Light Wrapped in Darkness 12
Magicman: Here's a piece of news gang. Something weird is going on with my computer, and my ability to review is intermittent. However, keep in mind that I am still reading all of my old favourites. And may I say "Good work!"
Daevan: Ha! Take that, demons! Get pummeled to a pulp by adventurers! Bwahahahahaha!!! *Goes off to write love letters*
Magicman: ...
Folken: I know how you feel man. I was once locked in a meat locker with him.
Zarra: How'd you get out?
Folken: Being driven insane can do wondrous things for the muscles.
Zarra: Ah.
***
Nalia squinted sideways at the glowing sphere floating in the air. If she turned her head to the side, it looked like an old toy she'd possessed as a child. Right now, the party leader was staring closely at the surface of the sphere. The reason? Lavok, the ailing necromancer, told them that the way to the engine room was inscribed on it.
"Step upon the markings in turn to unlock the door" Taurus read the letters aloud. "Choose wrong and be punished by the guardian." He turned to the party. "Okay" he said brightly, "Does anybody read runes?"
They all turned to Aerie. She could only shake her head. "I'm sorry" she said softly, rather embarrassed to have everyone's attention fixed on her. "I never learned any complicated rune structures."
"Neither did I" Nalia added. "Runes were never my strong point."
Jaheira looked at the floor markings in question. "I know runes that have their roots in nature, but these are from a branch unknown to me."
Viconia snorted. "I'm not surprised. These are clearly runes used amongst the lower classes of Drow society. I must say that I'm mildly impressed that the human knew them, though he writes with a strange hand. He gives them an odd accent."
"Do you know what they say?"
"Of course! My house was quite eminent in Menzoberanzen for a time! It was only expected that I learn it." Viconia's voice took on a tone of pride as she spoke. "They are numbers. One...", she stepped onto one of the runes, which lit up. "Two...", she stepped toward the second, which lit up too. "Three, and four." As she stepped onto the final rune, a door opened to the side.
Valygar nodded. "Well done Drow."
Jaheira nodded as they started down some stairs. "Indeed. We shall be out of here in no time." Whistling almost cheerfully, she set the pace of the party.
At the bottom of the stairs was a door made of plain steel. The party found that it led into another great room with two doors. Taurus had expected it to be empty like the navigation room, or the antechamber. Much to his surprise, a shrill voice greeted his entrance.
"You were fools to think that you could get away with double crossing the Cowled Wizards!" Tolgerias, that arrogant wizard from the Council of Five building shrieked in rage. "You forged the path and we followed! Now you will-" His words were interrupted by Valygar, who threw his dagger at his throat. He choked on his own blood quite quickly.
Tolgerias' companion, on the other hand, was smarter. The instant the companions appeared, she triggered her preset defenses. Multiple copies of herself leaped up around her and a hard shell covered her skin. Finally, the flickering light of a defensive barrier surrounded her as she started chanting. As Tolgerias thrashed his last and the companions poured into the room, she magicked several monsters to her aid. A great wyvern screamed and beat its wings alongside a trio of ogres. A pair of kobolds gnashed their teeth and a Nishruu materialized into being.
In a matter of seconds, the bloodthirsty host outnumbered the companions. But a quick spell from Jaheira sent vines writhing through the floor, capturing the monsters where they stood.
"Well?" she yelled at Taurus, Minsc, and Valygar, "What are you waiting for? An invitation?"
"Right". Taurus attacked as the monsters began tearing themselves loose, quickly followed by Jaheira, Valygar, and a screaming Minsc. The fur (and skin) really started to fly when they hit the monsters.
The mage, meanwhile, was hurling magic missiles at the spell casters of the group. Nalia and Yoshimo had ducked behind a stack of crates against the wall, leaving Aerie and Viconia to magically defend themselves.
Yoshimo peaked his head over the crate and immediately ducked a stray arrow from a kobold. Knocking an arrow of his own to his bow, he glanced at his female companion, who was making the hand motions of a Breach spell. "Are you ready?"
Nalia bestowed a dazzling smile upon the thief. "You bet Yoshi!"
Yoshimo managed to suppress a slight blush. "Then now!"
