the iceberg, as far from the others as possible, and began to call.
Two hours later, the drow returned, a young seal flopping along behind him, a newfound friend. As a ranger, Drizzt knew animals, knew how to communicate with them in rudimentary terms, and knew which movements would frighten them, and which would give them confidence. He was pleased upon his return to see that Catti-brie and Bruenor, using a bow and a hastily-strung, makeshift net, had caught some fish, and the drow was quick to proffer one and toss it to the seal.
'Hey!' Bruenor howled in protest, and then the dwarf's face brightened. 'Yeah,' he said, rubbing his hands briskly together as he thought he understood the drow's intent, 'fatten the thing up.'
Drizzt's ensuing scowl, as serious as the drow had ever been, ended that train of thought.
The drow went to Regis next, and was amazed and thrilled by the halfling's work. Where there once had been an unremarkable block of ice there was now a near likeness, in size and shape, of the onyx figurine.
'If I had more time,' Regis started to say, but Drizzt stopped him with a wave of his hand. This would suffice.
And so they began training the seal. Drizzt tossed the ice statue into the water, yelled, 'Guen!' and Regis rushed to the edge of the iceberg and scooped out the figurine in the same net Bruenor had put together for fishing. When Regis turned net and statue over to Drizzt, the drow rewarded him with one of the fish. They repeated it over and over, and finally, Drizzt put the net in the seal's mouth, tossed the figurine into the water and yelled, 'Guen!'
Sure enough, the clever creature snorted and plunged in, quickly retrieving the halfling's sculpture. Drizzt glanced around at his friends, daring a smile of hope as he tossed a fish to the eager seal.
They went at it for more than twenty minutes, with each successive throw going farther out into the black water. Every time, the seal retrieved it perfectly, and every time, was rewarded by excitement and, more importantly, by a fish.
Then they needed a break, for the seal was tired and was no longer hungry.
The next few hours were terminally long for poor Drizzt. He sat in the ice hut, warming with his friends, while the others talked, mostly to Wulfgar, trying to bring the barbarian back to the world of the living.
It was painfully obvious to them all, especially to Wulfgar, that he had a long, long road yet to travel.
During that time, Kierstaad would occasionally go out onto the iceberg and blare his horn. The young barbarian was growing quite concerned, for if they were drifting away at all, it was farther out from the shore, and there seemed no way to navigate back to their homes. They could catch their fish, the dwarven priestess and the ice hut could do much to keep them warm, but out on the Sea of Moving Ice was no way to spend Icewind Dale's winter! Eventually, Kierstaad knew, a blizzard would catch up to them, burying them in their hut while they slept, or a hungry white bear would come calling.
Drizzt was back to his work with the seal that afternoon, ending by having Regis distract the seal, while the drow splashed the water and called out, pretending to toss in the statue.
In leaped the seal, excitedly, but that lasted only a few moments, and finally, the frustrated creature clambered back onto the iceberg, barking in protest.
Drizzt did not reward it.
The drow kept the seal inside the ice hut that night and most of the next morning. He needed the creature to be hungry, very hungry, for he knew that they were running out of time. He could only hope that the iceberg hadn't drifted too far from the statue.
After a couple of throws, the drow used the same distractions and sent the seal in on a futile hunt. A few minutes passed, and when it seemed as if the seal was growing frustrated, Drizzt secretly slipped the figurine into the water.
The happy seal spotted it and brought it out, and was rewarded.
'It doesn't sink,' Regis remarked, guessing the problem. 'We have to get the seal used to diving for it.' Following the logic, they weighed down the statue with Stumpet's grappling hook, which was easily bent by Wulfgar. Drizzt was careful on the next couple of throws, making sure that the seal could follow the statue's descent. The cunning animal performed perfectly, gliding under the dark water, out of sight, and returning with the figurine in the net every time.
They tried the ruse again, distracting the seal, while Drizzt slapped the water, and all of them held their breath when the seal went far under.
It surfaced many, many yards from the iceberg, barked to Drizzt and then disappeared again. This happened many times.
And then the seal came up right near the iceberg, leaping with joy up beside the drow, its mission complete.
With Guenhwyvar's figurine in the net.
The friends took up a huge cheer, and Kierstaad blew furiously on his horn. This time, the young barbarian's call was answered by more than echoes. Kierstaad looked to the others hopefully, then blew again.
Drifting through the misty sea came a single boat, Berkthgar standing tall atop its prow while a host of both dwarves and barbarians pulled with all their strength.
Kierstaad responded once more, and then handed his horn over to Wulfgar, who blew the strongest and clearest note ever heard in Icewind Dale.
From out on the dark water, Berkthgar looked upon him, and so did Revjak. It was a moment of confusion and then elation, even for proud Berkthgar.
* * * * *
On the night of their return to the dwarven mines, Drizzt retired with mixed emotions. He was so glad, impossibly thrilled, to have Wulfgar back at his side, and to have come away from an encounter with such powerful enemies with all of his friends, Guenhwyvar included, virtually unharmed.
But the drow could not help thinking about his father. For months he had pursued this course in the belief that it would lead to Zaknafein. He had built the fantasy of being with his father and mentor once more, and though he did not for a moment begrudge the fact that Errtu's prisoner was Wulfgar and not Zaknafein, he could not easily let go of those fantasies.
He went to sleep troubled, and in that sleep, the drow dreamed.
He was awakened in his room by a ghostly presence. He went for his scimitars, but then stopped abruptly and fell back on his bed, recognizing the spirit of Zaknafein.
'My son,' the ghost said to him, and Zaknafein was smiling warmly, a proud father, a contented spirit. 'All is well with me, better than you can imagine.'
Drizzt couldn't find the words to reply, but his expression asked every question in his heart anyway.
'An old priest called me,' Zaknafein explained. 'He said that you needed to know. Fare well, my son. Keep close to your friends and to your memories, and know in your heart that we will meet again.'
With that, the ghost was gone.
Drizzt remembered it all vividly the next morning, and he was indeed comforted. Logic told him that it had been a dream-until he realized that the ghost had been speaking to him in the drow tongue, and until he realized that the old priest Zaknafein had referred to could only be Cadderly.
Drizzt had already decided that he would be going back to the Spirit Soaring after the winter, bearing the crystal shard— securely tucked into the shielding coffer-as he had promised.
As the days went by and the memory of his ghostly encounter did not fade, the drow ranger found true peace, for he came to understand and to believe that it had been no dream.
*****
'They offered me the tribe,' Wulfgar said to Drizzt. It was a crisp wintry morning outside the dwarven mines, more than two months after their return from the Sea of Moving Ice.
Drizzt considered the not-unexpected news and the healthier condition of his returned friend. Then he shook his head— Wulfgar had not yet recovered, and should not take on the burden of such responsibility.
'I refused,' Wulfgar admitted.
'Not yet,' Drizzt said comfortingly.
Wulfgar looked to the blue sky, the same color as his eyes, which were shining again after six years of darkness. 'Not ever,' he corrected. 'That is not my place.'
