Chapter 1: Going Solo

Title: Going Solo

The party trudged along through the depths of the tunnel doing their best to maintain ranks and still remain undetected. There were many dangers in the Underdark, the unthinking creatures being the least of them. There were much more intelligent troubles to worry about. They had succeeded in recovering Adalon’s eggs, and Sholin could not help but revel in his deception of Phaere. She had been such a tool, and the look on her face when she realized she had been double-crossed by her own devices, brought a smile to his face as he recalled the moment. He felt no remorse for his deception. In fact, were Phaere still alive, she probably would have appreciated his actions. Probably, he laughed to himself.

He turned to glance at his mate, the drow Viconia, following off his right shoulder. She was indeed beautiful, even more so in the glow of her native tunnels, her stunning figure silhouetted by them. What he felt for her was not love, but would suffice until such feelings would warrant. For now, she was everything he wanted in a mate, and she comforted him simply by her presence.

“These tunnels go on forever. Uncle Scratchy would love to be…” Jan started.

“Silence!” Sholin commanded, his thoughts interrupted by the gnome. “If you give our presence away, I’ll personally shove that crossbow down your throat.”

“How do you suffer him, love?” Viconia questioned the ranger. “Perhaps we should take him back to Ust-Natha and tie him to the gates.” Sholin smiled at her and shook his head.

“No need for that, Viconia. I shall keep my tales to myself. I know when I am not wanted. I shall seek another party once we arrive at the surface. Why do we backtrack though? Adalon has already transported us to the exit. Should we not be taking it?”

“Quit your chattering already and fall in line! Ye’ve already been told once to stop the prattle,” Korgan snapped.

Cernd took Jan by the arm and whispered in his ear, “we are seeking a chamber Sholin heard rumors of. It supposedly hides a very powerful artifact.”

“Ah, so why not just say so. I mean, Uncle Scratchy…” Cernd tightened his grip on Jan’s arm, and the gnome got the message, for once. Imoen came up to the two.

“Jan, I’ll go with you when you’re ready. I… I’m sure I know Sholin anymore. He has changed so much, and I think I need to move on. I’d appreciate your help in retrieving my soul. I just don’t care if he ever gets his back.” She turned her stare from Sholin to Cernd. “You too, Cernd, if you are willing?”

“Thank you Imoen. I shall think on your words.”

“Aye, tis time for a change of companions,” Jan responded.

“For the last time! Silence!” Sholin scowled at them, his gaze telling the extent of his annoyance. He quickly turned away and the party finally quieted. They proceeded into the depths of the corridor, the air becoming moister… and ranker. Up ahead, Sholin spied a crossroad and slowed his pace, turning each ear repeatedly forward, listening for any sound that might come from one direction or another. The stalker held his hand up to stop the party, then moved to the entrance to the intersection. Putting his finger in his mouth to wet it, he held it upright. A slight breeze was coming from the northern tunnel, carrying with it a familiar smell.

“Kou-Toa,” he said quietly to Viconia who had tightened up next to him, her head close to his shoulder nodding in agreement. “Can you cover our scent?” She nodded and as silently as possible, she began chanting, her hands twisting between each other in unison. A nearly transparent, bluish gas emanated from her hands and slowly filled the intersection.”

‘Zone of sweet air,’ Imoen thought to herself. ‘Never saw it used like this before. Wonder where he learned that. Jaheira never did that.’

As the spell’s mist covered the tunnel, Sholin motioned for Korgan to circle around and inspect the southern and eastern tunnels. Korgan crept across the southern tunnel entrance, his sensitive eyes peering deeper down its path than any others in the party. They eagerly watched as Korgan neared the eastern tunnel, taking position at its entrance and looking down its darkened path. He turned and nodded all clear.

Pointing at Jan, Sholin motioned for him to station himself in the center of the intersection and ready his crossbow. Jan moved into position while Cernd and Imoen took position at the rear corners, their hands readied for a spell at the first sign of trouble.

