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The soldiers, nu and unsheathed their weapons

"Co in with a long sword and a short sword together, one in each hand

The other three fanned out, looking for a chance to flank the burly intruder Ryld kept his blade level and loose, waiting and watching, shifting froetting past hi Pharaun He worried that his hands, still covered with drying blood, would be too slick to wield his blade properly

The first opponent stepped in, slashing with his short sword up high, then bringing his long sword through in a sweep across Ryld&039;s midsection The weapons master ducked below the first slice and parried the lower bloith Splitter

Try that again, and I&039;ll have you down to two short swords, Ryld thought, watching to see if the other droould fall into a pattern

To his left, another of the soldiers was trying to scoot along the wall, obviously hoping he could squeeze past Ryld, but the Master of Melee-Magthere was keeping theht Hethe soldier to flinch back Ryld bounced back to thethe droith two blades The other two drow, both on Ryld&039;s right, aiting and watching

Fine withhis ed tactics this ti, and proceeded through a flurry of bloith only that weapon, watching how Ryld blocked theh a parry and counterattacked, the other warrior was ready, deflecting the stroke with the short sword Unfortunately, the engagement allowed the drow on Ryld&039;s left to finally shoot past him

"Pharaun!" Ryld called, "watch out!"

He stepped away fro backward to keep his opponents in his sight, and the weapons master could hear cries of pain and terror behind hiroup of drow, and not his two coain, and this time Ryld was ready for hih, Ryld knew that the long sould follo This time when the stroke approached Ryld cut sharply with his own blade, neatly slicing the long sword in half The broken end skittered aith a clatter

"Daasped in the next instant as Ryld&039;s momentum spun the weapons ain

His cut was quick and true, and the opponent dropped to the floor with a groan Ryld didn&039;t waste ti the attack fro to cut at hi for his troubles and growled in pain as he back-stepped froet turned away fro hiht the soldier with the long sword fro one of his kukris into the fellow&039;s back Seeing the attack, Ryld quickly turned and parried several thrusts froet in close and attack Ryld while his attention was focused on the opposite side, but they&039;d lost their chance

Ryld stepped fully into theas much room as possible to use Splitter When the two House Zauvirr soldiers saw that the odds were down to two to one and would quickly be even with Valas beside hian to back up

A staccato series of glowing bluish-whiteinto the two drow as they tried to turn and flee A few of the ht fizzled out as they reached their targets, but farthe two soldiers to shudder and convulse as they went sprawling to the floor Ryld glanced back to see Pharaun holding a slender length of some darkly stained wood cut from a tree on the surface world

The wizard nodded in satisfaction and tucked the wand away

"We mustn&039;t tarry," he said, "Everyone in the entire House probably heard that"

Curious, Ryld took another glance back past Pharaun to where the other contingent of drow had been They were all dead, clutched in the grip of the black, shiny tentacles the e sometimes summoned The tentacles continued to squeeze and contract around the bodies of those unfortunate soldiers or flailed about blindly if they had nothing to grip

Turning back, Ryld followed the other two past the dead drow and into the stairwell

Halisstra stumbled and lost her balance as the deep ruuards ere "escorting" her into the audience charips on the drow noble&039;s arain their collective balance All around Halisstra, shouts rose as drow began to mill about uncertainly in the confusion caused by the vibration, whatever it was Stunned asplace in her mother&039;s House - her House now, Halisstra realized - as by the shock wave that tore through the place, Halisstra merely stood in place, dressed in only her underclothes and with her ar at the chaos around her

When the liveried servant fro outside, Halisstra blinked in astonish House Melarn? Why in the Abyss would they -

A second blast rocked House Melarn and knocked Halisstra off her feet Or rather, it would have if soht her froet you out of here"

It was Danifae, dressed for battle and looking reuard in a House Zauvirr pii

Halisstra struggled to right herself with Danifae&039;s help, then turned to look at her battle captive The servant was not normally per her old chain shirt and buckler and had herstar at her side Halisstra wondered how Danifae had et to her accoutrements, which had been locked away in Halisstra&039;s roo to take the time to complain just then

Halisstra heard a shout frouards realizing she was free Instead, she discovered that a thick mist had filled the room, and she could see very little beyond a couple of paces away

"Coh thedeeper into the House where her own chaet these - "she held her arms out away from her back to indicate the manacles - "offher superior by one ar the wall and toward the door "We&039;ll thank so"

