Light Wrapped in Darkness 11
Magicman: Okay, I'm re-uploading this chapter to correct a mistake. Thank you for pointing out that it's spelled Valas, not Jalas. I never got that far in the game and only figured it out from some website, so I probably missed the first letter : P. However, I feel that I must disagree with Suicide Minion. I read nothing in Aerie's dialogues to deride her intelligence, only an intense emotional factor. And being intelligent does not necessarily accompany experience or even a tendency to speak ones deeper thoughts. I haven't been able to finish Jaheira's romance quest, but I did finish Aerie's, and what I kept getting from her was a shy sense of inexperience. Jaheira's experiences in the world are what make her cool, just as Aerie's learning of the world is what makes her cool. In my opinion, of course.
Folken: People are always picking on my poor Aerie! It doesn't make sense!
Taurus: You're right th- Hey! I like Aerie!
Folken: Oh you can't even make up your mind! Why don't you go whining to Jaheira again?
Taurus: That does it!
(They start fighting.)
Magicman: -_//'
***
He stood at the Sphere's control station, typing furiously and yanking on levers. His typed commands held the force of his fury. He growled, a low gurgling sound as everything he tried came up negative. It was impossible! Everything had gone according to plan and he was ready to return. That wretched trip across the planes had set his plans back badly but his arrival in the Prime Material Plane had brought things back on track. Nothing could have gone wrong!
Unless.....
As the sound of a door opening cut into his vision, he understood. He whirled and glared at the miserable creatures who dared to interfere with his plans. There were two elves, two half elves, and four humans. Memory of a built in defense mechanism struck him and he growled again, this time at the invaders.
"You" he spoke in his rasping voice. "You are the ones who have caused the sphere to travel again. You fools! I was close to escaping!"
The dark skinned human holding a katana pointed it in his direction. "Lavok! Your evil comes to an end now!"
He laughed harshly. "Fool! I am not your poor relative!"
The human, who was clearly descended from the ambitious necromancer, faltered. "Then.....what are you?"
He condescended to explain. "I am the being who occupies this wizard's body and the one who has fed on your family for so many years. I remember them well" he taunted, "for their particularly vibrant life energy."
One of the elf females gasped and the Corthala man glared. "So it was you who destroyed my family!"
He snorted. "Of course mortal! What else do you think I survive on? Beer and pretzels? Bah! you are all wasting my time! I must bring the Sphere back without delay!"
The dark skinned Crintri spoke up. "That might be difficult, seeing as we're not about to let you and all."
Fury welled up in his being. One thought filled him. "Because of you I have been denied the material plane!" He began to move his hands into the intricate symbols of magic.
"I will have my revenge!"
***
The necromancer started to chant and several defensive spells sprung up around his being. Aerie listened intently to his words as the others drew their weapons. Then her eyes widened in recognition. "SCATTER!" she screamed and dove to the floor as the necromancer's spell was completed.
A grey mist sprung up from nowhere, covering half of the room in seconds. Caught in the mist, Taurus Jaheira screamed in agony and fell to the floor, writhing. Aerie knew that their bodies were being decayed at an accelerated rate due to the effects of Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting. The magic was deadly to most life and Aerie could only imagine what they were going through. She stared into the fog forlornly for a moment, torn by fear. Then she took a breath and hurled herself into the fog.
She stumbled blindly through the fog for an eternity of seconds as pain tore her body apart. She did not recall stumbling over Jaheira's body or dragging it from the dark magic cloud. She could only remember forcing herself through that Hell again. The second time, the agony was unbearable and she screamed as she searched. Magical energies tore at her body but she would not leave. Not without Taurus
At last she stumbled into someone. Her eyes, blurry with tears, could barely make out Taurus' form. He caught her up in his arms and held her close, attempting to shield her with his body. Aerie then fainted, pain overwhelming her small body at last.
Baervan, Mystra, or both must have foreseen something like this because the Crintri managed to get Aerie out of the cloud alive. Taurus was blindly lucky that his rather sporadic resistance to magic, a gift from his drow side, decided to kick in because the necromancer had cast his spell right in his face. Instead of the flesh frying from his bones, he had received a momentarily severe cough.
