Chapter 21 Chapter Seventeen The Feeling of Power

Orator Reginclaw plodded through the snow that lay halfway up the Cairn's Cone.The dwarf knew he was taking a risk.Icewind Valley has entered a period of full snowmelt, and this not-so-high mountain is even at its peak.The temperature is also above the freezing point, and the melting snow may form an avalanche at any time.The dwarf could feel the snow seeping into her thick leather boots, and more than once she heard the low, hoarse "rumbling" sound from under the snowdrift. Although the stubborn dwarf was trembling with fright, he kept moving forward.Avalanches are not uncommon in Kane's giant cone. The snowmelt phenomenon on the slope where the dwarves are located is very serious, and it is entirely possible to collapse in an instant.Starbucks now felt like a complete adventurer.She was sure that no one would come to such a place for many years.She knew little about the history of the area.She traveled to Mithril Hall with General Dagna and thousands of dwarves from Abdaburg.And when she was in Mithril Hall, she devoted all her energy to her busy work, and rarely paid attention to the stories about Icewind Dale told by members of the original Warhammer tribe.

Starber didn't know that the most famous avalanche story happened on this hillside, and she didn't know that Drizzt and Aka Keser had a decisive battle here.At that time, the snow slope under their feet collapsed, burying Kaiser. Starber stopped and took out a little lard from his pocket.She murmured a spell and rubbed lard on her puckered lips, a little magic trick to keep out the cold.The weather below was warming rapidly, but there was still a biting wind howling here, not to mention the dwarf's legs and feet were already soaked.As soon as she finished the spell, she heard a "rumbling" sound.The dwarf looked up to the top of the mountain and the sound came from two hundred feet above her head.Along the way, for the first time, she doubted whether she could climb there.

The Cone of Cairn is not a very large mountain.No one would call it a mountain if it had been near Starbucks birthplace of Abda Castle, or in Mithril Hall.This thousand-foot pile of rock can only be called a hill there.But on this flat tundra, it really is a mountain.As a dwarf, Starber, climbing any mountain is a challenge.She also knew that she should wait until the end of summer.The Cairn will be much easier to climb by then when the snow has receded from the Cone of Cairn.But the dwarf had never been known for his patience.Anyway, aside from the dangerous snow, the mountain wasn't really a challenge.

"Don't throw snowballs at me," Starbucks said to the mountain, "and don't think I'll back off!" The voice of her last sentence was a little too loud, and as if in answer, Shan Feng let out a trembling moan.Suddenly, Starbucks slid down. "Oh, damn it!" she cursed, raising her giant mountaineering pick, looking for a place to hit it.The snow collapsed behind her feet, causing her to fall suddenly.But she managed to avoid a protruding rock, and stuck the pick teeth firmly on it.Falling snow washed her body.She tensed all her muscles, trying to resist Luo Xue's pressure.Fortunately, the snow layer that slides down is not too thick, and the momentum is not too great.

After a while, everything returned to calm, only the dull echoes from the distant mountains.Starber crawled out of the snowdrift that buried her and the rock. At this time, she noticed a strange piece of ice was left on the rocks where the snow had receded.The dwarf who had just left the snowdrift didn't pay much attention to the strangely shaped thing.She moved to a place free of snow, trying to brush off the snow and ice on her body before it melted. Her gaze inadvertently landed on the crystal again.It doesn't look like anything extraordinary, just an ice cube.But the dwarf deeply felt that it was not just an ordinary piece of ice.

After a while, Starber finally restrained her unreasonable possessive desire for the ice block, and began to concentrate on continuing to climb the mountain. The crystal still kept calling her subconsciously, urging her to pick herself up. Before she knew what she was doing, she had it in her hands.Only then did she realize that it was not a piece of ice.It feels warm and cozy to the touch.Starbucks held it up, pointing it at the sun.It looked like a vertically angled icicle, almost a foot long.Staples paused and removed her gloves. "Crystal," she murmured confidently.The warm thing doesn't have the slippery feel of an ice cube.Starber closed her eyes and focused on the sense of touch, trying to feel its true temperature.

"Because of my spell," said the dwarf softly.She thought she had found the reason for the crystal's warmth.So she uttered another incantation, dispelling the cold spell she had just cast on herself. But the crystal is still warm to the touch.Starber rubbed her palms on it a few times, and even her toes soaked in cold water felt a burst of warmth. The dwarf looked around to see what else the little avalanche had revealed.She brooded lucidly on this unexpected and mysterious event.But as far as the eye could see, there were only whites, grays, and browns, the everlasting hues of the Cain's cone.All normal circumstances did not deter her suspicions.She held up the crystal again, watching the sunlight dance within it.

