The dragon's lair
The creatures that had lured them are loud, fast, and wickedly strong. It takes all of Orochimaru’s might to restrain one from digging its talons into his chest in an attempt to make his insides become his outsides.
“Nasty creatures!” Gale declares, barely dodging another one by diving to the side to avoid it.
Scratch bristles, getting between Gale and the harpy and baring his teeth in a warning snarl.
The harpies cackle, circling around them while the oldest among them starts to sing once more.
This time, fortunately, Itachi seems to resist the allure, Sharingan spinning to life as he lunges at the nearest harpy.
The creature cackles, lashing out at him.
The harpy’s wicked claws graze across his back as he ducks to avoid it, but mercifully do not do much damage.
They are not singing anymore, too intent on trying to rip them apart.
Itachi draws a dagger and slashes at the closest one. It buries itself in the monster’s wing, slicing it clean open and setting the beast howling.
“Shred you apart!” she shrieks. “Kill you! Flay you! Eat you! Die! Die! Die!”
“I don't plan on being eaten just yet, if it's all the same to you.” Itachi replies, casual as you like.
She strikes at him with her wings and talons, trying to tear into his flesh and rend him into pieces.
A well-aimed kick to the gut is enough to get him free of her, and he tumbles into the water with an ungraceful splash.
He rolls out of the way before he can be torn into by another one of the birdlike creatures, trying to keep track of all of them at once, as well as keep himself between the harpies and the child.
The child cowers behind the dog, whimpering and covering his head with his hands.
“ Perurere !” Gale declares.
From his outstretched hands, a blinding bolt of lightning shoots forth, striking not only the harpy attacking him, but the one behind her, as well.
They let out an ear-piercing shriek that only lasts a split second before they go limp, falling into the water stone dead.
The lone survivor screams all manner of curses as it takes to the air, trying to flee before she is forced to join her sisters.
“Oh I don’t think so-”
About fed up with strange creatures trying to kill and eat him, Orochimaru does a few quick hand symbols before laying them down on the muddy ground.
From the wet earth, five giant, pure-white serpents burst forth, launching themselves at the last remaining monster with fangs bared.
All of them sink their fangs into the harpy’s flesh, pulling her into the water and holding her fast as their venom does its work.
It feels like an eternity before the creature finally goes limp, and expires.
“There we go.” Orochimaru sighs. “I’ve had about enough of this.”
In the bloody aftermath, the tiefling child looks around in a daze, rubbing his temples and starting to tremble.
“W-what? What happened? Are they gone?”
“You almost got in a lot of trouble.” Orochimaru informs him, hands on his hips, looking an awful lot like a disappointed parent.. “What on earth were you doing down here without anyone else here with you?”
The boy looks around in a daze, a worry line cutting its way through his brow as he does.
“Huh? I was- oh no-”
The poor boy bows his head, utterly ashamed.
“I was supposed to get the treasure that’s out here. Mol is gonna be so mad that I couldn’t find it…”
“Treasure?”
“A ring or something. We didn’t know there were harpies out here.”
Itachi glares up at the harpies’ nest, then looks down at the boy.
“There’s far worse than harpies out here. Scratch-”
The dog looks up at him, tail wagging as he anticipates his command.
“Take him back to the others, okay? We’ll find whatever ring is down here.”
“I- okay. Thank you.”
The boy musters up a smile, confident now that he isn’t about to die.
“Thanks again- when you get back, look for a boy named Donni. Tell him you wanna see the dragon’s lair. And tell ‘em Mirkon sent you!”
“Alright then. Now, off with you.” Orochimaru urges him, with a flippant wave of his hand. “And try not to wander off on your own again.”
“I won’t!”
The child runs off, Scratch following close behind, totally focused on his quest to protect.
“What in the name of the nine Hells was all that about?” Astarion mutters.
“Oh, just childish antics, I’m sure,” Gale chortles. “I was quite the rebellious little nipper myself, come to think of it.”
“Is that so? What sort of shenaniganry did you get up to?” Astarion laughs.
“Oh, where to begin? Once, when my mother denied me a kitten, I decided to summon up a tressym instead.”
