„On the Crossroads"
„Stop right there, Valygar!" she shot from the bushes where she was hiding like a pink wildfire, startling him, his hand instantly grasping the hilt of his katana.
"What?" The irritated ranger sheathed his weapon, seeing who stood before him. How could he, who spent half of his life in the woods, not realize that leaves were rarely so eye-piercingly pink? How much he could underestimate Imoen's skill in hiding?
"I know what you're up to! Explain yourself!" The pink-head pointed her finger at him accusingly.
"I'm not up to anything. I'm going to hunt something for breakfast" he grumbled, not looking at her. And now she would listen to him and let him leave without making a scene…
"You won't fool me that easily!" Of course nothing like that happened. Imoen pouted and shook her head making her look like an offended pink squirrel. She pointed his hand. "What is it that on your shoulder? A bow!"
"Yes, a hunting bow." Valygar grit his teeth with impatience. He had no time for such games. Others could wake up any minute now.
"Don't try to be so smart. You're trying to leave, aren't you?" Imoen knew. Somehow she guessed. Or maybe it wasn't all that hard to grasp that everybody was trying to leave her sister's company as soon as possible.
"Yes, yes, I am" he dared her.
"Well, I don't like it!" Imoen flushed with anger.
"This mayhem doesn't concern me anymore. It was only an alliance of convenience, from the very beginning. Our goals matched and now they don't. I have already helped enough."
"And that's why you're sneaking away in the middle of the night?" Imoen made step forward and Valygar only barely stopped himself from making a step back.
"I am leaving" he stated, giving his best to sound stern. While all it took to be left alone by others was few seconds of silent glaring, Imoen never took a hint.
"Yeah, right you are. After all you just joined the team to defeat Lavoc and then suddenly… you were in Spellhold! It must have been the magic you hate so much, that forced you to come there, because certainly it couldn't be loyalty or friendship. After all it was just an alliance of convenience! And by the way, how is it with your hate towards magic? I find it very selective, because I don't see you're very eager to stop Irenicus!" Imoen was coming closer with every loud sentence and now she was only few inches from him.
"Why would you care?" Valygar made a move as if he was about to turn away and Imoen's arm shot forward, catching his forearm, keeping him in place. He glared at her again. "I'm leaving because there's nothing left for me to do. This company is about to fall apart, Viconia was only the first one to leave. With your sister devoured by the taint…"
"Daria is not devoured!" Imoen screamed. "She's just…"
"Insane? You saw what she did on the glade. She could have killed us all if she didn't control that spell, she probably wanted to. She's drunk with her power…"
"No! Empty, I was going to say empty! Just like me…"
Valygar threw her a doubting look. The two sisters were nothing alike in a first place, or so he was told, and now their behavior was in even sharper contrast. "You are doing a lot better than her."
"No, I'm not…" the rogue lowered her head. Her bright eyes disappeared behind pink mane. He hoped she wasn't going to cry, This was enough of a scene already. "I was exactly like her. Emotionless for the first days, barely able to think. Then the taint resurfaced… I think it's the only thing that keeps us alive without our souls – Bhaal's blood. We would both die in few days, if we remained in this indifferent state. I was lucky… I only felt some anger and confusion. Sis got the Slayer…"
"But isn't it because you control your taint better?"
Imoen shuddered at the thought.
"No, I don't think I could ever control something like that. Isn't it obvious? Daria's portion of taint is bigger, or it's more focused in her. I don't know how it works… And I was lucky twice. My sister and friends came to save me, even as crazy as I was sis didn't abandon me. When she changed… you all just turned away from her…" A tear gleamed on her cheek. Valygar glanced around, looking for any help, but there were none. The girl was beginning to sob louder and louder and he didn't know what to do. He tried to pat her shoulder when she didn't stop crying, but it didn't help either.
"Don't cry" he risked saying. If he'd only notice her sooner, he could have sneaked past and be already far away from here. If he'd only look around right then…
"But it's all unfair!" Imoen burst with sobbing fury. "Daria needs help, she needs support, only she's too stubborn to ask! It's not her fault that she was done that, it's not her fault her soul was taken and…" Valygar tried to stroke her hair to keep her from crying, the last method his mother used when he was crying as a child. Before she forgot about him completely, too absorbed by her studies… Imoen's hair was nice, smooth, even pretty for someone completely color-blind.
"You won't leave, will you?" The mage-girl hugged him to his surprise, but he couldn't step back without walking into the bushes now. He decided to wait until she stops crying.
"Why are all mages so selfish?" he asked rhetorically. But no, he wasn't planning leaving anytime soon anymore. It would be terrible if she tried to chase him and he didn't want to find out where he lived. It would be a disaster. A better plan was to wait for some sort of distraction.
"And why are all rangers such pig-heads?" Imoen retorted, sniffing loudly.
"Immy?" Daria's voice interrupted their talk. "Are you there?" The elven woman found them in the forest, just in time to see the pair in what seemed an easy-to-deduce situation.
