Feeling slightly wobbly, Laska exited her bedroom in the middle of the room, after grabbing for the robe hanging next to her bed. She scoffed when she missed and the robe dropped to the ground. She decided to leave it lying there.

"Hurry back," Phaere husked from the bed in a sultry low voice.

Laska grinned as she entered the kitchen, looking for just about any bottle of sweet syrup. Unfortunately, she didn't remember where she put it and started to search.

"Elves just wanna have fu-hun," Laska sang softly while scanning over the many shelves. "O-hoh, elves just wanna have... funnnn..."

And finally, she found her prize : sweet maple syrup, imported delicacy from the surface. Oh, Laska could already feel herself shudder under the onslaught of Phaere's nimble tongue licking the sweet syrup off her.

A loud bang sounded from the foyer... apparently, somebody had just kicked in the door.

Once again the party, the entire party this time, was standing in front of a smug Ardulace inside of the temple of Lolth, suspended high over the city of Ust Natha. They had been picked up from their home by cleric-stormtroopers, sent from the Temple by Ardulace. Most of them were in varied state of dress or undress, looking rather groggy. The clerics had allowed them little time to come to their senses, and it seemed that Ardulace enjoyed seeing them in a somewhat surprised, hapless and annoyed state.

A rather disheveled Solafein stood next to Ardulace, still holding a bloodied rag against his bleeding nose.

"So, Solafein," Ardulace, who was looking rather annoyed, asked. "What is the count?"

"Six broken noses, endless amounts of broken teeth, three arms broken, several ribs cracked, one of the priestesses got a silver tray wedged in her midriff and her situation is still critical, sprained discs, one broken back, two broken legs... If Laska hadn't slipped over some blood and we hadn't thrown a net over her before she got up again, I have no doubt we would have suffered fatalities," said Solafein, albeit in a somewhat nasal voice.

"Years of training and disciple, and you weren't even able to subdue a naked, unarmed and unarmored female?" Ardulace sighed. "So much for my vaunted elite guards. Perhaps I should send you all to the front and take care of my own protection, hm? Dismissed!"

Now it was Solafein's turn to be annoyed, but to ask on it was to invite death. "As you wish, mistress."

"Yeah, you run, alright!" a bath-robed Laska called after him. "Next time I'm gonna shove that net right up your ass!"

"Well," Ardulace addressed Laska, "despite your state of vivid entanglement with my wayward child my clerics found you in, you seem to have recovered nicely."

"Just get on with it, mother," Phaere, who only had a silken sheet wrapped around her body, was almost bleeding anger and looked upon her mother so foul it could curdle milk. She had been looking forward to the syrup, after all.

"Funny how we were lifted out of our beds like that," Jan said. "Kinda reminds me of our family holiday to Camp Crystal Lake. The entire clan was there, packed in to the brim. Ah, those were the days... pity about the fire, though. You see, it had to be so big because everybody wanted to put in their marshmallows at the same time. Most of the Cloakwood was needed for firewood and the soot in the air caused a global warming that killed off the last surviving dinosaurs. There were other problems, though. You see, there was this big human revenant wearing this hockey-mask who came up from the water to kill my innocent family members... but after slashing up a few of my poor cousins, he noticed the number of relatives still there, threw in the towel before he had started and left with a big inferiority complex. Last thing I heard he's off slaughtering virgins in Menzoberranzan... Heh, as if there are actually any virgins to find there. If you ask me, he was simply looking for a shorter hit-list."

"SILENCE, JESTER!" Ardulace shouted. "I've lost my patience! You will do as you are told and that is that!"

"Hmm," Minsc said. "Boo? Why is dark lady suddenly so irate all of a sudden?"

A crack of a whip sounded, the fangs biting into the ground in front of Minsc's feet. Minsc remained stoic, however, but put Boo is a small separate compartment of his armor, just to be on the safe side.

"Hey!" Laska started to say. "You can't just..."

A crack of the whip and a slash across her cheek silenced her briefly, but in no way removed the intensity from her eyes.

"Mother, enough!" Phaere snarled, moving towards the dias.

"I am merely excited and I will brook no more delays," Ardulace spoke. "Finally we will achieve victory over the wicked elves! The final component has been found. You will return it to me and our armies will finally lay waste to Suldenesselar..."

"Hm-hmmm," Phaere smirked. "That's what you said when you started this whole ill-gotten war... and what you've been saying just about every day."

