„Ust Natha"

Daria the Slayer inhaled the scent of the city, weaving before her like a giant masterpiece of the drow culture, and savored the smell of hate and death hidden within its threads. Lloth had to be more than just a powerful goddess to keep together a race with such a deep inborn hate towards all others, and perhaps even more towards themselves, built into the very stone of their black hearts. And she fitted in perfectly, despite Viconia's warnings, able to equal them in the art of manipulation and even best some of the drow on the long run.

Solaufein was waiting for them by the entrance of the tavern. He was the one they were meant to meet inside the city, under his command they made their first steps in service of House Despana, the second most powerful house of Ust Natha. She remembered their first meeting…

A drow male, fully equipped for battle, in the darkest armor made from adamantine, a metal able to withstand everything but the touch of Sun, stood before the entrance to a strange construction carved with care inside a stalagmite. His brow furrowed with irritation at the sight of the group, he was clearly waiting for them, already forewarned of their arrival. His long white hair was more beautiful than Adalon's scales, contrasting with the back of his armor, the black of his skin, and probably the most with the black of his heart. Daria liked him instantly.

"You can call me whatever you want, it has no meaning to me" she introduced herself when he asked her name. She felt Jaheira tense, the druidess standing just before her back, in the range of the Slayer's inner eye. They all were tense, too tense to walk through the line drawn by the drow to distinguish potential servants from potential allies. There were risks involved, of course, but should things go wrong, the Slayer would be able to escape the city easily. Of course none of her companions would manage such a feat, mortal as they were, but why would she care? She simply wasn't able to.

A sarcastic smirk appeared on the drow warrior's face when he complimented her choice of words. They were to work together now. Of course none of them was that stupid to assume it equaled any measure of trust. But the entertainment could be worth it.

Solaufein was now waiting by the entrance, not because she was late, for she wasn't, not because he had something to tell her in private, for he hadn't, but because inside was waiting Phaere, Veldrin's current employer. And he had no intention of staying in her company.

The two were more than keen on avoiding each other's, though the drow female could conceal it better, as became a priestess of Lloth. Of course their superiors had to be aware of the animosity between them and were quite eager to assign them to work together. The first mission must have been the pinnacle of it, the first mission Daria's party was assigned to under Solaufein's command, when they rescued Phaere from the clutches of mind flayers.

"Oh? And who might be your companion?" the woman they just rescued asked Solaufein, noticing Daria in the shadow of the cave leading to the mind flayer's lair. She was a noble born drow female, used to keep her eyes away from the filth crawling beneath her feet, with voice used to giving orders, but also capable of soft whisper, beguiling those of status higher than hers to listen. Her face was of shape of heart, thin with eyes like rubies gleaming in the darkness of her skin, burning with unstoppable ambition. It was the person who would get her far, Daria reflected calmly.

"I am Veldrin of Ched Nasad." She bowed deeply, like was she was obliged before a daughter of House Despana.

"You are not from here? How interesting!" With pleasure Daria heard curiosity in Phaere's voice. The situation got even better when the daughter of the second house turned back to Solaufein, answering another one of his cutting remarks.

"Know your place male!" she couldn't even stand the notion of accepting his help in getting back to the city. Interesting.

"If something happens to you…" the warrior on the other hand was all too eager to go with her, even if he knew that persuasion wouldn't make the headstrong priestess change her mind.

Daria didn't listen to the conversation, preferring to look at the pair instead. Phaere was angry, but there was more to her anger than just the reactions at the obvious signs of disrespect Solaufein was showing and he on the other hand… He cared for Phaere's safety, even if only because his life wouldn't be worth much if she died under his protection. He cared and it meant more than much in drow society. It meant more than much for Daria, for Veldrin, who needed to raise her status quickly.

In the first day in the city she already met the two she decided to use to achieve her goals. There was something under the façade they both showed and finding out what it was could effectively make them her puppets on her way to the House Despana, the ones in possession of the eggs of the silver dragon. Now more than a week passed and the plan was beginning to clear in her head. The pair was not good enough alone. She needed a third piece – the matron mother of the House.

She lowered her head slightly, greeting Solaufein. It's been two days since she began to treat him as an equal, now being under Phaere's command. He was suspicious of her at first when she was still answering to him, he used to ask many questions, but now she rarely spared him more than a glance, which helped to ease his suspicions, though not erase them. He was a drow after all.

"This magic you're using, I've never heard such a chant, and the gestures are quite unusual, far beyond the standards taught in the academy. Where did you learn it?" It was the question he asked immediately, the moment she stopped the chant meaning to protect them all from the effect of rays of a beholder they were sent to hunt inside the city limits.

"Ched Nasad is the city of trade, male, and there are more types of magic than you can imagine" she disregarded his suspicions, fabricating a truth-like lie. And then she used it to her advantage, preparing a ground to learn more about the warrior. "I can help to broaden your imagination though… in exchange for some of the native spells from Ust Natha."

