Chapter 20 Chapter 17 Revenge

Loaded with gear, the dwarves marched tirelessly.They were ready for war, some carrying heavy packs, others heavy wooden posts. The path that Drizzt had guessed seemed to be the only possible path for the giant reinforcements, and Bruenor knew exactly where to block them.There was only one easy road to the rocky valley: the valley gap, a little higher than the tundra, at the bottom of the mountain's southern slope. Although they marched most of the night and morning without rest, they resumed their work as soon as they reached their destination.They did not know when the giants would come, perhaps not in the day; they hoped that everything would be ready.Bruno was determined to deploy as soon as possible to minimize the loss of personnel.Scouts were sent to the high points on the sides of the mountains, and some were sent out onto the plains.Under Bruno's command, the remaining men prepared a place to attack.One group dug the entrapment trenches, others reassembled the wooden posts into catapults.Heavy crossbowmen search for the most vantage point among the rocks on the side of the mountain.

In a short time, everything will be ready.But the dwarves still did not stop to rest.They continue to study every inch of the area, looking for more advantages they can take. Later that day, when the lower edge of the setting sun had dipped below the horizon, one of the lookouts on the hill declared that he saw a cloud of dust rising in the distance to the east.Not long afterward a scout returned from the plain to report that twenty subgiants, a few ogres, and at least a dozen orcs were heading at full speed towards the gap in the valley. Bruno gestured to the crossbowmen to hide in their designated positions.The dwarf in charge of operating the catapult also checked the camouflage of the catapult again and made it more perfect.Then the strongest fighters of their kind, including Bruenor himself, hid in the small hole dug in the worn road and put some weeds in it for cover.

They have to strike first.    Drizzt and Wulfgar hid among the rocks above the giant's lair.They took turns sleeping during the day.The only thing the dark elves feared for Bruenor and his people was that if giants came from their lair to fetch reinforcements, the dwarves' advantage in surprise might be destroyed. After a few peaceful hours, what Drizzt had feared happened.The drow rested in the shadow of the rock, while Wulfgar stared into the cave.The savage couldn't quite see the wooden doors hidden behind the bushes, but he could hear the creak of their pivots as they swung open.He waited a while longer, wanting to be sure that the giant really came out of the cave, before going to wake the dark elf.

Then he heard the giants talking in the darkness inside the door, and suddenly a dozen sub-giants rushed out into the sunlight.He turned to Drizzt, only to find the ever-awake dark elf standing before him, his eyes narrowed as he saw the giants come into the sunlight. "I don't know why they came out," Wulfgar told Drizzt. "They're looking for their lost companion," Drizzt replied.With ears several times sharper than Wulfgar's, he had clearly heard what the giants were talking about before they ran out. "Those sub-giants were told to be careful in any action they took, but they are now going to find their companions who have not returned, or at least know where they have gone. Whether they find them or not, they will return tonight."

"We warn Bruenor," Wulfgar said. "Before we come back, these people will find the corpse and come back to report." Drizzt replied. "Besides, I think Bruno has enough giants to deal with." "Then what?" Wulfgar asked. "It's going to be ten times harder to deal with this cave guy if they're alerted to trouble," said the barbarian noticing the near-burst of flames returning to the dark elf's eyes. "If the giants that came out didn't return, the nest would be confused," Drizzt said matter-of-factly, as if stopping the six out-hunting sub-giants was an easier matter.Wulfgar listened in disbelief, though he had already guessed what Drizzt was thinking.

The dark elf noticed Wulfgar's concern, and smiled broadly. "Come on, boy," he ordered, deliberately using the derogatory term to excite the savage's pride. "You trained hard for weeks just to wait for a day like this." He skipped lightly over the crack in the stone and turned to Wulfgar, the wild light in his eyes seemed to catch the afternoon sun. "Come," repeated the dark elf, extending a hand to invite Wulfgar. "It's only six!" Wulfgar shook his head flinchingly, and sighed.During the weeks of training, he had learned that Drizzt was a deadly swordsman with self-control and calmly measured feints and precision strikes.But during these last two days, Wulfgar had seen the dark elf's daring, even reckless side.Drizzt's unwavering confidence was the only thing that convinced Wulfgar that the elf wasn't committing suicide, and the only thing that drove Wulfgar to follow him against his own judgment.He really wanted to know where the limits of his trust in the dark elves were.

