Chapter 11 The Way of the Drow
The Tux family mansion is huge and impressive.
The natural rock shape is already magnificent, but over the past few centuries, Mother Tux has added countless intricate carvings.
The circular vault flashes with purple demonic fire, and the magic spider web fence is even said to have been woven by Rose herself.
But in Santila's opinion, it was a bit exaggerated.
From a wizard's point of view, although it is gorgeous and extraordinary, it is a bit too much.
The door swings outward as she approaches, and a group of Tux family warriors bow to her.
The ogre servants hurriedly stepped forward to take away her mount. Eight fully armed drow women, the elite guards from the matron, led her through the winding corridors and headed straight to the center of the fortress. : Temple of Lolth.
The young wizard marched with the guards, her mood becoming more and more uneasy as the temple approached.
As the bell rang at midnight, Santila entered the hall of the temple.
The two most powerful priestesses of Lolth in the ancient city of Orens came into view.
They are all high-ranking priests of Lolth, typical representatives of the followers of the Spider Queen.
Wearing dark priest robes and a serious and pious look is Marina, the guardian of the Temple of Rose.
This seemingly bored and lazy guardian has a strong belief in Lolth and rarely leaves her beloved shrine.
The other one is Elizabeth, the matron of the Tuckers family, the leader of the first family and the perfect choice to be the matron of the family.
To Santila, the old bastard was nothing more than a vicious two-legged spider.
Cold, extremely practical, ruthlessly efficient, and even her slightly gloomy and majestic image makes her a little timid.
Santilla saw her magic mentor standing behind her two sisters.
When she noticed the strange indifference on the other person's face, her uneasiness increased.
In the temple.
Standing strikingly above the three Tux sisters is a huge magical illusion, which is a tribute to the Spider Queen Lolth, endlessly changing between giant spiders and beautiful drow women.
About ten years ago, her father, the Chief Archmage, personally created this breathtaking illusion to please the matron of the Tux family.
This magical illusion was one of the conditions for her to be raised by the Tux family.
"You are finally here." As usual, Matron Elizabeth's tone was stern and emotionless.
Santilla bowed deeply to her, flashed her eyes, and said in a deliberately frivolous tone, "At your command, Aunt Tux."
"It's the mistress!"
Marina scolded sternly, her anger at Santila's lack of respect clearly revealed in her words.
Santila ignored it.
Rudity is just one of the reasons why this high-ranking priest who is most devoted to the Spider Queen hates her.
In fact, there is a deeper reason.
One night a year ago, Marina worshiped Rose religiously as usual.
But she was hiding quietly in the dark, using the power of magic to activate two spider silks, vividly imitating her distinctive staggering gait and exaggerated kneeling posture.
The prank in front of the temple, Santila once thought that this incident would annoy the Spider Queen.
But the strange thing is that Rose is not unhappy about this. It seems that even evil gods will appreciate a little black humor occasionally, so that her Aunt Marina can only suppress the anger in her heart.
"Praise to Rose. One day, the capricious Spider Queen will get tired of her tricks, but for now, this naughty girl has undoubtedly won Rose's favor." Afterwards, Yi Mistress Lisabetta analyzed it this way.
Because of these words, she almost entered the Spider Academy where priestesses were trained.
As usual.
The guardian of the shrine took a deep breath and prepared to give a lengthy scolding.
But to Santila's surprise, Mother Taxi waved her hand to keep her sister quiet. She leaned forward, stared at her for a long time, and spoke slowly.
“It can be seen that you are over thirty years old. However, you did not enter the academy as required by law and custom for nobles. You should have prepared to serve the Tuckers family. While serving, I wasted nearly fifteen years letting you have fun.”
"I am from the Pumor family." Santila raised her head and faced the mistress firmly, "My family has been destroyed for centuries, so I do not belong to the nobility."
"Besides." She Then he emphasized: "I made good use of this time. My father arranged the best magic training for me."
A smile crawled onto the corners of Matron Elizabeth's lips. Glancing over the sullen Jolana, she said softly to Santila, "Don't worry, child. Soon, you will be a true noble, the most dazzling drow princess of the Tux family. When you are finished Blood sacrifice, I will personally adopt you as an adopted daughter to make up for the regrets of your dead mother."
"Is this my father's decision?" The young wizard's expression changed slightly.
Kydroff refused her to join the Tux family. As his only daughter, he did not want her to be the target of countless intrigues.
He told me this himself, Santila thought.
"That old Loth beast will definitely be furious." Matron Elizabeth snorted mockingly, showing an evil smile, "But he has no choice. That's why he has nothing to do with Loth. The fate of the pious heart.”
This old bastard finally revealed her purpose, Santila thought angrily.
She could not help but think maliciously of the reason why Elizabeth had never had a mate.
Some obscure rumors even suggest that the Mistress's hobbies are incomprehensible even by drow standards.
But it would be unwise to say these things.
Her heart sank, but she knew that it was impossible to avoid this disaster. The most important thing now was to pass her own blood sacrifice ceremony and become a real drow recognized by Rose.
Santilla nodded with great difficulty.
So, she saw that the old bastard Mother Elizabeth’s fake smile became even more obvious.
This made her consider whether to secretly set up a monitoring spell in this old bastard's bedroom, and then publish the crystal image at the ceremony in ancient Orens City.
In this case, some kind of obscure rumor will be made public, which will be wonderful, she thought maliciously.
"Are you ready for the prey?" the mistress turned and asked her second sister.
"Yes."
