F O U R (25 page)

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

the pyramid by killing him."never done anything to you, and you will place  yourself in debt to the warriors of Entangled as he was, Pharaun couldn't even turn his head to look at his friend

net. The swordsmanymore, but he could hear Ryld grunting and swearing and feel him  shaking the a

even his extraordinary strength would be n was plainly trying to  enough if he was unable to bring one of free himself, but it seemed unlikely that his blades to bear, and apparently s

uch was the case.

"I've kept tabs on you through the years."  Greyanna said. "I know Master  Argith

is your most valued  comrade.  I don't need  himOur mother will handle Melee-Magthere."     trying to liberate or avenge you.

readied a scroll as well. That struck himOn further inspection, Pharaun observed that the subordinate priestess had

hardly the time to ponder the possible significance.as vaguely odd, but he supposed this was but warily, and not m

e

suspected, because of the hovering rapierThe warriors were approaching steadily             rely, he . but they feared that Pharaun would work Greyanna could neutralize the weapon,

some  terrible ma

speech, not gestures or a focal object. He        gic that only required have one or two such spells in his m    was sorry to disappoint them. He did

emory  but none that could annihilate all five

of these unpleasant folk at a single stroke, and he knew that once he conjured

some  devastating attack, they
 
would abandon any intention of taking him  alive

for a demise by torture. They would strike back as fast and mu

possible, and im                       rderously as mobilized in the mesh, he would have little hope of defending against their eff

orts.

"Actually, you ought  to  think twice about  harming either  of  us,"  he said, hoping

that further conversation would slow the fighters'  advance, even if only for asecond.

Greyanna chuckled. "Be assured, I've thought of it a thousand thousand times "."The archm

age won't like it."

"I'm  acting on behalf of the Council. I doubt he'll deem  it politic to retaliate .  .

. any more than Melee-Magthere will.""Well, Gromph won't sign his nam

e  to your cadaver, but someday  ..."

Pharaun's fingers finally jerked into  the pocket and closed around a small but

sturdy leather glove. With the net still tightening every second, it was just ashard to withdraw the article as it had been to reach it. He exp

erimented to see  if

he could possibly fumble it through the proper mystical pass.Such a cramped, tiny m

otion was neither easy nor natural for him.  He was

accustomed to conjure with a certain flair,  making sweeping, dramatic gestures.

Yet he had on occasion practiced making the signs as small as possible. It was good

for his  control and had a  few  times  allowed him  to cast a spell without an

adversary realizing what he was about. So he had some  hope of properly

manipulating the glove. If only the web wasn't  so  con-strictive or his hand so

dead and awkward.

"Excuse me," Greyanna said, then suspended the conversation to read from her

scroll.

It was of course divine magic, not arcane, and Pharaun didn't recognize all the

words. The effect, however, was unmistakabl

ground with a clank. The m        e. The rapier jerked and fell to the asked wizard stepped forward and scooped it up. Pharaun was content at least with the fact  that the rapier'

s  peculiar enchantment

would make it impossible for Greyanna's  henchm

him                      an to turn the weapon on —at least not for an hour or so.

Richard Lee Byers

66

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

chin were unmPharaun recognized the m

a

istakable. Pharaun had ge, whose high, wide forehead and sm

mage's  head look like an egg. He was Relonor V

always thought they made the other all, pointed

rinn, an able wizard and

longtime Mizzrym  retainer. He was still wearing his silk sash with the spell foci tucked inside and an eight-pointed gold brooch securi

ng it.

Scimitars in hand, the warriors approached the net. Judging from  their smiles,

they'd  decided there was nothing to fear  and were looking forward to beatwo prisoners unconscious.                     ting the

Pharaun was not yet satisfied with his employment of the glove, but he wasrather clearly out of tim

He shifted the focus one me. He would just  have to try the pass and see if it worked. ore time, meanwhile reciting an incantation under his

breath.

instantaneous addition of another object A giant hand, radiant and translucent, appeared beneath the net. The lodged inside jerked the mesh eventighter. Pharaun knew the j

olt was coming, but he cried out anyway.

The pain only intensified when, responding to the wizard's unspoken

command, the hand hurtled twenty-five feet into the air,  carrying the net and its

prisoners along. For a momepressure eased. As he'd  hoped, and despitent, Pharaun feared he would black out, but the the best sliding, bunching efforts  of

the web of ropes, his own weight was dragging him  free. He shoved and thrashed to speed the process along.

