Chapter 21 Chapter 18 Billing's Lair

Drizzt and Wulfgar were pleasantly surprised when they discovered the back door to the subgiant's lair.It stands high on the steep slope to the west of the dike.At the bottom of those rocks were piles of rubbish and bones, and a wisp of smoke wafted from the hole with the smell of roasting mutton. For a while the two companions crouched in the bushes under the entrance, noting the activity within.The moon has risen, the moonlight is bright, and it is a very bright moonlit night. "I doubt we'll be able to have dinner on time." The elf smiled sarcastically.Wulfgar shook his head, smiling at the drow's preternatural composure.

Neither of them saw the giant appear outside the cave until moonset, though they often heard noises from the shadows in the cave, usually clinking pots and pans or occasional noises.A fat sub-giant, who looked like he was dressed as a chef, walked slowly to the door and dumped an iron bucket of garbage down the hillside. "It's mine," Drizzt said, suddenly serious. "Can you distract it and cover me?" "Big cats can," Wulfgar replied, though he didn't want to be alone with Guenhwyvar. Drizzt climbed the rocky slope, trying to stay in the shadows as he made his way.He knew he'd be especially vulnerable in the moonlight until he got above the entrance, but the climb was harder than he'd imagined, and he was walking slowly.As he was about to reach the mouth of the cave, he heard the sound of the giant chef moving by the mouth of the cave, apparently about to bring out a second bucket of garbage.

But the dark elves had nowhere to run.A cry from inside the cave distracted the cook.Drizzt saw that there was not much time left to get him to safety, so he sprinted the last few feet to the edge of the hole, and peered into the torch-lit kitchen. The room was roughly square, with a large stone oven on the wall opposite the entrance.Beside the hearth was a door slightly open, and Drizzt heard the voices of several giants behind it.The cook was nowhere to be seen, but the bucket of trash was on the steps inside the cave. "It will be back soon," he murmured to himself as the dark elf scrambled silently above the opening, clutching the mountain wall.Wulfgar, at the bottom of the slope, was too tense to move completely, for Guenhwyvar was beside him.

A few minutes later, the Giant Chef came out with the bucket.While the sub-giant was taking out the trash, Guenhwyvar came into its sight.The leopard took a long leap and jumped down the slope.The panther looked up at the cook, then growled. "Go away, you dirty cat." The giant snapped, not particularly concerned or surprised by the sudden appearance of the leopard. "Or I'll break your head off and put it in a saucepan!" Threats from the sub-giant were useless.It pumped its massive fists, but its attention was entirely on the leopard, while the black shadow of Drizzt Do'Urden leaped from the wall onto its back.The dark elf's twin swords had already been drawn, and he didn't waste any time drawing the shape of a smile on the giant's neck, up to his ears.The giant didn't have a chance to cry out, and fell down the rocky slope with the rest of the rubbish in his hands.Drizzt landed at the mouth of the cave, turned and looked in, praying that no other giants had entered the kitchen.

For the moment he is safe.The kitchen is empty.As Guenhyvar and Wulfgar climbed the rocky slope, he gestured for them to follow him in quietly.The kitchen is small (by Giant's standards) and bare.Along the right wall is a table with several pans on it.Next to it was a large cutting board with a huge butcher's knife stuck in it, which had obviously not been washed in weeks and was covered in rust.To Drizzt's left were cabinets containing herbs, spices, and other daily necessities.While the dark elves went to inspect these places, Wulfgar went to spy on the rooms where there were many people.

That room was also square, a little bigger than the kitchen.A long table divided the room in two, and directly across from it on the other side, Wulfgar saw another door.Three giants sat on the side of the table closer to Wulfgar, with one standing between them and the door on this side, and two on the other side of the table.This group of giants was eating roast lamb and stew, cursing or laughing at each other constantly. Typical sub-giant dinner.Wulfgar noticed that the monsters were tearing the flesh from the bones with their bare hands.There are no weapons in the room. Drizzt drew one of the knives again, with a bag he found in a chest, and joined Guenhwyvar to meet Wulfgar. "There are six," Wulfgar whispered, pointing to the room.The barbarian lifted Aegis-fang and nodded eagerly.Drizzt also peeked at the situation behind the door, and quickly made an attack plan.

