This page covers the Devil's Due comicbook hero Drizzt Do'urden also known as The Hunter , Durned Elf , Dark Elf , Drizzt , The Drow , The Secondboy , The Rogue , Black Elf , Purple Eyes , The Renegade , Do'urden . If this is not the page you were looking for check here.

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Homeland

Menzoberranzan: Houses of Intrigue

Menzoberranzan is a place of evil, but does not know its own true nature. It is a matriarchal society, ruled over by priestesses of the dark goddess Lolth, the Spider Queen. In Menzoberranzan, as with all drow cities, every drow (dark elf) family is ranked according to House in the favor of the deity. The great Houses constantly plot against one another, planning and carrying out the downfall of rivals so that they might ascend in city's hierarchy, and in the eyes of Lolth. Though a goddess of chaos, Lolth has placed strict requirements for advancement upon her people, knowing that too much chaos would utterly destroy her most faithful worshipers.

Amid all the planning and scheming is House Do'urden, the tenth house and a noble house struggling its way up the ladder of Menzoberranzan's power structure. Lolth's statutes decree that one house may attack another, but the destruction must take place within a single night, and the rival house must be utterly destroyed. As long as the first condition is met, no other houses may interfere in the war. The second condition must be met, for if any member of the besieged family lives to the next morning, they may demand retribution from the city's Ruling Council. So, bargains must be made.

House Do'urden makes such a bargain with one of the city's most skilled wizards, the Faceless One. Dinin Do'urden, secondboy of House Do'urden confirms the payment of his family's matron, Malice Do'urden, in exchange for the death of one Alton DeVir, a low level wizard living outside his House in The Academy school of Sorcere. Gaining this confirmation, Dinin returns home to the throne room of his mother who is pregnant yet again.

Matron Malice finalizes her plans against House DeVir with her husbands and children, all the while she is experiencing the pains of her impending delivery. Her child will be born this night, a third son who will not live to see the morning. A third-born son of a great House is traditionally given to Lolth in blood sacrifice, and so he will be killed as soon as he has been given a name.

House Do'urden launches its attack on DeVir, pressing every advantage it possesses, both physically in terms of warriors, and psychically in terms of prayers to Lolth. The battle is a virtual stalemate until Lolth grants the prayers of Do'urden over those of DeVir, allowing the psychic defenses of the rival house to fall. In the middle of the carnage can be found Zaknafein, Weapons Master and First Husband of House Do'urden. Zak is the finest swordsman in Menzoberranzan, possibly the best that has ever lived in all of Faerun. He cuts a swath through the DeVir warriors and enters the chapel of House DeVir and slays Matron Ginafae and all her daughters.

Back in the Do'urden chapel, Malice is in the throes of birth pangs, and she delivers her third son, naming him Drizzt. In the hallways of House DeVir, the newborn babe's older brothers complete the slaughter of the DeVir family. When the fighting has subsided, Dinin catches his older brother Nalfein Do'urden by surprise and stabs him in the back through the heart, taking the position of elderboy in the House. Maya Do'urden, youngest sister of House Do'urden, senses the death, and stays the hand of her sister Briza Do'urden just as she is about to strike the sacrificial blow. They deem the spider goddess appeased by the death of Nalfein, and Malice spares the baby. For the first time, they notice Drizzt was born with purple eyes, an extreme rarity among his usually red-eyed species.

At DeVir, the Do'urden warriors search the House, finding and killing every remaining member of the fallen family so as to leave no witnesses behind. Zak finds three little children, and he hates himself for what his culture is forcing him to do, and for his lack of courage to stand up to the wrongness of it all.

In Sorcere, Alton DeVir arrives at the chambers of the Faceless One, and is immediately attacked. He runs, but cannot get away from the more powerful wizard, and is near his end. Just before the killing blow, the Faceless One informs Alton that he is the last of his family, his house has fallen. Raising his hand to complete his end of the deal, the Faceless One is suddenly killed by a crossbow quarrel through the back of his neck. He has been killed by his own brother, Masoj Hun'ett, in revenge for years of subservience to the Faceless One. Masoj has spared Alton, concocting a plan to allow the final member of the DeVir family to take the place of the Faceless One, and eventually enact his revenge on Do'urden. In return, Masoj will no longer be subservient, and immediately gains access to a myriad of powerful magical items, the most desirable of which is a Guenhwyvar's Figurine of a black panther.

House Do'urden: Growing Up Drow

Vierna Do'urden, Drizzt's second sister, is given the charge of rearing the boy, a process in drow society that is "not a time of nuturing, but of indoctrination." As with all males, Drizzt is treated as a second, or even third-class citizen, subservient to females in every way, most especially to the priestesses of Lolth. She strives to train Drizzt in the ways of the drow, honing the skills that set their race apart. He struggles to use his faerie fire, globes of darkness, and levitation correctly. His sister Briza castigates Vierna for being soft and compassionate to the boy, leading his treatment to nearly instantly become harsh, suffering the end of Vierna's whip. Though it all, Drizzt holds onto his joyful spirit and innocence.

At the age of sixteen, Drizzt stands before his mother and is proclaimed to be "secondboy" of House Do'urden. Malice warns him, "Dishonor me, and I will put needles into your purple eyes." As with all drow females, Malice would not hesitate to do just that. He meets Zaknafein as an equal for the first time, and being both his father and House Weapons Master, he tests the boy's skill and agility. Malice believes because of his intelligence and digital dexterity he should enter the school for wizards, Sorcere. Zak does not agree, and challenges Drizzt to juggle coins with two hands, something he easily accomplishes. Not convinced, Malice prods Zak to push the lad further, so he throws ten coins through the air, telling Drizzt, "Catch them all or you will land in Sorcere, the school of magic. That is not where you belong!" Again, the feat is no difficult thing for the drow youth.

Rather than being sent directly to Melee-Magthere, Drizzt is entrusted to Zak for his weapons training. He is taken to spartan quarters, and instructed that all his time, whether eating, sleeping, or training will be spent in that single room. Other than a bed, weapons and a training dummy, the room is broad and empty. Zak leaves him to investigate the armaments, judging which best suit his hands. Zak, for his part, returns to his own quarters haunted by the faces of the children he has been forced to kill, and wonders if his own son's soul will become dark and tainted like every other drow in the Underdark.

Across the city in Sorcere, the new Faceless One, Alton DeVir attempts an ill-advised spell which allows him to break the barrier between life and death and contact his deceased mother. He wishes to know what House it was that caused his own's downfall, but is interrupted by a Yolchol just before she can reveal the truth. He is warned by the grotesque handmaiden of Lolth that the Spider Queen has little patience or mercy for meddling males. The wizard is explosively punished for his defiance, much to the chagrin of Masoj.

Drizzt's training with Zak commences, and continues in urgency. One day while sparring, Zaknafein inadvertently reveals that Drizzt had once had two brothers, and explains the true nature of the older brother's death. Drizzt is shocked to learn that Nalfein died on the night of his birth, not from the axe of a dwarf or the pick of a gnome, but the blade of a drow warrior. (Zak does not reveal at this time that it was his other brother, Dinin, that did the nefarious deed.) Drizzt becomes absorbed in his training for three more years, spending nearly every waking moment with Zaknafein, honing his already considerable skills.

Matron Malice comes to call at Drizzt's quarters when he turns nineteen to inspect his progress in warrior's training. Zaknafein challenges him immediately, drawing first blood as they seek to impress the matron. At first it seems that Drizzt gains the upper hand, but Zak easily turns his sword thrust against him and bloodies him a second time. Malice, however, is pleased that he even held his own against the weapons master, and proclaims him ready for Melee-Magthere.

At Sorcere, Sinafey Hun'ett comes to call upon her son Gelroos Hun'ett, the man otherwise known as the Faceless One. She quickly discovers Alton has taken his place, but just as quickly is informed by her younger son Masoj that he was the one who took his older brother's life. In typical drow fashion, Sinafey is not alarmed by the news, and in fact seems pleased. She immediately accepts Alton in place of her son to be her eyes and ears within Sorcere. When he begs to know who it was that brought about the downfall of his House from Sinafey, she eventually relents and gives him a name: Do'urden.

