Chapter 11 Chapter 8 At a loss

He walked silently through the lightless tunnel, his eyes flashing violet, searching the ground and walls for traces of heat energy, determining whether it indicated a bend or an enemy.He seemed at home at home, a creature of the Underdark, moving with typical silent grace and deliberate stance. Drizzt didn't feel at home, however.He had already descended to a place deeper than the deepest mine tunnel in Mithril Hall, and the heavy breath clung to him.He has lived on the surface for nearly twenty years, learning the rules of the outside world, and living by such rules.These rules are as different from the precepts of the Underdark as wildflowers in the woods are from mats in burrows.Humans, goblins, and even a vigilant surface elf wouldn't notice Drizzt, even if Drizzt was walking by just a few feet away.But Drizzt felt awkward and noisy.

The drow ranger took each step carefully, lest the sound of his footsteps would echo off the hollow stone wall a few hundred yards away.This is the Underdark, a place that relies more on hearing and smell than sight. Drizzt has spent two-thirds of his life in the Underdark, and he has also lived in the underground caves of the Warhammer clan for the last twenty years.However, he no longer considers himself part of the Underdark.He left his heart on the mountainside, watching the bright moon and stars, the rising and setting sun. Here is a land of starless nights—no, only monotonous endless starless nights, Drizzt thought—only stagnant air, gleaming stalactites.

The passageway varied in width, sometimes as narrow as Drizzt's shoulders, and sometimes wide enough for a dozen people walking abreast.The ground sloped slightly, leading Drizzt deeper into the ground, but the ceiling of the cave was parallel to it and kept at a distance from the ground, equivalent to two five-foot-tall drow.For a long time Drizzt found no side holes or bypasses, and he was glad that there was no need to choose a direction, and any enemy would have to come from his front in such a simple construction. Drizzt didn't think he was ready for any surprises, at least not yet.Even his own thermal vision pained him.Every time he tried to trace and identify the various traces of thermal energy, his head became dizzy.As a boy, Drizzt had spent weeks, if not months, looking only at infrared light, searching for heat trails rather than reflected light.But now, with his eyes used to seeing in sunlight and under the torches in the corridors of Mithril Hall, he found using infrared vision awkward.

Finally, he drew the "Flash," a magical scimitar that radiated a soft blue light.Drizzt rested against the wall, letting his eyes adjust to the usual light, using the machete as his guiding light.Not long after, he came to a six-way fork, where two horizontally intersecting corridors were pierced by a vertical shaft. Drizzt put away the flash and looked up the shaft.No source of heat was found, but that was little consolation.Many predators in the Underdark hide their body heat, just as surface tigers use their markings to sneak through tall, dense grass.For example, the dreaded Dreadclaw has an outer armor, a bony, plate-like shell that masks its body heat, making it look like an ordinary rock to heat-sensing eyes.Many other creatures in the Underdark are reptilian, cold-blooded, and difficult to identify.

Drizzt took a few deep breaths of stagnant air, held his breath and concentrated, using his ears to feel the outside world.He heard nothing but his own heartbeat.After checking his gear and making sure everything was safe, he began to climb down the shaft, wary of dangerously loose rubble on the steep walls. He descended silently until he was sixty feet from the corridor at the bottom, but a small rock slid down before him and hit the corridor floor with a harsh knocking sound. At the same moment, Drizzt His boots fell soundlessly from the wall to the ground. Drizzt froze, listening to the sound of falling stones echoing from wall to wall.As a drow patrol forward, Drizzt had been able to track echoes perfectly, picking out which walls reflected them from which direction with near precision.Now, however, it is difficult for him to distinguish every single note of the echo.Once he felt at a loss, engulfed by the growing darkness; once he felt vulnerable because so many of the dark denizens would follow the sound, and it pointed right at where Drizzt was.

