''Sir, look," Forghel said, running up beside Khorrl.
The captain turned and looked back the way his aide was pointing, and his heart sank. The immense spider was positioned in the middle of the street, rearing up on its back legs, while its front appendages fluttered oddly in the air. A bluish line appeared in the air, as tall as the spider itself, and widened into an odd-shaped field of blue light. A second spider stepped through the magical opening, equally as large as the first. It had somehow summoned a mate.
* * *
Ryld was growing tired. He didn't know how much longer he could defend himself and Halisstra from the crowd of gray dwarves that slowly, inexorably, pressed in at them from all sides. He knew he was running out of room to retreat. Soon, he would find his back against a wall, and there would be no more running.
Fire began to spill from above. The clay pots exploded all around him, and he knew it was only a matter of time before one of them found him.
Well, this is a fine way to go, the weapons master thought, ducking beneath a badly overswung hammer strike and cutting the duergar across his midsection. Backed into a corner in an alley, trapped like a rat in a cage, and burned to death. Well, you wanted to get out of Menzoberranzan and find a little excitement, fool. I guess this will have to do.
Surprisingly, the gray dwarves backed away from him, maintaining their guard as they retreated, and Ryld let them go. He was breathing heavily, his lungs feeling scorched from the acrid smoke that was all around him. A dozen or more insignificant gashes covered his arms and torso, burning like the stings of a viper.
If they don't want to fight, I'm not going to argue with them, he thought gratefully.
He kept his sword level as a threat but risked a quick glance up to the rooftops.
Sure enough, just as Halisstra had claimed, more of the foul dwarves had stretched netting across the way, preventing the two of them from escaping by that route. Ryld was certain he could pick them off with his crossbow but not if he had to dodge ground troops and firepots at the same time. He saw the duergar overhead hurl several more of the horrid things down, but instead of aiming at him, they threw wide, so that the bursts of flame erupted between Ryld and his foes on the ground.
They're trying to seal us in, the weapons master realized. Trap us and kill us without risk to themselves.
He was judging the width of the flames, trying to determine if he could leap across them without burning himself too much, when he realized that Halisstra was speaking to him.
"Ryld," the priestess was saying. "Ryld, I can get us out of here."
The warrior glanced over at her, ignoring the taunts and jeers from above as the duergar took their time, savoring the moment before dispatching the dark elves.
"How?" he asked.
"I can cast a spell," Halisstra replied, "A magical doorway that will get us out of here, but you've got to buy me some time!"
"Ah, Pharaun's favorite trick," Ryld replied. He eyed the low wall that was behind the two of them, and he pointed to it.
"Get over that," he said. "We'll be better protected from above and can decide what to do."
Without waiting for her to follow, Ryld levitated upward until he was at a height just above the top of the wall, which had originally been slightly over his head. He quickly stepped across it to the other side and lowered himself once again. Halisstra, her shield arm hanging limply at her side, was only a heartbeat behind him. She tumbled into the corner with a grunt of pain as Ryld watched for pursuit.
When the duergar saw where the two drow were going, they began yelling in rage. From above, they began to fling more of the firepots down, trying to target the two dark elves, but Ryld pulled Halisstra inside the protection of the covering that hung partially out over the enclosed area. There was a door in the wall to his back, but it appeared stout. He tried it, and as he suspected, it was locked. Several of the firepots had landed inside the little courtyard, but the warrior and the priestess were far enough back away from them that they were in no danger.
"Won't they ever run out of those things?" Halisstra complained as Ryld saw a hand grasp the top of the wall.
Pulling out his crossbow, he waited until a head appeared then fired, catching the gray dwarf directly in the face. The humanoid shrieked and toppled backward.
"Eventually," he replied, reloading, "but let's not stick around to see how long."
"Where should we go? We want to be able to find the others again, right?"
"Yes. We need to get to—"
Ryld cut his words off short as several screams erupted from the other side of the wall. It was only then that he realized that firepots were raining down on that side rather than on theirs.
