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Black-haired barbarians, screa in the frenzy of battle, burst into the copse Drizzt realized at once that these burly warriors were the for behind the orcan ranks on the field, but he wasn’t yet certain of their allegiance
Whatever their ties, their arrival struck terror into the re Drizzt lost all heart for the battle, a sudden shift in their posture revealing their desire to break off the confrontation and flee Drizzt obliged, assured that they wouldn’t get far anyway, and sensing that he, too, would be wise to slip froht them in another battle just beyond the trees Less obvious in his flight, Drizzt slipped unnoticed back up the tree where he had left his bow
Wulfgar could not so easily sublimate his battle lust With two of his friends down, his thirst for orcan blood was insatiable, and the new group of od of battle, with a fervor that the young warrior could not ignore Distracted by the sudden developar let up for just a is-fang tore its face off before its eyes returned to the fight at hand Wulfgar bore through the gap in the ring, jostling a second orc as he passed As it stuhty barbarian chopped it down The two reht behind He launched his ha upon the other, bearing it to the ground beneath hi the life from it with his bare hands
When he was finished, when he had heard the final crack of neckbone, Wulfgar re up and backed away, his back against the trees
The black-haired barbarians kept their distance, respectful of his prowess, and Wulfgar could not be sure of their intentions He scanned around for his friends Regis and Bruenor lay side by side near where the horses had been tethered; he could not tell if they were alive or dead There was no sign of Drizzt, but a fight continued beyond the other edge of the trees
The warriors fanned out in a wide se off any routes of escape But they stopped their positioning suddenly, for Aegis-fang had rasp
He could not win against so hting, as a true warrior, and his death would be remembered If the black-haired barbarians came at hi his heels in and clasped the warharowled into the night
"Hold!" canized Drizzt’s voice at once and relaxed his grip "Keep to your honor, but know that ar understood then that Regis and Bruenor were probably still alive He dropped Aegis-fang to the ground and called out to the warriors, "Well met"
They did not reply, but one of thear, broke rank and closed in to stand before hi down the side of his face and over his shoulder His cheeks were painted white in the is The hardness of his frame and disciplined set of his face reflected a life in the harsh wilderness, and were it not for the raven color of his hair, Wulfgar would have thought him to be of one of the tribes of Icewind Dale
The dark-haired ar, but better versed in the overall structures of the societies in the northland, was not so perplexed by their similarities "You are of the dale," he said in a broken forue "Beyond the ar nodded "I aar, of the Tribe of the Elk We share gods, for I, too, call to Tee"
The dark-haired od answers your call, warrior of the dale"
Wulfgar’s jaw lifted in pride "We share hatred for the orcs, as well," he continued, "but I know nothing of you or your people"
"You shall learn," the dark-haired man replied He held out his hand and indicated the warha no intentions of surrendering, no matter the odds The dark-haired ar’s eyes with his oarriors had picked up Bruenor and Regis and slung them over their backs, while others had recaptured the horses and were leading them in
"The weapon," the dark-haired ar, son of Beornegar The price of that criear would have struck then, daar had learned much frois-fang would return to his call, and he knew, too, that Drizzt would not abandon theht
He even let them bind his hands, an act of dishonor that no warrior of the Tribe of the Elk would ever allow But Wulfgar had faith in Drizzt His hands would be freed again Then he would have the last word
By the tiis and Bruenor had regained consciousness and were bound and walking beside their barbarian friend Dried blood crusted Bruenor’s hair and he had lost his helh another encounter that should have finished hi of tents and blazing ca war party roused the ca to announce their glorious arrival The fervor inside the ca war party, and the three prisoners were pushed in first, to be greeted by a score of howling barbarians
"What do they eat?" Bruenor asked, more in sarcasis replied, drawing a clap on the back of his head and a warning to be silent frouard behind him
The prisoners and horses were herded into the center of the ca orc heads around in the dust and singing out, in a language unknown to the coar, their ancestral hero, for the success this night
It went on for nearly an hour, and then, all at once, it ended and every face in the ring turned to the closed flap of a large and decorated tent
The silence held for a longopen Out ju y than his obvious years would indicate His face painted in the sah emstone sewn upon it over one eye His robe was the purest white, its sleeves showing as feathered wings whenever he flapped his arh the ranks of the warriors, and each held his breath, recoiling until he had passed
"Chief?" Bruenor whispered
"Shaeable in the ways of tribal life The respect the warriors showed this man came from a fear beyond what a mortal enemy, even a chieftain, could iht before the three prisoners He looked at Bruenor and Regis for just a ar
"I ah Eye," he screeched suddenly "Priest of the followers of the Sky Ponies! The children of Uthgar!"
