Having left the others back at the Inn, Negrath shivered at the number of undead that probably watched him as he stood, waiting for their precious "mistress" to make her appearance.
"The city streets are so beautifully cold at night, don't you think?" a voice commented from behind him.
Spinning on his heel, his eyes immediately zeroing in on the shiningly white fangs of her amused grin, he got the parcel from his pack and, well aware that she would not be the one to relieve him of it, simply reached the hand holding it out behind him, toward the arch whose shadow had swallowed Viconia the previous night.
Disturbingly soon, the small, yet heavy package got lifted out of his hand. His eyes studying the surroundings a blink of an eye later…saw nothing. Turning back to Bodhi, he scowled;
"What now, bloodsucking vermin?" he queried, gripping the hilt of his sword with his left, to avoid drawing it with his right, which continuously opened and closed in subdued anger.
"Aran Linvail. I want to see him dead."
"…agreed. Anyone else whose candle I should snuff while I'm at it?"
"You will likely have to "take care" of a few of his friends to reach him…that will do. Now go. I will expect you back here in three days."
"You expect me to be able to slaughter half the Shadow Thieves…and get back to you in three days?"
"If you are as good as you can be, you will be here tomorrow…night, mind you." She pointed out, chuckling to herself.
"What a shock." He grumbled, pushing past her, a reflex originating in the "wrong" part of his mind causing his gauntleted hand to deliver a solid smack to her rear end as he headed for the district exit…next thing he knew, he was studying the stars, intense pain pulsing from at least three distinctly different places on his body…
Crouching at his side, the Vampire Queen picked up the offending hand, and casually broke a finger a word;
"Do. not. Do. That. Again."
Shifting to caress his cheek, she smiled enticingly;
"Are we clear on this, Bhaalspawn?"
He could only nod… As she continued to look down at him, he found no escape but to look back…
A drowsy moment later, he found himself seeing her retreat from her position at his side, to get off his bed, and perform the transformation that would remove any doubt as to what she was. Hanging in the air for a moment, the large bat seemed to laugh at his confusion, before joining up with two others which already hung by the window, and departed thus. Concluding that he would have had to have been in their power for quite a bit longer than he felt comfortable with, he sat up to meditate, diving into his own mind in the sole intent of dealing a severe trashing to, if not the essence itself, then at least a self-made image of it…
Feeling unusually refreshed, he changed into his fighting clothes, and proceed to train with his katanas….without remembering that he should have had 5 broken fingers, before he felt the slight twinge in them as he swung the second katana. A twinge he associated with unnaturally healed wounds…
"Thank you for that, at least, Bodhi." He mumbled, glad that he could still wield both his blades.
Wandering downstairs, he was welcomed with loud outbursts of joy, Jaheira instructing Keldorn to go get a round of ale and Minsc to go see if their breakfast weren't done soon..
Sitting down at what he knew they all considered his place, at the head of the groups table, Negrath were surprised to find Boo running over to sit at the table in front of him, chittering. Having Jaheira hand him a small amount of something green and plantlike he could not quite identify, he fed it to the animal, chuckling as it attacked the offered food with a ferocity that were comparable to Minsc, when he had something particularly good on his plate.
…
As they sat there with half-empty mugs and empty plates, they turned curious eyes to their leader, wondering what they were to do now… Negrath told them;
"We are to kill Aran Linvail. No worries though," he smiled wryly; "Bodhi has assured me that it can be done by tomorrow "if I am as good as I can be"."
"You do not say." Keldorn commented dryly.
"I do say." The Kensai shot back, before looking around, and coming to the conclusion that there were no one in his group that would be able to supply the necessary information.
Sighing, he said;
"It seems we have to "take care" of the fellow who first approached us about this…On the assumption that he is half as important as he gave the impression of being…"
"He is." Jaheira stated, expression signaling that she would say no more about it.
Thankful for small favors, Negrath smiled;
"Well, then it would be a public service to remove him, now, wouldn't it? And after that, I assume there will be only those who are idiots enough to protect this pile of horse-droppings."
Chuckling at the slightly surprised faces around the table, he continued;
"Jaheira, you try to pull some strings so that we can get an inkling of what we're up against, and Keldorn do the same…with your separate groups, obviously. Then we should at least get something useful to work with, no? Objections?"
The knight that appeared to have taken on the role as Jaheira's answer to Aerie's Minsc, looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded;
"I believe I should be able to find someone who could tell me a few things."
Only after such a while so as to make Negrath believe she hadn't heard him mention her name, Jaheira turned to him, discomfort evident in her expression, if not in her voice;
"Given a choice, I would not do this, Negrath. I…I do not think I would be very welcome there right now…"
Hoping his eyes conveyed how sorry he was to suggest it, he nodded in understanding;
"Then it will all rely on you and Helm's diviners, Keldorn…think they'll be up to it?"
"Not as long as you do not require all information. What do you have in mind?"
"How far above/below ground, possibly the number of floors below ground, and a general assumption of how many we'll be up against. That we'll need spells of a most damaging nature goes unsaid."
"Then why did you say it?" Minsc wondered, looking perplexed at the rodent sitting on his shoulder as it seemed to do a fair impression of laughter…
"I think that should be possible to figure out…we got coin?" Keldorn responded.
"We'll pay them once we're out on the other side." The Kensai answered casually.
"Of course. I'm sure they will understand that." The Paladin nodded, probably calculating how much of his family reserves he would need to pay for it all…
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Last modified on September 2, 2001
Copyright © 2001-2003 by Hans-Olav Bråtun. All rights reserved.
