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[Weyoun]

 
A'mael Mellonamin part 11 : Hope

"Alris," Aribeth smiled as he and his party stormed into Maugrim's sanctuary, really for combat. Instantly, the party stopped dead in their tracks.

"Aribeth!" Alris felt his anxiety fade away and make place for the warm fuzzy feeling inside which he usually had when he was near the woman he loved.

To Alris' party, this was not a scene of confrontation. There was none of the usual mutual loathing between enemy and the confronting heroes. In fact, it seemed more like a reunion of two lovers who had been parted far too long.

"I knew you'd come here," Aribeth said with a smile. "You have become quite the thorn in Maugrim's side. I... missed you, Alris."

"And... I missed you," Alris returned with a small smile. "I... wanted to come for you when..."

"I'm glad that you didn't," Aribeth offered. "Maugrim had ordered his cultists to kill you on sight and offered a ten thousand gold reward for the one who would deliver your head to him on a platter, enough for all the low-lives of the Luskan army to jump at the chance."

"Hey!" Tomi suddenly spoke up. "What about us? Didn't we get a price on our heads?!"

"Five thousand gold for each of you," Aribeth half-smiled.

"Ah, that's more like it!" Tomi nodded.

"Quiet, Tomi!" Sharwyn said, and was confronted with harsh stares from all his friends, finally succeeding in shutting him up.

"My troops control the city, and soon Castle Never will fall," Aribeth nodded. "Strange, I thought I would feel more content about that. I am not even directly responsible for Neverwinter's fall... Too bad."

"Forget about Neverwinter, and forget about Morag," Alris added. "She's been manipulating you from the start!"

Aribeth threw her head back and released a bout of self-mocking laughter. "Don't you think I know that? I'm no Maugrim... I know Morag will betray me. In fact, I'm hoping for it. I am hoping for an end to all this pain..."

"Pain? What pain?" Alris replied. "Aribeth, it's braver to live, than to die. There is still a way back out of the pit you've dug for yourself!"

"Alris," Aribeth's voice took on a more sinister tone. "Please. I can die on Morag's sacrificial slab, or I can die right here, by your hand. I'd rather die a warrior's death at the hands of a friend than that my heart is eaten by a lizard. Arvandor beckons me either way."

Alris looked horrified. "You... can't expect me to kill you!"

"Do it," Aribeth's voice took on a more sinister voice as she raised her blade, a red-glowing foul vampiric longsword. "Or I will force you to kill me."

"Aribeth," Alris' face went white as a sheet. "You... have not right to put me in this position."

"Kill me," Aribeth spoke calmly and swatted at Alris' sword with her own blade, trying to force a conflict.

"No, I will not!" Alris shouted back.

"KILL ME!" Aribeth shrieked. "SEND ME TO MY FAMILY!!" she said, before attacking in force.

Alris' party stood by the sidelines, watching the two elves fight, though it hardly was a fight. All of their friends had seen either of the two elves in battle before, and it was obvious their heart just wasn't in it. Aribeth made a rather weak slice at Alris' legs, which he easily blocked. Alris tried to disarm Aribeth by crossing his blades and lifting Aribeth's sword out of her hands, but he apparently changed his mind as the sharp edges of his swords would come dangerously close to her wrists. Aribeth, in turn, took a step forward to perform a stabbing motion, purposely missing Alris' chest. The two skilled fighters fought as if neither had ever held a sword in their lives, doing their best not to hurt each other.

"Err, guys?" Sharwyn said. "Shouldn't we do something here?"

"Perhaps we should break them up?" Daelan Rid-Tiger suggested carefully.

"Logic would suggest that to be the most prudent course of action," Boddyknock offered.

"No, dears," Linu said grimly. "We don't do a thing here."

"An elf thing?" Tomi half-grinned.

"Precisely," Linu nodded. "Let them solve this themselves."

Meanwhile, Alris made a stabbing motion of his own, and, to his horror, Aribeth did not block the attempt, but tried to impale herself on cold steel. With incredible speed, he just managed to twist his body to raise his sword so that it merely nicked her shoulder. Aribeth's sword, on the other hand, accidentally sliced across Alris' forearm.

The result was predictable. When she saw Alris' wound, Aribeth looked ready to collapse from grief, while Alris was ready to rush up to Aribeth to see if she was okay.

Both elves stared each other in the eyes for what seemed like an eternity. There were no words, no exchanges, just a look. Eventually, the blades clattered to the ground as the two elves rushed up to each other and embraced fiercely.

Both Alris and Aribeth revelled in the sensation. They has missed each other so much over the past months the feeling of closeness was more than bliss.

"I won't kill you," Alris whispered as he held on to Aribeth. "And neither will Morag."

