Blindsided

Aw man, I hated this part of the game...oh well. Enjoy!

Tasha waited until the last of the Keep's soldiers- her soldiers, she thought with both a grimace and a stab of pride- headed through the door. Ammon and Sand appeared, looking surreal in the clouds of dense smoke they had created with their maelstrom of fire.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," the cleric said, relieved. Nearly every tower had been hit with fireballs, courtesy of Sand, or had simply imploded at a word from Ammon before they even reached the Keep's walls. Any undead that had managed to breach had been dispatched by elite dwarven fighters, hardy warriors that fought as well as they held their ale.

"We're not done yet," Ammon murmured, gravelly voice seeming appropriate to the haze of smoke, accentuated by the shadowy light of the early morning hours.

No." Tasha sighed, passing a weary hand across her brow. After a glorious eternity with Bishop she had finally nestled exhausted into lush, silken sheets, only to be rudely woken up not twenty minutes later when Garius' army came knocking. "No, we're not."

Sand grunted and went through the door, his slim figure no more than yet another shadow. The cleric sighed resignedly and followed, rubbing her eyes.

Maybe I can...I don't know, tell them I need to use the washroom and then never come back. I'll sleep for hours and hours, and when they ask where in the Nine Hells I was I'll say the Gith came back and kidnapped me...yes, this is definitely one of my better ideas. Foolproof, completely fo-"

"They're only a few hundred yards off, Captain," Kana reported gravelly, eyes alight with the adrenaline already coursing through her.

Aw, rats... She glanced around; soldiers stood in the courtyard, ready to fight to the last breath...and, with any luck, get in a nap after that... "The men know their positions?"

"Yes." The woman turned and gave a signal, raising a hand and flicking two fingers towards the gate. Apparently it was a signal, because a Greycloak immediately went to pull the lever to close it. "They are ready to follow you now."

Gee, she sounds so melodramatic. I feel like I'm walking into a graveyard.

Kana continued, voice echoing loudly through the courtyard. "The undead cannot face the sun; they will burn in their seige, and will be defenseless from our attacks from above."

"Yes," Tasha jumped at the cold, steely voice from behind her. What's he doing down here? "Defenseless."

Bishop stood with his bow clenched tightly, jaw firm, and the cleric blinked at him. "What are you-"

Abruptly the soldier at the gate turned, confusion and utter panic etched across his young face. "C-captain, the gate...it's not closing! The hinges are ruined!"

Tasha went completely numb as a horrible idea, a possibility supported by her lover's grim expression, started to form in her mind. "It...what?"

Bishop came a few steps closer, scowling heavily. "Stay here on the walls, Captain; you might live through this." Tasha felt the blood drain out of her face as she stood, completely stunned by the ranger's harsh expression, contrasting with the regret in his next murmur. "For what's it's worth...you almost made me stick around. But that's why I have to so this."

"Bishop...wh-what are you talking about...?" No, he can't do this! He can't!

The ranger sneered at her and pushed a solier aside, stalking towards the gate. "Let me show you..."

Tasha's mouth dropped open when he paused beside the gate lever, then turned back to face her with his head tilted to one side. "This gate of your isn't coming down, which means this precious Keep of yours won't last much longer."

He looked the tiefling straight in the eye, brow furrowed. "Don't bother trying to repair this...I took a look at the lever last night, and it was much easier to detroy than I thought."

Last night? Oh no, oh no no no no no no no... Tasha moved her mouth, but all that came out was a strangled, choked off moan that she swore made the ranger flinch.

Bishop licked his lips and steeled himself again, lifting his head and meeting the woman's confused, hurt eyes. "You'll see the wisdom of this in time." He took a breath and clenched his jaw, cursing her soldiers for being there, for keeping her there, and said quietly, "Y'know, the road to the winning side is always open."

Tasha felt dazed by the offer but managed to wordlessly shake her head, praying for strength and courage. Damn you, Bishop...why'd you hafta go and do that...? Damn it all...

Bishop gave a little chuckle, mocking himself for thinking that maybe, just maybe, she would have left with him. Tasha finally managed to open her mouth, something Kana and the soldiers seemed too stunned to do, and pleaded, "Bishop, please... don't...stay, please..."

The cleric actually took a step forward, then stopped when the amber eyes grew hard and the ranger scoffed. Tasha's eyes blurred when Bishop, without another word, turned and ran silently out of the courtyard.

Tasha numble watched him go, hardly noticing that, with his departure, the first of the undead became visible through the open gate. The first figure, no more than a hundred yards away, was pale and red eyed, with limp strands of greasy black hair and fangs that glistened in the shadowy light. It looked, she thought distantly, like a gate into the hells themselves.

Kana saw the shadowy army approaching and called out, "They are advancing!" She turned gravely to their limp, expressionless Captain and asked, "Your orders, Captain?"

Tasha started and turned, open-mouthed. "Er...what?"

"Your orders?"

"The sun...they fear the sun..." she murmured distractedly, trying to erase the harsh, burning golden eyes that still pierced her mind.

Abruptly a door on the other side of the courtyard was thrown open, and the rest of her companions came out, Khelgar in the lead. The dwarf charged up to his leader and grinned. "Sorry I'm late, lass! The tiefling-"

Casavir cut him off, voice uncharacteristically sharp. "Why is the gate open? The army is nearly upon us."

"Yes," Tasha sighed, not sure of whether to cry, laugh, or maybe just lay down and sleep. "Yes, it is."

Neeshka gave her a weird look, "Yes... why, exactly?"

"Captian!" Kana sounded almost frantic, stony expression long gone. "Your orders?"

This is a fight, a fight, you need to fight, you have to fight... the cleric told herself repeatedly, squaring her shoulders and turned to face the men. "The undead will fear the light. This day will be ours. Hold your positions, keep them out of the Keep."

The Greycloaks saluted as one and turned, seasoned men and teenagers alike ready to face the undead.

Neeshka finally put two and two together; Bishop had seemed angry about something last night, he was nowhere to be seen now, the gate was obviously not working, and Tasha looked upset. "Aw, gee..." she groaned inwardly, wishing Shandra was there; the blonde woman had been quick to comfort, unlike the purse-lifting Neeshka. "I...er, I'm sorry, that really sucks..." the tiefling offered akwardly, nervously patting her friend's shoulder.

Tasha shot her a grateful glance from the corner of her eyes and shrugged. "Doesn't matter. We have a battle to win."

"What? What?" Qara broke in, not having figured it out.

"Bishop sabotauged our gate," the cleric explained wearily, turning to face the other direction. "He ran off."

She couldn't see Casavir, but from the gentle hand that laid itself on her shoulder Tasha guessed that he was right behind her. "My lady-"

"Look, there's an army coming, so let's just forget about it!" she snapped angrily, blinking back a few treacherous tears. "It doesn't matter!"

Casavir flinched at the way her voice broke towards the end but backed off. He, like nearly everyone in the Keep, had learned of what their Knight-Captain had been doing on the battlements last night,-thanks to Neeshka and her gossipping ways- and felt both hurt and the need to comfort the woman.

Khelgar smiled reassuringly and rumbled with a note of pride, "Aye, yer not broken yet, lass! We got some zombies to squish!"

"Ah, yes," Sand agreed dryly, pulling out a ruby-tipped wand and rolling it between his slender elven fingers. "Let the squishing begin..."