Chapter 26 Chapter 22 The Dragon of Darkness

In the center of the ground floor, in a huge cavern full of jagged and twisted walls, full of shadows, its ceiling is so high that even the strongest firelight cannot shine.Here resides the current Lord of Mithril Hall, seated on a solid throne of pure Mithril, beneath which are piles of gold coins and jewels, goblets and weapons of all kinds, and countless others skilled in the hands of dwarf artisans. , Countless objects knocked out of thick mithril blocks as raw materials. Dark shapes surrounded the monster, giant dogs from its world, loyal, long-lived, eager to eat the flesh of man or elf, or anything that gave them the thrill of bloody sport before killing.

Shimmer is not happy now.Voices from above told him of intruders, a group of duergar reported that some of their kind had been slain in the tunnels, and there were whispers of the presence of dark elves. This dragon is not of this world.It came from the Shadowlands, the dark shadows of the world of light, unknown to its inhabitants except in their darkest nightmares, more removed from reality.Shimmering was of a high rank there, older, and highly respected among the dragons who ruled that realm.But when the foolish and greedy Dwarves who once dwelt in the mine dug so deep into the darkness below that they opened the gates to his world, the Dragon came easily.Now that it is sitting on ten times more wealth than the biggest treasure in its own world, Shimmer has no desire to go back.

It will take care of those intruders. For the first time since defeating the Warhammers, the barking of the Shadowhounds filled the tunnel, driving fear into the duergar's heart.The dragon sent them west on a mission, to the tunnels near the Valley of the Guardians, where the Companions had entered the tunnels in the first place.With their powerful jaws and incredible stealth, these hunters are indeed a deadly force, but their mission is not to catch and kill, they are only responsible for driving dwarves away. During the first battle of Mithril Hall, Shimmer single-handedly overwhelmed the miners on the bottom of the cavern and in the great easternmost room on the upper level.But the final victory was not his own, for the decisive battle was in the western passage, too narrow for his massive, scaly body.

The monster will not give up its glory again.It sent its men into action to drive anyone or anything that came into Mithril Hall to the only entrance to the upper floors: Glen Canyon. Stretching to the limit of its height, Shimmer spread its leathery wings for the first time in two hundred years, and as they spread out to the sides, darkness poured from beneath.The gray dwarves who remained in the throne room saw their master standing up and knelt down, partly out of respect, but mostly out of fear. Then the dragon departed, and it slid down the secret passage at the back of the room, to the place in its honor, which the minions named the Glitter Passage in honor of their master.

An indistinguishable darkness passed, as silent as the black clouds that followed. Wulfgar worried how low he could crouch as the group neared Glen Canyon, for the tunnel grew to the size of the dwarf as they approached the eastern end of the upper deck.Bruenor knew this was a good sign, because in the entire mine network, only the deepest pits and those built to protect the canyons were below six feet. Faster than Bruno thought, they came to the secret door that turned to the small tunnel on the left, a place that Bruno hadn't forgotten even two centuries after he left.His hands roamed the wall beneath the unobtrusive torches and marked red torch holders, looking for engravings that would lead his hands into the correct position.He felt one triangle, another, and followed their lines to the center point, which was the valley floor between the two peaks they marked, the mark of Dumathoin the Valley Keeper.Bruno pressed down with one finger, and the entire wall moved down, revealing another low tunnel.There was no light in it, but a hollow sound, like wind blowing over rocks, greeted them.

Bruenor winked at them knowingly and walked in, but slowed when he saw the cryptic writing and reliefs carved into the walls.Along each wall along the entire walkway, dwarf artists have left their works.When Bruno saw the admiring expressions of his friends, although he was depressed, he was still intoxicated with this pride. They turned a few turns and came to an iron lattice gate, lowered and rusted, through which they saw another huge cavern. "Glen's Canyon," Bruno announced, stepping up to the bars. "You can drop a torch from above, and it'll go out before it hits the ground."

