Queen of the Demonweb Pits

isles.

Across the river-just barely seen-lay a white gleam of spider-web. The monstrous net rose into the sky, disappearing in a silver haze of magic. Climbing steadily up the web, gleamed a fat brass dot-the spider palace clambering for home.

Escalla looked over the river and pulled thoughtfully at her chin. 'What do you think those flying things are?'

'Dangerous.' The Justicar looked at the river carefully. 'Watch carefully. They keep away from the river.'

'Hoopy! They avoid the river. Problem solved!' The faerie was overjoyed. 'There's trees here! All we do is make a raft and float across!'

'Escalla, the trees are made out of snakes.'

'Well, I can't think of everything!'

Wearily, the Justicar pointed at the dark shapes seething beneath the water. 'Escalla, the flying things keep away from the water because something in there has teeth.'

'Hmmm.' The faerie hovered. 'Look, if we make a raft out of living trees, then the snakes and vipers will scare away the things in the river!'

The Justicar gave the girl a scowl. 'No rafts.'

'All right already!' Escalla thought a moment, then clicked all ten fingers on her hands. 'I got it! I got it! All right, here's the plan. We get everyone inside the portable hole, then I change into something that looks amazingly evil, and I fly across the river.'

Jus definitely didn't like the plan. 'And the flying things?'

'I just avoid 'em! Easy.' The girl put an arm about Jus's shoulder, infinitely confident. 'Hey, trust me! I'm a faerie!'

Polk and Enid were already laying out the portable hole, as happy as clams. Henry secured his water bottles, crossbow bolts, and sword and then followed his friends inside. Unwilling to leave Escalla unguarded in the Abyss, the Justicar glowered at the brink of the hole. Escalla gave him a kiss, then tried to push him in.

'Come on. We have to get moving!'

Jus watched the girl carefully. 'You won't do anything silly?'

'Me? Me! Hey! Get real!'

'If anything wants to fight, you drop onto an island and yell for help.'

'What? No fights! No one touches the faerie!'

Sighing, the Justicar looked over the dreadful scenery. Only the fact that there was nothing in the Abyss to touch, borrow, or steal convinced him to go.

'You go fast and stay away from the water. You fly as fast as you can, and don't touch anything!'

'Jus, get in the hole before I pinch you!'

Escalla tipped him in, turned into a horrific, scaly little skull-faced horror, and flapped up into the air. She grabbed the folded hole in one taloned foot, her lich staff in the other, and flew happily away.

Inside the hole, Benelux simply glowed with pride. I do so love a woman with true heroism in her heart!

Jus looked up at the closed entrance to the hole, his big hands working with worry. 'She has no idea how dangerous this is.'

'Relax, son! Just watch her and learn!' Polk was busily eating a badly smoked fish, which was stinking up the entire portable hole. 'See that girl? Now that's true heroism! Bravery in the face of danger. Courage in adversity. Total overconfidence no matter what the odds!'

'Polk, shut up.'

'Son, that gal's one of a kind!'

'Yes.' The Justicar sat hard against a wall and glared. 'Thank the great sky-goat for that!'

Disguised as a flying imp, Escalla whistled tunelessly to herself as she whirred high above the river Lethe. Far below, skeletal serpents coiled and slithered in the water. The air seemed to be made from a pattern of old nightmares-broken, jarred, and clattering like glass. Escalla had never before seen a place so absolutely ugly. Annoyed rather than frightened, she flew gaily between geysers of Lethe-water, the cursed drops missing her by inches. Two large bat-shaped creatures chased her, then veered off in panic as she skimmed a wing's breadth above the churning waters. A bat dived toward her, Escalla kept a sly eye on the water before looping high, and a split second later a hideous rotting sea serpent blasted out of the water. It missed Escalla and clashed its jaws shut upon the bat. Escalla looked back pityingly at the opposition, then gave an expressive little shrug.

'Gods but it's good being me!'

At the far bank, forests of viper trees lunged and uselessly spat venom. Brass locusts launched, screeching for Escalla's blood. Annoyed, the faerie hovered and smashed the locusts apart with a swarm of her golden bees.

'Scram! Go on!'

There was no point dragging the others out of the portable hole. Escalla was clearly right on top of the dangers of the Abyss. Nothing here she couldn't handle. She followed the clear track of Lolth's spider palace straight to a vast cleft in the Abyssal wall. The web arose a thousand feet, then simply disappeared into a silvery mist, clearly interfacing with another plane. Lolth's home plane.

Escalla tucked her frost wand under one arm, held her lich staff and the portable hole in taloned feet, and soared up along a titanic strand of spider web. She slowed near the silver mist and edged into it slowly, blinking her eyes against the sudden change in atmosphere.

The place smelled even worse than the Abyss. Escalla had found a dead tarantula in a box once, and this new reek had something of that eye-watering stench about it. Coughing and wiping her eyes, the faerie fluttered over to a strand of web and looked around.

The webs formed giant roads that led to a solid silver wall. One strand headed to vast doors six stories high-apparently the entrance for the spider palace. Escalla headed over to another strand, looking for somewhere decent to set down, then spied a small door of arsenic green.

The door was attended by two figures-one female, blindfolded with a shawl over her hair, and the other a tiny demon sitting at a desk and surrounded by quills. Alcoves to either side showed the presence of at least twenty armed and armored drow.

No problem. Escalla flew straight for the imp, bypassing the drow entirely. From the mouth of the portable hole, Jus's voice came hissing out.

'Escalla, are we across the river yet?'

'Almost! Now shh! There's a big fish or something here!'

Escalla flapped up to the little demon, wrestling madly with the portable hole, and screeched to a halt. Her command of tanar'ri language came from one term of classes she had slept through at school. Bawling in a panic, Escalla skidded onto the desk outside the door.

'Hey-lo! Hey-lo! Deliverings is! Special things deliverings-yes! Moment is impregnated with urgency. Hoopla!'

The little demon scowled and tapped an absurdly long quill on the desk. The blindfolded woman leaned forward, and something hissed and writhed beneath her shawl. Escalla pretended to fight with the struggling portable hole, wailing in panic and trying to hold it back.

'Yours now! For you! Not mine! I go!'

In theory, the demon would fear the bag and wave her through. Unfortunately, the creature hopped up onto the desk and pointed at the portable hole, sensing something alarming inside and apparently demanding an explanation. Escalla screamed and ran out of patience a split second before the demon.

'Tedious conversation anyway.' Escalla hit the creature with her lich staff, slinging it across the desk to crash into a pile of papers, and turned into her beautiful faerie self. 'Hey, uglies! See this faerie butt? Silken pure!' She whirred backward, dashing off into the mists. 'Lolth sucks rocks! Lolth sucks rocks!'

There was a roar of rage. A female voice screamed, and there was a hissing of snakes. Drow yelled at one another, armored feet tramping as they poured from their guardrooms. Escalla fled on foot, theatrically dragging one leg and wing behind her. The snakes hissed a foot or two behind her, and then Escalla laughed and broke into