Chapter V
Part II
To Rivian all seemed quiet in the Baenre compound, and why not?
The only houses out of Lolth's favor were too far away for the guard to get a good show if anything should happen, and everyone knew no house, no two houses would dare attack House Baenre. The Matron might be shriveled and old, but she was powerful and enjoyed Lolth's favor more prominently than any other.
So it came as a surprise when suddenly strong hands took him from behind, and a dagger slid over his throat.
Stepping out of shadow itself Demou praised his dark goddess. They had caught the Lolthites off guard. He drew his twin scimitars and rushed for the first enemy. He lunged towards the guard who fell to her knees and planted her spear in the ground to meet his charge, he leapt into the shadows and emerged behind the foolish female.
With speed rather than force he slashed the back of her neck, not bothering to sever it, a simple kill would be enough.
He leapt for his next foe, a pair of his brothers joined him as they quickly dispatched more of the guards. A black cloaked Shadow Adept emerged and began to cast a spell to ask Shar to exercise her own power to open the gate. Demou made eye contact with one of the two following him, then his eyes darted towards the Adept.
His fellow Dancer understood and stopped, bolted in the other direction and began to dance death to any who approached the casting mage.
Demou laughed in his head as he slew two more drow guards who seemed confused as to why so many of their companions were suddenly dying.
The Shadow Dancers were not invisible, but they were fast, confused brothers? Let Lolth answer your questions in the abyss! Demou thought as he leapt again, now up onto the wall and quickly struck out at the two guards.
Each jerked as a scimitar slid through his ribs, puncturing his heart, and both fell dead.
His scimitars yearned for true battle, for a foe worthy of his prowess. However this was not a battle for glory--except the glory of Shar--this was a surgical strike, eliminate the guards in the area and open the gates for their allies.
That was all Demou was needed for, once that was done he was free to seek out any foe he wished, perhaps even the Baenre weapon master, he had heard that Dantarg had speed beyond anything anyone had ever witnessed.
Superior to Demou's own? The Shadow Dancer doubted it. Others were now summoning shadows to aid in holding off enemy reinforcements, Demou did not. The loss of a summoned shadow would only diminish him, and it would not be necessary. The Baenre soldiers were soft.
He noticed one of the guards was still alive, he stepped on the wound in the unfortunate drow's back and spat on him. "Where is your goddess now?" Demou asked him in a low voice.
Dinin's eyes widened as the Baenre complex came into view. He looked at Ielenia, Are you mad? He signed.
It was not my idea. Ielenia signed back, her face seemed full of awe, But if it is Lolth's will . . . we will carry it out.
Suddenly, to Dinin's surprise the gate jerked, and slowly began to open, he braced himself for battle, "Here they come, they will sweep out and destroy us all!" He said, seeing no point in further stealth.
"No, look!" Ielenia said, pointing to the gates where to Dinin's utter surprise black figures were fighting the Baenre guards.
Someone was already inside the compound, and they had opened the gates!
"Charge!" No less than eight individual voices screamed to their respective houses.
Dinin felt a shudder go through his body.
Could this be real?
House Baenre was going to fall under attack?
"You heard them!" Ielenia shouted to her cavalry, though she sounded unsure, "At-attack!" She drew her rapier and rode, beyond all reason Dinin followed.
Vierna Do'Urden felt a shudder run through the temple, she looked to Sos'Umptu, "What was that?"
Sos'Umptu frowned, "I do not know, but it-" the Baenre princess was cut off as the doors to the chapel flew open and a group of uninvited males barged in. Sos'Umptu's frown became a scowl of rage, "How dare you enter the Dark Mother's most sacred chapel!"
A black cloaked figure spread his arms wide and laughed, "Then let the Spider Bitch do something about it! Can she call herself greater than the power that backs us?" The wizard laughed and thrust his arm forward, Sos'Umptu's guards flew back and slammed into the far wall, though the princess did not even stagger, she only drew forth her snake headed whip with a certainty that Vierna had never before witnessed in the normally quiet, and seemingly cowardly high priestess.
Vierna was by her side in an instant, together they would defend Lolth's temple.
And perhaps in doing so Vierna would again find the Spider Queen's favor.
Dinin rushed forward, cut through a Baenre soldier and just rode on.
"Secure the barracks first, slow their flow of reinforcements!" Dinin roared.
"I am in command—" Ielenia began but Dinin cut her off.
"If you wish to live through this victorious then listen to me! In fact, if you wish to simply live through this listen to me!" Dinin said, not caring if she listened or not.
He had fought more battles than she had, had defended and attacked more times than she had, had commanded greater numbers than she, he knew how to win a battle.
