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Cassius shot Keerous look and addressed his unexpected ally "You ar For your aid this day, ain I ask you, why did you conored Kemp’s insults "To repay a debt," he replied to Cassius "And perhaps to better the lives of both our peoples"
"By killing goblins?" Jensin Brent asked, suspecting that the barbarian had ar answered "Yet there is much more that we may accomplish My people know the tundra better than even the yetis We understand its ways and kno to survive Your people would benefit from our friendship, especially in the hard times that lay ahead for you"
"Bah!" Kemp snorted, but Cassius silenced hiued by the possibilities
"And ould your people gain froar answered "A link to a world of luxuries that we have never known The tribes hold a dragon’s treasure in their hands, but gold and jewels do not provide wara to do My people have the wealth to assist in that task In return, Ten-Toill deliver my people into a better life" Cassius and Jensin Brent nodded approvingly as Wulfgar laid out his plan
"Finally, and perhaps most important," the barbarian concluded, "is the fact that we need each other, for the present at least Both of our peoples have been weakened and are vulnerable to the dangers of this land Together, our reh the winter"
"You intrigue and surprise me," Cassius said "Attend the council, then, with my personal welcome, and let us put in motion a plan that will benefit all who have survived the struggle against Akar Kessell!"
As Cassius turned, Wulfgar grabbed Kee hands and easily hoisted the spokesround Kemp swatted at the muscled forear the barbarian’s iron grip Wulfgar glared at hierously "For now," he said, "I aarded your insults But when the day co, you would do well to cross my path no more!" With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the spokesround
Kery or embarrassed, sat where he landed and did not respond Cassius and Brent nudged each other and shared a low chuckle
It only lasted until they saw the girl approaching, her ar and her face and auburn hair caked with layers of dust Wulfgar saw her, too, and the sight of her wounds pained him more than his own ever could
"Catti-brie!" he cried, rushing to her She calmed him with an outstretched palar stoically, though it was obvious to the barbarian that she had been sorely injured "Though I dare not think of ould have befallen me if Bruenor had not arrived!"
"You have seen Bruenor?"
"In the tunnels," Catti-brie explained "Some orcs found their way in - perhaps I should have collapsed the tunnel Yet there weren’twell on the field above
"Bruenor came down then, but there were more orcs at his back A support beam collapsed; I think Bruenor cut it out, and there was too ar asked anxiously
Catti-brie looked back across the field "Out there He has asked for you"
By the time Drizzt reached the rubble that had been Cryshal-Tirith, the battle was over The sights and sounds of the horrible aftered He started up the side of the broken stones
In truth, the drow thought hiis and Guenhwyvar hadn’t gotten out of the tower, how could he possibly hope to find theive in to the inescapable logic that scolded him This here he differed from his people, this hat had driven him, finally, from the unbroken darkness of their vast cities Drizzt Do’Urden allowed himself to feel coing around the debris with his bare hands Larger blocks prevented hi very deep into the pile, yet he did not yield, even squeezing into precariously tight and unstable crevices He used his burned left hand little, and soon his right was bleeding fro first around the pile, then scaling higher
He was rewarded for his persistence, for his emotions When he reached the top of the ruins, he felt a fauided him to a small crevice between two stones He reached in tentatively, hoping to find the object intact, and pulled out the sers tree But he found none - the ht of the stones
The drow’s feelings at the find were h he was relieved that Guenhwyvar had apparently survived, the presence of the figurine told hiis had probably not escaped to the field His heart sank And sank even farther when a sparkle within the saolden chain with the ruby pendent, and his fears were confir tomb for you, brave little friend," he said sois’s Cairn He could not understand, though, what had happened to separate the halfling fro else on the chain to indicate that Regis had been wearing it when he died
"Guenhwyvar," he called "Come to urine as he placed it on the ground before hireat cat, unharmed and somewhat restored by the few hours it had spent back on its own plane
Drizzt moved quickly toward his feline companion, but then he stopped as a second an to solidify
Regis
The halfling sat with his eyes closed and his h he was about to take an enjoyable and enormous bite out of some unseen delicacy One of his hands was clenched to the side of his eager jowls, and the other open before him
As his mouth snapped shut on eroaned "Really, you should ask before you steal ht me the juiciest meal!"
