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"Artemis Entreri is neither," Drizzt assured her "Why not, then?" he asked both of them

"It’s often claimed that the ene

"Are you still hed a bit as he considered that "I grew bored with you o To think me your enemy would be to think I care about you one way or the other"

"And for me?" asked Dahlia "You just admitted you plan to kill me"

"That can wait"

"The eneain?"

Entreri smiled wickedly "We shall see"

Drizzt turned from him to Dahlia "It’s settled, then?"

"I intend to kill Sylora," Dahlia stated flatly "And I intend to kill any who try to hinderthat pleasure"

"And what of those ould aid you?" Entreri teased Dahlia turned and walked away

"Well ain, Drizzt Do’Urden," Entreri said to the drow, and he lanced at Dahlia, then, and despite himself, shook his head

"I will not kill her," Entreri promised "Nor you"

Drizzt eyed him with clear doubt

"I hate my master, while you merely bore me," Entreri said

"And Dahlia?"

"She’s my counterpart, the champion of my master’s enemy, as I am my master’s champion And so ere tasked with our battle, a proxy battle It really is nothing personal"

"So you would say," Drizzt started to reply--started, but the words caught in his throat as Arte to his belt as he lunged That buckle became a knife and that knife beat Drizzt to the drow’s throat

A heartbeat later, Entreri looked into Drizzt’s lavender eyes, stepped back, and dropped his knife, which showed no blood He held up his hands "Now you can trust me," he said

It took Drizzt several heartbeats to even sort out what had just occurred, and he silently chastised hi the continuing danger presented by the skilled Artemis Entreri He could have beenbackward, and no doubt doing so with a stilted viehat had once been

He looked at Entreri then, standing unarmed and at ease He looked down at Entreri’s buckle knife, an aht have cut out Drizzt’s throat

Drizzt chuckled and turned away froain for being so foolish, but he applauded hiht The fact that he was still drawing breath proved he’d been right

This man from his past was not his enemy

Artemis Entreri

Artemis Entreri!

The naiven naly been lost to the ages, as the person who had once been Artehts went back to a long-ago day in Calimport, a day Entreri had come to cherish as the moht dead Not from Jarlaxle and the drow elves, for he was certain they would return for hini, surely, a tiefling who likely wasn’t even born at that tio day, Artemis Entreri had escaped froreatest eneo day, Entreri had found a e for a pro to his professed tenets, which promised benefit to the poor of the desert port city

On that long-ago day, Artemis Entreri had escaped fro

And he’d come to look at life differently, for just a short tian D’aerthe returned

All of those h him in a burst of confusion

The irony that it had been Drizzt Do’Urden who had revived the na else, so far more profound, was not lost on the assassin

He noted that the drow kept his hands on the hilts of his blades as he walked off to catch up to Dahlia, and Entreri had no doubt that, should he retrieve his own blades now and go after Drizzt, he would again face that legendary barrage of spinning scimitars

But Entreri had no such intention, of course He’d assured Drizzt of his intent by surrendering the lethal advantage, and even before that, Entreri had known fronition of hiht of hilad of that expression, and not simply because his own foolish plan had failed, and if Drizzt had thought different of their nized him, he would surely have been killed No, it was in to know the level of relief that flooded through the tormented man even then

And as an added benefit, a plan was truly forhts, a way to be rid of Sylora, then use the o Alegni and Drizzt Do’Urden, and with the lovely Dahlia thrown in against Alegni as well

In that moment, Artemis Entreri, a man who had for decades been known as Barrabus the Gray, felt so he’d not experienced in those saainst the Middle

HE’S JOINED WITH MY ENEMIES?" HERZGO ALEGNI ASKED WITH obvious doubt, and he half-drew his sword, trying to find some hint of confire in Neverwinter, the sun low in the western sky in front of him

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Effron replied cryptically, drawing a glare froames

"Barrabus has joined forces with the drow and Dahlia," Effron said "It would appear the Thayan sorceress’s champion returns as her mortal enemy"