TRIGGER WARNING: Bald-face lies, Murder, Emotional Manipulation, Self-Righteous Monologuing.

The ivy-covered gate appears just ahead through a haze of trail dust. Tiefling guards line the parapets as usual. Barely armed. All of them green.

As I come into view, I see a tail disappear down the path toward the Hollow. I am welcomed with the rumbling of the gate as it opens for me. Zevlor is waiting just inside.

He beckons me, tipping his head. "Walk with me." He leads me up to the parapets and leans on the fencing. Eyes squinting, he scans the horizon, tail swaying thoughtfully. "She's quite a mess, you know."

A scoff escapes me. I’m not interested in entertaining Zevlor right now; I just want to speak to her. "She was a mess when she bolted."

His eyes snap to me. "Your callousness isn't going to win you any friends, Vash."

He holds up a hand, as if to stop himself, before letting out a labored sigh. "I tried to talk her down, but you gave her quite the fright. She's not used to violence like we are. Bear in mind, she was baking cookies for a living only a year ago."

My foot shifts as I look down at him. "…What do you mean?"

"She and Danis had a bakery in Elturel before Zariel claimed the city.

They were quite popular.

But as you know, they were some of the many to change while in the Hells. When the city was restored and they returned as tieflings, Bex couldn't rebuild her business. No one wants to buy haunted cookies from hellspawn.

She lost the last piece of who she was, then.

The assumption was that they sold their souls to Zariel for fiendish powers. Or deserved their change as some divine punishment. Either way, they were outcast like all the rest." Zevlor pauses, a deep pity reflected in his face. "You can see why she might be skittish. There's a hurt that runs deep and scars every tiefling here."

Gods. I close my eyes for a moment, taking this new information in. "That was not what she told me." I blink, a thousand questions rushing through my mind. "If she wasn't always a tiefling, then what was she? Is she even a ranger?"

He immediately speaks to reassure me. "Of course! Yes. Bex honed her skills while traveling with her father. He owned a merchant's caravan on the River Road. That's where I first met her." He becomes slightly guarded. "If she hasn’t shared her past in Elturel with you, there might have been a good reason for it. I fear I’ve overstepped."

My tail flips pensively. The morning breeze carries the faint hint of burning chitin from the distant crash. "So, you were one of the Hellriders that patrolled the River Road."

He nods. "I helped the caravans on the rare occasions an ambush happened, but our mere presence was enough to keep the road relatively safe."

"I see."

Zevlor watches as one of the guards walks past, giving her a nod. "Good Morning, Kaldani."

I watch her as she smiles politely, carrying herself to the far side of the gate. "Had I known Bex was so green, I would have approached things much differently. She made it seem like she had been helping her father up until the city fell." I think back on all she's told me. "Did Bex and Danis marry while in Avernus?"

His brow creases, confused by my question. "Nnno... they married long before the fall."

Another lie, one that could become a boon to me. "Did she ask you if she could be a ranger for the caravan?"

Zevlor's lips straighten. "Yes. A few times. She'd got it in her head that she could relive those days on the River Road, but this isn't a merchant's trail. We're in the midst of a war, I'm not blind to it, and I've seen what war does to people. I didn't want to be responsible for that."

"So, you told yourself making the decision for her was in her best interest when it was really just your own indulgence in her purity."

Zevlor grows still, like a deer who's spotted a hunter. "I-I didn't mean it that way." His tail flips nervously, and he begins to look embarrassed.

"There comes a point where doing the right thing ends up smothering the very thing you're trying to protect."

His lips press thin, sobering to the weight of it.

"I explained the perils to her, and she pled to join me despite the dangers."

I lean forward, resting my elbows on the fencing next to him. "Though, the fear I embodied to protect her against the goblins served to make me... well... frightening." My tone dips, leery of my own confessions. "There are moments when I feel the thrum of duty squeezing my mind like a vice, and I forget myself."

He puts a hand on my shoulder. "That is the burden of a Paladin's oath. It's the sacrifice we make so that we may shoulder the weight of the world's troubles." He is quiet for a moment, reflecting on his own duties. "I've spoken with Apikusis. You have a lot of fingers in a lot of pies right now. I'll take care of as much as I can from my end, but do me a favor..." He gives my shoulder a short, reassuring shake. "Tone down the menace, Paladin."

His smile is self-assuring. "Thank you, Zevlor."

