Chapter 33 Chapter 29 Other Choices

The dwarves of Mithril Hall made their first secret exit shortly after sunset.Bruno was the first to climb the ladder and peep through the grass to see the monster camp.These dwarves' mining skills are so advanced that they can dig shafts among the goblin and troll armies, but they don't disturb these monsters at all. When Bruenor went back down to find his clansman, he had a smile on his face. "Dig the other nine quickly," he ordered as he came down the tunnel.Catti-brie was beside him. "The Kessell boys will sleep soundly tonight!" he announced, tapping the ax on his side.

"What role should I play in the upcoming battle?" Catti-brie asked, taking advantage of the gap between her and Bruno. "You hide in the tunnel. If those damned enemies come down, collapse the tunnel and crush them to death." Catti-brie understood. "Then what if you all die in the battle above? I don't feel comfortable hiding in the ground alone." Bruno stroked his red beard.He didn't think about this outcome, he only thought that if he and his people died in the field, Catti-brie would be safe in the tunnel.But how could she stay down there alone?What price will she have to pay to survive?

"Then do you want to fight with us? Your sword skills are very good, and I will follow you!" Catti-brie pondered the proposal for a while. "I'd better stay with the lower lever," she decided. "The enemies behind you alone are enough to keep you on your toes. And someone has to break down the tunnel here, too; we can't let the goblins take our halls and make them their own home!" "Besides," she added with a smile, "I was foolish to worry. I know you will come back to me, Bruno. You and your people have never let me down!" She kissed the dwarf forehead, then bounced away.

Bruno smiled behind her. "You are such a brave girl, my Catti-brie," he murmured. After a few hours, all the tunnel work was completed.Pit pits were dug, and tunnels in that area were equipped to collapse to cover retreats or crush goblins who advanced too far.The faces of all the clansmen were deliberately blackened with soot, and the heavy armor and weapons were wrapped in several layers of dark clothes, and they were gathered in rows at the bottom of the shaft.Bruno went up to check first.He peeked secretly, then smiled coldly.All the ogres and goblins around were asleep. Just as he was about to wave to his people to go up, there was a commotion in the camp.Bruenor continued to hide on top of the shaft, but he buried his head under the car (which caused a goblin to step on his head) and wondered what had alarmed the monsters.He heard the calls of orders and what seemed to be the din of an assembled army.

Then came more and more voices, clamoring for the death of the Tongue Cutter.Although he had never heard of this thing, he could easily guess that it was the clan name of the half-orcs. "Then they are killing each other, aren't they?" He said softly, laughing out loud.Knowing that the dwarves' attack could not come immediately, he climbed down the ladder. But his clan, frustrated by the delay, did not disband.They decided that this must be done tonight.So they wait. It was past midnight, and the sounds of battle continued to be heard from the camp above.But the long wait did not dull the dwarves' resolve.On the contrary, the delay heightened their tension and their hunger for goblin blood.These warriors are also blacksmiths, and they can spend hours adding a scale to a dragon statue.They know how to be patient.

Finally, all was quiet again, and Bruno went up the ladder again.Before he could poke his head out of the hole, he heard the reassuring regular breathing and snoring. Without further delay, they slipped out of the hole and carried out the assassination with great skill.They don't like being killers that much, preferring to fight face to face, but they know the necessity of this kind of attack, and they don't think the lives of goblins have any value. As more and more monsters fell into a deep sleep of death, the area also fell silent.The dwarves concentrated on hunting down the ogres first, so as not to be discovered before significant damage was done.But these considerations are unnecessary.A long time passed, and nothing happened.

By the time a guard realized what was happening and shouted a warning, the field was drenched with the blood of a thousand of Kessell's men. Shouts rang out from all sides, but Bruenor made no call to retreat. "Formation!" he ordered. "Closely arranged around the tunnel!" He knew that the first wave of counterattackers would be unorganized and unprepared. The dwarves formed a tight defensive formation and felled many goblins with ease.Bruenor's ax added many new notches before any goblins could attack him. Gradually, Kessell's men began to get organized.They flocked to the dwarves in their own special order, and as more and more monsters in the tent awoke, their increasing numbers began to oppress the raiders strongly.Then a group of ogres, Kessell's elite guard guarding the tower, rushed across the field to this side.

