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Even with burning la all the walls and the paths clear and well is the better part of three hours to cross I the reat Mithril Hall coh the wondrous, tiered Undercity, with its antic steps on two sides of the huge cavern The dwellings overlooked a central work area on the cavern floor that bustled with the activities of the industrious race This was the hub of the entire complex; here the majority of Bruenor’s people lived and worked Great furnaces roared all day, every day Dwarven hah the mines had been opened for only a couple offrooblets - already filledthe walls for the onset of the trading season

Drizzt and Regis entered fro a high bridge, and weaved down thewest into Mithril Hall’s deepest h these were fewer now and farther between, and every now and then the co precious silvery mithril from the tunnel wall

Then they came to the outer tunnels, where there were no la to light a torch, but noticed the half ling’s eyes gloith the telltale red of infravision

"I do prefer the light of a torch," Regis commented when the drow started to replace the pack without striking a light "We should save the ill have to reed; Drizzt took a his sh they hadn’t yet passed beyond the secured regions of the coain, putting another two or three an to complain about his sore feet and quieted only when they heard the sound of dwarven chatter somewhere up ahead

A feists and turns in the tunnel took theuardroo bones (grureat, iron-barred stone door that sealed off the new areas "Well ot some kin down there," a stocky, brown-bearded dwarf replied as soon as he noticed Drizzt "King Bruenor sending yerselves to find theis re dwarves that theto keep this encounter lighthearted, wanting to not alar theht be trouble in the new section

Two of the dwarves took up their weapons while the other talked over to remove the heavy iron bar that locked the door

"Well, when ye’re ready to come back out, tap the door three, then two," the brown-bearded dwarf explained "We’re not for opening it unless the signal’s right!"

"Three, then two," Drizzt agreed

The bar ca sound Nothing but the blackness of an empty tunnel was apparent beyond it

"Easy, lea’s eye They had been down here just a couple of weeks before, for the goblin fight, but, though they had seen that threat eradicated, the hushed tunnel see

"Hurry ye up," the brown-bearded dwarf said to the the door open

Drizzt lighted a torch, and led the way into the gloois close on his heels The dwarves shut the door iis heard the clanging of the iron bar being set back into place

Drizzt handed Regis the torch and drew out his sciet done as quickly as we can," the drow reasoned "Bring in Guenhwyvar and let the cat lead us"

Regis set down his urine He placed it on the ground before him and took up his other items, then looked to Drizzt, who had moved a few steps farther down the tunnel

"You may call the panther," Drizzt said, so waiting for hiis’s close relationship with the great cat Guenhwyvar was a ical entity, a denizen of the Astral Plane, that caurine’s possessor Bruenor always had been a bit shy around the cat (dwarves didn’t generally like is and Guenhwyvar had been close friends Guenhwyvar had even saved the halfling’s life once by taking Regis along on an astral ride, getting the halfling out of a collapsing tower in the process

Now, though, Regis stood above the figurine, torch and mace in hand, apparently unsure of how to proceed

Drizzt walked back the few steps to join his diminutive friend "What is the problem?" he asked

"I I just think you should call Guenhwyvar," the halfling replied "It’s your panther, after all, and yours is the voice Guenhwyvar knows best"

"Guenhwyvar would co’s shoulder Not wanting to delay and argue the point, though, the drow softly called out the panther’s na darker in the diradually shaped itself into the panther forin its stead Guenhwyvar’s muscled feline foris took a prudent step back - then Drizzt grabbed Guenhwyvar by a jowl and gave a playful shake

"Sois knew that Guenhwyvar understood every word "Find their scent,the iis for a bit, then issued a lol

"Go on," Drizzt bade the cat, and the sleekGuenhwyvar easily and in perfect silence into the darkness beyond the torchlight

Drizzt and Regis followed at an easy pace, the drow confident that the panther would not outdistance the nervously, this way and that, with every passing inch They caiant ettin’s bones, Bruenor’s first kill, a short while later, and Guenhwyvar joined theoblin force had been routed

Little evidence remained of that recent battle, save the oblin bodies in the center of the place Ten-foot-long wor the way as they feasted on the bloated corpses

"Keep close," Drizzt warned, and Regis didn’t have to be told twice "Those are carrion crawlers," the drow ranger explained, "the vultures of the Underdark With food so readily available, they likely will leave us alone, but they are dangerous foes A sting froth froot too close to theht to see if he couldthe pile

Drizzt shook his head "The dwarves know the crawlers well," he explained "They welcooblin corpses I would hardly expect seven veteran dwarves to be taken down by crawlers"

Drizzt started down frorabbed his cloak to stop hiis explained "Lots of arded the quick-thinking halfling, the drow thinking thatThey skirted the lip of the raised stone and cah, several carrion crawlers worked over the huge ettin body; Drizzt’s original course would have taken hierously close to the beasts

They were into the e silently into the darkness to lead theis shook his head when Drizzt reached for another one, reht sources

They went on, in the quiet, in the dark, with only the soft glow of Twinkle toTo the drow it see the Underdark with his feline coer ht well lurk around any bend

The disk is war Vierna’s pleasurable expression as she rubbed her delicate fingers across the metallic surface She sat atop the drider, her mount for the journey, Dinin’s bloated face expressionless and unblinking

"My brother is not far," the priestess replied, her eyes closed in concentration

Thetunnel filled with flattened goblin corpses All about him dark forms, his quiet band of killers, slipped silently about their way

"Can we know that Drizzt is here at all?" the h he was not anxious to dispel volatile Vierna’s anticipation - especially not with the priestess sitting atop so poignant a reminder of her wrath