Chances Meeting

Forces of darkness meet each other, some for the first time. They know each other only by word of mouth, and both hate each other.

Chapter 8 Chances Meeting

“Damn elves! If they were never there I would not have gotten myself in this mess!” Galad ran through the web woven streets of Felldur. His sword was coated in cobweb and so too was his armor filled with the sticky substance. He found himself separated by his comrades too long ago. He wondered if they lived, if any of them escaped, or if all fell to these creatures. What manner creatures, the body of a spider, yet with what appeared to be a dark colored elf attached to the top of it, resembling one who rides horses, in this case a spider. His sword was losing its effectiveness as he cut through feet upon feet of web to find a way out. “Why oh why did this happen!”

He looked up above to find the sun, but there was none. He knew winter was ending into the spring time and the sun should shine, but the web would not allow even the slightest beam of light in. The webs were so thick even above head there was no sky. He could hear the clicks of spider feet and claws on the pavements, muffled by the web, but he could still hear it. He turned around and saw one of these blasted things charging towards him.

Eight lengthy legs with a body holding a spear with, pointing at him. Eyes red as the blood it thirsted for. Its mouth snarled as it closed in on its prey, helpless. The web re-wove itself where Galad cut, forcing him to face this new demon.

Galad turned seeing no other solution, pointing his dull and web covered blade at the creature. He took one deep breath, getting ready to face his fate. He knew they could be harmed, but he had yet the luxury of killing one of these to know if they can die or not. “Come at me Demon of the Abyss! ONE OF US WILL BE SENT TO HEAVEN OR TO HELL!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

“I am not a creature of the Nine Hells nor the Abyss of Chaos.” it said in a guttural voice. “Nay, those are of Unverdus’ creation. I am a manifestation of the twisted drow and spiders. Created by none other than Lolth. I am drider!”

“Then come at me foul creature from whatever demon has created you, surely it will send you to an untimely fate! I will slay ye here!” Galad continued to protest his fate, cursed as he is. A hope, a small light wove itself through the web and shone upon him, melting the web on his blade, and destroyed the fabric of web inside his armor allowing for greater movement and flexibility. “Alas, I know not what divine force has smiled upon me this day, but alas I will tell the whole world what it is, that He, She and or It will be the only thing that matters!”

The drider growled at the light shining through the web. “Unverdus, how dare ye interfere with my prey. Ye hast forsaken this city, and all under my will. Ye will not retake this place, nor my soul! I live unto the worldly passions, not your Godly ways.”

Galad rushed forth screaming, both hands grasping the hilt of his sword. It struck the drider in the chest where the heart would be of any humanoid creature. The drider focused now on the blade protruding from his chest. “OW! That hurt!” he yelled.

Galad gaped and withdrew his sword and backed away swiftly before he could be grabbed by the drider’s arm. “That should have killed ye! Why are ye still alive!?” he asked.

“My vital organs be not in the elf.” the drider replied. “I suppose you will do.” Web was produced from its needle and grabbed hold the child’s legs.

Galad tripped and dropped his sword as he was being pulled towards the drider. He tried pulling on the webs on the ground for support, to resist the pull but the web only came with him. He whimpered as he was pulled into bondage of the drow, sinister in its own nature. Please give me a wraith to fight! Not this! He cried in his mind. The drider’s first four legs rested upon his chest and the drow place his hands on his head. “Sh.” he heard the drow say in a more empathetic voice.

He screamed in pain as he felt a needle thrust into his stomach making its way through his body and shooting poison. He felt the poison rushing through his veins and cried, tears covering the drider’s hands. His screams were only accompanied and followed by the laughter of a sadist. The symphony echoed through the webs of Felldur, and among the many corpses that lie woven throughout.

The drider slowly withdrew his needle, before its prey lost consciousness. Galad grunted as he felt the needle leaving his body, but the poison stayed. The drider wove the boy into a cocoon of web and dragged it through the city, bringing it with several other cocoons, presumably men, women and children.

“So where is Zabiobad?” Maranwe asked her brother as they were on the border of the forest and the Glenwood road. The three assassin siblings were doing very well considering the amount of stress they were in. The drow, the assassins after them and now with nowhere to run but to Irenue as Maya told them to do. It is the only way.

