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[Weyoun]

Writer's comment : This is the 10th Vierna-story and I never thought I would make it. Unlike Light in Darkness this one is light-hearted again and takes place three months after that story. Vierna's birthday, a friend visits and villains are on the look-out

Here goes, hope you like it...
 
Happy Birthday, Vierna!
by Weyoun

"Look, Clarissa!" Vierna shouted to her friend who was still with both feet on the ground. "I can see the entire valley from here..."

"There's your farm," She pointed with one hand, while keeping the other one clamped around the branch. "And there's the keep... And the river..."

"Please come down!" A raven-haired human girl pleaded. "It's so high and I don't wanna get in trouble when you break your legs!"

Indeed, Vierna was sitting in the top of the highest tree in the region. After months of trying, she had finally managed to find a path between the branches to be able to climb all the way up and now revelled in her victory...

"Aw, come on! Climb up, Clarissa! It's fun and the view is beautiful!" Vierna shouted down...

"Nuh-uh! Both our momma's will be so angry with us, if they find out!" Clarissa said.

'Only if she finds out' Vierna thought mischievously. If her mother only knew the half of the things Vierna didn't tell her, she'd be grounded for life...

"Let's just get to your birthday party at the keep! Olma said she would made us all cake!" Clarissa shouted upwards.

It might have been early in the morning, but, for Vierna, the idea of freshly baked cake was simply too much temptation to be able to resist... As she prepared to climb down, she noticed a familiar figure stepping up to Clarissa.

---

"Hey there, kid..." Clarissa heard a voice say behind her. As she turned around she noticed a scarred elf standing behind her. 'Where'd he come from?!' She thought with a hint of fear.

"Ummm. Hello, sir?" She asked, with a hint of suspicion.

"Vierna?" The elf asked, while pointing to the tree-top.

"Uh-huh." Clarissa replied. "Her mother has told her no to climb so high, but she did it anyway."

"Figures..." The elf smiled sarcastically. He seemed to be casting a spell and Clarissa was suddenly blinded by a bright light. When she opened her eyes again she was terrified to see a gigantic dragon towering even above the tree Vierna had climbed. Clarissa eyes grew wide and was stunned with terror for a moment. Then...

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH! HE WANTS TO EAT MEEEEEEEE!!!!" Clarissa shouted and belted for the keep, where all the soldiers with the big weapons were...

---

"Arokh! HI!" Vierna shouted as the dragon arched his long neck downwards and around the tree-top.

"Hey, Kid!" Arokh said. "I seem to have scared your friend there..."

"Oh..." Vierna giggled. "Clarissa's 'fraid of her own shadow!"

"So I see..." Arokh snorted. "Well, before I go any further... Happy Birthday, kid!" He said sincerely.

Vierna giggled. "I'm six now!" As she told him that, she released both hands from the branch she was sitting on to show her large friend the same amount of fingers. Arokh, almost gasping when he saw that, squatted a little and extended one of his large wings alongside the tree to catch her it she should fall.

"Careful there, kid! From this height, you could easily fall to your death!" Arokh began. "You should really listen to your mother."

"Hey, I listen to momma!" Vierna said with a hint of indignity. "...most of the time." She added sheepishly.

"Besides, it doesn't matter if I die! My momma has powerful magic that can bring me back to life! Momma can do everything!!" She said excitedly.

"Don't be so light-hearted about death, kid..." Arokh said sternly. "Sometimes dead is simply dead... And the experience can change a person completely. I've seen this many times before... So, it's better to avoid it than enything else."

"Yeah, maybe you're right... But I won't fall! I'm a good climber. And I'm six! Almost an adult!!" Vierna said.

"That will take at least another fifty years or so, kid!" Arokh snorted.

"Does not!"

"Does too, kid!"

"You're just jealous, cause I'm gaining on you. One day I'll be sixthousand and then I'm just as old as you are." She said.

"You know, kid. I keep ageing too..." Arokh smiled.

