Lost Property (Sparks-in-Shade and Sorrel)

Written in an emotionally-charged creative collab with stephena

Sparks-in-Shade knocks quietly at the door to Sorrel's chamber at the Temple of Selûne. Hearing no response, he gingerly pushes the door and peers inside. He looks exhausted, his eyes sunken and red, and he walks with a pronounced limp as he enters the room.


“Lady Sorrel.. I...” he stammers. He is holding a long item wrapped in black burlap cloth. Carrying it carefully, reverentially. He moves as if to hold it out as an offering, then hesitates.


“I looked for you at Lucan's. They said I might find you here. I have something that belongs with you. I wish I didn't.”

Sorrel looks up and sees Sparks as if from a thousand miles away. She stands slowly, as if moving through the dirt of the grave and regards him for a minute.

Then she shakes her head. "I'm sorry, did you want me?"



Sparks's eyes mist up, as he relives the awful moments of the battle. The chaos. The dirt. The merciless cruelty of the Githyanki. He carefully offers the cloth-wrapped item to Sorrel.



"I was... there. I saw what happened. I'm so sorry."


Sorrel looks at his leg. "You are hurt. Please, sit down," she offers her bed and moves over to her desk where she touches a charm around her neck and the room fills with the scent of autumn. "I have some berries that can help."



Sparks shifts nervously, but relaxes at Sorrel's kindness. He sits down and smiles gently, gladly taking a berry from his host.



“Thank you.” He opens his beak, about to say more but stops before he makes a sound. He hesitates a moment, then changes the subject.



“I heard about your mission to Gadenthor from Celina. Your group saved the Dawnlands. The bards will never shut up about it, I'm sure.”



Sorrel is looking at the item still in Sparks hand. "It was... we made some good decisions... I feel a bit of a fraud. We were barely wounded. Well, Felix when he did this thing. It was so much worse down here. How were you injured?"



Sparks gestures at his leg and winces.

“Dragonfire. The Southern defences downed a large Red and it crashed into the Western Wall we were defending, a huge ballista bolt still in its side. Its wing was damaged, but it managed to use its breath before Comrade Kavel kicked it to death.” he begins to smile.



“That fire was unlike any pain I've ever felt. But Kavel didn't even flinch. Glint seemed to enjoy it. Derthaad and Kalta and...” he begins gesturing excitedly, then trails off. He reaches for another berry.



“It was so dark. Veridian's storm meant we didn't see the dragon until it was on top of us.”



Sorrel nods, a smile touching her lips briefly when Sparks describes Kavel's courage. "You had a good team, Sparks," she twists her fingers. "It feels like I should have been there."



Finally at ease in Sorrel's presence, Sparks resolves to do what he came here for. “You were there. In her thoughts and in her heart. Her last breath was for you. I’m so sorry, Sorrel.”



Sparks carefully unwraps the item across his lap. Inside is a long trident, five razor-sharp blades forged of dark metal atop an ebony shaft and bound in sacred string.



Sparks speaks in hushed tones “Shadowclaw. I could tell this weapon was a part of her. She made a deal, like I did. Shadowclaw was part of that deal.”



He continues “I never saw anyone fight like she did. The only other time I travelled with her, I saw her cut down a Fey Huntress like a spring sapling. The silent, cold fury. That’s how I saw her, on that battlefield. Like an icy lake in the still of night. Fearless. I gave her flight so she could control the battlefield, and she did. She stood alone against the Gith commander. I couldn’t stop—"



“I couldn’t stop them taking Silvia. I’m so sorry, Sorrel.”



Sorrel's eyes are fixed on the trident. She sits in silence for a very long time, the only movement her chest rising and falling with each breath.



"Why did you come to Kantas Sparks?" she says eventually, her hand twitching once, twice, as if she was holding it back.



Sparks hesitates, clearly uncomfortable at the direct question, but relaxes after a moment. He gently places the trident on a nearby table.



