Chapter 8 - Goblin Guts
"Are you sure this is what you want to do," Gale asked.
The party was standing on a small outcropping surveilling the goblin camp. Wyll hadn't been kidding when he said there were a lot of them. The main entrance was heavily guarded, too. If Del had been by herself, she could have sneaked in. She eyed Astarion for a moment. He could also sneak his way in with her, she supposed, but two people entering the now defiled sanctum alone didn't seem safe. She needed everyone with her in case shit went down.
"The only other option is to go in guns blazing," Del said. "Which could be problematic since they have war drums everywhere. As soon as we start to attack them, the entire camp will know and we will have to fight all of them at once. I don't think I'm quite prepared for that."
"I… get the gist of what you're saying," Gale managed, momentarily confused by her colloquialism. "I just think it might be a tad hasty. We've only seen the mark manifesting once before. Are we sure you will be able to control it again if it does?"
"We don't really have any more test subjects, Gale. We either go in and find out. Or we stay out here all day."
"I will not waste time," Lae'zel butted in. "The sooner we destroy the goblins, the sooner we can search for the crèche."
Shadowheart rolled her eyes. "You can't take out the entire camp by yourself. You will die." She paused. "On second thought, be my guest."
Lae'zel turned her glaring yellow gaze towards Shadowheart, her lips lifted in a sneer. "I'd be happy to drag you with me if you're too scared to make it there on your own."
Del stepped between the two before the threats could escalate. "Time and place, ladies," she reminded them.
Shadowheart huffed and walked a few steps away. Lae'zel merely gave Del a short look before taking a step back. She really wished the two other women in the group could get along, but knew it was going to come to a head soon if she wasn't careful.
"I agree with Del," Wyll said. "We're not going to learn anything more until we test it. So let's test it in the goblin camp. At the very least, maybe we can learn more about the tadpole. If it doesn't work, well, I'm sure she can come up with something else to get us inside without drawing a fight."
"It just doesn't seem like much of a plan," Gale complained.
"Next time we all get tadpoles put in our brains we will do it better. Promise." Del even crossed her heart.
"You're a terrible comedian," Gale told her before walking away.
As the party trekked their way towards the entrance to the goblin camp, Del fell back to walk alongside Astarion. She had been asleep when he returned from hunting and in the morning everyone had been eager to get going, she hadn't had a chance to check in on him since he'd drunk her blood. He certainly seemed better, but it was hard to really judge since Astarion was used to hiding behind a mask. She put a hand out, careful not to touch him, to slow his pace so they could be out of earshot of everyone else as they walked.
He looked at her curiously, but did as she bade.
"How are you feeling today," she asked him, her voice low so it won't carry.
Astarion let out a shocked laugh. "You're asking me? I should be asking you how you're feeling, darling."
She frowned at him. "Are you?"
He tsk'd at her. "Yes," he said, emphatic.
"I'm fine. Maybe a little light headed, but nothing I can't deal with." She shook her head. "I really was asking how you were, by the way. Did you manage to find something to feed on?"
"Yes, I'm doing much better thanks to your… donation." He smiled at her. "I was able to find something else to feed on that night, but it really doesn't compare. I'd never- " He stopped himself.
Del chanced a glance at him when he didn't continue. He looked a little embarrassed and she deduced what he had been about to say.
She glanced down at her feet. "I was your first."
He hadn't stopped walking, but he stiffened, surprised. "How did you know?"
She huffed out a small laugh. She knew because this entire story had been played out before, but she also knew from experience. She gestured to her neck. "A good hunter knows its prey. Once you've met one vampire master you've met them all. They don't like their spawn to have any inkling of control or power or self-identity. You don't need to feed to live, but you need to feed to be useful. So they give you the minimum. The lucky ones sometimes get to drink their master's leftovers, but usually they are only able to drink the blood of animals."
Astarion stopped walking. "What happened to the spawn you met before?"
She sighed. This was not the direction she wanted this conversation to go in. She turned around to face him and looked him in the eyes. "I killed them, Astarion." He wasn't surprised, but he looked haunted, as if he had known.
