General disclaimer: I own nothing, even Maiyn generally decides her own path.
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Tranzig
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Six hooded figures entered Feldepost's Inn that evening. Five huddled in an alcove under the stairs, conversing in hushed tones while the rest of the tavern's custom ignored them. The sixth approached the bar. She conversed amiably with the barkeep; good humoured jokes were exchanged while the girl bashfully shuffled her feet. The innkeeper offered to buy her a drink, and she accepted, and he turned to find a special bottle amongst his selection of ales.
When he turned back she'd gone, and her companions had vanished too.
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Imoen stood outside the door with the master key in her hand. The innkeeper hadn't even felt her light fingers taking it from the pocket in his apron. Maiyn nodded silently, telling her to unlock it. They'd listened outside for several moments, and had heard someone within. Branwen had peeked through the keyhole and caught a glimpse of their target. They had located Tranzig successfully. The door was pushed open swiftly, and they entered the room silently but quickly. Imoen was last, closing the door and relocking it behind them. The inhabitant of the room looked less than pleased at their entry.
"What do you think you are doing? Who are you?"
Branwen pulled down her hood. "Stop yapping, dog," she said forthrightly. "I have come to punish you for your treachery, for your snivelling ways! Tempus is with me!" She cried out to her God, and held out her hands, receiving the gift of a magical spiritual hammer.
"Oh, it's you," Tranzig sneered at her. "I'd hoped you'd smarten up some before you bothered me again, wench. But I see you didn't." He gave a cursory glance to the others. "Do you think I'd be afraid of you and these boors that freed you from my spell? Stupid woman, if you aren't all out of my face in the next five seconds I'll blast you to kingdom come!"
Branwen hissed at him, feeling her rage at his sharp words, but she knew she had to wait for her leader's word. She looked over to the ranger; Maiyn was drawing back her hood, as were the others.
"Ah," said Tranzig, with obvious interest. "Well... if it isn't the infamous Maiyn. Isn't this a nice surprise?"
The elf spoke calmly. "How do you know my name?"
Tranzig laughed. "You know so little, yet you have stumbled across so much. It is time for it to end!"
He raised his arms before the companions could react and he was enveloped in a blue light that made him glow. Maiyn and Kivan managed to rattle off arrows at him, but they had no visible effect. Xan shouted something about armour, and threw himself into an incantation, murmuring as fast as he could.
Imoen had put her bow away, and taken out the magical sword she had hidden in her pack. She cautiously advanced on the mage, and began helping Branwen take out the mirrors that were conjured quickly with a wave of his hand.
Minsc had taken out his mighty two handed sword, and lunged towards the mage, swinging wildly, causing Branwen and Imoen to spend as much time dodging him as they did Tranzig. The magic protections of the mage seemed to protect him from the berserker's blows, but it didn't deter the warrior in the slightest.
Maiyn and Kivan dropped their bows, and Kivan whipped his spear from his pack, using its range to involve himself in the melee. Maiyn's hand dropped to her sword, but she hesitated, waiting for Xan to finish casting. When he did, a red globe raced towards Tranzig, hitting him firmly in the torso - just a second too late to also disrupt their foe's conjuration. Whatever Xan had cast seemed to cause Tranzig pain, as he doubled up for a few seconds, a smaller globe flying from him and returning to Xan, making the enchanter look revitalised.
Tranzig's own spell caused a green arrow to shoot from his outstretched fingertips and fly towards Maiyn. She noticed it too late, her attention being taken by Xan's incantation, and she was unable to evade it as it struck her in the chest. She yelped in pain, and fell to the ground while her blood felt as if it had started boiling. Kivan noticed her distress, and swiftly pulled a potion from his pocket. He threw it to her.
"Drink it if you get too hurt," he ordered. She nodded weakly, and tried to stand back up but her legs wouldn't obey her.
Tranzig's glow faded, and Imoen's sword took out the last of his mirrors. With a ferocious cry, Branwen's warhammer struck him firmly on the side of the head, and he fell to the ground stunned. Minsc was about to follow it up with a lunge, but Maiyn cried for him to wait. Imoen rushed to her side, uncorking the bottle and helping her to drink the contents. The taste was bitter, but her pain subsided slightly. She still felt too weak to stand.
"What's done this to her?" Imoen asked Xan.
