With a single kick, Laska slammed her boot into the grate keeping her and her friends separated from the maze and the main rooms of the Asylum. Finally, two days after since they had been captured, they were once again in the main room... the one where Irenicus had defeated them with ease. Fortunately, he was not here this time. Laska helped Imoen through the tunnel, which was a small vent leading from the main rooms into the maze tunnels. It was not an official exit, but it was a way out.

"Little help," Keldorn groaned as he pushed himself through the vent with his heavy armor on.

"Hurry up, paladin," Viconia shouted from behind the fumbling Keldorn. "Get a move on. There are rats on this side."

"Excuse me, Viconia," Keldorn said. "But I seem to be stuck..."

A few colorful Drow obscenities followed, accompanied by some clanking noises.

"Viconia, don't push!" Keldorn yelled. "I'll only get wedged in even more!"

"Keldorn, I'm standing knee-deep in rats! MOVE!" Viconia snarled.

"Viconia," Imoen said. "I only saw three rats in that room."

"Three rats is three too many," Viconia snarled. "Errrgh, I'll need a bath and soak for hours to get that rat-stench off my skin!"

"Oh, this is just dandy," Laska chuckled. "Let's hope the evil villains or dragons never get wind of this, or we'll never be respected as adventurers again."

"Laska!" Viconia shouted. "You damn elf, make yourself useful and pull Keldorn loose!"

"Oh, wait," Imoen said. "I have an idea." That said, Imoen started to chant. Immediately, a patch of grease appeared underneath Keldorn's armor. Just as quickly a push from the Drow behind him sent the buttered paladin sliding out of the vent and crashing into the back wall with a resounding 'oofff'. Soon afterwards, Viconia literally threw a screeching Khittix through the vent. As the spider landed on all eights on top of Keldorn, Viconia slid through and stood defiantly as she brushed herself off, daring anyone to look at her in a funny way.

"Well, that was an impressive performance," Laska said. "Come on, Keldy, let's not lie about and find a way out of here."

"I'm afraid," Imoen said, "that we'll have to go through Irenicus to get out of here. And we still haven't found my friends. We can't just leave them here!"

"Somehow," Laska grinned, "I don't mind the prospect of that."

*Well, I do!* Ipsiya huffed from the scabbard. *This is going to end with me covered in gore, is it?*

"If you're lucky," Laska grinned.

"EEEEEEP!" Khittix chittered, standing at full attention with one leg pointed into a corridor below.

"What's going on, Khittix?" Imoen asked. "Has Korgan fallen down a well?"

"Just like last time?" Viconia added.

"In case you're wondering, Keldorn," Laska said. "Korgan and I had a binge back at Trademeet and he mistook a well for an outhouse."

"I wasn't wondering," Keldorn sighed.

"Hey, wait!" Imoen said. "He's pointing to the kitchen. Could it be?"

Immediately, Imoen sped off with her friends in tow. Turning into the kitchen, they found a bunch of strange looking people. At the oven stood a stately elf, while a little girl and a surly halfling were cutting vegetables. A familiar looking gnome and a nervous looking girl were making bread in the corner.

"Dradeel, Tiax, Tommy, Dili, Aphril!" Imoen wailed. The surprised inmates turned to the door just as Imoen bounced in and hugged as many people as she could.

"Imoen, hey!" Dili waved.

"All around.... All around... Hey, there's Imoen!" Aphril bubbled.

"Imoen!" Dradeel smiled. "Where have you BAD DOG been? You just disappeared and PLAY DEAD BAD DOGGIE BAD we never saw you again."

"Yeah," Tommy said. "If I still had my draconic might, I would have torn this whole damn dungeon apart to find you."

"Come on, Tommy, give it up already," Imoen said. "You're not a dragon."

"I am, I am!" Tommy wailed. "Stupid shapeshifting spell."

"Hi, Immy!" Dili greeted.

"Tiax allows you to be in his divine presence once more."

"I'm glad all you guys are okay," Imoen said. "Oh, and these are my friends Keldorn and Viconia. And that's Khittix. And the tall elf in the corner there is my sister Laska."

"Ah, yes," Dradeel said while walking up to her. "Imoen's told us a lot about BAD DOG you." Without warning, the elf swatted Laska against the side of the head. "That's for keeping your poor sister waiting!"

"Yeah!" Dili said, and, without warning, kicked Laska in the shin. The elf grimaced but refrained from cursing.

