"Auntie! Look what I brought back!"

A small elf child, who appeared to be about ten in appearance, ran up to the woman. She was cloaked in mostly black, and always wore a black veil across her face.

However the elf child never once questioned the fact his auntie cared about him. She was perfectly honest about the fact she was not blood related to him, and what happened to his parents.

"Good work," she said.

The boy had managed to hunt for their dinner. Independence and curiosity was something she fostered in the boy, and he absorbed her lessons eagerly. She was strict, but fair, even if he still had no idea about her history.

Once he was old enough she took him on small quests to gain experience and knowledge of the world around him. People became accustomed to the sight of the black-garbed mage and her 'nephew'.

While she might not have birthed the boy herself, he was still her family and she would treat him better than her own (of either life) had to her.

"Auntie...can we practice swords again today?" said the boy.

"Of course Ren. Your skills as an archer are acceptable, but your sword skills still need work before they're acceptable."

What she didn't tell him was that she was leaving soon. She had heard rumors of elves...high ranking ones...in the next city looking for something. She suspected it was her nephew as she had made very little effort to hide his family crest once she deemed him old enough to wear it.

Ren was very eager to learn...soon he'd be at a level where she couldn't teach him. He had very little interest in magic, and honestly she refused to teach him half the things she knew because she didn't think it was a smart idea for a noble elf child to know how to cast drow magic.

She had been torn enough when she taught him how to fight using every sense besides his eyes... she used up a lot of bruise balm those two months before he got the hang of it.

When he fell asleep, she went into town. And the second she saw the elves she knew they were there for Ren.

She did not tarry long. It would be child's play for them to find the cabin, and she wanted to make sure Ren knew she was leaving him out of love and necessity and nothing else.

Ren yawned as he came out of his room. He had heard the door open far sooner than it normally did.

"Auntie, how come you're home early?"

She smiled and patted his head.

"Go back to sleep Ren. Morning comes all too soon this night," she said gently.

Ren blinked, but did as she told him. Auntie would never hurt him.

By morning, she had vanished entirely from the area...and had left behind a note under the items she promised to leave him once he completed his training.

Starting to panic, he read the note.

"Ren

Inside town are several high elves that are likely looking for you. I wish I could have stayed with you longer, however my kind are downright hated by most elves and it would only cast suspicion if they knew that I had taken you in.

For your own sake, do not mention the fact it was a dark skinned elf that took you in. My kind earned the reputation they have for a reason...I am an anomaly among them.

Know that I did not leave because you did anything wrong or that they forced me away. I left because they have the ability and resources to continue your training further than I could have, and that my presence would only hinder that. When you are an adult and more knowing of the ways of this world, we may meet again. You will always be my beloved nephew.

Cerridwen."

Ren had managed to keep his tears in check. He knew the letter for what it was...and that there was a strong reason his auntie kept her features hidden. Very rarely did she permit him to see her true face.

He knew she was an elf, but that for certain reasons she lied about a disfigurement to avoid trouble from others.

His auntie was right...the elves had come for him. He had an uncle in one of their kingdoms who had paid a high bounty to have him found and returned, since they failed to find the child that the caravan had with them. Cerridwen hadn't bothered overly much to hide Ren's existence among others.

As his auntie predicted...the elves reacted badly to questions about "dark skinned elves" and were more than happy to enlighten him about how horrible they were. Ren...honestly had trouble equating the horrible drow with his auntie.

Then again, she did say she was an anomaly among her kind. From the sound of things, they mostly worshiped the evil goddess Lolth as a rule...but his aunt was a devout worshiper of Loki and made no secret of it.

She had encouraged him to find a god (or goddess) that he would feel comfortable about serving. She held no grudges against other worshipers. Well, mostly.

He could recall several times she had placed mean prank spells on worshipers of evil gods that no one really liked.

It would be several decades before he finally tracked down his auntie...he would appreciate her sage advice, even if he hated the fact that she had to leave so abruptly.

She had gained too much attention as a mage...it would be better to lay low for a decade or two away from adventures and make a living away from prying eyes.

Drow were hated for good reason, and she understood that.

For the next decade she made a living as a singer...it allowed her to rebuild the nest egg she had before she saved Ren. It also gave her a chance to improve certain skills she had allowed to partially lapse in favor of raising and training a child.

It had been close to fifty years since she had left the Underdark...ten of which she spent training Ren. She had barely been a girl of fifty years when she fled the Underdark in favor of the surface.

Compared to the sixteen years she had spent as a witch, her life as a human had been a mere blink of an eye.

