Sword of Might, Chapter 3 (conclusion)

      "The threat to Seremoreh which we now face first rose ages ago.   It was a time of both great knowledge and great conflict.  Empires rose and fell in a generation.   Warlords dominated much of the world and their conflicts with one another were prodigious.   To each his victory over the others was paramount.   For some, any means to achieve victory was an acceptable means to achieve victory.   These men were willing to pay any price to accomplish their ends.   One such leader was Iskandar the Black.   Iskandar was one of the greatest of the warlords of those times and some said he was the favored of the gods."

"If he was, however, they were dark gods.   Iskandar was not content with the lands which he could conquer using just the armies of men who inhabited his homeland, although those armies were very fierce and he himself was a military genius.   He wanted to conquer the world.   To do so, he needed more might than could be found in his armies."

"So he made a bargain with a wicked sorcerer who had gained evil arcane knowledge.   Not only was the sorcerer with whom Iskandar dealt wicked, but his skill was nonpareil.   His knowledge of necromancy, sorcery, and thaumaturgy was unsurpassed.   Yes, I said necromancy.   Even though such its practice had even then long been taboo, Draling had become an adept in the foulest of magics.  The sorcerer, who is known to history as Draling, was not content to let the dead rest.   He used the energy of their spirits and their fleshly remains to power his evil experiments.   He also was well versed in alchemy and, using his dark arts, he created for Iskandar a new race made from human whose souls had been torn from their bodies and replaced by the spirits of dire wolves who had been starved and mistreated until both their hatred of human beings and their hunger knew no bounds.   When they were fed, the beasts were fed manflesh, so that they would acquire a taste for their enemies.


* * * * *

The old mage broke off from his narrative and shook his head.  He looked out at the rapt audience and growled, “Why this was supposed to imprint the beast’s descendants I don't understand.  It makes little sense that simply eating something will give your children a taste for it as anyone who has ever tried to convince a child that the butter-covered mushrooms which they so adore are truly tasty.   There had to be something more, something magical that invoked the law of contagion involved.   But that is part of an argument that has little point in this story.”


* * * * *


“At any rate,” he murmured as he resumed his narrative,   “To this evil combination, Draling added an alchemical elixir made from the glands of huge ferocious amphibians which roamed the land and seas of the far north then.  This elixir changed the bodies of Draling's creatures from something human to something far, far different, the beasts we call trolls.  The man-wolves grew and changed until they reached heights of over ten feet with skin that was scaled and leathery and lizard green in color.   Their bones grew thick and their sinews enormous.   Like many of the small amphibians which exist in Seremoreh today, these creatures gained the ability to regenerate parts of their body which were lost.   Fortunately, they were not particularly intelligent."

Jerrod glanced nervously at the creature who was devouring the enormous platters of food by the taproom's hearth as he listened to Astall's story.   The old man didn't seem worried about it, though, so Jerrod decided that perhaps he was safe despite the resemblance of their fellow guest to the evil creatures which the archmage described.   Still, one could never be too sure.

"Their leader, however, was.   Iskandar chose to become like one of his new race of monsters.   Like them, he was treated by Draling with the elixir of amphibians.   He, too, changed physically until no creature could stand before him.   He kept his intellect, however.   His ravening hunger for conquest made him just as rapacious as the beasts who had been created from humans whose souls had been replaced by the spirits of dire wolves."

"Instead of animal cunning, however, he had a human mind in that monstrous body and one of genius at that.   He saw that magic could provide power that military might could not.   He bade Draling teach him the arcane arts.   He was an apt student, so apt that because of the enormous energy that his new body provided, he soon surpassed Draling in thaumaturgic strength if not skill.   Skills, as you know, take more time.   Still, Iskandar mastered the lore which Draling offered as if it represented countries to be conquered.   Perhaps for him it did."

"At any rate he quickly grew in knowledge.   Just as quickly, he grew tired of the discipline with which any practitioner of the arts of the supernatural must abide.   He began to resent Draling for imposing that discipline.   Iskandar decided that he must have absorbed all that Draling had to offer.   Why else would the dark mage force such petty limitations on him?   It was not his nature to bow to the will of another.  The resentment that Iskandar felt soon grew into rancor and Iskandar decided to do away with his mentor in the black arts."

"Iskandar slew Draling in a duel arcane that surpassed any that had gone before.  Perhaps had his teacher been prepared for the battle the outcome would have been different.   Perhaps he could have overcome Iskandar's tremendous thaumaturgic strength and the prepared spells which the young emperor had awaiting him.   But he wasn't and so he didn't.   Draling died.   But not before he cursed Iskandar.   He called the wrath of the heavens down on the young emperor and using every bit of power and energy which was his -- and he was a great sorcerer -- he doomed Iskandar to die the moment the young emperor achieved his goal of world domination and to never have any progeny to whom he could leave his legacy."

"Iskandar's goal was one which the rest of the world would rather not see fulfilled.   The other warlords and their magicians banded together to stop Iskandar and his armies and his newly created armies of trolls, for that is what Draling had concocted -- trolls.   Even so, the dark emperor almost succeeded in his dark quest.   His armies and their monstrous allies were all but unstoppable when directed by the military genius of Iskandar.   Somehow he had to be riven from them."

"Assassination was attempted.   It failed.   Mortal wounds healed in moments when inflicted on the dark one.   Poisons didn't seem to have any lasting impact.   Even attempts by sorcery failed.   Perhaps it was the alteration to his makeup which the elixir had wrought.   Perhaps the curse of Draling kept Iskandar alive to ensure that he would see his greatest triumph reft from him just as it came into his grasp.   More likely, the two worked in tandem with Iskandar's own black skills to keep the evil emperor alive."

"The councils of the other warlords decided that if Iskandar could not be killed then he must be imprisoned somewhere he could never be freed.   That was a far greater task than mere assassination.   It required both military prowess to fight his armies to a standstill and magical might to offset that of the dark ruler."

"To the second end, seven items of power were forged.   Each had a role to play in imprisoning of Iskandar.   Each was keyed to one of his abilities, its role to suspend Iskandar's ability in a specific area.   There was one for his sorcery, one for his wizardry, one for his necromancy, one to remove his alchemical transformation, one for his thaumaturgic abilities, one for his military genius, and one for his theistic influence."

"Each item was attuned to a single hero who must needs activate it in Iskandar's presence.   Each hero was singular in his abilities whether magical or military.   Some were skilled in both arts.   But all were the cream of the warlords' military and magical forces."

"In order to accomplish the task of negating Iskandar, a desperate battle was planned in which all of the forces of the opponents of the evil emperor were committed.   The forces of the warlords far outnumbered those of Iskandar, but the only way in which they could guarantee that at least a draw would be gained was by offsetting Iskandar's military genius with numbers.   And at least a draw was necessary, for the plan demanded that during the battle the seven heroes come into Iskandar's presence so they could subdue his powers and capture him.   With a draw or in the unlikely circumstance of a victory, they could perhaps in the confusion of battle draw near enough to activate their individual agent of Iskandar's defeat without being slain immediately by the villain's minions."

"Suffice it to say that the seven were successful.   During the conclusive battle in the war against Iskandar, they drew near enough to Iskandar to activate their objects of power.   They battled through his bodyguard, which was no mean feat for it was made up of the fiercest of the trolls and the most doughty of his human minions.   The seven survived Iskandar's magic, again no mean feat for, as I said, his troll body generated enormous energy both magical and mundane."

"The heroes' might and skill surpassed those of Iskandar well enough in that battle that they could imprison his abilities.   With his abilities went his ability to control the trolls.   And with the loss of his powers and his dominion over the trolls, his freedom departed.   The trolls turned on Iskandar's human armies, their erstwhile allies, and tore the men limb from limb.   Having briefly sated their hunger and no longer being under the sway of Iskandar they quit the battlefield and left the evil emperor to his fate."

