Chapter 19

I walked back out to my companions, who were staring at me with curious expectation, except for Lae'zel who was practically foaming at the mouth with excitement. "Speak! Have you killed my queen's enemy?"

This was going to be a touchy subject. Lae'zel was clearly a devoted follower of Vlaakith and wouldn't take kindly to my refusal to follow her orders, especially if I add the bit where her god was a farse hiding her weakness in this Astral Prism. But Lae'zel was also my friend; at the very least, we've walked through enough fires not to lie to her face. "Lae'zel. Vlaakith's been lying to you. She isn't a god, her power to block out the mindflayers comes from this 'weapon'. That's why she wanted the Dream Visitor dead, they can prove her deception."

Lae'zel's eyes burnt with disgust and rage, but she didn't attack me, "Vlaakith does not lie to her faithful. Open your mind- show me."

I felt a tingle in my head, Lae'zel wanted to see my memories of my visit with the Dream Visitor. I let her in. Our minds become one and she saw the truth of my encounter with the Dream Visitor, minus the part where they used the mother of my child as a tool for manipulation. They were right on that at least. The truth about Vlaakith wouldn't have mattered if that part had been revealed. Just thinking that made me sick.

Lae'zel left my mind with an expression of shock, and denial in her voice as she spoke, "Vlaakith tavki na'zin. I see- only madness. Vlaakith bears the full might of Tu'narath's arms, and the power of the Great Mother Gith! We must go to the ch'rai. He will summon Vlaakith- she must know of this… this apostate."

I rubbed the top of my nose with my fingers to push down the frustration. Lae'zel's denial of reality was irritating, poorly timed, and understandable. I was asking her to throw away her beliefs on the word of a wizard she met barely a week ago and a mysterious stranger connected to her greatest enemy. I could only hope when shit hit the fan, and it was about to, that she sided with us. If for no other reason than survival, I'm guessing Vlaakith doesn't abide failure better than any other powerful being with a god complex.

Shadowheart just rolled her eyes and spat, "Well this should make things more interesting at least." And we walked through the portal back to the githyanki creche.

We arrived back in the same spot we left, and we saw W'wargaz standing right in front of us, a death glare burning a hole right through us and into the stone wall behind. Looking around the room the githyanki warriors had spread out in a circle around us, with two gith on a stone platform behind us, on our left, one gith dressed in a warrior robe standing with a wooden staff, on our right two giths with sword and bow aimed and ready stood waiting, and at the entrance was Therezzyn and her wolves all of them staring at us with hungry expressions. They were boxing us in.

"Lae'zel- I've been waiting. You are named Hshar'lak. Bend your head, for my blade is ready." W'wargaz said with the cruelty of callousness and indifference of religious ritual.

"Ch'rai please! Summon Vlaakith! There is much-"

"Irrelevant ghaik wretch. The queen has spoken- your death is decreed." W'wargaz snarled cutting Lae'zel's pleas off. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Vlaakith couldn't have known the outcome of our visit to the Astral Plane so quickly. No matter how it turned out, Vlaakith had no intention of letting us live.

The Inquisitor went to strike at Lae'zel, but before he got there Karlach came in with her axe screaming, "Bend for this-bitch!" W'wargaz parried the blow with effortless efficiency, leaving a small cut on Karlach's arm from his blade. That seemed to snap Lae'zel into the fight, as she drew her longsword and clashed blades with Vlaakith's hand of justice. Whilst I was gladdened by Lae'zel's choice of action I was busy dealing with my own problems. The two gith warriors on the stone platform were firing specialised bolts at us, ones that bounced off my shield and slashed Gale and Shadowheart before burying themselves in Karlach's shoulder and Lae'zels leg. My gith companion went down to a knee but still parried another strike from W'wargaz, and the bolt in Karlach made her drop the axe. This gave the wizard gith on the left time to throw a firebolt at the tiefling, which did little more than piss her off. Karlach picked up the axe and charged forward at the gith, barbarian charging into their battle. Whilst that was happening, I dropped my shield and watched as the gith archers fired another round of curving bolts. Before the projectiles could hit me, I raised my staff in front of my body as if to shield myself and cast, "Tornarius!" The momentum of the bolts was reversed and rocketed towards their firers. Unfortunately, the reflecting took some of the momentum out of the shots, so they missed dealing mortal blows, but it was enough to get them off-balanced as the bolts slashed their flesh and caused them to lose grip on their weapons. In that second of weakness, I struck, "Ventas Servitas!" I cast creating a cyclone-level wind to hit the archers with enough force to lift a mobile home. The gith went up into the air at mock speed and fell back to the ground with wet cracking spats.

