Wide-eyed Wanderer
a NWN fanfic
by Meagen

Book 1: Neverwinter

Chapter 4

 Meagen was running through a dark wood, with no path to guide her,
branches and shrubbery clutching at her clothes with every step. She
held a small, glowing bottle close to her chest - the cure for the
Wailing. Someone was suffering from it, somewhere in these dark
woods, and she needed to get the cure to them as fast as possible.
She wasn't sure who it was, or how she was supposed to find them, but
she ran as fast as she could anyway, with no fear of anything she
might encounter.

 Even without the darkness, she wouldn't be able to see much - the
trees were packed densely on both sides, the undergrowth thick as
walls, because there *were* walls. She was in a house, one she had
never seen before, running down a long hall. She was almost there,
she saw a door up ahead, she reached out for the doorknob but then
the door *roared*...

 Meagen sat up, startled but not quite alert, her left hand leaning
on the chest of Amadeus Mandrake where her head had been comfortably
resting just a while before. She was in the small room at the Shining
Serpent, made even smaller by the fact that four people were sleeping
in it. Sharwynn was still occupying the tiny bed. Daelann was sitting
cross-legged with his back against the wall, his weapon resting in
the corner next to him. And taking up most of the floor was a
makeshift bed made of spare clothes, containing Amadeus and herself
in comfortable travel outfits.

 The door of the room was making the noise that had awakened her from
her sleep, not a roar but a loud, grincing, *scratching* sound. 

 One she had heard once before.

 Amadeus Mandrake stirred next to her, then went to a sitting
position as well, in the process shifting her so she was leaning
against his shoulder. Presently he got up, settling her back down on
the "bed", and went to open the door, admitting the black panther
named Seta into the room.

 Slowly, Meagen collected her wits. She had a light sleep and was
ready to get up and fight at a moment's notice - good survival traits
- but her higher mental functions alwayys took a while to start in the
morning. After a few minutes, she managed to remember the events of
the last evening and put them together in order. 

 She and Amadeus had arrived back at the inn only to be informed that
because the inhabitants were seeking refuge from the undead, there
was no second room available. (In fact the one room they were in had
been freed by shooing out a family with five kids, which was only
done because of their wounded companion.)

 They decided to spend the night all together, and Amadeus suggested
that they pool their clothes to make themselves more comfortable.
Daelann assured them that he would be quite all right by himself and
that they wouldn't *want* him to take off any parts of his armor,
anyway. That left Meagen and the sorceror to build a cot and fall
asleep side by side. She didn't voice much opposition, partly because
there wasn't much he could do with two other people in the room, and
mostly because she was too tired to care about anything at all.

 It also seemed that they had drawn together during the night, the
instinctive pursuit of comfort taking them from neutral positions and
into each other's arms. All evidence of that vanished when Amadeus
got up, however, and Meagen was quite happy to see that their
companions were unaffected by the noise which had awakened her.

 She also noted the faint hue from the window, suggesting that
somewhere above the city, the sun had risen. With a small groan,
Meagen rolled over and decided it was time to get up.

*********************************************************************

 Meagen walked out from behind the screen, adjusting various parts of
her padded armor, to find Amadeus waiting for her, a wide smile on
his face. "My lady Image", he said quite formally, "I would like to
give you my most sincere apologies for certain remarks of mine, as
well as the pitiful conditions in which you have had to spend this
night." He held out a sword to her carefully. "Please accept this
gift, and may it serve you well."

 The half-elf was very much surprised by this gesture, and the speech
that came with it. She took the sword from him - a rapier, like the
one she carried, but with a sharper blade and an ornate gold-plated
hilt. She examined the sword closer, tested its balance, ran her
finger along the intricate design on the guard, then took it firmly
in hand, raising the blade vertically before her face.

 A tiny jolt ran through her arm, and she gasped. The weapon wasn't
just well-crafted, it was *enchanted*. It weighed in her hand in a
manner that felt particularly tense, rather like a cat crouching in
the grass, ready to pounce upon its prey. Meagen made a careful swipe
to her side - there really wasn't enough room to test the blade
properly in here - and saw the blade trailing small sparks in its
wake.

 She looked back up at Amadeus. He was still smiling, obviously
delighted with her reaction. She opened her mouth, but really
couldn't think of anything to say. Finally, she managed to blurt out,
"Than-thank you."

 "You're welcome", he beamed. "I can see my humble apology was
well-chosen." He seemed to be expecting *something* more, though.
Meagen was starting to form some dark suspicions when she noticed the
blade had a row of letters carved into it.

 They read "To protect: with a life from Akaris". They were quite
fresh, certainly newer than the blade. She caught Amadeus' eyes
again, this time with a quizzical gaze.

 "It turns out the Shining Knight does minor modifications like that
on a very short notice", he observed lightly. "Seta was kind enough
to bring the weapon here once it was finished." 

 That wasn't what she had been wondering about, though. "Akaris? Who
is that?"

 "A very old and powerful dragon, a child of Bahamut himself",
Amadeus explained, "who chose to patronize a group of humans along
with his own dragon kind. He taught my anscestors, and gave them the
power of Dragon Magic. They also say that a little of his blood runs
through my family's veins."