"If you try to speak with her, be mindful. I fear her faith in you is well and truly broken." He turns to leave but looks back at me, a hint of unease in his voice. "Good luck, brother."

I give him a gracious nod, but my face falls as I watch him go.

...was I ever anything but a tiefling?

I take a moment to myself before heading toward the Hollow.

To the right of the parapets, a group of the tiefling guards lounge around a smoldering campfire. There is a slight tension among them as I pass. I feel their eyes on me.

Finally, I hear the padding of feet coming up behind me. It's a man with dishwater-blonde hair. "Ser! We saw Bex run through here like a whirlwind. What happened out there?"

The corner of my mouth twitches with growing impatience as I muster a calm smile. "Quite the gossip, aren't you?" The agitation in my voice slips through despite my efforts.

He is taken aback by my directness. Embarrassed, but unrelenting. "No need for that, but if something's going on, we ought to know. This isn't just about our safety, but our children's as well."

Several more of the tiefling guards have gathered, and I begin to feel surrounded. "Please. There's nothing going on here that concerns any of you. It's a personal matter."

Kaldani joins them from the far end of the gate. "Personal?" She comes to a halt near me, her eyes peeking through the sideswept fringe of red hair. "None of this seems personal to me. What's this about you belonging to a cult?"

Snaps of electricity tap at the back of my brain as I get grilled.

Ungrateful swine.

Another guard chimes in. "Several people have gone missing, and they say you were the last to see them!" I look to see Arka, the woman who threatened Sazza with a crossbow.

More voices rise. "Where's Alfira?"

"What about the druids, Nettie and Findal? The druid merchant, Arron, has been asking us about them!"

My head is on a swivel as I try to track the faces of the people chastising me, but it's in vain. My hand begins twitching again. I swiftly tuck it away, but my tail continues to betray me. "Am I staring down my own lynch mob? I offer help, and you repay me by turning me into a scapegoat for easy answers."

Arka's resentment toward me has not subsided since our last meeting. "We deserve answers, easy or no!"

"Answers." My voice strikes like a hammer. My impatience unbridled, I spit back at them. "Alfira joined my camp a few nights ago. When we awoke the next day, she was gone. Full stop."

A few of the guards look at each other, and I hear one muttering to a woman with a long purple ponytail. "She may still turn up." They clasp hands in futile hope.

I stare down the rest. "Nettie and Findal were killed in a goblin ambush. It was only by their sacrifice that I was able to save you from the horde." I scowl. "Again."

My nose curls, raising my palm to show the emblazoned symbol of the Absolute. "I ask for nothing in return for my services, and yet the sacrifices I've made for you are met with hostility, accusations, and bad faith."

I wait for the tieflings standing around me to fall silent.

"Yet, I make the difficult decisions for your sake. The cult trusts me, and do you know what that trust has yielded?" I drop my hand, as I see a herd of glowing eyes watching me. "I've found Halsin. Alive."

Hopeful murmurs surge around me.

"I cannot offer salvation if you hang me from the gate." The command in my voice does not yield, even as they come down from their fervor.

The smoke from the campfire drifts past us as I take a breath. "If you need anything else, take it up with Zevlor. If I may, I have urgent matters I need to attend to."

There is a satisfied and almost apologetic breath, as the crowd disengages. Some are still glancing at me with uncertainty but choose to walk away.

I turn on my heel to continue down the path, but after only a few paces, I feel a hand grip my arm. A pang of anger rushes through me, materializing in a shock of static Weave that snaps at the hand that touched me. "OW!" I hear a sharp inhale as the hand swiftly lets go. I turn to see Arka holding her hand.

She hesitates, looking up at me with a vague fear. "Vash... I'm..." She flexes her fingers as the pain subsides. "I'm sorry for startling you. I just wanted to talk." Her voice is reserved as she gives me a gentle plea. "Could you... walk with me for a moment?" She shakes off her hand, released from the pain.

There is nothing I want to do less. My jaw is tight, but I somehow manage to smile. "Of course."

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier." She begins to walk, and I follow, hanging my head. "I didn't realize you had been doing so much for us. I was so blinded by grief and stuck in my own head."

She leads me down a narrow path to the far edge of the rocky outcropping of the gate. We come to a string of graves, topped with loose stones. Private and peaceful. A few old trees, knobbed but sturdy, hang over us, offering a merciful shade.

She stops in front of one grave, freshly dug. Kanon, her brother. Her hands are folded in front of her, taking a quiet moment out of respect. I stand behind her, a shroud of solace, placing my hands on her shoulders.

