by Paul Kidd
"Drow." The girl nodded. "Yep. All drow. Looks like about five healing potions and five spider venom antidotes: one each. Convenient, eh? Plus we've got a potion of regeneration. All are labeled."
"I thought so."
"So what's going on?" Escalla rattled the bottles with her foot. "You think Lolth's playing with us? Wants us to make it to the palace so she can flatten us?"
"No. The problems we're facing aren't cruel enough." The Justicar sighed, feeling tired. "There's nothing specifically intended to make us suffer. It's been just guards."
"Heh. And Recca and Tielle."
"Them, too." The Justicar looked over their weapons and tools. "Is your frost wand holding out?"
"Yeah. Running low on charges, though. Lich staff too." The girl ran frustrated fingers through her hair. "I have to relax! Clear my mind! I can't memorize spells while I'm all keyed up."
There were empty bottles amongst the full. Jus picked up a familiar little vial and shook it.
"Giant growth potion?"
"Yeah. Last one left." Escalla picked it up and looked at the liquid gleaming through the clear glass bottle. "Ah, well. I guess we'll make more some day. I'll find the ingredients somehow…"
Jus rubbed his eyes.
"We should meditate. We only have four hours. Do faeries do anything special to relax?"
Escalla laughed. All of a sudden, she looked at Jus, and Jus looked at her. They looked at each other, then Escalla pounced, tearing at the potion bottle's cork.
Hanging from the door handle nearby, Benelux wailed. No! Not again! No! I demand to be put in another room! The sword buried herself inside her sheath and sang to try to block away the noise. La la la la la!
Outside the door, Enid blinked. She pushed more wood into the fire, hoping the crackling flames and sizzling sausage would mask other sounds. Diligently slicing sausage at the table with Polk, Henry looked at the door in puzzlement.
"What's that noise?
"Mantra!" Enid managed to go pale and blush bright red at the same time. "Escalla's meditating."
Polk pricked his ears. "Mantra? Sounds like she's just yelling 'yes!' over and over again."
"It's a very happy mantra." Enid cleared her throat. "Mmm! Sausages smell nice, don't they?"
She stirred the sausages in the pan and burned her paw. Henry leaped to her aid and knelt with her, cradling her big paw in his hands. They looked at each other, turned pink as crabs, and both hastily looked away-yet stayed sitting as close beside each other as they possibly could.
Draped over the back of a chair, Cinders saw all, heard all, and knew all. He sucked on a lump of prime new coal and slowly wagged his tail.
Funny!
22
"What do you mean there's no sign of them? Have you looked?"
Wild, furious, worn, and thoroughly annoyed, Tielle hovered above a hillside with her wings beating like a mad dragonfly. She had been so certain that today would be the day of her revenge that she had dressed herself in her most outrageous outfit. It consisted of a few threads and thongs-all pulled as tight as comfort would allow. The effect was like a pale white pudding bound up with string. With thirty chain monks spread about the hillsides, with spells and imps and bloodhounds sniffing the ground, she had still failed to find Escalla's trail! The crystal ball was useless, drawing a blank hour after hour. It was as though Escalla had disappeared without a trace!
"Damn her! She can't possibly have a scrying shield! Not every hour of every day!" Tielle sat on a tree stump, the bark agony to her bared bottom, and snatched her crystal ball out of the hands of a monk. "Where is she? If she's on this plane, then why can't we find her?"
A monk dragged its chains and gibbered at her, waving its arms in a mad attempt to be understood. Blonde, plump, and under-clad, Tielle tossed the useless crystal ball into its arms.
"Don't be an idiot! I know exactly what to do. All we need is a little patience. I'll flay her alive and use the skin to make a puppet show!" The faerie stood, dusted herself irritably, and rose into the air. "Come on. Gather those other idiots here. We'll head back to the gate and go home!"
The chain monk made a pathetic, hungry noise. From above, Tielle gave it a look of angry contempt.
"I know my sister. Escalla is nothing but a strutting, puffed up little peahen. We've bested her, so she'll want her revenge! All we have to do is wait for her to come into our lair."
