"Unfortunately, knowing we would be underground in confined quarters, I did not prepare that spell," he offered, resisting the urge to say what he truly thought.
Quenthel was being even more stupid than usual - why, Pharaun asked himself, did the others persist in obeying her?
Jeggred was mindlessly, slavishly loyal to the nearest, highest-ranking female of his House, and Valas was getting paid to be there. But Danifae must surely have realized that her unfailing loyalty would go unrewarded. Especially with Lolth silent and presumably no longer watching the actions of her servants.
Valas cleared his throat.
"The ice will melt in time," he observed in a neutral tone. "What's a day or two of delay - to a demon?"
As Quenthel rounded on him, sputtering indignation at his "in-solence," Pharaun at last realized what she must have had in mind. She hoped to curry favor with Belshazu. Like her sister Triel, Quen-thel hoped to enter into unholy union with a demon, one day. And not just any demon.
Pharaun stared at Jeggred, who squatted at Quenthel's side, teeth bared in a silent snarl. Blessed of Lolth the hulking creature might be, but Menzoberranzan didn't need another draegloth. One fouling the air with its putrid breath was enough.
"I'm sure Belshazu will remember that you spoke for him," Pharaun reassured Quenthel. "I'm equally sure he'll . . . look favor-ably upon you . . . when the time comes."
The demon broke into a leer, tongue lolling as it stared up at the priestess. Its goatlike horns gave it the look of a satyr - if one dis-counted the misshapen body and the sole remaining pincer.
Pharaun shuddered.
"Very well," Quenthel said at last. "Speak the release word, Pharaun, and let Belshazu find his way back to the Abyss in his own time. When the ice melts."
"I will - as soon as the rest of you are safely out of here." Care-ful not to get within range of the remaining pincer, Pharaun skatedaround the demon on the ice and climbed back up to where the oth-ers stood. He looked around, then asked, "Where's Ryld?"
Danifae, who had already fought off the worst of the poison and risen, shaking to her knees, answered, "We heard ... a noise in the tunnel behind us. Just before . . . the demon freed itself. Ryld went to see what it was."
"He should have come back by now," Pharaun said, a touch of worry in his voice.
Quenthel glanced at Jeggred and jerked her chin. The drae-gloth loped up the tunnel and returned, a few moments later, with the head of a broken crossbow bolt. He handed it to Quenthel, his nose twitching.
"Blood," he grunted. "Ryld's."
"We should go after him," Pharaun said.
He started up the tunnel, but Quenthel caught his arm.
"You're not finished here yet," she said, indicating the demon. "And there's no point. The weapons master will either catch up to us or he won't. We've got to get moving, or we'll be trapped in this dead end. That bolt came from the bow of a surface elf."
"She's right," Valas said.
Grudgingly, Pharaun nodded. Even wounded, Ryld could take care of himself. He'd catch up to them eventually. Yet, since the warrior's absence had been pointed out, Pharaun felt it keenly. With Ryld gone, there was no one in the group to watch his back. Or to banter with. If Ryld was dead, Pharaun would miss him. Perhaps for days.
Quenthel glanced down at Danifae, who was still on her hands and knees.
"If you're quite finished lolling about, then get up," Quenthel told her. "We have a ship to find."
The vipers in her whip hissing with derisive laughter, Quenthel followed Valas out of the cavern. Jeggred growled one last time over his shoulder at Belshazu, then loped after his mistress.
As soon as he was certain Quenthel could no longer see him, Pharaun bent and offered Danifae his hand. She gave him a calculating look, as if deciding whether to vent her pent-up anger upon him, then she allowed him to help her rise. He supported her into the tunnel, then turned and spoke the words to a spell before hurrying after her.
Belshazu shook its remaining pincer at Pharaun's back.
"I will see you again, mage," it roared.
Pharaun chuckled as he scrambled up the tunnel and said, "When Hell unfreezes, Belshazu."
Which it was unlikely to do, since Pharaun had just cast a per-manency spell upon the ice.
Chapter Six
The surface world was cloaked in darkness by the time Ryld emerged from the tunnel.