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The drums pounded. The firelight flickered off the roughhewn walls. And the eerie and obscene chanting of death cultists brought a chill to Gorion's spine. The mage clutched his dagger for comfort as he huddled back into the shadows, awaiting word that they could go ahead.

He envied his companions for their calm. The half elves Jaheira and Khaliid stood near each other, the former quietly mouthing the words to a blessing of nature and the latter patiently waiting for his cue, hand holding his sword loose in its scabbard. It was remarkable how his stutter vanished when it came time to face danger.

The fourth and last member of their group, Dermin, likewise was calm and collected as he sorted through his knives. Dressed in gaudier clothing than his fellows, the middle aged human looked more at home in a court than a cave full of death cultists. But then again there was always more to a Harper than met the eye.

Harpers. Gorion smiled wryly. He hadn't been expecting to be pulled into this personally. He may be acquainted with that esoteric and eclectic group of individuals but he was a researcher. A scholar. One who discovered valuable and important information and passed it on to those more capable of acting on it. He wasn't supposed to be in the field like this!

And yet here he was. The cult of Bhaal whose movements his careful study of maps, paperwork and old tomes had uncovered had turned out to be larger and more numerous than expected. And they had the Children with them...at least some of them. And they were hunkered down in the catacombs of Baldur's Gate, ready to fight any attempts to dig them out. Aldis, the ranking Harper in the city had judged that they could not wait for reinforcements and they must launch a lightning strike raid to disrupt their activities now. That had unfortunately included the middle aged wizard who didn't exactly possess much talent for the sturm and drang of violent combat. He had protested but ultimately let himself be dragged along.

And so here he was. Clinging to his dagger for comfort. Listening to the chants of cultists to their dead and hateful god.

He couldn't even think of any appropriate prayers of his own to whisper. None that wouldn't make him sound like a coward anyway.

Movement made him start. Jaheira, Khalid and Dermin tensed when a slender and hooded figure stepped out of the dark hallway ahead but relaxed when they drew back their hood. Maybe Gorion sighed with relief a little too loudly because Jaheira shot him a stern look "Yes Reviane?" she asked the rogue. "What news?"

"Aldis and his team are in position" the elf replied in a silky soft voice. Gorion had to lean forward a little to hear her. "Prepare your spells! When you hear the signal you must act quickly while they are surprised!"

"What is the", Gorion began, though he trailed off when Reviane turned and disappeared into the shadows again.

Khalid smiled to him and spared the mage a pat on the shoulder. "We'll know it when we hear it" he promised. By then Jaheira was already chanting a spell. A magical blessing washed over the small party and Gorion felt himself strengthened and bolstered by the druid's magic. Dermin also cast a spell, and in an instant a series of illusory copies of himself stood where he did, each toying with a knife in dexterous fingers. A little behind the others, Gorion nonetheless chanted a protective spell of Armour over himself, and then began to cast Haste to speed his companions' movements. But he was halfway through the chanted words and hand gestures when he heard it. The bellowing challenge of a voice raised in a battle hymn. The ritual chanting of the cultists dissolved into confused shouts and screams.

"Now!" Jaheira shouted, hefting her quarterstaff and sprinting down the hallway! Shield up and longsword drawn, Khalid followed her as did Dermin. Lest he be left behind, Gorion hurried after them propelled bodily into danger by his own magic, an irony he appreciated. And turning the corner it was absolute bedlam.

The cultists of Bhaal were numerous, filling up the cellar of the crumbling old sepulcher but they were milling in confusion and growing panic. Dressed in feature concealing robes for the most part, carrying daggers and short swords, they were no match for the eight heavily armed veteran Harpers that had ploughed into their midst, felling several with steel and spell. Aldis, a bare-chested dwarven warrior led the charge, dual wielding steel axes and roaring war songs, leaving corpses in his wake. The few who dared stand their ground were cut down as they surged towards the altar at the back of the room.

But even now resistance was stiffening. At the dais ahead, framed by a ring of flickering torches the true faithful held their ground. A dozen figures in mismatched armour and helmets made to resemble skulls converged on the dais. Wielding swords and spears the assembled in a ragged line and shouted hoarse threats at the Harpers, and on the dais itself the priestess waited. Feathers tied in her red hair and clad in plate mail, she looked disdainful more than anything. And beside her loomed a hulking gnoll bodyguard who barked savage threats at Aldis and his Harpers.

