Chapter 53 Anarchy in Thay
Usual disclaimer: Most of the characters are owned by a whole lot of people and not me, other than a bear-lovin' ranger and an occasional NPC. As usual, reviews and concrit appreciated.
The journey back across Lake Mulsantir seemed endless, but they actually completed it more than a day faster thanks to a brisk north wind. Dee bore stoically Kaelyn's nearly constant spiel entreating her to renew Akachi's crusade to bring down the Wall of the Faithless until she finally snapped, "I don't want to talk about it anymore. I need to rest!"
The irony was that after seeing what became of Bishop, and more importantly, learning from him that some part of her soul was imprisoned there, she had been nearly ready to agree. But the priestess's relentless fanaticism grated on her, and that in turn caused her to think better of it. So instead she used her condition as an excuse to avoid her, and nestled snugly between Cillian and the bear god, who growled at anyone except Safiya who got too close. Gann monitored her dreams so she wouldn't be tempted to stay with her love, but she resisted the urge to travel to Casavir's dreams, being content with her own dreams of him. Only Gann knew how much it had taken out of her the first time, because such a long dream journey had taken much out of him too.
They arrived in Mulsantir late in the afternoon and decided that rather than leave at once for Thay, they should rest and reequip that night and get a fresh start in the morning. The Hunger had been sated again, so they could afford the time. That evening Dee went through her new magic bag looking for things to sell and went through the gifts she had bought in the market or found for her friends back home, amazed at how much she had accumulated in six tendays. And the clothes—she really did take after her mother in that regard despite only having vague memories of her, she decided. Once she was finished she made her usual visit to the shrine of Meilikki, where even Kazimika had grudgingly admitted that she no longer believed Dee was an abomination who should be cast from the city walls, and she also joined Sheva Whitefeather and Katya in praying a blessing on the successful completion of Dee's quest.
Then Dee and Safiya said their farewells to the friends they had made in Mulsantir, knowing they probably would never return. They had a last drink with the berserkers at the Ice Troll Lodge and left enough coin to pay for rounds for the evening for all. They stopped by the market with a gift of a pouch of coins for of Azim and Mavish's new son, born while they were away. Dee found that she could even hold the babe and stoke his soft tawny cheek and silky black curls without breaking down, and Safiya took that as a sign she was healing, though Dee's heart was troubled by what might have been and by how she would tell Casavir what she had done. She and Safiya also insisted on giving them enough gold to pay for their oldest daughter's tuition either at The Academy of Shapers and Binders, or at the Academy in Neverwinter, where Dee thought she should have enough influence with Lord Nasher to gain her admittance.
When they returned to The Veil Theater, they arrived just in time to watch Gann filling in for Sweet William, who was indisposed after eating some bad mushroom soup, as the male lead in the third act of the current play, Love Lies Bleeding. The audience adored his death scene. They heard that several women and one man in the audience had fainted. Dee told him after he returned from his second standing ovation carrying an armload of flowers and a few women's small clothes that she would understand if he would rather stay, as Magda urged him to do, but Gann scoffed and patted her cheek. "No, fair leader, I have set my path to see you cured of this curse. I might return to the stage afterwards. Besides, I'm of a mind to travel to your homeland with you and meet these friends you've told us about, if you will have me."
The leader of the Slumbering Coven had told them what they had shown Nefris and Lienna: they would have to travel to the Astral Plane to find the dead god Myrkul, the author of the curse, if they wanted to learn how to end it. Though he had been killed by Mystra in the Time of Troubles, apparently some remnant of him still existed beyond death; dead gods weren't truly dead as long as they still had faithful worshipers offering prayers.
They had surmised on the way back to Mulsantir that the the portal that would take them to Myrkul was hidden somewhere in the Academy of Shapers and Binders, probably near the same place the mysterious Founder kept her lair. It was certainly nowhere in her mother's quarters, though after Safiya had time to think about it, she had remembered her mother had a closet that Safiya had never actually seen the inside of. She smacked her forehead. "Of course the fourth portal in The Veil leads back home too. Why didn't I see it before?" Not that they had been prepared to travel to Thay until now anyway, but it still frustrated her to overlook something so obvious.
