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"I told you co this as arun

The passage before the droizard ended abruptly, blocked by a great gray yback to face the direction frohed off his finely crafted knapsack, lowered it to the rocky floor, and scooted it out of the ith his foot

"Don&039;t gloat, Mizzry up beside hi, froh priestess&039;s hip rose up and hissed their own displeasure at the wizard, duplicating their e free of her belt and took up a position beside Pharaun, waiting

The draegloth was right on the haughty drow&039;s heels Jeggred bore not one but two heavy bundles, and when the four-armed fiend reached the pair of dark elves, he tossed the supplies to the floor, apparently not the least bit winded froe, twisted ss and turned around, advancing a few steps to position hiht co deep in his demonic throat

The Master of Sorcere was in no h priestess&039;s foul teri on one, he fished around in hispii,fetching froents he would need to weave the chosen ic Eventually, he produced a bit of squid tentacle He had warned them they would be trapped if they came this way, and so had Valas, but Quenthel had insisted As usual, it was up to Pharaun to extricate them all

Faeryl Zauvirr was the next to stu labored The ae and groaned, sliding her pack fro it with a thud to the rocky floor next to the others&039; She wearily produced a small crossbow from her oiand placed herself on the wizard&039;s other side

"They&039;re right behind us," Ryld Argith announced as he and the last ent, Valas Hune, sprinted froe

Past the burly warrior and the dilow of roup&039;s position The creatures peered forward eagerly, and the wizard estih afflicted with a hunched back, the creatures were reh their features were decidedlyforeheads and their prominent tusks They wore little arh, but the battle-axes

Pharaun shook his head in resignation and prepared to weave a spell

The tanarukks howled in delight and lunged forward, eager, it seemed, to take the battle to their cornered prey Several swarred, and the fiend bellowed his oar cry, crouching and slashing wildly He tossed one of the tanarukks aside effortlessly, slaainst the far wall, near Ryld&039;s position

Pharaun gaped for a loth displayed, even as two more of the hu of Splitter, the enchanted greatsielded with greater skill by Ryld Argith Faeryl fired her crossbow from beside Pharaun then stooped to reload it Quenthel, in the meantime, seemed content to watch her subordinates at work More of the tanarukks swarh, and the wizard alh the line of defense that Jeggred and Ryld had forreen-skinned tanarukk leaped toward the wizard, its axe cocked back for a savage blow Pharaun was just able to backpedal enough to avoid the slashing blade as it swooshed through the air where his face had been a heartbeat before He considered calling thethat held it, tiny and out of the way until needed, but he knew the effort would be futile The thin blade would never withstand the force of the axe, and besides, he couldn&039;t get enough room between himself and the beast to use theout of space to maneuver

When the tanarukk arched its back and howled in pain and fury, Pharaun saw that Quenthel was behind it, already drawing her arm back for another sith her dreaded whip The tanarukk whirled around, still screa blow, but before either it or the high priestess could finish their attacks, a flash of shadow e of Pharaun&039;s field of vision - and the shadow became Valas Hune

The reen-skinned creature and pulled one of his kukris harshly across the tanarukk&039;s ha it with the oddly curved knife Black blood spurted everywhere fro feebly with its hands, trying to find the source of its torone, vanished again in the shadows

Quenthel took the opportunity to bring the whip down on the tanarukk again, and Pharaun saw the fangs of the snake heads sink deeply into the flesh of the creature&039;s face and neck Already, it was beginning to cough and choke, its face and tongue bloating, poisoned by the lashes from the whip It dropped its axe and cruuish

Pharaun realized he was holding his breath and exhaled sharply, regaining his wits Disgusted with hi so undisciplined, he remembered the tiny piece of squid tentacle that he had in his hand Righting himself, he made a rapid inspection of the battlefield in order to determine where best to place the spell he had in red and Ryld, but still the reet nearer the pair, snarling and leaping about, looking for an opening where they could use their axes The wizard decided he could easily position the e humanoids that reht the drow e He blinked and peeredin the darkness, watching the battle, was a beautiful woman Pharaun found her attractive, despite the fact that she was not a drow but appeared human Black curly hair fraht, shiny leather corset that hugged her curves like a second skin She seeiving the at her, she s even farther in a berin That hen the wizard also noticed the black, leathery wings sprouting from her back She wasn&039;t hueous creature coed half-fiends soht to the wizard But, beautiful or not, she was on the other side of the fight Sooner or later, he supposed, she would have to be dealt with

