Chapter 36: Revenge At Last

Gareth stood before the only door left to open. Beyond it he would find the one responsible for the attack on the village, at least he hoped so. What gave him pause was the fact that they had encountered demons and other abyssal creatures, who were fighting against the gith. There was another person invloved in this mess. Would he face just the gith? Taking several deep breaths, he focused his chi inwards, settlings his nerves. Even though he would never admit it to the arrogan ranger, the rest he got the night before had been just what he needed. Now he felt ready to take on anyone.

He looked behind to where the others stood waiting. "Everyone ready?" he asked in a near whisper. Getting nods all around, he stepped forward, opened the door and entered the final chamber. A quick look around showed him there were several gith, but no demons, and he relaxed slightly.

"Ah, we meet at last thief," a gravelly female voice caught everyone's attention.

Gareth focused on the one who had spoken and silently studied the barrier she was hiding behind. This was what that strange sphere the demon gave him was for. It would destroy the barrier. Movement to his right had him looking to where a large cage was set. Inside that cage was Shandra who looked scared, but otherwise well enough.

"The girl has yet to provide any relevant information," the gith leader continued. "With you here, she is no longer of value. Give back what you stole and answer my questions, and I will let her and those that came here with you go free."

"I didn't steal anything and I'm not here to answer your questions," Gareth said stonily. He had noted she didn't mention his going free. "This is not a rescue. It is revenge for your attack on my home and I will not be denied."

The gith leader said nothing for a long moment. This was not going the way she had expected, but it didn't matter. She could sense the shards and she would have them. Reaching out with her power, she pulled the hidden shards from the human's backpack, ripping them right through the material.

"Did you think you could hide these from me?" she sneered. "These belong to the githyanki and we have every right to reclaim them, regardless of how many fools think to stand in our way." She paused for a moment eyeing him closely before hissing in surprise. "You have another shard inside you."

Before Gareth could even process her words, he felt a sharp pain in his chests as he was forcebly lifted off the ground. The pain was excruciating and it took all his strength to focus on stopping it. Without really being aware he was doing it, he tapped an inner core of power. Using the pain as a conduit, he drew it forth, molding and focusing it. He felt it rush upward and outward, obliterating the pain and flaring brightly from him, bathing everyone and everything in a pure white glow. With a cry of rage, he broke the hold she had and fell to the floor, landing in a crouch. He looked up, his eyes glowing with a power fueled by his anger.

The githyanki in the room, his companions, and even Shandra all fell backwards as if pushed by an invisible hand. The leader gaped in surprise, shock, and even a little fear. No human had ever defied her power like this. She saw a few of her soldiers flee the room, abandoning her. Before she could say anything, she felt the air around her shudder and the shield start to fade. She looked down and saw the human holding something against the barrier and smiling with cold triumph at her. But, she wasn't going down without a fight.

It was brutul, tiring, and seemed to last an interminably long time, but it eventually ended. She lay crumpled on the floor feeling her life flee from this plane. All those who had accompanied her and stayed to fight lay dead around her. Footseps brought her attention up to the human who had defeated her. Summoning the last of her strength, she grimaced up at him.

"You have defeated us and so staved off your doom," she gasped out. "But, there is a greater danger to this plane than us, a danger we needed the shards to fight. You will die, same as I, and I look forward to that moment."

Gareth said nothing, merely bent down over her. A cold smile curved his lips as he reached out and grabbed her throat with his bare hand. "This is for my friends and family," he hissed and twisted his hand. The gith's neck snapped with a satisfying crack.

Khelgar had just finished breaking the lock on Shandra's cage, and was helping her over to the rest of them when he heard the noise. He glanced up and saw Gareth coming to his feet, a fierce look of triumph on his face. It spooked him almost as much as the wave of power that had emanated from the young monk earlier. He knew that deep down this wasn't like the boy at all. So many bad things had happened to him of late, however, and it seemed to have changed him. Hopefully, the change was not permanent.

Bishop saw the look on the paladin's face and silently smirked. The holier than thou, don't pull the stick out of my ass knight obviously was appalled at the boy's actions. He on the other hand thought it a fitting end. Vengeance was always so much more satisfying than justice. He saw the boy get to his feet and start searching the other bodies before stopping beside one in particular that had a green feathered arrow in its neck. Gareth turned to him and raised a brow.

"Yeah, I got that one," he answered the unspoken question.

"I'm glad this one is dead," Gareth returned, his voice cold. "This is the mage that killed Amie. I'm only sorry I didn't get to kill him myself."

Shandra stepped foward and paused before Gareth. "Thank you, for coming after me. I didn't expect it."

"I didn't come for you," Gareth said flatly. "Rescuing you was Casavir's idea, so thank him. I only came along to get my revenge." Turning away, he searched the room for his pack and found it lying towards the back of the chamber. As he went to get it, he picked up the shards that had fallen from it. He paused and rubbed his chest where the scar he'd had since forever was. The gith had said he had another shard inside him. He had been told it was a piece of shrapnel. What was the truth? Only two people would know the answer to that question, and Daeghun was too far away to ask. Duncan had been there the night the village was practically destroyed and his parents died. He must know something.

"We need to get back to Neverwinter as soon as possible," he told them as he finished gathering his things. He turned and exited the chamer, not looking back.

"Come Shandra," Casavir said gently and took her arm, hiding his fury at Gareth's callous treatment of the woman. Shandra was a victim, yet the monk treated her like an enemy. There was no call for such behavior. He would have to have a long heart to heart with Gareth.

Khelgar hurried after the monk, not wanting the boy to get too far ahead. There was no way of knowing if all the danger was now passed, and Gareth's head wasn't in the game, so to speak. He had a bunch of questions running through his head, and wanted to stay close to the monk until the right time came to ask them. He quickly caught up and fell into step beside Gareth, placing his hand briefly on the monk's arm as a sign of support.

Bishop brought up the rear, watching everyone silently. The dwarf he dismissed as nothing more than hired muscle. The woman was nice to look at but probably was of not much use other than as a bedwarmer. He hated paladins with their superior attitudes and blind sense of duty, so he would just give this one a wide berth.

But the boy? Now he was interesting. He seemed to be barely old enough to be out without mommy's permission, but his eyes held vast depths and secrets. Rule number one for avoiding real trouble: always look a person in the eye if you want to get his true measure. So far, nothing he'd seen suggested someone who played by the rules all the time. Just the kind of person to not care about a person's past.

The monk was powerful and might possibly be just what he needed to get his life back. He hated owing people, especially Duncan, and he hated being broke, which he currently was. Coin, and lots of it, went a long way to solving both those problems. Perhaps he could persuade the boy that his services were needed. The fact that the monk was Duncan's nephew would make it all the sweeter. It would annoy Duncan no end if the kid hired him, thus giving him a reason to hang around all the time. The inn keeper tried very hard to forget he existed. The only downside he saw at the moment was the presence of the paladin, and that he could easily ignore.

Once he got them back to Neverwinter, he would have a better chance to speak to Gareth in private. He could then determine whether or not to stick around. He could feel in his bones that big changes were coming and there was no doubt in his mind that the kid would be in the middle of it all. There might even be war, and a man with skills such as himself could make a fortune of it. Yes, it was an opportunity worth checking out.