Author's Note: This is my very first fan fiction. The story takes place during "Shadows of Amn". I have changed some story elements from the game to fit my vision, but not too drastically. I have only just started writing stories, so please keep that in mind when reviewing. All feedback, good or bad, is appreciated, though.

Disclaimer: I do not own any intellectual property from the Baldur's Gate series. I do own Thayan and Irlina, however. Any resemblance of these two characters to any other author's work is purely coincidental.

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From his position in the wood line Thayan got his first good look at the prey: a small party of five adventurers – two men and three women. The bandits had been discreetly tracking these adventurers all day through the forest. They had eventually settled down in a small clearing a short walk from the trail to make camp for the night.

One of the bandit scouts had spotted the adventurers entering the forest several days ago. The bandit leader, Antonio, had decided to pursue them. Unfortunately, the adventurers almost certainly had a druid or a ranger among them, for their progress through the woods was too swift, and they managed to reach the swamp before a proper ambush could be organized.

What business they had in the swamps only the gods knew, but Thayan had a pretty good guess. There had been reports of unusually aggressive animal activity around Trademeet lately. Some of the more outlandish reports claimed that animals were even attacking the town itself. It was pretty farfetched, but if the local druid grove in the swamp had anything to do with the local animals' behavior, then it seemed logical to assume that somebody would investigate eventually.

Antonio had wisely abandoned the pursuit and had decided to ambush them when they exited the swamp. Thayan was thankful for that decision. Swamps were tricky enough to navigate, let alone fight in. And that smell. The last time he had ventured into that swamp, the stench of decaying plant matter had lingered in his nostrils for weeks afterwards.

Thayan noted that six adventurers had entered the swamp but only five had returned. Had they seen combat? Did one of them fall? Thayan didn't really care. There were fifteen bandits arrayed in ambush positions outside the camp against five defenders. One less opponent would make their jobs that much easier.

As Thayan observed them, one of the adventurers caught his attention immediately - a giant of a man with runic symbols tattooed over half of his bald head. He was dressed in leather armor and was within arm's reach of a dangerous looking great sword. He was paying a great deal of attention to something in his hand, but Thayan couldn't tell what the man was holding at this distance. Whatever it was, it was extremely valuable, judging from the man's expression.

The second man was smaller in stature, but not by much. He had a well-groomed appearance, a neatly trimmed beard, and short, dark brown hair. His tanned, olive skin betrayed his Amnish heritage. A longsword hung at his hip, and he wore a set of expensive plate armor and was currently in the process of cleaning a medium shield, which bore an unrecognized family crest. A noble, Thayan realized, maybe even a knight. If he could be captured, his ransom alone could make this venture well worth the delay in ambushing this group.

Of the three women, the first to catch Thayan's eye was the tall one with short brown hair. Her confident air and the way the others deferred to her marked her as their leader. She wielded a longbow and a short sword of unremarkable designs. Her chainmail armor, however, glowed softly in the pale early evening light, a clear indication of magical enchantment. Thayan probably would have considered her to be somewhat attractive if she was wearing something more feminine and had a less muscular frame. Her sharp facial features were not his preference, however.

The second woman had long, wavy, sand-colored hair and was strikingly beautiful. She was clearly a half-elf; her face had the rounder features of her human parentage while her slightly pointed ears betrayed her elven heritage. Her quarterstaff lay nearby as she worked over a cooking fire. She seemed very much at home in the woods, Thayan noted. He thought he could even hear her humming, but it was too faint to be sure. If one of her comrades had indeed met their end in that swamp, she was taking it rather well, he thought dryly.

The last woman was his target. She was a human of regal bearing and amber, shoulder-length hair. The mage robes she wore made her stand out, as they all tended to do. Everyone knew that in any fight, the mages were the primary threats, so it made little sense for mages to draw attention to themselves. Thayan knew from his own experiences, however, that mages tended to be extremely arrogant and probably wanted to be seen as the greatest threat to feed their own egos. Might as well paint a bright red bull's-eye on your back, he thought.