Magda and her actors saw them off as they entered the portal in Lienna's room then ordered the golem to open the fourth portal in the shadow theater. But they immediately discovered it didn't lead them directly inside The Academy of Shapers and Binders. "That would have been too easy," Safiya groused as she indicated the structure which was down the hill in the distance. Instead, they found themselves exiting onto a barren hillside outside the school. It occurred to Safiya after they arrived that perhaps the Founder had altered the portal to prevent anyone but Nefris from teleporting directly inside and instead sent them a mile outside the gate, into a no-man's land populated by wyverns jealously guarding their nests. And that wasn't the worst fight they faced as they approached.
Several grueling battles later, Dee flicked her long sword to shake the blood from it then wiped it through the fur of a dead gnoll lying at her feet, one of many they were forced to kill to reach the inner gate. She muttered, "These sure as hells aren't like any gnoll I've ever encountered. Are they different in Thay, or do you use your magic to enhance them?"
Safiya was staring through the gate at the entrance of the sandstone building with a worried frown. A few red robed corpses were lying in the courtyard, and from the smell, had been lying there for tendays. She turned to glance for a moment at Dee and the dead gnolls before turning back to the gate. "Both. They are a more intelligent and stronger breed than your western gnoll, and we've found they make excellent guards. The question is were they being overzealous and attacking anyone who approached the gate, or were they told to watch for us? If it's the latter, that means Araman is expecting us."
Dee stood and joined her at the gate. "With what we know, I'd guess the latter. It stands to reason that Araman would be expecting us suspecting that I was Akachi's puppet, compelled to complete his rebellion, and we would be coming to find your Founder. And he's looking for her too so he can be freed from the geas Myrkul put on him." They had learned that Araman, Akachi's brother and Myrkul's faithful priest, could not die until he destroyed his brother's lover and returned her soul to the Wall. Though this granted him a sort of immortality, it was an eternity of slavery serving Myrkul's will. Dee couldn't imagine a worse fate.
Gann joined them after casting a healing spell on Okku, who had personally killed half the gnolls. "This Founder of yours. Wouldn't she be very old? I understand that Myrkul's geas has kept Araman alive, but what about her?"
Safiya handed Kaji a small biscuit from a cache in a pouch on her belt then as a reward and scratched his head fondly. "Indeed. Assuming she's the original founder and Akachi's lover and that 'The Founder' isn't merely a hereditary title, it's possible she's still around because she successfully became a lich."
Kaelyn straightened a bent pin feather on her wing. "If she's a lich, would he not have to find her phylactery if he wants her soul? Isn't that how it works?"
Safiya shrugged, annoyed that she didn't have a ready answer. "The other possibility is that Myrkul's geas also keeps her alive, though I can't imagine what he would gain from not allowing her to die if it's her soul he wanted. My area of expertise is homoculi. Mother would have known if the Founder is a lich. Her area of expertise is the study of the soul, specifically splitting and combining souls."
Dee stared at her in horror and was about to ask why anyone would even want to experiment on splitting souls when Okku snuffed the air and interrupted her. "The door is open. But I smell a cloud of death beyond it." Cillian agreed with his elder brother that it smelled very bad, but at least none of the carcasses were moving. He hated moving carcasses as much as his companion did.
They all peered across the courtyard again. Dee couldn't make out the fine details at this distance, only the dark against the light that indicated an open doorway, having lost her first pair of spectacles fighting their way out of the Slumbering Coven's lair and having just lost the spare pair when a gnoll landed a blow with his club that sent them flying down the cliff. "So it is. It looks like a trap." Safiya nodded and sent Kaji ahead to scout, and he returned a few minutes later to tell them there was no one he could detect lying in ambush. It was silent as the grave now that all the gnolls were dead...too quiet for Dee's liking. She stared at the dark opening again and asked softly, "Is it possible everyone inside is dead?" For she could smell the reek of death on the breeze too. But Safiya discounted that notion immediately. If so, she thought the gnolls surely would have fled by now.
