Disclaimer : This is getting tedious... I own nothing... I am nothing... I will amount to nothing... My life means nothing... heavy sigh... I wonder if Jeremy is still reading this fic? If you ARE still reading this, Jeremy, please review. If not... oh well. It benefits the reader(s) at this point in the story to recall and keep in mind that our dear friend Artemis Entreri has believed since the end of The Silent Blade that Drizzt is dead. Time to become engrossed with Rammstein and write another chapter while under the influence of German rock.
Also worth noting : I have come across problems in posting. When the scene changes between groups of characters the marks I usually use to indicate this have not been showing up recently. To combat this I'm going to place the word 'Meanwhile' between different scenes. The things we authors put up with to keep our stuff going. Grrr...
Mirror Me Dark
By Semdai Bloodquill
Chapter Eleven : Enemies and Allies
Zandrath moved silently beneath the trees of the forest that bordered the drow encampment. The young drow glided from shadow to shadow, his head hanging limp from his shoulders, his eyes downcast. His hood covered his white hair and the gloom of the trees helped to disguise his dark skin.
" Vendui, little one," a soft, whimsical voice greeted from Zandrath's left. The young drow turned his head toward the voice and was awarded a fleeting glance of white. " Why are you all alone," the melodic voice asked almost sadly.
" Only the mad would dare accompany me," Zandrath lamented, turning about. Abruptly, the Baenre stopped, his hood was lopsided from spinning, covering the entirety of his left side. Before him, seated on a large, moss-covered boulder, was the White Queen.
Even through only his injured eye, Zandrath could immediately sense that he stood in the presence of something great. Slowly he pushed back his hood, not caring that he was exposing himself as a drow. The white figure gazed upon him with her soft, gentle eyes, without judgment and exempt of hate. Humbled as if a god had suddenly blessed, Zandrath knelt before the White Queen.
" If you are a righteous goddess then I pray you tell me what name I must now worship," he begged.
" I am no goddess, child," Shiroinohi assured, " I am as mortal as yourself."
" If not a goddess than what," Zandrath asked. Shiroinohi slid slowly off the boulder and walked slowly but gracefully to Zandrath. The little drow lifted his head in time to see the White Queen place her hands on his face. Her touch was akin to cool morning dew.
" I have been searching for you, drow child with the golden eyes," she whispered, " you must stay strong. I know what you came into this forest to do and you must not follow this plan through. We need you to stand with us when the time comes."
Zandrath was taken aback, but his innate drow nature would not let him show it. How did this mysterious lady know his plans?
" You are a remarkable elf, Zandrath Baenre," Shiroinohi said, brushing her delicate fingers across the young drow's face, " leave the blade sheathed. My people and I will need you very soon. Your brother is coming with a gift from your mother. There is a curse upon this gift and you must steel yourself against it. Do not give yourself over to the ways of your people." She touched his chest just above his rapidly pulsing heart, " Especially when your heart rejects such ways." Zandrath's golden eyes glinted.
" Tell me your name, White Lady," he begged, " that I can give some reality to this dream."
" Queen Shiroinohi Tavalone," the white lady answered. She bent down and kissed Zandrath's forehead tenderly, " I will see you again, Zandrath."
Then she was gone, vanished like a raindrop into the sea. Zandrath slid to his knees. His heart hurt within his chest, aching and longing for something unknown to him. He bent doubled over in the grass, his golden eyes burning with tears, and cried like a sad and lonely child.
Meanwhile...
Nessa held out her arms, willing the last remnants of her spell away. The desert air was hot with midday around her and he others.
Lazuli shook her head to clear away the dizziness, frustration mounting within her. So close to her home but held back, even momentarily, by simple nausea.
Binx was on top of the nearest dune as fast as her legs would carry her. Squinting in the blazing sun, her ivory hair whipping in the winds, Binx peered over the dunes and saw the great, sprawling, desert city of Calimport.