"The seven captured the one.   They negated his magic and locked him in chains.   He was dragged from the battlefield like a felon.   His death was again sought but none could find its key.   In time, the warlords forsook the task of slaying Iskandar.   Instead they imprisoned him in the far north and scattered the objects which confined his powers.   One each went to the seven most powerful of the warlords for safekeeping."

"That was thousands of cycles ago.  Despite occasional attempts by the warlords of that time to collect the objects of power for their own nefarious ends, the artifacts gradually were lost to human ken.   They found places of safety in the dim corners of the world."

"I recovered one from the queen of spiders.   That is how I met the warrior twins.   The others must now be recovered and the chains with which they bound the powers of Iskandar must be reforged.   For once again, the power-mad monster stirs.   He seeks the restoration of his might and the recreation of his empire.  That is why the unseasonable chill has crept into Seremoreh.   The chill makes life more comfortable for the trolls whom he once again influences.   The trolls search for the keys to Iskandar's mystic powers in order to return them to him so he can regain his strength."

"We must stop them.   We must gather the items ourselves and reinforce the bonds which secure Iskandar.   That is the task of you and your companions-to-be.   You are this age's analogues to the heroes of Iskandar's time.   Only you can activate the items and renew the bonds which confine the evil demiurge.   No one else can accomplish that task and will you or nil you, whether you have come into your powers or not that is the geas I lay upon you."

Astall's eyes grew abruptly more intense.   Jerrod felt a sort of panic deep in his soul which was quickly replaced by a feeling of steely determination that seemed to come from outside him to accomplish the binding of Iskandar.

"You must expect intense opposition to your quest, however, Jerrod.   Despite your own nascent skills and those of your companions, no easy task has been set before you.   Most of the objects which bound Iskandar have been lost over time.   The only one which we know the whereabouts of for certain is this wand which I bequeath to you now.   The others are yours to seek.   As I said the trolls will attempt to stop you and gain the keys.   Perhaps other minions of evil will attempts to hinder your attempts to gather the keys.   They will attempt to gather them for themselves and their master.   Still others may seek to prevent you for their own less nefarious reasons.   There are certainly going to be guardians whose sole purpose is to protect the keys from treasure-seekers.   You must win through all difficulties by your strength and your skill and that of your companions."

"The only aid which I can offer at present is the nature of each of the objects and the ability which it extracted from Iskandar.   That, and a possible location for one of the items besides the wand.   Perhaps over time I will be able to do more.   I found the wand of wizardry created by Torvil which I have just consigned to you through the study of ancient tomes.   Mayhap such study will bear more fruit in the near future.   Barring that, you and your companions are on your own with the knowledge that I pass on to you."

"As I said there are seven items which you must gather.  The first key, the wand of Torvil, I have given to Jerrod.  It removes Iskandar's ability to use transformation to achieve his ends.  I have given the wand to you because you, Jerrod, are the present day analog of the one for whom the wand was originally created."

"The powers that be have been kind to us, Jerrod.   Or perhaps not.   Perhaps it is just part of some grand design and we are just pawns or playthings in the hands of powers far greater than ours.   In one land they believe that all of our lives are a part of a great tapestry which is constantly being woven and each thread in that tapestry is created and braided with a purpose.   No single strand is allowed to destroy the integrity of the whole.   For each strand or life which poses a threat to the balance of the tapestry, there is another or a group of others which offset its influence.   Perhaps they are right in that faraway place.   The threat that Iskandar poses to the world must be balanced by heroes who can defeat him.   That was true long ago.   Perhaps it is true now.   We won't know until you have accomplished your quest."

"Each of those in the group which we have gathered has been determined by the best means at our disposal to be the analog to one of those heroes of yore.   You, Jerrod, are the analog of the greatest wizard of that day.   While you have not yet come into the fullness of your power, you have the potential to become the greatest of practitioners of the art of transformation of the present day.   You must grow into that power in a hurry though, or all will be lost when Iskandar establishes his dominion over the world."

"Your companions-to-be are each are the analog of another of the great heroes of the past.   Each is attuned to an object of power...."

Astall shook his head.  "I must be getting old," he muttered half to himself.   "There I go repeating myself again."

"At any rate, the other six objects are a sword, an amulet, a staff, a coronet, a ring, and a cape of black.   The sword nullifies Iskandar's military genius when it is brought into his presence.   It is keyed to Enki and Urki.   Either or both.   Because they are twins they are indistinguishable from each other in this matter.   Both have the ability to meet the need and do that which needs to be done."

"The amulet severs his ability to contact the spirit world.   It is keyed to that woodsman over there.   The staff is keyed to his priestly companion and blocks Iskandar's theistic connections.   The coronet is linked to the woman dressed in black seated in the corner.   It prevents Iskandar from tapping into his immense stores of thaumaturgic energy.    The ring can be activated by that large green person over there by the fire.   It will reverse Iskandar's  transformation into one of the trollkin."

The last item is an ebon cape.   The cape is in reality more of a death shroud than a normal item of clothing.   It serves a dual purpose.   First, when worn in the presence of the evil would-be emperor, it frustrates any attempt which he might make to use or influence the dead.   Second, if it can be placed over him it will put him into an enchanted slumber that will last for another ten thousand years.   The cape can only be activated by the last of your companions.   He is in some ways the most powerful of your associates.   Although he may not appear to, in some ways he rivals me in magical skill.  In others, particularly the darker arts, he far surpasses my abilities."

"Who is he?   When will he arrive?" Jerrod interjected.

"Don't be dense, youngster.   Like the rest of you, he is already here.   You were the last to arrive.   This is far to important a conversation to have when anyone but you and your companions or those who are as fully committed to stopping the tide of evil could hear.   I may be getting on in years but I'm not completely senile!   He is that rather nondescript fellow over at the bar."

"I suppose I should introduce you to the rest of your comrades-to-be.   You will be spending quite a bit of time together from here on out."    With that, Astall stood and strode toward the center of the common room.   He climbed up onto one of the trestle tables as if he were as nimble as a young lad.

"My friends," he called.   "It is time for you to meet the last of your company.   Jerrod, come over here."

Jerrod seemed drawn to his old mentor as if he had no will of his own.   It was almost as if he were a marionette on a string.   He clambered up onto the table where the old mage stood and bowed to each of the gathered strangers, all seemingly without volition.   The others in the room stood as one and began to approach in unison.

The moment was strange to say the least.   There was an unnatural energy which seemed to pervade the room and made the world seem as if it were shrouded in a brilliant mist which clung to the others but did not obscure Jerrod's view of them.   Even more singular than the strange mist which pervaded the room was another scene which seemed to fade in and out of Jerrod's view.   It was almost as if he was in two places at once or as if two distinct visions of the world were at war with one another.

"My friends," he cried, "it is good to see you once again!"

Suddenly everything in Jerrod's world went black. 

Sword of Might, Chapter 3 (cont.)

The trio arrived in Pond Eddy late that evening.   They passed through the town's gates with little more than a cursory inspection from the town constables who guarded the gate.   The twins led Jerrod north up the town's main thoroughfare to the Horse Brass, the inn at which Astall was lodged.   The Horse Brass was not a terribly exceptional place to look at.   Nor was it one of those poor taverns with little more than a dingy common room furnished with a few hay-stuffed cots which were crawling with vermin that feasted on those who stayed the night.   It was somewhere between what one might call the middle and the upper class of inns.   Certainly, Astall, as one of the most powerful spellcasters in Seremoreh, could have afforded better.   Why his mentor hadn't rented or even commandeered one of the several finer hostels which existed in Pond Eddy puzzled Jerrod.

