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Halisstra sat in abench, alone in the aparts of her dragonbone lyre She&039;d been confined to the roo e to find in this whole venture, she proain

She had expected torture, ation, but Tzirik seemed to have taken her at her word More than a feould have indulged theardless of whether she was being truthful or not, leading Halisstra to wonder if Tzirik aiting for word of Quenthel and the others before doing soer them Halisstra didn&039;t think the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith and her coed to cow the entire House, but it was entirely possible that their competence had persuaded Tzirik not to look for trouble without good cause

She looked out the narrow, barred n was fast approach-ing The sky was already growing painfully bright in the east, though the sun had not yet risen Halisstra couldaway from her for mile after ling of keys in the lock She looked around and stood as Tzirik entered the rooh-collared coat of red and black

"Mistress Melarn," he said, offering an indulgent bow, "your comrades have returned If you&039;ll coood reason for abandoning you in the wilds of the World Above"

Halisstra set down her lyre and asked, "Were they successful?"

"In fact, they were, which is why I intend to set you at your liberty now Had they failed, I&039;d planned to use you as a hostage to coain"

She snorted in amusement, and the priest escorted her froant pale halls and corridors of Minauthkeep A pair of Jaelre warriors trailed thereen and brown, short swords at their hips They came to a small chapel, decorated in the colors of Vhaeraun, and there they found Quenthel, Dan-ifae, and the rest of the coors of Myth Drannor and returned to tell the tale," Tzirik said by way of a greeting "As you see, it see of yours, just as you have found so of mine"

Halisstra studied the faces of her forree or another of surprise - a raised eyebrow, an ex-change of glances Ryld offered her a war his feet nervously, while Danifae actually came forward to clasp her hand

"Mistress Melarn," she said "We thought you lost"

"I was," Halisstra replied

She was surprised to find how relieved she was to be back ah they were interlopers froht not have been Halisstra&039;s orna her the only ally Halisstra had left in the world

"Where have you been?" Quenthel asked

"I was subjected to several days worth of effort to convert me to the worship of Eilistraee, if you can believe such a thing," Halisstra answered "Lolth granted me an opportunity to slay two of the Eilistraeen clerics and escape"

Though her heart gloith dark pride at her acco a bit disappointed by the results of her treachery She was no stranger to the traitor&039;s dark art, but it seeed to do as expected of her

"Undoubtedly the surface folk set you free to see what you were up to," Quenthel said "It&039;s an old trick"

"So we thought, too," Tzirik said "However, we investigated Mistress Melarn&039;s story and found it to be true It&039;s almost comical, the naivete of our sisters in Eilistraee&039;s worship" He paused and rubbed his hands to-gether "Be that as it may, Jezz informs me that you helped hirowled

"His task was to bring back the book," Tzirik replied, "not to battle the denizens of Myth Drannor"

"You have your book," Quenthel said Ignoring Jeggred&039;s snarl, she folded her arms and fixed her eyes on Tzirik "Are you ready to fulfill your end of the bargain?"

"I have already done so," the priest replied He glanced up at the bronze ienuflection "Whether or not you returned alive, I intended to consult with the Masked Lord and find out for myself what takes Lolth from you Your story round her teeth in frustration

"What did you learn, then?" shewith a deliberate smirk as he paced away from the company and took a seat on a small dais that stood to one side of the chapel

He steepled his fingers together and said, "In all essentials your story is true Lolth does not grant her priestesses spells, nor does she reply to any entreaties"

"We already knew as much," Pharaun observed

"But I did not," the priest answered "In any event, it seems that Lolth has, in some manner, barricaded herself within her infernal domain She denies contact not only to her priestesses, but all other beings both mortal and divine, which would explain why the demons you conjured up to question about the Spider Queen&039;s doings were unable to assist you"

The Menzoberranyr stood silent, considering Tzirik&039;s answer Halisstra was puzzled, as well

"Why would the goddess do this?" she wondered aloud

"In the spirit of candor, I will admit that Vhaeraun either does not know or does not wish for aze on Halisstra "For the ood an ex-planation as any"

"Is shealive?" Ryld asked quietly Quenthel and the other priest-esses turned angry glares on the weapons nored them and went on "What I mean to say is, would we know if she had been slain by another god, or sickened, or iainst her will?"

"If only ere so lucky," Tzirik said, laughing "No, Lolth still lives, however you oddess As to whether she has sealed herself into the Demonweb Pits, or been sealed in by another power, Vhaeraun did not say"

"When will this condition end?" Halisstra asked

"Again, Vhaeraun either does not know or does not wish for ht be, will it end? The answer to that isyes, it will end in time, but before you take too oddess may have a very different sense of ould consider to be a reasonable wait The Masked Lordthat would happen tomorrow, next month, next year, or perhaps a hundred years fro," Quenthel murmured Her expression was distant, fixed on events in faraway Menzoberranzan "A resolutiondeity, then," Tzirik replied "If you&039;re interested, I would be happy to discourse at length on the virtues of the Masked Lord"

Quenthel bristled, but held her tongue - a feat of remarkable self-control for the Baenre priestess

"I decline," she said "Does the Masked Lord have any other advice for us, priest?"

