They were still days away from Baldur's Gate. They needed to find the other two Netherstones and use them to destroy the Elder Brain once and for all. Baldur's Gate seemed to have the answers they seek. Answers to not only save the world, but themselves as well. The tadpoles worming around in their brains must be removed, no matter what The Emperor said. None of them wanted to turn into an illithid, even if they still kept their minds.
Kinaria Elequin spent most of their travelling time thinking about all the other things they had to accomplish when they got to the city.
They had to save Wyll's father. Baldur's Gate can't lose someone as important as him, and Wyll can't lose his father. They had to find him and remove him from his enthrallment. She just hoped Mizora didn't get in their way.
Shadowheart needed to find her parents. They were both alive, thank the Gods. She glanced over to the shining beacon of hope that was Dame Aylin and thanked the Gods one more time for giving Shadowheart the strength to betray Shar. If Shadowheart hadn't of thrown the Spear of Night into the void, Aylin might not be here right now. Shadowheart wouldn't know the truth about Shar and her parents.
And then there was Cazador Szarr, Astarion's former master. Kinaria knew he had to die. The mere memory of how Astarion described his time with the Vampire Lord was enough to make her skin crawl. He would never go through anything like that ever again, he will finally be truly free.
"What's wrong?" The sweet scent of copper and lilacs filled the air around her as Astarion whispered in her ear.
She hadn't realized how hard her heart was beating, how her breath now became short rasps between her thoughts. She looked up at him then, allowing her gaze to take in all his features. The slight curling of his white hair behind his ears, the worried expression he held as his crimson eyes gazed back into her, waiting for a response.
"Sorry," Kinaria said, attempting to school her emotions back into calmness. She didn't want anyone worrying more than they should, not with everything in front of them. "I'm fine, just have a lot on my mind. Is there something you needed?"
"Me? Oh no," Astarion crooned, "I just happened to notice how intense your pulse was, but you weren't even glancing my way. I was just hoping no one other than me was getting you all flustered." He smirked as he brushed his hand against hers. Kinaria smiled in response.
"Of course not," she mumbled back. Lae'zel scoffed in Githyanki at them, which Kinaria chose to ignore.
Kinaria's bow was heavy on her back, but they needed to travel another day to reach Rivington. She reached a hand up and rubbed her right shoulder, trying to ease the knots that spread down her back as she put one foot in front of the other. The repetitive motion of firing arrow after arrow for so long was starting to take its toll on her body.
There was a flicker of movement in the bushes to her left. She halted, drawing her bow and nocking an arrow, ignoring the pain that flared through her shoulder. She aimed for the brush, her breath slowing as she focused.
After several seconds of silence, she lowered her bow and placed the arrow back in its quiver. "Must have been an animal," Shadowheart offered. "Maybe we should stop for camp, we've been walking since we left Moonrise."
She was right. They left Moonrise Towers last night after an intense battle with Ketheric Thorm, it was now past midday. After taking his Netherstone, they learned of two other stones. One being held by Lord Gortash, a slave trader who betrayed Karlach many years ago. He is the reason she's cursed with the infernal engine that beats within her chest. The other Netherstone is held by a person named Orin. No one seems to know much about her other than her lust for blood.
Kinaria whistled to the black raven that was circling above their group. As shot down to her, she gave it instructions in animal speech. The bird gave a sharp squawk before returning to the skies, flying towards the north.
She took that moment to sit down on a nearby log, setting her bow next to her. She pulled her quiver from behind her back and counted her arrows. Barely a dozen left, more would have to be made tonight. She reached her arms above her head, arching her back until it cracked in several places. She would have a moment of rest before gathering the wood.
Settling back on her seat, palms resting at her sides, Kinaria watched the clouds lazily float across the sky. How freeing it must feel to be one of those birds flying through the clouds. No worries, no responsibilities other than to just survive. She remembered a time like that. It was a bittersweet time. A time without Liandra, her twin sister by her side. They had been apart for decades before they were finally reunited, Liandra being abducted as a child. Snatched right from the safety of their village.
