The adventurers were walking through the thick forest, when Meg suddenly stopped and raised a hand. "Halt", she ordered, her spine rigid and her jaw clenched as she studied her surroundings, then she raised her voice, "Show yourself, sister! I know you're here, so don't make us waste our time!".
A female chuckle came from a point at their left and a woman emerged from behind the trees, "You are more powerful than I suspected, sister", she said, twirling a throwing knife in her right hand: she was an Elf, with shoulder-length chocolate brown hair and dark eyes, dressed in tight-fitting green elven chainmail and she carried two long daggers of clear elvish making, "No matter: you will fall before the blades of Illasera the Quick!".
The Painbearer arched an eyebrow, "Indeed, you're very quick to boast, no arguing on that. But I think you will be the one to fall, regardless of how many lackeys you brought to our little family reunion". Illasera laughed, "So you spotted them? All right, then: come out!", she shouted and at her order, ten men dressed in leathers stepped forward. Edwin stretched his fingers, "Finally a good chance to Fireball some useless simians!", he rejoiced, beaming like sunshine.
"Get them!", Meg growled, springing forward and targeting Illasera, "But you, dear sister, you are mine". "Glad to oblige, sister", the Elf shot back, her blades hissing like poisonous snakes as she made a crossing slash, but the steel did not even scratch the other woman's Ironskin protection. "Nice try", Meg commented, making a feint to the right just as she summoned black vines to hold her half-sister in place, then a Flaming Sword flared to life in her left hand and she stabbed her foe in the knee with all of her strength.
Illasera screamed in pain and lost her balance, so the Ilmatari seized the chance to knock her out cold with a hard blow of her mace to the head: she did not want to kill her sibling, after all, only to disable her. She then surveyed the battlefield and grinned as she noticed that, out of ten men, three were dead and the other seven were currently in the process of bringing their asses as far from the clearing as they could, "You scared them", she commented, amused.
Sarevok laughed, "So it seems. But I can't blame them: Illasera probably assured them this would be an easy fight and when they found out it was anything but that, they decided their lives were worth more than the gold she promised them". "Cowardly, spineless, inferior simians!", Edwin muttered, pouting, "I was just warming up and they have the gall to bail out of the fight! (Really, there's no professional pride anymore these days. Where did all the loyal and unquestioning underlings go?)".
"Considering how fast they're fleeing, I'd say they'll be in Neverwinter before nightfall", Imoen joked, then sobered as her gaze fell on the unconscious Elf, "What about her, sis?". Meg munched on her lower lip, "Well…I'm not sure. I don't want to kill her and besides, I want to know how she managed to find us: it's not common knowledge that we were in Suldanesselar, after all".
Anomen paled, "Do you think that Moira…", he asked, voice thick with fear and worry, but she shook her head. "No, that's unlikely: from what I can sense of her, Illasera is the type who always keeps a memento of her killings and I don't see Moira's ring anywhere on her", she said and he relaxed. "Thank Helm".
"I remember an old scroll I had acquired years ago, one about the powers the stronger Bhaalspawn are supposed to possess", Sarevok intervened, "If I'm not mistaken…". "You never are", the Ilmatari commented and he chuckled. "If you say so, Maggie. Anyway, the most powerful of us are able to sense the Taint in others and to follow its trail like a wolf would a scent. Illasera has a considerable amount of Taint in herself, so I suspect she used this ability to find us".
"Ah", she raised her eyebrows, intrigued, "Now that would be useful! How can I do that?". He shrugged apologetically, "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure how to explain it, Maggie: when I did that back in Baldur's Gate, I was controlled by the Taint, so my memories of those times are a bit hazy". I know it, little Goddess, the Slayer spoke up in her mind and she smiled at hearing its voice: after her experience in Bodhi's lair, she and the Slayer had formed a bond, some may even go so far as to call it a sort of odd friendship. "The Slayer has some useful information to share", she announced, I'm listening.
All you need to do is to close your eyes and open your mind and your spirit, the creature explained, You must spread your conscience outwards in small tendrils, like an octopus with its tentacles, scanning the land for the subtle scent of the Taint. You already did it subconsciously when you sensed Illasera's presence and with some time and effort, you will learn to do it at will. She nodded, Okay, I'll do my best, she replied, then she repeated its words to her companions.
Jaheira frowned, "Meg, do you really think it's wise to trust that…Thing? It would have gleefully slaughtered us all in Spellhold, given the chance", she said, lips twisting with disgust. "I know, but we have reached an agreement about that and now it's on our side". "So it says". Margaret Dawn sighed, "Look, if it could just take over and kill you, you'd be long dead. But one, I'm the one holding the reins here and two, it knows how much you all mean to me and that touching a single hair on your head would piss me off so bad that I would destroy it for good…".
"And destroy yourself in the process, I guess?", Imoen cut her off. "Well, yes, but that's a minor detail if your safety is concerned". She rolled her eyes, "Ilmatari…Bunch of hopeless nutjobs", she muttered, though the fond smile curving her lips took away the bite. "Coming from a follower of Mask that's quite a compliment", Meg replied good-naturedly, "So, now what do we…SHIT!", she yelled: while they were distracted, Illasera had regained her senses and seized the chance to stab her in the leg.
That was a huge mistake, though: before anyone could stop him, Sarevok impaled Illasera through the back of the neck with the Sword of Chaos, neatly chopping her head off. "Don't touch my sister, bitch", he growled, spitting on the dissolving corpse. Imoen sighed, "And there goes our chance to get something out of her", she muttered, but Anomen frowned. "She wouldn't have told us anything willingly and I don't think you intended to force her to talk, am I right?", he asked, his voice gaining an edge.
"Whoa, easy! I didn't mean to torture her at all, I just meant to use a mind-reading spell", she assured him. He was about to reply, when Illasera's corpse dissolved into golden dust and out of it came a burst of golden fire which slammed into the Painbearer's body, being absorbed into it. "What was that? Meg, are you okay?", Imoen asked, worried.
"I'm fine. That was her Taint", her sister explained, "The Slayer said that this would happen…Every time one of us falls, if there are other Spawn close enough, the Taint of the dead one goes to the strongest of those present". "Figures that I'd be left in the background as usual", the pink-haired thief pouted and kicked a stray pebble.
Edwin intervened while collecting the golden ashes of Illasera in a satchel, "Actually, you should be grateful not to be the strongest of the two: that makes Meg the primary target for the others, not to mention that she is at risk of becoming the heir to the Throne and being consumed by the Taint for Bhaal's rebirth", he said, "(Not that I would ever let that happen, of course: Kossuth would never accept the return of Bhaal and losing Meg would be...)", he cleared his throat and glared at the others, "Well, what are you simians staring at? We need to decide our next move, no? Or do you intend to waste all day here standing idly?".
Margaret Dawn shot him a fond look and quickly pecked him on the cheek, "You're right, we have no time to waste. And luckily, I got something out of Illasera even without mind-reading spells: she was part of a group called the Five, which gathers the strongest of our kind. I have no knowledge of the face or nature of the others, but I know their names at least: Yaga-Shura, Gromnir, Sendai, Abazigail and Balthazar. And there is a woman named Melissan who seems to be their puppet-master", she began, but suddenly she felt the air around herself tremble and everything went black.