"What the—?" he said, and scooted forward to the edge of the overhang.
Cautiously, he peered up to the roofline. It appeared that the duergar who had been there were gone. Then, in an instant, he spotted a drow form rise up just long enough to fling another firepot down before ducking out of sight again. Ryld began to laugh.
"What is it?" Halisstra asked, moving up beside the Master of Melee-Magthere. "What do you see?"
"It's Valas," Ryld replied, pointing. "He's taken care of our snipers for us."
Ryld placed his fingers m his mouth and gave a shrill whistle. A similar whistle emanated from above a moment later.
"He knows we know he's up there," Ryld said. "Let's save your spell for later and go join him."
Halisstra nodded.
"Before we go," the weapons master said, crouching beside the priestess, "let me see your arm."
He examined the bolt for a just a moment. It was sunk deep enough in her shoulder that he would have to force it out the other side.
"This will have to wait until Quenthel can heal it. However . . ."
Before she could protest, Ryld snapped the protruding end off.
"Goddess!" Halisstra grunted as she jerked from the pain, squinting her eyes shut.
She reached her other hand up, but Ryld grabbed her arm and held it away.
"Don't," the warrior said. "You'll only make it bleed,"
Grimacing, Halisstra shook her head.
"No," she said. "I can heal it. Just let me—"
She pulled her arm free and reached inside her piwafwi, producing a wand.
"Push it out," she said, taking the broken end of the bolt and biting down on it.
Ryld complied, bracing her shoulder with one hand and preparing to shove the head of the bolt through with the other. In one clean, quick motion, the shaft was out. Before she could jerk away from him, Ryld pulled it completely free.
Halisstra sobbed once, then she spat out the splintered shaft, waved the wand, and uttered a trigger phrase. The bleeding stopped instantly and the wound closed. The priestess sagged back and closed her eyes in relief.
"Let's go," Ryld said, reaching out to help her to her feet, "before those fires burn out and the grays are over this wall."
"Wait," Halisstra said, and produced a second wand from inside her piwafwi. "Let's make it a little harder for them to shoot at us."
Ryld arched his brow at her, puzzled. Quickly, she invoked the power of the wand twice, and the two dark elves were completely invisible.
Ryld reached out and found the priestess. He took her hand.
"So we don't get separated," he explained.
Together, the two drow rose upward, watching as duergar alternated between scattering from the firepots that Valas was hurling down on them with deadly accuracy and firing ineffectually at the scout with their crossbows. As they neared the top, Ryld pulled out Splitter and sliced through the netting, parting the material easily with the enchanted greatsword. He and Halisstra passed through the hole and settled to the rooftop near where Valas knelt, peering over the edge.
"We owe you one," Ryld said to the scout as he moved away from the edge to avoid any stray crossbow bolts.
The roof was covered with the bodies of a good half dozen gray dwarves.
Valas glanced over to where the warrior's voice had come from but didn't react otherwise.
"I saw you come down here and figured I'd try to catch up by coming the long way around," he said, rising up to throw the last of his firepots. "When I saw these cretins here, laughing and throwing these things down, I knew you were in trouble."
"Let's get out of here," Ryld suggested. "Do you know where the others are?"
"I think they got up on the roofs on the other side of the square," the scout replied, dusting off his hands and backing away from the edge. "We'll find them. The wizard will be all flash and glory when they run into something, so we can track them that way."
Ryld turned to follow the scout.
"Too true," he said.
The three dark elves made their way across the rooftops until they came to another side street a little farther ahead of where they'd originally been separated. Valas climbed down the side of a gaudily decorated shop that had plenty of hand- and footholds, while Ryld and Halisstra descended by their customary levitating method. By the time they were on the ground, the invisibility magic had expired.
"Lead on," Ryld said to Valas, gesturing, and the scout took the fore as the three of them prowled through the street, making their way back toward the main thoroughfare.
The ground began to vibrate.
"What in the Underdark?" Ryld muttered, steadying himself as the street bounced beneath his feet. "What is that?"
