Chapter 26

"Well… I suppose it clears up that mystery," Leah sighed aloud, looking at the retreating form of Pauden, a helpful druid who had risked his life to contact them upon their arrival at the druid grove and explained to them exactly what had transpired here.

"Shadow Druids… didn't we run into their kind during our adventures in Cloakwood?" Viconia asked, looking unimpressed.

"We did," Jaheira ground out through clenched teeth, giving Leah a disapproving stare. "If only you still hadn't been obsessed with your concept of mercy, we would not have to deal with all of this now."

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that Faldorn would be capable of something like this?" Leah shrugged, not feeling particularly guilty. "She seemed like any other harmless, rebellious teenager, lots of impressive talk and very little action. It actually amazes me that her insane ranting has attracted any followers and given her the power to do this…"

"Perhaps it has to do something with us killing every other Shadow Druid in Cloakwood," Viconia chuckled. "Someone was bound to take charge… and it looks as it has been her."

"Besides, Jaheira, you know better than I do that we can't just kill people because of something that they might do in the future," Leah pointed out. "In that case, you would have had to kill me long time ago."

"Please don't speak so, my Lady," Anomen interjected worriedly.

"Yes, I know that, Leah… I am simply frustrated that this… this imbecile would do something like this!" Jaheira exclaimed, angrily swiping her scimitar at a nearby dead tree, cleanly severing a dry branch. "How would she even succeed at taking over the grove like this? I suspect that we still do not know the full truth. The grove would have had to be in dire state if they fell so easily to the Shadow Druid corruption."

"Well, we're not going to find out the full truth by standing around here," Leah said decisively, starting to move again. "Let's resume our march… and make sure to stay on the path. This swamp may look civilized, but that is all deceptive."

"I can almost guarantee it that you will get trapped into a mire and start to sink if you veer off the beaten path," Jaheira added her own warning. "Did you hear what I just said, Minsc?" she scowled at the large Rashemi who seemed more interested in conversing with his hamster instead of listening to her advice.

"I did, but Boo already gave Minsc the 'How Not to Sink in a Swamp 101' learning course," the ranger replied, beaming proudly. "Though Minsc isn't sure what the one-oh-one stands for…"

"I think it stands for 'well done, Boo'," Leah laughed in reply as they resumed their slow walk through the deceptively solid looking marsh.

"This is not as bad as I thought it would be," Aerie chimed in happily, but then immediately had to detract her statement as her foot stuck in the mud all the way up to her ankle. Anomen came to her aid quickly, helping the avariel to free her foot, and having thanked the Helmite for his help she continued the journey with a frown on her face, the completely soaked boot now making sloshing sound on every step taken.

"Well, I actually like this," Nalia said happily, ignoring the less than pleased look Aerie sent her. "It's quite beautiful… wild, yet peaceful." Leah found herself agreeing with that statement, even if she would never want to live in such a place, nor did she understand why the druids would choose this location as their seat of power in this particular region.

Even though the landscape surrounding them could probably be most accurately described as a marsh, it was not all flat and easy to oversee, the view often blocked by large outcroppings of rock as well as thick clumps of osier and alder trees, as well as other vegetation. Treacherous puddles of water loomed everywhere by the side of the barely visible and overgrown walking path, forcing the group to move at a slow pace. Jaheira had warned them that this kind of habitat was typically a troll country, and this warning came to fruition soon after their encounter with Pauden, the group getting attacked by an overly optimistic forest troll who had greatly overestimated his chances at finishing them off.

Between the seven of them, they had become very adept at fighting trolls by now, Nalia and Aerie using their fire and acid based spells to stop regeneration, Nalia sometimes resorting to her bow and fire arrows when she wished to preserve her magic, Anomen using the Flail of Ages to great effect to smash in the troll skulls and preventing them from rising again.

