Chapter 5: Betrayal

The darkness of the tunnels that stretched out before Sholin denied their relative calmness. He had been through them once before, defeating the creatures within and all was now quiet. No footsteps. No heavy breathing, or the moistness of the exhalation associated with it. Just silence. Only his footsteps, his breathing, were heard in the echoes of his mind. As the temple rose before him, he could see the desperate parish members slumbering around, oblivious to the approach he presented. Only one looked up to acknowledge him.

“You have returned,” the leader of the depressed ones gave way to a moment of hope. “I suppose you want to tell me it all has failed. Why do you come back to bring even more despair?”

“Come, gather your people. It is time for this to end.” Sholin pointed out over the expanse of the underground temple. “Get them all and meet me inside.”

“End? There will be no end. There can never be an end.”

“We shall see,” Sholin continued his journey into the temple of the unnamed god. This entity had shown him the power of the rod he now held in depletion, and he owed it to whomever it was to finish the task that had been set before him. One by one, the people of the temple entered and took stance before him. One by one, they all looked upon him with the apathy of a people numb from years of unrequited service. When they were all in place, Sholin began.

“People of this temple. You have served your god in honor. He has made it known to me that it is his wish to release you from your indenture, to put an end to your service, and give you the rest you so crave.”

“That is impossible. There can be no end. Our agreement was till the end of time.”

“This is the end of time, your time. You have but to speak his name, and he will come. You must believe in him once more, to give him the strength to appear, and initiate the change you desire.”

“It has been so long, we can hardly remember it. You ask us to hope, when for so long we have had no hope.”

“Then let me show you the hope your god wanted you to have.” Sholin reached in his pouch and produced the Rift Device. “Here! Here is your hope. The device you sought to protect, to keep safe from outsiders, is now complete… and powerless. Its energy has been spent in defeating a creature of foul substance. Your god can now destroy it, and release you from your bonds. Look upon it… and believe.”

All gazed at the device he displayed before them. Some brought the slightest smile to their faces while others simply stared in disbelief. The leader addressed his people. “Can this be the time of our end? I find it difficult to accept, but somehow, we all must have known that this day would one day come. This may be but another ploy to destroy what hope remains, but can any of us say it can be brought down further? We will do as you ask, if for no other reason than to be done with this.”

The crowd began singing a chant to the god they had only wished to forget. The honor of their servitude returned to them and their voices rang with the holiness of their faith. In the midst of the chant, the nameless god received once more his identity, and the avatar of Amaunator appeared before them.

“You have returned, and have brought the device with you. I see in your mind that it was not used for our agreed upon service, but that you have even brought more honor to it and used it to save even more lives. I thank you for this act of charity you bestow upon my people.

“Come now my children, our time is indeed at an end. You have served me with honor, and have fulfilled your end of the bargain. I now release you from it, and give you the reward you deserve.”

The chapel emptied as the bodies of the servants slowly disappeared into the darkness, taken to a place the god had prepared for them. The Avatar remained, however, his attention returning to Sholin.

“I see much sorrow and pain in you, troubled one. There is a hole in you that may only be filled by the evil you have allowed to enter your heart. You accepted the lies told to you, and given into their lustful desires. In craving their power, you lost yourself. The beast within you will continue to grow until it consumes you, leaving it alone. There will be no Sholin anymore. You will be dead.

“But with the honor that still clings to hope within you, you have helped my people, and me, and it is a debt we can never fully repay. Please accept this gift. A last token of my strength and appreciation, and the only thing I have to repay you with.”

The avatar approached Sholin and held out his hand with pointed finger. As it touched Sholin’s forehead, a yellow light appeared between the two, and grew to encompass them both. Standing in the light, Sholin felt his entire being exposed before the god of light, forcing the darkness within to deeper levels of his consciousness. He felt his desires returning, and with them, the honor he once craved. He could hear the beast within screaming with agony as the blood of his father was defeated by the divine strength of the dying Amaunator. Slowly, the screaming stopped, and the light dissipated, leaving only Sholin.

Amaunator had called them lies. So had the lady of the vision. Sholin had been given a second chance and his thoughts turned to the only one he ever truly loved.

**********

Imoen sat in the candlelit room and stared at the object he knew Sholin would be drawn to, the Rhynn Lanthorne. It was a simple enough looking device. But one that could expose even the darkest of places, and her brother along with it. It sat on the table before her, its light extinguished, coldly mocking everything she ever believed.

“You can come out now. I know you’re there.” Sholin stepped out from behind the curtains, the opened window behind him slightly blowing the curtains with the breeze it allowed in. “I knew you’d come. Is this what your looking for?” She stood up and pushed the lantern across the table to him.

“That is what I need, but not why I came.”

“Then why? Do you intend to kill me like you’ve done so many others? Who are you Sholin? I don’t know you anymore.”

