Chapter 26 Chapter 21 Loss and Gain

"Praise Rose!" cried Matron Marise excitedly.She felt the pride coming from the bound spirit corpse from afar. "It's got Drizzt!" Her gaze swept from one side of the hall to the other, and the three daughters all backed away in shock from the extremely twisted expression on her face. "Zaknafein found your brother!" Maya and Verna looked at each other and smiled, rejoicing that this catastrophe was finally coming to an end.Since the casting of the spirit-binding arcana, all routine affairs of the Do'Urden family have almost come to a standstill, and their nervous mother has increasingly indulged in the hunt for the spirit-binding corpse.

At the other end of the front hall, Briza's smile has a different meaning, and if you pay close attention, you can see that it is a disappointed smile. Fortunately, her mother was so preoccupied with every move in the distance that she didn't notice her unusual expression.The mistress fell into a meditative trance, savoring the wrath of the spirit-bound corpse, especially when it was aimed at her damned one.When Zaknafein and Drizzt fought, she was even more breathless with excitement.But then, she almost stopped breathing suddenly. "No!" she screamed, leaping from her throne, looking around for something to thump or throw. "No!" she continued to scream, "Impossible!"

"Drizzt escaped?" Briza asked, careful to hide the smugness in her tone.Maris glared at her fiercely, it seemed that she still leaked too much of her mind, so she quickly kept silent. "Is the wraith broken?" Maya called, genuinely troubled. "No," Maris replied, with a tremor in her usually firm voice. "But, your brother escaped again!" "Then, the spirit-binding secret has not yet expired." Verna tried to comfort her mother. "And the bound spirit corpse is very close." Maya continued. Maris slumped back in her seat, wiping the sweat from around her eyes. "Stand back, all of you," she ordered her daughter.She didn't want them to see her lose her composure.She knew in her heart that the spirit-binding secret method was exhausting her life, and her survival depended on the success or failure of the spirit-binding corpse.

When everyone had left the hall, Marise lit a candle and picked up a small delicate mirror.How hideous and pitiful is the image in the mirror!In the past few weeks, she has barely eaten or drank, and the traces of worry are deeply etched on the smooth mirror skin.She had aged far more in these few weeks than in all the previous centuries. "I'm going to be like Matron Baenry soon," she murmured despondently, "old and ugly." This may be the first time in Maris's life that she is chasing power and winning cold-blooded Rose. the price paid for his favor.Is it all worth it?But the idea came and went quickly.Maris should not wallow in such useless remorse.It was with her own strength and loyalty that she was able to lead the entire family to the position of today's leading class and win a seat in the ruling parliament for herself.

Now she is still teetering on the edge of despair, the weight of the past few years nearly crushing her.She wiped the sweat from around her eyes again and looked into the mirror. How ugly and pitiful the person in the mirror is. It's all Drizzt's fault!she reminded herself.Her sister offended the spider god, but in the end pushed her to the eternal hell. "My spirit-bound corpse, go catch him!" Maris sneered and muttered to herself.Under the raging rage, she no longer cared what punishment the Spider God Queen would impose. She didn't care about anything but Drizzt's death.

They ran forward blindly, hoping only that the enemy would not suddenly rush out of sight.The crisis behind them was gradually approaching, and at this critical juncture, they no longer cared about the usual way of vigilance. Hours passed, and they continued to run.Belwar was the first to feel tired. He was old and his steps were small: two strides for him was one for Drizzt;It's easy to fix though.Karaka lifted him up and put him on his shoulder. After running for countless miles, they stopped for the first time to rest.Drizzt had been morose and silent.The team camped in a hollow, and he stood guard at the entrance.Belwar understood the deep pain in the dark elf's heart, so he walked over to comfort him.

"Dark Elf, things are not as you expected?" Belwar asked softly.As he expected, there was no reply; but knowing that Drizzt needed to talk, he pressed on. "You know the dark elf in the cave, you said he was your father?" Drizzt glared at Belwar, but the expression on his face softened when he realized that the other party was out of concern. "Zaknafein," Drizzt explained. "Zaknafein Do'Urden, my father, was also my mentor. He taught me swordsmanship, and he was my guide in life. He was my only friend in Menzoberranzan, and the only one with whom I Dark elves of common faith."

"He wanted to kill you just now." Belwar said coldly.Drizzt twitched, and Belwar quickly comforted him, "Maybe he didn't recognize you just now?" "He is my father, my closest companion in Menzoberranzan for twenty years," Drizzt repeated. "Then why?" "That's not Zaknafein," Drizzt replied, "Zaknafein is dead, sacrificed to the Spider Queen by my mother." "The stone is above." Belwar whispered, these truths made him shudder.Drizzt's directness in explaining these horrific acts convinced him that Matron Malice's sacrifices were not uncommon in Menzoberranzan.A shudder ran down his spine, but he swallowed the disgust at the thought of his friend's torture.