Next, Drizzt gathers with the members of the other noble Houses to bear witness to the punishment of a failed attack. House Teken'duis attacked House Freth and failed, leaving three noble children alive to make accusation. Matron Baenre brings all of the power that is hers to command, both magical and political, and brings down House Teken'duis. Every last member of the family and all the servants are put to death and the house torn apart and burned to the ground. Drizzt is appalled by what passes for drow justice, and his eyes are opened a little more to what his people are truly like.

Drizzt's revulsion at the punishment does not go unnoticed by his mother and sisters. They deem his heart too soft for their designs, and believe he must be made to take the life of another drow. Covering a servant goblin in the glamour of a drow warrior. They approach Drizzt with a ruse, his sister Maya claiming right of challenge against her little brother. The goblin poses as her champion, and attacks Drizzt. The sparring match lasts mere seconds, Drizzt disarming the false drow with his initial strike. As the goblin lays on the floor at the mercy of his blade, his mother and sisters insist he finish off the challenger. Following the command of his mother, he sends his blade home, but looks away as he does so. Before she leaves, Malice says, "You are a drow warrior now. You have earned it."

In Malice's throne room, Zaknafein protests Drizzt's being sent to the Academy, saying the instructors there will ruin him. Secretly, he knows they will further attempt to indoctrinate the boy into the philosophy of the drow, making him a cold-blooded murderer. Zak begs for two more years to mold him into the finest swordsman in all of Menzoberranzan, for his skills already surpass those of half of the Academy's student body. Malice insists that he must attend, because there is more to being a drow warrior than weapons mastery. Zak insists that Drizzt will only be taught treachery and deceit, tools which Malice believes will do the young one well and make him strong. Zak is warned to further keep his blasphemy to himself and not to interfere further in the life of their son, otherwise she will offer up Zak's heart as a sacrifice to the Spider Queen.

In his anger and determination to never allow Drizzt to become what he fears, Zak marches directly to his son's room and begins attacking him. He confronts the boy with his recent killing, challenging him to see if any remorse remains in Drizzt's soul. During the battle, Zak looses himself in his own memories, telegraphing the guilt and pain he feels for his own sins onto Drizzt. This laspe of attention allows him to give himself over to his rage, and Drizzt takes advantage, but not before Zak plays dirty and blinds his boy to regain the upper hand. When Drizzt asks, "Do you so hate to lose?", Zak's response is "Do you not understand? To lose is to die!" In the end, Zak sees that Drizzt is still truly an innocent, and fears for him all the more, knowing he will not learn of the treachery around him until it is possibly too late. He walks away, telling Drizzt to "go and learn who you truly are." Drizzt dons his full armor for the first time, and is escorted by his brother (and instructor) Dinin to Melee-Magthere.

The Academy: The Heart of the Drow

Drizzt enters The Academy's warrior school, Melee-Magthere. Among the first year students is a young drow of the fifteenth house named Kelnozz Kenafen. Unknown to the them both, the new acquaintance would serve to be a lasting reminder of the nature of drowkind. As the first year students gather in the pyramid-shaped school, they are introduced to Hatch'net, the Master of Lore. Hatch'net imparts the drow version of the history of the world and their people's place in it:

"Menzoberranzan was not always our home, nor was any other cavern of the Underdark. Once we walked the surface of the world. Do you know of the surface? An awful place. Each day a great ball of fire rises into the open skies above...bringing hours of a light greater than the punishing spells of the priestesses of Lolth! Once our people walked the surface of the world...we walked beside the pale-skinned elves, the faeries! We thought the faeries our friends, we called them kin! We could not know, in our innocence, that they were the embodiment of deceit and evil!

We could not know that they would turn on us so suddenly—slaughtering our children and the eldest of our race. Without mercy the evil faeries pursued us across the surface of the world. Always we asked for peace, and always we were answered by swords and killing arrows. Then we found the goddess. It was the Spider Queen who took our orphaned race to her side and helped us fight off our enemies. It was Lolth who guided us to the paradise of the Underdark. And it is she who now gives us the strength and the magic to pay back our enemies.

You are the drow! Never again to be downtrodden, rulers of all you desire, conquerors of lands you choose to inhabit!"

Hatch'net's tirade went on and on, disparaging every other race that stood for goodness, or considered the drow a natural enemy. Light elves, deep gnomes, duergar dwarves, any intelligent surface creature, or any one who worshiped ought but Lolth were all labeled evil and therefore worthy of destruction. Thus began the indoctrination of the drow youth, but Drizzt was only left further appalled.

In the beginning days of the training, the students are introduced to the Grand Melee. The Grand Melee is essentially a free for all involving all students of the same year. The only rule in the Grand Melee is that "if a master calls you out, then you are out." Otherwise, anything and everything is acceptable, a factor which Drizzt would soon learn firsthand.

Kelnozz convinces Drizzt to form a team to better take on the other students. When Drizzt reminds him that in the end there can be only one (yes, I said it), Kelnozz replies, "let us defeat the others and then we can decide the matter between ourselves." Drizzt agrees, and the pair cut a swath through the singular warriors roaming the vast Grand Melee cavern. Drizzt is clearly the dominant fighter of the pair, impressing even Hatch'net and the other instructors. Near the end of the melee, Kelnozz is trapped and about to take a "killing" blow. Drizzt rushes in to save his partner, only to find himself struck in the back of the head by that same partner. Kelnozz wins the Grand Melee through treachery rather than skill, a lesson Drizzt would not soon forget.

While Masoj shares plans with Alton about Sinafey's designs for the downfall of House Do'urden, Drizzt is subjected to more and more of the hysterical ravings of Hatch'net. Drizzt remarks to himself that, though he is constantly barraged with so-called evidence of the evil and treacherous "lesser races," the only deceit he has ever actually witnessed (or been the recipient of) has been that of his own people. He bore the psychological training so that he could get to the physical. At this he excelled, quickly and easily surpassing his comrades.

When it came time for the second Grand Melee, Drizzt's skills were so finely honed, that none could match him, and the lessons he had learned of treachery he never forgot again. Where his peers would use lies and mistrust to advance themselves, Drizzt used logic and misdirection in addition to his superior skill, winning the day and taking first in the Grand Melee. Drizzt placed his trust in the only stable thing in his life, his skill and his scimitars, never again letting anyone under his guard again for many, many years. He practiced every waking hour, well beyond the requirements of the Melee-Magthere instructors. His work pays great dividend, winning him the Grand Melee for the next two years. His teachers are so impressed they move him up in the next Grand Melee with student three years ahead of him in their training, and he still wins nearly effortlessly.

By his eighth year, Drizzt is assigned to one of the groups doing practice patrols in the Underdark surrounding Menzoberranzan. In one such assignment, his party is told that a noble child of the First House, a Baenre, has gone missing in the tunnels, and that a group of hook horrors has been spotted. Without warning or instruction from his masters, Drizzt races off into the tunnels alone to effect a rescue. He finds the child crying and surrounded by three of the terrible beasts, and quickly dispatches one of them, but just as quickly looses the element of surprise. Creatures of the Underdark, hook horrors are giant creatures with bird-like beaks, humongous clawed arms, and thick carapaces. Quite mindless, they will attack and eat anything, including a drow child or a fierce warrior.

Before Drizzt can gain ground on another of the beasts, it has the child within its clawed arms, and tears the poor girl to shreds. He is attacked by the beast, but is able to drive his scimitars through its heart before it can snap his head off. Meanwhile, the rest of his party "discovers" that the child was no noble drow, but just a wandering orphan or castoff of low house, and therefore meaningless to them. Drizzt, for his part, believes the whole event to have been staged, and is greatly angered by the senseless and useless loss of life. He confronts Dinin, who is one of his instructors, and is told to remember his place. As he begins to protest further, they are interrupted by their sister, Vierna. She has come to warn them to be on their guard, for there are rumors of vengeance against House Do'urden, but from quarters unknown. Presumably, the revenge would be enacted in response to the fall of House DeVir from so many years before.