They rose up from behind the crates at the same time. Nalia completed her Breach spell just as Yoshimo released his arrow. The spell cut down the mage's defenses as the arrow streaked to its target.
It was too slow unfortunately. Breach triggered the woman's contingency, and another Stone Skin sheathed her body just before the arrow struck. She sighted Nalia and let loose a Flame Arrow. The spell took Nalia right in the shoulder joint, burning cloth and flesh. The young noble screamed and fell. Yoshimo caught her.
The arrow distracted the mage, however. In a rare moment of cooperation, Aerie and Viconia had been sneaking around the mage, avoiding the fight for the express purpose of catching her off her guard. Which they did quite well. The first she knew of the two elves was when Viconia tackled her from behind, ruining the spell she had been casting. Then she abruptly became aware of Aerie's presence when she whacked her in the head with her staff. The mage's eyes rolled back into her head as though she was on the receiving end of a bolt of religious ecstasy. Then she toppled over onto the ground.
The summoned monsters put up some fight before they were inevitably killed. Other than Nalia the group had suffered surprisingly little damage and the thief/mage was quickly healed.
"Taurus" Aerie called out to the Crintri, who was contemplating two doors in the wall. "What should we do with the mage?"
"Kill her, I say. Or don't you have the stomach for it?" Viconia's words were cutting to Aerie, and the Avariel bristled.
"Only you would kill a helpless person while they're unconscious!"
Viconia raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what you're talking about. Therefore, I don't need to answer you."
Before they could fly at each other, Jaheira spoke up. "If you're going to come to blows over something so trivial, then just throw her in one of these crates! Gods" she muttered to herself as they (grumbling) followed her suggestion, "They're like children! Little children who both want the same cookie!"
"Boo wants to know who you're talking to."
Jaheira's eye twitched slightly. "Tell Boo that I'm talking to myself."
"Ah!" Minsc cheerfully accepted this explanation. "This is good. I often talk to myself when Boo is asleep." He looked at his friend thoughtfully. "You wouldn't happen to have a hamster, would you?"
"No."
***
"So" Nalia asked no one in particular, "Might anyone happen to know which way we go?"
Minsc frowned at each door in turn. "Minsc doesn't know." He announced. "Perhaps both doors lead the same way."
"Well what do we know?" Nalia lay out the facts. "We need to put the heart in the engine. The engine is down on this level somewhere. We have two doors facing us, behind one of which lies the engine." She paused and thought about what she said. "That doesn't really help us, does it?"
Taurus knuckled his forehead. "Okay, this is ridiculous. We won't find out until we check. So..." Before anyone could stop him, he strode over to the door on the left and yanked it open.
An icy wind rushed through the doorway, shoving Taurus back into Jaheira with great force. The druid was knocked off balance and sprawled to the floor. As the unnerving cold flooded the room, Jaheira sat up from her position on the floor and glared at Taurus.
"What in the Abyss did you get us into this time?!" she screamed over the cry of the wind. Taurus raised his hands helplessly.
"What?"
Jaheira would have continued but something behind Taurus caught her attention. The widening of her eyes warned the Crintri and he whirled around. Squinting through the blinding ice and snow that accompanied the wind, he could just barely make out a long, clawed hand reaching to grasp the frame of the door. With an ear-splitting howl, the ice troll hurled itself into the room. Bigger than its warmer-climate brethren, the beast did not hesitate in attacking the first thing it saw. Taurus.
Taurus managed to sidestep the troll's mad charge, but he was bowled off his feet by a flailing claw. The others could not help him because the beast was not alone. A pack of vicious mephits, fluttering on leathery wings rimmed with frost, swept into the room on the wake of the passing troll. Behind them was a pair of ice salamanders, spears waving menacingly. Unlike their larger brethren, who's heart resided in Valygar's pack, these lesser demons were uniquely suited to living in conditions of severe cold. They were still marked by a hatred of Prime Material dwellers, and they attacked the adventurers on sight.
Afterward, Taurus could never really remember much of the following battle. The troll seemed to have singled him out with a malicious sense of purpose and kept after him, hounding him into a corner. One great claw swept his katana from his hand as the other clutched at his body. A chilling cold seemed to radiate from the beast's body, numbing Taurus' senses and slowing his reactions. He quickly found himself shoved up against the wall, grappling with the troll hand to hand.