"I don't know, but it's big," Valas replied. He looked over at Halisstra. "Do you have any clue?" he asked her.
Halisstra shook her head, but she had a worried look on her face.
"Let's not stay and find out," she said.
Valas nodded and proceeded out into the main street. Peering in both directions, he had to reach a hand out to stabilize himself, for the quivering had grown stronger.
"Oh, no," Halisstra said, her voice stricken.
Ryld looked over at her and asked, "What? What is it?"
"Oh, by the Dark Mother," the priestess said, putting a hand to her mouth in terror. "They summoned one."
"Summoned what?" Ryld demanded.
"One of those," Valas said from the warrior's other side, and when Ryld turned to look, he saw the scout pointing.
The weapons master turned to peer in the direction his companion indicated and saw a spider the size of the entire square clambering into view. He sucked in his breath, feeling his knees go weak.
"Oh, no."
* * *
Pharaun knew that with his magically enhanced boots he could easily outrun the other drow, and that's precisely what he did. The wizard sprinted ahead, careful to maintain his balance on the quivering web street as the colossal spider pursued them. He had but a handful of spells left, and there was little if anything left in his repertoire that might affect the huge arachnid. A far better bet, he decided, was to misdirect the creature, perhaps conjure an obscuring mist that would allow him and the others to hide and sneak away while the spider was distracted—but he didn't dare stop to weave the spell.
"Pharaun!" someone shouted from ahead, and the wizard glanced over in time to see Ryld, Valas, and Halisstra standing in the mouth of a side street, gawking slack-jawed at the massive spider behind him.
He veered in their direction and darted into the shadow of the alley. Only then did he stop to catch his breath.
"I've never . . . seen anything . . . like it," the wizard panted. "Danifae called it a ... guardian spider."
"Yes," Halisstra said softly, still staring at it. "The matron mothers must have called it—Oh, by the Dark Mother . . . it's summoning another one!"
Pharaun turned to see what Halisstra was talking about, looking past Jeggred and Quenthel as they came into view, running for all they were worth, with Danifae limping behind them. The spider had stopped pursuing them, and was rearing up on its hind legs, flailing about with its front limbs in the air. The wizard gasped when an enormous gate opened up in front of the spider, as large as the creature itself. Through the hazy murk of the bluish-white portal, the wizard watched, aghast, as a second massive spider clambered through and onto the street. The portal shut quickly behind it.
"Oh, no," Quenthel murmured. "How many times can they do that?"
"I don't know," Halisstra said from somewhere behind the wizard.
"Once is too many," Pharaun said. "We've got to get out of here."
He spun away from the massive arachnids, ready to sprint in the opposite direction.
"Wait!" Halisstra cried, pointing.
The mage glanced back once more.
Danifae was still limping badly and had not been able to keep up. As the second spider passed through the portal, it appeared on the opposite side of the battle captive. She was trapped between the two creatures, and was sprawled in the middle of the street as well.
"She's hurt!" Halisstra cried.
She took a tentative step forward to go to the aid of her attendant.
"Don't be a fool," Ryld said, grabbing the priestess by the arm as Jeggred and Quenthel joined them. "You'll only get yourself killed, too."
Halisstra jerked herself free and took another step out into the open.
"I don't care," she said. "I'm going to help her."
With that, the First Daughter of House Melarn dashed across the open area to where her servant was struggling to regain her feet.
The spiders sensed the movement, and both of them began to close in.
SEVENTEEN
Pharaun cursed and took a step after Halisstra, thinking he might have to magically cloak the two of them in order to save them.
"Don't," Quenthel ordered. "Danifae was unlucky enough to be wounded. I will not exhaust either resources or time saving her. Let's go while the spiders are distracted."
"But—" Pharaun began, but when he saw the look in the high priestess's eyes, he shook his head and stepped back into the alley. He regretted the idea of losing them—or at least, losing the beautiful Danifae. "Very well," he said.
"I'm not leaving," Ryld said, and he turned to sprint out into the street, following Halisstra.
