9/7/09

A/N: Ok for once I'm writing this after the chapter. I had a really good muse when I started a month ago and then it was dead for a while until now by some random whim. This chapter is supposed to be a little more filler and explains a good deal of what was going on before, I just thought you should know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Drizzt and Co. I think we all know that by now so lets just get on with this because I'm sure you know my characters by now as well.

Warning: Violence, violent ideas, inappropriate situations/ideas, most likely inappropriate situations/ideas

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Chapter Eleven: Where From Here?

Kitana collapsed not long after they had started running. The transformation had taken too much out of her for her to keep up their rapid pace for long. Thus, at the moment, Entreri was now carrying her bridal style as they pressed forward. He knew he was most likely giving away much more that he would like but he didn't really care at the moment; all he wanted right now was to keep Kitana safe.

The companions were only a few miles from Waterdeep where they had made the unspoken decision to stay until Kitana recovered. The road as normally dangerous and filled with many threats, but for some strange reason nothing came at them. They had been able to pick out a few orcs in the distance but their movements had been weary as though they knew that there was something even bigger and more powerful than the three drow accompanying the human male with the sleeping girl in his arms. Did they know what Kitana was? The thought made the assassin hold her closer to his chest, they were not going to get her if they did know what she really was. He would make sure of that.

If they had not been on the run, Entreri would have stopped to contemplate his strange feelings. Part of him registered that he had no idea what he was really doing at the moment and he did know that it was very unlike him to care so much about another. His other, more pragmatic side, demanded he stop that foolish way of thinking and focus on the task immediately ahead of them. That side won and he hurried on along with the others.

Amazingly, the companions made it to Waterdeep in only a few hours; a feat that was not normally accomplished without the aid of horses. But they were determined above all else, to end the threat still facing Kitana. They took shelter in a small, out of the way inn on the eastern side of the city. A soft drizzle of rain had begun to form around them and was growing, albeit slowly, into a storm. If they were lucky it would be gone soon. It was early in the morning now, six hours had past since the massacre in the ballroom. Kitana had not woken and the companions were not comfortable with this. Entreri hated this most of all, he had not once put her down even though his arms ached with the strain of not being moved much for several hours. Kitana was far from heavy but his muscles hated the inactivity. He went up into one of the rooms they had acquired with no small help from Drizzt's reputation, and gently lay the still sleeping Kitana on the bed that was surprisingly soft. He wanted to lie there with her more than anything but thought better of the action and sat in the chair next to the bed instead. She rolled over showing the first signs of life besides breathing she had in a while. Unconsciously, his hand reached out to grasp hers.

He studied her hand gently, it was smaller than his, obviously. It was much softer, though now he could easily see the signs of long repeated weapon use. The calluses remained minor but still gave her hand a softly weathered feel that he enjoyed. Closer inspection of her nails yielded the fact that they were now much longer and sharper than before. Entreri briefly entertained the notion of taking out his dagger and comparing the tips. Her lips twitched in a hint of a smile, was she enjoying this? Entreri recalled from their love making that she liked having her hands touched. His fingertips danced lightly over hers and she let out a small purr. The assassin sighed unconsciously and moved to lay partially atop her. His lips brushed over hers in a semblance of a kiss. He gently ran the thumb of his other hand over her lips and then kissed her again, this time more full and needy. "Please wake up." he murmured as he broke away from Kitana. His hand caressed her face again as he sat up in the chair.

The warning footsteps of the others brought him out of his trancelike state.

"How is she?" Drizzt asked as he was the first to enter the room. Jarlaxle followed, uncommonly silent after.

"Well as far as I can see. I have no idea when she will wake." Entreri answered letting his weariness show through his voice.

Jarlaxle gave him a soft, understanding look. "Get some rest my friend. We will be in the next room should you need us." He gave Entreri's shoulder a light squeeze before turning to leave the room. Drizzt nodded respectfully and left with the older drow. Entreri only looked away from his closed door when he heard his companions' door close a short way down the hall. His gaze instantly returned to Kitana who was now slightly curled as though waiting for him to join her and looking terribly tempting. Without fully realizing what he was doing, Artemis climbed onto the bed next to her taking Kitana into his embrace as he had many times before. He gently removed her soaked armor and cloak in effort to make her more comfortable and set them to dry on a nearby dresser. Afterwards, he held her tightly, silently pleading with her to wake up soon.