This is the first that Drizzt has heard of DeVir, and ask who they are. Dinin answers "House DeVir. On the very night you were born, they ceased to exist. An excellent attack, thank you." Drizzt is appalled that his family was responsible for the murder of an entire family, and is warned by Vierna, "Watch your words secondboy, the deed was perfectly executed. In the eyes of Menzoberranzan it never happened." Drizzt also learns that not only was Zaknafein involved in the attack, but that it was his duty to slay the matron and priestesses of DeVir, along with any other children who might have been in hiding. Drizzt is further informed that, as the third-born son of the house, he was to have been sacrificed to Lolth as tradition demanded, but for the blade of Dinin through Nalfein's heart. Vierna tells Drizzt, "You should thank him for that kindness." Dinin and Vierna leave Drizzt alone in his remorse.

For Drizzt's final year at the Academy, he and every other student are assigned a year in the other two divisions of the school, sixth months in Sorcere, and six in Arach-Tinith. The idea is to give the warriors exposure to the other disciplines so that they can better function in their necessary societal role. Unbeknown to Drizzt, he has stumbled into the clutches of one of his mortal enemies, a man he has never met before, Masoj Hun'ett. Masoj proves to be a braggadocio (as all drow wizards are), but found that his time in Sorcere was the most enjoyable of all his years at the Academy. He found that he was quite adept at the discipline, dexterity, and intellectual acrobatics necessary to perform magic, and within a few short week was already surpassing some of the most promising wizard acolytes. If his mother has not been convinced he would be a better warrior and had been sent to Sorcere instead, Drizzt might have become a master mage.

Drizzt spent his time mastering every cantrip and spell assigned, and thoroughly enjoyed being shown magical artifacts and weapons. Masoj grew more and more jealous and hateful of Drizzt because how easy all this seemed to the warrior. Many times he saw opportunity to eliminate the boy, but the orders of his matron stayed his hand. He had no desire to incur her wrath. Near the end of his time in Sorcere, Drizzt is introduced to Masoj's master, the Faceless One. Alton DeVir, still hot for vengeance, ignores the commands of Sinafey Hun'ett and attacks Drizzt in his office. He might have succeeded in killing the warrior if not for the intervention of Masoj. Alton is pounced upon by a great black panter, a beast that Masoj calls his pet, summonded from the astral plane via an onyx figurine. Drizzt is immediately enamored by the majesty and beauty of the animal, for he has met Guenhwyvar for the first time. It would not be their final meeting.

His six months in Sorcere over, Drizzt makes his way into Arach-Tinith and spends his last months of training among the priestesses of Lolth. As enjoyable his time in Sorcere had been, his time in Arach-Tinith was full of ten times the drudgery. Forced to listen to sermon after sermon of the glory and wisdom and goodness and power of the Spider Queen, Drizzt came to regard the dark goddesses worshipers more like slaves. He suffers it all until graduation day, where he and all the other male warriors who are graduating are offered one of the things that is most denied them, the bodies of the priestesses of Lolth. To graduate, the warriors and priestesses are to pair off and procreate as an act of worship to Lolth. Drizzt, when he is approached by one of the beautiful priestesses, is able to throw off his drug induced stupor and refuse her advances. He flees into the surrounding tunnels.

Vierna, in white-hot anger, tracks him down and confronts him. "You refused a high priestess," she screams at him. "By the laws, she could kill you for your insolence." When Drizzt says that he could not because he does not care for her, she grows even more angry and tells him it is not about caring, but about power gained from pleasing the Spider Queen. She orders him to return to the ceremony, but he refuses. She then takes him to another place, a high road overlooking a chasm. In the chasm are Drider, mindless creatures, drow from the waist up, spider from the waist down. They are created as a punishment for males who disobey, the power granted by Lolth changing a rebellious male into one of those evil creatures. Vierna knocks Drizzt down into the chasm, leaving him as food for the driders.

House Do'urden: Tidings of War

Miraculously, Drizzt awakens in a bed a while later, his mother standing over him. She has saved him for her own designs, and will no longer tolerate his "blasphemy" of Lolth any longer. What Vierna meant as mercy, leaving him to die as a meal for the driders, will not be done to him again. If Malice hears him ever disparage the Spider Goddess again, she will take him back to that place, not to kill him, but to turn him into a drider himself. Drizzt returns to Melee-Magthere, and graduates with the highest honors in his class. He returns home and acts like the subservient secondboy they expect him to be, but Zaknafein, hiding in the shadows, hears his son and believes that he has truly been turned to Lolth's side.

Zak believes he has failed his son, and that he should have just killed the boy so that he would not have become corrupt. Drizzt fears to face Zak again, now believing his mentor little more than a cold-blooded killer after hearing of his exploits on the night of his birth. Most confusing to Drizzt though, was the fact that he knew his mother and sisters for exactly what they were, but Zaknafein now seemed to be false, saying things to Drizzt and training him to be something that he himself was not.

Malice gathers he entire household together and proclaims to them the truth to the rumors of war against them. They still do not know who it could be, for none of the the houses below them could possibly contest their power, and even very few of those above them could either. Matron Malice welcomes the coming battle, telling her house to prepare for any and every attack, and when that attack comes, they would rise victorious. Once triumphant, Malice would take her place among the eight matrons on the Ruling Council as matron of the eighth house of Menzoberranzan.

Two days later, Drizzt joins one of the official patrol groups that kept the caverns safe around Menzoberranzan. In his group was his brother Dinin, Masoj Hun'ett, and a brand new friend, the beautiful astral panther Guenhwyvar. Many times the pair fought shoulder to shoulder as friends and comrades, much to the chagrin and hatred of Masoj who takes it upon himself to castigate the great cat harshly. Masoj grows worried and hopes that Sinafey will call for his death soon.

Sinafey does make a move, but not the exact one that Masoj was wishing for. She calls the ruling council of the city together, and calls for the punishment of House Do'urden for a failed attack. She reveals that Alton DeVir has survived, and has been posing as her son the Faceless One for all these years. Matron Baenre states that the council cannot enact punishment for a crime so long past, but Sinafey argues that they need not undertake punishment, but rather turn a blind eye as vengeance is taken. Baenre concurs and adjourns the meeting by saying, "This matter is settled, my sisters. It is good that we never met this day." Sinafey puts her plan in motion.

Dinin announces to his patrol group that they have been chosen for a rare opportunity, a surface raid. There are to travel for many days through the Underdark to the surface, and there raid a group of faeries, or light skinned elves, their mortal enemies. As they depart, Drizzt asks where Masoj and Guenhwyvar are, and he is told that wizards are not allowed on the surface by law, and so the panther will stay behind as well. Approaching the surface, Drizzt feels the breeze for the first time, and when they break into the night sky, he sees the cool radiance of the moon and is drawn to it like nothing else ever before. Within site of the cave opening was a gathering of faeries partaking in a revel to some moon goddess or other. Dinin calls for the attack while Drizzt whispers to himself, "Such creatures as these are not—cannot be evil."

Drizzt stands back in horror as he watches his dark kind, in heart not in skin, as they coldly cut down these bright and shining people who were only moments before dancing and laughing. One of the victims reaches out to him, begging for mercy and help just before she is cut down from behind. When the woman's daughter rushes to the her fallen mother, Drizzt swipes his sword across her, knocking her to the ground. He has not hurt her, however, and whispers to her to stay down. He lies to Dinin and proclaims her dead, causing Dinin to proclaim, "Finally you have learned what it is to be a drow warrior!" They leave the terrified and crying elf child behind. Drizzt's only consolation is that she will live to see another day.

The drow make their way back toward the cave as the sun begins to rise. The priestess leading them orders them to hurry, for "the great ball of fire rises." As the sun crests the mountain peaks, Drizzt's comrades duck and run for cover, but he himself turns and stands his ground. When he sees the sun for the first time, he does something a drow has rarely done in all of history apart from treachery and deceit. Drizzt Do'urden smiled in joy.

