[Val'keth]

"What a surprise," she answered acidly, thrusting her sword away and leaping for the wall.

Her fingers slipped into cracks between the rough brickwork, and in a few seconds she was up on top of the roof. She pulled two daggers, holding them in a single hand, and tugged a small vial from her belt with the other. Val'keth wrenched the stopper from it with her teeth, spitting it out to bounce over the tiles, and dipped the dagger's slim tips into the liquid within.

She lay them carefully on the roof, grabbing another two and repeating the process, until she had six arrayed before her in three groups. After this was done, she thought, it was time to acquire some more daggers. She'd lost more than a couple recently, and it would be wise to replenish them soon.

A snarl from below announced the arrival of the first hound, and Val'keth grinned as she sent the two daggers arrowing down toward it, aiming for the backbone. She grabbed the other daggers, two to each hand, and ran silently across the rooftop, leaping onto the next building and crouching behind the parapet.

[Zade]

I'll give her that much, thought Zade. The elf sure is fast.

Zade was halfway up the wall when Val'keth threw her first daggers and leapt to the next building. She saw the knives sink into one dog's back. The beast slowed down, but showed no other signs that it even knew it was injured. The other hounds leapt for Zade just as she hauled herself up out of their reach.

Almost.

Zade felt a pair of vice-like jaws clamp around her ankle.

"UNNGH!" she grunted. Her hands slipped as the beast yanked her off of the wall by the leg. By the time she hit the ground, her hand was already holding the battle ax she had acquired from the last fight. She brought it down on the dog's neck, swinging frantically before it could bite her leg off...

*Ka-CHUNK!*

*Ka-CHUNK!*

Thud!

Zade kicked the headless beast away just as the second hound leapt. She stepped aside and swung the ax... opening the dog's belly as it sailed past. The hound hit the ground with a limp thud, but it immediately scrambled to its feet and came at her again.

By that time, the third hound...still slowed by the elf's poison... was leaping at her from behind. Zade ducked under the leaping dog, spun, and launched a single dagger.

THUNK!

It sank into the charging hound's eye, obliterating it completely, but failing to slow it down one bit. It slammed into her. Zade let herself be driven down while using all her strength to keep the hounds teeth out of her face. When her back pressed firmly against the ground, she planted her feet in the hound's chest and used the beast's own momentum to help her flip the dog over her head.

Zade rolled away just as the other hound snapped at her. She dodged to one side, but then spun.

*Ka-CHUNK!*

The ax sank deep into the hound's neck. She pulled it free for another strike. The other dog leapt... but she didn't dare delay and give the first hound time to regenerate.

*CHUNK!*

Thud!

WHAM!

Zade and the final beast went down in a fury of leather and fur. The impact knocked the battle ax right out of Zade's hand.

[Val'keth]

She glanced down at the combat raging below her, just in time to see Zade disappear underneath a mountain of fur. Without hesitation, Val'keth let fly with both hands, the daggers whining as they hurtled toward the dogs, then leapt over the edge of the roof and plummeted toward the ground.

She concentrated her willpower for an instant as the street rushed up toward her, skewing her trajectory to land with a thud beside the dog and drew her sword. She paused for a moment as the pair rolled around in the dirt, watching for an opening that would avoid injury to Zade, then swung at the dog's head as it lifted, using both hands to sweep the blade upwards and away from Zade.

The dog snarled wetly as blood fountained from it's gaping neck, spattering over both women. Val'keth growled back, reversed her grip and drove the blade straight down through it's head, narrowly missing Zade below and ramming it as far into the ground as she could.

The hound tried to pull its head free, but only managed to swing its body around in the process. Val'keth grabbed for Zade's axe, and hacked at the dog's neck, laying open the backbone in two quick chops. One final swing with the weapon, and the dog's body lurched backward, it's muscles still straining even in death to pull the sword from the ground.

Val'keth shoved the axe haft into her belt and looked around as she reached for her sword, standing on the hound's lifeless head as she tugged it from the ground.

[Zade]

"Thanks," said Zade as she got to her feet. The beast had ripped gaping holes in her leather armor in several places. Zade herself had only suffered a few scratches.

"They aren't so tough once you know how to kill 'em. I don't care what they are... I haven't seen too many creatures that can live without a head."

RROOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

The howl was uncomfortably close, and it was answered by no less than six shorter bursts of growling and snarls. All were converging on their location.

"Back to the store! RUN!"

[Val'keth]

Val'keth's blood froze as she heard the howls closing in. She stopped to tug two of her daggers free of the dog, then jumped over it's carcass and ran headlong toward the store, following Zade.

She could almost feel the jaws snapping at her heels, the hot breath on her legs, and she turned round and saw the hounds not more than a few feet away. Val'keth glanced back at the store - too far away still - and

concentrated for a moment.

Her feet left the ground as she levitated upwards, hanging out of reach of the hounds snapping snarling mouths, and started to drift toward the store as she turned upside down. Val'keth had spent many long hours strapped into a lizard hanging from a cavern roof, but never expected to use the skills here on the surface. She lashed out with her sword, cutting an ear and slicing into the hounds skull.

It healed as she swung toward it with her next strike, the skin closing over and knitting back together, and she aimed at the neck this time. Her sword sliced through the skin and muscle, but stopped against the bone. Val'keth swung around above it with the force that rocketed up the blade.

Damn, she thought, knowing all to well that the levitation could give out at any moment. She checked to see how close she was to the store - still not close enough. With six hungry snarling dogs below her, Val'keth shut her eyes, concentrated harder and chopped again.

[Zade]

Still running full speed, Zade narrowly avoided getting her foot caught in one pair of snapping jaws. She knew she couldn't outrun them, and fighting this many would be suicide, especially since Val'keth still had her axe.

She veered towards the nearest building, but had taken only a few running steps when something slammed into her from behind. Zade went down beneath the heavy weight of dense muscle and fur...

With a sudden burst of strength, she threw the hound off before it could sink its teeth into her. When it leapt at her again, she sidestepped it and ran her dagger across both its eyes. The wound blinded it, but only for a second. As the beast's ruined eyeballs sealed themselves, Zade reached for two smaller daggers. With one in each hand, she stabbed downward...

THWOK!

Both blades sank into the beast's skull... right through the eye sockets. As she expected, the presence of blades kept the orbs from healing. The hound would be blind until she removed them... which she had no intention of doing.

Zade looked around for more... and saw that five more of them were gathered beneath Val'keth, who was floating just a few feet off of the ground.

She checked the other direction, and her heart sank. Two more beasts were approaching from the opposite end of the street. If she ran TOWARDS them, she might be able to make December's store before they reached her. Maybe. OR she could help Val'keth and be trapped out here with seven hellhounds.

She only had an instant to decide.

Val'keth had saved her life just a few seconds ago... but then she was going to have to kill her sooner or later anyway.

The elf could help her with the Stranger... but then, WITHOUT the elf, she could have access to even more help from December's group.

"Can't argue with that kind of logic," mumbled Zade. She turned and ran for the store as fast as she could.

[Val'keth]

She dipped precariously toward the dogs again as she swung at a snarling mouth below her, and sweat beaded across her forehead from the effort of concentrating so hard to stay aloft. With so many of them snapping below her, Val'keth knew she had to find another way out of the mess she was in, and fast. Nothing presented itself, and she dropped another couple of inches.

She looked around and saw Zade running for the store - so much for working together, she thought. Val'keth swore and pulled her dagger free, paused for a moment then she gasped as the levitation abruptly ended and she dropped into the center of the snarling pack below her.

Sword and dagger flashed in a blur in the snarling mass of fur, and Val'keth surrendered herself to the instincts that had kept her alive this far in her life. Sparks flew from her bracers as bite after bite was deflected by them, and she concentrated her blades on building a wall of steel between her and the hounds as she slowly made her way toward the shop. One mis-step here would be fatal - a mistake she REALLY didn't want to make.

[Zade]

Zade burst into the store and slammed the door behind her.

WHAM!

Two hellhounds crashed into the door not a second later. Despite their size and strength, neither beast penetrated... they both ended up bouncing back out into the street. Zade attributed that to the store's solid construction... since she hadn't even had time to activate the protective wards yet.

"What's going ON!" shouted Theesa.

Zade hurriedly activated the magic that sealed the store from intrusion, and then stepped back from the door.

The hounds began throwing themselves at the door...

WHAM!

...but each attack was met with a blast of blue-green energy...