Desperately fighting the cold-induced lethargy, Taurus shoved back against the troll, his own great strength able to match the beast's. He thrust his hands up and caught the monster's claws three inches from his face. He stared into those blank dead eyes, waves of stench, the troll's own breath, washing over him. The Crintri jerked a leg, kicking out. Caught off balance, the troll was knocked forward into its opponent. Taurus rammed his head up into its jaw. He felt as though he had cracked his skull but the creature staggered back. Ignoring the splitting headache he would have when he had time to think, Taurus chanted his fireball spell and blew the stunned creature to ashes.
He gasped in a lungful of freezing air before he turned to the rest of the party. Valygar, Minsc, Jaheira and Yoshimo had succeeded in dealing with the rest of the ice monsters, though they had suffered injuries. Minsc had even taken frostbite where he had been stabbed and several slash wounds to his torso. Still he glared furiously about him, his weapon drawn and eager for more victims.
"Yah like that?" Lilracor snarled. "Huh? Do you want some more?!"
"Jump on my talking sword evil! I won't be as gentle!" Minsc intoned solemnly.
Jaheira hissed as she bound up her leg wound. "I don't think that Evil really cares Minsc. It will just keep on being evil until it stops."
"Then stop it I shall! With Boo to guide the way and Taurus along for the ride-"
"Minsc? Stop. Please."
It was a very cranky party that walked through the next room, made so by the fact that they all had to stand around in the freezing cold while Yoshimo searched for and disarmed traps.
When at last they exited through the far end of the room, Taurus' temper was frayed. "This had better be it!" he nearly snarled, and kicked open the door.
***
The party stood and stared at the miracle of magical engineering that loomed before them. The mass of black energy was shaped into a vaguely humanoid form, and it seemed to throb with life. Great arms jutted out to the sides, holding masses of machinery. Several holes were embedded in the mass, seeming to serve some purpose. The whole structure, or machine, or near-living being, exuded an aura of silent greatness.
Aerie, who had been impressed at the guardian golem, was awed. The thought of the sheer skill it would have taken to build something like this... It boggled the mind!
Taurus whistled. "Wow. It sure is big. Maybe it was worth going through the ice trolls just to see it. What do you suppose we do with it?"
Jaheira reached into her pack. She seemed to struggle in getting the heart; its presence to the engine seemed to agitate it. "Lavok claimed that the demon heart must be inserted into the engine. For lack of a better option." She stepped forward and thrust the heart into one of the many openings in the mass.
As the heart disappeared, nothing seemed to happen. Then, without the slightest trace of warning, the machine surged to life. Energy crackled and a high-pitched buzz set everyone's teeth on edge and the elves clapping their hands to their ears.
Then the floor lurched. Everyone was hurled to the floor in various positions of disarray. Taurus found himself flat on his back, nose to nose with Jaheira. Unable to resist, he grinned. "Wow Jahs. I never knew that you felt this way!"
The druid scowled. "Oh shut up!" She growled as she pushed herself off of her fearless leader. Said fearless leader flipped himself back onto his feet to survey the group.
No one suffered any serious injury and, apart from some queasiness, they were all fine. A quick inspection of the engine revealed it to be in totally different condition. The darkness had melted, fusing together with the machinery to form a solid piece. Every now and then some stray energy would flicker, but it was clear that the Planar Sphere had taken its last jaunt through the worlds. The only place it would be going anytime soon was the scrap heap.
Taurus whistled again. "I hope it got us where we need to be" he mused aloud. "Otherwise we are so stuck here that it's not even funny."
No one disputed his reasoning.
***
Never had the sunlight felt so warm and inviting as it did in those few seconds when the party stepped from the Planar Sphere and back onto the Prime Material Plane. Aerie just stood on the edge of the Sphere platform with her eyes closed and let the cool wind flow down her neck. She sighed in relief. "Baervan help me, it feels sooo good to be free of that Sphere."
Jaheira was in a similar state of ecstasy. "It is comforting to feel the earth beneath my feet. We were gone from home for far too long!"
Viconia laughed. "You two crack me up! A little claustrophobia never hurt anyone!"
