Author note: another little bit of backstory in this chapter. And if you're wondering where I got the puppy's name from, it is inspired by Kelis' homonymous song: while writing this chapter, I just couldn't get it out of my head. (singing) My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard...

oxoxoxoxoxo

While they were eating, a red-headed girl of maybe seventeen wearing an obviously expensive blue and green dress approached them, "You! Are you adventurers?", she asked, clearly agitated. The party shared a look and Meg nodded. "Yes, we are. What can we do for you?".

"I need help, my lands are under siege and this rabble won't help me! After everything that I've done for those like them!". This rabble? Those like them? Ilmater have mercy, she must be a member of the noble class, she thought, "We can help you, but we need to know more. Who is besieging your lands and why?".

"There's no time for explanations! Please, if we don't hurry, there will be nothing left…". The stranger seemed really desperate, so the Painbearer nodded, "Sure, we will help you". "Wonderful! May I travel with you? I can use magic and I also learned how to pick some locks…Auntie doesn't want me to go out when it's dark, but how could I help the needy, if I didn't?

They have their pride, after all and…And I shouldn't really be seen with them". Getting better and better, Margaret Dawn bit back a sigh, "I guess so. Welcome on board…". "Nalia. Lady Nalia De'Arnise". There, I knew that! Sweet Ilmater, sometimes I hate being right, "Nalia, good. I'm Meg and they are Jaheira, Minsc and Boo, Anomen, Yoshimo and Aerie".

"Yes, yes, charmed. Now shall we go?". "But we're still eating…". "Oh. Well, of course. I'll just stay here and wait for you to finish your meal, then, praying that nobody at my Keep will die in the meantime", Nalia pouted and crossed her arms on her chest, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently.

"It won't take long and just so you know, I won't make my friends walk for miles with an empty stomach. Is that clear?", the Ilmatari stated, inwardly fuming, What an horrible bossy brat! If she's always like this, it won't be a pleasant journey for sure."Yes, clear". "Good. Sit down, please and help yourself if you want".

The young noblewoman grudgingly lowered herself in the chair next to hers and took a piece of bread, "Thank you. I still haven't eaten today yet". "You're welcome", Meg replied and her eyes softened, her irritation vanishing as she watched the younger girl and realized how tired and pale she was, "Don't worry, we'll save your people, I promise".

Jaheira huffed, "You shouldn't make this kind of promises, child, especially because we have no idea of what is waiting for us in that place". "Oh, come on, Jae, how bad can it be?". The Half-Elf sighed, "That's not the point". Minsc intervened, enthusiastic as only he could be, "Heroes of Goodness have nothing to worry about! Only Evil must worry, when we come to kick its backside!".

"I agree with him", the Painbearer smiled, patting the ranger's arm affectionately, "We can do it, right, guys?", she turned her eyes to the other party members and her smile disappeared, "Aerie, what's wrong?". The Avariel started and looked up from her meal, "Oh, s-sorry, Meg, I...I-I was just thinking".

"Do you want to talk about it?". "Well, I...I had w-wings once, you know. Beautiful, white wings...B-but then I was captured by slavers a-and they locked me in a cell so small I c-couldn't even stand! T-they showed me off like an exotic b-beast in their circus...", her voice broke and Margaret Dawn moved to stand beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Sshh, it's all right, you are safe now". "My wings b-became infected a-and...And they...They...They s-sawed them off!", Aerie cried, hiding her face in the Ilmatari's vest, "And then t-they used a torch to c-close the cuts...S-sometimes I c-can still feel the pain...".

The Human priestess hugged her, rocking her gently and stroking her hair, "I'm sorry, Aerie. I can't understand completely your loss, having never had wings myself, but I know what it means to...". "How can you know it?", the young Elven mage snapped, suddenly angry, "You never felt such pain! Nobody ever caged you, nobody ever sawed off a part of your body, nobody ever burned you with a torch!".

