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Suddenly, he found a focus in the blur of gray haze, soness It hovered before hies doubled and rolled apart, then rushed together again He fought the dull ache in his head, the inner blackness that had consuht to keep his, who he was, and how he had come to be here
In his startled awareness, the ie sharpened to a crystalline focus The tip of a jeweled dagger
Entreri looainst the backdrop of a single torch set into the wall a few yards beyond, his blade poised to strike at the first sign of resistance Drizzt could see that the assassin, too, had been hurt in the fall, though he had obviously been the quicker to recover
"Can you walk?" Entreri asked, and Drizzt was sh to knoould happen if he could not
He nodded and er shot in closer
"Not yet," Entreri snarled "We o!"
Drizzt turned his concentration away fros, confident that Entreri would have already killed him if that was the assassin’s intent They were in the hly carved stone supported by wooden columns every twenty feet or so
"How far did we fall?" he asked the assassin, his senses telling hiht in
Entreri shrugged "I re on hard stone after a short drop, and then sliding down a steep and twisting chute It seemed like many moments before we finally dropped in here" He pointed to an opening at the corner of the ceiling, where they had fallen through "But the flow of ti he is about to die, and the whole thing may have been over much more quickly than I remegested, "forway indeed"
"How can we get out?"
Drizzt studied the slight grade in the floor and pointed to his right "The slope is up to that direction," he said
"Then on your feet," Entreri said, extending a hand to help the drow
Drizzt accepted the assistance and rose cautiously and without giving any sign of a threat He knew that Entreri’s dagger would cut hi before he could strike a blow of his own
Entreri knew it, too, but didn’t expect any trouble from Drizzt in their present predicae of swordplay up in the alcove, and both looked upon the other with grudging respect
"I need your eyes," Entreri explained, though Drizzt had already figured asenough to get me out of here Your eyes, black elf, can find their way in the darkness I will be close enough to feel your every le thrust!" He turned the dagger over again to eh without the visual aid
When he got to his feet, Drizzt found that he wasn’t as badly injured as he had feared He had twisted his ankle and knee on one leg and knew as soon as he put any weight upon it that every step would be painful He couldn’t let on to Entreri, though He wouldn’t be much of an asset to the assassin if he couldn’t keep up
Entreri turned to retrieve the torch and Drizzt took a quick look at his equipment He had seen one of his sciical blade, was nowhere around He felt one of his daggers still tucked into a hidden sheath in his boot, though he wasn’t sure how er of his skilled enee was a prospect reserved only for the most desperate situation
Then, in sudden shock, Drizzt grabbed at his belt pouch, his fear intensifying when he saw that its ties were undone Even before he had slipped his hand inside, he knew that Guenhwyvar was gone He looked about frantically, and saw only the fallen rubble
Noting his distress, Entreri so," he told the drow
Drizzt had no choice He certainly couldn’t tell Entreri of the ain fall into the possession of an evil reat panther from that fate once, and would rather that it remained forever buried under the tons of stone than return to an unworthy lance at the rubble, and he stoically accepted the loss, taking comfort that the cat lived, quite unharmed, on its own plane of existence
The tunnel supports drifted past the the saain Drizzt sensed that the tunnel was arcing around in a wide circle as it slightly climbed This made him even , especially where precious gean to wonder how ht have to walk before they even reached the next highest level
Although he had less keen underground perception and was unfamiliar with dwarven ways, Entreri shared the sas An hour became two and still the line of wooden supports stretched away into the blackness
"The torch burns low," Entreri said, breaking the silence that had surrounded them since they had started Even their footfalls, the practiced steps of stealthy warriors, died away in the closeness of the low passage "Perhaps the advantage will shift to you, black elf"
Drizzt knew better Entreri was a creature of the night as htened reflexes and ample experience to more than compensate for his lack of vision in the blackness Assassins did not work under the light of the , Drizzt turned back to the path ahead, but as he was looking around, a sudden reflection of the torch caught his eye HeEntreri’s uneasy shuffle behind hi the surface’s texture, and peered intently at it in hopes of seeing another flash It came for just a second as Entreri shifted behind hi the wall
"Where silver rivers run," he muttered in disbelief
"What?" de the torch," was Drizzt’s only reply Hethe evidence that would overcoic and vindicate Bruenor froerated the tales of Mithril Hall
Entreri was soon beside him, curious The torch showed it clearly: a strea the wall, as thick as Drizzt’s forearhtly in its purity
"Mithril," Entreri said, gawking "A king’s hoard!"
