The Halfling's Gem - Chapters 23 and 24
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i_read_whatLast time, our crew found themselves on the plane of Tartarus. Regis got himself sent there too in order to facilitate their escape. But unfortunately, Catti-brie has been left behind. Not really though, Drizzt, of course, is going after her while Wulfgar holds the gate open.
We start the chapter out with Bruenor, who's emerged in the chamber with his axe swinging. He's ignoring Pook and the useless guards entirely and charging straight for LaValle, who wisely flees into his own magically shielded room. Wisely, but not effectively. Apparently a pissed off Bruenor Battlehammer is more than a match for such things and he reduces the door to kindling.
Wulfgar also gets through. His job is to guard the gate, which means he gets to engage with the giant eunuch guards. He defeats them pretty soundly. But then there's Pook:
Pook reached down behind the chair and pulled out a neatly concealed heavy crossbow, loaded and ready. "And I may be fat like those two," Pook chuckled, "but I am not stupid."
...it occurs to me that I'm most of the way through this book and I don't know what race Pasha Pook is. Also, what does fat have to do with it?
Anyway, Pook's got a crossbow on Wulfgar, but Wulfgar calls his bluff. Basically right now, Wulfgar is the only thing guarding the open gate to Tatarus, and to illustrate this, a demodand grabs his shoulder.
Now Drizzt. He's trying to get to Catti-brie, but his movements are like swimming as he descends. Fortunately, he's still Drizzt, so we get things like this:
Drizzt noticed the beast at the last moment. He twisted over wildly and spun about, trying to get out of the diving thing's path and struggling to ready his scimitars.
He should have had no chance. It was the demodand's environment, and it was a winged creature, more at home in flight than on the ground.
But Drizzt Do'Urden never played the odds.
Yep.
Anyway, Drizzt catches Catti-brie in his arms. She's cold, but he's not thinking about that. Also, he has no idea if the gate's still open. He's also not thinking about that. They're ALSO still falling, but THAT is worth thinking about.
Drizzt finds a solution when another demodand flies close to him:
Drizzt didn't let the chance go. As the creature passed under, the dark elf snapped himself downward, extending to his limit with one blade-wielding hand. Not aimed to kill, the scimitar found its mark, digging into the creature's backside. The demodand shrieked and dove away, pulling free of the blade.
Its momentum, though, had tugged Drizzt and Catti-brie along, angling their descent enough to line them up with one of the intersecting smoky bridges.
Okay, admittedly, that's pretty cool. They land on the bridge. And Catti-brie is in a bad way:
Catti-brie lay below him, pale and torn, a dozen wounds visible, most vividly the gash from the wererat's quarrel. Blood soaked much of her clothing and matted her hair, but Drizzt's heart did not drop at the gruesome sight, for he had noted one other event when they had plopped down.
Catti-brie had groaned.
But she's still alive, yay!
Back with LaValle, he tries to threaten Bruenor with his great powers. Bruenor's not having it though, cleaving through the wizard's table and crystal ball. Hell hath no fury like a grieving father. But he controls himself and simply throws LaValle on the floor and tells him his friends need his help, and if he tries anything, Bruenor will cleave him in two.
Wulfgar is bracing himself on the Taros Hoop device and fighting off the demodand. It's more of a wrestling match because Wulfgar doesn't want to swing his hammer through the portal. He's holding the gate, but he's tiring. A thought of Catti-brie gives him some strength back and he's able to pull the thing down and through the gate, enough that he can bash its head in at least.
Pook is watching mesmerized, but oo, I don't like this at all:
o Tarterus with a powerful swipe.
Pook watched it all from behind his throne, his crossbow still aimed to kill. Even the guildmaster found himself mesmerized by the sheer strength of the giant man, and when one of his eunuchs recovered and stood up, Pook waved it away from Wulfgar, not wanting to disturb the spectacle before him.
