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Children of Bhaal	By : ConradKrausche Category: +A through F > Baldur's Gate Views: 13643 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Baldurs Gate, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
Second
Interlude: A son of Bhaal, a daughter of Bhaal and a monk from Candlekeep

It all somehow looked familiar. Then I remembered: We were a
little south of Beregost.

�Hey, you remember? Has been quite some time,
since we�ve been here��

�Yeah, ya�re right, Darn. Nice village,
always liked it.�

It was a green and fertile country, soft hills
covered by dense forest flanked the road. It ran straight northwards to Beregost. We needed about half
an hour to reach the little village.

Beregost was full of life, of comings and
goings. The crisis of the iron-shortage had passed and trade once again
flourished. And with the trade, also Beregost did.

A little before we entered the village, we
caught up with a man, clothed in a green cloak, his hood drawn over his head
and holding a wooden staff in his hands.

�Good day to you!� I greeted him.

He turned around me and starred at me in total astonishment.

�Thou art Darnoc, god of the sword masters!�

I smiled a little uncomfortably.

�Well, you�re right. But I really don�t like
when people bow and such things, so please just treat me like a normal human
being. Hell, not long ago I have in fact been one��

�Forgive, my Lord, I didn�t know�� he said
quickly.

�And what might your name be?�

The monk, for he clearly was a monk, opened his mouth,
closed it and opened it again. Finally he managed to reply.

�Ar� Arkul Sazzari. I�m from Candlekeep.�

I and Imoen laughed.

�Candlekeep? We grew up there, ya know?� Imoen said joyfully.

�Art thou the holy companion of his divine
Lordship?�

�Ah, stop talkin�
like that, ol� Darn doesn�t like that.�

�Thy wish shall be my command, my Lady!�

Now I roared with laughter.

�Just pretend that we are two friendly strangers you met on
the road, alright?� I suggested.

The monk starred puzzled at me and then finally
nodded.

�Very well, now perhaps you might be able to
tell us some of the news. What�s going on around here?�

�Ehm, well, the Cult
of the Eradicators of Bhaal�s Spawn has been very active lately� They�re
rounding up all the remaining Bhaalspawn and kill them. I�d advise you to keep
a low profile.�

�Well, thanks for the advice; I�ll keep it in
mind.�

I wasn�t much worried about myself, though. Not
only had I one of the most powerful swords existing, I also had my firearms, a kind of weapon those Bhaalspawn-Killers
probably only heard rumors of. It was Imoen which I worried about. If they would kill her,
I would never be able to forgive myself.

So I went closer to her and whispered into her
ear: �Please, be careful, if they find out that we�re
Bhaalspawn��

�Hey, don�t worry, Darn, I�ll be a�right.�

She smiled and stroked my hair. I took her hand
and squeezed it a little, as if to draw strength from it.

In Beregost we went to Feldepost Inn, the best
inn in town. Arkul opened the door and we stepped in. I quickly glanced over
the room. Most guests looked harmless enough, but in a corner sat a group of
people with leather armor and black cloaks, looking critically around the room, examining all the
guests.

One of them, he wore a chain-mail and had dark hair and eyes, looked directly at
me. His glare seemed to be able to see right into me, uncovering my darkest secrets. And suddenly I saw
recognition in his eyes: He knew who I was.

�You�re the Abomination!� he cried through the
room. The whole room immediately dropped silent.

Slowly he walked over to us, the others from
his group following him.

�You�re the Abomination and finally you have
come right to us. Finally we will be able to complete our tasks by killing the
one whom we have sought for so long.�

They drew their weapons; I stood in front of
Imoen, wanting to protect her. Imoen took her bow and readied it. Arkul quickly
glanced at the approaching Bhaalspawn-Killers and then made himself
ready for combat, by taking up an attack position, holding his staff.

I drew my own sword, but then I quickly changed
it to my left hand, drawing my fire-spiter and
pointing it directly at the leader of the Cultists.

�You know what this is? Probably heard of it, after the Shadow Thieves
took over Amn� It�s a fire-spiter and your magic is
no use against it, the bullet gets through all magical defenses. So I suggest
you back away, or I�ll pull the trigger.�

The Cultist hesitated, but then made a step towards me. I pointed my weapon at the
Cultist right of the leader and pulled the trigger. A thundering, deafening
sound could be heard, a flash of light appeared at the end of the barrel and the man grabbed his chest,
where suddenly blood appeared. In total horror he stared at me and then collapsed dead to
the ground.

Now I pointed the fire-spiter
directly at the head of the leader.

�Back away right now or you�ll be the next who
dies!�

We stepped away from the door and I motioned
the Cultists to leave the place. They grabbed the body of their fellow Cultist
and hurried out, but before they left their leader turned to me.

�My name is Ossar Maldik, you better remember it, for this won�t be the last time we have met!�

The other guests looked at me, fear in their eyes. I put away my gun
and stepped over to the innkeeper.

�Is there a room where we can rest?�

�Ah� well, of course, sir, whatever you want.�

So we rented a room and went upwards to occupy it.

Imoen looked at my fire-spiter
and shook her head.

�I never liked those weapons, Darn, especially not after what Mocilia
an� her Shadow Thieves did with �em.�

I shrugged my shoulders.

�They�re weapons, Im, and all weapons are horrible. As long as they save my
life, I don�t really care. As long as they keep you from harm, Im��

She looked long into my eyes, as if she was
trying to read my mind.

�So this� worrying ya,
eh? Ya afraid I might die? Ya�ve
become a warrior because of me?�

I just nodded.

She hugged me and kissed me on the cheek.

�Hey, ya don�t worry, I can look out for myself. But it�s still nice t�
know there�s someun lookin�
after me, heh. So I say, let�s just look out for each
other, eh?�

I smiled, feeling warmth in my heart and took Imoen�s hand. We
understood each other better than anyone else could understand us. Nothing
would ever divide us, not even death. I would make sure of that.

Part Three: Guilds

Darnoc: The
Shadow Master

Aran Linvail was not an impressive figure. And
that was probably the reason why he was in fact impressive. He was rather small,
about my height, had thick black hair and olive skin, a thin nose and thin
lips, his eyes were small and pitch black. But Shadow Master Linvail was the
living proof that appearance doesn�t count. He was probably the most powerful man in Amn,
perhaps even on the whole Sword Coast. And one didn�t get powerful by
being ordinary or stupid.

�Darnoc, I am delighted to finally make your
acquaintance. Many very fascinating tales have reached my ears concerning you and your fellow
companions. I can see Minsc. How�s your hamster Boo? Well, I hope. Ah, and there�s
Lord Anomen Delryn. Terribly sorry about what happened to your sister, but
business is business, right? Sir Keldorn Firecam, how nice to finally meet you!
I do not often meet members of the noblest Order of the Radiant Heart. Yoshimo, you I already know. It
is good that you have finally decided to work for us.�

Then he turned to Aerie, took her hand gently
and kissed it.

�Miss Aerie, how nice to make your
acquaintance. If
there�s anything I can do to help your uncle Quayle, just say the word.�

Aerie blushed at this and smiled. This Linvail
was really quite a surprise. He was certainly not the kind of person I would
have imagined to be the Shadow Master.

�Now, let�s move on to business. First I want
to express my deepest regrets concerning the kidnapping of your dear sister, Darnoc. As you might recall, I have
ordered the Shadow Thieves to invade Irenicus� dungeon in order to free you and
your companions. Alas, we came too late and couldn�t stop the tragedy occurring
on Waukeen�s Promenade.
I am willing to lend a helping hand in the
rescuing of Imoen. In order to make certain arrangements I need the money Gaelan
Bayle handed to me. However, there is another problem which must be taken care of and with which you might be of
some assistance.�

He walked over to the richly decorated table
and took a carafe full of wine, filling a glass.

�Do you want some? Really
good vintage.�

I nodded and he filled another glass, which he
handed to me.

�As I was saying, there�s another problem. You
probably heard of this other guild, which troubles us greatly. Now, that is where you
come in. Lately my shipments have been disappearing. I have sent Mook there to watch
over the latest shipment and I would really appreciate it, if you could help
her out. Those losses really hinder my organization, if we can stop the
shipments from disappearing, I might be able to speed things up with Imoen�s rescue.�

�Well, if you think that it will help, I�ll do
it�� I answered.

