Recursive fanfic: Forgotten Realms
Jul. 30th, 2022 11:42 amLone Drow, Pegasus, and Cat (5799 words) by Somariel
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Catti-brie (Dungeons & Dragons), Lilinthar Aerasumé, Fredegar Rockcrusher | Fret, Bruenor Battlehammer
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Implied/Referenced Canon-Typical Violence
Series: Part 4 of A Crossing of the Realms
Summary:
Inspired by![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
senmut and ilyena_sylph's fics Ranger and Pegasus, Lone Drow and Cat, and Lady’s Perspective.
This fic contains a certain amount of borrowing from "Lone Drow and Cat" and a little bit of borrowing from "Lady's Perspective", since some scenes from those fics are covered in this one, with alterations based on the changes caused by Bright Eyes's presence.
If you are confused by this fic, please go read the linked inspiring fics, as this fic very much assumes familiarity with them.
Lilinthar was hardly paying attention to the ground passing beneath him and Snowmane. Perhaps that was incautious, as they were between the Scrags and the Lurkwood, but the sun was high, and he was tired. Visiting in Longsaddle was always tiring.
Snowmane's sudden snort and muscle ripple startled him into looking down… and the meadow they were gliding over had a child… with a pegasus. No adults, though, and there were no hamlets here that Lin knew of. Nor was this an area in which he would have expected to see a pegasus.
“Illusion?” he asked his steed, who negated it with a snort. “Fly past and circle, dear one.”
His pegasus obliged, and a single loop was enough for Lin to be certain that that really was a child, frolicking in the meadow with only the other pegasus in sight.
“Down, then,” he said, “cautiously.”
They hadn’t gotten more than halfway down, however, when the other pegasus looked up and gave a friendly nicker.
That Snowmane returned it, and started descending less cautiously, was enough for a suspicion to spark in Lin’s mind, and when a drow in a green cloak, wearing twin scimitars, stepped out from under the trees, he knew it was correct.
While Bright Eyes’s nicker had been friendly, it had also led to Catti drawing in closer to her, which was enough for Drizzt to decide to step out of the shade in order to see who or what Bright Eyes had been greeting.
Another pegasus was not exactly surprising, but that it had a rider made him wary… until it landed and the rider called out, in a friendly tone, “I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting to see you and Bright Eyes near the Lurkwood, Drizzt, especially at this time of year. We’re a long way from your wintering cave.”
At that, Drizzt relaxed, recognizing the rider as Lin. “It’s not my usual range, no, but I decided in the spring that we should take a long journey, to build up Bright Eyes’s flight stamina in preparation for her being old enough to ride safely.”
Catti, on hearing the friendly exchange between her ranger and the stranger, decided it was safe enough to leave Bright Eyes’s side, and started moving carefully towards the new pegasus.
The stranger getting off the pegasus caused her to stop, but when Bright Eyes trotted over to him and bumped her nose into his chest, she was reassured, and continued forward.
Once she was close enough, she held out her hand like Drizzt had taught her to do with Bright Eyes, and the new pegasus gently snuffled at it.
Lin, still stroking Bright Eyes’s neck, watched in amazement as the child—a girl, he could see now—so bravely approached Snowmane, despite her clear wariness of him. And when Drizzt came up beside him, he asked, “So how did you come to have the care of a child?”
“Goblin raid on the southern bank of the river, near Mirabar,” Drizzt replied. “Bright Eyes and I got there too late to save her parents and she could recall no other family.”
“And your experiences with humans have left you with a justified distrust of how an orphan might be treated,” Lin finished with a sigh. “I know you’re reluctant to ask others for help, but now that you have her to care for, I really think you should go to Silverymoon.
“And I mean in time for the winter, not in the spring. The people of Silverymoon know what it means for someone to have a pegasus friend, so there’s no risk that you’ll be turned away.”
Drizzt considered that for a bit. Lin was correct that it would be easier to care for Catti over the winter if they were living in a city, but there was still the issue of how he would pay for things. “But if I settle in Silverymoon in time for the winter, I will not also have time to empty all my treasure caches, nor retrieve my other belongings from the wintering cave, before winter sets in.”
“Thyl and I can do that for you,” Lin said, “and leave everything with Mielikki’s clerics in Silverymoon, if you’re willing to trust them that much.”
“It would not be an inconvenience for you?”
“Not at all. I’d be going to Silverymoon anyway, to tell Mother and the Ladyservant that you’re coming.”
“Then yes, please do.”
Alustriel was always pleased when her sons came to visit. She was delighted to arrange her lunch and afternoon to have time with them, taking them away on a picnic in one of her secret spots.
“While we love to visit, Mother,” Lin began, “I do actually have a purpose.”
“Generally,” Alustriel said, smiling indulgently.
“Remember that drow ranger we told you of last year?” Thyl said.
“The one with a young pegasus friend, who had no knowledge of Eilistraee?” Alustriel replied.
“Yes,” Lin said. “A couple weeks ago, I discovered that he’s become the guardian of a young human girl, and was able, on the strength of him having Bright Eyes, to convince him that they should come here before winter sets in.”
“But even with him having a pegasus friend, it will help if I am involved in smoothing the waters for him and the child,” Alustriel replied, nodding her understanding. “We live close enough to wild lands for a ranger to roam out to, certainly.
“Though I do admit to curiosity about how he came to have the care of a human child.”
“We’re going to talk to Glade’s staff as well,” Thyl said, “since he claims Mielikki as patron, but yes.”
“As for the child,” Lin said, “he’d come upon a goblin raid in the woods near Mirabar. He got there too late to save her parents, and his experiences with humans have left him with a justified distrust that they would do well by an orphan.
“So he kept her, and is raising her, teaching her as he goes. Found her at the beginning of summer.”
Alustriel shook her head a little… “I cannot blame him for not trusting humans to care for a child,” she said, “but I am very glad that you were able to convince him, as wintering in the wilds with a small child would have been a hard and dangerous thing.
“And since I don’t recall you mentioning it before, what is his name, so I can start that smoothing?”
“Drizzt Do’Urden. Carries scimitars. The girl’s name is Catti.”
“Drizzt Do’Urden,” Alustriel repeated, turning the name over in her mind and on her tongue. “Well. I will do what I can.”
While the guards at the Moorgate were well used to rangers and other adventurers arriving to spend the winter in Silverymoon, the group that approached early one morning, a few weeks before the Feast of the Moon, was still quite unusual.
The elf-height person wearing a sword belt and a cloak that was pulled up to shadow the face and cover the hair was unusual only in the concealment of their features, but that there was a pegasus walking beside them was not something the guards had ever expected to see with anyone other than the Lady’s sons. And when you added the small person—either a child or a halfling—only partially visible on the pegasus’s back, well…
That the probable elf kept one hand on the back of the small person made the squire on duty think it likely that the rider was a child, and that sparked a memory from a few weeks earlier, of Lilinthar and Inthylyn speaking to each of the Knights about a new ally and friend that would be coming to the city for at least the winter, a drow ranger with a pegasus friend and a child. She frowned to herself, trying to pull the name from her mind, It had been strange, harsh almost, but no worse than some dwarven names… Right! Drizzt Do’Urden.
