Gathering at the foot of the door, they all watched in reverent silence as the first Tear were put to an eye. As it connected to the seemingly solid orb, it appeared to be drawn in, melting to cover the eye like water…moments later, it closed, and the Bhaalspawn felt his skin crawl as though a thousand ants moved beneath it…
The feeling rapidly subsiding, he had a strange, elated feeling of being invincible. Requesting one of Imoen's knives, he carefully led the blade across his arm…nothing. Scratching the tip across the skin, he saw nothing more than he would had he led a blunt object in the same path. Calling up his innate healing magics, he held them ready, stabbing the dagger at his thigh…puncturing his pantleg, it glanced off, as though striking metal, creating a long tear in the soft fabric.
Handing the knife back to Imoen, he chuckled at the stunned looks they all gave him;
"It seems the world has decided to pay me back for all I've lost. About time, too!"
With that, he turned back to the door, wondering what the next tear would get him…
The Second eye closing, he felt slightly odd…as though the new "gift" were not wholly physical… Turning to the others, he gave a slight smile;
"Someone having a magic missile ready?"
By way of belated response, several small, glowing orbs shot toward him from an Avariel that clearly felt uncomfortable sending them. As they all came within his "personal space", they seemed to fade somewhat…but still stung quite a bit, reinforcing his understanding of why mages found them hard to ignore…
The Third Tear literally flew from his hands as he directed the tip upward, floating up to cover the middle eye that gazed down upon them. As the massive lids drew together, he felt like a ton had been lifted off his shoulders. Going through a few quick moves with his blades, he found that his dodging where quite the bit faster than he remembered…either his training had finally paid off, or it was thanks to the Tear…he found he didn't much care either way.
The Fourth smooth rock smashed into the next eye, closing the lids before they could even blink. As the lids of the great orb crashed together, That odd not-quite-physical-feeling returned, stronger than before…and Negrath wondered how this would be tested…
Turning to Minsc, he asked the ranger to get the flail they had found (and assembled) in the De'Arnise Keep. As the large man moved to hand him the weapon, the Kensai shook his head, gesturing instead for the Berserker to swing at him.
Defiantly, his friend dropped the imposing weapon to the ground;
"Minsc will not do so. Boo finds it unwise to risk such damage, even if it can be healed."
"Then I will…if you are sure of this?" Keldorn stated, stepping forward.
At the Bhaalspawn's nod, the Knight picked up the famous flail, and all three heads slammed across Negrath's offered back. Stumbling, the Soulless One fell to his knees under the blow, soon twitching in the cramps of poison.
As one, Viconia and Jaheira hurried to kneel beside him, after a momentary glance at each other sharing the duties of Heal and Neutralize Poison. Crawling to his feet, with some help from his "opponent", the Kensai smiled shakily, the memory still fresh as it was;
"Well, it sure didn't help my resistance to poison..."
"What about the other heads?" Viconia wanted to know, knowing something knew had been in the Heal-spell's path.
"Well, they were far from as strong in their individual effect…that must be it, right? Fire and Ice?"
"So it would seem." Keldorn nodded, handing the weapon back to Minsc.
Then, they all turned silent, as all eyes went to the final eye, and over to the door…
Jaheira brandishing her Staff of the Woodlands, Minsc plucking Frostreaver from his pack and Negrath making sure both his heavily enchanted katanas could survive the battle ahead, Imoen and Aerie momentarily covered them in the mists of Haste and Resist Fear… Viconia making sure no illusions would disturb their aim, by way of TrueSight, those who could called upon their Armor of Faith, before looking around at the others…
"This is it, then…" Negrath mumbled, almost to himself.
"Why do I get the feeling none of you think we'll make it?" Viconia wondered, her glance at the Kensai telling him that she shared in the group's doubt.
"We will make it. There can be no other option." Minsc boasted, carefully controlled anger tightening the hands on his newly acquired weapon.
Jaheira nodded;
"If I die here, it will be after the bastard that separated me from Khalid!"
"You do not think he performed the kill as well?" Aerie wanted to know, momentary surprise in her eyes.
"I do not know…I only know he cannot have captured us alone…at least I do not remember seeing him before there were bars between us, and he no longer had any interest in the two of us." She concluded, gesturing at the Berserker.
"I think…I think you can safely assume he caused it…that is the only thing that matters, is it not?" Imoen queried.
Sneering, the Druid crouched, as though ready to open the doors by brute force;
"That it is."
"OK, here it goes..:" Negrath stated, the hand holding the final Tear shivering slightly.
Wishing he had Jaheira's solid rage or Minsc's stoic confidence to back him up, Negrath lifted the final tear to the final eye, made all the more imposing by its singularity, and watched as the two hellish items cooperated to complete the sequence necessary to open the massive doors blocking their progress.
