Baldur's gate II_ throne of Bhaal - Drew Karpyshyn [88]
"I cannot say if the other monks know of his secret. I doubt they do. They serve their master absolutely, completely oblivious to his true nature."
The big sellsword bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. He felt Melissan wasn't telling him everything. She was still holding something back, she still kept her secrets well guarded. It was obvious she had known about Sendai and failed to warn either Abdel or Imoen about the drow. Abdel didn't care what games Melissan was playing anymore. She had told him more than enough.
"Give me your horse," he demanded. "I want to be fresh when I reach Amkethran."
He thought Melissan would try to dissuade him or suggest some type of plan other than a frontal assault. At the very least he thought she might even offer her help. Instead she only said, "Good luck, Abdel."
* * * * *
Abdel leaped from his horse once he reached the tents and ramshackle mud buildings of Amkethran. He ripped the cowl from his body-he wanted nothing to slow him down when he faced Balthazar. The sight of a naked, seven-foot-tall, heavily muscled man drenched in dried blood and wielding a heavy broadsword in one hand and a cruel, rune covered dagger in the other sent the few people he encountered scurrying for cover.
The great iron doors of the monastery were barred against him, but Abdel ripped them from their hinges. With each death of the Five he had become stronger and more powerful, growing ever closer to his father's immortal existence. Abdel believed he now had the strength to smash right through the marble walls if necessary.
He stepped through the torn gates and was immediately attacked by an army of the monastery's guardians. The warrior monks fought without weapons, delivering lightning-fast kicks to his knees, punching their fists in a blur at his throat, driving their knees to his groin. Their attacks would have shattered the bones of any mortal.
Abdel shrugged off the blows as meaningless. He slashed out with his sword and Sendai's dagger, driving the monks back as they dodged his cuts and stabs or fell injured to the ground. But he didn't follow up his initial attacks. His efforts were merely meant to clear a path through the mob. The deaths of these mindless followers of Balthazar were inconsequential to Abdel, and pursuing the injured to finish them off would only cost him precious time.
Had he wished for slaughter, it would have been a simple task to unleash the Ravager on his enemies. But the demon lusted only for indiscriminate death, it cared nothing for Abdel's desire for revenge. If Abdel set the Ravager free now, Balthazar might escape unnoticed in the ensuing carnage. So Abdel quelled the rising fire of his father's evil, and he pressed on with grim, passionless determination.
The monks threw themselves at him, willing-even eager-to sacrifice themselves to halt his progress, but their adversary was immune to their fists and feet. Despite their overwhelming numbers and despite the fact that Abdel couldn't even be bothered to kill them, they were unable to slow his relentless advance toward the tall tower in the center of the compound.
Somehow Abdel knew Balthazar was inside the tower. He could sense the taint of Bhaal on his quarry glowing like a beacon, calling to the evil taint within his own soul. He continued to swat away the pestering gnats who rained blow after blow down on his invulnerable body, his eyes focused intently on the tower's heavily guarded entrance.
Two figures emerged from the door, their arms weaving strange patterns in the air and their voices chanting unfamiliar sounds that rang out above the din of battle. These mages were sent to stop him where the warriors had failed. The crush of humanity surrounding Abdel fell back, anxious to avoid the effects of the spells about to be unleashed upon him.
Fire erupted all around him, the flames engulfing his body. Lightning flashed