He hurried through a corridor that criss-crossed, turning sharply in some places.Passing under another corridor, or just passing a natural staircase leading to another floor of the bypass. Drizzt missed Guenhwyvar terribly.Panther can find a way out of any maze. He was reminded of Big Cat again not long after, when he turned a bend and stumbled over a freshly dead body.It looked like the remains of some subterranean lizard, for it had been torn to pieces so Drizzt couldn't make out which lizard it was.The tail fell off, the lower jaw was gone, the abdomen was cut open, and the internal organs were eaten up.Drizzt saw long cracks in the skin of the corpse, as if they had been raked by claws, and long, thin bruises, as if they had been whipped.Beside the pool of blood one foot away from the dead body, the drow found a line of footprints, a paw print, a paw print similar in shape and size to Guenhuffar.

But Drizzt's cat was hundreds of miles away, and the massacre, the ranger reckoned, had happened only an hour earlier.Creatures of the Underdark don't roam like surface creatures; dangerous predators are likely not far away. ※※※※ Bruenor Warhammer swept through the passage like a storm, and Sorrow was blown away by the rising anger at this moment.Thiberdorf Panter chased aside and threw out one question after another, and the armor on his body was also clamoring endlessly with his every move. Bruno hurriedly turned to face the fighting maniac. Between his bright red scar and Pante's bushy bearded face, there was a king's roar: "Why can't you take a bath!"

Panter took a step back, choked and speechless.In his opinion, a dwarf king ordering a dwarf to take a bath was as rude as a human king ordering a knight to kill a baby.There are always some boundaries that even the rulers will not cross. "Forget it!" Bruno snorted. "That's all you have to do. But can't you go and oil the armor! You're chattering around here, making a king think!" Pant nodded desperately to express his understanding, and ran away quickly, fearing that if he stayed, the tyrant Bruno would order him to take a bath again. Bruenor just wanted to distract the battle madman, and didn't care if he actually went to oil the armor.It's been a tough afternoon.The dwarf king had just met with the emissary of Hardstone, Strong Boxgar, and found that although Catti-brie had been gone for a week, she had not yet reached the barbarian place.

Bruno quickly recalled the last time he saw his daughter.He recalled the young girl, trying to think of the details, every word she said, hoping to find some clues.Bruenor was racking his brains, but if Catti-brie had hinted at anything other than her determination to go to Stone, the Dwarf King must have missed it. When talking to Birxga, his initial thought was that his daughter was in trouble on the mountain.He had almost sent a detachment of dwarves to scour the area, but he improvised and asked the envoy about the memorial cairn to be erected in Wulfgar's honor. "What rock pile?" asked Birxgar.

Bruno knew immediately that he had been duped, and if Catti-brie was not the only one involved in the deception, he could easily guess who was involved in the conspiracy. He dashed headlong into the door of Buster Blazer, a skilled armorer, nearly knocking the iron-bound wooden door off its hinges.Inside, the bluebearded dwarf and his halfling friend stared at him in surprise.Regis was standing on the platform being fitted so that the trimmed armor would fit his growing belly. Bruenor leaped onto the side pedestal (Buster wisely moved out of the way) and grabbed the halfling by the front with one hand and lifted him into the air.

