Regis nodded, his round eyes darting about as though he expected the assassin to charge back in and slay them both.
Drizzt was more concerned with an examination of the halfling's many wounds. Taken individually, each of them appeared superficial, but together they added up to a severe condition indeed. Drizzt let Regis take a few moments to get the blood circulating through his recently untied hands and feet, then tried to get the halfling to stand.
Regis shook his head immediately; a great wave of dizziness knocked him from his feet, and he would have hit the stone floor hard had not Drizzt been there to catch him.
'Leave me,' Regis said, showing an unexpected measure of altruism.
Indomitable, the drow smiled comfortingly and hoisted Regis to his side.
'Together,' he explained casually. 'I would not leave you any more than you would leave me.'
The assassin's trail was, by then, too cool to follow, so Drizzt had to go on blindly, hoping he would stumble on some clue as to the location of the passage to the higher level. He drew out Twinkle now, instead of his other blade, and used the light to help him avoid any small jags in the floor, that he might keep Regis's walk more comfortable. All measure of stealth had been lost anyway, with the groaning halfling held at his side, Regis's feet more often scraping than stepping as Drizzt pulled him along.
'I thought he would… kill… me,' Regis remarked after he had caught and held enough of his hard-to-find breath to utter a complete sentence.
'Entreri kills only when he perceives it to his advantage,' Drizzt replied.
'Why did he… bring me along?' Regis honestly wondered. 'And why… did he let you find me?' Drizzt looked at his little friend curiously. 'He led you to me,' Regis reasoned. 'He…' The half— ling slumped heavily, but Drizzt's strong arm continued to hold him upright.
Drizzt understood exactly why Entreri had led him to Regis. The assassin knew that Drizzt would carry Regis along-by Entreri's measure, that was exactly the difference between him and Drizzt. Entreri perceived that very compassion to be the draw's weakness. In all truth, the stealth had been lost, and now Drizzt would have to play this game of cat and mouse by Entreri's rules, showing as much attention to his burdening friend as to the game. Even if luck showed Drizzt the way up to the next level, he would have a difficult time getting to his friends before Entreri caught up to him.
Even more important than the physical burden, Drizzt realized, Entreri had given Regis back to him to ensure an honest fight. Drizzt would play out their inevitable battle wholeheartedly, with no intention of running away, with Regis lying helpless somewhere nearby.
Regis slipped in and out of consciousness over the next half hour, Drizzt uncomplaining and carrying him along, every now and then switching arms to balance the load. The drow ranger's skill in the tunnels was considerable, and he felt confident that he was making headway in sorting through the maze.
They came into a long, straight passage, a bit higher— roofed and wider than the many they had crossed. Drizzt placed Regis down easily against a wall and studied the patterns in the rock. He noticed a barely perceptible incline in the floor, rising to the south, but the fact that they, traveling north, were going slightly down did not disturb the drow at all.
'This is the main corridor of the region,' he decided at length. Regis looked to him, puzzled.
'It once ran fast with water,' Drizzt explained, 'probably cutting through the mountain to exit at some distant waterfall to the north.'
'We're going down?' Regis asked.
Drizzt nodded. 'But if there is a passageway back up to the lower levels of Mithril Hall, it will likely lie along this route.'
'Well done,' came a reply from somewhere in the distance. A slender form stepped out of a side passage, just a few dozen feet ahead of Drizzt and Regis.
Drizzt's hand went instinctively inside his cloak, but, putting more trust in his scimitars, he retracted it immediately as the assassin approached.
'Have I given to you the hope you so desired?' Entreri teased. He said something under his breath-a call to his weapon probably, for his slender sword began glowing fiercely in bluish-green hues, revealing the assassin's graceful form in dim outline as he sauntered toward his waiting enemy.
'A hope you will come to regret,' Drizzt replied evenly.
The whiteness of Entreri's teeth gleamed in the aqua light as he answered through a wide smile. 'Let us see.'
Chapter 18 Common Danger
'His noise will bring the whole of the Underdark on our heads,' Catti-brie whispered to Bruenor, referring to the battlerager's continually squealing armor. Pwent, realizing the same, had gone far ahead of the others and was gradually outpacing them, for Catti-brie and Wulfgar, human and not blessed with eyes that could see in the infrared spectrum, had to nearly crawl along, one hand on Bruenor at all times. Only Guen hwyvar, sometimes leading, more often moving as a silent emissary between Bruenor and the battlerager, maintained any semblance of communication between the principals of the small troupe.
Another grating squeal from ahead brought a grimace to Bruenor's face. He heard Catti-brie's resigned sigh and agreed with it. Even more so than his daughter, the experienced Bruenor understood the futility of it all. He thought of making Pwent remove the noisy armor but dismissed the notion immediately, realizing that even if all four of them walked naked, their footfalls would sound as clearly as a marching drumbeat to the sensitive ears of the enemy dark elves.
'Put up the torch,' he instructed Wulfgar. 'Surely ye cannot,' Catti-brie argued. 'They're all about us,' Bruenor replied. 'I can sense the dogs, and they'll see us as well without the light as with. We've no chance of getting through without another fight-I'm knowing that now-so we might as well fight 'em on terms better suited for our side.'
Catti-brie turned her head about, though she could see nothing at all in the pitch blackness. She sensed the truth of Bruenor's observations, though, sensed that dark and silent shapes were moving all about them, closing a noose about the doomed party. A moment later she had to blink and squint when Wulfgar's torch came up in a fiery blaze. Flickering shadows replaced absolute blackness; Catti-brie was surprised at how uncut this tunnel was, much more natural and rough than those they had left. Soil mixed with
the stone along the ceiling and walls, giving the young woman less confidence in the stability of the place. She became acutely aware of the hundreds of tons of earth and rock above her head, aware that a slight shift in the stone could instantly crush her and her companions.
'What're ye about?' Bruenor asked her, seeing her obvious anxiety. He turned to Wulfgar and saw the barbarian growing similarly unnerved.
'Unworked tunnels,' the dwarf remarked, coming to understand. 'Ye're not so used to the wild depths.' He put a gnarly hand on his beloved daughter's arm and felt beads of cold sweat.
'Ye'll get used to it,' the dwarf gently promised. 'Just remember that Drizzt is alone down here and needing our help. Keep yer mind on that fact and ye'll fast forget the stone above yer head.'
Catti-brie nodded resolutely, took a deep breath, and determinedly wiped the sweat from her brow. Bruenor moved ahead then, saying that he was going to the front edge of the torchlight to see if he could locate the leading battlerager.
'Drizzt needs us,' Wulfgar said to Catti-brie as soon as the dwarf had gone.
Catti-brie turned to him, surprised by his tone. For the first time in a long while, Wulfgar had spoken to her with out a hint of either protective condescension or mounting rage.
Wulfgar walked up to her, put his arm gently against her back to move her along. She matched his slow stride, all the while studying his fair face, trying to sort through the obvious torment in his strong facial features.
'When this is through, we have much to discuss,' he said quietly.
Catti-brie stopped, eyeing him suspiciously-and that seemed to wound the barbarian even more.
