***
Imprisoned
***
As soon as Anomen had healed her ankle Brynn shooed him out of her room at the Five Flagons Inn and pulled a clean tunic out of her satchel. She changed and spent the rest of her half an hour divesting her katanas of the gunk they had accumulated. Just before going back down to the playhouse she used a short leather thong to tie her long hair back into a braid.
Feeling much better now that she was clean and healed, Brynn walked down the stairs to the common room with a spring in her step. That, however, was quick to change. Seated around one of the round wooden tables near the bar were Minsc, Aerie and Nalia looking a little discomfited and for good reason. Jaheira had Yoshimo by the front of his leather jerkin and Anomen stood nearby trying to prevent a fight from breaking out.
"Tell me where she is!" Jaheira growled, giving Yoshimo a stern glare.
Yoshimo pried Jaheira's hands off and stood his ground. "Brynn..."
"Is right here," Brynn said, speaking up from the stairs. She gave a weary sigh and walked toward them. "I asked you not to follow me," she said to Jaheira, "but then I suppose I shouldn't have expected you do as I asked this time, you never have before."
"Only when you asked for idiocy!" Jaheira retorted. "You cannot possibly..."
"I don't have time for this right now Jaheira," Brynn said, "I'm expected downstairs to help some people out. However, if you think you are going to wait for me here and discuss the matter with me, think again. I won't reconsider. Go back to the keep and be safe." She turned her back on her longtime friend and went quickly down the stairs.
Raelis Shai, Haer'Dalis and the rest of the acting troupe were on the stage, probably preparing the spell that would open the planar door. The sound of more footsteps on the stairs behind her cause Brynn to whirl around, ready to engage in a shouting match with Jaheira if need be, but it was only Yoshimo coming down the stairs, Anomen trailing after him with a bewildered look on his face. Hopefully Jaheira and the others were to busy trying to sort things out up stairs to follow.
"Go ahead, Raelis, I'm ready whenever you are," Brynn said, walking up and climbing onto the stage. She unsheathed her katanas. "Whatever comes out of your portal isn't going to get very far.
Yoshimo leapt up onto the stage too, but Anomen hesitated.
"Would you like some assistance?" Anomen asked.
"Sure, lend a hand if you want," Brynn said, not really caring what he did, she was too annoyed to care about anything but the stubborn persistence of her friends and the task at hand. "Just be ready."
Raelis and two of her fellow actors began to chant, their words indecipherable gibberish to Brynn's ears, and soon after, from one of the stage doors, came an imp. The imp managed a little impish cackle and got as far as halfway to the people gathered on the stage before Brynn winged it and spiked it to the stage floor. Then another creature came from the planar gate, a shadow, all but its glowing red eyes hazy and indistinct, but it too fell before it got far. The third creature to emerge was made all of fire, a resident of the elemental planes. This last did cause some trouble before it fell leaving only a heap of dimly glowing embers that soon faded and turned to dust.
It seemed as though Raelis' spell was almost done, and the actors who were not busy came toward the doorway. Haer'Dalis hung back, as if for some reason he was hesitant to leave. Brynn didn't spend too much time wondering about the bard's strange behavior, instead she kept her eyes glue to the portal, looking for any other creatures that might try to slip through.
"The portal is almost open!" Raelis said at last, her voice a faint whisper of what it had been before. The spell must have taken a lot out of her.
Suddenly a half dozen of armor clad men and women appeared, swords and other weapons drawn.
"We've caught you at last, Raelis Shai," said one of the men, and before Brynn could react each one of the newcomers grabbed hold of one of Raelis' troupe and pulled them into the portal.
Brynn swore. Those must have been the bounty hunters Raelis had told her about. The delay Brynn had caused had cost the actors their freedom. "C'mon," she called to Yoshimo, "we've got to go after them."
"What?" Yoshimo shouted back, hurrying over to her. "Our job is done here we need not..."
