Elfshadow

The watch commander was a young male elf, probably near the end of his first century of life. The elf's skin was a golden hue, and his hair was a darker shade of gold and bound around the forehead by a band decorated with elven script. His face was narrow, with prominent cheekbones and an aquiline nose, and his long, slender form appeared as graceful and supple as a reed. Danilo noted how human, Arilyn, and even the full moon elf Elaith Craulnobur, seemed in comparison with the exotic golden elf. The elven commander held himself apart through bearing that was haughty in the extreme. His black eyes held naked contempt for the three humans.

The elf's obsidian gaze softened somewhat as it fell upon Arilyn's gold skin and red silk tabard. Many elves as well as humans revered the goddess of the forest, and the elf bowed deeply to the cleric.

"Greetings, Lady of Mielikki," he said.

The red-haired man whom Arilyn had called Clion chuckled at the elf's remark. "That'll be the day. Captain, I'd like you to meet an old friend of ours. This is Arilyn Moonblade, one of the best adventurers Raymid and I ever traveled with. Arilyn, Tintagel Ni'Tessine."

With a sudden start, Danilo remembered where he'd heard that name. Tintagel Ni'Tessine was the elf who had tormented Arilyn during her years in the Academy of Arms. He looked at the half-elf. Her face was composed and she met Tintagel's furious gaze squarely, but there was a wariness about her eyes and a taut set to her mouth. "We've met," she said in an even voice.

The gold elf was the picture of outrage. "This is blasphemous! How do you dare impersonate a cleric of Mielikki, not to mention trying to pass as Tel'Quessir." His scornful gaze swept over her. "I can understand your wish to cloak your true origins, but gilding dross ca

The two watchmen listened to the elf's harangue with open mouths and dumbfounded expressions. Danilo's palm itched for the feel of his sword, but something in Arilyn's face stayed his hand.

"Well met, Tintagel," she replied calmly. "I must admit that your appearance is something of a surprise, as well. Few of your race wear such a uniform."

The elf's eyes narrowed, and Danilo could only assume that her seemingly i

"My presence in the watch is a matter of honor," he said, both his voice and expression a bit defensive.

"Really? Although I have utmost respect for the watch, I would not have thought that you would consider it an honorable position."

"By and large, the watch is a pitiful jest," Tintagel said spitefully, not noting the angry scowls this comment brought to the faces of his men. "Someone has to see that it provides a semblance of order to this lawless pile of clinking coins you call a city."

"You're that someone? How fortunate for all of us in Waterdeep," Danilo said, an amused drawl in his voice. There was a certain unintentional humor in the elf's remark. In truth, Waterdeep was well-ruled and orderly, a city whose laws were enforced and respected.

The elf's dark gaze slid over Danilo and dismissed him, then he turned back to Arilyn. "My own father was shot through the heart in the mountains of Waterdeep." His hand drifted to his side and clenched around an arrow shaft that hung at his belt. Danilo caught a glimpse of an oddly shaped black mark on the wood of the shaft. "I devote my life to avenging his death by ridding the city of such vermin as killed Fenian Ni'Tessine," Tintagel proclaimed grimly.

"A worthy quest it is," Danilo said, his tone clearly humoring the elf. "If it's all the same to you, we'll leave you to it now." He took Arilyn's arm and led her toward the stables. The half-elf came with him, her coldly polite expression frozen on her face.

"I'll get the horses," Danilo offered. Arilyn nodded absently, her attention fixed on the long wooden trough near the door of the stable. At one end of the trough stood a hand pump. Arilyn snatched up an empty feed bucket and walked to the well. She pumped water into the bucket and, dipping her cupped hands into the water again and again, viciously scrubbed and splashed the gold stain from her face and hands. There was a sound of ripping silk as she jerked off the tabard, too impatient to wait for the illusion to fade. The half-elf threw the ruined garment aside and stood, wearing her own identity like a defiant ba

"Much better," Danilo said and handed her the reins of her horse. "That particular shade of gold was not becoming to you, and judging from the specimen we just encountered, the Tel'Quessir-whatever the Nine Hells they might be-are damnably unpleasant folk."

Fifteen

Against Danilo's better judgment, he and Arilyn left Waterdeep and rode into the night. The bright autumn moon was high in the sky as they headed south along the cliffs overlooking Waterbreak, a small peninsula of rock and sand that jutted into the sea and protected the southern section of Waterdeep's harbor. In the bright moonlight they could see the rocky shoreline below and the promise of safety given by the city walls that lay to their north. An empty promise, Danilo mused, considering the events of the past three days.

He had plenty of time to think of such things during their flight from Waterdeep. Arilyn said very little as they rode, and for once Danilo did not press her. He gave her all the distance and solitude she needed, the better to catch her off guard at the proper moment. Tonight he pla

The nobleman was not looking forward to his task, yet if he and Arilyn were to find the Harper Assassin they had to change the direction of their search. The conversation with Elaith Craulnobur had convinced Danilo that Uncle Khelben was right: the moonblade was the key to finding the assassin. Danilo wished he could simply tell Arilyn what he knew of the sword's history, but to do so would dispel his facade.

Since Arilyn seemed so distracted, Danilo took it upon himself to keep eyes and ears alert for danger. For all its riches and splendor, Waterdeep had been carved from a wild and dangerous land. "The Savage North," spiteful southerners called the area, and they were not far wrong. To the north and west of Waterdeep lay noble estates and rich farmland, but the southern path took Danilo and Arilyn into wilderness. As they reached the brush and pines that formed the far edges of the Ardeep Forest, Arilyn reined her horse to a stop.

"We make camp here. I'll hunt, you tend to the horses." Without waiting for a response, the half-elf swung herself down from her saddle, armed herself with a small bow and quiver, and disappeared into the trees.

As he set up camp, Danilo tried to devise a ma

Something about the act of preparing a campfire gave him a jolt of inspiration. He had collected bits of information about Arilyn like pieces of a puzzle, and the prospect of fire gave him the final, crucial piece. He sat down near the stone circle and waited for the half-elf.

When Arilyn returned to camp with a pair of partridges, Danilo rose and continued with his chores. He threw a few sticks of wood into the circle, then he reached into his sack for a bit of flint. Keeping his movements slow and exaggerated, he stooped down and pointed the piece of flint at the stone circle. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the half-elf stop cutting a branch from a bush and fling out her hand as if to stop him.