"Cyric curse you..." Tiax said. "If I was taller I'd rip out your spleen and eat it while you watch and die..."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Laska retorted. "Go easy on the elf-abuse, here."

"NEVER!" Tommy snarled and jumped on the kitchen table, getting ready to jump the elf with the intention of biting her to death. Too bad nobody was actually impressed by this well-meaning intent.

"Look, do you want to get out of here or not?" Laska said. "If we all work together, we could beat Irenicus downstairs."

"Irenicus?"

"He's downstairs? My draconic nose never noticed"

"We were just fixing ourselves BAD DOGGIE a sandwich here."

Suddenly, Laska was slapped in the back of the head. "HEY!" the tattooed elf said. "No more elf-abuse, I told you."

Viconia, the perpetrator, was not impressed. "Need I remind you that you didn't even get the chance to fight before Irenicus defeated you?"

"That was... then," Laska said, a dangerous light appearing behind her eyes. "This is now... I feel like tearing someone apart and it might as well be that bastard downstairs."

"Shall we do it?" Aphril said.

"Confer!" Dradeel called. Immediately, Imoen, Dili, Dradeel, Aphril, Tommy and Tiax put their heads together. A series of whispers and murmurs followed. Finally, everyone turned to Laska.

"We'll do it," Dradeel said.

"It'll be more interesting than making a sandwich," Tommy said.

"Even if it was a squid, onion and peanut butter sandwich," Dradeel added.

"I think the interesting part would come to you AFTER you've eaten that sandwich," Viconia gulped.

Throwing herself against the door, Laska crashed into the main room on the isolation ward below the holding facility. Quickly, her friends and the mad wizards followed suit. They found a strange room filled to the brim with a giant machine. Irenicus stood at the other side of the room, facing the largest glass tube and the control panel. Along the walls were more glass tubes, still containing the bodies of the unfortunate thieves sacrificed to steal Laska's spirit. Laska herself was quite impressed by the machine and felt more than a little intimidated by the strange lights and sounds. Though she was sure Jan would have the time of his life trying to figure out how this thing worked.

"Come on," Imoen said to Keldorn and Viconia. "We'd best be careful. We know what happened to Laska last time."

"I intend to do better," Laska spoke with grim determination.

"I can hear you, you know?" Irenicus spoke from the console, still having his back turned to the party. "It's one of the perks of being an elf."

"Really?" Imoen yelled. "Well, we're gonna cut your ears off and feed them to a hungry pitbull!"

Laska's face contorted with sympathy pain and grasped for her own ears to cover them protectively. "Don't you EVER say that again!" Laska yelled.

"Excuse me but I was just using the machine to check the status of y... MY spirit," Irenicus said. Finally, Irenicus deemed it fit to turn around. Looking upon the party, he was surprised to see the other inmates here.

"What is this? You have released all the inmates? How wonderfully mad of you. I didn't expect this in the least, so dangerously risky it is and... Hmm, wait a minutes, this isn't a mad plan! It's just a stupid and useless plan! Who have you recruited to stop me? A girl who's too mad to see what plane she's on, a child without a shape, an elf with a dog-fixation, a gnome with Cyric on the brain and a foolish halfling who thinks he's dragon. What can they do?!"

"HEY!" Tommy snarled. "I AM a fierce dragon. Hear my mighty roar! ROARRRRRRRR!"

"That sounded more like a infected bowel. A very average infected bowel," Irenicus said calmly.

Calmly but surely, Laska strolled towards Irenicus, stopping short a few meters before the broken elf. Irenicus regarded her coolly for a few moments. "I take it you are here to..."

"Get my spirit and Imoen's soul back, you half-rotten psychopath!" Laska snarled. "And I will HAVE THEM!"

"What are you up to?" Imoen asked. "Why are you still hanging around here if you got what you wanted."

"What kind of two-dimensional half-wit do you take me for?" Irenicus chuckled. "You'll get no villains exposition from me."

"You... you used me! You tore apart my soul and then you ripped it from me!!" Imoen said. "We're here to tear you apart for a change."

"By all that is holy, fiend," Keldorn spoke, raising Carsomyr. "We shall crush you."

"Yes," Viconia said. "What they all said."

"I see," Irenicus said, stepping cockily towards the angry elf. "Die! All of you! I have restored myself and will work my revenge without your interference!"