"I realize I have been... overly optimistic, but now I have reason to. Victory is only hours away!" Ardulace said, positively beaming with delight. The First Matron sighed happily and sank down into her lavish throne and lounged for a moment. "Ah, yes, my glory is so near. All of them... I will show all of them now, all those who criticized my holy conquest. All of them will lay themselves down at my feet to feed of the scraps that fall from my table."

"Shouldn't she be out on a ledge?" Imoen whispered, just before Viconia rammed her elbow in her side to silence her while the First Matron was too busy gloating to notice her words.

Keldorn was looking rather distressed but wisely kept his mouth shut. Dynaheir was equally grim, but Korgan, on the other hand, was already mentally slaughtering an army of elves, smiling as he did so.

"You must go to the western mantle-caves," said Ardulace. "There you will find a small artificial tunnel-complex that is even older than Ust Natha itself. You must recover a large gem which rests on an altar there. Simple enough? All you must do is bring it back."

"That's it?" Laska asked. "No ghosts, no curses, no demons, no black holes that suck up everything?"

"Not this time, though there might be some unexpected difficulties," Ardulace said. "Besides, I don't want the champion of Ust Natha to die needlessly before she gets the chance to lead the armies of Ust Natha against Suldenesselar at my side. The conquered city will need a governor that will rule our new elven slaves with an iron fist. Stick with me, dear Laska, and you'll have power and wealth beyond your wildest dreams."

Laska felt bile creeping up in her throat, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.

"That's it then," Ardulace smiled. "You may go home to get dressed. Return with my gem."

"It's a setup," Phaere said while Laska removed her shift and pulled the leather undershirt over her head. "She wants to drive a wedge between us and damage my trade monopoly at the same time."

"I noticed," Laska said. "Somehow I doubt the gem will be as easy to get as she says it is."

"It won't be," Phaere said. "She's sending you into the Forge, an ancient temple. Not many people ever returned from that place. Our patrols give it a wide berth."

"Do you really believe Ardulace has a big superweapon just lying about hidden under her mattress?"

"The only thing Ardulace has lying under her mattress are toys of a different nature. In other words, I have no idea what she has planned," Phaere signed when she handed Laska her chainmail. Laska started to strap it onto her body. "I know from my contacts in her honor guard that she's planning something big, but she hasn't revealed what that plan is outside of her inner circle of priestesses."

"Handy," Laska said when she sat down on the bed to pull on her armored boots.

"To tell you the truth, I have my doubts," Phaere circled around the bed to stand in front of the sitting Laska. "Ardulace has a terrible track-record when it comes to master plans. It's hard to think of anything she actually did right since the first day of her rule... hell, the first day of her life. She's a bad leader, a bad priestess, a bad spellcaster and a bad mother. And I'll think of more things. I've got a whole list in my office at the Spire. I wouldn't mind the war being over, though."

"I'm sure the elves would mind losing," Laska smiled and strapped the last few belts.

"Who cares about them?" Phaere snorted. "Their deaths are not my problem."

Laska froze for a moment. "That's a rather cold attitude," she said.

"Interesting coming from a fighter of your caliber," Phaere said. "How many have you killed then?"

"Too many," Laska said and picked up both her blades : the magical Namarra and the serrated acidic blade Phaere had gifted her.

"Ust Natha is my main concern," Phaere said. "Given the choice between them or us, there is no choice. The foul elves will destroy Ust Natha utterly if given the chance."

"How do you know that?" Laska asked. "It's not their way. They'll force you back into the mantlecaves and probably seal the tunnel, but they won't slaughter the city's civilians."

"How would YOU know that?" Phaere retorted, getting more than a little angry. "You don't know what elves are capable of. The atrocities, the murders," Phaere said. "I tried sending out a trade-expedition to Suldenesselar under a flag of truth, with the Silver Guardian's permission, of course, but even with her blessing in their pockets none of my traders ever returned... until one of the border patrols found one of my servants from the caravan with five arrows in his back, one of which had a note pinned on it saying that 'Queen Ellesime does not trade with worms that crawl underneath the Earth'."

"That... can't be true," Laska said, being truly stunned.

"Oh, but it is," Phaere said. "So, I tried using gnomes to trade with my contacts on the surface... until the elves started attacking them as well. Now they have to travel almost 50 miles to another exit to the surface, so I can't trade perishable goods with the surface anymore. My mushroom beer is still wasting away in the stores below the Spire."

