In The Cards

Listen, my brothers and sisters. Can you hear me singing? Can you hear me singing for those of you lost, lost to the Voice of the Father? So seductive, that Voice. So tempting. It made you so many sweet and empty promises, didn't it? But in the end, they were lies. All of them. Lies with strings attached.

Excerpt from 'Ruminations Of A Master Bard'

"Look out!" Zaerini cried and covered her head with her arms to try to protect it from the hail of rocks as she ran for safety. Eventually the stones stopped falling and the half-elf rapidly turned to see if anybody had been injured. Minor scrapes and wounds were present here and there, nothing that seemed to be serious for the most part. Edwin was leaning heavily against the wall though. He had a hand pressed to his temple which seemed to be bleeding rather badly, and his eyes were dazed.

Damn! The half-elf didn't stop to think. She simply scrambled across the fallen rocks to get to the wizard and grabbed his arm with one hand to steady him, placing the palm of her other hand against the wound. Don't you die on me, wizard, or I'll…or I'll never forgive you. The blood was hot against her hand and deep within her something reveled at the touch. Get back into your hole, 'Daddy', Zaerini thought with disgust. You're not invited. I'll take your 'present' though. And she reached deep inside herself, reached for that part of her that was other and more than mortal. A small surge of power flowed out through her arm and she could feel the wound close beneath her hand as the healing spell took hold, leaving unmarred skin behind.

"I'm sorry", Zaerini whispered. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have let you cast that spell in here, I should have known better…" Immediately she mused that actually preventing Edwin from doing something he really wanted to do would likely take not only an iron will and nerves of steel but an ability to be in two places at once. Possibly even three. The Red Wizard seemed to be of the same opinion.

"Nobody…keeps Edwin Odesseiron from doing what…he wishes", Edwin said. He winced a little as the spell took hold. "Well, mostly nobody." Then he paused and cleared his throat. "I…think that perhaps my aim was just a little bit off with that Fireball before. I will…correct that the next time." He looked sincere as he said it, and Rini knew that it likely was the closest thing to an apology that she was going to get.

"That's good", she said with a warm smile, showing that she had got the message. "I didn't really think you wanted to charbroil me, anyway."

"Ahem", Jaheira said, her voice startling both the spellcasters and causing them to jump. "If you two are finished I would like to check you both for further injuries."

With a start Rini realized that she was still holding on to Edwin, her hand resting lightly against his cheek. She hastily moved it aside, and tried to look casual. She wasn't sure whether she succeeded, and from the embarrassed look on the wizard's face she could tell that he felt equally mortified. "Ah, yes…", Zaerini said, knowing the kind of picture they must have presented and also guessing that her face was as red as her hair. "I was just…er…helping."

"Of course", Jaheira said, an unreadable look on her face. "Now move aside, child, and let me do my work."

I think it looked rather sweet, Softpaws said.

What do you mean 'sweet'?! I'm not 'sweet'. Never have been, never will be.

If you say so, kitten. There was an amused glitter in the cat's clear green eyes.

"Well, that is that", Jaheira said. "You both seem to be mostly all right, except for having reckless streaks wide enough that you could drive a cart along them. Please try not to bring the roof down on us again and we may yet survive this."

"Let's just change the subject, OK?" Rini said hurriedly. She took a closer look at the fallen rocks. They mostly obscured the passage through which the party had entered, blocking it almost completely. She thought the rocks could probably be cleared away with the proper tools. Unfortunately she didn't have them. "There are still supposed to be miners down here", she said. "They'll be able to deal with this, I'm sure. It must have happened before." Then she set off down the closest tunnel, not looking back. For some reason she was still feeling confused, and a little annoyed. With Jaheira mostly, but with herself as well. There really hadn't been a reason to blush like that. It wasn't as if she'd been doing anything that wasn't perfectly innocent, after all.

