Author's notes: Chapter number five took quite a long time to write AND to upload. The chapter itself was finished on Tuesday, but the uploading took me until today because of the flu and problems with connecting to the internet. For this, I'd like to apologize. I hope the next chapters won't need this long.
This one is quite a long chapter with a lot of fights between Chathi and Valen. It also contains a dramatic turn of events that is needed for the further story. I have to say that Chathi was not a character I played Shadows of Undrentide with and thus she never went to Master Drogan's school and never ever saw the Plane of Shadows. So you might stumble over a little problem here. However, I'm working on it and it will all turn out right in the end. I hope.
Again, I have to thank you for your reviews (especially Chrysanine, I am always happy to read your ones. You think so much about Chathi and that makes me happy.). But now back to the tale itself. Thank you for reading!

Chapter 5: Fury

"Then it is the island with the strange town you will explore next. Nathyrra, you'll join Valen and Chathi this time, right?" The Seer gave Nathyrra a questioning look, but the drow assassin nodded in agreement.

"Of course. There is no reason for me to stay behind. And I am pretty sure, they can need my help." She grinned at Valen, giving him a wink.

"So it is set." The Seer smiled gently. "Tomorrow you will leave. Cavallas' boat will be in port and ready for you. I arrange that there will be no other duties he must attend to. Just prepare yourself and rest until your leave."

"What about Chathi?" Valen asked softly, scratching his chin. He wore no armour but a comfortable tunic. "Do you think she will come back? She surely looked quite angered when she left earlier. Maybe she betrays us?"

The Seer vehemently shook her head. "No! I am very sure that she is loyal to our cause. There is no doubt. I sense it every time she is near. Do not worry, my dear Valen. She will be back before tomorrow. There is nowhere she might go to."

Valen lowered his gaze. "She is an unstable character." He muttered almost inaudible. "Sometimes I think she might be an honourable warrior and I even feel a slight respect towards her. But mostly I have the feeling that everything she does is purely wrong." His hand came upwards and he rubbed his eyes. Then, so quietly that only the Seer who sat next to him could her it, he said: "She is so much different than me."

The priestess thought for a moment on the discussed matter, than she bade Nathyrra and Imloth to leave the room. She wanted to talk to Valen in private and the two other drow understood, walking out of the door. Then it was silent for some minutes. Neither of them spoke, both lost in their own thoughts. At last, the Seer put one hand on Valen's left forearm, squeezing it gently.

"You have feared since your first meeting with Chathi that she is the opposite of you. But on the other side, you hope that she might be a good one, just like you. Sharing your morals and opinions."

Valen only nodded with a small sigh.

"Did you hope to find a companion in her? Someone who can help you proving that tieflings aren't evil by nature?"

To this, Valen shrugged. "I do not know. But how I wish that I would."

The hand on his forearm caressed his skin. He felt comfortable. Like he always did in the company of the drow priestess. If Chathi would dare hurting the Seer, he would punish her with death.

"Valen…" her soft voice got his attention and he looked at her. "We know how deities and powerful beings like to corrupt your kind. How they enjoy twisting tieflings around their fingers. But we do not know what happened in Chathi's past. I doubt that she is corrupted to the bones. However, I suspect that seeds of evil were planted into her heart in her heart long ago. It must be hard for her, with so much mayhem around her. Be patient, Valen. Even she will find her path to wander."

For a moment, the silence came back to the room. Then Valen broke it. "She killed her father with his own sword."

The Seer didn't flinch, showing no reaction at all. "How do you know of that?"

"She told me when we left the Isle of the Maker. She turned the blade of her father into an unholy, twisted weapon. I don't have any hopes left concerning her."

The drow female wanted to reply to his words, but then Nathyrra barged into the room.

"I apologize for disturbing your discussion, Mother Seer, but there is news of Chathi. Important news!"

With a nod and a movement of her slender, dark hand, the Seer bade Nathyrra to tell.

"We have word that Chathi killed the matron mother of house Maeviir almost one hour ago. Everyone in Lith My'athar is talking about it. Zesyyr clamed leadership of the house."

