"Come now, commander, you and I both know you and your men won't be leaving here alive." The shadow priest said coldly.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." the sandy-haired officer replied with some defiance, looking his capture in the eyes, even though it wasn't easy. The shadow priest wore dark robes and a strange mask that covered his face that had openings for the eyes, mouth and nose. "You've heard the sounds of battle getting closer. Whoever has come here, they seem to be making short work of your undead minions." Tann smiled in spite of the fact he hurt all over. "Almost as if they knew what they'd be facing."

The priest frowned underneath his mask. The commander had a point. It was clear whoever the interlopers were they had been prepared to face undead, unlike the patrols from Fort Locke. "Perhaps, but they still have to face me and my… bodyguards." he said, waving to six corpses laid out on the floor.

"I don't like the sounds of that, harbour boy." Neeshka whispered as she stood from listening at the door of the sanctum.

"Neither do I, Neesh." Marcus replied with a frown. "But at least we've found the commander, and who's responsible for the undead."

"Aye, lad, but how do we free the commander, and kill the necromancer?" Khelgar asked. "I'm all for a frontal assault, if need be..."

"No surprise there." Neeshka muttered, rolling her eyes.

Marcus rubbed his beard in thought. "Neesh, do you think you could sneak in and take the necromancer out with that shortbow of yours?" he asked the tiefling.

A feral smile crossed Neeshka's face. "Sure, I can do that. He won't know what hit him." She paused looking at the harbourman. "Only thing, harbour boy, if that necromancer has any armour on his head, it's going to be a waste of time."

Marcus placed a hand on the tiefling's shoulder. "Don't worry, Khelgar and I are right here, Neesh. We won't let anything happen to you." Neeshka nodded, reassured... then she become one with the shadows.

Once Neeshka had sneaked into the sanctum it took her eyes a few moments to adjust; at the far end of the room where the shadow priest was, there was a bright bluish light. The tiefling could also see Commander Tann and his men, all shackled and looking a little worse for wear. Let's hope that the necromancer doesn't have a chain cuff or something under that hood and mask. Neeshka thought as she readied her bow. She raised it, aimed for the centre of the back of the priest's head, took a steadying breath then fired.

The arrow was dead on target, but it was stopped by a chain helmet the priest had on under his hood. Even so, the impact of the arrow made the shadow priest stumble. He turned round and looked into the darkness, for a moment he thought he could sense someone with wild untrained arcane power, and then it passed, he couldn't't see anyone. No matter my minions will find you. The priest thought as he began to reanimate the six corpses in front of him. This would prove to be a fatal mistake.

Neeshka cursed. Hells, hells, hells, hate it when I'm right, she thought. Time for plan B, whatever that is. The tiefling smiled when the priest turned to face her direction, even though he was facing her he was too busy reanimating the corpses, a ritual that the shadow priest would never finish. Got you, now, Neeshka thought, as she let another arrow fly.

The shadow priest screamed in pure agony as Neeshka's arrow found its mark. It passed through the right eye slot puncturing the eye and burying itself deep within the priest's skull. The shadow priest knew he was dying even as he fell to the floor.

Tann looked dumbfounded as he saw the shadow priest stumble then turn away, to reveal an arrow lodged in the back of his head. The commander could tell it hadn't penetrated the priest's skull. Who fired that? Tann wondered as the shadow priest fell to the floor screaming in agony, the shaft of an arrow poking out of the man's right eye. Ouch. The commander thought. Couldn't have happened to a nicer fellow. Tann's eyes widened in surprise when he saw a female tiefling emerge from the darkness, her armour in tatters, a dagger in her right hand and a shortbow in her left. In one swift movement the tiefling drove her dagger into the shadow priest's neck, killing him.

"Sorry about the mess." The tiefling said as she stood, putting her weapons away before she looked over her shoulder and yelled. "All clear, the necromancer's dead, harbour boy!"

