protect the archmage. His allies surely knew that the matron mother had learned of his deception.
Anival looked up and down the line, at walls of adamantine and stone. They had stood for millennia. Surely they would not fall now?
Dyrr solders lined the battlements, and Anival could see from their hard expressions that all of them sensed the impending attack. A tense rustle rippled through the ranks.
'We will hold,' Anival said, speaking to herself as much as to Urgan.
The weapons master said, 'We will.'
Anival thought she heard doubt in Urgan's tone but let it pass. She wondered whether she should hope for her mother's success or failure in stopping the archmage. If the matron mother died and the lichdrow's phylactery was destroyed, Anival might-might-be able to negotiate an end to the siege.
But first, she needed to hold her walls, and without either her vrocks, or her House wizards.
Xorlarrin war trumpets sounded.
'Here they come,' Urgan said.
Each of the spider golem's forelegs ended in a sharp claw of jet as long as a short sword. Its mandibles churned with fangs as long as Gromph's hand.
Gromph did not care. Transformed into a skilled warrior by the power of his spell, he charged straight at the golem's front, axe held high in both hands.
The golem crouched at his approach, and two claws lashed out in rapid succession before
Gromph got within reach. Anticipating the move, Gromph spun aside and partially parried one blow with his axe. The other claw struck at one of the mirror images, hit it, and caused it to vanish with a pop.
Using the force of his spin to add momentum to his swing, Gromph whirled in close, slashed with the duergar axe, and cut a wedge of jet from the construct's thorax. With his spell-
augmented speed, he followed up with another, cleaving a furrow in one leg.
The spider leaped backward-crushing a bench under its weight-and struck at Gromph with one claw, then another. Gromph ducked and dodged, trying again to get in close. Two more images vanished. The construct moved with astounding rapidity, despite its weight.
For a moment, the two circled, a few paces apart. The golem stepped over the benches,
cracking stone as it moved, waving its pedipalps hypnotically. Its clawed feet thumped into the floor with each step.
Gromph followed it with his eyes, light on the balls of his feet.
A boom against the temple doors turned Gromph's head. Someone was trying to get through his holding spell. Yasraena had located him.
Seeing his distraction, the golem lunged at him, knocking over benches in its haste. Gromph dived aside and rolled. Claws thumped into the ground around him-one, then another, and another-and three images vanished in rapid succession. A claw nicked his shoulder, drawing blood. His ring began to heal the wound.
Gromph leaped to his feet and intercepted a decapitating claw strike with his axe. The parry severed one of the golem's legs, and a shaft of jet as large as an ogre's arm crashed into a nearby bench.
Another boom against the door. His spell held but Gromph had little time.
Dodging first one blow, then another, he darted inside the golem's reach and struck at its head with his axe. He cut a sliver from it, but it backed off, toppling benches. Gromph pressed but the creature responded by exhaling a cloud of black mist.
Acid, Gromph realized, but could not avoid it. The personal wards that would have protected his own body did not protect Larikal's. Agony lit his skin. His nonmagical clothes disintegrated-
which thankfully didn't include the enchanted robe in which he carried his essential spell components-and his exposed flesh burned and blistered as the mist sloughed away flesh. The stone of the floor and surrounding pews smoked and pitted. An acrid stink filled the air as the cloud dissipated.
Gromph gritted his teeth against the pain, leaped over an acid-slicked pew, and struck another leg from the golem. Another.
The golem answered with a flurry of claw strikes that drove Gromph backward and dispelled all of his images.
Blood and pus leaked from Gromph's skin. His breath came fast and heavy. The pain was slowing him. If the golem was like others of its kind, he knew it would be able to use its acid breath again after only a short time. It had but to gather more of the caustic substance within its enchanted body, and the archmage doubted he would survive a second coating of the stuff.
Gromph had to destroy it first.
He parried another claw strike, reared his axe back and-
A blow from the golem hit him squarely in the chest. Only the magical shield of force and conjured armor kept the impact from splitting him open. Still, the force of the blow sent him careening backward. He stumbled, flailing, and tripped over the broken remnants of a bench.
Gromph fell on his back.
The spider lurched at him, crushing the broken bench. Its mandibles opened wide. Its pedipalps reached for him. Gromph swung his axe furiously from his back, rolled, and tried to regain his feet. A claw descended for his throat, but the shield of force turned it, though the force knocked him down again.
He scooted backward, found his feet, and swung his axe defensively. The golem pressed him,
drew in close and snapped its jaws. The bite snagged Gromph's cloak and pulled him off balance.
A claw strike knocked him to all fours, and he nearly dropped his axe.
Gromph reared up and struck a glancing blow on the golem's head, just above its eye cluster.
Flecks of jet flew and the golem backed off, pedipalps waving menacingly. Gromph regained his feet and backed off a bit too.
Breathing heavily, Gromph knew that he could not waste time. Soon, the golem would be able to use its acid breath again. Soon, Yasraena and her wizards would find a way into the temple.
The vein of the master ward stuck out of the spider's abdomen like some grotesque entrail. At the end of it, Gromph knew, within the golem's body, was the phylactery. He had to press the attack.
He backed off toward the altar, axe held defensively. The spider followed, clambering over broken and acid-scarred pews.
Gromph feigned a stumble and the spider pounced. The archmage dived aside, regained his feet in an instant, and unleashed a vicious downward slash that severed one of the golem's legs at the shoulder.
The golem struck at Gromph with another leg as it tried to turn to face him-the blow opened the archmage's thigh-but Gromph bounded between two of its remaining legs and chopped furiously. Chunks of the golem flew into the air as it clambered around.
Another blow struck Gromph, cracking ribs and driving the breath from his lungs, but he dared not stop his attack. His ankle caught under the golem and snapped.
Stars exploded in his vision. Agony raced up his leg. Shouting, spraying spit, he continued his onslaught. His axe rose and fell, rose and fell. Pieces of the golem lay scattered about the temple like so much Darklake flotsam.
After an indeterminate time, Gromph became aware that the spider golem was not moving.
Fueled with spell-induced ferocity, he chopped at it several more times before he was sated.
When he came back to himself, the pain nearly caused him to lose consciousness. The bulk of the golem lay before him, cracked and broken. Its bulk pinned his leg. Pieces of it lay all around,
scattered amidst the broken benches.
Another boom sounded against the temple's double doors, fairly shaking the whole of the structure. Yasraena and her wizards had not yet been able to breach Gromph's holding spell.
They would try the windows next.
Gently, hissing at the pain, he pried up the golem's body with the duergar axe and slid his foot free. Bone ground against bone, and the pain caused Gromph to vomit the mushrooms he had eaten in his office earlier. He did not look at the break. His ring was working to heal his wounds,
but too slowly. He reached into his robe-its magic had protected it from the acidic breath of the golem-and extracted two healing potions, both ordinarily serving as material components to his spells. He tore their seal with his teeth and drank the warm fluid down, one after the other.