As it was, the trio was greeted by the inn's proprietor almost as soon as they entered the mudroom.   Fran was a large man who had clearly seen both battle and thinner days.   Bluff and hearty, he seemed to Jerrod as if he were almost a cross between the archetypal pudgy but cheerful innkeeper who had grown corpulent by sampling his kitchen's (or perhaps his bar's) wares a little too often and an ex-army sergeant who had turned to smithing upon his retirement.   

        In fact that was what he was.   The Horse Brass had begun as a smithy that Fran had started with his twenty year bonus after he had retired from the personal guard of the Duke of Tepleberg.   He soon married and what had once been a simple smithy soon became a bustling inn.   Fran, too, had changed.   Like his establishment, the innkeeper had become more hospitable and, from sampling his wife's cooking (and, to a certain degree, the bar), somewhat larger.

Fran shut the door behind them and bolted it, an action which surprised Jerrod.   It was almost as if they were the only customers who were welcome to enter the Horse Brass that night.   It was not so late that no other travelers would be entering the city, nor was it so deep into eventide that the local citizens would be averse to stopping by the common room for a pint or two.   "Perhaps," Jerrod thought, "Astall has indeed rented the entire establishment."

Fran greeted them as if he was expecting them.   "Ah, the twin blades of Jillette, welcome back!   You must be the young mage about whom I have heard Astall tell.   Welcome, Jerrod, we have been awaiting your arrival!   Follow me into the common room where the rest of your party awaits.   You must be hungry and thirsty as well.   We have roast fowl or ham with vegetables and potatoes, or mutton stew.   There is also white, yellow, and aged cheese if you wish them.   Small beer, ale, wine, fruit juices and water are available to slake your thirst.   Let Sadie know what you want and it will be brought to you."

He led the trio from the mudroom off through a door way to the left of the stairs.   The common room -- for so it was -- was large and spacious.   It gave Jerrod the feeling of being outside at midday on a fair spring day even though as an interior room with no windows it was clearly well sealed from the chill weather and the light of the outdoors.   Despite being lit by no more than a huge roaring fireplace, torches in the corners and the light which spilled through the doorway which led from the bar to the kitchen the room had a warm, sunny feel to it.   Perhaps it was the dried flowers which were woven in wreaths and placed about the room or the scent of the lamb from the kitchen, but whatever it was the common room of the Horse Brass gave Jerrod a feeling of buoyancy that he had felt since the ice had come to southern Seremoreh.

"Astall, the youngsters have arrived," boomed Fran as he led the triumvirate to a table near the crackling blaze.   "I'm off to prepare their rooms.   Sadie," the massive innkeeper motioned to a feminine shape silhouetted in the kitchen doorway, "come and take care of the new arrivals!"   With that, Fran spun on his heel headed back through the portal which marked the entry.

At the table to which the innkeeper had led Jerrod and the twins was seated a cloaked figure who looked up wearily at the travelers and (having had a rather trying day) said rather irascibly, "Finally arrived, I see.   What took you so long?"

Before any of the three could reply, the old man said, "Never mind, you're here and that's what matters.   Before we get down to business, get some food in your bellies.   I don't want to be distracted by grumbling abdomens while I fill the three of you -- and especially you, Jerrod -- in on the current situation.  Go ahead, Sadie, take their orders."

The figure in the doorway turned out to be a young woman who bore a faint resemblance to Fran, (although she was much younger and, to Jerrod's eyes, prettier) and who had hurried over to the table and was standing at Jerrod's shoulder.

"Good evening, gentlefolk.  What can I get for you?"  The young woman, who turned out to be Sadie, greeted the trio with a smile.

"Let's see, beautiful..." Urki winked.   "I'll have the ham, a double portion of white cheese, and a triple portion of bread.   I think I'll wash that down with ale and for desert I'd like to renew our old acquaintanceship."

The serving maid blushed, but she smiled and nodded at the male warrior.

Enki sighed and then grinned.  "He'll never quit, Jerrod.   Nothing seems to faze him.   Sadie, bring me the same, except make single portions of bread and cheese and I'll forego the dessert."

The serving maid blushed a deeper shade of scarlet.

Jerrod looked askance at the twins and glanced over to Astall who seemed oblivious to Urki's suggestive comments.   He shook his head and said, "Uh, the fowl, some of the aged cheese and wine for me please, girl."

Sadie nodded and beat a hasty retreat to the kitchen.   As she left, Jerrod looked around the room.  Scattered about at other tables around the room were other customers of the inn.   Jerrod's notion that Astall had insured their solitude by chartering the entire establishment seemed less likely when he saw them, especially when he saw what a motley bunch they were.

One of the inn's patrons appeared to be nothing more than a common tinker or artisan.   Seated at the bar, the man had nothing distinctive about him.   He was of middle years, middle height and had a rather average if apparently somewhat flabby build.   He was dressed in grays and browns that blended perfectly with his drab brown eyes and mousey brown hair.   He seemed to be just the sort of local or marginal commercial traveler that one would expect to see in the common room of an inn in the evening.   Perhaps, though, to be in perfect character for the fellow, the inn should have been a little less prosperous than was the Horse Brass, for the fellow did not seem to be the sort who would spend above his means.   And the Horse Brass seemed clearly above his normal economic circles.

At the other tables were seated far more unusual patrons.   At one table sat a large man of middle years dressed in the muted greens and browns of a woodsman.   As far as Jerrod could discern from his seated form, the man was a giant.   His shoulders must have been at least half again as wide as were Urki's and he was thickly thewed over every bit of the portion of his torso which was visible above the table's upper surface.   His hands were enormous, so large that they made the tankard from which he sipped seem as if it was a miniaturized child's version rather than a full-sized toby.

The face of the forester was heavily beard with closely-cropped whiskers the color of a mahogany so deep that it was almost black.   The beard was perhaps a shade or two darker than the woodsman's long, dark hair.   His eyes were at odds with the rest of his intimidating appearance.   The soft olive green of their pupils seemed to radiate gentleness and, even in the relatively dim light of the taproom, the man's eyes seemed to twinkle with an uncomplicated mirth that made one want to smile and share whatever jest it was that gave them their sparkle.

Sitting across from the ranger was a fellow dressed in the dark robes of some sort of cleric.   He looked like no priest that Jerrod had ever seen before, however.   Not only was he uncommonly tall -- he must have been at least two hands over two strides tall, matching the apparent height of his comrade -- he was exceedingly slender.   Another facet of his attire that made him look like no servant of the gods upon whom Jerrod had previously laid eyes, was the enormous double-bladed axe which was strapped across his back.

"Quite a pair," Jerrod mused to himself, "I wonder if the cleric's front is as singular as his rear appears to be?  It would appear, however, that Astall did not lease the entire establishment or if he did, he apparently doesn't mind the innkeeper earning a coin or two on the side."

There were two other customers in the inn and their presences were even more startling to Jerrod than were those of the woodsman and his priestly companion.   Each sat alone.   At a table in the corner apparently lost in thought was a woman dressed entirely in loose fitting black.   She was as beautiful as any woman that Jerrod had ever seen before, yet she had a complexion and appearance unlike any to which he had hitherto been exposed.

Her skin was flawless.   Not a scar nor even a blemish marred her countenance.   Her complexion seemed to Jerrod as if it had been lightly dusted with saffron.   Her eyes were large dark pools of tranquil brown which were the shape of almonds and tilted sharply up at the corners like those of cat.   Her hair was long and straight.   It cascaded down over her shoulders both front and back at least as far as the table top.   It was the color of ebony and was distinguishable from the woman's odd garb only by its incredible sheen, which like the twinkle in the forester's eyes, was even more remarkable because of the dim lighting in the room.   The strangeness of the effect was only heightened by the fact that the torch in the corner cast no light on her features because it was located directly behind her.   Jerrod immediately fell in love (or perhaps lust was a better description of the passion that nearly overwhelmed him).

