The spiders saw her, but they did not attack. Most spiders recognized drow instinctively - a gift of the Spider Queen, Lolth - and left them alone. The spiders left Aradia well enough alone as she went about her business. She prayed every night to the Spider Queen for a couple of hours each, desperately trying to regain some semblance of favor from Lolth. Lolth had yet to show her a sign. Indeed, she was still hunted like the prey of a great predator.

A spider crawled along one small crevice nearby. It was a large spider - a cave spider, in fact. Such things were commonplace in the Underdark. But this was not the Underdark. This was Ungol Felas, the Spider Caves. She had heard of such caves but had never been in them; she'd heard they were sacred places. If one lived through the night, it was said, then they had the favor of Lolth.

While not at all a merciful goddess, Aradia had never been more faithful to her. Her devotion to the Spider Queen had never wavered, not for a moment. She had also proven her skill against those assassins, though it was more the rauko than her that finished them off. She was taken by surprise. She would not be again.

Aradia let go of such thoughts, though, as she stretched out her hand, palm down. The cave spider paused for a moment before climbing up onto Aradia's arm. She smiled and let it scuttle further and further along the sleeve of her robe. It paused several times, and she finally let it down. It scuttled off of her arm onto the floor and started scuttling away from her...

Why was she here? The caves stank of spiders... if that was possible. Webs - sticky, silky thread things clung to her feet in a desperate attempt to ensnare her. Filthy, FILTHY things!! Using her wand, Stella cast the "Spark Spell" at any web that dared to capture her. They shriveled into a blackened mass, the mess or burning filling the small cave tunnel. Satisfied, she kept on walking, every now and then stopping to burn an odd web, or some times just burn a web for the sake of it. Retched things!! Ahead, Stella heard the sound of scuttling.

Fear gripping her, Stella halted in her tracks in time to see a spider running towards her. "EW EW EW EW" She chanted, backing up. The spider kept up it's mad run for freedom - which just happened to be behind Stella. The ground crackled as she backed off, Stella's foot cought on a look rock, sending her sprawling backwards on the ground. The spider advanced, its pincers seeming to be aiming for her, its beady little eyes focused on one thing - Stella, who was frozen in fear.

Reaching into her cloak, Stella pulled out her winter wand, her arm shaking madly with fear, as the spider reared ever closer, its 8 feet in a mad frenzied haste. Raising her wand, she aimed the point at the spider, her lips parting as a spell formed. "FREEZE!!" She yelled, a bolt of ice flying from the wand and hitting the spider directly. It faltered, shuddering as it rose into the air, before accelerating towards the ground. Pointing her wand at the object, she narrowed her eyes in concentration. "Telekinesis!" She yelled, watching closely as the frozen spider floated slowly, calmly towards her, before landing in her outstretched hand.

Grasping the frozen beast, she looked at it closely, shuddered from slight fear, although she new it could not touch her. It was frozen in its mid run towards her, it legs set in front of one another. With disgust, Stella rose the beast into the air, releasing it. It plummeted towards the ground, but a sound distracted her. Looking up, Stella became aware of a figure rising out of the Shadows ahead. The caves where dark, except for the light of her warm, gentle glow, which wasn't enough to light the whole place, unfortunately.

Aradia's elven ears picked up careless footsteps nearby, just a few dozen feet away. There were the sounds of minor spellcasting, as well - and then she saw pinpricks of light dancing just around the corner, bouncing off the walls. Then she saw the girl - and she was burning webs! It was sacrilege! How could ANYONE do such a nasty, horrible thing! She rose, inadvertently scraping some gravel around on the stone floor, as the girl froze and tossed aside a spider. Her dagger was out in a flash, rage painted on her face. Yet she was still hidden in the shadows of the cave.

"SACRILEGE!" she practically screamed before she'd realized it. She started coming toward the girl slowly, pointedly thrusting the dagger before her in a menacing gesture as she advanced. She held it there as she continued to walk forward, a spider coming out of the hood of her piwawfi to see what was going on - to see what had angered its mistress so much.

"How dare you," she said in a cold, deadly whisper. Her eyes showed only hatred as she stopped just ten feet from the girl. "Murderer."

"SACRILEGE!" The strange drow yelled, and Stella stood up slowly, carefully. The Drow aimed her dagger at Stella as she walked forwards. Stella raised her eyebrows at the petty weapon, grinning slightly. Did she honestly think she could hurt Stella with such a weak thing? Surely not... "How dare you," The Drow whispered, her eyes narrowing, her voice a harsh whisper. "Murderer." Stella froze. Murderer? What... she was a murderer for killing the spider? Was this girl SERIOUS? Apparently so, and even she she approached, Stella spotted a spider poking from her clothing.