They crossed the courtyard quickly with Okku and Cillian on point. The bears took defensive positions on either side of the door as Dee sprinted across and flattened herself against the wall next to Cillian, her swords out and ready. She listened for a few heartbeats then motioned the others on. Safiya cast an invisibility spell on herself and Kaji and ran across the open ground, followed closely by Kaelyn. Once they had taken up positions on the other side of the door, Gann, who had been covering them with his bow, sprinted over to join them. On Dee's signal, they charged through the door.
But they found no one inside waiting for them. Chaos had reigned inside the cool stone walls of the Academy for some time. Once they looked they found that the door had been propped open to allow fresh air into the corridors. Sconces lit magically revealed a grisly scene in the hallways, illuminating more red-robed corpses that littered the floor. Some of them were fresh, while others were so badly decomposed they must have been had been lying where they fell tendays ago when Araman's coup began. But the fresh corpses told Dee that the revolt was still going on.
"Either that," Safiya whispered back, "or no one has stepped forward to take control yet, and all the petty grudges between various student factions have come to the surface."
Gann choked back bile at the sight of three corpses that had been laid out neatly on the floor and neatly vivisected, the various internal organs and brains placed in shallow bowls and carefully labeled. Further on it looked as if someone had made an effort to push most of the rest of the corpses to the sides to allow free passage. It was as if they were afraid to remove them, or a worse thought occurred to Dee, that they simply didn't care. Yet the most shocking discovery of all was made while they cautiously traveled down the halls following a droning male voice: spotting a pair of students carrying books looking around nervously while they waited outside a classroom. Classes were still in session, as if nothing had happened, and as if the place didn't reek like a charnel house!
Safiya identified the professor's voice as three bells chimed, signaling the end of the session, and whispered, "That's Master Djafi! We can trust him. He's known me since I was a child, and is probably the closest thing I've had to a father. He should be able to tell us what happened. Come on, he's just finishing his lecture."
They filed into the back of the room as the students were leaving. Every student froze and stared at them when they opened the door, and the elderly professor and several of the students looked as if they were beginning a spell. But the students immediately relaxed as they recognized Safiya, who had put on her red robe before they left Mulsantir. Several gave Safiya pleading looks as if they hoped she was here to take charge. However, two whispered together and slipped out another door in the front. Dee said quietly to her other companions, "I wouldn't be surprised if they left to tell Araman we're here. Better be ready."
Incredibly, three students came up to Safiya on their way out of class to complain about the marks they had been given by Master Anjali, who had taken over her classes while she was gone. It seemed he was one of those murdered by Araman's followers, and they complained that now they had no chance for a make-up assignment and would fail her class. Dee shook her head. Corpses piled up in the hallway, and all they could think about was their grades. Safiya muttered something, but she signed their forms and assigned them each a make-up report to write, admonished one of the students about the lowered neckline of her robe, and then curtly dismissed them.
Master Djafi shooed the remaining curious students out then cast a spell that sealed the doors, something he had routinely done once his classes were finished for the day, but even more so now. He explained that there were wards to prevent magical attacks in the classrooms, but not outside the doors. He led them into his adjacent office, where he showed them a fire place, a comfortable divan, a closet still stocked with food and emergency supplies, a bathroom with a basin enchanted to provide fresh water continuously, and a privy. Thus he hadn't needed to leave the safety of his classroom since the coup.
He embraced Safiya warmly. "I feared the worst when you did not return from wherever your mother sent you, but on the other hand, I'm glad you were safely away when this happened. I'm sorry, my child, but Araman killed your mother and then anyone else he thought would get in his way. What's bizarre is he hasn't taken control of the Academy. It's as if his attack was solely directed at your mother."
