Chapter 23 Chapter 18 Walking in the Wind

Drizzt and Katie returned to Karton with Deudermont, Velan, and Durgin, saying goodbye to the crew who had fought side by side for more than five years.Drizzt couldn't wait to get back to Icewind Dale, but it was necessary to say goodbye to his friends.They said how much they valued each other and promised to meet again. That night, Drizzt called Guenhwyvar, and the three friends dined with Deudermont and Robilar.Robilla seemed much livelier and friendlier than ever.He promised to magically transport them back to the Goofy Spirit, so they could travel to Luskan from there. "What's the matter?" Robila couldn't help asking, seeing the friends exchanged knowing glances and smiles.

Robilar has completely changed in the past few weeks, especially after the fight at Kawi Beach.Harkle had changed him. "What's the matter?" Robila asked again with an accentuated tone. Deudermont smiled and raised his glass. "Here's to Harkle Hubbell, he's done us so much!" Robilla snorted, and was about to remind everyone that they were still trapped in a lake a thousand miles away on the Sword Coast.But seeing the laughter on the faces of his companions, the wise magician understood the true meaning of Deudermont's toast, and knew that he was actually talking about himself.

Robila's first reaction was to object, and he even wanted to withdraw his promise to help Drizzt and Katie return to the temple.But the magicians finally had to admit that they were right.So, he also raised his glass.Although he didn't speak, Robila felt that maybe he should go to the famous Ivy House in Longsaddle Town to visit that strange friend. A farewell between friends is always tinged with bitterness.Deudermont, Drizzt, and Katie hugged each other, promising to meet again someday.They all knew what a mission Drizzt and Katie had, and there was a good chance that neither of them would make it out of Icewind Dale alive.

They all knew it, but no one said anything.As if this was just a brief separation between best friends. ※※※※ Twenty minutes later, Drizzt and Katie had returned to Goofy Spirit.Robilar said a final "good-bye" to them, and disappeared in a flash of magic. Ivan, Pike and Danica say hello to both. "Cadderly is ready," the thick yellow-bearded dwarf told them. "Take care of the old man!" "Eee, ee, ee," Pike said. Danica shot the dwarves an unhappy look.But Kitty could see that she was glad the dwarves would laugh at Cadderly's age.They do this because they believe the pastor is getting stronger, maybe even younger.It is hope, not malice, that is steeped in ridicule.

"Come on," Danica said to Katie, "we don't have much time to spend together." The woman gave Ivan and Pike a glare. "We want to be alone for a while." "Oh..." Pike moaned. "Is he always like this?" Drizzt asked Ivan, who sighed and nodded. "Do you think you have enough time to tell us about Mithral Hall?" Ivan asked Drizzt. "I've heard of Menzoberranzan, but I don't believe those stories." "I will tell you as much as I can," Drizzt replied, "but many of the things I say are hard to believe."

"How is Bruno?" Ivan asked anxiously. "Bno!" interrupted an excited Pike. Ivan hit his brother on the back of the head. "We'd love to go with you, elf," said the yellow-bearded dwarf, "but we've got a lot to do here. We've got to take care of those two little ones and all these things, and my brother can't rest easy here." garden." As soon as Pike was mentioned, Ivan immediately turned his head and stared at his brother, as if Pike was about to do something stupid.Pike really looked like he was going to say something, but seeing his brother looking at him, he whistled hastily.Ivan turned his head and found that Drizzt was biting his lips tightly, suppressing the urge to laugh.Drow's gaze fell behind Ivan, and Pike stuck his thumbs in his ears, moving his remaining fingers back and forth.He also sticks his tongue out of his lips, flicking it like his fingers.

Ivan turned around and saw Pike whistling and doing nothing.Ivan turned around three times in a row, but every time he saw Pike whistling.In the end he had to give up. Drizzt had known the two dwarves for less than two days, and thought they were really interesting.In his mind, he kept imagining what Stone Shoulders would be like when he met Bruno. ※※※※ For Danica and Catti-brie, this final time together was much more serious and restrained.They entered Danica and Cadderly's private quarters, a vestibule with five small rooms connected together.They found Cadderly in the bedroom, praying and preparing for the journey, and they left him quietly.