In contrast to the half-elf, the mage seemed none too pleased to be here. Thayan could see her muttering as she laid out her bedroll. The way she fumbled with it, coupled with her current demeanor, told him that she was probably unused to life outdoors. He could well imagine her complaining to herself about needing a bath or the biting insects that ruled the nights.

Too bad, he thought as he watched her and waited for the signal to attack. She wasn't half bad looking; what a shame she would very likely be dead soon.

**********

Nalia De'Arnise was exhausted from a day of hard marching first through the swamp then through the woods. Jaheira and Minsc had set a brutal pace, but she was determined to keep up without complaints. The others already believed that the hard life of adventuring did not agree with her upbringing as a soft noble, and Nalia did not want to add any more fuel to that fire by whining. The others had never actually voiced any disapproval of her joining their company, of course, with the notable exception of Jaheira, who seemed to have an strong opinion about everything and wasn't afraid to express it, but Nalia could sense it in the others. Or perhaps it was her own insecurities she was sensing? Whatever the case, she would not let herself be a burden.

Having set her travel pack down, Nalia was currently attempting to unfurl her sleeping roll. It was practically brand new and had an annoying tendency to try to keep itself rolled up. As she pressed it down flat, the familiar swamp smell that still clung to her robes hit her again. Nalia sighed and mumbled something about how much scrubbing the robes would need before the fetid odor would be cleansed. On the other hand, the stench wasn't that bad; it was really no worse than what could assault the olfactory senses in the Athkatlan slums, she reasoned. Still, she couldn't wait to get back to an inn at Trademeet and civilization.

Truth be told, Nalia was beginning to enjoy life as an adventurer, foul odors and life threatening situations notwithstanding. The group she was travelling with were good people, and they were becoming good friends as well. Not only had they freed her father's keep from the trolls and yuan-ti, but Irlina had agreed to be the land lord in order to prevent her father's lands, her lands now, she reminded herself, from falling into the hands of the Roenalls, which reminded her…

Nalia turned to Irlina, who was re-checking the tightness of her bow string, as was her habit whenever they stopped for a rest.

"Irlina?"

Irlina glanced up briefly from her bow string and flashed a quick smile.

"Nalia?" she said playfully.

Nalia smiled and asked, "Are we planning on stopping by the keep before returning to Athkatla?"

Irlina arched an eyebrow in thought for a moment before answering. "I suppose we could. It's not too far out of the way. Why? Change your mind about marrying Isea Roenall?" she teased with a wink.

"Gods no!" Nalia exclaimed with a visible shudder, causing everyone to laugh. "It's just we've been gone for more than a tenday now, and I'm worried about what the Roenalls might be up to is all."

"I'm sure the keep is fine," Irlina soothed. "Could Isea really stir up trouble in a week?"

"Yes, he could," Nalia said. "Not only that, but he's spiteful enough to stir up trouble just to get back at me for calling off the marriage. I don't trust that slimy weasel; he makes my skin crawl."

"Coming from someone who cavorts with the unwashed masses on a regular basis, that certainly is saying something," Anomen quipped.

Nalia shot Anomen a dirty look while Irlina whirled around to face the squire. "Anomen, be nice!" Irlina scolded, unable to completely hide her amusement.

Anomen ignored them and continued cleaning the swamp muck from his shield while Irlina and Nalia continued talking about their plans for the De'Arnise lands.

**********

Jaheira suppressed a sigh as she prepared their supper over a low fire. The squire's surliness wasn't about to dampen her spirits. Much to her surprise, she noticed that she was humming as she prepared their supper over a low fire. It wasn't a tune that she recognized; she was creating it spontaneously.

