stay, you know. You could go back to Menzober-ranzan or try to find Quenthel and the others - or go to the Abyss itself, if you like."
Ryld gave her a stubborn look and said, "I want to stay with you."
Seeing the look in his eye - a human might have called it "love" - Halisstra's temper cooled.
"I'm glad," she said. "And not just for my own sake but for yours, as well. The Dark Maiden will embrace you, if you only let her. Eilis-traee can show you a joy you've never known. We drow have been confined to the Underdark for too long, and it's time we took our rightful place in the sunlight - and held it, by the strength of our swords if need be."
Ryld didn't answer but instead stared up at the trophy tree. Fol-lowing his gaze, Halisstra saw that he was looking at a deep, sword-shaped niche in the trunk in which two heads rested, one on top of the other. They were skeletal, with only a few clumps of black hair clinging to them, and the jawbone of the top skull had fallen away. They were human, by the shape of them, though the mouth and jaw of the bottom skull protruded slightly, and the canine teeth were overly large. The sight of them seemed to be making the hardened warrior uneasy, which was strange, since Ryld had undoubtedly seen far more gruesome sights in his career as a weapons master of Melee-Magthere.
Ryld wrenched his gaze away.
"Why Eilistraee?" he asked. "Why not worship . . . Kiaransalee, or Selvetarm? His faith, at least, I could have had some part in. Or do you think Lolth's champion has suffered the same fate as his mistress?"
"Selvetarm guards Lolth still," Halisstra answered. "Vhaeraun did not defeat him."
Ryld's eyebrows raised and he asked, "How do you know?"
"Last night, Uluyara led the priestesses in a spell-song. The scry-ing they performed penetrated deep into the Abyss, and Uluyara was able to look briefly upon the stone that sealed Lolth's temple. Selvetarm was squatting in front of it in his spider form, wounded, but with sword and mace still in hand. He may have defeated Vhaeraun - or perhaps just temporarily driven the other god off. Uluyara was only able to get the briefest of glimpses before the water in her font boiled away."
Ryld cursed softly under his breath.
"Last night?" he asked. "So that was what all the singing was about. Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"
Halisstra shrugged and said, "What difference would it have made? You're not thinking of reporting back to Quenthel, are you?"
Ryld gave her a sour smile.
"I couldn't - even if I wanted to," he said. "She'd brand me a deserter and have those vipers of hers sink their fangs into me. I'd be dead before I could get a single word out in my defense. I just wish you would keep me informed." He paused, then frowned. "How did Uluyara know that Lolth's temple was sealed?"
"I told her," Halisstra said. "I told her everything. About our trip to the Abyss in astral form, about Lolth's silence, and about the battle between Vhaeraun and Selvetarm - I even told her about the fall of Ched Nasad. Everything."
Ryld nodded slowly and said, "I shouldn't be surprised, given your conversion, but I am. Revealing so much to priestesses who, until a short time ago, you would have counted as your enemies, seems like . . ."
Perhaps realizing he was speaking to a priestess, he lowered his eyes. As he hesitated, either uncertain how to finish his sentence or else unwilling to continue it, Halisstra guessed the rest.
"Like a betrayal?" she asked. "A traitorous act? Well so be it. Lolth is dead - or will soon be."
"And you've aligned yourself with what you think will be the winning side," Ryld said. He nodded. "I suppose that's a sensible move to make."
Halisstra sighed, wondering why Ryld just couldn't understand.
"It's more than mere tactics," she said, trying to explain. "Eilis-traee is the only deity to offer the drow any hope. With Lolth miss-ing and her priestesses unable to mount a defense, the cities of the Underdark are going to fall, one by one. Soon hundreds - if not thousands,or even tens of thousands - of drow will come streaming up out of the Underdark, looking for refuge. Eilistraee's priestesses will offer it to them. They'll help guide our people up into the light. They'll teach the drow to take their rightful