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[Shadowhawke]

Dancing with the Night

The shadows can hide beauty,
The darkness can be day,
The stars can guide us gently,
The moon can lead the way

****************************************************************************************
Disclaimer: Around PG. There will be some references, such as kissing. Any chapters with more violence than the norm (although what I consider gory is apparently quite mild ) will have warnings on them.

Author's Note: Hey, I decided to branch off from Starlight for a little while and try this idea out to see if it would get me anywhere. . I'll still be updating both, hopefully more often than I used to.

In this fic, I will however be delving into darker themes such as torture, slavery, and murder (who saw the last one coming? ). This is in the interests of character development. However, if there's anything disturbing enough, I will put a warning preceding the chapter.

I hope you all enjoy.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 02 July 2006 - 01:39 AM.

[Shadowhawke]

Prologue

It had been a long time since he had come to places like this. The stranger checked his knives, and then his rings. They weren't for decoration. There were no crystals or gems that other nobles liked to hang themselves with. They were for when he had no time to reach for his weapons. Metal imprints deep. He'd learnt that a long, long time ago.

And if there was one thing he prided himself on, he always learnt. He'd made too many mistakes. Gotten hurt too many times.

He checked his knives again, almost on reflex as the sign loomed up in the darkness. 'The Copper Coronet'. A wry smile tugged at the stranger's lips.

Ah, the stranger thought bitterly. Home.

Stepping in through the open door, the chill night air was suddenly snatched away, replaced by a welcoming oppressive heat from the fireplaces that shot shadows into the far corners. Memories and smells, both pleasant but mostly unpleasant, assailed him as he threaded his way through drunken patrons. He knew every tread of the uneven floorboards here. The place creaked underneath his boots. Despite everything, even as he looked at this place he was never sure whether he was a part of it or above it.

With a friendly nod, he acknowledged Bernard, before turning his eyes away at the soulless sight of Lehtinan. Now, he pushed his way through the crowd faster, the scowl on his face dissuading any would-be pickpockets with any sense of self-preservation. Unfortunately, all too often he'd found that alcohol had a way of getting past that defence. And then, there were the ones that were just too cocky.

The heat from the fires hit him directly in the stomach as he moved closer. The stranger remembered this. Despite the new direction his life had taken in the past few years, he would always remember this. The Copper Coronet at night. The alcohol and wenches, the talking, the fighting. But most of all the atmosphere. He was forgotten. Always had been, always was. In the writhing crowd, he let himself be swallowed up by people. He was no longer what his other life named him. Rank and station here did not matter, nothing mattered when your throat could be cut if you didn't keep your wits about you and entered the wrong places. Here, he was forgotten.

And he could forget.

The stranger finally found his corner, and he sank into an empty chair gratefully. His back to the wall, he surveyed the people he'd waded through to get here. The stranger relaxed. Slightly. Now that his back was safe, he could let some of his guard down and let the weariness take hold of him. Wounds long healed by his own careful hands throbbed under his joints as he shifted, stretching like a cat.

He ordered his first hot meal for two weeks, idly noting to himself as he tucked in that he really should have taken more care of himself on the ride. Of course, that was in the past now, and as such he distanced himself. There would be time enough to return to the order. For now, he revelled in the chaos.

Just as his eyes were uncharacteristically drooping shut, he felt someone slide against him for a fraction of a moment. Instantly, he spun around, leaping to his feet.

The man was in a choke-hold before he knew it. Gasping, he dropped the ornate knife at his feet to fasten his hands upon the stranger's, trying vainly to loosen his fingers.

"That was stupid," he stated softly.

The pickpocket's gargled reply choked off when the stranger began to tighten his grip, slowly and inexorably. By now, around a third of the Copper Coronet was quiet. Just watching. The stranger smiled grimly. You could never quiet the entire Copper Coronet, not even if you brutally murdered someone in the middle of it. Not that that happened too often, considering it was so bad for business. The stranger had often ruminated that Lehtinan pulled enough strings to let it be known to all who had no qualms that he’d appreciate if they took their business outside.

Hence the permanently discoloured 'Welcome' mat. And the suspicious flecks that rotted away the sign.


The pickpocket was thrashing now, jerking around desperately, wheezingly. His nails scrabbled along the stranger's arms and hands, desperately shredding anything it could find in the vain hope his air source would be returned to him. What would have made another man drop him merely made the stranger refocus. A lesson had to be learnt.

They locked eyes. A foot lashed out suddenly, as if the thought had only just occurred to the pickpocket that he could do more than claw his fingernails into the stranger's skin. The stranger didn't blink as his own snaked out, and the other man yelled. Or choked. Or both. The stranger couldn't really tell, at that point.

Just as the pickpocket's eyes started to roll back in his head, the stranger threw him away, his gaze still firmly locked upon his irises. He bounced on the wood, before scrambling to his feet and running.

Carefully, thoughtfully, the stranger bent down to retrieve the knife and slipped it back into his tunic, before moving steadily to the bathroom to wash the blood off his hands from where the other man had raked his skin.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 12 June 2010 - 05:22 AM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter I: All alone in the dark

All alone in the dark,
We sometimes wonder,
And think,
We are the only,
Ones there,
In the night.


* * *

Jaheira scowled.

Nika scowled back.

?You?re running yourself ragged, child,? the druidess scolded, not without a hint of worry in her tone. It had been twelve nights, now. Twelve nights since they?d escaped from that hellhole. Twelve nights since Imoen had vanished, her cry of despair thinning in the night air. Eleven nights since they?d liberated the circus. Nine nights since they?d met Gaelan. Three nights since clearing the de?Arnise Keep and returning to attend Lord de?Arnise?s funeral.

Three months? three months since she?d seen either Imoen or Nika smile a real smile.

?Leave me alone, Jaheira,? the half-elf slammed her tankard down, her southern accent harsh with emptiness. ?Let me drink this cheap swill in peace.?

She looked disgustedly at the contents of the mug swirling in her charge?s hands. The day after they had stepped out, the druidess had done some calculations with the aid of the barkeeper. They had spent three months in the dungeon of Irenicus. Enough to die a thousand times over, and then a thousand times over again.

?If you think buying cheaper ale to drown yourself in will help us to the 20,000, you?re a fool.?

?Do you think I don?t know that?!? she downed the rest of it defiantly, only to choke as the unidentified solid objects near the bottom lodged in her throat. Jaheira pounded her back unsympathetically.

?Snap out of it, Danika.?

The laugh that bubbled out of her throat was so hysterical the druidess thought for a sinking second that Irenicus had succeeded in breaking her. ?Snap out of it? You think I can snap out of it, Jaheira??

She gestured wildly, sweeping her hand at the smoky interior of the Copper Coronet. A drunk lay snoring in a puddle of spilled alcohol. ?You think I?d be ?ere if I could??

Her voice had by now climbed several octaves, and Jaheira could feel in her skin the eyes turning upon them; Lehtinan?s frown shattering the atmosphere and Bernard?s worry. She clenched her teeth. If Nika didn?t regain control of herself, they would most likely get thrown out.
Before she could get a word in edgewise, though, the Bhaalspawn did it for her.

?Oh Selune,? she stood up, sucking in a deep, laboured breath as she almost knocked the chair over in her haste. ?I need to get out of ?ere.?

Gazes followed them as she quietly followed in her charge?s storming footsteps out into the night. The cold air was a welcome knife in her lungs, clearing her mind somewhat. As she expected, after only a few streets Nika suddenly turned and slumped against the stone wall.

??m guessing this ain?t the first time you?ve followed me.?

The words came out flat. Nika bent her head and examined the dirty cobblestones that littered the Slums, feeling cold draw in around her. The night shivered around them as she waited for Jaheira?s reply. They both knew it was a statement.

She just wanted to know? why.

Why had Irenicus taken them? Why had he? why had he done?? The vague references he?d so clinically dropped from those lips blue from lack of feeling had only served to confuse her more.

And why take Imoen if it was so clearly her he was interested in?

Imoen? the name brought another surge of guilt crashing down onto her and she crumpled down to the ground. The look in her childhood friend?s eyes? the other half of the ?Perennial Pranksters?. That desperation and fear as they?d reached out and their fingers had both clutched at nothing. The anger that had threatened to take her then and there, had Jaheira not been there to grasp her shoulder firmly and slap her back to reality.

?No, it isn?t,? Jaheira agreed at last. ?You?ve been doing this ever since we got back from the Keep, child. At the very least, it is doing nothing for your liver; at the most, you?re hardly an effective leader by day, dead on your feet as you are. You?re endangering us all by this idiocy!?

It was a calculated barb, and both of them knew it. If there was one main characteristic of her charge that Jaheira had discovered instantly a year and a half ago when the mud-sodden, rain-beat pair had straggled up to them, it was that she hated having her actions called into question.

?It?s not idiocy!? she flared back, snapping her eyes up to meet Jaheira?s. ??m getting more gold? at least double what ?ve spent every night! It?s just a step towards getting Imoen back!?

Jaheira opened her mouth.

?An???

Nika?s jade eyes flashed down to the ground again, before returning back with twice the defiance? and a thousand times the frustration and shame.

?An? th? ale takes away the nightmares,? she whispered.

?How are you getting the gold?? Jaheira asked suspiciously. A sudden thought had occurred, and it was so horribly possible that she almost didn?t want to know the answer.

Surprise flashed across the bard?s face. ?Why, by pickpocketing, o?course.?

Slowly, realisation dawned.

?You? you seriously thought???

Jaheira regretted her words the instant Nika fell into that insane laughter that was beginning to unsettle her. Not frighten. Not nearly. She had seen too many things in her life.

?You seriously thought I could stand anyone touchin? me like that after what Irenicus did?? the uncontrolled peals finally died. ?After the way he violated my mind, my everything??

?Can you blame me for it crossing my mind?? she asked bluntly. ?Yes, I?ve followed you, but I had other things that called for my attention earlier. I know nothing about what you do prior to attempting to drink yourself into a stupor. Which is quite possibly the most imbecilic action to undertake anywhere in the Slums.?

Nika staggered to her feet, her legs numb. ?I never got completely drunk,? she tried to defend herself.

Jaheira snorted. ?That?s no excuse, and besides, you got close enough.?

The bard looked up to heaven and found no refuge in the stars. ?Look, Jaheira? ?m tired now. Since you?ve decided to conveniently ruin my mood for drinking, we might as well be getting back. This conversation ain?t going anywhere.?

She began walking, back to the Mithrest. Jaheira stayed still for a moment.

?You?re not the only one who lost something in Irenicus? Dungeon and something again when Imoen was taken, Danika.?

Nika turned sharply around and their eyes met again.

?He broke m? spirit,? she stated hollowly. And it was the absence of the spark that used to always dance in her eyes that chilled her.

?He broke my heart,? Jaheira fired back. ?But I?m not hiding behind that.?

Nika opened her mouth, then closed it again.

The rest of the journey back to the inn was spent in silence.

* * *

?G-good M-morning.?

Aerie slid down from the stairs, a hesitant, shy smile decorating her face as she joined them at the table. Half-muttered noises of greeting came from Minsc and Boo?s direction as they tucked in. The hard-eyed bounty hunter who made her shiver nodded in acknowledgement. Their five-foot-five-inches leader muttered a casual ?H?lo!? through her steaming porridge. Only Jaheira actually responded properly.

?Good morning, child. Did you sleep well??

?Quite w-well, thank you,? she spooned a small amount of the porridge into a new bowl. ?And you??

?Like a baby,? the druiddess said dryly, a meaningful glare directed at Nika, who merely rolled her eyes and kept on eating.

Aerie looked between the group that she had so recently become a part of. They all scared her in some way. All except for Minsc. She berated herself internally for being so tongue-tied around the sharpness of Jaheira, but the first thing that leapt into her head was somehow always erased or rendered meaningless by the fathomless anger she saw in the druidess? eyes. Yoshimo was pleasant enough to talk to, but the way she?d seen him casually slit what constituted as the throat of a shadow from behind in the circus would forever throb in her memory. She was slightly ashamed for even being wary of Danika, who was at least half a head shorter than herself. But she couldn?t help it. There was a darkness in her that Aerie couldn?t begin to comprehend and sometimes wished she had seen before she had so naively jumped at the chance to adventure.


?P-p-please? I c-can heal and do m-magic as well? let me join you!?

?We?d love to have you, Aerie,? she?d said honestly. ?But you need t? know that we ain?t the normal adventuring group.?

Quayle?s white eyebrows had twitched anxiously. ?What is it now, Nika? Another evil brother looking to kill you??

The sincerity that had escaped his lips had twisted the Bard?s mouth into a deformity of a smile. ?Not quite, and thanks again for helpin? me kill Sarevok.? A shadow of a mocking, yet well-meant chuckle had slid out unwillingly. ?Even if you did decide t? abandon us afterwards.?

Quayle had shrugged. ?I have no regrets. Aerie here has taught me that this foolish old gnome does not know quite as much as he thought.?

?Such a great miracle wrought by such a young age,? Jaheira had deadpanned.

Aerie hadn?t been sure whether that had meant to offend, but her attention had been quickly caught by the sudden graveness of Nika?s tone. ?Aerie, we were captured an? tortured a year or so after Quayle left us. We managed t? escape, but the bastard who did it t? us has taken my best friend, Imoen. We?re going t? be up against a bloody powerful mage. You need t? know that joinin? us is dangerous.?

Danger? Her shoulders had instinctively rippled, and she?d felt the coarse, harsh scar tissue that marred her skin stretch. She?d swallowed. She could be strong again like Uncle Quayle had taught her.

?I c-can help you! You saved Uncle Quayle a-and the circus, and all of our l-lives. If I c-can be of any help at all, I?d l-like to come along.?


Now, in the broadness of morning daylight, part of Aerie regretted her decision. She could have stayed in the relative safety of the circus with Uncle Quayle? he?d had so much left to teach her. But the part of her that had loved to soar with ethereal grace above the clouds longed to move, to travel. Their great quest to save this Imoen had touched the girl who?d stayed up late with a magical orb hovering above scrolls upon scrolls of epics of adventurers slaying the evildoers and the wondrous good they had done.

Only with her recent, her first experience of taking back the de?Arnise Keep, Aerie had realised with a horror that those same epics had neglected to mention all the different ways trolls could tear apart servants right in front of their eyes before they could take a step forwards, or how hard blood was to get out of delicate clothing. And, most importantly in her opinion, they?d forgotten to mention how painful breaking ribs were.

Aerie?s mind slowly wandered off from her fear of their leader; the enigmatic half-elf who had looked like Murder itself when they?d arrived seconds too late from saving Lord de?Arnise and to Nalia herself. She?d stayed the night at the Order of the Radiant Heart after the funeral. Lord de?Arnise had always been a stolid, steady supporter of the Paladins, and upon hearing of his death they had immediately rushed with subdued pomposity to aid Nalia. Since she?d seemed to actually like some of the knights, they?d left her there where the people had known Lord de?Arnise could really, truly comfort her. She was due back today, however, to inform them of what would happen now, and Aerie wondered if that was the reason behind Nika?s apparent edginess.

?Uh? um? N-nika??

The Bhaalspawn had just slurped down the last of her porridge with a surprising aplomb and placed the spoon back with a flourish turned, apparently startled out of her thoughts. ?Yeah, Aerie??

?When is N-nalia coming back??

Nika frowned when she saw the sundial across the street. ?I would have thought she would be back by now. Never mind, we?ll just have to go and get her.?

?Is that wise?? Jaheira interjected. ?Nalia is still grieving. We should give her some more time, at the very least.?

Nika shook her head. ?Not by th? look on Nalia?s face yesterday,? she disagreed. ?They?ll ?ave helped her last night, but by now she?ll want to be runnin?.?

Yoshimo flexed. ?Ah, I would not be blaming her. The Order pontificates far more than actual healing. In my humble opinion, that is.?

Jaheira shook her head disapprovingly. ?I still don?t think we should take the poor child so early, just a day after her father?s funeral??

Nika shrugged. ?Let?s make a bet on it, Jaheira,? she suggested. ?If I win, you do th? cookin? in my stead on our next trip.?

?I already do,? the druidess replied sourly. ?Anything that touches your hands immediately loses all potential to be remotely edible.?

?An? if you win, I?ll give you back your ring.?

?What??? Jaheira looked down at her hand and then up again, before amusement and annoyance coloured her tones. She?d learnt long ago that high on the list of things she had to tolerate about Nika, and right next to putting up with that ridiculous accent of hers was the fact she couldn?t resist playing practical jokes. Like she?d always done with Imoen. Remembering the many mornings of waking up sore with prickles after she?d chastised them would forever remain a sour, yet a much needed turning point in her life.

After all, she reasoned. If she could put up with Gorion?s ward, her own charge now, for a year and a half?

?Nika, I might need it in our next battle.?

The bard tossed the ring back at her, and the druidess caught it. ??m stealin? it from you again whether I win or lose, you know.?

Jaheira rolled her eyes. ?I know.?

* * *

Nalia threw them a grateful look as soon as she saw them enter the doorway. Yoshimo allowed the barest trace of a smirk to flit across his face as Nika bounced up ahead. ?Thank the Gods you?re here!?

?I win,? Nika tossed over her shoulder.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter II: Lies not behind us

The past,
Lies not behind us,
But lives through and around us,
Always changing, always choosing,
Our course,
Until we take control,
And accept

* * *

He was bored.

He drummed his fingers agitatedly on the wooden surface of the table, his eyes hooded as he watched the tavern wenches sliding past. A few had taken up the challenge of attempting to cajole the ?dark handsome stranger?, as he?d heard himself being referred to with his elven ears, into conversation. Amongst other things. He?d been so shocked when he?d heard some of the naughtier whisperings that he?d immediately stopped drinking just in case he did something he?d regretted under the influence of alcohol.

Not that he?d gotten drunk for over a century.

Not that he?d been planning to get drunk.

Not that he was always so cautions and high-strung it was a wonder his muscles hadn?t snapped yet, and thus would most probably eliminate all possibility of them catching him unawares.

Not that some of the things they had been whispering about scared him.

He shook his head and went into denial. He?d walked Toril three times over in his years. He?d become an urban myth in the places he?d lingered in, a name mothers whispered to their errant children to dissuade them from wandering off or refusing dinner. Why he had been connected to hunting down toddlers refusing the fruit mash they had referred to as ?baby-food? was beyond him, but the fact had still traced a grim smile across his features. He?d only ever killed the one infant. And it had been for a good reason.

He?d scrubbed the skin off his hands after. Scrubbed until they bled. And had vowed to never, ever cross his own twisted moral code again.

He?d been, he was one of the best known names in the shadows. Of course, the echoes of his fame were dying out what with his disappearance from the underworld life for the last thirty odd years. Still. He was feared, and it wouldn?t be long until those he had touched last time around in Athkatla, even if he was still relatively unknown in the City of the Coin, would begin to remember.

And since he was so evil and awful and feared? he logically was not afraid of these women.

The facts and his behaviour began to break through the wall of denial. Swallowing in panic, he broke his own self-imposed restrictions and gulped down the half-tankard in front of him. The serving wench smiled saucily at him as she stalked past.

The look she gave him made him gulp again. ?Another.?

It had meant to sound like an order, like everything else had. For all those years he?d so carefully trained himself to not impart anything in his voice, to make everything cold and exacting so the last thing his victims ever heard was Death. Death, and nothing else But now, irrational panic was seeping into his heart.

He didn?t squeak. But it came out rather gravelly with nerves. Apparently, the barmaid decided that she liked that tone and smiled winsomely. ?Would you like anything else with that, sir??

It was most certainly not his voice that was coming out of his mouth. The voice that was almost, almost but not quite stuttering. ?No.?

She seemed to waiting for something. He blinked in his confusion. He?d been away from civilisation far too long this time, he realised.

?No thank-you,? he amended.

As she left reluctantly, he found himself gulping down the finely cultured wine as quickly as he had the last one, not even stopping to savour the taste. He stopped abruptly when his head began to spin, however, and let his forehead rest upon his hands as he gazed down at the wooden table. If it had answers, it was being awfully immature about holding them back.

?Cormin,? he said softly to himself. ?You?ve really done it this time.?

He remained in that position for a while, letting thoughts roll over his mind. It had been 11,830 days. 32 and a bit years. He?d only spoken to another mortal being twice in all that time. On the first occasion, he?d hunted down and tortured Iestyn?s killer, and then the one responsible for it. He?d worn the first down with words as well as with his tools. The second he?d just gone for pain, never speaking. By the time he?d finally killed him off, there was nothing human left of the man who through his failure to mention to his men their strange ally in the upcoming battle would cause one of his soldiers to swing at the wrong half-orc. It had been out of a misplaced sense of pity at the end he?d finally just slit his throat. Pity. A self-deriding smirk curled his lips. It hadn?t been the man?s fault that he?d made a mistake, or even the officer?s. But he?d murdered them anyway.
After that, he?d washed his hands and moved back to the place he had built, worked with his callused hands deep in the sanctity of the forest. The feeling of blood coursing over his hands had reminded him of the last time he had done it, and it had taken three years to wash the sickness out of his throat. He had no regrets killing Iestyn?s murderer. It was the other death that had marred him so.

The next time he talked, it was to lead a lost traveller back to the nearest city. The gratitude in her eyes as he?d helped her along, her hands burdened with the newborn babe and her body still ravaged had awoken a longing in him that he could not explain away. He had never been meant for solitude. The childhood that danced at the corner of his memories was still too close for comfort, along with the openness he had enjoyed. But he couldn?t bring himself back into the world. Not yet. Not when he still couldn?t understand who in all the Nine Hells he was.

Hell. He felt bitterness crawl in his stomach. He?d been to Hell dimensions. Some of the more exotic trips he had taken in all of those years. It was where he belonged, a monster like him.

So, instead of going back to the small town and satisfying that craving? the yearning to speak to something besides the animals and the silence of the forest? he?d watched. He?d moved amongst them, unobtrusive and unobserved. He pushed away the inner thoughts reminding him how easily he could kill all of these fragile lives and follow his path of self-destruction again and watched. He?d watched as people talked and shopped and walked, basking in the sun or the moon. He?d watched as people grew, babies turning to children transforming to adults. He?d watched as people loved and lived and died, and wondered whether all three were the same.

Then, one night, seventeen days ago, he had watched a man who he knew regularly abused his wife and children physically and mentally, grapple a wild cat that had leapt out of the foliage for his youngest?s throat. The desperation and fear and love that had boiled out had showed in his hands, driven and strong.

As the man had dealt death, and then stood over death, he?d watched him fall to his knees and gather up the child in his arms, press a kiss to his forehead and cry. Long, gasping, heaving tears that had wet the earth and crystallised upon the grass.

Both men knew that when you made choices, the hardest thing to do was realise something was wrong, and then take the first step. So, as the man had gathered his family and spoken to them, emotion wavering in his tones, the watcher gazed upon first the youngest?s newfound adoration, then the daughter?s innocent wonder, and then the wife?s surprised joy, before finally settling again upon the face of the man himself.

He himself had taken the first step the next day, on the road back to Athkatla. Feeling fearful and exuberant and suspicious at the same time.

Fearful because of what could leap out of the unknown. Exuberant because of the new life he felt coursing through his veins. And suspicious, because it had all seemed so artfully planned that he had chanced upon the scene, that he had happened to walk that way and then have the urge to creep through the gate and join the shadows by the house. Too coincidental that there was a wildcat lurking around the place, and far too contrived that the man had reacted so.

Fine. He was a cynic. But he knew the hand of Fate and the sign of those that it had touched, and this time he was all too happy to go along with it. Watching had only deadened the hunger inside him.

Of course, he still had a right to be irritated at being manipulated. And he also still had a right to be irritated at how hard it was actually speaking, interacting with people again.

The barmaids were not helping. Not at all.

The sifting through of his memories had distracted him long enough, but now he groaned as he felt reality settle around him again by his last thought. He needed a drink.

He scanned the place desperately and finally his gaze alighted upon a barmaid who didn?t smirk when she realised his eyes were upon her. When she reached his table, however, what he?d wanted to do which was engage in conversation was shunted aside by his trained in reflexes. He merely pointed at his tankard. ?Another.?

He could almost read the thoughts behind the derision flickering in her eyes as she took the order. I don?t know what the others see in him? he?s just another drunk looking for nothing but his next drink.

He groaned, inwardly. That was what he was. Until he did something about it. He hadn?t really come with a plan. Or rather, he?d come with a plan, but it had so far been shunted aside in favour for drinking and remembering.

He was still bored.

He needed to get out of here before his brain and his liver suffered.

As another barmaid purposely swayed her hips as she walked past him, he reached a decision. The only thing he could think of doing now he was back in society was travelling, tasting, seeing new experiences again and actually being a part of them once more. But old habits died hard. He?d need to stay away from the places that still knew him.

Adventuring. Being a mercenary. The solution hit him, and his face relaxed into a grin.

The first chance he?d get, he?d take.

* * *

?What?s wrong, Nalia?? Nika asked as they approached. Despite the acknowledgement that the Order had most likely prayed enough for her, the Bhaalspawn trusted her gut and it was stirring now. It was also still murmuring appreciatively from breakfast, but she chose to ignore that fact and concentrate on the faint tendrils of worry that were crawling in her stomach.

She?d started trusting them ever since the third time she?d ignored them had led to a chain of events ending with the death of Gorion and everything she?d known.

Oh Selune, she ached for Gorion. Even after all this time. Just his warm smile and the fatherly touch on her shoulder whenever she?d stopped playing pranks with Imoen and done something that he saw as useful. The pleased glint in the old mage?s eyes as she?d picked up a new spell, crowing with delight and dancing around the library, making the monks complain for weeks afterwards.

And now, especially when everything was so unclear, her heart and body were aching and Imoen ripped away, she wanted that reassuring glance he had given her when she woke from her nightmares that told her everything was going to be all right because he was there.

Only he wasn?t there.

And everything was not alright.

Nalia managed to lead them to a wing obviously meant to accommodate guests before bursting immediately into a tirade. They managed to pick out certain words that kept repeating themselves verbally thrown at them with gusto and passion.

?Isaea!?

?Bastard!?

?Roenals!?

?Lands!?

?Father!?

?Insufferable!?

?Arrogant!?

?Wife!?

They weathered the storm with confusion until she paused for breath and Yoshimo, lounging laconically against the wall, voiced his thoughts.

?By the sound of that, my lady Nalia, your Isaea is a bastard of the Roenals whose lands are ?Fathered? somehow by an insufferable, arrogant wife. Am I right??

Nalia opened her mouth, mounting red rising in her cheeks before she finally laughed. ?I?m sorry, I guess I was having a bit of a temper tantrum.?

?If that was ?a bit?, ?d hate to be seein? the whole thing,? Nika drawled, amused. ?But I take it that th? weasel dressed up like a ponce needs t? be taken down a few notches? An? I know I just insulted weasels. Tis a sorry excuse for a noble, he is.?

That earned her a chuckle. And a hamsterish squeak of approval.

?Boo says from what we know of this Isaea, we should go and apply the good forces of buttkicking to his behind! He should not be threatening Nalia?s land so!?

?He?s threatening your land?? Jaheira asked.

Nalia nodded grimly. ?He showed up at the Order doors claiming I was insane.?

The resulting laughter left the noble rather annoyed, but she soon saw the brevity of the situation and her lips quirked upwards somewhat. ?Amusing as it is, if it hadn?t been for the Order he would have taken me then and there to only the Gods know where, and forced me to marry him just to get his thieving hands on my land.?

?So that?s why you didn?t come in as expected this morning,? Jaheira nodded. ?I?d thought that perhaps you? needed more time.?

Nalia?s face was solemn as she shook her head, and Nika felt her heart clench in recognition of innocence lost. ?I can?t sit here and mourn my father by praying,? she smiled sadly. ?He was always a man of action, and even though I know he wanted me to marry Isaea I don?t think he?d approve of what Isaea would do with the lands. Besides? I can only take so much of the Order at a time like this.?

?What should we do to aid you, little one? Rangers and hamsters everywhere will do anything they can to help!?

Nalia chewed on her lip. ?I can?t set foot outside the order until Isaea is dealt with, but I don?t know how to take away the power he has to get me.?

?Isaea? Roenal,? Yoshimo frowned. ?I believe that the name is familiar? I have heard it mentioned a few times in the Athkatlan slums. Maybe if he was discredited, he would no longer have this power??

Nalia?s eyes widened, before narrowing again. ?Isaea being shady? I?m not surprised. Would you? oh Danika, I know you have done so much for me already, but would you mind???

?Not at all, Nalia,? the bard insisted. ?It?ll be m? pleasure t? teach that fop to mess with th? people I call friends. We?ll be back as soon as we can so you don?t have to be puttin? up with the Order for too much, okay??

Nika?s mischievous grin leapt across space to be replicated by Nalia. ?Oh, they?re not all that bad. They?re well-intentioned, certainly, but they can be rather??

?Arrogant?? Nika supplied helpfully.

Nalia laughed. ?You could say that.?

Impulsively, the Bhaalspawn grasped her hand. ?We?ll be back soon,? she repeated. ?We?ll be gettin? to th? bottom of this.?

As they walked out of the Order, Nika couldn?t resist. ?I win,? she repeated again, grinning cheekily.

Jaheira gave the expected scowl, but inside a part of her rejoiced. It seemed that Danika Gorionova had begun to live again.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 24 April 2006 - 08:42 PM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter III: From the Core

(A fairly longish chapter to make up for the wait. . I won't be around much for the next week or so because school has decided to dump a whole lot of work on me, so I hope this will make up for it.

In darkness wrap?t, a secret lies,
A secret torn before thy eyes,
Trust you what they have paid before?
An apple rots first from the core

* * *

It took them the work of two days to unravel the mastery Isaea had kept beneath his polished veneer. One day of false leads and inquiries, until they?d struck gold with an informant coming out on his own. It seemed that Isaea?s popularity did not extend as far a reach as he might have wished.

It was but the work of a few hours to then break into his house, find the documents, and follow up one of his officers. By the time Yoshimo and Minsc had re-emerged from the Sea?s Bounty, his fate was sealed.

Satisfactorily, they watched Isaea sputtering indignantly as the officials pulled him out of the door. ?You won?t be hearing the last of me!? he threatened, puce rage colouring his face. ?My father will be??

The rest of his words trailed off into nothing, and Nika began to laugh. ?Ain?t it funny how th? ones always so puffed up an? arrogant always end up bein? the ones makin? stupid threats??

Corgeig Axehand pulled a hand through his thick, grey-specked hair. ?I?m afraid that Isaea?s threats may not be idle, lass. I never expected this of him, but he was always a cunning, crafty one. To have been running this slaving operation under our very noses??

?Slavers,? Jaheira?s voice boiled with rage. Aerie was looking sick, as she had been ever since they had uncovered the first documents of corruption. ?They are absolute abominations. He will be going to trial??

Corgeig nodded, and then sighed. ?The evidence against him is overwhelming. He will most likely be fined a large amount, and then set free.?

?S-s-set f-free?? Aerie asked disbelievingly, finally speaking up. Her voice shook with anger and fear instead of nerves, and Nika winced at the pain that laced her tones. ?B-but y-you have proof of t-the awful t-things he was d-doing!?

She stabbed at the papers with a shaking hand. ?H-he?s been t-t-trading f-f-for years! L-look at this! T-t-thousands of l-lives r-ruined b-because of g-greed!?

The official sighed. ?The Roenals are one of the most powerful families here, my lady. The documents you gave to me speak of a huge underground network of slavers that Isaea was heading. It will go on, with or without him. I rather suspect he will not be dealing in such shady business too soon, however. He has already been much disgraced, but if he does well he might regain his status again.?

?What?!? roared Minsc. ?You mean that justice will not be applied? That the slaver who hurt Nalia will just have to pay gold and be set free again? Free again to hurt??

He nodded. ?I?m afraid so. But we will be keeping a very close eye on him. Nalia?s lands are safe, and if I?m not mistaken she has been using her contacts at the Order to establish herself as Lady de?Arnise. She?s a capable lass, that one. I doubt her lands are in any harm with Glaicas to back her.?

He noticed their looks. ?Oh, don?t look so surprised. We?ve already heard a lot of what has happened. Glaicas is an old friend of mine, and he will do well guiding the young Lady. Isaea will have no control over her any more. In fact, her rank might indeed become higher than his, with luck.?

?I s-still c-can?t believe he?ll b-be s-set f-free?? Aerie seethed, her eyes wide and heated in shocked outrage. ?W-we saw how m-many s-slaves h-he was dealing w-with.?

?I?m sorry again,? Corgeig laid a hand on her shoulder, only to withdraw it quickly when she flinched. ?There?s not much I can do about it, unfortunately.?

?Politics,? Yoshimo muttered disgustedly, shaking his head. ?I always did hate politics.?

?There?s got to be something? we can do,? Nika exclaimed after a long silence. Jaheira had noted the slightly glazed look in her eyes that had told her that her charge was thinking deeply. ?An? if you?re right, that th? slavers will just go on without ?im...?

