Forgotten Realms: New fic
May. 12th, 2023 05:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
somarielHedging Bets (5179 words) by Somariel
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Artemis Entreri, Original Drow Character(s) (Dungeons & Dragons)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ensemble Cast, Implied/Referenced Canon-Typical Violence
Summary:
Many thanks tosenmut for providing the original idea and helping with brainstorming. Thanks also go to ilyena_sylph and ukia_dragon for helping with brainstorming.
Like other fics that include Kastan, assumes Drizzt didn't escape graduation unscathed.
By the time Drizzt had fully returned to consciousness, he knew—with absolute certainty and deep regret—that the lead he had gained with his desperate dive under the drider to get beyond it, when it had reared up in front of him, had in the end still not been enough of one to let him escape from his sister and the mercenaries who had accompanied her.
And the restraints that had been added—some sort of bag over his head to keep him from actually seeing the tunnels around him, and his elbows bound together in addition to his hands being bound behind his back—made it clear that his only hope for another chance before they reached Menzoberranzan would be the fight with him that Entreri had been promised.
So despite the fact that the party was undoubtedly slowed by having to carry him, he began trying to support himself, rather than hang in the firm grips just below his shoulders.
It only took a few stumbling steps for those carrying him to notice, and the quiet "He's awake" from one of them quickly resulted in the party coming to a halt.
Once they had, Drizzt was carefully set down on his feet, steadied until he had his balance, and then the grips on his arms disappeared.
Noticing an approaching heat signature, Drizzt braced himself to ignore whatever verbal barbs his sister chose to sting him with. For although the fabric of the bag blurred the signature too much for him to actually be able to discern identity, he thought it was most likely to be Vierna.
The person stopped right in front of him and began to speak, their voice proving him correct.
"I'm impressed by how close you came to actually managing to escape, my lost brother, but you won't have another chance.
"Jarlaxle's pet human is rather displeased with the alteration of our agreement, but you've proven quite clearly why his fight with you will have to happen someplace far more secure."
And then, while he was still mentally reeling from having his one hope dashed, a yank on a rope around his neck started him stumbling forward again.
Fifteen days later
After a final check of the small packs she had prepared, Vierna secured them where they would be cleverly concealed by her outer robes, belted on her maces, double-checked the dagger she had secretly obtained, then cast a last wistful look around the quarters in Arach-Tinilith she had been granted upon her successful return with her lost—with Drizzt, she reminded herself firmly—and quietly slipped out the door to begin sneaking out of Tier Breche entirely.
Not too long after, concealed in the stalagmites below the westernmost edge of the side cavern that held the Academy, she let out a sigh of relief for having completed the first step of her plan without being noticed.
A look at Narbondel showed there was still most of half an hour before the total darkness known as "the black death of Narbondel", so after taking a drink from her waterskin, Vierna began sneaking west along the outer wall of the cavern that held Menzoberranzan.
And as she did so, she reflected—for far from the first time in the last few days—on how impossible her current actions would have sounded to her ten days ago.
But the zealotry that had consumed her when she found herself once more being favored by Lloth had eased since her triumphant return, and she had begun to see the inconsistencies between what she had been told and what it was clear others had been told that her fanaticism had blinded her to.
Some comments from Jarlaxle had helped her realizations along, and three days ago, she had fully grasped how she had been positioned as a piece in the power plays of House Baenre.
Which they were soon going to regret, as before she left the city entirely, there was one thing she was going to do to show that she was no one's pawn.
The sound of footsteps coming down the corridor woke Drizzt from the uneasy sleep that had proved to be all he could manage since he had regained consciousness—having been dosed with the sleep poison as soon as his sister's party entered Menzoberranzan—to find himself in this cell, each leg individually chained to the wall, his hands tightly shackled in front of him, and otherwise completely naked.
That there was only one set of footsteps meant it had to be Vierna—the guards who brought his allotted ration bar and cup of water always came in pairs—so despite the fact that he would much rather attempt to resume what sleep he could manage, he sat up and arranged himself into the most comfortable position his restraints would allow, as his sister had proven all too willing to use her whip to get his attention if he attempted to ignore her when she came to gloat and taunt him.
Much to Drizzt's surprise, Vierna paused to do... something... just short of the opening that had once held the cell's door for several long moments before she entered.
And when she did, he received another surprise, as her expression no longer showed the religious fervor that had filled it on her previous visits. In fact, he would almost call it "serene".
Drizzt couldn't help but flinch when Vierna came to a stop just out of his reach, since she only came that close when she intended to inflict physical harm, but instead of pulling out her whip, she ordered him to hold his hands out.
His wary hesitation produced a snapped "Hold out your hands, Drizzt!", in the tone she used when she was just a single provocation away from whipping him, so he hastily obeyed, despite his confusion over her use of his name, instead of the "my lost brother" that had been all she called him since he regained consciousness after his attempt to escape in the tunnels under Mithral Hall.
His confusion only increased when, instead of seeking to damage his hands, she stared intently at the shackles binding them and then, after a whispered word, reached out to touch the pair of half-links holding the shackles together.
And when she then proceeded to pull out a dagger, thrust it into the space where the half-links overlapped, and saw it back and forth until the links broke, he could no longer contain his confusion.
"Vierna, what...?" His attempt to escape, the second time he had been fed after waking in this cell, had—despite its spectacularly unsuccessful nature—been punished so brutally that he had not dared to try again, and now she was doing something that would help him to escape?!
"I will not be used!" she growled.
And while he gaped at her for what that statement implied, she put away the dagger, dropped a small roll of leather by his feet, and left the cell.
She did not go far, however, as she quickly returned, carrying a bundle that, when she opened it after placing it just inside the cell, was recognizable as his gear.
And before she left in truth, a small pack, a piece of parchment, a small potion vial, and—most importantly to Drizzt—Guen's figure, had all been added to his gear.
Still half-disbelieving what had just happened, Drizzt picked up the roll of leather as Vierna's footsteps receded, opened it to find a set of lockpicks, and bemusedly set about freeing himself.
