The Book of Nine Swords:

By Slim Summers

Disclaimer:

Neverwinter Nights 2 belongs to Atari, Obsidian Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast.

Prologue (Father & Son Bonding) - Part 2

'Beshaba spare me.' Bevil pleaded to the goddess of misfortune in his mind as he washed another batch of clothes.

Daegun had taken charge quickly back at the clearing. Instructing Amie and Bevil to go and fetch Tarmas and Merring along with an admonishment to the two that they keep quiet about what had happened while he escorted his foster son back to their home. The pair had raced to do as they were told and had indeed found Tarmas and Brother Merring fairly quickly. However his mother had found him walking with Brother Merring to Daegun's place and had promptly reminded him about the chores that he had left to do for the day. Not being able to deny his mother without explaining why he had to go see Aresnar, Bevil let Brother Merring continue alone while he accompanied his mother back to their home.

"Amie better come by later to tell me what's going on." Bevil muttered, concerned for one of the two people in West Harbour he could honestly call a friend.

Aresnar had always been a part of West Harbour as far as Bevil was concerned. Some of his earliest memories were of the elf walking behind Daegun or helping Tarmas teach the village children. Later memories were of Aresnar sparring with Lorne and Cormick as well as the odd rivalry mixed with friendship the three had.

'Sometimes I wonder if the only reason he became friends with me is because of Lorne.' Bevil thought morosely, his mind taking the depressing turn it always did when he wondered too long at the reason behind his friendship with perhaps the most reclusive person in West Harbour next to his friend's foster father Daegun Farlong. There was some justification behind the thought. Certainly the second-eldest of the Starling clan would never be counted among the brightest of the village. He couldn't debate history or speak another language and was not found of reading books on history like Aresnar could and did when he got the chance. The only reason he was friends with Amie was because he had gotten to know her through Aresnar. Bevil knew the main reason behind the start of his friendship with Aresnar was that Lorne had asked his former sparring partner to help look after the Starling family after Lorne left for Neverwinter. Aresnar had kept his word helping Rhetta out with many of the same chores that Bevil now did and during that time struck up if not a friendship then tolerance at least with the young boy who helped him in completing those chores. Later, when Bevil and his sibling had grown up somewhat Aresnar had gradually stopped helping out as much as he used to but that small almost friendship had remained. Later when Bevil got a reputation among the village children as a tattle teller and being a goody two shoes, Aresnar had been the only one outside of the village adults to treat him as he usually did.

Perhaps part of the reason was that Aresnar had little to fear from Bevil's tattling. Physically the elf had nearly reached full growth even before he came to West Harbour which placed him in a strange situation in a village full of humans. Quite a few treated him as an adult which allowed him to get away with a lot. In addition unlike most of the village youth, he was given almost complete freedom by his foster father. Aresnar did not have as many chores of his own to do and neither did he have to help out on a family farm. Daegun also placed few if any restrictions on his ward's activities beyond letting him know what Aresnar's plans for the day were. While most would have taken such an opportunity to do nothing all day and become lazy, Aresnar was always doing something. Generally it was practicing that weird sword style of his but there were times one could find him reading the rare history book that the merchant Galen brought on his yearly trips, cooking for the sheer enjoyment of it or receiving lessons from Daegun on wood lore or the use of the bow. Aresnar was simply the most driven person in West Harbour and had been a constant in the village for most of Bevil's life in some form or another.

Now something was causing that constant to change and Bevil didn't like it.

Aresnar lay slumped on his bed. It had been close to six hours since his training session with Bevil. The youth was trying to get his mind sorted on what had occurred but try as he might he just couldn't. 'I'm an elf. We don't have claws and we don't just grow scales.'

Tarmas and Merring had arrived shortly after Daegun and Aresnar had reached home, accompanied solely by Amie with Bevil, having being called to help his mother with some chores. The wizard and the priest had proceeded to examine Aresnar, casting various spells, asking him questions and both shaking their head in disapproval when he told them about the chest pains he had been having, Daegun's eyes had merely widened. Their examination had been very thorough although somewhat hampered by the youth being on the verge of a panic attack. Merring had eventually given Aresnar a light sleeping draught which made the elf sleep for a time, which had been a unique experience for him as elves normally did not sleep. Apparently the pair had left some time ago along with Amie. Aresnar supposed he should get up and talk with Daegun to find out what they had said but instead he remained lying listlessly on his bed.

'I wonder how these will affect my sword work' Aresnar thought looking at his claws.

"Perhaps it's some sort of curse."

"Not according to Brother Merring." Aresnar jumped into the air, falling of the bed as he did so at the sound of his foster father's voice.

