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"Resistance to fear spells." He explained, a sour twist to his mouth. "Part of the charms of undeath; it’s hard to fear for a life you don’t have." |
Tav hugged him tightly. |
"The biggest one I’ve ever seen," Wyll was telling Karlach and Shadowheart, both women’s attention rapt. "You can get used to the fear, a little, with enough exposure. But who wants to be exposed to a dragon?" |
Tav shivered in Astarion’s arms. That had been as close as she had ever been to a dragon of any colour and that was quite close enough. |
Halsin appeared in badger form on the road ahead. He kept to the shadows as he approached the group, eyes on the sky, before returning to elven form. |
"Lae’zel," He said, his voice rough from the change, "There is a group of your people ahead, catching up to a Gauntlet of Flaming Fist. I think a fight will start shortly, if it hasn’t already." |
Wyll looked ready to run off and defend his fellow Baldurians. Tav grabbed his upper arm to stop him from charging off. |
"They have a dragon." Tav said, flatly, "If we approach in numbers, they may feel threatened or boxed in between us and the Fist. I don’t want to die in dragonfire. Myself, Lae’zel and Shadowheart will approach, the rest of you wait back here. Shadowheart, you need to bless us so we avoid the fear." |
"No." Astarion said. |
"And if you come and they recognize you for a vampire?" Tav asked, "What if your very presence is taken as a threat?" |
"Then we kill them. We hide in a fucking cave from the dragon, they’re everywhere around here." Astarion’s voice rose with his anger. "You are not going out there without me." |
He hadn’t argued once that she remain behind, when that would be the safest course of action. He supported her traipsing into danger, just not without him. |
"Astarion, with me." Tav said, flatly. "Let’s go." |
The four dropped their packs, limbered weapons in scabbards and applied poison where they could. Shadowheart and Tav cast spells with abandon, preparing the group with magic. They began moving down the road together, leaving their friends behind. Scratch gave the same fear-howl he had for the dragon, the warbles of it ... |
A twist in the road brought them quickly to a wooden fortification, spanning the sharply steeped mountains to either side of them. Beyond the open entrance, a bridge could be seen, upon which stood a gauntlet of four Flaming Fist soldiers, arguing with a number of Githyanki in identical silver plate to that which Lae’z... |
At the sight of her people, Lae’zel pushed forward. Tav grabbed her arm. |
"Wait, we don’t know what is going on out there. We need to move forward unseen. Astarion, can you climb up there? I can use a darkness spell to help." |
Astarion nodded, moving close to stand over her. He took her chin in one hand, tilting her head back until her eyes were forced into contact with his. Was now really the time to get her riled up? They were about to approach a Dragon. She was going to die scared and horny and it was all his fault. |
"Remember: we’ll finish this together." He murmured before dropping a kiss to her lips. "Don’t you fucking dare die on me." |
Tav scooped up a rock from the ground and placed it in Astarion’s open hand. She summoned the innate powers of her people and placed a darkness spell on the rock, giving Astarion a portable shadow to hide in. He vanished in a dark shadow that promptly detached itself from her side and vanished into the dark shadows of ... |
They moved forward, feeling better knowing an archer had their backs. |
As they got closer, the yelling became intelligible. The Gauntlet had backed themselves onto a wooden bridge. One was right up in the face of a pale Githyanki woman with yellow-white hair. Three more Githyanki stood back, looking bored. |
"Drop your weapons!" The Fist soldier ordered firmly. |
"I’ll feed your innards to the ants before I do that, istik." The pale woman said with a threatening smile. She strode forward, every line of her body a threat. |
The soldier stumbled backwards, farther onto the wooden bridge. "This is y-your last chance!" He threatened, ineffectively stuttering through it as fear washed over them all. The dragon was coming. |