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The wizard Delmorae peered evenly into his crystal ball. What he saw did not please him at all. He had been trying to contact his underlings all day but to no avail, the fact that the ballroom lay in bloody shambles only served to show that something was very wrong. Delmorae could sense the power within the room as though it had been unleashed in his own chambers. His frail body shuddered ominously, this power could only mean one thing. He scryed through the rest of the ballroom and found his underlings among the dead; one with the top half of his head missing and the other with several deep gouges in his neck and a single blade wound in the chest.

The wizard shook off most of his unease. Perhaps it was not as he thought, he had wrongly assessed things before now. Perhaps some other demon had come in and slain everyone. That repulsive noblewoman he had placed the girl with had a habit of angering people whether she knew it or not and she was also among those who had been slain. It could be that she made an enemy that was actually powerful and they had taken revenge on her and her guests. Yes, perhaps that was it...

That hope was shattered as he searched the rest of the house. Everything had been torn to shreds but nothing more than the girl's room, and she was not there. He sensed that there had been others there as well though they were also missing. There was no blood in the room at all, no sign that anyone had been killed in here just a mess. The prisoner had destroyed her cage. But how had she done it? Delmorae knew that the poison had failed to kill her but she had been changed into a human! How could she possibly be herself again? There was no way she could have done it herself! No way! All the evidence said otherwise.

So she was back then. Delmorae smiled sinisterly instead of falling into fear. So what if she was a demon again, she would be weak now and no threat at all. She could not possibly harm him. He turned to his fireplace and uttered the command word. Flames sprung up excitedly in the previously cold marble. "My lord," he called respectfully. "I would speak with you if I may." A low rumble emitted from the fire that was clearly permission for him to speak. Delmorae swallowed hard at the voicing of his master. "We seemed to run into a small problem with our enemy. She is no longer a captive." Another rumble sounded but the wizard heard the words clearly.

"What do you mean she is no longer captive?" His master demanded.

Delmorae unconsciously took a step back from the fireplace. "She is no longer in the mansion and everyone in it is dead. Slain by her from what I have judged things correctly. The power around the place leaves me little doubt that she is the one who killed them. I know not how she did it my lord, but she is free and a demoness again."

"Find her!" His master roared. "Find her and kill her! You have failed me twice now wizard. Fail me again and you will be as dead as your former master. Remember that I gave you the power you have now and I can easily take it back." The flames in the fireplace went out abruptly, ending the conversation and scorching a small area of the thick carpet. Delmorae fell back into his armchair contemplating his next move. She likely had allies now, that was most likely how she escaped. But that would have meant someone broke the enchantment he had placed on the half drow so he could tell them. The wizard still believed that she was not so powerful. He would kill her this time, he just had to use more poison. Delmorae turned his head to gaze at the glowing purple liquid in the bottle sitting on one of his shelves. It would be enough he decided.

"Ahh, my dear assassin Kanashimi." The wizard purred wickedly. "You will fall this time." Satisfied with his plan the wizard went off to his sleeping chamber and to the latest young maiden that had been provided for him.

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Kitana let herself wake slowly. Little light filtered through the dirty window of the room she was in, where she was, was another question. She would have to find the others and ask them. They were here she knew, somewhere below her in the same building which was most likely some kind of inn. Kitana sat up cautiously in case there was a trap that was beyond her senses.

The demoness stared at her slender hand. Her claws were back fully now and her skin had become paler. Artemis' scent lingered in the room and had pooled in the chair that sat next to the bed she was in. He had been anxious for some time and sad though she knew he would never admit it. His scent also lay on the bed around her, had he been with her the entire time? Kitana shook her head trying to clear it, then realizing that she was naked, she stood pulling the blanket with her. Her armor sat neatly on a dresser on the other side of the room and was slightly damp. Again Artemis' scent lingered around it suggesting that he had been the one to undress her. She chose not to put her armor on and instead donned an oversized shirt that belonged to Artemis over her undergarments. There was likely no one in the inn that would complain of her state of undress. She carefully walked down the stairs barefoot and into the common room.

