Chapter 30 – The Crypts – Day 97

Jeral was roughly flung to the cold stone floor as the teleportation spell ended. His eyes watered from the pain and he fought back the wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm him. Jeral slowly rolled onto his back and lay there breathing deeply until the pain subsided. Wearily he forced himself up into a sitting position. He turned his head to the right and saw Imoen passed out on the floor with her face in a small pool of vomit. 'Nice to know it was no fun for her either' Jeral mused as he eyed his sister. Confident that she was not seriously injured Jeral painfully made his way to his feet and slowly surveyed his surroundings. He was in a small room with bookshelves lining three walls. The fourth wall was empty save for a wooden door centered on the wall. Lanterns hung from chains in the ceiling and gave off a warm glow. Jeral started at the lanterns for a few moments and determined that they were magical and that the magic was very old. The lanterns had probably been burning for centuries. In the center of the room was a small table with a black leather pouch atop it.

Jeral stretched to try and work some of the pain out of his body and walked over to the nearest bookshelf. Idly picking a book at random he fanned the pages. A faded scroll slid out of the book and gently fell to the floor. Jeral quickly picked up the scroll page and skimmed it. 'spell of lightening, excellent,'Jeral thought. Replacing the book on the shelf Jeral methodically went row by row and searched every book on the shelves. By the time his search was complete 10 scrolls laid in a neat pile on the table. Jeral started studying one scroll and then the next to determine if he could safely understand and cast the spells before him.

"Odd time to study isn't it Jeral? What is that smell?" Imoen recoiled when she realized she was lying in a pool of her own vomit. She quickly got to her feet.

"I need a bath, this is disgusting."

"Teleportation is not supposed to hurt like that. I suspect the wards on the Library interfered with the spell somewhat. We are fortunate to be alive."

"Jeral, we are alone and unarmed and we have no idea where we are and where we need to go."

"Imoen, have some faith. We are in the catacombs beneath Candlekeep, that much is apparent. We have to go through that door for there is no other way to go. We are together so that is something. As for our equipment, unless I miss my guess it is in that bag on the table."

"This little bag? You have lost your mind brother."

"Take a look. Think of what you want and reach into the bag."

Shaking her head Imoen walked up to the bag, opened it and peered in.

"It's an empty bag Jeral."

"Just reach in."

"If something bites my hand off I am never going to forgive you Jeral."

"It will be okay." Imoen slowly reached in her arm. Eyes widening in shock and alarm she quickly pulled it out. Her hand reappeared clutching her backpack.

"How is that possible?"

"It is Gorion's bag of containment, I thought it looked familiar. It is enchanted to hold as much as a small house. I bet Tethtoril took it from Gorion's room when he grabbed my letter and he put all of our things in it."

Imoen reached in again and pulled out a full water skin and her brace of throwing knives. Tossing the bag to Jeral she started undressing.

"Turn around. I need to clean up and get out of these clothes. If vomit does not wash out of these clothes we are going back to Madame Clarisse's shop to get our money back. For what you paid for our clothes they should be near indestructible."

While Imoen cleaned herself up Jeral emptied the bag of everything Tethtoril had placed in it. Jeral organized the equipment by owner and then started getting himself ready for the trek through the catacombs. Jeral slid on his enchanted chain and then placed his black jacket over the armor. Throwing knives went back into each boot and two more into the internal jacket pockets. Jeral buckled on his sword belt and then paused. He removed the short sword from his sword belt and picked up the heavily enchanted long sword that belonged to Ajantis. Drawing it reverently from its sheath the blade crackled with magical energy.

"Jeral, what are you doing?"

"Imoen, who knows what the two of us will face? We need to be prepared. I am going to borrow this sword and wield it until I can return it to Ajantis. I fight as well with a long sword as with a short sword. Anything else we can use from the others to gain the slightest advantage we will." Jeral tossed Imoen a pair of boots and took a pair for himself.

"Put those on, they provide substantial protection against arrows."

"Not a chance. I love my new boots and I am never, ever taking them off." Jeral knew better than to argue with his sister about fashion decisions so he let the issue go without a fight.

