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encounter wretches whom the spirit had already overwhelmed
with the infusion
of an evil more profound than any mortal, even a dark elf, could readily bear. He
looked for some
subtle if she let it slip at all, but perhaps a brother would spot it. sign that Quenthel was growing afraid. The indication would be He didn't, and eventually Quenthel ordered her mi
and sat down to m nions to evacuate the building editate.
going on and had in a sensThe Archmage frowned. Evidently the ime responded appropriatelyperious bitch had figured out what was . But it shouldn't matter.
He'd
withstood contact with the ultim
ate essence
in the world and had taken precautions. of evil, but he was the greatest wizard In time, a sublime cruelty twisted her Quenthel enjoyed neither advantage.features. Gromph exclaim
ed in trium
for the netherspirit plainly had her in its grasp. Evidently she wasn' ph, t going to drop dead of an aneurysm
or commit suicide, but no matter: she was doomed. Her
personality erased, consumed by the compulsion to degrade and destroy, she was bound to provoke som
eone into killing her.
Then she broke the skinny white wand in two, unleashing a magic that thrust the netherspirit out of her
. Grom
quite like it. T ph, for all his knowledge, had never seen anything aking on just a hint of palpable form, his agent fled the scene.
against the wall. He cursed foullyThe Baenre wizard bolted up in his chair and threw his goblet, smashing it , and the malignancy in his words, hammethrough the black lotus-scented air ring
, made the greenish flames of the everlasting candles gutter
.
Struggling for composure, he told himself it didn't matter. He'deventually. He'd throw entity after entity at her until . . . get her
But what had happened to the netherspirit? Constrained by Gromph's commait should have kept attacking until either it toppled the pillars of Quenthel' nd,
s reason
or she destroyed it. Instead, it had run away.The mistress's unfamiliar m
agic had broken the binding—so much was clear—
but where had the creature gone? Back to its own world? Probably, but something—a slight acceleration of his hear
of his neck, perhaps—m tbeat or a subtle prickling on the back ade Gromph want to check.
netherspirit, still visible, perhaps asThe casement responded to his will. Fram tangible as smoke, half flewed in that rectangular space, the , half
bounded down one of the labyrinthine corridors of Sorcere. A defensive ward activated,
piercing the intruder with crisscrossing shaffree and charged on. A blue-gowned m ts of yellow light, but it tore itself
aster peered out the door of his sanctum,
spotted the wraith, started to conjure, and the intruder stopped him with a
of a shadowy paw sweep . The blow didn't rock the wizard backward or leave a mahe fell like a block of stone. rk, but
Gromph surmised his erstwhile agent was coming after him. Either it was
angry over its forced servitude, or Quenthel had done more than merely dissolvehis control. She'd wrested it away from him and turned the
assassin. entity into her own
Either way, the spirit represented a threat, and unfortunately, Gromph himselfdidn't know its full capabilities. Still, he had no real reason for conc
ern. His magic
was more than a match for any such entity, especially in his stronghold.
Richard Lee Byers
154
War Of The Spider Queen
Book 1
Dissolution
like water through a sieve. It scramHe watched the netherspirit flow through the black m
arble door of his office
bled over the white bone desk and headed
straight for the hidden access to his sanctum.around it, but it burst through. It hurtled up the shaft. Magic crackled purple and blue
Gromph smiled. He had the creature where he wanted it, for he'd created the
passage with defense in mind. SimThe shaft wasn't ply by focusing his will, he destroyed it.
made of matter. Still, a me
sounded through the hole in the middle of the floor as the artificial space foldetallic crashing and grinding din on itself. If the
rebellious spirit screamed, its voice was lost am
Grom ong the din.
that it was gone. Most likelyph would have enjoyed hearing it squeal, but the important thing was , the collapse had crushed it to nothing, but even if not, it had surely ejected it, m
aimed and disoriented, in some remote halfworld.
The crisis was over, and the archmage was left
transporting him only with the annoyance of self in and out of his hideaway via spell until such time as he invested the six hours necessary to r
ecreate the passage.
