Page 62 (1/2)

In a dark, dark place, Jarlaxle Baenre opened his eyes and dared bring forth a bit of light He could hear the rush of water, and knehat itbeside him

He saw his elemental, the last of the ten, the one that had not been set in place, still standing guard at the entrance of the portable hole he had used to pull hiate away from the primordial That creature of the Ele back the fires of destruction, and Jarlaxle sensed that it was agitated as well, eager and frustrated all at once

"I release you," the drow said, and just that easily the ele swirl of the enchanted water

The drow slipped a ring onto a finger, adjusted his eyepatch, and left his body in a spell of clairvoyance, seeking answers--which he found as soon as his vision lifted out of the pit He saw Drizzt and Dahlia, and the dwarves across the way, and still for under the archway

Jarlaxle turned to Athrogate, who lay broken, his skin blistered, one leg shattered beneath his prone foro," Jarlaxle whispered to hi, a teleportation device that would send theate whispered back, barely able to draw breath

Jarlaxle smiled at him "My priests will find us in Luskan They will tend you, my friend Now is not your tih today"

He began to enact his hly by the ar his attention

"Ye could’ve left me!" he snarled

Jarlaxle just nodded and sate interrupted

"Wait," the dwarf begged "Is it done? Did King Bruenor win the day?"

Jarlaxle s live the king," he assured his bearded friend "Long live King Bruenor"

They buried Bruenor Battleha of Mithral Hall, under rocks beside the cairn of Thibbledorf Pwent They buried him with his one-horned helhty, many-notched axe--for what dwarf other than Bruenor Battlehammer would deserve such weapons?

There had been talk of bringing Bruenor hoested Kelvin’s Cairn in Icewind Dale as an appropriate resting place But Gauntlgrym, the most hallowed and ancient of Delzoun halls, so

So they buried their heroes, and there were many that fateful day, and they took their tour of what rerym Outside the main wall, in the vast cavern with the pond, they said their farewells Both Stokely and Torgar offered Drizzt a home, Icewind Dale or Mirabar

But he refused theht to their offers Neither place was for him, he knew, nor was Mithral Hall

Nor was anywhere, it seemed

When he at last exited the tunnels east of the mountains, Guenhwyvar beside him, Drizzt Do’Urden turned to stare to the north, toward Icewind Dale, the place that had been his truest home, the place where he had known his truest friends

And he was alone

"Where’s your road lead, drow?" Dahlia said, walking up beside him

Guenhwyvar favored her with a low purr