Out Of The Shadows
Chapter Seven:
Mistress of the Night
"…I-it's not safe to be out so late at night," Aerie said, yawning. Imoen had let her have her shelf, which in the Elf's world passed for a bed, back. Soon after all the business with Kalah had concluded the adrenaline had worn off Aerie's body and she suddenly felt exhausted, and Quayle agreed to try and find room for all of them for tonight. Minsc was off flexing his muscles with the circus strong men, Yoshimo was delighted to be sharing a caravan with a juggler and Jaheira… well, a few caravans were vacant now and Imoen made sure the druid got one all to herself.
Tomorrow, Imoen hoped, they'd get to sleep in proper with soft mattresses and feathered pillows; a treat for Aerie to look forward to, to be sure. A treat for all of them after… well, she was digressing. Again.
"Why's that?" the redhead asked, sitting down on another shelf.
"I-I don't know, exactly," the Elf admitted, "I-I just hear people talking, sometimes, w-when they come here. They say there's been a lot of fighting, a lot of people dead. I… I tried to sneak out once to see if I could see anything, b-but Quayle stopped me," Aerie said, looking a little unhappy about it. "It, probably doesn't happen so close to the Circus, anyway, since there's always people awake here, doing… something…" Aerie started to rub her eyes, snapping them open again at the sound of thunder rumbling over them. The Elf relaxed again almost right away; she had known there was a storm on its way, after all.
"Hmmm," Imoen nodded thoughtfully. She'd forgotten to ask Jaheira if they actually had any money; she certainly didn't, and Aerie had only a few coppers scraped together. As well as an inn with beds and a hot bath, they needed better equipment. Aerie had her sword, but she needed some decent travelling gear and dress; a tunic, cloak, boots… Imoen thought that blue was more Aerie's colour, like the sky, and her eyes, and her general mood. And then do something with her hair; it was lovely hair, but Imoen had to get her to at least tie it back when they were going into battle, or something. She'd noticed that Aerie favoured her left hand as well; most people fought with their right. She did okay with it. Better than Imoen could have done this same time last year but maybe, if she didn't mind, Jaheira could help her to protect herself better. Maybe it would help take her mind off things as well…
Yes, Imoen was making plans; thinking things through. Making all these important decisions. She was a leader now; she had responsibility. And she wasn't going to make a complete codswallops of this like she had done so many other things… Irenicus hadn't won. He'd made her stronger. She'd been afraid of Jaheira wanting to go after him; she guessed she knew, deep down, that even after the Cowled Wizards had taken him away it wasn't going to be the last she saw of Irenicus. He'd be back, but this time she'd be ready for him. After she'd had a long soak, and provided it wasn't a thirdday – those were never good for her. But apart from that, she would be ready… oh, and she needed to get the lay of the land. Fighting in the streets, eh? There had been two factions fighting one and another in that dungeon as well… see, she had been listening she just had other things on her mind as well.
"Is it always like this?" Aerie asked, holding her own hands above herself to see if they were still shaking at all.
"Uh… like what?" Imoen asked, shaking her red hair. The new girl wanted some guidance, and as a responsible big sister type it was her job to give it.
"When… w-when I was fighting the monsters, I was so scared, b-but… alive, as well. Like Jaheira was saying, I think. Fight or flight, and I chose to fight. .."
"Well, you didn't really choose to, did you? You just ran off without giving anyone a chance to talk any sense into ya…"
"… I-I think I liked it…"
"Yeah, it's a powerful feeling all right; looking death in the eye and kicking him in the codswallops," Imoen closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She could feel herself now, starting to drift into sleepy land. "Hm… sometimes though, you find yourself looking death in the eye, or eye socket or whatever, and you think this time there's no way out… but then, you've got nothing to lose so just kick him again."
