Starless Night

Chapter 17 EPITOME OF ENEMIES

 
Do you know who he is? the drow soldier's fingers asked imperatively in the intricate hand code.
Khareesa rocked back on her heels, not quite under  standing any of this. A contingent of well armed drow had come to the Isle of Rothe, demanding answers, interrogating both the orc and goblin slaves and the few drow slavers on the island. They wore no house emblems and, as far as Khareesa could tell, were exclusively males.
That did not stop them from treating her roughly, though, with  out the proper protocol typically afforded her gender.
"Do you?" the drow asked aloud. The unexpected noise brought two of the male's comrades rushing to his sides.
"He is gone, " the male explained to calm his companions, "into the city."
But he is on his way back, a fourth drow replied in the silent hand code as he rushed to join the others. We just received the code flashes from the shore.
The heightening intrigue was more than curious Khareesa could take. "1 am Khareesa H'kar, " she proclaimed, naming herself a noble of one of the city's lesser houses, but a noble nonetheless. "Who is this male you speak of? And why is he so important?"
The four males looked to each other slyly, and the newcomer turned an evil glare on Khareesa.
"You have heard of Daermon N'a'shezbaernon?" he asked softly.
Khareesa nodded. Of course she had heard of the powerful house, House Do'Urden by its more common name. It had once been the eighth ranked house in all the city, but had met a disastrous end.
"Of their secondboy?" the male went on.
Khareesa pursed her lips, unsure. She tried to remember the tragic story of House Do'Urden, something about a renegade, when another of the males jogged her memory.
"Drizzt Do'Urden, " he said.
Khareesa started to nod, she had heard the name before, in passing, then her eyes went wide as she realized the significance of the handsome, purple eyed drow that had left the Isle of Rothe.
She is a witness, one of the males reasoned. She was not, argued another, until we told her the renegade's name.
"But now she is, " said the first, and they looked in unison at the female.
Khareesa had long caught on to their wicked game and was steadily backing away from them, sword and whip in hand. She stopped as she felt the tip of yet another sword gently prod her fine armor from behind, and she held her hands out wide.
"House H'kar, " she began, but abruptly ended as the drow behind her plunged his fabulous drow made sword through the fine armor and through a kidney. Khareesa jerked as the male yanked the weapon back out. She slumped to one knee, trying to hold her concentration against the sudden assault of agony, trying to hold fast to her weapons.
The four soldiers fell over her. There could be no witnesses.
Drizzt's gaze remained toward the strangely lighted city as the raft slipped slowly across Donigarten's dark waters.
Torches? The thought hung heavily in his mind, for he had pretty much convinced himself that the drow were preparing a huge excursion to the surface. Why else would they be stinging their sensitive eyes so?
As the raft floated across the weedy bay of the Isle of Rothe,  Drizzt noticed that no other craft were docked at the island. He gave it little thought as he climbed over the prow and sprang lightly to the mossy beach. The orcs had barely put up their oars when another drow whisked past Drizzt and sprang into the boat, order  ing the slave crew to put back out for the mainland.
Orc rothe herders congregated by the shore, each squatting in the mossy muck, ragged cloaks pulled tight. This was not unusual,  for there was really little for them to do. The isle was not large,  barely a hundred yards long and less than that in width, but it was incredibly thick with low vegetation, mainly mosses and fungi. The landscape was broken, filled with valleys and steep sloping hillocks, and the biggest job facing the orcs, aside from taking rothe from the isle to the mainland and chasing down strays, was simply to make sure that none of the herd fell into any ravines.
So the slaves sat down by the shore, silent and brooding. They seemed somewhat edgy to Drizzt, but, consumed by his fears over what was happening in the city, he again gave it little thought. He did glance about to the drow slaver posts, and took comfort in the fact that all the dark elves were apparently in place, standing quietly and calmly. The Isle of Rothe was not an eventful place.
Drizzt headed straight inland, away from the small bay and toward the highest point on the island. Here stood the isle's lone structure, a small, two chambered house constructed of gigantic mushroom stalks. He considered his strategy as he moved, thought of how he might get the necessary information from Khareesa without open confrontation. Events seemed to be moving quickly about him, though, and he resolved that if he had to use his scimi  tars to "convince" her, he would.
Barely ten feet from the structure's door, Drizzt stopped and watched as the portal gently swung in. A drow soldier stepped to the threshold and casually tossed Khareesa's severed head at Drizzt's feet.
"There is no way off the island, Drizzt Do'Urden, " the drow remarked.
Drizzt didn't turn his head, but shifted his eyes, trying to get a clear measure of his surroundings. He inconspicuously worked one toe under the soft moss, burying his foot to the ankle.
"I'll accept your surrender, " the drow went on. "You cannot, "
The drow stopped abruptly as a wad of moss flew at his face. He snapped out his sword and instinctively threw his hands up before him in defense.