�Excellent. It is now evening; I suggest you
immediately go over to the docks.�

Mook was already waiting for us at the docks.
She was a good-looking young woman with beautiful black hair, but there was a
menacing air around her. One immediately knew that one shouldn�t mess with her. This
was made even clearer by the short sword she wore at her side, an excellent exemplar of amnish workmanship.

�Ah, yah�re Darnoc, right? Follow me, dah shipment�s right over heer.�

There were several crates assembled on the
docks, but I couldn�t tell what was in them.

�I�ve been heer all
day lon�. There�s a guy who�s been heer several times now, looking at dah
shipment from afar. He�s wearin� a hood, so I couldn�t see his
face. But I didn�t like dah looks o� �im, there�s somethin� dark around �im.�

�If he wants to steal the shipment, he will do
so at night. We�ll have to wait until it gets dark� I noted.

�Hm, yah�re right. I�ve got a bad feelin�
about this whole matter, somethin�s not right. I�ve
heard some stories about this other
guild, yah know��

We spent the time until it grew dark talking to each other. Mook was
something like a daughter for Linvail, he had found
her as a five years old child in the slums, after her parents� house had burned down and
raised her. That was before he had become Shadow Master. He had taught her the
ways of the Shadow Thieves and was proud of her as if she was his real daughter.
The whole matter of this new guild troubled him deeply, though, and he didn�t
want anyone else than her to take care of this matter.

We were just talking about the Renal Bloodscalp
(she was good friends with him), when a hooded figure came down the stairs.
Minsc drew Lilacor (�Oh, we�re going to kill something, are we?� Lilacor asked) and we others
followed his example. In front of me the figure halted. I couldn�t see much but
two red glowing eyes.

�Ah, Darnoc, I presume. And dear Mook too� the figure said with a
cold, deep voice.

�What do you want, stranger?� I asked him.

�Oh, the Mistress will take care of you soon enough, Darnoc, don�t you worry. I�m here for
Mook this night. The Mistress has taken some interest in her, being the adopted
daughter of Linvail himself. She wants her at her side.�

Mook shuddered at those words, probably imaging
what the figure meant with �being at her side�.

�What kind o� creature are yah?� she asked.

�Oh, I�m a creature out of your worst nightmares, beautiful, dear Mook. And now you will join us,
there�s no point in resisting us, eternity awaits you.�

He drew off his hood, revealing a white face
with long black hair and sharp, long teeth in his mouth. He was a vampire, a
creature who lived of the blood of humanoids, turning them into vampires in the
process.

He snarled and revealed white claws, hissed and jumped
at Mook, who gave a shriek and drew her short sword. With one of his claws, the
creature hit her right hand; she let her sword fall to the ground. Then he
advanced, she backed away, until she was no longer able to because of some
crates. He opened his mouth, hissing and prepared to bite her, a look of lust in
his eyes, when we finally reacted.

Minsc attacked, howling in rage at this
creature of evil, Lilacor encouraging him loudly. The vampire turned around, hissed at Minsc and attacked,
but against the new Lilacor he stood no chance, the sword penetrated him and
spilled his blood all over Minsc. Wailing, a mist left the destroyed body of
the vampire, the body itself fell lifeless to the ground.

Mook still leaned against the crate, motionless
from shock, her body trembling. Minsc sheathed Lilacor and went over to her,
hugging her and telling her that it was over. It was a side in Minsc I had
never seen before. I had always suspected that he had a soft, caring spot in his heart; especially after witnessing him
with Aerie (they were now always together, talking to each other and Minsc
always looked out for her, never letting anyone near her who could harm her; she was his witch now and no
one would kill her like Dynaheir).

Aerie also came over to the shocked young woman
and looked if everything was alright with her. It seemed as if the vampire
hadn�t harmed her much, her hand was bleeding
of course, but Aerie used one of her healing spells on the hand and the wound
closed.

Finally Mook managed to speak: �This� thin�,
it� it tried t� bite me! What was this thin�?�

�I think it was a vampire and it wanted to turn
you into one of its own kind.�

She looked at me in total horror.

�You have been very fortunate, young woman.
Without Minsc you would be now a creature of evil� Keldorn said.

�Well, thank yah, Minsc. I�ll never forget
this, I promise.�

Aran Linvail was glad we brought his �daughter�
back in one piece, especially when he heard our story. Mook told us that her
�father� needed our help with something else: Two Shadow Thieves wanted to
switch sides, perhaps we could find out from them, where the enemy�s headquarters were. She would come with us,
probably being a little embarrassed about what had happened at the docks.

The two thieves would meet their contact in the
�Five Flagons�-inn in the bridge district. We found them on the upper floor of
the inn, sitting at a table. I went into the room alone; my companions hid
themselves in the shadows of the corridor.

�Hey, what are yah doin�
here?� one of them asked us.

�I was sent by the side you wish to join. You
must be Jaylo and Caeha. Although I should be cautious, I must make sure first.
If you really are them, you should know my name.�

They both looked a little puzzled at each
other, but then the one who had spoken first said: �Well, yah�re
name�s Gracen.�

I smiled encouragingly.

�That�s right. Now, about our business��

Suddenly the door opened and someone entered. I
looked around and faced a sinister looking
man wearing leather armor and a long sword.

�Who dah hell are yah?� he asked.

�My name�s Gracen�� I started, but was interrupted.

�Not possible, �cause
I�m Gracen. Whoever yah are, yah know more than�s
fuckin� good for yah. Boys, kill �im!�

Gracen and the two thieves drew their weapons
and attacked. I signaled my companions to come in and drew my own sword. Mook
was the first to enter; she attacked one of the thieves and killed him with a
quick stroke at his throat.

I was attacked by Gracen, parried his first blow and rammed my
shield into his chest, what sent him stumbling backwards. Immediately I went after him and
thrust my sword forward, but he dodged and stroke sideward. I could barely block with my shield and he
stroke again, this time low, so I had to jump. While jumping I thrust my sword
low and caught Gracen in the side. He moaned, but didn�t let down his guard, immediately attacking again.

This time I was more prepared, I parried and began a quick series of
attacks, which he also parried, although just barely. Suddenly Mook appeared in his back and thrust her sword
into his heart.

�That�s for mee
father, fuckin� vampire-slave!�

Gracen gurgled and dropped dead. Mook bent down
and searched his pockets, retrieving a
scroll.

�Ah, that�s interestin�.
So they �ave their headquarters on dah graveyard. How convenient!�
Linvail was pleased at the news and immediately
began planning an attack. Mook wanted to lead it, together with me. After the
incident on the docks she seemed to have developed quite a hate against the
vampires, understandably.

�Now, what do we need? Dowels, of course�
Anything else coming to your mind, Darnoc?�

There were lots of things which came to my mind
and I began explaining them to Linvail: �Well, look at this. I call it the
fire-spiter. And then I have those here. Their balls
which explode on contact, I call them �exploders�. Could come quite in handy,
don�t you think?�
Linvail looked at my sketches and nodded.

�Very well, I�ll tell our smiths to craft those
weapons. I will send you a messenger when all preparations have been made.�

Imoen:
Psychological experiments

Water was dripping onto my forehead. First I
hadn�t bothered with it, even laughed at Irenicus.

�Can�t ya come up
with somethin� better?� I had shouted at him.

But now I was thinking that perhaps it hadn�t
been such a bad idea after all. It just kept on dripping on my head, it never
stopped, it went on and on and on�

Suddenly I screamed, screamed without being
able to stop, I just wanted the water to stop dripping on me, I couldn�t stand
it anymore, it drove me insane! No one came, though; I was alone, all alone
with the water. My screams became more and more silent, until I no longer had
the strength to continue, until I was just a sorry, whimpering bundle.

It was then that Irenicus stepped into the
room, glaring at me.

�Had enough already? You are not as strong as I would have
thought. Alright, let�s continue with the next experiment.�

He cut my bonds and commanded some of his druegars to drag me to another room. It was
the room I had been in before, the room with the table, the cage and the
knives. But now there was a difference: it was full of those huge, gruesome
rats. And they stared at me, hunger in their eyes.

�I am in control of them. See this button, the
red one in my hand? If I press it, a command will be given the rats and they
will attack you and kill you. Now, let us continue to the business on hand.
Look at the table.�

I stepped over to it and gasped in horror: a
man was laying on it, bound to it, several knives next to it.

�Take up one of the knives, which one doesn�t
matter, whatever suits you. I gave you some lessons in anatomy. Cut open his
abdomen first.�

I shook my head; I wouldn�t do this, never!

He just pointed at the button in his hand.