He told them that with there being no one left willing to oppose him, Araman and his followers had gone, trying to find the location of The Founder. The surviving faculty had been interrogated both magically and mundanely before they left, but Araman finally had to accept that they didn't know how Mistress Nefris contacted The Founder nor how to find her. In fact none of them except the oldest had ever even seen her, and those didn't believe she could still live. He said Araman and his followers hadn't been seen in tendays, but there was fear he was still lurking somewhere. He finally told them which few professors they could trust and warned them that he had heard student factions had now taken control of some parts of the Academy.
Safiya kissed his wrinkled cheek and thanked him. "We'll go out through the faculty hallway. I don't want to cause any more trouble for you than I already have." They slipped out the door and moved quietly down towards the classrooms of the other professors Master Djafi had named. But the other professors couldn't tell them any more than Master Djafi had.
Once they crossed back to the student hallways, they were attacked twice, once by students wanting to gain favor with Araman, and once by students who had ganged up seeking revenge for being given a failing mark by Safiya or her mother. But she demonstrated her superior skill and the students' comparative lack of skill in the resulting magical duel, proving to her that the failing grade was justly deserved as her Chain Lightning spell finally killed three of them. A final student dropped to her knees and begged for mercy. Safiya snarled, "Mercy! Very well, but consider yourself expelled! You will pack your things and leave immediately, or I will sic my friend the spirit eater here, or the bears on you."
She suggested they head downstairs to her private quarters where she had her own emergency cache of supplies and then to the infirmary to restock on healing potions, as Gann and Kaelyn had used the bulk of their healing spells. After that they could decide what their next move should be. They heard young, brash voices and laughter coming from a room near the stairs, and Safiya marched over to investigate before anyone could stop her. She was outraged to find a student had taken over the golem laboratory and had turned it into a gambling den. What made her turn almost apoplectic was that he had the nerve to ask if they wanted to participate.
She scowled and wagged her finger in his face, shrieking, "Artesh! This is not a proper use of Academy resources. You will clean up this mess immediately!" Dee and they others braced for another attack, but the students picked up their things and filed out of the room sullenly, though a few grumbled loudly about how she needed to get laid.
They steered Safiya down the stairs before she could become distracted again, and she led the way to her room, where she uttered a loud sigh of relief after bolting the door. Dee looked around. "Looks like Araman's people already tore apart your room."
Safiya glanced at the condition of her room as if seeing it for the first time then ran around it picking up discarded clothing and books, a deep blush coloring her golden cheeks. "I uh...wish I could blame this all on the coup, but..." She shrugged sheepishly. "In my defense, my mother sent me off with no notice whatsoever, and I certainly wasn't expecting company."
Gann whispered to Dee, "I think despite her protests this is the normal state of her chambers."
They took a too brief rest while Safiya pressed on a panel behind her bed, which caused a small door to pop open, revealing an assortment of wands and potions as well as two scroll cases. All of the instructors had similar caches, she suspected, and she suggested looting some of their quarters on their way to the infirmary. When they were ready to go on she carefully opened the door and let Kaji out to scout then led the way to the infirmary once he returned with word that the way was clear.
When they reached the infirmary, the others stood guard at the doorways as Dee accompanied Safiya and Kaji to raid the supply closet, hoping that they hadn't already been looted. As they passed by the neat row of beds, Safiya did a double take. "Bebtu? Dee, this is one of my mother's research assistants!"
But Dee was having her own startling reunion. She froze eyes wide in shock as they passed another occupied bed and gasped, "Is it possible? Ammon Jerro!" She dropped to her knees beside his cot and called his name. He stared straight ahead and didn't acknowledge her as she took his face in his hands and tried in vain to awaken him. "He looks like he's in a coma. Gann?"