It seemed that the Shadow Druids that had taken over the grove were rather respectful of the trolls and their territory, choosing to avoid them altogether. It wasn't only after several hours later following their meeting with Pauden that the group of seven ran into other druids, encountering a group of four Shadow Druids fiercely battling a trio of trolls. Neither Leah nor any of her companions felt compelled to help either side, and so they had quietly skirted around the blood soaked battlefield, leaving the two fighting sides to their own devices.

Soon afterwards, however, it seemed as if the troll territory came to an end and they entered the region which was under direct control of the Shadow Druids. They were suddenly confronted by a clearly hostile group of druids, the leader of whom did not appear particularly interested in diplomacy, immediately drawing their weapons and beginning to cast spells directed at Leah and her comrades. However, this group led by someone called Kyland Lind, as one of his fellow druids had referred to him just before having his head splattered by Anomen's flail, were no match for seven seasoned adventurers and went down reasonably quickly before they had managed to cause Leah and her friends any harm.

Not long after that encounter, untroubled by any other druid patrols, the group of seven arrived at a rundown looking shack which to Leah appeared to match the description given to her by the overly friendly Shadow Thief agent Itona. As Leah and the others stayed out of sight, Nalia stealthily sneaked over to the entrance and examined the lock, carefully listening for several minutes before daring to peek inside. Once she had done so, the redhead waved over to them, signaling that it was safe to approach.

"There's nobody here," Nalia spoke up as the others caught up with her, entering the rundown shack.

"I hope that Itona wasn't lying to me about the rakshasa using this place as their lair," Leah grumbled. "That said, there's no sight of this Adratha woman, either."

"Leah, I… I do not think that any potion brewer could work in… in these conditions," Aerie pointed out timidly. "This place is a mess! I don't see any fresh ingredients… no sign that any potions have been made here as of late…"

"Good point, Aerie," Leah nodded. "Someone has been here and made all this mess, but I don't think Adratha herself would have done this. And I doubt these rakshasa are the type to clean up after themselves, so yes, they might have been using this place."

"Some of these marks on the floor look as if they could be bloodstains," Jaheira pointed out, having examined the creaking, rotting boards.

"My Lady… I would not recommend stepping into the pantry," a pale faced Anomen informed them, stepping out of the small side chamber. "It is filled with human bones, all picked clean. Work of these monsters, no doubt!"

"I agree, but they are not here now," Leah sighed. "And I don't think we have the time to set up an ambush, Cernd might be already waiting for us. The rakshasa are probably out hunting and who knows when they will return."

"Cernd himself might be in danger," Jaheira added, looking slightly concerned for her fellow druid.

"Yes, which means that we should definitely hurry towards the druid grove," Leah nodded, leading her friends out of Adratha's shack and back onto the path leading across a bridge and then cutting left through a more dry and forested area, compared to the muddy marsh they had traversed to come this far.

Leah was pleasantly surprised about not encountering any ambushes on their path to the druid grove. It was only at the entrance of the grove, near a massive stone cut henge, that the final Shadow Druid line of defense stepped forth to challenge them, even if they looked rather apprehensive of their own chances when they saw seven well armed adventurers approaching.

"We should call upon Faldorn, Dalok," one of the younger looking adherents spoke to their wild-eyed and slightly insane looking leader.

"Nonsense, Faldorn only respects strength, not the admission of lacking it," Dalok shook his head determinedly as he addressed Leah and her group. "Death to the enemies of Nature!" he chanted angrily. "In Faldorn's name we cleanse the land from you! All will fear where Shadow Druids thread!"

The trio of druids very quickly learned that calling for reinforcements would have been the prudent option, surrendering being the wisest. Within a minute their blood was staining the stone foundation of the henge as Nalia and Aerie looked over Dalok's weapons that seemed to carry powerful enchantments and thus appeared potentially useful for Leah and her group.

"Is everyone alright?" Leah called out to her companions. "Can we continue towards the grove?"

"Everyone seems to be in good health, my L-…" Anomen was about to finish when suddenly there was a loud hissing noise and thick, brown toxic fumes rose from the ground surrounding the party.

