"Nameless has been reluctant to let us near you, dear. I've never known a familiar to be quite so protective." Laeral dabbed Tsarra's brow with a cold cloth, and smiled at her. A malevolent cackle-"Do you still wish to bed me, Blackstaff? Do you wish to know this Laeral whose petty morals lie in ashes?" Blood ran freely across hate-twisted features as the horns continued to push their way out through her skin. Tsarra's eyes widened, and she recoiled from Laeral's touch. She didn't even realize she'd begun a spell until Khelben grabbed both her hands and held them still. "Enough, Tsarra! Close your eyes and breathe." Khelben's stern whisper thundered through her aching head.
"Get back into yourself so we may both shoulder our burdens." His voice sounded heavy as he placed her hands back in her lap and rose along with Laeral to the far side of the room. Tsarra closed her eyes.
Her sides were taut with fear, and it took time before she relaxed and her breath came easily. The feel of her own room and bed and the comforting scents helped, though how she got there she didn't know. It was highsun when the ritual began, but the night sky hung black outside her window. How long was I unconscious? she wondered. Flapping wings whipped by her head, and a weight landed on her lap. He uttered a series of meows and yowls, which Tsarra understood as, "Happynow mistresssafe. Longnapgood? Washsickscent you must.
Scratchtweenwingsnow." He rubbed his scent markers against her palm and nestled into her lap. Tsarra happily obliged him by scratching him just between his wings at the shoulders. Across the room, she could hear Khelben and Laeral talking, though they kept their voices low.
Tsarra lets the tressym's deep purr help her relax, but she suddenly tensed and her eyes snapped open. "Danthra-is she all right?" Lord and Lady Arunsun looked at her with sad eyes, and Tsarra's heart sank. She wanted to mourn her friend, but it felt as if the Dreamer was there on the bed, embracing her. Tsarra ran her hands through her sweat-slick hair to pull it back from her face, and for a moment she felt Danthra's hands on her shoulders. "What in-?" She looked at her teachers with fear and confusion, and they seemed worried as they moved closer. Laeral said, "We found you unconscious, and the study had been partially destroyed. The lightning bolts that exploded through the room took out a large section of the wall. Khelben, stubborn fool that he can be, wandered out and into a battle despite leaving his brain behind." Her teasing tone didn't cover up Laeral's obvious concern over her husband. She looked to him and laid a gentle hand on his cheek, then she turned her eyes back to Tsarra. "Nothing was left of Danthra, Tsarra. At least physically. You feel her, don't you?" Laeral reached over to touch her reassuringly, but Tsarra recoiled from her. The Lady Archmage of Waterdeep sighed after a moment and looked at her husband, who dropped his eyes. She got up and walked away, her hand trailing briefly on Khelben's shoulder as she passed from the room. Tsarra had to fight herself. While she had known and loved Laeral Silverhand-Arunsun for more than a dozen years, she kept getting flashes of fear and revulsion when she looked at her.
Tsarra managed to ask her master, "What's going on?" Khelben cleared his throat, looking pointedly at her. "Danthra's body was destroyed, Tsarra, though it had nothing to do with her spell. The magic that did this was far more potent-powerful enough to catch me off-guard. As to why you feel her presence, she's not entirely dead-she's in you and me and that." Tsarra followed Khelben's eyes to the bedside table where the metal belt she had been investigating lay. Khelben continued,
"When her body died, her soul splintered among us, and we must find a way to save her without harming her, or us, in the process." Tsarra gawped and closed her mouth as she assessed what had happened. She put her hand up to her head and felt something small, cool, and foreign stuck to her forehead. She tried to pull it away, and pain lanced through her skull. Nameless leaped into the air and away from the bed, his howls of pain communicating their mutual discomfort. She even noticed Khelben wince slightly at the same time. "Leave it be, my dear." Khelben said, "It's what keeps us both sane." Khelben brought her a small hand mirror, and Tsarra looked at herself. Aside from the haggard look and the disheveled and damp hair, Tsarra looked the same-but something new glinted on her forehead. Centered just above her eyes was an intricate tattoo on her skin with a small green gem affixed at its center. "What is it?" she asked. "It's all that keeps our minds and souls separate right now, Tsarra." Khelben sighed. "I adapted an elven kiira n'vaehlar on which I had been working. Luckily for both of us, it was nearly complete, but not entirely. When I awoke, I found myself thinking your thoughts and experiencing your past. While I have experience with mind sharing, I had to protect you from what's in my head. The touch of Mystra can be devastating to those not Chosen by her. That gem keeps your soul intact and allows us some measure of privacy from each other's thoughts. It's not perfect, given the time I had to enspell it, and the tattoos were necessary to stabilize the magic. They, like the gem, are now yours. Permanently."
Tsarra fell back against the headboard, her eyes wide. She looked at Khelben in disbelief then laughed nervously as she tried to assimilate the news. "Permanently? I'm a simple observer in a new spell trial, and I end up with my best friend's soul and the Blackstaff's memories in my head. Got any other surprises for me beyond facial tattoos?" The Blackstaff glared at Tsarra. "Don't take this lightly, apprentice.
Magic now binds us on numerous levels, and the powers I contain can do you even more harm than those you've already felt today. Just after the lightning strikes, the Tower came under attack, I'm told, by an over-reaching mage and his agents. Pikar Salibuck sustained serious injuries this afternoon trying to drag me to safety from a nishruu.
The power I bear flared up to aid me when he dragged me too far from you, and the magic that binds us incapacitated both of us for a time.
The fires are among my greatest powers, but I dare not use them without risking your life. Mystra's fire could sever the links, but not without destroying you, your familiar, and what remains of Danthra in the process. Until we can afford the time to separate our souls, you and I will remain bound by magic and must remain within eight armspans of each other at all times. For good or ill, apprentice, we are each other's company until Mystra deems our task fulfilled." "How is Pikar? Is anyone else hurt?" Tsarra asked. "Were the invaders caught?" "No one else suffered injuries, and Pikar is fine now as well. Yes, four intruders are the newest guests of Castle Waterdeep's cells, awaiting a magister's pleasure come morning. Their ringleader, however, escaped." Khelben frowned. "I did not see him, but to summon fiendish wolves and nishruu requires some power. None of those captured had magical ability-merely mercenaries told to loot what they could grab. The sixth figure, however, interests me the most. He wore red and bore a short sword-" "With golden diamonds on the blade?"
Tsarra asked. "I saw him just before I fell unconscious. He didn't seem to be attacking, though, Master. He looked as surprised as you-er, all of us." Tsarra blushed and looked away from the startled archmage. "You saw him?" Khelben asked. "Oh, of course. Your mother's keen eyes. Well, his sword interests me more than the man himself, and we'll have to glean more on that later, when you're able." Khelben gave the briefest of smirks as he said, "Some congratulations are due you, Tsarra. Apparently, your youngest students stopped the nishruu.