Light Wrapped in Darkness

Magicman: I have had just about the lousiest week of my life.

Smokegirl: What did I tell you about whining to readers?

Magicman: Oh leave me alone and let me write.

Smokegirl: OH! I'm SO sorry oh great lord of the computer! Don't let me disturb your typing and creating!

Taurus awoke to the sound of Imoen's voice. It was strained and weak, but it was familiar.

"Do not fight..." it whispered through the air. "To fight...is to lose. Come to me. Find me. Within. Find me within. You cannot fight alone. You cannot. Find me within."

"Imoen? Where are you?" Taurus' cries echoed back to him flatly, mocking his distress. When he calmed down and stopped yelling he took a breath and looked around at the world he found himself in.

It was strange. He'd lived most of his life in Candlekeep, and he'd never remembered it looking so hell-bent. It looked perfectly normal though deserted, but the air was tinged with a red mist. It was like breathing blood. And it was absolutely silent.

Taurus crept through the ruins, walking slowly so as to not disturb the silence. One hand on Celestial Fury and the other on the Blade of Roses the bhaalspawn headed for the center of the library fortress where he knew the keep would lie.

Perhaps in that place of learning he would discover what was going on.

The walk through his childhood disturbed Taurus greatly, bringing back some disturbing memories. It was therefore a relief when he reached the keep.

The entrance to the great library was unguarded. Taurus reached for the door, intending to open it when a chill ran down his spine. Nervously he looked about. There was something. Something he couldn't understand, but was somehow familiar. He was nearly overwhelmed by the sensation.

The sharp voice cut through his mind like an icy wind. "Only he who gives of himself may see his own soul." The voice seemed to come from Taurus' surroundings, and at last the crintri understood. This was a reflection of his mind. And behind the doors to Candlekeep was his soul. The voice continued to speak, its message. "What price will you pay for access to your soul? Your wits? Your strength? Your speed? Your vitality?"

Once again Taurus somehow understood. He would lose a part of himself but he needed to get to his soul. Taking a deep breath, he made his choice. "I will offer my wits and the knowledge that I've acquired!"

The cutting voice seemed amused. "Very well. You will stumble in the future when the wise race ahead of you. But you will learn to live with this affliction. After all, there is much that a fool can learn that the wise cannot."

The doors opened and Taurus fell to his knees. His hands clapped to the sides of his head and he screamed as he felt a part of himself torn away forcibly.

The crintri stayed in that position for several seconds, breathing hard. Finally the pain passed. Slowly Taurus made it to his feet. He felt...strange. Dizzy. He snorted. "I'll get over it", he growled to himself. The silence seemed to mock him. Snarling quietly, he stalked through the open doors.

He found himself in the middle of the old reading room. He'd spent many hours as a child here, studying histories and magical texts at Gorion's insistence. It had enraged the priests that an abomination like him was living in their fortress, but Gorion was his patron, and he had protected the crintri as a boy. Taurus had always thought the 'abomination' the monks referred to was his union of human and drow. Later he realised they were enraged at another union entirely.

At times Imoen would join him in his studies, displaying an interest in magic that actually surpassed his own.

And now, like in the past she was waiting for him.

Her vacant eyes suddenly fixed upon Taurus before he could speak. "I...I see you there. Bring him to me...and we can win."

"Imoen..." Taurus' voice trailed off. Imoen lifted a finger to her lips, silencing him.

"Shhh" she hushed. "Before the shadows return to me. I must tell you how to beat him. Together we will battle your instinct. Together. He does not expect us together." A defiant look came upon Imoen's face. "We can beat him together. Hurry and draw the creature here. This is your only chance. And my last."

This was all Imoen would say, and nothing Taurus said or did would coax her into talking again. Dejection welling up in his heart, he turned away and once again left the building that was his home.

Sitting upon the steps of Candlekeep's library, Taurus pondered what had happened to him. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. "This doesn't make any sense!" he growled out loud. His voice echoed strangely in the silent air. "Imoen never had dreams like this. Why am I? Unless..." He paused his musing as a thought occurred to him. 'That voice told me that in that room was my soul.' He thought, musing on every word. 'Inside I find Imoen. My soul?' He thought he understood. This was not like the instinctual realizations of before, but deductive guesswork.

Somehow his consciousness had retreated from the power of Irenicus' spell. He was inside his own mind, a tumultuous place represented by this twisted version of Candlekeep. Inside the keep was his most precious possession, his soul. He'd had to surrender a part of himself just to see it. And inside he'd found Imoen. Or at least the form his soul had taken. And now she told him to lure 'the beast' to her so they would fight it.