"You... You do?!" Vierna asked, a bit disappointed.

"Yep..."

"So, I'll always be younger than you?" Vierna asked.

"Yep..."

"Awwww...." Vierna groaned. Then, for the first time, Vierna noticed the large wing below her and smiled wickedly.

"No, kid! Wait!" Arokh said, realizing what she was planning.

Without another word, Vierna let go of the branch again and jumped down. She landed on Arokh's leathery wing and whooped with joy as she slid all the way down to the ground and landed gently on her feet.

Arokh, who shapeshifted into his elven form again, approached her, this time with an angry look in his eyes.

"Don't you EVER do that again, kid! You'll give an old dragon a heart-attack!" Arokh scolded

"Sorry..." Vierna said, but her mischievous smile told Arokh she wasn't sorry at all.

"Let's go to the keep! Olma has cake!" Vierna told Arokh.

---

"So," Jan said while walking through the keep at Viconia's side. "Sehanine Moonbow, eh?"

"Yes," Viconia told her annoying companion, while struggling to keep the stack of books she was holding in front her from falling. "And Selune..." She added.

"Two? Well, you've certainly got the learning material. Are you going back to priestess-school, Vicky? My aunty Regina once changed professions, and she decided to go back to mage-school while she still had the chance. There was this nasty..." Jan said.

"No stories today, gnome!" Viconia demanded. "And, no, I am not going back to school! The Ladies make more power availiable to me, as I learn more. Most of these books were given to me by Yathi and Savash, and I have finished them already..." She said as they entered the study.

"Soon, I'll regain the powers I had while still in the service of Shar..." Viconia added happily, while putting the books back onto the shelf and picking up a couple of unread ones to take to her bedroom.

"I don't know, Vicky," Jan began. "I once had an aunt who worshipped Sehanine Moonbow. She was an Illusionist of some power, you know."

"No, I didn't know," Viconia said. "And I don't want know!"

"Sure you do, Vicky! Sure you do!" Jan said. "Aunty Gladiola became a cleric of The Lunar Lady, after being married for twenty years. Of course, pretty soon she became aware of that nasty vow of chastity. She was quite depressed when she did, though, just like her husband. They had eight kids, you know."

"Preposterous! I have seen no mention of this in any of the books, I've read!" Viconia snarled.

"Well, it's in Mysteries of the Moon. Maybe in one of the footnotes or one of the Addenums..."

"I've read that book from beginning to end." Viconia said and crossed her hands. A few moments later, she glanced over at the book. Then she ran up to the bookcase, grabbed the book and frantically started leafing through it...

"HAH. Made you look!" Jan laughed...

---

Karis was walking through the halls of the keep, heading towards the study to see what his lover was up to. Suddenly a laughing Jan bursted out of the door of the study, followed suit by an air-borne book. Jan ran past him, and an enraged Drow stormed into the hallway. Seeing the gnome was out of range, she sighed heavily and picked up the book which had crashed into the wall.

"What was that all about?" Karis asked while giving her an odd look.

"Nothing..." She grinned and walked back into the study to grab the stack of unread books to take back to the bedroom. Karis smiled to himself. Three months ago, a powerful vampiric priestess of Shar had invaded the keep and almost killed their daughter. Because Shar had cast her out after that, she had accepted the offer the priestesses of the moongoddesses had made to her and was initiated into the clergy of both Selune and Sehahine Moonbow. Since then, it was like a great load had fallen off her shoulders. She smiled more often, and he could swear her nightmares had all but ceased whenever he held her at night... Still, her dark streak remained, as well as her stubbornness and sarcasm. The suprisingly many Art-works that survived the destruction of the temple, were sporadically appearing all over the keep. He, almost fondly, remembered a small argument with her about the placement an obelisk named "nameless traitor" in their bedroom... And, sure enough, the obsidian artwork, depicting many forms of death by treachery, was staring at him every morning when he woke up. Then there was the terrible row between her and Minsc, when the large ranger told her he wanted to give Vierna a sword for her birthday, and Viconia retorting that she was simply too young to handle weapons... After some very graphic threats, Minsc eventually decided to bring Vierna a stuffed animal...

