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Kierstaad looked into the black, dead eyes of the reindeer lying still, so very still, upon the flat tundra, surrounded by the colorful flowers that rushed to bloom in Icewind Dale’s short sureat spear

Kierstaad was glad of that He felt little renificent beast, for the survival of his people depended upon the success of the hunt Not a bit of this proud anilad that the kill, his first kill, had been clean He looked into the eyes of the dead aniar ca hunter and patted him on the shoulder Kierstaad, too overwhelmed by the spectacle, by the sudden realization that in the eyes of the tribe he was no e ar crouched beside the anis out of the way His cut was clean and perfect, long practiced Only ahis bloody ar the anith and speed," the barbarian leader proht it near to his lips This was part of the test, he knew, though he had no idea that this would be expected of hiar’s voice was unmistakable, he could not fail No e welled in hiht of what he must do

"The heart holds the spirit of the deer," another man explained "Eat of that spirit"

Kierstaad hesitated no longer He brought the blackish-red heart to his lips and bit deeply He was hardly conscious of his next actions, of devouring the heart, of bathing in the spirit of the slain deer Chants rose around hi hi more was expected of Kierstaad He stood impassively to the side while the older hunters cleaned and dressed the reindeer This was indeed the better way for he and his people, living free of the bonds of wealth and the ties to others In that, at least, Kierstaad knew that Berkthgar was right Yet, the young man continued to bear no ill will toward the dwarves or the folk of Ten-Towns, and had no intention of allowing any lies to diood for the tribes of Icewind Dale

Kierstaad looked to the harvesting of the reindeer, so complete and perfect No waste and no disrespect for the proud animal He looked to his own bloody hands and ar down his chin to drip onto the spongy soil This was his life, his destiny Yet what did that mean? More ith Ten-Towns, as had happened so many times in the past? And what of relations with the dwarves who had returned to their mines south of Kelvin’s Cairn?

Kierstaad had listened to Berkthgar throughout the last feeeks He had heard Berkthgar arguing with Revjak, Kierstaad’s father and the accepted leader of the Tribe of the Elk, at present

the one rear would break away, Kierstaad thought as he looked at the giganticwarriors with hiin anew the Tribe of the Bear, or one of the other ancestral tribes Then the tribal rivalry that had for so long been a way of life for Icewind Dale’s barbarians would begin anew They would fight for food or for good ground as they wandered the tundra

It was one possibility only, Kierstaad reasoned, trying to shake the disturbing thoughts away Berkthgar wanted to be the coend of Wulfgar He could not do that if he splintered the reh to support any separate tribes of any real power

Wulfgar had united the tribes

There were other possibilities, but as he thought about it, none of thear looked up fro Kierstaad fully and with no ulterior motives Yet Kierstaad was the son of Revjak, and it see a troubled course The leader of a barbarian tribe could be challenged

That notion only intensified when the successful hunting party neared the deerskin tent encampment of the tribe, only to intercept one Bruenor Battlehaclaw

"You do not belong here!" Berkthgar irowled at the dwarven leader

"Well met to yerself too," Stumpet, never the one to sit back and let others speak for her, snarled at Berkthgar "Ye’re forgettin’ Keeper’s Dale, then, as we’ve heard ye were?"

"I do not speak to fear said evenly

Bruenor ed Stu with yerself," Bruenor replied "Me and me cleric have come to see Revjak, the leader of the Tribe of the Elk"

Berkthgar’s nostrils flared For a moment, Kierstaad and the others expected hi hi his many-notched axe across his open palar, no fool, calmed himself "I, too, lead the hunters of Icewind Dale," he said "Speak your business and be gone!"

Bruenor chuckled and walked past the proud barbarian, ar howled and leaped, landing right in Bruenor’s path

"Ye led in Settlestone," the red-bearded dwarf said firht not Revjak was king e left the dale and Revjak’s king still, by all word I’ar as he walked past the huge man once more

Stuiant barbarian

For Kierstaad, who liked Bruenor and his wild clan, it was a painfultilided quietly eastward on calm waters The moon was full and pale above them as it crossed a cloudless sky

Catti-brie sat on the raised platform of the ballista, huddled near to a candle, every so often jotting so down on parchment Drizzt leaned on the rail, his parchment rolled and in a pocket of his cloak On Deudermont’s wise instructions, all six who had been in the blind witch’s cave were to write down the poem as they remembered it Five of thee Waillan, as not skilled with letters would dictate his recollection to both Harkle and Robillard, ould separately pen the words, hopefully without any of their own interpretations

It hadn’t taken Drizzt long to write down the verse, at least the parts he remembered most clearly, the parts he considered vital He understood that every word ht provide a necessary clue, but he was simply too excited, too overwhelmed to pay attention to minute details In the poem’s second line, the witch had spoken of Drizzt’s father, and had intimated at Zaknafein’s survival several times thereafter That was all that Drizzt could think of, all that he could hope to reent, her written record of the verse far more complete But she, too, had been overwhelmed and surprised, and siht be

"I would have liked to share a night such as this with hi the stillness so abruptly that the young woile parchaze focused on the moon

"Just one," the droent on "Zaknafein would have loved the surface night"

Catti-brie s the claim Drizzt had spoken to her acy of his father’s, not of his evil mother’s The tere alike, in combat and in heart, with the notable exception that Drizzt had found the courage to walk away from Menzoberranzan, whereas Zaknafein had not He had remained with the evil dark elves and had eventually come to be sacrificed to the Spider Queen

"Given to Lloth and by Lloth given"

The true line came suddenly to Catti-brie She whispered it once aloud, hearing the ring and knowing it to be exact, then went back to her parchment and located the line She had written, "for" instead of "to," which she quickly corrected

Every little word could be vital

"I suspect that the danger I now face is beyond anything we have ever witnessed," Drizzt went on, talking to himself as much as to Catti-brie

Catti-brie didn’t miss his use of the personal pronoun, instead of the collective She too was involved, a point that she was about to ed by Drizzt’s proclaht seek the darkest of trails"

Catti-brie realized that was the next line and her quill went to work Drizzt was talking again, but she hardly heard hi, her gaze lifting froain of going off alone!

"The verse was for us two," Catti-brie reminded him

"The dark trail leads to my father," Drizzt replied, "a drow you have never ?" Catti-brie asked

"The trail is for me to walk "

"Withthat again!" she scolded "Ye walked off once on ht ruin upon yerself and us all for yer stupidity!"

Drizzt swung about and eyed her directly How he loved this woue the point with her, knew that whatever argunore the with ye, all the way," Catti-brie said, no compromise in her firm tone "And me thinkin’s that Deudermont and Harkle, and , too And just ye try to stop us, Drizzt Do’Urden!"

Drizzt began to reply, but changed hishim walk this dark course alone Never

He looked back out to the dark sea and to theback to Zaknafein and the "golden ring," the witch had held out to hiet back to port," he la," Catti-brie put in, her focus never leaving the all-important parchment

Not so far away, on the main deck just below the rail of the poop deck, Harkle Harpell rubbed his hands eagerly He shared Drizzt’s la, and had no sto about on the e of his neerful spell, the enchantht him out to the Sea Sprite in the first place The opportunity seeize his new spell once more