Gale makes a dismissive gesture with his hand as though it doesn’t really matter, but there’s a bit of smugness in his smile that says he’s quite proud of his younger self for being so clever.
“-Another time I accidentally summoned a magma mephit. Actually quite an agreeable chap, we still keep in touch- but then the housekeeper comes in, she starts screaming, the curtains ignite and before you know it, fire everywhere-”
Itachi snickers.
“I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to set the curtains on fire when I was young,” he remarks. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard my mother so angry…”
“Oh? You don’t strike me as the mischievous type.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Itachi insists, putting a hand to his forehead in embarrassment. “It was an accident- I’m surprised my eyebrows grew back, actually.”
“Ah, the eyebrow-less child club! I know exactly what you mean- my mother blames her gray hairs on me from all the accidents I’ve caused.”
“As amusing as ths is,” Orochimaru says, “we should find whatever that child was here for.”
“Ah, yes. Perhaps there’s something in that nest up there tha’s worth looking at?”
It’s quite the climb, but a trivial matter with shinobi training, so Itachi and Orochimaru walk up the side of the cliff face with minimal effort. Gale and Astarion, however, haul themselves upward with a great effort, groaning and complaining the entire way up.
The nest is full of bones and rotten flesh, and smells about as pleasant as it looks.
In the midst of the carnage, though, they see a gold ring resting on the bony finger of one of the harpies’ unfortunate meals.
“Here we are,” Aastarion says, grabbing the ring and holding it aloft. “An interesting little trinket- but somehow I don't think this boy was risking his life for a bit of jewelry.”
"Let's just get out of here," Itachi says. "It smells absolutely foul."
“That child didn’t exactly tell us what this Doni boy looks like.” Astarion complains.
“I assume we’ll know him when we see him.”
They walk past the small group of oxen again- and past that one with the strange, knowing sort of look in its eyes.
Curiosity gets the better of Itachi, and, still feeling the effects of that potion running through him, he decides to approach it.
He isn’t sure how one is supposed to speak to cattle, so he clears his throat to alert it.
“...hello there,” he says, feeling a bit silly.
“Ah? You’re addressing me ? A humble ox? How…quaint.” the creature says, looking highly amused.
Itachi cocks his head.
It’s obvious this creature is not what it appears to be, bu he can’t figure out what its deal is.
“You caught my eye,” he says back, reaching out to scratch the huge beast behind the ear.
The strange ox leans into the gesture, flicking its tail appreciatively.
“Does nobody else talk to you?” Itachi asks.
“A druid or two I suppose,” The ox laughs. “But the novelty is still fresh.”
Amusing creature. Still strange, however.
“There’s something about you that’s different from the others,” he says.
“Is there? I am only an ox, this I swear.”
Before Itachi can inquire further, Gale grabs his sleeve and tugs him away gently.
“I think we found our little friend,” he says, pointing toward a tiefling boy with a short crop of messy hair, standing in front of a slab of mossy rock and staring off into the distance.
“Well, hello there,” Gale says, waving to get the boy’s attention.
“Hm,” the kid mutters, staring past them without blinking.
“Hm? Is that how children these days say hello?” Astarion mutters.
Itachi approaches the boy, crouching down to be at his level.
“Hi there. Are you Doni?” he asks.
“Hm.” the child says again, as though he's bored.
Still Itachi persists, as if he can understand the small sounds the tiefling child is making.
“Nice to meet you, Doni. We want to see the dragon's lair- is that alright?”
Doni perks up, nodding, the barest hint of a smile crossing his face.
“Hm!”
Still not saying a word, the boy points toward a concealed entrance in the jagged rock.
“Thank you, Doni. I bet keeping watch is pretty exciting, isn't it?”
“Mm-hmm!”
“We'll let you get back to it, then. Thank you again- keep up the good work.”
Doni makes a small, noncommittal sound of acknowledgement.
“...What was all that about?” Astarion asks, with a raised eyebrow.
“Everyone has something to say,” Itachi answers. “You just have to take the time to listen.”
Astarion doesn't ask what that's supposed to mean. They descend into the dark, into a torchlit cavern filled with barrels and crates filled with various bits and bobs.
