Chapter 20

Disclaimer: Blood and violence

Sacrifice: Chapter 20

I awoke expecting to find Nalia next to me but to my surprise, she was not there.

“Nalia?”

“Over here, Auren!” I heard her call. I looked to my left and saw Nalia knelt down by the pond, washing her face. She was fully clothed.

“How did-,” I began.

“I went to search for our clothes and I found them right where we had put them. Imoen must have given up and returned them,” she said.

I grinned and shook my head. “Trust me, she hasn’t given up.” Then I sighed. “I suppose I’ll have to talk to her since she knows now.”

Nalia nodded. “Yes…she must have…she must have seen us.”

I stood up with the blanket wrapped around me. Nalia brought me my clothes. I took them and went behind a rock to dress.

As soon as I was done, we started to make our way back to camp. I took Nalia’s hand and she smiled at me as we continued to walk.
__________________

“You are becoming an impressive pest, one that I am finding difficult to ignore.”

“I’ve come to take back what you stole. I will not leave empty handed. I WILL have my soul,” Imoen sneered.

Bodhi smirked and looked at me. “I’m quite surprised that even without your soul you have managed to get this far, Child of Bhaal,” she said.

“And I’m surprised that Irenicus still hasn’t realized what an ugly bitch you are. Now hand over my sister’s soul and the lanthorn,” I snarled.

Bodhi simply smiled and disappeared.

“What the-,” Imoen said but didn’t get to finish.

Three vampires attacked us. I drew my second sword and drove both of them into the closest vampire. It screamed and fell.

Jaheira rammed one in the head with her staff, crushing its skull, while Imoen fired an arrow and hit it in the back, bringing it down for good. Aerie cast a Hold Undead spell which froze the last vampire in place while Minsc swung his massive sword, splitting the vampire’s skull in half and killing it.

Panting, I realized that Nalia was missing.

“She took her!” I cried. “That bitch took Nalia! We have to get her back!”

“She’s right,” Imoen said. “Let’s go!”

“Boo says he senses some vampire butt kicking!” Minsc shouted.

________________


Nalia squirmed and attempted to free herself from the ropes Bodhi’s servants had used to tie her up next to the pool of blood that was in the center of the room in Bodhi’s lair.

“Enjoying ourselves?” Bodhi asked as she entered the room.

“You filthy bitch! Auren will hack you to pieces if I don’t first!” Nalia yelled.

Bodhi laughed and began toying with a strand of Nalia’s reddish hair. “Ah, yes, I could sense your feelings for that *elf* the last time you invaded my territory,” she said.

“Get your disgusting zombie hands off me you slut!” Nalia shouted.

Bodhi smirked and pulled Nalia’s hair hard, causing the human girl to yelp in pain and bringing the two only inches apart from each other. Bodhi stared at Nalia with dark, hungry eyes that clearly betrayed the vampire’s motives.

“Vampire hands…my dear…not zombie,” Bodhi whispered. “Vampire.”

________________

“Auren, you’re late! We’ve started without you!” Drizzt, a Drow of good alignment and a hero of the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale, said. We had met him on our way back to Athkatla and when I had asked him for help in battling Bodhi, he eagerly accepted.

Drizzt and his companions had taken down many of the vampires when we arrived inside Bodhi’s lair in the crypts of the Graveyard District.

“Aerie! Minsc! You two take the vampires on that side!” I said, pointing to a corner in the room. “Jaheira and I can handle these here.”

A vampire attacked me from behind, but I sensed it and spun around, inserting my sword into its throat, spraying blood everywhere, including on my armor, clothes, and face.

“Dammit…I just washed these!” I yelled and sliced into another vampire. Drizzt and his companions finished with their vampires and came over to help us.

“Oy! Drizzt, killing undead makes me hungry,” one of Drizzt’s companions, a dwarf, said. “Can we eat after this?”

More vampires approached us.

“We can handle it, Auren!” Imoen shouted. “Go save Nalia!”

I nodded, hoping I was making the right choice in leaving them.

___________________


Nalia stared at the vampire, her eyes wide and full of fear now.

