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THE WIND ON THE ROAD

We&039;ll keep close to the foothills," Ellery said to Jarlaxle, pulling her horse up beside the bouncing wagon "There have been ion and Mariabronne has confirmed that they&039;re about We&039;ll stay in the shadoay fro in wait in those same shadows?" Jarlaxle asked

"Mariabronne is with us," Ellery reht by surprise" She smiled with easy confidence and turned her horse aside

Jarlaxle set his doubting expression upon Entreri

"Yes," the assassin assured him, "almost everyone I&039;ve killed uttered siain that you are on my side"

"They&039;ve often said that, too"

Jarlaxle laughed aloud

Entreri didn&039;t

The going was slower on the round under the shadows of the Galenas, but Ellery insisted and she was, after all, in coan its lazy slide down the western sky, the coons up into a sheltered lea between ated the various duties of setting the camp and defenses Predictably, Mariabronne went out to scout and the pair of soldiers set watch-points - though curiously, Entreri thought, under the guidance of the dith the twin e sat in contes crossed before hi on his knees It was more than si spells they httime defense

Similarly, the other dwarf, who had introduced himself as Pratcus Bristlebeard, built a sod for blessing Ellery had covered both the arcane and the divine

And probably a little of both with Jarlaxle, Entreri thought with a wry grin

The assassin went out froher into the foothills and finally settling on a wide boulder that afforded hi out to the west

He sat quietly and stared at the setting sun, long rays slanting across the greatbrilliantly Dazzling distortions turned the light into shi his attention and drawing him into a deeper state of contemplation Hardly aware of the movement, Entreri reached to his belt and drew forth a son sisters Ilnezhara and Taz that he was alone, then lifted the flute to his lips and blew a siain, holding it a little longer His delicate but strong fingers worked over the instruht hiht to him; he couldn&039;t be certain of which He continued for a short while, letting the sound gather in the air around hihts far, far away

The flute had done that to hiic or perhaps just the simple pleasure of perfect ti, Artehts of all the normal clutter

A short while later, the sun much lower in the sky, the assassin lowered the flute and stared at it Somehow, the instrument didn&039;t sound as fine as on those other occasions he&039;d tested it, nor did he find hi drawn into the flute as he had before

"Perhaps the wind is countering the puff of your foul breath," Jarlaxle said from behind him

The drow couldn&039;t see the scowl that crossed Entreri&039;s face - was there ever to be a ti dark elf?

Entreri laid the flute across his lap and stared off to the west and the lowering sun, the botto off a line of fires across the dark teeth of the distant hills Above the sun, a row of clouds took on a fiery orange hue

"It promises to be a beautiful sunset," Jarlaxle re a seat close beside the assassin

Entreri glanced at hiround," the drow continued "I have gone centuries,the cycles of the sun Perhaps the absence of this daily event only heightens my appreciation for it now"

Entreri still showed no hint of any response

"Perhaps after a few decades on the surface I will become as bored with it as you see?" Jarlaxle replied "Or does it amuse you to let all of those around you sirimaces?"

Entreri chortled and looked back to the west The sun was lower still, half of it gone Above the relowed evenblue of the sky

"Do you ever dream, my friend?" Jarlaxle asked

"Everyone dreams," Entreri replied "Or so I ah I hardly care to reht dreaht Even the elves in our Reverie find dream states and visions But there are two types of dreaht and those who dreaht-dreahtti of the worries or a fanciful flight to no end Those who dreaht alone are doomed to mundanity, don&039;t you see?"

"Mundanity?"

"The ordinary The ht-dreamers do not overly concern me because there is nowhere for them to rise But those who dream by day those, my friend, are the troubleso that lot?"

"Would I hold any credibility at all if I did not admit my troublesome nature?"

"Not with me"

"There you have it, then," said the drow

He paused and looked to the west, and Entreri did too, watching the sun slip lower

"I know another secret about daydreath

"Pray tell," came the assassin&039;s less-than-enthusiastic reply

"Daydreamers alone are truly alive," Jarlaxle explained He looked back at Entreri, who matched his stare "For daydreamers alone find perspective in existence and seek ways to rise above the course of simple survival"

Entreri didn&039;t blink

"You do daydream," Jarlaxle decided "But only on those rare occasions your dedication to to what, I often wonder? allows you outside your perfect discipline"

"Perhaps that dedication to perfect discipline is my dream"

"No," the drow replied without hesitation "No Control is not the facilitation of fancy,and fancy then?"

"Of course! Dreah the rational mind Without the heart"

"Control?"

"And only that A pity, I say"

"I do not ask for your pity, Jarlaxle"

"The daydreamers aspire to mastery of all they survey, of course"

"As I do"

"No Youmore, because you do not dare to dream You do not dare allow your heart a voice in the process of living"

Entreri&039;s stare became a scowl

"It is an observation, not a criticism," said Jarlaxle He rose and brushed off his pants "And perhaps it is a suggestion You, who have so achieved discipline, reatness beyond a feared reputation"

"You assume that I want more"

"I know that you need more, as any man needs more," said the drow He turned and started down the back side of the boulder "To live and not merely to survive - that secret is in your heart, Arteh to look"

He paused and glanced back at Entreri, who sat staring at hily an exact replica of the one Entreri held across his lap

"Use the real one," Jarlaxle bade hiave to you The one Idalia fashioned those centuries ago"

Idalia put a key inside this flute to unlock any heart, Jarlaxle thought but did not speak, as he turned and walked away

Entreri looked at the flute in his hands and at the one on his belt He wasn&039;t really surprised that Jarlaxle had stolen the valuable item and had apparently created an exact copy - no, not exact, Entreri understood as he considered the emptiness of the notes he had blown that day Physically, the two flutes looked exactly alike, and he marveled at the drow&039;s work as he compared them side by side But there was more to the real creation of Idalia

A piece of the craftsman&039;s heart?