"My brother—"

A wet pop beneath my fingers as her neck breaks, and she collapses into my arms. I audibly sigh and a pleasurable shudder ripples through me.

Mercy can feel cruel at times, but Arka was a wounded animal that had put the caravan in danger with her rash behavior. I kick the pile of loose stones off Kanon's corpse; his smell hits me like a wall of memories. His body is riddled with holes from goblin arrows, arms outstretched from having gripped the gate's wheel as he died. I tuck Arka next to him, united once again.

I feel a great levity as I return the stones to the grave.

A humble offering — a dawning of my oath.

I finally see her. She's gotten out of her gear and is sitting on her bedroll, eating, drinking, staring. Danis is fussing nearby, making rope—splicing fibers into cordage.

She finally sees me coming and falls still. Danis sees me too and carefully lays down the fibers, walking over to her. They share a brief word before turning their attention back to me. I stop below them, looking up. "Bex, there must have been some sort of misunderstanding. May I come up and speak with you?"

"I've barely had enough time to process what I witnessed. Come back another time. Or don't come back at all."

Her words hit me like a hammer to my chest. "Sometimes in war—"

"What in the hells did you do to those goblins? How did you make them fall?"

The look of disgust on her face sends a chill down my spine.

"Would you do that to me...?"

She shakes her head, and I hear her tail give a single thud against the floorboards.

"You're a True Soul; I can't imagine what you could say to redeem yourself."

My ears perk up, and my voice becomes firm; I don't want to be spoken over. "I have answers, but it's complicated. Very complicated. If you're willing to listen, then come to my camp when you're ready, and I will explain everything." I lower my voice, giving a slight nod. "Please."

"No!" Danis steps forward. "She's not giving you any more of her time!" His voice is steady and certain. "You've seen the truth, Bex, you cannot trust this man! There's nothing more that need be said."

Bex bristles at Danis's declaration, but answers patiently. "I understand you're trying to protect me, Danis, but it's not your decision to make." She turns back to me, like she's juggling obstinate toddlers. "I'm not in the headspace to entertain your invitation. Just—" Her chin curls in frustration, as she searches my face. "Just leave me alone, Vash."

She turns and sits with her back to both of us with another fervent thud of her tail. The drum beat of finality.

Danis watches her with a mild dread on his face before glancing down at me. I see his hand flex, but he says nothing more.

I finally turn and head back to camp. What's done is done, I am at her mercy now.

Astarion sits next to me, as if his presence is enough to coddle me in my embarrassed state. "Look at it this way. The only thing you really did was scare the goblins too well. Gods, I wish I had been there to see it." He sneers at Shadowheart. "If only someone hadn't gotten their boot stuck in the mud."

Shadowheart doesn't dignify him with an answer. She's too busy reworking her braid, using an assortment of fragrant oils. The most she gives him is a raised eyebrow.

"Hmph." He looks over my shoulder and his cool red eyes narrow. "Well, well. Looks like she couldn't keep away long."

I turn to see Bex and Danis walking down the path, their fingers locked together. Danis is watching me intently as I quickly stand, meeting them at the head of the trail. "I'm glad, if not surprised, you decided to come."

Bex glances at me. "Thank you for giving me space to collect myself, I'm ready to hear you out."

"Of course, but..." I look at Danis's burning stare. My hand twitches. "May I speak with you, privately? There's something I'd like to show you. It will make everything I want to explain a lot clearer."

A surge of offense rises in Danis, and he clings to her. "There's nothing you need to say to her that you can't say to both of us."

I look down at him, flatly. I suddenly feel like I'm looking through the echo of a man Bex conjured for comfort.

Bex snaps at me. "Vash!" Her voice breaks the spell and I blink. She sighs. "You're asking to speak to me alone without having offered any reason why I should trust you. You can understand my hesitation." She's speaking in a tone like it should have been obvious.

My shoulders relax as I try to bring myself down. "You're right, of course. I do understand your hesitation." She's watching me, waiting. I hold out my hand, in a placating gesture. "In our travels together, is there a single moment you can point to when I acted against you?"

Her nostrils flare. She knows I'm right, but she lets the silence linger before putting a hand on Danis's chest. "Give us time. This shouldn't take long, right, Vash?" Her eyes are stern, like she's chastising a bad dog. It's not far from the truth.

"A moment is all I need."

