Chapter 7 Chapter 5 Brief Thoughts

The red robe was hung high on the mast and fluttered in the wind, while his master stood on the deck wrapped in a blanket and sneezed, spraying spittle into everyone's face.He tried to control himself, but still sneezed loudest at Deudermont, who was about to introduce himself. "Let me introduce Harkle Harbell of Longsaddle," Drizzt said to Deudermont.Harkle reached out, and the blanket slid off his shoulders, exposing his skin and bones.The magician frantically tried to grab hold of the blanket, but in vain. "Let him have a quick meal," said Katie, who was hiding behind Drizzt with a giggle, "he's probably starving to death."

Harkle's face was a little red.Robilla left them, shaking her head as she went, secretly fearing that something might happen to this Harbell. "What are you doing here?" Deudermont asked, "This is the sea far away from the land." Harkle looked at Drizzt, "I'm here to accept the invitation." He deliberately slowed down his voice, seeing that Drow didn't make any gestures, the magician showed a disturbed expression. Drizzt looked at him strangely. "I am indeed invited!" The magician was a little annoyed, "You asked me to come," he turned to Katie again, "and you!"

Katie looked at Drizzt, Drow shrugged and spread his hands, obviously he didn't understand what Harkle was talking about. "Hmph, okay, is this how you greet your friends?" The irritated magician stammered a little, "I knew it would be like this, and I can't hope that a drow will have a good memory. When a drow has been around for a century Look what you say when an old friend you haven't met stands in front of you! Can't you even remember his name? Yes, that's a real hassle." "What are you talking about?" Drizzt had to say, "I remember your name."

"That's good!" growled Harkle, "or I'd be crazy!" He snapped his fingers indignantly, and the sound of "crack" calmed him down.He stood bewildered for a long time without saying a word.It was as if he had forgotten that he was talking to someone else. "Oh, yes." Harkle finally stared straight at Drizzt.The magician's expression became serious, but soon a face full of curiosity emerged. "What are you talking about?" Drizzt asked again, trying to make out what Harkle meant. "I don't know," the magician admitted.

"You just told us why you came here," Deudermont interrupted. Harkle snapped his fingers again. "The spell, of course!" he said cheerfully. Deudermont sighed, "Obviously, this is a spell." The captain said slowly, trying to gather information from the magician's incomprehensible words. "It's not an ordinary spell," Harkle interrupted his train of thought, "That's my new spell, Fog of Fate." "Fog of Fate?" Deudermont was puzzled. "Well, very nice spell," Harkle said excitedly, "it works on your life, it shows you where you're going, and I think it even sends you right there. But it doesn't tell you Why." The magician put one hand on his pointed chin, and his blanket slid to the floor again, but this time he didn't seem to notice at all. "Well, I should look to improve on that so I know why I'm here."

"You don't know?" Katie hurriedly poked her head outside the rails, avoiding the magician's bony buttocks. "I suspect it brought me here by some invitation," Harkle answered. Catti-brie's face was full of suspicion, as was Drizzt's. "It's true!" Harkle shouted excitedly, "How can you forget things so easily, don't say you haven't said it! At that time, you, and you," - he looked from Drizzt to Katie , waving your fingers angrily—"When you passed by Chang'an Town six years ago, you said that you very much hoped to meet me again, 'As long as you know we are near you.' Isn't that what you said at the time?"

"I'm not..." Drizzt began.But Harkle waved him to be quiet, and rushed to the huge package he had brought, which was lying wet on the deck.His blanket was completely thrown on the ground by him, so Katie could only turn her head immediately and stare blankly at the distant seascape. Harkle dragged a small flask from his knapsack, quickly put on the blanket again, and jumped back in front of Drizzt.He snapped his fingers provocatively in front of Zall, and uncorked the bottle. A voice came from the bottle, and it was Catti-brie's voice—"Come and see us whenever you know we're near you."

"So," said Harkle in a triumphant voice, pushing the stopper hard, "here I am." He put his hands on his hips, and said nothing more. Drizzt quickly apologized. "Where are we?" the magician turned to Deudermont. The captain looked at the drow ranger, and Drizzt could only shrug in reply. "Come on, let me show you." Deudermont said as he led the magician towards the cabin, "but first I need to get you some clothes to wear." After the two of them had left, Catti-brie returned to her friends, and Robilar stood not far away, watching the two who had gone.

"Pray we don't encounter any more pirates before he leaves the ship," said the mage of the Sea Sprite. "Harkool will help us," retorted Katie. "Then I will pray more sincerely." Robila muttered and left the crowd. "You have to pay more attention to what you say in the future." Drizzt reminded Katie. "Even if I don't tell you, you will," said the young woman unequivocally, "and, indeed, Harkle will help us." "With him around, we'd probably be engulfed by fire or flood," Drizzt continued to remind her.

Katie sighed and said nothing.They looked at the hatch, into which Deudermont and Harkle were about to enter. "Then what you've cast on our pirate friend is the Fog of Fate?" Deudermont tried to make his voice appear forceful. "Oh? That? Oh, no, it's a fireball. I'm very good at hitting fireballs!" This Huber paused, lowered his eyes, and followed Deudermont into the cabin. "But I really didn't aim accurately enough." Harkle admitted in a low voice. Katie and Drizzt looked at each other.Then he looked at Robilla again. "Pray." The three murmured in unison.

