Chapter Text
Several days had passed since the events of the tiefling party. Ria and her giant companions had gone down the Risen Road which led to the Mountain Pass, as Lae’zel was still adamant that they reach the githyanki creche to be purified from their parasites. Since her tent had been destroyed, Ria had been spending her nights in Shadowheart’s tent. Astarion had not offered for her to spend the night in his tent since she had last been there, and a part of her was still embarrassed to look his way. A large part of her was disgusted with her romantic thoughts of the vampire spawn, considering everything that had happened between them. For now, she decided it was best to keep her distance from him as much as she could for her own sake.
The past few days also revealed that a strange dream visitor, who happened to be inhabiting the strange artefact that Shadowheart had in her possession, was the one responsible for preventing her companions from completing their illithid transformation. The dream visitor offered them great power, if only they embraced the parasite and consumed more like it. Her companions were for the most part hesitant about embracing these illithid powers, except for Astarion. He seemed more eager to gobble up more of the worms if they stumbled across them, which made her stomach turn in horror.
The dream visitor wasn’t the only surprise that was in store for them. Gale made a shocking revelation to the entire group that he was essentially carrying a ticking time bomb in his chest – the Netherese Orb, which could explode at any given time. The orb could be sated temporarily if Gale consumed a magical artefact, much to everyone’s relief. Provided the wizard was given enough of these artefacts, the powerful orb inside his chest would be quiet for the time being.
It was unsettling to say the least, with an entire group of giants that could transform into mind flayers if a mysterious dream visitor so willed it, and a certain wizard could trigger an explosion that could level an entire city if he was excited too much. Ria had no idea how she had ended up in such a predicament, but she knew that this was still her best shot at finding more of her kind and it would hopefully put an end to the atrocities that Araj was inflicting on other borrowers like her.
The white dog, Scratch, and the owlbear cub kept their distance as Halsin had promised. It amazed her that the archdruid was able to influence the animals to not bother her in such a seamless way, and she was grateful that he had decided to travel with their group.
It took a few days for the group to reach the Mountain Pass. During this time, Ria continued to hone her skills with Lae’zel, although the gith was becoming more distracted with each passing day as they neared the location of the creche. The group eventually arrived at the Rosymorn Monastery, the place where the githyanki creche dwelled. Lae’zel had warned Ria that a gith creche was no place for a borrower, and while her combat skills had been improving, it still wasn’t worth the risk of taking her there.
Now she was left alone in camp with Halsin, Astarion, Scratch, and the owlbear cub while the rest of the group sought out the creche. Astarion wasn’t keen on going as he insisted that he had something important that needed completing. When questioned, Astarion was incredibly vague and dodged the questions thrown at him and kept to his tent. Ria was surprised that he didn’t go along to the creche with everyone else, but she wasn’t willing to ask him any further questions about the subject.
Ria decided that she would keep herself busy by foraging for some food away from camp while the others were at the creche. While it was no hindrance to her giant companions that she had miniscule portions of their rations, Ria wanted to find some food of her own that she was more accustomed to eating. It had been such a long time since she had gathered food for herself that she found a part of her that almost missed the independence.
The soft rays of the afternoon sun shone fiercely on Ria’s back as she flitted across a patch of sunflowers. She picked up any discarded sunflower seeds that she could find and placed them securely into her small bag that was slung across her shoulder. Sunflower seeds were not only delicious, but they were a good source of protein and just a single seed was more than enough for a borrower to eat.
For a moment, Ria found herself almost completely free of any worry or stress as she focused on gathering the sunflower seeds. She allowed herself to momentarily forget about her entire predicament and just enjoy the feeling of the sun against her back and the pleasant smells of the sunflowers towering over her. It was a small moment of peace that she had been craving for quite some time now.
She gathered one last seed and secured it into her pack as she exhaled deeply. There were now enough seeds to last her many days, even weeks. While she appreciated Gale’s efforts into incorporating more vegetables into the camp dinners due to her dietary choices, the wizard was clearly not familiar with cooking plants as much as he was with meat. Having the sunflower seeds would especially come in handy for those evenings and for throughout the day.