The Underdark: Danger in Every Shadow

Sinafey Hun'ett learns from the lower planes that House Do'urden has lost the favor of Lolth. She does not know the details, but there is something one of the sons has done to displease the goddess, thereby giving House Hun'ett opportunity to crush the upstart Do'urdens. Though Hun'ett is higher in the hierarchy than Do'urden, Sinafey knows that Malice has been ascending in the stature of Menzoberranzan's society, and would one day soon attack the upper Houses. If Malice were to regain Lolth's blessings, then Hun'ett would be doomed. Sinafey tells her son, Masoj that "Drizzt Do'urden must die within ten days."

Drizzt sees Zak after he returns from the surface, and though his father is pleasant to him, Drizzt gives him something of the cold shoulder. They agree to meet one another in the gym in a week after Drizzt returns from another patrol of the surrounding Underdark. Going their own ways, both are still determined that the other must die. Drizzt still believes his father a cold-blooded murderer, and Zak believes that Drizzt is on his way to becoming the same.

Drizzt's next patrol takes them just five miles outside of the city, where they encounter a crew of Svirfnebli, deep gnomes on a mining expedition. Drow and deep gnomes were mortal enemies, and such an encounter could only end in bloodshed. Drizzt tries to dissuade Dinin from attacking, even to the point of suggesting parley, but his rebuked in typical drow fashion. Dinin orders the attack, commanding them to go after the Belwar Dissengulp first, stating, "He is the key to their strength with the stone." The rush into the gnomes, taking down the non-working scouts first, then heading for the crew leader. The drow are outnumbered, but ruthless, giving out much more damage than they took. This prompts the leader to grab a jewel and slam it to the ground, creating an earth elemental and commanding it to attack the drow. Drizzt races to the attack, but is struck down. Guenhwyvar, against his master's wishes, rushes in to defend Drizzt and is gravely injured, but buys him the time he needs to recover. As Drizzt climbs up to the creatures head and is about to strike a killing blow, Masoj sends a bolt of lightning into them, hoping to kill both the elemental and Drizzt, making it appear to be an accident. Masoj is then clubbed in the back of the head by the gnome leader, who then moves on Drizzt. Drizzt tells him to go ahead and torture him, but the gnome tells him that is not their way. They capture the gnome, and Dinin orders him killed. As the priestess moves forward to torture the gnome, Drizzt convinces them to allow him to live and go back home to tell the other Svirfnebli of the superiority of drow strength. Dinin likes the idea, but not before the take the gnome leader's hands first. Dinin says, "I want to hear his screams."

Back in Menzoberranzan, two separate matrons are having problems of their own. Malice communes with a yolchol to learn the whims of Lolth, and discovers that there is indeed a plot against her house. When she asks for the name of the house that conspires against them, the yolchol says that Lolth will not answer a question to which the answer is already known. Leaving Malice in a concussive flash, the yolchol has now caused confusion and anger in Malice. Who knows the answer. Across the city, Sinafey is punishing Masoj for his failure to kill Drizzt. The ten days Lolth allowed are nearly gone, and so Masoj begs for another chance. The matron agrees, but he is forced to take the somewhat inept Alton DeVir along with him. Malice gathers he household, and puts the males under the whip trying to get an answer to their riddle. As Dinin is being lashed, Drizzt recalls the treacherous attack of Masoj during the battle with the earth elemental, and informs Malice of the deed. Now they know for certain the identity of House that plots against them, House Hun'ett. Malice calls upon the yolchol again to learn the standing of Hun'ett with Lolth. This time the yolchol is belligerent, saying that the deed of wiping out the gnomes does not offset the Spider Queen's displeasure. When Malice asks why Lolth is displeased with her house, she is again told there will not be a reply to a question whose answer is already know. Malice is left angry and confused once again. She and her daughters set out to discover who in their family has betrayed Lolth, but they already have a chief suspect in mind.

In the gymnasium, Zak and Drizzt have their agreed upon workout session. Zak begins to mock Drizzt and attacks him mercilessly. This is no workout session, and his plan to kill Zak has now been turned back on him. He finds himself struggling to defend against his former mentor. Zak draws first blood, and calls him murderer after referencing the elven child he had "killed" on the surface. Finally, Drizzt has had enough and his outrage allows him to regain his footing and gain the upper hand on Zak. Drizzt throws the accusations back in Zak's face, to which Zaknafein declares he must kill if he is to be allowed to remain alive by Malice. When Zak presses the attack again, Drizzt quells it by stating did not kill the child, but faked it for the benefit of Dinin. Drizzt tells Zak, "I killed no elves that day. The only ones I desired to kill were my own companions." Unknown to the two warriors, Matron Malice is looking over their shoulder through a scrying pool, and hears the entire conversation. In tears, Zak reveals to him that he is Drizzt's father, and is thankful that his soul remains intact. He warns Drizzt that he will one day have to kill drow just as his father had, but Drizzt vows he will never kill another drow. Either way, they both realize that they are no longer alone in the horrible place they are forced to call home.

Malice orders her entire household to stay within the walls of the home, an order which Drizzt promptly disobeys. Masoj puts his second chance plan into motion, calling on Guenhwyvar and setting her to track down and kill Drizzt. Guenhwyvar tries to resist the order, but the magic of the figurine compels her to obey, no matter her own wishes. Out in the wild of the Underdark, Drizzt is so wrapped up in his own thoughts and concerns that he is caught unawares by a cave fisher. The beast lashes Drizzt around the neck with its proboscis and begins to draw him up when Guenhwyvar appears out of the shadows and rescues him. The two of them take the monster down together, but then Guen immediately turns on him. Drizzt realizes that she has been sent to kill and prompts her to fight the unwanted urge to obey. Soon, Guen breaks the programming, and her lifelong friendship is assured. Drizzt get Guen to lead him to Masoj.

Malice summons Zak and tells him of her knowledge of their conversation, and that she plans to have Drizzt killed for sparing the elf. Zak tells her she would not dare to do it since they are about to go to war with Hun'ett, but Malice says that appeasing the Spider Queen is of higher importance. Zak literally gets down on his hands and knees and begs Malice to take him instead. She accepts, but warns him not to disrupt the ceremony that will mark his own death, otherwise she will kill him and have Drizzt tortured and killed as well. Zak responds, "I have offered myself, Malice. Have your fun while you may. In the end, Zaknafein will be at peace—Matron Malice will ever be at war!"

Zak is tied down the spider-shaped sacrificial altar and Malice dons her ceremonial spider-embroidered garb. Ask Malice raises the knife to strike a killing blow, Zak is calm and at peace. His final words are "Beat them all my son. Do more than survive, as I have survived. Live! Be true to the callings of your heart!" Malice plunges the knife home.

Near Sorcere, Masoj Hun'ett waits for the return of Guenhwyvar, and is enraged to see Drizzt coming up behind her, hale and healthy. As Drizzt is castigating Masoj over Guen's freedom of will, Alton DeVir appears and cries out for vengeance against Drizzt. Drizzt tries to strike a deal with Masoj, the figurine of Guenhwyvar in exchange for the Hun'ett's life. Not knowing that Zak is already dead, Drizzt further sweetens the deal by saying he will depart House Do'urden and take Zak with him, depriving Hun'ett's enemies of their two best warriors. Masoj scoffs at the offer, believing the power of wizards to be greater than the skill of warriors.

Alton tries to hit Drizzt with a bolt of lightning from behind, but Guen puts herself in the way and absorbs the strike. Guen goes after the Faceless One, while Drizzt attacks Masoj. Though it seems at first that the pair cannot win against the wizard's trickery, neither of them give up. Both fight through burns and broken bones to see their enemy dead. Drizzt has taken a drow life, but it was in self-defense, not in murder or internecine treachery, so he is unconcerned by the deed.

