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The horde entered the ed to announce their glorious charge with a song of war, but they understood that a certain degree of stealth was vital to the ultimate success of deBernezan’s battle plan

deBernezan was co the waters of Maer Dualdon as he jogged beside King Haalfdane The surprise would be complete, he believed, and then with ironic amuses of the catch "More wealth for the victors," he hissed under his breath The barbarians had still not begun their song when the Tribe of the Bear split away froh the cloud of dust that followed their run would have told a wary observer that so They rolled on toward Bryn Shander and cried out their first cheer when the pennant of the principle city caht

The combined forces of the four towns of Maer Dualdon lay hidden in Teroal was to strike fast and hard at the s thee to the aid of Bryn Shander, trapping the rest of the horde between the two aros was in command of this operation, but he had conceded the first blow to Agorwal, spokess of the city ablaze as Haalfdane’s wild ar the nine fishing villages in population, but it was a sprawling, uncluttered toith houses spread out over a large area and wide avenues running between them Its people had retained their privacy and athe town an air of solitude that belied its numbers Still, deBernezan sensed that the streets seemed unusually deserted He h Haalfdane assured hi at the approach of the Bear

"Pull them out of their holes and burn their houses!" the barbarian king roared "Let the fishermen on the lake hear the cries of their wo town!"

But then an arrow thudded into Haalfdane’s chest, burying itself deep within his flesh and biting through, tearing into his heart The shocked barbarian looked down in horror at the vibrating shaft, though he couldn’t even utter a final cry before the blackness of death closed in around hiorwal of Ter of the Tribe of the Bear And, on signal fro to life

They leaped fro, froainst the ferocious assault of the multitude, the confused and stunned barbarians realized immediately that their battle would soon be at an end Many were cut down before they could even ready their weapons

Soed to for for their homes and the lives of their loved ones and ared by dwarven smiths, pressed in i invaders down under the weight of their greater numbers

In an alley on the edge of Teris dove behind the conceal barbarians passed by The halfling fought with a personal dilemma: He didn’t want to be labeled a coward, but he had no intention of juer had passed, he walked back around the cart and tried to figure out his next move

Suddenly a dark-haired is supposed, entered the alley and spotted the halfling Regis knew that his little ga was over, the time had come for him to make his stand "Two of the scum just passed this way," he called boldly to the dark-haired southerner "Come, if we’re quick we can catch theh In a desperate attempt to save his own life, he had decided to slip down one alley and ee from another as aany witnesses to his treachery Steadily he walked toward Regis, his slender sword at the ready

Regis sensed that the ht "Who are you?" he asked, though he soht that he knew nearly everyone in the city, though he didn’t believe that he had ever seen this man before Already, he had the uncomfortable suspicion that this was the traitor Drizzt had described to Bruenor "How come I didn’t see you come in with the others earli"

deBernezan thrust his sword at the halfling’s eye Regis, dexterous and ever-alert, h the blade scratched the side of his head and the round With an unely cold-blooded calis scrambled to his feet and backed away, step for step with his assailant But then he buainst the side of the s had nowhere left to run

Desperate, Regis pulled the ruby pendant from under his waistcoat "Please don’t killstone out by its chain and letting it dance seductively "If you let ive you this and show you where you can find ht hesitation at the sight of the stone "Surely, it’s a beautiful cut and worth a dragon’s hoard of gold!"

deBernezan kept his sword out in front of hiis counted as the seconds passed and the dark-haired an to steady, while his right, concealed behind his back, clasped firmly onto the handle of the small but heavy mace crafted for hiested softly deBernezan, fir stone, stooped low to better exaht

"This isn’t really fair," Regis lamented aloud, confident that deBernezan was oblivious to anything he ht say at that moment He cracked the spiked ball of the is eyed the result of his dirty work and shrugged absently He had only done as necessary