Slaves from both sides flooded the field, and were felled by both sides. No one cared whether the minotaur they slew was a servant of House Baenre, or not. Dinin doubted a single slave would survive the struggle.
He spotted a group of Baenre soldiers charging towards them, he moved his lizard towards them and made for a wall that would allow him to cut down on their heads from relative safety.
He reached it, and cut down on the head of their leader, a large and rather beautiful female who now, without the upper left quarter of her head, was significantly less attractive.
The soldiers who had been following her made to attack Dinin, but the Academy Master knew better than to remain in the same place for too long, he moved along the wall, stabbing and cutting down on the enemy, slaying three and injuring twice that number before a spear finally slammed through the neck of his mount!
The lizard fell and Dinin's hand moved from the reins to the dagger he carried in his boot, which he used like lightning to cut himself out of the strap that kept him in the saddle.
When the Lizard hit the ground--crushing the drow with the spear--Dinin Do'Urden rolled out of the saddle and came up sword in one hand, dagger in another.
The Baenre soldiers did not hesitate, they charged for the first boy with a fury that Dinin did not feel was entirely justified.
Dinin lunged forward, ducking to avoid a blow that would have taken his head. He swept out with his sword, cutting down one opponent and wounding another, he parried a spear thrust with his dagger.
Dinin had been taught to fight with two weapons by Zaknafein, but it was not his specialty. He did not prefer it as Zaknafein and Drizzt had, so he had no qualms about losing his second weapon when he threw his dagger, and watched as it buried itself in the neck of what had looked like a priestess.
Dinin gripped his sword with both hands and struck out again, dodging blows as best he could before dropping down to the ground and sweeping the legs out from two drow while striking out and catching a third in the stomach, a fourth jabbed down at him but missed.
Instead of getting up Dinin rolled to avoid the soldier's second strike, then rose--standing atop of the soldier he'd skewered--only to find the fourth soldier clutching a gaping wound in his chest just below his throat, Dinin looked up to see another lizard and its rider on the wall where he had been.
Ielenia had never been such a welcome sight sitting atop her lizard, the bloody tip of her lance explaining where the soldier's injury had come from. Her lizard seemed able to leap and dodge away from enemy blades with a skill that put every lizard Dinin had ever ridden to shame. Ielenia herself seemed perfectly content to let her mount look to its own self preservation as she fought, her lance striking down any enemy foolish enough to try to reach her. Crossbow bolts snapped off the wall as they failed to hit the constantly, and seemingly randomly moving mount.
Dinin turned back on the crowd and struck again, taking the head from a Baenre soldier.
Then, with steps that sent tremors through the ground an abnormally large Minotaur split the crowd and the enemy drow backed away as it rushed towards Dinin, who threw himself to the left side to avoid certain death!
The monster slammed into the wall with such force that it shook Ielenia, who dropped her lance.
The beast took it and threw it at Dinin with one hand, still holding its greataxe in the other.
Dinin crouched to avoid the projectile, as well as to get himself into an attacking position, he sprang forward with a mighty shout and cut at the Minotaur's wrist, causing him to drop his axe!
It gurgled as one of Ielenia's crossbow bolts found itself a comfortable home in the monster's neck. The next struck into its bloodshot eye, and as it fell Dinin nimbly leapt out of the way then slammed his sword into the back of the monstrosity's neck, killing it.
The Baenre soldiers shifted uneasily but seemed just about to charge again when friendly reinforcements, led by two of the black clad shadow fighters fell upon them, a living shadow between them seemed to be cutting a path through the Baenre warriors as well.
Dinin checked himself for injuries and found—not surprisingly—that he had suffered a few. They were mostly small cuts and bruises, he'd survive.
Ielenia came down and said something to her mount which caused it to flee, she attached both hand crossbows to her belt, and drew her rapier.
"You were better off on the lizard." Dinin spat.
"You could not follow me on the lizard!" Ielenia shot back, "You are not to leave my side, remember?"
Dinin scoffed. But he realized it would have been easy for him to slip in with the ranks of some other house and escape Ielenia in the initial surge, clever of her to keep an eye on him, he supposed.
"Very well. I suppose you could not ask for a better body guard than a former master of the academy." Dinin said, retrieving his dagger from the throat of what was indeed a former priestess.
"Or," A familiar voice said, appearing out of thin air, "a master assassin?"
Dinin struck out towards the assassin, but he drew both his swords, both long and short in a flash, and locked blades with both Dinin and Ielenia.
"Stop!" He hissed, "I am Enialis, and I come to you both with a message from Jarlaxle!"