"Uh… huh…" Aerie said, turning all that over in her head in a futile attempt to make sense of it. To be honest, Imoen was ashamed of what she'd just said too; kicking an anthropomorphic representation of something in the codswallops? It sort of sounded cool in her head, but actually it was a load of buffleheaded drivel, wasn't it?
"Heh," Imoen grinned, trying to hide her shame, "listen, get a nice long nap tonight. Tomorrow I'll spar with ya. If you're lucky, kid, Jaheira will give you some pointers too…"
"Oh. And… i-if I'm unlucky?"
"She'll offer to give you a practical demonstration," Imoen winked and put out the lamp. She had almost made herself comfortable on the shelf, when Aerie said:
"May… maybe I'd learn more just watching you two…"
"No," Imoen answered promptly and decisively.
"Oh," Aerie gulped, and soon they were both asleep.
Far to the north, Eldoth Kron was just waking up. His head felt like it had a dwarf jumping up and down inside it with a hammer. Had he been drinking? He couldn't remember, but then… wait. Why couldn't he move his arms, or his legs for that matter? He tugged and strained his body, but found his wrists and ankles were bound quite firmly together. How did that happen? His next appointment with Impedimenta wasn't for several days, was it? No he'd been attacked… shot in the back. Betrayed! Poor dear must have been having another one of her funny turns… he'd talk sense into her. For some reason he was lying close to the entrance to a sewer; it must have been night time still. He could hear and smell the sea… Skie hadn't dragged him here by herself though. There had been someone else with her… some little witch…
He twisted his head, squinting he could make out a shape looming over him, which as his eyes adjusted became a dark haired thirteen year old girl scowling viciously at him. Yes, that was the witch all right…
Tenya lifted her staff, and knocked him out again.
"What did you do that for?" Skie gasped.
"I've read stories," the young priestess said, tossing her hair back and folding her arms across her chest, "I know what will happen if he wakes up."
"What?" Skie said with a wicked little grin, the brown haired former noble suddenly curious to know what kind of books Tenya had read. "What do you think will happen?"
"He'll start to use his words, his nice words, on you. He'll say that he forgives you, and that he still loves you and you can still run away together and be happy… and you, being the weak willed, soft bellied turtle that you are will believe him and once you have untied him, he will strangle you and escape."
"Right," Skie narrowed her eyes, "so… you're just looking out for me, then? That's nice."
"You have been of use to me, so far," Tenya said, and then switched quickly from angry little girl to primly reciting church doctrine, "Umberlee does not forget those who serve her well."
"You mentioned you might have lost some favour with Umberlee," Skie said, deliberately goading her now. Whatever she said, Tenya actually needed her right now to carry out her wishes. "That's why we have to make this journey by land."
"I don't exactly have permission to be doing this," the little Umberlant snorted, "the Bitch Queen has not abandoned me, but it's best not to tempt her wrath for the time being."
"So, you've run away from the Water Queen's house, huh? What was it… were some bigger, meaner girls picking on you?"
"Are you trying to start a fight with me!" Tenya screeched, turning on the woman with her shoulders hunched and her face all red. "I have drowned much bigger cats than you, you know!"
"Alright, alright," Skie looked like a conductor as she tried to make some calming hand gestures, "I'm sorry." Maybe she was in danger of going a bit too far with that, or of striking too close to the bone, maybe. Goading Tenya didn't really make her feel any better about herself anyway. She wasn't expecting bards to write any ballads about a twenty one year old woman bravely standing up to a thirteen year old girl; what a hero!
"In any case," she said, "you can't keep knocking him out like that."
"Why not?" Tenya asked, looking genuinely perplexed.
"Well, it'll kill him eventually won't it? Then you won't be able to show him to Imoen, for whatever reason you want to do that for. And we'll need him awake to feed him; I'm not doing all that myself. You might not be around every time he wakes up, anyway…"
"You're right," Tenya thought hard for a second, "but, I can't risk him talking to you. I shall just have to cut out his tongue."