"I, er… I'll come back later." The elf immediately closed her eyes and turned on her heel to disappear back in the forest, without giving her sister a second she needed to make up a convincing story.
"So, honey, are you going to release me, or are you ready to take it further?" Imoen asked with sarcasm and Valygar jumped away from her immediately, realizing he should have much sooner. Imoen, sobbing just few moments ago was now grinning widely at him holding something bright in her hand. A tracking spell. He should have known. He was tracked by mages before.
"Well, now you can't leave, even if you want to!" the pink-head grinned, even despite her face still wet, sweeping the tears away with her sleeve.
"And why is that?" he asked rhetorically with a sigh. This evening just kept getting better.
"Because no matter how far you go and where you hide, my sister will find you, and murder you in possibly long and gruesome way for 'ditching me'. And believe me, Irenicus had shown us many tricks to do just that."
The broody ranger rubbed his brow, and picked up the bow he dropped.
"I'll stay" he muttered, strangely not that irritated.
"I… didn't tell you everything, last time, when I told you about the documents." Ricar began, when he came back to their camp after reporting their lack of findings to Elhan.
"Yes, I figured as much" Xan kindly pointed out.
"T-there's more to the story… I… I used to go on patrol with my men, guarding the tunnels not far from the city of Ust Natha." He bit his lip considering how much harm he could do retelling this story. He let his guard down a bit, speaking slowly at first, but then forgetting the cautious attitude. "We killed many, and several of our number fell to the dark ones – the hatred was mutual. Not long ago, however, we encountered an unusual group. They looked humble, frightened, and they prayed to Eilistraee – a trait unheard of any 'real drow'. I questioned them extensively, but I was unable to detect any evil in them. Their leader, Hunrae…"
"Did I hear the name correctly?" Xan raised his head sharply.
"Yes, of course. Hunrae. Have you met her in the Underdark?" Ricar seemed startled by the sudden interrupt.
"I have, but I would… rather not speak of it. Suffice to say that yes… she was most definitely evil."
"I'm sorry Xan, but I simply cannot believe you. Although considering the recent events… but no. No. Hunrae explained they were Eilistraee's followers, hunted and prosecuted by the other drow. She begged me to let her and her brethren leave, she begged me on her knees… She was so beautiful."
The enchanter sighed deeply.
"Ricar, Ricar… Did you believe her?"
"I did" the elf admitted with shame. "I let them go, and even shared what provisions we had with her group. She promised to meet me again in a day, not far from the camp, but she never did… I thought her dead or wounded, and searched for her, but to no avail. Elhan did not believe me either. Now I see why. He though me a green youth, unable to tell a friend from a foe – and he was right. Ironic isn't it? Considering I am well past two hundred and fifty summers already."
Xan sighed again.
"I make worse mistakes, and I am older." Daria flinched only barely when he said that. "Age does not mean as much as the younger ones think, Ricar. But what are we to do now? Where can these drow be?"
"I don't know… They probably delivered the documents already, but Elhan would want justice to be executed anyway…" Ricar looked down, trying to keep his composure in the face of a fact that Hunrae could have betrayed the given trust.
"I… can try a divination" words slipped from Daria's mouth unexpectedly. "I used to be a diviner."
"You could?" the green-robed mage looked at her with hope bordering on the desperation.
"I can only try" she tried not to sound over-confident. It was certain she was to fail, she didn't even know why she offered it. "Just give me some time to prepare."
There was no Love… She couldn't divine without Love.
She looked everywhere, rummaging around each end every of her bags and pouches meticulously, but the rune was nowhere to be found. From the set Xan gave her, one was missing, and considering Ricar's feelings toward the drow woman it was unlikely that Daria could successfully find out anything without this particular stone. How could she misplace it? Since the time when she lost her divining skills, after Irenicus took her spirit, she didn't even draw the set of runs from her pack. If one was lost, than it most likely happened back in Spellhold…
"Is everything alright?" Solaufein looked around the battlefield she created while searching through all her possessions.
"I lost one of my runes, the Love… I don't think I can divine without it" she explained. Solaufein looked through the mess. He knew better than to suggest to look through them again. Instead he asked.
"So then, should I make a new one?"
"You can't just make a rune!" she looked at him as if he was crazy. "These are special enchanted stones, containing the piece of element they symbolize. It's not possible just to write a letter on a random stone."
"Well then, how do you enchant one?"
"You need a proper spell and symbol of emotion, feelings…" That actually could be a good idea. There was only one but. "I can't create anything right now, I don't have any emotions anymore."
"Your hand was shaking when you said that." The drow took her palm in his and she notices that indeed it was trembling slightly. Was she cold? She wasn't… "Don't say you have no feelings. If you're trying to conceal or control your emotions there are better ways than denying them."
"But I don't have emotions. Not without my spirit…"
"The why did you spare me, then, in Ust Natha?"
