《Passage to Dawn (Legacy of the Drow #4)》


 Page 1

    She was beautiful, shapely, and pale-skinned with thick, lustrous hair cascading halfway down her naked back. Her charms were offered openly, brazenly, conveyed to him at the end of a gentle touch. So gentle. Little brushing fingers of energy tickled his chin, his jawbone, his neck.


    Every muscle of his body tensed and he fought for control, battled the seductress with every bit of willpower remaining in him after so many years.


    He didn''t even know why he resisted anymore, didn''t consciously remember what offerings of the other world, the real world, might be fueling his stubbornness. What were "right" and "wrong" in this place? What might be the price of pleasure? What more did he have to give?


    The gentle touch continued, soothing his trembling muscles, raising goose bumps across his skin wherever those fingers brushed. Calling to him. Bidding him to surrender. Surrender.


    He felt his willpower draining away, argued against his stubbornness. There was no reason to resist. He could have soft


    sheets and a comfortable mattress; the smell-the awful reek so terrible that even years had not allowed him to get used to itbe taken away. She could do that with her magic. She had promised him.


    Falling fast, he half-closed his eyes and felt the touch continuing, felt it more keenly than before.


    He heard her snarl, a feral, bestial sound.


    Now he looked past her. They were on the lip of a ridge, one of countless ridges across the broken, heaving ground that trembled as if it were a living thing, breathing, laughing at him, mocking him. They were up high. He knew that. The ravine beyond the ridge was wide, and yet he could not see more than a couple of feet beyond the edge. The landscape was lost in the perpetual swirling grayness, the smoky pall.


    The Abyss.


    Now it was his turn to growl, a sound that was not feral, not primal, but one of rationale, of morality, of that tiny spark that remained in him of who he had been. He grabbed her hand and forced it away, turning it, twisting it. Her strength in resisting confirmed his memories, for it was supernatural, far beyond what her frame should have allowed.


    Still, he was the stronger and he forced the hand away, turned it about, then set his stare upon her.


    Her thick hair had shifted a bit, and one of her tiny white horns had poked through.


    "Do not, my lover," she purred. The weight of her plea nearly broke him. Like her physical strength, her voice carried more than was natural. Her voice was a conduit of charms, of deceit, of the ultimate lie that was all this place.


    A scream erupted from his lips and he heaved her backward with all his strength, hurled her from the ridge.


    Huge batlike wings unfolded behind her and the succubus hovered, laughing at him, her open mouth revealing horrid fangs that would have punctured his neck. She laughed and he knew that although he had resisted, he had not won, could never win. She had almost broken him this time, came closer to it than the last, and would be closer still the next. And so she laughed at him, mocked him. Always mocking him!


    He realized that it had been a test, always a test. He knew who had arranged it and was not surprised when the whip tore


    into his back, laying him low. He tried to take cover, felt the intense heat building all around him, but knew that there was no escape.


    A second snapping had him crawling for the ledge. Then came a third lash, and he grabbed on to the lip of the ridge, screamed, and pulled himself over, wanting to pitch into the ravine, to splatter his corporeal form against the rocks. Desperate to die.


    Errtu, the great balor, twelve feet of smoking deep red scales and corded muscles, casually walked to the edge and peered over. With eyes that had seen through the mists of the Abyss since the dawn of time, Errtu sought out the falling form, then reached out to him.


    He was falling slower. Then he was not falling at all. He was rising, caught in a telekinetic web, reeled in by the master. The whip was waiting and the next lash sent him spiraling, mercifully, into unconsciousness.


    Errtu did not retract the whip''s cords. The balor used the same telekinetic energy to wrap them about the victim, binding him fast. Errtu looked back to the hysterical succubus and nodded. She had done well this day.


    Drool slipped over her bottom lip at the sight of the unconscious form. She wanted to feast. In her eyes, the table was set and waiting. A flap of her wings brought her back to the ledge and she approached cautiously, seeking some way through the balor''s defenses.


    Errtu let her get close, so close, then gave a slight tug on the whip. His victim flopped away weirdly, jumping past the balor''s perpetual flames. Errtu shifted a step to the side, putting his bulk between the victim and the succubus.


    "I must," she whined, daring to move a bit closer, half-walking and half-flying. Her deceivingly delicate hands reached out and grasped at the smoky air. She trembled and panted.


    Errtu stepped aside. She inched closer.


    The balor was teasing her, she knew, but she could not turn away, not with the sight of this helpless one. She whined, knowing she was going to be punished, but she could not stop.


    Taking a slightly roundabout route, she walked past the balor. She whined again, her feet digging a firm hold that she might rush to the prone victim and taste of him at least once before Errtu denied her.


    Out shot Errtu''s arm, holding a sword that was wrought of lightning. He lifted it high and uttered a command and the ground jolted with the strength of a thunderstroke.


    The succubus waited and leaped away, running for the ledge and then flying off of it, shrieking all the while. Errtu''s lightning hit her in the back and sent her spinning, and she was far below the edge of the ridge before she regained control.


    Back on the ledge, Errtu gave her not another thought. The balor was thinking of his prisoner, always of his prisoner. He enjoyed tormenting the wretch, but had to continually sublimate his bestial urges. He could not destroy this one, could not break him too far, else the victim would hold no value for the balor. This was but one being, and measured against the promise of freedom to walk again on the Prime Material Plane, that did not seem so much.


    Only Drizzt Do''Urden, the renegade dark elf, the one who had banished Errtu to a hundred years in the Abyss, could grant that freedom. The drow would do that, Errtu believed, in exchange for the wretch.


    Errtu turned his horned, apelike head to look over one massive shoulder. The fires that surrounded the balor burned low now, simmering as was Errtu''s rage. Patience, the balor reminded himself. The wretch was valuable and had to be preserved.


    The time was coming, Errtu knew. He would speak with Drizzt Do''Urden before another year had passed on the Material Plane. Errtu had made contact with the witch, and she would deliver his message.


    Then the balor, one of the true tanar''ri, among the greatest denizens of the lower planes, would be free. Then Errtu could destroy the wretch, could destroy Drizzt Do''Urden, and could destroy every being that loved the renegade drow.


    Patience.


    Part 1


    WIND AND SPRAY


    Six years. Not so long in the life span of a drow, and yet, in counting the months, the weeks, the days, the hours, it seemed to me as if I had been away from Mithril Hall a hundred times that number. The place was removed, another lifetime, another way of life, a mere stepping stone to ...


    To what? To where?


    My most vivid memory of Mithril Hall is of riding away from the place with Catti-brie at my side, is the view in looking back over the plumes of smoke rising from Settlestone to the mountain called Fourthpeak. Mithril Hall was Bruenor''s kingdom, Bruenor''s home, and Bruenor was among the most dear of friends to me. But it was not my home, had never been so.


    I couldn''t explain it then, and still cannot. All should have been well there after the defeat of the invading drow army. Mithril Hall shared prosperity and friendship with all of the neighboring communities, was part of an assortment of kingdoms with the power to protect their borders and feed their poor.


    All, of that, but still Mithril Hall was not home. Not for me, and not for Catti-brie. Thus had we taken to the road, riding west to the coast, to Waterdeep.


    I never argued with Catti-brie-though she had certainly expected me to-concerning her decision to leave Mithril Hall. We were of like minds. We had never really set down our hearts in the place; we had been too busy, in defeating the enemies who ruled there, in reopening the dwarven mines, in traveling to Menzoberranzan and in battling the dark elves who had come to Mithril Hall. All that completed, it seemed time to settle, to rest, to tell and to lengthen tales of our adventures. If Mithril Hall had been our home before the battles, we would have remained. After the battles, after the losses . . . for both Catti-brie and Drizzt Do''Urden, it was too late. Mithril Hall was Bruenor''s place, not ours. It was the war-scarred place where I had to again face the legacy of my dark heritage. It was the beginning of the road that had led me back to Menzoberranzan.


    It was the place where Wulfgar had died.


    Catti-brie and I vowed that we would return there one day, and so we would, for Bruenor was there, and Regis. But Catti-brie had seen the truth. You can never get the smell of blood out of the stones. If you were there when that blood was spilled, the continuing aroma evokes images too painful to live beside.


    Six years, and I have missed Bruenor and Regis, Stumpet Rakingclaw, and even Berkthgar the Bold, who rules Settlestone. I have missed my journeys to wondrous Silverymoon, and watching the dawn from one of Fourthpeak''s many rocky perches. I ride the waves along the Sword Coast now, the wind and spray in my face. My ceiling is the rush of clouds and the canopy of stars; my floor is the creaking boards of a swift, well-weathered ship, and beyond that, the azure blanket, flat and still, heaving and rolling, hissing in the rain and exploding under the fall of a breaching whale.


    Is this my home? I know not. Another stepping stone, I would guess, but whether there really is a road that would lead me to a place called home, I do not know.


    Nor do I think about it often, because I''ve come to realize that I do not care. If this road, this series of stepping stones, leads nowhere, then so be it. I walk the road with friends, and so I have my home.

 Page 2

    Drizzt Do''Urden stood on the very edge of the beam, as far forward as he could go, one hand grasping tight the guide rope of the flying jib. This ship was a smooth runner, perfect in balance and ballast and with the best of crews, but the sea was rough this day and the Sea Sprite cut and bounced through the rolls at full sail, throwing a heavy spray.


    Drizzt didn''t mind. He loved the feel of the spray and the wind, the smell of the brine. This was freedom, flying, skimming the water, skipping the waves. Drizzt''s thick white hair flipped in the breeze, billowing like his green cape behind him, drying almost as fast as the water wetted it. Splotches of white caked salt could not lessen the luster of his ebony skin, which glistened with wetness. His violet eyes sparkled with joy as he squinted at the horizon and caught a fleeting glimpse of the sails of the ship they pursued.


    Pursued and would catch, Drizzt knew, for there was no ship north of Baldur''s Gate that could outrun Captain Deudermont''s Sea Sprite. She was a three-masted schooner, new in design, light


    and sleek and full of sail. The square-rigged caravel they were chasing could put up a fair run in a straight line, but anytime the bulkier vessel altered its course even the slightest bit, the Sea Sprite could angle inside it, gaining ground. Always gaining ground.


    That was what she was meant to do. Built by the finest engineers and wizards of Waterdeep, funded by the lords of that city, the schooner was a pirate chaser. How thrilled Drizzt had been to discover the good fortunes of his old friend, Deudermont, with whom he had sailed all the way from Waterdeep to Calimshan in pursuit of Artemis Entreri when the assassin had captured Regis the halfling. That journey, particularly the fight in Asavir''s Channel when Captain Deudermont had won-with no small help from Drizzt and his companions-against three pirate ships, including the flagship of the notorious Pinochet, had caught the attention of sailors and merchants all along the Sword Coast. When the Lords of Waterdeep had completed this schooner, they had offered it to Deudermont. He loved his little two-master, the original Sea Sprite, but no seaman could resist this new beauty. Deudermont had accepted a commission in their service and, they had granted him the right to name the vessel and allowed him to handpick his crew.


    Drizzt and Catti-brie had arrived in Waterdeep sometime after that. When the Sea Sprite next put in to the grand harbor of the seaport, and Deudermont found his old friends, he promptly made room for them among his crew of forty. That was six years and twenty-seven voyages ago. Among those who monitored the shipping lanes of the Sword Coast, particularly among the pirates themselves, the schooner had become a scourge. Thirty-seven victories, and still she sailed.


    Now number thirty-eight was in sight.


    The caravel had noticed them, from too far away to see the flag of Waterdeep. That hardly mattered, for no other ship in the region carried the distinctive design of the Sea Sprite, the three masts of billowing triangular, lateen sails. Up came the caravel''s square rigs, and so the chase was on in full.


    Drizzt was at the point, one foot on the lion-headed ram, loving every second. He felt the sheer power of the sea bucking beneath him, felt the spray and the wind. He heard the music, loud and strong, for several of the Sea Sprite''s crewmen were


    minstrels and whenever the chase was on, they took up their instruments and played rousing songs.


    "Two thousand!" Catti-brie yelled down from the crow''s nest. It was a measure of the distance yet to gain. When her estimate got down to five hundred, the crew would move to their battle posts, three going to the large ballista mounted on a pivot atop the flying deck in the Sea Sprite''s stern, two going to the smaller, swiveling crossbows mounted to the forward corners of the bridge. Drizzt would join Deudermont at the helm, coordinating the close combat. The drow''s free hand slipped to the hilt of one of his scimitars at the thought. The Sea Sprite was a vicious foe from a distance. It had crack archers, a skilled ballista team, a particularly nasty wizard, an evoker full of fireballs and lightning bolts, and of course, Catti-brie with her deadly bow, Taulmaril the Heartseeker. But it was in close, when Drizzt and his panther companion-Guenhwyvar-and the other skilled warriors could get across, that the Sea Sprite was truly deadly.


    "Eighteen hundred!" came Catti-brie''s next call. Drizzt nodded at the confirmation of their speed, though the gain was truly startling. The Sea Sprite was running faster than ever. Drizzt had to wonder if her keel was even getting wet!


    The drow dropped a hand into his pouch, feeling for the magical figurine that he used to summon the panther from the Astral Plane, wondering if he should even call to Guenhwyvar this time. The panther had been aboard for much of the last week, hunting the hundreds of rats that threatened the ship''s food stores, and was likely exhausted.


    "Only if I need you, my friend," Drizzt whispered. The Sea Sprite cut hard to starboard and Drizzt had to take up the guide rope in both hands. He steadied himself and remained silent, his gaze to the horizon, to the square-rigged ship growing larger by the minute. Drizzt felt deep within himself, mentally preparing for the coming battle. He immersed himself in the hiss and splash of the water below him, in the rousing music cutting the wind, and in Catti-brie''s calls.


    Fifteen hundred, a thousand.


    "Black cutlass, lined in red!" the young woman shouted down when, thanks to her spyglass, she was able to discern the design on the snapping flag of the caravel.


    Drizzt didn''t know the insignia, didn''t care about it. The caravel was a pirate ship, one of the many who had overstepped their bounds near Waterdeep''s harbors. As in any waters with trading routes, there had always been pirates on the Sword Coast. Until the last few years, though, the pirates had been somewhat civil, following specific codes of conduct. When Deudermont had defeated Pinochet in Asavir''s Channel, he had subsequently let the pirate go free. That was the way, the unspoken agreement.


    No longer was that the case. The pirates of the north had become bolder and more vicious. Ships were no longer simply looted, but the crews, particularly if any females were aboard, were tortured and murdered. Many ruined hulks had been found adrift in the waters near Waterdeep. The pirates had crossed the line.


    Drizzt, Deudermont, and all the Sea Sprite''s crew, were being paid handsomely for their work, but down to every last man and woman (with the possible exception of the wizard, Robillard) they weren''t chasing pirates for the gold.


    They were fighting for the victims.


    "Five hundred!" Catti-brie called down.


    Drizzt shook himself from his trance and looked to the caravel. He could see the men on her decks now, scrambling, preparing for the fight, an army of ants. The Sea Sprite''s crew was outnumbered, possibly two to one, Drizzt realized, and the caravel was heavily armed. She carried a fair-sized catapult on her stern deck, and probably a ballista beneath that, ready to shoot out from the open windows.


    The drow nodded and turned back to the deck. The crossbows fixed on the bridge and the ballista were manned; many of the crew lined the rail, testing the pull of their longbows. The minstrels played on as they would right up until the boarding began. High above the deck, Drizzt spotted Catti-brie, Taulmaril in one hand, her spyglass in the other. He whistled to her and she gave a quick wave in response, her excitement obvious.


    How could it be otherwise? The chase, the wind, the music, and the knowledge that they were doing good work here. Smiling widely, the drow skittered back along the beam and then the rail, joining Deudermont at the wheel. He noticed Robillard the wizard, looking bored as usual, sitting on the edge of the poop deck.


    Every so often he waved one hand in the direction of the mainmast. Robillard wore a huge ring on that hand, a silver band set with a diamond, and its sparkle now came from more than a reflection of the light. With every gesture from the wizard, the ring loosed its magic, sending a strong gust of wind into the already straining sails. Drizzt heard the creak of protest from the mainmast and understood their uncanny speed.


    "Carrackus," Captain Deudermont remarked as soon as the drow was beside him. "Black cutlass outlined in red."


    Drizzt looked at him curiously, not knowing the name.


    "Used to sail with Pinochet," Deudermont explained. "First mate on the pirate''s flagship. He was among those we battled in Asavir''s Channel."


    "Captured?" Drizzt asked.


    Deudermont shook his head. "Carrackus is a scrag, a sea troll."


    "I do not remember him."


    "He has a penchant for staying out of the way," Deudermont replied. "Likely he dove overboard, taking to the depths as soon as Wulfgar turned us about to ram his ship."


    Drizzt remembered the incident, the incredible pull of his strong friend that nearly turned the original Sea Sprite on its stern, right into the faces of so many surprised pirates.


    "Carrackus was there, though," Deudermont continued. "By all reports, it was he who rescued Pinochet''s wounded ship when I set him adrift outside of Memnon."


    "And is the scrag allied with Pinochet still?" Drizzt asked.


    Deudermont nodded grimly. The implications were obvious. Pinochet couldn''t come after the troublesome Sea Sprite personally because in return for his freedom he had sworn off vengeance against Deudermont. The pirate had other ways of repaying enemies. He had many allies like Carrackus who were not bound by his personal oath.


    Drizzt knew at that moment that Guenhwyvar would be needed and he took the intricate figurine from his pouch. He studied Deudermont carefully. The man stood tall and straight, slender but well-muscled, his gray hair and beard neatly trimmed. He was a refined captain, his dress impeccable, as at home in a grand ball as on the open sea. Now his eyes, so light in hue that they seemed to reflect the colors about them rather than to possess any color of their own, revealed his tension. Rumors had followed the Sea Sprite for many months that the pirates were organizing against the vessel. With confirmation that this caravel was allied with Pinochet, Deudermont believed that this might be more than a chance crossing.


    Drizzt glanced back at Robillard, who was up on one knee now, arms outstretched and eyes closed, deep in meditation. Now the drow understood the reason Deudermont had put them at such a reckless speed.


    A moment later, a wall of mist rose around the Sea Sprite, dimming the view of the caravel, which was now barely a hundred yards away. A loud splash to the side told them that the catapult had begun firing. A moment later, a burst of fire erupted in the air before them, dissipating into a cloud of hissing steam as they and their defensive mist wall streamed through it.


    "They''ve a wizard," Drizzt remarked.


    "Not surprising," Deudermont was quick to reply. He looked back to Robillard. "Keep your measures defensive," he ordered. "We can take them with ballista and bow!"


    "All the fun for you," Robillard called back dryly.


    Deudermont managed a smile, despite his obvious tension.


    "Bolt!" came a cry, several cries, from forward. Deudermont instinctively spun the wheel. The Sea Sprite leaned into the leeward turn so deeply that Drizzt feared they would capsize.


    At the same moment, Drizzt heard a rush of wind to his right as a huge ballista bolt ripped past, snapping a line, skipping off the edge of the poop deck right beside a surprised Robillard and rebounding to tear a small hole in the crossjack-the sail on the mizzenmast.


    "Secure that line," Deudermont instructed coolly.


    Drizzt was already going that way, his feet moving impossibly fast. He got the snapping line in hand and quickly tied it off, then got to the rail as the Sea Sprite straightened. He looked to the caravel, now barely fifty yards ahead and to starboard. The water between the two ships rolled wildly. Whitecaps spit water that was blown into mist, caught in a tremendous wind.


    The crew of the caravel didn''t understand, and so they put their bows in line and began firing, but even the heaviest of their crossbow quarrels was turned harmlessly aside as it tried to cut through the wall of wind that Robillard had put between the ships.


    The archers of the Sea Sprite, accustomed to such tactics, held their shots. Catti-brie was above the wind wall as was the archer poised in the crow''s nest of the other ship-an ugly seven-foot-tall gnoll with a face that seemed more canine than human.


    The monstrous creature loosed its heavy arrow first, a fine shot that sank the bolt deep into the mainmast, inches below Catti-brie''s perch. The gnoll ducked below the wooden wall of its own crow''s nest, readying another arrow.


    No doubt the dumb creature thought itself safe, for it didn''t understand Taulmaril.


    Catti-brie took her time, steadied her hand as the Sea Sprite closed.


    Thirty yards.


    Her arrow went off like a streak of lightning, trailing silver sparks and blasting through the feeble protection of the caravel''s crow''s nest as though it were no stronger than a sheet of old parchment. Splinters and the unfortunate lookout were thrown high into the air. The doomed gnoll gave a shriek, bounced off the crossbeam of the caravel''s mainmast, and spun head over heels to splash into the sea, quickly left behind by the speeding ships.


    Catti-brie fired again, angling down, concentrating on the catapult crew. She hit one man, a half-orcish brute by the looks of him, but the catapult launched its load of burning pitch.


    The caravel''s gunners hadn''t properly compensated for the sheer speed of the Sea Sprite and the schooner crossed under the pitch and was long gone by the time it hit the water, hissing in protest.


    Deudermont brought the schooner alongside the caravel, barely twenty yards of water between them. Suddenly the water in that narrow channel stopped its wind-whipped turmoil and the archers of the Sea Sprite let fly many of their arrows that sported small gobs of flaming pitch.


    Catti-brie let fly for the catapult itself this time, her enchanted arrow blasting a deep crack along the machine''s throwing beam. Sea Sprite''s deadly ballista drove a heavy bolt right into the caravel''s hull at sea level.


    Deudermont spun the wheel to port, angling away, satisfied with the pass. More missiles, many flaming, soared between the ships before Robillard created a wall of blocking mist behind the Sea Sprite''s stern.


    The caravel''s wizard put a lightning bolt right into the mist. Though the energy was dispersed somewhat, it crackled all about the edges of the Sea Sprite, knocking several men to the deck.


    Drizzt, leaning far over the rail and straining to watch the caravel''s deck with his hair flying wildly from the energy of the lightning bolt, spotted the wizard, amidships, near the mainmast. Before the Sea Sprite, now running perpendicular to the pirate ship, was too far away, the drow called upon his innate powers, summoned a globe of impenetrable darkness and dropped it over the man.


    He clenched his fist when he saw the globe moving along the caravel''s deck, for he had hit the mark and the globe''s magic had caught the wizard. It would follow and blind him, until he found some way to counter the magic. Even more than that, the ten-foot ball of blackness marked the dangerous wizard clearly.


    "Catti-brie!" Drizzt cried.


    "I have him!" she replied, and Taulmaril sang out, once and then again, sending two streaks into that ball of blackness.


    Still it continued its run. Catti-brie hadn''t dropped the wizard, but surely she and Drizzt had given the man something to think about!


    A second ballista bolt soared out from the Sea Sprite, cutting across the bow of the caravel, and then a fireball from Robillard exploded high in the air before the rushing ship. The caravel, not agile and no longer equipped with an able wizard, rushed right into the explosions. As the fireball disappeared, both masts of the square-rigger were tipped in flames, giant candles on the open sea.


    The caravel tried to respond with its catapult, but Catti-brie''s arrows had done their work and the throwing beam split apart as soon as the crew cranked too much tension on it.


    Drizzt rushed back to the wheel. "One more pass?" he asked Deudermont.


    The Captain shook his head. "Time for only one," he explained. "And no time to stop and board."


    "Two thousand yards! Two ships!" Catti-brie called out.


    Drizzt looked at Deudermont with sincere admiration. "More of Pinochet''s allies?" he asked, already knowing the answer.


    "That caravel alone could not defeat us," the seasoned captain coolly added. "Carrackus knows that and so would Pinochet. She was to lead us in."


    "But we were too fast for that tactic," Drizzt reasoned.


    "Are you ready for a fight?" Deudermont asked slyly.


    Before the drow could even answer, Deudermont pulled hard and the Sea Sprite leaned into a starboard turn until it came about to face the slowed caravel. The square-sailed ship''s topmasts were burning and half her was crew busy trying to repair the rigging, to at least keep her under half-sail. Deudermont angled his ship to intercept, to cut across the prow, in what the archers called a "bow rake."


    And the wounded caravel couldn''t maneuver out of harm''s way. Her wizard, though blinded, had kept the presence of mind to put up a wall of thick mist, the standard and effective defensive seaboard tactic.


    Deudermont measured his angle carefully, wanting to turn the Sea Sprite right against the edge of that mist and the whipping water, to get as close to the caravel as he could. This was their last pass, and it had to be devastating or else the caravel would be able to limp into the fight with its sister ships, which were closing fast.


    There came a flash on the square-rigged ship''s deck, a spark of light that countered Drizzt''s darkness spell.


    From her high perch above the defensive magic, Catti-brie saw it. She was already training on the darkness when the wizard emerged. The robed man went immediately into a chant, meaning to hurl a devastating spell in the path of the Sea Sprite before she could cross the caravel''s bow, but only a couple of words had escaped his lips when he felt a tremendous thump against his chest and heard the planks of the ship''s deck splinter behind him. He looked down at the blood beginning to pour onto the decking and realized that he was sitting, then lying, and all the world grew dark.


    The wall of mist the wizard had put up fell away.


    Robillard saw it, recognized it, and clapped his hands and sent twin bolts of lightning slashing across the caravel''s deck, slamming the masts and killing many pirates. The Sea Sprite crossed in front of the caravel, and the archers let fly. So, too, did the ballista crew, but they did not hurl a long spear this time. They used a shortened and unbalanced bolt, trailing a chain lined with many-pronged grapnels. The contraption twirled as it flew, entangling many lines, fouling up the caravel''s rigging.


    Another missile, a living missile, six hundred pounds of sleek and muscled panther, soared from the Sea Sprite as she crossed by and caught the caravel''s beam.


    "Are you ready, drow?" Robillard called, seeming excited for the first time this fight.


    Drizzt nodded and motioned to his fighting companions, the score of veterans who comprised the Sea Sprite''s crack boarding crew. They scrambled toward the wizard from all sections of the ship, dropping their bows and drawing out weapons for close melee. By the time Drizzt, leading the rush, got near to Robillard, the wizard already had a shimmering field-a magical door-on the deck beside him. Drizzt didn''t hesitate, charging right through, scimitars in hand. One of them, Twinkle, glowed a fierce blue.


    Out the other end of Robillard''s magical tunnel he came, arriving in the midst of many surprised pirates aboard the caravel. Drizzt slashed left and right, clearing a hole in their ranks, and he darted through, his feet a blur. He turned sharply, fell to the side and rolled as one archer shot harmlessly above him. He came back to his feet, darted straight for the bowman and cut him down.


    More of the Sea Sprite''s warriors poured through the gate and the middle of the caravel erupted in wild battle.


    The confusion on the caravel''s bow was no less as Guenhwyvar, all teeth and claws she seemed, slashed and tore through the mass of men who wanted nothing more than to be away from this mighty beast. Many were pulled down under those powerful claws, and several others simply turned to the side and leaped overboard, ready to take their chances with the sharks.


    Again the Sea Sprite bent low in the water, Deudermont pulling her hard to port, angling away from the caravel and turning to meet the charge of the coming duo head-on. The tall captain smiled as he heard the fighting on the ship behind him, confident in his boarding party, though they were still likely outnumbered two to one.


    The dark elf and his panther tended to even such odds.


    From her high perch, Catti-brie picked several more shots, each one taking down a strategically-placed pirate archer, and one driving through a man to kill the pirate goblin sitting next to him!


    Then the young woman turned her attention away from the caravel, looking forward in order to direct the Sea Sprite''s movements.


    Drizzt ran and rolled, leaped in confusing spins and always came down with his scimitars angled for an enemy''s most vital areas. Under his boots, he wore bands of gleaming mithril rings secured around black material, enchanted for speed. Drizzt had taken these from Dantrag Baenre, a famed drow weaponmaster. Dantrag had used them as bracers to speed his hands, but Drizzt understood the truth of the items. On his ankles, they allowed the drow to run and dart like a wild hare.


    He used them now, along with his amazing agility, to confuse the pirates, to keep them unsure of where he was, or where they could next expect him to be. Whenever one of them guessed wrong and was caught off guard, Drizzt seized the opportunity and came in hard, scimitars slashing away. He made his way generally forward, seeking to join up with Guenhwyvar, the fighting companion who knew him best and complimented his every move.


    He didn''t quite get there. The rout on the caravel was nearly complete, many pirates dead, others throwing down their weapons, or throwing themselves overboard in sheer desperation. One of the crew, the most seasoned and most fearsome, a personal friend of Pinochet, wasn''t so quick to surrender.


    He emerged from his cabin under the forward bridge, his body bent over because the low construction of the ship would not accommodate his ten-foot height. He wore only a sleeveless red vest and short breeches, which barely covered his scaly green skin. Limp hair the color of seaweed hung below his broad shoulders. He carried no weapon fashioned on a smithy''s anvil but, his dirty claws and abundant teeth seemed deadly enough.


    "So the rumors were true, dark elf," he said in a wet, bubbly voice. "You have returned to the sea."


    "I do not know you," Drizzt said, skidding to a stop a cautious distance from the scrag. He guessed the pirate to be Carrackus, the sea troll Deudermont had spoken of, but could not be sure.


    "I know you!" the scrag growled. He charged, his clawed hands slashing for Drizzt''s head.


    Three quick steps brought Drizzt out of the monster''s path. The drow dropped to one knee and spun about, both scimitars slashing across, blades barely an inch apart.


    More agile than Drizzt expected, the opponent turned the opposite way and twirled, pulling in his trailing leg. The drow''s scimitars barely nicked the monster as they passed.


    The scrag charged, meaning to bury Drizzt where he knelt, but again the drow was too quick for such a straightforward tactic. He came up to his feet and started left, then, as the scrag took the bait and began to turn, Drizzt came back fast to the right, underneath the monster''s swinging arm.


    Twinkle stabbed a hip and Drizzt''s other blade followed with a deep cut along the scrag''s side.


    Drizzt accepted the backhand his opponent launched his way, knowing that the off-balance scrag couldn''t put much of its formidable strength and weight behind it. The long and skinny arm thudded off the drow''s shoulder and then off his parrying blades as he spun to face the lurching brute.


    Now it was Drizzt''s turn to charge, lightning fast and straight ahead. He slid Twinkle under the elbow of the outstretched scrag arm, drawing a deep gash and then hooked the fine-edged and curving blade underneath the hanging flap of skin. His other scimitar poked for the scrag''s chest, slipped past the frantic block of the other arm.