Viconia started to move across the intersection when a loud, piercing battle cry was heard coming from the southern tunnel and a crossbow bolt shot into her leg from the north. The bolt sunk deep into her thigh and she collapsed. “Viconia!” Sholin shouted as his attention immediately focused on his lover. He started to assist her, but he quickly realized that numerous Kau-Tao were rushing in from the northern and southern tunnels. He took a battle stance at the northern entrance to defend its flank and Viconia while she went to work removing the bolt and healing herself. Jan began sending a volley of bolts down the southern corridor injuring as many as he could. Korgan turned to charge down the corridor after the remaining warriors.

“Hold on Korgan!” Jan shouted as a flash of light leapt from Imoen’s hands, sending a fireball down the southern corridor, it’s light revealing the extent of the danger that now charged at them. Six warriors were swarming down the corridor. Two of the Kou-Tao Jan had wounded died in the flames of the explosion and the others were slowed as they attempted to put out the flames that covered their bodies. Korgan let loose his charge down the corridor to engage them. The fireball had weakened them somewhat, hopefully enough to give him a chance.

Sholin felt his body strengthen as the light of Cernd’s chant spell enveloped him and the rest of the party. Three large Kau-Tao warriors were engaging him, pressing their advantage, while three archers measured their shots from behind, taking the shot when the opportunity presented itself. He heard the growling cry of the shapeshifter and held his position until Cernd, now in werewolf form, joined the battle at his side.

Viconia reached down and grabbed the bolt. It had pierced through a joint in her leggings and buried itself into the bone. She knew its removal would be painful. Gritting her teeth, she pulled. The bolt came loose and blood poured from her leg. She winced and quickly put her hand over it to contain the bleeding. Immediately starting her chant, a white glow developed in her hand and slowly engulfed her leg. The blood flow eased, and the wound closed, leaving a slight scare for later healing.

Sholin now went on the offensive with the odds a little more even, and swung his long sword in a crossing motion at his opponents, scaring the chest of one warrior. The other two warriors counter-thrust their spears into his chest, evading the shield now behind him as a counter weight to his actions. Cernd slammed his paw down on them, breaking one spear, and deflecting the other aside. The tip of the later spear had penetrated between two plates of Sholins armor, though, piercing his weapon side shoulder. As it deflected away it cut through his skin, making the wound larger. Sholin grimaced and pulled his sword back to defend himself till the pain subsided.

In the southern tunnel, Korgan was fiercely defending himself from the four warriors, his tightly wound armor protecting him from most of their attacks. “A little help over here! Morgan’s hammer won’t defeat them on its own!” he shouted. Imoen’s hands were a blur as she busily sent what magic missile, flame arrow, and other offensive spells she had remaining at the creatures, while Jan continued his rain of crossbow bolts into the creatures. Three more Kuo-Toa archers appeared behind the warriors and started firing into the party. Imoen’s spell was disrupted as a bolt sliced through the flesh of her arm. She quickly jumped back into the safety of the western corridor to evade the bolts. When she re-emerged, she was protected in a bluish sphere from the missiles, and quickly rejoined the battle.

Now ready to assist in the fight, Viconia scanned the area to evaluate the situation. Cernd and Sholin were holding the north flank adequately, though bolts from the archer’s were beginning to weaken them. Looking south, she realized that Korgan was loosing his battle, and the Kuo-Toa warriors were going to quickly overwhelm Jan and Imoen should he fall. She started to head south when the Kuo-Toan battle cry was heard once more, this time coming from the eastern tunnel. The ambush continued with reinforcements of four additional warriors! She attempted a summoning spell, but the warriors were on her too fast and she had to break it off to defend herself.

Cernd raked his claws down the face of one of the Kao-Tao leaving nothing but a bloody mess of torn flesh. The warrior fell to the ground dead, and Cernd took off after the archers, ignoring the cries of Sholin to hold position. Sholin was engaging the two remaining warriors and knew that Viconia defended the eastern flank alone. Seeing they now had the advantage over him and room to maneuver, the Kuo-Toa who’s spear had been broken circled around him while the other engaged him from the front. ‘I hope those archers tear that fool apart’ he thought to himself of Cernd’s impetuous action.

