Book One: Avernus

Chapter One: Imps

"Well soldier," she said as the flames on her body began to lower, "here we are." Arthrym looked over the hellish landscape, tall, dark mountains looming in the distance, and rivers of fire and lava criss-crossing the landscape. He shuffled nervously for a moment, feeling the uncomfortable heat to a body that was so used to the cold as his was. When Arthrym looked to Karlach, kneeling on the ground beside him, all thoughts of regret fled his mind. He came here for her, and would not leave until he found a way to rid her of the infernal machine that the Arch-devil Zariel had implanted into her chest.

"It worked," she said, standing up. "My engine's calmed down." It was true, Arthrym realized, the flames had died down noticeably, and were only fluttering around the tieflings burly frame as they normally did. "I shouldn't have let you come here. This isn't going to be easy, you know." Karlach said, turning to her dragonborn friend, "Zariel's going to come at us with everything she's got."

The squeals of a pack of imps on the horizon interrupted her, "Gods. Like clockwork. They'll be on us soon, but there's just enough time." she said, while turning to reach into a pocket, "Thought I was done with these…" she said, pulling out two cigars. She stuck both in her mouth, and then, her thumb alight, lit them, taking a deep draw and blowing out smoke. "...but then there was you." Karlach said, as she turned to hand one of the cigars to Arthrym. They both took draws of the cigars.

"Imps are fast but careless. Don't let 'em tire you out, just get rid of 'em. And don't forget:" She turned back to face the incoming imps, taking one last draw and then flicking the cigar to the ground. "You asked for this." She grabbed her halberd from her back and turned her head to look at Arthrym. "Better let these fuckers know I'm back. And this time…" she smiled at Arthrym, "...I'm not alone."

Karlach ran toward the incoming imps, letting out a fierce battle cry. Arthrym followed close behind, The dragonborn sorcerer already beginning the incantation of a spell.

As Karlach reached the first of the imps she went berserk. She whipped her halberd down on one imp, slicing it in two. The barbarian swung the butt of the polearm around to catch another imp in the face, knocking it senseless as it fell to the ground. Karlach felt the hairs of her neck rise, and ducked down to the ground as two horizontal bolts of lightning streaked past, into the cloud of imps. "Hey!" she yelled at Arthrym, "I was right there!" Arthrym smiled apologetically, and called another bolt of lightning, this time down from the gathering clouds of Avernus above, and onto a particularly vicious looking imp, who was aiming a crossbow at Karlach's back.

Karlach swung her halberd in a circle, cutting down multiple imps. Magic bolts of force straked from her left, slamming into two imps by her right, killing them. She growled to herself, she couldn't let Arthrym kill more of the minor devils. She swung her polearm again and again, cutting down more imps with each swing.

As Karlach smacked another imp with the butt of her weapon, she turned and glanced at Arthrym. He launched a few imps back with a wave of thunder, and summoned a shield of energy to block the attacks of some crossbow-wielding imps. He threw a ball of fire into the devilish archers in retaliation. Karlach was much more concerned with what she saw behind him though, an unusually large imp was sneaking up behind Arthrym, shortsword in hand. She shouted a warning, and Arthrym began to turn, but he was too slow. The imp would reach him before he could get his dagger drawn. Karlach threw her halberd to the ground, and pulled Nymrula, her magical trident, from her back. Karlach threw the trident into the air, and watched as it slammed into the devil, carrying it backwards and sticking to a wall. The sheer force of the hit created a blast of thunder, knocking Arthrym and a few other imps to their feet.

Arthrym called on his magical prowess, and slipped through the fabric of the worlds, only to appear forty feet away from where he had been standing. He unleashed another barrage of magical missiles, and turned on his heel to face another devil, breathing in deep and exhaling magical frost into its face. The imp fell backwards, scratching at its face, trying to break the ice that was forming over its nose and mouth.

Karlach turned to face some more imps, lunging forward as Nymrula returned to her hands. The prongs of the trident pierced the flesh of one devil, then another, as they stuck to the weapon. Using the imps as a counter weight, the tiefling swung the end of the trident around, catching a third devil with its butt.

Arthrym grabbed a devil's face, sending magical energy down to his hands, shocking the imp. The creature fell dead, and he turned to face Karlach as she jabbed the final imp with the prongs of Nymrula, using her momentum to drive the trident into the ground, pinning the imp to the rocky dirt.

As Arthrym looked at her, he thought about just how lucky he was. He was stuck in hell, yes, but he was here with the most magnificent and beautiful tiefling in all the realms. They had been together for only a few months, but Arthrym loved her more than anything. He was willing to take her to hell to fix her engine, and would travel to the Abyss if that is what it took to save her. Standing there, watching her try to wipe the blood off of Nymrula, and searching through the imps to find her halberd, Arthrym remembered a vow he made to himself. Around two months ago, while they had been traveling through lands that had been set upon by a shadow-curse, terrible magic created by the dark goddess Shar, Dammon the smith had told Karlach that it was impossible for her to remain in the material plane. Arthrym had then, shortly after, sworn to himself that he would travel to the farthest planes and back, that he would do whatever it takes to fix Karlach's heart.

Karlsch stood and looked at Arthrym. The dragonborn had been her closest friend and more, since they first met on the rocky bank of a river, in the wilderness of the sword coast. Arthrym had come to her aid then, helping her defeat a group of Zariel's paladins, who had chased her from Avernus. The sorcerer had been at her side ever since, even though he could barely remember who he was, and had naught for a name but the dark whispers in his head. After discovering that the source of the dark urges was due to the fact that he was a bhaalspawn, a child of the lord of murder, he set out on a personal quest to resist his heritage, and save the city of Baldur's Gate.

