Chapter 5: The Chase is On!
The initial burst of daylight always hurts the most. This holds true with any sudden blast of illumination after having your eyes adjusted to the dark. It's painful, and leaves one blind momentarily. For Argon and Yoshimo, it was painful and for moment, they could not see, but it was welcoming nonetheless.
The light, the warm of the sun, all of it was refreshing to feel on their skin, having been in a cold, clammy, unsanitary dungeon for who knows how long. It was this pleasing feeling that was melting away the bonds in their minds, washing away all thoughts of having been imprisoned. The pleasure lasted a short time unfortunately, as the surrounding circumstances were quite pressing.
Both of them had to shamble over a good portion of shattered white stone which littered the ground. This stone apparently came from a larger source, which was all around them. Argon rose to his feet, and spared a momentary glance around, to see what there was to see. He stood inside of a massive structure, constructed from the same material that he was trampling upon. It was in the shape of a huge oval, with elegant arches, risers, pillars and indentations on the sides, as well as lacking a roof entirely.
Built into the sides of this massive construction were doorways, carts of merchants, and even in the center, down on the ground level there was several brightly colored pavilions. Along the sides there were stairs to reach the higher levels, where even more people were. Argon gazed around this glorious place, and came to his conclusion quickly.
Yoshimo had mentioned being in Amn, and the capital city of Athkatla. If that was true, and they hadn't been moved that far, then he would hazard a guess that this place was Waukeen's Promenade, the famous marketplace, where one could find and sell nearly anything. And in the midst of this shopper's paradise, there was something going down. Something rather enormous indeed.
Standing atop the majority of the ruined section of the Promenade, was a familiar creepy face. The wizard from the dungeon. Irenicus. He was currently staring down another group, consisting of maybe a dozen men, garbed in black, their faces covered, all of them inching forward with swords out, as if ready to engage in heavy combat. Irenicus however, didn't look too concerned about their actions.
"You dare to attack me here?" he rather calmly asked the interlopers, "Do you even know whom you face?" Before any of them had a chance to do anything, such as answer or attack, Irenicus's hands rose, and with a flare of turquoise light, one of the assassins exploded. That's the best term for what happened, he just seemed to blow up, sending parts of him flying everywhere. There was a huge splash as nearly the majority of his blood hit the ground in a surging wave, pooling all over the stones, turning them crimson. This, as well as a sickening smack as what little was left of him touched down.
"You will suffer!" Irenicus suddenly roared, his hands glowing once again, clearly illustrating his irritation, "You will all suffer!" What happened next was quite disturbing and remarkable. Irenicus began pointing and waving his fingers and hands at the remaining attackers, and nearly all of them died instantly. One simply vanished, transforming into little pieces of sand, another turned into a statue of stone, but was immediately shattered, while one poor fellow was set on fire, and ran around screaming for a few moments, until he was somewhat mercifully struck by a lightning bolt, shearing his flaming head from his neck.
And even more grisly deaths as well, until only two remained, who figured that now might be as good a time to run. Which they did, turning tail, and dashing away, through a small crowd of people that were watching the unfolding spectacle from afar. With that nuisance taken care of, Irenicus nonchalantly looked round, sensing someone else watching him. Someone more important and powerful. There, he saw his experiment crouching just at the exit of his dungeon, as well as a thief. He smiled, pleased, and slightly surprised by this.
"So godchild, you have escaped, you are more resourceful than I had thought." Seeing as he was finally ready to address him now, Argon rose from his squat, a maniacal grin on his face, rather impressed at the incredible display of magical prowess that this corpse-to-be possessed.
"Well, it sounded like you were having fun out here, and I sure hate to miss fun. That, and I was getting a little bored of you ham-handed torture sessions. It just wasn't doing it for me anymore."
"Torture? Silly boy, you just don't understand what I'm doing, do you?" This apparently must have been true, for Argon shrugged.
"Maybe, but it doesn't really matter, does it? After all, I'm going to kill you now, and dead men's words hold no meaning. And after I'm done with you, I'll be on my way, and see what this miserable country has to offer me."
"I won't let you leave," Irenicus told him, his voice very low and menacing, "not when I'm so close to unlocking your power!"
"Hah. I'm coming to the conclusion that you're not a very good listener, are you? Because I've already been clear that what you want doesn't really matter here…remember? You'll be dead in a few moments, and then all your troubles and worries will be gone just like that. My gift to you." Irenicus's face grew somewhat sour, as he scowled back up at the boasting Bhaalspawn.