Not here, though; not now

Snapping back to the task at hand, Pharaun finished casting the dweo up, situated between the contingent of drow and the res was as thick as his thigh and squirle Too late, Pharaun noticed that Ryld had felled the reed hi forward, ready to confront the handful that hung back

Pharaun opened histo the weapons red reach over and grasp the Master of Melee-Magthere by the collar of his breastplate and yank him back, out of harm&039;s way An instant later, one of the tentacles wrapped itself around the lifeless body of a tanarukk that had been at Ryld&039;s feet and quickly coiledthe corpse If the weaponsinstead

Nu the surprised tanarukks and coiling around the as the tentacles began to crush the life out of them The she-demon on the far side merely arched one eyebrow at the appearance of the spell, taking a single step back so that she was clearly beyond the reach of the writhing black appendages She seean to grow silent, their breath lost, their ribs cracked

Pharaun didn&039;t waste ti for the spell to end and allow either the beautiful fiend or any of her re to reveal the extent of his ic any more than necessary, the wizard stooped quickly and slapped at the ground before him He took one last look at the beautiful fiend opposite him as darkness welled up between thean another, producing a pinch of ge a spell that placed an invisible wall between the drow and the tanarukks

The ical barrier was iical assaults, and would buy the expedition tiy would not hold indefinitely, but it would last long enough for theure out how to escape unseen Pharaun dusted his hands as he stepped back fro

"Well, a fine solution that is," Quenthel sniped, "sealing us in here We&039;d be better off facing those filthy beasts on the other side than just sitting here"

Ryld hunched down nearby, breathing heavily, cleaning his blade with a piece of cloth Faeryl slu to catch her breath Only Jeggred and Valas see easy The scout loth hovered near Quenthel

"As I tried to tell you," Pharaun retorted, running his hand along the surface of the da, "this is the Arauo on fortone was unmistakable, but he didn&039;t care Quenthel let out an exasperated sigh as she leaned against the wall of the passage Aso much as the exterior of a brain It co for a while," Quenthel said "I&039; at the knapsack at her feet She began rubbing her shoulders

Pharaun shook his head, ae had tried to be as deferential as possible, to let her see the folly of heading in this direction, but despite his warnings - and Valas&039;s - the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith had, with her usual haughty de her wishes anyway Now they were pinned against the bloated growth, just as he had predicted, and she was sinore that fact

Pharaun pursed his lips in vexation as he watched her out of the corner of his eye She labored to work the stiffness out of her shoulders He could only i, but he had no pity for her plight Despite the fact that his own haversack was htened, Pharaun&039;s shoulders ached, too They had gone far beyond sore and were, he was certain, chaffed raw

"Ah, yes," he said, continuing to exarowth, "you&039;ve made it quite clear how far beneath a Baenre - the Mistress of the Academy no less - it is tohow did you say it?&039;deh the ain - that it wasyour masterful tactical decision to leave our thralls and packlizards behind, tethered and bleeding, in order to facilitate our escape from those cloakers"

The wizard knew full well that his cutting remarks would further sour her already unpleasantunder Quenthel&039;s skin gave hi circuh priestess snapped as she stood straight again, glaring balefully at hi at her, Pharaun rolled his eyes where she could not see

"A thousand ti the tier intend to bother with the goods you think are stored in the Black Claw Mercantile storehouses in Ched Nasad Even if they do rightfully belong to House Baenre, how are we going to get them back to Menzoberranzan?Youcertainly won&039;t carry theets around that you like to use your pack animals and drovers as bait, no one else will, either"

Pharaun stole a sidelong glance at the high priestess, runded state Quenthel&039;s scoas particularly severe, drawing out fully the vertical line that ran between her brows and giving her that pinched look that theto find unduly coet under her skin, he thought, grinning, but then he noticed Jeggredto stand between the two of therin vanished He held his breath as the draegloth s cascaded over hi his stoly, and at a word froladly atteroup, for that lee Thus far, that word had not co to defend himself from the fiend&039;s assault, especially in such close quarters where he would have a hard ti clear to exercise his own allote cavern to red, but unfortunately, there was only this crae, with no room to stay clear of the brute&039;s claws

Despite her current foul hu the load on her back, Quenthel soal as she pushed herself away from the wall and stalked across the corridor toward Pharaun, herpiishing about her He understood that she wasn&039;t his jibes She had waited until her faithful servant had e

