Finale

***

In the city on Sundanessellar on the Prime Material Plane the Blades of Honor awoke. They blinked in the intensely bright light streaming through the high vaulted windows above them. An army of elves clad in the garb of healers and herbalist hovered over them, but parted and stood aside as an elven woman dressed in long, flowing robes of gold, wearing a golden crown, approached.

"I am pleased to see you awake. I did not believe it at first when the priests said you were showing signs of life once more. I thought you doomed." She looked over her shoulder to something none of the Blades could quite see. "I fear the Lady Trueblade may not be so fortunate."

And then, beyond the elven Queen's cloak, the Blades saw the figure of their leader lying still upon a stone bier, her face as white as new fallen snow, and her eyes closed. Her chest did not rise or fall beneath her neatly folded hands, nor did she show any other sign of life. For all intents and purposes, Brynn Trueblade was dead.

Imoen let out a cry of grief and tried to go to her sister's side, but she was still weak and the healers held her back. "Brynn..." she choked.

The others reacted differently, but their fear and grief were no less real. There was no way that Brynn was dead, truly and forever dead. She had to be alive yet, or else wouldn't she have turned to dust as Sarevok had when he had died?

"How long have we been here?" Jaheira asked, her throat tight and her eyes fixed on the unmoving form of her charge.

"Several hours," the Queen replied gently. "You began to revive an hour ago, but Lady Trueblade has not stirred since you were all brought here."

"We will wait for her," Anomen said harshly. Several sets of elven eyes turned to him with disbelief at his tone. "Brynn... Brynn will recover just as we have. I am sure of it. I stake my life on it."

"Yes," Minsc said, echoing the young knight's sentiment, "Little Brynn just had to finish slaying the wizard."

Optimism ran high throughout their ranks, buoyed by the inability to believe their commander and friend lost forever.

***

"So we meet again for the last time in Hell," Irenicus said coolly as he and Brynn circled one another. "I must admit you have given me more trouble than I would have expected, but nevertheless, I will be the victor here."

"Just like you were the victor in Sundanessellar?" Brynn countered. She kept the points of her katanas poised at the level of Irenicus' chest, and kept her eyes locked on his. "Just like you would have been the victor at Spellhold had you not fled?"

Irenicus didn't answer.

"You will fall here, Irenicus, and the world won't be troubled by your ugly face anymore," Brynn continued with a snarl. "You will pay for everything you have done to me!" She shouted. As quick as lightening the muscles in her legs flexed and then released, and she sprang forward.

In the same instant Irenicus did the nigh-unthinkable and transformed. He became the Slayer, his hands claw-like, his face hideously distorted, and his whole body deformed. He met Brynn's blades with his bare forearms and thrust them aside. Not even a scratch marred his pebbly, reddish-brown hide.

"We shall see," Irenicus growled, his voice distorted as well. It sounded as if he was speaking with all the voices of all the demons of the Nine Hells, and it sent a shiver of fear up Brynn's spine.

Brynn leapt back and set herself in a defensive stance, her blades whirring around in front of her so quickly that they seemed to be a wall of steel. "I suppose we shall," she replied grimly. She stilled her blades and Irenicus charged at her, slashing with all ten of his razor sharp claws. Brynn ducked beneath his attacks and came up behind him, but Irenicus whirled about and attacked again, forcing Brynn to duck out of his way to the side.

"Keep it up, Brynn Trueblade," Irenicus said, his voice a snarl. "Let us see how long you can avoid me!"

"Let's see how long you can avoid me!" Brynn replied. As Irenicus came toward her she crouched down low and then sprang upward, tucked her knees to her chest and somersaulted through the air to land directly behind Irenicus. Mentally she gave thanks to Master Touga that part of her training when she was young had been in the art of gymnastics and acrobatics, and also gave thanks that she had not let those skills lapse in the years since her training with her Kensai master had ended. Again Irenicus turned to face her, but Brynn was one step ahead of him, and her twin blades caught Irenicus across the torsos opening two gashes, one across his ribs, and the other across his abdomen. Irenicus snarled and hissed, showing dagger-like teeth, and retaliated, gouging five paralleled rows in Brynn's upper chest and left shoulder.

It would have been so easy to give into her rage then and become a monster like Irenicus had, but Brynn was adamant. She had said never again and she had meant it with every ounce of her being. So the bloody duel continued, and for each blow that Brynn struck, Irenicus struck one of his own. Frustrated with herself and the fact that the battle was not progressing very well, Brynn broke off and out a few yards of space between herself and Irenicus, hoping that with a little more planning she could break the cycle of hit and be hit that had thus far dominated the fight.

Irenicus laughed that demonic, terrible laugh his new form had graced him with, and quickly moved to close the gap. Brynn dodged backward, widening the space between them again, her eyes on Irenicus the whole time, watching his every move, observing the slightest shifts in stance and balance as he moved forward. She remembered how the Slayer body did not feel awkward to her, even though it was so drastically different from her natural form, which meant that Irenicus probably did not suffer from being ungainly in his new body either. He was matching her blow for blow, a sure sign that he was indeed master of his body.

Brynn paused. Or maybe not. Irenicus was a mage, more used to weaving spells than blades, and certainly not used to attacking hand-to-hand. Maybe somewhere in his past he had learned to use a sword without cutting his own arm off, but that didn't make him a capable warrior. On the other hand Brynn had practically grown up with her katanas in her hands. She knew intimately the rhythms of a battle and could move with them like the a dancer moves to music.