"Very well, at least wear Dynaheir's protective bracers as they are more powerful than yours." Imoen caught the proffered bracers and slipped them on in place of her own. Jeral slipped on the enchanted boots of speed and placed his own boots back in the bag of containment along with everything else that belonged to his companions. Placing his quiver on his back Jeral hefted his long bow and nodded once to Imoen. Once the pair was ready Jeral slowly opened the door to the catacombs.

The door creaked open on protesting hinges that had clearly sat unused for a long time. The door opened into a dark passageway. Stepping through the door Jeral's foot touched the stone in the hallway. As soon as his foot struck the ground a popping noise was heard as a torch in a wall sconce to his left flickered to life. Once the torch was lit another torch on the opposite wall popped to life. One after another torches flared to life along each wall as far as the pair could see. The lights illuminated a passage wide enough for a dozen to walk abreast.

"Well those torches just told everyone we are here. So much for surprise."

"Focus on the positive Imoen, at least we can see where we are going."

As the pair moved cautiously down the hallway their footsteps kicked up small clouds of dust. The floor was coated with a heavy lair of dust that covered the entire passageway. There were no tracks or any sign of movement in the dust that heavily coated the floor. After a few hundred paces they entered a large square room with identical passageways in the center of the walls to their left, front, and right.

Jeral looked down each hallway and noticed that each corridor was lighted by the same enchanted torches along the wall. Jeral turned left and started walking.

"Why left?"

"I don't know Imoen, it just feels right. We stay left until we run out of options and then systematically work from there. That should help ensure we do not get lost and we can find our way out of here eventually."

Jeral continued walking and noticed a red dot from the end of the hall way start moving towards him. The dot grew larger and larger as it approached.

"Imoen, run! I think I trigged a trap of some sort!"

Jeral scrambled backwards and started running. His boots quickly carried him back to Imoen. He slowed his pace to remain at her side. Reaching the man room he shoved her against the wall and dove on top of her. Jeral watched as the fireball carried on down the opposite hallway and exploded off in the distance. Jeral quickly got to his feet and assisted Imoen back up.

"I think I need to lead Jeral. This place is a tomb for the founders of Candlekeep. As such it must be heavily warded to prevent grave robbers."

"How bout we do it together? I can sometimes see the magical imprint from the traps so I can aid you as you search for the physical ones."

"Fair enough I suppose. Let's try this again but slowly and carefully this time." Moving cautiously the pair made their way down the hallway. The passageway split in three and they again took the left most passage. After a few hundred paces they arrived as a small crypt. A raised sarcophagus sat on a tiered dais in the center of the room. Imoen cautiously entered the room and disabled a pair of pressure plates at the entrance to the room. Circling the coffin she examined it critically and knelt down by the end of the coffin. Working with her tools she soon disarmed another pair of traps and then stood up.

"That should do it. Let's open it and see what is inside that we can use."

"Imoen, this is a crypt. We cannot defile the remains."

Imoen looked at Jeral and shook her head in annoyance.

"Listen, whoever is buried here has to have items of power buried with them. We need every advantage we have to survive this place. Now get over here and open this coffin."

Jeral walked over and reluctantly started pushing against the heavy stone lid. The lid slowly slid to the side. Once Jeral moved it partially open he stopped and the pair stepped back quickly. Stale air and the smell of embalming chemicals wafted through the room. Jeral peeked into the coffin and looked down on a skeleton. The clothes it once wore had turned into dust over the centuries. The corpse wore an ornate red ring, a very expensive looking necklace and clasped a large tome to its chest. Feeling unclean Jeral pried each of the three treasures from the corpse and then closed the coffin.

Looking at the items in turn Jeral smiled. "Ok Imoen you were right. Looting the tomb was a great idea; this ring makes one immune to normal fire and most magical fire. This book grants the reader wisdom."

"And the necklace?"

"No enchantment but it is really, really expensive." Excellent. Imoen refused the ring calling it hideous so Jeral slid it onto the ring finger of his left hand.

The next hallway was also heavily trapped and brought the pair to a tomb identical to the first. Upon looting that skeleton the pair found a handful of potions and another fine piece of jewelry. As the pair continued on they entered another long passageway that was heavy with traps both magical and mundane. Jeral watched in awe as Imoen ably disabled each and every one of the complex mechanical traps. Despite having no affinity or patience for stealth Imoen was a master with locks and traps.