Astarion looked at her for a moment longer as he absorbed what she said and then he walked past her. She turned and followed behind him. She didn't try to walk beside him again, since she wasn't sure how he was feeling about the conversation they had just had. He had asked her a question and she had answered it truthfully. There was no point in making it seem like less than it was.
He purposely slowed down so they were walking side by side again and she looked at him, curiously. "Thank you for telling me the truth. I don't know why I'm surprised, though. You've always been forward about who you were, even in our first meeting." He looked over at the rest of the party, which stood waiting for them now. "Though you seemed reluctant to divulge to the rest of the crew until recently."
Del shrugged. "Everyone in this group has secrets. You only knew mine because you had the bad luck of actually approaching me that night. Well, good luck, I guess, since you survived."
"Not to sound ungrateful," Astarion started, "But I still don't understand why you even let me go. You obviously knew I wasn't planning on bringing you home for myself, but shouldn't that have been a good enough reason to get rid of me? To stop me from collecting more victims for my master?" He sneered at his wording. "For Cazador," he amended.
"Maybe? But there were more spawn. It wasn't going to stop if I killed you. Cazador," she emphasized, "would have also noticed. And then I would have another master vampire breathing down my neck. I'm protective of my people, but I also have to be realistic. Cazador is far stronger than the vampire I took down, and he has close ties with the people in the Upper City and the politicians. I can't defeat him on my own. But I wasn't lying to you when I told you not to let me see you again. Especially if I caught you trying to lure a victim, I would have had no choice. And then I would be dead in a gutter or the sewer, with rats gnawing on my bones. Because I'm a fucking bleeding heart."
She hadn't meant to sound so self deprecating at the end there, but she hadn't been able to stifle it. The whole Cazador situation frustrated her to no end. Nothing about him said vampire to anyone else in Baldur's Gate. So even trying to convince a group to get together to take him out would have made her a laughing stock.
They were silent as they approached their waiting team mates. But just before they were back within earshot, Astarion told her, his voice soft, "I suppose there are worse things to be."
Everyone was waiting at the bridge right before the goblin camp and as Del reached them they started moving across it. Astarion had moved ahead and was walking with Wyll, while Shadowheart joined Del in the back. "You two seem to be getting cozy," she said with a knowing smirk.
Del rolled her eyes. "It isn't like that."
Before Shadowheart could say anything else, they had made it to the gate and Del left her to head to the front of the group. She needed to be first to greet the goblin guarding the gate to test if the mark would respond to her again. Sure enough, as soon as the goblin stopped her, it flared up on his face and she could immediately feel authority coursing through her mind. "You will let me pass."
The goblin immediately genuflected and moved out of the way. The worgs next to him even shuffled away from her as if they were under the same control. The tadpole was definitely useful, at times, she had to admit. Granted they were only here because of the tadpole. She looked over her shoulder to look at her companions with raised brows before entering the gates and turning towards the old temple. They followed closely behind.
"I can't believe that worked," Gale said once they were out of earshot of any goblins. "Again. How often do you reckon we can get away with controlling them like that?"
"Well, if we all do it, at least six times," Del told him. "It takes a lot out of the tadpole, I think, so it's not something we can use multiple times a day."
"I'm not sure I feel comfortable using the tadpole, at all," Shadowheart remarked. "As helpful as it has been, I'm worried using it might be detrimental to us. What if using it hurries along the process of ceremorphosis?"
"If we haven't transformed yet," Astarion said, "I don't think using the tadpole really makes a difference."
"We still don't know what's caused the delay in our transformation," Gale mused. "Caution might be our best bet."
"You're all welcome to do as you see fit," Del told them as they reached the bridge that led to the sanctum's courtyard. "I have no problem using it if everyone else is uncomfortable with it. We'll just be a little limited, is all-"
They were halfway across the bridge when a searing pain in her head forced her to stop. It was stronger than the pain that appeared when her tadpole connected with another tadpole. This time it was like a presence much larger and more otherworldly was in her head. A presence that even her tadpole seemed to bow over control to. Much like what she had done to the goblins, but stronger. Her knees hit the ground as a voice entered her mind.
"Hear my voice. Obey my command."
