Chapter 93

Bishop stood beside the portal that had taken him just outside the claimed lands. He had used it a couple of times when meeting with Garius and had wondered how the creep had managed to establish it in the first place. It was obviously part of the whole lost empire of Illefarn that was supposedly where the King of Shadows originated. He knew he should leave the area quickly, even though there was no way any Neverwinter troops would be around. The whole countryside had been abandoned because of fear of the shadow creeping over it. Still, a smart man wouldn't push his luck and he was nothing if not smart. So why didn't he leave?

He turned to look back to where the old ruins were, knowing that she was somewhere beneath them, fighting Garius. He chuckled to himself at the thought of the arrogant bastard getting his comeuppance. She had told him that he would truly be free, that she would make sure no one pursued him. What if she died fighting the King of Shadows? Would he still be free if she wasn't around to make good on her oath? These were the questions holding him to this place. Of course she would survive, who was he kidding? He had seen the immense power she had been able to call upon, the power of her god, and knew that she was more than a match for anyone. There was nothing to worry about.

"If there's nothing to worry about, then why are you still here?" a voice said from behind him.

Whirling and drawing his weapons, Bishop saw an ethereal person standing there. The man was all in white and had of all things wings, but what caught his attention were the orange eyes. Her eyes. Without being told he knew this was Natheran's grandfather, an angel or deva, whatever you call those who live in the heavens.

"Yes I am her grandfather, and you are the ranger she is fond of," the man said, obviously having read his mind.

"Fond of? Don't be ridiculous, she belongs to the paladin," Bishop snorted and heard the man laugh at him.

"No one belongs to anyone, but she does love Casavir. That does not mean she has no feelings for you." He could see that Bishop didn't believe him so he decided to enlighten him. "If she didn't care about you at all she would have killed you back there. Instead she gave you her oath that you could walk free, which means that she has sworn to protect you from any who might seek vengeance on you for your actions. Why would she do that for you, hmmm?"

Bishop didn't answer him, merely shook his head and turned to leave. The angel suddenly appeared right in front of him and stopped him. "Move aside or I will make you, deva or no," he growled.

"Certainly, once you've answered my question," her grandfather seemed amused by his threat.

"She probably just felt sorry for me," Bishop snarled. "I don't need or want anyone's pity."

"If you truly believed that, you wouldn't have been standing here, staring back at the Vale. Why don't you admit that you care whether she lives or dies?" Seeing the ranger hesitate he continued. "You care about her safety, and not just because of her oath, but because deep down inside you know she is your friend. No one had treated you with respect or kindness for a long time until she came along, and that awoke the part of yourself that you have denied for years."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Bishop snarled, getting angry at the man's maudling.

"I don't? Then why are you still here? Why do you care at all what happens to her? Why did you have the feeling of truly belonging somewhere for the first time since you were a little boy, stolen from his village?" The ranger simply glared at him, and he sighed knowing that he was probably wasting his breath. "You can help her if you want to for she has given you the freedom to choose what to do with your life. You can repay her for her generosity by helping her companions who fight and might die at her side. This is just the first of many choices to start your new lease on life with, and what you decide will mark your path for the rest of your life. We all have choices that we make that we have to live with, the good and the bad. When your life changed all those years ago, you weren't given a choice. It was fight to survive or not. Lately, you've made a couple of bad choices, but you have the opportunity to change your path and correct your mistakes, if you choose to do so."

Bishop watched as the figure faded away and fumed. Why did he have to come here talking about choices and new paths? What was it with these holy beings always wanting to set people on the so called right path? How did they know what was the right path for someone? Pretty presumptuous on their part, that. Angrily shaking his head to dismiss these thoughts, he sheathed his weapons and walked away from the portal. He would just get on with his life and leave them to their fate. As he walked he couldn't keep from hearing her voice and seeing her face in his mind and finally he stopped and cursed at himself. If she died, and if he did nothing to try to prevent it, she would probably haunt him for the rest of his life. Grumbling in irritation he turned back to the portal. Fine, he'd make sure she survived and then he would move on.

******

The companions had been resting for just over an hour when Natheran suddenly jumped to her feet. Seeing her move, the others quickly got up and moved to stand next to her, trying to see what it was that she had seen. It was eerily quiet still, but the air suddenly felt more oppressive and as they stood staring at the portal, they saw it was beginning to open. The King of Shadows was coming whether they were ready for him or not.

Natheran quickly conferred with Ammon and Zhjaeve about how best to use the different parts of the ritual, and concluded that there was no way to know in which way they would have to use them until the battle actually began. Ammon told her that they would have to stay fairly close to each other, so they would have to keep each other in sight at all times. After that there was nothing more to say and they spread out waiting for the final battle to begin.

