room with the torch as he crept away into the shadows.
Drizzt stopped short when he heard gruff giant voices ahead, though he
couldn't figure out why he couldn't see their bulky silhouettes. When he carne
upon a large hearth, he understood. The voices were echoing through the chimney.
"Biggrin?" asked Wulfgar when he came up.
"Must be," reasoned Drizzt. "Think you can fit through the chimney?"
The barbarian nodded. He hoisted Drizzt up first - the drow's left arm still
wasn't of much use to him - and followed, leaving Guenhwyvar to keep watch.
The chimney snaked up a few yards, then came to an intersection. One way led
down to a room from which the voices were coming, and the other thinned as it
rose to the surface. The conversation was loud and heated now, and Drizzt moved
down to investigate. Wulfgar held the drow's feet to help him inch down the
final descent, as the slope became nearly vertical. Hanging upside down, Drizzt
peeked under the rim of the hearth in another room. He saw three giants; one by
a door at the far end of the room, looking as though it wanted to leave, and a
second with its back to the hearth, being scolded by the third, an immensely
wide and tall frost giant. Drizzt knew by the twisted, lipless smile that he
looked upon Biggrin.
"To tell Biggrin!" pleaded the smaller giant.
"Ye ran from a fight," scowled Biggrin. "Ye left yer friends t' die!"
"No . . :' protested the giant, but Biggrin had heard enough. With one swipe
of its huge axe, it lopped the smaller giant's head off.
* * * * *
The men found Guenhwyvar diligently on watch when they came out of the
chimney. The big cat turned and growled in recognition when it saw its
companions, and Wulfgar, not understanding the throaty purr to be a friendly
sound, took a cautious step away.
"There has to be a side tunnel off the main corridor further down," Drizzt
reasoned, having no time to be amused by his friend's nervousness.
"Let's get this over with, then," said Wulfgar.
They found the passage as the Drow had predicted and soon came to a door they
figured would lead to the room with the remaining giants. They clapped each
other on the shoulder for luck and Drizzt patted Guenhwyvar, though Wulfgar
declined the drow's invitation to do likewise. Then they burst in.
The room was empty. A door previously invisible to Drizzt from his vantage
point at the hearth stood ajar.
* * * * *
Biggrin sent its lone remaining soldier out the secret side door with a
message for Akar Kessell. The big giant had been disgraced, and it knew that the
wizard wouldn't readily accept the loss of so many valuable troops. Biggrin's
only chance was to take care of the two intruding warriors and hope that their
heads would appease its unmerciful boss. The giant pressed its ear to the door
and waited for its victims to enter the adjoining room.
* * * * *
Wulfgar and Drizzt passed through the second door and came into a lavish
chamber, its floor adorned with plush furs and large, puffy pillows. Two other
doors led out of the room. One was slightly open, a darkened corridor beyond,
and the other was closed.
Suddenly Wulfgar stopped Drizzt with an outstretched hand and motioned for
the drow to be quiet. The intangible quality of a true warrior, the sixth sense