�I hear that being eaten to death can be a very slow
and painful process� he explained.

Slowly I stepped over to the man, when I
realized that he was still awake, staring in horror at me. My hand came down on the
small table next to the one he was laying on and took up one of the knives,
shaking.

�I�m sorry, but I�ve no choice� I whispered.

�Please, don�t!� the man begged me.

I wouldn�t be eaten by rats, no way! I gripped
the knife firmer and stepped over to him, began to cut him open, trying to not
heed his screams.

�Excellent, now cut off his leg and ligate it, so he doesn�t bleed to death.�

So I took the bone saw and began the gruesome
work, sawing on and on, while the man screamed in pain. Finally the leg came
off and I immediately took a piece of cloth and ligated
the leg.

My skin had turned pale and I felt sick, but I
tried to think of the rats. I wouldn�t end as rat food, I needed to go on.

�Very well, now cut his appendix off!�

I grabbed one of the scalpels and bent over the
man, trying to find the appendix in him, pushing away his intestines, his
stomach, his liver, all those slimy, gruesome things inside of a body. Finally
I found it and began cutting. I guess I didn�t really do it right, probably cut
also parts of his larger intestine off, I couldn�t really
see it with all the blood and that ugly juice coming out of it.

After that I began to choke, wanting to vomit,
but somehow I was able to swallow it again.

�Now, if you would cut out his left eye��

My hand was now shaking violently and I moved
the scalpel towards the man�s eye. He screamed and begged me to stop it, but I continued
and finally rammed the scalpel into the skin next to his eye, cutting and
thrusting, until it came free from the skin and I could cut off the nerve,
blood covering his whole face by now.

When the man�s scream reached a climax,
something snapped in me. I could no longer bear it, the constant screams, whimpers
and wails, the blood all over me and him, I wanted him to stop, it drove me insane!

�Shut the fuck up, shut up!� I screamed at him,
taking a huge butcher�s knife.

And then I raised it and thrust it deep into
him, again and again I stabbed, while he screamed and blood splashed onto my
hands, my face, my body. I continued until the screams had stopped and the man
was dead, a bloody bundle, barely recognizable as human.

I just collapsed next to the table and vomited
on the floor and then began to sob, my body shaking violently, my hand still
clutching the knife.

�You did well, Imoen, it is over. Now watch!�

From under a veil of tears I watched as he moved his finger
to the button. Terror took hold of me, as I starred at the rats, but when he pressed
the button, nothing happened.

�Oh no, oh no, no, no�� I whimpered.

�Yes, Imoen, yes, you killed the man, you
slaughtered him needlessly. Meet the darker side of yourself, face it and embrace it!
You are also a child of Bhaal; you have
the murdering instinct inside of you!�

�No, never!� I screamed.

�We shall see, Imoen, we shall see.�

His druegar began to drag me to one of the
cells. Before they threw me into it, Irenicus told them to drop me to the
ground.

�Listen carefully now, Imoen. You will be
locked in this room with an innocent child, a little girl. You will not receive
water or food. And there is only one way out: You must take the key and unlock
the door. The key is inside the little girl, in her stomach, to be precise.
Inside you will also find a knife. Use it and free yourself. Or die of thirst,
I do not care.�

And with this I was thrown in and the door
locked behind me. He had been right; there was a little girl in there, a
black-haired, pretty little girl, looking scarred at me.

�Who�re yah?� It asked me.

�Imoen. An� ya?�

�Tiana�s mee name. What�re yah doin� here? Where�s mee mom?�

�I don�t know, Tiana.
I�m sorry. I�m a prisoner like ya.�

She came over to me and sat on my knees,
putting her arms around me.

�I wanna get out o�
here� she whispered, crying.

�Sh, don�t worry,
we�ll find a way.�

It was then that I saw the knife lying in the
other corner.

�Oh no, please, no�� I whispered.

But the knife was there and it wouldn�t leave.
With a shock I realized that I would have to murder this innocent, little girl
in order to survive. I tried to drive the thought from my head; I would rather
die than killing her!

How long I sat in there, I don�t know. A long
time, for I remember sleeping at least twice. In the beginning I felt nothing,
but then I began feeling thirst and it grew and grew, accompanied by hunger.

I was probably already in a delirium, when I
took up the knife and went over to the sleeping girl. I would kill her and take
out the key, I would survive, I would find water and
survive, to hell with the girl!

So I raised the knife and stabbed the girl,
trying to hit her heart. But I must have missed, for the girl awoke and screamed in pain. So I
pulled the knife out again and stabbed anew, and again and again, until she
stopped moving. Feverishly I began cutting open her skin; I took out her
stomach and cut it also open, trying to find the key. Finally I found it,
somehow well preserved from the acid inside, and stumbled over to the door,
unlocking it.

A bowl of water was outside and I grabbed it,
sipping the water like a dog. Suddenly I noticed Irenicus staring at me and then at the girl�s
corpse.

�Excellent, here, something to eat.�

I grabbed the piece of old bread and ate it. It
was then that realization struck me: I had just murdered an innocent child, who
had never done anything to me!

Letting the bread drop to the ground, I took my
head between my hands and began to sob and scream.

�You have the murdering instinct inside of you,
face it and accept it! You are indeed a child of Bhaal, Imoen.�

�I� I� don�t want it, I want t� die, leave me
alone!�

But he didn�t and the experiments continued.
Would there ever be an end to it?

Darnoc: Rise a knight and be recognized!

We went back to the Copper Coronet to get a
well-earned sleep.

Again dreams came to me this night. And as always, I was standing in front of the gates of Candlekeep,
Imoen standing next to me.

�Feelin� dreamy, are we?� she asked me jokingly. I
smiled, not being able to talk.

�Well, there�s somethin�
I wanna show ya. But ya prob�bly guessed that a�ready, right?�

The scene changed, Candlekeep became alive. In
front of the gates, I stood and Imoen next to me. We had different clothes, though.
I was wearing a brown shirt and
brown-checkered trousers. Imoen wore a gray shirt and trousers in the same
color. We both had backpacks and walking sticks. My hair was a little shorter
and I my beard too. I realized that this was I about one year ago, just some months before
Gorion�s murder.

�Beautiful day, I must say� my younger self
mentioned.

�Yeah, ya�re right, Darn. �Ave picked the righ� one, eh?�

�Well, let�s get moving then!� my younger self
said.

I remembered. In our later years in Candlekeep, I and Imoen often
went hiking in the hills nearby. This particular day I remembered quiet well, for it
was one of the best hiking tours we had ever made.

The scene changed and I was now deep in the
hills in front of a bridge leading across a deep gorge. The bridge didn�t look
that stable, there were many holes in it. My younger self clearly didn�t like the look of it.

�Be careful when crossing it, Im, this thing just
might break apart.�

But the younger Imoen didn�t head the warning and just went across without
much caution. My younger self looked critically at the bridge and followed a
little slower.

Suddenly a plank broke in front of Imoen; she
desperately tried to regain her balance. My younger self looked horror-stricken
at the scene.

�Im, no!� he cried in dismay and rushed to
Imoen, dragging her away from the hole.

�Heh, just jokin�, nothin� happened, everythin� a�right.�

�You gave me quite a shock there, Im. For a
moment I thought� I thought that��

�Ya thought I would
fall down an� die. Heh, don�t worry, was just jokin�. Still, it�s nice that ya
worry.�

An angry look crossed my younger self�s face,
but was immediately replaced by concern.

�Im, please, don�t do that again, ever. I just
can�t stand the thought of losing you, I mean it��
Imoen smiled and gently stroke my younger
self�s hair.

�Ya�re really sweet, Darn. Don�t ya
worry, nothin�ll happen to
me, I�ll all be a�right.�

Again the scene changed. My younger self and
Imoen were standing on a hilltop higher than the other ones around it. From here you could see
Candlekeep, towering over the cliffs at the sea. The sun sunk down into the sea
in the west, giving the water the look of blood.

�We made it, let�s camp here!� the younger Im
suggested.

�Yeah, good place here. Trees
and everything.�

They both unpacked
their bedrolls, made a fire and ate some bread and cheese. Then they lay down
and slept. Soon everything was quiet and still, the stars shone down on the two peaceful
sleepers.

Suddenly Imoen began to moan and shake. My
younger self awoke from the noise and starred over to Imoen.

�Im, what�s going on?�

Imoen began to talk, still dreaming: �No, get
away from me, leave me! Please, don�t, please� Darn, help me, please!�

She screamed in total horror and awoke, her
body shaking and sweating. My younger self went over to her and hugged her
closely, stroking her hair gently.