None of them seemed to notice their own group though, Gorion realized in the few seconds he had to take in the situation. As Khalid and Jaheira charged the dais, Dermin close behind, Gorion slowed long enough to pull a bit of cobweb from a component pouch. Shouting some arcane phrases, sparks flew from his fingertips and the air filled with spiderwebs, binding up several of the cultists and three of the warriors.

That got their attention. The priestess shot a glare at him that froze his blood. The gnoll let out a bloodthirsty howl and charged to meet the Harpers, laying into Khalid and Jaheira with an enormous two handed mace. And everywhere there was absolute chaos!

"To the altar!" Aldis bellowed as he crashed against the line of Bhaalite soldiers, his mustaches bristling with fury. The first got his sword up to block a descending axe and was nearly folded in half from the sheer force of the blow. Another slid in behind the dwarf to slash at him and was struck down by a barrage of red magical missiles from a Harper mage. "We must disrupt their ritual! Don't let them kill the child!"

Blood flowed. Lives ended. Two unarmoured cultists fell, Dermin's daggers in their throats. One of Aldis' team was dragged down by four more, stabbed viciously again and again. By the dais, Jaheira and Khalid baited the gnoll back and forth between them, dealing a dozen minor wounds but the dog headed monster seemed undaunted and fought on ferociously. The drummers played on, caught up in the heat of the moment. And for the moment Gorion found himself momentarily alone.

Adrenaline surging through his veins, he scrambled forward, edging his way around Dermin who hurled knives at cultists with calculated precision. The Harper grunted at him, and didn't seem inclined to move ahead. Regardless, Gorion stuck close to the wall, hands rubbing across rough stone and making his way closer and closer to the dais, the priestess and the altar. Aldis and his team surged ahead, the skull helmed warriors buckling under their charge but the masses recovered from their shock and swarmed in behind them. Swallowing, the wizard inched closer and closer, behind the dais. He nearly fell over when his hand found air. Straightening up, he turned and his heart nearly stopped at what he saw.

At the back of the underground temple was another room. Smaller, dimly lit. And a dozen pairs of eyes peered out at him, wide with fright. The closest to him was visible and in the flickering firelight Gorion could make out dark skin and wide golden eyes. A child, he realized. And the others...also children.

Children of Bhaal, he realised with mounting horror.

The altar. A ritual. It all clicked together for him. These were all to die on the altar...if they could do nothing to stop it...

Roaring, Aldis broke through the cultists' ranks and leapt onto the dais. The feather-haired priestess cast a contemptuous gesture at the dwarf and spoke a word of magic. The air shimmered and a swarm of scything swords materialized, hurling themselves at the Harper leader. He roared in agony, blood flying through the air as he fell back. Meanwhile the gnoll struck a thunderous blow that knocked Khalid off his feet. Spinning it seized Jaheira and hoisted her into the air, parting his jaws to take a bite of the struggling half elf. Then he twitched an ear and turned his head. Those malevolent black eyes met Gorion's, saw him near the children, and the mage could see the wheels in his head turning.

The child didn't speak, but the pleading look he gave Gorion broke his heart.

The mage turned away and lunged, scrambling up the dais and racing for the altar.

The gnoll charged after him, those long legs carrying him up and onto the stone in a mighty leap.

Gorion reached the altar first hastily chanting the words to a spell. Running full force into the stone construct, he was afraid that he'd garbled the words too much and for a split second his heart stopped beating as the towering beast charged for him, claws outstretched. He was almost completely engulfed in its shadow when he felt the surge of energy of a completed spell, and his fingertips spat out a bolt of white lightning.

The force of the blast struck the beastman and deafened Gorion. His ears rung as the smell of burnt fur and flesh assailed his nostrils. The gnoll staggered forward, black eyes going wide in surprise and confusion. He took one more step and opened his jaws wide, before stumbling and collapsing onto Gorion. Those wicked teeth sought his flesh only to be deflected by Gorion's Armour spell. Panting, the mage was able to roll to the side and out from under the dying gnoll, its fury spent at last.