The King of Shadows' huge form materialized out of the portal and towered over them. Looking down on them he started laughing and began talking to them, saying something about puny mortals, and futility, and all other kinds of nonsense. Natheran ignored it all and didn't bother waiting for him to finish. At her signal they all sprang into action, each one doing what they could to the best of their abilities. Every blow seemed to make contact but not much damage was being done simply because of the creatures size. Natheran thought of the old saying "the bigger they are the harder they fall" and felt it should be "the bigger they are the harder they are to kill." Then suddenly it was over as with a wail the King of Shadows disappeared.

"That's it, it's over?" Khelgar asked.

"That was far easier than I had expected," Sand mused thoughtfully.

Natheran merely shook her head and told them it wasn't over yet because she could still feel the evil presence in the air. She was soon proven right as the creature returned, only this time he took the form of several smaller copies of the larger one. Each one was still larger than any of them and they moved extremely fast, making them harder to hit. Together her and Ammon used two of the parts of the ritual to immobilize and damage as many of them as possible, making them a little easier to battle. Unfortunately it seemed that for every one destroyed two would appear in its place, and she felt her strength starting to wane. The past few days were catching up with her at last and she found herself starting to lose her focus and concentration. The pillars in the room were glowing and she realized that they could use them to replenish the ritual powers. Pointing this out to Ammon she battled her way to the one she wanted and touched it while Ammon did the same at another one. Then once more they used the powers together to immobilize the creatures and finally make some headway into their numbers. She couldn't really see everyone else and simply hoped they were all still alive. After one more trip to the statues they finally destroyed the last of the mini kings and she prayed for it to be over.

The companions all looked around and before they could even begin to hope it was over, the King of Shadows returned, bigger than ever. This time he seemed to be moving faster and to have some new tricks up his sleeve. After battling him for some time, Natheran saw the statues were all glowing and she could faintly see streams of power stretching from them to the creature. Shouting to Khelgar and Casavir to help, she started smashing away at one of the statues and saw each of them do the same with others.

Seeing what she was doing, Grobnar ordered the construct to go help, and then yelped and ducked behind a pillar as the King of Shadows swung at him. Trembling at the close call he peeked around the side of it to see if the coast was clear, before ducking into a dark corner from which he could cast some defensive spells. They were all he had left and he hoped they would help.

Natheran finished destroying her pillar and tried to move to the next one but instead fell to her knees, her strength finally giving out. She looked over and saw that Casavir and Khelgar were working to destroy the last two statues while trying to dodge the King of Shadows. As she watched in horror she saw Elanee get slammed to the ground and then lie still as a huge pool of blood formed beneath her. Before she could do or say anything she saw Zhjaeve go down as a swipe from the King of Shadows nearly cut her in two. That was two of her friends dead and she knew that the rest would meet the same end unless she did what she had to. Placing the Sword of Gith point down in front of her like a cross, she closed her eyes and began praying to Helm, focusing all her rage, pain and need on that prayer.

Casavir finished destroying the last statue and turned to where he had last seen Natheran, and what he saw made him cry out in anguish. Hearing him, Khelgar whirled around and seeing what was happening shouted out a protest, but it was too late. As they watched a brilliant white light began to surround Natheran and the air began to vibrate as immense power surged around her. So great was it that even the King of Shadows was distracted. Casavir felt his heart die within him as he realized what Natheran had done. Anger at the King of Shadows filled him and without regard for his safety he charged him, screaming with fury. Khlegar, after one last look at Natheran, moved to help and together they furiously hacked at the guardian.

Natheran felt the power of Helm fill her and rose to her feet, his power and strength flooding her body. With measured strides she moved to attack the King of Shadows, each thrust and slice of her sword unerringly finding its mark. Then her eyes fell on the portal and she felt the sword telling her to destroy the portal. Moving to it she started hacking at it with the sword. The King of Shadows saw what she was doing and turned to her in a rage, bringing his massive sword around to strike at her. She easily parried his blow and slashed at him a couple of times, forcing him back, before resuming her attack on the portal. Again the guardian swept towards her and again she parried him. Finally, with a final mighty blow, the portal shattered and Natheran turned her full fury on the King of Shadows. With the statues and the portal destroyed it wasn't long before he was defeated. With a wail, the guardian's spirit evaporated back into the nothingness it came from.

Everyone moved towards the center of the chamber as if unable to believe it was finally over. Then as they watched they saw Natheran collapse, the Sword of Gith clattering to the ground, to lay beside the still form of its owner. Casavir moved to sit beside her and gently rolled her over and into his arms. She was barely breathing and her skin was cold as ice and pale as a corpse. He wished she hadn't had to do it, but the battle had just taken too long.