He understood one more thing from talking with his soul. Without her, he would fall no matter how well he fought his Bhaalic instinct. He had no other choice.

Footsteps and the dull clank of heavy plate mail heralded the approach. Taurus sprang to his feet and drew his swords as the tall, demonic figure strode through the red mist. Taller than the crintri by a full two feet was a figure from Taurus' nightmares. The hateful visage sent fear rippling through his dark skin. It was Bhaal made flesh.

Or at least what Taurus always believed he would look like. Tall, broad shouldered, bloodstained armour girded to his muscled torso, a face to send demons hissing in fear. Wielding a huge saw-toothed blade in one gauntleted hand. Eyes with no depths absorbed all light, just flat and blank and expressionless like twin holes in the world.

"Fall to your knees" the apparition intoned with a powerful voice to shake the sanctuaries of the Gods themselves. "You can do no other. I am a part of you, that which comes forth when all thought and reason have been stripped away. I am your true power that lies within, that which was granted you at birth. Embrace your true self and rejoice. There is no other way."

For one moment Taurus stood frozen in one spot. Then he turned and fled back inside Candlekeep, his boots pounding wildly on the stone steps. His only thought was to escape the nightmare.

The apparition roared its fury at his retreating back. "You cannot run from yourself! You cannot defeat yourself! I am the blood! I am the instinct!" It screamed and Taurus knew he was being chased.

The crintri stopped in a panic as another figure loomed in front of him. What was it? Another demon? No. In his fear, he'd fled back to the library where his soul awaited him. Imoen watched him approach, her blue-brown eyes following his movements. They trailed back to the monster chasing him. Then she seemed to smile for the first time.

"You have done it! Now that the creature is in my sight I will show you how to make it vulnerable! Together we can beat it!"

Something in the words renewed Taurus' courage. He spun, jumping in the air as he did so, and landed in a crouch, between his soul and his instinct. The monster came on, howling and waving the demonic sword. The gentle girl watched patiently.

Taurus rushed to meet the attack, deflecting the first monstrous blow with a quick parry. Then the blade of roses snaked toward his opponent's face, scoring a scratch over the instinct's right eye, drawing first blood.

This first wound seemed to surprise the monster. It touched one massive armoured finger to the wound almost gently. Then it looked down upon Taurus. The eyes could show no emotion, but Taurus got the impression that the thing was curious. "I am the instinct, yet you deny me?" The voice too was less powerful and more curious than before. "You fight me within your own mind? I should devour you. How could you stand?"

Then it saw Taurus' soul for the first time. "I sense your soul. It has taken form to guide from within. You are indeed strange among your kin."

"I'm full of surprises", Taurus snarled, ready for another attack. Then a sudden wave of weakness came over him, so powerful it nearly made him swoon.

"But it...it is weak and will not help again!" The Bhaal monster spoke again, this time triumph in its voice. "There is nothing within now! Nothing but the instinct!"

Terror came over Imoen's face and her body went rigid. "Something is wrong. No...not again! Not again!" Then, just as she screamed Taurus lost consciousness again.

Taurus awoke, his head still ringing with that scream. He clutched his temples and hissed in pain. An arrogant voice mocked his weakness. "Well you are a strong one indeed. You resist beyond all reason. A pity you are dead on the inside."

The first thing that struck Taurus was that something was different about Irenicus. Before he'd started his...experiment, the wizard's face had been an emotionless mask of dried skin and hollow eyes. Now the skin was still dry, but the eyes flickered with life. The cracked lips spread in a smirk. Now the madman looked alive.

A wave of sudden and inexplicable fear swept over him. Something had happened while he was unconscious and struggling in his mind. "What happened?" he hissed. "What did you do to me?"

"I have no idea what you faced in the dream, but on the real side my plans have proceeded. My spell worked. I have taken your divinity and drained you of your soul."

Now Taurus understood why the Imoen of his dream had screamed in terror. She had been torn from his body. Now that he was aware of it, he could actually feel the hole in himself where his soul once was. He slammed his fist into the wall of his prison again. "Damn you! I'll kill you!"

Irenicus ignored his railings and turned to his sister. "Bhodi remove this nothing and his friends. Imoen too. We are restored at their expense and our revenge to come will be all the sweeter."

The vampire lounged on a couch in a corner of the room. She grinned with her wickedly pointed teeth. "As you would have it brother dear."

"Indeed. I will tell our friends in the dark of our coming. We will plan our assault from here." Irenicus glanced back over his shoulder idly. "I bid you farewell child of Bhaal. We shall not meet again."