He pointed to Wulfgar, then to the door. "Right," he whispered.Then he pointed to himself. "Behind you, left." Wulfgar understood exactly what he meant, but wondered why Guenhwyvar hadn't been counted.The barbarian pointed to the leopard. Drizzt just shrugged and smiled, and Wulfgar understood.Even the skeptical savage believed that Guenhwyvar would find the best place for him. Wulfgar shook the tense excitement out of his muscles, and gripped Aegis-fang tightly.He winked at his partner, then dashed into the room, slamming the hammer at the nearest target.The giant was the only one standing at the moment. It turned to face its attacker, but that was all it did.Aegis-fang swung up with deadly precision from below, shattering its stomach, then went up and shattered its chest.Wulfgar's incredible strength lifted the gigantic monster several feet off the ground.It fell, broken and lifeless, crashing beside Wulfgar, but the barbarian paid no attention to it, ready for a second blow.

Drizzt rushed past his friend with Guenhwyvar at his feet, and rushed to the two stunned giants sitting farthest to the left of the table.He quickly opened the bag and sprinkled it, and the two giants were blinded by the flour.The dark elf didn't slow down at all, and immediately plunged a knife into the throat of one of the giants, and then somersaulted backwards, going over the table.Guenhwyvar lunged at the other giant, and its powerful jaws tore through the monster's groin. The two subgiants on the other side of the table were the first of all the giants to actually react.One jumped up and stood up, ready to deal with Drizzt, while the other unwisely ran towards the back door alone, becoming Wulfgar's second target.

Wulfgar was quick to notice and threw the Aegis-fang without hesitation.If Drizzt, who was in mid-air at that time, knew that he was about to be hit by the thrown hammer, he might have talked his friends out of it.The hammer hit its mark, though, hitting the subgiant in the shoulder, hammering the monster into the wall hard enough to snap its neck. The giant that Drizzt had stabbed before lay squirming on the floor, hands clutching its throat, trying in vain to stop the bleeding.Guenhwyvar had no trouble dealing with another giant.Now there are only two giants left to fight. Drizzt landed on the other side of the table, nimbly dodging the claws of the waiting giant.He dodged around and walked between the enemy and the door.The giant stretched out its huge hands, turned and ran over.But the dark elf's second scimitar was also drawn, and the two blades swung in a dazzling dance of death.Every time the knife flashed, a giant gnarled finger fell to the ground.The subgiant's hand quickly became a stump bleeding from both sides.It was so enraged that it lost its mind and frantically waved its club-like hands.Drizzt's scimitar slid swiftly into the lower end of its skull, ending its madness.

At the same moment, the last giant rushed towards the unarmed savages.He wrapped his huge arms around Wulfgar, lifted him into the air, and tried to crush him to death.Wulfgar tensed his muscles desperately, lest his spine be broken by the much larger foe. The Savage felt breathless.Furious, he punched the giant on the cheek, then raised his other hand for another blow. At this time, Bruno's magic on the hammer made the hammer return to his hand.Howling with joy, he slammed his warhammer so hard that the giant's eyes popped out.The giant let go of his clasped hands, and staggered back in pain.The world had become a blur of misery to the giant, and it couldn't even see the Aegis-fang that Wulfgar held high above was coming down on top of its head, and felt the hammer blow its head off open.It bounced its lifeless body onto the table, knocking all the roast lamb and stew to the ground.