"Look," Phaere said. "I won't pretend elves and Drow were ever close friends. But, even though Ardulace attacked them first and started the war, they rebuffed every attempt at contact before the war even started. I will never trust an elf."

"Maybe you just haven't met the right elves yet," Laska spoke hopefully. "Moon elves are pretty cool."

Phaere remained silent for a long time. "You'd better not let a priestess hear you say that. As for me, well... I'd not turn my back on any elf even if you paid me. There's simply too much bad blood between our two peoples so let's not talk about this foolishness again. In the meantime, I'll check with my contacts... see what Ardulace wants with that gem."

Laska didn't say anything. It was something she just never had discussed with Phaere and it made her feel sad inside. It dawned onto her that one day she would have to leave. She was not Drow, she was a moon elf, and only made into a Drow by an illusion... Laska wondered how much longer it would hold. Phaere would know the truth one day, and Laska didn't know how she'd react to it.

Phaere approached her now, with a tender smile on her face. It banished the thoughts to the back of her mind.

"As for the temple, well," Phaere said, putting her hands on Laska's now armored shoulders. The two shared brief kiss. "expect trouble, because if there wasn't any, Ardulace would have sent in her honor guard already."

"Don't worry," Laska grinned. "I have these!" Laska twirled her blades in both or her hands and sheathed them neatly into the two scabbards on her back.

"I can see why the patrols never got near this place," Viconia shuddered as she looked into the mouth of the ancient cave. It was dark and foreboding, and it was as if they were staring to a dark maw without teeth.

"Scared, Vicky?" Jan said. "That's not like you. In fact, that's wasn't like my uncle..."

"Shut up, you infernal chatterer!" Viconia snapped. "I understand the language of the rock quite well, as you know... There's so much wrong about this place. I can feel it in the very core of my being."

"Aye," Korgan nodded. "That boy ain't right."

"Evil bleeds from that place," Keldorn said. "It has Boo's whiskers standing upright."

"Ey?" Minsc blinked. "You stole Minsc's line!"

"Apologies, Minsc," Keldorn said. "I didn't intend to steal the wind out of your sails."

"Hm?" Minsc said. "Boo, Minsc does not understand. How can you steal wind? The wind belongs to nobody and everyone."

"I don't feel anything," Laska said. "Let's just get to it."

Imoen, on the other hand, wasn't eager to enter the cave. "Uh, guys? How about Dyna and I stay here to make sure the cave doesn't warp away or anything."

"Come on, thou chicken," Dynaheir said and walked into the mouth of the cave, following the others.

"Every one of my rogue-instincts is screaming 'keep out' at me," Imoen sighed.

Together the party travelled into the cave. Strangely enough, it did not shared the coldness of the other mantle-caves. In fact, this cave was devilishly hot, even though there was not apparent source. But even more frightening was the absence of any kind of echo. In every single tunnel they have been, there was always the reflection of sounds... but not here.

Several rooms had been crudely hewn out of the walls, but had long been abandoned. Anything recognizable as furniture had long since rotten away. The main tunnel zig-zagged through the obsidian stone, meandering as if a mad giant worm had lost its sense of direction and just went anywhere.

A few steps later, the party entered a large antechamber. Apparently, it had been used as a gathering place. Few remnants of pews lay strewn about, while the chamber was illuminated by lichen, bathing the entire antechamber in an eerie blue glow.

But the most frightening aspect of the antechamber was a huge statue towering over them all. It was made of granite and stood over 10 meters tall. It's reptilian legs were bent in two places, claws ripped into the ground. Its huge and muscular frame sported no arms, but two long double-tentacles, curling on the floor and hanging limply by its side. Finally, two giant mandril heads with snapping jaws looked down upon the measly party.

"What the fu..." Laska started to say.

"I knew you'd be scared of that thing, Laska," Jan said. "This guy here reminds me of one of those monsters from those under-the-counter Kara-Turan 'artbooks' my cousin is selling from his bookshop. Girls generally don't react well to tentacles."

"I know of those books," Viconia chuckled. "You saw them at the market-place. We consider them comedy."

"Shit," Laska whistled. "I hope I never have to meet this guy."

"Hope you never do," Keldorn said. "This is Demogorgon, a demon prince from the Abyss. Apparently, some worshipped the foul beast here."