Four pairs of eyes looked at the other side of the door curiously.If the journey through Mithril Hall had disappointed them because they had not seen the splendor that Bruenor used to tell them about, the sight before them made up for it.They had now reached Glen Canyon, which appeared not to be a canyon, but the size of an entire gigantic valley, stretching hundreds of feet beyond their horizon.They are above the bottom of the cave, and there is a staircase on the other side of the gate going down to the right.They stuck their heads out as far as they could, hoping to see beyond the iron bars. They saw the light in another room at the bottom of the stairs, and they heard clearly the commotion of some duergars.

On the left, the wall curves to the edge of the cliff, however the canyon continues beyond the boundary of the cave wall.A solitary bridge spans the gap, an ancient stone structure so perfectly built that its slight curvature can support the weight of an entire army of the largest mountain giants to this day. Bruno took a closer look at the bridge and saw that something was wrong with its substructure.His eyes followed an iron cable across the canyon, imagining it continuing under the stone of the floor and connecting to a large lever set up on the newly built platform opposite.Two duergar sentries twirled around the lever, their slack attitude saying a lot about the countless wearisome days they'd spent.

"They've got the equipment set up and they're going to break this thing!" Bruno said angrily. The others immediately understood what he was talking about. "Is there another way?" Catti-brie asked. "Yes," answered the dwarf, "at the southern end of the gorge there is a rock that juts out. But it takes hours to walk to get there, and the only way to get there is through the cave!" Wulfgar gripped the bars of the gate tightly, testing their strength.As he thought, the iron stripes didn't budge. "We can't get through anyway," he interposed. "Unless you know where we can find the gap through."

"It'll take half a day or so," Bruno replied, as if the answer should be obvious, which is perfectly reasonable in the mind of a dwarf trying to protect his own treasure. "This race is really annoying." Regis said softly to himself. Bruenor heard it, growled loudly, grabbed Regis by the collar, and lifted him off the ground, their faces pressed together. "Our race is careful," he roared, his own frustration and confusion seething again in anger. "We will protect what belongs to us, especially from thieves with small hands and big mouths!" "There must be another way to go there," reasoned Catti-brie, and she stepped forward to defuse the conflict.

