It took us another three weeks to get to the next town, and when we did get there, it came as somewhat of a surprise. One early afternoon, we walked over a hill to find a town on the other side. After consulting the maps and a few landmarks, I discovered that it was the small town of Shadowdale. Small or not, I decided that I had had quite enough of towns for a while, and vowed not to go in. So we skirted the edge of town and continued, only to discover an old, run down house about ten minutes walk away. It was on the small side, smaller than my parent’s house and only one story. A thatched roof with rotting holes in it covered four crumbling mud walls. The entire structure leaned almost dangerously to one side as if the ground underneath had shifted after it was built. Stranger still was that it glowed like a small sun in my mage sight. I felt drawn to go knock on the door and was only mildly surprised to hear a voice answer me, telling me to enter. I paused, and then beckoned Nighthunter to come with me, pushing open the door and stepping inside.
Stepping inside was like stepping into a log cabin. The floor was wooden planking, and, looking up, I could even see a slanted wooden roof. To one side of the room there was a row of tall bookshelves from wall to wall, filled to the brim. There were various piles of books and papers scattered around the room. Opposite the bookshelves was a fire laid, but not lit. In front of me was a young boy behind a desk that had piles of paper on it taller than he was, for he stood on a small stool to be able to see over them. He appeared to be sorting them into various folders, drawers, and more piles. When the door closed loudly behind me, he finally noticed us.
Looking at me and the wolf by my side, wide-eyed and spoke tentatively. “Mistress Zayanya isn’t here right now. If you want to see her, you’ll have to wait.” He pointed at the chair on the other side of the door.
I nodded, then went to the door and opened it. The rest of the wolves were waiting there. “I don’t know how long I’ll be, but I feel I should wait for this ‘appointment’. If you need to hunt, I’ll be fine.”
Stormwatcher sneezed. “I’ll not leave you alone in this house so full of magic.”
I nodded. “Then Stormwatcher stays with me, the rest of you go hunt.” The twins rolled at my feet. “And I guess I’ll keep the twins, since they can’t keep up yet. Be careful; don’t let any humans see strange wolves hunting in the woods.”
Nighthunter nodded, then turned and bounded off into the woods, the rest of the pack following silently. I picked up the twins, who by now were getting almost too big for the task, and Stormwatcher and I went inside. Once there, I set the twins down and warned them not to make a mess or knock over any piles. When I looked up, the man behind the desk was watching me.
“What makes you think they understand a word you say?” he asked. “They’re just animals.”
I stared at him, then looked at Stormwatcher, who sneezed. “Just animals? Hear that Stormwatcher? He thinks you’re just animals.”
‘That is because he does not hear us like you do, packsister. To him, like most humans, we are just animals.’ He sneezed again, then went on. ‘To him, you may as well be holding a conversation with yourself.’
I chuckled. “Yea, I can see that as looking funny. Are you alright? You’re sneezing a lot.”
‘It’s the magic, it tickles my nose. I have never felt so much in one place before. Try this: instead of saying things out loud to us, use your pendant, or say it in your mind, directed towards whomever you are talking to. But not right now, I have a feeling that none of your magic will work right in this place.’
I nodded. Stormwatcher was right; the boy at the desk was watching us with a peculiar expression on his face. I smiled at him, then walked to the opposite side of one of the bookshelves and started browsing the titles. I had no intention of just sitting and waiting for this mysterious Mistress Zayanya who owned the house to appear. When I found a book that looked interesting, I pulled it out and sat down with my back against the wall. I was soon engrossed in the pages.
Several hours must have gone by when Stormwatcher, who was lying beside me, raised his head. I looked up as well, but heard nothing. I put my hand on my pendant, and touched Nighthunter’s mind with a question.
‘An tall woman is coming up the path,’ he said. ‘We are just barely out of sight on the hill.’ I could barely understand him, and figured the tower must be interfering somehow.
