F O U R (72 page)

self.

Tsabrak raised his hand and whispered, "Wait!"

"What is it?" Houndaer asked.

Richard Lee Byers

197

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

fl Instead of replying, the half-spider started taking deep breaths. His nost

rils

ared.  He  turned  this  way  and  that,  then  crouched  down  to  sniff  along  the  floor.

His front legs bent, and his arachnid lower body tilted like a  tray to bring his dark elf head down.

He felt an upswelling of excitem"Did you pick up the scent?" Houndaer asked.ent, and  made a conscious efHe didn't doubt that T                   fort to quell it.

sabrak smelled something pertinent, but over the course

of the last hour, the brute, whose metamo

perceptions, had picked up the trail several timrphosis had evidently altered his es only to lose  it  again."Follow m

e," said Tsabrak, nocking an arrow.

The drider led his companions to the arched entrance to a training hall, where

target mannequins stood in shrouds of  spiderwe

l                     b and a tally board hung on the eft-hand wall.  Over  the  years,  the  chalk had lost  most  of  its

but Houndaer could still read the score of a fencing      phosphorescence, ciphers.                      bout in faintly gleaming

Peer as he might, however

Mizzrym. He gave T    , he could see no sign of Masters Argith and sabrak a questioning  and somewhat impatient glance. Thedrider responded by pointing at the floor

.

When a proud noble family had held the castle, a workman in their emhad painted the floor with pistes and  dueling circles. Like the ch  ploy

alk, the

ma

occluding it.gical enamel still radiated a trace of light. At one spot, a spatter of blood was Houndaer'

s  pulse ticked faster. He looked up at the drider and mouthed

"Where?"                               ,

Tsabrak led them  toward the tiers of seats on the right. The noble noticed for

the first time that a space separated the sculpted calcite risers and the wall.

Elsewhere in the castle, one hunter shouted to another.

Relax, thought Houndaer. It's
 
my
 
kill.He held his breath as he and his underlings—for that they were, even if th

e

by virtue of belonging to the conspiracy, imagined otherwise— p     y,eeked around the edge of the steps. Master Argith  was sitting cross-legged  a few y

ards down  the

aisle.

The Tuin'Tarl instantly pointed his crossbow. Indeed, he nearly pulled the

trigger before he took in all the details of the scene. His former teacher sat

motionless, his eyes shut. To

oblivious to the advent of his foes. Master Mizzrym all appearances, he was unconscious, or in any case was nowhere to be seen.R

yld's  passivity left Houndaer unsure as to the best course of action.Should he and his minions

to take him prisoner? If the weapons mastsummarily dispatch the spy or seize the opportunity er was dead, he couldn't tell them what had become of his partner

.

Then the noble realized that while he'd  stood pondering the matter,  Tsabrak had

drawn back his bow string and sighted down the arrow.  Houndaer lifted a hand to signal him to desist, then t

even by the standards of Melee-Magthehought better of it. Master Arre. That was whygith was a superb warrior , when a student, the T

uin'T

would be wiser to kill him while they had the chance.arl had admired him so, and had been  so eager to recruit him. Perhaps it Besides, Houndaer was reluctant to risk  the vexation of giving T

sabrak an order

and having it ignored.He lifted his hand crossbow. He and the  drider took their time aiming, a

not? R                             nd why yld was still unaware of them.

Richard Lee Byers

198

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

Tsabrak released the string, and Houndaer  pulled the trigger.at the still-motionless weapons master. The noble had no doubt the tThe shafts leaped wo missileswould suffice. They were flying true, and  the  heads  were  poiand vaguely unsatisfying to               soned. It was strange vengeance on the cheap.   dispatch a master of war  so easily, as if it was

Then, when surely it was too late to react, Ryld moved. He twitched himself out of the way of the crossbow quarrel  and caught the hurtling arrow in his hand.flowed to his feet and advanced. HiSwiftly, yet somehow without the appearance of haste, the weapons master s bloody thigh didn't hinder him in theslightest. His face and eyes were empty,  like those of a medium awaitincommunion with the dead.                        gthrough the airHis voice pitched deep, Omraeth sang a quick rhymed couplet. Power glittered .  Evidently the spell was supposed to afflict RHoundaer could observe, it didn't. The huge male just kept coming. Tyld, but as far as sabrak loosed another arrow,  and the teacherbroadsword.               slapped it out of the air with his

