Baldur's gate II_ throne of Bhaal - Drew Karpyshyn [55]
From far away, Abdel heard a fierce war cry he recognized from the battle atop the Saradush battlements. Melissan was coming to join them. The dragon heard her too and turned to unleash another fiery blast against this new enemy. Melissan seemed oblivious to the horrible fate that was about to engulf her and rushed headlong through the ruined city street to challenge the wyrm, the head of her mace whistling through the air in deadly circles.
The flames swallowed her, and Abdel's own wounds cried out in sympathetic protest. When the wall of fire had passed, Melissan stood unharmed, though the force of the dragon's breath had stopped her charge.
Puzzled by Melissan's unexpected survival, the young dragon allowed its attention to be distracted long enough for Jaheira to leap into the fray. The staff she normally carried in her hands was gone, replaced by a magically conjured scimitar of cold blue fire. She brought the enchanted blade down on the unsuspecting dragon's tail, slicing deep into the wyrm's flesh. Cold steam burst from the wound, and the dragon bellowed in shock and anger.
Still ignoring the tigers futilely clinging to its great back, the beast spun toward Jaheira. In her haste to duck clear of the dragon's snapping jaws, the druid's foot snagged on a jagged piece of debris from one of the street's many demolished buildings and the half-elf fell to the ground. She tried to roll clear, but the dragon was too quick, pinning her to the ground with a taloned foot.
In response to Jaheira's tormented shrieks, Abdel tried again to stand. Through sheer force of will he managed to get to his feet, but when he took a step toward his screaming lover he collapsed back to the ground, too weak to even cry out in grief or frustration.
Somehow, he managed to lift his head again. His vision had become a narrow tunnel of light, and darkness was closing in from all sides. Abdel knew he was on the verge of blacking out again. The world was fading. He could see Jaheira's body writhing beneath the dragon's claw, but he could no longer hear her cries.
Melissan stepped into his rapidly shrinking field of vision, her mace now jammed inside her belt. Her empty hands were engulfed in a white ball of energy that she hurled at the dragon. The spell struck between the monster's winged shoulders, and it screamed. Few beings had ever heard a dragon's scream, but any who survived the siege of Saradush would remember the awful sound in their nightmares forever.
The few buildings on the street still standing were toppled by the concussive force of the wyrm's keening cry. The tigers still atop the creature's back fell to the ground twitching, stunned by the wave of sound. Paralyzed by his injuries, Abdel could not bring his hands up to shield his ears against the horrific noise. His eardrums burst, exploding in a burst of blood that trickled from his ears down the sides of his cheeks.
Yet Melissan seemed unaffected. Already, she had gathered another ball of the glowing energy and hurled it at the dragon. The beast screamed again. Deafened by the first cry, Abdel could not hear this one. Even so he felt the vibrations rippling through the ground.
Abdel struggled to hold back the curtain of darkness, refusing to succumb to the blackness while the battle still raged less than thirty feet away. Unwilling to endure another assault from Melissan, the beast flapped its wings and rose from the ruined streets of Saradush, still clutching the feebly struggling body of Jaheira in its claws. The last image Abdel saw before unconsciousness took him was his lover being carried off by the young dragon.
Chapter Twelve
Abdel drew a slow, shuddering breath as consciousness returned. Too weak to open his eyes, he was still able to sense he was indoors now. Someone had moved him from where he collapsed in the street. By the faint sting of smoke and ash he could taste