Since her triumphant return, the redeemed priestess formerly of House Do'Urden had been in regular—and noticeable—attendance at the daily services held in Arach-Tinilith, though she had missed a few when something regarding the traitor had needed to be dealt with at exactly the wrong time.
She had not, however, ever missed both of the day's services.
So when she failed to attend the evening service, after having already missed the first-light one, Triel made her way to the quarters Vierna had been granted until it was decided which of the first eight Houses would adopt her, in order to find out why.
The rising priestess was not in her rooms, however, so Triel set about the business of finding out when she had last been seen.
And when she found out that the last sighting of Vierna had been by a guard who reported having seen her descending the stairs from Tier Breche down to the rest of the city, half an hour before the black death of Narbondel the previous night, Triel could only think of one reason for her failure to return.
"Go check on the traitor, and report back swiftly!" she ordered.
The lesser mistress of Arach-Tinilith who had received that order returned with impressive speed—in fact, it could only have been achieved by a pace just short of running—and made a deep bow to Triel.
"Matron-Mistress," she said, without rising from the bow, "the traitor is gone, and has been so for long enough that the cell has cooled completely."
"You are dismissed." Triel was moving even as she spoke. Just as no House had been allowed to hold the traitor or host the redeemed priestess before the priestess's status had been settled, it would not do for any other House to have the glory of recapturing the traitor. Which meant she needed to speak with Jarlaxle.
As he stood in the center of the main chamber of Bregan D'aerthe's compound, openly giving his men Triel's orders and more subtly giving the orders he wanted them to actually follow, Jarlaxle kept an eye out for the two people who had the most reason to give him the results he wanted from Drizzt's surprising escape.
Turning his head to answer a question, he noticed them emerging from the training area together, and suppressed a satisfied smile over how well sliding Zaknafein's grandson—who had very much inherited his sire's nature—in front of his pet human had worked out.
Entreri had become oddly protective of the boy who was so strongly reminiscent of the man that the assassin desired to test himself against, and Kastan was now getting the experience of training with someone who could draw out the full potential of Zak's lineage.
Catching Entreri's eye, Jarlaxle gave him a Look, accompanied by a subtle tilt of his head in the direction of the only exit from the compound accessible to the man, and watched with pleasure as the assassin discreetly guided the boy away, then returned his full attention to the fighters he was speaking with.
Jarlaxle's unspoken message—“You want out of here; the boy will do anything to help his father. Go make it happen.”—had been clear as day to Entreri, so he steered Drizzt's son towards the tunnel up to the city, signaling for silence when he saw the questions in the boy's eyes.
Once they were halfway up the tunnel, which had thick doors on both ends, he signaled for Kastan to halt, and once the boy had, gave him freedom to express himself.
Kastan had wanted to rush off as soon as he heard what was being said in the main chamber, but the human who had taken to teaching him—despite his obsession with Kastan's father—had steered him back into the compound at a look from Jarlaxle.
His obedience to the man's signal for silence had been grudging at first, but as Entreri took him through a part of the compound that Kastan had never been in before, and then into a well-concealed, upwards-sloping tunnel, Kastan began to believe he had missed something in the look Bregan D'aerthe's leader had given his teacher.
So when Entreri stopped them in the middle of the tunnel and let him speak, it was not an angry rant that came out of him, but a confused "What's going on?"
"I want to get out of this hellpit; you don't fit any better than your father did.
"We have a mutual interest in finding Drizzt, and Jarlaxle, for some unknown reason, doesn't want him to be recaptured."
"Oh." Even with his conclusion that the look had imparted more than he had realized, that was still not anything Kastan had expected to hear.
He took a moment to consider what was being left unsaid, then nodded. "You want us to work together to find my father and get out of the city, while Jarlaxle runs interference for us."
"Precisely."
As much as he truly did want to find Drizzt, Entreri had felt that Jarlaxle was being oddly optimistic in thinking that he and Kastan would succeed, when they had no way of knowing where the ranger had gone.
But then, once the two of them were actually up in the city, Kastan was extremely insistent that they should head for the west side of the cavern.
A hushed conversation about the boy's insistence had not produced any more explanation for it than that he had a feeling he trusted, so Entreri simply sighed and let him lead the way.
Kastan truly had no idea why he was so certain he knew how to find his father, but given that the feeling was accompanied by the same wordless but gentle song that had sustained him through the worst moments in his life, he was entirely willing to trust it, even when it seemed to be leading them right up to the west wall of the cavern.
And given that upon reaching the cavern wall, the feeling shifted so that it was now directing him towards the Westrift, he thought that trust well-founded.
Entreri's skepticism of Kastan's 'feeling' had subsided somewhat as it led them right past the ruined House that Drizzt had been held in, then turned to follow along the cavern wall towards some nearby tunnels, but when Kastan bypassed all of them, only to stop at the rim of the rift somewhat further along, it returned in full force.
"You can't really think he'd manage to safely get down there," he said, looking down at the near vertical cliff face that had no hand holds he could see.
"Give me a minute," Kastan replied, dropping to his knees to peer over the edge from a closer vantage point.
And... yes, there it was! "I see the route he used!" he exclaimed, then immediately started to climb down.
Once Kastan had started down, Entreri found himself able to pick out the route himself, so he sighed and began to follow the boy.
It had been long enough since he had lived in Menzoberranzan that Drizzt had known he would need some time to recall the various side tunnels leading out of the city and decide which of them was the best one to use.
So once he had followed Vierna's instructions on how to get out of their ruined House without being seen—which he was quite grateful for, since he had never had a chance to learn of any of the secret exits—he had followed a feeling to this cave in the south wall of the Westrift.
And although he had, at first, not been entirely sure of the feeling's source, the gentle melody lingering in his head when he woke from the much needed sleep he had taken after entering the cave had confirmed his suspicions.
Food and water from the small pack Vierna had prepared for him had been followed by a period of drawing maps of the city's walls while he worked on remembering the ways out, which of them were regularly used by patrols, which ones were mostly used by those seeking to leave the city discreetly, and, just as importantly, which ones in the latter category could be reached without the use of levitation.
