Baldur's gate II_ throne of Bhaal - Drew Karpyshyn [11]
"There is infection and disease setting in already. I shudder to even imagine what foul afflictions could result from the touch of those beasts. This will cleanse the wound."
Now that he was certain Jaheira had attended to Imoen, Abdel was able to return his attention to the unseen threats that might still linger within the forest. Something was still out there, watching them.
* * * * *
Illasera arrived at the edge of the small clearing shortly after her scouts, but the battle was already over. Not that she was surprised. She fully expected two Bhaalspawn to be more than a match for the wolves-even wolves touched and transformed by Illasera's own powerful magic. But her minions had done their job-the Huntress now had her quarry in sight.
Still unnoticed by the three people in the clearing, the archer took a silent half-step back, willing herself to vanish among the dead and leafless gray branches. From her well-camouflaged position, Illasera surveyed the situation.
As she had been told, and as the tracks indicated, there were indeed three-two females, and a very large, very muscular male. Illasera knew only two were children of the Lord of Murder. Bhaal's Anointed, the leader of the Five, had been quite clear on that point: two tainted by the divine essence, and one mortal companion. Of course, all three would die beneath the hand of the Huntress.
The man, Illasera guessed, was one of the Bhaalspawn. His great size, his immense, rippling muscles, the natural, predatory grace with which he moved-these signs alone would have been enough to give him away. When she looked at the amazing physical specimen, Illasera could almost see the man's body as a physical representation of Bhaal's divine fury.
The females, however, were not so simply identified. Not all the Bhaalspawn were as easy to spot as the male warrior had been. Many were humble, unremarkable folk like peasants, farmers, and merchants. Insignificant in their lives, they were important only because of what their deaths would mean to the Five.
Illasera hesitated, carefully pondering her next move. She had a good supply of ordinary, reliable arrows. She could unleash a volley at her targets, virtually drowning them beneath a rain of feathered fletches, but the leader of the Five had warned Illasera that such mundane weaponry would be all but useless against these particular Bhaalspawn.
The manifestation of their immortal father's legacy varied greatly with each of the god's progeny. Miraculous invulnerabilities were uncommon but not unheard of among a select few of the most powerful children of Bhaal. The Five had long ago learned how to counter the powerful immunities that blessed some of the Lord of Murder's offspring.
Noiselessly, the Huntress pulled an arrow from her quiver, taking care to choose one of her specially prepared weapons. The magically runed arrows were precious, she had only a few. Unable to determine exactly which two were the offspring of a god, Illasera had to assume they all possessed the tainted blood. She took careful, deliberate aim at the woman tending to the injured girl. Illasera understood death, she understood killing. She knew to eliminate the healers first.
* * * * *
Abdel never saw the camouflaged female form of Illasera as she raised her bow, but his eyes were drawn to the movement of the arrow she loosed. Abdel thrust his bare arm out and into the path of the projectile, intercepting it as it flew through the air on a line toward Jaheira's throat. His action was one of pure instinct-an instinct based on the innate understanding that because of his tainted blood he was impervious to all physical harm.
The missile pierced his left forearm, ripping through the sinew and muscle until the metal tip protruded out several inches on the other side. Imoen shrieked in surprise and fear, and Jaheira threw herself over the vulnerable girl's body. Abdel stepped into the unseen archer's line of fire, offering himself up as a human shield, confident in his superhuman recuperative powers to protect him from