Chapter 15
Maugrim and Aribeth began their attack on Neverwinter not long after leaving Luskan. Because of Aribeth, Maugrim now knew near to every secret about the city, every weakness. He exploited them to the full stretch of his power. Before much time had passed, he and his forces were just outside the city center.
Donnia had been able to find the Words of Power, ancient relics from the Creator Race without much difficulty. She had at least beat Maugrim to those.
With the help of Haedraline, a Word Slave, Donnia sought her next goal, the Source Stone, buried beneath the city of Neverwinter. She had to enter the stone and defeat Morag, Queen of the Old Ones.
"D'you think Aribeth is nearby?" Tomi asked Donnia. He had been careful not to mention Aribeth since her betrayal. He had seen the look on his partner's face when she left with Maugrim, but now he felt he had a right to know.
Donnia felt the sharp twinge in her chest at the mention of Aribeth. "I would imagine she is very close. She would want to watch the city die." She said nothing more about it.
Donnia and Tomi carefully worked their way through the war-torn city. Donnia tried very hard not to look at the faces of the dead; she feared she would recognize them.
Tomi carefully watched Donnia. He knew that she had lived in Neverwinter before getting caught up with finding the cure. Through their adventures together he had asked her a lot about her childhood, at least before her mother died. She wouldn't talk of it to him, just said that she died. He could tell it still bothered her, but no matter how hard he tried she just would not talk about it.
At last they came up to what was obviously Aribeth and Maugrim's stronghold. It was guarded heavily by two stone golems. Donnia had been able to learn their weakness while going through the city. As they spotted Donnia and Tomi, Donnia quickly ran up behind one and poured a magical potion over the creature's back, rendering it stationery. She quickly did they same to the other and she and Tomi quickly dismantled the creatures before the potion wore off.
Without checking to see if the door was locked or trapped, Donnia bashed it in. She knew that Aribeth was inside. She also knew that Aribeth was waiting for her.
Inside the building there were no other guards to slow their progress. They quickly moved through the halls looking for Aribeth. Donnia was beginning to wonder if maybe they had been tricked by the golems when she heard Aribeth's laugh.
Upon hearing it, Donnia stopped in her tracks. It sounded so much like how Aribeth used to laugh, but something was different. It was cold and hard and not caused by a something humorous.
Donnia rounded the last corner in time to see Aribeth laughing over the headless corpse of some poor soul she had found in the streets. It was obvious, even from the great distance between the body and Donnia that the body had been tortured mercilessly with a whip and had been severely burned several times.
Donnia stepped into the room and Aribeth turned to her with a small strange smile on her face. "At last, teacher and student meet."
"Aribeth, why are you doing this? You don't want to do this. Come back with me and Lord Nasher will forgive you, Neverwinter will forgive you." Donnia knew it to be a lie, but she did not want to fight her.
"We spent too much time together for you to think you can lie to me. I know all of your tells. For one, you cannot lie. Even when you try you look them dead in the eye and I can see your lie there. Your eyes are pleading, but not with the truth."
"I don't want to fight you. Was nothing that we fought for together worth anything? Did nothing we accomplish mean anything to you?"
Aribeth stopped for a moment, "It did once. I wanted to share the rest of my life with Fenthick in Neverwinter. But Neverwinter did not want to share Fenthick with me. We were to be married ten days after the Waterdavian Creatures escaped. We pushed it back until the cure could be found. When it had been, we had begun making tentative plans again when I found myself kneeling at his feet dangling from the end of a rope."
"Lady Aribeth, please come back with me. The city needs you."
"No, the city needed me once, and then it betrayed me. I won't go back. And you won't go forward."
"Lady Aribeth, I must defeat Maugrim. I have to stop Morag from ruling the world again. She cannot be allowed to gain anymore power than she already has."
"Then you must kill me. I bet you have been wanting to do this for a long time. I bet you have been dreaming of the day you would be strong enough to defeat me. Do you think you can defeat me, who knows your power as well as my own?"
Donnia closed her eyes for only a brief moment, allowing a small tear to escape. She drew her sword and waited for Aribeth to attack her.