Eventually, he had begun to feel a need to rest again, so he had curled up in a spot that was not easily seen from the cave's entrance, and let sleep take him once more.
Waking an indeterminate time later, he had resumed his mapping after more food and water, but just a few moments ago, his concentration had been disturbed by footsteps on the ledge the cave opened onto, which had soon been followed by a hushed discussion.
Taking advantage of the noise of the discussion, he had concealed himself in a fold of the cave's walls that would prevent anyone from seeing him without coming some ways into it, and now waited to see what would happen.
The sound of footsteps came closer before stopping, and then a voice spoke in Common.
"Drizzt?"
That was Entreri's voice! But while his instinctive reaction was to prepare for a fight, Drizzt could also feel Eilistraee's encouragement for calm and patience.
So he started breathing deeply and slowly, and waited to hear what else Entreri might say.
"I understand that you have little reason to trust me right now," Entreri continued, "but my companion and I are likely the only people in this entire city willing to actually help you escape."
After considering Entreri's words for a moment, Drizzt made a cautious reply. "Your companion?"
"A boy Jarlaxle stole out of one of the noble Houses. He's very much like you, in multiple ways."
After another moment of consideration, Drizzt sighed and stepped out where Entreri could see him.
"Then both of you should come in so we can talk."
Without looking away from Drizzt, Entreri made a beckoning gesture to his right. Footsteps approached quickly in response, and soon enough, a young drow male stood by the assassin's side.
Drizzt carefully hid his surprise at seeing that this male truly was a boy—just about the same age he had been when he first escaped—and asked his name.
"I am Kastan, of House Duskryn," the boy said—surprisingly enough, in Common.
"Well met, then, Kastan," Drizzt said, continuing the use of Common, since it made the most sense to use the language all three of them spoke. "I am Drizzt Do'Urden."
Kastan nodded acknowledgement, then followed Entreri as the assassin moved into the cave.
When Entreri and Kastan reached a point a few feet from Drizzt, all three of them sat down simultaneously, by unspoken mutual consent.
"Before we start on figuring out the best way to leave the city," Drizzt said, "I have to ask: How did you find me?"
Entreri shrugged and looked to Kastan, whose face heated for a moment before he answered.
"I... had a feeling about how to find you," he said. "I don't know why, but it was one I had reason to trust, so..." Kastan scrunched his shoulders up and ducked his head as he trailed off.
It wasn't hard for Drizzt to figure out the source of that feeling, but he understood why Kastan would feel embarrassed to admit to it, when he had no way to know there was a reasonable explanation for it.
"Did you hear a wordless, but gentle, song with the feeling?" Drizzt asked.
Kastan straightened, a look of surprise on his face. "Yes! You've heard it, too?"
"Only in the last few months. But I would have heard it long before then if not for interference." Drizzt made a dying spider gesture, and Kastan laughed, nodding. "The song is from Eilistraee, who is a Good drow goddess and seeks to guide those she can away from the Spider."
"Can I ask how you managed to escape?" Entreri said.
After a moment of carefully studying the other man, Drizzt said, "It seems Vierna was not pleased to realize she was being used to advance the ambitions of others."
In contrast to Kastan's clear surprise at that statement, Entreri looked like he had halfway expected that answer.
His next words confirmed that. "After hearing you had escaped, I wondered if she had been involved. Given that she demanded the figure from me yesterday."
And Entreri, Drizzt knew, was well aware of his feelings regarding Guen.
"On to planning, then," Drizzt said. "My memories are telling me that the tunnel I used to escape the first time is rarely used, and would be a most unexpected choice, but I am having trouble recalling exactly where it is."
"The boy'll be more help with that than I am," Entreri said.
Drizzt looked at Kastan inquiringly, and the boy nodded, then said, "Show me what you have remembered of the ways out of the city?"
"Of course." And Drizzt began to draw the map on the cave floor with the heat of his hands.
A while later, having finally determined that the tunnel he was thinking of was the one just to the east of the Academy, Drizzt sat back on his heels and sighed.
"I still think it's the best choice, but actually getting me there is going to be difficult."
"Your gear does make you rather distinctive," Kastan said apologetically.
"Then it's a good thing I've been keeping the mask on me at all times, isn't it?" Entreri said.
Drizzt gave the other man a sharp look. "That would be a most excellent solution," he agreed, after a moment of hesitation. He could not afford to reject such a useful tool simply because of how it had last been used.
"Mask?" Kastan asked.
"An enchanted mask that allows the one wearing it to change their appearance completely, including clothing and gear," Drizzt answered.
"Oh. That is a good solution. You can use the mask to become an ordinary male, and then the three of us will head for the Clawrift like we're going to report to Jarlaxle, except we'll continue to the north wall instead, and make our way to the tunnel."
"Exactly," Entreri said.
Four days later, Jarlaxle tipped back in his desk chair and contemplated the... interview... he had just had with Triel.
Despite a very thorough search of the city, and even a day's travel into the surrounding tunnels, no sign of Drizzt Do'Urden had been found, leaving his sister immensely frustrated.
Though, he mused, some of that was likely due to the fact that she had had to admit that Vierna must have been responsible for Drizzt's escape.
But more pertinently, he had been able to tell her with complete honesty that none of his men had found so much as a hint towards where the renegade had gone.
After all, Entreri was not actually a member of Bregan D'aerthe, and Kastan had—deliberately—never been properly inducted.
And though those two had been seen with another drow male, first heading towards the Clawrift, and somewhat later, entering one of the side tunnels near Tier Breche, that male had been in typical drow gear, and his weapons had been a longsword and dagger instead of Drizzt's scimitars, so he very clearly couldn't have been the renegade.
After allowing all four of the chair's legs to touch the floor again, Jarlaxle got up and left his office to start letting his men know that Triel had called the search off.
Nine days after the trio had left Menzoberranzan, in the tunnels under Mithral Hall, Drizzt and Kastan prepared to part ways with Entreri.