Brynn didn't hear the rest of what he had to say. She stepped quickly into the portal and for several long, ugly, stomach wrenching seconds, she was thrown and buffeted around like a rag doll. It was one of the most unpleasant sensations she had ever experienced, but soon enough she felt her feet touch on solid ground.
She looked around and felt a sudden shock go through her at the sight of her new surroundings. She stood in a circular room, with a high, domed ceiling. In the center of the room was a deep shaft, and the walls of walls of which were covered with sharp spikes. This was not a place one came to on purpose she suspected, not for prolonged visits anyway.
Yoshimo landed beside her and then Anomen, who looked so utterly bewildered it was almost cute. What had he followed for anyway? And then four more people appeared, Jaheira, Minsc, Aerie and Nalia, and if Anomen looked bewildered the latter four looked in a far worse state. Brynn didn't care. They shouldn't have followed. Only Yoshimo was supposed to follow.
"What are you doing here?" Brynn demanded. "Stop following me around!"
"Ah... Brynn," Yoshimo said, directing her attention to the right. "We seem to have company." He was right, not far away stood the six bounty hunters, but there was no sign of Haer'Dalis and the other actors.
Brynn narrowed her eyes and tried to look fierce, hoping to avoid a battle and cow the bounty hunters instead. "I demand to know where my friends are," she growled.
"You followed us here?" demanded the man who had spoken back at the playhouse. "Are you stupid?"
Brynn snarled. "You ought to know that I always kill the insulting ones first, scum, now tell me where my friends are!"
As an answer the bounty hunter drew his sword and attacked.
Brynn parried his blade with one of her own and shouted, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get them!"
With that the battle began. Swords flashed, and spells flared, but Brynn's attention was focused solely on her opponent. Filled with the battle, the pair of them danced the most intimate dance of all, that of death. Brynn knew that one slip up could mean her blood spilling on the strange floor of this even stranger place, and she could feel in her bones that her opponent knew it too. Finally, the bounty hunter's guard slipped and Brynn felt her blade glide into his flesh, ripping his organs like wet paper. The man gave a small cry, and fell, sliding off of her katana and leaving his blood behind on the shining steel.
Brynn's focus broke for a moment as she searched out a new target, but a moment it seemed, was all that was needed. She didn't know she had been hit until she felt the blood pouring down her shirt front, and only then did she look to her right shoulder and see the barbed tip of an arrow peeking out from her skin. Then the pain hit her. Like a tidal wave it washed away everything else and she sank to her knees without a sound. A fire burned in her shoulder, white hot and furious. She had been wounded before, but always she had escaped the serious wounds through luck or skill. She had never felt pain like this before. Dimly she heard someone call her name before blackness overtook her.
***
Yoshimo saw her go down, and he felt something tear loose inside of him. "Brynn!" he shouted, trying to look her way and fight at the same time. A surge of emotion worked its pushed through him, and with unthinkable speed he spitted his opponent, a yuan ti mage of some sort, and pushed through the battle. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Anomen finish of his own opponent and head toward Brynn as well, but Yoshimo didn't care. All that mattered was that Brynn was on the ground with an arrow through her shoulder, and the one who had shot her, a human woman, was taking aim to finish her off. He was going to make sure that the archer never shot another arrow again.
He ran the last few paces that separated himself and Brynn's attacker and with the back of his katana knocked the bow from her hands. The woman seemed surprised, caught just as she had caught Brynn, but she quickly went to her side belt and pulled a small dagger from its sheath. She attacked, but Yoshimo parried her blade, pulled his own dagger from his belt, and drove it into her chest just above the collar bone. She made a horrible gurgling noise and Yoshimo pushed her aside.
He knelt down next to Brynn and lifted her to check her wound. He felt her hot blood wet his hands. She was bleeding badly, bleeding to death. Supporting her in the crook of her arm he tried to staunch the blood with his free hand, but it clearly wasn't doing any good.
