. 07

Let me start by thanking my sounding board and editing staff. So a huge thanks to Traff, BunLover and Anubismark for their hard work in dealing with my bad English.

This is the end of Chapter 2, I know some of you are not happy with what happened to Shynta and Mica but don't think I am done with them they will be back in Chapter 3 (Ever wonder what the Drow afterlife is like?)

Part 7 is going to be spent on getting to know Belar, Zilvra, Rikton and Dirzune.

While I have used fantasy novels and the world of Forgotten Realms for inspiration this is my world and some things are not the same. I will thank Gary Gygax for creating such a world.

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Disposable Hero 2.7

The Gathering

Escape

Once asleep, Zilvra was visited again by Eilistraee, which of course made Zilvra feel very uncomfortable, being visited once was more than enough for her and she hoped this wouldn't be a regular thing. Eilistraee showed her a vision of a world filled with buildings touching the sky and wagons moving without horses, some of which she had seen in Henri's dream. She told Zilvra that this is the world of Henri and if she stayed close and followed him, that he will lead her to the truth about herself, have a grand adventure and her greatest desire.

She asked the goddess, "Why have you chosen me? I have never worshipped you or paid you any homage."

Eilistraee gave her a warm smile and replied, "Ask your sire why you were chosen, he has much to tell. Child, great things are coming and you can shape that future for all of my mother's children in the Foreverdark. Only you and your deepest desires drew me to you.

I could see how you wanted to be away from your house and even wondered what the surface was like, that is what drew me to you.

I can only give you a path, you must choose to follow or not. If you wish to go back that is for you to decide. While I hope you won't, it is still your choice. I will help as I am allowed"

"What is my deepest desire? Why is he here? This is not his land, is it?" Zilvra asked.

"Your greatest desire is as old as time itself, to be loved and to love. But not a love that you know, I have seen your desire for something more than the relationship your mother has. I am the goddess of love and beauty, your desire for a certain type of love was what I saw and why you are my champion. While your father opened the door for me, you could be my greatest hope for the children of the shadows.

You are right, he is not from Alirota. No city looks like that in the night above. If you wish to know his path, you must walk it with him, it is not an easy path and one filled with sadness; it began with blood and it will end in blood. He was chosen for a very important job and his life will change in ways you can't imagine.

He is the one you can rely on; always remember this because it is as true as water being wet. He can't turn his back on those in need, it is as much a part of him as our dark skin is us, as you will see if that is the path you wish to follow." She answered.

She showed Zilvra images of 4 humans 1 man, 1 boy and 2 females one a teenager and the other looking not much older, Zilvra can see them crying as the image fades. Zilvra thought she recognized Yuuya and Kirara but the other two she had no idea.

She knew love was not for the Drow and figured there must be more to this and asked Eilistraee, "So how will I know this love of mine? Who are these people? Why are they crying?"

Eilistraee answered with yet another smile she knew Zilvra's curiosity would lead Zilvra on the path that Eilistraee herself had set her on, "You will know by its touch and when you embrace it you will understand its strength. Love is not one thing, it is several things and each means something to the individual. Open yourself to the world that awaits you and you will see love like you have never known.

They are those who love him. The younger ones are his children, the older his brother and sister, they think he has died. This is the sadness of war and you must learn it for this is Henri's weakness. He has lost a lot and even now he mourns Shynta in his way.

Don't be afraid of the weakness that things may appear to be on the surface, embrace it and you will see a world you never knew existed and remember, he will always be there."

The image burned into her mind and the goddess let her sleep. Knowing Zilvra will have to make her choice she has done all she can to help, now it is up to Zilvra. Zilvra slept wondering what else the goddess had in store for her; Eilistraee herself had said that she would help as allowed. Did that mean that the all-powerful Lloth answered to another?

