'But I am awarded another fight against Drizzt,' he in sisted, baiting the plan with some measure of believability.
'When we are rejoined,' Vierna added coldly.
'Of course.' The assassin swept into a low bow and leaped for the chute.
'And you will not go alone,' Vierna decided. She gave a look to Jarlaxle, and he motioned for two of his soldiers to accompany the assassin.
'I work alone,' Entreri insisted.
'You die alone,' Vierna corrected, 'against my brother in the tunnels, I mean,' she added in softer, teasing tones, but Entreri knew that Vierna's promise had nothing at all to do with her brother.
He saw little point in continuing to argue with her, so he just shrugged and motioned for one of the dark elves to lead the way.
Actually, having a drow with the levitational powers beneath him made the ride down the dangerous chute much more comfortable for the assassin.
The leading dark elf came out into the lower corridor first, Entreri landing nimbly behind him and the second drow coming in slowly behind the assassin. The first drow shook his head in apparent confusion and kicked lightly at the prone body, but Entreri, wiser to Drizzt's many tricks, pushed the dark elf aside and slammed his sword down onto the apparent corpse. Gingerly, the assassin turned the dead drow over, confirming that it was not Drizzt in a clever disguise. Satisfied, he slipped his sword away.
'Our enemy is clever,' he explained, and one of his companions, understanding the surface language, nod ded, then translated for the other drow.
'That is Ak'hafta,' the dark elf explained to Entreri. 'Dead, as Vierna predicted.' He led his drow companion toward the assassin.
Entreri was not at all surprised to find the slain soldier right below the chute. He, above anyone else in Vierna's party, understood how deadly their opponent might be, and how efficient. Entreri did not doubt that the two accompanying him, skilled fighters but inexperienced con cerning the ways of their enemy, would have little chance of catching Drizzt. By Entreri's estimation, if these unknowing dark elves had come through the chute alone, Drizzt might well have cut them down already.
Entreri smiled privately at the thought, then smiled even more widely as he realized that these two didn't understand their ally, let alone their enemy.
His sword jabbed to the side as the trailing drow passed by him, neatly skewering both of the unfortunate elf's lungs. The other drow, quicker than Entreri had expected, wheeled about, handcrossbow leveled and ready.
A jeweled dagger came first, nicking the draw's weapon hand hard enough to deflect the shot harmlessly wide. Undaunted, the dark elf snarled and produced a pair of finely edged swords.
It never ceased to amaze Entreri how easily these dark elves fought so well with two weapons of equal length. He whipped his thin leather belt from his breeches and looped it double in his free left hand, waving it and his sword out in front to keep his opponent at bay.
'You side with Drizzt Do'Urden!' the drow accused.
'I do not side with you,' Entreri corrected. The drow came at him hard, swords crossing, going back out wide, then crossing in close again, forcing Entreri to bat them with his own sword, then promptly retreat. The attack was skilled and deceptively quick,
but Entreri immediately recognized the primary difference between this drow and Drizzt, the subtle level of skill that elevated Drizzt-and Entreri, for that matter-from these other fighters. The double crossing attack had been launched as finely as any Entreri had ever seen, but during the few seconds he had taken to execute the maneuver, the dark elf's defenses had not been aligned. Like so many other fine fighters, this drow was a one-way warrior, perfect on the attack, perfect on defense, but not perfect on both at the same time.
It was a minor thing; the drow's quickness compensated so well that most fighters would never have noticed the apparent weakness. But Entreri was not like most fighters.
Again the drow pressed the attack. One sword darted straight for Entreri's face, only to be swatted aside at the last moment. The second sword came in low, right behind, but Entreri reversed his weapon's momentum and batted the thrusting tip to the ground.
Furiously the drow came on, swords flying, diving for any apparent opening, only to be intercepted by Entreri's sword or hooked and pulled wide by the leather belt.
And all the while the assassin willingly retreated, bided his time, waited for the sure kill.
The swords crossed, went out wide, and crossed again as they charged for Entreri's midsection, the dark elf repeating his initial attack.
The defense had changed, the assassin moving with sudden, terrifying speed.
Entreri's belt looped around the tip of the sword in the drow's right hand, which was crossed under the other, and then the assassin jerked back to his left, pulling the swords tightly together and forcing them both to the side.
The doomed dark elf started backing at once, and both swords easily came free of the awkward belt, but the drow, his defensive balance forfeited in the offensive routine, needed a split second to recover his posture.
Entreri's flashing sword didn't take that split second. It dove hungrily into the drow's exposed left flank, tip twist ing as it weaved its way into the soft flesh beneath the rib cage.
The wounded warrior fell back, his belly wickedly torn, and Entreri did not pursue, instead falling into his balanced battle stance.
'You are dead,' he said matter-of-factly as the drow struggled to stand and keep his swords level.
The drow could not dispute the claim, and could not hope, through the blinding and burning agony, to stop the assassin's impending attack. He dropped his weapons to the floor and announced, 'I yield.'
'Well spoken, Entreri congratulated him, then the assassin drove his sword into the foolish dark elf's heart.
He cleaned the blade on his victim's piwafwi, retrieved his precious dagger, then turned to regard the empty tunnel, running fairly straight both ways beyond the range of his somewhat limited infravision. 'Now, dear Drizzt,' he said loudly, 'things are as I had planned.' Entreri smiled, congratulating himself for so perfectly manipulating such a dangerous situation.
'I have not forgotten the sewers of Calimport, Drizzt Do'Urden!' he shouted, his anger suddenly boiling over. 'Nor have I forgiven!'
Entreri calmed at once, reminding himself that his rage had been his weakness on that occasion when he had battled Drizzt in the southern city.
'Take heart, my respected friend,' he said quietly, 'for now we can begin our play, as it was always meant to be.'
Drizzt circled back to the chute area soon after Entreri had departed. He knew at once what had transpired when he saw the two new corpses, and he realized that none of this had occurred by accident. Drizzt had baited Entreri in the chamber above, had refused to play the game the way the assassin had desired. But Entreri apparently had anticipated Drizzt's reluctance and had prepared, or impro vised, an alternative plan. Now he had Drizzt, just Drizzt, in the lower tunnels, one against one. Now, too, if it came to combat, Drizzt would fight with all his heart, knowing that to win was to at least have some chance of freedom. Drizzt nodded his head, silently congratulating his opportunistic enemy. But Drizzt's priorities were not akin to Entreri's. The dark elf's main concern was to find his way through, to circle back around, that he might rejoin his friends and aid them in their peril. To Drizzt, Entreri was no more than another piece of the larger threat.
If he happened to encounter Entreri on his way, though, Drizzt Do'Urden meant to finish the game.
Chapter 16 Drawing Lines
'I am not pleased,' Vierna remarked, standing | with Jarlaxle in the tunnel near the conjured iron wall, with poor Cobble's squashed body I underneath.
'Did you believe it would be so easy?' the mercenary replied. 'We have entered the runnels of a fortified dwar
