"And a southern road awaiting us," Wulfgar put in.
"But not right yet," said Catti-brie. "I'm thinking we should stay on a bit, just to be sure they're safe."
"Ye got a feeling, do ye?" Bruenor asked.
Catti-brie looked around, and despite the festivities, the laughter, and the seemingly normal scene, a cloud crossed her face.
"Yeah, I got it, too," said Bruenor. "But not to worry. We'll be checkin' all the land, and we'll take our march to the Surbrin in the east. Tred's telling me there's a couple more towns down that way. Let's see how many o' the folk in the region are as welcoming to King Bruenor and his friends."
He looked at Drizzt and pointedly added, "All his friends." The drow shrugged as if it did not matter, and in truth, it did not.
"There are ten thousand more in dark holes who will be led if they believe that they will find greater glory," Ad'non Kareese said to his three companions.
He had just returned from a scouting circuit of the region between the dark elves hideaway and Gerti’s complex, including a pair of visits with other minor monster kings: an orc who knew of Obould and a particularly wretched goblin.
"Twenty thousand," Donnia corrected, "at least. The mountain caverns crawl with the little beasts, and the only thing that keeps them in there is their own stupidity and fear. If Obould and Gerti claim this prize, the head of the king of the dwarven stronghold, then we will coax more than a few, I am certain."
"To what end?" Kaer'lic interjected doubtfully. "Then we will only have to look at the beasts scurrying about the surface."
"In chaos we find comfort," Tos'un put in with a wry grin.
"Spoken like a dolt from Menzoberranzan," said Kaer'lic, which only made Tos'un smile even wider.
"To your own tests of worthiness, then," Tos'un replied. "In chaos we find wealth. In chaos we find enjoyment."
Kaer'lic shrugged and didn't argue.
"I have already made some connections with the leaders of the various goblin and orc tribes and have heard hints of one that holds great ties to the more formidable beasts of the Trollmoors to the south," Ad'non remarked.
"Beware the boasts of goblins," said Donnia. "They would tell you that the mountain giants bow to them if they thought you would be impressed."
"Their tunnels stretch long," Ad'non replied.
"I am willing to believe that we can do this," said Tos'un, "and willing to believe that we will enjoy it greatly. I was the biggest doubter when we first tried to tie Obould to Gerti, and T was certain that the giantess would throttle the wretched orc when she learned of the loss of four of her kin, yet look where we are. Obould's scouts are everywhere, running the mountains, tracking this band that we believe contains King Bruenor himself. Once he is found, and Gerti takes her revenge. .»
"We can rally thousands to Obould's side," said Ad'non. "We can create a dark swarm that will cover the land for miles around!"
"And?" Kaer'lic asked dryly.
"And let them kill the dwarves, the humans, and each other," Ad'non replied. "And we will be there, always one step behind, yd always one step ahead, to collect our due at every turn."
"And to thoroughly enjoy die spectacle of it all," Donnia added with a wicked grin.
Kaer'lic accepted that reasoning and nodded her approval.
"Be certain that our allies are warned of the presence of a drow who is not a friend," the priestess advised.
She sat back as the others began formulating plans for their next moves. Kaer'lic did like the excitement, but there were other matters that concerned her more. She thought back to some experiences she had faced before finding her two, then three companions, when she had been out of her Underdark city on a mission for the ruling priestesses.
In those thoughts, Drizzt Do'Urden surely came to mind more than once, for he was not the first traitor to Lolth and drow ways that Kaer'lic the Terrible had faced.
It wasn't that she had any particular hatred or vendetta against Drizzt, of course—Tos'un would more likely harbor such resentments, she supposed—but the ever-plotting priestess had to wonder how it would all play out. Would she find unexpected opportunities to pay back old debts? Might the reputation of one renegade drow be put in good service to the Spider Queen, and even more importantly, to a priestess who had fallen out of favor with the goddess?
She smiled and looked around at the other three, all seeming so much more eager to play this out than was she.
Kaer'lic the Terrible, ever the patient one.
They heard the trumpets, and though they were somewhat dimwitted, one of the orc band made the connection between that heralding sound and the troupe they had been tracking.
From across the ravine, the orcs had the same view of Withegroo's tower as Drizzt and his friends had enjoyed only the day before.
Wicked grins splayed on their misshapen, tusked mouths, the orc patrol rushed away, back up into the foothills to where Urlgen, son of Obould, waited.
"Bruenor in the town," the patrol leader informed the tall, cruel orc leader.
Urlgen curled his torn lip, welcoming the information. The orc needed to redeem himself, and nothing short of the death of Bruenor Battlehammer would suffice. Obould blamed him, and so did Gerti, and for any creature living in the cold mountains at the end of the Spine of the World, having those two angry with him was not a good thing.
But they had King Bruenor within their grasp, at rest in a remote town and with little understanding of the catastrophe that was about to befall him.
Urlgen dispatched his messengers with all speed and with orders to press Obould to move quickly. They had the rat in the trap and Urlgen did not want him to slip out.
The orc was exhausted, having spent day after day in rallying others to his cause. Still, King Obould knew that he had to make this journey personally and not deliver the news that Bruenor had been found through any messenger.
He found Gerti sitting on the very edge of her throne, her blue eyes narrow and dangerous, her posture that of a predator anxious to spring.
"You have located King Bruenor and those others who murdered my kin?" she asked before the orc king could even offer a formal greeting.
"A small town," Obould replied. "The one with the lone tower."
Gerti nodded her recognition. With its singular tower, Shallows was quite distinct in this region of abandoned, simple villages and underground dwarven or goblinkin strongholds.
"And you have prepared your forces?"
"An army is out and running already," Obould answered.
Gerti's eyes widened and she seemed about to explode.
"Only to circle south," the orc quickly explained. "The ground is flat and easy to cross there, and King Bruenor must be held in the town."
"They are out to seal the road and nothing more?"
"Yes."
Gerti nodded to one of her attendants, a massive, muscular frost giant clad in shining metal armor and holding the largest, nastiest spear Obould had ever seen. The warrior immediately returned the nod with a bow and started out of the room.
"Yerki will lead my forces," Gerti explained. "They are ready to march at once."
"How many?" the orc had to ask.
"Ten," Gerti replied.
"And a thousand orcs," Obould added.
"Then our contributions to the downfall of King Bruenor Battlehammer are about the same," remarked the superior-minded giantess.
Obould almost blurted a sarcastic response, but he remembered where he was and how easy it would be for any of Gerti's associates to smash him, and he just chuckled instead.
With her eyes still focused, narrow again and deadly serious, Gerti didn't join in his mirth.
"We must be away at once," Obould explained, shifting the subject a bit. "Three days running to the town."
"Make it in two," Gerti said.