Chapter 5 Chapter 3 The Pride of Rabbitberry Village

"That's the farmland that Marco was talking about," Wulfgar said as they came to the edge of the great forest, near a clump of trees that jutted out.A little distance to the south, a dozen or so houses were clustered on the eastern edge of the forest, while the remaining three sides were broad rolling fields. Wulfgar began to push the horse forward, but Drizzt stopped him immediately. "Those are simple-minded inhabitants," the Dark Elf explained. "They are peasants who live in the entanglement of countless superstitions. They would not welcome a Dark Elf. We will go in at night."

"Perhaps we can find our way without their help," Wulfgar suggested, not wishing to waste another day in the few hours left. "I think there's a higher chance we'll get lost in the forest," Drizzt replied, and dismounted. "Rest, my friend. Tonight promises us a great adventure." "The night is hers," Wulfgar said, remembering what Malkor had said about the banshee. A smile spread across Drizzt's face. "Not tonight," he whispered. Wulfgar saw the familiar gleam in the dark elf's purple eyes, and stepped obediently from his saddle.Drizzt was ready for the impending battle, the dark elf's well-trained muscles already tensing with excitement.But although he was as confident as Wulfgar was in his martial arts, he couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the undead he was about to face.

at night.    They sleep peacefully through the day, enjoying the chirping of birds preparing for winter, the dancing of squirrels, and the cozy atmosphere of the forest.But when night fell, Neverwinter Forest took on a completely different vibe.Under the thick branches, darkness began to envelop a great deal, and a sudden silence fell on the bushes, a silence that implied danger and was now disturbing. Drizzt woke Wulfgar and led him south at once, without pausing to eat anything.In a few minutes their horses were at the nearest farmhouse.Fortunately, there was no moon that night, and Drizzt was of the Dark Folk unless one looked closely.

"Tell me what you're doing here, and get the hell out of here!" demanded a menacing voice from the low roof before they were close enough to knock on the door. Drizzt had expected it. "We're here to settle a feud," he replied without hesitation. "What enemies will people of your kind have in Rabbitberry?" the voice asked. "In your village?" Drizzt retorted. "No, we have a common enemy with you." Suddenly there was a sound of Xixi Zhengcui from above, and then two people with bows in their hands appeared from behind the corner of the farmhouse.Both Drizzt and Wulfgar knew that there were more eyes (and more bows, no doubt) looking at them from the roof, perhaps from the side as well.For simple farmers, these people are organized, and this is to take on the responsibility of defending their homeland.

"A common enemy?" one of the men in the corner (the one who had just spoken on the roof) asked Drizzt. "I'm pretty sure I've never seen anyone like you before, or your giant friend!" Wulfgar took Aegis-fang off his shoulders, causing some people on the roof to groan in unrest. "We have never been to Guicun." When he replied firmly, he was not irritated by being called a giant by these people. Drizzt interrupted abruptly. "A friend of ours was killed here, on a dark road in the woods. We were told that you would be our guides." Suddenly the door of the farmhouse opened, and a wrinkled old woman poked her head out. "And what do you want from the ghost in the woods?" she said angrily. "Don't disturb her, let her live in peace!"

Drizzt and Wulfgar exchanged glances, puzzled by the old woman's unexpected attitude.But the man in the corner obviously thought the same as her. "Yes, don't mess with her," he said. "Go away!" said another invisible person on the roof. Wulfgar gripped his hammer tighter, fearing that these men might be bewitched by evil, but Drizzt sensed something different in their voices. "I've been told about the spectre, this Agatha is an evil spirit," Drizzt told them calmly. "Did I hear it wrong? The kind people actually protect her." "Go, spirit? What is evil?" snapped the old crone, her wrinkled face and body rushing towards Wulfgar.The Savage took a cautious step back, though the old man's hunchbacked figure came only up to his navel.

"The ghost is guarding her own home," the man in the corner added. "I hope that everyone who goes there will be cursed with disaster!" "Woe to you!" screamed the old woman, leaning closer, sticking bony fingers up against Wulfgar's huge chest. Wulfgar had heard enough. "Stand back!" he yelled forcefully at the old woman.He slapped his empty hand with the Fang of Aegis, and his arms and shoulders swelled from the rush of blood.The old woman screamed, then rushed into the house and disappeared, slamming the door behind her in terror. "Poor thing," whispered Drizzt, fully aware of the consequences of Wulfgar's actions.The dark elf leaned aside and rolled over, when an arrow shot from the roof pierced the ground where he had been standing.