“Easy,” she said to the guards, “be at ease, and remember what it means to have a pegasus friend and what we know of why our city is safe.”
“As you will, Squire,” the guards said, even as the group continued to approach.
The drow stopped at a distance close enough that the guards would be able to hear him without him needing to shout—yet it was also, the squire realized, one that was several feet beyond the reach of the lances the gate guards held—and the pegasus stopped beside him. Then he very deliberately reached up and flipped back his hood, to show his nature.
The younger of the guardsmen clenched a fist around his lance on seeing the jet-black skin, only to make himself relax when the pegasus gave a warning snort before turning enough to bump its nose into the drow’s chest.
After petting the pegasus’s neck for a little, the drow started the rest of the way to the gate.
“Hello the city,” he called as he continued forward, a wary yet hopeful look on his face.
“Welcome to Silverymoon, ranger,” Teela called, “you and your friend and charge are expected.”
Relief washed over the drow’s face, and he gave a small bow. “Thank you, then. My name is Drizzt Do’Urden, my pegasus friend is Bright Eyes, and Catti is the one riding Bright Eyes,” he told her. “We are seeking a place; where should we go to inquire?”
Teela spoke to the elder of the guards. “Cailan, would you escort Ranger Do’Urden and his companions to Mielikki’s Glade?” she asked, then looked to the ranger again. “We were asked to see you there when you came, and the directions might be confusing.”
“Aye, Squire,” Cailan said, accepting that this was the Lady’s will. And not only had some of the Tall Ones vouched for the drow, the drow had a pegasus friend of his own to vouch for his nature. “Ranger?” he invited, stepping down to lead the way into the city and to the sacred heart of the same.
“Thank you, again,” Drizzt said to the squire.
“You’re welcome,” she told him. “And my name is Teela, Squire to Knight Kolarven. Be well.”
“Teela, Squire,” Drizzt repeated, before they were moving inside the city.
For all that Drizzt had known that he could trust that Lin and Thyl would do as Lin had promised, it was still somewhat surprising to him that they actually had taken steps to make his life easier.
And he couldn’t entirely attribute it to Catti’s presence, as they had been quite willing to do the same when he first met them, even though he had been less willing to accept the help then.
The the city itself was taking his attention, and he was glad they’d come so early this morning. There were already people bustling all over, and while a few made an effort not to get close to him… more were looking curiously—at Bright Eyes as much as him, Drizzt felt—though at least there was little open staring, and some were even ignoring their passage, intent on their own errands.
Cailan told them the name of a few places they passed that the ranger might be interested in, shops for gear and a couple of places to get meals, a woman that made her living selling finished clothing, until they approached the ring of gigantic shadowtops with their copper-and-green leaves.
This was called Mielikki’s Glade, they had said, and as they approached, Drizzt felt… something. Something like peace, something like safety, but mostly it promised ‘home’ in a way he had never known.
Mielikki touched this place more even than the small shrine that Montolio had kept within his grove.
Catti shifted under his hand, and he looked over to see a wondering expression on her face. “Do you feel something, my little Cat?” he asked.
Catti nodded. “Feels… nice,” she said quietly, unable to describe what she was feeling better than that.
Cailan found the nearest river-rock path entrance and led them within, across the border ward and inside, winding through the carefully arranged berry-bushes and other wild plants that were now brown or bare in preparation for winter, but which would be lush and green come summer. The mosses, too, were thinning out for the colder weather, but were still thick and dense, towards the center.
One of the priest or priestesses, he knew, would come soon, but the ranger seemed a little… overwhelmed, so he would wait until they did and make introductions. In the meantime, it was pleasant to be in the Glade, to feel the peace of it.
In the home where the clergy lived, the Ladyservant felt the gentle notice of the wards, and then the faint nudge of her Lady’s will. Tathshandra wrapped another shawl around herself and went to the portal, then stepped through and headed towards the center of the Glade.
She did not expect one of the city guard, with a pegasus and two two-legged visitors. One was a small child, sitting on the pegasus’s back, and the other…
Oh. Well, Lilinthar and Inthylyn had warned her.
Drizzt was staring all around, Catti doing the same, based on the way she was shifting under his hand, before he felt eyes and turned that way.
An elder, wrapped in the grace of Mielikki, he knew, without even having the right words for it.
“Thank you, Cailan,” Drizzt said in his quiet voice, but he knew she was the one he now need to speak with. He moved in careful steps, Bright Eyes matching his pace, to go and greet the elder.
“Hello, Lady,” he said one he was at conversational distance. “The guards stated I should come here first. Drizzt Do’Urden, and Catti and Bright Eyes, at your service… and our goddess’s.” He knew in some unfathomable way this woman was Mielikki’s representative in this holy place.
“Hello,” Catti said in a bright voice, and Bright Eyes gave a friendly nicker.
“Welcome, Drizzt,” Tathshandra said, stretching out her hands to take his gently before she looked at the little girl and the pegasus with a smile, “and Catti and Bright Eyes. I am Tathshandra Tyrar, first of the clerics of our Lady in Silverymoon. My title is ‘Ladyservant’, but I do not ask it of anyone.
“I am glad you have come, and I believe our Lady is as well.”
She turned to look at the guardsman, and smiled. “Thank you… Cailan? I appreciate your guiding them here. May your day be blessed.”
Cailan bowed. “Grace of the Lady of the Forest on you, priestess. I should return to my duty.”
Drizzt waited for the guard to depart, then carefully lifted Catti off of Bright Eyes’s back and set her down on the ground, so she could prowl around and look at the plants while he talked with the priestess.
“I was told I would find welcome here, and came in hope, for Catti’s sake,” Drizzt said. “She needs more than the life of a ranger can provide, but… I admit that even with Bright Eyes, I still had some doubts that we would actually be allowed in.
“All I can offer are my skills, but I give them fully, if it means seeing her clothed and educated, able to be around others freely.” His own hunger for knowledge was secondary to all things until Catti was grown. She held the half of his heart that Bright Eyes didn’t, and she would grow strong; it was his mission now.
Tathshandra smiled at him, gentle and reassuring as she could. “While Silverymoon is a place of peace, outside the wards is as wild as all else of the North. I do not doubt there will be many times your skills will be valuable.
“I have spoken to some of those who own homes for lease, and there are a few available that are reasonably compatible with you having Bright Eyes.”
Drizzt blinked. “I don’t think I understand all the words, but if you mean a place we can stay in exchange for money and treasure, I am eager to know it, though I do not know the value of the coins that Lilinthar left in your possession.
“Nor do I understand what you mean by saying the homes are ‘reasonably compatible’ with me having Bright Eyes.”
“That first was what I meant by homes for lease, yes,” Tathshandra answered, “and I will help you get a fair value for what coin you have. To take a lease means that someone else would still own the building, but you and Catti would live there, be able to make some changes to be more comfortable, for an agreed-on fee by either the month, season, or year.”