"I want this pain to end," Aribeth wept softly. "I see their faces every day. Every day for the last sixty years... My father... my mother... my brothers. I should have died with them, Alris."

"This is all because of your family, isn't it?" Alris asked. "You never got over their deaths... the anger, the rage, the lust of vengeance were never gone, just... bottled up."

"It was always there," Aribeth sighed, finally admitting it to herself. "Always lurking under the surface of a false feeling of contentness. I thought I was happy... But I think I never really was."

"When your faith wavered, it came back in full force... Allowing Morag to play you like a puppet," Alris whispered, gently rubbing the sensitive spot behind her ear while Aribeth let her hands run across the back of his neck.

"Perhaps, I only became paladin because it felt like I would be shedding my past," Aribeth whispered. "or maybe I really wanted to find peace, who knows. I never knew peace since my family was killed, instead I lived a lie."

"I couldn't save my family, Alris. I couldn't save Fenthick. I just grew angrier, and angrier... taking solace in revenge. But it doesn't matter anymore. Morag will awaken... and destroy the north. There's nothing you can do to stop it."

"Don't say that, Aribeth," Alris replied. "There's always hope."

Aribeth snorted briefly. "Hope? I thought you respected me enough not to use those types of platitudes. There is no hope. Not anymore..."

"'There is always hope'." Alris smiled. "Weren't you the one to tell me that when the plague hit Neverwinter?"

"You still have the strength of your convictions, Alris," Aribeth sighed. "I no longer have that luxury. The visions Morag showed me. They..."

"Haven't you ever considered that Morag's visions might have been lies?" Alris retorted. "Her time is over, Aribeth. She longs back to a past which will never be again."

"Haven't you been paying attention the last year?!" Aribeth almost chuckled in the absurdity of it all.

"There is always hope, Aribeth," Alris said, holding up his hand, where Aribeth's ring was firmly attached around his ring finger.

"You... you kept my ring?" Aribeth seemed genuinely surprised. "After my betrayal? After all the death and misery I have brought to you, your friends and the city? But... but why?"

"Because I love you, Aribeth," Alris blushed violently red. "I love you no matter what."

In the corner, the party watched the private exchange with ready smiles. Though Sharwyn had barely silenced a 'WOOO!' from Tomi, they remained quiet, but happy.

Aribeth's cheeks flushed a little, and on her face appeared a grateful and genuine smile of happiness. Without saying a word, she removed a black sash from her neck, revealing the Leafwalker-family pendant he had given her during that day in the woods so long ago.

"See?" Alris smiled happily, looking at the pendant. "There is a tiny spark of hope left within you."

"Did I ever know true peace as a paladin, I wonder?" Aribeth shook her head. "I always ran from my pain... I think," Aribeth shook like a leaf, making perhaps the most difficult decision of her life. She looked at Alris again, and smiled. She looked at his friends... her friends, standing in utter silence... and made her decision. "I think it's finally time to stop running."

"I can't believe your family would have wanted you to suffer over their deaths," Alris said, taking Aribeth in a firm embrace once more.

"Guilt..." Aribeth whispered, "is even worse than elven vengeance. I will... surrender, Alris. With what I know of the Luskan forces, the defenders should be able to beat back the assaults for a couple of days. Thanks to my tactics the worst of the attackers are still trapped in the warehouse-district. And, I might convince some others to join against Luskan."

"Aribeth, no!" Alris replied.

"Don't you trust me?" Aribeth asked.

"You I trust," Alris smiled. "But not Nasher..."

"I'm not doing this for Neverwinter, Alris," Aribeth said while rubbing Alris' hands with her own. Her eyes, which had seen so much sadness, were now sparkling once more. "I'm doing this for you. And for me. And for hope..."

Suddenly, Hane, the huge Dire-Wolf animal companion of Alris, threw his canine head into the hair and released a howl which echoed across the sanctum. Maugrim, cult leader and worshipper of the Dread Queen Morag, emerged through the tunnel. And from up close, he looked even more foul that he did from afar. It was clear that he was being slowly twisted from the inside. The wizard-lord's bald head was covered with long, deep, self-inflicted gashes to prove his allegiance to Morag. Right now, he was snarling in Aribeth's direction. "So," Maugrim sneered, "I knew you were too weak to serve the Old Ones, Aribeth. Well, who's not with Morag will be against her. I look forward to hearing your screams as the Old Ones eat your flesh from your living body, elf!"

Aribeth nodded and picked up her sword. "Can I have him?" Aribeth asked with a lopsided grin.

"Be my guest," Alris nodded.

"Fear the coming of the Old Ones! Fear the..." a flash of metal speeding just under his chin was one of the last sights he would ever witness. Maugrim tried to speak, but all that same out of his mouth was a disgusting gurgle. Feeling his neck, he noticed mostly wetness... and that the part of his neck containing his vocal cords was missing. He croaked what appeared to be a plea for Morag to save him, but a final stab right through his heart silenced him forever.