Jarlaxle noticed her first having looked up from his plate of food to apparently scan the room for threats. He smiled widely causing the others to look in her direction. The mercenary leader pulled out a chair for her as she got to them bidding her to sit and join them. No one said anything for a few moments as the companions looked over her changes. After a minute or so Kitana chuckled softly and said, "You guys want to stop staring at me and get me something to eat?" The companions snapped out of their over curious state and promptly did as she asked. Kitana stared at the food at first, it didn't look terribly good but she supposed she could not really complain. She wouldn't have to eat much after this anyway and if there was something wrong with it, it would likely not effect her at all. She sniffed at the steaming plate once just to be sure and then proceeded to eat her meal slowly. It didn't taste as bad as it looked but the demoness could tell that it wasn't made with the freshest ingredients. Kitana silently cursed her superior senses, the others were probably spared the over culmination of bitter flavors. She stopped after eating half of the large serving and looked up at the others who were staring at her again, this time in question. Artemis in particular looked more anxious than before. "I'm fine." Kitana stated evenly. "Where are we?"

Jarlaxle cleared his throat loudly hoping to break the awkward silence that had accumulated over the table. "We are in Waterdeep, an inn on the southern edge of the Docks Ward."

Kitana nodded and looked around the room. The crowd was familiar to her though not the one she was normally surrounded by. The noise was the same though, if not the place. No doubt there was more than one shady deal being made in this room and those beyond. Kitana looked over to Drizzt who was shuffling in his seat awkwardly and acknowledged him with a typical raised eyebrow.

"Where do we go from here?" he asked her hesitantly. "The one those wizards worked for likely knows by now that they are dead and you are no longer a prisoner. He will likely send someone after you." The ranger shifted in his seat again hoping that his stating of the obvious had not offended Kitana. The slaughter in the ballroom was still fresh in his mind. He didn't want to end up like those people. While Drizzt doubted Kitana would kill him for such a trivial thing, he feared that she would lose her temper on him and possibly the others. He was extremely relieved when she simply nodded her agreement.

"We will go to Calimport." She replied. "The wizard may indeed send someone after us, so why not strike at the source? I feel that there is more to this than him, however, and we must prepare for that as well."

"You do not believe he was behind all of this?" Jarlaxle asked calmly. He found that her logic was reasonable but looking at the other side of the possibilities, she could just as well be being paranoid. She had lived in a dark and dangerous world most of her life just like the rest of his companions and while one could never be too careful, one could never be completely sure either.

"I am certain he did not know my nature before I was attacked. I make it a point to hide what I am, thus I never used my real name and have always kept my appearance mostly hidden. I look enough like a half elf that most people just assume that I am. The fact that he had the right poison tells me that he must have had an outside source of information, he could not have acquired it himself and brewed it properly. Very few humans know how to make that poison and the plant it's made from cannot be found in the desert." Kitana pushed her plate out of the way and leaned on her elbows into the table. "I suspect that the wizard learned my nature the day I was attacked. When I was leaving the guild house he was looking at me strangely as though he could not believe something. Fortunately for us though, I know that there are a limited number of my enemies that know what I am."

Jarlaxle's head tilted lazily to the side. "So you think that one of those enemies is behind this." he stated.

"It would make sense. Though now, the question of 'which one' remains." Kitana shrugged and lifted her fork, absently pushing the decidedly poor food around the plate. "If we go to Calimport I'm sure we will find an answer to that question."

"To Calimport then." Jarlaxle replied. The others said nothing and the rest of the meal was finished in silence.

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Kitana climbed the stairs gracefully and perfectly silent as she went back to the room she was in before. She was well aware of the fact that Artemis was behind her though he made not a sound. She opened the door and stepped into the room with him following behind her. Artemis closed the door then wrapped his arms around her from behind burying his face in her hair. He didn't say anything, he just stood there with her in his arms pressing his body against hers gently almost like he was afraid she would break if he held her tighter. His fingertips wandered softly over her waist like she was fragile porcelain.