She had been taken aback for a moment, because of how well he spoke, but on second thought, it made sense that a ranger from the wilds, one who had come from a wholly different culture, would not know the words of contracts and formal bargains.
“As for what ‘reasonably compatible’ means, while none of the homes allow for Bright Eyes to live with you, they are all within reasonable walking distance of the Harper Hall, which is accustomed to providing shelter for the pegasi bonded to the Lady’s sons.”
“I will be thankful for your aid in this,” Drizzt said. It would be… different, not having Bright Eyes near all the time, but he could understand why the homes would not be able to accommodate her. She was not that different from a horse in size and shape, and he could not imagine that those would be allowed in a house here any more than tizzin had been in Menzoberranzan.
As neither Drizzt nor Tathshandra had felt comfortable with a yearly lease renewing right before winter, the initial one was for a season, and a full year would be negotiated in the spring.
Once that had been finalized, Tathshandra had shown them how to get the Harper Hall from their new home, and Drizzt and Catti had spent some time getting Bright Eyes settled into what one of the ‘Harpers’ (and Drizzt wanted to know more about them, if they were going to be housing Bright Eyes) had called a ‘loose-box’.
Lin had shown up just as they were leaving, and had proceeded to show them a most unexpected large underlevel to the Harper Hall, including a tunnel that came out in the basement of a tavern that proved to be fairly close to their new home.
The walk through the tunnel had given Drizzt sufficient opportunity to get his questions about the Harpers answered, and when Lin offered to help Drizzt in acquiring basic furnishings and food, he accepted.
That had occupied the rest of the day, and once all the furnishings had been set up—Catti’s bed had been the first, as she had been clearly exhausted by the time they got back to the house—Drizzt quite gladly collapsed into his own bed.
The next morning, after the pair had eaten, and cleaned up from the meal, Drizzt took Catti’s hand and led her out of the house, as there were still things they needed to acquire, and the Ladyservant had suggested that he offer his services as a ranger to the Knights in Silver, on an as-needed basis.
Their first stop was a clothing seller that Drizzt had marked out the day before, in order to obtain proper winter clothing for Catti. They left with Catti in a new outfit, with two more set up to be cut and picked up later, and an agreement with the shopkeeper that Drizzt could come to her to ask about the worth of goods they needed.
That last had been unexpected, but while Drizzt had gotten a basic sense of how haggling worked the day before, it had been clear to the shopkeeper that he still had no idea of what was a reasonable price for the clothing, and the fact that she had told him how much the clothing was actually worth rather than taking advantage of his inexperience had made Drizzt willing to trust her judgment.
Finding a bookseller ended up being less straightforward, as the first one they tried showed such animosity toward Drizzt that Catti insisted they leave. However, a printer’s shop pointed them to a dwarf-run business where they were able to purchase a new book, writing materials, and a case for the materials, as well as arrange for the delivery of a slate board and chalks for use in Catti’s lessons.
After that, Drizzt bought food for them from a cart on the street, and by the time they had finished eating, Drizzt had found the administrative offices of the Knights in Silver.
The Knight-Sergeant on duty had recorded Drizzt’s offer, skills, and place of residence without any sign of hesitation, though there had been some noticeable surprise at the mention of Bright Eyes, and with their errands taken care of, Drizzt guided their steps homeward.
They’d only been there a week before Drizzt was asked to go out with the Knights. It was a successful expedition, dealing with a band of orcs that had thought to take over a farmstead for the winter, but there had been two unexpected—though pleasant—results after the patrol returned to the city.
The first was an offer of regular employment teaching combat for the Knights, based on the skill he had shown during the fight, and the second was an admission that the Knights had not properly considered what it meant that Drizzt was bonded to a pegasus, accompanied by an offer of pay for Bright Eyes every time she participated in a fight, in the form of a day’s fodder for every day they were out of the city.
Drizzt had readily accepted the first offer and, after making sure that the Knights understood that Bright Eyes would almost certainly be participating in any fight that happened while Drizzt was providing his services, accepted the second one as well.
Over the years, in addition to teaching and providing ranger services for the Knights in Silver, Drizzt also ended up aiding the Harpers on occasion, especially after Dove Falconhand had requested his assistance as a tracker, his second spring in the city. But even with those excursions, he still sometimes found himself needing to just go out ranging, alone but for Bright Eyes.
When Catti was, by their best guess, twelve or thirteen, he went on such a ranging and came back with a mystery to investigate—old ruins in the Frost Hills that had had a sense of something momentous about them. Catti had been reminded of a dwarven tradestown when she looked at his sketches, which had led to showing them to Fret, and now he was showing the sketches to Alustriel.
“Fret thinks it may be the tradestown for Mithral Hall,” Drizzt told her, “and wishes to go seek if their heirs are truly in the north before we explore further.”
“I remember trade with that place when I lived here the first time, four hundred years ago,” Alustriel said. “But… I have no idea where the dwarven hall itself might be. And I was gone when the Hall fell.
“I had no idea that there might be survivors somewhere other than Sundabar and the Citadels, though.”
“Fret says trade goods come, via Luskan, from settlements north of the Spine,” Drizzt explained, “bearing the standard of the clan. It is hoped that there will be at least one among them that might recall the secrets of entry.
“And so I wish to request that you ask your sons if any of them are available to fly north with the two of us, as it makes no sense to travel by ground when I have Bright Eyes, but she cannot carry three.”
“Of course,” Alustriel said. She closed her eyes, and a few moments later, she reopened them and said, “Methri can be here tomorrow afternoon.”
“Then I will make sure to find Fret in the morning and tell him so.”
“Me king, and I swear there’s been no rum at the gates, there be a dwarf, a drow, and one other—human or half-elf, by the height—riding for us, on a pair of pegasi,” Lespur said with skepticism, despite having been summoned to see it herself.
Bruenor cocked his head, his eyes narrowing somewhat, as he studied Lespur thoughtfully. “Ye’re sure, or ye’d not be botherin’ me, but why in all the names of the forges are a strange dwarf, a human or half-elf, and a drow comin’ this way, and on pegasi, to boot. Suppose as I’d best come up and see about it.”
“Thought that’d be yer answer, once I’d confirmed it for the guard that called me.” She leaned on her pike while he got his helmet and axe to come up to the surface with.
By the time they got there, the guards had already begun to deal with Fret, whose constant flicking of dust from his sleeves was bringing amusement… when they weren’t concerned about the drow still mounted behind him, though the half-elf’s calm was at least a little reassuring.
Bruenor wondered at the fussiness, at the oddly over-kempt dwarf, but he looked curiously at the drow on the pegasus, as he, unlike the guards, knew what it meant for someone to have a pegasus friend. “Strange company ye keep, stranger,” he called, moving up behind the guards. “And yer a southerner if I know aught of th’ world. What can ye be wanting, up here above the Spine?”
Fret took in the shield carried on the man’s arm, the well-made axe, and gave a smile. “Are you the heir of Battlehammer, then? Fredegar Rockcrusher, most often of Silverymoon in the Luruar lands. I came because I was not certain that you would listen solely to my ranger friend here.” Indicating Drizzt, he continued, “Drizzt Do’Urden, named friend to the Knights in Silver and the Silver Watch of Silverymoon, and to the Harpers, rider of Bright Eyes, Favored of Mielikki.