"Be 'e around?" Korgan chuckled. "I be choppin' 'im up, when he be distracted tentacling Dynaheir 'ere. HAR HAR!"

"Minsc will protect!" Minsc announced proudly. "Ranger and Hamster will make Demogorgon tentacle himself instead! AHEY!"

"Do not worry," Keldorn said. "Demogorgon apparently disappeared about two hundred years ago. Nobody knows what happened to him. We should be more fearful of old traps than for a demon prince."

In front of the statue was a large sacrificial slab, stained with the caked blood of over a thousand sacrifices. On the slab stood a huge bloodred gem, obviously their target.

"Let's just grab it and get the hell out of here," Laska said.

"Uh," Imoen said, "is it just be or are those eyes following me across the room?"

Just as Imoen took another step closer, the entire room went dark for just a second... only to appear completely covered with stains of blood from wall to wall, accompanied by a cacophony of death-screams of those sacrificed... all went dark again, only to reveal later than the room had return to normality.

"Imoen!" Viconia said after she had just caught Imoen by the belt as she was about to run away. "Stay here! Do you really want to go out there alone?"

Imoen tried to calm down, but Viconia kept a firm grasp on her belt anyway.

"Merciful Torm!" Keldorn gasped. "Look at that Ruby. It... it holds the souls of all those sacrificed here. Thousands upon thousands of innocent souls trapped! Laska, we cannot hand these over to Ardulace. It is our duty to find a way to destroy the gem and free the souls!"

"Ach, stop yet shite, Keldy!" Korgan roared. "Laska, las, we cannot be givin' this to that Ardulace bat! It be our duty to find a way ta be sellin' this baby for a bundle! HAR HAR!"

"What if it was your soul in there, Korgan?" Dynaheir said.

"I be sayin' : good on ye, mate! Ye be 'avin' better luck then I did," Korgan chuckled.

"You can't be serious, Korgan," Keldorn said.

"Aye, aye, I also be sayin' : Sell this baby, be goin' to the pub and 'ave one on me. Then be goin' to the nearest brothel and 'ave one on me there as well. HAR!" Korgan grinned. "Ach, don't be gettin' yer morals in an uproar, Keldorn."

Laska's eye caught a small glint from a piece of metal lying somewhat near the altar. After a closer inspection, Laska noticed it was a broken blade. Gently, she picked it up. It was a light bluesteel blade, oddly designed. It was sharp, well forged and delicate. Unlike most swords, the middle part of the blade, from top to shaft, was completely missing, but it was deliberately forged that way and was still strong and stable.

"Have you found something?" Viconia asked.

"A sword," Laska said. "Too bad it's broken."

As if on cue, Laska's bag of holding hanging from her belt started to stir. As if forced open, a hilt came flying from the opened bag and slammed into the blade. The two pieces fit together perfectly, and a blue light emerged from the blade as it reforged.

Laska watched in amazement as her bag opened again, and a pommel gem went flying out and into the hilt. She held the blade high as it bathed the antechamber it a powerful blue light : an ancient and powerful elven blade had finally been reconstituted after so many years and was once again brimming with power and magic.

"Gotta love elven craftsmanship," Laska grinned as she twirled the blade and found it flawlessly balanced. "This sword lies even better in hand than Ipsiya did. I CALL IT! DIBS!"

"Go ahead," Korgan snorted. "Ye be the only one 'ere who be usin' longswords. Besides, we nay wanna be usin' that elven crap anyway."

"Wow," Imoen chuckled. "What are the odds, ey? We've been lugging that pommel gem around for so long since we found it in Chateau Irenicus, then, by chance, I take the hilt from Ardulace's treasury and we come across the blade lying on the floor here."

"Who cares," Laska grinned, "I got a new toy!"

In that same cul-de-sac where Solafein and Phaere always had their clandestine meetings, the two had gathered again.

"So, how's the nose?" Phaere grinned.

"Throbbing and painful," Solafein said. "That bitch of yours has a mean punch."

"She has many talents," Phaere grinned. "Besides, you're the ones who invaded her home. You should have expected resistance. Now, to business. What is Ardulace planning? Why is she so eager to get her hands on that gem?"

"I cannot tell you that! You know that!" Solafein stressed. "If Ardulace finds out..."

"Yes, she'll torture you horribly and you'll give away all the names of the Eilistraee worshippers in the city, blah, blah, blah," Phaere said. "Need I remind you that I can have an anonymous message delivered revealing your involvement with these Eilistraee worshippers to Ardulace?"

