"Free me from this cage and we will see if you still have your confidence, istik!" The frog-woman growled at Durge "Now."
"Let a rabid beast run free?" The angry lizard demanded, teeth grinding "Why should I?"
Ironic, considering how his very soul felt like it was out for blood.
"Because, istik*" Froggy snapped "I am the only one who knows how to remove the gaikh tadpole in your brain." She sneered "You have no choice but to serve me."
Durge began gathering magic in his hand but before he could really snap, I reached him and placed a hand on his shoulder "How about you leave this one to me, hm?" I asked with patient smirk on my face.
He stared at me for a moment, and I felt his rage be directed solely on me.
But compared to others I've felt, his bloodlust was nothing, and was gone in a blink, the lizardman grunting his barely held anger and shaking me off but still doing as he was asked.
With a nod of thanks, I turned back to the frog, and found her evaluating my every move, her shoulders tensing under some deeply ingrained instinct.
"I believe I've just heard you say the most curious thing." I spoke cheerily, though my eyes were utterly cold "You know how to remove the tadpoles properly then?"
"The Githyanki have been fighting the creatures you know as Mind Flayers for an eternity" Her earlier prideful sneer returned "We are the only ones who know."
Arms crossed, I just stared at her for a silent ten seconds.
"Did you not hear me, istik?" She repeated.
'She did not just fucking-' Scorch very nearly summoned himself.
Tilting my head slightly as I mentally patted the angry bird, I asked "You have no gods damn idea how to, do you?"
Behind me, Shadowheart huffed, as if to say 'What else did you expect?'
And of course, Durge's hateful aura redoubled.
"By covenant, I am allowed to share nothing." Froggy backpeddled, still keeping her prideful front "But if you take me to the closest Creche my people will not deny you."
"She is lying." Shadowheart spoke up "The Gith will kill us as soon as they see us."
"I am inclined to agree." Gale piped in as well "Theirs is a kind with an... unfortunate reputation."
"We should get rid of her." Durge balled his fists.
Astarion just kept chewing on some beef jerky he found somewhere, looking despicably entertained by all this.
"Well, as much as I do not abide traitors" I spoke up after a moment, much to the Githyanki's anger "If there is a chance for us to learn something from the other, more worthy Gith" She was fucking shaking in indignation by now "I think we should have her along."
"You will regret your insults isti-"
"However" My voice rang out as I raised a finger "First things first."
Before anyone could react, the rope holding the hanging cage Lae'zel was imprisoned in snapped, and before the flimsy construction could even properly fall apart I was already in front of her, the fingers of my right hand snaking around her neck as I lifted her like she weighed nothing.
She tried kicking and flailing but all she did was choke herself out, her struggles growing weaker and weaker with each moment that passed.
"Listen carefully, worm" I said coldly, my voice carrying all the authority of an Emperor "The only reason you are still alive is my curiosity. Remember your place, and refer to your betters with their due respect."
"Or" I hardened my grip, making her face go slightly purple "This lesson will be repeated as many times as it takes to make it stick." My face twisted back into its previous false cheer "Do nod if you understand."
Before my mental countdown could end, she managed the slightest twitch of her neck.
"I suppose that will have to count" I drawled and dropped her like a sack "Someone fix this waste of bodily fluids. The sun is almost set and I'd rather not wait for it to crawl after us."
The damn half-elf practically skipped on her way to the Gith, 'generously' praying for her health all the while her eyes shone with satisfied glee.
Gale was looking at me like he was just recalculating all our previous interactions while the vampire and the freaky lizard were both grinning for their own twisted reasons.
I just shook my head and made my way to the temple, leaving it to them to follow as they could.
---
(General POV)
Lae'zel of Creche K'liir, warrior of the Githyanki, and Queen Vlaakith's most loyal servant once more had to remind herself not to glare at the creature who had so humiliated her as she rubbed her neck.
The thing pretending to be an elf not of any kind she had ever read about seemed to have eyes on the back of his skull and would look at her with challenge and mockery whenever she felt tempted to show any kind of resistance.
In the ways of her people she was the loser and should give deference to the strong, but to do so for an istik...
The moment she thought of the word, she felt another stare from the elf's direction, one far more hateful than even the thing hiding it, and one that made her feel as if a star was looking directly at her.
Lae'zel's entire body twitched as she looked away, an odd phantom pain stinging at her eyes even if no rays of light had reached them.
The silver sword seemed so far away now, in her shameful state, but she would persevere.
As she always had.
-
Astarion Ancunin had to admit, he had never expected a kidnapping by Mind Flayers to be as... fun as this.
He should have gotten abducted sooner!
Oh sure, the impending death was quite bad but at least he got to see the sun after nearly two centuries!
And see a creature he was sure was only a Baldurian street legend be beaten down like a flailing child.