The passageway turned sharply to the right and Jeral cautiously peeked around the corner. The room before him was clearly a tomb but it was far larger and more ornate than any of the tombs they had discovered so far. The walls were lined with the prophecies of Alundo written in gold across the walls and ceiling. The prophecies were written in common, elven and dwarvish and covered every available surface in the room. Jeral was mesmerized by the beauty that lay before him. Overcome by the scene Jeral started to walk into the room so he could marvel at the scene before him. Imoen grabbed him roughly by the arm and pulled him back around the corner.

"What are you doing Jeral? Pay attention!"

Imoen hissed at Jeral through clenched teeth.

"Look again in that room, but do not look at the prophecies."

Jeral looked around the corner again and noticed that the room was heavily covered in thick spider webs. A handful of large spiders prowled around the webs. Each of the beasts was the size of a pony. Jeral counted four but knew that others could be hiding out of sight.

Jeral drew one of his precious arrows of detonation and aimed it at one of the spiders in the center of the room. He let the arrow fly and quickly drew and nocked a second arrow. The arrow flew into the room and struck the largest of the spiders in the abdomen. The spider exploded in a cloud of red mist showering the other three in gore. Jeral sent his second arrow after the furthest spider and it too disappeared in a pink mist. Switching to enchanted fire arrows Jeral turned the third spider into a pin cushion before it could recover from the concussion from the pair of exploding arrows. Jeral nocked an additional fire arrow and scanned for the fourth creature.

A cry of pain from Imoen caused Jeral to whirl around. The fourth spider, badly burned and missing a leg, was perched on Imoen's shoulder and Jeral watched in horror as the creature's fangs bit deeply into her neck. A gout of blood shot from Imoen's neck as the fangs tore into her flesh. Screaming in rage Jeral fired a snap shot at the creature. From such a close range he could not miss and the arrow buried deep in the creature's head. It curled into a ball and fell to the ground dead. Throwing his long bow to the ground Jeral raced to catch Imoen as she collapsed to the ground. Jeral unstoppered one healing drought and poured it over the wound. He quickly unstoppered a second and tilted Imoen's head back and helped her drink it down. Some color returned to Imoen's face but Jeral watched in horror as dark blue lines started flowing under her skin from the bite. The spider's venom was starting to flow through her blood stream.

Feeling desperate Jeral knew he had no time to search through their equipment for any of their poison antidote. Jeral placed his hands tightly over the wound and focused on the injury. Jeral willed himself to see the poison and imagined that is could be pulled from her body. Jeral felt a rush of power run through his arms and gently pulled his arms away from Imoen's neck. Streams of spider venom trickled out of the bite and rolled down the side of her neck. Jeral wiped the poison off of Imoen's neck with his shirtsleeve and then proper her up against the wall. Imoen's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Jeral.

"What happened?"

"Spider bit you."

"Why am I not dead?"

"I got you an antidote in time."

"No you didn't."

"Sure I did otherwise you would be dead."

"Jeral, something you did saved my life and stopped the poison from killing me. But it was not a potion. I felt something strange, something powerful, but it was also definitely you."

Imoen gazed at Jeral and nodded slowly.

"I guess you really are the son of a God for you have powers that no mortal man should."

Jeral offered Imoen his hand and helped her back to her feet. Unstoppering another healing potion he wordlessly held it out for her. She took the proffered potion and drank it down. The color returned to her face and the wound on her neck healed up leaving two small pinprick scars as the only reminder of the massive wound that was there minutes earlier.

"Ok, let me check this room for traps and then we can loot the tomb. This place should have some good treasure that can aid us."

"One second Imoen. Stand back." Jeral rifled through the scrolls he had picked up and started casting one of them. A small ball of fire raced into the room and exploded. The flames incinerated the corpses of the spiders and flames raced up into the webbing killing hundreds of smaller spiders and spider's eggs. Jeral warily entered the room and was relieved to see that not a web remained anywhere. The enchanted engravings and prophecies were unscathed from the fire and explosions. Imoen carefully made her way up to the tomb and spent some time examining the crypt and the steps leading to it carefully. After a while she removed her thief's tools and went to work.