"What is happening?" Nalia cried out, coughing violently, when two arches of chain lightning blitzed through the clearing, eliciting cries of pain. Leah instantly realized that they were under attack by someone or something powerful, and her first instinct was to get out of the fumes that threatened to suffocate her and away from the chaos that had erupted around the henge. Next to her, Leah could just about make out Viconia's graceful shape, the Drow diving out of the way and rolling away to avoid the thickest of the fumes, breaking into a quick chant that quickly and blissfully immediately dispersed the fumes, revealing three assailants that had moved to engage them amidst all the chaos.

"Careful, it's the rakshasa!" Leah cried out, watching how the three tiger-headed creatures moved smoothly through their ranks, wielding their swords as expertly as their formidable magic.

The initial assault had taken its toll on the group. Nalia was down and out, having caught the worst of the lightning attack, choking violently on the fumes that she had inhaled. Viconia was busy healing a nasty looking stab wound above her hip, currently unable to return to the fight. Jaheira, Minsc and Anomen had each engaged one of the rakshasa and this gave Leah and Aerie the opportunity to focus on the defensive spells to bolster their front line fighters and give them the aid that they sorely needed.

Even so, the only one who seemed to have an advantage in their respective duel was Minsc, the rakshasa he was facing constantly on the defensive. Jaheira was having a hard time dealing with her opponent's raw strength and speed, the rakshasa forcing her to block an incoming swing and then dropping her with a punch to the chin. As Jaheira crouched on all fours, wheezing in pain, she received a powerful kick to the stomach that sent her flying and struggling to get up, the tiger-like creature quickly swirling around and unleashing a fireball at Leah, Aerie and Viconia.

The Drow simply shielded her eyes from the fire, relying on her innate resistance to magic to shrug off the blast, while Leah and Aerie scampered to get out of the way. Leah just about managed to avoid the explosion, but Aerie's mage robes caught fire and sent her rolling frantically in the grass, screaming in panic as she tried to extinguish the flames.

Minsc appeared to have his opponent on the run, but before the large ranger was able to finish off the rakshasa, Anomen lost his valiant struggle to hold the ground against his attacker. The squire grunted in pain as the tiger-creature's sword bit deep into his right arm, forcing the Helmite to drop the Flail of Ages. The rakshasa quickly snatched it up from the ground and stood over Anomen, ready to smash his head with the powerful weapon. "And so, our cursed flail claims the life of another heroic human," the rakshasa started to swing the weapon, only to be suddenly jumped by some massive looking wild animal, tackling the tiger-creature to the ground and beginning to tear at it with enraged roars and growls.

As Leah was still busy trying to understand what was going on, a massive wolf charged into the clearing and tackled the rakshasa that had cast a fireball at her and Aerie, the two combatants going down in a heap. The battlefield was a complete chaos, and as Leah and Viconia continued to support their allies as best as they could, Leah tried to make sense of what exactly was the creature that had appeared first. It seemed to be smaller in size than a bear, but larger than a wolf, and it was only when Leah could see the furry beast rising on its hind legs that she was able to identify the creature. A werewolf! She shuddered slightly, recalling their dangerous encounters with these powerful lycanthropes on the Isle of Balduran, but fortunately this werewolf truly seemed to be on their side, snarling and tearing at the shocked rakshasa, ignoring its own numerous wounds inflicted by the tiger creature's sword, until the powerful paws of the werewolf finally succeeded in tearing the rakshasa apart.

As the tired and exhausted werewolf slumped off from the bleeding body of its victim, Minsc let out a cry of triumph, finally succeeding in running through his opponent with Sarevok's old sword, then cleanly severing the tiger head from its humanoid shoulders. Anomen was slowly climbing back to his feet, looking to get back into the fight, but the large wolf and the final rakshasa were locked in a desperate tangle on the stony ground, making it hard for anyone to intervene. The battle was eventually decided when the wolf let out a high pitched whine and tumbled to the ground, its stomach opened by the rakshasa sword, innards spilling out as the large animal quickly bled to its death. Still, the rakshasa did not get to celebrate its victory for long, Anomen picking up the fallen flail and taking a wild swing at the helpless tiger-creature, making its head explode like a ripe watermelon.

