The Crystal Shard (22 page)

The cold air gathered in its lungs.

Wulfgar heard the intake of air and reflexively dove to the side. He couldn't fully escape the blast that followed, a frosting cone of unspeakable cold, but his agility, combined with the deer blubber, kept him alive. He landed behind a block of ice, his legs actually burned by the cold and his lungs aching. He needed a moment to recover, but he saw the white head lifting slowly into the air, taking away the angle of the meager barrier.

The barbarian could not survive a second breath.

Suddenly, a globe of darkness engulfed the dragon's head and a black-shafted arrow, and then another, whirred by the barbarian and thudded unseen behind the blackness.

"Attack boy! Now!" cried Drizzt Do'Urden from the entrance to the chamber. The disciplined barbarian instinctively obeyed his teacher. Grimacing through the pain, he moved around the ice block and closed in on the thrashing worm.

Icingdeath swung its great head to and fro, trying to shake free of the dark elf's spell. Hate consumed the beast as yet another stinging arrow found its mark. The dragon's only desire was to kill. Even blinded, its senses were superior; it marked out the drow's direction easily and breathed again.

But Drizzt was well-versed in dragon lore. He had gauged his distance from Icingdeath perfectly, and the strength of the deadly frost fell short.

The barbarian charged in on the distracted dragon's side and slammed Aegis-fang with all of his great might against the white scales. The dragon winced in agony. The scales held under the blow, but the dragon had never felt such strength from a human and didn't care to test its hide against a second strike. It turned to release a third blast of breath on the exposed barbarian.

But another arrow cracked home.

Wulfgar saw a great gob of dragon blood splatter on the floor beside him, and he watched the globe of darkness lurch away. The dragon roared in anger. Aegis-fang struck again, and a third time. One of the scales cracked and flaked away, and the sight of exposed flesh renewed Wulfgar's hopes of victory.

Icingdeath had lived through many battles, though, and was far from finished. The dragon knew how vulnerable it was to the powerful hammer and kept its concentration focused enough to retaliate. The long tail circled over the scaly back and cracked into Wulfgar just as the barbarian had begun another swing. Instead of the satisfaction of feeling Aegis-fang crushing through dragon flesh, Wulfgar found himself slammed against a frozen mound of gold coins twenty feet away.

The cavern spun all about him, his watering eyes heightening the starred reflections of light and his consciousness slipping away. But he saw Drizzt, scimitars drawn, advancing boldly toward Icingdeath. He saw the dragon poised to breath again. He saw, with crystalline clarity, the immense icicle hanging from the ceiling above the dragon.

Drizzt walked forward. He had no strategy against such a formidable foe; he hoped that he would spot some weakness before the dragon killed him. He thought that Wulfgar was out of the battle, and probably dead, after the mighty slash of the tail, and was surprised when he saw sudden movement off to the side.

Icingdeath sensed the barbarian's move as well and sent its long tail to squelch any further threat to its flank.

But Wulfgar had already played his hand. With the last burst of strength he could muster, he snapped up from the mound and launched Aegis-fang high into the air.

The dragon's tail struck home and Wulfgar didn't know if his desperate attempt was successful. He thought that he saw a lighter spot appear on the ceiling before he was thrown into blackness.

Drizzt bore witness to their victory. Mesmerized, the drow watched the silent descent of the huge icicle.

Icingdeath, blinded to the danger by the globe of darkness and thinking that the hammer had flown wildly, waved its wings. The clawed forelegs had just begun to lift up when the ice spear smashed into the dragon's back, driving it back to the floor.

With the ball of darkness planted on its head, Drizzt couldn't see the dragon's dying expression.

But he heard the killing "crack" as the whiplike neck, launched by the sudden reversal of momentum, rolled upward and snapped.

22

By Blood or by Deed

The heat of a small fire brought Wulfgar back to consciousness. He came to his senses groggily and, at first, could not comprehend his surroundings as he wriggled out of a blanket that he did not remember bringing. Then he l recognized Icingdeath, lying dead just a few yards away, the huge icicle rooted firmly in the dragon's back. The globe of darkness had dissipated, and Wulfgar gawked at how accurate the drow's approximated bowshots had been. One arrow protruded from the dragon's left eye, and the black shafts of two others stuck out from the mouth.

Wulfgar reached down to grasp the security of Aegisfang's familiar handle. But the hammer was nowhere near him. Fighting the pervading numbness in his legs, the barbarian managed to stand up, searching around frantically for his weapon. And where, he wondered, was the drow?

Then he heard the tapping coming from a side chamber. Stiff-legged, he moved cautiously around a bend. There was Drizzt, standing atop a hill of coins, breaking away its icy covering with Wulfgar's warhammer.

Drizzt noticed Wulfgar approaching and bowed low in greeting. "Well met, Dragon's Bane!" he called.

"And to you, friend elf," Wulfgar responded, thoroughly pleased to see the drow again.

"You have followed me a long way."

