Veleth easily remembered the way and hurried them back, shouldering a path through the growing crowds. This was the first time the twins had ever fully opened up and they had...dropped quite the weight on him. He was eager to see this solved.

Gyrmallion kept a careful eye on the crowds themselves. Most people ignored them, aside from curiosity over the mixed group. But he noticed several people who paid particular attention to them-and returned the favor, taking careful note of features and expressions.

Veleth rushed into the inn. "Da, we need...clarification on something."

Jorun had a ton of notes everywhere but heard the note of concern clear enough in his son's voice that he was able to tear himself away.

The others looked to the twins to see if they would repeat their story,or if someone else would have to recap for them.

The twins shifted and Veleth took pity on them, sparing them from telling the story twice. "So...did the Armigers have anything to do with this?" He asked once he finished.

"Outside Kragenmoor?" Jorun seemed genuinely shocked. "No. By and large, we leave the ashlanders alone, unless we catch wind of a raid and then we just redirect them to a bandit hideout and let them kill each other. I certainly never would order a whole tribe killed and you don't want to know what I'd do if I heard one of them disobeyed orders and did something like this. You said you have the pendant. May I see it?"

Min slowly pulled it out. He had kept it close ever since he had picked it out of his mother's hand. Carefully, hesitantly, he held it out.

Jorun looked it over. "Well, that's our symbol." He flipped it over. "But not our pendant. A good forgery; but all of ours are numbered. This is scratched and beaten up and broken but the numbers would be here, on the western point, showing how we went west from Vivec to Blacklight. Someone wanted to blame us. But...why? And why your tribe?"

Gyrmallion frowned, closing his eyes. "When did this happen?"

"Twenty-two years ago." Zeb said. "Twenty-three next month."

"It is...almost a reflex to blame the Thalmor, even for me. But we really did not consider the Armigers an active threat until Morrowind rebelled, so we would not have bothered to...impersonate them at that time." He frowned. "So...who in Morrowind knew about the Armigers and resented them at the time? The tribe was...almost certainly just in the wrong place. Someone was creating an atrocity. I suspect the bodies were supposed to be found, along with the false pendant: perhaps Ashlanders are despised, but the slaughter of an entire tribe-especially the baby-would be sure to rouse outrage."

"Someone very familiar with how we view that sort of thing. However...they didn't count on someone taking care of the bodies." Jorun frowned. "A few things stand out to me. First of all, no footprints, no sign at all. A very skilled assassin. Secondly, ashlander warriors are not pushovers, no matter how small the tribe. They are vicious foes to have. The hunters can sneak up on a herd of panicked guar and none of them will notice. None of the tribe is a pushover, really. Only the infant I would say is truly helpless. For all of them to be killed? That's...incredible and not in a good way. Lastly, the ashkhan sent just you two away? Two boys alone? Don't give me that, we all know you two lied about your age. The ashkhan knew something was about to happen."

"Had anything...unusual happened in the days leading up to the attack?" Gyrmallion asked. "A stranger near the tribe, for example?"

"No. We had just gotten there." Min said, relaxing a bit now that he knew it wasn't the Armigers and that they were showing interest in figuring this out. "We stayed away from roads and villages. All we were told was to stay away from the caves. We...weren't sure what caves they were talking about."

''I'm not sure I can help there,'' Gyrmallion admitted, glancing at Jorun helplessly. ''The landscape of Morrowind was never one of my studies.''

Jorun grunted. "And Kragenmoor is not one of my usual places. I know of it but it was highly contested territory. I was starting to push in that direction when..." He made a shooing motion. "However, we apparently have someone coming tomorrow who is from that area. I'll come up with as many theories as I can on this, twins. We won't let this fade. And don't be afraid to speak up. I don't think anyone in this group is going to throw it back in your face."

There was a united shaking of heads. No, nobody here would throw something like this back at anyone. The twins looked a bit abashed.

"Only taken this long to pound that notion into your heads." Veleth sighed. "Hopefully it sticks this time."