Now if only he had a proper meal to go with that delectable treat...
He quickly shook those thoughts away as he followed the rest of the group into the ruins of some ancient temple.
His new 'leader' for no one else was quite arrogant enough to try and assume the position after that show of power, made perfectly sure that Astarion knew he knew what he was...
Except it looked like he did not care at all!
Now that he thought about it, the vampire spawn found it odd that falling into the hands of an ancient being of overwhelming power just when he finally managed to escape...
...or get escaped from he supposed, from the previous one did not make him hateful or furious.
The knowing amusement in the drow's? three quarter drow one quarter fire giant's...?
Oh, who cared!
Point is, his amusement was all the answer Astarion needed.
Because he realized his fellow elf was just like him.
Someone who just got their freedom back and was looking for any amusement he could find.
How incredibly lucky!
The vampire remained away from the rest of the group as they began discussing between simply making camp atop the temple or going deeper in for proper shelter, and stared at this odd elf with a newfound hunger.
A hunger caused by a single thought 'Wouldn't it be quite amusing to point him at my old master? Ruining dark, longstanding schemes must be even more fun than ruining a Githyanki's pride. Right?'
(Reyvin's POV)
It took me far too much effort not to just incinerate the bloodsucker out of hand as he stared at me like I was some kind of long-lost lover of his, or a cut of particularly juicy meat for that matter.
Instead of following the immediate impulse, I focused on the half-rotten reinforced doorway barring our path into the temple.
It was easily agreed that we would descend into the ruins and clear them out before making camp.
Tamriel was not the only place where old buildings and abandoned settlements were filled to the brim with all manner of beasts or undead, and any adventurer from either world would tell you that sleeping atop a ravenous horde was a quick way to the afterlife.
Eg. It was completely retarded.
And I wasn't about to bother with guard duty so the exhausted mortals could sleep soundly of all things.
That was for menials, after all.
Unwilling to cause too much noise, I waved for the vampire to approach, an act that finally stopped his staring "Try unlocking this, you look like the type."
He covered his heart "You wound me."
I just tossed him a lockpick.
One that he caught with expert alacrity and a smirk on his face. My deadpan only seemed to encourage him as he sauntered over to the door and got to work.
While he was doing that I pointed my hand at the frog, effortlessly healing the remaining bruises around her neck "Best we are all coherent if anything happens" I said "Do remember to control your tongue however."
The poor raging thing grit her teeth, and I could practically feel her getting strangled all over again by her pride as she forced her voice down.
'Good Froggy.' Scorch cooed in my mind.
The lock of the door clicked and Astarion quickly slid into the temple, the rest of us following closely behind.
The first room's walls were covered by shelves full of books.
A none too odd sight in a temple except this place was obviously thousands of years old and the books were intact.
My intuition was proven correct as a quick scan revealed a very light divine ward had been placed on the area many, many years ago, and preserved them.
Though oddly enough I found neither curse nor trap, which was just plain unusual.
But what drew my attention even more than the books and divine spellcraft were the still very fresh supplies laid out across a large dining table, silverware enough to feed half a dozen included.
"We are not alone here." Shadowheart said, readying her mace.
Exactly as the only other door in the room opened, revealing a drowsy young man "Huh?" He muttered, wiping his eyes "Who-"
That is as far as he got before a dagger buried itself into his neck, sending him falling backwards and gurgling in pain and panic.
All of us immediately stared at Astarion who just shrugged "What?"
I sighed.
A mere moment later, the rest of the... overenthusiastic archeologists burst through the door, their half-naked vanguard failing to throw his javelin despite his immense fury as Durge buried a spike of ice in his chest.
The one after him used his shield to quickly deflect Gale's firebolt but was swiftly put down by the charging Lae'zel, the Gith looking like a wild dog who had just been let off the leash as she bifurcated the poor fucker.
Naturally, she was immediately rewarded for her bravery by a distant incantation of "Tormentum!" Coming from deeper in the temple, and smacking the Gith with three projectiles of pure reddish force, staggering her back and nearly knocking her out.
The rest of the group didn't waste anymore time and charged through the gate, pulling an archer and crossbowman into melee and putting them down in quick succession.
I, on the other hand, once more stepped through a newly formed crack in space, appearing just next to their wizard and yoinking her grimoire directly from her hands.
"How nice of you to offer" I drawled as I crushed her arcane connection to the enchanted book and began flipping through it, the wizard falling on the ground with a freshly snapped neck, courtesy of a simple handwave.
My freshly collected following took a moment to calm themselves before regrouping around me.
"I hope we haven't just slaughtered a group of innocents." Gale muttered while staring at Astarion.
"Oh don't be so naive" The vampire rolled his eyes "They were obviously bandits."
"Stealing from sacred ground is a crime anyways." Shadowheart piped in.
To which I gave her a pointed look.