Bruenor lowered the halfling to the floor. "We can go to that room," he replied, pointing to the glowing area under the stairs. "Quick then," Catti-brie demanded. "If the sound of the collapse above had alerted them, the news might not have spread so far." Bruno led them quickly back to the original tunnel, and then back to the corridor behind the secret door. Rounding the second turn in the main walkway, where the walls were also carved with cryptic writing and reliefs of dwarven artisans, Bruenor lost his wrath against Regis again, basking in the wonder of their national heritage.He heard again in his mind the sound of the hammer beating in Glenn's time, and the singing of the usual assembly.If the dire state of affairs here and the loss of Drizzt dampened his burning desire to reclaim Mithril Hall, these vivid memories rekindled him as he made his way down the aisle. Inner fire. Maybe he should come back with his own army, he thought.Perhaps the hammering of mithril will be heard again in the forges of the Warhammer clan. The thought of reclaiming the glory of his family was suddenly rekindled. Bruno looked around at his friends. They were tired, hungry, and mourning for the dark elves. He began to remind himself that the task before him was to escape the tunnel and get his friends to safety. where. A stronger light ahead indicated that they had reached the end of the tunnel.Bruno slowed down the pace of all, and crawled carefully towards the exit.Once again the group of companions found themselves standing on a stone dais, looking down another passage, a vast passage that was almost a room in itself, with high ceilings and ornate walls.There are torches burning every few feet on both sides, arranged in parallel below them. Bruenor choked up a lump in his throat when he saw the carvings on the opposite wall, the magnificent reliefs of Glenn and Bungle and the Warhammer chiefs.It's not the first time he's wondered if his own bust could stand alongside his ancestors. "Half a dozen to ten or so, I reckon," Catti-brie whispered, paying more attention to the noise coming from a half-open door below and to the left.This was the room they had seen from the high places in the canyon.The group of companions was a full twenty feet from the floor of the grand walkway.To their right, a staircase descended to the floor, and beyond that were tunnels that zigzag to the hall rooms. "Is there any possibility of someone hiding in the adjacent room?" Wulfgar asked Bruno. The dwarf shook his head. "There are smaller reception rooms, and only one," he replied. "But in Glen Canyon, there are more rooms in the cave. We have no way of knowing if it's filled with those gray guys. But don't care about them; we'll go through this room, and then through the door on the opposite side to get to canyon." Wulfgar held the hammer in a combat grip. "Let's go then!" he growled, starting to walk up the stairs. "What are those two men in the cave over there?" Regis asked, stopping the impatient warrior with his hand. "They'll bring down the bridge before we get to the ravine," Catti-brie added. Bruno scratched at his beard, then looked at his adopted daughter. "How accurate are you at archery?" he asked her. Catti-brie held the magic bow in front of her. "Accurate enough to take out those two Sentinels!" she replied. "Then please go back to the other tunnel," Bruno said. "At the sound of fighting, strike 'em. Be quick, girl; those cowardly scum will probably bring the bridge down at the first sign of trouble!" She nodded and set off.Wulfgar watched her back down the aisle, unable to make up his mind to fight now unless he knew Catti-brie was safely behind him. "What if those gray guys have reinforcements around?" he asked Bruno. "And what about Catti-brie? She'll be blocked around and never come back to us." "Stop complaining, boy!" Bruno snapped, also uneasy about his decision to part ways. "I guess that's what you have in mind for her, though you won't admit it to yourself. Please keep this in your heart: Katie is a fighter, trained by me. The other tunnel is safe, and with all my observations According to the signs, the gray guy has not found it until now. The girl is smart enough to protect herself in battle! So focus your attention on the battle in front of you. The best thing you can do for her , is to kill those gray bearded dogs before the reinforcements arrive!" It took some effort, but Wulfgar shifted his gaze away from the corridor and refocused on the open door below, preparing himself for the task at hand. Catti-brie was alone now, and she trotted silently back down the passage and disappeared through the secret door. "Don't move!" Sydney ordered Pork, and she herself stopped in the road, sensing someone ahead.She crawled forward, with the golem at her heels, and took a peek at what she guessed was the group of friends behind the next corner of the tunnel.But all she could see was an empty aisle. The secret door has been closed. Worf took a deep breath, then weighed his odds.If Catti-brie's calculations were correct, he and Bruno would face many times as many opponents when they charged through the gate.He knew there was no other option