"No, look up." The Githyanki fighter crowed, "That was your last chance, istik. Now burn!" |
The gauntlet stumbled into the middle of the bridge, fear driving them to escape by any means necessary as the massive red dragon crested the mountain ridge and began a descent towards the bridge. Liquid fire spewed from the creature's mouth, the molten heat destroying the wooden bridge, and the Gauntlet, at once. They... |
The dragon circled, then landed before the Githyanki. An older Githyanki man hopped from its back, silver streaking his short hair. He immediately set in to lecture the other fighters once his feet touched the ground. |
"Stop wasting time, Baretha. You’re not here to play with the locals." |
"Of course, kith’rak. " The woman’s body language had changed instantly, contrite and submissive before the dragonrider. Clearly, he was a man of importance. "We merely sought to -" |
"No excuses." He cut her off and she bowed her head deeper. "Question, kill, then move on. Find the weapon." |
Weapon? Interesting. |
"Our queen watches us." This Kith’rak continued. "Fail her at your peril." |
"Come," Lae’zel spoke softly from where they watched unseen. "My kin await." |
"And we’ll just pat the dragon on the head?" Tav whispered, incredulous. The thing was standing right there and they were just supposed to walk up to it? If she survived this, Astarion would probably put an arrow in her eye for being an idiot and she would deserve it. |
"I have told you, the dragons serve githyanki: I’ll see it does you no harm." Lae’zel replied, her patience increasingly thin at the sight of her people and the promised cure. "Follow me." She snapped, then moved towards the githyanki, not waiting to see if Shadowheart and Tav followed at all. |
"This isn’t smart." Shadowheart muttered. |
"What choice do we have?" Tav asked, before moving off to join Lae’zel. Shadowheart followed. |
"Rider - my time is short. Lead me to..." Lae’zel called out as she approached her people. |
"Sh-sh-shh. Such a familiar tone" The dragon rider cut her off, his tone one of pure superiority. A man used to being obeyed. "Were I not merciful, I would slice the skin clean from your meat. Yet you are not bleeding. For I am nothing if not merciful." |
Tav, half a step behind Lae’zel, reached out a hand to Shadowheart. They clasped hands and squeezed hard. |
"Your name, child." The man demanded. |
Lae’zel adjusted her feet, her body tilting slightly back towards Tav so she could make subtle eye contact. Tav gave a subtle nod of her head, encouraging Lae’zel to keep going. |
"... Lae’zel." |
"Lae’zel. Proud. Regal, even." The man answered. "You will call me Jhe’stil Kith’rak." |
Lae’zel’s eyes widened in recognition and she bowed her head. "Voss, Knight Supreme. The queen’s silver, the queen’s sword." She said with something approaching reverence. |
"I am who you say." The man accepted Lae’zel’s bow as his due. He went on to explain to her, "A ghaik vessel has fallen from the sky, Lae’zel. Thieves aboard have taken a weapon most precious. It is polyhedric in shape, and inscribed with the sacred runes of our people." |
The tadpole in Tav’s mind squirmed, connecting her to Shadowheart, flooding her with the cleric’s anxiety. The odd artifact she had been carrying, she had been hiding from them and refusing to speak about was the weapon they sought. Tav pushed back a feeling of calm, as best she could. If they aroused suspicion now, th... |
"Take word to your creche." Kith’rak Voss continued, "You are to join our search." |
Lae’zel was silent, eyes casting back to Tav again. |
"Speak up, child." Voss demanded, "Affirm your mandate." |
Tav did her best to glare, meaningfully, at Lae’zel. Tried to encourage Lae’zel to play along. |
Lae’zel bowed her head, deeply. "You honour me with this duty, Kith’rak. I shall alert my caretaker with haste." |
"You serve your queen well, child." Voss accepted Lae’zel’s words. "Take your slaves, and hunt those who escaped the ghaik ship. They must carry the weapon. I fly now to Vlaakith, our Undying Queen. She will see your faith rewarded in this plane and ours." |
Tav was certain Voss wasn’t flying to Vlaakith. There was something on his face that gave away his lies. Secrets on secrets. Everyone playing a game of their own. Gods, she just wanted this worm out of her head, was that too much to ask? |
