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witcherfan · 6 days ago

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The Smallest Survivor

Baldur’s Gate 3 GT

Brielle, a borrower from Baldur's Gate, is unexpectedly thrust into an unfamiliar territory after being abducted by mindflayers. Struggling to survive without her usual city skills, she must rely on resourcefulness to navigate the wild. As she faces hunger, fear, and the discovery of a vampire, Brielle's journey becomes one of self-reliance and courage in a world far larger than she ever imagined.

She stumbled throught the forest which was unfamiliar to her in every element. The trees, foliage and practically anything else towered over her at her unintimidating height of three inches tall. She was a city borrower, certainly not one familiar with nature. Her rougish nature was usually an asset in Baldur’s Gate. Slipping unnoticed in people’s homes and unsuspecting traveler’s packs. But now, her class felt as worthless and pathetic as she did right now. What she would give to be a druid in this moment.

Brielle sighs, climbing over yet another log in her way. Her limbs shake with exhaustion now after hours of escaping the strange ship that has kidnapped her from her home.

She remembers how she’d been hidden under a merchant’s table when the screaming and stampede of footsteps had begun. The ground had trembled with all of the massive beings running for their lives until she saw a red light pass over them and they had disappeared. Her face had gone pale and she immediately tried to run. But her legs had been too short and before she knew it she was trapped.

Once she’d taken in her surroundings she realized she was trapped in a pod of some sort. The air had smelt awful, ripe with the scent of rot and blood. She gagged covering her nose until the smell had no longer been so revolting. Looking around she saw a few gaps she could squeeze through in her prison. Apparently, her kidnappers hadn’t expected a borrower in their midst. With ease, she crawled through the gap and found herself surrounded by other pods. But their occupants hadn’t been so lucky.

She watched as a lavender, fleshy alien with tentacles stood before a pale, white-haired elf. The alien she realized was a mindflayer. She remembered stories from her childhood about them. How they devoured borrowers whole with no mercy. A race to be more feared than even vampires. A shiver ran down her spine and she pitied the elf who was at the mercy of this flayer.

As much as she wanted to run and turn away she couldn’t. She watched as the flayer placed a long-fingered hand upon the elf’s face, holding it steady as he brought a squirming creature no bigger than his thumb to the elf’s eye. Her stomach dropped as the creature wriggled it’s way into the elf’s eyelid. And then it was gone.

The flayer let go of the elf and stepped back to shut the pod. Brielle hid as he returned to a table in the center of the room and reached in to grab another one of those strange, squirming creatures. She’d seen enough though and knew she had to find a way out. That was until the entire room started to shake. She flipped onto her side when the turbulence was too much. Her hands searched for something to grab onto but failed when the entire room flipped. She couldn’t help but scream when she was sent flying through the air. She hit a solid surface, cutting her scream short as the air was knocked from her lungs. She rubbed her aching head feeling the knot already forming. Opening her eyes she found herself to be plastered to the glass of one of the pods. And staring right back at her was the elf from earlier.

She immediately noticed his red eyes and breathtaking profile. His expression looked panicked yet curious as she looked upon him. She had fallen right before his face and she wondered if he’d even seen on of her kind before. Brielle shakily picked herself up and got to her feet. Maybe she could find a button or something to help free this poor guy. She slid off the glass of the pod and landed on the ground. Where would she even go to help? She didn’t have a clue where to look. A loud thump grabbed her attention. She spun around to see the elf pointing towards a table. Her heart knocked in her hest from the intimidating angle she had of the giant. Her neck ached from the angle she had to hold to to even look at his face. She ran towards the table he gestured to. She assumed it was some kind of control center judging by the contraptions and pair of buttons upon it. She climbed to the top and studied them. She hesitated pressing them. What if she let him escape and he tried to kidnap her? She was a borrower after all. Giants loved to get their hands on her kind for all sorts of reasons. But then again what kind of person could she be to let all these people possibly die becasue of her cowardness?

She let out a breath and pressed the button. And then she sprinted to safety.