Kitana gave a small laugh. "I guess someone missed me." She turned around and clasped her hands behind his neck pulling him closer. His eyes said that there was something more he wanted to say but he had no idea how. Kitana ran her fingertips lightly over his lips. "Are you still going to sleep with me?" she whispered.

Artemis gave her a half smile, "If that is what you want." His arms wrapped tighter around her waist and pulled her into a passionate kiss that told her everything he was thinking even though he didn't know it. His fingers ran through her hair, letting out her braid then slipped down her shoulder and over her breast. His hand found its way to the buttons of the shirt she had borrowed from him and undid them deftly, without a second thought. The shirt dropped carelessly to the floor. They broke for air and Artemis gazed intently into her eyes. For a moment he looked like he was about to say something but he caught himself. His eyes widened briefly and he looked away.

Kitana's hand came up to caress his cheek. "Let's go to bed now." she whispered. "You look like you could use some good sleep." She took his hand and led him over to the bed and they laid down together still wrapped in each other's arms.

In the room down the hall the other their companions sat up still wide awake. The three drow stared at each other with uncertainty.

"Was this what you had in mind when you took the job in the first place?" the youngest of them asked a bit snidely. Drizzt realized his tone a second too late and looked up at his older counterpart, Jarlaxle, to see if it had an undesired effect. The mercenary leader, however, was staring at the floor blankly.

"Must we really go back to that horrible desert?" Kimmuriel spoke up for the first time that evening.

Jarlaxle looked up from the floor. "We will. We did take the job to watch over her if you recall. This is just another meaning of those circumstances. Beyond that, she is our friend, is she not?"

"She is." Drizzt put in eagerly. "As much as I dislike the idea of running so blindly into danger, I will if it helps Kitana."

"Indeed." Jarlaxle replied simply.

Kimmuriel sighed. He didn't like the idea of returning to the desert, but it seemed that he had no choice. He would go where Jarlaxle did because he needed Jarlaxle. The psionicist hated the idea of something happening to his former leader; he didn't want to be left with Bregan D'aerthe. "As you will." He said after several minutes of thinking. "I will raise no objections."

The mercenary leader nodded his approval. "We will leave in the morning then. There are no ships in the port right now so we will go to Baulder's Gate and take one from there if he are able. I cannot picture us walking to Calimport." His eyes glittered with amusement as though he was honestly considering the idea, his companions wouldn't put it past him.

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Delmorae smiled at his imp minion. "You have done well." he said to the beast. His master's enemy was coming to him, how delightful! He dismissed the imp without another word and turned to the fireplace once more calling to his master.

His master was not pleased with him still and was angered by his further interruption. "What is it now wizard?" his master demanded.

"I have information for you My Lord," Delmorae answered trying not to stutter. ""Our enemy is on her way here. I will have the proper chance to kill her once and for all!" The wizard fell back as his maser began to laugh seemingly without control.

"Good," his master said. Delmorae could almost hear the grin on his face. "Let her come to us without incident. When she arrives make sure to give her more poison than last time. I must have her dead."

Delmorae bowed deeply knowing his master could see his every gesture. "Of course Master. I will see to it and this time I shall not fail!"

On the other side of the fire a tall, dark looking pale man stood with a wide grin on his face. He was close to victory now he thought, but more importantly revenge. Yes, sweet revenge against that irritating little minx of a demoness. She had denied him before and had shredded his precious wings. He held no doubts about what the other dragons would say if they knew. He had to get revenge.

Perhaps if the wizard failed again he would go after her himself. His grin spread wider, then perhaps he could get what he had originally wanted from her. She would never submit to him, however, and he would have to take what he wanted. The idea was a tempting one. He dismissed the fire and went into his private chambers. "I will get you for that." he said to himself picturing her naked little body sprawled out on his bed before him quivering in pain, broken. How dare she deny him in the first place! He was a powerful dragon! A black dragon that had melted the armor and flesh or hundreds of paladins! He had more wealth than any of the other dragons in the region! Yet she had denied him. He growled loudly. "You will see you little wench. No one denies Moranosvae."

The dragon in mortal form stormed out of his sleeping chamber and into his treasure room. Perhaps his horde would put him in a better mood until the wizard either succeeded. Or failed. Moranosvae knew somehow that it would be the latter.