believe his eyes — the ichor of the monster was dissolving the metal of his sword!
'Now I'm screwed!'
'There are other swords, love,' Leda said and squeezed his arm. 'We are safe now, and alive. That, not your sword, is what matters.'
'Until it comes time to fight again,' Gord retorted. There was nothing to do about it, though. He finally dropped the hilt and scabbard down after the dead horror, shrugged, and resumed his position in the lead along the narrow walkway of stone. 'At least I retain my trusty dag,' he finally said.
'Of course, Gord, and I still have my sword. Let us be bold!'
He didn't feel very bold just now, but at least the dark elf was now recovered from her fright at the near plunge into the abyssal subterranean rift they'd chanced upon. Let her handle the next problem with her spells and her weapon. Right now, Gord simply wanted to get out of this underworld and see the sun again — even if it meant plodding through the Ashen Desert once more.
The ledge slanted downward and grew broken, much as if the natural forces that created the place desired long, sloping steps, and it also broadened. So, it was actually very easy to travel along, as long as they didn't encounter a wide stretch where it was missing altogether. Eventually the ledge came to within ten feet of the floor of the rift, and they were able to jump down. They moved into the middle of the cavern to Investigate it. The ceiling was higher than they could see, and the place had to be nearly three hundred yards from side to side.
There is no dust or ash in this place,' Gord said wonderingly.
'Some great magic still lingers over this rift, Gord. I thought so when we first encountered the place, for so strange a gap underground does not exist without powerful spells protecting it.'
They went back to where they had descended from the ledge and began to follow it again, now heading gradually upward. The place they were traveling in narrowed in all dimensions, until finally the ledge became an actual floor and the cavern had tapered down to the size of a large tunnel. 'We have gone for miles now, sloping up all the while,' Gord observed some time later. 'We should be amidst the powdery waste of the desert by now, Leda, and still we are underground. This wide ledge seems almost as if it were a roadway, too. What do you think?'
'That we should rest a moment,' she said. As they both reclined on the ledge, Leda started to speak a legitimate answer to his question. 'I am familiar with subterranean living. It is apparent to me that this area was fashioned by someone's hand — probably those who commanded the lost Suel empire. Perhaps that vast place we visited earlier was meant to shelter them until they managed to recover from the Invisible Firestorm and restore their lands.' She paused and was lost in thought for several minutes. 'I feel somehow that there is a city back there. Empty, deserted. A place never really used as its builders conceived it would be.'
'What makes you think that?'
'Just a sensing of things, I guess. Consider those albino pygmies, too, Gord. I think that those are the descendants of the masters of the Great Empire of Suel, their degenerate aristocracy. And the apes are the less fortunate survivors of that unhappy race.'
Gord had propped himself up on one elbow and stared hard at Leda as she spoke. She was a drow, but regardless of that, had he ever seen a more beautiful girl — no, woman? Even though he used only half of his mind to ponder the thought, Gord knew the answer quickly. Leda was certainly the most lovely female he could think of…
'Gord, are you listening?'
'Oh, yes. You seem to be thinking and remembering a lot, Leda. Do you recall who you are now?'
Now it was her turn to stare at Gord. He was looking at her with an open, assessing gaze, and when Leda smiled a little smile, he returned it with interest. Leda answered as truthfully as she could. 'I know who I am not Gord. I know what I am, when I came to be, and what I must do.'
'That is confusing as hell, woman.'
Ignoring his use of the human appellation, Leda sat up and said urgently, 'I do not want to confuse you. I need to tell you and have you accept me. Will you, Gord? Can I count on you?'
Making a wry face, the young man sat up too. 'All of this deep, dark mystery — tut! I don't know who I am, really, you know, Leda, for I was orphaned… no matter. Go ahead and say your say. You and I are closer than any, so how can you doubt me?'