The other patron of the inn's common room was perhaps the most remarkable of all of the clients present.   Seated directly in front of the fireplace engrossed in the process of devouring a meal at least thrice the size of that which Urki had ordered was something or rather someone not quite human.   He or she or it was even larger than the ranger, but unlike that worthy, the creature in question had no hair at all.   Its shape was human, albeit much larger, but its skin was rough and warty and the color of dark emeralds.   Their ears flared and were pointy.   Their eyes,...their eyes were like those of the lady in black in shape and tilt.   Unlike hers, however, the creature's eyes were golden around the edges with jet black pupils which nearly filled the all but the periphery of the ocular.   Its teeth were sharp and well separated.   They resembled a wolf's more than they did those of a human being.

The creature was smoothly muscled despite is enormous proportions and like a man it wore clothing.  Its upper body, all that Jerrod could see at the moment, was clad in a smooth buckskin vest which left it arms bare.  There was a leather band which wrapped around its forehead and disappeared behind its skull.   Despite its ferocious aspect, the creature ate with the manners and dignity of a member of the gentry.   It was altogether the most disconcerting image with which Jerrod had ever been presented.  "Perhaps," he thought with his mouth agape, "I should get out a bit more!"

Jerrod turned toward his mentor, who -- like Jerrod's escort to Pond Eddy -- was watching the young mage's growing astonishment with wry amusement.

"You seem to be a bit taken aback, youngster, is something troubling you?" Astall chuckled and grinned wryly as he continued.   "There is more to the world than you have yet seen, and unfortunately all of it is not so benign as a collection of unusual tavern patrons."

Astall grew abruptly more serious.   "Jerrod, we are in grave danger.   Seremoreh faces a threat which could destroy all that is good and just.   You are a part of the key to defeating the evil that threatens our way of life.   Would that you were not, for you are still young and not yet grown into your full power.   But ready or no, you must face your rede, for if you do not we all will fall.   I cannot face it for you, would that I could, but I am not the one the fates have designated.   My magic, though it surpasses your own by far at this point in our lives, would be woefully inadequate to stem the tide of evil.   I have my part to play, but you have a role which no other can fill.  You, if you can grow into the mage that you could be and do it in time, can do more in some ways than I, with all of my learning, can.   But even you cannot stem the growing horror alone.   You need aid.  Aid that I cannot personally completely provide.   That is why I have had the twins bring you here.  Enki's and Urki's fate are inextricably interwoven with yours.   You must grow to trust one another without reservation.   You must abandon your prejudices or we are all doomed."

Jerrod looked at his teacher uncomprehendingly.  "What are you saying?  How can I do what you can not?   You are far beyond me in skill and knowledge.   What can two warriors do that neither of us can?   And what is this dire threat which Seremoreh faces that you have yet to reveal?"

"I am saying that there are tasks which must be completed which only you can accomplish.  I have my role but my path is not the same as yours.   And I am saying that you cannot accomplish those tasks without the aid of the two warriors who you have no doubt treated with scorn.   And not only their aid.   You will need the assistance of several others without whom you will earn only death.   As to the dire threat which faces Seremoreh, I think it behooves me start at the beginning so you will truly understand how appalling a threat we face and just how important it is for you to fulfill the quest with which you will be faced."

Sword of Might, Chapter 3

Chapter III

With the conclusion of his tale, Urki yawned.   "So you see Jerrod, though you find it hard to credit, magic and might can work well together.  There are things that each can do that the other cannot.  That is how we came to know Astall and why your mentor sent us to fetch you.  In ending this incursion of arctic weather we have once again been faced with a task that neither than can accomplish alone.  And it is a far greater challenge than the challenge which the arachnids' queen represented.  But the threat is one which Astall can explain far better than my sister or I can.   Anyway, now you know a little more about your companions and how they came to be your companions, but you'll just have to wait until we get to Pond Eddy to hear the full tale."

Jerrod shook himself, still more than a little spellbound by the story which Urki had told.   Urki's concluding remark, however, was not what he had hoped to hear.   "Why am I not surprised this muscle-bound oaf and his sister cannot explain the danger which threatens Seremoreh," he thought to himself.   "They may have been useful to Astall in one freak misadventure and they may be useful as escorts, but they clearly are still ignorant bravos who have little concept about what really makes the world work."   Still consciously satisfied with his own analysis and convinced of his own superiority despite any evidence to the contrary, Jerrod stretched and yawned.  

"Well," he said, "thank you for the interesting yarn.   I clearly have much to think about -- although perhaps not so much as I would like.   I suppose I will have to wait until we reach Pond Eddy and someone who truly understands the problem for fuller enlightenment.   At any rate, it is late and we still have a long road to ride ere we reach our destination.   I bid you good night.   Wake me in the morning."   With that, the young mage turned unceremoniously to make his bed.

Urki looked at his sister.   She sighed and shook her head.   As they settled in for the night without a word passing between the two of them, the twins both realized that making a dent in the prejudices of their companion toward warriors was going to being a long and arduous chore.   But many days and nights and much danger lay ahead before the three would once again go their separate ways.   Perhaps in the course of that time -- preferably sooner rather than later -- Jerrod would realize that there was more to the world and to life than he realized.

Although the next few days were colder if anything than the previous few days had been, they passed with few incidents.   As the three travelers passed through the frozen snow-covered land there was little sign of life.   No birds sang or flew among the rime-covered trees.   The rolling hills were barren of both animals and humanity.   All the eye could see for miles was either the glare of the sun as it reflected off the ice and snow with the peculiar brilliance that light takes on during the winter or, during the less hospitable days, the trio could see naught but snowflakes falling so thickly that it was difficult for the trio to even catch a glimpse of one another if they were more than ten feet apart.

Day and night, the wind howled menacingly.   At times in the dark of night, the even more menacing calls of dire wolves, beasts which were foreign to the climes through which the triad passed, punctuated the silence.   The dire wolves had come down from their haunts in the mountains and in the northlands to seek food.   Since the singular cold had set in, there was little to sustain them anywhere and even less around their former lairs.   Their calls sent shivers down Jerrod's spine.   But even the pitiless howls of the dire wolves paled in comparison to the chill the young mage felt when he heard a strange hissing caterwaul which pierced the evening at sunset as the trio made camp on the night before they reached Pond Eddy.   Even more alarming to Jerrod was the look of consternation which passed between his two companions at the sound.

The dire wolves were apparently not the only strangers who had left their usual dens to seek new prey.  Other more malevolent denizens of harsh and inhospitable climes far to the north had come to the land around the Silver Sea.

Enki scowled, "It looks like we will have to have double watches tonight.   Jerrod, you will have to stand a turn at guard.   Three watches, four hours each tonight instead of the usual two and six.  Jerrod, your watch is the second.  Urki, one and three.  I'll take one and two.   Urki, that leaves you alone for the last.   I hope that it will be done with its hunt ere then.   If it isn't, you may be in for a tense time.   Is that alright?"

Urki merely growled in response.

"Why the change?  What was that howling?" Jerrod asked anxiously.  He hadn't seen his travelling companions quite so unsettled before.

"Troll," replied Urki quietly.

"Troll?  I thought that trolls were creatures of myth," Jerrod was puzzled.  "Besides, what would trolls be doing in Seremoreh?"

"They're no myth.   As to what they might be doing in Seremoreh, Jerrod, I suppose that they do two things.   First, trolls are servants of evil.   If they are here, they have been summoned for nefarious purposes.  But more immediately, and more importantly right now, like the dire wolves they are hunting," replied Urki.

"Hunting?  Hunting what?"

Urki looked at Jerrod and shook his head.

Enki responded to his question.  "Jerrod, if you have heard stories of trolls, as I surmise you have, then you must know what trolls eat if they can find it.  They hunt us -- or others of our kind."

