren't they attacking?" Deudermont pointed to the water behind and to the sides of their position, showing Robillard the three ships flanking them, all of them flying the flag of Living Dead Girl.
" Because they are teasing us," the old captain stated. The four pirate ships had Sea Sprite completely boxed in. They were so close that Deudermont and Robillard could clearly read the names on their prows. Behind them was Spookshow, a ship known to appear out of nowhere to attack her victims. To their left, Scarlet Gypsy, a vessel known to disappear leaving only bloody water in her wake. On the right rested Demon Pinion, the most commonly seen of all the fleet's ships and easily one of the most ruthless. They were trapped
~*~*~*~*~*~
Two dozen dwarves had he drider flanked on all sides by waiting axes. The abomination, missing one of its eight legs and bearing several bad scars on its hard exoskeleton, was more confused than it had been in a long time. Had its mutated and bloated face been capable of showing emotion it would have shown panic.
" Ugly thing ain't it," Bruenor remarked.
" And sad," Nessa added, " to think that this drider was once a drow elf." Drizzt felt a similar feeling.
" Amazing," came a whisper from the shadows, which Drizzt and Nessa instantly recognized. With a flick of two drow wrists, the three young Do'Urdens were lined with faerie fire and completely visible.
" And what are you three doing down here," Drizzt asked sternly. The trio hung their heads in submission.
" We wanted to come," Sordath spoke up after a long moment had passed. Drizzt shook his head in defeat.
" Well you're here now you might as well stay," he conceded, turning away, his children sighed with relief but where cut short as he whirled back on them and added, " but if I catch you sneaking around where you're not allowed to be again there will be some sorry, little drow in these tunnels."
The trio were skeptic about their father's threat. He had never physically beat them, but rather hounded them with statements of disappointment that made them all prefer that he had hit them. Their mother, however, had struck them plenty of times, though only when they had truly deserved it. They decided they would be careful.
The drider drew the attention back on itself by lashing out at one of the flanking dwarves. The dwarf struck the drider's arm, tearing a wide gash across the black flesh. The abomination howled and backed away.
" Might as well put the thing out of its misery," Catti-brie resolved, taking aim at the drider's chest with her deadly bow, Taulmaril. Drizzt's hand shot out and snatched the arrow from the bow before Catti-brie could fire.
" What're ye thinking, elf," Bruenor demanded.
" Hold for a moment," Drizzt ordered, his eyes locked on the drider and something he had seen in the creature's face. Not waiting for a reply, the drow stepped into the ring of dwarves, who parted to admit him. Drizzt stared hard at the drider, somehow it seemed so familiar to him. He held out his hand tentatively. Nessa fell into the trance of spellcasting.
" Dinin?" The drider stopped moving at the sound of Drizzt's voice and stared hard the drow before it. Its twin axes clanged to the floor. A guttural sound came from its throat, as if it were trying to speak.
" Drizzt," the drider managed to say. Drizzt's heart skipped a beat.
" Is that you, my brother," he asked in the drow tongue.
" Stand back, Drizzt," Nessa ordered. Drizzt turned back to see the drow female glowing with bolts of silvery, psychic energy. On instinct, Drizzt leapt to the side as Nessa loosed the bolts at the drider.
~*~*~*~*~*~
" What do you say, Captain Deudermont," The violin wielding pirate teased, " may we board and inspect your lovely ship?" Deudermont knew that if he refused, the pirates would destroy his ship and slaughter his crew, perhaps he could negotiate with them.
" If I can have your word that you will not harm my crew until I have had a chance to speak with you," Deudermont dared to request. The pirate smiled and patted the Nautical at her side.
" We have an accord, Captain Deudermont," she agreed. As if on cue, four planks dropped onto Sea Sprite's deck in unison. Three, elegantly dressed, pirates boarded from the surrounding ships, each one escorted by a pair of wizards. The trio, obviously the captains of the other ships, strode to the upper deck to stand before Deudermont and Robillard, who was resisting the urge to strike down the three pirates who were eyeing the Sea Sprite with glee. Lastly, came the violin wielder, a trio of wizards at her back and the Nautical at her side. She glided across the deck, Deudermont's crew lurching back to get out of her way.
" Greetings," Deudermont saluted, bowing low to the violin wielder as she ascended to the upper deck to stand with her fellows.
" Well met, Captain Deudermont," she returned, also bowing, " the Sword Coast authorities know me as Living Dead Girl, and my fellow pirates know me as Commodore Dead Girl, but you may call me Seivriel Versail." Deudermont realized that the pirate had just shown him a great deal of respect in telling him her real name so he bowed low again. Seivriel smiled, showing pointed eye-teeth and stroking the violin hanging at her side as if it were a favored pet.
' He will ry to bargain,' the instrument warned.
" Is there something I might offer you, Lady Seivriel Versail, that might appease you into allowing my crew to live," Deudermont questioned, taking great care in his word choice.
' I told you,' Mizutatsu insisted.
" If I knew what you had to offer then I could answer that question, Captain," Seivriel replied simply, ignoring the voice of the violin. Her fellows snickered quietly, but a glare from their leader quickly shut them up.
" I will turn over myself and the Sea Sprite in exchange for the safe return of my crew to Baldur's Gate," Deudermont offered. The pirate captain of Spookshow, a scrawny, dark skinned, whisp of a girl with darting, brown eyes and pinned up, black hair, snorted and flicked her left ear. Demon Pinion's captain, a tanned, well muscled man of about twenty, brushed his index finger vertically over the bridge of his nose. Scarlet Gypsy's captain, a woman with black eyes and long red hair, combined her middle and index finger and passed the two fingers over her right eye.