A glint was beginning to dawn in her eyes, and Minsc and Jaheira, her companions from such a long time ago, recognised it. Minsc with a happy smile, Jaheira with a shudder. ?Where?s th? base of these slavers, Axehand? We can clear ?em out for you. And your knights won?t even have t? get their bright an? shinin? armour dirty.?

Corgeig brightened. ?You would do that? To tell the truth, I myself was unsure about what would happen if the government directly intervened. The underworld here is so vast and extensive that the wrong kind of disturbances would bring it all crashing down on our heads. An independent party, though??

He suddenly started out of whatever line of thought he?d been taking. His eyes raked over the five in front of him, taking in the bald, hulking Rashemen, the sharp-cut half-elf, the nonchalant Kara-Turan, the frail elf swallowed by her mage robes, and finally settled on the leader. The petite half-elf who only came up to midway between his shoulders and who?s brogue made the cultured official strain to understand. The last two looked so young. Could a group of five really overcome the network of slavers that the government had been turning a blind eye to for so long?

Axehand hated that, sometimes. He hated how when a problem was too difficult, the Council of Six ignored it. Twenty years ago, he would have joined in the furious cry of the Rashemen. But now, hardened and deadened, resigned by the corruption he saw around him every day, Corgeig was weary.

These five had already managed to clear the de?Arnise Keep of the mysterious invaders and also brought to his attention the corruption of one of the officials just below him. Secretly, he was still reeling from that. Sharp and cunning, Isaea was, but he?d never picked him out to be so?

Evil. What else could you call the exploitation of fellow mortals for money? Corgeig knew that the fine the judge would call for would be just a fraction of the fortune Isaea had amassed out of the trading and degradation of people.
If the group before him wanted to deal with it, why not? He doubted that, young as they looked, they would fail. Somehow, somewhere, gut instinct preceded reason, and he saw an organisation falling to its knees under the onslaught of a half-elf and her friends. He glanced again at the five waiting impatiently before him.

?We believe the base is in the Slums,? he finally informed them. ?I suggest talking to Lehtinan, but pretend you?re a customer. He?s crafty and utterly unscrupulous.? And he pays the government so much money to keep ignoring him that he can?t be innocent.

?We?ll be careful,? Nika frowned, calculating the risks in her mind. ?Thanks, Axehand.?

She turned to the others. ?Right, we?ll go t? visit Lady de?Arnise one last time since she?s all set up, then we?ll be payin? this Lehtinan a call. Sound good??

There was a chorus of nods and affirmations. As they filed out the door, Minsc paused to shake the official?s hand, and Corgeig yelped. ?Thank you, kind man, for the information you have provided! Now we can go kick??

?It was my pleasure,? he said hastily.

Yoshimo smirked. ?Come along now, my friend, I think that the officer need a rest.?

* * *

Nalia nearly danced out of the Order as she felt freedom kiss her temples. With a grin, she turned to Nika and hugged her again, too relieved to pay heed to her noble upbringing. ?Thank-you! By the Gods, thank you all of you again for freeing my home and returning it to me!?

Glaicas, who had ridden from the Keep the last night smiled as he placed a hand on her shoulder. ?Allow me to offer my thanks as well,? the great bodyguard bowed.

?No thanks need to be made!? Minsc engulfed Nalia in a bear-hug. ?Hamsters and Rangers everywhere are happy to help. And now you have your lands back, and evil?s grip had its fingers smashed in! All is as it should be.?

?Yes!? Nalia laughed, hugging him back with Boo?s emphatic squeak. ?We went over the paperwork with the Prelate and our lawyers this morning, and I will be named Lady of the Keep!?

?We heard as such,? Jaheira nodded. ?It is good that none will be able to wrest it from you. However, should any stupid noble try, you are welcome to call upon us again.?

?Damn straight,? Nika laughed. ?We?ll kick ?em to heel soon enough if they even think to try crossin? you.?

Glaicas? eyes darkened. ?I?ve been named formally as guardian and protector for now until Lady Nalia reaches twenty-one, and informally until twenty-two. I hope that both of our forces combined will be able to stop any miscreant in the next three years until that time attempting to take it.?

?That we will,? Danika agreed, before turning to Nalia again. ?On a more serious note??

Jaheira snorted. ?As if you could ever be serious.?

?One must put up an appearance,? Nika retorted, before addressing both Nalia and Glaicas again. ?On a more serious note, we?ve been charged by good ol? Axehand himself t? have a look at what Isaea?s been runnin?. His documents say that his hand definitely wasn?t th? only one stirrin? the pot, so we have to be chasin? them down now. I trust that you?ll be okay??

?We?ll be fine,? Nalia?s eye?s had begun to glint. Ah, the last week had taken a toll on her, for sure; lines deepened around her circled irises as if Nature itself wanted to show the cracks in her once porcelain life. But she had become stronger, harder. ?You?ll be leaving soon, then??

?Yes,? Jaheira affirmed. ?As soon as we see you off, we?ll be heading to the Copper Coronet.?

The noblewoman paused. Glaicas had led their horses over, and with one foot in the stirrup, she glanced back at them. ?Give them a good hit for me, won?t you??

?Oh, we will,? a similar, deeper, menacing glimmer shone in Nika?s eyes. ?Believe me, m? friend. We will.?

* * *

Aerie's pale, delicate hands curled into a bloodless fist as their eyes stayed fixed on the scene in front of them. She felt a mantra thudding in her head. The mantra that had availed her naught when she?d screamed it out until her throat was raw, when she?d wept every word with crystal tears that shook and shivered as she fell, and blood poured out of her fragile body.

No! Please! Don?t, please! I?ll do anything! Anything! Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, pleeeaaase!

Her nails dug into her skin as she stared, transfixed. Oh, she wanted to turn her head away. She wanted to run, wanted to get out of here where the past she thought she had dealt with seized her and made her bleed inside again. But her eyes refused to stare anywhere except for at the groaning dwarf as he was ripped to pieces.

The inhumanity?

She was startled out of her thoughts as Nika grabbed her hand and held on tightly. Surprised, she stared. The bard?s eyes were dark with fury, but Jaheira?s warning glare wasn?t needed. Aerie watched in fascination as the half-elf shuddered, the convulsion pulsing up and down her hard body as she just barely managed to restrain herself from leaping down into the pit and skewering the troll. Or skewering the nobles clapping and cheering next to them. Or running back and skewering Lehtinan.

She really wanted to skewer something. Now.

?Let?s get th? hell out of here,? she ground out between clenched teeth.

As the dwarf?s last, dying moan reverberated in their heads, Nika led them down to the corridor that they had passed earlier before. There had to be a place that they kept these slaves. And what better place than behind the pit itself? Easy access.

The thought raked her mind even as she kicked the door. Hard. It merely grumbled under her. Cursing, Nika held one hand to her now aching leg and turned to Yoshimo.

?Want t? take care of this blasted door??

?It would be my pleasure,? Yoshimo said lightly, sliding around her to fiddle with the lock. Jaheira kept a sharp eye out for any guards, but the corridor seemed deserted for now.

There was a muffled click, and the bounty hunter smiled. ?You first, my lady.?

?Thanks Yoshi,? Nika fired back sweetly, before striding through.

The dark-lit corridor they walked into shadowed as they closed the door behind them. Aerie shivered slightly and pulled in closer to Minsc, feeling her heart thudding uncomfortably in her throat. She hated the dark. They moved slowly and carefully, taking care not to trip on the somewhat uneven stones. Any guard they met now would not be friendly. They had ventured too far into the territory where Lehtinan kept the objects of his blood money.

Nika froze as they heard noises up ahead. Voices and movements echoed through the rock as they glanced at each other, seeking out the faint light that sparkled off their eyes.

?What is that?? Nika hissed.

Yoshimo frowned. ?It sounds like it?s coming from the very wall itself.?

Cautiously, they inched over, and Jaheira ran her hands over the stone. ?It?s a secret door,? she murmured

?S-s-should we see what i-it is?? Aerie whispered.

Minsc was already drawing his sword when they heard a sound that made Aerie turn a bright red. ?No, I don?t think we need t? be checkin? that door out,? Nika snickered as she moved off again.

Nerves settled somewhat, they kept moving until they saw a door emerging from the darkness. Jaheira pressed a sharp ear to it, listening for a short while before turning back to the rest of them.

?What?s??? Nika started impatiently. Her eyes still flashed anger at what they had witnessed in the pit. It made her sick to the stomach that there were people who actually enjoyed? who took pleasure in it.

Jaheira frowned and put a finger to her lips, and the Bhaalspawn fell silent. Slowly, she held up a hand and uncurled all of her fingers.

?Five guards?? mouthed Yoshimo.

Jaheira nodded.

Nika?s mouth tightened, and she drew them back a ways into the corridor so she could speak. ?Right, then,? she muttered. ?Aerie, you stay with Jaheira and start castin? whatever you want. Only five of ?em, yeah, but we don?t want them to raise the alarm. If there are mages, pepper ?em with your slings. Minsc, take the fighters. Yoshi, do your neat little hidin? trick and feel free to stab them several times.?

Aerie turned a pale shade of green. She?d already killed in the Keep. She could handle it. She knew she could.

But? the only problem was they hadn?t been facing humans or elves or people in the Keep. Trolls were monsters far removed enough from people to ease her conscience. She, Nika, and Jaheira had been talking to Merchants about supplies they could buy with the money from the Keep when Yoshimo and Minsc had made quick, virtually silent work of Officer Dirth in the dark corner of the Sea?s Bounty. But she?d still vomited when they?d told her of it.

Then the memory of the Pit flashed back, and her still-innocent eyes flamed. She nodded.

Nika smiled grimly, and then threw open the door. The guards, who had been lounging around talking, only had time to utter a cry of alarm.

?You! You shouldn?t be here. Let?s get ?em, lads??

His cry was abruptly cut off as a bullet from Jaheira?s sling found its way into his paunchy gullet, followed quickly by a blazing whirlwind who must have been half his size. Minsc and Yoshimo fanned out, the former swinging his huge sword gleefully, and the latter melting into the darkness, only to pounce upon a mage as he began his incantations.

It was short, bloody work. Yoshimo had seen similar Pits in his life, but that didn?t mean he had to like them. Jaheira seethed in memory of a certain Baron Ployer. Aerie had her own demons. And Minsc and Nika were just plain outraged.

But when they were done, Aerie trembled like a leaf. She couldn?t pull her horrified gaze from a still smoking corpse, where the flame arrow was still merrily burning his flesh. Jaheira, realising that it was Aerie?s first kill, was torn between snapping and comforting her.

?This is what Danika warned you about,? came out of her mouth at last. She didn?t mean to make it sound harsh, but she couldn?t help it. ?If you cannot deal with the reality of??

Aerie?s eyes jerked to hers, and if looks could? ?Don?t l-lecture me, Jaheira!? she snarled, surprising herself with the viciousness in her voice. ?I k-know what k-kind of man I j-just killed far more than anyone h-here!?

Stung, the druidess retaliated. ?That wasn?t what I meant, child,? she snapped. ?I?m simply telling you that in future battles we may not have time to stand like a martyr over the people we have just slain!?

Aerie moved to defend herself, but Nika was between them in an instant. ?You c?n continue bickering later,? she hissed. ?We have ourselves a job t? do.?

When they followed her pointed hands, they saw Yoshimo talking to a man through a cell door. The slave gripped the bars tightly, speaking urgently in a thick accent. The thief glanced briefly at Nika, who nodded her assent.

?What do you want us to do?? they heard him ask Hendak.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 25 January 2007 - 03:02 PM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter IV: The heat of the moment

(Hey, sorry for taking too long to update. Heaps of work, and Exams starting in a week >.<;;. This will be the last post for a while.
However, due to me being so busy, I haven't had the time to really polish this one up as much as I'd like to. If there's anything, and I mean anything than any of you think I can do better or change in the content and/or subject of the first half of this chapter, please give some constructive criticism.

That said, I hope you enjoy. )

Some friends,
Have nothing in common,
Save a mutual acknowledgment,
That leads to sharing.
Some friends,
Show their love through witticisms,
Neat blades cutting through defences,
Yet softened by the heart.
And yet still there are more,
Friends who we never knew were there,
Until they pulled the wool out of our eyes,
And made us see.
And some friends,
Are made in the heat of the moment,
Yet never stop feeling,
The fire.

* * *

I decided that Lehtinan must have somehow sound-proofed the area. Which wasn?t surprising, given what went on inside. After the Beastmaster?s curdling cries had failed to bring anyone running after a breathless minute and a half, the keys felt like feathers in my bloodstained hands.

Feathers?

It was a second, and then I was wrenched back into reality by my knees, still shaking uncontrollably.

Oh, bloody hell!

It felt awful, like a demented puppeteer with no co-ordination was jerking me on his string. I kept cursing silently as I leant gratefully against the convenient wall, trying to hide the tremors. I tried looking surreptitiously to see if anyone else had seen. Yoshimo was pulling arrows out of a sleek, golden cat, kneeling with some of his hair escaping from that ponytail of his. The frame of black hid his eyes from my sight.. Minsc was wiping his sword, an unreadable expression on his face. Jaheira was retrieving something from her backpack.

Good, none of them had seen my temporary?

Ah, I spoke too soon. My eyes fell on Aerie. Aerie, who looked ready to be sick, what with that unhealthy looking tinge of green. And more importantly at that moment, to me, at least, was staring at me.

Bloody hell.

You know how heady that rush of blood to your cheeks makes you feel? I hate it. I almost damned well leapt off the wall, but it was far too late to pretend of course.

?You lot alright? I asked roughly.

She blushed as I looked directly at her. ?I-I-I?m fine.?

I forced a smile. ?That?s good.?

Silence had a habit of steeping the air in times like these, when I could hear my heart beat the loudest and wished that it?d just shut up. Or at least quieten down. I swore everyone else could hear it as well as Jaheira straightened and Minsc smiled and Yoshimo looked at me. Desperately, I tried to shrug away the last strands of instinctive terror. But the huge, bellowing bear twice my size, barrelling towards me with dagger-sharp claws headed straight for my abdomen was being a bastard of a memory to forget.

Dammit.

I?d been fighting, adventuring, heck, murdering for too long. I squeezed my eyes shut, but that was a mistake since all I could see were the bear?s crazed eyes. How long would it take to dislodge the damned, frozen claw around me? Oh, sure. Time and everything had kind of dulled my reaction to it. But I knew it was still there. The fear.

Ah, who was I kidding? I would have laughed again, just like in that alleyway. The bloody irony. The bloody, bloody irony. A Child of Murder afraid of the dark. A Child of a God who felt real fear for the first time when a lanky, unwashed man called Shank had leapt towards me with a dagger. I?d felt it with Mulahey, when his creaking, bone-rattling skeletons had rounded on me.

So many times. It had erupted inside me like a volcano when I deserted Gorion and ran, unheeding, the memory of a blazing-eyed monster dogging my steps.

I thought I?d learned to conquer it, work past it, so much that in just one year after leaving Candlekeep, I?d been able to bury my sword in the throat of Sarevok Anchev.

I?m not brave. Wasn?t brave enough to stick with Gorion. Wasn?t quick enough to get over my fear at seeing Irenicus and grabbing Imoen before the Cowls took her. The fear?s still there, always there, long after the burning eyes that had haunted my nightmares had closed.

But?

I hadn?t noticed it after I?d woken up, my body aching and screaming curses I didn?t even know at me, to find Imoen?s grimy face staring through the bars.

Hadn?t noticed it until now.

Oh yeah. My throat could still work. ?You did good when you took out th? tiger.?

Was it because a part of me wouldn?t have been too brassed off if death stopped buggering around me and just taken me? Was it like that now?

Aerie gave a tiny sigh of relief that stilled her tremors at my words.

All I knew was that I was afraid again, and dammit if the white-faced girl standing right in front of me was too much of a reflection. I felt a sudden, self-deprecating smile that was almost real this time cross my face. ?And even better when you helped me with the bear,? I added.

?T-t-thank you,? Aerie stuttered.

?That?s o??

?My shoulder stings, dear leader,? Yoshimo announced as he sauntered up. He paused for effect and almost grinned in appreciation of the melodrama. ?However, I think the Beastmaster feels worse.?

Minsc laughed, and clapped a hand on the said shoulder. I winced in empathy as Yoshi?s smirk turned into a real grimace of pain. The ranger carried on oblivious, though. He had a tendency to do that.

?Spoken with spirit, my friend! I do not like killing these innocent animals? neither does Boo, see him trembling with anger? But??

I saw Jaheira wiped away the sweat beaded on her forehead. ?That man was an abomination,? she interrupted harshly. ?I am glad we are done with him. To use his powers to defile these creatures and turn them into the slavering? things they became is inexcusable.?

?Yes!? Minsc cried passionately, his cheeks turning slightly red. ?Evil is even more evil when it corrupts and turns the good animals themselves!?

?Corrupted and turned?? I butted in. Damn it all if my voice hadn?t started shaking again as I stared at the bear. It was dead, I knew it. Nothing could survive Minsc?s blade through the heart. But just looking at it made me want to run. Soddin? hell, my legs are startin? to buckle again. . ?They were lookin? pretty deranged to me already.?

Minsc earnestly shook his head. ?No, they were corrupted! Boo knows, and even Minsc with his sorry head knows that animals do not normally act that way.?

I stared at him incredulously. Corrupted? Was he feeling sorry for the animals that had tried to rip us to shreds? ?You sure?? I asked sarcastically.

?P-p-perhaps we should be g-getting b-back to Hendak?? Aerie intervened timidly. She drew back as Minsc kept going. ?You don?t believe me?? he questioned.

Did I? did I see an almost hurt look crossing his face?

?Not really,? I replied bluntly. Yep. That?s me, a real idiot. All I know is that I felt bloody afraid for the first time in what seems like a soddin? eternity. ?But we should be gettin? back??

?Look at them!? Minsc cried as I began to walk. ?See how underneath their skin lie so many scars??

?How can you be seein? anythin? through their hair?? I asked exasperatedly.

He knelt, and his leathery hand pushed aside the shaggy curtain to reveal new and old whip marks on the side of the crazed bear that had attempted to savage me and nearly succeeded. We winced as one. Jaheira looked ready to explode.

There?s a feeling I get quite often. It?s when the logical, reasoning side of me (hah! Jaheira would laugh at that) decides to take a break, and I almost feel my foot making my way towards my mouth. ?Well that takes the twang out of missin? our friend here,? I gestured to the Beastmaster?s corpse, taking refuge in my stupidities. ?I think he?s feelin? a little indisposed now. Not that I blame him, considerin? what we did to him. And maybe for once he?s feelin? a little out of control, as well. Possibly he?s kinda sorry for what he?s done.?

I paused. ?There, does that make you lot feel better??

Jaheira gave me a shocked, angry glare. But before the scolding came, Minsc drew my eyes again. He rolled his shoulders once, his massive back cracking as he rose dexterously to his feet. ?He should feel sorry,? the ranger?s booming tone softened. I gaped. Was that? sorrow?

I?m real good at reading people. Honest.

?To pit man against animal in an unfair trial, to punish both and bring so much death is evil that even Boo in all his many years cannot stand.?

He paused.

?My? Dynaheir always hated it when animals were set against slaves.?

A beat.

?She never doubted me, my witch. Even when I failed her.?

That was it. I couldn?t do anything as his softly-spoken words died and he placed a gentle hand on the head of the beast. That one action set it all off. The self-pity vanished under the onslaught of memories and realisations.

Dynaheir. Dammit, Dynaheir!

Reason had a funny time of making itself known. I looked sharply at him as I pushed away the guilt and forgot about my fear. I was already cursing my careless words by the time I realised what I?d done.

I don?t think any of us had ever really listened to him properly. In my memory, all I ever heard was his undying vow to exterminate evil? Had we ever listened to him when he?d tried to say something else?

I hate introspection.

With me, I usually find something nasty. And rotten. And I hate it. Because seeing him put his hand on the bear that had tried to kill me reminded me too much of when I was little and tried to help the rabbit with glossy eyes I?d found in the field.

And standing amongst the corpses of one sick and twisted guy, as well as all of the animals he?d abused, I came to the painful conclusion that Minsc, as much as I knew him as a comrade in heart and mind and all that rot, had been taken for granted a little too long. Not since he?d opened his mouth outside the inn in Nashkel had I truly given him a modicum of respect outside that of his fighting abilities and loyalty and devotion. He was too easy to play pranks on. Too easy to rely upon as the muscle. Too easy to smile and chuckle at his outrageous words. His unswerving loyalty and trueness had always been taken for granted.

I gazed at the golden, unseeing eyes of the Mother Bear. The animal looked almost peaceful. Gone was the tortured, red-blooded glint that I knew was hidden somewhere in my own irises. Bloody hell.

In the light of the blood seeping from the gashes along his side, gashes from when he?d leapt sideways to save me from the animal?s wrath, I felt ashamed. Of everything. Because as much as Aerie was my bloody sister-in-being-scared-out-of-my-pants, I knew that I didn?t really have an excuse to be like this anymore. Jaheira thought it had ended in that alleyway? Hah! As if I could just let it all go like that. Oh, no. I was stubborn as hell in retaining my death-grip on everything.

I steeled my breath. If I was going to save Imoen, I couldn?t keep acting like this. And it wasn?t fair to anyone.

I pressed the key into his hand. ?Let?s go.?

* * *

He drummed his fingers impatiently on the table. One more day of this, he swore silently to himself. One more day of this and them I?m going out and finding something.

He no longer drank. It was his third day here, and he quite frankly couldn?t see the point. He?d never liked getting drunk, not even tipsy. The loss of control that that entailed was too frightening.

One could forgive momentary lapses in judgement, however.

So, he sat sipping water now. Water. Water that looked clouded compared to the clear spring he had drank from for thirty two years. Water that tasted faintly of iron. He wouldn?t have been able to stand it if it had been copper. As it was, he rolled the metallic-tasting liquid around his mouth uneasily. What was he waiting for?

He answered his own question. Another card, another symbol from Fate. He?d been given so many now. He hadn?t recognised them until he?d had thirty two years to think. Casting his mind back, he could list them all.

Twenty-four. Twenty-four events that defied coincidence and had thrown him into confusion and his life into disorder. Which was irritating, but now he?d almost come to accept it. Almost.

Now he wasn?t sure when? if the twenty-fifth would come.

He sipped his water.

He counted the seconds.

Each slipped like water from his hands, and he felt them so intrinsically it was as if an hourglass sat before him. He?d used to stare at the fine, carved hourglass when the world seen through childish eyes was bright with wild pastels. Marvelled at each speck of almost-nothingness fell through nothingness to land so gracefully only a few specks of almost-nothingness shifted. Was that time? A drop upon drop upon drop of constant, flowing motion that would only stop when the last almost-nothingness fell through the throat of the glass.

But would start again if he just turned it upside down again. To move forever, one piece of almost-nothingness at a time. He?d thought that was time then.

Now, it was the measure of metal. One second missed could mean death. One second missed could mean failure. Oh, that had faded in the last years. But it was still a part of him, and would be.

He was getting too philosophical.

He grasped his drink tightly and threw half of it down his throat, but it was only a second before his body revolted and he choked violently, tears heaving from long-dried eyes.
He drank more gingerly after that. But he had no need to horde the precious drops that stopped him from thinking. Just as he?d drained the rest of his liquid, he heard a door shriek open.

He snapped his eyes sharply up, just in time to catch the wood tumbling from the hinges and dangling uselessly as a sword broke through flesh and the guard collapsed to the ground.

?Wh-at?!? Lehtinan screamed, seeming to recognise the figure who emerged like Death Incarnate. ?Hendak! I knew it was you stirring up this trouble!?

Cormin leapt up from his table as the two stalked towards each other, Hendak?s cries of revenge ringing loud and clear amongst the screams of patrons as they scrambled out of the way. Guards ran through the shards of wood and bone, hacking at the figures that came pouring out of the door, blood-streaked and raged. In three seconds, the Copper Coronet had descended into chaos, and Cormin smelt the tinge of copper always faint but omnipresent in his surroundings blossom as full-fledged as a flower.

Ask and thou shalt receive. Seek, and thou willst find.

Wait, and thou willt be rewarded.

Exhilaration exploded in his veins as he tasted metal, real metal in his mouth. He started towards the gutted door, where he noticed four figures dancing around the guards as they hacked and parried and slashed, the one with the staff effectively braining anyone who came near her. A chair was thrown in his way as yet another patron tripped and tumbled in a desperate attempt to flee the confusion. He leapt over it gracefully, right into the fray.

He?d never liked any of the guards anyway.

His blood sung as his fists smashed into noses and bones, earning shrieks of agony. Without even bothering to draw his dagger, he snapped the neck of one and tossed him easily away, the body crumpling into stone. His eyes swept across the field. Time. Time. Less than a minute had gone by, and everything was already specked with red.

Time. His reckoning hit a minute just as he noticed three guards encroaching upon one of the four lying dazed against the wall.

Time. A bolt of magic from a fifth figure he hadn?t seen trembling in the doorway took out one, but the two were still converging upon the girl who had come to her senses and seemed to be murmuring some kind of spell. He started towards them, but one guard had already swung his axe down and he saw the half-elf cry out as she raised the hilt of a broken blade, managing to just barely parry the ferocious swing.

Time. With one last step, he was amongst them like a ravening dragon before the two guards had another chance to finish her off. Fire and fists and bone collided as adrenaline coursed through him, sending him to dizzying heights of exultation. How he?d missed the joy of the fight! With a twisting kick, he sent one flying off into a mess of tables and chairs. The other changed the direction of his axe and he saw the deadly curve snake towards him, before he ducked and seized the man?s wrist, using his twisting momentum to slam him face first into the wall.

Time. He turned to offer his hand to the girl, but when he glanced at where she?d been lying, it was empty. Time. Surprised, he did one thing he hadn?t done for a long time.

For one second, disorientation let him down, and his guard wavered.

All in the right time, he felt a body crash into him just as his peripheral vision screamed out a warning. The heavy force slammed him against gravity. Time took a few shocked, rusty beats before instinct kicked in and he rolled, preparing to smash his assailant?s face in.
But the man was already dead.

He looked up to see the half-elf standing over him, her face half-smirking, half-smiling at him as she offered her hand.

Their eyes met, and he took it as Lehtinan?s dying squeal rebounded off the rafters.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 25 January 2007 - 03:15 PM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter V: First Step Taken

(Hi! Ah, exams are finally over so I've had the luxury of being able to write. . I'm sorry that it took so long between updates, but this is an extra-long chapter if anyone was waiting. Feedback is bliss and the altar of all fanfic writers, so if you have time to give me some constructive criticism over this chapter, please do! . I hope you enjoy! )

Once touched,
No escape,
Until the very last step.
The last choice,
Unknown in consciousness,
Breathed into life by the second,
And the second and second before it.
But all this stretches into,
The hazy mist of the future.
The first step taken,
Is all that matters for now.

* * *

His hand was surprisingly cold as she pulled him up and flashed him a cocky grin. ?Thanks for savin? me back there.?

He swallowed. What was a socially acceptable response, he wondered. The first thing that had come to his mind certainly wouldn?t do. Reason slowly swam back from where it had been overridden by his heartbeat, as he affirmed again that kissing her hand probably would have made the wrong impression. He couldn?t mess this up. This was the chance he was looking for.

Besides, he?d be damned even further than the time he?d been flung into that hell dimension if he was going to live under the constant gazes of the barmaids for another day. Hour. Second.

?Thank you, my lady, for saving me too,? he finally said, and was glad that his voice didn?t bypass its normal range.

She snorted, and he felt his hand come loose. ?You don?t need t? go ?my lady?ing me, friend. If there?s one thing I am, it most certainly ain?t a lady.?

Now this was why he had been berating himself before. Unfortunately, he couldn?t really help it now. This was one barrier, he admitted to himself, that he had not expected. ?I?m sorry if I offended, my lady,? he muttered stiffly. ?I had thought that it was customary still to address a woman such as you thus.?

She shook her head incredulously, but a crash startled them both before she could reply. They turned, and saw Hendak smiling triumphantly in front of his still-quivering sword, embedded deeply in the wood before his tormentor?s corpse. The sound of finality echoed faintly through the walls.

Cormin had thought that the Copper Coronet could never be quiet. Or empty.

He was right.

Despite the fact that all the patrons of the taproom who?d managed to maintain some semblance of sense had fled when Hendak had burst from the door with vengeance in his eyes, some still hunched over obliviously in the corners. He could vaguely hear noises coming from the rooms, barely twenty feet from where the owner of the establishment now lay in a pool of his own blood. He studied Lehtinan?s bulging eyes calmly, even more grotesque in his death, noting the fine lines snaking through the sclera.

And there went another link to his past. He certainly wasn?t complaining.

?Die,? Hendak growled, a heart-ridden rasp in his voice. ?Die, like the beast you are! You will never torment us again!?

Nika watched as the trembling in the great man?s shoulders grew. Without hesitation, she walked through the blood-streaked floor to the scarred warrior and flung a tiny arm around his waist.

?It?s over.?

Hendak did not know why he wept, he only knew that the shock of revenge was claiming him. The staid warrior had been brought up in a race where tears were weakness, but men freely shed them at the great and glorious war funerals. The mass of contradictions had hardened him with every turn, but he?d had Graille to wed and his family to love before the cur lying at his feet had snatched it away from him. Snatched it all away.

He had never let himself cry, not since that first night when the nightmares shuddered around him in the darkness and their terrified faces spun around him, pleading. He wished he could have gone into death with them. A warrior?s death, a battler?s death to do them proud.

But then when the guards had nearly knocked his head off for his feverish cries, something had hardened within Hendak. Something that he found he could never truly change again, like scar tissue never fades. And the hardness within him had burnt all the brighter, strengthened all the more when he had first laid eyes on the owner of the Copper Coronet, and learnt that he was to blame.

His years in the pit, listening to the new slaves? stories told him more about Athkatla than he sometimes wanted to know. The new hardness within him had soaked it up, distancing the disgust and revulsion. He knew everything about the Copper Coronet. The passage through the sewers to the next closest base of the slaver organisation. The other, explicitly illegal services it offered. And he knew, first hand of course, of the nobles roaring for blood as slaves fought against nearly impossible odds.

So, it became his goal to destroy it. It was the only thing that kept him alive, kept him going. That gave him the ability to kill the slaves that had befriended him weeks before, friends who had either departed with shrieks of betrayal or the quiet acceptance that they would be avenged. He had steeled himself against the former, raged for the latter.

Now that the first step had been accomplished, he felt all of it, all of the horror and torment and the taste of blood that would forever stay in his mouth crash down on him, and he allowed himself to weep for the final death of the innocent, and the warrior within him.

A fitting benediction for the man who would not be able to kill again. Not when friends? blood stained his hands and heart. Not unless there was reason.

And in a strange way, the little arm around his waist finally brought him back to reality, back to seeing his fellow ex-slaves standing around him and her in a circle, tears trickling down their cheeks and shock glazing their eyes. As he watched, the two women, Jaheira and Aerie, were already beginning to coax them into seats and heal the wounds they had received when they had leapt into the fight with such fervour.

?Thank-you,? the words tasted hoarse.

The half-elf rose, attempting to drag him up with her. He actually found a smile through his dying tears at her grunts of annoyance. She wasn?t weak certainly, probably on the stronger side of average. But still not enough muscle to lift him up. He rose gracefully to his feet, and looked around. He would work on the Slums. But he couldn?t? he couldn?t get to the slavers yet, not with all the ex-slaves around him. He knew them, by face and name and story. They needed to get home.

Him? He had no home now.

But someone would need to take the slavers out. He would have done it himself in a heartbeat? he would have been happy to cut them down. But the slaves came first. He needed someone who could send him the rest of them and?

?I have a proposition for you,? he said as he turned to the Half-elf.

Her ears pricked up. ??m listenin?.?

?I take it zat you have no love for slavers by your actions today,? he started, his heavy accent still coloured by his tears.

Her eyes hardened. ?None. What are you thinkin???

The warrior took a deep breath and leaned on the sword, the hilt pressing comfortably into his flesh. ?Ze Athkatlan base of ze slavers is not in here. Zere is a path, however, through the sewers zat I know leads to zem. What other path zere is, I do not know??

Her mind chased along his trail of thought and followed. ?We?re in.?


The bounty hunter wiped the blood off his katana, taking stock of the position they were in. Aerie and Jaheira were still busying themselves, now not with the magical arts but soothing salves and bandages, and even just quiet words for the people shouldering shock. With his leader taken aside, he found his eyes drawn to the bodies of the thirteen well-armed guards still lay sprawled in the common room. There had to be more in the complex somewhere, he frowned. It would have taken a large amount of brute force to smoothly run such an operation.
Ideas clicked in his head, and he turned and noted the stranger standing uncomfortably a few meters away from Hendak and Nika, eyes seemingly riveted to the scene.