"No!" Quenthel shouted at the Master of Melee-Magthere, but it was too late. Ryld was already ten steps away, removing Splitter from its sheath on his back as he charged toward the closest of the two spiders. "Damn you all to the Abyss!" Quenthel raged.
Shrugging, Pharaun turned and followed the weapons master.
"Go after them!" Quenthel growled from behind the wizard.
Pharaun could only assume she was talking to him, though why she was ordering him to do something he had already made up his mind to accomplish, he couldn't fathom. Soon enough, though, the draegloth flashed past him, sprinting down the street in the direction he also traveled.
The mage pulled up a few yards from the closest spider, watching as Halisstra reached her servant and knelt down. Somehow, along the way, she had fumbled a wand free from her cloak, and she quickly utilized it, causing both drow to disappear. The spider, looming over the spot where the pair had just been visible, snapped down once, clacking its mandibles together in obvious frustration. The beast began moving its head back and forth, trying to find its prey. In the distance, the second spider had turned its attention to something else. Fortunately, it was not coming their way—at least for the moment.
Pharaun, of course, could still see the two females, for he was aware of the magic they radiated. It appeared to him that Halisstra was dragging Danifae to the side, out of harm's way, but the spider somehow sensed where the two females were, and it dipped its head again, missing a direct bite but coming close enough with its attack that it grazed Halisstra, knocking her down. Shivering in delight at having felt its prey, the spider raised up for another attack.
Ryld had almost reached the creature, and his long legs covered the remaining distance quickly. He leaped through the air, Splitter raised high overhead. As the warrior sailed past the hindmost leg of the giant spider, he swung the greatsword around with all his might, cutting cleanly through the appendage. Black blood spurted everywhere, and the spider reared up, kicking with its ruined leg and barely missing the weapons master.
At nearly the same time, Jeggred launched himself into the air toward another leg, grabbing a hold of the spider and climbing upward. Pharaun could see the draegloth's claws extended, and the fiend used them to great effect as he quickly ascended the creatures limb. Fearlessly, Jeggred slashed and clawed his way to the spiders body and began to climb the slick black abdomen, working his way higher and higher.
The effect of the two attacks was instantaneous. The spider jerked away from its intended meal and spun around, looking to bite whatever tormented it. Its one ruined leg twitched erratically, but otherwise the arachnid lost none of its stability. Ryld had rolled into a crouch after his sweeping sword strike, and he had Splitter up, ready to fend off the spider as it maneuvered to face him.
Pharaun shook his head and considered what he could do to aid in the fight. There was really only one choice. Most of his spells were gone, and the few remaining to him were not offensive in nature. He reached inside his piwafwi and produced a wand, a single segment of iron that was about as long as his forearm. Extending it outward, he uttered a trigger phrase and activated the magic in the wand. Instantly, a sizzling bolt of electrical energy leaped forward from the end of the wand, arcing through the air and crackling across the surface of the spider's head. The discharge caused the spider to recoil, chattering and quivering, from Ryld's position. As the last remnants of the bolt dissipated, Pharaun could see that the spider's leathery hide and multifaceted eyes were smoldering.
Pharaun started when he heard the twang of a bowstring strumming, and he glanced down to his right. Valas was there, kneeling, firing off a short bow. The wizard had seen the diminutive scout carrying the weapon all along, but up until then, Valas had apparently had little cause to use it. The Bregan D'aerthe scout lined up and released four shots in the time it took Pharaun to assess the situation, and his aim was true. The arrows embedded themselves in the nearest eye of the spider, one after another, puncturing the many-sided orb like a massive pincushion. The spider thrashed about in response.
At the same time, Ryld was on his feet again, running with the spider, looking to get in another strike. This time, however, the warrior was not so lucky. As the jerking, pain-crazed creature spasmed along the street, one of its legs swept the warrior off his feet, sending the burly drow tumbling. Ryld landed hard, losing his greatsword in the process.
