Chapter 13 Chapter Ten Facets of Wonderful Gems

Regis and Drizzt stopped in a small cave, which was not strewn with stalactites like the other caves, and had a low entrance.Easy to defend. "Should we put out the torches?" asked the halfling, who was standing behind Drizzt, who had been crouching by the opening of the cave, listening to the tunnel. Drizzt thought about it for a long time, and shook his head, he knew that doing so would not help their concealment, he and Regis could not avoid all enemies.Not long after he fled the battlefield, he discovered that there were other enemies scattered throughout the cave.He knew very well that the dark elves' hunting techniques and drow's traps never had obvious loopholes.

"I guess I can fight better in the light than my kin," Drizzt speculated. "At least not Entreri," Regis said softly.Drizzt found it odd to compare that assassin to the current situation.What if it was Artemis Entreri?Drow thought to himself, at least he and Regis wouldn't be surrounded by a group of drow soldiers! "You did a great job saving Guenhiffa." "Will that black panther die?" Drizzt actually didn't know the answer, but he knew that Guenhwyvar was not an mortal being.He had personally seen this black panther being dragged into rocks by a creature from the Earth Elemental Realm, and fell into a magically generated lake of strong acid. Both times, the black panther finally returned to him, and the wounds on his body were also in the Astral Realm. cured.

"If the drow and the lizards continue to hurt Guenhwyvar, she will take longer to recover in the Astral Plane. I don't believe she will be killed outside of her homeland. As long as the statue is still intact, she will not die." Something will happen." Drizzt looked at Regis, sincere thanks filled his delicate face. "You sent Guenhwyvar away in time, and didn't let her suffer at the hands of the enemy. You did a great job." "Guenhwyvar won't die, I'm glad." Regis said to Drizzt who turned and continued to monitor the cave entrance. "It would be a pity to lose such a precious magic item."

Not since Regis had returned from Calimport, or even since Regis had known Drizzt, had he said such a faux pas.No, it was more than a faux pas, and the crouching Drizzt was appalled at such a callous comment from his halfling companion.The relationship between Guenhwyvar and Regis goes far beyond the category of partners. They have been good friends for many years, and Regis would never call Guenhwyvar a magical item. The dark elf understood everything in a split second: the halfling kept mentioning Entreri, at the dead dwarves, when they talked about Calimport.Now, Drizzt understood why Regis had always paid so much attention to his reaction to the name Entreri.

Drizzt thought also of his vicious fight with Wulfgar.The barbarian had mentioned that it was Regis who told him about Drizzt and Katie's meeting outside Mithril Hall. "What else did you tell Wulfgar?" Drizzt didn't turn, or even move. "What did you convince him with that ruby ​​around your neck?" The small hammer made a series of sounds of hitting rocks, and rolled to Drow's side.Then came a mask that Drizzt had worn on his journey to the Southern Empire.Then, behind this mask, Drizzt became a surface elf. ※※※※ Wulfgar eyed the brusque dwarf curiously, feeling incomprehensible to this unusual war-craze.Bruenor had just introduced Panter to the barbarian, and Wulfgar could clearly sense that Bruenor didn't like the stinking black-bearded dwarf.The Dwarf King finished his courteous words and hurried across the audience hall, returning to the seat between Cooper and Katie, leaving Wulfgar standing bewildered by the door.

Thiberdorf Panter, on the other hand, seemed quite at ease. "Are you a fighter?" Wulfgar asked politely.Hope to find some common topics. Panter suddenly burst into loud jeers, "Warrior?" the dwarf roared brazenly, "You mean, the kind that fights for honor?" Wulfgar shrugged, not knowing what Panter was about to say. "Are you a fighter, big boy?" Panter asked. Wulfgar puffed out his chest solemnly, "I am Wulfgar, son of Beornegar..." "I knew he was going to say that." Pante yelled at the person across the room, then turned around. "When you are fishing in battle, if the enemy stumbles suddenly and drops his weapon, you will wait for him to pick it up, even though you know you have won." Pante said slowly and confidently.