    There was only one way for the off-balance monster to move. Drizzt knew that, anticipated the scrag''s retreat perfectly. The drow secured his grip on Twinkle, even braced his shoulder against the weapon''s hilt to hold it firm. The scrag roared in agony and dove back and to the side, directly opposite the angle of Twinkle''s nasty bite. The sickly flesh peeled from the scrag''s arm, all the way from its biceps to its wrist. The torn lump fell to the deck with a sickening thud.


    His black eyes filled with outrage and hatred. The scrag looked down to the exposed bone, to the writhing lump of troll flesh on the deck. And finally, to Drizzt, who stood casually, scimitars crossed down low in front of him.


    "Damn you, Drizzt," the monstrous pirate growled.


    "Strike your colors," Drizzt ordered.


    "You think you have won?"


    In response, Drizzt looked down to the slab of meat.


    "It will heal, foolish dark elf!" the pirate insisted.


    Drizzt knew that the scrag spoke truly. Scrags were close relatives of trolls, horrid creatures renowned for their regenerative powers. A dead dismembered troll could come back together.


    Unless ...


    Drizzt called upon his innate abilities once more, that small part of magic inherent in the dark elf race. A moment later, purplish flames climbed the towering scrag''s form, licking at green scales. This was only faerie fire, harmless light the dark elves could use to outline their opponents. It had no power to burn, nor could it prevent the regenerative process of a troll.


    Drizzt knew that; he was betting that the monster did not.


    The scrag''s gruesome features twisted in an expression of sheer horror. He flailed his good arm, beat it against his leg and hip. The stubborn purple flames would not relent.


    "Strike your colors and I will release you of the flames that your wounds might heal," Drizzt offered.


    The scrag snapped a look of pure hatred at the drow. He took a step forward, but up came Drizzt''s scimitars. He decided he didn''t want to feel their bite again, especially if the flames prevented him from healing!


    "We will meet again!" the scrag promised. The creature wheeled about to see dozens of faces-Deudermont''s crew and captured pirates-staring at him in disbelief. He howled and charged across the deck, scattering those in the way of the furious rush. The pirate leaped from the rail, back to the sea, back to his true home where he might heal.


    So quick was Drizzt that he got across the deck and managed yet another hit on him before the scrag got off the rail. The drow had to stop there, unable to pursue and fully aware that the sea troll would indeed regenerate to complete health.


    He hadn''t even gotten a curse of frustration out of his mouth when he saw a fast movement to his side, a rush of black. Guenhwyvar leaped past Drizzt, flew out from the rail, and splashed into the sea right behind the troll.


    The panther disappeared under the azure blanket and the rough and choppy waves quickly covered any indication that the scrag and the cat had gone in.


    Several of the Sea Sprite''s boarding party peered intently over the rail, worried for the panther who had become such a friend to them.


    "Guenhwyvar is in no danger," Drizzt reminded them, producing the figurine and holding it high so that all could see. The worst the scrag could do was send the panther back to the Astral Plane, where the cat would heal any wounds and be ready to return to Drizzt''s next call. Still, the drow''s expression was not bright as he considered the spot where Guenhwyvar had gone in, as he considered that the panther might be in pain.


    The deck of the captured caravel went perfectly quiet, save the creaking of the old vessel''s timbers.


    An explosion to the south turned all heads, all eyes strained to perceive tiny sails, still far away. One of the pirate ships had turned away; the other caravel was burning while the Sea Sprite literally sailed circles about her. Flash after flash of silver streaking arrows came from the Sea Sprite''s crow''s nest, battering the hull and masts of the damaged, seemingly helpless ship.


    Even from this great distance, the people on the captured caravel could see the pirate flag go down the mainmast, colors struck in surrender.


    That brought a cheer from the Sea Sprite''s boarding party, a rousing yell that was halted abruptly by churning waters just off the side of the caravel. They saw green scales and black fur tumbling in the turmoil. A scrag arm floated out from the mass, and Drizzt was able to sort the confusing scene out enough to realize that Guenhwyvar had gotten onto the scrag''s back. Her forelegs were tight about the monster''s shoulders, her back legs were kicking, raking wildly, and the panther''s powerful jaws were clamped tight onto the back of the scrag''s neck.


    Dark blood stained the sea, mixing with torn pieces of the pirate''s flesh and bone. Soon enough, Guenhwyvar sat still, teeth and claws securely in place on the back of the dead, floating scrag.


    "Better fish the thing out," one of the Sea Sprite''s boarding party remarked, "or we''ll be growing a whole crew o'' stinking trolls!"


    Men arrived at the rail with long gaff hooks and began the gruesome task of hauling in the carcass. Guenhwyvar got back to the caravel easily enough, clambering over the rail and then giving a good shake, spraying water on all those nearby.


    "Scrags don''t heal if they''re out o'' the sea," a man remarked to Drizzt. "We''ll haul this one up the yardarm to dry, then burn the damned thing."


    Drizzt nodded. The boarding party knew their duty well enough. They would organize and supervise the captured pirates,


    freeing the rigging and getting the caravel as seaworthy as possible for the trip back to Waterdeep.


    Drizzt looked to the southern horizon and saw the Sea Sprite returning. The damaged pirate ship limped alongside.


    "Thirty-eight and thirty-nine," the drow muttered.


    Guenhwyvar gave a low growl in reply and shook vigorously again, soaking her dark elf companion.

 Page 3

    Captain Deudermont seemed out of place indeed as he strolled down Dock Street, the infamous, rough and tumble avenue that lined Waterdeep Harbor. His clothes were fine and perfectly tailored to his tall and thin frame, his posture was perfect, and his hair and goatee meticulously groomed. All about him, the scurvy sea dogs who had put in for their weeks ashore staggered out of taverns, reeking of ale, or fell down unconscious in the dust. The only thing protecting them from the many robbers lurking in the area was the fact that they had no money or valuables to steal.


    Deudermont ignored the sights, and didn''t fancy himself any better than those sea dogs. In fact, there was an aspect of their way of life that intrigued the gentlemanly captain, an honesty that mocked the pretentious courts of nobles.


    Deudermont pulled his layered cloak tighter about his neck, warding off the chill night breeze that blew in off the harbor. Normally one would not walk alone down Dock Street, not even in the light of noonday, but Deudermont felt secure. He carried his decorated cutlass at his side, and knew how to use it well. Even more than that, the word had been passed through every tavern and every pier in Waterdeep that the Sea Sprite''s captain had been afforded the personal protection of the Lords of Waterdeep, including some very powerful wizards who would seek out and destroy anyone bothering the captain or his crew while they were in port. Waterdeep was the Sea Sprite''s haven, and so Deudermont thought nothing of walking alone down Dock Street. He was more curious than fearful when a wrinkled old man, bone skinny and barely five feet tall, called to him from the edge of an alleyway.


    Deudermont stopped and looked about. Dock Street was quiet, except for the overspill of sound from the many taverns and the groan of old wood against the incessant sea breeze.


    "Ye''s is Doo-dor-mont-ee, asin''t yer?" the old seabones called softly, a whistle accompanying each syllable. He smiled widely, almost lewdly, showing but a couple of crooked teeth set in black gums.


    Deudermont stopped and eyed the man patiently, silently. He felt no compulsion to answer the question.


    "If ye be," the man wheezed, "then oi''ve got a bit o'' news for yer. A warnin'' from a man yer''s is rightly fearin''."


    The captain stood tall and impassive. His face showed none of the questions that raced about in his mind. Who would he be afraid of? Was the old dog talking of Pinochet? That seemed likely, especially considering the two caravels the Sea Sprite had escorted into Waterdeep Harbor earlier that week. But few in Waterdeep had any contact with the pirate, whose domain was much farther to the south, south of Baldur''s Gate even, in the straights near the Moonshae Isles.


    But who else might the man be talking about?


    Smiling still, the sea dog motioned for Deudermont to come to the alley. The captain didn''t move as the old man turned and took a step in.


    "Well, be yer fearin'' old Scaramundi?" the sea dog whistled.


    Deudermont realized it could be a disguise. Many of the greatest assassins in the Realms could look as helpless as this one, only to put a poisoned dagger into their victim''s chest.


    The sea dog came back to the entrance to the alley, then walked right out into the middle of the street toward Deudermont.


    No disguise, the captain told himself, for it was too complete, too perfect. Besides, he recollected that he had seen this same old man before, usually sitting right near to this very same alleyway, which probably served as his home.


    What then? Might there be an ambush set down that alley?


    "Have it yer own way then," the old man wheezed as he threw up one hand. He leaned heavily on his walking stick and started back to the alley, grumbling. "Just a messenger, I be, and not fer carin'' if yer hears the news or not!"


    Deudermont cautiously looked all around again. Seeing nobody nearby, and no likely hiding spots for an ambush party, he moved to the mouth of the alleyway. The old sea dog was ten short paces in, at the edge of the slanting shadows cast by the building to the right, and barely visible in the dimness. He laughed and coughed and moved in yet another step.


    One hand on the hilt of his cutlass, Deudermont cautiously approached, scanning carefully before each step. The alleyway seemed empty enough.


    "Far enough!" Deudermont said suddenly, stopping the sea dog in his tracks. "If you have news for me, then speak it, and speak it now."


    "Some things shouldn''t be said too loudly," the old man replied.


    "Now," Deudermont insisted.


    The salty sea dog smiled widely and coughed, perhaps laughing. He ambled back a few steps, stopping barely three feet from Deudermont.


    The smell of the man nearly overwhelmed the captain, who was accustomed to powerful body odors. There wasn''t much opportunity to bathe on a ship at sea and the Sea Sprite was often out for weeks, even months, at a time. Still, the combination of cheap wine and old sweat gave this one a particularly nasty flavor that made Deudermont scrunch up his face, even put a hand over his nose to try to intercept some of the fumes.


    The sea dog, of course, laughed hysterically at that.


    "Now!" the captain insisted.


    Even as the word left Deudermont''s lips, the sea dog reached out and caught him by the wrist. Deudermont, not afraid, turned his arm, but the old man held on stubbornly.


    "I want you to tell me of the dark one," the sea dog said, and it took Deudermont a moment to realize that the man''s dockside accent was gone.


    "Who are you?" Deudermont insisted, and he tugged fiercely, to no avail. Only then did Deudermont realize the truth of the superhuman grip; he might as well have been pulling against one of the great fog giants that lived on the reef surrounding Delmarin Island, far to the south.


    "The dark one," the old man repeated. With hardly any effort, he yanked Deudermont deeper into the alleyway.


    The captain went for his cutlass, and though the old man held Deudermont''s right hand fast, he could fight fairly well with his left. It was somewhat awkward extracting the curving blade from its sheath with that hand, and before the cutlass came fully free, the old man''s free hand shot forward, open-palmed, to slam Deudermont in the face. He flew backward, crashing against the wall. Keeping his wits about him, he drew out the blade, transferred it to his now-free right hand, and slashed hard at the ribs of the approaching sea dog.


    The fine cutlass gashed deep into the sea dog''s side, but he didn''t even flinch. Deudermont tried to block the next slap, and the next after that, but his defenses simply were not strong enough. He tried to get his cutlass in line to parry, but the old man slapped it away, sent it spinning from his hand, then resumed the battering. Open palms came in with the speed of a striking snake, heavy blows that knocked Deudermont''s head tilting, and he would have fallen, except that the old man grabbed him by the shoulder and held him fast.


    Through bleary eyes, Deudermont peered at his foe. Confusion crossed his stern features as his enemy''s face began to melt away and then to reform.


    "The dark one?" he, it, asked again, and Deudermont hardly heard the voice, his voice, so dumbfounded was he at the spectacle of his own face leering back at him.


    "He should be here by now," Catti-brie remarked, leaning on the bar.


    She was growing impatient, Drizzt realized, and not because Deudermont was late-the captain was often detained at one function or another in Waterdeep-but because the sailor on the other side of her, a short and stocky man with a thick beard and curly hair, both the color of a raven''s wing, kept bumping into her. He apologized each time, looking over his shoulder to regard the beautiful woman, often winking and always smiling.


    Drizzt turned so that his back was against the waist-high bar. The Mermaid''s Arms was nearly empty this night. The weather had been fine and most of the fishing and merchant fleets were out. Still, the place was loud and rowdy, full of sailors relieving months of boredom with drink, companionship, much bluster and even fisticuffs.


    "Robillard," Drizzt whispered, and Catti-brie turned and followed the drow''s gaze to see the wizard slipping through the crowd, moving to join them at the bar.


    "Good evening," the wizard said without much enthusiasm. He didn''t look at the companions as he spoke, and didn''t wait for the bartender to come near, merely waggled his fingers and a bottle and a glass magically came to his place. The bartender started to protest, but a pile of copper pieces appeared in his hand. The bartender shook his head with disdain, never caring much for the Sea Sprite''s wizard and his arrogant antics, and moved away.


    "Where is Deudermont?" Robillard asked. "Squandering my pay, no doubt."


    Drizzt and Catti-brie exchanged smiles wrought of continued disbelief. Robillard was among the most distant and caustic men either of them had ever known, more grumpy even than General Dagna, the surly dwarf who served as Bruenor''s garrison commander at Mithril Hall.


    "No doubt," Drizzt replied.


    Robillard turned to regard him with an accusing, angry glare.


    "Of course, Deudermont''s one to steal from us all the time," Catti-brie added. "Takes a fancy to the finest o'' ladies and the finest o'' wine, and is free with what''s not his to be free with."


    A growl escaped Robillard''s thin lips and he pushed off the bar and walked away.


    "I''d like to know that one''s tale," Catti-brie remarked.


    Drizzt nodded his accord, his eyes never leaving the departing wizard''s back. Indeed, Robillard was a strange one, and the drow figured that something terrible must have happened to him somewhere in his past. Perhaps he had unintentionally killed someone, or had been rejected by a true love. Perhaps he had seen too much of wizardry, had looked into places where a man''s eyes were not meant to go.


    Catti-brie''s simple spoken thought had sparked a sudden interest within Drizzt Do''Urden. Who was this Robillard, and what precipitated his perpetual boredom and anger?


    "Where is Deudermont?" came a question from the side, breaking Drizzt''s trance. He turned to see Waillan Micanty, a lad of barely twenty winters, with sandy-colored hair, cinnamon eyes and huge dimples that always showed because Waillan never seemed to stop smiling. He was the youngest of the Sea Sprite''s crew, younger even than Catti-brie, but with an uncanny eye on the ballista. Waillan''s shots were fast becoming legend, and if the young man lived long enough, he would no doubt assemble quite a reputation along the Sword Coast. Waillan Micanty had put one ballista bolt through the window of a pirate captain''s quarters at four hundred yards and had skewered the pirate captain as the man was buckling on his cutlass. The momentum of the heavy spear had hurled the pirate right through his closed cabin door and out onto the deck. The pirate ship struck her colors immediately, the capture ended before the fighting had really even begun.


    "We are expecting the man," Drizzt answered, his mood brightening simply at the sight of the beaming young man. Drizzt couldn''t help but notice the contrast between this youngster and Robillard, who was probably the oldest of the crew, except for Drizzt.


    Waillan nodded. "Should be here by now," he remarked under his breath, but the drow''s keen ears caught every word.


    "You are expecting him?" Drizzt was quick to ask.


    "I need to speak with him," Waillan admitted, "about a possible advance on earnings." The young man blushed deep red and moved close to Drizzt so that Catti-brie could not hear. "A lady friend," he explained.


    Drizzt found his smile widening even more. "The captain is overdue," he said. "I''m sure he will not be much longer."


    "He was less than a dozen doors down when I last saw him," Waillan said. "Near to the Foggy Haven and heading this way. I thought he''d beat me here."


    For the first time, Drizzt grew a bit concerned. "How long ago was that?"


    Waillan shrugged. "I been here since the fight before," he said.


    Drizzt turned and leaned back against the bar. He and Catti-brie exchanged concerned looks this time, for many minutes had passed since the previous two fights. There wasn''t much to interest the captain between the Mermaid''s Arms and the place Waillan spoke of, certainly nothing that should have detained Deudermont for this long.


    Drizzt sighed and took a long swallow of the water he was drinking. He looked to Robillard, now sitting by himself, though a table not far from the man held open chairs beside the four that were occupied by members of the Sea Sprite''s crew. Drizzt wasn''t too concerned. Perhaps Deudermont had forgotten some business, or had simply changed his mind about coming to the Mermaid''s Arms this night. But still, Dock Street in Waterdeep was a dangerous place, and the drow ranger''s sixth sense, that warrior instinct, told him to be wary.


    Deudermont, practically senseless, did not know how long the beating went on. He was lying on the cold ground now, that much he knew. The thing, whatever it was, having assumed his exact form, clothing, even weapons, was sitting on his back. The physical torture was not so great anymore, but even worse than the beating, the captain felt the creature within his mind, probing his thoughts, gaining knowledge that it could no doubt use against his friends.


    You will taste fine, Deudermont heard in his thoughts. Better than the old Scaramundi.


    Despite the unreality of it all, the lack of true sensation, the captain felt his stomach churning. He believed he knew, in that distant corner of consciousness, what monster had come to him. Dopplegangers were not common in the Realms, but the few who had made themselves known had certainly caused enough havoc to secure the wretched reputation of the alien race.


    Deudermont felt himself being lifted from the ground. So strong was the grasp of the creature that the captain felt as if he were weightless, simply floating to his feet. He was spun around to face the thing, to face himself, and he expected then to be devoured.


    "Not yet," the creature replied to his unspoken fears. "I need your thoughts, good Captain Deudermont. I need to know enough about you and your ship to sail it out of Waterdeep Harbor, far to the west and far to the south, to an island that few know, but many speak of."


    The thing''s smile was tantalizing and Deudermont had just focused fully on it when the creature''s head shot forward, its forehead slamming him in the face, knocking him senseless. Some time later-he did not know how many seconds might have passed-Deudermont felt the cold ground against his cheek once more. His hands were tightly bound behind his back, his ankles likewise strapped, and a tight gag was about his mouth. He managed to turn his head enough to see the creature, wearing his form still, bending over a heavy iron grate.


    Deudermont could hardly believe the strength of the thing as it lifted that sewer covering, a mass of metal that had to weigh near to five hundred pounds. The creature casually leaned it against the wall of a building, then turned and grabbed Deudermont, dragging him to the opening and unceremoniously dropping him in.


    The stench was awful, worse than the captain would have expected even from a sewer, and when he managed to shift about and get his face out of the muck, he understood the source.


    Scaramundi, it had to be Scaramundi, lay beside him, caked in blood, more than half of his torso torn away, eaten by the creature. Deudermont jumped as the sewer grate clanked back into place, and then he lay still, horrified and helpless, knowing that he would soon share the same grisly fate.

 Page 4

    Some time later, Drizzt was beginning to worry. Robillard had already left the Mermaid''s Arms, disgusted that his captain, as he had put it, "couldn''t be counted on." Waillan Micanty was still at the bar beside Drizzt, though the young man had taken up a conversation with another sailor on the other side of him.


    Drizzt, his back to the bar, continued to survey the crowd, perfectly at ease among the sailors. It hadn''t always been so. Drizzt had come through Waterdeep only twice before he and Catti-brie had left Mithril Hall, first on his way to Calimport chasing Entreri, and on the return trip, when he and his friends were making their way back to reclaim Mithril Hall. Drizzt had made that first passage through the city in disguise, using a magical mask to appear as a surface elf. The second journey through, made without the mask, had been a trickier proposition. The Sea Sprite had put into Waterdeep Harbor in early morning but, at Deudermont''s request, Drizzt and his friends had waited until after dark to leave the city for the road to the east.


    Upon his return to Waterdeep with Catti-brie six years ago, Drizzt had dared to walk openly as a drow. It had been an uncomfortable experience, eyes were upon him every step, and more than one ruffian had challenged him. Drizzt had avoided those challenges, but knew that sooner or later, he would have to fight, or even worse, he would be slain from afar, likely by a hidden bowman, for no better reason than the color of the skin.


    Then the Sea Sprite had put in and Drizzt had found Deudermont, his old friend and a man of considerable reputation among the docks of the great city. Soon after, Drizzt had become widely accepted in Waterdeep, particularly all along Dock Street, because of his personal reputation, spread in no small way by Captain Deudermont. Wherever the Sea Sprite docked, it was made clear that Drizzt Do''Urden, this most unusual of dark elves, was a member of her heroic crew. Drizzt''s road had been easier, had even become comfortable.


    And through it all, Catti-brie and Guenhwyvar had been beside him. He looked to them now, the young woman sitting at a table with two of the Sea Sprite''s crew, the great panther curled up on the floor about her legs. Guenhwyvar had become a mascot to the patrons of the Mermaid''s Arms, and Drizzt was glad that he could sometimes call in the cat, not for battle, but simply for companionship. Drizzt wondered which reason would hold this day. Catti-brie had requested the panther, saying her feet were cold, and Drizzt had agreed, but in the back of the drow''s mind was the realization that Deudermont might be in trouble. Guenhwyvar might be needed for more than companionship.


    The drow surely relaxed a moment later, blew out a deep sigh of relief as Captain Deudermont walked into the Mermaid''s Arms, glanced around, then focused on Drizzt and sidled up to the bar.


    "Calimshan wine," the doppleganger said to the bartender, for it had scoured Deudermont''s mind and knew that to be the man''s customary drink. In the short time they had spent together, the doppleganger had learned much of Captain Deudermont and of the Sea Sprite.


    Drizzt turned about and leaned over the bar. "You are late," he remarked, trying to feel the captain out, trying to discern if there had been any trouble.


    "A minor problem," the impostor assured him.


    "What is it, Guen?" Catti-brie asked softly as the panther''s head came up, the cat looking in the direction of Drizzt and Deudermont, her ears flattened against her head and a low growl resonating from her strong body. "What do ye see?"


    Guenhwyvar continued to watch the pair closely, but Catti-brie dismissed the cat''s temperament, figuring there must be a rat or the like in the far corner beyond Drizzt and the captain.


    "Caerwich," the impostor announced to Drizzt.


    The ranger regarded the man curiously. "Caerwich?" he echoed. Drizzt knew the name; every sailor along the Sword Coast knew the name of the tiny island, which was too small and remote to appear on the vast majority of nautical charts.


    "We must put out at once for Caerwich," the impostor explained, looking Drizzt directly in the eye. So perfect was the disguise of the doppleganger that Drizzt hadn''t the slightest idea that anything was amiss.


    Still, the request sounded strange to Drizzt. Caerwich was a shipboard story, a tale of a haunted island that played home to a blind witch. Many doubted its existence, though some sailors claimed to have visited the place. Certainly Drizzt and Deudermont had never spoken of it. For the captain to announce that they must go there caught the drow completely by surprise.


    Again Drizzt studied Deudermont, this time noting the man''s stiff mannerisms, noting how uncomfortable Deudermont seemed in this place, which had always been his favorite among the taverns of Dock Street. Drizzt believed something had unnerved Deudermont. Whatever had delayed his arrival at the Mermaid''s Arms-Drizzt figured it to be a visit by one of Waterdeep''s secretive lords, perhaps even mysterious Khelben-had upset Deudermont greatly. Perhaps Deudermont''s announcement wasn''t so out of place. Many times in the last six years, the Sea Sprite, the tool of Waterdeep''s Lords, had been assigned private, unusual missions, and so the drow accepted the information without question.


    What both Drizzt and the doppleganger hadn''t counted on was Guenhwyvar, who crouched so low that her belly brushed against the floor as she inched for Deudermont''s back, her ears flat.


    "Guenhwyvar!" Drizzt scolded.


    The doppleganger spun about, putting its back to the wooden bar just as Guenhwyvar charged in, coming up high and pinning


    the creature to the bar. Had the doppleganger kept its wits and played the innocent victim, it might have talked its way out of the predicament. But the creature recognized Guenhwyvar, or at least the fact that this panther was not of the Prime Material Plane. And if the doppleganger instinctively recognized that about the panther, it figured the panther would recognize the same.


    Purely on instinct, the creature batted Guenhwyvar with its forearm, the weight of the blow launching the six-hundred pound cat halfway across the wide room.


    No human could do that, and when the impostor looked again at Drizzt, it found that the drow had his scimitars in hand.


    "Who are you?" Drizzt demanded.


    The creature hissed and grabbed at the blades, catching one. Drizzt struck, tentatively and with the flat of his free blade, for he feared that this might be Deudermont under some type of enchantment. He smacked the impostor on the side of the neck.


    The creature caught the blade in its open hand, and it rushed forward and bowled Drizzt aside.


    The rest of those in the tavern were up then, most thinking it one of the typical fights. But the crew of the Sea Sprite, particularly Catti-brie, realized the absolute strangeness of the scene.


    The doppleganger made for the door, slapping aside the one confused sailor, one of the Sea Sprite''s crewmen, who stood in its way.


    Catti-brie had her bow ready, and she put an arrow, trailing silvery sparks, into the wall right beside the creature''s head. The doppleganger spun to face her, hissed loudly, and was subsequently buried by six hundred pounds of flying panther. This time Guenhwyvar recognized the strength of her foe and by the time the two had sorted out their tumble, the great cat was sitting on the doppleganger''s back, her powerful jaws clamped tight on the nape of the thing''s neck. Drizzt was there in an instant, followed closely by Catti-brie, Waillan Micanty and the rest of the crew, and more than a few curious onlookers, including the proprietor of the Mermaid''s Arms, who wanted to get a look at the damage from that enchanted arrow.


    "What are you?" Drizzt demanded, grabbing the impostor by the hair and turning its head so that he could look into its face. Drizzt rubbed his free hand across the thing''s cheek, looking for makeup, but found none. He barely got his fingers away before the doppleganger bit at them.


    Guenhwyvar growled and tightened her jaws, forcing the creature''s face to slam hard back into the floor.


    "Go and check out Dock Street!" Drizzt called to Waillan. "Near to where you last saw the captain!"


    "But ..." Waillan protested, pointing to the prone form.


    "This is not Captain Deudermont," Drizzt assured him. "This is not even human!"


    Waillan motioned to several of the Sea Sprite''s crew and headed out, followed by many other sailors who called themselves friends of the apparently missing captain.


    "And call for the Watch!" Drizzt yelled after them, referring to the famed Waterdeep patrols. "Be ready with your bow," Drizzt said to Catti-brie and she nodded and fitted another arrow to the bowstring.


    Working with Guenhwyvar, the drow managed to get the doppleganger fully subdued and standing against a wall. The bartender offered some heavy rope, and they tightly bound the doppleganger''s hands behind its back.


    "I ask you one more time," Drizzt began threateningly. The creature merely spat in his face and began laughing, a diabolical sound indeed.


    The drow did not respond with force, just stared hard at this impostor. Truly Drizzt''s heart was low then, for the way the impostor looked at him, laughed at him, only at him, sent a shiver along his spine. He wasn''t afraid for his own safety, never that, but he feared that his past had caught up with him once again, that the evil powers of Menzoberranzan had found him here in Waterdeep, and that the good Captain Deudermont had fallen because of him.


    If true, it was more than Drizzt Do''Urden could bear.


    "I offer your life in exchange for Captain Deudermont," the drow said.


    "It''s not your place to be bargaining with the . . . whatever it might be," remarked one sailor whom Drizzt did not know. The drow, scowling fiercely, turned to face the man, who went silent and backed away, having no desire to invoke the wrath of a dark elf, especially one of Drizzt''s fighting reputation.


    "Your life for Deudermont," Drizzt said again to the doppleganger. Again came that diabolical laughter and the creature spat in Drizzt''s face.


    Left, right, left came Drizzt''s open palms in rapid succession, battering the creature''s face. The last punch bent the thing''s nose, but it reformed, right before Drizzt''s eyes, to perfectly resemble the unmarred nose of Captain Deudermont.


    That image, combined with the continuing laughter, sent ripples of rage through the drow and he slugged the impostor with all his strength.


    Catti-brie wrapped her arms about Drizzt and pulled him away, though the mere sight of her reminded Drizzt of who he was and shamed him for his rash, out-of-control actions.


    "Where is he?" Drizzt demanded, and when the creature continued to taunt him, Guenhwyvar came up on her hind legs, resting one forepaw on each shoulder, and putting her snarling visage barely an inch from the doppleganger''s face. That quieted the creature, for it knew that Guenhwyvar recognized the truth of its existence, and knew that the angry panther could utterly destroy it.


    "Get a wizard," one sailor offered suddenly.


    "Robillard!" exclaimed another, the last of the Sea Sprite''s crew, besides Drizzt and Catti-brie, in the tavern. "He''ll know how to get the information out of this thing."


    "Go," Catti-brie agreed, and the man rushed out.


    "A priest," offered another man. "A priest will better deal with ..." The man paused, not knowing what to make of this impostor.


    Through it all, the doppleganger remained passive, matching Guenhwyvar''s stare but making no threatening moves.


    The crewman had barely exited the tavern when he was passed by another of the Sea Sprite''s hands, heading back in with the news that Deudermont had been found.


    Out they went, Drizzt shoving the doppleganger along, Guenhwyvar on the other side of the creature and Catti-brie behind it, her bow up and ready, an arrow tip nearly touching the back of the thing''s head. They came into the alley even as the sewer grate was being pried open, one sailor promptly dropping into the smelly hole to help his captain out.


    Deudermont eyed the doppleganger, eyed the perfect image of himself, with open contempt. "You may as well assume your natural form," he said to the thing. Drawing himself up straight, he brushed off some of the muck, regaining his dignity in an instant. "They know who I am, and know what you are."


    The doppleganger did nothing. Drizzt kept Twinkle tight against the side of its neck, Guenhwyvar remained alert on the other side, and Catti-brie went over to Deudermont, supporting the injured man.


    "Might I lean on your bow?" the captain asked, and Catti-brie, with hardly a thought, quickly handed it over.


    "Must be a wizard," Deudermont said to Drizzt, though the captain suspected differently. The injured Deudermont took the offered bow and leaned on it heavily. "If he utters a single, uncalled for syllable, slash his throat," he instructed.


    Drizzt nodded and pressed Twinkle a bit closer. Catti-brie moved to take Deudermont''s arm, but he waved her ahead, then followed closely.


    Far away, on a smoky layer of the Abyss, Errtu watched the unfolding scene with pure delight. The trap had been set, not as the great tanar''ri had expected when he had sent the doppleganger to Waterdeep, but set anyway, and perhaps more deliciously, more unexpectedly, more chaotically.


    Errtu understood Drizzt Do''Urden well enough to know that the mention of Caerwich was all the bait that was needed. Something awful had happened to them that night and they would not let it pass, would go willingly to the mentioned island and discover the source.