" A puzzle," Seivriel mused, " one captain says 'take it,' one says 'deny it,' and the last says 'ask for more.'" Robillard scowled, Seivriel was playing with them. He had read her thoughts and discovered that she was going to kill the Sea Sprite's crew and captain, though it remained unclear as to what she would do with the actual ship.
Deudermont started to feel light-headed, then he felt himself lifting and his vision went black.
To the pirates and their wizards, Deudermont seemed to disappear into thin air. The three captains of the flanking ships cried out in rage. Seivriel was much calmer as she strode up to Robillard, her face only inches from his. Deudermont's crew cheered, glad that their captain was safe even if they were not.
" You were very brave to do that, Wizard Robillard," she stated, " and very arrogant to think that you could read my thoughts so easily without my knowing." Robillard gulped but held his ground, he couldn't tell if Seivriel was angry or amused.
" Keel haul the dog, Commodore Dead Girl," Demon Pinion's captain yelled. Scarlet Gypsy's captain put two fingers over her lips and flicked them from left to right. Several of the wizards flicked their right ears at her suggestion, which to them was a sign meaning, 'dead men tell no tales.' Seivriel was unfazed by the opinion's of her underlings.
" I wish you hadn't done that, Wizard," she said calmly, " now I will have to punish you." Robillard narrowed his eyes and stared hard at her.
" Do your worst," he dared, " Bitch of the deep." Just as Robillard finished the insult, Seivriel spun around and launched a dagger at the group of crewmen. One fell dead a second later, the dagger buried to the hilt in his eye. So quick and clean was the blow that the man simply fell, without a sound. Seivriel turned back to face Robillard, a nasty grin on her angular face.
" Now look what you made me do," she whined in a false tone. Her captains and wizards all snickered at the display. The pirate leader didn't silence them this time. " Care to insult me again?" she asked sweetly, it made Robillard sick.
" Play him a lullaby, Commodore," the captain of Spookshow proposed, her overly large eyes gleaming with excitement. Seivriel grinned.
" How about it, Wizard," she asked, " shall we keep up this game," she spun and took down another of Deudermont's crew with a dagger throw to emphasis her point, " or do you want a lullaby?" Robillard paused. He didn't want to watch the crew die, as he knew they would, but he was afraid of what the 'Lullaby' was. Seivriel killed another crewman for good measure, or to satisfy her impatience.
" Lullaby," Robillard declared loudly. A great cheer went up from the pirate ships. The Nautical even joined in with a watery howl. Mizutatsu cheered gleefully in Seivriel's head. Everyone who sailed with the Living Dead Girl knew of The Lullaby and its horrors. Lullaby was Seivriel's ultimate punishment and the worst torture she could perform. And no one performed it better than Seivriel Versail, after all, this was the practice that earned her the name Living Dead Girl.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The psychic bolts struck the drider in the chest. The creature howled as the energy twisted around it like electricity. It swayed dangerously for several seconds, scattering the dwarves, before toppling onto its side and writhing as if in terrible pain.
A sickening popping sound echoed as the drider's body twisted and molded. Seven legs became two, bloated flesh smoothed itself, sparks of life flickered in hollow eyes. The transformation from drow to drider reversed. Binx and Sordath had to turn their heads from the sight. Monty watched in horror and fascination.
A motionless, drow body lay curled up on the ground where once a drider had stood. Drizzt dropped to his knees beside the unmoving figure.
" Dinin," he tried, gently shaking the unmoving dark elf, who managed to open his weary eyes.
" Drizzt," Dinin reached up to touch his brother's cheek, " it is you." He spoke slowly, breathlessly, in the drow tongue. Drizzt took his brother's hand and wrapped him in a loving embrace, pulling him up into a sitting position as he did so.
" Yes, my brother," he reassured, speaking the drow tongue so that Dinin would understand him, " it is so good to see you again as you should be." Dinin was exhausted from his time as a drider and perfectly content to rest where he was, safe in his brother's arms. The tired drow let his head rest against Drizzt's chest, let the rhythmic beats of his brother's heart lull him to sleep.
" You know him," Catti-brie asked, kneeling down in front of the pair and making sure to keep her eyes from roving down too far.
" His name is Dinin," Drizzt explained, brushing a strand of long, white hair, away from Dinin's sleeping face.
" Friend o' yours," Bruenor asked, readying his axe just in case.
" My brother," Drizzt specified, " or rather half-brother. We had the same mother, but different fathers." Bruenor lowered his axe immediately, a smile brightening his ruddy face.
" Seems you've got kin left in the world yet, elf," the dwarf noted.
" So it seems," Drizzt agreed, studying his brother's face. Dinin moaned and stirred in his sleep. He was thinner than Drizzt remembered, his skin seeming to hang off his bones, which were clearly visible in many places, particularity his ribs, and his eyes seemed puffy from endless, sleepless nights.
Nessa came over and offered Drizzt a cloak, which was promptly wrapped around Dinin (much to the relief of Catti-brie). Drizzt's three children drifted over as well, anxious to see Dinin.
" Kids," Drizzt began, using the term he always used when addressing all three of his offspring at the same time, " this is your uncle, Dinin."
Dinin remained fast asleep in Drizzt's arms...
AN: Well that's it for this chapter. Seems to go by so fast even though when I look at the bottom of the document it says 14 pages. Oh well, hope you all enjoyed and will read the next chapter. Must go seek nutrition before I collapse.