The words stung him. What could he have expected though. He betrayed her, not the other way around. She had every right to hate him. “I don’t know, Imoen. I came back because I had to talk to you.”

“I suppose I should thank you. I’d probably be dead now if you hadn’t intervened with Bodhi. You confuse me. Why did you bother to care if you only wanted this stupid lantern? You could have just let us die and taken it.” She turned away from him and cradled herself in her arms, her eyes looking up to the ceiling in an attempt to fight the tears.

“I had to make sure you would have your soul again, Imoen. It was the least I could do for you.”

“I’m supposed to believe that? Just forget that you abandoned me? I wouldn’t have left you. We could have fought it together.”

“Imoen… I… I didn’t leave you because I wanted too. I left because I had too. Don’t you understand that? I know I killed them, Jan, Cernd, Korgan, and it was only the…” he paused, but there was no turning back now, “the love I have for you that stopped me from killing you. When I looked at you through the slayers eyes, I wanted you dead as well, to tear you apart like I had them. The rage at loosing Viconia was maddening. You were the one that brought me back.”

“How do I know this isn’t some lie to get me to do something?”

“You don’t. You have to trust me. I need the lantern to get back my soul. I’m as good as dead without it.” He paused and noticed the tension within her. She was fighting something herself, but he didn’t know what. “There’s something else you should know, the slayers gone.”

Imoen turned around in surprise at the announcement. “What? How?”

“A gift from a dying god. It’s still there, but it’s been pushed so far below in me, I don’t think I can make it come out anymore. I’m back to where I was when we were in Spellhold, but I think I can prevent it from getting any stronger. I know it’s there now, unlike last time. I just need to get my soul back, and it’ll be gone for good.”

Imoen ran up and threw her arms around him. “Oh Sholin, that’s wonderful! I knew there had to be an answer somewhere to this.”

Sholin held her in his embrace, the first body to hold such a position since Viconia, only this time there was love in it. He pulled back slightly and looked at Imoen, staring deeply into her eyes, and kissed her. At first, she resisted, but then he found her kissing him back, and the kiss seemed to last forever. When their lips finally parted, Imoen had a look of confusion on her face.

“Sholin, I… we can’t. We’re true brother and sister now.”

“Imoen, I have carried my love for you silently for years, waiting for the right moment to tell you. Growing up, I couldn’t say anything. We were too much like brother and sister. When I found out that we shared our heritage, it nearly drove me to madness in itself. Probably part of why I used the slayer so much. It was a release from the frustration at having you so close, but now being kept apart by our blood. I turned to Viconia for support, but I never loved her. Not like you. Never like you. I don’t know what to do now. We are only half-sibling. Can there be no hope in this?”

“I…” but her words were interrupted. The door to the room burst open and Jaheira, Keldorn, and Drizzt charged into the room, weapons drawn. Sholin quickly grabbed the lantern and secured it to his belt while drawing his own weapon. Imoen readied herself as well and moved between him and the attackers.

“Imoen!” Jaheira shouted. “Why did you not call to us like we had agreed?”

The two squarely faced them. They were at a standoff and everyone’s eyes were shifting from one to another as each determined the next course of action they would take, except for Jaheira, who was glaring at Imoen.

“Jaheira, we can’t,” she pleaded. “We have to stop this. He’s not the same person! You have to believe me! You can’t banish him, we have to help him.”

“Why child? There is much too much blood now. He has killed too many good people to turn back now.”

“Who do you think helped us below? We would all be dead now if he hadn’t helped us!”

“If indeed it was him,” Keldorn interrupted, “then we owe him thanks, but our course of action has been set. His prior actions have spoken volumes, and the guild can no longer accept that he is blameless.”

“For the good of the land, Imoen, we must put an end to this,” Jaheira continued. “Why would you listen to his lies? Why would you betray us, betray me like this?”

“I’m sorry if you feel that way, but he’s my brother, and you’re asking me to betray him and everything I’ve ever believed about him. I can’t do that! How long before you come after me as well! Sholin, quick! Drink this and take my hand!” Imoen reached into her pouch and drew two potions out and gave one to him. They put the vials to their lips, consuming the liquid within, and almost instantly the two disappeared from view.

Jahiera’s hands immediately went into motion as Keldorn and Drizzt nervously danced around in search for a sign of them, circling her to protect from an interrupting attack. As the light orb of her spell left her hands to strike in the center of the room, it spread throughout to reveal… nothing. The three looked around at each other in puzzlement as Drizzt realized what was happening. “The horses!”

They turned and ran from the room, down the stairs, through the lobby of the inn and crashed through the front door, just in time to see the two riderless chargers racing through the front gate. They continued to run after them and as they exited the city, they could see the dust in the distance headed south, to Suldanessalar.