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The old drow laughed softly, clutching his staff with his withered hands
"Now, let&039;s get to our business, young one You and your fellows demonstrated no small amount of ability in the murder of Matron Mother Tlabbar, the enemy of my House Very well, I arach Dyrr?"
"I need an ally in Menzoberranzan, Lord Dyrr, and I have a strong suspicion that you rin "Events now proceed in this city that will lead to the downfall of the Houses ahead of yours If you choose to be a part of those events, you will find that House Agrach Dyrr is possessed of a great opportunity to order the city largely as you like We believe you can help us to steer Men-zoberranzan through the difficult tied
"Given the uncertainty of matters as they stand," said Dyrr, "I am hes-itant to embrace a cause I know little about"
"Understandable I will, of course, elaborate, but I hope you will recognize the wisdoressive and resolute steps to create the certainty you wish to see I events to li one, but more difficult to render into action," Dyrr said
The ancient wizard fell silent for a long ti gaze Ni, but he found hieNihts, and shifted in his seat
"Very well, then, Prince of Chaulssin You have awakened my curios-ity Explain exactly what you rach Dyrr can stand by your bold actions or not"
"Gather closely, dear friends," Pharaun said with a flourish, "and I will explain a few things it would be wise to remember while ithin the shadows"
The wizard stood confidently in the center of the cha no hint of the exhaustion or despair of the day&039;s des-perate flight Stirring from his Reverie shortlybefore sunset, he had spent al dozens of spells fro tomes
While no one bothered to draw closer to the wizard, all focused their attention on hiht, pleased as ever by the at-tention He knotted his fists behind his back as iflecturing to novices at Sorcere, and began
"When we are ready, I will lead us along a path that skirts the Fringe - the borders of the Plane of Shadow We will travel quite swiftly, and ry monsters, and thick-headed humans won&039;t trouble us in the least I expect a walk of ten to twelve hours to reach Mantol-Derith, provided that I do not becorisly demise in an uncivilized plane far frohed
"Oh, I haven&039;t ever gotten myself lost in the Shadow Deep, nor do I know of a wizard who has Of course, one would siain, so perhaps a ht explain the disappearance of a young e I knew - "
"Get to the point," Quenthel snapped
"Oh, fine There are two ied by the effort First, while we need fear no diffi-culties in this world while alk, we gain no special protection fros in that place that will object to our passage if they happen upon us - I encountered one such creature the last time I traveled this way, and it was very nearly the last of my marvelous adventures
"Second, and ht of ently If you lose contact with me while we traverse the Plane of Shadow, you will likelywander its gloo terrible devours you, which will probably happen rather soon My attention e, so don&039;t make it easy for me to misplace you, unless of course I don&039;t like you, in which case please feel free to amble the Shadow Deep at will"
"Will the lamias be able to follow us?" Ryld asked, his eye still on the passage leading back to the ruins above
"No, not unless they have a wizard as learned and char as I, and he knows a spell that permits one to track shadoalkers, which I do not" Pharaun smiled "You will be able to shake the dust of the surface from your boots, friend Ryld Concern yourself no more with the perils of this place, and save your worry for e lanced around, and nodded to hiht, then Take each other&039;s hands - there&039;s a good fellow, Jeggred, you can get everybody at once, can&039;t you? - and be still while I cast the spell"
Pharaun raised his hands andhis spell
Halisstra stood between Danifae and Valas, their hands linked The great subterranean gallery grew so could be possible in an unlit rooround Drow could see quite well even in the darkest places, but it see in the air At first glance, it see a gloos er upon Faerun A preternatural chill gnawed at her exposed skin, radiating froh, rune-carved columns that lined the space were twisted caricatures that loomed bizarrely out over the chae," shedifferent"
"This is the way of the shadow, dear lady," Pharaun said His voice seemed flat and distant, despite the fact he stood no more than six feet from her "This plane has no substance of its own It is er places We stand in the shadow of the ruins above, but they are not the same ruins we recently traversed The lamias and their minions do not exist here Now, reht ofback to the surface Halis-stra blinked in surprise He took only one small step as he turned away from the party, but he was suddenly across the room, and a second step carried him perilously far down the corridor outside She hurried to keep hile step caused the chamber to blur into darkness She stood so close to Pharaun that she had to restrain an impulse to back up a step, lest she throw herself even farther away
