23. Voices

Xzar tossed and turned as he tried to sleep. The voices in his head were not about to die away, but, thankfully, the most terrible voice was not present. A nervous tremor passed the mage's body when he recollected the Voice, and a wave of childhood memories washed over him. The Rabbit...
"...The rabbit has the same mental link with me as the one I'm going to establish with you," his teacher explained. "I have great plans for you, my boy. With this sort of connection, you will be able to follow my orders all across the Faerun."
The boy shifted uncomfortably. "But is it safe, master? I don't want to get hurt like the last time."
"Nonsense, boy!" his tutor snapped. "My experiments never go wrong, now cease your stammering and lie down on this table." Xzar obeyed. With a wave oh his wand, his mentor had put the lights out, and then the unbearable, unstoppable pain pierced the boy's mind. The world went black as he heard...
Voices. Voice of the Orden's cook, ordering his helpmates about. Voices of Zhentarim novices in the yard, and then the harsh voice of the door-keeper. Screams from the cellars. Frantic squeaks of Stepan nearby. Voice, no, The Voice of his master, asking him something. He had a vague feeling this Voice would haunt him till the end of his days. Why was it important? Who was he? Who am I? Mommy, I want home, Mommy!
"Stop whimpering! Can you hear my orders or not?" There was no concern in his mentor's voice, just impatience and mild irritation.
"Yes," the boy whispered and fainted.
Xzar came to himself. A nightmare. Another nightmare. His tutor was far away, and he wouldn't disturb him tonight.
And then he heard it once again. The Voice.
"So, Xzar, you have found the Bhaalspawn?"
"Yes."
"I see. Our plans have changed, Xzar. The girl's cooperation is no longer needed."
"W-what?"
"Our lord Cyric has seen her, too. Now he demands that she must be sacrificed in His glory."
Cold sweat ran down the necromancer's back. "Am I... to do it?"
"Yes, Xzar. The honor is yours. But the sacrifice will be futile if you don't find out her true name. You do remember I have requested you to find it out, yes?"
"But M-master, how?"
"It is your concern," the mental voice snapped. "Soften her up with torture, or threaten to kill her companions. And remember, your time is not unlimited." With these words, the Voice disappeared.
Xzar looked over his sleeping companions, and over Xan and Imoen, who were standing guard. Imoen noticed he was awake, smiled and gave him a little wave. The necromancer's heart skipped a bit. Torture? Torture, yes... no qualms about that, but torture her?
Then another voice interrupted his thoughts. "Hey, I heard ya babbling here about torture," Montaron grinned. "Shall we kill the whelp at last, eh? I'm all for it!"
"Leave me be, Monty." He turned his face back to the wall. For the first time in his life Xzar was about to disobey his master. The thought itself scared the necromancer to death, but he remembered Imoen's lips on his cheek and nodded grimly. He was determined to go on. For Imoen.

Jaheira had troubles falling asleep, too. Deep down, the woman knew that the struggle for balance and her role as a Harper had taken too much of her life. It had to change. But years passed and still she and Khalid were carefully evading the topic of settling down and starting a family. Perhaps the reason was because they did not need anyone else, being as close as two sides of a coin. Or perhaps these two children, who stumbled to Friendly Arm Inn in feeble hope to find shelter, these were her family now. And one of them was a Bhaalspawn--an innocent girl, she was hunted, like an animal. And neither she, Jaheira, nor Gorion himself ever warned her, never prepared her for this life.
Curse the twisted ways of Bhaal into oblivion, Jaheira thought. His very existence was a most repulsive crime to human nature.
"D-darling?" Khalid's arm under her neck tensed. The druid turned her head, meeting the achingly familiar gaze of his dark brown eyes. Her husband was looking at her with mild concern. "Something troubling you?"
"It is the imperfection of the path of conscience," the woman quietly answered. "I did not tell the girl at once that I knew who her father was. I doubt that she trusts me after that. Look how treats the Zhentarim--they are her friends now."