"Qudenos - to the sky!" The Kith’rak called to the red dragon, who crouched down to allow the man to climb on. The dragon took to the sky the instant its rider was seated, the chill of fear it carried ebbed and slowly vanished. Lae’zel’s fellow githyanki took off into the mountains on their own hunt for this weapon. |
Tav allowed herself to sink to the ground, relief turning her body limp. Shadowheart slumped to the ground beside her, leaning shoulder to shoulder in a daze. Lae’zel stood, frozen, watching the dragon dwindle to a red speck in the sky. |
An arrow buried itself in the ground a meter in front of Tav, then Astarion was climbing down from the fortifications and sauntering over to her and Shadowheart, leaning against each other in pure relief. |
"No bloodshed." Astarion observed. "That’s a first for us. Good job team? I guess?" |
Ten minutes passed and Lae’zel still stood frozen, staring into the eastern sky where the dragon had flown off. Tav roused herself from where she and Shadowheart had been sitting on the ground, each with a head on Astarion’s shoulder, recovering from the pulsing dragon fear and adrenaline of the encounter with Lae’zel’... |
"Lae’zel?" Tav asked, attempting to get to her feet, only to have Astarion tighten his hold, not letting her up. "Are you ok?" |
"Damn it all!" Lae’zel suddenly cursed loudly and kicked a stone into the still-smoking remains of the bridge to Baldur’s Gate. "You did well to intervene, vexed as I am to admit it. The Jhe’stil Kith’rak would have flayed our skin and left our carcasses to burn in the sun. All for the sake of this artifact that she ... |
The githyanki warrior leveled a glittering amber gaze upon Shadowheart, considering for a moment before continuing. "The creche is near, this much we know. We gather the others, then follow the path westward." |
"No one." Lae’zel swore, "Not even the ignoble Jhe’stil Kith’rak, will keep me from my purification." With those words, she stormed off to gather the rest of the party. |
"Shadowheart," Tav sighed, "I think you’ve got some explaining to do before they all get back. What is that thing you have?" |
The cleric wiped a tired hand over her face before replying. "I don’t know... not exactly. All I know is it’s important I get it back to Baldur’s Gate. At any cost." |
"Why Baldur’s Gate?" Tav was astounded how everything seemed to revolve around the coastal city. She had been plucked from the far corners of Faerûn, no matter how those in Norrs d'Linath spoke of the wondrous Silverymoon, it seemed the center of the entire world was here. |
"My home is a secret Sharran cloister there." Shadowheart admitted. "A group of us were sent to retrieve this artifact. Now I’m the only one left. I can’t afford to fail." |
Shadowheart’s clear green eyes darkened and her voice hardened with resolve, "I can’t tell you any more. This mission required utmost secrecy - we all submitted to having our memories suppressed so that we couldn’t betray Lady Shar’s confidence. If I reach my contact in the city, I’ll have my memories restored. Until t... |
"Heavens forbid," Astarion murmured, "We’re all entitled to our secrets." |
"How long were you planning on keeping this from me?" Tav said, a streak of hurt in her voice. Once again, someone she had thought of as a friend kept deadly secrets. She really was terrible at this whole "relationship’ thing. |
"Forever, ideally." Shadowheart was growing angry. "And you assume too much about what I can and cannot tell. Secrecy is everything for Shar’s children. It’s our code, our creed, our shield. I’m not sorry I kept this from you. Not one bit." |
"I don’t know how I feel about all this," Tav breathed out as a tired sigh, the jingle of armor could be heard, getting closer. "But Astarion is right; we’re all entitled to our secrets. I hope, as this thing seems to be at the center of all this madness, that you can trust me regarding it. One day." |
"One day," Shadowheart replied, a note of hope in her voice. |
Astarion tipped back to lay on the ground, dragging both women with him. "No more talking. I’m tired and they’re going to make us walk again soon." |