"Where is my daughter?" growled the dwarf. "Stone..." Regis was about to lie, but Bruenor shook him hard, throwing him back and forth like a rag doll. "Where is my daughter?" asked the dwarf again, somewhat calmer, but still threateningly rude. "Don't play tricks with me, glutton." Regis was getting more and more frustrated with the violence he thought of as a friend.The halfling's thoughts turned quickly, and he immediately remembered the plan that had Catti-brie rushing to Silvermoon City to find Drizzt.Anyway, that's not a complete lie. Bruenor's scarred face was contorted with rage, but the pain was so evident on it that the halfling couldn't bring himself to lie looking at it. "Put me down," he said quietly, and it was evident that Bruenor understood the halfling's intentions, for the dwarf lowered him gently to the ground. Regis smoothed his clothes, threw his fist in front of the dwarf king, and shouted: "How dare you do this!" Bruno had regained his composure. The outburst of rage just now was completely unexpected and not in line with his character, but the halfling did not let him go. "First Drizzt came to me and forced me to keep a secret," Regis pleaded, "and then Catti-brie pushed me around until I told her what happened. Now you... I I really found some 'good' friends for myself!" The stinging words calmed the enraged dwarf, but only slightly.What secret did Regis just say? Thiberdorf Panter came running in, and though his face, beard, and hands were smeared with oil, the creaking of his armor was not at all subdued.He ran up to Bruno and stopped, studying the unexpected situation for a moment. Panter rubbed his fists with gusto, placing his hands in front of his terrifying spiked armor. "Can I give him a hug?" he asked his king expectantly. Bruno raised his hand to stop this fighting maniac who was eager to try. "Where is my daughter?" asked the Dwarf King a third time.This time I asked calmly and peacefully, as if I was really asking a friend. Regis stared blankly, nodded and began to speak.He told Bruenor everything, even how he had helped Catti-brie by giving her the assassin's dagger and the magic mask. . Bruenor's face was contorted again with rage, but the fearless presence of Regis standing upright drove away his mounting rage. "Do I trust Catti-brie less than you do?" Regis simply asked, reminding the dwarf that his human daughter was no longer a child, ignorant of the dangers ahead. Bruno didn't know how to take it all.He half wanted to step forward and grab Regis by the neck, but he knew that would be nothing more than anger, and the halfling's behavior was beyond reproach.But what else could he do?Both Drizzt and Catti-brie were long gone, and Bruenor had no idea how to find them! And at that time, the dwarf who was hit was also powerless.His eyes fell to the ground, and his anger disappeared, and he walked out of the room without saying a word.He has to figure it out.For the sake of his dearest friend and beloved daughter, he must hurry up. Panter looked to Regis and Buster to understand what was going on, but they just shook their heads. ※※※※ It may be the paw print of a big hunting cat, and the steps are slightly dragging.That was all Drizzt could make out.The drow ranger stood motionless and still, letting all his senses attune with his surroundings.If there really was a big cat here, Drizzt knew it must have smelled him long ago, no doubt it knew someone had invaded its territory. Drizzt looked around carefully for a moment.The passageway is still horizontal, and the width varies from time to time, and the whole area is uneven: the ground is full of pits, the walls are full of natural concave holes and deep side rooms, and the roof of the cave is no longer the same, but varies from time to time. Low.Drizzt could see various radiant heat emanating from the high places of the walls, and knew that the walls had veins of mineral running across them in many places. A big cat will swoop down from above, condescendingly watching the prey it wants to catch. The idea was uncertain, but Drizzt had to accept it.If he turned back, he had to retrace all the ramps, climb back to a higher level, and wander around hoping to find another way down.Drizzt had no time to waste, and neither did his friends. He pressed his back against the wall as he moved on, crouching forward.He held a scimitar in his hand, while the other scimitar called "Flash" was sheathed.Drizzt didn't want the glow of the magic scimitar to give away his position further, though he knew that big cats hunting in the Underdark didn't need any light at all. He walked lightly past the wide open mouth of a shallow recess.Approach the next entrance to a narrow deep cave.Satisfied that the hole was also empty, he turned and scanned the entire area. A pair of shining eyes, a pair of cat eyes, were staring at his back on the rock beam of the opposite wall. The flash came out of its sheath quickly, shining an angry blue light, bathing the surroundings in a ray of light.Drizzt's eyes turned back from the infrared spectrum, seeing the huge black shadow when the beast jumped up, and immediately ducked to avoid it.The big cat landed softly—it had six legs! ——It turned around, showing its dark white teeth and eyes with a fierce look. It was of the same species as the panther, with shiny black