"Y… er, what?" Skie did a double take… that wasn't what she'd been expecting. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but probably something more along the lines of Tenya realising she would have to trust her. Instead, the young priestess had already got hold of one of Eldoth's own knives as was hovering over him, seemingly a little unsure of what to do with it. "You can't do that!" She grabbed the girl's wrist and started to struggle with her; Tenya was surprisingly strong for her size, but Skie was relieved to find that she was in fact stronger and managed to wrestle the knife away.
"You see!" Tenya hissed and spat. "Already your resolve is weakening!"
"You can't cut out his tongue!"
"Why not!"
"Because… because… oh! Because, what if Imoen wants to speak to him, huh? Did you think about that?"
"You… do have a point, I suppose," Tenya conceded, although she was very unhappy to do so. Skie had no idea why Tenya had become so attached to Imoen, but at least there was a way of controlling her. "Those friends you mentioned had better show up soon," the girl said, kicking a small stone down the tunnel.
Skie hoped so too, for a number of reasons. She'd paid some urchins to carry her messages across the city; hopefully they did and didn't just take her money. And hopefully the people who received them didn't just take one look at who it was from and screw the letters up and throw them out of the window, thinking it might be a wedding invitation or something… like that was ever going to happen, anyway. She wondered if it was at all possible to mend things with her family now that she realised what a stupid idiot she'd been… she wondered if she could face the humiliation… why was she the only person in the world fooled by him?
No… no point in beating herself up now. Focus on the quest, and maybe that will keep her sane for a while at least.
"They're not all friends of mine," she admitted, "but they all knew Imoen, at least. So I'm hoping they'd all be willing to help her. I mean, she's annoying, but she's basically nice to everyone, right?"
They waited in silence at the end of the tunnel. And waited. Skie started to worry she hadn't given proper directions… she was going to look pretty stupid if no one came…
"Maybe you should have sent letters to people who didn't know Imoen?" Tenya yawned, "that way we could have lied and said we were going to rescue a really great hero…"
"Oh, just shut u…" Skie's head snapped to her side suddenly. "Did… did you hear that?"
"Yes," the priestess nodded. There had definitely been a large 'splodge' from further down the tunnel, like someone stepping in a muddy puddle, maybe… there were a few creatures that roamed the sewers as well. Slimes, kobolds, the odd zombie…
"Well," Tenya straightened herself, "you'd better go and see what it was, then."
"Me?" Skie's eyes widened, partly out of fear, but also partly because Skie Silvershield still didn't like being given orders by commoners, especially nasty thirteen year old commoners who might have been ordering her to her death for all she knew. "Why should I go?"
"Because you're the grown up?" The priestess helpfully suggested. Skie wasn't impressed. "Fine," Tenya said, rolling her eyes and picking up her staff. "I will go then, shall I? Just leave the kid to take care of everything… wimp."
Tenya started treading softly, and quietly down the tunnel. Skie didn't know why; they were at the end of tunnel illuminated by the moonlight. Anyone inside it could see them easily… she supposed she was going to have to go and help the brat.
"Halt!" A woman's voice commanded, just as Skie had caught up to the Priestess. "Come no further… let me have a look at you…" the one commanding them stepped forward, although still clinging to the shadows, just at the edge of the moonlight. They could just make out her shape; she looked like someone wearing a long, dark, shroud. "I want to see who it is who dares to summon me in the middle of the night… I do not know the tiny one, but you…" red eyes lashed out of the darkness into Skie, "the girl who is a slave to males. First her father, and then…"
"Viconia," the young woman took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, avoid taking the bait. She'd heard a rumour that a Drow, or Dark Elf, had entered the city in the last few days. She hadn't really expected… and she'd forgotten what an agitating person Viconia could be. Why did she have to show up first? She was just getting the hang of handling Tenya…
"But you are fine specimen of your race, are you not?" Viconia stepped forward, pulling back the hood of her dark blue cloak to reveal her silver white hair and coal black skin. She glided toward Skie, and then arm snaked out, cupping the young woman's chin as she stared into her large, brown eyes. "So… pretty. So strong. So naïve and simple. You know, I used to think often about killing you, just to see what the look on your face would be."