Harbour boy? Tann thought bewildered. What's going on? Then he shrugged to himself. Find out soon enough I suppose.

"Huh, the fiendling isn't so bad to have around." Khelgar muttered, mostly to himself, as he and Marcus walked to meet up with Neeshka. "Though, I still say she'll be trouble."

Marcus chuckled. "And for a moment I thought you were warming up to Neesh, Khelgar."

"Not just yet, Marcus, though I admit having her along isn't as disastrous as I thought it might have been. Time'll tell." the dwarf said, then turned to the tiefling. "You did well, Neeshka, lass. Not bad for a fiendling." he said with a grin.

"What's this, actual praise from barrel-house?" Neeshka asked in mock surprise. "I'm shocked Khelgar, I really am."

Marcus just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Don't you two ever stop?" he asked with a smile as he turned to face Commander Tann. "Are you and your men alright, sir?" the harbourman asked.

"A lot better now that you and your two colourful friends have arrived." Tann replied. "Though there is the small matter of these?" he said nodding at the shackles.

"Neesh, could you do the honours?" Marcus asked. "Don't want your skills to get rusty now, do we?" he said playfully.

Neeshka stuck out her tongue at the harbourman before she walked over to the commander. "Hmm, well... they're not magical, so they shouldn't be too hard to pick." the tiefling mused as she dug out a set of lock picks from a belt pouch then started her work. Soon she had Tann's shackles off then worked her way along, freeing the rest of the commander's patrol.

Tann gratefully rubbed his wrists while looking slightly amused. "Did Lieutenant Vallis send you to find us?" he asked gloomily. "I suppose he must be gloating right now. He warned me not to send another patrol until we received reinforcements from Neverwinter."

Marcus rubbed the back of his neck. "No, it was Marshal Cormick who asked us to come and look for you. Lieutenant Vallis has been placed under garrison arrest."

Tann blinked several times. "What in the Nine Hells happened?" he asked, wondering what the noble had done this time.

"About the time your patrol vanished it seems Vallis got the bright idea of not only stopping the patrols, but also placing a bounty on the bandits in the area." Marcus said keeping his anger in check. "And things just went downhill after that. But the Marshal and Vallis himself can explain things better than I can."

"I want that bastard to hang for what his thugs almost did to me and other travellers." Neeshka said angrily. Or I'll kill him myself, she thought with grim determination.

"Easy, Neesh. Vallis will pay for what he's done and what he let happen to West Harbour, I promise you." Marcus said as he took Neeshka's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

Neeshka smiled. "Thanks, Marcus. Means a lot to hear that, harbour boy."

"That's what friends are for, my dear." The harbourman replied. Neeshka looked away, embarrassed.

"It seems I'll be busy once we get back to the fort." Tann said dryly. "I'll be able to brief the men on this new threat as well." At Marcus' raised eyebrow the commander went on. "Our dearly departed friend there interrogated me thoroughly on the strengths and weaknesses of Fort Locke. Troop numbers, defence strategies, the experience of the men..." Tann said, waving at the shadow priest' corpse. "He must have been planning to attack using the undead he was raising."

Marcus frowned. "Not with the amount we've fought our way through, I'd have thought. It makes no sense."

"Normally I'd agree with you." Tann said. "However, if he had additional forces coming from the north... say, from Highcliff... then he may have had a chance of success." the commander explained. "Even then, he would have needed to surprise the fort, which would be unlikely as news of Highcliff falling would spread like wildfire."

"Are you and your men well enough to travel, Commander? The less time we're here the better, I think, as we don't know if this necromancer is working alone." Marcus asked.

"Yes we can travel, we might be a bit sore and stiff but we'll live." Tann replied with a slight frown. "As for working alone: no, not really… He spoke with a... well, a shade of some sort from time to time. I heard a name… Black Garius. Seemed to me as if he was the one giving the orders…. But for what end?"

