Consciousness slowly returned to Vantrel. Still only half awake he levered himself up by holding the bars. A shooting burst of pain caused him to grip his head in his hands as he slowly stood, leaning on the bars of his cage for support. Damn that� that madman. How many times had the mage come to torture him with his �experiments�? The man never attempted to garner any information from the battered swashbuckler, not that he had any to give in the first place. Vantrel took short shallow breaths as the pain subsided. Why wouldn�t the bastard just say what he wanted? And for that matter how long had he been here, where ever in the Realms here was?
His last memories were of camping along the trail with the rest of the party just after they had defeated Sarevok and left Baldur�s Gate. They were all getting ready to bed down the night and then� and then his memory ended. He could recall faint glimpses of shadowy forms and heard what might have been a scream. The next thing he could remember was waking up in this strange cell for the first of the �experiments� as his captor called them.
�Ahh I see you are awake god-child,� came a cold and dispassionate voice, �It is time for more� experiments.�
�Bhaal take you, mage!� Vantrel growled at the man standing just outside his cage. His frustration and rage jumped to startling new levels just seeing his captor. His growl took on a deeper, somewhat inhuman note.
�We�ll have none of that Bhaalspawn! I need you as you are!� the mage told him, never displaying any stronger emotion than slight annoyance. A moment later fiery pain coursed through Vantrel�s body. Not long there after he again slipped into blissful unconsciousness.
Not far away Minsc stood in his cage, gripping the bars in frustration. He stood so close to his witch�s killer and he could do nothing! Not only that but he was forced to watch as the evil mage blasted his friend with magic over and over, tearing hoarse screams from the half elf�s batter frame. Boo made sorrowful squeaking noises from the safety of Minsc�s shoulder.
�I know Boo, it burns Minsc�s soul to see this man doing these things to our friend,� he told the hamster quietly, �We smited much evil in our travels with Vantrel, only to be reduced to this!�
Minsc looked to his right at the cage containing Jaheira. The druid was leaning back against the bars of her cage with a pained expression of frustration and rage painted on her face, much like Minsc. The big ranger knew that she also felt the outrage he did at watching the evil mage do such things to their friend.
�We must get free of here Boo! We must!� the ranger mumbled.
Vantrel awoke once again but this time something was different. Oh, his head still throbbed with a dull ache and his body protested movement but still there was something different. Acrid smoke burned his nostrils and he could hear faint sounds of� fighting? Who would be fighting the insane mage that was his captor? Equally insane black-clad men with swords it would appear.
The world suddenly came into sharp, albeit somewhat painful, focus as he heard the lock of his cell clank and the door open. It took his eyes a moment to focus on the slight figure standing before him.
�Come on you! Get up we�ve gotta get out of here!� the girl berated him.
�I-Imoen? What� where? What in the name of the gods is going on here?� he asked. His brain wasn�t up to all this vigorous activity after an undetermined amount of time of being required only to cue his screams of pain and slips into unconsciousness.
�I don�t really know,� Imoen patiently explained, �He keeps talking about �unlocking the potential� but I don�t understand. He� he does things to us. Just come on Vantrel we have to get out of here!�
�Your right, I�m coming. I just hurt all over,� he muttered.
�I know. My head� it just hurts. Not like a normal hurt� its something else. Something I can�t explain,� the young mage said in a quiet voice.
�Where are the others Imoen? Are they here?� Vantrel asked. Gods above he hoped they were here. At this point he needed all the help he could get and he really did not need any more innocent deaths weighing on his mind.
�Jaheira and Minsc are in the cells just a few yards off. Don�t feel to surprised, he had the cells enchanted so that you couldn�t hear or see anything that was farther than a couple feet away,� Imoen replied when she saw the startled look on his face.
�Lets get them out and then get all of us out of this hell hole,� Vantrel snarled. If that bastard had harmed the rest of his friends as well there would be hell to pay. He hadn�t come through ogres, doppelgangers, and his sociopath half-brother with these people only to have them all die in some black dungeon in the middle of nowhere.
The first of his companions he found was Minsc. The ranger was a giant of a man with strength that was nearly unmatched by any other Vantrel had ever met. Apparently his captor had also realized this as the door and lock of the berserker�s cage had been fused into the surrounding metal.
Vantrel peered between the bars at his friend. �Minsc, my friend, are you well?�
�No! No, Minsc is not well! Minsc was trapped in this cage by the evil mage and was stripped of his honor!� the man practically bellowed.
�Your honor? What do you mean Minsc?� an obviously puzzled Imoen asked.
�They� they killed Minsc�s witch� they killed� my Dynaheir,� Minsc mumbled.
