Chapter 9 Chapter 7 Advantage, or Disaster?

Colin Suarez raises his right arm, focusing on the black gauntlet with red sash that he wears on his right hand.Those friezes seemed to be pulsating.For this reclusive man, the feeling was all too familiar. Someone is trying to spy on him and his castle on the Dalabad oasis. Suarez focused more on this magic gauntlet.Recently, an Arbiter of Calimport came to ask if it was possible for him to sell his beloved longsword Charon's Claw.Of course, Suarez immediately rejected this ridiculous request.For him, this sword is closer than his wives and concubines, hundreds of children.But the other party's bid was not a joke. This proposal promised wealth beyond ordinary people's imagination, just to get this item.

Suarez knew what the guild members of Calimport were like.Moreover, he had owned Charon's Claw long enough for him to know what such a serious offer would do for him if it was mercilessly rejected, so he was not at all concerned about the presence of the Prying Eye. Surprised.Because some special intelligence sources pointed out that the intended purchaser this time might be Artemis Entreri and the Basadoni Guild, Suarez became even more vigilant. Suarez is sure they will look for his weaknesses, but in vain. As Suarez entered into a deeper level of concentration, he suddenly found a new element, which was dangerous because it implied that the thief who came this time might not easily back down.This is not the arcane power possessed by mages, nor is it the prayers of priests of prophecy.No, this energy was not the same as what he had expected before, but it was by no means something beyond the comprehension of Suarez and the gauntlet.

"Psionics," he said aloud, looking up at his senior staff, who were all rapt in his throne room. Three of them were his children.The fourth was Memnon's high military commander, and the fifth was a famous thief, retired, from Calimport.This is very convenient, Suarez thought, this thief was a member of the Basadoni Guild in the past. "Artemis Entreri and the Basadoni Guild," Suarez told them. "If this is indeed them, they must have recently recruited a psychic." The five adjutants exchanged a few words in low tones with each other regarding this new information.

"Perhaps that's where Artemis Entreri has been at his best all these years," suggested the youngest of them.This is Colin Suarez's daughter, Adanaia. "Entreri?" The old thief, Prelio, laughed. "Of course, he has a strong willpower, but a psychic? Bah! He doesn't need that kind of guy at all, he's good enough with just a knife." "However, no matter who wants my treasure, they must have the power of mind." Surez said. "They thought they had gained an advantage they could exploit, or rather, a weakness in me and my treasure. Of course, this kind of thinking only made their situation more dangerous. We are about to be attacked."

All five lieutenants couldn't help but look a little unnatural when they heard this assertion, but none of them seemed very worried.Most of the guilds in Calimport were not involved in the plan to attack the Dalabad Oasis.This is the definite information that Colin Suarez paid a lot of money to get.These five people knew that even two or three guilds would not be able to occupy Dalabad, let alone just one guild—of course, the premise is that Sulez is equipped with weapons that can render all mages useless. That long sword and that gauntlet. "No soldier can break through our city walls." Adanya spoke with a confident smile on her face. "Nor are any thieves able to sneak into our internal buildings."

"Unless you use some kind of spiritual power that belongs to the devil." Prelio looked at the elderly Suarez and put forward his own opinion. Colin Suarez just laughed in response. "They thought they had found a weakness," he reiterated. "I can use this to stop them—" He raised his gloved hand—"Of course, I have other ways." The people below quickly understood his intention, and therefore everyone's There was the same smile on his face.After all, they also had a sixth lieutenant, one who was rarely seen and rarely disturbed, one who was treated as a tool for torture and torture, one who preferred to spend as little time with humans as possible. Lieutenant together.

"Strengthen physical defense." Suarez ordered. "I will be responsible for the defense of the power of the mind." He waved his subordinates away, leaned back in his chair, and once again focused on the strong black gauntlet and the red sash on it like blood veins.Yes, he could feel that tiny magic eye.Although he hoped that those jealous guys would retreat and give him peace, he was looking forward to enjoying a little bit of the excitement and fun they brought him. He knew Yarras Creek would enjoy it. Deep beneath Colin Suarez's palace, in dark tunnels unknown to most of Suarez's soldiers, Yaras Creek has long sensed that someone—or something— The entire oasis is being explored using psionic powers.Yaras Creek is a mind flayer, an illithid.It was a humanoid creature with a bulbous head and a huge brain, and instead of a nose, mouth, and cheeks, it had several long, thin tentacles sticking out of its face.Illithids look scary and have quite powerful bodies, but their real power resides in the spiritual world, a kind of psychic power that is far stronger than that of humans or drow psychics. the extent achieved.Using the impact of mental energy, illithids can easily destroy the minds of their opponents. After that, these unlucky opponents of illithids are either deprived of their intelligence and become ignorant slaves, or simply sucked out of their brains by those tentacles .

Yarras Creek has worked for Colin Suarez for many years.Suarez's attitude towards it is somewhere between servant and slave.Ever since Surez defeated Yaras Creek one day in a brief battle by using his gauntlet to absorb the mental impact of the illithid, the man was sure that he and the creature had reached a fair balance. transaction.In fact, Suarez didn't really defeat the illithid.Because, if the deadly long sword in Suarez's hand stabs at the mind flayer, Yaras Creek will use the energy that cannot pose a direct threat to Suarez to turn into liquid and slip away between the rocks, So as to escape the range of action of the gauntlet.

