Alrighty, so…here's the final chapter regarding the Intellect Devourer, and I assure you it will get nasty. I'm not kidding, either. I think this is the most grotesque and bloodist chapter I've written yet…and I'm quite proud, to say the least. It's good, but definitely not for those who can't handle reference to blood or amputated body parts. Not M material, but some might consider it a little close. If you do, and make a mention of it in a review (and if enough people make a fuss about it), I will be happy to adjust the rating to the proper level. If there are little to no complaints, it's staying on T level.

I'm only putting the option out there because I don't want to lose readers (or my privilege to post my story), and this is exactly the sort of thing that can do that. I am more than happy to accomadate any of my readers so they can better enjoy my work. And now, without further ado…

Chapter nine! Enjoy.

Chapter 9:

Intellect Devourer

Majandra sat on the floor of the small corridor that the stairwell led the party to, drinking a healing potion.

"Didn't know a cleric could hit so hard…" she muttered as she massaged a nasty bruise on the side of her right thigh.

Putting her staff on her back once more, Saria knelt down and cast a healing spell on her fey'ri companion.

"You feeling better?" Saria asked.

"As soon as this soreness leaves my flesh, yes," she replied wryly.

Saria winced.

"I didn't mean to hit so hard, Majandra," she said apologetically. "I guess I just…got a little worked up."

Majandra grinned.

"Like I bet you did last night?"

SMACK!

"Yes, I believe you'll be alright," Saria said with a smile, standing up as Majandra rubbed her arm.

"So, are we gonna get into the Pits or what, m'lady?" Tomi asked.

Saria nodded.

"I suppose we should. After all, it's not going to get done with us just standing around bickering."

"And hitting the other members of this group," Majandra added flatly, getting up.

"Well, if you would keep your mouth shut, m'lady," Tomi added, shrugging.

"You mean like you should be doing now?" Majandra growled.

Tomi shrugged and walked towards Saria.

"Lead the way, m'lady," he said, bowing.

She nodded.

"Let's go," she said confidently.

The first few prison areas of the Pits proved slightly difficult for the group, mainly because of the constant onslaught of prisoners and convicts. They made it through the southern and eastern wing when Saria leaned on a wall, breathing heavily. Majandra went over and put a hand on her back. She felt Saria's heart beating rapidly.

"We may need to rest," Majandra said. "We have all fought hard, and Saria and I have exhausted most of our spells."

Tomi nodded, leaning on the same wall.

"Let's go back to the temple," Saria suggested. "We can rest there and get rid of some of the items we've…well, you've picked up from some of the corpses."

Majandra smiled.

"You're learning to get things from dead people, are you? I'm proud of you."

Saria pursed her lips.

"I'm telling you, you can find some interesting stuff when you raid corpses," Majandra said, shrugging.

Saria shivered.

"But it feels so…wrong."

The fey'ri laughed.

"Don't worry, my half-elven friend. You hand around Majandra Damar long enough, and you'll grow out of that."

Saria pouted.

"But I don't want-"

By this time, Majandra had reached into Saria's travel pack for the Stone of Recall and activated it. Saria, startled, yipped when she was thrown onto the stone floor of the Temple of Tyr. The cleric glared at Majandra as she helped her from the ground.

"I still love my cleric," she said with a grin. "Besides, it was payback for smacking me before we began in the Pits."

The fey'ri hugged Saria, but she just snorted.

"Yes, well…" Saria began, pushing a still-grinning Majandra from her. "I just don't want this to turn into a revenge match."

The group walked down the short section of stairs to Lady Aribeth, trading the items they found for gold and talking amongst themselves as they did so. When the transactions were done, goodbyes said and portal fee paid, they went back to clearing out the Pits. It took them longer to get through the third floor of the prison because the prisoners became significantly tougher as the group pushed through. They fought through more of these convicts, many of which posed quite a challenge even if there were only groups of three or five; this surprised Saria, considering they were wearing little to no protection against any sort of weapon. The group ran into several spell-casting prisoners, which Majandra took care of easily. They eventually cleared the first level of the Pits, but they had one more obstacle they weren't quite expecting.

