"…Or perhaps for those who can think for themselves and recognise the true enemy here" Garius said finishing his speech.

"Bishop" Casavir growled, standing next to the Knight-Captain, sword in hand.

Bishop stepped forward out of the shadows and looked from Linn to Casavir, then back.

"My debt to you is over 'Knight-Captain'… And the strange thing is I'm a little sorry about it. For what its worth I almost kept going for you, right there until the end, but your uncle, its hard to get past that part of it, even…" he took a deep breath "even

after everything else"

'Don't think I didn't see you and the Paladin here right before the siege… and to think before that I was willing to fight for you… I would have died for you!' is what he wanted to say, but he couldn't.

"Don't do this Bishop" she pleaded, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I can't help it" he admitted "Getting tied down, even to a feeling for someone, just isn't my style"

Linn continued to shake her head. She had forgotten she was moments away from a battle that would shape the Sword Coast for years to come. She needed to hear what he had to say, and he could see it in her eyes.

"The most frustrating thing about it is I was thinking it would be as easy to hate you as I did Duncan. But I don't… at all"

'I love you' he couldn't even say that, not in front of the Paladin.

"But see, that's the reason it's going to end like this. I'm not going to be tied to anyone or anything again..."

"Can you at least tell me why?" she asked, the pain of seeing Bishop again plain to see in her eyes.

"Oh go on Bishop, we have time. Our lord will be here soon, and then none of this matters" Garius said, apparently enjoying the emotional torment Bishop was putting her through.

Bishop took a breath and began to speak; he told her what he had wanted to tell her for so long.

"You see, Duncan saved my life once. Found me outside Red Fallow's Watch, the still smouldering ruins of my home village, barely alive"

"Why would you blame Duncan for that?" she asked, confusion written on her face. She had taken a step towards Bishop, away from Casavir and the Silver Sword had fallen to her side.

"Thing is, I was the one who burned that place to the ground and I didn't want any witnesses" Bishop continued, ignoring her question. He wanted to say his piece. "That's it really, nothing complicated, just settling debts that never should have been made"

It felt good to tell her, to make her see that it was all Duncan's fault he had betrayed her and their companions at the keep.

"But why did you burn your village down?" Linn asked, the sadness in her eyes turning to fear and revulsion.

"It was part of an initiation ceremony into a Luskan assassination squad, like ol' Lorne once was in. It's something they order all new recruits to do, whether they want to or not. And I don't care for that too much" he said matter-of-factly.

"You see, they order you to slaughter a Neverwinter village as part of the initiation ceremony. I decided to take care of two problems at once – and I chose my own"

"That makes no sense…" Linn mumbled, shaking her head in denial. But Bishop wasn't about to stop there.

"You see, for every West Harbour that gives rise to someone like you… someone great…there's a hundred of me that end up going down the other path. And my village…not even worth talking about, it didn't even deserve to survive"

That one cut her deep; he could see it in her eyes. She had truly believed she could change him, she had believed he was a good man deep down.

"So when they ordered me to destroy a village of my choosing I saw a chance to kill the Luskans and kill the place that helped make me the fine, upstanding man you see before you… all as a fortunate accident"

Linn swallowed hard and slowed her breathing, calming herself.

"So what happened?" she asked.

"I was going to burn the village to try and kill the Luskans who were watching over me, it was a trap… but those villagers, those fools, they wouldn't leave when I told them. So they died too. I set a bunch of fires around the perimeter, let it all come circling in and they all burned like sheep trapped in a corral. I told them to leave, to run, but they wouldn't leave their houses especially when I told them… the fools"

It was hard for him to say the words, to bring back the memories and to expose his darkest secret in front of all his former companions. Especially after Shandra's farm and Ember.

"Then Duncan showed up?" Linn prompted, obviously desperate to know the full story, to rationalise everything in her head. Bishop took a breath and continued.

"I took a few arrows, had some wounds… and to be honest I wasn't sure I was going to get out of there at all. I was too weak to fight back, but it didn't matter because for the first time I felt all these chains come off me. I felt free at last… but then Duncan came along, right at the end, tying me to that place, tying me to Luskan… tying me to my past. He saved my life, then he said I owed him – in that stupid joking voice of his, but I knew what he meant; he was blackmailing me with what he knew. Then he called his debt due and that debt was to help you… And I had to do it, else he would have told everyone that I was at that village and then the Luskans would have come looking for me"

"So...because Duncan saved your life, you're going to take mine?" she asked, tears welling up in her grey eyes.

"No telling what Duncan had told you, so yeah, that was the plan. But things got… complicated along the way, and now here we are"

"I…I understand, Bishop. And for what it's worth, I forgive you." she said, but she didn't understand. She said it because it was the right thing to say.
"Yeah, somehow I knew you'd say that. But it wasn't just about you; you just ended up being the most important part about it." He needed her to know it wasn't her fault, that it was Duncan's.

Garius, sensing Linn's motives cut in.

"Come now Bishop, let's be done with the sentimentalities"

There was a moment of silence as the echo of Garius' patronising words faded in the large chamber.

"Was that an order I heard, Bishop?" Linn asked, a grin emerging on her face. Bishop gritted his teeth and the muscles in his jaw tensed.

"You watch it! I'm not anyone's lackey, not anymo-"

"I think we've heard enough from this Knight of Neverwinter… and from you…ranger. Now be silent" Garius cut him off before he could finish his retort.

Bishop turned away from Linn and looked up at Garius, eyebrows raised.

"Is that so? Well in that case you can handle the Shard Bearer on your own. After all, you really don't need me, do you? I think it might be best if you stopped having people stand between you and the Knight-Captain here – Torio, Lorne, your Reaver friends… I'm not going to fight your battles"

Garius could barely contain his fury.

"You will die if you leave Bishop. I will come for you when I am done here"

"Garius, you're going to die if you stay" he said with a chuckle. Bishop could almost see the disbelief on the emotionless Reaver's face as he turned on his heels and walked to the chamber door. He could feel the eyes of the Knight-Captain and her companions as he walked past them, but he did not look up. He was done with them, done with shards and shadows alike. No matter how many of his heartstrings she had plucked with her big eyes and cascading blonde hair, he was out.

As he rounded the doors he began to run, he didn't want to be anywhere near the ruins when the King of Shadows arrived and the final battle that Linn Farlong had been heading towards began. Bishop even allowed himself a small smile at how he had gambled with death and walked away even. Linn would win, he had little doubt, but Bishop was certain that Garius and the King of Shadows would not go down without a fight.

The only trouble was finding his way out. The ruins were dark and mazelike and it didn't take long before the walls began to shake, dust falling from the ceiling.

"Great…" Bishop muttered, panic building in his stomach.

His heart beating in his ears, Bishop began to run faster, skidding around corners as explosions were heard in the tunnels behind him and larger pebbles fell from the roof. But Bishop could smell the air getting fresher as he ran, could feel the gloom lessening as he ran up a flight of ancient stairs. By the time he reached the top the walls were shaking with unearthly vigour, but he could see natural light at the end of the hall he was in. Gathering all the strength that was left in him he pelted along the hall, watching stones falling all around him. The door got closer and closer and Bishop could taste his freedom. He had done it, come the hells or high water Bishop would always live to fight another day.

And then confusion fogged his mind. Only a second before he had been running but he could no longer feel his legs, or his arms for that matter. In the dim light of entrance all Bishop could make out were chunks of what looked like bone scattered across the floor…