Irenicus had broken her a long time ago, that much Laska knew. As she looked onto him, she almost felt his knife slicing into her skin, the fear he had instilled with his mere presence, the horrors inflicted on her from the first day she had been brought into his clutches. The last time she had faced him, it tore apart her resolve, but this time, a deep rage coming from the very depths of her being kept her feet on the ground.

Yes, she had been broken, but right now, she was simply too angry to care.

Nobody was more surprised than Irenicus when she rammed his fist against his leathery jaw. Irenicus' head flew backwards, but he felt himself being roughly pulled forward by the shoulders. Irenicus groaned in pain as an armored knee was brought up violently against his stomach. The violence wasn't over yet for him. Laska folded her arms together and brought a powerful blow to the jaw for a second time, causing Irenicus to fall onto his back.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Laska snarled, a strange light shining behind her eyes as she spoke.

"You'll pay for that!" Irenicus said as he wiped the blood from his lips. With a yell, he intended to release a powerful arcane spell that would quench the life of the tattooed elf. Red light formed in his hand, but as he hurled the ball of necromantic energies towards the elf, it fizzled and dissipated before even coming close.

Laska raised an eyebrow and a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth to mock the downed wizard even further.

Joneleth knew he was in quite a predicament. He was restored, but he had to pay a very heavy price for it. With her spirit, he had inherited Laska's inability to cast magic. Most of the time spell-casting had become very difficult for him, and more often than not, his spells would fizzle for no apparent reason. He had not yet been willing to accept this as the price of his restoration, and now the denial of his once immense and now curtailed magical talents could cost him dearly. Fortunately, he had created a wand with one of his most powerful spells and could use those fine.

Fishing the wand from his robe, he wasted little time to activate the spell. Immediately, creatures formed right next to the four offending assailants, took their shapes and attacked on the party.

Laska snarled and grasped her clone by the hair, shoving it into the wall and paying no mind to it. It was obvious to him who her real target was. Slowly, but surely, the tattooed elf with a mad grin on her face came closer and closer.

Joneleth hoped his next spell would work and luckily for him it did. Four magical Force Bolts shot from his hands and hit the elf square in the chest. Joneleth couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Laska was still standing. Again he fired Force Bolts at her, and again, they had not a single effect on the angry elf. They did not deter her advance, but they only seemed to make her even more angry. Then he realized... he realized he was now up against a Bhaalspawn whose anger and power had been unleashed. He got what he wanted... Laska was fast rising towards her true potential. There were no more doubts in her eyes, no more terror... just sheer determination and murder.

With an ear-piercing shriek, Laska jumped towards Joneleth, crashing into him and dragging him along by the momentum. The sound of glass breaking let Joneleth know that the both of them had just crashed through the main container, and he became even more aware of it when he felt shards of glass slicing into his back as he landed. Unfortunately, pain was one of the feelings that had been returning recently.

Following the crash, he was immediately treated to a rain of fists slamming into him with an intensity he could not believe. Gathering all this strength, he shouted and slammed a lightning bolt into Laska's chest. Laska howled in pain as the lightning scorched her chest, causing her to fly backwards and landing with a dull thud a few meters away.

While ignoring his own pain the best he could, Joneleth took a moment to take in the sights of the battlefield. The paladin was taking on his double, as was the Drow... Hmmm, a spider seemed to have jumped on the clone-Laska's back and was pumping her full of poison. The real Laska was still in a state of semi-consciousness and lay groaning on the ground. And the five mad mages were... casting?

Joneleth quickly folded his arms and a blue magical shield was erected all around, just in time to block the magic missiles the five had fired towards him. All 25 were blocked, yet Joneleth knew that they were all mages of strength, even the little girl Dili.

"Hey, you!" Imoen, whom he had not seen earlier, was standing next to Laska's prone from. A second look revealed Imoen's clone to lie dead on top of a table, apparently having choked on a lollipop. "Yeah, you, ugly! I've got a special spell I've been saving for you!"

"Oh, really?" Joneleth answered cockily. "What would that be."

"Do you really think I've been sitting around here in Spellhold?" Imoen smiled. "No, I've been creating this spell especially for you, Irenicus."

"Really?" Joneleth said, remembering this girl's short attention-span. "What could that be?"

