The rest of the way he followed me again as a lizard some steps behind me or slept in my backpack. I didn't like to carry him on my shoulder as usual, even if his behavior confirmed his assumption that he can't keep his knowledge from the short time as a Drow.
The closer we got to the prison structure, the faster my heart beat. ›They must be here‹ I thought to myself quietly. I sensed Ykril's presence. His sign of life, which seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. I could even already vaguely perceive his scent. How could this be? Why was I able to sense him like this?
Nimri ran ahead to scout and found a way through a side tunnel that was not so heavily guarded through which we could slip undetected. At the end of one of the tunnels he stopped abruptly and flicked with his tongue into a corridor. I ventured a quick glance and saw that two Praetorian appeared to be guarding a cell. Anxiously, the little one slipped into my pocket. »You did very well« I praised him in a whisper, when suddenly voices came towards me. Hectically I looked for a place to hide and found space behind a pillar.
»Do you really think she'll show up here?« a deep male voice asked
»She will. This weak human seems to be important to her.« replied a female confidently
»But we've been waiting for days now and still nothing has happened. And what about this Tiefling child?«
»Maybe a playmate? At least they had building blocks in the house, and she is still far from her 801.«
›The building blocks are for Nimri‹ I thought grumpily
»She can dish out not bad and even give you a hard time, for her age« the male mocked
»Shut your fucking mouth! She was lucky, that's all!« the female voice sneered.
»Wait a minute Claudia - this guy? Are you sure he's human?«
»He looks and at least tasted like one«
›Taste? If you bitch nibbled him, I'll break every bone in your body one by one!‹ promptly went through my mind and felt the mana in my blood slowly started to boil
»Yes, but take a closer look at him. Do you see the slight glow of his hands? And that bite wound of yours isn't bleeding anymore either.«
»That doesn't have to mean anything. Maybe he's just a cleric, druid or mage.«
After the voices quieted, I came out of hiding and unceremoniously took care of the guards. When I searched them for the key, Nimri was already spitting it at my feet. I patted him briefly »What would I do without you?«, unlocked the cell and ran straight to Ykril, who lay motionless on the floor. They didn't seem to have tied or chained them up, what made it easier to escape.
»It's so good to see you« Sanise whispered, taking in Nimri directly.
»Help me. We need to get out of here. Nimri knows the way.« I muttered as I wiped blood from Ykril's face. He barely reacted and except for a little unintelligible stammering and blood, nothing came out of his mouth either.
»What did they do to you?« I asked sadly before Sanise helped me lift him up.
Nimri led us out through some winding tunnels when suddenly an alarm horn sounded.
»Hurry up« I demanded. We got a few hundred feet before the first guards saw us and opened fire. However, they didn't seem to want to hit us or the training has gotten much worse.
The dozen guards and a handful of Praetorians who were pursuing us pushed us to a ravine and surrounded us.
›Why aren't they attacking?‹ I asked myself as I stood protectively in front of Ykril, who could at least stand again by now, and Sanise.
»She's mine!« it growled demandingly as the ghoul stepped out from between the guards and directly charged at me.
I was able to dodge her attacks well for a while, but I had to fall back to my dagger and the only spells I knew that were helpful in fighting her were ›Ssuth2‹ and ›Faer ky'ostal3‹ with which I could dodge or temporarily wrap myself in additional magical armor. When I faced the ghoul exhausted after a while, unaware that the abyss lurked behind me, I shuddered a bit as she sparkled at me with her green glowing eyes and sprinted towards me with her claws first. Even though I could fend off the claws with my dagger, she had pushed me back far enough that I lost my footing.
I tried to reach for something, anything that would save me from falling into this black uncertainty, but it was too late. The wind passed me faster and faster, and just at the moment when I made peace with the situation, I saw Ykril jumping after me, tired of life. ›You fool‹ I thought to myself as I could still look at him through my teary eyes. He quickly caught up with me in the fall, clutching me with all fours and not speaking a word. His tears spoke for themselves. »I love you so much« I whispered in a shaky voice in his ear after I pulled myself tightly to him and closed my eyes. Finally, I could overcome myself to say it and then at the probably most inconvenient time. I wish I could have told him much earlier. One last time to perceive his scent and feel his warmth. One last time I let his feeling of kindness and love flow through me.
