hunter, as honorable in its own way as was Drizzt. Th.the
evil Masoj, though, Guenhwyvar was a toy and nothing
more, an instrument for his perverted pleasures, killing for
no reason other than its master's joy of killing.
In the hands of the wizard, Guenhwyvar was no more
than a murderer.
Guenhwyvar paused at the entrance to the small tunnel
and looked to Drizzt almost apologetically.
"Return!" Masoj screamed, and he kicked the cat in the
rear. Then Masoj, too, turned an eye back on Drizzt, a vin-
dictive eye. Masoj had missed his chance to kill the young
Do'Urden; he would have to be careful how he explained
such a mistake to his unforgiving mother. Masoj decided to
worry about that unpleasant encounter later. For now, at
least, he had the satisfaction of watching Drizzt suffer.
Dinin and the others were oblivious to the unfolding
drama between Masoj and Drizzt; too engaged in their wait
for Guenhwyvar's return; too engaged in their speculations
of the expressions of terror the gnomes would cast back at
such a perfect killer; too caught up in the macabre humor of
the moment, that perverted drow humor that brought
laughter when tears were needed.
Part 5
Zaknafein
Zaknafein Do'Urden: mentol; teachel; friend. I, in the
blind agony of my own frustrations, more than once came
to recognize Zaknafein as none of these. Did I ask of him
more than he could give? Did I expect perfection of a tor-
mented soul; hold Zaknafein up to standards beyond his ex-
periences, or standards impossible in the face of his
experiences?
I might have been him. I might have lived, trapped within
the helpless rage, buried under the daily assault of the wick-
edness that is Menzoberranzan and the pervading evil that
is my own family; never in life to find escape.
It seems a logical assumption that we learn from the mis-
takes of our elders. This, I believe, was my salvation. With-
out the example of Zaknafein, I, too, would have found no
escape-not in life.
Is this course I have chosen a better way than the life
Zaknafein knew? I think, yes, though I find despair often
enough sometimes to long for that other way. It would have
been easie~ Jruth, though, is nothing in the face of self-
falsehood, and principles are of no value if the idealist can-
not live up to his own standards.
This, then, is a better way.
I live with many laments, for my people, for myself, but
mostly for that weapon mastel; lost to me now, who showed
me how-and why-to use a blade.
There is no pain greater than this; not the cut of a jagged-
edged dagger nor the fire of a dragon's breath. Nothing
burns in your heart like the emptiness of losing something,
someone, before you truly have learned of its value. Often
now I lift my cup in a futile toast, an apology to ears that
cannot hear:
To Zak, the one who inspired my courage.
Chapter 24
To Know Our Enemies
"Eight drow dead, and one a cleric” Briza said to Matron
Malice on the balcony of House Do'Urden. Briza had rushed
back to the compound with the first reports of the encoun-
ter, leaving her sisters at the central plaza of Menzoberran-
zan with the gathered throng, awaiting further
information. "But nearly two score of the gnomes died, a
clear victory?'
"What of your brothers?" asked Malice. "How did House
Do'Urden fare in this encounter?"
"As with the surface elves, Dinin's hand slew five” replied
Briza. "They say that he led the main assault fearlessly, and
he killed the most gnomes?'
Matron Malice beamed with the news, though she sus-
pected that Briza, standing patiently behind a smug smile,
was holding something dramatic back from her. "What of
Drizzt?" the matron demanded, having no patience for her
daughter's games. "How many svirfnebli fell at his feet?"
"None” Briza replied, but still the smile remained. "Still
the day belonged to Drizztl" she added quickly, seeing an an-
gry scowl spreading across her volatile mother's face. Mal-
ice did not seem amused.
"Drizzt defeated an earth elemental” Briza cried, "all
alone, almost, with only minor help from a wizard! The high
priestess of the patrol named the kill his!"
Matron Malice gasped and turned away. Drizzt had ever
been an enigma to her, as fine with the blade as any but lack-
ing the proper attitude and the proper respect. Now this: an
earth elemental! Malice herself had seen such a monster
ravage an entire drow raiding party, killing a dozen sea-
soned warriors before wandering off on its way. Yet her
son, her confusing son, had defeated one single-handedly!
