Baldur's gate II_ throne of Bhaal - Drew Karpyshyn [6]
Not for the first time, Abdel considered slipping away while Imoen and Jaheira slept. He could lure their pursuers away from the two women. Let them live in peace while he lived the never-ending life of a fugitive. Abdel sighed and closed his eyes, dismissing the option as he always did. Even if he could bring himself to leave Jaheira's side, even if he could force himself to abandon Imoen and the woman he loved, he had no way to be certain the hunters would follow him.
They chased Abdel for his blood-the tainted blood of a dead god. They persecuted him for the sins of his father, Bhaal. Rumors of sudden arrests, senseless tortures, and immediate executions were too frequent and too widespread to be discounted. Like all the Bhaalspawn, Abdel was on the run-sentenced to incarceration or death not because of anything he had done, but simply because of who he was.
Imoen was a Bhaalspawn, too. Even though the taint of the dead god had been all but purged from her soul, her life would be forfeit if they were captured, just as surely as Abdel's. Imoen was not strong enough to survive without Abdel and Jaheira helping her.
Overwhelmed by the hopelessness of his situation, Abdel at last gave in to sleep.
He was standing in a void, a dead world of gray nothingness. Abdel felt for the great blade he normally kept strapped to his back and was reassured when his hand brushed against the cold metal of the hilt.
"There is no need for that here-though if it comforts you, so be it."
The voice was neither male nor female. It seemed to be the sound of a great host speaking in perfect, harmonious unison. Resisting the instinctive impulse to draw his sword, Abdel spun around. His head snapped from side to side, seeking out the unknown speaker or speakers. He saw nothing but empty gray on every side.
"Show yourself!" His voice echoed in the emptiness, drawing his attention momentarily back to his strange surroundings. Abdel glanced up and saw there was no sky above him, he glanced down and realized there was no earth below. He didn't even feel as if he was standing on anything.
"There is nothing to fear, Abdel Adrian. You will not fall."
Obviously, the disembodied voice could read his thoughts, wherever-or whatever-it was. Abdel was surprised to notice that the words of the voice did not echo like his.
"Show yourself," Abdel said again. This time it was more of a request than a command.
"Prepare thyself, Child of Bhaal."
Suddenly, Abdel was not alone in the void. The entity did not slowly materialize from the gray as Abdel had expected. It didn't flash or magically shimmer into being as if from a wizard's spell. One moment there was nothing, the next the entity was there-as real and permanent as if it had existed in this strange nether realm for an eternity before Abdel's own appearance.
The being was male, with white hair and a beard. Though it resembled a human in form the features were neither handsome nor ugly and were unremarkable. It was not mortal. No mortal could compare to such a divine creation. It was clad in a black flowing robe, in contrast to its flawless alabaster skin. The material seemed to meld with the being that wore it, flowing together so that Abdel could not tell where the apparel ended and the entity began. His eyes swam with the dark depths of eternity, pierced with blazing points of purest light-like the starry sky on a clear, bright night. The face was both young and old, both omnipotent and innocent.
The creature towered over Abdel's own seven-foot frame, and the robe encompassed all of the celestial patterns of the moons and stars. Bathed in the glorious presence, Abdel could only stand in speechless awe for several seconds.
When he at last found his voice, he could only utter, "I must be dreaming."
"A dream can be no less true than that what you call the real world," the entity assured him.
"Are you a god?" Abdel asked, unaware he had even formed the question