'We shall see. I was born only months ago. That's right, months! I am a clone — a special one, somehow nurtured to develop fully in a very short time, and one given something a clone is not supposed to have… Gord, I am the duplicate of the most evil and degenerate drow ever — the one who calls herself Eclavdra Eilserv.'
'Never heard of her,' Gord told Leda with a grin. 'And somehow you don't fit the description of your twin — or should I say parent? — either. Aren't ones grown from the flesh of another supposed to be exact replicas? But you are by no means evil and degenerate, as you put it.'
Leda breathed a sigh of relief. Despite his seeming to argue over this last point, she could tell that he believed her. She moved over and gave him a hug. Thank you, dearest! I was afraid you'd think me a liar, demented, or hate me!'
'Only if there is reason to,' Gord replied. Then he hugged her in return, saying, 'Go on. I can tell you have more to say.'
'You see, I have two sets of memories. There are mine, and they really begin with the night you rescued me, love. Then there are her memories. That is a cesspool! Eclavdra's experiences are so vile and full of evil that I keep them locked away. If I could only burn them from my mind! Well, never can that be done, I suppose, so I will tell you a little. You know about me, for what I am we have shared. Now I will tell you about her.
'Eclavdra is the handmaiden of the great lord of demons — the one as jet-black as I, and bearing six digits on hand and foot. His name I will not speak; do you know the one I refer to?'
Gord nodded slowly. 'I have had some cause to study demonology in my time, Leda. I have fought and slain one or two of the lesser sort, and I know a little of those great ones who lord it over the Abyss. The one you speak of has a name known to me.'
'She is his high priestess, and I too must open a channel to his place to draw power for certain of my spells, Gord. But Eclavdra is his willing slave, and I am no part of that! It is only that I am attuned to her. We have the same vibrations in many ways — but I, Leda, repudiate the link!
'For two centuries she dwelled in the Vault, that home of the drow deep under the ground. Eclavdra sought power, desiring to rule the Great Cavern of the Drow and all who dwelled therein. When her plans were thwarted, Eclavdra deserted her clan and sought power elsewhere. The demon lord I referred to — he accepted Eclavdra. Then did she come home with fury, bringing a horde of that demon's own retainers to ruin her enemies. There was a civil war, Eclavdra's side triumphed, and now the Eilserv clan and its supporters rule all drow.
'Once exposed to what was beyond the deep world, however, Eclavdra was dissatisfied with being queen. At least, that's how I read the memories which fester in my mind when I can bring myself to examine them. Perhaps it was more a matter of having to serve him, that great demon, elsewhere. It is not a matter of concern. She now desires to rule far more than a few thousand dark elves who live in the subterranean realm. Thus, she deals with all manner of demon lords and evil ones…'
At this pause, Gord had to ask, 'And where is this Eclavdra now?'
Leda shrugged. 'I am supposed to be her, a duplicate who knows the whereabouts of my 'parent' and hates that original. I should desire that one's death, so that I can become the only Eclavdra. But I do not know her mind fully, and I do not wish to become Eclavdra. I will slay her, for kill her I must, but only to rid Oerth of one so vile!'
'What are you saying, Leda? Please don't allow your emotions to muddle your thinking,' he said earnestly. 'I need to know clearly what is going on if I am to help you.'
'You're right. Let me calm myself a moment,' and so saying, Leda visibly relaxed and gathered her composure. 'Because I have been given, or somehow developed, a separate and unique identity, a persona my own and apart from Eclavdra, I do not know her exact whereabouts. Perhaps she is near here. I somehow sense she is, but that could be nothing more than a desire that she be, so I can confront and exterminate her. Eclavdra allowed my creation so that I would be a target, a decoy to be slain while she went unhindered to her goal.'
Gord prompted her again. 'What goal?'
'What you seek, she is also after. There is a contest, Gord. Two demonic factions struggle for possession of the… Final Key. I name it, for you are knowledgeable. The gross turd Iuz, the one who rules from Dorakaa, and now