For the last six months, they had been trying to catch each other up on their lives but Kinaria was sure there were things her sister hadn't told her yet. Just as there were things she hadn't told Liandra yet.
She hoped Liandra was in Baldur's Gate. She had to be. That's where they were when Kinaria was abducted. There's no way Liandra was abducted too, she would have seen her around the crash site, wouldn't she? But there was no sign of her, from the beaches to the grove to the Underdark.
Kinaria had hunted down Liandra for two years before they finally found each other at the Wyvern King's palace back in Drolhelm. The army of the undead couldn't keep them apart then, these mindflayers in Faerûn won't keep them apart now.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Gale said as he sat down on the log next to her. "We're all worried about you, you know."
She sighed as she leaned further back on her hands. "I was trying to avoid that…"
"You realize the tadpoles make it hard for us to keep things from each other," he stated, pointing to his head. Right. Unless they're paying attention, it's easy for anyone with a tadpole to peer into each other's minds. She needed to remember that. Especially when she was having more private thoughts.
"Sorry," he said, reading the expression on her face. "It was unintentional, I promise."
"It's alright, I was just thinking about my sister again," she said, giving him a half-truth. She didn't feel like discussing the handful of impossible things they had to do when they got to the city. "My emotions were everywhere. She has to be in Baldur's Gate, right?" Kinaria allowed her exhaustion and fear coat her words as she looked at her boots. "We've searched all through the Sword Coast, every cell on every prison floor in Moonrise Towers, and everywhere in between. There's nothing showing that she'd been abducted like us, but she would have sent word for me by now if she hadn't been, right?"
Gale took in her words, laying his chin on his hands. She watched his brow wrinkle in concentration as she turned her head towards his. "You were both together in Baldur's Gate when you were taken?" He asked, confirming the information she had told everyone when they met.
She nodded, not having the energy to use her voice.
"And you being the expert ranger you are, definitely would have picked up on her trail by now. If she had been on the same ship that crashed. It's possible they took many people to different ships."
Kinaria's breath quickened. She hadn't thought of that. If Liandra was still in their thrall, Kinaria might have to fight her. She hoped the Absolute's power wouldn't be able to control her sister, but the reward they offer just might. Liandra wouldn't do anything for her guild, right? She had run from The Nesting Crows when the Wyvern King infiltrated the guild, turning them all into his personal assassins before he was defeated. There's no way she would follow that same dark path. And…
"Ketheric would have used Liandra as a bargaining chip if she was still within their grasp. It's too obvious we're related." Kinaria said, hoping her line of thinking was correct. She didn't know what she would do if her hand was forced upon her sister.
"True enough. Let's hope it stays that way." Gale gave another thoughtful look. "Then she must be in Baldur's Gate, working on that guild of hers."
"Then why has she not sent word for me? It's been weeks since we've been apart. She has a network of spies, she could have sent one to me, telling me she is safe." Kinaria felt her hands dig further into the wood with each word. She was grateful of the leather armor around her body, protecting her skin from splinters.
"That, I don't have an answer to. But, I'm sure she'll have a good explanation once we find her. You can beat the answer out of her yourself if you want," he said with a chuckle.
"I'm sure it won't come to that," she responded, laughing as well. "And…thank you. For not using the orb. You went against Mystra's wishes."
Gale sighed, staring up at someone who wasn't there. "No need to thank me, I much prefer not being blown up anyways. When the time came, I couldn't help remembering what you said. There must be another way, and with that crown I think there is. If you're at fault for anything, it's for the fact that we're all still here and you've given me reasons to want to keep living," he said, gesturing to them, then their companions around them, doing their own tasks and chatting while they waited for Kinaria's scouting raven to return.
"Well I couldn't imagine figuring out half the stuff we have had to deal with without you, Gale." She meant it. Her knowledge of the arcane is limited to knowing how to kill them. Gale has done things she could never begin to comprehend. "Constructing a Moon Lantern with just the dust of pixies was more than admirable, I'm lucky to have you by my side."