"Uoth will favor us this day” Briza commented, not quite
understanding her mother's reaction.
Briza's words struck an idea in Malice. "Gather your sis-
ters” she commanded. "We shall meet in the chapel. If
House Do'Urden so fully won the day out in the tunnels,
perhaps the Spider Queen will grace us with some informa-
tion”
"Vierna and Maya await the forthcoming news in the city
plaza” Briza explained, mistakenly believing her mother to
be referring to information about the battle. "Surely we will
know the entire story within an hour”
"I care nothing for a battle against gnomes!" Malice
scolded. "You have told everything that is important to our
family; the rest does not matter. We must parlay your broth-
ers' heroics into gain”
To learn of our enemies!" Briza blurted as she realized
what her mother had in mind.
"Exactly” replied Malice. "'lb learn which house it is that
threatens House Do'Urden. If the Spider Queen truly finds
favor with us this day, she may grace us with the knowledge
we need to defeat our enemies!"
A short while later, the four high priestesses of House
Do'Urden gathered around the spider idol in the chapel an-
teroom. Before them, in a bowl of the deepest onyx, burned
the sacred incense-sweet, deathlike, and favored by the
yochlol, the handmaidens of Lloth.
The flame moved through a variety of colors, from orange
to green to brilliant red. It then took shape, heard the
beckons of the four priestesses and the urgency in the voice
of Matron Malice. The top of the fire, no longer dancing,
smoothed and rounded, assumed the form of a hairless
head, then stretched upward, growing. The flame disap-
peared, consumed by the yochlol's image, a half.melted pile
of wax with grotesquely elongated eyes and a drooping
mouth.
"Who has summoned me?" the small figure demanded tel.
epathically. The yochlol's thoughts, too powerful for its di-
minutive stature, boomed within the heads of the gathered
drow.
"I have, handmaiden” Malice replied aloud, wanting her
daughters to hear. The matron bowed her head. "I am Mal-
ice, loyal servant of the Spider Queen”
In a puff of smoke, the yochlol disappeared, leaving only
glowing incense embers in the onyx bowl. A moment later,
the handmaiden reappeared, full size, standing behind Ma-
tron Malice. Briza, Vierna, and Maya held their breath as
the being laid two sickly tentacles on their mother's shoul-
ders.
Matron Malice accepted the tentacles without reply, con-
fident in her cause for summoning the yochlol.
"Explain to me why you dare to disturb me” came the
yochlol's insidious thoughts.
"To ask a simple question” Malice replied silently, for no
words were necessary to communicate with a handmaiden.
"One whose answer you know”
"Does this question interest you so greatly?" the yochlol
asked. "You risk such dire consequences”
"It is imperative that I learn the answer” replied Matron
Malice. Her three daughters watched curiously, hearing the
yochlol's thoughts but only guessing at their mother's un-
spoken replies.
"If the answer is so important, and it is known to the
handmaidens, and thus to the Spider Queen, do you not be-
lieve that Lloth would have given it to you if she so chose?"
"Perhaps, before this day, the Spider Queen did not deem
me worthy to know” Malice responded. "Things have
changed”
The handmaiden paused and rolled its elongated eyes
back into its head as if communicating with some distant
plane.
"Greetings, Matron Malice Do'Urden” the yochlol said
aloud after a few tense moments. The creature's spoken
voice was calm and overly smooth for the thing's grotesque
appearance.
"My greetings to you, and to your mistress, Queen of Spi.
ders” replied Malice. She shot a wry smile at her daughters
and still didn't turn to face the creature behind her. Appar.
ently Malice's guess of Lloth's favor had been correct.
"Daermon N'a'shezbaernon has pleased Lloth” the hand.
maiden said. "The males of your house have won the day,
even above the females that journeyed with them. I must ac-
cept Matron Malice Do'Urden's summons” The tentacles
slid off Malice's shoulders, and the yochlol stood rigid be.
hind her, awaiting her commands.