"If... we were looking for excuses..." She looked away, ears reddening.
I snorted and pocketed the grimoire.
"Done sulking?" Durge asked the limping Gith as she caught up to us.
"Silence, istik." She snapped "I did not see you holding the line."
"You really love that word, don't you?" My drawl interrupted her "Does it help you distract yourself from the realization you are becoming what your people despise the most, I wonder?"
All her defiance died in that instant as she simply withered under her own weight.
"Do pick yourself up" I mocked and turned to the other yet unexplored chamber while rubbing my hands "There is more to this temple, my graverobber senses are tingling."
Ignoring the odd looks that got me, I began exploring the rest of the place. Unfortunately finding no more bandits to see eviscerated but another library instead.
One I quickly realized was filled to the brim with nothing but what looked to be death confessions, completely and utterly useless except for their historical value.
"Shadowheart." I spoke up, drawing the half-elf from pilfering a stone altar and failing to find a thing "You seem to be at least somewhat learned in the local religions, yes?"
Her ensuing expression practically screamed 'What gave you that idea?'
"Oh no need to get peppy with me" I chuckled "Do you know of any kind of death god known to take longwinded confessions of the dying and have them all written down in exhaustive detail?" I asked.
She furrowed her brows at that, remaining silent for a good few moments "I think I've read something like that at one point but I just can't seem to put my finger on it."
"No matter" I shrugged and clicked the book shut "There is still more temple to explore. I am sure we will find our answers there" And without skipping a beat, I walked around the altar she was just near and pressed a hidden button, activating a mechanism that opened a way forward in the previous room.
The poor cleric just sighed as I smirked at her.
We descended further into the temple, finding many well crafted ornaments and reliefs on our way but none that even the locals recognized.
Some more exploration and pilfering later, we found a large chamber holding a coffin of the temple's previous guardian that was trapped to hell and back, but Astarion managed to disarm them so I wasn't forced to literally pull everyone's ass out of the fire.
I absently tossed Shadowheart the fancy looking shortspear from within the coffin that felt like it increased accuracy and reached for the other thing that drew my attention.
The coin carved from iron cursed by some fiery demon and marked with words of binding in a language I could understand but not identify glinted in the light despite its inherent darkness, a series of wails and begging whimpers echoed just at the edges of my hearing as I quickly realized what it held.
"A soul coin!" Gale exclaimed as he too noticed it, his excitement quickly giving way to a frown "Not what you'd expect to find in a temple to the dead."
"These things are common enough to be recognizable?" I asked.
"They are the currency of the Hells." Gale answered while the rest listened in "The devils trade in them all the time but sometimes a few drip down to the Material Plane. They are known to be useful power sources but most disdain them."
"And these... things" I worked my jaw "Are just allowed to exist?"
"The souls in them end up in the Hells naturally." Gale shrugged "Trading in them is illegal in most the kingdoms of Faerun but making all them disappear is just impossible since the devils prefer to draw mortals using them."
"And what about destroying them?" I asked "That seems like the logical next step."
"No one has managed or cared enough to try so far" The wizard answered, frown deepening "They are protected by the devils and none of the gods will destroy them as as I've said, anyone imprisoned inside is either deserving of the Hells in their eyes, or has made a deal with a Devil which counts as much the same."
"Hmmm" I hummed, staring at the glinting piece of metal between my fingers before coming to the only conclusion I could "I think not."
A flash of grey flame erupted from my hand, heating the metal until it glowed for a moment, and then making it burst into microscopic shards as the soul within was launched upwards and through the temple's ceiling, leaving only the echoes of the disbelieving laughter of a madman behind.
I frowned as I felt a wave of barely detectable divine power pass through the temple but to no visible effect.
The Mindwormed Multitude all looked at me like I had just grown a second head but as always I simply pretended like I saw nothing and turned to Astarion "You found the key yet?"
He blinked himself awake from hist stupor and nodded "Got it."
"What are we waiting for then?" I asked a bit too loudly, waking the rest of them up and already moving.
I could practically taste the million questions they wanted to ask me but to my surprise, and mild disappointment I will admit, none of them were quite stupid enough to waste time by actually asking them.
They knew I wouldn't answer shit.
So all they could do in the end was rush after me as I descended into the temple's deepest recesses.
Whereupon entering I immediately felt a gaze as ancient as that of a Daedra land squarely on top my shoulders, one that was distinctly neutral in nature yet also cautious and evaluating.
Beyond awaited a dozen robed skeletons with eerie blue flame alight in their eye sockets, their forms creating a semi-circle around the entrance.
To my surprise, they were not immediately hostile.
'At least the host is polite.' I hummed to myself, and walked straight in.
--------
*Istik= Meat, effectively the Gith equivalent to n'wah even if somewhat less insulting (relatively)
**Ghaik = Mind Flayer
-----
Gib.
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