"I thought it was a good idea at the time." That was an easy question. She remembered well what she was thinking then. "You could become a useful ally, and…"
"You lie" he stopped her explanation and touched her face. She looked at him slightly startled. Since when did she start avoiding his eyes? She couldn't catch a specific moment. "It was kindness that made you save me, and kindness only. I could be only a burden in Ust Natha, a danger to your mission, and you risked your life trusting me. Don't try to tell me that it was dictated by logic."
"I… I don't think you're right. But… I will try to make a new rune. Will you help me?"
"Of course. What do you need?"
"I think I have the components for basing enchantments… It won't hold forever, but should be long enough for a divination" she picked some seemingly random pieces from the pile she made throwing poaches on her belt upside down. Then she dug out her spellbook and searched through its pages. "I have a spell that may be good, but it's a difficult one and it comes in two parts. Will you?" Daria scribed runes on a piece of paper she tore from her spellbook.
The drow's red eyes scanned through the words, but returned to her face shortly.
"Whenever you're ready" he smiled.
"…the one loved, along the flow of clear water, a hill with a place of final rest, a dead place on its peak, in a circle. One pace of steps towards the sun set from there, they have a point where paths meet" she read the runes. There was no light when she threw them up, no magic when she recited the invocation, but according to the map what she read made sense. Ricar was leaning over the pattern set by the stones, one of them different from the others, a dark pebble she picked from the ground.
"Are you sure?" the elf asked. She was torn between saying 'no' and 'yes', when honesty fought with professionalism.
"The river is not far from the path that would lead us back to Athkatla, we can verify it without further delay" Xan spoke out before she decided what to say.
"But if Hunrae is indeed innocent…" Ricar still hoped.
"Then no harm will come to her from our side" Xan promised, knowing just how futile his friend's hopes were.
"That look on your face… You miss Phaere, don't you?" Daria kept watching Solaufein during their march through the forest. She couldn't walk alongside anyone else… There was Imoen previously, but now she probably preferred to walk with Valygar. Hopefully she wasn't angry that the sun elf disturbed them at the glade. For how long that was going? Daria hoped Imoen knew what she was doing. The thief wouldn't get any useful advice from her older sister… If only she had chosen someone else… Valygar had an important part in a plan forming in her head and if Imoen got attached to the ranger too much it could possibly end very badly.
"I do" the drow admitted slowly.
"I thought I felt it when we cast the spell together. You love her still…"
"I apologize. It's not easy to forget." Daria noticed he increased the pace, but rather involuntarily. He wasn't looking at her.
"If you love her than you shouldn't forget her, you shouldn't even try" She didn't let him walk away. "I wouldn't want to be forgotten like that by someone who loved me."
"I understand, but I owe you so much, you risked your life and the lives of your friends by trusting me, you even relied on me enough to sleep in my presence" he stopped at last to look straight at her. She returned his gaze, looking deeply into his red eyes, trying to read their mysteries. "Those are not things that are natural for the drow. I want to repay you for this confidence you have in me, but thoughts of Phaere won't leave me. A drow should never betray his sentiments like that." Solaufein resumed their journey, once again focusing on the road ahead.
"Tell me about her, the way you knew her" she followed him.
Solaufein threw her a weird look, and then sighed heavily.
"I am still a dark elf to my very core, after all. Right now I just thought that you're trying to extort house Despana secrets from me, though it makes completely no sense." Daria didn't feel even a bit offended, she moved closer to Solaufein and with brief hesitation took his hand in hers. He looked at her surprised for a moment, but then smiled. "Phaere… Phaere I knew was never giving up, never gave up on us. We both knew that what we felt to each other was more than was allowed among the drow, it was more than any relationship to be expected from the first daughter of a matron and her lover. But we trusted each other, like we wouldn't anyone else. Outside I could go along with the dark charade life in Ust Natha was forever, as long as I could find a moment of respite with her. When we were together… all was not that bad when we were together.
When she… changed, I couldn't find this moment of solace anywhere else. She was advancing in the hierarchy of Lloth, became a High Priestess, and I was watching her, trying to find something from my love that remained in her. And then one day I realized that there was nothing.
I might have given up then. I blended with the crowd, became just as ruthless as any warrior in the Society, and also gained approval of the clergy. Even Eilistraee didn't make me see hope anymore, I was even beginning to think that her teachings might have been just naïve idealisms… And when I was about to resign completely, you came, like a messenger from my goddess." Solaufein looked into her eyes deeply and smiled with gratitude, but his expression turned back to sorrow in moment.
"But you are right when you say I miss Phaere. I wish I could show her the surface… I wonder if it would change her heart."
"I'm sorry I didn't save her."
"She brought it down on herself, and it's not your fault. Thank you for hearing me out. Your heart is also broken…" he paused on an unused phrase. Only in the Common he knew not as well as the drow language, there was a word for what they were both feeling.
"I understand…" Daria's hand found his, and they continued on the forest path, walking arm in arm.