IT??? IT??? A eunuch is still a fucking PERSON, Salvatore. I realize that very few people outside of the LGBT+ community were having the kind of conversations about gender that we're having now, but you can at least avoid calling a sentient being "it".
Anyway, Bruenor realizes the complicated situation and knocks LaValle out so as to deal with Pook. Pook shoots a crossbow bolt at his shield (with the ugh foaming mug standard), and Bruenor is offended. The hill giant eunuch guard intercepts. Meanwhile, Wulfgar is under siege again.
Back inside, Drizzt has Catti-brie over one shoulder. He's very close to the gate, but of course the path is blocked by the monsters attacking Wulfgar. He lays Catti-brie down and...oh dear...
"So close," he whispered helplessly, looking down to Catti-brie. He held her tightly in his arms and brushed a slender hand across her face. How cool she seemed. Drizzt leaned low over her, meaning only to discern the rhythm of her breathing, but he found himself too close to her, and before he even realized his actions, his lips were to hers in a tender kiss.
Sigh, a love triangle? Really?
Actually though, this is why it's interesting to start with the Icewind Dale Trilogy, because just based on this trilogy, Drizzt/Catti-brie makes a lot of sense. They have had a lot more substantial interaction than Catti-brie and Wulfgar, who had maybe two conversations in Crystal Shard and most of them were about Drizzt or vaguely alluding to Drizzt.
If you start with the next trilogy, the Dark Elf Trilogy, you'll see the meeting of Drizzt and Catti-brie, and that makes this all a bit more creepy.
That said, don't kiss unconscious women, dude.
Then this happens:
Her movement brought new courage to Drizzt. "Too close," he muttered grimly, "and you'll not die in this foul place!" He scooped Catti-brie up over his shoulder, wrapping his cloak tightly around her to secure her to him. Then he took up his scimitars in tight grips, rubbing his sensitive fingers across the intricate craftings of their hilts, becoming one with his weapons, making them the killing extensions of his black arms. He took a deep breath and set his visage.
He charged, as silently as only a drow elf could be, at the back of the wretched horde.
...I don't think cloaks work like that.
Anyway, now, surprisingly, we move to Regis, who is uncomfortably surrounded by the silhouettes of hunting cats. They haven't threatened him, but they're gathering and focused on him. Guen appears too, and he realizes she knows something. He comes to the conclusion that he can use the statuette in his hand, somehow:
We can get back with this," the halfling said in sudden revelation. "This is the key to the journey, and with it, we can go wherever we desire!" He glanced around and considered some very interesting possibilities. "All of us?"
If cats could smile, Guenhwyvar did.
Not sure I follow, but okay!
--
Since this is short, and we're in the home stretch, I'm going to do Chapter 24 today as well. (This leaves the last chapter and epilogue for next week.)
--
...Bruenor's problem solving skills are pretty amazing:
"They never listen," he grumbled. He stooped low and dashed between the giant's legs, then straightened quickly, the single horn on his helmet putting the poor eunuch up on its toes. For the second time that day, its eyes crossed and it tumbled, this time its hands low to hold its newest wound.
Meanwhile, Drizzt is heading for the demodands. He knows he could take them, but the problem is that Catti-brie is vulnerable. But he sees another way. He uses his scimitar for some slapstick, tapping demodands on the outside shoulder so that they turn to look and ducking between them. Then he ends up fighting anyway, so I'm not sure what the point of that was. Eventually, he manages to get to the front of the throng and shove one of his opponents through the gate.
They get through. But Wulfgar doesn't know how to close the gate, he does however notice the action across the room.
Meanwhile, Pook and Bruenor are having their match. Pook's got the crossbow aimed, and Bruenor's unafraid of death. But Pook never fires, as he is hit with a twirling warhammer. Yay. Bruenor sees Catti-brie and runs over, while Wulfgar tries to force the edges of the Taros Hoop together with his bare hands. Eventually, he manages to warp it enough for dramatic effect, severing the arm of a demodand that reached through. But it's temporary, when Wulfgar tires, it'll pop back!