    The mighty fiend was having more fun than he had known in years. Errtu could have delivered the message to Drizzt more easily, but this intrigue-the doppleganger, the blind witch who waited at Caerwich-was the fun of it all.


    The only thing that would be more fun for Errtu was tearing Drizzt Do''Urden apart, little piece by little piece, devouring his flesh before his very eyes.


    The balor howled at that thought, figuring that it would soon enough come to pass.


    Deudermont straightened as much as possible and continued to wave away any offered help. The captain put on a good face,


    and stayed close behind Catti-brie as she moved slowly toward the alley exit, toward Drizzt and Guenhwyvar and the captured doppleganger.


    Deudermont watched that strange creature most carefully of all. He understood the evil of the thing, had felt it up close. Deudermont hated the thing for the beating it had given him, but in assuming the captain''s form, the thing had violated him in a way that he could not tolerate. Looking at the creature now, as it wore the features of the Sea Sprite''s Captain, Deudermont could barely keep his anger in check. He kept very close to Catti-brie, watching, anticipating.


    Near to Dock Street, Drizzt stood quietly beside the bound impostor. The drow and the many crewmen nearby were focused on the injured captain, and none of them noticed as the creature began to shift its malleable form once more, reshaping its arms so that they slipped and twisted free of the bonds.


    Drizzt just got his second scimitar out after the creature suddenly shoved him aside. The doppleganger bolted for the alley''s exit with Guenhwyvar close behind. Wings sprouted from the doppleganger''s back and it leaped high, meaning to fly off into the night.


    Guenhwyvar charged and sprang mightily in pursuit while Captain Deudermont slipped an arrow from the quiver on Catti-brie''s hip. The woman, sensing the theft, spun about as the bow came up. She cried out, fell to the side and Deudermont let fly.


    The doppleganger was more than twenty feet off the ground by the time Guenhwyvar began her leap, but still the great panther caught up to the flying monster, her jaws catching a firm hold on the creature''s ankle. That limb shifted and reformed immediately, making the panther''s grasp tentative. Then came the silver-streaking arrow, slamming the doppleganger square in the back, right between the wings.


    Down came Guenhwyvar, landing lightly on padded paws, and down came the doppleganger, dead before it ever hit the ground.


    Drizzt was there in an instant, the others rushing to catch up with him.


    The creature began to shift its form again. Its newest features melted away, to be replaced by a humanoid appearance the likes of which none of the gathering had ever seen. Its skin was perfectly smooth, the fingers of its slender hand showing no distin-


    guishable grooves. It was completely hairless, and everything about it seemed perfectly unremarkable. It was a lump of humanoid-shaped clay and nothing more.


    "Doppleganger," Deudermont remarked. "It would seem that Pinochet is not pleased by our latest exploits."


    Drizzt nodded, allowing himself to agree with the captain''s reasoning. This incident wasn''t about him, wasn''t about who he was and where he came from.


    He had to believe that.


    Errtu thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle, and was glad that he would not have to pay off his hired master of disguise. It bothered the fiend for a moment that his guide for the Sea Sprite''s voyage to the virtually unchartered island had just gone away, but the balor held his faith. The seeds had been sown; the doppleganger had teased Deudermont about the destination, and Drizzt had heard the exact name of the island and would pass it on to the captain. The balor knew neither were cowards, both were resourceful and curious.


    Errtu knew Drizzt and Deudermont would find their way to Caerwich and the blind seer who held the fiend''s message. Soon enough.

 Page 6

    Wrapped in a blanket, his robes hanging on the mast high above him to dry in the wind, the waterlogged wizard sneezed repeatedly, spraying those around him. He simply couldn''t contain himself and got Deudermont right in the face when the captain came up for an introduction.


    "I give to you one Harkle Harpell of Longsaddle," Drizzt said to Deudermont. Harkle extended his hand, and the blanket fell away from him. The skinny wizard scrambled to retrieve it, but was too late.


    "Get this one a meal," Catti-brie snickered from behind. "Suren he could use a bit o''meat on that bum."


    Harkle blushed a deep red. Robillard, who had already met the Harpell, just walked away, shaking his head and suspecting that exciting times were yet to come.


    "What brings you here," Deudermont asked, "so far from shore, on the open seas?"


    Harkle looked to Drizzt. "I came on invitation," he said at length, seeming somewhat perturbed when the drow made no move to answer for him.


    Drizzt eyed him curiously.


    "I did!" protested the wizard. "On your word." He spun about to regard Catti-brie. "And yours!"


    Catti-brie looked to Drizzt, who shrugged and held his hands out to the sides, having no idea of what Harkle might be talking about.


    "Oh, well, well, well, a fine ''hello,'' I suppose," the exasperated wizard stammered. "But then, I expected it, though I hoped a drow elf would have a longer memory. What do you say to someone you meet again after a century? Couldn''t remember his name, could you? Oh, no, no. That would be too much trouble."


    "What are you talking about?" Drizzt had to ask. "I remember your name."


    "And a good thing, too!" Harkle roared. "Or I would really be mad!" He snapped his fingers indignantly in the air, and the sound sobered him. He stood for a long moment, seeming thoroughly confused, as though he had forgotten what in the world he was talking about.


    "Oh, yes," Harkle said at length and looked straight at Drizzt. The wizard''s stern expression soon softened to one of curiosity.


    "What are you talking about?" Drizzt asked again, trying to prompt Harkle.


    "I do not know," the wizard admitted.


    "You were telling me what brought you out here," Deudermont put in.


    Harkle snapped his fingers again. "The spell, of course!" he said happily.


    Deudermont sighed. "Obviously, it was a spell," the captain began slowly, trying to find a path that would garner some useful information from the rambling mage.


    "Not ''a'' spell," Harkle retorted. "The spell. My new spell, the fog of fate."


    "The fog of fate?" Deudermont echoed.


    "Oh, very good spell," Harkle began excitedly. "Expedites things, you know. Get on with your life and all that. Shows you where to go. Puts you there even, I think. But it doesn''t tell you why." The wizard moved one hand up to tap at his chin, and his blanket slipped down again, but he didn''t seem to notice. "I should work on that part. Yes, yes, then I would know why I was here."


    "Ye''re not even knowin''?" Catti-brie asked, and she faced the rail, even leaned over it somewhat, so she wouldn''t have to look at Harkle''s bony buttocks.


    "Answering an invitation, I suppose," Harkle replied.


    Catti-brie''s expression was purely doubtful, as was Drizzt''s.


    "It''s true!" Harkle protested vehemently. "Oh, so convenient of you to forget. Shouldn''t say things you don''t mean, I say! When you, both of you"-he looked from one to the other, waggling his finger-"passed through Longsaddle six years ago, you mentioned that you hoped our paths might cross once more. ''If ever you find yourself near to us.'' That is exactly what you said!"


    "I do not-" Drizzt began, but Harkle waved him silent, then rushed to the oversized pack he had carried with him, which was drying on the deck. His blanket slipped down farther, but the wizard was too consumed by his task to notice. Catti-brie didn''t bother to look away, she just snickered and shook her head.


    Harkle pulled a small flask from his pack, retrieved his blanket for modesty''s sake, and bounced back over to stand before Drizzt. Snapping his fingers defiantly in the air before the drow, the wizard popped off the cork.


    From the flask came a voice, Catti-brie''s own voice. "If you ever find yerself near to us," she said, "do look in."


    "So there," Harkle said in superior tones as he plopped the cork back into place. He stood for a long moment, hands on hips, until Drizzt''s smile became inviting. "And just where are we?" the wizard asked, turning to Deudermont.


    The captain looked to the drow ranger, and Drizzt could offer only a shrug in reply. "Come, and I will show you," Deudermont said, leading the wizard toward his cabin. "And I will get you some proper clothes to wear until your robes have dried."


    When the two were gone, Catti-brie, walked back over to her friend. Robillard stood not so far away, glaring at them both.


    "Pray we find no more pirates to fight until we can be rid of our cargo," the wizard said.


    "Harkle will try to help," Catti-brie replied.


    "Pray hard," Robillard muttered and walked away.


    "You should be more careful of what you say," Drizzt remarked to Catti-brie.


    "Could have been yer own voice just as well as me own," the young woman shot back. "And besides, Harkle did try to help in the fight."


    "It could as easily have been us he engulfed, in stream or in fire," Drizzt promptly reminded her.


    Catti-brie sighed and had no words to reply. They turned to the door of Deudermont''s cabin, where the captain stood with Harkle, about to enter.


    "So that was the fog of fate you cast at our pirate friends, eh?" Deudermont asked, trying to sound impressed.


    "Huh?" Harkle answered. "That? Oh, no, no, that was a fireball. I am good at casting those!" The Harpell paused and lowered his eyes, following Deudermont inside. "Except that I aimed too low," Harkle admitted quietly.


    Catti-brie and Drizzt looked to each other, then to Robillard. "Pray," all three whispered in unison.


    Drizzt and Catti-brie dined privately with Deudermont that night, the captain seeming more animated than he had since they had put out from Waterdeep. The two friends tried to apologize for Harkle''s arrival several times, but Deudermont brushed such thoughts away, even hinted that he was not so upset about the Harpell''s arrival.


    Finally Deudermont sat back in his chair, wiped his neatly-groomed goatee with a satin napkin and stared hard at the two friends, who fell silent, understanding that the captain had something important to tell them.


    "We are not in this area by chance," Deudermont admitted bluntly.


    "And not going to Baldur''s Gate," reasoned Drizzt, who had suspected all along. The Sea Sprite was supposedly running to Baldur''s Gate, but Deudermont hadn''t been careful about staying close to the coast, the more direct route, the safer route, and the route most likely to allow them to find and capture pirates.


    Again there ensued a long pause, as though the captain had to settle things in his own mind before admitting them openly. "We''re turning west for Mintarn," Deudermont said.


    Catti-brie''s jaw dropped open.


    "A free port," Drizzt reminded, and warned. The island of Mintarn had a well-earned reputation as a haven for pirates and other fugitives, a rough and tumble place. How might the Sea Sprite, the hunter of justice, be received in such a port?


    "A free port," Deudermont agreed. "Free for pirates and free for the Sea Sprite, in need of information."


    Drizzt didn''t openly question the captain, but his doubting expression spoke volumes.


    "The Lords of Waterdeep have given the Sea Sprite over to me completely," Deudermont said, somewhat harshly. "She''s my ship, under my word alone. I can take her to Mintarn, to the Moonshaes, all the way to Ruathym, if I so please, and let no one question me!"


    Drizzt sat back in his seat, stung by the harsh words and surprised that Deudermont, who had professed to be his friend, had so treated him as a subordinate.


    The captain winced openly at the sight of the drow''s disappointment. "My pardon," he said quietly.


    Drizzt came forward in his seat, leaning his elbows on the table to bring himself closer to Deudermont. "Caerwich?" he asked.


    Deudermont eyed him directly. "The doppleganger spoke of Caerwich, and so to Caerwich I must go."


    "And do ye not think ye''ll be sailing right into a trap?" Catti-brie put in. "Going right where they''re wanting ye to go?"


    "Who?" Deudermont asked.


    "Whoever sent the doppleganger," Catti-brie reasoned.


    "Who?" Deudermont asked again.


    Catti-brie shrugged. "Pinochet?" she queried. "Or mighten it be some other pirate that''s had his fill o'' the Sea Sprite?"


    Deudermont leaned back in his seat again, as did Drizzt, all three sitting in silence for several long moments. "I cannot, nor do I believe that you can, continue to sail up and down the Sword Coast as though nothing at all has happened," the captain explained. Drizzt closed his lavender eyes, expecting this answer and agreeing with the logic. "Someone powerful, for doppleganger hirelings are neither common nor cheap, desires my demise and the end of the Sea Sprite, and I intend to find out who it might be. I''ve never run from a fight, nor has my crew, and any who are not prepared to go to Caerwich may disembark in Mintarn and catch a sail back to Waterdeep, paid by my own coffers."


    "Not a one will go," Catti-brie admitted.


    "Yet we do not even know if Caerwich truly exists," Drizzt remarked. "Many claim to have been there, but these are the tales of seagoing men, tales too often exaggerated by drink or by bluster."


    "So we must find out," Deudermont said with a tone of finality. Neither Drizzt nor Catti-brie, both willing to face trouble head-on, offered a word of disagreement. "Perhaps it is not such a bad thing that your wizard friend arrived," the captain went on. "Another wizard knowledgeable in the mystical arts might help us to sort through this mystery."


    Catti-brie and Drizzt exchanged doubtful looks; Captain Deudermont obviously didn''t know Harkle Harpell! They said no more about it, though, and finished the meal discussing more pertinent matters of the everyday handling of the ship and crew. Deudermont wanted to go to Mintarn, so Drizzt and Catti-brie would follow.


    After the meal, the two friends strolled out onto the nearly-deserted deck of the schooner, walking under a canopy of brilliant stars.


    "Ye were relieved at the captain''s tale," Catti-brie remarked.


    After a moment of surprise, Drizzt nodded.


    "Ye thought the attack in Waterdeep had to do with yerself, and not with Deudermont or the Sea Sprite," Catti-brie went on.


    The drow simply stood and listened, for, as usual, the perceptive young woman had hit his feelings exactly, had read him like an open book.


    "Ye''ll always be fearing that every danger comes from yer home," Catti-brie said, moving to the rail and looking over at the reflection of the stars in the rolling waters.


    "I have made many enemies," Drizzt replied as he joined her.


    "Ye''ve left them buried in yer tracks," Catti-brie said with a laugh.


    Drizzt shared in that chuckle, and had to admit that she was right. This time, he believed, it wasn''t about him. For several years now, he had been a player in the larger drama of the world. The personal element of the danger that had followed him every step since his initial departure from Menzoberranzan seemed a thing of the past. Now, under the stars and with Catti-brie beside him, thousands of miles and many years from Menzoberranzan, Drizzt Do''Urden felt truly free, and carefree. He did not fear the trip to Mintarn, or to any mysterious island beyond that, whatever the rumors of haunts might be. Never did Drizzt Do''Urden fear danger. He lived on the edge willingly, and if Deudermont was in trouble, then Drizzt was more than ready to take up his scimitars.


    As was Catti-brie, with her bow, Taulmaril, and the magnificent sword, Khazid''hea, always ready at her hip. As was Guenhwyvar, ever-faithful companion. Drizzt did not fear danger; only guilt could bend his stoic shoulders. This time, it seemed, he carried no guilt, no responsibility for the attack and for the Sea Sprite''s chosen course. He was a player in Deudermont''s drama, a willing player.


    He and Catti-brie basked in the wind and the spray, watched the stars silently for hours.

 Page 6

    Wrapped in a blanket, his robes hanging on the mast high above him to dry in the wind, the waterlogged wizard sneezed repeatedly, spraying those around him. He simply couldn''t contain himself and got Deudermont right in the face when the captain came up for an introduction.


    "I give to you one Harkle Harpell of Longsaddle," Drizzt said to Deudermont. Harkle extended his hand, and the blanket fell away from him. The skinny wizard scrambled to retrieve it, but was too late.


    "Get this one a meal," Catti-brie snickered from behind. "Suren he could use a bit o''meat on that bum."


    Harkle blushed a deep red. Robillard, who had already met the Harpell, just walked away, shaking his head and suspecting that exciting times were yet to come.


    "What brings you here," Deudermont asked, "so far from shore, on the open seas?"


    Harkle looked to Drizzt. "I came on invitation," he said at length, seeming somewhat perturbed when the drow made no move to answer for him.


    Drizzt eyed him curiously.


    "I did!" protested the wizard. "On your word." He spun about to regard Catti-brie. "And yours!"


    Catti-brie looked to Drizzt, who shrugged and held his hands out to the sides, having no idea of what Harkle might be talking about.


    "Oh, well, well, well, a fine ''hello,'' I suppose," the exasperated wizard stammered. "But then, I expected it, though I hoped a drow elf would have a longer memory. What do you say to someone you meet again after a century? Couldn''t remember his name, could you? Oh, no, no. That would be too much trouble."


    "What are you talking about?" Drizzt had to ask. "I remember your name."


    "And a good thing, too!" Harkle roared. "Or I would really be mad!" He snapped his fingers indignantly in the air, and the sound sobered him. He stood for a long moment, seeming thoroughly confused, as though he had forgotten what in the world he was talking about.


    "Oh, yes," Harkle said at length and looked straight at Drizzt. The wizard''s stern expression soon softened to one of curiosity.


    "What are you talking about?" Drizzt asked again, trying to prompt Harkle.


    "I do not know," the wizard admitted.


    "You were telling me what brought you out here," Deudermont put in.


    Harkle snapped his fingers again. "The spell, of course!" he said happily.


    Deudermont sighed. "Obviously, it was a spell," the captain began slowly, trying to find a path that would garner some useful information from the rambling mage.


    "Not ''a'' spell," Harkle retorted. "The spell. My new spell, the fog of fate."


    "The fog of fate?" Deudermont echoed.


    "Oh, very good spell," Harkle began excitedly. "Expedites things, you know. Get on with your life and all that. Shows you where to go. Puts you there even, I think. But it doesn''t tell you why." The wizard moved one hand up to tap at his chin, and his blanket slipped down again, but he didn''t seem to notice. "I should work on that part. Yes, yes, then I would know why I was here."


    "Ye''re not even knowin''?" Catti-brie asked, and she faced the rail, even leaned over it somewhat, so she wouldn''t have to look at Harkle''s bony buttocks.


    "Answering an invitation, I suppose," Harkle replied.


    Catti-brie''s expression was purely doubtful, as was Drizzt''s.


    "It''s true!" Harkle protested vehemently. "Oh, so convenient of you to forget. Shouldn''t say things you don''t mean, I say! When you, both of you"-he looked from one to the other, waggling his finger-"passed through Longsaddle six years ago, you mentioned that you hoped our paths might cross once more. ''If ever you find yourself near to us.'' That is exactly what you said!"


    "I do not-" Drizzt began, but Harkle waved him silent, then rushed to the oversized pack he had carried with him, which was drying on the deck. His blanket slipped down farther, but the wizard was too consumed by his task to notice. Catti-brie didn''t bother to look away, she just snickered and shook her head.


    Harkle pulled a small flask from his pack, retrieved his blanket for modesty''s sake, and bounced back over to stand before Drizzt. Snapping his fingers defiantly in the air before the drow, the wizard popped off the cork.


    From the flask came a voice, Catti-brie''s own voice. "If you ever find yerself near to us," she said, "do look in."


    "So there," Harkle said in superior tones as he plopped the cork back into place. He stood for a long moment, hands on hips, until Drizzt''s smile became inviting. "And just where are we?" the wizard asked, turning to Deudermont.


    The captain looked to the drow ranger, and Drizzt could offer only a shrug in reply. "Come, and I will show you," Deudermont said, leading the wizard toward his cabin. "And I will get you some proper clothes to wear until your robes have dried."


    When the two were gone, Catti-brie, walked back over to her friend. Robillard stood not so far away, glaring at them both.


    "Pray we find no more pirates to fight until we can be rid of our cargo," the wizard said.


    "Harkle will try to help," Catti-brie replied.


    "Pray hard," Robillard muttered and walked away.


    "You should be more careful of what you say," Drizzt remarked to Catti-brie.


    "Could have been yer own voice just as well as me own," the young woman shot back. "And besides, Harkle did try to help in the fight."


    "It could as easily have been us he engulfed, in stream or in fire," Drizzt promptly reminded her.


    Catti-brie sighed and had no words to reply. They turned to the door of Deudermont''s cabin, where the captain stood with Harkle, about to enter.


    "So that was the fog of fate you cast at our pirate friends, eh?" Deudermont asked, trying to sound impressed.


    "Huh?" Harkle answered. "That? Oh, no, no, that was a fireball. I am good at casting those!" The Harpell paused and lowered his eyes, following Deudermont inside. "Except that I aimed too low," Harkle admitted quietly.


    Catti-brie and Drizzt looked to each other, then to Robillard. "Pray," all three whispered in unison.


    Drizzt and Catti-brie dined privately with Deudermont that night, the captain seeming more animated than he had since they had put out from Waterdeep. The two friends tried to apologize for Harkle''s arrival several times, but Deudermont brushed such thoughts away, even hinted that he was not so upset about the Harpell''s arrival.


    Finally Deudermont sat back in his chair, wiped his neatly-groomed goatee with a satin napkin and stared hard at the two friends, who fell silent, understanding that the captain had something important to tell them.


    "We are not in this area by chance," Deudermont admitted bluntly.


    "And not going to Baldur''s Gate," reasoned Drizzt, who had suspected all along. The Sea Sprite was supposedly running to Baldur''s Gate, but Deudermont hadn''t been careful about staying close to the coast, the more direct route, the safer route, and the route most likely to allow them to find and capture pirates.


    Again there ensued a long pause, as though the captain had to settle things in his own mind before admitting them openly. "We''re turning west for Mintarn," Deudermont said.


    Catti-brie''s jaw dropped open.


    "A free port," Drizzt reminded, and warned. The island of Mintarn had a well-earned reputation as a haven for pirates and other fugitives, a rough and tumble place. How might the Sea Sprite, the hunter of justice, be received in such a port?


    "A free port," Deudermont agreed. "Free for pirates and free for the Sea Sprite, in need of information."


    Drizzt didn''t openly question the captain, but his doubting expression spoke volumes.


    "The Lords of Waterdeep have given the Sea Sprite over to me completely," Deudermont said, somewhat harshly. "She''s my ship, under my word alone. I can take her to Mintarn, to the Moonshaes, all the way to Ruathym, if I so please, and let no one question me!"


    Drizzt sat back in his seat, stung by the harsh words and surprised that Deudermont, who had professed to be his friend, had so treated him as a subordinate.


    The captain winced openly at the sight of the drow''s disappointment. "My pardon," he said quietly.


    Drizzt came forward in his seat, leaning his elbows on the table to bring himself closer to Deudermont. "Caerwich?" he asked.


    Deudermont eyed him directly. "The doppleganger spoke of Caerwich, and so to Caerwich I must go."


    "And do ye not think ye''ll be sailing right into a trap?" Catti-brie put in. "Going right where they''re wanting ye to go?"


    "Who?" Deudermont asked.


    "Whoever sent the doppleganger," Catti-brie reasoned.


    "Who?" Deudermont asked again.


    Catti-brie shrugged. "Pinochet?" she queried. "Or mighten it be some other pirate that''s had his fill o'' the Sea Sprite?"


    Deudermont leaned back in his seat again, as did Drizzt, all three sitting in silence for several long moments. "I cannot, nor do I believe that you can, continue to sail up and down the Sword Coast as though nothing at all has happened," the captain explained. Drizzt closed his lavender eyes, expecting this answer and agreeing with the logic. "Someone powerful, for doppleganger hirelings are neither common nor cheap, desires my demise and the end of the Sea Sprite, and I intend to find out who it might be. I''ve never run from a fight, nor has my crew, and any who are not prepared to go to Caerwich may disembark in Mintarn and catch a sail back to Waterdeep, paid by my own coffers."


    "Not a one will go," Catti-brie admitted.


    "Yet we do not even know if Caerwich truly exists," Drizzt remarked. "Many claim to have been there, but these are the tales of seagoing men, tales too often exaggerated by drink or by bluster."


    "So we must find out," Deudermont said with a tone of finality. Neither Drizzt nor Catti-brie, both willing to face trouble head-on, offered a word of disagreement. "Perhaps it is not such a bad thing that your wizard friend arrived," the captain went on. "Another wizard knowledgeable in the mystical arts might help us to sort through this mystery."


    Catti-brie and Drizzt exchanged doubtful looks; Captain Deudermont obviously didn''t know Harkle Harpell! They said no more about it, though, and finished the meal discussing more pertinent matters of the everyday handling of the ship and crew. Deudermont wanted to go to Mintarn, so Drizzt and Catti-brie would follow.


    After the meal, the two friends strolled out onto the nearly-deserted deck of the schooner, walking under a canopy of brilliant stars.


    "Ye were relieved at the captain''s tale," Catti-brie remarked.


    After a moment of surprise, Drizzt nodded.


    "Ye thought the attack in Waterdeep had to do with yerself, and not with Deudermont or the Sea Sprite," Catti-brie went on.


    The drow simply stood and listened, for, as usual, the perceptive young woman had hit his feelings exactly, had read him like an open book.


    "Ye''ll always be fearing that every danger comes from yer home," Catti-brie said, moving to the rail and looking over at the reflection of the stars in the rolling waters.


    "I have made many enemies," Drizzt replied as he joined her.


    "Ye''ve left them buried in yer tracks," Catti-brie said with a laugh.


    Drizzt shared in that chuckle, and had to admit that she was right. This time, he believed, it wasn''t about him. For several years now, he had been a player in the larger drama of the world. The personal element of the danger that had followed him every step since his initial departure from Menzoberranzan seemed a thing of the past. Now, under the stars and with Catti-brie beside him, thousands of miles and many years from Menzoberranzan, Drizzt Do''Urden felt truly free, and carefree. He did not fear the trip to Mintarn, or to any mysterious island beyond that, whatever the rumors of haunts might be. Never did Drizzt Do''Urden fear danger. He lived on the edge willingly, and if Deudermont was in trouble, then Drizzt was more than ready to take up his scimitars.


    As was Catti-brie, with her bow, Taulmaril, and the magnificent sword, Khazid''hea, always ready at her hip. As was Guenhwyvar, ever-faithful companion. Drizzt did not fear danger; only guilt could bend his stoic shoulders. This time, it seemed, he carried no guilt, no responsibility for the attack and for the Sea Sprite''s chosen course. He was a player in Deudermont''s drama, a willing player.


    He and Catti-brie basked in the wind and the spray, watched the stars silently for hours.

 Page 7

    Kierstaad, son of Revjak, knelt on the soft turf, his knee pocking the ground. He was not tall by the standards of the Icewind Dale nomads, barely topping six feet, and was not as muscular as most. His hair was long and blond, his eyes the color of the sky on the brightest of days, and his smile, on those rare occasions that he displayed it, beamed from a warm soul.


    Across the flat tundra Kierstaad could see the snow-capped top of Kelvin''s Cairn. It was the lone mountain in the thousand square miles of the land called Icewind Dale, the windswept strip of tundra between the Sea of Moving Ice and the northwestern spur of the Spine of the World mountains. If he were to move but a few miles toward the mountain, Kierstaad knew that he would see the tips of the masts of the fishing ships sailing Lac Dinneshere, second largest of the three lakes in the region.


    A few miles to a different world, Kierstaad realized. He was just a boy, really, having seen only seventeen winters. But in that time, Kierstaad had witnessed more of the Realms and of life than most in the world would ever know. He had traveled with


    many warriors to the call of Wulfgar, from Icewind Dale to a place called Settlestone, far, far away. He''d celebrated his ninth birthday on the road, removed from his family. At the age of eleven, the young barbarian lad had battled goblins, kobolds, and drow elves, fighting beside Berkthgar the Bold, leader of Settle-stone. It was Berkthgar who had decided that the time had come for the barbarian peoples to return to Icewind Dale-their ancestral home-and the ways of their forebears.


    Kierstaad had seen so much, had lived two different lives, it seemed, in two different worlds. Now he was a nomad, a hunter out on the open tundra, approaching his eighteenth birthday and his first solitary hunt. Looking at Kelvin''s Cairn, though, and knowing of the fishing ships on Lac Dinneshere, on Maer Dualdon to the west, and on Redwaters to the south, Kierstaad realized how narrow his existence had truly become, and how much wider was the world-a world just a few short miles from where he now knelt. He could picture the markets in Bryn Shander, the largest of the ten towns surrounding the lakes. He could imagine the multicolored garments, the jewels, the excitement, as the merchant caravans rolled in with the spring, the southerners bartering for the fine scrimshaw carved from the head bone of the three lakes'' abundant knucklehead trout.


    Kierstaad''s own garments were brown, like the tundra, like the reindeer he and his people hunted, like the tents they lived in.


    Still, the young man''s sigh was not a lament for what was lost to him, but rather a resignation that this was now his way, the way of his ancestors. There was a simple beauty to it, Kierstaad had to admit, a toughness, too, that hardened the body and the soul. Kierstaad was a young man, but he was wise beyond his years. A family trait, so it was said, for Kierstaad''s father, Revjak, had led the unified tribes after Wulfgar''s departure. Calm and always in control, Revjak hadn''t left Icewind Dale to go to war in Mithril Hall, explaining that he was too old and set in his ways. Revjak had stayed on with the majority of the barbarian people, solidifying the alliance between the nomadic tribes, and also strengthening the ties with the folk of Ten-Towns.


    Revjak hadn''t been surprised, but was pleased at the return of Berkthgar, of Kierstaad-his youngest child-and of all the others. Still, with that return came many questions concerning the future of the nomadic tribes and the leadership of the barbarian people. "More blood?" came a question, drawing the young man from his contemplations. Kierstaad turned to see the other hunters, Berkthgar among them, moving up behind him.


    Kierstaad nodded and pointed to the red splotch on the brown ground. Berkthgar had speared a reindeer, a fine throw from a great distance, but only had wounded the beast, and it had taken flight. Always efficient, particularly when dealing with this animal that gave to them so very much, the hunters had rushed in pursuit. They would not wound an animal to let it die unclaimed. That was not their way. It was, according to Berkthgar, "the wasting way of the men who lived in Ten-Towns, or who lived south of the Spine of the World."


    Berkthgar walked up beside the kneeling young man, the tall leader locking his own stare on distant Kelvin''s Cairn. "We must catch up to the beast soon," Berkthgar stated. "If it gets too close to the valley, the dwarves will steal it."


    There were a few nods of agreement and the hunting party started off at a swift pace. Kierstaad lagged behind this time, his steps weighed by his leader''s words. Ever since they had left Settlestone, Berkthgar had spoken ill of the dwarves, the folk who had been their friends and allies, Bruenor''s folk, who had fought in a war of good cause beside the barbarians. What had happened to the cheers of victory? His most vivid memory of the short couple of years in Settlestone was not of the drow war, but of the celebration that had followed, a time of great fellowship between the dwarves, the curious svirfneblin, and the warriors who had joined in the cause from several of the surrounding villages.


    How had that all changed so dramatically? Barely a week on the road out of Settlestone, the story of the barbarian existence there had begun to change. The good times were no longer spoken of, replaced by tales of tragedy and hardship, of the barbarians lowering their spirits to menial tasks not fit for the Tribe of the Elk, or the Tribe of the Bear, or any of the ancestral tribes. Such talk had continued all the way around the Spine of the World, all the way back to Icewind Dale, and then, gradually, it had died away.


