Page 2 (1/2)

Part 1

Sunrise

It burned at my eyes and pained every part of ic from my armor, and weakened my trusted sci upon ment seat, to await the arrival of the sunrise

It ca could not be denied, but neither could I deny the beauty of the spectacle The colors just before the sun’s appearance grabbed my soul in a way that no patterns of heat eht eness of the scene, but even now, htening that heralds the dawn

I kno that my time in the sun - my daily penance�Dwas more than mere desire to adapt to the ways of the surface world The sun became the symbol of the difference between the Underdark and my new home The society that I had run away fros and treacherous conspiracies, could not exist in the open spaces under the light of day

This sun, for all the anguish it brought me physically, came to representlight reinforced ical ite cloak that defeated probing eyes, the garment of thieves and assassins, beca of tattered cloth

1 Poignant Lessons

Drizzt crept past the shielding shrubs and over the flat and bare stone that led to the cave now serving as his ho had crossed this way recently - very recently There were no tracks to be seen, but the scent was strong

Guenhwyvar circled on the rocks up above the hillside cave Sight of the panther gave the drow a measure of comfort Drizzt had come to trust Guenhwyvar implicitly and knew that the cat would flush out any ene in a and s over him

Drizzt paused behind a stone just inside the entrance, letting his eyes adjust to the gloo into the western sky, but the cave was h for Drizzt to let his vision slip into the infrared spectrum As soon as the adjustlow of a heat source, a living creature, emanated from behind another rock deeper in the one-chambered cave Drizzt relaxed considerably Guenhwyvar was only a few steps away now, and, considering the size of the rock, the intruder could not be a large beast

Still, Drizzt had been raised in the Underdark, where every living creature, regardless of its size, was respected and considered dangerous He signaled for Guenhwyvar to reet a better angle on the intruder

Drizzt had never seen such an animal before It appeared almost catlike, but its head was much smaller and hed more than a few pounds This fact, and the creature’s bushy tail and thick fur, indicated that it was h a pack of food, apparently oblivious to the drow’s presence

"Take ease, Guenhwyvar," Drizzt called softly, slipping his scimitars into their sheaths He took a step toward the intruder for a better look, though he kept a cautious distance so as not to startle it, thinking that he ain the animal’s trust

The small anis quickly backing it against the wall

"Take ease," Drizzt said quietly, this time to the intruder "I’ll not harm you" Drizzt took another step in and the creature hissed and spun about, its s down on the stone floor

Drizzt nearly laughed aloud, thinking that the creature h the cave’s back wall Guenhwyvar bounded over then, and the panther’s immediate distress stole the mirth from the drow’s face

The aniht that the beast had distinctive stripes running down its back Guenhwyvar whimpered and turned to flee, but it was too late

About an hour later Drizzt and Guenhwyvar walked along the lower trails of the ed what they could, though that wasn’t very ood distance to the side of Drizzt Proximity made the stink only worse

Drizzt took it all in stride, though the stench of his own body nant than he would have liked He didn’t know the little animal’s name, of course, but he had marked its appearance keenly He would know better the next time he encountered a skunk

"What of e world," Drizzt whispered to himself It was not the first time the drow had voiced such concerns He knew very little of the surface and even less of the creatures that lived here His months had been spent in and about the cave, with only occasional forays down to the lower, , he had seen some animals, usually at a distance, and had even observed soe to co potential rejection and knowing that he had nowhere left to run

The sound of rushing water led the reeking drow and panther to a fast-running brook Drizzt i away his ar, while GuenhwyvarThe sound of the panther fuht a smile to the drow’s severe features They would eat well this night

Drizzt gingerly flipped the clasp of his belt and laid his crafted weapons beside his mesh chain mail Truly, he felt vulnerable without the armor and weapons - he never would have put them so far from his reach in the Underdark - but many months had passed since Drizzt had found any need for them He looked to his scimitars and was flooded by the bittersweet memories of the last time he had put them to use

He had battled Zaknafein then, his father and mentor and dearest friend Only Drizzt had survived the encounter The legendary weapon ed as much to Zak as it did to Drizzt, for it was not really Zaknafein who had coes of an acid-filled cavern Rather, it was Zaknafein’s wraith, under the control of Drizzt’s evil e upon her son for his denounceeneral Drizzt had spent more than thirty years in Menzoberranzan but had never accepted the malicious and cruel ways that were the norm in the drow city He had been a constant embarrassment to House Do’Urden despite his considerable skill eapons When he ran from the city to live a life of exile in the wilds of the Underdark, he had placed his high priestess mother out of Lloth’s favor

Thus, Matron Malice Do’Urden had raised the spirit of Zaknafein, the weaponafter her son Malice had h of Zak’s soul within the body to deny the attack on Drizzt In the instant that Zak ed to wrest control from Malice, he had cried out in triumph and leaped into the lake of acid

"My father," Drizzt whispered, drawing strength from the simple words He had succeeded where Zaknafein had failed; he had forsaken the evil ways of the drohere Zak had been trapped for centuries, acting as a pawn in Matron Malice’s power ga Drizzt had found strength; from Zak’s victory in the acid cavern, Drizzt had found deternored the web of lies his former teachers at the Academy in Menzoberranzan had tried to spin, and he had coin a new life

Drizzt shuddered as he stepped into the icy stream In the Underdark he had known fairly constant teh, the world surprised him at every turn Already he had noticed that the periods of daylight and darkness were not constant; the sun set earlier every day and the te fro the last feeeks Even within those periods of light and dark loolowing orb and so blue

In spite of it all, Drizzt most often felt comfortable with his decision to co at his weapons and ar in the shadows a dozen feet from where he bathed, Drizzt had to adeness, offered more peace than anywhere in the Underdark ever could

Drizzt was in the wilds now, despite his calm He had spent four months on the surface and was still alone, except when he was able to suical feline coed pants, with his eyes stinging from the skunk spray, his sense of sent aro water, the droas indeed vulnerable