As I promised, here is the currently finished & formatted part of chapter XIV. I originally expected to finish the full version on 23rd and upload it formatted on 24th, but since I am leaving for four days, it won't be possible. Expect the full version between 27th and 1st.

Chapter XIV
In The Shadows

Xardas instinctively dodged a Lighting Bolt sent towards him by the now-undead Medusa, but Mischa was slightly too slow. He used Flame Strike and hit her directly and strongly, but the strange, protective magic around her intervened again, leaving her unharmed.
So, obviously, he would either had to hack and batter at this defense until it went down or he had to find a way of turning it off.
He decided it’ll be best not to try overcoming the barrier with sheer might. Heurodis’ offensive capabilities were an unknown factor, but she apparently was a powerful sorceress, and now an undead one. Meaning, if he could destroy that defense of hers, he would have quite some ways of taking her down quickly.
Of course, the defense would come from harnessing the power of the Mythallar. And it was painfully obvious that the thing with the highest probability of being the harnessing device were the strange, crystalline and gold constructions forming a shape of a wheel around them.
If not them, then destroying them would at least increase the freedom of movement.
He looked at Mischa and she immediately understood. They split and went about to destroying the separate parts of the strange device, and Heurodis could probably only focus on one of them. Each one smashed one of the crystalline constructions into pieces, and then it was time for Heurodis to strike.
Xardas did not expect her to take things so seriously from the beginning, and the fact that she fired a Chain Lighting straight off the bat proved his expectations were wrong. He decided it would be better to further secure Mischa from harm and cast a Regenerate spell on her, it’s power far greater than that of the Vigorous Circle he used more often when in a group.
Then he turned to Heurodis, quickly considering how best to attack her. It appeared dealing direct damage was definitely out of question, however, maybe he could contain her or weaken her, even temporarily.
Since she was undead now, he decided to fire a Moonbolt to try and stop her. To his pleasant surprise, the spell went through her shield and Heurodis was momentarily too shocked to attempt resistance, and fell onto her knee, suddenly feeling drained and incapacitated. He then called a Lighting Storm to destroy a couple of crystalline constructs before he noticed that the energy forming Heurodis’ shield morphed and now seemed to heal her from the effect.
Mischa hacked at another construction and blew it into pieces before charging against the undead medusa and attempting to slash at her. Her second blow went through the shield and even scratched Heurodis, but Mischa had to dodge another moment to avoid a Cone of Cold coming out from her hands. Heurodis then immediately fired a storm of magic missiles, and Mischa yelled to him:
- Master, destroy these things ! I’ll stop her for now !

She noticed the look of concern in his eyes, but it seemed he was reassured when he saw how his regeneration spell worked miracles on her injuries.
She was a bit angry at him that he never used such spells in the beginning of their journeys. His own students mistook him for a Ranger or something because of it !
She had to dodge a sphere of acid fired by the medusa mage and attempted to smite her with her paladin abilities, but this time the shield surrounding her contained all the damage. Mischa quickly noticed that the effect was no magic she knew of – the protection Heurodis had displayed multiple effects, such as healing any small wounds that got through her shield and most of all protecting from both normal attacks AND spells.
She suddenly found herself in an Acid Fog and had to jump sideways before being struck by a thin, green ray fired from Heurodis’ pointing finger.
Disintegrate ? But that meant…
Mischa blinked, and noticed that the damage was minimal. Meaning she really WAS getting better, that she COULD finally fight head to head and toe to toe with such a powerful evil.
Now, if only the shield was down…
Her master was surely taking his time !
She was bombarded by another mass of magic missiles before attempting to attack the medusa one more time. Just when she was poised to strike, something odd happened. A small hiss came from the mouths of so far appearing-dead snakes on the other woman’s head, as she opened her mouth and released a strange sound.
Initially it was rather quiet, but then started to slowly rise in volume before sharply jumping to a deafening burst of sound. Mischa clutched her head and ears, but that was not all the undead sorceress had in for her.

Just a moment later she saw in the corner of her eye yet another ray, this time far different in color, going straight towards her. In just a moment, she felt a terrible force tearing her body apart as she fell on the ground, completely blacked out for a moment.
She regained consciousness quite soon, only to find out that not only she wasn’t hurt further, Heurodis herself took damage. Moreover, the entire area is bathed in a soft, silvery-white radiance, and Xardas stood just next to her, apparently being the one who caused both the damage now visible on the undead medusa and the mysterious glow. He then swung his sword around, releasing the shards of his sword and destroying one crystalline construction after another.
Heurodis was apparently sensing danger and decided to use the most powerful spells at her disposal. Seemed like “her most powerful” spells weren’t half bad, considering she fired a Horrid Wilting at the two. Used to such powerful magic and capable of withstanding it, Xardas immediately started to cast another spell.
Sunburst might be strong enough to actually take the bitch down once her shield was deactivated.

The female sorceress decided to try and instantly weaken the young half-elf that managed to damage her even with her mythallar shield on and more so, with a spell she never saw in her life. Xardas recognized that she unleashed some protective effect on herself before charging another Avasculate ray, like the one that just knocked over his former student, while he was close to being ready to fire the Sunburst but postponing it until the entire crystalline construction was destroyed by the rampaging shards of his sword.
He fired the powerful solar spell moments before Heurodis did, just as his blade shattered the last part of whatever was transferring the power of the Mythallar to Heurodis and the shards started to flow towards him to re-materialize.
He felt the dreadful necromantic spell hit him dead-on, but immediately his Vigorous Cycle started repairing the damage he suffered. On the other hand, his Sunburst was also aimed flawlessly and he heard the sorceress hiss loudly, barely holding back a scream of pain.
Xardas wasted no time, but this time he turned to more defensive thinking, healing Mischa before checking his own state. It was just as bad as you’d expect from somebody hit by Avasculate, however, he could still fight at nearly his full potential.


As he expected despite, the heavy weakening and actual, unpleasant physical damage she took from the solar spell, Heurodis was far from giving up and was already casting a spell, and Xardas could not quite make out what it was – apparently she did not cast it yet in this battle. Xardas wanted to increase his spell resistance to stop the attack, but it turned out he was a bit too slow before he suddenly felt himself numbed and blacked out for a moment, noticing he couldn’t move.

[“ Some sort of immobilizing effect… A Power Word ? Yes, it would make sense… but, that means, for the time being, I am… “]

He was on the edge of consciousness and unable to as much as raise a single hand to try casting a spell, however, he somehow made out that Heurodis was casting another spell.
And this time it was an electrical one.
Xardas managed to actually force a grin onto his face, and awaited the medusa’s reaction. Of course, there was a high possibility that she will overcome the effect, but still, if it worked…

It did. The barely noticeable silver glow from the area he razed with his spell before increased in intensity just as she fired the Chain Lighting spell, but instead of firing a mighty lighting bolt as usual, the electricity suddenly weakened right after leaving her palms and discharged onto the sliver-glowing environment.

Before anything else was done by either party, what had to happen have begun – there was a sharp movement and, suddenly, Heurodis lost her balance, and so did some of the buildings in their surroundings. They were falling. The entire city was falling down – and the time that the Power Word was restraining them was running out without Heurodis being able to further her advantage.

Soon of course the fall became steady enough that she managed to get back on her feet, however, right now, it was not only a fight between them; it was a battle with time.

[“Excellent. Now, since Power Words most often work based on how strong one’s vitality at the point of the spell being cast is, it means that…”]

Something moved next to him. He heard a sword being picked up, and a heavy breathing.
[“… Mischa may get up any moment.”]

His young paladin pupil returned to her battle stance, and he knew that she probably threw a sideways glance to check his condition. However, it was a good thing she got up.
Weaker than Heurodis as she might be, Mischa was more than powerful enough to keep the medusa sorceress at bay before the spell on him wears down. Afterwards, he just had to unleash his power and finish her off at last.

Mischa dashed towards the undead medusa and immediately dodged an incoming Vitriolic Sphere and slashing at the foe’s exposed flesh wildly. Heurodis managed to dodge in the last moment and covered herself with an Elemental Shield.
Mischa appeared not to be disturbed in the least and managed to get in the next strike, before Heurodis started bombarding her with Isaac’s Missile Storm and attempting to finish her off with Flame Arrows. Mischa dodged left and, in an amazing show of reflex, parried another shot with her blade, leaving just two arrows to hit her.

She jumped forward, broke through the burning shield, and stabbed the medusa with her blade before twisting it inside her body and kicking her right off the sword.
Suddenly, to the medusa’s surprise, she backed off and covered her eyes. Before she managed to react, Heurodis was hit with another Sunburst. Not relaying on sight anymore, the sorceress managed to make out that yet another spell was being cast, and it wasn’t of the offensive kind this time.

She sensed lighting, meaning that the strange barrier imposed upon it was probably weakened and now she could fire the Chain Lighting spell that should take care of her weakened opponents.
She did just as she planned, firing off the destructive elemental spell after charging it post-haste, the lighting sending the young blonde paladin on the ground and probably heavily damaging the frustrating half-elf.
However, she did not have even a single moment of rest as immediately after she knew this annoying druidic-like spellcaster was upon her and slashed straight through her defense with that abominable sword of his.


Xardas charged into Heurodis full-speed with his Storm Avatar activated and swung his sword immediately after making contact with her elemental shield, nearly causing the medusa to lose balance and fall.

He didn’t particularly care whether she would be lying or standing for his last move, which consisted of ramming his hand into her and casting Heal spell, thus causing the medusa to fall down from the lack of energy rather than from the strength of his hit.
- Well, while stopping us with a Power Word and flooding with offensive spells seemed like a decent plan, however you failed to take into account that…

He shifted his sword and chopped off her arm before kicking her away.
- There are two of us, the strength of Power Words depend on the vitality of the target, which we were constantly restoring, and I quickly noticed your preference for the lighting element. Of course, you couldn’t know about the defensive aspects of my spell, and that was quite the advantage. It worked just as I hoped it would. Now, I would really appreciate it if you…

Heurodis immediately lifted her remaining hand, whispering an incantation and pointing her finger at him. Xardas immediately recognized the spell but it was just a moment too late to react. The Finger of Death struck against his body, sucking out his vitality and aiming to put out the flame that was his very life. He went a bit shaky on his knees before Mischa screamed his name in fear.
He dealt with death effects before. A single medusa sorceress after a lich transformation was not EXACTLY the kind of thing that could knock him unconscious, much less kill him.

- Fine. Just die, stupid bitch.
He wasn’t about to let this continue any longer, so he just called down a Lighting Storm to fry her alive.
- Master !!! Master, I…
- Calm down Mischa, I’m fine. No reason to panic. And cut out the master crap at last.
- I know you’re fine, but unless you failed to notice, WE ARE FALLING FROM THOUSANDS OF FEET ABOVE THE GROUND AND I DOUBT WE HAVE A WAY OUT !
- Oh, yes, indeed, that sounds like a problem, doesn’t it ?
- HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM ?!
- Well, considering the fact we cannot fly, cannot change form in order to be able to fly and it doesn’t seem like the deities will intervene any moment, it’s better if we are calm, because otherwise we may not be able to figure a way out of this seemingly unavoidable demise, won’t we ?
- That did not make me calmer at all ! You mean we’re going to die unless a miracle happens ?!
- No, Mischa, I’m just teasing you. Obviously, nine people out of ten survive crashing into the ground after falling down from hundreds if not thousands of feet above ground a on a great stone construction as long as they’re on the top of it.
- You’re… not being serious, are you ?

He went silent.
- You did not believe me, did you ? Was there actually a moment you thought we would survive if we crashed ?
- Master, this is serious !
- Why I was so calm is not because we have a one in a hundred chance of surviving the crash, but the fact that I already figured out how we will get out of here before I destroyed the mythallar-harnessing device.
- And, what is it ?
- I’m going to keep summoning birds until they’re capable of lifting us and taking us away from this peril.
- This… is your plan ? Is everything… all right inside your head ?
- This is incredible, you actually believed I can summon enough birds to lift our fat butts off the ground in enough time to escape before we crash.
- WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME, SO STOP JOKING ALREADY !


Suddenly, a strange sound was released. Mischa even let out a sound suggesting she was about to start screaming, thinking they already crashed, but stopped as soon as she saw a pair of shady doors appear and open behind her former mentor.
- Get in. I’ll explain once we get out of here.
Not wanting to waste any more time, she practically jumped through the door.
Xardas looked around once again, taking in the color of the sky and worrying one last time about what will happen once they crash and the mythallar probably breaks.
[“ I’ve never been so high up, never looked at what the skies look when you’re among the clouds… Doubt I’ll ever will. Wonder if that’s how the spirits in the Plane of Air feel. Well, those among them who feel consciously, at least. But, let’s not… tempt death anymore. You can hit the ground any second now, Xardas.”]
He entered the portal.

Maenaz paced through the Gate, fully awake, totally upset, and now, nearly at his best condition.
Nearly. The wounds that strange, spear-like shape that Valsharess made with a spell inflicted…
They barely healed at all. They were still slightly bleeding, and seemed… infected, somehow. But, curiously, if they were poisoned or infected he should feel some other symptoms by now.
He didn’t. However, of course, Malacoda noticed quickly that he wasn’t top-shape, and she found out about the wounds. She reccomended going to the Night Hags, of all people, and getting a medicine for this.
Anything brewed by the hags would probably include something that made him go sick, pass out, or vomit. Even if didn’t happen, if he happened to find out what the medicine was MADE OF he would probably vomit anyway.
He just wanted to go on a mission for his exchange with Samael and get his mind off everything. Strange wounds, killing Valsharess, his lover, after destroying an entire settlement of drow who believed in him just to ally with her… Then arriving here. In a place that seemed to barely fit into his comprehension after just two and half a day spend in it.

There was a lamia noble that appeared kind but claimed not to be. There were noble ranks that he never heard of. There was a fallen angel who studied under an Ultroloth and did not particularly seem to care that his apparent female friend, or maybe more, another fallen celestial, was killed by his current Master.
The Nefarious Seven did not count seven “people” even before he arrived here and he was beginning to be thankful for that, considering how weird the people that he met where ! A mysterious, apparently tattooed, snake-like creature… that possessed black and red, feathery wings like… well, like the fallen celestials themselves.

An old witch from a race that apparently sometimes messed even with the most powerful evil and non-good creatures in the Outer Planes with rare paybacks whatsoever due to their trade – transformed human souls. Yes, the larvae, or whatever they called these pitiful petitioners, were treated like fucking litter by the Night Hags, it turned out.
An ultroloth, a member the super-enigmatic variety of those yugoloths, a race of fiends that seemed so odd and alien to him.

[“ And last but not least, a former devil of unknown pedigree, the femme fatale of the Gate of Vipers, known for her contribution into the Lower Planes drug-trade, her oversexed image, a son as huge as two seasoned warriors and her orgies organized every weekend, Euryale ! Truly, a perfect place to settle down, make a farm and form a family. I need to get out of here. NOW.”]