The wizard smirked at her discomfiture and said, "I am flattered by your attention, dear lady, but you need not stay quite so close" He laughed softly "Just step when I step, and you will pace me more easily"
He took several slow,back a bit as the rest of the party caught the trick of it, and in athe dusty streets of Hlaungadath beneath a cold and starless sky Each step seemed to catapult Halisstra forty, perhaps fifty feet across the dis leered and leaned fro down close over the streets as if to hem in the trav-elers, only to fade into dark blurs with each careful stride
Outside the ruined walls, Pharaun paused a moment to check on the party He nodded toward the desert stretching to colda rapid pace that belied his effete mannerisms and aversion to the toils of travel Finally able to stretch out her legs, Halisstra began to gain a sense of just how quickly they werethey left the site of the Netherese city a league behind them, a dark blot on the dim breast of the sands In thirtyadath&039;s streets, towered up over theht of the most difficult terrain in their path Without hesitation Pharaun stepped out over a sheer ravine as if it sie plane they traversed brought his foot down securely on the far side of the obstacle Cli up into thefrom stone to stone across a stream
"Tell me, Pharaun," Quenthel said after a tierous Underdark passages to reach Ched Nasad, when you ht have used this spell to shorten our journey?"
Halisstra could sense the ire hidden in the Baenre&039;s voice, even through the e
"Three reasons, fair Quenthel," Pharaun replied, not taking his eyes from the unseen path he followed "First, you did not askSecond, the wizards of Ched Nasad arranged certain defenses against intrusions of this sort Finally, as I said before, the Fringe is a dan-gerous place I only suggested this after we all agreed thatfor months across the sun-blasted surface world presented an even less ap-pealing prospect"
Quenthel seemed to consider the wizard&039;s words, while an to appear around them
"In the future," the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith said, "I shall expect you to volunteer useful inforestions in a ti ideas er pleasure you derive fro we lea a reply For soe As Pharaun was under norarrulous of the co on his spell left the small party of dark elves unusually silent They fell into a watchful le file behind the wizard, as the ih the darkness stretched out into what ht have been hours or even days Halisstra found herself beginning to con-sider the very curious notion that this was the real world, the true substance of things, and the bland idity of her oorld was the illusion She found that she did not care for that thought at all
After a long time, Pharaun raised his hand and called a halt They stood on a sh which trickled a dark, bubbling stream Nearby the black rahtless sky, a place that seemed more like a fortress than a town, its thick walls pierced by turret-guarded gates
"We&039;re about halfway to our destination," Pharaun said "I suggest half an hour&039;s rest, and maybe a meal from what stores we have We should be able to replenish our supplies e reach Mantol-Derith"
Ryld gestured at the empty castle nearby and said, "What is that place?"
"That?" Pharaun glanced over his shoulder "Who knows? Maybe it&039;s the echo of a surface city in our world, or ether The Shadow is like that"
The coe andprovisions The ever present chill of the place leeched away the warmth of Halisstra&039;s body, as if the stones be-neath her hungered for her very life The gloo any atteree of acuteness When the tiain, Halisstra was surprised by the sheer lethargy that had crept into her li except sink back down to the ground and lie still, wrapped in shadows Only with a fierce and focused effort of will did she drive herself into ht, and had gone on for soe when Halisstra beca followed She was not sure of it, at first Whatever trailed the effects of the Shadowor not It seemed to whisper and titter in the darkness, a presence that announced itself in a stirring of the motionless air, the faint rush of wind behind the for their pursuer, but she saw nothing save the weary faces of her coht up the rear of the march, and he looked up at her as he drew close
You sense it too? he signed
"What is it?" Halisstra wondered aloud "What ged wearily and said, "So that Pharaun has reason to fear, which alarms me" He reached out and turned her back toward the rest of the party Halisstra was shocked to see how far they&039;d"Come, we do not want to be left behind Perhaps what hunts us will be content to follow"
