The wizard looked down at her uncertainly.Her back was turned to him; all he could see was her thick auburn locks hanging over her thick, vibrant shoulders.But the wizard also saw the sadness in her eyes.She is so young, just out of the child stage, and innocent enough to make people feel beautiful. But the beautiful child plunged the sword into the heart of Sydney, whom he loved. Harkle Hubbell quickly brushed away the unwanted memories of his dead lover, and started down the hill. "Nice weather," he said cheerfully as he walked up to the young girl. "Do you think they've made it to the Tower?" Catti-brie asked him, never taking her eyes off the southern city line.

Harkle shrugged. "Even if they're not here yet, they'll be soon." He glanced at Catti-brie and found he couldn't be angry at what she'd done.It was true that she had killed Sydney, but Harkle knew that it was not malice that guided the sword in her hand, but necessity.All he could do for her now was pity. "Are you all right?" stammered Harkle, marveling at the courage the girl had shown as she and her friends went through these horrors. Catti-brie nodded, then turned to the wizard.Her deep blue eyes were indeed sad, but most of them seemed to be burning with a firm determination to drive away any trace of weakness.She lost Bruno, the dwarf who had adopted her since childhood and supported her like a biological father.And the rest of her friends are racing south in pursuit of a deadly killer.

"Things are changing so quickly," Harkle murmured softly, pitying the young woman.He remembered a time, just a few weeks ago, when Bruenor Warhammer and his little band came to Longsaddle on a journey to find his lost homeland, Mithril Hall.It was a pleasant meeting. They exchanged many stories with the Hubbell family and agreed to help each other in the future.None of them knew that there was another party, led by a vicious killer, and that Sydney, Harkle's favorite, was pursuing this one with Catti-brie as hostage.Bruenor had found Mithril Hall, and fell there. And Sydney, the female mage Harkle once loved, also played an important role in the death of the dwarves.

Harkle took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Bruno's revenge must be avenged." He frowned and said. Catti-brie kissed him on the cheek, then turned and started walking up back to the Ivy Pavilion.She understands the wizard's sincere pain, and she really appreciates his decision, which is to help her complete the oath of returning to Mithril Hall and regaining it for Bruno. But for Harkle, he had no other choice.The Sydney he loved was just a faux pas, a sugarcoated monster of a mad power-hungry and emotionless monster.He himself had played another important part in this disaster when he had inadvertently revealed the location of Bruno and his party to Sydney.

Harkle watched Catti-brie go, the weight of sorrow slowing her.He couldn't hold any resentment against her, Sydney had put him in a situation where he had to die, and Catti-brie had no other choice.The wizard turned his gaze to the south, too, and even he was beginning to worry about the dark elves and their giant barbarian friends, who had stumbled back to Longsaddle three days ago, sad and weary, desperate for rest. But they couldn't rest, at least not now, as the evil killer dragged the last of their gang, the halfling Regis, off. So much has happened in the past few weeks; Harkle's whole world seems to be turned upside down by a strange combination of heroes, a wasteland called Icewind Dale, and a beautiful young woman; the lies people tell him.

Harkle slumped on the grass and watched the late summer puffy clouds roam across the sky.    Above the clouds where the stars shine eternally, Guenhuffa, the leopard's body, was running excitedly.It had been a long time since the leopard's master, the dark elf named Drizzt Do'Urden, had last summoned it.Guenhwyvar was sensitive to the onyx statue that allowed him to connect with his master and the other world; when the master just touched the statue lightly from such a distance, the leopard still felt it. But Guenhwyvar hadn't felt a connection to Drizzt for some time, and somehow, with his otherworldly ways of thinking, he'd also learned that the dark elves no longer held statues.Guenhwyvar remembered Drizzt before he took possession of it, when another evil dark elf was its master, and although Guhwyvar was essentially an animal, he still had dignity, but this quality was lost to him before. The master stripped away.

Guenhwyfa still remembered that it was forced to use cruel and despicable means to deal with some defenseless enemies, just for the pleasure of its master. But since Drizzt Do'Urden had the statue, things have been very different.He is conscientious and upright, and the bond that forges between Guenhwyvar and Drizzt is one of genuine love. Leaning against a star-decorated tree, the leopard let out a low growl.It looked like a helpless sigh under the starry sky. The leopard would sigh even deeper if it knew that the killer, Artemis Entreri, now owned the statue.