"Ssinsrig," She began. "It seems Vierna snuck out of the keep again, this morning. Honestly, what are we paying these guards for?"

"She isn't back yet, but I think she's told me last night she's was going to see Clarissa. But I think she'll be back when it's time to open her presents..." He grinned.

"I wanted to talk to you about building a shrine..." Viconia began.

"Not another temple, is it?" Karis asked wearily.

"No," Viconia snickered. "Just a small private shrine to both my Goddesses. Maybe in our bedroom. I want a place to pray without being disturbed..."

"Of course," Karis smiled. "Now that you mentioned the temple, Captain Cernick has asked me permission to convert the ruined temple into a new barracks. Next to all the extra space, he thinks that it will be easier to avoid problems with other powerful invaders like Hayaxi, if the soldiers live inside the keep. That and the magical defenses Nalia and Imoen are setting up..." Karis added, remembering how distraught Nalia had been when she had returned from a meeting with the cowled wizards two days later, coming back to a ruined keep.

"Besides," Karis added. "We can covert the old barracks into an inn for the visitors, or a new stables, or, urmmm, a homeless shelter..."

"Run that last one by me again..." Viconia asked suspiciously.

"It was Nalia's idea..." Karis added quickly.

"Figures." Viconia snorted. "Doesn't she know there aren't any homeless in this region? Or does she want to import them from Athkatla?"

Suddenly, Clarissa ran up the stairs, closely followed suit by Imoen. The girl stopped in front of Viconia, flailing her arms wildly...

"LADYVICONIA!! ADRAGONHASEATENVIERNAANDNOWHEWANTSTOGETME!! GOTTAHIDEGOTTAHIDE!!!" She shouted unintelligably, belted off into the bedroom and dove under the bed.

"Well," Imoen started. "You don't see that every day, little brother. She just ran into the keep, shouted at the guards about dragons and Vierna and ran up here."

"Must be Arokh," Viconia said. "He sent word he would stop by at Vierna's birthday..."

"I've wanted to meet him ever since Vierna told me about him!" Imoen said excitedly. "But now, it seems I have to convince a little girl to come out from under your bed..."

---

"Hey, kid... Hold a moment..." Arokh told Vierna when they had almost reached the keep and fished a package out of his pocket. "I want to give you your present before we enter the keep.

Vierna dove on the package like a hungry eagle on a lone rabbit. As soon as she opened the box, she gasped as held a beautiful ornate locket. When she opened it she noticed a beautiful magical image of her mother.

"It's magic. They're are actually a pair. The other one is for your mother." Arokh told her, when he fished yet another locket from his pocket. "With this locket, you can always let your mother know where you are. It could be quite handy when you're in the same situation as when we've first met, kid." Arokh said with a smile.

"Thank you!" Vierna said with a smile and hugged the dragon-turned-elf. She slipped the locket over her neck and tucked it inside her tunic.

Of course, the locket worked two ways, enabling Viconia to track down her daughter as well. But Arokh felt it better not to tell Vierna that, yet...

As they entered the courtyard, they were greeted by Vierna's other guests.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Clarissa screamed when she saw Arokh in his elven form, and ran upstairs again. Imoen sighed. Now it would take her yet another hour to convince the girl to come out from under Karis and Viconia's bed.

"So, you'd be a dragon-mage then, aren't you?" A curious looking gnome asked him.