He also knew that one day Drizzt would bring him into an inescapable situation.    The troop of giants walked south for a while, Drizzt and Wulfgar trailing behind.The sub-giants did not immediately find the trace of the missing giant, for fear of coming too close to the mines of the dwarves, so they made a sharp turn and headed northeast, in the direction of the rock where the battle took place. "We're going to catch up right away," Drizzt said to his companion. "Let's get close to the prey." Wulfgar nodded. After a short time, they reached an area of ​​jagged pinnacles where the road twisted and twisted. The ground sloped slightly upwards, and both of them immediately saw that the road led to the edge of a small deep ravine. The sun was fading. , giving them some cover. Drizzt and Wulfgar exchanged knowing glances, and the moment for action came.

Drizzt, far more experienced in combat than Wulfgar, soon saw which pattern of attacks gave them the best chance of success.He quietly told Wulfgar to stop. "We hit and run," he whispered, "and then fight back." "It's hard against a wary enemy," Wulfgar said. "I have something that can help us." The dark elf took off the knapsack, pulled out a figurine, and called out to his shadow.The sudden appearance of the magical black panther made the barbarian hold his breath and jump away in fear. "What demon did you call?" he yelled in terror, his knuckles turning white as he clutched at Aegis-fang.

"Guenhwyvar is not a demon," he assured his tall companion. "He is a friend and a valuable comrade-in-arms." The leopard roared, as if he understood, and Wulfgar took another step back. "It's not a natural beast," retorted Savage. "I don't want to fight with demons summoned by magic!" The barbarians of Icewind Dale are not afraid of man or beast, but they are completely new to magic, and their ignorance reveals their weakness. "If these sub-giants find out that the missing comrades are dead, then Bruenor and his people will be in danger." Drizzt said darkly. "This leopard can help us stop the giants. Will you let your fear get in the way of rescuing the dwarves?"

Wulfgar straightened, regaining some composure.Drizzt used his pride and threats to the dwarves' safety to force him to temporarily put his aversion to magic aside. "Tell him to go, we don't need help." "With this leopard, we can surely take care of them all. I will not risk the lives of the dwarves just because you are uncomfortable." Drizzt knew, It would take a lot of time before Wulfgar could accept Guenhwyvar as an ally, if at all possible, but for now, all he needed was Wulfgar's cooperation in the attack. The giants walked for hours.Drizzt watched patiently as their ranks loosened, and often one or two fell behind.The situation had become exactly what Drizzt had hoped for.