Still, he did not have to panic. He wasn’t exactly… dissatisfied, even. Nothing so bad yet happened, only that he had to exchange a few blows with this Gizarakor guy.
He rushed into Samael’s throne room, having to endure a few raised eyebrows and condemning stares from the fiends and yuan-ti in two previous chambers as he did so.

The lord of the Gate was in a discussion with Hebiriel and seemed slightly more agitated than… well, not only usual, almost whenever Maenaz saw him, he appeared less roused and annoyed.
- You mean that all the time I was gone you only fed HIM once and it was before Phenexia took control ? Do you understand the possible implications of… Oh, Maenaz. I understand that you are here due to our deal, aren’t you ?
- Yes, however the issue of “Him” being “fed” appears to be quite important. Just what other sort of monstrosity are you keeping in here, Samael ?
Suddenly, the winged snake was upon him, encircling him so that his tail and face was in front of the warlock, but it’s body was stretched and twisted around him ready to constrict like that of a python or other snake.
- Ssome thingss in this place are out of your concern, mortal. And I believe you should be taught some mannersss while you’re sstill young.

Maenaz felt a shiver run down his spine. The creature was… fast. This movement was far too quick to follow with his current state of eyesight, not to mention reacting to it. Maenaz knew even if he was in his best form it was far, far too early to think about picking up fights with the members of the Seven, both considering his current standing in the Fortress and his actual power. There was something in him itching to get into a fight with something so strong, but he knew better.
- Even if I said something wrong, there’s no need to…
- Silence. Both of you. Maenaz, what Hebiriel and I were discussing is an incredibly secretive matter known only to five people in the entire Gate, with one of them being underinformed and the other four being me and three members of the Nefarious Seven. So, you’ll excuse me if I will not talk to you about this matter, which also is a rather touchy subject to both me and to Hebiriel here. Also, do not, I repeat, do not simply charge into anybody’s chambers here in the Gate. The resident may not like it, and you may not like what you see or hear. Hebiriel, no need for aggression. He’s new here.
- Yess, Masster. No need for thiss. My apologies.
- As to the matter we spoke of, Hebiriel… Go to *that* dungeon. Pick out whatever you deem suitable, avoiding our “special” residents of course. Especially those two.
- Are you sure, Masster ? I mean…
- The creature is probably starved to the point it won’t care about the quality of its food, only the quantity. If it’s aggressive, I’ll take care of feeding it myself this time.
- Of course. I shall ssee to it at once.
-
Maenaz did not fail to notice that when he wasn’t aware of his presence, Samael referred to this creature as “him”, but while he was listening, only thing he heard was “the creature” or “It”.
Once Hebiriel left, the lord of the Gate spoke out.
- You’d be wise to get on good terms with some people in the Seven at least. Him, especially.
- Perhaps I will, once I see any reason to. I am here about our deal. It’s time to start my retribution on Neverwinter at last.
- Just as I thought. However, as you just heard, there is some other matter that needs taking care of immediately. I already have a job for you, the problem being the payment and the job’s details. Therefore, in an hour, maybe two, two or three members of the Seven will visit your chambers and both inform you about your mission and question you about the details of your revenge and Neverwinter itself. Since I doubt even the contacts of my best man can arrange something that would actually satisfy you in a short time, the first job is rather easy though quite important to me. The next exchange of favors will be done after we settle this thing about your soul you worry about so much and I believe we will be able to get a shot at least at one of the major objects of your spite.
- Ruining Neverwinter, killing the Nine and Nasher will probably be a complicated and prolonged process. I’m getting impatient, but I can wait as long as the end result is satisfying.
- Then we shall get along just fine. Many of my servants have individual contacts on the Material Plane, and the intrigues of the Yuan-Ti, some of whom worship me, go deep. We shall have information about the secrets and missions of Neverwinter in quite little time, but it simply cannot be immediately. Now, there is another matter we should speak about.
- What is it ? As you just made me know, I have some time to spare.
- When you fought with Valsharess, she cast a certain spell. I’m sure you remember. The one which created a spear-like shape.

Maenaz stopped for a moment. Did Samael… know ?
- Yes, I do. It didn’t take long to finish her off afterwards.
- This spell has more than an in-battle effect. It makes use of a certain kind of evil power that has a peculiar effect on almost all creatures.
- What do you mean ?
- It is nearly certain that the wounds she inflicted on you with this spear did not heal. You are aware if they did, I assume ?
- They did not heal. Strange you only mention this now.
- There were other things to deal with, and there was always a small change the damage wasn’t permanent. It’s not a poison, or a disease, so the damage will not spread, but you won’t be able to simply heal it.
- Then how do I get rid of those wounds ??
- Well, there is the option with going to Veniseria and her Night Hags, but their “treatment” would take some time, include something that would make you vomit and make you sick for a two days or more, sometimes whole weeks depending on the damage’s extent. I assume you would rather avoid that.
- That sort of treatment is out of question !
- Well, then there’s also the option where you have a healer friend who takes you to a holy ground and gets rid of the wounds, but even if, this would also take time. Therefore, I will have to ask you to uncover that wound and trust me with the treatment. It won’t hurt all that much, even.

Of course, Maenaz did not feel the slightest bit comfortable about trusting an archfiend with his treatment. Of course, everything in him, starting with his common sense going through his gut feeling and his perseverance instinct ending with his sense of right and wrong and his so far somehow preserved… sanity ? Wish to be relatively normal ? Whatever it was.
Of course, there was no discussing it. Not with this fiend. Somehow, Maenaz found himself slipping out of his armor and upper clothing to reveal the wounds inflicted on him by his former lover.

This reminded him he still carried the cape made by her (or at least on her direct command and with the use of her powers). He still had Enserric that he found during his ventures into the Undermountain, his armor was modified by the Drow and he still carried around the cloak that he ripped off Nathyrra’s dead body.
Now this was quite a collection of mementos, wasn’t it ?
Enserric would be better without the voice and with some elemental enchantments, but it was a very good sword. His armor was fine and so was the cloak, except it was a bit too spider-themed for the Gate of Vipers.

But why did he keep such things as Nathyrra’s cloak with him ? He remembered buying Aribeth’s old ring so long ago, in the Helm’s Hold, and other things, such as the belt he had from Sharwyn and the amulet he got from Grimgnaw and kept wearing it for a rather long time…
Samael approached. He tried not to appear like he was both afraid and in deep thought.

Maenaz remembered a thing often being pointed out, about how his body build and his relative lack of facial hair and body fat made him seem “elven” to some. This odd habit of picking on and keeping things that could make him remember things that may be better left behind made him finally realize that he was anything but that – elves picked memories carefully and purged their minds of useless memories and information whenever possible. It might be understandable because of their long lifespans, centuries of experiences. In fact, many humans perhaps wished they had such an ability as well, some being cursed and haunted with memories.

He was the opposite, however. If something was important, he always tried to remember it, regardless of whether it was important in a good way or not. He also, as he just found out, was apparently fond of getting mementos of such events. He bought the first Aribeth’s ring mostly out of curiosity and because it appeared to increase resistance against magic, but then received a ring directly from her.
As time passed, he found himself increasingly attached to the thing, not willing to part with it under any circumstances. However, despite this, he kept the older ring as a memento as well, rather reluctant to sell it or throw it away despite having a more important thing usually hanging on his neck.

He also found out that Nathyrra’s cloak was important to him as well, both because of their time as allies and companions, the value he placed on the drow’s skill, and because of the circumstances of her death – the importance and finality of his decision to betray the Seer and her drow.
Maybe it was time to let it all remain behind. To throw away some of these memories.
But he wouldn’t do it yet. No, definitely not.

Samael was already closely inspecting his wound. Then, he felt the archdevil’s touch on his bare chest. He couldn’t suppress a shiver. He was completely, absolutely sure that he could be killed right by these malicious claws, especially considering the fact that he could apparently inject poison from them. However, Samael did nothing of the sort, so far at least.
- Yes, definitely what I thought. This wound won’t heal at all. And we need to get the power from the Vile Lance without actual holy ground, so… this will hurt a bit. And I’m not talking about the wounds, either.
- What wounds ? This wound ? It barely hurts at…

Just as he was speaking, this strange, mental blade suddenly appeared in Samael’s hand, cutting through his flesh in the exact same place the wound from Valsharess’ spell was. To Maenaz’s shock, the fiend continued to do the same with all the other such spots.
He was just about to shut his displeasure out at the archfiend, just when the fiend suddenly pointed the blade at his own arm and plunged it in, causing himself to bleed.
Maenaz stared in awe for a moment before realizing a possible implication and taking (almost jumping, in fact) a step back.
- I don’t know what sort of god-forsaken ancient hellish medicine you’re thinking of here, but I want to voice I do not consider pouring your blood or whatever into my wounds a good idea.
- Good. Because we will be doing the exact opposite.
- And… why ?
- There are a couple types of energy frequently employed by us, the forces of evil, and the one we’re talking about here is the most deadly and dangerous of them, absolutely deadly to normal mortals and an anathema to life in general. I’m one of four, perhaps five, beings in the Lower Planes that are capable of taking this energy and changing it into something… almost as dreadful and dangerous, but far more useful, especially to you mortals.
- You intend to suck out the leftover energy from the spell, take it and make it into a tool ? What for ?
- To ensure your maximal performance as well as to have a ready supply of said energy, of course !
- Is there a side to this process I should be aware of ? Any… downsides ?
- Other than getting wounded more like just now ? The process itself will hurt. Nothing you’re unused to.
- Then just get on with it.


Xardas and Mischa suddenly found themselves surrounded by darkness, not impenetrable one, especially for his half-elven eyes, but it was still a sharp contrast to the building on top of Undrentide, in the skies above Anauroch. Noticing that they appeared in a relatively small chamber with a shade that immediately referred to him as “master”, Xardas voiced his concern.
- This is rather… unexpected.
- Why ? What’s wrong ?
- The Ethereal and Shadow planes are pretty much the reflections of Material Plane, not exactly the same but with directly corresponding places and locations. I figured if we used these doors on top of the city of Undrentide, we would get to the corresponding location in the Shadow’s Plane Undrentide. However, it appears I was wrong, and the door led to a specific location once someone identified as their “master” used them. Still, we’re probably in the Shadow Undrentide, just… somewhere else.
- Then… how do we return ?
- We could try to use the door again, except we cannot do it here… actually if they don’t work like a normal portal, anywhere is a bit dangerous. I’d prefer if we just used a portal to return.
- Why cannot we use the door here ?
- Because if we teleport from this location back into the Material Plane, we’d be right back in Undrentide, which is currently either meters above ground, crushing into it, or changed into a mass of rubble.
- …Oh. Then we need to get out of Undrentide and teleport in a safe location ?
- Yes, that is correct. Though, there is also the option of staying.
- I’m sorry. What did you just say ?
- Staying here. It is pretty obvious that some of the Netherilians escaped to the Shadow Plane became creatures of shadows over the centuries. That means Shadow Undrentide may contain much of great arcane knowledge as well as specimens of ancient Netherilian magic users. From a certain point of view, it is…
- THERE’S NO WAY I AM STAYING IN HERE any longer than necessary !

Xardas tilted his head and looked at her.
- Who said anything about you staying ?
- I don’t understand.
- I am sending you back to Faerun posthaste. Your training has been finished AND Heurodis has been stopped, but for you, a paladin of Mystra, to stay in the Plane of Shadow ? No, that’s just too extreme.
- Are you thinking about sending me back on my way to Faerun alone and staying here to dabble in some ancient books or something ?
- Yes, that is exactly what I am thinking about. I’m not yet saying that’s what I will do, but it’s certainly an option.
- So, you don’t consider YOU staying here too extreme.
- No. As I said, I am used to the shadows.
- You’re going back with me. No arguing.
- I think you’re misunderstanding something. You were never made the leader nor the commander of this team. I, on the other hand, have been the one in charge almost all the way here. I’ll do as I please, and you’ll do what’s good for you.
- So, you’re acting like a true tyrant now.
- I fought with the worst the Shadow Plane has to offer. I can think about what’s profitable. You’re young and inexperienced. You should think about what’s safe. That’s all.
- You cannot just tell me what to do !
- Mischa, please understand. I’m just trying to do what’s best for you. I’ll gladly return with you, but… Such an opportunity may not arise again.
- We’ll discuss it later. I want to get out of this city now.
- I completely agree. Let’s just get out of here.

In truth, Xardas did not think about returning to the Material Plane at all. At least not yet. He learned only a little during his travel out of Neverwinter, and if he came back to Faerun with Heurodis now gone and all his students already caring for themselves all this time, he’d probably either have to go and finish “educating” Xanos and Dorna with boring sermons or he’d…
Have to return to Neverwinter. He no longer had any reason not to.
On the other hand, the shadow version of an ancient Netheril city gave him opportunities to learn and grow, and it might contain knowledge that would help him tap into his draconic heritage further.

Not to mention there was a certain appeal to taking control of a part of the plane the essence of his greatest enemy so far came from. And in the name of his Deity as well.
Yes. Staying here was much to tempting, especially if he could simply get Mischa out of the picture so he could fully sort out his own feelings.
The only question was HOW to get her out of picture without hurting her feelings in the process.

Maenaz felt an itch of insecurity as he saw his blood flow down into the wound a millennia-old fiend inflicted upon himself.
This certainly seemed like some abyssal occult ritual or some other crazy shit in which a bunch of quarter-to-half sane guys swore their soul to the forces of darkness. What creeped him out even more was when Samael’s eyes lose color and started to emit a shady glow.
That’s when it hit him. The pain.
It felt as if some beast bit into his lungs and tried to rip out and devour a huge chunk. That sort of situation wasn’t in his array of experiences, but the fiend did not lie – he was used to that level of pain.
He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth to contain the pain and succeeded for the first two wounds, but the third one, bigger than the others, caused him to groan and his eyes darted open.

He was blind.

It only lasted for a second, but he panicked that he didn’t see anything. Slowly, this changed to his knew, worse vision he got every time he came in contact with darkness – black shapes in the vision of his left eye and cloudy vision in the right one. He looked down to see strange, black and dark violet, sticky liquid flow down along with his blood to the wound on Samael’s hand, which had taken a darker color along with the veins becoming an unnatural dark blue.

Samael took to the last wound Valsharess inflicted on him with her spell, and his vision got even worse for a moment again. Once all the energy was drained out, he barely found the strength within himself to stand. Samael stepped back and eyed him up curiously.
- So, everything should be all right now.
- I… doubt it. You freakin stabbed me. What now ?
- Now ? Now you have a set of wounds that can be cured normally. It’s better that way, is it now ? Or are you experiencing some unusual side effects ?
[“ Side effects ?! SIDE EFFECTS !?!! I’m going to go blind soon enough ! I don’t need your fucking treatments to quicken it !”]
He closed his eyes and waited in silence for a moment.
- It seems obvious now. There is another problem with your health, am I right ? Something other than these wounds is hampering you.


