Author note: the images I use as my profile picture are all original portraits I created for the BG saga. I made both males and females but use only the females for my profile for obvious reasons.

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Gromnir was more than forthcoming with information, though what he could tell them was not actually that much: he told them that Melissan had brought him to Saradush two years ago along with his men under the pretense of having them help the city guard. Back then Saradush was still under the rule of now deceased Count Santele, a noble bastard who cared more about wine, money and women than about his citizens and who didn't hesitate to throw in jail whoever dared to speak against him, so when the Count died and Gromnir took the reins, nobody really complained, since his lead was by far better than what they'd had for the last twenty years.

As for Yaga-Shura, he had put the city under siege right after the last Spawn was brought to the city by Melissan, which led Gromnir to suspect that the Fire Giant had learned of the presence of so many of his kin gathered in one place from the woman herself. Yoshimo nodded, "It is as we thought then: her plan is to have as many Bhaalspawn as possible slaughtered and what could be better than to gather them in a single place and unleash an entire army on them?".

"And if she could throw in another couple of them as an added bonus, even better", Meg agreed, then turned to the Half-Orc, "We need to get to Yaga-Shura: if he falls, his army will probably disband and Saradush will be safe. Is there any way to leave the city?". Gromnir shook his head, "I wish there was, sister, but black magic surrounds Saradush and keeps even the mages from leaving. It was no magic of ours, none of my men cast that spell". "Then it was Melissan herself who did", Sarevok scowled, "She wanted to make sure that there would be no way out for our siblings…And she doesn't care if the people of this city get caught in the middle".

"What did ya expect from a priestess of Bhaal?", Imoen quipped, disgusted, "It's kinda her job to get as many people as she can killed, right?". Jaheira sighed, "It's not that simple, child", she said, her eyes pensive, "We cannot leave the city through normal means…But we didn't arrive here through normal means either. Meg, do you think we could use the Pocket Plane to escape the city and reach Yaga-Shura?". Gromnir blinked, puzzled, "Pocket Plane?", he echoed, curiosity lighting up his porcine black eyes.

"It's something I've recently acquired", the Painbearer explained, "Apparently, my heritage grants me the ability to create a sort of cocoon in the Abyss, a place that is linked and only responds to my will. And well, we don't really have that much choice I guess. It's worth a shot. Link your hands and form a chain, I don't want to risk leaving anyone behind". Her companions obeyed, forming a circle, then she closed her eyes and focused on the subtle pull she felt from the Pocket Plane, a tug that touched her own soul, a distant call she followed like she had done when leaving the Abyss after the final confrontation with Irenicus.

There was a shift in reality, the ground seemed to shake under them and they all felt slightly nauseous, but when she opened her eyes, they were safe and sound in the Pocket Plane and she let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, you're all here? Are you all right?", she asked, her gaze moving from one party member to the other to count them and make sure nobody was missing. "Yep, we're all here, sis", Imoen answered, "And all in one piece, too". "Ilmater be praised", Margaret Dawn smiled and turned when she heard a flapping of wings, "Ah, hello, Cespenar".

The little imp gave her a huge smile, its tail flipping happily behind it, "Ooooh, Great One is back! Cespenar is happy to see her! And Great One has brought other Spawn of Master with her, yay!", it flew first to Daniel, circling him and sniffing him like a curious puppy, then moved to Gromnir, who scratched his head in confusion. "Green-eyed sister, what is this thing?", he asked. "This is Cespenar, he served our sire and now he's my butler, sort of. He's adorable, so please be nice to him, okay?", she said and Cespenar beamed.

"Great One thinks Cespenar is adorable! Me is happy! Great Bhaal never said nice things about Cespenar, no, never. But Great One is kind", it chirped, flying to her and purring as she stroked its leathery head. "I'm just calling things as I see them", she replied, then a thought occurred to her, "Oh, I have to create two more rooms for you, brothers. Give me a mi…". "There's no time, Maggie", Sarevok cut her off gently, "First of all, we must get rid of Yaga-Shura's invulnerability".

"Oh, right. Later then", she approached the portal and bit her lower lip, "Hello?". "You can use the Planar Door to reach many places", came the disembodied voice of the portal, "Where do you wish to go?". "I need to leave Saradush and get to the abandoned Temple of Bhaal Forest of Mir". The portal swirled with silver mist for a moment, "The way is open".

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The portal seems to have an odd concept of 'getting to somewhere', for it landed them in the middle of a forest, surrounded by tall, ancient trees and with no temple whatsoever in sight. "Heya, sis, you sure the Portal isn't flawed?", Imoen asked, looking around, "I mean, you were pretty specific, right? And yet, I don't see a temple 'round here". The Ilmatari sighed, "I guess we'll have to walk a bit to reach it, then. Minsc, can you find a path for us to follow?".