Scrambling up to his feet, Gorion felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Whirling to the side, he found the cleric glaring at him, shouting something that he couldn't hear through the ringing in his ears. But he understood the swirling nexus of negative energy coruscating around her hands well enough... Swallowing, Gorion grimaced and braced, hoping that death wouldn't hurt too much.

It was Aldis who saved him. Aldis, hacked and torn. His face and chest a mask of blood, missing an arm, hurled himself at the priestess, battering at her with an axe and screaming dwarven curses. She screamed back as her spell was lost and she turned to defend herself. And for an instant Gorion was left alone. Breathing heavily he turned to the altar itself.

Sure enough there was an infant laid out upon it. Covered in tan fur and black spots, a tail wrapped around its waist while a black nose snuffled at the air and pointed ears tilted forward, Gorion found himself peering at the Child of Bhaal that was to be the center of this ritual. For a second the two peered at each other, Gorion's eyes meeting the big golden eyes of the cub. The small, toothy mammal regarded him curiously and batted at the air with tiny paws, making a soft rasping sound in its throat, heralding the return of his hearing. In the back of his mind, the wizard suspected that the warrior he'd just killed had been the infant's parent. Its mother maybe...?

The sound of a wet burst drew Gorion's attention and he raised an arm to cover himself. The remains of Aldis splashed over his robes. Acting quickly, he wrapped his arms around the Child and scooped the cub up into his arms. Turning, he ducked his head and fled. The priestess screamed the words to a spell and more magic arced out around him and through the chambers, cutting down two more Harpers. The cultists were pulling themselves together. Khalid stood before a groggy Jaheira and fought them back like a madman, under the cover of Dermin's flashing daggers. A wounded cultist stumbled into the wizard and he instinctively lashed out at him with his dagger. The spray of blood near blinded him and he stumbled.

A pair of hands caught him and started dragging Gorion along. A voice...Reviane's? She spoke softly in his ear as he stumbled along with her. "Keep your feet and don't let go! There's been enough death his night...don't add your own to it all!"

Gorion clung to those words and kept his head down, not resisting as he was pulled along and only holding onto his furry cargo with a death grip as he fled the violence and screams.

//////

They reconnoitered at the Three Old Kegs inn. Jaheira and Khalid had taken a battering from the night's work. Reviane had stepped out to surveil the streets and Dermin was on watch in case others from the ill-fated raid returned.

The knife wielding bard was not optimistic. "From where I saw it, Aldis' team took the brunt of the fighting and got cut to pieces" he'd said, voice tense as though he were swallowing strong emotions. "That was no simple cell. The numbers they had, the warriors...all those Children... We walked into their headquarters like children to a gingerbread house! We were lucky that we all weren't slaughtered! We acted on faulty information and paid for it."

He hadn't directly accused Gorion, but the implication was clear. The mage felt the heat of Dermin's glare nonetheless. "And what do we have to show for it?" he'd gone on. "Some beast we'll just have to drown."

"Dermin!" Jaheira had been battered, her forehead bandaged from a blow that she'd sustained, and was ghastly pale to look at but had been strong enough to glare back at Dermin. "There's no need for that, not now! At least we disrupted the ritual."

Dermin had snorted but let it go in the end, growling "Don't try and tell me that Aldis was worth the little runt..."

Gorion sighed and planted his face in his hands. That had been hours ago. He'd been in his room ever since, going over Dermin's words for hours when he should have been sleeping and recuperating like Khalid and Jaheira. Seated on his bed, he just went over everything in his head, over and over. The battle. The screaming cultists. The dead Harpers. Aldis' defiant roars. His hacked and bloody remains. ...He squeezed his hands into fists to keep them from shaking.

Faulty information... His faulty information.

Looking to his side, trying to take his mind off of the things he'd seen, he set eyes on the 'little runt', sprawled out on the bed beside him. At least he seemed to be happy... Half curled up and still clinging to a strip of leather that Gorion had given him to chew on. Sleeping, his ears folded back, the gnoll cub looked rather cute.

Again Dermin's words came to him. 'Some beast we'll just have to drown." Gorion's jaw clenched.

