Tangled webs - Elaine Cunningham [162]
And yet…
Shakti's chanting voice fell silent as the summoned manifestation of Lloth took shape before her. Her prayer had been rewarded with the rarest, most powerful manifestation of Lloth's power: the creation of an avatar. Yet the young priestess did not count herself the victor. The form the Spider Queen had chosen to take was that of Shakti's most hated rival. Lloth herself gazed at Shakti through Liriel Baenre's golden eyes.
Liriel raised hands that crackled with dark energy and pointed them at the stunned priestess. A wave of power surged forward and engulfed Shakti. There was a sharp, quick burst of light and sound, and then an arid silence, like that left behind after lightning's strike. A wisp of sulphurous steam rose from the place where the lesser priestess had stood.
Well done, applauded a voice in Liriel's mind.
The drow turned slowly, still thrumming with the waning power of Lloth, and faced Vestress.
Shakti is dead? the illithid inquired.
"i'Returned to the Abyss," Liriel said in a voice that was not yet entirely her own. "i'She may well make her way home from there, for the priestesses of Lloth are adept at traveling the lower planes. Yet she is lost to you, illithid!" Vestress shrugged, a gesture ill-suited to her misshapen form. The loss is mnot so great. You will rule Ruathym for a time, amass what power you need, and then return to the Underdark. I have lost one drow and gained another; it is a fair exchange.
Liriel did not comment. "The tapestry," she demanded. Ah, yes. You are full of contradictions, drow. I find your obsession with freeing the enslaved sea elves most curious, especially considering the shawl you wear at your waist, Vestress said slyly.
With a shrug, Liriel acknowledged the hit. She wielded the power of Lloth; she wore the token of an enslaved nereid. The illithid was taunting her, pointing out that Liriel's methods were little different from those used by Vestress herself.
So be it.
The first, immobilizing blast of power took Vestress by surprise. Before the illithid could rally, before she could summon her own strength of mind and magic, the icy hand of Lloth closed around her.
The illithid's blank white eyes focused on the drow, and with the coarse and common power of physical sight Vestress at last perceived what her mental powers had failed to tell her: for the first time in centuries, Vestress had underestimated an opponent. She accepted her failure and waited for the killing strike to come.
But this was not the way of Lloth, or the vengeful creature who channeled the dark goddess's power.
"You will stay here in Ascarle," Liriel Baenre proclaimed in a voice that resounded with power. "We may yet have need of the information network you control. But you will stand here until the end of this day, beyond the reach of sword or spell, and watch the destruction of your army and the end of your plans for conquest."
And thus it was. Unable to move, unable to strike, Vestress watched helplessly as the first of the sea-elven invaders emerged from the magical portal.
Chapter 24
The Battle for Ruathym
Xzorsh pulled up short at the sight of the strange squid-faced creature and the grim expression on the face of his drow friend.
Liriel pointed to a doorway on the far side of the chamber. "i'The tapestry you seek is in a room beyond that one. Do not fear the illithid-she cannot harm you. Good luck."
The sea elf nodded. He waited until all his forces had poured through the portal and Liriel had slipped