Baldur's gate II_ throne of Bhaal - Drew Karpyshyn [78]
"Alas, little one," the throaty voice chuckled. "I am not there."
"You won't gain anything by killing me," Imoen declared, spinning to slash at the blackness behind her. "Whatever part of me belonged to Bhaal has long since vanished." She leaped forward, stabbing blindly at where she guessed her would be assassin might be.
"Do not struggle, child. It will make things more difficult."
"Abdel took Bhaal's taint from me," Imoen said, still vainly flailing away at the impenetrable gloom. Her words were punctuated by the swish of her blade as it sliced only air.
"We have plans for that one," the voice assured her.
It sounded as if the assassin was right in her ear. Imoen swore she could feel the hot breath of her killer tickling her skin. But when she thrust her elbow back there was nothing to connect with.
"You may kill me, but Abdel will avenge me. He'll kill you… all of you. You have no idea how strong he is." Imoen warned.
"Yes, my pretty young girl, we do. The news of your death will break his warrior spirit."
Imoen felt the blade plunge into her back, skewering vital organs as the assassin struck with uncanny, lethal accuracy. Her screams of agony were nothing but a silent rush of air and a faint gurgle of blood as Sendai mercifully slit her throat.
Chapter Seventeen
Abdel's entire existence had become a world of pain. Fire rained down on him from the sky. It erupted from the ground to consume him. It arced in jets from the fingers of his tormentor to sear and melt his flesh.
Above the roaring blaze he could hear Abazigal's laughter as the scaly skinned mage fed the conflagration devouring Abdel's body and soul.
Then suddenly the fire stopped, winking out of existence. Abdel, his eyes shut tight against the heat, peeked from beneath his blistered lids. Abazigal's body lay beside him on the hard rock of the plateau. The wizard's reptilian head lay several feet away. Standing over them both was Sarevok, the blades on his forearms dripping with the green blood of the mage.
Abdel tried to speak, though he didn't know what he would say. His scorched throat could only manage a feeble cracking cough.
Hampered by his heavy plate armor, Sarevok crouched down with difficulty beside Abdel. "The dragons are returning," he said simply. "Already I see their mighty forms on the horizon. They will rend us limb from limb if we do not escape."
Unable to reply, Abdel could only shake his head. He could hear the shrieking screams of the enraged dragons reverberating across the mountain plateau, growing steadily louder as the wyrms drew ever closer. But he was too badly injured to even stand, let alone attempt the treacherous descent. Sarevok seemed to understand.
"You can escape into Bhaal's realm," the armored warrior explained. "You have done it before, when you killed Illasera and Yaga Shura. You are weaker now, and it will be more difficult. You must allow yourself to be drawn there by the essence of Bhaal as it flees Abazigal's dead body. It will lead you to the plane of our father. There your body will be restored, and the dragons cannot follow you."
Too weak to argue, Abdel closed his eyes and tried to do as Sarevok had instructed. He could feel it, a faint tug on his innermost being like a zephyr of wind on a still summer day. Abdel focused on the sensation, and the zephyr became a breeze. The breeze became a gale, the gale a hurricane. Abdel felt his soul snatched up by the roaring spirit wind and opened his eyes in surprise.
For a brief second he was still lying on the ground, the decapitated remains of Abazigal beside him. Sarevok stood several yards away, his body braced to meet the onslaught of the dragons alighting all around them. A pair of taloned feet struck the ground next to Abdel's head. He could smell the terrible scent of the wyrm's fury