open to them.He took another deep breath to calm himself, and started down the stairs, Bruenor following, Regis tentatively trailing. The Savage never let his pace slow or leave the straight line leading to the door.But the first sound they all heard was not the thump of Aegis-fang, or the barbarian custom of shouting to Tempus in battle, but the war song of Bruenor Warhammer. This is his homeland, his battle, and the dwarf shoulders the responsibility for the safety of his companions.When they reached the bottom of the stairs, he ran past Wulfgar and burst through the door, raising the mithril ax named after his hero's namesake. "This ax is for my father!" he cried, and the blow split the shining helm of the duergar closest to him in two. "This ax is to avenge my father's father!" he cried, and felled a second man. "This is revenge for my dad's dad's dad!" The genealogy of Bruno's ancestors is really long.The duergar had no chance of escape. As soon as Wulfgar spotted Bruenor running past him, he rushed too, but when he entered the room, there were already three duergar corpses lying on the ground, and the berserk Bruenor was about to kill a fourth.The other six scuttled around, trying to recover from the savage onslaught, all but trying to get out the other door into the canyon cave where they could rally.Wulfgar hurled the Fang of Aegis, killing another, and Bruenor swooped down on his fifth victim before the duergars passed through the gate. On the other side of the canyon, the Sentinel and Catti-brie heard the start of the battle at the same time, but they didn't know what was going on, so they hesitated. Catti-brie didn't hesitate. A flash of silver flashed across the canyon air and burst into the chest of one of the Sentinels, its powerful magic blasting away the mithril mail armor and sending him falling backward dead. A second sentry ran for the lever, but Catti-brie grimly did her job.A second silver arrow shot into his eye. In the room below, the rout dwarves fled to the cave below her, and the other rooms rushed to join them.Catti-brie knew Wulfgar and Bruenor would be out soon too, rushing right into the middle of a horde of prepared enemies, Bruno's evaluation of Catti-brie can be said to be to the point.She is indeed a fighter, and like any fighter alive, she is willing to challenge the superiority.She buried the fears she might have for her friends, putting herself in the position to help them the most.Her eyes and jaw hardened in determination, and she took the Tamari Heartbow, and unleashed a hail of death arrows on the throng of enemies, sending them chaotic and scrambling for cover. Bruenor rushed out roaring, he was spattered with blood, the mithril ax was stained red from the killing, and he still had a hundred great ancestors to pay.Wulfgar followed, bloodlust in his heart, singing praises to his god, knocking these diminutive foes aside as easily as ferns on a forest passage. Catti-brie's arrow rain did not slow down, and one arrow tail after another hit the target one after another.The James inside her had taken over her completely, and her actions had reached the edge of her consciousness.She shot arrow after arrow, aided by the enchanted quiver of the goddess Yanaril.The Tamari played his own song, and to its tune, the bodies of many duergar fell charred and burst. Regis stayed in the back the entire battle, knowing that if he joined the fray, he would not only be useless but would be a nuisance to his friends, one more person to protect while they were doing their best to take care of him.He saw that Bruenor and Wulfgar had gained enough initial advantage to declare victory even in the face of so many enemies coming into the cavern, so Regis set to work with his weapons to make sure the fallen enemies were real. Die without creeping up behind you. At the same time, however, he was making sure that what was valuable in the gray ones wasn't wasted on dead bodies. He heard a heavy stomping sound coming from behind.When Pork bursts through the door and notices his presence, he scrambles out of the way and rolls to a corner.Once Regis recovered enough to make a sound, he shouted a warning to his friends. But then Sydney walked into the room. Two enemies fell at once under the lash of Wulfgar's warhammer.Wulfgar heard the clip of howling the dwarves in battle: "...for my father's father's father's father's father's father's father...", and he smiled as he walked through the scattered ranks of duergars.The arrows flared silvery as they searched for a victim right behind him, but he trusted Catti-brie enough not to be afraid of being shot by mistake.His muscles buckled under another blow that crushed his foe, and not even the shiny dwarf armor of the duergar protected his savage strength. But at this moment, an arm stronger than him grabbed him from behind. The few duergars left in front of him didn't recognize Polk as an ally.They fled in fear to the bridge over the canyon, hoping to destroy the way of the pursuers. Catti-brie shot them down. Regis didn't make any immediate moves. He knew Sydney's power from the meeting in the oval room.Her magic missile knocked both Bruenor and Wulfgar down; the