The next two days and nights on the road proved peacefully uneventful, except that Drizzt more than once spotted the tracks of Regis's giant friend, apparently shadowing their movements. Still, the behemoth made no approach near the camp, so the drow did not become overly concerned. By the middle of the third day after Wulfgar's departure, they came in sight of the city of Luskan.
'Your destination, Camlaine,' the drow noted when the driver called out that he could see the distinctive skyline of Luskan, including the treelike structure that marked the city's wizard guild. 'It has been our pleasure to travel with you.'
'And eat your fine food!' Regis added happily, drawing a laugh from everyone.
'Perhaps if you are still in the southland when we return, and intent on heading back to the dale, we will accompany you again,' Drizzt finished.
'And glad we will all be for the company,' the merchant replied, warmly clasping the drow's hand. 'Farewell, wherever your road may take you, though I offer the parting as a courtesy only, for I do not doubt that you shall fare well indeed! Let the monsters take note of your passing and hide their heads low.'
The wagon rolled away, down the fairly smooth road to
Luskan. The four friends watched it for a long time. 'We could go in with him,' Regis offered. 'You are known well enough down there, I would guess,' he added to the drow. 'Your heritage should not bring us any problems…'
Drizzt shook his head before the halfling even finished the thought. 'I can indeed walk freely through Luskan,' he said, 'but my course, our course, is to the southeast. A long, long road lies ahead of us.' 'But in Luskan-' Regis started. 'Rumblebelly's thinkin' that me boy might be in there,' Bruenor bluntly cut in. From the dwarfs tone it seemed that he, too, considered following the merchant wagon.
'He might indeed,' Drizzt said. 'And I hope that he is, for Luskan is not nearly as dangerous as the wilds of the Spine of the World.'
Bruenor and Regis looked at him curiously, for if he agreed with their reasoning, why weren't they following the merchant?
'If Wulfgar's in Luskan, then better by far that we're turning away now,' Catti-brie answered for Drizzt. 'We're not wanting to find him now.'
'What're ye sayin'?' the flustered dwarf demanded.
'Wulfgar walked away from us,' Drizzt reminded. 'Of his own accord. Do you believe that three days' time has changed anything?'
'We're not for knowin' unless we ask,' said Bruenor, but his tone was less argumentative, and the brutal truth of the situation began to sink in. Of course Bruenor, and all of them, wanted to find Wulfgar and wanted the man to recant his decision to leave. But of course that would not happen.
'If we find him now, we'll only push him further from us,' Catti-brie said.
'He will grow angry at first because he will see us as meddling,' Drizzt agreed. 'And then, when his anger at last fades, if it ever does, he will be even more ashamed of his actions.'
Bruenor snorted and threw his hands up in defeat.
They all took a last look at Luskan, hoping that Wulfgar was there, then they walked past the place. They headed southeast, flanking the city, then down the southern road with a week's travel before them to the city of Waterdeep. There they hoped to ride with a merchant ship to the south, to Baldur's Gate, and then up river to the city of Iriaebor. There they would take to the open road again, across several hundred miles of the Shining Plains to Caradoon and the Spirit Soaring. Regis had planned the journey, using maps and merchant sources back in Bryn Shander. The halfling had chosen Waterdeep as their best departure point over the closer Luskan because ships left Waterdeep's great harbor every day, with many traveling to Baldur's Gate. In truth, he wasn't sure, nor were any of the others, if this was the best course or not. The maps available in Icewind Dale were far from complete, and far from current. Drizzt and Catti-brie, the only two of the group to have traveled to the Spirit Soaring, had done so magically, with no understanding of the lay of the land.
Still, despite the careful planning the halfling had done, each of them began doubting their ambitious travel
plans throughout that day as they passed the city. Those plans had been formed out of a love for the road and adventure, a desire to take in the sights of their grand world, and a supreme confidence in their abilities to get through. Now, though, with Wulfgar's departure, that love and confidence had been severely shaken. Perhaps they would be better off going into Luskan to the notable wizards' guild and hiring a mage to magically contact Cadderly so that the powerful cleric might wind walk to them and finish this business quickly Or perhaps the Lords of Waterdeep, renowned throughout the lands for their dedication to justice and their power to carry it out, would take the crystal artifact off the companions' hands and, as Cadderly had vowed, find the means to destroy it.
If any of the four had spoken aloud their mounting doubts about the journey that morning, the trip might have been abandoned. But because of their confusion over Wulfgar's departure, and because none of them wanted to admit that they could not focus on another mission while their dear friend was in danger, they held their tongues, sharing thoughts but not words. By the time the sun disappeared into the vast waters to the west, the city of Luskan and the hopes of finding Wulfgar were long out of sight.
Regis's giant friend, though, continued to shadow their movements. Even as Bruenor, Catti-brie, and the halfling prepared the camp, Drizzt and Guenhwyvar came upon the huge tracks, leading down to a copse of trees less than three hundred yards from the bluff they had chosen as a sight. Now the giant's movements could no longer be dismissed as coincidence, for they had left the Spine of the World far behind, and few giants ever wandered into this civilized region where townsfolk would form militias and hunt them down whenever they were spotted.
By the time Drizzt got back to camp, the halfling was fast asleep, several empty plates scattered about his bedroll. 'It is time we confront our large shadow,' the ranger explained to the other two as he moved over and gave Regis a good shake.
'So ye're meanin' to let us in on yer battle plans this time,' Bruenor replied sarcastically.
'I hope there will be no battle,' the drow answered. 'To our knowledge, this particular giant has posed no threat to wagons rolling along the road in Icewind Dale, and so I find no reason to fight the creature. Better that we convince it to go back to its home without drawing sword.'
A sleepy-eyed Regis sat up and glanced around, then rolled back down under his covers-almost, for quick- handed Drizzt caught him halfway back to the comfort zone and roughly pulled him to his feet.
'Not my watch!' the halfling complained.
'You brought the giant to us, and so you shall convince him to leave,' the drow replied.
'The giant?' Regis asked, still not catching on to the meaning of it all.
'Yer big friend,' Bruenor explained. 'He's followin' us, and we're thinking it's past time he goes home. Now, ye come along with yer tricky gem and make him leave, or we'll cut
him down where he stands.'
Regis's expression showed that he didn't much like that prospect. The giant had served him well in the fight, and he had to admit a certain fondness for the big brute. He shook his head vigorously, trying to clear the cobwebs, then patted his full belly and retrieved his shoes. Even though he was moving as fast as he ever moved, the others were already out of the encampment by the time he was ready to follow.
Drizzt was first into the copse, with Guenhwyvar flanking him. The drow stayed along the ground, picking a clear route away from dried leaves and snapping twigs, silent as a shadow, while Guenhwyvar sometimes padded along the ground and sometimes took to the secure low branches of thick trees. The giant was making no real effort to conceal itself and even had a fairly large fire going. The light guided the two companions and then the other three trailing them.
Still a dozen yards away, Drizzt heard the rhythmic snoring, but then, barely two steps later he heard a loud rustle as the giant apparently woke up and jumped to his feet. Drizzt froze in place and scanned the area, seeking any scouts who might have alerted the behemoth, but there was nothing, no evident creatures and no noise at all save the continuous gentle hissing of the wind through the new leaves.
Convinced that the giant was alone, the drow moved on, coming to a clearing. The fire and the behemoth, and it was indeed Junger, were plainly visible across the way. Out stepped Drizzt, and the giant hardly seemed surprised.
'Strange that we should meet again,' the drow remarked, resting his forearms comfortably across the hilts