"The moment she stops trusting you," Khalid chuckled quietly, "is the moment the rivers would run in the opposite direction, and the mountains themselves would crumble. You are as d-dependable as the Earth herself."
"Ah, Khalid," despite her current mood, his wife almost laughed aloud, "'twould take a sailor to untie this tongue, but when you do speak, you spill the sweetest balm on my wounds."
"Jaheira, must you be s-so..." Khalid blushed.
"Insufferable?" she moved closer.
"Er..." Jaheira noticed with satisfaction that Khalid eyes went entirely black, as his pupils dilated with excitement.
"Or beautiful?"
"Yes," Khalid whispered, grabbing the woman in his arms, "that is definitely it!"

Imoen woke up in a queer mood. Her euphoria about learning magic had not subsided, yet, but now it was mixed with other emotions. Her thoughts returned to another subject again and again, and it was not her magic, but her teacher. He likes me, doesn't he? He really, really, really likes me.
The girl stole a glance at Xzar. The Necromancer did not look happy, either. There were shadows under his eyes, though it was hard to tell with all his tattoos and scars, and he was packing his things very slowly, his movements absent and sluggish. Did he get any sleep at all?
She sighed. Of course, he's very cute and everything, and he seems to care, but still he's a kind of creepy, she thought. I suppose he can't help it, with him coming from Zhentil Keep. I... I sorta like him too, I think. He's a good teacher, and he's nice with me. But what shall I do if he tells me he likes me, um, like that? I don't know what I'm gonna say.

The bedrolls and supplies packed, the party set out to explore the dungeon. However, before the adventurers had time to advance, a skeletal figure approached them. It looked as it was going to crumble before their eyes, but its jaw moved effortlessly as the creature began to speak. "Strike me down... take the armor back..."
The adventurers stopped, bewildered. Then Montaron jumped to the skeleton. There was a gleam of steel, and an unpleasant, vibrating sound. Its strange request had been fulfilled.
"Wish every monster was like that," Ala said, helping to strip the corpse of its old, corroded armor. "Coming up, asking us to strike it down and preferably offering to help carry the loot, as well."
"Right, sis," Imoen frowned. "But whatcha need the armor for? Looks too bad to net a good price, if you ask me."
"I know, Im. But the guy said 'Take the armor back'. It's a quest if I ever saw one. And probably in two steps from here there's another guy who desperately needs this armor."
Much to Imoen's surprise, Ala proved to be right. A quest it was. After the adventurers turned another corner, several specters made their way to them. Imoen felt very weird as she saw the glimmering shapes approaching, and their whispers filled her ears, like a light breeze. "Together enter... Together fall... Such was the vow agreed... None shall leave until all are one... Such the vow remains... We must be as one..."
"I have a feeling it was a t-threat," Khalid muttered. "None shall leave until they are s-satisfied."
"Try to give them the armor, child," Jaheira suggested.
"How? They don't have any hands!"
One of the specters seemed to guess their trouble. He stretched his hands to the armor, and the blinding light began to pour out, obliterating the grime and stains, until it looked completely new. The armor began to shake and fell from Ala's hands, and a ghostly figure appeared from it.
"So it was... So it is... Together enter... Together fall... Brother traitor completes the one... Together free..." the specters chanted in unison. There was a flash of light, and they were gone.
"That was unusual," Jaheira collected herself first. "Well, the armor certainly will be useful. Montaron, much as I despise your ways, you do fight with us now."
"So?"
"So you'd better try it on, or you'll be killed in the next battle. This vest of yours looks as it's going to fall apart. You'll have to wear this until we can afford a decent set of leather." Montaron muttered something inaudible under his breath, but took it.
"It's so beautiful," Imoen sighed dreamily. "Imagine, they traveled together, and one of them betrayed his friends. They all died, but they forgave the traitor in the end. Just like in the novel I read when I was little."
"Kick that stupid book right out of your head, kid," the halfling sneered. "That's a novel, and this is life. In real life, you kill. You slay the bastard to stay alive. Never think the other way, or things will get really ugly." He winked at her.