''In the meantime,'' Gyrmallion suggested, ''the baths sound like a good idea all around. I certainly know I'm going to be sore tomorrow otherwise and he was...much harder on you two. A nice long soak in hot water will go a long way to easing those bruises, and stiff muscles."

"When you get back, I have something else for you." Jorun said.

The Chii Chare smiled. ''Why wait? Come with us.''

"That's probably not a bad idea." Jorun slid all he had been working on into a neat, inconspicuous pile.

"We'll be able to catch up with Zak, Drizzt, and Nevano that way, too. They'll probably go straight there after they're finished sparring."

"Provided it won't take an hour for Zak to cool off." Veleth said.

"True." Gyrmallion considered. "Though...it might not take that long. He actually looked like he was calming down a little when we left."

"Oh good. He won't try to drown them, then." Veleth wasn't entirely unconvinced Zak wouldn't shred them the next time they sparred. He certainly had the control to just slice their skin up just enough to show his irritation. It wasn't altogether undeserved though, and Veleth did understand that. Though his usual method was to break noses.

"I strongly doubt Zak would drown anyone," Gyrmallion muttered. "Seemed more likely to me to start removing limbs first."

Veleth laughed as he headed out the door. "True, true. I'm probably thinking too much about what an Armiger would do."

"Was that your method, dunking them in the harbor?" Gyrmallion asked Jorun teasingly. He glanced across the people in the square as they started walking down to the baths.

"Once." Jorun smiled. "Mostly I just advised against walking around outside the city, especially at night. There were some salt marshes around. Wander off the road and some folk just disappear. Morrowind is a dangerous place, you know. Especially when you went left out of the gates. Took you to the coast. Formation of three rocks down there. Always had some sneaky creature hiding in them."

Gyrmallion laughed, but his laughter soon sounded slightly forced. "Sneaking creatures indeed. And there's another, too, who just decided the jeweler's display is more interesting than us. Though it wasn't before we headed out to train, or when we came back."

"Him and the group of three I just mentioned." Jorun's eyes never wavered. "I recognize one from the estate. I'd say...three parties at least."

"Probably the same ones watching us come in." Gyrmallion appeared unconcerned. "They're… new to this game, I would say. Sloppy."

"Exceedingly. While it's fun to play this game again, they aren't challenging. Not these ones anyway." Jorun said. "There are others here. My intuition is still readjusting to being alive again but it's telling me that our main problem is not around here. Not yet."

"No. He's good. I caught a glimpse of him while heading out, but he's been careful not to actually be seen again since. I'd express concern over Ravenlight heading out alone, but by now..."

"He's more interested in you." Jorun said. "And the sudden strength of the empire."

"That I'm happy with." Gyrmallion smirked. "Though as to the strength of the empire...well, I suspect it's been slowly building its strength back up where it couldn't be seen for a while. And that a certain ally might be responsible for much of it. Much like a splint applied to a broken bone."

"It'll be interesting to see how the other provinces react." Jorun said. "All this won't be over a week and someone is ready to start something."

"That has me a bit concerned, too," Gyrmallion admitted. He looked around. "And...I think this might very well be the one we were planning on entering. Good and close to the temple." He glanced over at Jorun with a smile. "Let's...see if we can tell who might be able to direct us to where we need to go."

"I...am going to enjoy working with you." Jorun smiled. "After you."

They entered the baths, heading to the men's section, each of them surreptitiously checking for any lingering odor of the sewers that could mark a guard who had been patrolling a hidden place beneath the temple. Gyrmallion stripped out of his clothing and entered the hot water with a long gasp of relief, a few people glancing over at him with mild surprise at just how many bruises covered him. The extent of the punishment he'd taken for the past two days had not been clear before.

The Dunmer, especially Veleth, had the good fortune of their skin tone hiding the lighter bruises. This made them seem...less mottled; but they were no less bruised.

"You know, thinking back, I remember seeing your name for the first time." Jorun grinned as he lounged back in the water. "It was one of the rare moments when my men were laughing when they brought it in."

"Oh?" Gyrmallion glanced over at him.