Gilrein held onto one of the maps, looking at every aspect of it, lattitude and longitude but did not see anything with Zabiobad written on it. She looked closely at the dwarven realm of Korilya, which is often never filled out on any map, considering all of their cities lie under ground, with vast farmlands, and military outposts that are unnamed.

“It is dwarven.” Finwe said, his eyes closed as if he was trying to remember something. “There is but one map that has that, I have glanced at it but briefly. Sipus has it, and he has the only older copy that had that information. I know not what it used to be, just that it is in Korilya in the red mountains.”

“How are we to get there brother?” the younger sister said, scratching her stained helmet.

“The best route to get there safely would be through Felldur.” he replied, questioning his wisdom for he knew a branch of the Thieve’s Guild was there, very close to the Assassin’s.

“Brother, odds are_”

“No, it is not likely. The assassins have no direct connection to the Thieve’s Guild.” he replied. “It is very unlikely that they would be hunting us, however I would expect no favors from them either.”

“Why is that?” Gilrein interjected.

“The thieves do not like dealing with assassins, they are not cutthroats as many claim they are. They get the stigma of being closely related to us for they too follow no law. When we get our hands dirty on behalf of them, they get the credit, something we do not mind but they hate.” He answered. “Thieves do not kill. That is our job. Was our job.” He let out a sigh. “That being said, they keep close relations with us for the jobs that are too dangerous for them to take on without the risk of killing someone, such as stealing a rare gem from a royal palace. That is why we have a mutual understanding to some extent, but otherwise despise us.”

The two sisters went silence. They knew it was true, it was a very unhappy relationship, and few who were of a free mind questioned how long the two guilds would remain peaceful with one another, though they both knew perfectly well that the Assassins would always remain on top, able to kill when and whoever they pleased with little consequence.

“So…” Gilrein’s voice trailed off as she heard some rustling of leaves. Crumpled leaves, the leaves only found during the fall, or end of fall. “What do we do when we get there?”

Finwe looked at the crumpled leaves trying to dance in the air, and felt something he had not felt since that day. Damn you Sipus! The tear he shed was of great sorrow, just like that day. The day that lead him down a path of murder and slaughter, the day that Sipus killed his mother and sacrificed her corpse as some sort of offering to a god that is not real, but real enough to him supposedly. “Mother.”

Gilrein gasped. She looked steadily at him as he stopped abruptly. Maranwe looked around everyone, and to the forests, the one of the natural wood to the north and of the iron forest of malice to the south.

“Brother.” Maranwe asked her older sibling who turned to her. “What was mother like?”

“Oh, that is right. You have no memory of her do you?” he observed. He placed his hand on his chin, rubbing it with his thumb and forefingers. “Her skin was as fair as the most beautiful sunset. Her smile, no one could give a smile as she did, for it was one of joy not happiness as is often felt among young souls. Her voice was soft and warm even on the coldest winter night, and could instil a cold fear inside when we did something wrong. She lived the life of those who devote themselves to an unshakable foundation. She was beautiful in every way, soul and body.”

“Finwe. You know you should not speak of the past or even dwell on things that cannot be changed.” Gilrein said, stepping in between the other two siblings. “You must not harm Maranwe’s ears with thoughts or feelings that you know can never be!”

“You be one to talk.” he replied. “I am not the only one guilty, you know of whom I speak.” he stared sternly at her. Gilrein stepped aside as she felt the icy prick pierce her heart. “Maranwe, ask anything you wish of our dear lost mother.”

“What happened to her?” she asked.

“Sipus...Sipus killed...her.” he choked on his tears as he remembered the scene. “Cut open like a stuck pig and crushed. Sipus sacrificed her to obtain immortality.” he grasped the hilt of his rapier. “Someday, I will see. I will see if an immortal can die.”

“Brother, you know that is dangerous. Speaking of such things as if they are in your reach. He is dangerous enough to go after the Guild Masters, successfully killing many far greater than yourself. You will believe these lies and false hopes you tell yourself until you act upon it. Acting upon what can never be will lead to your demise! Let others kill him for you. Kac Xaizan for instance will be very suitable for the task, and likely will encounter sooner than later.” Gilrein replied placing a hand on Maranwe’s back, rubbing it as she cried. The elder sister scanned the trees with her eyes, and saw very little, but hearing much, some struggle it seems in the Iron Forest. “We have lingered here too long we must go. How long until Felldur brother?”