Drizzt's charge followed the moss divot. The ranger sprang across the ten feet to his enemy, then dropped in a deceptive spin,  pivoting on one planted knee. Using his momentum, Drizzt sent Twinkle in a wicked, low cut that caught the surprised drow on the side of the knee. The drow turned a complete somersault over that stinging hit, striking the soft ground with a thud and a cry of pain as he clutched at his ripped leg.
Drizzt sensed that other dark elves were in the house behind this one, so he was up and running quickly, around the structure and out of sight of the door, then down the hillock's steep back slope. He dove, skidded, and rolled to build momentum, his thoughts a jumble, his desperation mounting.
Several dozen rothe milled about the mossy bank, and they bleated and grunted as Drizzt scrambled among them. Drizzt heard several clicks behind him, heard a hand crossbow quarrel slap into one rothe. The creature tumbled, asleep before it hit the ground.
Drizzt kept low, scrambling, trying to figure where he could run. He had been on the island only a short time, had never been here in his earlier years in the city, and wasn't familiar with its land  scape. He knew that this hillock dropped into a steep ravine,  though, and thought that was his best chance.
More shots came from behind; a javelin joined the quarrels. Muck and divots flew wildly as the rothe, frightened by the rushing dark elf and missiles, kicked about, threatening to stampede. They were not large creatures, only three feet high at the shoulder, but were solidly built. If caught on his hands and knees in the midst of a rothe stampede, Drizzt knew he would be crushed.
His problems compounded as he neared the back of the rothe herd, for between the legs of one creature he spotted boots. Hardly thinking, Drizzt lifted his shoulder and barreled sidelong into the rothe, pushing it down the slope, into his enemy. One scimitar went up high and sang as it struck a descending sword; another scimitar jabbed low, under the rothe's belly, but the enemy drow hopped back, out of range.
Drizzt coiled his legs under him and heaved with all his strength, using the ground's fairly steep angle to his advantage. The rothe lifted off the ground and skipped sidelong, slamming the drow. He was agile enough to lift a leg over the creature's low back and come cleanly over it, spinning about in an attempt to face Drizzt squarely. But Drizzt was nowhere to be seen.
A bleat to the side was the only warning the drow got as the fierce ranger rushed in, scimitars flashing. The surprised drow threw both his swords out in front as he spun about, barely deflect  ing the scimitar cuts. One foot skidded out from under him, but he came back up quickly, fire in his eyes and his swords thrusting wildly, holding Drizzt at bay.
Drizzt moved quickly to the right, gained the higher ground again, though he knew that that move would put his back to the archers at the top of the hillock. He kept his scimitars moving, his eyes focused ahead, but listened to sounds from the back.
A sword darted in low, was caught by Twinkle and held down. A second thrust came in parallel to the first but a bit higher, and Drizzt's second scimitar responded, coming unexpectedly straight across, angling the drow's sword right for Drizzt's low arm.
Drizzt heard a slight whistle behind him.
The enemy drow flashed a wicked grin, thinking he was about to score a hit as the blades flashed across, but Drizzt sent Twinkle in motion as well, equally fast, taking the drow's sword arm with him in the wide flying move. Drizzt swept the scimitars under and up,  using their curving blades to keep the swords moving in line. He turned a complete circuit, moving the blades high above his head and moving himself one step to the side of the enemy drow.
His trust in the unseen archer's skill was not misplaced, and his melee opponent jerked his hips to the side in a frantic effort to dodge the javelin. He took a stinging hit and grimaced in pain.
Drizzt heaved him away, sent him skidding down the slope. The drow caught his balance as the ranger descended over him in a wild rush.
Scimitar batted sword again and again and again. Drizzt's sec  ond scimitar worked a more direct and devious pattern, thrusting and angling for the drow's belly.
The wounded drow's parries were impressive against the onslaught, but with one leg numb from pain, he was backing up and inevitably building momentum. He managed to glance back and noticed one spur of stone rising above the ledge of the twenty foot sheer drop. He thought to make for that spur and put his back against it for support. His allies were rushing down the slope; they would be beside him in a matter of seconds.
Seconds he didn't have.
Both scimitars came in rapid succession, beating against the steel of the drow's swords, forcing him down the hill. Near the drop, Drizzt launched his weapons simultaneously, side by side, in crossing cuts, turning the tips of his enemy's swords. Then Drizzt launched himself, slamming against the drow's chest, knocking him off balance to crash against the rocky spur. Explosions went off in the dazed drow's head. He slumped to the moss, knowing that this renegade, Drizzt Do'Urden, and his wicked scimitars would be right behind..
Drizzt hadn't the time or the desire to complete the kill. Before the drow finished collapsing, Drizzt had leaped over the ledge, hop  ing to find moss and not sharp rocks, below.
