Author note: I know, I'm adding to the story some spells that do not exist in-game, but I thought, why shouldn't our mages be allowed to create new spells? By the beginning of TOB they're high level, they know the ins and outs of magic and they have the skill requested to do it, so why not?
oxoxoxoxoxo
After her talk with Anomen, Meg rejoined the others, now feeling slightly better and clear-minded and decided to make a battle plan with her companions, not wanting a repeat of the fiasco or worse, another death on her conscience. They discussed the plan for a couple of hours, before using the portal to go back to the fortress. "Okay, Aerie, you're first", Meg ordered. The Avariel nodded and cast Time Stop, then unleashed two contingencies: first she lowered the magic resistance of their enemies, then she evoked a storm of ice and snow on the area and finally, she summoned three Ice Elementals to aid in the fight.
When time started again, the spells went into effect, taking down three hellhounds and a banshee and weakening one of the Fire Giants to the point that he fell to his knees and it only took Minsc a single strike to kill him for good. "Edwin, your turn!".
The Thayan beamed and cast a similar sequence of spells as Aerie, thought of course he added his own special touch to it, throwing in a little thing he had come up with a few weeks ago and that he called 'Edwin's Invincible Ice Dome'™: it basically created a dome of ice around one of the enemies, in this case a Fire Giant and shards of ice bombarded the trapped enemy from every angle until it died from blood loss, from a well-placed shot, or from simply being torn to shreds. When time restarted, it was Daniel's and Jaheira's turn to summon Ice and Water elementals, then they, along with Imoen, Chinchilla and Meg, cast all the ice-based spells they had at their disposal. Anomen struck with his Flail of Ages which had an Ice Head, Gromnir used his Ice Morning Star and the rest of the party members attacked with their enchanted weapons coated in acid.
The elementals of course couldn't last long in the searing heat of the fortress, but they helped immensely in the fight and with their support, the adventurers were able to kill all of the enemies, clearing the first floor. "Whew! That was one hell of a fight", Daniel commented, flopping down on the ground and drying his forehead with his sleeve, "What now?". "We need to get the last two stone discs from the rooms over there", Imoen said, "Just gimme a moment to disarm the trap on the stairs…Aaaaand done! Let's go, guys!". They followed her and noticed two rooms, one on each side of the corridor, with a lava fountain in the centre and a small box right in the middle of it.
"Immy, Yoshimo, go and get our prize from there", Meg ordered. "Hai, sekai no hikari", he nodded and took the room on the left, while the pink-haired thief went to the right. After disabling another couple of traps, they rejoined the group. "Here ya go, sis". "Thanks", the Ilmatari studied the machine at the bottom of the huge ascending staircase that led to the second floor, then slid each disc in the slit with the matching rune and as soon as the fourth one was inserted, the ground shook and a deafening sound of rock sliding against rock came from above.
"The way is open, but we need to rest, we don't have enough spells left to fight whatever is up there", she decided, "Guys, can you scan the second floor with your magic?". "Sure thing!", Imoen answered, then she, Edwin, Aerie and Chinchilla repeated the spell for the enhanced Wizard Eye, "Five Fire Giants, two Fire Elementals…And one odd thing in a huge bedroom, no idea what it is". "I do: it's Imix, prince of the fire creatures. This may be a problem", the Thayan frowned, "Though I have an idea on how to defeat him". "Well, I trust you. Just make sure you have enough spells to kick the other enemies' ass. Anything else?".
"I see Yaga-Shura's heart: it's inside a burning brazier at the far end of the first room, guarded by two Fire Giants", Aerie said, "But I don't see Nyalee's heart anywhere. There is a second brazier, but it's empty. He must have hidden it somewhere". "Smart move", Sarevok commented, "He knows that Nyalee is the only one who can destroy his invulnerability and by keeping her heart hostage, he's confident she won't move against him. He's shrewd". Margaret Dawn snorted, "Shrewd and cruel: how could he do something like that to his mother? What an asshole. Anyway, link hands: we're going back to the Pocket Plane to prepare for the battle".
oxoxoxoxoxo
After a good meal, some cuddles to Cespenar from Meg and Imoen, a nice bath to get rid of the sweat and blood and some rest to memorize their spells, the party, cocooned in Protection from Fire, went back to the fortress, turned invisible and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Making good use of the experience they had earned on the first floor, they set their plan in motion: first of all, Imoen and Yoshimo got rid of all the traps in a twenty feet radius, then placed their own explosive traps full of needles covered in acid and poison. Aerie slipped the Boots of Speed on and ran close to the enemies, casting Time Stop and unleashing an ice storm, plus some spells to lower their resistance to magic and finally, she went back to the group before time could restart.
She took off the enchanted boots and returned them to Meg, who waited for the howls of pain and confusion from the other room to stop. When silence fell, she dissolved the invisibility hiding her and ran to the enemies, a smirk curving her lips as she noticed that the Fire Elementals were dead and so were two of the five Fire Giants, "Hey, you buttfaces! Come and get me if you can!", she yelled at them, flipping them off for good measure.
