"You could have told us we would be facing trolls," Jarran growled, drumming his fingers on his belt. "You're just lucky we have a decent supply of flaming arrows. We could have walked into a massacre otherwise."
Nalia's eyes were full of tears. "I'm sorry, but you were the fourth group I had spoken to. The other three were interested until I said the word 'trolls', and then they couldn't get away from me fast enough. I was desperate!"
Jarran's tone softened. "Well, I suppose you had no way of knowing that we wouldn't run out on you as well."
"You… you're not leaving, are you?"
"No, Nalia, we told you that we would help you and we will. Just point the way to this Captain Arat you have spoken of, and we'll see how things stand."
But the situation was not good at all. The keep had fallen to the creatures and Lord De'Arnise was missing. Stealth was their only chance.
They slipped into the secret doorway that Nalia showed them. They quickly came upon a servant fleeing for his life, a troll hard on his heals.
"Help me," the man shrieked, moments before the troll's claws tore open the side of his neck. Before his body could even reach the floor, another sweep of the monster's arm sliced him in half.
They fiercely attacked the creature, making short work of it. The stench of burning troll flesh, mixed with the odors from the eviscerated servant, was overpowering.
Nalia choked out, "I...I recognize him. One of the footmen... Ohhh." She turned away in tears.
Keldorn put his arm around her shoulders. "I am sorry, lass, but this will not be the last such sight. Are you sure you can continue?"
"I'll be all right. I just want to find Father. He'll know what to do."
It seemed as though there was a troll behind every door. They found one servant who felt lucky to be alive. Nalia questioned him about the situation. Jarran frowned when he heard her refer to them as her hirelings. Granted, they were here at her request, but he hardly considered himself her employee.
"So Father is alive! Or... or at least was this morning. And hopefully my aunt as well." Nalia's mood seemed to brighten, but every so often a worried frown would return.
While they searched through a room for anything useful, Minsc shook his head and mumbled, "The little girl is very unhappy. She should not have come."
Jarran nodded. "It has to be very hard to see your own home invaded by monsters this way. Every corpse we find has a familiar face, and I know she must be afraid that some of them are going to be members of her family. Maybe… Boo would cheer her up."
"Maybe. But Boo is sleeping right now, and Minsc does not wish to wake him."
"She seems very lonely. If Boo is not awake, maybe you could keep her company."
Minsc gave him a hard frown. "Minsc does not want another witch. Minsc does not deserve one."
"Minsc, don't feel…"
"No. Dynaheir died because I did not protect her, and little Aerie ran away. Minsc must be satisfied to help Jarran and forget about guarding witches."
"Aerie didn't run away. She said when she left that she was still your witch."
"She was just being kind. Minsc knows. She did not want to have Minsc around while she was with the birdman. She…liked him better."
Something about the way the ranger said the last sentence made Jarran look at him closely. There was a pain in Minsc's eyes that spoke of something deeper than just protecting Aerie. "She may come back," he said softly. "She may realize that she doesn't like him better after all."
"If she comes back then she will like you better."
"I don't think so. I hope she will see that there is someone who cares for her more than anyone. Someone she can trust and believe in."
The huge man looked down at Jarran for a long moment, then said, "Jarran is being kind, too," and turned away.
Jarran stared after him sadly, mentally sending a dozen curses at himself for taking Haer'Dalis into his group. The tiefling left chaos in his wake even more effectively than he himself did, for all the prophecies.
They had cleared the dining area and servant's quarters when Nalia pointed to a stout door. "That leads to the courtyard, which has a stairway up to the keep's walls. We can lower the drawbridge from there."
They slipped out the doorway, carefully looking around for more beasts. A stench hit them at the same time Nalia cried out, "Oh, no! The otyugh has escaped from the garbage hole!"
Jarran grimaced. Between the reek of this beast and the foul odor the trolls made when they burned, it was a wonder he had any ability to smell at all. They hacked at the creature, and were dismayed to find it stank even more dead than alive.
They climbed up to the walkway along the top of the keep's great wall. Nalia led them to a wheel that controlled the drawbridge. Minsc turned it with a mighty pull, and the wooden drawbridge came down with a loud bang.
An enthusiastic cheer went up from outside the castle as the last survivors of the De'Arnise guardsmen rushed into the courtyard. But the noise had brought the attention of the keep's attackers, and trolls and yuan-ti poured out of doorways to defend their stolen territory.
Both roaring battle cries, Keldorn and Minsc charged down the steps to join the soldiers. Jarran saw that they were blocking his descent, and contented himself with joining the others in firing at the monsters below. He couldn't help noticing that Nalia gave a small cry every time that a guard fell to the creatures.
As soon as the courtyard was clear, they entered the keep once more, slaying more trolls. At last the lower level seemed quiet.
One of the guards, pale and nervous, said, "We have done all that we can. We will hold the courtyard while you search for Lord De'Arnise."
"What? What do you mean?" Nalia shrieked as the guards slunk out the door. "Help us kill these beasts! We have to find Father!"
"Nalia..." Jarran said soothingly.
"Come back here! Do your duty!"
He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Nalia, calm down. This is what you brought us here for, remember? To do what your guards couldn't."
"But... but how can they... just walk away like that?"
"That is what separates the adventurer from the common soldier. I am sure that if an invading army of humans, or even something familiar like orcs or hobgoblins attacked this place, your men would fight bravely. But against things like these," he said, sweeping his arm towards a smoldering corpse, "they know they are no match. I am sure they feel badly enough that they cannot help you. Don't treat them as cowards for realizing it would be suicide for them to continue."
Nalia's face was angry, but slowly the anger faded. She still had a stubborn, rebellious look. "Maybe you're right, Jarran. But I still would have hoped... that they cared more about my father than that. Come on. Let's go."