"Not too far," Drizzt replied, chopping another chunk of ice off the treasure. "There was little excitement to be found in Ten-Towns, and I could not let you forge ahead in our competition of kills! Ten and one-half to ten and one-half," he declared, smiling broadly,

"and a dragon to split between us. I claim half the kill!"

"Yours and well earned," Wulfgar agreed. "And claim to half the booty."

Drizzt revealed a small pouch hanging on a fine silver chain around his neck. "A few baubles," he explained. "I need no riches and doubt that I would be able to carry much out of here, anyway! A few baubles will suffice."

He sifted through the portion of the pile he had just freed from the ice, uncovering a gem-encrusted sword pommel, its black adamantite hilt masterfully sculpted into the likeness of the toothed maw of a hunting cat. The lure of the intricate workmanship pulled at Drizzt, and with trembling fingers he slid the rest of the weapon out from under the gold.

A scimitar. Its curving blade was of silver, and diamond-edged. Drizzt raised it before him, marveling at its lightness and perfect balance.

"A few baubles… and this," he corrected.

*****

Even before he had encountered the dragon, Wulfgar wondered howe he would escape the underground caverns. "The current of the water is too strong and the ledge of the waterdrop too high to go back through Evermelt," he said to Drizzt, though he knew that the drow would have surmised the same thing. "Even if we somehow find our way through those barriers, I have no more deer blubber to protect us from the cold when we leave the water."

"I also have no mind to pass through the waters of Evermelt again," Drizzt assured the barbarian. "Yet I rely on my considerable experience to bring me into such situations prepared! Thus the wood for the fire and the blanket that I put upon you, both wrapped in sealskin. And also this" He produced a three-pronged grapple and some light but strong cord from his belt. He had already discovered an escape route.

Drizzt pointed up to a small hole in the roof above them. The icicle that had been dislodged by Aegis-fang had taken part of the chamber's ceiling with it. "I cannot hope to throw the hook so high, but your mighty arms should find the toss a minor challenge."

"In better times, perhaps," relied Wulfgar. "But I have no strength to make the attempt."

The barbarian had come closer to death than he realized when the dragon's breath had descended upon him, and with the adrenelin of the fight now used up, he felt the pervading cold keenly. "I fear that my unfeeling hands could not even close upon the hook!"

"Then run!" yelled the drow. "Let your chilled body warm itself."

Wulfgar was off at once, jogging around the wide chamber, forcing his blood to circulate through his numbed legs and fingers. In a short while, he began to feel the inner warmth of his own body returning.

It took him only two throws to put the grapple through the hole and get it to catch fast on some ice. Drizzt was the first to go, the agile elf veritably running up the cord.

Wulfgar finished his business in the cavern, collecting a bag of riches and some other items he knew he would need. He had much more difficulty than Drizzt in ascending the cord, but with the drow's assistance from above, he managed to scramble onto the ice before the westering sun dipped below the horizon.

They camped beside Evermelt, feasting on venison and enjoying a much-needed and well-deserved rest in the comfort of the warming vapors.

Then they were off again before dawn, running west. They ran side by side for two days, matching the frenzied pace that had brought them so far east. When they came upon the trails of the gathering barbarian tribes, both of them knew that the time had come for them to part.

"Farewell, good friend," said Wulfgar as he bent low to inspect the trails. "I shall never forget what you have done for me."

"And to you, Wulfgar," Drizzt replied somberly. "May your mighty warhammer terrorize your enemies for years to come!" He sped off, not looking back, but wondering if he would ever see his large companion alive again.

*****

Wulfgar put aside the urgency of his mission to pause and ponder his emotions when he first viewed the large encampment of the assembled tribes. Five years before, proudly carrying the standard of the Tribe of the Elk, the younger Wulfgar had marched to a similar gathering, singing the Song of Tempos and sharing strong mead with men who would fight, and possibly die, beside him. He had viewed battle differently then, as a glorious test of a warrior. "Innocent savagery," he mumbled, listening to the contradiction of the words as he recalled his ignorance in those days so long ago. But his perceptions had undergone a considerable change. Bruenor and Drizzt, by becoming his friends and teaching him the intricacies of their world, had personalized the people he had previously looked upon merely as enemies, forcing him to face the brutal consequences of his actions.

A bitter bile welled in Wulfgar's throat at the thought of the tribes launching another raid against Ten-Towns. Even more repulsive, his proud people were marching to war alongside goblins and giants.

As he neared the perimeter, he saw that there was no Hengorot, no ceremonial Mead Hall, in all the camp. A series of small tents, each bearing the respective standards of the tribal kings, comprised the center of the assembly, surrounded by the open campfires of common soldiers. By reviewing the banners, Wulfgar could see that nearly all of the tribes were present, but their combined strength was little more than half the size of the assembly five years previous. Drizzt's observations that the barbarians hadn't yet recovered from the massacre on Bryn Shander's slopes rang painfully true.

Two guardsmen came out to meet Wulfgar. He had made no attempt to conceal his approach, and now he placed Aegis-fang at his feet and raised his hands to show that his intentions were honorable.