"Actually" Yoshimo spoke up, "I had a friend who was claustrophobic. He ran afoul of the wrong people and was locked in a chest for three days. When the chest was finally opened, his corpse was apparently not pleasant to look at."
"Oh shut up!"
Taurus lay the dying necromancer upon the pavement. The old man's eyes fixed upon the blue sky above with an intensity bordering obsession. His deep wounds clearly stated that he would not last much longer.
"The sky" he rasped, blood flecking his lips. "I had almost forgotten what it looked like... You have my thanks strangers...and I wish to repay you."
Lavok lolled his head to the side, his eyes fixing upon Nalia. The redheaded mage was disconcerted, to say the least. "I sense a power within you not unlike my own. You are a mage, are you not?"
Nalia could only nod. Lavok's bloody lips smiled. "I give you...my Planar Sphere child. May you use it better than I ever did..." A rush of blood that bubbled up from his heart drowned his last words out. The necromancer spasmed once, then died beneath the open sky.
Valygar was strangely silent for several seconds after the death of his ancestors. When he spoke, his voice was full of emotion. "He is finally dead. Lavok the necromancer will no longer threaten me. But I did not expect it to be like this. Could he have actually been saved? Had I been asked the question a week ago I would have thought such redemption would have been impossible. But now I am not so sure. Perhaps I have not seen as much of the world as I had thought. Such a realization is disturbing."
Taurus could say nothing that would have any meaning. He only stood in silence and patted the ranger awkwardly on the shoulder. Valygar turned and sighed. "I thank you for your efforts, my friend. It grieves me now to leave you, but I must know the answer to my question. I truly don't know how the world works and I must find out. I'm sorry, but this is something I must do."
Taurus nodded. "There's no need to apologise. We all have things our souls demand. I wish you luck on yours."
"And I yours." Valygar nodded to Taurus, a sign of respect. Then he turned and disappeared down the street, passer-bys swallowing him up.
An hour later, the party decided that now was the time to move out. Nalia had something to say first.
"I don't think I'll be able to travel with you for a while" she explained glumly. "It's just that with this Sphere and running the keep while you're away I don't really have the time."
Minsc nodded wisely. "Responsibility is a sacred duty. To shirk it is to risk eternal damnation and many other bad things."
"Minsc is correct child" Jaheira agreed. "We shall be fine."
"Besides" Taurus added cheerfully, "We'll be dropping in so often that you'll get sick of us like that." He snapped his fingers.
Nalia smiled. "Oh I doubt that" she said as her eyes sidled toward the resident thief. "Please, I don't do goodbyes well..."
"Very well. Goodbye human. You have been nearly tolerable." Viconia turned and walked away.
Aerie laughed. "That's the nicest thing I've ever heard her say!" She hugged Nalia and wished her well before standing off and waiting for the others to bid her farewell.
It was similar for the others until she came to Yoshimo. The thief smiled. "Don't worry my lovely. It's not like we'll never see each other again." He extended his hand. Hesitantly Nalia took it. Then the gallant thief brought it to his lips and kissed it, bringing a wild blush to the mage's face.
As the group walked away from the Sphere in the slums, Taurus chatted with Jaheira. "You know, I think that Nalia's going to do well in this world. With that Sphere and whatever secrets it may have, the guys in charge will have to listen to what she says. I can just picture the reaction on their faces when she's dictating city policy."
Jaheira eyed him. "Is it anything like the look you get when you're staring at your little girlfriends?"
Taurus lowered his voice. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't say that out loud."
Jaheira smiled sweetly. "But everyone knows. You're as obvious as Nalia and Yoshimo."
Taurus frowned, puzzled. "What about Nalia and Yoshimo?"
Jaheira rolled her eyes and walked away, leaving her fearless leader to scratch his head in confusion.
***
Magicman: Done! Finally I am done! If you like this fic, then you should know that I just got Throne of Bhaal, and I'm planning on a sequal. Cool, huh? No? Obvious? Huh.
Folken: *whispers* Get to the stats...
Magicman: Oh right! In this chapter, I have enclosed Taurus' stats. Enjoy!