"In fact, he does," Tzirik replied He shifted in his seat, leaning for-ward to convey his point to Quenthel "These were the exact words he spoke to me, so take note of them &039;The children of the Spider Queen should seek her for answers&039; "

"But we have," Halisstra cried "All of us, but she does not hear us"

"I don&039;t think that&039;s what hethat on&039;t learn anything o to the Deoddess in person"

Tzirik remained silent and watched the Menzoberranyr Quenthel paced in a s the idea

"The Spider Queen requires a certain amount of initiative and self-reliance in her priestesses," the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith said, "but she also deo before her in her divine abode in the ex-pectation of answersLolth does not s furiously over what Tzirik suggested Ventures into other planes of existence were not unknown, of course Pha-raun&039;s spell had carried the company across the Plane of Shadow, after all, and there were ic could reach, a multitude of heavens and hells, wonders and terrors beyond the confines of the physical world, but the notion of atte such a journey without Lolth&039;s explicit invitation terrified Halisstra

"The penalties for failing to understand the goddess&039;s will in this matter would be severe indeed," Halisstra said

"Have we not just heard the goddess&039;s will?" Danifae asked "She led us to this place and this question through her silence, just as surely as if she had placed the coered if we fail to do this"

Halisstra was accusto the Spider Queen&039;s wishes Before the divine silence had fallen over the priestesses of Lolth, she&039;d known the rare touch of the goddess&039;s whispers in her mind It didn&039;t happen often, of course - she was only one priestess, and Lolth was served by uncounted thousands - but she knehat it felt like to understand to the depths of her soul what the Spider Queen wished, and how she could acco Lolth&039;s will, evidently, was that she should figure it out for herself

Halisstra glanced up, where the bronze nness of the place see she had lost Instead of standing before the ancient altar in the proud te in her very soul as she performed the rites of sacrifice and abasement the Spider Queen demanded, she stood alone, lost, an interloper in the te blindly for a hint of Lolth&039;s intentions for her

She ioddess, her eyes blasted by the sight of Lolth&039;s dark glory, her ears scoured by the sound of the Spider Queen&039;s sibilant voice Perhaps it was effrontery to think that Lolth would erase her doubts, supply answers for her questions and a balm for her wounded heart, but Halisstra discovered that she did not care If Lolth chose to discard her, to punish her, then she would, but then why had she destroyed Ched Nasad and House Melarn if not to bring Halisstra before her andreceive her plea?

"I agree with Danifae," she said at last "I cannot see what the point of this has been, other than to suoddess&039;s throne We will find our answers in her presence"

Quenthel nodded slowly and said, "I read her will in the sao to the Deed worried looks

"A sojourn to the sixty-sixth layer of the Abyss," Pharaun observed "Well, I have drea to see if the reality h I have to say, I do not relish the thought ofLolth in person She minced my soul to pieces when I had that vision It took me months to recover"

"Perhaps we should return to Menzoberranzan and report e have learned before we consider anything rash?" Ryld asked, clearly alar into the infernal realoddess&039;s will, I do not wish to delay in obeying it," Quenthel said "Pharaun can use his sending spell to apprise Gromph of our intentions"

"More to the point," Valas said, "how exactly does one get to the Demonweb Pits?"

"Worship Lolth all your life," Quenthel replied, a dark look clouding her eyes, "then die"

Halisstra glanced at the high priestess, then looked at the scout and said, "Were the goddess granting us our spells, we could do it easily enough Without the his hands

"I will learn the proper spells at the first opportunity," he said "I sup-pose I will have to locate a wizard of soht spells, and persuade him to share one with me"

"That will not be necessary, Master Pharaun," Tzirik said He stood up from his seat and descended the dais, powerful and confident "As it so happens, od has not seen fit to deprivefor myself what transpires in Lolth&039;s doht, if you like"

Company by company, the Army of the Black Spider marched proudly into the open cavern behind the Pillars of Woe It was nothing compared to the vast cavern of Menzoberranzan, or the incoulf of the Darklake, but the plain at the head of the gorge was still im-pressive, an asy a couple of hundred feet overhead Innumerable columns supported its roof, and shelflike side caverns twisted away on all sides like highways beckoning in the dark

Ni as the great Houses of Menzoberranzan filed into the cavern, for squares beneath a dozen different banners He&039;d had more than two days to reconnoiter the various crevices, caves, and passages leading to the open spot The strategic value of the Pillars of Woe was obvious Only one road lead south through a torturous canyon, yet sev-eral tunnelsinto Menzober-ranzan&039;s Dark Do to himself with satisfaction

His mount, vicious and stupid beast that it was, still see conflict It hissed and pawed at the pebble-strewn floor, its tail twitching in agitation

Niap be-tween the Pillars, at the head of a force of al his scout force who had any other House allegiance lay sprawled ae belohere Ni the Pillars of Woe

Nio, Andzrel Baenre, and the rest of the army&039;s priestesses and co in the center of the cavern

The difficulty with a betrayal spanning a whole battlefield, he thought, is that one simply can&039;t be everywhere at once to savor the mo from the command pavilion tohere his company waited

"It seerach Dyrr soldiers waiting behind hinal When it co back"

Nimor kicked his war-lizard into er The rider was a young fellow in the livery of House Baenre - no doubt a favored nephew or cousin, given a relatively safe task in order to gain a blooding without toohis hair to streaht red banner fluttered from a harness secured to his saddle

"You are Captain Zhayereet Nimor

"I am"

"Your presence is requested at the coo wants to knohere the gray dwarves are, and how best to dispose the troops"

"I see," Nimor replied "Well, ride on back and tell her I&039;ll be along presently"

"With respect, sir, I areat horn blasts, two short followed by one long, bellowed up fro so loudly it seeer broke off and twisted hispast Nimor to peer back toward the Pillars

"Lolth&039;s wrath, as that?" he said

"That," said Niar attack"

Froe beneath the Pillars of Woe ca rumble of an army on the ar lizard riders suddenly rose froe and pelted up and into the gap Niar cavalry, rank upon rank of duergar infantry ran forward, shouting their uncouth war cries, harach Dyrr riders scrae between the ed, they wheeled in unison and dashed to one side, leaving the line unguarded

"The Agrach Dyrr! They betray us!" the er shouted, horror and shock on his face