"Enough! I will no longer listen to babbling of ignorant children." So saying, he instantly fired up another spell, one probably designed to harm Argon severely. For indeed, he was surrounded by flames that tore at his body. However, once the storm of fire had vanished, he was still standing, unharmed, and smoking. He grinned at the begrudged mage.
"Who are you calling a child, you son of a bitch?" A clash seemed imminent. Both wizard and warrior stood, their expressions firming up. A flaming sword in one's hands, while the other's fingers were poised, ready to launch yet another mystical assault. Yoshimo watched this, hunkered down. It seemed that these two super powers, a seemingly invincible mage and a seemingly invincible killing machine were ready to fight, in a struggle that would no doubt bring down the rest of the Promenade.
However, with a swirl of mystic gateways all around them, several wizards teleported onto the scene. They were the Cowled Wizards, an organization who monitored the use of magic in the city of Athkatla, as it was frowned upon by many and outlawed. In but a moment, Irenicus was surrounded by four Cowled Enforcers, while another stood near Argon.
"This is an unsanctioned use of magical energy," one called out, mainly addressing his announcement towards the increasingly agitated necromancer. Another Cowled continued where the first left off.
"All involved will be held. This disturbance is over." Irenicus on the other hand, was not thrilled to hear this in the least, now turning his wrathful glare at these insects of enforcement.
"Must I be interrupted at every turn?! Enough of this!" Without hesitation, he began casting even more spells, having an almost seemingly limitless supply of them. The Cowled Wizards, use to people surrendering quickly and quietly, else suffer their might, suddenly found themselves in the path of an obviously powerful spellcaster, who began bombarding them with nasty attacks. In but a moment, one Enforcer blew apart, leaving only his tattered robe and fragments of his quarterstaff.
Seeing this, the others sprung to action at once, casting their own spells, ready to use violent force if need be to subdue this lawbreaker. After a few moments though, of watching these dueling wizards, it was clear who was superior. Another Cowled fell, followed by another. And then one more. As the first two fell, there was another swirl of magic, as more Cowled arrived at the scene to lend a hand.
"This mage's power is immense," one of the new arrivals gaped, at this awesome display of magical talent, "We must overcome him quickly!" Irenicus meanwhile, was almost getting bored eradicating these weaklings, and more importantly, he had many other imperative things to do.
"Enough, I haven't the time for this!"
"You will…cease your spellcasting and come with us!" one Cowled demanded, though his appearance looked as if he was someone terrified by this man. Irenicus answered with the nasty and cold truth.
"Your pathetic magic's are useless…Let this end!"
Of course, the Cowled Wizards could not back down. They certainly wanted too, what with their very lives hanging in the balance, knowing that this man was ultimately superior, they would have much preferred to flee. But they knew if word got around that they had let a wizard slaughter some of their number, and escape, there would undoubtedly be a tremendous scandalous backlash that could scar their whole order. Above all else, they could not let that happen. They had to…no; they needed to get this man to surrender.
"Even if we fall, our numbers are many," one informed him sternly, trying to project a confident persona, "You will be overwhelmed." Irenicus glanced past these fools at the Bhaalspawn. Argon meanwhile, was sitting back, and watching. He was enjoying the carnage, that was clear, but he was waiting for Irenicus to annihilate the remaining interferers, before he would stampede down there, so that he could slice and dice the arrogant bastard. For he knew that Irenicus was stronger than the Cowled Wizards, it was after all, painfully obvious.
Irenicus however, was no fool. He knew that he had depleted a good portion of his power to fight off all of these intruders. And he also knew that Argon was now a significant threat at this point. He was strong, fast, intelligent, ruthless, and very much immune to the effects of many spells. The chances that Irenicus could win a one on one fight with him here and now were slim at best.
Besides that, he had a hunch that his laboratory downstairs had taken a significant amount of damage, now unusable. A new base of operations would be needed. So, instead of risking a fatal battle, and with the opportunity of gaining new resources, Irenicus lowered his hands, smirking up at the Bhaalspawn, who at once saw what was about to happen, then turned to the closest Cowled with an expression that now showed great disdain.
"You bore me magling. You may take me in." There was a clear sigh of relief, as the wizards moved in, ready to apprehend him. Argon however, had just gotten very hot around the collar and was beginning to see a rather bright shade of red.