Looking at the battle, the rest were having mixed results. Lae'zel was still trading sword clashes W'wargaz, still on one knee and getting slower. Gale was contending with the two gith warriors, each of them trying to hit or shoot him but it being reflected off a golden shimmer around his body, a shield. Gale was trying to hit them with his lightning, but either their armour was resistant, or they were just tough enough to tank his attacks with only minor grunts of pain. I heard the battle roar of Karlach who was trying and failing to hit the githyanki wizard, who on every swing of Karlach's axe, teleported to another section of the room, after which Kalrach would jump after him, only for the cheeky bastard to teleport again. Unfortunately for the wizard, he was getting tired and Karlach was only getting angrier. So, on the next space hop, Karlach didn't jump at the gith, she chucked her axe straight at the caster's open back. The man only had enough time to turn and receive the blade end of the weapon right in the chest. After a victorious battle roar, Karlach turned her attention to Shadowheart, who was attempting to fight Therezzyn and her wolves. Shadowheart was clashing with the kith'raks greatsword with her shield and attempting to hit the gith with her mace. This had little effect as the superior fighter merely parried any blow that came her way. Shadowheart kept the wolves at bay with a spell that created a ring of green flying figures around her that gave off necromantic energy. It was this barrier that prevented Therezzyn from taking the shield and kept the feared wolves off her flank. But Shadowheart's fear and exhaustion were starting to get to her, the blocks of her shield were getting slower, and the green figures were starting to dim, she was losing concentration. That was when me and Karlach stepped in, I blasted the kith'rak with a torrent of force while Karlach jumped on the tail of one of the wolves. Threzzyn rolled out of the way, but the wolf yelped in surprised pain as it turned to Karlach, it tried to bite her, but she grabbed his jaws and slammed them shut before throwing it across the room. This caused the other wolf to support its fellow and abandon Shadowheart. Karlach barked a laugh of defiance at the two wolves as she went at them, only her fists as weapons.

I had no time to help as I had to back up Shadowheart. Threzzyn stared us down, a crazed fire in her eyes. "You will not steal the weapon again! You will not usurp the Undying Queens' glory!"

I smiled a crazed grin at the kith'rak and taunted, "Your Queen is nothing but. She is a farce. Neither goddess nor lord, she duped you and merely hid the power of ghaik resistance in the artifact. Her point of rule comes from a pathetic deception."

"Deceiver! Blasphemer!" The gith leader screamed in maddened defiance. She jumped into the air to deliver a magically charged blow at my head but did it without forethought. As her blow came down, I cast, "Vis Riflettum!" As I cast the spell, I was able to shift my body enough so that the blow would hit the duster rather than my head, but more importantly, the magical energies of the blow were shot back at the gith. Therezyyn was suddenly stunned and holding her head in confusion, which allowed Shadowheart to throw a bolt of light at the kith'rak while also getting her within the circle of necromantic energy. Therezyyn fell to one knee as the pain of both the radiant energy and necromantic hit her at once, Shadowheart smashed her mace down on the crippled gith. Over and over and over again, screaming the pain, fear and rage out of her lungs and into the strikes on the gtihyanki's head until there was nothing but a red lump on the church floor.