halfling shuddered, unable to imagine what would happen to him if he were shot. His only chance was on the Ruby Wall, he thought.If he could hypnotize Sydney, he could hold her long enough for the friends to return.He slowly moved his hand under the coat, his eyes fixed on the mage, afraid that the deadly magic arrow would be shot. Sydney's magic wand was always stuck in her waist.She herself planned a little prank for the little one.She muttered a quick incantation, then opened her palm to Regis and puffed out a slow puff of smoke, shooting a thread in his direction. Regis understood the nature of the magic when the air around him was suddenly filled with floating webs, sticky cobwebs.They stick to every part of his body, slowing his movements and filling the space around him.His hand has touched the magic pendant, but the spider web has made him unable to move. Glad to have exercised her power, Sydney turned to the door and the fight outside.She prefers to use the strength in her body to meet the enemy, but she knows the strength of these other enemies, so she draws her magic wand. Bruenor dealt with the last duergar that confronted him.He was hacked many times, some badly, and a lot of the blood on him was his own.Yet the rage inside him had been building up for centuries, making him feel no pain.His bloodlust had been sated, but not until he returned to the anteroom and saw Pork holding Wulfgar aloft, about to crush the life of the barbarian. Catti-brie saw the sight too.Panicked, she tried to shoot the golem cleanly, but Wulfgar was struggling desperately, and the golem moved with him, keeping her from striking. "Save him!" Since all she could do was watch, she could only plead to Bruno in a low voice. Half of Wulfgar's body was rendered unconscious by the incredible power of Pork's magically strengthened arm.Still, he twisted to face his foe, placing a hand over the golem's eye and pushing with all his might, trying to distract some of the monster's strength from the attack. Polk didn't seem to care. Wulfgar hammered Aegis-fang into the monster's face as hard as he could in the tense situation, a blow that could have knocked a giant down. But Polk still didn't care. The golem's arms were still clenched relentlessly.A wave of dizziness swept over the savage.His fingers tingled with paralysis.His hammer fell to the ground. Bruno was almost there, poised to swing the axe.But as soon as the dwarf stepped through the open door into the reception room, a blinding flash of energy shot at him.Fortunately, the light hit his shield and bounced off the cave ceiling, but its sheer force sent Bruenor flying.He shook his head in disbelief, struggling to sit up. Catti-brie saw the bolt of energy, and she remembered seeing the same impact knock Bruenor and Wulfgar back in the oval.She ran instinctively down the hallway below, without a moment's hesitation, without any concern for her own safety, knowing that if she didn't get to the mage in time, her friends would have no chance. Bruno was more prepared for the second magic arrow.He saw Sydney in the reception room raised his magic wand to him.He quickly bent down and raised his back to face the mage.It blocked the mana again and again, bouncing it harmlessly away, but Bruno Ham felt that it was getting weaker and weaker, unable to withstand the next attack. The feral man's dogged instinct to live brought his drifting unconscious mind back to the battle at hand.He didn't want to get the hammer back, he knew it wouldn't be of much use to the golem, and already doubted whether he could hold it at all.He summoned the strength within himself and twisted his thick arms around Pork's neck.He twisted his opponent's muscles to the limit, even surpassing them as he struggled.He couldn't breathe a sigh of relief; Bruno couldn't make it in time.He roared away the pain and fear, his face contorted in the numbness. He twisted with all his might. Regis finally moved his hand, and he took out the magic pendant. "Wait, mage!" he yelled at Sydney, not expecting her to listen, just hoping to divert her attention long enough to glance at the Magic Stone, and praying that Entreri hadn't told her about it hypnotic power. The mutual mistrust among these cooperating villains, and the secrecy they keep from each other, once again worked against them.Sydney didn't know the danger of the halfling ruby ​​pendant. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, to make sure that the spider web she shot was still binding him tightly, not to hear what he had to say. The red glow grabbed her attention more thoroughly than she wanted, and it took her a while to look away. In the main walkway, Catti-brie crouched low and ran as fast as she could.Then she heard barking. Pig dogs filled the aisle with their excited barks!It also filled Catti-brie's heart with fear.The hounds were still far behind, but when the out-of-this-world voices reached her ears, echoing from wall to wall, enveloping her in a dizzying confusion, her legs trembled. A little soft.Facing the attack, she clenched her teeth and continued to rush forward.Bruenor needed her, Wulfgar needed her.She cannot abandon them. She walked up to the