"Impossible!" Valen cried out, rising from his chair abruptly and knocking it over in the process. "This cannot be! How dare she!"

"Stay quiet." The Seer advised in her usual, calm manner. Valen went silent immediately, snapping his mouth shut. "Is this information confirmed?"

Nathyrra nodded. "Chathi is on her way to the temple. She might arrive every minute. One of the guards will lead her to you directly."

The priestess nodded, motioning for Nathyrra and Valen to sit down again. Some minutes later, the door went open again and a guard led Chathi into the room.

The ranger looked quite content and pleased with herself. A wide smile was plastered on her face and her eyes twinkled with something Valen could not lay his fingers on. Chathi walked to the Seer and bowed before her. If she had been enraged before, there was no sign of it now.

"My lady, I have news you might be interested to hear. Zesyyr Maeviir hired my services in order to assassinate her mother. She posed a threat to your cause and thus I eliminated her. Zesyyr proved to be the loyal one in this matter." Her smile disappeared from her face and the twinkle in her eyes was gone. "However, I do not like interfering with the affairs of the drow."

The Seer looked at the female tiefling, unsure what to say. Not like Valen who pointed his finger at Chathi accusingly. "Then why have you done that, fool? Do you think the death of a matron mother would be of any help to us? You say you do not like mingling with drow affairs but still you do so? Where's the logic in that?" His voice became agitated and Chathi backed away from him a step.

"She was weak! She would have betrayed us to the Valsharess! I just did what was right!" Her voice was agitated as well and the step she took back moments ago she took forward now.

"What fool are you to decide what is right and what not? You know nothing of the way of the drow but still you dare to kill a matron mother! What of her soldiers and the members of her house? They won't fight on our side now!" Valen emphasized his words with the fist of his right hand slamming down on the table. Nathyrra flinched heavily but the Seer remained calm, following the dispute of the two tieflings with interest.

"You know nothing!" Chathi yelled, shaking her head. "What do you think of yourself, judging the state of my mind without knowing the facts? Most of the members of house Maeviir are loyal to Zesyyr, the numbers of those who were against her are few and are fewer now. You accuse me of being wrong and call me a few, but you are just being led by your ill temper and your envy, you worthless half-demon. I pity you, because you pretend to be something you aren't."

Valen's eyes went wide and his mouth opened, but now words came out. When there was no response from him, Chathi snarled at him with a hiss.

"Enough!" the Seer rose from her chair and got their attention in an instant. The expression on her face was a sad one, but she still looked strong and determined. "Please, be quiet. Both of you. Accusing each other won't help us at all. What's done is done and there is no way to unmake it happen. If it is true that most of the Maeviir soldiers were loyal to Zesyyr, then maybe Chathi was right. The matron mother always was reluctant to join us and the alliance with her was a weak one. Only the future will tell us which decision was right. Just let us hope that the one Chathi made today wasn't the wrong one." She sighed and sat down again. Valen didn't release Chathi from his intense stare and neither did she. Nathyrra and the Seer knew that they continued their battle in silence.

"Chathi, Valen, please sit down. I beg you!" The voice of the priestess was strong and forcing. Without resistance, the two tieflings took a seat and the Seer nodded pleased. "Let us put the matter of house Maeviir aside. There is no time for that now. Chathi," she turned her head towards the ranger, addressing her directly, "you, Valen and Nathyrra will go to the island with the strange town tomorrow. Still, we have much to do and much to prepare. This trip will be the last you will make by boat. After that, Nathyrra located some more places you might want to go to."

Chathi looked at Valen, nodding her agreement. "Will Valen willingly join us?"

"Valen might join you willingly." The warrior replied dryly. It was obvious he didn't join the joke.

"Then, with your approval I will retreat to my room. Though I need a bath as well, but that is another matter."

The Seer nodded to her with a faint smile. "You may go, Chathi. I will see to your plead for a bath. You will be fetched tomorrow, when the time is right. Now rest, your day was tiring, I am sure."

With a nod and a low bow Chathi retreated to the room, leaving the Seer, Valen and Nathyrra to themselves.

