Jessi: I haven't updated this story since March? I'm sorry everyone, I just got weighed down with my AS levels and the death of my old computer Bastard-san. I'm so sorry! Please be sparing with the vengeance…
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Uriel moaned, pain flaring across faded scars. In an instance he was far beneath the Promenade, locked away in an iron cage, his thin body shuddering and weak from sickness and infection. A noise came from the shadows in front of him, a noise he recognized as soft footsteps. His hand rose as if he could fend of his captor or shield himself from harm with that tiny, weak motion.
"…No…" something cold crept along his cheek and the Bhaalspawn realised that the pain would soon begin again, "No! Please, oh please no!" he scrambled back, the bars of his cage pressing against his back, "Irencius! Please… no more," a whimper escaped his throat.
Abruptly there was a high screech the bypassed his ears and instead voiced itself directly into his brain. Irenicus' dungeon faded from his sight and he found himself back in the Underdark and staring into the blank orbs of an illithid.
Its tentacles fell away from his face as a longsword tore through its midsection. It shrieked again and fell backwards, hands reaching up to the wound. Solaufein finished it off with a quick stab through the throat.
"Pay attention, boy!" snapped the drow, "I'm not here to baby you!" the fighter-mage leapt away, his skin turning grey and as hard as granite as he chanted under his breath.
His cheeks burning, Uriel seized Carsomyr, plunging it into the chest of an Umberhulk. Tearing it out sideways he ran to assist Viconia who was fending off another with her mace while chanting one of her own spells.
Imoen cast a haste spell and Uriel's movements quickened as he slashed through tough chitin with his sword. A fireball from Edwin caused a bright flash that stung his eyes after so long in the gloom of the Underdark. Shaking his head to clear the white flashes from his vision Uriel caught a glimpse of movement from across the battlefield.
He frowned. It had only been a brief flash, something that he could have easily imagined… but something told him that it wasn't.
He turned and charged towards the place. He slashed out at two Umberhulks and an illithid as he past, everything a blur under the effects of the haste spell.
He ran past Solaufein who spun away from his opponent elegantly, slashing out as he did so, and followed Uriel's movements, snowy brows furrowing down sharply. The drow opened his mouth but what ever he said, be it reprimand or spell, went unheard.
He charge brought him to the edge of the battlefield which dropped sharply away towards another path. Walking along it were a mismatched pair of creatures.
One was a drow, a female drow. She was dressed in exquisite clerical robes, the black cloth adorned with a complex pattern of spider webs. She, thought Uriel, must be the priestess they'd been sent to find. He eyes, however, were blank and she walked stiffly like a clockwork toy, far from the silky, cat-like grace the sun elf had come to expect from dark elves.
She must have been under the control of the illithid that walked slightly behind her.
They were passing beneath the spot where Uriel was crouching, just six feet below him. Silently the sun elf leapt down, ready to strike as soon as he landed.
Abruptly he flew backwards, Carsomyr flying from his hands.
The illithid lowered its hand, stalking towards Uriel. The sun elf angrily flicked his hair out of the way and snatched up Carsomyr. Though he'd thought it incapable of a creature with a squid-like head he could have swore that it was smirking.
Another mental attack came at him and this time Uriel fell to his knees and screamed. He could feel the illithid in his head. Random memories flashed before his eyes as mind flayer dug deeper and deeper… A cold chuckle came from the monster as it broke the final barrier in its way.
There was… nothing… nothing but cold darkness before the illithid. It was confused: was this some form of mental defence? It reached out again…
Now it was the illithid screaming as the darkness, the Bhaal essence within Uriel rose up against it.
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Solaufein still kept his sword and his flail in his hands, even though the illithids and Umberhulks lay dead around his feet. He was planning to use these weapons on the coward Veldrin.
He stalked across the battlefield, towards the soft noises coming from the base of a small cliff… but what he saw shocked even the hardened drow warrior.
An illithid was on its knees making gurgling noises, its tentacles waving feebly, trying to grip the wrist of an armoured dark elf. The hand at the end of that wrist was clamped around the throat of the mind flayer. Veldrin looked up; just as the mind flayer became silent and limp.
His eyes were different, flickering between sulphur yellow and blood red. A feral grin spread slowly across his face, revealing teeth that, for a moment looked much too long and pointed.
"Uri- Veldrin!" the pink-haired female darted forward, her bow still in one hand and an arrow in the other. Solaufein quickly scanned the rest of the Ched Nassad party, seeing that they all were clutching weapons or had hands raised ready for casting.
Veldrin focused slowly on the female mage, swaying slightly still with the worrying grin on his face, as though he had not decided what to do with her. Then, after seemingly hours, he blinked in confusion and slowly shook his head from side-to-side. When his eyes opened they were once again that unusual red-gold colour.
"What in the name of-" before Solaufein could finish his question there was a soft groan and a drow female came into view. Instantly the drow fighter-mage was at her side, "Yathrin, are you-"
He knew the blow was coming and readied himself for it. The back of an armoured gauntlet met his cheek, the strike enhanced by a strength spell which sent him to his knees. His hearing faded, leaving only a ringing in his ears, which alarmed the fighter-mage but that effect lasted only for a few seconds.
"- be time to replace you perhaps? With someone younger and worthier of the task. Would you like that Solaufein?" Phaere leant closer, thankfully unaware that he'd missed the first part of her conversation. She pulled his head up so that he had no choice but to look up at her face, "Or would you prefer to serve me?"
Solaufein knew what was expected of him,
"No, yathrin, I wish to serve you."
"Of course," she let him go but not before he saw the cruel smirk on her face, "It would be such a pity to send you to the temple, wouldn't it? To face the tentacle rods again?" she stalked off with a lingering look at Veldrin.
Solaufein looked up to see that most of Ched Nassad party were looking away checking their equipment or staring off into the Underdark. Veldrin met his gaze for a briefly, some strange emotion in his eyes, before his hair fell over his face, once more.
He got to his feet the second Phaere had past from his sight and spat blood from a cut on the inside of his mouth,
"Do you think," his voice regaining some of its strength and arrogance, "that you could possibly make your way back if I'm not here to lead you by the hand"
The red-armoured drow looked up again, his eyes harding as he curtly nodded, but Solaufein was already on his way, running on silent feet after Phaere.
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Uriel sighed, pushing a trembling hand through his hair. He'd known and had been warned on many occasions by both Adalon and Viconia that drow society was infinitely harsher than the surface one. But still to see something like that… He felt a deep pang of sympathy for the grey-eyed drow.
"You can't change anything Uriel, no matter how much you want to," Jaheira looked up from wiping her blade on an illithid's robe. Uriel said nothing and she frowned slightly, "Uriel? Are you listening to-"
The sun elf groaned, his hands coming up to clutch as his head. He made no more noise as he collapsed onto the floor, Carsomyr falling from his grasp.
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Jessi: Writing interaction between Phaere and Solaufein is hard without Baldur's Gate 2 anymore. If anyone has any tips on how to write Phaere and how the two speak to one another I'd appreciate it.
Yathrin priestess