"Someone did", Meg said softly, suppressing a shudder, "It wasn't my intention to make you angry, Aerie and I'm sorry if I did. I just wanted to tell you that, now that you're one of us, nobody will ever hurt you like that again, you have my word on it", she promised.

The Avariel blushed, "T-thank you. I...I'm s-sorry for snapping at you". "It's okay, I understand. You suffered horribly, I can sense it and it's normal for you to get angry when thinking of it. Truth be told, it makes me angry too. Maybe sooner or later we'll meet these slavers and teach them a lesson, hm?".

"Y-yes...I think I would l-like it", she smiled and the Painbearer hugged her again. "That's the spirit! Let's finish our meal, okay? We have a long journey ahead of us". "Okay. And M-meg? Thank you". "Anytime, Aerie".

oxoxoxoxoxo

The journey to the De'Arnise Keep, while not particularly long, was quite bad because of the rain that had turned the road into a muddy swamp, but thank the Gods, the party finally reached the Keep and joined the small group of guards who were gathered behind a circular palisade not far from the outer walls.

At that point, the young De'Arnise girl cleared her throat uncomfortably, "There's something you must know. I…I know I should have said it earlier, but others refused to help after hearing of it. We…We are besieged by Trolls. A great number of Trolls. The main assault began only a few nights ago.

I think they were pushed this far North by the Elves, or maybe by the southern settlements in Tethyr". Jaheira gave her a withering glare, "Trolls? Trolls? And you're telling us only now?! Do you realize that, had you told us sooner, we could have prepared ourselves better, girl?". Meg put a hand on her guardian's shoulder and tried to calm her down, but she herself was mentally counting to one hundred to suffocate the urge to slap Nalia unconscious.

Trolls! Sure, in the slavers' base they defeated two of those beasts, but here they were about to face a small army…One of the guards of the Keep, captain Arat, spoke up, "There are also some snake-like creatures, Yuan-Ti I think. And some big hairy beasts with strange pincers for a mouth"."Okay, so we'll need acid and fire.

Yoshimo, you'll use your new Fire Sword; Jaheira, you, Anomen and I will use the Flaming Sword spell; Minsc, use your halberd; Aerie, do you have any magic arrows of acid at your disposal?". The Avariel nodded, "Y-yes, I have five of them". "Good. Nalia, you will stay here".

"But I want to come with you! I can be of help, I know the Keep and I can use a bow". "Pity that we don't have any fire or acid arrows because we didn't know that we would have to face Trolls!", the Painbearer snapped, her patience running thinner by the second.

Captain Arat cleared his throat and handed her a quiver, "Well, I have some fire arrows, actually. Take them and make good use of them". "Thank you, captain. I guess you'll come with us, then, Nalia".

"One more thing: if you manage to get into the Keep and reach the walls, try and lower the drawbridge. This way, my men and I can get in and help you fight the intruders", the captain shrugged, "It's just a suggestion…I hate having to waste my time here"."We'll try, you have my word. So, ladies and gentlemen, let the party begin".

Nalia led them to a secret entrance covered with moss on the left side of the Keep, leading to a store-room filled with crates and dust, "Good, we're inside. Now we should find Daleson, if he's still alive and then get to the courtyard and lower the drawbridge", she said.

They found Daleson, the stable-boy, in the next room and his face lit up with relief as soon as he saw the De'Arnise girl. "Miss Nalia! What are you doing here?", he gave the party a glance and hastily added, "You've never before come here to the servants' quarters, as far as I remember".

The young noblewoman smiled, "Oh, no need for secrets, Daleson, they're not my family, they're just my mercenaries". Gee, thanks a lot for the consideration, girl!, the Ilmatari thought, suppressing a glare. "Do you know anything about my father? Is he alive?", Nalia asked, blissfully oblivious to the irritation her words had caused to the party members.