    Now, with rumors that the several score of the dwarves had returned to Icewind Dale, Berkthgar''s critical remarks had begun anew. Kierstaad understood the source. The rumors said that Bruenor Battlehammer himself, the Eighth King of Mithril Hall, had returned. Shortly after the drow war, Bruenor had given the throne back over to his ancestor, Gandalug, Patron of Clan Battlehammer, who had returned from centuries of magical imprisonment at the hands of the drow elves. Even at the height of their alliance, relations between Berkthgar and Bruenor had been strained, for Bruenor had been the adoptive father of Wulfgar, the man who stood tallest in the barbarians'' legends. Bruenor had forged mighty Aegis-fang, the warhammer which, in the hands of Wulfgar, had become the most honored weapon of all the tribes.


    But then, with Wulfgar gone, Bruenor would not give Aegis-fang over to Berkthgar.


    Even after his heroic exploits in the battle of Keeper''s Dale against the drow, Berkthgar had remained in Wulfgar''s shadow. It seemed to perceptive Kierstaad, that the leader had embarked on a campaign to discredit Wulfgar, to convince his proud people that Wulfgar was wrong, that Wulfgar was not a strong leader, that he was even a traitor to his people and their gods. Their old life, so said Berkthgar, one of roaming the tundra and living free of any bonds, was the better way.


    Kierstaad liked his life on the tundra, and wasn''t certain that he disagreed with Berkthgar''s observations concerning which was the more honorable lifestyle. But the young man had grown up admiring Wulfgar, and Berkthgar''s words about the dead leader did not sit well with him.


    Kierstaad looked to Kelvin''s Cairn as he ran along the soft, spongy ground, and wondered if the rumors were true. Had the dwarves returned, and if so, was King Bruenor with them?


    And if he was, could it be possible that he brought with him Aegis-fang, that most powerful of warhammers?


    Kierstaad felt a tingle at that thought, but it was lost a moment later when Berkthgar spotted the wounded reindeer and the hunt was on in full.


    "Rope!" Bruenor bellowed, hurling to the floor the twine the shopkeeper had offered him. "Thick as me arm, ye durned orc-brain! Ye thinking that I''m to hold up a tunnel with that?"


    The flustered shopkeeper scooped up the twine and rambled away, grumbling with every step.


    Standing at Bruenor''s left, Regis gave the dwarf a scowl.


    "What?" demanded the red-bearded dwarf, leaping to face the portly halfling directly. There weren''t many people that the four-and-a-half foot dwarf could look down on, but Regis was one of them.


    Regis ran both his plump hands through his curly brown hair and chuckled. "It is good that your coffers run deep," the halfling said, not afraid of blustery Bruenor in the least. "Otherwise Maboyo would throw you out into the street."


    "Bah!" the dwarf snorted, straightening his lopsided, one-horned helmet as he turned away. "He''s needing the business. I got mines to reopen, and that''s meaning gold for Maboyo."


    "Good thing," Regis muttered.


    "Keep flapping yer lips," Bruenor warned.


    Regis looked up curiously, his expression one of blank amazement.


    "What?" Bruenor insisted, turning to face him.


    "You saw me," Regis breathed. "And you just saw me again."


    Bruenor started to reply, but the words got caught in his throat. Regis was standing on Bruenor''s left, and Bruenor had lost his left eye in a fight in Mithril Hall. After the war between Mithril Hall and Menzoberranzan, one of the most powerful priests of Silverymoon had cast healing spells over Bruenor''s face, which was scarred from forehead, down diagonally across the eye, to the left side of his jaw. The wound was an old one by that point, and the cleric had predicted that his work would do little more than cosmetic repair. Indeed, it took several months for a new eye to appear, deep within the folds of the scar, and some time after that for the orb to grow to full size.


    Regis pulled Bruenor closer. Unexpectedly, the halfling covered Bruenor''s right eye with one hand, pointed a finger of his other hand, and jabbed it at the dwarfs left eye.


    Bruenor jumped and caught the poking hand.


    "You can see!" the halfling exclaimed.


    Bruenor grabbed Regis in a tight hug, even swung him completely about. It was true, the dwarf''s sight had returned in his left eye!


    Several other patrons in the store watched the emotional outburst, and as soon as Bruenor became aware of their stares, and even worse, their smiles, he dropped Regis roughly back to the floor.


    Maboyo arrived then, his arms full with a coil of heavy rope. "Will this meet your desires?" he asked.


    "It''s a start," Bruenor roared at him, the dwarf turning suddenly sour again. "I need another thousand feet."


    Maboyo stared at him.


    "Now!" Bruenor roared. "Ye get me the rope or I''m out for Luskan with enough wagons to keep me and me kin supplied for a hunnerd years!"


    Maboyo stared a moment longer, then gave up and headed for his storeroom. He had known the dwarf meant to clean him out of many items as soon as Bruenor had entered his store with a heavy purse. Maboyo liked to dole out supplies slowly, over time, making each purchase seem precious and extracting as much gold from the customer as possible. Bruenor, the toughest bargainer this side of the mountains, didn''t play that game.


    "Getting back your vision didn''t do much to improve your mood," Regis remarked as soon as Maboyo was out of sight.


    Bruenor winked at him. "Play the game, Rumblebelly," the dwarf said slyly. "Suren this one''s glad we''re back. Doubles his business."


    True enough, Regis understood. With Bruenor and two hundred of Clan Battlehammer back in Icewind Dale, Maboyo''s store-the largest and best-stocked in all of Bryn Shander, in all of Ten-Towns-stood to do well.


    Of course, that meant Maboyo would have to put up with the surliest of customers. Regis chuckled privately at the thought of the battles the shopkeeper and Bruenor would fight, just as it had been nearly a decade before, when the rocky valley just south of Kelvin''s Cairn chimed with the ringing of dwarven hammers.


    Regis spent a long while staring at Bruenor. It was good to be home.


    Part 2


    THE FOG OF FATE


    We are the center. In each of our minds-some may call it arrogance, or selfishness-we are the center, and all the world moves about us, and for us, and because of us. This is the paradox of community, the one and the whole, the desires of the one often in direct conflict with the needs of the whole. Who among us has not wondered if all the world is no more than a personal dream?


    I do not believe that such thoughts are arrogant or selfish. It is simply a matter of perception; we can empathize with someone else, but we cannot truly see the world as another person sees it, or judge events as they affect the mind and the heart of another, even a friend.


    But we must try. For the sake of all the world, we must try. This is the test of altruism, the most basic and undeniable ingredient for society. Therein lies the paradox, for ultimately, logically, we each must care more about ourselves than about others, and yet, if, as rational beings we follow that logical course, we place our needs and desires above the needs of our society, and then there is no community.


    I come from Menzoberranzan, city of drow, city of self. I have seen that way of selfishness. I have seen it fail miserably. When self-indulgence rules, then all the community loses, and in the end, those striving for personal gains are left with nothing of any real value.


    Because everything of value that we will know in this life comes from our relationships with those around us. Because there is nothing material that measures against the intangibles of love and friendship.


    Thus, we must overcome that selfishness and we must try; we must care. I saw this truth plainly following the attack on Cap-


    tain Deudermont in Waterdeep. My first inclination was to believe that my past had precipitated the trouble, that my life course had again brought pain to a friend. I could not bear this thought. I felt old and I felt tired. Subsequently learning that the trouble was possibly brought on by Deudermont''s old enemies, not my own, gave me more heart for the fight.


    Why is that? The danger to me was no less, nor was the danger to Deudermont, or to Catti-brie or any of the others about us.


    Yet my emotions were real, very real, and I recognized and understood them, if not their source. Now, in reflection, I recognize that source, and take pride in it. I have seen the failure of self-indulgence; I have run from such a world. I would rather die because of Deudermont''s past than have him die because of my own. I would suffer the physical pains, even the end of my life. Better that than watch one I love suffer and die because of me. I would rather have my physical heart torn from my chest, than have my heart of hearts, the essence of love, the empathy and the need to belong to something bigger than my corporeal form, destroyed.


    They are a curious thing, these emotions. How they fly in the face of logic, how they overrule the most basic instincts. Because, in the measure of time, in the measure of humanity, we sense those self-indulgent instincts to be a weakness, we sense that the needs of the community must outweigh the desires of the one. Only when we admit to our failures and recognize our weaknesses can we rise above them.


    Together.

 Page 8

    It took some effort for Drizzt to spot the panther. The island of Mintarn, four hundred miles southwest of Waterdeep, was cloaked in thick trees, and Guenhwyvar was perfectly blended, reclining on a branch twenty feet from the ground, camouflaged so well that a deer might walk right under the cat, never realizing its doom.


    Guenhwyvar was not hunting deer this day. The Sea Sprite had put into port barely two hours before, flying no flag, no colors at all, and with her name covered by tarps. The three-masted schooner was likely recognizable, though, for she was unique along the Sword Coast, and many of the rogues now visiting the free port had run from her in the past. So it was that Drizzt, Catti-brie and Deudermont had been approached soon after they had entered the Freemantle, a tavern just off the docks.


    Now they waited for their contact, half expecting an ambush in the thick woods barely a hundred yards from the town common.


    There and then, Deudermont could truly appreciate the value of such loyal and powerful friends. With Drizzt and Catti-brie,


    and ever-alert Guenhwyvar keeping watch, the captain feared no ambush, not if all the pirates of the Sword Coast rose against him! Without these three around him, Deudermont would have been terribly vulnerable. Even Robillard, undeniably powerful but equally unpredictable, could not have afforded the captain such comfort. More than their skill, Deudermont trusted in these three for their loyalty. They''d not desert him, not one of them, no matter the risk.


    Guenhwyvar''s ears flattened and the panther gave a low growl, a sound the other three felt in their bellies rather than heard with their ears.


    Drizzt went into a low crouch and scanned the region, he pointed east and north, then slipped into the shadows, silent as death. Catti-brie moved behind a tree and fixed an arrow to Taul-maril''s bowstring. She tried to follow Drizzt''s movements, using them to discern the approach of their contact, but the drow was gone. It seemed he had simply vanished soon after he had entered the thick growth. As it turned out, she didn''t need Drizzt''s movements as a guide, for their visitors were not so adept at traveling silently and invisibly through the woods.


    Deudermont stood calmly in the open, his hands folded behind his back. Every now and then he brought out one hand to adjust the pipe that hung in his mouth. He, too, sensed the proximity of other men, several men, taking up positions in the woods about him.


    "You do not belong here," came an expected voice from the shadows. The speaker, a tiny man with small dark eyes and huge ears poking out from under his bowl-cut brown hair, had no idea that he had been spotted twenty steps from his current position, which was still more than a dozen yards from the captain. He did not know that his seven companions, too, were known to Drizzt and Catti-brie, and especially to Guenhwyvar. The panther was a moving shadow among the branches, positioning herself close enough to get to four of the men with a single leap.


    Off to the speaker''s left side, one of his companions spotted Catti-brie and brought his own bow up, putting an arrow in line with the woman. He heard a rustle, but before he could react, a dark form rushed past him. He gave a short yelp, fell back, and saw the forest green of a cape swish past. Then the form was gone, leaving the man stunned and unharmed.


    "Brer''Cannon?" the man addressing Deudermont asked, and there came rustling from several positions.


    "I''m okay," a shaken Brer''Cannon replied quickly, straightening himself and trying to understand what that pass had been about. He figured it out when he at last looked back to his bow and saw that the bowstring had been cut. "Damnation," Brer''Cannon muttered, scanning the brush frantically.


    "I am not accustomed to speaking with shadows," Deudermont called out clearly, his voice unshaken.


    "You are not alone," the speaker replied.


    "Nor are you," Deudermont said without hesitation. "So do come out and let us be done with this business-whatever business you might have with me."


    More rustling came from the shadows, and more than one whispering voice told the speaker, a man named Dunkin, to go talk to the Sea Sprite''s captain.


    At last, Dunkin mustered the courage to stand up and come forward, taking one step and looking all around, then another step and looking all around. He walked right under Guenhwyvar and didn''t know it, which brought a smile to Deudermont''s lips. He walked within three feet of Drizzt and didn''t know it, but he did spot Catti-brie, for the woman was making no real effort to conceal herself behind the tree just to the side of the small clearing where Deudermont stood.


    Dunkin fought hard to regain his composure and his dignity. He walked to within a few paces of the tall captain and straightened himself. "You do not belong here," he said in a voice that cracked only once.


    "It was my understanding that Mintarn was a free port," Deudermont replied. "Free for scalawags only?"


    Dunkin pointed a finger and started to reply, but the words apparently did not suffice and he stopped after uttering only a meaningless grunt.


    "I have never known of any restrictions placed on vessels desiring to dock," Deudermont went on. "Surely my ship is not the only one in Mintarn Harbor flying no colors and with her name covered." The last statement was true enough. Fully two-thirds of all the vessels that put into the free port did so without any open identification.


    "You are Deudermont and your ship is the Sea Sprite, out of


    Waterdeep," Dunkin said, his tone accusing. He tugged at his ear as he spoke, a nervous tick, the captain reasoned.


    Deudermont shrugged and nodded.


    "A law ship," Dunkin went on, finding some courage at last. He let go of his ear. "Pirate hunter, and here, no doubt, to-"


    "Do not presume to know my intentions," Deudermont interrupted sharply.


    "The Sea Sprite''s intentions are always known," Dunkin retorted, his voice equally firm. "She''s a pirate hunter, and yes, there are indeed pirates docked in Mintarn, including one you chased this very week."


    Deudermont''s expression grew stern. He understood that this man was an official of Mintarn, an emissary from his tyrancy, Tarnheel Embuirhan, himself. Tarnheel had made his intentions of keeping Mintarn in line with its reputation as a free port quite clear to all the lords along the Sword Coast. Mintarn was not a place to settle vendettas, or to chase fugitives.


    "If we came in search of pirates," Deudermont said bluntly, "the Sea Sprite would have come in under the flag of Waterdeep, openly and without fear."


    "Then you admit your identity," accused Dunkin.


    "We hid it only to prevent trouble for your port," Deudermont replied easily. "If any of the pirates now in Mintarn Harbor sought retribution, we would have had to sink them, and I am certain that your overlord would not approve of so many wrecks under the waves of his harbor. Is that not exactly why he sent you to find me in the Freemantle, and why he bade you to come out here with your bluster?"


    Dunkin again seemed to not be able to find the words to reply.


    "And you are?" Deudermont asked, prompting the nervous man.


    Dunkin straightened once more, as if remembering his station. "Dunkin Tallmast," he said clearly, "emissary of His Tyrancy, Lord Tarnheel Embuirhan of the free port of Mintarn."


    Deudermont considered the obviously phoney name. This one had probably crawled onto Mintarn''s docks years ago, running from another scalawag, or from the law, and over time had found his way into Tarnheel''s island guard. Dunkin was not a great choice, as an emissary, Deudermont realized. Not practiced in diplomacy and not long on courage. But the captain refused to underestimate Tarnheel, reputably a proficient warrior who had kept the relative peace on Mintarn for many years. Dunkin was no imposing diplomat, but Tarnheel had probably decided that he would be the one to meet with Deudermont for a reason, possibly to make the Sea Sprite''s captain understand that he and his ship were not considered very important to his tyrancy.


    Diplomacy was a curious game.


    "The Sea Sprite has not sailed in to engage with any pirates," Deudermont assured the man. "Nor in search of any man who might be in hiding on Mintarn. We have come to take on provisions, and in search of information."


    "About a pirate," Dunkin reasoned, seeming not pleased.


    "About an island," Deudermont replied.


    "A pirate island?" Dunkin retorted, and again his tone made the question seem more of an accusation.


    Deudermont pulled the pipe from his mouth and stared hard at Dunkin, answering the question without uttering a word.


    "It is said that nowhere in all the Realms can a greater concentration of the most seasoned sea dogs be found than on Mintarn," Deudermont began at length. "I seek an island that is as much legend as truth, an island known to many through tales, but to only a few by experience."


    Dunkin didn''t reply, and didn''t seem to have any idea of what Deudermont might be talking about.


    "I will make you a deal," the captain offered.


    "What have you to bargain with?" Dunkin replied quickly.


    "I, and all of my crew, will remain on the Sea Sprite, quietly, and far out in the harbor. Thus will the peace of Mintarn remain secure. We have no intention of hunting any on your island, even known outlaws, but many might seek us out, foolishly thinking the Sea Sprite vulnerable while in port."


    Dunkin couldn''t help but nod. Back in the Freemantle, he had already heard whispers hinting that several of the ships now in port were not pleased to see the Sea Sprite, and might join together against her.


    "We will remain out of the immediate dock area," Deudermont said again, "and you, Dunkin Tallmast, will find for me the information I desire." Before Dunkin could respond, Deudermont tossed him a pouch full of gold coins. "Caerwich," the captain explained. "I want a map to Caerwich."


    "Caerwich?" Dunkin echoed skeptically.


    "West and south, by tales I''ve heard," Deudermont replied.


    Dunkin gave a sour look and moved to toss the coins back, but Deudermont raised a hand to stop him. "The Lords of Waterdeep will not be pleased to learn that Mintarn''s hospitality was not extended to one of their ships," the captain was quick to point out. "If you are not a free port for the legal ships of Waterdeep, then you proclaim yourself an open haven only to outlaws. Your Lord Tarnheel will not be pleased at the results of such a proclamation."


    It was as close to a threat as Deudermont wanted to get, and he was much relieved when Dunkin clutched the bag of coins tightly once more.


    "I will speak with his tyrancy," the short man asserted. "If he agrees ..." Dunkin let it go at that, waving his hand.


    Deudermont popped the pipe back into his mouth and nodded to Catti-brie, who came out of hiding, her bow relaxed, all arrows replaced in her quiver. She never blinked as she walked past Dunkin, and he matched her stare.


    His resolve melted a moment later, though, when Drizzt slipped out of the brush to the side. And if the sight of a drow elf wasn''t enough to fully unnerve the man, surely the sudden presence of a six-hundred pound black panther dropping to the ground barely five feet to Dunkin''s side, was.


    Dunkin rowed out to the Sea Sprite the very next day. Despite the fact that Deudermont welcomed him warmly, he came aboard tentatively, as though he was in awe of this vessel that was so fast becoming a legend along the Sword Coast.


    They greeted Dunkin on the open deck, in full view of the crew. Guenhwyvar was at rest in her astral home, but Robillard and Harkle joined the others this time, standing together, and Drizzt thought that a good thing. Perhaps Robillard, an adept wizard, could keep Harkle''s powers under control, the drow reasoned. And perhaps Harkle''s perpetual smile would rub off on the grumpy Robillard!


    "You have my information?" Deudermont asked, coming right to the point. The Sea Sprite had sat calm and undisturbed thus


    far, but Deudermont held no illusions about their safety in Mintarn Harbor. The captain knew that no less than a dozen ships now in port desired their demise, and the sooner the schooner was out of Mintarn, the better.


    Dunkin motioned to the door to the captain''s private quarters.


    "Out here," Deudermont insisted. "Give it over and be gone. I''ve not the time for any delays, and I need no privacy from my crew."


    Dunkin looked around and nodded, having no desire to debate the point.


    "The information?" Deudermont asked.


    Dunkin started, as if surprised. "Ah, yes," he stuttered. "We have a map, but it''s not too detailed. And we cannot be sure, of course, for the island you seek might be no more than legend, and then, of course, there would be no correct map."


    His humor was not appreciated, he soon realized, and so he calmed himself and cleared his throat.


    "You have my gold," Deudermont said after yet another long pause.


    "His tyrancy wishes a different payment," Dunkin replied. "More than the gold."


    Deudermont''s eyes narrowed dangerously. He put his pipe in his mouth deliberately and took a long, long draw.


    "Nothing so difficult," Dunking was quick to assure. "And my lord offers more than a simple map. You''ll need a wizard or a priest to create a hold large enough to carry ample supplies."


    "That would be us," Harkle put in, draping an arm over Robillard''s shoulders as he spoke, then quickly withdrawing it upon seeing the grumpy wizard''s threatening scowl.


    "Ah, yes, but no need, no need," Dunkin blurted. "For his tyrancy has a most wonderful chest, a magical hold, it is, and he will give it to you on loan, along with the map, for the pouch of gold, which was not so much, and one other little favor."


    "Speak it," demanded Deudermont, growing weary of the cryptic game.


    "Him," said Dunkin, pointing to Drizzt.


    Only Drizzt''s quick reaction, lifting a blocking arm, kept Catti-brie from leaping forward and punching the man.


    "Him?" Deudermont asked incredulously.


    "Just to meet with the drow," Dunkin quickly explained, realizing that he was treading on dangerous ground here. The water was cold about Mintarn and the man had no desire for a long swim back to shore.


    "A curiosity piece?" Catti-brie snapped, pushing against Drizzt''s blocking arm. "I''ll give ye something for yer stupid tyrant!"


    "No, no," Dunkin tried to explain. He never would have gotten the words out of his mouth, would have been tossed overboard for simply making the seemingly absurd request, had not Drizzt intervened, a calming voice that revealed no offense taken.


    "Explain your lord''s desire," the drow said quietly.


    "Your reputation is considerable, good drow," Dunkin stammered. "Many pirates limping into Mintarn speak of your exploits. Why, the main reason that the Sea Sprite has not been . . ." He stopped and glanced nervously at Deudermont.


    "Has not been attacked in Mintarn Harbor," Deudermont finished for him.


    "They wouldn''t dare come out and face you," Dunkin dared to finish, looking back to Drizzt. "My lord, too, is a warrior of no small reputation."


    "Damn," Catti-brie muttered, guessing what was to come, and Drizzt, too, could see where this speech was leading.


    "Just a contest," Dunkin finished. "A private fight."


    "For no better reason than to prove who is the better," Drizzt replied distastefully.


    "For the map," Dunkin reminded him. "And the chest, no small reward." After a moment''s thought, he added, "You will have those whether you win or lose."


    Drizzt looked at Catti-brie, then to Deudermont, then to all the crew, who were making no effort anymore to disguise the fact that they were listening intently to every word.


    "Let us be done with it," the drow said.


    Catti-brie grabbed him by the arm, and when he turned to face her, he realized that she did not approve.


    "I cannot ask you to do such a thing," Deudermont said.


    Drizzt looked at him directly, and with a smile. "Perhaps my own curiosity over who is the better fighter is no less than Tarnheel''s," he said, looking back to Catti-brie, who knew him and knew his motivations better than that.


    "Is it any different than your own fight with Berkthgar over Aegis-fang before the dark elves came to Mithril Hall?" Drizzt asked simply.


    True enough, Catti-brie had to admit. Before the drow war, Berkthgar had threatened to break the alliance with Bruenor unless the dwarf turned Aegis-fang over to him, something Bruenor would never do. Catti-brie had gone to Settlestone and had ended the debate by defeating Berkthgar in the challenge of single combat. In light of that memory, and the drow''s duty now, she let go of Drizzt''s arm.


    "I will return presently," Drizzt promised, following Dunkin to the rail, and then into the small boat.


    Deudermont, Catti-brie, and most of the other crewmen, watched them row away, and Catti-brie noticed the sour expression on the captain''s face, as though Deudermont was somewhat disappointed, something the perceptive young woman understood completely.


    "He''s not wanting to fight," she assured the captain.


    "He is driven by curiosity?" Deudermont asked.


    "By loyalty," Catti-brie answered. "And nothing more. Drizzt is bound by friendship to ye and to the crew, and if a simple contest against the man will make for an easier sail, then he''s up to the fight. But there''s no curiosity in Drizzt. No stupid pride. He''s not for caring who''s the better at swordplay."


    Deudermont nodded and his expression brightened. The young woman''s words confirmed his belief in his friend.


    The minutes turned into an hour, then into two, and the conversation on the Sea Sprite gradually shifted away from Drizzt''s confrontation to their own situation. Two ships, square-riggers both, had sailed out of Mintarn. Neither had gone out into the open sea, but rather, had turned into the wind just beyond the harbor, tacking and turning so that they remained relatively still.


    "Why don''t they just drop their anchors?" Waillan asked a crewman who was standing near him on the poop deck, just behind the Sea Sprite''s deadly ballista.


    Catti-brie and Deudermont, near the center of the ship, overheard the remark and looked to each other. Both knew why.


    A third ship put up her lower sails and began to drift out in the general direction of the Sea Sprite.


    "I''m not liking this," Catti-brie remarked.


    "We may have been set up," Deudermont replied. "Perhaps Dunkin informed our sailor friends here that the Sea Sprite would be without a certain dark elf crewman for a while."


    "I''m for the nest," Catti-brie said. She slung Taulmaril over her shoulder and started up the mainmast.


    Robillard and Harkle came back on deck then, apparently aware of the potentially dangerous situation. They nodded to Deudermont and moved astern, beside Waillan and his ballista crew.


    Then they waited, all of them. Deudermont watched the creeping movements of the three ships carefully, and then a fourth pushed off from Mintarn''s long docks. Possibly they were being encircled, the captain knew, but also he knew that the Sea Sprite could put up anchor and be out to sea in mere minutes, especially with Robillard''s magic aiding the run. And all the while, between the ballista and the archers, particularly Catti-brie and that devastating bow of hers, the Sea Sprite could more than match any barrage they offered.


    Deudermont''s primary concern at that moment was not for his ship, but for Drizzt. What fate might befall the drow if they had to leave him behind?


    That notion disappeared, but a new fear materialized when Catti-brie, spyglass in hand, yelled down that Drizzt was on his way back. Deudermont and many others followed the woman''s point and could just make out the tiny rowboat in front and to starboard of the third ship drifting out of the harbor.


    "Robillard!" Deudermont yelled.


    The wizard nodded and peered intently to spot the craft. He began casting a spell immediately, but even as the first words left his mouth, a catapult on the third pirate ship let fly, dropping a bail of pitch into the water right beside the rowboat, nearly capsizing her.


    "Up sails!" Deudermont cried. "Weigh anchor!"


    Catti-brie''s bow hummed, streaking arrow after arrow back toward the drifting caravel, though the ship was still more than three hundred yards away.


    All the harbor seemed to come to life immediately. The two ships farther out put up full sails and began their turn to catch the wind, the third ship launched another volley at the rowboat, and the sails of the fourth ship, indeed a part of the conspiracy, unfurled.


    Before Robillard''s spell began its effect, a third ball of pitch hit just behind the rowboat, taking part of her stern with her. Still,


    the enchantment caught the tiny craft, a directed wave of water grabbing at her and speeding her suddenly in the direction of the Sea Sprite. Drizzt put up the now-useless oars while Dunkin bailed frantically, but even though they made great progress toward the schooner, the damaged rowboat could not stay afloat long enough to get to the Sea Sprite''s side.


    Robillard recognized that fact and as the craft floundered, the wizard dispelled his magic, else Drizzt and Dunkin would have been drowned beneath the enchanted wave.


    Deudermont''s mind worked furiously, trying to measure the distance and the time before the pirates would catch them. He figured that as soon as the sails were up, he would have to turn the Sea Sprite in toward the harbor, for he would not leave Drizzt behind, no matter the risk.


    His calculations quickly shifted when he saw that Drizzt, Dunkin in tow, was swimming furiously toward the ship.


    Dunkin was even more surprised by this turn of events than was Deudermont. When the rowboat went under, the man''s first instinct told him to get away from the drow. Drizzt''s carried twin scimitars and wore a suit of chain mail. Dunkin wore no encumbering equipment and figured that the drow would cling to him and likely drown them both. To Dunkin''s surprise, though, Drizzt could not only stay above the water, but could swim impossibly fast.


    The chain mail was supple, cunningly forged of the finest materials and to drowlike design by Buster Bracer of Clan Battlehammer, one of the finest smithies in all the Realms. And Drizzt wore enchanted anklets, allowing him to kick his feet incredibly fast. He caught up to Dunkin and dragged the man out in the direction of the Sea Sprite almost immediately, closing nearly a quarter of the distance before the startled man even gained his wits enough about him to begin swimming on his own.


    "They are coming fast!" Waillan cried happily, thinking his friend would make it.


    "But they lost the chest!" Robillard observed, pointing to the floundering rowboat. Right behind the wreckage and coming faster still was the third pirate ship, her sails now full of wind.


    "I will get it!" cried Harkle Harpell, wanting desperately to be of some use. The wizard snapped his fingers and began an enchantment, as did Robillard, realizing that they had to somehow slow the pursuing caravel if Drizzt was to have any chance of making it to the Sea Sprite.


    Robillard stopped his casting almost immediately, though, and looked to Harkle curiously.


    Robillard''s eyes widened considerably as he considered a fish that appeared suddenly on the deck at Harkle''s feet. "No!" he cried, reaching for the Harpell, figuring out what type of spell Harkle had enacted. "You cannot cast an extra dimension on an item enchanted with an extra dimension!"


    Robillard had guessed correctly; Harkle was trying to pull in the sinking magical chest by creating an extra-dimensional gate in the region where the rowboat and the chest went down. It was a good idea, or would have been, except that the chest Tarnheel had promised to the Sea Sprite was a chest of holding-a contained extra-dimensional space that could hold much more volume than would be indicated by the item''s size and weight. The problem was that extra-dimensional spells and items did not usually mesh correctly. Throwing a bag of holding into a chest of holding, for example, could tear a rift in the multiverse, spewing everything nearby into the Astral Plane, or even worse, into the unknown space between the planes of existence.


    "Oops," Harkle apologized, realizing his error and trying to let go of his enchantment.


    Too late. A huge wave erupted right in the area where the row-boat had gone down, rocking the approaching caravel and rolling into Drizzt and Dunkin, hurling them toward the Sea Sprite. The water churned and danced, then began to roll, forming a giant whirlpool.


    "Sail on!" Deudermont cried as ropes were thrown out to Drizzt and Dunkin. "Sail on, for all our lives!"


    The sails fell open, and crewmen immediately pulled to put them against the wind. At once the Sea Sprite lurched and rolled away, gliding swiftly out of the harbor.


    Things were not as easy for the pursuing caravel. The pirate ship tried to tack and turn, but was too close to the mounting whirlpool. She crested the lip and was pulled sideways violently, many of her crew being tossed overboard into the turmoil. Around she went, once and then twice. Those aboard the Sea Sprite watched her sails diminish as she sank lower and lower into the spin.


    But other than horrified Harkle, the eyes of those on the Sea Sprite had to go outward, to the two vessels lying in wait. Robillard called up a mist, understanding that Deudermont''s intent was not to engage, but to slip by, out into the open waters. Waillan''s crew fired at will, as did the archers, while several crewmen, Deudermont among them, hauled Drizzt and a very shaken Dunkin Tallmast aboard.