"Don't spill the food!" Drizzt yelled.He said feigned anger as he rushed to rescue a particularly juicy-looking piece of bone-in meat. Suddenly they heard heavy boots and shouts in the passage behind the second door. "Back outside!" Wulfgar yelled as he turned to the kitchen. "Hold on!" Drizzt yelled. "The fun is just beginning!" He pointed to a dark, torchlit tunnel entrance on the left wall of the room. "Go on! Quick!" Wulfgar knew they were playing luck, but once again he found himself doing the elf's bidding. He also smiled again. Wulfgar passed the wooden posts that had just entered the tunnel, and rushed into the gloom.Guenhwyvar strode forward beside him, making him uncomfortable, and he ran like this for about thirty feet when he suddenly realized that Drizzt wasn't following.He turned just in time to see Drizzt casually walking out of the room, past the wooden posts.Drizzt had sheathed the scimitar.Now he carried a long dagger with a piece of mutton firmly stuck in the tip. "Where are the giants?" Wulfgar asked from the darkness. Drizzt stepped aside, hiding behind a huge wooden post. "Just behind me," he explained, taking another bite of his big meal.Wulfgar's jaw almost dropped when a horde of foaming sub-giants rushed into the tunnel, oblivious to the dodging elves. "Predklabankegrindbioiglokgron!" Wulfgar yelled as he turned, and kept running down, hoping it wasn't a dead end. Drizzt plucked the flesh off the dagger and threw it on the ground, cursing silently for the waste of food.Then he licked the dagger clean and waited patiently.When the last of the sub-giant had run past, he ran from his hiding place, thrust his dagger behind the knee of the pursuing giant, and ran to the other side of the post.The wounded giant screamed in pain, but when it turned back with its companions, the dark elf was out of sight. Wulfgar turned and pressed his back against the wall, and it was easy to guess what held back the pursuers.When they found another intruder near the entrance, the whole group turned back. A giant hopped across the pillars, then stood firm with legs apart, stick at the ready, its eyes searching door by door, trying to find the path by which the vanished assailant had taken cover.On the other side behind it, Drizzt took a small dagger from between each of his boots, and wondered how the giant could be so stupid as to take the exact same trick in ten seconds.But he would not go against luck, and the elf crept up behind the second victim, and before his mate could cry out a warning, he drove one of the daggers deep into the giant's thigh, snapping its leg ribs.The giant fell sideways suddenly, and Drizzt, leaping over him as the monster's jaws clenched in pain, was amazed that the thick arteries in the subgiant's neck made such good targets. But the dark elf didn't have time to pause and contemplate the luck of the battle.The remaining enemies, five angry giants who had shaken off their wounded companions, were just a few paces behind.He plunged the second dagger deep into the subgiant's neck, and ran for the door that led deeper into the lair.He was almost there, but the first Giant to return to the room happened to have a stone with him.Generally speaking, sub-giants are good at throwing stones, and this one is better than most giants.The dark elf's unhelmeted head was its target, and the stone flew toward it impartially. Wulfgar's throw hit the mark too.The Fang of Aegis shattered the back of the pursuing giant as it passed by its wounded companion.The wounded companion wanted to pull out Drizzt's dagger from its knee, watching in disbelief at the sudden death of his companion and the ferocious barbarian rushing desperately and frantically. Out of the corner of his eye Drizzt caught sight of the stone flying towards him.He hurriedly bent down and lowered his head to dodge, but the heavy stone still hit his shoulder, causing him to fly out and hit the floor.He felt himself as the axis, and began to spin around.He tried to reorient, because deep down, he knew the giant was coming to finish him off.But everything seems to be a blur.Then