#i like to image halsin was internally in panic mode too

[mumms-the-word]

Drowning

Day 24 of the BG3 Fic February Challenge

The Iron Throne is one of my favorite encounters in the entire game. And it also happens to be one of my personal biggest nightmares.

I'm sure this place stresses out all of my Tavs/Durges (except for Freyr, who never goes there) but it is particularly stressful for Ardynn, who has a very real fear of the sea in general, let alone being fathoms below the surface in an exploding steel prison. So, er...enjoy?

Check out my masterlist of BG3 fics!

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24. Tav/Durge faces their worst fear

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Ardynn’s eyes widened with horror as she saw the first of the explosions around the Iron Throne detonate in a flurry of magical flame and bubbles. A wave of force slammed into the submersible, rocking it beneath her. She had to scramble to stay on her feet.

“No!” she screamed. “Gortash, stop!”

But Gortash’s image on the blue screen was already gone, his last words taunting her.

When the corpses start to wash up on the shore, remember—you could have prevented all this.

“Gods damn him,” Karlach growled. “We have to save them. Whoever we can. We’re gonna save them right?” She looked to Ardynn, but Ardynn was frozen. “Right?”

“Of course we are,” Wyll said. “And my father. We can’t just leave him down there!”

But Ardynn couldn’t move. She could only stare in horror as more explosions went off.

Most of the roof for the structure below was thick glass, allowing her to see inside as pipes began to burst, releasing thick jets of steam into the corridors. Whole sections of the metal floor cracked under the pressure. Water gushed up from below, rapidly spilling over the hallway floors and slowly starting to fill them. The glass in one section began to crack, stress lines fracturing outward like a spiderweb. It held, but only barely. Any second now it would break and water would rush in as an unstoppable torrent, drowning everyone inside.

It was her worst nightmare. Being trapped below the sea with no way to escape. Trapped in some horrible metal construct, far from sunlight, with little air to breathe. Drowning. Sucking in water instead of air and choking on it, banging her fists against a metal door that would never, ever give, forced to wait for the inevitable, for her death, her lungs screaming for relief, for air, and finding only water and more water, and banging, clawing, pounding desperately on the doors trying to be free—

She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder and jolted at the touch. It was only then that she realized she was breathing in short, shallow breaths, nearly hyperventilating, her head swimming. She turned to find Halsin at her side, his face full of concern and urgency.

“Ardynn,” he said. “Breathe deeply. Remember.”

She gave a shaky nod, remembering how he had taught her to breathe through her anger and pain just a few nights prior. But there was no time. There were hostages down there—Duke Ravengard might even be down there—and they would all die in the minutes it would take for her to catch her breath again.

“Just tell us what to do,” Karlach said. “You don’t have to go down with us.”

“No,” Ardynn said. “No, we all need to go. We need every—every chance we can get.”

She put her hand over Halsin’s on her shoulder, desperately trying to soak in some of his steadiness. He tightened his grip, not even flinching when she in turn dug her nails into the skin that was exposed by his bracers. She didn’t need to look at his face to see that he remained full of concern for her, but there wasn’t time. There wasn’t time. The seconds were ticking by quickly.

“The plan,” she said, even as she trembled, her body resisting every breath inside that blasted submersible. “We go down the ladder. We split up. Save as many people as you can. But give yourself time to make it back.”

It would be difficult for all of them to force themselves to leave anyone behind. Karlach and Wyll, the heroes. Ardynn and Halsin, the caretakers. All of them wanted to save everyone down there. She knew that. 

But gods, she couldn’t—she couldn’t be the last one down there, trapped forever under a pile of steel and rubble a thousand meters below the sea. It didn’t matter that Withers could bring her back. She would never heal from the experience of dying that way. So if she had to leave someone behind...

She hated the idea, but she tried to resolve herself to it. The plan was set. Ardynn sucked in a deep breath and shrugged Halsin’s hand off, heading down the ladder ahead of everyone else.

Silvanus, if you’re listening, she desperately prayed, let me see the sun again. I can die any other way but this, so please, please let me make it back to the surface alive.

———

Every second felt simultaneously like an eternity and a flash as they charged through the metal hallways. Ardynn didn’t know half of what was happening in other parts of the prison, but she heard the sounds of spells, of Karlach’s war cries, of Halsin’s deep voice shouting and directing ex-hostages. She couldn’t focus on them. She was too busy trying to survive.