Just to be safe, she kept on the road as much as possible and eventually ended up in a place known best as Icewind Dale. She lived in one of the Ten Towns as they were called. If one were to describe a place that was isolated enough that the elves would no follow easily, Icewind Dale was among the top ten of that list.

There was another reason that drove her there, but she honestly couldn't remember what it was. Just that she had heard of the place before, knew some of the people there even if she had never met them, and that it would contain a powerful ally if she needed one.

It was a cold, dreary place and the coin wasn't that great considering people fought to earn a living here, but it was still safer than the larger cities for a while.

Fortunately it seemed seamstresses were not in high supply, so she had something to supplement her income with.

It was partly due to her work as a seamstress that she ended up meeting the current mayor of Lonelywood, Regis. And through him, she learned of the odd ranger that lived alone in in the icy lands above.

"So you wish to give him something nice as a present?" said Cerridwen.

"He is a good man in spite of his birth, and living alone in this place is harsh. He doesn't have many material possessions," explained Regis. "I was hoping to get a good cloak or something that would keep him warm."

Cerridwen hummed.

"I can make something like that. Is there a time frame involved?"

Something was tickling at the edge of her memory. Something important.

"Within the next month or two would be preferable," said Regis.

She did a mental calculation. It was doable, but would cut into her singing.

Once she got the supplies needed, she got to work. A ranger faced great dangers in exchange for little thanks. And working in a place as cold and relentless as the dale was even worse.

She cast protections spells, warming charms to make the wandering the icy plains a bit more tolerable that would last a while, and considering snow blindness was very much a thing, a special spell on the hood so that it would dim the natural light reflected off the snow and make it easier to see in the distance. She also hid little pockets inside the cloak that could carry small items or the odd potions.

Regis was more than happy to supply her with the finishing piece. A clasp in the shape of the goddess Mielikki, as the ranger was a devout worshiper.

It was all rather exhausting, but rewarding work.

With Regis...

Drizzt's expression when he saw the new cloak was rather amusing, in his opinion. Though to be fair his expression only changed when he flipped the hood on.

"Where did you get this?"

"There's a rather skilled seamstress in Lonelywood. She even gave me a discount when I said it was for a ranger," said Regis. He had heard what she charged from others...it was all rather reasonable, if high prices, but he hadn't known the thing was enchanted with heavy protections until Drizzt had mentioned something.

Most mages he knew that could do enchantments charged through the nose for it.

Regis looked at the expression on Drizzt's face.

"Is something wrong?"

"It may be nothing, but the spell used on the hood worries me," he admitted. "The last time I felt magic like this, it was in the Underdark."

Regis shivered at the mere mention of that place.

Still, he didn't think the woman had cast anything malicious. She was rather quiet and sold good healing potions at a fraction of what most mages would charge, especially to the fishermen and the defenders of the town.

While no one had ever seen her face, there was no doubting she was a kind person. One who had a rather unfortunate disfigurement, but Ten Towns was a place where people generally honored the concept of privacy.

Drizzt put the matter out of mind for now, but it would bug him. Though he would admit, the spell on the hood did make his life easier, as it allowed his eyes to see farther without hurting.

Cerridwen had a headache. She had to go up the mountain to visit the dwarves to get her special loom equipment repaired. She could cast a spell and sew entire outfits in short order, but she couldn't fix a loom when components went missing. It was rather vexing and the part was too fiddly for any of the shops to have it.

Every single person she asked on the matter pointed to the dwarves as the ones to get the replacement part.

She was so busy grumbling to herself about the matter that she almost missed the large bear nearby.

It did not ignore her presence. The thing was hungry, and she was easy prey in it's opinion.

Swords flashed, blood was spilled on the snow.

Cerridwen might not have fought recently, but she still had her old instincts.

Unnoticed to her, there was a figure observing the entire fight... and he was frowning at the sight of it. Not about the fact that the woman could fight, but at the way she fought. He knew those stances intimately.

The bear lashed out, it's paw clipping her head. She swayed, but still managed the killing blow.

However it was clear she was still dizzy, for she was out cold moments later.

Drizzt didn't think twice on the matter. Regis had commented that the mystery mage who made his cloak would likely head to the dwarves to get her loom repaired, and he had been curious.

He carefully picked her up, frowning at how light she was. He took her to a nearby cave until she woke up on her own.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he found when he pushed aside the veil. Regis claimed she had a disfigurement from fighting a dragon.

The sight before him revealed the truth. The reason she hid her face...was because she was a drow.

Just like him.