Chapter XXVIII: Battle of the Titans
Yaga-Shura was a full head taller than his other giant generals, making him so tall that Harrian had to crane his neck so far he almost got cramp to look the other Bhaalspawn in the eye. They were assembled, the Fire Giant and his four right-hand men – another 'Five' to draw a neat parallel, Harrian presumed – in the largest tent in the army's campsite, full of oversized furniture and scurrying human servants trying to fill up a goblet of wine that would have satisfied Harrian's thirst for alcohol for a week. But the Bhaalspawn army leader was the most imposing sight Harrian thought he had seen since a dragon. He was huge, his muscles bulging even by giant standards, with long, fiery hair and a scowling, ugly face that definitely suggested he'd gathered his good looks from his crazy witch-mother.
He was laughing when the captain dragged the four of them in, a laugh which only escalated at the sight of them, and he slammed down one of the giant goblets of wine, spraying Harrian with the ruby liquid.
"Ha! Foiled, my brother!" Yaga-Shura shouted victoriously, so loudly that Harrian had to resist the urge to cover his ears. "But you put up a good fight, yes you did… you've been a great nuisance, and no doubt about it." He chuckled, more quietly this time. "Of course, you did slay Gromnir and make the guard fall so much it was easy to march into the city. Surely a minor fool in charge was preferable to conquest? Or did you demand the fresh blood as much as I do."
"I have managed to control the taint in me," Harrian said, with a confidence he didn't quite feel at those words. "And slaying Gromnir was not my intention. Merely… he did not listen well to talk." He met the Fire Giant's gaze. "That tends to lead to violence, and as you can see from the fact that I am alive after so long, I tend to be able to cope with both methods of solving a problem."
"Indeed. Harrian Corias, Ward of Gorion, Hero of more places than you can shake a stick at. Tell me, how does my army compare to the denizens of the Hells you've fought?" Yaga-Shura's voice was mocking.
Harrian gave them a dismissive glance. "More numerous, and their personal hygiene is scarier, but I think I have faced greater challenges. I've slain foes both numerous and powerful. You don't look that much more imposing than our sister, your ally, Illasera the Quick."
"Indeed? Never send a bounty hunter to do a soldier's work. She had more Bhaalspawn kills to her name than any others, but they were mostly confused farmers, the weak and pitiful ones." Yaga-Shura narrowed his eyes at Harrian. "You, Corias, are the only Bhaalspawn to hold a kill of one of the strongest of the Children. Two, in fact. Though I think it may be undone by the return of Sarevok Anchev." He nodded at the burly warrior who stood next to Harrian, similarly resolute.
"One is still one more than anyone else. I'm hoping to add another four to my list, still. Starting with you," Harrian said coolly.
Yaga-Shura laughed, deeply and loudly again, and on Harrian's other side, Imoen winced. "You are unarmed, and at my mercy, Corias. I shall spare you, however, if you are wise enough to see the opportunity before you."
"The opportunity?" Harrian raised an eyebrow.
Yaga-Shura reached down, and plucked a human-sized goblet from the hands of one of the servants, passing it to Harrian, who took it with a vague nod. "They say you are a 'noble' Bhaalspawn, Corias. Now, I have been in this world enough and have known enough of my brethren to be sure such a thing does not exist. Especially not amongst the powerful and successful of our siblings. Gromnir was a threat, so you slew him, and you intended to slay me too; Saradush mattered nothing. But here, you are at my mercy. Yet I recognise your power and ability; you have done more than perhaps any other, though your success shall end here if you are stubborn." Yaga-Shura took a large gulp of his wine.
"If you bow down before me… we could be so powerful as to overrun all of the other Bhaalspawn. Yes, even my so-called allies, the Five. And then you would serve me as my strong right hand, as only a Child has the right to do. Your power is of use to me, and right now, your life is in my hands. It is a better offer than you could hope for, Corias," the Fire Giant finished.
Harrian gaped for a moment, before hiding it with a sup of the wine. He didn't get more than a gulp, however, as Imoen sidled up beside him and murmured into his ear in a voice so low only he would hear. "I know what you're thinking. Side with him, find out about the other Five, stab him in the back. Do that and you're signing the death warrants of Anomen, Reynald, Asrael, Haer'Dalis and the others." Her voice was tight, grim, and Harrian was almost shocked at how, for the first time possibly ever, his sister was prepared to battle him head-on over this decision.