�It�s over, it was just a dream� he tried to
comfort Imoen.

Imoen began to sob and tried to say something,
but couldn�t. My younger self continued to stroke her gently and patted her on
the back.

�He wants t� take somethin�
from me, but I dunno what! He hurts me, he hurts me,
but I dunno why! Don�t let �im
take me, Darn, please!� she whispered.

�Hey, as long as it is in my power, nothing
will happen to you, I swear! And if this guy ever gets you, I�ll give him
hell, promise!�

Suddenly Imoen looked with a shocked expression
at my younger self.

�He wants ya too, Darn, he told me! He wants t� use me t�
get ya!�

�Nobody will get me and nobody will get you. It
was just a dream, Imoen, nothing more.�

My younger self held Imoen in his arms, still embracing her. Her
breathing slowed and soon she was asleep again, so he gently put her back onto
her bedroll, pulling her blanket over her.

I remembered this and I remembered the dream.
And suddenly I realized that it hadn�t just been a dream, it had been a vision.
Irenicus, you bastard! But what had Imoen said? He wanted to get me by using her? I would
have to watch my back; this Irenicus wouldn�t get me that easily!

Suddenly our younger selves disappeared and the Imoen of the present was
again standing there.

�Ya remember, I know.
It all came true, ya know. Ya
swore it to me, Darn, ya swore
it! Now fulfill it, Darn, keep yar promise!�

She had stepped closer to me while speaking and
finally was standing right in front of me, leaning her head against me. She
began to cry silently and I gently embraced her, tried to comfort her with the
warmth of my body.

�It�s too much, I can�t stand it any longer, I�m gonna die, I think� One day
I�ll just lie down and die, lettin� all the sufferin� behind me. I don�t wanna
wake up, �cause I know what waits out there. Please, Darn, I need yar help, now more than ever!� she
whispered, the last words in a desperate voice.

I so wanted to tell her that I loved her and
that I would soon come, but I couldn�t say a word. So I just cried, without
saying anything at all. She saw it and finally smiled a little, but said
nothing. We stayed like this for a long time and somehow I must have dozed off,
if this is possible in a dream. It�s just that I woke up and it was morning,
but I didn�t remember any change of scene like in the last dreams. Strangely,
my blanket was wet where my face had been. It seemed as if at least the tears had been real.

We left the Copper Coronet in order to look
after the advancement of our weapon�s construction, when we were intercepted by
a knight of the Order of the Radiant Heart.

�Lord Anomen Delryn, the time of your judgment
has come. You are summoned to appear in front of the noble leaders of our noble
order. May Helm watch over you always!�

Anomen�s eyes shone with anticipation, what he
had long waited for to happen, finally seemed to be happening.

Of course we immediately went to the order.
Anomen was ordered to kneel in front of the leaders of the order.

�Anomen Delryn, it is your wish to become a
member of this noble order. Are you ready to receive your judgment?�

�I am, Lord. May my judgment be just in the
eyes of Helm!�

�Then so be it. By the authority given us by
Torm we hereby knight you.�

The speaker stepped forward, took a two-handed sword held by
one of the knights and then touched both shoulders of Anomen.

�Rise a knight and be recognized, Sir Anomen!
May Torm be with you and Helm watch over you!�

Anomen rose and bowed before the leaders of the
order. Then the knights present, including Keldorn, stepped forward and gave him the brotherly kiss on
both cheeks. Anomen was now recognized as knight of the noblest Order of the
Radiant Heart.

His father had also come to the ceremony,
although he had stayed in the shadows. When we wanted to left, he stepped forward and halted in front of his son.

�I� I want to ask you to forgive me. Some
things I have done, some things I have said� You have proven me wrong, son. By
bringing your sister�s murderers to justice and now even becoming a knight you
have proven your worth. Please, forgive me.�

Anomen hugged his father as response.

�I forgive you, father. Let us forget what is
past and try to build a relationship in the future.�
His father nodded and I saw tears in his eyes. He seemed to be a
changed person, having finally realized the mistakes of his past.

�Father, I miss her�� Anomen whispered, now
also crying.

His father gave a loud sob.

�It is my fault, son, all is my fault. If it
wouldn�t be for my stupid rivalry with Farrahd, she could still be alive� She
could still live, Anomen!�

�Don�t say that, father, it wasn�t your fault,
it was Farrahd�s fault alone and I don�t blame
you.�

�Anomen, can you stay with me? Our house is so
empty now that�s she�s gone��

�I will father, after I have helped Darnoc to rescue his sister. This I
promise, I will come home as often as possible, as often as the order allows
it.�

�Thank you, my son, thank you��

When we stepped out of the building, Keldorn
turned to me.

�Darnoc, if it is possible, could we go to my home.
It isn�t far and I haven�t been there for some time.�

�Hey, no problem, just lead the way.�

Keldorn�s house was indeed not far away, just over in the government
district. When we entered his house, we were greeted by a servant, who
immediately went to fetch Lady Maria Firecam.

I saw that she was happy to see him, but she
tried to conceal it with a look of anger.

�So, you finally show your face again. Do you know
how long it has been? Six whole months!�

�But Maria, you knew that I would stay away often since
we married, I thought that this was clear!�

Maria sighed, her eyes reflecting a deep sadness.

�My dear Keldorn, you didn�t seem to have stopped to
think if this would be enough for me. I miss you, I really do, but you�re never
home and I have needs of my own, which you don�t seem to be able to satisfy��

Keldorn starred at her, realization striking
him.

�You� you have taken a lover? Tell me his
name!�

�Please, Keldorn, don�t hurt him!�

�Tell me his name, Maria!� Keldorn screamed.

I thought that it was time to have a word with
the two.

�Keldorn, please, calm down and listen to me� I
said, putting my hand on his shoulder.

He first wanted to shout at me, but then
nodded.

�Look, your wife got a point; you should care more for your family. Having a
family means that you have to let go of certain other things.�

Maria gave me a thankful look and said: �Keldorn,
his name is Sir William of Thorpe. You�ll find him in the Mithrest Inn.�

But Keldorn�s face didn�t change to the better;
it was now a grimace of deep pain and grief.

�Don�t you see, Darnoc? Either I challenge Thorpe to a
duel to regain my honor or I bring him and my wife before the judges and let
them be condemned for adultery. My wife will go to prison. What should I, Darnoc, what?�

�Keldorn, there is a third possibility.
Confront Thorpe, but not by challenging him to a duel. Understand why your wife
did what she did. You are good man and you have a good heart, but alas, you are a bad husband. This must change.
Talk to Thorpe and tell him that you wish to resolve this matter peacefully and
that you wish to now be the husband Maria deserves.�

Maria looked long into her husband�s eyes and
finally asked him: �Keldorn, do you still love me? For I do, even after you
have disappointed me. Promise me to be a real husband and I will promise to
never leave you. Think about the kids, Keldorn, they need a father!�

Slowly Keldorn nodded.

�Yes, Maria, my love hasn�t diminished. And I promise
that things will change. Now let�s go and find Thorpe!�

We found Thorpe where Maria had told us to look for him.
Keldorn immediately went up to him and confronted him.

�Sir William Thorpe, I am here concerning your
relationship with my wife!�

Thorpe looked critically at Keldorn.

�So, you finally found out. Now what, do you
challenge me to a duel?�

�No, I do not wish to shed any blood over this
matter. Just swear on your honor to stop your relationship, it will suffice.�

Thorpe frowned and replied: �Don�t you
understand, Sir Keldorn? Your wife is lonely and I have given her what she
never got from you: love and care. Sir Keldorn, with all due respect for your
accomplishments as a knight of the order, you are not a good husband. So, if you
insist that I swear to let go of my relationship, I also insist that you swear to make Maria happy and be there for her. Swear that she will be the most important
matter of your life, even more important than the order! Swear that you will look after your
family properly!�

Keldorn remained long silent; I could see that
Thorpe�s words hurt him deeply. But I had to agree with Thorpe, his words may
have seemed to be hard, but they were also true.

Finally Keldorn answered: �I swear by Torm that I will look after my
family, love my wife and care for her and my children! I swear that I will be there for them and
that no other matter will be more important than them!�

A smile crossed Thorpe�s face.