“About a mile until it is visible.” he said looking at the forest of metal trees and leaves. “What do you hear?”

“Someone is coming. We are being followed I fear.” Gilrein said. “Assassins of maybe those filthy dark elves.”

The three began running on the road, rushing as fast as they could to find the city. Before too long they could see the city, walls, and shapes of buildings behind as most of their attention was fixed on the noise that caught up to them. When they finally slowed down, taking their eyes off the road behind them to focus on what lie ahead could they only tell what happened. Never before had they seen a ruin seemingly abandoned. The cobwebs proved it.

“What in the abyss happened here?” Finwe asked rhetorically.

He placed his hands on one of the doors covered in web, to feel the sticky substance jump on his hands. He turned the knob on the door and pushed it open. The street was covered in the same web as the outside. He could see doors knocked in, shattered shop stands, and sacks of the web scattered everywhere.

“What is this substance?” Maranwe asked as her older sister observed the buildings and the sky that was no longer visible.

Finwe stepped very carefully. “I know not. I have never seen such a thing. Tread carefully. We must exit the other end of this city.” he let out a sigh. “Besides, whatever is following us will probably be deterred by this as well as us, so we have something good to look forward to.”

“But what lies within this foul place?” Gilrein asked. “Surely it destroyed an entire city it seems like.”

“What lies within us is more dangerous to us than any foe.” he replied.

“You slow she-elf!” Vircona said, pushing Lerien through the iron forest, blood gushing from all of her wounds. The wounds given to her by the blades of grass, the birch from the iron tree and the sword-like branches.

“STOP IT!” the elf cried in the darkness as she stumbled on the ground. The crawled to the nearest tree, pulling her knees to her chest, whimpering like a dog when her master pulls out the whip.  “Why? Why did you not leave me to face my death!?” Lerien cried. “My husband, my daughters Tarien and Kerien are both dead! I have nothing. Is it too much to ask to be let into the void!?”

“Lerien I thought I told you once.” Vircona said, kneeling by her, and patting the top of her head. Her white hair falling to the earth, unseen by all but the eye of the drow. “I hate you. I want to see you dead and I will. You are an elf, the same that caused my outcast state, and abduction by Lolth and Decrepantaur, one of which was merciful enough to lend me power enough to get my revenge on the elves, on Decrepantaur and all of his minions. I hate you because you are an elf. To me that is good enough as any. Now the moment I begin to like you Lerien, I will kill you. I wish to see your eyes fill with horror.

“I will stand on this earth, on all of Alkathos, even if I must turn it to a pile of ashes. I have already started, using Decrepantaur’s first wheel. He started the destruction of Kinasa, and with that I have started killing everything that breathes in Zinasa, and it will be nothing. Decrepantaur thinks he is in control but he has created a soul far darker than his own. My dark soul will send him searching for the light!”

“So much hate. Why?” Lerien wiped her eyes.

“I am but a creature that Decrepantaur made. I was outcast by the elf people thanks to Unverdus.” she said his name as if it left a nasty taste in her mouth. “I am a drow of the underdark because Decrepantaur willed it. Now it is my turn to make a creation. I will destroy the world he so craved and kill him in the process. Through my will I will smash the gates of Heaven, a task he failed at.”

“And how do I fit your purpose?” Lerien said, letting herself up, grunting as the bark of the tree cut the palm of her hand.  “Why do you need me?”

“I do not. I just want to see you suffer for the next several generations and you will know that your immortality is but a curse. A curse that you should live while you watch everyone you love and care about die. I will enjoy listening to you scream!”

“Then I have no purpose then. Not anymore.” Lerien said. “I am useless to anyone.”

Vircona lead her by the hand. “Now if you will move but a bit faster, the less I will push you and bring you to physical harm.” she told her. “Move.”

“How? I cannot see what lies ahead of me or above. There is no light, my eyes are not made for these dark places.” Lerien complained as she was pushed again.

“‘I cannot see! I cannot see’ is that all you do? complain?” Vircona replied. “It be all that elves do. Useless creatures.”