"I will consider it" he answered simply, maybe calmed, but not necessarily. He was a mage as well as a warrior and if he had at least a shred of ambition he would come to her, sooner or later, trying to gain something from her proposal. And she had many surfacers' secrets to sell. There was much to gain.

Yes, for her Ust Natha was like a king's treasure chamber, full of blind guardians. Here she could thrive without restrictions, and no stupid prejudice like Xan's could stop her from learning dark elves' magic, no mercy could hold her hand from trying out what she learned on the arena located below the tavern, using both beasts and sentient beings as her targets. She already built up a small legend on her own, defeating every mage foolish enough to challenge her on a duel, and then crushing her enemy to smoldering bits. Drow were famous of their magic, dark and powerful, but to her it seemed that they couldn't even grasp the potential it had, wasting their long lives on learning the simplest of cantrips. Only in her palms the magic danced obediently as it should, held by emotionless mind of immortal. Soon no monster or mage was up to challenge it and the tales of her abilities reached the ears of every matron mother of Ust Natha. Just as she planned. Little gore it involved was just a bonus.

If only her companions were as adequate as her… Up until now they made no serious mistakes, but even Viconia seemed to be at least slightly scared of the city and its gloom glory. Minsc was faring good enough, never saying a thing without being asked and generally avoiding eye contact, just like Viconia instructed him to. Valygar glared at the floor constantly, probably thinking only about leaving this place as soon as possible, Imoen withheld her curiosity since the moment she saw a mother killing her son only because he was causing her trouble, Jaheira wasn't herself even one bit, and Xan…

"My party should come just about this time" she continued, walking alongside Solaufein on the main platform, serving as a merchant square, hooked on the surrounding stalactites and stalagmites. "There was no need for us to deal with such an unsavory task, but I hope you'll keep it from reaching Phaere's ears." She laughed softly, a cruel, heartless laughter she easily adapted to her role.

"Phaere likes to make me dance as she wishes, but that doesn't mean I will" the drow uttered with disdain. "To think she sent me to kill filthy gnomes, like some sort of a recruit!" He held his emotions in check with skill coming from years of practice and she couldn't tell if his anger was genuine, but she knew that eventually she'd learn. After a day she spent with the drow in the libraries of his city she already knew enough to write a book herself, the one describing drow warrior's deep conviction to avoid Phaere and his reasons to do so.

"Veldrin…" she felt someone's hand on her bare shoulder and turned to see Xan standing before the rest of the party. The fool just addressed her so directly and put a hand on her bare skin.

She slapped him hard across the face, summoning up some fake anger to change her voice. No stray emotion made her hand tremble one bit. She felt nothing clearer than ever.

"Never touch me again without permission" Daria barked. "…male scum!" Veldrin added.

He bowed before her deeply, as humbly as he could, finally showing the respect he should.

"Speak" she graced him.

"The task has been completed…" he began. A thin line of blood was coming from his cut lip.

Xan hated every moment of it, every second in this wretched illusion trapping him inside a shell of something he despised with all his heart. The black skin, the white hair, the red eyes – he couldn't look in the mirror, nor at his hands without being constantly reminded where and what he was. The strain was leaving his mark and he couldn't sleep well, or reverie, too tensed to let his mind drift off.

The cruelty of it all… He saw more of it than he could remember, more than he could take. People treated as slaves, those killed only as an entertainment for the bored drow resting in the tavern and those dealt unimaginable torments for this sole purpose… The only thing that kept him from doing something - anything! – was the thought that he would have to become the next source of entertainment in the following spectacle then and the only result it would have, would be that he'd doom them all without achieving anything.

All the lies… he was too terrified to speak in the presence of someone outside their team and Viconia requested from him to keep up this attitude. The drow for once stopped the current of sarcasm coming from her mouth and focused on keeping them from destroying their cover completely. Only in the room they rented in the inn they could find some little solace and rest, a private space protected with his and Daria's magic from any attempts of scrying.

They reached the relatively secure haven now, after another argument of their superiors this time ending much more harshly than the previous few they had to take part in. Daria was asked to come to Phaere's private quarters the next day and this did not bode well for them. Perhaps the time to take their choice about the future alliance has finally come. Each could lead them to a shallow grave, but it was more likely that they were to die no matter what they choose.

He threw his pack on the floor and fell heavily on one of the skillfully made armchairs in the main room they rented. From it three staircases led, each to a dark bedroom. He occupied the first, along with Minsc and Valygar. Imoen and Jaheira took the second and the last was occupied by Daria and Viconia. The doors to the last of the three doors were always closed and no one but its two occupants was let inside it. Xan preferred not to know why. He hated this place enough already.

"Daria, we need to talk" Jaheira began, trying to invite the sun elf to sit with her and Imoen by the table in a secluded corner of the room. The pair was preparing long for this conversation, but Xan knew that it was all in vain. What was happening could not be changed by words.

