Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

The Rest of the Story	By : Anesor Category: +M through R > Neverwinter Nights Views: 2558 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Neverwinter Nights nor the characters from the game, and I make no money from this.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Certain major characters are not mine.

--- x x ---

Parts Unknown - - -

--- Elanee

I fled through the magical gate, glad that the font of the unnatural that was the King of Shadows had been destroyed.

The gate's energies flared and Naloch was still with me, but when I came to an unsteady stop on the hill of scree, I was otherwise alone. There was no gateway visible. The bard, who had gone through a bare step before me, was not here. Nor were any of the rest who were following behind, including my Mere-ward.

Naloch came over, Do they live?

--I wish I knew, they are such brief candles anyway, but it still seems too soon. Let me bandage you, healing will have to wait...

Until you rest, yes, yes. You think I don't know that after all these years?

--Of course. Then a bit of shelter would be good for our rest...

You'd be feeling better, if you hadn't used all your healing on the others!

--I lack your teeth old friend, and few of my spells affected them. I could do more by healing those who would be more aggressive.

But it never felt your teeth or claws! His aggression was often amusing.

I smiled, The Commander, the paladin, and the dwarf were my claws. You never liked the way they tasted either.

Naloch grumbled, and began to explore as I bandaged myself.

I was always unhappy at the existence of the undead of any kind, like those shadows or liches, trying to cheat the ending of the natural cycles. It never worked as they hoped in the long run, but corrupted so much around them before it ended. While I could admire the young paladin's... verve in ending the threat, I found it impossible to commit my efforts to that degree. Everything was just too interconnected to forget the rest of nature.

Sadly, I had now seen the result of that lack of commitment. My brothers and sisters thought they could hide in the stillness of nature and the threat would pass them by, like a wolf or tiger would. But this time had been far worse than other kinds of undeath. Great tracts of land were corrupted and dead, for who knew how many years. Villages that were too small and too precarious in the swamps to even be a threat to the wildlife, were gone, snuffed out. I hoped at least some of the animals managed to flee ahead of the blight. They would not return until the land had recovered. I doubted even some the insects could survive, as dead as the blighted areas had become.

And this was the damage done before our victory, what if that Thing had won?

The circle had been corrupted before it died. I do not know for sure if their souls were released when they died, or if they were too damaged. I never was one of those in direct contact with other circles, I was still considered too flighty by my elders. Now it would be my responsibility to try... no, to successfully help in the recovery. I wondered how I would find other druids, or maybe benign rangers, to help with the rebuilding. That spiteful man-child would never have helped, despite his wolf companion and the links to the Mere that I sensed. Maybe I could find some others in my travels back home.

The others of our group? I had avoided thinking about them so far. As far as I knew only two had died, but I was concerned with the injuries I had seen on the dwarf and paladin near the end. The tiefling had also been shaky from the magic used on her. I had felt only brief sorrow for the sorcerers, one so corrupt, and the other such a spoiled child. I had known some good folk who had been sorcerers decades ago, but those two...

I could do nothing to help any of them now. I should find a place to rest and then find my way back. I sipped some water from my skin and nibbled on some nuts. It was nighttime, but there were only tiny lives nearby that I could sense.

Naloch returned, There is an overhang a short distance away. This stone field seems lighter there.

--Thank you. Let us go.

Curled up with Naloch for warmth, I was determined to go to sleep and I did.

When I woke, Naloch was trying to dig for some grubs in the thin soil around some stunted bushes. He was getting in a foul mood due to his lack of success.

--Good day, friend. I still have some rations if you wish.

Dry as leather, I wanted something with squish. I'm hungry!

I gave him the rest of the dried meat. The bit of nuts I had would help me get by until we could find more food, he needed to eat more often.

--Let me check your bandage, and I will heal the rest.

He grumbled as I carefully removed and saved the wrapping in a pouch.

I cast my healing spells, but they were not as effective as I expected. I healed myself as well.