Lerien rushed to her feet, helpless before her master she obeyed. Happy mistress, at least bears a bearable life. She pulled herself with branches that dug into her hands, scraping the grass, cutting her cloths. The abuse continued until the she could see light and a road she barely recognized. The Glenwood road, indeed that is what it was. Looking to the left, she knew the village of Malitu lay. Sooner rather than later that village would be taken. To her right if memory served...it has been well over a century since she last went inside Felldur but she still recalled it to be there. “Where are we going?”

Vircona stayed towards the iron forest, trying to stay away from the light, shielding her eyes with a hand. She closed her eyes and waved both arms in the sky. Thunder clapped and the clouds stirred above to hide the sun. “Sooner we reach there the better. I have another creature I want to collect.” she stepped out onto the road, her purple skin apparent. “Felldur.”

Galad awoke covered in the web he so loathed since he came to Felldur. Despising the world, despising the elves that compelled his desire to leave them and now he is stuck in this mess. He was stiffened as he was wrapped in his cocoon.

Damn everything! Damn everyone! How could this happen? Is this the price_What is that? He thought to himself. His eyes could barely see through the white dome he was in, though he could still hear clicking. Eight steps. Yes eight steps. The drider or whatever that foul thing was is here. Will it eat me? Oh please please please free me!

Hearing the clicks get louder he grew fearful. Maybe it will think me dead if I remain calm. He thought, thinking a fool's hope. He heard multiple voices but he could make out one. The one who brought him here. There was also another, female it sounded like.

“Oh dear you have truly outdone yourself this time.” said the female voice. “More morsels for Lolth’s bidding.”

“It is for Lolth and only Lolth that I do this.” said the drider he recognized. “It might be time for her feeding.”

He heard some more clicks, four pairs of spiders he counted. Always getting closer. Then it stopped. He felt a pair of hands touch his cocoon. The hands reached inside the cocoon, he closed his eyes as he felt the pair of hands examine his body. The search was very thorough as the helpless child held his breath and remained still.

The hands retreated away. “This one is not done yet.” said the familiar voice. The clicks grew farther away and he could hear another rip. The rip of the web as the hands ripped through another cocoon. “Got one. For Lolth it is!” his laughter echoed in his ears as he could hear the other cocoon being dragged away.

“For Lolth.” the other said very casually.

Galad let out a sigh, but only a little one. The web was weakened. The drider was too careless, weakening the restraints. Using his hands he pulled very slowly more of the web, and he could see, if only a little bit.  He beheld a female drow feeling through other cocoons. “Not that one. Too soft.” she would say to herself.

He glanced left and right to see if he could see anything that could be implemented as a weapon but there is nothing. Wait. He remembered the dagger in his boot. Not much, but it will have to do for right now. He began to dig away at the cocoon as he carefully observed this other drider. “What are you doing?” he whispered to himself. He noticed that there was a rather large sack towards the end of her buttocks. Eggs!

“Ah this be the one!” The drider pulled out a black dagger surrounded by a purple aura as it cut open a cocoon. A man, still living. Peasant by what manner of clothing he wore Galad assumed.

“NO NO! LEAVE ME BE!” the man pleaded as he fought the drider, who pinned him down with a few of her spider legs. He howled as the blade sliced a sliver down the middle of his torso. She ripped open the hole and the howling grew even more unbearable to hear. Ever worse was the sight.

Galad kept digging at the webs in search of his boot and by extension dagger as he watched the man being ripped open. The screaming stopped as the drider pulled her sack over the man’s hole that was his chest. It coated itself with a clear but shiny fluid before it pumped the eggs into the chest, and sealing it up with her web, wrapping it in a cocoon again.

“There there. You are in Lolth’s care now.” it replied. “Alas a new playmate for her, means new driders!” She laughed, which echoed off of the weebs, vibrating all of the cocoons near by.

Damn. Damndamndamn! Galad thought to himself. He stopped moving, having no desire to become a host for drider eggs. Not like that. He looked at the cocoon that was the host, the drider leaving as if it heard something out of his own earshot. Finally grasping his knife he struggled to get it free but availed to get it free and cut himself loose. He looked around, barely breathing, watching his surroundings as a wolf backed in a corner.

