@fleshcarverfugitive continued from here
They’d found Minsc — deep in the depths of the sewers, but they’d found him. Secured the gold for the Counting House. Ended the reign of the Stone Lord.
Yet Amalica still stared hard daggers at the Astral Prism she’d just been shaking like a broken toy, not yet ready to follow Minsc through the many holes he’d just created in the solid stone walls.
“So that haszak thinks he can just pick and choose who we save from the tadpole, then? Charming. Just… charming.”
Her glaze was intense at Amalica, noting how the drow's grip tightened on the Astral Prism, as if squeezing it hard enough might force it to yield. The sharpness in her gaze cut through the air, each word she spat laced with frustration.
Jaheira clenched her fists, anger surging through her veins like wildfire. Her voice erupted, echoing through the chamber as she turned her fury toward the prism, her face flushed with anger as she pointed an accusing finger at it. "This thing dares to toy with our lives like we’re nothing? Like pawns in its twisted games?" Her voice cracked under the weight of the emotions she’d been suppressing for days — frustration, betrayal, and a simmering rage. "We’re not your tools, illithid! Did you hear me? I won’t stand by while you decide who lives or dies for your own gain. You hide behind your schemes, pretending to be something more than you are — a monster!"
Her words sliced through the tension, her body trembling with the effort it took to keep from grabbing the prism and actually tossing it into the nearest lava pit she could find. Or at least at the bottom of the Chionthar. "We didn’t choose who got the tadpoles, and we don’t get to choose who survives them either."
But they had chosen. Jaheira, more than most, had spent decades making those choices — tracking the cult’s movements, leading her Harpers in raids, capturing, interrogating, and killing her way to Moonrise Towers. But what did that make her? The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth, her chest tightening with a strange guilt. She did what was necessary — she had always done what was necessary — but necessity was rarely beautiful. The truth gnawed at her: how different were her actions from what the Emperor was doing now? Were they any different at all? The thought sent a wave of revolt through her, clashing with the uncomfortable realization that she, too, had played a part in choosing who lived and who didn’t in this story.
She couldn’t afford to dwell on guilt — nonsensical, paralyzing guilt. Not now. She wouldn’t play the mindflayer’s twisted game. That’s exactly what it wanted: to plant doubt and despair, to worm its way deeper into controlling Amalica and the rest of the party’s fate. She wasn’t about to let it.
She tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing as they settled on Amalica. "It’s good to know you won’t let him decide who’s worth saving."
Jaheira’s eyes flicked toward Minsc and the rubble he had just smashed through. Her chest tightened as a wave of sadness crept in like a cold shadow. She longed to draw strength from him, but the weight of everything — the choices, the loss, the endless fight — kept her rooted in place. The words she might have called out died before they could form, too heavy to voice. She turned her gaze away, unwilling to face that sadness right now.
Forcing a smile, Jaheira tried to mask the swirl of emotions pressing in — relief, guilt, nostalgia, and much more she couldn’t quite put her finger on right now. She glanced back at Amalica, attempting to keep her tone light despite the ache in her chest. "I’ll… wait back at camp. Someone’s got to make sure these old bones don’t give out, after all," she quipped, lips twitching into a strained grin.
She barely held back the tears threatening to spill, the effort almost painful. She couldn’t speak to Minsc, not now. One word, one look from him, and she knew she’d break. The flood of emotions she’d been holding at bay would crash through, and she wasn’t ready for that. She quickly turned her back to Amalica.
She didn’t trust herself to say anything more.
