The Glass Prison by Monte Cook

have to hurt you,” he said.
    “Who is he, Tallin?” The axeman asked. His eyes narrowed as he examined Vheod.
    “I figure he’s a servant of the Spider Lord,” the man in the door replied.
    Vheod looked behind him now to see the child bring a broadsword to the man. The boy lifted the heavy sword with both hands, handing it to the man carefully. The child’s wide eyes remained focused on Vheod.
    “Get back inside now, Feshik,” Tallin told him. The boy complied, eyes still wide with fear.
    “Looks a little like a dark elf to me,” the man with the axe stated.
    A dark elf? A drow? Servant of Lolth? Vheod knew of the drow and their Abyssal mistress, the spider queen Lolth.
    “I assure you, I’m no drow,” he told them, hands still help open in front of him. “And I’m no one’s servant.”
    “Mallach! Chorrad!” the older man cried out in the direction of the woods. “Get over here, we’ve got a … we’ve got something.”
    Vheod saw doors to the buildings around him begin to open, and frightened eyes peered out.
    “I’ve come here,” Vheod explained again, “just to get some informa—”
    “Be quiet!” Tallin spat out, stepping forward, his bared sword upraised.
    Vheod turned back fully to face him. How long could he keep from drawing his own blade? Vheod thought they would respect his powerful demeanor and help him. Why wouldn’t they even listen?
    “Whatever it is, it ain’t human,” the man behind him now said, “and it ain’t, well … anything good. You can tell that just by looking.”
    “Look, demon—or whatever you are—leave us or die,” Tallin said, staring Vheod in the eye.
    “You don’t need to be afraid,” Vheod said, pleading with his open hands.
    Looking down, he could see that the Taint was no longer on either arm.
Where was it?
He sometimes suspected that it altered when others looked at him, perhaps communicating something to them. Perhaps others saw something in the mark that he didn’t, which might suggest that his own body conspired with others against him—a paranoiac’s nightmare.
    “He’s a drow,” a female voice called from an open door across the way.
    Another, a male, replied, “Drow don’t have red hair.”
    “I’ll bet he was conjured up in that storm yesterday,” still another voice called out. “Manchal says storms like that are a sign that a doorway between worlds is opening.”
    Footfalls grew louder behind him, coming from the direction of the woods.
    “I just need to know how to find a place called—”
    Tallin watched something over Vheod’s shoulder and suddenly drew himself up taller, as if more confident. The footsteps behind Vheod were louder still. He lunged at Vheod with his sword, shouting, “I said, get away from here!”
    Vheod dodged to one side to avoid the sword blow and could hear the man behind him moving closer, probably with that axe ready to cleave his skull.
    “I don’t want to fight you!” Vheod finally cried. He couldn’t keep his rising anger and frustration from showing in his voice.
    “You’ll not find us to be defenseless prey,” Tallin said, again raising his blade.
    Vheod drew his sword, the Abyssal steel ringing in the morning air.
    Just then, two more men ran up the bare earthen road. One carried an axe, the other a long knife. They cried out in surprise and ran at Vheod.
    Vheod shot his blade straight out at the one called Tallin, catching him right where he wanted—the wrist of his sword arm. Tallin’s blade flung end over end through the air as his fingers splayed wide. His other hand reached up to grasp at the painful but minor wound. Tallin cursed, but Vheod had no time to listen. Two more men approached, and there was still someone behind him with a—
    Pain flared in Vheod’s armored shoulder as metal clanged against metal next to Vheod’s ear. The man hadstruck his shoulder but fortunately hadn’t penetrated the pauldron. Vheod turned and brought his sword up to block the man’s