Chapter 21 Chapter 16 Snagging

"I don't like this," Vierna said aloud, standing in the tunnel near the Summoning Iron Wall, with Jarlaxle beside her, poor Cooper's crushed body at their feet. "Do you think this matter will be so simple?" The mercenary captain asked her. "And we enter tunnels controlled by powerful dwarven tribes, fifty soldiers against thousands of dwarves?" In order not to make Werna too anxious, Jarlaxle hastily continued: "You will recapture your brother, my troops are well-trained, and I have sent nearly forty Banruidres to the only road leading to the secret The tunnels of Silverhall. Drizzt's allies will not be able to enter the tunnels from there, and his friends trapped in the tunnels will not be able to escape."

"If the dwarves knew about us, they would send an army over," Vierna said coldly. "That will have to wait for them to know. The tunnel leading to Mithril Hall is long and tortuous. It may take several days to get the news and gather an army of sufficient size. By then, we have already captured Drizzt, on the way back to Menzoberranzan." Verna was silent for a long time as she considered her next move.There are only two paths out of the lower tunnels: the ramped passage here, and the spiral tunnel far to the north.She stepped into the cave, looked straight down the slope, and wondered if it was right to send only three men down to track Drizzt, and she began to consider sending her force, the twelve drow and the lizards, as well.

"The human will catch him." Jarlaxle seemed to have read her mind, "Artemis Entreri knows our enemies better than we do, and he fought with Drizzt all over the vast surface world .Besides, he is still wearing that earring, so you can monitor his whereabouts. We are going to deal with Drizzt's friends now, and according to my attendant's report, there are no more than five of them." "What if Drizzt escapes Entreri?" Vierna asked. "There are only two ways up," Jarlaxle reminded her. Verna nodded and made a decision.She walked to the front of the slope, took out a small staff from her gorgeous robe, closed her eyes, and began to chant a soft spiritual song.Sticky filaments were drawn from the tip of the staff, and the priest slowly and precisely formed a cobweb at the entrance of the passage.Then, Verna took a few steps back, looked at her own work, took out a bag of fine powder from a bag, and started the second spiritual song.She sprinkled the fine powder on the spider web, and the filaments immediately became thick and stiff, shining with a silver-gray luster.The luster faded quickly, the heat from casting the spell dissipated in the cavern, and the cobwebs no longer appeared in the heat-seeing eyes.

"Now, there is only one path," Werna said to Jarlaxle. "No weapon can cut these threads." "I have sent five soldiers to guard the northern exit," Jarlaxle said. "There must be no rendezvous between Drizzt and his friends." "If Drizzt sees his friends again, they will all be dead by then." The proud mercenary leader assured Verna confidently. ※※※※ "Perhaps there is another way to that cavern," Wulfgar said, "if we could attack them from both directions . . . " "That's where Drizzt disappeared." Bruenor fiddled with the magic locket in his hand, staring at the floor, he could feel his friend somewhere under his feet.

"When we kill all the enemies, your friends will be able to find us." Pante said. Wulfgar, still carrying his battle madness, shook him. "I'm not in the mood to fight the drow right now," Bruenor replied, casting a concerned glance at Katie and Wulfgar. "We're going to avoid them and attack them only when necessary." "We can go back and meet Dagna," Wulfgar suggested, "and clear the tunnels of the dark elves." Bruenor surveyed the winding tunnels that would take them back to Mithril Hall. It might take him and his friends an hour to walk through this maze and return to Mithril Hall; The army, and Drizzt probably wouldn't last a few hours.

"We came for Drizzt," Katie said firmly. "Your locket brought us here. Now Guenhwyvar will bring us to him." Bruno knew that Panter would fully support any suggestion that might lead to a fight, but Guenhhhva had already grown impatient with the wait, and the anxious Panther tensed all his muscles, ready to go.The dwarf looked at Wulfgar, saw the worried and condescending look on his face as he stared at Katie, and almost swung the ax again to strike him. Guan Haifa suddenly stopped his body and let out a deep roar.Katie immediately extinguished the dimly lit torch, crouched down, and used the red eyes of the dwarf to determine her position.

The companions approached each other, and Bruno whispered to the others to stick to the cave wall, and he went out to see what the big cat felt. "Drow." A moment later, he and Guenhwyvar returned to the cave together. "There are only five, and they are moving rapidly north." "It's five dead drow." Pante corrected him, and the others could hear the sound of Zhan Kuang rubbing his iron gloves excitedly, and the sound of steel rings colliding with each other. "Can't fight!" Bruno amplified his voice to the limit that it wouldn't come out of the cave.He grabbed Pan Te's arm, restraining the urge of the war madness. "I think this team might know how to find Drizzt, and they're looking for him. But without the light, there's absolutely no way we can keep up with them."