Cradling Aerie, he lay her down on the floor of the navigation room, his concern only for her well being. He yanked a potion of healing from his belt and yanked the stopper off. Holding up her head, he slid the opening between her lips and slowly poured the potion down her throat.
The battle had not halted for the badly injured elf however. Valygar, Minsc, and Yoshimo had rushed into close range, attempting to grapple with the necromancer, but their weapons bounced off the layers of magical protections that he placed around himself. Screaming fanatically, he unleashed another spell. Minsc and Valygar were stunned into motionless by a blinding flash of light. Yoshimo dove to the ground and ducked a bolt of lightning that howled against a wall.
Away from the battle, Nalia and Viconia had finished their chanting spells. Breach and Dispel magics scattered across the room. Breach broke through the magical barriers and Dispel freed Minsc and Valygar fromt heir magical bondage.
Screaming in rage, the necromancer whirled on the two women and hurled a volley of lightning in their direction. Turning back to the fighters, he repeated the spell. Lightning crackled and lit up the room. Yoshimo was struck down. Minsc stood firm under the assault that ran through his metallic armour. Valygar gritted his teeth and pushed onward.
The necromancer cackled insanely as magical lightning continued to flash outward to every target. But with a hoarse cry of rage Valygar hurled himself forward. Through the lightning he rushed, his family's katana outstretched. The light flashed off the blade as it plunged through the the last of the necromancer's magical shields and plunged into his breast.
Just like that, the magic ended. The room was once again dimly lit and quiet. The only sounds were the ragged breathing of wounded men and women.
As Valygar grimly pulled his weapon from the chest of his ancestor the darkness seemed to lift. For the first time, he could see the infamous Lavok.
He was thin, almost skeletal. And his pale skin was stretched out over his boney frame. He wore shabby black robes that had once been of fine quality, but were now nearly rags. His scalp was bald and his eyes bore a haunted look about them. Those eyes, once so full of intelligence and ambition were now glazed and dull.
Lavok blinked slowly and looked about. "W-where am I?" His voice was soft and whispering and bore no hint of the commanding snarl of before. "It.....it has left me? Am I free?"
"What is this? Another trick? Rest assured necromancer, I will not fall victim to your treachery!"
Valygar raised his sword to strike again but held back when Lavok raised his hand in weary surrender.
"I have no strength left for tricks my ancestor. I have taken my death wound and the evil has fled me."
"Then.....it was not you who destroyed our family?"
Lavok choked for a moment before answering. "It was I. I who had been consumed by evil. I encountered it on one of my journeys and it seized my body and locked my mind away. It used my knowledge of my family's skill in magic to hunt them down and lengthen its own foul existence. But I had taken precautions. The Sphere has a defense mechanism. When a strange being enters it, it automatically transports to another plane."
"Can't we just fly back to our original plane?" demanded Viconia. "What is to stop us?"
"The Sphere itself". Lavok gasped in sudden pain and gritted his teeth. "The last trip drained the power core. We are now stranded unless we can find a replacement power source we are trapped."
Viconia scowled. It was always something or other.
Nalia asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "How can we get back?"
Lavok's words were garbled by a sudden spasm in his throat. Valygar caught him as he started to fall over. His rasping words reached the ranger as his blood covered his armour. "The Sphere is powered by a demon's heart. If you can find a demon....."
"We will". Valygar's words were grim. "You are not the man I thought Lavok. I will do this."
"Thank you. I.....I will try and hold on to what.....little life remains in this body". The necromancer looked up into his descendant's eyes. "You have my well wishes.....however poor they may be."
Valygar nodded solemnly before rejoining his companions.
Taurus was working hard to heal Aerie. The healing potion had helped but the magic was still wracking her fragile body. At the moment, the crintri was taking additional steps to heal her. That is to say, he was arguing with Viconia.
"No! No!! And NO!!!"
"Be reasonable Vicky" Taurus began in what he thought were reasonable tones.
"Why should I help out that little runt when she was too stupid to keep from getting hurt in the first place?!"
"Because she healed you after the fire elemental incident?"
Viconia crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. "No."
Taurus just looked at her with an innocent pleading expression on his face. Viconia growled in the back of her throat.