---

"So, you see, my Uncle Rodrick Turnipstein-Jansen, an illusionist of great power, once had the idea to make a golem completely out of Turnips. So he cast his spells on a pile of turnips and stuck a lightning rod into it during a thunderstorm. When the lightning struck, the mount of turnips took a humanoid form and groaned heavily. 'It's alive!!' Uncle Rodrick would yell, 'ALIVE!!'. Then he took his creation over to the house to show to us during a family reunion. Of course, what he didn't know was that the caterers hadn't shown up yet, so as soon as he entered the room, seventy hungry gnomes threw himself at the big turnip-boy... Not a single piece was left... It was then, that Uncle Rodrick decided to become a hermit. There's nothing quite as sad as desilliusioned illiusionist..." Jan told Arokh.

"You know, we once had a chatty guy like you in the lancers... One day we were on patrols and, while he was chatting, a rider from the Dark Queen's forces impaled him with his spear and dragged him from his mount... On his very first mission, I might add..." Arokh said and sighed.

"Hey, I once had a niece who had a crossbow bolt lodged in the back of her neck for ten years. It was the result of an accident when I was testing my Flashers for the first time..." Jan continued.

Arokh groaned, but was filled with hope when he saw Imoen walk past them. He looked at her with a 'please help me' look in his eyes.

"Suffer." Imoen whispered and winked. While the gnome was droning on, he glanced over to the other side of the courtyard, where a bald Ranger, a red-headed mage and Imoen started to sing a very off-key birthday song to Vierna, who seemed to be enjoying the spectacle.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Jan said. "Excuse me for a moment , my good dragon..."

'Thank you.' He whispered to whatever force in the universe had caused the gnome to leave.

---

"Well, squirt," Jan began. "I know, it's not time to open your presents yet, but I've got this here for you." He said as he grabbed a large package from the table. Vierna's eyes grew wide as she ripped it open and smiled when she saw her present inside.

"It's the All-purpose, Free-Fall, Aerodynamic Jansen-Flyer" Jan smiled.

"Jan," Nalia stated. "It's a kite."

"WITH some added enhancement (Patent pending). When it gets up in the air, it stays there! It's much easier to control, and even with a strong wind, a little girl like you could easily hold it." Jan told Vierna.

Indeed, the kite was looking very futuristic and Vierna, eager to try it out was looking for someone to go outside the keep with her.

"And now, my good dragon, I believe I was telling you a story about..." Jan started.

"Hey, Kid! I'll go with you..."

---

"Aww," Vierna pouted. "There isn't any wind!" She said as she dragged the kite through the grass, unable to get it into the air.

"Hold on." Arokh said. He took a deep breath and a gust of hot air shot from his mouth and blew the kite into the air with great force. Vierna whooped with joy when the kite flew through the air... Then she remembered she had let go of the string... The kite landed in a the top of a cropse of trees half a mile away...

"Sorry." Arokh said sheepishly. Vierna didn't mind, and ran to the trees to retrieve her present, giggling all the way. When she got there and climbed down the tree with her kite, a man jumped from the underbrush and threw a large sack over her...

---

Arokh, who had decided to investigate, when Vierna was taking a little longer than he had expected, noticed the kite laying on the grass next to the tree. He sniffed the air. 'Hmmm. Human... Male... Ughhh, sheep...' He thought. Then he remembered an easier way than sniffing Vierna's trail. He took the locket intended for Viconia and activated it's spell. Then he changed into his dragon-form and took off, snapping all the trees like matchsticks with the force of his wing-buffets.

---

"Have you got her, Darphus?" Ciska asked her husband as he entered their home.

"Yes, dear." Darphus told her as he carried a sack with an apparently not-so-happy little girl inside. "You sure, this is a good idea?" He asked.

"You gonna let that filthy Drow ruin you?" Ciska snapped. Five months ago, Darphus had been caught stealing sheep from his neighbors. Lady Viconia had then taken the majority of his flock as punishment for his crimes...

Darphus opened the sack to take the girl out, but as soon as he put his hand in the sack he cried in pain. Vierna had put her mightly incisors in his hand... right in the sensitive spot between his thumb and index-finger. The sack dropped and Vierna crawled out. After kicking Darphus in both his shins, she ran towards the door to escape her captors, but was stopped when Ciska stopped in front of the door, brandishing a broom.