�Oh no... Minsc�� Imoen sniffled.
Dynaheir�s loss hit Vantrel hard; the dark skinned woman had become a familiar presence. The depth of Minsc�s sorrow was also evident from his one tiny slip. Rarely in his journeys with the ranger had Vantrel heard Minsc refer to himself in the first person the way he had just done. For him to do so now showed how effected he was.
�We will avenge her death Minsc, I swear to you,� He informed Minsc grimly, �but we have to get you out of that cage.�
�They have welded Minsc in because they fear him! They fear, but bars and locks will not stop Minsc! Minsc will be� free! Minsc� will� be� free!� Minsc�s sudden exclamation was accompanied by the sound of rending metal and within moments the massive ranger was free of his prison.
�Minsc is bound no more! Be afraid, evil, for the righteous boot of justice is free!� Minsc cried triumphantly. Vantrel could still see the sadness that tinged the berserker�s eyes but the joy of his freedom was taking precedent.
Vantrel shook his head ruefully and quickly trotted over to the cell holding Jaheira. The druid looked upon Vantrel with a mix of amusement, hope, and irritation.
�It�s about time! I swear by Silvanus, traveling with you is never dull,� Jaheira said as he approached.
�So I�ve found out myself,� Vantrel couldn�t help but chuckle slightly despite the levity of the moment. This was the same Jaheira he knew, no doubts there, still in possession of her acidic tongue and wit.
�Any ideas as to why we are here?� Vantrel asked. He wasn�t expecting her to know anymore than he but it was worth a shot.
�None, my last memories are of being ambushed as we camped for the night,� she continued somewhat irritably, �Might I suggestion we find a way out of this dark place and ponder this later?�
�I�m all for that, but where is Khalid?�
At this Jaheira�s face took a concerned expression and she answered with a simple sake of her head, revealing she had no idea. Imoen led the reunited group to a small room nearby where they found a small stash of equipment. It wasn�t their equipment but it was better than nothing. Each of their small party found at least some familiar weapons and armor to use. Imoen picked up an enchanted dagger and some extra-light leather armor while Minsc donned a suit of splint mail and hefted a two-handed claymore, his favorite kind of weapon. Jaheira paused a moment to slip a coat of chain mail over her head and test the balance of her new quarterstaff. Vantrel found himself a solid suit of studded leather and a pair of matched shortswords.
�Hmph this is not exactly the kind of equipment we last had,� he head Jaheira mutter, �but it will suffice.�
Vantrel felt reassured by the familiar weight of the blades resting on his hips and of the stiff leather armor protecting him. It was time to make their way out of this place. His aching body still plagued him and the armor rubbed half healed wounds on his back, but freedom gave him new reservoirs of strength. This mage had much to answer for and they still had to find Khalid.
Their search through this twisted realm that had been their dungeon had found them agreeing to aid some imprisoned dryads, finally learning the name of their �host�, joining up with an odd foreign bounty hunter, and freeing a genie in exchange for Sarevok�s two-handed broadsword which Vantrel had quickly gifted to Minsc, wanting nothing do with it and not knowing how to use it if he had wanted to. Still they hadn�t found a way out nor had they located their missing friend�
A few hours later�
Vantrel sagged against the cold stones of the wall behind him in shock and horror. He had known somewhere in the back of his mind that not finding Khalid soon after they had freed themselves was a bad sign but never had he imagined this� this affront to all that was right. Lying upon a table in a large chilly room was the desecrated body of Khalid. The man that had stood by Vantrel since Gorion�s death and had faced the evil that was his half-brother Sarevok and survived, only to be butchered in another of this Irenicus� �experiments�. He could feel the rage, the hatred he had learned to control, straining at its bonds as he watched Jaheira stare at her husband�s body in disbelief.
�K-khalid? No, this is a dream� a bad dream,� Jaheira spoke in a whisper, her eyes wide, �Where is he hidden? Where��
�I did not know this man but I mourn for your loss,� the bounty hunter, Yoshimo, said in a quiet voice, bow slightly in respect.
�No! Stranger! You know nothing! Nothing�� Vantrel looked on in shock as tears poured unfettered down Jaheira�s face. She had been a sister to steel in all time had known her, to see so much open pain on her face now was a shock.
