Watching the scene below, Escalla cocked her frost wand.
"Check it out! Hoo-hoo! Bathing in butterfly milk! Gal after my own heart!" Escalla changed back into normal form, buck naked, armed, and dangerous. " 'Course, I'm still gonna have to kill her nasty."
In the courtyard below, the black-skinned beauty stood to rinse her hair. Henry stared at her naked figure in shock. "You mean that's Lolth?"
Escalla stretched and posed. "Sure! Check out her arse! You only get perfection like that in goddesses and faeries!"
"You can tell just by her bottom?"
"Yeah. Well, that and the pall of total evil that surrounds her."
Escalla kept her back flat against the stone wall, looking for a way to creep closer to Lolth. "Come on. Maybe we can get closer." Escalla risked another peek at Lolth. "Hoo-hoo! Natural blonde!"
She moved onward.
Henry followed, whispering in fright. "I thought Lolth was a sort of spider!"
"So she smartened up her grooming habits a little! Now come on!"
Down in the courtyard, the six-armed demoness finally convinced Lolth to leave her bath. The six-limbed woman was forced to set her notebooks aside, find the goddess a towel, then pour Lolth a drink. The Justicar watched the creature at work, feeling almost sorry for her. The woman's six arms were always busy.
"I wonder who she is?"
"Easy." Escalla leaned close and gave everyone a nudge. "See? She's a handmaiden! Get it?"
A dire glance came from Jus. "You've been working up to that one for a while?"
"I'm a comedy natural!"
Lolth was leaving. The adventurers moved swiftly into the castle, following with all due stealth. Lolth's voice could be heard in conversation with her six-armed assistant. They spoke in the language of the tanar'ri-sibilant, hissing, and in Lolth's case, almost beautiful.
Jus levered open a door. Lolth's voice sounded louder, closer. The goddess was capable of all manner of magical spells. Their one chance of eliminating her was a surprise attack. Jus crept across a bloodstained room to another door, let Cinders listen, and then signaled Henry to take position to open fire.
"Wait!"
Escalla dived into the portable hole and returned with a little folded packet. She sprinkled diamond dust over Jus, her wings fluttering and her eyes crossing as she wove her spell.
"There! Stoneskin! It'll block the first half dozen hits you take." The faerie looked regretfully at the packet, mourning the passing of her engagement stone. "If she lays a glove on any of us, we're finished!"
Escalla readied a spell. Enid unsheathed her claws. Polk settled his hat, and Henry knelt with his magic bow pointed and ready to fire. The Justicar took one brief look over his comrades, gave a nod, and flung open the door.
They had reached a balcony overhung with a crushed and broken ceiling. The view looked out over another open courtyard, and the tail end of Lolth's procession could just be seen exiting through a distant gate. Shambling slaves carried milk buckets and clothing. The six-armed demon brought up the rear, three curved swords jutting through her belt.
Lolth's party drew out of sight. With a glance to make sure they weren't seen, the Justicar led a stealthy advance along the balcony.
Down!
Cinders's warning came a split second before a red streak flashed. Jus dropped to one knee, his sword catching a blow that should have smashed his head in two. Sword blades rang-brilliant red against blinding white. A figure tumbled from beneath the ceiling, spinning as it fell, and then the blades crashed against each other in a blur. A red blade hit Jus across the back, spitting sparks as the sword uselessly struck Escalla's stoneskin spell.
The eagle-helmed warrior had clung upside down between the roof beams. Hissing, it fought in a mad stammer of speed, the red sword like a streak of light as it strove to slaughter the Justicar. Jus blocked the attacks, then Cinders blasted out a massive gout of flame that engulfed the far end of the balcony.
The cadaver leaped clear an instant before Cinders's flames struck, and it clung to the rafters like a bat. Annoyed, the hell hound fired again, and this time the corpse shot away like an arrow, leaping over Jus's head. The Justicar spun, blocking a sword stroke that sheared at his head. Cinders's flames boiled and thundered along the balcony, sending the others diving madly away. Hovering in midair, Escalla worked the arming slide on her frost wand.
"Hey, bony! Suck on this!"
The Justicar swore and dived aside. Enid crashed into Henry and covered him as she threw herself into cover. Cackling with glee, Escalla fired her wand, a blast of ice smashing into the balcony. The undead monster turned agile handstands, bounding away. Escalla followed, playing a storm of lethal cold and razor sharp ice shards all over the creature as it fled.
"And that, my friend, is that! You took on the wrong gal's squeeze! No one touches the faerie!"
Deadly clouds of frost cleared. The cadaver emerged, its teeth set into a snarl, silent and deadly. The red sword in its hand sheathed the creature in a glow that had kept it safe from magic.
The grin fell instantly from Escalla's face. "Holy mother puss-bucket."
The Justicar struck from behind, blindingly fast, but Recca caught the blow. Sparks showered from their blades, and Benelux screamed in pain.
That hurt!
Jus tumbled free, and in his hand, Benelux's gleaming metal showed a scar.
The red sword! Benelux fluttered in panic. It's full of blood from last time! I think it gets sharper the more blood it has!
Enid roared and leaped, and Jus swung at the cadaver. They tried to bring it down from both sides. The monster parried Jus, twisted away from a punch that could have snapped its neck like a twig, then turned a somersault over Enid's two hefty claw blows. The cadaver landed at Enid's side and slashed with its sword, ripping a gash along the girl's flank. Blood was instantly sucked into the sword. Enid reared and roared, cracking a wing out to try and bowl Recca over. The corpse jumped easily over the huge wing, then staggered as Henry leveled his crossbow and opened fire.
The magic crossbow blurred, hammering out five bolts that tore into the screaming cadaver. The monster staggered back, then surged forward again, shot through the neck, chest, and skull. It tore the crossbow bolt out of its own eye, and the wound flared and healed. The withered body glowed with light as the hellish creature rebuilt itself. It started toward Henry, then whirled and parried as the Justicar's blade stabbed a lightning-fast blow at its spine.
Henry drew his sword and tried to fight, only to have the weapon struck out of his hands. Escalla whirred in with her lich staff, but the corpse leaped and dodged, spinning over her. Only the Justicar held his ground. He locked blades with the monster, then shot his arm over Recca's forearm, trapping him tight. Perfectly partnered, Cinders opened fire. The hell hound's flames blasted into Recca's face, blinding the monster and melting the helmet's surface. The undead cadaver hurled away, then staggered and fell as the Justicar severed its leg at the knee. Enid attacked again, but her blows were blocked, then the one legged monster leaped clear, hurtling back at the Justicar.
A miss from the red blade hit the wall, and solid granite shattered like porcelain. The Justicar roared and swung his sword down in a blow so massive it drove the undead monster to its knees. Sparks showered as blade met blade. Jus's huge strength kept his enemy crushed to the ground, and he kicked Recca's face with one heavy boot, breaking the corpse's neck, skull, and jaw. The monster ploughed over the balcony and smashed to the ground two dozen feet below.
"We did it!" Escalla was exultant. "The dead dude's toast! Teamwork rules!"