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Two hours later there was a knock at Chathi's door. Clad only in a thin tunic she found in the dresser of her room she walked to the door and opened it. A female drow in a light robe greeted her and told her that she prepared a bath for her, asking her to follow. With a brief look at Fah, who was curled up on the ground next to the bed and quite asleep, Chathi stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her. The female, who was so very beautiful like most of the drow, led Chathi through a maze of halls and stairs leading down to a small room with a quadratic pool in the middle. The floor of the room was covered in mosaics, the pool was filled with clean water and some kind of scented oil. The air was thick with the scent of spices and the fairy fires on the walls glowed in a dark green light. Some items like soap and washing cloths were arranged on the edge of the pool, large towels hang on a hook on the wall. It obviously was a bathing chamber and the drow bade Chathi to enter it. After the ranger thanked her, she left with a bow.

Chathi stood at the door for some moments, smelling the rich odour of the scented oil. She became quite light-headed and felt a bit of happiness washing over her. Without a second thought she stepped out of her tunic and into the hot water. It felt good to her and her strained muscles, though the wound at her back, where the flaming arrow of the Maker hit her, gave her a stinging pain. It was bearable and she sank deeper into the water, closing her eyes and relaxing herself.

Her mind drifted away, away from her dispute with Valen, from the deed she did for Zesyyr Maeviir, from everything concerning the drow and the Valsharess. She thought about Sigil and what Valen had told her. With her lively fantasy she made an attempt to imagine this most wondrous city, but though she thought of the most wonderful buildings and creatures she knew that she was far from the truth. Maybe Valen would tell her more of it later.

Valen. His picture appeared before her inner eye and she looked closely at it. He seemed so sure of himself and his actions. All the time he acted if he knew exactly what he does. And what the consequences would be. Unlike her. There was so much she was afraid of. Every move she made was followed by the fear she did something wrong. All her life she obeyed to the orders of others and didn't have to concern herself with the consequences of her actions. Well, except for the day she killed her father and her step-mother. And when she fled to the Dragonsword Mountains. But ever since she has come to the Sword Coast she did everything on her own accord. A fairly new situation for her.

Chathi let herself sank under the water for some moments, enjoying the silence underwater. Then she came back, breathed air and loosed her hair that was plastered on her head. She wore it short since the day she found home in the Dragonsword Mountains. It was much more comfortable for her. She learned her lesson when her long hair became entangled with the string of her bow when she first practised fighting with a ranged weapon.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips. Now it seemed so long ago that she left her homeland, Mulhorand. How she longed to see the desert plains of this country again. But she was trapped in the Underdark, bound to a cause she knew nothing about. Well, it didn't really matter. The geas forced her to defeat the Valsharess. And the fact that she found help in the person of the Seer made her feel better. Tomorrow will bring the exploration of the island with this newly appeared town.

Chathi reached for the soap bar and the washing cloth.

She certainly was anxious when she thought of the next day.

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"What do you know of Cavallas, Nathyrra?" Chathi stared at the passing water below her, asking her question without much interest. They entered the boat of the mysterious boatman earlier that day, after a small breakfast in the room of the Seer and a brief conversation with the priestess. Valen didn't speak to her at all and Nathyrra made small attempts of conversation. Already an hour passed since they had entered the boat and still no sign of the island.

"Nothing. Even less than Valen. If you are that interested in Cavallas, you should ask him."

"I wouldn't do that. I am not that desperate, thank you."

Nathyrra gave her a small smile. "Is it because of your heated argument yesterday?"

Chathi nodded, still not looking at Nathyrra. This whole conversation bored her and she just waited for the boat to arrive at the island.

"You should go and speak with him, Chathi. It won't help if you two are brooding and moody all the time. I bet he already is sorry about what he said to you yesterday."

The ranger let her arms dangle over the rail. "I am not sure if I want to do that. Heh, I just wish he would stay in Lith My'athar. It seems that he hates me for taking him with me."

