However, while uploading and fiddling on the second chapter I discovered that the layout of the first (and probably the second) chapter was screwed up by messing around with the paragraphs, etc. probably making it difficult to read. I tried to fix it, hopefully it works. Sorry for the inconvenience.
But now, back to the tale!
Chapter 2: Expectations and Disappointments
The boat travelled slowly through the water, Cavallas nowhere to be seen. At the railing at the front of the boat Chathi stood, entertaining thoughts of the battles to come.
She thought of the other tiefling, Valen, and how he would fit in all of this. He didn't trust her, that much was obvious. But would his distrust play a major role in future battles? What would happen if she would be engaged in a heated fight and her defences toward him were only minor? She didn't like the thought of having this huge flail of his meeting with her head. How could she trust someone so obsessed with her infernal heritage?
She shook her head, trying to free herself from these disturbing thoughts. The Seer send her on this quest and she send Valen as well. The priestess must had been sure that Valen would not kill her, else this trip was destined to fail. But what if the Seer wanted to see Chathi dead? No. If she wanted to get rid of the ranger, there were several other methods. But why was this Valen so annoyed about her heritage? She wasn't bothered by his abyssal side. Not in the slightest. When she first saw him, standing in her door, she even was pleasantly surprised. She had never seen another one of her kind. Even now she wanted so desperately talk to him, ask him everything about his past life. Where was he born? In Mulhorand, as well? In Thay even? Maybe he was born into slavery and fled in a heroic escape, slaying dozens of Red Wizards, freeing as many other tieflings as he could.
She glanced at the warrior standing on the other side of the boat. He sure looked capable of such a heroic act, with his shining green armour and his proud behaviour. Yes, there was something proud and honourable about him, how he stood there, tall and straight. Much different then herself.
With a sigh, she went back to her fantasies. It even was possible that he wasn't from the old empires in the east of Faerûn at all. A distant country, perhaps? Or even another plane? That would be very interesting. How would he be, growing up in another plane than the material? Did he came from the Abyss? No, she couldn't imagine that. However, if he was part demon, he had a huge advantage when it would come to a fight with an arch devil. Compared to her, at least.
Behind her, she heard slow footsteps on the deck. "We are almost there," Valen said, coming to a halt to her right.
Chathi wanted to say something, but nothing came to her mind. It was blank. Somehow she felt very uncomfortable in his presence. If her fantasy concerning Valen and the freeing of other tiefling slaves proved to be true, he was pretty much different from her. She, who never freed anyone.
"If the Maker is still alive, we will meet a powerful, magic-wielding adversary."
Chathi nodded.
"Hopefully you are prepared for this kind of fight." Valen stared down at her, his eyes two pools of whirling blue. Chathi felt very much absorbed by his stare.
"I have fought sorcerers before." She finally replied weakly. Her last encounter with a wizard, however, came to a fatal result. Being here, in the Underdark, was enough proof to her. "Are there many wizards and sorcerers where you came from?" she mumbled quickly, still replying his stare, hoping he did not understand her.
"That depends which place you mean. Where I was born? Where I stayed the last years?"
He understood her. Damn. With a shrug, the ranger tore her look from Valen's, turning around and slowly walked away. "It doesn't matter," she said over her shoulder, not daring to look back.
Valen just stood there, looking quite puzzled, mustering the ranger leaving the boat.
She was smaller than he, smaller and thinner. Almost fragile, he mused. How she was able to fight properly, he could only wonder. Her light lavender-coloured hair shimmered slightly in the faint glow which spent the only light down here. It was so pale, only her skin was paler. The bluish-black fabric of her light armour was a stark contrast compared to her skin and her. And what was that with all the spikes protruding from the shoulder-pads, bracers and boots? It sure let her look a bit vicious. Not to mention her glowing red eyes.
Valen shuddered slightly. She reminded him of a vampire.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The boat landed some minutes after their short conversation. When Chathi, Valen and Fah left for the island, Cavallas already stood on land, staring into emptiness. Chathi didn't even bother asking him where he had been during the trip. Valen was right. Cavallas was a strange creature and she felt on the safer side when avoiding him altogether.
She looked around. There wasn't much to see, only rocks, stony walls and some cliffs. Between two sharp, pointed rocks she could make out a slope heading slightly upwards. Despite that, there was nowhere else to go. She went into a crouch, searching for tracks on the dusty ground. If there were any, the heat of them was already gone, leaving nothing for her to see with her darkvision. She nudged Fah in the side. "Go and look around if you find something." With a low growl the leopard sped of and got out of sight in moments.
"There is not much where that one can hide." Valen remarked, his eyes following the leaving leopard.