Katie talks to Danica about her past.How she was orphaned at a very young age and raised by Bruenor, raised in the Warhammer family.Danica told Katie that she was training with Guru Pompa Dea.Unlike Katie, she is a monk, a warrior with strict discipline. Katie had never met a woman of her own age and mind.She likes Danica a lot.If time and conditions permit, they will certainly be able to establish a deep friendship.In fact, Danica felt the same way.Her life path is also not smooth, and she also rarely meets female partners of the same age. Their topic finally returned to the present and the hoped future.

"Do you love him?" Danica asked carefully.Katie knew she was referring to the dark elves. A flush flushed the young woman's cheeks, and she didn't know it.She loved Drizzt, of course, but she wondered if her love for him was the kind of love Danica spoke of.Drizzt and Katie had agreed to let go of this feeling before.But now, Wulfgar had been gone for so many years, and Kitty was approaching thirty.This question could not help but surfaced in her mind again. "He's a handsome guy." Danica giggled like a little girl. In fact, Katie felt that she was now a teenage girl, curled up in a large chair in Danica's house, full of hopes for love and life.All he could think about was whether Drizzt was handsome.

However, the heaviness of reality soon broke into the hearts of the two women and drove away their laughter.Katie has lost the love of her life, and Danica, who already has two children, must face the possibility that her husband will soon leave her after dedicating most of his life to the Goofy Spirit. The conversation slowly died down, and finally died away altogether.Danica stared at Katie without saying a word. "What happened?" Katie asked her. "I'm pregnant," Danica said.Katie figured it out right away, she was the first to know about it other than Danica herself.Even Cadderly didn't know about it yet.