As was easy to predict, the Fire Giants didn't take it well and with roars of anger, they sprinted after her, trying uselessly to catch her: the Boots of Speed gave her all the advantage she needed to make it safely well behind the line of danger, while her pursuers triggered the traps and…Let's just say, it would be quite difficult for them to keep on running with the state their ankles and lower legs were reduced in.
All three of them fell to the ground, the impact causing the floor to shake violently, but Jaheira quickly regained her footing and plunged her spear as deep as she could into the temple of one of the Fire Giants, killing him on the spot, while Sarevok did the same to one of the survivors using his Sword of Chaos and Gromnir slashed open the throat of the last one. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget their screams", Imoen shuddered, "I mean, I knew that the traps would hurt them, but…", she trailed off and hunched her shoulders, seeming to curl up into herself.
Gromnir wrapped an arm around her shoulders protectively, "You did what you had to, little pink sister", he reassured her, "They wanted to kill us with no mercy, so we had to kill them first. The bad memories will fade with time, promise". She leaned on him and hugged him back, "Thank you, big brother". The Half-Orc smiled warmly down at her, "Of course. We are a family". "Hell yeah", Daniel nodded, "So, who's gonna take Yaga-Shura's heart? Not me! That thing looks disgusting", he hurriedly added. The Ilmatari rolled her eyes, "Okay, not you, princess…". "Hey!". "I'll take it", she said, going to retrieve the huge heart placed on the brazier and wrapping it in her damp spare cloak, though it still wasn't enough to put out the crimson flames enveloping it.
The organ was the size of a truck wheel, the pulsating wet flesh was a dark red and it was wrapped in a web of blood vessels, some scarlet and others a deep blue, all of them with big patches of a yellowish waxy substance covering their inside and despite being out of the body it belonged to, the heart was still beating rhythmically with a loud thumping sound. "Eeeeewwww, what's that yellow stuff?", Imoen grimaced, peeking into an artery the size of her arm. "It's fat", Anomen answered, "It seems like Yaga-Shura has a cholesterol problem, some of these vessels are nearly completely clogged. I'm surprised he hasn't had a heart attack yet".
Meg turned to her sister, "See this? That's what happens when you eat too much junk food and not enough veggies", she lectured, "When I tell you to eat broccoli and spinach, I do it only to avoid your heart from ending up in such poor conditions, not to annoy you". The pink-haired thief was silent for a long moment, then sighed in defeat and grimaced, "Okay, point taken. I'll…Urrrgh…I'll eat my veggies without complaint from now on, I promise". "Atta girl", the Painbearer patted her head with a satisfied smile, then stuffed the heart into her Bag of Holding, "Let's go and kick Imix's butt".
oxoxoxoxoxo
Imix, it turned out, was a very tough cookie and if they emerged alive and victorious from the fight, it was only thanks to the Time Stop and walls of ice that Edwin cast, weakening the elemental prince and giving time to his companions to heal themselves before getting back into the fray. Even so, they nearly got their collective butts handed to them and the burns, deep wounds and gashes on them testified it. "At least the heat cauterized the wounds", Aerie commented, trying to find something positive in their situation, but she only received some grunts in response and a muffled curse from Daniel who had come dangerously close to losing his right arm.
Yoshimo, who was one of the less injured, left the group to search the room they were in, which turned out to be Yaga-Shura's bedroom, "Imoen, help me with the trap", he called as his keen eyes caught sight of an indentation in the wall next to the bed. Imoen was at his side in a second and together, they disarmed the big trap that, if triggered, would have set off a lever which, in turn, would have overturned a huge cauldron filled with corrosive acid making the greenish liquid fall straight on them.
"Whew! Good thing you noticed that", she breathed out a sigh of relief, then saw a small button next to the trap, "What do you think this does?". "I don't know, but the heart on it may mean something…Unless it's another trap", the Kara-Turan frowned, then grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the wall and back to the group, "Minsc, do you still have your crossbow?". The big ranger nodded, a beaming smile on his face, "Of course! It's a nice weapon and it was a gift from the kind lady dragon, so we're keeping it, right Boo?".
"Good, then can you shoot at that button over there?". He scratched his head as he looked at the target, then shrugged, "Yes Minsc can do it", he said, taking out his crossbow and loading a bolt. The shot was perfect and as soon as the bolt hit the button, there was a sound of wood against stone and the bed shifted to the side, revealing a small box of polished mahogany with beautiful carvings.
The adventurers exchanged glances, then Sarevok strode to it and picked it up, but instead of just opening the lid like a careless idiot, he handed the box to Yoshimo for inspection first. Only after receiving a nod, he opened the box and smirked, "Aw, how sweet: Yaga-Shura keeps his mommy's heart under the bed!", he said mockingly. Meg smiled, "Good, now we have all we need to take the bastard down. Let's go to the Pocket Plane to rest and heal, then we'll bring the hearts to Nyalee and then…Yaga-Shura will fall", she said, her smile turning cruel and a hint of gold flashing in her eyes for a second.