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"Garuh h the effects of Alustriel’s potion had worn off, si inside the home of his youth had rekindled a host of memories in the dwarf The exact location of each of the halls was not clear to hin of the place The others huddled close to his in the flickers of the torch that Wulfgar had retrieved froet out on the far side," Bruenor continued "There’s a door, opening one way and for leaving only, beyond the bridge"

"Leaving?" Wulfgar asked

"Our goal was to find Mithril Hall," Drizzt answered, playing the sa "If the forces that defeated Clan Battleha it an ie of the hall’s location does not die in here with us"

"I’ to find out e’re to face," Bruenor added "Weback out the door we ca is to cross the top level and see the place out I’ to kno much is left afore I call on me kin in the dale, and others if I lance

Drizzt suspected that Bruenor hadthe place out," but he kept quiet, satisfied that he had gotten his concerns through to the dwarf, and that Catti-brie’s unexpected presence would temper with caution all of Bruenor’s decisions

"You will coar surmised

"An army at me heels!" snorted Bruenor He looked at Catti-brie and a erness left his dark eyes

She read it at once "Don’t ye be holding back for ht beside ye before, I have, and held me own, too! I didn’t want this road, but it found me and now I’m here with ye to the end!"

After the ree with her decision to follow their chosen path He looked around at the skeletons in the room "Get yerself arreed"

"’Tis your road to choose," said Drizzt "For ’tis your search We walk beside you, but do not tell you which way to go"

Bruenor slimmer in the drow’s eyes, a hint of their customary sparkle for excitement Perhaps Drizzt’s heart for the adventure was not coar "I did not walk those is said nothing He knew that he was caught up in the whirlpool of their exciteht be He patted the little pouch of newly acquired baubles on his belt and thought of the additions he ht soon find if these halls were truly as splendid as Bruenor had always said He honestly felt that he would rather walk the nine hells beside his foro back outside and face Artemis Entreri alone

As soon as Catti-brie was outfitted, Bruenor led the ar beside hi fire!" he cried as they started froo out, or down Oh, the glories that lay before us, h!"

Wulfgarin one hand and the torch in the other He wore the sais followed, less eager andthe road as unavoidable and deter the side, sometimes ahead of theh the coe of his presence made them all step easier down the corridor

The hallere not smooth and flat, as was usually the case with dwarven construction Alcoves jutted out on either side every few feet, so away into the darkness to join up with other whole networks of corridors The walls all along the ere chipped and flaked with jutting edges and hollowed depressions, designed to enhance the shadowy effect of the ever-burning torches This was a place of mystery and secret, where dwarves could craft their finest works in an atmosphere of protective seclusion

This level was a virtual h the endless nueways Even Bruenor, aided by scattered iic that had guided the dwarvenas going forward

There was one thing that Bruenor did reh "Ware yer step," he warned his friends "The level ye walk upon is rigged for defending the halls, and a stoneworked trap’d be quick to send ye below!"

For the first stretch of their march that day, they cahly squared, and showing no signs of habitation "Guard roouest rooms," Bruenor explained "Most for Elmor and his kin from Settlestone when they came to collect the works for ulfed them, their footfalls and the occasional crackle of a torch the only sounds, and even these seenant air To Drizzt and Bruenor, the environer days spent under the surface, but for the other three, the closeness and the realization of tons of stone hanging over their heads was a con experience, and more than a little unco extra care to test the floor before stepping in In one shallow depression, he felt a sensation on his leg, and upon closer inspection found a slight draft flowing in through a crack at the base of the wall He called his friends over

Bruenor bent low and scratched his beard, knowing at once what the breeze meant, for the air arlove and felt the stone "The furnaces," he muttered, as much to himself as to his friends

"Then someone is below," Drizzt reasoned

Bruenor didn’t answer It was a subtle vibration in the floor, but to a dwarf, so attuned to the stone, its rating of sliding blocks far below, the machinery of the hts, for he had nearly convinced himself, and had always hoped, that the roup and easy for the taking But if the furnaces were burning, those hopes were flown

"Go to them Show them the stair," Dendybar co moment He knew that he could break free of Dendybar’s weakening hold and disobey the command Truly Morkai was aain so soon, for the wizard’s strength had obviously not yet returned The mottled wizard hadn’t yet reached the point of exhaustion, upon which Morkai could strike at him, but Dendybar had indeed lost most of his power to compel the specter

Morkai decided to obey this co for as long as possible Dendybar was obsessed with finding the drow, and would undoubtedly call upon Morkai another time soon Perhaps then the et down?" Entreri asked Sydney Bok had led them to the rim of Keeper’s Dale, but now they faced the sheer drop

Sydney looked to Bok for the answer, and the golee Had she not stopped it, it would have dropped off the cliff The young

They then saw a shi blur of fire, and the specter; Morkai, stood before theain "Come," he said to them "I am bid to show you the way"

Without another word, Morkai led theone

"Your master proves to be of much assistance," Entreri remarked as he took the first step down

Sydney s her fears "Four ti the instances when Dendybar had summoned the specter Each ti out his appointed mission Each time Morkai had seemed more powerful Sydney moved to the stair behind Entreri She hoped that Dendybar would not call upon the specter again - for all their sakes

When they had descended to the gorge’s floor, Bok led the the barrier that it faced, it stood patiently out of the way, awaiting further instructions froers across the sainst it as he tried to discern any substantial crack in it

"You waste your time," Sydney remarked "The door is dwarven crafted and will not be found by such inspection"

"If there is a door," replied the assassin

"There is," Sydney assured him "Bok followed the drow’s trail to this spot, and knows that it continues through the wall There is no way that they could have diverted the golem from the path"

"Then open your door," Entreri sneered "They move farther fro breath and rubbed her hands together nervously This was the first time since she had left the Hosttower that she had found opportunity to use her led within her, seeking release

She estures, mumbled several lines of arcane words, then commanded, "Bausin saumine!" and threw her hands out in front of her, toward the door

Entreri’s belt iround

"Well done," he re his weapons

Sydney looked at the door, perplexed "It resistedthe obvious "Not unexpected froic thes of others is considerable"

"Where do we turn?" hissed Entreri "There is another entrance, perhaps?"

"This is our door," Sydney insisted She turned to Bok and snarled, "Break it down!" Entreri jureat hands pounding like battering raain, heedless of the da happened, just the dull thud of the fists punching the stone

Sydney was patient She silenced Entreri’s atteolem at work A crack appeared in the stone, and then another Bok kneeariness; its tempo did not slow

More cracks showed, then the clear outline of the door Entreri squinted his eyes in anticipation

With one final punch, Bok drove its hand through the door, splitting it asunder and reducing it to a pile of rubble

For the second time that day, the second time in nearly two hundred years, the entry chaht

"What was that?" Regis whispered after the echoes of the banging had finally ended