Chapter Seventeen
Knave blinked a little to get reaccustomed to daylight; fading as it was with the evening approaching, its brightness still surpassed that of whatever artificial amount the magical gemstone could offer. The small object didn't even strike the eye as visible out there, and it just turned itself off, much like a glow-worm would, and sneaked back in his pocket. The mage's first capable glance was given to Nirra, whom he still held cradled in his arms, carrying her hardly a problem for the human, given her light elven build, even despite the fact that his own make wasn't as muscular and fit as another's might have been. The gold elf remained as unconscious as she could get, much to the human's dislike.
His exactly calculated Dimension Door had teleported the both of them at the precise edge of the clearing, just between the trees of the last row before the forest fell back to a small patch of grass-covered ground. Truly, the portion of sky above would have been a pleasant sight to the eye of a weary traveler, after so many steps taken in the shadows of thick foliage.
As the mage stepped in, most of the tall, healthy grass withdrew, but a few blades were still flattened to the fertile soil below, not that he paid any heed to such unavoidable and expendable 'victims'. His eyes were focused and alertly scanning for any signs of Torri and Solaufein.
There were none. Instead, all he got was the gloomy figure of a man, elven by all appearance, who had slumped seated in mid-clearing, just by the river, and was looking at the ground below, as still as the wind drifting through the long strands of dark chocolaty hair allowed him to be. That way, his face was almost completely obscured to Knave's view, and all he could really distinguish was the purple color of heavy robe-folds draping the rest of his form. If one thing could be clearly pointed out about this unexpected presence, then it was that he looked as if the end of the world had materialized only two steps away to talk to him and he was just listening resignedly.
Deciding that nothing looked dangerous, the human approached curiously, his every light step measured to the finest of extents; the elf didn't seem to notice him at all and just continued to hold still in his exact spot, his hands brought together in his lap. Knave had to make an effort not to allow the bemused grin he felt building up to surface just yet. Clearing his throat to draw attention, the mage took to stopping near a rock, quite close to the morose figure, so he could gently place Nirra down in the grass, back nestled into the solid stone surface. Once he had returned to his full height, the human looked once more at the other man, who had vaguely risen his head to regard him uninterestedly, without one single trace of surprise.
"Greetings?" Knave began testily, something of his hidden amusement still managing to slip into the tone of his voice.
The elf sighed heavily and returned his intently emotion-drained gaze to the ground. "Eh. It wouldn't surprise me if whatever hurt your friend came stalking right after you in a minute and killed us all," he remarked, and just shrugged, as if he had been expecting the mentioned potential occurrence for his entire life. His voice was devoid of anything positive and hopeful, reduced to a combination of all negative and pessimistic expectations Knave could think of. Strangely, the perceptive human found that intriguing.
" ... " Knave looked a bit taken aback at first, trying to word out something he hadn't quite defined in his own mind. Recomposing quickly, he flashed a semi-confident smile. " I assure you that 'whatever hurt my friend' is in no shape to do so, at the moment," he replied, on a matching tone.
A long moment of silence was expended by both of them. Finally, the purple-robed figure's eyes went to the unconscious Nirra. "Is her condition critical?" he asked, in a way that made him look almost certain the answer would be that there was no hope for the gold elf to ever recover again.
Knave quirked an eyebrow, the so-far contained grin surfacing now of its own accord. "No," he replied, shaking his head slightly. "A healing potion and some rest should restore her completely, but I haven't had the time to tend to her yet."
"Ah," the elf seemed quite surprised, but nothing else – no relief, no disappointment, nothing but a neutral state of 'whatever'. "I guess she'll live a bit more than I originally thought, then."
"A bit?" Knave could barely stifle a chuckle.
"Yes," the other one nodded vaguely. "I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for her to die tomorrow, or the other day, or the one after that."
"That is... an interesting perspective," the human noted, not without sarcasm. "You will excuse me if I stick to my own, though. I would wager she'll live for quite some more good decades, in the least."
"We're all doomed," the elf announced solemnly, and something told Knave he was quite fond of that... prediction. "Any attempt to avoid that is pointless."
"I see," the human shifted, every desire of finding out who this elf was having fled him in the favor of other concerns he had suddenly remembered by looking back to Nirra. The mage knelt on the ground at her side, pulling out a crude diminutive bottle made of bluish glass, all too familiar to adventurers and known as a common healing potion. "Tell me," he continued, absently, "what exactly is it you're doing here, all alone in mid-forest?" Even as he spoke, he pulled out the bottle's cork and held the gold elf's head up carefully with one hand, while the other brought the glass to her lips, parting them with ease. Soon, he had successfully poured the beneficial liquid into her mouth and urged it down her throat expertly.
"I am probably lost," the elf answered, meanwhile. "My companion was the one who knew the way, but since he has not returned from his 'scouting', I could assume that..."
"I get the point," Knave interrupted, standing back up and attempting to imitate part of the other's graveness. "He has abandoned you, he was killed, captured, tortured. Yeah. Sure."
"I... hadn't considered the abandoning possibility," the purple-robed elf mused, adopting the new perspective immediately, though the human had most obviously been mocking him. "Thank you for pointing that out."
"At any rate," Knave nodded politely, repressing his first impulse – that of sobering up in order to start lecturing the elf about the absolute uselessness of his acute pessimism. "Have you seen a rather odd pair around here? Say... a moon elf and a drow, to be more specific."