"Exactly what I said." Jorun chuckled. "They couldn't stop laughing long enough to say. Just dropped off their scroll and left. I have to say, they had a point. It was...an entire correspondence between several emissaries. One was tasked with one thing, he didn't want it, complained more than a toddler about it, passed it on and the rest of them were equally whiny. Finally, at the end, every single one of them said 'have Gyrmallion do it.'"

"That was...actually a fairly regular occurrence," he said wryly. "The curse of actual competence. What was it they needed done?"

"That I don't remember. It was something so simple and banal, they just didn't want to do it." Jorun smiled wryly. "However...it certainly made me note your name though."

"Could have been any one of a thousand things, then." He sighed. "I cleaned up after so many of them...there was talk, once, of simply making me an emissary, since I was actually doing most of the work of half of them."

"Wonder how high their paperwork piles are now." Jorun said.

"Heh. They had to find another solution after Morrowind proved I was right about the Armigers and they sent me to Fell's Run to try and head them off there." Gyrmallion smirked. "Though they're probably drowning in it now."

"The best part is, even if they figured it out once, I wasn't the one heading it anymore." Jorun grinned. "I'm willing to bet they haven't figured Drelasa out yet."

Gyrmallion laughed. "I didn't figure her out until after they threw me and mine to the vampires. She is...dangerous, and admirably so."

"More than a little!" Jorun agreed. "She's set more men running in terror than any dragon."

"Understatement..." Veleth muttered.

"Even having been in Skyrim for the return of the dragons, I think I agree." Gyrmallion briefly ducked beneath the water, then came up. "I'm...honestly glad I never had to face them, though. It was bad enough seeing that one take out the vampires while we were chained to those posts."

"I can imagine that being...unpleasant." Jorun made a face.

"To put it mildly." He stared into space. "It was...to be helpless like that, waiting for death by one way or another...the vampires would have been bad enough. But the dragon was...worse, odd as that sounds. Because it was something I couldn't predict. An unknown. When Drizzt and Ravenlight came to rescue us, I felt the ground shake behind us and I knew we were about to be eaten alive. When I heard voices instead, I almost couldn't believe I was really hearing them at first."

"We couldn't believe you were still alive." Nevano joined them. "You started without us."

"Didn't know how long you were going to be," Gyrmallion responded. "And...yes, once I realized-too late-that the Mute was there for me, I was fairly surprised to still be alive myself." He glanced over to see Drizzt and Zak coming out from the back themselves. "Got him calmed down finally, did you?"

"Would maybe have warned you if I had known while I was playing darts in your holding room but I didn't figure it out until after we left." Nevano said.

"There was no reason for you to have warned me then." Gyrmallion shrugged. "I was not exactly blind to the fact that you barely believed I was helping get you out in the first place."

"I believed Drizzt." Nevano shrugged. "Though I believe you now. I can't say I trust any better than I did before but I trust you all at least."

"Trust is earned." Gyrmallion leaned back. "It's...always been that way. Admittedly, Drizzt and Ravenlight have a way of earning it extremely fast...but it was still earned."

"Well you definitely proved me wrong. Which Nerevar won't stop cackling about. S'wit." Nevano rolled his eyes. "What did you find out about the..." He motioned at the twins.

"Our symbol but not our pendant," Jorun answered. "And definitely nothing I'd ever give an order to or condone. Something deeper happened there but until Relas gets here, I'm a bit at a standstill. Though...not something I'm going to shove aside. Something about those caves..."

"What caves?"

The two Drow approached, Zak not doing more than giving the twins a scowl. On the whole, it appeared that their sparring session had done them both good. The twins, for their part, did look a bit shame-faced.

"We aren't sure. Before the whole tribe was wiped out, the twins were told to stay away from the caves." Jorun shook his head. "They aren't sure and none of us are familiar with the area. Relas is but he won't be here until tomorrow. I can't shake the feeling that we need to know about those caves. Even without it being strange that the ashkhan...all but sent these two away before the massacre happened."

