The five companions were on the road before dawn the next morning. Drizzt was far ahead of his other friends, scouting out their path. Occasionally he would drop back to talk softly to Bruenor or Catti-brie. The latter led the rest along the course Drizzt had chosen, relying on the drow to keep them away from unwelcome eyes. Behind Catti-brie was Bruenor, stumping along in his usual grumbling mood. The subject of his one-sided conversation today was the delay that the friends had experienced in leaving Icewind Dale. A very small but valuable vein of silver was discovered in one of the newly dug tunnels, and Bruenor had had to stay behind and oversee the process of extraction, as he did not trust any of the other dwarves to do it properly. He had told Drizzt and the others to leave without him and that he would catch up, but none of them would hear any of it. Thus, they had remained in the Icewind Dale mines for a week longer than they had planned.
Striding after Bruenor with his magnificent warhammer Aegis-fang slung across his back was Wulfgar. Towering over the rest of the little group, the huge barbarian remained completely silent, lost in his own inner turmoil. Regis looked upon his friend with concern. The little halfling had seen Wulfgar walk through fire and ice and shrug off physical injuries that would have felled any other man. Yet this was something Wulfgar could not hit with Aegis-fang, nor tear through with sheer strength. It was something new, something insidious. It was a doubt, a fear. Regis knew that this could destroy Wulfgar more fully than a dragon ever could. A rumbling in his stomach brought the halfling away from these dark thoughts. He hadn't eaten since a quick bite before leaving the mines, several hours ago.
"When are we stopping for breakfast?" he asked innocently.
Regis jumped as Drizzt materialized beside him. He groaned when he heard the drow say, "Not for another hour or so."
"Always thinking with yer stomach, Rumblebelly," Bruenor called back. "Always yer stomach." Chuckling, he turned his eyes to the horizon and the sun now a few handspans above it, then stopped abruptly.
"Drizzt," he said. "What do yer elf eyes see over yonder? Storm cloud, maybe?"
The dark elf turned towards where his friend was pointing. A black cloud was hovering ominously over the trees of a small forest. Drizzt noted the otherwise cloudless sky, and shook his head.
"Smoke," he said. "I'll go see what it's about." He sprinted off. Figuring this was as good a time as any, Regis plopped down on the ground and began rummaging in his pack for his breakfast. Bruenor and Catti-brie came to sit beside him, glad for a chance to rest their legs and get some food in them. Unlike the plump halfling, the two had not had anything to eat since the night before. Wulfgar remained standing, watching Drizzt slowly disappear.
"I don't like this," he said finally. "I'm going after him."
"Bah, Drizzt can take care of himself." Bruenor patted a spot of ground next to him. "Come sit, get somethin' to eat."
Wulfgar turned to face his foster father, and the fire of determination that Bruenor saw in his ice blue eyes was such a welcome respite from the haunting sadness that Bruenor immediately stepped down. "Or ye could go after the elf."
"There is something strange about that smoke," Catti-brie said. "I can't be sayin' fer sure, but I don't think those are cookfires."
Wulfgar did not wait to hear another word. He ran off after Drizzt. The black cloud still hung in the sky, a splotch of darkness against the clear blue sky.
"Oh well," Regis said to himself, happily munching on a piece of bread. "It's breakfast time."