Tielle watched her minions gathering. The search had been long and annoying. To escape her, Escalla must have hidden in the darkest bowels of the earth or the foulest swamps of some other plane. The girl hovered, looking nastily out across the wilderness, consoling herself with the thought of her sister in humiliation and agony.
"Well, wherever she is, at least she's suffering!"
A few hours of rest had worked miracles. The castle remained quiet, the fried sausage had a hint of garlic, and the wine was a Verbobonc vintage that must have cost a hundred crowns. Escalla had to be ladled out of bed like limp, boiled noodles. She was slipped into rough new clothes made out of a soft cloth, and draped over Jus's shoulders like a collar. As the group edged into the castle courtyard under a blood-red sky, Henry coughed politely to attract her attention.
"My Lady? You seem less tense." The boy leaned closer. "Did you study your spells?"
"Hmm? Spells? Yeah. Hoopier than hoopy!" The faerie girl gave a dazed thumbs up. "Recharged and rarin' to go. You have a problem, and I'm right on the job."
With that, she curled back down to snooze again. One part of her brain registered something new, and she sleepily eyed off her brand new clothes.
"Where did these come from?"
"I made them out of a polishing cloth," Henry replied. "Enid and I thought it was, ah, more dignified than the others you were wearing,"
"Henry! You are just the sweetest thing!" Raising her head, Escalla made long streams of her golden hair cascade down Jus's back. "Hey, you two guys just earned yourself a faerie boon. Straight from the faerie princess to you!" The girl rolled luxuriously, spreading her hair into watery drifts of light. "I'll do the 'true heart's desire' thing right after we get back home."
The doorway to the Demonweb Pits stood as it always had, but lying beside the door was a tiny, glittering snake scale. The Justicar knelt over his find and carefully pocketed the evidence before clearing the scene. He jumped through the barrier between worlds, emerging into the stench, the prickling light, and formless dread of the Demonweb. The others followed him one by one as he carefully examined the path in each direction, opened his map, then signaled the way forward.
They had shared out healing potions, water bottles, and tools. Escalla sat up, her spells firm in her head and her frost wand in her hands. They all moved to the end of the path to a great bronze door that marked the entrance to another world.
Again, there was a clear window. This time, the view revealed a bleak plain of windswept obsidian boulders and cracked rivers of volcanic glass. Electrical storms sheeted across the sky, revealing the sinister shape of Lolth's palace squatting on a hilltop a mere hundred yards away.
The palace seemed deserted, and yet light leaked from the huge windows that served as its eyes. The Justicar dug in his pouch for the remaining key and fitted it into a depression on the door. He swung the door open, and the party stood before a transparent barrier that led into Lolth's private, most secret home.
The Justicar checked the fit of his equipment, using the same quiet, careful moves that had seen him through a hundred battlefields.
"This is Lolth's inner sanctum. Touch nothing you don't have to. Look on everything as a deadly trap. Watch for magic. Watch for enemies. Your enemy can shape change, teleport, cast magic and illusion… so kill first and strike hard."
He looked from Enid to Henry, Escalla to Polk, and then reached up to tie Cinders into place.
"I'm yours, and you are mine. You never abandon your people. If any of you get in trouble, remember: I will come for you." The big man turned and waved
the others in his wake. "Forward."
Escalla turned invisible to scout ahead. Polk and Enid moved forward stealthily into the black glass boulders. Henry followed, his magic crossbow hunting at shadows.
They had scarcely crossed the threshold when the folded map on Jus's belt caught fire. He scowled at it as it burned against his dragon scales, then dragged the map free before it could damage his sword belt. He stamped on the ashes then took a swift look across the plains to see if the fire had been noticed. Lightning flashed and obsidian sparkled. Hopefully, one tiny little fire had not been seen. Escalla cocked an eye at the last few wisps of crumbling map and gave a wry little smile.
"Smart girl, isn't she?"
"Smart girl." The Justicar abandoned the map and moved on. "Everyone move carefully."
Vast and foreboding, Lolth's palace was watchful. The brass metal of its hull swam with images of screaming faces and clawing hands, as if it were pressed out of the souls of the dead. Vents high upon the hull leaked smoke into the sky, and steam hissed from its joints. The body rested just above the ground, stairs spilling out from the spider palace's monstrous head like a tongue feeding into its cavernous jaws. Little quasits scampered through the boulders like monstrous rats, their demonic shapes casting immense, terrifying shadows in the unclean light.
