From alt.pub.dragons-inn Tue Feb 28 09:24:37 1995 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:8170 Path: netcom.com!ix.netcom.com!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!news.mindlink.net!rover.ucs.ualberta.ca!alberta!aaron From: aaron@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca (Aaron V. Humphrey) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [MI] This Long Thin Line Date: 26 Feb 1995 19:37:15 GMT Organization: The Anna Amabiaca Fan Club Lines: 243 Message-ID: <3iql9b$snt@scapa.cs.ualberta.ca> Reply-To: aaron@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca NNTP-Posting-Host: cab116.cs.ualberta.ca Originator: aaron@cab116.cs.ualberta.ca The Cast: Lassiviren, Alfvaen, Elstree, and Azpiazu--drow assassin, half-elven thief, priestess of Aditi, and(somewhat weakened)God of Chaos, all sharing one body(in time-slices)in lieu of being dead. [In our last episode, Lassiviren had confronted Noctu, who had offered him a bargain in exchange for betraying his friends. Lassiviren turned the tables on him, though, returning the "gift" he offered...] >The Drow prince screamed. Inside, Lassiviren could feel his >mortal companions shuddering at the raw torment it expressed. He >himself was unmoved. >"Always wear a second pair of gloves," Lassiviren muttered. "You >have been too much a priest lately, and not enough of a prince." >Then he turned to face the shaft, and the gigantic spiders that >now converged purposefully towards them. "You know, about now >that Scorpion fellow would be quite useful." "This long thin line. This song line. This shout.... This long thin line made of my own blood.... This tightrope made of sound." --Laurie Anderson, "Tightrope" Alfvaen said sardonically. --Those aren't ordinary spiders,-- Azpiazu observed. --I've never seen them outside of the Demon Queen's home before.-- --So, the best way to fight them is not with swords, or chaos, or even magic. At least not the secular kind.-- Elstree said. "This is madness," Lassiviren said. The spiders seemed confident of their prey, taking their time. He didn't doubt their retreat was now cut off, too. --My power is inaccessible to you. But your Lady's isn't. I don't think the Demon Queen will be expecting that. Nothing flashy is necessary, as long as they don't wrap us up in more silk than a mandarin's closet.-- Alfvaen said. Elstree took a deep breath. The link to her goddess wasn't as strong as it had sometimes been, but it was there nonetheless. "Lady," she prayed, "I accept that love is hurtful. Protect your servant, so that I may take upon me the pain of love from others." --My child,-- Aditi's voice returned to her, --I have had you in my realm once. I do not wish you back so soon. Go with my protection.-- Elstree's eyes filled with tears. The Lady's voice was so full of inexpressible things. With Azpiazu so close to them, she had been starting to feel that deities were almost human. But Aditi knew more hurt, and more love, and so many more other things that Elstree never would... She let out a controlled breath, and started to blink her eyes clear. "Okay, now what?" Lassiviren said, sounding slightly amused. The silken strands didn't look any stronger than those she'd seen spun by smaller spiders. Further in, the threads were closer together and would be easier to walk, but at the edge... "Alfvaen would do this better," she said hopefully. --No can do, sugarplum,-- Azpiazu replied. --You're the one with the holy protection. Aditi has to follow the rules. Now, just don't look down, and don't fall.-- She could not bring herself to step out onto the thread, though. After a few seconds of indecision she lowered herself to grasp it with her hands. It felt stronger than she had expected, and thicker. Casting her dignity aside, she shimmied her way out onto the web with her arms and legs both. The God of Chaos's injunction not to look down meant little, for the shaft beneath her gave no indication of either depth or shallowness. It could be a black carpet inches below her, or it could be a bottomless pit. She tried not to think about the greater probability of the latter. Lassiviren said. "Wonderful," Elstree said under her breath. The light from the crystal which was their goal showed the globes as sparkling gems, but she had thought them illusions. There were none on the radial threads, but many on the inward-spiraling thread she had hoped would make her passage easier. As she reached the first cross-strand, she used it to get unsteadily to her feet. Again, it felt thicker than it looked. She wanted to shake some of the cramps out of her arm muscles, but didn't want to risk her balance. Glancing back the way she had come, she saw that she had won less "ground" than she had thought. She sighed