something that fell near his face caught his attention.His eyes were fixed on the thing, and he tried to find focus and force everything to stop spinning. It was a sub-giant finger. The dark elves are back.He quickly grabbed his weapon. When he saw the giant, it was too late.The club was raised above him for the fatal blow. The wounded giant walked to the middle of the tunnel and waited for the barbarian to charge.The monster's legs were paralyzed, and it couldn't stand still.Aegis-fang was back in Wulfgar's hands, and he knocked the giant away and continued running into the room.Two giants were there waiting to deal with him. As one of the giants turned and jumped up with all its strength, Guenhwyvar slipped between its legs.Just as the sub-giant standing beside Drizzt swung his club at the elf lying on the ground, Drizzt saw a black shadow sweep across the giant's eyelid.Then it was found that the giant's face had been scratched with a scar.When Drizzt heard Guenhwyvar's feet hit the table, he knew what was going on, and called the panther to come again.Though a second giant joined the first, and both had their clubs raised, Drizzt had the time he needed.Quick as lightning, he drew a scimitar and thrust it into the groin of the first giant.The monster backed away in agony, turned into Drizzt's meat shield, and hit his partner's club hard on the back of the head.As the dark elf rolled over the corpse, he murmured, "Thanks!" Then he landed on his feet and stabbed upwards, and his body rose with the blade. Hesitation cost another giant his life.As the giant stared dumbfounded at the splatter of his fellow's brains on his stick, the dark elf sliced ​​the knife diagonally under his ribs, through the lungs, and found its target: the heart. Time passed very slowly for the mortally wounded giant.The stick that fell from its hand seemed to take several minutes to reach the ground.The sub-giant slid back slowly from the scimitar, like a fallen tree.It knows it's falling, but it never hits the floor.never hit the floor... Wulfgar hoped he'd hit the wounded giant hard enough to keep it out of the fray for a while, and if the giant came behind him, he'd be on the mend.He is now using all his tricks to block or counter the two giants he is now facing.He needn't worry about the rear now, though, because the wounded subgiant was slumping toward the tunnel wall, oblivious to everything around him.In the opposite direction, Drizzt had just finished off two other giants.Wulfgar laughed out loud as his friend wiped the blood from the blade and crossed the room.One of the sub-giant also noticed the dark elf, and it jumped from the battle with the barbarian to deal with this new enemy. "Ah, you little one, do you think you can kill me and walk out alive?" roared the giant. Drizzt looked around in feigned despair.As usual, he found an easy way to win this fight.Guan Haifa bent down and quietly slipped behind the giant to the most favorable seat.Drizzt took a small step back, drawing the giant into the path of the leopard's attack. The giant's club hit Wulfgar in the ribs, sending him flying and crashing into the great wooden post.Yet the barbarian, tougher than wood, took the blow, and struck back with twice as much force with the fang of Aegis.The subgiant struck again, and Wulfgar fought back again.The barbarian had been fighting for ten minutes without stopping, but the adrenaline was rushing through his veins, and he didn't blush or breathe.As his attacks became more frequent and his opponents more and more tired, he began to appreciate the endless digging in the mines for Bruenor before, and the experience that Drizzt had run countless miles in the course with him. The giant took a step towards Drizzt. "Oh, hold still, poor mouse!" it growled. "Don't play tricks like yours! I'd like to see how you would fight a fair fight." As the two men met, Guenhwyvar charged the last few feet, sinking his fangs deep into the sub-giant's ankle.The giant glanced back at his attacker reflexively, then looked back quickly at the elf...just in time to see the scimitar plunge into his chest. Drizzt