She turned to Urki and said, "This does not bode well.   The danger must be even greater and more pressing than anyone suspected."

He nodded, "Well, we'll know more tomorrow.   Assuming we see tomorrow," he laughed, but there was no mirth in his eyes.

The trio did see the light of the morning.   The night passed without incident.   The troll or trolls apparently had sought other prey than the twins and Jerrod.   The only ill effect that any of them suffered was the extreme lassitude that resulted from having had to stand watch for the first time which troubled Jerrod throughout the next day.

It was exhaustion which was well worth the price, however.   Jerrod had gotten to see a time of the night which he had never seen before.  It had been beautiful in its stillness and quiet.   The cloudless sky had seemed like velvet upon which were strewn multi-colored bits of brilliance which had no earthly parallel.   He also had gotten to spend four hours with one of the twins without the other's active presence.   Although little was said between he and Enki, he did begin to realize she was extraordinarily competent at what she did.   Her stillness while she waited was so absolute that at times he thought she had fallen asleep.   But any sound which he heard caused a heightened alertness in her which was obvious but indescribable.   She made no move.   Nor did she generate a sound.   Somehow of sudden her entire demeanor changed to that of a cat about strike.   It was extraordinary and totally outside the young mage's experience.   Still, it was impressive, even if totally alien, to the youthful spellcaster.

That was one part of his midnight experience which impressed Jerrod.   The other revelation which startled him was that Enki was not really much older than he.   She was no more than a hand of years his elder, yet she carried herself as if she had seen and experienced the world.   "A seeming which may well be true if even half of Urki's story of the Arachnid queen had been even half true," Jerrod mused to himself.

"She is also rather attractive despite the patch and the leathers in which she clads herself," he thought.  When he looked at Enki he saw someone who was obviously in the peak of physical condition.   Yet there were more to her looks than that.   She had long auburn hair which she kept wound in a warrior's braid.   She was about a hand short of two strides in height with long, slender legs which had a strength that was belied by their slim appearance.   Her face was unmarred by blemishes with the single exception of the patch. Her single forest green eye which surveyed the world with a calm that verged on impassivity.   To Jerrod, that eye seemed alight with an intelligence that he found hard to credit in a swordslinger.   Yet her brother had demonstrated a vocabulary which showed a depth of education that he would not have given credence had he not heard it with his own ears.

Chapter 2

Chapter II

"It began when we were little more than striplings. What was it six, seven years ago Enki?"

"Seven."

"Seven, then. We had just left home after having received our warrior's braids. Like all young warriors -- I suppose like all youths -- we wanted to accomplish a deed which would make our names live forever in the fireside tales of the bards. We left our home in Gillette and travelled far to the west, across the Silver Sea. We stayed in the ports of the Spice Coast only long enough to provision ourselves for our trek and set off to explore the badlands in the interior. Little did we know what we would find.

At first, one day seemed much like another and each place differed little from the last. The land was dry and barren and filled with spires of rock and huge upthrusts of land that were like islands in the sea and were as flat as a table on top. The only signs of life were the strange green trees which had no leaves or small branches but which were covered with needle-like spines, the scuttling lizards, the poisonous adders with strange rattling tails (which tasted quite good by the way, somewhat like the hen we ate earlier), and the vulpine birds which waited for things to die so that they could feast on them. The wind seemed to blow constantly, swirling the arid air around and kicking up an endless succession of dust demons. We had heard, however, that the land was rich with treasure to be won and monsters to be slain.

Why, we had even heard of a city made entirely of silver which was inhabited by a bizarre race of red people who worshipped the sun and made sacrifice to a feathered god by ripping the hearts out of their enemies while they -- the hearts -- were still beating. This, according to the tales, was deemed by the denizens of the land to be a more honorable death than any other. It just goes to show how strange the tales are that are concocted around the fireside when people are confronted by the unknown: honor from having your heart ripped out when you are still alive, indeed.

Anyway, I have heard it said that truth is stranger than fiction. I can vouch that is so. We did not find cities of silver inhabited by red men nor did we find much treasure, at least not treasure of the sort we expected. What we found was infinitely more terrible and more valuable in a unique sort of way.

We must have traveled through the badlands for at least a hand of five-days. The days began to run into one another as the monotony of landscape began to take hold of our hearts. Finally, one day there was a break in the tedium. We came to a river that seemed to spring from between two of the upthrusting tablelands that were so close together that they nearly touched. The river was deep and fast and it had ripped a channel that must have been at least fifty strides deep below the high waterline. It was bound by overhanging walls that rose another thousand strides into the air. It was all but impassable. So, of course, it was just the kind of challenge with which to break the monotony and it would bring the adventure which Enki and I sought.

Like two giggling schoolchildren, we began to climb along the walls of the tablelands in order to pass over the rushing river below. The passage was long and arduous. The rock was some sort of black crystal worn smooth by time, the river, and the wind, and it was almost slick as glass. Despite our climbing claws, I nearly fell to my death twice and Enki almost met the gods once. If we hadn't been roped together neither of us might be here to tell this tale."

Urki winked and went on, "But we were and we are and so I will continue. We made our way slowly along the channel and after what must have been at least a dozen hours, but what seemed more like that many days, we reached the far side of the passage.

The far side of the cut in the tablelands was like nothing we had seen on that side of the Silver Sea before. It was as lush as any place I have seen elsewhere in Seremoreh. It seemed like paradise. It wasn't, at least not for humanity. Although the grass was verdant and the trees heavily laden with fruits of every sort, there was -- as you have no doubt surmised -- terrible danger. Otherwise, why would I bother with this tale?

Anyway, the danger was not at first apparent. The valley (for valley it was, carved out of the tablelands by the river and who knows what other forces) widened quickly after its passage through the narrow canyon. The ebon walls were still vertical or past vertical and all but unscalable for as far as the eye could see. Their shadows stretched far into the valley, for the sun had nearly set. As I said, the grass was verdant and the trees lush with their fruits within the lengthening shadows. There was little in the way of fauna, however. A few birds and insects flitted about but there seemed to be few, if any, larger animals -- domesticated or wild. We would soon find out the reason for that lack, but it is as yet not part of the story.

At any rate, after our long climb we were overjoyed to find so beautiful a spot to camp and rest before we explored. Despite the fact that we were both exhausted, we maintained camp discipline and stood watch. First me, then Enki. Thank the gods we did, else I think neither of us would have lived to recount this tale for while nothing happened during the night, we became the prey of an unknown race at the first light of dawn.

As I said, my watch passed uneventfully. Nothing but crickets and tree frogs disturbed the solitude of the night in the valley. When I had done my time, I woke Enki for her watch. Again the hours of darkness passed without incident. As the sun rose and began to take the chill out of the valley, everything became suddenly silent. The birds had sung when the sun first rose, but they soon after became as quiet as the grave.

That metaphor speaks more than you know, magelet. Had things been slightly different, had the fates been less kind, our graves are all we would have found in that inhuman place. As it was, not only did we survive, but we also became friends with your mentor, Astall Demonsbane.

The sudden, unnatural silence of the forest about us made Enki wary. Wariness alone, however, was nearly not enough. Were it not for a dried twig that gathered dust in an opportune place, we would have been dinner. No, our bones would not have been picked clean, nor would we have been torn limb from limb. Instead, we would have had our flesh turned to juice and our insides sucked from our skin like marrow from a bone.

We had become the prey of hunters. And as you may have gathered they were no ordinary hunters, Jerrod. Neither man nor beast, the predators which sought our blood -- and our fat and muscle for that matter -- were huge creatures that stood the height of a man and hunted in a pack like wolves. As I said they were not beasts, though. No warm blood ran through their veins -- if they even had veins. In fact, the creatures which sought our lives didn't even have blood. Instead they were filled with ichor. 

