Cards Reshuffled

I suppose it really should come as no great surprise to me when one of the ghosts of my past happens to float by, sporting a nasty grin and getting ready to do something unpleasant to me involving pincers and hot iron. After all, there are quite a few ghosts to choose from, and those of the still living tend to be the most aggravating ones.

Excerpt from ‘Interview With An Assassin’

The vampires were proving more unsettling than he had thought they would. Dekaras knew that he didn’t get easily unnerved. After all, even in a dangerous situation there was usually something you could do to improve it, as long as you were skilled enough and didn’t panic. Thus it made no sense at all to panic, since that could only make things worse. Simple logic. And he had certainly encountered vampires before, more than once, and up close.

And yet, each time he walked into Bodhi’s underground assassin’s guild he couldn’t help feeling…no, not afraid. Uneasy was perhaps a better word for it. There were quite a lot of vampires after all, and there seemed to be more around each time he stopped by. And most probably quite a few of them would love to get their teeth into him, and were only stopped by Bodhi’s orders. Hopefully they were all aware of Bodhi’s orders, or he might just have to kill somebody, and that would present all sorts of awkwardness. But that wasn’t what bothered him, not deep down.

The assassin halted by the large tomb leading down into Bodhi’s underground lair. For a moment the oddest sensation overcame him, and he froze with his hand on the door, his fingers suddenly unable to work it properly. No, scratch that, for a few seconds he wasn’t even certain that he had fingers. Then the feeling passed, and he took a slow breath, trying to focus on the task at hand. Of course you have fingers, idiot. You’d be in a fine mess if you didn’t. The strange feeling had passed, leaving only an uncomfortable memory behind. It was as if a fleeting image from a dream had drifted up from his memory, superimposing itself on reality until he couldn’t entirely tell one from the other. That was bad enough, but what was worse was that it wasn’t the first time. In fact, it had been happening more and more often, especially when he went to visit Bodhi.

That dream…I know there was a dream. But what was it about? He slipped quietly through the dark tunnels leading to the vampires’ abode, trying to concentrate on the elusive memory. The tunnels…yes, the tunnels had been in the dream. He hadn’t recalled the dream at all at first, but now he could remember that much. He had been hurrying through these tunnels, on some extremely urgent errand, the most important one in the world. For a moment, he turned to look across his shoulder, and then shook his head in disgust. He had actually expected somebody else to be there, somebody who had been there in the dream. Of course I don’t know who. Or anything useful whatsoever, except that it turned into a nightmare in the end. Hardly anything new about that. But no, telling himself that didn’t really work. This wasn’t one of the normal, familiar, regular nightmares. This was something else, something more real. And he couldn’t shake the feeling that the nightmare was trying to prepare him for something very bad in real life. Well, if it is, then I have to say it’s doing an extremely lousy job of it, since it’s neglecting to mention any details at all, except the oh-so-stunning revelation that walking into a nest of vampires might be bad for my health. It’s not as if I could have guessed that on my own. Shaking his head in disgust he went on, wondering if perhaps the intrusive dream had something to do with those scryings he still felt trying to catch him, like an invisible web sweeping the world.

The Wychlaran…could it be that they have managed to break through? To influence my mind? No! I will not allow it. Not again. Never again. And it didn’t feel quite right, either. If it had been the Witches of Rasheman, then he doubted that they would be sending him any sort of warning about impending danger. No, they would have tried to kill me already. Or worse. Most probably worse. Well, the mystery would simply have to wait for now. Right now he needed to concentrate fully on what he was doing, or there would be no need for vague warnings since he would be in very clear and present danger. And I really don’t need any more flashbacks about walking on four legs, thank you so very much.