As this was happening Gale's shield was beginning to falter, so he took a different route of attack. As a blow from a sword finally got through the shield and slashed his back, he moved his arms in a downward motion, said a word and the gith warriors suddenly crashed to the ground surrounded by a red tide of gravitational force. Gale then took the gith warriors' sword and quickly slit the throats of both men. This spell had another advantage. The force of the gravity casting shook the ground, putting W'wargaz off balance and giving Lae'zel a chance to push him back. As she did, she also tore the bolt out of her leg, allowing her to stand and face the Inquisitor. The two gith traded blows again, but this time Lae'zel was on the offensive. She slashed and cut at the ch'rai's parries until he missed a block and got a long cut down his arm for his trouble. W'wargaz nearly lost grip on his weapon as he grunted with pain, "Enough!" he raged as he pressed his finger to his circlet. Tendrils of purple energy shot out of his temple and into our skulls, I suddenly felt a great weight press down upon me. As we all fell to our knees, I realised it wasn't a physical weight, the circlet energy was amplifying the Inquisitor's will which he was projecting onto us and pushing us down.

W'wargaz stepped towards Lae'zel, moving his hand reverently over his blade. "Enemies of Vlaakith will be extinguished and the Grand Design will never come to pass. DIE GHIAK THRALL!" The Inquisitor declared as he raised his blade for the killing blow.

I had beaten will-based attacks before, it was a matter of making yourself and small but unmovable object in the wake of their bombarding current. But I didn't have time to shake W'wargaz and gather my will to strike at him with a spell. So, I decided to give Lae'zel a push. I used the tadpole to connect to her mind, "You are Lae'zel of creche K'iler. And this son of a bitch just called you a thrall. What are you gonna do about it?"

Lae'zel's cry of defiance shook the cracked tiles of the temple floor as she broke through the Inquisitor's will and parried his strike with her sword hilt. Lae'zel breaking free shattered the spell residing in the circlet, which backfired and left the Inquisitor stunned. Lae'zel slashed at W'wargaz's injured arm cutting it off at the wrist, his sword rolled uselessly out of the dismembered limb. Lae'zel drove her sword into his chest staring into the ch'rai's fading eyes, "Vlaakith tavki na'zin" The gith man breathed as his last left his dying body.

Lae'zel's face was a saddening mixture of pain, regret and conflict. I walked towards her and she wailed "Vlaakith. Vlaakith! I have wielded your fury as a blade, roared your wrath as a dragon! You promise ascension- yet I crawl among my own people, low as an asp's belly. Shka'keth! I followed your path. What good, this heart of stone, for it to be shattered?" Lae'zel's voice began to break as she uttered the last line before she pivoted back to denial, "She tests me. A trial of faith- K'ilir prepared me. 'Only the heaviest souls soar to the Astral.' Yes. I might gain Vlaakith's favour yet."

I couldn't hold my frustration any longer, "Stars and stones are you kidding me? Vlaakith just tried to murder us. She planned it as soon as we entered the prism! Vlaakith used you to silence the only voice that could prove she wasn't a god. Only a power-hungry practitioner who uses the faith of your people to feed her might!"

"Silence!" Lae'zel snapped, "I must think." And in her voice was the slightest and buried hint of doubt.

Shadowheart had a few injuries to heal before we left, especially Karlach's who had been mauled by both the wolves before she killed them. She did it short order and Gale teleported us back to camp.

When we returned to camp the githyanki boy came up to me, "You. You saved me, how? Why?"

I looked at the confused teenager and smiled, at least something good came out of this mess, "How- magic, put you to sleep and teleported you out of there. Why- because I wasn't about to let that balding son a ghaik bitch murder you." I said with a mock cheer.

The boy cringed at my insult to his teacher, almost as if he was expecting a reprimand just for speaking to me, "Thank you sir. I am Varrl of creche…" he paused, a silent dread forming over his features, "Oh gods, the creche! Sa'varch Kethk! They'll be after me now."

I put my hands on Varrl's shoulders to calm him, "It's okay kid. As far as they know I killed you and took your body as a trophy. Plus, they're busy looking for their weapon. They're not worried about a possibly not dead runaway."

Varrl seemed to breathe a bit easier at that statement, then looked at me with confusion, "What do I do now? My home is… lost."

I felt for the young man. I'd been forced out of my home, my everything because of my abusive teacher. I knew what the fear of going on your own felt like, "I know it's scary but, you'll have to decide what to do next. You're free."

