Jump to content


Throne of Bhaal


  • Please log in to reply
No replies to this topic

#1 Guest_Bibbi_*

Posted 24 March 2004 - 05:44 PM

Balthazar’s army had moved out of town a few days before Tybalt’s arrival. So the villagers had told him. They had gone to face a rivaling army, reputedly one comprised of Drow and worse terrors. There had been rumors that Balthazar had something to do with the Bhaalspawn hysteria which had recently been plaguing the land, and that he was on his way to kill a foul Drow Bhaalspawn.

Tybalt sighed as he and Edwin discussed this information in their inn room. “We followed your knowledge and my pendant this far, I suppose we will have to follow them for a little while longer.”

“But it can wait for one night, yes? (I’ll not have spent the last few days marching without a night of…relaxation).” The wizard sprawled on the bed.

“No. We’re close, and soon this can all be over. It must be over.” Tybalt stared at his clenched fists. “We rest then we head out.”

“Fine. But if my spells don’t work as effectively, don’t blame me. (Demigods think that their divinity allows them inhumane conditions, pfeh!)”

They entered the desert at night, when the temperature was lowest. The magic of Illasera’s pendant guided them toward the monk, as did the trail left by the army. They made good pace since there was only two of them and an entire army ahead. By dawn, they could see the columns of smoke left by Balthazar’s camp. “We’ll examine the situation and move from there,” Tybalt said.

They approached the camp unseen thanks to Edwins magic, and climbed to a small cliff face above the army. Hardened mercenaries readied themselves for battle amongst the tents. Several monks wandered the camp, Balthazar’s personal guard. In the distance, another camp was barely visible. “If my calculations are correct, and they always are, that should be Sendai across the desert,” Edwin surmised. “She is going to war with Balthazar. After this, nothing stands between you and your father’s throne.”

“I thought you said there was another Child somewhere,” Tybalt said.

“Yes, well, recent events being what they are, poor Abazigal is no longer among the living. Wipe out Sendai and Balthazar now and end it!” Edwin clasped his hands in excitement.

Tybalt wondered how Edwin knew these things, but decided to focus on that issue once the current one was solved. He had waded through Yaga-Shura’s army to find its leader; he could do the same here.

“If I may suggest a strategy,” the wizard suggested. “I believe we should wait for the armies to collide. In the ensuing confusion, you may move about more easily than while everyone is on his guard.”

“Good idea. We’ll wait for them to move.”

They napped periodically, one keeping watch while the other slept in the desert sun. By the time dusk had rolled around, Sendai’s army was on the move. “Of course,” Edwin said. “They would wait until night, when they are at an advantage.”

Balthazar’s army seemed to have anticipated this, for a perimeter of lights circled the camp, and the soldiers were alert.

They didn’t expect to be attacked from the ground, however. Umber hulks burrowed past the camp borders and attacked. Wave upon wave of Drow flooded in after the burrowers, striking while the confusion was still fresh.

“Now’s our chance,” Edwin said, but Tybalt held back.

“Wait until we see Sendai and Balthazar,” he suggested.

They watched the battle as it progressed below them. Despite the surprise attack, the mercenaries appeared to regain some ground, pushing the Drow back toward their tunnels. Several mages sped the battle along.

“Show offs,” Edwin muttered. “I can show them how true magic works.” He looked to Tybalt for a sign and the Bhaalspawn shrugged noncommittally. Edwin chuckled as he mumbled some words and gestured at the battlefield. A star shimmered in the night sky above, then tumbled down, becoming a streak of light as it approached the earth. Several more followed, becoming a storm of meteors raining down from the heavens. Some of the combatants stopped fighting long enough to gaze up at the hellish light before screaming and running. The Drow, in particular, cringed from the light and sought to escape it.

Meteors crashed to the ground, sending up sprays of sand and debris as they formed craters. Screams echoed though the plain as tents and soldiers caught on fire. One of the central tents opened to reveal a contingent of monks who moved to the source of the damage.

Tybalt checked the pendant, and sure enough, it pulsed toward the monks. “We’ve found Balthazar. Now where’s Sendai?”