So... this Drow was a spider lover? How... sick. Stella smiled kindly, her good hearted instincts and friendly attitude flowing through. It was incredibly hard to truly anger Stella, and this wasn't one of those moments. "I'm sorry... was that your familiar? I think it was just a random spider... any who, sorry if it was a friend of yours..." Stella mumbled, then eyed the Drwos Dagger again. "Please can you lower your dagger? If not then i will be forced to make you, as i do not like to be threatened..." She mumbled, her eyes never once leaving the Dagger.

She wasn't one for fighting, but Stella did not take lightly to being threatened, or being... harmed. For one, she hated anything that put her in harms way, and this, quite frankly, was one of those things. Shaking her head, Stella took a step back from the Drow, and smiled uncomfortable. Raising her wand, she rose it at her with a serious expression, all traces of good hearted humor and kindness gone. If this drow did not lower this weapon soon, Stella would be forced to take... well, more serious action then she already had.

The wand was aimed at the Drows face, and with a slight glare, she parted her lips once more to deliver a spell. "FREEZE!!" She froze a rock directly above the Drows head, her face now set in all seriousness. "Please... lower your weapon!!" She yelled, her voice now pleading some what. Why did everything always result to violence? Stella just wanted to make friends with this girl, but from the looks of things... this girl was mad. Seriously mad.

"You," she said, almost breathless with rage and hatred of this murderous girl, "have murdered a denizen of Lolth in cold blood. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have your head delivered to her on a silver platter!"

The girl...her insolence could not be tolerated. The girl could not possibly know of her disfavorable position with Lolth. Now, though, Lolth had given her a chance to redeem herself. At long last, her prayers would be answered.

"You have murdered a denizen of Lolth in cold blood. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have your head delivered to her on a silver platter!" The girl sounded breathless, anger pulsing around her, obviously directed at Stella. And why? Because she had killed a small, worthless little spider, that could hardly be missed in this word. All one had to do was look around this cave, see the hundreds of spiders, and realised the absence of just ONE of these mindless, disgusting creatures would not be taken highly. It was silly for this Drow to challenge Stella over somthing as worthless as the life of a Spider.

No... it seemed MORE then silly... it was ridiculous. Narrowing her eyes, Stella placed her hands on her hips, still grasping the wand tightly. She wouldn't be releasing this even if her life depended on it. "What the..." Stella mumbled, then stomped her foot - a VERY childish thing, but what did it matter? She was extremely mad at this moment in time. "Who do you think you ARE? For crying out loud, they are SPIDERS!! Worthless, stupid HORRIBLE things. If i could have my way, i would kill them all!!" She shouted angrily at the Drow, then spun around, facing one of the webs on the wall.

"Like this." She said simply, her voice level brought down to a simple speech. Raising her wand, she pointed it at the web. "Spark!!" The web shriveled, tiny baby spiders burning in the inferno. All that was left was a blackened mass, and the smell of burning, tendrils of smoke rising from the decay. Smiling triumphantly, Stella turned back around to face the Drow, her face completely devoid of emotions. "Just like that." She went on, her voice monotone, the corner of her lips suddenly turning up. With a slight inhale, Stella laughed briefly, then wiped her eyes of the moisture that had developed.

"Yes. I will kill all the spiders, Just like that." Stella wasn't really evil, in fact, she was most likely the kindest person you could meet. But one thing she could not tolerate - other then spiders - was people threatening her. Whoever this... this... Lolth was, Stella would like to meet her, and perhaps duel with her. Now.. THAT would be fun! "And who is this... Lolth? Sounds like a name of a drunkard." Cheap shot, but Stella did not really care. Her insults where childish, but then again... Stella WAS childish, so what did the Drow expect her to be like? Mature?

It was all Aradia could do not to shed a tear. Such priceless lives snuffed out all of a sudden. The shock and outrage must have shown on her face. Extreme rage was still there to an extent, but now it was smothered beneath absolute horror. She had to stop this girl...she couldn't allow such...such barbaric actions...

If the ebony skin of a drow could grow at all paler than its darkened shade of endless night, so it did in that moment as she looked upon the smoke curling into the air and the blackened web that now crumbled to the ground. The ashes of spiders and web alike were a horrible sight to one such as Aradia, whose entire faith was based on spiders being extensions of Lolth's immense power over this world.

Her voice could barely be heard as she uttered a gasp and then spoke aloud the sentiments of her shock at such horrific actions.

"How...how could you...Lolth's children..."

Even the spiders now peeking out from her robe ducked back in horror as they watched their fellow arachnids die and heard them scream...

