Took me a little while to update huh? Well hope you like this new chapter. And I apologize in advance for what I did but I had to do it! Read to find out what I speak of. Enjoy!

A Great Loss

"A dragon! By the Great Archer a dragon! Just my luck I guess," Menelanna shouted.

"Do you have any idea what kind of power this creature has? We cannot hope to defeat it," Xan whispered in her ear.

"We have come for Garren's child, and we shall get him no matter what," the ranger shot back.

Menelanna then turned and gave an icy stare toward the dragon. Well, as much of an icy stare as one could give to a red dragon that towered over them. Behind her she heard her companions tense, all of them ready to leap into action at any moment.

"I tire of this as well, dragon. Tell me, why would I be of any interest to you?"

"For my amusement," replied Firkraag casually, "for my curiosity, and for my memory of transgressions long since past. All of this spurred me on, but now I grow bored with you."

"Your amusement! I am not here to amuse you or anyone else. And what transgressions? I have done nothing to you…yet."

The dragon let out a sigh which sent a wave of hot air over the companions. "Very well, an in-depth response. Your fathers are my interest. Your lineage crosses the mortal and spiritual and both concern me somewhat. Gorion raised you; I know this from my own spies and followers. They are subtle when I wish it. Gorion was as much your father as anyone. He was also an adventurer in his day, and crossed my path long ago. He and his Harper friends." He shot a quick glance at Jaheira who tensed under his gaze. "I bear the scars of that meeting. He is beyond my revenge, being dead as he is. So, I settled for the next best thing... I can torment his spirit by destroying you. Wherever he is, he is seething." A wicked smile spead across the dragon's face.

Menelanna could feel hot blood rushing to her face as her anger grew. Firkraag merely looked down at her and let out a deep rumbling chuckle that echoed through the cavern.

"You did all this just because of something my father did in his youth! All this over a grudge with a dead man!"

"I had toyed with forgetting it all," Firkraag admitted. "It has not been that long in dragon terms though. It was your other father who made me curious however." He then raised one of his large claws and propped up his head. He looked down at the elven ranger with amused intriguement. Menelanna was serious getting tired of that smug look on the dragon's face. At that moment she wish she had been born about thirty feet taller just so she could smash that looked of his face! Firkraag just found the elf's growing anger all the more amusing, he let out another little laugh before continuing.

"You are a Child of Bhaal; what an interesting subject to study, or so I thought. Really, you are not so different, despite your little personal struggles. What will be interesting will be your conflict with Irenicus. That is something I would very much like to see - so I leave you your life. Do with it what you will."

"Gods! Who in the Reamls doesn't know I am a Child of Bhaal!" shouted Menelanna.

"I did not," quipped Yoshimo from the shadows. It was true, it struck Menelanna at that moment, Yoshimo was the only one who had not found out about what she was.

"Well now is the time to discuss it," she snapped. She then suddenly seemed to remember that Firkraag had mentioned Irenicus. She tensed and slow turned to stare up at the dragon. "What do you know about Irenicus," she said coldly.

"I will have no dealings with that creature," replied Firkraag in an almost bored tone of voice. "I am merely interested in your confrontation with him. Yes, that will be something to see. But for now, you bore me. I will taunt you no more. This has been such sport that I bear you no ill will. You may go." He lifted one of his large claws and gave them a dismissive wave as if giving them permission to leave his grand presence.

"We will not leave here with out Garren's son!" shouted Ajantis.

Menelanna nodded gravely in agreement, "You know this."

"Do I now?" he replied in a taunting voice. "Oh, very well." He sighed. "The brat was but a by-product of my scrutiny of you anyway. The child has proven no more intelligent than its father. I had finished taunting him some years ago; it was only your arrival that brought him into this."

"His suffering never ended," she hissed. "You took his lands!"

"I think he is actually happier now that the burden of leadership has been lifted," remarked Firkraag. "Such resilience took all the fun out of his downfall. All that is left for me to do is kill him and take the deed to the land Here," he said, sounding bored and annoyed by the elf's continued persistence, "rescue the child from my servant." A that moment a hood man in robes stepped out from Firkraag's shadow. "Feel fulfilled if you succeed. Do not think that it will be easy - I test my servants thusly all the time and they know that failure is death. Conster! Go to the child - if the elf fails to take it from you, kill it."

"Yes my master," Conster said with an evil grin. With a wave of his hand the mage disappeared through a magic portal.

Menelanna scowled at the dragon, "I will kill you. Once I have saved Garren's child, I will kill you."

Menelanna turned and ran out of the cavern before the dragon could make a response. She did not want to hear anything else from that smug creature. I will knock that look off your face when I kill you she though darkly. Behind her she heard her companions running after her.

Menelanna did not stop running until she entered the room where Taar had been locked up. Conster was sitting at a table in the middle of the room, looking as smug as his master. The mage looked up and was about to tell the elf how foolish she was before launching his spells at her. Unfortunately for him Menelanna was in no mood for talk. As soon as she entered the room she launched an arrow into the man throat before he could even rise from his seat and speak. As the others filed into the room they gave her a surprised look. Yoshimo just shrugged and went to work searching the man's corpse.

"It is unlike you to kill a man while he is not prepared for battle," the druid observed quietly.

"It was his own foolishness that caused him to be unprepared. He knew we were coming," she remarked coldly.

Jaheira was about to respond, when Yoshimo produced a key from Conster's belt. Menelanna snatched the key from the rouge and unlocked Taar's cell.

"Come on lad, we will make sure you get home safely."

No one spoke at all during the journey back to Garren's home.

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Garren was overjoyed to see his son home safe and sound. He thanked them several times and insisted that they rest and stay the night.