Aribeth wasted no time in her attack. In between her attacks with her sword she cast personal healing spells, making the attack drag on for what seemed an eternity.
Donnia knew what she was doing. She had seen her do this before. She would cast those healing spells, allowing herself more strength in her attack while her opponent would quickly wear out. She could not allow herself to be defeated; if she died, the world went with her.
Just as Donnia was about to strike her again, Aribeth swung out with a short sword. It tore through Donnia's armor and deeply pierced the skin beneath. Grot'yah's armor had proven indestructible until now.
Donnia stood shocked for a moment, before faltering with her injury. Tomi was worried for her, but saw the almost imperceptible wink she gave him.
Donnia fell to the floor, grasping her side where the blood fell from her armor. Aribeth went over to her, standing above her. "Weakling, I thought I trained you better than that. Always look out for the sneak..."
Before Aribeth could finish her sentence Donnia had removed a dagger from her belt and jammed into Aribeth's neck.
Aribeth grabbed for the dagger, but before she could remove it or cast a healing spell, she fell to the ground, having bled to death.
Donnia kneeled over Aribeth's body and wept for her, for what she had done, why she had done it, and the city that was dying for it outside.
Tomi said nothing, but stood to the side, not wanting to interfere. He was almost truly shocked. This was the first time he had seen such emotions from her. He knew her to be a caring person and compassionate, but he had never before seen her cry.
Donnia wiped her eyes and stood carefully, her side burning with each breath. She took a healing potion from her pack and drank it. The pain did not go away. Donnia carefully removed her armor to look at the wound. It was still gaping wide open, but it did not bleed anymore. She tried applying a healing kit to it directly, but the wound remained much as it had. She took some bits of cloth from her pack and stuck them to the wound to prevent any further wounding that she could prevent.
She looked at the armor plate on the ground before her. The once beautiful silver was dull, the magic gone. Donnia could barely begin to imagine what Aribeth had done to the sword to allow it to do such damage.
"You have to find some new armor. You can't go on without it," Tomi said to her, looking over the damaged breastplate.
"I don't have anything else. I don't have a choice," Donnia replied. She did not like the idea of continuing on without much protection, but she did not see any alternative.
Before leaving, Donnia took Aribeth's sword and placed it into her pack. It did not weigh much, so it did not hamper her movements, but she knew it was there; a reminder of how things used to be.
They had not ventured far from Aribeth's body before meeting Maugrim.
Maugrim gave Donnia a strange look, "Lose something?"
"I don't think so."
He grinned slightly, "Whatever you say. Either way, I see that you have defeated Aribeth. Not a critical loss, but I'm sure it will be felt by someone."
Donnia would not let her emotions be involved, "You just used her to plan your attack on the city." It was more of an accusation than a question.
"Of course. What other use would she have to me?"
"I see." Donnia fought off the urge to ram her sword into him then, but knew she needed some information first. "Do you know who sent the dreams to her then?"
Maugrim seemed to be entertained by their current conversation and had yet to make a move in attack, "I do. I would assume it would be the same one who sent them to me. That would be Morag, the future queen of the Frozen North. But it won't be the Frozen North much longer."
"She uses you the same way you used Aribeth. You will be disposed of when your need is gone."
Maugrim merely shrugged, "You think I don't know this? But I will not allow her to kill me. I will keep the Source Stone with me at all times, if she tries to kill me, I will destroy it, which will end her existence. But I grow tired of this prattle. Shall we get on with it then?"
Donnia made no reply. While he had been discussing his plan to stay alive, she had quickly and carefully removed her dagger from her belt so as not to draw attention to her motions. Just as he finished speaking she threw at him, knowing it would strike with deadly accuracy.
Maugrim looked down at his chest. He placed his hand around the dagger and tried to remove it, but the blood spilling from the wound had slickened the handle and he could not grasp it. He pulled his hand back and stared at the blood staining it. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words escaped as he fell to his knees and onto his chest.
Donnia rolled his body over to remove the blade from his heart, wiped it off and continued down into the lower levels of the building.