Wulfgar moved, anticipating the arrows.What he saw, however, was a black figure jumping down from the roof towards him.One of the mighty savage's hands seized the man, leaving him hanging helpless in mid-air, his feet a good three feet above the ground. At that moment, Drizzt stood up after rolling, and was positioned in front of the two figures in the corner of the room, with two machetes pointed at each man's throat.They simply don't have time to pull the bowstring back.What frightened them even more was that now they recognized Drizzt for what he was, but even if he was as white as his surface kin, the fire in his eyes would take all the strength out of both of them.

Seconds passed, and now the only visible movement was the struggle of three cornered farmers. "What an unfortunate misunderstanding," Drizzt said to the men.He took a step back and put the double blades back into their sheaths. "Put him down," he told Wulfgar. "Gently!" The dark elf immediately added. Wulfgar lowered the man to the ground, but the terrified farmer fell into the dirt anyway, watching the huge savage in horror and awe. Wulfgar still had a grim look on his face, just to scare the farmer. The door of the farmhouse opened again, and the little old woman reappeared, timidly this time. "You're not going to kill poor Agatha, are you?" she begged.

"As long as she's out of the confines of her home, she'll never hurt anyone," added the man in the corner, his voice trembling with every word. Drizzt looked at Wulfgar. "No," said the Savage. "We're going to see her and settle some things with her. But we're also sure we won't hurt her." "Please tell us the way," Drizzt begged. The two people in the corner looked at each other, hesitating. "Now," Wulfgar called to the man on the ground. "Go past the intertwined birches!" answered the man promptly. "That's the road, go back east! It's winding, but the trees are cleared!"

