Every time you visit a planar prison a bard gets his armor.

Not quite as dramatic or memorable as 'every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings' is it?

Something made me think about the line from 'It's a Wonderful Life.'

Anyway, on to Chapter 14!

Chapter 14: A loss of temper

Jeral stared at Raelis and the other performers in the basement theatre underneath the Five Flagons Inn.

"So let me get this straight? You are extra planar travelers and you want to open an inter dimensional portal so you may return to your home plane?"

"Ah… you see with the clarity of genius my friend." Haer'Dalis said in his overly dramatic way.

"Hardly genius Haer'Dalis. When one grows up in one of the greatest libraries in the realms they learn about all sorts of odd things. I found the books about planar travel fascinating."

"Jeral, you are correct, this is a portal that will allow us to return to our home. We have been away from home long enough. I have one additional request, although you have done so much for us already."

"Raelis, there is no harm in asking."

"Of course there is harm Jeral, what she requests will assuredly be dangerous, or at least inconvenient," Viconia muttered in his ear.

If Raelis heard she gave no indication as she continued.

"When we open the portal there is a chance that various creatures may try to enter this dimension. We could use your assistance to keep them back."

"Very well Raelis, we shall assist you as best we can."

Jeral shrugged and slowly drew his blades.

Everyone readied their weapons as Raelis started chanting. The gem glowed a brilliant green, filling the theatre with light, and a cloud of yellow tinged energy appeared where there was only a wall before. Several bizarre looking creatures entered the theatre but as they appeared one after another they were easily dispatched.

The portal changed colors going from yellow to blood red. Raelis and the others looked confused at the dramatic change in the portal's color.

"This has never happened before. Someone else has gained control of the portal!"

Raelis screamed and shuddered in fear as she gawked at the portal.

A large humanoid creature stepped through the portal. It has the face of a lizard and a heavy scaly body underneath gilded black plate mail. The halberd it carried was serrated and looked very dangerous.

"Ah here are my wayward balladeers. I have searched for you for some time. I will be paid handsomely for your capture."

"Foul Beast, we will not let these innocents be harmed!"

Anomen bellowed as he stepped forward, the Flail of Ages held ready at his side.

The beast lazily turned to stare at the cleric and sneered, showing a mouth full of sharp serrated teeth.

"Puny meat sack, these are not innocents by any means. Besides, I am not one to take orders from such rabble as you. Your interference ends now!"

With a snarl he slammed his halberd into the ground. Raelis and her friends were instantly sucked into the portal and the beast leapt in after them before the party could react.

The group was left staring at empty space and a red glowing portal hanging directly in front of them.

"Jeral, we must go after them!"

"Anomen is right, evil needs butt kicking and Boo says the portal will remain open for a few more moments!"

Jeral quickly looked to the others.

"Nalia what say you?"

"I agree we must try to aid Raelis and the others."

"Yoshimo?"

"Departing for another plane is far too dangerous. You cannot place yourself in such danger, you are far too valuable."

Seeing the confused stares of the others Yoshimo quickly calmed down and continued, "Although lead where you will and I will follow."

"Well that was not helpful. Dare I ask for your thoughts Viconia?"

"I say Lloth have them! We have better things to do than chase after idiots who are certainly in mortal danger. We owe them nothing."

"Good point Viconia, you can stay here then. Hopefully we shall see one another again."

With a wink and a smile, Jeral tightened the grip on his blades and leapt into the portal, hoping that the others were behind him. He felt himself tumbling over and over again through a black void; never falling, just pulled along an invisible pathway. Jeral yelled out for the others but heard nothing, not even his own voice. Eventually even the sensation of movement disappeared leaving Jeral wondering what was happening and how long he was traveling. Instead of panicking Jeral experienced a sense of complete calm that he had not felt since back in his days at Candlekeep. Jeral closed his eyes and surrendered completely to the peace and serenity that enveloped him. He would willingly stay like this for all eternity. Nothing mattered, not Imoen, not Irenicus, nothing at all.