"Their tribe was wiped out?" Both Drow suddenly looked...well, alert was probably the easiest word. Drizzt looked horrified; Zak both sickened and...oddly enough, guilty. "What happened?"

"We...were sent out to hunt when we got to our new camp." Min said this time. He felt he owed it to Zak to explain. "Told to stay away from the caves, no other explanation given. But, as I said, you don't question the ashkhan or the wisewoman...especially when she's your mother. So we did as told, went out hunting. When we came back, they had all been killed. Even our mother, our sister and the infant in the tribe. The only sign we had was a pendant our mother held. We...vith." He shuddered, swallowing a little.

"The pendant had the symbol of the Buoyant Armigers on it." Jorun picked up for him. "It's left them rattled for the last year once they realized what it was. Though they know now to not hold on to something like that. Our symbol; but not our pendant. We are spies, not butchers. If a Dunmer did something like this, he is on consideration for shuned."

The Drow exchanged a look. "I...would want to investigate those caves," Drizzt said slowly. "But carefully. Or...with Ravenlight, much as I almost don't want to say that. It almost sounds like..."

"One of the nastier customs of Drow society," Zak finished. "It is-or it was, it's become harder-a sort of...mass sacrifice. Certain Houses wishing to curry favor with Lolth will put together a group of warriors and destroy a surface town. Completely, down to the children." He glanced over at Drizzt.

"It was...one of those that was really the turning point for me," Drizzt admitted quietly. "A small town of surface Elves. I did not participate; in fact, I saved a young girl from the others. It was that which marked me for death."

"But there is no reason for a group of Drow to try and frame the Armigers," Gyrmallion pointed out. "Especially not a hidden clan in the caves that no one else knew about. The pendant would not be there, if that had been the case."

"We also haven't had reports of any sort to indicate Drow." Jorun said. "Though I can't say it's not possible. We are still, technically, at war with Blackmarsh, though it's more a cold war at this point. Still, they would wipe out whole villages and did but those all bore the signs of Argonians and nothing else. That was all in southern Morrowind. In the Stonefalls, where Kragenmoor is, we haven't had whole villages wiped out. Attacks are usually from the larger, more aggressive tribes but they don't kill children. They might steal them to raise as their own, though."

"Jorun, someone was calling you." Nevano spoke up. "There was something hidden in those caves, something dangerous or powerful. Not the first tribe to run across that, since they cover the province pretty handily. You said the ashkhan sent them away? He chose them to live. He knew. If he sent all the children, whoever attacked them would notice. And the twins...probably had the best chance at surviving. But whoever killed them wanted you to know."

"That's...something I hadn't thought of," Gyrmallion admitted. "I assumed something was trying to frame the Armigers with the pendant-and I knew they were creating an atrocity, something that even the civilized people would notice. A murdered tribe of Ashlanders might not garner much attention or sympathy-but making sure to kill any children? Especially an infant?"

"Flattered." Jorun said flatly. "Except I can't think of anyone who would be strong enough to wipe out a whole tribe of ashlanders, warriors and all, smart enough to know what our pendants look like and twisted enough to commit such a crime. I do agree with Drizzt. We need to figure out where these caves are and what is in them."

"After we deal with the vampires," Drizzt said, leaning back in the water. "Gods, there's just...so much to deal with."

Jorun said nothing, frowning, his eyes distant.

"Even with all that...I'm sorry for snapping at you, Zak." Min said. "I shouldn't have been...I don't want to lose anyone again."

Zak shrugged, not particularly perturbed. "I can see where that happened. Just...don't refuse to fight again after asking me for training. That stunt would have gotten you killed in Menzoberranzan-by your trainer."

"We make terrible Drow, we know." Min said with a flash of his usual humor.

"Actually, so do I," Drizzt said lightly.

"Think we all do." Veleth said.

"Which is why he and I can walk around openly and not have guards following us or people crossing to the other side of the street." Zak shrugged.

"And here we have no clue. Our underground mer either poofed themselves out of existence or...are Falmer." Nevano said.

Zak frowned in confusion, not having encountered them; but Drizzt shuddered. "And those are quite enough."