The vampire lair was pretty much quiet tonight, Dekaras was pleased to see. Probably most of them were out hunting. A pair of young fledglings hissed threateningly from a corner, but backed off when they recognized him. Bodhi had trained her children well. They knew they were not supposed to harm certain select humans, and that included both those poor unfortunate souls who fetched and carried for the undead, their minds completely enslaved, and the more independent agents, such as himself. Not that I must ever make the mistake of depending on that protection. To them, we are all cattle in the end.

It had come as a bit of a surprise that there weren’t more ex-Shadow Thieves working for Bodhi, either in their original capacity or as newly turned vampires. To be certain, there were several, but not at all as many as the number of disappearances suggested. Of course it was possible that they had simply been slain, but Dekaras doubted that. If so, then why would Bodhi be so eager to recruit her competition, and not simply attack them all? No, there had to be something else in store for them, probably something very unpleasant.

Now he had reached the stairs heading down to Bodhi’s private quarters, and descended even deeper than before. Everything was quiet, very quiet. That is, right up until the point when he came to the door leading to Bodhi’s rooms, and found it just a little bit ajar, somebody having neglected to fully close it. There were voices coming from inside too, not from the next room, but from somewhere further inside the apartment. One was clearly Bodhi’s. There was no mistaking that voice, the sultry surface trying and failing to hide the cold depths beneath. The other voice was male, and the intonation told the assassin what he needed to know, though he wasn’t close enough to make out the words. Yoshimo? Now this is interesting… He knew that the other rogue had orders and missions of his own of course, but so far he had been unable to learn much about them. He didn’t dare question the bounty hunter other than in the most casual way, since that might well be reported directly back to Bodhi, and of course it was out of the question to ask the Queen Vampire herself. But an opportunity to learn some more about exactly what secret missions Yoshimo was undertaking, that was an opportunity that really shouldn’t be passed up.

Gently, ever so gently he pushed at the door, and it swung open soundlessly, allowing him to slip inside the room. It was mostly dark inside, with just a small amount of pale candlelight coming from under the door to one of the adjoining rooms, along with the voices. He could only just barely make out some more of those rather disgusting blood baths, lowered into the floor. Fortunately they seemed to be empty this time around, but the smell still lingered. He had to be careful of course, very careful. Not only had Bodhi been an elf in life, with all what that meant in terms of acute hearing, but she was a vampire too, and a powerful one. As he slowly edged towards the closed door in front of him, the assassin focused every fiber of his being on making not even the slightest of sounds. Move with the shadows, inside the shadows, as one of them. Not a footstep. Not a single breath to be heard. Not a beat of the heart. His breathing and pulse actually did slow when he went into this almost trance-like state, every muscle firmly under his control, and all conscious thought seeped away, letting him concentrate exclusively on his goal. Then it was done, and he was standing right outside the door he wanted, able to hear the words spoken inside.

“…and hopefully they will be returning to the city soon,” Bodhi was saying. She chuckled quietly. “Our young Bhaalspawn is eager to be reunited with her little Imoen, I am certain. And if she wants it, then I shall be happy to aid her. After I have no further use for the girl, of course.”

“But Mistress Bodhi,” Yoshimo said, his voice low and subdued. “Surely you need your brother to…”

A low hiss, like that of an angry cat. “Fool! Arrogant and conceited he may be, and as passionless as any other old withered husk, but he knows his craft. He would not have allowed himself to be taken if he did not know it would ultimately benefit our cause. He is far more powerful than those little cowled gnats currently in charge of Spellhold, and he will know how to deal with them.” Her voice turned sickly sweet again. “Do not worry your pretty little head with such complex matters, my precious. We will do our part, and that way we will all get what we want. I am certain my brother will send word before long.”

“As you say, Mistress,” Yoshimo said, but there was a hollow tone to his voice that told Dekaras that he was anything but pleased with this thought.

“Now, on to your own tasks,” the vampire went on. “Do not bother with Valen’s side of the matter, she will deal with that on her own. You will be called on if necessary.”

“What of the wizard?”

