text stringlengths 0 41.4k |
|---|
Nothing in this world made sense to him anymore except for the woman in front of him. |
"Whatever you need. I’m glad you trust me enough to support you." |
"Zevlor," her voice lost its commanding edge but struck him still, "I trust you to the edges of the Outer Planes." |
Her gauntlet pressed itself on his armour over his heart. It might as well have been her skin touching his; the way his heart leapt to his throat. |
Slowly, he settled his old Hellrider’s gauntlet over hers. The only part of her that he could see was her facial features under all the armour she bore but it was enough to be hopeless for. |
"If I don’t sound for you, I’ll see you on the other side," she whispered. |
It was strange, the need that pulsed through him. Strong – overwhelming even – to gently lean forward and press his lips against hers. He was usually good at containing his urges, whatever desires he had. It was drilled into him as a Hellrider before he even became a Commander. His needs came second to the innocents ar... |
But here and now, on the edge of the world’s end, he failed to stop himself. He kissed her. |
A gasp emanated from her, and for a moment Zevlor thought he had wildly misread the situation, until he felt her kiss back. |
It was tender. Far more tender than the moment should allow, than he should ever have, but it was there. |
They slowly parted and he was not sure if that was his best move right before a battle. His head felt woozy and his limbs clumsy, but he managed to get himself together for one last comment: |
"For good luck." |
A ghost of a smile flickered across Hintha’s lips, her eyes already hardening back to their determined state. "For good luck," she echoed, squeezing their conjoined hands once more, before parting back to her companions. |
Zevlor shook his head, feeling his hair brush against his neck, before turning back to his men. Jaheira, Nine-Fingers, and Grand Duke Ravengard joined their own forces. A strategy was confirmed, hands shook, and they parted. |
They all had a part to play if Hintha and her companions were to survive even the journey to the Netherbrain. |
And by the Gods, was Zevlor about to play his. |
A resounding crack and psychic screech alerted Zevlor that the tides had turned. The strike of his greatsword faltered mid-swing against one of the numerous Mindflayers. It forced him to his knees and scattered his sword. Fortunately, it seemed that the screech had the exact same response to his foe but more so. |
Its head erupted. |
"Helm-!" Zevlor spluttered and staggered back his feet for a moment, only to collapse again when something imploded behind his left eye. |
He howled and collapsed again, clutching his eye with one bloody hand. Something gritty and greasy built up behind his eye and began to ooze out of his socket. It felt like sandpaper rubbed against his eye as it dribbled outwards. |
The pod felt better than this. |
"Godsdammit!" he cried. |
The ooze eventually leaked from his eye and fell with a splat on the cobbles below. His one good eye widened. The tadpole, or what was left of it, was deceased on the ground below him. |
A shadow loomed over him with shocking speed and hurtled towards the harbour. |
The Netherbrain. It was descending, no, falling. |
Something violently worked its way through his throat, a sob. Tears ran down his wounded cheeks but curved around his crazed smile. |
Hintha was successful. |
The thought of her snapped Zevlor back into his body. Not all the sounds of violence had dissipated. While the main foe had been defeated, there were still innocents who needed protection. |
With renewed energy, he sprung to his feet and barrelled towards the Lower City. |
Civilians and warriors alike had the remaining Mindflayers on the back foot down here, and he inspired them further. His greatsword cleaved with little effort, all his senses firing on all cylinders. |
It brought him back to a moment in time before Elturel even fell. When this was how every battle felt with the Hellriders. Glorious, ethereal, mighty- |
Something had shifted in his chest. The hole where his oath resided once had grown a little smaller. Another tear crawled down his face. There was hope for him after all. |
The noise of battle had ceased with one last swing of his sword and the crunch of a Mindflayer’s head hitting the ground. Fires still burned and buildings still crumbled slowly, but it did not matter. They had won. Places could be rebuilt; wounds could be mended. |
Pain began to blossom all over his body as the adrenaline declined. He was no pretty picture of health with blood seeping from the cracks in his armour. Dust coated his back from when he was thrown into a fallen building. Gunk, or whatever Mindflayers bled, was stuck to his face and neck. But he was alive. |
And from the figures he could see clambering up onto a dock, his dearest was likely too. |
It was agonizing having to weave through the buildings to get to her. Rubble had destroyed the once clear walkways to the dock. Already strained muscles burned from his sprint but it mattered not. He would only rest again with her in his arms. |