※※※※ Drizzt and Katie had been with Deudermont that night.Since leaving Waterdeep, the captain has been in good spirits.The two friends repeatedly apologized to the captain for Harkle's arrival, but Deudermont didn't care about these things. He even said he wasn't bothered by Hubbell's presence. Finally, Deudermont sat back in his chair, wiped his neat goatee with a silk towel, and stared seriously at his two friends.They fell silent, knowing that the captain had something more important to say to them. "We didn't come here by accident," Deudermont admitted frankly. "Not going to Baldur's Gate, either," Drizzt speculated, a suspicion he'd had all along.The captain claimed that their destination was Baldur's Gate, but he never let the Sea Sprite sail along the coast.If you want to go to Baldur's Gate, sailing along the coast is undoubtedly more direct, safer, and more likely to encounter pirates. For a long time, none of the three spoke.Finally, the captain said in an unquestionable tone: "We turn to the west, to Mingtan." Katie opened her mouth wide. "A free port." Drizzt made a comment, which was also a warning.Known as a haven for pirates and outlaws, Mindan Island is a place of brutality and lawlessness.How could a ship fighting for justice like the Sea Sprite be accepted in a port like that? "A free port," agreed Deudermont. "Freedom to the pirates, freedom to the Sea Spirit, we need to get information from there." Drizzt didn't question the captain, but his face was still full of suspicion. "The lords of Waterdeep City let me take full control of the Sea Spirit," Deudermont said in a harsh voice, "She is my ship, and I have the right to decide what she does. I can take her to Mingtan, take her to Moon Shadow Island, To Rosham Island. It's my will, no one can stop me!" Drizzt sat back in his chair.He was shocked by the captain's harsh words.They had always been close friends, and Deudermont had never treated him as a subordinate before. The captain flinched under Drow's disappointed eyes. "Excuse me," he whispered. Drizzt leaned forward from his chair, resting his elbows on the table, bringing himself closer to Deudermont, "Kavi?" Deudermont looked him straight in the eyes. "The doppelganger mentioned Kavi. I have to go there." "Don't you think it's a trap?" Katie joined in the discussion. "Could they have sent you there on purpose?" "Who?" Deudermont asked. "Those who sent the doppelgangers," Katie speculated. "Who?" Deudermont asked again. Katie shrugged, "Maybe it's Pinocchio? Or some other pirate who hates Sea Spear?" Both Deudermont and Drizzt leaned back in their chairs, and the cabin fell silent again. "I can't go on wandering around the Sword Coast as if nothing happened. I'm sure you can't either." The captain explained his actions.Drizzt closed his violet eyes, unable to deny the captain's words. "They must be very powerful creatures. Doppelgangers are not something ordinary people can drive. They are going to see me and the destruction of Sea Sprite. I must find out who they are. I never ran when I needed to fight. My Neither will the crew. Anyone who isn't going to Kavi can disembark at Mindan. I'll pay them back to Waterdeep with my own money." "There will be more than one person who wants to leave," Katie admits. "But we don't even know if Carvey really exists," Drizzt reminded the captain. "There are many people who claim to have been there, but those are nothing more than drunken talk and bragging of sailors." "So we have to find it ourselves." Deudermont threw out this sentence decisively.Neither Drizzt nor Katie wanted to have a direct confrontation with the captain, so they didn't say anything more. "Perhaps it is not a bad thing for your magician friend to join us," the captain continued, "another magician who is familiar with the mysterious world will help us solve our existing problems." Katie and Drizzt exchanged skeptical glances, and Captain Deudermont obviously knew nothing about Harkle Hubbell!They did not continue to discuss the matter, but had dinner together and talked about the daily affairs of the ship and crew.Deudermont insisted on going to Mingtan, so Drizzt and Katie had to go with him. After dinner, the two friends took a walk on the barely-occupied deck.The stars in the sky winked mischievously at them. "The captain has lifted the burden on your shoulders," Katie said suddenly. After a moment of surprise, Drizzt nodded. "You think that you are responsible for the incident in Waterdeep City, not Deudermont and Sea Spirit." Katie continued. Drizzt stopped and stared at the woman.As usual, her eyes read the drow's deepest secrets.He was always just an open book in front of Katie. "You always think that all dangers come from your birthplace." Katie walked to the side of the boat rail, looking at the starlight rippling with the water on the sea. "I have many enemies." Drizzt came to her. "You stomped them all down," Katie said with a laugh. Drizzt shared Katie's laughter, and he had to admit that she was right.This time he believed that the matter had nothing to do with him.For several years this vast world had become his stage.The threat from Menzoberranzan that followed him at every step seemed to be a thing of the past.On this starry night, by Kitty's side, Menzoberranzan has become a thing of the past thousands of miles away and many years ago.Drizzt Do'Urden felt truly free and relaxed.He is not afraid of Mingtan and those mysterious isolated islands, and the rumors of ghosts are not more important than the breeze at the sideburns.Drizzt Do'Urden was not afraid of danger.It is his own choice to live a life on the edge of a knife.If Deudermont was in trouble, Drizzt's scimitar was always at his disposal. He looked at Katie, the divine bow Tamari was slung on her shoulders, and the gorgeous saber Kajid was stuck at her waist; he thought of the faithful Guenhuffer again.Drizzt is not afraid of danger, only guilt can make him bend his strong shoulders.He wasn't to feel guilty about it, he wasn't responsible for the attack on Deudermont and the course the Sea Sprite took.He was just one of Deudermont's subordinates, a willing subordinate. He and Katie enjoyed the oncoming sea breeze and surf, and counted the stars together.