The massive arachnid was skittering straight toward Pharaun and Valas, and the wizard could see Jeggred on top of it, sitting astride the thing's huge neck, slashing madly with his claws and flinging gobbets of flesh and black blood everywhere as the fiend sawed into the spider's head. The spider reared and jerked, trying to shake Jeggred from its body, but the draegloth clung tenaciously to it, sinking his claws deeply into the beast's flesh to maintain his hold.
The wizard took an involuntary step backward as the onrushing spider closed the distance quickly, its rapid steps making the web street buck and bounce. Raising his wand, the mage fired off a second lightning bolt, letting it crackle over the spider's head, knowing Jeggred would be resistant to its destructive power.
The electrical discharge obviously hurt the massive beast—Pharaun could clearly see scorch marks on its shiny black skin—but it didn't slow a whit. It ambled drunkenly toward the mage and the scout even as Valas pumped a dozen arrows into it.
Goddess! thought Pharaun, backing up another step.
He wanted to turn and run, but he couldn't make himself stop watching the charging creature. Valas was back-stepping too, still firing arrows, but they were both in the spider's sight and it was clearly targeting them as the cause of its woes.
Just as the spider reached the pair of drow and snapped downward, Ryld leaped into view, swinging Splitter in a huge arc and smashing the blade savagely across the creature's face. The lightning bolt had obviously bought the weapons master enough time to retrieve his greatsword.
The arachnid jerked backward, more blood dripping freely from the fresh wound, but it was not to be so easily deterred. It snapped at Ryld once, twice, and the warrior fended the attacks off with his greatsword, laboring to keep the twitching mandibles away from him.
Pharaun scrambled backward again, happy enough to let the broad-shouldered weapons master bear the brunt of the combat. Pharaun raised his wand for a third lightning strike, hoping that would fell the beast, but before he could activate the wand the spider snapped down at Ryld a third time, and the warrior's luck ran out.
The spider's mandibles closed tightly around the Master of Melee-Magthere, who grunted in pain and nearly lost his grip on Splitter. The creature hoisted him into the air, squeezing its captured prey tightly, trying to crush the life out him. Ryld arched his back in agony and began desperately hacking at the mandibles with his sword.
Pharaun hesitated to expend his magical bolts with Ryld in the way, and Valas likewise seemed at a loss, sighting down a drawn-back arrow but faltering. There was no clear shot. Even so, Jeggred continued to hew into the spider's flesh. The draegloth's arms were completely coated with sticky black fluid.
Why won't the blasted thing die? Pharaun thought in dismay.
He was tempted to jolt the creature despite the presence of his companions then he remembered his other wand. Reacting quickly, the wizard managed to fish the second item from inside his piwafwi just as the spider stumbled into both him and Valas. The scout went sprawling, rolling into a tumble several yards away, while Pharaun managed to avoid the worst of the blow by leaping out of the way at the last moment, aided by his magical boots.
Landing to one side, the wizard flicked the wand at the spider and uttered the trigger word, sending a host of glowing projectiles streaming from its tip directly at the spider's eyes. The five missiles swerved unerringly around Ryld and struck the creature's eyes in rapid succession. The great spider flinched away, opening its mandibles to chatter in pain, dropping Ryld in the process.
The weapons master fell limply toward the ground but somehow still retained consciousness enough to halt his own descent, drifting the last couple of feet to the pavement. The spider, meanwhile, reared up, its face a bloody mess, Jeggred still slashing at the top of its head.
There's no way it can withstand much more, the wizard thought.
"Finish it," Quenthel said, pointing past the spider. "Kill it and be done with it."
Pharaun could see the second spider coming their way, so he quickly discharged a second round of screaming projectiles from the wand. When they struck home, the spider finally collapsed in the middle of the street, nearly landing atop the still-prone Ryld. The creature didn't move, though its legs and mandibles spasmed awkwardly.
"Withdraw!" Quenthel demanded. "The other one is coming."
