Chapter 45: Restoring Balance
Ember reached Baldur's Gate by late morning. She stumbled wearily into the Elfsong inn, and found her friends gathered in the common room. From the sound of it, they were loudly discussing whether to go look for her or to wait for her there.
"Um, hi," she said. Everyone turned to look at her. Imoen leapt out of her chair.
"Don't you ever do that again!" Imoen exclaimed, hugging Ember so hard that she could hardly breathe. "Where did you go? Are you all right? Look at you, you look like you haven't slept in a month!"
"I'm sorry, Immy. It won't happen again, I promise," Ember said as soon as Imoen loosened her grip slightly.
"Missed you, we did!" Alora exclaimed. "But now you're back and we're all together again! Isn't that great?"
"Yes, it is," Ember said, smiling at the halfling.
"Where were you?" Kivan asked. "Your note merely said you were going to see if Elminster was right, and that you'd be back when you could. It was hardly as reassuring as you must have intended."
"Minsc wanted to help you find a proper sword of justice, but you were gone! Not even Boo knew where you were!" Minsc said.
"I would like to know what would possess you to leave the inn alone, without a weapon, and unarmoured," Edwin demanded. "(The foolish girl is lucky she wasn't killed in the streets!)"
"I wasn't unarmoured," Ember said. "And Minsc, I'd love that, but I've sworn never to wield a sword again." She pulled her neatly folded chainmail out of her pack and placed it on the table.
"Em, what did you do?" Imoen asked slowly.
"It's a long story," Ember said.
"Sit down and tell us," Kivan said. He flagged down a serving girl and ordered some food and drink for Ember, while Minsc offered Ember his chair.
Ember sat down with a small sigh of relief, sipped some water from a proffered mug, and began telling them what she had done the previous night. She related everything she could remember of the encounter, and her companions became more and more wide-eyed as the story progressed.
"You really spoke to Khelliara?" Minsc asked, sounding awestruck, when Ember finished her story.
"Khelliara?" Ember asked.
"The Forest Lady! Minsc hears her sometimes, when the leaves rustle, but not even Boo has seen her. Was she pretty?"
Khelliara must be her name in Rashemen, Ember realized. "Yes, Minsc, she was very pretty," she said.
Minsc smiled happily. "And now little Ember serves Khelliara, just like Minsc and Boo! Oh, joyous day!"
"You have chosen a good path," Kivan said. "I hope it may bring you peace."
"I hope so too," Ember said.
"I have only one question," Edwin said. "Is your newfound druid-ness going to make you cause problems whenever I (or Imoen) use a fire spell?"
"No more than I already would have, if you went around burning everything in sight," Ember said, and grinned at the conjuror. "Don't worry, Edwin; from what I've seen, you know what you're doing."
"But of course," Edwin said, straightening his robes.
"You're not going to be anything like those shadow druids, right?" Imoen asked.
Ember laughed. "Absolutely not!"
"Just making sure," Imoen said with a wide grin. "So, what's it like, being a druid?"
"I don't really know yet," Ember said. "After all, I don't know how to be a druid. The Lady told me where to go to learn, though."
"Where's that?" Imoen asked.
"A forest, obviously. (Probably some circle,)" Edwin said.
"Do you remember that grove we found in the Wood of Sharp Teeth?" Ember said. "That's where I have to go."
"Where we have to go, you mean," Imoen said.
"You don't have to-"
"Ember, you did just promise to not go away on your own again," Kivan said, almost smiling. "Rest assured, we will hold you to that."
---
Even though she hadn't fully noticed, Ember was exhausted from her night with no food and very little rest. She ate a light meal, which was all her stomach could handle, and went straight to her room. There, she pulled off her boots and lay down on her bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
When Ember woke up, soft grey light filtered through the curtains; it was not long until sunrise, she surmised. Feeling unusually rested, she tiptoed to the window and peered out at the cloudy morning sky. "I didn't have that dream," she said absentmindedly.
"Whuh?" Imoen muttered sleepily from under a pile of blankets in the other bed.
"Oh! Sorry, Immy, I didn't mean to wake you," Ember whispered embarrasedly. "Go back to sleep."
"No... what'd you say?" the pile mumbled.
"I didn't have that dream," Ember repeated. "I... I didn't have that dream!" she exclaimed.
The pile of blankets crawled out of the other bed and hugged her enthusiastically.
---
After a full breakfast, during which Minsc informed Ember that a mage blacksmith had taken care of Varscona and that the sword was now a lump of plain iron at the bottom of the river, the group left Baldur's Gate and headed into the Wood of Sharp Teeth, led by Kivan and Minsc.