Standing up she bowed to Jeral. "The way is safe your royal darkness."

"Not funny Imoen, really not funny."

Jeral walked up and slowly pushed open the coffin. Jeral pulled a cloak, book and gem out of the coffin and turned to face Imoen. Jeral placed the cloak around Imoen's shoulders and closed the clasp.

"This is a protective cloak and will help keep you safe from attacks and spells."

"Well it does not go with my outfit but I will wear it until we get out of here."

Jeral tucked away the fist size multi colored gem in his coin purse and set about examining the large book on his lap. After a few minutes Jeral smiled and opened the book.

"Stand back Imoen, this should be interesting."

As he started to read a blue light flowed out from the book and started covering Jeral. The light grew in brightness and intensity as waves of color flew out of the book and into Jeral's chest. After a few minutes the waves of light ceased and the book disintegrated in Jeral's hands. As Jeral got to his feet Imoen thought that he looked larger somehow and his armor seemed stretched slightly across his chest and shoulders under his jacket.

"What was that Jeral?"

"That tome was the collected wisdom and power of great warriors painstakingly collected over millennium. Some small measure of their strength and knowledge was passed onto me when I read the tome."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means I am a little stronger than I was before. It means I will fight a little better than I did before; and it means the next time Ajantis gives me grief I will probably deck him."

Imoen and Jeral retraced their steps and returned to the square room where they had started hours previously. With the left hand passage completely explored the pair headed down the passageway originally to their front. The passage headed hundreds of paces and gradually sloped downwards. At the ends of their vision the passageway opened into a large room that looked like the builders had tunneled into a natural cavern and elected to incorporate it into the layout of the catacombs. As they cautiously approached the cavern a horrible stench wafted over them. A smell of rotting meat and illness nearly forced Jeral to his knees. Jeral and Imoen quickly tied cloths over their faces to block out the worst of the stench and continued to move forward. As they entered the room the pair froze in horror and revulsion. The center of the room was piled high with hundreds of bodies in various stages of decomposition. Weapons, gems and other assorted items were scattered around the edges of the room.

Shuffling noises on the far side of the room caused the pair to tense. Imoen pulled out a pair of throwing knives and recoiled in horror as a quartet of disgusting creatures shambled into view. Each one was about the size of a man but walked hunched over. The skin was a brownish grey and patches of hair sprouted at odd locations on each creature. Catching sight of the siblings the unnatural creatures charged forward. A pair of throwing knives flew and the first creature fell with a pair of blades imbedded deep in its head. Jeral sent an arrow of flame into the second creature. It stumbled and a second arrow sent it to the afterlife. By the time Jeral could nock a third arrow the fourth and final creature fell to the floor dead. A trio of throwing knives had brought it down. Jeral looked up and noticed that Imoen had felled the third creature with a single knife to the eye.

"Imoen, I am impressed. You really are deadly with those blades."

Imoen smiled happily and twirled one through her fingers.

"Thanks, there is something about throwing knives that speaks to me in a way that a short bow and arrows never did. It just feels right when I throw then. I knew if those things touched us we would be paralyzed and die so I had to make sure I was quick and sure of aim."

Imoen set about recovering her blades while Jeral searched the perimeter of the room for anything valuable.

"We have come a long way from that first encounter with those gibberlings months ago."

"I remember that, I was so scared I nearly pissed myself." Imoen chuckled at Jeral's confession and picked up her final knife."

"I actually did, and if you repeat that to anyone I will put a blade where the sun doesn't shine."

Hastily agreeing to keep her secret Jeral picked up a wand off the floor. Examining it in his hand he noticed a word etched into the handle in very tiny near letters.

"Stand back Im." Jeral backed to the entrance of the room and pointed the wand at the pile or corpses.

"Inferio!"

A massive gout of flame poured from the wand and engulfed the pile of corpses. The bodies started to burn quickly and the whole pile quickly turned into a large funeral pyre.

"Why did you waste a charge from that wand? We will likely need every last one to survive this place."

"I could not leave those bodies here. They deserve some dignity, even in death. It is worth the risk."

