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The Sea Sprite cruised easily under clear blue skies and the lazy war trade wind kept its sails filled, and only six days after their departure from Baldur’s Gate, the western tip of the Tethyr Peninsula was already in sight - a journey that normally took more than a week

But a wizard’s call traveled faster still

Captain Deudermont took the Sea Sprite down the center of Asavir’s Channel, trying to keep a safe distance from the peninsula’s sheltered bays - bays that often held pirates poised for passing ap of water between his ship and the islands on his west: the Nelanther, the infah in the crowded sea lane, with the banner of Cali above his craft and the sails of several otherthe horizon every so often both in front of and behind the Sea Sprite

Using a common merchant’s trick, Deuder the Sea Sprite in its wake Lessthe flag of Murann, a lesser city on the Sword Coast, this second ship would provide a et to any pirates in the area

Eighty feet above the water, taking a turn in the crow’s nest, Wulfgar had the clearest view of the deck of the ship ahead With his strength and agility, the barbarian was fast beco his turn at every job alongside the rest of the crew His favorite duty was the crow’s nest, though it was a tight fit for a man of his size He was at peace in the war one hand to block out the daytilare, and studied the crew’s activities on the ship ahead

He heard the front ship’s lookout call soh he couldn’tabout frantically, ar jolted upright and leaned over the nest, straining his eyes to the south

"How do they feel, having us in tow?" Drizzt, standing beside Deuderar had been building a rapport working beside the crew, Drizzt had struck a solid friendship with the captain And realizing the value of the elf’s opinions, Deudere of his station, and of the sea, with Drizzt "Do they understand their role as fodder?"

"They know our purpose in shadowing them, and their captain - if he is an experienced sailor - would do the same if our positions were reversed," Deuder the a ship froht will deter many of the pirates"

"And perhaps they feel that ould come to their aid in the face of such an attack?" Drizzt was quick to ask

Deuder if the Sea Sprite would indeed go to the other ship’s aid Drizzt had a strong streak of honor in him, Deudermont understood, and the captain, of similar morals, admired him for it But Deudermont’s responsibilities as the captain of a vessel were too involved for such a hypothetical situation "Perhaps," he replied

Drizzt let the line of questioning end, satisfied that Deudermont kept the scales of duty and morality in proper balance

"Sails to the south!" ca many of the Sea Sprite’s crew to the forward rail

Deuderar "Hownorth and even, and wide apart!"

"Port and starboard?" Deuderar took a closecourse then affirmed the captain’s suspicions "We will pass between the the answer

"So it would seem," the captain replied The distant sails came into view to the ," one of the sailors near the bridge called to the captain

Drizzt pointed to the et?"

Deuderain

"Then let us close up with theht"

Deudermont stared into Drizzt’s lavender eyes and was alleam How could the captain hope to make this honorable warrior understand their place in the scenario? The Sea Sprite flew Cali, the other ship, Murann’s The tere hardly allies

"The encounter may not come to blows," he told Drizzt "The Murann vessel would be wise to surrender peacefully"

Drizzt began to see the reasoning "So flying Cali holds responsibilities as well as benefits?"

Deuderuilds in the cities you have known," he explained "Pirates are ht, ould dispel any self-restraint the pirates hold upon the more trouble than need be"

"And ouldthe Channel," Drizzt added, no longer looking at the captain, but watching the spectacle unfold before hiht dropped from his eyes

Deuderrip that would not allow such acceptance of rogues - put a hand on the elf’s shoulder "If the encounter coaze back to his own, "the Sea Sprite will join the battle"

Drizzt turned back to the horizon and clapped Deuderer fire returned to his eyes as Deudermont ordered the crew to stand ready

The captain really didn’t expect a fight He had seen dozens of engagements such as this, and normally when the pirates outnu was accomplished without bloodshed But Deudermont, with so many years of experience on the sea, soon realized that soe this ti too far abreast of the Murann ship to board it At first, Deuderht the pirates meant to launch a distance strike - one of the pirate vessels had a catapult h the act seemed unnecessary

Then the captain understood the truth The pirates had no interest in the Murann ship The Sea Sprite was their target

Froar, too, realized that the pirates were sailing right by the lead ship "Take up arms!" he cried to the crew "They aiht," Deuder will not protect us this tiht-attuned eyes, the distant ships appeared as nowater, but the drow could h He couldn’t understand the logic of the pirates’ choice, though, and he had a strange feeling that he and Wulfgarevents "Why us?" he asked Deudered "Perhaps they have heard a rumor that one of Calio"

The iht sky over Baldur’s Gate flashed in Drizzt’s ain He couldn’t yet put all of the pieces together, but his suspicions led hiar were somehow involved in the pirates’ choice of ships

"Do we fight?" he started to ask Deuder the plans

"Starboard!" Deudermont told the helmss have a belly for the reefs!" He ar’s strength for the more important duties on the deck

The Sea Sprite bit into the waves and bowed low in a sharp right turn The pirate vessel on the east, now the farthest away, cut its angle to pursue directly while the other, the bulkier of the two, kept its course straight, each second bringing the Sea Sprite closer for a shot of its catapult

Deuderest of the few islands visible in the west "Skile reef Tide’s low, and she should be visible"

