spells.
With the innate magical talents of the dark elves also came
a resistance to magical attacks, and that is where Zaknafein
had recognized the wizards' greatest weakness. A wizard
could cast his most powerful spell to perfection, but if his in-
tended victim was a drow elf, the wizard may well have
found no results for his efforts. The surety of a well-aimed
sword thrust always impressed Zaknafein, and Drizzt, after
witnessing the drawbacks of drow magic during those first
weeks with Masoj, began to appreciate the course of train-
ing he had been given.
He still found great enjoyment in many of the things Masoj
showed him, particularly the enchanted items housed in the
tower of Sorcere. Drizzt held wands and staves of incredi-
ble power and went through several attack routines with a
sword so heavily enchanted that his hands tingled from its
touch.
Masoj, too, watched Drizzt carefully through it all, study-
ing the young warrior's every move, searching for some
weakness that he might exploit if House Hun'ett and House
Do'Urden ever did fall into the expected conflict. Several
times, Masoj saw an opportunity to eliminate Drizzt, and he
felt in his heart that it would be a prudent move. Matron
SiNafay's instructions to him, though, had been explicit and
unbending.
Masoj's mother had secretly arranged for him to be
Drizzt's tutor. This was not an unusual situation; instruction
for fighters during their six months in Sorcere was always
handled one-on-one by higher-level Sorcere students. When
she had told Masoj of the setup, SiNafay quickly reminded
him that his sessions with the young Do'Urden remained no
more than a scouting mission. He was not to do anything
that might even hint of the planned conflict between the
two houses. Masoj was not fool enough to disobey.
Still, there was one other wizard lurking in the shadows,
who was so desperate that even the warnings of the matron
mother did little to deter him.
"My student, Masoj, has informed me of your fine prog-
ress” Alton DeVir said to Drizzt one day.
"Thank you, Master Faceless One” Drizzt replied hesi-
tantly, more than a little intimidated that a master of Sor-
cere had invited him to a private audience.
"How do you perceive magic, young warrior?" Alton
asked. "Has Masoj impressed you?"
Drizzt didn't know how to respond. 1ruly, magic had not
impressed him as a profession, but he did not want to insult
a master of the craft. "I find the art beyond my abilities” he
said tactfully. "For others, it seems a powerful course, but i
believe my talents are more closely linked to the sword”
"Could your weapons defeat one of magical power?" AI.
ton snarled. He quickly bit back the sneer, trying not to tip
off his intent.
Drizzt shrugged. "Each has its place in battle” he replied.
"Who could say which is the mightier? As with every com-
bat, it would depend upon the individuals engaged”
"Well, what of yourself?" Alton teased. "First in your class,
I have heard, year after year. 'The masters of Melee-
Magthere speak highly of your talents”
Again Drizzt found himself flushed with embarrassment.
More than that, though, he was curious as to why a master
and student of Sorcere seemed to know so much about him.
"Could you stand against one of magical powers?" asked
Alton. "Against a master of Sorcere, perhaps?"
"I do not-" Drizzt began, but Alton was too enmeshed in
his own ranting to hear him.
"Let us learn!" the Faceless One cried. He drew out a thin
wand and promptly loosed a bolt of lightning at Drizzt.
Drizzt was down into a dive before the wand even dis-
charged. The lightning bolt sundered the door to Alton's
highest chamber and bounced about the adjoining room,
breaking items and scorching the walls.
Drizzt came rolling back to his feet at the side of the room,
his scimitars drawn and ready. He still was unsure of this
master's intent.
"How many can you dodge?" Alton teased, waving the
wand in a threatening circle. "What of the other spells I
have at my disposal-those that attack the mind, not the
body?"
Drizzt tried to understand the purpose of this lesson and
the part he was meant to play in it. Was he supposed to at-
tack this master?
"These are not practice blades” he warned, holding his
weapons out toward Alton.
Another bolt roared in, forcing Drizzt to dodge back to his
original position. "Does this seem like practice to you, fool-
ish Do'Urden?" Alton growled. "Do you know who I am?"
