Chapter 17 Chapter Fourteen Lavender Eyes

When Bruenor went to fetch Wulfgar the next morning, his gloomy face returned.Seeing the Fang of Aegis carried on the shoulders of the young barbarian as if it had always been there and would always belong there moved Bruenor, though he kept his emotions hidden from others. Wulfgar, too, seemed to be wearing a sombre mask.He pretended to be angry that he was going to serve another human being, but if he looked deeper into his emotions, he would find that he was really sad about being separated from the dwarves. Catti-brie was waiting for them at the last junction where the tunnel led out. "Why are you two so sad so early in the morning?" Catti-brie said to them as they approached. "But it's okay, the sun will put a smile on your face."

"You seem pleased with this parting," Wulfgar replied.He was annoyed, but the light in his eyes belied his anger when he saw the girl. "Of course you know that I'm leaving the dwarven town today." Catti-brie shook her hand indifferently. "You'll be back soon," she said with a smile. "You should be glad you're leaving! You should feel like the lessons you're about to learn are needed if you're going to achieve your goals." Bruno turned to the Savage.Wulfgar had never talked to him about what would happen after the agreed period, and while the dwarf wanted to make Wulfgar as ready as possible, he hadn't come to terms with Wulfgar's determination to leave either. consensus.

Wulfgar frowned at the girl, indicating that their previous discussion of the unfulfilled vow was a secret between them.Catti-brie herself didn't really want to discuss the topic anymore, she just liked to tease Wulfgar.Catti-brie noticed a fire burning in the young man's heart.She saw it every time he looked at Bruno, his master (whether he admitted it or not).She noticed the same look when Wulfgar looked at her. "I am Wulfgar, son of Beornegar," he boasted proudly, his broad shoulders straight and his jaw drawn back. "I was raised among the strongest warriors in Icewind Dale—the moose tribe! I don't know anything about this tutor, but he wants to teach me to fight, it's too early!"

Catti-brie exchanged a knowing smile with Bruenor as the dwarf and the barbarian passed. "Farewell, Wulfgar, son of Beornegar," she called after him. "When we next see each other, I'll see if you've learned your lesson in humility!" Wulfgar looked back and frowned again, but Catti-brie's smile remained undiminished. The two men left the dark pit shortly after setting off after dawn.Then they walked down the rocky valley to the place they had agreed with the Dark Elf.It was a clear, warm summer day, and the blue sky was gray with morning mist.Wulfgar stretched high into the sky until his muscles could stretch no longer.His people were supposed to live in the vast wilds of the tundra, and he was relieved to have finally emerged from the stuffy confines of the dwarven cave.

Drizzt Do'Urden was already waiting when they arrived.The dark elf hid in the shadow of a large rock, hoping to escape the scorching sun.The hood of his cloak was pulled low over his face for further protection.Drizzt considered it a natural curse of his race, that no matter how long he spent with the earth-dwellers, he still couldn't fully adjust to the sunlight. He was motionless, but he was well aware that Bruenor and Wulfgar had arrived.He hoped that the two of them would act first so that he could observe how the boy would react to new situations. Wulfgar was intrigued by the mysterious figure who would become his master and master. He boldly walked over and stood directly in front of the dark elf.Drizzt watched him approach from the shadow of his cloak cap, marveling at the graceful interaction of the massive man's muscular body.The dark elf originally planned to perfunctory Bruno's unreasonable demands for a while, and then find an excuse to leave.But he noticed the smoothness and vigor with which the barbarian strode, with an ease that no man of his size possessed.And Drizzt found himself interested in challenging the young man's limitless potential.

Drizzt knew that the most painful part of meeting Wulfgar, like everyone else's when they met him, was the other person's first reaction.Wishing to hurry the process over, he pulled his hat off and faced the savage directly. Wulfgar opened his eyes wide in fear and loathing. "Dark elves," he yelled incoherently. "Magic dog!" He turned to Bruno, as if betrayed by the dwarves. "You must never tell me to follow him!"I don't need, and I don't want to learn his magic tricks from this evil race guy! " "He'll just teach you to fight, nothing else," Bruno said.The dwarf had expected this to happen.He wasn't worried at all, he thought, like Catti-brie, that Drizzt could teach the proud young man the humility he needed.

Wulfgar snorted contemptuously, "Why should I fight puny elves? Our people were raised to be true warriors!" He glared at Drizzt with blatant contempt: "Not like their cunning bitch, " Drizzt waited quietly for Bruno to allow him to start today's lesson.The dwarf smiled at the barbarian's ignorance, and nodded in agreement. In the blink of an eye, two scimitars flew out of their sheaths and charged at the barbarian.Wulfgar instinctively raised his hammer to strike. But Drizzt was faster.He slapped Wulfgar's cheeks with the flat of the scimitar in rapid succession, drawing thin bloodstains.The barbarian tried to fight back, and Drizzt spun one of the deadly blades back in a downward arc that dropped suddenly behind Wulfgar's knee.Wulfgar tried to move his feet, but as Drizzt expected, he lost his balance.The dark elf casually sheathed his knives back in their sheaths as he kicked the barbarian in the stomach, and Wulfgar fell backward in the dust, the magic hammer flying from his hand.