What he found was mud, and he hit with a splash, turning an ankle, then turning a somersault. He finally hauled himself out and ran off as fast as he could, zigzagging around stalagmite pillars,  keeping low to the cover of the mounds, for he expected that the archers would soon be at the ledge.
Enemies were all about him, and very close, he realized, seeing a form paralleling him along a stalagmite row to his right. Drizzt went behind one mound and, instead of coming out the other side,  veered to meet his enemy head on. He dropped to his knees as he came behind the second mound, slashing across low in the expecta  tion that his enemy would be back there.
Twinkle hit a low riding sword this time. Drizzt had not gained surprise, not with his maneuver, at least, but the drow was certainly off guard, his second sword high for a strike, when Drizzt snapped his second scimitar straight up, quicker than his enemy could antici  pate. The pointed tip punctured the drow's diaphragm, and though Drizzt, as he continued his slide, could not extend his arm enough to complete the move, the drow fell back against the stalagmite, out of the fight.
An ally was right behind him, though, and this soldier fell upon the kneeling Drizzt with abandon, swords hacking fiercely.
Pure instinct kept the darting blades from Drizzt as the ranger worked his scimitars over his head, feeling more than seeing his opponent's moves. Understanding his sudden disadvantage, Drizzt called upon his innate magic and summoned a globe of darkness over himself and his enemy.
Ringing steel continued to sound, weapons meeting and slid  ing, with both combatants taking nicks. Drizzt growled and increased his intensity, parrying and countering, still slashing up oYer his head. Gradually, the skilled ranger shifted his weight to get one foot under him.
The enemy drow came with a sudden and fierce double chop,  and nearly fell over when his blades caught nothing but air. He spun immediately, whipping his swords across, and nearly lost both blades as they slammed the side of the stony stalagmite mound.
In the heat of battle, he had forgotten the layout of the immedi  ate area, forgotten the mound not so far away. The drow had heard the reputation of Drizzt Do'Urden and suddenly understood the magnitude of his mistake.
Drizzt, perched high on a rounded shoulder of the mound,  winced as he heard the swords connect with stone below him, tak  ing little satisfaction in this action. He couldn't see Twinkle's flaring blue light as the scimitar descended through the darkness globe.
He ran free a moment later, his ankle still sore but supporting him. He came out the back side of the ravine and moved up on the ledge opposite the high hillock. The ledge ran toward the more remote eastern end of the isle. There lay a lagoon, Drizzt believed,  not so far away, and if he could reach it, he intended to dive right in. Damn the legends of monsters in the water; the enemies about him were all too real!
Catti-brie heard the continuing scuffles from the isle. The sounds drifted clearly across the still, dark waters of Donigarten. From behind the stalk of one mushroom, she called up Guenhwyvar and ran off as the mist took its solid form.
By the lake, the young woman, still not confident of her drow disguise, avoided the few dark elves that were about and motioned to a nearby orc instead. Then she motioned to a boat, trying to indi  cate that the creature should take her out to the isle. The orc seemed nervous, or at least confused. It turned away and started to walk off.
Catti-brie punched it in the back of the head.
Cowering, obviously terrified, it turned about to face her. Catti  brie shoved it toward the small boat, and this time the creature got in and took up a paddle.
Before she could join the orc, Catti-brie was intercepted by a male drow, his strong hand closing tightly over her elbow.
She eyed him dangerously and growled, trying to bluff once again, but this determined dark elf was not taking the bait. In his free hand he held a dagger, poised below Catti-brie's elbow, just inches from her ribs.
"Be gone!" he said. "Bregan D'aerthe tells you to be gone!"
Catti-brie didn't understand a word of it, but her enemy's con  fusion was at least equal to hers as six hundred pounds of black fur flew past, taking the surprised male on a splashing ride many feet from the boat.
Catti-brie turned fiercely on the orc, who pretended not to see a thing and began paddling frantically. The young woman looked back to the shore a moment later, fearful that Guenhwyvar would be left behind and would have to swim the entire distance.
A huge splash beside the boat (nearly overturning it) told her differently, and the panther was now the one leading.
It was simply too much for the terrified orc to take. The pitiful creature shrieked and leaped for the water, swimming desperately for the shore. Catti-brie took up the paddle and never looked back.
The ledge was open to both sides at first, and Drizzt heard the hiss of crossbow quarrels cutting the air over his head and just behind him. Fortunately for Drizzt, the firing drow were back across the ravine, at the base of the tall hillock, and hand crossbows were not very accurate at long range.
Drizzt wasn't surprised when his running form began to glow in purplish hues, tiny faerie fires igniting along his arms and legs,  not burning, but marking him clearly to his enemies.
He felt a sting in his left shoulder and quickly reached over and popped out the small quarrel. The wound was only superficial, the dart's momentum mostly stalled by the dwarf crafted mithril chain mail that Drizzt wore. He ran on, and could only hope that not enough poison had entered his blood to tire him.