However, just to maintain the habit of caution that had balked a thousand
enem
The space still framies, he turned back to the window, then scowled.ed the spirit, and as far as Gromph could see, the shadowy
phosphorescence, it was casting about inthing was unharmed. Darting and wheeling through curtains of pale stronghold. the bent spaces surrounding the
Grom h didn't see how the creature could find him. Nothing could locate a
refuge hidden in a haze of scrambled time, pguiding it in. Nonetheless, the wizard hu not without the tenant in some way
pentacles adorning the marble floor rried into one of the protective golden .An instant later
, a different window their hinges. The spirit flowed through, burst inward, the casements flying from in the process resuming the form it had
worn before Gromph transformed it into the semblance of a kind of demon. It
somewhat resemb
its head, which also possessed a siled a wingless dragon with long, tauringle globular eye. The Archmage couldn'ne horns sweeping from t actually see the orb—it was one with t
he could feel its baleful regard. he inky shadow of the spirit's body—but Sli
ghtly anxious and uncertain, and all the angrier for it, Gromph"K' shouted,
rarza'q! I named, summoned, and bound you, and I am your master. By the
Prince Who Dreams in the Heart of the Void and by the Word of Naratyr, I
command you to kneel!"The netherspirit released a humid stink that somehow conveyed the e
ssence
of scornful laughterV , then it bounded forward.
ery well, Gromph thought, have it your way.
He thrust the curved blade of his ritual dagger into his belly.As he'd expected, the creature floundered in agony, but only for an inst
ant.
Anguish erupted in the Archmage's own stomach. He yanked the athame outof his flesh an instant before it would have dealt him an actual wound.
K'rarza'
i q lunged. Ignoring the residual pain in his gut, Gromph recited a brief ncantation and thrust out his arm. The air rang like a bell, and a little red ball
of fire shot from his hand. It struck t
winked out of existence. he creature and . . . nothing. The missile
The entity reached the edge of the pentacle. A barrier of azure light spranup and vanished with a tortured whine as the spirit drove though. The g
creature
dipped its head and jerked it upward, ramming the tip of one of its horns into
Richard Lee Byers
155
War Of The Spider Queen
Book 1
Dissolution
Gromph's chest.The spirit was entirely solid. If not for the Robes of the Archmage and hisother protections, the long blade of shadow stuff would surely have impaledGromph. As it was, it picked him up and tossed him across the room. In midair, he strained to throw off the levitation in his House insignia. numbing shock and activate the powers of The power woke with a sort of sickening pang, but wake it did. He floated down as light as a wisp of spider silk, avoiding what might have been a bone-shattering fall.from its sheath on his left hip, pointed As soon as he got his feet under him, he snatched a polished wooden wand bubble of pungent brown aci it, and murmured the trigger word. A plunged into the being's cyclopean mask, d swelled on the end, then hurtled at the spirit. It harm. but apparently without inflicting any him, then he spoke a single wordThe spirit charged. Gromph stood in place until his foe was nearly on top ofinstantaneously to the other end of the circular room, behind his attacker'. A minor teleportation shifted him s back.
K'rarza'q skidded to a halt and cast about in confusion. Gromph had bought spiral-cut stafhimself a second, no more. He quickly dropped the wand of acid, snatched a lifted it over his head, and began to chf of polished carnelian from its place on a rack of wizard's tools, against beings from other levels of realityant. The rod possessed special virtues . finally drive a spell through his foe's defenses.Perhaps with it in his hand, he could
The netherspirit heard his voice, turned, and hurtled toward him. This time it charged without moving its limbs, simply shifting over the distance with terrifying speed. Preserving could, Gromph picked up the pace of his the cadence and intonation as only a master wizard finish before the creature closed with him again.incantation. He very much wanted to He succeeded, though only barely. K'rarza'q was nearly within arm's reach nether spirit’when the magic blazed into existence. A lance of dazzling glare plunged into the The reeking creature dropped to the fls eye.oorshapeless clumps and tatters. Gromph smiled, and a dozen strands of spirit-stuf, its substance unraveling into freared up at him like the vipers in his cursed sister's whip.
The Archmage gripped the scarlet staff with both hands, just as a Master ofMelee-Magthere had taught him centuries before, during the six monthseverstudent mage was obliged to spend in the warriors' pyramid. Wi y implement like a common spear, he thrust one end of it into what seemed elding the to be
K'rarza'q's ragged, squirming core.
The netherspirit burst into inert flecks of gray-black slime. Gromph's protective enchantments prevented any of the He felt a certain satisfaction at his victsplatter from fouling his own person.ory, but it withered hadn't killed the object of his hatred, mere quickly because he another failed attempt, and in the process discovered he'ly preserved himself from the result of dcomprehend Quenthel's re utterly failed to
What was that bone wand? Where had sources and capacities.it come from, and how did it work? Had it merely broken his own control, or his enemy's dominance? had it summarily placed his minion under