Not against the sahuagins. Not really. They were viscous and dangerous, but they fell to her arrows just like anything else. No, she was fighting to survive in her own body.

As her boots filled with water and her skin stung from blasts of burning steam, she fought to wrest open levers to prison cells, her strength halved by her fear. She barely heard the words of the Gondians as they stammered their thanks, running past her toward the ladder that lad up into the submersible. The only sounds she could make sense of were the droning alarms of the Iron Throne security system, the rush of water, and the roar of blood in her head. 

Every breath felt precious and dangerous. Her lungs fought against her, seeking more air even as her brain tricked her into thinking shorter breaths were wiser. She felt woozy, but she forced her mind to focus, the sharpen the world around her. Her fingers and toes seemed to tingle and grow numb, but perhaps she was imagining it. She had no time, no time to stop and think about anything her body was doing. She simply forced herself to dash forward, reaching for the next lever, the next arrow, fighting and running on instinct alone.

Ardynn! All hostages free on this side! Heading back now!

She heard Karlach’s voice in her head, connected by the tadpoles. Wyll’s voice soon interjected too.

I’ve freed my father—gods damn Mizora—Omeluum has taken him back to the submersible. Let’s go! 

What about Halsin? Ardynn asked them both, but there was only silence. 

Neither of them knew.

Without a tadpole, Halsin was unable to connect to them telepathically. A newfound fear gripped Ardynn’s chest as she shot another arrow through a sahuagin’s scaly throat. Had he fallen? Was he trapped? Oh gods, oh gods—

She turned and ran back up the metal hallway. There were no more cells to open where she was and half of the Gondians were already ahead of her. She reached the middle room where the ladder stood and cupped her hands around her mouth.

“Halsin!” she shouted, her voice rasping with the force of her shout. “Can you hear me?”

The only response was the droning alarm and the rushing sound of water pouring endlessly into the hallways. She stumbled out of the way of the ladder, turning this way and that, unsure of which corridor to look down. 

She tried desperately to connect to Omeluum, seeking out his mind blindly. Omeluum! Is Halsin with you?

The druid? He is not with us in the submersible. I am with Duke Ulder Ravengard and his son.

The floor beneath her began to rumble with the force of explosions down other hallways, in other locations of the prison. Above her, the glass cracked and shuddered, droplets of water seeping through and raining down around her. Any second now this place would implode in on itself, crushing everyone inside.

“Halsin!” she screamed again, despair clawing at her throat.

“Soldier!” Karlach ran up one of the hallways, a couple of Gondians at her heels. “Come on, come on, let’s go!”

Ardynn let her brush past, stepping around the Gondians to peer down the corridor Karlach had just left. No sign of Halsin. At the far end, a sahuagin clawed through a hole in the floor, its scales glistening in the flashing red lights. Ardynn notched a lightning arrow and aimed for a bit of exposed wiring near the doors. 

Please, Silvanus, please don’t let him be down that corridor!

She let the arrow fly. Lightning skittered across the metal and the doors swung shut, the wheel turning, the bolts sliding home. Locked for good.

“Halsin, where are you?” she shouted again, backing up until her back was against the ladder. There was no one else down any of the open corridors. No Gondians, no companions, only torrents of water, jets of steam, and burning oil.

“I’m here!”

She whirled. There! A shadow in the steam that filled one of the corridors. Halsin emerged carrying an unconscious man over his shoulders, a gnome woman just a few steps behind. Ardynn’s knees nearly buckled with relief to see him.

“Up the ladder, quickly!” She moved out of the way, gesturing for them to hurry up.

“You first,” Halsin said, his voice strained but firm. She opened her mouth to argue, only for a guttural roar behind Halsin to draw her attention. She notched another arrow, gesturing to the ladder with her head.

“I’ll handle the sahuagin. Get up there, now!” She let the arrow fly, shooting past Halsin toward the creature beyond, but the sahuagin dodged with a lithe spin, disappearing briefly into the steam.

Halsin grit his teeth, looking ready to argue, but the gnome woman ignored them both, already halfway up the ladder. Halsin flicked his eyes between Ardynn, the steam filled corridor, and the ladder. After only a second’s hesitation, he adjusted his hold on the unconscious man and began his ascent. Ardynn readied another arrow, her eyes focused on the steam. Just another second, just enough time for Halsin to be a few steps up—

An explosion rocked the floor beneath her, buckling the metal. She cried out as she stumbled, only barely catching herself on the ladder.

