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The Ghaik staresd at her. Its eyes were hateful. Its mind is sharp. Its power - its hunger - is frightening.
A’ladyss did not relent.
“H’taka!” She cried - her hands tight around her longsword and scimitar. She struck with a blazing blade and righteous fury, cleaving at the beast.
It shrieked. It writhed. It lashed out - a desperate attempt to satiate. The mental shockwave sent her flying. And when her eyes opened, she could not move.
The beast stared at her with… contempt. So clearly understandable, so clearly Illithid. It languidly approached, intent on finally fueling its rotten body with her brain… but it was stopped.
A silver sword ran it through. A fist filled with psionic might repelled its tentacles. She knew those strikes - she knows those people.
Prince Orpheus leapt from her side, shielding her left; Lae’zel retrieveed her sword and shielded her right.
One side, her Prince. Her friend. Someone she had given so much to - and who had given so much in return.
And on the other, her beloved. Her comrade-in-arms and the source of her bruises. Someone who she wished to defend no matter what.
She rose, standing with them against the beast. It growled, and charged. Its fury multiplied, it lashed out with a psionic scream akin to a thousand daggers. But she endured.
They endured.
The Githyanki endured.
Orpheus leapt first - his legs striking the Illithid’s chest and knocking it back. Lae’zel followed up - her Silver Sword, once Voss’ own weapon, carving the beast’s belly. Finally, herself - A’ladyss discarded her blades, drawing her bow and loosing one arrow.
One shot. One kill. One dart to end them all.
It missed. Or, rather, it hit nothing at all - the Illithid was gone.
And so were Lae’zel and Orpheus.
The sounds of merriment and joy returned. A’ladyss stared into the mirror of the camp as the celebration Withers had invited her and Lae’zel to simply went on.
Closing the dark orbs she called eyes, her astrally-projected form slowly floated closer to her friends. Her tentacles shifting slightly, her mind primed for conversation.
She sometimes asked herself - was it worth it? Was thwarting the Grand Design and saving Orpheus truly worth her sacrifice?
But then, she looked at the friends she had made. At the stars she had travelled to. To her Prince, her love, her bonds. Things her fate could never wash away.
And she finally answered - smiling as far as her horrifying mouth would allow her.
“Yes.”