"Uthgar!" echoed the warriors, clapping their hatchets against their wooden shields
Wulfgar waited for the coar, son of Beornegar, of the Tribe of the Elk"
"And I’an the dwarf
"Silence!" Valric shouted at hi for you!"
Bruenor closed hishis axe and Valric’s head
"We an, but Valric put his hand up, cutting him short
"Your purpose does not interest ed at once "Tempus has delivered you unto us, that is all! A worthy warrior?" He looked around at his ownchallenge
"How ar
"Seven fell beforebarbarian replied proudly
Valric nodded in approval "Tall and strong," he coe if you are worthy to run with the Sky Ponies!"
Shouts started at once and tarriors rushed over to unbind Wulfgar A third, the leader of the war party who had spoken to Wulfgar at the copse of trees, tossed down his hatchet and shield and stor
Drizzt waited in his tree until the last of the war party had given up the search for the rider of the fourth horse and departed Then the drow ether sois’s mace He had to pause and steady hih, blood-stained and newly dented, and with one of its horns broken away Had his friend survived?
He shoved the broken hel a cautious distance
Relief flooded through him when he came upon the ca calis Satisfied, Drizzt put aside his e his vision to the situation before hi a plan of attack that would free his friends
The dark-hairedhis blond counterpart to clasp thee before, but it was not so different froth that his own people practised
"Your feet do not th! Let Tee didn’t reveal a hint of his confidence that he could defeat any ht his hands up level with those of his opponent
The ner Alrip or set his feet, the shain, and the dark-haired ar’s back over his wrists Shouting erupted from every corner of the encampment; the dark-haired th, but as soon as the ht back
The iron-corded ar’s neck and shoulders snapped taut and his huge are of blood into their veins Tehty opponent could only gape in aar looked hiht in the eye and lare that foretold the inevitable victory Then the son of Beornegar drove forward, stopping the dark-hairedhis own hands back into a ained parity, Wulfgar realized that one sudden push would put his opponent into the sae that he had just escaped From there, the dark-haired ar wasn’t anxious to end this contest He didn’t want to humiliate his opponent - that would breed only an enemy - and even er he could keep the contest going, and the eyes of every er Drizzt would have to put some plan into ar couldn’t help but s the horses, behind the enthralled guards at the other end of the caination, he could not tell, but he thought that he sao points of lavender fla out at hih he knew that he was taking a chance by not finishing the challenge The sha
But then it was over The veins and sinews in Wulfgar’s arrowled, praising the god for yet another victory, and then with a sudden, ferocious explosion of power, he drove the dark-haired man to his knees All around, the ca stricken speechless by the display
Two guards ar’s side
The beaten warrior pulled hier marred his face, just honest admiration, for the Sky Ponies were an honorable people
"We would welcome you," Valric said "You have defeated Torlin, son of Jerek Wolf-slayer, Chieftain of the Sky Ponies Never before has Torlin been bested!"
"What offor them!" Valric snapped back "The dill be set free on a trail leading from our land We have no quarrel with his with the," he stated "He shall serve as your passage to the tribe, your sacrifice to the winged horse"
Wulfgar did not ith, and noere testing his loyalties The Sky Ponies had paid hi him a place in their tribe, but only on condition that he show his allegiance beyond any doubt Wulfgar thought of his own people, and the way they had lived for so many centuries on the tundra Even in this day, many of the barbarians of Icewind Dale would have accepted the ter a small price for such an honor This was the disillusionar’s existence with his people, the facet of their moral code that had proved unacceptable to his personal standards
"No," he replied to Valric without blinking
"He is a weakling!" Valric reasoned "Only the strong deserve life!"
"His fate is not ar replied "Nor yours"
Valric ar’s hands
"A loss for our people," Torlin said to Wulfgar "You would have received a place of honor a Torlin’s stare for a longthat their codes were too different for such a joining In a shared fantasy that could not be, both i orcs by the score and inspiring the bards to a new legend