"Sorry about your knife but you have to admire a child who wants to protect themselves."
She was back to cuddling up to Karnwyr as they walked, but Bishop noticed that part of that closeness seemed to be using the dire wolf for support. He looked down on her and snapped, "The kid is deranged and should go into some institution for it."
"Well you know what they say. If you think there is an assassin behind every bush," She glanced up at him out of the side of her eyes. He started to groan in anticipation of the boring end, "It doesn't mean you are wrong."
She climbed up the path ahead of him and he snickered as the dire wolf followed.
From there it got messy. As usual.
Bishop and Casavir watched Avera wiggle through vegetation that would have ripped them to shreds. Casavir hated the way Bishop watched her sneak into bushes as Bishop could not understand the paladin watching so ... intently. But there was no way either human, the dire wolf, the leopard or the dwarf could have squeezed themselves into where that little woman could go. Especially not that quietly. They needed that advantage as the only way to recon their enemies now was through the thicker undergrowth. Not even the birds would go near those areas.
There were not many checkpoints on the way to the cave where the githyanki resided but it was tiring climbing that mountain's steep hills and waiting for Avera's recons to be completed. It took agonizing time and effort to get to the mouth of the cave.
At one point, they found Guivan. Avera stood back away from the hobbit as Casavir asked him what he had been doing there. Bishop watched the little woman wondering why she was almost hidden in Karnwyr's fur instead of speaking to one of her own kind. When they finally got to the cave entrance they rested for a while and Avera cooked her snake over a fire that was already there. They all ate some of the flesh and put some away for later.
Karnwyr looked into the mouth of the cave and whined. Bishop patted his head, "It's ok fella. You can stay out here and watch out for us."
They tried to sneak into the cave but found it was impossible. There was a squad of githyanki waiting for them and they seemed thrilled to have the chance to kill the Kalach-cha.
The Githyanki leader stood among the rest, smiling viciously, "Zeeaire has foretold your coming, Kalach-Cha. She sent me here to end you."
"I'm surprised you're talking to me. Most githyanki just attack." And quit calling me that name or I may just kill you for driving me nuts with it. Kalach-Cha, Kalach-Cha ... shut up shut up shut up! Man her mood swings were really bothering her.
"I enjoy knowing my prey, Kalach-Cha. I find it sweetens the taste of their death. Zeeaire allows me this luxury."
"I am glad for you. Uhm, Zeeaire. I keep hearing that name. Who exactly is this Zeeaire?"
"Zeeaire is a Sword Stalker of the highest order. She is favored by the Lich Queen and has slain countless enemies."
Curiosity once again warred in the little woman, and curiosity won, "Most of the githyanki I've encountered are female. Why is that?"
"Githyanki men typically serve the Lich Queen from the Astral home. They have no use here. They are mostly ... ornamental ... if you get my meaning."
"Really?" Avera could feel all of her companions' eyes on her back. She couldn't resist, "I find that men have many ... uses."
The gith looked at Avera's friends with great interest, "Yes, they do. I have been away from the Astral home for some time and I have not..." Her voice lowered, suggestively, "Indulged myself."
"Yes, well that's a crying shame, isn't it?" Avera toyed with the thought, being as she had never indulged in that herself. With a sigh she gestured to the gith to continue.
"Perhaps your human servant, the tall, dark one, would suffice. Give him over to me willingly and I can offer you a faster, painless death."
She blinked, "Tall and dark?" She turned to look at the men, "There are two tall and dark and one short and dark. Which one do you mean?"
All three men watched in curious horror.
"The one with the bow."
Bishop choked, disgusted with the mere thought, "You can't possibly pay me enough... and even if you could, I'd need a few kegs of Duncan's ale first."
She looked back at the ranger and smiled, then turned back to the gith, "You're not taking Bishop." It was hard to keep from laughing at the expression the man had on his face when she had turned.
He let out his breath, "Glad we understand each other. I'll never be that desperate. And if I am, go ahead and kill me."
Khelgar turned his head and whispered to Casavir, "Can we now?"
Casavir glanced down at the dwarf, but a grin was plastered on his face.
