F O U R (75 page)

Authors: JASON

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and not fret about the rest."alhoon a necropolis to rule. Still, I suppose we must concentrate on our task

"What alhoon?" she demanded.

moment."He hesitated. "It really is a long story, Mistress, and not crucial at this

Before Pharaun could begin she saw the First Sword approaching, pres"I will decide what is crucial, mage," she said. "Speak." umabto inform her that the com ly

As they started to m pany was ready to set forth.arch, she listened to the mage's tale of the undead mindflayer and its designs for Menzoberranzan. There was m

ore, she was sure, that he

was holding back, but she could always torture it out of him later.Along the way

, the teachers and students found their way littered with mangleddark elf corpses, som

e headless, some partially devoured, firelight gilding their

sightless eyes. The rich smell of blood competed with the acrid foulness of the

smoke.

Or course, no drow objected to the spectacle of violent death, but the ubiquitof y

the ravaged shapes, combined with the glare of the flames and the uncanny

sight of burning stone, made it seem as if Menzoberranzan itself had become a

sort of hell, and that was, for Quenthel at least, uns

The Mistress of Arach-Tinilith thought that were she a weaker person, she ettling.

might have felt as if she were moving through a nightma

carnage as proof positive that Lolth had turned her back on Menzoberranzan for re, or interpreted the good and all. She consoled herself with the thought th

at at least this time she was

marching against an enemy she could see and smite.

slaughtering hapless comPeriodically the scholars saw small groups of undercreatures looting, mcolum oners, or even flinging stones and arrows at the

n. The younger students sought to attack the thralls, and the teachers

bellowed at them to desist. The Academ

it hoped to win the day y had to act as a unit and stick to a plan if .Malaggar raised his hand, signaling a stop.

We're close, I think,

he reported in the silent drow sign language.

a cloak that converted into batlike wings, swooped down and gThey stood in place until a flying scout, a brother of the pyramid possessed of ave his report.
Mistr

ess,

Malaggar signed,

may I suggest that ten squads keep on straight, and the

Richard Lee Byers

206

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

rest of us circle ar

Very well,

Quenthel replied as sh
ound that block of houses. W

e'll take the or

e surveyed her army.

All of you fres fr

om two sides.

Faen Tlabbarthe column to the mouth of that a. Everyone, quietly as you can.lley

om the head of

, follow me. The rest of you, go with Master

Hands lifted at intervals down the column to relay the orders to those who

couldn't see her.

The company divided, then Quenthel's troops crept on, toward a clamoring

mob that quite possibly outnumbered them. Fortunately, the slaves hadn't

noticed the Academy's arrival, and she meant to take full advantage of their

ignorance. She quickly arranged her formation, then bade them attack as one. troops in a ragged but serviceable

Power howled and flashed, burning, blasting, and devouring masses of

creatures fell by the score.goblins. Darts leaped through the air to pierce ores and bugbears. Under-Y

et after that first volley, scores remained, and they flung themselves at the

scholars in a yammering frenzy. The drow hastily abandoned their crossbowsfor swords and spears. Hidden behind lines of warriors, m

peered, trying to see what was going on in the midst of the sages and priestesses vage melee so thecould tar y

get their spells without harming their own comrades.Quenthel could have cowered behind her own rank of protectors—perh

aps, as

high priestess and leader, she should have—but she thought it might stiffen the spines of the first- and second-year students if she led f

rom the front, and in

any case, she wanted to kill up close and see the pain and fear in her victims'faces. Her vipers rearing and hissing, she shoved her way to the front.

She slew several goblinoids, and dazzling yellow light flashed and crackledaround her

. The fire magic did her no harm—her mystical defenses held—but

several of the folk around her, drow and undercreature alike, shrieked and fell.

For a moment, everyone, every survivor in the imme

stunned. Then ores scrambled forward at diate vicinity, was he

drow line, and scholars darted forward to the gaps the blaze had created in t fill them. No one paid any heed to the burned com

rades beneath their feet, save to curse them if she tripped.

Quenthel stepped back, letting a student warrior fromher place, then cast about, seeking the source of the burst of flam House Despana take e. She had a

vague sense that the magic had plunged down from above, so she looked there first, at the upper stories of the buildings to either side.

walls and rooflines. Many such debased She blinked in surprise. Like true arachnids, driders were scutding about the abilities, and one of them must have conjured the fire.creatures retained their spellcasting

togetherQuenthel had no idea how the thralls and outcasts could have conspired the driders before they destroyed her , nor did she have time to stop and ponder the question. She had to stop

com

through the smoky air pany from above. She levitated upward , meanwhile looking about for the mage who'd created the flame.

Barbed arrows and bolts of light streaked at her from all directions. She shielded her face with a fold

of her piwafwi,

and the missiles rebounded or dissolved when

they encountered her layers of enchanteserious dam d protection. The impacts stung but did no

age.

When she'

with the fangs, driders whomd ascended to their level, sh she herself had helped to me recognized certain snarling faces even awhy they'd throw m ke. Perhaps it explained

agic at her despite the inevitable damage to the mob of ores.

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War Of The Spider Queen

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Dissolution

appeared, floating amShe quickly unrolled another scroll and rong the driders in frontead the trigger phrase therein. Blades of her, then began to revolve around a central point. The razor-sharp slivers of

metal sped along so fast they were sliced and pierced the half-spiders withoutinvisible, and their orbits curved through the bodies of their foes. The blades even slowing down, reducing the brutesto scraps of meat and splashes of blood.

stalagmQuenthel laughed and started to twist around to face the driders atop the ite buildings on the opposite side of the street. A length of something chest.sticky lashed her and looped tightly about her torso, binding her free hand to her

It was webbing. She knew that some driders could spin the stufto reel her in, she levitated once more, f. As they sought Meanwhile, she struggled to reach anotheresisting the pull like a fish on a line. r scroll despite the constriction of her arm. The vipers bit and chewed at the cable.

Pharaun levitated into view zzling white lightning leaped from his fingertips. It stabbed one drider, and si, then leaped to the next, then another, until the danced spasmodically until the magic endetwisting, dazzling power linked all the half-spiders like beads on a chain. They d, then instantly collapsed. Stinking smoke rose from the remains.

Pharaun smiled at Quenthel and said, "I've often wondered why the

doesn't transform our misfits into so goddess driders are another tool for culling the weak."mething harmless," he said. "I suppose battlefield.Ignoring his blather, Quenthel peered down to see what was transpiring on the

Malaggar's contingent had arrived and was tearing into the enemy's flank. At on their lizards, charvirtually the same instant, the Auvryndar threw open their gates, and, mounted

T ged forth in a sortie. web off her person and floated down to rejoin her troops on the ground. Ceeth gritted, Quenthel pulled the gummyPharaun continued to hang above the warriors'ontemptuous of the enemies' arrows, doubt easier to aim his magic. heads from which point it was no The scholars only had to fight for a few more minutes then, hammered on three corpses in its wake.sides, the mass of goblins collapsed in on itself, the implosion laying a carpet of formed them up and marched them on tQuenthel allowed her troops only a few minutes to collect themselves, then she oward the next of the goddess only knew how many battles.

The canoe m"Out!" Greyanna shouted.

"Now?
aker gawked at her and sputtered, "Wh-what about my stock?"

The items in question sat about the floor of the workroom or hung cradled instraps hooked to the ceiling."The goblins will destroy them," the scar-faced princess said. "Like this ".

She smashed a half-finished kayak, a fragile-looking construction of curvedbone ribs and hide, with a sweep of her mace. "Afterward, you'll make morebut only if you live. Now get moving, or I'll kill you m ,yself."

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