Chapter 24 Chapter 20 The Balance Between Prudence and Desire

Gord Abrex fell to the floor gasping for breath, and the little ball of fire flew past him and flew through the door into the tavern.At that moment, Kim Murray closed the space door.Gord Abrix had seen the fireball thrown before, and could clearly imagine the destruction of the tavern.He knew he had just lost about twenty loyal skaven warriors. He staggered to his feet, looking around at his three dark elf companions.As before with the group, he wasn't sure what they were going to do next. "You and your men are doing well," Leckie commented. "You killed them," said Gord Abrix boldly, though there was nothing disapproving in his tone.

"Necessary sacrifice," Lykey replied. "You don't believe they have any chance of defeating Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle, do you?" "Then why let them go?" asked the thwarted Skaven leader, but his voice died the moment the words were uttered.His inner hints about who these people really were dispelled his reasoning.Gord Abrix and his party were sent out just to hold back, to stalk Ricky and Kim Murray as they prepared Entreri and Jarlaxle for their short-lived end. Kim Murray opened the space door again, showing the destroyed tavern.Burnt corpses lay everywhere, and no living thing could move.Drow surveyed the horrific sight, his lips curled in an evil smile, and a shudder ran through Gord Abrix as he realized the fate he had just narrowly escaped. spine.

Boyinyong Banrui went through the door and walked into the room that used to be a tavern, but was closer to the open air, and returned after a while. "There are two ratmen who can move a little bit," the drow warrior told his companion. "Where are our friends?" Leckie asked. Bo Yinyong shrugged. "I saw neither Jarlaxle nor Entreri," he explained. "They're among the wreckage, or burned beyond recognition." Lakey thought for a while, then gestured for Boyinyon and Gord Abrix to go back to the tavern and search around. "What about my men?" asked the Rat Man.

"Drag them back if there's any more to be saved," Lakie replied. "Lady Rose will grant me the power to heal them...if I choose." Gord Abrix, who was walking towards the door of the space, stopped, looking back at the ambiguous and dangerous drow curiously, not sure how to understand the words of this shepherd and law practitioner. "Do you think our prey is still here?" Kim Murray asked Lakey.He uses drow language, keeping the skaven leader out of conversation. Bo Yinyong's reply came from the door. "They're not there," he said confidently, though it was clear he hadn't had enough time to walk through the ruins by now. "A few pins and a mage's spell weren't enough to knock those two down."

Raggie squinted at this blatant disdain for his spell's effects, but in fact he couldn't really argue with that assessment.He had hoped to catch his quarry easily and crisply, but he knew better in his heart that Jarlaxle would be a worrying, shrewd target. "Find it quickly," Kim Murray ordered. Boyinyon and Gord Abrix ran away, turning over the smoking ruins. "They're not in there," Leckie said to his psychic friend after a while. "You agree with Bo Yinyong's reasoning?" Kim Murray asked. "I heard the call of the Crystal Shard," Lecky explained, growling.He had indeed heard the new call of the artifact, the prisoner of stubborn Artemis Entreri. "That call did not come from the hotel."

"And from where?" asked Kim Murray. Leckie just shook his head in frustration.Yes, where is it.He heard the plea, but was not told the location, only the persistent call. "Call our friends back," the mage ordered.Kim Murray went out the door, and in a moment he was back with Boyinyon and Gord Abrix, and two skaven who were badly burned but still alive. "Help them," pleaded Gord Abrix, dragging his burned companion to Lakey. "This is Povino, a close mentor and partner." Leckie closed his eyes and began to chant, then opened his eyes and reached out to Povino, who was wriggling on his stomach.Wagging his fingers, he uttered another cryptic phrase to end the spell, and a swift flash of light burst from his fingertips, striking the unfortunate Ratman.The creature screamed, spasming intermittently.He howled in pain as smoking blood and clots began to flow from his cascading wounds.

Moments later, Povino lay there dead, very still. "What... what did you do?" Gord Abrix demanded an explanation from Lakie, and the mage had begun another chants. Lakey didn't answer.Gord Abrix walked up to him, or at least tried to.he found his feet Glued to the ground, as if standing in a puddle of superglue.He glanced around, his eyes fixed on Kim Murray.From this drow's satisfied expression, he understood that it was the psychic power that kept him firmly in place. "You've disappointed me," Leckie explained, opening his eyes, while extending a hand to another wounded skaven.

