A/N: Hey, folks! Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, but rest assured, this story is not abandoned. I simply wanted to finish my Mass Effect story before continuing with this, and now that Thessian Rhapsody has been written, I can promise that Leah's story will receive constant updates. I'm aiming for a new chapter every two weeks, and I think that is a very realistic target for me.
Chapter 21
Leah wrinkled her nose at the dampness and the faint stench of rot that permeated the air deep in the ruined temple of Amaunator. She directed a grateful smile at Anomen when the young Helmite lit another of the many torches lining the walls of this dismal former place of worship. Not only the light of the torches seemed to repel the creatures that infested this deadly ruin, the smell of the hardened resin when it burned was much more preferable to the foul, decaying air of the temple.
"Have you made any progress, my Lady?" Anomen asked then, looking at her. He was standing by one of the entrances to the chamber, making sure that nobody snuck up on them from behind. The dancing flames of the torches were playing tricks with his shadow, making it constantly move and shift, even if Anomen himself stood perfectly still.
"Not yet, Anomen," Leah replied, continuing to read the inscriptions on a large guardian statue at the back of the chamber while Aerie and Viconia were busy examining similar inscriptions along the walls. Jaheira had led the others to explore the adjacent rooms, and much to Leah's relief, they were not hearing any sounds of battle, which meant that the three priestesses could relax and continue to study the secrets of the ancient temple.
"I'm just relieved that we visited that den of wolves before coming to the temple," Aerie spoke nearby, looking paler than usual in the light of the torches. "That was a very wise decision, Leah, one that surely saved our lives."
"You really don't want to know how close I was to abandoning the plan to check out the wolves' den," Leah chuckled at herself quietly, noticing that the young avariel shuddered a little at that. "But yes, without Anath's warning we probably would not have survived that trap at the temple entrance."
"I'm just sad that she had to pay for it with her life," Aerie sniffled. "She deserved better." The werewolf Anath had been torn to pieces by a large mob of shades and shadow wolves before Leah and her friends had been able to react. They had managed to trigger the defenses of the temple, bringing down a column of bright light that immediately dispersed the undead, but it had been too late for Anath, the only consolation that her death would have been swift.
"Most deserve better," Leah shrugged, but it was not meant as an unsympathetic gesture. "I do agree, though. She proved extremely helpful." Not only had Anath, the former leader of the wolf packs of the region before their corruption, warned them about the trap they were heading into, she had also provided them with some crucial information about the temple and the history behind it.
The temple was more than simply a place of Amaunator's worship, it was also a resting place of a great prophetess of Amaunator, a consecrated ground, but even more importantly, it was also a prison to an entity of the Shadow Plane, something called the Shade Lord. In an age long gone by, Amaunator himself had defeated this Shade Lord and bound him to his temple, but recently something had happened that had allowed this Shade Lord to break free. It did not surprise Leah overly much, knowing that the worship of Amaunator had faded over the past decades, the Yellow God said to no longer answer the desperate prayers of his worshippers. It doesn't surprise me then that he no longer has the power to keep this Shade Lord imprisoned, Leah thought to herself. And now it's up to us to defeat a being that once required a powerful deity to deal with... we must be insane to attempt this. But perhaps it will be as easy as reinforcing some wards... probably not, but a girl can hope, eh?
"I'm starting to get the gist of what this guardian statue wants from us," Leah finally said, having finished reading the inscriptions at the base of the statue. There was a protrusion on the side of the massive carved stone head, one that Nalia was certain to be a cache that potentially held some item of importance. She had been unable to open it, however, and Anomen's attempt to smash it open with his flail had brought a column of fire upon his head, nearly incinerating the impatient Helmite. That was when Leah had suggested that perhaps the cache would be tied to some kind of magical riddle or test, and upon further examination of the statue, that assertion appeared to be correct.
"Then give that annoying statue what it wants, so we can finally be done with this place," Viconia spoke with irritation, the Drow sitting on her knees and reading something that was carved in small and partially eroded script, forcing the dark elf to strain her eyes painfully. Next to her, a large skeletal warrior stood obediently in the corner of the room, holding a large greatsword, the gift of Shar allowing Viconia to control mindless undead... and make Anomen and Aerie very nervous as they from time to time cast glances at the skeleton, as if expecting Viconia to order it to attack them.
