"This is terrible! This is outrageous! What are you going to do?! What are you going to do?!"
It was quite obvious that Aerie was quickly becoming hysterical. Jasper felt a tingling in his hands and was hard pressed to resist the temptation to administer a right to her jaw.
"There has been quite a bit of bloodshed already," he said, grasping hold of his hands firmly in case they took it upon themselves to act on their own. "A little more blood wouldn't hurt then, now would it?"
At this, Aerie's eyes widened in utter horror.
"How can you say that?" she demanded, her entire body nearly shaking with anger. "How can you say that after all the killings and destruction that have gone on because of this?!"
Again, Jasper had to force his hands to stay where they were. Decking his lover wasn't going to solve this newly arisen problem.
"You'll be seeing a lot more of it before this is over," he said through clenched teeth, not bothering to even face the furious elf.
"I'm not going to stand for this, Jasper. It's just too much! I won't ha-" Aerie's protest was interrupted as Jasper whirled around and with a clamorous smack!, he slapped her stingingly across the face.
"For Gods' sake, woman, Get a hold of yourself!" Jasper snapped. "Look at you! Look at what you're suggesting! Haven't I got trouble enough?!" He stood there, glaring at the wounded elf, waiting for her to burst into tears. Minutes that seemed like hours ticked away, nothing but silence coming from the couple. Finally, Aerie spoke up.
"It's that damned Kakrin, isn't it? He's the one making you like this," she said, turning her head reveal her tear filled brilliant blue eyes. "How can you stand him? What loyalty do you feel for him?"
Jasper's expression softened. He turned away and stared at the wall. His hand balled into a fist, then relaxed.
"He needs me…" he said softly. Aerie put her hands on his shoulders, resting her head against his.
"He needs you?" she asked, her voice brimming with tears. "I need you…"
Jasper felt a lump starting to form in his throat. He started to stutter a reply, but she turned around and left the room. Jasper stared at the door, and then sat down, resting his forehead on his hands.
"Mother Tiamat, what have I done?" he asked no one, a single tear falling down his face.
***
"Jasper, indeed, what have you done?" Kakrin whispered into his scrying globe. "Now there's no telling what she might do," he said, his mouth breaking into an evil grin. Soon that smile broke into a light chuckle. Feeling in a good mood, he commanded the scrying bowl to view another unfortunate victim who's very existence rested in his merciless hands. His smile faded abruptly as he stared into the bowl before him.
"What?"
The image in front of him displayed an empty prison cell, it's door completely destroyed with massive amounts of crumbling debris everywhere. Kakrin commanded the bowl to another cell. The next image was even more disconcerting. It was a picture a large chamber completely empty, with dead guards strewn left and right as though tossed about like rag dolls. Kakrin's mood began dampening further as cell after empty cell flashed before him. Only the berserker and the gnome remained where they should've been.
"Damn!" he hissed, slamming his armored fist on the table so hard that the contents atop it jiggled.
"Guards!" he cried.
Almost immediately, the door opened and in stepped two shimmering adamantite golems. They were short, slim and in the shape of a drow. Each wore a tight leather glove on the right hand and carried a simple wooden staff in the same hand. Simultaneously, they knelt down and looked up.
"What is thy will?" the one on the right asked.
Kakrin stood up so quickly that his chair fell over with a loud smack. Shaking with fury, he slowly lifted his arm and pointed his index finger at the scene-shifting scrying bowl.
"How can you imbeciles let this happen?!" he demanded, his eyes blistering with rage. "They could have escaped the prison by now!"
The golem on the left stood up.
"How may we be of assistance, master?" it asked. Kakrin was angry enough to messily destroy his incompetent creations.
"Find them you morons! Find them and stop them!" he said. The golems nodded and turned to leave. Kakrin was already on his way back to his scrying bowl.
"Jasper," he said into the bowl.
There was no reply.
"Jasper!" he said more urgently.
Still nothing.
"Jasper!" he nearly screamed.
What in the Nine Hells do you want? came the bitter reply.
"They've escaped!"
Yeah? What's your point?
Kakrin began to find Jasper's tone more than a little annoying, let alone disrespectful. However, more important matters were pressing him.
"Do something about it!"
Oh? And what exactly do you want me to do about it?
"Anything you can, the forces of this facility are at your disposal. I want them found. Alive, preferably, but you know the ones that can be destroyed.
Anything else?
Kakrin thought a moment, and then…
"Yes. Send a golem to bring Quilik's bitch up here. She's still under our control."
Whatever suits your pleasure…
Kakrin gave an annoyed grunt, but decided not to think twice about it. There were more important things at hand now.
***
At almost precisely the same time Kakrin had given this order, Quilik and Lyselle rounded a bend in one of the very many corridors in Quindin'Yarr.
"I thought you said you knew where you were going," Quilik said in a huff, stopping to catch his breath.
"I do know where we're going," she said, her eyes darting around, looking for a way out. Quilik gave her an annoyed glance.
"You just don't know how to get there," he said sarcastically. Lyselle gave him a quick glare.
"Yes I do! Just be patient while I remember. It's not like I can cast Clairvoyance down here…" she said, trying hard to remember which direction to go.
"I remember now! It's this way!" she said triumphantly. Immediately, she started running again.
"C'mon! We're almost there!" she said. Quilik shook his head and caught up to Lyselle. Their breath became extremely heavy, but the kept on running…
…right into Anomen and Ched'Nassad.