Sensing that Imoen was not impressed with his selflessness Jeral quickly added, "Besides I needed to see if the wand would work."

"Well at least that makes sense."

Imoen watched as the smoke rose in the cavern and escaped through small fissures in the ceiling.

"Think that is the way out?"

"Not unless you can travel as the wind. That is probably a natural fissure in the rock. Who knows where it goes. That is not the way out for us. We have to keep looking."

The pair wended their way back to the original chamber and faced the one remaining hallway. The pair stared off into the darkness and prepared themselves for whatever lay ahead.

"Uh Jeral?"

"Yes?"

"Well not to be critical or anything but that little feeling of yours is pretty worthless. We started to the left and found nothing but trouble. Since we have yet to find the way out it clearly lies down this hallway."

"Fair enough. Next time we are trapped in a maze without a plan you get to pick the direction. Is that acceptable to you?"

Deciding that Jeral's question did not merit a response Imoen twirled a pair of throwing knives in her hands and started walking down the hallway. Jeral quickly caught up to her and the pair reached a set of steps going down. Without a single pause the pair descended deeper beneath Candlekeep.

The next few minutes passed in a blur of shapes and fire. The stairs descended into a massive chamber that looked like the inside of a temple. A dozen pillars rose up into the darkness and formed two neat rows down the center of the room. The room was so large that the pair could not make out the other end. All they could determine was that the magical torches provide light as far as they could see.

Shuffling at the far end of the hall drew their attention. Dozens of shadows slowly advanced. As they approached they came into view and Imoen gasped in despair. Two score skeletons slowly advanced on the party. One score carried halberds while the others carried war hammer and shield. Imoen slowly started backing away.

"Jeral, what are we going to do? We cannot fight skeletons with knives and arrows. There is nothing for us to strike. Our blades will pass right through them." J

eral was struck by the fear that was apparent in Imoen's voice. She was always positive and outside of the sewers had never lost her cool, yet she now sounded close to the edge. Jeral knew he needed to get them out of the caverns and quickly.

"Ok. Stay close to me and whatever you do keep up."

"I do not like the sound of that. What are you thinking?"

Jeral winked as his sister and smiled. "Trust me." With a roar Jeral took off down the hall at a sprint carried along on his enchanted boots. Imoen watched him take off and paused, wondering if he had finally snapped.

Jeral extended his arm and pointed the newly discovered fire wand at the undead creatures. A massive ball of fire flew out from the wand and exploded in the midst of the creatures. The explosion blasted many of the creatures to bits and a second fireball quickly blasted a path through the remainder.

Imoen sprinted to catch up to her brother and weaved her way through the piles of bones strewn about the floor. Some of the skeletons were still moving and struggling to stand. Imoen nimbly jumped over a few and raced after Jeral. Jeral raced through the hall of pillars and leapt up a set of stairs at the other end. He turned a corner and was quickly lost from sight. Imoen raced up the steps and sprinted around the corner desperate to catch up to her brother. Imoen turned the corner and skidded to a stop inches before she slammed into her brother's back.

Jeral held the wand of fire out in front of his body and slowly moved it from side to side. A molten jet of fire washed from one side of the passageway to the other incinerating everything it touched. Imoen watched transfixed as a dozen doppelgangers burned to death in front of her eyes. Their inhuman screams caused her to shudder in revulsion. Jeral kept spraying the hallway with fire until the wand started to smoke and shudder in his grasp. Jeral finally ended the spell and the wand crumbled to dust in his palm, the last of its magic expended.

Jeral was breathing heavily from exertion and his eyes were twitching as his head snapped nervously from side to side looking for danger. Imoen patted Jeral on the shoulder and her touch seemed to snap him out of it. Jeral quickly blinked and then looked numbly at his sister.

"What happened here Jeral?"

"I killed all of our friends?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I killed them. I killed Winthrop, Tethtoril, Hull, all of them. I lost control and I burned all of them alive. You saw it. I, I think I lost control. I think I am losing sway to my blood."

Jeral squatted down on his haunches and buried his face in his hands.

Imoen knelt down next to him and spoke in a low soothing voice. "Those were not our friends. Those were shape changers, disguised to look like our friends. You saw through the illusion and saved our lives. They were too many. Had they gotten any closer we would be dead right now."