Her vision clouded and all she could see was darkness and then it cleared, showing her three figures. Two men and a woman.
"These are my chosen. They speak for me. Aid their search for the prism and you will be worthy to stand beside them. In my presence."
Suddenly, a warm feeling surrounded her. It repelled back the visions and she could see again. The astral prism was floating above them, pulsing and she knew it was protecting them. Just as it had before when she fell from the nautiloid. The voice started to fade from her mind.
"My power grows. My forces gather. The reckoning draws near..." That voice was way more creepier than she remembered.
Del shook herself and pushed back up to her feet as the astral prism shot to her, forcing her to catch it against her chest. She looked at it and then glanced at Shadowheart, knowing it had been on her person.
"Uh, Shadowheart?" Del lifted the artefact in her hands in question.
"I know… I don't understand how exactly, but I felt it go to you. It's important. Keep it close," Shadowheart wagged her finger in Del's direction as if she was scolding her. As if she was going to forget about it. This thing was the real reason why they were still not mindflayers. She was not looking forward to having to tote around another item in her bag, however. She sighed and tucked into one of her hip bags.
"Um, excuse me," Astarion piped up, holding his hand up. "But what just happened? And what was that thing that stopped it from happening? And why did Shadowheart have it? I don't mean to pry, but doesn't anyone else feel like they are being left out of something very crucial here?"
"I believe that voice in our head is likely the one in charge of our little wriggly friends, based on how utterly debased we were before it," Gale assessed. "I'm afraid I have nothing on the icosahedron, though. Maybe Shadowheart could elucidate?"
Del glanced at Shadowheart.
"I suppose if we're going to keep helping each other I might as well tell you. I was part of a group sent to retrieve it, bring it to Baldur's Gate for our goddess. I worship Shar, the mistress of the night. It's my mission to deliver the artefact to her secret cloister in Baldur's Gate." A flash of purple light emanated from Shadowheart's right hand and she winced in pain. She shook it off and continued, "Now that you know the truth, please don't make a big fuss out of it."
"But what is it," Astarion exclaimed.
"I'm not sure," Shadowheart confessed. "I'm just as in the dark, as you are. Literally. I've had my memories repressed in order to protect the Dark Lady's secrets. I just know I was to retrieve the artefact and return it to my contact in the city."
"Hells," Astarion muttered to himself. "We're doomed if I'm the most sane person in this group."
"I'm breaking my oath, as is, by telling you this much," Shadowheart said. "But I understand rules sometimes need to be bent in order to get a job done. Now, I've told you all I can from what I remember. Shall we continue?"
Wyll was eyeing a patrol of goblins on the outer wall of the temple as he agreed. "We might look a bit suspicious if we hang around outside for too long."
"Come on," Del urged the group. "We can save the chit chat for when we are back at our camp. And thank you, Shadowheart," Del told the half-elf. "I know you didn't have to tell us anything. But I'm glad you did."
Shadowheart huffed. "I suppose it was bound to happen when working so closely together."
As they entered the courtyard, they could see the goblins were having a party. Or maybe this is what every day looked like to a goblin. They were spread all over, drinking, eating, and having a good time. The largest gathering was in the center of the courtyard where a man was attempting to regale them all with a story.
To one side, some goblins were playing a game of chase the chicken, while towards the back a few of them were roasting something over on a spit. Del didn't look too closely, considering it was most likely a dwarf if she remembered it correctly.
As they moved further in, they drew a few looks, but seeing new faces must be an everyday occurrence as they all returned to whatever it is they were doing after one glance. Her eyes found the trough the goblins were getting their drinks from and she knew exactly what they could do to thin the numbers a bit more in their favor.
Del stopped on one side of the makeshift stage, where Volo was tripping over his own words, and leaned over to Gale to whisper to him, "You don't happen to have any poison on you, do you?"
He frowned. "No," he whispered back. "Do I look like a rat exterminator to you?"
Astarion leaned in from behind her. "I may have pilfered some from that druid," he said, lowly. "What are you scheming?"
She turned her head towards the drinking trough. He followed her gaze and a smile inched its way onto his face. "Simple, yet effective."
