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The is against Aballister and against wizards in general

Druzil had been caught in the edges of Aballister’s stor blast Now the iet back to Castle Trinity You could come out for me, Druzil telepathically asked

I have not the energy, came Aballister’s expected reply Since you allowed Cadderly to get away, I was forced to take matters into my own hands And still I have preparations before me, for the unlikely event that Cadderly or any of his foolish friends survived

"Bene tellemara" the frustrated imp whispered under his breath Now that Druzil believed he needed Aballister, he was careful to put up a blocking wall of innocuous thoughts so that the wizard would not hear the insult

Better that I a to find soe the stubborn wizard’s ic, powerful Aballister could teleport to Druzil’s side, scoop the imp up, and put them both safely back in Castle Trinity in a matter of two minutes

I told you that I was too weary, Aballister’s casual thoughts came back - and Druzil understood that Aballister was si him Better that you are with me? the wizard scoffed I sent you on a most important mission, and you failed! Better to face Cadderly alone, I say, than with an unreliable and troublesome imp at my side I do not yet knohat happened to facilitate the destruction of the evil spirit, Druzil, but if I find that you were in any way involved, your punishment will not be pleasant

More likely it was your own son, Druzil’s rowled back

The ier so profound that Aballister had not taken the ive it a clear floords Druzil knew that his reference once again to Cadderly as Aballister’s son had struck a sensitive nerve, even though Aballister had apparently taken care of the problem

You will seek out the bodies of Cadderly and his friends, Aballister answered Then you alk back to s of yours when the wind permits! I’ll tolerate little more from you, Druzil ’Ware the next storm I send out to the mountains!

With that, Aballister pro Druzil cold in the snow, pondering the wizard’s last words

Truly, the iusted by the ridiculous accusation and by Aballister’s continual threats He had to adht Druzil could not believe the devastation Aballister had rained on Nightglow and the surrounding region But Druzil was cold and miserable now, deep in the wintrysnow off his leathery wings

He certainly didn’t like where he was but in a way, Druzil was relieved that Aballister had refused his request to bring hi priest had somehow escaped Aballister’s fury - and Druzil did not think that such an impossibility - then Druzil preferred to be far ahen Aballister at last faced his son Druzil had once battled Cadderly in ht against the woman, Danica, and had been defeated - even his poison had been ineffective against that one Druzil’s repertoire of tricks was fast e priest was concerned

The stakes were sih

But these mountains! Druzil was a creature of the lower planes, a dark region mostly of black fires and thick smoke He did not like the cold, did not like the wet feel of the wretched snow, and the glare of sunlight on the angled whitened surface of the o on, though, and would, eventually, have to return and face his wizard master

Eventually

Druzil liked the ring of that thought He brushed the snow froet hi for Cadderly and his friends would be a foolhardy thing, and so he veered away frolow Neither was his direction north, toward Castle Trinity Druzil went east, the shortest route out of the Snowflakes, a course that would take hi Carradoon

"Prepare your defenses," Dorigen said as soon as she entered Aballister’s room, unexpectedly and unannounced

"What do you know?" growled the weary wizard

"Cadderly lives!"

"You have seen hi fast out of his chair, his dark eyes coen lied "But there are still wards blockingpriest is veryin quite the opposite way Dorigen had expected, Aballister erupted in laughter He slapped a hand on the ariddy Then he looked to his associate, and her incredulous expression asked many questions

"The boy makes it enjoyable!" the old wizard said to her "I have not faced such a challenge in decades!"

