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"You seeer standing on a rope bridge the nextHooter sat in a branch above hiht, did not ied and turned away, respecting the ranger’s privacy, and took the onyx figurine out of his pocket
"Guenhwyvar and I will go out for a short hunt," Drizzt explained over his shoulder, "before the sun gets too high Then I will take my rest and the panther will share the day with you"
Still Montolio hardly heard the drow, but when the ranger noticed Drizzt placing the onyx figurine on the rope bridge, the drow’s words registered more clearly and he came out of his conte a hand out "Let the panther remain at rest"
Drizzt did not understand "Guenhwyvar has been gone a day and more," he said
"We ," Montolio began to explain "Let the panther remain at rest,"
"What is the trouble?" Drizzt asked, suddenly serious "What has Hooter seen?"
"Last night marked the newof the lunar cycles, nodded
"A holy day for the orcs," Montolio continued "Their caht"
Again Drizzt nodded in recognition "I heard the strains of their song, but I wondered if it ht be no more than the quiet voice of the wind"
"It was the wail of orcs," Montolio assured hirunt and dance wildly in their typical stupor - orcs need no potions to induce it, you know I thought nothing of it, though they seemed overly loud Usually they cannot be heard from here A favorable unfavorable wind carried the tune in, I supposed"
"You have since learned that there was ?" Drizzt assumed
"Hooter heard the out for et a look"
Drizzt also looked up at the h it understood Montolio’s coh, Drizzt had to wonder just how completely Montolio could understand Hooter, and just how completely the owl could comprehend the events around it
"The orcs have for at his bristled beard "Graul has awakened froeance, it seems"
"How can you know?" Drizzt asked "Can Hooter understand their words?"
"No, no, of course not!" Montolio replied, amused at the notion
"Then how can you know?"
"A pack of worgs came in, that s are not the best of friends, but they do get together when trouble is brewing The orc celebration was a wild one last night, and with the presence of worgs, there can be little doubt"
"Is there a village nearby?" Drizzt asked
"None closer than Maldobar," Montolio replied "I doubt the orcs would go that far, but the h the pass, from Sundabar to Citadel Adbar and the other way around, h I do not believe Graul would be bold enough, or stupid enough, to attack a caravan of heavily ar fro?"
"Graul could collect thousands if he took the time and had the mind to do it," Montolio said, "but that would take weeks, and Graul has never been known for his patience Also, he wouldn’t have brought the worgs in so soon if he ions Orcs have a way of disappearing while worgs are around, and the worgs have a way of getting lazy and fat with so "
Drizzt’s shudder showed that he did indeed
"I would guess that Graul has about a hundred fighters," Montolio went on, "s, by Hooter’s count, and probably a giant or two"
"A considerable force to strike at a caravan," Drizzt said, but both the drow and the ranger had other suspicions in mind When they had first met, two months before, it had been at Graul’s expense
"It will take theet ready," Montolio said after an uncoht, and I shall call on other spies as well"
"I will go to scout on the orcs," Drizzt added He saw concern cross Montolio’s face but quickly dismissed it "Many were the times that such duties fell on me as a patrol scout in Menzoberranzan," he said "It is a task that I feel quite secure in perfor Fear not"
"That was in the Underdark," Montolio reht so different?" Drizzt replied slyly, throwing a wink and a co smile Montolio’s way "We shall have our answers"
Drizzt said his "good days" then and headed off to take his rest Montolio listened to his friend’s retreating steps, barely a swish through the thickly packed trees, with sincere adood plan
The day passed slowly and uneventfully for the ranger He busied hi his defense plans for the grove Montolio had never defended the place before, except once when a band of foolish thieves had stu different strategies, thinking it inevitable that one day Graul would groeary of the ranger’sand find the nerve to attack
If that day had come, Montolio was confident that he would be ready
Little could be done now, though - the defenses could not be put in place before Montolio was certain of Graul’s intent - and the ranger found the waiting interminable Finally, Hooter infor
"I will set off, then," Drizzt re low in the west "Let us learn what our unfriendly neighbors are planning"
"Have a care, Drizzt," Montolio said, and the genuine concern in his voice touched the drow "Graul may be an orc, but he is a crafty one Heone of us to come and look in on him"
Drizzt drew his still-unfaain confidence in their movement Then he snapped the further courine With a final pat on the ranger’s back, the scout started off
"Hooter will be about!" Montolio cried after hiht not expect Give a shout if you find more trouble than you can handle!"
The orc cae bonfire blazing into the night sky Drizzt saw the for around the flas, Montolio had called the surrounded by huge maples and rock walls Drizzt could hear the orc voices fairly well in the quiet night, so he decided not to get in too close He selected onehis innate levitation ability to get him up
The spell failed utterly, so Drizzt, hardly surprised, slipped his scimitars into his belt and clih as twenty feet Drizzt hest break and was just about to start out on a long and winding branch when he heard an intake of breath Cautiously, Drizzt slipped his head around the large trunk
On the side opposite him, nestled comfortably in the nook of the trunk and another branch, reclined an orc sentry with its hands clasped behind its head and a blank, bored expression on its face Apparently the creature was oblivious to the silent- dark elf perched less than two feet away
Drizzt grasped the hilt of a sci confidence that the stupid creature was too conored the orc He focused instead on the events down in the clearing
The orc language was siue in structure and inflection, but Drizzt, no oblin, could only make out a few scattered words Orcs were ever a rather deies of a dark elf and a thin, moustached huest orc of the gathering, King Graul, probably, sputtered and cursed at theinto thelee that turned to sheer ecstacy when the stone giant walked over and flattened the fake dark elf to the ground
It went on for hours, and Drizzt suspected it would continue until the dawn Graul and several other large orcsin the dirt, apparently laying battle plans Drizzt could not hope to get close enough to make out their huddled conversations and he had no intention of staying in the tree with the dawn’s revealing light fast approaching
He considered the orc sentry on the other side of the trunk, now breathing deeply in slumber, before he started down The orcs meant to attack Montolio’s home, Drizzt knew; shouldn’t he now strike the first blow?
Drizzt’s conscience betrayed hiethe orc to its snooze in the comfortable nook
Montolio, Hooter on his shoulder, sat on one of the rope bridges, waiting for Drizzt’s return "They are coer declared when the drow finally ca, probably a little incident at Rogee’s Bluff" Montolio pointed to the west, toward the high ridge where he and Drizzt had met
"Do you have a sanctuary secured for times such as this?" Drizzt asked "The orcs will co and with powerful allies"