Hotaru VS Lloth by: [<>]Little Ru[<>] email: matron_hotaru@hotmail.com Rating: G *PrefNote* Alright, I have some explaining to do for this one story. First of all, Hotaru, Masoj and Lloth aren't MY characters (I wish they were), but all the others are. I really like role-playing, and my fav' race is the Drow; I decided to put Hotaru Tomoe in the character of a Matron mother, and have pitted her against Lloth for the ultimate dark magic fight. Here's the fun part: I only wrote about the actual fight, so there's no waiting! Hope you all enjoy, and don't forget to write me and tell me what you think! -->This story is dedicated to Kilsek of Noquar; Love you!<-- -------------------------------------------------------------------- "Let her come!" Screamed Hotaru at the top of her lungs. The ground below and around her began to shake violently and splinters of stone flew up about the structure of her magnificent house, forming a makeshift wall of jagged rock around the perimeter of the Hun’ett compound. The sound of the shattering ground was all-encompassing and the only thing that rang out over the pandemonium was the thunderous voice of Lloth, the infamously vengeful spider-Queen. "You have deceived me, Hotaru!" The dark goddess’ magically enhanced voice roared from all around. Other drow residing the south end of Menzoberranzan began to take to their balconies in hopes of seeing what all the commotion was about. "I have kept you under my eye from childhood, Hotaru! I had given you great power and you had proved very promising, you had all the potential to be the next ruler of Menzoberranzan’s first house!" Lloth continued, shaking the ground with each word, "But now, you go and do this! Do you not know what such erring will do to you, matron Hotaru? Do you not know the wrath such unfaithfulness will incur?!" The words were apocalyptic and everyone witnessing the event knew it; house Hun’ett and its matron were doomed. The openings in the ground around Hotaru widened at the spider-Queen’s last words and shadowed forms could be seen moving about below. Denizens from the lower planes, the doomed matron knew, hideous monsters that would rise up from the stone and mercilessly demolish her house and its inhabitants; the only thing they waited for was Lloth’s command. Hotaru cursed the evil creatures writhing about in the nine hells and drew in a breath, she was determined that her house would remain as it is, no matter the cost. "You cannot take from me the feelings I have and the things I believe in!" She yelled back to the angered goddess, surprised to see that her own voice’s resonance had been amplified enough to counter that of the goddess’, "And I have never been yours!" She called boldly. Lloth’s laughter was booming and condescending, "Yet you have ascended to the rank of fifth in all of Menzoberranzan! My ways have served you well indeed, my traitorous child!" She spat vindictively and watched as Hotaru turned her head away in disgust. The spider-Queen was pleased by the sorceress’ reaction, in fact, she had fully expected it. Hotaru’s ranking was nothing short of a miracle; she had begun her reign in Lloth’s favor but had quickly lost it, a disastrous occurrence for a fresh new matron. Still, Hotaru had triumphed over all the foes that had taken the chance to attack her house during its time of weakness--or disfavor, depending on how you look at it--. House Hun’ett remained as strong as house Baenre itself, and this pleased Lloth; the evil divinity liked ironies. But now, too much was too much. Hotaru had over done it in her rebellious ways. Not only had she refuted the spider-Queen’s religion and found power in the dark arts, but she had stopped her worship of the Goddess altogether. Having no children, Hotaru had no noble daughters to adopt her post as matron when she was to die. House Hun’ett remained without a weapons master for centuries, and not to mention a shortage of soldiers also. What kept the house alive battle -wise had been its dramatic increase in wizards; rogue wizards and mages who had deserted their own houses to join the Hun’ett battle came from every directions, all of them proud to be defying Lloth and her religion. Within a few years, house Hun’ett was Menzoberranzan’s most prominent magic source; the main wizard being Hotaru’s right-hand-man and original son of House Hun’ett, Masoj. The increase in mages was not particularly offending to Lloth, it was the fact that Hotaru ruled over so many. A slap in the face for the spider-Queen was the fact that house Hun’ett housed no noble clerics; Hotaru had no daughters, therefor had no noble priestesses. The only clergy in the compound were commoner females trying to make it in Lloth’s religion. The final insult was Hotaru’s weakness for a male of Ched-Nasad; Kilsek of the House of Noquar. She had come across him during an ambassadorial mission and had developped love for him ever since. Such a thing was not to be done! Males were inferior and for a female to care for one was absurdly ridiculous and