"Goodbye, Rabbitberry Village," Drizzt said politely, before bowing deeply. "Wish to be with you a little longer to assuage your fears of us, but we still have a lot to do and a long way to go." He and Wulfgar jumped into the saddle, and let the The mount turned around and left. "Wait a second!" The old woman stopped them from behind.As Drizzt and Wulfgar looked back, the horses also reared up. "Tell us, you fearless or foolish fighters," she begged them, "who are you?" "Wulfgar, son of Beornegar!" the barbarian yelled back, trying to maintain a little humility, but his chest bulged proudly. "And Drizzt Do'Urden!" "I've heard those names before!" exclaimed one of the farmers, suddenly recognizing them. "You will hear again!" Wulfgar promised them.As Drizzt moved on, he paused for a moment before turning to catch up with his friend. Drizzt wasn't quite sure if it was smart enough to reveal who Artemis Entreri was and where they were when Artemis Entreri was looking back at them.But when he saw the proud smile on Wulfgar's face, he decided not to voice his worries, and let Wulfgar cheer himself up.    As the lights of Rabbitberry Village faded to dots of light, Wulfgar became serious. "They don't seem to be bad," he said to Drizzt, "but they protected the ghoul, even gave it a name! We may have left someone behind who will deal with us in the future." "No," Drizzt replied. "Tubberry Village is just what it appears to be; it's a small, down-to-earth village with kind and honest villagers." "But Agatha," Wulfgar protested. "There are hundreds of these little villages in the countryside around here," Drizzt explained. "Many are unknown, and most of them are not noticed by the owners of the land. But I guess all these villages, even the lords of Waterdeep, have heard of Rabbitberry Village, and the ghosts in Neverwinter Forest .” "Agatha made them famous," Wulfgar reasoned. "And no doubt, some degree of protection was given to them," Drizzt added. "How could any bandit dare to walk the path of a haunted land?" Wulfgar said with a smile. "But this is really a strange marriage." "It's none of our business," Drizzt said, reining in his horse. "Here is the intertwined birch that the man said." He pointed to a grove of intertwined birches.The Forest of Neverwinter looked dark and mysterious behind that. Wulfgar's horse flattened its ears. "We're very close," said the Savage, and slipped from the saddle.They tied up their horses and walked into the bushes, Drizzt as quiet as a cat, but Wulfgar was too big for the densely growing trees and creaked with every step. . "Are you really going to kill that guy?" he asked Drizzt. "Unless necessary," the dark elf replied. "We're just here to get the masks, and we've got an appointment with those guys from Rabbitberry Village." "I do not believe that Agatha would willingly hand over the treasure to us," Wulfgar reminded Drizzt.He made his way through the last row of birches, then stood beside the dark elf, a dark entrance to a thick oak grove. "Be quiet now," Drizzt whispered.He pulled out the Flash, letting the silent blue light of the knife lead them into the darkness. The trees seemed to come closer to them; the deathly stillness of the woods only made them more aware of the echo of footsteps.Even Drizzt, who had lived for some time in the deepest cavern, felt the weight of the dark corners of Neverwinter Woods weighing on him.Evil was hatching here, and if he or Wulfgar had had any doubts about the legends about that banshee before, they might now feel that the legends were less terrifying than the truth.Drizzt took a thin candle from his fanny pack, then broke it in half, and gave Wulfgar one half. "Clog your ears," he repeated Marco's warning with his lips. "Hearing her wailing means your own death." Even in the deep darkness they recognized the way easily, for with every step they took the halo of evil grew heavier and heavier upon them.After walking a few hundred steps, they saw the light of fire.Both of them instinctively crouched in a defensive position to scan the area. Before them was a dome of branches, and the cave made of this tree was the lair of the Banshee.The only entrance was a small hole, just big enough for a person to crawl through.The idea of ​​crawling into light on their hands and feet did not please them at all.Wulfgar held Aegis-fang in front of him, trying to open another, bigger door.He walked bravely to the cave. With Drizzt at his side, he wasn't quite sure how feasible Wulfgar's idea was.Drizzt thought a creature that could live that long should be protected from such an obvious method of intrusion.But the dark elf didn't have any better ideas at that moment either, so he took a step back as Wulfgar raised the hammer above his head.Wulfgar spread his feet wide for balance, took a deep breath to calm himself, and hammered Aegis-fang to the target with all his might.The cavern shook; pieces of wood splintered and flew, but what the dark elf feared was quickly realized.For when the wooden shell cracked and fell, Wulfgar's hammer fell through a hidden mesh.Before he could stop, Aegis-fang and his arm were both entangled. Drizzt didn't hesitate to see a shadow leap across the firelight within, and to see his companion in danger.He slipped under Wulfgar's legs, into the cave, and he advanced, swinging his knives.At one point, the flash seemed to chop something, but the thing didn't seem solid.Drizzt knew he was cutting something from another world.As soon as he entered the cave, the sudden bright light made him dizzy and made it difficult for him to stand still.Yet his composure allowed him to see that the Banshee had run into the shadows on the other side.He rolled over to the wall, propped his back against it, and got up, slashing blindly at what Wulfgar was entangled in with the flash. Then the wailing began. It pierced through the flimsy protection of the wax with bone-shocking intensity, draining Drizzt and Wulfgar of their strength, causing a bewildering darkness to envelop them.Drizzt slammed against the wall, and Wulfgar managed to break free from the stubborn net, falling backward into the darkness outside and falling on his back. Drizzt was alone in the hole, and he knew he was in big trouble.Fighting against the dizzying blur and the stabbing pain in his head, he tried to see the flames clearly. But he saw two dozen firelights, which he couldn't get rid of even by shaking his head.He believed he was out of the wail, and it would take him a while to figure out what was really going on here. Agatha is a magical creature, and magical protections, some projected phantoms, guard her home.Suddenly Drizzt faced the distorted expressions of more than twenty long-dead female elves, some of the skin on her sunken cheeks had shrunk, some had elongated, and there was no color of life or fire in her eyes. But those eyeballs could still see, better than anyone else in this deceitful maze.Drizzt learned that Agatha knew his race well.She waved her hands in a unique motion, mocking her soon-to-be victims. Drizzt knew these movements of the banshee were preparations for the spell.He was still trapped in her phantom, and the dark elf had only one chance.He wanted to call upon the natural powers of their race (and