?Hello??

?

?Hello??

So, he was deaf. Yoshimo moved forwards gracefully to tap him on the shoulder, but suddenly the elf whirled around and would have sent him flying had the surprised bounty hunter not ducked under his grasp.

Before Yoshimo could exclaim, the stranger visibly shook himself. ?Sorry, you startled me. What do you wish??

The thief raised an eyebrow at the stilted tones. ?If you may, sir, aid me and my friend Minsc in clearing up this place of any further bodies or hostilities, if we encounter them.?

He looked as if to refuse, but with a flicker, he changed his mind. ?Of course I will. And if it?s at all possible?.?

The stranger paused, and Yoshimo looked at him curiously. An enigma of sorts, then. The elf shifted and stared into his eyes. ?If it?s at all possible, I would like to join your adventuring group. Judging by your actions today, I would like the chance to journey with ones such as you. I have several years of e-experience.?

Evil killers don?t stutter. Unless it?s a part of their evil disguise. Where the hell had that come from?

He pushed away the inner voice that snarled at him, and they contemplated each other. Yoshimo eyed him appraisingly. The elf was slightly shorter than him, the only impression of time on the ageless face small marks around his piercingly sharp hazel eyes. His tanned skin placed him between the camps of a wood elf or a moon elf, but he somehow looked like neither to his keen eye. The rest of his features gave nothing away.
He raised a brow at the elf?s attire, though. In his opinion, the black-on-black-on-silver look was getting old.

?I am not the person to ask,? he finally said. ?Although I highly doubt she would refuse you.?

?She? Who is your leader??

Yoshimo inclined his head towards the half-elf supporting the warrior.

The stranger?s jaw dropped, and Yoshimo noted with satisfaction that that cold, closed, empty face could indeed show emotion. ?Her? Her? How have you all managed to survive thus far??

The bounty hunter beckoned to Minsc, and they began moving towards the splintered remains of the shattered door. ?Believe me, I am often prone to such wonderings myself.?

* * *

When they had cleaned out the rest of the passage they?d so far traversed, Yoshimo thoughtfully sent Minsc back to the rest of the group for an update. The two rested against the wall for a second, breathing heavily.

?So,? the Bounty Hunter paused, staring at his weathered fingers. ?What brings you to this place? You walk like one accustomed to the city life, a rare thing for an elf.?

?Not so rare,? Cormin shrugged. When Yoshimo leant forwards slightly, head cocked expectantly, he reluctantly continued. ?Not any more, at the very least.?

When he?d ascertained that that was the most he?d get out of him from that line of conversation, the human flexed his shoulders back and pushed himself off the wall. ?Well, I have travelled in Athkatla before, and more importantly, stayed here in the luxury of the Copper Coronet. As one who has seen more than most what goes on behind these closed doors, where, now, I ask, is Lehtinan?s wealth? If it is not in these private tunnels, where are they??

He watched like a hawk as he saw the elf process his line of thought, before running with it. ?I believe Lehtinan?s private quarters lie close to the public quarters.?

?Well then, my friend,? Yoshimo?s lips twitched. ?Would you like to go hunting??

?If you wish.?

The two men bypassed the taproom and strode silently past the public quarters, where Cormin quite happily turned his back on what had been his living quarters for the last few nights. Reaching the dead end corridor, Yoshimo frowned as he ran his hands over the stones.

?I could swear that??

The wall clicked softly under his hand and he grinned in victory as a section of the rock groaned away to reveal a gaping hole, lit dimly by the light coming from the corridor. Yoshimo?s questing fingers found a lantern hidden just behind the door, complete with oil. It lit up magically as his hand settled around the rim, and he lifted it up to show a small interior, around eight feet tall and fifteen feet wide. Carefully, they stepped in, the wall sliding smoothly shut behind them. The two gave it a brief look, assuring themselves they could open it again, before continuing cautiously. With their chequered pasts behind them, both men knew all too well how paranoid one such as Lehtinan could be.
They were five steps in before Cormin hissed as his foot lightly brushed against the trigger for a hidden crossbow. Instantly, Yoshimo was down on his knees, a dagger in his hand as he disarmed the trap. The two men waited for two heartbeats, their breathing strained as they waited for the bolt to come.

Nothing happened.

Sighing in relief, Yoshimo stood, only to be violently shoved aside as the wickedly gleaming projectile shot over his head. Cormin swore as the lantern tipped over and went out, while Yoshimo stumbled into the table, the quality of which came into question as it shattered into splinters at the impact. The entire room plunged into near-darkness, relieved only by pinpricks of light from where the hidden door didn?t quite fit in with the wall.

?Damn it! Be more careful!? tautness stretched his tone like a whip.

Yoshimo groaned and raised his eyes disbelievingly. ?I, be more careful? Who almost set off the trap in the first place??

?And who just saved you from getting nailed to the stone?? Cormin shook his head disgustedly.

The Bounty Hunter dragged himself painfully to his feet, scowling as his body winced from the tiny slivers of wood that had managed to worm themselves into his skin. Casual interest began to blossom into dislike. ?I would have been fine by myself.?

?I?m sure you would have,? the elf bent over to examine the floor, dismissing him.

Yoshimo seethed at the sarcasm, almost giving in to the temptation to draw his katana. ?I am glad for your trust,? he returned, lacing the words with his own fair share of derision.

Cormin seemed to sense something, and he straightened and turned, a cold smirk crossing his face. ?Go on,? he said softly, his hands beckoning. ?Do it, you know you want to.?

Yoshimo didn?t stop to consider the almost hungry look in the elf?s eyes as he succumbed without a second thought. But the blade was barely out of his sheath before he was tackled, and it cart-wheeled through the air from his hand, landing with a metallic clang. The two men wrestled, Yoshimo snarling as his fingers reached up to claw the other?s eyes. Before his nails reached their target, he found himself abruptly shifting position, sent flying after his katana and landing with a cry of pain. There was a near inaudible click in the wall behind him, but he paid it no heed. Cormin was upon him, his hands resting lightly around the Kara-Turan?s throat.

?I could kill you.?

Not bothering to reply, Yoshimo bucked his hips and reversed their positions.

?I could kill you too, if we established??

Before he finished, he was on the floor again and this time he was completely pinned down.

?I doubt it.?

The elf only held him down for a second, before leaping lithely back and letting the human struggle to his feet. Yoshimo glared at him before turning to retrieve his katana.

?You know, if you were trying to make a point,? the Bounty Hunter said acidly. ?You could have done so in a far more civilised way.?

?As if civilisation applies to times like this,? Cormin coolly replied.

The thief uttered a short, sharp, laugh. ?At least you?re not being near monosyllabic any more,? he noted sardonically. ?Is that what it takes? A fight to loosen your tongue??

?More to get the blood??

They both stopped short as something dimly gold flickered from the little light in the blackness.

?By the Gods?? Yoshimo breathed.

?Well, looks like we found??

The door swung open, streaming lantern-light into the room. Still pumped with adrenaline, Cormin?s hand flashed to his dagger in reflex, but before he could draw it, he saw the intruder?s face.

?An? before you two ask how I found you, it wasn?t too difficult. I just followed th? loud, shoutin? noises. Hope I wasn?t disturbin? anythin?.?

Nika?s impish grin made both of them wince as she fully stepped inside, holding the lantern higher. ?Geez,? she chastised them. ?What were you two thinkin?? How c?n either o? you see whatever you?re lookin? for in this darkness??

?It wasn?t deliberate, let me assure you,? Yoshimo commented dryly, sheathing his katana. His loaded gaze made the bard?s eyes flick from male to male, before she rolled her eyes and put the pieces together. Or, more literally, nudged the pieces of what had once passed as a serviceable table with her foot and derived her answer from that.

?Men,? Nika shook her head, amusement virtually dripping from her voice. ?And here I thought I was disturbin? some sort o? male bondin? session, complete with the comparin? of how many things you?ve each killed acted out in full splendour. So, how long were you plannin? to have your macho pissin? contest? Would hate t? be disturbin? you if you?re not done.?

?I believe our? misunderstanding finished as soon as we discovered Lehtinan?s hidden stash,? Cormin found his voice. Her ears pricked at that, and he gestured towards the not-so-hidden-anymore safe.

She approached slowly, and peeked in with the lantern held high. The two men watched as first her eyes widened comically, and then as a large smile spread across her face.

In the small alcove Yoshimo?s fall had triggered, Lehtinan?s ill gotten gains burst out of canvas bags. A scroll lay neatly tied on the top of the pile, no doubt filled with his meticulous, greasy accounting. The Copper Coronet and its assorted illegal offerings had only been half of Lehtinan?s revenue. His obsequious lackey playing and manipulations of his own had placed him quite neatly into the main flow of illegitimate gold, from drugs to calculated murders and the black market. Commandeering an enterprise such as the Copper Coronet had not only furthered his contacts, it had become a base of its own in the Slums.

?If we split half of this with Hendak??

She shook her head, and laughed. It proverbially lit up her face in the sense that Yoshimo thought he actually saw real joy dancing in her irises. ?Heck, even if we give ?im the lion?s share and take a quarter or somethin?? we?ll be seein? Imoen in a couple o? days.?

There was a pause, and then a squeal of happiness as Danika Gorionova temporarily went insane and hugged not only the Bounty Hunter, but the shocked stranger. Cormin was so surprised that by the time his normally lightning-quick reflexes moved to push her instinctively away, she was already dancing around the room and laughing again.

The two men looked at each other, rolled their eyes, muttered ?women? under their breath simultaneously, and all differences and grievances were forgotten as they shared a moment of true maleness.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 10 June 2006 - 08:09 PM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter VI: Glitter

(Hey again . I'm sorry this chapter took longer than expected, but that's because I'm not very happy with the next chapter at the moment and am trying to clean it up. I'm going to be away for about four days on a camp, so I thought that I'd post this one now. Hope you enjoy it, and if there's anything I can do to improve, please review. .)

Glitter, gold, glitter,
Deep within, within wells,
Of silence, intermittent darkness,
Glitter, gold, glitter

* * *

?Men,? Nika and Aerie shared a moment of deep, female connectedness as they watched the two males across the table. The half-elf laughed and shook her head, amazed. She doubted they?d ever seen the laconic Yoshimo talk so *much*. Although it seemed that most of their communication was done in obscure hand gestures and strange noises they took to be some form of secret language, they still somehow managed to punctuate actions with their own words, proving that perhaps multi-tasking was not solely a female?s realm.

But sharp-eyed Jaheira was not as interested in the behaviour of the bounty hunter as she was in that of the newest addition to their party. He didn?t speak much, letting Yoshimo do most of what there was of the talking. Even in their obvious banter and jesting, he smiled little. In her calculated sight, the only emotions that he seemed to allow to cross his face were anger, coldness, arrogance, and a sort of aloof amusement. The druidess thinned her lips as she chewed the rough-cut bread. There was more to it than that, far more. In her years of experience she knew that if you cut away long enough at anyone, there was more to their exterior than what first appeared. There were some that she?d hewn deep into, cut aside their lies and extravaganzas to reveal nothing but rotten remnants of what could barely constitute as humanity, but she already knew the elf sitting across the table was not one of them. No, he was so shrouded in mystery she doubted she?d find nothingness at his core. It was indeed the fullness of him, the idea that something he?d hidden within himself was so carefully controlled that made her fingernails itch.

?Minsc??

The ranger lifted his head from where he?d been feeding Boo the fair-sized crumbs from his plate. ?Hmm? Oh, yes. What does Jaheira want with Minsc and Boo??

The druidess had already reappraised her image of Minsc based on his actions that day, but she?d been so set she still found it hard not to view him as a well-meaning simpleton. His insights were valuable, however. Now, she would not forget.

?What do you think of our new companion?? she asked bluntly.

Cormin remained seemingly oblivious to their discussion, even when Minsc purposely held Boo at the perfect angle in which to regard the elf with his beady eyes.

?Boo thinks he isn?t quite as ducky as one might expect from his clothes,? Minsc finally offered, withdrawing his hamster and returning to his food. ?But I sense that he might benefit from being guided along the road of lily white tiles without the proselytising of Prelates behind him! Although proselytising was Boo?s word.?

?Most definitely,? Jaheira agreed darkly. ?I do not trust him, not at all. He is far too mysterious for my liking.?

A sudden thought occurred to her, and she uttered a sharp, barking laugh. Even that was enough to dissuade Cormin and Yoshimo from their ?conversation?, and they turned to her expectantly.

?Do we even know your name?? she queried.

Nika uttered a surprised chuckle. ?You?re right at that, Jaheira. We don?t even know your name. Pray tell, enlighten us.?

?It appears I do not know how to address you either,? the elf hesitated briefly.

There was a pause, as if each wanted the other to begin, before Nika smiled deprecatingly. ??m Danika Gorionova, but if you try to swallow that mouthful you?ll probably end up choking? on it. Just call me Nika.?

?I am Jaheira?? the druidess paused as the image of Khalid flashed in her mind and she stiffened, and then fell silent.

?I am Minsc, and this is Boo! Together, rangers, hamsters, and Danika shall bring goodness to this place!?

?I-I?m A-Aerie.?

?And I, my monosyllabic friend, am Yoshimo.?

Cormin?s gaze flitted between them all, before he hesitated and then took the plunge.

?I am??

He?d meant to say his real name, he really had.

?I am Geraint Tethellson.?

He was surprised by the overwhelming surge of shame he felt as the bard smiled and raised her mug of water.
?Welcome, Geraint Tethellson. Now, there?re a few things that you need t? know ?fore you lock yourself in with us??

* * *

?Told you that you wouldn?t believe me,? Nika muttered, vindicated as ?Geraint? took a few moments to process the world she?d dumped upon his newly ex-hermited head.

?No, it is not that I don?t believe you, my lady,? he absentmindedly rearranged his cutlery to a pristine picture of neatness. ?I am merely attempting to place the pieces and see the story as a whole, and it is a large story indeed.?

?Oh yeah,? she muttered sarcastically, kicking back and resting her head on her arms. ?Th? story o? my life an? all that rot. An? stop callin? me ?my lady?, for th? last time!?

Yoshimo stifled a surprised snigger at that, and Nika turned to glare at him.

?What??

?Oh nothing? my lady.?

She scowled, before rolling her eyes and turning back to Geraint. ?So, you still lookin? at th? bigger picture?? she queried, complete with a perfectly poised eyebrow.

He shook his head. ?How could Irenicus have captured all of you?? he queried cautiously. ?You don?t seem to be the types who would let themselves be caught unawares.?

Minsc?s face darkened at the memory. ?The wizard cheated. Perhaps it was something slipped in our food, although Boo would have been able to detect it, but the forces of goodness could not fight back when the evil one struck. Struck, and then took precious Dynaheir from us! Precious Dynaheir, and good Khalid! We will have our revenge, we will?!?

?Minsc, calm down!? snapped Jaheira, the sudden mention of her husband?s name lending an added harshness to her tone. ?They can hear you in the taproom outside! Attracting the attention of every unsavoury here will do nothing if Irenicus has left spies.?

Geraint?s hypersensitive? senses, made him squirm uncomfortably at the growing tension. ?So you have allied yourself with the Shadow thieves, one of the greatest forces in Amn.?

?Yes,? Yoshimo answered before Nika. ?Perhaps not the most cautious of moves.?

Jaheira let loose a sigh. ?We have already had this conversation far too many times, Yoshimo. The Shadow Thieves are our best chance. Not only are they a powerful organisation, but from seeing them attack Irenicus in his dungeon, they are also on our side of the fight at the very least. Against that? wizard, they are our best and only??

?Excuse me, friends??

Nika turned sharply as a female melted out of the shadows behind them.

?Might I have a word away from the ears of others? I have a fine bit of business to impart your way.?

Aerie?s hand unconsciously grasped the lightly enchanted dagger at her belt, her fingers shaking. The group moved as one, ready to attack as the bard languidly rose to her feet, disguising her actual heart rate with her seeming offhandedness.

?I thought Hendak?s private dining rooms were just that. Private. Your words won?t be heard by anyone but us, but that leads us to th? question. What?s your business with us??

?Ah, it is not ?my? business. I am Valen, a messenger of my mistress, and she would have words with you. Your passing through this place has not gone unnoticed, but nor have your? ?allies?.?

The half-elf deliberately, semi-casually laid a hand on the hilt of her katana. ?An? how do you know so much about th? likes of us, pray tell??

?We know you, Child of Bhaal,? Valen smiled, and Nika felt a strange urge to rip out her throat and see if she managed to retain that silky, saccharine tone. The slight, quickly stifled gasp from behind her though reminded her that she had not delivered the final ?warning? to their newest member as of yet. Valen seemed to notice this, and her smile grew even wider. Her slightly elongated canines twinkled in the light. ?Unlike others, we know more about you than you might suspect, and my mistress has an offer for you.?

?What?s this offer?? she asked sharply, all pretence gone.

?Come to the graveyard after the sun has set. She will not appear before then. We have a way to get you? quicker to the one you seek.?

Aerie watched as her leader visibly stiffened. Valen yelped in startled surprise as Danika pinned her against the wall, crimson fire flashing in her eyes.

Killkillkillkill?

?What do you know of Imoen?!?

Bloodbloodbloodblood?

?Merely? that?? she choked, digging her long nails into the bard?s skin, her tone broken and wheezing. Nika felt a strange satisfaction at the change in tone as she levelled her katana at the vampiress? throat, causing a dribble of borrowed blood to seep down the corpse-like skin. ?Aaahh!?

Redredredred?

?Keep going.?

Letgoletgoletgoletgo?

?Merely? that my? mistress,? Valen drew blood of her own and her nails elongated slightly. ?Can? help!?

Feelfeelfeelfeel?

Nika sneered, casting her away. ?You think I?m stupid, do you?? she asked dangerously. ?I know your ilk. Vampires! Why should I ally myself with vampires??

Powerpowerpowerpower?

Valen looked about to bare her teeth, before visibly shaking herself back to her role. ?My mistress is worthy of your trust, Bhaalspawn. You will not be fodder for us. We have a shared goal, to reach Irenicus??

Nika?s vision went blurry.

Cannotcannotcannotcannot?

?Just go to the graveyard? aaahh!?

Valen looked down in disbelief as Nika?s blade impaled her. ?If I go to the graveyard after sunset,? she enunciated slowly. ?It will be to rid the place of every one of you??

Fightmefightmefightmefightme?

?Take *that* message to your precious mistress, Valen. I stick with the Shadow Thieves. Dark as they are, at least they?ll stab me in the back if they?re false. Give me a fighting chance with the shadows. You? You?d come to me at night and have your fangs in my throat before sleep had left me.?

Deathdeathdeathdeath?

The vampiress? feral growl echoed through the room as she raked her suddenly talon-sharp nails across Danika?s face. ?You will regret this decision, Bhaalspawn!?

MURDERMURDERMURDERMURDER!!!

The half-elf snarled, before ripping her katana out of the vampire and beheading her. They watched, sickened, as the body melted to a vaporous form and disappeared.

?Not as much as you, Valen.?

There was silence as the crimson light slowly faded from her eyes. With a shudder, Danika managed to regain the last inch of control and her rage dissipated to leave an acrid taste in her mouth. The fury within turned, turned against herself again to an oh-so-familiar self-hatred.

She?d almost lost control. Again. She closed her eyes briefly, digging her nails sharp into her palm. The last time that had happened she?d almost killed?

Her eyes opened, and she spun around, only glitters of red remaining.

?You?re a Bhaalspawn,? Geraint whispered finally, and Jaheira was pleased to note that the elf could produce another emotion. Shock.

The words seemed to bring her back, ironically enough. Enough to shoot an apologetic glance at Aerie, who seemed frozen in fear, and to turn to Geraint. ?Yeah, I was leavin? that ?til last. You still want to join our group, then?? a bitter smile twisted her face. ?Join in th? camaraderie of those doomed to death and destruction by th? murder I sow. Even those I love, I will destroy because o? my blood. It?s written in the stars an? every soddin? book of prophecies. Still want to join??

The harsh callousness of her words seemed to shock Aerie back to life, her mouth forming a perfect ?o?. At that, she swung between the two extremes of defiance and guilt.

?Ah, I?m sorry, Aerie. I know I warned you before, but now you?ve actually seen a flash of it, you can leave if you want.?

?N-n-no, I-I??

?Don?t speak like that, Danika Gorionova,? Jaheira interrupted her sternly. ?You?ve done more good than ill, and the ill you have done has usually been unintentional. You are a mortal like the rest of us, one that?s done surprisingly well to control and channel the blood in your veins.?

?The blood that almost took over just now? The blood that led to Dynaheir and Khalid being killed? The blood that killed Gorion??

The half-elf watched the emotions play over the sharp angle?s of the druidess? face. ?Why don?t you hate me, Jaheira?? she asked softly. ?You should hate me. Hate me so much that you take revenge.?

The rest watched, spellbound, as Jaheira rose, deathly in her countenance. It was like a play, now, unfolding before them, and they wouldn?t have spoken if they?d wanted to, wouldn?t have disturbed the ungodly silence that hung between the two as Danika waited, an almost serene peace on her face for Jaheira to draw level with her.

Such was the enchantment of the emotions crackling between them, that when the resounding slap echoed through the room, they all started, Aerie going so far as to almost flip the table in her tremors.

?How dare you,? Jaheira snarled, low and filled with the anger the Avariel had always seen in her. ?How dare you?! How dare you take responsibility for this, how dare you reduce Khalid to that?!?

Disbelief blossomed on Danika?s face, shattering the unnerving serenity that had resided there previously. ?What? That?s not what I??

?How dare you!? there was no stopping Jaheira now, though. ?Do you think I don?t lie awake at night, thinking of the emptiness beside me and in me and all around me and feel guilt? Do you think I don?t know the million things I could have done to save him? Have you seen Minsc at night, crying out in his sleep with only Boo to comfort him as he dreams of Dynaheir? Do you think you?re alone when you think of how you could have stopped Irenicus from taking Imoen, how you could have travelled just a bit faster, or changed your plans just slightly to save Gorion??

?But? I??

?Look outside, Danika,? Jaheira cut her off coldly. ?Stop playing the martyr, assuming responsibility when it is ours as well. Minsc and I have travelled with you, Dynaheir and Khalid travelled with you out of our own free will, our loyalty and friendship to you. Don?t you dare dishonour our choice, dishonour us by forgetting that we knew the risks!?

?But??

?Don?t you??

It was Aerie. Aerie, with her broken innocence and fragile naiveté that interrupted both of them as she stood.

?I-I?m n-not l-leaving,? she stuttered.

?What?? Nika?s jaw dropped as she turned to her. ?But you just saw??

?I-I?m not leaving,? the Avariel stated, surety now strong in her voice. ?I-I won?t leave my friends behind, and I?m not afraid.?

Everyone gaped.

She blushed fiercely, before continuing. ?I-I mean? I am afraid, b-but I?ll stay anyway. I d-don?t care if you?re a Bhaalspawn, you d-do far more good than most of the l-law officials! A-a-and? if you hadn?t run t-that Valen through, I would have done it for you!?

Jaheira managed to regain control over her jaw long enough to let a faint smirk trace her lips. ?Yes, well, I would also have gladly followed that sentiment. She was beginning to irritate me.?

Minsc rose and placed a heavy hand on Nika?s shoulder. ?They are all right, Danika. Minsc and Boo will always be here for you when you need us. You are a true buttkicker of evil, even if you are a Bhaalspawn! We do not blame you for sweet Dynaheir?s death. There is only one to blame for that, one and one alone, and we shall??

Yoshimo gave a wry smile and stood up to join the rest, heading off Minsc?s outburst before it began. ?None of us travel with you lightly, my friend. Too much of the burden on your shoulders is self-inflicted. Any one of us could die without a moment?s notice, and it would not be because of you, but because of our profession.?

Danika just stared in wonder at them all.

Not gonna break down, not gonna break down, not gonna break down? oh shit, better wipe away the tear before anyone notices?

?Um, ow,? she finally said somewhat dazedly as she rubbed at her stinging cheek, surreptitiously also smearing the lone tear into an unrecognisable shimmer. ?I think I got th? point.?

Jaheira had to try quite hard to stop herself from smiling. ?Don?t be so foolishly ridiculous again to think? ah, why do I bother??

Danika grinned, then. Grinned, and slapped the druidess on the shoulder, before pulling everyone in her vicinity into a hug. How she managed that will remain forever unexplained.

As they broke apart, laughing and startled, she gazed towards the table where Geraint sat rather uncomfortably, a shell-shocked look painted on his face.

?Well?? she chuckled. ?Now you know our dark and dirty secrets, you still want to join us??

The look on his face sent them all into gales of laughter.

A slow, slightly stupefied smile swam onto his features. ?Travelling with you shall be? interesting.?

Edited by Shadowhawke, 27 June 2007 - 08:25 PM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter VII: The Games We Play

(I hope this chapter was worth the wait. . I've been playing around with some new ideas, and they should take effect in this fic pretty soon. Thank you to those who reviewed, you made my day . Literally. Although my sister was worrying about some of the noises coming from my room when I logged on. But that's another story that just reveals way too much about my weakness for feedback . I hope you enjoy this chapter. )

Warning: There is description of violence here. It is not on the extremely gory side, but if your stomach gets turned by the thought, skip the middle. The beginning and the end of this chapter is violence-free.

The Games we play,
Confusing with smiles,
By night and by day,
By guilt and by guile

To try to keep,
Our masks unsheathed,
So no-one knows
What?s underneath.

* * *

?So, where are you from, anyway??

Geraint watched her as she kicked a stone, skipping it away to land with a gentle ?plop!? in the sewer water. She wrinkled her nose at the reminder of where they were. She?d been trying to stave off the stink for ages by attempting to engage their newest party member in conversation. She had always made it a personal concern of hers that they didn?t feel left out. She?d had enough of that to last her several lifetimes.

But this one? She was about to give up trying to distract herself from their surroundings. If he wasn?t being monosyllabic, he was being silent. How had Yoshimo ever even managed to strike up a conversation? And what was with his I?m-dark-and-handsome-and-mysterious-and-brooding thing? And the ?my-ladying?? She couldn?t remember anyone having called her that more than once for a long, long, long time?

There was another thirty-seven seconds of silence, and she wondered irately whether he had forgotten where he was from. Sighing, she concentrated once more on the road ahead of them. The sooner they got out of the sewers, the happier she would be

?Around,? his voice lingered over the sluggish flush of water. ?I don?t believe I can really call any place my home.?

He kept watching her, through hooded eyes as they continued along. It seemed this stretch of the Athkatlan sewers was now free of all Hobgoblins. The strange and random items they had picked up had confused him, however. Of course, they now had the sword to answer for it. He shook his head at the memory. He still didn?t understand why she hadn?t just killed the Carrion Crawler, but had painstakingly held it down, soothing it while Aerie had used her medical knowledge to tap some of its blood with Jaheira casting a healing spell over it later. Or given Quallo 100 gold.

Or even why she was talking to him now.

?No place?? she cocked her head. ?You don?t even have a base of operation or anythin? like that??

He shrugged. ?Athkatla, then.?

Great. So I know his name. And that?s about it, with these answers he?s giving me.

?It?s a nice enough place I guess,? she mimicked him, her entire posture rolling backwards. ?Of course, ?d probably be likin? the place better if it weren?t for th? fact th? first time I saw it was as th? background of Irenicus.?

?Cities cannot be judged by an individual inside them.?

Oh, it was agonising! She felt as though she were interrogating him, and his lack of co-operation tempted her for a second to put her foot in her mouth again. Admirably, she bit it back, un-admirably because of the glint of annoyance she swore was beginning to colour his eyes. Smirking to herself, she continued along, pretending to be oblivious.

?So,? she asked in a too-chirpy voice. ?What do you do??

He hesitated, wondering at his sanity and buckling under the pressure of fifteenth thoughts. ?I ?do? several things, my lady. I can fight, as you saw, do a bit of magic and thieving while I?m at it.?

She nodded. ?So what makes you call Athkatla a ?home?? Or a base? Or whatever??

He sighed, slightly irate that she hadn?t realised he?d deliberately side-stepped the topic. ?It?s convenient? he shrugged, picking another step forwards with care. ?A good place to rest within travels.?

She was starting to get on his nerve.

He was starting to get on her nerves, but she almost smiled nevertheless. Almost. She?d coaxed twice the amount of words from him in half a minute of conversation than she?d heard since entering the sewers. Things were looking up.

They continued on in silence for a little while, both now wrapped up in their own worlds. Nika?s thoughts drifted to Imoen and as always, the guilt tore her heart. She spared a glance at the man in front of her and hoped her gut instinct wasn?t wrong. Back then, in the fight? she?d seen his skill. It?d surpassed anything she?d seen before. Grace, agility, strength, and knowledge. He?d be a valuable asset in the fight against Irenicus.

?Who did it?? he asked.

His question jarred her from her ponderings and she stared at him as he kept walking, straight as an arrow as if he?d never spoken at all.

??Scuse me??

?Who tortured you? The wizard you were talking about??

She sucked in a breath at his casualness. ?Yeah.?

He watched her with a kind of sick glee. He?d dabbled in mind games with some of his victims. Only some. He?d found that it hadn?t really done it for him all the time, and he?d stopped completely after everything that had gone down had done so. But now, although the hermit in him hated what he was doing? it felt good. The second she?d begun questioning him, he?d felt control slip out of his hands and regaining it was priceless. Not to mention the shock on her face. Did she think no-one would notice the faint, puckered ligature scars brushing against her sleeve? He wagered they circled her ankles as well.

?So is this why you?re hunting this Irenicus down? To get revenge??

?Amongst other things,? she said tightly. The tables had turned in their strange game, and both of them knew it. She prayed that they?d find the Slavers? base soon? the sewers was *not* her idea of the most pleasant trekking environment. And the current conversation was *not* the way that she wanted to spend her time.

?What other things?? Yes, he was definitely enjoying this now. Part of him knew that this shouldn?t be touched. It was a wound too raw, to prod at it would be to inflame the pain. But he was in control, at the very least.

?Imoen, for th? main part. If th? bastard?s done anythin? to her??

?By the sounds of him, he most likely has.?

She glared at him. ?Then I?ll be gettin? her back on her feet an? we?ll eviscerate him together.?

She glanced ahead of them, where Yoshimo was patrolling for traps and Minsc and Jaheira spoke quietly, Aerie trailing just behind them.

?Jaheira an? Misnc can help,? she amended.

He was about to press into that deeper, when his sadistic side backed off. He had respect for revenge. ?Geraint Tethellson? had done it enough himself. At least there seemed to be no self-pity going on in those fathomless dark eyes. He couldn?t stand self-pity.

?And what would Yoshimo and I be doing, my lady?? he asked seriously.

She threw a startled glance at him, before pretending to consider. ?You two can hold him down,? she suggested.

He smiled at that. It was only small, but it shocked her so much that she actually lost her footing on the slippery sewer floors. His steadying arm was there, stolid and strong as she caught herself.

?You should be more careful.?

She shut her mouth before the retort came out of it. It was a reflex action, because she could swear that she saw him lift his lips heavenward again and actually form something that might just be the semblance of a grin.
Before she could take breath to investigate it further, she heard Yoshimo?s voice from up ahead, spelling the end to whatever miracle she?d inadvertently made.

?I?ve found the door.?

She watched as his face slid, muscles shifting as whatever remained of the smile was erased. His angular cheekbones seemed to become even more defined as he settled back with ease into the posture he?d broken mere seconds ago. A graceful, deadly, killing machine.

She?d have to watch this one.

* * *

They burst through the door with no stealth, no grace, no splendour. They stormed on the wooden boards, leaving a wreckage of chairs and tables behind them as the slavers sprung up, surprise and anger twisting their features.

?You! You?re the ones who killed Lehtinan!?

?Hendak did that all by himself,? Nika grinned. It was almost animalistic as she tightened her hold on her katanas. ?We?re just th? ones sent t? clean you scum out.?

?You idiots!? a man in the far corner raged. Jaheira looked sharply at him. His armour was polished and smooth, his bearing arrogant enough to irritate her immediately. If this wasn?t the de facto leader? ?We had a great business going here!?

?You? you have no remorse for the people whose lives you?ve ruined?? Minsc asked, horror-struck.

?Everything was going fine until you busted up my partner, Lehtinan!? Captain Haegan spat angrily, puce beginning to colour his cheeks. ?And then you had to come in and end it all??

Minsc was there before he could finish it, and the bulky, stalwart man only had a few seconds to deflect the crushing blow. ?Evil meet my sword!? the ranger howled. ?For the innocents that you?ve crushed! Boo, go for the eyes, go for the..!?

Surprisingly enough, for once, his words were overridden.

?KILLKILLKILLKILL!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!?

?That sword disturbs me,? Jaheira muttered.

Even as Haegan howled, sharp hamster teeth embedded in his face, Danika and the rest fanned out, the Bhaalspawn with a sort of grim glee crossing her features.

