Chapter 29: Here's the Heart

"We should be in good shape," my optimism was at a high point, "They've been probably running around looking for us for the past two days. And scared witless after my little massacre."

"Yes and undoubtedly reinforcing their position with more forces, traps, and any means at their disposal to halt our advance." I glared back at my hulking brother, his face his usual continence of nothingness as he delivered his devil's advocate speech to burst my bubble.

"Dream-wrecker…" I pouted at him.

"In any event," Keldorn finished buckling his lustrous armor into place, "We have tarried here long enough. We have an urgent mission to complete, and we must return to it with all haste."

After returning, I insisted we take another day off, just to ensure Jaheira had recovered fully from her injuries. No one objected, but they were anxious. I found out why, as unfortunately, there really wasn't a whole lot to do in my pocket plane in terms of entertainment and keeping one busy. I think I saw Yoshimo playing a game of chess with Cespenar. Minsc no doubt found ways to pass the time with Boo, though doing what…I don't really want to know…

I cannot say anything for Sarevok or Keldorn, both of them probably liking the empty quiet and stillness as opposed to all the rushing around and hurrying, but I myself was anything but bored. I had suffered a great scare in Jaheira's wounds, and I felt compelled to stay with her. And we certainly found ways to keep busy.

We had spent those two days in each other's company, engaging in…well, shall we say relaxing physical therapy sessions. You know…to help speed her recovery along…and such…

In that time spent in each other's arms, I had made her make a solemn promise that she would be extra careful in the future battles, and in dangerous times, she would not over do things. Likewise, she made me make a promise that I would try my hardest to hold back the rising flood of murder within. I agreed, though really, she didn't exactly have to twist my arm to get my accord.

In combination with Cespenar's treatments and her own healing, Jaheira was at full health after the two days, and she was the one who was adamant that we continue. I could have used another day of rest and relaxation but…well, duty called I guess. So a quick call to my friends and we once more stood assembled by the exit portal.

Jaheira was wearing the new armor Cespenar had made for her. It was a gleaming wrought iron, perhaps some mithril or some other silver metal mingled in. It looked far stronger and durable than the simple plate, laced with a hearty aura of magic. And…well, she just looked so good wearing it.

As we entered the portal, once more feeling the world around us return, the blasting furnace heat engulfed us in welcome, as if delivering a greeting fit only for a dragon. We arrived in the same place we had departed, the entrance foyer, near the huge pit of fire. The piles of corpses and such were just as we had left it, as no fly could live to get inside the temple to conjugate. Obviously the fire giants hadn't bothered to clean up for our return. How rude…

"We'd best find these hearts quickly," Minsc instructed, giving his head a shake to dispel the all enshrouding torridity, "Boo has no tolerance for this sort of heat, what with his ample fur coat."

"Him and everyone else," I told him, wiping my brow, hoping to smear some dripping sweat across my face. Any amount of moisture would have been welcome, but I may as well have been trying to wring water from sand. But we couldn't let that stop us. So we plunged on.

Despite our optimism, things turned out to be one dire frustration after another. The layout of the temple was maddening, and not just because of the overbearing heat. It had been constructed to the standards of giants, not normal sized folk, thus the stairs and walkways were grossly oversized, forcing us to heave ourselves, armor and weapons included, over the lip of each stair. It was taxing to keep doing that, all the while enduring a heat that probably could have made a fire elemental sweat.

And as bad as climbing the stairs was, that was nothing in contrast to the constant attacks. As Sarevok had said in our absence the defenders had ample time to prepare a defense against us, rallying their forces. Fire giant guards, several of them, hiding behind the massive arches, lying in wait to leap out at us whilst we tried to climb higher, pushing us back down. We all sustained injury in those battles, but Jaheira was ready to assist, as she always does.

On top of the attacks, we encountered several cunning traps on several stairs leading up, which I stupidly sprung in my haste. My rewards were a lightning bolt which near made a smoking hole through my chest, and an arrow laced with acid drilling right into my stomach. Jaheira kept reprimanding me to move with caution but I was probably too stubborn to listen. Disarming traps made me think of Imoen, and that always made me depressed.