The first dwarves to retreat, the earthwork experts who were about to make a final check of the readiness for the avalanche, put their booted feet on the top rung of the ladder.Escaping into the tunnel will be an intricate process, success or failure will depend on being quick enough. But Bruenor unexpectedly ordered the masters of the art to come out of the shaft, and asked the dwarves to maintain the line. Before that, he had heard an old song that would have given him the creeps just a few years ago.But now it fills his heart with hope. He recognized the voice leading these inspiring words.

   The flesh of a stinking arm slapped to the floor, another victim of Drizzt Do'Urden's howling blades. But these fearless trolls flocked anyway.Normally, Drizzt would have known about these guys as soon as he entered this square room.Their stench makes them difficult to hide.Yet these trolls weren't actually there when the dark elves entered the room.Drizzt stepped on the magic siren as he entered the depths of the room, and the entire room was enveloped in the wizard's light, alerting the guards as well.They came out of the magic mirrors that Kessell had placed as sentries throughout the room.

Drizzt had already cut down one of the disgusting monsters, but he wanted to flee more than fight now.Drizzt shook his head in disbelief when the troll he beheaded suddenly stood up and flailed around. Then a clawed hand grabbed his ankle.He knew without looking that it was his severed palm. He was taken aback, kicked the strange hand away, and then ran at full speed to the spiral staircase leading to the second floor at the bottom of the room.As a result of his earlier order, Guenhwyvar had already limped up the stairs and waited on the platform above. Drizzt clearly heard the disgusting footsteps of the pursuers, and the chime of the dirty fingers of the severed hand scraping the ground, and even it came after it.The dark elf jumped up the stairs without looking back, hoping his quickness would give him enough time to find his way out.

