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Val groaned with relief as she burst out into the fresh night air. "Finally away from all those damn bats! Liked it better when this place was full of gobbos. At least then the Zhent could use it to turn a profit. Fucking tree-humpers and their pets."
Honestly, she shouldn't be complaining. They'd expected the ancient-selunite-temple-turned-druid-haven to be as humid as a mermaid's tits and stink to the hells of rotting plants, neither of which had been true. Stealing from the homes of plant-worshippers was usually a lot like stealing from a fancy Upper City sauna but with more leaves and fewer naked bodies to unsee, unless you counted animals. This druid home had been relatively comfortable in comparison. Other than the bats.
Hundreds of bats had stared at them while they worked. Unnerving buggers with their snub noses, beady little eyes, and constant flapping. It had damn near given her a heart attack seeing those shifty flying rats crawling around overhead, watching her partner tear off flowers and toss them into her pack like they intended to summon the druid who lived there.
Said partner, Lerina, collapsed to the ground next to Val with a heavy whump. A few petals flew free of her bag, floating off the courtyard balcony and into the forest. She thwapped Val's calf with the back of her hand. "You think you're happy about getting out? You weren't the one in danger of getting shit on!"
"Nah, I was just the one looking out for the pissed-off cave bear while you ripped up his garden. No big deal or anything," Val snorted. She rested her axe against the wall next to her and turned toward the hole they'd used to escape to try to cover it back up with whatever boulders and greenery were lying around. No need for the bear druid to find out they'd visited until long after they were gone.
Another series of taps hit the back of Val's leg, more insistent this time.
"I know you wanna leave, Lerina, but I've told you a hundred times, we gotta clean up after ourselves. Don't want a bear on our trail all the way back to Baldur's Gate," Val said. She grunted, slotting another heavy rock into place.
Behind her, Lerina warbled uncertainly, "I think we got bigger problems than a bear."
"Fucking hells," Val sighed as she tugged down a few vines to disguise the hole. "Not bats again?"
“Well…kinda…?”
Turning around, Val followed the human's pointing finger toward a pair of stone statues on either side of their balcony that definitely hadn't been there when this was a Selunite temple. She'd seen ones like this before while making deals under the Emerald Grove. Giant animals guarding hidden paths and powered by ancient druidic magic that even Lerina's skills couldn't disarm. One wrong step while they were turned on, and they'd fry you alive.
But these statues weren't the eagles, wolves, or even bears she'd seen protecting the Grove. They were bats. Giant stone bats with electric eyes and an aura of malice.
"Guessing those aren't friendly," Lerina muttered. She took a step closer to them to get a better look.
"No, wait, don't let them see…!"
The world exploded in flame around them.
"Shit!" Val exclaimed, diving for cover behind a stone railing. Her hip screamed from the impact, but it was better than being on fire.
Lerina, whose leg had been caught by the blast, crumpled behind a different rail. She grimaced, gesturing frantically toward something behind her partner. "Val, the druid!"
The merc was on her feet before the other woman finished her warning. Lunging for her axe, she swung wildly in the direction Lerina had indicated.
The blade met flesh. Before Val could raise it to strike again, the weapon was torn from her hands as viper-quick vines dragged Val to the earth. She gasped for air, her lungs squeezed tighter with every breath. Val strained to look up at her attacker.
The thing that towered over her was no cave bear, but she could hardly believe he was an elf either. This druid was stacked with muscles, his height rivaling an orc's, with one eye scarred by the claws of a colossal creature that likely didn't survive the encounter and the other covered in swirling tattoos the color of faded blood. Leather and fur curled around him as a second skin. The druid's armor seemed more decorative than protective, making him appear like a rugged-maned beast who only played at being a domesticated creature until provoked. And oh, how he'd been provoked.
The man's deep voice rumbled with the threat of an impending earthquake as the vines twisted ever tighter around Val's ankles and wrists, "You invade my home, despoil the flora flourishing here, and now dare to strike at me? Nature has no mercy for petty thieves."
The imposing elf lifted his wounded hand. Like a falconer's bird called to a lure, a massive albino bat blotted out the moon above as it swooped from on high to perch on the druid's shoulder in a striking flourish of leathery wings. A pointed, fuzzy muzzle poked over his shoulder as it crawled up the broad elf's back, crimson eyes glowing in the moonlight. Raising his cut hand to the creature's mouth, the druid allowed a tiny pink tongue to lap happily at the bloodied flesh.
Val used every ounce of air still in her body to beg, "Please! Let us go! I swear, we didn't mean to break nothing of yours!"