Bruenor's cradling Catti-brie, Drizzt is groggy (he'd taken a whack to the head when they breached the gate) but trying to protect them. Wulfgar is trying to close the gate. LaValle is stirring though. He sees what Wulfgar is doing and starts a spell.
For his part, Wulfgar is realizing the hopelessness. He thinks of Regis and he realizes the Hoop's weakness. He releases the hoop, grabs the scepter from Drizzt's belt and smashes it. EXPLOSION!
YAY.
Drizzt and Bruenor make it to their feet. The Hoop is destroyed. Some dead demodands are around it. Wulfgar doesn't look great:
A dozen feet back sat Wulfgar, propped up on his elbows and looking perplexed, one arm bright red from LaValle's energy bolt, his face blackened by the rush of smoke, and his entire frame matted in the gooey webbing. A hundred little dots of blood dotted the barbarian's body. Apparently the glassy image of the planar portal had been more than just an image.
Ow. The poor kid keels over. LaValle is conscious but plays possum. And Catti-brie comes to, muttering about seeing the light again.
Pook runs for it, by the way, but Drizzt pulls Catti-brie's magic bow off his back and runs after him. To my joy though, Drizzt doesn't get this victory. Instead:
Pook rushed through the door, swinging around to slam it behind him. "Rassit-" he started to yell as he turned back toward the stairs, but the word stuck in his throat when he saw Regis, arms crossed, standing before him at the top of the stairway.
"You!" Pook roared, his face twisting and his hands clenching in rage.
"No, him," Regis corrected, pointing a finger above as a sleek black form leaped over him.
To the stunned Pook, Guenhwyvar appeared as no more than a flying ball of big teeth and claws.
By the time Drizzt got through the door, Pook's reign as guildmaster had come to a crashing end.
I forgive you for misgendering Guenhwyvar, Regis, because that was awesome. (Also, as mentioned in previous reviews, apparently that was an editor mix-up. Salvatore always intended Guen to be female, hence being named after Arthur's queen.)
Drizzt and Guen get their own joyous reunion. Aw.
Interestingly though, there's a lot of noise. Growling and the like. Bruenor comes out to investigate, and they see wererats run bow, all pursued by panthers. Guen brought her friends. Nice. Regis gets a good moment here:
"Cats?" Bruenor gawked at Regis. "Ye brought cats?"
Regis smiled and shifted his head in his hands. "You know a better way to get rid of mice?"
So Pook is dead. The ratmen are being hunted. The ordinary thieves will be fine, as long as they stay hiding in their rooms. Guenhwyvar is not a vigilante and her friends won't hurt them. Regis returns the statuette to Drizzt and he steals the ruby from Pook's body:
"Time to make some allies," the halfling explained, and he darted off down the stairs.
Bruenor and Drizzt looked at each other in disbelief.
"He'll own the guild," Bruenor assured the drow.
Drizzt didn't argue the point.
Hah. More power to him.
As for the rest: Rassiter had managed to escape. He hears the chaos and wisely slips into the sewers. He starts planning to build a new guild in a distant city when suddenly:
His ponderings came to an abrupt end as the flat of a curving blade came to rest on his shoulder, the razor edge cutting a tiny line across the side of his neck.
Rassiter held up a jeweled dagger. "This is yours, I believe," he said, trying to sound calm.
The saber slipped away and Rassiter turned to face Artemis Entreri.
Hello there! Rassiter makes Entreri an offer: with Pook dead, the streets are open for the taking. Very few would oppose Entreri and Rassiter can bite himself an army of followers in weeks. Entreri seems intrigued, but points out two problems:
"First, I work alone."
Rassiter's body jolted straight as a dagger blade cut into his spine.
"And second," Entreri continued, without missing a breath, "you are dead," He jerked the bloody dagger out and held it vertical, to wipe the blade on Rassiter's cloak as the wererat fell lifeless to the ground.