�Then all is well and I also swear by Torm that I will stop my
relationship with your wife immediately. I hope that you two will be happy
together. If not, I will come and remind you of your oath, Sir Keldorn!�

They both shook hands and I could see that they
both were relieved. Keldorn�s face didn�t seem to be sinister anymore, he
actually smiled and his eyes shone with happiness.

Maria was glad to hear of the peaceful settlement. When
Keldorn told her about everything, she even kissed him and said that she would
never again cheat on him. And then Keldorn turned to me.

�Darnoc, I wish to be there for my family, but I
still have one obligation left: your sister, Imoen. It tears me apart to know of your pain and of her
capture and I cannot rest until you two are reunited again. What do you advise
me to do?�

It warmed my heart to hear him say that.

�Keldorn, I really appreciate your offer and I
can�t express my gratitude enough. I suggest we settle on a compromise: We will
go and get Imoen and afterwards you�ll go back to your family and stay with
them. Maria, what do you say?�

�You have brought my husband back and for that
I am grateful. I think it is only fair that I let him go for this time and let
him help you. Hopefully, you find your sister soon, Darnoc.�

�Yes, I hope this too�� I whispered.

Imoen:
In my heart

After my horrible experience with the girl,
Irenicus began using a new technique. He began to directly influence my mind,
working his way through my memories, only taking the worst ones, the painful
ones and turning them into the worst of nightmares, somehow bringing them to life.

It didn�t take long and I lost all memory of
what was going on around me, everything seemed to fade. The only thing I really remembered
wasn�t real at all, it was a dream. Still, it seemed more real than reality.

In all the pain and suffering, I felt as if I
was stretching out, trying to seek Darnoc somewhere. But where was he? I finally
found him in a dream.

I was lying on grass, my eyes closed, pain
running through my body, when I suddenly felt a hand on me. The pain seemed to
fade and when I opened my eyes and saw Darnoc, it vanished entirely.

I began to sob, partially from pain and sorrow and partially from joy. He didn�t say
anything, but took me into his arms and kissed me gently, stroking my hair.

�Don�t speak, Im, don�t speak. We are in a dream world here, a world,
where reality and illusion fades and longer matters. For me it could be real,
for you also, does it matter? The only thing, which matters, is us. I�ll come
soon, I promise, Im. It won�t be long now, just don�t die on me, do you
understand?�

Again he kissed me and then he just held me
close, stroking my hair, while I sobbed and my tears streamed onto his shirt. And then
the strangest thing began to happen. He began to kiss me, first on my forehead,
then my eyebrows, the scar over my right eye, my cheeks and finally he
found his way down to my lips. First I was a little shocked, but then I
realized, how much I wanted this, how much I needed this. So we kissed each
other, more and more passionately, he put his arms around me, went through my hair with
his hands, pressing my body against his, so I could feel his warmth.

His hand began to move down my back and finally
found the end of my shirt, pulling it upwards, uncovering my bare skin, touching my scars. He stopped kissing me in order to
pull the shirt over my head and then he gently touched my skin, sending shivers
through my whole body. Again he started to kiss me, but this time my whole body and
I just stood there, enjoying it, letting it happen, for while he did this, my
pain seemed to vanish completely.

As gently as possible he laid me down on the
grass and moved over me, pulling my skirt up, slowly and gently, moving his
hand over my bare legs and thighs. Again he kissed me, while he opened his own trousers.
And then we loved each other, in the moonlight, on the grass. It was the best
thing, which ever happened during my time in Spellhold, for some time I forgot
completely, where I was and what had happened, leaving all the pain behind and
only feeling joy and passion.

When it was all over and we lay next to each
other in the grass, Darnoc turned to me and kissed me softly on the forehead.

�Never forget this, Im, keep it with you.
Whatever happens, never forget this. Draw from it, hold on to it and let it be
your strength. Soon we�ll be together again, but first you�ll have to manage
the last part. It will be the most difficult part and you needed to be prepared. Now you are, you will survive and will finally
heal, if you keep this in your heart.�

He took my hand and moved it to his chest, so I
felt his heartbeat. With his hand he touched my breast, also right where my heart was.

�Feel my heart beat next to yours, Im. You are right here, inside of my heart. Keep me in yours, whatever
happens, never let go of it. If you lose it, you will lose yourself.�

Again he kissed me, this time onto my lips, a
long and passionate kiss, while I closed my eyes and felt him.

�I now, it will be hard for you. You probably think it
couldn�t get any worse. But it will, Im, it will. And without me in your heart, you will not survive. Keep me
there and do not lose me, do not lose yourself.�

I don�t know, how long we stayed there, he
holding me in his arms, while I rested there, feeling the warmth of his body and his breath on my
skin, comforting me, taking away the pain. I awoke finally, although I can�t
say, when exactly. Of course, the pain returned, but the memories stayed and
somehow it was easier now.

It was the most realistic dream I ever had and
I really believe that somehow we communicated through our dreams and he really
wanted to comfort me somehow. Without it I would probably lain down and died, I
just no longer had any strength inside of me. But after�
Well, what came was horrible, but somehow, the dream had given me strength. Strength for the last part, the most
difficult part.

Darnoc: Steward

We were back at my castle, because a messenger
had told me of some urgent business: Isaea Roenal awaited me.

I immediately summoned him to the main hall,
when I arrived. His capture didn�t seem to
have lasted long. When he entered, he didn�t even have the courtesy to bow.

�You know as well as I do that you won�t last
long as steward of these lands, Darnoc. I am the rightful fianc� of Nalia and she
cannot deny me forever. Once she has married me, you will have no other choice than to
depart from here.
Now there are two ways we can do this: You can
give up your title willingly and let me marry Nalia or you can wait until I
return in force and take what is mine. If you accept the offer I wish to
propose to you, you will receive adequate payment for your services to Lady
Nalia and I will let you leave in peace. But if you refuse, we will meet again
on the battlefield and the only payment you will get in that case is death.
What do you choose?�

This arrogant, fucking bastard, who the hell did he think he was?
I wanted to draw my sword and kill him right there at this spot. Did he think
he could simply bribe me like this? Somehow I managed to hide my anger, though.

�Sir Roenal, I suggest you leave this place
immediately and never return here. If you do, I will fulfill my role as steward of these lands and kill you for
trespassing. I hope that I have made myself clear.�

He glared at me, his eyes icy cold.

�Perfectly clear, steward. If this is the way you wish to
handle things, you will have to live with the consequences.�

And then he turned around and left the castle, without
looking back.

Since I was there anyway, I asked Nalia, if
anything else had happened. She told me that several people wished to speak
with me about certain matters.

The first person who was brought before me was
a trader. He had passed through my lands and had been robbed by bandits. Now he
demanded that I paid him and recruited more soldiers in order to solve this problem.
Sighing I gave him his money and told Cernick to recruit more guards immediately.

Cernick stayed, he wanted to talk to me first.

�Lord, I�ve caught one o� dah
guards stealin�.
Duh yah wish t� hear his case?�

�Yes, bring him before me� I replied.

The guard had chains on him and looked quite miserably.

�What is your name, son?� I asked him.

�L� La� Lastin, Lord.�

�So, Lastin, can you please explain to me, why
you did steal some of my belongings?�

�Lord, please, mee
wife�s mortally ill an� I don�t �ave enough money t�
buy some medicine. Everyday she gets worse an� I don�t know what t� do!�

I pitied the man. Although it wasn�t right that
he had stolen, I could understand why he had done it.

�Lastin, do not worry about your wife - I will
personally pay for her medicine. And now that I know that you are not a thief because of greed, I
will show mercy. You may remain in the guard. But remember, if there is ever
anything you need, just tell your Captain and he will tell me. Then I will see
what I can do.�

Lastin gasped in total astonishment. I guess he
couldn�t believe his fortune. Cernick gave me an admiring glance, but then he
turned to Lastin and gave him a stern look.

�Yah�re fortunate
that our Lord�s a merciful Lord, Lastin. But beware if I ever catch yah stealin� again, yah�ll be thrown
out o� dah guard!�

Last came cleric, who
asked me, if he could become the cleric of my castle. I granted his wish, since
he seemed to be a good man and one could always use a cleric.

When all was over, I took Cernick aside.

�How�s our defense?� I asked him.

�Well, Lord, I did as yah�ve
told me t� do. The fire-kegs�re installed on dah roof. Yah wanna see �em?�

�Yes, of course, show them to me.�

Proudly he led me on the roof of the castle.
There they were, all in one line, glittering in the sun. Next to each one stood
three guards. One had a torch and a burning
kettle, where he could light it; the other one stood next to a crate of iron
balls, the last one was responsible for moving the fire-keg so that it faced
the right direction. They saluted when I and Cernick passed them.