"Anyway...Jorun? You find anything out about Numidium?" Nevano asked.

"Yes..." Jorun said, still obviously distracted.

"Uh oh, that look means work." Nevano said worriedly.

"Some of us aren't bothered by that," Gyrmallion said, his lips quirking to the side.

"That's because you haven't been sent on any of his little errands yet." Veleth sighed. "'Go talk to a general' becomes 'we cleared a whole city of undead Ordinators and a damned lich'."

"And two shades. And thousands of ghosts...aaaand the goblins. Oh, and the durzogs." Nevano ticked off.

"Zombie High Ordinators...ugh..." Veleth shuddered.

"Fifteen years of cleaning up after half the Thalmor emissaries in Tamriel," Gyrmallion returned. "I think I would have been happy to fight a lich in exchange."

"Not your average lich. He was a mean, nasty little s'wit as a regular mer." Nevano said. "I hated him then. Hated him worse as a lich. And he was powerful, sucking on the souls of all who died in Mournhold when the Argonians razed it to the ground. Nerevar had to help win that and it nearly dissolved his soul entirely. I got Nerevar back only about four months ago after that fight."

"Mmm...maybe not that happy, then." He shrugged. "It would have got me out of dancing attendance on those...lapdogs, though."

"You two are never going to drop that, are you?" Jorun's eyes focused a bit.

"Almalexia was in that temple!" Nevano didn't quite flail, but his eyes flashed gold for a moment.

"What?!" Veleth sat up. "You never said that!"

"Thought I did. Not her, her shade." Nevano said. "People still don't want to believe it but I killed her. She was very dead. Just haunting the place."

"Is that why you blew the temple up?" Drizzt asked innocently.

"Nerevar was so disappointed he wasn't around to watch that bitch's temple get blown sky high." Nevano grinned. "I hope her rotted corpse in the Clockwork City flinched when the rest of it fell into the sewers where it belongs."

Zak suddenly wrinkled his nose, glancing toward a small group of guards who had just come in. Drizzt looked over as well, though his expression was less disgust and more sudden, sharp interest.

"Those guards," he said softly. "They smell of the sewer. Not strongly, but-it's on them."

"So...we were right." Nevano murmured happily. "Let's see if they get gossipy."

"Which of us can get closer to them without arousing suspicion?" Gyrmallion said. "They're not going to breathe a word if they think I'm in earshot. Habit."

Jorun looked over at Farkas and Vilkas.

"Fair," Vilkas agreed. He moved through the water with a surprising surreptitiousness, Farkas following at a distance, until they were just within earshot of the arriving guards. The others waited, chatting a little about a few pertinent things-mostly wondering just how much chaos Drelasa's plan was going to cause-while they waited for the two Nords.

Jorun had no idea what to tell them in regards to what his wife had planned. He knew it would work, it always did. But he did regale them with the tale of how, in order to get Thalmor off their tail, Drelasa had set an entire stable of Thalmor horses loose in the middle of Blacklight...then secured their escape by setting the entire stable on fire.

"I remember hearing about that," Gyrmallion said with a laugh. Then he looked over at the brothers, who had both perked up like hounds on a scent.

"The Thalmor arrested her for it...and regretted it richly." Jorun said, watching them. "Relas and I went after her, fully intending on rescuing my darling wife. We ended up rescuing the Thalmor from her."

"I believe that," Gyrmallion agreed. "Though I did not hear about it...shouldn't be surprised, though. Morrowind was...almost a punishment detail, believe it or not; which meant that the best were not sent there. They would not admit to something like that happening."

Jorun chuckled darkly. "Other than getting her there, they couldn't touch her. She ripped them to shreds. Thing is...she didn't use an ounce of magic. As soon as any of them got within striking range, she clawed them up like a wild cat. Any who didn't back off after that learned that she has a mean right hook. Every single one of them had bloody faces. Had no problem getting her out, really."

"I have no trouble believing that, either. And they definitely would not have reported that." He shook his head. "Idiots."

"Didn't even have to manipulate the situation." Jorun said. "Every mistake they could have possibly made, they made it."