"I shall remember that." Avera smirked.
"Please do, Chickadee, please do."
"And you can't have my paladin, either."
"So we are at a stand still then?"
"No." Avera grinned, "Let's skip the pleasantries. I'm fed up, tired and kranky. Time for you to die." She snarled and gave up all pretense of diplomacy. That was enough.
"Slay the Kalach-Cha. For Zeeaire!"
Another githyanki came running up to the lieutenant from deeper in the cave, "There is a problem."
The group had already noticed the screams and sounds of battle in the distance which had begun a few minutes before, but had given it little thought as their main concern had been the battlement in front of them. They had figured to deal with it when it came time to do so. One problem at a time.
Both githyanki turned and looked towards the sounds, "Handle it. I am not finished here."
The messenger ran back to the fighting as her leader turned back to lead her people in their attack of Avera's group.
The fight took some time and the group had to heal up before going on. They checked their supplies of healing potions, packs and spells and hoped that there would not be all that much more to go through. But as they started down the first of the cavern's passageways they found another obstacle.
A wizard stood next to a few demons, including one very large one. All around them were slaughtered githyanki. Their backs were to the group as the wizard snarled, "Find the githyanki leader and retrieve the shards from her, Zaxis. Leave no one alive."
The man sensed someone behind him, turned around, and sized up the group. He then turned his back and casually called his demons forward, "As for these newcomers... deal with them."
The worst of the fight was the succubi. Avera couldn't scratch them but found it was easy enough to remove their defenses with a minor remove magic spell. It took her a couple of tries on one before her defenses dropped but once it did the men quickly took her down.
As they continued further down the hall they could hear mischievous laughter and clanging, "Listen... when I strike it, it's like the tolling of a bell."
A second voice cackled, "I can still smell the stench of its creator on its surface, running deep into the ore. Why would the gith keep such a thing, as broken as it is?"
They laughed wildly, "We should tear it apart, see if its limbs twitch when cleaved from the body."
As they turned the corner, one of the succubi spun, "Why... it seems one victim has drawn others."
They could see a construct sitting in the corner, damaged and torn.
Casavir and Khelgar swarmed ahead as Avera cast her minor remove magic spell and Bishop dealt out arrow after arrow. Avera fell back and tried some acid arrows she had removed from a body and was pleased that she could finally do damage to these creatures. She tossed another pack of them over to Bishop who only nodded at the prize.
After the succubi fell, Avera and Casavir attended to wounds. Bishop noticed a strange gleam of fury in the paladin's eyes as the little woman went near him to check his wounds and it made him happier, even overjoyed that it upset him.
Avera finished putting gauze over a wound when Casavir touched her arm and directed her attention to the construct. He scowled at Bishop as the little woman stood and bit her lip.
"Well that's surprising." She mused, "Why would the githyanki want this?" Avera tentatively touched the machine's knee.
"Anything being torn apart by demons is an ally in my book." Bishop walked around it, curious and wary, "Still... how did it get here? It looks like a prisoner."
Khelgar spat, "What? You've never seen a construct?" He tapped the blades with grudging respect, "Don't have much appreciation for magic, but you have to admire the workmanship here." He backed up a pace, "It looks to be made of solid steel. Oh, and stay clear of those bladed appendages, they are sharp."
"I will take your word for it." Casavir said while looking the construct over, "It looks to be well made and very dangerous."
"Obviously, this thing wasn't on the githyanki's side, whatever it was - or those demons." Bishop took mental note, "Which means there's someone else tracking our movements."
She turned towards the men, "That isn't unusual, Bishop. Hey, remember fighting this thing in Neverwinter, Khelgar. It fled through a portal."
"Aye. It almost took off Neeshka's head. Good thing the goat girl is fast at ducking."
Bishop turned and glared at them, irritated, "How many enemies do you have, anyway? There's almost more than I can count."
"There's a surprise." Khelgar announced quietly.
"Watch it." Bishop frowned at the dwarf, "But you know... seems to me this thing could be worth some coin. Let's take it with us, sell it off to a wizard."
"All right. We'll come back for it after we've found Shandra."