Drizzt returns to House Do'urden and searches for Zak. He is met in Zak's chambers by his mother and siblings. When he asks after Zaknafein, Malice lies and says he is away on House business, and chastises him for disobeying her command to stay within the household. Malice then notices his wounds, and he informs his family of the death of Masoj Hun'ett and the Faceless One. He also reveals the true identity of the Faceless One as Alton DeVir, and the connections all become clear to the Do'urdens. As Malice begins to praise Drizzt for slaying two enemy wizards and giving them an edge in the coming House war, Drizzt asks for Zaknafein once more. Malice's answer gives him the clue that he has been killed, and Malice confirms the deed, telling him that Lolth demanded repayment for sparing the elven child. She tells Drizzt of the agreement Zak made, sacrificing himself not only to let Drizzt live, but that Drizzt would now be weapons master of the House. Drizzt refuses, and yells, "A true god damn you all! And damn the Spider Queen as well!" He throws a flash bomb on the ground and escapes the House while they are all blinded.

In tears, Drizzt leaves Menzoberranzan behind, taking Guen, her figurine, and his memories of his father with him.

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Exile

The Underdark: The Hunter

For ten long years, Drizzt lives in the wilds of the Underdark with Guenhwyvar as his only companion. Even then, he is alone for most of his waking hours, since Guen cannot stay on the material plane for more than a few hours at a time, and must return to the astral plane for food and rest. Drizzt is still racked with guilt over Zaknafein's death, feeling that his father's sacrifice is his fault. He faces the dangers of the Underdark, defeating such monsters as hook horrors, cave trolls, and Basilisk; living off the natural resources and striving to live in peace with the underworld's non-violent citizens. Unfortunately, he finds his self drifting away a little more each day, sometimes losing his self-awareness to a feral side of himself he calls The Hunter. The Hunter is part of what has allowed Drizzt to survive all these years, going off pure training and instinct when attacked by the creatures of the Underdark.

Drizzt has taken up residence in a large cavern that is the equivalent of an Underdark oasis. Water runs through the cavern in the form of an underground river, and Rothe (a type of Underdark cattle) are abundant, serving both as a food source, and an early warning of invaders. The cavern is fairly easy to defend, something his new neighbors on the cavern's second level greatly appreciate. The Myconids, a race of mute fungus-men coexist with Drizzt and live in peace with him. They do not bother him, and he repays the favor. Drizzt does his part to use his skills as a drow warrior, and his ferocity as The Hunter to defend against all invaders. Guenhwyvar is at his side as much as possible, but in those moments he is alone, the hours pass like days and weeks, and he finds himself succumbing to The Hunter a little more every time he gives in to him.

Back in Menzoberranzan, the war between House Do'urden and House Hun'ett is about to come to a head. After years of behind the scenes maneuvering, neither House in favor with Lolth over the other, Hun'ett finally chooses open warfare. Sinafey has hired Jarlaxle Baenre and his band of mercenaries Bregan D'aerthe. Jarlaxle, as he usually does, has been playing both ends of the conflict for his own benefit, and so comes to see Malice and report his band's progress. Malice has also hired Bregan D'aerthe, using it as an indirect weapon against her enemies, a way to cause damage and trouble without being implicated in the plots. Jarlaxle reports that Dipree, one of the Hun'ett nobles, has been assassinated by his men. The first strike in what is about to be a very short battle has been struck.

Before Jarlaxle can exit the Do'urden household, the walls shake and they come under Hun'ett's direct attack. Malice's forces are outnumbered, and so she commissions Jarlaxle once again. When he balks, saying, "Bregan D'aerthe is a secretive group. We do not engage in open warfare," Malice easily changes his mind by shouting, "I will pay whatever you desire. Name your price." With a sly smile—most likely because this was how he planned things all along—Jarlaxle walks out to the Do'urden balcony and looks down on the battle. He pulls a small tin-whistle from inside his hat (which has a pocket dimension inside it) and blows a shrill note. Down below, fully half or more of the "Hun'ett" soldiers respond, and turn on their fellows, giving the advantage of numbers instantly to House Do'urden. Routed, the Hun'ett army turns and flees back to the safety of its home walls. Jarlaxle slyly looks to Dinin and says, "It's a dark day to be a Do'urden, and even worse to be a Hun'ett. But it's an excellent time for mercenaries don't you think?"

Malice travels the next morning to answer a summons to Matron Baenre, expecting to witness Sinafey's execution. Instead, she walks in to find Sinafey sitting at her council seat. Matron Baenre appears in the middle of their confrontation and explains what has happened. House Hun'ett has been entirely destroyed, save for Sinafey herself. Malice is being forced to take Sinafey on as her eldest daughter, "Shi'nayne," returning from Ched Nasad. When Malice protests, Matron Baenre replies, "Many years ago, Lolth made it clear her desires that you sit upon the ruling council, Malice. And now, with Hun'ett gone and Do'urden the eighth house of Menzoberranzan, is shall be so. But understand your dilemma: you have lost more than half of your troops, and it is well known that you still do not have the favor of the Spider Queen. How long do you think it will be until some lower house moves against you." By taking in Sinafey, House Do'urden gains fifty soldiers of Hun'ett that survived. Sinafey goes home with Malice, her new "mother."

Now that Hun'ett is out of the way, Malice turns her attention back to her wayward son. Briza and Dinin are sent out into the tunnels of the Underdark with a contingent of Do'urden soldiers to search for Drizzt. They are magically tracking him somehow, but Drizzt discovers them on his trail and deduces that it is his House Do'urden emblem that is allowing their trace on him. Drizzt ties his emblem to Guen and sends her in the opposite direction, allowing him to sneak up behind Dinin, knock him out and draw a sword on Briza. She tells him that the war with Hun'ett is over, and lies to say that he can come home and take up the mantle of weapons master of the House. Drizzt refuses and tells them to never seek him out again. This prompts Briza to draw her snake-headed whip on Drizzt, which he quickly cuts to shreds. She then draws her mace to strike, and Drizzt easily ends the battle, cleaving two fingers from her hand. With the advantage, he holds his blade to her neck, and she prods him to strike her dead. To his horror, he nearly does, but relents and levitates away from her and joins Guen in the shadows. "I would have done it," he tells Guen. "Despite my vow never to spill drow blood again, I would have killed her. What have I become?"

Drizzt puts himself on the move again, knowing he cannot live in his beloved cavern is no longer secret, no longer safe. He runs through the tunnels, into twists and turns which he had never seen before until he ran directly into his past. At the end of his last stretch was a bright light (at least bright for the Underdark), he had come upon a gnome mining expedition. Drizzt follows them for days, hanging back in the shadows, listening to them longingly. They possessed something he himself had never experienced, camaraderie. He was drawn to their voices, their laughter, their smiles, believing he might go mad and totally loose himself in The Hunter if lost track of them. Eventually, their journey ended. He had come to Blingenstone, the great fortress city of the Svirfnebli.

Drizzt makes an on the spot decision, and pulls Guen's figurine from his pocket and calls her to him. He says goodbye to her, stating he can no longer live out in the Underdark alone, and turns himself in to the gnomes at the gates of Blingenstone. He knows they will most likely kill him, his people and the deep gnomes were natural enemies, and might attack him on sight. Drizzt was not afraid, the fate of death at the hands of goodly people was better than the horrible isolation of the Underdark. He kept walking toward their gates and hoped and trusted for the best.

Back in Menzoberranzan, Malice castigates Briza and Dinin for their failure to capture their renegade brother. When Maya boasts that she could capture him, Dinin scoffs in fear. "Since he left Menzoberranzan," he answers, "Drizzt's skills have increased ten-fold." When asked if Jarlaxle and Bregan D'aerthe would undertake tracking down the boy, but Malice says that they have already refused "not for any price." Malice reveals another way, and leads her family to the chapel, and calls on a yolchol. In order to right the wrongs caused by her son, Malice asks for zin-carla. Zin-carla is the highest honor Lolth pays to her followers, the animation of the dead under the control of a Matron Mother. Great sacrifice must be made, so Malice chooses to give her patron, Rizzen, to the slaughter. Malice and her daughters gather around the sacrificial altar, and Shi'nayne—acting as eldest daugher—holds the ceremonial dagger. Malice takes the dagger, holds it over Rizzen, then suddenly thrusts it into Shi'nayne's heart, and the last Hun'ett passes away as a sacrifice to Lolth. The yolchol is pleased, and grants the power of zin-carla. After much meditation and prayer, the soul of Zaknafein is ripped from the afterlife, and placed into his reanimated corpse, but all free will is gone. As a test of her power over him, Malice orders her undead husband to kill Rizzen, an act which he does without hesitation, flinging a dagger into the unfortunate patron's forehead.