Sometime earlier, on the first level of the prison, they had found a book in an office library that, in gold-leaf lettering, read 'Prison Journal'. In reading it, Saria found that the Head Gaoler's right-hand guard, Kurdan Fenkt, was helping with the entire prison's release of prisoners. They did not, however, expect to find out that he was a towering half-orc armed with a double axe and a look that could kill…literally. That was what they saw when they entered the final door of the prison's third level. They walked in on a conversation between who was, no doubt, Kurdan Fenkt, but also a man of reasonably large build for a human male.

The Head Gaoler.

"…make sure you get rid of them," they heard him say in an eerie, inhuman voice. "I cannot be interrupted while I'm…feasting."

Saria shivered.

"I don't like the sound of that, Majandra," she said as the Head Gaoler opened a great door that led further down into the prison.

Kurdan Fenkt turned around at the sound of the half-elf's voice and let out a fearsome battle cry. He lunged forward and the group readied themselves for impact. Saria, never having to fight a half-orc before (at least, not this large), somewhat faltered before she attacked.

A near-fatal mistake.

The blade of his double axe came barreling down over Saria's head. She shrieked and held her staff tightly over her head, preparing for the worst-possible impact, when she heard the resounding clash of metal-on-metal. She peeked an eye open and saw Majandra's form before hers, crossing Rekkei and Tekkei in the air to halt what would have been a bloody and instant death for Saria. Muscles flexing to support her movement, Majandra heaved the heavy axe blade to the side and brought Rekkei up for a quick attack to Kurdan's throat. His head swung up and out of the range of the dark blade. Swinging the double axe around for another attack, Kurdan made an attempt on Majandra's life this time.

Prepared, Majandra side-stepped out of the axe's path of movement. Saria mimicked Majandra's maneuver, moving in the opposite direction. The impact of the axe was not stopped by anything but the floor this time, which, when it hit, sent vibrations through the ground. Not only that, but it tore the rug and cut a reasonably-sized rift in the stone. Majandra, taking advantage of the recoil effect, thrust Tekkei towards Kurdan's torso. Making a direct hit to his side, the half-orc let out a cry of pain and faltered in his stance. Yanking his axe from the ground, Kurdan swung around to attack Majandra.

But, with Majandra's blade still stuck in his flesh and Majandra's hand still attached to the hilt, this motion picked Majandra from her feet and sent her flying to the opposite wall. She hit it with a thud and a hiss of anguish, falling to the floor dazed. Kurdan's back was turned on Saria and Tomi, which they both took advantage of. Saria grabbed hold of Tekkei and pulled it from Kurdan's side, while Tomi ran up and leaped for his back. Wrapping an arm around his thick neck, Tomi began stabbing wherever he could, flaying blood everywhere. Kurdan screamed in pain and felt around on his back. When his hand made contact with Tomi's head, his large fingers latched onto Tomi's cranium and tossed him clear across the room. The half-orc wheeled on Saria, who cowered before him with her staff in one hand and Tekkei in the other. Latching her staff to her back, she armed herself with Tekkei and prayed that the spirit within the blade would not turn against the non-owner. Kurdan grinned wide, showing a set of sharp teeth on a broad jaw.

"You pitiful half-elf, yuh?" he asked in a gruff voice. "Scared of Kurdan Fenkt? You be smart half-elf. Meybe I kill you fast, yuh?"

Saria's breathing was beginning to quicken and become irregular.

"I'm not pitiful," she argued, standing taller and masking the timidness in her voice. "Nor am I scared."

Kurdan's grin became a scowl and he tightened his grip on his double axe.

"Meybe you not so smart."

"You may not think so," Saria said with a smirk, becoming bold. "But I know you certainly aren't."