“It’s not often that I get to have noble blood,” Bodhi said softly. “Yes, I know who you are, Nalia de’Arnise. I know that you are betrothed to Isaea Roenal…and I know who killed your mother. And I can tell you that it wasn’t a street mugger.”

“You’re a liar!” Nalia yelled in Bodhi’s face.

Bodhi laughed and said, “I have been watching the events in this city for some time now, brat, so yes, I do know. You’re mine now, though, so why would I have a reason to lie to you?”

Nalia turned very pale as she looked at Bodhi.

“Yes, I’m guessing you want to know *who* did it and probably *why* as well,” Bodhi said and began toying with Nalia’s hair again.

“Let’s see, I’m surprised you haven’t guessed it yet. He really is quite an idiot when it comes to murdering someone, which is why he hired me, of course,” Bodhi continued.

Nalia just stared at Bodhi.

“Hmmm…let’s see, you were just a child then....eleven or twelve perhaps. Your mother would come to the city, giving money to the stupid beggars and that sort, just like you if I’m not mistaken,” she said. “So there I was, minding my own business when a moron human named Isaea Roenal comes up to me, asking me to help him kill a noblewoman to make it easier for him to gain control of a keep.”

Nalia’s face was ghostly white now. “No…” she whispered.

“Oh, yes,” Bodhi said, smiling. “He’s quite a bit older than you isn’t he? So, I’m guessing he was about twenty something years old when this was going on. So he asks me to kill this woman, and I send a few of my assassins out there to kill her and make it look like some mugger had gotten her. Simple as that. A few years later, he hired some trolls to invade your keep, their primary goal: to kill your father. Now, you might ask, *why* would Roenal kill both your parents? Why, you were already betrothed to him at that point. Once your goody-goody parents were out of the way, both you and the keep were his.” She grinned. “What a lovely plan, don’t you agree, Nalia?”

Nalia’s face went from white to a deep red. “You…you’re nothing but a backstabbing, murdering BITCH!”

Bodhi smirked. “You know you don’t mean that, Nalia.”

“Of course I do, you whore! Now, let me go!” Nalia struggled to free herself, but the ropes held her in place.

Bodhi moved closer to Nalia, making the human girl’s breathing quicken. “You find me attractive, Nalia, more attractive than that repulsive elf, don’t you?” the vampire said softly.

“Not a chance. You’re an ugly bitch and you will always be an ugly bitch,” Nalia retorted.

Bodhi glared at Nalia and lightly touched the girl’s face with her hand. Nalia suddenly felt herself losing control, and a voice in the back of her mind began giving her commands to obey Bodhi, commands that for some reason, she could not reject.

Bodhi tilted Nalia’s head towards her and kissed her on the mouth. Nalia was under Bodhi’s Domination spell and could not move away. Bodhi then began to move towards Nalia’s throat.

“This won’t hurt a bit,” the vampire whispered. “Soon you will all mine.”

She opened her mouth, extended her fangs, and began to bite down.

An excruciating amount of pain suddenly overwhelmed Bodhi as she realized that she had been stabbed by something. She let go of Nalia, who was still under the spell, and slightly turned her head only to find a knife sticking out of her back, something that, had she not been a vampire, would have killed her. She removed the dagger and stood up, still in pain.

Auren was standing in the doorway of the room, her face full of fury.

____________________


“Yeah, that’s right, I threw a knife at your back, bitch. Now, get away from Nalia so I can kick your ass,” I growled. I drew both my swords.

Bodhi tried to ignore the pain and said, “You’re sister’s soul is mine, and it will stay mine.”

“That’s what you think, you whorebag. Now, hand over her soul and the lanthorn,” I sneered.

“Ah, so you are working for the elves I see. Elhan, no doubt has told you everything?” Bodhi said.

“He said nothing! How would you know anyway. You’re not associated with elves,” I said.

Bodhi became angry. “I know more than what Elhan or the others could ever hope to tell you. No *elf* would dare turn on their own kind. No *elf* would bring an entire city to its knees! No *elf* would do what Irenicus and I did, yet…we did…and look where it got us!”

I stared at Bodhi in surprise.