"I know what you're doing abbil. It may have worked Shar knows how many times in Baldurs Gate but not now! Nothing you can say will change my mind!"
Silence.
Viconia paused. "Besides, you can heal her! Last I checked, you still had that little talent of yours!"
Silence.
"No! Not! Never! Nau! No way! Ixnay on the 'yes' part! Negatorie!"
Silence.
Viconia snarled and punched Taurus in the stomach. She stomped over to the injured elf and began casting. "I hate myself," she muttered.
Taurus smiled at the words. Leaning over, he kissed the drow on the cheek, making her snarl a bit. "Thank you."
Viconia didn't answer and continued cursing herself for a fool.
***
Either by sheer coincidence or through the intervention of several deities, the Sphere had landed on a Plane that demons thrived upon. Steam hissed through cracks in the abnormally hot rock bed, giving rise to all sorts of volcanic rock formations that would not have developed otherwise. However, this constant steam also made the air unbearably hot and muggy and the companions were soon sweating like meat over the fire. Poor Aerie, still weak from the magic of Lavok's necromancy, was slowly being exhausted under her dress and thick mage robes. Nalia wasn't much better and soon Minsc was detailed to escort the girls at a slower pace, while the rest of the party led the way, beating on the miniature demons they came across.
This pissed Viconia off to no end. "Why do we waste our time helping that elg'caress along?" she snarled, reverting to drow for more venom.
"I note that you still seem capable of walking" Jaheira said sarcastically. Exhaustion did not improve her temper.
It didn't do anything for Viconia's either. "Vith'ir tu'rilthiir! When I want your opinion, I'll..."
"Whoa ladies!" Taurus interposed his all too fragile body in between the two angry women. "I didn't think that it was that time of month already!"
Viconia glared at him. Her hand clenched into a fist and she immediately tried to put it through Taurus' head. The Crintri seemed to see this coming and ducked just in time. He then tore off through a small side passage in the volcanic rocks. Viconia chased after him.
Jaheira sighed in exasperation as Minsc and the girls caught up with the rest of the group. Aerie was watching the drow run off anxiously. "Should he be going off like that?" she asked, conveniently forgetting Viconia's presence. "Demons might attack them."
"He'll be alright". Jaheira was certain of this. "If there's one thing you can count about Taurus, it's that he will survive anything from demons to violent drow priestesses of Shar."
"It's the one I'm more worried about than the other." Jaheira hadn't thought that the Avariel could have matched that tone of irony. Apparently one really did learn something new each day.
***
Taurus skidded to a halt in front of a rock face. Whirling around, he saw Viconia barrelling toward him. No time to think, he ducked her first swing and caught the second before it could hit his face. Swiftly, he pulled her close to keep her from swinging at him again.
Viconia glared furiously into Taurus' eyes, her body pressed up against him. Sweat streamed down her smooth black skin, making her thick hair cling to her face. Her exquisitely carved features radiated anger towards her captor. Her breasts heaved with indignation against his armoured chest. Her free arm came to rest upon his shoulder. She opened her mouth, either to snap at Taurus or to bite him, and he pushed forward, seizing those captivating lips with his own.
Furious muffled noises indicated Viconia's indignance. Her free hand pounded on his shoulder but his arm had encircled her waist and refused to let go until he had tasted her lips fully. When they finally parted, the drow scowled at him. "No one kisses me against my will!" she hissed.
Taurus smiled innocently. "I couldn't have you biting me, now could I?"
"Why don't you try kissing me again? THEN you'll see some biting!"
"Well why not?"
Taurus kissed her again, revelling in the taste of Viconia's lips. She seemed to melt into his body and clung to him eagerly. She didn't bite him, as she had promised, but she did meet his kiss and deepen it. When they broke apart, she mumbled to herself in drowish disgust. "You seem rather flustered my dear Vicky. Could it be that you enjoyed yourself?" Taurus stroked her cheek gently. "You have professed a certain desire for me."
Viconia arched an eyebrow and felt his strong hand caress her neck. She tilted her head back to give him a better grip. "Does this mean that you are finally returning that desire?"
Taurus shrugged slightly. "Maybe."
Viconia scowled again. "What have I told you about beating around the bush? If you want to do something then do it, damn it!"