Those nine days had not been untroubled—both learning that Kastan was his son, and putting together what Kastan and Entreri knew to realize that Menzoberranzan planned to invade the Hall had shaken Drizzt—but they had certainly been less stressful than the ones that had preceded them.
But there had been good moments on the journey as well. In addition to the pleasure of getting to know his son, there had been a joyous reunion with Belwar, when the trio encountered a svirfneblin mining party he was leading—which had also enabled Drizzt to pass on warning of Menzoberranzan's plans, so the residents of Blingdenstone could make preparations for their own safety.
And after they had entered the tunnels under the Hall, Entreri had provided the unexpected but welcome news that not only had he not killed Regis, the halfling appeared to have been found by their other friends, as he was not where Entreri had left him, and the bindings the assassin had used were discarded at that spot.
And now, standing on the ledge where a tunnel opened onto the mountainside, the trio was having some parting words.
After expressing a heartfelt desire to never have to deal with drow again—though carefully phrased in such a way as to not include Drizzt and Kastan in that statement, Drizzt noted—Entreri started making his way down from the ledge.
Drizzt watched the assassin's progress in the pre-dawn light for a while, then turned to Kastan. "Time for us to go up the mountain, my son."
"Up the mountain?" Kastan repeated, his puzzlement clear on his face. "Not through the tunnels?"
"I feel it would currently be unwise to attempt to bring another drow in through the tunnels," Drizzt replied.
After a moment in which he was clearly thinking it through, Kastan sighed. "You're probably right. Where are we going, then?"
"I have a cave up on the west side of the mountain, that I use as a retreat when the rock becomes too much for me to bear.
"We should, I believe, be able to reach it before the light becomes too much for you, and then I can send Guen down the mountain to let my friends know I have returned."
Kastan nodded, then turned to face the mountainside. "Then let's get started."
Catti-brie had only just left the Hall, intending—as she had done so many times in the last few weeks—to go up to Drizzt's cave to offer some prayers to Mielikki for his safe return, when a roar from further up the mountainside drew not just her attention, but that of the dwarves standing guard at this entrance.
And as all of them looked up towards where the roar had come from, a large black panther came bounding down the slope.
Catti could not help but gape for a moment, which proved to be all the time needed for the panther to reach her and give her a friendly lick.
Shaking off her stunned surprise, Catti threw her arms around Guen with a cry of joy.
"Oh, I've missed ye, me friend," she said. "And sure'n as yer here, Drizzt is safely back."
Guen gave a pleased mrowl, then pulled back from the hug and looked at Catti, looked up the slope, then looked at Catti again.
"Me ranger's up in his cave then," Catti asked, "and wants me to come up there?"
At Guen's affirmative chirp, Catti turned to look at the guards, but before she could say anything, the leader preempted her.
"Runner in to the Hall for th' King and Rumblebelly, an' one down tae Settlestone for Wulfgar, aye?"
"Aye," Catti agreed. Then she turned her attention back to Guen, gave the panther a scratch behind the ears, and headed for the beginning of the trail up to Drizzt's cave.
It was getting on towards noon when Drizzt heard footsteps coming towards the cave. Turning to his son, he said, "I'm going to go out to greet whichever of my friends this is. You should likely shade your eyes before I open the windbreak."
"Of course, Father."
And once Kastan had done so, Drizzt opened the windbreak just far enough for him to slip out, pulling it as closed as he could manage from the outside after he had.
Turning to look down the slope, he was quite pleased to see that it was Catti-brie who was coming up the trail beside Guen. He knew that all of his friends were likely to be somewhat unsettled by him having returned with another drow, but Catti was the one who was least likely to make a fuss about it.
Quiet scuffing ahead of her drew Catti-brie's attention up from watching where she put her feet, and when she saw Drizzt standing just outside the cave—which had the windbreak pulled across the opening for some reason—she broke out in a smile, and took the last few yards at a pace just short of a run.
Catti's hug was just short of a tackle, and Drizzt was very glad he had braced himself for it when she had sped up.
"Ach, me ranger, but sure'n yer a sight for sore eyes," she cried.
"I am equally glad to see you again, my friend," Drizzt replied, returning the hug just as fiercely.
Catti-brie kept up the hug for longer than she usually would, just reveling in the solid proof that her friend was back, was safe, but eventually she pulled back and looked Drizzt in the eyes.
"I thought ye might have come up here tae counter havin' spent so long under stone," she said, "but there'd be nae reason for ye tae have th' windbreak closed when yer not in the cave, if'n that were the case.
"So why did ye choose tae come up here and send Guen down for us?"
Drizzt returned her gaze with equal seriousness. "One of the people who helped me to escape is like I am, and I did not think it would be a good idea to attempt to bring him in through the tunnels, or to approach either of the gates with him before the guards had been warned of his presence."
"Aye, that'd've gone poorly," Catti-brie agreed. "But me ranger, it's fer certain sure ye are that he's like you?"
"Eilistraee guided him to where I was hiding while I worked on remembering the ways out of Menzoberranzan," Drizzt replied calmly, knowing she only asked out of concern for him. "If he was not like me, he would not have been able to hear Her."
"That's well enough, then. Bring me in and introduce us?"
"Of course."
Introductions between Catti-brie and Kastan had gone well enough, though Drizzt could tell that Kastan's exact relationship to him had startled her.
But she had set it aside well enough to demand the tale of how he had escaped, and Drizzt had obliged.
And now, as he wrapped it up, he sobered greatly. "For all that I am now safe, there is more danger coming. Between them, Entreri and Kastan knew enough for me to be certain that Menzoberranzan intends to invade the Hall."
"Aye, we know," Catti said. "At the most, we've got a week and a half or so, before their forces arrive."
Drizzt could not help but gape at her for that statement, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Kastan was doing the same.
"I... what... How do you know?!"
"Ach, that's a bit of a tale, me ranger," Catti replied. "And if'n the both of you'll settle down, I'll tell it."
Drizzt stretched, forcing himself to relax, and once both he and Kastan had assumed comfortable poses for listening, Catti-brie began to spin out the tale of what had been happening on the Surface.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Artemis Entreri, Original Drow Character(s) (Dungeons & Dragons)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ensemble Cast, Implied/Referenced Canon-Typical Violence
Summary:
When Vierna is successful in bringing Drizzt back to Menzoberranzan, his future looks bleak.
