A Wyvern of a Tale

Chapter 1

"A wyvern?" Nathxena said as she crossed her arms, the annoyance evident in her voice.

The merchant awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Yes, a wyvern." He shifted uncomfortably.

Nathxena motioned at the cage that had been broken open from the inside. Valna was crouched down in it, inspecting a scale. "So why were you keeping it in such a small cage? Why were you keeping it at all?"

"Well," the merchant began, composing himself. "It was a gift from House Phylund for some, ah, services rendered."

Nathxena stared him down. He was being cagey, but she didn't really care. All these rich merchants and nobles were the same, and equally useless. "Whatever. If you'll pay, we'll get rid of it - quietly."

The merchant looked at her quizzically. "Get rid of? Couldn't you recapture it?"

Valna stood up and stepped out of the cage. "No, it's much too dangerous. It's also a threat to local wildlife in the Westwood and farm animals around it."

He looked dejected. "House Phylund would be able-"

Nathxena cut him off. "We aren't House Phylund. We're a lot cheaper than House Phylund."

Sighing, the merchant capitulated. "Very well. Just- don't tell anyone about this, alright?"

Nathxena ignored him, but Valna gave him a polite nod. Leaving the wrecked wagon, cage, merchant, and bodyguards behind, the two walked into the Westwood. From what Nathxena knew, the forest was fairly unremarkable, without many legends about it or dragons hiding within. Hopefully this would be nice and simple, for once.

Chapter 2

The rain poured down hard as Valna hurriedly set up her tent. Her hood and the trees protected her from the rain, but she didn't want her clothes to be soaked. After all, she couldn't cast prestidigitation, and neither could Nathxena. She quickly hammered in the pegs and made sure the tent was sturdy. With her own tent done, she looked over at Nathxena's. The fact that it was currently in a pile on the ground didn't bode well.

Fortunately for Nathxena, Valna had an idea. "You can sleep in my tent!" She shouted over the rain and the wind.

"What?" Nathxena shouted back, frustrated with her tent.

"My tent!" The wood elf replied with a raised voice. "We can share it!"

This time, Nathxena got the message. She abandoned her barely-constructed tent to the elements and scurried inside Valna's completed abode. Valna followed in close behind, after one last check for wildlife. Compared to the wet and windy exterior, the canvas tent was warm and - most importantly - dry. A single lantern hung from the top of the tent, even if the two elven occupants could see just fine in the dark. Valna reached up and strung a cord from one end of the tent to the other.

Valna started to take her shirt off, but stopped. "Hey, um, Nathxena? Could you look away for a second?" She asked, somewhat sheepishly.

"Oh, right." Nathxena replied, quickly turning around. "Sorry, I spend too much time around Sariel."

Valna giggled, taking off her wet clothes and putting on dry sleepwear. She reached outside of the tent to wring what water she could out of the former, then hung it over the cable in the tent. It took a moment, but Nathxena followed suit.

"Don't you have nightclothes?" Valna asked, seeing Nathxena in her smallclothes.

Nathxena shook her head. "No, I never saw a need for them."

Valna gasped in surprise. "Really? But they're so comfortable! I have some spares, you need to try them!"

Chapter 3

Nathxena had to admit, Valna's nightclothes were comfortable, if slightly too small. Still, she felt a lot warmer, drier, and cozier than she did before. She lied down on her bedroll, pulling her sheet over her and closing her eyes. A few moments later, Valna turned off the lantern.

The increasing rain and the wind gnawed at Nathxena. The open sky was still new to her, even if she had visited the surface a few times in her youth. She rolled onto her side, away from Valna, trying to focus on sleeping. Her thoughts started to drift. The memories of Menzoberranzan. Having to kill on the orders of the Fey-Branche matriarch. Meeting that beautiful auburn-haired girl in Silverymoon. What happened later that-

"Hey Nathxena..." Valna said nonchalantly.

Nathxena furrowed her brows as her thoughts were stolen from her. She turned back over towards Valna, only to see her smiling right back. It was disconcerting, but a bit cute.

She responded with almost a sigh. "Yes, Valna?"

"We've been on so many adventures together, but I think this is the first one where it's just been us two!" Valna said excitedly.

Nathxena had forgotten that, as an elf, Valna didn't need to sleep like everyone else did. She only needed four hours of semi-conscious meditation - a trance.

Valna continued. "Remember that time we went to Sigil? That was so much fun!"

