nimbly dodging the grasp of the waiting verbeeg. He darted around, putting
himself between his opponent and the door. The giant, its huge hands
outstretched, spun around and charged. But the drow's second scimitar was out
with the first, interweaving in a mesmerizing dance of death. As each blade
flashed out, it sent another of the giant's gnarled fingers spinning to the
floor. Soon the verbeeg had nothing more than two bloodied stumps where its
hands had once been. Enraged beyond sanity, it swung its clublike arms wildly.
Drizzt's scimitar quickly slipped under the side of its skull, ending the
creature's madness.
Meanwhile, the last giant had rushed the unarmed barbarian. It wrapped its
huge arms around Wulfgar and lifted him into the air, trying to squeeze the life
out of him. Wulfgar tightened his muscles in a desperate attempt to prevent his
larger foe from snapping the bones in his back.
The barbarian had trouble finding his breath. Enraged he slammed his fist
into the giant's chin and raised his hand for a second blow.
But then, following the dweomer that Bruenor had cast upon it, the magical
war hammer was back in his grasp. With a howl of glee, Wulfgar drove home the
butt end of Aegis-fang and put out the giant's eye. The giant loosened its grip,
reeling backward in agony. The world had become such a blur of pain to the
monster that it didn't even see Aegis-fang arcing over Wulfgar's head and
speeding toward its skull. It felt a hot explosion as the heavy hammer split
open its head, bouncing the lifeless body into the table and knocking stew and
mutton all over the floor.
"Don't spill the food!" cried Drizzt in mock anger as he rushed to retrieve a
particularly juicy-looking chop.
Suddenly they heard heavy-booted footsteps and shouts coming down the
corridor behind the second door. "Back outside!" yelled Wulfgar as he turned
toward the kitchen.
"Hold!" shouted Drizzt. "The fun is just beginning!" He pointed to a dim,
torchlit tunnel that ran off the left wall of the room. "Down there! Quickly!"
Wulfgar knew that they were pushing their luck, but once again he found
himself listening to the elf.
And once again the barbarian was smiling.
Wulfgar passed the heavy wooden supports at the beginning of the tunnel and
raced off into the dimness. He had gone about thirty feet, Guenhwyvar loping
uncomfortably close at his side, when he realized that Drizzt wasn't following.
He turned around just in time to see the drow stroll casually out of the room
and past the wooden beams. Drizzt had sheathed his scimitars. Instead, he held a
long dagger, its wicked tip planted firmly into a piece of mutton.
"The giants?" asked Wulfgar from the darkness.
Drizzt stepped to the side, behind one of the massive wooden beams. "Right
behind me," he explained calmly as he tore another bite off of his meal.
Wulfgar's jaw dropped open when a pack of frothing verbeeg charged into the
tunnel, never noticing the concealed drow.
"Prayne de crabug ohm keike rinedere be-yogi iglo kes gron!" Wulfgar shouted
as he spun on his heel and sprinted off down the corridor, hoping that it didn't
lead to a dead end.
Drizzt pulled the mutton off the end of his blade and accidentally dropped it
to the ground, cursing silently at the waste of good food. Licking the dagger
clean, he waited patiently. As the last verbeeg rambled past, he darted from his