Entreri rolled the flute over in his hands, his fingers sliding along the sth within the apparent delicateness He lifted the copy in one hand, the original in the other, and closed his eyes He couldn&039;t tell the difference

Only when he blew through the flutes could he tell, in the way the h hi him aith it into what seemed like an alternate reality

"Wise advice," a voice to the side of the trail greeted Jarlaxle as he ht by surprise, Jarlaxle offered Mariabronne a tip of his great hat and said, "You listened in on our private conversation?"

Mariabronne shrugged "Guilty as charged, I fear I wasthe trail when I heard your voice I htand learning the ways of the wider world"

"Did your advisor also explain to you the dangers of eavesdropping?"

Mariabronne laughed - or started to, but then cleared his throat instead "I find you a curiosity, dark elf Certainly you are different from anyone I have known, in appearance at least I would know if that is the depth of the variation, or if you are truly a unique being"

"Unique a the lesser races, such as humans, you h

"I know about the incident with the Kneebreakers," he said

"I am certain that I do not knohat you speak"

"I a the as a cunning turn of ratiate yourself, while keeping enough to build your legend was a cunning turn of diplons were all too easily read, Jarlaxle This is not presumption but deduction"

"You make it a point to study my every move, of course"

Mariabronne dipped a bow "I and others"

The drow did well to keep the flicker of alarm from his delicate features

"We knohat you did, but be at ease, for we pass no judgment on that particular action You have e, and your little trick did well in elevating you to a position of respectability I cannot deny any man, or drow, such a climb"

"It is the end of that climb you fear?" Jarlaxle flashed a wide smile, one that enveloped the whole spectru, a perfectly non-readable expression "To what end?"

The ranger shrugged as if it didn&039;t really e a person by his actions alone I have known halflings ould cut the throat of an innocent huive their lives in defense of the saht no har lot whose reputation is well solidified, and they live for adventure and not reputation, in any case Hobart has certainly forgiven you He even lifted hisin toast to your cleverness when it was all revealed to him"

The drow&039;s eyes flared for just a moment - a lapse of control Jarlaxle was unused to such wheels spinning outside his control, and he didn&039;t like the feeling For awith the late Matron Baenre, thatahead of him or even with him He quickly replayed in his mind all the events of his encounters with the Kneebreakers, recalling Hobart&039;s posture and attitude to see if he could get a fix upon the point when the halfling had discovered the ruse

He brought a hand up to stroke his chin, staring at Mariabronne all the while andthat he would do well not to underesti for a dark elf to take humans and other surface races seriously All his life Jarlaxle had been told of their inferiority, after all

But he knew better than that He&039;d survived - and thrived - by rising above the liain, taking the poignant reer

"We are safe enough"

The drow nodded and started back for the camp

"Your words to Artemis Entreri ell spoken," Mariabronne said after hirace of a true warrior and with the confidence of an emperor But only in a martial sense He is one and alone in every other sense A pity, I think"

"I am not sure that Artemis Entreri would appreciate your pity"

"It is not for him that I express it but for those around him"

Jarlaxle considered the subtle difference for just a ht, Entreri would take that as a great coround was uneven, sometimes soft, sometimes hard, and full of rocks and mud, withered roots and deep puddles The drivers and riders in the wagons bounced along, rocking in the uneven sway of the slow ride, heads lolling as they let the jolts play out Because of the continual jarring, it took Entreri a few moments to detect the sudden vibration beneath his cart, sudden tre wheels He looked to Jarlaxle, who seeon, Ellery&039;s horse pawed the ground Across and to the front, the horse of one guard reared and whinnied, hooves slashing at the air

Mariabronne locked his horse under tight control and spurred the creature forward, past Ellery and Entreri&039;s wagon then past the lead wagon

"Ride through it and ride hard!" the ranger shouted "Forward, I say! With all speed!"

He cracked his reigns over one side of his horse&039;s neck then the other, spurring the animal on

Entreri reached for the whip, as did the woon Jarlaxle braced hiained control of her steed and chased off after Mariabronne

"What is it?" Entreri bade his co a buate froon in front "I&039;m thinkin&039; to find a fewforth both his , fluidbefore hiate lost all concentration and rhythons erupted and several snakelike creatures sprang up into the air They unfurled little wings as they lifted, hovering in place, little fanged ain and the poor rider could hardly hold on Up leaped a snake-creature, right before his terror-wide eyes He instinctively threw his hands before his face as the serpent spat a stream of acid into his eyes

Down he tu horse, and all around hi from holes and lifted into the air

Strea with a dozen wisps of gray smoke He screa his skin

His horse leaped and bucked and thundered away, a group of snakes flying in close and hungry pursuit

Beside the gray-hairedkept his horse under control and crowded in to try to shield his fallen coround, rising up to intercede Out ca&039;s broadsword, and a quick slash folded one of the hovering snakes around the blade and sent it flying away as he finished through with his great swing

But another snake was right there, spitting into the soldier&039;s face, blinding hi it about in a futile effort to keep the nasty little creatures at bay

More venom hit the man and his mount Another pair of snakes dived in fro it to rear and shriek in pain The soldier held on but lost all thoughts of helping his prostrated coe of acidic streaet some traction so that he could propel hi its body around hirabbed at it frantically with both hands, but other snakes dived in fast and hard, spitting and biting