But the Spider Queen's plans for him are not as straightforward as he thinks, and he might have some unexpected allies in the city.
Beginning Notes
Many thanks to
senmut for providing the original idea and helping with brainstorming. Thanks also go to ilyena_sylph and ukia_dragon for helping with brainstorming.Like other fics that include Kastan, assumes Drizzt didn't escape graduation unscathed.
Hedging Bets
By the time Drizzt had fully returned to consciousness, he knew—with absolute certainty and deep regret—that the lead he had gained with his desperate dive under the drider to get beyond it, when it had reared up in front of him, had in the end still not been enough of one to let him escape from his sister and the mercenaries who had accompanied her.
And the restraints that had been added—some sort of bag over his head to keep him from actually seeing the tunnels around him, and his elbows bound together in addition to his hands being bound behind his back—made it clear that his only hope for another chance before they reached Menzoberranzan would be the fight with him that Entreri had been promised.
So despite the fact that the party was undoubtedly slowed by having to carry him, he began trying to support himself, rather than hang in the firm grips just below his shoulders.
It only took a few stumbling steps for those carrying him to notice, and the quiet "He's awake" from one of them quickly resulted in the party coming to a halt.
Once they had, Drizzt was carefully set down on his feet, steadied until he had his balance, and then the grips on his arms disappeared.
Noticing an approaching heat signature, Drizzt braced himself to ignore whatever verbal barbs his sister chose to sting him with. For although the fabric of the bag blurred the signature too much for him to actually be able to discern identity, he thought it was most likely to be Vierna.
The person stopped right in front of him and began to speak, their voice proving him correct.
"I'm impressed by how close you came to actually managing to escape, my lost brother, but you won't have another chance.
"Jarlaxle's pet human is rather displeased with the alteration of our agreement, but you've proven quite clearly why his fight with you will have to happen someplace far more secure."
And then, while he was still mentally reeling from having his one hope dashed, a yank on a rope around his neck started him stumbling forward again.
Fifteen days later
After a final check of the small packs she had prepared, Vierna secured them where they would be cleverly concealed by her outer robes, belted on her maces, double-checked the dagger she had secretly obtained, then cast a last wistful look around the quarters in Arach-Tinilith she had been granted upon her successful return with her lost—with Drizzt, she reminded herself firmly—and quietly slipped out the door to begin sneaking out of Tier Breche entirely.
Not too long after, concealed in the stalagmites below the westernmost edge of the side cavern that held the Academy, she let out a sigh of relief for having completed the first step of her plan without being noticed.
A look at Narbondel showed there was still most of half an hour before the total darkness known as "the black death of Narbondel", so after taking a drink from her waterskin, Vierna began sneaking west along the outer wall of the cavern that held Menzoberranzan.
And as she did so, she reflected—for far from the first time in the last few days—on how impossible her current actions would have sounded to her ten days ago.
But the zealotry that had consumed her when she found herself once more being favored by Lloth had eased since her triumphant return, and she had begun to see the inconsistencies between what she had been told and what it was clear others had been told that her fanaticism had blinded her to.
Some comments from Jarlaxle had helped her realizations along, and three days ago, she had fully grasped how she had been positioned as a piece in the power plays of House Baenre.
Which they were soon going to regret, as before she left the city entirely, there was one thing she was going to do to show that she was no one's pawn.
The sound of footsteps coming down the corridor woke Drizzt from the uneasy sleep that had proved to be all he could manage since he had regained consciousness—having been dosed with the sleep poison as soon as his sister's party entered Menzoberranzan—to find himself in this cell, each leg individually chained to the wall, his hands tightly shackled in front of him, and otherwise completely naked.
That there was only one set of footsteps meant it had to be Vierna—the guards who brought his allotted ration bar and cup of water always came in pairs—so despite the fact that he would much rather attempt to resume what sleep he could manage, he sat up and arranged himself into the most comfortable position his restraints would allow, as his sister had proven all too willing to use her whip to get his attention if he attempted to ignore her when she came to gloat and taunt him.
Much to Drizzt's surprise, Vierna paused to do... something... just short of the opening that had once held the cell's door for several long moments before she entered.
And when she did, he received another surprise, as her expression no longer showed the religious fervor that had filled it on her previous visits. In fact, he would almost call it "serene".
Drizzt couldn't help but flinch when Vierna came to a stop just out of his reach, since she only came that close when she intended to inflict physical harm, but instead of pulling out her whip, she ordered him to hold his hands out.
His wary hesitation produced a snapped "Hold out your hands, Drizzt!", in the tone she used when she was just a single provocation away from whipping him, so he hastily obeyed, despite his confusion over her use of his name, instead of the "my lost brother" that had been all she called him since he regained consciousness after his attempt to escape in the tunnels under Mithral Hall.
His confusion only increased when, instead of seeking to damage his hands, she stared intently at the shackles binding them and then, after a whispered word, reached out to touch the pair of half-links holding the shackles together.
And when she then proceeded to pull out a dagger, thrust it into the space where the half-links overlapped, and saw it back and forth until the links broke, he could no longer contain his confusion.
"Vierna, what...?" His attempt to escape, the second time he had been fed after waking in this cell, had—despite its spectacularly unsuccessful nature—been punished so brutally that he had not dared to try again, and now she was doing something that would help him to escape?!
"I will not be used!" she growled.
And while he gaped at her for what that statement implied, she put away the dagger, dropped a small roll of leather by his feet, and left the cell.
She did not go far, however, as she quickly returned, carrying a bundle that, when she opened it after placing it just inside the cell, was recognizable as his gear.
And before she left in truth, a small pack, a piece of parchment, a small potion vial, and—most importantly to Drizzt—Guen's figure, had all been added to his gear.
Still half-disbelieving what had just happened, Drizzt picked up the roll of leather as Vierna's footsteps receded, opened it to find a set of lockpicks, and bemusedly set about freeing himself.
