A Long Way From Home: A Drizzt Do'Urden Fan Fiction

Chapter 4

It had been some days since Drizzt received his injury at the hands of Artemis Enteri; now Drizzt and Raen were making steady progress on their journey. Raen crested the forested top of a steeply sloped hill, the sight that lay before her made her breath catch in her throat and a tear glisten in her eye. The verdant rolling hills of the landscape surrounded a mist shrouded vale. The early morning light glimmered across the fog, giving supernatural beauty to the whole scene. For a fleeting moment, Raen stepped back to days gone; she could just imagine a small elven settlement sitting deep within the hollow, protected from the prying eyes of the world by the pure mists.

Drizzt laid a gentle hand on Raen’s shoulder.”It’s magnificent, is it not?”

Raen merely nodded, her voice was still constricted deep within her. “D-Drizzt…Can we go to the bottom of the valley?”

Drizzt bowed his head, “If you wish.”

Raen resisted the urge to sprint down the remainder of the slope; somewhere in the back of her mind she willed her village to be waiting for her when she reached the bottom. As Raen slipped through the trees, she couldn’t help but think of her village as it once was: the children running through the grassy pastures, the old elven sages instructing those around them, the busy men and women at work.

As the pair broke through the foliage into a lush glen, a community of elves did not lie in wait for them. Instead, a steaming pool of water bubbled up from deep beneath the earth.

“Hot springs!” Raen rushed to the edge of the water, stripped down, and dove in. Raen paddled around in the pleasantly warm water, letting it wash the grime and troubles of the road from her body. Raen stood and waved her hand at her drow companion; the water lapped just under her shoulders and her now unbound hair was slicked back against her head, highlighting her finely crafted features and sharply pointed ears.

Drizzt smiled and checked his surroundings; he let out a sigh of relief, no one was around to persecute him for his dark skin, maybe he could relax just this once. Drizzt undressed and tentatively eased himself into the clement bath; he swam to the center, finding that the water rose only to his shoulders in the deepest part. Slowly, Drizzt submerged beneath the rippling surface; his white hair was matted to his scalp when he resurfaced, effectively forming a heavy white veil.

Raen laughed and flipped Drizzt’s sodden hair from his face. “Personally, I think you look much better this way.”

~~~

Raen sat wrapped in a blanket, drying her still damp hair in the fire’s warmth. Drizzt lay on the ground beside her, staring into the starry night sky’s depths. Drizzt shifted his gaze to his elven companion; his sharp eyes narrowed as they spotted something suspicious on Raen’s back. “Raen, what do you have on your back?”

Raen quickly clapped a hand to her exposed shoulder, desperately trying to cover it from Drizzt’s violet sight. “Nothing.” Raen quickly responded, much too quickly.

Drizzt propped himself off the ground on his elbows. Suddenly, the drow snaked his arm out around Raen’s thin waist and his other hand pushed her head into her knees.

Raen struggled against the dark elf’s strong arms. “Let me go, dammit! I feel very violated right now!”

Drizzt swept aside dark strands of Raen’s hair and tugged the blanket down to uncover her whole back. The drow’s luminescent eyes widen in shock as he unveiled three jagged scars running horizontally across Raen’s back. “Raen, what happened?”

Raen broke free of his grip and shrugged the blanket up and over her shoulders. “Don’t ever do that again, Do’Urden.” Raen’s hands loosened their clutch on her linen wrapper, letting the moonlight dance across those horridly large scars. “I told you I was taken for dead. I wouldn’t have been if I escaped unharmed.” Raen’s final words closed their conversation.

Drizzt fidgeted awkwardly; he knew well that Raen hated reliving that part of her past, now he forced her into that. Guilt swept over Drizzt’s face like a rain cloud. “I apologize, Raen; I should have let you be. Please forgive my curious nature?” Drizzt’s apology fell on deaf ears; a small snore let him know that Raen had already fallen asleep. The dark elf suppressed a small smile from touching his lips; Raen had the oddest expressions while she slept. Drizzt sighed and took his turn at watch; he reminded himself that he should wake Raen later.

~~~

Drizzt woke with a start; he blinked the sleep from his eyes and scanned the area around himself for Raen. Raen laid at his side, still in as deep a slumber as he had left her. Drizzt sighed in relief and focused his gaze on the dying embers of the fire. Drizzt ran the back of his hand across his brow, wiping off the cold sweat that formed while he walked in his nightmare.

The drow had dreamt of a furious battle with Artemis Entreri; Entreri ended up dragging Drizzt down into the depths of an abyssal lake. In his dream, the dark and watery grave was not what worried him; it was what was happening on the surface that bothered him. Raen was futilely fighting against Darkscale, her blade was knocked from her hand by the lash of the dracolich’s tail. Drizzt’s dream-self screamed in anguish as one of Darkscale’s razor sharp talons pierced Raen’s body and threw it aside as if it weighed less than a child’s doll.

Drizzt shuddered as he recalled his uncannily detailed night terror. A world without Raen was not one Drizzt could live in; however much he tried to deny it to himself, Drizzt had become attached to Raen. Te dark elf knew that this would only spell pain for him; those around him that he loved had a tendency to disappear all too quickly.

Drizzt flopped back down on his bedroll; there was an aura of peace over the vale, as if a shield kept the evil in the world at bay from disturbing the perfect harmony of the valley. Maybe the drow didn’t need to keep watch tonight after all. Drizzt gathered Raen into his arms and laid her slight body on his chest; his arms wrapped protectively around her. Drizzt was now adamant that no one would harm Raen whilst he was walking Faerun.

Raen stirred and mumbled something unintelligible. Drizzt bent his head down to his elven friend’s ear. “It’s only me, go back to sleep.” Drizzt placed a quick kiss on her cheek; hoping that Raen wouldn’t recall that he ever did that in the morning.