Drow soldiers were beginning to flee back into the tunnels, but ran back out as someone—or something—forced them to fight. Several more Drow emerged, as well as a few illithid. Once again, the pendant pointed toward the newly emerging troops. “I think that’s as good an invitation as we’re going to get,” Tybalt said, and they hurried down to the camp.

The meteors had stopped before they reached battle, and Tybalt took a moment to check the necklace again. They dodged monsters and warriors in their rush to get to the remaining Bhaalspawn. Tybalt’s heart raced as he neared his goal.

They emerged onto a crater newly formed thanks to Edwin. The area had been cleared of everything but the living, surrounded by a wall of clashing blades and bloody bodies. At the edge of the crater, the group of monks faced the Drow. Edwin made to cast a spell, but Tybalt halted him. “Let them fight first,” he decided. “We’ll come in when they’re occupied.”

A monk stepped forward, calling across the chasm. “Sendai! I would have this at an end. We are the only remaining of the Five, and Melissan is dead. There is the other, the last one, Tybalt. The victor here will go on to defeat him.”

Sendai crossed her arms contemptuously. “I intend for that to be me. The Drow will have a new Spider Queen to fear!” Her retinue cheered her on.

The monk shook his head slowly. “No. It was never my intention to allow a Child to take our father’s place. I will be the last one, and once I am sure that no one will take up the throne, I, too, shall die.”

“You are a fool,” Sendai laughed. “Let us end this. May our father be on my side!” Her troops rushed forward, and the monks ran to meet them.

“Now we go,” Tybalt commanded, and he and Edwin joined the fray.

He fought Drow and monk alike, striking out viciously on his way to his last two siblings. They were already locked in combat at the midst of the fighting and Tybalt managed to wind his way to them.

“Look, it’s him, it’s Tybalt!” Sendai said, ceasing her spell casting for a moment at his entrance. Balthazar, too paused to take note of this. Fear fluttered across their faces before they greeted him with twin lunges.

Tybalt thought of his friends as he battled the two. He remembered his journey from Candlekeep to the Friendly Arm Inn, then such a distance, now nothing. He thought of his companions as he left them in Suldanessellar, the happiest he would ever know them. He wished that he could have seen Haer’Dalis one last time, made sure that he was still alive, but he knew he would never get that chance. He hoped Imoen had found some peace in the next world, as she had known so little in this one. Perhaps Gorion had found her and cared for her.

Each stroke he gave could have been his last, he reflected calmly. He was amazed that his mind was so focused and clear now, in the heat of battle. All three Bhaalspawn were bleeding heavily from their wounds, but no one showed sign of stopping.

He wondered if his travels had been worth it, been worth the pain he had experienced, worth the pain and grief he had brought to so many. Would people truly be better off once his kind were gone? War wouldn’t end. There would be another dictator with a conquering army, or hordes of monsters, or insane wizards. He had never known true peace, and he suspected the world hadn’t, either.

He thought back suddenly to what seemed like years ago, though it had only been months, when he had found another Drow tied at a stake. “If I must die in agony,” Viconia had sworn, “so shall you! May you never find peace or happiness, Tybalt of Candlekeep, and may your ending be as terrible as mine. Your father’s taint will consume you and be your downfall! This I demand of Shar and so shall you suffer!” Her curse echoed in his mind, and he realized with a wrench that her dying wish had been answered. What was happiness, truly, but ignorance? If he could have, he would have stopped the young boy eager to leave Candlekeep’s walls from placing a foot outside the fortress. He had been happiest not knowing a thing.

No, that wasn’t how to live. Truly, he had seen terrible things and performed even worse acts, but there had also been moments of joy. Haer’Dalis, freeing Trademeet, even saving Suldanessellar, despite his mourning of Imoen. He had suffered, yes, but it had been worth it.

“No!” Sendai screamed, at the same time as Balthazar sank to his knees. “This cannot be!” The Drow howled as her body turned to ash, mixing with her brother as the monk dissolved. The dust enveloped Tybalt and for a moment he thought that he, too, had turned to nothing, before his vision cleared and he saw the battle raging around him. Most of the soldiers hadn’t noticed their leaders’ deaths and kept fighting relentlessly.

“Come,” Edwin said, grasping Tybalt’s hand. “It is time.” He pointed at a circle of blackness which hovered between the remains of the last of his family. “The throne awaits.” They stepped into the portal.