Wulfgar shrugged again, his answer obvious. "You know Panter will humiliate the boy," Cooper whispered to the dwarf king. "He compares gold with silver," Bruno replied quietly, "Pant is excellent and brutal, but he can't deal with this kid." "I wouldn't bet," Cooper replied, "but if Wulfgar reached out to touch him, he'd be stung." "Well," Katie interjected unexpectedly, and both Bruno and Cooper gave the young woman disbelief. "He needs someone to sting him," she added nonchalantly. "In that case, you've met your match!" Panter spat Wulfgar in the face as he led the barbarian across the room, "If I fight someone else, if I fight you, and you lose If you pick up the weapon, I will make you bend down and pick it up."

Wulfgar nodded approvingly, and leaped away from Panter's dirty fingers that slid under his nose. "Then I'll stick a long nail through your head! I'm not some stupid warrior, you scolding fool! I'm a war madman, the only war madman, and never forget that the victor will be Pant!" he said. Wulfgar prodded with his finger, then rushed past the stunned savage, landing heavily in front of Bruenor. "You've made some terrible friends, but I'm not surprised by that," Panter yelled at Bruno, and he looked back at Catti-brie, throwing a half-toothed smile, "but your Nice girl. Of course, you're going to add some hair to her chin."

"Take it as a compliment." Cooper whispered to Katie, and the girl just shrugged and smiled happily. "The Warhammers are always soft on foreigners," Panter turned to Wulfgar who was approaching. "We let them be our kings, but never pointed it out." Bruno gripped the armrest of the throne tightly with both hands, his knuckles turned white.Katie put her arms around his shoulders, and the dwarf king saw the tolerance in his daughter's eyes, and the storm in his heart subsided unconsciously. "I also heard a scandal. It is said that you are with a drow. Is this true?"

Bruenor's first reaction was anger. The dwarf had been protecting his maligned drow friend. Katie was the first to speak, and her words were more aimed at Bruno, reminding the dwarf king that the dark elves could take care of themselves. "You will meet that drow soon," she told Zhankuang. "If there is such a warrior as you describe in this world, it is him." Panter let out a snarl of sneer, but the laughter died quickly in Katie's words. "If you fight him and drop your spiked helmet, he'll pick it up for you and put it on for you. Of course, he'll knock it off himself, stick its spikes in your ass, and put it back on. A few feet, so that you really have a 'Pant' .”

