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Bidderdoo had never seen anything tokobolds and pieces of kobolds all about the terrified Harpell as the Gutbuster Brigade went into full battle lust They had come into a small, wide chamber and found a force of kobolds est a retreat (or a "tactical flanking maneuver," as he planned to call it, because he knew the word "retreat" was not in Thibbledorf Pwent’s vocabulary), Pwent had led the forthright charge Poor Bidderdoo had been sucked up in the brigade’s wake, the seven frenzied dwarves blindly, happily, following Pwent’s seeht into the heart of the cavern Noas a frenzy, a massacre the likes of which the studious Harpell, who had lived all his life in the sheltered Ivy Mansion (and a good part of that as a fa) could not believe

Pwent darted by hi liroup of kobolds and pulled as an to shake, to convulse so violently that Bidderdoo wondered if so poison had found its way into the dwarf’s veins

Not so, for this was controlled insanity Pwent shook, and the nasty ridges of his ared enemies, ripped and tore the) with a left hook that brought his auntlet several inches into the forehead of the next unfortunate enee was not suicidal, that the Gutbusters would win easily by overwhelreater numbers with sheer fury He also realized, suddenly, that the kobolds learned fast to avoid the furious dwarves Six of theer a respectfully wide berth Six of the about and bore down on the one enemy they could hope to defeat

Bidderdoo fu to one page where the ink had not s the parchht out in front of hiers

A burst of reen bolts rushing out, each darting and weaving to unerringly strike a target

Five of the kobolds fell dead; the sixth ca for Bidderdoo’s belly

The parchment fell fro he was about to die, and reacted purely on instinct, falling forward over the blade, angling his chest down so that he buried the di pain as the small creature’s sword cut into his ribs, but there was no strength behind the blow and the sword did not dig in deeply

Bidderdoo, so unused to combat, screamed in terror And the pain, the pain

Bidderdoo’s screa kobold, and sawkobold’s exposed throat

Then he tasted war, Bidderdoo closed his eyes and held on The kobold stopped thrashing

After some time, the poor Harpell noticed that the sounds of battle had ended about hihtly to look up at Thibbledorf Pwent, standing over hi his head

Only then did Bidderdoo realize he had killed the kobold, had bitten the thing’s throat out

"Good technique," Pwent offered, and started away

While the Gutbuster Brigade’s htforward, wholly dependent on savagery, another party’s were a dance of stealth and ais, and Bruenor moved silently fro Guenhwyvar was the first to detect an approaching enenals when the panther’s ears went flat

The five worked in unison, setting up so that Catti-brie, with her deadly boould strike first, followed by the panther’s spring, the drow’s impossibly fast rush into the fray, and Bruenor’s typically dwarven roaring charge Regis always found a way to get into the fight, usuallyin behind to slam a drow backside or a kobold’s head with his mace when one of his friends becais figured to stay out of the battle altogether The group was in a wide, high corridor when Guenhwyvar, nearing a bend, fell into a crouch, ears flat Drizzt slipped into the shadows of an alcove, as did Regis, while Bruenor stepped defensively in front of his archer daughter, so that Catti-brie could use the horns of his helmet to line up her shot

Around the corner caroup of eneral direction of Mithril Hall Catti-brie wisely went for the drow There came a flash of silver, and one fell dead

Guenhwyvar ca and biting and rolling right away to bear down on a third drow

A second flash came, and another elf fell dead

But the et no third shot She went for her sword as Bruenor roared and rushed out to meet the closest monster

The minotaur lowered its bull-like head; Bruenor dropped his notched battle-axe right behind hihtly in both hands

In came the minotaur, and over caantic tree

Bruenor didn’t knohat hit hi backward, bowled over by six hundred pounds ofHe hit the firstdeep into the back of the creature’s thigh, stopping its charge The ranger spun away and went down to one knee, jabbing straight ahead with Twinkle, hooking the tip of the blue-glowing scimitar over the next monster’s kneecap

The ht for Drizzt, but the drow’s feet were already under hi, and the brute slammed hard into the stone

Drizzt turned back for Catti-brie and Bruenor and the two re down on his friends With incredible speed, he caught up to theain going for the legs, stopping the charge

But the last e club,about, and Catti-brie ducked fast, whipping her sword above her head

Khazid’hea sliced right through the club, and as thepiece du backhand

The minotaur looked at her curiously She could not believe she hadhe was overe his co to be ready if needed Mostly he watched Drizzt, es and dodges Drizzt had always been quick afoot, but this display was siis could hardly distinguish theis tried to anticipate Drizzt’s path, only to find hi where the droas not

For Drizzt had cut to the side, or reversed direction altogether,would have believed possible

Regis finally just shook his head and filed his questions away for another ti himself that there were other, lanced about and noticed the last of the ene to the side, out of the way of the panther

The last droanted no part of Guenhwyvar, and was glad indeed that the woed in close combat Two of his dark elf companions lay dead from arrows, a third squirmed about on the floor, half her face torn away by the panther’s claws, and all five ed The fourth drow had run off, back around the bend, but that wicked panther was only a couple of strides behind, and the hiding dark elf knew his companion would be down in a matter of moments

Still, the drow hardly cared, for he saw Drizzt Do’Urden, the renegade, the ed and vulnerable, working furiously to finish the three minotaurs he had wounded If this drow could seize the opportunity and get Drizzt, then his place of glory, and his house’s glory, would be sealed Even if he was killed by Drizzt’s friends, he would have a seat of honor beside Lloth, the Spider Queen

He loaded his htning, onto his heavy, two-handed crossbow, an unusual weapon indeed for dark elves, and brought the sights in line

So hit the crossbow hard froer instinctively, but the bolt, knocked loose, went nowhere but down, exploding at his feet The jolt sent hied his hair and blinded him moed to get out of his burning pii Dazed, he noticed a s on the floor, then saw a s down to pick it up The drow tried to react as the bare feet, hairy on top-so the Under-dark drow had never seen before-steadily approached

Then all went dark