Daegun shot him a disapproving look from where he stood by the door as Aresnar slowly got up.

"You startled me" Aresanar stated in elven clutching his beating heart before sitting down on his bed again.

"So I see." Daegun responding in the same language, as they normally did when alone. "As I was saying Brother Merring examined you and did not believe that you suffered from a curse. He attempted to remove one anyway however as you still seem to have those scales, he was evidently correct."

"And Tarmas, what did he have to say? If it's not a curse then what magic am I suffering from? "

"He believes it is perhaps the opposite." Daegun said, sitting down on a small chair opposite Aresnar and looking him in the eyes. "That you're not so much suffering from a spell now but rather that a spell is slowly wearing out."

"Wearing out?" Aresnar exclaimed loudly before shutting his mouth firmly at Daegun's look. If there was anything Daegun hated it was being irritated with mindless questions while he was speaking.

"He says that he will have to run some more tests and prepare some spells to confirm but his inclination is that someone placed a spell on you long ago." Daegun hesitated slightly, glancing at his foster son who was nervously clutching his knees. "That spell is now weakening and your full heritage is coming to light."

"My full…heritage?" Aresnar muttered softly before exploding. "What in the Nine Hells does that mean?"

"There is no need to raise your voice, Aresnar." Daegun said firmly and continued before his foster son could respond. "It means precisely what you think. That you are not of full elven blood. Tarmas suspects that you might be part dragon although to what degree he cannot say."

"Part dragon? You mean my father was a dragon?"

"Perhaps or perhaps he was just a half-dragon himself, who can say?"

"And you? Do you believe Tarmas?"

Daegun hesitated, considering his next words. While he did believe in keeping some truths from people if he felt it was necessary, he did not like lying unnecessarily even if saying a lie might have been kinder. "I do."

Aresnar's eyes closed for a moment and he took a deep breath before opening them again as Daegun continued speaking.

"While I am not a full elf myself, I was raised by the wild elves and I have noticed how they normally grow. A full elf would normally have reached full physical growth long before the age you were when you arrived in West Harbour, yet you seemed to continue growing despite already being fairly tall for a Sun elf. You also seemed to mature at a slower pace from most elven children from what I recall of you when you were young, which could be explained by your father being of an even more long lived race."

Aresnar remained silent as he tried to take in what his foster father was saying, while Daegun stared at him with a contemplative expression.

"Didn't…" Aresnar hesitated. "Didn't my mother ever say anything to you? About me? Or my father?"

"No, she never mentioned any details about your father. And in my homeland, we respect such silence."

"Also there is one other thing that points towards your father being of dragon blood." Daegun said in the firm tone of voice of one who had come to a decision as he got up. "Come with me."

Aresnar got up and slowly followed his foster father went into the attic, the elf having to bend down slightly to not bump his head. Neither of them bothered to light a candle, relying on their elven vision to see with the low moon light coming in from the window. His foster father went straight to a large he had kept neatly to the side and sat down, taking out a small key and placing it into the lock.

"After the attack on West Harbour" Daegun's voice became slightly lower as it always did when he spoke of that battle. "I gathered up your mother's belongings as best I could and stored them in this chest. I intended to give them to you when you reached your majority or if you ever chose to leave West Harbour but fate seems to have other plans it seems."

Aresnar's eyes widened at Daegun's words and he had to keep himself from scuttling closer and peering over Daegun's shoulder as he turned the key and opened the chest. Daegun reached into the chest and felt around briefly before bringing hand back out holding a short sword.

'Kodachi' Aresnar blinked. He could not remember hearing that word before but it had just popped into his head and he knew that it was the correct term for this type of blade, a fact confirmed when Daegun spoke.

"Your mother used to call this type of sword, a Kodachi. She carried it for a long time, even before I knew her but it broke during on one of our adventures. She kept the hilt however and later when she returned to West Harbour she showed this to me." Daegun slowly drew the blade from its sheath, revealing not metal but ivory.

"As you can tell the blade is not made of metal, Esmerelle told me that was made out of a dragon's fang." Daegun stated handing the weapon over to the eager hands of his foster son. "She said it had been a gift and my Shayla told me that from her tone it was from someone she cared for and was important to her."

"I do not know for certain if the fang came from your father, grand father or even belonged to a relative of yours at all but it does lend some credence to Tarmas's theory." Daegun stated standing up, clearly regarding the task of giving Aresnar proof of his heritage done. "If you wish, you might as well take your mother's belongings now. I imagine you will be too eager to wait any longer."

Daegun had only taken one step before his right hand was suddenly held in a death grip. Looking down his gaze was caught by his Aresnar's eyes. "Tell me about my mother."

