Chapter 1
The Hunter is born.
There was no wind in the air as Drizzt floated through the dark above Menzoberranzan. The illusion of flying could not be obtained in the depths of the underdark. Because of this Drizzt felt as thought he was swimming in water. The floating was not guided by him, but by the coarse Briza had planted in the spell. Secretly Drizzt hoped she had plotted to kill him, and that in moments he would be crushed up against the cavern wall.
His hopes were wreaked when his altitude began to decrease and the roof of House Hun'ett could be seen in the distance. He looked down at the ground, he could see Do'Urden slaves marching toward the rival house. He smirked at their clumsy attempt at order and stealth. Few drow led the group; these were the ones doomed to be on the front line along with the thralls. Most would flee to the second line instead of dying alongside the slaves, even though their status was one step above the thralls. Farther back he was able to steal glances at the true House Do'Urden army. Their stealth was superb and at this height Drizzt could barely make out their dark forms amongst the shadows.
He landed on the high roof of House Hun'ett with a quiet thump. Briza's ice skin spell did its work, in infravision Drizzt could barely make out his own hand. Because of this he knew no watch guards on the roof would be able to detect his presence. He quietly made his way toward the entrance point given to him by Briza. On the center roof of House Hun'ett, a stained glass seal with a picture of Lolth killing elves marked the perfect entrance to Hun'ett's inner chambers.
He climbed his way silently up to the highest roof. He grasped on tiny ledges, left behind from when the Stalagmite was transformed into the fortress, and was able to scale the wall quickly. He spotted guards on lower balconies surveying the area, all oblivious to his presence. One even looked straight in Drizzt's direction without making any sign of alarm.
When Drizzt finally made it up the wall, he saw that the seal lay directly in the center of the roof floor. He slowly walked his way up to it, wary of traps set in its proximity. When he finally came close got get a good look at it, he was horrified by the image it held. The Demon god Lolth was depicted in the upper right of the glass, in the lower left elves could be seen running through burning woods. His thought quickly wandered to the images of his surface raid. The majestic elves dancing in the forest, and then being slaughtered for no reason by his brethren.
He was deep in thought when the scent of another being came to his nose. Luckily he was able to dodge the swing of the axe before it cleaved his head off. Tuck rolling backwards, and landing on his feet, he was able to get a good look at the "roof guards". Two beautiful drow women stood before him, although something was odd about them. They were both identical, over six feet tall, and far more curves than any drow could ever be. They both wore identical leather corsets that left little for the imagination. They're eyes were a dull red, and didn't glow with internal life like most drows. Each wielded a halberd, far to heavy for their forms, but Drizzt wasn't gonna doubt their power in wielding the weapons. From Drizzt's magical training, he could only think that they were some kind of golum. Before he could get too far into thought though, he got himself ready for battle. Unsheathing his adamant scimitars, he readied himself for the expected charge.
The two golums looked dumbly at him, as if they were oblivious to what was going on. Drizzt waited and the charge from them never came. Apparently the golum's only function was to protect the seal from defamers.
"Hah! So you both are only here to protect the seal?" Drizzt remarked with humor in his voice.
Both women looked at him with the same dull expression. They could not answer his question they couldn't answer anything. They were the stereotypical guardians of Lolth, and would not do anything but follow her will.
Drizzt thought this scene similar to that of the entire female population of the city. They would not speak, blink, or breathe, without the Spider Queen. They were all moving statues, puppets with invisible strings, and their dark goddess was the puppeteer.
"I will cut the strings for you!" Drizzt barked under his breath.
Drizzt charged the two statues with quick short steps, like Zaknafein had taught him. When he reached the golums they both finally reacted to his actions. Drizzt was able to dive through the clumsy halberd swings, useless at close range. When he rolled on the other side he was a few steps from the seal; this caused both golums to give chase.
"Yeah, come on and get me puppets!" he yelled.
Drizzt sidestepped and predictably, the golums were too heavy to stop their pursuit. Both, with the help of magic, were able to stop themselves from smashing into the glass seal. Drizzt quickly went around them and made smart cuts on their backs. With balance spots around the body gone, the golums easily fell down under their own weight.
"Intruders!" yelled a voice from below.
Drizzt checked over the rail of the roof. Sure enough, the battle between House Hun'ett and House Do'Urden had already begun. The thralls were being rooted beyond the walls of the courtyard, but the true drow warriors had already infiltrated into the compound. Now a small skirmish was being held far bellow in front of the compound gates. Hun'ett were easily overcome in the battle, apparently they had not prepared for this inevitable battle as well as House Do'Urden. Drizzt almost felt a twinge of satisfaction in this thought, but quickly suppressed it. Satisfaction in the weakness of an enemy was better felt by his dark kin, not by the son of Zaknafien.