To her right, Nathyrra stepped and put her hands on the rail, looking far. "The Seer bade him to do so. He won't hate you for that. If the Seer would tell him to jump the river Styx he would do so without thinking twice. That is his nature."

Chathi turned her head a bit towards Nathyrra, a spark of interest in her. "Uhm… Nathyrra?"

The drow tore her gaze from the things she watched and directed it towards the tiefling. "What is it?"

For a moment, Chathi said nothing. But then she opened her mouth and spoke again. "Are… the Seer and Valen… uhh… well.." She wasn't very good at these things.

"In love?" Nathyrra asked, staring at Chathi with wide open eyes.

Chathi only nodded and Nathyrra burst out in laughter. "Hey, what's so funny about that?" The ranger demanded, slightly annoyed with the behaviour of her drow companion.

"Oh, nothing at all!" the black elven female calmed down to a grin. "I just think the Seer has more important things on her mind than a romance with a half-demon. And Valen… he just isn't the one to love somebody."

At that, Chathi raised her eyebrow. "Why do you say that? Do you think Valen isn't capable of love?"

This made Nathyrra most serious. The two women were silent for a moment, then the drow spoke her answer. "Are you capable of love?"

That caught Chathi off-guard and she didn't know what to answer. For a second she wished she never started this conversation at all.

"Now, what do you say? Nathyrra asked.

But Chathi ended the conversation with a motion of her hand and walked away.

---------------------------------------------------

"The minds of these avariel are obviously very, very twisted." Chathi was kneeling down on the ground in front of a fire with pieces of meat frying in a pan over it and poked at the flesh with a stick. "At least, they aren't hostile. Not that they look if they are able to hold a sword at the proper end." She laughed at her own joke for a moment but without showing a sense of humour. The laughter wasn't earnest and she didn't even try to cover it.

"We probably should talk to the Queen. She might give us one or two clues of what had happened here." Valen took a sip from his waterskin and stared at the grey lump of flesh in the pan. "You aren't that much of a good cook, eh?"

Chathi just shrugged. "It will be eatable. That is enough. If it isn't to your liking, cook for yourself."

"Easy, you two. Don't start a fight again." Nathyrra glared at them and both tieflings became quiet, looking guilty. "Valen is right. We should speak with the Queen. Let us eat and then continue."

They waited in silence until the meat was ready, than ate. It wasn't very tasty but no one complained. Not even Valen.

"The Queen resides in a cave in the south of the town. It seems that the castle is abandoned. Not very surprising in a town full of mad avariel." Chathi nodded at Nathyrra's observations while she cleaned the pan.

It wasn't a long march to the cave. But Chathi instantly stopped her companions when she saw the entrance with a raised hand. She didn't even bother to explain what was wrong, just went into a crouch and moved her fingers through the dust that covered the ground. There were tracks on the ground, the heat faintly glowing in her darkvision. Telling from the colour of the glow Chathi concluded that whoever entered the cave did it only minutes ago. It couldn't have been longer ago than two minutes.

She rose to her feet again and told her companions in a whisper of the tracks. "I have a little trick to use on them," she whispered before searching for something in her backpack. Moments passed. With a slight grin Chathi pulled something out, a device consisting of wires and flasks and weird looking things. "Step back, both of you" she instructed and crouched in front of the entrance, putting the device on the ground and working furiously to place it carefully, working with the wires and hiding the flasks. Then she disguised it carefully with dust and dirt.

"Come on, now. Behind the rocks." She tugged at Valen's arm when he didn't follow and took him with her and Nathyrra, scrambling behind the nearest rocks to hide.

"This just isn't the way I prefer to fight my battles." Valen muttered under his breath but Chathi only hissed at him.

Silence embraced the group. Now and then voices from the centre of the town reached their ears but most of the time they heard nothing. Then, all of a sudden, someone appeared in the entrance of the cave. A drow walked out, casually, then another and a third. Chathi gripped Valen's forearm tightly in anticipation, an anxious grin plastered on her face. Her grip was so strong it almost hurt. Valen just shook his head at the weird half-devil at his side. Does she really enjoy killing others with her stupid tricks? he wondered. But then, with a faint "snap", the drow tripped on a wire causing the trap to spring into their faces. The wires lashed at them, slashing vicious wounds into the unprotected parts of the drow bodies. The black elves tried to protect themselves with their arms, one even raising his sword. But it was of no use when the wires finally reached the flasks, tearing it from the ground and whirling it towards the elves. They cried shortly before the flasks hit their faces and torsos and broke apart.

