Disclaimer: I do not own the Baldurs Gate games or any of the characters
Italics narration
(…Bracketed Italics…) flashbacks
…
After a long meeting with the shadow master, our heroes are in need of rest. With no where else to go, they entered the only tavern in this dark… damp town. Greeted by a rather large (and strange) fellow who names himself 'The Thumb', the heroes prepare themselves for a well earned sleep.
Well… except one…
The Angel and the Darkness
The Docks District was never a friendly place to stay or visit. It was… unwelcoming to say the least. To call this place a town is an embarrassment in every sense of the word.
At day, commoners would desperately try to make a hard earned living, by selling the most primitive of items… anything they could scavenge. Of course the commoners would have to be alert with every passing second or they would get mugged, sometimes even murdered without a second thought.
And that was just during the day…
At night… at night the town was as silent as the dead. No one would dare set their foot on the stony pathways unless they had a death wish embedded in their skull. The cold darkness would devourer the weak who were unable to find shelter of some sort. At night, some say death itself claims the lives of those who are most… unfortunate.
In the ever darkening night, a lonely woman stood on the highest building. She certainly looked out of place, and she definitely felt out of place. The first thing that divided the normal folk from her were her ears. You could tell from a single glance she was elven. Wrapped around her frail body was a brightly coloured yellow robe, a gift from the gnome she knew and cared deeply for. Thanks to the wind, her long, golden hair was driven wildly in every direction. Thanks to the rain, her clothes and face were dripping like water off a leaf.
But despite the unforgiving weather, there was one thing that clouded her mind. One thing that even the brightest of sunlight could not penetrate.
Her emotions.
She walked until the tip of her feet felt the edge of the roof, although in a more realistic sense, it was the edge of her life. To take a further step would prove fatal, nobody mortal could survive a fall that high. It seems like the weather was toying with her emotions, as thunder and lightning flashed, and the rain was now even heavier than before. Each sound of thunder was her song of doom…
Just one more step. That's all it took.
Memories flooded through her mind. Painful ones. These memories would haunt her for the rest of her life. That, she was certain of.
…
(… It only seemed like yesterday she was flying high, through the clouds, the sun kissing her pale skin, but her determination to help the needy got the better of the poor elf. A young boy was trapped between two conflicting armies, one army of greenskin, the other human. The location was unrecognisable, but it was certainly no mans land. She had to save the boy… there was no other way.
With all her courage she dived into the battlefield and saved the terrified boy before he was trampled to death. Alas, that is when the twist of fate dawned on the elven one, as a flying arrow pierced her shoulder… her flesh… and into the very bone. Yet she still cradled the boy as if it were her own…)
…
Just another step. All of this suffering would be over if she just took another step.
…
(… 'at least the boy is safe' was the last thought of her mind before her captors picked her semi conscious body from the cold ground. With eyes half closed, the elf surrendered to whatever fate had in store for her.
Next morning she woke up.
She wished she hadn't.
Inside the cage of unforgiving steel, she couldn't help but look at the many eyes that had been staring at her for ages. People pointing, laughing, cursing… yet there was a single person, a gnome who took great pity in her unfortunate situation…)
…
Just one more step…
…
(…"Do not be afraid young one." The gnome gently spoke to her. "You are free now."
"Free…?" was all she could manage to whimper as the cage swung open…)
"No…" She softly responded, remembering the scars on her back where her wings used to be.
"No!" The elf concluded, tears streaming down her cold soft cheeks. "Uncle Quayle! I am not free! I will never be free! The only way to free myself is to…"
"…to… die?"
The elf gasped and quickly swung round to see who was there. Her eyes met with a black, cloaked human like figure. He slowly uncovered his hood, revealing a pale white face, a kind of face that wasn't meant for mortal eyes.
"W-who are you?" The elf managed to stutter from her mouth.
"I'm here to help you elven one." Each word he spoke sent shivers down her spine.
"I… I don't need your help…"
"Oh but you wish to be free do you not?"
"L-Leave me alone!"
Now he unveiled his cloak entirely. The only clothing he now had were tattered black slacks. Deep, thick scars ran down its partly deformed naked body. The young elf realised the true horror of the pale one's identity. Baring his fangs similar to that of a canine he slowly stalked his prey, like a cat toying with a rubber mouse.
"Join us dear child… join us… and be free…"
Each word was quietly, but cruelly spoke with such desire.
"No…. no…" She was too afraid to move. Even her words were now too weak to comprehend.
The pale one moved in ever closer until he was in breathing point with the frail girl. All he had to do was raise his claw like hand… and strike her down.
He lifted his claw and… and froze.
There was someone else on the building, for that the pale one was absolutely certain of. He couldn't see him or indeed her, but nonetheless, there was someone else…
Perhaps it was another of his kind? Perhaps it was another creature of the night to challenge him for the elven prize? Now another voice could be heard… a voice that seemed to emit from thin air. It seemed like the pale one was being threatened as his eyes darted around to see who was playing with his mind.
"Obdiya… muueyza… boudai…"
Before the creature could react it was far too late, as a beam of unforgiving flame made contact with his white flesh, bursting many scars and stitches in the process. The pain was agonising as he screamed an ear piercing scream. Within seconds his entire body was consumed with unearthly fire, and he was thrown right into the heart of the sky. The screaming faded away into the night.
…
Silence…
…
The young woman, frightened and confused, wondered who could have saved her, or merely delayed her from oblivion. Her wonders were soon to be answered, as the cold rain formed a slight outline of a human… an ordinary male human… with quite extraordinary talent.
With his invisibility slowly diminishing, he slowly faded into view. His hands were still smouldering from his relentless fire spell. The mystery turned out to be a man the young elf knew all too well. The red wizard.
"Y'know… spells are quite useful…" He mocked in a dark way. "They can protect you from… oh I don't know… let's just say dead people who want to bite your throat."
"Leave me alone." The elf spat. Her words were more clear than before. No stuttering at least.
"Oh yes I almost forgot, this is your big, dramatic finale! The great elven suicide attempt number two hundred and seventy four!"
"What? I… I was doing nothing of the sort!"
"Then why are you up here? Admiring the weather? Oh how I love the way mother nature forms its dark clouds, then laughs out loud as she pisses all over us!"
"Oooh, I've just had enough! I'm… I'm going back to the tavern! Good night to you!" So saying, she pushed the wizard to one side and descends down the steps from the building. Her trail of footsteps faded away as she, indeed, made her way back to the waterlogged tavern.
"(Women)." He muttered to himself.
If the red wizard had any emotions, he masked them all very well. He knew the elf wasn't going to jump. He knew she was stronger than that. It was a possibility that she knew as well. Quietly smiling to himself, he slowly followed the elf's footsteps.
Unfortunately he tripped over an empty bucket, and toppled head first into a large puddle of mud. Cursing his ill luck he was certain the gods in the sky were having a field day.
…
…
…
The pale, fiery corpse lay flat against the stony path. Two curious beggars started to poke sticks at this monstrosity, thinking it had gold or other possessions to scavenge.
His dead eyes twitched, causing the two beggars to instantly flee in terror. As the rest of his body decayed into dust, his cold, black heart materialised into a small winged creature that flew into the pale moon.
One night he shall return again…