However, Suarez did not attack Yaras Creek.The mind flayer's wise male-brain believes that the opportunist has spotted a possible profit-making opportunity, and he has kept the illithid safe and provided him with a comfortable place to meditate—or any illithid that might Likes to do - trade these offers for help he may need, of course, mainly to help defend the Dalabad Oasis. During these years, Colin Suarez never doubted Yaras Creek's true purpose in coming to Dalabad.In fact, this illithid was chosen by its kind to perform a special task, which was to find and study the black and red gauntlet, because mind flayers often need to study any power that can defend them items.Although Yaras Creek hadn't had much opportunity to study the gauntlet over the years, it had never felt anxious about it.Intelligent illithids are among the most patient species of creatures in the entire multiverse, preferring to savor the process rather than the result.Yarras Creek is having a good time in the tunnels.

An undercurrent of psychic powers touched the sensory organs of the illithids. Through the judgment of the feelings, Yaras Creek confirmed that it was not other illithids using psychic powers to spy on the Dalabad oasis. The mind flayer, who was as sure of his superpowers as any of his kind, was not worried about it, but rather intrigued.It even felt a little worried, because that idiot Suretz could also feel this psychic power with the gauntlet, but this time, the energy turned to the direction of the illithid.Yaras Creek responded, letting his mind-wandering eye descend, descend, into the deepest cavern.

When the illithid saw the source of this energy, it didn't hide its surprise at all.The other party - a drow - completely exposed his shock. Haszakkin!The drow's mind screamed uncontrollably. The word in their language meant "ilithid"-a word with connotations of respect, and the drow rarely expressed it to non-drow creatures. Out of respect. Dion Gernewalds?Yarras Creek asked.This was the name of a drow city it once knew. Menzoberranzan, replied the psychic. House Obroza, the wise creature pointed out, because that peculiar drow family is well known to the mind flayers of the Underdark of Faerûn. No longer exists, Kim Murray's answer came. Arras Creek felt the resentment of the other party, and Kim Murray presented his memory to it, so it knew how the arrogant family was destroyed.During the Troubled Years, the power of magic was weakened, but the psychics remained unscathed.So, for that very brief time, the leader of House Obrodra challenged the mightiest House of Menzoberranzan, and the mightiest Matron Baenre.As the gods rotated alternately, various powers ebbed and flowed here and there, and psychics once gained an important position, but after a while, the energy of traditional magic returned to normal strength.Regarding the threat of the Obroza family, Matron Baenre's way of dealing with it was to push all their family buildings and members down a large canyon in the city called the Claw Rift.Only Kim Murray managed to escape, for he cunningly used his connections with Jarlaxle and the Dayet mercenaries to escape Menzoberranzan in haste. You want to conquer the Dalabad oasis?Yarras Creek asked.It is looking forward to a positive answer, because there is a loyalty between creatures who use psychic powers to communicate, and this loyalty even exceeds their loyalty to their own kind. Dallabad will be ours when this night is over, Kim Murray answered earnestly. The contact was cut off suddenly, and Yaras Creek realized that it was because Colin Suarez walked into this dark room, wearing the cursed gauntlet on his hand, so the communication between the minds was disturbed interrupted. The illithid bowed before its self-righteous master. "We're being spied on," Suarez said, walking to a location of relative safety.To the mind flayer, his nervousness was palpable. "Mind's eye," the illithid replied in its textured, watery voice. "I feel it now." "Strong?" Suarez asked. Yaras Creek makes a low gurgling sound that, to an illithid, is the human equivalent of a resigned shrug of the shoulders, signifying that it will be harmless to any psychic who is not an illithid. What respect.Even though the psychic was a drow rather than a human, and came from a family well known to mind flayers, it was an honest assessment nonetheless.However, while the mind flayer didn't think a possible battle with the drow psychic was worth