"I really hope that was not Ihtafeer," Leah said, walking towards the epicenter of the battle to better understand just what had happened.

"No, this should be Ihtafeer," Viconia pointed at the dead rakshasa that had been fighting the werewolf. "It is wearing the clothes of the old potion-brewer."

"Good point," Leah nodded, her eyes then falling on the werewolf, or rather the wounded man lying where the werewolf had fallen, the injuries taking their toll. "Cernd?! You're the werewolf?"

"Yes, though I would have wished this revelation to come under less dramatic circumstances," the grey-haired druid replied, accepting the healing potion from Leah, the young priestess then quickly beginning to cast a healing spell. "Still, you appeared to be in dire need of help, so Pauden and I came to your aid as swiftly as we could. Speaking of Pauden, is he alright?"

Leah glanced over to the fallen man nearby, no longer in his wolf form, wincing as she saw the contents of his stomach spreading out all over the stone floor. "I'm sorry, Cernd… but Pauden is dead."

"Ah… a pity," Cernd sighed. "He was an old friend, and a good man. But such is the circle of life and we are all a part of it…"

"Yes, well, I have to go and check up on the rest of my companions, just to make sure they don't pass on to the next step of this circle of life prematurely," Leah said abruptly, not interested in lengthy nature metaphors when some of her friends were still lying prone, injured.

"I'll take care of the head," Viconia whispered as she quietly moved past Leah, bending down to Ihtafeer's mangled body, answering Leah's grateful smile with one of her own before she began to cut off the rakshasa's head and stuff it into a leather sack for the approval of the Dao genies.

All in all, the group had not suffered as badly as Leah had feared at first. Aerie had gotten off with a slight shock and lightly scorched robes, and was already back on her feet and administering healing to the others. Minsc had miraculously endured only superficial cuts, Anomen looked none worse for the wear once he had healed his bleeding arm, and Jaheira appeared more irritated than hurt, even if the left side of her face where the rakshasa had punched her sported an angry red bruise. Nalia had suffered the worst, still coughing a little and looking wobbly on her legs when Anomen and Aerie together helped her get back up to her feet.

"So, are we ready to proceed inside?" Leah asked, receiving affirmative nods from her group, including a slightly pale looking Nalia. "I assume that you will be joining us, Cernd?" she turned back to look at the werewolf, now seemingly recovered from his injuries.

"Aye, and enter we should with haste, while Faldorn and her mad brethren are still none the wiser, hiding in the grove like a frightened chipmunk hides from the preying fox," Cernd spoke proudly, his fire and passion clearly back with aplomb. "They are ignorant like the ostrich, hiding its head in the sand, like a blind mole seeking to-…" Suddenly, Cernd let out a pained groan, noticing the glistening tip of a bloodied spear, emerging from his chest. He stared at it like entranced for what felt like an eternity, blood gushing and pouring from his mouth, until he slid off from the spear and collapsed face first next to Ihtafeer's corpse, revealing Faldorn's grotesquely painted, madly grinning face behind the fallen werewolf.

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt?" the Shadow Druid leader asked innocently. "I just hate these nature metaphors, so tiresome…"

While on some level, Leah almost felt like saying that she agreed with the sentiment, Cernd had been a loyal and dependable ally who had just saved their lives, and did not deserve such an ignoble, underhanded demise. "I should have killed you a long time ago, bitch," Leah snarled, readying her weapon. "A mistake we're going to rectify here and now!"