in desperation wishing he could guess which was the real fire). He cast a dark ward on the fire, darkening the hollow of the tree, and Drizzt fell to the ground. down. A blue light arrow pierced the darkness!Flew over the lying dark elf, through the wall.The air hissed around him; the ends of his stiff white hair began to dance. Agatha's powerful magic arrow shot through the dark forest, shaking Wulfgar awake from his coma. "Drizzt," he moaned, forcing himself to his feet.His friend was probably dead, and the cave was too dark for human eyes to see.But Wulfgar showed no fear, and without thinking for a moment about his own safety, he stumbled back to the cave. Drizzt crept to the edge of the darkness, using the heat of the fire as his guide.He swung the scimitar with every step, but couldn't touch anything but the air and the edge of the hollow. Then suddenly, the darkness disappeared, leaving him alone in the middle of the wall to the left of the door.Agatha was watching his phantom spread around him, she was already around, and she was already preparing to cast the spell for the second time.Drizzt looked for a way to escape, but he saw that Ahisha seemed to be watching him. On the other side of the room, in what should have been a real mirror, Drizzt saw a vision; Huofgar crawled in through the low entrance defenseless. Drizzt had no chance to hesitate.He began to understand how the maze was arranged, and he could guess the general direction of the banshee.He ran down on one knee, dug a handful of earth, and threw it at a wide angle to the other side of the cave. All of the phantoms reacted in the same way, making it difficult for Drizzt to tell which was his real enemy.But wherever the real Agatha was, she had been spilled; Drizzt had messed up her magic. Huofujia stood firm, and immediately took the warhammer to hit the wall on the right and right of the door, and then threw Aegis' Fang at the image opposite the door with his backhand and flew over, flying over Huotu.Aegis-fang smashed into the wall again, opening a hole into the Nightwood. Drizzt wasted another dagger on another image opposite, and got a clue when he saw something flash past there, as he saw the reflected image of Wulfgar.Drizzt ran full speed to the back of the room as the Fang of Aegis returned to Wulfgar by itself. "Bring me a way!" he yelled, hoping it would be loud enough for Wulfgar to hear. Wulfgar understood.He called out "Tampus!" to warn the dark elf that he was about to cast, and threw the Aegis-fang again. Drizzt rolled over on his back, the hammer whizzing across his back and hitting the mirror.Half the image in the room was gone, and Agatha screamed in rage.But Drizzt still didn't slow down.He jumped over the broken mirror stand and the shards of glass. Jumped straight into Agatha's treasure room. The banshee's scream turned into a wail, and the sound waves of murder fell on Drizzt and Wulfgar again.This time, however, they were mentally prepared in advance, so they could easily resist its power.Drizzt crawled to the treasure pile, dug up some gold and silver jewels and put them in the bag.Wulfgar was enraged, and he ran wildly through the cave with a destructive streak.Soon, what had been the wall was on fire, and small streams of blood from the scratches crisscrossed Wulfgar's huge forearm.But the Savage felt no pain, only wild rage. Drizzt's bag was almost full, and he turned to run away when something caught his eye.He almost breathed a sigh of relief because he didn't find such a thing. In his heart, he really hoped that this thing wasn't here, that such a thing didn't exist at all.But there it was, an unobtrusive mask with indifferent features and a strap at the back to fasten it around the face.Drizzt knew that as mundane as it looked, it must be what Marco was talking about, and if he had any thought of ignoring such a thing now, it was only for a moment.Regis needed him, and Drizzt needed the mask if he was going to get to Regis anytime soon.When the dark elf picked it up from the treasure pile, he still couldn't hide his sigh. He felt the exciting power of this thing.Without any other thought, he put it in the bag. Agatha doesn't give up her treasure easily, and when Drizzt bounces back from the broken mirror, the ghost he's facing is all too real.When Drizzt resisted Agatha's frenzied attack, the flash shone fiercely. Wulfgar thought that Drizzt needed him now, and he unleashed a frantic rage that he had found clear-headed to be necessary in such a predicament.He scanned the room slowly, raising Aegis-fang for another throw.But the barbarian found that he hadn't figured out the rules for the movement of magic phantoms. He was confused by a dozen phantoms and was afraid of hitting Drizzt, so he didn't dare to take it easily. Drizzt danced effortlessly beside the frenzied ghoul, cornering her toward the treasure room.He could have hit her already, but he had to keep his promise to the Rabbitberry villagers. Then he forced her into position.He waved the flash forward and took two steps forward.Agatha retreated cursing, tripped on the mirror stage, and fell backward into the darkness.Drizzt turned in the direction of the door. Wulfgar saw that the real Agatha and the phantom were gone, he heard her purring, and finally saw the layout of the room.He readies the Fang of Aegis for the final fatal blow. "That's it!" Drizzt shouted to him as he ran past him, patting Wulfgar on the back with a shiny flat surface, reminding him of what they were here for and their pact. Wulfgar turned to look at him, but the swift dark elf was already out into the night.Wulfgar turned to look at Agatha, who stood up, her teeth bared, her fists clenched. "Forgive us for breaking in," he said politely, and bowed deeply enough to allow him to follow his friends outside to safety.He ran across the dark path to catch up to the blue glow of the flash. The banshee howled for the third time, and chased them down the path.Drizzt had run out of pain, but the sting from it caught up to Wulfgar, knocking him off balance.The smirk on his face suddenly disappeared, and he fell forward blindly. Drizzt turned and tried to catch him, but the giant knocked the elf away and fell forward. He hit his face against a tree. Before Drizzt could come to help, Wulfgar got up and ran on, too frightened and too embarrassed to even groan. Behind them, Agatha howled helplessly.    The villagers knew that Drizzt and Wulfgar had found her lair when Agatha's first wailing wafted a mile or so on the evening wind to the village of Munberry.Everyone, including the children, gathered outside the room to listen to the next two howls through the night sky.What was even more confusing now was the continuous and painful howling of the Banshee. "And so are these strangers!" laughed one of them. "No, you are wrong," said the old woman, who recognized something different in Agatha's voice. "Those are the howls of failure. They beat her! They succeeded, and ran away!" The others sat quietly studying Agatha's cry, and soon discovered that the old woman's observation was true.They looked at each other in disbelief. "What did they say their names were?" one asked. "Wulfgar," replied the other. "And Drizzt Do'Urden. I've heard of them before."