Dinin couldn't believe the weakness of House Hun'ett's defenses. It had been Child's play to distract them with the thralls and sneak the main force through the gates.
Since the battle was fully in the Do'Urden's favor, Dinin felt no reason to give further orders to his men. Sadly Rizzen didn't feel the same way as his son. He was barking orders at his men like he was some sort of grand general. It was times like these Dinin felt ashamed to be this drows offspring. Not only was he a sniveling coward that took small enjoyments in ordering thralls, but he actually thought himself truly a member of the Do'Urden family. The Patron had trouble understanding his place in the house, and Dinin couldn't wait until the truth hit the foolish drow.
Dinin's thoughts trailed away from his lackluster father, and moved toward is wayward brother. Drizzt had always been a headache to him, and that headache was getting worse by the day. Not only had he lied about the death of the elven child, but also he was getting rewarded for it! Dinin was the one who was supposed to take Zaknafein's place as weapon master, not that weak minded Drizzt. As he thought of the shadow Nalfein had cast over his life, he couldn't help but think that Drizzt's would grow even larger and darker. But as long as Malice favored her warrior son, Dinin wouldn't have his chance at ascension. He wondered how he would fair in battle against Drizzt. A few years ago Dinin would have no trouble against the boy, but now he didn't know if he could handle Drizzt. A group of hook horrors, an elemental, and two powerful drow wizards had been the victims of his brother's blade so far. Dinin in the meantime had not accomplished such feats. His battle prowess was considered higher than the average soldier, but no where near that of Zaknafein was or Drizzt's was. But Dinin also knew that the big difference between Zaknafein and Drizzt was the fact that Zak was always willing to kill. Drizzt on the other hand had shown sympathy in some encounters, Dinin only hoped that his acting skills were up to the task. Nalfein had once been in Malice's favor too after all, and his death was considered small compared to the gain in defeating House Devir.
Drizzt watched the battle go on below for awhile before he returned to his mission. The original plan had been for him to carefully cut out a piece of the seal and climb in quietly. But since time was of the essence now and because they are probably more worried about the warriors outside, Drizzt felt he could be bolder in his entrance.
Pulling his piwafwi to cover his face and arms, he jumped into the glass seal. It was easy to crack through and the ground below it wasn't far from the ceiling. Landing in a kneeling position he was able to see everything before him. A giant door lay before him, barricaded from the inside. Knowing this to be the entrance to the room he quickly turned around to survey the rest of it. A large corridor filled with idols of Lolth lay here; all leading toward a large door which was obviously the throne room. At first Drizzt couldn't make out the black spot that stood in front of the door, but when he switched to the normal spectrum he saw that a cool blue light filled the room. The blue light seemed to block animal heat signatures, for he was surprised by what else the world of light revealed. Standing in the spot where the black void had been was a drow. He wore his long white hair in a ponytail and held a deep scare on his left cheek. He wore a piwafwi not unlike Drizzt's. Black chain male could be seen glistening underneath the black cloak. At the drows side, a silver rapier was strapped to his belt.
"You have come as far as you will, assassin from House Do'Urden!" he yelled at Drizzt as he unsheathed his rapier.
The remark of assassin caught Drizzt off guard. Was he a simple assassin now? For the first time in Drizzt's life, the proud position of weapon master seemed to be a cursed job. Was that what he was now, an assassin? Forced to teach others how to be as good of an assassin as him? The thoughts brought even more pain to Drizzt's heart. Not only was he destined to live the dark life his father had, but also he would be labeled an assassin by his enemies for doing so.
Drizzt unsheathed his scimitars and readied himself for the coming charge. If it was his destiny to be House Do'Urden's assassin, then so be it.
The rival drow charged down the hallway with unnatural speed. His rapier led the way as he stabbed it forward to Drizzt's location. It hit nothing but air, and before the drow realized he had underestimated his foe greatly, he was already feeling the blade cut into his calf.
As the drow fell to his knee, Drizzt whirled his scimitar toward his opponent's neck. He stopped before the cut went deep.
How could he think of breaking the promise he made only a few hours ago? He was now being tested by this nameless drow. In the hallway of House Hun'ett, Drizzt would have to make the second greatest choice in his life.
"I will not join House Do'Urden!" Yelled the drow in a shaky voice. "Do what you will but I will be no slave!" He demanded in a more controlled voice.
