After the death of the Drow, they moved out of the room and along a corridor, but before opening the huge locked stone door, Aerie sent a Wizard Eye to scout ahead and what she saw made her flinch. "There are at least a dozen between Mind-Flayers and Ulitharids", she announced "And they seem aware of my spell…AH!", her eyes snapped open as the Wizard Eye was destroyed. "What's wrong?", Meg asked, worried. "Their leader destroyed my spell with one of his drooling mouth tentacles", the Avariel answered, her voice dripping disgust and everyone made a face at that.
"We can use the same tactic we used against the Master Brain. As long as they can't leave the room, they're easy prey", Yoshimo suggested. Much to their surprise, Anomen nodded, "It's not very honorable, but Mind-Flayers are too dangerous to risk our lives and mental health only for the sake of fair play". Edwin smirked, "Well now, seems like the knightling has finally learnt something by travelling with this group, after all (About time he put common sense before honor and glory!)", he commented and the Helmite shrugged with an easy smile. "What can I say? Life has taught me much in these last years".
Meg smiled to herself at that exchange, then clapped her hands, "Okay, so the first thing to do would be to cause an explosion inside the room…". "Wait, an explosion?", Daichi asked with an eager glint in his ocean blue eyes, "I'm the right man for the job, then! I have a few bombs here that would serve that purpose perfectly", he rummaged in his pack and showed her half a dozen small figurines shaped like spiders, "I can make them crawl inside the room without even opening the door and then…BOOM! Those overgrown calamari will become art!", he added with a wide grin.
She found herself grinning back at him, "Well then, go ahead: they are all yours", she said with a flourish and he laughed. "Gladly!", he knelt close to the door, letting the fake spiders crawl down from his hand and under the door, then he made them scatter in the room, hurried back to safety and said the triggering word. The explosions were so loud and powerful that the door, sturdy as it was, shook violently and was an inch away from flying off its hinges, smoke pouring out for under it and even from the sides.
There was a long silence, then Daniel whistled. "Well, damn. If they're still alive after that, I seriously doubt we can take them down", he commented and the blond bomber shook his head with a proud and smug smile. "Trust me, they're dead: the explosive mix is a recipe I learnt from my father, it never fails". The Painbearer nodded, "I think they're gone too, but better safe than sorry: Edwin, can you send a Wizard Eye in there to check?". "Of course", the Thayan complied and grimaced at the sight that greeted him, "Oh, yes, they are most certainly dead. Unless, of course, there is a race of Mind-Flayers capable of surviving after their entrails have been used to paint the walls, the floor and the ceiling and their bodies have been reduced to little more than a lot of bloody pieces scattered around (And with our luck, I wouldn't even be surprised if it turned out to be true)", he muttered under his breath.
"Good, we can move on then. Let's go", she ordered, pushing the door open and stepping through and over the bloody squishy mess without missing a beat, as if the gruesome remains were not even there. Imoen was quite worried by it and inched closer to Jaheira to whisper in her ear, "Is it me, or Meg's gotten harder to shake? I mean, she stepped on their guts without batting an eyelid! Old Meg would have been careful not to do that and maybe she would have even said a prayer or two for their souls…".
"She is growing up, Imoen, simple as that", the druidess replied, "All the fights and struggle she had to face hardened her and made her a little more jaded when it comes to such sights. It's good, considering the current circumstances". "Yeah, but…What if it's the Slayer's influence that makes her so cold?". Jaheira paused, "It could be. But I am more inclined to think that she has simply grown up and matured, as you have". "What! I'm not like that!", the pink-haired thief protested.
"No, but you can look at this mess without being scared or horrified anymore". "I…Well, yeah. I mean, I've seen worse, so I guess it doesn't really shake me that much now", she shrugged. "Trust your sister, Imoen: she is strong and I know that she will not fall prey to the darkness of your shared sire. She has not given in yet and she never will". She bit her lower lip, thinking, then nodded, "You're right: she's a tough cookie and that scaly blufflehead won't defeat her!", she said with renewed confidence, a smile curving her lips.
oxoxoxoxoxo
Finally, after so many trials and battles, they found themselves in front of Sendai herself: she was short even for a Drow female, with a narrow face, crimson eyes that shone with rage, her platinum-blond hair was tied in several braids and she wore a dark purple armor over a black vest. Surrounding the platform she stood on and the six platforms around her there were two scores of Drow fighters, all fully armed and armored, looking at the intruders with death in their eyes.