pathetic; none the less, Hotaru came to grow very fond of the secondboy of House Noquar. This amalgamation of events had set off the spider-Queen and had directed her rage against house Hun’ett for the last time. The sacrilegious Hotaru and her house were to vanish, at the hands of Lloth, and that was final. "Hear me you ungrateful wench!" Lloth’s voice reverberated and the stone splinters surrounding house Hun’ett rose higher, "You were foolish to think I would let you continue on as you have. You have insulted me to the limit of my acceptance! You will see me clearer this day!!!" As she spoke her last words, the crack-riddled ground exploded into a multitude of red-hued light beams, and when the glare subsided, an army of about thirty horrid creatures leapt from their respective plane. The beasts, drooling and resilient with goo, moved into position around the Hun’ett compound as the wall of stone splinters crashed to the floor with an ear-shattering sound. Hotaru, on the highest balcony of her house, watched the spectacle with growing fear and apprehension. She and her house could take these alien beasts that snapped their jaws and closed in around her, and she knew it, but it would be quite a battle. This punishment was not uncommon in Menzoberranzan; it was justice, and never before had Hotaru ever seen or heard of a house escape the wrath of Lloth with their lives. But still, something inside her told her it could be done. "You can return to me, Hotaru." The spider-Queen’s voice warned as the hideous monsters surrounding house Hun’ett waited impatiently the ravaging that was to come, "You can salvage yourself and start over, with an new house." She went on. Hotaru’s eyes widened at the shocking words. Was that mercy she had just heard? Or was Lloth simply afraid to lose the battle, if such a thing was possible? Normally, any other matron would have jumped at the chance of being spared, but not Hotaru. She would have to sacrifice her house, what she’d worked for all these long years; all of her brave soldiers and talented wizards, who had kept her alive for so long. What kind of a deal was that? And how did she know that Lloth was being sincere about sparing her? It was just too dangerous...and what kind of fool did the wicked goddess take her for anyway? "I will fight!" Hotaru’s magically empowered voice tore through the air with the power of a lightning bolt. She knew that the decision would lead to either life or death, but she knew she had done the right thing in refusing Lloth’s selfish offer. Beneath her, the summoned creatures shrieked and roared and charged her house. Onlooking drow were numerous and all gawking, completely entranced by the defiant sorceress and the angered spider-Queen. The yells of Hotaru’s warriors erupted and her fair-sized army rushed out of every possible exit, as well as levitated down from the balconies, to try their hands at the hellish denizens that ripped and tore at the compound. If the monsters weren’t disposed of quickly, the house itself would be in ruins by the end of the battle. Hotaru watched on and felt every possible emotion, she thought her mind would explode. Just as her fighters were being joined by her many mages, who came in casting various offensive spells, she felt the pounding strength of a mental attack. Lloth herself was attacking Hotaru! The pained matron fell to her knees atop her balcony and fought back, to be then joined by the house wizard and his bodyguards. "Hotaru!" Masoj cried and crouched down to assist his fallen matriarch. Hotaru shook her head and pushed Masoj away, "No! Go help the others! I will deal with Lloth!" She cried and clenched her hands. Masoj’s eyes widened, "B--but--" He stuttered; Lloth was a goddess! Could she be `dealt with’? And was Hotaru capable of doing so? "GO!" Hotaru’s voice yelled as she thrust her finger towards the edge of the balcony. Without further complaining, Masoj and the two other mages jumped the balcony, levitating down to where the battle against the monsters was taking place. Lloth seemed to have let loose for a bit and Hotaru got the chance to see how the battle down below was doing. The monsters had entered the house through large holes that they had tore and now as much action happened inside the house as outside. A few of her soldiers and even less of her wizards lay dead on the ground; a total of about twenty-five in all. From outside anyhow, Hotaru was pleased to see that the battle was leaning her way; she watched proudly as Masoj finished off one of the hideous ten-armed creatures with a searing fireball. Cheers sounded from the lower chambers and Hotaru guessed another creature had fallen to its death. She let her heart skip a beat when she thought: could we actually be winning? Could we? Unfortunately, before Hotaru could get any more confidence, the thunderous voice of Lloth returned, "Do not resist me, weak matron!" The goddess screamed in fury at he sight of her denizens’ ranks thinning. Hotaru couldn’t help but smile; her thoughts had been correct, she