Alton's time of revenge had come-damn the orders of
Matron SiNafay!
Just as Alton was about to reveal the truth to Drizzt, a
dark form slammed into the master's back, knocking him to
the floor. He tried to squirm away but found himself help-
lessly pinned by a huge black panther.
Drizzt lowered the tips of his blades; he was at a loss to
understand any of this.
"Enough, Guenhwyvar!" came a call from behind Alton.
Looking past the fallen master and the cat, Drizzt saw Masoj
enter the room.
The panther sprang away from Alton obediently and
moved to rejoin its master. It paused on its way, to consider
Drizzt, who stood ready in the middle of the room.
So enchanted was Drizzt with the beast, the graceful flow
of its rippling muscles and the intelligence in its saucer eyes,
that he paid little attention to the master who had just at-
tacked him, though Alton, unhurt, was back to his feet and
obviously upset.
"My pet” Masoj explained. Drizzt watched in amazement
as Masoj dismissed the cat back to its own plane of existence
by sending its corporeal form back into the magical onyx
statuette he held in his hand.
"Where did you get such a companion?" Drizzt asked.
"Never underestimate the powers of magic” Masoj re-
plied, dropping the figurine into a deep pocket. His beaming
smile became a scowl as he looked to Alton.
Drizzt, too, glanced at the faceless master. That a stu-
dent had dared to attack a master seemed impossibly odd
to the young fighter. This situation grew more puzzling
each minute.
Alton knew that he had overstepped his bounds, and that
he would have to pay a high price for his foolishness if he
could not find some way out of this predicament.
"Have you learned your lesson this day?" Masoj asked
Drizzt, though Alton realized that the question was also di-
rected his way.
Drizzt shook his head. "I am not certain of the point of all
this” he answered honestly.
"A display of the weakness of magic” Masoj explained, try-
ing to disguise the truth of the encounter, "to show you the
disadvantage caused by the necessary intensity of a casting
wizard; to show you the vulnerability of a mage obsessed-"
he eyed Alton directly at this point-"with spellcasting. The
complete vulnerability when a wizard's intended prey be-
comes his overriding concern”
Drizzt recognized the lie for what it was, but he could
not understand the motives behind this day's events. Why
would a master of Sorcere attack him so? Why would Ma-
soj, still just a student, risk so much to come to his defense?
"Let us bother the master no more” Masoj said, hoping to
deflect Drizzt's curiosity further. "Come with me now to our
practice hall. 1 will show you more of Guenhwyvar, my mag-
ical pet”
Drizzt looked to Alton, wondering what the unpredicta-
ble master would do next.
"Do go” Alton said calmly, knowing the facade Masoj had
begun would be his only w~y around the wrath of his
adopted matron mother. "I am confident that this day's les-
son was learned” he said, his eyes on Masoj.
Drizzt glanced back to Masoj, then back to Alton again.
He let it go at that. He wanted to learn more of Guen-
hwyvar.
When Masoj had Drizzt back in the privacy of the tutor's
own room, he took out the polished onyx figurine in the
form of a panther and called Guenhwyvar back to his side.
The mage breathed easier after he had introduced Drizzt
to the cat, for Drizzt spoke no more about the incident
with Alton.
Never before had Drizzt encountered such a wonderful
magical item. He sensed a strength in Guenhwyvar, a dig-
nity, that belied the beast's enchanted nature. lruly, the
cat's sleek muscles and graceful moves epitomized the hunt-
ing qualities drow elves so dearly desired. Just by watching
Guenhwyvar's movements, Drizzt believed, he could im-
prove his own techniques.
Masoj let them play together and spar together for hours,
grateful that Guenhwyvar could help him smooth over any
damage that foolish Alton had done.
Drizzt had already put his meeting with the faceless mon-
ter far behind him.
"Matron SiNafay would not understand” Masoj warned
Alton when they were alone later that day.
"You will tell her” Alton reasoned matter-of-factly. So frus-
trated was he with his failure to kill Drizzt that he hardly
cared.
