Page 27 (2/2)

I came to suspect this hidden truth, and so I pressed northward to Port Llast

I came to hope that I was correct in my assessment and my plans when that mission neared completion, and we set out from Port Llast

But for all my hopes and suspicions, it wasn’t until the caravan led by ate of Port Llast that I came to fully realize the truth of that quiet irritation that had drivenI asked myself which road I would choose, but that question holly irrelevant

For the road that I find before me determines my actions and not the other way around

Had I not gone to Port Llast to try to help, had I not reht of Farmer Stuyles and sothat which is so clear in reater shackle than self-deception A h fear of personal consequence--whether regarding physical jeopardy, or self-doubt, or siainst your values and tenets, against that which you know is right and true, creates a prison stronger than ada expediency above the cries of conscience throws another heavy chain out behind, an anchor to drag forever when I proclaimed my freedom after the last of my companions had departed this world, but I was surely only part of the way there Now I aation to follow that which is in my heart is the ain, I am free, and say it with conviction, because now I accept and eain that which is in uidepost along this road The world ray, but the concept of right and wrong is not so subtle for ainst the stated law, then the stated law be damned

Never have I walked more purposefully than in my journey to find and retrieve Farmer Stuyles and his band Never have fewer doubts slowedto do

My road presented this opportunity before me, and what a fraud I would have been to turn my back on these demands of my heart

I knew all of that as I descended beside Stuyles along the road to Port Llast’s welco the caravan, all confirly simple solution for the problems of both these peoples was the correct, the just, and the best answer

The road had brought me here My heart had shownthat road In following that conscience-dictated trail, I can claim noith confidence, that I a to me that an early confirmation of my trail came not in the cheers of the citizens of Port Llast, nor froee band that they would at last be finding a place to call a ho look of Artemis Entreri!

He understood my scheme, and when Dahlia publicly denounced it, he offered his quiet support--I know not ith but a look and a nod

I would be a liar if I insisted that I wasn’t thrilled to have Arte with me for this journey Is he a redeemed man? Unlikely And I remain wary of him, to be sure But in this one instance, he showed tomore there within his broken and scarred heart He’ll never ad this solution, of course, no in with a satisfied grin upon his ever-dour face

But that nod toldmakes this choice of mine--nay,north with ainst Herzgo Alegni previously, and even trusted his guidance through the sewers of Neverwinter--all the more important and supportive of that which I no to be true

I a my conscience above all else, because er

Thus, I am free

Equally important, I areat cycle of civilization inexorably moves the races of Faerûn toward a better destination Ever will there be obstacles--the Spellplague, the fall of Luskan to pirates, the advent of the Empire of Netheril, the cataclyser tale is one of trudging forward, of grudging resolve and detere Press on, soldier on, and the world grows tamer and freer and more comfortable for uides my steps

Where before I saw uncertainty and walked with hesitancy, now I see opportunity and adventure The world is broken--can I fix it all?

I know not, but I expect that trying to do so will be the grandest adventure of all

--Drizzt Do’Urden

Chapter 9: Co Self-Interests

WITH THE SUN HIGH IN THE SKY, DORWYLLAN WATCHED THE LONG procession winding down the road below his perch on the side of a steep hill Raard donkeys and painfully thin horses and cows bobbed by on uneven, wobbly wheels

More women than --except for the very young Children raced around froreat i at the sullen faces of the drivers, Dorwyllan understood that their parents desperately hoped that any such adventures reood far the caravan ranks Winter was letting go finally, the roads clearing, and Stuyles had sent wagons north to the far the word for the folk to join in the tenday-long journey to Port Llast, to a new ho, compared to the previous autumn With the help of Drizzt and his friends, and the reinforcehwaymen, the citizens had reclaimed the city all the way to the sea, and a neas nearly coin activity The catapults along the cliff faces had been repaired and ell-ht be And best of all, a dozen boats were noorthy once more, and a plentiful harvest was to be found within the harbor, within the protection offered by the grenadiers on the wall

Just a couple of months before, Dorwyllan had explained to Drizzt that he had re town of Port Llast merely out of loyalty to the stubborn and stoic townsfolk, and his answer had clearly shown his sincere belief that the toas in her last days But now the recollection of that answer, of those doubts, almost embarrassed the elf

And here before hi would once again fill the lanes of Port Llast, and truly that was a sound Dorwyllan had never expected would return to the battle-scarred, bloodstained city

"If they get there," the elf reminded himself, and scolded hi road north of the procession They had erous than these first steps, Dorwyllan feared He put his hand over his eyes and squinted to the north, ih captains of that city had abandoned these people, it was true, but Dorwyllan doubted that those sah captains would tolerate reciprocal treatet beyond his position, rolling down to the south, then took up his bow andthe road