"Yeah, yeah! It was an honest mistake!" Lerina croaked from where she'd fallen, her bag's contents spilled over the balcony like floral confetti. "We didn't think anyone lived here. Didn't see any harm in picking a few flowers. We'll leave and never come back, promise!"
The bat who had landed on the beast-man screeched at her, launching itself from the druid's shoulder. Both women flinched from its violent wing flaps as the creature stooped toward their bowed heads like an executioner's axe. At the last minute, it pulled up. If Val didn't know any better, she'd think the giant flying rat was fucking with them.
Fluttering in an erratic circle over their heads, the bat returned to its druid companion, but this time, it didn't perch on the threatening wild elf's shoulder. It transformed.
An elegant flick of an arm shifted membraneous wings into fine-boned hands. Pale fur melted into smooth, ivory skin. Massive ears drew to the thin points of a high elf. Elaborate garments from the elite of Baldur's Gate provided full-body modesty for the new shape. The only thing that remained unchanged was the creature's eyes, blood red and overflowing with malice.
"You didn't think anyone lived here? Is that why you were cackling about the stupidity of 'leaf-humping' druids while you plucked them?" Pale lips parted into a fanged grin as the newly formed elf drawled, "Someone's paying you a hefty sum to ruin our new property, and I don't take kindly to those who try to steal from me."
Val shuddered as much as the strangling vines allowed. She would never forget that perfect face or silky voice from her days as the bodyguard of a noble house.
Lord Ancunin - devastatingly charming, filthy rich, and extravagant in all things. A dazzling, rising star of Baldur's Gate. He was known for throwing once-in-a-lifetime parties in his newly built radiant palace, his guest lists overflowing with nobles as envious as they were depraved, yet he himself remained a mystery. His druidic talent for wildshaping into bats was likely only one of many secrets hidden behind that captivating smile.
If rumors about the strange lord were true, which they usually were in the underbelly of a city that thrived on murder and deceit, Lord Ancunin wasn't just a monster of avarice. He was a ruthless killer. The kind who made unruly guests and political enemies disappear without a trace whenever the mood struck him. If this place and the plants they damaged belonged to him, Val and Lerina were very, very fucked unless they could convince him they were of more use alive than dead.
The pale elf had turned from the captives to coo at his massive companion, drawing manicured fingers up one of those tree-trunk biceps. "I'm starting to understand why you like to spend so much time as a dumb beast, Halsin. People spill the most juicy secrets when they don't think you can understand them."
"It's true that their faces when they realize their mistake can be quite entertaining," The mountainous druid, Halsin, cracked a smile. If he hadn't been actively crushing the life from her lungs, Val might have conceded the softness of his expression made him look kind of cute rather than terrifying. Like a wolf wearing a bow tie.
"I was going to say their fear is intoxicating," Lord Ancunin hummed. He rapped his fingers against the druid's bare skin. "Don't pretend you're above this, darling. We both know you get off on watching this troupe of nature-defiling ne'er-do-wells shit themselves as much as I do."
Halsin chuckled, the rumbling sound like a lion trying to purr. "I'd never deny it. It appears you've infected me with your flair for the dramatic."
"A vast improvement over the stodgy old Archdruid routine." Crimson eyes veered back toward the two captive thieves. "Now, what shall we do with these interlopers? Chop off their hands for stealing from us? Cut out their lying tongues?"
The taller druid followed Lord Ancunin's gaze. He raised his chin with narrowed eyes. "Although I feel no need to show mercy, it is not my place to seek revenge. It is the wilds they've wronged by willfully damaging the flowers that grow here. The wilds should decide their fate."
"What about how they wronged me? They broke into my new summer palace and ruined my curtains," Lord Ancunin huffed, crossing his arms.
Val had spent enough years with petty nobles to know what the man was fishing for. Groveling.
"We meant no offense, Lord Ancunin," she whimpered. "We didn't know this place belonged to you. Truly!"
Behind Val, her dependable partner followed her lead, crying out, "If you let us go, we'll work for you. For free, even!"
"So you intend to offer the devotion of two spineless wretches who couldn't even steal a bag of flowers without getting caught in exchange for your lives. How could I refuse?" Lord Ancunin drawled. He inspected his nails, waiting for a juicier counteroffer.
"Not just us! Don't you want to know who hired us? They're the ones you should punish."
Alarmed by her partner's cavalier suggestion, Val snapped, "Lerina!"
"Now is not the time for one of your lectures, Val!" Lerina hissed.
"It's not just a lecture, dumbshit!"