The first slavers rushed at them, swords held wide and swinging. She dodged and rolled, slicing across their legs. They howled as one as she leapt to her feet again and danced amongst them, cursing as one of them landed in a good shot and one katana went spinning from her bloodied fingers.

There was the fight and nothing but the fight. In these times, her mind expanded, leaving her fully aware of everyone around her and what they were doing. She span, tossed, and rolled as Aerie?s acid arrow shot over her head to hit one in the stomach. His scream echoed hers as someone stabbed their scimitar in the floor next to her head missing her by inches, only to have someone else?s foot crashing down on her already broken fingers. Spinning on to one knee, she lashed out with the other leg, pure adrenaline rushing through her as murder ran through her veins. Oh Lathander, the taste! It was fiery hot in her mouth as she rose again, armed with only one blade and no shield to block their advances. Jaheira, noting her predicament ran over, one thrust from her staff braining the one about to slice Danika?s head off. The axe tumbled from his grip and skimmed her shoulder, but the stinging cut only seemed to focus her further.

What jolted her back to normal consciousness was the sickening crack of bone right next to her. She spun around and saw Geraint, focused glee on his face as a neck crunched in his grasp.

From that point on, the battle was over in seconds.

* * *

Danika tried to studiously ignore the carnage that the five of them had created as she helped the children out of the tiny, cramped rooms. It broke her heart as one by one, realisation crashed over them and they burst into tears. If she hadn?t been so gore-spattered, she would have taken them in her arms and held them for a long while. As it was, they shied away from her and she didn?t blame them. They congregated around Aerie instead, effervescent in her billowing robes as she comforted then, tears of her own spilling out.

Danika didn?t need a mirror. She knew that to the children, even though she was only a foot and a half or so taller than them, she was a monster. It wasn?t just the blood that dripped from her hand or the brain matter smeared across her slightly shredded forest-green tunic. Minsc too was bloodied and ragged, but they flocked to his gentle arms and marvelled at Boo all the same.
No, it was the aura in her that screamed ?Murderer?. She still hadn?t cleared her blood-red vision yet. As it slowly melted away and the muscles in her body relaxed, she looked at their faces and wished she could resurrect some of the men here and kill them all over again.

Which just brought back the crimson haze, and so she stood by the corner, kicking at the troll?s remains. With Yoshimo efficiently looting the place, Jaheira, Minsc, and Aerie tending to the children, she slowly forced herself to come down from the battle high and pretend that she wasn?t feeling empty. Her hand ached, her shoulder ached, everything ached and she was tired from the debilitating rage that had steeped through her and was still simmering now.

?You should get that hand looked at.?

She raised her head and made a mental note to herself. Check; with this guy in the party, don?t rely on your senses, it doesn?t seem to work with him.

She looked wearily at him as he stood, around a meter away, something unfathomable in his eyes. He wasn?t even panting from the fight, she noted irritably.

?How?d you manage to get so dirty?? she tried for a joke.

He looked down, puzzled, at his pristine clothes. There wasn?t a rip or tear to be seen. He?d even somehow managed to evade all but a few bloodstains. ?Pardon??

?Joke,? she offered lamely, before stretching out against the wall and automatically rolling her aching shoulders. She winced as the forgotten graze on her left sprang to life again, stinging with a vengeance.

?You should get Aerie or Jaheira to look at that.?

He watched in wonder as her features changed. Never had he seen a face full of such expression? he supposed that was why she was a Bard. But the sadness that suddenly cloaked her seemed to roll off her in waves.

?Th? children need them more than I do,? she murmured distantly. Her own words seemed to bring her back, and fire flashed in her eyes. He watched as she almost seemed to grow taller in front of him, as she settled back into the role of the leader. ?We?ll give them a bit more time, then we?ll have t? be gettin? them through the sewers back t? Hendak. I?m sure he?ll be able to send them back home. We?ll just need t? plan together how t?? AAAAAHHHH!!?

He caught her off guard as he moved up to her, so catlike she didn?t register his change in position until he took her hand and snapped the fingers back into place. Before she could protest, the murmuring whisper of magic filled the air and she was bathed in a gentle sapphire glow.

Watching her wounds knit up and heal in front of her never failed to astonish her. Especially not at this rate.

?Ow. And thank you.?

?You?re welcome,? he nodded, before walking off.

She watched him go as the last tendrils of his magic faded from her body. She would definitely need to be watching this one.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 21 July 2006 - 01:31 AM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter VIII: Rarely Real

(Eh, my bad >.<;;. I didn't actually keep track of the time between chapters this time, and before I knew it I was more than a week overdue. But without further ado, onto the next chapter! I hope you enjoy, and I promise I'll be a bit less absent minded the next time )

Freedom is rarely real,
Insubstantial, it drifts around,
A goal, an ideal to aspire to,
Always inches above ground

Slavery is never total,
A mind can grasp at will,
Yet even though our road goes on,
Our pasts can cage us still

* * *

?Thank-you, Danika.?

Hendak?s private quarters were small, but far from cramped. When the children had been delivered safely into the warm arms of fellow ex-slaves, they?d followed the warrior immediately. She looked up at the Northern warrior and smiled. ?It was our pleasure, Hendak.?

?Indeed,? Jaheira nodded, curling her long fingers around her staff. ?We are glad to have been able to inflict a dent on the slaving business in Athkatla, at the very least.?

The druidess was physically exhausted, but mentally exultant. Slaving was something that she abhorred with all of her blood? Ployer and his? lackeys had been testimony to that. She looked at the man in front of them as he spoke, and felt a deep sadness tinging her veins.

?It is more zan just a dent, my friends,? Hendak stood and stretched. His neck had been hunched over far too long over the sprawling map, with cities circled from Neverwinter to Waterdeep. ?You have left ze chicken headless! If zere were any other independent operators??

Aerie winced, and none but Geraint caught it.

?If zere were any other independent operators, zey are now dealt a crippling blow as well. And I shall make it my business that zey shall be hunted down. No other slavers shall run Athkatla while I am alive, and while people like you are alive. You have all done us a great service.?

?There must be more, though,? Yoshimo mused as he lay back into the comfort of the chair. His thick, shining ponytail hung just below his shoulders, not a bloodied hair out of place. They still hadn?t showered yet, and although Jaheira had closed the wound, his ear throbbed in time with his pulse, making it hard to think. ?I am averse to the idea that although we might have taken out the main operators, others might grow in the space we have provided.?

?That?s true,? Geraint spoke up, softly and surprisingly. ?I have travelled enough to know that when operations like this are? put out of business, people will keep trying no matter the deterrent if there is gold involved.?

?I know,? Hendak nodded. He gestured to the closed door, behind which the rickety corridors of the Copper Coronet snaked and spun. ?Zat is my job, or rather, ours. Zere are still several of those who were slaves that have no home to return to, and who are eager to aid me. We shall be a force to be reckoned with. If zere is one zing to be said for the? animal, he has kept fine records. We shall track zem down, all of his contacts. We shall eliminate zem.?

Every word seemed to hit Aerie to the heart, and she wasn?t sure whether to shrink back or unfold. It still shocked her, what they?d done, what she?d done. At least ten slavers had been cut down by one of her fireballs.

And? and? even though the body was burnt and she couldn?t see the?

No, she would not think about that now.

Struggling within herself, Aerie shunted those thoughts aside and turned back to their conversation. ?I-I?? Aerie hesitated, glancing around in fear. She only met a circle of expectant faces, and so she took a deep breath. ?I w-would be h-h-happy t-to help, i-if you were in n-need of m-me.?

She saw Nika looking at her curiously, and her hands shook. ?I-I?m not going to l-leave, D-danika. I was j-just t-thinking??

?The child has a point,? Jaheira nodded, cutting off Aerie?s fumbling. ?We have gone this far, and I believe I speak for all of us when I say we hold no love for slavers. We would help if you need us,?

?You have done much already,? Hendak gripped the metal dagger on the table in front of him. ?If we need you, we shall call, but I zink that it will not be the case. You have spoken of an urgent quest that you need to attend to.?

Their eyes turned to Danika and her eyes hardened. ?Yeah? about that, Hendak. I?d? ask you for a favour.?

The man looked at her inscrutably. She hadn?t told him much earlier, only that she was in desperate need of coin. This half-elf didn?t seem the type to be dishonest. If anything, the gravity that had settled in the atmosphere of the room at his mention of their quest spoke well enough in their defence. He knew what was coming before she opened her mouth again.

?Ask away,? he replied softly. ?We owe you much. We cannot move worlds, but if we can give you what you need we shall.?

?Good,? she inhaled. ?I?ll tell this t? you straight, then, Hendak. I?m raising 20,000 gold t? rescue a friend from where the Cowled Wizards have taken her. I know we already took 30,000 before from Lehtinan?s stash? but with th? uncovering of th? slavers and who we?re up against??

He waited as she struggled for an explanation, before a sigh split her lips and she opened her eyes again.

?Did you hear what happened in Waukeen?s Promenade around a tenday or more ago, Hendak??

A tenday ago, he had not been free, but he gathered his memories. ?I heard one of ze guards talking,? he recalled slowly. ?Zere was an earthquake or somezing, some massive event zat destroyed half of the Promenade. I was not sure if it was just rumour.?

Minsc cradled Boo from where he?d stood silently in the background, and grimaced. ?Minsc and Boo walked amongst the rubble with good Jaheira, little Danika, and shady Yoshimo. It was no earthquake.?

?It was Irenicus,? Jaheira continued his words quietly. ?A powerful mage who has taken Imoen with him and wreaked havoc on our lives.?

It hurt to speak his name. The druidess? knuckles turned white against the staff as it fell from her lips.
Hendak moved his gaze from one to the other, scanning them all. There were things not being said, but he guessed he did not need to know. ?Take all zat you want,? he said softly. ?You have suffered enough.?

A bitter smile crossed Nika?s lips. ?You don?t know th? half of it, Hendak, but don?t worry. We won?t be takin? too much, just enough t???

?No!? Hendak broke through her thoughts. ?You have emptied zere treasuries! Zere is enough to send ze children and ze other slaves back, and more to spare. Take all you want, please. It? it is no sacrifice for us any more. We owe you our freedom.?

?We don?t charge,? she tried to jest, but it fell flat as she took a deep breath. ?I? I want t? be goin? after him immediately. I need t? get her back. So? is another 50,000 gold for better equipment enough??

Hendak shook his head incredulously. She had liberated the slavers of much of their ill-gotten gains. 50,000 gold, their 80,000 gold in total was just under a quarter of what they had. He could have given her more, and he opened his mouth, but she?d already misinterpreted his action.

?Ah, I knew it was too much t? be askin?. I?m sorry for my audaciousness, Hendak. Could we be makin? that another 20,000, then??

Hendak shook his head. ?Take the 50,000. You could take more if you wished. As I have said, we are in your debt.?

?I think the lifelong discount at Bernard?s bar is payment enough,? Yoshimo said lightly.

?Thank-you, Hendak,? Jaheira said sincerely.

?You?re welcome,? he nodded. ?Please, stay the night in our rooms. You cannot continue your quest when you are so exhausted.?

?Thanks again, Hendak.?

He swallowed as they left. There had been times in the Fighting Pit, when those who called themselves ?noble? cheered for his blood that the world had seemed to dull, when sound had become muted and pain intensified. When every step he?d walked had been a nightmare come to life and choking his throat. Those had been the times, when he?d felt blood and seen blood; seen the white of cracked bone and the oily slicks of guts that he?d despaired. When the entire world had seemed dark and empty, cold and cruel. When he had believed that there were no good people left in the world, or all the good people were afraid. And then, then he had raged against the cowardice of humanity.

But looking at the backs of the tired group, he felt the last wisps of that feeling leave him. There were good people out there. Still.

It was? good to know.

* * *

With the luxury of three whole rooms afforded to them, the sleeping arrangements were not difficult to make. Minsc hovered around Aerie these days, protectiveness seeping out from him. Jaheira and Danika. As for Yoshimo and Geraint? nothing much really had to be said there.

There was a lot to be said in other aspects, however. As the door clicked softly shut, Nika looked up to see Jaheira padding softly across the floor to her bed. She growled slightly in annoyance at a tangle in her damp midnight hair as she combed it. It had been around an hour since they?d spoken to Hendak; enough time to grimace as they?d splashed cold water onto their bodies and scrubbed themselves raw with rough soap. It had left the half-elf feeling surprisingly refreshed, however. Still, with the money Hendak had now she had no doubt that some gentle urging would inspire him to install some proper baths. He was already starting to rid the place of its filth.

?This isn?t wise, Danika.?

The Blade started out of her musings and nearly ripped some of her precious tresses out. ?Say what, Jaheira??

The druidess sighed as she sat cross-legged on the bed, her aching back resting lightly against the headboard. ?You heard me the first time, child.?

She pulled the comb free, sticking her tongue out at it as it carried away some of her prized hair. ?Yeah, but you failed t? mention any specifics. What?d I do this time??

Jaheira contemplated her charge. Her? ward. It was how she felt towards the child in front of her. The woman. The child-woman. Danika Gorionova was such a contrasting mix of both that Jaheira could never classify her as one or the other. She wasn?t sure if she would ever be able.

Jaheira did not want to reminisce. In general? especially lately, she took no pleasure in it. There was? the knowledge that some memories would never be able to be relived, and in some cases, would never be able to be forged. No matter how much, how desperately she wanted them to.
Nonetheless, she was swept down the path to the past against her will as she looked at her charge in the semi-darkness, half of her inquiring face backlit by the glowing fire. She looked every inch the fool. Her dark, dark hair spilled over her shoulder raggedly, down from its tight plait for the first time for a few days. Her semi-unfocused amber eyes seemed to dance. Danika Gorionova was not beautiful, but there was a lightness, a laughter to her features that made that obsolete. Or rather, there had been. Jaheira looked, and all she saw was tautness. What haunted her was that it had never been this bad, not ever. Not even when she?d first seen her at the Friendly Arm. She and Khalid had been sitting quietly in the corner, chafing, when the door had burst open to see a girl with ridiculously pink hair, fear written in her eyes supporting the even smaller girl, blood running unchecked from a gash in her cheek and an ugly burn on her chest. Despite her injuries, and the shock evident on both of their faces like a death mask, there had been a person who could still laugh under all of the pain. Now?

Jaheira had travelled with Danika for over two years. It sickened her now, when she laughed. It was a hollow, dead parody of what it once had been.

?I, Nika? we can?t go after Irenicus and save Imoen now. Not yet. And you know I would not say that lightly.?

The girl/woman frowned and sat up from where she?d been slumping. ?Yeah, I know that. But Jaheira, he?s got her. Who knows what the bastard could be doin?. I can?t leave her like that, Jah, I can?t.

?Be that as it may, we are no force to be reckoned with,? the druidess expelled a breath of frustrated air. ?Not against him. You saw him, don?t be blind, child. Even with enchanted equipment, he is extraordinarily powerful. We need to build up our experience until we are a match for him.?

?I know,? the half-elf folded her hands together and let her legs tremble the bed. It wasn?t fear, she just couldn?t stay still. She?d never been able to stop fidgeting unless it was a matter of life or death. ?I know, I?ve been thinking about that. But? I?m also not sure if that?s a problem any more.?

?What do you mean it?s not a problem any more?? Jaheira asked in disbelief. ?What has changed? Irenicus is unlikely to have lost power for our benefit!?

?Nah, ?m not talkin? about that,? she shook her head. ??m talkin? about Geraint.?

?Ah, him,? Jaheira readjusted her position on the blankets, letting her inordinate tiredness wash over her. ?Him.?

?He healed me today, Jaheira. When you lot were helpin? the kids. ?d broken my fingers, you know it. Now ?ve got nary a scar for my troubles. It?s rare t? have a healin? that good when you take into consideration his fightin? as well. I haven?t seen him cast any cantrips yet, but I wouldn?t be surprised if he pulled a Dragon?s Breath out of his??

?Be that as it may,? Jaheira interrupted, ?We cannot rely on one person alone. We cannot base or risk it all on one member of the group. And he? I do not trust him.?

It was the Bhaalspawn?s turn to sigh. ?I know, I know. I don?t trust him either. But? before you question me??

Jaheira waited.

?Gah, ?m sorry. I just? don?t want to talk about this tonight. He?s here and he?s probably goin? t? be stayin? unless he does something stupid. I? don?t want to think about it.?

?Why not, Nika??

?Because tonight, I just want to sleep.?

There was enough exhaustion, enough emptiness in that voice that Jaheira felt chills across her throat. Through worried eyes, she watched as Danika rolled down, pulling the blanket up around her, until she lay as if she were dead.

?At least you don?t have to walk across half of Athkatla to get drunk tonight if you wish. Which you won?t, otherwise I?ll be pulling you by your pointed ears back up again.?

The attempt at a joke stuck in her mouth when there was no reply. She rolled over herself and sighed as she prayed to Silvanus.

Across the room, Danika Gorionova stared sightlessly up at the ceiling, and one finger moved down to stroke at the scars on her wrist.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 15 July 2006 - 04:06 AM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter IX: In th? Nighte

(Ah, I'm sorry I have not updated for so long and have not been around as much. Things are truly getting hectic in my school life at the moment with all of my Year 12 major internal assessment tasks due in. I've managed a brief reprieve tonight, though, so I hope you enjoy this chapter. )

In th? Nighte,
Th? Nighte of burning,
Open minde,
Thy heart t? learning

See thy soul,
I?ll come there for it,
Lose thy minde,
Thy darkness calls it

* * *

A Bhaalspawn! Geraint leaned back and rested his aching body, welcoming the softness of the bed that he?d been abusing ever since he?d crawled into it. He turned again, and the sheets protested faintly. Perhaps that had explained her ruthlessness in cleaning out the Slaver Compound in one bloody (literally) day. He hadn?t seen so much killing in a while, but there was no regret.

No, he had not even been concentrating on the death, for once. His flashing blades, his hands had moved almost automatically. What he?d really been looking at had been his mysterious leader. In the midst of the battle, he?d privately marvelled at the absolute control. There had been no hint of red gleaming in her eyes, just normal (as far as the tempestuous half-elf could be called normal) outrage at their enemy. Or did her looks belie her actual state?
He himself had never been told of the maniacal glee that crossed his own features at some times, a cold emotionless mask at others, but he knew them intimately in his own way. And he knew that sometimes, he did not keep control. But judging by what had happened yesterday, it seemed that the small slips happened rarely. It seemed strange. Strange that she was so? the accent, the attitude, everything. Her moves certainly didn?t set off an alarm of falseness in his mind, there wasn?t enough of that feeling to damn her yet. But something about her made him uneasy, and he wasn?t quite sure why. Which, of course, extremely irritated him.
It didn?t help that she?d been so pushy earlier.

It was more than that, of course. A Child of Bhaal? he?d dispatched a few of the minor ones before, and had run across some of the more powerful. There was a darkness in the heritage, in the blood he had spilled that he?d felt with cold steel. Travelling with one was madness. So why was he doing just that?

?What ails you, my friend??

Geraint started out of his thoughts as he shifted and turned to see Yoshimo sitting cross-legged in his bed, a single candle fluttering uncertainly in his hand. It cast fragile silhouettes over the room, outlining it vaguely so that Geraint could see the great Ranger was still asleep. ?You have been twisting and turning for the last two hours. It is hard for one to sleep when one is constantly changing direction. I would not be at all surprised if I woke up tomorrow morning to find you upside down.?

The Kara-Turan?s low chuckle forced an acknowledging nod. ?I do apologise. I had not meant to wake you.?

?I have aches enough to keep me awake myself,? Yoshimo replied, before seating himself more comfortably, the blankets wrapped around him. In the single flame of the flickering candlelight, the shadows sent harsh ridges, tired furrows across the thief?s face. ?I do not blame you for this wakefulness.?

Geraint followed suit, sliding gracefully into a sitting position, the two men staring at each other across the room. Outside, they heard the ever-present noise of the Slums. Beggars? ancient wheezes mixed with the occasional muffled shout, with light footsteps pattering across the stone to form a dull atmospheric tension. To two who knew intimately the going-ons of the night, it did not feel too peculiar to sit in such silence, silence broken by another world.

?Tell me,? Geraint said softly at last. ?Why you came to Faerun.?

Yoshimo looked sharply up at him, torn from his thoughts. A gust of wind from the window snatched the flame of the candle and the room was plunged into darkness. Geraint felt unease creeping up his spine again, and set a hard mouth against it. In the blackness, neither could see the distinct features of the others? face save for the dull red glow that infravision lent one.

?I came to find,? Yoshimo finally answered. ?Answers and fuel for my hope.?

?Find what?? the elf questioned, feeling the cold pull in around at him.

He felt rather than saw the human?s piercing gaze levelled upon him. ?I am a bounty hunter, Geraint. I find what I wish, I seek clues to further the hunt. My quarry has never escaped me before.?

The elf remained silent, completely still.

?And I have never tasted what it is like to be the quarry until Irenicus took me.?

?Did you find what you wanted??

Yoshimo placed the candle back onto the polished wooden table. The moonlight dulled the sheen as tired wax spilt down to form a melted foundation. ?No. I found more questions instead of the answers I had looked for. I had to base my findings on the songs of bards and the whispers of thieves, and even now I still have my doubt.?

Their breaths cooled the room.

?But if I am correct, then there is no-one left for me to avenge myself upon.?

?Dead.?

?Indeed.?

Smoke curled in wisps, fracturing the stars as it trailed its path to the sky, never hesitating in its journey. Yoshimo slept again, after a long while. But Cormin stayed, fixed, his eyes staring into the dark as if it were a mirror.

* * *

?A dream? a dream of many things.?

Consciousness swam up to the fore. I choked for a second, bile rising in my throat as I stared at Imoen. She wasn?t there. She was. She was like a bloody apparition, phasing in and out in front of me and my head ached. Although that could have been from when one of the slavers had almost done my head in.

Do you carry mortal, bodily pain into dreams?

?Of friends and family. These things always mean something??

?Imoen?? the words came out of my mouth as I crawled towards her. Have I always been a lucid dreamer? I?m not quite sure, but as I moved, darkness fell around me and held me still. After a while, I didn?t even want to struggle as she looked at me, my friend. My friend? my family? Whispers distracted me as I realised where I was standing.

Ah, Candlekeep.

The place where it started.

The place where illusions ended.

The place that was now hollow and empty.

?? don?t they??

?Yes, yes they do Imoen,? I spoke out loud. The words rung in the nothingness, clanged around my ears as if they were trying to escape. She looked past me, behind me, through me. I lost my nerve. ?But you can?t hear me, Imoen! I can?t touch you, can?t hug you, where are you? I?m coming for you. If he?s done anything, I?ll rip out his throat and?"

The doors of the library opened up in front of me. I closed my eyes for a second and didn?t need to dream to remember. Fountains swam with knowledge and happiness and light, but when I opened them again, my memories were replaced with aching voids of? night?

?Do you remember these doors??

?Yes, Goddess? I remember. I remember, I remember??

One cannot be blamed for the words one says in a dream, can they?

?I remember?? she whispered. ?I think. Yes, this was home for so long, but it is too late to go back.?

The greyness of it startled me. Had I never seen it before? Become too used to the colour of adventuring, the shining silvers of armour, the dull browns of leather and trees. The bright red of blood?

?They wouldn?t have you now. They wouldn?t have me. Had no use??

?Imoen, I?ve heard this.? I shook my head, my hands clutched tightly to my ears, but her voice still came through. I?d heard this, something about this? this place, these words were too familiar. There had to be a change.

?Someone else does.?

She looked up at me, and in that one second I realised. I realised that Imoen?s eyes were not her eyes.

They were Gorion?s.

I screamed.

?He wants something, Danika.?

?Imoen! Imoen! Gorion! Imoen!?

Was it a plea? A cry for help? All I knew was that the words tumbling from my lips weren?t names, they were things.

The dream carried on. Cryptic thoughts melted my brain together. I wished, I wished that Irenicus never took me, that I never was? that I never was what I am, which wouldn?t make me? me. Ah, Danika Gorionova. What is wrong? What is wrong?

I remember.

?Memories should stay??

Should they? I think of Jaheira and of Minsc, and then I think of Geraint. I am not observant, but his eyes tell me of things he would rather forget.

?I don?t remember any of you??

?I? I??

?You will come too late??

Those words spun me. Picked me up and threw me against the greyness of Candlekeep?s walls. ?Imoen!?

Dark anger filled me where the words had come. Too late was not in my vocabulary. It was not. I would not. I was so close already, just a few more days and it?d be done. I hurled myself against the empty barriers and screamed as she turned to stone in front of my eyes. Grain by grain, the living, breathing skin, the laughter of her turned grey, and she cried and cried until it reached her face and immobilised the look of desperation in her eyes. One hand remained stretched out towards me, and I howled.

That was when Irenicus came. I drowned through the words like it was a play, step-by-step rehearsed. I no longer had control, and it carried me away. No control!

?Do you cling to the past, or can you see through the pain??

I stayed silent. My mouth couldn?t have worked if I?d wanted it to.

?You feel the potential within, don?t you??

Now, I screamed again, but nothing came out of my mouth. He walked up to me, circled me, and I couldn?t move. All I could remember, all I could feel was the fire and the hurting and the fearfearfearfear?

?Will you cringe from what you know you want? What you can take as your own??

I couldn?t speak, but I could think.

Never.

He perused me like an arithmetic problem.

?Nothing is real? yet.?


No-one woke as I was slammed into being awake. For a second, I wished I hadn?t picked the bed near the window, because the stars above, only faintly obscured by clouds began whirling around and around in my vision. Pretty damned quick, I got very, very dizzy.

Oh? Lathander?

He wasn?t coming now. I looked at the sky as it stopped moving, almost grudgingly, and knew that it was hours before sunrise.

I hate dreams.

You know what happens when you get a nightmare. When you feel cold because of the sweat and the fear grips you around the throat. I?ve hated that word for so long now.
That one didn?t rate up anywhere near the ones where I got stabbed by myself or had Sarevok running after me, but it had damn well unsettled me. I crawled deeper into the mattress, tucking the blankets around me so tightly I had to squirm to breathe. But even that sensation couldn?t take away the memory of Irenicus? hands and metal over my skin and the fe...

My stifled whimpers didn?t wake anyone. I made sure of it.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 30 July 2006 - 04:04 AM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter X: Behind the Stage

(Thank you all of you who have been waiting. . I'm afraid that my updates shall not be very frequent near the end of this year due to exams, but for the next month or so they should be okay. . I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please review... constructive criticism, comments, any feedback would be much appreciated since I'm experimenting a little with this fic

Hope you enjoy and that the wait was worth it )

Behind the stage,
Our wooden masks crumble,
Brokenly, we stand,
Face-to-face and flesh-to-flesh,
As words are said in fire,
And we reek of the hidden

* * *

?You look awful.?

?Imoen was always th? pretty one,? Danika scowled as she looked down at her clothes. The dark, forest green shirt was bloody, the tough cow-hide pants ripped. With not many other options, she slipped into a too-big navy tunic that almost reached to her knees and pulled on the black breeches underneath. Jaheira always had had an eye for the thrift bins. Cinching the belt around her waist, she finally stood up and regarded herself in the mirror.

She turned away and went back to her pack with a mutter. ?Stupid reflections.?

Jaheira stretched again, graceful and lean as a tiger, before donning her customary clothes. ?You know that wasn?t what I meant,? she remarked as she forewent her plate mail for a thick leather tunic. ?How much sleep did you get last night, child? It?s early enough, you could probably snatch another hour?s sleep, perhaps even two.?

?I got enough,? she shrugged, sliding a dagger into her sleeve. ?I?m goin? down for a quick bite, talk t? Hendak, an? when we?re all ready we?ll be going to Gaelan?s. Sound like a plan??

She narrowed her eyes. ?We never got to finish our talk last night, Danika. Perhaps now is the time. It?s incredibly early yet, I don?t even see why we?re rising.?

?I?m rising,? the Bard corrected her. ?You can go back to sleep if you want.?

?Danika??

It was the tone with which Jaheira spoke it, so low and ominous it almost came out like a growl, and she was suddenly struck with the memory of one of their first battles in Baldur?s Gate, when the druidess had turned into a bear before her eyes. With that memory, the ravening animal of the Beastmaster?s was back, blazing against her eyelids, and she unconsciously took a few steps back. Oh Goddess, oh Selune? Godgodgodgodgod?

?That?s right, I am a God! You are powerless before me!?

Red started clouding her vision. Images blasted through the haze, murder, murder, murdermurdermurdermurder?

Then the picture of Imoen flashed up. Her mind, already reeling, screamed. Bhaal seized and tried to worm in, control, move?

It was the wrong moment of weakness to pick. With an inner snarl, she wrenched away from the corrupting stench of the Taint.

?Danika!?

Her eyes snapped open to find Jaheira?s hands on her shoulders, shaking her violently until what was left of her stomach felt like it was around five feet behind her. Choking, she pushed her off and collapsed on the bed, panting.

?Child,? Jaheira?s voice was sharp with worry. ?What in Silvanus? name happened??

?Dear? old? Daddy,? she spat, struggling to her feet with venom. ?Irenicus did something to us in the Dungeon, Jaheira. It?s stronger now? I don?t know why.? Yes I do, a part of her whispered. She pushed it away. ?If this keeps going? I don?t want to know what will happen.?

She hesitated, breath still whistling in and out of her lungs like drowning gasps and fought, inch by inch, against the fear. ?An? most importantly of all, if we don?t hurry, we?ll be too late t? save Imoen.?

?You didn?t tell me what happened before,? Jaheira ignored the last part as well as the twang of pain that accompanied it. ?Why now? Why not before? It?s been??

?Eighteen days, Jaheira,? the half-elf whispered. She coughed once; a long, hacking cough, before spitting out blood onto her hand. Grimacing, she wiped it away and moved to her water pack, taking a rasping gulp. When she was done, she caught her? friend?s gaze, and locked it.

?Eighteen days, Jaheira,? she repeated, and the words in the air made it so real her knees wanted to buckle. ?It?s been eighteen days since we got t? light, since we lost Imoen. Almost two weeks, and th? Gods know what?s happened. I?? she felt so light-headed she wanted to fall. ?I had a warnin? last night. Someone thinks we won?t make it t? her in time t? save her from somethin? bad. I want t? disprove them of that theory.?

?Another dream??

Danika grimaced, and sat down again, willing her knees to stop shaking. She?d tried to hide it as long as she could, but in a quiet, tight campsite it was hard to do. Only Jaheira knew. Jaheira and Imoen, who had woken up gasping with her own nightmares and who had gladly held her and been held through those shivering times. And with that memory, another incredible ache welled up within her and she fought back tears with the taste of hollow victory in her mouth. It?d been the one thing Irenicus hadn?t wrested from her.

?Yeah, another bleedin? dream,? the look appeared on her face. ?We?re goin? to Gaelan?s, Jaheira. We got th? money, we?ll get th? equipment. No arguments.?

Jaheira felt the urge to count to ten, or perhaps to scream wash over her again with a vengeance. If she?d been expecting someone who would always take her advice that stormy night at the Friendly Arm, she?d have been so disillusioned now she would have hung up her staff and scimitar. As it was, she had. And been disillusioned. No-one had expected, not even Elminster, that Gorion?s ward; infinitely patient, diplomatic, wise, considering Gorion, would be so stubborn. They?d always thought his warnings and reports were overrated, of course.

Not that she blamed her. The emptiness behind her eyes was answer enough. Jaheira tensed, and prayed. Oh, Silvanus, give me strength because I want to save Imoen now, but I know we are not ready.

?We can?t.?

A year ago, Danika would have exploded. Now, she stood, her strength returning, and her coiled body shaking with a sudden fury. ?An? why th? bloody hell not?? she asked harshly.

?You know why!? Jaheira exclaimed, frustration getting the better of her. ?We can?t take him! It is of no use to Imoen if we are all killed trying to rescue her. This is madness, Nika? you?re going to get us all killed!?

?Have you seen th? bastard fight?? she pushed her hair out of her eyes so she could watch the expressions flicker across Jaheira?s face unhindered. ?Not Irenicus, him. Geraint. Don?t tell me you haven?t. I don?t know how bloody old he is, but he fights like a dragon. We?re not pansies ourselves, but I don?t even want t? know why he?s got so much experience under his clichéd black-and-silver belt. Or correction, I want t? know, because it?d probably make one hell of a story. With him, we can take Irenicus and save Imoen, I know it!?

?But we? can?t? trust? him yet!? Jaheira emphasised each word. ?I thought that what has happened to us would have gotten rid of your naiveté, but obviously I thought wrong! He could be anyone. A spy, a thief, a backstabber, a??

?A Murderer?? the Bhaalspawn hissed, and the druidess felt the darkness, hard as obsidian and granite rise up in her for a moment before it was quashed down. ?Dammit, Jaheira! I?m desperate, I?ll take anythin? as long as it gets my hands around Irenicus? throat and Imoen safe by my side! I?d bargain with bloody demons if I could get my hands on them, and he can?t be much worse.?