"Monty is right, Imoen," Xzar agreed. "Cast your spell before the Rabbits cast theirs, and that's the way!"
Imoen rolled her eyes. "But what if you were the betrayer, Xzar?" she asked. "Wouldn't you like your friends to forgive you?"
"Ask him if he has any, lass," Montaron chuckled. "A good knife in the gullet is all the mercy he's gonna get from me, that's what I know."
The necromancer opened his mouth as if to say something, than snapped it shut and walked away from Imoen. The girl opened her mouth slightly as she watched his slumped figure retreat. Did I say anything wrong?
The ruins were swarming with kobolds. Ala could swear they just popped out of thin air. After the party had to cleanse the same room for the fourth time in a row, she had to admit that exterminating all of them was impossible.
"We must find some exit," the rogue breathed. "I don't think it's good to scatter in this labyrinth, so I'll just go ahead and check the way out. After I'll find it, we can all move in." Jaheira shook her head disapprovingly. "Sorry, Jae, but I don't see any other way." The girl took out her dagger and ran into the corridor, pressing herself to the wall as she went.
It was unbelievingly easy to find the way out. The rogue followed the widest tunnel, and soon it had brought her to a brightly lit chamber, guarded by two large ogres. Ala hastily backed into the shadows. These were far more dangerous than kobolds, and she couldn't slip past them, for their bulk blocked the entrance completely.
In the end, she came up with an idea. Quietly, the girl picked up several pebbles, and threw it down the side corridor. The ogres grunted simultaneously and headed there.
"What's all this noise?" a male voice boomed. "Who dares disturb me? Ahhh, adventurers. Human, make a short work of them! Myahahahaha!"
Two figures emerged from the side room, and Ala barely had time to spring aside as a human mage rushed past her. He eyed the empty corridor warily, then lifted his hands and disappeared. A spell or a potion of invisibility. Well, you forgot not to breathe, my dear friend. That can be corrected.
Her hand slipped a little, but the dagger stroke true. There was a gurgling sound, and the mage appeared on his knees next to her. He tried to utter another spell, but he never got a chance, as the weapon went into his throat. One down, one to go.
She could swear her heart had never been beating so fast and loud. The sound of her breathing was almost making her eardrums burst, too. I've killed him. Alone. And it was so easy...
"What's taking you so long?" an enormous figure turned the corner. Ogre Mage! Ala never saw one, but she knew they were incredibly dangerous. She gulped, pressing her body against the wall as he passed, her eyes automatically looking for vulnerable spots. But I have to try.
The blade slipped. His skin is worse than a chain mail! Ala barely had time to jump aside, as the mage snatched out his own sword and swished it at the girl. The heavy footsteps of returning ogres didn't do anything for her morale, either.
She was cornered, cornered like a rat in a trap. The fear slowly got replaced by rage, and then all thoughts were wiped clean out of her mind. Snarling, Ala pounced at the Ogre Mage like a mad dog, inflicting wounds without order. A stream of dark, sticky liquid sprayed her legs.
"Raaagh! You die, you die!" With an effort, the Ogre Mage managed to push the girl aside. She slammed the wall and sank to the floor, dazed. The monster roared in triumph and reached for his spell components, but the poison from his wounds had completed its course. Another stream of blood poured forth from his mouth, and in seconds, the Ogre Mage was dead.
Ala slowly raised her head, ready to fight for dear life. She could make out two blurry shapes in the distance, then one of them grunted and turned back. Another one followed suit. Good for them. No, good for me. The young rogue tenderly felt her head. Ouch, a bad bruise there. But I killed them both! And they'd better not make me mad again!
When the party came to the sound of Ala's shouts at last, the rogue had already looted the bodies and was standing next to the exit, her arms folded. Montaron whistled as he saw the corpses, and even Khalid looked impressed, if horrified.
But Xan stopped dead as he noticed the girl. She looked completely normal, but his slowly returning magical senses told him otherwise. And then he saw what it was: when the rogue slowly raised her head, there was an eerie golden light in her eyes. The mark of Bhaal.