A sudden jolt almost detached me from him, only his arms and legs wrapped around me kept me with him. The wind shifted, and it felt like we were climbing back up. Cautiously, I opened my eyes and saw him swinging wide, shimmering wings, and we rose with a gentle, short tail behind us. I clutched myself close to him again. Just tried not to look down. Into this seemingly endless hole into which I had been pushed.
He set me down a few feet behind the ghoul. I tried not to think about what just happened and summoned my staff with the help of the orb to me. Just as I was about to run towards the ghoul, I saw Ykril tackling her. Struggling, she tried to break free as he spun her around and threw her into the rows of Praetorian and guards who were still motionless bystanders. It didn't take long for her to pick herself up and run towards Ykril with a grunt. He dodged her, grabbed her arms from behind and pulled her to him. When he turned to me with the unsteady ghoul in his arms, I didn't think twice, approaching briskly, dropping my staff, unsheathing my dagger, and driving it through her jaw into her head.
When the ghoul's body went down, I quickly made sure that Sanise and Nimri were safe in their position and anxiously asked Ykril, who had obviously been caught by the ghoul's claws several times, if everything was all right while I took a look at his wounds.
»I'm fine my princess« he said weakly and collapsed as his wings dissolved into glittering dust »Sanise, please. Help him!« came from me desperately as I saw the guards and Praetorian start to move and come towards us.
I summoned my staff again, raised it slightly, and attempted to modify my lightning spell by shouting »Nizzre' ulkund4« and let raining down a series of lightning bolts over the group, taking out more than one guard. As they came toward me in a large group, a stone wall suddenly formed in front of them, bringing them down. Before I knew it, a swordsman in black, edged, full-body armor was standing in front of me, ready to defend us.
»You've always had a knack for getting into trouble, sis.« came a muffled sound through the helmet before the fighter rammed his shield into the ground and a wall of stone formed out of the surrounding ground.
»Miara?« I asked cautiously
»Is that him?« the fighter asked as he removed his helmet to reveal Miara's face.
»It's so nice to see you again.« came delightedly from me »And yes, it is him.«
»Oh, he's cute. He looks a bit like dad.« she grinned cheekily
»What are you doing here? Your timing is incredible.«
»Words travel fast when someone with a bounty like yours shows up in Menzoberranzan«
She put the helmet back on »And now - let's finish this. You two back there watch out for your boy here and that you don't get killed!« she commanded to which Sanise responded with an ironic salute and a hastily spoken »At your command, sir.« matching to Miara's commanding tone.
»Let's go, sis« I said curtly, and just as Miara pulled her shield out of the ground, the wall crumbled in on itself and the Praetorian and guards confronted us again.
Tirelessly Miara slaughtered everyone who had not directly taken flight. As if she had done nothing else all her life. I was fascinated by the way she lifted rocks out of the ground, threw them at the enemies, rammed them with her shield and split their heads with her sword. I supported her by conjuring up area-wide thunderstorms over the onrushing soldiers or by throwing lightning bolts directly at them.
As the last soldier lay on the ground begging for his life, I watched Miara mercilessly ram the sword into his skull.
»Find your way to the surface now, sis. I'll take care of our bounties!« she said calmly. She didn't even seem to have broken a sweat.
»Our bounties? You don't have to do this alone!« I demanded.
»I do! The little ones can't fight, your husband is injured and desperately needs healing, and when you show up there, all of them will be on alert because there's ten times more on you dead than on me alive. That would only make it more difficult.«
»Take care of yourself. Please.«
»Go ahead and cool the gogondy, sweetheart. - Ramshorn, if I remember correctly? Then you can tell me who you blew out the candles that they're that pissed at you.« she laughed and headed off towards Menzoberranzan after giving me another hard punch.
Sanise had taken good care of Ykril's wounds. As we lifted him, he briefly regained consciousness.
»Will you show me where you grew up?« he asked softly before he lost consciousness again.
Why the heck right now? – On the other hand, we could take a short break there, and I could take care of mom and dads graves
»I will« I whispered to him, with tears in my eyes, while I gently stroked his cheek.
The way to my old home, still the ruin as I had left it moons ago, was clear. Miara seemed to keep our backs very well free.
We hid Ykril in an indentation under the rubble of the house. His pulse was weak, and his wounds did not stop bleeding.
»What had happened? What did they do to you?« I asked quietly, while I somewhat helplessly nursed his wounds
»I don't know. They took him out of the cell several times a day. Then I only heard him scream. And whenever they brought him back, he got worse.« Sanise replied sobbing, as she tried to cook something with the supplies from my backpack.