And now after the ship had crashed and she’d survived in whatever miraculos way she was essentially stranded. She gave it a few days until she died honeslty. She had absoluety zero survivial skills in the wild. Proven just by her lack of food in the last day. She had no idea how to forage and what was safe to eat. Neither did she feel right killing an animal to sate her own appetite. She preferred to stay away from meats of all sorts. The sky began to darken and she thought well to call it a day and find somewhere to settle. It wasn’t hard to find a nook in a tree where she could curl up and sleep. She did just that. Despite the ache in her stomach, as soon as her head hit the ground she was asleep.

Tremors stirred her from her rest. Her eyes blinked open as they became closer and closer. She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes and came to stand. The sky was still dark so who in the world would be prowling at this time of night in the middle of the woods? From the pattern of the footfalls she gathered whoever it was had to be a bi-pedal. She creeped out from her nook and peeked around to see who was disturbing her much needed rest. But she didn’t see anyone, maybe they were behind her tree. She circled around, keeping to the shadows. A loud, ear-spillting squeal broke her from her thoughts. She had absolutely no clue what could make that noise but she ran back for her hiding place. The squeal stopped and the silence that followed was even worse. Her heart pounded in her chest, blood rushing in her ears. She longed for her home back in the city. Her warm bed and supply of food. Not this.

The tremors of the earth returned and became closer than they had before, nearly knocking her off her feet. She crouched down and tried to slow her heartrate. Some creatures she knew could hear pulses. The source of the tremors became apparent when a pair of boots came into sight. Her eyes followed the path of the person’s legs, torso and finally their face. She couldn’t suppress the gasp of surprise of the familiar face. It was the same elf from the ship. She couldn’t help the feeling of relief of seeing him alive. At least her actions had saved his life. But the question was why was he wandering this late at night? Shouldn’t he be asleep or at least made a shelter of some sort. And why hadn’t he ran at the sound of those awful squeals? But with a jolt of realization she feared that maybe he had been the source of the awful noises.

She backed up into the shelter of the tree. Her back came to rest against the gnarled roots. The hope she’d felt at first seeing the familiar face was gone and all he wished now is that he’d leave. Her night got even worse however when his boots stopped right in front of her tree. There was no point in controlling her pulse now. She hoped he couldn’t hear it or her rapid breaths. Times like this she absolutely hated being so tiny. She barely reached this male’s ankle. The only thing she had in her favor was her ability to be undetected.

“Astarion, what are you doing out here?” A male voice asked from somewhere nearby.

She let out a breath as the elf named Astarion stepped away, each footfall sending a tremor through the ground.

“Really Gale, do you have to be such a busybody?”

It was the first time she’d actually heard his voice she realized. Despite her fear, she felt her stomach flipping at the smug tone he used. Almost honeyed if the person speaking didn’t make her fear for her life.

Before she could catch the other man, Gale’s reply the two males walked off into the night leaving her alone at last.

With that, her eyes slipped shut and slipped into blissful unconsciouness.

A day later and she still hadn’t eaten anything. Her stomach ached with its emptiness. The pain brought her back to her painful childhood…

She searched the barren streets. Darkness covered the cobblestone that usually bustled with the townspeople. Only the occasional squeak of a rat or scuffle of feet sounded in the chilly night air. Brielle’s stomach ached with such ferocity the pains sent her stumbling to her knees. It had been days now since her parents had disappeared. They were only supposed to be gone for a night and back the next morning. Brielle knew that when they hadn’t returned by sundown the next day that they weren’t coming back. Such is the life of borrowers. But the probability of their disappearance hadn’t made the ache in her heart any less. She had no clue how to forage for her own supplies. Her parents had promised they would teach her on her upcoming birthday when she reached nine.

She shook her head to rid herself of the depressing thoughts. She was older now, a twenty-three year old grown woman. She didn’t need her parents as much as she had back then. She could take care of herself.

Her mind raced with a plan to keep her alive.

And that’s when she heard voices. Giant voices.

Suddenly she had an idea.

She waited until dark before setting out on her mission. All she needed was to grab some food, a weapon of some sorts and figure out where the hell she was. She could do that.

