Entry tags:
Forgotten Realms: Continuation of another author's fic
A Herd of Help (2851 words) by Somariel
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Andelver Aerasumé
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary:
1341 DR
With the Malarites dead and properly disposed of, Drizzt decided to head back into the mountains for a little while. While it was unlikely that there was another band of lycanthropes nearby, the threats found in the mountains were far more familiar, and death was the only risk when dealing with them.
A week and a half later, while exploring in the western portion of the mountains, Drizzt heard shrill equine screams coming from the other side of the ridge he was ascending. It was impossible for the screams to be coming from a horse, but he had seen quite a few pegasi since he crossed the river that split the mountain range in half, so he began moving with as much more speed as he felt was safe.
When he crested the ridge, Drizzt found he was looking down into a shallow valley. And within the valley, there was a pair of giants—cloud giants, if he was remembering Montolio's books correctly—who had bracketed a trio of pegasi between them.
Given that one of the pegasi seemed to be being protected by the other two, Drizzt thought the trio was likely a family group. But that didn't matter as much as the fact that now that he was no longer devoting so much attention to the terrain he was crossing, he could feel the itch that meant evil beings or creatures were nearby.
By all he knew, it was impossible for pegasi to be evil, so it had to be the giants setting off his senses. And while he was sure that other pegasi were coming, Drizzt had no idea how long it might take them.
So he quietly summoned Guen, and while she surveyed the situation, he strung Mooshie's bow and nocked an arrow.
At a sense of readiness from Guen, he said, "Go ahead, my friend."
Guen let out a loud roar, then bounded down the slope into the valley. And as she did so, Drizzt loosed the arrow, aiming for the eye of the giant that had turned towards them when she roared.
By the time the battle was over, there were eight more adult pegasi present, in addition to the family they had come to help.
Under other circumstances, Drizzt would have been delighted to be near such a gathering of goodly beings, but the fight had been tiring, so he simply sat down to clean his blades while Guen went over to mingle with the pegasi.
And for all that he was willing to relax his guard somewhat with others present to keep watch, he still kept a keen awareness of others approaching him.
So when he looked up after sheathing his second blade, the pegasus foal standing only a few feet away from him, its mother a watchful presence just a little further away, was not a surprise.
"Hello, little one," Drizzt said, using the same soft voice as he did with injured animals. "Are you curious about me?"
The foal tilted its head for a moment, then, after a look back at its mother that got a reassuring nicker in response, trotted the rest of the way to Drizzt, and started nuzzling him.
Carefully, oh so very carefully, Drizzt lifted a hand and began to gently pet the foal.
And then, as though that had been a signal, he was quickly surrounded by the rest of the pegasi, all of them seeking pets and scratches.
Though that was Drizzt's first encounter with pegasi, it ended up being far from his last.
It seemed that a single large herd—or possibly several allied ones—claimed the entirety of the southern side of the western portion of the Nether Mountains as their range, and the ones he had helped against the giants had spread word of him to the rest.
And for all that pegasi were unable to speak Common, being accepted by so many goodly beings was a balm after the constant rejections by the humans and dwarves in the region.
So by the time winter had truly set in, Drizzt had—with aid in moving things from Guen and some of the pegasi—set up a new wintering cave in the middle of the pegasi's claimed range.
1342 DR, summer
Though Kairthon had been back with the herd for several days, she had not yet had a chance to meet the not-enemy dark one that the rest of the herd had mentioned.
So when one of this year's fledglings landed in a way that only narrowly avoided being a crash, and started insisting the dark protector needed help with a not-there bad-cat, she quite gladly joined the other adults in following the fledgling back to the fight.
The only sign of a fight visible when the fledgling started to descend was a darkness globe, but after a scream of challenge from the leading herdmate, that vanished, revealing the not-there bad-cat, the dark protector, and what had to be the dark protector's magic cat.
