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House Del'Axle occupied one of the coveted spots along the edge of the Clawrift, a huge gorge that was said to be bottomless. The deep crevice made attacking from that side of the house impossible and lessened the sections of the compound that needed to be defended.
House Del'Axle kept a vigilant guard on the remaining side of their compound, but nothing could prepare them for the forces that gathered in the shadows. One moment three dozen of them were standing guard quietly, thinking about how mundane their duties were, and the next moment a wave of utter despair and horror swept over them.
The emotion was so strong and sincere that a few died right on the spot. The rest were stunned beyond recovery. They were outlined with farie fire, hit with poisoned crossbow bolts, and then hidden with globes of darkness. In less than three seconds, the entire guard unit of the best scouting house in the city was wiped out and the attacking troops moved in.
All drow had the ability to produce globes of darkness, ranging from one to two yards in width, but a drow priestess could create much larger ones. The Baenre priestesses did this now, and soon the entire Del'Axle compound was domed in total darkness. The drow inside the dome could see just fine, but to those on the outside, House Del'Axle had just disappeared from sight. Anyone who was watching was wise enough to get as far away from the area as possible, knowing that when House Del'Axle reappeared (if it ever did) it would be totally destroyed. Any witnesses to this attack would then also be destroyed.
Dantrag watched from a floating disk as the Do'Urden troops moved quietly toward the main living quarters that housed the rest of the Del'Axle soldiers. This would be over in minutes. He did not even know why he had come. He watched as Zaknafein moved within the troops below. Beside Dantrag, Triel and Matron Vartha had their own disks. The three of them surveyed the battle opening.
"Your troops will win a glorious fight this night," Triel assured Vartha.
The matron mother was not so sure. "What of their priestesses?" she asked. "You will aid us as your Matron Mother promised."
"Of course," Triel smiled. She would have waited longer, but now she instructed her priestesses to begin the assault. The battle would be over very quickly now.
***
Within the main stalagmite structure, Matron Reinela and her three oldest daughters were gathered with Methil and Jarlnian. They were outlining potential attack strategies against the illithid compound, and Methil was actually being quite helpful with rejecting and proposing strategies. At first Matron Reinela wondered why the mind flayer was so cooperative, but as they ran through a few scenarios, she understood. Methil told them everything about the compound because there was really no way the attack could be carried out successfully.
Reinela was getting very frustrated, so when the mental blast struck them, she was totally unprepared for it. She and all three daughters cried out in a sudden burst of extreme pain. Jarl was not targeted in the attack, and for that he was grateful. He looked on in confusion as even Methil cried out in horror. The youngest of the daughters screamed the loudest and was then suddenly quiet as she toppled to the floor. Jarl could tell from the way she landed that she would not be getting back up, ever.
Actually, if Methil had not been there, they would have all died. The mind flayer had not been targeted either, but could sense the attack and had instinctually erected a mental shield that lessened the force of the blast considerably. Reinela recovered, barely, and looked around at her daughters, two of whom were struggling back to their feet. "What was that?"
She was looking directly at Methil when she said it, but the illithid just shook its bulbous head. "We are under attack," Lillium said as she slowly regained her senses.
"Nonsense!" Reinela cried. "Who would dare attack us?"
Another blast of energy coursed through the room, but with the mind flayer's shield in place, the priestesses were able to fight against it. "What is going on?"
As if on cue, Krol raced into the room. "Matron Reinela, we are under attack."
"Who is it?"
"It is the thirteenth house," Krol said, leveling a gaze at Jarl, "House Do'Urden."
Reinela looked at Jarl as well. "Go!" she shouted, but both brothers were already racing out of the room.
***
Down below on the compound floor, the Del'Axle soldiers had emptied the barracks before they could be ambushed inside. They now stood toe to toe with the Do'Urden soldiers, fighting for their lives. They were losing them. Most of them had been roused from their beds, and the suddenness of the attack was amazing. Despite all that, this was the thirteenth house! Never had such a high ranked house been challenged by one so low. They had their eyes on the three above them, but this was a total shock. Not only that, but the Do'Urdens were winning.
