Sands of the Soul (18 page)

“So,” he called out, “you know some magic, do you?”

“I know more than enough to kill the likes of you,” the drow taunted.

“We’ll see,” Steorf replied as he wiped a small trail of blood from his mouth.

Tazi started to join him when several more spiders dropped in front of her.

“Think you can stop me, stupid creatures?” Tazi mocked them.

She slashed at one of them, and it died straight away, but when Tazi turned to the others she realized the first spider had only been buying time for its comrades. The other two transformed into drow in front of her. Both of the dark elves drew their own blades.

Tazi knew she was in for a real battle. She vaguely thought that the Children of Ibrandul would even up the numbers and wondered where they were. She couldn’t believe they were turning out to be so incompetent.

>

Neither Tazi nor Steorf could see Asraf running down the tunnel toward them. Before he could reach either of them, he was set upon by the hybrid creature. It stood only a little taller than Asraf and had two pairs of eyes, one set where a human would normally have them and a second pair higher on its temple. As well as having a pair of human arms, the creature had three pair of spider limbs along its side, beneath its humanlike arms. Each finger on its eight hands had an additional joint as well as fully functional spinnerets. A vicious set of fangs protruded from its human mouth.

It tried to block Asraf from coming any farther down the tunnel, not attacking him outright. Clicks and moans escaped

from the dark elf head as it spread its spider arms, barring the Child of Ibrandul’s way. Asraf feinted to the left and tried to slip past the half drow-half spider, but one of his arms was caught by several of the hybrid’s hairy claws.

Terrified, Asraf pulled his scimitar from its scabbard and chopped off three of the clawlike hands that held his left arm. The hybrid screamed in rage and pain and lunged at Asraf.

But the Child of Ibrandul, over his momentary fright, confidently decapitated the beast with one stroke. He pulled off the two claws that were still clinging to his robe and ran to help Tazi and Steorf.

< <§)Ś

Tazi had underestimated just how cunning the two drow were. They managed to slowly turn her away from Steorf s direction. As one dark elf stabbed at Tazi, the other slipped behind her, changed back into a spider, and began to spin webbing furiously across part of the tunnel. When the drow saw that his companion had gotten enough strands across the passageway, he dropped his knife.

Tazi wasn’t sure why he had done it, but she wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass. She neatly ran him through and turned to help Steorf. She darted directly into the cleverly placed webbing and found herself trapped.

Every part of her that touched the web, whether it was skin or clothing, was held fast.

“Damn,” she screamed.

Her struggling made her entrapment worse. She still had her guardblade drawn in her right hand, but it did no good. Through the spaces between the webbing, Tazi could see that Steorf was locked in a deadly battle with one of the more magically adept drow—and he was losing.

She tugged harder at the ropes and only further tired herself. Tazi was close to weeping tears of frustration. All she could do was helplessly watch Steorf die.

A chattering sound above Tazi made her look up as best she could. The other drow-turned-spider was sliding its way down to her on a cord no wider than her thumb. Tazi could vaguely see herself reflected in the two black orbs that were the creature’s eyes as it hung suspended above her. She uselessly fought one last time against the silken restraints. She could hear its fangs clicking and feel a bristly arm push her head sideways against the web.

“Just get it over with!” she screamed to the creature, and squeezed her eyes shut.

She felt a sharp sting as its pointed tooth punctured her neck, and heat began to radiate outward from the wound.

“Tazi!” Asraf cried from out of nowhere and slashed at the webbing imprisoning her.

Tazi felt her sword arm fall free, and even though the rest of her body was still stuck, she wasted no time. She swung her arm straight up in front other and the webbing to skewer the spider.

It fell, shrieking in its death throes.

Tazi smiled grimly, and Asraf cut her completely free.

“Glad to see you,” she said, flashing him a quick grin as she bent over to pull her blade free of the spider. She felt a little dizzy straightening up.

Asraf smiled in return but he noticed she was covered in, a slight sheen of sweat.

“Did the aranea bite you?” he asked worriedly, inspecting Tazi closely.

Tazi didn’t get the chance to answer him. Another spider slid toward them.

Asraf shoved Tazi away from the remaining strands of arachnid silk and shouted, “I’ll take care of this last one. Steorf needs you.”

