Chapter 8 Dig Deep

Lanie sat at the desk opposite of Jarlaxle; he had his feet up and was playing with one of his daggers. She was mesmerized by the shiny blade and the way he flipped it with such ease back and forth between hands. With a flick of his wrist he was able to flip the blade up over the top of one hand letting it slide into the other. The mercenary let the blade dance between his hands a few more times before letting it drop down blade first into the wood of the desk.

“I have discussed at length with Kimmuriel what we should do with you. I am sure I don’t have to tell you his thoughts on the matter.” Jarlaxle said.

Lanie said not a word but sat focused intently on the drow. She had a sense of dread growing in her stomach at the realization that her fate was being settled for her, yet again. The surface world was supposed to offer her a new life and with that new life was the promise of freedom. She wanted to run as fast and as far away as her little legs could carry her in that moment, but that simply was not an option.

“Relax child, it isn’t as bad as it could be,” Jarlaxle replied seeming to understand the thoughts she harbored.

“Kimmuriel has agreed to take you into his care and training and that is in itself is a testament to your potential.” He said trailing off into a whisper before he had time to think about the implied meaning of that statement.

“A testament of your ability to manipulate you mean! And potential, potential for what exactly?” the eight year old child snapped. “I have always been a tool for someone, or something, I am always the experiment. When do I get a choice for myself? When do I get to live for me?”

Lanie looked right at him and in that moment it felt almost as though her eyes were burning a hole right through him. She was a stubborn little thing and smart, very smart indeed. He didn’t know how or what more to say on the subject and the only valid argument he could give her was one that would spark desperate fear in her, as cruel as it would be, it was his only option.

“They are hunting you Lanie. The Labrum Needle you stole, isn’t just any needle, it is as Kimmuriel puts it, impossibly powerful. It is the best of its kind, the only one of its kind, and one simply does not steal such a fine tool from the illithids without repercussions.”

He had hit is mark with those words as a look of disquietude found its way to her face, “That’s why I was going to use it and then lose it, they wouldn’t have known.”

Jarlaxle raised an eyebrow at the naïve response she gave; she wasn’t fooling him or Kimmuriel. He brought a black velvet pouch up from his lap drawing the Needle from it and placing the instrument on the desk between himself and Lanie.

“They would not have known? They would not have known?” He questioned twice over before continuing, “They are Illithids, one never questions what is or is not known to them. They know Lanie. They know!”

He narrowed his eyes and sent a threatening look her way, “Trust me child, they will find you and it isn’t a question of where or how, but when. Will you be ready for them when they do?

He paused giving her ample time to respond, however she said not a word.

“We can help you Lanie.” Jarlaxle ascertained.

Jarlaxle picked up the needle and held it before him, rolling it over slowly appreciating its unique craftsmanship. The drow could sense the deep internal conversation the young girl was pondering over.  She was running, that much was obvious and how a child her age could outsmart the illithids was beyond his guessing. He sensed how much the poor thing hated everything about herself.  Lanie held a lot of guilt and responsibility for the events in her life that was no small measure of weight for her to be caring. He knew she blamed herself for her father’s death.

“What were they doing to you Laenaia Manaallin?” Jarlaxle asked.

Sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms in a defensive manner she refused to offer an answer.

“What purpose did you serve for them?” he fished again.

Her angry stare locked with his, as a single tear fell from her one blue eye, “I cannot remember.” She lied and he knew it.

A long moment of silence thickened the air between the two of them. The powerful drow mercenary never imagined he would ever find himself in such a conversation with a child. He could have been cruel and unmerciful in his pursuit of the information he wanted but that wasn’t as important as getting Lanie to trust him. He needed her to trust him and it didn’t matter to him how much time it took.

Lanie placed her elbows on the table resting her face in her hands, a face that now wore a defeated expression. She no longer looked at him and that angry emotion that sparked the fire in her eyes simply was gone-drained empty in an instant.  In that moment she reminded him of the young Kimmuriel but he didn’t dwell any further on that thought.

