Resurrection

He stared a challenge into the draegloth's face. Jeggred's lips peeled back from his yellow fangs, but he did nothing else.

"Enough," Quenthel commanded.

Without another word, Pharaun slammed his fist into the draegloth's shoulder-hard. He might as well have been punching a wall of iron.

Jeggred only smiled

"Mistress," Pharaun said, backing away from Jeggred. "Your nephew remains, as always, an excellent conversationalist." He looked to Quenthel and added, "I believe we're all ready, now."

He stepped near Quenthel, and she took him by the arm.

"Us, first," she said.

"Of course," Pharaun answered.

Together they stepped through the dimensional portal.

They materialized instantly on the surface. All was quiet, and pieces of spider were everywhere. After the chaos of the Teeming, the surface felt eerily still. Eight bright stars like the eyes of a spider beat down on them from the otherwise jet black sky. A light rain pattered against the rocks.

Pharaun hissed, "Do you not think Danifae would look better dead, Mistress? And your nephew would be a fine trophy for-"

Quenthel silenced him with an upraised hand. Her whip serpents hissed.

"Of course she would," said the high priestess, "but she will look better still as a sacrifice.

The insolent bitch dies when I will it, mage. And my nephew, for all of his stupidity, remains a

Baenre and the matron mother's son."

Before Pharaun could reply, Danifae and Jeggred appeared beside them, both in a fighting crouch. Seeing no ambush awaited them, they relaxed their stances. Jeggred snorted with contempt, as though disappointed that his aunt had not attacked.

Quenthel didn't bother to disguise her own sneer. She held her whip in her hand and nodded at something one of the serpents, Yngoth, whispered in her ear. She looked up to the line of souls in the sky and followed them with her eyes in the direction of the distant mountains. Their darkvision did not extend far enough, and the jagged peaks were lost to the night.

Quenthel said, "Lolth bids us to hurry onward."

The wind gusted; songspider webs sang above the falling rain. Quenthel nodded absently as though the webs had spoken to her.

Pharaun perked up at Quenthel's statement. He asked, "Mistress, if Lolth bids us hurry,

perhaps it is time that we make our way across this unfortunate landscape via magical means?"

He was more than a little tired of walking Lolth's wasteland.

"Indeed it is time, Master Mizzrym," answered Quenthel.

Mentally, Pharaun checked through his spells. "With all of the stray energies present here-" he gestured at the vortices of power that still dotted the sky-"I would not recommend teleportation.

But I have other spells that might-"

Quenthel held up a hand to silence him and stared at Danifae.

"Call what aid you can, priestess," Quenthel said, "if you would accompany me. Lolth demands the quick arrival of her Yor'thae."

"Is that the reason, Mistress Quenthel?" Danifae asked with a cryptic smile. She threw back her hood. Spiders crawled along her hair, her brow, her lips. "Or are you concerned that Lolth's mind might change over the course of a longer journey?"

Anger brewed behind Quenthel's eyes. Her whip serpents lunged at Danifae but did not bite.

All five of them hissed into the battle-captive's gorgeous face.

"Impudent whore!" said one of the females, K'Sothra.

Jeggred snatched at the heads with an inner arm, missed as they retracted. The draegloth growled. Pharaun couldn't remember ever having heard the serpents speak aloud.

Danifae only smiled innocently and said, "I intended no offense with my question."

"Of course you didn't," Quenthel said, and her whips swirled around her head.

Jeggred growled, as though he could he hear the serpents' mental projections to their mistress.

Pharaun felt very tired all of sudden. He just wanted the whole affair completed. If Lolth wanted it done quickly, all the better.

"Mistress," he said to Quenthel. "I have spells that-"

"Silence!" Quenthel ordered, without removing her gaze from Danifae. "Use what spell you will to follow me, Master Mizzrym, but you are to transport only yourself. Do you understand?"

For emphasis, her whip serpents turned their gaze from Danifae, stared at Pharaun, and flicked their tongues. Pharaun bowed his head in acquiescence.

To Danifae, Quenthel repeated, "I said, summon what aid you can, priestess, if you wish to accompany me further."

Pharaun saw it then and was not sure what to make of it.

Quenthel was taking Danifae's measure, testing her abilities as a priestess. That was why she had ordered Pharaun to transport only himself. All in the group had at least a sense of Quenthel's personal power. No one knew the scope of Danifae's except Danifae. Quenthel meant to find out before sacrificing the battle-captive.

The two priestesses stared at one another for a moment longer, Quenthel's challenge hanging between them. The wind blew. The rain fell. The webs sang.

"Very well, Mistress Quenthel," Danifae said, and she inclined her head slightly.