Tazi hesitated for a moment. There was a strange sensation in her throat, both numb and burning at the same time. She absently rubbed at the spider scratch below her chin, trying to collect her thoughts.

No, she corrected herself, not a spider, an “aranea.” I wonder if Steorf knows about them?

The mage’s name began to reverberate in her head, and she marveled at how she could have forgotten his quandary, even for a moment. She turned to face the other section of the chamber and saw that the drow had Steorf pinned to the ground and was drawing his sword for a killing blow.

“No!” Tazi yelled with a voice that sounded torn from her soul.

She ran as fast as she could over to the drow and was terrified to feel how unsteady she already was on her feet.

I can’t believe that little scratch is taking its toll on me, she thought.

& ŚŠŚ ŚŠŚŠť ŠŚ

Steorf had strained his skills beyond belief. The drow had matched him spell for spell and had inexorably forced him to the ground.

Caught up in the struggle, the young mage was surprised to find himself distracted by the smallest minutiae, as if his mind refused to accept his impending doom even as his body surrendered. He noticed that emblazoned on the drow’s tunic was a black disc bordered by purple.

“What is that symbol?” he whispered even as the drow’s shield spell crushed him to the ground, realizing that he had seen the mark on every dark elf and every spider there.

“Take a good look. It’s the last thing you will ever see,” the drow spat back snidely and, with a wicked grin, raised his sword high.

“I seriously doubt that,” Tazi retorted.

Even in his compromised position, Steorf was able to recognize the weakness in her voice.

The startled drow could only stare down in stunned disbelief as he watched the point of Tazi’s guardblade burst free from his chest. She had deftly impaled his heart in one stroke.

He had only enough time to partially turn his head at the sound of her angry voice and glimpse her ominous sea-green eyes before toppling over like a felled tree. The dark elf struck the ground, hitting so hard he nearly forced Tazi’s blade back out.

Steorf, free of the dark creature’s enchanted restraints, looked up at her gratefully.

“It’s about time you showed up,” he teased her.

He held out his hand—joking—as if he needed help to rise, but Tazi didn’t say a word, and Steorf could see that she was sweating profusely. He wasted no time scrambling to his feet

Tazi’s vision doubled and doubled again before finally clouding over completely. She could feel herself swaying and knew there was nothing she could do about it. She dragged a hand uselessly across her eyes.

“Steorf,” she slurred and started to reach out toward him with her other hand.

Before she could grasp him, she collapsed like a marionette with her strings cut. Steorf caught Tazi just before she hit the ground. He held her under her arms and lowered her delicately to the cavern floor.

“Tazi!” he cried as he knelt beside her.

She didn’t respond to Steorf’s voice or his gentle shaking. She was completely drenched in sweat and convulsing. Steerf licked his lips nervously and rapidly ran his hands over her body. He could find no major wounds on her. Her lips whitened and she slipped into total unconsciousness, her breathing almost undetectable.

Steorf, not knowing what else to do, lifted her in his arms and rocked her slowly. The change in position caused her head to loll against his chest, and Steorf was then able to spot the cause of her condition.

Just below her chin was an inflamed cut and he realized that she must have been bitten by one of the spiders. Cradling her shoulders with one arm, he placed his other hand, palm down, on Tazi’s wound.

“I won’t let go of you,” he whispered.

Steorf gazed at her ashen face and closed his eyes.

During the few days between discovering Ebeian’s body and his journey through the gate, Steorf had studied madly. He had gone through his mother’s extensive collections of spells and tried to learn as much as he could before leaving Selgaunt. The only problem was that though he had expanded his realm of knowledge, he hadn’t had enough time to practice some of the new spell abilities fully. His skills were lacking. What he was about to attempt was untried, but he knew he had no choice. Steorf’s hand began to glow slightly white and darkened to brown as he drained the poison from Tazi’s system. The torn flesh on her neck started to knit under his touch until no trace of the small wound remained.

Steorf slowly opened his eyes and looked expectantly at Tazi. Her eyes were still closed but Steorf could see that her chest rose and fell evenly. A rosy stain began to spread over her chalky lips. Steorf tenderly brushed a strand of her ebony hair from her eyes and held his breath expectantly. Soon enough, Tazi’s eyes flew open and she wildly clawed out, disorientated. Steorf effortlessly caught her hands with his free one and made soothing sounds, trying to calm her.