"Well, last time I saw him, he was looking for the three parts of his Flail and I was helping him. The Flail has the power of acid and fire, he said it would be a formidable weapon against the invaders. But then he was captured and taken to the…"."Cellars!", his mistress exclaimed, suddenly uncomfortable, "They're cellars, nothing more. I won't let them be called otherwise, despite their late story. It was my father's order".

"Yes, miss Nalia". Jaheira intervened, "We need more information about the enemy: how many of them are there? And where are they?". "There are more or less thirty of them. There was also a particularly big Troll, who I guess is their boss, some TorGal. I heard him shout to something called Yuan-Ti, but I don't know how many of these there are.

Oh and there are some strange black beasts in the cellars, big and hairy with a mouth like a spider's". The Half-Elf muttered something in Elvish and her ward sighed. "My thoughts exactly. At least now we know what we're up against", Meg added, giving Nalia a meaningful glance, "Daleson, you'd better stay here, it's safer".

"No need to say it twice, miss. Oh! There's something more! The beasts in the cellars eat dog stew, they like it so much that they even leave their posts when I bring it to them. I had to kill four dogs to...". "Okay, okay, thanks for the advice, but I'm not going to kill some poor dog just to distract those monsters", she said decisively: she loved animals and dogs in particular held a special place in her heart.

Anomen hesitated, "But my lady, it could be a useful way to...". "No". "They're just dogs, my lady. Surely you value our safety more than their lives?". "Of course I do! It's just...Well...I like them. I even had one, when I was a child", she smiled fondly, remembering Milkshake, a small white-and-brown stray dog she found near the walls of Candlekeep when she was eleven.

Oh, Gorion wasn't thrilled at all with her decision to keep it and Ulraunt even threatened to throw out both her and the dog on their rear ends, but in the end, Margaret Dawn proved herself to be the most stubborn of the three humans.

So Milkshake officially became one of Candlekeep's residents, loved and pampered by many of the two-legged ones, especially Imoen. And Sarevok had been so happy at the prospect of having a dog, even if he couldn't bring it back to Baldur's Gate with him!

"I see. I guess it would be difficult for you to... Dispose of them". "It would indeed. We'll just have to think of another way to handle the whatever-they-are". "As you wish". "Good. Now let's go", she opened the door cautiously and took a peek outside.

Half a dozen Trolls were assembled in the conference room, talking in their guttural language. "Do we have any Fireball spells at our disposal?". Both Aerie and Nalia shook their heads and the Painbearer sighed. Sweet Ilmater, how I wish Edwin were here!, she thought, "What about that poisonous spell, what was the name...Smelly Fart, or something like that?".

"Stinking Cloud, actually. I have three of them", the Avariel offered, giggling at Meg misnaming the spell. "Then cast one of them in that room. Nalia, when they fall down, shoot your fire arrows at them. This should be enough to get rid of those beasts". The young noblewoman nodded and took aim at the nearest enemy, releasing the first arrow as soon as the monster fell unconscious.

One by one, the Trolls died and the party moved onwards to the courtyard. The Helmite gave one last look at the corpses and pursed his lips, "It was certainly a good plan, my lady, but it wasn't much honourable. We should have given them at least an opportunity to fight back".

Margaret Dawn arched an eyebrow, "Maybe we should have. But you know, Anomen, I value your safety more than I value the rules of honourable combat". He gaped, shocked, "What! But...Honour is...". "Important, yes, it is. But of what use is it to a dead man?".

"You would rather live without honour, than die an honourable death?", now he was beyond shocked, his eyes round as quarters. "I didn't say that. But I'd rather kill my enemies in a dishonourable way, than bury even one more of my loved ones. Ilmater knows I've already had to do it too many times", she said, lowering her head, her lips curving downwards with sadness and grief.

Anomen relaxed then, understanding her meaning, "I see. Forgive me, my lady, I didn't realize your reasons. I...I am glad that you care so much for your friends". "And don't you ever forget it!", the Human priestess smiled and thrust a finger at him in a playfully warning way and he laughed. "Rest assured, I won't".