"You know each other now," Bruno declared.He tried to pretend he wasn't glad that Wulfgar's fragile ego had been shattered. "I'm leaving." He looked at Drizzt questioningly, trying to make sure the drow liked the situation. "Give me a few weeks," Drizzt said, winking at him, and he returned the dwarf's smile. Bruenor turned to Wulfgar, who had retrieved Aegis' Fang and rested on one knee.Wulfgar stared at the elf blankly, surprised. "Listen to him, boy," the dwarf told him one last time. "Otherwise, he'll cut you into pieces for vultures to eat!"

   This was the first time Wulfgar had seen the vast Icewind Dale beyond the border of Ten-Towns in nearly five years.He and the dark elf spent the rest of the day descending the valley, rounding the eastern spur of the Cone of Cairn.Just at the foot of the northern side of this mountain, there is a small cave, which is Drizzt's home. There are only a few skins and a few pots in the cave, nothing valuable to mention.But it was good enough for the unabashed Elven Ranger, to have enough privacy and seclusion from the insults and threats of humans.For Wulfgar, whose people seldom stayed in one place for more than a night, the hole itself was a luxury.

As dusk fell on the tundra, Drizzt awoke from his nap in the cozy shadows deep in the cavern.Wulfgar was glad that the drow had trusted him on their first day together, falling asleep easily, exposing himself vulnerable to him.Pairing this with Drizzt's defeat of him earlier made Wulfgar wonder why he had been so enraged when he first saw the drow. "Does our class start tonight?" Drizzt asked. "You are my master," Wulfgar said bitterly. "I'm just your slave." "I am more of a slave than you," Drizzt replied.Wulfgar turned to him curiously.