Gyrmallion shook his head. "I mentioned more than once that exiling our… embarrassments to oversee things in Morrowind was going to lead to trouble. Though until I heard about the incident where they tried to hijack...well..." he nodded to Jorun, "your funeral...I did not realize just how much trouble."

"As I said: every possible mistake." Jorun said.

"They're still making them," Drizzt commented. He gave the Chii Chare a smile. "Though I think they've already made their worst."

"Their mistakes are our boons." Jorun agreed. "And friends. I'm really looking forward to telling Relas and Garil this."

"Hopefully I won't have to fight another venomous hybrid to convince them," Gyrmallion said, half-joking.

"Drelasa has a different plan in mind to convince Relas." Nevano said.

"He's not even the one I was worried about." Jorun said. "What is she up to this time?"

"I heard something about a horse race," Drizzt said.

"No that's her idea to cripple the Thalmor." Nevano said. "She's introducing Relas to Elealda."

"Oh. Oh!" Gyrmallion forced back a burst of laughter. "Oh my word. That...might well do the trick."

Veleth's eyes went wide.

"Well! I..." Jorun blinked. "Vith! I'm torn between wildly amused, highly impressed and...that...that might work. In all honesty...I don't think Relas ever hated the Thalmor. They annoyed him but his ire was directly purely at the Mutes."

"She is..." Gyrmallion shook his head and laughed. "She'd never given herself time for that before. But now...oh, this will be fun to watch."

"Didn't you say Relas was married once?" Nevano said. "He's going to trip over himself and it's going to be amazing because he's as bad as you about not reacting."

"Widowed." Jorun said. "A story a bit similar to Gyrmallion's, unfortunately."

Gyrmallion's hand went to his side, where the lantern was, for one of the few times since he'd gained it, not hanging there.

"Despite that...he was still the one who reminded everyone that we were rebelling for Morrowind...not just Dunmer. We were not to go against any of our non-Dunmer residents." Jorun said. "He pushed that hard."

"That was one of the reasons Ravenlight fought back against the Stormcloaks in Skyrim," Drizzt mused. "Ulfric paid lip service to the idea of only getting rid of the Empire and the Thalmor; but many of his high-ranking men had a passionate hatred for anyone who wasn't a Nord. Particularly his second-in-command."

"Blacklight was pretty much a neighbor to Windhelm. We heard...quite a bit." Jorun's tone suggested he heard more than that. "It humbled quite a few Dunmer. The world we live in no longer allows for that. Actually, I'm not sure it ever did, to be honest."

"Summerset is probably the one place that can still pretend," Gyrmallion said. "Which is...likely most of the problem."

"They are about to learn. For the third time." Jorun gave a wry smile. "Here they come."

"Found out where," Vilkas reported, a pleased smile on his face. "Not a sewer entrance, though it's down there. They've got a hidden door in the Temple of the One itself. Apparently some damage from the battle knocked a hole down there? They didn't mention where it was, but I bet we can find it."

"Go by smell again." Nevano said. "If the more sensitive noses can't find it...we have a wolf."

"You are going to take full advantage of that, aren't you?" Jorun asked in amusement.

"I'm shocked it took you this long to realize that." Nevano said.

"Got more than one," Farkas pointed out, flopping back into the water and creating a small tidal wave. "Aela came. And we don't have the wolf anymore, but we can still smell pretty good."

"Yeah, but it's far more fun to make Jorun do it." Nevano grinned. Jorun rolled his eyes.

"We'll need to bring the others, I think," Gyrmallion said. "At least Ravenlight; and likely Drelasa. Some others who will help convince anyone there that my arrival won't...mean the worst."

"A bunch of daedra-worshipping dark elves, what they think is a Thalmor and a bunch of strangers walking into an illegal shrine to retrieve a daedric artifact." Nevano said. "You better come up with one of those little speeches you are so good at giving and hopefully we don't have to have Farkas sit on them to get them to listen to it."

"That's one of the reasons I want Ravenlight along," he said without heat. "If she has another one of those Daughter of Akatosh moments in the temple...which I somehow think she might..."