When he was able, he looked over at  Rfree of the net as well, though he lost   yld. The hulking warrior was wrestling

fell point first, narrowly missed plungihold of Splitter doing it. The great sword and stuck pom           ng through one of the Mizzrym  warriors,

mel up in the smooth stone surface ofthe street.

"We have to fall," said Ryld. "If we just  float here, they'll shoot and magic us

to pieces.""Let'

s  go," Pharaun replied.

The masters released their holds and plummeted. One of the soldiers hit Ryld

with an arrow,  but the missile failed to  penetrate his armor.  A ball of flame

exploded in the air,  but Relonor had aimed too high, and the blast only made his

targets flinch. Pharaun used his House insignia to slow his descent just a little.

He thought that otherwise he'd  break his legs.As a result, he saw R

yld—who possessed a similar levitating talismabearing the sigil of Melee-Magthere—reach the ground a m       n, his

oment ahead of him.

The Master of Melee-Magthere tucked insword in hand, and lunged at the soldier who'to a ball, rolled, sprang up with short d loosed the arrow

.  The masked

male leaped backward, dropped his bowscabbard again. While he was so e  , and whipped his scimitar out of its

ground.              ngaged, Ryld yanked Splitter out of the

legs and sent him staggeriPharaun landed. Despite his attempt to  cushion the impact, it slammed up his Relonor swirling his hands  ng. As he fought to recover his balance, he noticed

As the Master of Sorcere lurched uprin a star-shaped pattern.incantation. A long, angular reptilian th  ight, the other mage completed his

drow'                ing sprang from the palms of the older

W  s outstretched hands as if they  were the doorway to another world. reathed in flowing blue flame,  the monster char

Relonor was a gifted mage but no marvel as  a tactician. In the excitemeged Pharaun.      nt  of  themoment, he'd  reflexively cast his favorite  spell, and characteristically  fo

r a

Mizzrym retainer, it was an illusion. He'd forgotten that his foe, born in the same

Richard Lee Byers

67

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

House, might well recognize the sequence of Pharaun hadn't, his silver  ring would have shown hmystic i  passes.  Of  course,  even  ifm  whamale was creating.                 t sort of magic the other commence a spell. He ignored the apparHe ignored the phantasm and reached intoition even when it lunge a pocket to snatch a tiny crystal and d so close he felt the imaginary but searing heat of its halo of flame.exploded from his hand. It passed right An intense coldness, visible in the fan of  drifting ice crystals it instantly createdthrough the reptile, dissipating the illusion ,in the process, and washed over Relonor

. backward.               It painted him with  rime, and he fell

Pharaun grinned. Greyanna  was a fool to accost him with so few retainers  in her train. Didn't she realize that two masters of Tier Breche were more than  equal to the worst that she and her four dolts could do?

The foulwing flapped  its bat like wings and hopped closer to the melee. As its legless body pounded down on the ground, Greyanna opened a leather bag and flung a handful of its contents into the air.The falling motes flared with greenish light when they struck the ground. Eachseethed and sparkled upward an instant, a number of animate skeletlike a spore instantaneously growing into a fungus. In miscellany of weapons and shields but ons stood upon the street. They carried a oriented on the masters and advanced.  shared a common purpose. As one, they

Shifting back and forth, Ryld cut  the undead creatures  down. Pharaun took momentary shelter behiand dropped his guard. The skeletons surnd his friend, then the swordsman cried out, staggered, ged forward, and the twins,  who'd been hovering at the periphery of

Caught by surprise, Pharaun only just the fight, darted in as well.crackling fork of lightning. The pow    had time to conjure a dazzling,

R                er held the enemy back for a moment, and yld recovered his balance.

"All right?" asked the Master of Sorcere."Yes." R

"Something was trying to tamper with my mind, but it'yld chopped a spear-wielding skeleton's legs out from under it. s gone now.""It won'

Pharaun floated up into the airt stay gone unless I confront the spell casters.",  be          reach, making sure hewould have a clear shot at Greyanna and the yond the skeletons'others. In his absence, the creatureswould likely be able to surround Ryld, but that couldn't be helped.back. Positioned beyond the melee, GreyaSurveying the scene, he saw that Relonor was still lying motionless on his nna and her sister priestess werereading from scrolls.reason quickly reasserted itself. He suckFor a moment, Pharaun's thoughts exploded into a terrifying madness, but residual fear, and a second assault w ed in a deep breath, trying to quell the racked his body. He  cried out,  and  the agony passed. Somehow he'd weathered both spells.existence halfway to the tarHe threw a seething ball of lighting get, unmade by at Greyanna, but it winked out of the priestess's defenses. She and the other cleric employed their scrolls again.