Karlach had been there when the lord of murder had drained Arthrym of his blood, and he fell to the floor dead. She thought that that was the end, that she had to lose another loved one, and that this remarkable dragonborn, the man she had cared for and loved, was dead. She cried then. Turning away from Astarion and Lae'zel, two of their friends who had joined them on their adventures. But then withers, a mysterious seemingly-undead man, who had been traveling with them throughout their adventures, appeared, and he had brought Arthrym back to life, back to Karlach. Shortly after the ordeal in the temple of Bhaal, Arthrym had come to Karlach, asking if she would help him with something. He asked her to help him choose a name, and seeing how he had overcome his heritage, rejected Bhaal, Karlach thought it only fitting.

She noticed he was staring at her and went to go check on him. "Hey soldier," she said, "Everything alright?" Arthrym pulled her close to him and kissed her. Karlach let out a surprised noise that quickly shifted to one of satisfaction, as she kissed Arthrym back, feeling the sorcerer's lizard-like tongue with her own.

They stayed that way for a while, until Karlach broke away. "We have to get going," said the barbarian. "If we're really going to do this, we have to keep moving." Arthrym pouted, his lower lip sticking out. "One more kiss?" he asked, and Karlach obliged. This time it was Arthrym who broke away. "Alright, we need to get going. Where to first?" said the dragonborn surveying the mountains of darkness and the rivers of flowing lava. "Do you remember Hope?" Karlach asked, referring to the eccentric dwarven cleric the two had met when they had ventured to the House of Hope, a magnificent mansion, floating in the skies of avernus. They had gone to steal an artifact called the Orphic Hammer from the ascended pit-fiend, Raphael. While at the house, they had encountered Hope, an eccentric, bubbly dwarf cleric, who, after living through decades of torture from Raphael, was driven to the brink of insanity. Their group had rescued her, and left her in the house after killing Raphael.

"How could I forget?" answered Arthrym. "Short, smiley, and prone to bursts of insane rambling."

"That sounds like her alright," said Karlach, "I was thinking we could pay the House a visit, and see if Hope knows anything about how we could fix this tin can" she says, pounding on her chest.

The couple sets out down from where the portal dropped them and onto the plains of Avernus, setting off toward the distance

…

The two had been walking for some time, when they heard a low rumbling in the distance. "Shit." Karlach sighed, grabbing Nymrula in one hand, and Arthrym's hand in the other. "We need to start running, now." Arthrym turned to follow, "What is it? What does that noise mean?"

"It is trouble. A shit-ton of trouble." Karlach said, pulling him along, "One of Zariel's infernal machines."

As they were picking up speed, running toward the closet mountain, Arthrym saw it: A huge rolling fortress of black iron. It was carried over the ground by huge black belts strapped around wheels, an orange fiery glow shone from its barred windows, and thick black smoke billowed out of pipes. "Gods…" he gasped. The vehicle's large metal plow in front was adorned with a spinning saw blade, and large spikes protruded from any gaps in the metal plating. The deep voice of a greater devil rumbled even louder than the mechanisms of the rolling fortress. "Zariel wants us to the western front by mid-night! If any of you idiots slow this machine down I swear I'll have your heads!"

Karlach and Arthrym reached a rocky outcropping just as the machine passed by. There was a large bug-like creature standing on two legs atop the vehicle, in its blue claws it grasped a long spear, and standing next to it were two beautiful winged women with swords. "Hells…" groaned Karlach, "An ice devil, and two erinyes." She turned to look at Arthrym, "We would do best to avoid this fight, soldier." Arthrym didn't need to be told that, he doubted that they could take out this entire fortress of powerful devils. "Let's get moving," Karlach said, turning back toward the mountains. "I imagine that we'll be able to spot giant floating mansions pretty easily from up there." she gestured towards the peaks of the mountains.

…

The climb to the top of the mountain was long, and by the time the couple reached the summit, they were both exhausted. The sky was the same dark orange as before, however, judging by the time they had spent here, the two felt it was time to make camp. They found a ledge that was a bit bigger than the rest, and dropped their packs. "No point in starting a fire, it's warm enough here as is." Karlach said. Arthtym agreed, and they both laid out their bedrolls. Karlach turned to look out over the wastelands of Avernus. Arthrym walked up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Is everything alright?" he asked. "I-I just never thought I would be back here." Karlach said, turning to him. Arthrym pulled her into a hug, "I planned on dying in Baldur's Gate you know." Karlach said to him, "I was going to go out, surrounded by people I love, in the city that I love, but your lovestruck-ass wouldn't let me go." she let out a small chuckle, and Arthrym smiled. Gods how he lived for her laugh. He knew he wouldn't be hearing it as often, now that they were in Avernus, but better to hear it infrequently than for Karlach's laugh to be silenced forevermore.

"I'm not letting you go, you know." Arthrym said to her, "Not ever."

"I expected as much," she said, looking up into his red eyes. "And I expect you to keep that promise." she leaned forward and kissed Arthrym, her arms around his shoulders forcing him down toward the ground and onto their bedrolls. Arthrym broke off and took a breath, then kissed her back. She fell down on top of him, laughing as they rolled onto the bedrolls. Arthrym smiled, perhaps he would still hear her laugh as often as he used to.