Double-crossing a client was the sort of thing that got you blacklisted if you were lucky and a bounty if you weren't. They couldn't afford that. Best case scenario if they made it out of here and word got out that they'd told who'd hired them, it'd be back to small-time cons for Lerina and babysitting bratty nobles for Val.
Lerina didn't appear to care. "I like you, Val, but it doesn't matter what you think. I'm not going down for a guy we've only took a contract from once."
"Outing a paying customer's bad for business!"
"So's dying!"
"I accept your deal," Lord Ancunin interrupted smoothly, dropping his hand. The arguing women fell silent. "If you give me everything you know about the person who sent you to rob us, I'll agree with my burly friend here to cut your bonds and let the wilderness decide your punishment."
The pale elf's smile vanished, eyes boring into the two thieves like he intended to devour their souls. When he spoke again, Lord Ancunin's voice had darkened with the icy promise of violence should their words not satisfy him.
"Speak."
Lerina scrambled to obey his command. "Um, well, the guy was a tiefling. Lots of black clothes. Well-groomed. He offered us three months' rent if we brought back a map of this place and one of every flower we saw. I assumed he was plotting some sort of housing scam."
"That's hardly enough information to be worth my mercy." Lord Ancunin raised a demeaning eyebrow.
"H-here! This!" Lerina wiggled her fingers, trying to gesture toward one of her pants pockets. The vines relaxed enough for her to fish out a tiny purple and black brooch polished to a mirror-like finish. She tossed it toward the two elves from her prone position. "I pickpocketed it from him before we left. I thought a guy promising a huge sum of gold for a few flowers might stiff us, so I wanted something to pawn if stuff went bad. I think it's some sort of religious thing? If you want to find him, maybe you can go to his temple."
Having caught the trinket in midair, Halsin turned it over in his massive paw, studying the symbol. He frowned. "It seems you were correct, Astarion. The Sharrans may not want to enter a Selunite temple themselves, but that won't stop them from trying to spread their influence here. They must mean to poison the land by studying the flora I've been tending." He closed his fist around the brooch as if he hoped to crush it. "I should be able to track the one who set the bounty with this."
A new layer of dread settled in Val's stomach. "That guy was a Sharran? I swear the city is getting more fucked every day."
"No…no, no! We didn't mean to work with no death cult, Lord Ancunin, I swear!" Lerina exclaimed.
The lord lifted his gaze from Halsin's closed fist to regard the agitated women. For a moment, Val swore he looked at them as if they were worms he longed to crush beneath his heel. A pleased smile swiftly shattered that impression, but Val's well-honed battle instincts still tingled a warning under her skin.
"It looks like you stole a useful scrap of cheese after all, vermin. Well done," Lord Ancunin praised. He waved at the magical plants restraining them. "Release them, won't you, dearest?"
The big elf muttered a word, and the vines sank back into the cracks of the balcony as if they'd never been there. Lord Ancunin's smile stretched wider.
"Now, scurry along before I change my mind to let nature have its way with you instead of me."
Lerina wisely didn't try to retrieve her bag full of flowers. Instead, she and Val immediately made a break for it, Val snatching her discarded axe without making any eye contact that could be misconstrued as threatening. They needed to get out of here. Start over again in another city, somewhere without so many cults and insane noblemen.
Lerina yelled over their shoulder as she and her partner vaulted the wall, "Thank you, Lord Ancunin! Druid Halsin! We won't forget your mercy as long as we live!"
—
Astarion sighed happily, "What sweet music. Don't you agree, my love?"
"You're spoiling the pups' diets again," Halsin chided as the distant sound of wolves crunching on the bones of the two burglars carried through the temple walls. The duo hadn't run for more than five minutes before the pack found them. A fitting end for those who would despoil nature for mere coin.
Astarion waved off his concerns. "Let the dogs play. It's been a while since they've had trespassers to gnaw on. There are so few willing to venture this deep into the countryside with a killer bear on the loose."
"At least tell your pack not to dig through their supplies. Spiced rations are too much for the stomachs of wild creatures. I'll ensure any food those two were carrying reaches the orphans in the Grove, so nothing is wasted."
Astarion's lip lifted in a sneer. "Such an upstanding man," he mock-swooned. "I don't know whether to find it endearing or nauseating."
The scorn won a small smile from Halsin. Astarion's attitude might be distasteful, but that also meant it was truthful. The vampire ascendent was a master ambush predator who knew exactly how to spin half-truths to make himself palatable to his prey. A saccharine sweet Astarion was one trying to con others into loving him or feeding him. Only those he respected saw the mask fall and the true nature beneath. Callous and selfish. Playful and loyal. Obsessive over both love and hate, the powerful mortal emotions that had consumed much of his unlife since he regained them.