"We all owe the dwarves," Drizzt explained. "He saved my life several times, and I owe it to him to have to promise to teach you the art of fighting. You keep your oath in exchange for your life, so you must learn what I teach you. I am no one's master , I don't want to be either." Wulfgar turned back to look at the tundra.He didn't quite trust Drizzt yet, but he couldn't think of any motives lurking beneath the elf's friendly exterior. "Together we will pay off our debt to Bruenor," Drizzt said.Wulfgar saw his native plains for the first time in many years, and Drizzt knew how he felt. "Enjoy tonight, Savage. Go where you want to be, feel the wind in your face. We'll start tomorrow evening." He left to give Wulfgar the solitude he wanted. Wulfgar could not deny that he appreciated the respect the drow showed him.    During the day Drizzt rested in the shadow of the cavern while Wulfgar acclimatized and hunted for their supper. At night, they fight each other. Drizzt pressed the young barbarian relentlessly, slapping Wulfgar with the flat of his scimitar whenever there was a gap in Wulfgar's defense.The intensity of their fights was often escalated to dangerous levels, for Wulfgar was a proud fighter, often angry and frustrated by the drow's dominance.This only puts the Savage at a further disadvantage, as his anger causes him to lose control of his ego.Drizzt was always able to bring Wulfgar to the ground with a series of slaps and sudden changes of direction. To his honor, however, Drizzt never taunted the barbarian or tried to humiliate him.The drow did it skillfully, knowing that his first job was to hone the barbarian's reflexes and teach him defensive techniques. Drizzt was impressed by Wulfgar's ability despite his inexperience.He was overwhelmed by the young warrior's limitless potential.At first he feared that Wulfgar's stubborn ego and resentment would interfere with his studies and make him difficult to train, but the barbarian took up the challenge.He saw the benefits of learning from a master of weapons like Drizzt, so he paid close attention to his studies.Instead of convincing him that he was already a skilled fighter who didn't need any guidance, his pride made him seize every opportunity that would allow him to achieve his goal.He had slowly learned to control his impulsive emotions over many fights, and by the end of the first week he was able to fend off many of Drizzt's cunning attacks. Drizzt said very little during the first week, but he occasionally praised the barbarian for hiding or countering well, and Wulfgar's progress in such a short time.Wulfgar found himself longing for the dark elf's comment when he pulled off a difficult move, and dreading the inevitable snap of himself when he foolishly showed his weakness. The young barbarian's respect for Drizzt grew with each passing day.Wulfgar's sense of honor was touched by the drow's uncomplaining attitude of living alone in the desolate wilderness.He still couldn't figure out why Drizzt lived the way he did, but what he'd seen from the dark elves convinced him it had something to do with Drizzt's principles. Halfway through the second week, Wulfgar had fully mastered Aegis-fang, deftly using the grip and hammer to parry the two howling scimitars, and returning with a carefully calculated fight back.Drizzt noticed a subtle change: the barbarian had stopped reacting to the delicate slash of the scimitar, but instead recognized the weakness of his defense and anticipated the opponent's next move. When he believed Wulfgar's defense had improved enough, Drizzt began teaching him to attack.The drow knew that his attack pattern was not the most effective for Wulfgar.The barbarian is better suited to use his muscles than to cunning feints and split-second attacks.Wulfgar's people were naturally aggressive fighters, and attacking was easier for them than dodging.A well-placed blow from this mighty warrior is enough to bring down a giant. The only thing left for him to learn is patience.    At the beginning of a dark, moonless night, Wulfgar was preparing for his studies, when he saw the lights of fire in the distance across the plain.He was engrossed in watching, when several other fires suddenly came into view, and he wondered if these were the campfires of his own tribe. Drizzt leaned forward suddenly, the barbarian paying no attention to him.The dark elf's piercing eyes had been lit long before the campfires, and Wulfgar had spotted the tents before he could see. "Your people survived," he reassured the young man. Wulfgar was taken aback by the sudden appearance of his master. "Do you know them?" he asked. Drizzt walked up to him, and looked out across the tundra. "They killed and wounded a lot at Bryn Shander," he said. "They had a hard winter after that, because there were many women and children and no men to help them hunt. They went west to find the caribou. , joined with other tribes to increase their strength. These people still kept the name of their tribe, but in fact only the elk tribe and the bear tribe survived." "I believe you are of the elk tribe," Drizzt said, making Wulfgar nod. "Your people have done well. They rule the plains now, and though it will be many years before they regain their pre-war strength, many of the young warriors are growing up." Wulfgar breathed a sigh of relief.He had been worried that the Battle of Bryn Shander would destroy their tribe from a point where it would never recover.The tundra was doubly harsher than usual in winter, and Wulfgar often thought that perhaps the sudden loss of many warriors (some tribes had not even a single male left) would lead to a slow extinction of those who remained. "You know there's a lot going on with our tribe," Wulfgar remarked. "I spent a lot of time watching them," Drizzt explained, wondering what the savage was thinking. "I learn their methods and techniques to thrive in such a difficult environment." Wulfgar chuckled and shook his head, impressed by the respect the dark elves showed every time they mentioned the tundra dwellers.He had only known the dark elf for two weeks, but he knew Drizzt Do'Urden's personality well enough that what he was about to say must be true. "I bet you'll kill the deer in secret at night, so that those who are too hungry and wondering how lucky they are will find out in the morning." Drizzt didn't answer, nor did he change the direction he was looking, but Wulfgar believed his guess must be true. "Do you know Heafstad?" the Savage asked after a moment of silence. "He's the king of our clan, a man with scars all over his body and a great reputation." Drizzt remembered the one-eyed barbarian well.Just the mention of his name made the dark elf's shoulder ache. He had been wounded by the huge man's heavy battle ax once. "He's still alive," Drizzt replied, somewhat deliberately hiding his shame. "He speaks for the whole of the Northland now. No one is brave enough to stand up to him in battle or speak against him for balance." "He is a very powerful and strong king," Wulfgar said, not noticing the hatred in the dark elf's words. "He's a brutal fighter," Drizzt corrected.He turned to look at Wulfgar, startled by the furious fire in his eyes.Wulfgar saw something incredible in those purple pool eyes, a power within the dark elf, a quality so pure that even the noblest of kings would be envious. "You grew up around a dwarf with a strong character," Drizzt scolded. "Hasn't this incident affected you in any way?" Wulfgar froze for a moment, not knowing how to respond. The time had come for Drizzt to decide to expose the errors of the barbarians, and to judge whether the young man was worth teaching. "A king is a man of strong character and faith. He sets an example to others and genuinely cares about the suffering of his people," he taught. "Not a tyrannical man who should rule over others just because he is the strongest. I thought you had learned how to tell the difference." Drizzt noticed Wulfgar's embarrassed look, knowing that the years in the dwarven pit had shaken everything the barbarian had learned from the barbarians.He hoped that Bruenor's confidence in Wulfgar's conscience was right, because he, like Bruenor all those years ago, had seen the bright young man's future and found himself concerned about his future.He turned away abruptly, leaving the savage alone to find out the answer to his own question. "What about today's lesson?" Wulfgar called after him, still confused and surprised. "Your class is over for today," Drizzt replied without turning around or slowing down. "Perhaps this is the most important of all the things I have taught you." The dark elf's figure disappeared into the night, but the image of the lavender eyes was etched in Wulfgar's mind. The savage turned to the distant campfire. Then start thinking.