Author note: last chapter of the year 2021, my dearest readers! I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays! ^ᴥ^
WARNING for a death scene that could be disturbing for the most sensitive readers. There is nothing graphic, but I put the warning all the same because of the circumstances of the death.
oxoxoxoxoxo
After a good rest, the party shrouded in invisibility approached the Portal, its voice resounding through the Pocket Plane. "You can use the Planar Door to reach many places. Where do you wish to go?". "I want to go to Yaga-Shura's campsite, as close to him as possible". As always, the portal swirled with silver mist, "The way is open". They passed through it and found themselves in the middle of an enormous camp crawling with both humans and Fire Giants and they looked around to try and find Yaga-Shura, but to no avail. The Ilmatari pressed her lips in irritation, the stupid Portal seemed to have messed up again!
What to do, what to do?!
She was still mulling over it, when she noticed that, among the Fire Giants, there were also females of the species. One in particular was dressed in a very skimpy outfit and combined with the way she swayed her hips and the excess of makeup and perfume on her, the blonde Bhaalspawn concluded that she was a courtesan and a cruel smirk curved her full lips, a plan forming in her mind, "See that Giantess?", she whispered to her companions, "Let's follow her. Chinchilla, keep your Mind Control spell ready".
They waited until the Giantess moved out of sight of everyone else and squatted behind a crate, then Meg gave the signal and Chinchilla cast his spell, the imposing female freezing and her eyes glazing over. "I await your command", she said in a robotic voice, "What do you order, master?". "Where is Yaga-Shura?". "In his tent, mistress, he is resting". "Alone?". "Yes, mistress". Margaret Dawn inwardly squealed, this was the perfect opportunity! "Go to him, tell him you want to help him relax, then…", she added the rest of her command, which caused all of her companions to stare at her in total astonishment. "Yes, mistress", the Giantess nodded and stood to leave.
"Let's follow her, guys and be silent, or they'll discover us". Everyone obeyed, some of them biting their tongue to suppress the urge to ask questions (Anomen, Jaheira, Minsc) or to make a very inappropriate joke (Daniel, Yoshimo, Imoen) and ran as fast as they could to keep up with their leader. After a few minutes, they reached a tent bigger than every other in the camp, decorated with plenty of multicoloured beads, gems and even small pieces of volcanic glass to make it look as flashy and gaudy as possible.
Edwin was sorely tempted to comment on the awful taste of it, his refined Thayan taste horribly offended by that tacky display, but he kept his mouth shut as he had been ordered to, contenting himself with a silent sneer as he slipped under the edge of the tent with his friends. The Painbearer gathered them in a corner and whispered her instructions while the Fire Giantess knelt to carry out her command and when Yaga-Shura finally lay on the carpet, moaning and panting, they got into position as planned.
Sarevok, Yoshimo and Toop stood on the left side of the Giant's neck; Gromnir, Minsc and Merlinious on the right side; Meg, Anomen, Jaheira and Imoen right beside the opening of their enemy's left ear; Daniel, Edwin, Aerie and Chinchilla next to the right ear. It was difficult as hell to stay focused with the lewd sounds filling the tent, but they waited and waited and waited for the signal and when Meg heard that Yaga-Shura was close to tipping over the edge, she shouted. "NOW!".
Without a second's hesitation, Sarevok's Sword of Chaos, Yoshimo's katana, Gromnir's scimitar, Minsc's halberd, Toop's short sword and Merlinious' dagger were plunged in the twin carotid arteries and slashed to the side to open long gashes in the flesh, while the spellcasters unleashed a volley of magic missiles, acid arrows, bursts of flames and several chain lightning into the Giant's ears, which destroyed the eardrums and proceeded straight into the brain.
Yaga-Shura screamed then, both for the pleasure and the agonizing pain, his body convulsing in a way that would give them nightmares for years to come as blood poured from his neck with such force that it knocked the six blade-carrying males off their feet and they would have been swept away by the flow if Daniel hadn't been quick to summon thick vines to pull them next to the rest of the party. It took only a handful of seconds for it to end and for the corpse to explode in a burst of golden dust, the golden flames of the Taint slamming into Meg knocking her to the ground, but at length, silence fell into the tent, the only sound being their ragged breathing.
"Holy. Crap", Daniel rasped out as he sagged down on the soft carpet with a sigh, "Sometimes you really scare me, sister". "Amen to that", Imoen agreed, her soft brown eyes were wide and terrified as she sat at his side, "Gods, that scream…I've never heard anything so bad", she added, shuddering and the druid wrapped an arm around her shoulders and ruffled her hair affectionately. "Hey, easy now, it will pass", he soothed her, though he too was quite rattled by what they had just done and witnessed.
The Painbearer, oddly enough, snorted and rolled her eyes with a sneer, "You're acting as if this was your first kill! What are you, experienced adventurers or weak spineless simians?", she spat. Edwin's lips twitched with amusement at hearing her use his phrase, a spark of pride warming his chest despite the situation, "We are adventurers, of course, but you can't deny that his death was quite disturbing (Still, he got to be happy for a long while before he died. There are worse ways to go, I guess)", he mused, shooting a glance at the Giantess who was still on her knees and swayed slightly back and forth as she awaited the next command, "What do we do with her?".
"Hm? Oh, yeah, I forgot about her", Meg moved to the bigger female, "Gather a handful of golden dust, then go and tell everyone that Yaga-Shura is dead. Show it to them, so they will know you speak the truth", she ordered. "Yes, mistress", the Giantess scooped up a fistful of dust and left, while Edwin was already busy filling one of his own leather pouches with the rest of it. "I want all of the mages to do the same as him", the Ilmatari added, pointing to the Thayan, "Yaga-Shura was one of the most powerful of our kind, so his ashes will no doubt empower your spells much more than vampire dust, or even Illasera's ashes ever could. I won't hear any protests, Imoen", she added sternly.