Halsin was old enough to welcome those ugly truths over comforting lies. Cruelty was a part of nature's balance as much as kindness or chaos—a necessary part, with goddesses like Shar trying to erase all living things from existence.
Besides, for all of Astarion's coldness and all-too-real claws, Halsin had learned that he was not entirely without compassion.
"Whatever my failings, I trust you'll keep the wolves safe. You'd never deny Arabella the food she asked for to support the Grove," Halsin teased as he settled down next to the fire he'd lit in the main hall.
He picked up one of the chair leg blanks he'd cut last week to continue carving its intricate details. Draconic imagery wasn't very familiar to Halsin, but Astarion had been insistent, and the long-time whittler welcomed a challenge after all these years.
Astarion snorted, wearing a proud smile. Extending both hands toward the meager flame to welcome its heat, the vampire curled up next to his druid. The impractical embroidery covering most of his body scratched pleasantly at Halsin's bare skin. "Of course, I will give our little hellion anything she desires. She is devilishly persuasive."
"That she is," Halsin agreed.
"I still can't believe she talked you into absorbing Jergal's old temple into the haven for your Oak Father."
"Jergal was as critical to defining her life's path as Silvanus," Halsin reasoned. He brushed off a stubborn wood shaving from a dragon's tail, careful not to jostle Astarion. "She may be young, but she knows better than most how death is a crucial counterbalance to life in the natural order. Now, she spreads that wisdom to the others who appreciate her gifts."
A shame that those who appreciated her gifts didn't include most of the druids Halsin had stewarded for a century. When he'd recently arrived with Arabella in tow to teach her more about the Oak Father's sacred places and face the painful memories of her childhood, the leaders of the Grove had shunned her for her undeath.
It didn't matter to them that Silvanus' blessing flowed like a waterfall through Arabella's veins. They did not care about Shar's plague that Arabella had learned to heal either. All they saw was a vampire. In their minds, their duty to nature stopped at the Grove's verdant walls. They were blind to the cities and gods encroaching on the Oak Father's dominion from all directions and unwilling to accept what it would take to stop them.
In retrospect, it was no small wonder Kagha had been formally exiled from their circle after Halsin's departure. She could never abide her peers doing nothing while nature suffered. It had led her astray when the Shadow Druids twisted her conviction, but it had also been her greatest strength as a student. She'd begged Halsin to take her to Moonrise when she was a fledgling druid because she couldn't bear hearing of the nothingness that thrived where nature should. Only after Halsin refused multiple times, fearing for her safety and the stability of the Grove, did she turn her focus towards violently guarding the sanctity of the Grove itself. If Kagha had returned to those roots of protecting all of nature with a firm hand and open heart after her demotion, an Emerald Grove that willfully turned a blind eye to Shar's perversions of nature, both the Shadow Curse and now the Shadow Plague, would have never accepted her.
It was heartbreaking that the Oak Father had chosen her to warn Halsin of danger in the Grove twice over now. He said a silent prayer of thanks for her sacrifice in service to Silvanus. It had guided his hand to expel corruption from the order both times she had fallen from grace. Now that the rot had been cut out, they could rebuild from the ashes like a prairie after a wildfire, stronger for the hardship. And Arabella, immortal chosen of Silvanus, would teach them to serve the Oak Father's vision as Halsin had failed to.
A heavy sigh escaped from the depths of Halsin's wandering mind as his hands continued their meditative strokes of the knife, "Honestly, it's good to see change come to this place. Ignorance and arrogance have made the Grove complacent in their role as nature's stewards. A grave mistake perpetuated by my leadership as Archdruid that Arabella is working hard to undo."
A delicate touch on Halsin's shoulder demanded his attention. Beside him, Astarion had abandoned his preoccupation with the fire to regard Halsin with pinched brows and a severe frown. It made Halsin want to smile to ease the smaller elf's worry, though he'd learned that reaction would only frustrate Astarion further.
"What have I told you, honey bear?" The private nickname sounded like a formal address when said so seriously. He squeezed Halsin's shoulder. "There is no need to burden yourself with past mistakes. You've moved beyond the man you were forced to be and on to greater things, as have I."
"Speaking of greater things, are you sure you still wish to stay here? I imagine the Grove under Arabella's guidance would have more creature comforts befitting the vampire ascendant than an overgrown temple in the woods."