As the pegasi descended to join the fight, Drizzt rolled out of reach of the oddly displaced beast, and started to take stock of his injuries.
He had a number of wounds that he could already feel would need to be cleaned carefully before he bandaged them, but more importantly, the pain shooting up his right leg from the ankle made it clear that he should not try standing until Guen or a pegasus was available to catch him if his ankle wouldn't bear his weight.
Turning his attention back to the fight, he watched as Guen and the ten adults that had come swiftly dealt with the beast. And though none of the pegasi came through unscathed, their numbers meant that each individual had fewer wounds than either he or Guen did.
When the displacer beast finally collapsed, Guen left it to the pegasi to make sure it was dead, and went to check on her drow.
Seeing that he was sitting with his right leg extended straight out in front of him made her concerned, so she mrowled an inquiry, gently bumping the leg to make the subject clear.
"I'm not sure that ankle can bear my weight," her drow said. "Will you let me lean on you while I test it, my friend?"
After briefly washing his face for being a silly cub—because of course she would let him—Guen positioned herself right beside him on the same side as the injured leg, then chirped an affirmative.
Carefully placing his right hand on Guen's back, Drizzt levered himself up off the ground, being careful to avoid putting any weight on his right leg yet.
Once he was fully upright, he put his right foot down, then slowly began to transfer his weight from the hand on Guen's back to that leg.
And when the ankle began to buckle before he had his full weight on it, he was very glad that he had gone slow. Quickly putting his weight back on the hand, he said, "I guess I'm going to need a ride to get back to my cave."
Confirming the kill had been a quick matter, after which Kairthon and her herdmates turned to see how the dark protector was.
Seeing him testing his weight on his right leg wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but him being unable to stand on it was. That sort of injury took a long time to heal, unless one was able to use the fast healing things.
So while her herdmates began discussing which of them would be the one to carry him back to his cave, she caught the attention of the most senior, and told her that she was going to get her person to come help.
The day was sliding from mid-afternoon into late afternoon when Andy heard loud neighing coming from the clearing where their pegasus friends usually landed.
Their friends were normally much quieter in their calls for attention, which meant there had to be an urgent need for two-leg aid. So he put aside what he was working on and headed that way swiftly.
When he got down into the clearing, his attention was immediately drawn by the bloody scratches on Kairthon's legs and the patch of them on her shoulder.
While those alone would have been enough for him to consider the noise justified, he knew better than to make assumptions. "Are any others injured?" he asked her.
That got a nod and a nicker, so he moved on to the next question. "How many others are injured?"
Two taps of her nose on his hand, followed by a single tap of her hoof, was a pretty clear indication of eleven, so he asked the last question. "Any injuries other than scratches?"
Kairthon's response to that was to mime an inability to put weight on one of her forelegs, and Andy knew that that had to be the real reason she'd come.
"I need to go get the straps and gather up enough potions and salves," he told her, "but I'll be quick about it, and then we can leave."
He got a nicker and a nuzzle in response, then headed back up to the village.
And less than a quarter of an hour later, the two of them were in the sky, heading for the Nether Mountains.
With as late in the day as they had set out, Andy and Kairthon had only been able to make it into the foothills before they had to stop for the night.
Setting out as soon as it was bright enough for Kairthon to navigate the next morning brought them to a group of pegasi barely an hour after sunrise.
And it seemed that this group had been waiting for them, as her nickering resulted in a mare coming up to greet them, before heading further east into the mountains, followed by Kairthon.
After another hour of flying, Kairthon and their guide landed outside a cave located at the edge of an alpine meadow.
And while Andy could see that some of the pegasi in the meadow had scratches similar to the ones Kairthon had arrived with—though oddly enough, it looked like someone had tended to them—Kairthon and their guide were both focused on the cave.
Kairthon headed into the cave as soon as he dismounted, so Andy followed her, even if he didn't quite understand why a pegasus would be in the cave.
