Daughter of the Drow - Elaine Cunningham [126]
Chapter 20
TEAMWORK
Liriel launched her knives, one by one, at the quag-goth's back. Each found its target, but the creature's thick fur and deep layers of muscles kept any of the small blades from hitting vital points. The bearlike fighter roared with pain, but it continued its advance on Fyodor.
The female quaggoth, however, snarled its rage and charged the little drow who'd attacked its mate. Liriel resolutely stood her ground, a knife in each hand. A flick, and the two small blades took flight, sinking into the quaggoth's red eyes. The beast shrieked and pawed at its face.
Liriel pulled her short sword, knowing she must finish the creature before it entered its death frenzy. Bunded or not, a battle-mad quaggoth was deadly in its strength and fury. She darted toward the wounded creature, sword in hand, and slashed it once, twice, across the belly. The quaggoth slumped, furred hands clutching frantically at the gaping wound. With one last stroke, Liriel cut its throat.
Behind her she heard an angry hiss. She spun to face a hideous visage, like that of a dark blue fiend, with scaly skin and ears like long pointed horns. Its red eyes gleamed with malevolence, and its snakelike body swayed as it spoke an arcane phrase in a sibilant whisper. Liriel had never seen a dark naga, but she knew it for what it was-a magical creature of the Underdark that was in its own way as dangerous as a rampaging quaggoth.
The naga's thin lips pursed, and a thin stream of burning black fluid shot toward the young draw. A venom bolt.
Liriel snapped up her sword and swatted at the stream with the flat of her blade. A spray of droplets-a mixture of acid and melted metal-flew back toward the naga. The creature screamed and recoiled, and Liriel hurled aside the rapidly diminishing weapon before the corrosive venom could reach her hand. The insidious liquid could consume flesh as readily as it ate through metal.
The naga recovered fast and began to hiss out the words of another spell. To Liriel's astonishment, she recognized this spell. It was one her father had created. She remembered it well, though she had been little more than a babe when she had first heard those words. That spell, and the terror and confusion that had followed it, was her earliest memory.
In response to the naga's magic, a cluster of rocks melted, elongated, and flowed into the form of a giant snake with a nightmarish elven visage. The stone naga slid toward its drow prey with the screech of rock scraping against rock.
To buy a moment's time, Liriel hurled a throwing spider at the hideous golem. The magic-enhanced weapon bit deep into the creature's throat. It would surely have killed a living creature; the golem had no blood to shed. It bared its fangs and kept coming.
But Liriel countered; she repeated that most-hated spell and summoned a golem of her own. Rock spilled from the wall of the cave like mist, forming itself into an elfmaid of pale gray stone. The stone drow ran to defend its mistress, and the golems collided with an echoing crash.
The stone naga quickly encoiled the elf-shaped warrior and tried to squeeze, but there was no give in the slender stone body. Its head reared back, and then it struck with wide-flung jaws. The next moment it spat out shards of its own rocky fangs. The drow golem wrapped slender hands around the stone naga's throat and tried to strangle it, with no more success than its opponent. Together the magical creatures rolled and thrashed, equal in strength and mindless obedience.
Meanwhile the dark naga mounted its own attack. It darted forward, holding high the barbed tip of its poisoned tail. Liriel dove to one side, rolled, and came up holding the quaggoth's discarded sword. Lifting it high overhead with both hands, she lunged forward and slashed into the naga's deadly tail. The heavy blade went through scale and bone, then met the stone floor with a muted crack. The naga