“I don’t care what you do to me then, kill me if you must.” She whispered in Roushoum just as Valas and Kimmuriel entered the apartment.

There was a very noticeable scowl upon Valas’s face. Kimmuriel watched the him march over to where Jarlaxle was seated, seeming to find a particular joy in the scout’s dismay.

“I signed on to be a scout, to be of a good use for Bregan D’aerthe, I worked my way up from the bottom, was that not enough?  Now I am to be providing childcare for that thing.” He spat in drow as he pointed toward Lanie.

That thing, those words tore through her core and the shear hurt she felt from hearing the scout’s sentiments spoken out loud was indescribable. She had found a friend in Valas, whether that was a mutual friendship or not, she genuinely liked him. Sadly however, she understood that much of the way he had treated her was only due to the influence and control she had over him with her projected emotions. Still though, she had projected any emotions on him since she was discovered by Jarlaxle and Kimmuriel. Had his kindness towards he earlier when she was getting cleaned up been feigned? A rouse just meant to provide some small measure of comfort for her during this predicament she found herself in?

She looked down at the new bracelet on her wrist- the one Valas had made for her from horsehair and the glass beads that once adorned her hair. He knew how important those beads were to her he understood that they were all she had left of her father. The scout had created something truly beautiful for her and Lanie wasn’t responsible for any of the emotion that inspired him to do so. Those emotions were truly of his own accord.

She hadn’t prepared herself emotionally or mentally for how attached she would become to Valas in the short time she knew him. She had seen glimpses of who he was when she first scoured his mind. Valas wasn’t like most drow and this outburst of his was certainly contradictory to the way he had treated her, however it was an exemplification of the chaotic nature of the drow. Somewhere repressed at their very core were the remnants, those strings and strands of what they once were prior to their fall. It would make sense that on rare occasions those repressed emotions would surface.

Yes, Lanie thought, somewhere deep down in the fiber of the collective drow’s soul was the slightest trace of what they once were before their evil selfish ways and hunger for power consumed them. Valas was no exception, he was pragmatic and he did what he needed to in order to survive in a violent society. For Valas the context of right and wrong was ignored, but not lost to him. Within Valas there was a conflicted dialogue that left him questioning many things. It was no wonder Jarlaxle favored him so.

Lanie considered the three dark elves in the room realizing that they were very different from the drow she had encountered previously in her life, even the despicable drow psion, Kimmuriel. There was a rhyme and reason to who Jarlaxle had selected to be a part of Bregan D’aerthe, there was a key purpose to those individuals and they were all playing a part, whether they were aware of it or not. While many members were no doubt just fodder, there were those members who held a significant importance in Jarlaxle’s eyes.

She smiled briefly in acknowledgement of Jarlaxle’s tenacity and the care he took in creating his mercenary band. What none of the drow knew, other than Kimmuriel, was she had already read into them without them even being aware of it. It was second nature for her, like breathing, it was that easy, even the silly eye patch Jarlaxle wore did little to prevent it. She didn’t need to be in their minds, she could feel their thoughts through their emotions and the way they projected them.

Valas was still in a tangent and Jarlaxle had yet to get a word in, instead he sat back, putting his feet on the desk with his hands behind his head in a most arrogant manner. This only seemed to agitate Valas more and seeing her friend so upset about the whole situation caused her great alarm.

“He doesn’t have to take me, he doesn’t want me. Don’t make him take me. I am not his responsibility. We made a promise that we would be done with each other once we got to the surface. He doesn’t deserve being told he has to watch over me like I am some baby. It is not fair far to him.” She pleaded.

Valas paused briefly to acknowledge her with a minor show of remorse crossing his face upon realizing Lanie had heard what he said about her.  Jarlaxle however, did not pay the imaskari child any mind at all instead he sat staring at Valas with a huge grin on his face. Jarlaxle knew the scout held a certain amount of pity for the child and with this pity Jarlaxle saw his opportunity, as he always did.