Kurdan growled and set his jaw, eyes becoming wide with fury. Opening his mouth, he let out an angry yell and heaved his axe down upon Saria. She ran from the attack and turned about, hacking at the back of his knee with Tekkei. Kurdan let out a howl of pain, falling to a kneeling position and holding the leg that Saria had attacked. Infuriated, he reached behind him and grabbed hold of Saria with his left hand. Dragging her by her clothes, he threw her on the stone before him. Getting a better hold of his axe, he held Saria down by her stomach as he raised his blade in preparation of her incapacitation. Eyes growing wide in horror, Saria squirmed as hard as she could to free herself of his grip. All it did was make him smile as the fall of the axe began. Saria slipped free just before the axe made contact, making Kurdan's hand slide on the stone and right under the axe's impact. The blade sliced off his hand about an inch below the knuckles, leaving only his wrist and part of his thumb left intact. He howled in agony and terror at the loss of his left hand. He dropped the axe as he cradled the intact remains as the severed part of his hand lay limp.

Saria watched the blood of the butchered hand drain and pool into the cracks of the stone, trails coming her way. She pushed herself away and held Tekkei at the ready, not knowing what the half-orc would do next. She suddenly saw a blur of black as Majandra ran up to kick Kurdan in the head to knock off his helm. He tried to escape, but Majandra kicked him again, harder, sending his head flying towards the stone. The impact made a sickening crack as drips of blood became apparent. Pushing a now weeping Kurdan on his back, Majandra straddled his chest and pulled out Rekkei.

Saria noticed something odd about the blade.

The steel was…jagged.

It then became apparent to her what Majandra was about to do, and Saria had to turn away. Majandra placed the blade on his neck and grabbed hold of a handful of the half-orc's hair. She yanked up the head and began sawing at his flesh. When she finally cut through his skin and bone, she tossed the head behind her and got up, shaking the blade of blood. Saria felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked to her right, seeing Majandra's tired face. Saria's eyes drifted down to Rekkei and saw that the blade no longer had teeth. Majandra sheathed Rekkei and took Tekkei from Saria's shaking hand. Shaking the blood from that blade, she sheathed it also.

"We need to go down there," Majandra said quietly. "We need to go down and finish this. Heal Tomi, then we go after the devourer."

Saria made no response, only fell to her knees. Majandra knelt before her and wrapped her arms around the soon-sobbing cleric. Majandra rubbed Saria's back as she tried to comfort her, whispering reassurances to her shaken friend. When Saria quieted down, Majandra pulled away and looked Saria in the eyes. She wiped her eyes and nose, looking back at the fey'ri.

"I need you to make one last stretch, okay?" Majandra asked.

Saria nodded.

"Think about the mission. Think of how much closer we'll be to saving people from the plague when we finish this. We have to be together on this one, okay?" she said, trying to rally some confidence from her friend.

Saria nodded again.

"Okay," she said weakly.

Majandra helped her up and guided her over to Tomi, who groaned in pain. She took special care to keep Saria's gaze from going to the decapitated corpse as they made their way over. Majandra knelt down along with Saria as the cleric performed a healing spell with shaking hands. Tomi winced as he slowly moved his limbs. Letting out a small groan of pain from moving his neck, Saria felt around and found his neck muscles had been hyperextended when he was tossed by Kurdan. Casting a warming spell on her hands, she tried to get the muscles to their original positions. As Saria did this, Tomi had a content smile on his face for the relaxation it brought. When she stopped, Tomi rubbed his neck and winced.

"Try moving your head again," Saria instructed. "And let's see if it did anything."

He did as he was told, and there was no groan of pain. Tomi stood up and smiled.

"Thanks, m'lady," he said, offering her a hand.

Saria took it, and Majandra stood with her. Tomi looked around Saria and his eyes fell on the half-orc's corpse. His expression changed form surprise to disgust when he saw blood pooling everywhere and the disconnected head and hand. Saria took notice and shivered, knowing what his gaze held. Majandra pulled Tomi over and told him the same thing she'd told Saria: to go down the final flight of steps and take care of the Intellect Devourer.

"The Intellect Devourer takes control of a person's mind, working through them to do its bidding," Majandra informed them. "So, until it's finished eating the brain of the person it's possessed, the devourer can speak through and attack others with that person."

"Would he have just the Head Gaoler down there, though?" Saria asked, regaining her voice.