BZZZT!

Besides giving them a nasty shock, the magic repelled the beasts with a force equal and opposite to their own. They harder they tried, the harder they were opposed. They were effectively locked out.

Still, they kept trying...

WHAM! BZZT!

WHAM! BZZT!

WHAM! BZZT!

"What ARE they!" cried Theesa. She was hiding quite effectively behind December, who appeared more than a little perturbed at the assault on his property.

WHAM! BZZT!

"Hellhounds... courtesy of our friend with no face. We killed three just now, but then six more showed up... not counting THOSE two."

"Your friend! Where's your friend!?!" said Theesa.

"She's hardly my friend. And the last I saw her, she was trying to fly away."

"The elf can fly?" said December.

"She can do a lot of things."

"Interesting," said December.

"But you can't just LEAVE her out there!"

"She's probably long gone by now. Gone or eaten. Either way... I'M not going out there to see. Maybe J'Hasp will help her."

"J'Hasp will not reveal himself unless my safety is threatened. The elf is on her own."

"But she'll DIE! You can't just-"

"EXCUSE ME?! YOU are more than welcome to step outside and offer your assistance, but there is NO WAY-"

"Theesa is correct," said December. "We must help the elf."

"WHAT!?!?!"

"She may be of use to me. Go outside and see that she is not harmed."

"But Eric Hood told me to kill her!"

"What?" said Theesa. "Why?"

"She knows too much."

"That may be true, but that is all the more reason to keep her alive."

"But Hood-"

"Unless much has changed without my knowledge, I believe I outrank Mr. Hood. We will find out what the elf knows and what her usefulness is to me. If she knows more than she should, and her usefulness does not justify her continued existence, THEN you may carry out Mr. Hood's orders."

Zade's eyes narrowed into tiny slits. She growled deep in her throat and scowled at Theesa, who was standing beside December with an 'I Told You So' look on her face.

"Fine. Any idea how I'm supposed to get out that door without letting those things in here?"

"Must I do EVERYTHING?" said December.

---

[Val'keth]

Her sword and dagger slashed and gouged at the dogs, but with so many at such close quarters, she could see them healing faster than she could inflict any damage. Val'keth cursed Zade, but knew she would have done exactly the same in the circumstances.

Her bracers flashed out toward another dog's fangs, and she smiled as the power crackled into its mouth, deflecting the strike. Sweat ran off her now, soaking her clothes, and the sword slipped dangerously in her grasp.

CLANG!!

ShhhTING!

Another mouth crunched onto the bracer and was thrust away, but Val'keth screamed as one of the dogs bit into her thigh, clamping shut around her leg. She brought her sword round, hacking at it, but the wounds sealed too fast, and the angle was all wrong to be able to inflict anything deeper.

She could feel something warm and wet dribbling down her leg, and she lunged again with her dagger this time. Another dog leapt for her, grabbing a mouthful of white hair, and Val'keth was dragged to the ground and disappeared under a heaving mass of fur.

---

[December]

December walked to the door and watched that hounds as they continued to throw themselves at the painful magic protecting the store. They were impacting with enough force to break bones at the very least, but that didn't seem to stop them.

Even more interesting, the hounds didn't seem the least bit interested in him. They kept their eyes locked on Theesa and Zade. They wanted the women, and he was just another impediment... another door they would have to break through.

"Their singularity purpose is quite high for an animal," he said to himself. "A pity we will not have a live specimen to study..."

December's eyes glowed bright blue, and wave after wave of bitter cold began pouring off of him.

December dismissed the wards and snatched the door open. Both hounds leapt... knowing that they would have to get through this new obstacle in order to reach their target. The first dog's jaws clamped down on December's arm... and the teeth shattered like fine glass. The lower jaw snapped completely off and cracked into several pieces when it hit the floor. December grabbed the second beast by the neck as it tried to squeeze past. Instantly, the beast froze solid. It's fur turned white as the moisture in it became layer of ice. December picked the large animal up and tossed it out into the street. The hound exploded in a shower of icy fragments when it landed. The first dog lay motionless at December's feet with what remained of its head frozen like a block of sculpted ice. December picked this beast up as well and tossed it away.

Then he stepped back.

"I believe the way is clear now," he said.