"Maybe I would but my decisions affect so many others. I can't in good conscience hurt someone so callously." He shook his head helplessly. "You know I can't."
"Hurt someone? What are you..." Realisation hit Viconia like a sledgehammer. "The butterfly?!?!" She clapped a hand to her forehead in exasperation. She never would have figured Taurus would go for that little weakling. The great chessboard was spread out before her and everything made sense.
'Well well', she thought, 'It seems that the game of love has just become more interesting.'
Warning bells sounded in Viconia's head and her skeleton tried to leap out of her mouth and escape. Love? LOVE?! Drow weren't supposed to love! Sure, it happened every so often, but even so!
Viconia eyed Taurus through lowered eyelids. She was trying to see what was so special about him. He was intensely attractive (she couldn't fault the Butterfly's taste) but there was more to it than that. He was almost like her brother, Valas. They both had the same sense of humour, underlined by a streak of deadly seriousness, and they were both fiercely protective of her. Heck, Taurus had once taken an arrow to the chest for her, back in Baldurs Gate. And poor Valas...
Viconia shook her head fiercely, pushing out thoughts of her brother. She had no idea exactly what love was, but she had learned to trust her mind, and ever since Taurus had dragged her off of that stake she had been thinking of him, if only because he drew attention to himself. And so, she loved him.
It seemed simple enough, but she knew that it wasn't. There was another player on this field. Normally, Viconia would just kill Aerie, but this would upset Taurus. Subtlety would have to be used, and the final happenings lay in Taurus' lap anyway. If there was one thing that Viconia hated, it was not being in control. But there wasn't much that she could do about that now, and the silence was growing loud. 'I'll think about this later' she thought as she wriggled out of Taurus' grip.
"Well omni-present authority figure sir" Viconia teased, "Shall we rejoin our lost colleagues?"
Taurus nodded. "Yeah, you know how they are. They get in so much trouble without me."
"Whereas, with you around, the trouble always goes straight for you!"
The drow duo laughed. It seemed a little out of place on this volcanic world but it felt good never the less.
When they finished, they looked into each other's eyes. "What are we to each other?" Taurus asked Viconia softly.
"We are abbils Taurus." She answered, just as softly. "For now."
"And later?"
Viconia smiled. Leaning forward, she kissed him lightly, teasingly, and pulled away. "That, my dear" she murmured, "Is completely up to you."
***
The two walked together back to the main path, fully expecting to find the group waiting for them. Surprisingly though, they had vanished mysteriously. But not for long. No sooner had they exchanged confused glances, than the rest of the group, led by a seriously annoyed Jaheira, hurried down a path toward them. Minsc seemed to be carrying something.
Jaheira took one look at Taurus and Viconia and scowled so menacingly that Taurus put himself in front of the drow. The druid flounced up to them and glared at her leader right in the face. "WHERE exactly in the Abyss WERE you?!"
Valygar filled in the drow. "Apparently, two demons were fighting up ahead. One of them was dead and the other was growling a lot. So we had the thieves distract it while we swiped the heart. It was a bit ticklish, but it wasn't too bad."
Nalia high-fived Yoshimo. "We kicked that demons ass!"
Yoshimo nodded sagely. "You are becoming quite wise in the ways of thieving, my lovely. Soon you will be out-thieving the Shadow thieves!"
Nalia turned red and stammered a thanks.
Jaheira eyed Taurus and Viconia suspiciously. "And how did your scouting go?"
The drow looked at each other. Viconia shrugged. "We found a tunnel. A very interesting looking tunnel."
"We wanted to explore it" Taurus continued, "But we didn't really have time. And now it seems that you guys have the heart without us."
"Yep! All we have to do now is put it in the Sphere engine and we're off home again!" Even sweating and weak, Aerie was still cheerful. Minsc smiled broadly and patted the elf on her back.
"Yes! We must go back now! There is much to do!"
The group slowly moved off, Jaheira taking the rear. She eyed Taurus and Viconia, exchanging a few words on occasion. She scowled. 'I had better not be saddled with grandchildren.'
***
Magicman: Everything cool? Okay. Feel free to push the blue button that says 'go' on your way out. ^_//
(Taurus and Folken are still fighting.)
