To Baldur's Gate

Chapter Two

"Tav? A rather ugly name for such a pretty thing," Astarion mused.

I stepped toward the portal and held out my hands, getting a sense of the magic surrounding it. It was unstable, almost volatile, and the man inside would need to get out soon. I closed my mind off to my surroundings, concentrating only on the magic of the portal and soothing it with my own power.

"Whatever you're doing it's working!" The man called. "Just a little more and I'll be free of this."

I pushed further into the portal, commanding it to sleep. Eventually, the roaring within quieted and the portal began to close. Shadowheart reached a hand into the swirling vortex and pulled, helping the man out before I closed the gateway with a flick of my wrist. I turned to face the man, seeing a young man staring up at me with wide eyes.

"You ... you saved me. Thank you." The man stood, grasping my left hand in both of his, then placed his lips to my knuckles. "My name is Gale. I'm a wizard from Waterdeep and I promise I'm usually better at this."

"At introductions or at spell casting?" I asked. Behind me, Astarion and Shadowheart chuckled.

"Well, both, generally speaking." Gale the wizard smiled up at me. "My magic seems to be a bit unstable at the moment, so I'm grateful you came along, Miss ...?"

"Tav. I'm Tav." I grasped his hand and helped him stand. "You're welcome to join us – we're trying to find some answers around here."

"Mystra is benevolent, placing me in the debt of such a generous savior," Gale said.

"I vote we set up a campsite before we journey much further," Shadowheart said, gesturing to all the weapons and materials we had been collecting on our short trip so far. We all agreed and began to lay down our things, sectioning off into our own areas and grabbing a handful of the berries that Shadowheart had picked on our way up here.

"I'm going to do a bit more looking around – Shadowheart, will you stay here and guard the camp?" I asked, grabbing for my knife and a few other small things.

"I'll go with you," Astarion announced. He stood and gave Gale a dashing grin. "Gale can stay behind and protect our cleric friend. I'm sure she'll need it."

"Okay then. Gale, Shadowheart, we'll be back before sundown," I said. "If I don't come back, Astarion killed me and hid the body."

"My darling, you're too cruel," Astarion pouted, mocking a shot to the heart. "I would never dream of killing such a perfect specimen of life."

I rolled my eyes at his theatrics and started toward another hill, leaving the camp, and my two other companions, behind. As Astarion and I walked, I asked about his life and received a few vague answers about being a magistrate in Baldur's Gate.

"Very boring business, I'm afraid," he said. "Nothing compared to your daily life, I'm sure. Though I am curious." He gave me a curious look. "How does a drow end up on a mindflayer ship?"

I didn't answer at first. The few times I've shared my hopes for the future with those close to me didn't end well, but this stranger didn't seem like one to judge others' dreams. "I left the Underdark. I was making my way to Baldur's Gate when the ship flew by and decimated the entire village I was passing through."

"Why Baldur's Gate? What's so special there?" Astarion asked more questions, and I couldn't understand why he'd care. "Is there someone waiting there for you? A lost lover, perhaps?"

I shook my head and laughed. "No lover is waiting there for me; I can promise you that. But maybe some peace and quiet. I've heard stories of drow and other ... unsavory types starting over in a place like Baldur's Gate. I'm hoping for a life in the sunlight," I answered, waiting for his reaction to my soul-baring response. He was quiet for a long while. We walked in silence, looting where we could and collecting water from nearby streams.

"I could take you there," Astarion said, breaking the hour-long quiet as we neared a winding path framed by rocky cliffs and trees.

"To where? Baldur's Gate?" I laughed. "If we survive long enough, maybe you can give me a tour of the city. It would be nice to know at least one person there."

He opened his mouth to say more, but we were interrupted by loud voices further along the path. I crouched down and moved in closer, hoping to see who we were up against. To my surprise, I saw the gith from the mindflayer ship, caught in a trap and held above ground while two tiefling guards stood watch. They were arguing.

"A githyanki. What in the hells is she doing up there?" Astarion muttered.

"She was with me on the ship. Looks like she's in need of rescuing," I said, standing and making my way to the center of the cave-like area to speak with the tieflings. I could hear Astarion swearing at me from where he was hidden, but I could take care of these two by myself.

"Halt! Give you name drow, or we'll shoot you where you stand," One of the tieflings shouted while the other notched an arrow.

I held up my hands in surrender.

"What are you doing?" the gith hissed at me from where she was trapped.

"I'm here to take the gith with me. I mean no harm to either of you. Allow us to leave and I'll let you live," I announced, keeping my hands chest level so they wouldn't see me as a threat. The tieflings looked at each other, confused. The one with the arrow drew back the bow, ready to fire.

"We cannot allow her back to her creche. You can take your leave now and go in peace, or you put up a fight and die, little drowling." The tiefling sneered down at me from where he stood on the stone ledge.

I gave a long sigh. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that." With a simple wave of my hands and a muttered incantation, the two tieflings burst into flames, their screams echoing in the rocky cavern. Astarion came out of hiding to witness my magic, laughing as they shriveled into ash. I turned my attention to the gith, still hanging from the cage.

"Let. Me. Out." She growled. Her green and yellow-toned skin looked even more sickly in the evening sunlight.

"Can you say 'please'?" I called up to her. Astarion made a noise of approval behind me.

"No, I will not," the gith spat down to me, rage darkening her eyes. "Let me out and I will not slit your throat."

A simple lever was connected to the chain of her cage, so I pushed it down, sending the whole thing crashing into the earth.

Astarion clucked his tongue. "I do you love how you play with your friends. We might get along after all."

The gith stepped out of her cage and began swearing at me in her native tongue. "You fool. I could have handled them myself."

"Ah right, because you seemed to be doing such a good job by yourself," I teased. "The rest of us have set up camp a few miles from here. You're welcome to join and continue your way in the morning."

The gith warrior held her head up and said nothing.

"What are we to call you? You never gave me your name," I asked.

"Lae'zel. Now, lead on, sorceress. I want no more teethlings to get in our way." Her words were clipped. Astarion, of course, caught her mispronunciation.

"You mean tieflings? I'm not quite sure what a teethling is," he said, earning a sharp glare in return.

Lae'zel looked at me. "You will teach me the customsof this place and I will not kill your pale friend. Let us leave."  

With those introductions, we went back the way we came and took the long road back to camp.