She attacks

Teysa's eyes flickered around the tightening ring of thugs. She could feel the tension thrumming like a wire. They were waiting on their leader to make the first move, and he couldn't be more than a second or two from doing so. They looked practiced, probably recruited from slum gangs-- when the time came to strike, they wouldn't hesitate. After all, there were six of them, against two women and a drider whose fear must have been obvious.

Gold-tooth was something else. His accent and brutish appearance were affectations, she was sure. He was a thinker. His knuckles were whitening against his dagger. He had already realized she wasn't going to give up El'keth without a fight.

Before he could open his mouth to give the order, she stepped forward and drew her mace in one fluid motion. His eyes widened in shock, and he raised his sword to block it. She turned the momentum of her stride into a swing aimed directly as his chest. His eyes flickered to her arm, and she realized too late that he wasn't trying to parry. He flicked his other wrist and threw his dagger at her neck. At the same time, he threw himself backward, away from the mace. Teysa had time to half-turn, but that was enough. The dagger sliced through her earlobe and stuck in the wall behind her, where it vibrated. Her awkward turn had robbed her blow of strength, but it still caught the drow a glancing blow on the chest. His retreat turned into an awkward stumble and he fell flat on his ass, his sword clattering away across the ground.

The others crowded in. Aliara was at her side at once. The half-elf's daggers were crossed in front of her in a guard position. The drow with the billhook roared and brought it down like a butcher's knife. Aliara met it with her daggers and sparks flew from the impact. She went down to one knee under the **** of the blow. The drow's bloodshot eyes bulged from his face and his lips were pulled back in a deranged grimace, revealing rotten stumps of teeth. His breath stank of wine and something else, something sour and rotten. He grabbed his weapon with both arms and pressed down, yelling incoherently. Aliara gritted her teeth as she held the blade inches from her face. Tendons stood out on her neck with the effort.

Teysa turned to support her, but immediately had to dodge backward as a rapier blade cut through the air where she had been standing. She managed to bring her mace up in time to address the next swing. Her assailant favored her with a mocking smile. He was young, thin, with close-cropped hair and a gold ring in one nostril. His weapon was finely crafted, unlike the crude blades of the others. He turned to face her side-on to present the smallest profile. Useful for fencing, she thought, but not a warrior's stance. His legs were too far apart, and his guard was too high. Still, he was fast. She barely dodged a thrust, and her counter attack came nowhere close to hitting him. He grinned at her. "You've made a serious mistake, spider's whore!" he said. "Not the kind you get to make twice!"

Teysa remained silent. Amateurs tended to get distracted when they fought. She tried to focus, to remain aware of the other thugs. She thought she could handle this wastrel one on one, but perhaps not if he had backup. Gold-tooth was still picking himself up off the ground, and the others were closing in slowly. Their numbers were working against them; backed against a building, her little group couldn't be surrounded.

The drow facing her lunged forward and tried to skewer her on the point of his blade. She wondered where he had learned to fight. His technique was good, but unsuitable for brawling in an alley. If she had been fencing him in an arena, she might very well have lost. He was much faster than she was.

Of course, they weren't in an arena. Rather than parry his attack, she stepped into it, arching her back so that the blade passed inches in front of her stomach. The drow's eyes widened. She stomped down hard, catching his foot under her boot and pinning it in place. She pivoted around the hips and body-checked him with one shoulder. He let out a stifled cry and tried to pull away, but his foot was trapped. Before he could turn his blade to skewer her, she thumped him in the back with her mace. As he stumbled, she kicked out for good measure and scythed his feet from under him. He toppled forward and landed hard on his wrist. She heard bone crack and he groaned in pain. His rapier landed at her feet and she snatched it up quickly and tossed it behind her.