Zaknafein avoided the fight as much as possible, redirecting most of his attackers into the blades of his fellow soldiers. He kept scanning for Jarl, but so far the flamboyant fighter was nowhere to be seen. His unique fighting style, plus the fact that he was few inches taller than most of the Del'Axles should have made him easy to spot.
***
Jarlnian was not among the fighters. Instead, he and Krol were racing down through the chapel and the quarters occupied by the nobles of their house. They came to a window that overlooked the whole compound and saw that their house was being slaughtered. Jarl spotted Zaknafein easily enough. The Del'Axle fighters chose to avoid him as much as possible giving the talented fighter the ability to move freely through the battle.
Jarl also knew that the priestesses he had just passed in the chapel were preparing to enter the battle. Behind the main fight, making themselves visible in the windows and doorways of the main dormitory, the common priestesses began to make their presence known as well. They started by bolstering their own fighters with an array of offensive spells.
Jarl watched as one Del'Axle fighter in particular, who was frantically fending off four different blades with his one weapon, suddenly burst into motion so fast that his movements were just a blur. His strength had been altered as well and he blasted the weapons out of the hands of his attackers and decapitated them a short while later.
That type of transformation was taking place all over the battlefield as the Del'Axle priestesses proved their worth. Aside from the defensive spells, the females also began to hurl fireballs and lightening bolts into the crowd of Do'Urden fighters. The attackers were launched high into the air as explosions of energy ripped into their ranks.
Watching from a safe distance, Dantrag turned to his sister to say "See, I told you so," but Matron Vartha beat him to it. "My soldiers are being killed down there! Where is this protection you promised?"
Triel and the rest of her priestesses were still confused as to how the high priestesses within the compound had repelled their initial attack. If that had been successful, they would have changed their focus long ago. Now, yanked back to reality by the matron mother, Triel surveyed the scene. House Do'Urden's priestess were trying to protect their fighters, but they did not have the same type of cover afforded to the Del'Axle females, and several of the fireballs were aimed at them.
Triel rallied her Baenre priestesses, and they began a very effective counter attack. The structures in which the Del'Axle females were hiding began to crack and crumble under the powerful waves of energy the Baenres were able to produce. Several of the Del'Axle spells misfired, and the soldiers below suffered the brunt of it.
Once again the Do'Urdens were able to gain the upper hand and pushed back the surging Del'Axles. Zaknafein was quickly realizing that the tide of this battle had very little to do with the strength of either group of fighters and that it would be decided between the females involved.
If he wanted to help his house out as best he could, he would be wise to tip the scales in Do'Urdens favor and start taking out priestesses instead. The idea appealed to him anyway, and being relatively inactive in the melee battle, he had the opportunity to escape. A quick scan of the compound showed him where the main chapel was, and he made his way toward it.
Malice was in charge of organizing the Do'Urden magical attack and defense, and up until now she had been madly scrambling about to get anything done. Now that the Baenre priestesses had joined the fight, she suddenly found her job much easier. With her attention freed up, she took the time to find Zaknafein. She spotted him just as he entered the main stalagmite that housed the chapel.
What are you doing? she called out to him telepathically.
I'm going to have some fun, he responded.
***
Jarl saw the sudden turn of events back in favor of the attackers and wondered what could be going on. He knew a bit about House Do'Urden and knew they did not have a very ample supply of priestesses, only two high priestess, and Jarl doubted Matron Vartha would take part in the battle.
With his sisters still in Lloth's favor, Jarl knew there was no way the Do'Urden counter parts could seriously threaten his house. Yet here they were over-powering the Del'Axle priestesses. Jarl needed to get more information, but as the lightning bolts and fireballs rained down upon the main structure, his lookout near the window ceased to be a safe place to stand.
He and Krol ran away from the window just as a significant fireball came screaming in, exploding violently against the far wall. "What's going on out there?" Krol demanded. "That can not be the fire power of a thirteenth house."
"They must be getting help from another house," Jarl reasoned.
"Which house would ever align with one ranked so high?"
