When they gathered in the common room after everyone had been healed, Meg's face was solemn and her eyes darker than they had ever seen them. "You all saw what happened against Draconis. Some of you have already faced a dragon, but this was nothing like our previous battles against one of their kind and the reason is that our enemy carried the essence of Bhaal within himself. It was only a shred of it, since he was the grandson of the God of Murder, yet it was enough to make him a formidable foe. Abazigail will no doubt be stronger than his son, so we need to step up our game", she said.
"No arguing on that, sister, but what do you suggest?", Daniel asked, leaning on his staff, "We've given all we had against that jerk of our nephew!...Holy shit, I never thought the day would come in my life when I would say that", he added, shaking his head. "Actually, we do have another trick up our sleeve that we could use", Aerie spoke up, "Anomen, Meg and I have been granted the power to summon a Deva. So, if all of us did, we would have three celestials fighting by our side against Abazigail". "That's a good idea", Anomen nodded, "But summoning them all at once could prove to be a mistake, for it would leave us with no backup. One of us should save their summon as an emergency plan".
"I'll do it", his wife said, "All the mages will memorize the combo Time Stop plus the same contingencies as before: it worked fine so far, so we won't change that. Daichi, can you make more of those spider-bombs?". The blonde mercenary grinned and nodded, "Of course! I've already made a dozen". "We'll need at least forty, even better fifty. They managed to wound Draconis despite his hard scales, so I want you to make more and when we face Abazigail, you'll send them to crawl all around his neck: if we can behead him, he's done for", the Ilmatari said and her voice was cold and had a slightly growling undertone to it that sent shivers down everyone's spine.
"Will do, Meg-sama!". "Good. Rangers, try to aim for the sides of the head: the skin on a dragon's head is thinner where the ears would be, Yoshimo proved it well enough against the Shadow Dragon in Imnesvale", she added and the bounty hunter smirked proudly, "And use the acid and fire arrows for it: if they reach the brain, the damage will be graver. If we're lucky it may even destroy some major center of it, like the part that controls movement, or the part that allows him to shoot…What kind of Dragon is he anyway?". Sarevok shrugged, "His son was a Brown Dragon, maybe he's one himself", he suggested. "But Draconis could have taken after his mother", Edwin argued, "If so, Abazigail could be a completely different type of dragon".
"Okay well, whatever he spits, let's just keep away from it then", Meg replied, "Anyone has something to add?". Her sister shot a look at Edwin and Chinchilla, then cleared her throat sheepishly, "Well, while you guys were healing the wounded, I kinda…Took a look at the tome we found in the Temple where Nyalee was…". "You read it without telling any of us?", the Thayan glared at her, "We agreed to share everything that we would find in there! (I was willing to share for once in my life and she backstabs me like that? Ungrateful pink-haired brat)", he grumbled. "I'm sorry! I wanted to tell ya, but with everything that's happened, I forgot!", she apologized, "Anyway, I found a spell to summon a sort of huge dragon head that spits flames against the target, it's called Dragon's Breath and I've already memorized it".
"Well done, Immy, this will be of help in the battle", the Ilmatari smiled at her approvingly and the pink-haired thief beamed proudly, while Edwin frowned and extended his hand. "I think I should learn that spell too, after all fire is my element (I'm not devoted to the Firelord for nothing)". She rolled her eyes and fished the thick spellbook from her pack, "Sheesh, okay! There ya go, no need to be all grumpy about it". "I think some of my boys should learn that too", Lothar intervened, seeing that a few of his mages were practically drooling over the ancient tome.
"So be it (As long as I can learn it, I don't see why they shouldn't have a chance at it as well. I'll do better than all of them combined anyway)". Meg looked around, "Other suggestions?", she asked and seeing that nobody else spoke, she nodded, "Okay, let's go eat then. After the meal, we'll make our preparations for the battle and get some rest".
oxoxoxoxoxo
The Pocket Plane was silent, everyone peacefully asleep…Well, not exactly everyone: Meg felt restless and after trying in vain to catch some rest, she left the bed and silently padded to the second challenge room, heating up one of the pools before disrobing and slipping inside, a sigh escaping her lips as the healing properties of the warm water soothed her aching muscles. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the wall, she felt tired, so tired: what if the preparations they had made were not enough? What if more of them died? What if she had no way to bring them back this time? There was so much that could go wrong and not for the first time, she felt crushed by the weight of the responsibility that her role of leader brought with it.