"I'll create a diversion," Del whispered to him, "That way no one notices you. And when goblins start dropping dead, it'll be a mystery as to who poisoned them."
"I like the way you think."
Del looked around until she saw what she thought was the goblin trader. "Hold on a moment," she told the group before wandering over. She unloaded all the useless loot onto the trader and then saw he had a lute he was selling. It had been a minute since she'd had to play one, but it could work for what she had planned, so she traded him for it and wandered back over to the stage. Her companions eyed the lute she carried in her hands.
"What are you planning to do with that," Gale asked her.
"Distraction," she whispered before jumping onto the stage next to Volo who was struggling to come up with any more made up words.
Volo looked at her in surprise while another goblin yelled at her to get off the stage. "Can you sing," she asked the flustered man.
"I… can whistle," he told her.
She shrugged. "Good enough." She started to strum the lute, but it was out of tune. More goblins gathered to boo at her. "Hold on, hold on," she told them, tuning the instrument with an ease that surprised her. She wasn't as rusty as she thought she was.
Good to go, she strummed it again and began playing a popular tavern song. She nodded at Volo who nervously started to whistle, a little off key, if she was being honest, but the goblins started to cheer like they didn't notice. Two more goblins even wandered over and added their instruments to the song. Del was surprised, but decided to take it in stride and amped up her playing once her fingers were warmed up. Most of the camp was looking at the stage now, and she slid her eyes over to where Astarion had been standing to see he had already disappeared. She kept her eyes away from the drinking trough, scared to draw attention to it, just in case.
As she continued the song, a few of the goblins were starting to dance around, really getting into it. Volo's whistling had even improved now that he wasn't worried about the goblin's butchering him. When Astarion reappeared in his spot next to the rest of her companions with a nod to her, she smiled and played a few more measures before signaling the end of the song for her fellow musicians and everyone finished with a flourish. The goblins went wild once they were done and even tried to get Del to play more but she waved them off. Volo's keeper came over and started to bark at him to return to his cage. Volo gave Del a pleading look and she mouthed to him, "Later."
She jumped off the stage and gestured for her party to follow her. They headed through the crowd to the front door of the old temple. As they made their way to the door, another goblin had jumped onto stage and was proposing a toast. A few goblin's rushed to fill their cups. The giant door closed behind them at the sounds of goblins cheering once more before taking long drinks from their cups.
Del paused just inside the door, the lute still in hand. "Are you sure no one saw you," she asked Astarion.
He scoffed and leaned against the door. "I'm certain. They were all half drunk already, so it's not like it was difficult."
"Can we talk about the real elephant in the room," Gale suggested.
Del looked at him curiously. "What's that?"
He gestured to the lute she held. "You told us you were a mercenary. What mercenary also plays an instrument?"
"Mercenaries can't have hobbies," she asked, offended.
"I didn't say that. I just wonder where you found the time?"
"I haven't touched one of these in years, actually," she told him. "I… picked it up when I first arrived on the Sword Coast. Didn't have time to keep up with it after I joined the Fists. Surprised I could still play, at all."
"A bard mercenary," Shadowheart mused. "Do wonders ever cease?"
"No," Del said, addressing the entire group. "Not a bard. I can't sing, or tell stories worth a damn. I can just play a little."
"Are you keeping it?"
"The lute? Of course I'm keeping it."
"Please tell me that you are going to open a tavern," Shadowheart told her.
"Why would I open a tavern?" Del was confused where this conversation was going.
"You have to retire from being a mercenary one day. And when you do you can give it a name inspired by your ventures. Like…"
"The Backstabbing Lute," Astarion supplied.
Shadowheart grinned before adding, "The Killing Song."
"The Headless Whistler."
"The Gutted Fiddle."
"The Skinned Drummer."
"Come on, guys. You're making me sound like a deranged serial killer with a penchant for music."
"The Liar Lyre."
The last one was from Wyll, and Shadowheart and Astarion both approved of his contribution.
"Okay, that was a good one," Del agreed. "But I've no plans to open a tavern. You're on your own on that venture. Now, can we please get going? We need to find that Druid and figure out what the goblin's are planning. I'd rather not be stuck here longer than needed."