The ledge veered to the right, putting Drizzt's back to his ene  mies. He felt even more vulnerable then, for just a moment, but soon realized that the turn might be a good thing, putting more distance between him and the stinging crossbows. Soon after, as the quarrels bounced harmlessly behind him, the ledge veered again, back to the left, going around the base of another hillock.
This put the lapping waters of Donigarten at Drizzt's right, a dozen feet below him. He thought of sheathing his blades and jumping in right there, but too many jagged mounds protruded from the water for him to chance it.
The ledge remained mostly open on his right as he sped along,  the drop sporadically blocked by only a few anchoring stalagmites. The hillock loomed on Drizzt's left, fully protecting him from the distant archers . . . but not from nearer enemies, he realized. As he came around a slight bend, he discovered at the last instant that beyond the bend lay a hollow, and in the hollow waited an enemy.
The soldier leaped out into Drizzt's path, sword and dirk waving.
A scimitar turned the sword aside, and Drizzt thrust straight ahead, knowing his second weapon would be intercepted by the dirk. When the weapons predictably locked, Drizzt used his momentum to push the dirk out wide and lifted one knee to collide heavily with the drow's belly.
Drizzt clapped his wide spread hands together, simultaneously snapping his scimitar hilts against his enemy's face. He snapped his weapons back out immediately, fearing that either the sword or dagger would dive at him, but his opponent was past retaliation. The evil drow fell straight to the ground, unconscious, and Drizzt plowed over him and kept on going.
The ranger had hit his stride, literally. Savage instincts churned within Drizzt, and he believed that no single drow could stand against him. He was fast reverting to the hunter again, the embodi  ment of primal, passionate rage.
A dark elf leaped out from behind the next stalagmite; Drizzt skidded down to one knee and spun, a similar maneuver to the one he had used against the drow at the mushroom house's door.
This time, though, his enemy had more time to react, had his sword down to the stone to block.
The hunter knew that he would.
Drizzt's lead foot caught hold, and he spun up from his slide,  his trailing foot flying wide in a circle kick that caught the surprised drow under the chin and dropped him over the side of the ledge. He caught a handhold just a few feet down, groggy from the blow and thinking that this purple eyed fiend would surely kill him.
The hunter was already gone, though, running on, running for freedom.
Drizzt saw another drow on the path in front of him, this one's arm held up before him, probably aiming a hand crossbow.
The hunter was quicker than the quarrel. His instincts told him that, repeatedly, and they were proven correct when a flashing scim  itar intercepted the dart.
Then Drizzt was upon the drow, and the drow's ally, who came out from behind the nearest mound. The two enemies worked furi  ously with their weapons, thinking their numerical advantage more than sufficient.
They didn't understand the hunter, but the red glowing eyes of Artemis Entreri, watching from a nearby hollow, did.
Part 4 IN THE WEB ne of the sects of Faerun names the sins of humanity as seven,  and foremost among them is pride. My interpretation of this had always been to think of the arrogance of kings, who pro  claimed themselves gods, or at least convinced their subjects that they spoke with some divine beings, thus conveying the image that their power was god given.
That is only one manifestation of this most deadly of sins. One does not have to be a king to be taken down by false pride. Montolio DeBrouchee,  my ranger mentor, warned me about this, but his lessons concerned a per  sonal aspect of pride. "A ranger often walks alone, but never walks without friends nearby, " the wise man explained. "A ranger knows his surround  ings and knows where allies might be found."
To Mon tolio's way of thinking, pride was blindness, a blurring of insight and wisdom, and the defeat of trust. A too proud man walked alone and cared not where allies might be found.
When I discovered the web of Menzoberranzan growing thick about me, I understood my error, my arrogance. Had I come to think so much of myself and my abilities that I forgot those allies who had, to this point,  allowed me to survive? In my anger over the death of Wulfgar and my fears for Catti-brie, Bruenor, and Regis, I never considered that those living friends could help to take care of themselves. The problem that had befallen us all was my own fault, I had decided, and, thus, was my duty to correct,  however impossible that might be for a single person.
I would go to Menzoberranzan, discover the truth, and end the con  flict, even if that end meant the sacrifice of my own life.
What a fool I had been.
Pride told me that I was the cause of Wulfgar's death; pride told me that I could be the one to right the wrong. Sheer arrogance prevented me from dealing openly with my friend, the dwarven king, who could muster the forces necessary to combat any forthcoming drow attacks.
On that ledge on the Isle of Rothe, I realized that I would pay for my arrogance; later, I would learn that others dear to me might pay as well.
It is a deftat of the spirit to learn that one's arrogance causes such loss and pain. Pride invites you to soar to heights of personal triumph, but the wind is stronger at those heights and the footing, tentative. Farther, then, is the fall.