Magicman: Okay, I'm re-uploading this chapter to correct a mistake. Thank you for pointing out that it's spelled Valas, not Jalas. I never got that far in the game and only figured it out from some website, so I probably missed the first letter : P. However, I feel that I must disagree with Suicide Minion. I read nothing in Aerie's dialogues to deride her intelligence, only an intense emotional factor. And being intelligent does not necessarily accompany experience or even a tendency to speak ones deeper thoughts. I haven't been able to finish Jaheira's romance quest, but I did finish Aerie's, and what I kept getting from her was a shy sense of inexperience. Jaheira's experiences in the world are what make her cool, just as Aerie's learning of the world is what makes her cool. In my opinion, of course.
Folken: People are always picking on my poor Aerie! It doesn't make sense!
Taurus: You're right th- Hey! I like Aerie!
Folken: Oh you can't even make up your mind! Why don't you go whining to Jaheira again?
Taurus: That does it!
(They start fighting.)
Magicman: -_//'
***
He stood at the Sphere's control station, typing furiously and yanking on levers. His typed commands held the force of his fury. He growled, a low gurgling sound as everything he tried came up negative. It was impossible! Everything had gone according to plan and he was ready to return. That wretched trip across the planes had set his plans back badly but his arrival in the Prime Material Plane had brought things back on track. Nothing could have gone wrong!
Unless.....
As the sound of a door opening cut into his vision, he understood. He whirled and glared at the miserable creatures who dared to interfere with his plans. There were two elves, two half elves, and four humans. Memory of a built in defense mechanism struck him and he growled again, this time at the invaders.
"You" he spoke in his rasping voice. "You are the ones who have caused the sphere to travel again. You fools! I was close to escaping!"
The dark skinned human holding a katana pointed it in his direction. "Lavok! Your evil comes to an end now!"
He laughed harshly. "Fool! I am not your poor relative!"
The human, who was clearly descended from the ambitious necromancer, faltered. "Then.....what are you?"
He condescended to explain. "I am the being who occupies this wizard's body and the one who has fed on your family for so many years. I remember them well" he taunted, "for their particularly vibrant life energy."
One of the elf females gasped and the Corthala man glared. "So it was you who destroyed my family!"
He snorted. "Of course mortal! What else do you think I survive on? Beer and pretzels? Bah! you are all wasting my time! I must bring the Sphere back without delay!"
The dark skinned Crintri spoke up. "That might be difficult, seeing as we're not about to let you and all."
Fury welled up in his being. One thought filled him. "Because of you I have been denied the material plane!" He began to move his hands into the intricate symbols of magic.
"I will have my revenge!"
***
The necromancer started to chant and several defensive spells sprung up around his being. Aerie listened intently to his words as the others drew their weapons. Then her eyes widened in recognition. "SCATTER!" she screamed and dove to the floor as the necromancer's spell was completed.
A grey mist sprung up from nowhere, covering half of the room in seconds. Caught in the mist, Taurus Jaheira screamed in agony and fell to the floor, writhing. Aerie knew that their bodies were being decayed at an accelerated rate due to the effects of Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting. The magic was deadly to most life and Aerie could only imagine what they were going through. She stared into the fog forlornly for a moment, torn by fear. Then she took a breath and hurled herself into the fog.
She stumbled blindly through the fog for an eternity of seconds as pain tore her body apart. She did not recall stumbling over Jaheira's body or dragging it from the dark magic cloud. She could only remember forcing herself through that Hell again. The second time, the agony was unbearable and she screamed as she searched. Magical energies tore at her body but she would not leave. Not without Taurus
At last she stumbled into someone. Her eyes, blurry with tears, could barely make out Taurus' form. He caught her up in his arms and held her close, attempting to shield her with his body. Aerie then fainted, pain overwhelming her small body at last.
Baervan, Mystra, or both must have foreseen something like this because the Crintri managed to get Aerie out of the cloud alive. Taurus was blindly lucky that his rather sporadic resistance to magic, a gift from his drow side, decided to kick in because the necromancer had cast his spell right in his face. Instead of the flesh frying from his bones, he had received a momentarily severe cough.