much consideration, it knew that the dark elves must have realized that the Obroza family Psionics are by no means the biggest problem facing Colin Suarez. "'Strong' is always a relative concept." The illithid replied cryptically. As Colin Suarez walked up the spiral staircase, he felt the tingle of magical energy.He ran suddenly, all the muscles in his body went to the limit, but his old bones didn't feel pain.He hoped to return to his palace on Dalabad as soon as possible, because the enemy's attack might have begun. But he managed to calm down, slow down, and get his breathing right.He entered the palace and found many soldiers wandering about, talking excitedly to each other, but their mood seemed to be one of curiosity rather than fear. "Is that yours, father?" Adanaia asked, her black eyes shining. Colin Suarez stared at her curiously.Under the leadership of Adana, he came to a room with a window facing east. There it stands, in the middle of the Dalabad Oasis, inside the outer walls of the Colin Suarez Fortress. A crystal tower shone dazzlingly under the sun.This is a reflection of the evil relic known as the Doom's Call Card - Cershennibon. As Colin Suarez gazed at the building, his right hand trembled from the stimulation of magical energy.His gauntlets capture magical energy and can even use this energy to turn on enemies.It never failed him, but just looking at the imposing crystal tower made him suddenly realize how insignificant he and his "toys" were.He didn't even have to go out and try to know for sure that he couldn't expect to use the energy released by this tower to attack the opponent. If he did, this huge and unmatched energy would immediately swallow him and his handguard.He thought that it was entirely possible for him to be frozen by this energy, or even be petrified, becoming a gargoyle squatting on the top of the tower forever. "Is that yours, father?" Adanya asked again. The eagerness in her tone and the spark in her eyes all died as Colin Suarez turned to look at her.He was pale. Outside the walls of Dalabad Fortress, hidden by a clump of palm trees, Jarlaxle called silently to the tower in the darkness created by his magical cloak.Its outer walls began to deform, and a long, slender, curling pipe protruded through the magical darkness to the feet of the mercenary leader.Once Jarlaxle was sure his men were all in place, he followed the pipes into the tower in the proper way.In one thought, he ordered the broken magic crystal to withdraw the pipeline and seal himself in the tower. Jarlaxle stood on this commanding height in the city, ready to watch the upcoming drama. Can you dim the light?he asked silently. Light is power, Crschinnibon replied.It may be to you, said the mercenary chief.For me, it makes me very uncomfortable. Jarlaxle felt something resembling a sneer from the Crystal Shard, but it complied with his order and thickened the east wall, thereby reducing the light in the room considerably.It also provided Jarlaxle with a floating seat so he could look around the room without effort, allowing him to take a closer look at the battle that was about to unfold. Beware, Artemis Entreri will also join the fray, the Crystal Shard reminded.It floated the chair to the north side of the room, and Jarlaxle, alerted by this, tried to look beyond the wall, at the tents, trees, and stones.Under the reminder of the broken magic crystal, he finally found the figure lurking in the darkness. When we planned to attack Pasha Daklan, he didn't do it, Kirshinipone added.Of course, the Crystal Shard knew that Jarlaxle was thinking the same thing.This also means that Entreri wants to carry out some secret plans to seek some benefits for himself, maybe it is something that deviates from the goal of the Dayet mercenary group, or it may be to get the second best in the mercenary group. in Jarlaxle's position. Whatever the facts, Jarlaxle and Crschinnibon saw no threat, but watched the matter with a sense of amusement. The floating seat turned to the other side of the small circular room so that Jarlaxle could see the first wave of diverting attacks, the many dark wards that had been unleashed on the top of the outer wall.The soldiers on the wall panicked. They began to run and shout in a hurry, forming a line of defense outside the barrier. Jarlaxle noticed that even as they retreated, the movements of these soldiers were quite orderly.However, at this moment, the real attack force appeared