"In a moment, my dear Viconia," Leah grinned, rising to her feet and placing her hands on palm-shaped indentations upon the statue. "The statue wants us to recite the three holy rituals of Amaunator in order to test our devotion."
"I had not even heard of this Amaunator before we came upon this temple..." Aerie confessed shyly, her shoulders sagging a little.
"Perhaps the answer is in some of these wall inscriptions?" Anomen suggested, trying to be helpful.
"Possibly, but there is no need to search for it," Leah replied, just a touch smugly as she faced the statue and began to recite the holy rituals of Amaunator. "At Dawn, our first duty is to say a prayer to the Light, oh Keeper of the Eternal Sun. We then hold high the Holy Book so that the Sun might bless it. To end the Morning Ritual, we reflect on the glory of the Light as it conquers the Dark."
"My Lady... how are you doing it?" Anomen gasped at her, looking awestruck.
"Who cares how she is doing it, as long as it works," Viconia shrugged. "And it seems to be working, because she hasn't been hit by a bolt of lightning or worse, yet."
Leah ignored the comments of her comrades and simply continued to recite the order of Amaunator's holy rituals. "When the Sun is high, and the Noon is upon us, we honor our Lord by singing a hymn of praise to the Keeper of the Eternal Sun. We raise our hands to the Light, and rejoice at its dominance to end the Noontide Ritual." Nothing seemed to happen after she had finished speaking, so Leah cleared her throat and quickly continued. "At the dusk, as the Darkness moves in, we recite the Tenets of the Faith to ward off evil. As the shadows grow longer, we hold our children high so that they might see the Sun. As the Evening Ritual ends, we mourn as we watch the Sun give way to the onslaught of the night..."
As soon as Leah had finished speaking, they all could hear a low rumbling sound nearby. "By Shar, it is opening!" Viconia exclaimed, jumping to her feet and looking on as the stone lid parted, offering access to the hidden cache. "Well done, little jalil!"
"Thank you," Leah grinned smugly, reaching into the hidden compartment and fishing out a fragment of a bright sun-colored disc with drawings that she recognized instantly. "Hmm, what do you know... a part of Amaunator's holy symbol. I reckon we should hold on to it..."
"Well done, my Lady," Anomen also nodded with a smile. "So, were the rituals described in those inscriptions upon the statue?"
"Not really," Leah shrugged casually. "Remember that I spent all my youth in Candlekeep, and for twelve years I was being taught by the priests of Oghma. There were several tomes on ancient and faded deities, and fortunately for us, one of them was focused on Amaunator in particular. I just needed to read a few of these inscriptions to recall what I had learned years ago, and then everything fell into place."
"I am still very impressed, Leah," Anomen gallantly bowed to her. "Shall we follow the others if we are done here?"
"Weren't we supposed to wait for Nalia and the others?" Aerie asked hesitantly.
"Yes, we were, so that is what we will do," Leah nodded. A sudden movement in the dark corner of the chamber startled her a little, but she relaxed quickly, realizing that it was simply the skeleton warrior under Viconia's command. However, her brief bewilderment hadn't escaped Anomen's attention, the Helmite turning to glare at Viconia.
"We hardly need that monstrosity of yours, Drow. Not now... nor ever," he said, eyeing the undead with obvious distaste.
"Considering that this very skeleton blocked an overhead slash that might have cleaved off your hand, jaluk, I would have expected slightly more gratitude," Viconia scoffed.
"I'm not very comfortable with it following us around," Aerie confessed shyly, giving Leah a slightly pleading stare. "It... seems wrong to control the undead like that. Don't you think so, Leah?"
"Regardless of how I feel about it, Viconia's gift is a boon to the group, and it would be foolish not to use all tools of survival that are at our disposal," Leah shrugged, not wanting to be coerced into some kind of argument and manipulated into picking sides.
"Well said, abbil," Viconia nodded approvingly. "I knew there was a reason I respected you." She gave a disdainful stare to both Aerie and Anomen before snapping her fingers, and as if on cue the skeleton warrior collapsed in a pile of bones, the massive greatsword clattering on the floor with a loud clang. "But if it disturbs you so much..."
