Disclaimer: Celestine and Xalia are mine, everything else belongs to WotC and/or Bioware. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy. :D

Chapter 3: A Bad Case of the Creepy Crawlies

The camp was in utter chaos.

Celestine had no idea at the time what it was that was attacking them, but they were as menacing and frightening as anything the cleric had ever seen. They almost looked like scorpions, but no scorpion she had ever encountered had a human torso and arms. By the time she had entered the scene there were already a half-dozen of the wretched creatures lying either gravely wounded or dead on the desert floor. There were, however, at least sixteen other attackers yet to contend with--each of them very much alive--and none of them were about to go down without a fight.

From the moment Celestine snatched her mace the battle went like a blur. She remembered being attacked by two creatures at once, which was a little bit more than she could handle by herself. Fortunately Deekin was nearby to lend his aid; Celestine was not all that comfortable working so closely with a kobold, but considering the alternative of fighting alone she wasn't about to complain. Between the two of them they fended their attackers off fairly quickly, and to her relief neither of them had taken a single scratch. No sooner had they finished they found a third scorpion-creature advancing upon them. This time, the victory belonged to Celestine alone. With a bit of divine assistance in the form of a spell the cleric made quick work of the monster, eliciting an unexpected round of applause from her kobold companion before he scampered off.

At that point Celestine surveyed the camp as a whole, ready to assist whomever needed her help. She remembered seeing Xalia fighting against a pair of archers; her rapid-fire attacks with her twin rapiers made quick work of one of them, but before she could finish off the second another attacked from the side, tripping her with its sword and sending the blademaiden crashing to the ground. Before Celestine could even take a step a trio of magic missiles came careening out of nowhere, slamming into the second attacker and knocking it to the ground. The cleric turned around in time to see Xanos incanting a second spell to mimic the first. More magic missiles slammed into the second creature, killing it instantly and giving Xalia the chance to finish off the other one.

Xalia's final strike destroyed the last of the attacking creatures. A sense of relief washed over the camp, and the halflings began surveying the damage. Grateful that it was finally over, Celestine holstered her mace and said a quick prayer of thanks.

"Just what in blue blazes were those things?" Xalia breathlessly asked from her position on the ground. She hadn't yet made an attempt to stand, which worried Celestine slightly.

"Stingers," Torias tersely replied. "They're as irritating as a bad case of hives and much harder to scratch. I'm frankly surprised that we haven't seen more of 'em."

"I would have preferred never to have seen them. . ." Xalia's voice trailed off as Xanos approached her. Something about the way the blademaiden looked at him struck Celestine as strange, but she couldn't place why.

"Lucky that you have Xanos to watch your back," the half-orc stated matter-of-factly. He held out his hand for Xalia and helped her to her feet. "Next time pay attention to your flank instead of foolishly leaving yourself unguarded, yes?" Briefly Xalia looked offended and ready to lash back at the half-orc, which undoubtedly would have started another argument. For some unknown reason, however, the human only shook her head. He was right, and she knew it.

"I suppose so. . ." Xalia sighed. The blademaiden straightened out her hauberk and shook the sand out of her hair. She did not appear injured physically, though Celestine was sure that her pride had taken a bit of a blow. There was an awkward silence between the two of them for a few moments. "Well, you did just save my hide. . .perhaps I should thank you," the blademaiden finally confessed.

"It would be appropriate."

Celestine rolled her eyes. Why did the half-orc have to be so self-serving?

"Where in the nine Hells did he go!" Katriana's sudden shout startled the cleric out of her train of thought.

"Who?"

"Zidan! Have any of you seen him?"

"I thought he left to scout things out," Dorna chimed in.

"He came back! I saw him fighting the stingers!" By now Katriana was clearly in panic mode. "We've got to find him, or we're as good as dead out here."

"Perhaps you should have hired a guide who is not so easily scared off, " came Xanos's pointed reply. Katriana glared at him.

"I won't even dignify that with a response," she growled. "Anyway, we need to find Zidan. Any volunteers?"

"I'll go," Xalia immediately spoke up. "He could be in serious danger if he's facing those stingers by himself."

"Good point," Celestine replied. "I shall go with you."

"You will need Xanos's skills if you plan to succeed. The faster we find the idiot guide, the faster we can leave," the sorcerer pointed out.

"And if I told you to stay?" Xalia quipped. The mischievous grin on the blademaiden's face was unmistakable, as was the glare that Xanos shot her in response.

"It would be preferable to go with you than to sit around here doing nothing!" The expression on his face was one of distaste as he surveyed the camp. "These squishable halflings grow ever more annoying…"

"Take him with you!" Katriana and Torias shouted at the same time.

Celestine couldn't help but chuckle.