But then he saw the recently used firepit, and realized that there had to be a two-leg living in the cave. Which at least explained the tended scratches on the pegasi in the meadow.
"Hello?" he called. "My friend here was most insistent that my aid—or at least the potions and salves I could bring—were needed."
A wary—surprisingly so, in Andy's opinion—voice came from the very back of the cave. "Your friend is the mare that flew southwest after the fight, instead of returning with the rest?"
"That is the direction she would have headed to reach me, coming from these mountains," Andy agreed.
The voice sighed. "Then please keep in mind that she brought you because of my injuries."
And with that puzzling admonishment, dancing lights appeared where the voice was coming from, revealing a drow propped up against the back wall of the cave, a fledgling pegasus laying beside him. Well, that at least explained the wariness.
"Andelver Aerasumé, rider of Kairthon," Andy introduced himself. "But I prefer to be called Andy. Do you mind if I cast a spell for some better light in here?"
"Drizzt Do'Urden, ranger of Mielikki," the drow replied. "And that probably does make sense."
Turning around so his body would shield the initial flare from the drow's—Drizzt's—eyes, Andy cast light on the stone he carried for precisely that purpose.
As soon as that first flare was over, he turned back towards Drizzt, and began cataloging the injuries he could see.
The obvious one was the right foot resting on a stuffed-hide cushion, ankle well-wrapped in strips of fabric, with a few sticks peeking out. But the lack of a shirt also allowed him to see that there were a number of bandages wrapped around Drizzt's arms, and even his torso.
"May I come examine your ankle?" Andy asked.
Drizzt looked to the pegasus beside him for reassurance, but a single pleased nicker was sufficient for him to agree.
Permission given, Andy went over to Drizzt and knelt at the ranger's feet. Then, he carefully lifted the bandaged ankle, slid the cushion to the side, and placed the light-bearing stone on the cushion.
"I'll do my best to be gentle," he said, "but some pain is, unfortunately, unavoidable in a proper examination."
"Understood," Drizzt replied.
Deciding that a bit of distraction might be helpful for the ranger, as he carefully started unwrapping the bandages on the ankle, Andy said, "If you don't mind me asking, what did you tangle with?"
"I don't know the name," Drizzt said. "However, it bore a certain resemblance to a panther, but had six legs, two tentacles coming from its back-"
"And was never quite where it looked to be?" Andy finished for him.
Drizzt nodded.
"Displacer beast," Andy said. "Those can be tough to deal with, even when you know what they are.
"Wouldn't have thought one would be stupid enough to attack so many adult pegasi, though."
"It wasn't," Drizzt said. "I was following one of the pulls that guide me to threats in need of dealing with, and found it about to pounce on a fledgling that had wandered farther from the adults than was wise."
The fledgling beside him nickered apologetically, and gently nudged his shoulder.
"Shh," Drizzt soothed. "I know you're sorry. And you're doing well at making up for it, between bringing the adults to aid, and being helpful to me now."
Even as Drizzt soothed the fledgling, Andy finished removing the last of the bandaging on the ankle. "Going to start the actual examination now," he said.
Once Drizzt had nodded in acknowledgment, Andy started to carefully palpate the ankle.
Soon enough, he was finished with the examination, and carefully began the process of rebandaging.
"Not only is your ankle broken," he told the ranger, "I think some of the pieces might have moved out of place.
"Which means getting a cleric to heal it would be a better idea than using a potion."
Drizzt frowned. "What goodly cleric would be willing to heal a drow, though?"
Andy concealed his own frown at those words. He had assumed that Drizzt had claimed Mielikki because She was the better known of his goddesses, but that question implied he was entirely unaware of the Eilistraeean community.
Well, he hadn't been thinking of bringing Drizzt to the Promenade anyway, so that could be pursued later.
"Silverymoon is home to Mielikki's Glade," he said, "and all of the city's residents know that the wards keep evil non-humans from entering."
Drizzt tilted his head thoughtfully. "That is the city just to the west of these mountains that is split by the river, yes?"