"And if we raise the torches, we'll start fighting right away," Katie said. "Then light the damned torch!" Panter said hopefully. "Shut your mouth." Bruenor turned to Wulfgar again. "Let's go out slowly, you take the torches, and whenever there is a fight, light them up." Then, he motioned for Guenhuffa to lead the way, and asked the cat to slow down. Before they left the cave, Panter slipped his large bottle into Katie's hands, "take a sip, and pass it on." Katie fumbled for the thing in her hand, and when she was sure it was a bottle, she carefully sniffed the rotting liquid in the bottle, and quickly handed it back.

"When Drow shoots the poisonous arrow on your back, you will know its benefits." The rude War Crazy patted Katie's butt, "With this thing in your blood, no poison can hurt you !" Thinking that Drizzt was still in deep danger, the young woman desperately poured a mouthful of the liquid in the bottle into her mouth, and immediately coughed and staggered a few steps.For a moment, she saw eight dwarf eyes and four cat eyes staring at her, but this strange phenomenon soon disappeared, so she handed the bottle to Bruno. Bruno took it easily, sighed, and took a gulp, belching several times at once. "Warm your toes." He held the bottle up to Wulfgar.

Once Wulfgar recovered, the party set off.Guenhyvar's four fleshy palms muffled all sound, while Panter's armor made a noise with every step he took. ※※※※ Forty heavily armed dwarves followed General Dagna's heavy footsteps through the lower tunnel of Mithril Hall to the gate guard room. "We are going to Goblin Hall," the general told his men, "and spread out there." He gave the doorman another order, setting up a series of knock signals.And left instructions for the troops that followed, especially emphasizing that dwarven troops with fewer than twelve members must not enter the new area.