Meanwhile, the thug with the billhook was foaming at the mouth. Inch by inch, his blade descended towards Aliara. Sweat stood out on her forehead. She suddenly dropped onto her butt and rolled backwards. Her feet kicked out and caught the man in the chest. His blade whooshed through the air inches above her face and he stumbled backward. His arms pinwheeled as he fought for balance. Aliara came up out of her crouch with a dagger in her hands. She threw it overarm and it caught him in the side of the neck. Still frothing, he sank to his knees. One hand went to the dagger as if in disbelief. He pulled it out and an astonishingly copious quantity of blood came with it. He looked down the red-stained blade with a quizzical expression, then collapsed on his face.

Two more drow stepped up in his place with notched and battered shortswords. The closest one leered at Aliara's one remaining dagger. She held it in front of her protectively, but gave ground. They advanced slowly like scavengers circling a kill. At the same time, Gold-tooth had retrieved his sword and was advancing on Teysa. The young drow with the rapier was either **** or wisely pretending to be, but there were more than enough left to finish them both, especially with Aliara down a weapon.

El'keth's expression of fear had transmuted to one of fury. She flinched when Aliara's knife bit into the drow's neck, but the sight of his blood seemed to awaken something inside her. She wrenched the dagger out of the wall and charged forward at the two thugs surrounding Aliara. One managed to duck out of the way, but the other was borne down. The sword flew from his hands as El'keth trampled over him. One leg caught him a glancing blow to the head as he fell and whipped his neck around. He landed in a boneless heap on the flagstones. The other turned to this new threat and barely got his sword up in time to check her blow. Her strike was wild, with no art to it at all, but the **** behind it lifted him off his feet and sent him flying backwards. El'keth howled in triumph. Her voice was an inhuman screech that echoed off the buildings with a sound like shattering glass. The remaining thugs flinched back, and Teysa could see calculation in Gold-tooth's eyes. All at once he no longer looked sure of himself. He gestured to the others, and they withdrew into the alley from which they had come. El'keth reared back and looked about to follow, but Teysa laid a hand on her nearest leg. The drider's face whipped around and for a second Teysa saw none of the gentle, shy girl in El'keth's eyes. They seemed to glow with an inner fire. Then it passed, and she was back to her old self. She looked at the dagger in her hand as if seeing it for the first time and dropped it with an expression of fastidious horror. Aliara walked over to the nearest wall and leaned against it, panting, for a moment.

Teysa recovered first. "We should go," she said. "Now, before we attract more attention."

El'keth was still staring at her. "I'm sorry!" she said. "I didn't mean to-- I mean, I just saw them attacking Aliara, and I felt--"

"That was pretty good, El'keth." Aliara sheathed her dagger and wandered over to the bloody corpse. She nudged it with her toe, wrinkled her nose in distaste, and bent over it. "You scared the hell out of them. Me, too. I'm glad we're on the same side."

Teysa nodded. "El'keth, that was impressive. When we get back to the warren, I'd be happy to give you some instruction. Nobody could fault your, uh, enthusiasm, but your technique could improve."

El'keth regarded the man she had trampled. "It was awful. It felt like my skin was on fire. I was just so angry! I lost control of myself for a moment."

Aliara grunted as she rolled over the body. Bits of foam still flecked the man's lips and cheeks, and his bloodshot eyes stared at the sky. She waved a hand in front of her nose. "This guy stinks to heaven! Smells like he's on something. These gang types are always loaded when they go looking for a fight." She found her dagger, wiped the blood off on the man's tunic, and put it back in its sheath.

Teysa was pensive. "He looked like hired muscle, yeah. But this one--" she pointed at the younger drow, who was still lying on the cobbles, "he looks like money. And the leader certainly didn't talk like a street tough. So I wonder who they were?"

Aliara shrugged. "Who cares? They're gone. We'd better be, too, or we're going to meet their friends."

"What should we do with them?" Teysa asked, indicating the young drow and the one El'keth had flung across the street. Both of them were ****, their chests rising and falling gently. "Leave 'em," Aliara snapped. "Someone will be along to help them. Or not. They tried to kill you, Tey, you don't owe them anything.

Teysa was **** to agree with this. She hung her mace back on her belt and crossed her arms. "Let's go, then. We're close."