They hurried to catch up to the others - and at thatup out of the shadows behind theure co reat size, the thing raceful Two shining ovals of silver , spidery talons reached for Halis-stra and Valas Its sibilant whispers filled their h rotten meat
"Pharaun, wait!" Halisstra cried
She fuiant approached Beside her, Valas swore and swept out his curved blades, crouching in a fighting stance A nauseating, tangible chill radiated froh the entire plane but far more concentrated and iant shi forward in a sudden burst of , one blow of its round It turned to fix its pale and terrible gaze upon Valas The Bregan D&039;aerthe scout screa one kukri and allowing the second to droop lie and bounded toward the iant sla black hand The draegloth scrambled back to his feet and leaped up to rake deep, black furrows across the giant&039;s thighs and abdo to eviscerate the creature, but the wounds closed after the draegloth&039;s claws passed through the thing&039;s flesh Jeggred howled in frustration and redoubled his futile assault
"Stand back, you fool!" Pharaun cried froic to harht bolt of green lightning shot out to sy just floay fro it unharmed
Your spells are useless, whispered a dark and terrible voice in Halisstra&039;s mind Your weapons are useless You are mine, foolish drow
"We will see about that," Halisstra snarled
She picked herself up and dashed forward, raising her mace The weapon was enchanted, and she hoped it would prove powerful enough to har arm with deadly talons raked at her, but Halis-stra tuhtwalker&039;s knee With a sharp crack of sound and a flash of actinic light, the weapon detonated with the force of a thunderclap The nightwalker ered
Quenthel&039;s whip hissed through the air, flaying at the creature&039;s face The vipers tore and snapped through dark flesh, leaving great gory wounds, but the h the weapon Apparently even the most virulent poison did not disco, slashed at the htwalker reached out to wrest away his weapon, but the Master of Melee-Magthere danced back and sheared off half the creature&039;s hand with one savage blow The nightwalker screah their verythe others, the creature fastened its baleful gaze on Ryld, and conjured up from the black soil underfoot a dreadful, dark vapor that blotted out all sight
Halisstra groped her way into the blackthe monster The vapor seared her nose like vitriol and ate at her eyes, burning like fire She persevered, and felt the giant loo at the creature&039;s legs From beside her she heard the hiss of Quenthel&039;s whip, tearing into dark flesh Great black talons raked through the vapor, ripping at Halisstra&039;s shield, driving her to the ground
"It&039;s here!" she called, hoping to lead someone else to the battle, but the acidic mists burned like fire in her throat
She narrowed her eyes to nothing htwalker&039;s veno to rend away her reason, but she endured the new assault, lashing out again and again
Ryld&039;s sword lanced through thedreadful wounds in the shadow creature&039;s body Black fluid splattered like droplets of poison, and the htwalker rose into a hellish e ofabruptly discorporate around her, its body explod-ing into black, stinkingon the poisonous black vapors the creature had raised, Halisstra stu for breath Her chest burned as if she&039;d drunk molten sulfur When at last she could open her eyes and take notice of her surroundings again, she found that most of the rest of the party had fared little better than she
Ryld slureatsword point down before hi on the blade, exhausted Quenthel stood close by, her hands on her knees, coughing wretchedly
When at last she could draw breath, the high priestess looked up at Pharaun and said, "That is what you encountered before?"
The wizard nodded and said, "Nightwalkers They roae Creatures of undead darkness, evil personified As you saw, they can beformidable"
The Mistress of the Academy drew herself up and returned her whip to her belt
"I think I understand why you hesitated to volunteer this method of travel until now," she said
Despite his exhaustion, the wizard preened
"Careful, Quenthel," he said in a ed h priestess&039;s eyes narrowed, and she straightened proudly She obviously didn&039;t care to be the subject of the wizard&039;s hulare Quenthel fixed on hi the formless dark ahead of them
"Our path leads now into the shadow of our own Underdark," he said "I suggest we redouble our efforts and finish our htwalkers about"
"That&039;s a darumbled Ryld "How much far-ther now?"
"Not more than an hour, perhaps two," Pharaun answered
The wizard waited while the dark elves stood and fell in behind hiain Ryld and Valas, the tho had borne the virulence of the nightwalker&039;s dread gaze, seeray eariness, hardly able to keep their feet
"Come," said Pharaun "Mantol-Derith is no Menzoberranzan, but it will be the most civilized place we&039;ve seen in days, and no one is likely to want to kill us
"Not right away, at least"