"That wasn't what I was thinking," Harrian said, his voice at a normal pitch, then looked up at Yaga-Shura. "You leave me with little choice, and the alternative to death is tempting enough as it is. Though I assure you, Yaga-Shura, I am no war leader."
"Neither was Illasera, and she was a worthy member of the Five. Bow down, Corias," Yaga-Shura urged, straightening up to his full, impressive height. "And stand beside me as we reach up to the planes of the Gods themselves!"
Harrian looked back at the others. Sarevok's expression was impassive, though he didn't seem too concerned by the way matters were turning. Imoen looked guarded, uncertain, yet faintly hopeful. And Jaheira…
…Jaheira's eyes were locked on him with a piercing and searching light that he had never quite seen before, and it made his stomach churn as he realised what it meant.
She was afraid. Afraid he was in the grips of the taint, ready to fall to his blood. Despite the notion, right then, seeming to Harrian to be foolish, it was still unpleasant. It was definitely time to show her that he was not making a decision when he was anything but in control.
He stepped towards Yaga-Shura, and fell to one knee in a deep and solemn bow. "I agree to your terms, Lord Yaga-Shura," he intoned quietly. "I shall stand beside you as we aspire to the power of the Gods…"
Then the dagger always hidden in his boot was in his hand as Harrian launched up, slicing in a backwards cutting motion that caught Yaga-Shura behind the knee, causing the Fire Giant to collapse in a heap on the floor.
"…and then I shall see you fall!"
The silence in the room, broken only by a bellow of pain from Yaga-Shura, was heavy as the soldiers stared at their general, the reputedly invincible Fire Giant, crippled and bleeding. The shock was so great that nobody reacted for a good few seconds, and when someone did, it was Harrian, sheathing his dagger in his boot again.
"When the chance comes – and it will, in a few seconds – grab your weapons and work it all out from there," he declared swiftly to the equally shocked Sarevok, Imoen and Jaheira.
"My… my magic! My protection!" Yaga-Shura shrieked as he tried to struggle to his feet, his useless left leg dangling beneath him purposelessly. "Damn that witch! Damn you all!" He paused, waving a hand not supporting him at his soldiers. "Don't just stand there! Kill them!"
A tent flap flew open, a young officer hurtling into the tent, gasping for breath. "My Lord Yaga-Shura, we are under attack! From the Il-Khan army, Asrael's men!" He froze as he saw the sight before him, their crippled leader, before letting out an indecipherable bellow of shock and disappearing just as quickly.
Regardless, the party were still unarmed and encircled by a dozen or so soldiers with weapons, not to mention the five Fire Giants. The attack of Asrael was not an instant victory.
"Your time is done, Yaga-Shura!" Harrian snapped, though, drawing himself up to his full height… and then lengthening even further as the others watched, his limbs broadening, muscles thickening, and skin reddening in a way Jaheira and Imoen had only ever witnessed thrice in the past, and never with pleasing results.
The Slayer's claw swung first at the burly soldier gripping the party's weapons, ripping apart his companions in the process, making the most of the shock the soldiers present were gripped in by the failure of their general's invulnerability and the sudden transformation of Harrian.
But it seemed as if Harrian had not ignored all words of warning, or succumbed to the singing for blood in his heart, for a clawed hand gripped the Daystar, oddly enough, and as soon as the Slayer had appeared, it disappeared, leaving a dishevelled and panting Harrian in its wake.
"See? He's just a man!" Yaga-Shura shouted, still leaning heavily on a table for support, though his soldiers were rather unable to respond as Imoen's magic missiles thumped into the midst of them solidly, and his generals were faced with six and a half feet of solid, muscular, angry, sword-waving Sarevok and a similarly battle-incensed druid.
"I thought I had no chance?" Harrian asked lightly, though his speech was lightly slurred as he stepped before Yaga-Shura, who had still managed to stand vaguely upright and grab a massive warhammer. "I thought my only option was to bow before you?"
He easily sidestepped the heavy yet lazy swing of the Fire Giant's hammer, and lunged forward himself to slice at the already-injured knee, bringing another bellow of pain from Yaga-Shura.
"You have clearly chosen death!" he snarled, swaying only a little.
"No. I think I've just reversed the position," Harrian said grimly, shifting aside from another ineffective swing of the warhammer, his speed easily giving him the advantage over the injured Fire Giant. "Now, your only option… is to kneel!"