For hours she studied the campers of the group. There seemed to be six, and judging by there only being six tents she appeared the count was correct. Three women and three men. The women’s group consisted of a githanki, a tiefling and a elf. Then the men. Two of them she knew already. And the other was a tiefling male as well, or at least he had horns. She watched as they all went into their respective tents and lights went out as each one fell asleep. She’d become a pro at “borrowing”. She smiled at the name her species called themselves. Obviously they didn’t borrow anything since they never returned it. She was a thief by nature. She went into Gale’s tent first as he seemed to be the most put together of the group. As she snuck into his tent she searched the inside and immediately found his rations. She took a small amount that would go unnoticed and ducked out managing to skirt around his massive form under his blanket.

Each tent she found what she needed until she was missing a weapon and a few scraps of fabric. She’d been through all the tents except one.

Astarion’s.

Honestly she’d been hoping that she would’ve found everything she needed by now. A part of her said to just leave it be and try to see if any other groups around. But she didn’t have time to wait around and use all her supplies while she waited for more. Before she could talk herself out of it she ducked inside.

The first thing she noticed was the finery of everything he owned, and how neat it was arranged. The second thing she noticed was how he didn’t appear to be anywhere in his tent. She hurried then knowing he could be back anytime soon. A knapsack laid open on its side, the inside dark rough she couldn’t see what was within. Brielle climbed in, being mindful to watch for anything sharp that could be hiding. To her relief she found a handkerchief, stained but usable and certainly better than her ragged clothes she wore now. She didn’t even know how bad she smelled since she couldn’t get the scent of earth out of her nose. She sniffed the air just then and noted a whiff of iron. Strange, she thought for a moment. The same scent she recalled in Baldur’s Gate in the lower city near the Szarr Palace. Her blood turned to ice in her veins.

That smell.

Vampires.

She scrambled out of the bag, frantically searching the tent for an exit and just now noticing the empty, crimson-stained jars. Holy hell, Astarion was a vampire.

“Shit.” She cursed, gathering the handkerchief and stuffing the scrap into her bag. She needed to leave now.

How had she not noticed the signs before? Creeping in the darkness, red eyes, avoiding sunlight! God he was the perfect example of a bloodsucker! His looks certainly made him desirable enough to gather prey. Borrowers were prepared at such a young age to know the telltale signs of vampires. It was something her parents had instilled into her even before she reached the age of nine, before she could even borrow on her own!

Brielle made it right to the flap of his tent when a booted foot planted itself right before her.

#vampire #gt #gtvampire

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witcherfan · 6 days ago

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Bite-Sized (21) - A G/t BG3 Fanfic

This contains g/t (giant/tiny content) so if that isn't your thing, then I suggest you stop reading. Thank you!

Read on AO3

Chapter 1 | Previous chapter| Series master list| Previous chapter

Summary: The group finally descend into the Shadow Cursed Lands on their journey to Moonrise Towers.

Pairing: Astarion x f!borrower!oc (Tav/oc) (slow-burn)

Warnings: Canon-typical violence, blood, gore, death, course language. Basically typical violence that is prevalent in the game.

Word count: 3.2k

A/N: IT'S FINALLY HERE AHHH. I am sincerely sorry that this chapter took forever! Time really does fly on by quickly, doesn't it? To summarise, I started a new job in late March and have been mostly adjusting and learning that, and trying to find time to write all between it as well as my other hobbies. Not to mention I have been suffering from the biggest writers block for this fic - but I finally got through it and wrote most of this over the past couple of days. It's weird, some days I can write so much in the span of one evening, but some days I can't get even one word onto a document. Oh well, I'm glad it's here. I will also mention that a lot of the dialogue from this is taken directly from the game, as well as a lot of what happens in terms of the scenes that play out, so I can't take full credit for the dialogue here. There are some obvious variations sprinkled throughout, so even if you are as familiar with the game as I am, you'll get something out of this. Anyways, happy reading!

Taglist: @whatthisfemsheplikes @alexcutecolly @rose7420 @empressxmachina @taters169 @feral-sins @smolgloves @smolkuriboh27 @junipers-teacup (if you want to be removed or added to the taglist, feel free to let me know!)