Gann and Kaelyn both came over to help. Gann muttered as they examined him, "Jerro. This is the warlock you told us of, correct? I've never seen anything like this. He's fine, physically, but it's as if..."
Kaelyn finished for him as she examined the warlock. "He has no soul!"
Dee muttered as she moved back to let them work, "Yeah, we used to say that about him." She shook her head and continued, "'Tis true enough it belongs to any number of fiends. But not until he's dead, which he isn't. Can you do anything for him?" She glanced over at Safiya, who was having more success talking softly with her friend Bebtu.
Safiya joined the others and whispered excitedly, "Bebtu was able to tell me Mother replaced his soul with an artificial one she crafted so he would be safe from Araman. It's enough to keep him alive, though just...Apparently it also serves as a key for that mysterious door I told you about. He has a message from her for us too, but he cannot tell me what it is until he's been restored and the artificial soul has been removed. It was mother's safeguard in case something happened to her."
"What about Ammon? What the hells did she do to him?" Dee didn't mean that to be as accusatory as it sounded, but it was obvious to her that something terrible was done to him because he tried to stop the gargoyles from abducting her.
Safiya replied defensively, "It's not as if she murdered him. He's only incapacitated. No doubt she did it to protect herself from him and intended to restore him when you got here. You told us he had a bad temper and that he murdered his own granddaughter."
Dee tried without success not to give her an angry glare and was glad that Casavir hadn't been able to try to follow as well. "Yeah, no doubt. Can you restore him if we find his soul? I have a feeling that if she stashed it anywhere in this building, it's being kept safe by those pit fiends down the hall we saw on the way here."
Safiya flushed again, never having been conscious of the evil she had been surrounded by her entire life until she saw her life through the eyes of these new friends and companions. "I can, but we have to go back upstairs to the soul repository in the library to find Bebtu's first."
Dee asked Kaelyn and Okku to stay and guard Bebtu and Jerro and led the way, muttering about why the hells they would even need a "soul repository."
An hour later, they had in their possession a pair of glowing, brightly colored globes. Dee wanted to bathe in scalding water to wash away the feeling of filth that clung to her, disgusted by what she had been forced to do to bargain with the pit fiends to regain Ammon Jerro's soul. She sat on the floor beside his cot and tried to pray as Safiya and Kaelyn leaned over his body, but she feared her gods wouldn't listen to her. Cillian nuzzled her, but she didn't want to touch him as if that might contaminate him as well.
She was only slightly aware of Safiya's actions as she put one of the globes to Bebtu's head and muttered an incantation. Safiya handed the globe, which now had an eerie green glow, to Kaelyn to hold while she turned her attention to Ammon Jerro. A moment later, he coughed and groaned and Dee almost pushed Safiya over as she jumped up and knelt beside the warlock. "Ammon? Can you hear me?"
The warlock sat up slowly and glared angrily at Safiya as he soon as he spotted her. "You!" He would have cast his most fearsome eldritch blast at her, but he was too weak to summon the dark energy. But he became aware of Dee leaning over him calling his name with the bear beside her. He wasn't sure it was her she was so changed, but there was no mistaking the bear. "Captain? Is that you? I saw them take you...I tried to go after you when those things carried you through the portal, but that crone and that one..." he glared and pointed at Safiya, but then he dropped his arm and peered at her. "No, not her...no, this one is younger, though the face is the same. They sent me away somewhere..." He ignored Safiya's sullen protestation that it was her mother, not her, who had done this to him.
Dee put her arm around Jerro and helped him stand. He stretched the stiffness from his body, but still moved as if his age had caught up to him. "Safiya, is your friend able to be moved? We should take them back to your room so we can talk without looking over our shoulders for Araman." She helped the warlock walk as Gann helped Bebtu and Okku and Cillian led the way. He was weak, but he was coming out of the mental fog and muttering about what had happened to him. Dee whispered, "I'm afraid I need your help again, Ammon. I've been cursed, and we're going to have to take on a god to break it. I'll explain when we get there."