Do not presume that because they were bloodless, they were brainless. Far from it. They were as intelligent as you or I -- well, at least as intelligent as you."

Urki winked again and continued. "They were spiders, Jerrod, giant spiders. At least that is what the great, chittering things appeared to be. I didn't exactly have time to do a taxonomical examination -- surprised I know that word, eh, well I know a good deal more that would be an even bigger surprise to you -- for Enki and I were soon fighting for our lives and lucky to be doing that. But they had eight hairy legs, two eyes, and a pair of pincers projecting from their maws.

I know that they had the ability to think because not only did they also carry pouches which dangled from their necks on leather straps, but they talked to one another as they hunted. Even more than that showed their sentience. One, the leader by the elaborateness of its pouch and the way it commanded the others with its chitterings, stood back and directed the others with motions from its forelegs.

As I said, Fortune smiled on us that morning Jerrod. One of the spiders stepped on that dry twig which was so fortunately placed in his path of approach. Its snap alerted Enki who immediately woke me. We stood and drew our swords just as the swarm of arachnids broke through the tree line of the meadow in which we had camped. Eight of the monsters were on three sides of us and closing fast. Discretion seemed the better part of valor. But the only way open was deeper into the valley and that did not have the earmarks of a wise decision. We looked at each other and in unspoken agreement grabbed our gear and turned and ran that way anyway. The spiders followed.

They continued to follow for the rest of the morning. They did not seem to be making an attempt to catch us, but if we tried to turn aside from our path deeper into the valley, we found that they were on our flanks as well as to our rear. They were herding us, Jerrod, like wolves herd their prey to a waiting trap.

We had no intention of rushing headlong into the jaws of that trap, however. As we ran, we tried to devise a plan with which we could extricate ourselves from our predicament. It was not easy, for nothing came readily to mind. But eventually we came up with a stratagem that seemed as if it had some hope of successfully breaking their lines of containment.

It worked. We escaped their trap. That did not bring us to safety, however.

Our solution had been simple. We went somewhere that the spiders couldn't. Despite their size, they had little trouble going through the trees as they followed us. But their size and the existence of birds within their realm gave us an idea about where they might not be able to go. So we climbed. No, not the walls of the cliffs. We were nowhere near the cliffs. We were in the midst of the woods. So we climbed trees. We climbed as high as we could, all the way to the area where the branches grew close together and became barely thick enough to bear our weight.

The spiders didn't even attempt to follow us. Instead, they camped out below. Given the respite from the threat of immediate capture or death, we strung our bows. Archery isn't easy from trees, Jerrod, despite what you may have heard. It is especially difficult from unsteady platforms like the slender limbs upon which we were perched. We began to pepper the monsters with arrows anyway. They were after all rather large targets." Urki grinned. "Most of the arrows hit. None seemed to do much damage. Still, most of the spiders were soon leaking yellow ichor from the wounds we had inflicted."

Enki and I looked at each other and we stopped our shower of arrows. They were having little immediate effect and we might need them in the future. The question was what should we do. We were out of danger for the nonce, but we hadn't escaped. Worse, there was no obvious path out of our predicament. We still needed to come up with some means of escaping our besiegers.

They, for their part, posted a watch below to make sure we did not sneak off and escape whatever they had planned for us. While we were ensconced thus, Enki and I got a chance to study our adversaries more closely.

As I said, Jerrod, they were spiders, huge and awe-inspiring spiders. They had eight legs, two of which (the forelegs) seemed slightly more delicate than the others. These two they used to signal one another and to manipulate objects such as their pouches. They did not have hands as such at their ends but they did have some sort of grasping members with which they could clutch articles and open the pouches which I mentioned earlier that they carried.

Anyway, they had two parts to their bodies. One, which I deemed their front, was the location of their maws, their mandibles and their eyes. The eyes were not like the compound optical organs of insects with their multi-faceted lenses. Rather they were huge black orbs which glinted whenever the light struck them. The spiders also seemed to be covered in some sort of fur which was of a light brownish hue that contrasted markedly with the ebony of their bodies and eyes.

They carried only the pouches I mentioned before. They had no obvious weapons and they wore no jewelry or clothing. As evening fell, the contents of the pouches became apparent. They had flint and tinder in them as well as food. The food was unremarkable, small ground-running birds and things like squirrels and rabbits. Their method of devouring their food was unlike any I had ever watched before. I'll explain.

They used the tinder to light a large bonfire which crackled and roared like giants laughing at our plight. The heat from the fire was enormous. We could feel it in the trees high above. The spiders didn't use it to cook their victuals, however, though it would have been easy given the heat. Instead, they took their provenance out of their pouches and set it off to the side where it could be no more than lightly warmed by the blazes.

At first that seemed strange, but soon the reason for it became apparent. They weren't discarding their food, nor had they forgotten it. What they were doing, Jerrod, was heating it up to body temperature. While they weren't warm-blooded themselves, they liked their food to be around the temperature it was when it lived. When the dead creatures had warmed sufficiently -- on both sides, they turned it once in a while as it was heating -- the spiders picked them up and the put the food to their mouths -- or in their mouths, I was never quite certain which. Moments later they discarded the husks of whatever they had eaten. The skins were intact and, as we later found out, filled with nothing but the bones.

It was a fascinating and frightening tableau. Clearly, the arachnids had the same fate in mind for me and my sister. We on the other hand had other ideas in mind for our futures. But we were still trapped and for a time it seemed their plans were closer to fulfillment than were ours.

That changed. As I mentioned, evening had fallen. It was a moonless night. There was no light anywhere except for that which emanated from the blazes below and the faint twinkling of the stars above. Luck was still with us that night, young mage. The twinkling stars soon began to disappear. Clouds were moving in. Thick dark clouds. They covered the night sky with increasing rapidity. Soon only the blazes below illuminated the trees.

Still we could not take our leave. The spiders had surrounded our perches with the fires below. Any attempt to escape by way of the ground would be seen. Yet, I thought to myself, why not try to move from tree to tree? They seemed unable to climb. Perhaps we could make our way through trees to a site more conducive to our deliverance. Unfortunately, the trees were too far apart. There was no way from one to the other without rope or vines of some sort. And while we had rope, we had no way to attach it to the other trees. We were still stuck.

Then it began to rain. The rain was our deliverance. It wasn't a little drizzle. No, Jerrod, it fell suddenly in such a deluge that it seemed if the skies had turned to oceans and begun to pour down upon the earth. The arachnids' huge bonfires were doused as if they had been nothing more than sparks. The rain was accompanied by thunder and lightning. The thunder was another boon because, not only was it now dark so it was impossible to see anything, with the bellowing of the clouds as they wrestled each other for primacy, you could hear nothing either. The lightning could have been a threat, but it seemed far off and while it lit the sky above us, little light penetrated the forest.

The rain brought with it a chill. While the cold here and now is anything but lucky, then and there, it was another stroke of good fortune. I called to Enki, "This may be our best chance!" She signalled her agreement with a nod.

We began to edge quietly downward. The rain-soaked bark was slick with water. We clung like leeches to each branch that we grasped. Our eyes were useless. We could see nothing. We listened as we never listened before and have never listened since even though the likelihood of our hearing danger before it was in our laps was negligible. We heard nothing. We moved farther down. Still no sound rose from the floor of the woods. After what seemed like hours but could more likely have been most easily measured in minutes, we reached the bottom-most branches. Still there was no sign of life from below. Quietly, everso quietly, we placed our feet on the ground below.

We could see nothing and we heard nothing. I moved toward Enki. She moved toward me. Still there was no sound. We nearly walked into one another in the blackness. We were as blind as bats. Would that we were bats, we would have been better off, for they can maneuver quite well in the dark, avoiding obstacles and navigating with no difficulty.