Nothing could quite prepare Ria for the harrowing dread and utter despair that emanated from the Shadow Cursed Lands. While Halsin had described the place as dangerous and terrifying, she still hadn’t been ready when they had entered through the ominous hallway that linked the Grymforge to the Shadow Cursed Lands. It was as if all of her life’s essence had been drained from her body as soon as they had stepped into the dreadful place and she had to suppress a shiver. She had noticed a considerable drop in temperature, and somewhat cautiously, she nervously peeked her head out of Astarion’s breast pocket.

Twisted, dark trees protruded from the lifeless ground and curled into the air like the fingers on a hag. No natural light was to be seen as darkness smothered every single stretch of land that she could see. Chills snaked down her spine as the feeling of dread washed over her once more, threatening to swallow her whole.

Next to Astarion, Karlach released a shaky exhale. “This place is dark beyond dark. You feel it too, right? I’m sticking to light wherever I can find it.”

“That’s no ordinary darkness. It feels powerful…and familiar,” Shadowheart said. “Stay on your guard.”

“Make sure to keep your torches lit,” Halsin instructed, holding up a flaming torch enclosed in his fist. “If we do not have enough light, the shadow curse will consume us. Stick close together, everyone.”

“This sure looks like an inviting place,” Ria murmured, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I wish I could stetch my legs, though. I’ve gone a bit stiff riding in your pocket for so long, Astarion. Do you think you could move me to your shoulder for a little bit?”

Astarion’s red gaze briefly flicked down to her small head nestled at the lip of his pocket. “I think it’s best if you remain in there, my dear. This is hardly the place for borrowers.”

She raised one eyebrow as a small grin twitched against the corner of her mouth. “Oh? Are you afraid of little me getting hurt?”

A smirk broke across Astarion’s face right before he used the tip of his index finger to gently shove Ria’s head back into the inside of his pocket.

“H-hey!”

“I can’t have my favourite little borrower getting into trouble, can I?” His voice vibrated all around her as the lip of the pocket was soon sealed shut. “There are lot of things out here, other than vampires, that would make a quick snack of you darling.”

Huffing softly, she slammed her back against his chest to get her point across, and wrapped a clean handkerchief around her shoulders for extra warmth. She couldn’t argue with him, he was right, after all. Being as small as she was left her insanely vulnerable, but out in the Shadow Cursed Lands, things were even more dangerous for a borrower. Despite her training with both Lae’zel and Gale, she was still at risk the most out of everyone there.

It still surprised her to see Astarion show this protective side to him. Ever since that night, when she had suggested that she touch his fangs to help her get past her fears, they had continued to grow even closer. She would happily ride on his shoulder during their travels, or travel in his breast pocket. They would laugh and joke together playfully, and during the evenings, she would spend most nights at his tent before leaving to go sleep at Shadowheart’s. At this stage, she wasn’t entirely sure what their relationship even was, but it made her happy. A part of her was still perplexed that she had even managed to somehow fall for a cruel, deadly, sarcastic vampire who, at one point, had tried to eat her. But, oddly enough, it felt right. She hoped that Astarion felt the same way.

“Who goes there?”

An unfamiliar voice rang through her eardrums and she immediately felt Astarion’s body tense up against her back. While she couldn’t see what was going on, she could hear everything and judging from Astarion’s reaction, this didn’t seem good.

“Show yourself!”

“We mean you no harm,” Wyll’s calm, soothing voice vibrated through the cold air. “We’re just a group of travellers passing through.”

“If you mean us no harm, step into the light.”

Astarion’s body slowly inched forward, and she could feel his giant footsteps rattle through her small frame. Curiosity began to itch away at her brain as she anxiously twiddled her thumbs. A part of her wanted to see who these newcomers were, and why they were out in the Shadow Lands. If it was only for a brief moment, it wouldn’t hurt, right? Nobody would notice a thing. Besides, she was still safely inside Astarion’s pocket, and they’d have to get through him first if they wanted to get to her.

Very cautiously, she inched her way up towards the opening of the pocket and pushed her head through. A group of three humans and a dwarf stood before them. One human woman had her hair tied back in a long ponytail and she had a flaming torch firmly in her grasp. The other woman had dark, long wavy hair that cascaded down to her shoulders. The third human, a man, had long blonde hair tied back and a thick beard. The dwarf stood beside him with a crossbow at the ready.