Only then saw Valen what the flasks really contained. Acid. The liquid burned the skin of the elves, tearing away their features. One put his hands on his face, trying to pry away the acid without success. They were doomed and they knew it. Slowly, they went down.

Which was Chathi's clue. She unsheathed her blades, ran around the rocks they were hiding behind and leaped towards the small group of black elves, slashing their throats without mercy.

The drow had no chance.

When Valen and Nathyrra joined Chathi she stood between the dead drow, her smile victorious. Valen, however, was most shocked.

"I knew that the drow were cruel, but you even managed to succeed them. What the hell were you thinking?" His head snapped from the corpses to the smiling of the female tiefling, his look furious.

Nathyrra cautiously stepped back, already knowing what was to come. She saw Valen losing his temper once and she didn't want to see it again. But now he was unstoppable.

"They were only three! It would have been three to three, an honest fight but you have done everything wrong. Everything!" His voice became louder with every word.

"Careful, Valen." Nathyrra whispered, placing her hand on his shoulder but the warrior just shrugged her away.

Chathi's smile, however, vanished. "I do not understand…" she began, but Valen interrupted her.

"Of course you understand. You've killed three drow and in a way I can only despise. Do you understand that?" Again, like earlier in the chambers of the Seer, he pointed her finger accusingly at her.

Chathi looked startled, not sure what to say or to do. There were so many things racing through her mind but she couldn't make them out clearly. The reaction coming from Valen wasn't really surprising to her, but she didn't expect him to be this harsh. It remembered her quite a lot of their argument back at the former temple of Lolth.

"I saved you trouble," she started to mutter, "it was the most save solution that came to my mind." The ranger truly seemed lost and almost sad. Nathyrra felt pity for her but did not want to interrupt.

"I tell you something, Chathi." Valen crossed his arms in front of his chest, standing tall and proud. He was quite agitated. "All my life was an attempt to live as a good man. I know that the concept of honour is quite unknown to our kind. And I do know that most tieflings are rotten to the core. Heck, I even know how evil deities enjoy corrupting tieflings that aren't evil in any way, trying to be good. But you," again the finger was pointing at Chathi, "you are everything people see in our kind. You are a cliché, Chathi. Everything you do or say makes me sick and disgusts me. You are everything I try to not be and I hate you for that."

His voice was calm and cold. It made Chathi cringe. A miserable feeling grew in her and she felt bad.

"It is everything I know." She whispered, barely audible. "Everywhere I came to people hated me. They only saw the devil in me and didn't care what I really was. I tried so hard…" she gulped, clenching and unclenching the fists at her sides. All the memories of her childhood and of her youth washed over her and her eyes became cold and lifeless. The fire that burned there earlier was gone. The red orbs of her irises were pale and without light. Her nails dug into her palms and small streams of blood appeared on her fingers. But she continued to speak. "I tried so hard to be a good child. All the dogmas I learned, the priests I respected, I even went to the arcane academy like every Mulhorandi child. But it was useless. All I did was useless."

Valen stared at her, almost feeling sympathy for her. So that was her past. Maybe that was were all her hatred came from. The past that formed her character. That made her the way she was.

He opened his mouth and wanted to tell her that everything was okay, that he excused the trap she set, that they could go on.

But Chathi didn't let him. Her fists unclenched and she threw her head up, locking gaze with Valen, the fire returning to her eyes. Nathyrra backed away, sensing that something went very, very wrong. There was something about Chathi she never saw, but she knew it from Valen. It was the same when the tiefling warrior lost his temper for the first time.

