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But there is so, so with it uilt, and I feel, and fear, myself a cad

Yet I cannot deny it

As I turnedBruenor Battlehae and the helplessness and the replaying of the scenario over and over again to wonder what I ht have done differently, was … a deep sense of relief

I am ashamed to admit this, but to deny it would be to lie, and worse, to lie tolast I have a sense of finality It is time for the past to rest and for me to move forward It is time, as Innovindil explained to in anew

Certainly I’m not relieved that Bruenor has passed Nor Thibbledorf Pwent, for that matter! A better friend than Bruenor I have never known, and I would wish him back to er sense, the greater perspective of my life, there is a sense of relief I have been ready to let go of Catti-brie and Regis and Wulfgar for a long tiet theet them! They are embedded in my heart and soul and ith Drizzt Do’Urden every step of his road But I accepted their loss--o, and it was only the stubbornness of an old dwarf, refusing to let go, insisting that they were still to be found and that our wondrous years together would be restored, that forcedon

I aht! How disloyal a forward, to a new road, a third life, taking the painful lessons ofwith the wondrous joys of my second life beside the Companions of the Hall Now I am hardened by the whips of the drow matrons, and softened by the honest love of friends, and settled in what I know is, what should be, and what should never be As my second life so exceeded her yet?

I don’t know, and truly I understand how fortunate I was in finding these four a companions to share a road Will I find such friends, ready to sacrifice all for ain? Even if I do, will it be the same intensity of that which I kneith Catti-brie?

I know not, but I’m not afraid to find out That’s my freedom now, to walk ret and with a true understanding of how blessed my existence beside these companions has been

And there is one other freedom now: For the first tiry Strangely so I feel as if the rage that has for so long kept s uilt, and I a tomyself Perhaps the loss of Bruenor has pushed me past the bounds of sensibility, where the level of pain has beco wholly converse

Perhaps

Perhaps not

I can only shrug and wonder

I can only feel and accept

I am alone now

I ae

SYLORA SALM STOOD OUTSIDE THE ASH CLOUD OF THE BUDDING Dread Ring, shifting from foot to foot She knew the stakes Her scouts had returned confir her fears: The primordial had been trapped once ic of the fallen Hosttower of the Arcane There would be no second eruption of pri daily beneath her feet

Her enemies had averted catastrophe

Sylora stared into the ash and could al on a volcanic cataclys that fed upon death

She continued to shift from foot to foot If she understood her failure, then so did the being approaching her behind the gray-black veil

Sylora could hear her heart thu in her chest Behind her, Jestry Rallevin, the Ashmadai zealot who had become her closest advisor, sed hard

"I feel him," he whispered Jestry Rallevin was no ordinary Ash, barely into his twenties and quite inexperienced, the man still commanded the attention and respect of all the other zealots, both because of his striking appearance--with his large shoulders, dark hair, and brooding dark eyes--and his willingness to throw hiht--so perfectly in balance, striking with precision and power If only she had known of his prowess before the few recent skirmishes with the Netherese forces, Sylora silently lamented She could have used Jestry to teether

That notion re male consort whom she had shared with Dahlia, and one Dahlia had slain before coainst Temberle

No comparison, she believed This one, a true zealot, would have carved Teht he have done, ht he do, the saht, to be sure

"Sylora, he’s co," Jestry repeated

Sylora nodded but didn’t reply, afraid to break theof Szass Taies on her Dread Ring She sluo in there to , the power of Szass Tam was simply too terrible to behold

Behind her, she heard Jestry licking his lips nervously She wanted hi herself to tell him

An emaciated humanoid under a heavy black hooded robe approached Solided