She breathes in through her nose, half believing me. I think she wants to believe me.

The corner of my lip twitches as I turn my attention to Danis. "You're welcome to join the others, we'll be back before long."

He does not look happy. "How far is this place?"

I snap at him. "I'm sorry, are you her father?" My voice hisses between my teeth.

Bex puts her hands on me. "It was just a question. Relax!" Her words crack slightly.

I quickly look down at her and back to him. I take a moment to release the tension coiled in my shoulders. "Down the riverbank. Less than a kilometer away."

She shakes her head. "A moment, huh?" She sighs, exasperated at my white lie. "You're so fucking insufferable." I see a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

Danis nods but looks at his wife like it's the last time he'll ever see her. He steps into her and gives her a gentle kiss on the cheek before walking over to the campfire with my company.

I watch him leave before beginning to walk. She follows. I lead her down the banks of the Chionthar, its hushed flow, an anchor of calm.

This is my only chance to set things right.

She's quiet for a moment before speaking, though her eyes remain fixated on the path. "I was scared at first, but now I'm just angry. I know I'm being foolish in wanting there to be a reasonable explanation, or foolish for assuming you'd give me a straight answer."

She gives me a fleeting glance. "Even joining you now, alone, is foolish, but I don't want to believe this is who you are."

"It wasn't my intention to lie to you about who I was. It simply never crossed my mind to inform you of my status as a True Soul." As we walk on the shifting sands, my legs still burn from having carried Alfira's body down this very shore.

The whispers rise inside my mind. Loving words that bid me, 'drown her.'

My sigh is a paltry attempt to expel the unwanted thoughts. "What I did to subdue the goblins was excessive, even if they were just goblins."

She snorts. "Excessive."

I glance down at her. "I respect that you've lost faith in me. A cruelty to me given that I still very much trust you."

She grins, admittedly a little smug. "Of course you do. I’m not the one playing games, Vash."

My lips straighten at the lie, and I become edged with frustration. "Why in hells' name did you confront those goblins alone? You forced me into a position where I either had to watch you die, or intervene, potentially getting us both killed." The path begins to fill with the faint scent of burning chitin.

She looks at me, stunned. "What do you mean? He needed help, and the strong have a duty to protect the weak. It was the right thing to do."

"The strong have a duty to protect the weak?" Bhaal below... "You cannot cling to fairytales when people's lives are on the line! You acted recklessly based on some ambiguous moral code that can be bent to the will of any cause."

Bex's eyes grow wide, and I sense a barbed caution rise within her. "A righteous cause! They were torturing that poor gnome!"

"Righteousness, yes, but only when used as a scale for moral equity. Otherwise, who truly has a right to decide who is deserving of salvation? ...You?"

She flinches. "No-I... I wasn't trying to be presumptuous, I just—" She falters and begins to wring her hands nervously.

"You were trying to be a hero. On our journey, you witness repeatedly the injustices of a cruel world. An apothecary, whose only wish was to escape the Red Wizards and resurrect the woman he loved. Killed. A vampire hunter whose noble mission was to capture a dangerous spawn. Dead. Mud Mephits and Wood Woads, creatures ready to defend their home when you intruded. Slaughtered. It begs the question: can you be a hero and still call yourself good?"

She looks at me sharply. "It wasn't my intention to kill those creatures at the Willow. I just want to help the Grove. It’s unfortunate that it had to come to that!"

I gently place my arm across her shoulders and take her hand. “Exactly.”

Her lips press together before her eyes drop to her feet. Silent. The sound of our footsteps crunches on the pebbles of the riverbank.

"But then... how am I supposed to measure virtue?"

I look ahead and see the bend of the river approaching our destination.

"With integrity, you must decide if your actions are a real benefit. This works as long as you remember these two simple things. Survival and salvation are never guaranteed."

She stiffens, gently pulling her hand from my grip.

"Consider the gnome. If you had been killed, what would have been his plight then?"

"It would have been the same." Her voice begins to tremble. "I didn’t think twice about throwing myself into that confrontation. That entire horde could have come down on you if you hadn't had the means to intervene."

Quiet tears fall from her eyes. She’s not crying out of self-pity or fear, but out of frustration. "I'm sorry."

We stop, and I reach up but hesitate. She sees my gesture and looks at me. I finally place a thumb on her cheek and wipe a tear away. She sighs and reaches out, wrapping her arms around me and burying her face in my shirt. Her breath shudders as she rests within my arms. I rub her back and give her time.