high platform and rushed down the stairs at full speed, only to find that the door of the reception room was closed.She cursed, as she had hoped to shoot the mage with an arrow from afar.She hung Taumari back on her shoulder, drew out her sword, and rushed in boldly and blindly. Wulfgar and Pork tangled in a deadly embrace, stumbling across the cavern, sometimes almost coming to the edge of dangerous ravines.The savage's muscles were a match for Dendiba's magic; he had never met such an enemy.He frantically pulled Pork's hairy head back and forth, breaking the monster's ability to resist.Then he started spinning it, using every ounce of strength he had left.He couldn't remember when he last breathed; he no longer knew who he was, or where he was. His absolute tenacity refused to give in. He heard the sound of bones snapping, and wasn't sure if it was his own spine or the golem's neck.Pork never flinched, never let go of his evil grip.Its head was now loose, and Wulfgar, driven by the ultimate darkness that had fallen upon him, pulled and turned with one last thrust of defiance. Its skin is split.The blood of the wizard's creation poured over Wulfgar's arms and chest.Wulfgar was taken aback. He thought he had won. Polk didn't seem to care. The Ruby Pendant's hypnotic powers were interrupted when the door burst open, but Regis had done his part.By this time Sydney had sensed the imminent danger, but Catti-brie was too close for her to cast her spell. Sydney's eyes changed into a dull, wide-eyed, confused, protesting stare.Her dreams and plans for the future all fell before her at that moment.She tried to scream in denial, she was sure that the gods of fate had planned for her to play a bigger role in the scheme of the universe, she was sure they wouldn't let her bright potential die before it blossomed. But a thin wooden staff cannot block the metal blade. Catti-brie at that moment saw nothing but her purpose, felt nothing but her duty.Her sword split the flimsy staff, cutting in where it was meant to be.For the first time she took a good look at Sydney's face.Time itself seemed to freeze. Sydney's expression didn't change, her eyes and mouth opened wide in denial of the possibility. Catti-brie watched in helpless disgust the last spark of hope and ambition fade from Sydney's face.Hot blood spurted onto Catti-brie's arm.Sydney's final sigh seemed impossibly loud.Then Sydney slid off the sword, so slowly, into the realm of death. A sharp blow from the mithril ax severed one of Polk's arms, and Wulfgar fell free.He landed on one knee, almost on the verge of losing consciousness.His huge lungs reflexively sucked in the massive amounts of oxygen that brought him back to life. The golem clearly felt that the dwarf was nearby, but it had no eyes to fixate on the target's position, and the headless golem ran around trying to catch Bruenor, but couldn't catch it. Bruenor didn't know much about the magical powers that guided the monster or brought it to life, so he had no desire to test his fighting skills on it.He thought of another way. "Come on, you statue of orc dung," he taunted, and walked to the edge of the canyon.He shouted at Wulfgar in a more serious tone, "Get your hammer ready, boy." Bruenor repeated the request again and again, and by the time Wulfgar did begin to hear, Pork had forced the dwarf back to the boulders that jutted out from the cliff. Wulfgar, half aware of his actions, picked up his hammer. Bruenor stopped, the heels of his feet off the stone floor, a smile on his face that represented his acceptance of death.The golem stopped suddenly, too, knowing somehow that Bruenor had nowhere to go. Bruenor fell to the floor as Pork charged forward, and Aegis-fang hammered into its back, propelling it over Bruno.The monster fell silently, and it no longer had ears to hear the whistling wind as it fell. Catti-brie was still standing over the mage's body when Wulfgar and Bruenor entered the anteroom.Sydney's eyes and mouth remained open in silent refusal, an effort that was useless in masking the deepening pool of blood around her. Two lines of clear tears wet Catti-brie's cheeks.She had smitten many goblins and duergars, as well as an ogre and a yeti, but she hadn't killed anyone yet.She had never looked into a pair of eyes so similar to her own, and watched the light fade from them.She had never understood the complexity of her soul before, or that the life she took had existed outside the battle scene. Wulfgar walked to her and hugged her with all his sympathy, while Bruenor cut the cobwebs that were still on the halfling and let him free. The dwarves had trained Catti-brie to fight, and were delighted when she took down monsters like orcs who were damned in any way.Yet he always wished his beloved Catti-brie would be spared this experience. Once again Mithril Hall became a source of pain to his friends. Distant noises echoed behind the door.Catti-brie slid the sword into its sheath, not even thinking to wipe the blood off it, or to calm herself. "The chase isn't over yet," she said calmly. "It's past our time to go." Then she took them out of the room, but left a part of herself, her innocence, here forever.