Maenaz opened his eyes. This terrible effect was almost completely back to his “normal” state now.
- Perhaps there is. I fail to see any reason in discussing health issues now, I can deal with it just fine.
- You’re too sensitive about it for it to be fine.
- You’re a freaking archfiend. Why suddenly care ?
- It’d be a waste if you were to die due to some prolonged risk to your health.
- Nobody’s dying. I can deal with it. Now, if this is all, I will leave and wait for your servants to…
- It isn’t all. Be touchy about your health all you like, but there is another matter that I need to sort out with you. It concerns your skills.
- What about them ?
- Well, it is common knowledge that you’re a warlock. A very powerful one, at that. But there is a high possibility that you have… other talents. Your physical capabilities and skill with a weapon are above what most warlocks can do, yet it all seems rather natural to you. Your fighting style is also different from most other warlocks and spellcasters of any other kind – you fight far more in close quarters. You didn’t take a lot of time to learn how to fight well with swords and all, did you ?
- No. I could fight with a blade for a very long time, and in fact I finished my training in Academy as one of the better swordsmen despite the seemingly magical nature of my talents.
- And you ever tried learning spellcasting of a different sort ? Becoming a mage’s apprentice, or something similar ?
- Well, I cast spells all the time because I can use scrolls and wands and stuff… But actual spellcasting ? No, I don’t think I’ve ever tried it. And I rarely associate with mages, they tend to annoy me.
- Did anybody of note ever commented that you have a magical talent or possess a strong magical aura ?
- The leader of the Many-Starred Cloaks did. Turned her down. I assumed she was talking about my warlock abilities, which were fine growing on their own anyways. Why do you keep probing me with these pointless questions ?
- Well, I wouldn’t do it if they were pointless. You’ve probably saw for yourself that there are many kinds of talented individuals in the Planes, not all of them tied to the concept such as sorcerer, wizard, fighter, cleric, you name it. It is often difficult to see where your true talent and potential lies, especially since some of those are hereditary, some are taught, and some can be both. However, in order to realize your true power, you must understand just exactly what you’re capable of learning and controlling to the fullest. In your case, it’s being a warlock, that’s sure. It’s even hard to understand how you came to have that power, but obviously, you have it. However, what if you had talent in more than one unusual area ? Wouldn’t it be profitable if you partially realized your abilities in that other area as well ?
- I see where you’re coming from, but why read so much into it ? I’m a warlock. I’m relatively good with blades. That’s all there is to it.
- Yes. Definitely. I’m probably wrong, after all I haven’t seen much during these few boring, secluded and routine years my life has been.
- …
- In fact, I pick my servants by chance. Usually I flip a coin or throw a dice to determine who’s worthy and who is not.
- Fine, even a two years old wouldn’t be able to absorb that much sarcasm. Are you… sure ? That I’m not “just” a natural warlock, that is. That I have some latent, hidden abilities I’ve been unaware of.
- I’m pretty sure, yes.
- And of what kind ?
- There are just a few options, but after some time of consideration, I’ve decided to go with one specific possibility and check the others only if that one fails. Tell me… It is almost sure that you had some elves in your family tree, right ?
- Yes. Haven’t been any in it for a long time, so my ears are normal, but I know of some. I identify myself as human, though.
- Do you know of any adventurers in these elves’ families ?
- I haven’t dug that deep.
- A shame, it would make me sure. However, this option is the most possible. Perhaps, even, through some strange twist of fate, elven blood mixed with some supernatural or elemental creature in your ancestry has made you a warlock as well.
- Get to the point.
- Throughout the ages, every single race, empire, organization, or secret society of mortals that used magic for combat tried to make wizards more than they are, or make battle-hardened warriors into dangerous wizards as well. This is because of mortal perfectionism, I believe. Of course almost every attempt in doing this fails or turns out half what it was meant to be, and probably no perfect magical warrior or battlemage, the existence of several different terms suggesting several different approaches, exists. However, a few attempts are of note, and one ancient elven order in particular deserves attention. Today they died out, at least in Faerun, and only singular people who learned their teachings exist, not all of them elven, even. They focused on using magic and channeling it through a weapon, so a balance would be maintained in their skills that allowed them to fight in front lines but be able to fight magic as well. The drow call them “Sui'aerl Kyorle“, or Arcane Guards, and among normal elves they were called many names, like Twilight Knights, Duskblades, and so on. You may be mildly to strongly talented in that area, however, since you did not receive training in their ways, you probably can’t use your full potential as one, with their type of spellcasting being non-existant. Therefore, you’ll have to learn how to recognize if you have what it takes and how to cast spells as a duskblade, and you can do it in here, in the Gate. The key to that is getting along with Hebiriel and gaining access to his research about such ancient types of spellcasting. You probably cannot do anything for him right now, but before the next exchange of services, be sure to learn if you can do him a favor. In return, ask about those duskblades. If that’s not what your hidden talent that led to your ability with weapons and melee combat is, we’ll try other options.
- You seem really interested in seeing me reach the heights of my possible power. Why is that ?
- We archfiends are sometimes kind of interested in what heights of power mortals can achieve, and what versatility they can have without the aid of us or the deities. I have seen potential of many go to waste, and I personally wasted one such opportunity for a creature to grow. On the other hand, I myself come from a breed of creatures that normally never achieves what I have achieved, and I saw a being that I never thought had it in itself put itself on my own throne in the Nine Hells. A creature originally part-mortal through a strange set of circumstances became my prized and chief Duke of Hell, and my lover, of which there were so few amidst the millennia that you could count them on your fingers. In Toril itself a mere human devised a spell that allowed it to steal a creature’s divinity, which lead to said deity’s death, a crumble of an empire, the existence of places dead to magic and the death and unknown fate of the soul of said mortal. In short, mortal potential is incredibly interesting, and you’re one of the few specimens that should be watched even by gods themselves. Given time and opportunity, you can outgrow even the Dukes of Hell or my Nefarious Seven. A few mortals like you at the same time and the same place, and histories of slaying a demigod or a Demon Prince are born.
- That doesn’t explain your interest. I doubt I’ve ever done anything to suggest I’m interested in truly serving you.
- There’s a blackness in your soul, one that grows with every effort you take to destroy Neverwinter. And even counting it out, you’re full of spite, so much that it may soon outgrow nearly all other human feelings. That alone shows a huge promise to me.
- You’re too confident.
- I’ve seen paladins fall and go over to the side of dukes and lords of Hell with spirits that held less spite than you do. This isn’t confidence, it’s experience.
- Fine, so I may turn all the switches on a paladin’s senses, but that doesn’t mean I am going to sell my soul so cheaply.
- I believe we already discussed the issue of selling. However, since you’re from Toril you’ll probably give your soul to someone sooner or later, and it’ll be your decision. That was all I wanted to talk about. You may leave and wait for my servants in your chambers, or do whatever else you wish for the time.
- Fine. I’ll be back.
- I never doubted that at all.


Dashing out of Samael’s chamber, Maenaz pulled out and drunk a healing potion. As his wounds started closing up, he noticed something.
[“ Isn’t my eyesight… Better than before ?”]

Looking around himself seemed to confirm it. His eyes were indeed better than the previous day.
[“How ? Why ? How the hell does that even work ?”]

Nothing seemed to make sense anymore. The reaction he had while Samael “healed” his wounds made him pretty sure that his eyes are going to get worse, yet now it was apparent they were better. So, why…
[“ Is it… this strange evil energy type he spoke about ? Is it… somehow connected to my condition ? But… how ? That’s the first time I was struck by it ! How the hell does that even work ?”]

He suddenly found himself standing in the corridor leading to Samael’s chamber, lost in thought and even biting his nails. The fiends and Yuan-Ti were probably giving him dirty looks by now, so he got back on his track while still thinking.
[“ There are too many mysteries in this place. Too much I should know and I don’t ! I need to learn more about this strange type of energy, and I need to get to know what the fuck is the creature Samael and Hebiriel were talking about that it’s so damn secretive. But who could…”]

Then it struck him. This was the reason. The reason to make some more connections of his own in this stupid Gate of Vipers. There were definitely beings that knew what he wanted to know in here. And he needed to find out.
After all, both his health and his relative sense of safety were concerned.
Of course, getting to know a member of Nefarious Seven was a priority, and he’ll soon have a chance to meet at least two of them at once and he’d later have a reason to visit Hebiriel.
In the meantime, he could…
[“ Of course. The Lamia. She has to know something, right ?”]

Maenaz figured out what he would be doing for the remaining time he had until the moment he learns of his mission.
He just had to find Malacoda and squeeze whatever she knew out of her somehow.
That sounded easy. Except he didn’t exactly knew where she was. Or where her quarters were.
Or how willing she would be to talk.
He’d better start immediately.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There we go. I may be dabbling into original D&D a bit too much with the introduction of a new class, but there will be a couple more along the way. As for the Duskblade itself, I needed to give an explanation why Maenaz fights so much (and so well) in melee as well as I didn't want to give the impression that he isn't developing anymore, because he'll probably be stuck with his current Warlock abilities and low-level Duskblade abilities for quite some time.

Also, Maenaz will never go beyond low-level Duskblade abilities, since it would give him too many options in combat. I don't even like the class much anyway - it just fitted Maenaz and his abilities, also it goes well with the future "fluff" that will be given about him and his family.
As an addition :


///////// SPOILER !!!!!!!

In this or in the beggining of the next chapter, Xardas (who will spend these chapters in the Shadow Undrentide for sure) will meet & battle a creature with low-to-mid level Duskblade abilities so you may see what to expect later.

//////////// End of spoiler


Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry for the delay & the additional wait.
We're also in the saga that is probably my favorite, so I kind of hope to find more time to write. Ironically, I spend more time lately finishing the general plan of the story than actual writing, but I believe I almost finished the before-mentioned plan in 100%. That will allow me not to forget my ideas and give me something to work with for the later sagas.

Venithil



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Part 2 :

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm sorry for forcing another prolonged wait, but me being away was longer then I thought and some relatively serious issues in my private life made any desire or ability to write diminish, if not die completely. Still, this is another long chapter, this chapter number XIV.

Also, since I have only about 50 days of holiday left, I decided to go with the story a bit faster so at least I could get to the most interesting parts before I will be forced to write less or get the story on another hiatus. Therefore, instead of us following Maenaz or Xardas around all the time, there will be small timeskips. Also, Xardas' role will be smaller for the few following chapters as Maenaz once again becomes the undisputed main character. We're in about half of the first part of the current story arc, and while this part of the arc has some weird sex scenes, in terms of plot I consider the second part of the arc my favorite of the WHOLE fanfic. So, basically, if I manage to get to it before my holiday ends, it equals to the story being continued through my first months on university instead of going on another hiatus. I wouldn't forgive myself if I stopped short of my favorite part, you know ;)

Enjoy - In the Shadows part II !


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Xardas looked around to confirm that it was indeed the end of the fight.
It was already the second group of Shadovar and other shade creatures that they encountered while roaming the Shadow Undrentide.
He was already itching to inspect the buildings they were passing by, some of them definitely arcane laboratories and replicas of ancient libraries, but he first needed to get Mischa out of this plane. Hopefully out of his life for at least a time. He needed to think things over and mature a bit. She needed to get somebody who suited her, not her over-experienced quirky ex-teacher who was of a different race to begin with.
He grimaced. The last applied to him and Elanee as well, didn’t it ?
He needed to stop thinking about this for the time they were still in danger. Clear his mind and finally let his “relationship” with Mischa simply go. It might seem a bit cruel to her, but it was probably the best idea at the moment.
After all, there was probably a good reason he felt guilty.
What incredible mess did he get himself into. He needed to clear it all up, to all involved. However, for now, he needed to accomplish his more practical objective.
Weakening the city’s defenses, getting Mischa out of here, getting back into the city, and proceeding with his plan.
He had to admit he might be being a bit over-ambitious thinking he could do this all, but hey, he was the man who, along with his friends, killed the King of Shadows. He personally finished a few Shadow Reavers, and learned a whole lot about the creatures of shadow during his adventure. So, if anyone could pull it off, it’d be him.

Xardas sometimes wondered how could he be so confident and sometimes so stupidly indecisive and mentally stuck all the same.
Mischa turned to him and spoke :
- Xardas, we’re getting closer to the city’s gates. Are we going to use the door or…
- No, Mischa, we’ll either find a portal or try to make one ourselves. It is too dangerous to use the door considering they can take us back into Undrentide, which is probably pretty much a pile of rocks at the moment.
- And… are you…
- I haven’t decided yet. It may depend on whether there is an active portal or are we fated to struggle a bit to get out of this plane. After all, Shadow Plane is not exactly the place I would enjoy living in for the rest of my life.
- Why are you even considering ? It seems somewhat more… personal to you than just the desire to learn.
Xardas smirked. It appeared she became sharper during their travel. Or was it just that women thing ?
- You could say it’s personal. I find it fitting to attack this place after my own experiences with creatures of the Shadow, but most of all, it’s sort of… religious. You see, I am a believer of…
Something was wrong. They were being approached. And there was a feeling…
Yes. That was unmistakable. A Nightshade. Was it a Nightwalker, like the King’s Avatar ?
If so, they were in grave danger. Even if not, it wouldn’t be a walk in the park.

- Master ?
- Mischa, watch out. We’re going to be attacked any moment.

Mischa drew her sword and looked around anxiously. It seemed she was totally unused to being in the Plane of Shadow, especially given the fact that most humans cannot see well in these conditions under normal circumstances. To add to the problem, enemies they had to deal with were of a dark color and sometimes incorporeal, which probably made it very hard for her to detect them.

Xardas of course barely had any problems. His sight was good enough under these circumstances, and, moreover, he already fought against enough creature of the shadow in his life to be used to this.
And that feeling, so similar to the one the Shadow King’s so-called “avatar” gave off, yet also different, was unmistakable.
He saw the nearly invisible movement at the shade of his vision and actually heard something, meaning at least some of his foes were material and not incorporeal.

He turned around to greet the attacking shades, knocking one over with a rapidly-fired Moonbolt before tearing through another one with his Silver Sword. He dodged a Lighting Bolt and instinctively countered an attack of a Shadovar Mage by burning him with a Flame Strike.
Then, Mischa screamed, and he turned around to witness a giant, batlike creature that appeared to be formed out of pure darkness, with jaws filled with sets of cruel-looking “teeth” that quite obviously had just damaged his student. Mischa managed only in the last moment to avoid being fully crunched upon, with just the upper teeth breaking through her armor and stabbing her before she managed to tear away from the being’s attack.
That was it. This was the Nightshade, he was sure of it. He never met this variety before, but it was unmistakable.