Maugrim and Aribeth began their attack on Neverwinter not long after leaving Luskan. Because of Aribeth, Maugrim now knew near to every secret about the city, every weakness. He exploited them to the full stretch of his power. Before much time had passed, he and his forces were just outside the city center.
Donnia had been able to find the Words of Power, ancient relics from the Creator Race without much difficulty. She had at least beat Maugrim to those.
With the help of Haedraline, a Word Slave, Donnia sought her next goal, the Source Stone, buried beneath the city of Neverwinter. She had to enter the stone and defeat Morag, Queen of the Old Ones.
"D'you think Aribeth is nearby?" Tomi asked Donnia. He had been careful not to mention Aribeth since her betrayal. He had seen the look on his partner's face when she left with Maugrim, but now he felt he had a right to know.
Donnia felt the sharp twinge in her chest at the mention of Aribeth. "I would imagine she is very close. She would want to watch the city die." She said nothing more about it.
Donnia and Tomi carefully worked their way through the war-torn city. Donnia tried very hard not to look at the faces of the dead; she feared she would recognize them.
Tomi carefully watched Donnia. He knew that she had lived in Neverwinter before getting caught up with finding the cure. Through their adventures together he had asked her a lot about her childhood, at least before her mother died. She wouldn't talk of it to him, just said that she died. He could tell it still bothered her, but no matter how hard he tried she just would not talk about it.
At last they came up to what was obviously Aribeth and Maugrim's stronghold. It was guarded heavily by two stone golems. Donnia had been able to learn their weakness while going through the city. As they spotted Donnia and Tomi, Donnia quickly ran up behind one and poured a magical potion over the creature's back, rendering it stationery. She quickly did they same to the other and she and Tomi quickly dismantled the creatures before the potion wore off.
Without checking to see if the door was locked or trapped, Donnia bashed it in. She knew that Aribeth was inside. She also knew that Aribeth was waiting for her.
Inside the building there were no other guards to slow their progress. They quickly moved through the halls looking for Aribeth. Donnia was beginning to wonder if maybe they had been tricked by the golems when she heard Aribeth's laugh.
Upon hearing it, Donnia stopped in her tracks. It sounded so much like how Aribeth used to laugh, but something was different. It was cold and hard and not caused by a something humorous.
Donnia rounded the last corner in time to see Aribeth laughing over the headless corpse of some poor soul she had found in the streets. It was obvious, even from the great distance between the body and Donnia that the body had been tortured mercilessly with a whip and had been severely burned several times.
Donnia stepped into the room and Aribeth turned to her with a small strange smile on her face. "At last, teacher and student meet."
"Aribeth, why are you doing this? You don't want to do this. Come back with me and Lord Nasher will forgive you, Neverwinter will forgive you." Donnia knew it to be a lie, but she did not want to fight her.
"We spent too much time together for you to think you can lie to me. I know all of your tells. For one, you cannot lie. Even when you try you look them dead in the eye and I can see your lie there. Your eyes are pleading, but not with the truth."
"I don't want to fight you. Was nothing that we fought for together worth anything? Did nothing we accomplish mean anything to you?"
Aribeth stopped for a moment, "It did once. I wanted to share the rest of my life with Fenthick in Neverwinter. But Neverwinter did not want to share Fenthick with me. We were to be married ten days after the Waterdavian Creatures escaped. We pushed it back until the cure could be found. When it had been, we had begun making tentative plans again when I found myself kneeling at his feet dangling from the end of a rope."
"Lady Aribeth, please come back with me. The city needs you."
"No, the city needed me once, and then it betrayed me. I won't go back. And you won't go forward."
"Lady Aribeth, I must defeat Maugrim. I have to stop Morag from ruling the world again. She cannot be allowed to gain anymore power than she already has."
"Then you must kill me. I bet you have been wanting to do this for a long time. I bet you have been dreaming of the day you would be strong enough to defeat me. Do you think you can defeat me, who knows your power as well as my own?"
Donnia closed her eyes for only a brief moment, allowing a small tear to escape. She drew her sword and waited for Aribeth to attack her.