"One of them," Andy agreed. "Silverymoon is the one where the Rauvin runs through it east to west; Everlund has the Rauvin running through south to north."
"Alright," Drizzt sighed.
While it was not uncommon for one of the Tall Ones to come to Silverymoon, they did not tend to enter by any of the gates.
So the guards on the Blacklar Gate were somewhat surprised to see one approaching, perhaps an hour before sunset.
And that was just the least surprising aspect of what they saw, as not only was the Tall One coming to enter by the gate, he was approaching on foot, while his pegasus trotted beside him, bearing a drow on its back.
"Saer Aerasumé!" the squire on duty called, once the group had gotten close enough. "Who is your companion?"
"I am Drizzt Do'Urden, a ranger of Mielikki."
"And your business in Silverymoon?" the squire asked.
Drizzt looked over at Andy, not sure how detailed he needed to be.
"Seeking aid from the Glade's clerics," Andy answered for him.
And with that, the squire waved them through the gate.
Although the Glade's clerics had invited Drizzt to remain in Silverymoon, once his ankle had been healed, he chose to return to his home with the pegasus herd.
Seeing the joy on Drizzt's face as he was mobbed by the pegasi after dismounting from Kairthon, Andy could understand why the ranger had made that choice, but he still had some concerns about the lack of company able to speak in words.
So before he left, Andy broached the subject of Drizzt possibly spending the winter in Silverymoon.
Drizzt had not committed to anything right then, but he promised to think about it, and in late autumn, he did choose to do so.
And though he returned to the herd in the spring, it was with a promise that he would continue to spend winters in the city.
End Note: I wasn't able to get it into the fic, but at some point during the spring starting at the end of the fic, or the coming summer, the fledgling Drizzt saved decides to bond to him.
Winter in Silverymoon is filled with lessons in pegasus care and riding, and then next spring the fledgling is old enough to ride, so his options and range expand significantly.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Andelver Aerasumé
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary:
After the encounter with the Malarites, Drizzt finds allies of a different kind altogether, and possibilities.
A continuation of Merfilly's fic Strange Ally
A Herd of Help
1341 DR
With the Malarites dead and properly disposed of, Drizzt decided to head back into the mountains for a little while. While it was unlikely that there was another band of lycanthropes nearby, the threats found in the mountains were far more familiar, and death was the only risk when dealing with them.
A week and a half later, while exploring in the western portion of the mountains, Drizzt heard shrill equine screams coming from the other side of the ridge he was ascending. It was impossible for the screams to be coming from a horse, but he had seen quite a few pegasi since he crossed the river that split the mountain range in half, so he began moving with as much more speed as he felt was safe.
When he crested the ridge, Drizzt found he was looking down into a shallow valley. And within the valley, there was a pair of giants—cloud giants, if he was remembering Montolio's books correctly—who had bracketed a trio of pegasi between them.
Given that one of the pegasi seemed to be being protected by the other two, Drizzt thought the trio was likely a family group. But that didn't matter as much as the fact that now that he was no longer devoting so much attention to the terrain he was crossing, he could feel the itch that meant evil beings or creatures were nearby.
By all he knew, it was impossible for pegasi to be evil, so it had to be the giants setting off his senses. And while he was sure that other pegasi were coming, Drizzt had no idea how long it might take them.
So he quietly summoned Guen, and while she surveyed the situation, he strung Mooshie's bow and nocked an arrow.
At a sense of readiness from Guen, he said, "Go ahead, my friend."
Guen let out a loud roar, then bounded down the slope into the valley. And as she did so, Drizzt loosed the arrow, aiming for the eye of the giant that had turned towards them when she roared.
By the time the battle was over, there were eight more adult pegasi present, in addition to the family they had come to help.
Under other circumstances, Drizzt would have been delighted to be near such a gathering of goodly beings, but the fight had been tiring, so he simply sat down to clean his blades while Guen went over to mingle with the pegasi.