"When I killed my father," Chathi's right hand rested on the hilt of her khopesh and her voice became a furious cry, "I embraced my infernal heritage! I didn't care anymore for the human part of me. Why should I? No one thought about me as human, so I became the devil everyone saw anyway! And do you know what, Valen?" The edges of her mouth curled upwards, revealing her pointed teeth, making her look all the more infernal. "It made me strong! I wasn't the weak girl anymore. When I joined the church of Set everyone respected me. I was the only tiefling accepted by the priesthoods in Mulhorand. Why should I care for my human side anymore? The priests showed me the advantages of my heritage and I use them. What's wrong with that?" She leaped towards Valen, gripping him by the shoulders. "What's wrong with that, Valen?" His name spoken by her became a wail. She loosened her grip on his shoulders and sank against his chest and cried softly.

The infernal aura was gone. There was only silence with no one knowing what to say next. Nathyrra wanted to do something, to comfort Chathi or to make her stop crying. But she didn't move. She just couldn't.

Valen, on the other side, fought his own battle of emotions. He was torn between sympathy and disgust. How could she talk of being strong when she was crying now and here, at his chest? What a pathetic little creature was she? He didn't know what kind of deity Set was but the fact that his priests made her abandon her humanity told him that he certainly wasn't a good one. Logic told him that all of this really wasn't her fault, that everything was to be blamed on the priests of Set. But in his own emotional turmoil there wasn't any place for logic.

There was only disgust.

He placed his hands gently on Chathi's shoulders. The crying stopped for a moment and Chathi looked up at Valen. He didn't smile, didn't look sad. There were no emotions at all on his face. He looked perfectly content. And then, without any sign, he pushed her away, harshly and with all the strength he could muster. Chathi tumbled backwards, towards the entrance of the cave. Her red eyes were even redder from the crying and her pale lavender hair was plastered to her forehead. She was a miserable sight.

But Valen didn't care. Instead, he launched his final blow against the ranger.

"You dare to say you are strong? You threw away your humanity without a thought! I, too, grew up under miserable conditions but I made the best of it. Everyday I fight for my humanity, fight to suppress my demonic blood. No one can understand the troubles I face from minute to minute. It is the hardest battle one can fight and you talk about being strong? You are weak, the weakest little girl I every laid eyes on! You call yourself a warrior but all that you are is only a trickster, someone without the tiniest spark of honour in your crumpled soul. You are disgusting, Chathi. I knew it the first moment I saw you. You are baatezu, the ugliest creature in all of the planes. I just knew that you cannot be trusted. You will betray us at the first chance that crosses your way." His voice became silent as death but his tail whacked viciously from side to side. The blue of his eyes looked like a storm was caged in them and it seemed hard work for him to fight against his demonic blood.

Chathi, however, stopped her crying all together. The familiar rage welled up inside her, making her tremble heavily. Valen's words made her feel like a scapegoat, like someone he could throw all his bad emotions onto. And with his last sentence he pulled the straw and the barrier that held her rage back broke.

"How dare you!" She yelled at him, stomping towards him and shoving him in the chest. "How dare you to question my loyalty!" Again she shoved, all her strength coming back to her. "You might question my whole life but never question my loyalty!" Another shove to his chest. "Look at yourself! Look at yourself Valen! Oh, how much stronger you might be would you just accept what you are! Your own fear of losing your humanity is what makes you weak but you do not even see it! You are blinded, Valen, blinded by a perfect image you try to be, but to what use? You are a tiefling, a planetouched being and you should be thankful for that. It gives you powers no human could ever wield but still you are fighting against it. Who is the weakest of us, I ask you! Who?" She shoved again but this time Valen didn't budge. He just stood there like a rock and didn't move. Which only enraged Chathi even more. "I demand an answer, half-breed!" She pulled herself up to a level with his face but he didn't look at her.

It was only a matter of seconds until Chathi knew what he was up to. The knowledge made her smile cruelly at him. "You are fighting, eh? Fighting your private little battle you won't share with any of us. Oh, you know that I am right." She licked her lips. "Valen, dear Valen," Chathi said acidly, betraying her own words. "It all makes sense, doesn't it? Your strength will cease with losing your abyssal side. Never again you will be the warrior you used to be. Doesn't the prospect of being unable to protect your beloved Seer make you frightened?"

