Bloog's new hammer! Crunch him down!"
"Crunch who?" Chogurugga called from across the way, and the ogress scowled, seeing Le'lorinel close to Bloog.
"Not as easy as that, mighty Bloog," the elf explained, pointedly taking no note of ugly Chogurugga. "Come, my friend. I will show you how to best defeat the dark elf."
Bloog looked from Le'lorinel to his scowling mate, then back to the delicate elf. With an expression that told Le'lorinel he was as interested in angering Chogurugga as he was in learning what he might about the drow, the giant ogre pulled himself out of the hammock and hoisted Aegis-fang to his shoulder. The mighty weapon was dwarfed by the creature's sheer bulk and muscle that it looked more like a carpenter's hammer.
With a final glance to Chogurugga, just to make sure the volatile ogress wasn't preparing a charge, Le'lorinel led Bloog out of the room and back up the ramp, going to the northern end of the next level and knocking hard on Bellany's door.
"What is he doing up here?" the sorceress asked when she answered the knock a few minutes later. "Sheila would not approve."
"What have you learned?" Le'lorinel asked.
A cloud passed over Bellany's face. "More than a white worm," she confirmed. "I have seen a dwarf and a large man moving close to our position, running hard."
"Bruenor Battlehammer and Wulfgar, likely," Le'lorinel replied. "What of the drow?"
Bellany shrugged and shook her head.
"If they have come, then so has Drizzt Do'Urden," Le'lorinel insisted. "The fight out there is likely a diversion. Look closer!"
Bellany scowled at the elf, but Le'lorinel didn't back down.
"Drizzt Do'Urden might already be in the complex," the elf added.
That took the anger off of Bellany's face, and she moved back into her room and shut the door. A moment later, Le'lorinel heard her casting a spell and watched with a smile as the wood on Bellany's door seemed to swell a bit, fitting the portal tightly into the jamb.
Fighting hard not to laugh out loud, as much on the edge of nerves as ever before, Le'lorinel motioned for Bloog to follow and moved to a different door.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Regis put his cherubic face up against the stone and didn't dare to breathe. He heard the rumble of the next pair of brutes, along with the snarl of a more human voice, as they came past his and Drizzt's position, heading up the gorge to check on their companions.
The halfling took some comfort in the fact that Drizzt was hiding right beside him - until he managed to turn his face that way to find that the drow was gone.
Panic welled in Regis. He could heard the cursing trio of enemies right behind him.
"Too bloody cold to be chasin' shadows!" the human snarled.
"Big wormie," said one of the ogres.
"And that makes it better?" the human asked sarcastically. "Leave the ugly thing alone, and it'll slither away!"
"Big worm killeded Bonko!" the other ogre said indignantly.
The human started to respond - likely to dismiss the importance of a dead ogre, Regis realized, but apparently he thought the better of it and just cursed under his breath.
They went right past the halfling's position, and if they'd come any closer, they surely would have brushed right against Regis's rear end.
The halfling didn't breathe easier until their voices had faded considerably, and still he stood there in the shadows, hugging the wall.
"Regis," came a whisper, and he looked up to see Drizzt on a ledge above him. "Come along and be quick. It's clear into the cave."
Mustering all the courage he could find, the halfling scrambled up, taking the drow's offered hand. The pair skittered along the thin ridge, behind a wall of blocking boulders to the corner of the large cave.
Drizzt peeked around, then skittered in, pulling Regis along behind him.
The cave narrowed into a tunnel soon after, running level and branching in two or three places. The air was smoky, with torches lining the walls at irregular intervals, their dancing flames illuminating the place with wildly elongating and shrinking shadows.
"This way," Regis said, slipping past the drow at one fork, and moving down to the left. He tried to recall everything Robillard had told him about the place, for the wizard had done a thorough scan of the area and had even found his way up into the complex a bit.
The ground sloped down in some places, up in others, though the pair were generally