and, arms extended, made her way gingerly forward. Alfvaen said, "Easy for you to say. You've got it in your blood." Alfvaen said quietly, and Elstree bit her lip. She knew who he was referring to. At least it didn't ring with the bitterness it would have, once. She picked up her speed slightly anyway. It helped her mightily on the occasions when she had to jump a sticky globe, the running landing feeling less perilous. She wondered briefly at the paradox. Sounded like good grist for a sermon. She'd have to mention it to Delmara when they got back. Then one of the spiders was blocking her way. She pulled up short, then flailed her arms to keep her balance. It couldn't get at her, but it could try to slow her down. "Not a chance," she said, and strode firmly forward. She wasn't sure how the Lady's protection worked, but hopefully she wouldn't forfeit it by walking voluntarily into danger... The spider stood its ground, beady eyes flashing in the crystal's light, then started to back off slightly. She could see wisps of steam rising from the front of its body, and it glowed with a sudden brightness. Soon it was in full retreat. She wondered briefly what would happen if it was caught between her and the wall, which was now nearer ahead than behind. It did seem to be scuttling ahead of her path. She wondered why. Lassiviren said. "What?" Elstree picked up her pace. Elstree called to mind some of the oaths she'd heard at the House of Silken Whips, but stopped short from uttering them for fear of somehow losing her Goddess's protection. Sure enough, the spider was sawing at the strand. She glanced to her right, gauging the distance to the next, and leapt without hesitation. She misjudged the leap and had to grab the thread with her arms. It sagged, but held. There was a deep twanging sound from behind her. She held on for a few seconds while her heart slowed, then pulled herself up. The strands were getting further apart, and the spiral web line was coming to an end. She felt more confident now, and decided not to return to all fours. Alfvaen said, "You have a deal," Elstree said, relieved. She had just begun to notice that the crystal was looking higher up in the wall as she got closer to it. Lassiviren said. *** Walking spiderwebs was not quite the same as dashing through treetops or across rooftops with Prejec, Alfvaen decided. If he had ever walked tightropes, he might have compared it to that, but he had not. Still, as soon as he appeared he started moving forward at a pace that would've sent Elstree hurtling to the bottom of the shaft, if it had one. He spared no attention for the spiders behind him. He knew Lassiviren was watching his back, with that odd back-of-head sight he had from within the amulet. Most circumstances he wouldn't trust a Drow assassin to do that, he reflected. Lassiviren noted. He did. The strands were thinning out, and this was definitely more of a tightrope experience now. But the wall was only seconds away... When he was only a couple of yards from the wall, he sprang up and landed with both feet on the strand. It bowed under his weight, and then flung him upwards. Not as elastic as he'd hoped, but hopefully enough. As he hit the wall, he scrabbled for handholds, and by the time gravity was starting to reassert itself he was more or less securely anchored. He scrambled up another few feet, leaving the spider waving its forelegs impotently below him. "Prejec was always better at this kind of thing than I was," he muttered. He wanted nothing more than just to hang here for a few minutes, and regain his breath. But he knew that, like web-walking, climbing required momentum, and his fingers would tire. He had to get this over with. --Not too much further,-- Azpiazu said encouragingly. His mental voice sounded much deeper than usual. The effect of the siphon- crystal, Alfvaen supposed. He sighed and pulled himself up further. --We're there,-- Azpiazu said in a basso profundo an endless interval later. Alfvaen, gasping and panting, tilted his head back--an effort that almost cost him his grip--and saw that the crystal, the source of all the light in the cavern, was within reach. "So how does this work?" he gasped. "Do you take over now, or when I've actually touched the thing?" --Well, that's tricky,-- Azpiazu rumbled. --If I manifest too soon, then that thing can just suck me in wholesale. On the other hand, I'm not what would happen if you touched it.-- Lassiviren explained. "Look, I'll reach and you manifest at just the right moment," Alfvaen said. And he reached. -- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://ugweb.cs.ualberta.ca/~aaron/) Current Album--Corey Hart:Bang! Current Read--Gordon Korman:The Twinkie Squad Song In My Head--Debbie Harry:In Love With Love