The necessities of getting food and water meant it was time to move on, although I might have preferred to finish healing before starting our journey in land this unfamiliar. I would need to learn how far we had come from the Mere and the direction we needed to go.

This meant I would need to find some kind of settlement. I could feel no Circle's influence in this land, though the land did have a strange feeling to it. An allegiance to something different, and not of only nature. It did not reek of evil, quite, but it left me feeling uneasy. Carefully sliding downhill, we found a stream with water barely trickling by. By midafternoon, the stream had become a brook. Plenty of water and grubs for Naloch to snack on.

In another day of travel, it had become a creek and I had seen signs of miners in the past. The soil has become less rocks and gravel, and food for both of us has become more plentiful. Shortly before sunset, I found the remains of a village or a mine, even. But the building style was strange, and it looked like the mine had been destroyed. I saw both structural and fire damage in the remains of the buildings, but could tell nothing else. I saw no remains, scattered or not, of those who must have been killed.

Were all the people, dead or alive, taken away after these events? There was a graveyard, but the graves did not look disturbed nor home to undead.

The best thing was that I found the remains of a trail or road going off in different directions from the water's flow. The larger trail, going south had decayed pit traps along it. Another trail, more narrow and going towards the north, was only marked by some old trail blazes.

Which side of the conflict did I want to encounter? Miners, or ones who destroyed them?

Deep, dark hole with ticks and flies at the wound... Asking the path is not approval.

--You are right, I will merely ask the more recently used path, the destroyers.

The markings were many seasons old, and I had to cast about several times to find the path as I traveled. Naloch was getting short-tempered at the delays, enough for him to wish for the tracker, but losing time was as nothing to me. After another day we found a well used trail, and chose the lower direction.

The land was becoming more temperate even though I still felt no kind of Circle influence. The signs of people became more frequent and I saw the smoke of a small village of some kind tucked in the side of a hill late in the day. Strangely, a hawk was circling over the village, and ignoring or simply not seeing the swirl of some kind of spirit around it as it flew.

I turned my course to take me to the village, and as I grew closer I heard a clumsy stumble in the brush.

“I mean you no harm. I only hope for directions,” I said carefully in the common tongue. It had been the better part of a tenday since I had spoken aloud.

The noise stopped and then rushed away towards the village's location. I took a drink from my waterskin, wishing I had time to prepare a soothing tea for my voice. After I drank, I continued on.

I had gone only a few hundred yards when I heard a young voice, trying to whisper.

“Is she starving? She's too skinny and short”

A second voice said, “I dunno, maybe she's not done growing yet. Her ears look funny, all sharp and sticking out like she put gum behind them.”

“Do you think icicles grow there in the winter?” returned the first voice.

I have gone very far if they have not seen elves before, or even the half-blooded. Curious, I stopped to have another drink, offering some to Naloch. I caught a glimpse of the hawk again, circling over us, still with the spirit rider.

--Can you see that, friend? How that ghost hovers around the redtail, but doesn't harm it?

Only as you perceive, it's still too far for me to see, he returned, sounding disgruntled.

“Ooh, she has it trained! I thought badgers couldn't be trained for much. I want one, now. I don't want a frog or snake.” The second one was sounding more like a petulant child now.

The quieter one said, “I don't think it's a bonded, they feel empty. And she's not even carrying a mask. It must be trained.”

This had gone on long enough, so I moved on, still listening to the young ones. They followed, but neither closed nor ran away. It was now only hundreds of yards to the village. But now close enough to see directly, it was less a village and more of a remote farm house gone amuck with many additions over time. It looked like there once had been a house and barn-like building, but all the space in and around them had been filled in by additions, dozens of them over the course of many years, judging by the moss.

Standing in front of this... structure, was a human female, a mature adult, wearing a feathered mask with crystals and metals, as if it were festival time.

“Greetings. I mean no harm, I am only seeking directions,” I said carefully.

“Directions to where, elf?” asked calmly.