Tsabrak and Houndaer dropped their bows and drew their swords. The drider spat poison on his blade. They'd engage Ryld while he was still in the cramped space behind  the seats with  no  room  to  maneuver.  Omraeth  took  up  a behind his comrades, where  he could augment their efforts with bardic magic.position fearHoundaer felt a pang of fright and willed the feeling away. It was three against one, wasn't  it, and the one had no m. He had nothing to ail. Indeed, by thelook of him,  he mi

Except that then he proved he did. Rght not even have any wits.yld touched the vertical surface that wasthe back of the steps. He summ

Houndaer hacked m    oned darkness, blinding his foes.adly,  and sensed Tsabrak doing the same. Darkness or no, when the spy lunged forward, they'd  cut him  to pieces. Their  swords split  nothinbut air                                g.

After a few seconds, OmHoundaer and T    raeth shouted, "Come back this way! Now!"sabrak turned and blundered their way toward the sound of their comrade's voice. The drider's  envenomed sword bumped the Tuin'TarPs arm,  but fortunately without sufficient force to penetrate his armor and
piwafwi.
When Houndaer stumbled out of the murk, Master Argith was in the center ofthe salle. Under the cover of darkness, he'd  made it to the top of the steps andbounded down the other side. He had a good chance of runchecked.                        eaching the exit

He  didn't take it, though. Standing in the center of one of the faintly luminous circles, he settled into a fighting stance.  He hadn't scrambled over the steps toflee, rather to reach a battleground more to his liking.

Houndaer swallowed away a dryness in his mouth. Ryld hadn't the sense to run? Well, good. Then they'd  kill him.

The noble and drider fanned out to come  at the Master of Melee-Magtherefrom  opposite sides. Omraeth hung back and commenced another song.

Advancing to meet his adversaries, Master Arthree m                  gith glided through the first of he'd  taught Houndaer back on Toves—parry, feint high, slash low—of one of the broadsword katas ier Breche. The noble discerned an instant too late that the purpose was to distract attention  from  the crossbow in the weapons master's  other hand. The dart plunged into Omraeth'an ugly gurgle and dissipating the charged heaviness of arcane force s throat, ending his song in

Richard Lee Byers

199

War Of The Spider Queen

Book 1

Dissolution

accumulating  in  the  air. The  spellsinger  fell  backward,  and  it  was  two  to  one.

Houndaer told himself it didn't matter. Not when he was wielding Ryld's  own

greatsword, a weapon that could supposedly shear through anything, and T

sabrak's blade was dripping poison. They only needed to

cut to incapacitate their foe.               land one light little R

yld gave ground before them. Houndaer  assumed he wanted against the wall, so neither of his oppone           to put his back

agility astonishing in so massive a fighter nts could get behind him, but with an ,  Ran eye, he was driving forward instead

left.                of back, plunging at th

yld changed direction. In the blink of e half-spider on his

Startled, Houndaer faltered, then scrambled toward Ryld and the drider. It would take him a few heartbeats to close the distance.

In that time, Ryld charged in on Tsabrak's right, the side opposite the creature'ssword arm. A drider'

s  spidery lower half  was sufficiently massive that, like a

mounted warrior, he had difficulty  striking or parrying across his torso.

Tsabrak slashed at the weapons master's

and R                  head. The stroke was poorly aimed, yld didn't bother to duck or parry,  simply concentrated  on his own attack.

Tsabrak made a desperate effort to heave  himself aside. Still, Ryld's broadsword

crunched through the top of one  of the drider's  chitinous  legs. Tsabrak  cried  outand lurched off-balance.

Stepping, Ryld  whirled his  weapon around for  what  would surely  be  the  coup de

grace. Houndaer shouted a war cry,  ran a He wasn't  in a proper stance, and the stroke was a clumsy one, final stride, and swung the greatsword. but it sufficed to

drive the weapons master back. Ryld that enormous blade.        knew better than anyone how deadly was

As soon as the stroke whizzed past, the master advanced with  a thrust to the chest. Houndaer wrenched the greatsword  around for a parry. It should have been

impossible to bring such a huge weapon about so quickly,  but  it  seemed  to  grow

as  light  as  a  roll  of  parchment  in  his hands.  Ryld's  broadsword caught on one of

the hooks just above the leather-girt ricasso.R

a middle guard, and Tyld retreated, snatching his weapon free. Houndaer shifted the greatsword into sabrak  hobbled up beside him. The  drider's  face twisted in pain, and pungent fluid spatte