Jeral was jolted back to the present as he shot out of the portal and landed on a rock hard, smooth polished floor. The air was oppressively hot and humid. He was surprised by the change in environment and dropped to a knee to regain his balance. His swords clanged loudly on the ground as everyone in the room turned to face him.

So much for the element of surprise O great swordsman, he thought wryly.

He was in a most bizarre chamber, like nothing he had ever seen before. The walls looked like they were made of bone and tissue. The floors were white, smooth, and very hot while the ceiling was pitch black. The area was well lit but there were no apparent sources of light. Jeral saw that there were a pair of Yuan ti, four armed humans and an unarmed gnome in the room. The humans all wore strange collars that glowed and pulsed with an evil purple light. One of the snake men was berating the gnome and demanding to know how he had removed his collar. Seeing Jeral the snake man ordered the humans to attack. Three of the armed man charged while the fourth started casting a spell.

Jeral remembered back to all the great tomes of knowledge at Candlekeep. One of his favorites was a history of great warlords. The words of Lorgram Berthander, the great Nielienesse warlord at the battle of the Gemanali Gap sprang into his head, 'Outnumbered, and encircled, we have the enemy right where we want them. Attack, for that will be the last thing they will ever expect.'

Offering a silent prayer to Gorion's memory, and hoping his friends were on the way, Jeral charged. He crashed into the three fighters opposing him and managed to quickly dispatch one of them with a well place sword slash to the neck that removed his head from his torso. Thinking back to his conversation with Hendak the evening before Jeral could not help but smile.

Hendak was right, taking a man's head off does work pretty well, Jeral mused.

Skeletons started to appear around him and he realized that his already poor odds had changed for the worse.

Jeral suddenly felt a blindingly sharp pain in his back, and realized that that he had an unseen assailant in addition to the many the visible threats. Jeral whirled around to face the new threat and saw an extremely thin dwarf holding a wicked looking dagger that was coated in blood – his blood. He struggled to focus and realized that he was losing control of his limbs as he fell weakly to the floor. Poison! He tried to channel the power within him but he found it impossible to focus as his vision started to cloud. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was the image of an irate Viconia getting knocked to the ground by Minsc as he barreled out of the portal and smashed into her. Then all went dark.

Jeral awoke face down on the floor. The strange white floor was warm to the touch. It was also covered in blood. Jeral desperately hoped that it was not his own blood. He lifted his head slightly off the floor and saw that Yoshimo and Viconia were looting the bodies while Anomen knelt over Minsc, tending to his wounds. Nalia knelt in front of the gnome and they seemed to be deep in conversation. The bodies of the Yuan ti and the four humans, plus the dwarf that Jeral had seen earlier, were strewn across the floor. The battle had clearly been vicious but his companions had escaped largely without injury. Jeral slowly pushed himself into a sitting position and then slowly stood up from there. His back was sore and he was covered in blood but he had obviously been healed by Viconia or Anomen while he was passed out. He stretched out his back and tested how it felt. Tight and sore but nothing too unbearable. Once he was sure everything still worked he picked up his swords and sheathed them.

Groggily Jeral asked, "What did I miss?"

Viconia turned and headed towards Jeral. Smiling she twirled a dagger between her fingers and then tossed it to Jeral pommel first. He caught it and examined it closely.

"Nalia says that the blade is heavily enchanted and can put its victims into a deep sleep with every strike. That dwarf buried it in your back. We arrived just in time to see you fall. Minsc thought you were dead. He lost control and cut the dwarf in two. After that the rest were not too much trouble."

Viconia gently traced the outline of Jeral's jaw and slapped him softly on the cheek.

"Try and be more careful next time male. While I have not yet taken my rights with you I have laid my claim. It would be rude to deny me my rights."

With that she turned, tossed her white hair over a mailed shoulder and sauntered off.

Smiling and asking himself why he always was attracted to a woman who has an attitude, Jeral tucked the heavily enchanted dagger into his boot. He removed the lightly enchanted dagger that was there previously and offered it to Nalia. Lacking any enchanted blade of her own she happily discarded her iron blade and slid the lightly enchanted one into the scabbard on her belt. They also recovered a pair of heavily enchanted boots.