Awaking Zilvra got up and scouted around the camp site she found some Olathni and smiled at her good fortune. Olathni, or dark berry, was a sweet fruit close to a kiwi in flavor but about half the size. For many Drow the Olath was a prized bush but it was hard to transplant. The irony of this discovery wasn't wasted on Zilvra whose name translated as child of Zil. Zil was the beautiful but highly toxic flower that came from the Olath bush, which is made into a highly lethal poison. Picking an arm full of the berries about the size of a crab apple, Zilvra headed back to camp and cut the stem off. By tomorrow she would have a wonderful and safe meal, if the stem was left on the whole fruit would turn toxic.

After getting together and getting situated they started out into the wilds of the Foreverdark, the going would be very treacherous, and Zilvra knew the Caluss Faer were known to be in the area. Zilvra felt a chill to see the most feared thing in the Foreverdark. Every Drow knows to stay far away from a Caluss Faer and learned it as a child to fear the sight of one. Mothers told stories of Caluss draining an unwitting Drow of their magic and making them "Nautilythiiri the cursed" and maybe even more feared undead Drow who were like a vampire on the surface. The difference was that they only fed on Drow magic unlike their creator and master who fed on all magic.

Zilvra took point, keeping an eye out for any of the million creatures that could harm if not kill a Drow in they were unwary.

Henri was shocked to see a forest underground and admired the black wood, that Rikton called Renor Lorulm and told him it was the wood that was used for everything from doors to bows. He did admit that it made a bad bow, lacking the flex that surface bow had, and was why most Drow used crossbows.

Around midday they came upon Zilvra laying a top a small hill looking down on something she was not moving. Henri's knew that she saw something she didn't like and stalked up to her. He laid down next to her and looked down in the other side of the hill. Maybe 300 meters away were two very strange Drow unlike any he had ever seen before, they seemed to have trouble with their motor control and twitched constantly. He watched as they lifted their heads in the air sniffing the wind like a dog hunting for a scent.

While Henri and Zilvra were watching the Nautilythiiri, Gabriella watched and debated if she should help Henri or not. Her orders were to leave him to his own devices but these undead could ruin her father's plans. She knew they were created by magic eaters that maintain the weave. She cursed the transformed, who used too much magic and opened a hole that the magic eaters fell through and into this realm from the veil. She knew the Nautilythiiri and even the Magic Eaters could not handle the chaos of her parents' powers and that was the debate. Should she channel her own chaotic powers into Henri and of course some would go into Zilvra. She looked at Belar and thought about the child growing inside of her and had her decision. She placed her hand on Henri's shoulder and began to slowly pour the power of her father into the two of them for those undead had to be destroyed.

Rikton and Dirzune were watching Henri and Zilvra and saw her silent speak the worst thing for any Drow to hear 'two Nautilythiiri close' This was the worst of luck, everything that grew in the Foreverdark was magic and would do nothing to them, they needed mundane weapons made from regular steel or iron not the mythril that their weapons were made of. Rikton saw a shimmer standing over Henri and out of the corner of his eye he saw Dirzune's eyes get wide and knew she felt something and thought this might be a good time to teach her to read auras.

He leaned over and asked, "You can feel it, can't you? Do you know what it is?"

She just said in a hushed tone, "It feels like a very powerful Avatar if not a goddess herself, it is that powerful."

Rikton was beside himself as he watched the shimmering form touch Henri, his jaw hit the floor as he watched the black in Henri's aura become blacker than black, like it was darkness itself.

He leaned over again and asked, "Did you feel that? Do you have any clue on what I am seeing?"

She whispered, "How could I not know our son would feel that. As to what I can tell you that I have never felt anything like that and I took part in three campaigns. I saw plenty of priests from other faiths use the powers their goddesses bestowed upon them. Nothing felt like that but now I understand what some of my Shrilara meant when they talked about how the chaos of Struledo felt."

Rikton was lost in the idea that a goddess had put Chaos into him and he didn't become deformed. The fact that he could see the same in Zilvra's portion of black aura as well, he wondered what the lasting affect this would have on them. He turned to Dirzune and explained how to see a magical aura, she was very bright and the chance to see what was going on would have her hooked. She focused on Henri and let her natural magic flow then tried to channel it to her eyes as Rikton had instructed.