“I... I couldn't stay at Eltorchul. I wasn't the student my father thought I was. I'm no academic. I knew the Dawnlands are full of runaways, and used my last few silvers to board the boat. I was sick as a Grung for the whole journey. That was two years ago. Until this past week, I was certain I'd made a good choice.”



Sparks senses a pause, and nervously fills the silence “Why did you come to the frontier, Sorrel? When we did that job for Lord Leapington together, must be a year back, you reminded me of the city folk I knew in Waterdeep. You don't strike me as someone trying to escape. But I know many here are. Am I mistaken?”



Sorrel looks him in the eyes for the first time since he's been here. "I can be too secretive. It's a flaw. I'm screaming but it would kill me to show you. I cannot express my gratitude to you in the way normal people do - that you brought... that you brought... that you came is something I will never forget. The only thing I have to give you in gratitude is me. So I will tell you, as I have told almost no-one."



"I came here because I lose things. The art of losing isn’t hard to master. I lose something every day. Little things, just to keep myself in practice for when the important things go as they surely will. I lost my mother’s necklace, my best friend, I lost my way so many times. I lost two cities, lovely ones. And a continent. I miss them, but it wasn’t the end of all things. Even losing... her... will eventually be something I have mastered. But touching her, I caught midnight like the moon’s fire touched my lips. She made me again. Because I had been broken."



She pauses. "I came because I was too steeped in war to live. I was lost in violence. I had taken revenge and couldn't stop. I wanted peace and I began to find it here. But it has been taken away again and I can feel the violence rising."



"I cannot touch her trident. I am contaminated. I will do it harm. I would be very grateful to you if you would keep it, if it could be of use to you? I don't know how these things work with pacts. Silvia's..." she chokes briefly. "It didn't make sense to me. It seemed to harm her more than help her. So perhaps this can only be hers. I know I cannot keep it. I choose to keep her hidden inside me, because if I cannot control that I will lose control of many things and this... this would remind me."



"So Sparks, I place my safety and that of others in your hands. Will you keep this for her?"



Sparks’s stammer returns for a moment “I... I understand. I came here to offer what little comfort I can for your loss. But your words run deep, and I can see the great strength you wear outside to mask what lies beneath. You do not deserve what has happened. And I will not betray your trust, Sorrel.”



“Shadowclaw is a piece of of Sylvia. A part of her, and a part of her pact. Her patron chose it for her. I cannot wield it without risking the anger of the Raven Queen. Even Syranita herself would be powerless to protect me.”



“It is a powerful weapon that is incomplete without Silvia and it could be dangerous in the wrong hands. None that I know could use it safely. Outside of your care, Shadowclaw should be returned to the one who forged it. Silvia's patron. I will take Shadowclaw, and consult with another who has knowledge of pacts. Lord Jaezred may know how to safely return it.”



Sorrel pauses for a moment. "If you could return Shadowclaw to... her patron... then I would owe you your life. I would consider it an honour to stand between you and your foes whenever you asked me and, judging by what I have seen of you, probably it would have to be when you didn't ask me. You, Sparks, I imagine will be an infuriating person to owe a debt of honour to. You would keep trying to absolve me of it and release me. Or perhaps you would understand that it would be cruel to do that and that fulfilling my debt would be one reason to stay alive. Especially at a time when I can see so few such reasons."



“Thank you Sorrel. We are in debt to each other in this. I failed my comrade, and you. But perhaps I can try to protect the Dawnlands from the power that only she could safely wield. I am deeply sorry for your loss, and I am a friend should you need one.”



Sparks stands up, and carefully wraps the trident back up in the rough burlap cloth. He walks slowly to the door, and glances back. “Goodbye, Sorrel. This path is mine for now, but our fates are bound until your wishes are honoured.”



Sparks turns to the door, pulls it open and walks through. He closes it carefully it behind him.



Sorrel listens for his footsteps but he makes no sound. She places her hand over her heart and bows her head. "Thank you Sparks. I am at your service and your family's." And still the tears will not come.