After examination Jeral determined that the boots would make the wearer faster than any man alive. Minsc had asked for the boots so he could, "better catch the butts of evil," but Jeral feared the wild ranger running into trouble before everyone could catch up. Anomen seemed a better and far wiser option. Anomen took the boots with a smile and placed them on his feet.

Jeral scanned the corpses on the floor looking for other items of interest and found his eyes drawn to the corpse of one of the human fighters. The corpse was battered and bloody and had obviously encountered the business end of the Flail of Ages. His head and side were collapsed from the heavy weapon and the spikes on the flail heads. Despite all the damage to his head and body his silvery green chain mail armor was perfectly intact. Jeral knelt down and ran his hands over the armor. He could feel the heavy enchantment in the armor radiating into his hands and intuitively knew the armor was meant for him. He stood up and started removing his set of battered and stained leather armor. Only the minor enchantments in the armor were holding the set together as it had taken a beating over the past weeks.

"Jeral, we are in a dangerous place on an unknown plane. Far be it from me to criticize but this does not seem like the appropriate time to remove ones armor."

"Right you are Yoshimo. However this chain armor is mine. It is powerfully enchanted and is literally made for someone like me."

"Who makes armor for weak willed surfacers who get themselves stabbed in the back?"

Viconia's jibe was delivered so well that even Anomen could not stifle a guffaw at Jeral's expense.

"Well so nice to see that clerics stick together" Jeral shook his read ruefully before continuing.

"In the annals of bardic lore there are stories of armor such as this. It is known by many names throughout the ages, but the two most common names are melodic chain and bardic chain. This mail is extremely rare as it is enchanted to allow bards to cast spells while wearing armor. Needless to say, that would allow me to use what few spells I have at more appropriate times."

Viconia strode over and rolled a few of the fine metal links between her fingers.

"This is not of elven make."

"No, this was made by the finest human armorers and was enchanted by some of the greatest mages of a time long ago. According to some of the oldest tomes in Candlekeep an ancient king loved music so much that he demanded that his personal bodyguard were all singers, and musicians. That way even in battle he could be surrounded by beautiful music. In order to ensure that his musicians could protect themselves, and him, the king spent lavishly to commission twenty sets of heavily enchanted chain mail for his men. He called the men his Royal Bladesingers."

"What happened to the king and his guard?" Anomen asked. "I have never heard of this in my time in the Order."

"I would not expect the Order to know of this for the king did not last long. Legend says the king and his personal bodyguard fought against another ruler and his personal guard of plate clad warriors. To a man the king and his blade singers were slaughtered, and the suits of armor were lost to the mists of time. This is a piece of that history."

"Hopefully it serves you better than the pathetic minstrels who wore it originally."

"Thank you as always for your support Viconia."

Jeral picked up the armor and slid it over his head. The silvery green metal links shimmered and seemed to perfectly fit Jeral as he stretched and tested his range of movement in the new armor. Jeral used the ties on the arms to secure the armored sleeves to his upper arms. Once his arms were secure he picked up his sword belt and strapped his sword belt around his waist. He adjusted the scabbard to the Blade of Roses so it was situated low on his left hip. He did not have to move the short sword strapped to his left thigh. The chain mail tunic reached almost to his knees but it was quartered so he had freedom of movement and easy access to his second blade. He tied down the chain mail on his legs to hold it in place. Jeral stretched from side to side to ensure that the armor did not constrict his movements. The armor was light and incredibly strong.

Smiling Jeral twirled the Blade of Roses in his hand and said "much better." Jeral folded up the studded leather armor and stored it in his pack so they could sell it back in Athkatla.

Once Jeral was ready they started to head off down the central hallway out of the entry chamber.

"Pardon me for saying so but I would not go that way."

Everyone turned and started at the emaciated gnome standing next to Nalia.

"I think we should listen to what he has to say. Go ahead, it is all right. No one will hurt you."

