respectfully wide berth."
"So our friend is known among the bowel-dwellers," Dendybar mused.
"A hired killer, I would guess," reasoned Sydney. "Probably from the
south - Waterdeep, perhaps, though we should have heard more of him if that
were the case. Perhaps even farther south, from the lands beyond our
vision."
"Interesting," replied Dendybar, trying to formulate some theory to
satisfy all the variables. "And the girl?"
Sydney shrugged. "I do not believe that she follows him willingly,
though she has made no move to be free of him. And when you saw him in
Morkai's vision, he was riding alone."
"He acquired her," came an unexpected reply from the doorway. Jierdan
entered the room.
"What? Unannounced?" sneered Dendybar.
"I have news - it could not wait," Jierdan replied boldly.
"Have they left the city?" Sydney prompted, voicing her suspicions to
heighten the anger she read on the mottled wizard's pallid face. Sydney
well understood the dangers and the difficulties of the docks, and almost
pitied Jierdan for incurring the wrath of the merciless Dendybar in a
situation beyond his control. But Jierdan remained her competition for the
mottled wizard's favor, and she wouldn't let sympathy stand in the way of
her ambitions.
"No," Jierdan snapped at her. "My news does not concern the drow's
party." He looked back to Dendybar. "A caravan arrived in Luskan today - in
search of the woman."
"Who is she?" asked Dendybar, suddenly very interested and forgetting
his anger at the intrusion.
"The adopted daughter of Bruenor Battlehamer," Jierdan replied. "Cat-"
"Catti-brie! Of course!" hissed Dendybar, himself familiar with most of
the prominent people in Ten-Towns. "I should have guessed!" He turned to
Sydney. " My respect for our mysterious rider grows each day. Find him and
bring him back to me!"
Sydney nodded, though she feared that Dendybar's request would prove
more difficult than the mottled wizard believed, probably even beyond her
skills altogether.
She spent that night, until the early hours of the following morning,
searching the alleyways and meeting places of the dockside area. But even
using her contacts on the docks and all the magical tricks at her disposal,
she found no sign of Entreri and Catti-brie, and no one willing or able to
pass along any information that might help her in her search.
Tired and frustrated, she returned to the Hosttower the next day,
passing the corridor to Dendybar's room, even though he had ordered her to
report to him directly upon her return. Sydney was in no mood to listen to
the mottled wizard's ranting about her failure.
She entered her small room, just off the main trunk of the Hosttower on
the northern branch, below the rooms of the Master of the North Spire, and
bolted the doors, further sealing them against unwelcomed intrusion with a
magical spell.
She had barely fallen into her bed when the surface of her coveted
scrying mirror began to swirl and glow. "Damn you, Dendybar," she growled,
assuming that the disturbance was her master's doing. Dragging her weary
body to the mirror, she stared deeply into it, attuning her mind to the
swirl to bring the image clearer. It was not Dendybar that she faced, to
her relief, but a wizard from a distant town, a would-be suitor that the
passionless Sydney kept dangling by a thread of hope so that she could
manipulate him as she needed.
"Greetings, fair Sydney," the mage said. "I pray I did not disturb your
sleep, but I have exciting news!"
Normally, Sydney would have tactfully listened to the mage, feigned
interest in the story, and politely excused herself from the encounter. But
now, with Dendybar's pressing demands lying squarely across her shoulders,
she had no patience for distractions. "This is not the time!" she snapped.
The mage, so caught up in his own news, seemed not to notice her
definitive tone. "The most marvelous thing has happened in our town," he
rambled.
"Harkle!" Sydney cried to break his babbling momentum.
The mage halted, crestfallen. "But, Sydney," he said.
"Another time," she insisted.
"But how often in this day does one actually see and speak with a drow
elf?" Harkle persisted.
"I cannot -" Sydney stopped short, digesting Harkle's last words. "A
drow elf?" she stammered.
"Yes," Harkle beamed proudly, thrilled that his news had apparently
impressed his beloved Sydney. "Drizzt Do'Urden, by name. He left Longsaddle
just two days ago. I would have told you earlier, but the mansion has just
been astir about the whole thing!"
"Tell me more, dear Harkle," Sydney purred enticingly. "Do tell me
everything."
"I am in need of information."
Whisper froze at the sound of the unexpected voice, guessing the
speaker immediately. She knew that he was in town, and knew, too, that he
was the only one who could have slipped through her defenses to get into
her secret chambers.
"Information," Entreri said again, moving out from the shadows behind a
dressing screen.
Whisper slid the jar of healing unguent into her pocket and took a good
measure of the man. Rumors spoke of him as the deadliest of assassins, and
she, all too familiar with killers, knew at once that the rumors rang with
truth. She sensed Entreri's power, and the easy coordination of his
movements. "Men do not come to my room uninvited," she warned bravely.
Entreri moved to a better vantage point to study the bold woman. He had
heard of her as well, a survivor of the rough streets, beautiful and
deadly. But apparently Whisper had lost an encounter. Her nose was broken
and disjointed, splayed across her cheek.
Whisper understood the scrutiny. She squared her shoulders and threw
her head back proudly. "An unfortunate accident," she hissed.
"It is not my concern," Entreri came back. "I have come for
information."
Whisper turned away to go about her routine, trying to appear
unbothered. "My price is high," she said coolly.
She turned back to Entreri, the intense but frighteningly calm look on
his face telling her beyond doubt that her life would be the only reward
for cooperation.
"I seek four companions," said Entreri. "A dwarf, a drow, a young man,
and a halfling."
Whisper was unused to such situations. No crossbows supported her now,
no bodyguards waited for her signal behind a nearby secret door. She tried
to remain calm, but Entreri knew the depth of her fear. She chuckled and
pointed to her broken nose. "I have met your dwarf, and your drow, Artemis
Entreri." She emphasized his name as she spoke it, hoping that her
recognition would put him back on the defensive.