Not five minutes passed before the group was close enough to see the three laid out on the ground. |
"Hey!" Karlach cried out, gesturing to Astarion, "How come he gets all the beautiful women?" |
"I’m beautiful!" Gale objected. |
"Not a woman, though." Wyll pointed out. |
"I just haven’t tried that yet." Gale answered. |
"Absolutely not." Tav called out from the ground. "It is far too late in the day to experiment with magical gender swaps. We need to find a spot to camp, not engage in complicated magic rituals." |
"Fine," Gale answered, sounding more than slightly frustrated, "It seems the bridge to Baldur’s Gate has been destroyed. I hope our path lies towards... Moonrise Towers?" He asked, reading the signs posted. |
"That way," Lae’zel answered, "but not the towers. The creche will not be there." |
"We go west, then." Halsin shape-changed into a wolf again, before trotting westward, over a quaint stone bridge and through a sharp cut in a steep stone wall. |
"We go west." Tav sighed, standing up and offering a hand to Astarion while Shadowheart got to her own feet. |
The group moved forward. |
Slipping through the cut led to a narrow track that climbed ever higher and switched back often. Then, suddenly, they were over the peak and standing at the edge of a deep valley, lit warmly by the early evening sun. The rocks of the valley, where visible, were a brown granite colour and Aspen trees were abundant, cast... |
Astarion felt a small stirring in his long-dead elven heart at the sight. The valley was as close to idyllic perfection as was possible to find outside the legendary perfection of unseen Evermeet. He was almost enchanted with the warmth and color of it all. Hearing Tav’s gently breathed " Oh. " at the view, however, ... |
He still couldn’t quite believe she was real. He had treated her abominably since the first moment they met; manipulation, lies, he had drained her near-dry more than once before he learned how to keep his wits about him while he fed. She would never tell him he had almost killed her, but he had seen her stumble into S... |
Yet she stayed. She fought for him, against others and against himself. She accepted him while centuries of trauma played havoc with his mind. With each evil he visited upon her, she simply murmured a prayer to her Goddess and focused inward on whatever fount of strength the Dark Maiden had gifted her with. Tav obvious... |
"... Lathander." The name he had so often implored in those first decades caught his ears. He turned to see Shadowheart and Gale pulling tangling vines off the granite statue of an ostentatiously robbed human, crowned with the rays of the sun and facing due east. A tarnished metal plaque at the base of the statue had a... |
Blessed be you, pilgrim. Take respite now in the dawn’s loving gaze. |
The dawn’s loving gaze. Astarion scoffed. Mind flayers had given him respite in the dawn’s loving gaze, not Lathander. |
A sign beside the statue identified the directions one might take through the valley. East, where they had come from, Waukeen’s Rest. To the west, Moonrise Towers and south across the valley lay Rosymorn Monastery. The building glittering in the sun on the other side of the valley must belong to the Morninglord. Astari... |
"The Creche will be there." Lae’zel said, pointing at the monastery. |
It was time for the party to move on. They needed to find somewhere to camp for the night before pushing onwards towards the monastery on the other side of the valley. Wyll and Karlach were already a few meters down the road, closely followed by Lae’zel and Gale. Astarion had been unsuccessfully trying to pry Tav from ... |
"Aestar, we’re being left behind." Astarion said, catching Tav’s hand to pull her away. She turned, finally, to regard him with a sad smile. |
"It’s just so..." Words failed her, but he understood, having felt echoes of the same longing. |
"I know, darling." |
After a pleasant hour's walk, the party had still yet to find a way into the valley, or a satisfactory place to camp. The road kept to the heights, the valley formed of steep cliffs; vine covered and impossible to traverse. The sun was a glimmer behind the western mountains; they needed to camp soon. Ducking around a g... |
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