“Yonas! Move in!” The woman with dark wavy hair commanded, gesturing towards the light surrounding them from their torches.

The blonde bearded man, Yonas, took one shaky step before immediately checking over his shoulder. Something stirred in the dark bushes behind them and a chilling moan filled the still air. Suddenly, a tall, dark, looming figure manifested behind Yonas and grabbed him by the ankles. Yonas cried out in shock as the dark figure dragged him off into the surrounding darkness, his fingernails digging helplessly into the dirt as he was carried away.

“Yonas? Yonas!”

The two women rushed towards where Yonas had disappeared, panic stricken all across their faces as they frantically searched for their missing friend.

“I’m here! Where are you?” Yonas called out into the darkness, his voice shaky.

“Yonas? Can you see our torches?”

“I can’t see anything,” Yonas replied. “Something’s wrong.”

“Follow my voice. Come back into the light.” The dark-haired woman said as calmly as she could muster.

“Who’s there? Meg? Is that – argh!”

Yonas’s screams and the sound of bones popping through flesh filled the dark hollow. Ria grimaced as the noises intensified and the tearing of human meat and bone filled her tiny eardrums.

“Yonas?” The dark-haired woman called out once more, except her voice was barely a whisper this time.

A ghostly, glowing green light quickly began to illuminate the area as a stumbling, groaning figure came into view. It was Yonas, except he looked horrific – skin was peeling off his face and his eyes glowed a sickly green. A dark encrusting fungus-like substance was growing across his skin on the spots where his flesh was falling off, and Ria felt her entire body grow cold as she stared at him. Everything in her body was screaming at her to run for her life.

“There you are…come…join me…” Yonas lumbered towards them with one twisted arm outstretched.

“Yonas…?” The dark-haired woman murmured, her breath catching in her throat.

“I’m afraid poor Yonas is bait – and this is a trap.” Astarion’s voice rumbled from above.

“Harpers! To arms!”

Astarion’s entire body tensed as he readied his crossbow and aimed it directly at Yonas’s head. Shadowheart’s hands began to glow with a divine, illuminating light that shone through the area and pushed back some of the shadowy creatures that were behind Yonas. Now, with the divine light that Shadowheart had provided, Ria could finally see the ghastly shadow creatures more clearly and a deathly chill snaked down her spine. Her body was almost completely frozen in place from fear, and instinctively, she ducked back down into the safety of Astarion’s pocket.

Yelling and shouting filled the air as the battle broke out, and she fiercely gripped onto the fabric of Astarion’s armour as she felt every single gigantic movement he made. She buried herself under the handkerchief and attempted to desperately shut out the noise of the battle. It was utterly terrifying, being so small and in the thick of a battle between titans in the darkest place in all of Faerûn.

A part of her felt so useless. While she was cowering amongst Astarion’s armour, her companions were out there fighting for their lives against some deathly shadow creatures. She could’ve offered them some ammunition with her magic. While she was still trying to grapple with her wild magic, she had learned a few tricks from Gale thanks to his lessons. But her fear paralysed her, and her body refused to move from her spot inside Astarion’s pocket.

After some time had passed, the noise of battle eventually died down. The walls of Astarion’s pocket suddenly pressed down against her small frame very softly, suggesting that he was pressing his hand against the pocket, perhaps telling her that the danger was gone. Very slowly, she crept to the opening of the pocket and peered out.

The shadow creatures were now gone, along with Yonas. The two women and dwarf were still alive and were now tending to their wounds. Everyone else from their party seemed to be alright, and there appeared to be no serious injuries. Shadowheart was still illuminating her divine light around the group, and Ria felt a small feeling of warmth blossom through her as the holy light touched her.

“Thanks for the help back there.” The dark-haired woman approached them, wiping a smear of blood off the side of her face. “My name is Lassandra. And this is Meygan and Karrow.” She gestured to her two remaining companions. “We would’ve been done for if it hadn’t been for you.”

“We would never refuse people in need,” Halsin answered. “It was no problem at all.”