from the ground in the middle of the courtyard. Prior to this, Leckie had used the wall-penetrating magic stored in a wand to open a passage under the courtyard, and each time he cast the magic, he could only move ten feet forward.Fortunately, the mage found a natural tunnel beneath the keep, so he was able to use some of the last of his magical energy to create a passage to the top. The soldiers of the Dayet Corps immediately used their floating ability to jump over the courtyard, and at the same time released the dark barrier, not only to confuse the enemy, but also to resist the solar blindness effect caused by the hot sun. "We should really attack at night," Jarlaxle said loudly. My powers are at their peak only during the day, Crshinibon replied immediately.Jarlaxle was keenly aware of the subtext behind the expression.Crschinnibon's implication was that it was stronger than all of Dayet's Corps combined. For some reason he didn't fully grasp, the mercenary leader was very disturbed by this confidence. Dark elf soldiers run around, use their levitating abilities, and engage in long-awaited battles.Lyki was in the cave, issuing various orders.The mage is particularly active today.As in every conquest, his blood rushed to his head, but he resented Jarlaxle's decision to strike at dawn.Think on your toes how stupid this exchange is: exchange the power peak of a crystal tower with the disadvantage of soldiers who are halved in fighting under bright light.Undoubtedly, the appearance of the crystal tower was indeed an impressive sight, which had declared to the defenders the power of the invaders.Lecky didn't underestimate the value of the panic caused by the Crystal Tower, but every time he watched his soldiers jump out of the hole, eyes watering with sunlight, the mage began to think about his master's increasingly surprising behavior , and gritted his teeth in frustration. On the other hand, throwing the dark elves into open battle against the fort seems like a complete gamble.If humans and even kobold soldiers were used as cannon fodder like in the case of Pasha Daklan, and the dark elves quietly infiltrated, wouldn't it be possible to complete this conquest?The most important question is, what happens after the conquest of Dalabad?Most of those who survived the battle - and there will be many survivors for sure, because the long-range sniper means used by the dark elves are hand crossbows, the arrows are tempered with sleeping poison - must be killed, Lest they reveal the truth about the conqueror. Leckie reminded himself of his place in the guild.He knew that sooner or later Jarlaxle would make a blunder that cost most of the Dayet mercenaries their lives, and that would give him enough support to overthrow Jarlaxle.Perhaps Jarlaxle was making just such a blunder right now. The mage heard the shouts from above suddenly change tune, and glanced up.He found that the sunlight had become more intense, and the dark enchantment released by the dark elves had expired and disappeared.The well-shaped channel created by magic also suddenly disappeared, and the reappeared stone and soil happened to sandwich the two soldiers who were floating up.It was just a split second before something popped out of nowhere and drove away the energy that was trying to dispel the wall-penetrating spell Lecky had cast.But it was enough to crush those two unlucky drow soldiers to dust. The mage cursed Jarlaxle silently. He reminded himself to keep himself safe and ready to see the final result.Even if this conquest turned out to be a complete failure, it would be a blessing in disguise for him personally. For the gauntlet, it is not difficult to remove the dark barrier or seal the enemy's entrance on the ground, but Suarez was countered by a wave of energy, and he tried his best to stabilize his figure.The energy was raw, pure magical power, and he could not expect himself to absorb it.He knew that the energy must have come from that tower. that tower! Dark Elf! His doom is at hand! He retreated to the nave and ordered his soldiers to fight to the last breath.He burst into a deserted corridor and ran to his private room, his daughter Adanya following him.As he marched quickly, he called to Arras Creek, hoping that it would come and take him to safety. No reply. "It must have heard me," Surez assured her daughter anyway, "we just have to run far enough that Yaras Creek will find us. Then we can escape the fortress , to