"How...how could you...Lolth's children..." Stella smiled at that, but then her expression became curious. Just who was this Lolth any who? She sounded like some sort of God but the way this Drow spoke of her. But Stella had never heard of one who went by that name... perhaps she was just a religious leader. A crazy one at that, if she thought of these disgusting things as her children. Smiling again, Stella placed her hands back on her hips, her expression now triumphant.

"Would it be possible for me to meet this Lolth? He... or she sounds like an interesting person." Though it was fairly obvious with this Drows reaction to Stella's feelings about Spiders, that the two of them would not get along too well. It was new to Stella, having somebody mad at her. It was true that everyone she had met in Arda so far, she had made friends with, and to have this girl hate her so much was a whole new experience. Stella was able to show her little devious side here. It was rather fun.

Kicking at a pebble blow her feet, Stella eyed the spiders on this person with fear. If this girl attacked Stella, then she was fairly certain Stella could take her. But if she set the spiders on her... well that was another thing all together... But Stella doubted the girl had enough Spiders to do this in the first place. Well... she hoped not anyway. Looking the girl in the eyes once again, Stella waited, wondering whether this girl was able to introduce her to this mysterious Lolth character. Knowing Stella, she had probably just angered a powerful God. It wouldn't surprise her, nothing rarely did these days.

Just as she was thinking this, Stella became aware that she didn't even know this Drows name. They hadn't even been introduced! How rude of her.. Forgetting her anger briefly, Stella smiled again, showing her usual, upbeat friendly side. "I'm sorry... it seems we haven't been properly introduced! My names Stella!! What's yours?" Hardly the time and place for introduction, but then again, Stella was stupid like that. To her, it seemed like the best time. In a way, she had most likly just insulted this girl. Oh well...

Her shock and outrage had consumed her almost completely, but now - though her composure had returned somewhat - Aradia's anger was swiftly returning. She practically snarled as she spoke her next words, spittle flying unbeknownst to the speaker in her rage and hatred toward this girl.

"Lolth...yes, you can meet her...and then I will be in her favor once more, for I will have executed a murderer of the Spider Queen's pets. Her children will be avenged, and then I can have my revenge on those who condemned me to this wretched surface world you call Arda! And yes, you can meet her...for she rules the Abyss in eternal darkness, and soon you will be consumed by it. Let her take your soul and make you one of her driders, for then you will know the pain and suffering you have brought upon yourself! Fear her wrath!"

She then began the mutterings of a spell...

"Lolth...yes, you can meet her...and then I will be in her favor once more, for I will have executed a murderer of the Spider Queen's pets. Her children will be avenged, and then I can have my revenge on those who condemned me to this wretched surface world you call Arda! And yes, you can meet her...for she rules the Abyss in eternal darkness, and soon you will be consumed by it. Let her take your soul and make you one of her driders, for then you will know the pain and suffering you have brought upon yourself! Fear her wrath!"

Stella's head was practically buzzing by the end of this speech. Was this Drow SERIOUS?! Stella was on the verge of laughing, before she realised what the girl was doing. Acting before she could think it over, Stella rose her wand once more and pointed it at the ceiling of the cave, her eyes narrowed in on the girl in new found hatred. Her lips parted, her mind raking through a list of spells she could hurl. "Shooting Stars!" She yelled, Her right arm raised, the wand pointing at the ceiling. Her left arm also rose, and she faced it at the Drow, the Palm face up towards her.

A small glow began to form, becoming more and more brighter. Soon enough, the light in her palm was so bright, it put Stella's own glow to shame. The whole cave lit up, Stella's face and appearance whitened by the glow. Before long her hand tingled from the energy surge, and Stella found her hand shaking from the intense hold it held. Closing her mouth in intense concentration, Stella finely prepared to release the spell. With a gasp, the great orb of light - which was a star - made its way to the Drow at speeds appearing a blur to the eye. While her spell made its way home, Stella fell onto one knee, panting slightly from the effort it took for her to gather the energy for that.

Soon enough she had regained her composure, and Stella stood, narrowing her eyes at the Drow. If she had - if she COULD - dodge that spell, Stella was prepared to counter any more she dared to fling at her. Who cared who this Lolth character was anyway! Stella would end her follower right here, no matter how much energy it cost her, or how many Spiders had to killed - a bonus, when you really thought about it.

Her spell continued as she watched the glow begin. Unbeknownst to the girl, however, the effects of her spell were already taking form as the shadows swirled behind her. As she finished the last lines of her spell, she realized suddenly that the room was about to grow very, very bright - and she snapped her eyes shut tightly. Her spell was completed, and she heard the whoosh of the spell and threw herself to the side, coming up from a roll behind the rocks upon which she'd been sitting only moments before. The spell shot down the tunnel into the darkness far beyond where they stood. The cavern back there cloaked the spell in shadows - the same shadows that now rose behind the girl silently, swiftly, menacingly as she fell to one knee. The shadow glided forward without a sound, its icy fingers reaching down to grab her neck and strangle the life out of her as its master began another spell...