...hah. Entreri goes to ground, as he's still got healing to do.
The chapter ends here.
We start the chapter out with Bruenor, who's emerged in the chamber with his axe swinging. He's ignoring Pook and the useless guards entirely and charging straight for LaValle, who wisely flees into his own magically shielded room. Wisely, but not effectively. Apparently a pissed off Bruenor Battlehammer is more than a match for such things and he reduces the door to kindling.
Wulfgar also gets through. His job is to guard the gate, which means he gets to engage with the giant eunuch guards. He defeats them pretty soundly. But then there's Pook:
Pook reached down behind the chair and pulled out a neatly concealed heavy crossbow, loaded and ready. "And I may be fat like those two," Pook chuckled, "but I am not stupid."
...it occurs to me that I'm most of the way through this book and I don't know what race Pasha Pook is. Also, what does fat have to do with it?
Anyway, Pook's got a crossbow on Wulfgar, but Wulfgar calls his bluff. Basically right now, Wulfgar is the only thing guarding the open gate to Tatarus, and to illustrate this, a demodand grabs his shoulder.
Now Drizzt. He's trying to get to Catti-brie, but his movements are like swimming as he descends. Fortunately, he's still Drizzt, so we get things like this:
Drizzt noticed the beast at the last moment. He twisted over wildly and spun about, trying to get out of the diving thing's path and struggling to ready his scimitars.
He should have had no chance. It was the demodand's environment, and it was a winged creature, more at home in flight than on the ground.
But Drizzt Do'Urden never played the odds.
Yep.
Anyway, Drizzt catches Catti-brie in his arms. She's cold, but he's not thinking about that. Also, he has no idea if the gate's still open. He's also not thinking about that. They're ALSO still falling, but THAT is worth thinking about.
Drizzt finds a solution when another demodand flies close to him:
Drizzt didn't let the chance go. As the creature passed under, the dark elf snapped himself downward, extending to his limit with one blade-wielding hand. Not aimed to kill, the scimitar found its mark, digging into the creature's backside. The demodand shrieked and dove away, pulling free of the blade.
Its momentum, though, had tugged Drizzt and Catti-brie along, angling their descent enough to line them up with one of the intersecting smoky bridges.
Okay, admittedly, that's pretty cool. They land on the bridge. And Catti-brie is in a bad way:
Catti-brie lay below him, pale and torn, a dozen wounds visible, most vividly the gash from the wererat's quarrel. Blood soaked much of her clothing and matted her hair, but Drizzt's heart did not drop at the gruesome sight, for he had noted one other event when they had plopped down.
Catti-brie had groaned.
But she's still alive, yay!
Back with LaValle, he tries to threaten Bruenor with his great powers. Bruenor's not having it though, cleaving through the wizard's table and crystal ball. Hell hath no fury like a grieving father. But he controls himself and simply throws LaValle on the floor and tells him his friends need his help, and if he tries anything, Bruenor will cleave him in two.
Wulfgar is bracing himself on the Taros Hoop device and fighting off the demodand. It's more of a wrestling match because Wulfgar doesn't want to swing his hammer through the portal. He's holding the gate, but he's tiring. A thought of Catti-brie gives him some strength back and he's able to pull the thing down and through the gate, enough that he can bash its head in at least.
Pook is watching mesmerized, but oo, I don't like this at all:
o Tarterus with a powerful swipe.
Pook watched it all from behind his throne, his crossbow still aimed to kill. Even the guildmaster found himself mesmerized by the sheer strength of the giant man, and when one of his eunuchs recovered and stood up, Pook waved it away from Wulfgar, not wanting to disturb the spectacle before him.
IT??? IT??? A eunuch is still a fucking PERSON, Salvatore. I realize that very few people outside of the LGBT+ community were having the kind of conversations about gender that we're having now, but you can at least avoid calling a sentient being "it".