"I know what I saw."

Imoen stood up and slapped Jeral roughly on the back of the head.

"Bollocks. If that was the real Tethtoril he would have protected all of them from the affects of your wand. If he is enough of a mage to bend the wards of the castle and teleport us here then he is enough of a mage to stop you and a simple wand of fire. It was an illusion, accept it and move on. Now get up and get moving before I hit you again."

Jeral pulled himself to his feet and rubbed the back of his head. Smiling sheepishly he hugged his sister.

"Thanks. I think I knew at some level they were shape changers but you definitely smacked some sense into me to help me believe it. We have to be near the exit. Let's get out of this hole."

The pair warily picked their way down the scorched hallway maneuvering around steaming piles of smoldering grey flesh. The hallway ended abruptly in a low pile of rubble. The wall in front of the siblings had collapsed revealing a large cavern on the other side of the wall. The faint sound of crashing waves reached their ears and they realized that their escape from Candlekeep was nearing an end. The ocean meant freedom and a reunion with their ship. The pair eagerly slipped through the wall into the cavern beyond.

Unlike the catacombs they had just left the cavern was clearly natural and untouched by human hands. As they moved out from the light of the catacombs they moved into pitch blackness for there were no enchanted torches or other sources of light to guide their way. Jeral grasped Imoen's right hand with his left and slowly led the way forward, long sword held at the ready. The rushing and crashing of the waves covered the sound of their shuffling steps as they crept forward. Jeral had only reached a count of thirty paces when a faint glimmer of light caught his eye in the distance. Jeral sheathed his sword and lowered himself to the ground, pulling Imoen down as he did. A hushed conversation found the pair slowly slithering forward as carefully and quietly as they could manage over the rough cavern floor.

Jeral reached the edge of the circle of light and cautiously peered around the corner. To his dismay he observed a heavily armed quartet of assassins standing ready. Fortunately for the siblings they were looking in the opposite direction and had not detected their approach. They were obviously waiting for he and Imoen to arrive. Jeral took a deep breath and eyed the four carefully. All looked experienced, determined, and very, very dangerous. The first assassin wore black studded leather armor and carried a silver throwing axe that gleamed brightly in the torchlight. Even from the distance Jeral could not miss the enchantment of the weapon. The second assassin wore a set of black chain mail and held a long bow at the ready. The third man wore a suit of plate mail and closed faced helm with demon horns atop it. In his left hand he held a torch aloft while his right carried a flail with two wicked looking barbed flail heads. The forth man was the tallest of the group and wore blood red mage robes. He leaned lazily against the far wall and was cleaning his fingernails with the point of a large throwing dart.

Jeral slowly pushed himself backwards out of the light and back into the comforting blackness. After he scrambled back a dozen paces he pulled Imoen's face in close to his own. In hushed whispers they discussed their next moves.

"They have to be waiting for us. No other explanation makes sense. Sarevok must have heard of our escape from the dungeon and sent them to ensure we did not make it out of here alive."

"Is there any way around them?"

"I don't think so. The sound of the sea is loudest on the other side of their position. That is the most likely path out of here. If we try and go around them who knows what else we may blunder into in the dark?"

"Ok, makes sense to me. Any chance you can take a few down with a spell or scroll?"

"No chance. I do not know many spells and would need to ditch my armor to cast any of them."

"Well that leaves your scrolls, I know one can cast them while wearing armor because the enchantment is powered by the scroll and not the caster."

"True, however I cannot read them in the dark and if we light a torch they will be all over us before I can cast anything."

"Ok, so we need to hit them hard and fast and not give them any chance to recover."

"Agreed. I will send a couple arrows their way, once the second one explodes we charge. If you can take out the mage first we may survive this. I will start with the fellow in the plate mail and we will meet in the middle."

"Fair enough, how many of those neat little things do you have left?"

"Fourteen, twelve after we are done here."

"Well don't lose them because they have saved our hide a few times already."