Ah, she was more knowledgeable than the children, so I asked, “I seek the city of Neverwinter.”

“A charming name, but I've never heard of it,” said the masked woman wryly.

“Perhaps,” I offered, “The Sword Coast, or Waterdeep are more familiar?”

The look of recognition was unmistakable and heartening. Though my distance from homeland was also obvious.

“You are very far from home,” she confirmed.

“Can you tell me which way I need to go?” I asked weaving calm into my voice.

Looking thoughtful, she asked me, “Are you a 'magic user'? I have heard that elves have an affinity to the Weave.”

“No,” I returned, “I have links to nature which allow me to heal and protect. Though others of my kind do work with arcane magics. Do you need healing?”

“We have no injuries. I wanted to warn you that this land is... unfriendly to strange magics. It is better you are not a male, as unallied male mages are hunted here, as we are always under threat from Thay,” she said a trifle imperiously.

“The Red Wizards?” I could feel my distress at hearing this even as I spoke.

“I see their poison has spread even that far, but you are next to their homeland now,” she said gravely.

This would be where the young Commander would swear and I considered it, briefly. I needed assistance.

I asked her, “Would it be possible for me to hire a guide until I am past their immediate influences? I must get back!” I stopped, I was losing control of my voice.

“First, you will explain this caul of evil all over you. It had better be convincing,” she spoke this as a snarl.

I could only blink at her, “What do you mean?”

“The only thing helping you now is that you seem to have no ill intent, but evil is flowing off of you and your pet,” She was getting angry now.

I tried to think, “I... I am sorry. I do not know why. My own spells are acting oddly and I was not aware of this. Perhaps...”

She waited, fiddling with some rings.

“We defeated an evil, a blighted force of undeath, and fled through its gate. But that was days ago,” I said quietly.

She asked sharply, “We? There are more of you? Where?”

I tried to make a calming gesture, saying, “I do not know where they appeared. I was the only one to appear here. I wish I knew where they were.”

“What evil is this? Could it follow you through that gate? Where is the gate?” she was truly alarmed now.

It was my turn to be calming, “No. This revenant of a past empire is quite destroyed. But we had to flee through an unknown gate or be crushed underground. The gate was unstable and about to collapse,” I had to take a deep breath as I explained.

Still sharply, she said, “So you had no idea where the gate would lead?”

“No, it had been made by our opponents and it was closing,” I told her quietly.

We stood there for a few moments before she spoke again, “I have heard no reports of strangers appearing, but you will need to meet with my senior. We will leave in the morning. Please camp over there, I do not want you any closer to those in my care. Food will be brought to you.”

She then stated, commandingly, “Do not use your magic. Few will tolerate it.”

“Thank you for your help.” I said quietly.

The night passed quietly. The food was a little odd and the two youngsters did not return. Nor would they.

Early the next morning she came over to me wearing more sturdy traveling clothing, saying, “It is time for us to go, Mulsantir is several days travel away, and we must be careful.”

“Of course. I am Elanee, and this is Naloch, my companion,” I informed her.

“I am the hathran, Recca Jufe. Here is some food for your travel,” she said curtly.

The odd redtail followed us, it must look to her, though she did not say anything about it.

And that was the last thing she said for three days. The child used to tease me that I was too quiet sometimes, but even I talk more than this. I think we would have continued that way all the way to her superior, if we had not been attacked by some maddened dire bears. I used my scimitar and Naloch was happy to fight, but she only cast spells. And while her spells were different in form to those Sand or Zhjaeve would use, some were of each school. Still, she was knocked out when there were still two of the creatures left.

After the last was dead, I checked on her. She was alive, but gravely injured. First I bandaged her, using some extra herbs, of the smelly, if harmless kind. Then I cast a healing spell even though it was not as effective as normal. She was still unconscious, so I cast another before moving her a short distance away.