Since her triumphant return, the redeemed priestess formerly of House Do'Urden had been in regular—and noticeable—attendance at the daily services held in Arach-Tinilith, though she had missed a few when something regarding the traitor had needed to be dealt with at exactly the wrong time.
She had not, however, ever missed both of the day's services.
So when she failed to attend the evening service, after having already missed the first-light one, Triel made her way to the quarters Vierna had been granted until it was decided which of the first eight Houses would adopt her, in order to find out why.
The rising priestess was not in her rooms, however, so Triel set about the business of finding out when she had last been seen.
And when she found out that the last sighting of Vierna had been by a guard who reported having seen her descending the stairs from Tier Breche down to the rest of the city, half an hour before the black death of Narbondel the previous night, Triel could only think of one reason for her failure to return.
"Go check on the traitor, and report back swiftly!" she ordered.
The lesser mistress of Arach-Tinilith who had received that order returned with impressive speed—in fact, it could only have been achieved by a pace just short of running—and made a deep bow to Triel.
"Matron-Mistress," she said, without rising from the bow, "the traitor is gone, and has been so for long enough that the cell has cooled completely."
"You are dismissed." Triel was moving even as she spoke. Just as no House had been allowed to hold the traitor or host the redeemed priestess before the priestess's status had been settled, it would not do for any other House to have the glory of recapturing the traitor. Which meant she needed to speak with Jarlaxle.
As he stood in the center of the main chamber of Bregan D'aerthe's compound, openly giving his men Triel's orders and more subtly giving the orders he wanted them to actually follow, Jarlaxle kept an eye out for the two people who had the most reason to give him the results he wanted from Drizzt's surprising escape.
Turning his head to answer a question, he noticed them emerging from the training area together, and suppressed a satisfied smile over how well sliding Zaknafein's grandson—who had very much inherited his sire's nature—in front of his pet human had worked out.
Entreri had become oddly protective of the boy who was so strongly reminiscent of the man that the assassin desired to test himself against, and Kastan was now getting the experience of training with someone who could draw out the full potential of Zak's lineage.
Catching Entreri's eye, Jarlaxle gave him a Look, accompanied by a subtle tilt of his head in the direction of the only exit from the compound accessible to the man, and watched with pleasure as the assassin discreetly guided the boy away, then returned his full attention to the fighters he was speaking with.
Jarlaxle's unspoken message—“You want out of here; the boy will do anything to help his father. Go make it happen.”—had been clear as day to Entreri, so he steered Drizzt's son towards the tunnel up to the city, signaling for silence when he saw the questions in the boy's eyes.
Once they were halfway up the tunnel, which had thick doors on both ends, he signaled for Kastan to halt, and once the boy had, gave him freedom to express himself.
Kastan had wanted to rush off as soon as he heard what was being said in the main chamber, but the human who had taken to teaching him—despite his obsession with Kastan's father—had steered him back into the compound at a look from Jarlaxle.
His obedience to the man's signal for silence had been grudging at first, but as Entreri took him through a part of the compound that Kastan had never been in before, and then into a well-concealed, upwards-sloping tunnel, Kastan began to believe he had missed something in the look Bregan D'aerthe's leader had given his teacher.
So when Entreri stopped them in the middle of the tunnel and let him speak, it was not an angry rant that came out of him, but a confused "What's going on?"
"I want to get out of this hellpit; you don't fit any better than your father did.
"We have a mutual interest in finding Drizzt, and Jarlaxle, for some unknown reason, doesn't want him to be recaptured."
"Oh." Even with his conclusion that the look had imparted more than he had realized, that was still not anything Kastan had expected to hear.
He took a moment to consider what was being left unsaid, then nodded. "You want us to work together to find my father and get out of the city, while Jarlaxle runs interference for us."
"Precisely."
As much as he truly did want to find Drizzt, Entreri had felt that Jarlaxle was being oddly optimistic in thinking that he and Kastan would succeed, when they had no way of knowing where the ranger had gone.
But then, once the two of them were actually up in the city, Kastan was extremely insistent that they should head for the west side of the cavern.
A hushed conversation about the boy's insistence had not produced any more explanation for it than that he had a feeling he trusted, so Entreri simply sighed and let him lead the way.
Kastan truly had no idea why he was so certain he knew how to find his father, but given that the feeling was accompanied by the same wordless but gentle song that had sustained him through the worst moments in his life, he was entirely willing to trust it, even when it seemed to be leading them right up to the west wall of the cavern.
And given that upon reaching the cavern wall, the feeling shifted so that it was now directing him towards the Westrift, he thought that trust well-founded.
Entreri's skepticism of Kastan's 'feeling' had subsided somewhat as it led them right past the ruined House that Drizzt had been held in, then turned to follow along the cavern wall towards some nearby tunnels, but when Kastan bypassed all of them, only to stop at the rim of the rift somewhat further along, it returned in full force.
"You can't really think he'd manage to safely get down there," he said, looking down at the near vertical cliff face that had no hand holds he could see.
"Give me a minute," Kastan replied, dropping to his knees to peer over the edge from a closer vantage point.
And... yes, there it was! "I see the route he used!" he exclaimed, then immediately started to climb down.
Once Kastan had started down, Entreri found himself able to pick out the route himself, so he sighed and began to follow the boy.
It had been long enough since he had lived in Menzoberranzan that Drizzt had known he would need some time to recall the various side tunnels leading out of the city and decide which of them was the best one to use.
So once he had followed Vierna's instructions on how to get out of their ruined House without being seen—which he was quite grateful for, since he had never had a chance to learn of any of the secret exits—he had followed a feeling to this cave in the south wall of the Westrift.
And although he had, at first, not been entirely sure of the feeling's source, the gentle melody lingering in his head when he woke from the much needed sleep he had taken after entering the cave had confirmed his suspicions.
Food and water from the small pack Vierna had prepared for him had been followed by a period of drawing maps of the city's walls while he worked on remembering the ways out, which of them were regularly used by patrols, which ones were mostly used by those seeking to leave the city discreetly, and, just as importantly, which ones in the latter category could be reached without the use of levitation.