Yaga-Shura yelled out in pain again as he felt the slicing of the Daystar on his uninjured leg, and fell to the ground with a crash, his legs useless and unable to support him. Flat on his front, the warhammer flying away a few feet, he knew he could not rise again, and when he felt the tip of Harrian's blade by his neck, knew he had lost.
"Spare me," the Fire Giant grunted weakly. "We could still… still rule… or if you wish it, I could leave, miles away, never bother you again, never challenge you for the Throne of Bhaal…"
"If I believed that, I would have spared Illasera," Harrian said grimly, only vaguely aware that all in the tent had frozen with the fall of Yaga-Shura. "But I do know that there is one thing a Bhaalspawn has no choice in, and that's their involvement in the destiny of the Children. So… you cannot live."
It took two solid swings to sever the great Fire Giant's head from his shoulders, and as Yaga-Shura's body began to dissolve into nothingness, as did all the bodies of the Children of Bhaal, Harrian was keenly aware of the stillness about him having not stopped.
"You have won, God-child."
He looked up to see the battle before him frozen in time and, standing before him, an elusive figure whose voice matched that of the voice that had spoken to him after Illasera's death. It seemed that here was his guide.
"And yet, you lost much of yourself to do so."
"I did what I had to do," Harrian said, his eyes roving over the fighting in the great tent. There was only one Fire Giant general left, his huge greatsword blocking a blow from Jaheira's scimitars, Sarevok with his own blade upraised, ready to bring it down on the giant's unprotected back. The soldiers who had brought them to the tent were turning to flee in the face of Yaga-Shura's death and the magical assault of Imoen that had already felled many of them.
"There seemed to be few other choices. That is the nature of your fate. Only a Bhaalspawn can survive what you have to face… but it is not simply being a Bhaalspawn that is enough, but living your life according to what you are." The Solar stepped away, heading out of the tent, and Harrian hurried after it.
"You're saying that to win I need to become just as bad as those I wish to slay?" Harrian asked sceptically.
"Did you raze a city? Hunt down weak farmers solely because they shared your blood? No. You do not revel in death as the Five, and many others do. But there are many levels to stand on if you are a Bhaalspawn. They are at the deepest, slaves to the dead God. You, however… are more in control."
Outside the tent, chaos reigned. Asrael's forces had set down upon the army of Yaga-Shura when they had least expected it, and soldiers bloated on the spoils of war, drunk and overfed and unprepared, were being slain by the dozen in the face of a surprise attack.
"You have a balance, of understanding your nature and yet not falling prey to it. You do not deny what you are, nor are you a slave to it. But do not rest with this level, for it is the most dangerous of all, and it shall take only a slight faltering for you to be controlled by your blood as the Five have been," the Solar told him, winding its way in and out of the battling forces.
"But how –"
Harrian's words were lost as he suddenly found himself a couple of hundred metres further west than he had been, where the cavalry prong of Asrael's attack had hit the more battle-ready forces Yaga-Shura held prepared. Captain Jastian Asrael himself was at the front of the charge, a great spear plunged through the chest of a soldier of Yaga-Shura. Beside him, similarly mounted, were Anomen and Reynald, frozen in the middle of pitched battle.
"This one, Asrael," the Solar continued slowly, "denies what he is. He knows his nature, but refuses to accept it. He shall not survive the coming storm of death. For he is ill-prepared to handle his nature; he buries it within himself, hides from it, and although it holds no sway over him, it grows stronger by the hour and shall either overcome him or those who do not deny themselves shall slay him. It is not in the nature of a Bhaalspawn to have a long life, or to reject the dead Lord of Murder."
"I've rejected him, though…" Harrian said weakly.
"No. He resides within you, a part of you. You slew Yaga-Shura because you were both yourself and of your taint. Your taint meant that you stayed alive, because you used it to your advantage, and yet you did not succumb to the murder or those you stand with would be dead too. To deny your taint fully is as dangerous to fall to it."
Harrian's eyes widened. "Imoen… what of her? Her Bhaal-blood is not…"
"Not strong? Not with a hold? You are blind, God-child, if you believe either of those." The Solar shook its head. "That is the lesson for the future that you need to know today. But there is yet more I should tell you. For the future holds great importance, but we need the past to understand it. We shall leave this place. There is much I should tell you."
Then everything went black.