"A magic item that resists cold," she said aloud. "It must have been dropped by a merchant when he traveled here. Maybe he was looking for some kind of fortune here, maybe he just wanted to see the surrounding area." The scenery. He will take you, naturally because you can protect him from the cold. But unfortunately, he was caught in an avalanche, and his life was already lost." She was very satisfied with her speculation.Starbucks counts himself very lucky to have found such a useful item in the empty wastes of Cain's Cone.She looked south, where the peak of the Spine of the World rose.The snow on those peaks does not melt all year round, and at the same time there is a gray mist shrouded in the mountains.Suddenly, the dwarf priest began to imagine where the crystal could take her.She already has such protection, and she can travel all these snow peaks in one trip.By then, her name will surely be known among the dwarves!

This is Clinshinibon - the Crystal Shard, a sinister artifact with self-awareness.According to Starbucks inner desire, it makes her have corresponding hallucinations.Crenshinibon recognized its present owner not only as a dwarf, but as a dwarven priest, and she was not pleased.Dwarves are a stubborn and difficult race, and they have a natural resistance to magic.But the most sinister of treasures rejoiced that at last it had escaped from the sunless snowdrifts, and that at last someone had returned to the Cairn to take it away. The Crystal Shard returned to the living world, and it wanted to create even greater havoc.

※※※※ He tiptoed through these tunnels, measuring his pace by the rhythm of the dwarf's hammer.This narrow place made him feel very uncomfortable who was used to the starry sky as a roof, and the tall Kista sometimes had to get on his knees to climb through the low arches. Hearing footsteps, he stopped in a corner, trying to keep his body as close to the wall as possible.He was unarmed, but he was still not welcome in the dwarven mines, and the rift between dwarves and barbarians had only deepened since that unhappy meeting between Bruenor and Berksgar.Kista's father Regak and the dwarves had always been on good terms and welcomed Bruenor's return, but at that gathering, the already tense relationship between the two clans finally became clear.Birxgar and his followers exerted tremendous pressure on Regak, forcing him to return to his old ways of distrusting all foreigners.Regak was wise enough to know that if he confronted Berksga too seriously on this issue, he would lose control of the entire tribe.