"Then I will reveal that you were my contact during my years of espionage for you!" Solafein threatened. "Do you think she will react favorably to that?!"

Phaere paused a moment. "Look, we can threaten each other all day, but the fact remains that whatever she's planning could spell disaster to Ust Natha. You know how she can be when she gets an idea in her head."

Solafein remained silent for a while, his internal conflict obvious in his features. Finally, though, he nodded. "She intends to perform an ancient ritual. Nothing to worry there, though, because one of our priests says the ritual is based purely on myth. What the most dangerous part is, though, is that she intends to sacrifice the dragon eggs to make it happen."

"Is she mad?!" Phaere hissed. "It's bad enough that she stole Adalon's eggs to begin with, but now... those eggs are the only thing keeping that dragon from rampaging through Ust Natha. With our armies intact and our city strong we would be able to take her down, but not now... She'll wipe the floor with us."

"Don't you think I know that?" Solafein said. "We Eilistraeeans are leaving the city in secret before that happens."

"Rats leaving the sinking ship, huh?" Phaere grinned. "But that's no news to me."

"Ah," Solafein chuckled. "You are always aware of the happenings in the city's underbelly, aren't you? It suits your nature."

"We have to make sure nothing happens to these eggs," Phaere said. "My mother will be gambling with all our lives if the eggs are destroyed."

"For once we agree," Solafein said.

"We need to keep the eggs safe," Phaere nodded. "Here's what we'll do..."

Jan's trap-skills were impeccable, especially since Imoen wouldn't go near the statue if someone would pay her for it. Jan discovered some simple traps with were easily handled, took the gem and returned to the waiting party, whistling as he walked.

Unfortunately before he reached them, the curse of the gem did its macabre work. Five demon knights appeared right behind him. They were stereotypical demons : long horns, red skin, bat-wings and huge muscular frames. All that were missing were the cloven hooves and the bent-backward knees. The knights were also brandishing rather destructive great-swords.

Within a few seconds, the party was fighting for their very lives. Imoen and Dynaheir did their best at casting attack-spells, but as soon as they noticed their Death Clouds, Magic Missiles, Chromatic Orbs and Force Bolts were not having much effect, they switched to spells to enhance their friends.

The experience of Laska's party showed in this instance. Knowing they were outmatched, they fell back to a defensive position with the spellcasters in the back. The spellcasters in turn were defended by Keldorn and Viconia, while Laska, Korgan and Minsc formed the front line, battling the demons with glee in their hearts.

Especially the magically hasted Korgan was roaring in joy as he slammed his axe down against one of the knights with super-speed.

Laska was having great fun swinging her new sword around and learning its characteristics. So far it proved to be of fine elven construction, flowing, melding with her being as she dealt out pain. One of the demons attacked her, but Laska held her own and slammed her swords into the creature again and again.

Jan's loud laugh could be heard from the back of the room as a magical flash lit up the environment. Suddenly, one of the demons' shade had changed into... that of a pious looking Helmite paladin with a shiny armor and a ditto stupid look in his eyes. The other demons proved their stupidity by immediately turning to attack their comrade, literally slashing him apart in less than a minute.

Another one of the demons finally had enough of Imoen's magic missiles and stupidly decided to storm her. On the way to her, the demon was slashed by Laska's blades, Minsc's Lilarcor, Keldorn's Carsomyr, Korgan's axe and finally, just before he reached Imoen, Viconia slammed her shield into his stomach, causing him to double over. Then, Viconia rammed the tip of her shield in his neck, following it with a blow to the back of the head with the Flail of Ages, causing the demon's head to split open like a gory piñata.

Imoen then hit the dead demon with a magic missile for good measure.

"AHEY!" Minsc roared when he slashed a demon in two. The only two demons left were now showing numerous wounds. One of them was even missing an arm. Of course, being the berserkers they were, they were in no way ready to throw in the towel.

In the meantime, Laska found that her new blade started to glow in her hand. All of a sudden, her mind was filled with images from the blade. The blade told her its story. Even though it was not a sentient blade, it had been imbued with magical properties : it was a weapon called the Equalizer, designed to fight excesses. An elven warrior had carried the blade into the Underdark to battle the drow, but he had come across a cult that fed souls to Demogorgon before reaching the Drow. The elf fought valiantly, but was killed by an overwhelming force of worshippers. The worshippers destroyed the blade, but the release of magical energy killed every single one of them. The blade lay shattered in three pieces, one piece lost in the temple, the hilt taken by a Drow treasure-hunter and the pommel gem found by Irenicus quite recently.