The tunnel eventually led the adventurers to a fairly large cavern, where the surviving miners and soldiers were to be found. There didn't seem to be much work going on, but Zaerini could understand why, seeing that she had had to deal with a few more kobolds on the way. The workers were afraid to venture out, and justly so. After a little asking around she found the man named Kylee, who turned out to be the foreman of this group. Properly grateful for the return of his dagger he volunteered some information as payment for it.

"Kobolds!" he said. "They're overrunning the place piece by piece. We used to see them occasionally but now you can't go more than a few feet without kicking one of them on the lower levels. It's not so bad up here with the guards around. Still, I wouldn't get caught in the dark if I were you. These last few days have been the worst so far."

"There are lower levels still?" Zaerini asked, feeling a little dismayed.

"Oh yes. One more, where the mineshafts open up into a natural cave system. That may be where the little buggers are coming from, though that doesn't explain why we never saw them before. It's almost as if they decided to move in all of a sudden."

Having asked for the closest way to the next level of the mine Rini told Kylee about the cave-in, without giving him too many details about how it had come about. The miner told her that it shouldn't be a problem to clear the way, though it would take some time. Also, it would take longer than usual since they would need to set guards against the kobolds and work more slowly than they otherwise would.

"Well, that's not really a problem, is it?" Imoen asked. The human girl's vividly pink hair made her look even more pixie-like than before, but her new black bodysuit contradicted that impression, making her look almost at home in the gloom. "We're not going back yet anyway."

"No", Zaerini said. "But I don't think we'll be going forward just yet either. We've been walking for several hours already. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm both hungry and tired. This is a safe place what with all these guards, so I say we take this chance to rest."

"Not a completely unintelligent idea", Edwin said. "I need to renew my spells anyway. (Though I'm sure you didn't think about that, being a mere dilettante in the Art. Such a waste.)"

"Yes, I did, actually. And I want to do another reading as well."

At this comment Imoen stiffened. "I don't know if you should", she said. "Remember last time? The voice that talked to you?" She lowered her voice to an almost inaudible whisper. "Suppose that was…you know…him ?"

"H-him?" Khalid asked in a trembling voice at the same time as Edwin said "Reading?". The wizard sounded very fascinated and his eyes narrowed with excitement.

"Would you care to explain yourself some more?" Jaheira asked with a frown. "What is this 'reading' that you speak of?"

Zaerini motioned for her companions to step aside into a corner of the cavern, far enough away that the miners couldn't hear them. Then she explained about her card readings, and how lately they had changed from a simple game into something much more. "The same way that I seem to be changing", she said in a serious voice, her face very pale and tense. "And now that I know of my…of my sire…I think I can guess why. It's his blood in my veins, and it's expressing itself like this. The things I see in the cards come true, or at least many of them seem to do so. Though I don't always know what they mean, so I may have missed much."

"How very interesting", Edwin said, and for once he didn't sound the least bit sarcastic. The Red Wizard had listened eagerly to every word she said, wholly absorbed by the story. Well, he would be, Rini thought. It is a sort of magic, after all. "It resembles ordinary divination", Edwin said. In the flickering torch-light shadows played across his face, giving him a somewhat sinister appearance. "Yes, it resembles divination. Not my chosen field of course (given that it is dull, boring and frequently unreliable). Yet you cast no spell to achieve it. Intriguing, to be sure. I should very like much to discuss it with my…colleagues. Perhaps we could help you?"

"Help her?" Jaheira scoffed. The druid was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, the scimitar that she had got from the Ogre Mage resting across her lap. She had volunteered to take the first watch. "By drawing her into your intrigues? The Red Wizards are hardly known for their selflessness."

"And the Harpers are hardly known for their relaxed attitude towards 'evildoers'. Tell me druid, what will you do on the day they decide that she has grown too dangerous? Cut her down to keep your precious 'balance'? Or simply let her fend for herself?"