Masoj shook his head. "She need not know”
A suspicious smile found its way across Alton's disfigured
face. "What do you want?" he asked coyly. "Your tenure
here is almost at its end. What more might a master do for
Masoj?"
"Nothing” Masoj replied. "I want nothing from you”
"Then why?" Alton demanded. "I desire no debts follow.
ing my paths. This incident is to be done with here and
nowl"
"It is done” Masoj replied. Alton didn't seem convinced.
"What could I gain from telling Matron SiNafay of your
foolish actions?" Masoj reasoned. "Likely, she would kill you,
and then the coming war with House Do'Urden would have
no basis. You are the link we need to justify the attack. I de-
sire this battle; I'll not risk it for the little pleasure I might
find in your tortured demise”
"I was foolish” Alton admitted, more somberly. "I had not
planned to kill Drizzt when I summoned him here, just to
watch him and learn of him, so that I might savor more
when the time to kill him finally arrived. Seeing him before
me, though, seeing a cursed Do'Urden standing unpro-
tected before me . . . !"
"I understand” said Masoj sincerely. "I have had those
same feelings when looking upon that one”
"You have no grudge against House Do'Urden”
"Not the house” Masoj explained, "that one! I have
watched him for nearly a decade, studied his movements
and his attitudes”
"You like not what you see?" Alton asked, a hopeful tone in
his voice.
"He does not belong” Masoj replied grimly. "After six
months by his side, I feel I know him less now than I ever
did. He displays no ambition, yet has emerged victorious
from his class's grand melee nine years in a row. It's unprec-
edented! His grasp of magic is strong; he could have been a
wizard, a very powerful wizard, if he had chosen that
course of study”
Masoj clenched his fist, searching for the words to convey
his true emotions about Drizzt. "It is all too easy for him” he
snarled. "There is no sacrifice in Drizzt's actions, no scars
for the great gains he makes in his chosen profession”
"He is gifted” Alton remarked, "but he trains as hard as
any I have ever seen, by all accounts”
"That is not the problem” Masoj groaned in frustration.
There was something less tangible about Drizzt Do'Urden's
character that truly irked the young Hun'ett. He couldn't
recognize it now, because he had never witnessed it in any
dark elf before, and because it was so very foreign to his
own makeup. What bothered Masoj-and many other stu-
dents and masters-was the fact that Drizzt excelled in all
the fighting skills the drow elves most treasured but hadn't
given up his passion in return. Drizzt had not paid the price
that the rest of the drow children were made to sacrifice
long before they had even entered the Academy.
"It is not important” Masoj said after several fruitless min-
utes of contemplation. "I will learn more of the young
Do'Urden in time”
"His tutelage under you was finished, I had thought” said
Alton. "He goes to Arach- Tinilith for the final six months of
his training-quite inaccessible to you”
"We both graduate after those six months” Masoj ex-
plained. "We will share our indenture time in the patrol
forces together”
"Many will share that time” Alton reminded him. "Dozens
of groups patrol the corridors of the region. You may never
even see Drizzt in all the years of your term”
"I already have arranged for us to serve in the same
group” replied Masoj. He reached into his pocket and pro-
duced the onyx figurine of the magical panther.
"A mutual agreement between yourself and the young
Do'Urden” Alton reasoned with a complimentary smile.
"It appears that Drizzt has become quite fond of my pet”
Masoj chuckled.
"Tho fond?" Alton warned. "You should watch your back
for scimitars”
Masoj laughed aloud. "Perhaps our friend, Do'Urden,
should watch his back for panther claws!"
Chapter 16
Sacrilege
"Last day” Drizzt breathed in relief as he donned his cer-
emonial robes. If the first six months of this final year, learn-
ing the subtleties of magic in Sorcere, had been the most
enjoyable, these last six in the school of Lloth had been the
least. Every day, Drizzt and his classmates had been sub-
jected to endless eulogies to the Spider Queen, tales and
prophecies of her power and of the rewards she bestowed
