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Theto the lower door of Mithril Hall had been dropped and sealed, but that had been expected by the invading arest concentration of droed to a crawl out in the tunnels beyond the door, the dwarven coh no reports had co outside the ine the carnage on the slopes, with dwarves and weakling hu by the score Both doors of Mithril Hall were likely breached by now, Uthegental believed, with Berg’inyon’s lizard riders flooding the higher tunnels

That notion bothered the weapon ’inyon was in Mithril Hall, and Drizzt Do’Urden was there, the renegade ental and the small band of a half-dozen elite warriors he took in to sought the narroays that would get theate of Mithril Hall proper Those tunnels should be open, with the dark elves filtering out from the Undercity to clear the way

The weapon master and his escort came into the cavern that had previously served as Bruenor’s command post It was deserted noith only a few parchments and scraps from clerical preparations to show that anyone had been in the place After the fall of the tunnels and the collapse of portions of Tunult’s Cavern (andthe roups apparently had been scattered, without any central coh the place, hardly giving it a thought The drow band enerally east, silently following the weapon ent lead They came to a wide fork in the trail and noticed the very old bones of a two-headed giant lying against the wall-ironically, a kill Bruenor Battlehah, was the fork in the tunnel

Frustrated at yet another delay, Uthegental sent scouts left and right, then he and the rest of his group went right, the hed, relieved that they had at last found the lower door, when his scout and another drow, a priestess, s, Weapon Master of the Second House," the priestess greeted, affording iven to mere ental wanted to know "We are still far from the Undercity"

"Farther than you think," the priestess replied, looking disdainfully back toward the east, down the long tunnel that ended at the lower door "The way is not clear"

Uthegental issued a lol Those dark elves should have taken the Undercity by now, and should have opened the passages He stepped by the feer

"You’ll not break through," the priestess assured hih she had slapped hi at the door for an hour," the priestess explained "And we shall spend another week before we get past that barricade The dwarves defend it well"

"Ultrin sargtlin!" Uthegental roared, his favorite title, to remind the priestess of his reputation Still, despite the fact that Uthegental had earned that banner of "Supreme Warrior," the female did not seem impressed

"A hundred drow, five wizards, and ten priestesses have not breached the door," she said evenly "The dwarves strike back against ourpitch And the tunnel leading to the door is narrow and filled with traps, as well defended as House Baenre itself Twenty minotaurs went down there, and those dozen that stu for the out of concealment from small, secret cubbies Twenty minotaurs were slain in the span of a few h," the priestess said again, her tone"None of us will unless those who have entered the dwarven complex strike at the defenders of the door froental wanted to lash out at the female, mostly because he believed her claim

"Why would you wish to enter the complex?" the feental eyed her with suspicion, wondering if she was questioning his bravery Why wouldn’t he want to find the fighting, after all?

"Whispers say your intended prey is Drizzt Do’Urden," the priestess went on

Uthegental’s expression shifted froue

"Other whispers say the renegade is in the tunnels outside Mithril Hall," she explained, "hunting with his panther and killing quite a fe"

Uthegental ran a hand through his spiked hair and looked back to the west, to the wild e of adrenaline course through his body, a tingling that tightened his ri in the tunnels outside the dwarven co the seven-chaental and his coroup of dwarves on their journey to this point

Now that he thought about it, it ental that Drizzt would be out here as well It was very likely the renegade had been in the battle in the seven-chambered cavern, and, if that was true, then ould Drizzt flee back into Mithril Hall?

Drizzt was a hunter, a former patrol leader, a warrior that had survived a decade alone with his ical panther in the wild Underdark-no sental respected

Yes, now that the priestess had told hiental that Drizzt Do’Urden would be out there, so The weapon hed loudly and started back the way he had co no explanation

None was needed, to the priestess or to Uthegental’s companions, who fell into line behind him

The weapon

"We are winning," Matron Baenre declared

None of those around her-not Methil or Jarlaxle, not Matron Zeerith Q’Xorlarrin, of the fourth house, or Auro’pol Dyrr, rach Dyrr, now the fifth house, not Bladen’Kerst or Quenthel Baenre-argued the blunt state Battlehahtly by slender shackles so strongly enchanted that a giant could not break theloating There was more bluster than truth in the dwarf’s attitude, for Gandalug carried with hi up a treotten into the Under-city And they had coe of the secret ways The old dwarf understood that no one could withstand the intrusions of an illithid, but the guilt reh

