Elaine Cunningham - Elfshadow

"What happened here?" Siobhan O'Callaigh demanded in gruff, official tones. The blond man turned to face her, and the watch captain groaned in dismay and thrust her broadsword back into her belt. "Danilo Thann. By Beshaba's bosom! I should have known you'd be a part of this mess."

"Captain O'Callaigh." Danilo rose unsteadily to his feet. "You're looking particularly lovely this morning. Interesting oath, too. Quite visual."

She snorted, completely unmoved by the young man's flattery. "What have you been up to this time?"

"Is the Harper alive?" interrupted the half-elf in a dull, dazed voice.

"I am." At the far side of the courtyard, a tall, dark-cloaked man rose to his feet and walked slowly toward the watch.

Siobhan O'Callaigh threw up both hands. "Tell me, is anyone on this battlefield going to stay dead?"

"I certainly hope so," responded Arilyn in a grim voice. She accepted the hand Danilo Thann offered her and rose to her feet. "I'd hate to have to kill them all over again."

"All right, since you admit to killing these men, perhaps you'd better tell me what happened," Captain O'Callaigh demanded.

The tall man intervened. "I am Bran Skorlsun, a traveler to your city. I was passing and saw ruffians ambush these two. The young pair fought only to defend themselves. I gave them what aid I could."

"Looks like you did all right, old man," one of the watchmen said, crouching down beside a large, chain mail-covered form. He heaved the body over onto its back, then gave a grunt of recognition. "Well, I'll be an orc-sired cyclops. I know this one. Harvid Beornigarth, a half-barbarian sell-sword. Nasty piece of work, but not a common cutpurse. Likes all kinds of political intrigue, he does. Or did." The man cocked an eyebrow at Danilo. "What business would he have with the nobility, I'm wondering."

"None," Arilyn said firmly. "His business was with me."

"And who might you be?" O'Callaigh growled. She crouched down to get a better look at the fallen man, swatting one of her own red braids out of her way.

"Arilyn Moonblade."

"She's a Harper agent," Danilo added significantly, as if invoking the mysterious and highly respected organization would somehow mitigate the destruction around him.

Every member of the watch froze. In unison they turned to Arilyn, and several pairs of gleaming eyes fixed on the half-elf.

"A Harper agent?" Siobhan O'Callaigh questioned eagerly. "You were the one who was attacked?

Arilyn responded with a curt nod, and the men exchanged incredulous glances with their captain. One of the watch gave words to their excited speculation. "You figure one of these pieces of buzzard bait to be that Harper Assassin?"

"Look good on our record if it turned out that way, now wouldn't it?" returned Siobhan O'Callaigh, grinning.

"No. None of these men is the assassin."

The captain and her men again looked up, surprised by the steel in the half-elf's grim voice. The captain pressed for an explanation, but Arilyn stubbornly refused to elaborate.

O'Callaigh's face turned red with rage, and she looked to Danilo to vent some of that anger. "What caused all this?" she demanded, sweeping a hand toward the general devastation.

Danilo grinned sheepishly. "My fault entirely, I'm afraid. I'm not much on the sword end of a battle, don't you know, so I tried to help things along with a spell. Something sort of, well, sort of went wrong," he concluded lamely.

"Sort of went wrong?" O'Callaigh snorted. "What else is new? Young man, you still owe the city for damages done the last time your spells misfired."

"On my honor, I'll pay for all the damages in full," swore the nobleman. "May we go now?"

The captain glared at Danilo. "Maybe you think it's that simple, being Lord Thann's son and all. From my corner of the pasture, I see things differently. There are five dead men to cart off and identify, a city square to clean up before the start of business, and a miscast spell to report."

"Oh, must you report it? I'm afraid news of this little mishap is not going to enhance my reputation as a mage," Danilo said ruefully.

"Good. The Mage's Guild is not going to be happy about this," said O'Callaigh, thrusting a finger at the young man. "They're putting pressure on the watch to curb irresponsible uses of magic. It's about time you started answering to them. When that group gets done with you, you won't even be able to scratch your backside with your magic wand."

"I don't use a wand. May we go now?" Danilo asked patiently.

Siobhan O'Callaigh smiled unpleasantly. "You sure can." She turned to her men. "You! Ainsar and Tallis. Take these three away and lock them up. The rest of you, clean up this mess."

"That was not exactly what I had in mind," Danilo protested.

"Too bad. You can have it out with the magistrar, after he's had his breakfast. I'm sure he'll be very interested to hear whatever this closed-mouth half-elf knows about the Harper Assassin."

The two men gestured for the trio to follow. Arilyn stooped to pick up the sword, staring fixedly at the blue and white moonstone that now glowed from its hilt. She started to rise to her feet and stopped abruptly, her attention drawn by another stone, blackened and still smoking. She picked the hot stone up, oblivious to the pain it caused her fingers, and turned it over. Her shoulders sagged as she slipped the stone into the pocket of her trousers.

"Take their weapons," O'Callaigh commanded. The man she'd called Ainsar reached out to take the moonblade from Arilyn. He jerked his hand back with a sharp curse.

"By the way, no one but Arilyn can touch it," Danilo explained casually.

Exasperation flooded the captain's face. "All right, let her keep the sword, but make sure you take all their other weapons. Now get them out of here."

She dismissed the trio and their guard with a curt wave of her hand, and turned her attention to the corpses littering the landscape. The sun was on the rise, and her men would have to hurry to clear the street before the start of business. Her commander took a dim view of anything that slowed the wheels of commerce. By Beshaba, O'Callaigh swore silently-seeing Danilo Thann always brought to mind the goddess of bad luck-why did these things always seem to happen on her watch?

Arilyn Moonblade sat alone in her small, dark cell, holding in her hand a blackened topaz. Again and again she passed her finger over the sigil engraved on the stone's underside, as if to convince herself that it was not truly Kymil Nimesin's mark. She had suspected that her old mentor was behind the assassinations ever since she had seen the lists of dead Harpers and Zhentarim, the lists that balanced each other as precisely as a clerk's account book. The elfshadow's words had removed all doubt.

Balance. Kymil had preached it constantly, stating that good and evil, wild and civilized, even male and female were relative terms. The ideal state, he claimed, was achieved by maintaining a balance. Even in this dreadful, incomprehensible scheme of his, the elf strove to maintain the Balance.

The question of why Kymil was arranging the deaths remained to haunt the half-elf. What injustice, what imbalance, demanded the lives of innocent Harpers? Why had Kymil deceived her, an etriel he had befriended and trained from childhood? And the Harper, Bran Skorlsun, what part did he play in the twisted tale of the Harper Assassin? No matter how she approached the matter, no answers came to her. Exhausted and heartsick, Arilyn fell asleep on the cell's narrow cot.

Five elven clerics labored over the charred form of one of Waterdeep's most respected elven citizens. Their prayers rose in a combined chant of power to Corellon Larethian, the Ruler of All Elves.