inform the lords of Calimport of the arrival of the dark elves." "The traps and locks in the corridor will definitely hold back our enemies." Adanya replied. Although Adanya was extremely surprised by the truth about the enemy, she was still convinced that what she said was correct.The circular main building of Dalabad is full of long corridors, and there are many heavy stone or wooden doors in between. Each door is reinforced with steel belts. It is difficult to open them.On the other hand, between the outer wall and the secret altar of Colin Suarez, there were numerous traps, enough to frustrate even the most experienced rogue. Not so for the smartest and most cunning of thieves. Artemis Entreri had sneaked beneath the north wall of the fortress.This is no easy task—in fact, under normal circumstances, it is impossible at all, because there is a wide open field around the fortress, from the edge of the fortress wall to the surrounding trees, tents, boulders, and several small fields. There was almost a hundred feet of distance between the ponds and there was no shelter.However, now happens to be not the usual case.A materialized crystal tower appeared in the center of the fortress, and most of the guards were running around, trying to figure out whether it was an enemy invasion or another mysterious magic item obtained by Colin Suarez.Even the guards on the city wall could not help but stare at the tower with awe in their eyes. Entreri concealed himself.The black cloak he was wearing was his borrowed drow camouflage cloak, which wouldn't last very long in sunlight, but would still keep him from being spotted by the guards on the twenty-foot wall. The Killer waited until the din of battle turned to emanate from within the keep. For ordinary people, seeing the walls of the Colin Suarez fortress, a sense of insurmountability will arise spontaneously.The walls are made of brown sandstone and gray granite, with polished white marble at the joints.To Entreri, however, it looked more like a staircase than a wall, full of footholds and finger-grip cracks. In a matter of seconds, he had climbed close to the top.The killer raised his body, glanced at the situation above the city wall, and saw two guards anxiously loading arrows into the crossbow.All their attention was focused on the center of the courtyard where the fierce battle was raging. Under the cover of the cloak, the killer silently rolled over the wall.Seconds later he was under the wall, dressed as Colin Suarez's guard. Entreri mingled with a few soldiers who were hurrying towards the main building, but broke away in time before they could join the melee.He came to the wall again to enter the stealth state, and sneaked into the open door. There, he saw Colin Suarez, who was fighting fiercely with the drow's magical energy, and was still waving the sword in his hand. Strange long sword.Entreri continued to run, pretending to retreat under the pressure, but he remained only a few paces ahead of Suarez.The killer entered the main building ahead of Suarez and her daughter. Entreri ran on, stealthy and quiet, down corridors, through open doors, over disarmed traps, all the way ahead of the two nobles and the soldiers protecting their leader.The killer arrived at the door to Suarez's private chamber with plenty of time left to check all the alarms and traps on the door, make sure they were all in place, and do something about it. Therefore, when Adania Suarez pushed open the ornate door decorated with gold leaf and walked into this seemingly very safe room with her father, Artemis Entreri was already waiting there Yes, he stood quietly behind a tapestry. At the foot of the fort's western wall, three dark elves faced off against three Dalabad soldiers.The three humans were well trained and well armed with shiny chain mail and small shields, but it was inevitable that they would panic in the presence of the dark elves.Still, they haven't lost their minds.They covered each other and used the wall to protect the rear, forming a defensive triangle. On the contrary, the dark elves fanned out, and at the same time rushed forward to attack.Each of the three drows held an exquisite drow sword in each hand, and a total of six long swords launched an offensive like mercury pouring down the ground. The three humans defended their positions with mutual trust, and used dodge and block from time to time to defuse the enemy's attacks.Some of the nearby human soldiers had