answered the monster's puzzled expression with a question: "Where in the eighteenth hell did you hear that I would fight you fairly?" The sub-giant fell a few steps to the side.Although the blade passed through its heart, it knew that if the wound was not treated, it would die soon.Blood gurgled from the leather armor, and it was obviously having difficulty breathing.Drizzt and Guenhuffa took turns attacking, when the partner rushed to the other side of the monster, Drizzt made a move, dodging the opponent's inflexible counterattack.Both they and the giant knew the battle was almost over. The giants fighting Wulfgar could no longer hold heavy clubs for defense.Wulfgar was growing weary, too, so he sang the ancient tundra warsong of Tapas, an inspiring voice that spurred him on for a final blow.He waited until the subgiant's club had inevitably swung downward and then hammered it once, twice, three times.Wulfgar nearly collapsed from exhaustion, but the giant finally collapsed on the ground, reduced to a ball of meatloaf.Wearily leaning on his weapon, he watched his two friends scratch and bite, tearing to pieces the giant they fought. "Well done!" Wulfgar laughed as the last giant fell. Drizzt walked towards the barbarian, his left shoulder sagging limply.His coat and jacket had been torn by stones, and the exposed skin on his shoulders was swollen and bruised. Wulfgar looked at the wound with genuine concern, but Drizzt raised his arm to answer the question he hadn't asked, yet grimaced because of it. "This one will be all right soon," he assured Wulfgar. "It's just a bruise. And it's a small price to pay compared to the corpses of thirteen demigiants!" There was a low moan in the tunnel. "There should be only a dozen now," Wulfgar corrected. "Obviously one hasn't been kicked enough." Wulfgar took a deep breath, and turned to finish the job. "Wait a minute," Drizzt insisted, a thought urging him to ask. "I believe you yelled something in your native language when the giant came at you in the tunnel. What were you talking about?" Wulfgar smiled heartily. "That is the war call of the Elk tribe," he explained. "Give strength to my friends and death to my enemies!" Drizzt gave the barbarian a skeptical look, wondering just how capable Wulfgar was of casually inventing lies.    The wounded sub-giant was still leaning against the tunnel wall when the two companions and Guenhwyvar came to it.The drow's dagger was still deep in the giant's knee, firmly wedged between bone and bone.When these people came, the giant looked at them with hateful but strangely calm eyes. "You'll pay!" He spat at Drizzt. "You should believe that Bi Lin will play you enough before killing you!" "It has something to say," Drizzt said to Wulfgar.Then he turned to the giant: "Billin?" "The chief of the cave," answered the giant. "Bilin will definitely miss seeing you!" "We'd like to see Billing too!" Wulfgar roared. "We have a blood debt to pay: two dwarves are involved in this little matter!" Wulfgar said of the dwarves, and the giant spit again.Drizzt's scimitar flashed, coming to rest an inch from the monster's throat. "Then kill me quickly and solve this problem!" The giant laughed, he really didn't care. "I serve my master," declared the giant. "It is an honor to die for Akar Kessell!" Wulfgar and Drizzt exchanged uneasily glances.Never had they seen or heard of a sub-giant so fanatical and blindly loyal to a single person.And the sight haunted them.The main reason why the sub-giants cannot dominate the weak people is that they don't want to devote themselves to one thing for any reason, and they don't want to follow a certain leader. "Who is Akar Kessell?" Wulfgar demanded. The giant smiled evilly. "If you're friends with the townspeople of Ten-Towns, you'll soon find out!" "You said Billin was the leader of this cave," Drizzt said. "The cave," replied the giant. "It used to be the chief of a tribe. But Billin now follows the master." "We're in big trouble," Drizzt murmured to Wulfgar. "Have you ever heard of a sub-giant chieftain giving up his dominion without a fight?" "I worry