AU Novelisation of Baldur's Gate. Part 2 of 3. Reunited, the two siblings find themselves somewhere else, lost but not alone. The second part of Left Behind, written back in September 2011.
The layout was eerily familiar. I had seen it through the thief's eyes. There were other chambers, other jars, other cages. All… empty. There were locked doors, and I, to my shame, did not try them. Even Imoen, whose curiosity shone brighter than the sun, left those doors alone. I think it was a mark of just how battered we were. We had to stop and rest every couple of minutes; even with the thief's aid, the simple task of walking left us spent.
It was not a madman's labyrinth; there was a certain twisted logic to the compound. Up to the north, I knew there was a forge, where Duergar, 'grey dwarves', crafted the knives that… it was too horrible. I stared at Imoen, suddenly sickened. Those cuts on her brow… gods… he was a monster.
"Hey, I'm all right. You look like you're gonna be sick; let's rest a minute."
Always looking after me.
A commotion up ahead prompted us to hide; in this particular section of the compound, there were crates everywhere. It seemed that our captor had supplies shipped in, and these were kept nearby the cages and jars, about midway between the forge and his chambers.
There was an upper level, beneath a basement to a house, or shop; I wasn't sure which, and that led to the street level. I knew the sewers ran near here, but the thieves used the sewers as a sort of highway, and had tunnelled into the compound. Given the ferocity of the skirmishes, the wiser course was to avoid the sewers, lest we were mistaken for his followers…
There was so much I wanted to say to Imoen, so much I wanted to do to let her know how glad I was she was here with me. I hadn't the strength; it took everything I had just to keep moving. Slipping in and out of the waking dream was easy; it was not my will that was weakened. Despite that, the drugs lingered; now and then, everything blurred; my steps became shakier, my concentration waned.
Somehow, she understood. Just those glances, those small smiles.
From the roars of pain and the strange tongue, it was a safe bet the Duergar had engaged the thieves. We pressed on.
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