Since he needed the creature to be both hurt and more visible than it currently was, he put it ablaze with his Inferno and immediately turned to block a strike from a Shadovar warrior. He then run him through with his sword before casting a Heal spell to obliterate a more powerful shadow that attempted to flank him. Mischa was doing well, but he was worried that if that *thing* picked her as it’s target, she might be in grave danger. He looked around to detect the undead creature, but before he was able to react, it was upon him, attempting to trip him with it’s mass. Xardas ducked and fired a Moonbolt at the monster, but there was no visible effect. The bat gave off a screech and turned to Mischa.
His student decapitated one of the two remaining Shadovars and spotted the creature, apparently prepared to meet it head-on this time. In meantime, her master was preparing to burn the beast further, and as the beast flew by Mischa, being smited by her paladin ability, Xardas fired off a well-aimed Flame Strike. Much to his surprise, the Nightshade avoided colliding with the pillar of flames and manevres around it, flying high up. At the same moment, he got stabbed several times by the last remaining Shadovar warrior and as he turned to defend himself, a Greater Shadow attacked him from the side, his strength being suddenly sapped away. He managed to get in a clean strike on the shadow by turning around and fired a Moonbolt straight in the Shadovar’s face, but before he was able to engage them further, both creatures jumped away from him, and only a moment to late he realized why.

Powerful if decidedly not substanial in the usual sense of the word, a pair of jaws snatched him, broke through his armor and skin before flying away with him still being gnawed on. He heard Mischa scream his name before he managed to concentrate enough to push a Heal spell straight into the creature, which caused it to let go off him. The height fortunately wasn’t too great, and while the fall hurt, he doubted he broke anything. Of course, the nightshade was immediately preparing to strike him again, and only the timely appearance of a certain paladin stopped it from doing so. The thrust of his pupil’s blade was apparently quite deep, because the creature released a screech of pain before withdrawing a small distance.
He disturbingly noticed that even more of the mass of shadow around them was now *moving* and apparently getting closer, before the nightshade suddenly fired a powerful cone of cold at the pair, chilling them to the bone. Mischa was gasping for breath and almost lost balance, while he was decidedly too worried to lie in the… dirt any longer.

Mischa noticed a movement in the shadow before something else caught her attention. Her master rose to his feet, his eyes carrying a silvery gleam, the air around him visibly twisting and lightening from the shadowy black and dark grey into a lighter tone. Just around his hands, it started to glow, as Xardas’ palms were raised against the approaching mass of shadows and floating bat-like creature. Mischa watched in fascination as her mentor’s hands were suddenly lit aflame, the fire unlike any she ever saw, consisting of bright white flames and silvery rays of light. This radiant mass suddenly sprung forward from his palms, covering the field of a wide cone in front of them, practically evaporating the lesser shadows and causing the large beast to scream in agony before falling down on the ground, to which reaction Mischa immediately responded by jumping forward and running it’s head through with her blade.


She looked around just to notice herself surrounded by a soft, silvery glow, incredibly similar to that of a full moon, and realized she saw this effect before, while they fought with Heurodis. She was quite sure she never saw anybody use this spell before and she knew absolutely nothing about it. Her master turned around and fried the two remaining attacking creatures by calling a Lighting Storm. He then yelped and fell on one knee, so she immediately ran over. He was already healing himself, but no doubt that fight would take its toll, at least for some time.
- Master, that… was amazing ! I’ve never even seen such a spell ! How did you…
- I was just about to tell you before we were attacked. Nearly all of my spells are the same as ones that a druid would use… except that one. I’m unique in that I can use it, this Moonfire, and it’s because of my faith… You see, as a believer of Selûne… I would find it quite satisfying to pull a domain so closely related to her rival, a place in the Shadow Plane, something akin to her very own garden or whatever metaphor is appropriate… I would be glad to deal such a strike against Shar and conquer this Shadow Undrentide in the name of my goddess. So far, we had it easy, but if there are many Nightshades in the walls of this city, it may turn out to be harder then I thought…

He looked her in the eye and awaited her answer. Sure, it seemed a little… crazy, but someone as religious as her might understand the need.
- I… I see. I understand, but… you could have asked me for help. Shar is an enemy of Mystra as well, you know.
- It is far too dangerous for someone of your experience. Sure, if you got through it and survived, you may as well become a top-class paladin posthaste, but… I’d rather keep you safe. Not to mention the fact that it would be far more satisfying to finally do something by myself. I… I always had a lot of help in others, and yet, because most of them would identify me as their “leader”, I was the one being hailed as hero and accepted into the Neverwinter Nine. Not Khelgar, not Sand, not Ammon Jerro, who sacrificed so much over the centuries to defeat the King, but me. Even if I had proved to others I deserve these titles, there is one last person I must prove it to. Myself.
- I’d rather stay with you here then go back, if you put it that way. However, it may turn out the place is too dangerous for either of us. If we meet another such dangerous group, I suggest we both leave this place. Otherwise, we’ll discuss what to do.
- Fine by me. Let’s go.


Maenaz finally found his not-so-little lamia noble and decided to start his “interrogation” right away. Of course, he had to get her attention, greet her, and so on, but inside, he was twitching with the nervous desire to have his questions answered.
- Malacoda.
- Maenaz ! Were you looking for me ? It is rather unusual to…
- I need to borrow some of your time.

Maenaz crossed his arms. He did not want to look intimidating, more like he wanted to inform her that the issue was barely private, and rather pressing.
- Is… something wrong ?
- I need some questions answered.
- You sound rather demanding. What is so important ?
- I sound demanding because I just learned a couple of disturbing things.
- About… What ? Me ?
- No. About a certain… condition of mine. And about the Gate. Three things, to make it clear.
- What exactly ?
- First things first. Now I know this may seem normal in a military keep like this, however, I just learned that there was a certain dungeon in the Gate. One with, apparently, “special residents”. Some of them apparently more special than others.
- What’s so special about them ?
- Some of them are about to get used as food for a certain creature almost no one in the Gate is actually aware of. That’s the second issue. Do you know any…
- You do realize that even if I knew anything about this creature, there would be no way I’d tell you since Master did not wish for you to possess that knowledge ?
- Would it really be that painful to share that knowledge if you did ?
- It would. I won’t go against Lord Samael’s orders… No, I won’t go against his wishes, even.
- For a creature that worships a fiend, you’re truly remarkably loyal to him. What would it take for you to change your mind ?
- You cannot. Even if I knew of the creature you speak of, you couldn’t convince me to tell you anything about it.
- Why ?
- I told you already. This sort of loyalty… it’s in my blood.
- And you never explained it.
- It’s very… personal. I doubt you would speak of such things yourself, would you ? Anyway, what else you wished to know.
- The dungeon. Where it is, and what’s in it.
- Fine. I’ll show you, but I only have a limited knowledge of it. Anything else ?
- There is a certain issue. I…
- Shh…. Follow me. We’ll talk as we go there.

Up on their way, Maenaz started explaining about how he was attacked by a certain enemy (he avoided talking about Valsharess altogether – it might raise too much curiosity and was slightly painful for him) with a spell that Samael identified, how his wounds wouldn’t heal, and so on. Malacoda listened before explaining what she knew to him.

Xardas and Mischa had two other encounters just after they left through the city gate, one apparently a band of shadows that followed them and the other consisting of two Shadovars that appeared to be on a patrol.
In short, it was painfully easy. Unlike his continued attempts to convince Mischa that she would go and he would stay. It did not yet appear like he would have any problems with going through with his plan alone, but the fact was until now, it didn’t seem like anything (or anybody – he had to remind himself there were descendands of Netheril in the city) was a worthy challenge in here.

They soon detected an active portal and were about to go further and get to it at their own, leisure pace while talking about who was going and who was staying, but then, suddenly, Xardas stopped.
[“ What… was that ? That feeling, it… What was it ?”]

- Master, is something wrong ? Are you tired ? Or are we going to get attacked again ?
- Just wait a moment, Mischa. I need to check something.
Xardas kept concentrating and trying to find the source of that fleeting, but shocking sensation he had just a moment before. After a short time, he finally begun to sense a distant group of spirits, apparently undead, but that wasn’t what caused the sensation. He turned towards the city and closed his eyes, sharpening his sense to the extreme in search for the source.

It struck him and his eyes darted open. If she could see in the shadow, Mischa would probably notice how her Master’s skin tone suddenly changed from a healthy, slightly tanned tone to a paleness that could only be brought so immediately by shock or fear.
Xardas turned away from the city and suddenly picked up on his pace.
- Move. We have to get out of here.
- Did something happen ?
- I said move, damn it ! Fast, fast, get going ! We need to reach the portal as quickly as possible. It’s not safe for you to be here.
- Is something wrong ? Why are you so anxious all of a sudden ? What’s so unsettling ?
- There’s no need to explain, we’re safe. We just need to get to the portal and all will be fine.
- It’s not so far, is it ?
- Just a bit too far for my liking.

He was lying. Not too blatantly, but he was. Thankfully, she didn’t appear to notice.
Xardas never witnessed or felt something like he just did. What the hell was this creature ?
Whatever it really was, he had to prevent it and Mischa from ever making contact. And he had to prevent it from getting to the Material Plane as well, if it really was following them. His spiritual senses were only so offended once, and that was when he stood in front of the King of Shadows, the former guard of Illefarn ready to murder all his friends and end his existence… as a human anyway.
He increased the pace. The probability that this thing was following them was too high. And the portal, while he was certain that the one he detected was active, was still too far away.
After all, protecting his apprentice’s life was his duty, but he could revive her if there was a dire situation.
But to protect his and her souls ? That was obligatory. That was the most important thing.


Maenaz and Malacoda finally reached their destination. On the way there, he learned more about what he wished to know. The spell Valsharess used against him, the Vile Lance, was one of the select few known to humans and fiends alike that made liberal use of this strange type of energy. Reportedly, both low-level fiends and mortals were struggling to achieve an ability to use even small portions of it for their own ends, and only fiends of very high stature had a true control over it. Apparently the biggest issue with this power was that the wounds inflicted with it would not heal in normal circumstances – spells couldn’t restore them, normal methods did not work, rest did not help.
Even artifacts and regenerative powers were of little use against the so-called “vile” damage. Malacoda claimed to know little of it and that she didn’t use it despite being quite well-versed in magic, but noted that even beings such as trolls or positive-energy infused beings would die when exposed to too much of this mysterious, malevolent power.
However, while of use, Malacoda could not provide the answer he sought – how was this strange and apparently rare type of energy connected to the condition of his eyes ?

She did mention however that both Venexia and Hebiriel of the Nefarious Seven were probably pretty knowledgeable in these matters if he didn’t want to ask Samael. She also noted that fiends generally knew more about the topic than most mortals.
When they finally stood where the dungeon was supposed to be located, Maenaz
However, he did not notice anything that looked like a true dungeon. When Malacoda pointed out what he was looking for, all he saw was a large, broken, and as such, completely open, gate that seemed to lead into a small mountain in the Gate’s side.
- Doesn’t look like a dungeon. Seems like everybody could just walk in.
- Well, if you tried, you might be in for a nasty surprise. It’s because the Guard is invisible from here. Even if you killed him… Her ? It ? I confess that I do not know the creature’s gender, if it has any. Well, even if it died or you were able to sneak past it, to enter the Halls of Durance you’d need to perform a ritual. The ritual itself is known to four highest generals, the Nefarious Seven, and about every Signifer that bothered to learn, however only the Nefarious Seven and perhaps the highest commanders are allowed to enter on their own. Anybody else would have to get Lord Samael’s or the Praetor’s direct allowance. Or deal with the guard, which is not so easy.
- So, if there are such measures of protection… What is kept in these Halls of Durance ?
- Failed living experiments by any who conduct such in the Gate. Beings who were directly empowered by members of Nefarious Seven, but did not react to the empowerment as was expected… and wanted. Also, apparently, a few of Lord Samael’s direct enemies were trapped in there. Some speak of one of his former Dukes of Hell who betrayed him just before our Master had to escape from Baator, others tell tales of a minor Demon or Yugoloth Lord who had the nerve to challenge him when Lord Samael arrived in the place where he built the Gate. It’s really hard to tell what you could find there, but you’ll probably never have the need to see anything that lives inside. Also, you should hope that you never get put in there. Halls are dangerous, even to their inhabitants.
- So, basically, it’s a place no one wants to be in and one I should avoid. I get it. Wait… who is this person ?

Maenaz noticed how there was a humanoid on the stairs that led to the gate that apparently hosted the guardian, and she was on her way up, away from were the creature was supposed to be. That meant she either got lost – unlikely – or was returning from the Halls of Durance or at least from the entrance to them.
Malacoda looked over there, staring for a good few moments.
- I think… I think it’s Sinnesia. She’s a Yuan-Ti, the youngest currently used on missions both in the Outer Planes and on Material Plane. Despite her age, she has innate powers as both a Warlock and a Sorcerer, and as you know it’s quite rare to have even one of the two.
- Her skin tone doesn’t seem natural for a Yuan-Ti. I mean, she’s practically white, and I am not even seeing everything from over here.
- True, that is unusual, but she is a yuan-ti. Maybe with some mixed blood or fiendish ancestry, but a Yuan-Ti nevertheless.

Maenaz decided not to consider a young, strange snakeman girl at the time, because he obviously needed to be back at his quarters soon.
- Well, anyway, I need to go now. I’m about to be send on some mission and I need to meet someone back at my quarters. Thank you for your help, Malacoda.
- At your service. Since you’re staying at the Gate and working for Lord Samael, it’s actually kind of in my duties to help you. I admit I do not mind it at all.
- Why thank you. I need to learn more about what we spoke of, but you’ve been a great help. I need to go, so see you around.
- Yes. Definitely.

He nearly run as he paced through the chambers. If fiends really knew more, he might be just able to get some information on the topic from whoever explained the mission to him. If not, he might at least get it from a deal with one of the Seven. Any thoughts about the strange, twin-talented yuan-ti girl, or even the creature Samael was speaking of so anxiously, were disappearing because his mind was set on a much bigger problem – his eyesight and its connection to this vile energy.

Xardas was pretty sure of it now. This *thing* was following them. That alone was a drama in and of itself.
He wasn’t even sure what this thing was. One of these few creatures that actually preyed on and devoured souls ? Or was it just an illusion ? To his senses, the existence of this thing was offensive – from a distance he detected nothing more but a bunch of screeching, tormented spirits surrounding a flesh that instead of a soul, hosted something that was more akin to a bleeding, infected wound – in short, this was no natural creature, this was something else. However, if it had power to hold, or worse, devour, souls he needed to get Mischa out of this plane, while he himself had to stop the creature and either free those souls or destroy the source of their misery.
He couldn’t simply leave, it was against everything he believed in. Even the worst murderers and other scum weren’t that harmful, even the worst occultists and blackguards rarely captured or inflicted damage upon another’s soul, even necromancers of the worst sort more often created mindless and soulless undead and not trapped other beings’ souls in any way. This creature seemed to do the act that horrified him the most – preventing a creature from having an afterlife, no matter what it was, and binding it, not only to this world, but to a single object – this was the greatest sin and abomination of them all.
And now it was following them. And getting closer.

