"Last Quest " by Andrew J. Offutt (1977)

Originally appeared in Swords Against Darkness II (1977).

Plot: Haj the Llorcan goes on a quest to rescue the Princess Shariya from her grandfather, the Wizard of Bluemist Marsh. He takes a small group of men with him including his blood-brother Hyrum. At the marsh they encounter giant lizards called sand-dragons. these do not attack because their force is so big, but when Hyrum's fianceeSalithe shows up they are forced to battle. Using a special whistle Haj summons the winged folk who take Haj, Hyrum and Salithe to the edge of the swamp. There the whistle allows haj to summon male giant spiders who will be their guides and mounts to the wizard's castle. A female spider shows up and charms one of the male spiders to his death. Hyrum and Salithe both die horribly in the high bows of the trees. Haj hurries on alone and arrives at the castle to find the sorcerer dead. His love, Shariya begs him to flee but he doesn't and he discovers a terrible secret, too late.

Monsters:

Sand-dragons - Komodo lizard sized beasts with human intelligence and poisonous saliva.

The Winged Men - creations of the sorcerer of Bluemist Marsh (like the Cat-People and Mate-spiders) who are friendly to humans who possess the magic whistle.

Mate-Spiders - These giant spiders (with the female larger) live in the trees of the marsh. the males spend all their time hiding from the females who can attract them with a magic that makes them unable to resist.

History: Offutt writes in his intro to the story: "...The writer of the story that follows worked over it more than any he's written, surely, cutting, revising, biting his lip, fearful lest some say he palmed off on me a second-rate effort because he could get away with it." This special attention to the quality of his story gives the tale a weird, clipped cadence along with a pseudo-medieval falvor that is quite different. Once you are used to it, it's alright. Offutt need not have worried. The tale is quite good because of its black sense of doom which is not typical of most S&S. (It's not a feel good tale.)

1

2

2

2