Aribeth wasted no time in her attack. In between her attacks with her sword she cast personal healing spells, making the attack drag on for what seemed an eternity.
Donnia knew what she was doing. She had seen her do this before. She would cast those healing spells, allowing herself more strength in her attack while her opponent would quickly wear out. She could not allow herself to be defeated; if she died, the world went with her.
Just as Donnia was about to strike her again, Aribeth swung out with a short sword. It tore through Donnia's armor and deeply pierced the skin beneath. Grot'yah's armor had proven indestructible until now.
Donnia stood shocked for a moment, before faltering with her injury. Tomi was worried for her, but saw the almost imperceptible wink she gave him.
Donnia fell to the floor, grasping her side where the blood fell from her armor. Aribeth went over to her, standing above her. "Weakling, I thought I trained you better than that. Always look out for the sneak..."
Before Aribeth could finish her sentence Donnia had removed a dagger from her belt and jammed into Aribeth's neck.
Aribeth grabbed for the dagger, but before she could remove it or cast a healing spell, she fell to the ground, having bled to death.
Donnia kneeled over Aribeth's body and wept for her, for what she had done, why she had done it, and the city that was dying for it outside.
Tomi said nothing, but stood to the side, not wanting to interfere. He was almost truly shocked. This was the first time he had seen such emotions from her. He knew her to be a caring person and compassionate, but he had never before seen her cry.
Donnia wiped her eyes and stood carefully, her side burning with each breath. She took a healing potion from her pack and drank it. The pain did not go away. Donnia carefully removed her armor to look at the wound. It was still gaping wide open, but it did not bleed anymore. She tried applying a healing kit to it directly, but the wound remained much as it had. She took some bits of cloth from her pack and stuck them to the wound to prevent any further wounding that she could prevent.
She looked at the armor plate on the ground before her. The once beautiful silver was dull, the magic gone. Donnia could barely begin to imagine what Aribeth had done to the sword to allow it to do such damage.
"You have to find some new armor. You can't go on without it," Tomi said to her, looking over the damaged breastplate.
"I don't have anything else. I don't have a choice," Donnia replied. She did not like the idea of continuing on without much protection, but she did not see any alternative.
Before leaving, Donnia took Aribeth's sword and placed it into her pack. It did not weigh much, so it did not hamper her movements, but she knew it was there; a reminder of how things used to be.
They had not ventured far from Aribeth's body before meeting Maugrim.
Maugrim gave Donnia a strange look, "Lose something?"
"I don't think so."
He grinned slightly, "Whatever you say. Either way, I see that you have defeated Aribeth. Not a critical loss, but I'm sure it will be felt by someone."
Donnia would not let her emotions be involved, "You just used her to plan your attack on the city." It was more of an accusation than a question.
"Of course. What other use would she have to me?"
"I see." Donnia fought off the urge to ram her sword into him then, but knew she needed some information first. "Do you know who sent the dreams to her then?"
Maugrim seemed to be entertained by their current conversation and had yet to make a move in attack, "I do. I would assume it would be the same one who sent them to me. That would be Morag, the future queen of the Frozen North. But it won't be the Frozen North much longer."
"She uses you the same way you used Aribeth. You will be disposed of when your need is gone."
Maugrim merely shrugged, "You think I don't know this? But I will not allow her to kill me. I will keep the Source Stone with me at all times, if she tries to kill me, I will destroy it, which will end her existence. But I grow tired of this prattle. Shall we get on with it then?"
Donnia made no reply. While he had been discussing his plan to stay alive, she had quickly and carefully removed her dagger from her belt so as not to draw attention to her motions. Just as he finished speaking she threw at him, knowing it would strike with deadly accuracy.
Maugrim looked down at his chest. He placed his hand around the dagger and tried to remove it, but the blood spilling from the wound had slickened the handle and he could not grasp it. He pulled his hand back and stared at the blood staining it. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words escaped as he fell to his knees and onto his chest.
Donnia rolled his body over to remove the blade from his heart, wiped it off and continued down into the lower levels of the building.