To Daegun, his heart suddenly seemed to be beating far too loudly as he stared at the desperation in his foster son's eyes.

"Fost…" Aresnar seemed to be having trouble getting the words out of his mouth. "Daeg…Father please, tell me about my mother."

Daegun slowly sat down and after a moment of silence began talking.

"I first met your mother when I was much younger and seeking adventure. We met in a tavern and with some others formed a small party and journeyed across Faerun for a time." Daegun's tone was wistful as he remembered happier times.

"Your mother may have been the strongest member of our band, what she could do with her blade makes you seem like a novice but for all that she didn't lead our band. She claimed that Faerun was too unfamiliar to her. It was only later that I discovered what she meant."

"After journeying together for a time she revealed that she had not been born on Faerun but rather she had been born on another world and had only arrived on Faerun due to an accidentally from sort of magical accident."

Daegun looked straight at his son and with out hesitation said "Before you ask, I believed her completely. There were too many small things with the way she behaved and spoke over a long period of time that lent proof to her words."

"She stated that part of her reason behind adventuring was to find a way back to her world but it was clear to all of us that she had an adventurer's heart. She found a joy in our lifestyle that I could never match. By the time we met, she had already travelled half way across Faerun, from far off Kara-tur where she was originally given that Kodachi that's in your hands as well as a fine bow by someone whom she said was her first friend on Faerun, to the Endless Wastes all the way to the Sword Coast."

"She did not speak much of the world she came from stating she did not want to dwell too much on the past, even stating that she gave up her old name and had taken up a new one sometime after she arrived on Faerun. She liked the sound of Esmerelle apparently." Daegun paused looking down on the ground briefly. "I admire her sentiment regarding loss but it appears that I have been unsuccessful in embracing it."

Aresnar opened his mouth but Daegun continued before he could speak. "From what I gathered, the elven society of her world much resembled that of far away Kara-tur here, apart from the differences in race. She always wondered if that was why she originally arrived there when she came to Faerun. " A brief smile appeared on Daegun's face. "She was shocked when first arrived to see humans wearing elven clothes. In her realm, humans inhabit another continent and generally spend most their time fighting among themselves."

"After some years of adventuring we realised that out of the original band that had met in that tavern, she and I were the only ones left." Daegun's voice grew somber as he spoke his next words. "I had had enough of death, especially of those close to me while your mother continued for a time. Esmerelle may have met your father somewhere in Calimshan, I believe as she settled there longer then she did in any place since I knew her. "

"I was still settling in West Harbour and hadn't even met Shayla when your mother came to visit with the aid of magic, thick with child." Daegun gave a deep breath as he remembered.

"She continued visiting me from time to time, sometimes bringing you. I believe she knew my nature and was worried that I would isolate myself completely. She was overjoyed when I told her about Shayla and our impending marriage. She and Shayla grew close…" Daegun trailed off as he remembered how life used to have been. "Those were good times."

"We were surprised when she visited last as she arrived overland for the first time." Daegun paused considering events from long ago. "I could tell she was worried about something but she refused my offer to help, saying I should concentrate on my life with Shayla. It was at this time that she asked Shayla to look after you if something were to happen to her, a promise that Shayla readily gave and as fate would have it, the promise would be fullfilled, but not by my bride but by me."

"Esmerelle never intended me to care for you - such warmth is difficult for me. But you had no one else - so I did as best as I was able. I see other fathers and marvel at how they do it. If it was ever in me - it was lost long ago, buried in the graves of fallen friends." Daegun was silent for a moment before he glanced over at Aresnar. "I know your years with me have not been easy ones - yet I hope you have grown up well in spite of me."

"Because of you." Aresnar responded firmly.

"I am pleased to hear such praise although I would doubt the actual truth in it." Despite his words Daegun's face held a rare smile though it quickly became sombre once again.

"You know what happened after that."

"I do." Aresnar took a deep breath, thinking over all that he had learnt. "Thank you Father."

Both were silent for a moment before Daegun stood up once again, this time holding out a hand to Aresnar. "Come, I will help you carry this chest to your room."

Both father and son worked silently and quickly, feeling closer then they had in years.

Author's Notes:

Ok, that was a major bit of the character's background out of the way. I included some dialogue from the game then put my own spin on things. Before anyone asks why I made the main character's mother come from another world it was due to two reasons:

One: I dislike her name and wanted to rename her or at least say Esmerelle was not her true name. I am serious about this.

Two: The SwordSage class I intend for the main character to use has some of it's own fluff that I love but would have to be clumsily shoe-horned in, to make it fit into the Realms. So I didn't bother to try.

Three: Finally I like elves and I like blue dragons (My favourite Dragons period) a half dragon character naturally followed.