"That's a good question," Majandra mused. "But I doubt it. From what he was saying through the Head Gaoler, he must have at least a couple guards that it's brainwashed down there. And he was expecting us, from what we heard."

Majandra stopped speaking for a moment, thinking. When she was finished, she nodded.

"Saria, Tomi and I will attack the Head Gaoler. I need you to focus on getting as many guards as you can from under the devourer's hold and out of the dungeon before we kill the Head Gaoler. The Intellect Devourer will no doubt transfer from body to body if we just keep killing its host."

"And those would be lives needlessly lost," Saria finished, understanding her task.

Tomi gulped.

"Eh, m'lady, I'm all for helping you two, but…"

"You don't have to go toe-to-toe with the Gaoler, just be a distraction so I can hurt it more," she said with a mischevious grin.

Her expression then turned serious.

"But once we get the devourer out of the host body, it will come to us in true form. When that happens, it makes it harder to kill. The Intellect Devourer comes from an area under Waterdeep called the Undermountain, and, ultimately, the Underdark. So these creatures are not ones to mess with."

"But…what if it tries to take over one of our bodies?" Saria asked nervously.

"It won't. It will be too focused on killing us, so you don't need to worry about it. So, are we ready?"

Saria and Tomi nodded, and Majandra smiled.

"Then let's go get ourselves a reagent."

The group made their way down the flight of steps and to the final level of the prison. There was dim lighting, save the few torches that were scattered throughout. In the center of the room, nearly hidden behind a wall, was the Head Gaoler.

"I've been expecting you," he said in the same eerie voice. "Just what I need, more brains to feed me."

This stopped Saria. Majandra knew this and hissed at her.

"Go! We'll take care of the devourer."

"YOU'LL TAKE CARE OF NO ONE!!" the devourer screeched.

The Head Gaoler lunged forward with a naked blade in hand. Saria ran as Majandra and Tomi readied themselves for battle. Saria heard the clash of metal as she searched through the near-darkness for any guards in the area. She found one and made her way over. She tapped him on the shoulder, but there was no response. She stood before him and looked closely to see his face in the dim light. His eyes were empty, barren of any emotion. No matter what she did, even if she smacked him on the forehead, he made no move. Then she tried speaking to him.

"You must get out of here! Your life is in grave danger if you remain in this dungeon," she said.

The guard suddenly came to, holding his head in pain and confusion.

"Go!" she repeated. "You must flee from this place!"

The guard nodded his thanks and ran for the stairwell.

"Noo!" the devourer hissed. "You wench! You'll die for releasing my prey!"

Through the darkness Saria heard running footsteps coming closer and she shrieked, running away from them. The footsteps followed hers and she chanced a look back. They passed a lantern and Saria saw just enough to make her nearly stop in her tracks. The face of the Head Gaoler was twisted in rage, eyes vacant of a soul. His blade was raised for attack. Just before the Gaoler reached her, one of Majandra's swords came up and stabbed him in the shoulder. He cried out in pain, whirling about to attack Majandra. Saria took advantage of this and ran for the other guards, freeing all but one when she heard the gurgle of death from the Head Gaoler's mouth. Just before she reached the last one, the guard reeled around and held her gaze with a mad one.

His eyes were opened wider than they should have been on a human, and his hands reached out for Saria. He began walking slowly towards her, going a little faster the more she pulled away.

"Come, half-elf," he taunted. "Let me feast on you."

Saria, mortified, kept walking backwards until she hit a wall. The minute she did, the guard charged forward with the same insane gaze and mouth open. Saria yipped and moved out of the way just as the guard hit the wall with a resounding slap. The guard peeled his face from the wall and turned it towards her, pulling his body from the wall and beginning the chase again. Saria ran full-force from him this time, but had a somewhat difficult time seeing. Because she was half-elf, she could only see partially in the dark. She was not entirely paying attention, and it proved so as she hit a wall. Letting out a groan, she pulled herself from the stone and turned around.

Bad mistake.