Blingenstone: Guest of the Deep Gnomes

Members of the Blingenstone city council investigate Drizzt. They are naturally suspicious of him and his reasons for being in the city. Incredulous, they cannot believe that he has not only given himself up, but also the figurine of Guenhwyvar—a very powerful magical item not to be given up lightly. All the while Drizzt sat before them in chains, the Hunter inside him railed to be free, every moment heightening the rage and hunger to be free. Drizzt remained in control, keeping his composure before these wizened souls who held his life in their hands. They believe him a spy, and though he claims to be a renegade, they do not believe him since his House not only still exists, but has risen in stature in recent days. He replies that he is "rogue by choice," and that he has nowhere else to go. Firble, the gnome king's chief counselor and head of their spy network warns, "Our king will rule upon your fate, dark elf. And though I believe you and shall ask for mercy, I suspect you will be executed."

As Firble and the others are making their way out of his holding cell, Drizzt recalls the burrow warden he had convinced his brother to let go all those years before. He tells the gnome that he was part of that hunting party, and that one did survive, losing his hands in the battle. Firble names the burrow warden as Belwar Dissengulp, stating that none of the citizens of Blingenstone would ever forget that dark day. Drizzt begs for Firble to bring Belwar Dissengulp, and he is left alone in the darkness.

Some time later, the burrow warden does come to see the captive drow, exclaiming, "Magga cammara it is you!" Belwar remembers Drizzt as the purple eyed drow that had bested his earth elemental and convinced his hunting party to take his hands rather than his life. Drizzt hangs his head in abject sorrow for what his people had done, but Belwar wants to hear nothing of it. "Bah!" the honored burrow warden exclaims, "Your words spared me that day, and I've not forgotten it. Besides, I have new hands now." Belwar lifts up his arms, showing Drizzt an exquisite set of stone mason's tools, a hammer and pick axe, in place of hands.

Belwar informs Drizzt that it was the decision of King Schnicktick to have the drow put to death. Though the King believed that Drizzt meant no harm to the city of Blingenstone, he feared the danger of keeping a drow in the city was too great, an army from Menzoberranzan might come and attack the city, using Drizzt as an excuse to declare war. Drizzt agrees with the assessment, and is so willing to end his life that he says he will not offer any resistance. Belwar replies, "No, you won't, for you'll not die this day. Ten years ago you saved my life Drizzt Do'urden. Honor demands I do the same." Belwar accepts the responsibility of having Drizzt in the city, both for the drow’s safety and that of the city at large. "So I'm not to die?" Drizzt asks. "Not unless you bring death upon yourself," is the answer.

Drizzt is plunged into the world of the deep gnomes of Blingenstone, an experience unlike anything he had ever encountered before in his life. Belwar had not only offered hospitality to another being, he offered safety, if not companionship. A drow would never offer such things, not to a enemy, let alone even a brother, unless there was money or power to be gained. Belwar acted in kindness, and he was now surrounded by former enemies who rose no hand against him. His entire outlook was now permanently changed.

Belwar leads Drizzt to his home, where they are met by guards assigned to Belwar by the King. The King has ordered the guards to stay until the truth of Drizzt's intentions are fully known. Belwar responds in anger, "Be Gone! This one is in my care and I fear him not at all!" The guard gnomes depart, and Belwar leads Drizzt into his home. He asks Drizzt how long he's been alone in the Underdark, and prompts the drow to tell him his story. Drizzt does just that, of his years in the house of Malice Do'urden and the eventual murder of his father, Zaknafein. He tells of his decision to forsake his dark kind and their even darker goddess, and tells of the loneliness of the Underdark, and of the Hunter who threatened to overtake him, body and soul. His story ends finally, late in the night, with his arrival at Blingenstone.

After that night, they spoke not much at all except for passing conversation. Belwar was a quiet sort who kept to his sculpting and spoke little. Drizzt, for his part, was not yet fully comfortable with the Svirfnebli language, so did not trust himself to speak well. That didn't stop the local gnomish children from being intrigued by the dark elf, and drawing him into their daily adventures. One day, the neighborhood children are debating the existence of a basilisk. There is a huge, life-sized statue of the beast near Belwar's home, and some of the children don't believe such a fantastic monster could exist. They ask Drizzt if he knows if they exists, and he states that not only had he met one, but he fought one. In great curiosity, they drag the drow to the statue and get him to re-enact his battle with the basilisk. He begin to show them, using two wooden staves to serve as his scimitars, and he quickly looses himself in the bloodlust of the Hunter, not stopping until he has broken off the head of the statue and worn his wooden staves down to stumps.

Drizzt, in speaking with Belwar later on, confesses his worry to his new friend. During his stay in Blingenstone among the gnomes, he believed he had freed himself from the Hunter, and was deathly scared with the ease the he slipped back into the psychosis. Belwar tells him not to worry overmuch, the Hunter was who he needed to become in order to survive in the wild Underdark. He is counseled to give the matter time, time and patience, and to relax since there were no enemies in the gnome city.

Outside the high stone walls of Blingenstone, the same could not be said. The zin-carla Zaknafein is slowly and surely gaining ground on his wayward son. He had found the cavern where Drizzt had lived for so long alongside the rothe and myconids, and slaughtered them all in his rage to destroy his target. Already the gnomes of Blingenstone are on high alert after finding the results of one such massacre of goblins by the former weapons master. The tention was building greatly each day, and soon the pressure would be too much for the key players in the drama to bear up under.

The Underdark: Back Into the Darkness

News of the goblin slaying quickly makes it back to King Schnicktick, and he and his counselors wonder what to make of it. They know for certain the attack was carried out by one or more drow because of the cleanness of the cuts they discover on the corpses. Schnicktick wonders if there is someone after "Belwar Dissengulp's drow," but Firble, at first, cautions against the line of reasoning, but then does admit they know little of Drizzt's background or why he left his home. What enemies had he made there that might have tracked him to their city. Schnicktick orders Firble to contact his spy network in Menzoberranzan and learn more about the Do'urden renegade.

Out in the Underdark's caverns, Zak is beginning to place more and more strain on Matron Malice. Unable to find his quarry, he seeks to lash out against anything and everything that moves. Malice must keep a constant mental leash on him, keeping him from killing a group of gnomes and therefore giving himself up further to the Svirfnebli. His bloodlust was rising, and he needed to find Drizzt soon, or Malice would loose all control. Keeping control on a zin-carla zombie was taxing, even for the most skilled and powerful priestess of Lolth, and the longer the zin-carla was necessary until it came to fruition, the greater the stress. Even Matron Baenre admits that only one zin-carla had lasted longer, one she herself had undertaken, and that one did not end well.

Back in Blingenstone, the King and his councilors decide that Drizzt has proven his trustworthiness, and thus return his armor and scimitars. In additions to his arms, he is reunited with Guenhwyvar for the first time in many weeks. The councilor who had been given the task of examining the figurine did not wish to part with such a powerful and useful artifact, but they realized that Guen was much more of a friend and companion to Drizzt than she was a servant. Brickers, the burrow-warden who returns Guen, tries yet another time to entice Belwar on a mining expedition. In anger, Belwar refuses, and pushes the gnome out the door. When Drizzt asks, "You should go with them Belwar...or are you bound to stay here and watch over me?" Belwar indicates that it has nothing to do with that issue, and certainly nothing to do with his lack of hands. He could cut rock faster than anyone with his new hands. Belwar reveals that he cannot go because the last expedition he led ended in bloodshed, and he holds himself responsible. Drizzt argues in the converse, stating that it was his people and their evil intents that caused those deaths that day. Drizzt further baits Belwar by questioning his courage, a move which makes Belwar so angry he decides to go, saying, "Put on your swords, elf. If I'm to go, then so are you!"