Astarion breathed sharply through his nose and while she couldn’t see his eyes, she had a strong feeling that he was rolling them into the back of his head.

“We are sorry for the loss of your companion,” Gale added, his brown eyes solemn.

“Thank you. Yonas wasn’t the first to be lost to this cursed place. Us Harpers will live on for him.” Lassandra breathed a deep sigh, her gaze forlorn. “There is a refuge from the darkness, the Last Light Inn. You all can rest there.”

“Ah, I take it the shadow curse is not afflicted in that area?” Gale questioned.

“The inn is protected by Isobel, a Cleric of Selune. She casts a warding spell to keep the curse at bay. We’ll guide you there.” Lassandra nodded at the remaining Harpers and they soon began to trek into the harrowing darkness. The rest of the group followed them without hesitation.

“A cleric of Selune…how wonderful.” Shadowheart muttered bitterly under her breath.

Ria remained utterly motionless inside Astarion’s pocket. Perhaps it was a good thing that the Harpers had failed to notice her, but a part of her was worried about how these people would react to her existence. For now, at least, she could remain undetected in the comfort of Astarion’s armour.

It didn’t take long for the party to reach the Last Light Inn. Almost immediately Ria noticed a change in the air. Instead of the harsh, cold, emptiness that she had felt since entering the Shadow Cursed Lands, a comforting feeling of warmth washed over her as they passed over a bridge leading to the inn.

A dark-skinned elf woman and dwarf stood at the other side of the bridge. Immediately they grabbed their weapons, aiming it at the approaching group.

“You lot! Step forward and keep your hands off your weapons!” The elf woman yelled.

“Hold on Elifer!” Lassandra jumped forward and presented her palms to the elf woman. “This group helped us out in the shadows. Without them we wouldn’t have made it.”

Elifer relaxed her stance and lowered her weapon, her gaze scanning over the entire group. Ria, feeling her gaze, immediately retreated into the depths of Astarion’s pocket. She didn’t want to risk being seen when tensions were so high.

“Come.”

Rattling footsteps travelled through her body as Astarion began to move. While she couldn’t see what was going on anymore, she could certainly feel everything.

“Jaheira!”

A moment of quiet passed and nobody said anything. Ria waited anxiously with bated breath as the seconds ticked by.

Just what is going on out there?

Her nerves got the better out of her as she slowly peered out of the lip of the pocket. She was still somewhat concealed with only her eyes barely peeking over the top. It would take someone staring insanely intently for them to notice her. A half-elf woman, who she assumed must be Jaheira, stood in front of the group. She had long silver hair with beaded braids woven throughout her locks and a piercing glare that could shatter glass.

Jaheira suddenly crouched towards the ground as glowing lights beamed from her hands. Large roots exploded out of the dirt and hungrily wrapped themselves across Astarion and the rest of the group. Ria was nearly jostled out of her spot as Astarion recoiled from the giant vines and tree roots that entangled around his feet and legs.

“Is a simple ‘hello’ too much to ask for nowadays?” Astarion muttered grumpily, grunting from the strong vines that were squeezing his legs.

“Hello,” Jaheira replied with a smirk.

“We mean you no harm,” Wyll said gently. ��Please, just let us earn your trust.”

“Lies can be easily formed from even the kindest of faces.” Jaheira reached into her satchel and pulled out a glass jar. What was inside the jar made Ria’s skin crawl. A hideous mindflayer parasite squirmed against the confines of the jar as Jaheira brought it into the light.

Let’s hope that I never have to get close to one of those things, she thought as she watched the parasite thrash around inside the jar.

“It is a curious creature that hides all manner of secrets. But if there’s one thing that we know–” Jaheira stepped closer towards Astarion and held the jar close to him, “–is that it knows its own kind.”

Astarion flinched as the parasite in the jar squirmed even harder. Ria glanced directly upwards and saw the grimace painted across his face. A part of her wanted to do something, anything, to help, but what exactly could she do? She was just a tiny borrower, after all. Whatever Jaheira was planning for her group of companions, she had no power to stop her. But…perhaps she could divert Jaheira’s attention away from her friends.

“Stop this!” Ria yelled from inside Astarion’s pocket. “They mean no harm, I swear! I’ve been travelling with them for many moons now. They are not True Souls.”