Nalia patted the gnome reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Thank you lass. My name is Tagget Jansen. I thank for you arriving when you did for they would have killed me for my insolence."

"What is this place master gnome? We are looking for a troupe of actors who were recently brought here."

Smiling the gnome looked up at Anomen.

"Such manners long limb, someone taught you well. This is a prison of a sort. Your friends came in shortly before you arrived. The Warden's prize bounty hunter brought them in. They are in the Warden's personal cells on the far side of his throne room.

"Where are those cells? We intend to set them free."

"And then what?"

"Then we intend to leave master gnome. They understood about planar portals so I am sure they can get us back to our home."

"You are wrong there Helmite. Only the Warden, or one of his chosen lieutenants, can operate the portal. It is heavily warded to obey only his will. The Warden's rule is absolute and so long as he lives no one may leave this place without his permission."

"Then we must challenge this Warden and defeat him. Where is he? We will go there straight away."

"Well if you do that you will never leave here alive. He is down that hallway but you cannot reach him for there are traps on the floors that cannot be avoided. If you fall into one of the traps you will enter the fighting pits and there you will assuredly perish. He holds absolute sway over the minds of everyone here. The guards are loyal to him while the prisoners are held under his command through their collars. The collars are they key should you have any hope to survive this place."

Tagget picked up his collar from the floor and handed it to Nalia.

"These collars make one a slave to each and every one of the Warden's commands."

"So we have to fight out way through the prisoners as well? That is terrible," Nalia's shoulders sagged in dismay.

"Your heart is in the right place lass. Know that there is away to free the prisoners from their mental bonds. Take that smaller passage over there. Find and defeat the master of thralls. He is the Warden's second in command. He holds a massive blood red gem on his person. If you destroy that in the pit of flame then the collars will fall off each and every slave. Once free many of the prisoners will fight for their freedom. If the prisoners fight at your side you will have a much better chance to survive this horrible place."

"How did you get your collar off good gnome?"

Yoshimo's question was delivered in a pleasant tone of voice but the accusation was clear, he was not sure the gnome could be trusted.

Tagget smiled and held up a thin strip of metal.

"I am a Jansen. That means I am always trying to build something or fix something. Everyone in my entire clan is an inventor. I have spent six months working to unlock this collar until I finally managed to get it to open. That was why they were so angry. They fear a prisoner revolt and they wanted to ensure I did not have a way to allow others to escape."

Nalia thanked the gnome for his advice and kissed the top of his bald head. He trotted off in the other direction looking for a good hiding place until all the fighting was over.

Yoshimo and Anomen led the way down the corridor suggested by Tagget. After a quick battle with three more enslaved humans they passed a large fleshy mound in the center of the hallway floor that pulsed and gurgled unnaturally.

"Make sure you step around that. It is some sort of trap that leads to the fighting pens. Tagget said they are very nasty and should be carefully avoided. The other hallway was completely blocked by these."

"Not much of a trap, who would step on something that obvious Nalia?"

"Well I guess not everyone is as smart as you are Jeral," Nalia jibed.

Nalia and the others passed by a large firepit that radiated intense heat.

Well that has to be the pit of flame, Jeral mused silently.

They passed another two traps and then Anomen and Yoshimo froze as they heard faint hissing ahead. Jeral drew his swords and motioned Yoshimo to scout out ahead. The bounty hunter silently crept forward and saw three Yuan ti and a pair of humans, one male and one female, in a large high vaulted room. The woman was attired in sky blue mage robes while the man wore studded leather armor and carried a long bow. Yoshimo quietly retreated and rejoined the others. He quickly sketched out their opposition and then listened as the others developed a plan. Yoshimo would target the yuan ti and Nalia would target the mage to ensure neither could cast a spell. Anomen, Minsc and Jeral would close with the enemy while Viconia would engage the remaining human fighter from a distance and support with spells as needed. Everyone nodded their consent, readied their weapons and charged.