about the dwarves," Wulfgar said. Drizzt turned to the giant, deciding to change the subject to glean more urgent information about the situation. "What's in this tunnel?" "Nothing," the sub-giant responded very quickly. "Well, just a place to sleep for us." They are loyal but stupid, Drizzt thought.He turned to Wulfgar again. "We want us to get rid of Billing quickly, or anyone else who will report back to Akar Kessell." "What about this?" Wulfgar asked.But the giant answered the question for Drizzt.False illusions of glory forced it to die for the wizard.It tensed its muscles, ignoring the pain in its knees, and rushed towards the group of companions. Aegis's teeth shattered the subgiant's collarbone and neck, while Drizzt's scimitar sliced ​​into its ribs, and Guenhilfa began to gnaw at its entrails. But the giant's dead face was still smiling.    The walkway outside the back door of the dining room was not lit, and they had to hold torches from a torch stand in another walkway.As they walked down this long, winding tunnel, as they went deeper and deeper into the hill, they passed many small rooms, mostly empty, and in some places piled with storage. The wooden box: there are food, animal skins, sticks and spears.Drizzt guessed that Akar Kessell would use the place as a base for his army. There was no light at all for a long distance, and Wulfgar didn't have night vision like his elf companions, and became more and more nervous as the torches burned out.But then they came to a spacious room, the largest they had seen so far, and within sight, the other end of the room opened out into the open night. "We've come to the front door," Wulfgar said. "It's ajar. Do you think Billing is out?" "Shh," Drizzt told him to be quiet.Because he thought he heard something in the darkness far to the right.He told Wulfgar to stand in the middle of the room with a torch, and he crawled into the shadows himself. Drizzt stopped suddenly when he heard hoarse giant voices ahead, though he couldn't figure out why he couldn't see their huge figures.As he climbed onto a large fireplace, he realized that the sounds were coming from the chimney. "Billing?" Wulfgar asked as he walked back. "It should be," Drizzt deduced. "Do you think you can go through a chimney?" The Savage nodded.He pushed Drizzt up first (the drow's left arm was still functioning), and then followed, leaving Guenhwyvar on guard. The chimney snaked up a few yards and came to a junction.One path leads to the room below where the sound is coming from, and the other, narrower path leads to the surface.Now that the conversation was loud and heated, Drizzt went down to investigate.Wulfgar grabbed the drow's feet and helped him climb the last stretch, bit by bit, for the slope was nearly vertical there.Drizzt was hanging head to toe, his head poking out a little over the fireplace in the other room, to peek inside.He saw three giants, one by the door at the other end of the room, looking as if he was about to leave; another with his back to the fireplace, scolded by a third, a very tall frost giant.Drizzt recognized it as Bealin from a twisted, lipless smile. "I'm here to tell Billing!" the little giant argued. "You run from the fight," Billing growled. "You left your friend there to die," "No..." protested the giant, but Billing had heard enough.With one swing of his axe, the giant's head fell off.    When Drizzt and Wulfgar reached the chimney, they found Guenhwyvar diligently watching.The leopard turned and roared to greet them.Wulfgar, unaware that the loud cry was a gesture of goodwill, took a cautious step outside. "There must be another, deeper tunnel branching from the main passage," reasoned Drizzt, who had no time to tease his friend's nervousness. "Then let's get this whole thing over with!" Wulfgar said. They found a tunnel, as the drow had guessed, and soon they came to a door in what they thought was the room where the remaining giants were.They patted each other on the shoulder for good luck, and then Drizzt patted Guenhwyvar, but Wulfgar declined Drizzt's invitation to do the same.Then they rushed in. That room is empty.A door, invisible from Drizzt's old seat, pointed toward the fireplace and was ajar.    