fur that shimmered dark blue, and it was almost as big as Guenhuffard.Drizzt was momentarily at a loss.If it was an ordinary panther, he would try to reassure it, telling it that he was not hostile and just wanted to pass its den.But this big cat is a strange beast, with six legs!Moreover, slender whip-like appendages were stretched out from its shoulders and danced non-stop, with bone spurs protruding from the tips. Growling, the beast approached slowly, ears pressed to its head, and hideous tusks flashing.Drizzt squatted down, the scimitar shielded in front of him, ready to jump aside at any moment. The six-legged leopard stopped.Drizzt watched nervously as the legs drooped behind it. It comes quickly.Drizzt dodged to the left, but the big cat stopped immediately, Drizzt stopped after him, leaned forward and stabbed straight, right between the eyes of the six-legged leopard, unbiased. The move failed, and Drizzt stumbled and fell forward.Instinctively, he rushed to the stone and rolled to the right, one tentacle just passed over his head, and another tentacle hit his buttocks.The giant claws clawed and hacked from all around him, but he swung his two knives frantically, leaving them no room to attack.He stood up straight and ran away, quickly putting a few feet between himself and the dangerous leopard. The drow returned to a defensive half-squat, less confident.The beast was clever—Drizzt had never expected such a feint from an animal.To make matters worse, the drow didn't understand why he missed.His sword attack just now was an actual attack.Not even a big cat with incredible quickness should be able to dodge that fast. Tentacles struck from his right.Drizzt held out the knife, neither dodging nor dodging, just wanting to cut off the tentacles. He missed, and hadn't expected the tentacle to wrap around to the left and hit his buttocks again, this time painfully. The beast rushed straight.He raised his claws to catch the circling drow.Drizzt pulled himself together and tried to block the attack with a flash, but the claw caught his foot just below the path of the knife. Drizzt's instinct saved him once again, instead of dealing with the close claw (which would probably cut a hole in him), he fell under the stone, crawling and kicking Rubbing under the leopard's belly, he felt like a mouse that escaped from under the belly of a house cat, and what was worse, had to go through the other four legs of the cat! Drizzt elbowed hard upwards, hitting hard.He couldn't see anything in the sudden wild attack, and it was only when he passed under the leopard to behind it that he realized that it was the blind attack that saved his life.He rushed forward a few steps, turned forward, and narrowly avoided a pair of long whips thrown from behind. Because he couldn't see, he only hit one shot. The six-legged leopard roared angrily and turned around to chase after it, its green eyes flickering like lights. Drizzt deliberately spat into those eyes, and although he looked like he was serious, the leopard didn't dodge.The saliva was just spitting on the ground, and the big cat was no longer where it was just now. Drizzt recalled his training at Menzoberranzan Academy.He had heard of such beasts, but they were so rare that they hadn't been included in any major lessons. Here comes the big cat.Drizzt leaped forward into range of the piercing whip tentacles.Guessing the big cat's movements, he aimed the attack a few feet away to the right, anticipating that it would charge from here. But the big cat attacked from the left, and his knife cut through the air.Drizzt knew something bad was going to happen.He leaped into the air, feeling a paw brush the top of his foot—the same foot he had hurt in his duel with Entreri on the ridge outside Mithril Hall.Flash chopped down, the sharp blade cut the leopard's front paws, forcing it back.Drizzt was entangled in the beast as he fell, its scorching breath on his forearms.He twisted his wrists and crossed his knives in front of his body, lest the monster break his hands with a palm. He closed his eyes - what he saw would only haunt him - and the hilt of the flashing knife slammed down hard on the monster's forehead.He drew back and retreated quickly, but the monster's tentacles flew behind him and bit his back. Drizzt rushed forward and did a somersault, only slightly injured. Drizzt galloped forward again at full speed.He ran to the open area, ducked into a narrow hole, and the monster was coming. Drizzt summoned his inner mana and threw a dark ward forward.The flash of light died away, and the monster's shining eyes were not in the darkness. Drizzt took two steps around and stepped forward, not intending to let the strange leopard escape from the darkness.He heard the swishing whistling of the tentacles whizzing past him, and felt it coming from the other direction.The drow smiled contentedly as the scimitar struck the tentacle and severed it. The panther's cry of pain led Drizzt the way.He knew he couldn't get too close, but having the machete in his hand gave him the upper hand.The flash flew up to prevent the remaining tentacle, and Bingdean stabbed out again and again, hitting one after another, but they were only slightly injured. The enraged big cat jumped up, and Drizzt, who heard the noise, immediately bent down to the ground, rolled