Though as he descended upon the docks, he stumbled in his sprint a little bit. Wyll and Karlach disappeared in a plume of smoke on the end of the pier. Astarion swayed violently, the sound of skin crackling even meeting the Commander’s ears, and the spawn bolted to the shadows with Shadowheart chasing after him. But Ja... |
By the time Zevlor reached her remaining two companions, the others had long gone. He fumbled to a stop and tried to catch his breath. Jaheira already started speaking before he got a word in: |
"No, Commander, we do not know where Hintha is. The warlock and rogue had their own problems to deal with before they could give us anything, and that stupid cleric is off with the rogue." |
The sweat that glistened on Zevlor's body suddenly felt very, very cold. He stood straight. |
Gods, did Hintha know how to swim? Did clerics generally learn how to swim? Was she crushed somewhere? |
"Oh, calm down, Commander," Jaheira continued. "The Cub has survived this far. And well, even if she is dead, we've got that skeleton back at camp. He'll be able to help." |
"There is also Locate Person," Gale added, "which is also a far less drastic thing to say about Zevlor's dear woman." He looked at his hands with a frown. "Alas, I would need to wait until tomorrow to start that endeavour if she does not show her face shortly. I've exhausted my supply and I daren't go further lest it d... |
Jaheira waved her hand again. "Either way, she'll be alright. She's the only one not accounted for so there are all of these fools to search for her. You young things are going to need something to occupy yourself with now as your main problem is dead." |
The High Harper usually had her emotions under lock and key. Zevlor usually was not one who could see through people. However, in that moment, she looked nervous. |
No, she was just exhausted. They all were. Hells, Hintha probably was too. There was no need to run back to the docks immediately. She was probably just resting; catching her breath on a dinghy somewhere in the harbour. Perhaps the boat she was on was docking further along the Chionthar. They were only in a small part ... |
He was a Hellrider; a Hellrider Commander even. He could handle a missing person even if it was her. |
His hands still shook as he looked out over the Chionthar. Boats were coming back into the harbour. Lae'zel and Minsc were people of immediate action and strength. They would be searching on the water until their muscles could no longer move, and then a little longer. |
"I-I'll go and walk further down the docks," he stammered. "Perhaps she pulled herself onto a boat that is docking shortly." |
"Good plan, Commander, but make sure you rest as well. I will never hear the end of it if the Cub finds out that you've been endlessly looking for her without resting and I endorsed it." |
"Oh, and meet up with the rest of us at the Elfsong if it's still standing. Doubt it, but it's where we agreed to meet after all this. Maybe she'll be there if you don't see her." |
Jaheira forced a smile and left. |
He gave a curt nod to Gale and then started his route down to the docks. |
Zevlor watched the harbour for hours. Boats came and went. Families cried with joy and sorrow. There were celebrations. |
But there was no Hintha. It was only when night truly hit that he returned to the Elfsong. |
Hintha was not there either. |
The civilians seemed eager to celebrate the Heroes of Baldur's Gate, which he was included in for some reason. Her companions joined in but there was a half-heartened nature to their celebration. Even Minsc seemed more dower than usual. |
Zevlor was not a brightening factor in the night either. He slouched in the corner, inspecting his mug full of ale with limited interest. Dancing might have been of interest once, but the one he would have danced with was still not here. |
A bottle was set down before him. A tanned hand turned it around and revealed its label. |
He straightened and looked up. Gale was smiling kindly at him. |
"One parcel of knowledge I tucked away from the beginning of our little adventure was that Hintha shared a bottle of this winery with you," Gale said. "I thought once she comes back, you might like to share this with her away from such noise." |
Zevlor's hand shook as he took the bottle. It was sealed and an older vintage than the one they shared before. |
"And I figured with the way this celebration is going tonight, you might want to squirrel this away before it gets drunk by someone who doesn't understand its significance." |
"I... Thank you," he whispered. The idea of sharing a bottle of Black Cottage again with Hintha, perhaps while by the Chionthar and under the stars, elevated his mood slightly. |
"And do enjoy the night, Zevlor. I know it's hard, but fortunately, it's our Hintha that has not returned yet. She's got out of worse situations with fewer resources available to her." |
The idea did little to reassure the tiefling, but he nodded vaguely along regardless. It appeared to appease the human enough to give him a pat on the back before he returned to the fray. |
