"It was beautiful," Feliane said with a smile. "I saw the Lady in it, as clearly as I've ever seen her in anything."
Halisstra didn't know how to reply, so she dropped her eyes and said only, "Thank you."
"You have come far in only a short while," Feliane said, stepping past her to look down on the tor.
Halisstra nodded. She had indeed.
"May I ask you something?" Feliane asked.
"Of course," Halisstra said, and something in Feliane's tone caused Halisstra's heart to race.
Feliane asked, "What drew you to the worship of Lolth in the first place? The faith is …
hateful, ugly. But I can see that you are none of those things."
Halisstra's heart thumped in her chest. She wasn't sure why the question affected her so. A
tiny seed in the center of her being stirred, but no immediate answer came to her.
She thought for a moment and finally answered, "You give me too much credit, Feliane. I was hateful. And ugly. Nothing drew me to Lolth. Nothing had to. I was raised to worship her, and I
enjoyed the benefits associated with my station. I was petty and small, so awash in spite that it never occurred to me that there might be another way. Until I met you and Uluyara and saw the sun. I owe you both much for that. I owe the Lady much for that."
Feliane nodded, took her hand, and squeezed it. The elf said, "May I ask something else?"
Halisstra nodded. She would hold nothing back from her sister in faith.
Feliane took a breath before asking, "Did you ever think that what you did in her name was. . evil?"
Halisstra consciously decided not to hear an accusation in the question. Feliane's face held no judgment, merely curiosity. Halisstra struggled to articulate a response.
"No," she answered at last. "I'm ashamed now to say it, but no. Faith in the Spider Queen brought power, Feliane. In Ched Nasad, power was the difference between those who ruled and those who served, those who lived and those who died. It's not an excuse," she said, seeing
Feliane's expression grow clouded, "just an explanation. What I did then, what I was, it shames me now."
Staring thoughtfully into the darkness, Feliane nodded. The silence stretched.
Finally, the elf said, "Thank you for sharing yourself with me, Halisstra. And do not be ashamed of what you were. We are made anew each moment. It is never too late to change."
Halisstra smiled. "I like that very much, Feliane. It gives me hope that someone else I know might be redeemed."
Feliane smiled back.
They stood quietly for a moment, listening to the wind.
"We should awaken Uluyara and start moving," Halisstra said.
Feliane nodded but did not turn to go. Instead, she said, "I'm afraid."
The words surprised Halisstra. She had never before heard such an admission from another female.
After a moment, she put her arm around Feliane, drew her close, and said, "I am too. But we'll find strength in our fear. All right?"
"All right," Feliane replied.
Halisstra turned to her, held her at arms length, and said, "The Lady is with us. And I have a plan."
Feliane raised her thin eyebrows. "A plan?"
"Let's awaken Uluyara," Halisstra said.
Feliane nodded, and they walked back toward the temple. Before they reached it, Uluyara emerged.
"There you are," said the high priestess. "Is everything well?"
"It is," Feliane said with a smile. "Halisstra has a plan."
Uluyara frowned. "A plan?"
Halisstra wasted no words. "I believe I know why Eilistraee put the Crescent Blade into my hands."
Uluyara's brow furrowed, and she said, "We already know why, Halisstra. You are to use the blade to kill the Queen of the Demonweb Pits."
Halisstra nodded. "Yes, but we've been thinking that I would use the blade only against Lolth herself. But I think Lolth would be weakened if her Chosen never answered her call. I need to deny her her Yor'thae. I need to kill Quenthel Baenre."
Her sisters looked at her, confused.
Halisstra said, "Don't you see? I was meant to meet Quenthel Baenre during the fall of Ched
Nasad. I was meant to learn of her quest to awaken Lolth. Eilistraee's hand is in all of this. I see it now. Quenthel Baenre is Lolth's Yor'thae. If I kill her. ."
Then maybe I can kill Lolth, she thought but did not say.
"Then Lolth will be vulnerable," Uluyara said, nodding.
"Are we certain?" Feliane ventured. "The prophecy of the Crescent Blade did not speak of the
Spider Queen's Chosen."
"I am as certain as I can be," Halisstra replied, knowing that she was not certain at all.
Feliane did not hesitate. She said, "Then I am convinced."
Uluyara looked from Feliane to Halisstra. After a moment she blew out a sigh, touched the holy symbol of Eilistraee she wore around her neck, and said, "Then I am also convinced. How will we find Quenthel Baenre?"
Halisstra wanted to hug the high priestess.
"She is here, somewhere in the Demonweb Pits," Halisstra said, "trying to reach Lolth. I am certain of that too."
"Then we must find her before she reaches the Spider Queen," Feliane said. "But how?
Follow the souls?" She indicated the damned souls streaming high above them.
"No," Halisstra said. "We must locate her more precisely."
Uluyara understood Halisstra's meaning, and said, "The Baenre will be warded. A scrying spell will not work."
"She will be warded," Halisstra conceded, "but she bears an item that once was mine, a healing wand that she took from me after the fall of Ched Nasad. That will aid the spell." She looked her sisters in the face. "It will work, and that it does will be a sign from the Maiden."
"She may sense the scrying," Uluyara said.
Halisstra nodded and replied, "She might. Let us trust in the Lady, High Priestess. Time is short." Halisstra felt the moments slipping from her.
"I am with you, Halisstra Melarn," Uluyara said with a smile. "But to scry, we must have a basin of holy water."
Halisstra scanned the top of the tor, looking for any standing pool of water left over from the rain. Uluyara and Feliane spread out to help search.
"Here!" Feliane called after only a few moments.
Halisstra and Uluyara hurried over and found Feliane standing over a small puddle of foul water that had pooled in a declivity in the rock.
"That will do," Halisstra said.
"I will hallow it," Uluyara said, taking out her holy symbol.
She held the medallion over the water and offered a prayer of consecration to Eilistraee. As she chanted the imprecation, she took a small pearl from her cloak and dropped it into the water.
The pearl dissolved as if it was salt, the rime of filth vanished, and the water cleared. Uluyara ended the prayer and stepped back from the puddle.
"It is ready," she said.
Halisstra could not help but smile. Between the raising of the temple and the consecration of a holy water font, the three priestesses had carved off a little piece of Lolth's plane in Eilistraee's name. It felt good; it felt defiant. She wondered how long the temple and font would last before the evil of the Pits reclaimed them.
It will stand forever once Lolth is dead, she thought.
With renewed determination, she knelt before the font and saw her dim reflection in its clear waters. Lolth's eight stars, though they hung directly above her, did not show in the reflection.
Halisstra was pleased. Even on her own plane, the Spider Queen could not befoul Eilistraee's font.