was winning. But angering Lloth would not be the answer to Hotaru’s problems... The ground tore wider and another brigade of monsters descended upon the doomed house. Hotaru hoped her soldiers could do their job as well as they had earlier, for there was over twenty new monsters around the compound now! A thought came into Hotaru’s mind then, "Show yourself!" She hollered and threw her arms up to the cavern ceiling, "Show yourself you fraud of a goddess!" She went on when she got a surge of bravery. If she could get Lloth to show herself-- done before only a few times by Baenre--she could get the goddess to focus all of her attention on her instead of her house. By doing that, her soldiers would have a better chance of annihilating the monsters before Lloth had the time to summon any more. She then frowned and wondered if, if she died during the battle, would Lloth continue to summon monsters until house Hun’ett was demolished? Probably, she figured. There was a rumble in the atmosphere, a rumble that overtook even the loud sound of the battling down below, and the stone splinters flew up into a wall once more, blinding Hotaru from anything beyond her own house. "Lloth! You worthless excuse for a divinity!" Hotaru repeated, well aware of what she was getting herself into but determined to save her house, "SHOW YOURSELF!!!" She screamed and her voice boomed with an intensity that seemed to cause the stone splinter wall to waver. In kind of brain storm, she saw her entire life in a flash and then she heard the deafening shriek of lightning bolt from somewhere below her. The sound was amazingly loud and was followed by a jumble of clattering weaponry. She shut her eyes and screamed out of confusion, rage, and the need for energy. When she opened her eyes and looked up, the stone splinter wall had fallen once again and a beautiful drow woman in flowing black robes levitated fifty feet ahead of her. The woman smiled a devilish smile. Hotaru gulped. This was Lloth, she guessed. Ordinarily, and historically, the spider-Queen was a spider with the head of a drow female; but the lovely lady with her web-like robes floating before Hotaru at that moment couldn’t be anyone else. After her awed expression died down a little, Hotaru regained her composure and prepared for battle. She shut her mind off against telepathy and stood straight, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Was this going to work? She thought desperately. Before her, fifty feet away, the form Lloth had taken continued to smile; below them both, house Hun’ett’s battle against the denizen-monsters raged. "You will wish you had never incurred my wrath, Hotaru of No House Worth Mentioning!" Lloth screeched after a considerably long moment of silence between her and her rival. She raised her right arm and pointed at a wide-eyed Hotaru. At that point, a million thoughts rushed into the matron’s mind; Lloth was going to a spell!!! Could she counter it? Did she have the power to? Was this the untimely end of Hotaru Hun’ett? If she stopped this spell, would she have the power to stop another? Without giving any time for answers, Lloth’s spell shot forward in a stream of black-colored energy. The spell traveled the fifty feet between Hotaru and Lloth at an amazing speed, and before Hotaru could figure any strategy, the spell hit home. Hotaru rocked back when the magical energy hit her and then she was propelled to the wall behind her as the energy made its second and final attack. Hotaru’s head hit hard and she felt herself go dizzy. Lloth watched the spectacle and laughed wickedly. "You--will--not--win!" Hotaru heard herself say--scream--. She pried herself off the wall and called the Silence Glaive to her aid, its cold steel soothing her hand; she felt its energy course through her -- she focused. Lloth prepared a counter spell of her own as Hotaru reached the peak of her concentration, and when the matron let loose her power (while wondering if the magic would affect the goddess at all), Lloth unleashed her strength simultaneously. The crash of the colliding spells was heard in a series of booms and tearing sounds. When the blinding light created by the collision had subsided, Lloth nor Hotaru was injured. "Do not even try!" Lloth spat arrogantly, her clinging yet flowing robes like a shroud around her. Hotaru’s lips curled back in a tight smile, "Try to stop me!" She hissed back to the evil goddess with a confidence in her eyes that her rival couldn’t help but futilely admire. All drow onlookers had completely forgotten about the monster battle and looked up, transfixed, at the highest balcony of house Hun’ett, where a suicidally brave matron fought for her house with a viciousness and tenacity never before seen. "Behold my power, and suffer my wrath!" Lloth yelled and as her arms shot forward, a continuous stream of magical energy streamed from her slender fingers and shot out at Hotaru. The matron on her balcony had shut off all outside occurrences, including the battle down below, and focused all her