Baldur's gate II_ throne of Bhaal - Drew Karpyshyn [40]
Sarevok's mailed fists crushed the skulls and smashed the faces of his enemies into pulp. The blows of his attackers rained down harmlessly on the reinforced iron plates of his mailed suit. Sarevok struck back with the spikes protruding from his elbows or slashed out with the razor-sharp blades forged on the forearms of his black armor, carving through metal, flesh, and bone indiscriminately. Soldiers fortunate enough to avoid Sarevok's deadly arms were left crippled and dying on the ground, their lower extremities savaged as Sarevok lashed out with a bladed shin to hack open an enemy's leg.
The sight of Sarevok carving a swath of gruesome, visceral death through the battle evoked an instant response in Abdel's own soul. The fury of Bhaal answered Sarevok's wordless invitation, and Abdel began to hack down his opponents like wheat at the threshing.
Even a division of elite mercenaries could not have stood before Abdel's ruthless assault, but these men were fodder-the expendable first wave of the attack. Their equipment was substandard, their technique and training nonexistent. Abdel disdainfully slapped away their feeble attempts to parry his lethal stabs, easily sidestepped the clumsy thrusts and wildly off-balance swings of his foes. Those foolish enough to stand in his way were disemboweled, their guts ripped from their torsos by Abdel's flashing blade. Those wise enough to turn and run were chopped down from behind and left dying in the ravaging sellsword's wake.
Through the slaughter Abdel felt the hungry flames inside himself escalating, fuelled by the steady spray of hot blood that coated his hands and face. The world was tinged in crimson, his vision colored by Bhaal's mounting wrath. The fire became an inferno, until Abdel was certain his victims could feel its heat emanating from his skin even as they felt the cold steel of his blade.
But this time it didn't consume Abdel. Even in the midst of the carnage, the sellsword never lost control. He never lost himself. Through sheer force of will he was able to subdue the demon within and keep the Ravager at bay.
His assault had cleared a path to the nearest of the ladders the invaders had used to scale the wall, and Abdel still had sense enough to kick it down, so that it tumbled back and away from the wall. Three quick slashes of his sword and three corpses later he was at the second ladder. It, too, toppled back to the ground, taking several raiders with it.
The other two ladders had already been knocked down, one by Sarevok and one by Melissan. Abdel spun back to face the melee and saw the only men still standing were all wearing either the colors of Saradush or Calimshan. The searing bloodlust in his soul flared, urging him to unleash his fury on his allies. He felt his skin tingle and itch, the first signs of the hideous transformation he had struggled to avoid at all costs.
Abdel smothered the internal blaze and let his sword clatter to the ground, snuffing out the dark desires of his father's tainted blood as easily as he would crush a bug beneath his boot. The transformation ended before it even began. There wasn't time for the big sellsword to revel in his victory or even to wonder why the bloodlust of Bhaal's fury had been so easily quelled this time.
One of the surviving members of the Saradush troops scooped up a large brass horn from a fallen comrade, while the others began to pick through the heap of bodies searching for survivors. The man with the horn blew three long, wavering blasts to alert the other defenders that the south wall was again secure.
A series of answering blasts echoed over the besieged town.
Melissan was now standing beside Abdel, though the big man hadn't noticed her approach.
"The breach is sealed," she said, panting slightly from the exertion of the battle as she explained the meaning of the signals that had rung out over