“We have questions for you and possible aid.”
Drizzt gave a quick bow of his head when mentioned, understanding why Fret named his ties so clearly.
“That’s a fair lot of titles for a ranger, but they’re good ones, and I know what it means for someone to ride a pegasus, so… I suppose as yer welcome enough.” Bruenor said. “Who’s your other friend, though?”
“Methrammar Aerasumé, rider of Beregan and son of the ruler of Silverymoon, High Mage Alustriel Silverhand,” Fret answered.
Bruenor nodded firmly then. “Aye, I’m Bruenor Battlehammer, king o’ the clan Battlehammer.” He did not say aloud ‘such as it is now’ in front of his people or strangers. They did well enough for themselves, well as they could, and they turned out work as fine as any could. “What questions, though, would a Rockcrusher out of Silverymoon have for any o’ mine?”
“To know if you’ve any elders, at all, that could confirm or deny Settlestone, should they see it, and maybe find the Hall’s entrance at last for your people,” Fret said with somber tones.
Drizzt dismounted as the king looked at a loss for words, pulling the tube with the sketches from his expanded pocket, opening it, and carefully withdrawing them. He held the one showing the placement of the ruins out to the king, and said, “This is the sketch I made of the location of the ruins I found, in relation to the peaks and the river, before I left them.”
The guards, especially Lespur, were all but holding their breath. She’d been shoved in a sack and thrust at another, elder dwarrow, to be carried to safety that long ago night.
“I’m eldest that’s left,” Bruenor answered, taking the sketch and looking at it, trying to bring the surface town he’d so rarely seen into his mind as for the first time in centuries, hope bloomed in his chest. He remembered the mountains above the town, the sound of the river, the buildings all of strong stone set just so…
“That might be Settlestone,” Bruenor said slowly, “so and it might be. Ye found it, ranger?”
“Yes. I’d cut through the Moonwood into the upper range, then sought out the river. I came across the ruins, and there felt like a weight to them, so I marked the location carefully. Saer Rockcrusher was kind enough to come and look at my sketches, once I had returned home, for my daughter thought they looked dwarvish.
“She takes her schooling from dwarves, and I trust her quick mind on such,” Drizzt said, proud of the girl.
“We came to see if there were heirs, as… whatever is harbored in the Hall is an eventual threat to Silverymoon, if that truly is Settlestone,” Fret told the king. “We can raise arms… but there is no use if there is no way in.”
“Nay, no use at all,” Bruenor agreed, closing his eyes as the memory of the horror, the darkness and the terror tried to roll over his mind. “Like as not, me da an’ grandda would have cursed the Hall as they died, as well. Ye'd need one o’ the blood, tae avoid it.
“I donnae ken the way from th’ town, tho’ bein’ there, I might…”
“I’d meant to go back and explore the peak itself,” Drizzt offered. “I’d far rather do that with one that belongs there.” He gave Bruenor a smile. “It will be there, though, as I know you must have things needed to get your people settled for an extended absence.”
“We can keep the mine running, the trade flowing, me king, if it means yer havin’ a chance to find our true home,” Lespur offered him. “Trade season’s barely started. Ye go, find what ye can, could be back by winter to ready us for a spring assault.”
“With our friends’ aid, he’ll be back well before winter,” Methri said. “It’s only five days from here to Silverymoon on a pegasus, and even with a need for his presence to get things started should we be successful, I would expect he could return by the end of summer.”
Bruenor considered the drow—the ranger—thoughtfully, then nodded at his words, then Lespur's, and Methri’s. “Aye. It needs a bit o’ time anyway, for me tae set things aright, but nae so long, and it’s clear ye were at least hopin’ to have someone to bring back with ye, or there’d be nae need for two pegasi.
“Ye three, come within, we’ve a cave for beasts that yer friends can be cared for in, an’ space fer ye, while I see to things. Not leavin’ the best chance of findin’ our home again sittin’ out on this blasted tundra with the fool yeti.”
Actually being in Settlestone had managed to jog Bruenor’s memory enough to find an entrance to the Hall—Methri was very impressed with the craftsmanship that had gone into making the well-hidden stairs that led down to the entrance—and so they had chosen to scout it, to find out what threat the duergar served.
The shades were bad enough, but that Drizzt thought there was a still larger threat they were an indicator for did not bode well. They made it all the way to the top of the Undercity without finding that larger threat, at which point Drizzt volunteered to scout further.
He was gone for a long time, and when he returned, Methri was concerned, as there were distinct traces of agony on the ranger’s face. He was well aware of Drizzt’s sensitivity to evil, and anything that could cause him that much pain was a dire threat indeed.
Once Fret had helped Drizzt sit, Methri handed the ranger one of the potions he carried, and made it clear with his expression that he would not accept refusal. Drizzt wordlessly obeyed, closing his eyes as he did so, and it was not long before he looked at least a little better.
“Shadow dragon,” Drizzt finally whispered. “At least two shadow hounds as well, for servants.”
Methri blanched even as Fret whispered something softly, and asked, “Do you need another potion?”
Drizzt shook his head in response and Methri was willing to accept that for now, but he resolved to keep a close eye on the ranger.
Then Bruenor murmured, “‘Blacker than black, dread in the deep’…” and then blinked. “I… me da must have told me that, though I donnae remember clear. A shadow drake… damn and damn, such a beast will taking a lot of killing…”
“Light, banishment spells, but mostly light,” Drizzt said. “Flame and light spells will be our shield against it, and the two hounds, from what I remember in my training at Sorcere. They use magic that is wrapped around confusion, illusion, trickery, and draining. But their scales are harder than any other dragon you will find, and they are as canny as a red can be, sometimes thought to be as smart as a gold, even.
“And they have the duergar under their complete control through fear and domination, it seems.”
“Damned things,” Bruenor said with a growl, shaking his head. “Well. It’ll cost a fair bit, ‘less we can find a paladin or some such as willnae take a fee, but I’ll no’ grudge it, to kill the thing as killed most of me clan.”
“Not so much as you might think,” Methri said. “A shadow dragon is a regional threat, which means that Mother will give aid as cheaply as you will allow her to. Furthermore, my brothers and I are all wizards of considerable skill, and none of us would wish to have such a being as a neighbor.”
“Fair enough,” Bruenor said, “if ye’re sure ye can speak for her and them.”
“I am,” Methri answered, “and once we’re a bit further away from the dragon, I will be letting her know about it.”
Bright Eyes had been fussing over Drizzt since she rejoined them once they were out of the Hall, and he had not missed the concerned looks Methri had been giving him since he returned from scouting the dragon’s lair, so he was not truly surprised when, once they had landed at the Harper Hall, Methri said, “You need to go to the Glade, Drizzt.”
“I will, once I have seen Catti again.”
“I’ll get Niska to bring her as soon as she can. You need the Glade now.”
Bright Eyes bumped her nose against Drizzt’s chest, hard, and he gave in with a sigh. “Very well.
