Chapter Text
Chapter 1
NOW
Gods, its bloody dark.
The low hum of temple enveloped us—a constant quiet murmur, broken by the occasional sharp word of a female drow and the impatient shuffling of armoured boots behind me.
I squinted into my bag, trying to make heads or tails of what I was looking at and gave a set of Beholder eye stalks a tentative sniff. “Why in the Nine Hells did I decide to keep you?” I asked the dead appendages.
An impatient sigh—too loud to be anything but intentional—sounded from directly over my shoulder. I rolled my eyes at the glassy eye stalks.
The source of the sigh, Valen Shadowbreath, towered behind me; the pale tiefling with a dark scowl.
Beside him stood his silent drow counterpart, Nathyrra, who had evened the odds in my fight to free the mad mage Halaster the day before. A lazy smile curved her lips at my attention—more sinister than friendly.
Conscious of the less-than-ideal peanut gallery, I returned my attention back to the mess in front of me. I gave a satisfied nod, before replacing all of my belongings—my precious notebook on top—and pushing my bag aside.
I reached for Valen’s pack and grimaced at the weight. “What do you keep in here? A rock collection or something?”
“Or something,” Valen mused flatly, clearly unimpressed.
I'd already searched through Nathyrra’s meagre belongings—who’d seemed more curious than anything. It had been a fairly useless endeavour, finding little of worth that she wouldn’t immediately need. I'd had to remind myself that she hadn't been with the Seer for long. Not to mention that she hadn't intended to permanently leave her previous employer… Valen’s pack on the other hand—belonging to the more travelled of the two— was already looking more promising.
I removed his bigger items in search of anything we could sell as the tiefling towered behind me, a watchful shadow.
“You’re not holding out on me are you, guys?” I mused, uncomfortable under their scrutiny. “If I find out you’ve got a giant safe full of gold bars in your room, I’m gonna be piiissed.”
Another sigh.
I gave my best attempt at a smirk. “I get the feeling you don't like me very much.”
I heard Valen shift his weight again. “Untrue,” he eventually said.
My hands paused at the all-too-familiar feeling of déjà vu. I don't even know you, I remembered suddenly.
“I do not even know you—” he echoed.
“Ain’t that the truth?” I muttered.
“—So I can hardly dislike you,” he continued.
“Coulda fooled me,” I scoffed.
I placed a couple of loose coins from his pack onto the floor, digging deeper and feeling along the seams of his near-empty pack.
“Ahuh!” I exclaimed, pulling out a small stone and admiring the clear diamond between thumb and index finger. It had been trapped in the bottom corner. “They really are a girl's best friend,” I said, turning to Valen. “If you’re willing to take a break from scowling, could you pass me my satchel? It's the dirty—well, dirtier—one.”
He kicked the small bag toward me.
With a happy nod, I pulled out my embarrassingly light coin purse and began placing the stones and loose coins inside.
“That should be enough for us to get started…” I raised an eyebrow at Nathyrra. “Assuming the Seer’s friends get mate’s rates?”
The drow shrugged.
My shoulders dropped. “Super."
As I started packing up our belongings, Valen knelt by my side to help, and I fought the urge to lean away at the sheer size of him. He passed me his worn whetstone and a bundle of bloodstained bandages.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
I reached for the items, but he held them firmly in place, blue eyes locking on my own.
“You should know, unlike the Seer, I’m not about to put all of my faith in you,” he said.
I swallowed thickly. “And I’m not asking you to.”
A line formed between his hard eyes as he considered me. Despite wanting to, I couldn’t hold his gaze for long, and I snatched the items from his hand and stuffed them into his pack. I felt the Beholder's eye stalks boring into me, judging, and I shoved them into the pile of items we were selling. Good riddance.
We worked quickly after that, Nathyrra content to simply watch. Probably used to humans and men waiting on her hand and foot. I shook my head. It was going to take a while to get used to the drow.
Tightening my coin purse with Valen's hard-earned loot inside, I caught the deep worry line that had formed above his eyes as he did a final evaluation of his much lighter pack. Before I could second guess myself, I grabbed a few narrow glass vials from my bag.
“Here,” I said. The green glow of the healing potions threw dramatic shadows all around us as I passed them to Valen. He said nothing, placing them carefully in the empty potion compartment at the opening of his pack.