Jarl ventured back to the window, which was much bigger now, and caught sight of three figures off in the distance watching the battle. They were floating on magical disks and too far away to get a good look at any of them, but Jarl swore he recognized one. "Dantrag?" he said to himself in disbelief.
"What?" Krol asked from behind him.
"House Baenre his aiding house Do'Urden," Jarl said calmly as he turned back to face his brother.
Krol was shocked. "House Baenre! We are doomed! Why would the first house attack us? What have we ever done to-" Krol stopped suddenly as he looked at his brother. "You! It's you they want!"
Jarl had come to the same conclusion, but what was he supposed to do about it?
"You need to give yourself up," Krol said. "Turn yourself over to the first house and spare us."
"You must be out of your mind," Jarl responded. "I'd sooner jump into the Clawrift, then hand myself over to the Baenres."
"But you are the reason this house is in peril."
"You stole me," Jarl countered. "If it wasn't for you, none of this would be happening."
Krol drew his rapier. "I took you from Matron Baenre, and I have no problem giving you back."
Jarl looked at his brother comically. "Put that away. We stand the best chance of survival if we stick together."
"Wrong," Krol said closing to within six feet of his brother. "We stand the best chance of survival with you safely in the hands of a Baenre High Priestess."
"I don't believe this," Jarl sighed.
Krol leaped forward suddenly, his sword in line for Jarl's heart.
***
Upstairs, Matron Reinela and her daughters were just coming back to their senses from the shock they had received. Methil was displaying some amazing loyalty and protecting the high priestesses from further attacks.
Reinela was finally able to sort things out and opened a scrying circle to observe the battle. She quickly saw where their efforts needed to be focused and reached out to her remaining daughters who were scattered throughout the compound. Each daughter slowly gathered a few common priestesses and they attacked and defended as one.
In the main audience chamber, each of the three high priestesses influenced one of these groups, doubling and sometimes tripling their effectiveness. While Methil stood guard, the priestesses of House Del'Axle began their response to Baenre's attacks.
On the floor of the compound the fighters were all but forgotten and the real battle had switched to the females. Concentrated groups of Del'Axles that were able to both defend and attack began to respond to the Baenre onslaught. Triel had not organized her own priestesses as well, and she saw that these concentrated groups were easily over-powering groups of Baenre priestesses that often outnumbered their attackers.
Matron Vartha saw that her priestesses were being mostly ignored and decided to keep it that way. She relayed a message to Malice for the Do'Urden priestesses to focus on aiding in the battle below and not above. With the magical help, the Do'Urdens regained the upper hand once more in the seesaw battle.
Dantrag saw this strategy and regretted that all the fighting would be over before his soldiers could be released. "Allow me to enter the battle," he pleaded with his sisters. "With their priestesses distracted, their soldiers will fall easily, and there will be no buffer protecting their females."
It was wise advice, but Triel was determined to keep her fighters from entering this battle. Instead she told half of her priestesses to focus on defending against the attacks of the Del'Axle females and the other half to focus on the fighting below. She realized if she could redirect the Del'Axle priestesses' attention, they might be more susceptible to attack.
Matron Vartha looked on in horror as the Baenre priestesses loosed spell after destructive spell at the soldiers below, caring little which side was taken out in the process. "You are carelessly destroying my forces!" she cried.
Triel tried to hold back her laughter. "I apologize Matron Vartha, but from this distance they all look the same."
Vartha did not see any humor in the situation. She was now desperately wishing that she would have found some way to get out of this fight while she had been conversing with Matron Baenre, but now that she was here, she had do make the best of it. She removed a small pouch of bright yellow powder from her voluminous robes and dumped a small pile into her hand. Muttering a quick incantation, she blew the powder toward the battleground.
The yellowish powder grew in size and speed in tremendous fashion and soon filled the entire compound with a yellow cloud. With another quick spell, Vartha waved her arms and the cloud disappeared, leaving behind hundreds of yellow heads. The hair of each fighter not of house Do'Urden had been died from white to bright yellow. "Perhaps that will aid your priestesses' aim," Vartha said venomously.
