Disclaimer: Not mine. Characters and plot of BGII belong to Black Isle, Bioware and a buch of other people.
Though Jaheira’s screams seemed to still linger in the air, it wasn’t the screams that affected Ashrien the strongest. He had heard Jaheira scream before, though usually in anger, not in horror. It was the sounds she was making now that got to him, small keening sobs, as she clutched Khalid’s pallid hand in hers. She was shaking gently, rhythmically, and Ashrien was reminded of when Imoen and he had returned to the site of Gorion’s murder the morning after. Had he sat like that, shaking and sobbing while clutching his father’s body? He couldn’t remember, and somehow, he didn’t feel like asking Imoen.
“Jaheira,” he said, after watching her snap at both Imoen and Minsc. Not that he blamed her for it, especially not Imoen. Did you have to tell her that? He thought, and bit his lip. “Maybe we can get him resurrected.” Looking at the state of Khalid’s corpse, he seriously doubted it, but at the moment, he’d say anything to make Jaheira stop her heartbreaking sobbing.
Jaheira looked up at him. She wasn’t exactly crying, but her eyes were red, and seemingly devoid of any emotion. “No,” she said, getting up. “He has been dead for too long. His soul has departed.” She moved away quickly, but Ashrien noticed that she appeared to lack her usual grace. He said nothing, though, and fell in behind her, next to the rather puzzled Yoshimo.
He was about to explain their previous journey to the bounty hunter when they entered another chamber filled with the bottle-like containers. These ones all held what seemed to be copies of the same elven woman, floating in the blue-green liquid. Ashrien shivered, but quickly got over his unease as the sound of battle notified him that they weren’t alone in the chamber.
One of the clones had
broken loose from her tank, and was engaged in battle with a very
suspicious looking man who occasionally gave the naked copies in
the remaining tanks a very lecherous look. He was easily
dispatched, but unfortunately, there was no calming the woman.
They were forced to kill her, despite their wishes.
As they moved further along, they encountered several of the men. They were all wearing the same type of grab, similar to what Ashrien himself wore, so they guessed they were members of some sort of thieves’ guild.
“If Yoshimo’s suspicions about our location is right, they’re probably Shadow Thieves,” Ashrien remarked, and reached out to grab his sister’s belt. “I know you’re anxious to get out, Im, but you have to be careful.” He pointed to the bridge in front of them. “See that?” He could feel Imoen shiver as she saw the intricate trap she’d almost walked into. It didn’t take her long to recover, though, and she approached it carefully, prepared to disarm it.
This isn’t good, Ashrien thought to himself, keeping an eye out for any other traps. Whatever that Irenicus did to Im, it has left her in pieces, and with Khalid and Dynaheir’s deaths, Jaheira and Minsc are not up to their usual effectiveness. He sighed. His head was killing him, despite Jaheira’s healing spells, and there was something in the back of his mind that was telling him that he should be even worse off than them. With a grimace, he pushed the thought firmly away. This isn’t the time.
He walked past Imoen and opened the door, just to see some sort of wand, mounted on a pedestal, blast two of the thieves to pieces. So that’s what those keys are for. Good thing I kept them. Spreading the keys amongst themselves, the party made short work of the elaborate traps. They were just about to move on when Ashrien noticed something odd.
“Jaheira,” he said, looking at the druid. “Do you hear that?” There was a door on the wall, and there were sounds of battle coming from the other side, but the sounds were all wrong. Instead of the telltale sound of metal against metal or leather, it was the sound of multiple sharp points scraping against leather. Like the claws of a big animal.
Jaheira nodded and looked at the door. “Should we open the door?” She asked, tracing her fingers over the door handle. A scream came from the other side, but it stopped suddenly, and was replaced with a gurgling sound.
“I think we’ll leave it alone,” Ashrien said, and looked at the rest of the party. They were all wounded, and he didn’t want to rest down here, in the dungeon, any longer than necessary. All of them were bundles of nerves at the moment. “Let’s just get out of here.”