Chapter 6 Chapter 4 The Flame in Her Eyes

Catti-brie pulled her gray cloak over the dagger, and put on the mask she had brought from Regis.As she approached Bruno's room, she had mixed feelings: wishing he was there and wishing he wasn't there. How could she stop looking at her father Bruno and just leave?But, as far as Catti-brie was concerned, there was nothing left of him but an old dwarf wallowing in grief and waiting to die.She doesn't want to see him like that, don't go to the Underdark with Bruno's impression. She raised her hand and knocked on the door of Bruno's living room, and gently pushed it open for a sneak peek.There was a dwarf standing by the burning fire, but it wasn't Bruenor.Battle-mad Thiberdorf Panter hopped around in circles trying to catch a nasty fly.He wore spine armor as usual, with spikes on his gloves, spikes on his knees and elbows, and horrible spikes protruding from every possible wounding angle.The crunching of the armor as the dwarf turned and jumped was the most annoying sound Catti-brie had ever heard.Panter's unshielded helmet, spiked half as high as a dwarf, rested on a chair beside him.Because he wasn't wearing a helmet, Catti-brie could see that he was almost bald.Panter's few strands of fine black hair were greasy knotted on one side of his head, and a thick black beard was attached to it.

Catti-brie pushed the door open a little and saw Bruenor sitting in front of the low burning fire, absently moving a stick, trying to rekindle its embers.The way he casually prodded at the dark mahogany made Catti-brie want to look away with aching heart.She remembered that not so long ago, the violent king would have jumped straight into the fire, cracking the stubborn log with his bare hands. Katie glanced at Panter (he was eating, Katie wished he hadn't eaten a fly), and as she entered the room, she checked the cloak to see if it was hidden. "Hey! You!" Panter yelled as he chewed something.The thought that he was eating flies made Catti-brie sick, but it surprised her even more.How could he stuff so much into his mouth!

"You should grow a beard!" he cried, in his usual greeting.From the first time they met, the grubby dwarf had told Catti-brie that if she could grow a beard, she would be a truly beautiful lady. "I'm trying," replied Catti-brie, happy to continue the little joke. "I promised you never to shave from the first time we met." She patted his head lightly, and immediately regretted doing so when she felt that there was a film of oil on her hands. "That's a good girl," Panter replied.He fixed his eyes on another flying bug, and jumped up to give chase.

"Where are you going?" Bruno snapped before Catti-brie even had time to say hello. Catti-brie sighed as she faced her father's questioning.How she longed to see Bruno's smiling face again!Catti-brie noticed the bruise on Bruno's forehead, the scab over the scrape.It is said that he said a lot of impulsive words a few days ago, and then, although two young dwarves held him back, he smashed his head through a thick wooden door.The bruise piled on top of his bright scar that ran from his forehead to the side of his jaw and through one of his eye sockets, making the old dwarf look really down and out!

"Where are you going?" Bruno asked again, annoyed. "Stonestone," she lied, referring to the town where Wulfgar's fellow barbarians gathered, which lay beneath the hill at the eastern exit of Mithril Hall. "A cairn in memory of Wulfgar is being built in the Horde." Catti-brie was a little taken aback at how easily a lie could be told; though she had lied to Bruenor before, it was usually only half-truth False words, or sleight of hand with word games wrapped around facts, she had never lied to him so blatantly. Katie reminded herself of the importance of what she was going to do behind the lie, staring the red-bearded dwarf in the eyes and continuing to lie, "I'm going to get there before they start. They have to do it well. Wulfgar should You can't get less."

Bruno's one remaining eye was clouded, making it even darker.The scarred dwarf stepped away from Catti-brie, replying to his pointless flicking of the firewood, but still giving a slight nod of nonchalant agreement.In Mithril Hall, it was no secret that Bruenor was reluctant to speak about Wulfgar - he even punched a priest for saying that in dwarven tradition, the Fang of Aegis Weapons used only by men and not by dwarves have no place of honor in Dumathoin's Hall. Catti-brie noticed that the creaking of Panter's armor had stopped, and she turned to look at him.He was standing in front of the open door, watching her alone, watching Bruno's back.After nodding at him, he quietly (very quiet for a dwarf in rusted armor) left the room.

