„Waking in the Shadows"

It took him long to wait for their reappearance, hours, maybe days, but something kept him from leaving just yet. He was a traitor without honor, a lowest servant of a mad wizard, not worthy to be paid gold, only promised with his life, and yet he couldn't leave and betray again because a word given to a woman, who was by all means dead now, and stayed only to aid people who'd gladly help him leave this world. Nothing would stop him from leaving, not geas most certainly, but instead of finding a way out of this cursed island he was creeping around his unwanted master, watching him from the shadows, keeping an eye out for the entrance leading to the depths of asylum underground. In his hand he held a key to the sealed gates of the Spellhold, stolen from not careful enough watch of asylum caretaker. And all of this, why?

/In exchange for your life help them, leave a ward stone, a key to let them escape before you disappear. That's all I ask for/

He covered face with his palm, trying somehow to compose himself from the madness, which seemed to be highly contagious on this island. He shouldn't be there, there was no logical reason for him to be there… His former companions would most likely attack him on sight, his employer didn't kill him yet only because of simple disregard and he was waiting for the former to show up just to betray the latter, which would guarantee a quick death sentence for him, no matter what result the conflict would have.

/All I can do now is to protect the others/

He rubbed his temples, trying to get rid of the words repeated over and over again in his head. Could it be that he charmed him somehow to help her? A very fitting punishment would it be, if he was enchanted to betray his master in return for betraying them to Irenicus because of the geas. It would make him nothing more than a plaything of the mages, but somehow it felt very fitting for his punishment.

He watched the battle from the shadows, not moving for an inch from his safe spot. Such indifference to Irenicus' fate could result in his death, but something seethed in him at the very thought that he'd come uncalled to help his master like a well trained dog. And the result… It was clearer to say that Irenicus was pushed back by the sheer strength by their despair than by careful strategy or even luck. The defeated mage cursed the victors, retreating through a portal and escaping a finishing blow. Tears and threats followed him, but all was vain. The victory was a bitter one.

She stood on the battlefield, with her equipment retrieved from one of the storerooms he took care to keep open, among the bodies of the inmates they freed from their cells o help them fight Irenicus. She was clutching her wounded side, and breathed heavily, but lived. And she said…

/Once I'll be killed all geas conditions will be fulfilled and you will be free…/

Didn't she mean killed by Irenicus? Or maybe… It would be too hard to say he would be the one to kill her, wouldn't it? She stood away from her companions, near the shadows, which could completely obscure his presence. It would be only too easy to sneak behind her back, no one would know he was coming. One stab under the rib, she wouldn't suffer, really… he would be free.

'She would see you through her divinations, obviously' he stated calmly, trying to decide what to do, despite the confusion stirring his thoughts. Maybe madness in here was indeed contagious. Or maybe it was a trap? The key was still in his hands, it would be very comfortable if she had it delivered straight to her hands, by the traitor who she must want to kill… Why would she possibly allow him to come that near?

Because she was dead already, because Irenicus killed her, only her body didn't realize it yet and kept on walking… Because she badly needed this key, for her friends, who would be trapped in the Spellhold without any way out without it, and because she was a person who lived and could die for her friends… Because he himself called her 'my friend'…

The knowledge of the future equaled the power to change it – it was one of those many sentences that made her laugh at him, saying that gossips and actual diviner's lore were two drastically different things. And then she told him what the future brought and gave him a choice to choose her destiny.

He stepped out of the darkness, heading towards her. Her eyes turned to him almost at once, but she didn't move or try to alarm her friends. Because her eyes were so empty…

'She's dead already anyway. You can at least end her suffering' he heard a voice in his head, surprisingly resembling Irenicus, that could only be the last shreds of sanity he possessed.

…

'If you run you may still manage to stab her and disappear before they notice you. Start running' the voice tried again, this time more persistent.

…

'She gave you the last moments of her life, it's not a murder! Her friends would be safe, that's what she wanted!' The voice screamed in his mind and Yoshimo couldn't keep silent this time.

"She gave me a gift and let me choose it" he muttered under his breath, trying to stop himself from raising his voice. So he was insane… But it didn't matter. "I can have either my life or my honor back!"

They all noticed him now. He drew his katana and charged towards Daria, trying to aim at the place that could be easily healed.

"Never give up, do you?" he screamed and stopped his blade just before cutting her flesh, only tearing through her already ragged clothes, giving Minsc an instant he needed to push him away from the elf and counterattack with his great sword.

"Ilmater take my heart…" he whispered his last words, falling at the dirty ground of Irenicus' laboratory, ran through with a sword. The final sight before his eyes was Daria and a lone tear rolling down her face, a tear she shed just for him, unseen by anybody else.

And so it all died. The love, the friendship, the closeness… Daria knew it was the end even before Xan approached her as she sat at the desolated square before the sinister construction of the Spellhold, ineffectively trying to feel refreshed by the breeze. At the first look at his face she could already tell what he was meant to say to her. It didn't sadden her, after all, just like Imoen said, she had no emotions.

"Daria, we need to talk. There's something I need to say and… you won't like it."

She opened her mouth to invite him to sit, but she couldn't produce a voice. She didn't use it since the second change, not even for casting. She coughed struggling against this strained muteness.

"I… I have come to a difficult decision and I want you to hear it. It's not going to work out between us" Xan whispered and she could see how much it cost him to say this. "I could not take your Slayer transformation lightly. This beast will tear me in two – sooner or later, one way or another…" His eyes wandered off to the sea, despite his efforts to look her in the eye. He looked as if he was reciting something he composed and memorized already, like a spell, a charm. "To hold you, to know that you may lose control any moment and rip my head off with a single gesture – no, I cannot live with this. I knew from the start that it will lead to no good, but I thought that if I deluded myself at least for a moment, pretending that there's no such thing as a Moonblade, that Children of Bhaal are just a foolish myth, there will be something good of it as well… And you knew even before it happened, didn't you? You just couldn't tell me…" He didn't even look at her, he wasn't expecting any answer. After a moment he went on.

"I… thank you for not telling me, but this cannot go on. I'm sorry."

"Are you going to leave?" she asked calmly, without hoarseness.

"I will not abandon you. Irenicus… we shall get him, even if I have to die in the end. For what he has done, he will cease to exist. But I will not stay afterwards. To admire you and to be afraid of you at the same time… it will not end well."

"I understand" she said.

He walked away leaving her alone, and she followed him with her eyes feeling nothing inappropriate in it.

'Stay with me…' for a moment she wondered if she heard someone whisper, but it was only wind.

End of Part I

This is the end of Part I. Due to my away-from-civilization holidays Part II will begin in late August. In the meantime, I'd be happy to hear what you're thinking about the story so far.