"It looked like an acid arrow," replied the mage. "It will cause continual pain and require continual healing until the effects wear off."
"How long will that take?" asked Kivan.
Xan shrugged. "A few minutes, possibly an hour. It is hard to tell."
Maiyn started to feel bad again, and Imoen commented on her paleness. She opened the top buttons of her tunic subconsciously, and directed her hands to the skin on the top of her chest. She didn't know what would happen; she just knew it was the right thing to do. Her hands glowed with a faint cyan colour, and her own healing powers shuddered through her body. She wasn't sure if her companions had noticed or not, but there was no time to discuss it - especially when she wasn't sure what it was herself.
"He is coming round," announced Branwen, standing over the slumped body of Tranzig.
"I give up!" groaned the mage. "Please let me live... I'll tell you anything you want to know!"
"Tell us about your superiors!" snapped Branwen.
"Okay, okay," said the mage, pulling himself to his feet. "I'm a messenger for a man named Tazok, I'm just to ferry messages between him and someone called Mulahey. I meet with Tazok east of the Friendly Arm Inn when I need to."
"Where can we find Tazok?" asked Maiyn faintly.
"You can find him in the Wood of Sharp Teeth," said Tranzig. "He's the captain of two groups of bandits, but their camp is always moving around Peldvale and Larswood and I don't know how you'll find them."
"Oh, we'll manage," said Kivan darkly.
"So... are you done?" Tranzig looked at the group, waiting for their answer. Maiyn saw Branwen looking at her, but the spasms of pain running through her body were all too distracting. "Let her kill him if she wishes," Maiyn whispered to Imoen. The young thief nodded, and turned to Branwen.
"He's all yours."
The priestess roared in fury, and landed an almighty blow on the mage's body. As he fell he let off a spell; the familiar purple missiles that Maiyn had seen come from Xzar's fingertips were heading towards her, and she only managed to see Branwen's look of vengeance as the missiles hit her helmet, and she passed out.
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Maiyn came around slowly.
"We thought you would be more comfortable here." Xan's gloomy tone drifted over from the other side of the room, where he was perched on the other bed. She tried to sit up, but the mage materialised next to her and gently pushed her back down. "You must wait a few minutes," he said. "Let the magic completely fade from your body."
Maiyn nodded, and sighed. "The others?"
"They have rooms for the evening. The other rangers are sharing, and Imoen is with Branwen. I... offered to stay with you."
Maiyn smiled to him and thanked him.
"There is no need to thank me," he said simply. "I merely was most familiar with the spell, and could recognise the effects and when they were wearing off."
"Tranzig is..."
"Dead? Oh yes, he is almost certainly deceased. Branwen was quite thorough with her fury, and Minsc's berserking rage when he noticed you were hurt only served to mutilate the body further." Xan's tone remained even through the description, as if it was something that happened every day. "Somehow we were allowed to stay, despite having stolen the key to illicitly enter the room and murdering the customer who happened to inhabit it."
"Can I sit up yet?"
"If you feel well enough to." Xan took her hand and helped her up. He then passed her a glass of water and urged her to drink.
Maiyn thanked him, and appreciated his concern and caring. She felt much better, but she could remember the excruciating pain that had coursed through her body with the effects of the acid. She stretched, and wondered how late it was.
"The others have almost certainly gone to sleep by now," Xan said, as though he had read her mind. "There is some food on the table; I took the liberty of taking some up in case you awoke hungry."
Maiyn beamed at him, and ate a little. Despite having passed into unconsciousness after the fight, she felt quite tired and she tried to stifle a yawn when she saw Xan watching her intently.
"Your friends assumed you would wish to head to Tranzig's meeting point tomorrow," he said when she returned to sit on her bed. "Is that the plan?"
Maiyn nodded. "I have no intention on letting the trail run cold."
"You do not plan to wait for the others to return to us before we go and assault a bandit camp?"
Maiyn smiled brightly. "No."
Xan did a strange combination of a groan and a sigh. "As I knew already, we are doomed. I shall not live to see my homeland, for I am fated to be ripped into pieces by angry bandits who have taken offence at our foray into their encampment."
Maiyn couldn't help but giggle. "Perhaps one day you can show me Evereska," she said quietly. "You spoke about it with so much passion back in Nashkel that when I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine being there."