OoOoOoOoO

They found the entrance to the stingers' caves without too much of a problem, but the hole that they had to navigate to get inside was a good twelve feet deep and far too steep of a descent for Celestine to have made it on her own. Fortunately, she had two tall folk to help her out. Xanos made the trip first, sliding only a couple of times before he made it to the bottom. Celestine's turn was next, and she was more than a little bit nervous. After a bit of reassurance from Xalia, though, she allowed the blademaiden to grab her by the arms and lower her far enough to where Xanos could catch her. The maneuver surprisingly went off without a hitch despite Celestine's initial misgivings. Two down, one to go.

Xalia began her descent slowly and carefully, but about halfway down the slope the back of her hauberk snagged on a piece of jutting rock. While freeing herself wasn't much of an issue, keeping her balance was, and in the end she wound up tumbling the rest of the way down. . .

. . .and plowing right into Xanos.

When the dust had settled the sorcerer was flat on his back with Xalia sprawled on top of him, and both were simply covered in sand. This rather undignified position didn't look terribly comfortable for either party involved, and Celestine was afraid that one or both of them had gotten hurt from the impact.

"Get off…of Xanos!"

Xalia quickly scrambled off of her companion and stood up, seemingly no worse for the wear. She reached down and took Xanos by the hand to help him up.

"Are you all right?" She asked once he was standing again.

"Yes, no thanks to your clumsiness," the sorcerer grumbled as he straightened out his sand-coated robe. "Perhaps it is fortunate that it was Xanos in the way and not little Celestine. You would have squashed her flat."

The cleric scowled. Her patience with Xanos was starting to wear thin. She had only known the man for less than two hours, and already she was growing tired of dealing with him. How does Xalia stand it without slugging the living daylights out of him? Patience, Celestine. You must have patience. Maybe he isn't always like this. Perhaps he is just having a bad day. . .? Yes, that must be it.

No harm was done, at least, and soon enough the intrepid trio began their trek into the stingers' domain. The place was eerily quiet, save the sound of their footsteps and the occasional conversation between Xalia and Xanos--most of which involved the half-orc complaining about one thing or another. Celestine tried to ignore him, which was far easier said than done. Like trying to ignore a screeching cat, the cleric thought. As she listened in on their conversation it became evident that neither of them were terribly thrilled to be here. Xanos was, of course, more adamant about his displeasure, but Celestine could sense trepidation in Xalia's words as well. In a way she couldn't blame them; they had both risked their lives to recover the stolen artifacts, and now Drogan had all but ordered them to risk their lives again.

Her situation was slightly different than theirs. She was a Harper, and this was, as Xanos pointed out, a Harper matter. Yet, Celestine couldn't help but think of what she had just left behind in Port Llast. Absently she stole a glance at the lapis and mithral ring on her right hand. Less than a day had passed since last she saw Tomi, and already she missed him more than ever.

Celestine empathized with Xalia and Xanos's plight more than either of them could ever realize.

A change in their surroundings turned Celestine's attention away from the conversation at hand. The small rough-hewn tunnel that they had dropped into a little while ago suddenly became much larger and arrow-straight. Clearly they were not dealing with mindless monsters; the stingers had engineered these tunnels with great precision--and likely guarded them with their lives. They were in the stingers' territory now. Celestine brushed one hand over her mace, mentally preparing herself for what was sure to come.

The main artery that they traveled through branched off into several lesser paths, leading to peculiar notched chambers (sleeping quarters, as they discovered) and a few larger atria. As Celestine suspected the stingers protected these rooms with vigor, but their numbers were few and easily defeated. The cleric had a few brief opportunities to watch her companions in battle, and what she saw astonished her. While she knew that Drogan had taught them well, the way that they fought as a team was something that could only come from experience. Xanos knew Xalia's tactics as well as she knew his, and they played off of each other amazingly well. Celestine also sensed a certain measure of trust between them; they had been through quite a lot together, that much was certain.

The trio continued to follow the main tunnel for quite a long way until it unexpectedly opened into a large chamber. From outward appearances it was a simple, innocuous, empty room--far larger than anything else that they had yet encountered in the stingers' tunnels. Celestine grew instantly suspicious; something was seriously wrong here.

"This could be another trap," the cleric spoke up. "There is much evil at work here, though I cannot place it."

"I feel it too," answered Xalia. "Regardless, there appears to be no other way around. Trap or no, this may be the only way out." She looked over at Xanos. "Do you see anything?"

The half-orc scanned their surroundings for a few moments before replying. "There is an open door on the other side, and there might be another door…it is difficult for Xanos to see clearly," he informed them. "Other than the fact that there is a dead deer laying on the ground, there is nothing else of consequence."

"One of those doors must be the correct path," Xalia concluded. "It looks like we have no choice but to cross."

No sooner had she finished speaking that the door behind them slammed shut.

End Chapter 3

Cliffhanger! My apologies for that...but otherwise this chapter was going to be really blasted long. Hope you enjoyed, and as always comments and constructive criticisms are welcome. :)