"I know very hat I said and did, and I do not need youilded cage for all to look upon and laugh at" She focused her stare on him and held it there "We are on adiplo to my House, and they will be returned there I&039;ll see to that If I can&039;t hire a caravan to carry thered will aze ired shtened, loth, and the fiend ore fro," Quenthel said, jabbing her finger toward the rowth before she turned and strode back to her own pack and sank down to the floor

Pharaun sighed and rolled his eyes, knowing he had pushed the high priestess too far He would suffer auge her reaction to the confrontation The ambassador from Ched Nasad merely shook her head at him, scorn plain on her mien

"I would think you, of all people, would beto strip your mother&039;s mercantile coed and said, "It&039;s no concern of mine My House merely works for her - for House Baenre and for House Melarn They own Black Claw together, so if she wants to steal froet home"

Pharaun was surprised to actually see a wistful look on the arunted at Faeryl&039;s response and turned once more to inspect the material that blocked their way He was both fascinated at seeing it in person for the first time and desperate to seek a possible way around it He knew that the Araumycos filled countless miles of caverns in this part of the Underdark, but travelers had soh it

Valas was already cliainst it, working his way toward the upper reaches Pharaun could see that the passage they had followed opened into what e itself, rose abruptly He could see that the scout was rowth and the side of the cavern, perhaps hoping that there was a way to squeeze through, though to where, Pharaun had no idea

Pharaun considered the dian D&039;aerthe to be a bit uncouth, but nonetheless, he was glad the wiry guide was along for the trip

"How long do we have before that gives out?" Faeryl asked, staring back the way they all had come, back toward the inky blackness

Pharaun was surprised that she spoke to him She was emboldened, the wizard supposed, fro to look at the a a tiny fla the fungus Where the fire touched the growth, it blackened and withered, but it did not burn a hole through to anywhere

"Not long," he said

He sensed rather than saw her discomfort at his offhand comment The wizard smiled despite himself as he worked, bemused at the irony of Faeryl&039;s situation It had not been that long ago that she had been desperate to make this journey, to return to her ho out of Menzoberranzan and crossing Triel Baenre, the most powerful matron mother in the city, in the process Faeryl had failed, of course She had been captured at the gates, and she had wound up as Jeggred&039;s iine what the draeglothto her in the name of sport, but somehow the Zauvirr had earned a reprieve froned to participate in this little excursion to Ched Nasad

In the end, Faeryl had achieved what she wanted, but the wizard wondered if she was still glad of it, despite her previous reet ho her mother, theto take everything Absolutely everything Regardless of the feasibility of such a ent&039;s ability to actually pull it off unmolested by House Melarn, Faeryl and her ht in the red so aze in her direction, she flinched andevery opportunity to enhance the aestive smile, a lick of his lips, or a studied examination of his razor-sharp claws It was clear to Pharaun that Faeryl was close to fully losing her coht have to actually let the draegloth have her and be done with it

Then, of course, there was the matter of the supplies Faeryl, like the rest of the members of the ss for the better part of a tenday, soh-born dark elf was accustomed to Sedan chairs borne by slaves and porters wasthose thralls behind to stave off pursuit had been regrettable but necessary, and even with Jeggred&039;s ability to carry a substantial portion of the load, the rest of them still had sizable burdens He could hardly bla whether this journey was nothing e mistake

From Quenthel&039;s demeanor it seemed she already knew that, or perhaps didn&039;t care if Lolth&039;s silence extended as far as Ched Nasad at least and that their journey of exploration had become more akin to a raidThat was fine with Pharaun, but still he suspected there would be ical trinkets

Glancing at his pack oncethe tension in his own shoulders, Pharaun wished for ical disk to bear their supplies So many of the drow noble Houses made steady use of such a handy spell that the enerally insisted their House wizards learn it while attending Sorcere, the arcane branch of the Academy Pharaun had never bothered to fah, since he had his haversack with its rihed a fraction of what a normal pack would Besides, back at the Acade with the ical disk, there was always a ready supply of students on hand who could have performed the task for hi hiic was an all-too-precious coely silent, none of her priestesses could gain the favor of her divineboth Quenthel and Faeryl severely hampered and limited in power The wilds of the Underdark were no place to be while vulnerable Besides, there was no sh Priestess of Arach-Tinilith, the clerical branch of the Acade Pharaun out of his reverie The high priestess gestured tohere the scout was still clis were still visible The rest of him disappeared into the crevice forus

She turned to Ryld and said, "Your friend is looking for a way through Stop daydrea then to Pharaun, she added, "You, too"