Again that cold, amused chuckle. “The poor girl…I believe I will have a word with her myself, and before too long. It would greatly amuse me to have a look at her. By now I believe she ought to be quite desperate, and ready to go along with my suggestions in return for what she wants.”

“And will she get it?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! My brother might possibly know how to handle such a thing, but I do not. Still, she needn’t know that, does she? And she has the ear of the Bhaalspawn, or so you tell me. That could be used in any number of ways.”

Dekaras frowned at this, thinking it over. Unfortunately it didn’t tell him much, about Imoen’s location or anything else he needed to know. For one fleeting, hopeful moment when ‘the wizard’ had been mentioned he had hoped it might be Edwin, though he certainly wouldn’t want Bodhi’s attention to ever turn towards the boy in any way. But this obviously had to be somebody else. But who? And where is Edwin anyway? Since the fortunate discovery that Edwin had indeed reached Athkatla, he had started searching the city for the wizard, but it was a large place, and so far he had had little success. He had come across some very interesting news in the Docks though, about a gang of adventurers taking down a local Shadow Thief thug by the name of ‘Mae’Var’, a thoroughly unpleasant character by the sound of it. The descriptions had been clear enough. It was Zaerini all right, and Edwin was apparently with her, though so far he had been unable to trace their progress since then. What was he thinking of, mixing himself up with Shadow Thieves like that? Doesn’t he have any idea how dangerous it is to tangle with such people? He really has no sense of self-preservation at all, not an ounce. Never has had any.

The assassin mutely shook his head with exasperation, and then forced himself to become calm again. It would be seriously inconvenient to make a noise and have Bodhi notice him after all. He would simply have to try to put Edwin out of his mind for the moment. Ha. Fat chance. Well, at least he could try.

The conversation turned to other matters for some time, discussion of various Shadow Thieves, and the details of the ongoing guild war. Interesting in a sense, but nothing that seemed vital. Dekaras was just on the verge of leaving when something else happened.

“Oh yes,” Bodhi slowly said. “What of your other task?” She giggled as if she had just thought of something very amusing. “The frail little innocent flower of an elf?”

Yoshimo made a highly disgusted sound. “The little viper is well setup in the very bosom of high society,” he said. “No doubt she will feast on all their hearts before she is done with them.”

“Probably so,” Bodhi agreed, practically purring. “Such a delightful girl…she would make a fine Child, I think. Perhaps later. But for now, I wish to offer her an alliance. Our little ex-Avariel is a power in her own right, and one I would rather have on my side for now. Time enough to drink her sweet blood later.”

“She will be planning to betray you too,” Yoshimo warned.

“Of course she will. That shall make it all the more amusing. Of course, she is hardly likely to listen to you, given your previous…falling out. And frankly, my pretty, you are not the high society type. No, we must look elsewhere. I believe our new friend Mordo will be better suited to approach our precious treasure of a Loviatar priestess…what was her name again.”

“Aerie,” Yoshimo said, his voice once again toneless.

“Aerie. Yes, that was it. Well then, Mordo will get the pleasure of charming her into our fold.” There was a very disturbing giggle. “Once we are done, I shall send for him. I desire his company.”

Dekaras didn’t really hear Yoshimo’s response to that, nor did he allow himself to pay much attention to the nasty sucking sounds and muffled gasps that followed. He never would have thought that anything Bodhi could say would give him greater pause than hearing the bloodthirsty vampire express a ‘desire for his company’, but it wasn’t that that made him feel as if somebody had just flung a noose around his neck.

Mechanically, automatically, he somehow managed to get out again without alerting Bodhi, aided by the disgusting slurping noises the vampire made as she fed on the luckless Yoshimo. Dekaras hardly noticed them however. The things he had just heard kept spinning through his mind, rapidly being analyzed and forming themselves into a complete and highly disturbing pattern. An ex-Avariel. Elven priestess of Loviatar. A ‘little innocent flower’. Aerie. Ciri. Cirindaeriella. Aerie. It’s her.