"Tell me what happened."
"We arrived too late. The druid was poisoned in our absence. There was an impostor there to feed us false knowledge, but we smelt the wrongness and fell upon him. He portalled away before we could end him."
"Kuldahar was under siege."
"Had we only cut a path to Arundel, the townsfolk would have been slaughtered."
"Instead you divided your pack and set upon the invaders, while you, Jaheira and Edwin forced your way to the archdruid."
"We should have used a portal. Xan had Dradeel's spellbook."
"And if you had, and you ended up in distant Thay, Chult or Kara-Tur, what then?"
"Arundel would have died for nothing, but the Heartstone would be safe."
"And Kuldahar would have fallen, along with the rest of the Ten Towns."
"Chaos was sown from my passage."
"Then your battles were for naught?"
"I didn't say that…"
"Then tell me how it felt."
"It felt good. I felt alive. The hunt, the rush of blood… the red haze, the frenzy. Murder was in my bones. It was my essence, my being. It was what I was born for. My claws ripped apart scale and flesh, crushed the snake-men, and I felt no regret. I felt joy. I delighted in their death, revelled in it. The scent of their blood was ecstasy. They were abominations, part man, mostly snake. They sacrificed sentients… I crushed their eggs."
"And after the bloodlust faded?"
"I felt… nothing."
"Their spears, their swords, how close did they come to ending you?"
"Close… but I was stronger. Faster. I had reason to destroy them."
"More reason than they?"
"Yes… Solar, why are you asking me this?"
"Do you miss the thrill of battle?"