Thankfully, the portal was just in their reach. However, he had to make sure the creature never spotted he wasn’t alone, and it was already so, so close. Not alone, either.
He turned his face on again in the city’s direction, noting that the enemy was truly dangerously close.
- Xardas, what is wrong ?
- Mischa, go to the portal. We are being followed.
- Then let’s…
- GO ! RIGHT NOW !
- No, I’m going to help you !
- Listen to me just fucking once ! This fucking once ! Leave this plane right now, you CANNOT stay here !
- I do not understand, Master. Why are you suddenly so determined to see me…
- Mischa, the situation that’s about to unfold just presents too much danger. You have to leave. I’ll hold them off. I’ll be fine, I promise. Absolute seriousness this time. But, in order for me to fight with calm and a cold head, I need to know you’re safe !
- But I really could help you !
- You cannot ! Not this time, not against… this ! You need to run away right now !
- But if it is so dangerous to me, aren’t you in…
- Mischa, for all the gods and every single layer of the Abyss, leave ! I EXIST to fight those things, but putting you against them… I’ll hate you and myself if anything happens ! You need to go ! I’ll be fine ! If I do not leave straight after you, seek me out within two months in Neverwinter, but you have to escape now ! Do not discuss it, just for once, do as I tell you !
- I’m not sure…
- Go ! NOW !

His look must have nearly terrified her, because she almost yelped and looked at him scared, but turned around and run towards the portal.
Xardas, for his part, took the opposite route to make the way between her and the approaching enemy as long as possible. He now felt that there were a couple of shadows with the abominable creature, as well as another nightshade… Not good. It seemed like he would have to put his all in this battle. Xardas immediately decided to even the odds a little, concentrating and casting a spell on the mass of dirt he was surrounded by. Slowly, but steadily, as the spell worked through the planar boundaries and seeped its energy into the ground, it formed a powerful ally, an Earth elemental, from all the dust around him.
He himself was working over his defenses, making sure he got strengthened as much as possible. Finally, the winged Nightshade flew by him, landing behind, apparently to ensure there was no way to escape. Then, he noticed the movement that could only belong to the shadows, before, finally, his eyes witnessed this horrifying abomination that appeared to trap and possibly devour human souls.
To say the least, it wasn’t what he expected.
Xardas thought he was going to see something either clearly demonic or absolutely otherworldly, but what he saw instead was, while quite awe-inspiring, too humanoid to be the abomination he thought he was going to battle.

His opponent was a humanoid slightly above fifteen feet high, carrying a great waraxe and practically a black mass walking through the surroundings, the giant’s skin nearly black and his armor in the very color of midnight. Its eyes were pale yellow with no pupils, the creature had long, elf-like pointed ears and mean fingernails that were probably more accurately called claws. The manner in which the creature carried itself betrayed quite the intelligence and composure, despite the creature’s incredibly dark and slightly feral outlook.
The beast-like man grinned when he saw Xardas, revealing a set of fangs than no carnivore would be ashamed of.
- So you’re the one that goes around the city killing inhabitants… The one that killed my Nightwing pet, no less. Strange, I thought you had company, but all I see is your freshly made earth elemental here.

Xardas decided to bluff. He needed something believeable, something to make the giant abandon it’s possible search of Mischa in case he won.
- You… you bastards… First you kill her, and now you claim you “thought I had company “ ?
- Ah, so she was defeated after all. Glad to hear it, it’s just bad I wasn’t around when it happened. Now, may I ask you why the hell are you trying to murder the citizens of MY city ? I thought your pathetic race rarely explores the plane of Shadow at all. Unless you’re so desperate. Or perhaps you’re one of those idiots who think they’re suddenly powerful, and now make a bulk of my guardian souls ?
- What… who… are you ?
- I am Fateroth Wynn, a Death Giant and lord of one of the three sections of Undrentide, the northern one. And pray tell who are you, little man ?
- I am Xardas Carolinger, a Spirit Shaman and lord of the Crossroad Keep. And, when I consider all I believe in, I cannot think of you as anything else but an abomination. Tell me, how do you trap all these souls ?

The creature made a grimace like it was lifting a non-existent eyebrow before speaking.
- Impressive. You can detect them even when I am not fighting. You see, the race of Death Giants… We were once allied to the Netherilians, helping them both in arcane research and as a muscle at times. When Netheril fell, we decided not to fall with it. My ancestors made a pact to a force of darkness that sold the souls of our entire race in return for survival… and power. Ironically, while our own spirits are so barely connected to us and destroyed soon after we draw breath for the last time, a large part of the power we gained is over the souls of others. I can trap the soul of any mortal who dies near me, and it makes me stronger. It’s the fate that, I’m afraid, awaits you, unless you have a good offer I should listen to.
- How about you release all the souls you trapped and I banish you from the city instead of freeing them by force and ending your existence altogether ?
- You think you can threaten me ? Me, one of the lords of Undrentide ? One who outlives you by centuries ? Then you are a fool, and you shall join the dozens of fools that are now the source of my might.
- Bring it on, big boy.

His earth elemental turned toward the Nightwing, as the giant called it, and he immediately fired a Sunburst towards the amassed shades. Even though the spell was weaker on this plane, it took out quite a couple of them immediately. Xardas turned attention to the Death Giant himself, preparing for any move it might make.
He still wasn’t prepared for what happened. As they were done talking, Xardas realized he became vaguely aware of the mist that was slowly appearing around the Death Giant. Now, this mist suddenly became very tangible and visible, and he realized it was no mist once faces formed on it…
And started to wail in despair and anguish. To any human, and perhaps especially to him, it was an impossible, unimaginable sound – so many soul yelling in a terrible outcry, voicing the years of pain of being bonded to a soulless vile being like this creature. Xardas couldn’t help but feel… shaken. Taken aback.
No, that wasn’t it. He felt scared. The realization of his possible fate, coupled with the inhuman sound these poor spirits were making…
It was terrifying even to someone like him.
He stared for a moment, wide-eyed, his heart beating like crazy, but the giant did not plan to wait until his opponent settled down. The creature’s reaction and movement were far faster than Xardas ever expected them to be, and the waraxe was swept before Xardas could even consider something as “complicated” as moving.

The axe was about to ram into his body and probably end his life when the half-elf moved to the side in practically the last moment. The power with which the axe hit the ground was actually enough to almost make him fall over, and while he wanted to counter-attack, the death giant was way faster this time, kicking the Spirit Shaman away with a big grin on his face. Xardas landed in the dirt, the force behind the kick making his body ache all over.
He was surprised, to say the least. No giant has ever caught him off guard to be honest… And that sudden surge of terror… it did not pass away, it was dulling his very movement, even his thoughts…

A shadow moved in the corner of his vision. Straining his sight to the extreme, he noticed what it was that was currently surging down from high in the skies of the Shadow Plane and against him.
The nightshade was about to ram itself into him and he probably had very little time to react.


Maenaz had enough of sitting and was now standing in front of his chambers, his back on the wall, hands crossed on his chest, very aware that the look that was slowly making its way on his face was one of unsubtle irritation.
They were supposed to already be here.
He wondered when did all his patience burn out. Was it because of his time with Valsharess ? Or did he simply expect something incredibly impressive from working with an ancient archfiend that promised to help in exacting his revenge ?
Just when he was about to let his annoyance get better of him, he finally saw somebody approaching. In the front was the ultroloth, Morax, followed by a pair of Yuan-Ti and Euryale herself.
He did not fail to notice that one of the snakemen was a teenage white skinned girl. His eyebrow raised but he did not mean to start off the wrong foot, especially with Samael’s favorite servant.
The ultroloth did not even glance at him before mentally informing him to “get in”. Quite the opposite could be told of the other three creatures, who definitely took a moment to eye him up. He didn’t particularly care, entered his chambers, and closed the doors behind them.

His room was already re-arranged, with the bed located much deeper and in a more private place, also preferable since he barely used it so far and preferred not to have anybody else in it for now. Both the yuan-ti and Euryale took the liberty to sit down, with Morax definitely taking on a rather professional approach and turning to him before spreading his mental-talk network over everybody in the room.
He was pretty sure that many devils could use telepathy as well, but the yuan-ti definitely couldn’t, and it seemed that only in case of the Ultroloth it was the preferred method of communication.

- We’re here to discuss two certain issues with you. The first one is a matter of your mission that you took on yourself to accomplish in order to complete your deal with Samael. The second one is what you expect in return. And I’m talking about the important details.
[“ Oh, of course. By the way, you sure you’re not a Baatezu ? You seem so fucking formal “ ]
- Then let’s get on with it. What does your master wish of me ?
- There is a certain issue, and it should be pretty easy as it is. Therefore, only a few Yuan-Ti will be helping you on it, with these two and you being in charge of the operation.
- This must be as easy as killing a bunch of goblins with a freakin’ artifact for you to put a child as one of those who is in charge.

The young Yuan-Ti (He believed she was called “Sinnesia” by his lamia acquaintance) frowned uncharacteristically for someone so young and her her pupils slightly dilated.
Euryale chuckled.
- Sinnesia is one of our prime young talents, given her abilities in the field of arcane power. It is in our best interest to see her grow. – said the she-fiend.
- Why dump it on me ?
- You misunderstand. Rather than “dumping” her on you, it’s because of the similarities that we decided to send you together ?
- Explain “similarities”.
- Isn’t it obvious ? I think nobody here doubts how great your… potential is. Like this, we can kill two birds with one stone.

Maenaz stood here for a moment, eyebrow twitching, barely holding back a full-blown look of skepticism.
- I won’t complain about your choice of my mission companions. Just tell me what I’m supposed to do.
- You’re going to eliminate a force whose presence here threatens our ability to use the baatezu part of our force freely, as well as the general secretiveness about the Gate’s chain of command. – Morax continued.
- Why would a single stray “easy to take care of” force make any problem to you ? What’s this whole secretiveness about ?
- Let’s make it clear – Euryale butted in. – We’re talking about a small squad of devils here. We have certain limitations about who we want nearby the Gate and who we don’t. This means that, unlike you, devils are unwelcome here unless they meet certain requirements. Therefore, you should eliminate them and then we shall put you on top and take care of you… and your… business more intensively.

[“ I’m just imagining things, right ?”]

- To make things as clear as possible, other than Lord Samael there is only one major figure in Hades that makes extensive use of Baatezu forces. There was originally a conflict with this being, but currently a truce is in place and both side are supposed to inform each other whenever they use devil forces in certain regions of Hades and Gehenna.You might have heard of this other being, because he was originally a celestial serving one of the deities present in your homeworld, namely Corellon Larethian, the chief deity of elves. The solar’s is currently known as Malkizid and we know that it is not he that employed the force in question. Therefore, you will be required to get rid of them, quickly, and not leave behind a single survivor. We believe the leader of the group is of a devil rank not usually associated with combat, but with far more subtle missions, that’s why we require the efficiency and we decided to act fast. Do you understand and accept this mission ?
- It’ll be like taking candy from a baby. So, what’s the other issue ?
- The other issue is, of course, the matter of payment. We know you held a grudge against the City of Neverwinter, although it wasn’t specified which part of it, and we are supposed to supply you with information about it’s denizens, moves, and when will the people you most specifically want to take revenge on will be in a situation providing a good opportunity to strike.

- I hate the entire city of Neverwinter in general, however, there are ten specific people I want vengeance on, and at least one that may be trying to stop me from achieving my revenge. The people we’re talking about are members of the so-called Neverwinter Nine and their master, their primary job being to protect him. The guy is called Lord Nasher Alagondar, and is the regent of the city. The members of the Neverwinter Nine could change recently, so I can only tell that most of them wear cloaks or armors with the symbol of an eye.
- Very well. We shall seek any and all information about their movements, how to strike, where to strike and who they are. However, your first mission is easy partially because we’re nearly sure we won’t be able to do much in the time you complete the mission. Therefore, there remains the matter of payment for it. Is there a specific thing we can do for you about this Neverwinter ? An assasination or infiltration of someone whom you know will be in a position to do so ? Or maybe something else entirely ?
- Indeed – Euryale butted in again. – I believe we can give you a more… satisfying reward… if you choose so.
Morax leered at her, then returned to his normal, cold countenance.

[“I am not imagining it. She’s definitely expressing an interest, and one I’m not sure if I want her to develop. “]

- I… think you may do something for me.
The pale busty fiend licked her full, glossy lips.

[“ Something’s wrong. How can I be considering this even to the smallest degree, why am I unsure ?? I… this… She’s a fiend of gods-know what kind, so why don’t I feel digusted by her interest ? Or at least… disturbed ? Part of me almost welcomes it, even though all women I was really into were elves, and she’s as far from elven as you can get !”]
It was getting a bit hard to think things through like this, so he decided to go through with the payment decision already and just try to block the strange thoughts. He’d consider these disturbing revelations later.

- There is a certain person I need information on. Near Neverwinter, there is a certain fortress, called the Crossroad Keep. I need to have information about it’s official ruler. He is tied to Neverwinter and may in fact stop me from achieving my revenge, given the fact that it would seem he is far above and beyond most other people I know of that serve Neverwinter. I need to know everything you can about this person. Name, race, age, abilities, accomplishments. Information about his companions and current location. I might be satisfied with whatever you find, but the more, the better.
- Very well. Gather near the entrance to the gate from the side of Hades in half an hour. All other neccesary information will be given to you there. The strategy is left to you, but remember no one is to be left alive.
- Understood.
- Excellent. We shall leave now.
Morax looked at Euryale, who lifted an eyebrow, and repeated.
- We shall leave now.


She moved slowly, with an almost lazy look to it, and grinned at Maenaz before turning to Morax, her grin changing to a more subtle half-smile as she did so. Maenaz felt the mental connection with Morax dwindle and then it cut off completely as the two Yuan-ti left the room, apparently going to prepare themselves before heading off on a mission. He did not fail to notice the deadpan look the young yuan-ti female gave him before leaving nor the slow tempo of Morax and Euryale leaving, a bit of tension evident in the air.
They discussed something telepathically. He was sure of that.
They left his chambers, and he considered what to do now as he walked out with them. Morax continued to walk away but Euryale stopped, propping the ultroloth to do the same. He half-turned towards her before she chuckled and answered verbally.
- But of course. I wouldn’t dare to go against his wishes.

Maenaz suddenly felt discomfort in a double dose. Not only did he feel like somebody was watching, he was about to be left alone with a fiend that seemed to take a rather unusual interest in him.
Euryale turned to him again, a disturbing smirk making it’s way on her face.
He felt frozen in place for a moment, before she spoke.
- You’re one curious specimen, warlock. One I’m eager to learn more about, and I rarely find members of your species so… interesting.
Fine, that settled it. However, he needed her away so he could sort out exactly what the fuck was going on.
- Then you’ve probably never been to Toril. I seem to be surprised by a different humanoid at least once a month, and that’s despite all the things I saw. Also, I believe your son wanted to tell you tales about how my insides would spill all over the floor to sate your curiosity.