Half an hour later they sat in Safiya's room, waiting while Dee explained the events of the past six tendays to him, while Safiya spoke quietly with Bebtu and took notes on his instructions. Dee sighed sadly. "This is one of those 'I told you so' moments, Ammon. I can't say you didn't warn me about keeping a low profile so I wouldn't attract the attention of those who wanted to use my skills for their own ends. For the first few days, all I thought about was getting back home. Now all I think about is living long enough to end this curse."
Ammon listened as he greedily drained a water skin. He turned to regard the wasted woman he wouldn't have recognized if she hadn't called to him. "Indeed I did warn you. But in fairness to you, it was because I had to learn that bitter lesson myself, more than once." He looked across the room then back into Dee's eyes as they waited for Safiya. "Tell me-do you remember what happened as we tried to leave the ruined temple?"
Dee shook her head. "No, nothing after the place started collapsing around us like in my dream. Safiya thought I must have taken a blow to the head that caused memory loss. I don't think it's from the curse, though that seems to be destroying my memories too."
Jerro grunted and coolly told her what he had seen, beginning by telling her that Khelgar saw her being taken too and tried to help. "The creature spit something at him, probably some sort of venom. He nearly dodged it, but it hit him and forced him back. I made it through and found myself face to face with a pair of Red Wizards, one of whom recognized me from when I studied in Thay ages ago." He continued, telling her about their other companions, what he had seen, or thought he had seen.
She listened quietly, avoiding asking him about the person dearest to her he hadn't mentioned yet, and she sensed in her gut he was avoiding him too. When the warlock paused, she replied, "I think you're wrong about Grobby. He had a hatch built into the construct's back. He wanted to make it so he could ride inside it and control it. If he managed to get inside, I think it would have given him shelter enough until a search party dug him out. And Elanee had any number of spells that she could have used to escape, or forms she could assume. She is a very powerful druid. Would an air or water elemental have been destroyed by falling stone? Hells, she could have turned into a mouse and hidden under Sand if he did become an iron golem." He grunted in annoyance in reply, his arms folded across his chest, as he usually did when she argued with him.
After a few moments of silence, she couldn't take the suspense any longer. "You haven't said anything about...I think I remember going back for Cas." She looked at him pleadingly.
He nodded. "Your paladin true to form was ensuring the others got out. You did turn back, and I saw the ceiling begin to fall on you both just before that portal opened. I didn't stop you; frankly, I thought it was your right to die by his side if that was your wish. Those gargoyles may have saved you by snatching you away, but your paladin was buried in the rubble."
Dee fought back tears, shaking her head in denial. "No! I don't believe it. I've seen him in my dreams and been in his dream. Gann has too. I know he's alive."
He folded his arms again defiantly. "And I know what I saw, Captain, and you would be better off if you would accept it, as difficult as it is for your to hear. There's no point in arguing about this. Let us focus on the task at hand and find the way to free you."
But Dee was defiant too. "Then the rescue party got him out and resurrected him if they had to. I know he's alive!"
Safiya interrupted with a hand on Dee's shoulder. "I know where to find the other 'keys' to mother's door." She bit her lip before she continued. "I'm afraid you're not going to like it as we'll have to deal with the pit fiends again. Are you ready to go on?"
Dee wiped her eyes and stood. "Ready as I'll ever be. Let's do this."
She fully accepted that she needed to perform some great penance to make up for what they had to do to gain the students' souls that served as keys to open the way to the portal; in fact she welcomed the opportunity to begin her penance immediately, if one of the gods had offered. But if seemed worth it for a heartbeat when they fit the four globes in the slots and the 'closet' door opened, behind which was the portal that would take them to Myrkul. Araman, lurking invisibly, had gone through as soon as they got the door open, having left his minions behind to to stall them while he sought the Founder. Master Djafi stood with Araman's wizards only until Araman was gone, and then with little persuasion on her part he joined Safiya. In the aftermath, Safiya only had a moment to to spare to say farewell to him after Kaelyn brought him back from the brink of death. He asked her to forgive him and promised that he and Master Poruset would take charge of the Academy until she returned.