He barely had time to feel some of the darkened areas of his mind become clear again, when the enormous barrier swung open, the draft throwing them all off their feet. Not knowing what went on before they again stood facing the exiled elf, they warily kept back wondering how he would find the situation…
With a contemptuous sneer, their common enemy proceeded to talk..;
"So, we are to battle one last time…no more hiding for either of us…"
"You are the only one to have been hiding in this relationship, Irenicus!" Jaheira growled, slamming her staff into the ground, more than eager to go at his throat.
Not even caring to look at her, the mage continued;
"I will enjoy destroying you, Negrath. To die in this place is to cease to exist."
Gathering what faith he could, the Kensai argued his point of view with an almost casual air;
"We have already beaten you once, Irenicus. What makes you think this will be any different?"
Almost chuckling, his opponent replied;
"I have as much chance as you, Negrath. I have fought my own demons here in this Hell, and I have learned that it it's not to be feared. As horrific as this place is, it only mirrors the soul we now share. Shrink from it if you will, but I have grown to appreciate what it can offer.
Now defend yourself! One of us is not truly dead, and may be restored if the other is left here to rot. I will be free with what I have taken!"
Sighing, Negrath drew his katanas;
"Do what you must, and I will do the same."
Gesturing casually, the mad mage intoned;
"You will not be so calm, when I doom you to non-existence!"
Muttering "right back at you" under his breath, the Kensai almost jumped as Aerie called from behind him, fury fuelling courage he had not though her capable of. He were grateful though, as her defiance helped his own confidence immeasurably;
"I came to Hell to help my friend! Who helps you, Irenicus? Demons? You are going to die, alone, in Hell, and you Know it!"
Stepping forward, Viconia almost smiled derisively;
"The darkness has already taken you, foolish one, yet you refuse to close your eyes!"
Hefting her heavily enchanted warhammer on one shoulder and her Skullcrusher on the other, she grinned maliciously;
"Let us help you onwards to your final rest!" hefting her weapons high, she called; "For Shar!"
Hot on her heels of the Drow's statement, Jaheira snarled, just barely able to hold back;
"No more platitudes, Irenicus. You have taken much from All of us!"
Hefting her magical staff like she wanted nothing more than to drive it down his throat, she exclaimed;
"Now you die your Final Death!"
Nodding sagely, Keldorn stated, calm as anything;
"I will see you dead before I let you touch a hair on my friends. You will not leave this place in any kind of life, Jon Irenicus. You can consider that a promise."
Shaking his head tiredly, the groups largest member rumbled, gazing at the blue sheen of his axe before lifting his gaze to the mage, along with his rodent;
"I grow tired of shouting battlecries when fighting this mage. Boo will finish his eyeballs once and for all, so that he will not rise again!"
Ignoring the fact that it was an axe he lifted, almost conversationally, he introduced;
"Evil, meet my sword. Sword, MEET EVIL!"
With a finality to her words Negrath found he had always hoped she would never even know of, Imoen concluded;
"This is the last stand, here in Hell. We Fall or We Win."
………
In seemingly no time at all, the Exile had called into existence four hideous beasts to his assistance, while covering himself in a web of protection thick and strong enough to hide him from view…
While the rest of the group spread out to deal with the various threats, Viconia spent precious moments Dispelling most of his all-important shields, and in doing so, quenched the fire that would otherwise have burned the hands swinging the blades the exiled elf found himself ineffectually dodging.
Aerie, having charged headfirst into the closest of the malicious creatures he had called forth, were almost too late to realize close combat were not for her. In two swipes, the immense claws of her opponent had reduced her to little more than a shivering child at its feet. Its only warning a vengeful call for Shar, it soon found itself waving its legs in the air, trying to figure out wherefrom the attack had come…
"I have not educated the brat for you to kill her, cursed thing! Stand and meet your fate!"
Understanding naught but the fact that it was challenged, the large, demonic beast rose to its full, imposing height…only to emit a continuous shriek as its legs were smashed together with enough force to cut them off at the knees… Idly patting the girdle of Frost Giant Strength, glad to have it's aid, The Drow then proceeded to work the head of her opponent to a pulp…
Elsewhere, Negrath suddenly found himself chopping away at a Slayer that did naught but look at him. Distastefully kicking the false foe on its hindquarters, he looked around for his true opponent…and found the shimmering globe of inefficient protection moving in dodging patterns between the Berserker and the Druid, evidently doing his best to make them harm each other instead. Deciding that adding to the attackers would only worsen matters, he turned to help Keldorn defeat the beast that for some reason seemed to have taken a liking to the flesh of the older man.
Imoen, firing fire arrows every which way an enemy could be spotted, now and again casting the odd offensive spell in the glowing orb's direction, suddenly found herself facing another of the unengaged beasts, its quick-footed attacks making her own, usually superior agility next to useless.