"And lucky I am to be here!" he stated, rising from his seat and slapping his hands together. "Now, if my eyes don't deceive me, I think your bird is on its way back."
Kinaria looked towards the skies, spotting a small, black blur approaching them. She stood up, waiting for its return.
After giving two chirps, the raven circled the group then slowly started flying towards the northwest. "She's found an abandoned outcropping of buildings this way, should be good space for camp," Kinaria announced to her companions before picking up her things and leading the way. She hoped it wasn't too far.
It took them about an hour to get to the camp spot. Kinaria was almost crawling by the time the buildings came into view. She dropped her pack and bow in front of an old barn, the smell of stale hay wafting towards her. She sniffed again. Stale hay and dried blood. She was still caked in it, coating her armor, her hair, her skin.
She needed a bath. She reached down and took her night clothes and soap from her pack and made her way to the sounds of moving water. There must be a stream or something nearby.
Her slow footsteps on the dirt beneath her feet crawled to a stop, her ears no longer focused on the water. Another rustle in the bushes near her. It was faint, as if someone was trying to stay quiet. Shit. She left her bow back at the barn. If she turned back now, whoever was hiding might get suspicious.
She was considering her options when she heard a light set of footsteps walk up behind her. She was grateful. This allowed her to turn, not only to see Astarion strolling up to her, but to glance towards the sound. She only had a moment to look through the dense brush of the forest. The low light of the evening was barely bright enough to show her path, but she was able to see a glint of metal behind the leaves and branches.
She returned her attention to the pale elf before her, a casual smile on his face. She was surprised to see her bow in his hands, her quiver strung across his back. He handed them to her without a word. In one swift motion, he had his swords out. Kinaria wasted no time in dropping her bathing supplies and readying her bow, her arrow aimed at the brush.
"I hate to add to the party, but I don't like unwanted company," he said as Kinaria shot her arrow. It hit its mark, blood spraying out as a body fell over. Astarion was on him within seconds, grasping his other hand behind his back and holding a blade to the cowering man's throat. He was struggling against Astarion's grasp, but the pain and blood loss made it difficult.
The man's screams echoed throughout the camp as he clutched his shoulder, her arrow still protruding from him. He was cloaked, but a glance at the hand covering his wound showed her a very familiar signet ring on his right index finger. The ring itself was solid black, in its center was a silver crow's head. He wore a signet ring of The Nesting Crows, Liandra's thieves' guild.
Kinaria swore softly to herself as she approached the man. "Hold him still," she told Astarion as she grasped her arrow with one hand, turned it slightly, and yanked it out. The scream that erupted from his mouth was loud enough to send Scratch and Sniff, their camp's watchdog and owlbear cub, running to the opposite end of the camp.
"Wait! P-please! I come for Liandra! I was just sent to keep an eye on you all, make sure nothin' bad happens to any of ya!" The man pleaded.
"I know, just stop screaming and I will heal you," Kinaria responded. He closed his mouth, his breath still short and shallow from the pain. She inhaled, feeling the healing magic course through her and into him as she laid her hands upon his wound. A look of relief slowly spread across his face.
"Can I drop him now?" Astarion asked, looking bored.
"Disappointed we don't actually get to kill this one?" Kinaria asked, her healing magic still coursing through the injured man's body, closing the wound. This wasn't the first time they were ambushed in the night. From then on, someone was always on watch duty. "Alright, let him go now."
Astarion released the Crow agent, letting him fall to the ground. He was no longer in any pain, but still seemed terrified. He looked up at Kinaria, his pain turning to fear in his eyes. The poor human looked like he was about to wet himself at the sight of her.
"I am not going to harm you," she said, lowering herself to the ground as if she were talking to a wounded animal. What did her sister do to her agents? "Why are you here, where is Liandra?"