Taurus
Male, Half Drow
Chaotic Good
Strength: 18/76
Agility: 20
Constitution: 15
Intelligence: 17
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 14
Magicman: Here's a piece of news gang. Something weird is going on with my computer, and my ability to review is intermittent. However, keep in mind that I am still reading all of my old favourites. And may I say "Good work!"
Daevan: Ha! Take that, demons! Get pummeled to a pulp by adventurers! Bwahahahahaha!!! *Goes off to write love letters*
Magicman: ...
Folken: I know how you feel man. I was once locked in a meat locker with him.
Zarra: How'd you get out?
Folken: Being driven insane can do wondrous things for the muscles.
Zarra: Ah.
***
Nalia squinted sideways at the glowing sphere floating in the air. If she turned her head to the side, it looked like an old toy she'd possessed as a child. Right now, the party leader was staring closely at the surface of the sphere. The reason? Lavok, the ailing necromancer, told them that the way to the engine room was inscribed on it.
"Step upon the markings in turn to unlock the door" Taurus read the letters aloud. "Choose wrong and be punished by the guardian." He turned to the party. "Okay" he said brightly, "Does anybody read runes?"
They all turned to Aerie. She could only shake her head. "I'm sorry" she said softly, rather embarrassed to have everyone's attention fixed on her. "I never learned any complicated rune structures."
"Neither did I" Nalia added. "Runes were never my strong point."
Jaheira looked at the floor markings in question. "I know runes that have their roots in nature, but these are from a branch unknown to me."
Viconia snorted. "I'm not surprised. These are clearly runes used amongst the lower classes of Drow society. I must say that I'm mildly impressed that the human knew them, though he writes with a strange hand. He gives them an odd accent."
"Do you know what they say?"
"Of course! My house was quite eminent in Menzoberanzen for a time! It was only expected that I learn it." Viconia's voice took on a tone of pride as she spoke. "They are numbers. One...", she stepped onto one of the runes, which lit up. "Two...", she stepped toward the second, which lit up too. "Three, and four." As she stepped onto the final rune, a door opened to the side.
Valygar nodded. "Well done Drow."
Jaheira nodded as they started down some stairs. "Indeed. We shall be out of here in no time." Whistling almost cheerfully, she set the pace of the party.
At the bottom of the stairs was a door made of plain steel. The party found that it led into another great room with two doors. Taurus had expected it to be empty like the navigation room, or the antechamber. Much to his surprise, a shrill voice greeted his entrance.
"You were fools to think that you could get away with double crossing the Cowled Wizards!" Tolgerias, that arrogant wizard from the Council of Five building shrieked in rage. "You forged the path and we followed! Now you will-" His words were interrupted by Valygar, who threw his dagger at his throat. He choked on his own blood quite quickly.
Tolgerias' companion, on the other hand, was smarter. The instant the companions appeared, she triggered her preset defenses. Multiple copies of herself leaped up around her and a hard shell covered her skin. Finally, the flickering light of a defensive barrier surrounded her as she started chanting. As Tolgerias thrashed his last and the companions poured into the room, she magicked several monsters to her aid. A great wyvern screamed and beat its wings alongside a trio of ogres. A pair of kobolds gnashed their teeth and a Nishruu materialized into being.
In a matter of seconds, the bloodthirsty host outnumbered the companions. But a quick spell from Jaheira sent vines writhing through the floor, capturing the monsters where they stood.
"Well?" she yelled at Taurus, Minsc, and Valygar, "What are you waiting for? An invitation?"
"Right". Taurus attacked as the monsters began tearing themselves loose, quickly followed by Jaheira, Valygar, and a screaming Minsc. The fur (and skin) really started to fly when they hit the monsters.
The mage, meanwhile, was hurling magic missiles at the spell casters of the group. Nalia and Yoshimo had ducked behind a stack of crates against the wall, leaving Aerie and Viconia to magically defend themselves.
Yoshimo peaked his head over the crate and immediately ducked a stray arrow from a kobold. Knocking an arrow of his own to his bow, he glanced at his female companion, who was making the hand motions of a Breach spell. "Are you ready?"
Nalia bestowed a dazzling smile upon the thief. "You bet Yoshi!"
Yoshimo managed to suppress a slight blush. "Then now!"