"You didn't have to do that," Leah said softly to the Drow. "Truth be told... I'm a little envious of your ability to control them. It seems like such a helpful tool to get out of a tight spot should you ever find yourself surrounded and against superior odds..." Of course, Leah had her own gift of turning undead from Milil, but her patron had not yet blessed her with greater ability than simply sending the weaker undead fleeing, same as Aerie's gifts that she received from Baervan Wildwanderer. Helm allowed Anomen to sometimes destroy the weaker undead outright, but a part of Leah still heretically wished that she could have Viconia's talent at her disposal.
"Well, little jalil... you know what to do," Viconia winked at her teasingly. "If you reject that useless deity of yours, Shar will happily grant you her succor, I'm certain..."
"Hold your tongue, Drow!" Anomen exclaimed angrily, his eyes shooting daggers at Viconia. "Lady Leah is not interested in worshipping your twisted and vile goddess!" He turned towards Leah, looking incensed. "I knew she would be trying to corrupt you, my Lady!"
"Well, obviously, I would expect nothing less of Viconia," Leah shook her head, irritation growing. "Fortunately, I am still able to make my own decisions in how I react to Viconia's words. Or is there something that leads you to believe that I need you to make these decisions for me, Anomen?"
"Only the fact that you still tolerate her presence, my Lady," Anomen replied sternly. "But I see that I am wasting my breath with these warnings," he added, turning around to stare at the hallway he was supposed to guard, Aerie coming over to join him, the avariel probably feeling disappointed that Leah had no taken a stance against Viconia.
"What an amazing display of camaraderie," Viconia rolled her eyes, then giving Leah a scrutinizing stare. "Also, jalil, did you just call me predictable?"
"I would not say predictable, Viconia, but... well, it is a known fact that Shar expects you to... spread your influence, so to speak," Leah replied. "And I understand that well enough. You will not succeed, but by all means, keep trying. It will keep us both amused and entertained, at the very least."
"Hah... if only everyone had your attitude, Leah," Viconia laughed, looking at Aerie and Anomen, both of them pretending not to listen to the other pair. "But keep in mind that Shar can teach you much about loss and how to cope with it... and you have lost so much..."
"Let's not talk about that anymore now, Viconia," Leah said a little stiffly, turning away to press the holy symbol of Milil against her lips, as if to apologize for suffering Viconia's heretical temptations.
"The others are returning, my Lady," Anomen said suddenly, Leah grateful for the interruption as the silence between her and Viconia threatened to drag. She walked up to Anomen and Aerie to see the group of four approaching through the passageway, Nalia at the front, looking proud and accomplished, Jaheira, Merella and Minsc bringing up the rear and appearing none worse the wear.
"I'm glad to see that you have avoided serious trouble," Leah smiled as the other part of the group rejoined them. "Did you find anything of interest?"
"Only this," Nalia grinned broadly, extending her arm towards them and then unfolding her fist, blinding light jumping from her open palm and momentarily stunning them all. The young mage quickly closed her palm again, but Leah managed to notice that the object that Nalia was holding appeared to be a large gem of sorts.
"It was illuminating one of the rooms further in," Jaheira explained. "When we removed it from a pedestal, the shadows attacked us."
"They were no match for Minsc and Boo!" the large Rashemi ranger declared happily. "Boo and I are both relieved that these shadows have solid enough backsides for us to kick!"
"And before you ask, Leah, the passageway led us back out to the empty prison cells," Merella explained quickly. "There were no other exits, the route we took led us around in a circle. But... Nalia thinks that we should try this gem at the barrier that was blocking us earlier... perhaps this light can dispel its magic."
"Well, worth a try... it's not like we have any other ideas right now," Leah shrugged. She then pulled out the part of the disc that formed the holy symbol of Amaunator, showing it to the others. "You didn't come across something like this?" she asked, looking at Jaheira in particular.
"I am sure we would have noticed," the druidess replied, shaking her head.
"Ah, well, I should have known," Leah sighed. "Anyway, let's go point shiny gems at ominous barriers of unspeakable evil..."