Just down the long hallway a group of goblins acted as sentinels for the inner sanctum. Since Del had already used her tadpole's psionic ability once today, she couldn't use it again and had to rely on her persuasion skills to get past the suspicious goblin. While it required more talking than she was comfortable with, they were eventually all let through. Del paused as they entered the room to get a good look around.
Everything was vaguely familiar and she was sure she knew where she needed to go to find Halsin, the Druid, but she worried about getting into a fight too soon. And if she remembered correctly, finding him does lead to a fight where if anyone escaped they could alert the rest of the camp. She had to go through the motions of searching the place, first, anyway, so her companions wouldn't think anything was off.
Fifteen minutes later, Del awoke in chains, just as she knew she would be. True Soul Priestess Gut was a real peach. And completely unaware of the tadpole that lived in her own head. She really thought the Absolute was a god. So when Gut told her she wanted to watch her become a mindflayer for research purposes, Del almost yelled that she could experience it herself. Not that she would believe her.
As she hung there in the middle of her cell, she noted a few shadowy figures coming down the hallway to the left of her. Del wordlessly nodded towards Priestess Gut in the room across from her and watched as Lae'zel, Wyll, and Gale peeled away to attack her.
Astarion came over and picked the lock of her cell. Once inside he gave her a good once over.
"You know, I think I quite like you like this." He smiled, letting his fangs show. "You almost look… tame."
"Really, Astarion," Shadowheart admonished. "Now is not the time."
Del merely gave him a deadpan stare before dislocating her own thumbs and slipping her hands out of the shackles. Instead of looking disturbed, he looked more intrigued, though. Shadowheart swore and rushed over to help Del reset her thumbs back into place, breaking Del's eye contact with the vampire.
In the background, Del could just see Gale getting hit with a particularly hard spell. He fell to his knees in pain. "Uh, Shadowheart?"
Shadowheart quickly turned and cast a healing spell at Gale.
He popped back up and yelled out a quick thanks before casting Fire Bolt at the priestess, felling the goblin once and for all. He may have also singed Wyll's eyebrows in the process.
"My apologies," Gale told a frowning Wyll, looking chagrined. "I might have been a tad overzealous."
"Your eyebrows are still intact," Del yelled to them. "If that helps!"
Wyll patted at them and tiny swirls of smoke rose from his face.
"Thanks for the rescue, by the way," Del told the group. "I knew you'd be handy in a pinch."
"You said to find you in fifteen minutes," Wyll replied. "So we did."
"Still worth a 'thank you,'" Del countered.
"You're welcome," Astarion said, rising from Gut's body after looting it. "Now, shall we get going?"
Del bit back the retort she had for him. His help had been less helpful, but she supposed he had picked a few locks. They exited Gut's private quarters back into the chapel and after making sure no one was watching, they left the chapel, closing the door behind them.
"What are the chances they find her body before we're done here," Gale asked nobody in particular.
"Low," Del said. "That's the private quarters of a 'True Soul.' They won't go looking for her."
"What about the other 'True Souls?'" Shadowheart had a point.
"Hope they are both too self-centered to notice," Del shrugged. "I don't know."
"The sooner we find this Druid, the better, I think," the Sharran stated before walking away. Del followed close behind.
After getting a blessing from a goddess of pain and helping two prisoners escape, including Volo, Del found herself above the spider enclosure. She peered down at the two arachnids from above and managed to hold in a sound of disgust. Spiders she could handle at a normal, small size. Expecting her to be okay with them at this gargantuan scale was too much. Their only saving grace was the fact she knew them to be intelligent creatures. She wasn't about to kill them just because she was grossed out.
The rest of her group had slowly passed her and was now peering into another large room. She followed and saw it was full of people, humans, elves and goblins, and a hobgoblin. Dror Ragzlin is what she heard the other goblins call him. He was trying to use a Speak with the Dead spell on a mind flayer corpse in the center of the room. And failing. She edged away from the room, getting her party's attention. She canted her head to the side and headed back into the main room.
"What's the matter," Shadowheart asked.
"Did you see the mind flayer," she asked. When Shadowheart nodded, she continued, "If he manages to bring it back and ask it questions, I don't want to be in there. It could be one of the mind flayers we killed. We can't risk it recognizing us."