"Glad I am to please the Spider Queen” Malice began. She
sought the proper way to phrase her question. "For the
summons, as I have said, I beg only the answer to a simple
question”
" Ask it” prompted the yochlol, and the mocking tone told
Malice and her daughters that the monster already knew
the question.
"My house is threatened, say the rumors” said Malice.
"Rumors?" The yochlollaughed an evil, grating sound.
"I trust in my sources” Malice replied defensively.
would not have called upon you if I did not believe tpe
threat”
"Continue” said the yochlol, amused by the whole affair.
"They are more than rumors, Matron Malice Do'Urden. An.
other house plans war upon you” ,
Maya's immature gasp brought scornful eyes upon her
from her mother and her sisters.
"Name this house to me” Malice pleaded. "If Daermon
N'a'shezbaernon truly has pleased the Spider Queen this
day, then I bid Lloth to reveal our enemies, that we might
destroy them!"
And if this other house also has pleased the Spider
Queen?" the handmaiden mused. "Would Lloth then betray
it to you?"
"Our enemies hold every advantage” Malice protested.
"They know of House Do'Urden. No doubt they watch us
every day, laying their plans. We ask Lloth Qnly to give us
knowledge equal to that of our enemies. Reveal them and let
us prove which house is more worthy of victory”
"What if your enemies are greater than you?" asked the
handmaiden. "Would Matron Malice Do'Urden then call
upon Lloth to intervene and save her pitiful house?"
"No!" cried Malice. "We would call upon those powers that
Uoth has given us to fight our foes. Even if our enemies are
the more powerful, let Lloth be assured that they will suffer
great pain for their attack on House Do'Urden!"
Again the handmaiden sank back within itself, finding the
link to its home plane, a place darker than Menzoberran-
zan. Malice clenched tightly to Briza's hand, to her right,
and Vierna's, to her left. They in turn passed along the con-
firmation of their bond to Maya, at the foot of the circle.
"The Spider Queen is pleased, Matron Malice Do'Urden”
the handmaiden said at length. "'ll'Ust that she will favor
House Do'Urden more than your enemies when battle rings
out-perhaps. . . " Malice flinched at the ambiguity of that
final word, grudgingly accepting that Lloth never made any
promises, at any time.
"What of my question” Malice dared to protest, "the rea-, "
son for the summons?"
There came a bright flash that stole the four clerics' vi-
sion. When their eyesight returned to them, they saw the
yochlol, tiny again, and glaring out at them from the flames
of the onyx bowl.
"The Spider Queen does not give an answer that is already
known!" The handmaiden proclaimed, the sheer power of
its otherworldly voice cutting into the drow ears. The fire
erupted in another blinding flash, and the yochlol disap-
peared, leaving the precious bowl sundered into a dozen
pieces.
Matron Malice grabbed a large piece of the shattered
onyx and threw it against a wall. "Already known?" she
cried in rage. "Known to whom? Who in my family keeps
this secret from me?"
"Perhaps the one who knows does not know that she
knows” Briza put in, trying to calm her mother. "Or perhaps
the information is newly found, and she has not yet had the
chance to come to you with it”
"She?" growled Matron Malice. "What 'she' do you speak
of, Briza? We are all here. Are any of my daughters stupid
enough to miss such an obvious threat to our family?"
"No, Matron!" Vierna and Maya cried together, terrified of
Malice's growing wrath, rising beyond control.
"Never have I seen any sign!" said Vierna.
"Nor I!" added Maya. "By your side I have been these many
weeks, and I have seen no more than you!"
" Are you implying that I have missed something?" Malice
growled, her knuckles white at her sides.
"No, Matron!" Briza shouted above the commotion, loud
enough to settle her mother for the moment and turn Mal.
ice's attention fully upon her eldest daughter.
"Not she, then” Briza reasoned. "He. One of your sons may
have the answer, or Zaknafein or Rizzen, perhaps”
"Yes” agreed Vierna. "They are only males, too stupid to
understand the importance of minor details”