Quenthelthe obstinate prisoner hard across the back, her fingernails drawing lines of blood

Gandalug snorted again, and this tied snake-headed whip, a blow that sent the sturdy dwarf to his knees

"Enough!" Matron Baenre growled at her daughters, a hint of her underlying frustration showing through

They all knew-and it seemed Baenre did as well, despite her procla to plan Jarlaxle’s scouts had informed them of the bottleneck near Mithril Hall’s lowest door, and that the eastern door from the surface had been blocked soon after it was breached, at a cost of ical co was still furious on the southern and western slopes of Fourthpeak, and that the western door from the surface had not yet been approached And Methil, who had lost his two illithid companions, had telepathically assured Matron Baenre that the fight for the Undercity was not yet won, not at all

Still, there was a measure of truth in Baenre’s prediction of victory, they all knew, and her confidence was not completely superficial The battle outside the ’inyon had assured Quenthel that it soon would be-and given the power of the force that had gone out beside Berg’inyon, Quenthel had no reason to doubt his claim

Many had died in these lower tunnels, but most of the losses had been humanoid slaves, not dark elves Now those dwarves who had been caught outside their complex after the tunnel collapse had been forced into tactics of hunt and evade, a type of warfare that surely favored the stealthy dark elves

"All the lower tunnels will soon be secured," Matron Baenre elaborated, a stateroup, which would risk no encounters, was on theBaenre was responsible for guiding and guarding the first matron mother They would not allow Baenre any advancement unless the area in front of theround around Mithril Hall will also be secured," Baenre added, "with both surface doors to the complex breached"

"And likely dropped," Jarlaxle dared to put in

"Sealing the dwarves in their hole," Matron Baenre was quick to respond "We will fight through this lower door, and our wizards and priestesses will find and open neays into the tunnels of the co our enemy’s ranks"

Jarlaxle conceded the point, as did the others, but what Baenre was talking about would take quite a bit of tie had not been part of the plan The prospect did not sit ith any of those around Matron Baenre, particularly the other two matron mothers Baenre had pressured theh their houses, and all the city, was in a critical power flux In exchange for the personal attendance of the rach Dyrr had been allowed to keep most of their soldiers at ho houses, had sent as much as half their complement of dark elves For the few months that the army was expected to be away, the fourth and fifth Houses seemed secure

But Zeerith and Auro’pol had other concerns, worries of power struggles within their families The hierarchy of any drow house, except perhaps for Baenre, was always tentative, and the two , they ht return to find they had been replaced

They exchanged concerned looks now, doubting expressions that ever observant Jarlaxle did noton its slow and deter atop their driftdisks, flanked by Baenre’s two daughters (dragging the dwarf) and the illithid, who see, heavy robes A short while later, Matron Baenre informed them that they would find an appropriate cavern and set up a central throne rooht

It was another indication that the ould be a long one, and again Zeerith and Auro’pol exchanged disconcerted looks

Bladen’Kerst Baenre narrowed her eyes at both of theht it all, every connotation, every hint of where Matron Baenre reatest troubles

Thethat he would join up with his band and try to garner more timely infor hiht One of her escorts was not so casual

You and your e in Jarlaxle’s hts whirled in a ju the telepathic reply that the notion of deserting the war had indeed crossed his mind As close to desperation as he had ever been, Jarlaxle looked back over his shoulder at the expressionless face of the intruding illithid

Beware of Baenre should she return, Methil imparted casually, and he continued on his ith Baenre and the others

Jarlaxle paused for a long while when the groupthe emphasis of the illithid’s last communication He came to realize that Methil would not infor loyalty Soiven, Jarlaxle knew that

Thehard about what his next ether, Baenre would eventually win-that reater than anticipated (they already had been), but that would be of little concern once Mithril Hall was taken, along with all its promised riches

What, then, was Jarlaxle to do? The disturbing question was still bouncing about the an D’aerthe lieutenants, all bearing news of the continuing bottleneck near the lower door, and infor killed in the outer tunnels, falling prey to roving bands of dwarves and their allies

The dwarves were defending, and fighting, well