"Fine, fine", the pink-haired thief muttered sulkily as she took a leather pouch from her pack and filled it with as much dust as she could. Since Yaga-Shura was a Fire Giant, there was plenty of it left, actually more than they could carry, so Meg decided to put the leftovers in the black Bag of Holding she had stolen from Phaere's corpse before leaving the temple in Ust Natha. "Aerie, turn us invisible: we'll go and check on the citizens of Saradush, see if there are any survivors and help the wounded".
oxoxoxoxoxo
From what they gathered from eavesdropping while they walked unnoticed through the chaos that ensued in the camp after the news of Yaga-Shura's death spread, it turned out that he had not yet launched his final attack against the city, so secure in his victory that he had decided to wait another couple of days and let the poor people of Saradush stew in their terror while he indulged in wine and 'other comforts' in his camp. Apparently, his god-complex had gotten completely out of hand: the Fire Giant fully enjoyed having the power of life and death over others, claiming it was his birthright and that he and he alone would decide when to take the lives of everyone in Saradush, like the God of Murder he was.
Sarevok snorted with a mixture of contempt and amusement, "Our late brother had a few screws loose, it seems. Unless, of course, the Taint had taken over him like it did with me", he added, but Daniel shook his head. "Nah, nobody said a word about glowing eyes, so that wasn't the case: he was just plain old batshit crazy. I mean, he was raised by that old psycho witch inside a temple of Bhaal in ruin, for Mielikki's sake! You can't expect anyone to turn out sane after years of living like that", he replied. "You have a point there, brother", the Deathbringer agreed, feeling relieved by that reasoning and also by the fact that, with their leader dead, Yaga-Shura's army was disbanding and leaving the place for good.
The party reached the city borders and found out, not with much surprise, that the barrier placed by Amelyssan had disappeared. "She probably removed it so that Yaga-Shura would have an easier time destroying the city and everyone inside it", Aerie commented and in her tone there was a subtle undercurrent of anger at the knowledge that someone could be so heartless to condemn thousands of innocents to slaughter without hesitation, "Do you think she is still around?". Gromnir sniffed the air, then shook his head, "I can't smell her nearby, Gromnir would recognize her sickly sweet perfume anywhere", he said. "And if she planned for the city to fall, it would be foolish of her to remain inside it", Yoshimo added as they made their way through the streets.
"Okay, let's spilt up: Anomen, Immy, Merlinious and Gromnir, take the southern part of the city. Aerie, Toop, Minsc, Boo and Daniel, to the north. Jae, Chinchilla and Yoshimo to the west. Edwin, Sarry, you come with me to the east", Meg ordered, "Take care of the injured, help those who can't walk and take them to the nearest safe place to rest. Share your water, food and healing potions with them if they need it, we can always go back to the Pocket Plane to get more if we have to anyway". "Aye aye, captain", Imoen grinned, her mood brightening now that she was away from the murder scene and had the chance to make herself useful by helping good people.
The adventurers spent the whole day offering their assistance to the citizens, exhausting not only their healing spells, but also their strength by trying to repair some of the most damaged houses and when night fell, they returned to the Pocket Plane to rest. "Sweet Ilmater, that was a long day!", the Painbearer sighed, flopping down on a chair at the dining table.
"It was worth it, though", Jaheira said with a smile, "We made much good today, restoring the balance after all the destruction caused by Yaga-Shura. It will take time for the city to heal completely, but they are strong people: they will rebuild what was lost soon enough, like the people of Suldanesselar. Khalid would be proud of what we have accomplished". "He is, mom, he is", Meg replied with a smile of her own, "I met him in a dream and he is at peace in Arvandor now, watching over us". The druidess' breath hitched and her eyes filled with unshed tears, "You…You met him?".
"I did, yes: Lord Ilmater arranged a meeting for me with him and…Other people from our past", she said evasively, "Dad is happy now and guess what? He doesn't even stutter anymore! He said that when his soul passed through the veil, he was freed of that impediment". "That…That is good", Jaheira's voice cracked and her eyes shone with unshed tears, but her face shone with happiness at the news, "Thank you, child, thank you so much. I feel better now". "I'm glad to hear it, mom", the Painbearer then turned to Anomen, "By the way, Ilmater also told me that Helm is quite proud of you. I forgot to tell you sooner, sorry, but we were a bit busy so it kind of slipped my mind". He gaped, shocked, "My…My lord is…Proud of me?", he echoed, disbelieving and she nodded.
"Yes. Why so surprised? You have been an amazing servant for Him so far and you know it". The young man blinked repeatedly, shaking his head slowly in amazement, "I just…Helm Himself is proud of me, it sounds like a dream. I have never hoped this could happen and yet…It did". His wife kissed his cheek tenderly, "You should have more faith in yourself, beloved. Because we do, all of us, including your own God".
He chuckled under his breath, "I suppose you have a point, my lady. Thank you". "You're welcome, though the actual merit is not mine, but yours". The gruesome death of the Fire Giant was forgotten by this point, washed away by the joy of what Meg had recounted and by the knowledge that they had managed to save the city from a horrible fate and helped its citizens as much as they could. But before they could even touch the food, there was a flash of light and they were pushed to the left side of the room, all save the Ilmatari, as a barrier flared to life.