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Tirelessly, the heavily laden dwarvesheavy packs and others shouldering the great weight of large wooden beauess about which direction the reinforce from seemed the only possible way, and Bruenor knew exactly where to meet them There was only one pass that afforded easy access down into the rocky valley: Daledrop, up on the level of the tundra yet below the southern slopes of the hout half of the night and ht to work They had no idea what tih it probably wouldn’t happen under the light of day; they wanted towas ready Bruenor was determined to take out this war party quickly and with h spots of the mountainside, and others were sent out onto the plain Under Bruenor’s direction, the reroup set to digging a trip-trench and another began reasse the wooden beaht out the best vantage points a the boulders on the nearby mountainside from which to launch their assault

In a short time, all was ready But the dwarves still did not stop to rest They continued canvassing every inch of the area, searching for any possible advantage they could gain over the verbeeg

Late in the day, the sun already dipping its lowest edges below the horizon, one of the lookouts on thein the distant east Soon after; a scout ca, a few ogres, and at least a dozen orcs was naled the crossbowmen into their concealed positions The ballista crews inspected the ca touches Then the strongest fighters of the clan, with Bruenor hi the worn path of Daledrop, carefully cutting the tufts of thick grass so that they could roll it back over thear had taken up a position aiant’s lair They had slept in shifts throughout the day The drow’s only concern for Bruenor and his clan was that so reinforcee of surprise

After several uneventful hours, Drizzt’s worries proved true The droas resting in the shadow of a ledge while Wulfgar kept watch over the lair The barbarian could hardly see the wooden doors concealed behind the brush, but he clearly heard the creak of a hinge when one of the to rouse the drow toout of the hole

Then he heard giants talking within the blackness of the open door, and suddenly, a half dozen verbeeg eht He turned to Drizzt but found the ever-alert drow already standing behind hiiants in the bright light

"I do not knohat they are about," Wulfgar told Drizzt

"They’re seekingcompanions," Drizzt replied He’d heard, more clearly with his keen ears than his friend, distinct pieces of the conversation that had taken place before the giants e had been instructed to exercise all possible caution, but they were to find the long overdue patrol, or at least deterone off to They were expected to return that saht, with or without the others

"We roup will have found their dead co before we could return," replied Drizzt "Besides, I believe that Bruenor has enough giants to deal with already"

"What, then?" asked Wulfgar "Surely the lair will be tenfold more difficult to defeat if they expect trouble" The barbarian noticed that the si flame had returned to the drow’s eye

"The lair will be none the wiser if these giants never return," Drizzt saidverbeeg was a h he had already guessed what Drizzt had in ar’s apprehension and s the condescending title to stir up the barbarian’s pride "You have trained hard for many weeks in preparation for a htly across a sar, his eyes sparkling wildly as they caught the afternoon sun

"Co with one hand "There are only six of the the weeks of training, he had come to know Drizzt as a controlled and deadly swordshed every feint and strike with calar had seen an overly daring - even reckless - side of the drow Drizzt’s unwavering confidence was the only thing that convinced Wulfgar that the elf wasn’t suicidal, and the only thing that coement He wondered if there was any limit to how far he would trust the drow

He knew then and there that Drizzt would someday lead hiiant patrol traveled southward for a short while, Drizzt and Wulfgar secretly in tow The verbeeg found no iiants and feared that they were getting too close to the dwarven eneral directions of the flat rock where the skirmish had taken place

"We must move on them soon," Drizzt told his coar nodded A short tied stones, where the narrow path twisted and turned suddenly The ground was sloping upward slightly, and the conized that the path they traveled would ht had faded enough to provide solances; the time had come for action

Drizzt, by far the more battle-seasoned of the two, quickly discerned the mode of attack that offered the best chance of success He ar to pause "We have to strike and ain"

"Not an easy task against a wary foe," Wulfgar said

"I have so that may aid us" The drow pulled his pack frourine and called his shadow When the wondrous feline abruptly appeared, the barbarian gasped in horror and leaped away

"What demon have you conjured?" he cried as loudly as he dared, his knuckles whitening under the pressure of his clutch on Aegis-fang

"Guenhwyvar is no dee corowled, as if it understood, and Wulfgar took another step away

"No natural beast," the barbarian retorted "I shall not fight beside a demon conjured with sorcery!" The barbarians of Icewind Dale feared neither n to the learn the truth of the er," Drizzt said darkly "The cat will help us to stop this group Will you allow your own fears to hinder the rescue of the dwarves?"

Wulfgar straightened and recaptured a measure of his composure Drizzt’s play on his pride and on the very real threat to the dwarves was pressuring him to temporarily put aside his revulsion for the black arts "Send the beast ae need no assistance"

"With the cat, we’re certain to get them all I will not risk the life of the dwarf because of your discoar to accept Guenhwyvar as an ally, if it ever happened at all, but for now, all that he needed was Wulfgar’s cooperation in the attack

The giants had beenfor several hours Drizzt watched patiently as their foran to loosen, with one or two of the s were falling into place exactly as the drow had hoped

The path took one last twist between two gigantic boulders, then widened considerably and sloped more steeply up the final expanse to the chase, a solid rock wall on one side, and a rocky drop on the other Drizzt reat cat into action

The war party, a score of verbeeg with three ogres and a dozen orcs beside theht had fallen There were inally expected, but they weren’t overly concerned by the orcs and kne to deal with ogres The giants were the key to this battle