The journey to the defiled grove took four days, but they were pleasant days. The trees around them were brimming with almost-ripe fruits and nuts, and the low bushes that covered the forest floor were full of succulent berries. They used this to their advantage, making sure that every meal break was made near a suitable berry patch. The weather was comfortably warm, the air was clear, and they weren't accosted by a single bandit. Ember studied everything they passed with new eyes; the woodlands seemed to have gained a particular hue or quality that she just hadn't known how to look for before.
"Listen to the birds," Imoen said on the fourth day. They had reached the dense heart of the forest, and were walking under canopies formed by the mingling branches of trees on either side of the rough forest paths.
"Pretty!" Alora chirped as she climbed over the trunk of a fallen tree. "What a great forest, huh? I never seen trees like these before."
"I have," Edwin said, smoothing his robes after traversing the same obstacle.
"Boo says the birds are happy now," Minsc told them. "They don't mind being near the grove anymore."
"It's not far now, right?" Ember asked.
"Not far at all!" Minsc exclaimed.
Within half an hour, they reached the clearing where they'd first encountered a shadow druid. It had looked like a scar the last time Ember saw it; now, the traces of blood and fire were all but gone, and young plants were sprouting where the ground had been torn up. It was still a scar, but it was a healing scar.
Two figures were standing beside a smallish oak near the edge of the clearing; Ember was unable to make out their faces. "Is it them?" she asked Kivan.
"Aye," Kivan replied. "It is Khalid and Jaheira."
"Do you want to talk with her alone, or do you want us to come with you?" Imoen asked.
Ember considered it for a moment. "It'll probably be easiest if I go alone," she decided.
"We will wait here," Kivan said.
Ember straightened herself up, took a deep breath, and walked across the clearing towards the two half-elves. She could now tell that they were somehow tending the oak; Jaheira was running her hands over a deep gash in the tree's main trunk. As Ember drew closer, the half-elves turned to face her.
"G-greetings, child," Khalid said amiably. "Where are your f-friends?"
"Over there, at the edge of the clearing," Ember said, gesturing in their general direction.
"What brings you here?" Jaheira asked.
Ember shuffled her feet. "I was told to find you here," she said.
"And who told you this?"
"It... it wasn't a person," Ember said hesitantly. "I pledged myself to Mielikki. She told me to find you here."
"Child, am I to understand that you have spoken with the Ranger goddess?" Jaheira asked.
"Kind of. She was a unicorn in a dream. She told me to come here and ask you to teach me." Ember felt herself blush. How many people go around talking with deities? I must sound insane!
"To teach you what?" Jaheira asked.
"How to be a druid."
Jaheira nodded. "It is unusual, but I have heard of others entering her service in such a manner, especially this past year," she said. "I suppose there is a shortage of her druids on the Sword Coast, since she has sent you to me."
"I think it was because you knew me. Knew of me, anyway," Ember said. Jaheira smiled wryly.
"I dreamed of you three nights ago," Jaheira said. "Silvanus told me you would come here, seeking my assistance, but the dream was not clear as to why. I understand better, now that you have come."
"So, will you?" Ember asked. "Show me how to do this, I mean?"
"As long as you do not expect to gain a lifetime of experience in a few short weeks," Jaheira said. "I can help you with the basics; the rest, including your own understanding of the Balance, is up to you. I will do my best to guide you for as long as we both see fit."
"I understand," Ember said. "Thank you."
"Excellent," Jaheira said. "We can start immediately, if you wish; I have been tasked with restoring Balance to this grove. It was defiled, and the druids who lived here were murdered; Nature still weeps for the loss. It will be a valuable lesson for you if you assist me in cleansing the area."
"I'd be glad to," Ember said. "It was so horrible, the way it was."
"You have seen this glade before?"
"We passed by when we were looking for a bandit camp. There was one druid left alive, but he had been driven insane, and we were forced to kill him. We buried him there," Ember said, pointing towards the barely visible grave, "after we dealt with the shadow druid that'd poisoned him and the others."
Jaheira's eyebrows rose. "So you are the ones Seniyad told me about," she said.
"You know Seniyad?"
"He is an old friend and mentor of mine, and it was he who sent us here; he could not spare any of his own druids," Jaheira said. "He did tell me that a group of adventurers had vanquished the shadow druid, but named no names. You did well here, and I would be glad to hear more about it."
"Gorion would be proud, indeed!" Khalid said with a smile. "I look forward to g-getting to know you, child, and your friends as w-well."
Ember smiled. "I look forward to getting to know you, too."