"Good point," the half elf ceded. "Where should we go next, then?"
"There's this area over here we missed," Del said, pointing. "Plus it has guards. Maybe Halsin is down there."
"Why else would they be guarding it," Wyll asked, his hand on his chin. "He has to be there."
"Only one way to find out," Gale stated before heading towards the door. The goblins that were guarding it didn't seem to care and they passed through with ease. Del guessed they were more there in case something or someone managed to escape.
A sharp smell hit Del's nose as they closed the door behind them. The scent was a mixture of animal, rotting meat, and piss. As they walked further into the room they could see more prison cells, but these ones held creatures. A couple of worgs in one and a very angry bear in another.
Del paused as she watched the goblin children continue to throw rocks at it. As she listened in to their conversation, it was obvious they had no idea who the bear really was. Odd.
When Astarion looked at her in question, Del subtly nodded towards the bear.
Astarion looked at the bear for a moment before realization hit him. He sneered and rolled his eyes toward her. She could almost read his mind. Fucking Druids.
Del cleared her throat to get the goblin children's attention. "Uh, that might not be a good idea."
The kids gave her a look before turning around to continue lobbing stones.
The bear became fully enraged at this point and plowed through the bars of his prison, knocking out the armored goblin that had been standing close by. The kids screamed and immediately ran for the door, but Lae'zel got to them first and knocked them out with the hilt of her sword.
Del would have just killed them. Lae'zel was such a secret softy.
That left two other goblins and the worgs if they managed to break out. Lae'zel and Wyll went after one goblin while the bear, or Halsin, went after the other one. Del ran to the caged worgs and shot them through the bars with her crossbow. Once they were down she turned to see Gale get the last shot on the goblin Halsin was fighting, and Lae'zel had just ran her sword through the torso of hers. Her party was nothing if not sufficient.
Halsin shed his bear form and stood before them, covered in blood and gore. Del found her eyes going up much further than she had anticipated. She knew he was big, but damn, he was much more impressive of a figure in person.
"Pardon the viscera," the Druid said to them, shaking blood from his hands. "One should cherish all of nature's bounty, but goblin guts are quite far down the list. You aided a bear without knowing it would savage you. A true friend of nature, or perhaps a lunatic. Either way, I owe thanks. I am the druid Halsin."
"We know who you are," Del told him. "In fact, we came here looking for you. Your friends at the grove sent us."
Halsin nodded. "Then not a lunatic. I must admit, I didn't expect anyone to come to my aid. Who in their right mind would infiltrate a goblin-infested temple. Unless…," he paused and gave Del a good once over. "Hrm, that look in your eyes. I've seen it before. Are you feeling alright?"
"Actually, I feel fine-" Del was interrupted as Halsin waved his hand in front of her, a yellow glow emanating from his palm. He was scanning her with his magic. The yellow light vanished and he lowered his arm.
"Oak Father, preserve you, child. You're infected aren't you," he asked her. "But something's different. You're aware of the monster inside you. You don't bow to the Absolute like the True Souls do. How is this possible?"
"I wish I knew," Del said, even though she did know. Just as she knew he wouldn't be able to help them, except to point them in another direction that was closer to the truth of the whole situation.
"It's no coincidence that you found me here," Halsin continued. "You're after a cure for this parasite. I've been studying these parasites for a while now. Ever since I discovered these so-called True Souls are infected with them. Someone is using very powerful magic to modify these tadpoles. They are using them to exert control over the infected. I'm sorry to say I can't undo that magic, which means I can't cure you."
"Typical," Del heard Astarion mutter behind her. He was probably annoyed that they had gone through all of this just to hit another dead end. As if any quest in this world was ever that easy.
"But that doesn't mean I can't help," Halsin was saying. "I didn't find what I came here for - the way to remove the tadpoles - but I found the next best thing. I found out where they come from. That must be where the enchantments are placed on them, and it's where you'll find your cure."
"Well, where is it, then," Astarion huffed out.