"I remember having my throat slit and dying." Nathxena replied dryly.

Her attempt to shut down the conversation had no effect. "Yeah, but that was also the first time I cast revivify; to get you back!" Valna beamed, proud of her accomplishment.

As annoyingly positive as Valna was, sometimes it was a nice change from the usual cynicism people had. Even if it meant having to indulge in a conversation when one really wanted to sleep.

Chapter 4

By the time Nathxena woke up, the sun was up. At least, she thought it was. The rain had let up somewhat, but it was still overcast. Valna was up, had started a fire, cooked breakfast, and laid out Nathxena's clothes for her. For all the lauded patience of elves, Valna got more done in an hour than most people would all morning. Nathxena quickly put her clothes on, sat down next to Valna on a log she had prepared for her, and handed the nightclothes back.

Valna handed Nathxena a slice of bread - elven bread - for breakfast. It was many, many times better than the typical rations Nathxena was used to while out in the field. Soft, delicious, and even more nutritious. She just had one question though.

"Isn't this bread from Evermeet?" She asked in between bites.

Valna responded with a smile. "Yep!"

"Wait, then how did you get it?" Nathxena asked, turning to look at Valna.

Valna just responded with a smile.

Nathxena's mouth opened. "You haven't been to Evermeet! ...Have you?" She asked, astoundment in her voice.

Valna let her smile go on for a second, then started giggling. "Of course not! I just bought this in Waterdeep!"

Nathxena took a moment herself, then started laughing as well.

Once the two had finished their meal, they loaded their quivers, strung their bow and crossbow, packed up their tent, and resumed their journed into the Westwood. Valna had noticed that the Wyvern seemed to be injured, and had been tracking blood. Even with the storm the previous night, she had managed to maintain the trail.

Chapter 5

Trudging through the woods brought back decades of memories for Valna. Growing up in the High Forest, that was basically all there was to do - and why she wanted to leave. Still, she didn't mind the occasional arboreal adventure. It let her show off her skills to her friends, and it was a familiar environment to her.

Nathxena jumped over a fallen log, then jogged up next to Valna. "I noticed you aren't wearing your usual amulet." She remarked.

Valna held her amulet in her hand. "No need for it. I've attuned to this one instead!"

"Any particular reason why?" Nathxena cautiously asked.

"Because we're dealing with a wyvern!" Valna replied excitedly.

Nathxena didn't bother pursuing that line of questioning any further, and continued keeping an eye out as they traveled. Valna followed the faint trail of blood, broken branches, and footprints through the forest floor after her quarry. Based on her examination of the cage yesterday, she presumed that the wyvern's wings were injured when it tore its way out. That made her job a lot easier, as finding a flying wyvern in a place as big as the Westwood was near impossible if it didn't want to be found.

A snapping branch caused both Valna and Nathxena to crouch and draw their weapons. Valna's ears perked up, her heart quickened, and she scanned her surroundings.

Nathxena whispered to her. "Sounded small. Not a bear or wyvern. What lives here?"

Valna simply put her hand up and peered into the forest. Moments later, something jumped through a nearby clearing, making some more noise.

Valna sighed, lowering her drawn bow. "It's just a fawn."

Nathxena raised an eyebrow. "A baby deer?"

"What's so funny?" Valna asked, noticing a smile creeping across Nathxena's face.

She turned around and resumed walking, still smiling. "Just something I read on a mission report once."

Valna just shrugged and continued on. About ten minutes later, Nathxena found some berries, and they stopped for lunch. Valna really appreciated having someone else who knew as much about surviving in the wilds as she did. While the rest of the Arrowheads or Beta Team were her favourite people, she did miss not having to babysit people in a simple forest. As she watched Nathxena cut open her bread to put the berries inside, Valna considered suggesting that the Arrowheads spend a year or two learning from the rangers of the Caerilcarn. She shook her head after thinking about it. The half-elves and human wouldn't have the patience for it at all.

But that was something Valna loved about them. Unlike her family and where she grew up, things happened out here. Events took place and the world changed. The last big event to happen in the High Forest was the fall of Hellgate Keep, over a century ago. Even for an elf, that was not an insignificant period of time. But in the span of two years outside the forest, Valna had gone from reading books in Candlekeep, to hopping between the planes and fighting a war in the drow capital. It was exciting, and she loved it.