Dee stared into the shimmering colors of the portal as Kaji looted the dead Red Wizards, at least those who hadn't been reduced to cinders. All of the spell casters had used up their spells, and they had broken into their supply of wands and scrolls already. What remained and their weapons would have to be enough. There was no time to rest or reequip. They had to reach the Founder before Araman did. Her companions joined her, including Ammon Jerro. She said softly, "Are we ready?"
Gann grinned at her. "Ready and waiting. Let's finish this dream. I'm beginning to grow accustomed to traveling through space."
Dee grinned back sardonically. "I'm happy for you, Gannyev. Teleporting still makes me want to puke."
The Astral Plane was unlike anything Dee could have imagined. The portal led them to a massive skeleton which seemed to float in the ether. They could see other large masses off in the distance. Zhjave had told her once that the Githzerai and the Githyanki made their homes on these skeletal remains of the dead gods. This was a dreary place, drained of color and sound. The air was very still. It was warmer than Dee expected and oddly humid, which explained Zhjaeve's manner of dress.
Gann nudged her out of her reverie and pointed out a handful of dragon knights, still faithful to their god, who kept a vigil at the base of the skeleton's spine. They expected a fight, but their leader instead directed them to climb along the god's spine to reach his skull where Myrkul would grant them an audience. Their Lord was expecting them, it seemed.
Dark flames burned in the sockets of the god's eyes proving that he still clung to some semblance of life. Dee had never been more conscious of her mortality since that night Tyr spoke to her in his temple, and she felt she couldn't resist bowing before this god, evil as he was. He greeted her like an old acquaintance and tolerated her questions. Yet he told her nothing she didn't already know. But she pressed him further, sensing there was more to the story and noting that he seemed proud of his actions. So using flattery, she encouraged him to talk about his grand plan. Grobnar would have been proud of her, and later she would reflect that she might have even made a decent bard if she had been raised by Esmerelle rather than Daeghun.
She remembered something the devil Mephasm had once said about seeing plots within plots, and that was what she felt she was uncovering the more she encouraged the dead god to talk. If he saw through her, he didn't show it. There was so much more that Dee could see than the basic story, that Akachi had rebelled against his god after his faithless lover had died and been sent to her rightful place in the Wall. Yet Myrkul was a god, and she believed he could have stopped Akachi's rebellion before they got through the gate. But he allowed Akachi to free his love and restore her to life, then forced him to take her place, where every remnant of his humanity had been stripped from him. All that remained was the Hunger, that had possessed him, and then every spirit eater after him. But Dee could see the plot behind the plot, and she called him on it.
It was as if she was reading the story in a book or could see it in someone else's dreams...or memories. Was there some shred of Akachi remaining that through his outrage at his betrayal by his god showed her the true plot? Was it one of the gods she prayed to? Everything from the real cause of death of the Red Woman due to Myrkul distracting of her while she cast a deadly spell to Akachi's betrayal of him to free her from the Wall had become evident to her. It had been done according to plan.
But to what purpose? Why torture a faithful priest by killing his love? Jealousy possibly; he had the reputation of being a jealous god who tolerated no others before him, but she could sense more. Dee listened carefully, trying to decipher his true intention. Then it was as if the sun had come out from behind a cloud forcing the shadows of deception to flee. It came to her, though she still wasn't sure if she reasoned it out, or if one of the other gods granted her the wisdom to see it. Or if she could see it because she had a fraction of Myrkul's essence within her.