Wulfgar dropped to the deck beside the captain

"On that line," Deudermont ordered him "You’ve the th! We shan’t get a second chance"

Wulfgar took up the heavy rope with a grunt of deterhtly around his wrists and hands

"Fire in the sky!" one of the crew back to the south, toward the bulky pirate ship A ball of fla harmlessly into the ocean with a hiss of protest,shot," Deudere"

Deuderured how et before the Sea Sprite put the island between them

"We’ll slip them if we make the channel between the reef and the island," he told Drizzt, nodding to indicate that he thought the prospects proan to cohts of escape, the masts of a third vessel loo out of the very channel that Deudermont had hoped to enter This ship had its sails furled and was prepared for boarding

Deuder for us," he said to Drizzt He turned to the elf helplessly "They were lying for us

"But we’ve no cargo of particular value," the captain continued, trying to reason through the unusual turn of events "Why would pirates run three vessels in a strike against a single ship?"

Drizzt knew the answer

The ride was easier for Bruenor and Catti-brie now The dwarf had settled co haze had burned away They cruised down the Sword Coast, amused by the ships they passed over and the astonished expressions of every sailor who turned his eyes heavenward

Soon after, they crossed the entrance to the River Chionthar, the gateway to Baldur’s Gate Bruenor paused a moment to consider a sudden impulse, then veered the chariot away from the coast

"The lady bid us to stay to the coast," said Catti-brie as soon as she realized the shift in course

Bruenor grabbed Alustriel’s ged his shoulders "It’s tellin’ me different," he replied

A second load of burning pitch hit the water, this tierously close to the Sea Sprite

"We can run by her," Drizzt said to Deudermont, for the third ship still had not raised its sails

The experienced captain recognized the flaw in the reasoning The pri out from the island was to block the channel’s entrance The Sea Sprite could indeed sail past that ship, but Deudererous reef and back into open water And by then, they would be ithin the catapult’s range

Deuder pirate ship, the one farthest to the east, had its sails full of wind and was cutting the water even more swiftly than the Sea Sprite If a ball of pitch cae at all to its sails, it would be quickly overtaken

And then a second problerabbed the captain’s attention A bolt of lightning blasted across the Sea Sprite’s deck, severing so off pieces of the ainst the strain of the full sails Wulfgar found a foothold and tugged against the pull with all his strength

"Hold her!" Deuder!"

"They’ve a wizard," Drizzt re that the blast had come from the ship ahead of theri fire in Drizzt’s eyes told Deudermont that the elf had already decided upon his first task in the fight Even in their obvious disadvantage, the captain felt a tug of pity for the wizard

A sly expression caht of Drizzt inspired a desperate plan of action "Take us right up on her port," he told the helh to spit on them!"

"But, Captain," the sailor protested, "that’d put us in line for the reef!"

"Just what the dogs had hoped," Deudermont came back "Let them think that we do not know these waters; let them think that the rocks will do their business for them!"

Drizzt felt comfortable with the security in the captain’s tone The wily old sailor had so in ar

The barbarian nodded

"When I call for you, pull, man, as if your life depends on it!" Deudermont told him

Next to the captain, Drizzt made a quiet observation "It does"

Fro vessel on the east, Pinochet the pirate watched theof the Sea Sprite with concern He knew Deuderh to know that the captain would not be so foolish as to put his ship onto a reef under a bright ht

Pinochet looked to the bulky ship and et two side the blocking ship in the channel Pinochet’s own ship was still many minutes behind the action, and the pirate captain wondered how e Deudermont would inflict before he could aid his allies

But Pinochet quickly put thoughts of the cost of thisa personal favor for the guild of thieves in all of Calimport Whatever the price, Pasha Pook’s payh it!

Catti-brie watched eagerly as each new ship caical locket was leading him to the drow, paid thee the fla horses on faster Somehow - perhaps it was another property of the locket - Bruenor felt that Drizzt was in trouble and that speed was essential

The dwarf then snapped a stubby finger in front of him "There!" he cried as soon as the Sea Sprite came into view

Catti-brie did not question his observation She quickly surveyed the dra below her

Another ball of pitch soared though the air, slapping into the tail of the Sea Sprite at water level but catching too little of the ship to do any real dae

Catti-brie and Bruenor watched the catapult being pulled back for another shot; they watched the brutish crew of the ship in the channel, their swords in hand, awaiting the approach of the Sea Sprite; and they watched the third pirate ship, rushing in from behind to close the trap

Bruenor veered the chariot to the south, toward the bulkiest of the ships "First for the catapult!" the dwarf cried in rage

Pinochet, as well as most of the crewmen on the back two pirate ships, watched the fiery craft cutting a streak down from the northern sky, but the captain and crew of the Sea Sprite and the other ship were too enmeshed in the desperation of their own situation to worry about events behind the a glistening reflection thatabove the fla hair that seeuely familiar

But perhaps it was just a trick of the light and Drizzt’s own undying hopes The chariotno tiht

The Sea Sprite’s crew lined the foredeck, firing crossbows at the pirate ship, hoping, ed to hit the bolt did roar in, but the Sea Sprite was rocking wildly in the breakers rolling off the reef, and the wizard’s blast cut only a minor hole in the ar, tensed and ready for the co beside the pirates, barely fifteen yards fro on a deadly course into the reef