?Then wait,? Jaheira fired back. ?Give us a few days, and then we?ll go. The best equipment in the world will not help us if he turns traitor. Give him a few days to see if we can trust him.?

She watched her like a hawk, watched that closed and open face shudder with emotion and thought before smoothing into the mask. It wasn?t hard for her to see the inner debate, she just prayed that this time she?d listen.

Seconds passed, like a tumble of sand. If she hadn?t been watching so closely, she would have missed it. It was there, just a light relaxing of the muscles around her blazing amber eyes and then Danika slumped.

?You do it,? she said, her voice thick. ?You?re the one that doesn?t trust him.?

?Oh, so you do, then?? Jaheira tried to contain her relief. The sun had risen higher, and she suddenly felt very tired.

Nika scowled. ?I trust my instincts.?

Jaheira snorted lightly. ?They didn?t work with Coran.?

Nika turned away before she could notice the rush of blood to her face. ?Yeah, well, Coran had a certain charm about him.?

She laughed, and the tension dissipated. ?One that you never fell for in the end, child, although you came close. I must congratulate you for that at least if I am to tease you so.?

The half-elf could not hide it this time as the blush crept up to the tips of her ears. ?As I said, he had a certain charm. Geraint?s got the charm of a broodin? statue; y?know, one of those ones that the sculptor?s make permanently depressed.?

?He pulls out our seats and lets us go through the doors first, though,? Jaheira chuckled.

?Until you told him to bugger off and that you were strong enough to open your own doors,? Nika smiled. She laughed, then, and Jaheira did not wince. ?Honestly, he?s a real somethin?. ?M?ladyin? and pullin? out chairs and openin? doors and broodin?. He should sign up for a part in a bad romantic play; he?d be perfect for it.?

Jaheira thought about it for a second, and a grin spread across her face.

?If you ever head a Playhouse of your own, Danika, you had better do this one favour for me.?

Nika laughed again, and it felt refreshing. Like her old self. The self that wasn?t cynical, wasn?t bitter, that had thought the world had been at her fingertips.

Who had had to put an arrow through Phyldia and watch her features melt into a Doppelganger?s.

Her head snapped up and she saw Jaheira moving towards the door.

The druidess paused and looked back. ?Are you coming? You did say you wanted breakfast.?

Danika grimaced. ?I?m not hungry any more.?

Jaheira?s razor-sharp eyes raked her, up and down, and realisation slowly dawned. With the belt cinched extra tight around her waist to keep the breeches up, she looked hollow, weak, and unhealthily thin.

Before the Bhaalspawn knew it, she was in a firm grip and being frogmarched down the stairs. ?Hey! Hey! What in th? Nine Hells are you doin???

?Getting some food into you,? was her companion?s tight reply, and such was her determination, she dragged her down to the kitchen so fast that neither of them noticed a shadow move.

Yoshimo?s hands shook as he stared after them, and the geas bit into his heart.

* * *

Geraint woke to watch the sunrise. It was such an ingrained habit in him now. True, he was no longer at the top of a tree, feeling strangely dizzy as the light painted the forest around him. Now, he was looking out of the window, feeling strangely sick as the light skirted around the Slums as if the sun itself wanted to avoid the place altogether. Far away though, lighting the far-off Government District, he could see the light glinting off highly polished marble and thought. Sleep still invaded his muscles, but even now it was being slowly pushed back by routine.

Routine.

The thoughts that accompanied that were too much, and so he pushed them away, a decidedly black mood falling over his mind. He sighed, and waited until the sun rose enough to hit him full in the chest, before reaching up to the ledge at the top of the window and pulling himself into the air. His muscles groaned as he locked himself into place, but it wasn?t enough. He hung there for a while, feeling his body burn, before he let go and landed to the floor almost noiselessly.
He felt taut and nauseous, so he threw a quick glance towards Yoshimo?s empty bed, and moved to his belongings, feeling the wind from the still open door caress his back. Quickly pulling on his normal attire; black on black on silver, he walked quietly out the door, across the tired corridor, and down the stairs.

Jaheira and Nika were already seated, so he wended his way through the taproom to guardedly pull up a chair. He?d heard their voices floating from the staircase, so it was with some trepidation that he silently helped himself to a glass of water.

?Child??

?Dammit, Jaheira! Stop it with that,? she replied irritably. ?I?ve had enough t? bloody feed all th? starving street kids an? then some, an? I?m about t? burst. So cut it out unless you want t? be rollin? me around for th? rest of the day!?

?I was about to merely comment on the strangeness of it, actually,? Jaheira finished dryly. ?Your gauntness appears to belie the amount that you eat.?

??m not gaunt,? she responded indignantly. ??m lean, there?s a difference.? The bard turned to him. ?Mornin?. Do you know if th? others are up yet? ?d like t? get started today? we?re going shoppin?.?

?Good morning,? he returned, resting his glass on the table. ?Yoshimo?s bed was empty when I woke, and I believe I heard noises from the other rooms. I would say that they will be here r??

?G-good Morning,? Aerie drifted over. She always seemed frailer, more breakable after sleep. Pale shadows drooped her eyes, but other than that the Avariel was awake. She blushed as Cormin nonchalantly pushed out a chair for her, before seating herself and delicately picking at some fruit.

?Minsc should be coming down,? she told them between nibbles. ?He was just talking to Lilarcor when I left.?

?That sword disturbs me,? Jaheira muttered. ?I swear that a sentient being like that should have been rendered un-sentient a long time ago.?

?Could you actually be doin? that?? Nika asked curiously.

?Most probably,? Cormin said quietly. ?The easiest method would likely be to break the blade.?

?Hey, hey, hey!? a raucous voice cried out indignantly. ?There better be no talk of breaking! Unless it?s ME doing the breaking. But I prefer slashing? I?ve got a cousin who?s a Hackmaster +6, you know!?

?Too bad we do not have him on the journey and are stuck with you,? Jaheira replied dryly. Ignoring Lilarcor?s spouted curses, she turned to the rest of them. ?Has anyone seen Yoshimo??

?I am here.?

Aerie jumped as the man materialised at the elbow of her chair. ?I am sorry, I felt rather unwell this morning.?

Nika nodded briefly as the haggard-looking thief gratefully sunk down into the chair Cormin had shifted for him. He took a few gulps from the cup, some of the water escaping his lips to trickle down his throat. The line sparkled red and brown against his skin in the harsh sunlight, even when he wiped it away.

?Are y-you alright?? Aerie questioned, her pale hands twisting in her garments.

He tried for a brief smile. ?Yoshimo is always alright,? he said sardonically. At their raised eyebrows, he rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. ?And what shall we be doing today, dear leader? More righteous acts to be done? More monsters to be killed? Traps in the dark??

?Somethin? a little less adventurous,? she grinned wryly. ?We?re goin? shoppin? for some equipment, and then we?ll be seein? where the rest of the day takes us.?

I want it to take me away. To a place where Imoen?s next to me, and no-one?s after my head.

Will there ever be such a day?

Not even Jaheira noticed as her smile turned brittle.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 27 June 2007 - 08:58 PM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter XI: Such Commonality

(Hey everyone . Ah, I seem to be making a habit of lapsing in my posts and then apologising >.<;;. So yes, apologies again. I have four final exams that are waiting for me in 33 days, so I've been pretty nose-to-the-grindstone, I guess. As always, though, I promise that after, I shall be updating regularly. . I hope that you enjoy this chapter.)

What happens,
In between heroics?
Where life is commonplace.
The epics,
Have no need of such commonality,
That, from most of life,
Is composed.

The words of silent survival,
For too long not given their due.
Now, let us pave the way,
Each stone a shade of normal.

* * *

She smiled wryly to herself as the clouds gathered above. It?s not good enough that we have t? be takin? a two day hike without notice, is it? It just has t? start rainin? too.

She hadn?t been at all surprised when their shopping trip had been interrupted in a rather unplanned way. Not that she?d been too concerned about it either. The mere sight of Minsc cradling Delon, with Boo perched on his shoulder was too heartbreaking for any real protest. When the boy had stumbled out his story, even Yoshimo?s eyes had grown flintier.

And so now, here they were.

?Ilmater!? Yoshimo cursed as a fat droplet splashed un-fortuitously straight into his eye. ?How far are we from the Hills??

?Quite a while yet,? Jaheira responded, seemingly unconcerned by the rain. She paused for a moment to unclip her hair, shaking out the long tresses with an uncharacteristic abandon. She smiled, and inhaled as the forested grasslands around them murmured with song. ?It is good to be out of the smog of the city.?

?Both are good,? Danika shrugged. ?An? ?m thinkin? that it?ll be takin? us til th? better half of tomorrow t? be getting? there.?

She was in a seemingly unaccountably good mood. The grass and leaves that brushed under her feet smelt fresh. The small forest they had passed a league back had pushed a lungful of fresh air into all of them as they had made steady progress. Delon?s stuttered descriptions had been horrifying from what little they had gleamed from him, yet it seemed difficult to not enjoy the relative wilderness around them. Unless, of course, you were Yoshimo, who had looked decidedly uncomfortable part of the way. The outdoors had begun to ensnare him under its thrall after the third hour of walking however? it was only with the beginning of the rain that Yoshimo had reverted.

Even Aerie looked less pale. The Avariel moved between fidgeting with her pack and robes, drinking in the nature around them, and gazing in naked longing at the sky. Danika frowned at the last, though, and moved closer. Aerie had not divulged much during their time. Perhaps?

Heck, it wasn?t as if she had anything else to do.

?What was it like, up there?? Danika asked softly.

She instantly cursed the words for slipping out of her mouth, because Aerie?s eyes immediately grew so infinitely sad that she wanted to kill the slavers. Bloodily. Then perhaps raise them and do it all over again. ?It was? amazing. B-beyond your imagination. Up there, it?s j-just so free when you fly??

??ll bet,? Danika agreed.

Aerie went on, so lost in her memories in seemed like she hadn?t heard. ?You?re in the wind, flying with it or against it, and it just runs through your hair and touches your skin? and you look down through the clouds, and just see the entire world stretching beneath you. Forests, cities, land? it all looks so beautiful from up there? nothing down here could ever compare.?

Danika bit her lip at the last sentence. ?You sure?? she proffered hesitantly. ?Wouldn?t beauty be a kinda well-rounded thing? down ?ere and up there as well??

?If there is,? Aerie murmured, ?I haven?t found the likes of it.?

The bard thought for a moment as they walked. The weather today really was incredible. ?How about right here?? she asked, gesturing around them. ?I mean, come on! There?s th? sun shinin? right pretty like on th? river? I always did love sunstorms. We?ve got th? road in front of us; all dirt an? daintiness windin? through the hills up ahead? an? th? rainbow over there is just outdoin? itself.?

Aerie laughed, but for a second Nika confused it for a sob. ?They are beautiful,? the Avariel admitted. ?It?s just??

?They are the same things you have seen,? Geraint said quietly from behind them, and the two women started. The last time Nika?s eyes had fell on him, he?d been around ten meters behind walking alongside Yoshimo. ?Just from a different perspective.?

?Hey, you,? the half-elf wasn?t sure whether to be irritated or just keep being surprised. ?Were you listenin? the entire time??

He shrugged. Aerie tightened her hold on her staff and directly faced him.

?W-what d-do you m-mean??

It was only then that Danika realised Aerie?s noticeable stutter had near vanished earlier, only to return with a vengeance now. Geraint seemed unfazed as he took the Avariel?s intense look squarely in the eye. ?You were saying how beautiful the world was from when you were flying,? he replied, his olive-brown hands unconsciously darting around the belt of his pack. ?Down here, you are seeing exactly the same things, only from below or within.?

Aerie ducked her head, unnerved by her own strength and what lay behind his gaze. ?It?s different,? she whispered.

?No, it is not,? he disagreed, his hands finally coming to a stop on the pack straps. Danika couldn?t help but be irked by the finality in his voice.

?How do you know?? she asked slightly belligerently. ?I mean, sure, if you?re lookin? at things as just things, and not th? whole? they look different in different perspectives matter, then they?re completely different.?

He raised a single eyebrow. ?Your argument makes no sense.?

She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, glanced at Aerie who seemed to be deeply in thought, and then purposefully moved forwards, gesturing to him to follow her. With mild curiosity, he traced her steps until they were a full ten meters away from the Avariel.


?How could you be so heartless an? stupid?? she chastised him the second she deemed it was a safe enough range.

?I was not being heartless,? he shrugged. ?Merely logical.?

He was talking more. She had to give him that. ?Logic never helps with stuff like this,? she snorted. ?I would have thought you?d be knowin? that, considerin? you don?t seem t? be too unschooled in the wide an? wonderful pains of Faerun.?

He bit his tongue. ?If she continues the way she is, no doubt she will either die or waste her time pining.?

?Or you could be more optimistic,? she retorted, kicking a flinty stone out of her path, ?An? say she could turn th? other way and learn t? live down here.?

?View things from a different perspective??

?Exactly.?

They continued on for a few steps, before realisation struck.

?You just played me, didn?t you??

He inclined his head, a small flicker of smugness tracing his face.

?Oh, you bastard,? she laughed, failing to keep the grudging admiration from her voice. ?You have one heck of a poker face.?

He actually smirked this time, and she couldn?t help but laugh again at that. ?Thank you, my lady.?

She scowled. ?Oi, you, how many times do I have t? tell you t? stop callin? me that??

There it was again? the poker face. Or was it feigned innocence? ?We will have to wait and see, won?t we, my lady??

Danika hefted her pack and grinned ?Bet I c?n beat you in cards tonight, even if you?re wearin? your pretty masks.?

A predatory smile crossed his face. ?Challenge accepted.?

* * *

She glanced to her right, and felt the warmth of the fire lick across her face. ?Two threes.?

Yoshimo grinned, the darkness shadowing his teeth. ?Two sevens.?

He rolled his shoulders back. ?Three Aces.?

She nibbled on her lip absentmindedly. ?Two fives.?

Yoshimo placed down his last few cards. ?Three Kings!? he crowed triumphantly.

Geraint raised his eyebrow. Nika rolled her eyes. Almost every time she looked, his eyebrow was somehow creeping up half his forehead. She wondered if he actually stayed that way the entire time, just so he would look permanently sceptical.

?Cheat.?

Smirking, Yoshimo scattered the three cards out, and both Nika and Geraint groaned. ?By th? Gods?,? the Bhaalspawn swore. ?We?d better start playin? somethin? else? you?re cheatin? too easy with this one!?

Yoshimo looked mock-offended. ?Cheating? Nay, ?tis the pure skill of Yoshimo the Great!?

Aerie laughed softly as she looked up from where she had lain quiet in the grass. The starlight shimmered around her golden hair as some wisps escaped her ears and drifted across her face. ?I-isn?t the main aim of the g-game to c-cheat as much as p-possible, though??

?Yes,? Geraint laid down the cards and began shuffling again. ?It is at that.?

Jaheira snorted from where she sat, close enough to the firelight so that she didn?t have to strain her eyes to study her Druid lore. ?Card games are always abhorrently foolish.?

?Fun though,? Nika added cheerfully. ?Even when I?m at a bloody disadvantage in this one since I?? she cast a meaningful look in Yoshimo?s direction, ?try t? be honest most of th? time.?

?I cannot help but be a wonderful player,? the bounty hunter chuckled. ?It is but one of my many talents.?

?Right, right,? the bard said dryly as she cast her cards down onto the pile. ?And ?m a priestess of Mystra. Anyway, how about movin? onto somethin? where we actually get an equal chance in winnin???

?Poker?? Geraint suggested helpfully.

?Oh,? Danika?s eyes widened, before narrowing into a smirk. ?Oh? you?re on.?

Yoshimo looked from one to the other, a puzzled smile spreading across his face. ?I feel like I am missing something.?

?You are,? Geraint quirked his lips as he began dealing the cards. ?Let us just say that it was an earlier? challenge.?

?Ah, one of those,? Yoshimo examined his cards thoughtfully, pursing his lips. Poker, to him, was admittedly amongst the pinnacle of card games. Simple plays such as Cheat had always just served to get his gambling blood going. Of course, tonight, it seemed that they were gambling for naught but pride? unless he changed it and upped the stakes. Poker was an art. Each card laid out so neatly in hands that could fold or bluff as easily as the faces permitted; with no muscle twitching, and the daring glint in his eyes that could lose him gold or win him a fortune. Yes, Yoshimo was a gambler. And not just in the way of coins.


?Hey Yoshi,? Nika remarked offhandedly about ten minutes later. ?Are you cheating again??

The bounty hunter rolled his eyes, slipping the extra card inconspicuously back into his sleeve. ?Do not insult my honour so. And do not call me Yoshi.?

?Honestly,? Geraint stretched like a cat from his meditative position. ?I can no longer count the times I?ve seen you cheating on my fingers.?

?Seen me cheating?? Yoshimo seemed offended. ?My dear friend, I assure you that if I were to cheat, you would not catch it.?

?Right,? Nika smirked. ?Of course, how could I be forgettin? it? Yoshimo the quick and talented, Cheater of them all!?

Jaheira snorted loudly. ?We have a long day ahead of us, I hope you three realise,? she tried to sound stern, but almost failed. Their casual banter was admittedly amusing. ?Perhaps you should follow Minsc?s example and retire to your bedrolls??

?Minsc and BOO!? came the cry from the darkness to their right. ?He is here too, sleeping soundly!?

?Minsc and Boo,? Jaheira amended with a faint smile.

Danika yawned, biting back her lip into a grin at the convenient timing.

* * *

The woodlands deepened here. It was a gradual change, yet Nika couldn?t help but to shift uncomfortably as they passed yet another river with a scattering of stones to ford, and find the light seemed dimmer yet again on the other side. She worried her lip. Forests usually seemed to bring her a sort of peace? if any who bore the brand of ?Bhaalspawn? could ever be said to feel peace. She tried to listen to the wind as it snaked amongst the leaves.

The half-elf remembered? it seemed so long ago now. That night after they?d stumbled, bloody and careworn from the depths of the Cloakwood mines into the dangers of the Forest. She hadn?t been able to get to sleep, even though the tiredness had seeped through and around and inside her bones, and her eyes felt like they were burning in a dull flame. All she could think of was the clicking of spiders and the mountains of putrid, pink flesh? and then the alluring deadliness of the Hamadryads. How, when she?d first sighted them, all she?d wanted to do was stare and sing forever, until their faces had creased and the spell had been broken with their shrill shrieks of battle.

She remembered, when the world had somehow seemed more hostile than even that first night after leaving Candlekeep, and she finally hadn?t been able to take it any more. Hoisting herself upwards, she?d dragged herself away from even the safety of the fire, to wander in the woods that haunted her so.

To this day, she was never sure whether she had wanted to die then. Or what she would have let happen had she not stumbled across Jaheira, her thick hair coiled around her neck as she knelt in the grass.

She would never forget that sight. The sight of the druidess and her eternal features, lined and shaped by the ethereal moonlight. How, when she?d frozen on the perimeter staring, her mentor had somehow known she was there. And without opening her eyes, invited her to join her? invited her to be taught the language of the trees?

That was what the bard was attempting to do now. She?d never mastered the art, of course. Jaheira had been an impatient, yet careful teacher, yet Danika still couldn?t seem to grasp it. Now, as she listened as hard as she could, she felt a shiver pass down her spine. Although the trees didn?t seem sinister or shadowy? they felt scared. And if trees, ancient and unyielding in their mass and beauty were afraid, Danika didn?t want to think how she should feel.

?Here,? Minsc announced abruptly from the head of the group, and she was immediately startled out of her thoughts. ?The tracks lead to here. Boo thinks this must be the cabin the Mayor was speaking about.?

The ring of trees that sheltered the cabin seemed to stir agitatedly as they neared. And when Danika stepped over the threshold and felt the wave of rotting blood hit her, she knew that the forest hadn?t just been afraid.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter XII: When Shadows Point Thy Way

(Wheeee! Exams are over! . Well, okay, my Year 12 exams anyway... my Year 11 ones are still to come. But at least I have the freedom to write again, so here it is! I hope you enjoy )

Death doth know its master,
Life doth know thy day,
Complacence breeds disaster,
When shadows point thy way

Thy road might be of darkness,
Or scorched in havened light,
Yet all tread past the starkness,
Thy life-lorn, death-lorn sight
* * *

There were tracks. Wolf prints that faded with the light, but swung back again to ooze their way over the wooden floor when the clouds swallowed up the sun. If the cabin hadn?t already had the ghastly spell of wrongness hanging over its atmosphere, the prints would have done the job themselves.

Jaheira drew her lips back in a semi-snarl at the smell.

All but Danika and Minsc moved at that. Yoshimo stepped back a few paces from the druidess, wariness cloaking his every step. Aerie shrunk herself in pale-eyed fear. Geraint moved his hands up to his belt, but Jaheira subsided. Danika and Minsc didn?t bat an eyelid; they had seen the wolf and the bears within for too long.

And it wasn?t as if they couldn?t feel the oppressiveness. Pushing down her nausea, the Blade moved gingerly further in. The cabin was small and unpretentious, and she wasn?t sure if she felt grateful for that small fact or not. On the one hand, had it been larger, she would have felt swallowed up by the sickening feeling of shadows. On the other hand, since it was small, the prints kept flashing insistently everywhere she looked.

Leading to one room.

Together they moved, as cohesive as if they?d been but one creature. Hands at their weapons, almost unconsciously, they walked the few steps that matched the majority of the glowing wolf prints.

They rounded the corner, and Aerie screamed.

She wasn?t the only one who had a reaction. Danika Gorionova couldn?t help herself. At the sight, she leapt back and stumbled into Jaheira, whose hand thrust out to steady herself just as automatically. Unfortunately, this resulted in Minsc doubling over and almost knocking over the still stunned Aerie, who in turn pushed Yoshimo off balance. The only one left unscathed was Geraint. Nostrils flaring, he stood and stared at the scene in silence.

The ability to speak was the second thing that came back, right after the ability to run. Tensing herself, the Bard felt her voice thicken. ?Looks like we got our answer.?

When that didn?t warrant a reply, Nika glanced sharply out of the small window at the dying day and bit her tongue. ?It will be dusk in a few hours,? she said crisply. ?We?ve got t? get out of here.?

Time shook them out of complacency, and she was hardly surprised when no one objected. The place went against all natural instincts of self-preservation. With a clanking of metal, they were out of the door.

None of them noticed Geraint eyeing them critically before turning back inside.


The first step onto grass felt like they could breathe again. Jaheira shook her head as if she?d been in a daze, letting the air clear her head. ?That place smelt foul,? she spat. It could have been a trick of the light, but Nika could swear that her eyes were shimmering with sparse, golden flecks. ?I no longer doubt that something is wrong here.?

?Whatever it was, we shall apply the boot of goodness to its behind until it is gone,? Minsc said through uncharacteristically clenched teeth. ?Even Boo?s fur was affected by what happened in there! Look, see how it rises??

Nika spared a cursory glance towards the hamster. ?He?s not th? only one,? she replied roughly. ?But as I said before? it looks like we found out what we were looking for. There?s no way in hell that anyone could be even thinkin? about livin? in there without gettin? some serious cleanin? done.?

?Or maybe even an exorcism,? Yoshimo finally unclenched his hand from the hilt of his katana. He looked back, briefly, and his lips curled. ?On second thoughts, definitely an exorcism.?

The words covered them, Hid them. Made them strong again under what all of them had seen. They were people, after all. Even if they were a Bhaalspawn, a Rasheman, a Harper, an Avariel and a Bounty Hunter.


The forest seemed relatively benign now, even if the shadows fanned the uneasiness that wracked the group. It was ironic. Minutes ago she?d been straining to listen to them, now even their whispers of terror crawled into her heart. Still, they were just that. Whispers. Nothing like what she?d felt like doing once inside that cabin.

It was pathetic.

Beyond pathetic.

As Danika, the vaunted Bhaalspawn fled from a small cabin in the woods, she felt sick to her heart. Once again, she?d been too weak. Let the fear conquer her. It rose up like vomit in her throat. And then she realised that it wasn?t just fear, her body was actually rebelling, and she had to force down the bile.

It brought tears to her eyes. Almost snarling at herself, Nika dashed them into oblivion with rough fingers, not caring when she left her sclera dotted with red.

She had nothing.

No reason, no explanation, no understanding of just why the sight had spread the wave of revulsion through her body. She?d seen worse. She?d felt worse. She?d dealt worse. And yet, here she was.

Running away.

As her companions slowed their pace around her, their footfalls measured and strong, she paused for a second. Almost turned back.

And then her body twisted convulsively and she kept going.

She had nothing.

The fact that it had reminded her of Irenicus just wasn?t a good enough excuse.

* * *

?Geraint? tapped a slender finger on the wood and brought it back, sticky with blood. He shook his head. Honestly, he was disappointed. She was a Bhaalspawn. A Child of Murder. He?d seen it in her eyes that night, when she?d driven her blade through cold, dead flesh without spilling a drop of stolen blood. Seen it in her eyes inside the Slaver Compound, painted with fire and guts. He?d kept his ears open in the Copper Coronet?

He grimaced to himself at those particular memories. Fine, he?d kept his ears open most of the time when he wasn?t attempting to drink himself into an unprecedented stupor. Or acting like a fool. Still, when he?d kept his ears open he had occasionally heard whispers. Rumours. That he?d discounted when he?d met her in the flesh? she wasn?t quite how he?d pictured her, for one. Shorter. Sharper. Tireder.

Dumber. He snorted to himself as he prowled around the small room, taking in everything. The furniture was simple yet refined, speaking volumes about the ranger who had lived there. He ran an appreciative hand over the small table that looked to be her dining area. She had obviously spent a while constructing it.

Cormin shook himself. Great, he thought. Look who?s getting slack in his old age. The sarcasm surprised him, and he resumed his self-guided tour, only this time with a distinct sense of purpose.

Roughly scribbled notes in one drawer. A potion in the other. He pocketed both before briefly turning back to the places he?d already searched. Nothing. Taking a deep breath and ignoring its connotations, he stepped into the room.

Catching his breath yet again, his eyes flitted across the four walls like birds, matching the stains to his memory of the main area outside. He chewed his lip appreciatively. She had not gone down easily, it seemed. The first wave of attackers had been eliminated quickly, although not with ease. His gaze followed the story the blood told him. She must have run outside, limping probably, to her weapons cabinet outside. That explained the blood on the table. But the second wave would have forced her back into small room where she?d slept.

But there was no body.

Frowning, he walked over to the heaps of shadow that decorated the floor. He hadn?t noticed these before. Doubted the others had either. They blended in far too well with the darkness the sun cast.

He kicked one aside and almost gagged as a fresh wave of putridity hit his sensitive nose.
Well that explains the smell?

Fighting back the urge to vomit all over his boots, Cormin drew out a dagger and knelt by the side of the heap he?d kicked. Carefully, he flicked pieces away, separating the ungainly mass until he could see the individual components.

Rotting flesh. Grey, long hairs? fur. And specks of shadow. It was strange? unnatural even. Lumps of darkness that had no place in the clouded sun, that scattered and dissipated when his knife sunk into them. He?d only seen those before when he?d fought?

Oh.

Shadows.

So that?s what we?re dealing with.

He rose and surveyed the room. There were five heaps in total? she really hadn?t gone down easily. He could imagine her. A face that looked carved by winds, rough skin used to clasping an axe or a scimitar. He trembled, slightly, tempted for a second to fall into the reconstruction of the battle, tempted to trace his prey like the person he?d been?

The realisation dashed on him like cold water. Shaking, he brought himself back to the present. Alright. Five heaps, and?

Cormin shifted position, before stalking over to the spattered desk and taking in its contents. A well bound journal lay open, its pages filled with dried ink. Somehow, it seemed to have escaped the rain of death that filled the rest of the place. He carefully held up the parchment that half covered it to the light.

A map. Scrawled handwriting. A signature? ?Mazzy Fentan?.

The puzzle pieces clicked together in his head and he pocketed both, before striding quickly out of the cabin. There was nothing left to search, and he didn?t question the utter relief he felt as soon as he was out in the open once more.

Even if a part of him murmured in his mind.

He had nothing.

That he was out of practice was no excuse.

* * *

Danika Gorionova was incredibly embarrassed. The river gurgled happily as they stood on the grass, feeling the dying sunlight embrace their bones. The forest was behind them, the town was before them, and she couldn?t help but feel the blood rising in her cheeks.

?So? uh... let me get this straight. We?ve been walkin? half an hour, and none of us realised we?re a member short??

Minsc creased his brow. ?The elf is so quiet and shadowy when he is with us? we could well have lost him easily in this forest! Even Boo cannot be blamed for not seeing him.

Jaheira coughed. ?He has a point,? she admitted, a tinge of humour colouring her voice. ?One would think that Geraint has a natural aversion towards being conspicuous here, although with his clothing? I wonder if he realises wearing black only works at night??

Nika couldn?t help snickering at that. ?Oh please, someone tell him that an? make sure I?m there t? see his face, Anyway, we?ve got t? be decidin? what t? do now. We might as well be makin? the best use of what?s left of th? day.?

Yoshimo nodded. ?We have only eliminated one of the roads that the Mayor has informed us of,? he agreed. ?Perhaps we should split up??

At their inquiring looks, he fell back a step. ?Just to cover more ground.?

Nika considered him carefully. ?You have a point. We need t? be checkin? out those ogres, if I?m not mistaken. And perhaps investigatin? this whole Umar Witch business. Although??

She paused, and they all waited.

?Although I think you?d all be agreein? that what we saw didn?t exactly look like th? handiwork of your average witch.?

Aerie?s grip tightened on her staff, until her knuckles were almost white. ?I-I??

She hesitated briefly when their gazes all swung to her. ?I? when we were there??

As Aerie tried to collect her thoughts, Jaheira couldn?t help but grow impatient. ?Spit it out, child. Any leads will help.?

?I?n g-getting there!? Aerie couldn?t help but snap back. ?I-I was just about to say? when w-we were there, it d-didn?t feel like a witch.?

She closed her eyes briefly as questions began firing at her. Yes? it hadn?t felt like a witch at all.

?Hey, Aerie!? the Bhaalspawn snapped her fingers under Aerie?s nose, and the elf started. ?What?s this about feeling??

She swallowed, torn from her memory. ?I c-can?t be sure,? she admitted. ?But Uncle Quayle once taught me how t-to sense magic as part of my t-training. He used to s-say that sometimes knowing what had h-happened or what I was up a-against was better than walking b-blindly??

Jaheira snorted softly. ?The gnome certainly seems to have changed from when he was with us,? she muttered dryly to Nika.

Aerie continued, oblivious. ?And what I felt in that c-cabin? it didn?t f-feel like the Weave. It f-felt like something different. It wasn?t magic, it f-felt like energy.?

?Aren?t they the same thing?? Yoshimo queried, his eyes straying back to the woods.

?Not exactly,? she shook her head decisively. ?They are the s-same thing, j-just in different forms. But today, it felt like energy from o-out of this d-dimension, even.?

Jaheira looked at her, considering. ?Are you saying, child, that Quayle taught you Greater Psychometry??

Aerie nodded. ?H-he mentioned that term once or twice, s-so I suppose so.?

Despite herself, the druiddess was impressed. ?You have a gift,? she told her shortly.

The Avariel stared at her, before feeling the blush creep across her face. Praise from Jaheira! She?d have to file that away close in her heart for when she was feeling down. ?T-thankyou.?

As Jaheira, Nika, and Yoshimo turned away to discuss the nature of Aerie?s revelation, Aerie started when she felt Minsc?s big, callused hand come down to rest on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw his broad face smiling down at her.

?It should not come as such as surprise, little Aerie,? the ranger said gently. Boo ran up from wherever he?d been to sit on his shoulders, peering down at her knowledgeably with his beady eyes. ?Boo told me a long time ago that everyone has their talents.?

Aerie grinned shyly at the hamster and reached up a tentative hand to pet him. ?Boo is very wise.?

Minsc looked pleased. ?Yes, yes he is.?

The hamster squeaked and ran down the Rashemen?s arm to his hand, basking in the Avariel?s attention. ?H-he?? she hesitated, looking around Minsc to see the other three deep in conversation. Gathering her confidence, she ran her hand over Boo?s soft fur again. ?He?s so different from any other animal I?ve seen down here. The c-closest I?ve seen w-were the rats when? when I??

He carefully squeezed her shoulder, and the reminder of the contact seemed to save her from the tears that threatened to suddenly escape her. ?There are many beauties on the ground. Minsc has not seen them all, but it would be my pleasure, and Boo?s too, to show you some.?

She smiled gratefully. ?Thankyou, Minsc.?

The ranger opened his mouth to reply, when he was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. The two turned to see the Bard, gravity colouring her face a shade of grey in the coming twilight. ?Hey, you two. We just decided that we?re gonna be splitin? up t? talk t? th? ogres and th? Mayor, and findin? our erstwhile friend Geraint.?