Dorigen thought that he had gone quite insane You have never faced such a challenge, she wanted to screaht private "We ain, calht be that he escaped your fury because he was much closer than we anticipated"

Aballister seeen, his skinny fingertips tapping together in front of hilow," he pointedly reuidance, more than my own," she quickly corrected, sincerely afraid to accept blaiven Aballister’s unpredictable, and incredibly dangerous,Aballister subtly nod his head in agreement

"Prepare" she started to say a third ti the words from her mouth

"Oh, we shall prepare!" Aballister hissed though gritted teeth "Better for Cadderly if he had fallen to the storen said, and she turned for the door

"No!" The word stopped the woman short She slowly turned her head, to look back over her shoulder at Aballister

"This is personal," Aballister explained, and he led Dori-gen’s quizzical gaze across the roo on the far wall, the entrance to Aballister’s extradimensional mansion "The soldiers will not be needed"

They looked down froular tower From the outside, Castle Trinity did not seem so remarkable, or so formidable, even with the new construction that had been done Vander, who had seen the tunnel networks beneath the rocky spur, assured them otherwise Work on the nealls was sloith winter blowing thick, but guards were in abundance - hu predeterether to ward away the icy breeze

That is theto the central area of the closest wall A huge door, oaken and ironbound, was set deep into the stone, enveloped by ays and parapets and many soldiers "Beyond that door is a cave entrance, barred by a portcullis, and a second, siuards, well-armed and well-trained, positioned every step of the way"

"Bah, we’re not for going straight in the front door!" Ivan protested, and this tiru everyone that their only chance lay in stealth, and Shayleigh even suggested that perhaps they should have come out with Carradoon’s army at their heels

Cadderly hardly listened to the talk, trying to think of soet theies His friends had re that he could handle the situation Cadderly liked their confidence in hi the cave, with the sky shining blue, Ivan had scoffed at the storlow, had called it a si able to aiics!" the dwarf had bellowed "Ye got to hit the dareed, and then the green-bearded dwarf, too, had ht of it all with a quiet, "Hee hee hee"

Cadderly knew better, understood the strength of the wizard’s incredible display The young priest still believed that he walked along the true path of Deneir, but i the

He shook the unpleasant thoughts away and tried to focus on the situation at hand "Is there another way in?" he heard Danica ask

"At the base of the tower," Vander answered "Aballister brought us brought the Night Masks in that way, through a suarded door The wizard did not want the commoners of his force to know that he had hired the assassins"

Too round," Danica remarked The toas set some distance behind the two nearly finished perpendicular walls, and though the tower, too, had apparently not been coh, with teed to get past the guards on the closest walls, just a couple of archers up in that tower could ot to keep theruffly slapping the young priest on the shoulder to force him from his private contemplations

"The shortest route would be froht, from below the spur," he reasoned "But that would leave us running uphill, vulnerable to many defensive measures I say that we come in from the left, down the slope of the rocky spur and around the shorter wall"

That wall’s guarded," Ivan argued

Cadderly’s wry smile ended the debate

The friends spent the better part of the next hour in a roundabout hike to a point on the rocky spur far above Castle Trinity With this new angle, around the side of the largest, frontal wall, they could see scores of soldiers, including large, hairy bugbears, ten-foot-tall ogres, and even a giant Cadderly knew that this would be quite a test - for his friends’ trust in him, and for his abilities If that forot inside the back door, all would be lost

The toas fully thirty yards back from the front wall and fully forty yards away from the outermost tip of the perpendicular wall, the wall they had to run around Ivan shook his hairy head; Pikel added an occasional "Oo," showing that even the dwarves, the most battle-hardened members of the troupe, did not think the idea feasible

But Cadderly remained undaunted; his smile had not ebbed an inch The first volley will alert theet near the wall," he explained

The others looked around to each other in confusion, their expressions incredulous Most eyes centered on Shay-leigh’s quiver and the hand-crossbow at Cadderly’s side

"Onpitch soars out for the front wall, we go for the tower," Cadderly went on "You lead the charge," he said to Danica

Danica, though she still had no idea of what "volleys" the young priest was talking about, smiled wryly, pleased that Cadderly would not patronize her, would not try to protect her when the situation obviously called for each of theerous, tasks Danica knew that not many men of Faerun would allow their beloved woer ahead of them, and it was Cadderly’s implicit trust and respect of her which made her love him so very ht of us," Cadderly continued, aih, "ill need you to cut theh de pitch?"