"MINSC!"
Turning to glance in her direction, Minsc had had enough;
"LAY OFF OF HER!"
Dancing aside, Imoen could only watch as the berserk ranger performed nothing short of a summary execution on the surprised beast. By the time the frost damage from the axe kicked in, the creature lay spread across the stone floor as a morbid puzzle for the insane.
As they became aware of chanting from where the ranger had left Jaheira, the druid called out, evidently enraged beyond control;
"Could someone shut this moss-eater up!"
Turning to look, they found her fending off the last of the great beasts, all the while taking wild swings at Irenicus that somehow managed to incorporate his avoidance of her charges into his casting, and thereby were able to prepare a spell…
Hoping it would be magical enough to penetrate what was left of his shields, Imoen pulled her poison-enchanted dagger from it's hilt, using all her skill in a desperate effort to hit the mage… As the blade flew through the shimmering globe to "bite" off an earlobe, two katanas, a holy longblade and the Frostreaver bit into the back of the lone beast. Apparently it drew the line at such treatment, for it promptly vanished from the battlefield.
As they all turned their attention to Irenicus…they saw nothing but smoke.
"CURSE HIS HIDE!" Jaheira swore, spinning around in search of the globe she knew could not be hidden.
"THERE!"
Storming off, she quickly disappeared in the darkness…
Pondering why he hadn't noticed it being that thick before, Negrath led the others after her. Soon they saw it too, the large, glowing orb that signified protection they had already proved were ineffectual.
But as they approached, they found their druid slamming her staff vainly into the bright barrier, tears of despair flowing down her face;
"Not again! NOT AGAIN!"
"Not again, indeed," was Viconia's ominous statement, as she started her chant…
Irenicus, up to that point appearing almost amused from within his orb of survival, glanced over at the Drow as she spoke, recognized the spell instantly, and, in one tiny, infinitely precious moment, wore an expression of genuine fear…they all knew what would happen, were he to lose the protection of his shields now… His hands flying through motions that were unfamiliar to the lot of them, he made a desperate attempt to silence the bothersome cleric permanently.
Precious moments before Viconia would have her spell in hand, a cloud of otherworldly energy flew from the shimmering globe, making a beeline for the Drow…and met instead a furious Bhaalspawn, whose survival rate, Jon knew, were infinitely improved by the fact that he had no soul to remove…
The terminal energy attempted to simply pass the blocking fleshling by, but Negrath would have none of that. Closing his eyes tightly, he reached within himself, calling to the essence within:
"Lord of Murder, are you? Then stop this murder from occurring!"
With a roaring laughter, the Other Will extended ethereal tendrils, snatching the cloud from the air, just as it had encircled him. In response, the lethal force contained within it rebelled, turning on the flesh of its captor…
If a cloud of magic destruction could be confused, this one was…where was its target? Where was its food? Instead It was consumed, feeding the Essence of Negrath's True Father…Bhaal, The Lord of Murder.
Closed eyes opening, a gaze of eternal superiority centered on the exiled mage before him, shields fading by at a nudge of his will. Sensing that something special were about to happen, the others pulled back, Jaheira and Minsc looking on in fear of loosing their right to the final strike.
"Jon Irenicus…" the Kensai intoned, stepping close, the "opponent" immobilized by his gaze.
"You have tortured at least half of those gathered here, attempted to "instruct" Imoen in arts she never had any interest in learning…
You have killed companions, husbands and dear friends…for what? For Nothing. Nothing to me, Nothing to you. Nothing to any of us here.
Sarevok was a nobler man than you will ever be, Jon Irenicus, and he intended to bathe the land in blood. You are pathetic beyond belief, cunning one.
Pathetic enough not to realize that you signed your own death certificate the first time you turned your thoughts to whom you could use to "get" us.
On the other hand, I have understood it so that you would never have done what you did, where it not for your sister…consider this a chance to get back at her; she no doubt waits where you are to go…now."
After a moment of silence, the two with the most to avenge set to work reducing the paralyzed mage to frozen bits of bloody bone, Imoen taking Negrath's place in front of their foe, simply staring him in the face as he slowly crumbled to the floor.
As the spark of terrified, pain-wrought life began to fade from them, she nimbly acquired two fire arrows from her quiver, stabbing them as far through his eyes as she could;
"We Win."
An ocean of unknown energy flowing through the room, centering on the Bhaalspawn, Negrath faded from the realm…
…only to "awaken" in a room full of his friends, safe and healthy, in Suldanesselar.
Within the second hour of awakening, he stood with his companions before the Elven Queen, who smiled warmly at them, an air of gentle joy filling the great hall;
"Ah, I see that you have finally come to. I almost did not believe it, when the priestesses told me that your body was showing signs of life once again. We resurrected who we could, but it seemed nothing would draw your spirit back. We were about to give up when you began to stir this morning."