The words were barely out of her mouth when a twig cracked purposefully behind her.

?That last will not be necessary,? he said calmly.

Jaheira walked towards them. ?How nice of you to join us,? she greeted him dryly. ?Did you think, perhaps, to inform us of your whereabouts??

He shrugged. ?I have information.?

?It better be worth it,? Nika told him darkly. He looked at her mildly, and she drew herself up to her full height. Which wasn?t much, but still. ?We?re a group, Geraint. You can?t be wanderin? off like that when we?re in the middle of some Godsforsaken dungeon or some other place.?

?My apologies,? he didn?t sound as if he meant it, and Nika?s half-scowl deepened. ?But I thought that you might like this.?

She caught the scroll as he tossed it, and even in the darkening light, they saw the narrowing of her eyes.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 10 November 2006 - 08:08 PM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter XIII: When Light Drifts Apart

(Another chapter up! I'm sorry for the long wait, but this was a chapter I had to struggle with... and I hope it makes some kind of sense as a result . But yes... *dances around ecstatically for a while* this is longer than usual, so I do hope that you enjoy If it *is* too confusing, please drop me a note too, because yeah, as always... a gal just wants to improve )

Cold granite at heart,
Cold paper on hand,
When light drifts apart,
Dark metes its demands


* * *

It was awe-inspiring. Death-defying. Inextricably mystical.

And kinda gross.

Her muscles expanded, grotesquely moving under bulging skin until one last human scream tore through Anath?s throat. And then, in a flash of blood and entrails she was gone, and a lithe, deadly werewolf stood in her place.
Silently, solemnly, they parted like the sea. She stalked menacingly amongst them, until she reached the Bhaalspawn. Eye-to-eye.

?I shall expect you there.?

The words were horribly twisted. Not just by the vicious teeth and the widespread jaws, but by a pain beyond imagining. Nika breathed? the wolf?s breath was still fetid with its last meal but she managed to look her back in the eye, back into the wolf?s golden irises without flinching.

After all, she had smelt blood on many occasions.

?An? I will be.?

Anath nodded. Sharply, shortly, and then she gave Nika one last, baleful look and loped out of the small cave.

The Bhaalspawn inhaled the mournful howl of lost family and steeled herself. ?Right then,? Danika said as calmly as possible. ?We?d best get goin?.?

They filed slowly out of the stone, and immediately gulped in the oppressive air around them. It had been like this since they had stepped into this godsforsaken place. The sun had been shining brightly when they?d left Imnesvale, but now it was shrouded by an unholy blight. Even without Aerie?s ability to sense magic, Yoshimo and Minsc?s faces were grim. Geraint flexed his fists. Jaheira scowled, and Nika?s eyes went frighteningly blank.

The one with Greater psychometry wasn?t faring much better. Aerie?s face clouded as the forest menaced their every step. It wasn?t just the shadows that the trees were casting that made her feel uneasy. It was the tingling feeling in her entire body, that set everything on edge. It was Merella?s cabin on a slightly less concentrated basis, and she was never sure when something was going to?

?Wolf!?

It was a sharp cry, and they swung around just in time to see Yoshimo swing his naked blade at a lone hunk of snarling fur. The beast leapt for his jugular, undeterred, and the bounty hunter dodged, before slashing at the wickedly arched claws. In all of two seconds, the rest of the party had mobilised around them. Four seconds, and Yoshimo was panting with adrenaline and Minsc was wiping off his sword.

?Only one,? Jaheira stared, revulsion flitting across her features before they hardened inexorably. ?I can understand why Anath was??

?Bloody pissed off?? Danika interjected wryly. Her eyes still hadn?t lost that blank look. ?If there?s one here, there?ll be more. The sooner we get t? th? temple, th? better. Everyone keep a sharp eye out!?

It wasn?t like she needed to say that. Aerie clutched her staff with nerveless fingers, the other hand grasping the hilt of the small dagger at her side for moral support. Oh yes, she was afraid. The shadows could probably smell it, coming off her in waves. Pure, unadulterated fear? not helped at all by the foul magics coursing through the air and the unnatural darkness that cloaked the place. She could feel her pulse throbbing in her ears with each jerky step, and wondered why the others weren?t stumbling.

They killed another two wolves before she realised. What had predators to fear from predators? Even Minsc? big, lovable Minsc was a predator here, carrying that two-handed sword like it weighed nothing. All of them. Predators by years of experience and honed hunts. All except for her.

She was more used to being prey.

Aerie wanted to slap herself. She knew it wasn?t helpful to be thinking like this, but in a way, it was so hard. She was alone in a party of experienced adventurers, and any day now they might regain their senses and tell her to leave.

And funnily enough, she didn?t want to leave any more. She?d tasted a hint of power now, and the Avariel was ashamed to admit it was enticing. There were even a few moments these days when she didn?t feel helpless.


She heard a muffled thud up ahead and a distinctive voice yelping curses and couldn?t hide the sudden smile. Perhaps she wasn?t quite alone. That thought sobered her as she thought. Danika Gorionova? predator and prey.

It wasn?t a secret any more. It shouldn?t ever have been. The second Aerie had laid eyes on the half-elf, she had felt something strange. It was what had made her believe them when the Bard had cockily assured her they could take care of themselves. It had been a cockiness that was forced, but still. They were different? she was different, and so Aerie had believed them. Now, she just had a name to that jarring feeling she got whenever she thought about her leader too deeply.

Bhaalspawn.

A Bhaalspawn? whose very shadow could make people tremble. Whose deeds spread like wildfire in every direction. Aerie looked at her own shadow now. It was barely noticeable amongst the sickening darkness that cloaked this place. But it was faint, and it was there.

Small. Frail. But impossibly tall.

She looked around inscrutably then. Minsc, so solid and brawny. His shadow was definite. Cast. Jaheira?s was there. But Yoshimo and Geraint? she didn?t want to think about the blackness there.

And? Danika?

Aerie was abruptly crashed out of her thoughts when she collided with Minsc?s broad back. Her confused mind searched for a moment. Why had they stopped?

?The temple,? Danika said softly, her voice carrying from a few meters ahead.

Aerie?s eyes snapped up, and she saw to her dismay that they were already there.

* * *

Their entry had been hard and brutal. Nika?d only had a moment of wrenched pity to spare as Anath fell, and then they?d immediately fallen into back-to-back formation as the shadows boiled around them. Ichor had bled from their blades until finally, something clicked into place in her head and the shadows had died screaming under the mirrored light.

She hadn?t meant to throw a smug look at Geraint. Honest. It?s just that hey? she could save the day too!

Danika Gorionova knew that she?d been infantile, but it didn?t matter now. Now, they were pacing the shadowed halls within. Shadow. Each dogged step followed by another? each slip followed by a curse and the struggle to regain her footing. She couldn?t count any more how many shadows they had killed. They just came, and they just fought. It was like the sewers all over again, except ten times worse. Even without the stink, the sewers had never made her flesh crawl. Well, perhaps a little. But certainly not like this.

Not this feeling. That someone was watching her. Words whispered in her ear, just barely past the realm of the audible, and she was torn between wanting to slap them away and straining to hear every syllable of taunting?

Shadow. She cursed herself. She should have known, she should have known that stepping in here would bring back memories. Memories of what, she didn?t know, but memories of something, because this all felt irritatingly familiar?

She scowled at herself. Dammit, I thought I was getting better! She?d always been one for severe mood swings, but since Irenicus? dungeon they?d taken on a different air. Nika shuddered as she scraped against a wall. It felt like claustrophobia was eating its way into her brain. Feeling trapped, she took a huge, deep breath.

There. That was marginally better. Even if the air she was breathing had the musky scent of decay, it was at least air. She was still jittery, though. Irritated. Right. Checklist? got to get Imoen back, got to kill Irenicus, wait, got to brutally kill Irenicus, got to get out of here as soon as possible.

And then there was the rest of it, the self-hatred that liked to curl around her neck and squeezed. Worst of all, she hated the fact that she wallowed in self-pity every time the memories of his dungeon threatened to surface. And hating yourself for hating yourself was just a bitter cycle?

?Bloody hell!?

Her voice rebounded through the tunnels, and the rest of the party turned to look at her questioningly. Blushing, she muttered a ?nothing? and again, she found herself attempting distraction.

Bloody hell.

Because again, the only thing besides her surroundings in her mind that she could semi-safely focus upon was him. The frustrating, irritating, fast-becoming-even-more-intriguing?

Speak of the devil.

?Are you alright??
The voice sounded strangely disembodied, and she turned her head with an effort to see Geraint regarding her with a strange look in his eyes.

?Why wouldn?t I be?? she chuckled hollowly. ?Yeah, I?m all hyped up and ready t? kick some shadow ass??

He inclined his head. ?That wasn?t what I meant.?

She glared at him. ?What did you mean, then??

She felt his eyes scanning her face, reaching deep through skin and bone and muscle to what lay beneath? and his look turned opaque. He moved closer. She stepped back. He moved closer again, and then ducked his head slightly until they were level. ?Pray tell, my lady,? he whispered softly, his eyes never leaving hers. ?Whose shadows do you mean to fight??

Her irises flashed. Was he mocking her? She stepped away again, scowling.

And then the silence between them deepened for a while. She wished that she wasn?t bringing up the rear alone with him, but it was safer for Aerie in the middle. Far ahead, she thought she could hear Yoshimo?s soft leather boots padding across the floor, but she knew it was her imagination. When the bounty hunter wanted to be, he could be as silent as the shadows they were hunting.

She wondered, briefly, if she could go up the front and experience that herself. To attack the enemy from behind, instead of facing the possibility of being attacked from behind. To see the shadows face-to-face, instead of being stabbed in the back. Danika?s palms grew sweaty, even in this cold, damp place. Goddess, what she would give to be able to search out every shadow. Feel their ichor stain her blade. Kill again and again and be in the hunt?

No. She was stuck with Geraint to protect their rear. And the worst thing was that she couldn?t find anyone to blame but herself. Strategically, they were the best pair available for the job. It didn?t mean she had to like it. Especially after last night.

?Where did you find these??

The parchment crackled like life in her fingers. The others had long gone to bed, and so it was only the three of them hunched around the small round inn table. Each with different agendas.

One was testing the waters.

One was testing the one testing the waters.

And the last just wanted some bloody answers. Amongst other things.

?Where do you think?? Geraint asked softly, his voice languorous in the air. Nika hid her scowl again as she watched his features shift almost imperceptibly.

?Just tell us,? Jaheira stated shortly, her words ringing hard and tired in the strange atmosphere that had been conjured up around them. ?I assume this was from Merella?s cabin? but the map??

There it was, the shift in his features again. Nika couldn?t help seeing it, even as she seethed inside. She wasn?t normally observant, that was for sure. But today? compounded by the maelstrom in her mind, she was, for lack of a better term, twitchy. Her eyes danced everywhere; nervously into the shadows, darkly into the stars, sharply into him. His mouth curved, and that was all before he spoke.

?You did not do a particularly thorough search of Merella?s room.?

Danika set her jaw and counted to ten for the twelfth time that hour. Even the memory set her teeth on edge. Damned arrogant bastard. She hated how he moved. Even now. So sure of himself. So confident. So?

Unafraid.

?Why did you believe her??

His voice came out of nowhere, and she wasn?t sure if this was his way of starting a conversation. ?What in th? nine hells are you talkin? about?? she queried.

?Anath,? he said shortly, brown eyes pinning her to the wall. ?She?s a werewolf. You believed her.?

?Point bein???

He swung around so that he faced her directly, and she suddenly realised how eerie he looked with each individual feature blacked out from her view. ?The point is, you trusted her. When she?d given you no reason to trust.?

Attempting to ignore the lethargy that had seeped into her bones, she glared balefully up at him. Listen, you insensitive jerk. You probably don?t know the first thing about mourning, otherwise you?d have felt it leaking out of her like blood.

How she restrained herself from saying what was in her mind would forever remain a mystery. ?I could feel it,? she said tightly, attempting to conceal the bite in her tone.

He regarded her. ?What do you mean by ?I could feel it???

?What th? bloody hell is this?? she snapped, her temper running short in the near-darkness. ?Twenty soddin? questions??

They had a moment. Later, she would wonder what would have happened if they hadn?t interrupted, but his eyes had been burning painfully into hers and she still couldn?t put her finger on why he was acting like this. Every time she tried, he?d slip out and do something different, and she hated it. But that unmistakeable hunger in his look had to be left uncontested as she heard Jaheira?s staff crack on stone up ahead. ?Shadows!?

Her mind went into fight-mode. There were eight of them, this time. Four behind, four in front; appearing from nowhere in the darkness like sickened nothingness. It seemed like the bridge they were walking on had been designed for ambushes. Swinging her two blades carelessly (for variety) the Bhaalspawn killed. And, for a brief minute there was nothing but the battle.

Dodge. Kick, Snarl. The blood welling from her arms and stomach came as a relief. She actually laughed, briefly, before diving below its arm and crunching her blade through nothingness.

And then, there was a surprise.

A shadow leapt out of nowhere at her. And this time, it wasn?t just a faceless mass, with burning pinpricks that somehow passed for eyes. For a second, for a second she thought she was looking into a mirror?

And then the shadow was impaled on her blade, and the vision melted. It was just a shadow. A trick of the light. Danika couldn?t possibly have seen herself in those eyes?

And so she laughed again, afterwards, as they kicked the shadow carcasses over the edge to clear their way. A strained, false laugh that sliced up her ears. Laughed, to try to force the jittery feeling away of eyes underneath her skin.

She did not catch Geraint?s abrupt glance as they moved on, nor did she register the hand that steadied her when she almost fell.

She snorted. ?That room wasn?t beggin? to be searched.?

?On the contrary,? he looked meaningfully at her and she wasn?t sure whether to get more angry or just marvel at the fact he was talking. ?It was most important. This information will lead us straight to these shadow wolves.?

Nika opened her mouth for some pointless arguing, but Jaheira cut her off before she could. ?I have to agree that the map, journal, and letter are valuable??

Golden flecks sparked in her eyes again. ?Although I do not envy you what you must have endured to find it.?

?It was not ?endurance?,? he replied coolly. ?Merely getting the job done.?

The look he flicked towards her that time was almost daring. Goading. Nika?s eyes flashed and secretly, he smiled.

The lie slipped from her lips before she could control it. ?I wasn?t afraid.?

?Really?? his face was so coldly amused she wanted to break it. ?My apologies.?

They?d moved on, and the glow from the lava had brought warmth back into her chilled bones. But now she was cold again. Danika hissed. It felt low, like a growl in her throat as bone went flying. The Lich was struggling; Geraint, Minsc, and Aerie all concentrating their respective blows. The shadows on the side were being slowly broken down by Jaheira and Yoshimo, the latter matching them in their stride as he faded in and out of them with his ever-gleaming katana. So it was just her and her blades and the mountain of bones and leering canines.

She?d fought well at the start. Knocked off a couple of ribs. But then it had happened again, and as the skull had leapt towards her, buoyed by a wave of decay, she?d seen her reflection in those empty sockets?

Again! Nika stumbled from shock and tiredness. Her mind was playing tricks on her, it had to be. The skull grinned, and its bones were covered by flesh. The face was Imoen?s.

Danika screamed, but the others couldn?t help her. Not when she couldn?t help herself. She screamed, and the face of the bone golem changed back to her own, and then it was just a skull again.

So she tried to fight once more.

Normally, she wouldn?t have had a problem. The stoneskins melded to her like water, and she only bore minor scratches from their previous scuffles. If the Bhaalspawn had been on top of her game, the talons that were reaping air she?d recently vacated would already be dull and listless on the floor.

If.

It was her control that kept her. The mounting rage checked itself, pulsing and red-hot against her temples. She found herself standing, hands clasped to the side of the table as if it were a throat, and the world narrowed down until it was just her, him, and the table between them.

?If we?re going t? get there tomorrow, we?d best be goin? t? sleep.?

She turned, muscles still shaking, and walked into the darkness of her and Jaheira?s shared room. Away from the candlelight. Away from them. The druidess murmured a few words, and left shortly afterwards. And Geraint was left sitting there, feeling oddly regretful.

The temple. It had to be. There was something about the magic steeping the temple that was making her see those things. Danika shook her head again wildly, trying to clear her eyes, as the bone golem struck again. She dodged, barely. The talons ripped a laceration in her arm. She growled, and it felt like a wolf. But it was just show. She was dizzy, so dizzy with the white of the bones seared into the back of her eyeballs.

What she would give for sight?

Geraint?s eyes.

Danika?s head snapped up. Fire blazed. The mists fell away, she almost laughed. It was a pile of bones in front of her. A pile of bones already touched by death and no doubt warped by murder.

And Murder was something she understood

It wasn?t the particular thought, however that sent the tiredness, the strange ache and lethargy out of her bones. It was the memory of Geraint?s eyes.

There was hunger. There was feeling. Newly reawakened, and strangely like her. Fire. Danika Gorionova had always lived fire, and the embers within her were stirred by the thought. With a quick twist, she dodged underneath the talons and struck upwards, her blade seeking?

There. The skull rolled off the exposed spinal column. The ribs cracked under her force. Danika Gorionova stood and laughed for real as bones rained down upon her. Laughed as her ears roared, and then she spoke to the darkness. Because she knew it had been there, ever since they?d entered this godsforsaken temple.

?I know you?re there!?

Wind.

?I know you?re there!? she laughed again, feeling just a little crazy with it as she sipped her own blood from a cut on her lip. And then she was quieter. Just a little more assured.

?I know you?re there, and you can?t stop me any more.?

She walked out of the pile of bones, not even bothering to clear them from her path, and into the next room. Her companions looked on in stunned silence.

And somewhere, a god long dead mused on the result of yet another test of one of his Favoured.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 07 December 2006 - 03:21 AM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter XIV: Mirror, in Mirror
(I am incredibly sorry I again have had such a huge break... so I decided to write a Christmas special. . Well, it's more that it is incredibly long and has a few answers to some questions as promised but yes.
I'm afraid it's a little rough, but hopefully I can come back and rewrite some of it. Until then, everybody have a Merry, Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays!) and I hope you enjoy.

If, perchance, you happened to glance,
Towards your reflection exacted,
How would you know, the image that glowed,
Was not a mirror, in mirror, refracted?

* * *

Cormin

It was difficult to stop looking at her.

The snarl echoed through my chest at the thought. I stood up straighter. I could almost feel my gaze tighten, and I battled to keep my emotions in check.

She was up ahead, now, talking to Aerie and that Halfling. Mazzy.

And I was doing it again.

The realisation burned me. I was angry. It felt different from what it used to be, though? I remember when anger used to taste of burnt ash and steel. I remember when it used to overwhelm me, until I learnt to keep it in control. That was anger for the outside. My anger for the inside had always been slower. More corrosive. Icy in its hatred. And I knew it was the latter that was affecting me now, but it was almost prickling. Like nettle. Scouring my skin. I wanted to scratch it, but I knew that even if I dug through to sinew and tendon, it would not stop.

Her smile was real now. Real, as she smiled at some nonsensical thing the Avariel must have said. Fear wafted off that one in waves, but I wasn?t concentrating on her. I was concentrating on her. The Bhaalspawn. The Bhaalspawn who was smiling.

It had been different before. Strained. Before the fight with the bone golems, she?d smiled, but it had been empty, like a mask. I wonder what she?d been thinking about. There had been a brittleness to her I hadn?t thought was possible. But now? I could imagine the muscles moving, shifting upwards under the skin as she laughed.

I?d seen the muscles of a face before, bare save for the blood. The muscles of a face after the skin had been peeled away, to leave bone and flesh and?

I halted abruptly. To have her smile stripped away to be like that?

I was glad at that moment that I was bringing up the rear. Bile began rising through my throat, and instinctively I leapt into the last room that we?d cleared out, holding it in. It boiled up my chest as I traced my way through the passage until it led me to my destination.

I reached it with seconds to spare.

And then I emptied my stomach in the lava pool. Hard. Long. Bitterness flooded my mouth and teeth, dripped out of my lips. I heaved and retched until everything was gone, and it was only when I was wiping away the last remnants in disgust that I remembered I hadn?t done this for? god.

I rested on my haunches and looked in distaste at the remnants, even as they burned in the magma, sending up an acrid smell. One and a half centuries. I closed my eyes and rested against the wall.

Mother?

An expletive flew from my mouth. No! I was not going to do this! Not here. Not now. Not ever, if I could choose! I picked myself up and traced my way back as quickly as I could. Before someone noticed. Before I gave in.

When I saw her, Mazzy, and Aerie?s hair flash up ahead, I knew that I was safe. No one had noticed. As to the other? I checked myself. Until I realised what had happened to bring about the unprecedented.

She was insufferable.

The Heroine of the Sword Coast. The sunstone still shone brightly from her pack, like light diffused through water. I took a brief moment to marvel again at its craftsmanship. Layers of old magic upon new layers, segued together by ancient sonorous chanting of the Sun God. I had always enjoyed the stories of Amaunator.

The only thing that you carry from childhood, murderer.

I ignored the voice, but it hurt. Hah! It was amusing how I did that. I fingered my dagger. We killed shadows as we walked from one side to the other, travelling deeper into this godsforsaken temple. I ached. Why was it that any attempt at conversation always seemed to die, with me? I could not talk to Yoshimo. He was busy up ahead, scouting. I could have helped him, but I was needed here. With the way that she and Aerie were talking, a lone shadow could have actually had a chance.

I pictured the idea. A lone shadow against a vaunted Bhaalspawn? It would hardly seem possible. Perhaps I was being disparaging? Perhaps. But she was unorthodox. There was sharpness and wariness in her gaze, certainly. But even an idiot would if they?d been hunted for a few years.

Hunted.

She was different from other Bhaalspawn I had seen. I had met. Tobias had been out of control. Deemark could have passed for normal, if it hadn?t for that look in his eye when he killed. Althyr had been colder than I. That had been an experience, to be sure. Duelling with one such as she had been most? disturbing. Rewarding in some ways, yes. She?d carried a dagger and a letter that I still kept hidden in a safe place. She?d also carried pride and skill and grace, and it had been these that I?d respected her most for when I?d knelt over the dust that had been her body. Staying there until the sun rose. The tang of blood sharp in my nostrils, the feeling of it sticky on my fingers. It was as if I?d tried to absorb her agility, her intelligence, her experience by merely staying there, her death vigil.

The dust must have, picked up by the wind, driven itself through my chest. The others? had merely lain there. Worn. Dead. Deader than dead, even. Just empty, physical husks.

She? She switched, turned, melded. She was alive. I had no doubt that if she died, her dust would also fly in the wind?

There she was again. Laughing as she killed. Not Tobias? crazy, hysterical laughter either. Just a strange, almost self-mocking laughter that still managed to make my hands warm. I stabbed the last shadow in what would have passed for its eye, and it was over.

How interesting.

This time, she was the one looking.

?What?s up, Geraint??

That name. I was beginning to hate it, but I couldn?t bring myself to change it now. As long as I remembered who I was, it was alright. Really.

? wasn?t it?

?I am perfectly fine. Why would you think otherwise??

There it was again. Why did I sound so stilted, even to my own ears? I winced, and damn her, she noted it.

?Look,? her hands framed her hips. It was an interesting position, given that her katanas curved inwards to meet at her shoes. She looked deadly in the small amount of light that somehow managed to filter through. ?Just tell me what th? hell is up, would you? I?m gettin? tired of th? whole ?I?m-dark-and-broody-and-mysterious? thing.?

Dark-and-broody-and? what? I blinked. I hadn?t heard what I thought I?d heard, had I? What an odd?
I opened my mouth. I snapped it shut and opened it again. ?Dark-and-broody-and-mysterious?? I questioned. Then a memory floated back to me and I couldn?t help but smile. It must have seemed too much like a smile from Cormin, because she almost stepped back.

?Isn?t it?? I thought back again to where I had heard it. ?I thought general consensus was ?tall, dark, and handsome?.?

She opened her mouth. And shut it. And opened it again. I grinned. Then stopped.

What the hell had I just said?

She glared at me. Then her lips quirked. ?I? Selune! You actually know stuff??

Yes. Insufferable. ?Of course I know ?stuff?, my l??

She glared at me. Again. ?Complete that word and forfeit your ass.?

I was startled. ?Forfeit my? what?? How??

She rolled her eyes impatiently. ?If you?d finished that sentence, I swear? I would have kicked you.?

My eyebrows must have met my hairline. ?Somehow, I doubt it.?
The words hung in the air, and I felt cold. Instead of opening her mouth to reply, like I?d expected, she stopped and looked at me. Measuring. A nonexistent breeze stirred the hairs at the back of my neck as I knew whatever she was seeing didn?t add up right.
?So,? I said abruptly. ?What was up with you before??

?What do you mean by before??

She watched me through suddenly hooded eyes. ?What th? hell do you mean??

My body relaxed again? as much as it ever could relax, that is. ?You know exactly what I mean,? I bit my tongue gently, amused. ?Your laughing act before. The challenge shouted out to the air. I am not blind.?

The shadows pressed around us as our footsteps dulled into the stone. In that small moment, I was aware of the incongruity of the small bead of sweat on her forehead and the flush in her cheeks. ?Then I?m surprised you haven?t figured it out,? she snapped.

I know you?re there and you can?t stop me any more!

The words hung from my lips. They tasted like frost, and so I swallowed them back. Only to blurt out my thoughts from before. ?You aren?t like any other Bhaalspawn I?ve met.?

At hat, she swung around to look me directly in the face. ?An? I suppose you?ve met enough t? know whether they get periodic bouts o? weirdness from dear old Daddy??

Her gaze unnerved me for a split second. And so I babbled. There was something about her that made my guard spring up twice as strong, and yet fall to the ground, useless. ?I? I don?t know. I think Tobias always had him. Maybe Althyr too. Definitely when I killed her. And? Deemark. I? I guess that yes. They did. But not like you.?

I rose to meet her eyes. Perhaps for the first time ever, I actually looked into them properly... and my body wavered between the need to step back and the urge to step forwards. ?They were never like you.?

She cut into me. Left me bloodless. ?Then tell me,? she said sharply. ?What kind of person you are to duel with Bhaalspawn??

I wished, then, that a shadow would come. Anything to break the question, anything to give me an escape. I wet my lips with my tongue. ?I will not bring harm to you, I promise.?

?How do I know that??

My limbs were jerky as I brushed past her and kept walking. The others were ahead, now. We needed to catch up. I expected her to toss me off with a smart comment, or hew in deeper with something else. After all, her voice still hung in the air, vibrating with an ugly power that made me want to vomit again.
Instead, she seemed to have bitten her tongue as she drew up to my side and regarded me. It was uncomfortable to have her eyes on me. I didn?t like the way they looked as if they wanted to search for something. To search for something within me was?

I swallowed. Looking for a word.

?Unadvisable.?

I didn?t realise I?d said it out loud until she looked at me, quizzically. My body tensed, muscle after muscle. I needed to find another word. Perhaps widen my vocabulary while I was at it.

?Unadvisable?? she cocked her head to one side. It made her hair flow down so that I could see the skin of her neck. It was pale, and yet strong. I could see the pulse throbbing steadily there.

?I?m sorry,? I apologised quietly. ?It slipped out. I? was thinking of something else.?

I shouldn?t have said that. ?What were you thinking of?? she queried.

I was tempted to give her the truth. Incredibly tempted. It was? oddly, what she deserved, trusting me in this way. I couldn?t? I couldn?t think of many people who would have. Then again, that could have said more about me than her, but still.

?It wasn?t much, It?s just I??

Thankfully, we were interrupted.

?J-Jaheira sent me back down to t-tell you t-two to h-hurry up. T-there?s another b-band of? liches and even a d-demon up ahead.?

Her head snapped up. ?A demon, eh??? she grinned, and then rubbed her hands together. ?Well then. Time for some fun!?

I watched her back as she walked ahead. There was no doubt about it. She was insufferable.

* * *

Danika

I whistled. Quietly, of course, but Jaheira still sent a sharp look in my direction.

?So that?s what a soddin? dragon looks like,? I said softly. ?Bloody hell. It?s big.?

?Well, honestly,? she harrumphed at me, but I could taste the laughter in it. ?What did you expect, child? A squirrel??

Aerie giggled, half-nervously, half-hysterically. ?I-I c-could always p-polymorph it into one.?

I smirked. ?Yeah, it?d be th? toughest squirrel we?ve ever faced.?

I saw the darkness behind the dragon move, and then Yoshimo and Minsc were sneaking back towards us as Aerie and I fought back laughs at the ridiculousness of the idea. Before any muffled snorts could escape us, I felt Jaheira?s hand fist firmly at the neck of my chainmail and haul us backwards into the passage. The door creaked shut behind them.

?The room is almost a perfect circle,? Yoshimo whispered. His hand shook slightly as he gave me back the wardstone, but I?d bet that he would never have admitted to it. ?The dragon is right in the center.?

?Boo says this type of dragon drains,? Minsc walked back to his armour in the corner and began strapping it on. ?We should be very, very careful when kicking its butt.?

I looked at both of them sharply. ?Well? Do you reckon we can be takin? it??

The distinct lack of an answer made me sigh.

?Alright,? I turned around to the rest of them. ?Hands up who?s actually bloody fought a dragon before.?

Mazzy stepped forwards. ?My party and I have faced one of these wyrms before,? she informed us crisply. ?They are hard to kill.?

Well no duh. ?Jaheira??

?Aye,? she nodded. ?One.?

?Anyone else?? I hedged.

I wasn?t the least bit surprised when Geraint shrugged his shoulders. ?Just the one.?

?Sweet,? I rubbed my hands together, not sure whether I sounded sarcastic or not. ?So? What?re your thoughts on th? damn thing??

?Long distance,? Jaheira and Mazzy said almost simultaneously. ?One or two fighters near the front to keep it distracted, and then long range with spells and missiles.?

Well that was descriptive, I thought. I mean, honestly. ?Anythin? else? What about it?s soddin? attack??

?The fighters will have to be wary of the drake?s wings,? Geraint offered. ?And it?s breath. It will try to use both between claws and crushing. The frontline will have to be strong.?

My blood boiled as he caught my gaze on the last word. Soddin? arrogant bastard. ?Fine, Geraint an? I will take th? frontline. The rest of you pelt it with stuff. Aerie, I want you t? be??

?Wait, Danika,? Jaheira interrupted me. ?Are you sure that is wise? Wouldn?t Minsc be a better choice for the frontlines??

Minsc nodded, and I could see the muscles cording up in his arms as he began sharpening his sword. ?Although we have not fought a dragon before, Minsc and Boo would gladly take on this one! Little Danika should stay behind to ready her spells and arrows.?

I gritted my teeth. Dammit, I knew they meant well, but I couldn?t shake it now. ?Look, I can soddin? handle it. We?ll be needin? you for something else, Minsc.?

At the sudden rush of enquiries, I balled my fists together. Come on girl. You can do this. Taking a deep breath, I stilled my fidgeting and stared around the circle until they fell silent.

?Look, guys,? I spread my hand out. ?I?ve got a plan.?

* * *

Dragons are frickin? big.

Don?t let anyone tell you otherwise. They bloody tower over you. Doesn?t matter how tall or short you are, the dragon?s still gonna be one heck of a lot bigger.

Too bad I only realised it properly when I was almost directly underneath it.

The wardstone hummed beneath my fingers, and I gripped it tighter. I saw the shadows move, and then Geraint glided out of them, into position. His eyes connected with mine across the gap. Dark, with glints of? something unsettling. Flexing his fingers, he inclined his head sharply towards me. We were ready.

Crouching down, I began to whisper, feeling my hands grow hotter and hotter until I saw my entire, stone-encased body blur beneath my sight. Opposite me, I saw Geraint do the same and I frowned. I had to grit my teeth sometime, set him aside, and ask him what the hell his capabilities were. Or else he?d keep surprising me. And in the middle of a battle, surprise was never a good thing.

I studied the wardstone itself as I waited for everyone to get into position. As the first rush of Jaheira?s magic entered my body, I traced the minute, silver lines snaking across the blackness of the stone. It felt like shadow in my hand. It matched the colour of the dragon?s scales above me, and I wondered at its power to stop the damn thing from noticing us when we were almost right on top of it.

And then? right? there?

A single arrow whistled through the air, followed immediately by three sharp bursts of magic. As the dragon reeled in surprise, I dropped the wardstone and lunged forwards with my katana, parrying the claws that came down on me with the longsword. Across from me I saw Geraint lodge a sword in its side and then leap impossibly into the air to land feet-first on its back.

?What?!? the dragon roared. ?Do you puny mortals really think??

I stopped listening. Its voice reverberated through my body, through the entire room as I slipped under its claws.
Don?t stuff up, don?t stuff up, don?t stuff up, don?t stuff up?

I dodged under the claws again, just narrowly as the head snaked down towards me and roared. The adrenaline coursing through my veins made me fast. Blurring, I twisted and shoved my sword deep into its body.