�Quite a sight, Cernick, quite a
sight. Good job,
I am immensely pleased. Therefore I grant you an increase in payment. Oh, and
whoever created those, I declare him to my personal smith. See to it that he
gets the necessary tools and material.�

Then I pulled out my notebook and showed him my
sketches of the fire-spiters and exploders. I had
also invented another weapon: the fire-tube. The fire-tube had a longer range
and was more accurate than the fire-spiter; it was
also about one-and-a-half meters long. Cernick promised me to show those my new
smith. I wanted that all guards were equipped and trained with the new
weapons.

If Isaea Roenal should ever appear with his army in front of my gates, a surprise
would wait for him. I was confident that he would stand no chance against
troops equipped with my new weapons.

We slept in my castle and again a dream came to
me. But this one was immensely different than any of the dreams I had before. I
stood in front of an ancient circle of huge, upright stones. In the middle of
the circle stood a stone shaped like a block. It was covered with blood; a long
knife lay on it. And next to the altar stood a fury figure with claws, its head
shaped like a wolf.

�Welcome, my son. Finally we meet. I want to
show you something. I want to show you your heritage.�

�Who� who are you?� I asked in total
astonishment.

�Darnoc, I�m your mother.�

It couldn�t be, it was
just not possible! How could this� beast be my mother?

�Son, I and all the others of our clan are werewolves. The blood of Faenrryr ap Gorddifyd flows through our veins and through yours. But
you have been taken from us, before we could teach you, before we could give
you what is rightfully yours. Come, follow me, my son.�

I followed her, what else was there to do? She
led me away from the stone circle to a nearby village. Low huts of wood,
covered by straw were in it, in the middle a great wooden hall. I could make
out people, some of them in wolf-shape, some of them human. The human ones wore
brown or gray checkered trousers and shirts, their hair blond or brown and
long, long swords, decorated with wolves, hanging at their sides. And they all
had a blue wolf tattooed onto their forehead, just like I had done it.

�We are the people of the Faenrryr-Clan and we are proud of our heritage, as should
you be. The gift of the wolf is ours and always have we been warriors, servants to no one. No king
and no prince will ever rule us, for we are a clan of free people and if
anyone should try to rob it from us, he will feel the steel of our blades and
the sharpness of our claws.�

I looked closer at the people and saw that they
all had gray-blue eyes like I had them. My mother saw it and grinned.

�You see the sign, my son. We all have it, the
sign of Faenrryr and we will always know our people by it. Embrace your
heritage, my son. I will teach you, how to you use what is yours. Come to us,
find us!�

�Mother, what is your name?�

�I am Gwyncha ap Lleyd
and I am waiting for you, my son. And your real name is not Darnoc, it is Dallheygh ap Myddrinn. My husband was a proud warrior, before he was slain by Bhaal,
cursed be his name. Bhaal then rapped me and you were the product of this
unholy union. But you are not Bhaal�s son, you are mine, and my husband was Myddrinn, therefore
he is your father! His sword is waiting for you, come and get it!�

With this she suddenly held a beautiful long
sword in her hands, its hilt decorated by the head of a silver wolf, its eyes
were rubies. The blade was long, straight and sharp, ancient runes were carved into it. A faint, blue-gray
glimmer was around it, one could almost feel the power of this sword.

�This is the sword of our family, forged long
ago by Maddoc ap Faenrryr. Go to the regions north of
Deepwater and you shall find us and it.�

Suddenly my mother changed into her human form.
She was a tall woman with a pale and proud face and long, flowing brown hair.
The sword she held with the ease of an experienced fighter.

�I know what you do, my son. We descendants of
Faenrryr have always been famous for our weapons. By creating the new weapons,
you have made us proud. Bring them to us that we may vanquish our enemies! It
is your duty to your clan, Dallheygh!�

And then I felt the power in me. I felt an urge
to hunt in the night and howl at the moon, to be with my pack. My skin was
covered by brown fur; my hands had long and sharp claws, my mouth teeth which could
rip apart a man.

�You feel it, don�t you, my son? This is the
gift of Faenrryr to you, although it is yet only a dream. In order to wake what
is in you, you need to come to us that we may perform the necessary ritual. I lay it upon you to find
an appropriate sacrifice, my son. Only the blood of your greatest enemy will
suffice, bring it to us! Bring us the blood of Irenicus!�

Hate and rage grew in my, I felt the bloodlust;
I wanted to claw and bite, rip Irenicus into a thousand pieces.

Suddenly I awoke, sweating and panting. But
something was different than before: My forehead was burning where my tattoo
was. The wolf was calling and I had to answer, it was calling for Irenicus�
blood.

Imoen:
The demon inside

One day I came to myself again and found myself
lying on the floor in my cell, blood covering my body and my clothes, pain
everywhere, especially in my head.

With a groan I tried to sit up and saw a bowl
of water next to me, which I took and drank. When I had just finished and was
beginning to think that perhaps I would be left alone now, the door opened and
Irenicus glared at me.

�What now? What kind o� hellish torture �ave ya devised now for me?� I snarled at him.

�The final step, Imoen, and then it will be
over. We must awake your true self, your father�s essence. Then I will be able
to take what I need from you. Soon it will all be over, Imoen, soon� But you
need to go through one last procedure.�

He stepped closer and looked at me closely.
Finally he shook his head.

�No, this won�t work. At least not in the state
you are in now. Hm,
what shall I do about that?�

He left my cell and soon some of his servants
entered, carrying water and some cloths. They began to scrub and clean me, washing
off the blood and dirt. They even changed my blood-soaked clothes, giving me
new and clean ones. Irenicus observed it all.

�Now you are at least in an acceptable state
and people won�t turn from you in disgust. As I have remarked a long time ago, one could even
describe you as pretty. Very well, you are ready.�

What the hell was he talking about? What did he
have in mind now? This didn�t seem like his usual self. Something was awfully
wrong here, I could feel it.

The servants and also Irenicus left me, but he
came back after a while, with him a man. The man had black hair and a beard in the same color, one of his eyes
covered by a patch and a scar on his forehead, he also seemed to be quite
strong and he was bigger than Irenicus. His eye was black, it looked mean and
greedy. Irenicus whispered something to him and the man then looked at me, his eye
glittering and a dirty grin appearing on his face.

�Do whatever you want with her, I leave you two
alone� Irenicus remarked, left and locked the cell.

Slowly the man advanced and sat beside me on
the bed, stretching out his hand and stroking my hair. Although I was afraid,
it actually felt good.

�Too bad he treated yah like that, but yahr still really cute, lassie. One takes what one gets,
though, eh?�

He bent forward, put his huge hand onto my
shoulder and kissed me. I was startled and drew back. What the hell?

His eyes flashed angrily, he stroke out with
his hand and he hit me hard, yelling at me: �Don�t yah go awee, yah�re mine, bitch!�

He had caught me right into the face and my
head was flung backwards, hitting the wall. I groaned in pain and for a moment I thought I
would pass out.

�Don�t, please!� I whispered fearfully.

�I wouldn�t wanna
hurt yah, lassie, I just want somethin� from yah an�
yah can eithahr gimme it or
I�ll take it.�

Sobs began to shake me, I was afraid, so
afraid, in my head I imagined, what he wanted to do with me.

�Please, he hurts me all the time, all the
time, he never stops! I can�t stand the pain, don�t add to it, please! Help me
t� get away from �ere, please!�

I only raised a laugh.

�No one escapes Irenicus an� also not Lord Desharik, Mastahr
o� Brynnlaw. Come on, don�t be afreed, I don�t wanna hurt yah, it�ll be fine, just fine, take awee some o� yahr worries, perhaps
yah�ll even forget yahr
pain for a while. Then yah�ll think back kindly on
this hour an� yah�ll thank ol�
Barty t� �ave
given yah such pleasure, eh? I just wanna
be nice t� yah, alwees wanna
be nice t� dah ladies.�

I had moved into the corner, my body shaking
from fear and he now moved closer to me,
slowly. Then he stroked my hair, softly, and moved his hand over my skin.

�There, isn�t that bad, aye? Just let me do it
an� enjoy dah whole thin�, lassie. Me, I�m the
master, ol� Barty�s well known in dah
town for �is skill� he remarked.