Cradling Aerie, he lay her down on the floor of the navigation room, his concern only for her well being. He yanked a potion of healing from his belt and yanked the stopper off. Holding up her head, he slid the opening between her lips and slowly poured the potion down her throat.
The battle had not halted for the badly injured elf however. Valygar, Minsc, and Yoshimo had rushed into close range, attempting to grapple with the necromancer, but their weapons bounced off the layers of magical protections that he placed around himself. Screaming fanatically, he unleashed another spell. Minsc and Valygar were stunned into motionless by a blinding flash of light. Yoshimo dove to the ground and ducked a bolt of lightning that howled against a wall.
Away from the battle, Nalia and Viconia had finished their chanting spells. Breach and Dispel magics scattered across the room. Breach broke through the magical barriers and Dispel freed Minsc and Valygar fromt heir magical bondage.
Screaming in rage, the necromancer whirled on the two women and hurled a volley of lightning in their direction. Turning back to the fighters, he repeated the spell. Lightning crackled and lit up the room. Yoshimo was struck down. Minsc stood firm under the assault that ran through his metallic armour. Valygar gritted his teeth and pushed onward.
The necromancer cackled insanely as magical lightning continued to flash outward to every target. But with a hoarse cry of rage Valygar hurled himself forward. Through the lightning he rushed, his family's katana outstretched. The light flashed off the blade as it plunged through the the last of the necromancer's magical shields and plunged into his breast.
Just like that, the magic ended. The room was once again dimly lit and quiet. The only sounds were the ragged breathing of wounded men and women.
As Valygar grimly pulled his weapon from the chest of his ancestor the darkness seemed to lift. For the first time, he could see the infamous Lavok.
He was thin, almost skeletal. And his pale skin was stretched out over his boney frame. He wore shabby black robes that had once been of fine quality, but were now nearly rags. His scalp was bald and his eyes bore a haunted look about them. Those eyes, once so full of intelligence and ambition were now glazed and dull.
Lavok blinked slowly and looked about. "W-where am I?" His voice was soft and whispering and bore no hint of the commanding snarl of before. "It.....it has left me? Am I free?"
"What is this? Another trick? Rest assured necromancer, I will not fall victim to your treachery!"
Valygar raised his sword to strike again but held back when Lavok raised his hand in weary surrender.
"I have no strength left for tricks my ancestor. I have taken my death wound and the evil has fled me."
"Then.....it was not you who destroyed our family?"
Lavok choked for a moment before answering. "It was I. I who had been consumed by evil. I encountered it on one of my journeys and it seized my body and locked my mind away. It used my knowledge of my family's skill in magic to hunt them down and lengthen its own foul existence. But I had taken precautions. The Sphere has a defense mechanism. When a strange being enters it, it automatically transports to another plane."
"Can't we just fly back to our original plane?" demanded Viconia. "What is to stop us?"
"The Sphere itself". Lavok gasped in sudden pain and gritted his teeth. "The last trip drained the power core. We are now stranded unless we can find a replacement power source we are trapped."
Viconia scowled. It was always something or other.
Nalia asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "How can we get back?"
Lavok's words were garbled by a sudden spasm in his throat. Valygar caught him as he started to fall over. His rasping words reached the ranger as his blood covered his armour. "The Sphere is powered by a demon's heart. If you can find a demon....."
"We will". Valygar's words were grim. "You are not the man I thought Lavok. I will do this."
"Thank you. I.....I will try and hold on to what.....little life remains in this body". The necromancer looked up into his descendant's eyes. "You have my well wishes.....however poor they may be."
Valygar nodded solemnly before rejoining his companions.
Taurus was working hard to heal Aerie. The healing potion had helped but the magic was still wracking her fragile body. At the moment, the crintri was taking additional steps to heal her. That is to say, he was arguing with Viconia.
"No! No!! And NO!!!"
"Be reasonable Vicky" Taurus began in what he thought were reasonable tones.
"Why should I help out that little runt when she was too stupid to keep from getting hurt in the first place?!"
"Because she healed you after the fire elemental incident?"
Viconia crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. "No."
Taurus just looked at her with an innocent pleading expression on his face. Viconia growled in the back of her throat.