It bellowed. ?When I am done, all of you shall be?? On cue, I heard the twang of Mazzy and Minsc?s bows, and the low chanting of Jaheira and Aerie. Thick dragon blood coursed down my blade as I yanked it out, skidded under another flailing claw, just in time to see Yoshimo strike down viciously.

A dragon leg stomped down viciously inches from where I was. Leaping aside, I caught a glimpse of Geraint riding high on the wing, hacking at it, and grinned. Everything was going perfectly?

The dragon?s head snaked down at me again, fast and furious. Just as I leapt up to try to avoid it, one of the wings caught me.

I flew through the cloud. Hit the wall. Felt my lungs constrict, felt my skin shatter and my swords fall to the ground. Heard another bellow. Felt pain slash through me. Come on Minsc, come on, come on?

A lone arrow flew through the air and hit it directly in the eye. Screeching, the dragon flailed, and its wings buffeted me further into the wall. I watched Jaheira and Aerie skid across the floor through clouded eyes. Watched Minsc tumble and heard his armour crunch. Watched Geraint, as he tried to hack through a wing, get tossed and hit the ground at a painful angle. Saw Yoshimo flung towards him, until they landed in an ungainly heap at Aerie?s feet. Saw the dragon round on them viciously, acid and shadow pouring from its mouth to envelope them all. ?Time to perish, manlings!"

?Noooo!? the sound leapt from my chest. Fear wrapped me, suffocated me, and I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the stabbing pain. ?Oi, fangface!? I shrieked. ?Over frickin? here!?

Dizzily, I watched as it turned away from Aerie, Yoshimo and Geraint and towards me. It bared its teeth, dripping with acid and shadow, and then snaked towards me as I tried to keep my feet. Oh yeah, I could do this.

?Yeah, that?s right!? I screamed, terror lacing my voice. ?Soddin? come an? get me!?

Recognition gleamed in its eyes. ?It shall be a pleasure to kill you, Bhaalspawn."

I saw Jaheira at the corner of my eye, her face white, her eyes closed, and felt my chest constrict. Keening, I leapt forwards to meet it as it lumbered ridiculously quickly towards me. Slashing, parrying, lunging? every strike jarring my shoulder as my blades sparked off the scales. I felt the red fog cross my eyes, and when I thrust my katana forwards, it hit air.

Disoriented, I stared. Where the hell was it? Then from above, I saw the head descending yet again, its jaws belching open?

I screamed. Screamed as acid and shadow ate into me, and then as its teeth caught in my side and tossed me up like a ragdoll. Striking blindly, I slashed and stabbed deep into the solidness beneath me. My armour buckled under its fangs, and I didn?t even bother to wonder why I hadn?t been bitten in two yet. Instead, I struck again and again until the dragon and I screamed in unison, and I felt a sharp, stinging pain as its breath ate away at my skin.

Dimly, I heard sounds and shouts below me. Heard Jaheira?s gasping wail as she finished another spell, heard dull thuds of more arrows and felt the hacks of Minsc?s sword shudder through the dragon?s body, and therefore through me. Blood clouded my eyes. My voice tore through my throat in an endless scream. It echoed off the stones around us. In a frenzy, I kept stabbing. Down, down, down? let go? let go letgoletgoletgo?

I felt more blood, thick and ropey, spew from my mouth and chest to course down my body. I felt sick with it. My arm moved of its own volition now. Stabbing down, again and again through the scales; hearing screams rip from my own body and the dragon. Seeing the one whole, undamaged eye glaring down at me as the pain overtook me.

Then I was flying.

Falling.

The death shrieks of the dragon ringing in my ears.

The ground coming up to meet me.

I wondered what it felt like to become dust.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 24 December 2006 - 05:59 PM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter XV: Alive are the Dead

(An extra long chapter here for the wait! Well hey... it seemed extra-long to me when I was writing it... I hope you all enjoy this one... I enjoyed writing it. )

Light in the mirror,
Dark in the storm,
Like knowing like,
As shadows are torn

To reveal what?s been hiding,
A shudder, a shred,
?Tis far more than nothing,
When alive are the dead.

* * *

Perhaps, Aerie reflected without a hint of conscious snideness, there was something to be said for Jaheira?s anger? when it wasn?t being directed towards her. The mystery that was Cormin has always frightened her, true, but at the moment Aerie almost felt like pausing to enjoy the scene that was unrolling just a few meters away.

Instead, she carried on checking Danika?s wounds checking that all the acid had been neutralised. Mazzy, to the left of her, was likewise still busy; ripping bandages for everyone else and glancing curiously at Minsc and Boo, who seemed to fascinate her. Minsc and Boo themselves were trying, with some modicum of difficulty, to undent the plate mail armour that had been painstakingly wrenched off the ranger?s gasping chest. And Yoshimo? he was kneeling by the quickly whipped up fire, on the pretext of sharpening his gleaming sword.

Danika, of course, was still blessedly unconscious. But as for the rest of them, their busy hands only just managed to hide their burgeoning curiosity, tinged with not a small amount of schadenfraude.

Because Jaheira was pale with anger.

?You challenged her? You challenged her?!?

Cormin squirmed. ?Not really? I? uh??
In the face of her wrath, the cool, calm, collected, Cormin the Bloody was completely defenceless.

?Look,? Jaheira exhaled violently, trying to contain her rage. ?You might have heard the condensed version of our history, but I will tell you now that we have travelled together for three years. It does not sound like much, but I made a promise and now she is my ward.?

Cormin raised his head slightly, like a rabbit checking for danger signs, and then just as quickly ducked back down again as her eyes went flinty. Danger! Danger!

?So tell me,? Jaheira almost snarled. ?What happened??

Cormin had faced many, many things in his life. A lot were more frightening than this, but somehow he felt his lips clam up and his arms begin shaking, and it certainly wasn?t a post-adrenaline surge. ?It was not exactly a challenge,? he attempted weakly. ?And as I said previously, I?m not completely sure that her? uh? actions were a direct, or even indirect result of my words. In fact, perhaps they were completely unrelated??

Yoshimo had to conceal a snicker with a well-timed cough as all the air in the huge, circular cavern somehow simultaneously dropped several degrees in temperature.

?Geraint? what happened??

Cormin swallowed and thought quickly. The truth? the real truth would likely see him single-handedly lynched. Besides, he wasn?t entirely ready to divulge his secret yet? even to himself. ?It was a carry on from our card game,? he lied smoothly. ?Just some more? dares.?

If Jaheira hadn?t had more control over herself, she would have been tempted to haul the elf in front of her up by the collar of his clichéd black and silver shirt and shake him. However, she was wise enough to know that his irritating reflexes would probably get in the way of that strangely attractive prospect, and so she merely sighed. ?Geraint, how old are you??

It was well that he was caught off guard, because otherwise she wouldn?t have gotten the truth. ?Two hundred and twenty-three,? he replied automatically.

Aerie and Mazzy?s eyes widened a fraction just as Jaheira began swearing. Minsc and Boo nodded towards each other. Yoshimo actually fell over, and only a stroke of luck saved him from marring his natural charm by sending him face first into the fire.

Geraint opened his mouth and his fingers reached out unconsciously as if he wanted to snatch the words back.

?Two hundred and twenty-three?? Jaheira snarled, her hackles rising after she?d finished swearing. ?Silvanus! Have you considered, Geraint, that Danika, for all her worldly experiences, is still only twenty-three herself? If you are really over two centuries old, elf, start acting like it!?

There really wasn?t much he could say to that without angering her further, his rational mind told him. So why was it that he ignored that part of him and instead blurted out something completely unrelated?

?How long will it take Danika to be well enough to take on the Shade Lord?? he asked softly.

Funnily enough, that could have saved him. ?What??

He cleared his throat. ?I?m sorry, Jaheira,? he said stiffly, the words sticking to the top of his mouth. ?I did not know that this would happen. But I also know that we probably cannot afford to waste time??

His words had the intended effect on her. Her eyes sharpened, and she cast around abruptly, taking in the situation. ?We?d better rest here then,? she decided. ?The dragon didn?t fall easily, after all.?

Cormin breathed a quiet sigh of relief, but unfortunately that didn?t go as unnoticed as he?d hoped. ?You,? growled Jaheira. ?You and I will have a talk when Danika is conscious.?

?When will that be??

Her eyes hardened, quite perceptibly. ?I don?t know. We still don?t know to what extent she may have permanent damage after such injuries. There is only so much that Aerie and I can do.?

His mouth had suddenly gone dry. ?What is? what could???

The druiddess thinned her lips. ?The worst? Well, the worst is that she might not wake up at all.?

* * *

He waited until they were all asleep. It was surprisingly easy, given that he had leapt at the opportunity for first watch. He was not disappointed when he slipped out of his sleeping roll to check on his companions. Just as he began preparing, however, he was proved wrong in his assumptions.

?W-what?? there was a pause, and then the distinct sound of someone gently clearing their throat. ?What are you doing??

He was surprised. He had expected Jaheira, certainly. Or even Yoshimo. But not Aerie, the Avariel that looked at him as if he were a creature of the night to be feared and despised. Perhaps he was, but that wasn?t necessarily the point. He crouched still for a moment, gauging the situation. ?What do you think?? he finally asked.

?You?re going to fight the Shade Lord,? she said wonderingly, crawling a little closer. Her blonde hair was muted in the darkness. Then she seemed to catch herself and look at him again. ?Either that, or you?re going to betray us all.?

He inclined his head. ?It is the former. And where has your stutter gone, fearful one??

Aerie stood up, then, and her graceful figure seemed different somehow as she looked down on him. He remained crouching, waiting. There were more things afoot, he decided wryly, in this little band of adventurers than in half the Courts of Toril. He had forgotten, it seemed, the little things. The realm of politics was grand indeed, but the vital thread that could snap the entire web was often ridiculously easy to find, and even simpler to sever. People, though, were a little more complex. Something he?d always known, but found himself continually being reminded of.

?I d-don?t know,? she replied oddly. ?But t-there, it?s b-back again. I suppose I was c-channelling N-nika for a moment.?

?I doubt it,? he replied dryly. ?There would have been a lot more swearing. Now that you have caught me at my game, however, what do you plan to do??

?Y-you?re insane,? she stated after a bit of thought.

He felt a rare smile trace his lips. ?Not really.?

?You are,? she shook her head, decided. ?But p-probably not in the way you t-think I mean. But take Mazzy and I with you.?

?What?? he hadn?t expected that, his eyes shone wide. He recovered quickly, however. ?No.?

?Why not?? she demanded, her whispers rising in volume. ?I won?t get in the way, I can just keep watch. And Mazzy can use her bow,? she hesitated, and lifted her chin again. ?B-besides, we owe her a chance with the Shade Lord after all he?s d-done to her.?

He had no good explanation for her, possibly because there wasn?t one. Resisting the urge to grind his teeth, he nodded.

She stumbled, her feet still caught slightly in her bedroll, as if she hadn?t been expecting him to acquiesce so easily. He smiled, his natural, secretive smile now that he was back in the normal world where Aerie was mortal. Rising gracefully to his feet, he held her eyes with his own. ?We only have a few moments. Wake Mazzy quietly.?

She turned immediately, and began picking her way through the corridor, careful not to disturb them. There was a strange solidarity between them, both elves, both strangely of this world and yet not in it. Cormin silently slid his daggers and knives back into their place, with nary a clink that could wake the others. He breathed in deeply, once, relishing for no particular reason the adrenaline that was now surging through him. Calm of purpose, he smiled again. It was coming easier now. He didn?t know why.

Ah, but he did. Cormin plummeted back to earth with a crash. He knew the reason all too well, and that reason was presently unconscious, still covered in her own blood. He let out a soundless snarl and jammed the last blade into his boot. Anger. Focus. The Avariel and the Halfling were making their way towards him now. He didn?t bother to wait for them to catch up with him; he merely began stalking towards the staircase they had determined led up to the Shade Lord?s lair, and the defiled Altar of Amaunator.


The women did not let him get away with his grand exit strategy so soon, however. Moving as quickly as possible, Mazzy made her way up to the warrior and laid a hand on his arm for attention. ?Good friend,? she whispered to the air. She showed no signs of having been asleep only a minute ago. ?Is this wise? I do not counter your decision, but??

He turned his brown eyes on her, revealing nothing in their depths. ?I can handle myself. I want you and Aerie to stay at the back with ranged. I? I feel a need to do some??

He groped around for the right word, cursing himself as he always did when such an occasion arose. He never seemed to run out of swear words, but the perfect word always eluded him.

Except for this time.

Perhaps it was just psychological, but Cormin suddenly straightened, and his old dangerous smirk twisted his lips. The adrenaline was back; bold and dangerous, and it was almost as if Danika herself was snickering in his ear.

?I feel a need to do some damage.?

Mazzy scrutinised him silently as they ascended the steps, the soft swish of Aerie?s robes behind them. Then she nodded, slowly. ?I understand,? she said, and there was some odd note of approval within her lilting tones. ?I ask only one thing. Patrick??

The look passed between them, warrior to warrior. Person to person. They had both seen things, dealt things that they regretted. And so he understood. ?Patrick is yours.?

?Thank you.?

After that, there was little time for them to speak. At first, the alluring scent of the night air was brief, almost teasing. But as they ascended, it grew stronger, until one more step put them out in the open, again, above the bowels of the temple beneath them.

Aerie would have fallen to the ground with a gasp at the feeling of such freedom, but at the last moment she contained herself. They had been caged inside the temple for so long? to be able to see the sky and breathe fresh air was like food after a week of starving. With a glance at her companions, she set her shoulders and moved on. Mazzy was walking forwards now, determination in her stride, and Cormin had melted into the shadows. Stumbling, she raced after them.

They stopped as the narrow pathway entered a glade. Fading back quickly, Cormin surveyed the situation sharply. The dark and heavy mists that had clouded the place hadn?t lifted, but they seemed slightly more tenuous; most likely as a result of the cleansing below. The viscous cloud of mist still left swirled thickly around the great slab of stone in the center, with the faded, mud-spattered statue of what was barely recognisable as a mute statue of Amaunator above it. The Shade Lord himself lounged right next to the altar, a crown of darkness on his head as he fixed his eyes on Mazzy amusedly.

He kept half an ear on their conversation as he kept assessing the soon-to-be battlefield. In this unnatural semi-blackness, it was difficult for him to see. But when he looked sharply to the far side, he vaguely made out shapes, swaying. He sucked in his breath.

?? I shall smite you!?

The night was alive, and screaming at the unnatural state. Nature itself was recoiling from the horror, the bushes and trees around the glade withered and dead. The army of shadows themselves stretched out, lost amongst the branches of the forest.

?Careful, my lady, you were to be my consort??

Even the drawling, mocking tones that seeped into his ears like poisoned honey did not dissuade him from the sudden fierceness that gripped his heart. Enraged, Cormin clenched his fists and tried to control himself.

?? Patrick,? Mazzy whispered, her voice full of longing and grief.

The darkness that had been love reached out to her chillingly. ?Join us??

And that was when Aerie rose. She gave no sound to her thoughts, but there was a mute fury in her eyes as she cried out the last words of her spell. Sheets of holy power blazed down from the sky, and a wave of unearthly shrieks chorused in response. With a startled oath, Cormin leapt aside too late. A strand of magic hit him on the arm? but left no mark.

Cormin only had a second to stare at his unbroken skin in shock before the waves of shadows were upon him. The sound of Mazzy and Aerie crying more magic rang sharply in his ears as he launched himself straight into the seething mass of darkness. And then there was just the fight. The feel of each smooth dagger as it left his hand to sink into the throat of an approaching shadow. The feel of living darkness against the skin of his knuckles and the pads of his fingers as he punched and twisted. The feel of each kick sinking deep into black and crimson eyes, and the sound of the Shade Lord?s high pitched laughter.
All augmented by the memory of a certain half-elf Bhaalspawn with a sardonic smile and a dancing katana.

A shadow suddenly sailed past his defences and drove Cormin?s own dagger into his leg. He shouted in pain and smashed it away, barely having time to rip the blade out of his leg and slam it into his next attacker before the shadows surrounded him. He was truly in the thick of it now, lost amongst the sea of screaming darkness, and for a moment? for one crazy, lost moment, he just wanted to lie down and sleep. He was at home in the blackness after all. It would be so easy?
But Aerie?s Holy Smite had not burned him.
Cormin tried to shake off the thought and kept on fighting, all too aware of the blood loss from his leg that was beginning to creep into the rest of his body. His movements slowed and his arms weakened. The tide was turning, and gasping, Cormin swore. This was not how he had planned to die.
Then why?d you come out here? a nasty voice whispered.
He was about to ignore it when suddenly, Aerie?s chanting rose to a shriek and a burst of light illuminated the heavens, cutting through the nauseous fog. It shone through the blaze of shadows, thinning their screeching ranks in a swathe of destruction and burning a direct path up to the Shade Lord?s throne.

Cormin didn?t stop to think.

With one last soaring kick, he leapt towards the Shadow, new strength pouring in to his veins so quickly he barely had time to breathe before he slammed into the dais, his last dagger outstretched. It was a perfect shot. To the Shade Lord, he had come from nowhere. A divine bolt of death. His red eyes opened wide in pure shock as he gazed down at the blade in his throat, as if he couldn?t believe in its presence. Grasping Cormin?s wrists tightly, he looked up into his killer?s eyes and tried to speak around the dagger.

To anyone else, it would have just been a dying gurgle. But their eyes were locked, and Cormin could not look away. And something in his eyes made the Shade Lord laugh. Laugh so hard that he split his own throat on the sharp edge of Cormin?s blade, and then faded away into nothing, leaving Merella?s gasping, dying body behind.

And so it was over.

Wearily, Cormin fell from the stone to the grass, clutching at his leg. He could have happily passed out then and there, but a distant noise shook him, and looking up, he saw the rest of the party, sans their leader, running towards them. He winced pre-emptively, but Jaheira?s rebukes even as she healed him sounded on deaf ears as the ranger smiled at him, answering the question in his eyes. ?The ruckus was enough to wake even Boo, and he was sleeping deeply. He still thinks you should not have gone without us, but this is a day that the bards shall sing of in times to come! How Geraint, Mazzy, and little Aerie revenged themselves upon he who commanded the dragon and hurt little Nika and??

?It would seem,? Yoshimo said carefully, interrupting Minsc with a half-apologetic smile, ?That by the looks of you, my friend, you have been fighting more than shadows this night.?

There was a harrowed, searching look in the bounty hunter?s face, and Cormin could not face it. Turning away, he saw Jaheira throw her hands up in disgust and disappear back into the temple. Mazzy, the strong, proud warrior lay weeping, holding a ring tightly in her clenched fists. The morning sun, barely risen, beat down upon her flaming hair. Cormin and Aerie shared a look.

?Aye,? Cormin finally said heavily, staggering to his feet and leaning against the altar for support. ?Shadows, demons, call them what you like.?

The stone itself seemed to be glistening, almost as if it was cleaning itself now that the Shade Lord had gone. Gently, wonderingly, his cynical fingers touched warmth, and he felt it spread. Before long, he felt another presence beside him, and Mazzy stood there, tears still shining defiantly on her face.

?So it is over,? she said softly. ?I should not have doubted your prowess earlier.?

He didn?t look at her, but with a great effort he pulled his fingers back from the stone. Immediately, he felt cold again. ?I? I was wondering,? he focused his eyes on his hands. ?Whether you might want to erect a memorial for your friends here. They? they were valiant. I?m sure Amaunator would not mind.?

Falteringly, wordlessly, Mazzy?s hands began moving of her own volition. Cormin turned away. His work was done here. What he?d decided to do the instant Danika Gorionova struck the floor with the dragon?s teeth still buried in her had been finished. But he didn?t feel as if it had. There was nothing but a strange hollowness in his chest, and he sighed heavily, turning to go back down to the temple.

And stopping.

Because there, walking unaided, looking very much as if she?d just gone through fifteen rounds with Bhaal with her hands behind her back and blindfolded, limped Nika, a glorious smirk on her face. As she walked into the open unaided, with Jaheira following behind, the sun touched her midnight hair, sending gloriously polished onyx sparks dancing over his eyes.

And Cormin felt his spirit soar.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 06 December 2007 - 02:19 AM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter XVI: Ripple

(Dear Goddess, has it really been so long? >.<;;.

First of all, I'd like to make with the extended apologies yet again. I know I'm not the best with updating frequently, and I really am sorry for that. This time, I do have the excuse of a hectic year, and also the grim foreboding that I probably won't be updating this fic too frequently for the rest of this year. That said, however, I have absolutely no intentions of abandoning this, it's a bit too much my baby for that So I hope that you'll bear with me, and that you continue to enjoy (and review!) this story. . Thank you all so very much for your patience.)

Ripple;
Water drops that fall and shiver,
Sending waves of quiet queries,
Until another wave answers,
And all is still,
With ripples.

* * *

Danika Gorionova slipped quietly out of Vincenzo?s inn, limping heavily as she turned in the direction of the moon. The air was cool and sharp against her cheek. Tilting her face up in the shadows, her eyes scanned the surrounds, searching.

Imnesvale was alight, but most of the villagers were inside. She couldn?t really blame them. Weeks of constant danger had stretched their nerves to breaking point, but now that they were safe, you could almost taste the feeling of relief in the air. She allowed herself a chuckle. Those few hardy souls who had grasped the idea of safety quickly enough to celebrate were presently at the inn, no doubt enraptured still by Mazzy?s tale.

The Bhaalspawn sighed, and then gave the night a half-hearted smile. It was usually her role. To shape their stories into words, to immortalise acts into song. But tonight, she felt so tired. A nasty gash still split open one side of her face, healing from the inside out as the last of the Shadow dragon acid fizzled. Her right leg was heavy and swollen with contusions, and as for her middle?

Jaheira and Aerie had been able to take the edge off the mortal wounds, to say the least. Nika grimaced, and set her sights on a grassy nook not too far away, surmounted by an almost comfortable looking boulder next to the whispering brook. At least everyone was inside, she reminded herself again. No one had to watch her clumsy movements, nor hear the muttered, colourful curses. A half-formed phrase from Vincenzo?s window drifted towards her, and she snorted softly. She certainly didn?t feel very heroic. More like something that a dragon had chewed up and then spat out.

She reached the spot with a quiet groan, and sunk down gratefully to rest against the rock. The world seemed to narrow down to this small, peaceful nook. She leaned her head against the grey hardness and closed her eyes against the starlight weaving through the clouds. The noise of the general revelry had died to a faint murmur, and with her eyes closed, the song of the night seemed to grow louder. Given a few minutes, she probably could have fallen asleep right there.

Except for the fact that her mind was racing at a million leagues an hour.

On second thoughts, she hoped that it wasn?t. A million leagues an hour would mean about 16,666 leagues a second, and if Imoen was really that far away? there were enough complications as it was.

?It always has to be complicated, doesn?t it?? she said out loud. A groundhog stirred in the grass at the sound. Shaking her head, she couldn?t help but laugh. It cut a wry, tired edge. ?It could never be simple. It could never just be? alright.?

The wind brushed over her skin and she suddenly shivered. Carefully, she hunched her legs up to her chest, as comfortably as she could with her right one still throbbing in pain. The dull ache of it only intensified the sharp taste in her mouth. She?d almost died. There was no escaping that fact. And sure, it wasn?t as if she hadn?t been in that position before. And she?d been in potentially deadly situations so many times that she couldn?t even be bothered doing the mental arithmetic anymore. Still, this had been more than a scrape with death; it had been more like a full-on body collision. Complete with shiny sparks and shattered rebounding.

Selune, she really didn?t want to think about that.

Daniika Gorionova shifted against the rock, and lost herself in the whirling water of the river. It was rare that she could grasp this little time alone for herself. Rarer still that she could enjoy it. But there she was. Her body was broken, her mind still rang with the memories of almost dissolving into dust. And yet? she could sit back, enjoying the solitude of the night for what it lent her.

Weird.

The half-elf laughed again, and then decided to stop thinking. Thinking in this mood would just lead down the path of melancholic badness. Thinking would lead her back to Imoen and almost dying and?

Maybe thinking in general was overrated.

* * *

?Has she spoken to you yet??

Cormin jumped, swore, and spilt his drink. The look on his face was so comical that Jaheira had to gently bite her lip to keep from laughing, but she recovered from her attack of mirth just as his hand stopped shaking. ?Wh-what??

The druiddess rolled her eyes, and casually leaned on the bar. In the background, Mazzy had finally moved on to detail their fight against the Shade Lord and his legions of the undead. ?Do not play obtuse with me, Geraint,? she said amusedly. ?I could see the two of you sneaking glances at each other halfway across the forest when both of you thought the other did not notice. And I know Nika well enough to believe that she is perhaps? feeling questioning. I certainly am.?

The elf?s jaw tightened slightly as his cheeks seemed to grow slightly hotter. ?Questioning?? he finally asked, deciding to respond to the least incriminating part first.

All hints of laughter dropped from her face at that, and Jaheira leaned closer in, her features seemingly growing even sharper as she deliberately leant one elbow on the bar to bring them closer. He swallowed and leaned back slightly, but she was unperturbed. ?Why?? she demanded quietly, and the quietness in her voice was perhaps what made his senses scream out in warning the most. ?Why did you go to face the Shade Lord by yourself? Who are you to have such prowess? And what are you doing travelling with us??

He had known it was coming. Still, it didn?t mean he was prepared to meet it calmly in the flesh. Carefully, he put his drink down, and looked the druiddess in the eye. Praying, praying, to someone or something that he wasn?t sure even existed, that she could not see.

?I cannot answer those questions,? he said simply.

It happened just as he knew it would. Jaheira?s eyes contracted in silent fury. ?What do you mean?? she snapped. ?Silvanus, Geraint! You cannot expect us to trust you with our lives when we are this close to??

?Danika.?

The druiddess stopped short. ?What about her?? she asked sharply.

In one smooth move, he slid off the chair and glanced around the room. She wasn?t there. Frowning, he turned back. ?Danika,? he repeated. ?What she tells you will be up to her.?

A faint flicker of comprehension faded across the half-elf?s features. ?You do not trust me, then.?

He resisted, barely, the urge to smirk. Instead, he cocked his head to one side and shared a trace of a smile with her. ?It is mutual, after all.?

Jaheira had to chuckle. I really am getting softer, she decided, half-amused, half-irritated with herself. ?So why Danika, then?? she asked casually, searching his face with her eagle-sharp eyes.

Cormin paused, just as he was about to reach out and move past her so that he could view the rest of the room unhindered. ?I??

She shook her head, marvelling, before pushing herself off the bar and walking back to where Minsc and Yoshimo were sitting. ?She?s outside,? the druiddess called over her back. ?When you two are done, bring her back for a hot drink. She?s probably freezing.?

He nodded in response, but she was no longer looking. Cormin sighed, and then began to pick his way across the room to the strong wooden inn door.

The cold outside was welcoming, and he shifted into it gratefully. The heat had been stifling? why hadn?t he noticed that? Sometimes it took the change before he could realise, he guessed.

Inhaling deeply, he cast his eyes around in the semi-darkness. Where had she gone? In fact, what in the nine hells was she doing out here anyway? He frowned and moved forwards, blending into the shadows unconsciously. As his mind focused on the problem of finding her, his shoulders noticeably relaxed. The druiddess? questions had thrown him, and he didn?t want to investigate why. Instead, he raised his face to the moon, unknowingly mimicking her actions from at least half an hour ago, before he headed off in the direction of the river.

* * *

The water was cleansing. She didn?t have to do anything but look at it, and it seemed to run through her mind just as surely as it was streaming through the land here; clear and sweet and liquid cool. It flowed swiftly, clearing up the confusion and uncertainty in her and leaving calm behind in its wake. It was almost as if she had slipped into a meditative state; the half-elf didn?t move, almost didn?t breathe as she sat there, her eyes playing over the river, losing herself in its simplicity. This not-thinking business was doing her a world of good. The peace rippled over her like a gentle wave as she sank into a world where she didn?t have to do anything, didn?t have to fight anything, she just had to be. As unnatural as it was, as conflicting as it was with her usual fidgeting and jumping around, she felt herself sink even further and welcomed it. Somewhere, a part of her mind sleepily suggested that she should probably try this more often.

She would have happily stayed in that state if it hadn?t been for a soft sigh, just a tiny whisper behind her that sounded too human to be an animal. Instantly, regretfully, she was completely alert. There was someone behind her, she was sure of it, and the warrior in her itched towards the sword that she had laid out in front of her. Not daring to move though, in case the someone hadn?t seen her, she silently cast out her awareness; sharpening her senses as she tried to pick up anything. Anything at all that could tell her?

There it was again. A quiet murmur, and suddenly she relaxed completely, hiding a smirk behind her hand as she recognised just who it was wavering so uncertainly not three metres to her side. For once, she decided, the black-on-black-on-silver was working out for him. If it hadn?t been for that breath which had given him away, she probably wouldn?t have been able to see him until he was on top of her. She couldn?t help but smirk again. Damn, but it felt good to have caught him out.

?I know you?re there,? she called out, not bothering to turn around properly to face him. ?Why don?t you get your arse over here so we can talk without me twistin? my neck, ?kay??

She heard a muffled curse, and grinned openly this time as he hesitantly walked towards her.

?She?? Cormin caught himself, and in that brief moment he wondered if he could step out of his body and strangle himself. Fine. He?d never been good with word, but these silences were getting ridiculous. ?She? she told me to bring you inside to get a hot drink.?

She raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching as they did when she was struggling to contain a laugh. He winced. On second thoughts, perhaps silence was underrated.

?Let me get this straight. Jaheira sends you out t? find me? just t? ask me t? come back in from the cold? As opposed t? what? Her comin? out here herself an? draggin? me back by my pointed ears??

He blinked. ?She would actually do that??

She gave him the ?look?, and he had to groan at himself. ?That was not the smartest question, was it??

?Neither was that one,? she grinned back, before sobering as she remembered what was happening. ?What?s up, Geraint??

It was lucky that it was dark. Although she could see the outline of him against the night, she could not see his face as he physically flinched away from her. To her, nothing happened in that interminable moment of his anguish. He only seemed to lean into the wind.

?I?? he cleared his throat, and clenched his muscles against his self-hatred. ?Jaheira said that you had questions.?

It was lucky that it was dark. Although he could see the outline of her against the night, against the rock that she was sitting upon, he could not see her face as it froze slightly. To him, nothing happened in that interminable moment of her uncertainty. She only seemed to move, slightly, as if the breeze had caught her.

?Questions, huh?? she expelled a breath. ?Funny she said that. Seein? as I just came out here to get a breath o? fresh air by myself.?

He didn?t want to question whether the heavy feeling that suddenly weighed down his stomach was relief or disappointment. ?In that case, then, I shall leave,? he nodded to her. ?I did not mean to intrude upon your privacy.?

?Nah,? she headed him off before he turned. ?She brought it up for a reason, didn?t she? And you came all th? way out here. Might as well ask th? stuff that?s been simmerin? on the backburner.?

Cautiously, he stepped closer. ?What questions do you have??

Well that?s a bloody good question, she thought ironically to herself. But perhaps the best question is? where do I start?

She looked up at his silhouette, considering. Her body still hurt. Badly. Questions, eh? Why Jaheira had thought it necessary to send him out, she didn?t know. But she was done with losing herself in the river anyway. A jolt of pain shook her as she shivered suddenly. And remembered all of the conversations that had led up to here, to this one, where he was just waiting patiently for her to talk. Or at least she thought he was waiting patiently. It was hard to tell. It didn?t matter, though.

Taking a deep breath, she firmly fixed her mind on the thought of Imoen.

?Why?? she began without preamble. ?Why did you go to face the Shade Lord by yourself? Who are you, that you?re so powerful? And what are you doing traveling with us??

This time, the dark didn?t save him. She watched keenly as he took a step back, his entire body as rigid as stone; a closed conduit to the thoughts that had suddenly begun to tumble like water through his mind. Oh, he wanted to. He wanted to tell her the truth. Tell her all of the truth. Tell her everything, and let it fall from his lips in a sweet release. She deserved it, that was for sure. She deserved to know. Deserved to see. With all of the kindness that she had treated him with? she at least deserved to know his name. But to say everything now? that would mean ruining any chance that?

It was in that moment that Cormin the Bloody finally acknowledged that he was afraid, when he opened his mouth and found that nothing could come out. And as if the moment was stretching out before him, he saw her eyes contract in the moonlight as if, when she looked at him, it was too bright to see. Finally she nodded once, sharply, and turned away from him.

?Could you at least tell me, then,? she said wearily, her voice travelling to him on the wind. ?Could you at least bloody tell me whether I can trust you??

A brief rush of relief flooded through him, and he opened his mouth again. That question, for sure, he could answer. He could tell her that she had to watch her back, but that even that probably wouldn?t do her any good if he had his sights set on her. He could tell her that she should never let down her guard with him, who had so much blood sticking to his skin that one day he?d drown in it.
He could tell her that she should never, ever, trust someone who was like him.