That was one bit of luck which we were denied that evening. We could not avoid obstacles for we could not see and if they did not move we could not hear them. We struck many barriers to our progress that night Jerrod, but the first was the worst. And we, or rather I, struck that first impediment almost immediately.

It was not much thicker than a sapling and it did not hurt much more than my dignity when I walked into it, but worse luck could not have befallen us. For Jerrod, it was the leg of a spider. It flicked when I struck it, Jerrod, and it sent me flying. I scrambled to my feet and called to Enki to follow as I began to run in the opposite direction. I crashed into tree after tree in my mad flight to escape the cookfires of the spiders, Jerrod. Enki could not help but follow the path of my flight from the sounds of collisions alone which were audible even over the peals of thunder. I, too, knew that she was behind me because I could hear the thuds of her impacts close behind me. We could also hear the spiders stirring and beginning to follow. They, too, had difficulty navigating the forest floor that night.

In fact, it seemed they were having more difficulty than were we. Their pursuit sounded curiously slow and lethargic. The impacts were few and far between. When the impacts did occur they did not seem to have the violence which our own generated. The arachnids quickly fell far to the rear of us. Enki called to me to slow down and, seeing the wisdom in lessening the brutality of the collisions which bounced me from tree to tree, I did.

We had escaped. But we weren't out of the woods yet." Urki grinned at his own attempt at humor one more time, and continued. "We still were in the valley of the spiders, two against who knows how many. Being young and perhaps still a bit foolish, we didn't take advantage of the spiders lethargy and immediately turn around and make our way out of the valley that night the way we had come. Our appetites for adventure whetted, we decided to explore this land and see if perhaps we could find some treasure or unravel some mystery. We headed deeper into the valley.

The storm seemed focused over the far end of the valley so that was the direction we took. It was an incredible display of energy, Jerrod. Lightning was coming thick and fast soon after we had escaped the spiders in the woods. Eventually, the bolts of lightning were being loosed so frequently that the entire night was lit with a strange, actinic glow. As we moved toward the far end of the valley, we began to notice an oddness about the storm. 

First, we noticed a strange glow coming from the end of the valley as if on of the bolts had lit a huge fire. Next, we saw that the flashes seemed to be different hues as if they were jagged bits of rainbow rather than the pure white lightning usually is. As we got closer to valley's end, we saw that all of the lightning bolts were raining down in a small area and several bright glows were emanating from the ground which was the apparent target of the coruscating energy. They didn't appear to be fires. They didn't flicker like the flames in a hearth. No tongues of fire shot above the treeline. Instead, the glowing regions would brighten first one, then another. But no matter how bright the glowing regions appeared we could see no sign of fire.

We crept closer. With as much stealth as we possessed, we edged toward the heart of the storm. It was there that we saw first your master. He was involved in a what appeared to be a duel arcane with six of the spider people. No one involved the tableau moved so much as a muscle. The only sign of movement was the flashing of the lightning. Each was surrounded by a glowing dome of different color. The one which surrounded your master was golden, golden like the sun early in the morning on a crystal clear summer's day. One of the spider mages had a leaf green dome, another one that was sea blue. Two of them had ruddy red hemispheres surrounding them. Another an iridescent indigo demiorb.

The last of the spiders was the largest that we had seen. It was also the first which we had seen with any decorative items about its person. Its mandibles were tipped in a silvery metal that shone in the light of the storm. On each of its forelegs was a thick band of gold that must have been at least two handspans in width. It was surrounded by a dome that was the electric blue-white of glacier ice in the mountains of the far north.

Each of the domes -- that of your master and those of the spider mages -- was being assailed by a barrage of lightning bolts from the storm clouds above. As one of the glowing hemispheres was struck, it would brighten noticeably from the energy of the bolt which struck it. I don't know who called the storm, but bolt after bolt was raining down on everyone with equal abandon. It seemed as if the duel would last forever. Suddenly, one of the spiders' hemispheres flashed brightly as it was struck by a bolt and it disappeared with a pop.

Enki and I were momentarily blinded. When our eyes recovered from the burst of luminescence, there was no sign of the spider where it had stood 'neath its dome save for a smoking patch on the ground. Quickly another of the spiders went the way of its sorcerous colleague. The large spider made a motion with one of its forelegs and we saw several spiders like those that had pursued us in the forest move forward out of the shadows pushing an engine of war.

It was the first weapon we had seen among the spider folk. And it, unlike those who operated it, was familiar. It was a great arbalest, Jerrod.

I can see by the look of puzzlement on your face that you have not been acquainted with that particular implement of destruction, Jerrod. Why should you have been, you are a mage, not a warrior. Since you are not familiar with the arbalest, young mage, I will describe it to you. Picture a crossbow which is the size of a horse and which has shafts the size of a spear. That is an arbalest and it is used in battle to light fires deep within the hearts of besieged cities.

Why the spiders had such a thing, I do not know. They had no enemies to besiege, isolated as they were within their valley. Yet had it they did, and more of them besides, and it nearly proved the undoing of Astall. Had the spiders been more adept in the use of their siege engines or had the fates been less kind you would have had no master and we wouldn't be traipsing through this godsforsaken rime-covered land together. As it was, they weren't and we are.

The spiders moved slowly. As you might have guessed, the cool of the evening seemed to inhibit their movements. Their lethargy made Enki and I suspect that they were cold-blooded like snakes, a fact which was later confirmed by your mentor, Jerrod. But slow or fast, the arachnids were intent upon skewering Astall with the bolts from their arbalest.

The first bolt from the arbalest flew wide of your master, but it had passed through his protective dome as if it wasn't there. Clearly this was a threat from which the mage could not easily defend himself. The spiders reloaded as quickly as they could in the chill night air and fired again. This time they missed by no more than a hairsbreadth.

Enki and I looked at one another. If this kept up the human mage was done for. Suddenly a bolt of lightning leapt down from the clouds and struck the arbalest with a crack. The spiders manning it went flying and the arbalest burst into flames. We breathed a sigh of relief. That threat was taken care of.

But we had relaxed before the full tale was told. The spiders wheeled out another arbalest and then another. If these were not quickly destroyed, the human would not last long. He sensed it, too, and another bolt of lightning flashed from the clouds toward one of the arbalests. Abruptly, a brilliant blue-white dome flared around the arbalest and saved it from destruction. The other siege engine was immediately protected with another protective demiorb which, like the first, duplicated that of the large spider. Enki and I groaned.

We looked at one another once more. The mage was done for unless we intervened. Here was the adventure which had been seeking. Stranger or no, we weren't about to let the spiders that hunted us kill a member of our species without trying to stop them.

The spiders had brought out one of the gigantic crossbows very near where Enki and I were hidden. We looked at each other and drew our swords. We had discarded the notion of using our bows because they had proven ineffective against the spiders earlier and with the downpour of the storm drenching everything with water we knew without trying them that fire arrows would be ineffective. The question was: how do you kill a giant spider?

We hadn't a clue, but we weren't going to find the answer by contemplating our navels. We began to advance silently toward the near arbalest. When we reached the end of our cover -- and the beginning of the dome of light, we stopped and gathered our legs underneath us. Enki held up three fingers. Then two. Finally one. When she clenched her fist once more, we leapt from concealment and charged the spiders.

Passing through the dome of light was an eerie experience. It felt a bit like we were being tickled over our entire body with feathers and at the same time were being bitten by fire gnats. It apparently made no sound because the two spiders manning the arbalest remained totally absorbed in their task of arming their weapon and aiming it at the mage.

Enki swung her sword at the rear spider, the one which was aiming the engine of destruction. She hacked off its rear leg with her first blow. Yellow ichor spurted from the severed appendage. Both it and its partner turned immediately toward us.