A scowl darkened Astarion's face before he swiftly forced a smile as lovely as it was false to show his displeasure at Halsin's deflection of his kindness. Guilt squirmed in Halsin's stomach.
"How thoughtful you are to worry over my comfort, my sweet. But you needn't worry about me. I would never abandon you. I still have plenty of riches to pilfer from this old temple, so if this is where you're working, then this is where I'll be." Astarion hummed pleasantly as he repeated his favorite refrain since they'd reconnected, "What's the point of owning the world if you don't get to experience it?"
"Or of being free without exploring all life has to offer," Halsin replied as he always did.
Astarion grinned. "Precisely."
Shaking his head, Halsin chuckled. There was no need to rehash old disagreements. He set down his project, the suggestion of a dragon's bat-like wings starting to take shape along the long spoke of wood. "The question remains, what should we do about Shadowheart? I had hoped to take a few months to recenter myself after destroying the house of grief and fighting the Gur, but if she's targeting this place, she means to give us no quarter no matter how her rats have scattered."
Nodding along with Halsin's conclusion, Astarion fished out the jewelry they'd reclaimed from their would-be thieves from one of his many hidden pockets. He lifted it to study its polished surface in the low light. It behaved strangely when touched by anything other than shadow, the black center of the brooch seeming to swallow the firelight instead of reflecting it like metal should. Halsin hated to look at the cursed thing.
"Didn't you say you could track the Sharran with this trinket? Or was that a bluff to terrify the idiots who broke in here? If so, I applaud your deviousness," Astarion said.
"Alas, I'm hardly that clever," Halsin lamented. "I can indeed track the person who sent those thieves with his brooch, but even if I find their employer before he dies by his own hand or Shadowheart's, the likelihood of him leading us back to the heart of their new den is non-existent. Shar's followers thrive on secrets. If one of their own is compromised, they drop the useless limb like a lizard surrendering its tail to a predator."
Astarion sighed, tucking the unpleasant trinket away again. His shoulders slumped.
"I'm growing tired of this chase, Halsin," he murmured.
Far from his home, with no nobles, charges, or villains to impress, Astarion looked earnest in his exhaustion. Halsin was certain this side of him could charm all but the hardest hearts if he trusted anyone enough to let them see it. But Astarion, like most people their age, had learned to suffer his deepest wounds in silence. To protect himself with the role he played. He wouldn't let the world know the elf who'd endured the weight of torturous centuries and was now doomed to focus all the strength he'd gained to prevent that nightmare from repeating.
It was an ache Astarion had kept to himself for his own safety. One that Halsin had only recently convinced Astarion he understood all too personally.
"I'm tired, too, Astarion," Halsin whispered.
He placed a tender kiss on the vampire's lukewarm forehead, hoping to chase away the unguarded weariness. Astarion leaned into the touch. His ever-vigilant crimson eyes slid shut. The clandestine moment was allowed to linger for several breaths, Astarion enjoying Halsin's steady pulse against his skin, before his bitterness swelled and he forced himself away.
Astarion cleared his throat, reclaiming his typical put-upon posturing with a haughty whine, "It's terribly unfair. I have near limitless power to discover and mortal appetites to explore, but I'm stuck holing up in a dilapidated temple, cleaning up after Shar's stooges. This entire farce is beneath me! The sooner we can rip out that bitch's throat and be done with it, the better."
Halsin let Astarion pull away. The dark lady's shadows and promises clung to Halsin's thoughts, darkening his disposition as well. "My feelings are not dissimilar. I have spent over a century hounded by Shar's plots. I would like nothing more than to be free of her at last."
Halsin smelled the pop of sulfur first.
He snarled a warning to Astarion. The pair was already on their feet when a smartly dressed man appeared from nothing on the other side of the fire, his strong features illuminated by the flames in sinister relief. With a smirk, the man's dramatic baritone invited itself into their private conversation.
"Quite the conundrum you've landed yourselves in, making an enemy of Shar."
"Raphael," Astarion spat. "I never thought I'd see your face again after what happened to it the last time we crossed paths. A pity I was wrong. To what do we owe this distinct lack of pleasure?"
The devil in the heart of their home laughed at the dread lord of the night. It was a sound so ruthless that no human visage or kingly finery could hide the wings and horns lurking beneath the surface. Halsin wasn't sure why Raphael bothered with the same disguise he'd used at their first meeting. They'd already seen him in his true form deep within the infernal bowels of his house, driven mad by rage as he tried to exterminate the thieves who ransacked it. Perhaps this was some twisted form of vanity, molding his appearance to mock the weakness of the mortal victims who had tried to kill him.