    "Sealed," Drizzt said to Deudermont with a wry smile, producing a capped scroll tube that obviously contained the map to Caerwich.


    Deudermont clapped him on the shoulder and turned to go to the wheel. Both surveyed the situation, and both figured that the Sea Sprite would have little trouble slipping through this trap.


    The situation looked bright, to those looking forward. But hanging over the stern rail, Harkle Harpell could only watch in dismay. Rationally, he knew that his unintentional catastrophe had probably saved Drizzt and the other man in the rowboat, and probably would make the Sea Sprite''s run all the easier, but the gentle Harkle could not suffer the sights of the turmoil within the whirlpool and the screams of the drowning men. He muttered, "oh, no," over and over, searched his mind for some spell that might help the poor men of the caravel.


    But then, almost as suddenly as it had appeared, the whirlpool dissipated, the water flattening to perfect, glassy calm. The caravel remained, hanging so low to the side that her sails nearly touched the water.


    Harkle breathed a deep sigh of relief and thanked whatever gods might be listening. The water was full of sailors, but they all seemed close enough to get to the swamped hull.


    Harkle clapped his hands happily and ran down from the poop deck, joining Deudermont and Drizzt by the wheel. The engagement was on in full by then, with the two square-riggers trading shots with the Sea Sprite, though none of the three were close enough to inflict any real damage.


    Deudermont eyed Harkle curiously.


    "What?" asked the flustered mage.


    "Have you any more fireballs in you?" Deudermont asked.


    Harkle paled. So soon after the horror of the whirlpool, he really didn''t have the heart to burn up another vessel. But that wasn''t what sly Deudermont had in mind.


    "Put one in the water between our enemies," the captain explained, then looked to Drizzt. "I''ll run for the mist and swing to port, then we''ll have time to contend with only one of the pirate ships up close."


    Drizzt nodded. Harkle brightened, and was more than happy to comply. He waited for Deudermont''s signal, then skipped a fireball just under the waves. There came a flash and then a thick cloud of steam.


    Deudermont headed straight for it, and the square-riggers predictably turned to cut off such an escape. Soon before plunging into the mist, Deudermont cut hard to port, skimming the cloud and angling outside the pirate ship farthest to the left.


    They would pass close, but that didn''t bother Deudermont much, not with the Sea Sprite''s speed and Robillard''s magical defenses.


    An explosion soon changed Deudermont''s mind, a heavy ball of iron shearing through Robillard''s defensive shields and snipping through a fair amount of rigging as well.


    "They''ve got a smokepowder gun!" Harkle roared.


    "A what?" Drizzt and Deudermont asked at the same time.


    "Arquebus," Harkle whimpered, and his hands began spinning large circles in the air. "Big arquebus."


    "A what?" the two asked again.


    Harkle couldn''t begin to explain, but his horrified expression spoke volumes. Smokepowder was a rare and dangerous thing, a fiendish concoction of Gondish priests that used sheer explosive energy to launch missiles from metal barrels, and oftentimes, to inadvertently blow apart the barrels. "One in ten," was the saying among those who knew smokepowder best, meaning that one in ten attempts to fire would likely blow up in your face. Harkle figured these pirates must truly despise the Sea Sprite to risk such a dangerous attack.


    But still, even if the one in ten rule held true, nine in ten could take the Sea Sprite out of the water!


    Harkle knew that he had to act as the seconds passed, as the others, even Robillard, looked on helplessly, not understanding what they were suddenly up against. Smokepowder was more common in the far eastern reaches of the Realms, and had even been used in Cormyr, so it was said. Of course, there were rumors that it had surfaced just a bit on the Sword Coast, mostly aboard


    ships. Harkle considered his options, considered the volume of smokepowder and its volatility, considered the weapons he had at his disposal.


    "A metal cylinder!" Catti-brie called down from the crow''s nest, spotting the targeting gun through the steam.


    "With bags near to it?" Harkle cried back.


    "I cannot see!" Catti-brie called, for the cloud continued to drift and to obscure her vision of the pirate ship''s deck.


    Harkle knew that time was running out. The smokepowder cannon wasn''t very accurate, but it didn''t have to be, for one of its shots could take down a mast, and even a glancing hit on the hull would likely blow a hole large enough to sink the schooner.


    "Aim for it!" Harkle cried out. "For the cylinder and the decking near to it!"


    Catti-brie was never one to trust in Harkle Harpell, but his reasoning then seemed unusually sound. She put up Taulmaril and sent off an arrow, then another, thinking to disable the crew near to the cylinder, if not take out the weapon itself. Through the fog, she saw the sparks as one enchanted arrow skipped off the cylinder, then heard a cry of pain as she nailed one of the gunners.


    The Sea Sprite ran on, nearing the pirate ship. Harkle bit at his fingernails. Dunkin, who also knew of smokepowder guns, tugged at his large ears.


    "Oh, turn away the ship," Harkle bade Deudermont. "Too close, too close. They''ll fire it off again right into our faces, and knock us under the waves."


    Deudermont didn''t know how to respond. He had already learned that Robillard''s magic couldn''t stop the smokepowder weapon. Indeed, when the captain glanced back to Robillard, he found the wizard frantically creating gusts of wind to speed their passage, apparently with no intent of even trying to stop a second shot. Still, if the captain tried to turn to port, he would likely be in range of that weapon for some time, and if he tried to veer to starboard, he might not be able to even get past the pirate ship and into the cloud, might ram the ship head-on. Even if they could then defeat the crew of this ship, her two remaining friends would have little trouble in overcoming the Sea Sprite.


    "Get the wizard and get to them," Deudermont said to Drizzt. "And get the cat. We need you now, my friend!"


    Drizzt started to move, but Harkle, spotting the light of a torch near to where Catti-brie had pointed out the cylinder, shouted out "no time!" and dove flat to the deck.


    From on high, Catti-brie saw the torch, and with its light, she also saw the large sacks that Harkle had inquired about. She instinctively aimed for the torchbearer, thinking to slow the smokepowder crew, but then took a chance and agreed with Harkle, shifting her aim slightly and letting fly, straight for the pile of sacks on the pirate''s decking.


    Her arrow streaked in the instant before the man put the torch to the cannon, as the Sea Sprite was running practically parallel to the pirate ship. It was just an instant, but in that time, the torchbearer was foiled, was blown into the air as the streaking arrow sliced into the sacks of volatile smokepowder.


    The pirate ship nearly stood straight up on end. The fireball was beyond anything Harkle, or even Robillard, had ever seen, and the sheer concussion and flying debris nearly cleaned the Sea Sprite''s deck of standing crewmen, and tore many holes in the schooner''s lateen sails.


    The Sea Sprite lurched wildly, left and right, before Deudermont could regain his senses and steady the wheel. But she plowed on, leaving the trap behind.


    "By the gods," Catti-brie muttered, truly horrified, for where the pirate square-rigger had been, there was now only flotsam and jetsam, splinters, charred wood, and floating bodies.


    Drizzt, too, was stunned. Looking on the carnage, he thought he was previewing the end of the world. He had never seen such devastation, such complete carnage, not even from a powerful wizard. Enough smokepowder could flatten a mountain, or a city. Enough smokepowder could flatten all the world.


    "Smokepowder?" he said to Harkle.


    "From Gondish priests," the wizard replied.


    "Damn them all," muttered Drizzt, and he walked away.


    Later that day, as the crew worked to repair the tears in the sails, Drizzt and Catti-brie took a break and leaned on the rail of the schooner''s bow, looking down at the empty water and considering the great distance they had yet to travel.


    Finally Catti-brie couldn''t stand the suspense any longer. "Did ye beat him?" she asked.


    Drizzt looked at her curiously, as though he didn''t understand.


    "His tyrancy," Catti-brie explained.


    "I brought the map," Drizzt replied, "and the chest, though it was lost."


    "Ah, but Dunkin promised it whether ye won or lost," the young woman said slyly.


    Drizzt looked at her. "The contest was never important," he said. "Not to me."


    "Did ye win or lose?" Catti-brie pressed, not willing to let the drow slip out of this one.


    "Sometimes it is better to allow so important a leader and valuable an ally to retain his pride and his reputation," Drizzt replied, looking back to the sea, then to the mizzenmast, where a crewman was calling for some assistance.


    "Ye let him beat ye?" Catti-brie asked, not seeming pleased by that prospect.


    "I never said that," Drizzt replied.


    "So he beat ye on his own," the young woman reasoned.


    Drizzt shrugged as he walked away toward the mizzenmast to help out the crewman. He passed by Harkle and Robillard, who were coming forward, apparently meaning to join Drizzt and Catti-brie at the rail.


    Catti-brie continued to stare at the drow as the wizards walked up. The woman did not know what to make of Drizzt''s cryptic answers. Drizzt had let Tarnheel win, she figured, or at least had allowed the man to fight him to a draw. For some reason the young woman did not understand, she didn''t want to think that Tarnheel had actually beaten Drizzt; she didn''t want to think that anyone could beat Drizzt.


    Both Robillard and Harkle were smiling widely as they considered the young woman''s expression.


    "Drizzt beat him," Robillard said at last.


    Startled, Catti-brie turned to the wizard.


    "That is what you were wondering about," Robillard reasoned.


    "We watched it all," Harkle said. "Oh, of course we did. A good match." Harkle went into a fighting crouch, his best imitation of Drizzt in combat, which of course seemed a mockery to Catti-brie. "He started left," Harkle began, making the move, "then ran to the right so quickly and smoothly that Tarnheel never realized it."


    "Until he got hit," Robillard interjected. "His tyrancy was still swinging forward, attacking a ghost, I suppose."


    That made sense to Catti-brie; the move they had just described was called "the ghost step."


    "He learned better, he did!" howled Harkle.


    "Suffice it to say that his tyrancy will not be sitting down anytime soon," Robillard finished, and the two wizards exploded into laughter, as animated as Catti-brie had ever seen Robillard.


    The young woman went back to the rail as the two walked away, howling still. Catti-brie was smiling too. She now knew the truth of Drizzt''s claims that the fight wasn''t important to him. She''d make certain that she teased the drow about it in the days to come. She also was smiling because Drizzt had won.


    For some reason, that was very important to Catti-brie.

 Page 9

    Repairs continued on the Sea Sprite for two days, preventing her from putting up her sails in full. Even so, with the strong breeze rushing down from the north, the swift schooner made fine speed southward, her sails full of wind. In just over three days, she ran the four hundred miles from Mintarn to the southeasternmost point of the great Moonshae Isles, and Deudermont turned her to the west, due west, for the open sea, running just off the southern coast of the Moonshaes.


    "We''ll run for two days with the Moonshaes in sight," Deudermont informed the crew.


    "Are you not making for Corwell?" Dunkin Tallmast, who always seemed to be asking questions, was quick to interrupt. "I think I should like to be let off at Corwell. A beautiful city, by all accounts." The little man''s cavalier attitude was diminished considerably when he began tugging at his ear, that nervous tick that revealed his trepidation.


    Deudermont ignored the pesty man. "If the wind holds, tomorrow, mid-morning, we''ll pass a point called Dragon Head," he


    explained. "Then we''ll cross a wide harbor and put in at a village, Wyngate, for our last provisions. Then it''s the open sea, twenty days out, I figure, twice that without the wind."


    The seasoned crew understood it would be a difficult journey, but they bobbed their heads in accord, not a word of protest from the lot of them-with one exception.


    "Wyngate?" Dunkin protested. "Why, I''ll be a month in just getting out of the place!"


    "Whoever said that you were leaving?" Deudermont asked him. "We shall put you off where we choose ... after we return."


    That shut the man up, or at least changed his train of thought, for before Deudermont could get three steps away, Dunkin shouted at him. "If you return, you mean!" he called. "You have lived along the Sword Coast all your stinking life. You know the rumors, Deudermont."


    The captain turned slowly, ominously, to face the man. Both were quite conscious of the murmurs Dunkin''s words had caused, a ripple of whispers all across the schooner''s deck.


    Dunkin did not look at Deudermont directly, but scanned the deck, his wry smile widening as he considered the suddenly nervous crew. "Ah," he moaned suspiciously. "You haven''t told them."


    Deudermont didn''t blink.


    "You wouldn''t be leading them to an island of legend without telling them all of the legend?" Dunkin asked in sly tones.


    "The man enjoys intrigue," Catti-brie whispered to Drizzt.


    "He enjoys trouble," Drizzt whispered back.


    Deudermont spent a long moment studying Dunkin, the captain''s stern gaze gradually stealing the little man''s stupid grin. Then Deudermont looked to Drizzt-he always looked to Drizzt when he needed support-and to Catti-brie, and neither seemed to care much for Dunkin''s ominous words. Bolstered by their confidence, the captain turned to Harkle, who seemed distracted, as usual, as though he hadn''t even heard the conversation. The rest of the crew, at least those near to the wheel, had heard, and Deudermont noted more than one nervous movement among them.


    "Tell us what?" Robillard asked bluntly. "What is the great mystery of Caerwich?"


    "Ah, Captain Deudermont," Dunkin said with a disappointed sigh.


    "Caerwich," Deudermont began calmly, "may be no more than a legend. Few claim to have been there, for it is far, far away from any civilized lands."


    "That much, we already know," Robillard remarked. "But if it is just a legend and we sail empty waters until we are forced to return, then that bodes no ill for the Sea Sprite. What is it that this insignificant worm hints at?"


    Deudermont looked hard at Dunkin, wanting at that moment to throttle the man. "Some of those who have been there," the captain began, choosing his words carefully, "claim that they witnessed unusual visions."


    "Haunted!" Dunkin interrupted dramatically. "Caerwich is a haunted island," he proclaimed, dancing around to cast a wild-eyed stare at each of the crewmen near to him. "Ghost ships and witches!"


    "Enough," Drizzt said to the man.


    "Shut yer mouth," Catti-brie added.


    Dunkin did shut up, but he returned the young woman''s stare with a superior look, thinking he had won the day.


    "They are rumors," Deudermont said loudly. "Rumors I would have told you when we reached Wyngate, but not before." The captain paused and looked around once more, this time his expression begging friendship and loyalty from the men who had been with him so very long. "I would have told you," he insisted, and everyone aboard, except perhaps for Dunkin, believed him.


    "This sail is not for Waterdeep, nor against any pirates," Deudermont went on. "It is for me, something I must do because of the incident on Dock Street. Perhaps the Sea Sprite sails into trouble, perhaps to answers, but I must go, whatever the outcome. I would not force any of you to go along. You signed on to chase pirates, and in that regard, you have been the finest crew any captain could wish for."


    Again came a pause, a long one, with the captain alternately meeting the gaze of each man, and of Catti-brie and Drizzt, last of all.


    "Any who do not wish to sail to Caerwich may disembark at Wyngate," Deudermont offered. It was an extraordinary offer that widened the eyes of every crewman. "You will be paid for your time aboard the Sea Sprite, plus a bonus from my personal coffers. When we return . . ."


    "If you return," Dunkin put in, but Deudermont simply ignored the troublemaker.


    "When we return," Deudermont said again, more firmly, "we will pick you up at Wyngate. There will be no questions of loyalty asked, and no retribution by any who voyaged to Caerwich."


    Robillard snorted. "Is not every island haunted?" he asked with a laugh. "If a sailor were to believe every whispered rumor, he''d not dare sail the Sword Coast at all. Sea monsters off of Waterdeep! Coiled serpents of Ruathym! Pirates of the Nelanther!"


    "That last one''s true enough!" one sailor piped in, and everyone gave a hearty laugh.


    "So it is!" Robillard replied. "Seems some of the rumors might be true."


    "And if Caerwich is haunted?" another sailor asked.


    "Then we''ll dock in the morning," Waillan answered, hanging over the rail of the poop deck, "and put out in the afternoon."


    "And leave the night for the ghosts!" yet another man finished, again to hearty laughter.


    Deudermont was truly appreciative, especially to Robillard, from whom the captain had never expected such support. When the roll was subsequently called, not a single one of the Sea Sprite''s crew meant to get off at Wyngate.


    Dunkin listened to it all in sheer astonishment. He kept trying to put in some nasty flavoring to the rumors of haunted Caerwich, tales of decapitation and the like, but he was shouted or laughed down every time.


    Neither Drizzt nor Catti-brie was surprised by the unanimous support for Deudermont. The Sea Sprite''s crew, they both knew, had been together long enough to become true friends. These two companions had enough experience with friendship to understand loyalty.


    "Well, I mean to get off at Wyngate," a flustered Dunkin said at last. "I''ll not follow any man to haunted Caerwich."


    "Who ever offered you such a choice?" Drizzt asked him.


    "Captain Deudermont just said ..." Dunkin started, turning to Deudermont and pointing an accusing finger the captain''s way. The words stuck in his throat, though, for Deudermont''s sour expression explained that the offer wasn''t meant for him.


    "You cannot keep me here!" Dunkin protested. "I am the emissary of his tyrancy. I should have been released in Mintarn."


    "You would have been killed in Mintarn Harbor," Drizzt reminded him.


    "You will be released in Mintarn," Deudermont promised.


    Dunkin knew what that meant.


    "When we might have a proper inquiry as to your part in the attempted ambush of the Sea Sprite," Deudermont went on.


    "I did nothing!" Dunkin cried, tugging his ear.


    "It is convenient that so soon after you informed me that Drizzt''s presence aboard the Sea Sprite was preventing any pirate attacks, you arranged to take Drizzt from our decks," Deudermont said.


    "I was almost killed by that very ambush!" Dunkin roared in protest. "If I had known that the scalawags were after you, I never would have rowed out into the harbor."


    Deudermont looked to Drizzt.


    "True enough," the drow admitted.


    Deudermont paused a moment, then nodded. "I find you innocent," he said to Dunkin, "and agree to return you to Mintarn after our journey to Caerwich."


    "You will pick me back up at Wyngate, then," Dunkin reasoned, but Deudermont shook his head.


    "Too far," the captain replied. "None of my crew will disembark at Wyngate. And now that I must return to Mintarn, I will return from Caerwich by a northerly route, passing north of the Moonshaes."


    "Then let me off at Wyngate and I''ll find a way to meet you in a northern town of the Moonshaes," Dunkin offered.


    "Which northern town?" Deudermont asked him.


    Dunkin had no answers.


    "If you wish to leave, you may get off at Wyngate," Deudermont offered. "But I cannot guarantee your passage back to Mintarn from there." With that, Deudermont turned and walked to his cabin. He entered without looking back, leaving a frustrated Dunkin standing droop-shouldered by the wheel.


    "With your knowledge of Caerwich, you will be a great asset to us," Drizzt said to the man, patting him on the shoulder. "Your presence would be appreciated."


    "Ah, come along then," Catti-brie added. "Ye''ll find a bit o'' adventure and a bit o'' friendship. What more could ye be asking for?"


    Drizzt and Catti-brie walked away, exchanging hopeful smiles.


    "I am new to this, too," Harkle Harpell offered to Dunkin. "But I am sure that it will be fun." Smiling, bobbing his head stupidly, the dimpled wizard bounded away.


    Dunkin moved to the rail, shaking his head. He did like the Sea Sprite, he had to admit. Orphaned at a young age, Dunkin had taken to sea as a boy and had subsequently spent the bulk of his next twenty years as a hand on pirate vessels, working among the most ruthless scalawags on the Sword Coast. Never had he seen a ship so full of comradery, and their escape from the pirate ambush in Mintarn had been positively thrilling.


    He had been nothing but a complaining fool over the last few days, and Deudermont had to know of his past, or at least to suspect that Dunkin had done some pirating in his day. Yet the captain was not treating him as a prisoner, and, by the words of the dark elf, they actually wanted him to go along to Caerwich.


    Dunkin leaned over the rail, took note of a school of bottle-nosed dolphins dancing in the prow waves and lost himself in thought.


    "You''re thinking about them again," came a voice behind the sullen dwarf. It was the voice of Regis, the voice of a friend.


    Bruenor didn''t answer. He stood on a high spot along the rim of the dwarven valley, four miles south of Kelvin''s Cairn, a place known as Bruenor''s Climb. This was the dwarf king''s place of reflection. Though this column of piled stones was not high above the flat tundra, barely fifty feet up, every time he climbed the steep and narrow trail it seemed to Bruenor as though he was ascending to the very stars.


    Regis huffed and puffed as he clambered up the last twenty feet to stand beside his bearded friend. "I do love it up here at night," the halfling remarked. "But there will not be much night in another month!" he continued happily, trying to bring a smile to Bruenor''s face. His observation was true enough. Far, far in the north, Icewind Dale''s summer days were long indeed, but only a few hours of sun graced the winter sky.


    "Not a lot o'' time up here," Bruenor agreed. "Time I''m wantin'' to spend alone." He turned to Regis as he spoke, and even in the darkness, the halfling could make out the scowling visage.


    Regis knew the truth of that expression. Bruenor was more bark than bite.


    "You would not be happy up here alone," the halfling countered. "You would think of Drizzt and Catti-brie, and miss them as much as I miss them, and then you would be a veritable growling yeti in the morning. I cannot have that, of course," the half-ling said, waggling a finger in the air. "In fact, a dozen dwarves begged me to come out here and keep up your cheer."


    Bruenor huffed, but had no reasonable response. He turned away from Regis, mostly because he did not want the halfling to see the hint of a smile turning up the corners of his mouth. In the six years since Drizzt and Catti-brie had gone away, Regis had become Bruenor''s closest friend, though a certain dwarven priestess named Stumpet Rakingclaw had been almost continually by Bruenor''s side, particularly of late. Giggled whispers spoke of a closer bond growing between the dwarf king and the female.


    But it was Regis who knew Bruenor best, Regis who had come out here when, Bruenor had to admit, he truly needed the company. Since the return to Icewind Dale, Drizzt and Catti-brie had been on the old dwarfs mind almost continually. The only things that had saved Bruenor from falling into a deep depression had been the sheer volume of work in trying to reopen the dwarven mines, and Regis, always there, always smiling, always assuring Bruenor that Drizzt and Catti-brie would return to him.


    "Where do you think they are?" Regis asked after a long moment of silence.


    Bruenor smiled and shrugged, looking to the south and west, and not at the halfling. "Out there," was all that he replied.


    "Out there," Regis echoed. "Drizzt and Catti-brie. And you miss them, as do I." The halfling moved closer, put a hand on Bruenor''s muscled shoulder. "And I know that you miss the cat," Regis said, once again drawing the dwarf from dark thoughts.


    Bruenor looked at him and couldn''t help but grin. The mention of Guenhwyvar reminded Bruenor not only of all the conflict between himself and the panther, but also that Drizzt and Catti-brie, his two dear friends, were not alone and were more than able to take care of themselves.


    The dwarf and halfling stood for a long time that night, in silence, listening to the endless wind that gave the dale its name and feeling as though they were among the stars.


    The gathering of supplies went well at Wyngate and the Sea Sprite, fully provisioned and fully repaired, put out and soon left the Moonshaes far behind.


    The winds diminished greatly, though, just a day off the western coast of the Moonshaes. They were out in the open ocean with no land in sight.


    The schooner could not be completely calmed, not with Robillard aboard. But still, the wizard''s powers were limited; he could not keep the sails full of wind for very long, and settled for a continual fluttering that moved the ship along slowly.


    Thus the days passed, uneventful and hot, the Sea Sprite rolling in the ocean swells, creaking and swaying. Deudermont ordered strict rationing three days out of Wyngate, as much to slow the rising incidents of seasickness as to preserve the food stores. At least the crew wasn''t worried about pirates. Few other ships came out this far, certainly no cargo or merchant vessels, nothing lucrative enough to keep a pirate happy.


    The only enemies were the seasickness, the sunburn, and the boredom of days and days of nothing but the flat water.


    They found some excitement on the fifth day out. Drizzt, on the forward beam, spotted a tail fin, the dorsal fin of a huge shark, running parallel to the schooner. The drow yelled up to Waillan, who was in the crow''s nest at the time.


    "Twenty footer!" the young man called back down, for from his high vantage point, he could make out the shadow of the great fish.


    All of the crew came on deck, yelling excitedly, taking up harpoons. Any thoughts they might have had of spearing the fish dissolved into understandable fear, though, as Waillan continued to call down numbers, as they all came to realize that the shark was not alone. The counts varied-many of the dorsal fins were hard to spot amidst the suddenly churning water-but Waillan''s estimate, undoubtedly the most accurate, put the school at several hundred.


    Several hundred! And many of them were nearly as large as the one Drizzt had spotted. Words of excitement were fast replaced by prayers.


    The shark school stayed with the Sea Sprite throughout the day and night. Deudermont figured that the sharks did not know what to make of the vessel, and though no one spoke the words, all were thinking along the same lines, hoping that the voracious fish didn''t mistake the Sea Sprite for a running whale.


    The next morning, the sharks were gone, as suddenly and inexplicably as they had come. Drizzt spent the better part of the morning walking the rails of the ship, even climbing up the mainmast to the crow''s nest a few times. The sharks were gone, just gone.


    "They''re not answering to us," Catti-brie remarked late that morning, meeting Drizzt as he came down the mast from one of his skyward jaunts. "Never that. Suren they''re moving in ways they know, but we cannot."


    It struck Drizzt as a simple truth, a plain reminder of how unknown the world about him really was, even to those, like Deudermont, who had spent the bulk of their lives on the sea. This watery world, and the great creatures that inhabited it, moved to rhythms that he could never truly understand. That realization, along with the fact that the horizon from every angle was nothing but flat water, reminded Drizzt of how small they really were, of how overwhelming nature could be.


    For all his training, for all his fine weapons, for all his warrior heart, the ranger was a tiny thing, a mere speck on a blue-green tapestry.


    Drizzt found that notion unsettling and comforting all at once. He was a small thing, an insignificant thing, a single swallow to the fish that had easily paced the Sea Sprite. And yet, he was a part of something much bigger, a single tile on a mosaic much huger than his imagination could even comprehend.


    He draped an arm comfortably across Catti-brie''s shoulder, connected himself to the tile that complimented his own, and she leaned against him.


    The winds picked up the next day, and the schooner rushed on, to the applause of every crewman. Robillard''s mirth disappeared soon after, though. The wizard had spells to tell of impending weather, and he informed Deudermont that the new winds were the forerunners of a substantial storm.


    What could they do? There were no ports nearby, no land at all, and so Deudermont ordered everything battened down as much as was possible.


    What followed was among the worst nights of Catti-brie''s life. It was as bad as any storm anyone aboard the schooner had ever suffered. Deudermont and the forty crewmen huddled belowdecks as the Sea Sprite rode out the storm, the long and slender ship tossing about wildly, nearly going over more than once.


    Robillard and Harkle worked frantically. Robillard was on the deck for most of the storm, sometimes having to take cover below and view the deck through a magical, disembodied eye. All the while, he enacted spells to try and counter the fierce winds. Harkle, with Guenhwyvar and a handful of crewmen beside him, scrambled about on all fours in the lowest hold, dodging rats and shifting crates of foodstuff as they inspected the hull. The Harpell had a spell to keep the area well lit, and others that could enlarge wood to seal cracks. The crewmen carried tarred lengths of rope that they hammered in between any leaking boards.


    Catti-brie was too sick to move-so were many others. The tossing got so bad at one point that many of the crew had to tie themselves down to stop from bouncing off the walls or crushing each other. Poor Dunkin got the worst of it. In one particularly bad roll, the small man, reaching at the time for an offered length of rope, went flying head over heels and slammed into a beam so violently that he dislocated a shoulder and broke his wrist.


    There was no sleep that night aboard the Sea Sprite.


    The ship was listing badly to port the next morning, but she was still afloat and the storm had passed without a single loss of life. The crew, those who were able, worked through the morning, trying to get up a single sail.


    About midday, Catti-brie called down from the crow''s nest, reporting that the air was alive with birds to the north and west. Deudermont breathed a deep sigh of relief. He had feared that the storm had blown them off course and that they would not be able to recover in time to put in at the Gull Rocks, the last charted islands on the way to Caerwich. As it was, they were well to the south of their intended course, and had to work frantically, particularly poor Robillard and Harkle. Both of the wizards had bluish bags under their eyes that showed their exhaustion from both the physical and magical strain.


    Somehow, the Sea Sprite managed to veer enough to get to the rocks. The place was aptly named. The Gull Rocks were no more than a series of barren stones, most smaller than the Sea Sprite, many large enough for only two or three men to stand upon. A couple of the rocks were substantial, one nearly a mile across, but even these large ones were more white than gray, thick with guano. As the Sea Sprite neared the cluster, thousands and thousands of seagulls, a veritable cloud of them, fluttered in the air all about her, squawking angrily at the intrusion to this, their private domain.


    Deudermont found a little inlet where the water was more calm, where repairs could be done in peace, and where each of the crew could take turns off of the ship, to calm their churning stomachs, if nothing else.


    Later on that day, at the highest point on the Gull Rocks, perhaps fifty feet above sea level, Deudermont stood with Drizzt and Catti-brie. The Captain was looking south using the spyglass, though he obviously expected to find nothing but flat water.


    It had taken them nearly two weeks to cover the five hundred miles from the westernmost spur of the Moonshaes to the Gull Rocks, nearly double the time Deudermont had expected. Still, the captain remained confident that the provisions would hold and they would find their way to Caerwich. Nothing much had been said about the island since the Sea Sprite had put out of Wyngate. Nothing openly, at least, for Drizzt had overheard the nervous whispers of many of the crew, talk of ghosts and the like.


    "Five hundred behind us and five hundred to go," Deudermont said, the spyglass to his eye and his gaze to the south and west. "There is an island not far south of here where we might gain more provisions."


    "Do we need them?" Drizzt asked.


    "Not if make good speed to Caerwich, and good speed on the return," Deudermont replied.


    "What''re ye thinking then?" Catti-brie asked.


    "I grow weary of delays, and weary of the journey," Deudermont replied.


    "That''s because yer fearin'' what''s at its end," Catti-brie reasoned bluntly. "Who''s for knowin'' what we''ll find in Caerwich, if even there is a Caerwich?"


    "She''s out there," the captain insisted.


    "We can always stop at this other island on our return," Drizzt offered. "Certainly we''ve enough provisions to get to Caerwich."


    Deudermont nodded. They would make straight for Caerwich then, the last leg of their journey out. The captain knew the stars-that was all he would have available to take him from the Gull Rocks to Caerwich. He hoped that the map Tarnheel had provided was accurate.


    He hoped that Caerwich truly existed.


    And still, a part of him hoped that it did not.