Pharaun ran to help Valas get Ryld to his feet, and the trio scurried as fast as they could back into the alley. Jeggred leaped down from his perch atop the dead arachnid and joined them. They all reached the protection of the side street simultaneously, and Pharaun turned back to see what had become of the pair from House Melarn. Farther up the street, the wizard could see the magical emanations of Halisstra and Danifae. They were walking toward him as quickly as the limping drow could move.
"They're almost here," Pharaun said, gesturing back to where he knew only he could see the two. "Keep still," the Master of Sorcere warned. "It might sense vibrations."
The two groups waited, apprehensive. Halisstra and Danifae stopped moving, pressing against the wall of the closest building as the second spider came closer. Pharaun slipped back into the shadows.
As the beast passed, Pharaun prepared to cast the spell he'd considered earlier, one that would bring about a heavy mist, should they need it, but they did not. As the giant arachnid moved off, the vibrations grew calmer. Pharaun stole another glance and saw that the two females were drawing closer.
"You would openly defy me?" Quenthel snarled, slapping a still-woozy Ryld across the cheek.
Jeggred rose up to his full height and moved to stand beside the high priestess, backing her while she meted out her discipline.
Ryld staggered back from the blow, and a trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, but he didn't flinch from the high priestess's gaze.
"They aren't so expendable as you might think," he said weakly but with his chin in the air. "Give them a chance to prove themselves before you abandon them. It might be you she's rushing back to aid next time."
Jeggred growled and took a step forward, but Quenthel held up her hand in a signal for him to be still. The draegloth glowered at Ryld but obeyed his mistress.
"Your days of questioning my authority are nigh ended," Quenthel said, turning to face both Ryld and Pharaun together. "When we get out of this city, there will be some changes. I am tired of this."
As if to mimic the Mistress of the Academy's foul mood, the snakes of her whip began to shimmy back and forth, hissing in vexation.
"All I say is that you are too quick to dismiss them," Ryld insisted. "They are more valuable than you give them credit for."
"He's right," Pharaun said, "Halisstra has demonstrated some resourcefulness. Don't discount them simply because they are not from Menzoberranzan."
Quenthel scowled at the two of them in turn then drew in Valas with her gaze for good measure. Halisstra and Danifae reached their position, still invisible.
"I am sorry," Halisstra said upon arriving, "but I could not abandon her. She still has a certain value to me."
Quenthel snorted but waved her hand in dismissal, as though minimizing the entire episode.
"You are aware of the conditions under which you will be permitted to stay with us. Keep up, or fall behind. We will not suffer you to slow us down."
She just doesn't want to let on how much we defy her, Pharaun realized. She's pretending that remaining and waiting was her own act of generosity. The wizard smirked to himself.
Halisstra let Danifae down and produced a wand from her belongings. She waved it over the battle captive's leg and murmured a phrase that the wizard didn't quite catch, but then he saw that the puncture wound had healed. The dark elf moved to Ryld to administer a similar healing effort to him, but Quenthel intervened.
"Where did you get that?" the high priestess demanded.
Halisstra started, not expecting such a venomous reaction to her charity.
"It's mine," she began to explain. "I brought it—"
"Not anymore, it isn't. Give it to me," Quenthel insisted.
Halisstra stared at the high priestess but made no move to hand over her magical trinket.
"If you don't want Jeggred to shred you to several pieces right now, hand that wand to me."
Slowly, her eyes burning with anger, Halisstra passed the wand to Quenthel.
The Mistress of Arach-Tinilith examined the wand carefully, nodding in satisfaction. She turned and used it on Ryld herself. As the divine power of the wand flowed into the warrior, his worst injuries closed, though several small scratches and bruises remained. When she was satisfied with the weapons master's condition, she tucked the wand away in her own belongings.
"Now," Quenthel said, turning her attention back on Halisstra, "we will have no more of this wasteful use of curing magic taking place. I will be the one who decides when and if a member of this group receives divine aid, is that clear?" Halisstra nodded.
"Do you have any mote magic secreted away that I should know about? Believe me, I will know if you do."
Drisinil's daughter sighed and nodded. She produced an additional wand and handed it over.