The whole affair with the shadow druids had put her on edge ever since the young man, Flydian, had approached them in Athkatla and asked them to look into the mysterious animal attacks on Trademeet. A druid named Cernd, who was conducting his own investigation into the animal attacks, had accompanied them into the swamp to speak to the druids at the local grove only to find that it had been taken over by a shadow druid named Faldorn, who had initiated a war against Trademeet. Cernd had challenged Faldorn to a duel, in accordance with druid customs. During the duel, Cernd had revealed himself to be a werewolf. Even so, it had been a close run battle with Cernd prevailing and Faldorn dead. With the grove's leadership in disarray, Cernd had agreed to stay and help restore order there, acting as defacto leader.

With Nature retuning to its usual balance, Jaheira had found herself in unusually good spirits lately. Just being away from towns and cities had done much to reduce the stress and anxiety she had felt since escaping Irenicus' dungeon. In fact, she hadn't felt this happy since before Khalid…

Jaheira stopped humming as she involuntarily tensed. She glanced over to Minsc, who returned the look with the same concern as she felt. Something was amiss in the woods around them.

"What is it?" Irlina asked with a look of concern.

Jaheira stood and quickly grabbed her staff, while Minsc, having already stowed his precious hamster Boo in a mysterious location, stood abruptly and took up his great sword in a defensive posture.

"We are ambushed!" Jaheira announced.

**********

The plan had worked like clockwork. The bandits had launched their attack from one direction, drawing the front-line melee fighters and leaving Thayan alone at their enemy's rear, where the mage stood readying a spell. It was a tactic they had been perfecting for the last two years now against adventuring parties. Normally it would be suicide for a single bandit to go toe to toe against an experienced spellcaster, but Thayan was no ordinary bandit.

There was a slight complication, however: their leader stood next to the mage firing her longbow with a speed and efficiency that Thayan had never seen before. And judging by the screams of pain echoing after each loosed arrow, she was a deadly accurate shot. He would have to be fast to reach the mage before the archer could react. After that, well, he'd have to play it by ear.

Thayan saw arcane energy crackling at the fingertips of the young mage as she recited an incantation and weaved her hands in an intricate pattern. Time was up. If he didn't act now, half of his comrades would probably be dead or incapacitated by magic. He quietly unsheathed his short sword and bolted from behind the safety of the large tree trunk he was knelt behind, making a direct line for the mage. Ten steps, maybe eleven, at a full sprint would close the distance. With luck he might even reach her without being noticed.

Luck was not with Thayan, though, as the archer somehow heard his approach over the din of the fighting and the cries of the wounded. She turned to face him, and with a smooth, practiced motion, brought another arrow from the quiver and notched it to the bow string before Thayan could even count two steps. He would not reach the mage in time, he realized.

Thayan ducked low and changed his course, intending to circle to the right, putting the mage between him and the deadly longbow. The abrupt change in direction and the lowering of his profile had ruined the archer's aim, the arrow whistling past his forehead providing ample evidence of it. The curse uttered by the archer caused him to smirk; he doubted that she missed very often.

The archer's loud curse also had a surprising side effect: it ruined the mage's concentration. If nothing else, Thayan had accomplished his primary mission of distracting the mage, albeit in an unorthodox manner. As the mage's spell fizzled away, she turned to face him with an anger and frustration he had seen many times before. He knew what was probably coming next: it was a favorite spell for wizards across the face of Toril and could be cast with a single word at a single target, likely resulting in serious injury if not death for any normal person.

"Vect!" the mage shouted while holding out an outstretched palm towards Thayan. Five glowing darts materialized from her hand and arced through the air with speed and deadly purpose… directly at Thayan's chest. As he sprinted towards the mage, he knew that dodging the magical darts was pointless; they would never miss their intended target. He let them strike his body and felt their impacts, but it was no more painful than someone poking his chest with their forefinger. He almost laughed out loud in triumph as he watched the young mage's face transform from anger to confusion then to fear in a blink of an eye.

Two more steps…

Thayan raised his sword, ready to strike down the helpless spellcaster. He heard the knight cry out in protest from his right, but he ignored it. Nothing could stop him now.

One more…

And that's when Thayan's world turned a bright white before fading into the darkness of oblivion.