“Ardynn!”

Halsin’s voice was far above her now. She cursed and swung onto the ladder steps, taking them two rungs at a time. By the time she had reached the upper room, Halsin was already in the submersible.

“Come on, soldier!”

“Ardynn, quickly! You’re nearly there!”

The voices of her companions spurred her on as she clambered onto the metal grate floor of the upper floor, scrambling on hands and feet to reach the final ladder as the entire world around her shook. The Iron Throne was buckling, cracking, shattering around her, and she was so close—

The glass overhead fractured. Sprays of water showered down over her, pipes rattling, metal screeching, distant rumbles of the building crumpling and exploding growing closer and closer. The metal was slick under her hands and feet as she struggled to stand, to make it to the last ladder leading up into the submersible. She would die here. She would die here. She could scarcely breathe as her hands finally found purchase on the ladder rungs and she hauled herself upward, the crackling of the glass growing louder as she climbed closer toward it. She flinched as a pane cracked, a piece of glass flying toward her, but she kept climbing. 

Halsin was there, kneeling at the opening of the submersible, stretching down an arm toward her. She choked down a sob as she finally made it within reach of his hand, reaching up to grab it. His grip on her water-soaked gloved hand was fierce, almost painful, as he hauled her upward. She heard the glass finally shatter, water rushing in with a roar, as Halsin pulled her through the hatch with all his strength.

They fell back together, her half-crawling and Halsin half-dragging her away from the hatch as Karlach kicked it closed. She held herself up, barely, on hands and knees, coughing and gasping, choking on water and relief and sobs until she thought she would be sick. Halsin knelt at her side, his body shielding her from the others in the submersible as she fought not to collapse. Her vision darkened and brightened in turns and her arms shook beneath her. Every breath was like ice in her lungs, cold relief and piercing pain.

She felt Halsin press his forehead to her temple, his hand on her back, as he whispered to her, “You are safe, now, my heart. Do you hear me? Focus on me. Breathe deeply.”

She clutched blindly at his arm, leaning into him as he curved his body around her, shielding her as she sucked in desperate gulps of air. Her mind could make sense of the fact that she was alive and safe but her body reacted with all the pent up panic and fear and terror that had fueled her every step and action down in the Iron Throne. She was a trembling, gasping mess in Halsin’s arms, but gods—she was alive. She was alive. They were all alive.

“You were amazing, my heart.” 

She had enough energy to laugh weakly at that. She wanted to cry. She wanted to sob in long, loud, wailing sobs that wracked her whole body, but she didn’t have the energy for it. Amazing? She was stupid. She shouldn’t have lingered so long. She could have died. He could have died.

But on this side of the danger, even with the submersible rocking and tilting under the force of the explosions below as the dwarf fought to navigate them free of the blasts, she could feel nothing but blessed relief as her panic slowly subsided. She’d never be so happy to be in a metal construct like the submersible again.

She knew she needed to pull herself together. The submersible wasn’t exactly a private space. All of the Gondians they’d saved were there. Omeluum was there. More importantly, Duke Ravengard was there. And she was shivering in Halsin’s arms like a terrified child, rather than standing as a leader. 

Just a few more seconds, she promised herself, turning her face to press her forehead into Halsin’s chest. She forced herself to breathe deeply on counts of five, as Halsin had taught her, ignoring her surroundings and focusing her world until it consisted only of him and her. She felt his hands rubbing gently but firmly against her back and arms as she leaned into his solid body. Just a few more deep breaths…a few more...a few more...

There. 

She wasn’t back to normal, and she suspected when she had time again to think and process she might just collapse in a flood of tears all over again. But for now, she could breathe and her heart had slowed a little. She tilted her head up to look at Halsin.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He cradled her face in his hand, studying her quickly with a healer’s gaze before his expression softened. “You did well, Ardynn. My heart.” 

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he pressed his lips together and instead offered her his hand. Together they stood, Halsin having to help her more than she wished, her legs still weak beneath her. But finally, she was able to stand and face the others, just as the submersible steadied into a smooth journey back toward the surface.

Thank you, Oak Father, she prayed silently. But, please, by all the powers of nature, please let this be the last time I ever have to endure that again.