However, a small piece of good news was that thanks to my little exhibition of brutality, not only were they extremely wary of us, but their numbers had dwindled, forcing them pick and choose their battles prudently, as to not squander their numbers again. But with each victory we won, my confidence grew. That was one or two or three less giants to contend with in the future.

After all of our struggling, at the end of the temple there was an almost nerve-wracking set of stairs that led up high into the mountain. The arches over the stairwell was adorned with gold trim and paintings, maintaining themselves despite the heat. Obviously the way forward, and obviously obstructed. I began to climb the stairs, an agonizing chore once again, but no sooner had I cleared the third step I felt as if invisible hands had grasped my body and flung be back down to the bottom.

I landed unceremoniously on my back, knocking all air from my lungs, leaving me wheezing. It was very undignified for a Bhaalspawn. Yoshimo volunteered to step up and examine it, but he too was ejected in quick similar fashion.

"A mystical barrier to repel intruders," Keldorn concluded, "Undoubtedly there must be some manner of trick to passing. And more than likely, as such a bastion defends this entrance, what we seek lies beyond. The temple's inner sanctum, where Yaga-Shura keeps his treasured hearts."

"Ah Boo, you are certainly correct," Minsc was booming across the room. We turned to see him standing before a squat mechanism, which was belching steam and making a low grumbling whir. He waved us over. "Boo has determined that cause of the magical barrier is this appliance! He suggests we learn to operate it so we might proceed!"

"Do we now take orders from a rodent brother?" Sarevok asked me with devious skepticism.

"Well," I went to join Minsc, "since Boo was the one to find that thing, than maybe we should. I mean, I didn't exactly hear any suggestions from you." He snorted but followed.

It was no ordinary device, that was sure. It had tubes of copper running up and down, several of them disappearing into the floor, and others venting steam. It hummed with magic and some other unseen power, and is had several slots indented into the sides. It sat upon a grate, stationed over another pit of molten lava, and was extremely hot to the touch.

"Hmm," I mused, scrutinizing the droning device; "This is kind of vexing. Anyone want to give me a hint?"

"Four impressions," Jaheira noted, stepping beside me, examining the foreign contraption that no doubt held back our advance, "Each with a different symbol. I assume we must find four items that shall fit into these slots to lower the magic shield."

"I seem to remember there were two knobs at the entrance," Yoshimo offered, "Perhaps they are the key for dispelling this barrier. Though I also seem to recall them being quite high off the ground, more of the reach of the inhabitance of this temple then ourselves."

"Let's head back then," I instructed, "I'm not about to leave now just because I'm too short."

He hadn't been kidding; there were two shimmering orbs set in the walls, one in each room that had been adjacent to the entrance hall, roughly twenty spans off the ground. No human, not even Sarevok with his towering massiveness could reach it.

"Marvelous," Sarevok grunted, staring up, "Must we now balance upon ones shoulders to move forward?" The thought of creating a human totem to reach that switch wasn't appealing to me either, what with the intolerable heat sapping us of strength. I reached my hand upwards, and made a feeble jump, hoping to make contact somehow. A rather pitiful gesture true, but the results it yielded were quite surprising.

I felt my feet leave the floor in that moment, and I watched, half stupefied as the knob seemed to lower to meet me. My eyes flicked downward, back to my feet to see the ground easily ten spans below, rather than two or three spans. My arc took me up, but I was too startled to push on the switch. I landed, glancing amongst my comrades, and with a hesitating push, I rose high again. This time, as I passed the button or what have you, I laid my hand on it, pressing in.

In a place that built into the side of a volcano, one would imagine that everything around would be hot, including the lofty button. So when I pushed on it, I felt the sensation of burning skin, as well as a scalding hiss complete with steam. Regardless, I felt the button depress inward, and there was an echoing hiss from somewhere. I landed softly again, greeted by bewildered stares.

"Astounding, my friend. How were you able to do that?" Yoshimo stared at me dumbfounded, "To leap such as that?" Though honestly, I wasn't really sure myself.

"Didn't I…do that before?" I asked him, "You know…when I was…you know…"

"Indeed, but…well I merely assumed it had something to do with your state."

"You were jumping so high Delic," Minsc was gushing as he dashed up and started slapping me heartily on the back, "Like Boo when he is very nervous or excited when he enters the fray of battle. You sure you don't have a little hamster in you?"