The smirk remained. She seemed confident, that one.
- I guess apologizes for my progeny are in order ? I’m sorry, he’s really into his guarding duty.
- More than you are into what he was guarding ?
She shivered, and her smirk was gone for a moment.

[“ Finally, some freaking reaction. Now, just go away and leave me alone.”]

Then the same thought applied to him, as he finally felt really disturbed by her reaction –
licking her lips again and humming before giving him a full-blown grin and moving a step forward, saying :
- You… are a tease.

When he noticed her intent on getting closer, he took a step back, and quickly muttered :
- Excuse me, but I really need to get prepared for my mission. Unless you really need my help with something, I must ask you to leave so I can get to it.
- Need… need your help ? Oh, I believe we can help each other… In more ways than one…
- This conversation will have to wait.
- As you wish. You should be able to seek me out if you want to. Good luck with the mission… Though, you seem quite able to make your own luck.

She turned away, swaying her hips as she did so, and walked away. He did not bother looking, as his mind quickly processed what he just went through.

[“ What the hell was that ? How does that even work ? A female fiend one and half feet taller than me and the Triad knows how much heavier was just hitting on me and I’ve almost begun to respond to that ! No feeling of dread at all ! Did she…”]

He thought he had it, but it was impossible. She couldn’t use magical compulsion out of thin air, he should be able to detect it. Even if not, he was always rather resistant to those, so he should be able to partially or completely shrug it off – powerful warlocks and mages generally had a strong willpower and weren’t as susceptible to enchantments as average folk or rookie adventurers.
This meant he was either so starved for feminine attention that he was considering some serious xenophilia with a fiend female (and not a succubus at that) and a female lamia noble, his taste in women was suddenly changing from him somewhat prefering elves to somewhat preferring whatever wasn’t human, or Euryale had either a lot of experience in seducing or magically enhanced her charm.
Whatever it was, he had to take his mind off being hit on by weird women and concentrate on work.

He had to gather the equpiment and all those half-useless scrolls he carried around before leaving. Maenaz decided that his old equipment would soon no longer be satisfied by it in it’s current form. If Casavir’s strength was anything of a measure, he guessed the leader of the group was a truly powerful adventurer and as such probably possessed weapons and armor at least as good as his – meaning he needed to get better ones. That is, if he had to face this lord of the Crossroad Keep. Morax’s research may yet prove it is unnecesary.

He reminded himself he still did not get a hold of any artifact, unless you count in the amulet he received from Asheera, Aribeth’s apparent doppelganger, but he got rid of it when burying Aribeth. If he managed to destroy Neverwinter or decide he’d need to attain one in order to do so, that was one of his priorities.
Well, unless he decided to end his life along with Neverwinter. Very likely, but he did not rule out other possibilities.
But first, he needed to destroy this cursed city. And to even start doing it, he had much work to do.

Fateroth couldn’t help but grin as his pet soared down from the sky and into this stupid
little arrogant human, probably making a bloody mess out of him already with these
undead jaws. He prepared himself to absorb another soul into the mass of despair-filled
voices that surrounded him wherever he’d go, but something was wrong. He felt no soul
being released. And that could only mean his opponent was…
Still alive.
But how ?
Suddenly, his pet released a howl of pain and anguish, as it’s very essence was being burned with a powerful surge of positive energy. It took to the skies, to run away from the raising human… or half-elf, whatever the little creature was.

The death giant was shocked to see that his enemy was no longer flesh and bone, but now became transluscent – he turned incorporeal, or nearly so. While Fateroth could now clearly feel his magic-flavored soul nearly in his grasp, he was unable to get hold of it, trap it, bind it to himself – meaning his opponent used some sort of skill rather than went undead after his pet hit him.
And he could use Heal spell, meaning he was more than he seemed to be.
The shades immediately run towards the now seemingly spirit-man and it appeared like he was going to meet his demise soon anyway, but suddenly, something happened.

Xardas was pretty sure that normal adventurers would have a lot of trouble trying to befell all these shadows that were now approaching him. Sooner or later, any fighter would be drained out of strength or a mage would run out of protective spells.
Of course, he could simply go the easy way, and indeed, he intended to.
His eyes took on a silvery gleam as dust slightly raised around him, his body and mind straining for a moment before he unleashed a silvery and amber wave of energy that immediately swept nearly all of the attacking shades away…
Disposed of them completely, actually. He loved his ability to chastise spirits.
He turned his head to see the nightshade, but immediately noticed that the giant was casting a spell.

He was about to jump away and dodge when he realized this was no spell he knew of. He discerned it was of arcane nature, but he never saw it before.
A small ray of white energy that crackled all over with yellow lighting suddenly made it’s way to him with dreadful speed. He tried to dodge, but the attack subtly changed it’s course and hit him. Then, he was immediately surrounded by the few remaining shades and a couple shadovars that came along with the giant, and his incorporealness wore out.

Xardas, however, knew the true danger will come from above.
Before the attack from either sides or above came, Xardas spread his swords into shards and send them swirling around himself, forming the Shard Barrier which made the humanoids and undead keep their distance for a moment.
He then looked up and immediately prepared a spell before the Nightwing rammed itself into him, the strenght of the creature pushing him onto the ground and it’s jaws penetrating him armor and his body.
Xardas, however, suddenly discharged a large wave of positive energy straight into the creature, the beast screaming at the overcharge. It remained in place for a moment, the swirling power trapped in it’s body, slowly weakening it, before it leapt away, the energy discharging to heal Xardas’ new wounds and then damage the other undead shades.

[“ The mass version of curing spells seem even more useful than the normal versions in situations like this…”]

Just before the nightshade managed to counter attack with its cone of cold, Xardas cast another spell, calling a lighting storm and practically making it clear that soon it will be a one-on-one battle with the giant.
As the cone of cold razed him, Xardas realized that the giant did not move for an oddly long time.
As he turned to the creature, he realized that Fateroth wasn’t being lazy at all. He just finished unleashing a spell from a scroll, and Xardas realized that this time it was a spell he recognized too well.

He immediately went into movement, trying to make himself a harder target and prepared to jump away any time, just when the Death Giant fired the concentrated Polar Ray. When the ray was fired, Xardas made a large leap to avoid getting in touch with it.
Then something snapped. Something was wrong, as suddenly, a small yellow light appeared on him and the polar ray suddenly *curved* to follow him.
He never saw something like this happen before, but he knew the attack was going to hit him, and it was probably going to hurt.
As expected of the spell, the ray was strong indeed, if nowhere near as strong as his mage companions could make it. Apparently, the giant was less of a spellcaster than it seemed so far.

He was just about to return the blow, when he suddenly felt heat instead of numbing cold, as a series of fiery rays hit him this time.
He found himself completely unable to avoid these attacks. It was unexplainable, but the combined power of the spells and the sudden thermal shock had him clutching his sides in pain and numbness moments later, as the group of enemies suddenly started to prepare to attack him together, coming from the front.
- The first spell I cast upon you is actually one that made me hit you with all the others. It’s called Seeking Ray and I doubt you’ll find any more people these days that can use it. It allows all other ray spells cast in quick succestions to be better aimed and slightly change their flight course to hit their target. Of course, I have a couple other ancient tricks at my disposal, but I doubt you’ll see many more of them.

Xardas stood up. The giant couldn’t help but be surprised, if still confident that the battle was practically over.
- Not the type who can give up ? Don’t worry, soon you’ll be at a state your soul will join all the others that guard me on it’s own, so you won’t have to strain yourself and try to get up anymore.
- I think…you’re forgetting that you’re not the only one… who can cast cool, unusual spells…

Xardas’ eyes glowed silver as the air around him started to swirl and the darkness around him suddenly started to be filled with a delicate, soft illumination, before silvery-white rays sprung from his palms, as his enemies suddenly stopped in their march.

The silvery rays of light mixed with white rays as he fired them, the cone-shaped energy suddenly engulfing the attacking group of enemies, screams of pain feeling the shadowy air as it seemed that no one razed by Moonfire could withstand it.
Except someone did.
The death giant stood among the fallen Shadovars and dispersing shadows, his axe pulsing with a strange, dark red light.
Well, that’s how the vision was for just a moment. Because Xardas saw much, much more of the moving giant than of the standing one.
The hit was very well-aimed and only jumping back in the last moment saved Xardas from probably being cleaved in two, if not from the whole strength of the hit itself – and as he was flying away from the strike, wounded, Xardas could only feel his blood boil and flow in his body, suddenly feeling even worse, and just where the wound was, the red liquid suddenly erupted from his body once again. Then, he hit the ground, shuddering and rolling on the ground in pain.

The death giant was running towards him, and Xardas decided to try and burn the bastard. He begun with putting a wall of fire in it’s path, but the giant simply run through it, so Xardas prepared another strike as he shakily as he prepared for the giant’s attack. At the last moment, he calmly stepped to the side, the giant axe hitting the ground as Xardas put the evil giant on fire with his Inferno.
The giant itself tried to kick him away, but Xardas ducked under it, and called down a lighting storm to damage Fateroth further.
His opponent tried to ram him into the ground with his fist, but despite all the thermal shocks and blood boiling moments before, Xardas’ Aura of Vitality made him move with reflex and grace and he once again managed to dodge the strike.
The giant was about to attack with his waraxe again, but suddenly, the heavily-damaged and barely mobile Earth Elemental moved in to block the strike, the power of it crushing it into rubble. Apparently, it first took some heavy damage from the Nightwing and then fought to stop a couple of other enemies, and now was at its limit.
Xardas run away from the spot, preparing another spell as he slightly turned to the giant, firing the shards of his sword as he did so. To his surprise, not only the first shard was blocked by some magical energy, his opponent was preparing to somehow strike from afar again. Xardas had his Flame Strike prepared, and fired it immediately after the shard starte returning to his sword. The giant was suddenly struck by divine flames…
And, surprisingly, so was he. Apparently, it was within the Giant’s powers to use this attack.

He was feeling hurt and tired all over his body, and he was sure he wasn’t so far away from expending most of his spellcasting ability. Xardas decided to risk, and if everything went alright, the battle would be over. He whispered the invocation as he rose his hand, the giant charging once again, faster and faster. The Lord of the Crossroad Keep then fired his Finger of Death and awaited for an effect, but just as he feared, there was none – for whatever reason, and somewhat logically, Death Giants were immune to death spells.
He dodged the strike and responded by jumping and cutting the giant’s stomach before propelling himself off him and then again onto his back, trying to stab him from behind. This time, the strange, magical energy once again intervened, helping the armor block the strike and Xardas recognized it as an arcane spell. The giant suddenly made a large step forward, and fell on it’s knee, rapidly turning and sweeping it’s axe in a low blow.
The spirit shaman only noticed that the axe had this red, pulsing glow about itself again before being send flying, with a horrible chest wound and probably a couple of broken bones, and only a couple of *not* broken ribs.

He winced in pain, rarely before having to deal with this kind of damage. He was about to try to heal himself, when suddenly he was once again bombarded with scorching rays. After this, he really felt that his life was in grave danger, and the giant was approaching with a steady, confident step.
Once he got closer, Xardas realized what he meant before. He suddenly felt dizzy and out of breath, his vision getting clouded and the strength leaving his body as suddenly he felt as if something tried to grab his very essence and rip it out of him. He groaned and rolled on the ground, clutching his sides, as the dreadful creature was getting even closer, with a smirk on it’s face.
The Lord’s of the Keep eyes darted open, his vision returning and his mind somewhat once again clear. He survived against this strange power, but that meant nothing, as the giant was pretty much just above him and his hand charged with negative energy, pretty surely an Inflict Wounds spell of some variety.

- So, I hereby welcome you to my bunch of Guardian Souls.
- No… NO !

Fateroth rammed his hand into the ground where the Spirit Shaman lay, and all the negative energy suddenly discharged as his hand connected with the exact place where Xardas was still laying, the tall, dark creature grinning grotesquely as it prepared itself to get a hold of yet another soul.

It was a strange sensation, to for once have reptilian humanoids as allies instead of killing them. It also made him realize how many things changed ever since he left Neverwinter. Now, he was getting aid from evil creatures and summoning fiends to the Prime Material Plane, instead of fighting the ones that did so.
He couldn’t help but smirk at noticing that if his former self and his new self met each other, they would inevitably come to blows.
And no matter how strong the motivation of the previous Maenaz was, the current one was motivated even stronger. And his power grew considerably from that time.
As they approached the place where the unwelcome devils were supposed to camp in, he quietly wondered whether himself and Neverwinter’s new “hero” were in any way similar, regardless if the similarities were regarding Maenaz the Avenger or Maenaz the Hero of Neverwinter.
Then, finally, they spotted their enemies, and he was quite ready to fight.
Only that this group really seemed boring. No pit fiends or gelugons, just a single cornugon in the entire force and there weren’t even that many of them. He decided to let his unlikely allies do a part of the job and train his skill with the blade instead of just blasting things around.
Of course, the young female Yuan-Ti had quite a different idea, and as soon as they attacked from the shadows, started, in fact, to blast things around.

She was for real, he could tell. It was practically unnatural for a teenage kid to possess that level of power as warlock alone, and they claimed she could use sorcerer spells as well.
Of course, being a sorcerer and warlock AT ONCE wasn’t too natural, either. Having a white skin as a Yuan-Ti wasn’t natural, either.
So, it was quite possible the kid was more than they claimed she was. And he intended to at least try to figure out exactly where these powers came from.
Hacking through the relatively boring groups of barbazu and occasional osyluth or hamatula, his eyes were settled on the cornugon. He was sure that the high-ranked devil was in charge of this mission, before remembering a fiend not related to conventional combat was thought to be.
Suddenly something slashed at him from the side, before kicking him away and then…
Darkness engulfed him.

[“DAMN IT !!”]

He reflexively dodged an attack from another fiend, impaling it upon Enserric, before activating Dark Foresight and preparing to block a strike from the creature that kicked him into this darkness. It used a sword and was most likely about human-sized, but as a devil, it worked way better in the darkness than he did.
Soon he realized his dark foresight… did not work. It, in fact, made him move to be more damaged by the devil (or whatever it was), instead of less.
And that meant he was effectively blinded against a rather capable combatant, instead of being able to keep up somehow.
Moved by sheer instinct he got out of his many close fights, he ducked from another blow and shoulder-tackled the attacker. That was enough to push them out of the darkness, and to give him a better guess at what exactly the creature he fought against was. The warlock knew he may as well be completely blind for some time after leaving the darkness, and he would prefer to learn what he fought against.
He felt the touch of a rough skin, as expected in a devil, but suddenly, he brushed over something different, and his eyes darted open in surprise.