A rumbling tremor that shook through the earth quickly rattled her out of her thoughts. Sucking in a sharp breath, she remained frozen in place as more small earthquakes vibrated through the ground. She hoped with every fibre in her being that it was Astarion or Halsin that was causing the tremors.
I don’t want to stick around long enough to find out.
She frantically scanned her surroundings, attempting to find somewhere, anywhere, where she could potentially hide. The sunflowers themselves offered very little cover and she internally cursed at herself for not thinking of securing a possible hiding spot earlier. Admittedly, she was surprised that anyone else was out in the Mountain Pass, considering that Halsin had said it was a more difficult route to undertake than the Underdark. Still, of course, that didn’t completely rule out other people from being there.
The booming footfalls approached ever closer and panic was truly starting to settle in the pit of her stomach. She had to move fast if she wanted to avoid the owner of whoever was causing the tremors. Her breathing coming out in short gasps, she bolted from her cover of sunflowers and made a beeline to a cluster of bushes not that far ahead. Well, not far for someone of human size, but for a borrower it was a considerable distance. But, if she ran quickly enough, she could make it.
“Oh, what do we have here?”
Her heart almost caught in her throat as she was suddenly faced with an enormous boot, the impact sending her reeling backwards as she was thrown onto her backside. Craning her neck upwards, she was faced with a giant human man who was staring down at her curiously. The human man had long light brown hair that fell past his shoulders, some of which was braided, and his face was decorated with a moustache that curled inwards on its corners and short beard that completely covered his chin.
“Ah! A borrower!” The man exclaimed, his face practically lighting up as he continued to stare down at Ria’s trembling form. “You are exactly what I need.”
Her jaw slacked, frozen in a silent scream, as her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
No, this can’t be happening. Please, no, no, no.
“N-no, I am not,” she retorted before she could stop the words from slipping past her tongue. “Trust me, you do not want me.”
The man’s expression almost softened, his eyes glazed over with an almost apologetic look to him.
“I am deeply sorry for what I am about to do,” he said gently. “But I promise that I will let you go once all of this is over. Please understand that I will not bring you a great deal of harm.”
Not bring a great deal of harm? What does he want to do to me?!
“You are not getting me!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, stumbling to her feet somewhat feverishly as if her legs were made from jelly. “Leave me alone!”
Her fear rose like a tidal wave as she turned on her heel to run for her life. Unfortunately, her attempts at an escape were fruitless as the human man simply scooped her up into his hand with hardly any effort. His large fingers had her arms pinned to her sides as they wrapped around her body, making access to her tiny dagger near impossible.
The man now had her enclosed in his fist and he slowly lifted her up to his face, his gentle gaze washing over her frame.
“My name is Gandrel,” he said, his voice lowered considerably. “I am a Gur, a monster hunter, tracking an elusive vampire spawn that attacked my village. I seek no ill will towards you, and I promise you that you will be safe after all of this is done. But I need you to help me find him.”
Her struggling immediately ceased as the words fell out of his mouth.
“A vampire spawn?” she echoed.
“Yes,” he answered softly. “He goes by the name Astarion. I had initially gone to the hag’s teahouse in hopes that she could perhaps help me in tracking the creature, but it seems that another group of adventurers had beaten me to her cottage as she was gone by the time I got there. I then sought out the Mountain Pass once I heard that there had been numerous bandits that had been mysteriously drained of their blood in the area, likely the work of a vampire. That is where you will come in.”
Ria’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. She almost couldn’t believe what was happening. She knew little of Astarion’s past, other than his enslavement to Cazador, so this new information was a shocking revelation. Still, she wasn’t about to reveal that she knew Astarion. This man’s intentions for Astarion were clearly not friendly if he had in fact attacked Gandrel’s village.
“Why do you want me?” she croaked.
“Vampires find borrower blood irresistible,” Gandrel answered. “I will only need a mere few drops of your blood, and that should be plenty to lure him out. With sundown approaching, it will only be a matter of time before the spawn reveals himself, and when he does, I will be ready to capture him and take him back to Baldur’s Gate.”