"Another trait of the Bhaal taint perhaps?" Sarevok proposed, looking knowingly at me. I didn't think very hard, as I've been gaining traits lately that were far from human.

"I guess that's what it must be. The only unaccounted for one is Illasera. I guess that answers that."

"Illasera?" Jaheira thought aloud, "Who is that?" I noticed Sarevok half-turned my way, most likely interested to hear my answer as well.

"She was some crazy huntress or something; she was stalking after me, to track me down and I confronted her in the ancient forests of the elves. Really, just another Bhaalspawn who thought she was so terrible. I showed her otherwise."

"And now," Sarevok pointed out, "you possess an additional power that grants you yet another advantage over our siblings."

"Great," I grumbled at him, "Illasera's power has turned me into a giant jackrabbit. Am I supposed to be thrilled by this?"

He smirked a dark smile, but said no more.

"Still," I went on, "I may be crazy, but I have a hunch that Illasera was one of the Five. If so, than that makes Yaga-Shura number two, and once I've sorted him out, only three to go"

"If we still have that much left to do," Keldorn was already returning to the main chamber, "then I suggest we be on our way.

Once again, I tested my new vaulting ability in the other room, pushing on the second orb, and causing me to burn my other hand, but nonetheless we could hear another whooshing of magic from elsewhere in the temple. Jaheira tended to my scalded hands as we went searching for anything that might have changed. Not a hard task. Two doorways were now open, that had previously been hidden behind clouds of burning vapor so thick, it was like fog. Inside was another sizable chamber and more fire. But my burnt hands were not for naught.

In the center of the room, there was a moat of boiling fire, the heat radiating off of it was blistering my skin even as I stood twenty spans away. In the dead center of that pool was a small island, a golden box sitting atop the tiny speck of rock, bobbing amidst the waves of fire.

"So…?" Minsc asked both Boo and us, "Now what?"

An excellent question, as stepping on to a lake of fire was most certainly not good for ones health. Building a makeshift bridge would be useless, as would rope, it would burn away in mere moments. Then, a radical idea came to me, though I had a hunch it would give Jaheira and everyone else a heartattack.

"I'll check it out," I said, and stepped to the edge. Before anyone could object to my perhaps foolhardy idea, I leaped.

"Dietrich!" I heard Jaheira yell after me, but I was already airborne and descending.

My vaulting jump carrying me out into the middle of the bubbling lake, only to come crashing down on top of the golden…whatever it was. I had to grasp on to it, perching myself on top of the thing like some grotesque bird, teetering back and forth, a few hairs away from oblivion. I summoned all of my dexterity to keep still, and once my equilibrium was restored, I was able to examine the container. How something of gold survived in the center of that fire lake escaped me, but with a shove, the top popped off.

Inside were several stones, gems of fine quality. My life as an adventurer has made me quite proficient in the art of appraising items, and it was clear that they weren't merely ornamental. But beneath them was something else, a rounded stone, made of some sort of lustrous dark rock, and grasping it, I felt etchings in it.

"I think I've got something!" I yelled, hoisting my discovery upward to display. And just like that, I caused another battle.

In a swirl of magical fire from where my group stood, several beasts appeared, no doubt guardians summoned to protect the stone I had just procured. To suit the theme of flame and other hot things around us, two fire elementals, two giant four legged hell hounds, three crimson colored trolls, and a hovering skull wreathed in flames, grinning at us with its agape toothy grin, burst forth from nowhere, and rushed against us.

They fell upon my group in seconds, and the burning skull came bobbing over the fire pool to dive at me with its undead enthusiasm on its bony countenance. I would have taught that thing a few painful lessons, but I was barely holding my balance, let alone having enough concentration to repel a swooping enemy. So as it crashed into my back, causing my cloak to catch fire, I ignored it, tucking the stone into a small pouch on my belt, and got the hell off that thing. I sprung, landing back on good old solid land, and had enough time to leisurely draw my katana, and split that obnoxious skull right down the center as it came diving again, the pieces fell to the ground, bouncing into the lava.

We all sustained burns and scorch marks naturally, and Minsc and Yoshimo had long thin slash wounds down their arms, from the thin groping fingers of the trolls, whilst I took a sore jaw as I was promptly socked clear in the face by Jaheira once the battle ended.