They were indeed. Five more minutes brought them to the larger manor houses that surrounded the Basilica. The streets here were wide and well-paved-- and scrupulously patrolled, Teysa noticed. Their little group attracted attention, but nobody made any move to stop them until they reached the plaza outside the Basilica.

The wide plaza was as Teysa remembered, patrolled by black-armored Fangs. Rows of novices scurried past them, sweeping the tiles and carrying buckets of water from the fountains. A line of them had assembled on the Basilica steps and were carrying out rolled carpets, while other novices unrolled and scrubbed them with heavy brushes.

One of the foot patrols beelined straight for their little group and the leader held up a gauntleted hand. "What is your business in the Basilica?" he asked. The other two held their pikes casually, but Teysa could tell that they were ready to jump into action at any moment. She held up her hands, palms outward. "We wish to make an appointment to see Mish'li. Tell her Teysa and Aliara have come with a guest." The leader's eyes flicked up at El'keth and registered only the most momentary surprise. "Very well. Follow me closely," he said. For a moment, he looked as though he wanted to add something, then turned on his heel and marched towards the Basilica.

They passed under the shadow of its great portico. This close, the scale of the building was awe-inspiring, even for those who had seen it before. Twenty men holding hands could not have encircled one of the vast columns supporting the lintel. El'keth craned her neck to see upward. Her mouth hung open. Even Aliara walked a little closer to Teysa, as if intimidated by the size of the place. The great double doors of the Basilica were open, a passage wide enough for fifty drow abreast, but the guard led them to a much humbler door set in the wall. He gestured at a long bench set against the building. "This may take some time. You should make yourselves comfortable."

Without waiting for a response he disappeared into the doorway. The other two guards took up positions on either side of it and stared straight forward. Neither of them seemed interested in explaining further, so Teysa took a seat on the bench. Aliara leaned against a pillar, and El'keth remained standing, shifting nervously from foot to foot. None of them spoke. The imposing wall of the Basilica seemed to have a gravity all its own, compelling reverential silence even in nonbelievers. Teysa's eyes followed the massive friezes that wound their way along the pillar. Drow and spiders cavorted along with creatures of myth.

After what seemed like an eternity, the guard captain returned. Accompanying him was a familiar figure. Mish'li was a young-looking drow with high cheekbones and deep-set, almond-shaped eyes. She wore the robes of a priestess, which Teysa noted were much more elaborate than on her last visit. Her hair was piled up in plaits that wound around and through the lattice of a silver tiara. She smiled when she saw them, but it was a weary smile, and her face had a drawn tightness to it.

"Teysa!" Mish'li cried, and threw her arms wide. Teysa embraced her, and Mish'li kissed her on the cheek. "And Aliara! My dear, you've come back to us!" Aliara also received her hug and kiss, and then Mish'li turned to El'keth. "You, I do not know, but I welcome you all the same. All of Lolth's daughters are welcome at Her holy house."

"I am El'keth, Your Excellency," said the drider. Mish'li's eyes widened and she laughed. "Excellency! I think the High Priestess would be jealous to hear you say that. No, El'keth, I am but a humble servant of our Mother Below. My name is Mish'li."

"Not that humble," Aliara said. "You look like you've come up in the world a bit since we saw you last."

Mish'li waved a hand dismissively. "There has been a great deal of... reorganization, shall we say, in the past months. We are all servants of Lolth. I was merely in the right place at the right time." She sagged slightly, and all of a sudden she looked very tired. "I apologize for making you wait. There is so much to do lately, and not enough time. What brings you to us?"

"It's... rather sensitive, Mish'li. A problem I thought you might have some insight into. Could we speak in private?"

"Of course!" Mish'li said. "Please, right this way!" She led them towards the gigantic main doors. Nobody gave them a second glance as they passed through. Inside, the antechamber was truly massive, its pillars nearly as large as those outside. El'keth stared at the frescoes that lined the walls. Smaller doors lined the walls. Mish'li led them towards one, an arch large enough to accommodate the drider, which led to a chapel large enough to comfortably seat a village's worth of parishioners. It was empty apart from them. She closed the doors behind her and turned. "What can I do for you, Teysa?" she asked.