would not let the challenge go unanswered. One spring of his long legs
easily carried him over the table and placed him squarely between the fat
man and Regis. He returned the fat man's ominous glare with equal
intensity.
The fat man glanced to his friends at the bar, fully aware that his
proud young opponent's distorted sense of honor would prevent a first
strike. "Well, look ye here," he laughed, his lips turned back in drooling
anticipation, "seems the young one has a thing to say."
He started slowly to turn back on Wulfgar, then lunged suddenly for the
barbarian's throat, expecting that his change in tempo would catch Wulfgar
by surprise.
But although he was inexperienced in the ways of taverns, Wulfgar
understood battle. He had trained with Drizzt Do'Urden, an ever-alert
warrior, and had toned his muscles to their sharpest fighting edge. Before
the fat man's hands ever came near his throat, Wulfgar had snapped one of
his own huge paws over his opponent's face and had driven the other into
the fat man's groin. His stunned opponent found himself rising into the
air.
For a moment, onlookers were too amazed to react at all, except for
Regis, who slapped a hand across his own disbelieving face and
inconspicuously slid under the table.
The fat man outweighed three average men, but the barbarian brought him
up easily over the top of his seven-foot frame, and even higher, to the
full extension of his arms.
Howling in helpless rage, the fat man, ordered his supporters to
attack. Wulfgar watched patiently for the first move against him.
The whole crowd seemed to jump at once. Keeping his calm, the trained
warrior searched out the tightest concentration, three men, and launched
the human missile, noting their horrified expressions just before the waves
of blubber rolled over them, blasting them backward. Then their combined
momentum smashed an entire section of the bar from its supports, knocking
the unfortunate innkeeper away and sending him crashing into the racks
holding his finest wines.
Wulfgar's amusement was short-lived, for other ruffians were quickly
upon him. He dug his heels in where he was, determined to keep his footing,
and lashed out with his great fists, swatting his enemies aside, one by
one, and sending them sprawling into the far corners of the room. Fighting
erupted all around the tavern. Men who could not have been spurred to
action if a murder had been committed at their feet sprang upon each other
with unbridled rage at the horrifying sight of spilled booze and a broken
bar.
Few of the fat man's supporters were deterred by the general row,
though. They rolled in on Wulfgar, wave after wave. He held his ground
well, for none could delay him long enough for their reinforcements to get
in. Still, the barbarian was being hit as often as he was connecting with
his own blows. He took the punches stoically, blocking out the pain through
sheer pride and his fighting tenacity that simply would not allow him to
lose.
From his new seat under the table, Regis watched the action and sipped
his drink. Even the barmaids were into it now, riding around on some
unfortunate combatants' backs, using their nails to etch intricate designs
into the men's faces. In fact, Regis soon discerned that the only other
person in the tavern who wasn't in the fight, other than those who were
already unconscious, was Jierdan. The soldier sat quietly in his chair,
unconcerned with the brawling beside him and interested only, it seemed, in
watching and measuring Wulfgar's prowess.
This, too, disturbed the halfling, but once again he found that he
didn't have time to contemplate the soldier's unusual actions. Regis had
known from the start that he would have to pull his giant friend out of
this, and now his alert eyes had caught the expected flash of steel. A
rogue in the line directly behind Wulfgar's latest opponents had drawn a
blade.
"Damn!" Regis muttered, setting down his drink and pulling his mace
from a fold in his cloak. Such business always left a foul taste in his
mouth.
Wulfgar threw his two opponents aside, opening a path for the man with
the knife. He charged forward, his eyes up and staring into those of the
tall barbarian. He didn't even notice Regis dart out from between Wulfgar's
long legs, the little mace poised to strike. It slammed into the man's
knee, shattering the kneecap, and sent him sprawling forward, blade
exposed, toward Wulfgar.