She saw a swirl of colors in place of Henri; she noted the black, white and blue in Henri and asked, "Why is he black, white and blue?"

Rikton smiled and said, "That is the question I want answered. He is human so his aura should only be white. If he were a priest it would be only white. A magic user of any kind would be a brighter white and a non-magic user a darker white or a dirty white. I have summoned demons for the ceremony and they have black auras, as to why a demon would give power to a human is beyond me and the blue I am still trying to figure out. I did some research and magical creatures like the Bah'lach have blue auras. That doesn't explain why he has such a thing. Now look at me and then at Zilvra and tell me what you see."

As she did just that, she winced in pain at seeing his bright red aura and quickly turned to Zilvra out of reflex and saw her red, white, black and blue auras. She turned back to Rikton closing her eyes as she did and said, "I knew they were linked but I thought it was a spell he had on her. Does that mean she is part human? Or she has part of his soul in her? How come her aura isn't as bright as yours or his for that fact?"

Rikton knew she was hooked and would spend days looking at them trying to master this ability, her questions were good ones and being in lecture mode he said without thinking, "The reason they look dull to you is your eyes are not used to the different powers, being so close to any mage will make them look brighter. As for their connection I want to see how it handles this fight, you know they are sensing him and I for one want to see what they can do and how it helps or hurts them."

Zilvra felt a chill up her spine and could feel something next to Henri but wasn't taking her eyes off the Nautilythiiri, once both the feeling and the chill passed she turned to Henri pointed back to the caravan.

As they walked back she asked, "Did you feel that just a minute ago?" She watched as Henri shook his head no and continued, "Something touched you, something very powerful that is."

Henri was about to answer her but stopped when her saw Rikton and Dirzune looking at them intently, he did not like the look, which he had seen from Dirzune every time she talked with him at the compound.

After watching the Nautilythiiri, Zilvra knew she was completely defenseless because of that innate magic. Her mind raced looking for answers knowing that Henri was what they were sensing as she looked at him it hit her like a ton of bricks. She had two ideas one was his ability to create items that were mundane, the other was how his own weapons gave off no detectable magic even though he did.

She was amazed that he could move so quietly being the giant he was, few of her own people could blend into the shadows like she could, yet Henri was better than most she had seen and trained with, he was certainly better than any of her sisters. She too saw the look that they were getting and compared it to Belar's look when plotting something and was certain this would not be pleasant.

She sighed, her frustration exacerbated by the looks she got from everybody and asked, "What have I, or we, done now?"

Dirzune bristled at the challenge from Zilvra and was about to set her straight when Rikton interjected saying, "Child do you not feel the change in magic in your own body?" He knew that both Henri and Zilvra had serious reservations about them and knew he was walking into a trap from both women.

Zilvra acted insulted but was thrilled to have a confrontation with either of them, she didn't trust either even if Henri seemed to get on well with Rikton, she knew one blow up and he would side with her out of necessity. Of course their link wouldn't hurt either or so she hoped. Zilvra's own dislike of the priestesses as a whole took over as she snapped, "I am no child old fool, call me that again and watch your back even more than you do now." With that she turned and walked towards Belar trying to hide her smile, deep down she was worried that he had seen something when she felt that presence. She knew of one voice that would be in her corner beside Henri's and that was Belar, she would get answers from her before she would even consider talking to Dirzune's ally.

She saw Henri standing next to Belar and walked up to him and began explaining, "What you saw down there were what we call Nautilythiiri, they are, or rather were, Drow but they were attacked by a creature that feeds on magic and drained of all theirs becoming what you saw. I think they are being drawn to you and will follow us. They are immune to magic and even are healed by it so Belar, Rikton and Dirzune are not going to be any help. At least Belar can fight with a sword."

Henri didn't like the thought of being the reason they were there, but knew they were all well-armed, and said, "We are all armed and they are only two, even without magic we can take them."

Belar shocked that Nautilythiiri were so close said, "Henri, our weapons are made from a metal that is magical and would heal some of the damage to them. We need weapons made from a non-magical metal like your sword."