"You don't realize how often I wanted to do that," Aribeth shook her head and smiled.

"Don't go to Nasher! Flee!" Alris said. "I'll meet up in the woods with you! We'll leave together!"

"I can't, Alris," Aribeth smiled. "No matter how much I might want to, I'd just be running away again. No, I must stop running... turn around and take the bull by the horns."

"If Nasher kills you, I'll tear this whole damn city apart!" Alris spoke in desperation.

"No, you won't," Aribeth smiled. "Because you're not like that. You never gave up on me, Alris. I... should have told you this sooner... I love you, Alris."

Those four simple words meant more to Alris than the world. A broad, goofy smile spread over his face and Aribeth couldn't help but giggle. He had looked the same when they had first met. She couldn't resist and ran her hands through his reddish hair. "Go find Morag, and destroy her, Alris. I know you can do it. She has a hold on me, and I do not trust myself around her... I would be glad to help you otherwise. I... I am an elf who had long ago forgotten how to live. Maybe, in the few short moments of life I may have left, I can teach myself to live again."

They kissed. Deeply... Feelings of desperation, pain of parting and agony for their unknown fate shot through them. All making way, for a sparkle of hope which turned into a raging inferno.

---

Weird stuff happened damn quickly.

Or at least that was how Tomi put it. Over the last hour, Aribeth's defection had changed the scales for the Neverwinterian defenders dramatically. Aribeth did not come to the gates of Castle Never alone. Instead, she brought not only knowledge, but an army of barbarian women under the leadership of one Suranine, which pledged their honor to the defense over Neverwinter after Nasher had promised them to return their ancestral lands after the war would end.

Alris, regrettably, was not given time to visit Aribeth, though it pained him to think that she was now languishing in the dungeon of Castle Never, and he swore he would get her out of there no matter what.

Using the words of power, he and his party were transported into the large magical crystal beneath Castle Never, in which Morag and her people had slept for thousands of years. Soon enough, they found themselves battling for their lives.

"WOOO!" Tomi shouted in glee as Linu brought down a column of holy fire over the head of a cadre of giant lizard. "FRIED REPTILE BARBECUE! I bet they be as tasty as they look!"

"Let words more hurts!" Sharwyn grinned as she fired her bow, hitting another lizard priest through the eye, making it fall to the floor twitching violently.

"It would be logical to assume that Morag will be the last to join the defenders. Leaders of her type often follow this kind of pattern," Boddyknock smiled.

"The 'I'm a coward, even though I am your strongest foe'-pattern?" Daelan grinned as he skewered a lizard, rose it over his head and threw its dying carcass across the room.

"You're right, dear!" Linu shouted. "There she is!"

And there she, indeed, was. Morag, the dread queen, stood six feet tall on bent hind-legs. Her winkled scales betrayed her age as she stepped forward, her red beady eyes shining with murder as her raspy breath... and voice sounded through the rocky sanctum.

"You, elf," she spoke. "You have thwarted me at every turn, but no longer. Our return is inevitable! Our dominance cannot be avoided. Your resistance is hopeless."

"If there is one thing I have learned, it's that there is always hope," Alris retorted.

"Not for you," Morag snarled and raised her scaly arms... only to be thwarted in her spellcasting as Hane took her arm in his bonecrushing jaws. The dire-wolf snarled and twisted, tearing skin and flash as he shook his head with her prey in his mouth.

"This is for what you did to Aribeth, lizard!" Alris shouted and crossed his blades. The last, surprised, thought that crossed Morag's mind was her noting the fact her head had landed quite far from her body.

Morag's life-force was all that had kept her people in magical stasis, and all that sustained the crystal. What seemed like a gigantic earth-quake started to take place. Pieces of rock and fire rained down on Alris and his friends, while they ran for dear life towards a newly created portal in the face of the rock... and found themselves safely outside, inside the basement of Castle Never, amidst thousands of crystal shards.

"So, are we all here?" Linu asked and quickly counted her friends, being quite happy to find that they were all accounted for.

"OW, bloody hell!" Tomi screamed.

"What?" Sharwyn asked with concern. "Are you okay?"

"I stepped on a piece of crystal dammit," Tomi replied.

Immediately, an angry Sharwyn smacked Tomi in the back of the head.

"Ouch, what was that for?!" the halfling replied with indignity.

"For a moment, I thought you were seriously hurt..." Sharwyn shook her head.

"So, it's over, then?" Daelan asked.

"No," Alris whispered, while he glanced in the direction of Aribeth's cell, "it's not. Not by a longshot"