"Anomen!" Lyselle cried. Anomen gave a startled "OOF!" and fell over as his long lost lover tackled him in an embrace.
"Lyselle," he said happily, though in a very confused voice. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving you, what do you think?" she asked, pulling away from Anomen and helping to his feet.
"I thought you were saving me," Quilik whined sarcastically. Ched shot him an annoyed glance.
"You are taking this far too casually, Child of Bhaal," he said, his gaze cold and hard, sending shivers down Quilik's back.
"Which one? Who are you anyway?" Quilik asked. Ched glared at him for a moment before answering.
"I shall inform you of my identity later. But this extensive amount of useless conversation is pointless, let alone dangerous. I'm surprised that they have not already been alerted of our presence and found us," he said.
Ironically, the moment he said this, the wall to the left of the exploded outward as two elf-sized golems charged through, separating the group. The golems immediately turned back to back and faced the combatants. Lyselle and Quilik to the right, whereas Ched and Anomen took stances to the left. Time seemed to freeze for a second, and then as if signaled by something, every combatant attacked.
The golem on the left drew back one mighty fist and thrust it into Anomen's face, sending the young knight sprawling head over heels. The golem was immediately countered by a slash from Ched's brilliant longsword. The sword bit deep into the golem's left shoulder, but the golem seemed unfazed by the attack as it whirled around and faced it's new opponent. Anomen recovered quickly and began casting a powerful Shield of the Archon spell to better protect him against their attackers. Instinctively, he reached for his mace, but his hand grabbed empty air. A cruel reminder from reality that he'd been disarmed and that he was now weaponless, save for his clerical spells. And those wouldn't be much use against these magic resistant creatures.
Quilik was faring much better, as he launched himself through the air and began grappling with the monstrous being. It was an odd spectacle to watch, the giant golem and the comparatively tiny half-elf in a contest of strength, but with magical aid, Quilik was soon forcing the golem back at a near impossible angle. The golem let go of Quilik's hands and hefted the struggling half-elf into the air in attempts to throw him. Quilik thought quickly and touched one of the sigla that was on the back of his hand. It flared red briefly as the golem sent him flying through the air, then he stopped in mid-flight and charged down the golem in an aerial attack.
Meanwhile, Ched and Lyselle faced off against the second magical construct. Ched drove in with an unmatched speed, his sword darting in and out at the golem. However, if the golem was being hurt by any of this, he didn't show it. Bring it's staff up, it blocked Ched's next attack. It spun the staff once, freeing Ched's sword from his grasp. The brilliant sword rose into the air and fell again, clattering on the floor.
Lyselle ducked down and dove at the shining sword, gripping it by the hilt. Immediately, she cried out with a mixture of surprise and pain as she let go of the sword. She stared dumbfounded at her scorched fingers, then drew her staff and ran at the golem, deciding to let Ched get his sword back on his own time.
Anomen gritted his teeth as he weaved his hands in the intricate motions of the spell, then chanted the final word of command. Immediately, he felt strengthened as the effects of the spell washed over him. The golem fighting Quilik immediately turned it's head as Anomen finished his casting. It's lifeless black eyes stared right at him, and it's soulless black mouth opened up in a silent roar of triumph. It's arm lifted quickly, the staff it grasped poised directly at Anomen's heart.
Calling upon all his strength, both innate and magic, he leapt to the side as one of the staff's charges was activated. Fire streamed down the length of the staff, and a massive explosion echoed throughout the hallway. As the dust cleared, Anomen looked up to survey the carnage. Things seemed relatively quiet, and Anomen was just about to get up, until the same golem obliged him by grabbing him by his neck.
Hefting the knight up into the air, the golem looked straight at him and a low rumble escaped it's mouth.
"Anomen!" Lyselle cried in a very distressed tone. She thought quickly about what to do, then thought about something that never really occurred to her.
Most forms of adamantite disintegrated when hit by sunlight. She knew that there was no way to get a ray of sun down this far into the earth, but just maybe…yes, it should work. Quickly, she began weaving her hands in the intricate design of the Arcane, attempting a Sunfire spell. Ched looked over and realized what she was doing.
"No! Don't!" he cried, his voice full of urgency and desperation. Too late, the spell was completed. The flaming projectile roared towards it's target. There was a split second delay as it touched the golem, and then all hell broke loose.
The spell reflected off of the golem's shimmering skin and separated into dozens of separate pieces, each slamming into the walls surrounding them. The earth rocked and shook and none of the companions were able to keep their footing. The floor beneath them soon began crumbling, and the roar of running water could be heard below. Ched grabbed Lyselle by the waist and threw her to safety, then jumped out of the way. Anomen and Quilik were not so fortunate as they scrambled to safety. However, the vanishing floor was faster than they were, and Quilik soon hung by his arm with Anomen clutching to his leg. He grunted with pain and felt his grip slipping.
"Anomen!" Lyselle yelled, reaching her hand out vainly to help him. Quilik snuck a glance down past Anomen's horrified face and saw a very long drop down to a long chain of rushing water moving at a deadly speed. Anomen gasped loudly, and let go of Quilik's leg.
"No!" Quilik and Lyselle screamed in unison. Quilik quickly reached his hand down and grabbed Anomen's. His arms started shaking visibly as he literally hung on to the edge by his fingers. Suddenly, white hot pain shot through his arm as one of the forgotten golems stabbed a dagger down into his hand. Quilik cried out in pain and let go.