power at holding back Lloth’s energy. She breathed a few words and, with a scream of sheer adrenalin, threw her Glaive forward at Lloth and unleashed power of her own. Hotaru’s lightning-like purple magic errupted from her polearm and slammed full-force into Lloth’s black stream of divine energy. Both forces pulled and pushed, both casters in full thrall of resistance and demand; it was quite a spectacle. Hotaru doubted she could destroy Lloth but didn’t doubt that she could make Lloth back down. But Lloth, Lloth did not want to be defeated by one of her subjects! With a groan, Lloth strengthened and Hotaru’s magic was pushed further towards its caster. The strength and concentration it took to keep one’s power flowing equally towards one target was incredibly hard to keep up and Hotaru felt her earlier head injury begin to loosen her concentration. As Lloth saw her power gaining intensity, she threw her head back and erupted into demonic laughter. Hotaru, on the other end, felt a hot tear stream down her cheek; this couldn’t be happening! She thought, but then reminded herself of what she had decided to do. It had been her decision to battle Lloth, and so she was the one who had to suffer the consequences. Hotaru closed her eyes as her magic began to fail her and began to accept defeat. But just as she expected to feel the final, all-powerful blow of Lloth’s power as it pounded down onto her, she looked up to see Masoj and the two other mages at his side. Hotaru’s lower lip trembled with exhaustion and she felt her knees weaken, but the three lifted her to her feet and joined her in the battle against Lloth with their separate magic. With Masoj and the others helping now, Lloth stopped laughing. She thought she’d won! Hotaru was doomed! "Your petty principal wizard and his pathetic apprentices cannot help you, Hotaru! You are mine!" Lloth’s voice struck the air with amplified resonance. Once again, impossibly, Lloth’s magic grew stronger; but with four separate --and relatively powerful-- spellcasters aiming their power at hers... she didn’t know how long she could hold on. "I am a goddess!" Lloth screeched, "You cannot defeat me!" She looked down at house Hun’ett and realized that all of her monsters had been defeated. She thought of summoning more, but her strength was busy elsewhere! Once again, Lloth admitted to herself with a sneer, Hotaru had tricked her! But her anguish was not over yet; house Hun’ett’s many wizards exited the compound from doors and balconies. They were going to join the fight against her! "Goddesses can’t be defeated," One wizard called sarcastically from behind Hotaru, Masoj and the others, "There’s a first for everything." He finished with an evil sneer and shot his magic towards Lloth with a vengeance. Hotaru smiled and tired smile as she realized that the wizards of her house had come to join the battle. She dared to think that Lloth didn’t stand a chance. Columns and bolt-streams of magical energy aimed unerringly at the spider-Queen radiated and crackled; it was beautiful! "This is mutiny!" Lloth’s booming voice sounded as her magic began to steadily retreat. Matron Hotaru continued to send her energy towards the goddess and yelled back with all her strength, her voice sounding over all the magical activity, "It is our way!" She called with a bitter sarcasm that no one could deny... not even Lloth herself. Hun’ett soldiers filed out of the compound just in time to see Lloth’s magic retreat completely. Still, unrelenting, the mages continued to send their power her way, until the spider-Queen’s corporeal body dissipated into nothingness. Slowly, the wizards stopped casting and with another earthquake-like tremor, Lloth’s voice said, "You’ve not seen the last of me, Hotaru Tomoe!" And the voice sank away and ceased. There was an uneasy silence about the south end of Menzoberranzan then, and a great deal of High-Priestesses retreated to their chambers to think more clearly about Lloth. House Hun’ett had won the day, and when it finally sank in, the warriors raised their bloodied weapons in salute and cheered at the top of their lungs; the mages joined in with excited whoops and shouts; and even a few drow onlookers clapped in utter amazement at the scene that had just been played out before them--that is, until their families pulled them back inside-- . "Thank you." Hotaru said and moistened her parched lips, "Thank you." Beside her, Masoj smiled proudly and threw his arms around Hotaru’s neck. All of the Hun’ett compound cheered, and Hotaru collapsed into unconsciousness; the Silence Glaive clattered to the floor. It was quite a feat, she’d pulled this day. ----------------------------------------------------------------- You like it? Tell me and I'll dish out some more! If you like that sort of thing where characters mingle with other times and places, I invite you to check out Dragon HighLord Autumn's "Great Library" section at: http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/loxwood/451/ Thanks for reading! [<>]Little Ru[<>]