Chapter 11
I dispelled the hex that was misdirecting us, and we got back on the brother's trail. After walking through the putrid swamp for a few more minutes we found the brothers. They were dead, slash marks marred their chests and necks. They bleed out quickly, and with no defensive wounds on the bodies, whatever killed them was fast and didn't give them time to react. "Looks like they won't be coming to their sister's rescue," I said sadly closing the eyes of one still staring in blank confusion.
Looking around the bodies, I saw a trail of blood. We followed the trail to an old and mould-ridden hut, that, despite appearances had an unmistakable aura of powerful magic. To my magical senses, the magic felt rotten, greasy and cold, not unlike how the swamp around me felt to my normal senses. Monsters tended to hide in places that matched their energy, the hag was no exception. I went to move closer when I spotted a glint in the corner of my eye.
Turning to face it I saw a man pointing a crossbow at us from about a few metres away, the man called out to us- "Could you please come over here, if it is no trouble? The weapon is merely a precaution, any who would walk to a hag's lair willingly is either desperate or dangerous, and none of you seem particularly desperate."
"Which one are you? You're awfully close to the hag's domain yourself." I replied readying my shield bracelet.
"Desperate. I assure you. It's why I'm talking to a tall, scarred man in the middle of a swamp with only a crossbow and my wits for support."
"Fair enough. You wanna talk you're gonna have to put it down. I dislike chatting with people who could kill me if their finger itches."
"We should just kill him and get to the hag. He'll shoot us in the back given the chance." Astarion whispered harshly.
"I heard you elf and I have no desire to kill you. As long as you give me no reason to." The crossbowman replied.
"Crossbow. Drop it. Or this chat ends, one way or another." I said flatly.
"And what assurances do I have that you'll not just kill me once my weapon is out of reach?"
"My word good enough?"
"Afraid not, met too many who would use their word as a shield to hide a knife to plunge in unsuspecting backs."
"How about the fact we came here to kill the hag? And fighting you would only expend energy that we can't afford to lose."
The crossbow-wielding man studied my face for a moment and decided I was telling the truth. "Very well, approach please." He said putting his crossbow on the ground.
We moved towards the man, he was human, had tanned skin, long brown hair that was braided at the front ends and a goatee with a handlebar moustache style. "Thank you, stranger, and forgive the aroma"
At his word, I noticed his musk was hinted with metallic and sickly sweet overtones that made my nose cringe at its introduction.
"Powdered iron vine. An old hunter's trick-most monsters will think twice before making a meal of me." The crossbowman said proudly.
"You're a monster hunter? I'm surprised- I thought all Gur were vagrant cutthroats." Astarion remarked mockingly.
"What's a Gur, it sounds like a bad grunge band," I commented wittily.
"We are a dangerous and mystical people, we travel the land, never settling in one place. We steal your chickens, curse your crops, seduce your daughters- your friend has heard it all I'm sure… and as for grunginess, we tend to be out of range of bathing houses, so it is mostly accurate." The Gur replied not appreciating my excellent joke, I'm getting a bit sick of travelling in a world devoid of pop culture.
"I wish I had half the power settled folk think my people possess. Alas, I am a simple wanderer. A simple wanderer and monster hunter. But I'm no witch doctor or cut-throat." The Gur continued.
"Then what is your prey today? The hag? I certainly wouldn't mind the backup." I said looking at his crossbow.
"Actually, I was hoping to make a deal with the hag to flush out my target, but it would seem she is being hunted by you. What is your quarrel?"
"The hag roped some poor woman into a deal using her dead husband as leverage, and just killed the girl's brothers who were trying to save her," I said pointing at the bodies of the dead men.
"I see. Well, that is a noble cause. I won't interfere but I can't assist you, I have my own monster to track, and he is a slippery bastard who I can't let rest."
"Fair enough. Who are you hunting then?"
"A vampire spawn. Name of Astarion. It looks like he's gone to ground."
I quickly looked over to Astarion, whose poker face was iron clad and baby bottom smooth.
"When you find the vampire, you killing it?" I asked trying to match my companion's skill.
"Not this time. Orders are to capture it."
"Oh? And bring him where exactly?" Astarion said with feigned disinterest.
"To Baldurs Gate. My people wait for me there." The Gur said.
"That sounds interesting. Well, good luck with your hunt." I said hurriedly.
"And you yours." The Gur said respectfully.