They rose up from behind the crates at the same time. Nalia completed her Breach spell just as Yoshimo released his arrow. The spell cut down the mage's defenses as the arrow streaked to its target.
It was too slow unfortunately. Breach triggered the woman's contingency, and another Stone Skin sheathed her body just before the arrow struck. She sighted Nalia and let loose a Flame Arrow. The spell took Nalia right in the shoulder joint, burning cloth and flesh. The young noble screamed and fell. Yoshimo caught her.
The arrow distracted the mage, however. In a rare moment of cooperation, Aerie and Viconia had been sneaking around the mage, avoiding the fight for the express purpose of catching her off her guard. Which they did quite well. The first she knew of the two elves was when Viconia tackled her from behind, ruining the spell she had been casting. Then she abruptly became aware of Aerie's presence when she whacked her in the head with her staff. The mage's eyes rolled back into her head as though she was on the receiving end of a bolt of religious ecstasy. Then she toppled over onto the ground.
The summoned monsters put up some fight before they were inevitably killed. Other than Nalia the group had suffered surprisingly little damage and the thief/mage was quickly healed.
"Taurus" Aerie called out to the Crintri, who was contemplating two doors in the wall. "What should we do with the mage?"
"Kill her, I say. Or don't you have the stomach for it?" Viconia's words were cutting to Aerie, and the Avariel bristled.
"Only you would kill a helpless person while they're unconscious!"
Viconia raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what you're talking about. Therefore, I don't need to answer you."
Before they could fly at each other, Jaheira spoke up. "If you're going to come to blows over something so trivial, then just throw her in one of these crates! Gods" she muttered to herself as they (grumbling) followed her suggestion, "They're like children! Little children who both want the same cookie!"
"Boo wants to know who you're talking to."
Jaheira's eye twitched slightly. "Tell Boo that I'm talking to myself."
"Ah!" Minsc cheerfully accepted this explanation. "This is good. I often talk to myself when Boo is asleep." He looked at his friend thoughtfully. "You wouldn't happen to have a hamster, would you?"
"No."
***
"So" Nalia asked no one in particular, "Might anyone happen to know which way we go?"
Minsc frowned at each door in turn. "Minsc doesn't know." He announced. "Perhaps both doors lead the same way."
"Well what do we know?" Nalia lay out the facts. "We need to put the heart in the engine. The engine is down on this level somewhere. We have two doors facing us, behind one of which lies the engine." She paused and thought about what she said. "That doesn't really help us, does it?"
Taurus knuckled his forehead. "Okay, this is ridiculous. We won't find out until we check. So..." Before anyone could stop him, he strode over to the door on the left and yanked it open.
An icy wind rushed through the doorway, shoving Taurus back into Jaheira with great force. The druid was knocked off balance and sprawled to the floor. As the unnerving cold flooded the room, Jaheira sat up from her position on the floor and glared at Taurus.
"What in the Abyss did you get us into this time?!" she screamed over the cry of the wind. Taurus raised his hands helplessly.
"What?"
Jaheira would have continued but something behind Taurus caught her attention. The widening of her eyes warned the Crintri and he whirled around. Squinting through the blinding ice and snow that accompanied the wind, he could just barely make out a long, clawed hand reaching to grasp the frame of the door. With an ear-splitting howl, the ice troll hurled itself into the room. Bigger than its warmer-climate brethren, the beast did not hesitate in attacking the first thing it saw. Taurus.
Taurus managed to sidestep the troll's mad charge, but he was bowled off his feet by a flailing claw. The others could not help him because the beast was not alone. A pack of vicious mephits, fluttering on leathery wings rimmed with frost, swept into the room on the wake of the passing troll. Behind them was a pair of ice salamanders, spears waving menacingly. Unlike their larger brethren, who's heart resided in Valygar's pack, these lesser demons were uniquely suited to living in conditions of severe cold. They were still marked by a hatred of Prime Material dwellers, and they attacked the adventurers on sight.
Afterward, Taurus could never really remember much of the following battle. The troll seemed to have singled him out with a malicious sense of purpose and kept after him, hounding him into a corner. One great claw swept his katana from his hand as the other clutched at his body. A chilling cold seemed to radiate from the beast's body, numbing Taurus' senses and slowing his reactions. He quickly found himself shoved up against the wall, grappling with the troll hand to hand.