"THIS!" Imoen shouted and started to chant. Slowly, but certainly, a magical aura started to form around Imoen, which slowly started to increase in strength. Joneleth looked on as her hair was whipped across her face when the magic started to swirl around her. Immediately, Imoen put her hands together to form a powerful magic ball of energy. Quickly, the energy shot towards Joneleth in a gigantic yellow beam.

Joneleth smiled. The beam was powerful, very powerful, but it was slow. Calmly, he cast another one of his magical shields.

Unfortunately, the magic fizzled in his hands.

Frantically, he tried to recast, but it was too late. The yellow beam crashing into him and slammed him back into the machine. The machine could not handle the powerful magics that were suddenly conducted through it, and a series of explosions followed. One by one, the glass containers exploded in a rain of glass while the room filled with arid smoke from the main unit.

As Joneleth crawled to his feet, he realized that he was not having a good day. The smug look on Imoen's face said enough.

After surveying the area, he realized his predicament was even worse. All the clones had been killed, and even though Laska was still out of the fight, her companions were not. To make matters worse, the mages were casting spells of protection on the three combatants. He quickly devised a new strategy... He would hurl a powerful dispel-magic into the room to strip away the defenses, then follow up with fireballs and necromantic death-spells. Provided, of course, that his magic wouldn't fizzle.

A ball of magic shot from Jon's hand into the room, illuminating the chambers with magical light. Unfortunately for Joneleth he would again have to revise his strategy. The voice of the halfling Tommy could be heard from the brightness. "Yes," it said while deepening, "YESSSSS!"

Suddenly, bricks were raining down upon the room following a loud crash. When the brightness subsided, he was suddenly staring at the pitch-black scaled belly of a black dragon hovering above him.

"What do you know?!" he heard Imoen giggle. "He really is a dragon!"

"Infected bowel, ey?" the draconic voice of Tommy yelled down. "I'll show YOU!"

Oh, yes, this was fast becoming a very bad day.

But before he could react to this new development, Laska was on him again with a few surprise hits. His magic fizzled again and again, as Laska abandoned her swordcraft and cooled her rage with her fists. Joneleth feebly tried to protect himself, but it was to no avail. Laska made herself up for a single final blow...

Suddenly, as Laska's fist connected with his face, a strange sucking sound could be heard, and when Joneleth opened his eyes, he was horrified to find Laska staring at a bloodied mask in her hands.

The entire room fell silent, and Joneleth was quickly to cover his face with both hands before anyone could see. Jon grimaced as he felt the warm blood oozing through his fingers.

"Wow," Laska said.

"Come on, Irenicus," Imoen said. "Let's take a look. Come on, I bet you're really gross under there. Come on, let's see!"

"HAH! TIAX rules all!"

"Take that, meanie!" Dili yelled.

"Fear my Draconic might!"

The sheer humiliation was too much for Joneleth to bear. He had to get out of here... He had to flee...

"Have your victory here then, but know that you are dying on the inside even now," Joneleth said.

"That threat sounds kinda hollow coming from someone cradling a bloody face," Laska smirked.

A guttural snarl escaped from Joneleth's mouth as he activated a wand he never expected to use : his wand of escape. With a single word, he, and his mask, dimension-doored away.

"CRAP!" Laska shouted as she ran up to the disappearing portal. "He got away! But... we'll hunt you down, Irenicus... We'll hunt you down..."

"Did you get some sense of closure out of this, Imoen?" Viconia asked as she and her friend stood outside in the evening sun, looking over the strange building that was Spellhold.

"I think so," Imoen said. "I always thought of Irenicus as a tyrant, a monster, someone we could never defeat... but now I'll only remember him as a broken man, cradling his bloodied face. It's somehow... comforting."

"Your friends seem to be handling their newfound freedom well," Viconia said as Dili took the shape of a cactus and parked herself next to a gigantic black dragon sitting on the edge of the mountain.

"I'm worried about Laska," Imoen said. "She's been... changing, you know?"

"How so?"

"I dunno," Imoen said. "She's Laska, but... she's not. And she's getting more not every minute. Does that make any sense?"

"I think so..."

"Do it, Tommy," Laska spoke and the dragon was more than eager to comply. Acid spew from his mouth, hitting several of the support beams at once. The beams sizzled and melted, and before too soon, the whole building that was Spellhold was shaking and groaning. A rain from bricks followed as Spellhold slowly, but surely, sank down into the waves below, never to be seen again.

"Spellhold," Laska grinned. "We never knew ya."