After we saw the Gur leave earshot, I turned to Astarion. "Right. What did you do? And before you answer please remember I can jack into your head to see if you're lying."
"I didn't do anything thank you very much." Astarion spat with contempt
"Really. Then why was a monster hunter on your trial specifically if your only victims before meeting me were animals? Don't tell you killed the guy's pet mouse." I said sarcastically.
"No" Astarion said sucking in a shallow tired breath, as if getting ready to tread on dangerous ground, "My guess is that he was sent by my master, a vampire named Cazador."
"Your master? Is that your sire or just the leader of a vampire den?"
"Both. Cazador Szarr is the vampire lord of Baldurs Gate. The patriarch of his coven and a monster obsessed with power. He turned me nearly two hundred years ago. I became his spawn and he became my tormentor."
"Okay, presuming I believe you. Why would a vampire lord send monster hunters to grab you?"
"Because it was Gur that attacked me all those years ago. They were apparently not happy with some decisions I made as a magistrate, and they beat me to near death. Then Cazador appeared, drove them off and offered to save me, to give me eternal life. Being that my options were eternal life or bleed to death in the street, I took him up on the offer. It was only afterwards I found out how long eternity could be." Astarion said an old and deep regret flashing on his neutral features for a moment.
"So, he made you his slave?"
"A vampire's spawn is less than a slave. They're a puppet. We have no choice but to obey our masters' commands. They speak and our bodies react-it's all part of the deal. Sometimes he'd have us submit to torture. Sometimes he'd have us torture ourselves. Whatever his weathervane mood settled on." Astarion said with a pain in his voice that couldn't be fabricated.
I looked at the vampire for a moment and saw my reflection. Snarky, closed off, good in a fight. This could have been me if Justin's little whammy had worked before I escaped and came back for retribution. Astarion was out too, maybe before this was over, I could help him get similar results from Cazador.
I hated myself a little for asking but I had to know, "What did he make you do?"
"He had me go out into Baldurs Gate to fetch him the most beautiful souls I could find. It was a fun ritual of his- I'd bring them back and he'd ask if I wanted to dine with him. And if I said yes, he'd serve me a dead putrid rat. Of course, if said no, he'd have me flayed. Hard to pick which was worse."
That admission left me in a bit of a bind. Astarion just admitted to luring innocent people to their deaths. Usually, if a vampire was hurting innocent people, I'd kill it without a second thought. Whilst I mostly believed he was telling the truth, I needed concrete evidence.
"I need you to hold still for a moment," I asked
"Why?" Astarion responded, confusion cutting off his melancholy.
"Because you just told me you've been luring innocent people to a master vampire for centuries. So, I need to make sure you're not lying to me about how Cazador controls you."
"I am telling you the truth! Ask Gale, or better yet maybe catch up with the Gur. They'll both tell you a spawn is unable to deny any demand from their creatures" Astarion spat at me outraged.
Gale started to speak when I cut him off with a raise of my hand. "Lore and even research can be flawed or wrong. I need to see for myself. It won't hurt you and I'm not using the tadpole, if you're telling the truth I'll apologise, and we can move on."
Astarion stared at for a moment, raised his arms, threw them down again in annoyed defeat and said, "Fine just get it over with."
Astarion stood still and I closed my eyes for a moment. This was going to hurt. I opened my wizard's sight and looked at the vampire. He was… scared, everywhere. It was like an impressionist painting from the mind of Clive Barker, all rips, cuts and oozing plasma. The most damage was around the head, which looked almost ripped clean of skin and meat. Astarion had to be telling the truth because any other creature sustaining this much psychic damage would have gone mad or killed themselves long ago.
I let my wizard's sight go and stepped back for a moment. Letting the image simmer and finally slip into another slot I kept for awful things that I'll never forget thanks to the sight.
"I'm sorry" I said barely keeping my composure
Astarion gave me a sad look and suddenly he seemed far older than his boyish appearance gave him credit for. "You can make it up by saying you understand that Cazador is hunting us now and that you'll keep your eye on the shadows. For both our sakes."
"Agreed I'll watch your back and you mine."
"What more could I ask? Now we should get moving. This little chat has put me in the mood to kill something." Astarion said, usual snark returning to his posture.