"The Harpers would never…"

"Oh, wouldn't they?" Edwin gave the druid a satisfied smirk. "The Harpers aren't above using assassins you know, when they think it necessary. Which is more often than one might guess. Yes, they can be very pragmatic about that sort of thing. (I could almost respect them, if it wasn't for the hypocrisy of it all.)"

"How…how do you…"

"Never mind. Let's just say I consider knowledge a most valuable treasure. (I will leave the roots, twigs and dirt to play with for those who are so inclined.)"

Jaheira looked extremely troubled. "Zaerini", she said, "I do not know what makes the wizard say such things, except perhaps that his head may still be swollen from that knock it got earlier. The Harpers as I know them have always been good and just, and you should have nothing to fear from them as long as you give them no cause to think you a source of evil."

"That's just it, isn't it though?" Rini said with a shrug. "They seem to want to make up the rules of the game themselves, and for everybody else to just play along. But there are no Harpers or Red Wizards down here at least, except for you two. Unless you're planning to slit my throat as I sleep I'm going to save those worries for another day. So if nobody has any further objections I'm going to see what I can find out about this whole iron poison mess." She fetched her deck of cards out of her pack, and spread her cloak out on the ground to keep them from getting wet or dirty. Then she carefully shuffled the cards and laid them out for the reading, focusing on her purpose. The mines, she thought. Show me the root of the problem, the secret of the mines. And show me also what else I may need to know of the future, in any way available.

Zaerini studied the cards carefully, her golden eyes intent on the painted pictures. She was vaguely aware of the silent circle of her companions surrounding her, seated to guard her against danger or disturbance, but they faded into vague shadows on the edge of her awareness. The cards were all that mattered. The cards were…all…

There was the One of Swords, crossed by the Serpent. Then the Priest of Swords, with the Beast behind it. Behind that one the Knight of Swords, almost entirely hidden by shadows. Finally, Death.

Once again the cards seemed to move and twist, to take on a life of their own. Zaerini felt herself sinking, sinking deep into the earth, past rock and stone and into the depths of the mine. The One of Swords spun before her, a shining blade fresh from the smithy, strong and keen. Then a hiss from out of the darkness and the Serpent reared high above her, a huge green snake with deadly fangs and glittering scales. Deadly venom dripped from its powerful jaws and she took a hurried step back. The venom narrowly missed her, landing instead on the spinning sword. Shiny metal blackened and hissed, curling in upon itself as the lethal poison carried out its work. Eventually nothing was left but the hilt of the Sword, which fell useless to the ground at Zaerini's feet with an empty clang.

The Serpent hissed again and almost seemed to smile. Then it glowed brightly for an instant and started shrinking, rapidly diminishing into a snake of ordinary size. The animal quietly slipped away across the cold stone floor and was picked up by a hand, a powerful and hairy hand. The hand in turn belonged to a broad and muscular figure wearing the ceremonial robes of a priest, black robes. There was a symbol on those robes, but Rini couldn't make it out. It kept changing, flickering back and forth too rapidly for her to make out, and she didn't think the Priest knew that he served two different Masters.

Laughter, deep grunting laughter, confirmed her suspicions as the Priest bowed before another figure. A great Beast, almost twice as large as an Ogre, with long tusks and cunning eyes. Skulls dangled from its belt, and out of the darkness following it screams could be heard, screams for mercy that were quickly silenced but then began anew. The Beast chuckled again and the clang of swords could be heard, arrows buzzing through the air and more screaming, the screaming of people and animals in terrible pain. Then all went silent.

Zaerini turned her head, dreading what she would see now, yet feeling a strange anticipation at the same time, a feeling of…connection? The Knight of Swords. He stood there, in the same spot where the now vanished Beast had been mere seconds before. The dark and spiky armor, the tall and powerful build, the helmet that obscured all of his features except the eyes. Those eyes, glowing like furnaces, burning their way into her soul. She couldn't look away from them, and then she knew him, not only from her memories but from Gorion's dire warning. The worst danger. Sarevok. His name…is Sarevok. As if in answer to her unspoken thought the armored figure raised his sword, raised it in a mocking greeting. "Little One…", he said, and words that sounded almost like an endearment carried with them the threat of violent death. "I look forward to meeting you…again." He laughed then, a deep and hearty laugh that was rich with malice.