started screaming and running around, which would only spell disaster, but not the three of them.During the continuous defense, the three humans began to have some understanding of the deceptive sword dances of the drows, so they were gradually able to make occasional counterattacks. After several rounds of this engagement, the Men wisely held their ground, instead of fleeing from the Dark Elves with their brethren.With the sound of metal and iron clashing swords, Colin Suarez equipped his best soldiers with magical swords, weapons that could rival drow swords. The dark elves exchanged a few words with each other, of course, the language they used was incomprehensible to humans.Then, the three drows attacked at the same time, and the six long swords were swung high.Humans raised their long swords and shields and withstood all the attacks at the same time. The six metal impacts produced a synergistic effect like a musical note. However, the note was quickly lowered, and the three human soldiers suddenly realized that the three drow who attacked them had each dropped a sword, but even though they were aware of this, they could not understand what it meant. The raised swords and shields were still resisting the attack from above. They couldn't realize that their bodies were completely exposed now, but when they heard the sound of the crossbow firing and felt the arrows piercing their stomachs, everything was gone. It's too late. The three dark elves took a step back at the same time.The human soldier standing in the middle, Tunajin Tasalz, called to his companions and told them that he had been hit, but nothing serious.The soldier to Tunakin's left also said he was fine, but his words were becoming less clear.Tunakin glanced back just in time to see him slumped face down in the dust.The accomplice to Tunakin's right did not react at all. Only Tunakin remained.He took a deep breath and leaned his back against the wall as the three dark elves picked up their lost swords.One of them said something to him, and though he couldn't understand the meaning of the words, he could understand the expression on the drow's face. He should lie on the ground and sleep, Drow was telling him.For Tunakin, this was exactly what he wanted to do most at the moment, but the three drows rushed forward suddenly, and the six long swords formed a deadly perfect attack. Tunakin Tasalz managed to block two of them before going down, which is already quite remarkable. Much the same was true of the battles in the center of the courtyard and along the walls.While Jarlaxle's mercenaries primarily wield weapons, they don't seem to mind using a lot of magic to support them, and as such, they overwhelm Dalabad's soldiers.The mercenary chief had ordered his killers to save as many lives as possible, to use sleep arrows more often, and to accept surrender.Even so, he noticed that many drow, after discovering that their opponents were resistant to sleeping poison, did not intend to wait for the opponent to decide whether to surrender, but simply killed them. Jarlaxle just shrugged his shoulders, and didn't feel any worries.This is an open battle, and neither he nor his mercenaries have much experience in this kind of battle before.Even if Colin Suarez's soldiers were killed too much to keep the oasis stronghold functioning, Jarlaxle and Cershennibon would just need to find someone else to replace the dead.Anyway, when Suarez was scared into his room by the sheer power of the Crystal Shard, it meant that the attack had reached the second act. The developments were not at all unexpected.The courtyard and walls are now under the control of the dark elves. In several places, the walls have been broken and some soldiers have rushed in.Now, Kim Murray and Leckie finally make their debut. Kim Murray ordered several sober captives to go ahead of him, forcing them to lead him into the building.As they navigate this labyrinth of traps, he will use his mighty willpower to read their minds, leading safely to their final goal: Suarez. Jarlaxle sat comfortably in the crystal tower.He wanted to leave the Tower and join Kim Murray in a fun hunt, but he decided to stay here and share the moment with his most powerful companion, the Crystal Shard.He even allowed it to thin the east wall again, allowing it to get more sunlight. "Where is it?" Colin Suarez growled as he paced the room heavily. "Yarras Creek!" "Maybe it can't come here." Adana speculated.While