"Jeral pulled out a pair of arrows and gently felt the tips to ensure he had selected the correct arrows. Nocking the first one to the bow he started slowly moving forward. Once he was certain he had a point of aim close to the first assassin he let the arrow fly. Before it detonated he nocked the second arrow and sprinted forward. The initial arrow hit the far stone wall and exploded with a roar. A wave of heat, fire and stone fragments washed over Jeral as he skidded around the corner and dropped to a knee. He quickly drew the second arrow back to his ear as he took in the scene before him.

His first arrow had exploded in the wall closest to the archer. That man was rolling on the ground screaming as he struggled to staunch the flow of blood coming from his left leg. It looked like a large stone fragment had cut the leg off mid thigh. The color was rapidly draining from his face and Jeral realized he was looking at a dead man. Jeral scanned to the right and saw the mage jerk upright as a pair of throwing knives buried themselves in his chest. The other two assassins were already readying a counter attack. The plate clad assassin had dropped the torch and was chanting rhythmically. Jeral realized the man was a cleric and he had to interrupt the man's casting if he and Imoen had any chance to survive. Jeral aimed in and prepared to loose his arrow.

A glimmer of silver in his peripheral vision pulled his gaze to the left. The axe wielding assassin was pulling his arm back to attack the charging Imoen as she drew a new pair of throwing knives. Fearing for his unarmored sister Jeral twisted left and fired off a snap shot at the assassin. His arrow struck the man in the side an instant after he hurled his axe at Imoen. The man's body exploded in a bloody cloud as the arrow detonated. The blast hurled Jeral to the floor and he could only stare transfixed as the ax hurled end over end towards Imoen. Time seemed to almost stop as Jeral watched the ax float through the air. He could see the exquisite craftsmanship that went into the forging of the weapon and the runes of the blade glowed in the firelight. It was well aimed, razor sharp, and headed directly for Imoen's head. Just when it seemed the ax could not miss Imoen dropped to her knees and slid forward across the rubble strewn floor. The ax skimmed inches from her head and slammed into the wall beyond her.

Once clear of the danger Imoen nimbly hopped to her feet and hurled a pair of knives at the conjuring cleric. The first arrow bounced harmlessly off his chest plate but the second struck the man through the chain protecting the armpit under his upraised left arm. The man roared in pain and his conjuring ceased immediately. He lunged forward and swung his flail at Imoen. Imoen's forward momentum carried her into range of his weapon and she twisted sideways to try and escape the attack. Imoen flung up her left arm to protect her face and the flail struck home with a sickening crack as her arm shattered under the blow. Imoen was flung to the ground and landed in a heap next to Jeral.

Imoen clutched her damaged arm with her other arm and struggled to get back to her feet as she gritted her teeth against the pain. Jeral released his long bow and leapt to his feet with a roar. Unsheathing his long sword he turned away the next flail strike inches from Imoen's head. Jeral quickly transitioned to the attack and rained blow after blow on the cleric's plate armor. The attacks did no real damage but they slowly forced him onto the defensive and backed him away from Imoen. Jeral felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest as his anger slowly built as he thought of Sarevok's treachery, their unjust imprisonment in Candlekeep and the horrors they had faced in the catacombs. Jeral watched as the cleric swung his flail in a side armed swing at Jeral's left side. Jeral grasped his sword in two hands and swung at the man's helmet.

The antagonists struck one another simultaneously. Jeral felt several ribs break as the flail dug into his side and the barbs penetrated through the enchanted links of his mail. Jeral's strike his the man solidly on the side of his head and knocked the helm off his head with a loud KLANG. The man blinked twice and shook his head vigorously to shake off the affects of the blow. Jeral backpedaled warily and held his sword in a low guard protecting his injured left side. The cleric grinned evilly showing a set of white teeth filed to points. He grasped his flail firmly with both hands and moved towards Jeral.

"I need to thank you lad. Killing me mates means that I do not have to share the reward with anyone. And I am gonna have some fun with that pink haired lass before I kill her too."

"Not a chance lover."

Imoen's voice caused both men to look to the side. Imoen stood unsteadily on her feet and flicked her right wrist. A throwing knife appeared in the man's throat and he struggled to breathe. Imoen flicked her wrist again and a knife embedded in the man's left eye. He dropped his flail and pulled both knives from his skin. Jeral watched horrified as the man's eyeball came out on the end of Imoen's blade. The man swayed on his feet as blood poured from his throat. Imoen walked up and kicked viciously at the side of his knee and watched as it buckled and he fell to the ground. Imoen dropped to her knees and buried a knife in the top of his head. She watched as the life left his body and then she got up and started to calmly collect her knives from the corpses strewn around the pair.