" Is that it, Father," she called back to Drizzt.
The ranger joined his daughter on the sand dune and followed her gaze. " That's Calimport," Drizzt confirmed.
" Let's go then," Lazuli urged impatiently, " every minute is precious time." The young assassin easily climbed the dunes and set a beeline for the gates.
" So, who is it," Binx asked when she caught up to Lazuli, " who are you trying to save?"
Lazuli stared at the drow girl beside her acidly. She opened her mouth to say something cold but was silenced when the two of them reached the city gates. Armed guards were stationed at the entrance.
" Go away, you little brats," the closest guard hissed at them.
Drizzt and Nessa reached the gates then, both of them mounted on huge, Underdark lizards. Sordath and Reigaldus followed directly behind on a third reptilian mount, flanked by Wulfgar and Catti-brie on the left and Bruenor and Regis on the right.
" Is that how you treat Miran Royalty, here in Calimport," Nessa spat venomously, " stand aside, colnbluth, or I will strike you dead where you stand." The guards hastily backed away to make room as the lizards passed. Reigaldus turned his head toward the startled guards and grinned evilly at them, showing off his fangs as he smiled.
" Come," Drizzt ordered to Lazuli, offering her his hand. Binx had already mounted behind her mother. Lazuli reached up to take the ranger's hand and noticed that her skin was as black as his.
" What's this magic," she hissed in Drizzt's ear once she was behind him, " what have you done to me?"
" A simple illusion, nothing more," Drizzt explained, " Nessa put it up so you would get in with us without question. She put one on the others as well." Sure enough, when Lazuli looked back the halfling, dwarf and two humans accompanying them appeared to be normal drow as well, all of them richly dressed.
" And the lizards," Lazuli pressed.
" Also false," Drizzt continued, " conjured from wind and sand."
" Two things never in short supply in Calimshan," Nessa remarked from her lizard. Drizzt chuckled at the remark.
The troop turned down a side alley and dismounted the lizards. Nessa waggled her fingers in a complex pattern and the beasts collapsed into piles of sand. Their disguises fell away as well.
Nessa sighed softly to and whispered something in her brother's ear. Reigaldus listened to his sister's instructions carefully, nodded his head, and said, " I understand."
" I'll see you at dusk," Nessa finished, clapping Reig on the shoulder. He returned the gesture solemnly. Lazuli felt a shiver course down her spine watching the two drow siblings exchange words, as if what they were speaking of was a prelude of doom.
Reigaldus turned to leave but stopped when his eyes caught Lazuli staring at him. He grinned his trademark smirk and winked his right eye. The eye turned from green to gold with the gesture, then Reigaldus melted into the numerous alleyways.
" You should lead from here on, Miss Entreri," Nessa advised, " you know this city better than I do."
" My house is on the other side of Shackles Ward, in the southwestern corner of the city," Lazuli pointed out, " We live in the slums west of the Armada Ward."
" Lead the way," Nessa said, " lead the way."
Meanwhile...
Melkor's great wings pumped with a loud whooshing sound. The black dragon spiraled happily on a warm air current, clutching his newly plundered treasure tightly in his talons. Seivriel was glad for the harness that kept her from falling to her death.
The pirate leader thought about Lazuli as Melkor made his way back to Asavir's Channel. Seivriel wondered if her daughter had made it back to Calimport yet. Had she found the cure for the plague?
Seivriel reached for her sentient violin, and remembered that it was no longer strapped to her back. The absence of its voice in the back of her mind was strange after carrying the living instrument for nearly half a century.
" You miss your Dalabrian," Melkor stated matter-of-factly as he landed gracefully on the wide ledge outside the high cavern that served as his home.
" More it feels strange not having it," Seivriel corrected, unbuckling the leather harness and sliding off Melkor's shoulders.
" You wish you could have gone with the girl," Melkor sniffed, lifting his arrow-shaped head up proudly as black dragons are inclined to do when they feel superior. " Don't deny it. You may be a Draegloth, Pirate Lady, but you are still half mortal." The young dragon settled himself inside his cave.