The sounds of the battle in the street rang closer to his alley sanctuary and dispelled his conte acted on instinct He crawled under the body of his felled enemy, then twisted around underneath to ht of the larger e of deBernezan’s initial thrust, he was glad that he hadn’t lost his ear He hoped that his wound was serious enough to give credence to this ile

The , low hill that led up to Bryn Shander unaware of what had befallen their co leading the Tribe of the Elk around the eastern side of the hill and Beorg taking the rest of the horde straight toward the walled city Now they took up their song of battle, hoping to further unnerve the shocked and terrified people of Ten-Towns

But behind the wall of Bryn Shander was a very different scene than the barbarians i with the forces of Caer-Konig and Caer-Dineval, sat ready with bows and spears and buckets of hot oil

In a dark twist of irony, the Tribe of the Elk, out of sight of the front wall of the city, took up a cheer when the first screa the victims to be the unprepared people of Ten-Towns A few seconds later, as Heafstaag led his men around the easternmost bend in the hill, they too an’s Hole were fir, and the barbarians were hard-pressed before they even knehat had hit theh, Heafstaag ain control of the situation These warriors had been throughmen who knew no fear Even with the losses of the initial attack, they were not outnu was confident that he could overrun the fisheret hisas they caed down the Eastway and pressed the barbarians on their left flank And Heafstaag, still unshaken, had just ordered his ainst the new foe when ninety battle-hardened and heavily arrie formation with Bruenor as its deadly tip They cut into the Tribe of the Elk, felling barbarians like a loinging scythe through tall grass

The barbarians fought bravely, and many fishermen died on the eastern slopes of Bryn Shander But the Tribe of the Elk was outnumbered and out-flanked, and barbarian blood ran freer than the blood of their foes Heafstaag worked wildly to rally his rated around hi realized that every one of his warriors would die on this field if they didn’t find a way to escape the ring of ene himself, who had never before retreated in battle, led the desperate break He and as ether rushed around the dwarven host, seeking a route between them and the army of Easthaven Most of the tribesmen were cut down by the blades of Bruenor’s people, but so and bolt away toward Kelvin’s Cairn

Heafstaag got through the gauntlet, killing tarves as he passed, but suddenly the giant king was engulfed in an i through it and eht only to find himself face to face with a dark elf

Bruenor had seven notches to put on his axe-handle and he bore down on nu even to show any stubble on his tanned face, but bearing the standard of the Tribe of the Elk with the composure of an experienced warrior Bruenor curiously considered the engaging stare and cale as he closed in on the youth It surprised hie fire of barbarian bloodlust contorting the youth’s features, but rather an observant, understanding depth The dwarf found hi and unusual, and his pity caused hihtly as the two joined battle

Ferocious as his heritage dictated, though, the youth showed no fear, and Bruenor’s hesitation had given hi With deadly accuracy, he sla it in half The aly powerful blow dented Bruenor’s helh as the mountain stone he lared up at the barbarian, who nearly dropped his weapon, so shocked was he that the dwarf still stood

"Silly boy," Bruenor growled as he cut the youth’s legs out from under him "Ain’t ye never been told not to hit a dwarf on the head?" The youth desperately tried to regain his footing, but Bruenor slaht!" roared the dwarf as he stormed away in search of number nine But he looked back for ahis head at the waste of one so tall and straight, with intelligent eyes tothe wild and ferocious natives of Icewind Dale

Heafstaag’s rage doubled when he recognized his newest opponent as a drow elf "Sorcerous dog!" he bellowed, raising his huge axe high into the sky

Even as he spoke, Drizzt flicked a finger and purple fla roared in horror at the h the flames did not burn his skin Drizzt bore in, his two scih and low too quickly for the barbarian king to deflect both

Blood trickled fro seemed able to shake off the punctures of the slender scireat axe arced down, and though Drizzt was able to deflect its path, the effort nu his axe This ti sweep, and the completion of the drow’s rotation left the overbalanced Heafstaag stu and open to a counter Drizzt didn’t hesitate, driving one of his blades deep into the barbarian king’s side