Wulfgar side-stepped the lunge at the last moment and clasped his hand
over the hand of his assailant. Rolling with the momentum, the barbarian
knocked aside the table and slammed into the wall. One squeeze crushed the
assailant's fingers on the knife hilt, while at the same time Wulfgar
engulfed the man's face with his free hand and hoisted him from the ground.
Crying out to Tempus, the god of battle, the barbarian, enraged at the
appearance of a weapon, slammed the man's head through the wooden planks of
the wall and left him dangling, his feet fully a foot from the floor.
An impressive move, but it cost Wulfgar time. When he turned back
toward the bar, he was buried under a flurry of fists and kicks from
several attackers.
* * * * *
"Here she comes," Bruenor whispered to Drizzt when he saw Whisper
returning, though the drow's heightened senses had told him of her coming
long before the dwarf was aware of it. Whisper had only been gone a
half-hour or so, but it seemed much longer to the two friends in the alley,
dangerously open to the sights of the crossbowmen and other thugs they knew
were nearby.
Whisper sauntered confidently up to them. "Here is the map you desire,"
she said to Bruenor, holding up a rolled parchment.
"A look, then," the dwarf demanded, starting forward.
The woman recoiled and dropped the parchment to her side. "The price is
higher," she stated flatly. "Ten times what you have already offered."
Bruenor's dangerous glare did not deter her. "No choice is left to
you," she hissed. "You shall find no other who can deliver this unto you.
Pay the price and be done with it!"
"A moment," Bruenor said with sudden calm. "Me friend has a say in
this." He and Drizzt moved a step away.
"She has discovered who we are," the drove explained, though Bruenor
had already come to the same conclusion. "And how much we can pay."
"Be it the map?" Bruenor asked.
Drizzt nodded. "She would have no reason to believe that she is in any
danger, not down here. Have you the money?"
"Aye," said the dwarf, "but our road is long yet, and I fear we'll be
needing what I've got and more."
"It is settled then," Drizzt replied. Bruenor recognized the fiery
gleam that flared up in the drow's lavender eyes. "When first we met this
woman, we struck a fair deal," he went on. "A deal we shall honor."
Bruenor understood and approved. He felt the tingle of anticipation
start in his blood. He turned back on the woman and noticed at once that
she now held a dagger at her side instead of the parchment. Apparently she
understood the nature of the two adventurers she was dealing with.
Drizzt, also noticing the metallic glint, stepped back from Bruenor,
trying to appear unmenacing to Whisper, though in reality, he wanted to get
a better angle on some suspicious cracks that he had noticed in the wall -
cracks that might be the edgings of a secret door.
Bruenor approached the woman with his empty arms outstretched. "If that
be the price," he grumbled, "then we have no choice but to pay. But I'll be
seein' the map first!"
Confident that she could put her dagger into the dwarf's eye before
either of his hands could get back to his belt for a weapon, Whisper
relaxed and moved her empty hand to the parchment under her cloak.
But she underestimated her opponent.
Bruenor's stubby legs twitched, launching him up high enough to slam
his helmet into the woman's face, splattering her nose and knocking her
head into the wall. He went for the map, dropping the original purse of
gems onto Whisper's limp form and muttering, "As we agreed."
Drizzt, too, had sprung into motion. As soon as the dwarf flinched, he
had called upon the innate magic of his heritage to conjure a globe of
darkness in front of the window harboring the crossbowmen. No bolts came
through, but the angered shouts of the two archers echoed throughout the
alley.
Then the cracks in the wall split open, as Drizzt had anticipated, and
Whisper's second line of defense came rushing through. The drow was
prepared, scimitars already in his hands. The blades flashed, blunt sides
only, but with enough precision to disarm the burly rogue that stepped out.
Then they came in again, slapping the man's face, and in the same fluidity
of motion, Drizzt reversed the angle, slamming one pommel, and then the
other, into the man's temples. By the time Bruenor had turned around with
the map, the way was clear before them.
Bruenor examined the drow's handiwork with true admiration.