Jolana nodded gloomily, "The young drow standing in front of us shows great potential, which is in line with our expectations of her. If It would be an insult to the future princess of the First Family not to give her a real test."
Matron Elizabeth raised her eyebrows and said coldly to Jonara in threatening words, "Very well, as long as it is within the rules of blood sacrifice, this is your prerogative and I will not interfere. However, do you know that if any misfortune occurs, you will be the first to bear the brunt? "
"The great Spider Queen Rose has been watching her devout people." Jolana did not answer directly. She looked at the image respectfully and asked, "Are you doubting my belief in Rose?"
"Praise Rose!" Marina whispered.
It turns out that this old bastard's position was threatened, so she was trying to recruit allies. Santila, who was watching with cold eyes, saw the reason.
"Santilla, the future princess of the Tax family, are you ready?" Mother Elizabeth looked at her.
Santila bowed deeply, trying her best to hide her uneasiness and appear calm.
"Then, this will be the prey you have been waiting for." Jonara raised her arms high, and then swung them to both sides of her body.
A slight crackling sound sounded in the heavy, humid air of the room, and a strange magic circle suddenly flashed on the ground.
Every pair of eyes in the hall turned, looking forward to the prey that was about to appear.
Santilla looked uneasily at the surging light.
The moment the light of the magic array dissipated.
A half-elf male wearing a black cloak appeared in front of everyone.
“This is an insult!”
Seeing the face of the prey clearly, Santila became very emotional and blurted out in anger and confusion, “I always thought that my blood sacrifice would It will be a test of skill and courage, a hunt for dangerous creatures on the surface. He is an intelligent race, and this blood sacrifice humiliates him and me."
"You are wrong! The meaning of blood sacrifice is that you can’t blame others.” Marina, the guardian of the temple, said coldly:
"You have heard so many stories about surprise attacks by surface commandos over the years. What do you think they are slaughtering? Could it be domestic animals like Los beasts? Prey is prey! Whether it has two legs or four legs, it is sacrificed to The prey of the Spider Queen!"
"I won't do that," Santila refused coldly.
She turned her head, and a huge cage appeared in her sight.
This is prepared to receive the sacrifice of the blood ritual. It is surrounded by huge magically fed spiders, which are the core of the power of Taksi's guard.
In fact, there are giant spiders standing guard everywhere - in every corner of the room, on every step leading to the throne, and even suspended from the ceiling of the room by long glowing threads .
"You have no right to choose in this matter." Matron Elizabeth looked at the stubborn wizard and said slowly, "It is the matron's business to choose the prey, and what hunting is is also defined by them. "
"This battle mage from the Kingdom of Cormyr"
Jonara couldn't help but smile, "will be transported to an abandoned building in the southeast of Ancient Orens City. Cave. And you will be escorted to a nearby tunnel. No matter what weapons and methods you use, you must capture and kill this half-elf. If you cannot complete it within ten dark cycles, your hunt will end in failure. "
"Bring this with you"
She said while handing Santila a small glass bottle, "The tunnels in the wild are very complicated, and many young drow will be confused. If you can't find your prey, the mission will fail. Take this with you. Trust me, your prey will chase you no matter how far you go, completely eliminating the worries of searching for your prey."
"Is there no room for maneuver?"
Santilla took the small bottle blankly and looked at her with sad eyes for the last time, her desperate whisper clearly indicating her mood at the moment.
"You are very talented and well trained, and we are very confident in your success."
Jonara comforted her with a perfunctory fake smile, "Otherwise, You will be killed by the prey. This is the challenge and rule of blood sacrifice, and it is also the truth of our drow life!"
Her voice was calm and cold. At this moment, Santila understood everything! , and I understand it completely.
In a daze, she seemed to feel a weak flame of hope extinguishing in the depths of her heart. Perhaps, this was a harbinger of the coming darkness.
After all, it is never the fear of darkness that tortures people, but the soul struggling to pursue the light.
She must get used to this betrayal, try to accept this reality, and then try to stay vigilant and continue living.
Revenge is the root of drow's passion, but this feeling is foreign to Santila.
She tasted it as if it were a glass of spiced green wine she had recently tasted—bitter, yes, but energizing and resolute.
Santila was still young and open to learning about her people.
However, this was the first time she saw in other drow their desire for their own death.
Santila felt instinctively that she couldn't ignore this if she wanted to survive.
The young drow wizard moved his sky-blue eyes away from the vicious gaze and turned to the prey they carefully selected for themselves.
She was surprised to find that the battle mage from the Kingdom of Cormyr had an unusually calm look in his eyes, as if he was an outside spectator, completely unaware of where his fate would lead next. .
His complexion was pale, and his smooth and white face showed sharp edges and coldness, while his deep black eyes had a soft and charming color.
She saw him shaking his head slightly at her, and then nodded secretly.
Then, he calmly stepped into the portal and disappeared.
What an irony.
Santilla felt a pair of eyes flashing with vicious amusement on her, and she whispered to herself.
In her most desperate moment, the person who comforted her was not her blood relative, but a prey that was about to be hunted by her.
This is the society of drow, the truth of drow life.
So, she will never succumb to the conspiracy and rules they have woven. She must try to resist, and complete the blood sacrifice in her own way, becoming a true drow.
However, if she wants to become a true drow, what other choice does she have?
Other options?
Watching the battle mage leave, a cold smile slowly crept onto Santila's pretty face.
A solution to the dilemma gradually took shape in her mind.
After all, becoming a true drow is far more than just killing.
Constant change is the way of excellence.
Only the fittest survive!
(End of this chapter)