"You mad imbecile! What an idiotic idea! What if you had missed? Or slipped?" I could only grin, wincing at the growing bruise.

"Well it probably wouldn't have been good, but since I didn't, no sense in worrying…right?" She shook her head, grasping my arm, holding on to me for comfort. More than likely she was asking herself why I was such a damndable idiot a lot of the time.

With the guards all dead, I was able to examine the stone I had uncovered. It was as smooth as an egg, a bit larger than my own fist, and chiseled into the side was the unmistakable image of a large warhammer.

"Four stones," said I, hefting the rock and turned it over, "And four slots. I guess this is one down."

And three to go yes, a chore of near nauseating proportions. In the adjacent room there was another golden box sitting in lava, and it took three minutes of logical persuasion to make Jaheira let go of my cloak. I hopped out there, and the moment I retrieved a sister stone to the one we already had, we faced a similar horde of protector and another slaughter ensued. Giant constructs made of bone gated in with a swirl of magic, more fire minions, giants who came sneaking out through a secret door, and other bizarre yet equally frustrating opponents. We were all getting tired, but we did not cease until we were the only ones left standing.

And in the end, we found them all. Hammer, Skull, Blood, and Flame. And when each stone was placed in its designated slot on the mysterious device, the machine gave a rumble, and ceased its humming. We waited, seeing if there was something else, some arching bolt of magic that would strike the barrier and dispel it, but nothing further happened. So I gingerly climbed back up the stairs, hoping not to be thrown again. To my relief, I wasn't, but much to my exasperation, at the top of the stairs were two more fire giants waiting for us.

And since I was unburden by armor, my stair climbing speed was the quickest, and I had made it up first, all by myself. And my haste nearly got me stepped on. Caught off guard, I was knocked to the floor by a stout blow, forcing me to drive my silver sword up to gouge the giant's massive booted foot with the tip of my blade as it descended to squash me flat. He yowled in pain, clutching his bleeding foot, as his partner then stepped up and was about to crush my head in when Sarevok came erupting from the stairs, bellowing and heaving his sword to and fro. Before long, the giants were dead, and we were assembled again.

"Wow," I commented, looking straight up, "That is one…big door." And yes, my talent for stating plain and evident facts was spot on, for the two giants had been standing on the sides of a towering crimson red door, easily forty spans height, blocking our way. Burned into the door was a very familiar symbol, a grinning skull, surrounded by teardrops. Or blood drops as some prefer. The seal of my sire, Bhaal.

"Should we knock do you suppose?" Yoshimo suggested.

"And bring our enemies right to us?" Sarevok didn't look his way, but he had a note of irritation that crept out along with the words.

"A joke my friend, of course. But eh…I am at a bit of a loss on how to…well open it."

That was no laughing matter, Minsc, Sarevok, and myself had to lunge against it, our boots getting very little traction on the mosaic tile floor. But bit by bit, span by span, we pushed the great door open enough to get inside.

Truly, I haven't ever been inside a room as large as that in my life. Honestly, I couldn't see from one end of it to the other, it was lost over the horizon. A well-built castle could have fit in there leisurely. Though despite the halls grandiose size, it was built in the same architecture style as the rest of the temple, pillars of gold-like color, metal gratings with steam, and pools of fire. And besides the pools, there were now long thin canals of flames too, dug into the floor, crisscrossing like webbing throughout the whole room. And they all seemed to be leading to a single spot.

It was a brazier, and quite a large one too, mired in the center of a sea of blaze. It was lit, the flames reached up towards the ceiling, the roar of fire drowning out even the persistent rushing of hissing steam. And deep within that hellfire was a large dark shape, pulsating.

Blocking the way though was an absolutely mammoth fire giant, who stood before the blazing inferno, lifting a dark gleaming hammer high as he turned to face us.

"Interlopers!" the massive giant screamed in rage, "They've come to rob our lord and master of his heart! We shall never allow the fire of almighty Yaga-Shura to be put out! To arms my brothers!"

"Your master is no god!" Keldorn thundered back, his stalwart voice ringing throughout the entire chamber, his sword lifting to catch the harrowing light "And we shall see his wretched enchantment undone and his crimes against all answered for!"