 Page 10

    "How small is this island of Caerwich?" Catti-brie asked Deudermont. Another week of sailing had slipped past, this one uneventfully. Another week of emptiness, of solitude, though the schooner was fully crewed and there were few places where someone could be out of sight of everyone else. That was the thing about the open ocean, you were never physically alone, yet all the world seemed removed. Catti-brie and Drizzt had spent hours together, just standing and watching, each lost, drifting on the rolls of the azure blanket, together and yet so alone.


    "A few square miles," the captain answered absently, as though the response was an automatic reflex.


    "And ye''re thinkin'' to find it?" An unmistakable edge showed in the woman''s voice, drawing a lazy stare from Drizzt, as well as from Deudermont.


    "We found the Gull Rocks," Drizzt reminded Catti-brie, trying to brighten her mood though he, too, was getting that unmistakable edge of irritation to his voice. "They are not much larger."


    "Bah, they''re known to all," Catti-brie retorted. "A straight run west."


    "We know where we are, and where we must go," Deudermont insisted. "There is the matter of the map; we''re not sailing blindly."


    Catti-brie glanced over her shoulder and cast a scowl at Dunkin, the provider of the map, who was hard at work scrubbing the poop deck. The woman''s sour expression alone answered Deudermont''s claim, told the captain how reliable she believed that map might be.


    "And the wizards have new eyes that see far," Deudermont said. True enough, Catti-brie realized, though she wondered how reliable the "eyes" in question might be. Harkle and Robillard had taken some birds from the Gull Rocks, and claimed that they could communicate with them through use of their magic. The gulls would help, the two wizards declared, and each day, they set them flying freely, ordering them to report back with their findings. Catti-brie hadn''t thought much about the wizards and in truth, all but two of the ten birds they had taken had not returned to the Sea Sprite. Catti-brie figured the birds had more likely flown all the way back to the Gull Rocks, probably laughing at the bumbling wizards all the way.


    "The map is all we have had since we left Mintarn," Drizzt said softly, trying to erase the young woman''s fears and the anger that was plain upon her fair, sunburned features. He sympathized with Catti-brie, because he was sharing those negative thoughts. They had all known the odds, and thus far, the journey had not been so bad-certainly not as bad as it might have been. They had been out for several weeks, most of that time on the open ocean, yet they had not lost a single crewman and their stores, though low, remained sufficient. Thank Guenhwyvar and Harkle for that, Drizzt thought with a smile, for the panther and the wizard had cleared the ship of the bulk of her pesky rats soon after they had departed from Wyngate.


    But still, despite the logical understanding that the journey was on course and going well, Drizzt could not help the swells of anger that rose up in him. It was something about the ocean, he realized, the boredom and the solitude. Truly the drow loved sailing, loved running the waves, but too long in the open ocean, too long in looking at emptiness as profound as could be found in all the world, grated on his nerves.


    Catti-brie walked away, muttering. Drizzt looked to Deudermont, and the experienced captain''s smile relieved the drow of a good measure of his worry.


    "I have seen it before," Deudermont said quietly to him. "She will relax as soon as we sight Mintarn, or as soon as we make the decision to turn back to the east."


    "You would do that?" Drizzt asked. "You would forsake the words of the doppleganger?"


    Deudermont thought long and hard on that one. "I have come here because I believe it to be my fate," he answered. "Whatever the danger that is now pursuing me, I wish to meet it head-on and with my eyes wide open. But I''ll not risk my crew more than is necessary. If our food stores become too diminished to safely continue, we will turn back."


    "And what of the doppleganger?" Drizzt asked.


    "My enemies found me once," Deudermont replied casually, and truly the man was a rock for Drizzt and for all the crew, something solid to hold onto in a sea of emptiness. "They will find me again."


    "And we will be waiting," Drizzt assured him.


    As it turned out, the wait, for Caerwich at least, was not a long one. Less than an hour after the conversation, Harkle Harpell bounded out of Deudermont''s private quarters, clapping his hands excitedly.


    Deudermont was the first to him, followed closely by a dozen anxious crewmen. Drizzt, at his customary spot on the forward beam, came to the rail of the flying bridge to survey the gathering. He realized what was going on immediately, and he glanced upward, to Catti-brie, who was peering down intently from the crow''s nest.


    "Oh, what a fine bird, my Reggie is!" Harkle beamed.


    "Reggie?" Deudermont, and several others nearby, asked.


    "Namesake of Regweld, so fine a wizard! He bred a frog with a horse-no easy feat that! Puddlejumper, he called her. Or was it Riverjumper? Or maybe ..."


    "Harkle," Deudermont said dryly, his tone bringing the wizard from the rambling confusion.


    "Oh, of course," babbled Harkle. "Yes, yes, where was I? Oh, yes, I was telling you about Regweld. What a fine man. Fine man. He fought valiantly in Keeper''s Dale, so say the tales. There was one time ..."


    "Harkle!" Now there was no subtle coercion in Deudermont''s tone, just open hostility.


    "What?" the wizard asked innocently.


    "The damned seagull," Deudermont growled. "What have you found?"


    "Oh, yes!" Harkle replied, clapping his hands. "The bird, the bird. Reggie. Yes, yes, fine bird. Fastest flyer of the lot."


    "Harkle!" a score of voices roared in unison.


    "We have found an island," came a reply from behind the flustered Harpell. Robillard stepped onto the deck and appeared somewhat bored. "The bird returned this day chattering about an island. Ahead and to port, and not so far away."


    "How large?" Deudermont asked.


    Robillard shrugged and chuckled. "All islands are large when seen through the eyes of a seagull," he answered. "It could be a rock, or it could be a continent."


    "Or even a whale," Harkle piped in.


    It didn''t matter. If the bird had indeed spotted an island out here, out where the map indicated that Caerwich should be, then Caerwich, it must be!


    "You and Dunkin," Deudermont said to Robillard, and he motioned to the wheel. "Get us there."


    "And Reggie," Harkle added happily, pointing to the seagull, which had perched on the very tip of the mainmast, right above Catti-brie''s head.


    Drizzt saw a potential problem brewing, given the bird''s position, the woman''s sour mood and the fact that she had her bow with her. Fortunately, though, the bird flew off at Harkle''s bidding without leaving any presents behind.


    Had it not been for that bird, the Sea Sprite would have sailed right past Caerwich, within a half mile of the place without ever sighting it. The island was circular, resembling a low cone, and was just a few hundred yards in diameter. It was perpetually shrouded in a bluish mist that looked like just another swell in the sea from only a short distance away.


    As the schooner approached that mist, drifting quietly at half


    sail, the wind turned colder and the sun seemed somehow less substantial. Deudermont did a complete circle of the island, but found no particularly remarkable place, nor any area that promised an easy docking.


    Back in their original spot, Deudermont took the wheel from Dunkin and turned the Sea Sprite straight toward Caerwich, slowly slipping her into the mist.


    "Ghost wind," Dunkin remarked nervously, shuddering in the sudden chill. "She''s a haunted place, I tell you." The small man tugged at his ear ferociously, suddenly wishing that he had gotten off the schooner at Wyngate. Dunkin''s other ear got tugged as well, but not by his own hand. He turned about to look eye to eye with Drizzt Do''Urden. They were about the same height, with similar builds, though Drizzt''s muscles were much more finely honed. But at that moment, Drizzt seemed much taller to poor Dunkin, and much more imposing.


    "Ghost wi-" Dunkin started to say, but Drizzt put a finger to his lips to silence him.


    Dunkin leaned heavily on the rail and went silent.


    Deudermont ordered the sails lower still and brought the schooner to a creeping drift. The mist grew thick about them and something about the way the ship was handling, something about the flow of the water beneath them, told the captain to be wary. He called up to Catti-brie, but she had no answers for him, more engulfed by blinding mist than he.


    Deudermont nodded to Drizzt, who rushed off to the forward beam and crouched low, marking their way. The drow spotted something a moment later, and his eyes widened.


    A pole was sticking out of the water, barely fifty yards ahead of them.


    Drizzt eyed it curiously for just an instant, then recognized it for what it was: the top of a ship''s mast.


    "Stop us!" he yelled.


    Robillard was into his spellcasting before Deudermont agreed to heed the warning. The wizard sent his energy out directly in front of the Sea Sprite, brought up a ridgelike swell of water that halted the ship''s drifting momentum. Down came the Sea Sprite''s sails, and down dropped the anchor with a splash that seemed to echo ominously about the decks for many seconds.


    "How deep?" Deudermont asked the crewmen manning the anchor. The chain was marked in intervals, allowing them to gauge the depth when they put the anchor down.


    "A hundred feet," one of them called back a moment later.


    Drizzt rejoined the captain at the wheel. "A reef, by my guess," the drow said, explaining his call for a stop. "There is a hulk in the water barely two ship-lengths ahead of us. She''s fully under, except for the tip of her mast, but standing straight. Something brought her down in a hurry."


    "Got her bottom torn right off," Robillard reasoned.


    "I figure us to be a few hundred yards from the beach," Deudermont said, peering hard into the mist. He looked to the stern. The Sea Sprite carried two small rowboats, one hanging on either side of the poop deck.


    "We could circle again," Robillard remarked, seeing where the captain''s reasoning was leading. "Perhaps we will find a spot with a good draw."


    "I''ll not risk my ship," Deudermont replied. "We will go in using the rowboat," he decided. He looked to a group of nearby crewmen. "Drop one," he instructed.


    Twenty minutes later, Deudermont, Drizzt, Catti-brie, the two wizards, Waillan Micanty and a very reluctant and very frightened Dunkin glided away from the Sea Sprite, filling their row-boat so completely that its rim was barely a hand above the dark water. Deudermont had left specific instructions with those remaining on the Sea Sprite. The crew was to put back out of the mist a thousand yards and wait for their return. If they had not returned by nightfall, the Sea Sprite was to move out away from the island, making one final run at Caerwich at noon the next day.


    After that, if the rowboat had not been spotted, she was to sail home.


    The seven moved away from the Sea Sprite, Dunkin and Waillan on the oars and Catti-brie peering over the prow, expecting to find a reef at any moment. Farther back, Drizzt knelt beside Deudermont, ready to point out the mast he had spotted.


    Drizzt couldn''t find it.


    "No reef," Catti-brie said from the front. "A good and deep draw, by me own guess." She looked back to Drizzt and especially to Deudermont. "Ye might''ve bringed her in right up to the damned beach," she said.


    Deudermont looked to the drow, who was scanning the mist hard, wondering where that mast had gone to. He was about to restate what he had seen when the rowboat lurched suddenly, her bottom scraping on the rocks of a sharp reef.


    They bumped and ground to a halt. They might have gotten hung up there, but a spell from Robillard brought both wizards, Deudermont and Catti-brie floating above the creaking planks of the boat, while Drizzt, Dunkin and Waillan cautiously brought the lightened boat over.


    "All the way in?" Drizzt remarked to Catti-brie.


    "It wasn''t there!" the young woman insisted. Catti-brie had been a lookout for more than five years, and was said to have the best eyes on the Sword Coast. So how, she wondered, had she missed so obvious a reef, especially when she was looking for exactly that?


    A few moments later, Harkle, at the very stern of the rowboat, gave a startled cry and the others turned to see the mast of a ship sticking out of the water right beside the seated wizard.


    Now the others, especially Drizzt, were having the same doubts as Catti-brie. They had practically run over that mast, so why hadn''t they seen it?


    Dunkin tugged furiously at his ear.


    "A trick of the fog," Deudermont said calmly. "Bring us around that mast." The command caught the others off guard. Dunkin shook his head, but Waillan slapped him on the shoulder.


    "Hard on the oar," Waillan ordered. "You heard the captain."


    Catti-brie hung low over the side of the rowboat, curious to learn more about the wreck, but the mist reflected in the water, leaving her staring into a gray veil whose secrets she could not penetrate. Finally, Deudermont gave up on gathering any information out here, and commanded Waillan and Dunkin to put straight in for the island.


    At first, Dunkin nodded eagerly, happy to get off the water. Then, as he considered their destination, he alternated pulls on the oar with pulls on his ear.


    The surf was not strong, but the undertow was and it pulled back against the rowboat''s meager progress. The island was soon in sight, but it seemed to hang out there, just beyond their grasp, for many moments.


    "Pull hard!" Deudermont ordered his rowers, though he knew that they were doing exactly that, were as anxious as he to get


    this over with. Finally, the captain looked plaintively to Robillard, and the wizard, after a resigned sigh, stuck his hand into his deep pockets, seeking the components for a helpful spell.


    Still up front, Catti-brie peered hard through the mist, studying the white beach for some sign of inhabitants. It was no good; the island was too far away, given the thick fog. The young woman looked down instead, into the dark water.


    She saw candles.


    Catti-brie''s face twisted in confusion. She looked up and rubbed her eyes, then looked back to the water.


    Candles. There could be no mistake about it. Candles . . . under the water.


    Curious, the woman bent lower and looked more closely, finally making out a form holding the closest light.


    Catti-brie fell back, gasping. "The dead," she said, though she couldn''t get more than a whisper out of her mouth. Her sharp movements alone had caught the attention of the others, and then she hopped right to her feet, as a bloated and blackened hand grabbed the rim of the rowboat.


    Dunkin, looking only at Catti-brie, screamed as she drew out her sword. Drizzt got to his feet and scrambled to get by the two oarsmen.


    Catti-brie saw the top of the ghost''s head come clear of the water. A horrid, skeletal face rose to the side of the boat.


    Khazid''hea came down hard, hitting nothing but the edge of the boat and driving right through the planking until it was at water level.


    "What are you doing?" Dunkin cried. Drizzt, at Catti-brie''s side, wondered the same thing. There was no sign of any ghost, there was just Catti-brie''s sword wedged deeply into the planking of the rowboat.


    "Get us in!" Catti-brie yelled back. "Get us in!"


    Drizzt looked at her hard, then looked all around. "Candles?" he asked, noticing the strange watery lights.


    That simple word sparked fear in Deudermont, Robillard, Waillan and Dunkin, sailors all, who knew the tales of sea ghosts, lying in wait under the waves, their bloated bodies marked by witchlight candles.


    "How pretty!" said an oblivious Harkle, looking overboard.


    "Get us to the beach!" Deudermont cried, but he needn''t have bothered, for Waillan and Dunkin were pulling with all of their strength.


    Robillard was deep into spellcasting. He summoned a wave right behind the small craft and the rowboat was lifted up and sent speeding toward shore. The jolt of the sudden wave knocked Catti-brie to the deck and nearly sent Drizzt right over.


    Harkle, entranced by the candles, wasn''t so fortunate. As the wave crested, coming right over the tide line, he tumbled out.


    The rowboat shot ahead, sliding hard onto the beach.


    In the surf, ten yards offshore, a drenched Harkle stood up.


    A dozen grotesque and bloated forms stood up around him.


    "Oh, hello . . ." the friendly Harpell started, and then his eyes bulged and nearly rolled from their sockets.


    "Eeyah!" Harkle screamed, plowing through the undertow and toward the shore.


    Catti-brie was already up and in position, lifting Taulmaril and fitting an arrow. She took quick aim and let fly.


    Harkle screamed again as the arrow streaked right past him. Then he heard the sickening thump and splash as an animated corpse hit the water, and understood that he was not the woman''s target.


    Another arrow followed closely, taking out the next nearest zombie. Harkle, as he came to more shallow water, tore himself free of grabbing weeds and quickly outdistanced the other monsters. He had just cleared the water, putting a few feet of moist sand behind him, when he heard the roar of flames and glanced back to see a curtain of fire separating him from the water, and from the zombies.


    He ran the rest of the way up the beach to join the other six by the rowboat and expressed his thanks to Robillard, shaking the wizard so hard that he broke the man''s concentration.


    The curtain of blocking fire fell away. Where there had been ten zombies, there were now a score, and more were rising from the water and the weeds.


    "Well done," Robillard said dryly.


    Catti-brie fired again, blasting away another zombie.


    Robillard waggled the fingers of one hand and a bolt of green energy erupted from each of them, soaring down the beach. Three hit one zombie in rapid succession, dropping it to the water. Two sped past, burning into the next monster in line and likewise sending it down.


    "Not very creative," Harkle remarked.


    Robillard scowled at him. "You can do better?"


    Harkle snapped his fingers indignantly, and so the challenge was on.


    Drizzt and the others stood back, weapons ready, but knowing better than to charge down at their foes in the face of wizardly magic. Even Catti-brie, after a couple of more shots, lowered her bow, giving the competing spellcasters center stage.


    "A Calimshan snake charmer taught me this one," Harkle proclaimed. He tossed a bit of twine into the air and chanted in a cracking, high-pitched voice. A line of seaweed came alive to his call, rose up like a serpent and immediately wrapped itself about the nearest zombie, yanking the thing down under the surf.


    Harkle smiled broadly.


    Robillard snorted derisively. "Only one?" he asked, and he launched himself into the throes of another spell, spinning and dancing and tossing flakes of metal into the air. Then he stopped and pivoted powerfully, hurling one hand out toward the shore. Shards of shining, burning metal flew out, gained a momentum all their own, and sent a barrage into the zombies'' midst. Several were hit, the ignited metals clinging to them stubbornly, searing through the weeds and the remnants of clothing, through rotted skin and bone alike.


    A moment later, a handful of the gruesome zombies tumbled down.


    "Oh, simple evocation," Harkle chided and he answered Robillard''s spell by pulling out a small metal rod and pointing it toward the water.


    Seconds later, a lightning bolt blasted forth. Harkle aimed it at the water and the bolt blasted in, spreading wide in a circular pattern, engulfing many monsters.


    How weird, even funny, that sight appeared! Zombie hair popped up straight and the stiff-moving things began a strange, hopping dance, turning complete circles, rolling this way and that before spinning down under the waves.


    When it was over, the zombie ranks had been cut in half, though more were rising stubbornly all along the beach.


    Harkle smiled widely and snapped his fingers again. "Simple evocation," he remarked.


    "Indeed," muttered Robillard.


    Catti-brie had eased her bowstring by this point, and was smiling, sincerely amused, as she regarded her companions. Even Dunkin, so terrified a moment before, seemed ready to laugh aloud at the spectacle of the battling wizards. In looking at the pair, Deudermont was glad, for he feared that the sight of such horrid enemies had defeated his team''s heart for this search.


    It was Robillard''s turn and he focused on a single zombie that had cleared the water and was ambling up the beach. He used no material components this time, just chanted softly and waved his arms in specific movements. A line of fire rushed out from his pointing finger, reaching out to the unfortunate target monster and then shrouding it in flames, an impressive display that fully consumed the creature in but a few moments. Robillard, concentrating deeply, then shifted the line of fire, burning away a second monster.


    "The scorcher," he said when the spell was done. "A remnant from the works of Agannazar."


    Harkle snorted. "Agannazar was a minor trickster!" he declared, and Robillard scowled.


    Harkle reached into a pocket, pulling forth several components. "Dart," he explained, lifting the item. "Powdered rhubarb and the stomach of an adder."


    "Melf!" Robillard cried happily.


    "Melf indeed!" echoed Harpell. "Now there was a wizard!"


    "I know Melf," said Robillard.


    Harkle stuttered and stopped his casting. "How old are you?" he asked.


    "I know Melf''s work," Robillard clarified.


    "Oh," said Harkle and he went back to casting.


    To prove his point, Robillard reached into his own pocket and produced a handful of beads that smelled of pine tar. Harkle caught the aroma, but paid it little heed as he was in the throes of the final runes of his own spell by then.


    The dart zipped out from Harkle''s hand, rocketing into the belly of the closest zombie. Immediately it began to pump forth acid, boring an ever-widening hole right through the creature. The zombie grasped futilely at the wound, even bent low as if it meant to peer right through itself.


    Then it fell over.


    "Melf!" Harkle proclaimed, but he quieted when he looked back to Robillard and saw tiny meteors erupting from the wizard''s hand, shooting out to blast mini-fireballs among the zombie ranks.


    "Better Melf," Harkle admitted.


    "Enough of this foolishness," Captain Deudermont put in. "We can simply run up off the beach. I doubt they will pursue." Deudermont''s voice trailed away as he realized that neither wizard was paying him much heed.


    "We are not on the ship," was all that indignant Robillard would reply. Then to Harkle, he said, "Do you admit defeat?"


    "I have not yet begun to boom!" declared the obstinate Harpell.


    Both launched themselves into spells, among the most powerful of their considerable repertoires. Robillard pulled out a tiny bucket and shovel, while Harkle produced a snakeskin glove and a long, painted fingernail.


    Robillard cast first, his spell causing a sudden and violent excavation right at the feet of the closest zombies. Beach sand flew wildly. The monsters walked right into the pit, falling from sight. Robillard shifted his angle and muttered a single word, and another pit began, not far to the side of the first.


    "Dig," he muttered to Harkle, between chants.


    "Bigby," Harkle countered. "You know of Bigby?"


    Robillard blanched despite his own impressive display. Of course he knew of Bigby! He was one of the most powerful and impressive wizards of all time, on any world.


    Harkle''s spell began as a gigantic disembodied hand. It was transparent and hovered over the beach, in the area near Robillard''s first pit. Robillard looked hard at the hand. Three of the fingers were extended, pointing toward the hole, but the middle finger was curled back and under the thumb.


    "I have improved on Bigby," Harkle boasted. A zombie ambled between the gigantic hand and the hole.


    "Doink!" commanded the Harpell and the hand''s middle finger popped out from underneath the thumb, slamming the zombie on the side of the head and launching it sideways into the pit.


    Harkle turned a smug smile at Robillard. "Bigby''s Snapping Digits," he explained. He focused his thoughts on the hand again, and it moved to his will, gliding all along the beach and "doinking" zombies whenever they came within range.


    Robillard didn''t know whether to roar in protest or howl in


    laughter. The Harpell was good, he had to admit, very good. But Robillard wasn''t about to lose this one. He took out a diamond, a gem that had cost him more than a thousand gold pieces. "Otiluke," he said defiantly, referring to yet another of the legendary and powerful wizards whose works were the staples of a magician''s studies. Now it was Harkle''s turn to blanch, for he had little knowledge of the legendary Otiluke.


    When Robillard considered that diamond, and the quickly diminishing ranks of their monstrous adversaries, he had to wonder if it was really worth the price. He snapped his fingers with a revelation, popped the diamond back into his pocket and took out a thin sheet of crystal instead.


    "Otiluke," he said again, choosing another variation of the same spell. He cast the spell and immediately, all along the beach, the surf simply froze, locking fast in the thick ice those zombies who had not yet come out of the water.


    "Oh, well done," Harkle admitted as Robillard slapped his hands together in a superior motion, wiping himself clean of the zombies and of Harkle. The spells had cleared the beach of enemies, and so the fight was apparently over.


    But Harkle couldn''t let Robillard have the last word, not that way. He looked to the zombies struggling in the ice, and then glowered at Robillard. Deliberately, he reached into his deepest pocket and pulled forth a ceramic flask. "Super heroism," he explained. "You have perhaps heard of Tenser?"


    Robillard put a finger to pursed lips. "Oh, yes," he said a moment later. "Of course, crazy Tenser." Robillard''s eyes went wide as he considered the implications. Tenser''s most renowned spell reportedly transformed a wizard into a warrior for a short duration-a berserk warrior!


    "Not the Tenser!" Robillard yelled, tackling Harkle where he stood, pinning the man down before he could pop the cork off the potion flask.


    "Help me!" Robillard begged, and the others were there in a moment. The battle, and the contest, was at its end.


    They pulled themselves together and Deudermont announced that it was time to get off the beach.


    Drizzt motioned to Catti-brie and immediately moved out front, more than ready to be on the move. The woman didn''t immediately follow. She was too intent on the continuing, now-


    friendly, exchange between the wizards. Mostly, she was watching Robillard, who seemed much more animated and happy. She thought perhaps Harkle Harpell was indeed having a positive effect on the man.


    "Oh, that digging spell worked so very well with my Bigby variation," she heard Harkle say. "You really must teach it to me. My cousin, Bidderdoo, he is a werewolf, and he has this habit of burying everything about the yard, bones and wands and the like. The dig spell will help me to recover ..."


    Catti-brie shook her head and rushed to catch up with Drizzt. She skidded to an abrupt stop, though, and looked back to the rowboat. More particularly, she looked back to Dunkin Tallmast, who was seated in the beached craft, shaking his head back and forth. Catti-brie motioned to the others and they all went back to the man.


    "I wish to go back to the boat," Dunkin said sternly. "One of the wizards can get me there." As he spoke, the man was clutching the rail so tightly that the knuckles on both his hands had whitened for lack of blood.


    "Come along," Drizzt said to him.


    Dunkin didn''t move.


    "You have been given a chance to witness what few men have ever seen," the ranger said. As he spoke, Drizzt took out the panther figurine and dropped it on the sand.


    "You know more about Caerwich than any other aboard the Sea Sprite," Deudermont added. "Your knowledge is needed."


    "I know little," Dunkin retorted.


    "But still more than any other," Deudermont insisted.


    "There is a reward for your assistance," Drizzt went on, and Dunkin''s eyes brightened for an instant-until the drow explained what he meant by the word "reward."


    "Who knows what adventure we might find here?" Drizzt said excitedly. "Who knows what secrets might be unveiled to us?"


    "Adventure?" Dunkin asked incredulously, looking to the carnage along the beach, and to the zombies still frozen in the water. "Reward?" he added with a chuckle. "Punishment, more likely, though I have done nothing to harm you, any of you!"


    "We are here to unveil a mystery," Drizzt said, as though that fact should have piqued the man''s curiosity. "To learn and to grow. To live as we discover the secrets of the world about us."


    "Who wants to know?" Dunkin snapped, deflating the drow and dismissing his grandiose speech. Waillan Micanty, inspired by the drow''s words, had heard enough of the whining little man. The young sailor moved to the side of the beached rowboat, tore Dunkin''s hands free of the rail and dragged the man onto the sand.


    "I could have done that with much more flair," Robillard remarked dryly.


    "So could Tenser," said Harkle.


    "Not the Tenser," Robillard insisted.


    "Not the Tenser?"


    "Not the Tenser," Robillard reiterated, in even tones of finality. Harkle whimpered a bit, but did not respond.


    "Save your magic," Waillan said to both of them. "We may need it yet."


    Now it was Dunkin''s turn to whine.


    "When this is over, you will have a tale to widen the eyes of every sailor who puts in at Mintarn Harbor," Drizzt said to the small man.


    That seemed to calm Dunkin somewhat, until Catti-brie added, "If ye live."


    Drizzt and Deudermont both scowled at her, but the woman merely grinned innocently and walked away.


    "I will tell his tyrancy," Dunkin threatened, but no one was listening to him anymore.


    Drizzt called to Guenhwyvar and when the panther came onto the beach, the seven adventurers gathered around Deudermont. The captain drew a rough outline of the island in the sand. He put an X on the area indicating their beach, then another one outside his drawing, to show the location of the Sea Sprite.


    "Ideas?" he asked, looking particularly at Dunkin.


    "I''ve heard people speak of ''the Witch of the Moaning Cave,'' " the small man offered sheepishly.


    "There might be caves along the coast," Catti-brie reasoned. "Or up here." She put her finger down onto Deudermont''s rough drawing, indicating the one mountain, the low cone that comprised the bulk of Caerwich.


    "We should search inland before we put back out into the sea," Deudermont reasoned, and none of them had to follow his gaze to the frozen zombies to be reminded of the dangers along the shore


    of Caerwich. And so off they trudged, inland, through a surprisingly thick tangle of brush and huge ferns.


    Almost as soon as they had left the openness of the beach behind, sounds erupted all about them-the hoots and whistles of exotic birds, and throaty howling calls that none of them had heard before. Drizzt and Guenhwyvar took up the point and flanks, moving off to disappear into the tangle without a sound.


    Dunkin groaned at this, not liking the fact that his immediate group had just become smaller. Catti-brie chuckled at him, drawing a scowl. If only Dunkin knew how much safer they were with the drow and his cat moving beside them.


    They searched for more than an hour, then took a break in a small clearing halfway up the low conical mountain. Drizzt sent Guenhwyvar off alone, figuring that the cat could cover more ground in the span of their short break than they would search out the rest of the day.


    "We will come down the back side of the cone, then move southward, all the way around and back to the boat," Deudermont explained. "Then back up and over the cone, and then to the north."


    "We may have walked right past the cave without ever seeing it," Robillard grumbled. It was true enough, they all knew, for the tangle was so very thick and dark, and the mist had not diminished in the least.


    "Well, perhaps our two wizards could be of use," Deudermont said sarcastically, "if they hadn''t been so absorbed in wasting their spells to prove a point."


    "There were enemies to strike down," Harkle protested.


    "I could''ve cut ''em down with me bow," said Catti-brie.


    "And wasted arrows!" Harkle retorted, thinking he had her in a logic trap.


    Of course, the others all knew, Catti-brie''s quiver was powerfully enchanted. "I don''t run out of arrows," she remarked, and Harkle sat back down.


    Drizzt interrupted then, abruptly, by hopping to his feet and staring hard into the jungle. His hand went to the pouch that held the onyx figurine.


    Catti-brie jumped to her feet, taking up Taulmaril, and the others followed suit.


    "Guenhwyvar?" the woman asked.


    Drizzt nodded. Something had happened to the panther, but he wasn''t sure of what that might be. On a hunch, he took out the figurine, placed it on the ground, and called to the panther once more. A moment later, the gray mist appeared, and then took form, Guenhwyvar pacing nervously about the drow.


    "There''s two of them things?" Dunkin asked.


    "Same cat," Catti-brie explained. "Something sent Guen home."


    Drizzt nodded and looked to Deudermont. "Something that Guenhwyvar could find again," he reasoned.


    Off they went, through the tangle, following Guenhwyvar''s lead. Soon they came to the northern slopes of the cone, and behind a curtain of thick hanging moss, they found a dark opening. Drizzt motioned to Guenhwyvar, but the panther would not go in.


    Drizzt eyed her curiously.


    "I''m going back to the boat," Dunkin remarked. He took a step away, but Robillard, tired of the man''s foolishness, drew out a wand and pointed it right between Dunkin''s eyes. The wizard said not a word, he didn''t have to.


    Dunkin turned back to the cave.


    Drizzt crouched near to the panther. Guenhwyvar would not enter the cave, and the drow had no idea of why that might be. He knew that Guenhwyvar was not afraid. Might there be an enchantment on the area that prevented the panther from entering?