Jeral quickly unstoppered a healing draught and handed it to Imoen. She gulped it all down in one swig and tossed the vial to the ground. Jeral pulled out a second potion and chugged the contents down. The enchanted potion started knitting his ribs back together and stopped the bleeding. Having managed the worst of the pain Jeral quickly eyed the scene looking for valuables. He grabbed the enchanted throwing ax and tossed it in the bag of holding along with a couple very heavy coin purses.

The pair then again slowly started shuffling their way in the dark always heading towards the sound of water. As they crept their way through the darkness the pair heard the occasional shuffling sounds off in the darkness but fortunately managed to avoid any other dangers. The sounds of the ocean grew larger and larger and the air soon became clammy with the smell of the sea. After what felt like hours of endless shuffling in the dark they finally saw a faint glimmer in the distance. Excited by the prospects of escape the pair started to walk faster. As they moved forward they could see an opening in the distant wall of the cavern and the red of a evening sunset. Abandoning any stealth at all Imoen whooped in delight and took off at a run, awkwardly trying to sprint while holding her injured left arm with her right. The cave opened up into the stony shore.

"This is almost high tide, we must be right under Candlekeep, if we can edge along the rocks to the left we should reach the small beach where the boat dropped us off."

Imoen pointed out to sea and jumped up and down excitedly as she waved her uninjured arm wildly over her head.

"There is the Blade! There is the ship! We made it!"

Jeral stood mutely as he watched his sister celebrate and attract the attention of the ship. A sudden burst of activity on deck showed that the crew had spotted them. They quickly launched the skiff and Niklos helmed the small boat as the quartet of sailors rowed it towards them.

"Well looks like you friend is going to pick us up here. I suspect he wants to get us on board before the sun goes down."

"Won't it be dangerous bringing the ship in so close to the rocks?"

"Imoen, we need to assume that he and the crew know what they are doing."

Sure enough within an hour the pair were safely back onboard and the ship had weighed anchor back to Baldur's Gate. Niklos called for food, wine and the ship's healer to be brought to his cabin. As the healer tended to their wounds Imoen and Jeral wolfed down a fish stew, black bread and a spicy red wine. Niklos allowed them to eat in silence and then dispatched the healer.

Once the three of them were alone in his cabin he began, "I am delighted to see you two again. Where are your companions?"

"They were falsely imprisoned and are on their way back to Baldur's Gate for execution at the next full moon. Jeral and I managed to escape."

"Well we can be back in the city in two days time if the weather holds. Plenty of time for you to plan a way forward."

"The way forward is unchanged Niklos. We will destroy the Iron Throne and kill Sarevok."

"After we free our friends," Imoen hastily added.

"Why just kill Sarevok? Reiltar is the real power of the Iron Throne in the city. Sarevok is just his son."

"Sarevok killed them all, he is now leader of the Iron Throne and he killed my father."

"And sent assassins to kill us in the catacombs."

"And send assassins to kill us in the catacombs," Jeral parroted.

"Well I will aid you as I can for we still have a desire to see the Iron Throne taken down a notch." Niklos stood up and moved towards the door.

"Where do you think you are going?" Imoen purred towards the thief.

"You and Jeral have been through much. Make your selves comfortable and rest. I will see you in the morning."

"Sod that, Jeral can sleep on deck with the crew. You are not going anywhere."

Knowing how to antagonize Imoen Jeral could not resist.

"Imoen, I think Niklos is right. I am very tired and my ribs ache from my injury. A night in a real bed would work wonders."

The throwing knife missed by less than an inch and buried in the bulkhead behind Jeral.

Smiling he stood up and bowed once to Imoen.

"Suddenly I am feeling much better. Nothing would make me happier than a night sleeping under the stars."

"Good decision, good night Jeral."

"Good night Imoen, sleep well."

Jeral headed up and deck and was soon asleep under the stars. For the first time in weeks he slept deeply and did not dream.