"It seems reasonable that we should rest here tonight," Menelanna said calmly. "As we are going to go kill Firkraag's tomorrow."

"W..What? Menelanna you can't be serious! He is a dragon…a dragon…it is hopeless to fight such a creature!" Xan moaned.

"Such an evil needs to be vanquished. I will fight by your side my friend," declared Ajantis.

"As will I, my lady," Anomen said quickly. He seemed eager to stay by the elf's side and impress her.

One by one each of her companions declared that they would join her in the fight. Xan just moaned about how hopeless it was but in the end agreed to come as well.

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In the morning the party prepared themselves and set out to return to Frikraag's lair. They paused outside of the entrance to his cave to discuss battle preparations. Anomen, Minsc, and Ajantis were to be the front linemen, while Jaheira and Xan back them up with their spells. Menelanna, Kivan, and Yoshimo's job was to distract the dragon with their arrows for as long as they could. Each member drew their weapons and prepared to enter the cavern. Xan, Jaheira, and Anomen administered buffing spells to their warriors to make them stronger and able to resist both fire and whatever spells the dragon may through their way.

When the entered Frikraag's lair, he looked up and regarded them with interest.

"So you have returned," he said calmly.

"So glad you are a master of the obvious. It is as I said, we have come to end your wretched life."

It was then that the dragon raised himself up and stretched in a cat like manner and unfolded his great wings. He then looked down at them with a fire in his eyes that promised them a painful death. "It is as they say 'your funeral.'"

With that the party sprang into motion. Yoshimo, Menelanna, and Kivan split and each went to a different corner of the room and began to pelt the dragon with their magical arrows. Minsc gave a might roar and charged the enemy while Anomen spent his prayers to Helm and was blessed with a spiritual hammer that appeared in his hand. Jaheira began to summon allies, more to distract the dragon than anything else. As Ajantis ran into battle Xan began to go to work at removing the beast's magical protections.

The annoyed dragon knocked Minsc away with a casual sweep of his might claw. The three archers hailed him with arrow while desperately looking for the slightest opening in his armored hide to pierce. Just a Jaheira entered into melee battle Xan removed the last of Firkraag's magical protections and began to shoot off acid arrows at him.

One of Xan's spells hit the dragon painfully in the side of the head. He raised his head and let out a roar of sheer anger and turned his gaze upon the enchanter. Xan paled drastically as the dragon took a deep intake of air as he prepared to spew his fiery breath. The enchanter knew that he did not have the time to move out of the way or put up the proper protections. He closed his eyes preparing to die. Menelanna screamed out as she saw the dragon prepare to let lose his fire. Upon impulse she grabbed one of her arrows enchanted with ice and shot the dragon square in the mouth. If they had not been in such a dire situation Menelanna would have laughed at the sight she saw. For upon impact the arrow froze the dragon's mouth in place, preventing him from spewing his deadly breath.

Frikraag was forced to claw away the ice that held his great maw in place. This left him exposed to the attacks of the melee fighters as they attacked his now exposed belly. Xan shot Menelanna a quick glance, thanking her for saving his life. She gave him a smile before returning to the battle. It did not take long for Frikraag to free his jaws, and now his was thoroughly angry. He took out his anger on Minsc who was shouting and running about the dragon's feet as he hacked away at the creature's tough hide.

Faster than anyone could react the dragon made a great sweep with his claw and pinned the berserker again the cavern wall. A sickening crack could be heard as Frikraag crushed Minsc's body under his powerful grasp. Everyone watched in horror as the large warrior then fell to the ground limp as a rag doll.

Menelanna let out an enraged scream. She held back tears as she dropped her bow and made a run toward the dragon. With her naturally elven dexterity she dodged the dragon's sweeping claws. She leapt upon the beast's tail and began to climb up the dragon's back. It was a miracle she managed to stay on long enough to reach his head. She quickly removed her cloak while holding onto Firkraag's horns and threw it over his eyes. The dragon, enraged at his sudden lose of sight, began to shake his head to and fro trying to remove both elf and cloak. Menelanna quickly drew one of her blades and managed to drive it into a small exposed part of the dragon's neck and used it as an anchor for herself.

A blade being stabbed into his neck did not do anything to lighten Firkraag's mood. With a sudden toss of his head he managed to send the elf flying through the air. She crashed into wall and fell to ground unmoving. Determined to completely destroy the body of the annoying little elf Frikraag turned toward her and prepared himself to throw his flaming breath at her.

Ajantis cried out as he noticed Menelanna's body lay unmoving on the ground. He was about to charge the dragon when he heard Xan call out for him to stop. Everyone regarded Xan as he removed a wand from his belt. The enchanter fixed his eyes upon the sword which was still embedded in Firkraag's neck. As the dragon inhaled Xan let a shot of lighting spew from the wands tip. The lighting arched through the cavern and contacted with the sword. Using the sword as a conductor the magical lighting entered the dragon's body. Frikraag roared out in pain, no longer being able to concentrate enough to breathe his fire. His body tensed as the electricity raced through him and with a sudden jolt he fell to the ground. The great body of the red dragon twitched for several moments before finally going still. The dragon was dead.

Xan and Anomen immediately ran to where Menelanna's broken body lay. Several of her bone had broken from the impact of her fall and she lay in a pool of her own blood. Xan feared the worst but could see that she was still breathing…barely. Anomen wasted no time in administering his healing spells to stabilize the elf's condition. He then got up and ran to where Jaheira sat next to Minsc's body. One look at the tearful druid answered his question; the berserker was dead.

Anomen and Ajantis took the grave task of carrying Minsc's body away from their battlefield. Xan cradled the unconscious Menelanna in his arms and with the rest of the party as they left Firkraag's lair far behind.