I nodded and we all continued onto the hut. Inside was an old damp tea house. Shelves of potions, herbs and mysterious ingredients in jars lined the walls. A fireplace was roaring in a cobblestone chimney and standing next to it was Ethel talking to a woman sitting on a little dining table. The woman was young, plump, had curly blonde hair, and was about a few weeks away from giving birth judging by the size of the bulge in her green dress.
"I don't want a crumb left on that plate girl," Ethel said in a stern tone.
"Aunty Ethel, please. One more bite and this pie is gonna come back up to say hello." The woman said nauseously.
"Don't make me get the wooden spoon. You're eating for two now, so get to it!"
I walked closer to the scene and Ethel finally noticed us, "If it isn't the cheekiest pup of them all. You'd best have one hells of an apology for me, young man."
"Of course. I'm sorry I couldn't murder those two worried family members for you. Was that what you wanted, oh great fairy witch of the backwater swamp." I responded with all the snark I could muster and bowing to add that nice flare.
"Fairy…!" Ethel screeched in shocked outrage. I guess fae creatures don't like that nickname in this dimension either. "I was just gonna kick your ass out the door, but now I think I'll have some fun with you." Ethel said with the only genuine and evil smile I'd seen on her, before interrupting herself to say to the woman, "Gods, grant me patience… Eat up, Mayrina! I won't ask again."
A wicked smile of my own spread across my lips, "That's Mayrina? I have some bad news for her."
"Don't you say a word." Ethel warned smile giving way to nervous annoyance.
"Tell her! I want to see this hag's face drop before I take her head off." Karlach said encouragingly.
I looked to Mayrina and dropped the smile, "Ethel killed your brothers, to stop them from finding you and taking you home. I'm sorry."
"That can't be true. Aunty Ethel?" Mayrina asked in shocked denial.
"They were rude and I detest rudeness," Ethel responded quickly and coldly.
"You MONSTER! The deal is off!" Mayrina screamed in horrified anger.
"Enough, away with you" Ethel said waving her hand, causing Mayrina to disappear in a puff of smoke. "Blessed silence at last. Some time in the cage should do her good. And you-you'll regret sticking your nose in my business."
As Ethel spoke her threat she began to change. In a flash of green light Aunty Ethel was gone, and Ethel the hag stood before us. She was a least a foot taller in this form, with green skin covered in warts and lesions, pointed ears, and on her head stood not only ratty dying hair but decorations like a rib cage crown that went down her back and two long pieces of flesh as quasi earring. The rest of her clothing followed this theme, with pieces of old rags decorated with animal and humanoid skeletal remains.
"Be seeing you petal. Try not to grow tentacles before I have time to punish you." The hag said before zipping away as smoke towards the fireplace. We ran towards the fireplace. Looking inside it, I saw there was a cave entrance behind the flames. I spoke a word, and a wind blew out the fire. We moved through the embers and into the hag's lair.
Inside the hag's cave lair was even more putrid than the swamp she built it in. The smell of the swamp, rotting bodies and mildew covered every inch of this place. The cave was carved from under the trees, so the lair was covered in tree roots, long dead so only useful as horrid decorations or makeshift tripping traps. Before I could take any more of the lair in Ethel appeared, "You're as thick as they come, sweetness. This is my personal play house. And you don't have an invite. Get out."
I stared down the hag and demanded, "Release Mayrina, or I'll burn down your little tree house with you inside it."
Ethel cackled, "Gods above, a heroic wizard. You should have stayed with your books. I've picked stronger casters than you from my teeth before. I'm looking forward to seeing how you taste." And with that, the hag disappeared again.
We walked further down into the lair and saw some of the other victims of the hag, a headless woman staring at a mirror, a dwarf petrified in stone and an elf screaming jibbering nonsense, oblivious to my party's presence. Next to the screaming elf, was a large wooden face seemingly made of tree bark. Within it, I felt a presence stir and reach out. It begged me to run, showing images of the hag killing me and my friends. "You need to let me through. Mayrina needs my help."
The wooden face responds to this by showing me a memory. Three paladins came to the lair and were mercilessly ripped apart by Ethel. In the memory, Ethel turns to the wooden face and says, "You let three in. That's a decade each. Thirty more years sweetness,"
The memory ended and I said with unwavering confidence, "Please. Let me through and I'll kill Ethel. You'll be free."