"Stay there, waif!" She shouted. "You are going to make us a lot of money!"

"Yes, child." Darphus said. "We could easily get fivehundred gold as your ransom."

"IDIOT!" Ciska shouted. "We could ask for a hundredthousand gold!"

"Don't count on it, you meanie!" Vierna shouted. "My momma's gonna kill you!"

Ciska snorted at the tiny Drow, but Darphus wasn't all that sure. Suddenly a loud crash sounded from outside the house, the earth shook under their feet and all the glass windows in the house broke. Suddenly, it was as if night had fallen, during the day. Darphus, shaking like a leaf, decided to peek at the window... When he looked back at Ciska, he was looking paler than a sheet of paper.

"Uhhh, dear..." He stammered. "There's... There's a dragon on the lawn..."

Vierna smiled at the two would-be kidnappers. "Oh, you are going to get your heinies kicked!" She giggled.

Suddenly a loud pounding noise sounded from the frontdoor. The supporting beams of the house groaned under the pressure...

"Dear... Maybe if we're real quiet, he'll go away..." He stammered.

Then, a few moments later, a large set of white ivory teeth pieced the house and ripped the roof off. The dragon flung the roof away and arched his long neck downward to hover just above the roofless house.

"H-Hold, Be-Beast!" Ciska stammered while glancing threateningly towards Vierna. The dragon seemed to sigh, and then a cast a spell. Vierna suddenly seemed to shift away and appeared on top of the Dragon's back.

"Do you like fire?" The dragon asked them.

Darphus vigorously shook his head, unable to speak a single word.

"Good..." The dragon said. "Kidnapping a little girl... And on her birthday too! What kind of people are you?" The dragon said, his voice lined with annoyance.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to take little Vierna back to her party. I will tell the guards what has happened here, so I recommend you two not be here, when they arrive." The dragon huffed once more and then moved off.

---

Then disaster stuck : Arokh, who was sitting on a hill, slipped. As he tried to push himself into the air, the dirt of the hill gave way, and the normally surprisingly dexterious dragon fell on his side. The sloped terrain with the addition of his own weight, caused the giantic dragon to slide belly-first across the land. Upon seeing this, both Darphus and Ciska ran from their home just moments before it was shattered by the sliding dragon. Trees, barns, fences and basically everything on their land was crushed under the hulking red menace... The dragon came to a halt when he ended up in the middle of the valley, just before the road, and the lands of the Burrowfoot family.

"Sweet Yondella!" Jerrus Burrowfoot shouted when he ran outside his house. "What has happened?"

"Ummm... HI, mister Burrowfoot!" Vierna said as she popped her head above one of the fallen dragon's wings. "Is Rowen done with his chores, so he can come to my party?" She asked cheerfully.

Arokh simply groaned deeply...

---

"So," Karis said as the two sheep-farmers stood before him in the dining hall, away from Vierna's party in the court-yard. "I will now pass judgment on you."

"Kill them." Viconia simply said.

"I can't do that, my love. I have abolished capital punishment..."

"Then bring it back!" She snarled.

Karis put his hand on her shoulder and then looked back at the two farmers. "You are both banished from these lands for as long as you both shall live. Your holdings, or what's left of it," He said while Arokh gave him a sheepish grin, "shall be confiscated..."

"It is not enough!" Viconia shouted. "KILL THEM!!"

"Do you really want an execution on Vierna's birthday?" Karis asked her gently. Viconia shook her head, yet kept staring at the two farmers with pure hate in her eyes...

"Take them away to the barracks, Cernick..." Karis said. Cernick complied and shoved them towards the door.

Arokh, however, wasn't too sure about the look in Viconia's eyes when the two farmers were dragged to jail.

