To Baldur's Gate

Chapter Two

I woke up on a beach, tucked into the sand and warmed by the sun. It would have been nice if the air wasn't filled with smoke and the fact that I should be dead. As I stood, I checked myself for injuries but found none – impossible given the height I had fallen from. The area was unknown and littered with the remains of the illithid ship, but a few yards away I could see a familiar braid of dark hair and the body attached to it lying on the sand, unmoving. I went to Shadowheart's side, gently nudging her awake. I saw no cuts or bleeding, miraculously. Whatever had saved me must have aided her as well.

"Nggh. What, dammit, I'm sleeping," Shadowheart mumbled, swatting an arm at me.

"Shadowheart, it's me, Tav." I shoved her once again, harder this time. "We need to move."

She finally groaned and sat up, slowly rising to a standing position. "Where are we? How did we get down here?" she asked, dusting the sand off of her clothes.

"I was hoping you would know those answers. Where did our gith friend go?" I hadn't seen the githyanki anywhere nearby, but knowing her, she would be fine.

"I'd be careful calling her a friend," Shadowheart muttered. "Seems she packed up and left us here. Anyways," She put her hands on her hips and regarded me. "Shall we keep moving? Don't want to be stuck here when night comes."

"We? You want to come with me?" I asked. Traveling with another seemed like a good idea, especially in a place I had never seen, but I didn't get the feeling that Shadowheart liked me very much.

"Yes, we. Do you see anyone else up and walking around?" She gestured around us at all of the fire and dead illithid bodies. "Our odds of survival are higher if we stick together. And besides, I owe you for saving my life, the least I can do is make sure you don't die right away."

I hadn't seen Shadowheart fight, nor did I know what powers a cleric possessed, so I didn't know if her tagging along would be a burden or a blessing. I guess we would have to find out.

"Alright. Let's move forward then. I say we get to higher ground and go from there," I offered. Shadowheart nodded in agreement. We trudged through the sand, picking up bits of food and what weapons we could find amongst the rubble of the ship while making idle chitchat. Soon enough we had reached the top of the hill and I heard loud swearing coming from further ahead. I unsheathed my blade, continuing with caution, and Shadowheart did the same. There was a man, a high elf it looked like, dressed in finery and strutting around in angry circles, swearing up a storm. I looked to Shadowheart with silent questions, and she shrugged. I put my knife away and called out to him.

"Oh, thank the gods," the man drawled. He pointed frantically to some bushes away from him. "There! In there, there's one of those illithid brain spawn. Can you kill it?" Looking at him, the elf seemed quite capable of killing a simple intellect devourer, but who was I to judge? I crept up to the bushes and grabbed once again for my knife, holding it firm and steady. When the bush began to rustle, my pulse raced in anticipation, and I made a lunge for the creature – surprised when a boar ran out squealing. Behind me, I heard Shadowheart gasp and before I could turn to see, I felt a cool blade against my neck and an even colder hand grabbing me. I tried to fight him off, but we ended up rolling onto the ground, the knife still dangerously close to the artery in my throat.

"Shhh Sh, not a sound, darling," the elf murmured to me, his voice as sultry and soft as velvet. "I'd hate to have to ruin that beautiful neck of yours. Now, answer some questions for me." I swallowed and his crimson eyes followed the movement, tightening his grip on his blade.

"I saw you aboard the mindflayer ship. You were there, correct?" He asked. I nodded, slowly. "Wonderful. You!" He looked up to where Shadowheart crept, slowly inching toward us. "One more step and I'll kill her. Do you underst- "