"She-she's back at the base! She's been keeping tabs on you ever since she got the Guild up and running. Her and Nine-Fingers been working nonstop. I was one of the spies sent this time. I'm new so I guess I'm not very good at staying unseen yet," he explained, his hands fidgeting in his anxiousness, twisting the ring around his finger. Kinaria noted the accent, the slight smell of the sea still clinging to him.
"You travelled from Drolhelm?" she asked.
"Y-yea, she sent word awhile ago to send some recruits to Faerûn immediately."
"How long ago was that?" She narrowed her eyes. She could feel her anger slowly spreading through her.
"A few weeks, less than a month I'd say," he said.
Kinaria sighed. "Return to her. Tell her I'm on my way." He didn't hesitate before he scrambled to his feet and ran back into the brush.
She was pissed. She couldn't believe that not only did Liandra know where Kinaria was, but she'd been watching her this entire time. She was sick and tired of being spied on, and she really didn't appreciate her own sister doing the spying.
"Friend of your sister?" Wyll asked, walking up and putting a hand on her shoulder. The comforting touch was appreciated, but it didn't quell the anger that raged within her.
"Yes. At least now I know where she is. This makes the rest of the trip to the city easier. I can't say the same for when we get there, though." She could feel her teeth gritting through the last few words. "I need to wash all this blood off, excuse me," she said to everyone as she handed her bow and quiver to Wyll, "Would you mind taking this back to camp?"
She thanked him before he walked away with her weapon. The silence was deafening as she picked up her bathing supplies and returned to following the sounds of the water.
Kinaria was tired. Tired of the blood, of constantly having to look over her shoulder, of travelling this foreign land. She hoped she would feel better after washing the dried, caked blood off her body. She hated the way it clung in dried clumps in her hair.
She missed Apollo, her best friend. She remembered their faithful meeting as if it happened yesterday. She was on her first hunt, tracking an evil warlock who was spreading a necrotic curse throughout her forest. The curse, as well as his experiments, killed many creatures of the forest. It broke her heart remembering the way the trees seemed to wither, their bark becoming no more than ash and rotted wood.
It was within those dead woods she found Apollo. A huge dire wolf lay on the ground panting for life. His body was corrupted to the point of being unrecognizable. As she recalled the memory, she realized he had looked like one of the creatures that were affected by the shadow curse they lifted yesterday. The mottled fur and eyes as darkness spread through him was eerily similar.
It was only because of Apollo that she was able to take down that warlock. The same warlock who experimented on him, turning him into a perversion of nature. Kinaria was able to force the warlock into curing Apollo, but he retained some effects of the experiments. To this day, she still wasn't sure the extent of those effects. She knew he was at least twice the size of a normal dire wolf, as well as his body losing any color it previously had after the corruption was removed from him.
A familiar scent was lingering in the air, causing the sensitive part of her neck to twinge. "I know you're there, Astarion," she said as she continued walking.
"How do you do that?" Astarion asked, walking out of the shadows behind her. "It's not like I have a heartbeat for you to hear."
"I know when you're near," she said, her mouth twitching into a smile. "I don't need to hear anything."
He jogged a few steps to catch up before falling in step beside her. "There was a time when I could sneak up on you, you know."
"And that time has passed." They reached a secluded pond, the water clear and fresh. It was a nice sight to see after spending almost a week in those shadowed lands. She looked up at him, noticing the slight hunger in his eyes. "I was hoping to clean off before feeding you, if that's alright."
"What? I-no, that's not why I'm here," he said. Kinaria didn't understand his hesitation, it was very unlike him. Usually he would give her a sly smile and say he'll find her later before stalking off.
"I…wanted to thank you, actually," he said, looking away. "For feeding me while we were in those cursed lands."
Kinaria smiled, it was a nice change to see this side of Astarion. She knew he never had anything to be thankful for in his past life. She tried to mask her surprise as she said, "You needed blood. There was nothing in those corrupted woods that provided that, but you are sweet."
He did nothing to hide his own surprise. "You really didn't mind, all that time?" He asked.