As the second spider, the one operating the crank, turned, it presented itself broad side to me. I swung my sword with all of the strength that I possessed at the joint between its head and its body. My sword penetrated and then became wedged in the spider's carapace. The spider made a shrill squealing sound -- the first sound beyond chittering which we had heard from one of the arachnids -- and tried to face both to the front and the rear at the same time. Ichor began to spurt from the wound. I released the sword to the mad twistings of the wounded arachnid and drew my long knife. It was not the kind of weapon that seemed as if it would be effective against a monster spider.

Meanwhile, Enki and the first spider had squared of against one another. Its loss of a leg did not appear to be a major immediate handicap. I suppose you can afford to lose a leg if you have eight. It reached for her with one of its forelegs. She dodged and swung a backhanded blow at the grasping limb. Her blow glanced off its hide without any damage. It swung the other forelimb toward her and struck her a powerful blow that knocked her into the arbalest. Enki dove toward the spider in a lunge that ended with her sword in its eye. It keened like the one which had felt my steel a moment before. The spider jerked in a tremendous paroxysm of anguish. It raised up on its back four legs and clawed at the sword in its eye. Its efforts were to no avail, for it fell almost immediately to the ground and lay still because, as we found out later, Enki had pierced its brain with her lunge.

In the meantime, my spider advanced on me on wobbly legs -- yes, all eight of them. I had clearly wounded it sorely. Ichor was pouring out of the wound which I had inflicted in what seemed to be buckets. It waved a forelimb at me. I dodged. It tottered, but did not fall. It struck me a glancing blow with a forelimb and then it fell writhing to the ground. It keened once more and was still. I recovered my sword from its twitching body and Enki and I looked at one another with a mixture of relief, elation and pain. Why pain? Well, the beasts were remarkably strong, Jerrod. We would be bruised for days from the single blow that had been inflicted on each of us.

It was not the time to let pain stop us or even slow us though. The other arbalest was still in action. It fired a bolt which, like the one from the siege bow that had been destroyed, just missed the human mage. We spun the arbalest we had captured toward the one the spiders still controlled. I cranked. Enki aimed. Suddenly, golden light flared all around us. The mage had shielded us just as we were about to be struck by a bolt of lightning. Death had reached for us from the sky and nearly harvested our souls. The near miss of the scythe of the ravisher sent shivers down my spine.

It did not alter our course nor deflect our aim, however. Enki lined up the sights of the crossbow on the other arbalest. I finished drawing the bowstring back. We released the bolt. It sped toward the other arbalest. Suddenly, it burst into flame. It burned with a golden fire that seemed impervious to the downpour that fell from above. It flew straight and true toward its target and buried itself in the stanchion upon which the other arbalest rested. That, too, burst into golden flames. The spiders keened their agony as the golden flames touched them. They fled from the arbalest and my sister and I cheered as it quickly turned to ash.

We had achieved a small victory, but the battle was unfortunately not yet over. The spider mages were still raining lightning on our human ally. We had also become targets for the coruscating energy which the storm clouds spat. The huge arachnid -- we later found out that it was their queen -- motioned again. More spiders appeared from out of the shadows. Their lethargy was clear but so was their determination. There were dozens of them, Jerrod. Then scores. They began to advance on both the mage and the two of us. We were sorely outnumbered and there was no way to beat them. Things once again looked about as bleak as they could.

The mage motioned to us to move toward him once. To do so, we would have to leave our dome of protection. Enki looked at me. I looked at her. We shrugged, realizing that life is only really worth living when you live it on the edge. As one, we broke for the mage. The arachnid warriors in their languor could not match our speed or quickness. The queen and her mages, however, had a weapon with a better chance at success. Lightning bolts rained down, nearly striking us as we ran a broken path toward the mage. Yet we made it, with little more than a singe or two on our gear.

When we arrived at the site where the mage was making his stand, we once more had the protection of his magic. That, however, was no protection from the spider soldiers who slowly advanced toward us.

`We must flee,' Enki called to the mage over the howling wind.

He nodded and replied, `Although I could perhaps defeat the queen and her mages, I cannot long survive an encounter with her troops as long as I must use my magic to counter that of their leaders. While I can eliminate some of the troops (as if to punctuate that capacity a lightning bolt turned one of the arachnids into a cinder), I cannot defeat them all.

Nor do I have means of escape while locked in a duel arcane with the queen. It appears I bit off a bit more than I could chew. Can you suggest anything?'

Enki and I nodded. `We have rope and climbing equipment. If we can get to the valley walls we can climb out. It will not be easy though in this storm.'

The mage shrugged, `We must do what we must. Let us assay the escape then. By the way, my friends, I am Astall Demonsbane. And you are?'

`Enki and Urki Siti,' we replied. `Shall we?'

We turned and dashed for the trees. They weren't far and we appeared to have caught the arachnids by surprise. We made it.

When we reached the trees we were saved from a repeat of Enki's and my earlier bruising dash through the dark of the woods by a light which Astall conjured. It showed the way well enough that we avoided any collisions even though he was to the rear.

We had little trouble outdistancing the spiders despite the reality that the somewhat elderly Astall was not nearly so fleet as were Enki and I. He was still far more fleet than were the spiders.

We reached the valley wall well ahead of our pursuers. We were at the opposite end, though, from that at which we had entered because the arachnids had been between us and that site. Here there was no narrow cleft between two huge walls. In fact there was no cleft at all. Instead, we faced with a wall over a thousand strides high, down which cascaded a mighty waterfall which had created a small lake which fed the river which had carved the valley. The walls were still made of that same glassy substance. Climbing such a cliff would have been a daunting task even under the best of conditions, but at night with the rain making the bluff even wetter than the spume from the cataract already made it and with a horde of murderous spiders in pursuit, it seemed nearly impossible. However, we took the motto of the guard of the city of Terblanche as our guide. We had done the improbable in climbing into the valley and arriving our present predicament. The impossible -- our escape -- would just take a little longer.

I turned to Astall and asked, `Have you climbed before?'

He shook his head, `I have had little need. I usually have less strenuous means of motility.' He sighed ruefully.

You know, Jerrod, sometimes when it seems that things can't get any worse, they can't. But most times, they do.

`Well, just follow our lead. We'll all be roped together and when it gets tricky we will pull you up.'

Fortunately, both Enki and I had spare climbing claws. Enki was more of a size with Astall so she gave him her spares. We donned ours and began the long climb to safety.

It was a harrowing ascent, Jerrod. It made our trip into the valley seem like a walk in a meadow in comparison. I cannot count the number of times we nearly plummeted to our deaths. Nor can I count the number of times Astall saved us from magical assaults by the queen and her minions, be they lightning bolts, sudden patches of sorcerously-conjured oil in our path, or her attempts to create miniature avalanches with which to squash us. In fact, I remember less of it than you might think. It all blurred together into a sort of dangerous montage. One thing still stands out in my mind though, my last view of that valley.

We reached the top as the sun rose over the tablelands at the other end of the valley. As we looked back down on the site of our brush with death, we saw a verdant blanket of beautiful green which covered the floor of the vale like a carpet in the palace of a king. It was split in two by a strip of glistening blue lit with golden highlights. It was a paradise as far as one could tell from where I then stood. But far below, at the foot of the precipice which we had just scaled, were the beings who made it anything but a paradise for humanity and looked more like their tiny brethren here in Seremoreh than any sane person's view of humanity -- the arachnids and their queen.

Jerrod, we found both the adventure which we had sought and the treasure of a friendship with your teacher, but I never want to go back there again. Despite its beauty and our victory that night, we would not survive another trip. Had it not been for Astall or had it not been the day in which that sorcerous battle raged we would have been spider food. Had it not been for us, your mentor would have been spitted on an arbalest's bolt and have become an appetizer at their next meal. Without both sword and sorcery, none of us would have lived to see this or any other day."