NB: My draft copy is currently up to about chapter 30. Vaguely recalled this chapter is a trim off from the previous one, so it is a little short.
Yes, you didn't read it wrong. Chapter 30.
Again thank you for following this story.
Lost in Realm
15
It was only when the sound of boots scraping the floor of this rundown diner disappeared from her hearing that Nhilva felt relief. She was at last safe, and that man was no longer in the same proximity as her. It wasn't an unfamiliar sensation, for she had experienced that before. Back in Menzoberran, in Underdark, when he vanished without a trace after a night raid, when she watched her mother and her sister frantically trying to find him. The memory was so vivid inside this host body, she could still fell it. She let out a soft sigh. And for the first time this evening, she smiled a little.
"Now," the lilting sound of the infamous Jalaxle echoed the room once more, "about you..."
She knew at once he wasn't talking about the Ratfolk. No one bothered to pay attention to that individual. He was already handicapped, just like her. And he got caught from kidnapping the merchant's son. She hadn't forgotten the golden rule of Menzoberran.
Don't get caught.
Since Jalaxle practically half-ruled this city, she hazarded the same rule applied to her.
"The real question is," Nhilva chuckled hoarsely, her huff of breath stirring up the dust before her. She coughed for a few second before started to talk again: "Why? Surely, things like this happen every day. You don't exactly have the leisure of saving every soul in Luskan on daily basis."
"No, I don't."
"So why?"
"Ah." Jalaxle sounded nonchalant. "Spoilers."
Footsteps echoed from the outside again. This time it appeared to be the rogue's men. They somehow managed to produce a makeshift stretcher and put her in it. Then the City Watch arrived. Noticing the Dark Elf's presence, they spoke with him first. They weren't all that surprised, Nhilva noticed. Perhaps it was because he was the one informing them? She would never know.
They remained in the diner ruin for a long time, collecting evidence and talking to witnesses -namely her and the Ratman. At one point, she passed out from exhaustion. When she woke up, she noticed she was back at One-Eyed Jax and Serena's familiar face hovered over her. And aside from small cuts and bruises, she was mostly recovered. A healer must have been summoned while she was unconscious.
Apparently it had been two days since the young Dwarven boy was rescued.
"Oh, by and by, they dropped this off while you were out," the barmaid pointed out the bag on the bed side table. Nhilva reached over and picked it up. It was quite heavy. She untied the drawstring and peered inside.
There were gold coins.
"He said you did finish the job, so, technically, you deserved the reward," explained Serena. "Three hundred gold coin pieces inside that bag."
The exact amount she was promised.
There were many Drow in Luskan. Being one of the many who only arrived the city recently, she was quite baffled why he would pay any attention to her, or how he managed to keep track where she was going and appeared right on time when Jhalnin was going to take her away. It was very similar to the feeling when she woke up in this somewhat familiar yet strange world for the first time, where everything was confusing and disorientating. All she got was "What?", "Huh?", and
"But why?" echoing inside her head. For a moment - a very long moment - she lost her words.
Eventually, Serena let out a sigh and pointed at something on the table again. "There is also this."
"What's that?" Nhilva looked towards the artefact. It was a small ornate box, quite compact and fit into the palm of one's hand. Its surface was lacquered and decorated with silvery fleece. There was a small and intricate padlock attached on the latch. She picked it up and turned it around to inspect it. There was a faint sound of something grainy inside.
The padlock was unlocked, so she took it off the latch and placed it on the bed side table. Then very carefully, heart in throat, she opened the snuffbox.
Inside the small container, there were some dark and beady materials. They were slightly bigger than grains of sand. As far as the Drow could tell, they reminded her of tapioca pearls, the translucent spheres produced from starch extracted of the cassava root. In the world she came from, they were key component of a very known beverages. Though she doubted these were tapioca pearls.
"Interesting looking things, no?" Serena commented after cranking her head around to see what it is.
"And rare." It took the Drow female some time to find her voice. "These are Zurkhwood Spores."