Kista also understood this, and his mood was very contradictory.He is loyal to his father and also believes the dwarves are their friends, but Birxgar's point is just as convincing.This ancient way of life—hunting the vast tundra, praying to the spirits of dead animals—was so refreshing and healthy for this young man.The days of dealing with cunning merchants and battling dark elves had long since bored him. The dwarves coming towards him turned the corner at the intersection ahead, and they didn't notice Kista, and the barbarian breathed a little easier.He paused for another moment to orient himself, to recall the tunnels he had passed, and to deduce the location of the leader's personal quarters.Many of the dwarves had gone to work in the mines, and some had gone to Bryn Shander to collect supplies that Bruenor had bought.The remaining dwarves are in the deeper tunnels, hoping to mine new veins of precious metals. Kista met no one else along the way.At last, after walking many wrong paths, he came to a small corridor with a door at each end of the corridor.The first room here doesn't have any dwarven touches.The floor of the room is covered with plush carpet, and the bed is covered with a thick mattress and thicker eiderdown quilt.All this is telling the barbarian who is the master of this room. "Regis," Kista smiled softly, nodding toward the room.The halfling possessed all the traits that barbarians despise—lazy, fat, gluttonous.Worst of all, he has no boldness at all.But Kista would smile at Regis (as many barbarians would at the halfling) whenever Regis went to Hardstone.Regis was the only halfling Kista had ever seen.If the "greedy ghost" as they called it was representative of his kind, Kista would be happy to meet any halfling.The Savage laughed at the pile of quilts on the bed, and then closed the door softly. Regis often prides himself on being comfortable anywhere, anytime. Indeed. The two rooms at the back are not inhabited, and there is only a bed in each.The size of the two beds is not designed for dwarves, but for normal people.Kista knew that Bruno always hoped that Drizzt and Katie would come back to him one day. At the end of the corridor appeared to be a sitting room, the Savage surmised.There is also a door in this room, which is the entrance to the dwarf king's room.Kista walked there slowly, lest he run into a trap set by the dwarves. He opened the door a little, and there was no deep hole under his feet, and no stone fell from the roof to smash his head.The young barbarian calmed down and opened the door completely. This was undoubtedly Bruno's room.A large wooden table is littered with many parchment documents.In one corner, various clothes were stacked higher than Kista.The beds were not made, the blankets and pillows were rolled up. Kista didn't pay attention to these.The moment the door opened, his eyes were fixed on something beside Bruno's bed. Fang of Aegis, Wulfgar's hammer. Kista felt a suffocation as he crossed the room and stood in front of the mighty weapon.The gleaming mithril hammerhead was engraved with ornate runes and the twin mountains, the emblems of Dumathoin, the dwarf god and keeper of the secrets below the mountain.Kista looked at the warhammer carefully, and finally found some other runes under the double mountain pattern.He couldn't see the contents of these hidden runes, but he knew the legend of Aegis' Fang by heart.So he knew that these runes were on one side the mark of Moradin the Soulmaker, the Greatest of the Dwarven Gods, and on the other the battle-axe of Crankington, the Dwarf God of War. Kista stood still for a long time, recalling Wulfgar's saga, and what Birxgar and Regak had done.How to choose is the most suitable?What role should the former ruler of Hardstone Town and the current chief of the Moose Tribe have in conflict? All he knew was that if he had the Fang of Aegis, he would be stronger.Barely thinking about it, Kista reached for the handle of the hammer and took the hammer off the wall. It is so heavy!Kista held it in front of him, and it took a lot of effort to lift it above his head. The hammer hit the low roof, and the young man almost fell to the ground because he couldn't control the center of gravity of the hammer.In the end, Kista finally regained his balance and understood his stupidity and ridiculousness.How could he possibly wield the mighty Fang of Aegis?How could he have followed in Wulfgar's footsteps? He held the hammer to his chest, wrapping his arms reverently around it.He could feel its power, its perfect structure, as if the hero with whom it had done so much was at his side. Young Kista wanted to be a hero like Wulfgar.He wants to lead his tribe with his own ideas.He didn't agree with Wulfgar's approach, nor with Birxgar's tyranny.Among them, there should be a better way.Savages can gain old freedoms and make new friends.With the Fang of Aegis in his hand, Kista felt that he could realize his ideal and lead his people on the best path. The young barbarian shook his head again, with a helpless smile on his face.He was laughing at himself and his big dreams.He's just a boy who can't wield the Fang of Aegis.The young man who thought of this looked back at the open door.If Bruenor came back now and found him holding Aegis-fang here, the taciturn dwarf would have split him in two. Kista hesitated for a long time before hanging the Fang of Aegis on the wall, and it took him more determination to leave this room.But he has no choice.With empty hands, he calmly and carefully returned to the tunnel, back under the vast sky.Run back to the tribe's camp five miles away at full speed. ※※※※ The dwarf stretched his hand upwards as far as he could.Her stubby fingers dug into the accursed snow, clutching desperately at rocks.Only one step away, she will reach the summit. Starbuck groaned weakly, her muscles were so sore that they were paralyzed.She knew that it was impossible for her to overcome this obstacle.Her actions have surpassed the limits of her body, and what awaits her is a thousand-foot abyss and death without a burial place. But at this moment, she felt the power return to her body.The previously weak fingers easily pulled the body up.When her feet set foot on the rock again, she found herself standing on the highest place in the world. The cheerful dwarf looked down at the vastness of the surrounding world and felt that he had conquered the world.She saw thousands of dwarves filling the ravines and plains, cheering her and bowing at her feet. When Starber woke up, sweat had soaked through her close-fitting clothes.It took her a while to regain her sanity.Looking around again, she found herself still in her own cubicle in the Icewind Dale Dwarf Mine.She couldn't help smiling at the thought of that lucid and vivid dream.The exciting sight of climbing to the top of the world made her unable to calm down for a long time.But when she recalled the last scene of the dream, when countless dwarves cheered her, the smile on her face immediately turned into confusion. "How did I dream this?" Starbucks asked herself aloud.She likes climbing, but it's not for glory.All she was looking for was the euphoric and fulfilled feeling of reaching the summit.Starbucks doesn't care what other people think of her mountaineering, and she rarely tells anyone where she's been, where she's going, or whether she's summited or not. The dwarf rubbed his forehead and lay back on the hard mattress, the dream still vividly playing in her mind.Is this a sweet dream, or a nightmare?Why on earth is she climbing mountains?Had she lied to herself, intentionally ignoring her true desires?Was it really just a personal satisfaction, or a sense of victory, when she conquered a mountain?Is it a mountain she wants to conquer, or her dwarven kin? These questions continued to plague the formerly steadfast, humble, and devout pastor.Starbucks hoped that these thoughts were not true.Compared with these trivial questions, Starber thought more about herself, and she was trying to find her true self.After tossing and turning for a long time, the dwarf fell into a deep sleep again. ※※※※ During the long night Starber had no other dreams.Clinshinibon was kept in a small chest at the foot of the dwarf's bed.It sensed the dwarf's panic, and understood that it must be more careful and careful when instilling such dreams in the future.This dwarf is hard to seduce.The Crystal Shard has yet to figure out what kind of bait will actually weaken Orator Reginclaw's will. If the Crystal Shard can't find such a bait, it won't be able to keep a firm grip on the dwarf.Of course, if Crenshinibon had unleashed more power, it might have been able to force the dwarf's true mind into believing his design for her.But this treasure does not want a being who can call to the good gods to doubt it.She might even learn from the good god how to destroy herself! The Crystal Shard withdrew its magic, sealing its consciousness within the crystal structure.It knows that the long wait is not over.In the hands of Starbucks, it cannot act recklessly.