“Ah, so I see the True Souls have a tiny pet?” Jaheira’s steely gaze snapped to where Ria was, her face hardening. “That is…interesting. You have no wings, so you are certainly no pixie…oh, you must be a borrower! I thought they were long extinct. Hmm, I suppose you must be a lucky one, eh?”

“I am no pet,” Ria retorted, a small fire igniting in her belly. “Just let my friends go, please. They can explain everything.”

Jaheira ignored her comment and instead raised an eyebrow, curiosity now spreading across her sharp features.

“And what is interesting is that you are in the pocket of a vampire. Let me guess, he is keeping you as a pocket snack for later?” Jaheira said.

“She is not food,” Astarion spat venomously, flashing his teeth briefly. “Leave her out of this.”

Jaheira chuckled lightly at Astarion’s remark.

“My goodness, I never would’ve expected a vampire to act so defensive over a borrower of all creatures,” she responded. “But I do not care what the borrower has to say. You never should have come here, True Soul.”

“What are you doing? They are the ones who saved us!”

A small, young tiefling girl ran up to Jaheira and aggressively tugged on the druid’s tunic. Jaheira ceased concentration on her spell, and the vines that had erupted from the ground quickly vanished.

“They are the ones who protected the Emerald Grove?” Jaheira said in disbelief.

“Yup. Didn’t leave a goblin standing. Not so bad to hang around with either.” The tiefling girl flashed a pointy smile at the group, her face practically beaming. “I’d pretty much trust them all with my life.” The girl paused, flicking her gaze towards Astarion. “Well, except for that one, but the rest are good.”

“Excuse me?” Astarion spluttered. “I helped save the tieflings and you know it, Mol!”

Jaheira turned to Mol, her gaze narrowed. “Mol, are you being serious?”

“I am very serious,” Mol responded earnestly. “And don’t worry, the elven prick is fine, I just wanted to mess with him. They’re all fine.”

Ria did not recognise the tiefling child, but she was grateful all the same that she had stepped in to stop Jaheira, and she had to stifle a giggle upon hearing her comment on Astarion. She liked Mol already.

“True Souls with minds of their own…” Jaheira continued, still in disbelief as she grappled to comprehend what was happening. “How is that possible?”

“Because of this artefact.” Shadowheart stepped forward with the strange artefact in one hand and presented it to Jaheira.

Jaheira stared at the glowing artefact and held up her jar that contained the mindflayer parasite. The parasite inside the jar squealed, almost as if it was being burned alive, before exploding into a disgusting pile of goo. Jaheira, dumbfounded, glanced at the jar and then back at the artefact.

“What in the hells is that thing?” she breathed.

Shadowheart paused, as if she was considering how to choose her words carefully. Ria knew that the artefact that she carried meant a great deal to her, and was important to her Shar worship.

“So far, it’s been a life saver. Here’s hoping you agree.” Shadowheart placed the artefact back into her supplies and stared firmly at Jaheira.

Jaheira processed Shadowheart’s words, her expression hard to read as her eyes scanned the rest of the group.

“Congratulations. You’ve earned yourself the benefit of the doubt.” Jaheira waved her hand briefly in the air. “Hear me, Harpers! All clear, at ease.”

The surrounding Harpers immediately lowered their weapons and eased off.

“While there is a great mystery to the artefact that you hold, I’m old and wise enough to recognise a sliver of hope when it crawls out of the dark.”

A feeling of relief flooded through Ria’s body. Jaheira seemed somewhat happy with Shadowheart’s response, at least.

“Tell me – why have you all come here?” Jaheira questioned.

“We seek a cure for the parasites in our heads,” Gale explained. “Moonrise Towers has been our best shot at this. We were hoping to seek refuge at your inn.”

“Valid reasoning,” Jaheira answered. “Help yourself to the food in the inn. You are welcome to use the beds in the rooms upstairs, too. Aloe oil in the cupboard in case the vines gave you a rash. Settle in, then come join me for a drink. Your group may just be the godsend that we’ve been praying for.”

#bite #sized #size #bitesized

39 notes · View notes