A light knock on his door heralded a visitor. "Come on in" Gorion murmured, looking to the doorway and smiled when it was Khalid who stepped inside. He looked battered, and smaller without his armour, but cheerful enough. He smiled and absently rubbed a bandage around his head as he approached.

"I c-couldn't sleep" Khalid said by way of greeting, his stutter returned now that the danger was passed. "And f-figured I would ch-check up on you." The half elf paused in his approach, eyeing the little gnoll cub curiously. Though his first question was about Gorion. "How are you h-holding up?"

Gorion sighed, clasping his hands together as he shook his head. "I...I'm fine? Maybe? I don't know..."

"You handled yourself w-well out there" Khalid noted. "You'd d-do well in the field, if you ever wanted to get out of libraries and archives."

"Ugh... I don't think I ever want to step outside again..." Gorion shuddered, squeezing his hands together more tightly. "I keep hearing the screaming...I see the blood... My hands keep on shaking, Khalid. I've never...done that before..."

"You d-didn't panic though" Khalid encouraged. "You d-didn't freeze up, or scream. You s-stopped that priestess from whatever she was doing...and when Dermin and Reviane tell the Flaming Fist, the c-cultists will have to flee." He smiled then, adding "We'll find them again...we'll g-get the rest of the Children away..."

"Maybe..." Gorion sighed, unconvinced. He kept seeing Aldis as he lunged at the priestess. His torn and bloody body blasted to bits by magic. Hearing the death cries of the other Harpers dragged down by the death cultists.

All because his information had been flawed.

He couldn't even handle the job that he'd been trained for. Decades as a scholarly researcher and archivist, and he'd got several people killed. How could he be of any help in the field?

Maybe Khalid got what he was feeling, because he patted the depressed mage on the back. "D-Don't be too hard on yourself" he suggested. "You might find this difficult to believe. But being an ad-dult? You still have m-more to learn and experience."

"Even though I got Aldis and the others killed?"

Khalid shook his head, smile fading. "It's...part of the risks that you take when you first put on a Harper pin" he murmured. "Or wh-when you pick up a sword. Or d-do anything for that matter. Aldis...was a brave man. A g-good Harper. He always had a s-song and a laugh. And...he was ready to die, Gorion. All of us were...to s-stop that ritual." The half elf sighed some. "I'll m-miss him... All of us will. But...it will be better to remember him f-fighting for what he believed in...rather than blaming yourself."

Gorion supposed that he couldn't argue with that... It didn't make him feel any better though. Sighing, he looked away from Khalid, his eyes falling onto the gnoll cub. Who seemed to have woken up in the last minutes, perhaps stirred awake by the heart to heart the men had been having.

The two looked at each other. The middle aged human wizard and the infant gnoll with the blood of divine. Blue eyes met gold. Gorion tilted his head. The little cub made a rasping sound in his throat.

Hesitantly he reached a hand out towards the infant. Leaning forward, Khalid watched in. "Um..." he stuttered, "Th-that might not be the s-smartest-"

When Gorion's fingers got close enough, the cub opened wide and lunged upwards, closing his muzzle down on the mage's hand!

Gorion froze, eyes wide! The little cub grinned up at him, making cute growling sounds. Abandoning the strip of leather in order to hug onto the mage's hand, gnawing industriously. And gently, he realized belatedly. He could feel those tiny teeth digging against his skin but they didn't rip or tear.

His hand was soft. Decades spent working in archives and libraries had left him without calluses. It ached to feel the little gnoll cub chewing him so lightly. But it wasn't an intentional hurt. This Child of Bhaal was just a child. Looking for attention. Wanting to play. It wasn't his fault that Gorion wasn't as tough as he should be...

And Dermin wanted to drown him?

"Um..."

Gorion blinked and peered back at Khalid. The half elf watched him with some apprehension, looking from the gnoll cub gnawing his hand to the wizard and back. "A-are you g-going to be okay there?" he asked him.

"I..." Gorion hesitated. Then reached down with his other hand to touch the cub's furry head. His fur was surprisingly soft.

He knew suddenly that nobody would be drowning this little guy.

"I don't know." He sighed as he admitted this to Khalid, turning to the half elf. "But I think...I'll be able to find out."