Bhodi sat on the stone edifice in the center of the maze, watching as Taurus and his colleagues revived once again. She'd had to put them in a magical sleep before dragging them from their prison cells. The Bhaal spawn was the last one to wake up. At his furious glare filled with hatred, her black heart beat faster. It had been sometime since her prey had given any challenge.

"And so we come to the end. A shame really. You have proven very resourceful. I like that. Very much." She grinned and ran a hand through her blackened hair.

Taurus snarled and surged to his feet. Only their distance in altitude kept him from going at her with his bare hands. "Just hurry up and get it over with already!"

Bhodi tutted. "Come now, where would the fun be in that? If I were to kill you I'd prefer you to be entertaining first. Wouldn't that be much better than just dying?"

"Oh really? And what makes you think I'd perform for you?"

"Because all is not lost for you. Yet."

Taurus frowned. "What do you mean?"

Bhodi stood, gesturing grandly at the surrounding tunnels and corridors. "Consider where you are. This is the darkest part of the asylum and its history. A maze of madness and chaos, designed by a coordinator who delighted in the dissection of the mind. You will have to run the gauntlet, knowing that you have but the slimmest chance for survival and victory. But it's not just for my benefit. I find that a motive makes the chase more exciting. In your case, you just might get back your soul."

"Okay, you have my attention."

"I thought I might. Irenicus' plans are in motion but hey will take time to complete. Just enough time for me to hunt." She smiled again and ran her tongue across her teeth. "If I find you, you're dead. If you break out, you are free to go. And make sure to enjoy yourself! Life is too short for worry and fret." Laughing, Bhodi transformed into a bat and swooped off into the darkness.

"Taurus!"

The crintri turned to see those approaching. His friends and companions. He hadn't thought to see them again. And in the lead of the small group was his...sister.

Imoen threw her arms around Taurus neck, so excited to see him was she. "Oh Taurus, I'm sorry! You came all this way to get me and..."

Taurus hugged her back, tears tugging at his eyes. "Never mind me" he managed thickly. "How are you? What did they do to you?"

Imoen pulled back and studied his face, as Taurus studied hers. Her strawberry-coloured hair was a little longer and filthy, her face was a bit gaunter, and there was a small scar over one eye, which no longer sparkled with youthful exuberance. But she was alive, and that was all that mattered.

"I'm alright I guess" she said. "Though I doubt I'll stay that way for long since we're...the same. Oh Taurus." She hugged him tighter. "He showed me what we are. Then he took it away and gave it to his bitch of a sister. I've been getting weaker since, and it's only been a few days."

"We'll get him Imoen. He won't get away from us."

"I hope so. I've missed traveling with you, you know. Even when the times were hard."

Taurus smiled. Old memories filled his thoughts. "I've missed you too...sis."

Imoen smiled too. "It sounds right, you know."

"Ahem?" Jaheira coughed loudly. "I know you two are eager to catch up on years of missed sibling interaction but can't it wait until we've left this nightmare behind? It's such a small request, you know."

Taurus started to laugh when a spear of agony jabbed into his heart. He fell to the stone floor clutching his chest and gasping for breath. It felt like his heartbeat was tearing him apart on the inside. Dimly, he was aware of hands holding him up. Gradually the pain subsided, but far too slowly for his liking.

"Whoa! Just stop for a moment Taurus." Imoen said, concerned. "You look a little peaked there."

Minsc nodded in agreement. "Minsc would not say anything, but Boo noticed it too. Perhaps we should wait for a little before continuing."

Taurus grinned shakily. "I'm just fine. It's nothing at all."

The looks on Jaheira and Viconia's faces were eloquent, but it was Aerie who expressed them.

"Nothing my ass!" the blonde elf screamed. "You were in real pain there! I won't let you kill yourself trying to stop that madman. If you die too then it will all have been for nothing. So just can the macho act and let us help you, because you're not fooling anyone!"

The others kind of sidled away from Aerie as she glared furiously at Taurus. "Now you are going to allow the others to do most of the fighting while you recover. You will also let me know whenever one of these pain spells hits you, got me?"

Taurus nodded slowly, not daring to talk. "Good" Aerie growled as she knelt beside him. "Now let me see what I can do."

Jaheira glanced at Viconia. The drow woman scowled. "Don't give me that look! I'm just as surprised as you are. Granted it's a good surprise. I'm quite pleased that she's become so self-confident."

"Hey Vicky! Get over here and lend a hand!"

Viconia scowled. "Though I may have to fight to not strangle her." Jaheira just snickered as she walked away.

Magicman: There we go. Immie is saved and they're all locked up in the lunatic's dungeon. Next time we see how they roam around and about.

Imoen: Finally! It took them long enough.

Taurus: What can I say? Getting your soul stolen slows you down some.

Imoen: Tell me about it.