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Catti-brie (Dungeons & Dragons), Lilinthar Aerasumé, Fredegar Rockcrusher | Fret, Bruenor Battlehammer
Additional Tags: Ensemble Cast, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Implied/Referenced Canon-Typical Violence
Series: Part 4 of A Crossing of the Realms
Summary:
What if Drizzt had Bright Eyes during the events of "Lone Drow and Cat"?
Beginning notes
Inspired by
senmut and ilyena_sylph's fics Ranger and Pegasus, Lone Drow and Cat, and Lady’s Perspective.This fic contains a certain amount of borrowing from "Lone Drow and Cat" and a little bit of borrowing from "Lady's Perspective", since some scenes from those fics are covered in this one, with alterations based on the changes caused by Bright Eyes's presence.
If you are confused by this fic, please go read the linked inspiring fics, as this fic very much assumes familiarity with them.
Chapter One: A New Home
Lilinthar was hardly paying attention to the ground passing beneath him and Snowmane. Perhaps that was incautious, as they were between the Scrags and the Lurkwood, but the sun was high, and he was tired. Visiting in Longsaddle was always tiring.
Snowmane's sudden snort and muscle ripple startled him into looking down… and the meadow they were gliding over had a child… with a pegasus. No adults, though, and there were no hamlets here that Lin knew of. Nor was this an area in which he would have expected to see a pegasus.
“Illusion?” he asked his steed, who negated it with a snort. “Fly past and circle, dear one.”
His pegasus obliged, and a single loop was enough for Lin to be certain that that really was a child, frolicking in the meadow with only the other pegasus in sight.
“Down, then,” he said, “cautiously.”
They hadn’t gotten more than halfway down, however, when the other pegasus looked up and gave a friendly nicker.
That Snowmane returned it, and started descending less cautiously, was enough for a suspicion to spark in Lin’s mind, and when a drow in a green cloak, wearing twin scimitars, stepped out from under the trees, he knew it was correct.
While Bright Eyes’s nicker had been friendly, it had also led to Catti drawing in closer to her, which was enough for Drizzt to decide to step out of the shade in order to see who or what Bright Eyes had been greeting.
Another pegasus was not exactly surprising, but that it had a rider made him wary… until it landed and the rider called out, in a friendly tone, “I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting to see you and Bright Eyes near the Lurkwood, Drizzt, especially at this time of year. We’re a long way from your wintering cave.”
At that, Drizzt relaxed, recognizing the rider as Lin. “It’s not my usual range, no, but I decided in the spring that we should take a long journey, to build up Bright Eyes’s flight stamina in preparation for her being old enough to ride safely.”
Catti, on hearing the friendly exchange between her ranger and the stranger, decided it was safe enough to leave Bright Eyes’s side, and started moving carefully towards the new pegasus.
The stranger getting off the pegasus caused her to stop, but when Bright Eyes trotted over to him and bumped her nose into his chest, she was reassured, and continued forward.
Once she was close enough, she held out her hand like Drizzt had taught her to do with Bright Eyes, and the new pegasus gently snuffled at it.
Lin, still stroking Bright Eyes’s neck, watched in amazement as the child—a girl, he could see now—so bravely approached Snowmane, despite her clear wariness of him. And when Drizzt came up beside him, he asked, “So how did you come to have the care of a child?”
“Goblin raid on the southern bank of the river, near Mirabar,” Drizzt replied. “Bright Eyes and I got there too late to save her parents and she could recall no other family.”
“And your experiences with humans have left you with a justified distrust of how an orphan might be treated,” Lin finished with a sigh. “I know you’re reluctant to ask others for help, but now that you have her to care for, I really think you should go to Silverymoon.
“And I mean in time for the winter, not in the spring. The people of Silverymoon know what it means for someone to have a pegasus friend, so there’s no risk that you’ll be turned away.”
Drizzt considered that for a bit. Lin was correct that it would be easier to care for Catti over the winter if they were living in a city, but there was still the issue of how he would pay for things. “But if I settle in Silverymoon in time for the winter, I will not also have time to empty all my treasure caches, nor retrieve my other belongings from the wintering cave, before winter sets in.”
“Thyl and I can do that for you,” Lin said, “and leave everything with Mielikki’s clerics in Silverymoon, if you’re willing to trust them that much.”
“It would not be an inconvenience for you?”
“Not at all. I’d be going to Silverymoon anyway, to tell Mother and the Ladyservant that you’re coming.”
“Then yes, please do.”
Alustriel was always pleased when her sons came to visit. She was delighted to arrange her lunch and afternoon to have time with them, taking them away on a picnic in one of her secret spots.
“While we love to visit, Mother,” Lin began, “I do actually have a purpose.”
“Generally,” Alustriel said, smiling indulgently.
“Remember that drow ranger we told you of last year?” Thyl said.
“The one with a young pegasus friend, who had no knowledge of Eilistraee?” Alustriel replied.
“Yes,” Lin said. “A couple weeks ago, I discovered that he’s become the guardian of a young human girl, and was able, on the strength of him having Bright Eyes, to convince him that they should come here before winter sets in.”
“But even with him having a pegasus friend, it will help if I am involved in smoothing the waters for him and the child,” Alustriel replied, nodding her understanding. “We live close enough to wild lands for a ranger to roam out to, certainly.
“Though I do admit to curiosity about how he came to have the care of a human child.”
“We’re going to talk to Glade’s staff as well,” Thyl said, “since he claims Mielikki as patron, but yes.”
“As for the child,” Lin said, “he’d come upon a goblin raid in the woods near Mirabar. He got there too late to save her parents, and his experiences with humans have left him with a justified distrust that they would do well by an orphan.
“So he kept her, and is raising her, teaching her as he goes. Found her at the beginning of summer.”
Alustriel shook her head a little… “I cannot blame him for not trusting humans to care for a child,” she said, “but I am very glad that you were able to convince him, as wintering in the wilds with a small child would have been a hard and dangerous thing.
“And since I don’t recall you mentioning it before, what is his name, so I can start that smoothing?”
“Drizzt Do’Urden. Carries scimitars. The girl’s name is Catti.”
“Drizzt Do’Urden,” Alustriel repeated, turning the name over in her mind and on her tongue. “Well. I will do what I can.”
While the guards at the Moorgate were well used to rangers and other adventurers arriving to spend the winter in Silverymoon, the group that approached early one morning, a few weeks before the Feast of the Moon, was still quite unusual.
The elf-height person wearing a sword belt and a cloak that was pulled up to shadow the face and cover the hair was unusual only in the concealment of their features, but that there was a pegasus walking beside them was not something the guards had ever expected to see with anyone other than the Lady’s sons. And when you added the small person—either a child or a halfling—only partially visible on the pegasus’s back, well…
That the probable elf kept one hand on the back of the small person made the squire on duty think it likely that the rider was a child, and that sparked a memory from a few weeks earlier, of Lilinthar and Inthylyn speaking to each of the Knights about a new ally and friend that would be coming to the city for at least the winter, a drow ranger with a pegasus friend and a child. She frowned to herself, trying to pull the name from her mind, It had been strange, harsh almost, but no worse than some dwarven names… Right! Drizzt Do’Urden.