As they raced to close with their enemy the female mage and one of the Yuan ti started casting spells. An arrow from Yoshimo tore into the snake man's chest, interrupting its spell casting. Unfortunately, Nalia's arrows both missed the mage. The female mage completed her spell and a series of lightning bolts leapt from her hands and flew towards the party. Anomen and Jeral managed to dive out of the way and were none the worse for wear, although Jeral's hair was standing up wildly and sticking out in all directions. The bolts slammed into Minsc, staggering him. The large ranger roared in pain and rage and continued his charge. The bolts then bounced from Minsc straight into Nalia.

Jeral realized he was witnessing a chain lightening spell and understood immediately that the mage must be very powerful to have mastered such a complex spell.

Committed to wounding the enemy mage, Nalia did not move. She fired another pair of arrows an instant before the lightning bolts hit her square in the chest. With an agonizing scream she fell back and collapsed to the ground. Anomen looked back and saw Nalia immobile on the ground, a wisp of smoke arising from her scorched mage robes. The lady Nalia de'Arnise was dead.

Anomen screamed in rage and rose to his feet with a thunderous expression on his face. He was consumed with hate and rage beyond anything he had ever felt before. His father's mocking words, the scorn from the other squires at the Order, the disapproval from Sir Keldorn, even his own sister's murder –nothing had enraged him like Nalia's death. Filled with nothing beyond the determination to strike down the one who felled Nalia he charged the mage with murder in his eyes.

Watching the enraged Helmite approach the mage's eyes opened wide in fear she hastily began casting another spell. Moving faster than ever, thanks to his enchanted boots, Anomen was in front of her before she could complete her spell. Anomen leapt forward and brutally swung the Flail of Ages into the side of her head. Her skull simply collapsed under the force of the blow as all three flail heads tore into it. She fell to the ground in a lifeless heap. Still roaring in anger, the Helmite charged the nearest Yuan Ti and dispatched him with two great swings of the flail. Minsc had managed to kill one Yuan Ti while Jeral dispatched the other. The remaining fighter saw Anomen advancing on him and started to back slowly towards the far side of the room while steadily firing arrows at the Helmite. Bellowing curses Anomen raced towards him and struck him down before he could take more than a few steps. Still enraged, and bellowing a rather off color battle cry, Anomen raced into the next chamber looking for more opponents to kill.

Jeral looked back and saw that Viconia was sitting on the ground with Nalia's head cradled on her lap.

"How is she?" Jeral shouted.

"Dead!" replied Viconia.

Jeral's whole body slumped in dismay at Nalia's death. Viconia's commanding snarl snapped him out of his reverie.

"But it is not too late to bring her back fool! Get the enchanted rod from the Helmite and bring it to me. Be quick or she will cross over and will forever be beyond recall!"

Jeral nodded and took off in pursuit of Anomen. Jeral shouted for Anomen to halt but he was out of ear shot, having disappeared from sight into the next chamber. Jeral quickly glanced at the others. Minsc was barely on his feet. The lightning bolts that had killed Nalia had hit the large ranger full in the chest and left him weakened and in tremendous pain. Boo was a ball of fur as the static electricity made him look three times his normal size. Viconia was tending to Nalia while Yoshimo eyed the far hallway and kept his short bow ready for any threat.

Jeral pulled out two potions of extra healing from his pack and handed them to Minsc.

"Drink these and follow me. Anomen may need our help."

Minsc hurriedly gulped down both potions and smiled as the pain of his wounds quickly left his body.

"Yoshimo, come with us."

Nodding the bounty hunter loped silently after Jeral and Minsc. The three entered the next chamber and were stunned at the sight before them. Anomen was locked in battle with two large air elementals and a giant wyvern. Standing behind the combat a massive winged demon looking creature stood observing the battle, as if enjoying the spectacle in front of it. Anomen was bleeding from a number of wounds but seemed unconcerned for his own well-being. Shouting various profane battle cries, interspersed with appeals to Helm, he swung the Flail of Ages from side to side, inflicting damage with every strike while keeping his foes at bay.