Because there is no door on the platform. This landing above the stairs is rectangular, about ten feet from one end to the opposite.The left and right sides are open with nothing, the third side is connected to the stairs coming up, and the last side has only a mirror, which is exactly the same width as the platform, and is placed between the platform and the ceiling.Drizzt watched from the platform, wishing he could spot the subtle anomaly in the unusual door (if it was a door at all).It's not that easy. The mirror illuminated a tapestry on the wall directly opposite, the surface perfectly smooth, without any cracks or handles to suggest that it was a secret door.Drizzt sheathed his weapon and ran his hand across the length of the mirror, looking for handles that his piercing eyes couldn't see yet, but the smoothness of the mirror only made him more certain of what he saw. The troll climbed the stairs. Drizzt tried to push the mirror, and read all the door-opening words he knew, looking for the hyperdimensional entrance similar to Kessell's hidden guard.But still can't get through. The lead troll is half way up the stairs. "There must be a clue!" the dark elf moaned. "Wizards like to challenge others, but it's not fun!" The only possible answer lies in the intricately designed tapestry.Drizzt glanced at it, trying to find something among the thousands of intertwined images that would give him hints of a way of escape. A nasty smell came up.He could hear the drooling of these perpetually hungry monsters. But he had to hold back his nausea and concentrate on looking at the countless images.One thing caught his attention: a poem embroidered on the upper edge of the tapestry covering all the images beneath it.These calligraphic characters are in sharp contrast to the rest of the old and faded patterns, with a new bright light added.Is that from Kessell? come if you want come inside to party But first you need to find the lock, Although you can see it, you can't see it Although it exists, it does not exist That's a doorknob that flesh and blood can't hold There was a line that suddenly brought back memories of the Dark Elf.When he was a child in Menzoberranzan City, he had heard the phrase "Although it exists, it does not exist".This refers to Urgutha Forka: a demon of the Abyss who has the ability to scatter plagues. , a demon that ravaged the Material Plane with a poisonous plague when Drizzt's distant ancestors still walked the surface.The surface elves always denied the existence of Urgusa Forka, and they blamed the dark elves for the plague, but the dark elves knew the whole situation better.Something in their physiology made them immune to demons, and after they knew how deadly this contagion was to their enemies, they really counted Urgusa Foka among their allies , to satisfy the doubts of those surface elves. The phrase "although it exists, it does not exist" is a mocking phrase in one of the long tales circulated among the dark elves, a private joke about the death of a distant relative whom they hated because of a creature that did not recognize its existence. Thousands of people died. The conundrum at hand would be an unsolvable enigma to anyone who did not know the story of Urgusa Foca.So the situation turned in favor of the dark elves.He scanned the tapestry image in the mirror, trying to find something related to the demon.He spotted something at belt level on the far side of the mirror: the portrait of Urgusa himself, in all its ghastly splendor.The demon is depicted breaking an elf's skull with a black staff, which is his mark.Drizzt had seen the same portrait before.Nothing seems wrong. The trolls rounded the last turn on the way up.Drizzt was running out of time. He turned to look for any unusual clues in the tapestry itself.He was startled when he saw it; in the original tapestry, Urgusa was punching the elf; there was no staff at all! "Even though you can see it, you can't see it." Drizzt turned back to the mirror, then grabbed the demon's phantom weapon.But he still felt that the mirror was flat.He almost called out at the setback. His experience had taught him self-control, and he regained his composure immediately.He withdrew his hand from the mirror, trying to make his own reflection stand as deep as he reckoned the rod would be.He closed his fingers slowly, watching the image of his hand grip the staff in the excitement of anticipating victory. His hand moved slightly. A thin slit appeared on the mirror. The leading troll made it to the landing at the top of the stairs, but both Drizzt and Guenhwyvar were gone. The dark elf slipped through the strange door, and when it closed again, he leaned back and breathed a sigh of relief.The dim light illuminated the stairs in front of him that went up, and at the top was the platform leading to the second floor of the tower.There were no doors to block the way, just strings of beads that glowed orange in the room's torchlight.Drizzt heard giggles. Quietly, he climbed up the stairs with the leopard, his head sticking out a little above the platform to peek.This is Kessell's harem. The soft firelight inside illuminates the figures behind the veil.Most of the floor was covered with stuffed pillows, and the room was mostly divided by drapes.The ladies-in-waiting, Kessell's insane playthings, sat in a circle in the center of the floor, giggling with the uncontrollable playfulness of a child at play.Drizzt wondered if those people would notice him, but if they did, they wouldn't care too much.He learned that these poor, battered animals would do nothing against him. He remained vigilant, however, especially in places that were curtained off.He wondered if Kessell would set up guards here, maybe not as bad as the trolls, but he couldn't afford to be wrong. With Haifa at his side, he moved silently from shadow to shadow, and Drizzt breathed a sigh of relief as the two companions walked up the stairs to the door on the third floor. But then the hum that Drizzt had heard when he first entered the tower returned.It constantly gathers strength, as if its singing comes from every wall of the tower.Drizzt looked around for any possible source. A set of chiming clocks hanging from the ceiling of the room began to tinkle eeriely.The flames of the torches on the wall began to dance wildly. Then Drizzt