Resurrection

The high priestess withdrew from an inner pocket of her piwafwi the wand of healing that she had stolen from Halisstra Melarn back in Ched Nasad. She touched it to herself and whispered the command word. The cuts on her face closed, the burns diminished, and her breathing grew easier. Afterward, she walked over, and without asking permission, touched it to Pharaun and repeated the process. Much to his relief, his nose healed, the charred mess of his hand regenerated, and the innumerable cuts and scratches on his torso closed.

"Thank you, Mistress," he said with a bow.

Quenthel did not acknowledge his gratitude. She put the wand back in her cloak, turned to

Danifae, and said, "No doubt, you will tend to yourself and your loyal draegloth."

Pharaun offered Danifae a sneer. Likely, Danifae could tend to no one. Though Lolth had reawakened and both priestesses had spells at their command, it was rare for a priestess of Lolth to store many healing spells in her mind. Priestesses of Lolth destroyed, they did not heal.

Quenthel could heal herself and Pharaun fully only because she had Halisstra's wand.

To his surprise, Danifae smiled at Quenthel and said, "Lolth will tend to us. As always."

"Quite so," Quenthel replied with a cunning look.

Pharaun straightened his robes. At his feet, the cave mouth yawned. It sank almost vertically into the rock. Webs lined its walls, and stink leaked from it.

"After you, Mistress Danifae," he said and gestured down at the cave, all the while thinking,

After all, there might be something dangerous down there.

Danifae twisted her beautiful face into a sneer and said, "Come, Jeggred, Master Mizzrym remains timid."

The draegloth took her curvaceous body in his inner, smaller arms and lifted her from her feet.

"How quaint," Pharaun observed.

The draegloth stared holes into the mage.

One of Danifae's legs escaped her cloak. She wore tight-fitting breeches, and the curve of her thigh and hip drew Pharaun's eye, despite himself. She caught him eyeing her and did not cover her leg.

"Descend," she said to Jeggred, all the while smiling seductively at Pharaun.

Jeggred touched his House Baenre brooch and levitated down into the cave mouth.

For Quenthel's benefit, Pharaun signed after Danifae, Whore.

He looked up to find Quenthel staring at him, her expression unreadable. She drew her whip and stepped to the cave opening.

"Seal it behind us, mage," she said.

She touched her own brooch and followed Danifae and her nephew down, whip bare and ready in the event of an ambush.

Pharaun stood a moment at the edge, watching the top of Quenthel's head sink into the darkness. Quenthel had said to Danifae that some males served a purpose-he needed to make certain that she continued to think him one such.

For a moment, for a single tempting heartbeat, he considered abandoning her, abandoning the quest, but quickly dismissed the idea as ill-advised. Lolth was awake, and her priestesses again wielded the power of their goddess; things were returning to normal. Besides, Pharaun would be answerable to Gromph and House Baenre upon his return to Menzoberranzan for any direct or indirect harm he caused Quenthel.

With nothing else for it, he touched his House Mizzrym brooch and stepped out over the cave mouth. For a moment, he hovered there, listening to the darkness below, wondering whether

Danifae and Jeggred would actually dare an ambush. He heard nothing and so descended until he floated just below the cave mouth. There, he withdrew from his pocket a round piece of polished granite, a stone he had purchased from a curio vendor in Menzoberranzan's bazaar, long ago. He cradled it against his palm with his thumb, flattened his hands palms downward, and recited a series of arcane words.

When he finished the incantation, the magic formed a wall of stone over the cave mouth. Its borders melded with and into the surrounding rock, blocking the light from Lolth's sun. The brewing storm and the seething Teeming disappeared behind the wall. The cave fell into welcome darkness, to which his eyes quickly adjusted.

He put the granite back in its place and descended the rest of the way down the shaft. It wove a bit here and there, but moved ever downward. He heard no sounds coming from below and assumed that nothing dangerous lurked there-other than his companions. To be prudent, he pulled another chip of flakefungus from his pocket and readied himself quickly to cast the flesh-flensing spell. He thought of an ancient drow adage: Keep allies within reach of your sword, but keep enemies within reach of your knife. He saw the wisdom of it. Pharaun never felt more uncomfortable than when Jeggred and Danifae were out of his sight.

It was clear to him that Danifae was trying to undermine Quenthel's claim that she was the

Yor'thae. Perhaps she thought to take that title for herself? As absurd as it sounded, Pharaun thought it to be true.

For his part, he was beginning to think that neither priestess was or would be Lolth's Chosen.

Chapter Seven