"Stop, everyone!" one of the druids, an elderly man wearing thick white furs, stepped between Faldorn and Leah's group, completely disregarding the fact that both sides were poised to attack each another. "Faldorn, what are you doing? This man was a fellow druid!" he exclaimed, looking down at Cernd's corpse. "Have you no respect for the ancient rituals? You promised to honor them, but then killed this man on our most sacred ground?" There was some discontent in the shape of muttering from the other druids behind Faldorn's back, enough for the deranged Shadow Druid leader to take a step back and lower her spear.

"My humble apologies, Master Verthan," Faldorn said, sounding more mocking than apologetic. "It seems I have made a tragic mistake of judgment," she added with a roll of her eyes. "But the rest of these trespassers are not druids, our ancient rituals do not apply to them, and for threading the Shadow Druid grounds uninvited they will face the most severe punishment imaginable."

"You might wish to reconsider that statement," Jaheira snapped, her eyes glowing with anger as she stepped forth and took a battle stance at Leah's side. "I am a druid, and I consider the traditions and rituals of this grove to be sacred. And as a druid, I am entitled to answers as to what has transpired here!"

"Ah... it is you!" Faldorn snarled, looking enraged as recognition dawned in her eyes. "I thought you looked familiar, but without that spineless dog of a husband always at your beck and call, I did not even recognize you, Jaheira! Well, well..." the crazed Shadow Druid leader rubbed her hands in satisfaction. "This is a most interesting development, indeed..."

"You will be wishing you had not said those words when I squeeze your final breath from your body with these very hands," Jaheira threatened, but Faldorn remained unaffected by her deathly glare, Leah taking that as increasing proof of the Shadow Druid's insanity.

"If you claim to honor the rituals of this grove, then you will do no such thing," Master Verthan called out with authority that every druid present save for Faldorn seemed to respect, and Leah guessed that even the Shadow Druid leader had to obey at least some of the rules in order to keep her less deranged followers satisfied by honoring the traditions. "Jaheira, I know you are an experienced druid with strong faith and convictions, and with decades of loyal service to the Earthmother under your belt. In accordance with our most sacred rituals, the current leader of the grove..." he pointed at Faldorn, shadow of a scowl on his wrinkled face, "can only be challenged by someone who is at least their equal. And I deem you to be worthy to issue such a challenge for the leadership of the grove."

"Then I guess it will be my task to show that you are making a mistake by assuming this half-breed to be my equal, Master Verthan," Faldorn chuckled, then giving another taunting look at Jaheira. "That is, if you even have the backbone to challenge me, Jaheira. Or perhaps you are just as spineless as your husband?"

"Oh, I will challenge you, make no mistake about it," Jaheira snarled before looking at Master Verthan again. "If you deem me worthy, Master Verthan, then I hereby officially challenge Faldorn for the leadership of this grove."

"A challenge that I will gladly accept," Faldorn retorted with fanatical confidence. "I revel in the combat of the rituals, and I welcome the chance to end your miserable existence. Come, then, to your death!" With that, Faldorn turned around and left the stone circle of the henge, entering the large mouth of a nearby cavern, followed by a group of her supporters, Master Verthan amongst them, urging Jaheira, Leah and their friends to join them.

The inside of the cavern was large and bright, split into two parts by a large font and bubbling brook of clear, bright water. At the back of the cavern, Leah could see something that looked almost like a small, garish throne, likely reserved for the Grand Druid or Archdruid, and several stone seats surrounding the throne, probably used for official meetings amongst the elders of the region, or something similar. Directly opposite the entrance of the cavern was a smooth, circular carved pit, obviously serving the purposes of ritual combat. Next to the pit, Leah could already see Faldorn stripping out of her leather armor, surrounded by her fanatical supporters.

"Don't tell me that you're going to be fighting in the nude," Leah whispered to Jaheira, noticing that the druidess had also began fiddling with the straps of her armor.

"No armor, but I am allowed to keep my tunic on," Jaheira shrugged, not looking particularly bothered. "Also, we can use only simple, wooden staves that have not been enchanted by magic."