Ria narrowed her eyes at the giant man. “And if I refuse?”
Gandrel pressed his lips together thinly, his brows knitting together as his gaze softened.
“I’m so sorry, but I’m not going to give you a choice. Please understand that this isn’t personal, and I will only draw a small amount of blood.”
Ria’s face paled upon hearing his blunt statement. Guilt tainted Gandrel’s face as his eyes darted nervously across her, a silent plea for forgiveness seared into his expression. It was painfully obvious that he did not want to do this, but it seemed that capturing Astarion was of the utmost importance to him, and it only made her wonder exactly what the pale elf had done to his camp that made him resort to this method of using her blood.
“T-there is no vampire spawn out here,” she quickly said, attempting to think of some lie she could spout to throw him off. “If there was, I would’ve been eaten by now.”
Gandrel faltered, his eyebrows raised as he considered her words.
“Well, that is certainly a good point,” he answered slowly. “But it is still daylight. A vampire, spawn or not, cannot traverse in the sun, but come nightfall it will be a different story.”
She exhaled deeply through her nose as her brain tried to think of another excuse. The Gur was adamant on not letting her go. She feared that no matter what she said it wouldn’t make a difference.
Gods, whatever Astarion did, it must’ve been bad to have this Gur hunt him down.
“I promise I will not let him harm you,” he said gently. “Once I have him secured, I will let you go and heal any wounds that you may have. You have my word.”
Ria gritted her teeth in frustration, wanting now more than ever to summon her magic once more, but she was met with nothing.
“I guess I don’t have a choice,” she muttered bitterly.
Gandrel breathed a heavy sigh. “I’m afraid not.”
Astarion wetted his lips as he seamlessly pierced his sewing needle through the miniature piece of fabric that he was holding tenderly in his hand. His eyes squinted ever so slightly as he continued his work, the needle glinting in the small spots of sunlight that had filtered through the entrance of his tent.
Due to the events that had transpired at the Goblin Camp, a feeling of guilt had begun to fester deep inside him as they had traversed through the Mountain Pass. Ria had been going about each day in the same rags that she had arrived in, and thanks to him, her clothing had been ruined further due to the lashing of beer that she had been dunked in and the fact that she had taken a thorough trip inside his mouth against her will. He felt that making her some new clothes would be a better way at apologising, and it would further prove to his companions that his intentions on eating her were long gone.
He was silently grateful that years of repairing his own clothing under Cazador’s rule had made him a rather good tailor, and coupled with his enhanced vampiric sight, he was able to craft some decent borrower sized clothing for Ria. It was made of a few different pieces of fabric that he had fashioned together from bandits that they had encountered on their travels and it was certainly more durable than Ria’s current outfit.
He had created a new top and pants for the borrower, as well as a pair of shorts and a long-sleeved top. As he pulled the last needle through the thread, he quietly admired his handiwork and held the garments proudly in his hand. He hoped Ria would like the new clothing he had created for her.
Wait…why do I WANT her to like them? I couldn’t care less about what she thinks.
Growling under his breath, he placed his sewing equipment away into a small bag inside his tent and pushed the feelings of the borrower out of his mind. Instead of doing this, he should’ve been planning his next manipulation tactic on his oblivious companions. It was painfully obvious there was still mistrust amongst him and the others, and he had failed to seduce anyone to provide him with a net of safety and protection. With Ria’s presence in the camp, he had found himself distracted and somewhat thrown off from his usual methods of seduction. It had been so easy for him when he had been luring in his chosen victims for Cazador, but now, he oddly found himself thinking about the borrower more than his nice simple plan that he had been carefully constructing since the nautiloid crash.
He had been originally planning on seducing Lae’zel some time ago, but the gith was rather formidable with her dominating presence and harsh demeanour – as well as the fact that she had almost filleted him when the entire group had thought that he had eaten Ria. It seemed it would be much safer for him if he kept his distance from her.
