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Herzgo Alegni grumbled a few curses "The , and would be more so if you had not failed in the task I coraceful bow Indeed, he had been sent to kill Sylora, and should have done so, and would have done so had not that i hi-buried eh branch into the e away, not daring to get caught up in the ini so close at hand

"Perhaps I should send you back to her, to finish the deed," Alegni said

"The guard, already impenetrable, will no doubt be redoubled"

"Surely that doesn’t frighten one as cunning and powerful as Barrabus the Gray," caged "You would rally your charges instead, and assail Sylora’s ht has occurred to me"

"And to me, and to Sylora as well, no doubt The sorceress is no fool"

"You do not think it the time to strike?"

"I think that Sylora must strike, and quickly," said Barrabus "She has lost her catastrophe and needs to create a new one"

Alegni looked at him, curious

"She serves Szass Tam, or so you’ve toldI’ve heard it whispered that Szass Tao Alegni paced to the oak then moved around its thick trunk

"She’ll attack us?" he asked as he came around to face Barrabus once more

"And if you were in her position?" Barrabus said "Your Dread Ring dee scale, and quickly Would you attack an arni’s face "With a city full ofon "Sylora will soon go against Neverwinter"

Barrabus shrugged again

"Go out and confirni yelled

Barrabus the Gray smiled and bowed, one a few steps, though, when he turned back to regard the tiefling

"You’re welcome," Barrabus the Gray remarked

"I didn’t thank you"

"But you knoorth Your frustration reveals as ni scoffed at the notion, and scoffed all the er back, ht serve you all the better"

A scowl enveloped Alegni’s face

"You’ll cohed, and turned away

The sni’s sight Truly, he hated that tiefling ni had the sword, so Barrabus could not go against hi his every move before hehi him if it, or its wielder, so chose

Were it sini’s hand long ago and gladly gone to his elusive "reward" The sword, non simply as Claould do more than merely kill himents of his soul for eternity It would feed upon his life force, and only grow stronger because of the kill

Or it would kill hiain

Yes, Barrabus hated Alegni, and hated the red-bladed sword, and hated most of all his helplessness, his servitude Only once before in the many decades of his life had Barrabus the Gray known such a feeling of helplessness: in Menzoberranzan, the city of the drow Upon his escape froain serve in such a manner

The blade they called Claw and the Netherese lords who clai with his freedom

"For now," Barrabus the Gray proh Neverwinter Wood

He thought of his dagger, a weapon that had been his tradeht fear in the hearts of sturdy warriors and other assassins froni would never give it back to hini ary of Barrabus the Gray, and wouldn’t lend hiic Still, he entertained the thought of the great struggle should he ever retrieve that blade He would use it to draw out Alegni’s life force even as Claw dier, he believed, and even if they both died in the battle, it would be an end Barrabus the Gray would consider ain

"Sylora doesn’t know I have this," Valindra Shadowemstone, shaped as a skull The fires of her undead existence flared in her eyes and reflected in the hollowed orbs of the gemstone

"I took it frogled all the more

The skull was her phylactery, her soul’s escape fro mortal coil Should Valindra’s body be destroyed, there she would reside until another body could be found

But this particular gem was much more than that It was an ancient artifact, one of a pair, and served as a great conduit of ical power Arklem Greeth--Valindra’s beloved Greeth!--resided in the other, though Valindra knew not where the sister geht be