    Satisfied with that explanation, Drizzt drew out Twinkle, the fine scimitar glowing its customary blue, and motioned for his friends to wait. He slipped past the mossy curtain, waited a moment so that his eyes could adjust to the deeper gloom, then moved in.


    Twinkle''s light went away. Drizzt ducked to the side, behind the protection of a boulder. He realized that he was not moving as quickly as expected, his enchanted anklets were not aiding him.


    "No magic," he reasoned, and then it seemed perfectly clear to him why Guenhwyvar would not enter. The drow turned to go back out, but found his impatient friends already slipping in behind him. Both Harkle and Robillard wore curious expressions. Catti-brie squinted into the gloom, one hand fiddling with the suddenly useless cat''s eye pendant strapped to her forehead.


    "I have forgotten all of my spells," Harkle said loudly, his voice echoing off the bare wall of the large cave. Robillard slapped his hand over Harkle''s mouth.


    "Ssssh!" the calmer wizard hissed. When he thought about what Harkle had said, though, Robillard had his own outburst. "As have I!" he roared, and then he slapped his hand over his own mouth.


    "No magic in here," Drizzt told them. "That is why Guenhwyvar could not enter."


    "Might be that is what sent the cat home," Catti-brie added.


    The discussion ended abruptly, and all heads swung about to regard Waillan as the light of a makeshift torch flared brightly.


    "I''ll not walk in blindly," the young sailor explained, holding high the burning branches he had strapped together.


    None of them could argue. Just the few feet they had gone past the cave''s entrance had stolen most of the light, and their senses hinted to them that this was no small place. The cave felt deep, and cool. It seemed as if the sticky humidity of the island air had been left behind outside.


    As they moved in a bit farther, the torchlight showed them that their senses were telling the truth. The cave was large and roughly oval in shape, perhaps a hundred feet across at its longest point. It was uneven, with several different levels across its broken floor and gigantic stalactites leering down at them.


    Drizzt was about to suggest a systematic exploration, when a voice cut the stillness.


    "Who would seek my sight?" came a cackle from the rear of the cave, where there appeared to be a rocky tier a dozen feet above the party''s present level. All of the group squinted through the gloom. Catti-brie tightened her grip on Taulmaril, wondering how effective the bow might be without its magic.


    Dunkin turned back for the door, and out came Robillard''s wand, though the wizard''s gaze was firmly set ahead, upon the tier of boulders. The small man hesitated, then realized that Robillard had no power against him, not in here.


    "Who would seek my sight?" came the cackling question again.


    Dunkin bolted out through the moss.


    As one, the group looked back to the exit.


    "Let him go," Deudermont said. The captain took the torch from Waillan and moved forward slowly, the other five following


    in his wake. Drizzt, ever cautious, moved to the shadows offered by the side wall of the cave.


    The question came a third time, in rehearsed tones as though the witch was not unaccustomed to visits by sailors. She showed herself to them then, moving out between a tumble of boulders. The hag was old, ancient, wearing a tattered black shift and leaning heavily on a short and polished staff. Her mouth was open-she seemed to be gasping for breath-showing off a single, yellow tooth. Her eyes, appearing dull even from a distance, did not blink.


    "Who will bear the burden of knowledge?" she asked. She kept her head turned in the general direction of the five for a short while, then broke into cackling laughter.


    Deudermont held his hand up, motioning for the others to halt, then boldly stepped forward. "I will," he announced. "I am Deudermont of the Sea Sprite, come to Caerwich ..."


    "Go back!" the hag yelled at him so forcefully that the captain took a step backward before he realized what he was doing. Catti-brie bent her bow a bit more, but kept it low and unthreatening.


    "This is not for you, not for any man!" the hag explained. All eyes shifted to regard Catti-brie.


    "It is for two, and only two," the hag went on, her croaking voice rhythmic, as though she was reciting a heroic poem. "Not for any man, or any male whose skin browns under the light of the sun."


    The obvious reference sent Drizzt''s shoulders slumping. He came out of the shadows a moment later, and looked to Catti-brie, who seemed as crestfallen as he in the sudden realization that this was, after all, about Drizzt once more. Deudermont had almost been killed in Waterdeep, and that the Sea Sprite and her crew were in peril, a thousand miles from their usual waters, because of his legacy.


    Drizzt sheathed his blades and walked over to Catti-brie, and together they moved past the startled captain, and out in front to face the blind witch.


    "My greetings, renegade of Daermon N''a''shezbaernon," the blind witch said, referring to Drizzt''s ancient family name, a name that few outside of Menzoberranzan would know. "And to you, daughter of a dwarf, who hurled the mightiest of spears!"


    That last sentence caught the pair off guard, and confused them for just a moment, until they realized the reference. The witch must be speaking of the stalactite that Catti-brie had dropped, the great "spear" that drove through the dome of House Baenre''s chapel! This was about them, about Drizzt''s past, and the enemies they thought they had left behind.


    The blind hag motioned for them to come closer, and so they did, walking with as much heart as they could muster. They were barely ten feet from the ugly woman when they stopped. They were several feet below her as well, a fact that made her-someone who knew what she should not have known-seem all the more imposing. The crone pulled herself up as high as she could, showing great effort in trying to straighten her bowed shoulders, and aligned her sightless orbs straight with those of Drizzt Do''Urden.


    Then she recited, quietly and quickly, the verse Errtu had given her:


    No path by chance but by plot,


    Further steps along the road of his father''s ghost.


    The traitor to Lloth is sought


    By he who hates him most.


    The fall of a house, the fall of a spear,


    Puncture the Spider Queen''s pride as a dart.


    And now a needle for Drizzt Do''Urden to wear


    ''Neath the folds of his cloak, so deep in his heart.


    A challenge, renegade of renegade''s seed,


    A golden ring thee cannot resist!


    Reach, but only when the beast is freed


    From festering in the swirl of Abyss.


    Given to Lloth and by Lloth given


    That thee might seek the darkest of trails.


    Presented to one who is most unshriven


    And held out to thee, for thee shall fail!


    So seek, Drizzt Do''Urden, the one who hates thee most.


    A friend, and too, a foe, made in thine home that was first.


    There thee will find one feared a ghost


    Bonded by love and by battle''s thirst.


    The blind hag stopped abruptly, her sightless eyes lingering, her entire body perfectly still, as though the recital had taken a great deal of her strength. Then she drifted back between the stones, moving out of sight.


    Drizzt hardly noticed her, just stood, shoulders suddenly slumped, strength sapped by the impossible possibility. "Given to Lloth," he muttered helplessly, and only one more word could he speak, "Zaknafein."

 Page 11

    They came out of the cave to find Guenhwyvar sitting calmly atop a pinned Dunkin. Drizzt waved the cat off the man and they departed.


    Drizzt was hardly conscious of the journey back across the island to the rowboat. He said nothing all the way, except to dismiss Guenhwyvar back to her astral home as soon as they realized that they would face no resistance on the beach this time. The ice was gone and so were the zombies. The others, respecting the drow''s mood, understanding the unnerving information the hag had given him, remained quiet as well.


    Drizzt repeated the blind seer''s words over and over in his mind, vainly trying to commit them to memory. Every syllable could be a clue, Drizzt realized, every inflection might offer him some hint as to who might be holding his father prisoner. But the words had come too suddenly, too unexpectedly.


    His father! Zaknafein! Drizzt could hardly breathe as he thought of the sudden possibility. He remembered their many sparring matches, the years they had spent in joyful and determined practice. He remembered the time when Zaknafein had


    tried to kill him, and he loved his father even more for that, because Zaknafein had come after him only in the belief that his beloved Drizzt had gone over to the dark ways of the drow.


    Drizzt shook the memories from his mind. He had no time for nostalgia now; he had to focus on the task so suddenly at hand. As great as was his elation at the thought that Zaknafein might be returned to him, so was his trepidation. Some powerful being, either a matron mother, or perhaps even Lloth herself, held the secret, and the hag''s words implicated Catti-brie as well as Drizzt. The ranger cast a sidelong glance at Catti-brie, who was lost in apparently similar contemplations. The hag had intimated that all of this, the attack in Waterdeep and the journey to this remote island, had been arranged by a powerful enemy who sought revenge not only upon Drizzt, but upon Catti-brie.


    Drizzt slowed and let the others get a few steps ahead as they dragged the rowboat to the surf. He released Catti-brie from his gaze, and, momentarily at least, from his thoughts, going back to privately reciting the hag''s verse. The best thing he could do for Catti-brie, and for Zaknafein, was to memorize it, all of it, as exactly as possible. Drizzt understood that consciously, but still, the possibility that Zaknafein might be alive, overwhelmed him, and all the verses seemed fuzzy, a distant dream that the ranger fought hard to recollect. Drizzt was not alert as they splashed back off the beach of Caerwich. His eyes focused only on the swish of the oars under the dark water, and so intent was he that if a horde of zombies had risen up against them from the water, Drizzt would have been the last to draw a weapon.


    As it turned out, they got back to the Sea Sprite without incident and Deudermont, after a quick check with Drizzt to assure that they were done with their business on the island, wasted no time in putting the ship back out to sea. Deudermont called for full sails the moment they got out of the enveloping fog of Caerwich, and the swift schooner soon put the misty island far, far behind. Only after Caerwich was out of sight did Deudermont call Drizzt, Catti-brie, and the two wizards into his private quarters for a discussion of what had just transpired.


    "You knew what the old witch was speaking about?" the captain asked Drizzt.


    "Zaknafein," the drow replied without hesitation. He noticed that Catti-brie''s expression seemed to cloud over. The woman


    had been tense all the way back from the cave, almost giddy, but it seemed to Drizzt that she was now merely crestfallen.


    "And our course now?" Deudermont asked.


    "Home, and only home," Robillard put in. "We have no provisions, and we still have some damage to repair from the storm that battered us before we made the Gull Rocks."


    "After that?" the captain wanted to know, looking directly at Drizzt as he asked the question.


    Drizzt was warmed by the sentiment, by the fact that Deudermont was deferring to his judgment. When the drow gave no immediate response, the captain went on.


    " ''Seek the one who hates you most,'' the witch said," Deudermont reasoned. "Who might that be?"


    "Entreri," Catti-brie answered. She turned to a surprised Deudermont. "Artemis Entreri, a killer from the southlands."


    "The same assassin we once chased all the way to Calimshan?" Deudermont asked.


    "Our business with that one never seems to be finished," Catti-brie explained. "He''s hating Drizzt more than any-"


    "No," Drizzt interrupted, shaking his head, running a hand through his thick white hair. "Not Entreri." The drow understood Artemis Entreri quite well, too well. Indeed Entreri hated him, or had once hated him, but their feud had been more propelled by blind pride, the assassin''s need to prove himself the better, than by any tangible reason for enmity. After his stay in Menzoberranzan, Entreri had been cured of that need, at least somewhat. No, this challenge went deeper than the assassin. This had to do with Lloth herself, and involved not only Drizzt, but Catti-brie, and the dropping of the stalactite mount into the Baenre chapel. This pursuit, this proverbial golden ring, was based in pure and utter hatred.


    "Who then?" Deudermont asked after a lengthy silence.


    Drizzt could not give a definite answer. "A Baenre, most likely," he replied. "I have made many enemies. There are dozens in Menzoberranzan who would go to great lengths to kill me."


    "But how do you know it is someone from Menzoberranzan?" Harkle interjected. "Do not take this the wrong way, but you have made many enemies on the surface as well!"


    "Entreri," Catti-brie said again.


    Drizzt shook his head. "The hag said, ''A foe made in the home that was first,''" Drizzt explained. "An enemy from Menzoberranzan."


    Catti-brie wasn''t sure that Drizzt had correctly repeated the witch''s exact words, but the evidence seemed irrefutable.


    "So where to start?" Deudermont, playing the role of moderator and nothing more, asked them all.


    "The witch spoke of otherworldly influence," Robillard reasoned. "She mentioned the Abyss."


    "Lloth''s home," Drizzt added.


    Robillard nodded. "So we must get some answers from the Abyss," the wizard reasoned.


    "Are we to sail there?" Deudermont scoffed.


    The wizard, more knowledgeable in such matters, merely smiled and shook his head. "We must bring a fiend to our world," he explained, "and extract information from it. Not so difficult or unusual a task for those practiced in the art of sorcery."


    "As you are?" Deudermont asked him.


    Robillard shook his head and looked to Harkle.


    "What?" the distracted Harpell said dumbly as soon as he noticed every gaze upon him. The wizard was deep in thought, also trying to reconstruct the blind witch''s verse, though from his vantage point in the cave, he hadn''t heard every word.


    "As you are," Robillard explained, "practiced in matters of sorcery."


    "Me?" he squeaked. "Oh, no. Not allowed at the Ivy Mansion, not for twenty years. Too many problems. Too many fiends walking around eating Harpells!"


    "Then who will get us the answers?" Catti-brie asked.


    "There are wizards in Luskan who practice sorcery," Robillard offered, "as do some priests in Waterdeep. Neither will come cheaply."


    "We have the gold," Deudermont said.


    "That is the ship''s gold," Drizzt put in. "For all crew of the Sea Sprite."


    Deudermont waved a hand at him as he spoke, the captain shaking his head with every syllable. "Not until Drizzt Do''Urden and Catti-brie came aboard have we enjoyed such a business and such a profit," he told the drow. "You are a part of the Sea Sprite, a member of her crew, and all will donate their share as you would donate yours to help another."


    Drizzt could find no argument against that offer, but he did note a bit of grumbling when Robillard added, "Indeed."


    "Waterdeep or Luskan, then?" Deudermont asked Robillard. "Do I sail north of the Moonshaes, or south?"


    "Waterdeep," Harkle unexpectedly answered. "Oh, I would choose the priest," the wizard explained. "A goodly priest. Better with fiends than a wizard because the wizard might have other duties or questions he wishes to ask of the beast. Not good to get a fiend too involved, I say."


    Drizzt, Catti-brie and Deudermont looked at the man curiously, trying to decipher what he was talking about.


    "He is right," the Sea Sprite''s wizard quickly explained. "A goodly priest will stick to the one task, and we can be sure that such a person will call to a fiend only to better the cause of good, of justice." He looked at Drizzt as he said this, and the drow got the feeling that Robillard was suddenly questioning the wisdom of this search, the wisdom of following the blind witch''s words. Questioning the course, and perhaps, Drizzt realized, the motive.


    "Freeing Zaknafein from the clutches of Lloth, or of a matron mother would be a just act," Drizzt insisted, a bit of anger seeping into the edges of his voice.


    "Then a goodly priest is our best choice," the Sea Sprite''s wizard replied casually, no apologies forthcoming.


    Kierstaad looked into the black, dead eyes of the reindeer lying still, so very still, upon the flat tundra, surrounded by the colorful flowers that rushed to bloom in Icewind Dale''s short summer. He had killed the deer cleanly with one throw of his great spear.


    Kierstaad was glad of that. He felt little remorse at the sight of the magnificent beast, for the survival of his people depended upon the success of the hunt. Not a bit of this proud animal would be wasted. Still, the young man was glad that the kill, his first kill, had been clean. He looked into the eyes of the dead animal and gave thanks to its spirit.


    Berkthgar came up behind the young hunter and patted him on the shoulder. Kierstaad, too overwhelmed by the spectacle, by the sudden realization that in the eyes of the tribe he was no more a boy, hardly noticed as the huge man strode past him, a long knife in hand.


    Berkthgar crouched beside the animal and shifted its legs out of the way. His cut was clean and perfect, long practiced. Only a moment later, he turned about and stood up, holding his bloody arms out to Kierstaad, holding the animal''s heart.


    "Eat it and gain the deer''s strength and speed," the barbarian leader promised.


    Kierstaad took the heart tentatively and brought it near to his lips. This was part of the test, he knew, though he had no idea that this would be expected of him. The gravity in Berkthgar''s voice was unmistakable, he could not fail. No more a boy, he told himself. Something savage welled in him at the smell of the blood, at the thought of what he must do.


    "The heart holds the spirit of the deer," another man explained. "Eat of that spirit."


    Kierstaad hesitated no longer. He brought the blackish-red heart to his lips and bit deeply. He was hardly conscious of his next actions, of devouring the heart, of bathing in the spirit of the slain deer. Chants rose around him, the hunters of Berkthgar''s party welcoming him to manhood.


    No more a boy.


    Nothing more was expected of Kierstaad. He stood impassively to the side while the older hunters cleaned and dressed the reindeer. This was indeed the better way for he and his people, living free of the bonds of wealth and the ties to others. In that, at least, Kierstaad knew that Berkthgar was right. Yet, the young man continued to bear no ill will toward the dwarves or the folk of Ten-Towns, and had no intention of allowing any lies to diminish his respect for Wulfgar, who had done so much good for the tribes of Icewind Dale.


    Kierstaad looked to the harvesting of the reindeer, so complete and perfect. No waste and no disrespect for the proud animal. He looked to his own bloody hands and arms, felt a line of blood running down his chin to drip onto the spongy soil. This was his life, his destiny. Yet what did that mean? More war with Ten-Towns, as had happened so many times in the past? And what of relations with the dwarves who had returned to their mines south of Kelvin''s Cairn?


    Kierstaad had listened to Berkthgar throughout the last few weeks. He had heard Berkthgar arguing with Revjak, Kierstaad''s father and the accepted leader of the Tribe of the Elk, at present


    the one remaining tribe on Icewind Dale''s tundra. Berkthgar would break away, Kierstaad thought as he looked at the gigantic man. Berkthgar would take the other young warriors with him and begin anew the Tribe of the Bear, or one of the other ancestral tribes. Then the tribal rivalry that had for so long been a way of life for Icewind Dale''s barbarians would begin anew. They would fight for food or for good ground as they wandered the tundra.


    It was one possibility only, Kierstaad reasoned, trying to shake the disturbing thoughts away. Berkthgar wanted to be the complete leader, wanted to emulate and then surpass the legend of Wulfgar. He could not do that if he splintered the remaining barbarians, who in truth were not yet numerous enough to support any separate tribes of any real power.


    Wulfgar had united the tribes.


    There were other possibilities, but as he thought about it, none of them sat well with him.


    Berkthgar looked up from the kill, smiling widely, accepting Kierstaad fully and with no ulterior motives. Yet Kierstaad was the son of Revjak, and it seemed to him now that Berkthgar and his father might be walking a troubled course. The leader of a barbarian tribe could be challenged.


    That notion only intensified when the successful hunting party neared the deerskin tent encampment of the tribe, only to intercept one Bruenor Battlehammer and another dwarf, the priestess Stumpet Rakingclaw.


    "You do not belong here!" Berkthgar immediately growled at the dwarven leader.


    "Well met to yerself too," Stumpet, never the one to sit back and let others speak for her, snarled at Berkthgar. "Ye''re forgettin'' Keeper''s Dale, then, as we''ve heard ye were?"


    "I do not speak to females on matters of importance," Berkthgar said evenly.


    Bruenor moved quickly, extending an arm to hold the outraged Stumpet back. "And I''m not for talking with yerself," Bruenor replied. "Me and me cleric have come to see Revjak, the leader of the Tribe of the Elk."


    Berkthgar''s nostrils flared. For a moment, Kierstaad and the others expected him to hurl himself at Bruenor, and the dwarf, bracing himself and slapping his many-notched axe across his open palm, apparently expected it, too.


    But Berkthgar, no fool, calmed himself. "I, too, lead the hunters of Icewind Dale," he said. "Speak your business and be gone!"


    Bruenor chuckled and walked past the proud barbarian, moving into the settlement. Berkthgar howled and leaped, landing right in Bruenor''s path.


    "Ye led in Settlestone," the red-bearded dwarf said firmly. "And ye might be leadin'' here. Then again, ye might not. Revjak was king when we left the dale and Revjak''s king still, by all word I''m hearing." Bruenor''s judging gray eyes never left Berkthgar as he walked past the huge man once more.


    Stumpet turned up her nose and didn''t bother to eye the giant barbarian.


    For Kierstaad, who liked Bruenor and his wild clan, it was a painful meeting.


    The wind was light, the only sound the creaking timbers of the Sea Sprite as it glided quietly eastward on calm waters. The moon was full and pale above them as it crossed a cloudless sky.


    Catti-brie sat on the raised platform of the ballista, huddled near to a candle, every so often jotting something down on parchment. Drizzt leaned on the rail, his parchment rolled and in a pocket of his cloak. On Deudermont''s wise instructions, all six who had been in the blind witch''s cave were to write down the poem as they remembered it. Five of them could write, an extraordinary percentage. Waillan, who was not skilled with letters would dictate his recollection to both Harkle and Robillard, who would separately pen the words, hopefully without any of their own interpretations.


    It hadn''t taken Drizzt long to write down the verse, at least the parts he remembered most clearly, the parts he considered vital. He understood that every word might provide a necessary clue, but he was simply too excited, too overwhelmed to pay attention to minute details. In the poem''s second line, the witch had spoken of Drizzt''s father, and had intimated at Zaknafein''s survival several times thereafter. That was all that Drizzt could think of, all that he could hope to remember.


    Catti-brie was more diligent, her written record of the verse far more complete. But she, too, had been overwhelmed and surprised, and simply couldn''t be certain of how accurate her recording might be.


    "I would have liked to share a night such as this with him," Drizzt said, his voice shattering the stillness so abruptly that the young woman nearly jabbed her quill through the fragile parchment. She looked up to Drizzt, whose eyes were high, his gaze focused on the moon.


    "Just one," the drow went on. "Zaknafein would have loved the surface night."


    Catti-brie smiled, not doubting the claim. Drizzt had spoken to her many times about his father. Drizzt''s soul was the legacy of his father''s, not of his evil mother''s. The two were alike, in combat and in heart, with the notable exception that Drizzt had found the courage to walk away from Menzoberranzan, whereas Zaknafein had not. He had remained with the evil dark elves and had eventually come to be sacrificed to the Spider Queen.


    "Given to Lloth and by Lloth given."


    The true line came suddenly to Catti-brie. She whispered it once aloud, hearing the ring and knowing it to be exact, then went back to her parchment and located the line. She had written, "for" instead of "to," which she quickly corrected.


    Every little word could be vital.


    "I suspect that the danger I now face is beyond anything we have ever witnessed," Drizzt went on, talking to himself as much as to Catti-brie.


    Catti-brie didn''t miss his use of the personal pronoun, instead of the collective. She too was involved, a point that she was about to make clear, but another line came to her, jogged by Drizzt''s proclamation.


    "That thee might seek the darkest of trails."


    Catti-brie realized that was the next line and her quill went to work. Drizzt was talking again, but she hardly heard him. She did catch a few words, though, and she stopped writing, her gaze lifting from the parchment to consider the drow. He was speaking again of going off alone!


    "The verse was for us two," Catti-brie reminded him.


    "The dark trail leads to my father," Drizzt replied, "a drow you have never met."


    "Yer point being?" Catti-brie asked.


    "The trail is for me to walk ..."


    "With meself," Catti-brie said determinedly. "Don''t ye be doing that again!" she scolded. "Ye walked off once on me, and nearly brought ruin upon yerself and us all for yer stupidity!"


    Drizzt swung about and eyed her directly. How he loved this woman! He knew that he could not argue the point with her, knew that whatever arguments he might present, she would defeat them, or simply ignore them.


    "I''m going with ye, all the way," Catti-brie said, no compromise in her firm tone. "And me thinkin''s that Deudermont and Harkle, and maybe a few o'' the others''re coming along, too. And just ye try to stop us, Drizzt Do''Urden!"


    Drizzt began to reply, but changed his mind. Why bother? He would never talk his friends into letting him walk this dark course alone. Never.


    He looked back out to the dark sea and to the moon and stars, his thoughts drifting back to Zaknafein and the "golden ring," the witch had held out to him.


    "It will take at least two weeks to get back to port," he lamented.


    "Three, if the wind doesn''t come up strong," Catti-brie put in, her focus never leaving the all-important parchment.


    Not so far away, on the main deck just below the rail of the poop deck, Harkle Harpell rubbed his hands eagerly. He shared Drizzt''s lament that all of this would take so very long, and had no stomach for another two or three weeks of rolling about on the empty water.


    "The fog of fate," he mouthed quietly, thinking of his new, powerful spell, the enchantment that had brought him out to the Sea Sprite in the first place. The opportunity seemed perfect for him to energize his new spell once more.

 Page 12

    Revjak''s smile widened nearly enough to take in his ears when he saw that the rumors were true, that Bruenor Battlehammer had returned to Icewind Dale. The two had lived side by side for the first forty years of Revjak''s life, but during that time the barbarian had little experience with Bruenor, other than as enemies. But then Wulfgar had united the nomadic tribes and cast them into the war as allies of the folk of Ten-Towns and the dwarves of Clan Battlehammer against evil Akar Kessel and his goblinoid minions.


    On that occasion, less than a decade before, Revjak had come to appreciate the strength and fortitude of Bruenor and of all the dwarves. In the few weeks that had followed, before Bruenor and Wulfgar had set out to find Mithril Hall, Revjak had spent many days with Bruenor and had forged a fast friendship. Bruenor was going to leave, but the rest of Clan Battlehammer would remain in Icewind Dale until Mithril Hall was found, and Revjak had taken on the responsibility of tightening the friendship between the giant barbarians and the diminutive dwarves. He had done


    such a fine job that many of his people, Berkthgar included, had opted to go south with Clan Battlehammer to join in the fight to reclaim Mithril Hall, and there they had stayed for several years.


    It seemed to wise Revjak that Berkthgar had forgotten all of that, for when the giant warrior entered the tent to join in the meeting with Bruenor and Stumpet, his face was locked in a deep and unrelenting scowl.


    "Sit, Berkthgar," Revjak bade the man, motioning to a spot beside him.


    Berkthgar held out his hand, indicating that he would remain standing. He was trying to be imposing, Revjak knew, towering over the seated dwarves. If hardy Bruenor was bothered at all, though, he didn''t show it. He reclined comfortably on the thick blanket of piled skins so that he did not have to crook his neck to look up at the standing Berkthgar.


    "Ye''re still looking like yer last meal didn''t taste so good," the dwarf remarked to Berkthgar.


    "Why has a king come so far from his kingdom?" Berkthgar retorted.


    "No more a king," Bruenor corrected. "I gived that back to me great-great-great-great grandfather."


    Revjak looked at the dwarf curiously. "Gandalug?" he asked, remembering the improbable story Berkthgar had told him of how Bruenor''s ancestor, the original Patron of Clan Battlehammer and the founder of Mithril Hall, had returned from the dead as a prisoner of the drow elves.


    "The same," Stumpet answered.


    "Yerself can call me prince," Bruenor said to Berkthgar, who huffed and looked away.


    "Thus you have returned to Icewind Dale," Revjak intervened, before the discussion could turn ugly. It seemed to the barbarian leader that Bruenor did not appreciate the level of antipathy Berkthgar had cultivated for the dwarves-either that, or Bruenor simply didn''t care. "You''re here to visit?"


    "To stay," Bruenor corrected. "The mines are being opened as we sit here talkin''. Cleaning out the things that''ve crawled in and fixing the supports. We''ll be taking ore in a week and hammering out goods the day after that."


    Revjak nodded. "Then this is a visit for purposes of business," he reasoned.


    "And for friendship," Bruenor was quick to reply. "Better if the two go together, I say."


    "Agreed," Revjak said. He looked up to notice that Berkthgar was chewing hard on his lip. "And I trust that your clan will be fair with its prices for goods that we need."


    "We''ve got the metal, ye''ve got the skins and the meat," Bruenor answered.


    "You have nothing that we need," Berkthgar interjected suddenly and vehemently. Bruenor, smirking, looked up at him. After returning the look for just a moment, Berkthgar looked directly to Revjak. "We need nothing from the dwarves," the warrior stated. "All that we need is provided by the tundra."


    "Bah!" Bruenor snorted. "Yer stone speartips bounce off good mail!"


    "Reindeer wear no mail," Berkthgar replied dryly. "And if we come to war with Ten-Towns and the allies of Ten-Towns, our strength will put the stone tips through anything a dwarf can forge."


    Bruenor sat up straight and both Revjak and Stumpet tensed, fearing that the fiery red-bearded dwarf would pounce upon Berkthgar for such an open threat.


    Bruenor was older and wiser than that, though, and he looked instead to Revjak. "Who''s speaking for the tribe?" the dwarf asked.


    "I am," Revjak stated firmly, looking directly at Berkthgar.


    Berkthgar didn''t blink. "Where is Aegis-fang?" the giant man asked.


    There it was, Bruenor thought, the point of it all, the source of the argument from the very beginning. Aegis-fang, the mighty warhammer forged by Bruenor himself as a gift to Wulfgar, the barbarian lad who had become as his son.


    "Did you leave it in Mithril Hall?" Berkthgar pressed, and it seemed to Bruenor that the warrior hoped the answer would be yes. "Is it hanging useless as an ornament on a wall?"


    Stumpet understood what was going on here. She and Bruenor had discussed this very point before they had set out on the return to Icewind Dale. Berkthgar would have preferred it if they had left Aegis-fang in Mithril Hall, hundreds and hundreds of miles away from Icewind Dale. So far away, the weapon would not have cast its shadow over him and his own great sword,


    Bankenfuere, the Northern Fury. Bruenor would hear nothing of such a course, though. Aegis-fang was his greatest accomplishment, the pinnacle of his respectable career as a weaponsmith, and even more importantly, it was his only link to his lost son. Where Bruenor went, Aegis-fang went, and Berkthgar''s feelings be damned!


    Bruenor hedged for a moment on the question, as if he was trying to figure out the best tactical course. Stumpet was not so ambivalent. "The hammer''s in the mines," she said determinedly. "Bringed by Bruenor, who made it."


    Berkthgar''s scowl deepened and Stumpet promptly attacked.


    "Ye just said the dale''ll give ye all ye''re needin''," the priestess howled. "Why''re ye caring for a dwarf-made hammer, then?"


    The giant barbarian didn''t reply, but it seemed to both Bruenor and Revjak as if Stumpet was gaining the upper hand here.


    "Of course that own sword ye wear strapped to yer back was not made in the dale," she remarked. "Ye got it in trade, and it, too, was probably made by dwarves!"


    Berkthgar laughed at her, but there was no mirth in Revjak''s tent, for his laugh seemed more of threat than of mirth.


    "Who are these dwarves who call themselves our friends?" Berkthgar asked. "And yet they will not give over to the tribe a weapon made legendary by one of the tribe."


    "Yer talk is getting old," Bruenor warned.


    "And you are getting old, dwarf," Berkthgar retorted. "You should not have returned." With that, Berkthgar stormed from the tent.


