Halisstra or Quenthel or both. Like the pragmatist he was, he decided to err on the side of prudence and treat them all as his enemies.
With his mind made up, he chose his course quickly. Halisstra and Danifae might have been dangerous, but Jeggred was perhaps the most deadly opponent on the field.
Halisstra and the two other priestesses headed toward Quenthel. Jeggred charged in
Quenthel's direction too, but whether to attack his aunt or the priestesses, Pharaun could not be sure.
With a mental command, Pharaun flew the fist of force at Jeggred. The draegloth saw it coming and tried to dodge aside, but the fist caught him full force in the head and chest. The impact knocked the huge draegloth into a headlong tumble, and he lay on the earth unmoving,
apparently stunned.
Pharaun grinned. Sometimes his mastery of spellcraft surprised even him.
Danifae shot a glare up at Pharaun and backed farther away from Quenthel.
'Here, Halisstra!' Danifae said brandishing her morningstar.
As the three Eilistraeens charged, they called aloud to their goddess. Their prayers were as much song as chant.
Halisstra finished her prayer, and a black ray shot from her fingertips at Quenthel. The Baenre priestess sidestepped it, and it slammed into the rocks.
The other drow priestess completed her prayer, and a rosy aura surrounded her. The elf priestess targeted Pharaun with her spell. She pointed her finger, and a sphere of light blazed into being around him.
He gasped and threw his forearm over his face. The sudden illumination sent needles of pain into his eyes. Without opening them, he gritted out the words to a counterspell, and the welcome dimness of day in the Demonweb Pits returned.
He opened his eyes and saw only spots for a moment. Tears poured from his eyes, but he blinked them away. When he could again see, he located his magical fist-hovering over the stunned Jeggred-and sent it speeding for the elf priestess.
All three priestesses spread out as they ran. The fist moved to intercept the elf.
The elf aborted her charge and braced her tiny shield for the fist's impact.
But Pharaun did not cause it to strike her.
At his mental goading, the fist stopped before her, opened its fingers, and made to grab her.
She was fast, and her blade slashed into the conjuration, but the hand was inexorable.
Its huge fingers wrapped her up. Only her head was visible. Before she could scream for aid,
Pharaun caused the hand to squeeze.
The elf's mouth opened in a scream but she had no breath with which to utter it. Instead, she suffered in silence.
Pharaun turned to see Halisstra veer toward Quenthel.
'Aid us, Danifae,' Halisstra shouted.
Danifae said, 'Of course, Mistress,' but made no move to help.
The other drow priestess, wielding a long bladed sword in two hands, came at Quenthel from the side opposite that of Halisstra, but she stopped when she glanced back and saw her comrade trapped in Pharaun's magical fist.
'Feliane!' she shouted.
The drow priestess located Pharaun in the air and sang a spell.
Pharaun flew toward her, drawing his wand of lightning and voicing his own spell.
She finished first.
A sword of magical force formed in the air to Pharaun's right, flying along beside him. It attacked the moment it appeared, striking at the mage's head.
He spun away from it, but it doggedly pursued, stabbing and slashing. He rolled in the air,
spun, twirled, but the damned thing kept pace with him. Twice the blade managed to penetrate his magical protections and opened the skin of his shoulder, his forearm. He lost the thread of his own spell and cursed aloud.
He spun a series of circles, opened a bit of space between him and the sword, and quickly uttered the words to a counterspell, pitting his magic against the priestess's.
His prevailed. The sword of force winked out. He touched his shoulder and found the wound to be more bloody than deep.
Pharaun looked down and saw the drow priestess advancing on Quenthel from one side, while
Halisstra advanced from the other. The Baenre priestess stood her ground, serpents hissing, whip cracking.
Pharaun pulled a piece of quartz from his piwafwi, formed a dome with his hand, and rattled through the words to a spell that would even the odds.
When he completed the conjuration, a hemisphere of armspan thick, semi-opaque ice materialized out of nothing, taking shape over and around Halisstra, imprisoning her.
He could see the Melarn traitor moving frantically within it, hammering at it with her weapons. It would not hold her long, Pharaun knew, but it would buy Quenthel time.
Seeing the opportunity, Quenthel took it. She charged the other drow priestess and swung her whip in a wide arc.
The priestess of Eilistraee, still surrounded in a rosy hue, did not retreat or hesitate. Instead,
she danced and spun between the serpents of Quenthel's whip, at the same time unleashing a backhand slash that sliced open Quenthel's armor across the chest. Quenthel, still enlarged from her spell, countered with a shield bash, but the Eilistraeen sidestepped it, and stabbed her blade at
Quenthel's stomach.
The Baenre priestess leaped back to avoid the blow, but the Eilistraeen followed hard after,
spinning, whirling, her blade a blur.
'Danifae Yauntyrr!' the Eilistraeen called. 'Answer the Lady and aid me.'
But Danifae did not answer, Pharaun saw. She stood apart, seemingly content to watch the conflict, perhaps to await a weakened winner whom she could then finish.
Breathing hard and bleeding, Quenthel swung her whip in a flurry of vicious attacks. A
glancing blow knocked the Eilistraeen off balance, and Quenthel managed to put her shield into the Eilistraeean's chest.
Quenthel's strength and size sent the Eilistraeen careening, but she somehow managed to turn the stagger into a graceful recovery. She found her feet and raced at the Baenre priestess, her blade stabbing and slashing.
Spinning her whip high, Quenthel lashed at the Eilistraeen. The priestess dodged right, left,
ducked, opened a gash in Quenthel's arm, and-
One of the serpents sank its fangs into the Eilistraeean's arm. She grunted with pain, and the
Mistress of Arach-Tinilith took the opportunity to follow up with another shield bash. The
Eilistraeen priestess rolled with the impact, but the strength of the blow drove her back five paces. The wound in her arm was already beginning to blacken.
'It's over,' Quenthel said.
The high priestess advanced, her whip serpents hissing and whirling.
The Eilistraeen danced backward, still spinning. She reached for her holy symbol and sang a spell.
A beam of silver light flew from her outstretched palm, penetrated Quenthel's protective spell,
and struck Quenthel in the chest. Groaning, the Baenre priestess staggered back.
'Hardly,' answered the Eilistraeen, and she charged Quenthel.
Before the priestess reached her, Quenthel held her whip aloft and demanded, 'Speed.'
The whip serpents whirled around and echoed, 'Speed.'
The adamantine handle of the whip flashed violet, and the high priestess's movements became faster. Her whip was a blur in the air.
The Eilistraeen priestess darted in, blade low. Quenthel deftly slipped aside, drove the priestess's blade into the ground with her whip handle, spun, and lashed the priestess across her back with all five serpent heads.