"By Shar, if I ever manage to find out who placed a magical pit of lava in the middle of a supposedly holy temple, I'm going to repeatedly resurrect and kill them over and over again," Viconia de Vir cursed loudly, having finished sealing a large bleeding gash on Minsc's arm.
"I would most certainly help you," Merella chuckled darkly, rubbing some kind of ointment on her shins that had suffered light burns. The Shade Lord was certainly proving to be a cunning foe, for he had commanded his undead hordes to spring a trap upon Leah's group just as they were carefully negotiating their path across the fiery pit. A group of skeletons and shades had arrived from one side, at the same time as a lumbering bone golem emerged from the other side, effectively cutting them off. Viconia had managed to control some of the undead and used them to distract the golem, but it had swiftly dealt with the Drow's minions and then had given Minsc a sound trashing with its sharp scythe-like claws. In fact, most of them had received some kind of injury during that chaotic scuffle, whether it was a burn or a cut, but fortunately the next chamber was empty and provided the opportunity to take a breather and patch up their wounds.
"Look at this, Leah," Aerie called her over, pointing at a massive burial tomb in the corner of the chamber, adorned with detailed bas-reliefs. "It seems more elaborate than anything we've seen... who do you think was entombed here?"
"I'm not sure..." Leah mused, then noticing that the lid of the sarcophagus was pushed aside. She quickly picked up a torch and peered inside, finding it empty save for some ancient, dusty rags and a few splintered off bones. "Well, there's nobody entombed now... hmm, I wonder..."
"What are you thinking, Leah?" Jaheira asked, stepping closer.
"It's just a hunch..." the young priestess shrugged, looking uncertain. "Did anyone notice some old discarded human bones anywhere?" she asked the rest of the group.
"I saw a pile of scattered remains in the large hall next to the prison cells," Merella replied. "Why are you asking, Leah?"
"Well... I'm just thinking..." Leah rubbed her brow thoughtfully. "Any of you notice something odd about this sarcophagus?"
After some time, it was Aerie who spoke up. "It's... very small... isn't it?"
"Precisely," Leah nodded. "Do you remember what Anath said?"
"The great prophetess of Amaunator was a child," Jaheira finally realized. "Amuana... this could be her tomb. Do you think it could be important?"
"It has been defiled," Viconia gave the sarcophagus a more detailed examination. "And that could have weakened the already failing wards of Amaunator, keeping the Shade Lord imprisoned."
"So we're looking for the bones of a young child?" Merella asked, receiving a quick nod from Leah. "Understood. I'll be back in a moment."
"Anomen, Nalia, go with her," Leah ordered swiftly, not wanting anyone of her group to wander around this deadly dungeon on their own, her two comrades quickly rushing after Merella.
After a few minutes of tense waiting, the group of three returned, Merella carrying a sad pile of slightly gnawed-upon bones and a small skull that had obviously belonged to a young human of less than ten years of age. "These were the only remains that could have belonged to a child," the half-elven ranger explained. "Do you want me to just put them in the sarcophagus?" she asked, receiving another nod from Leah. "Very well... here goes nothing..." With that, Merella gently lowered the bones and the skull into the final resting place of Amuana, the child prophetess, reverently stepping away once she had done so.
"So, what n-..." Nalia was about to ask when a column of bright light enveloped the sarcophagus, brighter even than the light from the sun gems that they had used to dispel the shadow barriers in their path. As Leah closed her eyes to protect herself from the searing white light, she could feel an otherworldly presence invading her thoughts, permeating her consciousness and speaking directly into her mind. The presence, spirit of Amuana, expressed regret of having been unable to stop the forces of the Shade Lord from breaking free, thanked them for bringing her defilement to an end, and wowed to use all her remaining influence to aid them in their task to defeat the Shade Lord. As the light in the chamber and the whisper of Amuana's presence in their minds slowly faded, Leah stepped forward towards the sarcophagus, ignoring the murmur of whispers amongst her surprised comrades.
"Well, that was certainly educational," Viconia spoke, looking unaffected by the spiritual experience as she stood next to Leah and also peered into Amuana's tomb. "I see the bones have disappeared. How very predictable."