Zevlor returned the bottle back upstairs, hidden among his few things, and tried to do as Gale said. The real work would continue tomorrow but as they had no magic left and wounds to heal. Like the Grove, they could take a moment. |
When the next day came, he was out at the break of dawn. |
Hintha had not come back to the Elfsong overnight. None of the boats had returned with her. |
Locate Person did not work as well as they hoped, they soon found out. The range was limited to a couple of blocks. Even as they passed the standing buildings that housed civilians, no signal was pinged. Gale complained about it not working if there was running water between the target and themselves, so if she was st... |
Zevlor refused to give in to the whispering voice in his head. He had fallen once to his inner demons. He was not going to let it happen again. |
Jaheira listened to the summary of the day's events and scoffed. A simple Sending spell would suffice. She whipped out a piece of parchment and scribbled something on it. With a flick of her hand and a few words, the parchment vanished. |
Not a second later, it reappeared. Jaheira's words were still there but there was no reply. |
Zevlor sprinted upstairs before the others even registered the implications. Calamity broke out in a range of different yells, cries, and roars behind him. He had not been at their camp but Hintha had mentioned once before that some skeleton had assisted in these matters before. |
All his senses were fried as he slammed the door open to their rooms. All the curtains had been drawn shut to protect their elf companion. He languished on a loveseat with a book in his lap. He started at the noise. |
"Good lord, if I’m about to witness some long-awaited debauchery from you and Hintha, I would at least like a little warning. I need to get a drink for the show." |
Astarion’s words would have usually riled Zevlor up but his throat and head were too thick with every other emotion to bear him mind. |
"W-Where’s the skeleton?" |
Astarion perked up. "Withers? Darling, what do you need that-" His expression fell. "No." |
"For gods’ sake- Where is it?" Zevlor demanded with unbridled anger. |
The vampire snarled. "He- it- whatever, left!" |
The tiefling faltered. His head began to throb violently. "No, you’re lying." |
"Bloody- why in the Nine Hells do you think I would be lying about this, Horns?" Astarion cried and waved his hand further inside their room. "Go look for yourself if you don’t believe me!" |
Despite his best efforts, Astarion was right, there was not another being present. |
Zevlor’s mind scrambled for any spell that might aid them. He cannot lose it; he cannot fail her. Blast his limited knowledge – maybe Gale? |
He bolted down the stairs again to Gale and Jaheira arguing over the scroll. Gale’s eyes were fiery but shimmered. |
"-there could be plenty of reasons that she did not respond! Do not take the most obvious answer when it is convenient-" |
"You hide from reality when it is not convenient for you, wizard! You and I both know the many ways Sending spells can be sent back and forth and with the speed that scroll came back, we both know what actually happened." |
"Enough!" Zevlor yelled, startling even himself. "We do not have time for this. Gale and Jaheira, we need to work together." |
His mouth continued barking orders and stimulating discussions without his heart catching up. Perhaps it was a leftover trait from his days with the Hellriders. Perhaps if he did not maintain order within himself now, he would lose any scrap of who he was. |
He had already lost his oath; he could not lose the only other thing that made him feel alive. |
The spell Scrying eventually reared its head. They managed to find a strand of her hair in among her supplies and Gale prepared the spell for the next day. |
It was pitch black and silent wherever Hintha was. Zevlor had thought that the spell had failed, but Jaheira shushed him. There was a gentle glug of water. |
"She’s still in the Chionthar. Dead, but there." |
Whether he was fortunate or not to not be granted dark vision like many other tieflings was a mystery to him now. Would his anxiety be sated if he could see her, or would it haunt his nightmares to see her decaying corpse? |
Hintha was so alive against him at the Elfsong. Every shiver that coursed through her body from being soaked marked him. Even now he could smell the faintest air of pine and cinnamon from her belongings. |
"Ah, Oak Father’s graces-! She’s moving. The underwater currents must be pulling her along." |
"Rivers tend to have an undercurrent of approximately three miles per hour, but can get up to fifteen miles depending on the conditions," Gale muttered. "If we estimate on the slower side, which I highly doubt considering how strong the Chionthar is to move a Netherbrain, then she might be up to a hundred and fifty mil... |
A hundred and fifty miles. Baldur’s Gate was maybe several miles from the ocean. If Gale’s calculations were correct... |
"She’s not in the Chionthar anymore then," Jaheira sighed. "She’d be in the Sword Coast now. Hintha could survive the worst situations, but there is no way we can find her body within a tenday." |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.