War Mad's lips seemed to be tied together with a rope.For the first time in many days, Wulfgar seemed to fully support Katie.He who kept nodding, as well as Bruno and Cooper must have admired this silent, flushed Panter. "How long will Drizzt be gone?" asked the barbarian, who didn't want to hear Panter's roar anymore. "The tunnel is long," Bruno replied. "Will he be able to make it to the wedding?" Wulfgar's voice sounded to Katie, two diametrically opposite emotions were intertwined, as if he himself didn't know what kind of answer he was looking for. "He will," said the young woman calmly, "because if Drizzt doesn't come back from the tunnel, there won't be a wedding here." Her gaze silenced Bruno, who had just opened his mouth. "I don't mind keeping those kings and queens of the North waiting a month!" Wulfgar looked like he was on the verge of breaking out, but he knew he couldn't unleash his anger on the capricious Katie. "I should have gone with him!" he growled at Bruenor. "Why did you send Regis? What good would Regis be if they met the enemy?" The young man's ferocious voice also made Bruno almost lose control. "He's right!" Katie began shouting into her father's ear too.She didn't want to go along with Wulfgar, but like Wulfgar, she was looking for someone to vent her anger on. Bruenor sank into his seat, his black eyes flicking from one person to the next. "The dwarves are missing, that's all." "Even if this is the case, let Regis go, what else can he do besides dragging Drizzt?" Katie continued to press. "He said he'd try to do it!" Bruno retorted. "Who said?" Katie demanded. "Greedy ghost!" Father shouted excitedly. "He wouldn't want to go!" Wulfgar retorted. "He said it!" growled Bruenor, jumping up from his chair, pushing Wulfgar back two steps. "Glutton asked me to let him go with Drow, I told you!" "Regis was with you when the news of the dwarf's disappearance first came," Katie questioned. "Regis didn't make this request at that time." "He told me that before." Bruno replied, "He said..." The dwarf stopped suddenly, and he also found the absurdity in it.But in the back of his mind, he always felt that Regis had told him to let the halfling go with Drizzt to find the missing dwarf, but how could this be possible?Bruno made a decision when he learned that the dwarves were missing. "Have you tasted the holy water again? My king." Cooper asked humbly but firmly. Bruno waved his hand to signal them all to be quiet, and he wanted to think about all this carefully.He clearly remembered what Regis said, knowing that it was not from his imagination.But it didn't match his memory, and he couldn't find any place where he could let go of the halfling's words without contradicting reality. At this time.An illusion appeared in Bruno's mind, a vortex composed of countless shiny facets, the vortex swirled rapidly downwards, and brought him into a magical ruby. "The glutton told me that those dwarves will disappear." Bruno's voice was slow and clear, and he closed his eyes tightly, desperately squeezing the memory from his subconscious. "He told me I should send him, and Drizzt, to find the dwarves, and the two of them would bring the dwarves back safely." "Regis can't possibly know." Cooper obviously doubted Bruno's words. "Even if he knew, the little thing wouldn't have volunteered to find them." Wulfgar expressed equal doubts. "Could it be a dream...?" "It's not a dream!" Bruno roared angrily.He told me... use his ruby. Bruno's face was distorted due to excessive use of the brain, and he was fully urging the dwarf's magic resistance to break the block in his mind. "Regis won't..." Wulfgar began again, but Katie, who knew her father well, cut him off. "Unless that's not the real Regis." As soon as she said that, she was horrified at the dire speculation.The three had lived with Drizzt long and hard, knowing that the drow had many evil and powerful enemies, and that one of them was perfectly capable of pulling off this ingenious deception. Wulfgar looked equally shocked, but also very confused.It was Bruenor who reacted first, leaping from his throne and rushing past Wulfgar and Panter, nearly knocking them over.Kitty followed closely before Wulfgar moved. "What goblin talk are the three of them talking about?" Panter asked Cooper, who was no longer there. "Fight," Cooper replied, knowing that Panter could only understand the word. Thiberdorf Panter knelt down on one knee, shook his burly shoulder, and punched violently, "Hey...!" He shouted excitedly, "It's good to serve Warhammer!" ※※※※ "You joined them? Or is this just a horrible coincidence?" Drizzt felt his throat go dry, and he still didn't turn, because he didn't want Artemis Entreri to enjoy the pain in his expression. "I don't believe in such a coincidence." The answer was as expected. Finally, Drizzt turned and saw his mortal adversary, Artemis Entreri, the killer of men.He stood idly behind the dark elf, rapier and jeweled dagger in both hands.The torch was on the ground at his feet, still burning.Entreri's magical transformation was so complete that even his clothes changed accordingly.This puzzled Tridwart. When Drizzt used the mask, it only changed the color of the drow's skin and hair, and his surprise showed naturally in his expression. "Before you throw away these magic items, you'd better fully understand their value." The killer obviously understood what he meant. Entreri was right, of course, but Drizzt had never regretted leaving the magic suit behind in Calimport.Under its protection, the dark elves can move freely without being disturbed by other races.But it also made Drizzt