Anyway, Bruenor realizes the complicated situation and knocks LaValle out so as to deal with Pook. Pook shoots a crossbow bolt at his shield (with the ugh foaming mug standard), and Bruenor is offended. The hill giant eunuch guard intercepts. Meanwhile, Wulfgar is under siege again.
Back inside, Drizzt has Catti-brie over one shoulder. He's very close to the gate, but of course the path is blocked by the monsters attacking Wulfgar. He lays Catti-brie down and...oh dear...
"So close," he whispered helplessly, looking down to Catti-brie. He held her tightly in his arms and brushed a slender hand across her face. How cool she seemed. Drizzt leaned low over her, meaning only to discern the rhythm of her breathing, but he found himself too close to her, and before he even realized his actions, his lips were to hers in a tender kiss.
Sigh, a love triangle? Really?
Actually though, this is why it's interesting to start with the Icewind Dale Trilogy, because just based on this trilogy, Drizzt/Catti-brie makes a lot of sense. They have had a lot more substantial interaction than Catti-brie and Wulfgar, who had maybe two conversations in Crystal Shard and most of them were about Drizzt or vaguely alluding to Drizzt.
If you start with the next trilogy, the Dark Elf Trilogy, you'll see the meeting of Drizzt and Catti-brie, and that makes this all a bit more creepy.
That said, don't kiss unconscious women, dude.
Then this happens:
Her movement brought new courage to Drizzt. "Too close," he muttered grimly, "and you'll not die in this foul place!" He scooped Catti-brie up over his shoulder, wrapping his cloak tightly around her to secure her to him. Then he took up his scimitars in tight grips, rubbing his sensitive fingers across the intricate craftings of their hilts, becoming one with his weapons, making them the killing extensions of his black arms. He took a deep breath and set his visage.
He charged, as silently as only a drow elf could be, at the back of the wretched horde.
...I don't think cloaks work like that.
Anyway, now, surprisingly, we move to Regis, who is uncomfortably surrounded by the silhouettes of hunting cats. They haven't threatened him, but they're gathering and focused on him. Guen appears too, and he realizes she knows something. He comes to the conclusion that he can use the statuette in his hand, somehow:
We can get back with this," the halfling said in sudden revelation. "This is the key to the journey, and with it, we can go wherever we desire!" He glanced around and considered some very interesting possibilities. "All of us?"
If cats could smile, Guenhwyvar did.
Not sure I follow, but okay!
--
Since this is short, and we're in the home stretch, I'm going to do Chapter 24 today as well. (This leaves the last chapter and epilogue for next week.)
--
...Bruenor's problem solving skills are pretty amazing:
"They never listen," he grumbled. He stooped low and dashed between the giant's legs, then straightened quickly, the single horn on his helmet putting the poor eunuch up on its toes. For the second time that day, its eyes crossed and it tumbled, this time its hands low to hold its newest wound.
Meanwhile, Drizzt is heading for the demodands. He knows he could take them, but the problem is that Catti-brie is vulnerable. But he sees another way. He uses his scimitar for some slapstick, tapping demodands on the outside shoulder so that they turn to look and ducking between them. Then he ends up fighting anyway, so I'm not sure what the point of that was. Eventually, he manages to get to the front of the throng and shove one of his opponents through the gate.
They get through. But Wulfgar doesn't know how to close the gate, he does however notice the action across the room.
Meanwhile, Pook and Bruenor are having their match. Pook's got the crossbow aimed, and Bruenor's unafraid of death. But Pook never fires, as he is hit with a twirling warhammer. Yay. Bruenor sees Catti-brie and runs over, while Wulfgar tries to force the edges of the Taros Hoop together with his bare hands. Eventually, he manages to warp it enough for dramatic effect, severing the arm of a demodand that reached through. But it's temporary, when Wulfgar tires, it'll pop back!