    "Ye should be watchin'' that one," Bruenor said to Revjak.


    The barbarian leader nodded. "Berkthgar has been caught in a web spun of his own words," he replied. "And so have many others, mostly the young warriors."


    "Always full o'' fight," Bruenor remarked.


    Revjak smiled and did not disagree. Berkthgar was indeed one to be watched, but in truth, there was little Revjak could do. If Berkthgar wanted to split the tribe, enough would agree and follow him so that Revjak could not stop him. And even worse, if Berkthgar demanded the Right of Challenge for the leadership of the united tribe, he would have enough support so that Revjak would find it difficult to refuse.


    Revjak was too old to fight Berkthgar. He had thought the


    ways of the barbarians of Icewind Dale changed when Wulfgar had united the tribes. That is why he had accepted the offered position as leader when Wulfgar had left, though in the past such a title could be earned only by inheritance or by combat, by deed or by blood.


    Old ways died hard, Revjak realized, staring at the tent flap through which Berkthgar had departed. Many in the tribe, especially those who had returned from Mithril Hall, and even a growing number of those who had remained with Revjak waxed nostalgic for the freer, wilder days gone by. Revjak often happened upon conversations where older men retold tales of the great wars, the unified attack upon Ten-Towns, wherein Wulfgar was captured by Bruenor.


    Their nostalgia was misplaced, Revjak knew. In the unified attack upon Ten-Towns, the warriors had been so completely slaughtered that the tribes had barely survived the ensuing winter. Still, the stories of war were always full of glory and excitement, and never words of tragedy. With the excitement of Berkthgar''s return along with the return of Bruenor and the dwarves, many remembered too fondly the days before the alliance.


    Revjak would indeed watch Berkthgar, but he feared that to be all he could do.


    Outside the tent, another listener, young Kierstaad, nodded his agreement with Bruenor''s warning. Kierstaad was truly torn, full of admiration for Berkthgar but also for Bruenor. At that moment though, little of that greater struggle entered into the young man''s thoughts.


    Bruenor had confirmed that Aegis-fang was in the dale!


    "Might be the same storm that hit us near the Gull Rocks," Robillard remarked, eyeing the black wall that loomed on the eastern horizon before the Sea Sprite.


    "But stronger," Deudermont added. "Taking power from the water." They were still in the sunshine, six days out from Caerwich,


    with another eight to the Moonshaes, by Deudermont''s figuring.


    The first hints of a head wind brushed against the tall captain''s face, the first gentle blows of the gales that would soon assault them.


    "Hard to starboard!" Deudermont yelled to the sailor at the wheel. "We shall go north around it, north around the Moonshaes," he said quietly, so that only Robillard could hear. "A straighter course to our port."


    The wizard nodded. He knew that Deudermont did not want to turn to the north, where the wind was less predictable and the waters choppier and colder, but he understood that they had little choice at this point. If they tried to dodge the storm to the south, they would wind up near the Nelanther, the Pirate Isles, a place the Sea Sprite, such a thorn in the side of the pirates, did not want to be.


    So, north they would go, around the storm, and around the Moonshaes. That was the hope, anyway. In looking at the wall of blackness, often creased by a shot of lightning, Robillard was not sure they could run fast enough.


    "Do go and fill our sails with your magical wind," Deudermont bade him, and the captain''s quiet tone showed that he obviously shared the wizard''s trepidation.


    Robillard moved to the rail of the poop deck and sat down, slipping his legs under the rail so that he was facing the mainmast. He held his left hand up toward the mast and called on the powers of his ring to create a gust of wind. Such a minor enchantment would not tax the powers of the wizard''s mighty ring, and so Robillard enacted it again and again, filling the sails, launching the Sea Sprite on a swift run.


    Not swift enough. The black wall closed in on them, waves rocking the Sea Sprite and soon turning her ride into more of a bounce than a run. A grim choice lay before Deudermont. He could either drop the sails and batten everything down in an attempt to ride out the storm, or keep up the run, skirting the edge of the storm in a desperate attempt to slip off to the north of it.


    "Luck be with us," the captain decided, and he tried the run, keeping the sails full until, at last, the storm engulfed them.


    She was among the finest ships ever built, crewed by a hand-picked group of expert sailors that now included two powerful


    wizards, Drizzt, Catti-brie and Guenhwyvar, and she was captained by one of the most experienced and well-respected seamen anywhere along the Sword Coast. Great indeed were the powers of the Sea Sprite when measured by the standards of man, but tiny she seemed now in the face of the sheer weight of nature. They tried to run, but like a skilled hunter, the storm closed in.


    Guide ropes snapped apart and the mast itself bent for the strain. Robillard tried desperately to counter, so did Harkle Harpell, but even their combined magic could not save the mainmast. A crack appeared along the main vertical beam, and the only thing that saved it was the snapping of the horizontal guide beam.


    Out flapped the sail, knocking one man from the rigging to splash into the churning sea. Drizzt moved immediately, yelling to Guenhwyvar, calling the panther to his side and then sending her over the rail in search of the sailor. Guenhwyvar didn''t hesitate-they had done this before. Roaring all the way, the cat splashed into the dark water and disappeared immediately.


    Rain and hail pelted them, as did the walls of waves that splashed over the bow. Thunder boomed all about the tossing ship, more than one bolt of lightning slamming into the tall masts.


    "I should have stopped the run sooner!" Deudermont cried, and though he screamed with all his strength, Drizzt, standing right beside him, could barely hear him over the roar of the wind and the pounding of the thunder.


    The drow shook his head. The ship was nearly battened down, most of the crew had gone below, and still the Sea Sprite was being tossed wildly. "We are on the edges because of the run," the drow said firmly. "If you had stopped earlier, we would be in the heart of the storm and surely doomed!"


    Deudermont heard only a few of the words, but he understood the gist of what his dark elven friend was trying to communicate. Grateful, he put a hand on Drizzt''s shoulder, but suddenly went flying away, slamming hard against the rail and nearly toppling over, as a huge wave nearly lay the Sea Sprite down on her side.


    Drizzt caught up to him in an instant, the drow''s enchanted bracers and sheer agility allowing him to navigate on the rocking deck. He helped the captain to his feet and the two struggled for the hatch.


    Deudermont went down first, Drizzt stopping to survey the deck, to make sure that everyone else had gone below. Only Robillard remained, wedged in with his thighs pressing against the rail, cursing the storm and throwing magical gusts into the teeth of the raging wind. The wizard noticed that Drizzt was looking at him, and he waved the drow away, then pointed to his ring, reminding Drizzt that he had enough magical power to save himself.


    As soon as he got into the cramped deck below, Drizzt took out the panther figurine. He had to hope that Guenhwyvar had found the sailor and had him in her grasp, for if he waited any longer, the man would surely be drowned anyway. "Go home, Guenhwyvar," he said to the statue.


    He wanted to call Guenhwyvar back almost immediately, to find out if the man had been saved, but a wave slammed the ship and the figurine flew off into the darkness. Drizzt scrambled, trying to follow its course, but it was too cramped and too dark.


    In the blackness belowdecks, the terrified crew had no way of really knowing if this was the same storm that had battered them before. If it was, then it had indeed intensified, for this time, the Sea Sprite was tossed about like a toy. Water washed over them from every crack in the deck above, and only their frantic bailing, coordinated and disciplined despite the darkness and the terror, kept the ship afloat. It went on for more than two hours, two horrible gut-wrenching hours, but Drizzt''s estimate of the value of Deudermont''s run was accurate. The Sea Sprite was on the fringe of the storm, not in its heart; no ship in all the Realms could have survived this storm in full.


    Then all went quiet, except for the occasional thunder boom, growing ever more distant. The Sea Sprite was listing badly to port, but she was up.


    Drizzt was the first on deck, Deudermont right behind him. The damage was extensive, especially to the mainmast.


    "Can we repair her?" Drizzt asked.


    Deudermont didn''t think so. "Not without putting into port," he replied, not bothering to mention the fact that the nearest port might be five hundred miles away.


    Catti-brie came up soon after, bearing the onyx figurine. Drizzt wasted no time in calling to the panther, and when the cat came on deck, she was escorted by a very sorry-looking sailor.


    "There is a tale for your grandchildren," Deudermont said in a chipper voice to the man, clapping him on the shoulder and trying to keep up the morale of those near him. The stricken sailor nodded sheepishly as two other crewmen helped him away.


    "So fine a friend," Deudermont remarked to Drizzt, indicating Guenhwyvar. "The man was surely doomed."


    Drizzt nodded and dropped a hand across Guenhwyvar''s muscled flank. Never did he take the cat''s friendship for granted.


    Catti-brie watched the drow''s actions intently, understanding that saving the sailor was important to Drizzt for reasons beyond the drow''s altruistic demeanor. Had the sailor drowned, that would have been one more weight of guilt laid across the shoulders of Drizzt Do''Urden, one more innocent sacrificed because of the ranger''s dark past.


    But that had not come to pass, and it seemed for a moment as if the Sea Sprite and all of her crew had survived. That happy notion fell away a moment later, though, when Harkle bounded over, asking a simple, but poignant question. "Where is Robillard?"


    All eyes turned to regard the forward rail of the poop deck, to see that the rail had split apart in precisely the spot where Drizzt had last seen the wizard.


    Drizzt''s heart nearly failed him and Catti-brie rushed to the rail and began surveying the empty water.


    Deudermont didn''t seem so upset. "The wizard has ways to escape the storm," the captain assured the others. "It has happened before."


    True enough, Drizzt and Catti-brie realized. On several occasions Robillard had left the Sea Sprite by use of his magic in order to attend a meeting of his guild in Waterdeep, even though the ship was sailing waters hundreds of miles removed from that city at the time.


    "He cannot drown," Deudermont assured them. "Not while he wears that ring."


    Both the friends seemed satisfied with that. Robillard''s ring was of the Elemental Plane of Water, a powerfully enchanted device that gave the wizard many advantages on the sea, no matter the strength of a storm. He might have been hit by lightning, or might have been knocked unconscious, but more likely, he had been swept away from the Sea Sprite and forced to use his magic


    to get clear of the storm long before the ship ever did.


    Catti-brie continued her scan, and Drizzt joined her.


    Deudermont had other business to attend to, he had to figure out how he was going to get the Sea Sprite into a safe port. They had weathered the storm and survived, but that might prove to be a temporary reprieve.


    Harkle, in watching the captain''s movements and in surveying the extensive damage to the schooner, knew it too. He moved quietly to Deudermont''s cabin, hiding his eagerness until he was safely locked away. Then he rubbed his hands together briskly, his smile wide, and took out a leather book.


    Glancing around to ensure that no one was watching, Harkle opened a magical tome, one of the components he needed for his newest, and perhaps most powerful spell. Most of the pages were blank-all of them had been blank until Harkle had first cast his fog of fate. Now the first few pages read as a journal of Harkle''s magical ride to join the Sea Sprite, and, he was glad to see, of his continuing experiences with the ship. To his absolute amazement, for he hadn''t dared look so extensively at the journal before, even the blind seer''s poem was there, word for word.


    The fog of fate was working still, Harkle knew, for neither he nor any other man had penned a single word into the journal. The continuing enchantment of the spell was recording the events!


    This exceeded Harkle''s wildest expectations for the fog of fate. He didn''t know how long this might continue, but he understood that he had stumbled onto something very special here. And something that needed a little boost. The Sea Sprite was dead in the water, and so was the quest that had apparently befallen Drizzt and Catti-brie, and by association, Harkle. Harkle wasn''t one to be patient, not now. He waved his hand over the first of the many blank pages, chanting softly. He reached into a pouch and produced some diamond dust, sprinkling it sparingly onto the first of the still-blank pages.


    Nothing happened.


    Harkle continued for nearly an hour, but when he emerged from the cabin, the Sea Sprite was still listing, still drifting aimlessly.


    Harkle rubbed the stubble on his unshaven face. Apparently, the spell needed more work.


    Robillard stood on top of the rolling water, tapping his foot impatiently. "Where is that brute?" he asked, referring to the water elemental monster he had summoned to his aid. He had sent the creature in search of the Sea Sprite, but that had been many minutes ago.


    Finally, the azure blanket before the wizard rolled up and took on a roughly humanoid shape. Robillard gurgled at it, asking the creature in its own watery language if it had found the ship.


    It had, and so the wizard bade the elemental to take him to it. The creature held out a huge arm. It appeared watery, but was in truth much more substantial than any normal liquid. When the wizard was comfortably in place, the monster whisked him away with the speed of a breaking wave.

 Page 13

    The crew worked through the afternoon, but they seemed to be making little progress on the extensive damage the ship had taken. They could hoist one of the sails, the mizzensail, but they couldn''t control it to catch the wind, or to steer the ship in any desired direction.


    Thus was their condition when Catti-brie called out an alert from the crow''s nest. Deudermont and Drizzt rushed side by side to see what she was calling about, both fearing that it might be a pirate vessel. If that was the case, damaged as she was and without Robillard, the proud Sea Sprite might be forced to surrender without a fight.


    No pirate blocked their path, but directly ahead loomed a curtain of thick fog. Deudermont looked up to Catti-brie, and the young woman, having no explanation, only shrugged in reply. This was no usual occurrence. The sky was clear, except for this one fog bank, and the temperature had been fairly constant. "What would cause such a mist?" Drizzt asked Deudermont. "Nothing that I know of," the captain insisted. "Man some oars!" he yelled out to the crew. "Try to put up a sail. Let us see if


    we can navigate around it."


    By the time Deudermont turned his attention back to the sea before them, however, he found Drizzt shaking his head doubtfully, for the fog already loomed much nearer. It was not stationary.


    "It is approaching us," the captain breathed in disbelief.


    "Swiftly," Drizzt added, and then the drow, with his keen ears, heard the chuckle of Harkle Harpell and knew in his heart that this was the wizard''s work. He turned in time to see the man disappearing through the hatch belowdecks, and started to follow. Drizzt stopped before he reached the hatch, though, hearing Deudermont''s gasp and the nervous cries of many crewmen.


    Catti-brie scrambled down the rigging. "What is it?" she asked, near desperation.


    Into the gray veil they went. The sound of splashing water went away, as did any sensation of movement. Crewmen huddled together and many drew out their weapons, as if expecting some enemy to climb aboard from the dark mist.


    It was Guenhwyvar who gave Drizzt the next clue of what might be going on. The panther came to Drizzt''s side, ears flattened, but her expression and demeanor showing more curiosity than fear.


    "Dimensional," the drow remarked.


    Deudermont looked at him curiously.


    "This is Harkle''s doing," Drizzt said. "The wizard is using his magic to get us off the open sea."


    Deudermont''s face brightened at that notion, so did Catti-brie''s-at least until both of them took a moment to consider the source of their apparent salvation.


    Catti-brie looked out at the thick fog. Suddenly, drifting in a damaged ship across empty waters did not seem like such a bad thing.


    "What do you mean?" Robillard roared. He slapped his hands together fiercely and translated his question into the watery, gurgling language of the water elemental.


    The reply came without hesitation, and Robillard knew enough of such a creature to understand that it had the means to


    know the truth of the matter. This one had been cooperative, as elemental creatures go, and Robillard did not believe that it was lying to him.


    The Sea Sprite was gone, vanished from the sea.


    Robillard breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the next reply, that the ship had not sunk, had simply drifted out of the waters.


    "Harkle Harpell," the wizard reasoned aloud. "He has gotten them into a port. Well done!" Robillard considered his own situation then, alone and so far from land. He commanded the elemental to keep him moving in a generally easterly direction, and explained that he would need the creature until the next dawn. Then he took out his spellbook, a fabulous leatherbound and watertight work, and moved its golden tassel bookmark to the page containing his teleportation spell.


    Then the wizard sat back and relaxed. He needed to sleep, to gather his strength and his energy. The elemental would see to his safety for now, and in the morning he would use his spell to put him in his private room in the guild hall in Waterdeep. Yes, the wizard decided, it had been a difficult and boring few weeks, and now was a good time for some restful shore leave.


    Deudermont would just have to catch up with him later.


    The Sea Sprite drifted in a surreal stillness, no sound of water or wind, for many minutes. The fog was so thick about them that Drizzt had to hang very low over the rail to even see the water. He didn''t dare reach out and touch that gray liquid, not knowing what Harkle''s spell, if this was indeed Harkle''s spell, might be doing.


    At last they heard a splash, the lap of a wave against the prow of the ship. The fog began to thin almost immediately, but though they couldn''t see their surroundings, everyone on board sensed that something had changed.


    "The smell," Catti-brie remarked, and the heads of all those near her bobbed in agreement. Gone was the salty aroma, so thick that it left a taste in your mouth, replaced by a crisp summer scent, filled with trees, flowers, and the slick feel of an inlet swamp. The sounds, too, had changed, from the empty, endless


    whistle of the wind and the muted splashes of deep water to the gentle lapping of lesser waves and the trilling of ...


    "Songbirds?" Drizzt asked.


    The fog blew away, and all of the crew breathed a sigh of relief, for they were near to land! To the left loomed a small island, tree-covered, centered by a small castle and dotted with large mansions. A long bridge stretched in front of the Sea Sprite, reaching from the island to the shore, to the docks of a fair-sized, walled town. Behind the town, the ground sloped up into tall mountains, a landmark that no sailor could miss, but that Deudermont did not know. Many boats were about, though none much bigger than the rowboats the Sea Sprite carried astern. All the crews stood, staring blankly at the magnificent sailing ship.


    "Not Waterdeep," Deudermont remarked. "Nor anywhere near to the city that I know of."


    Drizzt surveyed the area, studying the coastline that curled back behind them. "Not the open sea," he replied.


    "A lake," Catti-brie reasoned.


    All three of them looked at each other for a moment, then yelled out, "Harkle!" in unison. The Harpell, expecting the call, scrambled out of the hatch and bounded right up beside them, his expression full of cheer.


    "Where are we?" Deudermont demanded.


    "Where the fates wanted us to be," the mage said mysteriously, waving his arms, the voluminous sleeves of his robe flying wide.


    "I''m thinking ye''ll have to do better than that," Catti-brie put in dryly.


    Harkle shrugged and lowered his arms. "I do not know for sure, of course," he admitted. "The spell facilitates the move-not a random thing-but wherever that might be, I cannot tell."


    "The spell?" Deudermont asked.


    "The fog of fate," Drizzt answered before Harkle could. "The same spell that brought you to us."


    Harkle nodded through the drow''s every word, his smile wide, his expression one of pride and accomplishment.


    "You put us in a lake!" Deudermont roared angrily.


    Harkle stammered for a reply, but a call from the water cut the private conversation short. "Yo ho, Sea Sprite!"


    The four went to the rail, Drizzt pulling the hood of his cloak over his head. He didn''t know where they were, or what recep-


    tion they might find, but he felt it likely that the greeting would be less warm if these sailors discovered that the Sea Sprite carried a drow elf.


    A fair-sized fishing boat had pulled up alongside, its crew of six studying the schooner intently. "You''ve seen battle," an old graybeard, seeming to be the skipper of the fishing boat, reasoned.


    "A storm," Deudermont corrected. "As fierce a blow as I''ve ever known."


    The six fishermen exchanged doubting looks. They had been on the water every day for the last month and had seen no storms.


    "Far from here," Deudermont tried to explain, recognizing the doubting expressions.


    "How far can you get?" the old graybeard asked, looking about at the ever-present shoreline.


    "Ye''d be surprised," Catti-brie answered, casting a sidelong glance at the blushing Harkle.


    "Where did you put in?" the graybeard asked.


    Deudermont held his hands out wide. "We are the Sea Sprite, out of Waterdeep."


    The doubting expressions turned into open smirks. "Waterdeep?" the graybeard echoed.


    "Are we in another world?" Catti-brie whispered to Drizzt, and the drow found it hard to honestly comfort her, especially with Harkle Harpell behind it all.


    "Waterdeep," Deudermont said evenly, seriously, with as much conviction as he could muster.


    "You''re a long way from home, captain," another of the fishermen remarked. "A thousand miles."


    "Fifteen hundred," the graybeard corrected.


    "And all of it land," another added, laughing. "Have you wheels on the Sea Sprite?" That brought a chuckle from the six and from several other crews of boats moving close to investigate.


    "And a team of horses I''d like to see," a man on another boat put in, drawing more laughter.


    Even Deudermont managed a smile, relieved that he and his ship were apparently still in the Realms. "Wizard''s work," he explained. "We sailed the Sea of Swords, five hundred miles southwest of the Moonshaes, when the storm found us and left us


    drifting. Our wizard"-Deudermont looked over to Harkle- "cast some enchantment to get us into port."


    "He missed," howled a man.


    "But he got us off of the open sea," Deudermont said when the laughter died away. "Where we surely would have perished. Pray tell me, good sailors, where are we?"


    "This is Impresk Lake," the graybeard replied, then pointed to shore, to the walled town. "Carradoon."


    Deudermont didn''t recognize the names.


    "Those are the Snowflakes," the skipper continued, indicating the mountains.


    "South," Catti-brie said suddenly. All eyes turned to her. "We are far south of Waterdeep," she said. "And if we sailed south from the lake, we''d get to the Deepwash, then to Vilhon Reach in the Inner Sea."


    "You have the place," the graybeard announced. "But you''d not draw enough water to get that ship to Shalane Lake."


    "And unless you''ve wings with those wheels, you won''t be sailing over the Cloven Mountains!" the man beside the graybeard roared. But the laughter was subdued now, all the sailors, on the Sea Sprite and on the fishing boats, digesting the gravity of the situation.


    Deudermont blew a long sigh and looked to Harkle, who cast his gaze to the deck. "We''ll worry about where we are going later," Deudermont said. "For now, the task is to repair the Sea Sprite." He turned to the graybeard. "I fear that your lake hasn''t enough draw," he said. "Is there a long wharf, where we might put in for repairs?"


    The skipper pointed to Carradoon Island, and one long dock jutting out in the direction of the Sea Sprite.


    "The draw is deeper on the northern side of the island," the man next to him remarked.


    "But the long dock is privately owned," a third fisherman put in.


    "We''ll get permission to put her in," the graybeard said firmly.


    "But the task is not so easy," Deudermont interjected. "We''ve not the sails, nor the steering to navigate. And I do not know these waters, obviously."


    "Put out some lines, Captain ..."


    "Deudermont," the Sea Sprite''s captain replied. "Captain Deudermont."


    "My name''s Terraducket," the graybeard said. "Well met." He signaled to all the other boats as he spoke, and already they were swarming about the Sea Sprite, trying to get in position.


    "We''ll get you in to the docks, and Carradoon has a fair number of shipwrights to help in your repairs," Terraducket went on. "Even on that mast, though we''ll have to find a tall tree indeed to replace it! Know that it will cost you a fair number of stories about your sailing adventures on the Sea of Swords, if I know my fellows!"


    "We''ve a fair number to tell!" Deudermont assured him.


    The ropes went out and the fishing fleet put in line and began to guide and tow the great schooner.


    "The brotherhood of sailors extends to those upon the lakes," Drizzt remarked.


    "So it would seem," Deudermont agreed. "If we had crew to replace, I''d know where to begin my search." The captain looked over to Harkle, who was still staring forlornly at the deck. "You did well, Master Harpell," Deudermont said, and the wizard''s face brightened as he looked up at the man. "We would have perished in the uncharted waters so far from the Moonshaes, and now we shall live."


    "But on a lake," Harkle replied.


    Deudermont waved that notion away. "Robillard will find us, and the two of you will find a way to put us back where we belong, I do not doubt. For now, my ship and my crew are safe, and that is all that matters. Well done!"


    Harkle verily glowed.


    "But why are we here?" Catti-brie had to ask.


    "The fog of fate," Drizzt and Harkle said in unison.


    "And that means that there is something here that we need," the wizard went on.


    "Need for what?" Catti-brie asked.


    "For the quest, of course!" Harkle roared. "That is what this is all about, is it not?" He looked around as if that should explain everything, but saw that the stares coming back at him were not looks of comprehension. "Before the storm, we were heading for ..."


    "Waterdeep," Deudermont answered. "Your spell has not put us closer to Waterdeep."


    Harkle waved his hands frantically. "No, no," he corrected. "Not for Waterdeep, but for a priest, or perhaps a wizard, in Waterdeep."


    "And you think that we''re more likely to find a spellcaster of the power we need here than in Waterdeep?" Drizzt asked incredulously. "In this tiny town so far from home?"


    "Good Captain Terraducket," Harkle called.


    "Here," came the reply from farther away than before, for Terraducket''s fishing boat had moved forward to join in the towing line.


    "We seek a priest," Harkle said. "A very powerful priest ..."


    "Cadderly," Terraducket interrupted without hesitation. "Cadderly Bonaduce. You''ll not find a more powerful priest in all the Realms!" Terraducket boasted, as if this Cadderly was the property of all of Carradoon.


    Harkle cast a superior glance at his friends. "Fog of fate," he remarked.


    "And where might we find this Cadderly?" Deudermont asked. "In Carradoon?"


    "No," came Terraducket''s reply. "Two day''s march out, into the mountains, in a temple called the Spirit Soaring."


    Deudermont looked to Harkle, no more doubting questions coming to surface.


    Harkle clapped his hands together. "Fog of fate!" he said again. "Oh, and it all fits so well," he said excitedly, as though another thought had just popped into his head.


    "Fits like the Sea Sprite in a lake," Catti-brie put in sarcastically, but Harkle just ignored her.


    "Don''t you see?" the wizard asked them all, excited once more and flapping those winglike arms. "Sea Sprite and Spirit Soaring. SS and SS, after all! And fog of fate, ff."


    "I''m needin'' a long sleep," Catti-brie groaned.


    "And HH!" Harkle bellowed. Drizzt looked at him curiously. "Harkle Harpell!" the excited wizard explained, then he poked a finger the drow''s way. "And DD for Drizzt Do''Urden! FF for fog of fate, and SS and SS, HH and DD! And you . . ." he pointed at Catti-brie.


    "Doesn''t work," the young woman assured him.


    "Doesn''t matter," Drizzt added. Deudermont was biting hard on his lip, trying not to steal Harkle''s moment of glory with a burst of laughter.


    "Oh, there''s something in the letters," Harkle said, speaking to himself more than to the others. "I must explore this!"


    "Explore yer mind," Catti-brie said to him, and then she added under her breath, so that only Drizzt and Deudermont could hear, "Better take a big lantern and a dwarf''s cave pack."


    That brought a snicker.


    "But your father!" Harkle yelled suddenly, leaping at Catti-brie. She barely held back from slugging him, so great was her surprise.


    "Me father?" she asked.


    "BB!" Harkle, Drizzt, and Deudermont all said together, the drow and the captain feigning excitement.


    Catti-brie groaned again.


    "Yes, yes. Bruenor Battlehammer," Harkle said to himself, and started walking away. "BB. Oh, I must explore the correlation of the letters, yes, I must."


    "While ye''re thinkin'' on it, find the correlation of BF," Catti-brie said to him. The distracted wizard nodded and rambled along, making a straight path to Deudermont''s private quarters, which Harkle had practically taken over.


    "BF?" the captain asked Catti-brie.


    "Babbling fool," she and Drizzt replied together, drawing yet another laugh from those nearby. Still, neither Drizzt nor Catti-brie, Deudermont nor any of the others could dismiss the fact that the "babbling fool" had apparently saved the Sea Sprite, and had put them closer to their goal.


    Part 3


    THE NATURE OF EVIL


    They are the absolutes, the pantheon of ideals, the goodly gods and the evil fiends, forever locked in the struggle for the souls of the mortals. The concept that is Lloth is purely evil; that of Mielikki, purely good. As opposite as black and white, with no shades of gray in between. Thus are the concepts, good and evil. Absolute, rigid. There can be no justification for a truly evil act; there is no shade of gray. While an act of good often brings personal gain, the act itself is absolute as its measure is based on intent. This is epitomized by our beliefs in the pantheon, but what of the mortal races, the rational beings-the humans and the races of elvenkind and dwarvenkind, the gnomes and the halflings, the goblinoids and giantkin? Here the question muddles, the absolutes blend.


    To many, the equation is simple: I am drow, drow are evil, thus I am evil.


    They are wrong. For what is a rational being if not a choice? And there can be no evil, nor any good, without intent. It is true that in the Realms there are races and cultures, particularly the goblinoids, which show a general weal of evil, and those, such as the surface elves, which lean toward the concept of good. But even in these, which many consider personifications of an absolute, it is the individual''s intents and actions that ultimately decide. I have known a goblin who was not evil; I am a drow who has not succumbed to the ways of his culture. Still, few drow and fewer goblins can make such claims, and so the generalities hold.


    Most curious and most diverse among the races are the humans. Here the equation and the expectations muddle most of all. Here perception reins supreme. Here intent is oft hidden, secret. No race is more adept than humans at weaving a mask of


    justification. No race is more adept than humans at weaving a mask of excuses, at ultimately claiming good intent. And no race is more adept at believing its own claims. How many wars have been fought, man against man, with both armies espousing that god, a goodly god, was on their side and in their hearts?


    But good is not a thing of perception. What is "good" in one culture cannot be "evil" in another. This might be true of mores and minor practices, but not of virtue. Virtue is absolute.


    It must be. Virtue is the celebration of life and of love, the acceptance of others and the desire to grow toward goodness, toward a better place. It is the absence of pride and envy, the willingness to share our joys and to bask in the accomplishments of others. It is above justification because it is what truly lies in each and every heart. If a person does an evil act, then let him weave his mask, but it will not hide the truth, the absolute, from what is naked within his own heart.


    There is a place within each of us where we cannot hide from the truth, where virtue sits as judge. To admit the truth of our actions is to go before that court, where process is irrelevant. Good and evil are intents, and intent is without excuse.


    Cadderly Bonaduce went to that place as willingly and completely as any man I have known. I recognize that growth within him, and see the result, the Spirit Soaring, most majestic and yet most humble of human accomplishments.


    Artemis Entreri will go to that place. Perhaps not until the moment of his death, but he will go, as we all must eventually go, and what agony he will realize when the truth of his evil existence is laid bare before him. I pray that he goes soon, and my hope is not born of vengeance, for vengeance is an empty prayer. May Entreri go of his own volition to that most private place within his heart to see the truth and, thus, to correct his ways. He will find joy in his penance, true harmony that he can never know along his present course.


    I go to that place within my heart as often as I am able in order to escape the trap of easy justification. It is a painful place, a naked place, but only there might we grow toward goodness; only there, where no mask can justify, might we recognize the truth of our intents, and thus, the truth of our actions. Only there, where virtue sits as judge, are heroes born.