With only a single mighty blow Valen struck at Chathi, throwing her away from him. "Stop that!" he cried out, reaching for his heavy flail. "Stop that or I will hit you until you can't speak your foolishness ever again!"

At that, Nathyrra jumped between the two, holding up her hands. "Hey, quit it already! You put as all in danger! We are all on the same side here!"

"Move aside!" Valen roared, reaching out for Nathyrra, when a shadow at the entrance of the cave caught his attention. He froze dead in his tracks as he realized that the shadow was moving towards Chathi.

Suddenly he knew that time was running out for them.

"Chathi!" He screamed, but the female tiefling was perfectly oblivious in her own rage. The shadow was behind her now and despite the heated argument that took place only seconds ago Valen became desperate. "Behind you!" His arm came forward, motioning for her to go away, but it all came too late.

The shadow attacked Chathi from behind, pushing a dagger between her shoulder blades and continued pushing until the tip of the dagger appeared at the front of Chathi's chest. Then the dagger retreated as did the shadow.

For Valen, the world came to a halt. He watched the dagger slipping through the chest of Chathi without any sign of resistance and slipping away again. He watched Chathi's eyes bulge and her hands covering her chest, her mouth screaming a scream that wasn't to be heard. At the corner of his eye he saw Nathyrra drawing her own blades, jumping away and running after the shadow. He even saw Fah, Chathi's faithful animal companion leaping after Nathyrra, taking up the pursuit. But nothing of all of that mattered to him as he was damned to watch Chathi staggering towards him, gripping his shoulders one again and resting herself against his chest. It seemed that everyone was moving like the air suddenly consisted of molten metal.

He looked down at Chathi, holding herself so tightly against him and all he could do was bringing her arms up at her, hugging her for just a moment. Then all her strength went from her and she went down, collapsing to the ground, the blood flowing freely from her chest.

Valen kneeled down beside her, yelling at her to hold on, please, to just hold on, while he searched through her potion belt for something that would ease her pain. He helplessly stared at the vials in the belt, not knowing which one was for healing.

"Which one?" he asked Chathi, desperately. There came no answer. Only muttering interrupted by quickly drawn breaths. She was dying and there was nothing he could do about it.

Suddenly, her hand took a hold on his forearm and caught his attention. Valen mustered her, damned to do nothing but watch. Her laboured breaths were interrupted by heavy spasms and the blood just didn't stop to flow. Only now he saw that the dagger went right through her heart. Half of the wound was covered by Chathi's hand holding something in her hand.

"Valen…" she whispered terrified. Valen brought his face towards her. Already there was blood spilling from her mouth. "I do not want to die alone…" A spasm gripped her body, making her tremble heavily. "Please."

He took her hand in his own and placed his other one on her forehead. "I am so sorry," he muttered, but she couldn't hear him.

"Set…" she whispered, her hold on the item in her hand became more tightly, "he is a cruel god." Another spasm. The sight nearly broke Valen's heart. His hostility towards her was completely forgotten. "I do not want to meet him."

The last thing Chathi saw were the clearest and saddest blue eyes she had ever seen. Then she let go of Valen's hand as her head fell to the side.

Valen stared at her, gripping her hand, not believing that she just died. It just couldn't be true. With Nathyrra and Fah gone, he was all alone with Chathi, her body cooling down already.

He felt unbelievable guilty and stupid, making such a fuss in a place full of enemies. It was his entire fault. It all happened because of his false pride. He killed her, because he thought of himself as the better one.

For a minute, his mind went blank and he stopped thinking. He didn't want to. He couldn't. He just kneeled there, besides the dead Chathi, holding her hand and forcing himself not to think.

It was when Nathyrra and Fah returned that he finally moved again. He reached out for Chathi's other hand, unclenching her fist and retrieving the item she held inside it.

It was a medallion showing a curled up snake. He figured out its meaning in an instant.

The holy symbol of Set.