She smiled her most brilliant smile at the smug, grinning skull. "You imbued the Wall with some of your own divine power when you created it, and part of that has been transferred through the Hunger and is now inside me. How wise of you to have foreseen your own death. You must have looked over your priests and seen Akachi's heart was divided and known what would provoke his rebellion. You were only dealing with a traitorous minion on the surface, but there was so much more to your plan. This curse allows you to cling to life until you can regain enough power to reclaim your godhood...it's brilliant, really."Somewhere in the back of her mind she thought she should be trembling in fear, but she was eerily calm, and in truth, she was awed by the scope of his plan.
The dead god boomed, "Yes, it was brilliant, child. And if you allowed me inside you, I could live again much sooner through you. Through me, you would become a god. Think of all you could do with even a fraction of my power."
Dee stared at him in wide-eyed wonder. "Me, a god? Think of all the good I could do! But I would need to go to your former realm and free the part of me that has taken Akachi's place."
Myrkul smiled at her, pleased that she was considering his offer. Not that he had expected otherwise. Mortals were so very predictable. He intended to share his power with her briefly until he had grown enough that he had no need of her body, and then he would consume her. "Yes, you would need to use the key to the portal in my temple that will take you to my former realm. There we will deal with the usurper Kelemvor and I will take my rightful place. And you...you could have your heart's desire. You only need the key, which the Red Woman took from you."
Dee gasped. It made sense now. Akachi had been a sword bearer before her. Why hadn't she questioned how he had he gotten the sword? Had Myrkul used it to create the lock then given it as a gift to his faithful priest, telling him that it would allow him private access to his realm? "The key is the Sword of Gith? But it's shattered. I was able to control the shards while one of them was inside me, but now..." She tried to look crestfallen, as if she wasn't going to become a goddess after all.
Her companions exchanged brief knowing looks as they stood back and watched, close enough to fight if she needed them, but not so close as to distract from her audience They had gotten to know her well enough to know that she could play the 'dumb female' role when it suited her purpose. But Gann and Okku kept a wary eye on Myrkul's faithful below them.
Myrkul replied with a deep, booming laugh. "The Red Woman has had centuries to develop the skill to reform the sword. That is why she has taken it, in hopes that you would use it to free Akachi. But he is long gone. Nothing remains of the man she loved. I can open a portal that will take us to her. Then you may take the sword from her and do what you wish with her. Use my power and allow me inside you when you devour my essence."
Okku growled, "I see the portal now!"
Dee looked down his spine to see and saw his faithful camped below. "But what about your faithful minions here? They'll think I destroyed you."
He chuckled. "I will deal with them. They will stand aside, or we shall feed on them. It makes no difference." Myrkul was growing impatient. Something didn't seem right, and the dead god examined this woman. But he knew he had to use patience and take care not to frighten her or he would have no choice but to wait for the next Spirit Eater.
She smiled kindly. "Or I could use your power to put you to Eternal Rest."
The flames flickered in his eye sockets as he began to comprehend what she was saying. He sputtered, "What?"
But she had already summoned forth the power. She had never tried it on any undead as powerful as he, but she knew in her heart she could do it. The Hunger reached out and enveloped him in a heartbeat. She thought she heard a final "No!" but she was focused on sending the god to whatever afterlife awaited him as should have been.
Okku growled, "We are under attack!" and charged the Dragon Knights as Gann fired off two arrows and Safiya began a spell to paralyze the closest of the attackers. Ammon Jerro snarled as he summoned his darkest energies, and Kaelyn followed Okku. Cillian stayed by Dee's side to protect her from attack. He didn't understand what she was doing, but he knew it was important.
A few heartbeats later the flames in the dead god's eye sockets flickered out. Dee took a step back and staggered, but it was finished. She drew her swords and turned, marching steadfastly towards the portal. She was scarcely aware of slashing one of the charging Dragon Knights with her swords. She walked past him as Cillian mauled him then walked past her companions. Cillian caught up with her as the battle waned. The bear nuzzled her and looked up at her. She said grimly, "Come on, my love. Let's get that bitch who stole my life!"