And then there was the fact that they were evenly matched. If Irenicus was really as comfortable in his new body as Brynn had been the one time she had transformed he would have beaten her already. Brynn had no doubts that she had not gotten so much better with her twin blades in the short time since she had last fought Irenicus, and even then they had been pretty well even, and Brynn had eight other people on her side! With the boost of power Irenicus had gotten from becoming the Slayer Brynn had no doubt that if he were perfectly attuned to his beastly form she would be mincemeat.

Of course Brynn had not taken into account those weird rippling waves of energy that had come over her as she placed each Tear of Bhaal. She did not know what they meant, did not know that they had endowed her with supernatural qualities of defense and offense.

Again claw and blade came together, and razor's edge to razor's edge, became locked. Irenicus brought up his other talon-tipped hand and Brynn met that as well. Each combatant worked hard to keep the other from over powering them and ending the stalemate until it was most advantageous. Brynn braced herself against the stone floor of the cavern, and heard the scratching sounds made by Irenicus' clawed feet as they dug into the stone, gouging deep furrows in it. Their two gazes met, blue-gray and flecked with gold to unholy incarnadine. Brynn gazed into those terrible eyes and felt power rising within her, fueled by determination to defeat this monster that had caused her so much misery.

She roared, and her ki gathered within her and around her, cloaking her in a aura of blue-white light, and limning her blades. Her muscles bulged briefly with the influx of power and with one mighty push she sheared through the claws that blocked her blades, and the sharp steel of her katanas bit into Irenicus' deformed, mottled flesh. The intersection where her two blades crossed formed a V shape, and the vertex sliced into the front of Ireniucs' throat. The katanas went deep, and a eyeblink's time later Brynn swept her blades outward, extending her arms to her sides.

Irenicus' head was cut from his body, and it flew several feet before it fell to the ground with a wet thud. The body of the mage shifted back to its natural form, and erupted with blue-white flame. Above it a sphere of energy began to form, and Brynn watched, her arms still out at her sides, and a ray of energy lanced out from it, and struck her in the chest. Waves of power buffeted her and filled her, and it seemed as if she would burst. Then the flood calmed, and Brynn felt full; felt complete.

She let out a ragged breath, and noticed how quiet her mind was. The voice of her rage was gone, silenced by the return of her soul. She dropped her arms to her sides and closed her eyes. Something tugged at her, and then she felt herself being transported away from the foul darkness of the cavern.

***

The light blinded her at first, and the smell of clean, fresh air filled her nose and mouth, smelling like the forest and the heady scent of orchids and lilacs. Wincing in the brightness, Brynn opened her eyes, and saw the familiar faces of her friends and companions as they hovered over her. She saw the elven queen, Ellesime as well, her eyes calm and her expression welcoming.

"I am glad to see you have awakened," Ellesime said cordially. "When your companions awoke and you did not we feared the worst."

Brynn sat up and took a deep breath of the cool sweet air. She gave Ellesime a lopsided smile. With her soul back all the emotion, all the pain, she had not felt after having it stripped from her in Spellhold came back, and after not feeling for so long it seemed twice as powerful as before. It was all she could do not to curl up and weep. "I think, Your Highness," she said carefully, her voice wavering as she spoke, "that I have already endured the worst this world and the next have to offer. So long as Irenicus is gone forever I can be..." she paused, uncertain of the word she wanted to use. She would not be happy. She did not think she could ever have true happiness without Yoshimo beside her, but she would live. "I think I will be content," she finished.

Ellesime nodded knowingly. "I believe I understand," she said gently. "I will leave you now so that you may spend time with you friends and rest. Tomorrow there will be a ceremony held in your honor. I wish you well, Brynn Trueblade."

"And I you, Your Highness," Brynn replied.

Ellesime glided out of the room, shutting the door behind her quietly.

There was a moment of utter silence, and then the questions began.

"Are you all right, my lady?" Anomen asked, looking at her with concern.

"How do you feel, big sister?" Imoen wanted to know, sitting down on the bench-like bed.

"I'm fine," Brynn said, "I feel... fine I suppose."

"I take it you won?" Jaheira inquired blandly.

Brynn nodded. "Irenicus won't even be bothering the demons of the Nine Hells, I think," she said. "Well, maybe he will be," she amended, "but not for long."

"So this is the end? Boo is sad to think that the adventure is over," Minsc commented. "Oh, the tales they will tell of you and Minsc and Boo!"

Brynn smiled at him. "It's not over," she said.

Haer'Dalis broke into a mischievous grin. "I take it, my raven, that there are adventures you intend to have yet? Evils you intend to smite and all of that?"

"If you all still want to smite them with me," she replied.

Not one of the Blades indicated otherwise, roaring there approval of the course Brynn had set. The did not know where they would be going, but go they would, and they would do it together.

The End

______________________________________________________________________________

A/N

Yes, this is the end, but only of this story, and there are many tales yet untold. I hope to go back and revise Rebirth so that any lingering questions can be answered (such as what happed post ToB) and after that I have a sequel planned that will, I hope, be very entertaining. On the personal front I've finished my exams, and I graduate in ten days (yea!) after that I will hopefully have more time to write and do fun stuff like that. Sorry for the delay in posting this last chapter, but exams had to come first after all.

Thanks to all you reviewers!

Sincerely,

The Blue Sorceress