�A great man is dead but that is no cause to hurl insults at the living,� Minsc told Jaheira, �Boo could��
�Get you and your rodent away from me you� you affront to nature!� Jaheira nearly screamed at the man, �No more words! No quaint sayings about time and healing! I only want to hear one voice and that voice I will never hear again!�
The large ranger�s face took on a pained expression as he moved towards the other side of the room. Imoen simply stood where she was with tears running down her face and sniffling. Vantrel was simply too stunned to move for a moment. In their quest to foil Sarevok�s plans Vantrel had become friends with the cautious fighter and his whip-tongued wife. What many would see as flaws he had come to see as simple faucets of his friends� personalities. Khalid was anything but a coward despite his cautious nature and his wife had a difficult time expressing what she thought and felt, usually ending up doing so through sarcastic remarks and biting comments. None of this, however, had prevented him from coming to care for them both a great deal. The two of them not together was a thought that had never entered his mind. Cautious Khalid and stern Jaheira, they had been one of the few constants in the insanity that had become his life; among those few he called friend.
The sobbing woman that was kneeling before the desecrated body of her husband was nothing like the woman he had known and called friend in the past year. All her bitter humor and aloofness was gone. Every biting comment and sarcastic remark was forgotten in an instant, consumed in the overwhelming sorrow of her loss. Vantrel knew his next question was likely to only cause more pain but he couldn�t bring himself not to ask it. He owed it to both Khalid and Jaheira.
�Jaheira, is it not possible that we could bring him back? There must be some way,� the swashbuckler asked gently.
Jaheira looked at him for a moment before haltingly responding, �N-No, there is no way. There comes� there comes a point when one cannot be brought back. Only the darkest of arts might bring my husband back to me and Khalid would never wish that.�
With this she dried her eyes and stood to offer a final prayer for the soul of her dead love. �Silvanus guide��
Vantrel gripped Imoen�s shoulder lightly and lead her away so that Jaheira could have a few last moments alone with Khalid�s body. After a few moments her prayer was completed and she said her final goodbyes. Vantrel walked slowly back over to where and she was standing and stood beside her. He held the shortsword in his left hand with a white-knuckled grip and rested his right on Jaheira�s shoulder. She flinched at the contact for a moment but didn�t move away. The two of them stood there a moment, heads bowed, while the swashbuckler fought back tears of sadness. For now he had to be the strong one.
�I know that I can�t understand your loss,� Vantrel told her in a voice barely a whisper, �So I won�t claim I do. But I can promise you this, my friend: Irenicus will answer for Khalid�s death.�
�He will� I�ll make him pay if I have to fight my way through Hell on my own to find him,� Jaheira said after a moments pause, tears still trickling down her face.
�No Jaheira, not alone,� he responded in a strained voice as grief and anger warred in his soul.
He waited a moment more before he gently turned her away and towards the rest of the group. Vantrel gave the druid another gentle shove and then told the others to wait down the corridor for him. Minsc just nodded numbly and Imoen uttered a last farewell. Yoshimo knew a solemn moment when he saw one and proceeded down the corridor ahead of the others. Jaheira turned and gave him a questioning look.
�Go on Jaheira,� he said with his face set in a grim line, �I can�t� I won�t leave Khalid like that. Let me grant this last boon to our fallen comrade alone.�
The druid only nodded and did as he asked. Her quiet acceptance only served to show how complete her grief really was.
The swashbuckler waited a few moments after the group had rounded the small bend and then returned to the portal room where they had met Yoshimo. It only took him a matter of minutes to find and move the two cases of liquid he had seen when they had first emerged from the portal over to the room holding Khalid�s body. Had Minsc or the others helped it would have taken even less time but this was something he needed to do alone. His final boon to a great man.
Dragging the first crate he placed it near the center of the room. The second crate of liquid he placed under the table on which Khalid�s body lay. A quick glace about the room revealed a battered longsword leaning in one corner of the room. It was Khalid�s sword. This weapon in hand he strode to the box in the middle of the room.
�It�s time for you to perform one final duty for your master,� Vantrel spoke to the heavy blade in his hands, �Then you too can rest.�
A sudden strike sent the blade through the wooden crate and shattered the glass containers inside, causing them to spill their contents on the floor. Vantrel walked over and laid the blade at his friend�s side and quickly strode to the corridor entrance. The saddened warrior offered one final salute.
�I�ll do my best to take care of her Khalid,� he told the empty room that was quickly growing noxious with fumes, �I�ll make sure your death meant something. Good-bye, my friend. I-I�m going to miss you.�
With this Vantrel grabbed a potion from his belt, a small vial brimming with a bright orange liquid, and threw it at the crate in the center of the room before darting around the corner. Behind him the room was almost instantly engulfed in a massive wall of flame, incinerating everything in it. Only when he felt the heat caress his back and knew his final task was done did the leather-clad swordsman let a tear leak from his eye.
He would honor his fallen friends with future deeds. The first of which was getting free of this hellish place. Then he would find Irenicus. Yes, that�s what he would do.