That should leave me with enough for myself for now…
I gave the insides of my bag and the outer pockets one final sweep, mentally categorising everything into one of two categories: important or soon-to-be-sold.
“Now, my dear,” Enserric drawled from beside my pack. “Dare I ask which category I fall under? Surely you wouldn’t dare sell mwah?”
Valen froze, head darting in my direction to get get a better look at the surprise speaker. I could practically feel Nathyrra’s curious gaze boring into my back.
I tutted at the sentient sword. “Would I ever sell you, Enserric?”
A beat, and then an indignant: “Yes!”
I shrugged. “Only if we don’t have enough for more healing potions.” I was joking. Kind of.
“A talking sword,” Valen muttered.
Enserric flashed a rather indignant shade of red. “That’s not all I am, outsider."
“He’s also a giant pain in my ass.” I stood with a groan, lifting my pack.
A sudden sharp ringing pierced through my head and I took a moment to grimace through it, Enserric proving just how much of a pain he could be before he—thankfully—fell silent. I set my shoulders.
“So then…” I offered both Valen and Nathyrra a wry smile. “Who's a lady gotta kill to prove themselves?”
Valen made a nondescript sound that may have been a chuckle. “We’ve got some time before we can even think about getting to the Valsharess.” He said curtly. “But help us weaken her forces, first. Then we might believe you’re who they say you are, Emma.”
I fought a grimace at his choice of wording.
“Sure. Easy-peasy.” I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt. “But first we’re going to have to sell what we can and stock up." I wiggled my toes, sighing down at the mismatched leather, crusted with who-knows-what. "I'd kill for a new pair of boots."
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Nathyrra said with a small smile.
I said to her: “Could you keep an eye out for something that’ll help me see better in the dark, too?"
She quirked a snowy white eyebrow at my easy admittance of weakness. "There's a High Wizard who might be able to help."
"Perfect." I shrugged my quiver and bow into place, pretending that her judgmental expression didn’t sting.
Hopefully, there was enough coin between them to get started. I was going to need a whole lot more than new shoes and a light trinket if I wanted to make it further than the city gates.
Even with everything I know...
Shaking my head, I pushed my growing doubt aside. We'd start with the weaker enemies, avoid the non-essentials, and improve our equipment as we went.
If you can count anything as a weak enemy in the Underdark…
I rubbed absently at my upper arm, where a drow’s blade had nicked me just the day before. Nothing made you feel as slow and stupid as a dark elf… and I’d gone ahead and thrown myself into the path of even more of them. Yay.
I pushed that thought aside, too. Focus on acquainting yourself with the Seer’s camp first. Then you can worry about how you want to die.
I shucked my pack in place with more enthusiasm than I felt, waiting as Valen and Nathyrra did the same.
“Well,” I gave my best attempt at a smile. “Let’s go work on that trust, huh?”
Then, squaring my shoulders, I pushed open the heavy door and stepped out into the dark streets of Lith My’athar.
THEN
God, it’s so bright. Big and blue and bright.
I squinted up at the unrelenting sky above.
“Where the shit am I?” A plume of mist escaping my chapped lips.
I sat, tucking my frozen hands beneath my arm pits and trying to fight through the fog that seemed to have settled over my brain. Panic gripped my heart in a vice as I took in the… hills? The grassy hilltops stretched as far as I could see, frost capping the tops of each tall blade of grass. I could just make out the tops of trees in the distance, the leaves glistening like a mirage, and I caught the brief streak of a large bird as it dipped into the forest and out of sight.
I scrambled to my feet, suddenly very desperate to be up. The grass crunched beneath my bare toes, damp and numbingly cold.
“Come on, Jane," I said to myself. "You can do this. Remember what happened…”
The wind howled back at me.
I turned in a full circle, suddenly worried I might not be alone, but it was the same green nothing on all sides.
I fought through my panic, thinking back to the last thing I remembered: I’d been at home and there’d been a bottle of red wine on the bench.
“I fell asleep on the couch,” I recalled.
My memory faded around the edges after that.
“Did I sleep walk?” I usually did that when I had too much on my mind… I scoffed, smirking even though all I wanted to do was cry. “The last few weeks would definitely count as stressful…”
I let that idea die as the wind tore through me; it was too cold, too new, I didn't walk here from home.
“I can’t stay here.” Wherever here was.