Wyll was an excellent choice, as not only did Astarion find him incredibly attractive (especially with his flattering set of horns that adorned his head), but he was righteous and no doubt would protect him from Cazador in a heartbeat if he managed to weave his methods of manipulation into the Blade of Frontiers. Alas, it wasn’t as easy as that – Wyll was certainly the type of man to have sex after marriage (as Lae’zel had failed to sleep with Wyll during the night of the tiefling party and instead the gith had to listen to him talk throughout the night), which, unfortunately, would not work in Astarion’s grand master plan.
That only left him with a few other options. Shadowheart and Karlach were quite clearly smitten with one another, and while he found both women alluring, he wasn’t ready to come in between them especially when Karlach could easily incinerate him.
Gale wasn’t a bad choice either. The wizard was clearly powerful, and Astarion couldn’t deny that he was handsome. But unfortunately, whenever Gale opened his mouth Astarion could feel years of his immortal life leave his body. The wizard, quite frankly, annoyed him most of the time. Not to mention there was the issue of the orb – there was no way he wanted to risk a catastrophic explosion if he so much as excited the wizard.
The most recent addition to their group, the archdruid Halsin, was becoming more appealing to him each day. The druid was clearly strong and powerful, but he felt that the druid most likely wouldn’t approve of his feeding habits.
And with all of that, the only person who he had managed to seduce was the only one who couldn’t protect him.
Why is it that I have only been able to charm the shortest person in the party? I wasn’t even trying with Ria, and yet she is clearly smitten. Have my skills declined that badly?
Astarion silently cursed himself for his bad luck. Perhaps it wasn’t too late to manipulate the others – if he proved that he was trustworthy and useful, they could still offer him protection later down the line.
There is no use dwelling on it now. I should find her and give these new clothes to her.
As he gathered himself to his feet, a jagged pain shot through his abdomen and he winced. It had been a few days since he had last fed and his stomach was beginning to grumble. He needed to find some fresh blood before he found Ria.
Clutching his now growling stomach, he gently slipped the articles of clothing underneath his armour as he emerged out of his tent with haste. He didn’t want to waste any time in finding something to eat.
Halsin was on the opposite side of the camp and was entertaining the other new additions to their group, Scratch the dog and the owlbear cub.
“I’m going hunting,” Astarion announced to the archdruid.
Halsin’s warm gaze flitted over to the vampire spawn. “Ah, of course. Enjoy yourself, Astarion.”
Just as he was about to turn to leave, he paused and chewed the bottom of his lip.
“Have you seen Ria?” he asked.
Halsin raised an eyebrow, staring at the pale elf with interest. “Why do you want to know where she is?”
Astarion’s gaze nervously darted away to the floor and he cleared his throat.
“No reason. I just haven’t seen her in a while.”
“She is out foraging.”
“Ah. Right.”
A moment of awkward silence passed between the two elves as neither said anything.
“You care about her,” Halsin said, breaking the silence.
A horrified expression quickly spread across Astarion’s face as he realised what Halsin had just said.
“Oh please, you are utterly deranged if you think I care for her even slightly,” Astarion retorted, feeling rather flustered that the archdruid would even suggest such a thing.
The tall elf simply chuckled in response to his outburst.
“I have seen the way your gaze lingers over her small frame. And she even told me herself that you have even saved her life on numerous occasions now; which I find remarkable considering how you almost tried to eat her during your first encounter.”
Astarion’s lip curled back to reveal his fangs and a low growl vibrated in the back of his throat.
“Don’t tell me how I feel about her, druid. I could never feel that way about a borrower. Since when were you the expert on relationships?”
“I have had many lovers,” Halsin replied calmly. “And there have been some of them that have been much smaller in stature.”
“You have had a relationship with a borrower?” Astarion spluttered, utterly horrified, but, knowing Halsin, it wasn’t all that surprising.
“Of course.” His eyes crinkled as he smiled. “If you want any advice, Astarion, I can-“
“No, that will most certainly not be necessary,” Astarion interrupted before Halsin could finish his sentence. “It’s been a delight talking to you, but I’m afraid if I stay here any longer, I’ll have to sink my teeth into that owlbear cub.”
Astarion quickly left without another word, not even bothering to look back as he sauntered into the cover of the forest, silently cursing the archdruid under his breath.