"I know what you're doing abbil. It may have worked Shar knows how many times in Baldurs Gate but not now! Nothing you can say will change my mind!"
Silence.
Viconia paused. "Besides, you can heal her! Last I checked, you still had that little talent of yours!"
Silence.
"No! Not! Never! Nau! No way! Ixnay on the 'yes' part! Negatorie!"
Silence.
Viconia snarled and punched Taurus in the stomach. She stomped over to the injured elf and began casting. "I hate myself," she muttered.
Taurus smiled at the words. Leaning over, he kissed the drow on the cheek, making her snarl a bit. "Thank you."
Viconia didn't answer and continued cursing herself for a fool.
***
Either by sheer coincidence or through the intervention of several deities, the Sphere had landed on a Plane that demons thrived upon. Steam hissed through cracks in the abnormally hot rock bed, giving rise to all sorts of volcanic rock formations that would not have developed otherwise. However, this constant steam also made the air unbearably hot and muggy and the companions were soon sweating like meat over the fire. Poor Aerie, still weak from the magic of Lavok's necromancy, was slowly being exhausted under her dress and thick mage robes. Nalia wasn't much better and soon Minsc was detailed to escort the girls at a slower pace, while the rest of the party led the way, beating on the miniature demons they came across.
This pissed Viconia off to no end. "Why do we waste our time helping that elg'caress along?" she snarled, reverting to drow for more venom.
"I note that you still seem capable of walking" Jaheira said sarcastically. Exhaustion did not improve her temper.
It didn't do anything for Viconia's either. "Vith'ir tu'rilthiir! When I want your opinion, I'll..."
"Whoa ladies!" Taurus interposed his all too fragile body in between the two angry women. "I didn't think that it was that time of month already!"
Viconia glared at him. Her hand clenched into a fist and she immediately tried to put it through Taurus' head. The Crintri seemed to see this coming and ducked just in time. He then tore off through a small side passage in the volcanic rocks. Viconia chased after him.
Jaheira sighed in exasperation as Minsc and the girls caught up with the rest of the group. Aerie was watching the drow run off anxiously. "Should he be going off like that?" she asked, conveniently forgetting Viconia's presence. "Demons might attack them."
"He'll be alright". Jaheira was certain of this. "If there's one thing you can count about Taurus, it's that he will survive anything from demons to violent drow priestesses of Shar."
"It's the one I'm more worried about than the other." Jaheira hadn't thought that the Avariel could have matched that tone of irony. Apparently one really did learn something new each day.
***
Taurus skidded to a halt in front of a rock face. Whirling around, he saw Viconia barrelling toward him. No time to think, he ducked her first swing and caught the second before it could hit his face. Swiftly, he pulled her close to keep her from swinging at him again.
Viconia glared furiously into Taurus' eyes, her body pressed up against him. Sweat streamed down her smooth black skin, making her thick hair cling to her face. Her exquisitely carved features radiated anger towards her captor. Her breasts heaved with indignation against his armoured chest. Her free arm came to rest upon his shoulder. She opened her mouth, either to snap at Taurus or to bite him, and he pushed forward, seizing those captivating lips with his own.
Furious muffled noises indicated Viconia's indignance. Her free hand pounded on his shoulder but his arm had encircled her waist and refused to let go until he had tasted her lips fully. When they finally parted, the drow scowled at him. "No one kisses me against my will!" she hissed.
Taurus smiled innocently. "I couldn't have you biting me, now could I?"
"Why don't you try kissing me again? THEN you'll see some biting!"
"Well why not?"
Taurus kissed her again, revelling in the taste of Viconia's lips. She seemed to melt into his body and clung to him eagerly. She didn't bite him, as she had promised, but she did meet his kiss and deepen it. When they broke apart, she mumbled to herself in drowish disgust. "You seem rather flustered my dear Vicky. Could it be that you enjoyed yourself?" Taurus stroked her cheek gently. "You have professed a certain desire for me."
Viconia arched an eyebrow and felt his strong hand caress her neck. She tilted her head back to give him a better grip. "Does this mean that you are finally returning that desire?"
Taurus shrugged slightly. "Maybe."
Viconia scowled again. "What have I told you about beating around the bush? If you want to do something then do it, damn it!"