The guard the devourer had possessed slammed into Saria's body, which brought about a cry of pain. She slid to the floor onto moulding straw, and the guard followed. He began chewing and clawing at her flesh, drawing blood from the trembling half-elf. She couldn't reach her staff because she'd been pushed on her back, so she settled for fist-fighting and held him at bay long enough to regain stability and draw her staff against him. The next thing she knew, there was a blade protruding from the guard's skull. The guard, eyes wide from shock, fell forward and onto Saria. She pushed the body away from her as Majandra retracted her blade from the dead guard's head. They suddenly heard an angry screech and the group saw a frightening sight.

A creature began to emerge from the dead guard's body, becoming more visible with every passing second. The creature's main body looked like a massive brain, encased by some invisible film to keep it from spilling off of the body. Its claws were massive and sharp, and looked purely of bone. The face consisted of only a nose and fangs, which were bared dangerously at the group. Saria backed herself against the wall as the devourer turned on her. It gave out a low hiss and its bottom jaw lowered to open the mouth. Saria lifted her staff and struck it across its brain. It hissed in pain and walked backwards, letting Saria escape from being against the wall.

Majandra let loose several spells on the creature, and Saria followed suit. It soon writhed on the floor, hissing and biting the air. Just as the group thought it was on its last leg of life, its head sprung up and purple rings were projected from its mouth. Majandra was stunned, and Tomi was struck with fear. That left Saria and the devourer to battle it out until either Majandra snapped out of it, Tomi broke the hold that fear had on him, she used the Stone of Recall, or possibly all three. But in the meantime, though, Saria was on her own.

And these were odds she didn't like at all.

She was up against a creature who was from the Underdark, an area so shrouded in darkness that she shuddered to think of it. Moreover, it was directly beneath her home city: Waterdeep. Thinking of her home made her insides twist, reminding her of the discomfort caused by the archaic structure of her family. And now that she was fighting something that came from close to her home region, it took away some of her anxiety and replaced it with the will to fight. She held her staff at the ready as she prepared for the creauter's next attack. The Intellect Devourer cast another barrage of purple rings at Saria. She braced herself against it and successfully resisted both the stunning and scaring effect, retaliating with a strike to the brain area. It proved to be a bit of a weak point for the devourer, making it recoil with a growl. She exploited this advantage several times, thinking the battle would soon be over. As she struck the brain a fifth time, she was suddenly bombarded with another barrage of purple rings. Being caught off guard proved detrimental as she became stunned by the spell, considering there was, what Saria could see through the darkness, an evil grin coming from the creature. Her eyes widened as she found herself at the mercy of the brain-consuming beast.

She shut her eyes as she awaited the strikes from the devourer, but they did not come.

At least, not physical ones.

Saria felt an odd sensation of tendrils wrapping themselves around her head, even though she saw nothing. They floated around, brushing the top of and around her head. It seemed to carress her mind, testing to see what kind of reaction it would get. She then felt another presence in her mind, but it seemed familiar. Friendly, in fact. Then, as suddenly as the second presence came to being, the first tendrils to probe her head became sharp as they pierced Saria's mind. The second presence screamed 'No!' and attacked the tendrils penetrating Saria's brain. Saria became completely dazed as the two forces battled it out within her mind. She suddenly fell backward and became aware of something ripping at her flesh.

It was the Intellect Devourer.

She tried to break away, but found her body still stunned from the devourer's earlier spell. She was now being attacked both physically and mentally, being completely conscious the entire time. She wasn't even able to move her mouth to scream from the searing pain. It continued for several moments, then suddenly ceased. Saria saw a figure bounding from the darkness and striking at the Intellect Devourer. As it did so, the mental assault, as well as the physical, stopped and left gave her a small measure of peace. She could feel the stunning effect ebbing away, and she found she could move her limbs slightly. Her eyes drifted over to the sound of clanging metal on bone and saw Majandra battling it out with the creature. Running footsteps drew her attention away from Majandra as she saw Tomi kneeling beside her and grabbing the Stone of Recall, activating it.