"Can't sleep, little sister?", Sarevok's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she opened her eyes to see him in front of the pool, a towel in his right hand and a worried look on his face. "No. Too many thoughts, I guess. And you?". "The same", he took off his clothes and slipped in the pool to sit at her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Are you afraid of Abazigail?". "His Taint is no doubt so much stronger than that of Draconis and you saw what he did to our men. We'll do our best, as always, but…I feel like I'm leading our family and the mercenaries to the slaughter", she admitted, gazing sadly at her lap.
He watched her for a moment, studying her face intently, "That's not all that worries you, is it?". A wry smile curved her lips as she met his eyes, "You know me so well, Sarry. No, it's not all. I just…Will it always be like this for us? I know we're going to try and stop this mess, but even if we do, who's to say there won't be someone else out for our blood next? It seems like it never ends, every time I get out of a fight, there's another enemy waiting to strike at me and my loved ones. I'm so tired", she whispered, her voice cracking as a sob shook her. "Let it all out, Maggie", he said softly, holding her a bit more tightly, but she shook her head.
"What right do I have to whine and cry? So many people died because of me, of my mere existence, while I'm here, still alive! I just have to suck it up". "You have any right to cry!", he replied sharply, "Their suffering doesn't in any way diminish your own, it doesn't erase all the pain you went through". "But…". "No. No buts. If it were another in your place, would you tell them to suck it up?". She opened her mouth to argue, then closed it and bit her lower lip, "No". "What would you tell them?". "The same thing you told me just now".
He smiled and kissed her temple, "Then follow my advice. Let it go. I'm here". She sniffled and buried her face in his chest before she broke down crying, finally allowing herself to express all the emotions she had keep bottled up for so long: all the fear, worry, hurt, sadness, guilt, it all came out with her tears as she snuggled in his arms for comfort and he whispered soothing words in her hair.
oxoxoxoxoxo
Anomen woke up with a grumble, he didn't really know what rose him from his sleep, but then he noticed the other side of the bed was empty. Without thinking, he stood and walked in the common room, where he found Cespenar dusting the table, "Cespenar, have you seen my wife?". The imp smiled at him, "Oh, yes, Great One went to the pool room not long ago. And then the huge Golden One went there too", he added. The Helmite frowned slightly at the odd title, before remembering it was what Cespenar called Sarevok, "Thank you", he patted the imp's head much like he would a puppy and went to the second challenge room, but when he got there, he stopped dead in his tracks.
For a split second, the only thing his brain could process was that his wife was in the pool, naked, with another man and his blood boiled with fury and black jealousy. But then he realized that one, the 'other man' was in fact her older brother and two, she was crying. That last thing erased every trace of anger and replaced it with worry as he hurried to the side of the pool, "Meg! What's wrong, my love?", he asked anxiously. She looked up at him, her eyes were red and puffy and her face was streaked with tears, "Anomen?". "I'm here, beloved", he nodded, stretching an arm to stroke her cheek tenderly, "What ails you?".
"I-I'm so scared! And tired! Every time we think we can live in peace, someone new comes up to try and destroy us!", she sobbed, "I just want to live in peace with you and start our own family, is that so much to ask?!". He felt his heart warm at the word 'family', he wanted nothing more than to settle down and have a child with her, even better two, "I want it too, so very much". Sarevok smirked and released his sister, grabbing the towel from the edge of the pool, "Well, seems like you have it covered from here", he said, moving to the side and turning his back on the younger man as he wrapped the towel around his waist and climbed out of the pool, "Take care of her, brother".
"I will. Thank you and good night", the Helmite nodded while taking off his clothes and he wasted no time in going to his wife's side. "Goodnight, Sarry", she called to her brother, who waved with a hand as he picked up his discarded clothing and left. Anomen took her in his arms and pulled her gently in his lap, "Why didn't you tell me you were feeling like this?". "I didn't want to bother you with my problems", she said, leaning her head on his shoulder, "I felt selfish for even wanting to bring it up".
He chuckled under his breath, "Selfish? You? The woman who listened to all my rants and whining when I was still an insufferable, arrogant and pompous bufflehead, as Imoen would say?", he asked and she giggled. "Oh, come on, you weren't that bad". "Wasn't I?", he arched an eyebrow skeptically. "Well…Okay, you were a bit difficult to deal with at times", she admitted, "But never insufferable, not to me anyway". "Your kindness humbles me, my love", he purred, kissing her forehead.
They spent nearly an hour in the pool, talking in hushed tones and cuddling as she told him of her fears and worries and he soothed her and reassured her time and time again. And when she had nothing more to bring up, they put their clothes on, left the room and went back to their bed, both now able to enjoy a good night's sleep.