And for all that he was willing to relax his guard somewhat with others present to keep watch, he still kept a keen awareness of others approaching him.
So when he looked up after sheathing his second blade, the pegasus foal standing only a few feet away from him, its mother a watchful presence just a little further away, was not a surprise.
"Hello, little one," Drizzt said, using the same soft voice as he did with injured animals. "Are you curious about me?"
The foal tilted its head for a moment, then, after a look back at its mother that got a reassuring nicker in response, trotted the rest of the way to Drizzt, and started nuzzling him.
Carefully, oh so very carefully, Drizzt lifted a hand and began to gently pet the foal.
And then, as though that had been a signal, he was quickly surrounded by the rest of the pegasi, all of them seeking pets and scratches.
Though that was Drizzt's first encounter with pegasi, it ended up being far from his last.
It seemed that a single large herd—or possibly several allied ones—claimed the entirety of the southern side of the western portion of the Nether Mountains as their range, and the ones he had helped against the giants had spread word of him to the rest.
And for all that pegasi were unable to speak Common, being accepted by so many goodly beings was a balm after the constant rejections by the humans and dwarves in the region.
So by the time winter had truly set in, Drizzt had—with aid in moving things from Guen and some of the pegasi—set up a new wintering cave in the middle of the pegasi's claimed range.
1342 DR, summer
Though Kairthon had been back with the herd for several days, she had not yet had a chance to meet the not-enemy dark one that the rest of the herd had mentioned.
So when one of this year's fledglings landed in a way that only narrowly avoided being a crash, and started insisting the dark protector needed help with a not-there bad-cat, she quite gladly joined the other adults in following the fledgling back to the fight.
The only sign of a fight visible when the fledgling started to descend was a darkness globe, but after a scream of challenge from the leading herdmate, that vanished, revealing the not-there bad-cat, the dark protector, and what had to be the dark protector's magic cat.
As the pegasi descended to join the fight, Drizzt rolled out of reach of the oddly displaced beast, and started to take stock of his injuries.
He had a number of wounds that he could already feel would need to be cleaned carefully before he bandaged them, but more importantly, the pain shooting up his right leg from the ankle made it clear that he should not try standing until Guen or a pegasus was available to catch him if his ankle wouldn't bear his weight.
Turning his attention back to the fight, he watched as Guen and the ten adults that had come swiftly dealt with the beast. And though none of the pegasi came through unscathed, their numbers meant that each individual had fewer wounds than either he or Guen did.
When the displacer beast finally collapsed, Guen left it to the pegasi to make sure it was dead, and went to check on her drow.
Seeing that he was sitting with his right leg extended straight out in front of him made her concerned, so she mrowled an inquiry, gently bumping the leg to make the subject clear.
"I'm not sure that ankle can bear my weight," her drow said. "Will you let me lean on you while I test it, my friend?"
After briefly washing his face for being a silly cub—because of course she would let him—Guen positioned herself right beside him on the same side as the injured leg, then chirped an affirmative.
Carefully placing his right hand on Guen's back, Drizzt levered himself up off the ground, being careful to avoid putting any weight on his right leg yet.
Once he was fully upright, he put his right foot down, then slowly began to transfer his weight from the hand on Guen's back to that leg.
And when the ankle began to buckle before he had his full weight on it, he was very glad that he had gone slow. Quickly putting his weight back on the hand, he said, "I guess I'm going to need a ride to get back to my cave."
Confirming the kill had been a quick matter, after which Kairthon and her herdmates turned to see how the dark protector was.
Seeing him testing his weight on his right leg wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but him being unable to stand on it was. That sort of injury took a long time to heal, unless one was able to use the fast healing things.
So while her herdmates began discussing which of them would be the one to carry him back to his cave, she caught the attention of the most senior, and told her that she was going to get her person to come help.