"Thank you," Triel replied sarcastically. The Baenre priestesses had little excuse for their careless attacks now and began to decimate the Del'Axle fighters exclusively. The Del'Axle priestesses replied in kind, and Triel could see that because of her priestesses carelessness in destroying both sides, and with the effective attacks of the Del'Axle females, there no longer remained enough Do'Urden soldiers to finish the task.
Triel turned to Dantrag. "You may begin you attack now." Dantrag did not need to be told twice. As he jumped down from his floating disk, Triel relayed the message to her priestesses that the Baenre fighters were entering the battle and more caution was to be taken to protect them.
As Dantrag charged wildly into the battle at the head of his troops, cutting down the first three drow that stood before him (two Del'Axles and one Do'Urden), he desperately looked for Zaknafein, wondering where he could have gotten to.
***
The entrance to the Del'Axle chapel was guarded by two alert males. They both brought their weapons to attention as Zaknafein strode toward them. "Stop!" they cried. "Throw your weapons to the ground an-" but they were already dead.
Zaknafein walked through the doors and into the main chapel. The loud chanting to the Spider Queen filled the vast chamber, and Zak had little trouble spotting the priestesses. This was one of the more powerful collections of Del'Axles. The high priestess stood directly in front of a flaming brazier and was surrounded by eight other priestesses. They cried out with impressive vigor, and the flames danced high in the center of their unholy circle.
The air hummed with energy, and Zak could feel the hair stand up on the back of his neck. What are you doing? he heard the voice of Malice again. He tried to shut her out, but her power was impressive. You can not fight these priestesses. They will strike you down with a thought.
Zak refused to listen to the discouraging words. As true as they were, Zak could see that the priestesses' attention was elsewhere, and he was not going to turn away now. Just the sight of the ritual made him wonder if this was how Malice had sacrificed his mother. As he walked confidently toward the circle of power, he passed an altar and picked up a large wine bottle.
While still a ways away from the females, he heard their chant reach its climax as they were undoubtedly releasing some fantastic attack on his fellow soldiers outside. As the flames leaped high in the brazier, he hurled the bottle at the coals. The highly alcoholic liquid was not meant for drinking, for the sturdiest dwarf alive would not be able to handle it. Instead it was usually used for exactly what Zak used it for now.
The glass shattered violently against the cast iron brazier, but the noise was lost in the chant. The alcohol drenched the high priestess and she exploded into a ball of flame. The other priestesses continued their chanting, inspired by how powerful their spell had suddenly become. As the high priestess was quickly consumed in fire in a one way trip to meet with her goddess, the spell was doomed to fail, and the backlash sent all eight common priestesses reeling.
Their robes were covered with alcohol as well, and as they tried to fathom what was going on their robes began to catch fire. Their high priestess fell dead into the middle of the brazier and their composure was totally lost as the hot coals spilled everywhere, adding to the flames that licked at their robes.
This was when Zak walked into the circle. As impressive as the flames were that roared up around him, they were nothing compared to the fires that burned behind his eyes as he executed the unholy priestesses. Only when two priestesses were left did they realized they were under attack, and though they had practiced spell casting under duress, nothing could have prepared them for this.
Zak left the nine flaming corpses in a neat circle as he stormed through the chapel to hunt for more victims. As impressed as Malice was, she realized that he had gotten lucky, and he would not be able to use that same strategy the next time he encountered priestesses. She tried to get him to return to the battle outside, but Zak fought back.
"Not until I kill everything in this damnable chapel!" he cried, knowing Malice would be able to hear him. He threw open a door at the far end of the chapel and walked straight into the Del'Axle nursery. All around him children were screaming in fright as two very young females tried to calm them.
Malice could see the scene through Zak's eyes. She smiled. As you wish. Kill them all.
***
Jarl's weapons came out in a flash and slapped Krol's pathetic attempt at an attack away. Jarl danced out of range. He could feel shock waves shuddering though the compound each time a magical attack hit home. Their house was crumbling around them, and here they were fighting amongst themselves.
"This is crazy," Jarl said as Krol cautiously stalked him. "Not only are you more to blame for this attack than I am, but there is no way you can beat me in a fight."