"I don't know what monster Matron Malice put in Zaknafein yet," Drizzt continued, not even noticing Belwar's discomfort. "No matter what it is, it must be a difficult and powerful enemy." The underground gnome said. It was this that bothered Drizzt deeply.The dark elf who had just fought against him in the illithid cave was undoubtedly Zaknafein Do'Urden judging from his figure and swordsmanship.Drizzt's reason was sure that Zaknafein would never swing his sword at him; but his heart believed that the monster he was fighting was indeed his father. "How did it end?" Drizzt asked after a long time.

Belwar looked at him puzzled. "Battle," Drizzt explained. "I just remember the illithid showing up, and then losing consciousness." Belwar shrugged and looked at Karaka. "Ask him," he said, "a stone wall has suddenly appeared, separating you from the enemy. But I don't know how it came out." Karaka heard their conversation and moved to their side. "I played it." His voice was still clear. "Is it the ability of the rock spirit?" Belwar asked.The deep gnomes have heard of the rock spirit's abilities, but have no idea how Karaka actually does it.

"We are a peaceful race," Karaka explained.He understood that this might be his last chance to introduce his race to his friends.He still has the mind of the rock spirit, but he has felt the nature of the direclaw creeping in again. "We just want to shape the stone, which is our calling and what we are passionate about. This relationship with the land gives us strength, the stone speaks to us and aids us in our work." Drizzt looked at Belwar wryly. "Like the earth element you summoned last time to deal with me?" Belwar laughed a few times in embarrassment. "It's different." Karaka brought the topic back seriously. "The deep gnomes also summon the power of the earth, but these are two different relationships. The deep gnome's affection for stone is only one of the many sources of their happiness;" Karaka looked away from his companions and looked at them Stone wall behind. "The rock spirits are the brothers of the land. We help each other and have a deep bond." "You're making it sound like the soil itself is a sentient being?" Drizzt asked, not out of sarcasm, but out of sheer curiosity. "To those who can hear them, indeed, dark elf," Belwar replied, imagining what Karakar must have been before the mage's murder. Karaka nodded in agreement. "The deep gnomes can hear the distant singing of the stones;" he said, "but the rock-spirits can talk to the stones directly." For Drizzt, these were really incomprehensible.He knew what his friend had said was true, but the dark elves didn't have the same relationship to the stones of the Underdark as the deep gnomes and rock elves did.However, if he needs any proof, he only needs to recall the earth element summoned by Belwar ten years ago, and the stone wall conjured by Karaka out of thin air!That's enough. "So, what are these stones saying to you now?" Drizzt asked Karaka. "Have we cast the enemy aside?" Karaka walked up to the stone wall and pressed his ear to it. "Their voices are muffled now." He was very sad.His companions immediately understood what he meant: Stone's voice was as clear as ever; it was Karaka's hearing loss, and the waiting direclaws hindered his rock spirit talents. "I didn't hear any pursuers," Karaka continued, "but I'm not sure." He suddenly roared, turned away, and walked back into the cave. Drizzt looked at each other worriedly, and followed suit. "What's the matter?" the gnome finally asked, although he almost guessed the answer. "I'm falling," Karaka replied.The recurring creak in his voice said it all. "In the illithid cave, I was a rock spirit, even more like I was a rock spirit than I was before. In fact, I became one with the land." Belwar and Drizzt didn't quite understand what he meant . "That other-its-wall," Karaka tried to explain, "it is very difficult to conjure up such a stone wall out of thin air, and only a group of senior rock spirits can do it together. It is quite complicated and difficult for them to gather together. ritual." The Karaka stopped, shaking his head violently, as if trying to shake the Dreadclaw out of its head.He slapped the wall hard before continuing. "But I did. I turned to stone, and I just raised a hand against Drizzt's enemies." "And now the rock spirit is gone," Drizzt said softly, "buried under the instinct of the direclaw once more." Karaka didn't answer, but turned his head and knocked on the wall with one hand.The act of banging on the wall seemed to reassure him, and he repeated it with regularity, hoping to capture a bit of the rock spirit's essence. Drizzt and Belwar walked out of the alcove together, returning to the place they had just guarded, leaving a little privacy for their friend.After a while, the sound of beating the wall stopped, and Karaka poked out of the cave, a pair of big bird-like eyes full of sadness.He stammered out a few words that sent a shiver through his friend.But they secretly understood that it must be so. "Come-please master-kill me."