“Easy,” she said to the guards, “be at ease, and remember what it means to have a pegasus friend and what we know of why our city is safe.”
“As you will, Squire,” the guards said, even as the group continued to approach.
The drow stopped at a distance close enough that the guards would be able to hear him without him needing to shout—yet it was also, the squire realized, one that was several feet beyond the reach of the lances the gate guards held—and the pegasus stopped beside him. Then he very deliberately reached up and flipped back his hood, to show his nature.
The younger of the guardsmen clenched a fist around his lance on seeing the jet-black skin, only to make himself relax when the pegasus gave a warning snort before turning enough to bump its nose into the drow’s chest.
After petting the pegasus’s neck for a little, the drow started the rest of the way to the gate.
“Hello the city,” he called as he continued forward, a wary yet hopeful look on his face.
“Welcome to Silverymoon, ranger,” Teela called, “you and your friend and charge are expected.”
Relief washed over the drow’s face, and he gave a small bow. “Thank you, then. My name is Drizzt Do’Urden, my pegasus friend is Bright Eyes, and Catti is the one riding Bright Eyes,” he told her. “We are seeking a place; where should we go to inquire?”
Teela spoke to the elder of the guards. “Cailan, would you escort Ranger Do’Urden and his companions to Mielikki’s Glade?” she asked, then looked to the ranger again. “We were asked to see you there when you came, and the directions might be confusing.”
“Aye, Squire,” Cailan said, accepting that this was the Lady’s will. And not only had some of the Tall Ones vouched for the drow, the drow had a pegasus friend of his own to vouch for his nature. “Ranger?” he invited, stepping down to lead the way into the city and to the sacred heart of the same.
“Thank you, again,” Drizzt said to the squire.
“You’re welcome,” she told him. “And my name is Teela, Squire to Knight Kolarven. Be well.”
“Teela, Squire,” Drizzt repeated, before they were moving inside the city.
For all that Drizzt had known that he could trust that Lin and Thyl would do as Lin had promised, it was still somewhat surprising to him that they actually had taken steps to make his life easier.
And he couldn’t entirely attribute it to Catti’s presence, as they had been quite willing to do the same when he first met them, even though he had been less willing to accept the help then.
The the city itself was taking his attention, and he was glad they’d come so early this morning. There were already people bustling all over, and while a few made an effort not to get close to him… more were looking curiously—at Bright Eyes as much as him, Drizzt felt—though at least there was little open staring, and some were even ignoring their passage, intent on their own errands.
Cailan told them the name of a few places they passed that the ranger might be interested in, shops for gear and a couple of places to get meals, a woman that made her living selling finished clothing, until they approached the ring of gigantic shadowtops with their copper-and-green leaves.
This was called Mielikki’s Glade, they had said, and as they approached, Drizzt felt… something. Something like peace, something like safety, but mostly it promised ‘home’ in a way he had never known.
Mielikki touched this place more even than the small shrine that Montolio had kept within his grove.
Catti shifted under his hand, and he looked over to see a wondering expression on her face. “Do you feel something, my little Cat?” he asked.
Catti nodded. “Feels… nice,” she said quietly, unable to describe what she was feeling better than that.
Cailan found the nearest river-rock path entrance and led them within, across the border ward and inside, winding through the carefully arranged berry-bushes and other wild plants that were now brown or bare in preparation for winter, but which would be lush and green come summer. The mosses, too, were thinning out for the colder weather, but were still thick and dense, towards the center.
One of the priest or priestesses, he knew, would come soon, but the ranger seemed a little… overwhelmed, so he would wait until they did and make introductions. In the meantime, it was pleasant to be in the Glade, to feel the peace of it.
In the home where the clergy lived, the Ladyservant felt the gentle notice of the wards, and then the faint nudge of her Lady’s will. Tathshandra wrapped another shawl around herself and went to the portal, then stepped through and headed towards the center of the Glade.
She did not expect one of the city guard, with a pegasus and two two-legged visitors. One was a small child, sitting on the pegasus’s back, and the other…
Oh. Well, Lilinthar and Inthylyn had warned her.
Drizzt was staring all around, Catti doing the same, based on the way she was shifting under his hand, before he felt eyes and turned that way.
An elder, wrapped in the grace of Mielikki, he knew, without even having the right words for it.
“Thank you, Cailan,” Drizzt said in his quiet voice, but he knew she was the one he now need to speak with. He moved in careful steps, Bright Eyes matching his pace, to go and greet the elder.
“Hello, Lady,” he said one he was at conversational distance. “The guards stated I should come here first. Drizzt Do’Urden, and Catti and Bright Eyes, at your service… and our goddess’s.” He knew in some unfathomable way this woman was Mielikki’s representative in this holy place.
“Hello,” Catti said in a bright voice, and Bright Eyes gave a friendly nicker.
“Welcome, Drizzt,” Tathshandra said, stretching out her hands to take his gently before she looked at the little girl and the pegasus with a smile, “and Catti and Bright Eyes. I am Tathshandra Tyrar, first of the clerics of our Lady in Silverymoon. My title is ‘Ladyservant’, but I do not ask it of anyone.
“I am glad you have come, and I believe our Lady is as well.”
She turned to look at the guardsman, and smiled. “Thank you… Cailan? I appreciate your guiding them here. May your day be blessed.”
Cailan bowed. “Grace of the Lady of the Forest on you, priestess. I should return to my duty.”
Drizzt waited for the guard to depart, then carefully lifted Catti off of Bright Eyes’s back and set her down on the ground, so she could prowl around and look at the plants while he talked with the priestess.
“I was told I would find welcome here, and came in hope, for Catti’s sake,” Drizzt said. “She needs more than the life of a ranger can provide, but… I admit that even with Bright Eyes, I still had some doubts that we would actually be allowed in.
“All I can offer are my skills, but I give them fully, if it means seeing her clothed and educated, able to be around others freely.” His own hunger for knowledge was secondary to all things until Catti was grown. She held the half of his heart that Bright Eyes didn’t, and she would grow strong; it was his mission now.
Tathshandra smiled at him, gentle and reassuring as she could. “While Silverymoon is a place of peace, outside the wards is as wild as all else of the North. I do not doubt there will be many times your skills will be valuable.
“I have spoken to some of those who own homes for lease, and there are a few available that are reasonably compatible with you having Bright Eyes.”
Drizzt blinked. “I don’t think I understand all the words, but if you mean a place we can stay in exchange for money and treasure, I am eager to know it, though I do not know the value of the coins that Lilinthar left in your possession.
“Nor do I understand what you mean by saying the homes are ‘reasonably compatible’ with me having Bright Eyes.”
“That first was what I meant by homes for lease, yes,” Tathshandra answered, “and I will help you get a fair value for what coin you have. To take a lease means that someone else would still own the building, but you and Catti would live there, be able to make some changes to be more comfortable, for an agreed-on fee by either the month, season, or year.”
She had been taken aback for a moment, because of how well he spoke, but on second thought, it made sense that a ranger from the wilds, one who had come from a wholly different culture, would not know the words of contracts and formal bargains.