Krol did not relent. "I will not be taken by Baenre," he said.
Jarl could see the terror written clearly on Krol's face. If Baenre caught him they would easily be able to finger him as the thief some three decades ago. If Reinela caught him and blamed him for this attack, his suffering would be tenfold.
"Give yourself up, and this will all be over," Krol pleaded desperately, not caring if it made any sense.
"I'm afraid not, brother."
Krol screamed wildly and charged again. Jarl batted the attack away and sidestepped the charge, slapping Krol in the rump with the flat of his blade and tripping him to the floor. Krol picked himself up and watched as his hair that hung in front of his face suddenly turned bright yellow.
"I'm dead for sure now!" he screamed. "I've been marked! There is no escape!"
He was borderline crazy now. He looked about wildly for some means of escape. All he saw was Jarl standing in front of him, yellow hair and all. "Die!" he screamed. He charged one last time, and Jarl shrugged. He slapped the attack aside with one weapon and braced his other one to accept the mad rush.
Krol impaled himself on the weapon to its hilt. The air left his lungs in a rush and he was petrified in pain as Jarl held him up. "Better me than someone else," he said. He pulled his blade free and let Krol fall to the floor, quite dead.
Jarl wiped his weapons clean and sheathed them, taking notice of his yellow ponytail. "What next," he sighed. With nothing else to do, he scrambled back up the steps toward the main audience chamber.
***
Dantrag looked everywhere for Zaknafein, but the skilled Do'Urden was nowhere to be found. As the fighting turned into a slaughter, the Baenre soldiers easily pushing back the Del'Axles, priestesses or not. Dantrag knew his presence on the battleground was no longer needed, and as a fireball exploded right next to him, he realized it was not the safest place to be either.
The Del'Axle chapel looked inviting as possible shelter and also as the possible location of Zak. As Dantrag raced into the stone structure, he paused at the sight of the two dead guards. He did not need to look at them too long to know exactly who had done it.
He was just about to enter the main chapel, but a massive explosion rocked the chapel and threw Dantrag to the floor. When he picked himself up, he saw that the entrance into the chapel was now completely blocked with rubble. He cursed his luck and began to look for a way around.
***
Don't just stand there, kill them!
Zak fought against both his own killing rage and Malice's mental suggestions, but as the two young females ran at him frantically, wielding two small maces, he could not control his instinctual reactions. He defended himself as he had been trained, killing both nursery attendants within the first seconds of attack.
As the bile rose in his stomach at what he had done, Malice did not relent. Kill them all! Kill them now! None of the children were even a decade old yet, but they had all been trained in what to do during an attack. They each had a small dagger and rushed the killer that had invaded their sanctuary.
These children looked nothing like the elves that had been slaughtered in the grove. Their faces were contorted so they looked like tiny devils all wielding their deadly daggers. Though they looked nothing like the surface elves, their cries were the same. As Zak hacked them to pieces, he could not shut their cries out of his head.
It only lasted a few seconds, but to Zak the massacre went on forever. It seemed like there was an endless supply of the little demons and Zak's blades were moving on their own accord against his will. It was simple logic that if he did not defend himself, they would tear him apart. The daggers were not toys, and with as many wounds as the children could inflict, Zak's life was in jeopardy.
Still, even though Zak knew he had to kill them, that made him all the angrier. What kind of race would teach their children to be ruthless killers? These kids should be running and playing like he imagined the elven children had done in their beautiful grove. Instead these children were being taught about the Spider Queen and how to use a dagger to stab anyone that threatened them.
When it was over, Zak could not bear to look at what he had done, but Malice's control over him was increasing and she forced him to take in the carnage. The tiny bodies were barely recognizable amidst the gore that filled the room. With a primal growl, Zak pulled himself away from the scene and stumbled out of the room as the chapel shook violently.
Someone had taught those children to be killers. Zak had a good feeling that those ultimately responsible were upstairs. With Malice still tugging on him to return to the battle, Zak ran up to the upper levels of the main Del'Axle structure.
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