The warriors were beginning to overwhelm Viconia. Imoen left Korgan, who was not fairing too well himself, to help her out. She was wishing desperately that they had rested before returning to the tunnels. She had used some of her best spells in the battle against the elven gate defenders, and now her spells were running out, and yet still the Kuo-Toa came. She watched as a wolf appeared at the side of Viconia in response to her spell. “Damn it!” She was hoping more would have appeared. The summoned wolf was giving Viconia a momentary advantage, but it was slim. Imoen hoped it would be enough while she returned to help Korgan. She had but one more spell left of any use, and she couldn’t help but think how bad things were going as the multiple images of herself appeared. There was no choice left now but to pull out her short bow and engage the nearest warrior.

Sholin held the circling warrior at bay with his shield and thrust his sword into the arm of the other who retracted a bit. The warrior on his shield side, its frustration at Sholin’s defense showing, charged him. It slammed into his shield hard and knocked him into the wall. Sholin held his balance and used the force of the blow to his advantage. He jumped up and kicked himself off of the wall and thrust his sword deep into the mouth of the Kuo-Toa before him, the sword appearing out the backside of the creature’s head. Driving the creature down, he twisted and turned the sword to deepen and widen the wound before removing it. He could hear Viconia grunting and swearing and was becoming concerned over her. As he leapt over the corpse of the dead creature, he watched out of the corner of his eye as the wolf Imoen had summoned fell dead. Viconia had managed to kill one of the warriors, but she was taking a considerable beating. He had to get to her, but the remaining warrior was blocking his advance. He tried to avoid it, but it stayed between him and his goal, no matter where he moved. It was intentionally dividing them. He had no choice but to engage it.

Korgan was frantically swinging his axe and blocking spear thrusts with his shield, but he was slowly being pushed back into the intersection. Jan was doing his best to hold his ground, but Korgan was getting too close, and the angles were getting sharper with each step backwards. Fortunately, Korgan was short, so he could continue firing into the heads of the large creatures without fear of hitting him in the back. Korgan and Jan had killed two of the warriors, but Korgan was badly wounded, and the remaining two smelled his blood, bringing them to higher levels of excitement and battle frenzy. The archers were becoming all too accurate in their shots as well as they moved forward.

Viconia was tiring, and she was cursing as her back was now nearly up against Jan’s. The battle was not going well and she had only taken down one Kuo-Toa. Her wolf ally lay dead at her feet, and the other three foes were thrusting their spears at her. She made a desperate advance, making a solid blow with her hammer against the warrior in the middle, driving it back in pain as she heard the splintering of bone, but it left her sides exposed to the other two. She blocked one who made a grab for her with her shield arm, but could not stop the other. The warrior grasped and held her weapon arm at bay, stretching it out. As she tried to free it the other moved inside her shield and grabbed the other arm. The two began pulling her in opposite directions, and she desperately fought to free herself. Jan and Imoen turned and fired their weapons into each of the warriors who held her, but it was too late. Her front exposed, the remaining Kuo-Toa thrust its spear up under her breastplate and deep into her chest. She gasped her last breath and blood choked from out of her mouth as the warrior lifted her up at spears end and drove her into the ceiling of the tunnel like a child’s doll, then slammed her hard down into the ground. Her body split apart from the force of the impact and the other two warriors pulling her in opposite directions. Imoen screamed and Jan stood in shock, motionless, reassessing the situation.

Sholin heard Imoen’s cry and turned to see the bloody stump of Viconia still being paraded up high by the Kuo-Toa warrior on his spear, her remaining body parts being carried by the other warriors as battle trophies. He stared in disbelief at the sight before him. ‘Viconia’ he said in his mind. The only one who held his interest beyond a nights enjoyment, now dead beyond hope of resurrection. He stopped his fighting and he felt the hatred within him stir. The warrior before him had since acquired a fallen comrades spear, and thrust it into Sholin’s abdomen. Sholin offered little resistance. “NO!” he shouted as he threw his sword and shield to the side. “VICONIA, YOUR VENGEANCE IS MINE!” and grabbed the spear with both hands, watching as they transformed before his eyes. It was now awake and he wanted nothing more than for it to emerge.

Imoen and Jan were still dazed from the sight of Viconia’s death when they heard the cry of Sholin and turned just in time to see the body of the Kuo-Toan explode from the force of the slayer’s attack. Imoen began backing up into the corridor behind her as Jan and Korgan were now beyond help, the slayer charging into the midst of the battle that she was now separating herself from. Sholin was indiscriminate in his killing, and very thorough, as his massive claws raked through friend and foe alike. Jan was the first to die, along with several other Kuo-Toa whom they had been fighting.