“As for what ‘reasonably compatible’ means, while none of the homes allow for Bright Eyes to live with you, they are all within reasonable walking distance of the Harper Hall, which is accustomed to providing shelter for the pegasi bonded to the Lady’s sons.”
“I will be thankful for your aid in this,” Drizzt said. It would be… different, not having Bright Eyes near all the time, but he could understand why the homes would not be able to accommodate her. She was not that different from a horse in size and shape, and he could not imagine that those would be allowed in a house here any more than tizzin had been in Menzoberranzan.
As neither Drizzt nor Tathshandra had felt comfortable with a yearly lease renewing right before winter, the initial one was for a season, and a full year would be negotiated in the spring.
Once that had been finalized, Tathshandra had shown them how to get the Harper Hall from their new home, and Drizzt and Catti had spent some time getting Bright Eyes settled into what one of the ‘Harpers’ (and Drizzt wanted to know more about them, if they were going to be housing Bright Eyes) had called a ‘loose-box’.
Lin had shown up just as they were leaving, and had proceeded to show them a most unexpected large underlevel to the Harper Hall, including a tunnel that came out in the basement of a tavern that proved to be fairly close to their new home.
The walk through the tunnel had given Drizzt sufficient opportunity to get his questions about the Harpers answered, and when Lin offered to help Drizzt in acquiring basic furnishings and food, he accepted.
That had occupied the rest of the day, and once all the furnishings had been set up—Catti’s bed had been the first, as she had been clearly exhausted by the time they got back to the house—Drizzt quite gladly collapsed into his own bed.
The next morning, after the pair had eaten, and cleaned up from the meal, Drizzt took Catti’s hand and led her out of the house, as there were still things they needed to acquire, and the Ladyservant had suggested that he offer his services as a ranger to the Knights in Silver, on an as-needed basis.
Their first stop was a clothing seller that Drizzt had marked out the day before, in order to obtain proper winter clothing for Catti. They left with Catti in a new outfit, with two more set up to be cut and picked up later, and an agreement with the shopkeeper that Drizzt could come to her to ask about the worth of goods they needed.
That last had been unexpected, but while Drizzt had gotten a basic sense of how haggling worked the day before, it had been clear to the shopkeeper that he still had no idea of what was a reasonable price for the clothing, and the fact that she had told him how much the clothing was actually worth rather than taking advantage of his inexperience had made Drizzt willing to trust her judgment.
Finding a bookseller ended up being less straightforward, as the first one they tried showed such animosity toward Drizzt that Catti insisted they leave. However, a printer’s shop pointed them to a dwarf-run business where they were able to purchase a new book, writing materials, and a case for the materials, as well as arrange for the delivery of a slate board and chalks for use in Catti’s lessons.
After that, Drizzt bought food for them from a cart on the street, and by the time they had finished eating, Drizzt had found the administrative offices of the Knights in Silver.
The Knight-Sergeant on duty had recorded Drizzt’s offer, skills, and place of residence without any sign of hesitation, though there had been some noticeable surprise at the mention of Bright Eyes, and with their errands taken care of, Drizzt guided their steps homeward.
They’d only been there a week before Drizzt was asked to go out with the Knights. It was a successful expedition, dealing with a band of orcs that had thought to take over a farmstead for the winter, but there had been two unexpected—though pleasant—results after the patrol returned to the city.
The first was an offer of regular employment teaching combat for the Knights, based on the skill he had shown during the fight, and the second was an admission that the Knights had not properly considered what it meant that Drizzt was bonded to a pegasus, accompanied by an offer of pay for Bright Eyes every time she participated in a fight, in the form of a day’s fodder for every day they were out of the city.
Drizzt had readily accepted the first offer and, after making sure that the Knights understood that Bright Eyes would almost certainly be participating in any fight that happened while Drizzt was providing his services, accepted the second one as well.
Chapter Two: Finding the Hall
Over the years, in addition to teaching and providing ranger services for the Knights in Silver, Drizzt also ended up aiding the Harpers on occasion, especially after Dove Falconhand had requested his assistance as a tracker, his second spring in the city. But even with those excursions, he still sometimes found himself needing to just go out ranging, alone but for Bright Eyes.
When Catti was, by their best guess, twelve or thirteen, he went on such a ranging and came back with a mystery to investigate—old ruins in the Frost Hills that had had a sense of something momentous about them. Catti had been reminded of a dwarven tradestown when she looked at his sketches, which had led to showing them to Fret, and now he was showing the sketches to Alustriel.
“Fret thinks it may be the tradestown for Mithral Hall,” Drizzt told her, “and wishes to go seek if their heirs are truly in the north before we explore further.”
“I remember trade with that place when I lived here the first time, four hundred years ago,” Alustriel said. “But… I have no idea where the dwarven hall itself might be. And I was gone when the Hall fell.
“I had no idea that there might be survivors somewhere other than Sundabar and the Citadels, though.”
“Fret says trade goods come, via Luskan, from settlements north of the Spine,” Drizzt explained, “bearing the standard of the clan. It is hoped that there will be at least one among them that might recall the secrets of entry.
“And so I wish to request that you ask your sons if any of them are available to fly north with the two of us, as it makes no sense to travel by ground when I have Bright Eyes, but she cannot carry three.”
“Of course,” Alustriel said. She closed her eyes, and a few moments later, she reopened them and said, “Methri can be here tomorrow afternoon.”
“Then I will make sure to find Fret in the morning and tell him so.”
“Me king, and I swear there’s been no rum at the gates, there be a dwarf, a drow, and one other—human or half-elf, by the height—riding for us, on a pair of pegasi,” Lespur said with skepticism, despite having been summoned to see it herself.
Bruenor cocked his head, his eyes narrowing somewhat, as he studied Lespur thoughtfully. “Ye’re sure, or ye’d not be botherin’ me, but why in all the names of the forges are a strange dwarf, a human or half-elf, and a drow comin’ this way, and on pegasi, to boot. Suppose as I’d best come up and see about it.”
“Thought that’d be yer answer, once I’d confirmed it for the guard that called me.” She leaned on her pike while he got his helmet and axe to come up to the surface with.
By the time they got there, the guards had already begun to deal with Fret, whose constant flicking of dust from his sleeves was bringing amusement… when they weren’t concerned about the drow still mounted behind him, though the half-elf’s calm was at least a little reassuring.
Bruenor wondered at the fussiness, at the oddly over-kempt dwarf, but he looked curiously at the drow on the pegasus, as he, unlike the guards, knew what it meant for someone to have a pegasus friend. “Strange company ye keep, stranger,” he called, moving up behind the guards. “And yer a southerner if I know aught of th’ world. What can ye be wanting, up here above the Spine?”
Fret took in the shield carried on the man’s arm, the well-made axe, and gave a smile. “Are you the heir of Battlehammer, then? Fredegar Rockcrusher, most often of Silverymoon in the Luruar lands. I came because I was not certain that you would listen solely to my ranger friend here.” Indicating Drizzt, he continued, “Drizzt Do’Urden, named friend to the Knights in Silver and the Silver Watch of Silverymoon, and to the Harpers, rider of Bright Eyes, Favored of Mielikki.
