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The surface woodland proved to be a strange and disquieting place As the party led underbrush van-ished, leaving only an endless green hall of round trunks rising to the forest roof above, like the pillars of some dark elven hall sos lay scattered here and there, covered in bright green e that the company had to detour hundreds of feet around the of snow had filtered to the ground, and cold water dripped steadily from the branches above Unlike the lifeless desolation of Anauroch, the forest was filled not only withbrambles, but all manner of s starts, Halisstra soon learned to identify a nuate thenificant

She had at first feared that she would easily lose sight of the coe by the infrequent clearings, the underbrush consisted of ferns and other green plants rarely h As darkness fell over the forest floor, her vision improved, and Halisstra felt h the night, halting a little before day-break to set up camp in an old ruined tohose broken white stones were covered by moss Sance of for-vanished door was carved in a flowering vine design - clearly the work of surface elves After Pharaun checked the place for lingering spells that could be dangerous to drow, the coht hours of the day Quenthel ordered Jeggred and Pharaun to keep watch, and the others en-joyed the shade and safety provided by the partial floors and graceful walls of the ruined tower

At sundown they ate, broke ca again through the night They passed the next two days and nights inby night Valas even ed to shoot a small, hoofed aniht of travel, and Halisstra was surprised to find that itsrothe

Toward the end of the day the clouds returned, darker and thicker than before, and as the daylight failed and the dark elves made ready for their fourth an to fall, wet and heavy It was eerily silent, as if the entire forest held its breath to keep froilantly behind the co to scan the trail behind thelancing to the front only to be sure of her footing If Pharaun&039;s divinations were accurate, they should reach the streaht or perhaps the next, which meant that House Jaelre and the Vhaeraunite priestwere only a day beyond

With the objective of their long journey so close at hand, it occurred to Halisstra that she had no reason why the heretic would consider help-ing theht have been an old acquaintance, but no cleric of the Masked Lord would aid priestesses of Lolth sioodness of his heart Some price would have to be met, of that Halisstra was certain Wealth, perhaps? Quenthel and her coemstones It was the easiest and h the wilds of the Underdark Halisstra had stuffed her own pockets too before fleeing Ched Nasad She doubted that a powerful Vhaeraunite would be so easily purchased, though

Coercion ht have to barter some kind of service to win his aid Danifae was occasionally useful in such arrange-ments Any drow had at least one enemy in need of a setback

She realized she&039;d fallen a bit behind, so she picked up her pace to take up position closer behind the h the darkness, her boots gliding through the snow, until she caught sight of Jeggred&039;s hulking for ahead of her Halisstra settled back into her pace, and turned to glance back down the trail

Someone was there

From all sides she heard the whisper-quiet sounds of soft feet stealing through the woods, then the sounds were abruptly cut off by a perfect, iical

Halisstra hissed in alarht up her crossbow Directly up the path a lanky male elf with skin as white as the snow darted toward her, arracefullycurved war axe in one hand and a shorter hand axe in the other His eyes glittered like green death in the night

"Watch out!" she cried, trying to warn her co broke the perfect silence

Without a moment&039;s hesitation she whirled and fired her crossbow at Jeggred, perhaps fifty yards ahead She skewed her ai hi into a tree beside the half-deloth leaped and shouted - or so she guessed, anyway, since she couldn&039;t hear it - but,behind hi up from behind them

An instant later, the elf axe his twosteel He was shouting soave up her fine crossbow to deflect the first stroke of the long axe,leaped back out of the reach of the shorter one, and hastily drew herher shield froain, and they circled, trading skillful blows that failed to find theirthrough the woods toward her, swords and spears glittering in the darkness She re-doubled her efforts and put the two-axe fighter on the defensive, hoping to batter down his defenses before she was surrounded by foes

A brilliant, searing light detonated along the trail behind her, filling the darkened forest with the painful glare of daylight The last thing she saw before the spell blinded her completely was a co up to join the fray

There was only one thing Halisstra could do Raising her shield to buy a rasped a handful of dirt and dried leaves froical dark-ness, ood use of the power shared by all drow A heavy blow fell on her shield, without a sound, and she quickly scuttled away fro her way along Soe from the impenetrable blackness - at least, that hat Halisstra would have done in their place The wisest thing to do was to re as possible in the hopes that the surface dwellers had noher field of darkness

As with any drow noble fa her own dome of darkness would persist In her case, she could sustain the loom for al tiht very well think she&039;d slipped away At the very least, she was reasonably sure she could outwait the spell of silence that covered the area Once her hearing returned, she uess as to what to do next

Mace in hand, she groped her way to a large tree, leaned against its trunk, and settled down to wait