Desperately fighting the cold-induced lethargy, Taurus shoved back against the troll, his own great strength able to match the beast's. He thrust his hands up and caught the monster's claws three inches from his face. He stared into those blank dead eyes, waves of stench, the troll's own breath, washing over him. The Crintri jerked a leg, kicking out. Caught off balance, the troll was knocked forward into its opponent. Taurus rammed his head up into its jaw. He felt as though he had cracked his skull but the creature staggered back. Ignoring the splitting headache he would have when he had time to think, Taurus chanted his fireball spell and blew the stunned creature to ashes.
He gasped in a lungful of freezing air before he turned to the rest of the party. Valygar, Minsc, Jaheira and Yoshimo had succeeded in dealing with the rest of the ice monsters, though they had suffered injuries. Minsc had even taken frostbite where he had been stabbed and several slash wounds to his torso. Still he glared furiously about him, his weapon drawn and eager for more victims.
"Yah like that?" Lilracor snarled. "Huh? Do you want some more?!"
"Jump on my talking sword evil! I won't be as gentle!" Minsc intoned solemnly.
Jaheira hissed as she bound up her leg wound. "I don't think that Evil really cares Minsc. It will just keep on being evil until it stops."
"Then stop it I shall! With Boo to guide the way and Taurus along for the ride-"
"Minsc? Stop. Please."
It was a very cranky party that walked through the next room, made so by the fact that they all had to stand around in the freezing cold while Yoshimo searched for and disarmed traps.
When at last they exited through the far end of the room, Taurus' temper was frayed. "This had better be it!" he nearly snarled, and kicked open the door.
***
The party stood and stared at the miracle of magical engineering that loomed before them. The mass of black energy was shaped into a vaguely humanoid form, and it seemed to throb with life. Great arms jutted out to the sides, holding masses of machinery. Several holes were embedded in the mass, seeming to serve some purpose. The whole structure, or machine, or near-living being, exuded an aura of silent greatness.
Aerie, who had been impressed at the guardian golem, was awed. The thought of the sheer skill it would have taken to build something like this... It boggled the mind!
Taurus whistled. "Wow. It sure is big. Maybe it was worth going through the ice trolls just to see it. What do you suppose we do with it?"
Jaheira reached into her pack. She seemed to struggle in getting the heart; its presence to the engine seemed to agitate it. "Lavok claimed that the demon heart must be inserted into the engine. For lack of a better option." She stepped forward and thrust the heart into one of the many openings in the mass.
As the heart disappeared, nothing seemed to happen. Then, without the slightest trace of warning, the machine surged to life. Energy crackled and a high-pitched buzz set everyone's teeth on edge and the elves clapping their hands to their ears.
Then the floor lurched. Everyone was hurled to the floor in various positions of disarray. Taurus found himself flat on his back, nose to nose with Jaheira. Unable to resist, he grinned. "Wow Jahs. I never knew that you felt this way!"
The druid scowled. "Oh shut up!" She growled as she pushed herself off of her fearless leader. Said fearless leader flipped himself back onto his feet to survey the group.
No one suffered any serious injury and, apart from some queasiness, they were all fine. A quick inspection of the engine revealed it to be in totally different condition. The darkness had melted, fusing together with the machinery to form a solid piece. Every now and then some stray energy would flicker, but it was clear that the Planar Sphere had taken its last jaunt through the worlds. The only place it would be going anytime soon was the scrap heap.
Taurus whistled again. "I hope it got us where we need to be" he mused aloud. "Otherwise we are so stuck here that it's not even funny."
No one disputed his reasoning.
***
Never had the sunlight felt so warm and inviting as it did in those few seconds when the party stepped from the Planar Sphere and back onto the Prime Material Plane. Aerie just stood on the edge of the Sphere platform with her eyes closed and let the cool wind flow down her neck. She sighed in relief. "Baervan help me, it feels sooo good to be free of that Sphere."
Jaheira was in a similar state of ecstasy. "It is comforting to feel the earth beneath my feet. We were gone from home for far too long!"
Viconia laughed. "You two crack me up! A little claustrophobia never hurt anyone!"