“It’s all right now, dear heart,” he whispered.

“What happened?” Tazi asked with some confusion.

Steorf didn’t release his hold on her.

“I think the fight just caught up with you,” he told her easily, but his words belied his expression.

Tazi could see the worry lines still etched on his face.

“I think it was a little more than that,” she replied, her voice growing stronger by the moment. “I think I was dead.”

“I wouldn’t ever let that happen,” Steorf responded.

Their eyes locked briefly.

Seeing that she was rapidly gaining strength, Steorf released her hands and stood up, helping her to rise as well. When he was certain that she was steady, he let her stand unaided.

“You don’t have to watch me like a hawk,” Tazi told him after she caught him studying her while she stretched her limbs experimentally.

“Don’t I?” he asked.

She had shaken off most of the effects of the poison, thanks to Steorf, and she scrutinized him. He looked tired, and she knew whatever he had done to expel the venom from her body had taxed him immensely. It was one more strength that she hadn’t known he possessed. The tunnel was not nearly as bright as it was earlier and Tazi realized that was because Steorf was much weaker. She pushed some of his unruly, blond locks from his eyes, unknowingly mimicking his earlier gesture.

“Maybe I should keep an eye on you,” she said gently.

Asraf, having dispatched his last opponent, was breathing hard. He watched as Steorf clasped Tazi’s hand, the Sembian woman seeming to have recovered completely under the mage’s ministrations. He was so caught up in their plight that he lost track of his own surroundings. An aranea in spider form, forgotten by all three of them, scuttled after Asraf and clambered up the rock wall behind him. When the spider was on the cave ceiling directly over the Child of Ibrandul, it dropped a silken strand of webbing down ten feet until the thick thread was level with Asraf’s neck. Then the creature waited for the inevitable and it didn’t have to wait long. Asraf took a step back a moment later and sealed his fate.

The instant he brushed against the strand of webbing, his neck was caught. Instinctively, Asraf spun around to see what he was trapped by and that only exacerbated the situation. He had wrapped the silken cord mostly around his neck and he was held fast.

That was all the aranea needed. It hauled Asraf up as though he weighed nothing. Tazi and Steorf, both still recovering from their clash, didn’t see his perilous predicament.

Face to face with the fanged horror, Asraf called out, “Ibrandul, deliver me from this beast,” but the prayer failed to reach the notice of any deity.

Tazi heard his plea, though, and turned at Asraf’s shout. She watched, horror-struck, as the spider enveloped Asraf in its multi-limbed embrace and bit down on his shoulder. Asraf hissed in pain, and Tazi rushed to free her guardblade, which was still embedded in the back of the dead drow.

Steorf, too, had recovered enough to realize Asraf’s predicament.

“No!” he shouted, and a bolt of flame leaped from his outstretched hand.

As soon as the flame touched the aranea, it dropped Asraf. He fell to the cave floor with a dull thud. The aranea squealed as its carapace burst into flames, and it followed Asraf’s descent to the ground. Landing on its back, the spider screeched pitifully for a brief time as its limbs worked futilely in the air. Eventually, its arms stopped their twitching. The cavern filled with the acrid smoke of burnt arachnid flesh.

Tazi sidestepped around the fiery remains of the spider and rushed to Asraf’s unmoving form. Steorf followed close behind. Tazi dropped to her knees and rolled Asraf over with trembling fingers. His eyes were shut tightly against the pain of the poisonous bite. Tazi gently lifted his head and placed it in her lap. She hardly noticed that Steorf had dropped down beside her. He reached across Asraf’s shoulders and tore aside the robes that covered the place where the spider had inflicted its venomous bite.

Tazi grimaced as Steorf’s actions revealed a shoulder already horribly swollen, with purple lines of toxin running toward Asraf’s neck, head, and heart. She looked helplessly at Steorf as Asraf writhed in pain. He returned her glance and looked determinedly at the wounded Child of Ibrandul. She didn’t want Asraf to die, but she was afraid the strain of saving him might prove too draining for Steorf.