Anomen managed to make it to where Brynn had fallen and looked her over quickly. "We have to get the arrow out before I can heal her," he said gravely.
Yoshimo never thought he would ever be glad to see Anomen, but he was. They worked together and snapped the point off the arrow where it came through Brynn's shoulder then pulled the shaft out. A gout of blood followed the arrow, but Anomen was quick and while Yoshimo held Brynn, he began to chant a healing spell.
Soon Brynn stirred, and the blood stopped running out of her wound. Her eyes opened, as blue as a cloudless summer sky. Yoshimo felt her gaze pierce straight into his soul, and for a moment all the world but her eyes vanished.
"What...?" Brynn began faintly, breaking the spell she had unwittingly cast.
"You were injured, my lady," Anomen said.
Brynn's eyes darted toward the human priest, "Mm," she grunted, "an arrow... I remember now." Yoshimo felt all of her muscles go suddenly taut as he held her. "Is everyone else all right?"
Anomen glanced quickly around the room, "Only minor scrapes. Fear not, your companions fair well," he said.
"The battle is over then?" Brynn asked. "We got them all?"
"Aye, we did," Anomen confirmed, giving the room another glance just to make sure. "Here, my lady, let me help you up." He offered a Brynn a hand.
"Don't trouble yourself, young Anomen," Yoshimo said crisply. He stood up with Brynn still in his arms then set her on her feet. One hand he kept on her shoulder though, and he could feel her leaning heavily into the extra support he provided. She seemed to be almost unaware of her surroundings.
She turned to him a little unsteadily and gasped. "Yoshimo, you're hurt!"
Yoshimo frowned. "I am?" he asked pausing for a moment to figure out if any part of him hurt. As far as he could tell he was all right.
"You're covered in blood!" Brynn exclaimed. She put a hand on his chest. "Sit down, Anomen can heal you."
"Brynn, that's your blood, not mine," Yoshimo told her gently. She really was dazed.
Brynn blushed. "Oh," she murmured. Her face suddenly went pale and she wobbled a little. Just in time to prevent a fall she caught herself, but Yoshimo could see her struggling to stay upright. "I'm feeling a little dizzy," she said, as if admitting what was obviously a simple truth pained her more than the wound that had been inflicted.
"Maybe another healing spell will set you rights," Anomen offered. He took a step toward her and gave her his usual charming smile.
"Save your magic," Jaheira said, coming up from behind Yoshimo and stepping between him and Brynn, "I will take care of her."
Brynn started to say something but her words fizzled. As his view of the situation was dominated by Jaheira's back Yoshimo could only guess that what took the words out of Brynn's mouth was a glare from the druid.
Jaheira continued, "This never would have happened if you had not run off, Brynn. I have seen you make unwise decisions before, but this was perhaps the most idiotic thing you have ever done."
This time Brynn did not falter and it was Jaheira who made the unwise decision. "Because I left you behind?" she demanded. Her anger overcame her weakness and gave her voice a strength it hadn't had a moment before. "I don't need you or anyone else to baby-sit me, I'm nearly twenty-five years old. Don't underestimate me, Jaheira." She pushed Jaheira aside and said to Yoshimo, "Come on we've got to find Raelis and Haer'Dalis."
Yoshimo nodded, suppressing a concerned frown. As stubborn as she was Yoshimo knew there was no way Brynn was going to let Anomen or anyone else heal her until she got out of Jaheira's sight. The healing she had already received had stopped her bleeding and maybe had even restored a little of her strength, but she had still lost so much blood that Yoshimo worried that she might pass out if she didn't get more healing before facing another opponent. He hated the idea, but Anomen had to come with them if Brynn was to have any chance of making it out of the planar prison alive.
"What about the priest?" he asked. "Do you want him to come with us?"
"So long as he pulls his weight," Brynn replied shortly. "No more talk, come on and let's go!"
To Be Continued
***