The day was sliding from mid-afternoon into late afternoon when Andy heard loud neighing coming from the clearing where their pegasus friends usually landed.
Their friends were normally much quieter in their calls for attention, which meant there had to be an urgent need for two-leg aid. So he put aside what he was working on and headed that way swiftly.
When he got down into the clearing, his attention was immediately drawn by the bloody scratches on Kairthon's legs and the patch of them on her shoulder.
While those alone would have been enough for him to consider the noise justified, he knew better than to make assumptions. "Are any others injured?" he asked her.
That got a nod and a nicker, so he moved on to the next question. "How many others are injured?"
Two taps of her nose on his hand, followed by a single tap of her hoof, was a pretty clear indication of eleven, so he asked the last question. "Any injuries other than scratches?"
Kairthon's response to that was to mime an inability to put weight on one of her forelegs, and Andy knew that that had to be the real reason she'd come.
"I need to go get the straps and gather up enough potions and salves," he told her, "but I'll be quick about it, and then we can leave."
He got a nicker and a nuzzle in response, then headed back up to the village.
And less than a quarter of an hour later, the two of them were in the sky, heading for the Nether Mountains.
With as late in the day as they had set out, Andy and Kairthon had only been able to make it into the foothills before they had to stop for the night.
Setting out as soon as it was bright enough for Kairthon to navigate the next morning brought them to a group of pegasi barely an hour after sunrise.
And it seemed that this group had been waiting for them, as her nickering resulted in a mare coming up to greet them, before heading further east into the mountains, followed by Kairthon.
After another hour of flying, Kairthon and their guide landed outside a cave located at the edge of an alpine meadow.
And while Andy could see that some of the pegasi in the meadow had scratches similar to the ones Kairthon had arrived with—though oddly enough, it looked like someone had tended to them—Kairthon and their guide were both focused on the cave.
Kairthon headed into the cave as soon as he dismounted, so Andy followed her, even if he didn't quite understand why a pegasus would be in the cave.
But then he saw the recently used firepit, and realized that there had to be a two-leg living in the cave. Which at least explained the tended scratches on the pegasi in the meadow.
"Hello?" he called. "My friend here was most insistent that my aid—or at least the potions and salves I could bring—were needed."
A wary—surprisingly so, in Andy's opinion—voice came from the very back of the cave. "Your friend is the mare that flew southwest after the fight, instead of returning with the rest?"
"That is the direction she would have headed to reach me, coming from these mountains," Andy agreed.
The voice sighed. "Then please keep in mind that she brought you because of my injuries."
And with that puzzling admonishment, dancing lights appeared where the voice was coming from, revealing a drow propped up against the back wall of the cave, a fledgling pegasus laying beside him. Well, that at least explained the wariness.
"Andelver Aerasumé, rider of Kairthon," Andy introduced himself. "But I prefer to be called Andy. Do you mind if I cast a spell for some better light in here?"
"Drizzt Do'Urden, ranger of Mielikki," the drow replied. "And that probably does make sense."
Turning around so his body would shield the initial flare from the drow's—Drizzt's—eyes, Andy cast light on the stone he carried for precisely that purpose.
As soon as that first flare was over, he turned back towards Drizzt, and began cataloging the injuries he could see.
The obvious one was the right foot resting on a stuffed-hide cushion, ankle well-wrapped in strips of fabric, with a few sticks peeking out. But the lack of a shirt also allowed him to see that there were a number of bandages wrapped around Drizzt's arms, and even his torso.
"May I come examine your ankle?" Andy asked.
Drizzt looked to the pegasus beside him for reassurance, but a single pleased nicker was sufficient for him to agree.
Permission given, Andy went over to Drizzt and knelt at the ranger's feet. Then, he carefully lifted the bandaged ankle, slid the cushion to the side, and placed the light-bearing stone on the cushion.
"I'll do my best to be gentle," he said, "but some pain is, unfortunately, unavoidable in a proper examination."
"Understood," Drizzt replied.
