passed through it. The wards in Sorcere's structure did not impede his progress. Gromph had cast most of them and knew the gestures and wordshis voice sounded hollow when he spoketo bypass them safely.
Soon, he was in the air above the school, with a breathtaking view of all of Tier Breche the spider-shaped, curving walls of Arach-Tinilith, the stout pyramid of Melee-Magthere, the soaring spires of Sorcere. Smoke rose from the tunnels to the north and explosions, and shouts still rang through the area. He took only a moment to enjoy the view before he turned and flew south along the cavern's ceiling, moving amidst the stalactite spear points that hung from the cavern's roof.
He passed over the bazaar, where he had fought the lichdrow, over the Braeryn, and headed directly toward Qu'ellarz'orl and besieged House Agrach Dyrr.
On her knees before the altar of Lolth in the otherwise empty temple, Yasraena prayed to the Spicier Queen, not for deliveranceLolth despised such weaknessbut for opportunity. She knew that unless something changed, and soon, the siege of her House must eventually succeed. She needed to locate the phylactery and decide whether she would honor her bargain with Triel. The damned thing could have been under her very feet and she would not have known it. She cursed the lichdrow for the thousandth time, and cursed herself for allowing her House to pursue schemes concocted by a male.
She looked up to the altar, hoping for a sign of Lolth's favor. Nothing. The light from a single holy candle flickered on the polished body of the majestic widow sculpture that stood behind the altarin reality, a guardian golem. The statue stared down at her with eight emotionless eyes.
In the distance, Yasraena heard an occasional shout from the forces arrayed atop her fortress's walls. Hours before, thunderous explosions had shaken the complex, booming along the walls. Yasraena found the relative quiet ominous. She knew the Xorlarrin forces had pulled back well beyond the moat bridge to plot a strategy for another assault. Tension sat thick in the air. She saw it in the eyes of her troops, her mages, her daughters. The next Xorlarrin attack would be more forceful than the last. She was confident that House Agrach Dyrr would hold it off, but what of the one after that or after that? What would occur when a second House joined Xorlarrin? A third?
Her House had only days left to live, unless she found the phylactery and arranged a peace. Or returned the lichdrow to life and thus bolstered, demanded a peace.
So far, Larikal and the huffing oaf Geremis had been unable to locate the phylactery, yet Yasraena was convinced that it was within the stalagmite fortress. The lichdrow had seldom moved outside its walls. He would not have secreted the vessel for his soul anywhere but within the manor.
She called upon the power of the amulet at her breast and projected to Larikal, My patience grows thin. She sensed her daughter's anger through the connection afforded by their amulets.
The search continues, Matron Mother. The lichdrow was no mere conjurer. He has hidden his treasure well.
Yasraena let venom leak into her mental voice. Do not offer me excuses, she said. Offer me the phylactery or I will offer your life to the Spider Queen.
Yes, Matron Mother, answered Larikal, and the connection went quiet.
Yasraena's threat was sincere. She had killed progeny before to make a point. She would do so again, if necessary.
From behind, she heard the beat of footsteps on the temple's portico. She rose and turned just as Esvena sprinted through the open double doors and into the temple. The links of her adamantine mail tinkled like slave's bells. She held her helm in her hand, and her face was flushed.
A hundred possibilities flew through Yasraena's mind, none of them good. Her grip on her tentacle rod tightened.
"Esvena?" she asked, and her voice echoed through in the vaulted temple.
"Matron Mother," Esvena huffed and ran up the aisle between the pews. She offered a hurried supplication to Lolth before broaching t he apse and bowing before Yasraena.
Esvena's otherwise plain face was as animated as Yasraena had ever seen it.
"We have him, Mother!" she said and stood, smiling.
Esvena did not need to say whom she meant by "him." A thrill went through Yasraena, and she grabbed her taller daughter by the shoulders.
"Lolth has answered our prayers," she said. "Show me."
Together, mother and daughter hurried from the temple, past exhausted troops and sunken-eyed wizards, though empty halls