understood. The building itself came to life.The fields outside were still in the shadows of night, but the first rays of dawn were already on the tip of the tower. The door leading to the third floor opened suddenly, which was the main hall where Kessell's throne was located. "Well done!" cried the wizard.He stood behind the crystal throne at the bottom of the room, holding an unlit candle, facing the open door.Regis stood obediently beside him, a blank expression on his face. "Come in," Kessell said with false goodwill. "Don't worry about the trolls you hurt, they'll heal soon!" He threw his head back and laughed out loud. Drizzt felt like an idiot when he remembered that all his caution just now was just entertainment for wizards.He put his hands on the hilts of the two cutlasses and crossed the doorway. Guenhwyvar was still crouching in the shadow of the stairs, partly because the wizard's words didn't suggest knowing of its existence," and partly because he was too weak to waste walking. Drizzt paused before the throne and bowed.The sight of Regis standing next to the wizard puzzled him, but he hid the fact that he knew the halfling.Regis also didn't seem familiar with the drow upon his first glance, though Drizzt wasn't sure if that was on purpose or under the influence of some kind of charm. "Hello, Akar Kessell," Drizzt stammered in the tone of an underworld dweller, as if unfamiliar with the common tongue of the surface.He figured he could try the same strategy he had used with the demons. "Our clan sent me to discuss with you something about our common interests." Kessell laughed loudly. "That's right, you're right." He had a big smile on his face, which suddenly turned into a frown.His eyes narrowed wickedly. "I know you, dark elf! Who has ever lived in Ten-Towns and has not heard of Drizzt Do'Urden in legend or joke! Save those lies of yours!" "Forgive me, mighty wizard," Drizzt said quietly, changing tack. "You seem smarter than your demon in many ways." The arrogant look on Kessell's face suddenly disappeared.He had been wondering what was preventing Errtu from answering his call.He looked at the dark elf with heightened respect.Can this lone warrior bring down a great demon? "Please allow me to reintroduce you," Drizzt said. "Hello, Akar Kessell." He bowed. "I am Drizzt Do'Urden, ranger of Gwaeron Stormwind, guardian of Icewind Dale. I have come to kill you." The double knives jumped out of their sheaths. But Kessell also started to move.Suddenly the candle in his hand lit up.The flame is focused and intensified at every point of reflection through scattered mirrors and prisms throughout the room.As soon as the candle was lit, three converging beams immediately formed a triangle, surrounding Drizzt.No beams had touched him yet, but he felt their power and dared not pass through. As the sun rose higher, daylight seeping through the tower, Drizzt could clearly hear the tower humming.Several of the walls that looked like mirrors under the torch now looked like windows, and the whole room was now lit up. "Did you originally believe that you could just walk here and finish me off easily?" Kessell asked in disbelief. "I am Acar Kessell, you fool! At command of the most powerful army that has ever set foot on this barren tundra!" "Watch out for my army!" He waved his hand, and one of the telescopic mirrors began to show an image of part of his vast camp around the tower, full of cries for the army to wake up. Then came a scream of death from some unseen place in the field.Both the dark elf and the wizard instinctively adjusted their ears to listen carefully to the distant cry, and then heard the continuous sound of battle.Drizzt watched Kessell curiously, wondering if the wizard knew what was going on at the northern end of his camp. Kessell answered the dark elf's unspoken question with a wave of his hand.The image in the mirror turned into a cloud for a moment, then moved to the other side of the field.Noisy shouts and the clanging of swords came from the depths of the mirror.Then the cloud cleared, and there was a clear picture of the Bruenor fighting back to back among the goblins.The fields around the dwarves were littered with the corpses of goblins and ogres. "Do you see how stupid it is to stand up to me?" Kessell screamed. "It seems the dwarves are doing well." "Nonsense!" Kessell yelled.He waved his hand again, and the cloud returned to the mirror.Suddenly, the battle song of Tempus echoed in the depths of the mirror.Drizzt leaned forward, trying to get a glimpse of the song's lead singer through the coverings. "Even if those stupid dwarves cut down a few of my unimportant men, and other warriors join my army in droves! You are dead, Drizzt Do'Urden! Akar Kay Shuttle is here!" The smoke cleared. Wulfgar led a thousand eager warriors ahead to these unsuspecting monsters.The goblins and half-orcs closest to the oncoming barbarians took full credit for what their master had said, and rejoiced at the arrival of these promised allies. Then they are killed. The savage crowd rushed into their ranks, singing and killing wildly and indulgently.Even over the clamor of weapons clashing, one could still hear the voices of the dwarves joining in to sing the song of Tempus. Kessell's eyes were wide open, mouth parted, trembling with rage, he waved the shocking image away, and turned to Drizzt. "That's okay!" he said, struggling to keep his tone steady. "I will kill them all without mercy! Bryn Shander will collapse in flames!" "But the first is you, treacherous dark elf," said the wizard contemptuously. "Those who killed their own people, what other gods can you pray to?" He lightly blew on the candle, trying to make the flame move aside. The angle of the reflected light changed, and a beam of light shot toward Drizzt, piercing a hole in the hilt of his old knife, and then further into his hand.Drizzt's face scrunched up in pain as the scimitar fell to the floor and the beam snapped back into place, his other hand grasping the wound. "You see how easy it is?" Kessell said sarcastically. "Your feeble mind can never imagine the power of Clinshinibon! You should be honored to let you see a practical example of this power before you die!" Drizzt gritted his teeth, there was no begging for mercy in his eyes as he glared at the wizard.He had