"Nobody likes a show-off," said Zade.

[Zade]

Zade adjusted her weapons and stepped outside. She was cautious. There were still four or five hounds out there somewhere, and December didn't look like he was about to join her in rescuing Val'keth.

Zade crept down the street towards where she left Val'keth. There was nothing there now except a headless hound and lots of blood. And Zade's axe, which she retrieved from a large pool of blood.

"What are the odds she got away?" mumbled Zade. "If she was flying... probably fifty-fifty. Wait, what's this..."

Zade spotted some tracks in the ground. It looked as if several of the hounds had dragged away from the scene. There was lots of blood around, and a single dagger lay discarded off to one side.

"Well, at least I got a new knife out of the deal."

Zade picked up the blade. The balance was off... WAY off... but it was still sharp. She shoved it into her belt and started back to the store.

RROOOOOOO!!!!!

A lone hound was running out of the darkness towards her. Zade unfurled her whip...

CRACK!

The dog's nose vanished in a spray of blood and ichor. The animal didn't seem to notice. It leapt at her. Zade twisted out of the way and looped her whip around the beast's neck. The momentum carried them both down, but as soon as they hit the ground, Zade ran the leather whip around and in between the dog's legs, immobilizing it.

"December wanted a live specimen..."

GRRAAAOOOOOO!

The beast struggled and strained... coming dangerously close to snapping the strong leather of Zade's whip.

"Oh, to HELL with it!"

Zade grabbed her ax and beheaded the demonic beast with two quick chops. She untangled her whip and quickly ran back to December's store.

"Was she out there?" asked Theesa.

"They got her. Looks like they took her away to eat at their leisure."

"Oh." Theesa looked sad... she apparently hadn't yet adjusted to the number of dead bodies that turn up in December's line of work.

"She dropped this," Zade held up the dagger she had found.

"Hmmmm." December took the dagger and examined it. "A bit more useful than the one she sold us earlier." Instead of giving the blade back to Zade, December handed it to Theesa. "Tell us what you see, my dear."

Theesa took the knife as if it were going to bite her. Even after the objects she had handled earlier, she was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of reading dead people's property. After a few deep breaths, Theesa closed her eyes and began to speak:

"Her name is Palnar... I think."

"She lied. She told ME her name was Val'keth."

"Could it be a different elf?" December asked.

"No, it's her. I see something else, too. A shape..." Theesa gasped suddenly.

"What?"

"It's HIDEOUS!"

"What is it? Describe what you see... from the beginning."

"I'll try..."

---

[...a long time ago...]

[Palnar]

Hidden safely in the small cubby hole, Palnar twitched and moaned as she thrashed around in her sleep. One foot knocked the waterskin across the floor, spilling its contents in a cold rivulet on the stone. She whimpered again as her dream turned to nightmare.

The Spider Queen's eyes glittered as she looked at Palnar. Palnar backed away, fetching up against something sticky. A glance at her hand revealed strands of silky web, and she brushed them away. She looked at her other hand and saw more of the fine strands, now wrapping both hands and shimmering between them. She wiped them on her clothes, frantically trying to rub the fine threads off, then stared at them. Sticky strands bound her hands to her clothes now, and she looked up as laughter rang loud in her

ears.

The Goddess Lloth stepped toward her, the huge bloated belly twitching. Hairy legs touched Palnar gently, pulling the web that encircled her hands, weaving it a little looser. Palnar recoiled from the Spider Queen, disgusted. A sudden bright flash stung her eyes, making them smart and water, then her vision returned and she saw a beautiful drow elf before her.

Deep violet silk clung to her lithe body like a second skin, accentuating the woman's figure and revealing much of her black skin. Jewelled strands of silver and gold overlaid the silk, creating a net of expensive gemstones that sparkled like fire in the dim light. White hair fell to her shoulders, interwoven with spun gold that highlighted her golden eyes. Her feet, curiously, were bare except for the rings that adorned her toes, just as many more rings circled her fingers.

Palnar could see no weapon save that of a black dagger at her waist. It's blade was curved sinuously from side to side, and a groove ran down the center. The Spider Queen needed no weapons to protect herself with, but it did provide a simple counterpoint to the rich opulence of her clothing.

"Does this form suit your eyes better?" the woman hissed, the golden eyes betraying her anger.