“What is that!” Maranwe screamed in horror as a spider-like creature nipped her. A spider the size of a small wagon followed them, shooting spurts of web at the three assassins. “A creature of the darkness! Why would Maya Truva lead us here?”

“Twas not Maya’s decision but Finwe’s! Brother why did you bring us here!” Gilrein accused. Her sword drawn, she parried a spiders poisonous jab with its stinger. He didn’t answer. “Brother!?”

Finwe seemed busy with his own problems, getting into a stabbing match with two spiders. Rapiers to stingers. “It is the fastest way but alas the fastest is not always the easiest! It is usually more challenging!”

“Or impossible.” Gilrein replied sarcastically. slicing the skull of the spider before her, killing it.

Maranwe rushed forward with her shield, bashing a spider, and killing another. “Brother what do we do? Where do we go?”

“Keep going east!” He called back finally killing both spiders and ran with them. Then he stopped. Something caught his eye, wrapped in the web upon web. He beheld a hilt of a sword protruding from the web, right where a spider crawled down. With haste he grabbed it and caught up to his sisters.

Tripping upon web and random objects hidden in it, they made their way through the center of the city. They beheld a large hole in the earth with steam rising from it. Finwe placed his hand over the hole and it felt warm, not hot but warm. “Whatever be in there is evil.” he said. “But so is not everything that is in us.”

“What are you talking about!?” Gilrein said harshly. “All that is in us? What are you referring to Finwe!” she noticed he was lost in a daze. “FINWE!”

He turned his head slowly and she saw in him despair. “Words and deeds are meaningless.”

“Do you not dare go back into that pit! The icy cold  will forever when you enter that emotional void! You feel nothing in that state! This is not the time for this!”

“When is there ever?” he replied. “It is all meaning_”

“This was your idea to come through here!”

“How was I to know! How was I to know that this happened?”  he replied. “If we had kept going like I had wanted to, we would have had time to observe the surroundings and conditions of this place before getting trapped within_”

“We needed our rest! Finwe we are not you who so rashly sacrifices his slee_”

“Well plenty of rest waits for us in death! Now we are going to die because we do not have time to make such decisions!”

“ENOUGH! ENOUGH! Enough.” Maranwe screamed. “Nothing will get done if we continue to despair in this nothingness. Whatever it is, can be dealt with. If there be a soul that still lives in this city we will find it, and give him, her or it that blade you picked up. If we stay together we will get out of this.”

Finwe and Gilrein remained silent as they looked into their baby sister's eyes. Never before did she assert herself in conversation. “You are right.” Finwe sighed. “Let us move on, we will find someone if he still breaths.”

They walked around the hole in the earth and search for paths in the webwork. There was one going in the direction they were heading but the webs grew thicker. As if they were nearing the lair of the spiders.

The web was much more harder than the webs before this they knew, but they did not know it would be much harder to cut through. They heard explosions and crackling fire in a distance, from behind them. “Damnit.” Finwe said rather calmly. “A wizard no less. A wizard can make its way through these webs with ease.”

“You forgot that those dark elves excel in magic did you?” Gilrein commented, grunting as she pulled some web off of her armor. “I would think you of all people would know how dangerous they can be.” she poked at his belly. “You were stabbed with a dark spear you remember.”

He almost forgot truth be told. It was barely a memory to him. “Yes.” he admitted, turning around, to see more spiders following them down the path. Spiders using the walls to encircle them. “Cut through that web!”

“Of course as if I was not doing that in the first place!” Gilrein yelled. “Can you not see me trying. This web is stuck to my blade, and prevents me from cutting. Even the sharpest blade would have difficulty here.”

“Take my rapier! I will do it.” he suggested.

“Are you mad? I have not the deft capabilities to use that weapon. A sword and a rapier are two entirely different weapons!” she yelled. “You are insane!”

“Desperation will do that.” Maranwe commented wiping the web off her sword with a cloth she had meant for cleaning blades. She cut further into the white wall.

“Ow!” said a startled voice. “Wait! Who be there! Help!”

“By grace. There are people still alive here!” Maranwe moved her sword up and down cutting down the wall, or rather a hole through it.