"Hold it," he snarled, "Where do you think you're going?" The one Cowled closest to him glanced over, looking the huge brute up and down.
"He is in our custody now, and we are taking him to be judged. Do not interfere."
"The hell you are! I've got a bit of an unpaid debt with him, and I'll not let worms like you get in my way of gutting him like a fish!" With that, leaving Yoshimo behind, still flabbergasted, he lunged for the nearest Enforcer, with intentions of breaking his frail body in half. However, nonchalantly, the wizard teleported away, as did several of the others.
Irenicus gave Argon another smirk, before saying, "Farewell godchild." And then, he too was gone, leaving Argon all by himself on top of that collapsed section of the Promenade, surrounded by gore. Needless to say, but said anyway, Argon was rather angry, that of course being ridiculous, as he was more than mad enough to wage a one man war against the world, and slaughter everything in it.
He had so badly wanted to kill that villainous gasbag. Not because he was evil, but because he had thought himself so superior. Nothing in the world made him quite as furious as the kind of weaklings that thought so highly of themselves. With no wizard to butcher and stab, he fell to the ground, slamming his great fists into the stone chunks, grinding them into powder.
"GODDAMNIT!" he bellowed, beating the unfeeling rock, wishing that it would scream, as if to mirror his pain. Yoshimo rose from where he was, and advanced a bit. He was still trying to decide on what he should do. He was free now, and alive, in that department, he counted himself most lucky. While Argon looked so livid, no doubt he had murder in his mind. No real shock.
Yoshimo's only real concern is if he approached him, even with offers of help, the enraged man-killer might suddenly turn on him, and kill him just for the reason of being there. As a thief, he could rather easily slip away in the chaos, and vanish, but he was a bit more honor bound than that. This man, despite having an overzealous desire to kill, did assist him greatly in emerging from such a horrible place, so he felt obligated to help. With this in mind, he came closer, stepping through the debris.
"A most unfortunate turn of events. Our wizard captor…whisked away by the Cowled Wizards to parts unknown. But perhaps not all is lost. As you mentioned earlier, you may have use for me. Perhaps that this might be the moment? As I do have some connections with the Shadow Thieves, and speaking to them might shed some light as to where they have taken him. It is worth a try I suppose. Unless of course you have a…alternate course of action?"
Argon listened to this, still crouched on the ground, and his eyes closed. This was the sort of reason why he hadn't slain Yoshimo the moment he presented himself. Thieves have information that is hard to obtain at their disposal. They knew things, and if there was anyone beside the Cowled Wizards who might know where they took Irenicus, then it would be the Shadow Thieves. A most fortunate turn of events. Eventually, after venting all of his frustration out on the rocks, he rose, and turned to his shorter cohort.
"You've been here before right? In this city?" Yoshimo nodded. "Good. Then tell me where I might find the Shadow Thieves headquarters. I'll bet my right eye that they have a base of operations. Where is it?"
"I must admit, that I am…well, hesitant to say, as if you believe my usefulness has ended, you may be inclined to discard me…Surely you understand my concern…" Argon shook his head.
"No. You tell me where they are. You go ahead of me, and give them the story. When I get there, they had better know what I want, else someone's gonna get dead. Understand?"
"Of course. They are located in the dock section of the city, the southwest region. I shall make all speed there myself, and seek what aid I am able. But what of you? Are you not eager to learn what has become of the wizard?"
"Yes, I am. But I'm curious. I've never been this far south before, nor have I ever been to this city. I'd like to see what exotic things that are here before getting things serious. Pleasure before business. And with the promise of finding out where he has been taken has cooled me down. Now get going. I'm going to take my time around here, and see what this city has to offer. And just in case you thought about ditching me somewhere…if I find out that you've given me false information, I will forget the necromancer, and spend the rest of my life hunting you down. I trust you follow?"
"I do indeed. My words are nothing but the truth, I assure you. Well then, if you are to see what splendors this city can present, than I shall not keep you. I will see you at the docks. Farewell." And making a hasty exit, Yoshimo hopped down, and darted into the crowd of spectators, that was beginning to thin out. Argon was by himself again, just how he liked it.
"A new city," he mused, savoring the air, and taking in the luxurious sight of the Promenade in all its glory. "And new havoc to spread. I'm…looking forward to it."