"That may be so, but something has also appeared..." Leah smiled, reaching into the sarcophagus and fishing out another part of the elaborate discus that formed the holy symbol of Amaunator. "I think I like Amuana... she's certainly very helpful," the young priestess added, uniting the newly recovered fragment with the one she already possessed. "Looks like we're two pieces down and with one to go..."
"There is something else as well," Viconia said, reaching into the sarcophagus and retrieving what looked like a flat, oval-shaped stone, black and seemingly surrounded by a light sheen of mist. "I believe this might be the wardstone that the girl mentioned."
"We definitely want to hold on to that," Leah nodded quickly, her Drow friend safely pocketing the wardstone. "I do not want to fight a Shadow Dragon, and probably end up being devoured by it."
"Boo says little Leah should have more faith in our butt-kicking abilities," Minsc frowned deeply at that.
"Oh, I do have faith, Minsc, in you and Boo particularly," Leah smiled at her large ranger friend. "At the same time, we can't help Imoen if we end up chewed upon by a dragon, so I'd rather not take unnecessary risks if I can help it."
"Well, I'm certainly grateful that you thought about those bones, Leah," Nalia said, looking a little pale from the mere mention of the Shadow Dragon.
"Aerie deserves most of the credit," Leah replied, looking at the equally pale Avariel. "She drew my attention to the tomb in the first place."
"Ah... it was nothing, really..." Aerie managed, blushing deeply.
"So, if we are quite done here... the rest of the temple is not going to explore itself," Jaheira said, a little impatiently. "And be alert... the Shadow Dragon is not the only threat capable of tearing us to pieces, down here..."
"I really hope this is the last of those shadow barriers because we are all out of sun gems," Merella sighed after the brightly shining stone had managed to dispel the impenetrable wall blocking them, exhausting all its magical power in the process and becoming a simple, dull stone which the ranger simply threw away.
"I think we should be close to our destination now," Leah replied, staring down the dark passageway, trying to see where it led to after taking a slight turn. Before continuing onwards, she looked back at her companions, nodding briefly in satisfaction at their battle readiness. The trek through the dark forest and the bowels of the temple had been hard on them all and she could see traces of exhaustion and weariness, but overall, they seemed to be in a good shape coming up to what she expected would be a very difficult battle against the Shade Lord. Well, at least with four priests and a druid we can't complain about the lack of healing spells, she chuckled to herself.
As they made another turn while traversing the passageway, the group of eight came upon a different kind of barrier, this time not of impenetrable shadow, but a solid stone door blocking their path. It did not take long for Leah to notice the round shape on the surface of the door, and she glanced at Aerie, carrying the by now complete holy symbol of Amaunator. "Aerie, would you like to do the honors?" she prompted, pointing at the doors.
"What? Oh... yes, of course," the avariel recovered quickly, realizing what was being asked of her and pressing the holy symbol against the doors, gasping as it clicked into place perfectly and the doors parted with an uncomfortably loud screech that probably alerted everyone in the ancient temple of their approach.
"I believe this would be the prison," Anomen ventured, first one to step inside, Flail of Ages at the ready. "Careful... the stairs leading downstairs are unsafe, narrow and decrepit."
"Viconia, have that wardstone ready, please," Leah whispered as they carefully made their way down the round stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible.
"Already thought of that, abbil," Viconia replied, sounding a little tense as she held the smoky black stone in her hands.
When Leah finally arrived downstairs, those who had walked ahead of her were standing at the bottom as if petrified, looking ahead, their faces pale from fear. And as Leah took in the sight before her, she certainly understood the hesitation of her friends. They had ended in a large, domed hall, a massive structure that she hadn't expected to discover underneath the temple, grand support columns spread all around the hall, but in place of the domed ceiling, there loomed a massive hole, smashed open by an entity of immense power. In the middle of the hall, there lay the Shadow Dragon, a terrifying beast from the worst nightmare, its black scales practically oozing negative energy that seemed to suffocate them from merely looking at the fearsome foe. It was difficult to estimate the beast's size, as it was resting with its massive head on the front paws, but more unnervingly, it's malevolent beady eyes were open, facing them, but as if staring straight past them.