The wooden face's presence shuddered in desperation and then seemed to go translucent, inviting me to walk through it. We did so and came into a section of the cave with upraised stone platforms connected by logs. Five humanoid figures were inside the area and upon seeing us readied their weapons for a fight. Well, almost all. One of the figures, a short person with leather armour struggled to say something in a woman's voice "No! I won't hurt them!" It was then I noticed all of the assailants were wearing the same wooden masks that generated a magical charge. Two of the attackers fired arrows and frost beams at us, Astarion went to shoot at them in turn, but I grabbed his shooting arm and pulled it up as I raised my shield to stop the attacks.
"What in hells are you doing Dresden?!" Astarion snapped confused.
"They're being controlled by Ethel, don't kill them! Knock them out or find a way to get those masks off their faces." I said to the whole group. They agreed, Astarion a bit sourly, but I dropped the shield, and we went to face the group of mind-controlled people.
I went for the short deserter first, dodging and shielding my way to the woman. Her resistance was temporary as she swung at me with a short sword. I blocked it with my wizard staff and kneed her in the chest with enough force to down her. She coughed out a weak breath and fumbled back, and in that moment I yanked the mask off her face. The woman looked at me again with confusion and then at her surroundings with horror, "Play dead, and as soon as it's safe get the hell out of here." The woman nodded her head and laid down feigning death.
The others took care of the rest quickly, Astarion and Karlach knocked out their respective targets with the handle of their weapons. While Gale used wind to knock the mask off his attacker, and Shadowheart put her target down with a sleep charm. After the fight, we walked to the only exit in the area a hole in the wall that had a waterfall behind it.
To test the likelihood of survival I threw a stick into the hole and the waterfall. The stick immediately hit a surface with a light tap, there was a path behind the falls. I nodded to my party to jump through the hole and we came out the other side wet and on solid ground. Only to find a swerving path covered in green fog. I went to take a breath after the jump and Gale clamped his hand over my mouth. In my mind, Gale said, "Poison gas. Breathe it for too long and your organs will liquefy." I began to think furiously. The poison was gas in nature, so a great wind could dispel the fog, but this cave had no ventilation to the outside.
I looked at Gale and said in this mind, "Could you blow a hole in the roof of this cave without collapsing it around us?"
I saw his expression change from confusion to comprehension before he pointed his hand out, lifted his other from his mouth and said a quick word before putting it back over his mouth. Six orbs of red kinetic energy burst from his pointed hand and into the roof of the cave, making a gaping hole. At this opening, I lifted my hand from my mouth, pointed my staff at the gas and cast, "Ventas Cyclis!" With a slight wave of my staff, a small cyclone of air manifested in the middle of the gas cloud, lifting it into the swirling winds and out through the hole in the roof to be harmlessly spread outside.
I breathed in a long breath of not-so-fresh air before looking at Gale. I raised my fist to him in celebration. He looked confused for a second before knocking knuckles with me. It's been a while since he's been praised for his magic. We continued down the winding path avoiding flowers that Gale said would explode on contact with friction of any kind, it would seem Ethel has a dangerous plant fetish. We moved to another area, which was a small circular path along a gaping hole in the cave floor. Dangling above it was Mayrina in a cage of bone and vine, "Help me please!" The woman cried.
In another puff of green smoke, Ethel appeared, "You come to my home, interfere in my business, and now you have the gall to face me in the heart of my lair? You petulant bollocks. I'll rip your spine out your arsehole. I'll use your blood to spice my stew. I'll keep you alive until I've sucked the marrow from your bones. And then I'll bring you back and do it all over again!"
At her word, Ethel cast a ray of green energy at me. I was too slow to pull up a shield and it hit me square in the chest. My whole body convulsed, and I spewed up a glob of yellow bile. Whilst I was dealing with that Ethel pointed her finger at Karlach and said "Zariel's attack dog. Isn't mommy missing her favourite bitch." The insult seemed to physically hurt the big tiefling, she grabbed at her ears and went down on one knee. Astarion was the first to get a hit on the hag, as he fired his two hand-crossbows at the monster, both bolts landing true.
Ethel screamed in pain and annoyance, waved her hands by her sides and burst into about six identical copies of herself. All six of the Ethels shot the green ray of sickening energy at us, but I was able to shake off the attack and put up my shield to protect us. The bombardment of poisonous energy didn't let up and I knew I couldn't keep the shield up for long.
"I can't hold them off forever. We need to take the hag out now." I said through clenched teeth as my shield bracelet grew hotter and my energy began to ebb.
