Baldur's gate II_ throne of Bhaal - Drew Karpyshyn [32]
To their credit, neither Jaheira nor Imoen laughed.
The half-elf stepped over to help Abdel to his feet. Imoen hesitated to do the same for Sarevok, the blades jutting out from his armor keeping her momentarily at bay. Before she could steel herself to approach, the armored man was back on his feet.
"Shall we, my big strong hero?" Jaheira asked Abdel, her hand giving a graceful flourish in the direction of the now-accessible stairs leading up to the streets above.
Chapter Seven
The guards surrounded them less than a minute after they had emerged from the sewers. Abdel wasn't surprised. It was early morning now. They had wasted the cover of darkness wandering the labyrinth of the sewers.
In the daylight warriors as big as he and Sarevok were hard to ignore, and the drying waste on all of t.heir clothes left little doubt as to how they had entered the town. Given the ongoing siege, it was only natural that nervous citizens would rush to alert the local militia to their presence.
"Throw down your weapons or our archers will open fire!"
A dozen men in chain shirts armed with long spears had formed a large circle around them. Beyond this circle a half dozen archers stood with bows drawn and ready. Abdel slowly drew his blade from his back, resisting the urge to unleash his fury against the men threatening him. Instead, he tossed his sword to the ground. His companions did the same with their own weapons.
"You there," the captain of the guards shouted out, "you in the armor. Remove it. I don't want you slicing up any of my men."
Sarevok made no move to comply with the order. "I cannot do that."
"I'm not giving you a choice," the captain answered. "Take it off or my men will open fire."
"We mean you no harm," Jaheira interjected, trying to change the topic. "We have come seeking a woman named Melissan."
Several of the guards turned to spit on the ground at the mention of Melissan's name, but the captain only scowled.
"That name won't win you any points with us. Now tell your friend to remove his armor."
"He is no friend of ours," Jaheira replied.
The captain shrugged and said a single word. "Fire."
Abdel leaped in front of Jaheira, determined to catch the deadly projectiles hurtling toward her chest with his own body. As he did so, the realization that he couldn't protect both her and Imoen flashed across his mind.
His concerns, however, were unjustified. The disciplined archers had launched their attacks only at Sarevok. A half dozen missiles split the early morning air and struck the armored warrior. Several bounced harmlessly off his heavy iron plates, but one pierced the vulnerable joint between the shoulder and the neck, burying itself several inches deep.
Sarevok reached up disdainfully and snapped the arrow off at the shaft, leaving a half inch of jagged wood protruding from the joint. The remainder he tossed to the floor.
There was stunned silence from the archers, and a look of understanding passed across the captain's face.
"Bloody Bhaalspawn," he whispered.
One of the pikemen encircling them snapped his head around at the captain's whispered accusation, then turned back to Sarevok.
"Damn you!" he shouted, lowering his spear and charging forward to impale Sarevok on the point.
Sarevok swung his heavy gauntlet down, his fist a blur as he slapped the weapon from the young man's grip with such force that it splintered the thick wooden shaft.
The momentum of the onrushing soldier carried him forward, bringing the now weaponless man within range of Sarevok's other fist, already arcing toward his opponent's unprotected head. Abdel had visions of Sarevok twisting his arm so that the blade jutting from the forearm of his armor would decapitate his unfortunate attacker.
Instead, Sarevok struck his opponent on the temple with the flat of his palm. The man crumpled beneath the vicious blow, and a shower of teeth flew from his mouth to skitter across the cobblestones