Exhilaration!
They have done it, against all odds, they somehow managed to defeat the King of Shadows.
For Neeshka, the events preceding the King of Shadows' defeat, affected her in a very personal way.
Caught and bound to an ancient spell, she knew she owed more than just her life to the band, especially to the man she now follows.

The immediate euphoria however did not last long.
The aftermath of the battle, caused enormous energies to be released.
The entire vale heaved and shook, threatening to bring the ancient fortress crashing down.
Seemingly able to pick the safest path, Neeshka sprang from side to side avoiding falling debris as they ran into the tunnels and up towards the surface.

Turning into a corridor, Neeshka halted for a moment. Turning around she started to yell to her companions, to hurry up and follow her, but her words were lost, her voice drowned by a loud crackling above her. She instinctively knew that the roof was about to give way.

In that instant, time slowed for Neeshka. Her mind screamed for her to move, to make as much haste as possible and to get away to safety but she could not move.
Her heart held her back, telling her to wait just a bit longer.
Just a few seconds more for him.

She saw her companions run into the room, the man whose face she knew so well, every line, wrinkle, every detail, for he was the reason that she is still alive and free.
He slowed to wait for the others and she saw the concern etched on his face.

"Silvarian, that Idiot! Run damn it! That is just so like him, always putting others ahead of himself." Neeshka thought. "Well, maybe not always" Neeshka corrected herself.
Neeshka just could not understand his behavior at times, his demeanor towards the people he meets varied from almost saintly in kindness to downright ruthlessness.

She then saw Grobnar and his construct charged into the room, without slowing down, the construct barreled into a door shattering it to pieces. It disappeared down that route with the gnome chasing after it. She then saw Ammon yelling something and together with the dwarf, followed the path opened by the construct. Last into the room was Elanee, limping slightly from some injury she must have suffered during the mad run out of the portal chamber.

Elanee.
An elf, a tree hugging druid, her rival.
Always watching him, always following close, much too close to Neeshka's liking, and it seems, Elanee had a history with him.
A history that she was not willing to share with any other.

Neeshka screamed again, this time her voice rang out clear and loud. She saw that both Elanee and the man looked up towards her.
A part of her mind knew that it was too late.
They could have only heard her if the noise had stopped, and that meant that something had already given way.
She looked up and saw as if in slow motion, an entire section of the roof, huge chunks of rock and mortar falling down on both elf and man.

No! This can't be happening! Neeshka's mind screamed.

Elanee's eyes followed Neeshka's and looked up, then in an instant back at Neeshka, their eyes locked.
Neeshka saw in Elanee's, an understanding. Despite the rivalry she bore for the tiefling, Elanee was still in love with the man before her. Knowing that both their lives now measured in mere fractions of a second, and knowing that he would not leave her behind, Elanee did the only thing she could.
Elanee lunged forward and pushed the ranger as hard as she could.

Neeshka's survival instinct finally kicked in.
She turned and fled down the corridor as the entire section behind her caved in.
Her mind, in a turmoil, replaying that last horrid scene of a man falling backwards into an archway as rocks pummeled and buried the one whom pushed him through it.

Neeshka's instinct turned her into one corridor after another, always towards the smell of fresh air, even as her mind screamed out in pain.

Elanee is dead. Is he...
That whole area collapsed, how could he still be alive?
He has to be!
They are all dead!
He's a survivor, he has to be alive.
How could he be, can he fight falling rocks?

Neeshka just blindly ran on.

Then as if in a dream, she was out of the old Ilefarn ruins. Sunlight caressed her skin but she felt no warmth, no comfort from its rays.
Tears welled in her eyes and she blinked.
Her breath still quick, and raged from the run, refused to slow and she fell to her knees.

Her mind numb now, still trying to deal with the finality of what she saw.

You left him back there!
There was nothing I could do!
You should have tried to save him...
... could have tried to save him...
... like he saved you.

He loved you.

Neeshka's chest constricted and she felt pain.
Pain like no injury she has felt before.
It was like a fist had suddenly clenched around her heart and squeezed.
Her entire body shook and shivering she fell over gasping for air.
Her mind screaming at the memory of that simple truth.

He loved you.

A low moan, an almost animal sound issued from her throat that grew into a shriek of utter despair.
For the first time in her life, Neeshka's thoughts was not of herself, her status as a thief, her wealth or lack of. She finally understood then, what love truly was, what it meant to be in love.
That knowledge however, made the pain all the more unbearable.
For the first time in her life, her tears were shed for an injury that went beyond physical pain, her sobs racked with anguish and irrecoverable loss.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Aldanon sir! I think we have found one of the Knight Captian's companions." A gruff looking soldier of Neverwinter said.

"Well, did you or did you not? Either it is his companion, some beast or foul shadow...did I tell you about the time..." Aldanon asked.

"Yes sir!" The soldier quickly interjected, "It's the tiefling girl. Nishta or something ..."

"Neeshka." Aldanon corrected.

"Yes sir." The soldier replied.

"Well?" Aldanon said in an impatient tone.

"Sir?" The soldier confused, not sure what the sage meant.

"Well where is she? I mean, first you say you think you found her, either you have or haven't, if so, where is she? Quickly now." Aldanon quipped irritably.

"Come with me sir." The soldier did a quick about face and walked off hurriedly, probably to avoid any more complications with the sage. Aldanon hurried along with the soldier to where they had located Neeshka. The sage heard her before he even saw the tiefling, curled up on the ground, still sobbing. Her cries, now clearly audible.

A few of the Captain's Company were already there, though they just stood around her, unsure if they should or unwilling, to intrude on her grief.

"I say girl, are you all right? Are you hurt?" Queried Aldanon.

Neeshka didn't respond at first, this lead to the sage repeating the question, only louder.
Neeshka barely responded, only managing to point towards the entrance from where she exited.

"What should we do sir?" Asked a rather worried soldier.

Looking at Neeshka, Aldanon decided that it was best to get her back to Crossroad Keep and said so. Kana and Navalle would want to talk to her and she might need clerical attentions.

"Besides, they'll make better decisions anyways." Aldanon thought.

"Lets look and see if we can find that other survivor. From the scrying, it could be Khelgar or Grobnar." Said Aldanon.

"Damnable spells! Never works the way you want them to...oh yes, maybe if I try to scry for that construct of his...no...that won't work...can't locate a life force when its not actually a living thing..." Looking up, Aldanon saw that the soldiers were still looking at him, and milling around confused,

"Well? Why are you still here? Go! GO!" Aldanon waved his hand shooing the soldiers off.

Turning around, Aldanon hurried off towards where Neeshka pointed, knowing that the men will take care of the tiefling.

"I never thought those of demonic blood could cry. And with such pure sorrow." Aldanon sniffled and felt his own eyes tearing.

"What a remarkable thing indeed."