them in turn. "And the child, Colson."
"How fares my Delly?" asked Arumn, and Catti-brie didn't miss the fact that Josi Puddles was chewing his lip with anticipation. Likely that one was sweet on the girl, Catti-brie recognized.
"She does well, as does the little girl," Drizzt put in. "Though even as we arrived, we found them in peril."
All four of the listeners stared hard at those ominous words.
"Sheila Kree, the pirate, or so we believe," Drizzt explained. "For some reason that I do not yet know, she took it upon herself to send a raiding party to Waterdeep."
"Looking for me boy?" Bruenor asked.
"Or looking to back off Deudermont, who's been chasing her all season," remarked Arumn, who was well versed in such things, listening to much of the gossip from the many sailors who frequented his tavern.
"One or the other, and so we have returned to find out which," Drizzt replied.
"Do we even know that Sea Sprite is still afloat?" Regis asked.
The halfling's eyes went wide and he bit his lip as soon as he heard the words coming out of his mouth, his wince showing clearly that he had realized, too late, that such a possibility as the destruction of the ship would weigh very heavily on the shoulders of Bruenor.
Still, it was an honest question to ask, and one that Drizzt and Catti-brie had planned on asking Arumn long before they arrived in Luskan. Both looked questioningly to the tavern-keeper.
"Heard nothing to say it ain't," Arumn answered. "But if Sheila Kree got Sea Sprite, then it could well be months before we knowed it here. Can't believe she did, though. Word among the docks is that none'd take on Sea Sprite in the open water."
"See what you can find out, I beg you," Drizzt said to him.
The portly tavern-keeper nodded and motioned to Josi to likewise begin an inquiry.
"I strongly doubt that Sheila Kree got anywhere near to Sea Sprite," Drizzt echoed, for Bruenor's benefit, and with conviction. "Or if she did, then likely it was the remnants of her devastated band that staged the raid against Captain Deudermont's house, seeking one last bit of retribution for the destruction of Sheila's ship and the loss of her crew. I sailed with Captain Deudermont for five years, and I can tell you that I never encountered a single ship that could out-duel Sea Sprite,"
"Or her wizard, Robillard," Catti-brie added.
Bruenor continued simply to stare at the two of them hard, the dwarf obviously on the very edge of anxiety for his missing son.
"And so we're to wait?" he asked a few moments later. It was obvious from his tone that he wasn't thrilled with that prospect.
"The winter puts Sea Sprite out of the hunt for Sheila Kree's ship," Drizzt explained, lowering his voice so that only the companions could hear. "And likely it puts Sheila Kree off the cold waters for the season. She has to be docked somewhere."
That seemed to appease Bruenor somewhat. "We'll find her, then," he said determinedly. "And get back me warhammer."
"And hopefully Wulfgar will join us," Catti-brie added. "That he might be holdin' Aegis-fang once again. That he might be finding where he belongs and where the hammer belongs."
Bruenor lifted his mug of ale in a toast to that hopeful sentiment, and all the others joined in, each understanding that Catti-brie's scenario had to be considered the most optimistic and that a far darker road likely awaited them all.
In the subsequent discussion, the companions decided to spend the next few days searching the immediate area around Luskan, including the docks. Arumn and Josi, and Morik the Rogue once they could find him, were to inquire where they might about Sea Sprite and Sheila Kree. The plan would give Wulfgar a chance to catch up with them, perhaps, if he got the news in Waterdeep and that was his intent. It was also possible that Sea Sprite would come through Luskan on its way to Waterdeep. If that was to happen, it would be very soon, Drizzt knew, for the season was getting late.
Drizzt ordered a round for all four, then held back the others before they could begin their drinking. He held his own glass up in a second toast, a reaffirmation of Bruenor's first one.
"The news is brighter than we could have expected when first we left Ten-Towns," he reminded them all. "By all accounts, our friend is alive and with good and reliable company."
"To Wulfgar!" said Regis, as Drizzt paused.
"And to Delly Curtie and