beauty of the Alegni Bridge.”
“The Alegni Bridge?”
“Wonderful, do you not agree?”
“You summoned me from Memnon to convince a petty lord to rename a bridge in your honor?”
“I cannot go against him openly, of course,” said Alegni. “Our business in the forest progresses, and I’d not divert the resources.”
“And if you went against him openly, you would risk a war with the lords of Waterdeep. Your superiors would hardly be pleased with that.”
“You see, Barrabus, even the simple-minded can follow simple logic. Now, pay our esteemed Lord Hugo Babris a visit this night and explain to him that it would be in his interest to rename the bridge in my honor.”
“Then I can depart this swine kennel?”
“Oh, no, Gray, I have many more duties for you before I release you to your games back in the desert south. We have encountered some elves in the forest who need persuasion, and there are deep holes we’ve uncovered. I’d not send a true Shadovar into them until I am certain of their integrity and their occupants. You are here for years, my slave, unless I can persuade the princes that your trouble is not worth your value and thus be rid of you once and for all.”
Barrabus the Gray stared at the tiefling hatefully for a few heartbeats, his posture easy, his thumbs looped under his thin belt. With a disgusted shake of his head, he turned and started away.
As soon as the small man took his first steps, Herzgo Alegni reached under the edge of his open leather vest to a hidden sheath and drew forth a peculiar two-pronged implement. He reached back and tapped it against the side of his powerful, sentient sword, and it began to hum with residual vibrations and offered magic. Grinning wickedly, he waved it beside the hilt of his sword, as if awakening the beast within the blade.
Barrabus the Gray cringed and lurched to the side. His hands went out wide, folding into tight, white-knuckled fists. His jaw clenched so hard he was fortunate not to have bitten off part of his tongue.
The hum continued, the song of Claw, rolling through him like little waves of lava, boiling his blood.
Grimacing, trembling, he sank down to one knee.
Presenting the humming fork in front of him, Alegni walked around the man. He locked eyes with the dangerous killer for a short while then grasped the fork’s tines with his free hand, ceasing the hum, the conduit of the sword’s call, and the agony.
“Ah, Gray, why do you force me to keep reminding you of your place here?” the tiefling asked, his voice thick with regret, though thin with sincerity. “Can you not just accept your lot in life, and show gratitude for the gifts the Netherese have given you?”
Barrabus hung his hairy head low, trying to regain his sensibilities. When Alegni brought his hand under the man’s lowered face, Barrabus took it, and allowed the tiefling to help him back to his feet.
“There,” Alegni said. “I am not your enemy, I am your companion. And I am your superior. If you would commit that truth to memory, I would not have to continually remind you.”
Barrabus the Gray glanced at the tiefling only briefly then started away at a determined stride.
“Shave your beard and trim your hair!” Herzgo Alegni called behind him, a clear command, and a clear threat. “You look the part of a vagabond, and that will not do for one who serves the great Herzgo Alegni!”
“Elf, I got something!” Bruenor yelled, his voice echoing off the uneven stones of the cave complex’s walls. So that by the time it reached Drizzt’s ears, it sounded only as “Elf elf elf elf elf elf elf …”
The drow ranger lowered his torch and looked to the main corridor just outside the small side chamber in which he was working. He stepped out into the corridor as the dwarf called to him again. Drizzt smiled, recognizing from the tone that his friend wasn’t in any trouble. But looking at the catacombs in front of him, he realized he had no idea how to even begin looking for Bruenor.
He smiled again, thinking that maybe he did have a way. He pulled an onyx figurine from his belt pouch and called out, “Guenhwyvar.”
There was no insistence nor urgency, and barely any volume to his call, but he knew it had been heard even before gray mist began to swirl around him and take the shape of a great feline. It coagulated even