Then a crossbow quarrel ticked into the wall just an inch from his
head.
"Time to go," Drizzt observed.
"The end'll be blocked, or I'm a bearded gnome," Bruenor said as they
neared the exit to the alley. A growling roar in the building beside them,
followed by terrified screams, brought them some comfort.
"Guenhwyvar," Drizzt stated as two cloaked, men burst out into the
street before them and fled without looking back.
"Sure that I'd forgotten all about that cat!" cried Bruenor.
"Be glad that Guenhwyvar's memory is greater than your own," laughed
Drizzt, and Bruenor, despite his feelings for the cat, laughed with him.
They halted at the end of the alley and scouted the street. There were no
signs of any trouble, though the heavy fog provided good cover for a
possible ambush.
"Take it slow," Bruenor offered. "We'll draw less attention."
Drizzt would have agreed, but then a second quarrel, launched from
somewhere down the alley, knocked into a wooden beam between them.
"Time to go!" Drizzt stated more decisively, though Bruenor needed no
further encouragement, his little legs already pumping wildly as he sped
off into the fog.
They made their way through the twists and turns of Luskan's rat maze,
Drizzt gracefully gliding over any rubble barriers and Bruenor simply
crashing through them. Presently, they grew confident that there was no
pursuit, and they changed their pace to an easy glide.
The white of a smile showed through the dwarf's red beard as he kept a
satisfied eye cocked over his shoulder. But when he turned back to view the
road before him, he suddenly dove down to the side, scrambling to find his
axe.
He had come face up with the magical cat.
Drizzt couldn't contain his laughter.
"Put the thing away!" Bruenor demanded.
"Manners, good dwarf," the drow shot back. "Remember that, Guenhwyvar
cleared our escape trail."
"Put it away!" Bruenor declared again, his axe swinging at the ready.
Drizzt stroked the powerful cat's muscled neck. "Do not heed his words,
friend," he said to the cat. "He is a dwarf, and cannot appreciate the
finer magics!"
"Bah!" Bruenor snarled, though he breathed a bit easier as Drizzt
dismissed the cat and replaced the onyx statue in his pouch.
The two came upon Half-Moon Street a short while later, stopping in a
final alley to look for any signs of ambush. They knew at once that there
had been trouble, for several injured men stumbled, or were carried, past
the alley's entrance.
Then they saw the Cutlass, and two familiar forms sitting on the street
out in front.
"What're ye doin' out here?" Bruenor asked as they approached.
"Seems our big friend answers insults with punches," said Regis, who
hadn't been touched in the fray. Wulfgar's face, though, was puffy and
bruised, and he could barely open one eye. Dried, blood, some of it his
own, caked his fists and clothes.
Drizzt and Bruenor looked at each other, not too surprised.
"And our rooms?" Bruenor grumbled.
Regis shook his head. "I doubt it."
"And my coins?"
Again the halfling shook his head.
"Bah!" snorted Bruenor, and he stamped off toward the door of the
Cutlass.
"I wouldn't . . . " Regis started, but then he shrugged and decided to
let Bruenor find out for himself.
Bruenor's shock was complete when he opened the tavern door. Tables,
glass, and unconscious patrons lay broken all about the floor. The
innkeeper slumped over one part of the shattered bar, a barmaid wrapping
his bloodied head in bandages. The man Wulfgar had implanted into the wall
still hung limply by the back of his head, groaning softly, and Bruenor
couldn't help but chuckle at the handiwork of the mighty barbarian. Every
now and then, one of the barmaids, passing by the man as she cleaned, gave
him a little push, taking amusement at his swaying.
"Good coins wasted," Bruenor surmised, and he walked back out the door
before the innkeeper noticed him and set the barmaids upon him.
"Hell of a row!" he told Drizzt when he returned to his companions.
"Everyone in on it?"
"All but one," Regis answered. "A soldier."
"A soldier of Luskan, down here?" asked Drizzt, surprised by the