<Thanks Nighthunter. I don’t know how long I’ll be. The twins are sleeping, but I will wake them and send them out to you. We may as well plan on spending the night, the sun is going to set in an hour or so.> I felt his agreement, then broke contact and stood up, using my finger to mark where I was in the book. Bending over, I woke the twins up.
“When the door opens, I want you two to go outside. Nighthunter and Lightfoot will be out there on the hill; go to them,” I whispered quietly. They nodded, and we stepped out from behind the bookshelf just as the door opened. Solstice and Equinox made a beeline for the door, darting around the feet of the man who had just come in.
The woman who came in watched the twins go out the door, but showed no surprise. She had the fine, wizened lines and carriage of a woman who was well into her middle age. On her arm was a cloth covered basket, and even though she stood tall and slender, she carried a staff in her opposite hand that was ornately carved. Her raven black hair was peppered with whites and grays and fell past her waist. She wore a simple blouse, skirt, and cloak in earth tones. After watching the twins leave, she busied herself hanging her cloak on a peg by the door, leaning her staff against the stone mantle of the fireplace, and setting her basket on a shelf next to it. Then she turned and looked me up and down before speaking.
“You must be Alyssa. I’ve been expecting you. Come with me.” She led me through only door in the room, which opened into a much larger living area. I looked around me with wide eyed amazement; she chuckled when she saw my curiosity. I touched the walls gently, as if I was afraid they would crumble to dust under my touch.
“Magic. It’s all made of magic. No wonder it was so bright. Who are you, that you can build a house out of magic?”
She laughed. “I’m just an old woman, but you may call me Zayanya. And as for the house, I didn’t build it really. But that’s an explanation for another time. I would know where you’re going.”
There was silence for a moment before I said quietly, “Icewind Dale.”
She raised on eyebrow at me as she sat down, and gestured that I do the same. “Icewind Dale is a cold, hard place. Why would you wish to go there?”
I looked at my fingers. “I’m looking for someone.”
“Who? And why?”
‘This woman has many questions,’ commented Stormwatcher. ‘She smells ancient, and of old magic. Do you trust her with your information?’
I glanced at him, sitting proudly next to my chair looking at me, and scratched his ears, before answering . “Because he’s like me.”
Zayanya sat back in her chair, her eyes sparkling. “Ah, you look for Drizzt Do’Urden. What will you do once you get there?”
Her answer left me stunned, that she had known so easily who I sought. I had never thought of what I would do once I found this elf. She seemed to read the uncertainty in my eyes and chuckled. “It will come to you, I’m sure. Just give it time. In the meantime, do you know how you’re going to get there?”
I nodded, then pulled the map out of my pack and showed her my dilemma. The map wasn’t very detailed, and a little outdated, but it didn’t take much detail to show the huge desert lying between where I was and where I wanted to go.
She pondered the map for some time before finally speaking. “Traveling through a desert with enough food and water for you and a wolf pack would be a feat, one not so easily accomplished. But going around would take many weeks.”
Those words put a grain of fear in my heart. I hadn’t told her about the pack, and we had taken great pains to stay hidden, so how did she know? And if she knew, who else knew? Stormwatcher edged a little closer to my legs, and I put my hand on the thick, soft fur on his neck and scratched it, taking comfort from the familiar action. Zayanya’s eyebrow raised when she saw this. “Have no fear, child. None will harm you, or those who came with you, be they man or beast. But there is very little unusual activity that goes on in this area without my knowledge.”
All at once there was a noise from outside, barking and snarling, and through it all I heard a howl of a wolf. Nighthunter’s howl. “I thought you said they would not be harmed?!” I snapped angrily at Zayanya, grabbed my pack and ran for the door, rummaging for the circlet as I went. I found it and managed to get it on just as I made it outside. There I was confronted with a stand off: A farmer and his dogs on one side, the dogs bristled and growling, and Nighthunter on the other side, also bristling, the pups at his feet and the rest of the pack a few feet behind him, all of them on their guard.