He was right, Chathi knew. But at least Fah was silent and it didn't matter that the pattern of her fur was quite noticeable in this grey surroundings. There was no light down here, only darkness and the heat, which most creatures living in the Underdark could see with the help of darkvision.
"She will return soon, I am sure. Fah is quite capable." But still, she took her longbow from her back. "You should be prepared, however. Just in case."
With a grim nod, he took the flail from his belt and readied himself.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They waited. Minutes passed and Chathi got quite anxious. There was no sign of Fah and the nervous movements coming from Valen's tail made her left eye twitch. Normally, Fah would not let herself catch that easily.
"Do you know just how big this island is?" she asked without looking at Valen.
He shrugged. "I've never been here. But islands in the Underdark usually are not that big. Are you worried?" There was a kind of mischievous tone in his voice, but Chathi ignored it. She truly was worried about her faithful leopard. The tail of Valen lashed from one side to the other. It looked playful to Chathi, which confused her.
"What's the matter with you?" she asked, slightly annoyed. He didn't listen, focusing on something else, which annoyed her even more. "Hey, I am talking to you!" Still, Valen didn't react. Breathing heavily she took four angry steps toward him, shoving him hard. "I am talking to you and I expect an answer!" she cried, her red eyes glowing fiercely. In response, Valen quickly put a gloved hand over her mouth, motioning to her to be quiet without looking at her. With her free hand she grasped his tightly, clawing at it. Within a moment his face was very close to hers.
"Be quiet, devil, just for a moment" he hissed. Chathi stopped clawing at his hand, staring furiously at the warrior. "I've heard something coming our way. Ready yourself." His hand was gone in an instant and Valen lifted his flail. Shaking the anger from her, Chathi raised her bow, aiming at the darkness without pulling the string.
There was silence for some moments, neither of them daring to breathe. Then, suddenly, something flashed to the right. Chathi whirled around, her fingers tugging slightly at the string. But she released instantly when she saw Fah padding toward her.
"Fah!" she gasped, lowering her bow, kneeling down and embracing the leopard in a tight hug. To her left, Valen relaxed at the sight of the huge cat, but still he listened into the darkness.
"Had she seen something?" he asked with a doubtful look.
"A moment," Chathi mumbled, then she fell into spellcasting. Her right hand glowed in a faint light and she touched her throat with it. Valen watched her, listening to her while she talked to the leopard in an animalistic tongue he would never understand. After a minute the ranger stood up again and put her bow back.
"You're able to cast spells? I thought you are a ranger." He wondered, staring at her glowing throat.
"Rangers receive some spells from nature, compared to divine spells. They are only of minor power and I don't know much of them. But they are quite helpful, especially in the wilds. And if you want to talk to animals. Even you can have a talk with Fah." The edges of her mouth curled upwards to a smile, revealing two very sharp and pointed teeth. To Valen, she looked like a vampire again. He felt a chill running down his spine.
"There is an encampment of duergars up the hills behind some tall rocks. The have weapons and look capable of battle, but some of them seem to be merchants. According to Fah they are not hostile altogether, but I think we should kill them nevertheless. Duergar is duergar. I don't want them to get in our way when we're looking for the Maker." While she talked Chathi took her weapons from her belt. A finely crafted khophesh appeared in her right hand with a golden blade and a plain hilt; it looked like a longsword but about a foot from the hilt the blade suddenly turned sickle-shape. From a sheath at the back of her belt she took a black-bladed shortsword, the blade bearing sharp edges, like teeth. It looked like it was able to tear pieces of skin and flesh from its opponent with every slash.
An evil weapon, Valen mused. Fitting perfectly. "I do not think we should kill them without even talking to them."
Chathi turned back, looking puzzled. "They are evil and they deserve death." The words sounded as if it was an obvious fact.
"I would say the same about you, but still I put my suspicions aside and attempt to look behind your façade." If it could, his voice would drip with acid.
Chathi raised a brow, tapping the blade of her khophesh against her the side of her boot. "Well, that's a very nice thing to say. Thank you." The irony was unmistakable. "So you intend that we have a nice chat with them. Maybe they even offer us some tea."
"What I try to say is that even the duergar will fall before the Valsharess. Perhaps there is a way of making them allies."
Well, that seemed plausible. Even to Chathi. The tapping of blade against boot stopped and with a quiet sigh she nodded. "You're right. Let us talk to them, first."
Sheathing her weapons she started for the slope, not even looking back to make sure that Valen followed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"No."
"But why?" Chathi cried. "She is your enemy as well!"
The duergar female defensively raised her hands, palms toward the tieflings. "We don't want to fight against the Valsharess and her army. She did not threaten us."