Palnar swallowed, nodding silently. The woman stepped forward and caressed Palnar's face with one slender hand, turning it this way and that.

"Why do you avoid me so, little elf?" Lloth asked, smiling at Palnar. "You disgrace your House, turn your sisters against you - and for what. Am I really so terrible that you must hide yourself away?"

She turned, stepping to one side, and Palnar felt fingers brushing her dark hair, picking strands of sticky web from it.

"And the hair, that didn't help, did it. Marked you as different, unlucky, cursed," the Spider Queen smiled, seeing Palnar's discomfort. She leant in close, her breath whispering on Palnar's face. "No-one escapes me, little one. Not even those who dwell on the surface. Even now I hear the screams of one poor soul, destined to live for eternity in agony, for me! FOR ME!"

The Goddess whirled away, silk whispering in the stillness, her footsteps silent as they swirled the mist away. Palnar gulped as she stared at an unending void below, dispelled the idea that pressed into her mind of plummeting for hours, days, minutes into whatever lay at the bottom.

"LISTEN TO ME," Lloth's voice rang out around the stone columns, "or your worthless life will be ended now."

Palnar struggled against the web that held her tight, but the Spider Queen merely laughed at her futile efforts.

"Oh no, little one, you cannot escape. One cannot escape from a Goddess, not unless she wills it. And I would not have you leave just yet. I have not even BEGUN to explore what I might do with you..."

Palnar cried out in her small room, her hands brushing her clothing, thrusting away from her, then recoiled as they felt the dampness on the floor.

Thousands of small spiders swarmed across the web, their dark bodies glistening as they rushed toward Palnar at the center, tiny legs twanging the web to sense the prey held fast. The Goddess smiled at the elf entangled and trapped before her, and whispered "Sleep now, little elf with the strange hair, sleep the deep sleep that only I can bring you..."

Palnar screamed as she felt the first tickle of tiny legs on her skin, tried to wriggle away from them, and spasmed as a multitude of sharp jaws bit into her flesh. The venom coursed through her rapidly, slowing her heartbeat, dimming her sight, and dulling the pain of the spiders biting over and over. Palnar's breath became more shallow, less frequent, and as her mind slipped into total darkness, the last thing she saw was a vision of the huge spider standing over her, eyes glittering and mouth working with anticipation.

---

[Zade]

"Looks like she lead an interesting life."

"Indeed," said December. "But I am more interested in the other... From your description, she seemed to wield a great deal of power."

"Palnar was afraid of her," said Theesa. She placed the dagger onto the counter beside her.

"And she appeared to view the elf as some kind of pawn. Perhaps she still is. This bears further study."

"That'd be hard to do, considering she's...uhh... Theesa... maybe you should move away from

the counter..."

"What?" Theesa stepped back.

"That dagger just moved. Look..."

Val'keth's dagger was rotating on the flat surface of the counter. It came to rest pointing roughly east, which was NOT the direction it was pointing when Theesa put it down.

After a few moments of nothing happening, Zade walked over to the counter and... using the butt of her axe... gave the dagger a push. It spun for a few seconds and stopped. Then it slowly turned rotated to face east again.

Zade picked the knife up and held it. She realized that what she had mistaken for poor balance earlier was actually a steady pull in a certain direction. It wasn't enough to yank it out of her hand, but was enough to turn the dagger if it was placed on a smooth surface... like the glass countertop.

"What's it pointing to?"

"The knife is drawn to its owner," said December. "It is a common enchantment, I encounter it several times a month on various items. These spells usually cease to function at the owner's death, which means-"

"She's still alive!" exclaimed Theesa.

"Great." said Zade.

"Perhaps you should go and fetch her for us, Zade."

"Wherever she is, she's probably with more dogs than I can handle alone."

"Then allow me to assist you. Wait here."

December walked into the back room of the store and returned with a small leather pouch. He untied the drawstring and removed a large blue gem. It was slightly smaller than the palm of his hand.

"I believe you know how it works," said December.

Zade nodded. December placed the gem back into the pouch and handed it to Zade.

"Only one?" said Zade. December frowned, indicating that this one gem was all the help she was going to get.

"I'll be back."

Zade left the store again and, using the dagger as her guide, began to track down the lost elf.

[To Be Continued]