"I overheard that the cultists are sending all of their captives to Moonrise Towers. Innocents go in. True Souls come out. Given that all of these True Souls are infected, it has to be the source of this magic. If you want to find a cure you must head there and discover how the tadpoles are being manipulated."
"Where is this Moonrise Towers," Wyll questioned, "And how do we get there?"
Halsin explained to them that there are two ways to Moonrise Towers - the Mountain Pass and the Underdark. He claimed the Mountain Pass was more dangerous as it would lead them directly into the Shadow Cursed Lands and said their best bet was to go through the Underdark. That the entrance to it was hidden somewhere beneath the temple they stood in now.
"Would you be interested in joining us," Del asked him. "We could use the help in getting there."
"My first priority is the Grove," Halsin told her. "I overheard the cultists say they are planning to attack it. If you can take out their three leaders, it will stop the attack from happening. Once the Grove is safe, I will gladly come along to help you on your journey."
"We took care of one of them already. Perhaps you could help us out with the other two? Your bear form seems very handy in a fight."
"I won't be able to hold back," he warned her, his face very serious. "I will take out every goblin I see."
She grinned up at him. "Perfect. That's exactly what I was hoping for."
Del didn't know that fighting with a bear by her side could be so much fun. Del hadn't used Halsin much at all when she had played the game, and she admitted to herself she had been missing out. The Druid absolutely eviscerated everyone in their way. He had plowed ahead into Dror Ragzlin's chamber and immediately went after the hobgoblin.
While the cultists had been distracted by the bear, both Del and Astarion had snuck up into the rafters and took turns firing arrows at unsuspecting victims. She had had to talk the vampire into it, but he cut a fine figure with his bow and his shots were even better than hers. Wyll, Lae'zel, and Gale stood just outside the doors leading to the room and picked off anyone who tried to run. Shadowheart had found a corner out of the way and healed them as needed.
The next target was the drow, and Halsin, again, went straight for the True Soul without any hesitation. Del cringed as she watched the drow go down, blood flying from her body. She had meant to just knock her out, but realized screaming at everyone to not kill this one specific person would sound weird and would definitely have come with lots of questions. She couldn't legitimately come up with a good reason to spare someone who was actively trying to kill them. Still, she felt bad. Minthara wasn't so bad outside of the Absolute's control. Then again, they could probably say that about most of the people now being controlled by the tadpoles. There was no way to save everybody.
After killing all the goblins inside the temple and looting it, they made their way outside and took out the remaining goblins there. The poison had done its work though, and their numbers were certainly smaller than before. It took half as long to finish up the outside, as it did the inside. By the time they killed the last goblin, however, everyone was in rough shape.
Del knelt on the ground, catching her breath. She had a cut somewhere on her face, but she had to let it drip, unchecked, as her hands were covered in other people's blood and she didn't want to risk contaminating herself. She waited patiently as Shadowheart went around healing the party, coming to her last. Del sighed as the half elf's hands hovered over her face, the wound sealing under the gentle magic. She loved having a healer around.
Halsin ambled over to where she sat and shed his bear form. He stared around at the remains of the goblin camp and the bodies that lay around them. "Well done," he told her. "The grove is safe thanks to you. I should head back right away and tell them the good news. After I get things settled there, I will take you to Moonrise Towers."
Del checked the position of the sun and shook her head. "It's getting late. Our camp is nearby. You should stay with us for the night and we will head out with you first thing in the morning."
Halsin hesitated, as if he wasn't sure.
"They're safe now," she reminded him. "There's no rush. And Kagha knows we went after the goblins, so she won't close off the grove yet, either."
Halsin gave her a sharp look. "Kagha is sealing the grove?"
"Yes. She started the ritual, but promised to wait a bit longer to complete it since we said we would take care of the goblins. She was threatening to throw the tieflings out before all of that and we couldn't risk them getting hurt until the threat was neutralized."
"Now I'm even more eager to get back," he muttered, staring off into the distance. "But, if it is as you say, we have time. I will rest in your camp, since you were so kind to invite me, but I will head back at first light. I can travel much faster than you in animal form."
Del nodded. "Of course. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about with her." She turned to look at the rest of her crew, all equally bloody and tired. "Come on. I think we earned our dinner tonight."