Spare Me Today
- "What is it? What has happened to you?" Anomen enquired. It was plain that all the siblings of Bhaal blood had gone through something really profound.
- "My past was made plain to me, and Sarevok's to Imoen and me," Peri answered in an even, colorless voice.
- "And? What about it?" Anomen looked somehow angry.
- "Nothing about it," Peri said irritably. "What makes you think it is your business somehow?"
- "Peri." Imoen shot her a disapproving look. "Anomen, it would be wise of you to let go for now. To give us time to take it in. Peri's mother was a psycho who wanted to kill her own child in a ritual to resurrect Bhaal. And that is just the beginning of it."
Anomen felt left out and extremely jealous of the emotion and intensity Peri and Sarevok shared.
- "And what about you, fiend?" he snarled to Sarevok. "I bet you are using this information to pressure and influence her even more."
- "I assure you that is not the case," Sarevok said coldly. "Lay off her. We all have learned a lot today and can't be bothered with you."
- "Har! Ye tell the Helm-boy, Sarevok!" Korgan laughed. "Oh, me be forgetting. It is Tempus nowadays ye be praying to, priest."
- "All RIGHT! This won't do. Yaga-Shura may be dead but we still can't have this friction. In all probability this is just the beginning," Peri said.
Sarevok nodded.
- "The prophecy talks about a secret pact. I bet some of the strongest Bhaalspawn are behind it. Perhaps they seek to resurrect Bhaal and act as demigods under him or something even more clever than that. And then there is something about a traitor. But it was so vague that it could mean anything."
- "It seems that Yaga flattened Saradush," Peri continued. "Too bad about Gromnir... perhaps we should go and examine the carnage, to see if there are any survivors who would have something interesting to say. Or other clues."
- "Peri, does it not bother you at all that probably hundreds of people are dead? It is not your fault, but it was done in your name, to get to you," Keldorn said.
- "Frankly, Keldorn, no." She stared at him with her eyes hard. "I didn't know them, and I kind of have other things on my mind now. I am used to dead, unknown people. Pretty damn used, in fact. And now I feel that it would be most counterproductive to start to whine over something like that, especially as there is nothing to be done for them anymore. Further questions?"
Keldorn lowered his gaze.
- "No... I am just trying to help you. To not harden your heart, to remember what is important and right. So that the taint won't gain you little by little by making you callous."
Peri strained as to not to snap.
- "All right. But spare me today. Let's just say that those revelations occupy what capacity I have left for musings that don't have immediate practical application."
The group was teleported to the siege camp, next to the smoking ruins of Saradush. The smell of death... charred flesh, rich iron odor of blood, smoke, the sand still swirling in small clouds generated by the explosions. With a chill Peri realized that the smell made her spirit soar. She felt powerful, and so alive. As if every dead person in her name made her more alive and powerful. Realizing how evil a thought it was, how it contradicted her most basic value, the respect of everyone's freedom to make their own choices and lead their own life free of oppression, she shivered, bewildered.
Sarevok was looking at her compassionately.
- "You feel it, don't you, sister? The exhilaration."
Peri nodded.
- "And you are unhappy, because it feels wrong. But it doesn't come from you, you know. It is the sire luring you. It has nothing to do with what you believe is right and would choose to do."
The grateful Peri gripped Sarevok's hand.
They examined the shattered ruins of the palace, careful of the collapsing structures.
Gromnir was lying there together with his elite troops, the madness and paranoia still on his face.
- "Poor brother," Peri said to him. "Rest in peace. Let's take his equipment - he won't need it anymore."
Then there was a tingle of magic, and Melissan was teleported to the room.
- "Peri! I'm so glad to see you alive!"
- "I bet," she answered. "I, on the other hand, am surprised to see YOU alive."
- "I tried to get the Bhaalspawn out alive, but it was too late... Yaga-Shura's armies had already destroyed the city, and my own escape was a narrow one."
- "What do you want?" Peri's dislike of the woman was intense, and she somehow felt it wasn't just her irritating manner.
- "I can tell you are still suspicious. Please believe me, I have only your best interest in my mind. Yours, and whole the Realms'."
- "You wanted me to kill Yaga, and probably Gromnir too. Now they both are dead, and I am out of Saradush without your help. I don't see you holding too many bargaining chips under the circumstances."
- "Understand that Yaga-Shura is but the beginning. Already mighty forces are moving, and you will be in the center of the events, whether you like it or not. I have one more ally to involve in this... I have been reluctant to do so, but the circumstances leave me no choice. Seek the desert city of Amkethran, let me draw into your map, and once there, talk to Balthazaar. He is the head of the local monastery, and will instruct you. There are other strong Bhaalspawn out to destroy you and much else, perhaps whole the future. It is in your own advantage to act as a force of good in this matter."
Peri said nothing, just nodded wearily. The woman was teleported away.
- "That bitch is phony beyond belief. But we might as well check this Balthazaar guy out. It is not as if we have any better ideas. And I suppose just going home, wherever that is, and hoping that the world will leave me alone and save itself is not an option," Peri said.
- "Afraid so, sister," Sarevok said.