Katie waited for a while until a happy smile appeared on Danica's face.This convinced Katie that pregnancy was a good thing for the young monk.So she gave Danica a bigger smile and hugged her friend tightly. "Don't mention this to Cadderly," Danica begged her. "I've figured out how to tell him." Katie sat back in her chair. "You told me anyway." The importance of the matter made her voice very serious. "You're leaving," Danica said solemnly. "But you don't know me," Katie reminded her. Danica shook her head, her long red-blond hair bouncing gently behind her.Her almond-shaped eyes kept looking into Katie's dark blue eyes. "I know you," Danica said softly. Danica was right, and Katie sensed that she knew Danica as well.They are very similar.They also know it in their hearts.For them, parting means missing each other deeply. They heard Cadderly's footsteps from the bedroom. It was time to go. "I'll definitely be back," Katie said to her girlfriend. "I will also visit Icewind Dale." Danica responded to Katie's promise. Cadderly walked into the hall and told them he was seeing Katie and Drizzt off.Looking at his warm smile, the two women just secretly wiped away the tears from the corners of their eyes without saying a word. ※※※※ Cadderly, Drizzt, and Katie stood atop the tallest tower of Goofy Spirit.The ground was about three hundred feet away from them now, and the strong wind kept whipping at their backs. Cadderly chanted a spell in a low voice, and the two companions felt their bodies gradually becoming light and ethereal.Cadderly took their hands and continued his chanting, and the three gradually became as transparent as air.Finally, they turned into spirits and walked down the top of the tower, and began to dance with the wind. The world under his feet receded rapidly, so it became somewhat blurred, and everything seemed to be a dream.Drizzt and Katie didn't know how long they had been flying.When they slowed down and finally came to a stop, the sun was rising over the eastern horizon. They had reached Luskan, the northernmost point of the Sword Coast, just west of the Spine of the World.Two hundred miles further north, they will reach Ten Towns. Cadderly knew nothing of the city, but their destination was clear.The place where the three of them landed happened to be in front of the temple of Dinai.Cadderly received a warm welcome from the temple priests.He had the priest there prepare a room for Drizzt and Katie to rest in.After the two companions fell asleep, Cadderly and a local priest went out non-stop and booked seats for them on the caravan to Icewind Dale. He was glad that things were going better than Cadderly had imagined.He had been afraid that Drizzt's ethnicity would prevent him from getting a travel seat.But there were many merchants in Luskan who knew Drizzt and Katie.Any caravan would welcome these two mighty warriors to accompany them into the perilous Icewind Dale. When Cadderly returned to the temple, the two of them were already awake, chatting with the priests in the temple.The priests had prepared things for them to use along the way, and they also gave Drizzt a gift—two leather bags of holy water drawn from the temple's holy water vessel.Drow couldn't see what the two bags of water could do.But a human priest of a good god solemnly gave this gift to him, a drow elf, which in itself made him unable not to cherish this gift. Cadderly told them that travel seats had been booked, and when and where the caravan would assemble.The caravan is leaving today, and the two partners have less than an hour to prepare.They knew that this meant another parting. "Your parishioners are really kind," Drizzt said to Cadderly. "Their deeds honor Dene," Cadderly said. Drizzt was busy packing his luggage.Katie pulled Cadderly aside.All she could think about now was Danica—her friend. Cadderly smiled kindly, as if he already knew what Katie was going to say to him. "You have a lot of responsibilities," Katie said. "My god doesn't ask for that much," Cadderly said jokingly. "I'm talking about the twins," Katie whispered, "and Danica." Cadderly nodded, but said nothing. Katie hesitated for a long time. How could she express her advice without offending the old pastor? "Ivan told me something about your... situation." "Oh?" Cadderly felt Katie's heavy heart. "The dwarf said you expected to die when Goofy was built," Katie said. "He said you were exactly as you expected." "I did expect that," Cadderly admitted. "When I designed that temple I foresaw that I would only live until it was finally built." "That was a year ago," Katie reminded him. Cadderly nodded again. "The dwarf says you look like you're getting younger," Katie said emphatically, "and stronger." Cadderly smiled at her.He understood that Katie was interested in these things because she cared about Danica.The sincere friendship between her and his wife made him feel the warmth from his heart. "I'm not sure of anything, but the dwarf's observations should be correct. I'm stronger now, and there's more vitality in my body than when the temple was just completed." Cadderly pulled a few strands of hair, They are mostly gray, but there are a few strands of sand-coloured hair in between. "Brown hair," continued the old priest, "when the temple was first built they were all white." "You're really getting younger!" Katie exclaimed excitedly. Cadderly sighed deeply, and nodded involuntarily. "It looks like that." "I'm not sure of anything," he said, as if afraid to deny his hope. "The only explanation I can think of is that my foresight of my own death and the weariness I felt when Goofy's Spirit was built were a test of my fidelity to Deene's precepts and metaphors. I did foresee to my own death. And, when the temple was finally completed, an overwhelming sense of weakness completely overwhelmed me. Danica and Ivan helped me into the room, and I soon fell into a coma. At the time, I I never thought that I could open my eyes again and see the world. I just quietly waited for death." He closed his eyes, recalling that fateful moment. "But now?" Katie asked him. "Maybe Diane is testing my piety, maybe I passed the test, so my god decided to keep me first." "If he was a kind god, he would definitely make such a choice," Katie said firmly. "A good god would never let you leave Danica, the twins, and..." Katie paused. She bit her lip, not wanting Cadderly to learn Danica's secret too soon. "Deene is a kind god." Cadderly replied with the same firm tone, "As for the mortal things you said, Dene's will and his methods are beyond our comprehension. Even if Dene Nai took me away from Danica and my children, and it did nothing to detract from his holiness and goodness." Katie shook her head disapprovingly. "There are higher meanings and higher principles in the universe beyond the comprehension of mortals," Cadderly said to Katie. "I believe that Dene will guide all things to the ultimate right. I am in it, insignificant." .” "But you wish it was true," Katie told him accusingly. "You do wish you were young again, like your wife. Then you could spend your life with her, watching your The child grows up!" Cadderly laughed. "Indeed." Hearing the pastor's confirmation, Katie relaxed a lot. These words did not escape Drow's sensitive ears, which also made Drizzt greatly reduce the speed of packing. Catti-brie and Cadderly hugged each other.Then, the old priest, who was not so old, walked up to Drizzt and clasped his hands. "Bring me the Crystal Shard, and together we can find a way to rid this world of this evil thing." "Bring your father back, too," Cadderly continued. "I have a feeling he'd like to stay in Goofy Spirit." Drizzt also clasped Cadderly's hands, thanking the priest for his confidence. "I...as soon as we get that treasure," he looked at Katie and corrected his wrong words. "I'll come back to Caton to find you." "I must go back," Cadderly said with one last look at his two companions, before turning to leave. They didn't say anything more, just continued to complete the preparations for the road.That's the way home.