Jeral ordered Minsc to attack the wyvern on the right side while he raced up to stand behind Anomen. Jeral sheathed his long sword and quickly cut the pack straps on Anomen's pack with his short sword. It took his a few tries as Anomen was moving all around as he attacked the creatures opposing him. Anomen took no notice of Jeral and continued to focus on the enemies to his front. The pack straps finally yielded to Jeral's blade and the pack fell to the floor. Jeral ducked down, picked up the pack and tossed it to Yoshimo.

"Get that to Viconia and then hurry back! We will need your assistance!"

Nodding once the bounty hunter caught the backpack in his left hand, turned on his heel, and sprinted in the other direction. Jeral watched Yoshimo for a second before drawing his long sword and turning towards their opponents.

Recognizing that the wyvern was the most dangerous immediate opponent, due to its poisonous tail, Jeral joined Minsc in combating the large beast while Anomen faced off against the pair of air elementals. The wyvern was focused on attacking the priest so it did not notice the late arrivals until Licaror and the Blade of Roses both cut deeply into its side. Howling in pain it turned to face the new attackers while flapping its massive wings wildly. It lashed out with its beak and followed up with a strike by its stinger. Jeral twisted wildly and barely escaped its jaws. Minsc nimbly sidestepped the stinger and sliced it off with one mighty downward swing. The wyvern roared in pain as its tail swung wildly, spraying blood and ichor everywhere. The beast turned and snapped out at Minsc. Jeral lashed out with the Blade of Roses and cut deeply into the creature's massive neck. Badly wounded, the great beast clawed out at Jeral and slammed a foreleg into his chest. Jeral felt ribs break as the vicious blow hurled him to the ground.

Fortunately, the creature's long razor shape claws could not penetrate his heavily enchanted chain mail. Jeral quickly rolled to the side to avoid another claw strike and clambered to his feet.

With a roar Minsc brought down his massive warblade and severed the creature's neck. Lacking both head and tail the massive beast collapsed to the floor and lay still. They had no time to celebrate their victory for the massive winged demon roared and flew towards Jeral and Minsc.

"You fools killed my pet. Foolish interlopers, you will not free my thralls; you will join them in bondage and pay for your crimes!"

The creature spread its wings wide, leaned forward, opened its jaws and screamed. A piercing scream echoed through the chamber, louder than anything Jeral though possible. Louder than any sound Jeral had ever heard before. His brain hurt from the intensity of the noise and he shook his head in a vain effort to make the overwhelming pain stop. Gritting his teeth in concentration he willed himself to block out the noise. Something welled up inside of him and suddenly the pain was gone from his head. Blinking in surprise Jeral saw with horror than Anomen and Minsc were both frozen in place. Something about the Master of Thrall's piercing cry had paralyzed the two plate clad warriors. The pair of air elementals started to batter away at Anomen and Minsc who were unable to defend themselves.

Realizing he had to draw the trio of creatures away from his helpless companions Jeral cast a brace of magic missiles at the air elemental closest to Anomen. The formless creature appeared buffeted by the missiles and both of the elementals quickly started gliding towards Jeral. Jeral quickly muttered a few arcane words and suddenly the creatures were looking at five images of Jeral where only one stood before. They paused for a heartbeat as they took in the scene in front of them. Jeral fired a quick flame arrow at the Master of Thralls. The spell appeared to barely scratch the massive creature but it served to pull him away from the others and towards Jeral. The trio of creatures advanced on Jeral.

Jeral gritted his teeth and called upon the darkness in his blood. Embracing his gift, Jeral smiled as a wave of strength, speed, and rage washed over him. The pain in his ribs receded as he held his blades ready at his sides. The Master of Thralls screamed again but this time the piercing cry washed over Jeral without the slightest affect. Jeral locked eyes with the large winged beast and roared back at him. Drawing on the darkness buried inside him, Jeral allowed himself to welcome the hate that lingered inside of him. Hate for Irenicus for the torture inflicted upon him, hate for the Cowled Wizards who had kidnapped Imoen, hate for the slavers who killed children, hate for his own weakness. It all combined into a mass in the pit of his stomach and poured out in one cathartic blast of anger. The inhuman sound that escaped Jeral's lips caused the very cavern to shake as the monstrous roar echoed down the halls.