I hugged my arms tight against my chest and started walking, making a beeline towards the trees and putting one cold foot in front of the other.
What else could I do?
“My phone!” I patted down my jeans’ pocket and pulled out my mobile with a sigh of relief. Thank shit. It had a couple more hours of battery life left in it. More than enough to get me home, surely.
“No reception?”
My screen mocked me: Emergency Calls Only.
“Not yet,” I said. “This isn’t an emergency, yet.” Someone will be able to help me and make sense of where I am. I'll find a sign. A road. Something.
I grasped my phone like a lifeline and set my attention back on the tree line. I felt the wind urging me on, hair whipping against my face as I walked up the crest of a hill. My nose stung from the biting cold, but I forced myself to breathe evenly.
Ahead, someone screamed, a shrill high sound, and I froze, clutching my phone tight to my thumping chest. But then a bird dove from the skies behind the crest of a hill and I managed a strangled gasp. “Just a bird,” I reassured myself.
Suddenly, a woman’s friendly smile bobbed into my field of vision, long brown hair billowing around her in an unruly mane. She crested the hill and started walking towards me.
We took each other in, silent.
“What on Earth?” I whispered.
And that’s when the truth hit me like a tonne of bricks; I’d completely lost my mind.
NOTEBOOK EXTRACT
Jane's messy handwriting covers a double-spread, outlining what appears to be an inventory summary turned shopping list.
This list is followed by a crudely drawn map of Lith My'athar, with the different merchant’s circled and star ratings floating above their locations.
Belt:
- Throwing knives, 3
- Longsword, Enserric - sell?
- Potion of full heal, 3 - always need more!
- Rogue stones, 2 - again, need more!
Wearing:
- Greenleaf armour - would look cool as shit if it wasn’t such a vomit-y hue of green
- Cloak - warm… that’s it. Buy a new one?
- Bracers of dexterity - see how much an upgrade would cost
- Old leather boots - needs replacing (Boots of Striding would be good?)
- Amulet of Natural Armor - looks like an okay quality one…
- My ring on necklace
- Ring of protection - missing a stone and pretty battered, upgrade if money left over
- Cursed (?) ring
- Belt of Agility - seems like its really good quality, very noticeable difference when wearing it
- Valiantheart Longbow - needs upgrading
- Quiver - needs desperate restocking, wouldn’t mind some more enchanted arrows - the fireball ones were fun
Satchel:
- Healing kit - ask Nathyrra about any useful local flora
- Poison’s bag
- Potion’s case - need a few more Potions of Cat’s Grace
- Random components box - don’t open; stinks!
- This notebook - need a new one, almost full
- Relic of the Reaper. This is followed by a small—but very detailed—drawing of a hand giving the middle finger.
- Rod of Resurrection, 2 charges left (double-shit!)
- Waterskin
- Djinn bottle
- Gem of brightness
- Wooden goblet - gift from the dryad near Hilltop
Pack:
- Throwing knives, 5
- Rope, 20m - looks a little worn, probably safest to replace
- Flint and steel
- Rations, 5 days worth - Faerûn desperately needs a food delivery service
- Tea Case: Loose herbal tea and cloth - running low
- Blanket
- Cup, cutlery, bowl and saucepan
- Shadows of Undrentide by Deekin Scalesinger. This is followed by a lovingly drawn music note.
- Timber torch and rags
- Money pouch - pathetically light!
Bag of Holding:
- Dagger, Ice Talon - for Nathyrra?
- Deck of Hazards - not sure if it's worth the risk of trying? Should probably sell it…
- Brooch of Shielding
- Unidentifiable wands, 3 - See if Nathyrra or Valen can identify and either give to her or sell
- Belt of Strength - Not sure on quality, see if Valen wants it, or sell
- Armour of Freedom - sell
- Drow full plate, 1 - good quality, sell
- Drow leather armour, 3 - varying qualities, sell
- Robe of Eyes - sell
- Shadow Robe - looks hot as shit, plus nifty concealment enchantments. This is crossed out, followed by: sell
- Shiver-ring - might be good for Cania?
- A pouch of gems and decorative jewelry of varying colours, sizes and quality
Quiver:
- Standard arrows, 19
- Magically enhanced arrows, 2
- Poison arrows, 3 - need to make more, talk to Nathyrra?
Urgent: Need something to help see in the dark!