To Baldur's Gate

Chapter Six

It was nearly nightfall when we returned to camp. 

The group had remained silent for a large portion of the venture, which was preferred by me. I had my own troubles to ponder, and the thought of Gale's nasal-voiced narration on the history of the weave interrupting this quiet time ... I was convinced I would end up murdering the clownish wizard if he so much as opened his mouth. 

My thirst was beginning to catch up with me. I would need to feed, and soon, otherwise, things would get out of hand. This morning I had toyed with the idea of sharing my secret with Tav but hadn't thought much about the consequences. The gaggle of idiots we were stuck with were sure to find out at some point, no matter how stupid they are, but I would need to have someone to back me up when that time came. The beautiful drow seemed a sucker for a good sob story - and I was one hell of a storyteller. If I could sway her and make her see my plight, she would surely understand my occasional midnight snacking.

 But perhaps she wasn't as soft as I painted her to be and had no such affinity for any kind of monster. Tav might take pleasure in ramming a stake through my heart. Something, whether it was the tadpoles connecting us or something deeper within me, told me that she wouldn't. I had a talent for reading people and I was growing more ravenous by the minute, so my options were seemingly limited. 

Shadowheart, tending to the campfire, stood when she saw us approach. "What in the hells happened?"

Tav said nothing - she simply shrugged off her weapons and armor, then sat by the fire. Lae'zel went to her own corner of the camp. 

"Tav murdered the healer," Gale answered. "Now we're supposed to fight an entire goblin city to find Halsin the druid. It's been quite the day, Shadowheart." He stomped into his tent, where I hoped he would stay the rest of the night. 

"Is this true? I can't say I'm surprised someone ended up dead, but I figured Lae'zel would have been the one to do the killing." Shadowheart's words earned no response from Tav. 

"The healer essentially told us all to kill ourselves and surrender our bodies to science," I said. "Also, their entire grove is majorly racist and awful. Tav merely 'put nature back to balance', as the druids would say." I sat down next to Tav on her bedroll. "I thought the knife throw was an exemplary display of ... dexterity?" 

"Your attempts at flattery won't have much sway here," Shadowheart said. The growing smile on Tav's face said otherwise. 

While I was hoping Shadowheart to take a hint and leave, allowing me some time with Tav, Lae'zel joined us by the fire as well. Great. The more the merrier, I suppose. 

"Wyll spoke of an abandoned monastery past the Goblin City," she spoke. "This is where my kin reside. I must go there at once." 

"You can't possibly venture there alone!" Shadowheart's words seemed to surprise even herself. "I - uh - I mean," she tried to laugh it off, but not before Tav and I shared a look. It was strange how she seemed to read me so well after so little time. 

"Wherever you need Lae'zel, I shall follow," Tav said, breaking her silence. "Same goes for all of you. You have my trust and my blade." 

"Well, that settles it. If you're going, then I am too," Shadowheart said to Tav. "Three of us won't be enough to take down a Goblin City though." 

"Oh, come now, can't we just go around the goblin infested places?" I asked. 

"Not if we want to find Halsin and get the worms out of our heads," Tav replied. She looked up at me, magenta eyes sparkling and glittering in the light of the fire. "In return, I'll deliver you to Balder's Gate in one piece. Sound like a deal?"