What and who they saw was not what they expected. A child. A child clad in web covered armor, holding a dagger with a cut in his shoulder, courtesy of the ex-Assassin Guild members. Once all three were inside through the wall, it patched itself up. The spiders were not going to be getting through.

“So.” Finwe said, panting. “Who are you? Why is a child wandering these dangerous parts all alone?”

“I was on a quest, to warn people here that Malitu is deserting.” he replied, looking at the elves with distrust. He looked at Finrod who was holding two blades, one he recognized as his. “That is my sword could I have it back please?”

“Well there are sincere niceties even in stressful places.” Gilrein commented, pulling the sword from Finwe’s side and handed it to the boy who put it away in its sheath.

“I am Galad, a soldier from Malitu. unknown to us when we got here this place is covered with spiders and creatures of elf and spider combination called driders. They come and infest the bodies with their eggs and sacrifice others unto Lolth, whoever that be.”

“Who is Lolth?” Maranwe asked the boy.

“Damned if it be known to me. I know not, only heard the name.” he said.

Finwe turned around to the web that sealed itself. “Well no spiders be coming from that way.”

“Why?” Galad asked worriedly.

“This hole sealed itself.” he answered.

“NO!” the boy cried.

“What is wrong?” Maranwe answered. “There is little hope in going that way.”

“The Drider are on this side! FOOLS!” he said, putting his dagger away. “That stays there.” he turned around and appeared to be looking for a way out.”

“The drider?” Maranwe said.

“You shall see.” he said, drawing his sword and walked very slowly away from the hole, and further down fill as the air grew heavier with gravity pulling it down to the earth, and its earthly abyss. Walking towards the end of the dome that encircled them, and the path that lead into a cave much bigger than the hole the assassin’s saw. Steam coming out and shrouding their ankles.

“It seems that this is the only way.” Finwe commented. “Forward we go.”

Purple lightning struck at their feet and they jumped backwards to see who cast it. A dark elf came forth with an elf, who appeared weak, and injured with scratches and wounds so deep they stained the web she walked on with blood.

“Do not dare walk into that cave! I will kill the first person who steps in that cave!” the drow said.

“It was you following us!” Maranwe said. “Why? We only wish to get to the other side of this city and if that means_”

“I will send you to the other side in a coffin if you so much as step inside that cave!” the drow said. The drow noticed that the elves got in a battle formation, one in front of the other and one on the side to strike. Maranwe was in the back of that formation. “Do you think to kill me? When any one of my drow companions are capable of killing you, you think you can best me.” she laughed. “I am the first drow, Vircona here will make sure you will not enter that cave.”

“We will get to the other side!” she replied.

“Not through there you will not.” she laughed. “Disregard my warn_”

“NO!” Maranwe cried out. “We will get out of this hell! This reality is too strange.”

“Reality is sometimes stranger than fiction. That is why some people like the idea of a perpetual sleep.” Vircona said, pointing her staff at the three of them. “Ah, none of you are servants of Unverdus.” she commented. “One of you I will send to the Abyss. Where his arms will not grab you.”

“It is not us that will be sent!” Maranwe said. “The power of Unverdus will see you killed!”

“Maranwe.” Finwe said in comfort but worry. What changed in her? This is a side I have never seen. Calm as usual, submissive to be created. As if this jar of clay is finished she no longer yields before us. What is in you.

“So my power has been let up when I get it to Gorgonus. I hope he knows what it costs me to give that up, so that I will have power that the world yields to. I now have determined that Unverdus at least has a hold on you.” she pointed at Maranwe.

Stabbing her staff into the ground she summoned a purple sword in her left hand, and a chain with the other. Clicking her tongue spiders, encircling all of them. Webs were shot covered Finwe and Gilrein. In a flash Vircona was behind Maranwe, attaching the chain to her chest. The deft movements is too fast for the elf to react, who is slower. The sword pierced Maranwe’s chest who let out a deafening cry. “To the Abyss with you!”

“NO!” Gilrein and Finwe cried as their sister was slain before them. Unable to do anything but pull against the web that would not break or stretch. “DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU TO THE ABYSSAL CHAOS!”

“I chose to send one, and I have.” Vircona smiled, looking up at the sky. “Unverdus, another child of yours is slain. Another child of yours you will only see when you make the journey underneath.”