Bruenor's cradling Catti-brie, Drizzt is groggy (he'd taken a whack to the head when they breached the gate) but trying to protect them. Wulfgar is trying to close the gate. LaValle is stirring though. He sees what Wulfgar is doing and starts a spell.
For his part, Wulfgar is realizing the hopelessness. He thinks of Regis and he realizes the Hoop's weakness. He releases the hoop, grabs the scepter from Drizzt's belt and smashes it. EXPLOSION!
YAY.
Drizzt and Bruenor make it to their feet. The Hoop is destroyed. Some dead demodands are around it. Wulfgar doesn't look great:
A dozen feet back sat Wulfgar, propped up on his elbows and looking perplexed, one arm bright red from LaValle's energy bolt, his face blackened by the rush of smoke, and his entire frame matted in the gooey webbing. A hundred little dots of blood dotted the barbarian's body. Apparently the glassy image of the planar portal had been more than just an image.
Ow. The poor kid keels over. LaValle is conscious but plays possum. And Catti-brie comes to, muttering about seeing the light again.
Pook runs for it, by the way, but Drizzt pulls Catti-brie's magic bow off his back and runs after him. To my joy though, Drizzt doesn't get this victory. Instead:
Pook rushed through the door, swinging around to slam it behind him. "Rassit-" he started to yell as he turned back toward the stairs, but the word stuck in his throat when he saw Regis, arms crossed, standing before him at the top of the stairway.
"You!" Pook roared, his face twisting and his hands clenching in rage.
"No, him," Regis corrected, pointing a finger above as a sleek black form leaped over him.
To the stunned Pook, Guenhwyvar appeared as no more than a flying ball of big teeth and claws.
By the time Drizzt got through the door, Pook's reign as guildmaster had come to a crashing end.
I forgive you for misgendering Guenhwyvar, Regis, because that was awesome. (Also, as mentioned in previous reviews, apparently that was an editor mix-up. Salvatore always intended Guen to be female, hence being named after Arthur's queen.)
Drizzt and Guen get their own joyous reunion. Aw.
Interestingly though, there's a lot of noise. Growling and the like. Bruenor comes out to investigate, and they see wererats run bow, all pursued by panthers. Guen brought her friends. Nice. Regis gets a good moment here:
"Cats?" Bruenor gawked at Regis. "Ye brought cats?"
Regis smiled and shifted his head in his hands. "You know a better way to get rid of mice?"
So Pook is dead. The ratmen are being hunted. The ordinary thieves will be fine, as long as they stay hiding in their rooms. Guenhwyvar is not a vigilante and her friends won't hurt them. Regis returns the statuette to Drizzt and he steals the ruby from Pook's body:
"Time to make some allies," the halfling explained, and he darted off down the stairs.
Bruenor and Drizzt looked at each other in disbelief.
"He'll own the guild," Bruenor assured the drow.
Drizzt didn't argue the point.
Hah. More power to him.
As for the rest: Rassiter had managed to escape. He hears the chaos and wisely slips into the sewers. He starts planning to build a new guild in a distant city when suddenly:
His ponderings came to an abrupt end as the flat of a curving blade came to rest on his shoulder, the razor edge cutting a tiny line across the side of his neck.
Rassiter held up a jeweled dagger. "This is yours, I believe," he said, trying to sound calm.
The saber slipped away and Rassiter turned to face Artemis Entreri.
Hello there! Rassiter makes Entreri an offer: with Pook dead, the streets are open for the taking. Very few would oppose Entreri and Rassiter can bite himself an army of followers in weeks. Entreri seems intrigued, but points out two problems:
"First, I work alone."
Rassiter's body jolted straight as a dagger blade cut into his spine.
"And second," Entreri continued, without missing a breath, "you are dead," He jerked the bloody dagger out and held it vertical, to wipe the blade on Rassiter's cloak as the wererat fell lifeless to the ground.
...hah. Entreri goes to ground, as he's still got healing to do.
The chapter ends here.