A thousand muttering voices, terrified, hopeless voicesthe voices of the trapped soulsrang in her ears, sounded in her being.
She answered their scream with one of her own.
Anival, First Daughter to the Matron Mother of House Agrach Dyrr, watched from high atop one of the walls as the Xorlarrin forces shifted their ranks in preparation for an assault. She could see little. Strategically placed spheres of magical darkness shielded much of the movement. Shouted commands and the ring of metal carried across the moat chasm.
Standing beside her, Urgan, the scarred weapons master of House Agrach Dyrr, said, "They will attack within the hour, Mistress Anival."
Anival nodded. She put her hands to the hafts of the two enchanted light maces that hung from her belt. Each sported a head fashioned in the shape of a spider.
"The timing is not coincidental," she said but did not explain. She assumed the attack to be designed to protect the archmage. His allies surely knew that the matron mother had learned of his deception.
Anival looked up and down the line, at walls of adamantine and stone. They had stood for millennia. Surely they would not fall now?
Dyrrsolders lined the battlements, and Anival could see from their hard expressions that all of them sensed the impending attack. A tense rustle rippled through the ranks.
"We will hold," Anival said, speaking to herself as much as to Urgan.
The weapons master said, "We will."
Anival thought she heard doubt in Urgan's tone but let it pass. She wondered whether she should hope for her mother's success or failure in stopping the archmage. If the matron mother died and the lichdrow's phylactery was destroyed, Anival mightmightbe able to negotiate an end to the siege.
But first, she needed to hold her walls, and without either her vrocks, or her House wizards.
Xorlarrin war trumpets sounded.
"Here they come," Urgan said.
Each of the spider golem's forelegs ended in a sharp claw of jet as long as a short sword. Its mandibles churned with fangs as long as Gromph's hand.
Gromph did not care. Transformed into a skilled warrior by the power of his spell, he charged straight at the golem's front, axe held high in both hands.
The golem crouched at his approach, and two claws lashed out in rapid succession before Gromph got within reach. Anticipating the move, Gromph spun aside and partially parried one blow with his axe. The other claw struck at one of the mirror images, hit it, and caused it to vanish with a pop.
Using the force of his spin to add momentum to his swing, Gromph whirled in close, slashed with the duergar axe, and cut a wedge of jet from the construct's thorax. With his spell-augmented speed, he followed up with another, cleaving a furrow in one leg.
The spider leaped backwardcrushing a bench under its weightand struck at Gromph with one claw, then another. Gromph ducked and dodged, trying again to get in close. Two more images vanished. The construct moved with astounding rapidity, despite its weight.
For a moment, the two circled, a few paces apart. The golem stepped over the benches, cracking stone as it moved, waving its pedipalps hypnotically. Its clawed feet thumped into the floor with each step. Gromph followed it with his eyes, light on the balls of his feet.
A boom against the temple doors turned Gromph's head. Someone was trying to get through his holding spell. Yasraena had located him.
Seeing his distraction, the golem lunged at him, knocking over benches in its haste. Gromph dived aside and rolled. Claws thumped into the ground around himone, then another, and anotherand three images vanished in rapid succession. A claw nicked his shoulder, drawing blood. His ring began to heal the wound.
Gromph leaped to his feet and intercepted a decapitating claw strike with his axe. The parry severed one of the golem's legs, and a shaft of jet as large as an ogre's arm crashed into a nearby bench.
Another boom against the door. His spell held but Gromph had little time.
Dodging first one blow, then another, he darted inside the golem's reach and struck at its head with his axe. He cut a sliver from it, but it backed off, toppling benches. Gromph pressed but the creature responded by exhaling a cloud of black mist.
Acid, Gromph realized, but could not avoid it. The personal wards that would have protected his own body did not protect Larikal's. Agony lit his skin. His nonmagical clothes disintegratedwhich thankfully didn't include the enchanted robe in which he carried