She turned her gaze to Galad, who watched the entire thing. He dropped his sword and went on his knees, knowing that the elves, even of the Assassin’s Guild were nearly destroyed by the drow, he was helpless against her, the strongest of them all. His head bowed down to accept the fate he is to receive by the strongest mortal in existence. “Do with me what you will.”

“Do not despair.” Vircona knelt in front of him and placed both of her dark hands around his head and brought them to her chest. She pet his head like he was a dog so she could feel his submission. “I have come here for you and only you. I know how much you hate the elves, and I cannot do it alone. There is...a creature that can be tamed. Only the hatred you have will awaken it.”

“Why did you pick me?” he whimpered.

“Because you and I both desire to see the elves destroyed. The elves brought back the wraiths that destroyed your home. The elf Dorio brought forth Maya Truva who sent your father into the Abyss of Chaos. He is suffering right now in eternal torment because of the elves. You desire them to be cast out, along with the wretched god they serve and worship, Unverdus. He caused all of this calamity upon you just by his creation of elves alone. Who will be able to tell you what tragedy He will force you to endure after?” she sighed. “When Unverdus, the creator comes after you and He will, ask yourself who is able to protect you?”

“I do not know. I am all alone in His world.” he cried.

She kissed the top of his head. “I will protect you, for without me you will live in fear for the rest of your life. Without you I cannot destroy the elves alone. I need that creature. A creature that will only awaken with an ungodly amount of rage that is stored from within you. It needs purpose, and you can give it a purpose.”

He embraced her promises whether they be true or false will remain a mystery to him. Words he loved. From a female creature he did not know. “And what of them? The two that remain? Will they die?”

“Yes. If you so desire, I will send them to Lolth and she will kill them.” she answered.

“Please.”

“It is as you desire.” she said. She turned her gaze to the spiders. “You heard_”

“Damn you Vircona!” said an angry voice. A soldier in black armor came forth. “If it was not for Lolth’s sake I would kill you!”

“Irenue. It has been awhile.” she said. “What brings you here?”

“I have come for the misfits that were orphaned by Sipus, and then by Maya Truva when you killed her!”

“I did not kill her.” she snarled. “She killed by the Guild Captain, Kac Xaizan.”

“Yes, but that would not have been the case if you did not steal her amulet!” Irenue growled at her. “Once this covenant of Lolth and Decrepantaur are over I will kill you!” he walked over to the elves and cut them loose. “You two are coming with me.” he looked to the cave. “Decrepantaur you fool. What are you planning? Allowing her to have this power to what end?”

“Dear Irenue, what brings you here to spoil my fun?” the drow snarled.

Irenue turned into his wraithlike state to reveal the boy that was inside the armor. He was not much older than Galad, did not appear that way at the very least, pointing his ethereal sword at the drow. “You cannot kill me in this form, nor steal my amulet.” Vircona’s eyes opened in surprise. “Yes, I know this is how you have obtained such power in so little of a time. If you kill one more of my underlings I will end you regardless of the covenant!”

Vircona laughed at him still. “You are but a sword wielding maniac with rage behind every action. Irenue, I am not a puppet as you thought me to be. I am my own, and do not act rashly as you do. I will consider your threats but however bear in mind, should I kill another of your subordinates, I will obtain strength to match yours. You chief of wraiths will be under me sooner or later.”

Irenue pointed his sword at her, his eyes glowing red with rage through his helmet. The heat of his rage emitting from his eyes grew so hot that the iron from his helmet began to melt, fully returned to his earthly state. “If you do, I will destroy you!”

“And by then another will fall, and I will hold his power over my heart. When will it stop? It shall not.” Vircona smiled pulling Galad to her. She snapped her fingers to the elf who obeyed without question.

“RAAAAAWR!” Irenue charged towards her with his sword raised.

“Can thee not see Irenue.” She and her companions were surrounded by a vortex of purple smoke which deflected the blade, “Lolth and Decrepantaur will the same thing. They are one of the same will. Decrepantaur is the deceiver of deceivers and Lolth seducer of seducers. Both are great evils in this world, and only one can prevail.” Irenue backed away, looking up above the vortex.