"I have a plan, but it's going to hurt," Shadowheart said. Upon saying it she broadcast her plan into each of our minds. This was going to be a close one.
We all positioned ourselves in front of Gale and Shadowheart, and then I dropped my shield. The green energy hit me, Astarion and Karlach and it brought us down to the ground puking up bile. But it didn't hit Gale or Shadowheart, Gale quickly pointed his staff at the Ethels and hit them with the same six energy balls he used to smash the roof. One of each sphere hit each Ethel, causing all but one to disappear. "Bloody clever clogs" Ethel snapped.
Before the hag could let another spell off Shadowheart pointed her hands at Ethel and cast the same silence spell the bone priests used on us. Ethel screamed soundlessly behind the transparent globe. By that time the rest of us were up and ready to fight again, though there was blood coming out of our noses and ears now, we needed to kill this monster soon and get healed or the poison might spread further. Ethel was on the other side of the chasm so I pointed my staff behind Karlach and Astraion and blasted them across the space. They flew weapons hand right onto Ethel, Karlach swung her axe into the hag's chest while Astarion got his dagger in her neck. Ethel was still going, slashing at her attackers with her claws, the axe and dagger in her flesh.
Gale and I looked at each other, looked at the metal weapons in her body and grinned. I yelled at the others to move while me and Gale pointed our staffs, I cast "Fulminas" and a bolt of green lightning shot alongside Gale's blue bolt. Both hit the hag in one of the weapons lodged in her body, causing the electricity to surge even deeper into her flesh. She screamed in agony, roasting from the inside out, and then fell twitching on the ground.
With the battle done, I found the lever to bring the cage down safely and helped Mayrina out of it, "I'm so stupid. How could I have trusted her? I almost gave that monster my child." Mayrina said in a wail.
"So that was the bargain? Give the hag your kid in exchange for resurrecting your husband." I said a mixture of sympathy and disgust in my voice.
"Yes, my husband Connor. She was gonna bring him back to me. And give the baby a better life, teach them magic."
Before I responded to that, Gale broadcast some information into my head. Hags often procreate by eating children and over a period of a few months turn them into young hags, that would have been the fate of Mayrina's child. I agreed she didn't need to hear that fact.
"Your husband must have meant a great deal to you," I said letting the knowledge of what the hag would've done to the child soak up any rage I had for Mayrina's lapse in judgement.
"Connor would have done anything to save me-I had to do the same. I just wanted everything back- back the way it was." Mayrina wailed shedding tears.
"Ethel saw you were vulnerable she took advantage"
"It's my own fault for letting her. Look-I don't like owing people. Here this locket is worth some coin." Mayrina said holding out a golden locket.
"Keep it, you need the coin more than I do," I said shifting my eyes down to her belly.
"Thank you, sir. My husband gave it to me. I should take him home." Mayrina said gratitude and shame mixing in her tone.
Mayrina guided us to a circle of teleportation that took us to the side of the hut outside. Next to us was a coffin Mayrina stopped at it and said, "The thought of putting him in a wheelbarrow and making the journey all over again…"
I stood with her in silence for a moment, "We were just kids when we met. Heh. I might have pushed him off the swing I wanted. He got right up and pushed me back. I was so surprised I just laughed. He did too. We've barely spent a day apart since." Mayrina knelt further to touch the grave, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you back." Mayrina began to bawl her eyes out on uncontrollable grief.
This was not a smart move. But being kind usually isn't very smart. "I lost my love recently as well. I know how you feel."
Mayrina looked at me tears still falling, "Who was she? Your wife?"
I smiled a half-humorous, half-bitter smile, "No. We never got that far. But I loved her, more than I know how to say. We waited too long to get together; we were friends for a long time. The timing was never quite right. Until it was. I had one good year with Karen and despite all the bullshit going on in my life it was probably the best year of my life." A tear rolled down my cheek, "I know you don't want to hear this, but you had many good years with Connor. Try to focus on that, the good. Then try to live like he would've wanted. That's all we can do."
Mayrina got up and took my hand, "Does it hurt less after a while?"
"No, but the pain gets… less important than remembering the person," I said with a sad smile.
Mayrina gave one of her own. "You gonna be alright?" I asked.
"Not even a little bit, but I will be. Thank you for sharing that. I think she'd be proud of you."
I smiled and turned around to leave her to her grief. I had some accounts that needed settling at the Emerald Grove.