?With your life, my lady,? he whispered hoarsely. And he meant it.

He couldn?t see, but he was sure that her eyes had widened in surprise. He didn?t blame her. So were his. He touched his lips in shock, but not before she had turned around and gazed long and hard into his face. He froze underneath that scrutiny, feeling naked as she raked his soul. He couldn?t understand what he?d just said, but whatever she did next?

?Thank you,? she whispered, and the brittleness that had petrified her skin faded away. ?I wanted to trust you.?

A look passed between them, then. A look that Cormin would remember for a long time as he carried it within him. A look that passed too quickly, because in the next instant her eyes had veiled over and the vulnerability was gone. She stood, not one muscle trembling against the injuries that wracked her, and walked like a warrior towards him until they were properly face to face for the first time that night. But as close as they were, her eyes were fixed somewhere over his shoulder.

?We?ll move out tomorrow, then,? she decided. ?There?s no soddin? use waitin? around any longer. There?s Imoen t? be savin?, after all. And now that I can trust you??

It wasn?t another question, it was a statement. And despite the coldness that had leapt up over him like an armour the instant that she too had reverted back to her normal self, he couldn?t help but smile. Slightly. With her still looking back to the inn, however, she missed it completely. ?Now that I can trust you, we?ll have no worries wipin? the floor with Irenicus? arse.?

The world flew back into focus again as he stopped staring at her face, and refocused his gaze upon the ligature scars on her wrists. ?Indeed,? he replied, and if she had not been so distracted, she might have questioned why the glint of steel had so suddenly crept into his voice.

Edited by Shadowhawke, 06 December 2007 - 02:31 AM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter XVII: Mask of an ally
(Hey! I'm incredibly sorry for taking so long between chapters. My main exams are over now, though. At least the ones I need to desperately study for, so yes. . Thanks to all of you who are putting up with me and still reading this. I do hope you enjoy. )

Hell is the world of a path walked alone,
Yet Heaven may yet be as cruel,
To those who succumb to the shadows who wear,
The mask of an ally, and the heart of a fool

***

What surprised her most of all was that the squinty-eyed thief didn?t even bother to count the 15,000. Instead, he merely nodded and handed her the flat, black-lined key that felt strangely heavy in her hand. Danika made a face. She was really beginning to hate keys. Slowly, she weighed it in her palm again, making an effort to listen to the swarthy man as he began to give her instructions on how to use it. Behind her, Jaheira was stiff as a ramrod, and Aerie and Yoshimo weren?t much better. The only person who seemed to keep his cool was Minsc, who had relaxed his broad back against the crumbling wall. She was moving her gaze slightly to her right when she realised Geraint had moved. It irked her sometimes, this need to know where he was. It was growing fainter now that she knew a knife in the back wasn?t coming from his direction any time soon, but still?
His dark eyes glanced her way, and she quickly shifted her attention back to Gaelan.

?Now, ye?ll be seein? the Shadowmaster of Athkatla, Aran Linvail. He?ll be settin? ye straight with the business of your lass, and the mage.?

Yoshimo chuckled quietly, and seemed to relax somewhat. ?The Shadowmaster himself, then?? he asked, amused. ?Why, Danika, if I had known that travelling in your company would place me in such august presences so quickly??

When he felt Jaheira?s glare on his back deepen, the bounty hunter wisely shut up.
Despite all the noise around them, though, Gaelan?s eyes remained fixed on Danika?s as she regarded the iron key in her hand. ?So that?s it, then?? she queried. ?Two and a half weeks of trekkin? from one end of Athkatla t? the other and even further? and we have a key.?

The thief bristled at the lightness of her voice. ?The Shadowmaster?s aid is not bought easily, and should not be considered as such.?

A brief, strange look crossed over the Bhaalspawn?s face then, and Gaelan watched her warily. Suddenly, as if coming to a decision, she curled her fingers tightly over the key and swung her closed fist down to her side. ?Never said it was easy, Gaelan,? she responded, and all of the lightness had drained out of her voice. ?I guess I was just thinkin? about the coincidences of it all. This rival group. The guild wars. And just how did Brus know that we?d been approached by a vampiress anyway??

?That?s between you and the Shadowmaster,? he replied, his tone as low as hers.

She laughed, suddenly, and the building tension dissipated at the sound of it. ?I know, Gaelan, but there?s never any soddin? harm in tryin?. Let?s say that, seein? as answers seem t? be few and far between, I was just hopin?. Bloody optimist that I am.?

The little man relaxed noticeably. ?Indeed,? he said dryly.

?Yeah,? she nodded back at him. ?Anyway, I guess we?re done here, then.?

Gaelan leaned back on the moth-eaten couch he?d pulled up to the greasy table. ?Nothin? more,? he affirmed, his businesslike tone taking over again ?Now, if ye?re all really in such a hurry, I?d be gettin? to him as soon as possible. They?re all expectin? ye by now, so ye can probably just walk through.?

?Sweet.?


Gaelan?s ?just walk through?, apparently, meant stumbling around and cursing for quite a while. The secret passage that led to the Shadowmaster seemed to wind down forever into the darkness. When they finally reached his room, the mute brilliance of the extravagant candelabra hanging overhead was enough to make them blink furiously as their eyes adapted back to the light. When they could finally look around their new surroundings without sunbursts surging over their retinas, they could only gawk.

Aran Linvail?s abode was awash with colour; Maztican wall hangings lay sprawling across the stone and thick Kara-Turan woven carpets tastefully layered the floor. In the midst of this extravagance, a slender man clad in light emerald armour sat, his eyes intense and active. Danika immediately whistled under her breath. He was handsome, no doubt about it. But that wasn?t what had elicited her response. His carved cheekbones narrowed his angular face, sharpening his piercing, ice-blue eyes. There was a remoteness in there that made her shiver.

He stood as they turned towards him, his keen gaze sweeping over each and every one of them, lingering briefly on Jaheira, Minsc, Yoshimo and Aerie before turning the full power of his scalpel-sharp irises to Danika. Cormin lightly clenched his jaw and wished for more shadow, just as Aran nodded, smiled dryly, and looked at the last member of the group.

Later, Cormin would wonder if the Shadowmaster?s scrutiny of all of them had really only spanned the length of a few seconds. It seemed that as soon as they matched glances, Aran?s eyes infinitesimally widened, before narrowing until Cormin had to shift away from the master thief?s scintillation. But then the moment was broken, and the Shadowmaster turned back to Danika with a troubled smile.

?Welcome, Danika. I trust all is well.?

?Well, no, actually,? she looked at him innocently, but Cormin could see that if she had been a wolf, her hackles would have already risen to her ears. ?If everything was all right and Imoen was by my side, I wouldn?t have had to go traipsing around Athkatla for your 15,000 gold.?

?Ah, that,? Aran shrugged, and gestured for them to take a seat. They all remained standing. ?The payment was a necessity, as you have been told. The money went towards procuring fares for you to go to Brynnlaw, where Spellhold awaits, as well as bribing a few guards for information.?

?And boosting your coffers so that you can wage your war against the vampires, my liege?? Yoshimo asked flippantly.

The Shadowmaster didn?t blink an eyelid. ?That too. And it is that matter that unfortunately requires me to ask a few favours of you before you go.?

Immediately, the atmosphere in the room seemed to contract. Nika flung up a hand in warning even as Jaheira opened her mouth to issue a sharp retort and Minsc seemed ready to cry out in protest. They froze, and the Bhaalspawn let her arm fall, masking her wince as the unhealed cuts from the dragon?s fangs stung in protest.

?That?s out of the question,? she said coldly.

Aran sighed, suddenly, and the human emotion that flittered across his face took her aback. Suddenly, she saw all of the lines etched around his mouth and furrowed in his brow. ?I know, and I?m sorry,? he said, his voice losing the businesslike tone that it had had before. ?But it simply must be done. The guild war that your Yoshimo mentioned,? he nodded towards the bounty hunter, ?Has drained our resources. Your 15,000 gold was enough, but barely enough to allow for your passage to Brynnlaw. However, guild matters must be dealt with before I can safely let you board; this trouble with Bodhi will affect even you now that she knows you are aligned with us. I know that you are worried about Imoen, but we have evidence that Bodhi might be connected to Irenicus himself. Helping us to deal a blow against her will no doubt weaken his base of operations in Athkatla as well.?

Minsc shook his great head and looked to Danika in bafflement before turning his attention back to Aran. ?But you are the Shadowmaster, the head of all the thieves! Surely such a man as you with so much power should be able to achieve this without our help. Little Imoen needs to be saved as soon as possible!?

?As I said, our resources have been strained. I am sorry, but this is the only path we can take, or??

Jaheira suddenly narrowed her eyes. ?Or what?? she demanded. ?You will retract the help that we have paid for? Honour amongst thieves indeed.?

?There will be no retraction,? Aran said sharply. ?We merely will not be able to continue with our proceedings. And you will be well compensated for this extra work that is in your own interests as well as ours.? He turned back to Danika. ?Truly, I regret this. These are not ideal situations to be working in, and we would never have asked you to do this if we had been at full working capacity.?

?Hang on a sec,? she stopped him. ?You said something about a link between Irenicus and Bodhi. If th? crazy mage is linked t? th? bloodsucking vamp, I definitely want t? know more.?

At the words, Aran seemed to relax again. Aerie couldn?t help but feel sorry for him. Slightly. He was a trained thief, a ruthless man whose main concern was no doubt in keeping himself and his fortunes alive. And yet, underneath the bright light of his luxurious rooms, he looked incredibly haggard. ?Yes. We thought that you would like to know before you embarked upon the tasks. We?ve had reports of the Shadow Thieves that have defected over to Bodhi?s guild turning up as corpses outside Spellhold. It?s a tenuous link by itself, but in the light of everything??

?There were vampires in Irenicus? dungeon before we escaped, too,? Danika nodded. ?It makes sense, but I wonder how.?

A glimmer of a smile traced the Shadowmaster?s lips. ?If you find out, be sure to let us know.?

?Of course,? she responded wryly. ?But in that case? what are th? tasks that you?re wantin? us t? do??

Aran took a deep breath. Cormin kept watch silently. Something was silently eating away at him inside? an uncanny gut instinct combined with sheer common sense that warned him things weren?t likely to be kept simple when there were players such as the Shadowmaster and a powerful vampiress they had only passingly heard of. Judging from the looks on Jaheira and Yoshimo?s faces, their thoughts were probably following the same track.

After Aran had outlined his plans, they took leave of him, one magic-resistance amulet the richer. As they walked through the long passages leading back up to the light, Danika?s voice rang out decisively.

?Righto. What do you say t? this? Minsc, Aerie, Yoshimo and Cormin take a look at th? traitors at th? Bridge, and Jaheira and I take a look at this Mook? Things will be quicker if we split up.?

There were voices of assent, and Cormin nodded uneasily. Everything was sounding so reasonable at the moment. Where was the catch?


It was quiet near the docks. The acrid smell of salt and garbage near the waterfront cleared her mind though, keeping her alert even as she and Jaheira exchanged small talk with Mook. The black-clad thief seemed likeable enough, even though she was clearly nervous. Her fingers seemed to twitch involuntarily towards her sleeve every few seconds as she explained the strange circumstances that had led her to report the stranger?s appearances to Aran. But when the stranger himself arrived, Nika had to admire the way the thief?s spine suddenly straightened and her mouth curved into a determined smile.

But the stranger was the one who got Jaheira?s attention.

?Nika?? she whispered. ?Look.?

She did. And then, slowly, she began to surreptitiously nock an arrow into her bow even while her mind was screaming at her. There would be only one chance, he was that close to Mook. One? chance?

As the stranger suddenly bared his dagger-sharp canines and dived towards the stunned Mook, the druiddess and the bard didn?t even have to look at each other before leaping into action. There was one second of eerie transit, before suddenly the vampire was stumbling back with a howl, giving Mook just enough time to throw herself backwards into relative safety. Then Jaheira was on him, pulling a scimitar out from her belt and thrusting it forwards to run him through even as the undead?s hand flew to pluck out the arrow that had sprouted in his eye. But Lassal was not a fledgling. Dodging around her blade, he threw himself on Danika with a snarl. Swearing, she dropped her bow and drew her katana, but not before he was on her and they fell into a heap of snarling fangs and screeching metal.

It only took Jaheira a second or two to catch herself and skewer him in the back, but the damage had already been done. Still weakened by the healing Shadow Dragon wounds and the lack of space with which to utilise her blades, Nika emerged coughing as Lassal dissolved into a puddle of vapour. Jaheira went white as she took in the fresh blood seeping through her clothes.

?It?s alright,? the half-elf waved her off. ?He just opened up some of the stuff that was closed.?

?Still,? Jaheira pursed her lips. ?You do not seem to be having a good track record with fights lately.?

?Have I ever?? Nika returned, before groaning and getting to her feet. ?Mook? I trust that you can go report to Aran now. Jaheira and I need to meet the others at the Copper Coronet.?

?That I will,? she responded, shaken but still professional. ?Thank you.?

* * *

When he saw her, his first reaction was to find the one responsible and tear him apart. She was openly bleeding from her lip. He could see more dark stains etch their way across her tunic, and the sudden, helpless fury that filled him at the sight took him aback with its ferocity.

Cormin, the ever calm, ever stoic killer stepped away, unnoticed, taking one last brief look at her before stumbling back outside into the night. The speckled ?Welcome? mat stared him in the face as he sank back against the wall. Hendak must have forgotten to replace it, he thought, and took a deep breath of air.

?I should have been there,? he said aloud to the night, abruptly expelling any calm that might have resided in his body. His breath poured out in a cloud of mist, solidifying into words. With a hiss of anguish, he threw his head back. I should have argued. Gone with her and Jaheira. Killed whatever it was before it touched her?

With that last thought, he stopped abruptly. He stood there for a few seconds in the night drawing around him like a cloak.

And then suddenly, he began to swear.

What in the nine hells has she done to me?

Mentally, he rewound the events of the past few days in his head, until the very beginning when he?d been waiting inside the tavern he was standing outside now. And his swearing got louder, vicious epithets that he had never used for a century flying past his lips? until he realised that he hadn?t sworn since meeting her.

He stopped abruptly.

She was getting to him. He?d joined with them in an attempt to remember something he?d thought he?d known. Being a mercenary. Adventuring. Feeling alive again. But then it had all gone to hell and he was telling her that she didn?t need to fear him. Fear! It had been something he?d traded on so long, and to give it away like that, without thinking?

Perhaps the one he needed to rip apart was her, before he felt any more confused.

With that thought, Cormin the Bloody doubled over and almost vomited again. Water clouded his stinging eyes from the reflex, and he swallowed. What was happening? He looked down at his hands and was stunned to realise they were shaking. They stilled as soon as he noticed, but the fact that they had been moving of their own volition made him shiver. He was losing control. He was? he was losing control.

He breathed again; a deep, cleansing gasp, and drew himself up until he was ramrod straight and staring at the moon. And just at that instant, as he was about to breathe out, something caught his eye.

He spun around in the darkness. The lights of the Slums were all hooded, but his vision had become used to the night already. All thoughts of the irritating half-elf haunting his mind slipped away as he coiled in preparation, one hand snaking towards his thigh where he could feel the dagger pressed against skin. Seeking, his eyes gradually picked out six vague shapes in the shadows, and he smiled coldly. This, he understood.

Amateurs.

?Well, well,? one of them shouted loudly before he could move. The voice was sharp in the air ?So this is the famous Cormin the Bloody.?

He froze. ?That name is not to be used lightly,? he said, a low growl in his voice.

?Yep, ?e?s the one,? sneered another, from my right. He shifted slightly and readied another dagger. ?Boss warned us ?e?d be like this, ?ay? An? he fits the description, perfect.?

They circled him, like a pack of baby foxes circling a full grown wolf, even as he tracked them with cold eyes. Distance was not a factor, he decided emotionlessly. If they made another move, the first one would be dead within seconds, and the rest would follow soon. Readying himself, he waited, until a third voice spoke up.

?Now, look at you, Cormin, I really thought you would have moved by now, old friend.?

He twisted around at that. The voice had come from his side, and it was oddly familiar. Cormin?s grip on his daggers tightened Six people who obviously knew him, or at least knew of him was a minor threat, but one who spoke like he was an acquaintance was more dangerous. Cormin searched the shadows until he zeroed in on a face, and then he saw him.

He was older. His baby-smooth face had become as coarse as a weather-ridden rock, and his blonde hair had turned completely white. But he recognised him, and the instant that he did?

?Lavan!? Cormin snarled leaping towards him as the man laughed. It cut his ears like a cat?s claw, and Lavan jumped away from him just as lithely. Spinning around, Cormin prepared to gut the old thief where he stood. But then he straightened, smirked and said three words.

?Bronislav says hello.?

Cormin froze again, glaring at him with pure hatred as a cacophony of laughter broke out when Lavan threw his head back in glee and the others joined him. Cormin felt cold flame licking from within him as he brought himself under control. They were hyenas now, and he wanted to kill them.

?You might as well drop those daggers, Cormin,? Lavan?s mouth curved into an ugly sneer as the laughter died down. ?You won?t be needing those tonight, not even with your exceptional tracking skills.?

?What does he want?? Cormin grated out.

?Your undivided attention, presence, and service for the next three days.?

Cormin slowly straightened from his crouched position, staring hard at each one in turn until they looked away. Only Laran kept his gaze, the sneer still disfiguring his face. ?You?re with him. Tell him that he can use you instead,? he said abruptly. ?I?m not available.?

?Ah yes, the Bhaalspawn lass,? he drawled, and the other five began giggling again, this time with suggestive leers and winks. He visualised ripping all of their throats out then and there. Lavan saw it, and chuckled. ?Bronislav thought you might be a little recalcitrant given what we?ve observed. Very well then. He proposes vital information for her in return for your service, on top of the fulfilment of your debt.?

?It?s Bronislav,? Cormin returned curtly. ?He never keeps his word.?

Lavan looked almost amused as he gazed up at him through the drooping lids of his wrinkled eyes. ?We have been watching you on and off ever since you joined the Heroine of the Sword Coast, Cormin. Do you honestly think that Bronislav would expend so much money and time upon discerning how to get you to cooperate if he did not intend to deliver??

?What were you doing watching her?? Cormin demanded.

Lavan?s weakness had always been his willingness to talk. He had not seen him in half a century, so perhaps some things had changed. His manner tensed again. ?You are not in the position to be asking so many questions, Cormin. Either say whether you?re in or you?re not now.?

Both of them knew just what Lavan was omitting. The fact that there wasn?t a choice. Cormin fixed a cold stare on him, before slipping the dagger back into his belt. ?I need to tell her first.?

?My, look at ?im, ?e?s been whipped,? one of Lavan?s lackeys jeered. ?Are ye sure ye ?aven?t been exaggerating? Cormin the Bloody my ass, more like Cormin the??

He moved swiftly and without thought. One second the thug was standing five feet away, and the next he was up against the wall of the Copper Coronet with cold hands around his neck. Cormin?s nails dug into his skin and he squealed like a pig. Smiling, he sunk them in until a small rivulet of blood trickled down through his fingers. A strange sense of déjà vu swept over him, before he rammed the hapless man one last time against the stone and dropped him. He landed, whimpering.

?You should have trained them better than that, my friend,? Cormin turned to face Lavan again, irony dripping from his voice. ?I?m disappointed in you.?

Lavan?s eyes were flinty. ?You have five minutes.?

Edited by Shadowhawke, 06 June 2007 - 08:41 PM.

[Shadowhawke]

Chapter XVIII: Easing into Danger
(Well, I *did* say I'd be trying to update more regularly now, so here you are! Unfortunately, I didn't manage to fit any mind-blowing revelations about our resident brooder Cormin/Geraint, but hopefully those will be coming soon. As always, reviews and constructive criticism make me happy and help me to write faster, but otherwise, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. )

Easing into danger,
A blood-thick crimson trail,
Trusting in a stranger,
To succeed, then, or to fail?

* * *

She couldn?t believe it. She just couldn?t believe it.

?What did you say??

He gazed at her, coolly. ?You heard me the first time.?

?Oh I did, did I?? Nika was glad that they were in a relatively private corner. She could turn the full blaze of her stare on him without anyone else getting frightened. ?Well, how about you repeat it? Slowly.?

Cormin sighed, pushing away the strands of hair that had fallen across his eyes. She couldn?t help but notice again how scarred his long, graceful fingers were. They etched the natural linings of his skin, turning his hands into veritable quicksilver lined with copper. ?Bronislav requires my service for the next three days in return for some information for you. I do not have a choice, he is calling up an old debt. If I refuse, we could all be killed. I have to go.?

Her eyes darkened. ?Let them come. We?ll kick their shiny asses back to the holes they crawled out of.?

He barely refrained from snorting. Instead, he reached over and deliberately prodded her side. The half-elf started with a curse and fresh blood began to stain her shirt. ?With respect, my lady, you will not be doing any kicking for a while.?

?Curse you!? she snarled, backing away from him. The anger-filled haze that was beginning to cloud her sight shielded her from seeing the sudden look of what resembled guilt flash across his face. It felt alien on him. He tensed his jaw.

?I-I am sorry,? he said, sincerity lacing his voice. ?I am. I did not want to delay you. Perhaps the information will even be of some use to finding your Imoen. But I must go now.?

?Go where, anyway?? the fire that had flared in her was beginning to quieten as the deep throbs of pain lessened. Perhaps it was also the genuine sound in his voice, but?

She was so tired.

?Go where? Do what? You haven?t told me anythin?, really. Who in th? nine hells is Bronislav? Where can we contact you if we need you??

The surrender was there, and he felt a wave of relief rush through him and hated it. ?You won?t be able to contact me. And? I?ll explain everything later. I have to go now. I?ll be back in three days? time.?

She nodded, resignedly, and then opened her eyes in surprise as he did not move away, but moved closer instead. The wall was at her back, now. Carefully, he bent down slightly with a practiced grace until they were eye to eye, and so close that if she let loose one small breath it would almost brush against his cheek.

It was not the loss of blood making her feel shaky. ?Uh? Geraint???

At her movement, he opened his mouth as if to say something, and then suddenly whirled away, stalking through the crowds and back to the doorway of the inn. She watched him go with startled eyes. He turned, once, before he vanished into the darkness. She barely made out the words his lips formed.

?I promise.?

* * *

When Jaheira returned from the bathroom, she instantly realised something was wrong with Danika. Aerie was supporting her up the stairs, while Yoshimo and Minsc gazed helplessly on at a small word from her. The druiddess pursed her lips. Honestly. She?d only been away for two minutes at most.

Sighing, she wove her way through the crowd to where the bounty hunter and the ranger remained. At her questioning eyebrow, Yoshimo immediately shrugged resignedly.

?One of her wounds has been reopened. Aerie said it was best if we left it to her, but I don?t like it.?

?Why not?? she questioned. ?With the luck Nika has, it was bound to happen sooner or later.?

?I? I did not see what happened clearly,? Minsc gazed down at the hamster on his shoulder. ?But Boo thinks that Geraint might have something to do it.?

?Where is he?? came the crisp reply.

Yoshimo coughed. ?That, I believe, is the crux of the matter. After he talked to our fair leader, he left.?

Jaheira shook her head in disbelief. ?I was only gone for a short while! How could this happen??

The men didn?t say anything. Jaheira thought briefly that Boo?s whiskers seemed to be sagging slightly, almost as if the hamster was ashamed. Then she shook herself out of it.

?Ah, well. I shall go help Aerie. You two, decide whether you want to stay here or go to sleep. Tomorrow could possibly be a very long day.?

?Yes Ma?am,? Yoshimo gave a wry smirk. She glared at him in response and then started up the wooden stairs.


The corridor on the second floor of the Copper Coronet creaked quietly as Jaheira made her way steadily towards their quarters. When she pushed open the door to reveal the sight of Nika on her elbows, grimacing as Aerie re-bandaged her abdomen, her gaze was stony.

?Danika, Yoshimo just told me that Geraint attacked you and left. Could you please tell me what in Silvanus? name went on in the two minutes I left you unattended??

The bard scowled at her. ?No need t? make it sound like I couldn?t take care of myself, Jaheira,? she sniped. ?I mean, I?m still makin? with the stayin? in one piece, aren?t I??

The druiddess cast a highly unfavourable look on her ward?s current condition, before moving forwards. ?Are you alright??

??m fine.?

?Not you,? she gave her a withering gaze. ?I was talking to Aerie.?

As Nika rolled her eyes, the Avariel turned quietly. ?I-I?m fine. It was just a small reopening,? she tried for a light-hearted laugh and failed. ?Looks worse that it is, really.?

?And for th? record,? the Bhaalspawn cut across before Jaheira could reply, ?He didn?t ?attack? me. He was? makin? a point.?

It sounded stupid the instant it left her lips, and she regretted it. Still, there wasn?t much else to say. She could have handled everything better, to be sure. Closing her eyes, she experimentally flexed her stomach muscles and winced. This was just her luck.

She hated it when he was right.

?Yeah, yeah, a point,? she said aloud, not needing to see Jaheira?s disbelieving stare to know it was there. ?He? he said somethin? about a man named Bronislav callin? in an old debt. Said he?d be repaid with information for us. Didn?t mention any specifics other than that besides sayin? he?d be back in three days.?

?And the ?point??? Jaheira asked frostily.

?Oh, yeah?? she coughed, and regretted it. ?That was in response t? me sayin? that we could just kick this Bronislav and his friends out of th? way and continue on our merry way to savin? Imoen.?

Aerie heard the bitterness in her voice and patted her shoulder. ?T-three days isn?t much,? she comforted her. ?Besides, we? we could use the time to take out Bodhi like Aran wanted us to.?

?Don?t be foolish, child,? Jaheira snapped. ?We could not take on such a powerful vampiress without Geraint, as much as I hate to admit it.?

?I?m not a child, Jaheira,? Aerie responded, flushing. ?If we cannot deal with Bodhi, then we might as well do something. I-I don?t think that the best use of three days is to do nothing!?

?I?m goin? t? agree with that,? Danika said dryly. ?I? bloody hell, half of me wants to strangle the daylights out of him for desertin? us now. But he did promise us he?d be back? and I?m interested as to what info this shady Bronislav fellow might have for us.?

?Indeed,? Jaheira muttered, still irritated. ?And while we realise that we should be doing something, perhaps now is the best time to ask you again??

?No.?

The druiddess was shocked, in spite of herself, and Nika felt a twinge of guilt before continuing. ?No,? she repeated, less forceful and unaccompanied by the flash of red from her eyes. ?I?m sorry, Jaheira. I know how you feel about him. And I know how this looks now, with him gallivantin? off to fulfil some old debt. I know it makes him look one heck of a lot less trustworthy than he already did. Which is sayin? somethin?.?

Jaheira pursed her lips and tried to cover up her momentary lapse of composure. ?Then what?? she queried bluntly. ?We?ll continue with this absurd plan and put all of our lives in his hands when we face Irenicus??

?W-wait,? Aerie swung around and looked at both of them in confusion. ?What is this about? I don?t understand.?

Nika pulled off a brief smile. ?What it is, Aerie, is that no-one trusts Geraint. Which is fair enough. He?s all dark and broody and a frighteningly capable killer. Heck, what am I talkin? about? He?s more than capable. You saw him take out half the Shadow Lord?s army and then th? great lump of sentient evil itself. Jaheira?s just been remindin? me that maybe it?s not such a good idea goin? after Imoen right now without buildin? up experience of our own first.?

The Avariel looked questioningly at Jaheira and received a nod. ?Put plainly, that does sound about right,? she admitted. Then her eyes narrowed. ?But if you feel that way, Danika, why are you arguing with me??

?Because I can?t wait,? the Bhaalspawn clenched her fists. ?These three days will be tryin? enough on me, but once we have our resident broodin? and killin? guy back, I want t? get out there and get Imoen back as quickly as possible.?

?Perhaps you?re being a bit too?? Aerie paused, and Nika gave her the evil eye.

?If you say ?hasty?, I?ll get you,? she warned.

Aerie had been around her diminutive leader enough by now to know that she was only half-serious. ?I wasn?t about to say that,? she defended herself, a tiny smile on her lips. ?I was about to say modest. You? you and Jaheira and Minsc and Yoshimo have a lot of adventuring experience. And? you are a Bhaalspawn. Who?s to say you need Geraint to fight Irenicus??

Jaheira sighed, and sat down on the chair next to Danika?s bed. ?I wish it were that simple.?

At Aerie?s quizzical look, the druiddess began easing her feet out of the tough leather boots. ?I am not denying that we have ample powers, Aerie. We are, together, a formidable force, there is no doubt about it. But you have not seen Irenicus. He??

?He?s somethin? else entirely,? Danika said in a flat voice, and there was no humour in it now. ?He laid waste to five trained Shadow Thieves and ten Cowled Wizards in under two minutes without even workin? up a sweat. To even think about goin? up against him, we need Geraint.?

She hesitated there, and began worrying on her lip. Jaheira finally kicked off her shoes and flexed with a relieved murmur, before assessing her charge again. ?Nika??

?I trust him,? she said quietly, wonderingly. ?I know I?ve said it before, but I really do. It?s? it?s bloody frightening, given what he?s done and what I?ve seen him do. But I trust him, and it?s beginning to annoy me.?

?How so?? Aerie inquired, perplexed.

Danika pushed out her breath in a frustrated exhalation. ?Because, the Gods damn him, I?m goin? t? believe him and start thinkin? about somethin? t? do that should only take about three days and relieve my boredom.?

Jaheira smiled wryly. ?That, I?m afraid, will be difficult.?

?Actually, maybe not,? Aerie looked thoughtful. ?While we were at the Five Flagons, we heard something about a missing actor??

* * *

The small residence that Lavan led them to looked innocuous enough, but Cormin had to fight his natural instincts every step of the way as they came closer. He tried to keep his eyes trained on the old murderer?s back, but his gaze kept slipping away to all the places where bad memories lurked. There was the tree he?d taken refuge in that first night. There were the paved stones he?d seen so close up? centimetres from his face as he was dragged kicking and screaming to his fate.

There was the door that he?d stained with one single, bloody handprint.

?Those were the good old times, eh??

Lavan?s sneering drawl jerked him out of his thoughts and he glared at the man, ashamed at having been caught out so easily. ?Take me to Bronislav and stop wasting my time,? he said in a clipped tone.

The men snickered around him, and he fixed his gaze briefly on the distant roof of the Copper Coronet, almost swallowed up by the grandness of the Government District he was in now. Had he been anything else but an elf, he likely wouldn?t have been able to see it. Gritting his teeth, he turned back to his immediate surroundings and prayed for some semblance of sanity to keep him for the next seventy-two hours. ?Well??

Lavan smiled unpleasantly. ?After you, friend,? he pulled open the small wooden sidedoor and gestured, bowing his head mockingly.

?I think not,? Cormin responded coolly. ?It?s been a while since I?ve been here.?

Lavan?s hand wavered uncertainly for a moment, before he scowled and moved through anyway. ?That?s a lie,? he threw back over his shoulder. ?You?ve never forgotten a thing in your life.?

?Now that is a lie,? Cormin murmured softly to himself, keeping his head down as they passed through into the Bronis estate. The main, richly carved door lay on their left as they entered, reminding him just how many times he had snuck through here before. He bit the inside of his cheek. There had been a reason he had left this. There had been many reasons that, after over a century of blood, he had renounced the lot and withdrawn to the forest. Withdrawn to the forest and lost his speech for places like this.

As he had remembered, the large, showy corridor quickly came to an end as the small exterior of the place suggested. The nondescript carpet that caressed the floor was freshly cleaned, but old, somehow at odds with the gaudy tapestries that hung splattered over the places like drops of blood. Suits of armour still lined the walls, bright, polished, and bearing the expected assortment of knightly weapons. And accompanying them were the tiny rooms visible through a crack of an open door paced every couple of steps, all maintaining the illusion that Lord Bronis was just a minor noble. He snorted, but said nothing.

Some things, it appeared, did not change.

He did not have to put up with this lie for too much longer, however. He remembered as much. At precisely the right place, Lavan paused, and his group of thieves stopped behind him. Cormin hung back, eyes hooded, as his old adversary sharply yanked a halberd out of the gauntleted hand of one of the several suits of armour scattering the place. In response, a hollow thud sounded once throughout the building, clanging like a subdued bell before falling still.

?Blood?s Law,? Lavan said, in a clear, strong voice. At that, the individual stones that comprised the walls of the corridor began to glow with an obscene, red light. Unnoticed by the others, Cormin flinched away as the two halves of the wall section surrounding that particular suit of armour began to revolve noiselessly, opening up into a black tunnel that curved sharply downwards, its shadows only broken by ever-burning, smokeless torches locked into place. With one final moan, the stones clicked into place, leaving the passage before them.

Slowly, the crimson light faded, and they moved forwards as one into the dark.