*
The why would bother Evessa Tremaine for a long time. She longed to know and she ached with a desire to strike them down, the silver claw and the spiders who had just laid low her King in front of her eyes. But it would have to wait, the moon was waxing and its light would shine on Fenn for many turnings hence. As the Arachnid King held aloft the Hammer of Fenn to the cheers of his spider spears, one of them asked what to do with Corul, who lay on the ground trembling in shock and staring at his dismembered hand.
The Arachnid King gave a contemptuous snort. “Take him and throw him from the pillar”, he said, before walking to the Nested Throne. There was no way for him to sit on it in a conventional fashion, instead he climbed up onto it and hunkered down in a very spider-like fashion, his shiny black legs clinging to the throne like a web.
“Take his children down to the Howling Cavern”, said the spider to his soldiers. “Find the fat Magister and execute him swiftly”, he added.
“What of the witch?” said one of the silver claws who stood near her.
“Her too”, said the Arachnid, gazing at the Witch-Maker.
Evessa saw the silver claw raise his gauntlet and slash it right through her body. It gave her a momentary satisfaction as the silver claw stumbled right through her, her form dissolving to the dust that it was and the Arachnid King growling angrily as she disappeared. He started to shout more orders but she did not hear them.
Evessa opened her eyes in her the Witchhaven Dell. She took one last look around. Ornamentation could be replaced and her memories she would carry with her. The Witch-Maker picked up her pre-packed case, a small travelling trunk, some clothes and a collection of the rarest of dusts. The last thing she did before walking out of the door was turn over a large hourglass with grey sand in it that sat on her writing desk. The door closed quietly behind her and she hurried up the path which led to the surface of the first pillar. She pulled her cloak up high, pushing her lustrous purple hair back inside.
She did not make for any of the bridges which were too heavily guarded, as she knew they would be. She could hear the chants and cheers of the spider spears; from the lowest avenues of Fenn up to the heights of the Palace of Fenngaard they cheered their King and the great victory which he had proclaimed. Some treacheries were masterpieces, but this one had been all too easy for the lord of spiders to achieve.
Evessa walked to a dark edge of the pillar and stepped off lightly onto the deck of the Howl at the Moon. She was thankful that she'd decided to commission her own sky-ship all those years ago. It was nowhere near the size of one of the King's fleet which even now sailed east. It was only thirty feet long, with a few small cabins. But it was sleek and stealthy and painted jet-black to hide it against a dark sky. It bore only one small emblem, the three red circles inside each other, linked in a swirl, ever decreasing ever increasing: the symbol of witchdom.
Hidriss waited on deck. “It is done?” he asked as she stepped aboard. There were tears in his eyes. She nodded and fresh tears fell.
“Go below, Hidriss”, she said gently. The mousekarl went below decks sobbing. His loyalty had been so strong it had taken everything she had to persuade him to follow her. Despite the inevitable she knew he would feel it was a betrayal, she hoped that he would learn to deal with his hurt in time.
“My lady”, said a figure cloaked in a similar fashion to herself who had come up on deck as she arrived.
“Silissa”, said Evessa greeting her fellow witch.
“Are we ready?” said Silissa, pushing back her hood to reveal a plain face surrounded by locks of faded red hair.
“As ready as we will ever be. Let's get underway”, replied the Witch-Maker, who went below decks as the Howl at the Moon pulled away from the pillar and climbed quickly into the sky, heading above and beyond the Palace of Fenngaard and the city of Fenn.
Beyond the Dream Page 42