“So ye mean to betray us do ye?” he asked in a much more calmer voice, his eyes returning to black. “You have deceived many people, from Erdan the elf, Nilor the man bent on killing the ranger, and the dwarf, Guri. You have betrayed them to their deaths. Only through seduction were you able to get Erdan’s trust a second time and have him killed.” he breathed through the hole where his mouth should be.

“Deceiver and seducer.” her voice echoed from inside the vortex. “I know spells that you never learned. I have learned how to manipulate the forces of natural and cosmic energies in ways you thought not possible. In many ways Irenue, I am stronger than thee. However I would be a fool to test these limitations too early.” her laughter echoed across the web work. “How can you protect the four that still live in this world while still fulfilling your duties to Decrepantaur.”

“So you betray us then?” he sighed in despair.

“I never served Decrepantaur.” she answered. “My loyalty is too Lolth. I will make her dreams a reality, as now her legs can spread all over Alkathos! HA! Thou will never hold me underneath my grave!”

“I can, and so help me I shall, if it means postponing my plans so it shall be.” he answered. He turned to the elf assassins who mourned over their younger sister. “Come with me, Maya Truva sent you to me, correct?”

Finwe nodded his head, still holding his sister's hand. Her eyes still opened, with blood streaming out the side of her mouth. Gilrein disillusioned about her sister's death, she continued to apply pressure to the wound, sobbing.

“You are to come with me.” Irenue said. “Now, get up. Leave her be, she is dead. She will not be coming back. Get up!”

“Can we have a moment.” Finwe said. “My dear sister is in horror as our younger is dead. Can we not bury her?”

“NO!” Irenue screamed in his face, spit decorating the elf’s saddened portrait. “I am not your friend, nor will I pretend to be. Get on yer feet and move!” The vortex dispersed and another hole was burned through the city to the other side, revealing the rocky terrain that lead into Korilya. “Much work is needed to be done.”

“Who are you?” Galad asked the drow.

“I am Vircona, the first drow if you must know.” she said, pulling the chain of the elf on the darkened road. The leaves refused to dance, wind made howled through the trees.

The cloudless skies showed little stars if any above, and the moon which shone from the southern end of Alkathos. There was however a constellation they had never seen before, either of them. Not Leo, Pisces, Aries, or any other. It held no original shape of the big dipper, but of five stars, surrounding a cosmetic gas in the shape of a man. Galad could not see it but Vircona could make out that much. One star to the left and right of where the hand seemed to be. One star where the ankles met with one another. One where the head was, and one more just above it.

Galad noticed her gaze shifted towards the cosmetic structure. “What is that?”

“Oh my dear Galad, I can tell you nothing of the beautiful darkness of the night, nor of the beauty of the star light. Surely it is something you see very rarely getting stuck in that city of a village with artificial light which always hides the true beauty of natural light, and even hides all starlight. The artificial light can bring forth beauty in the world, but really it is nothing more than a mockery.”

“Then...what is it?” he asked again.

“Cosmos. The stars and natural forces, or divine forces manipulated the skies to create such a thing. A true beauty. Nothing can compare.” she stopped herself. “It is nothing. Nothing important. Come Galad, we will go into Malitu_”

“Where all of my comrades are?”

“Nay, they left that city. There you will rest before we make the plunge into Cadrasar.”

“What creature will be awoken?”

“You will see Galad.” she laughed and turned to her elven slave. “Oh you will see.”

Coming most of the way through the hurricane Vircona summoned they got to Malitu before the end of the night. She was right. No one was there. No dog, man, woman or child stirred. All that remained were the ever watchful crows perched atop buildings and walls that squeaked when doors swung open. Vircona lead them to the Yent Horse Tavern, which was also abandoned but the only building without a squeaking door. It seemed untouched and homely to the lifeless void outside of it. They went up stairs and Vircona ushered Galad into a room. “Fare thee well Galad. Busy day tomorrow.” she closed the door behind him as he slept, a nice bed it seemed. He needed it.

Outside Lerien was chained in another room, and went to her room, which lay beneath the basement of the tavern. It was a dark room, the floor of rough iron ore, yet to be mined. In the center was a pool of water with an ominous green glow. A king sized bed in the corner, there she slept.