"Who are you calling tiny?" Tenya had one hand on her staff, and the other on her hip. Viconia looked down and sideways at her, annoyed by the interruption. Skie however, was very grateful.
"Well," the Drow let go of the young woman and turned toward the small priestess. "You're a pretty one as well. Make yourself useful, dalhar, and carry this," Viconia was holding a small pack under her other arm, which she tossed at the surprised Tenya who had to drop her staff to catch it. She paid the two of them no further heed, and went to examine the flesh heap lying on the ground. The young Umberlant blinked a few times, before snarling and throwing the pack against the brickwork. She was stomping after Viconia, probably about to try and make the Drow woman show her respect, but Skie managed to catch her and hold her back.
"Let me go!" Tenya squealed, kicking and punching wildly as Skie fought to restrain her. "I… I will jump up and down on her corpse until I've ground her whole body into salt!"
"You… you want her to help you!" Skie spun Tenya around, grasping her by the shoulders as she fixed her with the hardest stare she could manage. To her surprise, the Umberlant settled almost immediately and stared back, waiting… "Er, just let me handle it, okay?"
"Fine," Tenya snorted, tossing her head back non-chalantly. "You explain things to her."
"So," Viconia looked up from Eldoth, seeming mildly amused. "Are you that girl's… what is it you say… guardian, now?"
"Well… no, not exactly," the brown haired woman cleared her throat. Although, for some reason she hadn't wanted to see Tenya humiliated. Not by Viconia anyway. Maybe she did feel a little bit of responsibility for the little priestess. Maybe she just knew she stood more of a chance with Tenya than with Vic. "To be honest, I'm not really sure how we've ended up together. She just burst into my room yesterday and then one thing led to another and then Eldoth started being really nasty and I… I shot him. In the back," Skie bowed her head.
"So, you've finally had enough of your male and now you need help disposing of him, is that it? I have some powerful acid that will dissolve the corpse, although we may have to cut him into smaller pieces first…"
"No!" The young woman gasped again in horror. "That's… that's not it." She didn't think her resolve was weakening, but she and Imoen and everyone all deserved a proper explanation of what he had done, and it was only humane to give him a chance to tell it, was it not? Before they… well, what was she expecting they would do to him? Maybe that was it. She didn't want to judge him on her own. She thought it would be easier if everyone involved shared the responsibility…
"What kind of acid?" Tenya asked, tilting her head.
"Oil of Vitriol," the Drow explained, "highly concentrated, of course."
"Ah… sulphuric acid. That could dissolve a body all right," Tenya nodded approvingly, "but you'd still need a barrel of the stuff…"
"I have it. That is a bag of holding," the Drow nodded to the pack Tenya had thrown away earlier.
"Really?" Tenya's eyes lit up, like other, normal children's eyes would if they just found a stocking full of toys. "What other things are in there?" She turned around, but Viconia… Skie hadn't even seen her move. She seemed to have instantly covered the distance from Eldoth to Tenya, holding out a mace, which had appeared from nowhere, to block the girl's progress.
"Things that are not for dalharen to play with…" The Drow hissed warningly.
"I'm not scared of you, Drow woman!" The Umberlant looked up and hissed back.
"Is that so?" Viconia lowered the mace, a small, wicked smile appearing on her face. "Your Goddesses realm is the sea, is it not? She controls the waves… out there," she nodded out toward the ocean.
"So?"
"So, mine, surrounds everything. The land, the sea, the entire world, moon and even the sun… and, of course, you, right now."
Tenya looked around herself. What surrounded her was… was darkness. She gulped.