Two gargoyles sat on guard at the bottom of the stairs. Bat winged, stone skinned, and hideous, the two monsters tore the carcass of a halfling between them, squabbling over the spoils. They were still fighting as a little figure popped into view beside them and cleared its throat.
Small, blonde, and dainty, Escalla posed on the path, gave a little wave, and interrupted the guardians.
"Hey, guys? I just wanted to say that you got me! I'm caught! Damn! There's just no way past real professional guards like you, so I'm giving up! I'll come quietly. I mean, if anyone gets to reap the huge rewards for bringing me in to the boss, then I want it to go to two professionals!"
The two gargoyles stared for an instant, gore dripping from their open mouths, then pounced on Escalla. One caught her in its stony fist, while the other tried to grab her feet. The two creatures snarled and squabbled with one another, cuffing each other across the scales. Finally Escalla managed to bring peace to the fight, waving her arms to keep the gargoyles apart.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Enough! All right! The guy who is holding me can keep holding me. That's fair, right? The other guy, he can go upstairs and report that you've got a prisoner. Right? Happy?" The faerie chased one of the gargoyles away. "So go! Go on! Report upstairs! Open the front gate and go!"
A gargoyle shambled up the steps to the locked front door of the fortress. The creature disabled a guard spell and gave a password to someone on the far side of the door, snarling and gabbling in rage. Relaxing in her captor's claws, Escalla watched the whole process with approval.
"Wow! Now that's partnership. Two guys workin' as one." The girl leaned her elbow on her captor's fist. "It's great to have a partner, eh? Someone you can trust. I mean, you two guys, you obviously work as a team. And why? Trust, that's why! I mean, he can trust you to sit here on your arse looking after the prisoner, while he goes and makes the report. And you! You trust him to tell them all about you both catching me. Equal shares plus equal rewards equals equal promotion!" The girl gave an admiring sigh. "Partnership. I tell you, it's beautiful to watch."
Escalla's captor blinked, turned to watch his partner disappearing into the spider palace, and then screeched in rage. He pelted up the stairs, wrenched the other gargoyle about, and another furious argument began. Escalla was shaken about as she was used as a prop for the argument. The two gargoyles finally came to a decision. Escalla swapped from one gargoyle to the other, and her original captor now proceeded into the palace. Eating a piece of garlic sausage, Escalla watched the other gargoyle go.
"Yeah. He's right. I mean, he should go. He's the one that caught me, so he should make the report. It's only fair. I mean, the boss knows your pal is the brains of the outfit. If you go in there, it's only going to look suspicious, right? I mean, give your partner credit where credit's due. If he carries the load, then he ought to get the reward!"
With a howl, the gargoyle ran after its partner. The two creatures screamed, leaped, flapped, and squabbled. Finally, they came to another decision. Both gargoyles totally abandoned their guard post and went to make their report together, with Escalla held between them in their claws.
Locks and bolts opened from the inside. One of the gargoyles grabbed Escalla and pushed his partner towards the doors, yelling at him to open the way. Escalla joined in the general shower of abuse.
"Yeah! You open those doors! And don't even suspect that your friend might sneak in a bite now your back is turned. Because he's a great guy! Your friend through and through!"
In homicidal fury the gargoyle at the doors whirled and flung itself at its partner. Escalla was hurled aside as both monsters fought. The faerie sat on a balustrade, pulled out more sausage, and ate while strips of gargoyle flesh flew all over the stairs. She looked at the carnage and sighed.
"Tragically, the faerie is forever condemned to face inferior intellects."
The Justicar stamped irritably out from behind a boulder, crossed the open ground, and mounted the stairs. Both gargoyles now lay in a single bleeding heap. Jus was not amused.
"I thought I told you just to sneak up and find a way past the guards."
Escalla had her mouth full of sausage.
"Sho I got ush pasht the guardsh! No prob'em!" Escalla wiped her lips and jumped down onto the stairs. "See! I even got the door open! Come on! Let's go."