"Who are you that comes unescorted and uninvited to the council of Heafstaag?" asked one of the guards. He sized up the stranger, greatly impressed by Wulfgar's obvious strength and by the mighty weapon lying at his feet. "Surely you are no beggar, noble warrior, yet you are unknown to us."

"I am known to you, Revjak, son of Jorn the Red," Wulfgar replied, recognizing the man as a fellow tribesman. "I am Wulfgar, son of Beornegar, warrior of the Tribe of the Elk. I was lost to you five years ago, when we marched upon Ten-Towns he explained, carefully choosing his phrases to avoid the subject of their defeat. Barbarians did not talk of such unpleasant memories.

Revjak studied the young man closely. He had been friends with Beornegar, and he remembered the boy, Wulfgar. He counted the years, comparing the boy's age when he last saw him against the apparent age of this young man. He was soon satisfied that the similarities were more than coincidental. "Welcome home, young warrior!" he said warmly.

"You have fared well!"

"I have indeed," replied Wulfgar. "I have seen great and wondrous things and learned much wisdom. Many are the tales that I shall tell, but, in truth, I have not the time to idly converse. I have come to see Heafstaag."

Revjak nodded and immediately began leading Wulfgar through the rows of firepits.

"Heafstaag will be glad of your return."

Too quietly to be heard Wulfgar replied, "Not so glad."

*****

A curious crowd gathered around the impressive young warrior as he neared the central tent of the encampment. Revjak went inside to announce Wulfgar to Heafstaag and returned immediately with the king's permission for Wulfgar to enter.

Wulfgar hoisted Aegis-fang upon his shoulder, but did not move toward the flap that Revjak held open. "What I have to say shall be spoken openly and before all the people," he said loudly enough for Heafstaag to hear. "Let Heafstaag come to me!"

Confused murmurs sprouted up all about him at these words of challenge, for the rumors that had been running throughout the crowd did not speak of Wulfgar, the son of Beornegar, as a descendant of royal bloodlines.

Heafstaag rushed out of the tent. He moved to within a few feet of the challenger, his chest puffed out and his one good eye glaring at Wulfgar. The crowd hushed, expecting the ruthless king to slay the impertinent youth at once.

But Wulfgar matched Heafstaag's dangerous stare and did not back away an inch. "I am Wulfgar," he proclaimed proudly, "son of Beornegar, son of Beorne before him; warrior of the Tribe of the Elk, who fought at the Battle of Bryn Shander; wielder of Aegis-fang, the Giant Foe," he held the great hammer high before him, "friend to dwarven craftsmen and student to a ranger of Gwaeron Windstrom; giantkiller and lair-invader; slayer of the frost giant chieftain, Biggrin," he paused for a moment, his eyes squinted by a spreading smile, heightening the anticipation of his next proclamation. When he was satisfied that he held the crowd's fullest attention, he continued, "I am Wulfgar, Dragon's bane!"

Heafstaag flinched. No living man on all the tundra had claim to such a lofty title.

"I claim the Right of Challenge," Wulfgar growled in a low, threatening tone.

"I shall kill you," Heafstaag replied with as much calm as he could muster. He feared no man, but was wary of Wulfgar's huge shoulders and corded muscles. The king had no intention of risking his position at this time, on the brink of an apparent victory over the fishermen of Ten-Towns. If he could discredit the young warrior, then the people would never allow such a fight. They would force Wulfgar to relinquish his claim, or they would kill him at once. "By what birthright do you make such a claim?"

"You would lead our people at the beckon of a wizard," Wulfgar retorted. He listened closely to the sounds of the crowd to measure their approval or disapproval of his accusation.

"You would have them raise their swords in a common cause with goblins and orcs!" No one dared protest aloud, but Wulfgar could sense that many of the other warriors were secretly enraged about the coming battle. That would explain the absence of the Mead Hall, as well, for Heafstaag was wise enough to realize that simmering anger often exploded in the high emotions of such a celebration.

Revjak interposed before Heafstaag could reply-with words or with weapon. "Son of Beornegar," Revjak said firmly, "you have as yet earned no right to question the orders of the king. You have declared an open challenge; the rules of tradition demand that you justify, by blood or by deed, your right to such a fight."

Excitement revealed itself in Revjak's words, and Wulfgar knew immediately that his father's old friend had intervened to prevent the start of an unrecognized, and therefore unofficial, brawl. The older man obviously had faith that the impressive young warrior could comply with the demands. And Wulfgar further sensed that Revjak, and perhaps many others, hoped the challenge would be successfully carried through.

Wulfgar straightened his shoulders and grinned confidently at his opponent, gaining strength in the continuing proof that his people were following Heafstaag's ignoble course simply because they were bound to the one-eyed king and could produce no suitable challengers to defeat him.

"By deed," he said evenly. Without releasing Heafstaag from his stare, Wulfgar unstrapped the rolled blanket he carried on his back and produced two spearlike objects. He tossed them casually to the ground before the King. Those in the crowd who could clearly see the spectacle gasped in unison, and even unshakable Heafstaag paled and rocked back a step.