The mercenary understood just how easy it was going to be for him to convince Valas to take part in her training. This tantrum of Valas’s was only providing a temporary respite and Jarlaxle did nothing to stop it, in fact he was finding it all too amusing. It wasn’t often one got to witness a drow so unraveled, especially one such as Valas, who was normally calm and collected in the most dire of circumstances.

Kimmuriel ignoring emotional debacle was leaning on the wall arms crossed, just behind Valas, but in full view of Lanie. He had been studying her intently since he walked in and he was all too eager to get at her. He straightened and walked over towards her with that empty look of his. She hated him as much as she found a certain comfort in him. She could always feel to some extent everyone’s emotions and sometimes even their thoughts especially if they didn’t know how to guard them, doing this was beyond her control, it just came naturally.

Jarlaxle had his eye patch and a few other trinkets on him that she could sense and it seemed even Valas had acquired a new trinket or two since their arrival, no doubt given to him by Kimmuriel. Those items did nothing to prevent the emotions their bodies projected. She had highly acute empathic abilities and often times other peoples’ emotions bombarded her relentlessly. That is why she found a certain solace in Kimmuriel’s person. He had nothing to project he was void, he was silent. That was the one of the first things she noticed about him.

When she was a captive of the illithids, it was the same way. They kept their thoughts and emotions highly guarded. Most were very skilled at controlling their minds however some illithids found it challenging to not project emotions, particularly those having just completed ceremorphosis. It was difficult learning how to control a new host body with all the memories and feelings that already resided in it. Harder still was the control it took to keep an illithid larvae from completely consuming the host’s brain. Lanie shook that thought off immediately, having forgotten that Kimmuriel was now crouching down beside her.

She turned slightly to regard him, his eyes cold, head tilted to the right, and his focus was extraordinarily intense. Instantaneously a slight numbing sensation could be felt in her fingertips. Slowly the strange tingling sensation crept up through her arms until her head felt warm and fuzzy.  Lanie tried hard to focus her eyes on the psion but whatever he was doing to her did not permit it. As her sight blurred further she became aware of a sharp ringing in both her ears and she could no longer hear the ensuing discussion between Valas and Jarlaxle.

Kimmuriel was carefully delving into her mind and he wanted her to feel it and with that sensation came a heightened awareness of just how truly powerful the drow psion was. His strength was enormous and could easily rival many of her former captors, alhoons included. So intense was the energy that he was projecting onto her that the hairs on her arms were standing on end and some of the fly-away strands on her head were turned upright, she could even see a pale blue aura emanating from her skin.

I can see you for what you are, came Kimmuriel’s telepathic voice, I can see you for what Jarlaxle cannot.

He allowed her vision to return and she could now focus on him but the numbing in her head only intensified. You are a creature of great intrigue, he continued all the while tracing her face with his left index finger then bringing her face closer to his own, and you will let me in, all the way in.

Lanie suddenly leaned in even closer towards him and in immediate distrust he pulled away, but only for a split second, he grabbed the sides of her head pulling her forehead to his. Lanie was terrified and tried to back off but Kimmuriel had complete control of her now and she felt his energy expanding within her head.  Even with the torment he knew she had suffered unmercifully in the hands of the illithids there was an innocent quality to her that drove him mad. He wanted to kill it, to snuff it ou- he wanted to rape her of this weakness.

His mind momentarily consuming hers and his eagerness in wanting to know her secrets was building.  She wanted to let him in, in fact she was desperate for him to unlock what she could not, desperate to purge herself of the things she no longer wanted buried in her soul. She did not know how to access them, try as she might-she understood that she needed Kimmuriel to help her and that was a thought that terrified her immensely.

I would let you in, all the way, if I knew how, came her telepathic intrusion into his mind.

Kimmuriel already anticipating her response, tilted his head in his regular peculiar fashion, and allowed a devilish smile to cross his face.

You will know how