The last section of the road bends between two boulders, and then it suddenly becomes clear, comes to a steep slope, leads directly to a clearing at the edge of a small valley, then makes a sharp turn, walks along the protruding rocks on the side of the valley, and on the last side is A cliff with a steep slope on one side.Drizzt told Wulfgar to get ready, and then let the panther go.    Twenty sub-giants, three ogres, and a dozen orcs advanced at an easy pace, and reached the gap in the valley just as night fell.There were more monsters coming than the dwarves thought, but they didn't care about the orcs, and they knew how to deal with ogres.The giants are the key to this battle. The long wait did not make the dwarves impatient.They had all been up almost all day, yet they remained on the alert, eager to avenge their people. Nothing happened when the first subgiant came up the ramp, but when the last came within striking distance, the dwarves of Mithril Hall attacked.Bruno's group was the first to attack and jumped out of the hole. Usually there was a giant or orc around them, and they slashed at the target around them.They usually cripple the giant first, which is the basic strategy of dwarves against giants: they cut the muscles and tendons behind the knee with the edge of an axe, or hammer down the knee hard with a hammer. Bruenor felled a giant with one swing of his axe, and turned to run away, but found himself facing the sword of an orc.He had no time to engage, so he threw the ax straight away, yelling, "Hit!" and the goblin's eyes foolishly followed the thumping of the axe. Bruenor slammed his helmeted forehead against its chin, caught the falling axe, and rushed into the darkness, pausing only to kick the orc for a second as he passed. The monsters were taken aback, and many of them fell to the ground howling.Then several projectors appeared.They shot their spears at the monster's front row, throwing the giants into disarray.Crossbowmen sprang from their hiding places, raining arrows, and then they dropped their bows and rushed down the side of the hill.Bruno's group was now in a V formation, rushing back into the battle. The monsters had no chance to regroup, and by the time they raised their arms, their formation had been destroyed. The battle in the valley gap was over in three minutes. None of the dwarves were seriously injured, and among the invading monsters, only the orcs that Bruno kicked aside survived.    Guan Haifa knew the master's meaning very well, it jumped quietly among the gravel towards the path, circled to the front of the sub-giant, and hid in the stone wall above the road.It crouched so low that it looked like nothing more than a dark shadow.The first giant walked past, but the panther did not move, quietly waiting for the right moment.Drizzt and Wulfgar moved closer, and they moved quietly to a place where they could see clearly behind the giant. A particularly fat sub-giant stopped to take a breath, a very short one. Guanhaifa quickly launched an attack. The leopard jumped down from the rock face, raked the giant's face with its long claws, and then, using the giant's huge shoulders as a springboard, leaped up to another place on the face.Howling in pain, the giant put its hands on its scratched face. Aegis-fang hit it from the back of the head, sending it falling into the canyon. The last of the remaining giants, hearing the cry of pain, ran back at once, and just as he rounded the bend in the road he saw his unfortunate companion fall.Without any hesitation, the leopard jumped towards the second victim under its claws, and its sharp claws firmly grabbed the giant's chest.Blood spurted out as the two-inch fangs dug deep into the opponent's neck.Guan Haifa didn't give the opponent any chance, and used all four paws to block the opponent's counterattack, but the stunned giant could only slightly raise his arms to react before being shrouded in the deepest darkness. The rest of the enemy came swiftly, so Guenhwyvar jumped away, leaving the dying giant to be drowned in a pool of his own blood.Drizzt and Wulfgar hid behind the rocks on either side of the road, the dark elf drew two scimitars, and the barbarian tightened his grip on the hammer that was returned to him. The Panthers are by no means overwhelmed.It has played this scene with its master countless times, and it knows the advantages of a surprise attack very well.It hesitated for a moment, until the other giants saw it, and then ran at full speed down the road, between two rocks that hid its master and Wulfgar. "Oops!" cried one of the sub-giant, showing no concern for its dying companion. "There's a huge cat, and it's as black as our kettle!" "Follow it!" shouted the other end. "Whoever catches it can make a new cloak!" They leaped over the fallen giant and chased Guenhwyvar without thinking. Drizzt was relatively close to the charging giants.He let the two in front charge through, and then concentrated on the two behind.The two giants passed side by side by the rock, and Drizzt jumped out in front of them, the knife in his left hand piercing deep into the chest of the giant on the left, and the knife in his right hand blinding the eye on the right.Using the knife impaled on the first giant as a pivot, he turned behind the wobbling foe and thrust the other machete into its back.With a slight twist he drew both knives, and jumped aside as the giant fell. Wulfgar also let the first giant walk past.The second giant was almost at the barbarian's side as Drizzt attacked.At this moment it stopped suddenly and turned around, trying to help those behind, but Wulfgar's swing of Aegis' Fang drew an arc in the air, and directly hammered heavily on the sub-giant's chest.The monster fell back, air bursting from its lungs.Wulfgar quickly swung in the opposite direction, throwing Aegis-fang out.The leading giant turned around, and the hammer hit it squarely in the face. Without hesitation, Wulfgar threw himself upon the giant he had brought down beside him, wrapping his mighty arms around the monster's hairy neck.The giant quickly regained its strength, and hugged and squeezed the barbarian with its backhand. Although it was sitting, it was more than enough to lift an enemy one size smaller than it off the ground.Yet years of swinging hammers and chipping away at stone in dwarven mines gave the barbarian strength of steel.He tightened his arms around the giant and spun slowly.With a sudden snap, the sub-giant's head limply hung to one side. Drizzt's blinded giant beat wildly with his huge club.The dark elf was still on the move, flanking the helpless giant whenever he could, stabbing the helpless giant several times.Drizzt aimed where he could safely attack, hoping to finish off his opponent quickly. Aegis-fang was now firmly in Wulfgar's hands, and he walked over to make sure the giant he had smashed in the face was dead.He was also distracted to see if there was any sign of Guenhwyvar's return on the road.He saw the performance of this strong leopard in the battle, and he didn't want to deal with it alone. When the last giant was dealt with, Drizzt moved over to his companion. "You still don't know how strong your martial arts are in battle!" He smiled and patted the tall partner. "The six giants are not beyond our capabilities!" "Are we going to Bruenor now?" Wulfgar asked, yet he saw the dangerous fire still burning in the dark elf's lavender eyes.He learned that they were not leaving yet. "No," Drizzt replied. "I'm sure those dwarves will handle the situation well." "But now we have a problem," he continued. "We can kill the first batch of giants and still maintain the advantage of surprise. But after these six are gone, their lairs will be more alert as soon as there is a sign of trouble." "The dwarves will be back in the morning," Wulfgar said. "We can attack the nest before noon." "It's too late," Drizzt said, feigning disappointment. "I'm afraid the two of us must go in without hesitation tonight." Wulfgar wasn't surprised at all, he didn't even retort.He was afraid of meeting too many enemies like this, the dark elf's plans were too appalling.But he had come to accept the inevitability that he would follow Drizzt on any adventure, no matter how low their chances of surviving were. He began to admit to himself that he enjoyed taking a big gamble with the dark elves.