Apparently, Catti-brie wasn't the only one who was heartbroken to see Bruenor Warhammer look pathetic and mournful. "You have their sympathy," Catti-brie said to Bruno.The latter didn't seem to hear at all, "all Mithril Hall spoke sympathetically of their wounded king." "Go away." Bruno's words came out between his teeth. He was still sitting facing the faintly burning flame. Catti-brie understood how weak the threat was, another sign of Bruno's aging.If it was in the past, if Bruno Warhammer wanted someone to leave, if he didn't leave, Bruno would tell him to leave himself.However, since he dealt with the priest and had a fight with that door, Bruno's fire of life, like the embers in a fire, has burned to the end.

"Are you planning to just poke the fire for the rest of your life?" Catti-brie asked, trying to start a row and blow the embers of Bruno's pride. "If I like." The dwarf's counterattack was too calm. Catti-brie sighed again, throwing her cloak back behind her hips, revealing her magic mask and Entreri's jeweled dagger.Although she was determined to go alone and had no intention of explaining to Bruno, she still prayed that Bruno would still have enough energy to notice these clues that revealed the truth. Time passed, silent hours filled only with the crackling of embers and the hiss of mindless wood burning.

"I'll be back when it's time for me!" She growled excitedly and walked towards the door.Bruno waved to her absently, not even bothering to look at her. Catti-brie stood behind the door, opened it and closed it quietly, and did not leave.She waited a while, in disbelief that Bruno was still sitting in front of the fire, still fiddling with the wood absently.So she slipped across the room, and through another passage into the dwarf's bedroom. Catti-brie walked to Bruno's large oak table.It was a gift from Wulfgar's people.The painted wood of the table gleamed, and the image of the Fang of Aegis, Bruenor's powerful warhammer, was etched into the side of the table.Catti-brie stood still for a long moment, putting aside any concern that Bruenor would have to leave before he realized what she was doing, just looking at the patterns, thinking of Wulfgar.She never recovered from this loss.She knew she couldn't get over this grief, but at the same time she knew the grief was nearing its end, and she knew she had to go on living.Especially now, Catti-brie reminded herself, when another friend was about to be in danger.

Catti-brie found what she was looking for in a stone trinket chest on a table: a locket on a silver chain, a gift Bruenor had received from Arrasdrana, Lady of the Silvermoon.When they first walked through Mithril Hall, everyone thought Bruenor was lost forever.It took him a while to escape, avoiding the gray dwarves who claimed to own Mithril Hall, and with the help of Alustriel, he found Catty-brie in the southwestern town of Long Saddle .Drizzt and Wulfgar had already left by then, heading south after Regis, who had been taken by the Killer Entreri. So Alustri gave Bruno the magic locket.There was a small portrait of Drizzt inside, and with this, Bruenor could always keep up with the dark elves.Feel the temperature of the box to know the exact direction and distance from Drizzt.

