As soon as the young man exhales his last breath, before falling to the ground, loneliness growls inside me. Again. On the city's pavement, it's just me and a corpse by my side.
Not far from the niche I chose to consume my meal, a woman laughs heartily. I can't see her, but I hear her chat briefly with a man close to her. Soon they walk away, blissfuly unaware of my presence.
Strangely enough, it is cold. He is cold. So cold. The breeze felt nice, the wind full of city perfumes, and yet all felt empty. He leans against the wall, hugging his knees. Letting out a weary sigh, I feels unending fatigue.
As quiet as the forest surrounding the grove was at times, it never felt as lonely as this Baldur's Gate. The city, the one place for me. Not anymore. Life goes on all around me, and yet I feel no desire to be part of it. There's only hunger. Ferocious hunger, reminding me how painful it would to just let myself starve. I'm a slave yet again, to my thirst this time. And even as I listen the call to blood, I am never sated.
The flavour of this newly consumed blood is... dull. Cazador dragged in his grave even the pleasure of blood, so soon, after I had started to enojy the hunt for real. All I have left is the memory. The memory of how sweet it tasted, of feeling through it any emotion. Fear, rage, pain... Love. That memory rushes through the doors of my head, uninvited. The wild flavour of her blood, fangs deep in her neck. The sweetness of her neck, of her skin, is all too real. The hunger is gone. For a moment I am back to that tree near the Grove, and to that night. To a soft bedroll, where beside me is Kelsya, her jet-black hair on my shoulder, covering my skin like a blanket. I can feel her, hear her laugh while her soft hand offers a caress to my chest. All is fine, all is safe. Nothing can hurt me. I am back to the camp I had started to call home, to the nights I spent with her by my side, her warm skin against mine. The cold of the night doesn't matter anymore.
Until a distant sound makes way in my mind.
"Brother?"
A female voice I know all too well reaches my ears, saving me from those harmful fantasies I loathe so much. It was all a lie. Just a lie. Sometimes I wish the tadpole took over me just to be free of them.
I raise my head. Dalyria, on the other end, is very real. She's standing in front of me, a concerned look on her face. While helping myself up, I stare at her: a living proof of the two-hundred years of imprisonment.
"Sister. I thought you all would have been in the Underdark by now", I say, dryly.
I hope she leaves soon, yet for now I'm grateful for her presence. She may not know it, but she drove those memories away. For now.
She blinks once, still staring at me. "We meant to. But..."
"Leave. You and the others. Right now, Baldur's Gate is far from the ideal place to raise a family", I say cutting her speech harshly.
She lets out a long sigh. "Yes. We know. We... were hoping things might change, that perhaps those friends of yours could... make it better. This city, after all, is all we ever experienced in those centuries."
She pauses for one split second. "There has been no improvement. Bhaal's cultist still roam our streets, Gortash is still Archduke, tremors have not stopped. And I have not seen your friends around even once."
Despite my numbness, Dalyria's words stir something in me.
Well, we...
They have always moved steadily and efficently against their enemies. Something's not right. Or perhaps, everything's going according to the plan. After all, Bhaal could have a new chosen now, someone ready to wreak havoc on the city. Why not take her sweet time to prepare her own ascension to godhood?
"Even more reason to move on, then", I reply dryly.
Yet my sister still hesitates.
Dalyria. She's been always the sweetest. Too soft, and somehow not his favorite. Somehow, Cazador loved my screams more. With sudden clarity, I realize I've never forgiven her for this. Unconsciously, I thought it should have been her. But now I know we were all the same. Cattle.
"Come with us, brother. We may... find something truly ours, in the Underdark. Something to start over. Be better", she says as holds out her hand.
Somehow her gentle voice shakes my chains.
Dalyria knows. She understand, to a degree at least. Would she offer me betrayal?
She does not sound like it.
And yet, I feel my chains rattle. Lowering my head, I suppress a sigh and the lump in my throat. Despite everything, I'm not ready leave yet.
"I will consider it", I whisper.
At first, Dalyria says nothing. Then she answers, kindly and softly "We won't leave so soon either. Take your time. You'll find us in the sewers, just outside the palace's basament".