"Ah, the chance you will see it in the waking world is vanishingly small," said Xan despondently. "But you could share my memories of it."
"What do you mean?"
"So, Gorion did not tell you." It was a statement, and not a question and Maiyn remained silent. "A sharing of minds is natural among our kin. Your mother communed with you before you were even born. Words cannot describe it; that is something you have to experience for yourself." He turned to look at her, and beckoned her over to his bed. Maiyn obediently went to sit by him, and waited for his next instruction.
"Take my hand, and we shall walk among the ever-shifting sands of Anauroch and arched bridges of Everaskan Vale," said Xan dreamily. "You will see a majestic place, where the forest becomes one with the sky. My home... sometimes I wish it were in my power to remain within the memory for good."
Xan lay back on the bed, and the ranger took her place beside him, holding his hand and watching him intently. "Relax Maiyn," he said gently. "Allow yourself become absolutely calm, and your mind shall do the rest for you."
She did as he instructed, and slowly her surroundings faded into a swirling mass. Within moments she was enveloped in the beautiful lands of Evereska, drifting through Xan's memories of his lands.
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"Congratulations Maiyn, we have lived through the night," Xan sighed. Maiyn rubbed her eyes groggily, her memories still fresh from the sights she'd seen. It was only after a few moments that she remembered how close she was lying to Xan, and she sat up shyly. "Alas, a painless death in our sleep is something we could only hope for, if indeed we could choose. The reality is likely to drown us in sweat and blood all too soon, and in a much more gruesome manner."
Maiyn stared down at him. He remained reclined on the bed. "I thought you would have cheered up after seeing your homeland in your revels." She wondered what time it was; it felt as if she had been asleep for hours, and her body felt incredibly revitalised.
"Evereska will fall," Xan said simply. "All the might and magic I see every night will be for naught. The city is an island among the gathering armies, and eventually the darkness will flood it. I cherish the thought of returning home, but here, in the waking world, I know I will find only ruins and desolation. The puny mission I am striving to complete is a drop in the ocean compared to the perils my city will soon face. Over the years, I have seen the pressure increase, and now I am waiting for the blow to fall."
Maiyn took Xan's hand and squeezed it, but she was unsure what to say. "Thank you for allowing me to share your memories," she managed eventually. "It is a beautiful place."
"Yes, it is," he said, freeing his hand and rising, walking to the window. "I got used to the fact that nothing could help my city, but every morning the terror comes anew. And it is not alone: it now comes together with the thought of dying. Before meeting you, I was aware that one of my missions would become the last. Today, I know it is this one. Sooner or later, my magic will fail, and the bounty hunters will wipe us out. We're all doomed."
"No," said Maiyn, getting up from the bed, and picking up the key from the table.
Xan raised an eyebrow at her as if expecting her to elaborate, but she said nothing. "Wait," he said, as she approached the door. "I wanted to ask you something about last night."
Maiyn stopped and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Xan's dark eyes seemed to bore into her soul as he watched her. "When you were hurt last night, you... you did something. You placed your hands on yourself... what was that?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "I just knew something would happen..."
"Knew?"
Maiyn nodded and briefly recounted the dream she'd after they had returned to Nashkel from the mine. "When I woke up, I felt differently."
"You didn't mention it at the time." Xan looked concerned; he had been with her then, and had watched her sleep, noting her distress in her dreams, but he had feared awakening her from it. "The spell you cast was not a natural one. I can feel that, and I assure you it is a disturbing sensation. When you called forth that power it chilled me to the core; it was as if someone had walked across my grave. Do you even know where it comes from?"
"No," she said softly, "I don't. But anything that helps me survive is good, isn't it?"
"You might survive, but will you remain yourself?" Xan looked quite distressed, and Maiyn moved towards him. The enchanter shook his head, stopping her. "It is more than strange, it borders on the uncanny. You do not know your parents; you have unaccountable powers; countless assassins pursue you like a beast. Who are you, Maiyn? What are you?"
"I... I do not know," said Maiyn sadly. "Now you scare me."
"I am sorry," Xan sighed, and he reached out to take her hand gently. "Still, these... powers alarm me, and I would implore you to refrain from using them - if not for my sake, then for yours. You may think that if you use them one more time, there will be no consequences; it is true. But if you continue, the change may become irrevocable. Your body may wither before its time, or your mind may go to pieces. I may be wrong, of course, and these could be a blessed gift of the gods, but... I find that hard to believe. Please Maiyn - refuse it; do not doom yourself."