“We have questions for you and possible aid.”
Drizzt gave a quick bow of his head when mentioned, understanding why Fret named his ties so clearly.
“That’s a fair lot of titles for a ranger, but they’re good ones, and I know what it means for someone to ride a pegasus, so… I suppose as yer welcome enough.” Bruenor said. “Who’s your other friend, though?”
“Methrammar Aerasumé, rider of Beregan and son of the ruler of Silverymoon, High Mage Alustriel Silverhand,” Fret answered.
Bruenor nodded firmly then. “Aye, I’m Bruenor Battlehammer, king o’ the clan Battlehammer.” He did not say aloud ‘such as it is now’ in front of his people or strangers. They did well enough for themselves, well as they could, and they turned out work as fine as any could. “What questions, though, would a Rockcrusher out of Silverymoon have for any o’ mine?”
“To know if you’ve any elders, at all, that could confirm or deny Settlestone, should they see it, and maybe find the Hall’s entrance at last for your people,” Fret said with somber tones.
Drizzt dismounted as the king looked at a loss for words, pulling the tube with the sketches from his expanded pocket, opening it, and carefully withdrawing them. He held the one showing the placement of the ruins out to the king, and said, “This is the sketch I made of the location of the ruins I found, in relation to the peaks and the river, before I left them.”
The guards, especially Lespur, were all but holding their breath. She’d been shoved in a sack and thrust at another, elder dwarrow, to be carried to safety that long ago night.
“I’m eldest that’s left,” Bruenor answered, taking the sketch and looking at it, trying to bring the surface town he’d so rarely seen into his mind as for the first time in centuries, hope bloomed in his chest. He remembered the mountains above the town, the sound of the river, the buildings all of strong stone set just so…
“That might be Settlestone,” Bruenor said slowly, “so and it might be. Ye found it, ranger?”
“Yes. I’d cut through the Moonwood into the upper range, then sought out the river. I came across the ruins, and there felt like a weight to them, so I marked the location carefully. Saer Rockcrusher was kind enough to come and look at my sketches, once I had returned home, for my daughter thought they looked dwarvish.
“She takes her schooling from dwarves, and I trust her quick mind on such,” Drizzt said, proud of the girl.
“We came to see if there were heirs, as… whatever is harbored in the Hall is an eventual threat to Silverymoon, if that truly is Settlestone,” Fret told the king. “We can raise arms… but there is no use if there is no way in.”
“Nay, no use at all,” Bruenor agreed, closing his eyes as the memory of the horror, the darkness and the terror tried to roll over his mind. “Like as not, me da an’ grandda would have cursed the Hall as they died, as well. Ye'd need one o’ the blood, tae avoid it.
“I donnae ken the way from th’ town, tho’ bein’ there, I might…”
“I’d meant to go back and explore the peak itself,” Drizzt offered. “I’d far rather do that with one that belongs there.” He gave Bruenor a smile. “It will be there, though, as I know you must have things needed to get your people settled for an extended absence.”
“We can keep the mine running, the trade flowing, me king, if it means yer havin’ a chance to find our true home,” Lespur offered him. “Trade season’s barely started. Ye go, find what ye can, could be back by winter to ready us for a spring assault.”
“With our friends’ aid, he’ll be back well before winter,” Methri said. “It’s only five days from here to Silverymoon on a pegasus, and even with a need for his presence to get things started should we be successful, I would expect he could return by the end of summer.”
Bruenor considered the drow—the ranger—thoughtfully, then nodded at his words, then Lespur's, and Methri’s. “Aye. It needs a bit o’ time anyway, for me tae set things aright, but nae so long, and it’s clear ye were at least hopin’ to have someone to bring back with ye, or there’d be nae need for two pegasi.
“Ye three, come within, we’ve a cave for beasts that yer friends can be cared for in, an’ space fer ye, while I see to things. Not leavin’ the best chance of findin’ our home again sittin’ out on this blasted tundra with the fool yeti.”
Actually being in Settlestone had managed to jog Bruenor’s memory enough to find an entrance to the Hall—Methri was very impressed with the craftsmanship that had gone into making the well-hidden stairs that led down to the entrance—and so they had chosen to scout it, to find out what threat the duergar served.
The shades were bad enough, but that Drizzt thought there was a still larger threat they were an indicator for did not bode well. They made it all the way to the top of the Undercity without finding that larger threat, at which point Drizzt volunteered to scout further.
He was gone for a long time, and when he returned, Methri was concerned, as there were distinct traces of agony on the ranger’s face. He was well aware of Drizzt’s sensitivity to evil, and anything that could cause him that much pain was a dire threat indeed.
Once Fret had helped Drizzt sit, Methri handed the ranger one of the potions he carried, and made it clear with his expression that he would not accept refusal. Drizzt wordlessly obeyed, closing his eyes as he did so, and it was not long before he looked at least a little better.
“Shadow dragon,” Drizzt finally whispered. “At least two shadow hounds as well, for servants.”
Methri blanched even as Fret whispered something softly, and asked, “Do you need another potion?”
Drizzt shook his head in response and Methri was willing to accept that for now, but he resolved to keep a close eye on the ranger.
Then Bruenor murmured, “‘Blacker than black, dread in the deep’…” and then blinked. “I… me da must have told me that, though I donnae remember clear. A shadow drake… damn and damn, such a beast will taking a lot of killing…”
“Light, banishment spells, but mostly light,” Drizzt said. “Flame and light spells will be our shield against it, and the two hounds, from what I remember in my training at Sorcere. They use magic that is wrapped around confusion, illusion, trickery, and draining. But their scales are harder than any other dragon you will find, and they are as canny as a red can be, sometimes thought to be as smart as a gold, even.
“And they have the duergar under their complete control through fear and domination, it seems.”
“Damned things,” Bruenor said with a growl, shaking his head. “Well. It’ll cost a fair bit, ‘less we can find a paladin or some such as willnae take a fee, but I’ll no’ grudge it, to kill the thing as killed most of me clan.”
“Not so much as you might think,” Methri said. “A shadow dragon is a regional threat, which means that Mother will give aid as cheaply as you will allow her to. Furthermore, my brothers and I are all wizards of considerable skill, and none of us would wish to have such a being as a neighbor.”
“Fair enough,” Bruenor said, “if ye’re sure ye can speak for her and them.”
“I am,” Methri answered, “and once we’re a bit further away from the dragon, I will be letting her know about it.”
Bright Eyes had been fussing over Drizzt since she rejoined them once they were out of the Hall, and he had not missed the concerned looks Methri had been giving him since he returned from scouting the dragon’s lair, so he was not truly surprised when, once they had landed at the Harper Hall, Methri said, “You need to go to the Glade, Drizzt.”
“I will, once I have seen Catti again.”
“I’ll get Niska to bring her as soon as she can. You need the Glade now.”
Bright Eyes bumped her nose against Drizzt’s chest, hard, and he gave in with a sigh. “Very well.