When Laska snapped out of the flurry of pictures assaulting her mind, she found herself holding the blade up high... and strangely enough, it seemed to be bombarding the demons with shards of blue light. One by one, the blue orbs hit their targets, blasting the demons thoroughly. They fell with a whimper and a thud.

But it wasn't over yet. When the demons were down, the sword started to bombard several of her friends. Korgan, Minsc, Keldorn and Imoen were forced to dive for cover as the sword started bombarding them as well, leaving Dynaheir, Jan and Viconia to wonder just what was going on.

"Whoops, sorry," Laska winced and put down the blade. "This thing's got some nifty special powers."

"Och, be ye nuts, ye mad elf!" Korgan roared. "Shoot the bleedin' demons, not us!"

"I don't even know how I did that," Laska said.

"Hmm, maybe we should keep this gem, don't you think?" Jan said. "It would make for a nifty hat."

"So, this is it, hm?" Phaere said as she held the gem up high. They had returned to Ust Natha, but had decided to stop by at the house first. Phaere peered into the gem for a moment. "Strange. It looks like something's inside of it. Like swirling fog."

"Those are poor souls of the innocent," Keldorn said. "We should release them!"

"That won't make Ardulace happy," Phaere said. "Nor a perspective buyer."

"I won't even dignify that with a response," Keldorn huffed.

"Keep up that attitude and you'll end up on the altar for sure," Phaere said. "But I finally found out from my contact why my mother had you looking around for ancient times. It's all revolving around some ancient urban legend my mother has her hopes pinned on. It doesn't stand a chance, but the nasty part is that she'll be using the dragon eggs stolen from Adalon to seal the deal. Fortunately, I was one step ahead of her."

Phaere stepped to the table and picked up a black bag of holding. "I had an artisan speed-craft dragon-eggs for me and had my contact sneak into the temple treasury to switch them for the real ones," she said while taking out the eggs. "Funny," Phaere raised an eyebrow. "I didn't expect dragon eggs to be this light."

In the background, Viconia and Imoen shared a look. It conveyed humor at Phaere's antics, but also annoyance because it meant they had faced and escaped certain death the temple while Phaere could have done the work for them instead with a bribe and a smile.

"Anyway," Phaere said, "it's time for me to return to the Spire and secure these eggs. Heh, I am so looking forward to Ardulace's 'big push' now."

"What's going to happen if her ritual fails?" Laska asked. "Will it rain toads or something?"

"A what?" Phaere blinked, but dismissed it. "As for what will happen? Well, with the latest blunder under her belt, it's more than sure that she'll lose what last support she has left, so there must be some preparations made for..."

"A coup?" Viconia filled in. "That is a rarity among us. But when a First Matron displays as much weakness as Ardulace had."

"A coup, or a revolution," Phaere said. "Whatever happens first. In any case, I must make preparations to return the eggs to Adalon as a peace offering, but only after Ardulace has been disposed of and the problem with the elves have been dealt with." Phaere started pacing, as if faced with a difficult dilemma. "Ust Natha must be preserved. Once Ardulace is dead, we must withdraw our soldiers to the mantlecaves and prepare for a fight to the death. I only hope that Adalon will protect us from slaughter by the wicked elves if I can convince her the war was all Ardulace's doing and we had nothing to do with it. The next few days will be instrumental, so keep yourself available."

"Minsc will be ready and so will Boo! Ah, we'll kick the wickety witchy matron buttocks all over Ust Natha and beyond!"

"You don't have to fear the elves, Phaere," Laska tried. "They won't slaughter an entire city of unarmed civilians, even if they do hate us."

"How did you suddenly became an expert on elves, Laska!" Phaere snapped. "Didn't I tell you they were not to be trusted?! They've always wanted to destroy us and rebuffed any attempts to make peace and trade!"

"What do you want us to do," Laska said, feeling a little downtrodden.

"Act as usual," Phaere said. "Just give her the gem and we'll wait out her blunder. Her own stupidity will take care of the rest. Now, I need to call in favors and make arrangements for the defense of the city without Ardulace knowing about it. One way or another, this war ends soon. After that, we'll see what happens."

Phaere turned towards the door, leaving many with a sense of unease.