Zaerini stood frozen in one spot, unable to think of a single thing to say, too afraid even to breathe. And then she saw something. Something about Sarevok, something of which the warrior himself seemed curiously unaware. Threads. Thin threads, like almost invisible strings connected to his head, to his arms and his legs. They looked as fragile as a spider's weavings, but she knew better, somehow she knew that they were as strong as steel. They disappeared up, high up into the darkness above, but there was somebody waiting up there, hiding. Somebody pulling the strings. She craned her head backwards, trying to see better. And then she saw, and she screamed as she saw the Skull of Death hanging above both her and Sarevok like an evil white moon, laughing at them both.

YES, Death spoke. FIGHT, FIGHT AS YOU WILL. DESTROY HIM IF YOU CAN, DAUGHTER, OR BE DESTROYED BY HIM IN TURN. IT MATTERS NOT. EITHER WAY YOU SHALL SERVE ME. YOU SHALL BOTH SERVE ME.

"No!", Rini gasped, staring wildly around herself as the vision receded. "I won't! I won't serve you!"

Kitten? Softpaws sounded very anxious, and as the black cat settled herself into Zaerini's lap the half-elf could feel her familiar's fur standing on edge. Kitten, are you well?

I am…Mostly. The bard stroked the black fur, relaxing into the comforting sensation.

"Rini?" Imoen sounded equally anxious as the familiar, and the bard tried to give her friend a reassuring smile. "What…did you see?"

Zaerini thought for a moment. Then she raked her hand through her red hair as she tried to make sense of the wild images that still swirled through her mind. "The kobolds aren't the only danger of these mines", she said. "There is something else, some other creature, and the poison that destroys the iron comes from him."

"It makes sense", Jaheira said, considering. "Kobolds do not usually tend to be all that intelligent? Can you tell what sort of creature this may be?"

"No. Except I think he's some sort of priest."

"No big surprise there", Edwin sneered. "Only a fanatic would want to live down a dank hole like this. Somebody not used to thinking for himself."

"Faith is the Gods' gift to us all", Jaheira flung back at him with an angry glare.

"No, actually it's the gods' crutch for those who get warm and fuzzy feelings from somebody ordering them about and telling them what to think. (Poor pawns, so easily guided.)"

"Ahem", Rini said, intervening before the furious druid tried to chop Edwin into tiny wizard pieces. "I wasn't finished, you know."

"P-p-please g-go on", Khalid said, laying a calming hand on his wife's arm to keep her from going for her scimitar.

"I saw Sarevok", Zaerini said in a hard voice. She didn't know it herself, but for an instant her eyes flashed with the same unearthly light as those of the warrior she had just named.

"That's the name from Gorion's letter…" Imoen said.

"Yes. And it's the name of Gorion's murderer as well. He's behind this iron crisis as well, I can bet my life on it. The cards hint at it." Her mouth set in a determined line. "I need to get to the bottom of this", she said. "I need to find Sarevok."

"And kill him", Edwin said. It wasn't a question, more of a calm and businesslike statement.

"I…still want to", Rini said. The memory of triumphant laughter rang in her ears, the laughter of Bhaal. "But…no, I will not speak of it right now. Time enough for that." Was it true, I wonder? Is the mighty Sarevok a puppet, a puppet unaware of his invisible strings? Or is it a trick, designed to fool me? No answers were forthcoming, and so she curled up in her cloak, trying to get some rest, listening to her companions settling down around her. After a while she drifted into an uneasy sleep. And there, on the border of her dreams a dark voice called out for her from beyond a deep chasm of time and distance. "Little One…" it said, at the same time threatening and intimate, strange and…familiar.