"Oi!"
A child's voice echoes around the cavern, far larger than it should be, until the girl comes into view.
Not very tall, and a skinny little thing. One eye bright and inquisitive, the other covered by a rag tied around her head. Unkempt hair pulled back tight, putting the scars on her face on full display.
"Well, look who's come to visit? The grove's little hero."
Orochimaru can't keep the grin off his face.
“Ah, so you’re the ones Mirkon told me about.”
So, this is the mysterious Mol that the other tiefling children had talked about before.
"I was told you'd probably come pokin' around. Just didn't think it'd be so soon."
Orochimaru can already tell she’s going to be very, very interesting.
“Thanks for helping him outta that jam, by the way. And thanks for getting Arabella away from that bitch. I don’t wanna think about what they would’ve done if you weren’t there.”
Orochimaru smiles down at the girl, highly amused by that fierce look in her eye.
“Think nothing of it. We were just passing by, anyway.”
“Oh, don’t tell me what to think about or not.”
Cute.
Looking at her, he can’t help but think there’s something she wants. Her tense posture and the way she folds her arms lets him know there’s something she needs, but is struggling to ask about.
“Well?” he asks.
“Well what?”
“What are you after?”
“What are you on about?”
“You want something, don’t you? Something you want help with.”
For a split second, Mol looks offended. Then, she returns his smile with a cheeky grin of her own.
“I thought adults were all fuckin’ idiots.”
“Only most adults,” Orochimaru admonishes her.
“Wll,” Mol giggles, “since you’re here-”
She leans in like she’s about to impart some great secret to them, her expression turning suddenly serious.
“Those bloody druids would let us all die for that stupid ritual of theirs,” she sneers. “They care more about a stupid hunk of wood than whether people die- and what that awful woman did to Arabella- scaring the poor little mite like that-”
Her little hands ball up into fists, her face contorting in white-hot rage.
“-I want that precious, shiny idol they’ve all been gawking at. The one they would’ve murdered Arabella for touching. I wanna see the look on their faces when I run off with that stupid trinket they love so much.”
“Ah.”
Such a feisty little thing- Orochimaru can feel the ambition and hunger for something better than her lot in life radiating off her like physical warmth.
He remembers being the same way, when he was young and hungry.
Orochimaru likes her already.
“Alright then. And I assume you want us to try to grab that for you?”
“If you think you can do it. Whatever we get for it when we get to Baldur’s Gate, I’ll be sure to drop you a cut. Sound good?”
What an utterly adorable little hellion. How could anyone possibly refuse?
Orochimaru briefly looks back at the others. Seeing none of them seem to be opposed to the idea, he takes that as the go-ahead.
“We’ve got a deal, then.”
The gleefully mug look on Mol’s face is nearly enough payment in itself.
“Pleasure doing business with you.” she says, holding her hand out for a shake.
Orochimaru takes it, trying not to let on his amusement.
He doesn't notice that she's slipped something into his hand.
“For your trouble,” she says, with a smirk and a wink, as he turns and walks away.
“I think we’re done here,” he tells the others. “Let’s leave the children to their own devices, shall we?”
They seem to agree on that, so they make their way out.
Once they’re in the sunlight once again, Orochimaru examines the trinket Mol had gifted him.
It’s a ring. Sort of battered, slightly tarnished, but besides that in fairly decent shape.
It hums with a sort of energy he isn’t familiar with, and is warmer than it should be when he slips it on.
“You’re not seriously going to wear that old thing, are you?” Astarion asks. “Do you even know where it’s been?”
“A gift is a gift,” Orochimaru replies, holding his hand up to the sunlight to examine it. “Besides, it might come in handy.”
Astarion shrugs in a do what you want sort of way.
"What now, then?"
Still examining the ring, Orochimaru ponders the options.
His mind returns back to Mol's request.
Then, the letter Astarion found in the swamp.
"Do you still have that note you stumbled on, by any chance?"
"Hm? I do, why?"
Orochimaru grins, his blood already racing with the thrill that this drama will surely bring him.
(It's been a long time since something excited him this much.)
"I think it's time we have a little chat with our friend, Kagha."