Maiyn squeezed his hand but shook her head. "If I can use it to heal my companions - my friends - when they are hurt, then I cannot promise not to use it." She noted his disappointed look. "I will promise, however, that I shall not use it unless there is no other choice."
Xan nodded, but still didn't look happy, and together they went downstairs in silence to join the others.
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"Minsc and Boo stand ready!" The warrior was ready for the march to the bandit camp, and had been one of the first ready to leave that morning. Boo had advised him to march at the front of the band, and Maiyn had agreed that it would be wise to have a formidable warrior lead them.
The diminutive elf was studying the letters that her thief sister had found on the evil mage's body. Minsc had been unhappy when he learned he had to part ways with Dynaheir while she made a journey with the two half-elves, but she had told him that his part of the mission was equally as important as hers; he had to protect the elf and her sister as if they were his own witches!
When the evil mage had caused the nice ranger girl to fall over and look hurt, Minsc had felt his berserker rage coming to the fore, and he had been unable to stop himself. It was only when the nice priestess gently pulled him away from the dismembered corpse that he had calmed down, but she looked fine now, and so Minsc and Boo had done their job well.
Her sister confused Minsc slightly. She made no effort to hide the misdeeds she did, but she was no evil thief who deserved a righteous buttkicking! Boo had said she was 'ethical', but Minsc wasn't sure he knew what that meant. He thought it would be a good thing though. She had also started to learn some magic from the gloomy elf, and could make pretty colours fly from her hands when she tried hard and managed to borrow some of his items. Minsc thought she needed a warrior of her own to protect her now that she was trying to be a witch, but until she found one he would make it his duty to fill the role.
Now they were in a place the female elf had called 'Peldvale', and the male elf was searching around, looking for tracks. Minsc thought he was very quiet, but he was a good man. He seemed quite sad about something, but he didn't talk much so Boo didn't know what Minsc should say to him to cheer him up.
The woman priest was a proud maiden, and when they had fought the evil mage she had held herself strongly in battle. Minsc had much admiration for her skill. Boo also admired her courage, and was quite happy to sit beside her and nibble the crackers she was fond of offering him whenever they rested.
That just left the gloomy mage. Minsc had tried to make him take Boo for a short while, so Boo could let him feel loved, but the mage had declined and sneezed a lot. Minsc didn't understand why he acted like this, but Boo had suggested it was maybe a tradition from his homelands. Minsc would have to remember it so he could act properly if the enchanter ever offered him his dearest possession.
"There is a trail leading north." Kivan had finished his scouting, and was sure in his tone.
Maiyn nodded. "We head north, and when we get close we stop. We are not strong enough to foolishly attack a whole camp of bandits, so let us try to get close and decide then what our best plan is. Do we all agree?"
The companions all nodded in unison, and Kivan showed Maiyn where the track was. She pulled her cloak around her and began tracking it with his help, the others following quietly behind them.
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It was getting dark when they noticed the light of lanterns and a campfire ahead. Maiyn motioned for them to halt, and they grouped together quickly, discussing their options in hushed tones. It was decided Kivan would scout around the camp, as he had the most experience, and the others would drop back a little and await his return.
Before he went Maiyn caught his sleeve, and he turned to look at her.
"Don't do anything stupid," she said in their native tongue, looking him straight in the eye. "We will get Tazok, but if you risk yourself just now we may lose the opportunity forever."
Kivan nodded grimly. "I have waited this long for revenge and I am prepared to ensure I get the best chance at it. I shall not do anything rash."
Maiyn smiled. "Quel fara." Good hunting.
Kivan almost smiled back, and silently vanished into the trees.
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He returned before long. He had managed to circle the encampment, and described how it seemed to be split into two halves, each a slight distance from the other. The western clearing was the home to some hobgoblins - he suspected it was a mercenary group called 'The Chill'. The eastern had the bigger, more majestic tents, and it was full of Black Talon Mercenaries, an infamous human band.
"What about numbers?" asked Maiyn.
"We're easily outnumbered," replied Kivan. "Even if there was just one of the groups, we'd be outnumbered by a large amount. With both gangs there we will have to be extremely careful."
Maiyn nodded. "I have a plan."