Do'Urden feel like he was living a lie. "You could have killed me in the Goblin War. Since you came to Mithril Hall, you have had such an opportunity no less than a hundred times. Why design such a game?" "That would make my victory even sweeter." "Do you want me to take out my weapon and continue the fight with you in the Calimport sewers?" "Our battle began a long time ago, Drizzt Do'Urden." The killer casually stabbed the rapier at Drizzt, who neither dodged nor drew the scimitar, but let the point of the sword stick on the ground. own face. "You and I," Entreri began to pace around Drizzt, "have become spiritual enemies since the day we heard about each other. Our existence is an insult to each other. I laugh at your Faith, you deny my law." "The law is not the same as the void. You are just an empty shell that knows how to use a weapon without any substance in it." "Very well," Entreri made a guttural sound, tapping Drizzt's hip with the blade of his sword, "I can feel your anger, drow, as hard as you try to hide it. Draw your weapon, release Their desires, let me know what your so-called sword can't do." "You don't know." Drizzt turned his head calmly, with a proud smile on his face, "I won't teach you anything, Artemis Entreri is not worth my time." Entreri's eyes danced with astonishment and exasperation, and he raised the tip of his sword to Drizzt's throat. Drizzt still didn't dodge. "Draw your weapon and let's end it," Entreri snarled, leaping back, pointing the flat end of the blade at his eyes. "It's better for you to end it yourself, that is the only end you deserve." "I have your cat!" Entreri said decisively. "You must fight me, or Guenhwyvar is mine." "You forgot, we will be captured soon, and may be killed." Drizzt retorted, "Don't underestimate the ability of my people to track and hunt." "Then fight for that halfling," Entreri roared, and Drizzt's expression told the killer that his words had worked. "Have you forgotten Regis?" Entreri smiled coldly. "I didn't kill him, but he will die where he is now, a place only I know. You won me, and I will I tell you. Fight, Drizzt Do'Urden, if for no other reason than to save the halfling!" Entreri's sword slashed slowly toward Drizzt's cheek again, but this time the rapier was parried far away by the leaping scimitar. The rapier stabbed back quickly, followed by the dagger, and Fanhu made a gap in Drizzt's defense. "I thought you had lost an arm and an eye," Drow said. "I lied." Entreri took a step back and unfurled his weapon. Am I to be punished for this? " Only Drizzt's scimitar answered him. The double blades swept across the water like the wind, layer upon layer, attacking from both sides. In the infinite shadow of the blade, the blade in the left hand moved against the trend, splitting the heavy blade wind, like With strong sails and waves, fight forward. The sword and dagger flew left and right, fending off the two waves of sabers, and immediately joined them in the chest. This battle turned into a dance of two people, the two knives and the sword and dagger were evenly matched, and neither side could gain the slightest advantage.Drizzt knew that time was against him and that Regis could die at any moment.He maneuvered to the vicinity of the torch, stomped it out, and the hole was immediately pitch black. The drow hoped to gain an advantage in the darkness, but when he looked at Entreri again, he saw two red lights, the killer's eyes reflecting infrared. "You think the mask gave me this ability?" Entreri sneered, "You are wrong, this is a gift from my dark elf partner. He is a mercenary, just like me." The sound ended with his thrust.Drizzt turned and dodged to one side, avoiding the edge of the sword, flashing to fend off the dagger stabbing from the other side, and pointed at the killer's exposed chest. Entreri threw back and shot, blue flames brushing past him. Under the illumination of the faint blue light of the flash.The skin of both fighters had turned gray, and they looked so alike, as if they were twins.Entreri liked the feeling, but Drizzt was the complete opposite.To the rebellious drow, Entreri was a dark reflection of his soul, and if he had stayed in Menzoberranzan, he would be standing opposite him now. Drizzt lashed out again with blinding swiftness and rage, the curved blades forming a storm of killing that struck Entreri from every direction. The sword and dagger were not inferior either, blocking several slashes one by one, and the killer seemed to have easily anticipated these attacks. Drizzt could go on fighting like this with him, and he would never tire against Entreri.But he felt a tingling pain in his calf, and a numbness quickly spread throughout his leg and spread to his whole body. Within seconds, Drizzt felt sluggish, and he wanted to shout the truth, robbing Entreri of victory, a killer eager to defeat Drizzt in an honest fight.To be seized by poisoned arrows shot from the shadows by his allies would cause him great frustration. The flash fell to the ground, and Drizzt found himself weak. Entreri fell first, and he too was hit by the poisoned arrow.Drizzt felt a figure enter through the low opening, and wondered if he could still behead the killer. He heard the sound of metal hitting rock, and then the same sound came again.Then he fell to the rocky ground with his hands free, his eyes covered with limp eyelids.In his dim mind he was still thinking about what had happened to him, and what the disaster would do to his friends. Just as the flames of reason were about to die, he heard a voice, a drow tongue, a voice from the distant past. "Sleep, my lost brother."