Korgan turned to see what was going on and it was all his opponents needed to finish him off. Korgan fell dead to the ground from the force of their combined blows, his body badly mangled as they trampled him in their attempt to attack the slayer. All the remaining Kuo-Toa engaged the slayer, clinging to his massive arms, trying desperately to bring the beast down. Sholin was far beyond their combined strength, though, and he threw them aside, battering them with ease. They repeatedly engaged him, but to no avail. They soon fell before the might of the slayer.

“No… no… no…” Imoen dropped her short bow out of fear as she put her hands to her mouth. She was crying as she continued her retreat into the darkness of the corridor. All their plans were falling apart and she was afraid Sholin had finally crossed the line. At Viconia’s insistence, he had used the slayer form a number of times, and now it was taking him over. She watched as he headed off down the southern hall to engage the archers still shooting at him. Tears were streaming from her face as she looked up and saw Cernd enter the intersection, still in werewolf form.

“Cernd! Get out of there! He’s lost it!” Cernd turned to look at her, but it was too late. The slayer came crashing into the intersection and the two massive creatures went at it. Claw met claw as each struggled to overcome the other. Blood was pouring from wounds in each of them, and Imoen was beginning to hope that maybe Cernd would be able to survive long enough for Sholin to loose his concentration and revert back to normal form. She looked out into the intersection and saw her short bow. If she could get to it, maybe she could give him enough help to save him. All hope was quickly dashed as she watched in horror as the slayer clamped his immense mouth down on Cernd’s head, shaking it violently. She did all she could to keep her screams to herself as the werewolf’s head separated from its now useless body. The slayer held Cernd’s body high in the air as it transformed back to human form, the source of its transformation ability now gone, and let out a cry of either victory, or agony. Imoen could not tell. He threw the body onto the mangled remains of the others.

Imoen was scared. She was trying to contain her whimpering, but the horrific scene she gazed upon was more than she could deal with. The slayer stood in the middle of the bloodied intersection, his immense body heaving up and down with each breath, bodies of comrade and foe alike scattered throughout. Slowly, the slayer realized that she was there, and turned to face her. She backed up once more, her cover now blown, and it approached her.

“Sholin, please!” she begged, scared that she would be the final victim in the battle. “It’s me, Imoen!” The beast continued its gaze of her, but had stopped its advance, assessing the situation. Perhaps it was a memory returning to him. Perhaps it was the multiple images of her that gave him pause, she could not be sure, but she watched as he transformed back into the person she thought she once knew, the person she once considered her brother. The person she once cared about. He scanned the area around him and she thought she saw him wince just slightly at the carnage as he turned his gaze downward for a moment. Looking up, he glared at her.

“Our bond is broken. We are siblings no longer. You may take your revenge against Bodhi. Irenicus is mine.” He walked over and picked up his sword and shield, stowing them. “Goodbye Imoen. For the memories I hold of you, I wish you well, but from now on, I walk alone.” Pausing for another moment to think he reached down and threw his gem bag and the sack of holding to her. “Here, I won’t be needing these anymore.” She let them fall to her feet, continuing to hold his gaze through her tears. “Forget your heritage, it is mine. Do not cross my path again. If you do, I shall assume you are attempting to claim it and I will kill you.” He walked by her without a look and disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel.

Imoen dropped to her knees and for the first time since she had started spell casting, she hated the multiple images of herself that surrounded her, each one crying in disbelief at what had just happened. She was alone now too. Her friends were dead, and she would have to find new ones if she was to ever retrieve her soul. Perhaps she would just lie there and die. That was what she wanted to do, but she set about the gruesome task of retrieving the magical weapons her friends so recently owned. She took Viconia’s girdle of hill giant strength and her enchanted hammer. Took Korgan’s tower shield, and Frostweaver. The rings were the hardest, and found herself crawling into the corner to vomit. That was enough. She lay there for a time; until she was sure that Sholin would be far enough ahead to avoid him, then rose and followed his path to the surface.