Sabra watched Gareth suspiciously. He was just a little too happy.

"You seem excited," she said coldly as he went to gather firewood.

"We are close to our prey," the wererat responded.

"How close?"

Gareth looked at her. He knew his excitement was obvious. He had, after all, gone to hybrid form. "I can smell them."

Just then Qadmah came rushing into camp. "We've found them!" he cried.

The Hounds gathered their equipment and sounded the horn.

44

Callahan and Entreri were jolted awake by a horn sounding over the trees.

"What was that?" Jarlaxle asked.

Then, the drow looked at Entreri and realized he was packing up his bedroll.

"Why are you packing?" he asked.

"Get your stuff together. Be quick. If they catch us we're dead."

Callahan and Jarlaxle looked at each other for only an instant before they started packing. Artemis Entreri had been terrified.

444

Ali watched carefully through his scrying pool. The Hounds would lead them right into his trap.

The High Priest licked his lips in anticipation. He would beat Artemis to unconsciousness, and when he came to, Ali would kill his friends.

It was such a delightful torture. Ali grinned, and then laughed. He was looking forward to this.

4444

The fear was intense. Nova realized her heart was beating faster than normal. It wasn't just the upcoming fight with the orcs. She had fought plenty of orcs before. It was more.

A fireball erupted. Nova sighed and launched into the fray. No time to think about that now.

44444

The horn sounded again.

"We have to go!" Entreri cried. If it hadn't been for the terror in his voice before, they wouldn't have been ready by now. However, at his prompting, they started running.

The forest was thick, and there was no way horses would've worked for this. It was a battle of running speed.

Entreri ran into something. There was nothing there—he just stopped. A shimmering field surrounded the group, and a cool mist descended. Callahan was down in an instant, asleep. Jarlaxle and Entreri looked at each other, then they too fell asleep. The moment Entreri fell down the mist left and the field disappeared.

Sahide ran to the brush, and watched as the smiling form of Ali Entreri picked them up. Of course the man would want to do it with his own power. The Hounds had just made things more predictable. The moment Ali left, Sahide left. He needed to find help.

This was the fight in which they would finally die. A young Jarlaxle threw his daggers as fast as he could, but there were too many. He and his grandfather would be slaves.

At the thought of his grandfather, the young drow looked that way—just in time to see the sword pierce his heart. Then, he felt something cold on his neck. One of the drow looked at him with a cool smile.

He woke up. Jarlaxle rarely slept, and so the occurrence of a dream seemed strange to him. That wasn't the only strange thing, though.

Jarlaxle had never seen this room before. It was a large room, covered in dust except for where footprints marked the passing of whoever had brought them in. The perceptive drow noticed that there was only a pair going out. The room was also well furnished. There was a desk and a chair in one corner, a wardrobe in another, and the bed sat at the back wall with a small table beside it. Entreri was on the bed while Callahan was on the floor beside Jarlaxle.

The woman barely breathed. She was so ill, and he couldn't do anything.

Artemis Entreri stared at Jori, the only woman he loved. The only woman he would probably ever love.

The only way to cure her was to kill the person who had caused the illness. He had gone to Memnon, he had tried. She would die.

"Artemis," she said quietly. He looked at her. Her eyes showed so much pain!

"Yes," he said comfortingly. She smiled.

"The cleric said that our child will survive." She looked at her swollen stomach. "She'll be born soon. Will you take care of her?"

Artemis looked at Jori. "She will be taken care of," he said shakily. "Even if it is not by me, she will be taken care of."

Jori nodded and screamed. It was time for another member of the family.

Artemis Entreri awoke with a shock. Tears streamed down his face. Jarlaxle was beside him in a second.

Entreri looked at Jarlaxle, clearing away the tears. He then looked at his surroundings. He knew this place. Slowly, Entreri walked over the window and brushed the dust off. When Entreri turned to Jarlaxle, his face was chalk-white.

"Do you know where we are?" Jarlaxle asked.

The man nodded, slowly. "We're in Memnon," he said quietly. He looked out the window again and just stood there.

Jarlaxle looked at him, and then thought about where Memnon was. Several unpleasant thoughts came to him at once. They did not want to be there.

Author's Note: I would like to thank ClubbingBabySeals for the general concept of Jori.