"What a cruel greeting towards an old benefactor. You truly love biting the hand that feeds," Raphael taunted Astarion.
Halsin felt fang, claw, and fur bubble up inside him as his instincts flared. Only the knowledge that striking Raphael down here would do nothing of consequence kept the bear from charging in defense of his territory. He stepped towards the flames that separated the two elves from the devil instead, letting the primal force close at hand reassure him in the same way having a knife under his pillow soothed Astarion.
"You were defeated in your own house," Halsin stated. "Even a devil can't survive that. How have you returned?"
"What an adorable growl you have, druid. I can see why your vampiric paramour has taken up bear baiting as his newest favorite hobby." Raphael spared Astarion a cheeky smirk, prompting another warning rumble from Halsin. "My, fighting Shar has really done a number on your temper, hasn't it? Almost 400 years old, you're still stomping around like an untouched youth defending his first crush. But to answer your question, a powerful benefactor decided I was too useful to remain dead, given recent events. So here I am." The devil's smile spread. "I so look forward to working with you again."
"The only thing you'll find here are my claws sending you back to the hells."
"As much as I appreciate the offer of violence, I think I'll leave that bedroom activity to you and the vampire. He's the one I'm here to speak with anyway."
Astarion's arms crossed disdainfully as the devil's attention shifted to him. Halsin remained tense at his side, gold tendrils of magic coalescing around him as a warning to keep their conversation civil. Raphael, like most devils, seemed to prefer talking to physical altercations, but they'd already fought to the death once. Halsin wasn't taking the risk of being caught unprepared.
True to his word, Raphael only seemed to have eyes for Astarion. He spread his arms as if welcoming the vampire into his home, though he was the one intruding. "Astarion. I've never met a creature so skilled at luring unfortunate souls to their doom. Truly, you're a marvel any devil would envy. You delivered hundreds of people to your old master, then thousands more to my father. I'd love to put your talent to use for me, too."
"I'm no one's lapdog anymore. Especially not yours."
"No, of course not. You've paid the price of freedom in full," Raphael agreed emphatically. "No strings attached - not for you, anyway. I just thought you might enjoy killing a few birds with one stone, if your druid will forgive my turn of phrase. I'm here to offer a path through this terrible darkness you've been fighting."
Astarion cocked an eyebrow; neither he nor Halsin was surprised by the offer. Devils never presented a small prize for their services, and resisting Shar's plague was already showing signs of becoming an eternal battle without divine intervention. Or infernal, as the case might be. "You want to help us stop Shar? For what price?"
"A mere trifle. The souls from three patriars of your choice," Raphael said casually, raising a trio of fingers to emphasize his fee.
Halsin didn't know much about devils, but requesting the souls of people who were not a part of the contract or their families seemed unusual. The only exceptions he'd heard of were more extensive rituals like the one Astarion had completed in place of his master. Even that deal may have been intended to consume Cazador by the devil who penned it. When Raphael had spelled out to Astarion how the ritual worked as well as the then-spawn's part in it, he'd planted a seed that all but guaranteed Astarion would try to ascend in his master's place and ensure Cazador's soul was part of the agreed upon bargain. Halsin wasn't under the impression that devils cared for their parents or progeny, but perhaps it was that role of seeing a massive soul contract fulfilled that won Raphael a second chance at life from someone like Mephistopheles.
Whatever the truth, Halsin suspected some sort of loophole in this deal. Or, barring that, an evil plot that ran deeper than the hells controlling a few more nobles than they already did. He huffed, "Your price sounds suspiciously vague. And expensive."
"Civilization-ending calamities fetch a high price for intervention. And there is nothing vague about it," Raphael insisted. He idly gesticulated as he listed their options. "You can grant your allies infernal power through a deal with me. Make your enemies sign their souls away. Force peoples' hands at one of your parties or seduce them until they surrender themselves to me in a moment of delirious bliss. It's all your choice."
"There must be some restrictions."
"None, as long as their soul is free for harvesting. One doesn't hound a farmer about his methods as long as the food is ripe." Raphael waved his hand, and the tables scattered around Selune's sanctum were filled with a cornucopia of freshly harvested goods.
It smelled divine. It also made the place bear an uncanny resemblance to the House of Hope Raphael had loved to tempt mortals with during his last life.
Ignoring the theatrical display of power, Halsin pressed, "If it's all meaningless to you, then why specify patriars? Some mortal souls must be more useful to you than others."