"So you have defeated all my servants", Sendai said, her voice was scratchy and high-pitched, reminding them strongly of the sound of nails on a chalkboard, "Impressive, but it will not help you: they were merely a golhyrr, a way to buy me time and prepare my final attack". "Little dark sister, it's Gromnir, from the old temple where we were born!", Gromnir called out to her, then pointed to Sarevok, "And this is kind big brother, remember him? He stole food, water and blankets for us, he protected us from the guards and always helped us". Sendai's gaze slid to the Deathbringer and studied him intently, then she gasped as she recognized his unmistakable amber eyes, "It was you!".
Sarevok smiled and nodded, "Yes, it was me. I'm glad to see you ali-". Her mocking, cruel laugh cut him off and her lips twisted in a sneer, "How waela of you to protect and nurture your killer! Each one of us is competition to the others, yet you took care of us! Now you will pay the price of your foolishness! KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!", she then barked out at her men. "Tsk, no good deed goes unpunished, I see", Daniel commented dryly as he dodged a blow from the scimitar of a male Drow and retaliated with a shot of lightning that killed his opponent in one strike.
"Her loss", Meg shrugged, her mace smashing the skull of another enemy, "Is it me, or these guys are only cannon fodder?", she added, noticing that Sendai's lackeys were dropping like flies with very little effort on her companions' part. "You think…". Sendai laughed again, opening her arms wide, "You fell for it again! They too were a golhyrr to buy me time! Now I am ready to face you myself…And your death will bring me closer to the Throne that is mine by birthright!", she boasted, chanting a spell that created six copies of herself around her and switching her body with one of them, thug they didn't really know which one.
Aerie arched an eyebrow, unimpressed, "Is that your best shot?", she deadpanned before casting cast Time Stop and unleashing a contingency of lightning on all of the seven Sendais, then she moved from one to the other until she found the original, lowered her resistance to magic as much as she could with a contingency and then cast another contingency, this time one of damaging spells. When time started again, Edwin cast his own Time Stop before Sendai could even blink, then he cast acid arrow after acid arrow at her like there was no tomorrow and concluded with one of his beloved Fireballs.
To be on the safe side, Imoen and Chincilla did the same, stopping the time and then unleashing all their deadly spells on the Drow woman one after the other and so did all of the mages in Lothar's army, going all out on the enemy since they didn't want to risk her surviving long enough to retaliate. When at last time resumed its natural course, the copies dissolved in a puff of smoke, while Sendai herself let out an agonized scream and fell to her knees, bending forward and coughing blood as her body was quickly destroyed by the magic of her enemies. "Another one bites the dust, well, becomes dust", Meg commented, then smiled at her companions, "Excellent work, guys. Thank you for your help". "T-this…This is not…Victory, usstan'sargh wael…You were…Tricked", the Drow wheezed, coughing blood, "There is a…Hidden one…".
"Balthazar, yes, we know. Sorry to steal your thunder at the last minute". "Curse…Yo-", her voice faded and a moment later, her body crumbled in a pile of golden dust and her Taint was absorbed by the Ilmatari's body. "Well, she confirmed what we already knew: that the oh-so-holy monk is one of us. We'll keep him for last, though: Abazigail is still our next target", Margaret Dawn said, "Let's get out of this filthy place, then we'll go back to the Pocket Plane to rest and plan our next move". Yoshimo, who had been about to loot the room, looked at her like a sad puppy, "Eh, right now? There could be some useful and powerful items here, sekai no hikari", he said hopefully and she chuckled. "Okay then: you and Immy loot the place and I also want the mages to scoop up some of Sendai's ashes, you know the drill. When you're all done, we go".
oxoxoxoxoxo
Golhyrr = ruse, trap, trick (Drow)
Waela = foolish (Drow)
Usstan'sargh wael = you arrogant fool (Drow)