"You said we were doing well," protested Gord Abrix. "That was before I knew Jarlaxle and Artemis Entreri had escaped," Lykey explained. He completed the spell, unleashing a huge bolt of lightning on another wounded skaven.The creature bounced and rolled grotesquely, curled up like a baby, and soon followed his companions into the grave. Howling, Gord Abrix drew his sword, but Birynyon was there, shattering the edge of his fine drow sword.The warrior looked to his two fellow drow.Lakey nodded, and he slit Gord Abrex's throat. The skaven's feet were still glued tightly, sinking into the ground.He stared at Lecky helplessly and beggingly.

"I don't allow failure." The drow mage said coldly. "King Elbereth has widely spread the news among our scouts." The elf Saleh assured Ivan and Pike, the emissaries of the dwarves who arrived in the Shimesta Forest at the western end of the Snowflake Mountains.Cadderly did not hesitate to send the two dwarves to their elf friend, certain that anyone who approached would be noticed by King Elbereth's extensive detection network. Pike made a sound, and to Ivan's ears, it sounded more like trembling than hope, although Saleh had promised them what they wanted.

Or, did she give? Ivan Stoneshoulder carefully looked at the elf girl.With violet eyes and thick blond hair that fell long over her shoulders, she was undeniably beautiful even for a dwarf who preferred short, wiry women with thick beards.Yet there is something, subtle overtones, in Saleh's posture and her musical voice. "You don't have to kill them, you know." Ivan declared frankly. Saleh's attitude hasn't changed much. "It was you who called them the ultimate danger," she replied, "a killer and a drow." Ivan noticed that when she mentioned the dark elf, the ominous tone in her voice increased, as if the man's race repelled her more than his companion's profession.