sideways, stabbed straight up with both knives, and pierced the strange leopard's stomach. The big cat's footsteps fell heavily to the ground, and when it stopped, it hit the wall. Before it could recover, Drizzt rushed over.A knife slashed at its skull with a mighty force, attacking its head fiercely.The big cat jumped forward with its teeth and claws. Flash Knife is waiting for it.The tip of the knife cut the jaw of the strange leopard, pierced through the giant mouth, and cut to the throat.The giant palm hit the scimitar, nearly knocking it out of Drizzt's outstretched hand, but Drizzt knew he had to hold on, no matter what.What followed was a ferocious and frenzied blow, but the drow retreated step by step, dodging the battle of the monster leopard. One person, one beast stepped back and one stepped out of the darkness, and the strange leopard immediately leaned over and pressed it.Drizzt closed his eyes.He felt that the last tentacle was about to hit him, and immediately changed his direction, and suddenly put his whole body weight on the flashing light and pushed the knife out.The tentacles wrapped around his back, and he spread his elbows to prevent the bone spurs from the tentacles from hitting his face. Half of the flashing light went into the strange leopard's body.Gasps and hemoptysis gushed from the leopard's throat, but the giant claws still hit Drizzt from both sides, tearing his cloak and scratching at the mithril armor.The big cat twisted its pierced neck and tried to bite Drizzt's arm. Drizzt's other hand was not idle, he struck hard up and down, continuously cutting bloody mouths on the big cat's head. The sharp claws clasped him tightly, and the fangs were only a foot away from his belly.A sharp claw pierced his side from the chain link of the chain mail. The machete struck hard over and over again. They hugged and fell to the ground.Drizzt stared at the fierce eyes beside him, thinking that he was doomed, and quickly twisted his shoulders to get away.The big cat's paw loosened, and Drizzt realized that the strange leopard was dead.He finally freed his claws and looked down at the slain beast, its green eyes still shining even in death. ※※※※ "You can't go in." Regis was stopped by one of the two guards at the door as he boldly approached Bruno's door.The halfling eyed them carefully—he had never seen a dwarf so pale! The door slammed open, and a squad of dwarves in full armor rushed out, all falling together as they ran down the stone corridor.Behind them came the curse of the king. A guard went to close the door, and Regis jumped up and barged in. Bruenor paced back and forth to the left and right of the throne, punching the big seat hard every time he came close.General Dagna, the military commander of Mithril Hall, was sitting in his seat, looking quite gloomy.And Thiberdorf Panter danced happily after Bruno, carefully avoiding it every time Bruno turned. "Stupid priest!" Bruno growled. "With Cobb dead, no one is capable enough..." Dagna tried to interject, but Bruno wouldn't listen. "Stupid priest!" the dwarf king roared even more angrily. "Yes!" Pante readily agreed. "My lord, you have sent two patrol teams to Silvermoon City, and another team to the north of the city." Dagna analyzed, "And you sent half of my soldiers to patrol the tunnel below." "If they can't find their way, I'll send the other half!" Bruno roared. No one noticed that Regis was still standing quietly by the door, and he began to understand what was going on, and he was not happy to see such a thing. Bruno - he looks like the old Bruno again! —was running around looking for Drizzt and Catti-brie.The old dwarf is fueling the flames of inner anger! "But there are thousands of separate tunnels down there," Dagna argued. "Some of them took at least a week to inspect before they knew they were dead ends." "Then send a thousand dwarves!" Bruno yelled at him.He walked past the throne again, paused - Panter bumped into his back immediately - and Bruenor noticed the halfling. "What are you looking at?" Bruenor asked, noticing Regis' eyes widening. Regis was tempted to say "Look at my oldest friend," but he just shrugged.For a split second, he saw anger flitting through the dwarf's blue-gray eyes, and thought that perhaps Bruenor leaned over him because the anxiety in him was about to explode and kill him.But the dwarf king calmed down and sat back on his throne. Regis approached cautiously, watching Bruenor, not paying attention to Dagna's statement that there was absolutely no way to keep up with the two traveling friends.Regis had heard enough that it was clear Dagna wasn't very worried about Drizzt and Catti-brie.This did not surprise Regis, for the stubborn dwarf had never cared for races other than dwarves. "If only we could have that damned cat," Bruenor said, the annoyance at seeing the halfling flitting across his eyes again.Regis put his hands behind his back and lowered his head. "Or my damn box!" Bruno yelled. "Where did I throw that damn box in the Nine Hells?" Regis couldn't help wincing at each outburst of howl, but Bruenor's anger didn't change his mind.He did the right thing: assist Catti-brie and keep Guenhwyvar with her. And, while he guessed Bruno would get mad at him at any moment, that didn't change the joy in his heart when he saw Bruno energized again.