Valen smiled grimly. "And of course once she rules all the Underdark she still wouldn't bother with the likes of you."
Chathi nodded. "You're awfully naïve, grey dwarf."
The dwarven female only shrugged. "There is no way I would ally myself with drow. Or tieflings, for that matter."
Chathi sighed. Once again here heritage came into her way. "Listen, foolish dwarf. At least we know when we have to fight. If you find a hole you might fit in, fine. But when we will lose against the Valsharess, I make sure I survive until I find you, wherever you hide. And then prepare to die. Because you will do so at the end of my blades." Her voice was barely audible, just a hissing whisper only she and the duergar could hear. The dwarven woman paled visibly, but Chathi couldn't see it anymore. She turned around and stomped away.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Valen caught up with her only moments after their confrontation with the duergar. Chathi was angry, that much was obvious to him. She cursed under her breath, stabbing at the air with her shortsword. He hesitated for a moment, but then he placed his hand on her right shoulder, bringing her to a halt, turning her around. Her face was crunched up in anger, few tears in her glowing red eyes.
"These damn cowards!" she burst out, whipping away the tears with the back of her hand. "Instead of arming themselves and fighting, they pretend and close their eyes! Shame on them!" With a hiss she bared her teeth. Valen saw that not only two, but four of her teeth were so sharp and pointed. Like the fangs of a wild animal.
"This is the way of the duergar." He stated, staring at her teeth. It was mesmerizing. Indeed, no tiefling looked like another. Her horns were completely different and she had no tail. "They are a band of rogues, striking from behind and allying with no one." The warrior paused a moment. "Just like the drow." He completed, grinning awkwardly.
Chathi shook her head, her hands clenched to tight fists. "What's the point in fleeing from an enemy? Even if he is stronger than you, you have to raise your sword and fight to death. If you are frightened, you have not only lost your fight, but yourself as well. I would never flee from battle." With a flinch she suddenly went silent, her mouth shut. She looked stricken, as if there was something she did not tell, or if her words reminded her of something.
Valen looked down at her, surprised that she had some sense of pride and honour in her. He didn't expect that. But the fact that she stopped talking abruptly made him ponder. Maybe there was more up with her than it seemed at first.
To his surprise, Valen found himself quite intrigued with the hidden facets of her. But the prejudices concerning her heritage were strong. For the moment, he decided to leave her be, watching her every step.
Meanwhile, Chathi calmed herself. There was no useless anger needed here. They were already in sight of the door to the Maker's place, according to Fah's scouting. Better to be calm and reasonable, she thought.
"Please, Valen, let us go. Time is pressing and I ache for leaving this island full of cowards." Her voice sounded as if she was in pain and Valen obeyed without complaint. She was right and he knew it just too well.
Dead duergar lay on the ground between remnants of destroyed golems. It was dark and dusty, the air was still and thick. Obviously, the Maker was already dead. Even duergar did not live forever.
Chathi silently went to the corpse of a duergar rogue, gazing down at him. "Serves you right, dying in a dark place at the hands of a stupid construct." She kicked the corpse in a sudden burst of anger, not only once, but twice. Watching her, Valen's sinewy tail unconsciously twitched. Then, without another word, the ranger kneeled down beside the corpse.
"What are you doing?" Valen demanded, stepping up behind her, looking over her shoulder. He grimaced when he saw her, ruffling through the pouches of the dead rogue. "You don't loot him, do you?" He asked, not believing what she did.
"Whatever he has, he doesn't need it anymore." Valen caught her slipping some coins into her belt pouch. Maybe he erred concerning his former thoughts of Chathi having some sense of honour.
"Look," she said, holding something up, "this is something we might need. He certainly doesn't." It was a vial filled with a violet liquid. Chathi popped it open, nipping at it. "Tastes like almond. Might be a potion of invisibility. I once had a pink potion of invisibility that tasted like almond." She stared into emptiness, pondering a moment. "That was in Halruaa, if I remember correctly. They make good potions there. Crazy wizards." With a shake of her head in disgust she got back to her feet, putting the vial into her potion belt. "I hope there aren't any more golems. If this would be the case, I need a new weapon."
"Why is that so?" Valen asked uninterested, he already knew the answer.
"You need blunt weapons to fight golems properly. I have blades. They won't be of any use. Against flesh golems, maybe, but not against the ones made of stone or iron."
"Maybe we'll find one down here." Valen replied, walking past the ranger.
There was a complex to explore.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
For minutes and minutes they walked in silence, opening doors and exploring the hallways. Here and there Chathi rummaged through chests, drawers and desks, taking coins, potions or other things she found and thought useful. There was no golem to be seen.
