Baldur's gate II_ throne of Bhaal - Drew Karpyshyn [59]
"Imoen, you stay with Melissan," he instructed his sibling. "Don't do anything stupid like trying to follow me, you'll just get in the way. I'll meet up with you later. I promise."
"Abazigal is far more powerful than the wizard you defeated at the Tree of Life," Melissan cautioned as the big sellsword headed toward the door. "Irenicus lusted to be immortal, but he did not have the blood of a god coursing through his veins. Do not discount Abazigal's status as one of the Five. He is the son of Bhaal himself."
Abdel slung a large pack of provisions over his right shoulder. "And so am I."
* * * * *
Driven by urgency and fueled by his immortal blood, Abdel didn't even stop to rest the first day. Even so, he could not traverse the ground as quickly as a dragon in flight. The lost time galled him, but Abdel couldn't move any faster. In fact, as weariness set in he was forced to slow his pace. Though his stops were few and far between, even the son of a god needed to rest.
Tracking the dragon was easy. Everywhere the creature passed, it left an indelible impression on both the landscape and the minds of the people fortunate enough to witness the spectacle and survive. The creature was flying almost due south. At first, Abdel suspected it was headed for the dense woods of the Forest of Mir. There the trees grew so thick, it was said, that the light of the sun never touched the forest floor. In many places the trunks grew so close together it was impossible for either man or beast to pass-or so Abdel had heard. In fact, everything he knew about the Forest of Mir was hearsay and legend. Eyewitness accounts were exceedingly rare, as few who ever entered the dark wood ever emerged again.
Abdel hoped the creature wasn't heading into the deepest recesses of those accursed woods. The sellsword wasn't afraid of whatever monsters might lurk within the trees, but he was worried that the tales of vast stretches of thick, virtually impassable growth were true. If he had to constantly hack his way through branches, roots, and thickets in his pursuit of the dragon the already slim hope of arriving in time to save Jaheira would become even fainter.
By the middle of the third day Abdel realized the dragon wasn't heading for the Mir Forest. The near edge of the wood was now a half day's march to the west, but the creature's path had not veered from its southerly course. Calling upon the long-buried memories of the maps he had been forced to study in his lessons at Candlekeep, Abdel made an educated guess as to where the beast was heading. It was probably heading toward the Alimir Mountains on the coast of the Shining Sea, a small range located a tenday's journey south of Saradush.
It was there, Abdel guessed, that the beast had made its lair. It was there he would confront the Bhaalspawn Abazigal, and it was there, Abdel hoped, he would find Jaheira.
Part of his mind knew his half-elf lover had left this world, but Abdel refused to consciously acknowledge that part of himself. Against all logic and reason, he still harbored the faint hope that somehow, someway he would find Jaheira alive. If he didn't, the small corner of his mind he refused to acknowledge vowed that he would extract a gruesome vengeance.
Abdel pressed onward, his thoughts a churning maelstrom of improbable hope and despair and violent images of retribution. His being was focused on the goal before him, and he was oblivious to the man pursuing him.
* * * * *
A half day's march behind the determined sellsword, an immense figure in dark plate mail followed Abdel's path. Sarevok had picked up Abdel's trail on the plains outside the ruins of Saradush, and he had been tracking him ever since.
The relentless pace of his half brother kept Sarevok from closing the distance between them, but the armored warrior shared enough of Abdel's blood and physical prowess to keep himself from falling farther behind. Sarevok knew his brother sought revenge for the female druid's death. Sarevok also knew Abdel was heading to a confrontation with another of the Five