Zilvra continued on that line of thought saying, "Remember how you made those fighting sticks out of Renor Lorulm? When you finished they were made of a surface wood and had no magic to them. No magic means Nautilythiiri will feel all damage. Can you make more of those sticks, or other weapons, to help us kill the Nautilythiiri?"

Henri knew he could but wondered if he could make that many. Suddenly he remembered the Wakizashi and Tanto he had in his bag and reaching into his pack he pulled out both. Belar jumped back remembering how much it hurt to be near his swords as well as Drow nature to be wary of tricks. She berated herself for such a reflex action, but not too hard as Henri looked at her lost as to her reaction and a little hurt that the mother of his child thought he would hurt her said, "This is a Wakizashi like your smaller swords; it is made the same way as my Katana. Who wants it?"

Zilvra grabbed it and unsheathed it, feeling no magic from it she handed it to Belar saying, "You are better than I am with a sword. It doesn't give off any magic so it will work on them." Belar took the sword and thanked Henri.

Henri held the Tanto out to Zilvra and said, "Then I guess this is yours, it is balanced so you can throw it. Wish I would have remembered to bring the two Bokkens they would have been helpful."

Zilvra smiled a wolfish grin and went to the wagon pulling out both Bokkens and handed one to Henri and kept the other for herself. She saw Dirzune and Rikton looking at them and knew that it would help if Dirzune had a weapon as well, she wasn't sure if her mother would fight with them or not.

As she headed toward Dirzune, Zilvra's mother stood before her and said, "We are the ones to protect him, do you really think the one who planned our downfall would help now? For all you know this could have been part of the plan, to lead us here to them and then slink off while the Nautilythiiri feast on us. What reason do I have to trust her with the remaining members of my house?"

Dirzune said coldly, sounding every bit the priestess of Lloth she was, "Because I was one of the three standing before you in the dream, a dream those two never had for they are not followers. I knew this and said nothing, have you forgotten what I do for our mistress? Would you really like to find out?"

Rikton stepped in for two reasons one to save the group and also to see this magic that Henri could do and said, "You both are right, Akordia you have no reason to trust us and Dirzune you could have turned them in but you knew they were the other two spiders in the dream. So how about Akordia keeps the wooden sword that you can't use, remember she trained to be a Harbinger so her skill is good enough." Turning to Henri he asked, "Could you turn my staff into her mace? It is made from the same wood and even if it breaks, I would rather it break on them."

Lacking any real reason not to, Henri did as Rikton asked, while he watched Henri's aura get brighter than even his own, he made note that while that was going on Zilvra's aura calmed as if they were channeling magic through each other. While nothing new for mages to channel spells through each other it took training and practice, they did this without thought or preparation. This didn't sit well with Rikton if Dirzune tried to take control of these two it would end very badly for her and being the weak male he was for him as well, for he would fight alongside the woman he loved even if it meant his death. He understood now that Dirzune could be the biggest problem in this group. Maybe that is why Lloth chose her to keep the guardian and his champions from working together.

He watched as a little of the chaos energy was fed into the final form of the wooden mace which matched the one in Dirzune's hand. That final display had him convinced he must keep Dirzune from antagonising Henri and Zilvra at all costs, or they stood a good chance of both dying at their hands.

As Herni started shaping the mace the magic was felt by the Nautilythiiri who shuffled up the hill with urgency. As Henri handed the mace to Dirzune both her and her daughter began chanting, Dirzune saying, "Lloth grant you blessing upon us, so that we may smite your enemies." Ethev saying, "Lloth aid your humble servant as she does battle in your name." She then touched her mother.

Cresting over the hill were the two Nautilythiiri, who moved with surprising quickness toward Henri and Zilvra, like they were drawn by magnets. Henri felt a wave of repulsion as they got closer, as if for some unknown reason he wanted these things dead in the worse way. With his Katana unsheathed he rushed to taller of the two, whose clawed hand caught Henri across the back cutting him open when he tried to duck the blow. The Nautiluthiiri worked together on him as he slashed the smaller across the chest and watched as blood began to ooze from the wound.