When he tried to kiss me again, I tried to push
him away. But he just took hold of my shoulders and continued. Finally I hit
him into his chest as hard as I could. It didn�t seem to hurt him much,
only anger him.

�Don�t yah dare hittin�
me, fuckin� bitch, I�m gonna
show yah who�s dah master �ere!� he screamed and hit
me, harder than last time, so I was fully
flung against the wall, my head dizzy for a moment.

He then grabbed me and pulled me down, holding
me down with his weight, while he began pulling at my shirt and finally ripping
it open, whereas he pulled it off and threw it away. I tried to hit him, but he
simply used his huge hand to grab both my hands and hold them still. With the
other hand he began grabbing my breasts, while he kissed me. Of course I
screamed, but no one was coming. Irenicus had planned the whole thing, he
wanted this to happen!

Finally he grunted and moved his hand down,
grabbing a hold of my skirt and pulling it up. I tried to kick him, but found
that I couldn�t, instead he used his knees to pull my legs apart. While holding them apart like that, he fumbled at his
trousers and finally managed to open them. He was busy with that and so I bit
him, right into his ear. This made him scream angrily, blood dropped from his ear and he hit me hard, several times, until I bled from
my nose and mouth.

Then he grabbed both my hands and held them
down, while he thrust himself into me. I screamed in pain, as it happened, as I
felt how something ripped apart inside of me and blood began to flow between
my legs, a burning pain erupting there, where he now began to push and thrust.
Again and again he pushed and thrust, while he grunted and panted and I kept on
screaming.

It was then that it happened. Fear had first dominated all my
feelings, fear and pain, but more and more hate and rage took over. My screams began
to change into something else entirely, into a deep, angry growl, like the
growl of an angry predator. And as my consciousness began to fade, I heard old Barty scream in total horror. It gave me
a quiet satisfaction to hear him scream like that. From then on I remember
nothing.

When I awoke, I was covered in blood, as was
the cell. In another corner lay the remnants of the man. Not all of it, some of
his parts where sticking on the walls or
lying somewhere else. I felt pain, where he had hit me and also down there� And
the feelings of triumph turned to something else; I began to feel shame and
revulsion against myself and vomited next to me onto the floor, my body shaking
from sobs and my feeling of sickness. I hated myself; I hated the man I had
just killed. Irenicus had been right; the evil was inside of me. I simply
wanted to die right there on that spot.

It was then that the door opened and Irenicus
entered, looking around.

�You have reacted as I have predicted,
extraordinary. I�ll soon have what I want now.�

Darnoc: The
guild-war

Proudly Aran Linvail showed me the new weapons.
They were all laid out on a table in front of us. Mook wore two fire-spiters in her belt; Linvail held one in his hand, which he
now pointed at a target. He squeezed the trigger, a deafening sound could be heard, smoke came out of the barrel and a new hole was in the target, right in the middle.

�It� it is amazing!� I managed to say.

�They�re beauties, right? Just wait until you�ve
seen the exploders��

He took one of them and threw it at a pile of
wood, which lay in one of the corners. The sound was even more deafening;
pieces of wood were catapulted in all directions, a huge cloud of smoke rose
into the air and what was left of the pile was burning. Fortunately, we had all
ducked before the impact.

�By Torm, what a weapon!� Keldorn exclaimed.

�It gets even better. Darnoc, our �expert� here has found a
substance which we now add to the bullet. This substance destroys all magical
defenses upon impact. Perfect for hitting mages and all enemies protected by spells, don�t you think?�

�Amazing, this gives us quite an advantage in
battle� Can I have the formula?� I asked.

�Of course, you have given us the weapons and
so I think it�s only fair if I give you the formula. Here you go.�

With this he handed over a piece of paper to
me. I looked closely at it. The idea was ingenious; the inventor had just
exploited the fact that magic was just another kind of energy. This new
substance he created disrupted all flows of energy when it reacted. The energy
from the explosion would activate the exothermal reaction, by the time the bullet
hit the target, the reaction would be completed
and destroy all fields of energy near it. The mage would be left unprotected and the
bullet would kill or wound him. Mages and priests were no longer safe, this
would change warfare completely.

�Indeed, my thieves have all been equipped with
the new weapons and started their training. Soon we�ll have an army the vampires stand no chance
against� Linvail continued.

Keldorn took me aside and whispered: �Darnoc, I don�t like this, it is
dangerous! Didn�t you stop to think about what would happen afterwards? Now we�ll have a whole criminal
organization equipped with a new weapon against which there is no defense. Soon
the whole of Amn will be under control of the Shadow Thieves. And as the use of
these weapons spreads, death and destruction will come to the whole of Toril.
More than that, with the new powder those
thieves invented, magic won�t be able any more to balance things out. Mages are no longer safe; every commoner
with a gun and the proper bullets can kill a mage now.�

I shrugged my shoulders.

�Well, can�t change that now. And we need those
weapons in order to fight our enemies. Right now, the Shadow Thieves are our only allies, so we have but no
choice.�

Before we went to war, I dispatched a messenger with a
copy of the formula to my castle. He should give the formula to Captain
Cernick, who would then give it to the smith.

Soon our �army� was ready for attack. About
fifty Shadow Thieves would accompany us, led by Mook. Our meeting place was the
north entrance of the graveyard district. The assembled thieves were indeed
impressive. They each wore two fire-spiters and some
grenades, had bags with bullets and explosive powder with them. But they also
had their short swords and armor with them, not completely abandoning old
equipment.

�We should attack from sev�ral
entrances. I think there�re three ways down t� dah catacombs� Mook mentioned to me.

�Right, we should split. I and my companions
will take the eastern entrance, one half of your group the western and the
other half the middle entrance.�

�OK, let�s do it! Good luck t� yah!�

I had two fire-spiters
myself, of course also my Rose Blade. My companions refused to take the new
weapons, with the exception of Yoshimo, who gladly took two fire-spiters himself. So we went to the eastern entrance and
descended to the catacombs.

For quite some time we walked through empty
corridors, their walls covered by strange paintings. Sometimes we would also
pass a sarcophagus, its treasures long stolen.
Finally we came up to a huge gate, behind it a hall with several torches
attached to the walls. Our allies already waited there.

�No vampires yet, but I guess we�ll find �em behind this hall� Mook told me.

�Yeah, I guess so too. So,
what now?�

�I wanna send in some
o� mee thieves t� look around a little. If everythin�s clear, we�ll move in, a�right?�

�Yeah, just go ahead��

Three Shadow Thieves sneaked into the room.
Suddenly we heard screams and the thundering sounds made by the fire-spiters.

�Damn it; go in, yah lousy pricks!� Mook
yelled, pulled out her weapons and ran into the hall.

I and my companions followed, drawing our
weapons, together with some of the braver Shadow Thieves.

The three scouts were ducking behind a huge
table in the middle of a long, fire-lit hall. Three vampires were standing on
the other end, trying to conjure some spells. I pointed my fire-spiters at two of them and pressed the trigger, they both
were flung backwards, hit into the chest. Mook raised her own weapon and shot the
remaining vampire. Their spirits rose from their bodies and fled the scene.

�Hey, yah three fuckers, don�t yah know how t�
use yahr weapons!� she screamed at the three scouts.

Then she turned to her other thieves and
yelled: �Yah spread out an� kill all remaining enemies, understood, yah
fuck-heads?�

The thieves vanished into the neighboring rooms
and soon I heard shots and explosions. The exploders seemed to work perfectly against
the vampires, I could feel the walls shake from the explosions.

�Mook, there�s a stair over there. Perhaps the
leaders are down there or something�� I told
her.

�Yeah, right, let�s go down there.�

While we were going down I and Mook reloaded
our weapons. We found ourselves in a long, twisted corridor, which we followed
to a closed door.

�Yoshimo, can you do something about this?�

�Yeah, no problem, just wait a minute��

He bent down, took out his skeleton keys and
began working on the lock. It took him about two minutes to unlock it, when he
had finished, I stepped to it and opened it with a kick. The door flung wide
open and we saw a round hall with a pool of blood in the middle.

On the other side of the pool stood
a familiar figure: The
vampire from the docks. Mook shrieked when she saw him and pulled out her fire-spiter, but the vampire just laughed and teleported away.

We looked puzzled at each other, when suddenly
five other vampires teleported in and immediately
attacked. I and Mook shot two of them and then they were upon us.

Drawing my sword I tried to hit the vampire
coming at me, but it dodged and jumped at me, its claws stretched out. The
claws hit my throat, but I withdrew quickly and so the vampire only wounded the
skin. At the same time I thrust my sword and it penetrated the vampire�s chest.