Eventually, he had begun to feel a need to rest again, so he had curled up in a spot that was not easily seen from the cave's entrance, and let sleep take him once more.
Waking an indeterminate time later, he had resumed his mapping after more food and water, but just a few moments ago, his concentration had been disturbed by footsteps on the ledge the cave opened onto, which had soon been followed by a hushed discussion.
Taking advantage of the noise of the discussion, he had concealed himself in a fold of the cave's walls that would prevent anyone from seeing him without coming some ways into it, and now waited to see what would happen.
The sound of footsteps came closer before stopping, and then a voice spoke in Common.
"Drizzt?"
That was Entreri's voice! But while his instinctive reaction was to prepare for a fight, Drizzt could also feel Eilistraee's encouragement for calm and patience.
So he started breathing deeply and slowly, and waited to hear what else Entreri might say.
"I understand that you have little reason to trust me right now," Entreri continued, "but my companion and I are likely the only people in this entire city willing to actually help you escape."
After considering Entreri's words for a moment, Drizzt made a cautious reply. "Your companion?"
"A boy Jarlaxle stole out of one of the noble Houses. He's very much like you, in multiple ways."
After another moment of consideration, Drizzt sighed and stepped out where Entreri could see him.
"Then both of you should come in so we can talk."
Without looking away from Drizzt, Entreri made a beckoning gesture to his right. Footsteps approached quickly in response, and soon enough, a young drow male stood by the assassin's side.
Drizzt carefully hid his surprise at seeing that this male truly was a boy—just about the same age he had been when he first escaped—and asked his name.
"I am Kastan, of House Duskryn," the boy said—surprisingly enough, in Common.
"Well met, then, Kastan," Drizzt said, continuing the use of Common, since it made the most sense to use the language all three of them spoke. "I am Drizzt Do'Urden."
Kastan nodded acknowledgement, then followed Entreri as the assassin moved into the cave.
When Entreri and Kastan reached a point a few feet from Drizzt, all three of them sat down simultaneously, by unspoken mutual consent.
"Before we start on figuring out the best way to leave the city," Drizzt said, "I have to ask: How did you find me?"
Entreri shrugged and looked to Kastan, whose face heated for a moment before he answered.
"I... had a feeling about how to find you," he said. "I don't know why, but it was one I had reason to trust, so..." Kastan scrunched his shoulders up and ducked his head as he trailed off.
It wasn't hard for Drizzt to figure out the source of that feeling, but he understood why Kastan would feel embarrassed to admit to it, when he had no way to know there was a reasonable explanation for it.
"Did you hear a wordless, but gentle, song with the feeling?" Drizzt asked.
Kastan straightened, a look of surprise on his face. "Yes! You've heard it, too?"
"Only in the last few months. But I would have heard it long before then if not for interference." Drizzt made a dying spider gesture, and Kastan laughed, nodding. "The song is from Eilistraee, who is a Good drow goddess and seeks to guide those she can away from the Spider."
"Can I ask how you managed to escape?" Entreri said.
After a moment of carefully studying the other man, Drizzt said, "It seems Vierna was not pleased to realize she was being used to advance the ambitions of others."
In contrast to Kastan's clear surprise at that statement, Entreri looked like he had halfway expected that answer.
His next words confirmed that. "After hearing you had escaped, I wondered if she had been involved. Given that she demanded the figure from me yesterday."
And Entreri, Drizzt knew, was well aware of his feelings regarding Guen.
"On to planning, then," Drizzt said. "My memories are telling me that the tunnel I used to escape the first time is rarely used, and would be a most unexpected choice, but I am having trouble recalling exactly where it is."
"The boy'll be more help with that than I am," Entreri said.
Drizzt looked at Kastan inquiringly, and the boy nodded, then said, "Show me what you have remembered of the ways out of the city?"
"Of course." And Drizzt began to draw the map on the cave floor with the heat of his hands.
A while later, having finally determined that the tunnel he was thinking of was the one just to the east of the Academy, Drizzt sat back on his heels and sighed.
"I still think it's the best choice, but actually getting me there is going to be difficult."
"Your gear does make you rather distinctive," Kastan said apologetically.
"Then it's a good thing I've been keeping the mask on me at all times, isn't it?" Entreri said.
Drizzt gave the other man a sharp look. "That would be a most excellent solution," he agreed, after a moment of hesitation. He could not afford to reject such a useful tool simply because of how it had last been used.
"Mask?" Kastan asked.
"An enchanted mask that allows the one wearing it to change their appearance completely, including clothing and gear," Drizzt answered.
"Oh. That is a good solution. You can use the mask to become an ordinary male, and then the three of us will head for the Clawrift like we're going to report to Jarlaxle, except we'll continue to the north wall instead, and make our way to the tunnel."
"Exactly," Entreri said.
Four days later, Jarlaxle tipped back in his desk chair and contemplated the... interview... he had just had with Triel.
Despite a very thorough search of the city, and even a day's travel into the surrounding tunnels, no sign of Drizzt Do'Urden had been found, leaving his sister immensely frustrated.
Though, he mused, some of that was likely due to the fact that she had had to admit that Vierna must have been responsible for Drizzt's escape.
But more pertinently, he had been able to tell her with complete honesty that none of his men had found so much as a hint towards where the renegade had gone.
After all, Entreri was not actually a member of Bregan D'aerthe, and Kastan had—deliberately—never been properly inducted.
And though those two had been seen with another drow male, first heading towards the Clawrift, and somewhat later, entering one of the side tunnels near Tier Breche, that male had been in typical drow gear, and his weapons had been a longsword and dagger instead of Drizzt's scimitars, so he very clearly couldn't have been the renegade.
After allowing all four of the chair's legs to touch the floor again, Jarlaxle got up and left his office to start letting his men know that Triel had called the search off.
Nine days after the trio had left Menzoberranzan, in the tunnels under Mithral Hall, Drizzt and Kastan prepared to part ways with Entreri.