"In that case Commander, we're leaving, as soon as we can. I for one don't want to be around just in case this Black Garius decides he wants a chat." Marcus said sounding concerned. Little did the harbourman know, that he'd become very familiar with the name Black Garius in the coming months.


"Good to see you're back, Marcus." Cormick said as Marcus, Neeshka and Khelgar along with Commander Tann entered the commander's office at Fort Locke. "And you've found the commander, I see. That's even better news." the marshal said with relief.

"Good to have you back, sir." Sergeant Dobbson said, giving Tann a salute.

"It's good to be back, Sergeant." Tann said sitting down behind his desk. "I suppose you'd better bring Vallis in here, Dobbson. The sooner I deal with him the better." the commander said with a sigh, as the Sergeant left to get the lieutenant. "Neeshka, I can't apologise enough for what happened to you at the hands of those two ruffians." Tann said to the tiefling.

"It's okay, get that sort of reaction a lot, you know." Neeshka replied softly, feeling a little awkward.

"It's not okay, Neesh. No one should be treated the way you were." Marcus said firmly as he took her hand and rubbed it affectionately. You're a beautiful woman, Neesh, don't forget that, the harbourman thought. Neeshka looked up and smiled bashfully, as if she'd heard his thoughts.

"I'd listen to him if I were you, young lady, as your leader is right. Just because your heritage is a little unusual doesn't excuse their actions." Tann said, hiding a smile at the obvious affection that Marcus had for Neeshka. Cormick, on the other hand, was openly grinning.

Vallis was brought in by Dobbson and two of his men. The lieutenant struggled against his bonds, he then saw Tann sitting at his desk and he lost what little self control he'd had.

"You would dare arrest the son of House Anton?! You'll regret this, all of you. This isn't over between us, Tann." Vallis said, his voice filled with rage.

Before Tann could reply, Neeshka leapt forward, faster than anyone expected, drawing a dagger from her belt and holding it against Vallis's throat. "Oh, but the commander knows the whole story, Lieutenant." she said evilly. "Can I kill him Marcus?" she asked, almost begging, but never taking her eyes off the terrified officer. "Please, say that I can. He doesn't deserve to live after what his thugs have done to me and numerous other travellers."

Dobbson's men had their hands full just keeping Vallis under control, who understandably wasn't struggling with a dagger being held against his throat by an enraged tiefling. Dobbson was unsure of what to do as he looked over at Tann for help. The sergeant gripped the hilt of his longsword, ready for anything...

Marcus by this time had walked up behind Neeshka and very gently placed a hand on her arm. "Come on, Neesh, you know this isn't right." he said soothingly. "You've every right to be angry, but this isn't justice, Neesh… Come on... give me the dagger."

The tiefling didn't acknowledge the harbourman's presence right away, just kept her eyes on Vallis. Her whole body was trembling, as she was fighting an internal battle on what she should do, on what her heritage was telling her to do.

"This is justice, for all the innocent travellers his thugs killed! Hells, I almost ended up a corpse!" Neeshka cried angrily, her eyes glowing a bright red. She took a deep breath. "Sometimes... justice is what you make it, harbour boy." She spun her dagger round, ready to drive it into Vallis' heart... then froze, coming to her senses, as the dagger fell to the floor with a clang.

"I'm not Leldon… I'm not!" Neeshka cried; then spun on her heels and ran out of the room. Marcus cursed as he picked up the fallen dagger and chased after the distraught tiefling.

"Should I go after them, sir?" Dobbson asked, looking bewildered at what had happened.

Tann shook his head. "No, I think they'll need time to work out what happened. It would seem that the young woman's fiendish heritage made its presence known." He sighed heavily. That was too close. And here is the reason a career man like myself hates having to babysit nobles who want to play soldier. "And as for you, Lieutenant, you've much to learn about command. Training the men is one thing. Leading them is something entirely different." The commander paused. "And threatening a superior officer... not to mention the other charges that have been brought against you, well, I think you know how well Neverwinter looks upon traitors since the Luskan War, don't you?" Tann replied coldly as he signalled that Dobbson should remove Vallis. He had little time for the noble.