The noise caused the air elementals to slide back a few paces. The Master of Thralls looked confused for an instant as it struggled to understand what just happened. Taking advantage of their confusion Jeral snarled and leapt forward, his blades lashing out at the winged creature. His left hand blade glanced off the creature's tough red hide while his right hand blade tore through the soft membranes on the demon's wing. The Master of Thralls roared in anger and clawed wildly at Jeral. The beast seemed to move in slow motion as Jeral ducked under the massive claws and pivoted around behind the creature. As he spun he lashed out at the closest air elemental and watched as both his blades easily sliced through the creature's amorphous shape.

The creature appeared to stagger back as if badly injured. Jeral completed his turn and found himself on the other side of the Master of Thralls. Before the massive beast could turn and face him Jeral stabbed out again with both of his blades. They bit deeply into the creature's side and hot sulfurous blood poured from the wounds. The blood bubbled and smoked as it puddle on the floor. The creature backpedaled as it pivoted to face Jeral. The massive beast no longer looked confident; Jeral could see fear in its dark eyes. He could almost taste it as the creature's fear flowed over him like a warm comforting mist.

Jeral lashed out again and his blades glanced off the creature's torso. Before Jeral could strike again he was stuck on the back and staggered forward. The air elementals must have destroyed all his duplicate images! As he struggled to remain on his feet he was struck again and was thrown heavily to the floor. As he hit the ground his swords slid out of his grasp.

On all fours, Jeral scrambled away from his attackers and threw himself over the wyvern's corpse. With an instant to compose himself Jeral withdrew the dagger from his boot and rose to his feet. The pair of air elementals floated over the wyvern's corpse to attack Jeral and the Master of Thralls was slowly following them.

"Inferiem actacio!"

Jeral extended his left hand and a jet of flame flowed out of his hand and engulfed the closest air elemental. The flames struck the creature and quickly swirled around the beast, carried by its own winds. The flames fed off the creature, totally consuming it. As the elemental winked out of existence the flames instantly snuffed out. Jeral held his dagger out in front of his body as he eyed the pair of creatures advancing on him.

The air elemental lashed out at him but Jeral managed to twist away from the worst of the attack. Jeral took a few steps, stepped up on the wyvern's back and launched himself at the Master of Thralls. The advancing creature was unprepared for Jeral's reckless attack. Jeral's mind instantly flashed back to his foolish attack against Sarevok in the caverns under Baldur's Gate so many months ago. During that reckless assault Sarevok had neatly skewered Jeral with his blade; fortunately Imoen was there to finish the man off. Well Imoen was not with him today to come to his rescue so he had best not fail.

Snapping back to the present Jeral flew though the air and viciously stabbed downwards at the winged demon. The creature's eyes opened wide with surprise as Jeral's dagger bit deeply into the creature, striking it in the thick corded muscles where the shoulder connected with the neck. The Master of Thralls collapsed to the ground in pain, tearing the blade from Jeral's hand.

Jeral turned back around in time to see the remaining air elemental slam into him. The creature violently slammed into him and Jeral reeled back as he struggled to stay on his feet. Exhausted and weaponless Jeral clenched his fists as he readied for the creature's next strike. The creature slammed into him again and Jeral staggered back. The creature hit him a third time and Jeral dropped to his knees. As the creature moved forward yet again a flaming arrow zipped over Jeral's head and caught the creature in the center of its shapeless mass. Fed by the creature's own winds the flames started to spread over the beast. A second arrow quickly followed the first and the air elemental shook wildly from side to side at the flames grew in intensity. As the creature writhed in pain they flames only grew hotter and more intense. After a long moment the flames snuffed out as the creature was no more.

Jeral turned to see Yoshimo approaching with his bow held at the ready.

"I am glad I returned when I did."

"As am I Yoshimo, as am I. Once again you have my thanks."

Jeral wearily pushed himself to his feet, reclaimed his swords and sheathed them. As he approached the Master of Thralls to reclaim his dagger he recoiled in shock as he watched the creature's chest slowly rise and fall. The blade had badly wounded the Master of Thralls and it also rendered it unconscious.