Stella scowled, as the Drow cast a spell, summoning a great big Black Shadow. A shiver ran over Stella before she could help herself, the appearance of the causing her mind to revert back to the thought of the Spiders. Perhaps this Drow enjoyed playing with things such as these, things that Stella found absolutely disgusting. Scowling, Stella raised her wand, pointing it at the Shadow. "LIGHT!" She called, as she tip of her wand lit up.

Combined with her own glow, Stella hoped that it would be enough to dispel the Shadow. With a sigh, she pointed her other wand at the Drow, a mischievous Smile appearing on her face. "FALLING STARS!" She yelled, her left hand raising , her palm spread to the ceiling. She stood there, light illuminating off her, just stood with her hand pointed at the ceiling. People would probably think she's crazy, but Stella knew what she was doing, and more then anything she knew what she was doing was the right thing.

Suddenly the ceiling was pierced with hundreds of tiny bright lights, each one incredibly powerful, and each one falling directly where the Drow stood, and the immediate area around her. There was no way she would make it out unscathed, and Stella was relying on this. With a quick nodd, she pointed her want a great cluster of webs, panting slighter from the usage of Mana.

"ANYMORE ATTACKS AND I'LL SET THIS WHOLE PLACE ALITE!" She threatened, two of her fingers heading towards her pursed lips, as though she was going to whistle. It was the start of the Solar Flare spell, strong enough to set this whole place alight, and strong enough to melt skin. She would do it, Stella was currently pent up and mad enough to do so.

"Go ahead, foolish girl."

She finished the spell just as the spell was cast and fear shot out toward the girl like an arrow launched from a bow - quicker than that, even. Much quicker. Aradia quickly pulled the hood of her piwafwi all the way around her and fit it snug around the back of her head so that it would stay in place. She then snapped her eyes shut tight and came out of her hiding place. She felt more than saw the light exploding around her, but she couldn't see it. She could hear spiders scuttling away in terror all around her, but Aradia merely sped foward, toward the girl, ignoring the pulsing light beyond her shielded and closed eyelids.

Meanwhile, the shadow was within a hair's breadth of the girl's throat and was finally just reaching to get a hold on her when the light spell was cast. It recoiled only slightly. It had orders, orders that it couldn't disobey. It had been summoned, and it had to obey the orders of the summoner. So it pressed on, even as it was swiftly burned away by the sudden explosion of the shooting stars spell...

"Rampant Stars" She yelled, watching as the bright light from this new spell dissolved the last of the shadow. It was brighter then both the glow and the other light combined. The Stars shot about madly, all of the flying stars heading straight towards the Drow. There was no way she couldn't be hit, at least once. Stella watched with amazement, then raised her wand and aimed it at the Drow once again.

Twisting her wrist, she aimed the bracelet at the Drow. The spiked shot off, aimed for her as the stars did, all of them on a deadly collision. Now there was no way at all that she could dodge both. Smiling, Stella lowered her wrist, and the Spiked returned back to where they where. With a grin, Stella decided to end this now. This would be the over kill, and excitement flared up in her.

"SOLAR FLARE!" She yelled, two of her fingers flying up to her lips. She blew slightly, and a harsh wind blew about the cave. However, the wind was red hot, fiery, and began to burn away every web, the spiders living in them began to desintergrate, and she laughed, slightly crazed. The boiling win reached every crack, reached everywhere. There was no dodging this at all. Stella watched, a fire of her own lighting her eyes as she was excited.

The shadow faded at last as the second spell hit it, its desperate struggle to destroy the target its master had summoned to eliminate at last at an end as its undeath was vanquished. Shadows had no souls, and so the shadow truly was destroyed, but this did not deter the stubborn drow as she headed eagerly for the kill she so strongly desired. Lolth would be pleased this day, and she would get her favor once more. Indeed, she heard the spell and pushed into it, using her piwafwi to avoid direct damage.

The spell did not damage the cloak, but it did slow Aradia down. Unfortunately, it was not immune to spikes. It was made of strong, sturdy wool, it was true, but it was made for hiding - not fighting. Indeed, the spikes slammed into it. Aradia couldn't help but grunt as the spikes hit her, though they only managed to slightly damage the cloak. They didn't rip holes all the way through. As the next spell was cast, though, Aradia reached the girl and desperately flung a boot toward her wide-open gut. She had no doubt it would connect before the spell hit her.

It did hit her, though, and she flew to the ground. She cried out in pain, but she managed to get up and get behind the rock outcropping once more...