With a spin and a burst of light, they were whisked away to the Temple of Tyr. Upon arrival, Saria shut her eyes because of the sudden transition from dim to bright lighting. Majandra called out for the Lady Aribeth, and she made her way over quickly. The paladin looked the group over, called down a prayer of healing from the just god, and a bluish-white light fell upon them. Saria felt revitalized, finding the stun effect completely gone and the ability to move her limbs was returned to her. They rested despite the refilling of their health, for Majandra's and Saria's spells were still depleted. Once this was done, they headed back to the dank dungeon that was the devourer's lair.

Upon their return, they found the devouerer not in the same spot as when they left. This put Majandra on high alert.

"Be mindful of your surroundings," Majandra warned. "He is playing cat-and-mouse now."

"Not the best game to be on the receiving end of, aye?" Tomi whispered.

"I agree," was Saria's muttered response.

The group stayed close together, keeping a keen watch for the sneaking creature. A ball of white light was thrown in their direction, and the whole group turned. The Intellect Devourer came barreling towards them, hissing its own battle cry. Saria drew her staff as Majandra and Tomi prepared their blades. The battle continued once more until the creature fell with a screeching, mournful wail. Its body fell limp to the floor; the encasing that held the brain burst open and released brain fluid, which resulted in the brain losing a little of its mass. Majandra took out a cloth sack and plucked the reagent at the brain stem, placing the moist brain in it and tying it up.

"Let's get this back to Aribeth," she said. "Our work here is done."

Saria activated the Stone of Recall and sent the group to the Temple of Tyr once more, going to Aribeth with the sack in hand. Aribeth eyed them with curiosity as they approached. Majandra handed her the bag.

"What parcel is this?" Aribeth asked, opening it.

Her question was answered with a gasp as her almond-shaped eyes beheld the first of the four recovered reagents.

"You've found the reagent!" she exclaimed happily.

"Yes, and it was not an easy task," Majandra informed her.

The fey'ri explained what happened in the Peninsula district. As she went on, the shocked expression on the paladin's face became more and more pronounced.

"That is why we lost contact in the prison?" she asked in disbelief. "As if the plague was not enough! For your valliant efforts, the only thing the city can give is three hundred gold pieces."

Majandra smiled at the amount, but Saria spoke up before she had a chance to take it.

"Please, Lady Aribeth, finding the reagent was reward enough, so we cannot accept the monetary offer. We are honored to assist in the effort to stop the Wailing Death any way we can."

Lady Aribeth seemed to have a gentle look on her face, while Majandra and Tomi both had a look of shock.

"You are too kind. I only wish more were as noble as you."

Saria bowed in a respectful thanks. The moment she came back up, Majandra dragged her away.

"What?" she hissed. "What do you mean we can't accept the monetary offer?!"

Saria shook her head.

"We cannot accept such offers with a task such as this. The city can put it to better use, I am sure. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe we're to begin the search for the second reagent?"

Majandra tensed, pursing her lips, while Saria smiled sweetly at her.

"I still love my fey'ri," she said pleasantly, walking past her and to Lady Aribeth again.

In speaking with the paladin, she discovered the second reagent was to be found in the Beggar's Nest district. Further in the conversation, she also discovered that zombies, plague-infested animals and the like prowled the streets. Saria sighed.

"Well, looks like more fun, doesn't it?" she asked Majandra.

"Oodles," the fey'ri responded flatly, still down-spirited at the previous conflict.

The cleric giggled and led the way out of the Temple of Tyr, going to the far end of the City Core walls and to the gate which led to the Beggar's Nest.

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Cool! Chapter 9 is finished! (snicker) I love how Saria mimicks Majandra at the end to piss her off. It's so funny! (dodges flying Rekkei) Anyway, I've a statement for you. If you noticed throughout the story, there have been minute mentions of Saria's past. Keep an eye out for those, for they will become more frequent. I really should post a separate story for that, but I think a flashback later on in the story would be better suited, aye? For example, I mentioned the 'archaic structure' of her family. Believe me when I say it, but you'll have to wait to read more of it. It was actually very interesting to create Saria's past. It's…well, I would speak of it, but then you'd have nothing to anticipate for. (smiles sweetly) Ain't I annoying? Well, anyway, I'll see you guys in chapter 10, kay?

Much love,

Saria