"But of little use to us," Drizzt said, to diffuse their exciteh the lode of mithril did not impress him Somehow he felt that Entreri should not look upon this place, that the assassin’s mere presence fouled the riches of Clan Battlehaive the assassin any reason to seek these halls again Entreri shrugged and followed
The grade in the passageway beca, and the silvery reflections of the ularity to make Drizzt wonder if Bruenor may have even understated the prosperity of his clan
Entreri, always nohis prisoner to take much notice of the precious metal, but he understood well the potential that surrounded him He didn’t care much for such ventures himself, but knew that the inforht serve hi the torch died away, but the two found that they could still see, for a diht source was somewhere up ahead, beyond the turns of the tunnel Even so, the assassin closed the gap between he and Drizzt, putting the dagger tip against Drizzt’s back and taking no chances of losing his only hope of escape if the light faded cohtened, for its source was great indeed The air grear of distant htened his reins even further, grasping Drizzt’s cloak and pulling himself closer "You are as much an intruder here as I," he whispered "Avoidance is ally to both of us"
"Could the miners prove worse than the fate you offer?" Drizzt asked with a sarcastic sigh
Entreri released the cloak and backed away "It seereement," he said
Drizzt studied hie is yours," he said
"Not so," replied the assassin Drizzt stood perplexed as Entreri slid his dagger back into its sheath "I could kill you, I agree, but to what gain? I take no pleasure in killing"
"But murder does not displease you," Drizzt retorted
"I do as Iconized thisdeath Looking at Entreri, Drizzt sahat he hiht have beco his similarly amoral people Entreri epitomized the tenets of drow society, the selfish heartlessness that had driven Drizzt froe He eyed the assassin squarely, detesting every inch of the man, but somehow unable to detach himself from the empathy he felt
He had to make a stand for his principles now, he decided, just as he had those years ago in the dark city "You do as youthe possible consequences "No matter the cost"
"Noslad that I am so practical, Drizzt Do’Urden, else you would never have awakened frouing I have a deal to offer you that reat benefit to us both" Drizzt reave no hints to the level of his interest
"Do you knohy I am here?" Entreri asked
"You have co"
"You are in error," replied Entreri "Not for the halfling, but for the halfling’s pendant He stole it froh I doubt that he would have aduessinto his next suspicion "Your eance as well, does he not?"
"Perhaps," said Entreri without a pause "But the return of the pendant is paraether to find the road back to your friends I offer e for the pendant Once we are there, persuade the halfling to surrender it to o on my way and not return My master retrieves his treasure and your little friend lives out the rest of his life without looking over his shoulder"
"On your word?" Drizzt balked
"On my actions," Entreri retorted He pulled the scimitar from his belt and tossed it to Drizzt "I have no intentions of dying in these forsaken mines, drow, nor do you, I would hope"
"How do you knoill go along withthe blade out before hi the turn of events
Entreri laughed again "You are too honorable to put such doubts in ree, of that I aain, then?"
Drizzt had to adether, they stood a fair chance of escaping from the lower levels Drizzt wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to find his friends, not for the price of a pendant that usually got Regis into reed," he said
The passageway continued to brighten at each turn, not with flickering light, as with torches, but in a continuous glow The noise of machinery increased proportionately and the two had to shout to each other to be understood
Around a final bend, they ca into a huge cavern They e that ran along the side of a wide gorge - the great undercity of Clan Battlehammer
Luckily they were on the top level of the chasht down to the floor, each one holding rows of the decorated doorways that had once marked the entrances to the houses of Bruenor’s kin The steps were mostly empty now, but Drizzt, with the countless tales Bruenor had told to hilory of the place Ten thousand dwarves, untiring in their passion for their beloved work, haods
What a sight thatfrom level to level to show off their latest work, afrom what Drizzt knew of the dwarves in Icewind Dale, even the slightest i back to their anvils, begging their gods for forgiveness and the gift of skill sufficient to craft a finer piece No race in all the Realms could claim such pride in their work as the dwarves, and the folk of Clan Battlehammer were particular even by the standards of the bearded people
Now only the very floor of the chasm bustled in activity, for, hundreds of feet below the off in either direction, looh to ht Drizzt and Entreri felt the searing heat, and the intensity of the light made the barrows of ore or fuel for the fires Duergar, Drizzt assulare froht of the tunnel exit, a wide, gently arching rae ned for casual passage, but farther down its course, Drizzt could see the black silhouette of a bridge arching across the chasm
Entreri e seems our best route," the assassin said "But I ae with so many about"
"We have little choice," Drizzt reasoned "We could backtrack and search for some of the side corridors that we passed, but I believe them to be no more than extensions of the mine complex and I doubt that they would lead us back even this far"
"We lare will provide us ample cover" Without further delay, he slipped out onto the ledge and began e, Drizzt right behind
Although the ledge was no more than two feet wide at any point and hters had no trouble navigating it Soon they stood before the bridge, a narroalk of stone arching over the bustle below
Creeping low, they an the descent down the back half of the arch, they saider ledge running along the chase loomed a tunnel, torchlit like the ones they had left on the upper level To the left of the entrance, several s no notice of the area Entreri looked back at Drizzt with a sneaky smile and pointed to the tunnel
As silent as cats and invisible in the shadows, they crossed into the tunnel, the group of Duergar oblivious to their passing
Wooden supports rolled past the two easily now as they took up a swift gait, leaving the undercity far behind Roughhealls gave theht, and as the noise of the workers behind thean looking ahead to the prospect ofback up with the others
They turned a bend in the tunnel and nearly ran over a lone Duergar sentry
"What’re yer fer?" the sentry barked, ht His ar shield, were of the precious le soldier!
Drizzt passed his companion and motioned for Entreri to hold back He didn’t want a trail of bodies to follow their escape route The assassin understood that the black elfwith this other denizen of the underworld Not wanting to let on that he was human, and possibly hinder the credibility of whatever story Drizzt had concocted, he hitched his cloak up over his face