<Stop!>
Immediately both sides subsided, although there was still wary looks between the two.
I looked at Nighthunter. <You were supposed to stay hidden!>
‘We did. They tracked us by scent.’ He looked somewhat ashamed. I sighed and turned to the dogs, one hand on my pendant.
<We mean you and your master no harm. Leave my family alone.>
The dogs looked surprised, and one stepped forward. ‘We do it only on order of our master, and to protect him. If you mean no harm, then we will be still.’
I nodded at him and turned to the farmer. “Take your dogs and go home, these wolves are under my care.”
- - - - - - - - - -
I hadn’t known what to expect when I talked to the drow girl Alyssa, but she surprised me more than once. When I led her into the next room after meeting her at the door, she saw at once the true nature of the room. After listening to her destination, I wondered how she had known of Drizzt. He was fairly well known in the west, from the battles with the orcs, but in the east... certainly none of the townsfolk had ever heard of him. Getting her across the desert would certainly be an achievement, but it was possible to Gate her. Several times I had seen her look at the wolf by her side, and I had the impression that he was speaking to her, but she did not answer through normal means, nor any telepathic that I could sense. She started as if struck when I mentioned the wolf pack that had come with her, so I was quick to reassure her. When we heard the commotion from outside, however, she looked at me accusingly. “I thought you said they would not be harmed?!” she retorted angrily, then snatched her pack from where it lay on the floor and ran for the door, looking for something in it as she went. She had something in there magical, and when I made it to the door behind her, I saw it was a circlet, obviously magical, for it was no longer a drow girl confronting the farmer and his dogs that stood there, but a surface elf with golden skin, but the hair color was unchanged. She looked first from the wolf to the dogs, and they seemed to speak to her, for she answered back telepathically. The farmer managed to look confused and on guard at the same time, until she addressed him and told him to go home.
He peered at her. “How do I know that? How can I be certain that as soon as I leave, they won’t be killing the livestock and chasing the chickens? How am I able to be sure that worg is yours?” He pointed to the one in the midst of the pack who very well could have been a worg; it at least had the size of one. The wolf in question stiffened and growled at the farmer’s tone. She called him over and stroked his hears.
“Calm down Longstride, and let me do this the human way. You are in their territory after all.” He sat on his haunches as Alyssa picked one of the two youngest pups up in her arms. “You wanted proof?” She asked. He nodded, a cautious and wary look in his eyes. “Here. This is Solstice.” She handed him Solstice, who licked him on the chin. I could see him relax just a bit, but he still looked suspicious.
“You could have trained her” he said, peering at her suspiciously from under his eyebrows. Alyssa sighed in exasperation.
“Look,” she said. “If I had wanted to harm you, or your dogs, then I wouldn’t have come out here and calmed them both down. In fact, I would have let that half worg you speak so angrily of defend his family.” Her tone of voice was gradually rising as she got angry. “If you need something more, look at this!” She motioned the tall wolf over and pushed his thick fur to the side, revealing a silvery cord around his neck. As the farmer bent closer to look, she held her arm out and I saw there the same type of silvery color. “This is Longstride,” she continued in a quietly dangerous voice. “His parents were Howl and Nightsong.” She pointed to another wolf in the pack. “These are my brothers and sisters, and I can guarantee you that they go where I go. When I continue on my way, so shall they come with me.”
There were several awkward moments as they stared at each other before the farmer looked at me. I reassured him with a nod. “She will harm no one.” Farmer Devyn always put on a show of being gruff, but in reality had a very soft heart.
Finally, Devyn grudgingly nodded. “Very well, I believe you. She’s cute, this one is, even if she is a wolf.” They exchanged smiles, and he handed Solstice back to her, then looked at me. “Well if you’ll not be needing me then, Mistress, I’ll be on my way.” I nodded at him, and the Devyn started back towards the town. I looked at Alyssa, wondering just what kind of talent she had and how long she had had it...