"She's not dead yet lad, don't give up on her," Khelgar said softly as he placed a hand on Casavir's shoulder. He looked around and finally spotted the bodies of Elanee and Zhjaeve. "She did it to save us from all being killed."

"Yes, if she had not done so, more of us would have died," Sand spoke up.

"Who didn't make it?" Casavir asked, his voice devoid of emotion. He asked out of courtesy, not any real desire to know.

"Elanee, Zhjaeve, and Ammon are dead," Sand told him flatly. "If we do not get out of here soon, then we might lose Grobnar as well." He looked to where the little gnome lay, being tended by Neeshka, who was not in very good shape either. He waited for Casavir to say something, but waited in vain.

Casavir knew he needed to get up and lead them out but he found his limbs not wanting to cooperate. As he sat there holding her, he felt the ground beneath him begin to rumble. Looking up and around he saw the chamber walls beginning to crack and fall and as he watched massive amounts of stone fell in front of the doors they had entered, blocking their escape that way. He saw Sand and Khelgar looking for another exit and as he looked around the room as well, he saw a figure move out of the shadows.

"If you want to live then follow me, it's your only chance," Bishop told them. When they just stared at him he snapped, "Hurry up or I'll leave you all here to die."

Sand looked pointedly at Casavir and ordered Khelgar to grab the gnome and then headed towards the ranger. Casavir knew that this was the only way, but it galled him to have to follow that man anywhere. Looking down he knew he would never be able to carry her fully armored and started unbuckling it. To his surprise Bishop came over to help him, merely growling at him to hurry. When her armor had been removed he picked her up and saw Neeshka grab the Sword of Gith and together they followed the ranger through a hidden door into a long hallway. The going was tough because of the falling rock, and twice he staggered and almost fell as he was hit by debris. He saw the others having similar problems and wondered where the hell Bishop was taking them.

Bishop kept glancing back at the group following him, seeing the mistrust in their eyes at his intentions. Let them think what they wanted, he didn't care. He was only doing this so that he could sleep in peace at night without worrying about being haunted by their ghosts. He led them down the hallway and through a door into a small chamber where the portal still stood. Looking back once, he saw the surprise on their faces and then he saw the relief, and without waiting for them he stepped through. When he reached the other side, it was night, and he slipped into the shadows of the trees. He waited just long enough to make sure they all came through in one piece and then turned and walked away. He had done what was necessary, the rest was up to them.

Casavir didn't realize he had been holding his breath, until he exhaled forcefully as he fell to the grass under the night sky. Looking around he saw that they had emerged in a wooded area and that there was no sign of Bishop. Looking down at his beloved, he finally realized that they were safe and he called to her trying to wake her. When he got no response he felt despair creep over him.

"She is alive, although beyond your abilities to help," a voice said and he looked up to see a man with wings standing before him. "I may be able to help her recover in time, but she'll have to come with me. Unfortunately, you will not be able to join her."

"You must be her grandfather," Casavir whispered. "She told me that you had helped her before and I know that if she has any chance then it is with you."

"I know how you all feel about the ranger, but think on this," Natheran's grandfather looked at each one of them in turn. "If she had not chosen to let Bishop go, then none of you would be alive today. Her compassion to an enemy saved your lives." Bending down he easily gathered the body of his granddaughter to him. "Your paths may take you seperate ways in the days to come, but all paths merge at some point, and she will be with you again."

As they watched, Natheran and her grandfather appeared to vanish before their eyes. As they were too tired to do much else, they started setting up camp. Grobnar was in bad shape, but Casavir knew that with rest he would be able to perform some minor healing. It should be enough to get them to the nearest village where they could get help for the gnome. As the remaining companions sat around the fire, they each were lost in their own thoughts of what lay ahead. The King of Shadows was dead, though not without a high cost, but life would continue on and their future was wide open to them.

The only thing Casavir could think to do was get back to Crossroad Keep as quickly as possible. Hopefully, Natheran would recover soon and be back with him again. Bishop had obviously taken off to parts unknown, and if he never saw him again it would be too soon. He may have saved their lives, but he could not forgive him for what he did, even if Natheran could.

Each one of them in turn lay back and stared up at the heavens, wondering where Natheran was right now and when they would see her again. Surely, this was not the end of their adventures together. Neverwinter was safe, but there were many other places they could go, and many other things they could do. Life would go on and each of them was determined to live it to the fullest. That was the way to honor those friends that had died.

As the night drew on they each fell asleep, and for the first time in a long time they had no fear of what the next day might bring, for hope and peace had been restored for a time at least.

The End