I waited for some hours for her to wake, leaving Naloch to watch her by a fire while I looked around. I wanted to see if I knew any of the local plants' usefulness to replenish my supplies. Some looked familiar, and I took some cuttings and sought seeds, for later examination and comparison.

She wakes!

Returning, I found her awake and fiddling with a smooth stone.

Her first words were a sharp, “I warned you not to use your magic!”

“I understand. But I have made promises to heal those who need it and are not a threat. I will accept whatever the consequence is,” I said carefully.

She said something after I turned to check on Naloch, and I replied, “I am sorry for your loss.”

“You heard that? Another spell, despite my warning?” she was almost outraged.

I was puzzled, “No, the People all have good hearing. Was I supposed to ignore that, as with the children?”

“They said you had not spotted them,” she said, still angry.

“They seemed harmless younglings. Druids such as myself, and rangers to a lesser degree, become one with the land. I watched over a young charge for over twenty years without being seen, here would only be slightly more difficult to not be seen.”

She sighed, “I should not have spoken that aloud. I was regretting the loss of Marles, my bodyguard, who was to protect me as I traveled. It was far too soon.”

“It is true that traveling is usually safer in a group,” I said cautiously. “We could not have succeeded in our mission, without everyone who was with us, even briefly.” Even the sorcerers and ranger, alas.

“But this was no mission, this was a stupid accident! I lost my protector, my friend, and my brother. We never went on our dejemma, but even that doesn't hurt as much as his loss,” she said with a wail all the more sad for how only her voice was not under her control.

Her voice was almost thick with tears, though her eyes were dry, “I waited too long! For everything.”

I tried to be calming, though I knew I was not good at this as others were, “I grieve for thee.”

She only turned away.

I ignored Naloch's snide comments about my own choices.

After a time, I helped her move further from the site of the combat. She was still not fully healed, so we would not be able to travel as quickly. And from then on, she talked a bit more, mostly commonplaces, occasionally talking about her friend. After time I realized that she was grieving for more than a brother but also for lost opportunities.

She must have healed herself a bit, as she was fully recovered the second morning when we arrived in Mulsantir. She began to wear a different mask, and was greeted with deference as we crossed the streets. I seemed to be exciting the interest of many small children and suspicion from many adults.

We approached a huge complex of interconnected buildings, halls and barracks and still rooms. I had seen no temples, but I saw people with injuries passing in front of us. We turned in a different direction into narrower halls. We came to a quiet still room, where I welcomed the sight of drying herbs before seeing an elderly woman. Or elderly for a human, perhaps eighty.

Recca Jufe knelt before the older woman gracefully. “Hail, Mother. I have brought the outlander as you commanded, for your disposal.”

That phrasing alarmed me, after her relative friendliness the last days.

The older woman looked at me solemnly. I could see a swirl of spirits around her suddenly, and her eyes became a clouded gray across the entire eye.

Her gaze became piercing, “What brings you here, Nature's daughter?”

I replied, “I wish only to return to my homeland beyond Waterdeep, near Neverwinter. Can you cleanse me of the evil your daughter says hangs over me?”

From the floor, Recca Jufe said, “It has grown weaker in the last few days, Mother.”

“What can you offer in trade for our assistance?” she demanded.

It was time to begin trade, and I agreed to share some of my knowledge of simples, potions, and the Shadow King. I did not agree to breach the privacy of my friends, but spreading knowledge on the githyanki and Shadow reavers would be wise. Still, it took a tenday and an odd ceremony with dozens of spirits, for them to be satisfied with my cleansing. I worried what this caul would be doing to the others. I taught some new to them healing simples, and told them about the corrupted Illefarn Guardian to finish our bargain.

By that time I was feeling an impatience foreign to me. And thus I could finally sympathize with the child's restlessness during the war. I could only hope she was still alive, even if I had no way of knowing from this distance.

At last, I was free to leave. It seemed Recca Jufe was assigned to accompany me as far as Waterdeep, and remain there for a time. So we left Mulsantir with a couple of guards for the first leg of the journey.