The boy looked frightened for a moment then that fear shifted into an expression I knew all too well. The rage of indignation of feeling you were facing something unfair, and the burning need to do something about it, "Free? No. I'm not free. No githyanki is free as long as we live under Vlaakith's rule. I know what I must do. I will find those who still support the true prince of the githyanki, the comet. Prince Orpheus!"

Lae'zel raged at Varrl, "The traitor prince is dead! And all those who would still follow him are traitors themselves! I should tear your guts for suggesting such a thing."

Varrl sneered back at Lae'zel, "Like you're one to talk about loyalty to Vlaakith. I heard the call. As all gith have by now. You are an enemy of the false queen, Hshar'lak."

Lae'zel stalked towards the boy and I slammed my staff in her path. "No," I said in a low, hard voice.

"Out of my way wizard!" Lae'zel snarled.

"I just saved your life Lae'zel. If I hadn't pushed you with that physic pep-talk, you'd be skewered on 'Vlaakith's justice' by now. Hurting the boy won't bring you Vlaakith's favour. Try it, and you'll lose the only allies you have left."

Lae'zel's eyes blazed fury, but it shimmered down quickly into a look of shame and pain before she went off to her tent.

I let out a breath, "Okay, that was…"

"Amazing. Brave. Jaw-dropping." Varrl supplied enthusiastically.

"I was gonna say stupid. She could cut me in half before I could shoot off a spell."

"But you did it anyway?" Varrl said in wonderment.

"First rule of heroing kid. Do the right thing, even if it's ungodly stupid."

Varrl laughed a deep chuckle before looking at me again, "Can I stay in your camp for the night? I need some rest before I head off."

"Of course, and maybe think about that plan of yours before you go wandering in the wilderness in search of lost princes, eh."

Varrl looked at me with the raised eyebrow of youthful annoyance, before finding his manners and nodding in hesitant agreement.

Night came quickly and after the day's events I was ready for a good sleep. Unfortunately, before I could fully drift off to sleep I noticed a gith man standing over me expectantly. I jumped out of my skin and grabbed my blasting rod. As I pointed it at the intruder, I noticed it was Voss, the gith knight who directed us to the creche. But he was wearing black leather armour rather than his githyanki plate.

"T'la'Vlaakith- has our queen sent a knight to slay me with his own blade?" Lae'zel asked sarcastically as she walked up to Voss.

"Child of Gith. I've not come to kill you. I've come to aid you." Voss responded with an almost humble tone in his voice.

"Don't trust him." The dream visitor said in my voice.

Voss then went to his knees and held his blade out straight before us, "Ska'kek kir Gith shabell'eth. My blade rests. Mother Gith compels you to listen."

"Well. This is new. Alright, speak." I said flabbergasted.

"I know you carry the Astral Prism, Lae'zel. Within it lies the seed of Vlaakith's demise. And I intend to help you bring it to fruition."

"Vlaakith's demise? Shka'keth! I should run you through for simply suggesting it." Lae'zel said in confused outrage.

"You're talking about the figure inside. The one who knows Vlaakith's secret. Who are they?" I asked desperately.

"If they have not said, they must have good reason. And I won't be the one to betray them." Voss said firmly. Yep, that figures. Never easy. But if the Dream Figure had a Vlaakith rebellion on his side. Maybe I'll try to be nicer to him. I can't trust him though. "But the one inside has chosen you as an ally, protects you with their power. That very power will be the end of Vlaakith's tyranny. The prism's tenant must be let loose. I sought their freedom for aeons. When the Prism went missing, I feared the worst. Instead, you've granted the opportunity I've so long awaited. All that remains is the key that unchains them- and I've found someone who I believe can provide it. Bring the Prism to Baldurs Gate. I'll be waiting in a taproom called Sharess' Caress. This is where we decide the fate of my people." Voss continued

"Blasphemy! I am no slave to Vlaakith. The Undying Queen is my freedom. It is she who will purify me and she who will ascend me." Lae'zel spat with dogmatic venom.

"Lies, Lae'zel. Every last one. There is no purification, no ascension. The zaith'isk does not purify- it extracts memory and kills the infected. Nor does the lich queen glorify the ascended. She feeds on most all of them to grow her power and pursue godhood." Voss shot back with an anger and vitriol that came from the very core of him.