Belwar, Drizzt and Guen join Brickers and his expedition. Brickers was happy to have the "most honored burrow-warden" along, as well as the extra blades and skill of the drow. They met no resistance on their way to the place where the mineral scout had identified as potentially owning a rich vein of ore. The scouts were correct, and the gnomes threw themselves into the work of excavation, not the least of which was Belwar who carved literal rings around the rest of the workers with his fantastic hammer and pickaxe hands. Belwar was truly happy for the first time in many, many years.

Drizzt spends his days during the expedition patrolling the surrounding caverns and tunnels with Guen, himself happy to be both free to roam, but able to return to friends and companions at the end of each day. When he ventured far from the expedition, he felt the Hunter try to rise up and overtake him, but he was stronger now, and able to push the beast back down and remain Drizzt Do'urden. Both Drizzt and Belwar returned from the expedition in great spirits, Belwar feeling he finally deserved the title of "most honored burrow-warden," and Drizzt finally at ease with himself and his place in the world.

Meanwhile in the caverns near Menzoberranzan, Firble meets with his contact, the infamous Jarlaxle. Firble asks about the increase of drow activity near Blingenstone, and Jarlaxle demands his usual exhorbitant payment, fifty finely cut agates. Jarlaxle assures Firble that no power in Menzoberranzan is moving against Blingenstone itself, but that one House is desperately searching for a renegade. After some more dealing, Jarlaxle names the renegade as Drizzt Do'urden, and warns him that if they know anything about Drizzt, then to keep him far away. The goddess Lolth herself wants the boy dead, and she stops at nothing to get her wishes. "Drizzt is doomed, and so doomed will be any foolish enough to stand beside him." Of course, Firble's reaction to the news confirms for Jarlaxle that the gnomes of Blingenstone indeed know of Drizzt and his whereabouts.

Firble hurries back to King Schnicktick with the news, who then promptly calls Drizzt to his presence. Drizzt had been enjoying his time among the gnomes since his return with the expedition. He had become something of a celebrity among the members of the mining group and their families, and so the summons to see the King was no surprise. The subject of the summons, however, was shocking to say the least.

The King announces his decision to put Drizzt out for the good of the city, a move with fairly enrages Belwar. Schnicktick explains that the increase of drow activity on their eastern border has been directly caused by Drizzt's presence, and Drizzt admits that his mother is continuing her search for him. Belwar is angered enough to directly berate his King, but Schnicktick says he has no further choice. "To keep Drizzt here would invite war with Menzoberranzan, and I will not put Blingenstone in jeopardy for the sake of a dark elf, even if he has shown himself to be a friend." Drizzt says he will be gone within the hour, and he parts ways with nothing but gratitude in his heart.

Drizzt walks the streets of Blingenstone with Guen at his side. The citizens bow their heads with heavy hearts, hating what has become necessary for them to do. The drow and the great cat walk out of the gates of the stone walled city, and they thud shut behind him. He wondered how long he would be able to survive in the Underdark alone again but for the sometime companionship of Guenhwyvar. His kind measured their lifespans in centuries, and he had nearly lost himself to the Hunter in only a decade. How could he make it alone for hundreds of years?

Strolling through the gate, the pair are met by Belwar, who has decided to leave his home behind and join Drizzt in the dangerous Underdark. Drizzt is loathe to let him come along, but Belwar will not take no for an answer, taking off from the city walls and into the deepening darkness before the drow could stop him. The first thing they do is set up a false camp about a day's march from Blingenstone's walls to create a diversion for whoever it was tracking them. They then set off in the opposite direction, into the caverns west of the Svirfnebli city. Traveling only to stop when hunger or weariness overtook them. Along the way, Belwar would point out places to which he had been before on mining expeditions, and Drizzt began to wonder how many ways a gnome could talk about mining and carving stone. The elf hung on every word, knowing that the alternative was silence, and then the Hunter would come. With Belwar at his side, they entered the more dangerous parts of the Underdark, fighting off the natural monsters of the deep places, but never losing himself to the Hunter again. Belwar's companionship was the cure to his aching loneliness.

After walking for weeks and weeks, they come upon a cavern that is glowing with a bright light, and so they move to investigate. They enter a vast cavern filled with a sea of acid—the source of the light—and find the greatest danger they had yet faced. Set upon by overwhelming numbers of bird-men, the trio back into a tight defensive circle. Belwar slams his new "hands" together, yelling the magical gnomish word "Bivrip!", filling his implements with glowing magic which gives huge weight and force to his blows as they fight against the creatures. They fight for quite a while, but are sorely outnumbered.

Drizzt is able to hold it together until Guenhwyvar is knocked off the bridges above the glowing sea and into the acid bath itself. When Guen roars in pain, Drizzt uses the figurine to will the panther back to her home on the astral plane. Though severely hurt, Guen will recover and be fine within a few day, but the pain would be remembered. Because of the pain, Drizzt called up the Hunter and allowed him to take over. Belwar is left to watch in both horror and amazment as he sees the greatest display of warrior skill and swordsmanship he would ever experience. Drizzt was too fast, too precise, too deadly and seemed unreal to Belwar. It was as if his best friend had become Death itself.

Finally, even with the help of the Hunter, they are forced to flee, and Belwar has to eventually call out for Drizzt to stop, otherwise he would have run himself to exhaustion. Drizzt is full of fear that he let himself give sway to the Hunter again. He confessess to Belwar that he felt possessed by rage, his only desire was to kill them all, not out of self-defense, but out of darkness. Belwar tells him he was not acting out of rage, but rather out of instinct. "You saved us this day, Drizzt Do'urden. Do not apologize to me, or to yourself."

The Cavern: A Home Away from Home

The pair continues on their journey. Drizzt calls Guen back to him after three days, here fur is singed, but otherwise she was fine and glad to see her friend. A few days later, they stumbled over exactly what they had been looking for, even though they had not exactly known they were searching. They come to a cavern with an underground lake fed by a fresh-running stream. It is small enough for the two of them to defend, and the lake would provide them with ample fish and crab for their sustenence. They were home.

Across the wilds of the Underdark, on the other side of Blingenstone, Zaknafein has found their fake encampment, and is in a rage over his continued failure to find his prey. It takes all of Malice's strength of will to reign him in and send him back on his way. Malice, though growing slightly weaker each day, warns her daughters to test her rule. Malice vows that she will remain strong, and that she will one day soon hold Drizzt heart in her hand, "No matter what the cost, we will triumph."

One day later, Drizzt and Belwar hear curious sounds outside their cavern. Drizzt remembers those sounds, and races out of the cavern yelling "Hook Horror!"Outside, he finds exactly what he thought it was, and gets his scimitars on the creatures neck, about to strike the killing blow. Just then, the monster speaks, something he believed a hook horror incapable of doing."No...not...monster..please..no..kill..me!" the thing manages to squawk. Drizzt stays his hand, and the creature says it is not a hook horror, but rather a thing called a "pech". Belwar knows of the pech by the name rock children, creatures whose only reason for being seems to be rock carving, and their numbers are very small. The pech tells that it was turned into a hook horror by an evil wizard, and does not know how long it has been that way, having lost all sence of time because it is no longer connected to the stone in its present form.

When Belwar asks the creature its name, it either does not have one, or it has forgotten, so Belwar names it "Clacker," a name which the pech approves. Belwar then intends to say goodbye to the creature and send it on its way, but Drizzt says they must allow it to be with them. Drizzt has pity on the creature, feeling akin to the creature being adrift and apart from itself, something similar to what he feels when he is overtaken by the Hunter. Belwar still thinks it is a bad idea, because a spell such as the one Clacker has undergone changes not only the body, but the mind as well, and in time he will cease to be a pech even in mind, but just a hook horror, and then he will be a great danger. Drizzt insists that they track down the wizard who did it, and then force him to unmake the spell.

