Baldur's gate II_ throne of Bhaal - Drew Karpyshyn [84]
She had ridden fast and far since murdering Imoen, traveling under cover of night and seeking shelter from the accursed sun during the day. She was anxious to reach the cover of the Forest of Mir before Abdel found his way through the dense woods. It was there beneath the comforting darkness of the thick branches that she wanted to set her ambush for the last remaining Bhaalspawn. Even so, it had taken her nearly four nights to reach the eastern edge and find the narrow, overgrown path she sought out.
The road between Abazigal's enclave and Amkethran was little used, but Sendai suspected Abdel would find it. The trail, ill kept and treacherous as it was, provided the only viable path through the Forest of Mir's southern arm. If Abdel was heading directly from Abazigal's enclave in the Alimir Mountains toward Amkethran he was sure to stumble across this path at some point.
Unaware of the events that had transpired at the monastery, Abdel would suspect nothing as he journeyed toward Amkethran. If all went as Sendai planned, he would charge headlong into her ambush. With Gorion's ward disposed of, she and Balthazar could then turn their attention to getting rid of Melissan.
The drow worked quickly, littering the narrow forest path with snares and trip wires and making liberal use of her arsenal of poisons. She had chosen a spot several miles along the path, well within the dark confines of the Forest of Mir. Here the thick shadows cast by the tightly packed trees blocking out the sun made her work easier. Hiding her traps was often as simple as tossing a handful of dirt over the trigger or burying her work beneath a pile of deadfall.
She spent nearly a full day setting her ambush, then retreated into the upper recesses of the branches that overhung the trail to wait for her prey.
* * * * *
Abdel couldn't even see the midday sun through the thick, overlapping growth of the trees that pressed in on him from all sides. The Forest of Mir was every bit as dense, dark, and foreboding as the legends had led Abdel to believe. Yesterday he had been fortunate enough to stumble across a path heading in the general direction of Amkethran.
After three days of slow, plodding progress through the undergrowth, Abdel was determined to make up for lost time, but the pervasive gloom, even here on the path someone had blazed through the wood, still hampered his progress. As he raced along the narrow trail he was constantly tripping over roots hidden in the oppressive gloom.
His eyes straining to pierce the darkness, Abdel never saw the trip wire stretched across his path. He felt the faint tug as his leg tore through the string, he heard the sharp snap of a spring uncoiling, and he felt the stinging bite as a dozen tiny darts pierced the thick cloth of his robe and embedded themselves in his right thigh.
His leg went instantly numb, causing him to fall forward onto the small spikes hidden beneath a pile of leaves. A dozen tiny points jabbed through his cowl and into the flesh of his torso, and he felt the corrosive toxin coating the spikes as it began to dissolve his skin.
He rolled to the side and ended up on his back, his hands frantically swatting at the circles of burning pain slowly spreading out from the puncture wounds in his chest and abdomen. He heard the crack of dry wood, and the ground disappeared beneath him.
Abdel lashed out with a single hand and managed to grab the edge of the pit as he fell. For a second he simply dangled above the unseen bottom, imagining what atrocities lay in wait beneath him. He could faintly hear the clatter of the sticks and dry branches that had camouflaged the yawning trap as they struck the pit floor far below.
He heaved himself up and out of the trap. He tried to stand, but his paralyzed leg gave way, and he staggered forward. The noose tightened around his left ankle, and snatched his good leg out from beneath him. Abdel found himself hanging upside down, the robe draping down to cover his head and face and exposing the rest of his body.
As he struggled to tear the cowl off so he could