The elf's eyes widened slightly and he almost gasped – which, oddly enough, worked in the way of comforting Knave; at least there WAS still emotion in there somewhere. He raised his head more abruptly this time, the hair finally brushing away to uncover his face as he stared straight at the human. His features were delicate and elegant, like those of any elf, but the gloom was not even beginning to fade from them, and dark areas had quite began to shape up under his eyes, revealing how tired he was. Maybe he fears death will come when he's asleep and he'll miss it, Knave thought to himself, biting back another chuckle.
"No," the elf replied and shook his head quite frantically, at a loss, and obviously more than a little distressed by the perspective. "Your drow has probably killed my kin..."
"Or vice versa, more likely," Knave snickered, interrupting on a casual tone. "She's quite fond of him, you know."
His interlocutor's eyebrow came up slightly, forming the beginning of a fine arc, and he regarded the human mage awkwardly for a few moments, but said nothing. Then, he just shrugged, and slumped back into his former derelict self. "Whoever has died, we will be joining them soon," he remarked, certain of that. "Those Talassans are bound to find us soon enough."
"You've seen the Talassans?" Knave shifted visibly, and cast a few careful glances about. "I'm surprised you weren't wary of me when I approached, given the fact that I'm human. I would have at least been suspicious, had I been in your stead."
"What was the point?" the elf replied, his wall of depression back to its full capacity. "I am a doomed man, anyway."
"Nevertheless," Knave rolled his eyes, his sudden need to be serious making him less patient to the other's dark moods, "it should be fair that I warn you: I am not with the Talassans, but they are after ... well, my friend here." He pointed to Nirra.
Coincidentally, the gold elf happened to stir a little just then, and her eyes blinked open in a slow, sleep-dazed process. She stretched, with a light wince, and as her senses returned she began to look around her. In the end, she dismally sat up, fear contorting her features, only to calm down gradually when she realized where she was. She looked up at Knave, not noticing the gloomy elf he had been talking to just yet.
"Welcome back," the human mage grinned coyly. "Our friend here seemed intent on thinking that you were 'doomed'. Just like the rest of us, for that matter."
Nirra blinked in confusion then cast glances about once more, this time managing to notice the stranger, who, despite his moroseness, had shifted a little to regard her intently.
"I am fine," the gold elf smiled meekly, then looked at her own arms and the many bruises they still displayed; the potion had healed the more serious injuries, and had lost its power before it could affect those small insignificant stains on her bronze-colored skin.
"I've managed to lose Torri and Solaufein," Knave let her know quite promptly. None of them noticed the purple-robed man perk up slightly at the mention of the moon elf. "Or, more likely, they've lost themselv..."
"Toreen?" came the interruption, in the clumsy form of the elf's insecure question, as he stared at Knave in disbelief.
Both Nirra and the human mage turned to regard him curiously at the same time; then they exchanged a short glance, before returning to him once more. "You know Torri?" the gold elf asked, quite surprised.
"I know a 'Toreen' who is sometimes called that," he admitted, and the others were suddenly certain he had already given up the hope that it might be the same person.
"My friend's name is Toreen of Sareil," Nirra detailed inquiringly.
For a moment, the other elf's face brightened as he nodded, but then he sank back into hopeless lament. "Something bad has undoubtedly happened to her," he convinced himself immediately.
"I should hope not," Nirra looked distressed, struggling to her feet. Knave came to her aid promptly, and supported her through, until she could stand on her own. Don't mind him, the mage whispered to the gold elf.
"Hope?" the man shrugged, letting out another sigh. "It only ensures that when you do fall, it hurts worse."
"Has something happened to you?" Nirra cast him a look full of concern. "Maybe we can help."
"Except everything?" he replied resignedly, brushing that matter aside with a hand jest in order to take care of another. "Listen. My companion isn't returning. Yours aren't either. We could just as well leave while WE still have the chance to return to anything." He pushed himself away from the ground, coming to stand in a swift move that caused the robes' heavy folds to shift awkwardly behind and then around him as they gathered. Somehow, even that simple move looked full of despair.
"I agree on the leaving part," Knave interfered. "We would be an easy target for the Talassans in here. We need the cover of trees."
"The Talassans," Nirra seemed to remember, and fear returned to her, flooding her features. She looked to the human for any comfort, and he attempted a smile. "Knave..." she shook her head. "What if they've run into Torri? ... And the drow. That might explain why they're not here."
"I doubt it," the mage hurried to reassure her. "I think Solaufein's lack of knowledge about the area caused his magic to not work properly. He and Torri should be nearby, but I cannot begin to guess where exactly."
"We could walk the entire forest in search of them," the forgotten purple-robed figure offered sarcastically. "But I'm sure we would be lucky enough to find the Talassans instead."
"We have to walk the forest anyway," Knave remarked dryly. The other's only response was a shrug. "Let us move," the human then continued. "Hopefully, Torri and Solaufein are close and we can pick up their track."
He turned to leave, in a north-eastern direction, already too caught in his study of the forest to notice the figures entering the clearing from the other side. Nirra and the other elf, however, didn't fail to see the exact moment they emerged from the shadows of trees, and they both startled.
Author's Note: I'd like to mention that my Xan is not based on the mods in the least bit, but much more rather on the first image I formed of him, long before I even knew what 'mod' meant. I have my own impression of the NPC, based on mostly his selection sounds and other things like that... in other words, the little official content there is to him.
I know this MAY be a bit unnerving and uncomfortable for those of you who have played through the mods, because they are AMAZING and definitely make a strong impression on players. But any attempt at combining the two views causes me to screw up on him, so I preferred to use a clean slate. Plus, the BG2 part of the mod didn't fit in with how he was here and all, so I would have had to ignore it anyway.