"That'll work too." Nevano said.

"Which will at least help convince them that we're not...there to destroy the shrine."

"You still have that amulet of Talos?" Nevano asked.

Gyrmallion nodded.

"I'd wear that." Nevano said. "It'll help."

He nodded. "It...it will. I suppose I should start wearing it now anyway, what with...what we've learned."

"Don't force yourself to if you are still all squirmy about it." Nevano said. "Get used to it first. I mean, you pretty much got slapped with it. Surprise!"

"I am still trying to wrap my head around it," he admitted. "It's more than a little incredible."

"Yeah I...understand that." Nevano gave him a bit of a rueful smile.

"Talos...I certainly accept it now." He looked at Nevano. "The coin you gave me-it saved my family. I put it in the lantern, to help give them a safe place. And I know it was that power Auranwe tapped into when she helped us against that hybrid yesterday, which probably saved us down there. I just...still don't understand why."

"I can understand that. Really well, actually." Nevano said. " 'Why' is often not important to the gods. They chose you. To them, that's often explanation enough. I still don't know why I was ever chosen for Nerevar to share a space with or to go crawling into a volcano. Though, you might have better luck finding out why than me."

"Maybe." He leaned back. "I...might ask, when we go to find the shrine."

"Hopefully, he'll answer. Azura didn't but she also likes to think that because she said so, it's good enough." Nevano rolled his eyes.

"There is that danger with gods," Drizzt agreed with a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, she was ever so pleased with herself. Another cave that held something that the Ashlanders kept secret." Nevano groused. " 'Eye of the needle lies in the teeth of the wind'. No, Nibani, it was a cave in a canyon in the exact middle of nowhere. Where a bunch of ghosts, a god and a dead king all decided to talk to me at once. Pardon me for not being all that gracious about accepting this...honor."

"Though it was Azura speaking to you," Drizzt pointed out. "Not, oh, Meridia or Mara or someone completely unexpected."

"Azura would have been fine on her own. I could have handled that. After all, she spoke to me on the way to Vvardenfell. That wasn't the problem." Nevano said. "My problem came about when I realized I was surrounded by mummified bodies and their ghosts were all talking to me. The part that made me pass out was when a certain someone that lives in a corner of my head chose that precise moment to introduce himself for the first time."

"Almost comparable to the moment I first realized that the Dov wasn't just...Ravenlight's inner demon, as it were," Drizzt said. "We were in Saarthal, an ancient Nordic ruin; we'd just fought and defeated an unusually powerful draugr, but she'd been hurt badly enough to need to rest. While she was sleeping...her eyes opened and started watching me." He shook his head. "I'd seen them turn garnet before. But never so...obviously. I'm frankly grateful she didn't speak to me that first time."

"Because being in an old ruin surrounded by freeze-dried old Nords isn't creepy enough." Nevano laughed at the look on Veleth's face. "You had surprise dragon eyes watching as well. Both our situations did turn out friendly in the end. Friendly dragon and all the mummified bodies in that cave were...failed Nerevarines before me that only wanted to help. And Nerevar. Though we were not on friendly terms at the time."

"She wasn't exactly...I wouldn't say she was not on friendly terms with the Dov, then, but I will say she didn't trust her then. For a long while, we were concerned that that part of her would try to take over the rest."

"Good thing it didn't. She is...powerful." Nevano said.

"Very." Drizzt and Zak spoke at the same time.

"Rather glad of it or she, Nerevar, Vel, Sul and I would have all died." Nevano said.

"They...temper each other," Drizzt said. "The dragon is powerful, ferocious, and will not back down; the Bosmer is warm, self-giving, and nurturing. Once they learned to work together...well, Uliamu had it right when she called her Dragon Mother."

"Actually, all of us. At several points. That was only one instance." Nevano amended. "And Uliamu...she'd see it. Probably why they showed up so fast on Vvardenfell."

Zak smirked to himself, as if remembering something, and chuckled.

"What?" Nevano asked.