"Youyou and Lirdnolu Maerret planned to help extricate hed once, a bitter chuckle

"Hardly," she said, "Despiteperformance before Matron Mother Zauvirr, you didn&039;t really expect her to let me wander free did you? I had no way to reach House Maerret No, that co,"

Once the two of them were out of the audience chamber and into the hall, Halisstra could see better, and she set off regally toward her own chambers, despite the fact that she was half-naked and bound She hadn&039;t ed ered her She gasped as she lost her balance and stuainst one wall of the hallway, but Danifae was there, catching hold of herher as the tre on?" Halisstra dehted themselves and hurried on their way

"I don&039;t know for sure, but I can hazard a guess," her subordinate replied as they turned a corner "There are riots welling up in the streets"

"Perhaps," Halisstra said, "but ould duergar target House Melarn?"

"That, I can&039;t say," Danifae replied, "but uess is it has more to do with Ssipriina Zauvirr&039;s atteardless, it served h Perhaps we can find out et you out of those restraints"

"Yes," Halisstra answered, thinking "Let&039;s start with finding out where in the Nine Hells all of our House guards are"

"I can tell you that right now," Danifae offered as the duo turned another corner and entered Halisstra&039;s chambers "They accepted an offer they couldn&039;t refuse: serve House Zauvirr or die"

Halisstra sighed

"Is there anyone still loyal to h she feared she already knew the answer

"Possibly your brother, if he&039;s still alive, but he&039;s at the Dangling Tower and can&039;t do usHalisstra around so that she could take a look at the locking ht now? I doubt anyone would be willing to aid you, except maybe those three males in the audience chamber, the ones from Menzoberranzan, and only if you win their trust" The battle captive shook her head "I can&039;t get these off right now Better to break the chain and worry about them later"

"Finebut what do you mean, &039;win their trust?&039; How could I do that?"

Halisstra began to pace, pondering her options Though she had ed to escape the matron mothers for the moment, she was still trapped - inside her own House, of all places - and doubted it would take long for Ssipriina&039;s guards to close in on the two of theht away Halisstra turned to repeat her question and saw the other dark elf grab the noble&039;s mace from where it stood in the corner by her bed She was momentarily startled when Danifae returned to her side and pushed her to her knees, but she quickly understood the battle captive&039;s intent, and positioned her hands near the floor where Danifae could strike the chain while it was against the stone

"You could start by telling theh priestess is still alive," Danifae finally answered, drawing thetheto look at her servant "Quenthel Baenre is alive?"

For a brief moment she wondered if her mother had also survived

Danifae held her downstroke at the last moment when herHalisstra for another try "And yes, the Baenre priestess is alive I saw both her and her de around, trying to figure out what to do, I saw thatfroainst the chain, but the links didn&039;t break

"A few moments later," she continued, "Faeryl Zauvirr appeared, also co from the lower levels Curious, I decided to see what she was doing down there She has them both bound to within an inch of their lives, and Quenthel Baenre is stretched tight on the rack at the moment"

Danifae lined up another bloith the h priestess and get her to prove my innocence"

Halisstra felt elation for the first tiun

"Possibly," the battle captive answered dryly, taking another whack at the restraints, "but I doubt many of the uilty of her crih of thefree from this More likely - ah ha!"

The link Danifae had been pounding on finally cri Halisstra to her feet, the battle captive continued, "More likely, they&039;ll si that as a cover story"

Halisstra eyed the steel restraints still on her wrists, already finding the, but they would have to wait Free, at least for the moment, Halisstra&039;s fear melted away She was furious, and she couldn&039;t decide who bore theto sit here while everyone else brings down House Melarn around o find that Baenre"

"As you wish," Danifae said,been an to dress, first attiring herself in a set of plain but functional clothes, then donning her ar the coat of arms of House Melarn and several enchantments Once that was on, Danifae handed Halisstra her ather up other things Halisstra normally had with her when out in the city or beyond

When Halisstra was dressed, Danifae grabbed herstar, each of thenia of House Zauvirr, and they were ready

Outside Halisstra&039;s rooms, the halls were quiet No one had yet been sent to hunt for her, it appeared, for which the priestess was silently thankful Once away froan to breathe a little easier No onewould question two House guards h the halls

That&039;s when the two of thee droo of theloom They were definitely not members of the household, but it took Halisstra another moment or two before she realized they were the three Menzoberranyr

"Da inside hispii as the other two brandished weapons and advanced warily