The pair of opponents fell out of the darkness and hit the ground, Maenaz landing on top of the creature and suddenly the side of his head was lying atop of something familiary soft, yet firmer than he was used to. Pleasurable to touch, in fact.
And that could only mean one thing. His eyesight was bad, but not bad enough to realize just what he was looking at when he raised from her.
A female, physically seeming older than him, lied just below him in a somewhat compromising position. She was clad in a darkly-colored armor with mixes of gray and brown, made from skin of some creature, and going all the way up to her breasts, which were ample, but unusually perky and firm for that size. Her hair were short, dark red, and seemingly kept that way for comfort in combat, yet the boyishness that gave her did not at all decrease the charm of her inhumanly beautiful face, marred only by a single scar.
What made him sure he wasn’t fighting a human were her ferocious eyes and dark purple and gray wings that were now pressed against the ground. The sight was… distracting, to sum it up.
Quickly however, the seductive image that was before slightly compromised by the warrior-like manner she carried herself with, was completely broken by her grimacing and yelling.
- What the fuck do ya think we’re at ? Get the hell off me !

That voice was incredibly strange, one that seemed to be a mix of a dark seductress whispering sweet nothings and a battle-hardened fighter jaded by years of strain.
And as she in a feat of inhuman strength threw him away while lying under him and he barely kept his balance while landing, he realized that for all hear beauty and physical appeal, the part that immediately caught his attention, one he found hard not to adore… Was her voice.
Because it reminded him of someone. He found withing himself a desperate yearning to hold her close and let her say confessions of feelings or desires right into his ears, to drown himself in that voice, his willingness to fight her fading away…
And then he realized her power.

While the woman in front of him, which now apparently fully intend on tearing him from limb to limb, certainly appeared similar to an erinyes, she was not one. She was some higher form, an erinyes more suited to the purpose of seduction and pleasure…
And yet that one was a warrior. With an otherwordly touch.
She had the power to sap one’s very willpower and maybe even their reason by means of a simple touch, and the spreading sensation of it. Meaning unless he wanted to drop his weapon and be killed or become her willing pawn, he needed to avoid skin-to-skin contact.

Which would appear to be hard after he nearly impaled himself on her sword through his own movement, only in the last moment managing to block another thrust with his sword.
- Impressive reflex, but you fight like a child. One might wonder how you managed to create such a combination.
- I’ll show you just how impressive I am !


[“ Why isn’t the Dark Foresight working ? Just what the hell is wrong ? It doesn’t help that my eyesight is fucked up either !”]

He rushed to attack her, the fiend gracefully dodging his strikes before finally being caught off guard, with Maenaz gliding for the chance to strike.
Her body suddenly shifted with inhuman flexibility, her leg suddenly on his arm as she propelled herself upwards with the other, practically jumping onto him and then over his head, before giving a back-heel kick to his head and a small slash to his back and landing on the other side.
All the while giving him a show of these breasts jiggling and her body arching like if it was made for many different agility-requiring purposes in mind. He could help but think of something sexual.
He turned to her, frustrated by both having his ass handed to him by a female and the fact that she was waking up *that* part of his mind he tried to suppress, and without doing anything even mildly sensual to accomplish this – she was simply fighting.
He attacked without thinking, which ended with just another cut on his body before she was once again clearly open, his attack going in for a strike at the defenseless devil.
Seemingly defenseless.

The blade flew just before her face when she suddenly leaned backwards and stood on her hands, before repeating the action a couple times to move backwards, then jumping a couple of times to climb on a nearby platform of a small mountain.
Maenaz was seriously tempted to just stare jaw-slacked, but instead decided to make another attack, activating his invocation silently before taking out a scroll and immediately using it up, conjuring an Ice Storm that forced the she-devil to move sideways in order to avoid the bulk of the damage…
And straight under his leaping attack. He swung his sword from above in an inhuman jump, and it took all her reflex to raise her own and let her arm absorb the power of the strike.

Unexpectedly, she withstood it without being pushed over, falling or getting cut anyways. Which meant she had quite a safe advantage in strength over him.
Cursed devils.
She was about to say something but was immediately silenced by his knee going forward to kick her. She blocked with her elbow while moving to the side to amortize the strike, surprised at how he almost managed to catch her off guard.
Once he acrobatically stood on one leg and almost delivered a cross-legged kick to her, he could tell she rapidly changed her opinion of his abilities. He then swung his blade once again only to have it blocked, to his absolute frustration, by a tiny amount.
He decided it was enough of being chivalrous, and started seriously doubting he could win this fight without unveiling the full array of his warlock powers. Still, he decided to keep trying, and now that “chivalry” was out of the way, he could do something that in the current position she could not probably evade.
Maenaz headbutted the she-devil and as she was dazed and pushed aback by the force of the strike, grabbed his sword with both hands and slashed her strongly across the abdomen. She whined in pain before flying away a couple of metres, this time using her wings.
- All right, so I’ll admit to slightly underestimating you, human. I am Vashea. What name are you called ?
- Maenaz Carn’Renor.

He angrily noticed that she managed to get his true name out of him without so much as trying. A normal erinyes’ charisma and persuasive abilities were something to be wary of – in this case, it was far, far more than just that. Strangest, the woman did not even try to use these charms – as far as he could tell, she was interested only in beating him in combat, and was about as straightforward and honest about it as she could be.

If she had that kind of profound effect on people unwillingly, he was afraid to imagine what a skilled temptress could do with this kind of magnetism.
- Maenaz. You do well for a human, but I fought better.than you.

Immediately, she was upon him, cutting through his body and running even further. His foresight apparently only suggested to move to easier impale himself on his blade.
And then he realized it.

He was in an extremely evil Lower Plane, the Gray Wastes of Hades, perhaps the morally darkest plane of them all, fighting a true devil, a fiend, a creature of darkness and malice.
Precisely WHY would his Dark Foresight attempt to avoid contact in such a place and which such a familiar power and essence ?
It wouldn’t. It would, instead, under these circumstances, attempt to join with it. Namely, leading to physical contact instead of avoiding it.
That’s why this was so uneffective so far. His senses were completely turned over. Dark foresight worked, only completely differently, pushing his reflexes to move in sync with the devil, instead of attempting to save him from it.
That meant he had to turn it over once again. Up was down, left was right, front might as well be back.

When she moved again, he stood calmly, until she made another acrobatical leap to try and cut him in the back. This time, he discerned it excellently, and moved out from her range before taking a large step forward and swinging his sword, reaping her wing and part of her side. She yelled in pain as she landed, but managed to jump away from his incoming kick and balance herself again before they clashed, the fiend slowly gaining advantage until she managed a quick stab into the right part of his chest. He predicted her next move but his own attack was blocked, and after repeated strikes he only managed to break through her defense once. He decided he could not win it like this, but then she said something that got him curious.
- This damn body doesn’t work like it’s supposed to !

He tilted his head at this.
- *This* body ? What do you mean ?
- It’s none of your business !

He swinged his foot to bring her off balance, but as she fell she immediately supported herself with her hand and kicked him in the face. He swung his blade down only to have it barely blocked, when suddenly she pulled back her sword, almost causing Maenaz to fall over, lay on her back and put her feet on his stomach before propelling them off each other, with the woman soon regaining her standing and him having second thoughts about keeping his breakfast in his body.
She was stronger than him, and twice as agile and resistant, which pretty much made her unbeatable to him in melee. His pride suffered – usually, he could at least stand up to women in close combat, even to such accomplished ones as Aribeth, Nathyrra, or Valsharess. Yet this time, with his foresight fooled and his senses dulled, and the woman he fought with apparently quite experienced AND having an inhuman body, he felt like melee was utterly pointless – only his equipment and supportive invocations as well as some crazy combat tactics allowed him to somehow keep up with her.
He decided to change his approach and took out another scroll, yet it was only the beginning. Just as she regained her footing he fired a Lighting Bolt from the scroll, to which she jumped upwards in order to dodge.

Maenaz was already there, hands behind his head, gripping his sword, and he delivered a perfectly-aimed slash from above. Vashea screamed in pain before falling downwards and hitting the ground, her wings already too hurt and tired to function. Maenaz landed not far from her, and as she struggled to quickly get up on her feet, he took a few steps back before saying.
- Go ahead and tell me about this issue of yours. It’s not like we cannot rip each other apart anytime we want.
- And why would I ?
- I did not continue the assault when I could simply because we can have a peaceful resolution. There isn’t much the one whom I serve cannot accomplish. I simply ask to be told what is wrong, and if it can be repaired, you may be too valuable to kill, given your skill… and your beauty.

Vashea appeared to be shocked, but something told Maenaz that now she would be far more willing to go along with his idea.


Fateroth stood over where Xardas’ lay, his negative energy already fully discharged, and he waited for the soul to leave the body in order to grab it.
But no such thing happened.
Something was wrong. He decided to simply push his hand down to squeeze any remaining life out of the half-elf, but his hand touched only the ground. In a moment, a transluscent figure with blurred features moved through his hand, and his eyes widened in shock before narrowing in anger.
Just how many defensives could this stupid mortal pull out ?

Fateroth tried to reach to the soul of his wounded opponent anyway, and after some struggling found that Xardas could still hold on to it. Moreover, the creature moved away from him and apparently started to recover it’s power, with Fateroth sensing first positive energy and then some different kind of spell cast. Before he could heal himself, Fateroth once again tried to wrestle Xardas’ soul out of him.

The half-elf himself was blessing all the Gods for his quite recently gained ability to go fully ethereal, but he still had to struggle to not let the death giant seize his very spirit. It felt and looked horrible – the guardian spirits surrounding Fateroth suddenly split into groups that drawn closer to him and encircled him, all the while letting out these frightful keens and wails of anguish.
But he was now ready to finish the job, and fully intended to turn this fight around. And these souls…
He would free them, not join them.

Xardas released a powerful wave of his Chastise Spirits, the sound of the guardian spirits increasing momentarily before he went out of etherealness and realized the wave of his power swept the tormented ghosts away, at least for now.
Fateroth apparently noticed what happened, because his jaw somewhat slacked in shock.
Xardas stood there for a moment, preparing another spell, the tint of his skin seemed changed from the extremely fain orange-red glow that radiated from just under his skin.
His spell was cast, and suddenly, a blazing rain of flames came down from the sky, powerful winds blowing it around them as Fire Storm threatened to consume everything in it’s range, the Death Giant in particular.

Without the guardian spirits to warn him of danger and improve his reactions, Fateroth could not hope to avoid the sudden strike that suddenly razed his body with heat beyond his wildest imaginations. He moved forward to ram his axe into the arrogant mortal, but he was no longer there, and suddenly Fateroth found himself standing in a wall of fire, releasing groans of pain. He turned around, fury in his eyes, only to see his despised mortal enemy no longer appear as mortal anymore.
The spell that protected the half-elf from fire “just in case” made his skin seem more like that of a genasi or half-efreeti than of human, and now, his eyes were crackling lighting and his body was surrounded by gusts of wind and electricity, apparently another spell to increase his performance.
He attempted to strike again, but in just a moment, the creature jumped on his extended hand, running up on it all the while drawing it’s strange blade through his flesh. When he reached his shoulder, Xardas called down some lighting to further damage the giant.

The fight was really being completely turned around… That is, until Xardas jumped off the giant’s shoulder, in which moment Fateroth pushed the unbladed end of his axe back and struck the half-elf mid-air. Thanks to the power of wind and storm surrounding him, Xardas managed to land safely, but he realized that in the moment of the strike arcane energy was pumped into him, and now, suddenly, he found himself unable to move, a strange, sickening smell filling the air.
[“He delivered Ghoul Touch through his weapon ? But… How ?”]


In just a moment’s relapse, the Death Giant was upon him again, swinging it’s axe, and Xardas noticed that he channeled another spell through it – this time, it was Shocking Grasp, and Xardas felt the tickle of electricity as the strike’s power threw him away, the winds around him repositioning him mid-air to allow a safe landing, but his paralysis making it impossible. Fateroth was charging again, negative energy accumulated in his hand before he nearly bowed and delivered a powerful punch, sending Xardas flying again.

This time, in mid-air, he regained control of his body and landed properly, casting Regenerate to be safer and focusing the rest of the Storm Avatar onto his blade which he then released into a Shard Storm to attack the giant. Somewhere between paralyzing him and punching him, the giant regained his guardian souls and was now ready to continue fighting, but the attacking shards of the Silver Sword only hurt him further.

When the giant managed to get a few steps closer to his enemy all the while trying to protect himself from the attacking shards, Xardas was already there, calling another Fire Storm to his aid. The giant groaned in pain and swung down his axe just as Xardas activated his Aura of Vitality and did something… Incredible.
He shifted under the giant before gripping his Silver Sword of Gith in both hands and swinging it through the axe that was now to hit slightly behind him and to his right. The force of the strike knocked him over and shards of metal pierced his body as his inhumanly powerful blade shattered the top of the giant waraxe, but Xardas did not intend to leave it at that and quickly had a spell ready.

Realizing what it was, Fateroth rammed his foot through the sands of the Shadow Plane only to kick Xardas ever-so-slightly away, but the strike came just a moment to late, as the Moonfire once again shined brightly in the air of the dark sphere that contained this strange, still “alive” version of Undrentide. Xardas was thrown away and before he landed, the giant fired another Seeking Ray at him, electricity racing through his body but unable to turn the Lord’s of the Crossroad Keep attention to his own pain, rather than the giant.
Fateroth fell on one knee before Xardas even started to whisper his incantation, and the spirit shaman probably broke another rib or two while hitting the ground, but managed to keep his concentration intact.

The giant roared in anger as divine flames struck him from above, burning through his body and already in places cracked an shattered armor, the guardian souls releasing one last wail of anguish before it changed into a sound far kinder on Xardas’ ears, one he hoped to hear ever since the fight started.

A quiet sigh of relief.
The lying’s shaman’s head hit the ground as he passed out from immense strain, a smile on his lips as he defeated not only a Lord of the Shadow Undrentide, one of three named as such, but also a kind of being that might very well be considered his nemesis.



- You mortals are such st…range… creatures. But fine, I shall tell you. I am Vashera, a devil from the first plane of Baator, Avernus, and a warrior of much experience in the Blood War and other fights devils partake in.

Maenaz smiled.
- And here comes the issue of the body ?
- Yes… and no. You see, I spent most of my existence as a devil in an Erinyes body, hoping to attain a promotion directly to Pit Fiend or at least a Cornugon, and if not, at least make myself some sort of renown and respect in the Hellish armies. But it wasn’t meant to be. Despite all my fighting experience and skills, I wasn’t seen by some as… a warrior. Not so long ago, a new minor baron arose in Avernus, and through his connection to Dark Ministry and other administrative forces of our armies, a significant number of squads were send under his control – including mine. This disgusting Pit Fiend took an unusual… liking ? Desire ? I don’t know what to call it, and always kept me close. Soon, however, as I hoped for and expected, my efforts were recognized and I was to be promoted. However, this moron would not let me go so easily… He orchestrated so instead of a truly higher eschelon of a fiend, one with great physical and magical power and whatnot, a promotion common to many Erinyes if usually working in… different way was given to me.
- I see. Instead of promoting you to Cornugon, he made it so you were promoted to a higher form for Erinyes… and not one specialized in battle at that.