"Actually" Yoshimo spoke up, "I had a friend who was claustrophobic. He ran afoul of the wrong people and was locked in a chest for three days. When the chest was finally opened, his corpse was apparently not pleasant to look at."
"Oh shut up!"
Taurus lay the dying necromancer upon the pavement. The old man's eyes fixed upon the blue sky above with an intensity bordering obsession. His deep wounds clearly stated that he would not last much longer.
"The sky" he rasped, blood flecking his lips. "I had almost forgotten what it looked like... You have my thanks strangers...and I wish to repay you."
Lavok lolled his head to the side, his eyes fixing upon Nalia. The redheaded mage was disconcerted, to say the least. "I sense a power within you not unlike my own. You are a mage, are you not?"
Nalia could only nod. Lavok's bloody lips smiled. "I give you...my Planar Sphere child. May you use it better than I ever did..." A rush of blood that bubbled up from his heart drowned his last words out. The necromancer spasmed once, then died beneath the open sky.
Valygar was strangely silent for several seconds after the death of his ancestors. When he spoke, his voice was full of emotion. "He is finally dead. Lavok the necromancer will no longer threaten me. But I did not expect it to be like this. Could he have actually been saved? Had I been asked the question a week ago I would have thought such redemption would have been impossible. But now I am not so sure. Perhaps I have not seen as much of the world as I had thought. Such a realization is disturbing."
Taurus could say nothing that would have any meaning. He only stood in silence and patted the ranger awkwardly on the shoulder. Valygar turned and sighed. "I thank you for your efforts, my friend. It grieves me now to leave you, but I must know the answer to my question. I truly don't know how the world works and I must find out. I'm sorry, but this is something I must do."
Taurus nodded. "There's no need to apologise. We all have things our souls demand. I wish you luck on yours."
"And I yours." Valygar nodded to Taurus, a sign of respect. Then he turned and disappeared down the street, passer-bys swallowing him up.
An hour later, the party decided that now was the time to move out. Nalia had something to say first.
"I don't think I'll be able to travel with you for a while" she explained glumly. "It's just that with this Sphere and running the keep while you're away I don't really have the time."
Minsc nodded wisely. "Responsibility is a sacred duty. To shirk it is to risk eternal damnation and many other bad things."
"Minsc is correct child" Jaheira agreed. "We shall be fine."
"Besides" Taurus added cheerfully, "We'll be dropping in so often that you'll get sick of us like that." He snapped his fingers.
Nalia smiled. "Oh I doubt that" she said as her eyes sidled toward the resident thief. "Please, I don't do goodbyes well..."
"Very well. Goodbye human. You have been nearly tolerable." Viconia turned and walked away.
Aerie laughed. "That's the nicest thing I've ever heard her say!" She hugged Nalia and wished her well before standing off and waiting for the others to bid her farewell.
It was similar for the others until she came to Yoshimo. The thief smiled. "Don't worry my lovely. It's not like we'll never see each other again." He extended his hand. Hesitantly Nalia took it. Then the gallant thief brought it to his lips and kissed it, bringing a wild blush to the mage's face.
As the group walked away from the Sphere in the slums, Taurus chatted with Jaheira. "You know, I think that Nalia's going to do well in this world. With that Sphere and whatever secrets it may have, the guys in charge will have to listen to what she says. I can just picture the reaction on their faces when she's dictating city policy."
Jaheira eyed him. "Is it anything like the look you get when you're staring at your little girlfriends?"
Taurus lowered his voice. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't say that out loud."
Jaheira smiled sweetly. "But everyone knows. You're as obvious as Nalia and Yoshimo."
Taurus frowned, puzzled. "What about Nalia and Yoshimo?"
Jaheira rolled her eyes and walked away, leaving her fearless leader to scratch his head in confusion.
***
Magicman: Done! Finally I am done! If you like this fic, then you should know that I just got Throne of Bhaal, and I'm planning on a sequal. Cool, huh? No? Obvious? Huh.
Folken: *whispers* Get to the stats...
Magicman: Oh right! In this chapter, I have enclosed Taurus' stats. Enjoy!
Taurus
Male, Half Drow
Chaotic Good
Strength: 18/76
Agility: 20
Constitution: 15
Intelligence: 17
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 14