speaking, she happened to walk near the tapestry where Entreri was hiding. Entreri knew he could step out and kill her, then go straight for his prey.But he suppressed his impulse and continued to listen warily to their conversation. "Perhaps the power of that tower also makes it—" continued Adanya. "No!" Colin Suarez interrupted her. "Yarras Creek is far more powerful than that thing. Its kind see things — all things — quite differently than we do." Just as he was finishing his sentence, Adana took a gasp of surprise and took a step back, just in time to come within Entreri's field of vision.Her eyes were wide, staring straight in the direction of her father, who was out of Entreri's limited field of vision. Entreri was sure that the woman's attention was fully focused on what she saw, whatever it was.So he quietly got down on one knee and glanced out of the tapestry. He saw a spirit sucker enter the room through the door of the mind and stand in front of Colin. A mind flayer! The killer hurriedly hid behind the tapestry, his thoughts turned sharply.There are few things in this world that can make Artemis Entreri feel flustered, because he grew up on the streets, from a young child to a top professional killer; Been to many, many dark elves and are still alive.However, mind flayers were just one of the things that could make him flustered.He'd seen a few mind flayers in the dark elf cities, and he hated them more than any other creature he'd ever seen.It wasn't their looks that disgusted him, though they were terribly ugly indeed.No, it was their peculiar habits, their completely different view of the world, as Colin had just hinted. Artemis Entreri had been stronger than anyone else in his life precisely because his opponents didn't understand him as well as he could understand his enemies.He found it more challenging to understand the minds of the dark elves, because the drow had too much experience and they were very proficient in intrigues and tricks, so he couldn't really understand them... At least, he didn't understand them well enough Make him have any self-confidence. In his encounters with illithids, even though he only had brief contact with them a few times, this disadvantage was even more obvious and completely insurmountable.It was impossible for Artemis Entreri to understand this particular foe, since he couldn't see the world from an illithid's perspective.There is no way. So Entreri tried to make himself smaller.He listened to every word, every adjustment of pitch, every breath, very cautiously. "Why didn't you answer my call earlier?" demanded Colin Suarez. “这些是黑暗精灵。”雅拉斯克里克用那种如同流水汩汩的声音回答。在恩崔立听来，这声音就如同一个喉咙里有着很多粘痰的、非常老的人所发出的难听声音。“他们已经进入了建筑。” “你应该早些来！”阿达妮娅尖叫道。“我们本来可能击败他——”她的声音突然停止了，并且开始喘息。她跌跌撞撞地向后倒去，看起来仿佛要摔倒了。恩崔立知道，夺心魔刚刚使用某种精神力量攻击了她。 “我应该做什么？”柯林·苏雷兹悲号道。 “你什么也不能做。”雅拉斯克里克回答。“你不能指望自己可以活下去。” “西——向——向他们投降吧，父亲！”正恢复过来的阿达妮娅尖叫着。“把他们想要的东西都给他们——否则你就没希望活下去了！” “他们会拿走所有他们想要的东西。”雅拉斯克里克对她说，然后再次转向柯林·苏雷兹。“你没有任何条件可以交换。没有任何希望。” “父亲？”阿达妮娅问。她的声音突然变得虚弱，几乎令人感到同情了。 “你去进攻他们！”柯林·苏雷兹命令道，手中致命的长剑指向灵吸怪。“击溃他们！” 雅拉斯克里克发出了一种声响。恩崔立聚集起足够的意志力，从挂毯后面瞥了一眼，从而认识到这是一种类似欢笑的表情。实际上，这声音根本不是笑声，而更像是一种连喘带咳的声音。 柯林·苏雷兹似乎也理解这种回应的意义，因为他的脸变得通红通红的。 “他们是卓尔。你现在明白了吗？”灵吸怪问。“没有任何希望。” 柯林·苏雷兹似乎想要再次命令雅拉斯克里克发动攻击，但他突然间仿佛意识到了一切，他怒气冲冲地瞪着他那位长着章鱼状脑袋的“同伙”。“你知道！”他指责说，“那个心灵异能者窥探达拉巴德的时候，他告诉了你……” “那个心灵异能者是个卓尔。”灵吸怪证实道。 “背叛者！”柯林·苏雷兹尖叫着。 “并没有什么背叛。我们根本就没有友谊，甚至连同盟也不是。”灵吸怪中肯地评论道。 “但是你知道！” 雅拉斯克里克根本没有费心去回答。 “父亲？”阿达妮娅又问了一次，她在不由自主地发着抖。 柯林·苏雷兹开始大口喘息。他抬起左手擦去脸上的汗水和泪水。“我应该怎么做？”他说，但更多地是在问他自己。“怎样才能……” 雅拉斯克里克又发出了那种类似咳嗽的笑声，这一次，恩崔立清楚地意识到，这个生物正在嘲笑可怜的苏雷兹。 柯林·苏雷兹突然镇定下来，怒视着夺心魔。“这让你感到愉快？”他问。 “对于低等种族所做的讽刺之事，我一直感到愉快。”雅拉斯克里克回答。“你的悲鸣与那些死在你手上的人所发出的是多么类似。柯林·苏雷兹即将在一个更强大的敌人面前乞求自己的生命，而那些曾在他面前乞求他放过自己的人，他们的性命得以保存了吗？” “但是那个敌人你已经知道了！”柯林叫道。 “相对于你们这些卑微的人类，我更青睐卓尔。”雅拉斯克里克直率地承认道。“他们从不乞求怜悯，因为他们知道不会有怜悯。他们接受失败的态度正是有独立意志的生物所应有的，不像你们这些充满奴性的人类。他们之间没有太多交流的手段，而你们则是根本没有，但他们了解并且承认自己的这个弱点。”灵吸怪浅浅鞠了一躬。“这代表我在你的死期对你的全部敬意。”雅拉斯克里克解释道。“我将向你的方向发射能量，你也许可以抓住它，用它来对付那些黑暗精灵——他们已经离这里很近了，我可以向你保证——但是我会选择不那么做。” 这个时候，阿提密斯·恩崔立发现柯林·苏雷兹的态度发生了转变。这是从绝望到没有任何东西可以失去的愤怒的转变，在他的街巷生涯中，恩崔立曾经无数次地目睹这种变化。 “但是我戴着这个护手！”柯林·苏雷兹有力地说，并且，他将那把奇迹之剑向雅拉斯克里克刺去。“至少，我要成为你死亡的第一个目击者！” 但正在他做出如此这般的宣言之时，雅拉斯克里克已经从脚部开始溶化并且进入了石头里面。 “他妈的！”柯林·苏雷兹尖叫道。“你这该死的——”他的激烈演说突然中止了，因为敲击的声音已经从门口处传来。 “你的魔杖！”苏雷兹对他女儿叫道，同时转过来面向她，面向那条装饰着他房间的挂毯。 阿达妮娅站在那里，瞪大眼睛，并没有伸手去拿挂在她腰带上的魔杖。事实上，她根本连表情都没有任何变化，就这样直挺挺地倒在地板上。阿提密斯·恩崔立正站在那里。 当她倒下去的时候，柯林·苏雷兹瞪着大眼注视着这一幕，但他似乎并不关心阿达妮娅是如何倒下的，除非这暗示着他自身的安全受到了威胁。他的眼睛凝视着恩崔立。 “要是你把那柄剑卖给我就不会有这么多麻烦了。”杀手评论道。 “我知道这是你干的好事，恩崔立。”苏雷兹以怒吼作为回答。他上前一步，手中血红的长剑闪着光。 “我现在再给你一个把它卖了的机会。”