Nimor stood patiently in the hall outside the council cha his shoulders to slu He was supposed to be tired, after all Dressed in the arrach Dyrr, he&039;d purportedly fought his way free of the battle at Rhazzt&039;s Dilemma in order to carry word of the attack to the arrison had already delivered the outpost to the arh, but theexhaustion, despair, and resolve in the proper quantities was difficult for him, especially when his heart raced with excite-laid plans had found their h his own labors and toils he had altered the course of two great cities Both moved pon-derously and yet inevitably toward a terrible collision he had iathered speed and required less and less of his guidance Soon he could allow hireat toils done, and make ready to reap the rewards of his labors

To divert himself while he awaited the summons to the council in the chamber beyond, Nimor studied the hall with care One never knew, after all, when a half-reht spell the difference between life and death The Hall of Petition, as the place was called, formed the entrance to the h ladies theh this rooical ways to travel from their palaces and castles to their seats within Instead, the Hall of Petition was the place where all who had business with thecouncil awaited the matrons&039; pleasure Naturally, it was nearly eed it of one of the matron mothers, and most carefully and respectfully at that Only those drow commanded to appear before the council waited in the Hall of Petition, and again, anyone whose presence was commanded had probably already made his report to one of the matron mothers beforehand The hall was most commonly employed as a convenient place for persons of interest to the council to wait until called within to deliver her report, present her re-quest, or ment

Sixteen proud male warriors and wizards stood in or around the hall, two from each of the Houses whose nated as a guard for the entire council, but in truth eachthe males of rival Houses to make sure that no secret attack was afoot that day

The floor, all of polished black ht of faerie fire globes set high in the ceiling, and great friezes along the walls showed the story of Menzoberranzan&039;s founding

Severaland scrap-ing to all who deserved such obsequiousness, and i the arrach Dyrr, fell soreat surprise, he was kept waiting only forty estured toward the door

"The Council expects your report, Captain," he said

Nimor followed the official into the council chaht hters, nieces, or favorites A grand archway to one side of the chamber led off to a set of smaller shrines and halls adjacent to the council, to which the matrons&039; attendants and secretaries could be dismissed should the matron mothers decide to discuss their business in private

"Matron Mothers, Captain Zhayerach Dyrr," the chaain, and held the pose as he surreptitiously studied the matron mothers

Triel Baenre sat at the head of the Council, of course Petite and pretty, she seeh she was of course hundreds of years in age Mez&039;Barris Aro sat next to her, then came the place where the Matron Mother of House Faen Tlabbar foraze to linger afemale who occupied Ghenni&039;s place - Vadalhter of the House Either the first four destroyed each other squabbling for theirVadalma was much more accomplished than she looked

Opposite the new Faen Tlabbar raceful and lissome, well at ease in the chair she had occupied since Auro&039;pol&039;s demise

"Ah, I see my captain has arrived," Yasraena said to her peers "Wel-come, Zhayemd You have endured much today, but I am afraid I must subject you to one more ordeal before you can be allowed your well-deserved rest Tell the Council the tidings you brought lanced around at the highborn females and affected a trace of nervousness "Matron Mothers, I have coarrison at Rhazzt&039;s Dilear and their allies, including derro, durzagons, giants, and many slave troops We do not expect to delay thee engines into play"

"I know that place," Mez&039;Barris Aro said "It lies three or four days&039; travel south of the city Is your news that old? Why did your spellcasters not warn us throughyou to report in person?"

"Our wizard was slain in the first assault, Matron Del&039;Ar a patrol outside our defenses and apparently fell victiar When Mistress Nafyrra Dyrr - the conal a warning, she dispatched e back to Menzober-ranzan This all occurred earlier this "

"You have only answered one of the questions I posed, Captain," the Matron Mother of House Barrison Del&039;Aro observed "Rhazzt&039;s Dile, but the outpost lies more than thirty miles south of here, a journey of several days"

Nilanced deliberately at Yasraena Dyrr as if seeking guidance The Matron Mother of House Agrach Dyrr simply inclined her head in assent

"I made use of a somewhat unreliable portal to shorten my journey froo," he said "It lies a mile or two from the outpost and is somewhat difficult to use, as it functions only intermittently The other side lies in a disused cavern in the Dark Doh we did not trust the portal&039;s ency"

"I have no doubt that Barrison Del&039;Aro knows of similar portals in and around the city," Yasraena Dyrr observed "Forgive us if we neglected to mention the existence of this one until today"

"The portal is irrelevant," Triel Baenre said, esture of her hand "The captain is here to make his report, and that is sufficient Tell uess it to nuray dwarves, plus a nures We noted the banners of eight companies in the attack, and many more held back in reserve There could be arfalse banners into battle"

"A raid," muttered Prid&039;eesoth Tuin of House Tuin&039;Tarl "Your outpost is si tested, Captain"

Nimor shifted his feet and did his best to look determined, serious, and dutifully subservient

"Mistress Nafyrra does not believe so, Matron Tuin," Niar raids on nuht we encountered this ed by the whole arh"

"How strong is your garrison?" Yasraena Dyrr asked

"Our garrison nuhty warriors, and we have an excel-lent defensive position, Honored Matron We can hold out for several days, but the outpost will fall when the duergar bring up their siege engines, or eic"