 "Wow." Meagen breathed out slowly. Most of that had gone over her
head - it was still a bit early in the morning to be absorbing that
much information - but she had heard of Bahamut, the ancestor and
deity of all good dragons. One of his children would be a demigod at
least... "So... he's like your patron god, right?"

 "I suppose it *is* a bit presumptous of me to put you in the care of
the deity who watches over myself", he admitted. "If you refuse the
weapon for this reason, I will understand. Although", he added with a
mischievious twinkle in his eye, "Arakis is patron to the principle
of the Greater Chaotic Good, the idea that doing good is more
important than all other things, including obediance to the law. And
you seem to be the living embodiment of that principle."

 "Uh... I..." Meagen reddened visibly, then quickly grasped at a
previous subject. "No, it's all right- I mean, the sword is- I
have-", she took a breath, "I don't really have faith in any gods, as
such. But I'm quite all right with them protecting me." She looked up
at him, calling up her best winning smile. "I'm glad you think I'm
worth protecting."

 He paused, eyes blinking as if they'd seen a bright light, but
quickly caught himself. "The inscription on this blade is intended to
name the wielder a protector, rather than one under protection. But
if you use it for the cause of good, I'm sure Arakis will keep watch
over you."

 There was a longer, tenser pause. Meagen gathered up her courage,
and ran the next sentence through her mind twice to make sure she'd
get it right. "Listen, I-"

 "I'm ready to continue our adventure!", Sharwynn declared, stepping
out from behind the screen in turn. She had changed into her battle
grab once more and seemed to have made a complete recovery. There was
a fresh bandage over her left arm, but her hand held a short bow
securely. "My wound is healing wonderfully, thanks to our field
medic. And luckily enough, it isn't on my writing arm. This
expedition will make for a most thrilling tale indeed!"

 By the time she finished talking, Meagen's cheeks had gone deep red,
but the bard didn't seem to notice, or care.

*********************************************************************

 Amadeus Mandrake entered the Hall of Justice with great strides,
knelt before Lady Aribeth and held up a rather disgusting-looking
piece of anatomy, as if making an offering of it.

 "Amadeus!", the paladin exclaimed. "What... is the meaning of
this...?"

 "My lady, I'd be glad to offer you my heart", he said formally, "for
you are strong, brave, and most beautiful. But as I doubt you'd have
much use for my *own* heart, please accept this heart of a Yuan-Ti
instead." He lifted his head, and grinned slightly.

 Aribeth realised what he meant, and laughed heartily. "The last
reagent for the cure? This is wonderful news!", she said. "But tell
me, how did you come by it?"

 "I ripped this heart", Amadeus began solemnly, standing up to his
full height, "straight from the beasts' chest, after-"

 "Ahem." He turned around to meet three half amused, half annoyed
glares. Meagen, the one who had spoken, tapped her foot slightly.

 He slumped, and finished in a low voice, "-after my friends killed
it while I hid in a dark corner, like a coward."

 This got another laugh, from everyone present. Meagen shook her head
and whapped the sorceror slightly on the back of his head. "Don't
listen to him", she said, "he fought quite bravely as well. It wasn't
easy, but between the four of us we took her down." She then went on
to detail their adventures in the Beggar's Nest, helped along by
Sharwynn.

 When she finished, Aribeth thanked them all once again, and handed
them the last part of the reward. "Now that we have all the important
ingredients, we can start working on the cure. You are welcome to
assist at the ceremony, of course."

 "Um... could this wait a bit?", Meagen asked. "I mean, I know the
cure is important and all, but I need to restock my arrows..."

 "Of course. Setting up everything we need will take a while, anyway.
You're quite free to rest a while and enjoy your reward. Just don't
take too long."

 "Yes, of course." Meagen bowed, then turned to the half-orc
barbarian. "Well, Daelann... I guess the adventure is over."

 He nodded. "I have had the opportunity to put my blade to use in a
good cause. For that, I would like to thank you." He lowered his
voice, as much as he could. "Also... I wanted to thank you for..."

 "You already did", she held up a hand. "Remember? Anyway, I only
happened to have that brooch because I have a habit of looking into
every chest I find."

 "Yes, but you only knew it was something important to me because you
can make people talk, and you are willing to listen", he remarked,
then went back to his normal voice. "In any case, thank you for a
most satisfying adventure. 'Till we meet again." With one last nod,
he walked out of the temple.

 Smiling, Meagen turned to Amadeus, who had just finished a similar
conversation with Sharwynn. Except her way of saying goodbye seemed
to involve wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a long,
deep kiss. He stared, obviously surprised, but not objecting to the
treatment. The sight caused Meagen's smile to fade and a dark, ugly
feeling to rise from somewhere in her chest. Fortunately, it was soon
over, as the bard exited the way Daelann had, leaving behind a
slightly dazed Amadeus.

 Meagen walked up to him, various conflicting emotions fighting
inside her. She pushed them all aside as she grabbed him by the arm.
"Come on", she urged, "we don't have much time."

 He somehow missed this opportunity for a suggestive comment, and
only asked "What do you mean?"

 She grinned. "Can't you guess? Shopping!" She headed for the door,
dragging him along. "Come on, or we'll be late for the ritual."

 Perhaps he would have preferred to face another Yuan-Ti, or maybe a
group of bloodthirsty dragons, but he was not asked for his opinion
nor offered an alternative.

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