Billing sent his only remaining soldier out through the secret door to report to Akar Kessell.The giant felt humiliated, knowing that the wizard was not prepared to lose this army.Billing's only chance was to watch out for the two intruders, hoping that their heads would please the cruel leader.The giant put his ear to the door, and waited for the two victims to enter the room.    Wulfgar and Drizzt went through the second door, into a luxurious room decorated with plush fur on the floor and large, fluffy pillows.There are two other doors to get out.One of the doors was slightly ajar, revealing a dark passage.The other door was closed.Suddenly Wulfgar stopped Drizzt with a hand and told him to be quiet.The intangible quality of a true warrior, which makes him sense invisible dangers—a sixth sense kicks in.The barbarian turned slowly toward the closed door, holding Aegis-fang aloft.He paused for a moment, raised his head, and tried to hear a voice that would confirm his feelings.He heard nothing, but he trusted his instincts.He yelled at Tempus, throwing the hammer.It shattered the thick door into pieces with such force that the boards and Birin fell to the ground. Drizzt noticed the secret door swinging behind the giant leader, and knew that the last giant must have slipped away.The Dark Elf immediately called Guenhwyvar into action.The leopard also understood, because it rushed over immediately, jumped over Bi Lin who was writhing in pain, and ran out of the cave to chase the fleeing sub-giants. Blood gushed from the side of the huge giant's head, but its thick skull protected the brain from the hammer.Drizzt and Wulfgar watched in disbelief as the massive frost giant shook its chin and stood up. "It's impossible," Wulfgar protested. "The giant is tough," Drizzt shrugged. The barbarian waited for Aegis Fang to return to his hands, then joined Drizzt to meet Billin. The giant remained in the porch, denying any enemy access to his flank, and Drizzt and Wulfgar walked in confidently.As they looked at each other, the two sides waved their weapons symbolically at each other and looked at each other viciously. "You must be Billing," Drizzt said, bowing. "I am," the giant declared. "Billing! The last enemy your eyes will see!" "You are vain and stubborn," Wulfgar remarked. "Small humans," retorted the giant, "I've crushed over a hundred of your weaklings!" "This adds another reason for us to get rid of you." Drizzt said calmly. Billing swung his giant ax hard with a ferocity and speed that surprised both opponents.Wulfgar stepped back to a deadly distance, and Drizzt ducked, but he shuddered as he saw the ax knock a chunk out of the stone wall. As soon as the ax passed in front of him, Wulfgar sprang back to face the monster, striking Birin's broad chest with the Fang of Aegis.The giant took a step back, but was still hit. "You should hit harder, little one!" it yelled as it struck back vigorously with the flat of the axe. Drizzt leaned forward again.But Wulfgar, who was beginning to tire, was unable to escape the attack in time.The barbarian raised Aegis-fang in front of him, but the force of Billin's heavy weapon sent him flying against the wall.He collapsed on the ground. Drizzt knew they were in trouble.He still can't use his left arm, and he's starting to feel unresponsive from exhaustion.The strength of this giant is so great that he cannot block any blow.When the giant hadn't recovered from his second blow, Drizzt stabbed back with the scimitar before fleeing for the main passage. "Run, you black dog!" growled the Giant. "I will follow you, and I will catch you!" Billing ran behind Drizzt, sniffing out where the prey was. When the dark elf reached the main passage, he sheathed his scimitar, looking for a place where he could strike the giant.But he couldn't find it, so he ran halfway to the exit and waited. "Where can you hide?" Billing sneered as his massive body walked into the aisle.Drizzt, hiding in the darkness, threw his two pocket knives.Both hit