She scampered on ahead. Growling, Jus turned and signaled the others to make a run for the stairs. He turned back just in time to see Escalla disappearing through Lolth's front door. From inside the spider palace, the faerie gave a happy little cry.
"Oh! Hey, guys! Yep! You got me! So which one of you wants to go and report that you just got a prisoner?"
Enid looked at Jus, and the two of them charged headlong up the stairs and through the door.
23
The inside of Lolth's palace was shocking and surprising. Beyond the entrance alcove, with its dead gargoyles and guards, there was an area of clean white walk-a wide room with a rug upon the floor and paintings on the wall, all tasteful and incredibly beautiful.
Behind a desk sat a slim, cool woman with bobbed black hair. Her six arms were busy all over the desk, writing, sorting, doodling and filing all at once. Long snake coils draped elegantly over a perch that was half office chair and half shoe tree. As Jus cautiously edged into the room, she turned her back to him and deliberately concentrated on her files.
"Greetings, Justicar. Come in." The demon spoke in a very, very ordinary voice-officious and beautifully spoken. "You've done well. She still doesn't know you're here."
Escalla became visible. She ambled into the room, looking eagerly at the furnishings. Enid flowed through the door, her eyes on the tanar'ri woman and her claws unsheathed. Polk and Henry stood in the doorway and simply stared.
The six-armed tanar'ri never once looked at her visitors. Instead, she concentrated on her files.
"You may call me Morag. That is my common name, not my true name. Lolth has my true name. She has it written down. While she holds it, I must obey her to the letter. I must always answer her with the truth. If she wants to, she can use it to destroy me."
Looming huge and dark, the Justicar thoughtfully regarded the tanar'ri girl, then said, "If Lolth dies, the name is lost, and you are free."
"Yes."
"Why should we help you?"
Morag kept her back to him, sitting straight and stiff.
"You are not helping me. I have never discussed plans with you. Therefore, when asked by Lolth, I will say I have never conspired against her." One slim hand motioned to a large book upon the table. "Your names are penciled into the appointment list for the day. Therefore, there are no intruders in the palace. My duties will sh
ortly call me away from this room." The woman made a careful entry into a ledger. "I can even say that I have not seen any intruders. I have never laid eyes upon you."
Escalla had been poking about the room. Perched on the desk was a painted portrait of a tanar'ri male-a handsome creature with a longing, slightly wistful expression. Escalla took one look at the picture and whistled in glee.
"Hubba-hubba! Oh, wow! Is he yours?"
"Give me that!" Morag snatched the picture away and hugged it against her breast. "And no, he is not mine. He… he…" A blush actually crept up the tanar'ri's cheeks. "He's an acquaintance."
"Oh…" Walking along the desk, Escalla cast a sly little eye backward at the tanar'ri. "But, ah, an acquaintance who's pretty nice to you. I mean, I can tell! He has great eyes." Escalla looked at the rugs, the paintings, and tapped her index fingers together "You really caught something special in that painting. You did all these, too?"
Morag straightened, tugging at her neat little black skirt.
"Yes. Yes, I painted them."
"And I bet you write, too!" Escalla was now sitting on the edge of the desk companionably next to the tanar'ri. "You do history, right? But there's a novel you've been working on, too?"
"It's a trilogy!" The tanar'ri sat up, and then subsided into misery. "We… I'm Lolth's secretary. Her vassal. Her… her slave." Morag swallowed. "I'm not supposed to… to waste time, to form attachments."
"Wow! You poor thing!"
Escalla was quite distraught. She looked up to see Jus looking patiently irritable at her. The girl waved her hand, shooing him away. "What? Hey, just because she's a tanar'ri, we can't both talk like girls?" The faerie snapped her fingers at her man. "We have a problem here! Helping ladies in distress is in the line of Justice! This is right up your alley!"
Morag was still hugging her portrait of her paramour. Escalla cleared her throat and came a little closer, staying out of view.
"Um, right. So this fella of yours… I mean, you'd like the chance to know him better, huh? You made a dumb mistake with Lolth, and now you're stuck! Regrets lead to frustration. Frustration leads to anger. I mean, we have to catch this problem now before it ruins your life forever!"