She cries softly for a moment, then settles and rubs her whole entire face on my shirt... before pulling away.

She sighs, nose swollen and stuffed up. I pull Astarion's kerchief from my pocket and hand it to her. She empties her nose into it and hands it back.

He's going to love that.

We begin to walk once more; a shadow casts a comforting shroud over the path. She leans into me, and I place a hand low on her back, gripping gently. "I forgive you."

"Vash, I—" She pauses, looks up, and her eyes grow wide.

What she sees before her is a monolith of devastation. Roaring and putrid.

She grips my cloak tightly as I bring her into the center of the ruined nautiloid. The broken hull towers over us. Vast, arching shards of the spiraled shell are sunken into the sands of the river's shore. The smell of burning chitin and decaying shipflesh assaults the senses. Waning hues of sunlight cast beams through smoke that weaves around the wreckage. The sound of lapping water echoes against the walls, amplified further by the dreaded silence.

"What is this place?" she croaks, looking at me desperately.

"This is the site of the crash that rattled the Hollow. Do you know what this structure is?"

She looks around, and I can tell she's trying to process what she's seeing. "No. I've never seen anything like it."

"It's called a nautiloid. An illithid warship."

Deep concern festers within her. "Illithid?"

I gesture toward a few scattered illithid carcasses. Shriveled, peaceful, and empty. I can tell the image of the ruined bodies fills her with both wonder and dread. "Illithids are creatures that function as a collective, relying heavily on psionic powers and communication. They are insidious and parasitic."

Bex recoils and quickly steps into me, but she remains transfixed.

With great difficulty, I begin to open up. "My company and I are survivors of this crash. How we survived, we don't know, but we remain united under a common cause: to find a cure."

She shakes her head. "A cure? A cure for what?"

I carefully reach into my cloak pocket for one of the vials. I feel her grip me tighter and hear her sharply inhale before I even touch the tadpole. "…this." I present the wretched thing.

Her nostrils flare in disgust at the sight of the wriggling, toothy creature, but she remains silent, as if sifting the horror for what it means to me.

It sits helpless in my palm. Such a small thing to be the source of so many profound problems. "This is an illithid parasite. They infect the host and absorb their memories, gifting, in return, those illithid psionic powers. Before long, a new illithid is born, and it destroys the host in the process."

"So, a cure for…" She gasps sharply and quickly lets go of me as the realization hits her like a storm. I expect her to bolt, but to my surprise, she remains. "Gods."

"The druid Halsin had been researching them with his apprentice, Nettie. It's why it was imperative for me to infiltrate the goblin camp. I needed Halsin to tell me everything he knows about these creatures—cure me, if he could." I tuck the parasite back into my pocket. "When we entered the goblin camp, the tadpole's psionic pull alone elevated us to True Souls. All True Souls are infected, but blissfully unaware of it." I catch the pity in her eyes and give a mournful sigh. "I didn't hesitate to lean into my new role. Anything to find a cure for my people."

Bex stands in stunned silence before walking over to a piece of broken hull, gingerly pressing her fingers against it. "This is a lot to take in." She closes her fist and taps the hull before looking back at me. "So, if Halsin didn't have the information you needed, you wouldn't be helping the Grove?"

I'm quiet, weighing the question in my mind. "If I change, I become a thrall in an army that threatens worlds beyond our fathom."

She seems to stiffen at the implication.

"I can't let that happen."

She scratches the back of her head, and comsb her hair back with her fingers. "But then... why are you trying to stop the Rite?"

"Bex."

Her eyes narrow, her tail giving a lash. She waits.

"Because it must be done."

Her posture settles. With the softest sigh she takes my hand in hers, wrapping her fingers around mine. She looks exhausted.

"I know my words bring little comfort." I say, fingers flexing in her grasp. "But I hope the respect I offer you makes up for it in some small way."

She gives me a subtle laugh. "The respect you've given me is the most comforting thing you could offer."

My eyes linger on her, as we stand quietly in each other's presence.

"Bex..."

She finally matches my gaze for the briefest moment, and I step closer. Her hand gently presses against my chest and her touch causes my breath to catch in my throat.

"Thank you for trusting me, Vash."

Her fingers drag slowly across my tunic as she turns and walks toward camp. I watch her go before her cadence slows and she glances back at me.

No words escape her, but her eyes have command over my body, and I follow.