Jeral scrambled backwards and madly clambered to recover his blades. He stared at the Master of Thralls. All of the rage and anger had drained out of him, Jeral felt only fatigue and exhaustion as he wearily eyed the downed beast. He was desperately tired and aching for some water. Unfortunately he was not carrying his traveling equipment so his water skin was back in his room at the Copper Coronet. The creature was terribly wounded but yet lived. Jeral pointed a blade at the beast and whispered "it still lives."

"Not for long. Please permit me Jeral."

Yoshimo calmly placed his short bow on the ground, after finding a blood free spot, and smoothly drew his katana from the scabbard on his left hip. He gripped the blade in a two handed grip and swung down viciously at the creature's neck. The first swing bit deeply into the massive neck, as did the second swing. The third strike severed the creature's head from its torso and Yoshimo quickly stepped back to avoid the wave of blood and gore that poured from the foul creature.

Panting from the exertion Yoshimo looked at Jeral and smiled slightly.

Jeral returned Yoshimo's smile and yet again counted himself lucky to have a man as skilled as Yoshimo as part of the group.

With the creature dead Anomen and Minsc were freed from its paralyzing effect and the pair staggered over to stand by Jeral and Yoshimo. Minsc looked confused and a little winded while Anomen looked distraught.

"How did Jeral manage to defeat all of these creatures without Minsc and Anomen?"

Jeral just shrugged his shoulders and smiled tiredly.

"Yoshimo helped a lot Minsc."

"Boo says you saved our lives while we could not move. You are a great warrior Jeral."

Before Jeral could reply Anomen broke in angrily, "A great warrior would have not let Nalia die, you failed her!"

Sobbing Anomen dropped to his knees and continued in a quiet broken voice, "I failed her. The one good thing left in my life and I failed her."

"Anomen, there is still hope."

Anomen shook his head angrily, "I watched her die Jeral. I lack the power to bring her back; I am not worthy of such a gift. Perhaps someday Helm will judge me worthy, but not yet."

"Anomen, Viconia….."

"Viconia and her false God do not have the kind of power needed to save Nalia. And if they did would one such as her even use the ability?"

Anomen's face reddened as his words grew in volume and intensity. Anomen rose to his feet and clenched his hands tightly at his sides as he raised his eyes to the sky.

"First Moira and now Nalia! O Helm why have you forsaken me this way?"

"Anomen, Nalia may yet live."

Jeral spoke quietly, yet the words caused Anomen to flinch as if burned.

"Mock me not Jeral, I am not in the mood for such jests." Jeral raised his voice and snapped at the Helmite.

"Anomen, let go of your anger and think for an instant. Think and remember. We have a rod in our possession that can return one to life; if wielded by a powerful cleric immediately after someone's death."

Anomen's eyes widened as his hand reached for the pack on his back. His hands scrambled wildly looking for the straps. Realizing that his pack was gone his eyes widened in panic. Anger was replaced by panic and desperation and Anomen reached out and roughly grabbed Jeral by the shoulders.

"Jeral, my pack, it must have fallen off somewhere. We must find it and quickly!"

Anomen released his hold on Jeral and turned to search for his pack.

Jeral grabbed Anomen's arm and the cleric roughly pulled away. Jeral's anger flashed and he gripped more tightly and held fast. Anomen struggled but could not free himself from Jeral's vice like grip. Growing angry and impatient Jeral steadily gripped harder and harder. Anomen felt the metal forearm guard start to warp as Jeral tightened his grip and slowly bent the enchanted plate. Anomen's eyes widened in anger and surprise and he looked from his forearm to Jeral.

Realizing what he had done Jeral quickly pulled his hand away and then spoke in a low calm voice.

"After Nalia fell you went into a blind rage and would not listen to reason. I took your pack and Yoshimo brought it to Viconia. She was going to attempt to bring Nalia back to life with the resurrection rod. I do not know what happened, but do not lose hope good Squire. Nalia may yet live."