"It does not see us... the wardstone is working," Leah whispered, hoping that all of her friends would be able to keep their wits about them, in particular worrying about very nervous looking Aerie and Nalia. "I can see an exit to our left... that is where we need to go. Let's circle around the dragon... as quietly as we can..."
The slow sneaking, while at the same time huddling close to Viconia, carrying the wardstone, was probably the longest walk in Leah's life, or it certainly felt like the longest she had ever taken. The dragon had reared its head when they were half way around to the other exit and relative safety, and Aerie hadn't been able to stop a gasp escaping her lips, but fortunately the dragon had not noticed the sound. It definitely seemed agitated by something, though, for by the time they had reached the exit, the Shadow Dragon was starting to rise to its full impressive height, and yet it still fortunately did not turn its head in their direction, allowing them to make the last few hasty steps and throw themselves into the doorway, hiding from the dragon's sight.
"That was close," Nalia whispered, wiping the beads of perspiration from her brow.
"Entirely too close, yes," Leah nodded, already scanning the path ahead, stairs leading upstairs and emptying into pitch blackness, not allowing them to see what awaited them. "Let's prepare," the young Sorlyn told her companions. "We have no idea what we'll face next, but since we just avoided the guardian of the Shade Lord, it is likely that this ancient arch villain himself awaits us next."
They spent the next couple of minutes readying themselves for the battle to come, testing their weapons, refreshing the protective enchantments and supportive spells before proceeding up the stairs, Minsc and Anomen leading the charge as they emerged in what looked to be another part of the dark and twisted forest, a group of shadowy creatures surrounding something that looked like a corrupted, twisted shrine. The Shadow Altar! Leah realized, remembering something that the spirit of Amuana had shared with them.
One of the shadows parted from the writhing mass of dark shapes, approaching them. It seemed larger and emanated a strong sense of chilling dread, making them all back up a little as it glided towards them. "What is this... fresh souls?" it spoke, the voice cold and mocking. "How did you sneak by my pet, foolish adventurers? Never mind... in the end, you will still swell the ranks of my dark army!"
"Attack!" Leah simply shouted, refusing to enter some kind of ridiculous exchange of taunts with their foe. They had the advantage of catching the Shade Lord unprepared, and they needed to press this advantage home if they hoped to be successful. As Jaheira and Minsc charged the Shade Lord, Leah pulled out the holy symbol of Milil and began her prayer, a few of the undead shades turning to flee at the glow of light from the holy symbol.
Next to Leah, Anomen, Aerie and Viconia did the same, the shining light of the four holy symbols setting the clearing alight and making the Shade Lord himself hiss in frustration. Aerie also managed to chase some of the shades off, while Anomen forced three of them evaporate in a mist of smoke. Viconia took control of two of the shades and immediately sent them to harass their master while Minsc and Jaheira attacked it from the front, backed by the support of Merella's bow and Nalia's magic.
"Aid me, my servants!" the Shade Lord cried out, a blast of powerful magic pushing Minsc and Jaheira away, the cold attack slowing their attempts to get back into the melee. More worriedly, at least a dozen of new shades suddenly appeared in the clearing, closing in on them.
"The Altar!" Leah shouted, quickly identifying the source of the Shade Lord's power. "He's using the Shadow Altar! Destroy it! Nalia, bring down those shades!"
Nalia reacted quickly, a fireball roaring past Leah and exploding in the midst of the shades, killing most and scattering the rest. The young mage paid for her actions immediately, however, the Shade Lord releasing a shriek of frustration and throwing a dark projectile of purest shadow at Nalia, sending her flying. With a pained cry, she hit a nearby tree and collapsed, unconscious. At least the Shade Lord had given Minsc an opening to get in several clean strikes, but the ranger was struggling to connect with the not entirely corporeal body of their foe.
"Stay on the Shade Lord, Minsc!" Jaheira cried, leaping away and dashing towards the Shadow Altar before more shades could pour through the portal from the Shadow Plane.
"Merella, help her!" Leah ordered, the ranger drawing her long-sword and rushing to help the druidess, realizing that arrows would not do much against the altar. Between the two of them, they were making short work of the corrupted altar when another group of shadow creatures came through, hissing angrily.
