F O U R (68 page)

"Please, don't harp on the obvious. It makes for a dreary conversation. Whereexactly are we, by the way? Where's the nearest exit?"

"I don't know. They gave me a knock on the head before they carried us here. I

think we'r

"So we won'e up inside the cavern ceiling."t encounter a window or balcony unless we descend a ways, but

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War Of The Spider Queen

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we might find a door opening on a tunnel."R

yld scavenged the dead rogue's  weapons and
 
piwafwi.
 
The cloak was much too small for him, but would provide some protection nonetheless. The mail

shirt, alas, he simply couldn't wear.

"I'"No gear for me?" Pharaun asked.m  the fighter, and I'll be standing in front."

"Well, when you put it that way  ..."

"Let'

The masters stood up. Rs go."balance. They started for the dooryld felt dizzy, swayed, but then recovered his h

e

blare of a trumpet and a white light, too, but it was neither, and something happened. It was like tmaster didn't know what it was, only that it froze him in place u. The weapons

ntil it faded

away."What just happened?" he asked.

it even if one isn'"The Call," Pharaun replied. "This close t a goblin. The slaves are rising."to the source, one can vaguely sense

Richard Lee Byers

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War Of The Spider Queen

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Dissolution

C  h a p t  e r

T   W   E   N   T   Y

O   N   E

When the instructors rounded the corneraway. Well armed, the conspirator was  striding purposefully along, pe

,  Pharaun saw a rogue about five yards rhaps  to join one of the assassination squads that would descend on the city once the goblin rebellion plunged it into chaos.He had good reflexes. As soon as he spotted the fugitives, he reached for thewall, no doubt to conceal himself behind a curtain of darkness.Pharaun lifted his hands to cast darts  of force—he had two such spells remaining, neither requiring a focal object—but Ryld was quicker. He shot his hand crossbow. The quarrel plunged into the renegade's  eye, and he fell.

The masters skulked up to the corpse and crouched down to examine it.

Pharaun was hardly surprised yet disappointed to find that the dead warriorhadn'

The Master of Sorcere hadn't been carrying any spell ingredients.t lost faith in himsoverconfidence coupled with ambition had  lured him  and Relf, but he realized that yld into a desperatesituation. They were stuck in  the midst of their enemies. Withoutt                               the proper riggers,  most  of  the  wizard's  magic  was  unavailable  to  him,  andmaster was feeling the effects of the  blow on the head and  Syrzan' the weapons sassault. Most people wouldn't have noticed, but Pharaun, who knew him well, psionic could see subtle indications in the way he moved.

Well, at least Ryld wasn't bored.

Pharaun stole the dead male's  hand crossbowinsignia of a lesser House Pharaun assumed  was enchanted in the same way as all , dirk, and
 
piwafwi
—including the the others. The mantle wasn't  a bad fit buthidden pockets to which he  was accustomed. At least, he hoped, he' felt strange without the weight of the d  be able to levitate. Ryld exchanged the rapier he'd  been wearing for the fallen drow'sbroadsword.

The Master of Melee-Magthere cocked his crossbow and loaded  a fresh shaft in

Pharaun and Rthe channel. The fugitives stalked on  down the hallway, and the walls screamed. yld screwed up their faces at  the painful loudness. Blue sparks of

Richard Lee Byers

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War Of The Spider Queen

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Dissolution

dischar

power fouled the airged magic showered from the walls  and ceiling, and a hot, raw stink of .

through the citadel.The screech stopped as suddenly as it had started, though it  left echoes sobbing

"Y"Alarm spell?" said Ryld, trotting onward.

would have dispelled it, but—"es," Pharaun said, racing to catch up. His ears were ringing. "Had I seen it, I "But as it stands, the rogues will be  coming for us." Pharaun frowned. "Unl

ess

they're too busy getting ready to murder priestesses."

here and reported their plans to the C"No, they'll realize they have to catch ouncil, it would ruin everything for them."us at any cost. If a spy slipped away from "You're right, curse it."

The masters had been moving stealthily  and therefore slowly ever since

backtracking and detourdeparting their cell, and they would haing whenever they sensed thve to sneak along even more warilyeir enemies were near. Th , atwould make it easier to get lost. The l

according to a defensive strategy still occasionally employed in Menzoberranzan. ong-dead nobles had built their fortress t

pose a problem. He'The place was something of a maze. If a d  know every turn and dperson had grown up there, that wouldn'ead end, but outsiders had a difficult time moving about. Outsiders like Pharaun  and R

Perhaps, the wizard thought, the renegades will have trouble navigating ayld, who had yet to find an exit. s

well.

Though they'd  squatted in the castle, they might not know it as well as theoriginal occupants had. It w

as possible  they'd  simply familiarized themselves

with a few key areas and primary passageways  and left the rest of the allegedlcursed and haunted keep pretty much alone.                y

of time until the hunters stumbled

onto their preyStill, Pharaun knew it was only a matter , and he was correct. He and Ryld were traversing a gallerhung with musty phosphorescent tapestries  when something rustled behind themy

.

The masters pivoted. Silent in t

appeared behind them and were leveling their crossbows.heir drow boots, half a dozen warriors had R

yld crouched and lifted a fold of his cloak in  front of his face. Pharaun copiedthe move. T

wo arrowheads plunged through his makeshift shield, which

apparently wasn't  as powerfully enchanted as
 
thepiwafwi
 
Houndaer had taken from him. One quarrel hung up in the w

and grazed the mage'         eave. The other hurtled right through s  shoulder,  stinging him and slicing a shallow cut.  He prayed it wasn't  poisoned.

dropped their crossbows and were charHearing a ragged clatter,  Pharaun uncovered his eyes. The rogues had ging. They'd  already dashed too close for him to employ the incantation he would have preferred. Instead h

e cast darts

of light and dropped two renegades. He discharged his crossbow and missed a third.

R

broadsword flashed back and forth, thyld bellowed a war cry and sprang forwarrusting, cutting, and parrying with the d to meet the foes remaining. The

small,  precise  movements  that  characterized  true  mastery.  Pharaun

forward with his dirk in hand but never               edged

died before he could advance into range.  got a chance to use  it. The rogues all Pharaun took stock of himself and  decided he didn't have any venom in hi

s

system, but R"What is it?" the wizard asked.yld groaned, made a face, and clutched at his temple.

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