" I won't stand for racism in my presence, Melkor," Seivriel warned, " I am of noble blood however mixed it is."
" Balors are noble only to the Tanar'ri," Melkor countered. His comment stung Seivriel's half-demon spirit. Tanar'ri were the creatures of the Abyss and the Balor were the most powerful of them all. Only roughly a dozen were in existence.
" Them I am royalty on both sides of the light," Seivriel defended herself by drawing on her father's race, the Drandil.
" I permit your insolence only because I respect your father's people," Melkor warned.
" You permit my insolence because it amuses you," Seivriel teased.
" You are the first Draegloth I have ever known with such a sense of humor," Melkor snorted.
" You know you enjoy this bantering as much as I do," Seivriel pressed, " propriety aside, you know it in your heart of hearts that you and your friends are fond of me."
" Because you wield a Dalabrian with such skill," the black dragon huffed indignantly. Seivriel jumped onto Melkor's shoulders and put her arms around his neck in a friendly embrace.
" Mizutatsu's not mine anymore," she reminded, " I have passed it on to my daughter. She's so much more pure than I will ever be."
Meanwhile...
" Sir!," the scout came tearing into Terrell chamber in hysterics.
" Calm yourself man," Terrell ordered, placing a strip of black ribbon into the book he had been reading, " what's amiss?"
" Lazuli's back in the city," the scout notified, " and she's not alone."
" What has the little assassin brought," Terrell asked calmly.
" Our spies say it's the Companions of the Hall," the scout reported, " as well as three dark elves."
" The Companions of the Hall?"
" None other. Even the fabled Drizzt Do'Urden."
" Drizzt Do'Urden has been dead for nearly thirty years," Terrell objected, " Artemis Entreri killed him."
" One of our men swears it's him," the scout defended.
" Either way this is bad luck on our part," Terrell sighed wearily, " how is Jarlaxle? I was told he was sick."
" Very sick. He's bleeding from the inside."
" And Entreri?"
" Won't leave Jarlaxle's side."
Meanwhile...
Before she even stepped through the door, Lazuli could tell something was wrong. The front door hung open ever so slightly. Artemis would never have allowed such a slip in their defenses.
" Something's not right here," Lazuli said softly. Drizzt turned to the young assassin.
" The door's open," he asked, " is that it?"
" Father always makes sure the doors are closed," Lazuli explained, " Jarlaxle likes leaving the inside doors open to annoy him, but never the front door."
" I'll go first," Nessa offered. When she received no objection, the drow sorceress willed the door open and ventured inside. " Safe," she reported after a minute of observing.
Lazuli was the first one to enter behind Nessa. The girl began moving quickly throughout the house. " Father? Jarlaxle?" Lazuli called their names repeatedly, but no answer came.
Drizzt stayed at the entrance to the little house, as if on sentry duty. Binx followed Lazuli until the little assassin broke down in the doorway of Jarlaxle's room. Lazuli leaned against the wall heavily, tears dripping from her gray eyes, as she beheld the place in shambles.
Bruenor, Wulfgar, and Regis began scouting around the perimeter of the house, searching for clues as to the disappearance of Entreri and Jarlaxle. Sordath silently set himself as a rooftop sentry, and Nessa glided noiselessly throughout the abandoned house.
Catti-brie waited until they were alone before approaching Drizzt. The drow ranger did not turn to face her as he spoke.
" The man we're looking for thinks I'm dead," Drizzt began, " do you think it foolish for me to seek him out?"
" I don't know why you wish to aid his daughter," Catti-brie stated.
" Jarlaxle saved my life," Drizzt explained, " in the tower, when Entreri struck me down, Jarlaxle ordered his cleric to save me. Then he allowed Entreri to believe that I was dead, freeing him from his own doubts. When you were his prisoner in Menzoberranzan, Jarlaxle did not abuse you."