Deciding that a bit of distraction might be helpful for the ranger, as he carefully started unwrapping the bandages on the ankle, Andy said, "If you don't mind me asking, what did you tangle with?"
"I don't know the name," Drizzt said. "However, it bore a certain resemblance to a panther, but had six legs, two tentacles coming from its back-"
"And was never quite where it looked to be?" Andy finished for him.
Drizzt nodded.
"Displacer beast," Andy said. "Those can be tough to deal with, even when you know what they are.
"Wouldn't have thought one would be stupid enough to attack so many adult pegasi, though."
"It wasn't," Drizzt said. "I was following one of the pulls that guide me to threats in need of dealing with, and found it about to pounce on a fledgling that had wandered farther from the adults than was wise."
The fledgling beside him nickered apologetically, and gently nudged his shoulder.
"Shh," Drizzt soothed. "I know you're sorry. And you're doing well at making up for it, between bringing the adults to aid, and being helpful to me now."
Even as Drizzt soothed the fledgling, Andy finished removing the last of the bandaging on the ankle. "Going to start the actual examination now," he said.
Once Drizzt had nodded in acknowledgment, Andy started to carefully palpate the ankle.
Soon enough, he was finished with the examination, and carefully began the process of rebandaging.
"Not only is your ankle broken," he told the ranger, "I think some of the pieces might have moved out of place.
"Which means getting a cleric to heal it would be a better idea than using a potion."
Drizzt frowned. "What goodly cleric would be willing to heal a drow, though?"
Andy concealed his own frown at those words. He had assumed that Drizzt had claimed Mielikki because She was the better known of his goddesses, but that question implied he was entirely unaware of the Eilistraeean community.
Well, he hadn't been thinking of bringing Drizzt to the Promenade anyway, so that could be pursued later.
"Silverymoon is home to Mielikki's Glade," he said, "and all of the city's residents know that the wards keep evil non-humans from entering."
Drizzt tilted his head thoughtfully. "That is the city just to the west of these mountains that is split by the river, yes?"
"One of them," Andy agreed. "Silverymoon is the one where the Rauvin runs through it east to west; Everlund has the Rauvin running through south to north."
"Alright," Drizzt sighed.
While it was not uncommon for one of the Tall Ones to come to Silverymoon, they did not tend to enter by any of the gates.
So the guards on the Blacklar Gate were somewhat surprised to see one approaching, perhaps an hour before sunset.
And that was just the least surprising aspect of what they saw, as not only was the Tall One coming to enter by the gate, he was approaching on foot, while his pegasus trotted beside him, bearing a drow on its back.
"Saer Aerasumé!" the squire on duty called, once the group had gotten close enough. "Who is your companion?"
"I am Drizzt Do'Urden, a ranger of Mielikki."
"And your business in Silverymoon?" the squire asked.
Drizzt looked over at Andy, not sure how detailed he needed to be.
"Seeking aid from the Glade's clerics," Andy answered for him.
And with that, the squire waved them through the gate.
Although the Glade's clerics had invited Drizzt to remain in Silverymoon, once his ankle had been healed, he chose to return to his home with the pegasus herd.
Seeing the joy on Drizzt's face as he was mobbed by the pegasi after dismounting from Kairthon, Andy could understand why the ranger had made that choice, but he still had some concerns about the lack of company able to speak in words.
So before he left, Andy broached the subject of Drizzt possibly spending the winter in Silverymoon.
Drizzt had not committed to anything right then, but he promised to think about it, and in late autumn, he did choose to do so.
And though he returned to the herd in the spring, it was with a promise that he would continue to spend winters in the city.
End Note: I wasn't able to get it into the fic, but at some point during the spring starting at the end of the fic, or the coming summer, the fledgling Drizzt saved decides to bond to him.
Winter in Silverymoon is filled with lessons in pegasus care and riding, and then next spring the fledgling is old enough to ride, so his options and range expand significantly.