"Just thinking of someone. And wondering if he knows how dangerous his...favorite pastime really is."

"She and I both warn him constantly," Drizzt said wryly.

Nevano blinked, tilting his head.

"Jarlaxle," Drizzt clarified. "He's the one person I know of who consistently rubs her the wrong way. Every wrong way, every time they meet. There are times I'm genuinely surprised she hasn't murdered him."

"Oh. Yes. I've heard." Nevano said. He started to say more but jerked up as shrieks and squeals suddenly rang out from the women's side of the bathhouse. "Oh... that's probably our cue to leave."

"Nikki?" There were several heaved sighs.

"Kinda what happens when you have a mad god around..." Nevano did give the water a suspicious glance. "What she did is...well, depends on what they did."

"We should have brought Drelasa," Drizzt muttered.

"Might not have stopped Nikki..." Nevano got out of the water, heading for the dressing room.

"No, but she could have hauled her out, which none of us can."

Before Nevano could get too far from the water, there was a crash and a yelp and Nikki, naked as the day she was born, flew in, crashing into Nevano and sending them both crashing backwards into the pool. "IDIDNTDOITGETITOUUUUUUT!"

The bathhouse nearly erupted as several dozen naked men either gawked or scrambled to cover themselves.

"NIKKI! KU'ILM AS N'CHOW?!" Nevano yelled, struggling to get out from under her and stand.

"THERE'S A SNAKE! I HATE SNAKES!"

"A-what?!" Drizzt stood, his mind briefly flashing to a story Ravenlight had told of when her prankster brother might or might not have put a five-foot-long water snake in their family's bathing pool. "How did a snake get into the bathhouse?"

Nikki babbled incoherently, totally oblivious to the uproar she had caused amongst the other patrons...and her own companions.

Meanwhile, the shrieks next door continued...then a masculine voice bellowed and the shrieks renewed with vigor, followed swiftly by a male yelping as whatever was within reach was thrown at him.

"That was singularly unwise of him," Drizzt muttered, looking around as if trying to figure out how to attract the snake into their side of the bathhouse so that it could be dealt with safely. "Now I wish we'd brought Ravenlight."

Jorun calmly got out of the pool and disappeared to the changing room, swiftly reappearing with a towel around himself and one he threw on Nikki, derailing her chatter, and shot a heated glare at the gawkers, scattering them. "Nikki. Snake."

"I didn't do it!" She insisted. "I hate snakes! This one crawled up from the drain! RIGHT UNDER ME!"

"Nevano, hold her still, please," Drizzt said calmly, walking to the door dividing them and kneeling down, whispering something with the cadence of both a prayer and a spell at the same time. A greenish glow like sunlight shining through summer leaves surrounded him.

Nevano wrapped the towel around her before it fell off entirely.

A moment later, the screams intensified, coupled with the sound of people hastily moving away from a certain area. Then a large black snake slithered through the door, heading straight to Drizzt.

The eruption from the others was immediately and impressive, with most bolting from the pool as soon as the snake cleared the door.

"Wow. They...moved faster than the women." Nikki blinked, calmer now that she suddenly appeared on Nevano's shoulders, nearly sending him crashing back to the ground.

Nevano was staggering badly enough that Farkas-though he was keeping a wary eye on the snake-went over to give him a hand. Drizzt picked up the snake and stood, keeping his gaze locked on its face.

"It's not venomous," he said. "Though I don't know where it came from. Probably the sewers."

Veleth sighed. "Vaermina's rotted tits...no, Nikki has nothing to do with this..."

"Boethiah, then?" Drizzt looked back at him.

"A 'hurry up' notice." Veleth scowled. "Though better than her other favorite messenger."

"Possibly meaning things are getting dangerous and she wants Goldbrand in our hands as quickly as possible." He sighed. "All right. Let's get back to the inn; and I'll probably need something to put this in or we're going to cause panic all the way back."

They were able to dry off enough to get dressed fairly quickly, and a short cloak was found that could be tied tightly enough to keep the snake from crawling out of it-though no one but Drizzt would touch the resulting bag.