Her voice became a bit shaky. He never, never, ever expected to see a true devil cry, but her tone and the look of her beautiful face made him believe he could be one of the extremely few if not the only mortal ever to see that.
- From then… I was stripped of everything I was. My ambitions weren’t allowed to me anymore, and the battle abilities and instincts I picked up through centuries of existence as Erinyes were… no longer put to use. I was no warrior anymore, I was only used to… sate lusts. I despised it… But it had no end. Just when I thought there would be no relief for me, finally someone saw my “baron” as what he was, an incompetent and decadent buffon. He was immediately demoted a couple of ranks by a Duke of Hell and all his forces were spread more evenly. I saw my chance, but I knew my history might not be enough considering my new form. I was now a Brachina, a pleasure devil… and as my name implied, my talents and powers were to be used for purposes far different from combat. I pleaded with the duke, telling him about everything, begging on my knees…

She stopped. One of her eyes almost appeared wetter, but she recomposed herself.
- I begged, on my knees, to be allowed to return to military service. He decided to give me a chance, and it didn’t went bad so far… Until I met you little group. It appears my forces are struggling, and I must kill you to aid them, so, if we’re done…
- Wait, Vashera. We can still part peacefully. After all, wasn’t the promotion at least partially a blessing ? Did you not gain new powers and abilities ?
- Well, it’s sort of… mixed up. This body isn’t really so much weaker, but it’s… less useful in combat.
- You appear to be expert at using it.
- Well, I admit that there are some advantages, but… This… This flexibility I’ve gained after transformation, it… It makes me sick to think what it was meant for. And… and these…

She cupped her own breasts grimacing. Maenaz found a small part of himself he tried to shut up enjoying the show.
- They get in the way, and sometimes throw me off balance. I’m female and I’m not opposed to it being manifested, but they were half this size when I was an erinyes ! Not to mention, while I did receive a boost in agility, this body isn’t as hardened as my old one… and I often find less power in my muscles. I must get rid of it, one way, or another. It… it is stained and not suitable to combat, despite my best efforts. I need a different one. And you’rew standing in my way.
- No. In fact, I may help you.
- Excuse me, what did you say ? A mortal doesn’t have any influence on Hell’s politics. You couldn’t even secure me a position in military in a thousand years, not to mention giving me a body more useful for fighting.
- I couldn’t. But my master could.
- Your… master ?
- Yes. The being whom I serve has ancient, deep-rooted contacts in Hell and employs devils in his service. Even if he couldn’t arrange all you want, there is another possibility. You could join him.
- I’d never betray Avernus like that !
- It wouldn’t be a betrayal. You wouldn’t be required to fight other devils at all. As you see, there are none here. Besides, Avernus was the one that betrayed you. By forcing a woman with a warrior’s spirit… to become a courtesan, if not to use worse words.
- Enough ! Why should I trust you ? Believe you ? You could be lying, you’re almost certainly lying !
- Well, why don’t we simply try.
- What do you mean ?
- I noticed while we fought. Your touch… I mean the touch of your bare body… It saps willpower, doesn’t it ?

She seemed surprised that he realized that. With slightly more respect, she nodded.
- This can be useful. As a devil and a higher form of erinyes at that, I am sure you have mental compulsion powers. We shall use these.
- You’re kidding, right ? You cannot be that stupid !
- Oh, it isn’t stupidity… It’s honesty. We are going to let you sap my willpower and then use your enchantment on me so you can force me to tell you only the truth.

She was visibly disturbed and in thought, her hands crossed under… her breasts.
[“ Did she learn from Sharwyn ? This is too much !”]
- I… doubt it. You realize I could simply control you, use you to fight your own kin, and then discard your corpse. I do not understand why would you risk all that.
- Vashera, I simply do not wish you to waste. I was really taken in… by your skills, your fighting spirit, your anguish, and your beauty. Surely it cannot seem so strange. You must know how many mortals are taken in by just a flash of the beauty of your sisters alone.
- Are you… for real ?
- Yes. I am willing to risk it.
She probably fought he was a madman, stupid, both, or somehow abnormal enough to fall in love with a devil. But she nodded.


Xardas’ eyes darted open. He realized he had a broken arm, two badly reconnected ribs, several completely broken ones, his body was aching all over and he had metallic pieces in his wounds.
In short, it all hurt like hell, and he was probably lying here a long, long time.
He may be able to cast some spells now, but that was one of the hardest fights he’d ever been in. He rarely came so close to death, either – usually in the earlier parts of his journey, and later only when fighting two dragons at once, fighting Black Garrus and the King’s Nightwalker “avatar”, and the last time fighting the King of Shadows himself.
He needed to work on using healing spells on himself in battle. AND on his endurance. AND on his reflex. This time, his death would have the direst possible personal consequences.

He found he couldn’t get up yet.

Sinnesia blasted one of her opponents before firing a Lighting Bolt into another. She was upset. She was to watch for the mortal, and he left somewhere pursuing that Brachina, nowhere to be found. She wouldn’t be surprised to find him dead or fucking with the devil like if they were rabbits. After all, she knew of a quite different devil that had no restriction whatsoever when it came to fucking like rabbits.
Hell yes, she knew far too much about it already.

- If… you’re truly willing to do this…
- Yes, I know. We must be safe. We’re both going to toss our weapons away.
- Fine. But youtake off that pouch with the scrolls. They’re annoying. And toss it the other side than you toss your weapon.
- Fine. On my mark. One, two…

Surprisingly, on “three”, both tossed their swords away, and they landed next to each other. Vashera blinked a couple times, and then smiled.
He wasn’t sure he could resist smiling back if he wanted.
He took off the pouch with with the scrolls and tossed it far behind himself. Vashera took off a glove and nodded to him.
They slowly approached each other to seal the deal, to let the devil drain him of his willpower, and then do with as she wished.
[“Ohhh, you don’t even realize how much I’ve waited for this.”]

He reached out on hand to her own and another to rest on the exposed part of her chest. She smiled uncomfortably, but nodded, as they finally came into physical touch. He felt that funny feeling again, this strange essence and vibration coming from her and slowly soaked into him.
Risky, but he knew it would take a moment for it to take effect. And she was just where he wanted her.
He grinned sadistically as the devil’s eyes widened when she saw a glow coming straight off her chest, and lowered her eyes to see that the hand resting on her left breast was emanating it.

She never stood a chance to react.
The powerful blast first shook her body and then teared through it, forming a hole in her body as she gasped for her final scream but was unable to find enough air to emit a sound. She looked at him, shocked, betrayed, and her mouth opened, trying to say something, anything to express her feelings, even just a “why” if she could.
He quickly covered her mouth with his hand.
- No… no. Excuse me, honey. I cannot stand your voice. It’s… beautiful, but it brings back too much. It’s not my fault. I was told to kill you ALL. Leave none alive. And you underestimated me. You thought I was just some rogue guy who liked to play with swords and magical devices, and that killed you. I feel sad at your fate, but I’m not sorry. You probably deserved it anyway, considering, well, you’re a fucking devil.
Her eyelids slowly closed over her irises, all strength abandoning her body. He did not allow her to fall, but instead put her on her side, as gently as he could.
He really could NOT stand that voice.

He stood on the mountain and finished his forces job by blasting every remaning hostile being from afar. He had to be out of the battle before Vashera’s… Poison ? Took effect.
He didn’t want to become anybody’s pawn, after all.


When they were returning, Maenaz knew he had overdone it.
He had to keep his mind occupied all the time simply to block out all the tiny, silent voices just at the edge of his hearing. They spoke of snakes, of rituals, of the Naga (why would they be interested in snake creatures anyway ?), and about bonds of blood.
He realized he learned nothing at all about the young Yuan-Ti, but was pretty sure she wasn’t a pureblood Yuan-Ti at all.

When they entered the Gate of Vipers, he was immediately informed that “Aedile Euryale” shall be the one to give him information he requested as a reward. He nodded, barely clinging to reality anymore. Apparently, the poison did not only sap away willpower, but also in smaller amounts reason and sanity as well. He leaned against the wall, his eyes clouding over, before a vision appeared in his mind.

He saw Vashera take off all her clother and slowly approach him, speaking obscenities in that voice of hers, then straddling him, touching skin to skin, whispering in his ear, how he was “theirs”, how nothing could change that, how the seeds were already planted in his mind, body, and soul. He then felt being taken in by her and she started her caress, before she suddenly changed form to appear as someone different. Completely different. He had to struggle to recognize the face from probably about two years earlier, Alexandra, his “never-was” air genasi girlfriend before she changed to his actual girlfriend, Anna.
Slowly but steadily, the forms shifted, showing him probably half of the woman he’d ever known, skipping neither Valsharess nor his knewly-met fiend companions, and he could actually feel getting truly excited and aroused at the imagined vision.
Then, it finally came, what he’d been waiting for, the realization hitting him like a ton of bricks when the woman he rescued from the Illithids in the Underdark suddenly sported elven ears, and her waist suddenly started thinning, her breasts heaving and taking on an unnaturaly beautiful shape, her hair getting longer, taking a reddish-auburn color, her face shifting slowly to the one he so desired to see for so long as he was completely losing himself in this vision.
Just when the shape-shifting partner was almost in the form of his beloved paladin, a strong but thin and delicate arms took him and hugged him closely, gently lifting him off the ground as his vision broke to darkness as his shoulders touched some human skin.
He lost consciousness.


Xardas, finally in a somewhat acceptable shape, opened the great doors to another chamber. There it all was. He could now be considered the lord of Northern Shadow Undrentide.
And he had access to their libraries, artifacts and other fonts of knowledge and power.
He fired a Flare to lit the place up and saw what he wanted to see – a giant library filled with books. Some of them were most likely empty, only here to mimic what the Undretide arcane library once was, but others were too valuable to be left alone and contained knowledge, the real deal.
And he could take quite a bit of time to study them before pressing onwards with his plan.

Maenaz woke up, realizing he wasn’t in his own bed at all, and those were chambers of somebody else. He rose from the bedding and look around to see if his host was around.
- It’s good to see your finally conscious.


[“Malacoda.”]

- Are we in…
- My chambers ? Yes, we are. Do not worry though, the only thing you’ve been doing here was getting better. How did you manage to get yourself into such a state ?
- I’ve fought a Pleasure Devil and formulated a strategy that, while effective, gave her a chance to keep physical contact with me. I’ll admit this wasn’t the best strategy I’ve ever used.
- That explains why your consciousness and awareness of your surroundings were turning into that of an ooze.
- I need to go. I have to get my payment, and another mission, and I’m no longer required to stay here anyway…
- Stop. You need some more rest. I cannot allow you to meet Euryale in your current state.
- Why not ?
- Because you’ve already caught her attention.
- What does that have to…
- Shut up ! Your willpower is far from it’s maximum. She’d seduce you in a matter of minutes.
- Why are you so worried about…
- Be silent, Maenaz. You’ve drawn the attention of one of the most dangerous beings in the Gate of Vipers. I was to visit you and I saw it. Everything. How she looks at you… and how you accept the fact she has those desires.
- What do you mean ? Nothing happened !
- Not yet. It will, though. Your hunger for such things raises just as does her ability to influence that hunger. You’ll be hers, eventually.
- I’m not going to fall for some sick devil nymphomaniac !
- You are. She gets what she wants, and you haven’t even felt repulsed the first time she tried to get the message to you. Maenaz, believe me, I know how she works. Men more rational, more disciplined, with more willpower and less sexual desire than you easily fall to her.
- You seem… Disturbed. And I assure you…
- Don’t. You’ll end up breaking that promise. And yes, I am disturbed. Euryale was connected to an event that hurt me greatly and moreover, she always gets to anybody that I ever tried to establish any contact with. You’ll probably fall to her wiles sooner or later, but I just wanted to make sure you did this knowing what you’re going into. Remember she’s not human, and the possible consequences.
- Why are you so damn stubborn and defensive about this ?!
- Because I want nothing to do with one of her… Playmates. Until you’re free of her, really free of her, I want nothing to do with you, Maenaz. You’re not to talk to me or approach me with anything that isn’t clearly business and neccesary.
- Sleep – she said, as she cast a spell from a scroll. – You need it to recover.
He drifted into dreams again.


He woke up in his own bed, albeit with the aroma that he could only associate with Malacoda still surrounding him. Apparently, she carried him around herself, and he knew that at least the first time she hugged him pretty tightly as she did so.
He realized that something was in his room, and turned around to see Morax. Seeing he was awake, the ultroloth connected to his mind and spoke :
- Greetings, human. Euryale and Lord Samael had to leave temporarily, so I’ll be the one to tell you about what you wanted to know and explain the details of the next “mission”.
- I’m listening.
- Well, first, about the human you wanted to know of. The lord of the Crossroad Keep is a half-elf going by the name of Xardas Carolinger. He is most known for saving Neverwinter from the return of the ancient creature called the King of Shadows, a being connected to the Weave created by the ancient empire of Illefarn and then corrupted by connecting to the Shadow Weave. It’s not clear whether Xardas killed the creature or simply stopped it from being summoned, and he apparently did not do it alone – he had ten companions and a golem to help him with it. It IS known he comes from West Harbor, was a member of Neverwinter Nine, and a powerful divine spellcaster. A couple of months ago he left Neverwinter to train young adventurers in a far-away land. His spot in the Neverwinter Nine has since then been filled, but the lordship of Crossroad Keep remains in his hands. I have not discerned his current location – he did not return nor is he in the Sword Coast.
- Fine. This is almost enough to know about him. What about the mission ?
- You’re going to lead our forces as a mercenary army in a Blood War skirmish. Rather easy, still. Any wishes about the payment ?
- Yes. Learn what you can about these companions, if possible, but something else interests me more. Disover the locations of the following people : Xardas Carolinger, and my former companions – Boddyknock Glinckle, Daelan Redtiger, Grimgnaw of the Long Death monks, Linu La’Neral, Sharwyn, the bard, and Tomi Undergallows. Also check if any of those people and one Aarin Gend became a member of the Neverwinter Nine.
- That’s managable. It shall be done. Know however, that your next mision will be far more difficult, and it will be given by Lord Samael himself.
- I understand. Now, let’s get to work.
- I certainly appreciate that attitude.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Post Scriptum : The chapters are joined now... and I have bad news. Really bad news.
I'm having technical issues - it is very possible that the video card of my computer was burned or otherwise damaged, which may make writing a lot harder...

Stupid issues...

Certainly given the fact that I always have problems finishing chapters in time and uploading them as I wanted to, someone might think God himself does not wish me to finish this story. Thankfully, I'm an atheist. I'll get back to writing as soon as I can. This does not neccasarily mean a hiatus - I may get another video card quickly or just write with worse graphics, so don't be TOO nervous.