"Would you rather I ask for the souls of those charming refugee children you have a soft spot for?" Raphael purred. His lips split into a menacing grin when Halsin's simmering magic flared in an intimidating display. With a snap of his fingers, Raphael's illusion of a feast vanished again, leaving bare tables and a hollowed-out hall behind. "Truthfully, I wouldn't be opposed to working out a deal for other souls, but I expect you'd have more moral objections to that than giving a few rich tormentors their due. That's been your latest hobby, hasn't it, my druidic friend? To see those who would chain and disrupt nature's design crushed beneath its fury."
"You still haven't answered why you need the souls," Astarion cut in before Halsin let himself get riled further.
The druid glanced at his companion for the first time since Raphael appeared and realized he couldn't read whatever was happening behind the vampire's marble-cold facade. It worried him. This stillness could hide pain, rage, and recklessness as easily as it did disdain. It was the most challenging mask of Astarion's for Halsin to read, one that only had started appearing once mortal feelings confused the elegant simplicity of a vampire's cursed existence.
Raphael shrugged at Astarion. "Since your little scuffle over my crown, a few people have decided the fate of the Grand Duke's son was enough reason to educate the scum of Baldur's Gate about not making deals with devils. A minor inconvenience for my work with how greedy mortals are, but an inconvenience nonetheless. I'd like you to speed up the process of getting your city back on track."
A derisive cackle burst from Astarion. "So this is all because you're too lazy to hunt your own souls? I understand the appeal of making others take care of drudgery that's beneath you, but I thought you enjoyed corrupting mortals."
"Patriars are boring with their wants. Beauty. Riches. Success. Murder." Raphael sighed as he ticked the common requests off on his fingers. "It's all so dreadfully dull. Meanwhile, you lot are busy fighting mindflayers and gods. I'd much rather play with you than suffer the plebian task of courting those tedious nobles myself."
Astarion's lips peeled into a contemptuous smile. "Forgive me if my heart does not bleed for your plight."
"The offer remains. Convince a few men that infernal power is worth signing away their souls, and we both profit," the devil said. He stalked around the flame separating them, punctuating each step with a promise. "The patriars will get their punishment, you will get to cripple the Sharran plague, and I will get souls to repair your very rude ransacking of my home."
Halsin planted himself between Raphael and Astarion, demanding, "And how exactly will you help us cripple the Sharrans?"
"Why, I'll show you how to cut off the head of the serpent! Not the one you already murdered, of course," Raphael chortled as if he could see the painful image of Kagha's final moments that flashed in Halsin's mind. Intentionally implanted there to watch the druid squirm, no doubt. The devil continued, "With my aid, another mother superior will be cast aside by Shar, and this world will finally be free of her influence."
That caught Astarion's attention. "You'll give us the means to kill Shadowheart?"
Raphael's smug smile unnerved Halsin, as did the uncaring sweep of his arms. "I'll give you something better than that. I'll help you succeed at the very thing that started this contest between you two - restoring the memories she's given to Shar. Whether that will mean her redemption or her death, even I can't be certain. But I'm sure the show will be exquisite ."
Halsin had little love for what Shadowheart had become. Still, something about Raphael's open-ended promise to restore her memories reminded him of foolhardy druids who released hand-raised animals into the wild only for them to die within days. A travesty of negligence in the making.
To a devil, mortals had no innate worth besides their souls. They were toys to be experimented on for entertainment and discarded when they were no longer useful. And the only thing entertaining about 'lesser beings' to a devil was their suffering.
Halsin cursed his weak resolve. He had accepted he would need to kill Shadowheart if he couldn't talk her down, but Halsin couldn't let a devil decide her fate any more than he could offer a pregnant woman to a hag. Not even to stop Shar.
On the other hand, would Silvanus allow him another option? Halsin had vowed his eternal service against Shar for his passage into the Shadowfell to save Thaniel. Such oaths carried more weight than an old elf's guilty conscience. Did the Oak Father's dislike of infernal beings outweigh his mandate to do whatever it took to keep the wilds safe from Shar?
Halsin needed more time to meditate on this choice.
"We can find our own solution. We would have to be fools to trust a word you say, devil," he said, hoping to stave off Raphael's demands a while longer.
"Oh, but you should trust me, druid. I helped your lover find his way to the sun again without even taking his soul as payment, if you recall," Raphael recounted happily. Smirking, he leaned in to whisper in the druid's ear, "I'm also the only one who hasn't tried to lie to you since you left your hovel in the wilds."