Tybalt emerged onto a platform suspended over an endless abyss of stars. The center of the platform contained a column of coruscating green energy, sparking as it rushed endlessly into the depths.

“The Throne of Bhaal!” Edwin gloated. “Step into the essence of your father and take his place as the new Lord of Murder. I will be your right hand, of course (to think he thought of rejecting divinity, the foolish monkey!).”

“No!” a voice declared from behind them. A shadow of the Ravager floated before Tybalt. “I will not be denied, not when I am this close! Tybalt, my heir, you were the chosen one all along! That is why I spoke to you! None of the other Children received the attention I gave you. You were meant to succeed and come here, to bring me to life once more! I will be alive!” The words thundered through Tybalt’s head and he fell to the platform, gasping for air.

“You are powerless, despite your claims,” Tybalt told his father. “You cannot control me. You can control nothing. I banish you to the hell you came from.” Bhaal screamed as he disappeared, the hint of fire and sulfur thick in the air.

“Yes!” Edwin shouted. “You have surpassed the father! Now is the time for apotheosis! (Watch the fireworks begin).”

Tybalt stepped toward the column, then looked back at Edwin. “Do you remember when you said that gods didn’t have emotions like we do? That they wouldn’t care about suffering like what I’ve seen?”

The wizard nodded eagerly. “Yes. Once you become a god, what was once painful will be but mere memories. You will be invulnerable to harm, mental or physical. You will be an unstoppable force to shake the heavens themselves!” His eyes were aglow as he relished the inevitable.

“But I want the hurt. I want to remember how much pain there is in the world,” Tybalt said. “I don’t want to forget it all. That’s what being human is, getting through life as best as you can despite the obstacles. I faced torment after torment, but I wouldn’t give any of it up if that’s what it takes to become a god. I’m sorry.” He turned and walked into the column.

“Tybalt, no!” Jaheira dashed onto the platform, her cry too late. “You don’t know what you’re doing! Do not follow your father’s will!”

“Be quiet, woman!” Edwin snapped, and Jaheira turned on him, fury etched in her every feature.

“You monster!” she cried. “You brought him here, twisted his mind to accept his taint. If not for you, he wouldn’t have done all of this!”

“Lie to yourself all you want,” Edwin replied. “You know that Tybalt would have made his way here without or without me. It was a matter of time.”

“I refuse to accept that!” the druid said. She shoved with all of her might, sending the wizard stumbling to the brink of the platform. “How much good does your scheming do you now, fiend?” She struck at him with her staff, sending him headlong into the abyss. His screams echoed until he faded from view.

Jaheira turned back to the energy. “I came too late,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Tybalt. I tried to protect you, but there was so much-”

“Don’t cry,” Tybalt said from her left, and she spun to see him. Nothing was there, however. “I did not accept the essence, Jaheira. I’m free, now. The taint is gone from my soul. I can rest at last, find peace.”

“Tybalt? No…” Tears streamed down her face as the voice filled the air.

“Be happy for me. I lived as well as I could. This was the only way; I could have lived with the taint and continued to face conflict, or become a god and begin a new type of strife. I have accepted what my heritage means and ensured that it would harm no others. While there will always be strife in the world, perhaps one life will be saved, now that Bhaal is truly dead. One life would be enough.”

“I shall say a prayer for you,” Jaheira said.

“And I you. But return to your life. Begin again, and be happy. I can stay here no longer, but I will send you to Athkatla, to Valygar, to home.”

She began to protest, but as she opened her mouth, she found herself standing in the Corthala estate gardens. Valygar was working outside, and he looked up to see her standing there, bewildered.

“Jaheira,” he cried, rushing over and embracing her. “You’re back! Thank whatever powers watched over you. I had feared for you every moment you were gone. Is everything over, now?” He looked at her with concern.

Jaheira took a deep breath, remembering the man she had cared for so much. He had wanted her to start a new life and be happy. She would, in time. There would be a family to raise, new friends to make and old to revisit, loves to cherish and loves to remember. She would survive and even be happy. “Yes,” she said with a sad smile. “It is over.”




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

Skin Designed By Evanescence at IBSkin.com