- - - - - - - - - -
Zayanya looked at me strangely and thoughtfully before turning back inside. I looked at Nighthunter. “This time stay hidden!” He nodded, and led the pack into the small stand of trees not far off, and I followed Zayanya back inside, Stormwatcher by my side. I got to the room and sat down again, and she looked at me thoughtfully a long time before finally speaking.
“Perhaps you had better tell me where you’ve come from, and how long you’ve had this talent of yours.”
“What talent? Speaking with the wolves?” She nodded. “As long as I can remember. I mean, I can’t remember not being able to understand them.”
“Did your parents teach you this?”
I looked at my fingers, trying to avoid the subject. She waited patiently until I was ready to speak. “I don’t know. See, they weren’t my real parents, they just... They were my real parents, but not my birth parents.”
She nodded for me to continue, and it seemed that she was not willing to do anything else until she had heard my story. I was reluctant to tell her of things that were so hard for me to speak of. “My parents were two human druids, and they are the only parents I remember. As far as I know, they found my on their doorstep as a baby.”
She looked thoughtful for some very long moments, then asked, “How did you know of Drizzt Do’Urden?”
‘Are you sure you should be telling her everything about us? She may smell ancient and of magic, but you do not know her.’ Stormwatcher trailed off a little uncertainly. I could feel Zayanya’s eyes upon us, and she was watching when I looked up. I sighed.
“He asked if I should be telling you all this, because although you smell ancient and of magic, I don’t know you very well.”
Zayanya chuckled. “He is a very observant wolf. Let me tell you this: the man you seek is no longer in Icewind Dale. If you were to go there, with or without my help, you would find cold and probably death. Although Drizzt has established a well-known reputation for himself there, that reputation does not spread to other dark elves.”
“So where is he now?”
She pulled out my maps again, and pointed to a mountain above the river Surbin. “He is now in Mithril Hall, with the dwarves. But getting there will be dangerous. Several years ago, the orcs came out in force, and while those in Mithril Hall managed to kill the majority, there are many stragglers that wander in the area. I can get you closer, but you’ll still have a ways to go, and getting into Mithril Hall will be up to you.”
I nodded, and gave another small sigh. “I know of Drizzt Do’Urden because my parents were good friends with the ranger Montolio DeBrouchee. We heard briefly of his stay with Mooshie, and I think part of the reason why is because I was part drow myself. After Mooshie died, and owl showed up at our door to tell us of the news, and after that visit I never saw the owl again. I was only a few years old at the time of his death, but my parents told me about him and his owl. When my parents died... my father’s last words to me told me of Drizzt and told me to seek him out. And so I have been.”
“Well.” She looked down at my map and pointed to a spot across the desert. “I am fairly sure that I can Gate you to around this area. But there’s something that you will have to get for me, from somewhere over here.” She pointed to another area of the map, somewhat closer. “It’s a stone, about the size of my fist, with a rune etched in it, and will probably be guarded by something. This stone isn’t something that should fall into the hands of the wrong kind of people. When you come back with that, I will Gate you across the desert.”
“Ok. We can leave tomorrow.”
“Good. I’ll show you to a room where you can stay the night, but most of the wolves will have to sleep outside. I’m afraid we don’t have the means to accommodate all of them here.”
I nodded. “They wouldn’t want to sleep inside a human dwelling anyway, but I think I will keep Stormwatcher with me.”
Zayanya nodded and directed me towards a room down the hall, with a huge bed and a fireplace that was burning cheerily. I stepped inside, wishing Zayanya a good night, and went and sat on the bed. It came up to my waist because there were so many pillows and blankets on it. I laid down on it and tried to sleep, but it was a soft bed... too soft. I finally got down on the floor with Stormwatcher and slept comfortably there for the rest of the night.
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