The other vampires were dead, one killed by
Mook, the other by Minsc.

�Hm, vampires,
interesting, never killed those before�� Lilacor muttered.

�Yeah? What�s so special about them?�

�Uhm,
nothing really.
They can be pierced, slashed and stabbed like most other creatures, I guess��

�Where dah hell did
this fucker go?� Mook exclaimed angrily.

�Don�t know. There�s nothing left here, perhaps
we should go up again.�

On the upper floor we were awaited by a thief.

�Hey, Mook, there�s somethin�
strange t� dah east, better come lookin��
he told us.

He led us through a corridor and when we turned
around a corner we stood in front of a
huge round hall, in its middle a pool of blood, the floor of the hall
descending towards the pool and full of sharp, long steel-spikes.

�By Helm, what is this?� Anomen exclaimed at
the sight.

�Dunno, but whatever
it is, it doesn�t look good� Mook replied.

Suddenly she shrieked, pointing at something on
the other end of the hall. It was a dark figure which now came towards us. Finally I recognized it: our
friend from the docks again.

�Now, who have we here? Mook
and company? It is so good to see you again! Do you still want to become
a vampire, my dear Mook?�

Mook gnashed angrily her teeth and yelled: �You
fuckin� asshole, you piece o� bloody shit, I�ll tear out yahr
heart!�

The vampire laughed resoundingly.

�Oh, my dear Mook, too bad we can�t be on the
same side. My name is Lassal, by the way. Just so that you
know the name of the person who will kill you.�

Mook turned around to us, her eyes flashing
angrily.

�He�s mine, leave �im t� me!�

She drew her short sword and went into the hall
of spikes.

�C�me on, yah bastard!� she screamed.

Lassal hissed, stretched out his claws and
attacked. He was fast, I had to admit that. Even Mook was surprised by this,
what probably was the reason, why she reacted so slowly.

Before she could defend herself, he was at her
and swung his claw, ripping through her armor and wounding her chest. With the
other one he at the same time hit her face, scratching open her cheek.

Mook cried out in pain and thrust her sword
forward, hitting Lassal�s chest. Blood
splashed into her face, but Lassal wasn�t dead yet. He grabbed her at the
shoulders, leaned towards her and bit her into the throat. She screamed in terror, pulled out
her sword and stabbed him into his chest, his throat, his stomach, until he
finally collapsed dead at her feet, releasing her throat, his spirit fleeing
his body.

As she turned around, I could see her wounds. The
one at the throat looked especially gruesome, a large hole which gushed blood all over
her. But also her chest looked bad. The rest of her body was covered in blood,
some hers, some Lassal�s. She tried to stumble towards us, but almost collapsed to the
ground. Minsc cried out and rushed towards her and managed to keep her from falling,
what would have been her certain death with all the spikes attached to the
floor. Carefully he led her over the floor,
avoiding the spikes.

When they reached safe floor, she finally did
collapse, probably of loss of blood. Aerie rushed to her and tore off her armor, with the help of Minsc. Know I
could see that her wounds were indeed very grave, perhaps even mortal. Her
chest was blemished by a huge slash all over it; the skin at her throat had
been ripped open.

�Anomen, come and help me!� Aerie begged.

Together they created a provisionary bandage out of some cloth, which
at least stopped the bleeding. Then they joined their powers in a powerful
healing spell. We watched silently, not wanting to disturb their concentration.
Slowly the power grew, appearing as a white light beneath their hands. Soon
it covered the whole body of Mook and we saw how the wounds closed and the
blood vanished. Exhausted, they leaned panting against a wall. The spell had
used up most of their energy.

Mook opened her eyes and looked around, her face still deadly pale.
The spell had closed her wounds and probably saved her from turning into a
vampire, but hadn�t replaced her lost blood. Minsc helped her up and she
stepped over to Aerie and Anomen.

�I� I dunno what t�
say, yah have sav�d mee life,
I guess�� she whispered.

�Hey, no problem, just don�t try to get bitten
by a vampire again, alright?� Anomen replied to that.

Suddenly she looked very grave.

�No, it won�t happen again, yah can be sure o�
that. I�ll hunt down those fuckin� beasts, I promise!
I won�t rest until they�re all dead, those fuckin�
bastards!�

Even I was surprised by the strength of her
hate, which could be heard in her voice. It was quite a changed Mook we
had now in front of us. She was bitter and grave, full of hate and darkness, determined to do what she had
fixed her mind upon: To exterminate all vampires.

There was now only one thing left to do:
Destroy the regenerating bodies of the vampires in their graves. Then it would
finally be over and we could set out to rescue Imoen.

�Mook, look�� I began, but was immediately
interrupted by her.

�Mee name�s not Mook,
it�s Mocilia!� she snarled.

�Well, Mocilia then, we really need to destroy
the bodies by staking them, or else those vampires will come back.�

�A�right, yah got a
point there... �As anyone seen their graves?�

�Yeah, t� dah west!�
a thief told us.

�Gimme dah dowels, Darnoc!� Mocilia ordered.

Sighing I handed them over to her. She grabbed
them and walked westward, we followed her. As the thief had told, to the west we found indeed a
chamber filled with several sarcophaguses. Each one Mocilia opened and staked
the body inside.

She just had finished doing so, when suddenly
someone teleported into the room. It was a vampire, but she was quite different
from all the others we had seen. She was tall and haughty, her hair long,
flowing and glittering, beautiful like a starlit night. Her face was pale as snow
and proud, her profile straight and without any bents or flaws. Her eyes were
of a deep darkness, almost like holes into nothingness. She was indeed the queen of
vampires, a goddess of the night.

�Ah, Darnoc, we finally meet. Let me introduce myself:
Bodhi, Mistress of the vampires of Atkatla. Too bad you have not allied
yourself with me, what great things we could have accomplished together! Still,
you have even done more than I would have expected, although Irenicus has told
me you had quite a potential.�

�You know Irenicus? How?�
I asked flabbergasted.

She laughed cruelly.

�He is my dear brother, but that is of no
importance. What is important is that he is now in control of the Spellhold
where they put those who illegally use magic in Amn. It is a kind of prison for
mages, you know. At this moment he is conducting his experiments on your dear sister, Imoen. We both expect a
success soon.�

My eyes flashed angrily, as I heard those words. I could feel the
power of hate rise in me, the power of my father. But not entirely my father�s
power, I could feel the wolf burn on my forehead and wolfish desire came over
me to bite and claw Bodhi.

I growled at her: �What are you doing to her, you bastards? Answer me or I�ll fucking kill
you!�

I had drawn my fire-spiter
and pointed it right at her head, still growling menacing. I felt that the hair
on my body grew thicker, my hands seemed to turn into claws and my head grew
longer, the teeth in my mouth sharper. But I didn�t have enough power yet to use
the gift of Faenrryr, the change was incomplete.

Again she laughed, as if I was no threat to
her.

�Oh, so you really do care for her. How very fascinating. But I will not give you the pleasure of
revealing our secrets. Until we meet again, son of Bhaal!�

And with this she teleported away.

My hand was shaking violently, sweat broke from
my forehead and slowly I changed back into a human form. In my mind I imagined
horrible pictures of what those monsters were doing to Imoen right now. I felt
completely helpless, what should I do against the power of those two?

Aran Linvail was pleased to hear of our success, although he was
also worried about the escape of Bodhi. He then told us of his plans to rescue
Imoen.

�The Cowled Wizards bring their prisoners to a pirate
island a little to the west of Amn. On this island is the town of Brynnlaw and
the Spellhold, where they imprison those they catch at
using magic illegally. You will find Imoen there, I guess. Saemon Havarian can bring you there, the money
you gave me I have used to pay him and his crew.�

I didn�t like the look of Saemon; one could see
that the only thing he was interested in was money. I just hoped that there
wasn�t anyone else who could pay more than Linvail. We would have to keep an
eye on him�

Next morning we went down to the docks and
stepped on Saemon�s ship. His crew was a bunch of pirates by the looks of them,
about as trustworthy as Saemon himself. But nobody else would take us to our
destination, so we had no other choice.

Slowly Atkatla vanished behind us, the sun
rising behind the city and shedding its light on it. Some hours later the coast
vanished entirely and we were completely surrounded by water. Our journey had
begun. My thoughts were with Imoen, I hoped that we didn�t come too late�
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Children of Bhaal