"No. It was something you needed, and I was able to give. I have no regrets." It was Kinaria's turn to look away. "And… I enjoyed it," she admitted, her face flushing.
He looked thoughtful for a moment before a mischievous smile spread across his face. "Well…then let me return the favor," he said as he grabbed her hand.
"I-" was all she was able to say before he playfully pulled her with him. She was too tired to protest as she allowed him to unbuckle her. She could feel her heart beat faster as he removed her boots and armor, and stepped into the water. Her thin tunic and leather pants felt heavy on her body, water soaking into them. They waded into the water together, his hand still gripping hers.
She didn't know when he removed his own leathers, but she spied them laying on a large rock next to hers, his pants being the only thing left clinging to his body. The scars on his back caught her eye when she turned and her heart lurched. They will kill Cazador, she would make sure of it.
He quickly turned around and faced her, breaking her from her thoughts, and pulled her to him. She held her gaze as he reached down, his hands slipping under her shirt. His deft hands gently peeled her shirt from her body, grime and sweat causing it to cling to her. She cringed at the feeling.
"Do you remember that night at the party the tieflings threw for us?" His hands lazily caressed her as he spoke before turning her around and grabbing the bar of soap. Tension melted from her body as he washed the dirt and blood from her shoulders.
"I do," she said, her face warming at the memory. How could she forget? It was the first time she had done anything like that with anyone. She knew having that second glass of wine would make her reserved nature be thrown out the window, but the refugees were all so happy and she couldn't say no as Zevlor filled her glass every time she looked away.
"When you walked up to me like that, with your face flushed and hips swaying…" Her breath hitched in her throat. "It took all of my power to not throw you onto my bedroll right there," he whispered in her ear. "You're lucky I had the willpower to drag us away before things got messy."
Warning tinged in the back of her mind. "You're rather bold tonight," she stated, trying to collect herself.
His hands stilled on her back as he released a heavy sigh, the cool breath of his exhale giving her goosebumps. "I can never get anything by you, can I?" Something about his tone made her turn to him, leaving his arms to hang by his sides. He couldn't seem to look her in the eye. "I know how you feel about the ritual, but if you would just hear me out-"
"No," she said, silencing him. "We've talked about this. We're going to stop the ritual. Your siblings would be sacrificed, Astarion." He couldn't really mean to forfeit his own family for the sake of power. Maybe she'd been foolish to trust a vampire.
"Oh please, those monsters sent hundreds of souls to their death. To remove them would be a mercy for this world."
"You're wrong." She took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "To kill them would be to kill a part of yourself. You are not Cazador."
"Of course I'm not Cazador! I will be stronger than him, smarter," he stated with a flourish, pulling himself out of her grasp. Water splashed as she looked at him with disappointment. "Ok, ok, fine. Look at it this way, then," he said. "If I absorbed that power I could walk in the sun, protect us from anything the world has to throw at us, I would be truly free. Isn't that what you want?"
"Sacrificing a single soul will never grant you true freedom." They stared each other down for what seemed like a lifetime. There was only silence, save for the distant howling of wolves. Kinaria's was filled with an emptiness too painful to bear as memories of her faithful companion invaded her mind. "Just go back to camp," she said, motioning for him to leave. She no longer felt like having any company for the rest of the night, not with thoughts of Apollo running through her mind.
"Fair enough, consider the subject dropped," he said, raising his hands in surrender. "But come find me later, I'm not finished with you yet."
She still had her arms wrapped around her as his footsteps faded, leaving her with her thoughts. She wasn't surprised he brought this up now. They were so close to Baldur's Gate. So close to ending Cazador and his hold on Astarion for good. So close to obtaining ancient power that ritual promises, if she let him. She wasn't sure if it was the cold night breeze or the thought of Astarion becoming a true monster that made her shiver.
Kinaria took a few more minutes looking up at the darkening sky, the stars were just beginning to come out for the night. After she finished washing out days worth of battle, she slowly walked back to camp.