"Maybe I would but my decisions affect so many others. I can't in good conscience hurt someone so callously." He shook his head helplessly. "You know I can't."
"Hurt someone? What are you..." Realisation hit Viconia like a sledgehammer. "The butterfly?!?!" She clapped a hand to her forehead in exasperation. She never would have figured Taurus would go for that little weakling. The great chessboard was spread out before her and everything made sense.
'Well well', she thought, 'It seems that the game of love has just become more interesting.'
Warning bells sounded in Viconia's head and her skeleton tried to leap out of her mouth and escape. Love? LOVE?! Drow weren't supposed to love! Sure, it happened every so often, but even so!
Viconia eyed Taurus through lowered eyelids. She was trying to see what was so special about him. He was intensely attractive (she couldn't fault the Butterfly's taste) but there was more to it than that. He was almost like her brother, Valas. They both had the same sense of humour, underlined by a streak of deadly seriousness, and they were both fiercely protective of her. Heck, Taurus had once taken an arrow to the chest for her, back in Baldurs Gate. And poor Valas...
Viconia shook her head fiercely, pushing out thoughts of her brother. She had no idea exactly what love was, but she had learned to trust her mind, and ever since Taurus had dragged her off of that stake she had been thinking of him, if only because he drew attention to himself. And so, she loved him.
It seemed simple enough, but she knew that it wasn't. There was another player on this field. Normally, Viconia would just kill Aerie, but this would upset Taurus. Subtlety would have to be used, and the final happenings lay in Taurus' lap anyway. If there was one thing that Viconia hated, it was not being in control. But there wasn't much that she could do about that now, and the silence was growing loud. 'I'll think about this later' she thought as she wriggled out of Taurus' grip.
"Well omni-present authority figure sir" Viconia teased, "Shall we rejoin our lost colleagues?"
Taurus nodded. "Yeah, you know how they are. They get in so much trouble without me."
"Whereas, with you around, the trouble always goes straight for you!"
The drow duo laughed. It seemed a little out of place on this volcanic world but it felt good never the less.
When they finished, they looked into each other's eyes. "What are we to each other?" Taurus asked Viconia softly.
"We are abbils Taurus." She answered, just as softly. "For now."
"And later?"
Viconia smiled. Leaning forward, she kissed him lightly, teasingly, and pulled away. "That, my dear" she murmured, "Is completely up to you."
***
The two walked together back to the main path, fully expecting to find the group waiting for them. Surprisingly though, they had vanished mysteriously. But not for long. No sooner had they exchanged confused glances, than the rest of the group, led by a seriously annoyed Jaheira, hurried down a path toward them. Minsc seemed to be carrying something.
Jaheira took one look at Taurus and Viconia and scowled so menacingly that Taurus put himself in front of the drow. The druid flounced up to them and glared at her leader right in the face. "WHERE exactly in the Abyss WERE you?!"
Valygar filled in the drow. "Apparently, two demons were fighting up ahead. One of them was dead and the other was growling a lot. So we had the thieves distract it while we swiped the heart. It was a bit ticklish, but it wasn't too bad."
Nalia high-fived Yoshimo. "We kicked that demons ass!"
Yoshimo nodded sagely. "You are becoming quite wise in the ways of thieving, my lovely. Soon you will be out-thieving the Shadow thieves!"
Nalia turned red and stammered a thanks.
Jaheira eyed Taurus and Viconia suspiciously. "And how did your scouting go?"
The drow looked at each other. Viconia shrugged. "We found a tunnel. A very interesting looking tunnel."
"We wanted to explore it" Taurus continued, "But we didn't really have time. And now it seems that you guys have the heart without us."
"Yep! All we have to do now is put it in the Sphere engine and we're off home again!" Even sweating and weak, Aerie was still cheerful. Minsc smiled broadly and patted the elf on her back.
"Yes! We must go back now! There is much to do!"
The group slowly moved off, Jaheira taking the rear. She eyed Taurus and Viconia, exchanging a few words on occasion. She scowled. 'I had better not be saddled with grandchildren.'
***
Magicman: Everything cool? Okay. Feel free to push the blue button that says 'go' on your way out. ^_//
(Taurus and Folken are still fighting.)