Drizzt shook his head and smiled with a is cried "You have found ht that I had lost it; for some reason it didn’t make the journey with the cat and me"
Drizzt handed the ruby back to hih the planes? Drizzt resolved to explore this facet of Guenhwyvar’s power later
He stroked the cat’s neck, then released it back to its oorld where it could further recuperate "Coht be of assistance"
Regis shrugged resignedly and stood to follow the drow When they crested the top of the ruins and saw the carnage spread out below the realized the enors nearly faltered under hiile friend, to make the descent
"We won?" he asked Drizzt when they neared the level of the field, unsure if the people of Ten-Towns had labeled what he saw before him victory or defeat
"We survived," Drizzt corrected
A shout went up suddenly as a group of fisher with abandon "Wizard-slayer and tower-breaker!" they cried
Drizzt, ever huis," the men continued, "the hero of Ten-Towns!"
Drizzt turned a surprised but aed helplessly, acting as ht hold the halfling and hoisted hilory to the council taking place within the city!" one proclaimed "You, above all others, should have a say in the decisions that will be ht, the man said to Drizzt "You can cois," he said, a smile splayed across his face "Ah, little friend, ever you have the fortune to find gold in theon the back and stood aside as the procession began
Regis looked back over his shoulder and rolled his eyes as though he werefor the ride
But Drizzt knew better
The drow’s amusement was short-lived
Before he had even ood that we have found ye, friend elf," said one The dro at once that they bore grim news
"Bruenor?" he asked
The dwarves nodded "He lies near death, even now he one He has asked for ye"
Without another word, the dwarves led Drizzt across the field to a small tent they had set up near their tunnel exits and escorted hile cot, against the wall opposite the entrance, stood Wulfgar and Catti-brie, their heads bent reverently
Bruenor lay on the cot, his head and chest wrapped in bloodstained bandages His breathing was raspy and shallow, as though each breath would be his last Drizzt moved solemnly to his side, stoically determined to hold back the uncharacteristic tears that welled in his lavender eyes Bruenor would prefer strength
"Is itthe elf?" Bruenor gasped when he saw the dark form over him
"I have come, dearest of friends," Drizzt replied
"To seeme on me way?"
Drizzt couldn’t honestly answer so blunt a question "On your way?" He forced a laugh fro throat "You have suffered worse! I’ll hear no talk of dying - who then would find Mithril Hall?"
"Ah, my home" Bruenor settled back at the name and seemed to relax, alh the dark journey before hireed He looked to Wulfgar and Catti-brie for support, but lost in their own grief, they kept their eyes averted
"But not now, no, no," Bruenor explained "Wouldn’t do with the winter so close!" He coughed "In the spring Yes, in the spring" His voice trailed away, and his eyes closed
"Yes,I shall see you to your hoain, their deathly glaze washed away by a hint of the old sparkle A contented smile widened across the dwarf’s face, and Drizzt was happy that he had been able to coar and Catti-brie and they, too, were s At each other, Drizzt noted curiously
Suddenly, to Drizzt’s surprise and horror, Bruenor sat up and tore away the bandages
"There!" he roared to the amusement of the others in the tent "Ye’ve said it, and I have witnesses to the fact!"
Drizzt, after nearly falling over with the initial shock, scowled at Wulfgar The barbarian and Catti-brie fought hard to subdue their laughter
Wulfgar shrugged, and a chuckle escaped "Bruenor said that he would cut ht of a dwarf if I said a word!"
"And so he would have!" Catti-brie added The two of thear explained hastily Outside the tent, their laughter erupted unheeded
"Damn you, Bruenor Battlehammer!" the droled Then unable to stop himself, he threw his ared hi the embrace "But be quick We’ve a lot o’ work to do through the winter! Spring’ll be here sooner than ye think, and on the first warht be," Drizzt laughed, too relieved to be angered by the trick
"We’ll make it, drow!" Bruenor cried "We always do!"