It was at this point that Drizzt's blade arm began to weaken. He hadn't sweated a drop when he was climbing the compound, but now he was drenched in it. He couldn't do it; he couldn't kill this nameless warrior. The promise he had made was gonna be upheld whether it killed him or not.
As the seconds passed on, the drow began to grow bold. When the blade had reached his neck, he had excepted death for what it was. And when that death did not come he figured this drow was trying to persuade him to join House Do'Urden. But when the offer did not come, and he had refused it outright, he began to wonder if this drow was hesitating from inner weakness.
Taking the chance for what it was the drow pulled out a hidden hand crossbow. Spinning around quickly he shot it toward Drizzt's face.
Drizzt dodged the quarrel but was scraped by it on the cheek. Instantly he felt his muscles begin to stiffen and heartbeats begin to slow. Drizzt slowly began to back up. Losing a scimitar on the way, he backed his way up to the far wall. He lay up against wall, breathing raggedly, and eyes blurring. He watched the injured drow attempt to get up. Although his leg was still bleeding profusely, and the pain was obvious on his face, he was able to rise up.
"You should have killed me when you had the chance Do'Urden." He said with a slight smirk on his mouth. He reached farther into his cloak for another quarrel, and said, "Although that little scratch wont be enough to kill you, it still leaves you pretty defenseless." When he finally found the quarrel, he loaded it into the crossbow, and walked closer to Drizzt's position. "But one at close range and in the heart should do the job." He muttered as he took aim at Drizzt's chest.
So this was how it was gonna end. Shot in a reclusive hallway by this opportunistic drow. Maybe this was how it was always suppose to happen, Drizzt thought. Zaknafein certainly hadn't wished for his son to turn out like him. To Drizzt death seemed like the only escape.
Than the impossible happened. Drizzt felt the feeling return to his body. He could feel his blood begin to pump correctly again. His breathing began too regular and his eyes began to sharpen. He saw the drow clearly over him for the first time, and almost by instinct he began a plan of attack.
Surprised by the sudden action of his opponent, the drow didn't see the attack coming. Drizzt popped up from his wall and thrust his hand on the crossbow handle. Pushing it up toward the ceiling, he caused the quarrel to hit way off target. He than rammed in to the drow, and began pushing him back. Weak on his left legs he easily tripped over on himself. Drizzt wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation. Using the scimitar still in his possession he flipped it over and stabbed downward into the drows stomach.
Not even looking the dying drow in the face, he pulled his scimitar out and began to retrieve the other one. The dying drow tried to get a better look at the Do'Urden assassin. Still not believing that this was the same drow that had jumped through the seal when he died.
Drizzt quickly retrieved his second scimitar and began to walk over toward the door the drow had been guarding. Kicking it open he defiantly entered the inner keep of House Hun'ett.
Briza was pleasantly surprised to feel the connection between her and Drizzt weaken. Usually when the link began to fail, it meant that one of the connected was dying. Since Briza was in no danger and certainly wasn't close to death, she could only figure that it must be Drizzt who was the one in danger.
Not bothering to tell her sisters, or her mother she began to continue the mental assault on House Hun'ett with them.
Currently that battle was even, and the psychic waves had yet to effect either side. Although house Hun'ett had more priestess's only two of them had achieved high priestess status. Because all the priestess's in house Do'Urden were high priestess's they were able to hold their own against the female stocked house.
It was when the mental battle began to where on, that the priestess's of House Do'Urden feared their weapon master had failed in his mission. Although his success was not really important in the overall defeat of the house, it was important to the safety of the house clerics. Especially now since neither house had any prominent wizards.
House Do'Urden was ready to go on the defensive when a scream broke through the mental link. All priestesses' opened their eyes to make sure it was none of them that had done it. When they realized it must have come from House Hun'ett, they went on the offensive. Another scream went through the stream, and then another. Drizzt seemed to be making quick work of the priestesses'. Briza was the one who knew it was Drizzt doing the work, the mental link strengthened with each kill, and she got a burst of pleasure with each Hun'ett death.
Briza was surprised that her wayward brother could kill with so little passion. In each kill she could only feel the emotions of the dying and could barely feel the presence of Drizzt. She opened her eyes only long enough to appreciate the brilliance of her mother. Only she could have predicted Drizzt's ascension over Zaknafein. As the waves of death began to move from the priestesses toward the soldiers inside of House Hun'ett, Briza couldn't pull herself away from the death to realize they had won the battle. No, the death caused by Drizzt was too great to be overshadowed by the victory of the house.
I suck at fighting scenes, it is not a talent I have, if someone out their would be willing to co-write those sceneswith me please email me.