Minsc nodded with a huge grin, "Sure! Don't worry, little Meg, Minsc will find the path to the temple and then we will find the means to kick the Fire Giant's backside!", he exclaimed enthusiastically, lowering himself on one knee to better inspect the ground. He spent nearly a hour studying their surroundings, until he stood and smiled, "This way!", he said, walking ahead and the others trailed after him without hesitation, trusting his tracking skills.

They walked for a while, until they heard a commotion and following the noise, they found a group of ten bandits equipped with some mismatched armor about to attack those who seemed to be merchants. "Meg?", Edwin called, trying hard to hide his eagerness, "Can I fireball them? (Say yes, come on say yes!)". "Sure, go ahead". He didn't need to be told twice, a huge fireball crashing into the back of the closest bandit, incinerating him on the spot while the aftermath of the explosion caught three more and engulfed them in flames.

The six survivors turned as one and paled at seeing a group of heavily armed adventurers ready to kick some ass, more specifically their ass. "I surrender! It was their idea!", one of the bandits yelled, dropping his morningstar and raising his arms over his head while pointing at his accomplices and his leader shot him a glare. "Coward! Get 'em guys!", he barked at his underlings, who hesitated and shot fearful looks at Sarevok and Gromnir in particular.

"Dunno, boss, I mean those two are huge", another bandit said as he gestured towards the two men with his sword, "And that fellow in red crisped nearly half of us. I say Todd here may have a point", he added, nodding towards the member of his gang who'd surrendered. Daniel barked out a laugh, "Looks like your underling's got more brains than you, pal", he commented, "Better listen to him, if you don't want to get your ass handed and force-fed to you". The bandit leader didn't take his suggestion well and narrowed his eyes in rage, "Watch your words, knife-ears", he growled.

The druid arched an eyebrow and smirked, "Or what? Wanna play?", he said, but another fireball took out the remaining bandits all in one and he glared at the Thayan, "Oi! I wasn't done with him yet!". "We don't have time to waste. Or have you forgotten about the peopl-I mean, of our quest to find out how to make Yaga-Shura vulnerable so that we can kill him?", the Red Wizard quickly corrected himself, but Imoen caught on it and grinned. "Aaaww, are you worried about the fate of the innocent people of Saradush, Eddie?", she teased him.

He blushed a little and shot her a withering glare, "Not at all! I don't care if those useless pathetic simians get wiped out of existence by Yaga-Shura's army! (The children though…)", he muttered to himself, his face falling a bit at the mere thought. Meg smiled softly and kicked Imoen's ankle lightly to shut her up, "Indeed, we can't tarry", she agreed, then turned to the merchants, who approached the group with a certain amount of caution, "Are you all right, gentlemen?".

"Yes, thank you for your intervention", one of them said, he was a portly man in his late fifties with a balding head of blond hair and grey eyes, "Without your help, we would have lost much more than just our goods, I fear. How can we repay you?". "Well, a reward would be much appreciated, good sir", Yoshimo piped up and as Jaheira glared at him he gave an apologetic shrug, "What?". "Oh, of course, of course! We will give you a ten percent discount on everything you'll buy from us, right, guys?", the merchant leader addressed his colleagues, who nodded.

"Twenty sounds better", Sarevok couldn't help himself and the Ilmatari chuckled under her breath. He's definitely a Sembian, she thought, amused and proud at the same time. "Uuuhhh, well, twenty is a bit much…", another merchant tried to say, but then he noticed the Sword of Chaos strapped to the Deathbringer's back and quickly added, "But you saved our lives, so it's fair".

The party members cheered and examined the wares: apart from a new set of clothes and boots for each of them, they bought a Wand of Resurrection, a pink Ioun Stone (that was promptly given to Yoshimo), a handful of healing potions, some antidotes and to top it all, a scroll of Time Stop and one of Ruby Ray of Inversion (Meg made it clear that the spells must be shared between the mages before an argument could even begin).

Satisfied with their purchases (and the discount they got), the adventurers resumed their travel until they reached a clearing where a ruined wall stood, the grinning skull of Bhaal carved into the stone on either side of the destroyed doors. "Looks like we found the temple Melissan spoke of", Meg commented, approaching the doors, but before she could get even a step closer, a mist appeared in front of her and solidified until she found herself looking at someone she had not thought she would ever see again in her life and the sight knocked the wind out of her, a single word falling from her lips with shock, "You?".

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Another author note: yep, I did it! I finished the chapter with a cliffhanger! Who is the mysterious figure whose appearance shocked Meg so much? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out! ^-^