The stranger saw Avariel has she came down. He had hoped not to encounter her so quickly. She was the oldest thief in the Citadel and probably remembered him. Still, she was at some level the most likely to help.

"Avariel," he said bowing low.

"That's Thief Lord Avariel to you," the elf replied harshly.

"Thief Lord now! You have done well." The man sounded truly impressed.

"What do you want, Artemis?" she asked angrily.

"I have a bit of news you might find interesting," he said slyly. Despite herself, Avariel was almost glad to see the cleverness in his eyes. Shortly afterhis binding thathad disappeared, and Avariel found it a waste of intelligence when he was already bound to loyalty.

"Oh?" she said, begging him to go on.

Artemis nodded. "We need to go somewhere where no one will hear us. I only want you, the High Priest, and Nova to hear what I am going to say."

"Nova isn't here, but come with me." Avariel knew this was dumb, but if his news was important she wanted to hear it.

55

Orcs were swarming his village. Callahan tried to charge out and help fight them off, but he couldn't move.

As he watched his whole village fell to dust. A woman in black and purple approached him, smiling sweetly. Callahan screamed.

Like Entreri and Jarlaxle, Callahan also woke up with a start, only he screamed as well.

Entreri and Jarlaxle spun around. Callahan looked at them, then at his surroundings. He stood up shakily.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"Look around," Jarlaxle replied. "Let's see if there's anything useful in here." Without even waiting for consent, Jarlaxle went to the bedside table and opened the drawer. It was filled with drawings. Slowly, Jarlaxle picked them up and looked through them.

There were several pictures of what this person thought various gods looked like. There were also pictures of people and cats. Whoever had drawn these liked cats. Then he stopped. His hands were trembling as he looked at a picture of a face of a lavender-eyed drow reflected in a scimitar. It was Drizzt. There was no question.

"I wonder who used this room?" he asked. It was aimed at no one in particular, but that was when the door opened.

555

Avariel led Sahide down the winding halls of the Citadel. It was a long walk and involved going up several flights of stairs, but they made it.

The two were standing in front of the door to the High Priest's private chambers. It was unremarkable except for the symbol of Mask carved into it. The elf glanced at Sahide, and then gave two quick knocks on the door.

Sahide spent about two hours explaining things. The High Priest was very specific about the details. After that time the three just sat in the room, silent.

"So Aramil defied our Lady," the High Priest said finally.

Sahide shook his head. "She could've stopped it if She didn't want it to happen."

Avariel and the High Priest nodded.

"We must save him from his fate and bring him here then," Avariel finally said.

"He will have to challenge Varen," the High Priest reminded them.

"So be it," Sahide said calmly. "If you would help me with the rescue mission, m'lady?"

The elf and the High Priest nodded. One thought kept crossing both of their minds: this might be the most important thing they would ever do.

5555

Ali looked at Artemis, and Artemis looked at Ali. It had been so many years!

Indeed, Ali looked just like Artemis except that his hair was thinner and he was about two inches taller. He also wore the black and purple robes of Shar.

"It is a pleasure to see you again," he said. Ali's face and voice were calmed, composed, and powerful, showing no hint of emotion.

Jarlaxle blinked in surprise. He had never seen this man, and Callahan certainty hadn't.

"What do you want?" Artemis asked sharply.

"Nothing much—just somebody else to carry on the bloodline so I can kill you."

Artemis was working hard to control his temper. He did indeed know what this man wanted, and, as usual, it wasn't what he wanted.

"Besides," said the man as he approached Artemis, "this could be fun."

With that, he grabbed Artemis. Artemis responded by kicking him and spitting in his face. Ali backed off in surprise.

"As defiant as ever," he snarled and stormed out.

"What just happened?" asked a very bewildered Callahan. Entreri just looked at him, then at the door.

"You don't want to know," he said quietly.

Jarlaxle closed his eyes and thought for a minute. He did not like how this was piecing together, but knew better to confront the man. He opened his eyes again, and prayed he was wrong.