Chapter 6

By the time Valna heard the wyvern, it was late in the afternoon. The rain had finally stopped, and some clouds broke apart to allow god rays to shine down on the Sword Mountains in the distance. The creature had created a small nest in the middle of a clearing, and was bleeding from a wing. The fact that this poor, abused creature needed to be killed saddened Nathxena. She knew it was too dangerous to be left alone, and would probably kill people or animals if allowed to do so. Regardless of that fact, she still felt a sadness that the deed had to be done.

As the two crouched at the edge of the clearing, Nathxena handed Valna some vials of poison. Sariel had insisted on providing these before the two left, and Nathxena appreciated the gesture deeply. Valna, on the other hand, was too busy applying the poison to her arrows to be lost in thought. Of course, she might be thinking, Nathxena considered. Everyone thinks in their own ways.

The plan was fairly straightforward: pepper the wyvern with as many poisoned arrows and bolts as the two could, and Valna would get into melee to hold its attention. It wouldn't take long for the poison to do its job, and Valna had assured her that wyverns weren't resistant to poison. But on that topic, she'd also reminded Nathxena of the deadly, poisonous stinger wyverns possessed. A good hit from that, and they'd be on the ground themselves.

With their quarry distracted by its injured wing, the two decided to strike. They leapt from their hiding place, using their surprise to score good hits. Valna raced in, drawing and loosing her longbow as she ran. Nathxena took her time to carefully aim her crossbow, with Valna acting as a helpful distraction. The wyvern swept its tail around, trying to knock Valna from her feet. The wood elf expertly dived over the tail, and mid-air in one swift motion, magically shifted her bow into its dual swords form.

One of Valna's blades struck the tough hide of the draconic creature, but the other slashed deep into its underbelly. The wyvern shriekd in pain, and she barely ducked under its jaws. Nathxena used this opportunity to place another bolt in a gap in its neck scales. Only Valna's arrows were poisoned, not her blades, so it was up to Nathxena to bring the creature down. Valna dodged a swipe from the wyvern's claws, but didn't notice the tail getting ready to strike.

"Look out!" Nathxena shouted with worry.

But it was a moment too late. The stinger pierced into Valna's side, straight through her leather armour, and she was visibly pained. It withdrew the poisoned barb from her, only to receive a bolt right in the eye from Nathxena. She didn't care for her victory, quickly running over to her fallen friend.

"Valna!" She called out, desperately hoping the injury wasn't as bad as it had looked.

But by the time she knelt down at Valna's side, the wood elf was sitting herself up.

"I'm fine, you big baby!" Valna said with an uncharacteristic snark in her voice.

She held up her amulet again. "I told you, it makes me immune to poison!"

Before Nathxena could offer Valna a potion, she had already cast cure wounds on herself. More than anything, Nathxena was relieved - both that Valna was fine, and that the fight was over. It hadn't even lasted a minute. All that was left to do was spend another night in the forest and report back about their successfully completed quest.

Chapter 7

"I was not!" Nathxena said, both happy and annoyed.

"You did! You were really worried for me!" Valna replied with her usual smile.

Nathxena stepped over a tree's root. "In my defence, that stab looked bad."

Valna followed close behind. "I've been hurt worse than that before. I got stabbed fifty times by sahuagin! And you've died before!"

Pushing aside a fern, Nathxena giggled. "Tell your secrets to Sariel! She ran into three of those fish guys in a ship, and they almost killed her!" She thought for a moment. "Actually, they might have. She didn't clarify that part."

Valna also giggled. "To be fair, I had Okrim casting some pretty powerful magic on me. And we had water breathing magic."

Their reminiscence was interrupted by their emergence from the forest, back onto the trail they had departed from two days ago. The merchant was gone, probably having returned to Waterdeep in the meantime.

"So Valna..." Nathxena began. "Do you mind attuning back to your usual amulet? I don't want to walk for another few days back to the city."

"Sure!" Valna replied, sitting down at the side of the road to focus. "I think the Feywild is safe enough to jump to for a few seconds."

Nathxena was visibly annoyed.

Valna thought for a moment. "Okay, how about Mount Celestia instead?"

"Works for me." Nathxena replied.

"Just remember, I haven't got the hang of this thing yet. I might accidentally get us lost again." Valna stated, her focus further drifting to her magic item.

Nathxena smiled. Even though she'd rather get back to Waterdeep and get paid, she didn't mind another adventure with Valna.