"And that's precisely why I don't like having the fiendling with us." muttered Khelgar. "She's going to be trouble, as she's just proved." he said as Vallis was dragged away cursing the entire time.

"Don't judge Neeshka so harshly, Khelgar." Cormick said as he sat down in a vacant chair. "I admit that's the first time I've ever seen her react so… strongly and I've had run-ins with that girl for the best part of twenty years. It can't be easy living with the blood of a devil or demon in your veins everyday."

The dwarf sighed. "Aye I guess you're right, though I don't like the way Marcus keeps looking at her, nor the way she looks at him… and they flirt." Khelgar said with a shudder, much to the amusement of the other two men. "So what's going to happen to Vallis?"

"What do you think, Khelgar?" Tann asked as he stood up. "There's going to be a very public hanging of my former Lieutenant. Neeshka will get her wish, to see Vallis hang for what he's done."


It took Marcus a few minutes to locate the tiefling. The harbourman found her in a small glade, outside the Fort, sat against a tree, arms round her knees. She looked as if she'd been crying.

"Hey, Neesh, you alright?" Marcus asked as he sat next to her.

"What are you doing here, harbour boy?" Neeshka asked sadly with a sniff. "Didn't think you'd want anything to do with me, not after what almost happened. Looks like barrel-house was right. You can't trust me; I'm just an evil tiefling." Her voice was bitter.

Marcus blinked. Torm, just how do I make this right?

"Neeshka, I said I wasn't going to abandon you, and I won't." the harbourman said as he put an arm around the tiefling, pulling her closer so her head was resting on his shoulder, though Marcus was unsure if it were wise, given Neeshka's current state of mind. "Take no notice of what Khelgar says, alright? He's just a lot of hot air, I think."

Neeshka smiled sadly. "You're strange, harbour boy, anyone tell you that?"

Marcus grinned. "Yeah, I think Khelgar's mentioned it once or twice. So: want to tell me what happened back in Tann's office? And who's this Leldon?" he asked, while stroking Neeshka's hair.

"Leldon's no one important." The tiefling said, making a face. Neeshka didn't want to go into that right now. "As to what happened… that's the wonderful gift of my demon blood. Sometimes, it gets too much, the call of the lower planes..." Neeshka said, trying to explain as best she could. "I've been lucky, usually it happens when I'm by myself… Not today…"

The harbourman frowned a little. "Let's see if I understand you Neesh, you wanting to murder Vallis was your planar blood making you want to do it?" Marcus asked.

Neeshka nodded sadly. "Yeah, pretty much. Guess those stories about tieflings being cursed isn't that far from the truth, is it?"

"It would seem that way, my dear, as you do have a curse in a way, don't you?" Marcus said, giving Neeshka a hug.

"Hey, listen!" Neeshka said as she sat up.

Both could hear the steady beat of a drum, over this the murmur of a crowd but the loudest of all was the near constant protests and curses of Vallis, the drums beat became faster and the former lieutenant's protests became more urgent, then… nothing.

"It seems you got your wish, Neesh, Vallis has been hung." Marcus said after a few minutes of silence. "Let's see about getting you some new armour and go bandit hunting, that might cheer you up." he said, helping his tiefling companion to her feet.

Neeshka's eyes sparkled. "So we're going looking for gold and stuff? Sounds like my kind of adventure!"

Marcus couldn't help but laugh. "No, that's not the only reason we're going but it's a good a reason as any."


The shadow priest in Highcliff Castle frowned under his mask at the sight he saw. One of his bothers had been slain near Fort Locke. This is going to delay our masters' plans slightly. He thought. And I don't mean that Black Garius.., our real master, the King of Shadows.