In a fairly large room they found a maul which Chathi took, sensing a minor enchantment on it. She hoped it would help against stone or iron golems.
More than once they encountered destroyed golems made of clay and stone. The two tieflings examined some of them but after a time they stopped looking at them, continuing on their way.
In one room, they finally found a strange device consisting of levers and a control mechanism. Besides that, the room was empty but one of the largest they had seen until now.
"It seems the Maker was also a craftsman." Valen quipped before he walked to the control mechanism, there he bent over and inspected the metallic plate on the side of the desk it was put on.
"Mages are the weirdest people," Chathi mumbled, busying herself with the levers, "I heard of Red Wizards of Thay who developed a machine that could swim under water. Just climb inside, pull the right levers and you can dive as deep as you want to." She pulled a lever without thinking about it. With a strange, flashing sound a huge, glowing number appeared in the air above the control mechanism.
Valen jumped at the sound, staring at Chathi. "What have you done?" he asked frantically, looking around.
"It seems you are number one, Valen." She said with a smirking, pointing at the number now floating above Valen's head. The other tiefling looked up and snorted.
"You shouldn't play around with these things." He scolded her, turning back to his inspection.
Chathi pouted mockingly, strolling toward him and went into a crouch next to him. "You are a spoilsport. No fun for the devils." She complied, examining Valen's tail.
"You aren't a devil. Well, at least not fully." The man replied instantly. Then, as if he was caught off guard by his own words, he stopped his work and stared at Chathi with wide eyes. "What have I just said?" he asked in a slightly terrified manner, holding his breath.
"You said your tail is itching and you wish someone would just cut it off." Her voice was dry, without the joking tone Valen hoped for. Suddenly she unsheathed that black shortsword of hers and sprang for his tail, the dark blade glooming menacingly.
"STOP THAT!" Valen shouted, jumping back from her, tugging his tail tightly against his right leg.
Chathi just stood there, shortsword in hand, a mischievous grin on her face. Her eyes gleamed. "What do you think you're doing?" The warrior asked terrified, taking a step backwards, than reaching for his flail.
For a moment, neither of them moved. Then, all of a sudden, Chathi offered him a broad grin and then chuckled quietly, her red eyes glowing with laughter. "Relax," she said while she put the shortsword back into its sheath, "'tis was just a joke!" Her chuckle rose into a laughter, even bending her forward, forcing her to hold her stomach.
Valen's arms went slack, his eyes were wide open and he just couldn't believe what happened a moment ago. Several times his mouth opened and shut again, no words coming out. He was utterly confused and didn't know what to say. Finally, when Chathi stopped her irritating laughter, words came out of his mouth. "You are the strangest woman I've ever met." With that, he turned around and went to the mechanism.
Chathi straightened herself and walked toward him. "So tell me, what have you found out?"
Valen did not dare touching the controls, instead he scratched his head and looked at the woman. "I've seen things like that back in Sigil." He said.
"Sigil? What is that?" Chathi asked, not understanding.
"That's where I was born," he replied.
"You are not from Thay?" Mentally, Chathi erased her former fantasies about Valen born into slavery. She'd never heard of a place called Sigil.
"I don't even know where Thay is." Valen answered, to which Chathi just shrugged, signalling him that it didn't really matter.
"Does it mean that you know what to do with that thing?" She pointed at the mechanism.
Valen opened his mouth, scratched his head again and went silent for moment. "No." He said finally, defeated.
"Well then," Chathi remarked, taking the maul she found previously. "I prefer dealing with things I don't know of like this." The maul came down on the controls, smashing the panel, which resulted in tiny lightning bolts erupting from the mechanism.
Valen flung his arms upwards, shielding his face from the shattered pieces flying around, not believing what was happening here. "You destroyed it!" he cried, closing his eyes when a painfully bright bolt of light flashed past his face.
"Indeed I did." The ranger replied, obviously pleased with what she had done.
"What if it was important?" Valen asked, his arms back down, anger creeping into his eyes.
Chathi just shrugged. "I haven't thought about that possibility."
Valen's eyes bulged, his pale face reddening slightly with rage. "Damn, are you stupid wom---" he stopped instantly when he caught a glimpse of light in the corner of his sight. Behind them Fah growled powerfully, leaping forward and past the two tieflings, crashing mightily against something fleshy. Without another word Valen grabbed his flail and ran to the leopard, looking down.
It seemed the destroying of the mechanism resulted in the teleportation of a flesh golem into the room. Fah had pinned it down on the floor and bitten through the neck of the construct.
"Well, it seems we are not alone here." Valen stated, at which Chathi only gulped.