The Heat of the Moment

Prologue

It is so bright.

The sounds of the wind dancing through leaves, birds singing their early morning songs, and a wayward cricket somewhere nearby chirped in the ear of a smoldering tiefling. Karlach dared not open her eyes to end this beautiful, vivid dream. She could feel the sunlight that sweetly dappled her cheeks as it filtered gently through the trees above; and for the first time in almost a decade, she remembered what it was like to breath in fresh air.

She let her lungs fill slowly, deeply, over and over again as she lay there with her eyes still closed. The ground felt deliciously cool underneath her tired and battered body-ten years of the blood war having ravaged it well beyond recognition of that silly and stupid girl that Gortash betrayed all those years ago. Eyes clamped tightly shut, she refused to let go of this lovely and bitter dream, the engine in her chest sputtering and whirring away painfully as it always did when she was upset. She could feel the heat of that damnable infernal engine in her chest threatening to set her bedroll and precious little camp supplies ablaze as she fought to control her emotions. Her eyebrows knit together, pointed teeth biting down on her lower lip in concentration as she tried to savor every precious second and commit it to memory before she would have to wake up to the nightmare that is Avernus. To the hell that she fought night and day, swinging her great-axe to the tune of the devil Zariel's demands. Back to wearing a collar and a very short leash, and to living a life that was sold by someone she used to think of as found family.

It's time to finish this sweet lie, and to return to the life that is not mine.

Sighing deeply, the one-horned tiefling opened her eyes and was nearly blinded by the dazzling morning sun. If she were told this very moment that she had been blessed by the holy light of Lethander, she would have believed the speaker without a second thought.

The sky was a brilliant shade of blue, lazy clouds drifting along as if there were nothing better to do. Golden rays of sunlight kissed her skin and the grass moved gently in the breeze, tickling her face. The barbarian was too stunned to make a sound, staring wide-eyed at the verdant forest surrounding her. Sitting up, she felt something wet on her cheeks and dripping down onto her hands - she reached up and wiped her face with her palms and realized that she was crying. Sitting there, before she was able to process another thought, a loud, bellowing yell escaped from her chest and raced up into the sky. Karlach screamed into the wilderness with all of her victory, pain, anguish, anger, and glorious joy. She had made it out of the Hells, she was free, and she swore right then and there that as long as she breathed she would never, ever go back.

Diana gasped as she startled awake, sucking fresh air too quickly into her abused lungs and launching into a fit of hoarse coughing. She could still taste the acrid air of the hells on her tongue, the smell of sulfur and ash rooted into her sinuses. There was a high pitched ringing in her ears, causing her to raise her hands to her temples as her skull pounded. The world was wrong - too bright, wreckage and flames scattered around her as she recalled the ship falling from the sky after the fight with between the devils and the mindflayers. She recalled having just reached the transponder, forcing the links together just as a crimson dragon tore its way into the hull - a tunnel of flame had erupted from its maw and effectively sterilized everything within range. The black-haired tiefling had no understanding of how she was still alive and breathing, the last thing she remembered being a dislodged piece of rubble knocking her clear out of the ship, forcing her into a free fall - the ground rising to meet her faster than she could comprehend. Blessedly, she had fallen unconscious before she could meet the ground with enough impact to make her very memory a bloody stain upon the scorched earth.

Diana staggered to her feet, tail sweeping behind her to counter balance as she lurched forward, lights dancing in her vision as something squirmed just behind her right eye. Turning to the side quickly, she vomited bile onto the sand and narrowly avoided soiling her worn leather boots. The world spun as she recalled with abject horror, images of that thing, the mindflayer, lifting a tadpole up to the inner corner of one of her ruby red eyes and allowed it to burrow its way in.

Just as she thought she was about to wretch again, she caught sight of movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned and focused down the narrow stretch of destroyed beach and spotted her - that half-elf called Shadowheart. Memories of helping her escape her pod and then fighting their way to the hull of the ship flitted across her mind's eye. Making her way over to her, Diana worried her lower lip with her pointed teeth as she surveyed the other woman for injuries. Her eyes landed on the strange multi-faced artifact clutched tightly in her pale hand, a vice grip with whitened knuckles even in her unconscious state. She tilted her head as she thought of next steps, also wondering how this other woman made it out of the crash in one piece - the whole situation didn't make any sort of sense; it was almost laughable. Shaking her head to dislodge her racing thoughts, Diana crouched down and gently shook the half-elf, watching her dark bangs move to frame her face in the gentle breeze off coming off the water.

Shadowheart groaned as her eyes fluttered open, peering up at the light red tiefling who seemed to be looking down at her with a lot of concern. She sat up slowly, checking herself for any injuries and surveying the wreckage of the ship with an incredulous look. Smoldering ashes danced in the gentle wind like dark snowflakes, and smoke rose from the crash site like a massive column that could likely be seen for miles. Who knows what could be heading their way at this very moment to either bring them back where they escaped from, or take them to someone else as prisoners. She turned to focus those piercing dark eyes on the shorter woman in front of her - noticing how different she looked in the pure light of day. She seemed smaller, her dark features more delicate - however, still held the same look of determination in her eyes just as she had when she heard her begging for help and ignoring the jabs of that damn Githyanki to leave her behind. Her eyes traced the gentle sweep of her ashen-black horns that ended in crimson points, seeming to frame the high ponytail of cascading black curls, still clinging to their shape despite all the events that have taken place to dishevel them.Her eyes once again surveyed their surroundings, the gravity of the situation sinking into the pit of her stomach like a stone. "You're alive. I'm alive. How is this possible...?"She was shaken from her reverie when the tiefling spoke, voice gravely from inhaling the volcanic air from the hells.

"I was hoping you would know that." Her shoulders sank with a shrug, a lost look mirrored on her face.

Shadowheart swallowed, her mouth dry with pieces of sand stuck in the corners of her chapped lips. "I remember the ship, I remember falling...then nothing." She watched as the tiefling, Diana, she recalled, suddenly seemed to remember something and looked around bewilderedly "What Happened to our Gith friend?"