Between Leah, Aerie and Anomen, some of the shades were sent fleeing and some destroyed outright again, but the majority were still threatening to overwhelm Jaheira and Merella, both half-elves getting knocked to the ground, shades ready to tear them apart. "Viconia!" Leah cried, noticing that the Drow was no longer trying to control the undead, instead her hands were moving frantically, her lips hastily chanting a prayer. "What are you-..." Leah was about to ask when she received her answer, a roaring column of fire fell onto the altar, the massive flamestrike smashing it to burning pieces and sending the nearby shades fleeing.
"Lightly charred is still preferable to being dead," Viconia commented dryly as she watched Jaheira and Merella rising to their feet, bloody, battered, their armor smoking a little bit, but the two experienced warriors were not going to complain, ignoring their stinging injuries and charging back into melee to reinforce Minsc, the ranger quickly weakening under the relentless assault of shadow and cold magic.
Deprived of his hordes of undead, the Shade Lord, while still a formidable foe, was unable to resist the focused attacks of the group of seven, especially when Anomen joined the melee and brought the powerful magical enchantments of the Flail of Ages against their enemy. The Shade Lord's final efforts managed to down Minsc, the ranger's strength completely drained as he struggled to get up from the ground, but then the Shade Lord let out an otherworldly shriek, its blurry shape starting to twist and swirl, fading away, pulled back to the Shadow Plane, taking the encompassing darkness and corruption with him. The sudden change of their surroundings made Leah blink rapidly, barely recognizing the place where they found themselves once she opened her eyes again, a sunlit clearing in a much more welcoming pine forest.
"Help Minsc and Nalia," Leah ordered quickly but the others were already on the move, a very concerned Anomen rushing over to the prone Nalia while Aerie was already casting a spell to rejuvenate Minsc.
"This one is alive as well, though just barely," Viconia said, looking down at the prone figure that lay in the place where the Shade Lord had fallen. "I don't think anything can be done to save her."
"Who are you?" Leah asked, walking over, looking at the haggard and pale face of a halfling woman, her breathing weak and shallow. "Are you Mazzy Fentan?"
"Yes... thank you, noble souls..." the unfortunate halfling whispered with her last strength. "Thank you... for freeing me from his domination..." she coughed deeply, trail of blood escaping the corner of her mouth. "Patrick... I'm coming... I... I can see you... wait... for me..." her eyes rolled at the back of her head and she slumped backwards, lifeless.
"Poor woman," Leah sighed, watching as Merella bent down on her knees to close the eyelids of the unfortunate halfling adventurer. Still, as sad as it was, Leah's utmost concern was with her own friends. With the corner of her eye she had already noticed Minsc groggily rising from the ground, then turning around to look at where Anomen was still working on Nalia. "How is she, Anomen?" Leah asked worriedly, noticing that the young mage still hadn't moved, Aerie now coming over to help as well.
"She will be fine, my Lady, but I recommend that we rest before we travel again," Anomen replied.
"Understood," Leah nodded, looking over the clearing where they had done battle against the Shade Lord's forces. Walking around the clearing led to a grim discovery, four more slaughtered mercenaries, two halflings and two humans, likely the unfortunate members of Mazzy Fentan's adventuring troupe. "We will need to dig graves and search their belongings," the young Sorlyn spoke, watching as Aerie and Anomen led a very groggy, heavily concussed Nalia back to rejoin the group.
"We... we're not going to steal from the dead... are we?" Aerie asked, looking unhappy.
"I had not finished speaking, Aerie," Leah said sternly. "Minsc, Anomen, you're on the grave digging duty," both men nodded somberly after Anomen had lowered Nalia down to the bedroll, the young mage immediately falling into a deep slumber as soon as she hit the blankets. "Viconia, Jaheira, search the bodies," Leah ordered the two women. "Put their personal belongings of sentimental value, jewelry, letters, that sort of things in a separate sack. That will go to Lloyd and he can return all that to their families. Enchanted weapons, armor, gold coins... all that goes to Rescue Imoen fund. Any objections?" she asked sharply, focusing on Aerie in particular.
"N-no... of course not, Leah..." the avariel managed, a little fearfully.
"Good," Leah nodded curtly, finally allowing herself to relax a little. "You all have your tasks... now, get to them..."