Halsin clenched his jaw, knowing the truth of that statement would torment him. Arabella. Shar. Astarion. Even his old Grove. It had become an endless test of his patience and wisdom as every one of them tried to make him bend to their will through deception.
"But it wasn't you I want an answer from." Raphael's eyes swept pointedly over to his original target. "So, vampire ascendant, what will it be?"
Astarion's face remained as still as a statue as he mulled it over. He didn't spare Halsin's frown a single glance, his attention turned deep within, weighing desire, sacrifice, and selfishness. Remembering the mistakes of his past and imagining the triumphs in his future.
At last, his clear voice rang out across the hall. "I accept your offer. I will deliver you three souls, and you will give me the means to break Shar's favorite tool."
The deep lines of Halsin's face grew even starker in the firelight. He pinned the vampire with a sharp look. "Astarion, are you sure this is wise?"
"I've already damned thousands of souls. What are a few more for the sake of our paradise, my love?" Astarion reasoned. He met Halsin's concerned eyes with steady ones, pressing a palm to Halsin's chest that requested his cooperation. A mischievous smile eased Astarion's grave expression, "I'll even let you choose the wretched nobles we send to the hells."
Halsin wrapped a pleading hand around the more dextrous one claiming his heart. "You shouldn't need to lead any more to their doom. Not if it's in service to another monster."
"I don't need to. I choose to. Just as you choose to take those shadow thorns into your heart time and time again to slow the plague."
Astarion flipped his palm to lace Halsin's fingers with his. He squeezed their conjoined hands, the sensation more unyielding than comforting, but its strength a welcome steadiness all the same. Halsin wondered as they stared into each others' eyes if this was what it felt like to be a vampire's thrall.
"I will do whatever it takes to get what we deserve," Astarion swore, both promise and threat.
Drawing a hand to his breast, Raphael sighed like an emotionally overcome patron watching a tragic play.
"What a touching scene."
Both elves glared at him sharply. The devil threw up his hands in faux placation. "No need to look offended. I'm being sincere. In fact, I'm so moved by your twisted love story I'll give you a useful hint about how to break Shar's hold on your companion, free of charge: A wolf may run with dogs, but whether beaten with a stick or bribed with a steak, they will never outrun the wolf within."
Astarion huffed at the devil's self-satisfied smirk. "As usual, your definition of useful leaves much to be desired."
Raphael's smile never faltered while he chuckled. He gave a courtly bow. "Then this is farewell for now, little mice. I look forward to receiving your tribute."
A small flash of sulphuric light and the devil was gone again.
The two elves stared at one another in the aftermath, hands still joined. The only sound other than the crackle of the fire was Halsin's stressed breathing. Their infernal visitor had sent the rest of the forest's nocturnal denizens into hiding.
Astarion suddenly yanked himself away from Halsin. He clawed at his retrieved hand, hissing, "Don't look at me like that! I'm doing us a favor! Didn't the Shadow Curse teach you anything? The Lady of Loss won't go quietly. Surely, you agree it's better to sacrifice three meaningless mortal lives and be done with it than repeat your tired strategy. How many thousands did you let die over a hundred years while you uselessly begged your beloved Oak Father for a solution, only to need our help in the end?"
Halsin didn't flinch at the accusation, already having come to the same conclusion. Nature was his love and the Oak Father his guide, but he was their guardian. He understood why Astarion felt compelled to say yes to Raphael. Halsin had been contemplating the same end at a slower pace.
"You are free to do whatever you feel is necessary to stop Shar. I'm not judging you for that choice, Astarion," Halsin said.
"You always judge me," Astarion grumbled.
It was a sore between them that had yet to fully heal. Partly because Astarion had been hurt by Halsin's judgment immediately after his ascension and he was a champion grudge-holder. Partly, Halsin was forced to admit, because Astarion was right that he was often prejudiced against the unnatural and cold-hearted world Astarion represented, no matter how rational the vampire's choices.
However, trust had also begun to blossom between them, unwanted and fragile though it might be. So Astarion rolled his eyes and added with no less aggravation, "But I suppose I can humor that you may be telling the truth this time. Go on. Explain why you look so skeptical, druid."
Halsin cleared his throat to dispel the nagging tension. "I assure you, my concern is purely logistical."
"How so?"
"Where will we find three patriars whose souls aren't already claimed by a devil?"
Astarion blinked at him, uncomprehending. The corner of Halsin's mouth curled upwards in a sly grin.
Both elves burst into raucous laughter.
"Don't worry, my love," Astarion reassured when his voice had finally quieted to wicked giggles. "I can make as many new monsters as we need."