" What's your point, Drizzt," Catti-brie asked almost cynically, " he's still a ruthless killer."
" He may not be a saint," Drizzt admitted, " but if I abandon him, then I can't call myself a true ranger of Meilikki. I owe Jarlaxle my life and if I do nothing to at least try to save his..." Drizzt's lavender eyes closed momentarily before resuming their unseeing stare.
" How's Sordath," asked Catti-brie, trying to change the subject.
" He hasn't spoken since Monty died," Drizzt replied, " he's hurting inside from missing his brother. Regretting things he thinks he should have done."
" How can you tell?"
" Because I felt the same way after Zaknafein died."
The auburn-haired woman put her arms around Drizzt and held him close. His scent filled her nose as she buried her face in his shoulder. He smelled like the outdoors. The drow ranger put his arm around her as well in response. His purple eyes continued to keep watch.
Catti-brie stared at Drizzt. How could he be so calm and wise when he was still so young by drow years? How could he bear to see his oldest son die in his arms and somehow find the resolve to rise up and offer his aid to an old enemy? What awesome power was Drizzt Do'Urden's spirit that he could go on after so much tragedy?
Meanwhile...
It was nightfall when the small flock of pegasi landed in Calimport. Tanarial had no trouble dismounting the winged horse, but Zerial fell on his rump.
" You're certainly the lord of grace today," Tanarial joked, helping his brother to his feet.
" So this is Calimport," Zerial marveled, " it's even bigger than Memnon."
" This is the farthest south we've ever been," Tanarial added.
" If only we had something to drink we could toast to that," put in Zerial.
Tanarial leaned against the closest pegasus and sighed, " now we just have to find this drow family." The elder of the brothers surveyed their surroundings. The pegasi had landed on a second-story rooftop that doubled as a balcony. A third-story rose up beside them on the right, a closed door on the far end of the balcony undoubtedly lead inside.
" A family of drow shouldn't be too hard to find," Zerial said cheerfully.
Tanarial became suspicious of the third-story rooftop, for some strange reason the hairs on his nape were prickling.
" Something wrong," Zerial asked, alert creeping through his body.
" Remember the feeling you got right before we met Spinalo," Zerial nodded simply at the question, " I'm having a similar feeling."
Both brothers turned toward the third rooftop in unison... and were met by a pair of soulful, yellow eyes.
To be continued...
When Nessa mentions Miran Royalty, she is referring to a very little known place called the Forest of Mir. Exactly where this forest is, I don't know. I do know that the place is a small community of dark elves located somewhere between Ahm and Calimshan. See The Halfling's Gem. Also, Shackles Ward, Asavir's Channel and the other places mentioned by Lazuli and Seivriel are real places in the series. I spent many laborious hours pouring over my RAS books and comparing various maps to get and accurate idea of the FR world.
Ending comments : I feel so bad for taking so long to update. I'm sorry! (begs forgiveness) Recently my home computer started acting very odd and now it crashes on a regular basis. Stupid piece of junk. On top of that mess I have school. My parents will skin me alive if I get another D in math. I can't help it! Math is asinine! Not to mention my other works. The Halloweenies is almost finished, one more chapter and it will be complete, then I can start on the sequel : The Halloweenies Raid Again. Not so worried about the Mini-Halloweenies. Being a mini-series with no real end I can pick it up and put it down anytime. No Schedules! Cold Fire Phantoms (Legacy of Kain) almost crashed with the computer but now I can get back on it. That story won't be as long as this one but it takes just as long to write a CFP chap as it does to write an MMD one. Sigh. I encourage people to read CFP, the story is quite a bit darker than this one and there's a lot more questions regarding Fate and Time, especially for those who have played the Legacy of Kain games (PS and PS2). I'll say no more here. I've wasted enough time. Until next time, Feel Free to Flame!
Truly yours, Semdai Bloodquill.