Those nine days had not been untroubled—both learning that Kastan was his son, and putting together what Kastan and Entreri knew to realize that Menzoberranzan planned to invade the Hall had shaken Drizzt—but they had certainly been less stressful than the ones that had preceded them.
But there had been good moments on the journey as well. In addition to the pleasure of getting to know his son, there had been a joyous reunion with Belwar, when the trio encountered a svirfneblin mining party he was leading—which had also enabled Drizzt to pass on warning of Menzoberranzan's plans, so the residents of Blingdenstone could make preparations for their own safety.
And after they had entered the tunnels under the Hall, Entreri had provided the unexpected but welcome news that not only had he not killed Regis, the halfling appeared to have been found by their other friends, as he was not where Entreri had left him, and the bindings the assassin had used were discarded at that spot.
And now, standing on the ledge where a tunnel opened onto the mountainside, the trio was having some parting words.
After expressing a heartfelt desire to never have to deal with drow again—though carefully phrased in such a way as to not include Drizzt and Kastan in that statement, Drizzt noted—Entreri started making his way down from the ledge.
Drizzt watched the assassin's progress in the pre-dawn light for a while, then turned to Kastan. "Time for us to go up the mountain, my son."
"Up the mountain?" Kastan repeated, his puzzlement clear on his face. "Not through the tunnels?"
"I feel it would currently be unwise to attempt to bring another drow in through the tunnels," Drizzt replied.
After a moment in which he was clearly thinking it through, Kastan sighed. "You're probably right. Where are we going, then?"
"I have a cave up on the west side of the mountain, that I use as a retreat when the rock becomes too much for me to bear.
"We should, I believe, be able to reach it before the light becomes too much for you, and then I can send Guen down the mountain to let my friends know I have returned."
Kastan nodded, then turned to face the mountainside. "Then let's get started."
Catti-brie had only just left the Hall, intending—as she had done so many times in the last few weeks—to go up to Drizzt's cave to offer some prayers to Mielikki for his safe return, when a roar from further up the mountainside drew not just her attention, but that of the dwarves standing guard at this entrance.
And as all of them looked up towards where the roar had come from, a large black panther came bounding down the slope.
Catti could not help but gape for a moment, which proved to be all the time needed for the panther to reach her and give her a friendly lick.
Shaking off her stunned surprise, Catti threw her arms around Guen with a cry of joy.
"Oh, I've missed ye, me friend," she said. "And sure'n as yer here, Drizzt is safely back."
Guen gave a pleased mrowl, then pulled back from the hug and looked at Catti, looked up the slope, then looked at Catti again.
"Me ranger's up in his cave then," Catti asked, "and wants me to come up there?"
At Guen's affirmative chirp, Catti turned to look at the guards, but before she could say anything, the leader preempted her.
"Runner in to the Hall for th' King and Rumblebelly, an' one down tae Settlestone for Wulfgar, aye?"
"Aye," Catti agreed. Then she turned her attention back to Guen, gave the panther a scratch behind the ears, and headed for the beginning of the trail up to Drizzt's cave.
It was getting on towards noon when Drizzt heard footsteps coming towards the cave. Turning to his son, he said, "I'm going to go out to greet whichever of my friends this is. You should likely shade your eyes before I open the windbreak."
"Of course, Father."
And once Kastan had done so, Drizzt opened the windbreak just far enough for him to slip out, pulling it as closed as he could manage from the outside after he had.
Turning to look down the slope, he was quite pleased to see that it was Catti-brie who was coming up the trail beside Guen. He knew that all of his friends were likely to be somewhat unsettled by him having returned with another drow, but Catti was the one who was least likely to make a fuss about it.
Quiet scuffing ahead of her drew Catti-brie's attention up from watching where she put her feet, and when she saw Drizzt standing just outside the cave—which had the windbreak pulled across the opening for some reason—she broke out in a smile, and took the last few yards at a pace just short of a run.
Catti's hug was just short of a tackle, and Drizzt was very glad he had braced himself for it when she had sped up.
"Ach, me ranger, but sure'n yer a sight for sore eyes," she cried.
"I am equally glad to see you again, my friend," Drizzt replied, returning the hug just as fiercely.
Catti-brie kept up the hug for longer than she usually would, just reveling in the solid proof that her friend was back, was safe, but eventually she pulled back and looked Drizzt in the eyes.
"I thought ye might have come up here tae counter havin' spent so long under stone," she said, "but there'd be nae reason for ye tae have th' windbreak closed when yer not in the cave, if'n that were the case.
"So why did ye choose tae come up here and send Guen down for us?"
Drizzt returned her gaze with equal seriousness. "One of the people who helped me to escape is like I am, and I did not think it would be a good idea to attempt to bring him in through the tunnels, or to approach either of the gates with him before the guards had been warned of his presence."
"Aye, that'd've gone poorly," Catti-brie agreed. "But me ranger, it's fer certain sure ye are that he's like you?"
"Eilistraee guided him to where I was hiding while I worked on remembering the ways out of Menzoberranzan," Drizzt replied calmly, knowing she only asked out of concern for him. "If he was not like me, he would not have been able to hear Her."
"That's well enough, then. Bring me in and introduce us?"
"Of course."
Introductions between Catti-brie and Kastan had gone well enough, though Drizzt could tell that Kastan's exact relationship to him had startled her.
But she had set it aside well enough to demand the tale of how he had escaped, and Drizzt had obliged.
And now, as he wrapped it up, he sobered greatly. "For all that I am now safe, there is more danger coming. Between them, Entreri and Kastan knew enough for me to be certain that Menzoberranzan intends to invade the Hall."
"Aye, we know," Catti said. "At the most, we've got a week and a half or so, before their forces arrive."
Drizzt could not help but gape at her for that statement, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Kastan was doing the same.
"I... what... How do you know?!"
"Ach, that's a bit of a tale, me ranger," Catti replied. "And if'n the both of you'll settle down, I'll tell it."
Drizzt stretched, forcing himself to relax, and once both he and Kastan had assumed comfortable poses for listening, Catti-brie began to spin out the tale of what had been happening on the Surface.