"Do we?" the diviner answered with a question, but sat on the chair nonetheless, in a comfortable pose, looking like every inch a drow, the impression deeper than illusion Adalon created.

"You are changing sis, and I don't mean the Slayer" Imoen began, her eyes stuck on the woman inside the dark skin, watching for her reaction with uncertainty. "I... We fear you might do something you will regret once you regain your soul."

"Like what?" Again a dry question. "Killing the drow in the arena? Becoming stronger? Keeping them alive? Or maybe helping them strengthen their status in the Underdark?"

"You have been dealing with the drow for some time already sis, you know..." Imoen unconsciously started to avoid the subject, just as if she was making explanations why the cookie jar was empty.

"Stop toying with us, child!" Jaheira interrupted the charade. She was born to play the angry side. "You..."

"You have guts to call a ten feet high clawed beast a child, Jaheira" Daria consisted, slightly amused.

"Don't make yourself a monster!" the druidess went on with the initial fury.

"Oh, but I am by all definitions a monster" the sun elf answered, smiling, just as if she was about to tell the finest joke. "I look like a horror coming live, take genuine pleasure from other's suffering and destroy all that stands on my way. If that doesn't make me a monster, than what will?"

"It's Bhaal telling you to do things!" Imoen was looked as if she was about to cry. "Don't listen to him!"

"Bhaal is dead!" Daria rose from her chair abruptly, keeping her fists at its surface. All eyes on the room turned to her. Now she was truly furious. "I am not possessed, there's a huge difference! Why? Because I'm finally myself now, without guilt for what I am, dragging me down like an anchor, without the fear of what I can become and without the guilt for what I didn't do!" This time the emotion didn't seem to be a pretense, not a façade she would use to impersonate a drow, and she let it speak through her, like if there was something inside her she needed to release. "I was a fool! I never felt the taint of Bhaal in my veins before my spirit was taken. All this stupid thoughts, guilt for enjoying the death of my enemies, petty acts of selfishness - it was not because half of me was divine, it was because half of me was mortal! And I thought it was the taint whispering to me!" she barked out an unpleasant laughter. "How crude! The taint doesn't whisper. It's just power ready to be used. I lived months in fear only because of sheer stupidity!

That was what Irenicus wanted to tell me..." Daria paused, thinking. "I suppose I should thank him. Of course, he will have to die. But after I tear him to bloody pieces I might as well thank him."

"Daria..." Jaheira looked at her with torment in her eyes sobering the demigoddess a little.

"I know what you want to tell me, I can see it written all over your face" Daria began again, this time without the mock and the anger. "You want me to hold on to control, not to give in to the taint. Know that control requires will and that is born in one's soul, therefore I will not control a thing unless my spirit is recovered. And know one more thing. I am the Slayer. I am a monster just as much as I am an elf, a diviner, a mage. There's no pull to murder, but there's a choice. And I choose to murder instead of being murdered."

"I…"

"Good night, Jaheira" Daria didn't let her finish, but she didn't cut sharp with her words, like she often did, it sounded more like an apology. If she had her spirit Xan would say the way she said those words was… caring.

The Slayer was boiling inside her, that was how she felt. After the last conversation with Jaheira she felt uneasy and couldn't focus. Her vision was becoming blurry, but she held that feeling in check. Some of her inner struggle must have been evident on her face however, because Phaere noticed it the moment she entered the room.

"Veldrin… It's good you're on time, as always" Phaere greeted her and Daria cursed internally, trying to fit in her role as a drow as fast as possible. She let her thoughts linger on Jaheira too long!

"I have another task for you, more of a private one this time, but on the other hand this could wait. I see you are tense, Veldrin. You didn't have much time to relax since you came to our city, did you? A pity…" Phaere turned to one of the slaves serving as her cabin boy. "Bring my best one!" she threw an order, her voice changing from pleasant whisper to arrogant snarl in one instant. Veldrin's mask was in place already, but Daria couldn't neglect the fact that it wasn't there when she entered.

"You brought many services to my house and to me…" the drow priestess continued when the servant scuttled to fulfill her wish. "It's not right for you to go unrewarded." The attempt to endear herself to the powerful mage from Ched Nasad was obviously evident, but that was also the part of the game. Phaere noticed the handsome drow male coming inside, lead by the serving boy. He bowed his head to Phaere, then to Veldrin and the females from her party, standing behind her.

"This is one of my most talented pleasure slaves" the drow introduced her property, not even caring to give any name to the slave. The silence behind Daria's back became significantly louder. "He's yours for four hours, along with a room of course. When you finish we'll talk about your task."

"Don't even dare to think about refusing. It's a fatal insult" Viconia whispered behind her back, quiet as a breath. Daria could feel her companion's hands clenching on their weapons, their eyes widening. The time slowed down to a lazy flow as Phaere waited for an answer.

"I'm honored" Veldrin said, lowering her head, as a drow should before her better. The handsome slave offered her his arm and led her to a room. She closed the door tightly behind her.