"Shar?" She said, shivering slightly as she named the Mistress of the Night. Viconia maintained her smile. "Well," Tenya straightened up, folding her arms over her chest, "I'm one girl who's not scared of the dark. So there."
"Will… will you two stop!" Skie yelled, putting her foot down.
"What? I wasn't starting anything!" Tenya protested, "I was just thinking, maybe we could put Eldoth in that bag of holding, then we could carry him to Athkatla easily."
"Athkatla?" Viconia arched an eyebrow.
"It's another large conurbation some ways south of here," Skie explained, starting to get grumpy. It really wasn't ideal company for her.
"I have heard of it," Viconia sneered, "why do you wish to go there?"
"Because we think that's where Imoen's gone. She disappeared, you see, and all her companions."
"Yes, I see… although I do not see how it concerns me."
"Well, she… she helped you, didn't she? When you were being pursued by the Fist…"
"Her choice," Viconia shrugged, "and not the one I would have made in her place. So I still don't see how it concerns me."
"But her… her life might be in danger!"
"Have I not been making myself clear? I care nothing for the yapping puppy, or her so called friends. And what does he have to do with it?" The Drow gestured to Eldoth's crumpled form.
"We found out that he'd betrayed them, for gold… and, and then he was going to kill Tenya, and I… I had no choice…"
"You shot him… yes, I heard that bit. And now you want to take the betrayer to the ones he betrayed so that they may have their revenge, yes?"
"Well… I suppose so, yes."
"Good. That, I can be a part of."
"You'll help, then?" Skie gasped in disbelief.
"I have nothing better to do," Viconia waved her hand, "I did recently have a problem with some rivvin farmers. They're not a problem anymore."
"The Fist are after you again, aren't they?" The young woman guessed.
"They're always after me. But I feel perhaps I have outstayed my, welcome, in these lands, so I will accompany you to another."
"Well, that's one, anyway…" Skie gasped suddenly as she found herself being flung aside as Viconia started to spin around.
Dazed and confused, she looked up to see the Drow woman using a buckler she had attached to her forearm to deflect an arrow aimed at her… deflect it so it embedded itself in the ground right next to Skie's cheek. They all looked around for the source of it, but he wasn't keeping himself hidden. It was a dark haired elven man, in a dark green tunic and leathers. As they watched, he coolly loaded his bow again to take another shot at the Drow… but then, with a small smirk, he lowered it. He stepped forward, coolly, slowly, never once taking his eyes off the Drow. But when he reached her, he turned to Skie.
"Two," he said, "and three more behind me." And then Kivan sat down against the damp brick wall.
"Ha! Like I'd let all you lot waltz off and have all the fun!" A wild haired Elven man said, his face bearing the lines of his almost perpetual grin.
"It has been a while since I've been to Amn," a woman with long, dark auburn hair said, "I wonder what the ladies are wearing now?"
"Coran… Safana… Xan?" The last one surprised Skie; she hadn't even sent out for a message for him.
"Oh, Seldarine… what did I just tread in?" Xan grumbled, hitching up his purple robes.
"I thought you'd gone back to Evereska," Skie said.
"No… never made it. Got kidnapped by Orcs and had to make my way back here after I barely escaped. I suppose it's just my lot in life, really, to have Lady Luck defecate on me at every turn… but don't mind me. I'm just a poor, broken, trampled on…"
"Yeah, really, don't mind him at all. Think about clothes instead," Safana slapped Skie on the back, "a dear old friend of mine went into a store in Athkatla once to buy shoes, and got lost in there for seven months. When they found her she'd turned feral, poor thing, living off leather sandals and the odd mouse. Oh, but you and I are going to have such a good time there! Despite Xan's reluctance, the rest of us are going to have a good time! This'll be such a fun trip!"
"Yes, well, I'm just going to come out and say it."
"Say what?" Safana looked back at Xan while she still had her arm around Skie.
"We're all doomed."