"Here, let me help," Leah said quickly, coming to help her friend and assisting Jaheira in quickly shedding her armor, the druidess remaining clad only in the skimpy tunic that barely covered her thighs. "Are you sure about this, Jaheira?" the young priestess whispered nervously. "You did take a couple of nasty blows by that rakshasa..."

"It is nothing that will stop me from tearing out the throat of that pathetic usurper," Jaheira snarled angrily, dissuading Leah from any further inquiries about the wisdom of this course of action. The half-elf stepped forward to choose from the selection of several wooden staves, presented to her by the challenge master, testing a few before finding one which appeared to have the best balance. Jaheira continued to twirl the staff in her hands, making a few quick practice strikes while keeping her eyes locked with Faldorn's in an attempt to intimidate the younger woman. "Do not make a fuss, Leah," Jaheira finally said, turning around to face the young Sorlyn. "I know what I am doing. Faldorn is young and inexperienced, hardly a match for me."

"Don't underestimate her, Jaheira," Leah warned, still feeling worried. She simply did not like the confident look in Faldorn's eyes throughout the entire encounter thus far, as if the crazed Shadow Druid truly had a reason to believe that she was invulnerable. "Good luck, and kick her ass, my friend."

"It will be done," Jaheira replied, jumping down into the pit where Faldorn already awaited with her weapon at the ready. Shortly afterwards, Master Verthan gave the signal and the duel began, both combatants circling each other wearily, carefully probing their defenses with testing swings of the staff.

Even through this careful, scouting opening part of the duel, the deep sense of worry refused to leave Leah. By all accounts, Jaheira was both stronger and more agile than her opponent, but why then was Faldorn so confident in her ability to emerge victorious? Was it simply the conviction of a fanatic, or was there something else that both she and Jaheira had overlooked?

Meanwhile, the fight between the two combatants was slowly starting to heat up. Spellcasting was all but impossible in these tight quarters, any attempts to do so would be swiftly interrupted by swift bludgeoning with a wooden stave, and both opponents wisely did not attempt to invite fate by resorting to the use of magic. Jaheira had managed to land a few hits, but they had been aimed at non-vital areas and did not appear to slow Faldorn down any. Another exchange of blows threw the Shadow Druid off balance, and Leah and her friends all cheered as one as Jaheira lashed out, smacking the pointy end of her staff against Faldorn's knee with a satisfying crack, making the crazy fanatic cry out in pain.

However, instead of being crippled by the precision blow to her knee, Faldorn began to laugh through her pain, green tendrils briefly enveloping her shin, regenerating spells quickly mending the smashed knee and it seemed as if a surge of powerful energy had lifted Faldorn, she suddenly appeared stronger, faster and even more confident, striking out at the slightly stunned Jaheira, painfully catching her on the left wrist and nearly forcing her to drop her staff.

"What sort of foul magic is this?" Jaheira demanded, suddenly having to go on the defensive to absorb the rain of blows coming her way. "What have you done, Faldorn?"

"I have bonded with the grove itself, fool!" Faldorn replied with a manic grin of victory on her face. "No harm can come to me here! Such bonding is frowned upon by gullible weaklings like you, as it drains from the earth, but the mother feeds me so that I might fight for her!"

"You are insane!" Jaheira shouted, attempting to launch a counterattack and briefly managing to drive Faldorn back, cornering her and delivering several sharp blows to the Shadow Druid's ribs which only made Faldorn laugh, her body once again enveloped by the healing and bolstering energies of the grove, and moments later she was pushing Jaheira back on the defensive again, a few hits slipping past Jaheira's desperate defenses and hitting their mark. Another blow caught the half-elf on the shin and sent her tumbling to the ground, but as Faldorn sought to finish her off with a powerful overhead blow, Jaheira nimbly rolled out of the way and Faldorn's staff smashed against the stone floor, splintering in small pieces, much to the delight of Leah and her friends.