One day later, Drizzt and Belwar hear curious sounds outside their cavern. Drizzt remembers those sounds, and races out of the cavern yelling "Hook Horror!"So, the next day, they followed as Clacker tried to retrace his step to where the wizards was. The creature was easily confused, his memory clouded because of his transformation, and so he got them lost numerous time. Just as they were about to become too tired to go on, the entered a great tavern that was dominated by a huge tower made of pure adamantite. Belwar stands in awe at the sight, for adamantite is the toughest substance known in Faerun, and just a small amount is worth a king's ransom, and extrememly hard to work with. "How did he build such a thing?" the gnome asks. "Magic," is Drizzt's reply, with more than a hint of disdain in his voice.

Drizzt's plan is to hide until the wizard appears, and then take him by surprise, but Clacker in his rage chooses otherwise. He rushes the tower and begins striking it with his claws, calling on the wizard to show himself. Drizzt and Belwar rush to the pech's aid, just as a bolt of lightning comes from above, forcing Drizzt to shove the pitiful creature out of the way. From inside the tower, the wizard rages, "Damnation! You ist going to pay dearly for that one. I vill keell you all!" (a german wizard?) Drizzt pulls out Guenhwyvar's figurine and holds it up near one of the bolt-holes carved in the adamantite tower's surface. When he calls on her, he will her to appear inside the walls, and the smoke that comes from the figurine that marks her appearance wafts through the crack and into the tower. Drizzt calls on the wizard to open the tower, to which he momentarily refuses, but then Guen's roar behind him persuades him otherwise.

Inside the tower, they see an empty octaganal chamber with only a wooden ladder leading up to the higher levels. Drizzt is somewhat taken aback to find a human living alone in the vastness of the underdark. Though he is a wizard, he is very nervous around Guen, perhaps not possessing the magical might necessary to hold her off if she chose to attack. Drizzt insists that the wizard, Brister Fendlestick, change Clacker back. He seems to be amenable to the deal, if for no other reason than to be rid of his unwanted visitors. As Brister retrieves his spellbook, the quips "Pech, useless little things," which sets Clacker off. Before either of his new friends can stop him, Clacker rushes the wizard, cutting him apart before he can defend himself. His only hope of restoration is now dead at his own hands.

Back in Menzoberranzan, Matron Baenre consults with Jarlaxle on the health of Malice Do'urden. The zin-carla has lasted very long, the second longest ever, and the spirit-wraith of Zaknafein grows stronger each day. Jarlaxle also reports that Zaknafein has follwed Drizzt past Blingenstone, and into the "unpopulated" caverns of the west. "Unpopulated?" Baenre scoffs. "Hardly. There are things living in those tunnels, Jarlaxle. Dangerous things." Unknown to them both, Baenre's illithid councilor is eavesdropping on their conversation, and he is highly interested in what they have to say.

The trio left the tower in silence. What Clacker had done was something no rational being would have perpetrated, but rather the act of a wild animal. Drizzt was beginning to believe that Belwar spoke the truth, that Clacker was slowly becoming more and more the monster each day. He hoped that when they reached the safety of their cavern home, they might find some other way to help the poor creature.

When they reached their home, they foudn it in total disarray. Belwar wondered if the bird-men had tracked them down, but Drizzt recognized the fine cuts in the belongings, the mark of a drow blade. Drizzt believes that his mother's assassins have tracked him down again, and so they abandon the only home Drizzt had ever felt he could completely call his own. The three of them pick up what few belongings remain intact, and run all the way through the day and long into the night without stopping, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the evil drow. Eventually, they come to a cavern that is wide open, and seemingly a good place for habitation, but it is emply. Not only is it empty, but it seems totally devoid of any signs of life. "This isn't right," Belwar says warily. "It's too quiet." Suddenly, the three of them are hit by an unseen psionic force, and knocked unconscious. From the shadows, a group of illithids float into the cavern and hover over their fallen victims.

Illithid Castle: Slave of the Mind Flayers

Drizzt, Belwar, and Clacker find themselves leading new lives with no memories of their former lives. The illithids who captured them have used them for their own comfort and benefit. Clacker has been put to work on an isolated island of rock, accessable only via a small, thin hanging bridge.

On this island dwells the illithid's herd of rothe, and Clacker has been forced to become not only the herd's protector, but the butcher as well. Clacker knows something is wrong, but his mind has been so clouded since his transformation by the evil wizard he cannot begin to unravel how things should be.

The illithids, creatures who rightly claimed the title of "mind flayers," using their inborn psionic abilities to twist the minds and desires of any creature that comes into their clutches. Creatures with enough skill were sent down into the mines to dig for jewels and precious metals. The more bestial creatures were sent to the areana to fight for sport, the illithids betting on each match. When such servants grew old, or outlived their usefulness, they became dinner as a final service to their master. Illithids could turn violent being docile, and the wildest animal into a domesticated pet. In turn, they could change a peace-loving individual into a violent and warlike barbarian. Such was the case with Belwar.

Belwar brought the highest price ever paid for a slave because he was well suited for the two most popular uses of slaves, the mines and the arena. The six illithids who had captured the three wanderers had made a great deal of profit on their catch, and were able to keep a magic item back from being auctioned off, the onyx figurine of Guenhwyvar. They were determined to learn its secrets.

Drizzt found himself in the center of the illithid castle as a servant to the Central Brain. Whenever drow or other nimble-fingered sentients were captured, they were sent to tend the brain, a great exposed mass of pink matter that served as the coordinator for the illithid's entire existence. Though the mind flayers still had great psionic powers individually, the Central Brain magnified and organized their powers as a group, allowing the existence they loved so well. They worshiped the thing essentially as their god. Drizzt was set to work using his hands to sooth the brain and to offer it vital fluids. The drow's entire purpose now became to tend the brain mass and please his new masters.

In the gladiatorial arena, Belwar is set to fight an ogre by his master, being told telepathically that beast had threatened the master, and that he should kill it. Belwar attacks with a ferocity not seen since the day he and his mining expedition had been attacked by Drizz't patrol group. He was severely outmuscled though, and was quickly in danger of losing his life. His illithid master frantically searched his new servant's mind to find an advantage, and locked onto the trigger word that activated the magic of Belwar's hands. Once this was done, the battle's outcome was a forgone conclusion, the Svirfnebli killing the huge ogre. So glad was Belwar to have "rescued" his master, he beamed a smile through his gore covered face.

Outside the walls of the illithid castle, in the same open cavern where Drizzt and his companions had been captured, yet another drow warrior made his approach. Zaknafein, the spirit-wraith under the influence of Malice's zin-carla ritual, had traked his quarry to the illithid territory. When four of the illithids who had captured the others tried their mind trickery on Zak, nothing happened, he was immune. In short order, he slew all four of the mind flayers and made his way to the castle gates uncontested.

While all this is going on, Guenhwyvar has been trapped on the astral plane. She remained unworried, it was not the first time Drizzt had not summoned her immdiately after her rest period, and she was busying herself hunting the entity of the Elk.

Hidden in the astral shadows were the remaining two illithid slavers, having finally deduced what the onyx figurines purpose was. They were observing Guen on her hunt, evaluting her worth and salivating at the weath she would bring her in the arena. Though they thought themselves hidden, Guen sensed the two and immediately recognized them as an enemy. She attacks, killing the astral presence of one, causing its death on the material plane. Then she does the extraordinary. Using the still living illithid as a portal, she jumps through its astral presence into the material plane, ripping it to shreds in the process. Scenting out Drizzt, she runs off into the hallways of the castle.

At that same instant, Zaknafein strode through the gates of the illithid castle, moving down mind flayers, guards and slaves alike. Zak knew that Drizzt was near, and he would let nothing stand in his way, the only thing that would salve the raging beast in his breast would be the death of his son at the end of his blades. Far above, Guen barreled down the endless flight of stairs, carrying Drizzt's scimitars on her back and her figurine in her maw. Taking numerous blows, she found opportunity to take a short cut by jumping over the railing and down to the central chamber below, landing directly in the Central Brain, killin