long ago regarded the possibility of death as a risk to run, and he was determined to die with dignity. Kessell tried to make him sweat.The wizard shook the deadly candle mockingly, causing the light to vibrate back and forth.Kessell was tired of playing when he finally found he couldn't hear a sob or a plea from the proud ranger. "Good-bye, fool," he growled, pursing his lips at the candle to blow it down. Regis blew out the candle. Everything seemed to stand still for a few seconds.The wizard stared in horror at the halfling he thought was his slave.Regis just shrugged, as if he himself were surprised by this unlikely brave move. Instinctively, the wizard threw the silver plate holding the candle against the glass of the mirror, and ran screaming to the back corner of the room, where a ladder was hidden in the shadows.Drizzt had just moved the first few steps when flames erupted in the mirror.Four evil red eyes glared from the inside, attracting the attention of the dark elf, and two hellhounds jumped out from the broken glass. Guenhwyvar stopped one of them, and it leaped over its master's head, recklessly bumping into the hellhound.The two animals entangled and rolled towards the back of the room, turning into a mass of red and black claws and teeth, knocking Regis aside. The second hound spewed flames at Drizzt, but as in the previous duel with the demon, the flames did not hurt the dark elf.Then it was his turn to make the move.There was a trance-like sound of the fire-hating scimitar, and Drizzt swung it down, cutting the dog in half.Drizzt marveled at the power of the knife, but he didn't even have time to look at his victim before continuing the pursuit. He got to the bottom of the ladder.From inside the trapdoor that opened from the ceiling to the top of the tower came a regular, pulse-like flash.With each flicker Drizzt felt, the vibration grew stronger.The heart of the magic crystal tower beats stronger and stronger due to the rising sun.Drizzt knew the danger he was facing, but he didn't have time to stop and consider the odds. He immediately faced Kessell again, this time in the smallest room in the building.Between them, floating strangely in mid-air, was a large piece of the heart of the crystal magic crystal tower, which was beating regularly.It has four sides and tapers at the top like an icicle.Drizzt recognized it as a miniature copy of the tower he was in, even though it was only a foot long. This is exactly the same shape as Clinshinibon. It emitted a wall of light that split the room in half, with the dark elf on one side and the wizard on the other.Drizzt knew from the wizard's smirk that it was a rock-solid barrier.Unlike the shadow room, which is full of mirrors below, there is only one mirror in this room!It looked more like a window in the tower wall, on the wizard's side. "Attack the heart, dark elf," Kessell said with a laugh. "Stupid! The heart of the Crystal Tower is harder than any weapon in the world! No matter what you do, magic or whatever, you can't make the slightest scratch on its perfect surface! Hit it! , let your stupidity and ignorance be revealed!" Drizzt had other ideas, however.He is resourceful and quick-witted, knowing that many enemies cannot be dealt with by brute force.There must be other options. He inserted his remaining weapon, the enchanted scimitar, and began to untie the string that held the flour sack to his belt.Kessell watched curiously, distraught by the fact that the dark elf was so calm when he was sure of death. "What are you doing?" demanded the wizard. Drizzt didn't answer.His movements were orderly and undisturbed.He untied the string that held the pocket and pulled it open. "I'm asking you, what are you doing!" Kessell growled as Drizzt began to move towards the heart.The wizard suddenly discovered that the copy of the magic crystal was very fragile.He felt uncomfortably that the dark elves were more dangerous than he had previously estimated. Clinshinibon felt it too.The Crystal Shard telepathically instructs Kessell to shoot a deadly arrow to finish off the Dark Elves. But Kessell was scared. Drizzt approached the crystal.He tried to put his hand up, but the light wall bounced him back.He nodded because he had expected it, and he pulled the flour sack to its fullest.His attention was only on the tower itself, and he did not glance at the wizard or give any sign of hearing his clamor. He poured a sack of flour all over the crystal. Tower seemed to be moaning in protest.It went dark. The wall of light that separated the dark elves from the wizards was gone. But Drizzt kept his eyes on the tower.He knew that this layer of smothering flour would only block the powerful rays of light from the crystal for a moment. But all at once was enough, for he covered the empty bag with the crystal, and pulled the bag's string taut.Kessell cried out and staggered forward, but stopped before the drawn scimitar. "No!" the wizard yelled in helpless protest. "Do you know the result of doing this?" As if to answer, the tower began to shake.The vibration quickly subsided, but both the dark elf and the wizard sensed the approaching danger.Somewhere inside the Magic Crystal Tower, the collapse has begun to happen. "I fully understand," Drizzt replied. "I have defeated you, Acar Kessell. Your brief reign over Ten-Towns is over for you yourself." "You're killing yourself, dark elf," Kessell retorted when the Crystal Tower shook again, this time harder. "You can't get out before the tower collapses on you!" The tower shakes once more.again. Drizzt shrugged, not caring. "Then let it collapse," he said. "My purpose has been accomplished. That is, you must die!" A maniacal laugh escaped the wizard's lips.He turned and ran to the mirror mounted on the wall.Kessell didn't break the glass and fall to the field below as Drizzt thought, but disappeared into the mirror. The tower began to shake again, and this time the shaking went undiminished at all.Drizzt began to try to step down the trapdoor, but could only keep himself afloat.Cracks began to appear on the walls. "Regis!" he yelled, but no one answered.Part of the wall in the room below had collapsed, and Drizzt could see debris beneath the ladder.He prayed that his friend was free, and walked the only way open to him. He followed Kessell through the mirror.