"Where are they?" Entreri asked, still in control. "And what did they
request of you?"
Whisper shrugged. "If they remain in Luskan, I do not know where. Most
probably they are gone; the dwarf has a map of the northland."
Entreri considered the words. "Your reputation speaks more highly of
you," he said sarcastically. "You accept such a wound and let them slip
through your grasp?"
Whispers eyes narrowed in anger. "I choose my fights carefully," she
hissed. "The four are too dangerous for actions of frivolous vengeance. Let
them go where they will. I want no business with them again."
Entreri's calm visage sagged a bit. He had already been to the Cutlass
and heard of Wulfgar's exploits. And now this. A woman like Whisper was not
easily cowed. Perhaps he should indeed re-evaluate the strength of his
opponents.
"Fearless is the dwarf," Whisper offered, sensing his dismay and taking
pleasure in furthering his discomfort. "And ware the drow, Artemis
Entreri," she hissed pointedly, attempting to relegate him to a similar
level of respect for the companions with the grimness of her tone. "He
walks in shadows that we cannot see, and strikes from the darkness. He
conjures a demon in the form of a great cat and -"
Entreri turned and started away, having no intention of allowing
Whisper to gain any more of an advantage.
Reveling in her victory, Whisper couldn't resist the temptation to
throw one final dart. "Men do not come to my room uninvited," she said
again. Entreri passed into an adjoining room and Whisper heard the door to
the alley close.
"I choose my fights carefully," she whispered to the emptiness of the
room, regaining a measure of her pride with the threat.
She turned back to a small dressing table and took out the jar of
unguent, quite pleased with herself. She examined her wound in the table's
mirror. Not too bad. The salve would erase it as it had erased so many
scars from the trials of her profession.
She understood her stupidity when she saw the shadow slip past her
reflection in the mirror, and felt the brush of air at her back. Her
business allowed no tolerance for errors, and offered no second chance. For
the first and -last time in her life, Whisper had let her pride rise above
her judgment.
A final groan escaped her as the jeweled dagger sunk deeply into her
back.
"I, too, choose my fights with care," Entreri whispered into her ear.
The next morning found Entreri outside a place he did not want to
enter: the Hosttower of the Arcane. He knew that he was running out of
options. Convinced now that the companions had long since left Luskan, the
assassin needed some magical assistance to heat up the trail again. It had
taken him nearly two years to sniff out the halfling in Ten-Towns, and his
patience was wearing thin.
Catti-brie reluctantly but obediently at his side, he approached the
structure, and was promptly escorted to Dendybar's audience hall, where the
mottled wizard and Sydney waited to greet him.
"They have left the city," Entreri said bluntly, before any exchange of
greetings.
Dendybar smiled to show Entreri that he had the upper hand this time.
"As long as a week ago," he replied calmly.
"And you know where they are," Entreri reasoned.
Dendybar nodded, the smile still curling into his hollow cheeks.
The assassin didn't enjoy the game. He spent a long moment measuring
his counterpart, searching for some hint of the wizard's intentions.
Dendybar did likewise, still very much interested in an alliance with the
formidable killer - but only on favorable terms.
"The price of the information?" Entreri asked.
"I do not even know your name," was Dendybar's reply.
Fair enough, the assassin thought. He bowed low. "Artemis Entreri," he
said, confident enough to speak truthfully.
"And why do you seek the companions, carrying the dwarf's daughter in
tow?" Dendybar pressed, playing his hand out to give the cocky assassin
something to worry about.
"That is my own care," hissed Entreri, the narrowing of his eyes the
only indication that Dendybar's knowledge had perturbed him.
"It is mine, as well, if we are to be allies in this!" shouted
Dendybar, rising to stand tall and ominous and intimidate Entreri.
The assassin, though, cared little for the wizard's continuing antics,
too engrossed in assessing the value of such an alliance. "I ask nothing of
your business with them," Entreri replied at length. "Tell me only which
one of the four it concerns."
It was Dendybar's turn to ponder. He wanted Entreri in his court, if
for no other reason than he feared having the assassin working against him.
And he liked the notion that he would not have to disclose anything about
the artifact that he sought to this very dangerous man. "The drow has
something of mine, or knowledge of where I can find it," he said. "I want
it back."
"And the halfling is mine," Entreri demanded. "Where are they?"
Dendybar motioned to Sydney. "They have passed through Longsaddle," she
said. "And are headed to Silverymoon, more than two weeks to the east."
The names were unknown to Catti-brie, but she was glad that her friends
had a good lead. She needed time to sort out a plan, though she wondered
how effective she could be surrounded by such powerful captors.
"And what do you propose?" Entreri asked.
"An alliance," replied Dendybar.
"But I have the information I need," Entreri laughed. "What do I gain
in an alliance with you?"
"My powers can get you to them, and can aid in defeating them. They are
not a weak force. Consider it of mutual benefit."
"You and I on the road? You seem more fitted to a book and a desk,
wizard."
Dendybar locked an unblinking glare on the arrogant assassin. "I assure
you that I can get wherever I desire more effectively than you ever could
imagine," he growled. He let go of his anger quickly, though, being more
interested in completing business. "But I shall remain here. Sydney will go
in my stead, and Jierdan, the soldier, will be her escort."
Entreri did not like the idea of traveling with Jierdan, but he decided
not to press the point. It might be interesting, and helpful, in sharing
the hunt with the Hosttower of the Arcane. He agreed to the terms.
"And what of her?" Sydney asked, pointing to Catti-brie.
"She goes with me," Entreri was quick to answer.