"Madness. You flood me with this… this heresy!" Lae'zel challenged drawing her blade.

I stepped in front of her and pleaded, "He's right Lae'zel and you know it. I felt Vlaakith's energies myself. Her power is not godhood, it's a dark vacuum of power that eats all in its path. The Lich Queen is using your people as a goddamn battery!"

"You interfere in matters you do not understand. How would you know the power of god if you felt it, wizard?!"

I raised my hands up in pure frustration, "Hells fucking bells! Its clear words aren't enough to get through to you. So, I'll just have to show you." I focused on the tadpole, the connection between us and showed Lae'zel a memory. It was in Chicago, in the middle of a ruined street she stood. Twelve feet tall and covered in bronze skin armour. Glowing eye burning red above two more that blazed with a hatred almost more dangerous than the first. She looked at me and I felt the energy in the air, the street, the sky. Fear, madness, barbarity, on a scale that was beyond the comprehension of my mortal mind. The goddess wanted one thing, the destruction of my city, of my way of life. She desired nothing more than to drag the world back to a time a darkness and blood and the energies of creation danced to her call. That was what it was like to stand under the gaze of Ethniu, Titan and true goddess.

As I left the old nightmare, I looked at Lae'zel. The look on her face was one of pure horror, and a trickle of blood was coming from her nose, "Wha… what in all the Nine hells was that?"

"That... that was the power of a true goddess, one that tried to destroy my home, my people. So, I know what the power of a goddess feels like Lae'zel. And the 'Undying Queen' didn't even register in comparison." I said in hushed seriousness.

Lae'zel looked at me in a combination of wonder and disbelief, "How do you still live?"

I smiled devilishly, "I kicked the bronze-plated bitch in the teeth while she was stumbling and locked her away forever."

"That's… impressive. And it proves your word. I served Vlaakith the whole of my life. Leaned her words, fought her battles, yet she names me Hshar'lak. Your words carry truth." Lae'zel breathed directing the last statement to Voss. "I will meet you in Baldurs Gate. Do not make me regret it."

Voss then stood up and said with pride, "Lae'zel I see T'lak'ma Ghir in you- Sister in freedom. Together we will be our people's light. And with an ally who can imprison a god. We have all the more chance at victory." He then turned to me, "Take this. It's a qua'nith- a psionic detector. The queen's warriors hunt you. The qua'nith will sound out when they are near. Hear it's cry, and prepare for battle- or slip away. I should go. Vlaakith's gaze pierces the seas and skies. She believes me loyal- and I can't afford her mistrust. Keep the Astral Prism close let no one take it from you- slay any who try. Now to Baldurs Gate I'll be…"

"Wait!" A voice cried from the darkness and Varrl came running from the spot he was using to easdrop. "Please Kith'rak Voss, take me with you! I want... no, need to fight for my people's freedom!"

Voss looked at Varrl with a combination of irritation and pity, "It's a death sentence boy you are not ready."

"My creche already believes me dead. I can't just… put my head in the sand and pretend my people will get better if I wait. I need to do something about it."

Voss's gaze faltered and a lighter more youthful eyes looked upon the young Varrl, "Very well, fellow Gith. This is not a path to be taken lightly. And seeing our victory in life is not guaranteed or even likely but… I cannot deny your fire or your purpose. If this is truly the path you wish to walk, stand by me." Voss then turned around, Varrl by his side and opened a portal to parts unknown and they stepped through it together.

I was overwhelmed. Vlaakith being a life-draining tyrant. The Dream Visitor being the seed of her demise. Lae'zel basically renouncing her god. It was a lot for one evening. But whatever I was feeling Lae'zel had it worse a thousand-fold. Her whole life got upended in two conversations. She was godless, clanless and prospectively plotting to join rebels to her former goddess. Lae'zel had no more words to share, and just walked back to her tent. I didn't follow. She needed time to process. Hell, I needed to time to process. And my ratty old bed roll looked mighty inviting right now. So I took the call and drifted into sleep.