恩崔立说，听到这话，苏雷兹突然停止了一切动作，脸上写满怀疑的表情。“我开出的价码是她的命。”杀手补充道，手中的镶宝石匕首向下指着阿达妮娅。“你自己的命我会留下，不过你得用它来跟其他人交易。” 走廊里又传来“砰”的一声，另外还有一些战斗的声音。 “他们已经迫近了，柯林·苏雷兹。”恩崔立指出。“迫近，并且不可阻挡。” “是你把黑暗精灵带到了卡林港。”苏雷兹再度怒吼道。 “他们是依照他们自己的意愿而来。”恩崔立回答。“我只是足够明智，没有成为他们的对手。这就是我的出价，不过这是最后一次。我能挽救阿达妮娅——她没死，只是睡着了。”为了强调他的论点，他举起一支设计很独特的箭，正是卓尔们所用的，上面涂有使人陷入沉睡的毒药。“把剑和护手交给我——马上——她就能活命。然后你可以为了你自己的性命讨价还价。那柄剑不会帮助你对抗黑暗精灵，因为他们要干掉你根本用不着魔法。” “但如果我需要为自己的性命讨价还价，我干吗不把这剑拿在手里这么做呢？”柯林·苏雷兹问。 恩崔立瞥了一眼沉睡的阿达妮娅。 “我能信任你的诺言吗？”苏雷兹问。 恩崔立没有回答，只是冷冷地看了他一眼。 沉重的门发出一声尖锐的鸣叫。柯林·苏雷兹仿佛被逼近的危险给弄得非常激动，他一跃而起，猛力挥舞着手中的剑。 恩崔立本可以先杀掉阿达妮娅再行闪避，但他没有这么做。他向后一蹿，到了挂毯后面，同时矮下身形，向侧面一个滚翻。他听到身后的挂毯撕裂时发出的声响就知道苏雷兹在那边又是砍又是戳的。查伦之爪很轻易地切断了沉重的织物，甚至还把挂毯后面的石头墙壁削下来好几块。 恩崔立从另一个角度现身，他发现苏雷兹已经在往自己所在的方向移动了，那男人脸上的表情看起来已经是疯了一半，事实上，他现在正在大笑。 “要是那些黑暗精灵进来这里，看到阿提密斯·恩崔立已经死了，他们会对我的能力做怎样的评价呢？”他尖叫着，同时将长剑向前一刺，但这是一个骗招，他中途变向，砍向恩崔立的肩膀。 此时恩崔立已经拔出了自己的长剑，放在右手，而匕首则仍然拿在左手，他提起匕首将对方的剑拨开。苏雷兹很有能力，他在恩崔立使用匕首发起进攻之前，就用那把强大的武器紧紧守住自己的门户。 对于这个男人的敬畏，还有更重要的，对于那把武器的敬畏使得恩崔立从对手身边退开一步。他对于查伦之爪非常了解，他知道，即使是在一次成功的格挡之中，手上也很可能被对方的武器造成轻微的划伤，这本身没有什么要紧，但如果对方用的是查伦之爪，因为它造成的伤口会发炎溃烂，一个小小的创伤就可能使人丧命。 杀手很确定自己的开局是成功的，他开始缓步向对手逼近。 苏雷兹再度发起攻击，这次是以较低的角度刺出，恩崔立向后一跳避开此招；接下来是一次角度较高的刺击，杀手矮身躲过。恩崔立用自己的长剑别开敌人的武器，然后刺向对方的胸口。这是一次如同闪电般快速的攻击，绝大部分的对手都会被这一剑刺个对穿。 苏雷兹根本没有机会击中恩崔立。此时他不得不做了一个滚翻，滚向左侧，因为杀手在格挡这第三击的同时，不知不觉间已经快步来到了他的右侧，他必须做出这样的闪避方能躲过对手接下来的攻势。 柯林·苏雷兹充满挫折地吼了一声，他们现在又成了平手，互相面对着对方，中间有大约十尺的距离，恩崔立则仍然沉稳地继续向前逼近。现在苏雷兹也动了起来，他绕着圈，准备阻挡对方的攻击。 恩崔立注意到，对方在移动的时候，后面那只脚从不离开地面，这也就意味着对方一直在改变方向，试图截断任何可能的逃跑路线。 “你是如此的希望得到查伦之爪，”苏雷兹自鸣得意地奸笑着说。“但是，你理解这件武器真正的美妙之处了吗？你甚至根本就没办法猜到它真正的力量所在，以及使用它的诀窍，杀手。” 恩崔立继续向前走，不断转变自己面朝的方向，这也就使得苏雷兹可以缩小战场的范围。杀手的耐心正在逐渐被消耗，而另一方面，房门处的声音也告诉他，走廊中的抵抗已经被彻底瓦解了。这房间的门相当的结实，但也绝不会坚持太长的时间，而恩崔立希望在莱基和其他的黑暗精灵到来之前就办完自己的事。 “你认为我已经老了。”苏雷兹嘴上说着，同时向前一个冲刺，长剑直指恩崔立。 恩崔立拦截了这一击，这次他做了一个标准的划圆防守动作，用自己的长剑在苏雷兹的剑刃之下将其荡开。杀手转过身向前走了一步，同时刺出自己的匕首，但他不得不闪身躲避那把强大的长剑。在恩崔立用自己的长剑格档了对方的攻击之后，对方的附魔长剑滑到了恩崔立的右手附近，非常危险，如果不作出躲避动作的话，他就不得不迅速逃离苏雷兹长剑接下来将要挥砍攻击的范围。 “我的确已经老了。”苏雷兹继续说，听起来颇有大无畏的精神。“但是我能够从这柄剑中获得力量。我是一个与你势均力敌的对手，阿提密斯·恩崔立，而我拥有这一柄剑，所以你必将被毁灭。” 他又一次发起攻击，但是恩崔立轻易地向后退去，一直退到正对着门的墙边。他知道这样就会使自己失去腾挪的空间，但对于他来说这并不要紧，关键是，柯林·苏雷兹也同样失去了空间，而另一方面，对手也正在失去时间。 “啊，没错，退后吧，我可怜的小兔子。”苏雷兹嘲弄道。“我认识你这个家伙，阿提密斯·恩崔立。我认识你。看吧！”说完之后，他开始挥舞自己的长剑，而恩崔立不由自主地眨着眼睛，因为那柄剑似乎正开始追踪黑暗。 不，那并不是追踪黑暗，杀手惊讶地意识到，那柄剑是在释放出黑暗。空气中出现了一团团不透明的黑色烟尘，而这意味着，柯林·苏雷兹正依自己的意愿改变战场的地形。 “我认识你！”苏雷兹吼道，同时迈步向前，在空气中放出更多的烟幕。 “的确，你确实认识我。”恩崔立冷静地回答，而苏雷兹的动作则变得缓慢了。恩崔立的声音提醒了他，这个特殊的敌手拥有怎样的力量。“你在夜晚的噩梦中都会见到我，柯林·苏雷兹。当你将目光投向梦境中最幽暗的黑影之时，难道你没有见过那双紧紧攫住你目光的眼睛吗？” 说完之后，他向前走了一步，用恰到好处的力量向前掷出自己的剑，而他所选择的角度，恰恰是使得柯林·苏雷兹除了逼近的剑尖之外什么都看不见的这一个角度。 房间的门爆炸了，变成了数不清的大大小小的碎屑。 苏雷兹对此几乎没有任何反应，因为他现在所有的注意力都集中在这一柄向他刺来的长剑上面，他用自己的武器将那把剑向下拍、向上敲，以及向左右挡。但是恩崔立所选择的角度和力量太精妙了，借助对手用武器格档的力量，这柄剑一直还在飞向苏雷兹的致命部位，这给苏雷兹造成了一种幻觉，认为这武器的另一头仍然拿在恩崔立的手里。 他向前一跳，穿过他的魔法长剑释放的烟幕，将长剑用力刺向恩崔立必然处于的位置——但他的计算完全错误了。 在苏雷兹感到背部已被刺中的那一瞬间，他的身体一下子变得非常僵硬。恩崔立的匕首已经插进了他的身体。 “难道你没见过那双在你梦境的阴影里盯着你的眼睛吗，柯林·苏雷兹？”恩崔立又问了一次。“那就是我的眼睛。” 苏雷兹感觉到那把匕首正在吸取他的生命力。恩崔立并没有把这生命力吸入自己的身体，他不需要那么做。敌人已经被打败了，而且他自己也知道。苏雷兹松开手，查伦之爪落在地上，他的胳膊也垂了下来。 “你是个魔鬼！”他向杀手怒吼道。 “我？”恩崔立故作无辜地说。“难道只为了一件武器就宁愿牺牲自己女儿的人不是柯林·苏雷兹吗？” 说完之后，他迅速伸出空着的那只手，拽掉了苏雷兹右手上戴着的护手。令苏雷兹大吃一惊的是，那手套被扔在了地上，就躺在剑旁边。 在已被打破的门口处，传来一个声音，这声音富于韵律感但却非常尖锐，而且所说的语言苏雷兹完全不懂，听起来语速很快，但常常夹杂着一些短促尖锐的辅音。 恩崔立从苏雷兹身边走开。苏雷兹转过身，看到烟幕逐渐散去，几个已经进入房间的黑暗精灵的身影慢慢浮现。 柯林·苏雷兹深吸一口气，稳定自己的情绪。他曾经与比卓尔更糟糕的东西打过交道，他默默提醒自己。他曾与一只灵吸怪赌博，也曾与卡林港最为声名狼藉的公会主人会面，而他安然度过了这一切。然后，他将注意力集中在恩崔立身上，他看到那杀手正集中精神与看起来地位最高的一个黑暗精灵交谈，他看到那杀手正逐渐远离他的身边。 而他珍爱的长剑就在他旁边，那是他最重要的财产——如果有可能，他的的确确会用自己女儿的性命来保护它。 恩崔立距离他的距离越来越远了。而且没有一个卓尔向苏雷兹走来，他们甚至根本没有注意到他的存在。 查伦之爪和他的距离是那样的近，它似乎正在呼唤他。 柯林·苏雷兹聚集起全部的力量，绷紧自己的肌肉，在脑海中计算着当前最为便利的逃跑方式，他深深弯下腰，迅速捡起了那只黑红交间的手套，然后，在他意识到那把强大的附魔长剑已经不能够正常在他手中工作的时候，他将它捡了起来。 他转过身面向恩崔立，吼道，“告诉他们，我要与他们的长官谈判……”他说到这里，接下来的话突然变成一片混乱，他的声调降低，速度也减慢了，就好像有什么东西正在拉扯他的声带。 柯林·苏雷兹的脸开始怪异地扭曲，他的整个身体似乎都在被向那柄剑的方向拉长。 房间中的交谈停止了。所有的眼睛都怀疑地看向苏雷兹。 “我——我会在九——九层狱里等着你，恩崔立！”那男人结结巴巴地说，说出的每一个字都带出一声低哑的呻吟。 “他在干什么？”莱基质问道。 杀手并没有回答，只是饶有兴致地观看着柯林·苏雷兹与查伦之爪的强大魔力之间的争斗。现在那老男人的脸变得更长了，身体上到处飘起缕缕轻烟。他试着叫喊，但发出的只是任何人都无法解读的咕噜声。烟变得越来越浓，苏雷兹开始剧烈地颤抖，在此期间，他一直试图发出某种惨叫。 但除了更多的烟，没有任何东西能从他口中喷出。 然后，一切似乎都停止了，苏雷兹站在那里呆呆的盯着恩崔立，并且粗重地喘息着。 他的生命中所余下的时间刚好足够他将一副恐惧和震惊的表情放在脸上，恩崔立有生以来还没有见过比这更强烈的表情。这个表情使得恩崔立非常愉快。苏雷兹这个轻易放弃自己女儿的人，他的结果可也不是那么好。 突然，柯林·苏雷兹的身体发出咝咝声，然后爆裂开来，彻底崩溃了。他头上的皮肉都被烧焦，只剩下一个洁白的骷髅头，以及一双恐惧地瞪大了的眼睛。 查伦之爪再次落到地上，但这次所发出的却并非金属落地的叮当声，而是一种非常沉闷的声音。它砸碎了柯林·苏雷兹的尸体。 “解释。”莱基命令道。 恩崔立走了过去，他的手已经戴上了一只与柯林·苏雷兹所拥有的完全一样的护手，但这两只并不能配成一套，因为它们是为同一只手设计的。他伸出手，平静地捡起了他最新的战利品。 “最好祈祷我不会去九层狱，当然，你肯定是会去的，柯林·苏雷兹。”致命的杀手对尸体说道。“因为如果我在那里看到你，我会继续折磨你，直至永恒。” “解释！”莱基更有力地命令道。 “解释？”恩崔立重复道，转过身来面对那怒火熊熊的卓尔法师。他耸耸肩，就好像他的答案应该是显而易见的。“我准备很充分，而他是个蠢货。” 莱基威胁地怒视着他，恩崔立则只是回以微笑，暗自期待自己愉快的表情能够挑拨法师发起战斗。 他现在拥有了查伦之爪，而且他还戴着可以抓住魔法能量、并且使其转向的护手。 这个世界从刚才那一瞬开始，已经以莱基那个废物无法理解的方式展开了