---

The rest of Vierna's birthday was uneventful. Vierna was happy with the many presents she had gotten and Arokh found himself giving rides to all of Vierna's friends. An Elven boy named Shivon, a halfing boy named Rowen and even Clarissa agreed (although reluctantly at first) to ride on his back. Then the chatty gnome also wanted a go, just like the pink-haired mage named Imoen and even a large ranger who claimed his hamster would like the view. The last ride was for Vierna, who was dragging her rather reluctant mother along with her. After that, both Nalia and Imoen launched the magical fire they had been working on in the spell-towers into the air, which was brighted by the beautiful colors. Vierna, who was sitting on top of her father's shoulders at the time, loved every moment of it.

"So, Kary," Jan began. "I've heard there's a vacant lot! And my sister would love to start a new turnip-farm. Nothing wrong with a little nepotism, eh?" Jan winked.

"Tell your sister she can move right in! But, ummm, she will have to rebuild the house." Karis grinned.

"Sure, Kary. She'll just build a turnip-iglo, while a log-cabin is being built. And you Arokh," He turned to the scarred elf-dragon. "Since, you've already aerated the soil, I would like to ask you for another favor. You see, dragon-poo makes excellent fertilizer... The best turnips in the market were grown in dragon-poo! If you can stand the smell that is. My uncle Clovis' head exploded when he hung around dragon manure longer than two weeks..."

"Well," Arokh said, albeit a bit uncomfortable. "I'll... see what I can do..." Then he noticed Vierna's mother, sneaking off, while everyone was looking at the fireworks.

---

"Urmm, MiLaidy Viconia," Barnaby, who was guarding the jail, said. "The'se prisoners is gonna be released tomorrow..."

"Take a walk around the keep, Barnaby." Viconia told him.

"Are you'se sure that be a good idea?" He asked, realising her intent.

"I SAID LEAVE!" Viconia snarled. Not willing to face an angry Drow female, Barnaby complied. Viconia entered the jail. The two prisoners inside looked upon her with fear, when they saw the flail in her hands.

"You should have known, I wouldn't have let you get away with it..." Viconia whispered.

"You... You can't" Darphus pleaded.

"Watch me!" Viconia said as the took the key to their cell.

"Don't do it, Viconia." A voice sounded from behind her, as a scarred war-elf entered the jail.

"How did you know?" She asked.

"Don't insult me..." Arokh began. "I've seen that look in your eyes many times before during countless wars..."

"There must be retribution! There must be justice!" Viconia said.

"You mean there must be revenge..."

"I am Drow! To us, revenge and justice are the same!"

"Revenge for what? Vierna's unharmed and happily playing outside. Plus she has a new story to brag about to her friends..."

"They could have killed her..." Viconia snarled.

Arokh snorted. "Look at these idiots... Do these fools look like child-killers to you?"

"That's beside the point..."

"Is it? Killing two shackled farmers in jail, who've already been sentenced is murder, not justice. What would Vierna think of you? And would your new goddesses aprove?"

Viconia sighed and let her flail drop as she let the possible answers to these questions sink in.

"And if it's revenge you want, you've already got it. These two morons are going to Athkatla, where I think they won't survive for a month..." Arokh said. Ciska wanted to give him a threatening glare, but decided to let it drop when her husband stopped her.

Viconia snickered, picturing them as lowly beggars in the slums of Athkatla.

"Come on! You've been given a precious second chance. Somthing most people will never get. Don't waste it on these fools!"

Viconia nodded and left the jail, alongside the transformed dragon, to go back to her daughter's party.

"Ciska, my dear?" Darphus began when the door to the jail closed. "I want a divorce."

---

"This was my best birthday ever, momma!" Vierna said as her mother tucked her in.

"That is was, ssinjin Eoul. Your father will finish his story tomorrow. I just wanted to tuck you in myself today..." Viconia said and kissed Vierna on the fore-head, while fingering the locket around her own neck.

"'Kay momma." Vierna replied sleepily while smiling at the window, where Arokh was staring through. The huge dragon winked at her one more time and then flew off into the sunset, leaving Vierna to rest after a long day...