that the drow, features set and grim, had scimitars in his hands, one glowing a soft bluish light.
Tarathiel strung his long bow as Drizzt crawled out from the brush and skittered over to the rock wall. Then the moon elf rushed off, joining his drow companion.
"1 have seen the signs of many orcs since we entered the moun tains, " Tarathiel whispered. He pulled back on his bowstring and nodded grimly. "For Montolio?"
Drizzt returned the nod and inched up to peek over the stone wall. He expected to see orcs, and expected to see dead orcs soon after.
The drow froze in place, his arms falling limply at his sides and his breath suddenly hard to come by.
Tarathiel nudged him, looking for an answer, but with none forthcoming, the elf took up his bow and peeked over the wall.
At first he saw nothing, but then he followed Drizzt's unblink ing gaze to the south, to a small break in the trees, where a branch was bobbing as though something had just brushed against it. Tarathiel caught a flash of white from the shadows beyond. A horse, he thought.
It came from the shadows then, a powerful steed wearing a coat of gleaming white. Its unusual eyes glowed fiery pink, and an ivory horn, easily half the height of the elf's body, protruded from its fore head. The unicorn looked in the companions' general direction, pawed the ground, and snorted.
Tarathiel had the good sense to duck low, and he pulled the stunned Drizzt Do'Urden down beside him.
"Unicorn!" the elf mouthed silently to Drizzt, and the drow's hand instinctively went under the front collar of his traveling cloak, to the unicorn's head pendant Regis had carved for him from the bone of a knucklehead trout.
Tarathiel pointed back to the thick copse of trees and signaled that he and Drizzt should be leaving, but the drow shook his head. His composure returned, Drizzt again peeked over the stone wall.
The area was clear, with no indication that the unicorn was about.
"We should be gone, " Tarathiel said, as soon as he, too, discerned that the powerful steed was no longer close. "Take heart that Mon tolio's grove is in the best of care."
Drizzt sat up on the wall, peering intently into the tangle of pines. A unicorn! The symbol of Mielikki, the purest symbol of the natural world. To a ranger, there was no more perfect beast, and to Drizzt, there could be no more perfect guardian for the grove of Montohio DeBrouchee. He would have liked to remain in the area for some time, would have dearly liked to glimpse the elusive crea ture again, but he knew that time was pressing and that dark corri dors awaited.
He looked to Tarathiel and smiled, then turned to leave.
But he found the way across the small field blocked by the mighty unicorn.
"How did she do that?" Tarathiel asked. There was no need to whisper anymore, for the unicorn was staring straight at them, paw ing the ground nervously and rolling its powerful head.
"He, " Drizzt corrected, noticing the steed's white beard, a trait of the male unicorn. A thought came over Drizzt then, and he slipped his scimitars into their sheaths and hopped up from his seat.
"How did he do that?" Tarathiel corrected. "I heard no hoof beats." The elf's eyes brightened suddenly, and he looked back to the grove. "Unless there are more than one!"
"There is only one, " Drizzt assured him. "There is a bit of magic within a unicorn, as this one, by slipping behind us, has proven.
"Go around to the south, " Tarathiel whispered. "And I will go north. If we do not threaten the beast, ..." The moon elf stopped, seeing that Drizzt was already moving, straight out from the wall.
"Take care, " Tarathiel warned. "Beautiful indeed are the uni corns, but, by all accounts, they can be dangerous and unpre dictable."
Drizzt held a hand up behind him to silence the elf and contin ued his slow pace from the stone wall. The unicorn neighed and tossed its great head, mane flying wildly. It slammed a hoof into the ground, digging a fair sized hole in the soft turf.
"Drizzt Do'Urden, " Tarathiel warned.
By all reasoning, Drizzt should have turned back. The unicorn could have easily run him down, squashed him into the prairie, and the great beast seemed to grow more and more agitated with each step