As Faldorn was still confusedly looking at the remains of the staff in her hands, Jaheira quickly lashed out with her leg, kicking the Shadow Druid hard in the stomach and making her collapse on the ground. Without wasting any more time, Jaheira swiftly rose and brought her staff down hard on Faldorn's back with enough force to snap her opponent's spine. While it sent Faldorn crashing to the stone floor with a pained grunt, it also caused Jaheira's weapon to break apart in pieces that were too small to be useful.

"Go on! Finish her off!" Leah shouted nervously, standing next to Viconia and anxiously gripping the Drow's hand without even realizing it.

Jaheira was about to approach Faldorn for the coup de grace when the Shadow Druid stirred and rose from where she had fallen, looking extremely angered, bathed in the green light of regenerating energies. "Enough games!" she yelled, her body beginning to blur and shiver. "Time to finish you off, weakling!" Faldorn exclaimed as her shape twisted and changed, revealing a large black panther where she had stood moments ago. Jaheira had no options to defend other than to shape-change herself, but as she attempted to do so, the massive panther tackled her with a fierce leap, knocking the half-elf to the ground.

The sharp claws of Faldorn's panther form cut into Jaheira's arms as she desperately tried to protect her face and throat from being slashed. Blood was spraying everywhere as she unsuccessfully tried to push the panther off and away from herself. At one point, Jaheira managed to grab the panther's forepaws and hold them off, but this left her vulnerable to the sharp fangs of the black cat's mouth, lunging for her and just barely missing the jugular as Jaheira pulled back at the last moment.

"By Milil..." Leah gasped, her knees growing weak as she watched the pool of blood under Jaheira slowly spreading from the numerous cuts she had sustained already. "I... I can't watch this..." She wrapped her arms around whoever was closest to her in search of comfort, burying her face in Viconia's shoulder, unable to watch as Jaheira looked to be condemned to certain death in the pit below.

"I... I'm sure... she knows what she's doing..." Viconia replied, but her voice was quiet and trembling, lacking any confidence, even if she did not avert her eyes from the horrible spectacle.

Down in the pit, Jaheira was forced to release the animal's forepaws in order to grab the panther's neck and try to keep the head and those dangerous sharp fangs away from her throat. This left Faldorn's claws free to continue ravaging Jaheira's torso, sharp nails ripping the tunic and soaking it with more blood. As the black panther's sharp nails dug into her side one more time, Jaheira let out a sharp cry of pain and did the only thing she could. She launched herself forward with all force and struck the panther on its nose with her forehead, momentarily stunning the animal. This gave the half-elf the tiny window of time that she required for the last gasp plan to save her life and defeat Faldorn.

Jaheira's body began to twist and morph with the druidic magic of shape-change, but even before the transformation was complete, the druidess lunged forward one more time, aiming for Faldorn's throat. The teeth that dug into the large cat's soft throat initially belonged to a half-elven woman, but mere moments later, the panther found its neck in the jaws of a massive brown mountain bear. With an enraged growl, the bear twisted its head, tearing out massive chunks of flesh from the black panther's throat, sending showers of blood and gore everywhere, almost up to the edge of the pit, forcing the gasping spectators to recoil.

The panther left out a gargling, wheezing noise and collapsed on top of the bear, its shape starting to twist and shimmer, as did that of the bear underneath the great cat. In a matter of moments, Faldorn and Jaheira had returned to their true forms, Faldorn quite clearly dead, her head only barely attached to her body, hanging on a few strips of skin at the back of her neck. As for Jaheira, it was very difficult to tell as she was completely covered in blood and gore, and most of it did not even belong to Faldorn.

Leah finally dared to look down into the pit, wanting, needing to see her friend looking up to her, smiling to give her assurance that despite her terrible injuries she was going to be alright... but no such assurances were forthcoming. Jaheira was looking up, yes... but not at her... instead her empty stare seemed go right through Leah.

With an anguished scream, Leah jumped into the pit, dragging Viconia with her, praying inwardly that it would not be too late to help her most trusted friend, her heart clenching tightly and cold feeling spreading from her stomach when she noticed the grim expression in Viconia's eyes...