the target, but Billing didn't slow down.Drizzt stepped out of the cave.He knew that if Billing hadn't followed, he would have to go back to the cave; he couldn't just let Wulfgar die.The first rays of morning light had already entered the mountains, and Drizzt feared that the growing light would spoil all his chances of a sneak attack.He climbed up one of the small trees that concealed the exit, and drew his dagger. Billin rushed into the sunlight, looking for traces of the fleeing dark elves. "You're near, poor dog! There's no escape for you!" Drizzt appeared suddenly on top of the giant's head, stabbing and slashing its face and neck.The giant roared in anger, and its huge body shook violently backwards, making Drizzt, whose arms became weak and unable to hold steady, fly into the tunnel again.The dark elf's injured shoulder hit the ground heavily, and he almost passed out from the pain. "He's mine," snapped the Savage. Billing looked really ugly.The side of its head had clotted dark blood where the hammer had struck it, and on the other side there were holes in its face and neck, fresh wounds bleeding brightly.Drizzt's two knives were still lodged in the giant's chest, like some kind of morbid badge of honour. "Can you take another hit?" Wulfgar challenged when he threw Aegis' Fang at the giant for the second time. Billing defiantly puffed out his chest to take the blow and answered him. "I can take anything you throw at me!" he boasted. Aegis-fang hit the target with a thud, and Billing staggered back a step.The warhammer broke a rib or two, but the giant held on. Yet something more deadly than Billing knew, the Fang of Aegis hammered Drizzt's knife into its heart. "I can run now," Drizzt whispered to Wulfgar as the giant moved forward again. "I will stay," Wulfgar insisted, without a single tremor of fear in his voice. Drizzt drew his scimitar. "Well said! Brave friend. Let's take down this monster together, we'll have food soon!" "You'll find that you're just talking!" Billing retorted.There was a sudden prick in its chest, but a grunt from its mouth put the pain behind it. "I have already suffered your most powerful attack, and I still approach you in a good way! You have no hope of winning!" Both Drizzt and Wulfgar feared that the giant's boast was closer to the truth than they were willing to admit.They were cornered, wounded and exhausted, but they decided to stay and finish the job. But as the gigantic giant approached steadily, its utter confidence still made them very nervous. When Bi Lin walked only a few steps away from the two of them, he found that something was very wrong.Wulfgar and Drizzt noticed too, for the giant slowed visibly. Bi Lin looked at them with furious eyes, as if he had been deceived. "Bitch!" he gasped, spattering a mouthful of blood. “耍什么诡计…”毕林没再有说出任何其他的话就倒下了。    “我们应该要去找那头豹吗？”当他们两人走回密门时，沃夫加问。 崔斯特正用一些他找到的破布来缠火把。“相信它。”他回答说。“关海法不会让那个亚巨人跑掉的。此外，洞中还有大餐在等我回去。” “你去吧，”沃夫加告诉他。“我会待在这里等它回来！” 崔斯特离开的时候拍了拍这个高大人类的肩膀。他们在一起的短暂时光中已经经历了许多事，而崔斯特猜想刺激的事才刚开始。黑暗精灵开始走向主通道时，口里哼着餐歌，但那只是对沃夫加说的借口，因为餐桌不是他要去的第一站。他们之前曾对话过的那个巨人被问到他们还没去过的隧道底到底有什么东西时，曾支支吾吾地闪烁其词。崔斯特相信，那只有可能是一样东西——宝物。    这头大豹跳过了许多碎石，轻松地追上了脚步沉重的巨人。关海法很快就听到了亚巨人挣扎着前进时每往上爬一步而发出的疲累喘息声。巨人正走向山谷缺口和那后面的辽阔冻原。但是它还走在凯恩巨锥的崎岖山路上，尚未进入谷中比较平坦的路，走得快要发狂了。它试着走捷径，认为这是能较快脱离险境的方法。 关海法跟主人一样很清楚这座山的各区域，也知道住在这山上的每一只生物。这头豹已经看出它希望巨人走向哪里。它就像一头牧羊犬，跑完了剩下的一段距离，并且抓向巨人的侧翼，把它逼向山中深池的方向。受惊的巨人确信致命的战锤以及穿刺人的弯刀就在后面不远处，所以不敢停下来对付豹。它盲目地沿着关海法要它走的路逃窜。 一阵子之后，关海法跑到巨人的前面。当豹到达冰冷池水的边上，它歪着头，集中全副敏锐的注意力，希望能找出一些可以帮它完成任务的东西。然后关海法注意到在水面的第一道波光之下有一点小小的微光在动。它锐利的双眼认出了这个静静杵在那里的东西。关海法很满意这个陷阱，于是走到附近的岩块后面等候。 巨人东倒西歪地走到湖边，沉重地喘气。它不顾自己的恐惧，把背靠在一块石头上一阵子。当它的呼吸一调适过来时，它就迅速四处张望，要看看有无追兵的迹象。然后继续开始走。 要直接穿过池塘只有一条路，那是池中央的一根独木桥，其它的路都要沿着池边绕过。虽然池塘不是很大，但是要绕来绕去走池边那些高低不平又到处有石头突出的路铁定很慢。 亚巨人踩了踩木头，试验一下。感觉上好像很稳，所以这个怪物开始小心地走了上去。豹等到巨人接近池心，然后从躲藏处冲了出来，跳向亚巨人。豹重重落在惊讶的亚巨人身上，将爪子插进它的胸膛，又往回跳向安全的岸边。关海法再跳进冰冷的池水中，并很快就从危险的水中跳出来。巨人好一阵子疯狂地挥动手臂，试着要维持先前的平衡，然后掉进池水中，水花四溅。水好像不断把它往下拉，在绝望中，他移向附近的一根浮木，就是之前关海法认出的东西。 但是当亚巨人的手向下一捞，它以为是浮木的东西开始动了起来，原来是一条五十尺长的大水蟒，用令人眼花的速度卷住了猎物。这冷酷盘绕的身躯快速地把亚巨人的双手捆在一旁，然后开始无情地收缩挤压。 关海法将冰冷的水从闪着光芒的背上甩掉，然后回头看池子。这条怪蛇已经卷住了亚巨人的面颊，并开始把无助的怪物拉到水面下，而黑豹很高兴它的任务已完成了。他长声一吼，宣告自己的胜利，然后向洞穴的方向前进。