“You’re a…you’re a-,” I began.

“Yes, I am. Or was. But, enough of this meaningless crap. You die here today, Child of Bhaal, and you’re sister’s soul remains with me, and your lover will become my servant forever!” Bodhi yelled.

“You’ll die first!” I said and charged the vampire. I swung one sword at her head and the other at her abdomen. Bodhi was able to duck and avoid one of my swords but my other sliced into her stomach. She screamed in pain and clutched her stomach. Her hands were quickly covered in blood.

I kicked her to the ground and then in the face, knocking some of her teeth out. She tried to bite me but I dodged her and she grabbed my leg and pulled me to the ground. I dropped my swords. She pounced on me and began hitting me in the face. My nose was bleeding and so was my lip. The blood from her stomach wound was slowly getting on me. She wrapped her hands around my neck and began to choke me.

I lay there, gasping for air and trying to get her off me when I saw my sword on the ground next to me. I reached out to grab it but Bodhi pushed it away from me.

Imoen entered the room and fired an arrow at the vampire, hitting her in the side.

“Got ya, bitch!” she yelled.

It was just enough of a distraction that I was able to push Bodhi off me and grab my sword.

Bodhi was stumbling around the room, weakened, and trying to dodge our attacks.

“No it’s mine! THIS LIFE IS MINE!” she screamed.

“Not while I’m here!” Imoen yelled and fired another arrow, hitting Bodhi square in the chest. Bodhi screamed in pain and fell to her knees.

I grabbed my other sword and walked up to Bodhi.

“Please….just kill me…” she whispered between gasps of pain.

“How do I bring Nalia back?” I demanded.

“She…she is not…turned…I did not…before you…” she gasped. “Please….”

I nodded, almost feeling sorry for this creature. “May the gods have mercy on you, Bodhi,” I said and with a quick movement of my swords, I beheaded her. A large puddle of blood formed beneath her.

Imoen looked at the ground and I could tell she was feeling remorse as well. “I don’t know why I feel sorry for her…but I do.” She took out a container of Holy Water and dumped it into the pool of blood in the center of the room, cleansing it of whatever taint it had been contaminated with.

I handed her a wooden stake. “Do you want to do it or do you want me to?”

“I can do it,” she said and walked over to Bodhi’s coffin, where her soul had retreated to. I moved Bodhi’s body over by the coffin.

“Give me back what’s mine,” Imoen whispered as she held the stake up high and drove it through the vampire’s heart. It was done.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“I feel…I feel better now. I feel…whole,” Imoen smiled and hugged me, then moved away quickly with a disgusted look on her face.

“Ewww…you’re covered in blood!” she squealed.

I heard a faint moan and I turned. Nalia was bound with ropes, and she was awakening from whatever spell she was under.

I untied her and upon seeing Bodhi’s body, her eyes went wide as she said, “She’s…dead?”

I unbuckled the straps of my blood-covered armor and removed my torso plate.

“Yes,” I said, “she’s dead. Are you okay?”

“I think…” Nalia said. “She….” Her face suddenly contorted in a look of disgust and then sadness. She began to sob and she clung to me and buried her face in my shoulder.

“She…she and Isaea killed my parents, Auren,” she sobbed. “Both of them!”

I was stunned. “She…what?”

“Isaea hired her. Isaea hired the trolls. He did everything. And now that she’s dead…I can’t…I can’t prove it,” she said and wiped her eyes.

I took a deep breath and then exhaled. “Yes we can, Nalia,” I said. “Yes, we can.”

__________________


“Thanks, Drizzt!”

“Anytime, my friend,” the Drow said as he and his companions set off for whatever adventure they were destined to have.

Imoen looked at me and let out a huge yawn. “I’m tired.”

“Me, too,” Aerie said.

“The EVIL vampire is gone, Boo!” Minsc cried and the hamster squeaked with happiness. “Only good things come from our butt kicking!”

Nalia looked at me. “Shall we return to my home? I could use a rest, too.”

I nodded as I looked at the small lanthorn that we had acquired from Bodhi’s coffin. “Let’s take a few days off.”