Looking around them, in wonder at the glorious room, they all turned back as Negrath began to speak;
"How…how long was I…"
"Dead?" Ellesime finished for him, and he nodded.
"Only a couple of days, no more. However you managed to find your way back, it is good that you have done so. You have performed a great service for Suldanesselar; you saved the Tree of Life and myself, ending Irenicus threat. To loose you would have been tragic."
Casually shrugging, Negrath gave a thin smile at the comment. His life being threatened was nothing new to him.
"I have planned a ceremony," the queen continued; "to reward you and to show our gratitude for your actions…you are a hero to the elves. Perhaps even a legend in the making…"
Seeing his discomfort at the thought, she hurriedly added; "But enough of that, for the moment. You will need to rest and regain your strength. I will send a priestess to awaken you when it is time."
An unknown amount of time later, they were called to the hall once more, and found it filled to bursting with elves, cheerfully saluting them.
Leading his group, the Bhaalspawn could only imagine how Viconia took to the experience of being joyfully hailed by the same people that had been the main enemy of her kind since the origin of her people. As they gathered at the slight elevation at the other end of the room, he glanced at her face, but found nothing he did not expect to find.
Wondering whether the others had been revived early enough before him so as to get used to the idea, he moved to stand beside Ellesime, Imoen gestured into place at her other side, and the others lined up in front, below the elevation, as the queen began to speak;
"Those of you who have survived the return of the Exile to Suldanesselar know me, your queen…but only some of you know the hero beside me, that was most instrumental in saving our city, and the Tree of Life."
Turning to look at Negrath, she continued, almost reverently; "Such selfless acts almost resulted in the loss of your life, and perhaps much more than that." Turning back to the crowd, she lifted her voice to carry throughout the hall;
"But these deeds were not performed alone…Suldanesselar also extends its gratitude to those who have traveled with you, and fought beside you to help save our city."
Placing comforting hands on the shoulders of the siblings at her sides, she proclaimed;
"There is no reward adequate enough for the ones who has done so much. Let us offer, then, the eternal thanks of our people…and an amulet of the Seldarine to remind you forever that you are welcome here amongst us."
Lowering her head momentarily, she continued; "As for the man that whom we once knew as Joneleth, I can only say that…he died, long ago. He lives in my memory still. To the man he became…the Exile, Irenicus,…he that performed atrocities on you, the Tree and his former people…to him I can only send my prayer that he finds the peace in death what he never found in life."
Turning to Negrath, she offered; "I feel I must…apologize…on his behalf. For what he put you and your friends through. For his madness we stripped Joneleth of his elven immortality and exiled him…only to create Irenicus instead. I cannot help but feel that we are partly responsible. It is something…that I shall have to ponder on."
Idly noticing that Viconia nodded, somewhat ironically, and that Jaheira gave a wry smile, he looked out a nearby window, wondering where he would go next… As though having read his mind, Ellesime concluded her speech;
"But now I imagine that you are eager to resume your travels, once again…know that we will look forward to your return, should you desire to."
Knowing a cue when they heard it, the adventurers led on out, to the streets of a city that had been prepared for joyous celebration since they first had shown signs of not having followed Irenicus all the way…
Sound penetrating the thick blanket of his mind, Jon Irenicus stirred on an unfamiliar surface… Opening his eyes, he looked around confusedly for a moment, before standing up, taking in the surreal surroundings with a feeling of helplessness he had not known since…well, since never.
A sound erupting behind him, he whirled around,…only to be faced with the fact that between him and an endless ocean of liquid fire, there were naught but a steep cliffside, diving into the vast sea of flames from a few feet away…
Momentarily distracted by the strange white flecks falling from the sky in thinly spread clouds, he heard a sound from behind,…one that definitively had nothing to do with fire.
Spinning on his heel, he cast…a fizzling steam of blue smoke.
Looking at his hand in confusion, he became aware of being watched…
And watched he was; Slayers literally covered the rocky plain that had moments before been his only escape route.
Leering, giggling, dancing ever closer, they seemed to be far freer in their behavior than what he had seen of their kind so far…without that being any hindrance for them to have the same goal here as they no doubt had while they lived…foreseen that they were not "clean" Slayers…?
As the first one charged, he decided such ponderings could wait. Tossing his attacker over the edge of the cliff, he found that perhaps he should have followed it…;now they all surged forward, not caring in the least that the same could happen to them…
While he wasn't sure whether the fire below could harm them, he was uncomfortably sure it could "harm" HIM…and he had no intention of having his suspicions confirmed…
Only too bad he did not have a choice…
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Last modified on September 2, 2001
Copyright © 2001-2003 by Hans-Olav Bråtun. All rights reserved.