"Cadley needs to talk to them," Ivan muttered. "Can he talk to the dead?" "Oh," Pike said.He jumped away, disappeared briefly into the bushes, and returned with one hand behind his back.He jumped in front of Saleh, grinning unsuspectingly. "Drizzt," he reminded, and held out his hand, showing a delicate flower he had just plucked for her. In the face of such an emotional onslaught, Saleh could barely maintain her draconian demeanor.She smiled and took the wild flower to her nose to smell its sweet fragrance. "There's always a flower in the weeds," she said, understanding Pike's intentions, "just as there might be a druid among the dwarven tribes. That doesn't mean there will be others." "Hope," Pike said. Saleh chuckled feebly. "Put your heart in place," Ivan warned. "That's what Cadley said, otherwise the Crystal Shard will reach your heart and twist it with your own desires. This is his warning and expectation for you, Elf." Saleh's genuine smile was all the promise he needed. "The Chantikri brothers have a whole plan to keep the children busy," Danica said to Kadleli. "I'll be ready to move as soon as the magic weapon arrives." Cadley looked as if he didn't support the idea at all. "You don't think I'll allow you to visit an ancient dragon without being by your side?" Danica asked rather hurt.Cadley sighed. "We have encountered a dragon before. If we hadn't taken it across the mountains, there would have been no problems." The woman reminded him. "This time it's going to be more difficult," Cadley explained. "While dealing with that guy, I need to expend power to control the crystal shard. Worse, I'm sure the magic weapon will also talk to that dragon. For an artifact of chaos and destruction, there is nothing better than Would a mighty red dragon be a more suitable bearer?" "How powerful is your magic?" Danica asked. "I'm afraid it's not that strong," Cadley replied. "Then it's even more necessary for me, Ivan, and Pike to go with you," Danica said. "Will you give us the chance to fight such a beast without Diene's aid?" asked the priest sincerely. "If Deeney is not with you, you will need us to get you out of there as soon as possible." The woman replied with a generous smile. "Isn't that what your friends are supposed to do?" Cadley wanted to respond, but he couldn't speak to Danica's determined face, the calm etched on her beautiful face.Of course she wanted to go with him, and he knew there was no way he could stop her unless he used magic and powerful tricks to get away.Of course, Ivan and Pike would travel with him, too, but he had to cringe at the thought of the would-be druid Pike facing a red dragon.They would rather never bother with the gigantic beast than to cause a mere burst of flame with its fiery breath.Pike is so devoted to nature that he may not be so willing to walk away from a dragon, which is the greatest distortion of nature in the whole world. Danica put her hand under Cadley's chin and turned his head back.So, as she moved closer to him, he looked straight at her. "We'll get this done and to our satisfaction," she said, kissing him softly on the lips. "We've fought worse battles, my dear." Cadley did not deny her words, her presence, or her determination to take this important and dangerous journey.He pulled her closer, kissing her again and again. "We're too busy elsewhere," Charlotta Vespa tried to explain to Kim Murray and Leckie.The pair were not pleased to hear that Dalabad had been infiltrated in some way by spies of the Menon warlord chiefs. The dark elves exchanged concerned glances.Charlotta had repeatedly insisted that every spy was caught and killed, but what if she was wrong?What if a spy escaped and informed Menon's warlord chiefs of the changes in Dalabad?Or what if other spies now see the real forces behind the Basadoni's disintegration? "Every dagger that Jarlaxle throws pays off quickly," Kim Murray said to Lykki in the language of the drow. Charlotte understood the words clearly, but she didn't really understand the meaning of the drow proverb, which referred to the vengeance of one drow family for the sins committed by another.Kim Murray's words are a stark warning that Jarlaxle and Clinshinibon's involvement could leave them vulnerable to attack themselves, no matter what remedial steps they take. Lackey nodded, stroked his chin, and whispered something that others could not hear.He stepped forward suddenly, and was standing in front of Charlotta, his hands raised in front of him, thumbs facing each other.He spat out another word, and a flame burst out, engulfing the panicked woman's head.She flapped the flames, screamed and ran around the house, lying down and rolling. "Make sure everyone else who knows too much is equally lacking in intelligence," Leckie said coldly as Charlotta finally lay dead on the floor at his feet. Kim Murray nodded, his expression grim, yet the line of his thin lips tugged at the sign of an eager toothy grin. "I will open the portal back to Menzoberranzan," the mage explained. "I dislike this place as much as you do, and know that our potential benefits are not worth the risk of the Dayet mercenaries. I don't even think it's a pity that Jarlaxle foolishly went beyond the limits of rational admonition." "He's better off doing that," agrees Kim Murray. "So we can go our own way, back to the cave where we really belong." He glanced down at the black-headed and smoking Charlotta, and smiled again.He bowed to his partner, his like-minded friend, and left the room, eager to begin other debriefing. Leckie also left the room, but through another door, toward the stairs leading to the ground floor of the Basadoni union.There, he can rest better in the safety of his private quarters.The retreat order spoken to Kim Murray followed every step he took. Reasonable order.An order that enables a person to survive a place that becomes too dangerous. But... there was a constant call in his mind, a persistent intrusion, a plea for help. A promise of something great beyond his comprehension. Leckie sat in a comfortable chair in his private room, reminding himself that returning to Menzoberranzan was the correct course of action for the Dayet mercenaries, and continuing to stay on the surface, even if it was the pursuit of powerful demons. It is also too risky compared to the potential benefits. Before long, the weary drow fell into a hallucination of something very similar to what a dark elf might know about real sleep. In this "sleep," Clinshinibon's call was again sent to Lecky, a supplication for aid, and a promise of great benefit in return. This prophetic call was quickly magnified a hundred times, with a stronger promise of glory and power. It was not the magnificent crystal tower in the Calishite desert, but the pure opal built in the center of Menzoberranzan. The tower of , a building of pure black, shimmers with heat and energy within. Lykki's watchful prudence could not be sustained by the imagining that before him was the procession of the Matron, and with them the hateful Tril Baenry had come to pay homage to him at the top of the tower. The dark elf's eyes widened.He put away these thoughts, jumped up from his chair, and quickly went to find Kim Murray to change the psychic's instructions.Yes, he will open the gates back to Menzoberranzan, and most of the Dayet's will return to their homeland. But Leckie and Kim Murray won't stop there.They will stay with a fighting force until the Crystal Shard finds a suitable holder, a dark elf shepherd and law practitioner.He will bring the highest level of power to the magic weapon, and will also obtain equivalent power from it. In a dark conference room beneath the Dallabad Oasis, Yarashiko quietly congratulated himself as he made the promise of the Crystal Shard stronger to tempt Lecky.Kim Murray had told Yaraskord about the change in plans of the Dayet mercenaries, and although Yaraskoe had apparently agreed to the change, the illithid was unwilling to let the Crystal Shard go unchecked.With powerful focus and mind control, Yarashik is able to capture the subtle fragments of the silent calls from the magic weapon, but the illithid has not yet been able to retrace the source of those calls. In the short future, Yarashik still needs Dayet mercenaries, but the illithid knows that once this alliance of drow realizes its intention to locate the crystal shard, he and Rai will fight in the inevitable battle. Key is likely to be on opposing sides. Let it happen, Yarashiko understood.Kim Murray Obroza, a psychic who understood Clinshinibon's deeper and more precise weaknesses, would literally be on his side of the battlefield.