The stern Dagna had his soldiers lined up, and marched bravely and proudly at the head of the line, through the open gate.Dagna didn't actually believe that Bruno would be in danger, he thought that maybe there was only a small group of goblins left in the new district, or some other small trouble that hadn't been cleaned up.But the general was a prudent commander, insisting on complete preparation even against weaker enemies.When it comes to Bruno's safety, he will never take any chances. The heavy footsteps of the iron shoes, the bumping of the armor, and the deep war songs sounded from time to time all announced the arrival of this army.There were even three dwarves holding torches aloft.Dagna had no reason to believe that such a mighty force would need to sneak around, and he hoped that Bruenor and other allies entering the area would spot the raucous procession in time. Dagna knew nothing of the dark elves. The dwarves soon advanced to the first crossroads, and upon seeing the remains of the two-headed giant that Bruenor had slain long ago, Dagna yelled "Look both ways," and continued on.He was going to march directly to the cave where the goblin war was taking place, and Dagna slowed his pace and ordered the procession to be quiet before he reached a fork in the road. As the general began to cross the intersection, he looked around nervously and slightly strangely.There was something odd about this place, a warrior's instincts honed by three centuries of war told him, and the thick hair on the back of his neck gave him a tingle. At this time, the fire went out. At first the dwarf general thought that something had extinguished the torches, but he soon saw the problem from the clamor behind him.After he changed his vision, his infrared eyes still couldn't see anything, something more sinister must have happened. "It's so dark!" cried a dwarf. "It's magic!" cried another dwarf. Dagna heard his men jostling against each other, heard a small wind in his ear, and then the murmur of a junior commander behind him.The general retreated instinctively, and after only a few steps, he walked out of a black ball, only then did he realize that the dwarf troops were in chaos.Another sphere split his army in half, and the dwarves in front of, within, and behind the black sphere called to each other, struggling to regain some measure of organization. "Wedge formation!" Dagna yelled through the chaos, ordering the dwarves to form the most basic battle formation. "It's just a dark spell, don't be afraid!" Beside the general, a dwarf suddenly touched his chest and pulled out a dart-like thing that Dag had never seen before, and then he snorted and fell to the ground . Something stung Dagna's calf, but he was too busy commanding to attend to it. He was trying to integrate the dwarves into a unified battle formation, and at the same time he sent five dwarves into the right flank of the formation. "Find me that damn wizard!" he ordered them, "Find out what Nine Abyss Hell is attacking us!" Frustrated, Dagnar's wrath was appreciated, and he quickly organized the remaining dwarven forces into a tight wedge, ready to charge through the dark wards that plagued them. Five dwarves on the detour flank searched the side road, and they finally determined that there was no enemy lurking here, so they quickly returned to the dark barrier, intending to enter the main tunnel and join the large army. Two black figures emerged from the darkness, they knelt on one knee in front of the dwarf, and raised two small crossbows. The leading dwarf staggered immediately after being hit by two arrows, but he still gave the order to charge.He and his four companions charged at the enemy at full speed, not noticing the others - other dark elves floated down from the air and fell around them. "What is this..." A magic hammer smashed the talking dwarf's skull, turning this half sentence into his last words. "Hey, you're not Drizzt!" the other dwarf managed to utter a complete sentence before his throat was slit. The leader of the team wanted to issue a retreat order, but before he could speak, the rocky ground turned upside down, pinning him tightly.It is a good bed for a sleepy dwarf, in which he will sleep and never wake up again. within five seconds.There were only two survivors left in the dwarf squad, "Drow! Drow!" They warned loudly. A dwarf fell heavily to the ground with three arrows stuck in his back. He struggled to kneel up again, but two drows had already rushed towards him, and their knives chopped down one after another. The one remaining dwarf rushed past the drow's attack and found an enemy standing in his way.The drow sword stabbed at him, and the dwarf took the blow and returned it with a vicious axe.Drow's arm holding the sword was immediately broken in two, and the fine steel chain armor shattered and scattered. Knocking away the seriously injured drow, the dwarf ran into the dark barrier, and passed through the other side, seeing the slowly advancing dwarf wedge. "Drow!" the dwarf yelled again. The third black ball appeared, and a rain of crossbow arrows rushed towards him, followed by a dark elf who was good at fighting without eyes. Dagna realized that it was up to the priest to fight against this dark elf magic. He opened his mouth to issue a retreat order, but he yawned big. He was hit hard on the side of the head, and the dwarf general fell to the ground. In this chaos and impenetrable darkness.The wedge formation collapsed, and the stunned dwarves couldn't fight against the dark elves who were comparable in number, good at killing, and well prepared.The action of the dwarves breaking the array was actually wise. The scattered dwarves picked up their fallen compatriots and ran quickly to Mithril Hall. The dwarves were not cowards who only knew to run for their lives, and as soon as they left the dark part of the tunnel, several dwarves began to regroup.They could not turn back and fight again, but the enemy was hot on their heels, carrying ten sleeping brethren, including Dagna, on their backs. It was impossible for the dwarves to escape the swift-moving dark elves. The call to summon the latter came out, and no dwarf was willing to take the lead in running for his life.After a moment of selection, the main dwarf team continued to flee, and six brave dwarves stood side by side, blocking the road leading to Mithril Hall. "Run, don't let our brother die in vain!" shouted the new commander. "For the sake of our fallen king, we must run back!" another dwarf called. The dwarves at the rear of the line kept looking back at their brothers who stayed behind to guard them, until a cloud of darkness covered them. "Go back alive!" The loud call came from the six warriors in the darkness. The running dwarves heard the familiar battle cry, the impact of steel.When they heard a drow scream in pain, big tears broke into smiles. They didn't look back, they just lowered their heads while running.The broken warriors will never meet their loved ones again. They will stick to their positions and block the enemy's footsteps until their bodies fall silently on the cold rock.This is the last thing they do for their loved ones, and henceforth they will only live in dwarven legends. In the line of fleeing dwarves, if a dwarf stumbles, four dwarves will drag him up.If a dwarf carrying a sleeping kin grows weary, the dwarves around him will take up his load. A young dwarf jumped out of the main team and tapped the door opening signal on the tunnel wall with a hammer in his hand. He ran to the end of the tunnel and saw the door was opening. When the main dwarf team arrived, the door was completely open. The dwarf with the Sleeper on his back entered the gate first, and the rest of the dwarves stood in the doorway, waiting for any brothers who might fall behind.It wasn't until a black mist appeared in the tunnel in front of the door that a dwarf was shot down by a crossbow bolt, and they finally closed the door. After the iron bolt returned to its place, the dwarf army conducted an inventory. Twenty-seven of the forty-one warriors who set out escaped back, and more than one-third of them were in a deep sleep state. "Call the army!" shouted a dwarf. "And the priest." Another dwarf helped Dagna, who was unconscious, "We need the priest to detoxify and drive away those damned black mist!" The battle-tested dwarves quickly decided to share the command and tasks of the team. Half of the troops stayed with the sleepers and dwarf guards, and the other half rushed into every corner of Mithril Hall to sound the war alarm.