Chapter 10

Sacrifice: Chapter 10


"Auren, behind you!"

I turned around, only to see a huge red claw heading towards my face. I threw myself onto the stone floor and rolled, narrowly escaping what should have been my death.

I stood up and grabbed my throwing knife. I hurled it at Firkragg's left eye, praying to every god that it would hit the target. It did.

Firkragg screamed, or rather, roared in pain.


"Finally, I can lay down in a real bed," Nalia said as she put her gear down near the dresser. We had just arrived at the Mithrest, and after a few days of travel from Nalia's keep and camping, I was relieved as well that I would be sleeping in a real bed tonight.

Aerie and Jaheira were sharing a room, and Minsc and Yoshimo were rooming together. Nalia had asked if she could room with me because she wanted to talk with me about something. Jaheira had barely gotten any rest since we left Irenicus's dungeon, so she was tired, and Aerie...well, Aerie was always tired. It was understandable, since she had never adventured before, and I had to admit, the girl could fight well.

"I never got the chance to say 'thank you', Auren," Nalia said.

"For what?" I asked as I changed out of my battlegear.

"For saving my keep; from the trolls and from the Roenalls," she explained.

"Heh, I don't know if it's completely safe from the Roenalls," I said.

She smiled grimly. "Well, it's safe for now."

"Yeah. Otherwise we can always give Isaea a wedgie and have Minsc punt him," I suggested and she laughed. I noticed she had bags under her dark eyes.

"You look tired," I said, "you should get some rest."

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'll sleep in a little bit. I gotta go take care of some stuff."

"Oh, okay," she said and I left.


"Yoshimo! Get his other eye!" I shouted, my voice echoeing several time in the large cavern.

Yoshimo aimed and fired an ice arrow, something I hadn't seen since I was in the bandit camp near Baldur's Gate. It hit Firkragg in his remaining good eye. The dragon roared in pain and blindly took a swipe at Yoshimo. Yoshimo was able to roll out of the way but while I was watching him, I was distracted enough to not notice the claw coming at me again.

"AUREN!" someone screamed.

Everything went dark.



Our room had a balcony so I decided to go outside and look at the stars. I began thinking back on everything that had happened so far. Only less than a year ago, I was forced to leave my secure home in Candlekeep with my father, Gorion. A wise sage and more like a father to me than some dead god could ever be, Gorion adopted me and raised me.

Imoen had been with me for as long as I could remember. A troublemaker by nature, she was always getting into someone else's pockets or 'accidently' forgetting to pay for something. But she had a pure heart and I loved her like a sister.

I had never met my mother, but after my half-brother Sarevok had killed my foster father in an unsuccessful attempt to get me, Imoen and I ran into Jaheira and Khalid, friends of Gorion. They offered to help me find my way in the dangerous Sword Coast and were like second parents to me. Khalid would teach me the art of swordfighting and Jaheira would lecture me on how reckless I was. Then she observed Imoen and stopped lecturing me for a while. They were honest and good and I considered them my family.

I sighed and tried not ot think about Khalid, how he was killed and cut to pieces by the monster called Irenicus. How, because of Irenicus, because of the fact that I was the daughter of a dead god, Imoen was taken against her will.

I felt the anger and rage that was in my blood boiling inside me. I clenched my fists and tried to clear my mind when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Nalia staring at me, looking concerned.

"You all right?" she asked.

I calmed down. I couldn't tell her who I was. What I was. "I'm...fine. What are you doing up; I thought you were sleeping."

Nalia shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. The last few days have been more intense than anything I've been through in my life."

"I know how you feel," I said. "When my foster father died, I couldn't sleep for a week."

We stood in silence for a while.

"So, what do you tihnk of the others?" I asked.

"I like them," she said, smiling. "They're great. Minsc always knows how to cheer the group up. Yoshimo is kind of mysterious but he seems nice enough. Jaheira is a great fighter, and Aerie, well, I know she's not exactly experienced, niether am I though, but she always gives it her best effort."

"Yup, that sounds like the group to me," I said, laughing a little.

"So, what is your friend like?" she asked.

"Who? Imoen?" I asked and she nodded. "She's great. More of a sister to me than anything. I miss her," I said, not noticing that I let myself sound as sad as I was feeling, something I did not intend to do.

Nalia surprised me by taking my hand.

"No! Make her wake up! Make her wake up!" Somebody was having hysterics but I couldn't tell who.

"Child, you MUST calm down and back away. Can someone please take her?" A woman's voice.

"Come with me, miss, so that the Lady Jaheira may work on our young leader," I heard a man's voice say.

"Can Boo help at all?" That HAD to be Minsc.

"No!" the woman snapped. I suddenly felt excrutiating pain in my side. I yelled out.

"She will live," I heard the woman say. Her voice was still harsh but I could sense some relief in it. What had happened?



I stared at her, puzzled, but I didn't move my hand away. Instead I closed my fingers around her hand. What is going on, I thought.

Nalia turned red and moved her hand. "I should...get some rest. If we're going to the Windspear Hills to do that ogre hunting for Firkragg, I'll be useless if I'm sleeping on the way."

"Yeah. Me, too," I said. We had talked to a noble by the name of Firkragg, who had promised 10,000 gold to clear out some ogres in his lands. We had agreed: 10,000 more gold would put us at 20,000, enough to pay Bayle for the help he promised to get us to Imoen.

"Good night," she said and disappeared.

I watched her leave and kept staring in the direction she had left. I was confused. Was there something going on here that I wasn't grasping? Nalia was about two years younger than me, a noble, something I was most certainly not, and definitely was not feeling what I suspected she was...right?


I slowly and painfully opened my eyes only to feel sick to my stomach. The floor was drenched in blood, some of it ours and some of it from the large red dragon Firkragg turned out to be. My clothes and armor were stained as well, and I could see the deep wound in my side Firkragg had done me when his claw hit me. It was partially healed now, thanks to Jaheira's healing powers. Aerie, to my surprise, had no injuries. Minsc was covered in debris and ashes. Boo was now a black hamster. Yoshimo had a few cuts and bruises on his arms and Nalia had a deep cut on her forehead.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked.

"We're fine," Jaheira said. I looked at the dead dragon.

"How'd we get him?" I asked.

"Well, a blind dragon cannot fight very well, and between Nalia, Aerie, and my own magic and Minsc and Yoshimo hitting him in the chest with arrows, we were able to kill him," she explained.

"Oh...well, great job, and I'm sorry I was...well, useless," I said, feeling guilty.

"You're never useless," Nalia blurted out and everyone stared at her. She quickly turned red.

"That's right you're not, Auren," Aerie said and I noticed Nalia give her a grateful smile. Once again, I felt out of the loop.

"Um...let's go get Windspear's son and get back to the cabin," I said and the rest of the group eagerly agreed.