It was an interesting journey, taking what seemed too many tendays for the hathran and I to reach Waterdeep, though we often traveled with trade caravans. Once there, I said farewell to Recca, who had had some rude awakenings in inns along the way, and on seeing magic used in Waterdeep. Then I sought the Circle I'd heard was near here. I even heard a rumor of the King of Shadows' defeat, but nothing about other survivors.

I spoke to the Circle, and requested help for the Mere and for the path home. One said he would come with me, and the others promised to spread word of our need.

Haddin and his companion bear reached the edge of the blight area, and were horrified. This wasn't as new to me, but it was still painful. We traveled through a handful of deserted villages within the blight, a few with the remains of a winter wheat crop decayed and uneaten in the fields, but no later crops or green growth that should be visible this season.

Visibly close to tears, Haddin was holding onto his companion. Naloch came over to me, and sat in my lap while we waited for him to recover.

“Is the land this dead elsewhere? For how big an area? For how long?” he asked through his sad and angry tears. He was impatient to begin.

I admitted, “I am not sure. It was still expanding when we went into the Shadowking's edifice, perhaps three months ago.”

He stood, “Then I will travel the edge this way. When we meet, we will know.”

And he set off with his face still damp and with Belund following him. I left in the opposite direction with Naloch.

Do you think he will stay? Naloch wondered with only a little interest.

--I hope. He wanted a challenge and the Mere is certainly in need.

Another day and I could see the entrance into the Shadowking's warren. I was surprised to see a small camp, the ashes still warm, at the edge of the blight.

Naloch, go out and find who it is... With hope rising.

But even as I was turning to look around, I found myself in an embrace.

“I am joyful to see you. Do you have news that any of the others survived?” was asked of me in elvish. “Has my daughter?”

It was Daeghun, and I was shocked to see a glint in his eyes.

In formal speech, I announced, “I am sorry, but I do not know. We fled through a gate as the ceiling began to collapse.”

Almost pleading he asked, “But does she live?”

Feeling my worry, I admitted my fears, “At that time of our escape she had pushed most through ahead of her, and was trying to convince the paladin to move as well. If she escaped, she could be very far away, as I was. I can commune with Nature to learn if she died here, but I regret I can not tell you more.”

“That is more hope than I've had these months. Thank you.” He stepped back and gave me an archaic, court bow.

It's Daeghun, the Commander's foster father! Naloch said snidely.

--Thank you, for that timely information. Sarcasm didn't always communicate well to companions.

I settled on the ground and cast my divination magic. There were no more shadows within the range of the spell and the only bodies in the underground were of the two sorcerers, so the others had escaped as well. That was the proper place for them, I though. It had been months and at least the undead were also gone.

His eyes were on mine when I came back to myself.

My news was incomplete, when I told him, wishing I could give him better news of kin. “She must have made it through the gate, as the only corpses are of the two sorcerers. But I cannot say where she went, as the bard went through just ahead of me and I was alone after passing through that gate.” I said in a bit of warning, as I did not want to give false hope, “I cannot say how safe her destination was, the gate was created for the enemy's convenience. Still, she did not die here.”

His face had become again the controlled blankness I was more accustomed to seeing him wear during the previous months. Regretfully, he said, “I only know that the young paladin survived, it was reported he did not know more either. I saw no others when I visited the Keep once. The one flag flying always shows she is not in residence.”

I sighed and suggested, “I am doing a circuit around the blighted area, with another I hope to become part of a new circle for the Mere. Do you wish to come along?”

“Yes, I would welcome the diversion. Though I have been exploring the last two months myself,” he said with a now familiar stubborn determination.

His companion, a feline of some kind, was peeking out from a withered bush. I hoped to learn its name.

I looked at him carefully and said, “Then I would like to go back to the Keep. Perhaps the others will be returning as well and the Tyrrian Ivarr will be willing to ask his god for divinations of their survival.”
- 1
- 2
- 3
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Rest of the Story