The metallic piece was cool now, colder than the air in the room, and it seemed to Catti-brie that Drizzt was far away from her. Catti-brie opened the box and gazed at the perfection of her dear elf friend, wondering if she should take it.About Haifa in her ability to keep up with Drizzt no matter what.She couldn't help thinking in the back of her mind that if she went with him and Bruenor heard the truth from Regis, there would be fire in Bruenor's eyes.Hastily chased out. Catti-brie liked the sight of Bruenor coming to life, and looked to her father for a helping hand in rescuing Drizzt.But it was just a childish hope—she realized—unrealistic and extremely dangerous. Catti-brie closed the box and clutched it tightly in her hand.She slipped out of Bruenor's bedroom, crossed the living room (the red-bearded dwarf was still sitting in front of the fire, his thoughts a thousand miles away), and ran through the halls and halls above, knowing she would lose her nerve if she didn't hurry. Outside the Mithril Hall, she stared at the locket again, and taking it away, she cut off all the possibilities of Bruno following.She is only herself. It must be so.Catti-brie thought, as she hung up her thin chain and started down, hoping she would reach Silvermoon not too late after Drizzt. ※※※※ He walked through the dark streets of Menzoberranzan as quietly and discreetly as he could, his heatvision eyes shining with rubies.All he wanted was to return to Jarlaxle's base, to the drow who knew his worth. "Villa-Rive!" came a shrill cry from the side. He stopped and leaned impatiently against a pile of rubble beside an uninhabited stalagmite peak.He'd heard those two words a lot before—always these two words, always with undisguised mockery. "Vera-Revor!" said the female drow again, walking towards him at the same time, holding a russet whip in one hand. The three eight-foot-long tentacles of the whip seemed to have a consciousness of their own, thirsting for his blood.At least she didn't use a whip with teeth, he thought, the hydra weapon most priestesses of higher rank wielded. He didn't resist when she came up to him, but followed Jarlaxle's respectful gaze.He doubted she was going unnoticed through these streets too—what other reason would a drow woman entitled to such an ugly whip crawl through the alleys here, the scum of Menzoberranzan? place? Her rhythmic tones flowed through a stream of drow, too fast for the newcomer to understand.He had heard the word quarth, which meant to order, and "haricik," which meant to kneel, and guessed it would be the same, for he was often ordered to kneel. Although kneeling on the hard rock hurt his knees, he immediately fell to his knees resignedly. She paced slowly around him, letting him stare at her curvaceous legs for a long time.She even lifted his face so that he could see her pretty face, and murmured her own name: "Jeris." She came closer to him as if to kiss him, but then slapped him hard.His hands immediately reached for the sword and dagger, but he immediately calmed down and reminded himself of the consequences of doing so. The drow was still pacing around him, murmuring or whispering to him. "Iblith" she said the word several times, meaning "waste," and finally he answered with just one word: "abban."It meant partner, which Jarlaxle had taught him too. "Abban del darthiir!" she yelled back, hitting him again on the back of the head, nearly knocking him to the ground. He didn't understand it at all, but guessed that the word danthiir had something to do with goblins, the surface elves.He knew that he was in serious trouble this time, and it was not so easy to escape. "Abban del darthiir!" (Fairy of the goblins!) Jerise yelled again, but this time with her whip instead of her hands, she whipped him from behind, and three tentacles bit into his right shoulder with excruciating pain.He fell to the ground in pain, his right arm was weak, and the pain surged through his body in waves. Jeris slapped him on the back again, but his swift movement saved him from being bitten by three more simultaneous tentacles. He thought quickly, knowing he had to move fast.The woman continued to taunt him, and the whip crackled against the walls of the alley, just as often on his bleeding back.He knew that he bumped into this woman by accident, and she had a mission as secret as his to complete, so it was very unlikely for him to get rid of this fatal encounter. A tentacle slapped him on the back of the head, knocking him dizzy.But his right arm became weak because of being hit by three tentacles just now, and it still didn't work. But he had to act.He stretched his left hand to his right waist, touched the dagger, then changed his mind and touched the other side of his waist. "Abban del darthiir!" cried Jeris again, waving forward. He spun to meet him, the non-drow longsword blazing with fury as it met the whip's tentacles.A green light flashed across, and one tentacle fell, but the other snaked to avoid the block and hit his face. "Jivvin! (Fun!)" Seemingly in high spirits, she yelled a playful word.She responds with increasing grace, thanking his stupid defiance for making the whole thing fun. "Come and play!" he called back, thrusting his sword straight. The conjured darkness enveloped him. "Jivvin!" Gillis laughed and stepped forward to flick the whip.But it wasn't the first time her opponent had fought the dark elf—she had been taken aback by not being able to find him within her dark ward. He was standing on the edge of the barrier, with one arm hanging limply, while the other hand was transforming into a superb sword move.What he faced, however, was a drow female, well-trained in martial arts, who also held a tentacle whip in her hand.She dodges, fights back, and takes another blow, all the while laughing. She doesn't know her opponent. He stepped forward and stabbed straight again, turned to the left as if he was about to turn and slash, but at this moment, he held the hilt of the sword backwards, took a step back to the right, and threw the sword out of his hand like a spear. The point of the sword pierced deep between her peaks, sending sparks as it sliced ​​through the fine drow armor. When throwing the sword, he jumped and kicked out with both feet, kicking the slightly trembling hilt of the sword, causing it to penetrate deeper into the chest of the woman who was against him. The drow fell back into the rubble, stumbling and rolling until the jagged outer wall of the stalagmite held her half-standing.Her red eyes were wide open and motionless. "It's a pity, Jeris." He whispered in her ear, and gently pressed a kiss on her cheek, then drew out his long sword and went straight to the twisted and wriggling tentacles, nailing them to the ground, " We could have had a lot more fun." He drew his sword, grinning slyly as he thought of how many events would be implicated in the drow woman's death.Either way, it took back a little bit of control over his life, and he never denied the satisfaction.But his battle to end slavery isn't over yet! After a while, he left the alley.Jalis and her whip had been buried under the stone pile, and the vigorous stride had been restored to him.