Drizzt was woken in the early morning, just as the sun was rising, by a frantic Guenhwyvar. She prodded the sleeping drow with her paw, and he sat up and rubbed his face. Apparently in Guenhwyvar's eyes he was too slow, because the next thing she did was to roar so loudly that Drizzt was immediately awake, and covering his ears. "What is it, Guen? What's wrong?" Guen rushed over to where Inriole had slept, and Drizzt followed her. Inriole was curled up in a tight ball, shaking and crying. Drizzt knelt beside her, and gathered her in his arms. "Shh…It's OK, Inriole. Wake up." He gave her a gentle shake, and she awoke, every muscle in her body tensed. Her eyes were opened wide, but still unseeing. Then she melted back into Drizzt's arms. Sobs shook her as she gasped for breath.

"I remember, Drizzt, I remember everything!"

"What do you remember, Inriole?"

"I remember what happened. They were so scary, Drizzt! I was so scared."

"Tell me what you remember, Inriole," said Drizzt, hugging her.

"We were eating dinner. Me and Mommy. Then people outside started screaming. Mommy told me to stay, and she went outside. I looked through the window. There were other elves out there. They looked all wrong. Their skin was so black, and their hair was so white. I saw them kill my mommy. I went to help her. They were killing everybody, Drizzt. They tried to kill me."

Drizzt held the little girl tight in his arms and whispered to her. "You're safe now, Inriole. You're safe, and I won't let anyone hurt you." As he held her, he felt Inriole's tiny body suddenly stiffen.

"I hate them!" she screamed. "I hate those drow! I hate them all! I'll kill them!"

"Inriole!" Drizzt's voice was sharp. "Stop it. Hate will not do anything for you. Yes, those drow were evil, and they would have killed you. But it's over, and you're still alive, and you're safe. The only way those dark elves can hurt you now is if you hurt yourself, hating them. Do you understand me?" Inriole nodded slowly, and slowly relaxed. "Are you alright now?" Drizzt asked her.

"Yes," she whispered, and then burst into tears once more. But these were not tears of pain, or sorrow, or hate. They were tears that cleansed, and they would allow Inriole to move past this incident in her life, thought Drizzt knew that she would never forget it.

When Inriole's tears ceased, Drizzt helped her stand up, and led her over to Guenhwyvar, who had been waiting patiently. "Here's Guen, Inriole. Here's my pack," he said, putting it down by her feet. "There's some nuts in there, if you're hungry. When you're ready, we'll go to the town. We're about two hours away. I'll be back soon." Drizzt walked away, taking care to crunch dry leaves noisily under his boots, and being as loud as possible. When he was about fifty yards away, he climbed a tree, and made his way back to Inriole and Guenhwyvar, silently leaping from branch to branch. When he reached the oak directly above their camp, he lay down on a thick limb, and simply watched the elven girl and the panther. He knew that Guenhwyvar could tell he was there, but she gave no sign away to Inriole. The girl still stood next to the black cat, one hand perched on Guenhwyvar's shoulder. Then suddenly she sighed, and slumped into a sitting position. Guenhwyvar plopped down beside her.
As Drizzt watched from above, Inriole began to absent-mindedly stroke Guenhwyvar's shoulder. She continued petting the cat for ten minutes, bringing a deep-throated purr from Guenhwyvar. While watching the two below, Drizzt's eyes began to drift shut, but he was immediately woken when Inriole spoke. "I miss my mommy, Guen. I wish that she wasn't dead. But then I wouldn't have met Drizzt. I'm so glad he found me. He's nice. And I wouldn't have met you, Guen! I like you too." Inriole began to scratch Guen behind her ears, and the panther shook her head, then rolled over, with her giant paws in the air. Inriole continued. "I wonder how Drizzt found me?" Her voice was almost a whisper as she spoke to herself. She mused for a moment and then said, "He must have been coming to visit, and just got there too late."

Above her, Drizzt didn't know what to do. He didn't want to tell Inriole that he had fought the drow, because he knew it would seem to her that her own village's warriors weren't good enough to fight, but he was. He also didn't want Inriole to think he was a coward. After a few moments of pondering, he decided to leave well enough alone, and began to move away from the camp through the trees. When he was far enough away, he climbed down, and walked back to Inriole.

At his approach, Guenhwyvar shifted and perked up her ears. Inriole noticed the panther's movement and craned her neck around. "Hi Drizzt," she said. Drizzt noted that she had pinpointed his position from the crunching of leaves beneath his feet, and he stood still. "Drizzt?" asked Inriole. "Where are you?" Drizzt silently sprinted behind the girl and grabbed her.

"I'm right here, silly!" he said, sweeping her up to his shoulders. She shrieked and grabbed on to his hands. Drizzt started walking in the direction of the village, loosening Inriole's grip only enough to grab his pack from the ground. "We should be in town in a few hours. Tell me when you get tired."

Inriole nodded, then clapped her heels on Drizzt's sides, and shouted, "Giddyap horsy! Run, Drizzt!" The dark elf complied and began racing through the trees.

"Come on, Guen!" he shouted. The panther gleefully chased after them, and they charged through the woods.

After nearly twenty minutes of running, Drizzt slowed to a walk. Inriole was still breathless from the excitement, and even Guenhwyvar was panting slightly. Drizzt glanced at the panther, and then stopped walking, both to catch his breath and to rummage through his pack. When he found Guen's statue, he handed it to Inriole, who still perched on his shoulders. "What do I need the statue for, Drizzt? Guen's still here," Inriole asked, recognizing the statuette.

"Guen needs to go home sometimes, Inriole. She lives in the Astral Plane, not this one. After she rests for a while, we can bring her back."

"OK, Drizzt," Inriole agreed. "How does she go home?"

Drizzt smiled and glanced up at the blinded girl. "You just said the magic words. Just tell Guen to go home, and she will. But wait!" he said, and lifted the girl from his shoulders. When she was standing on the ground, he took her free hand and placed it on Guen's head. "Tell her to go home."

"Go home, Guen," said the elven girl. Guenhwyvar began to dissolve into mist, and Inriole's eyes grew wide as she felt the panther dematerialize beneath her fingers. "Is she gone, Drizzt?"

"Yep," said Drizzt, and he swung Inriole to his hip. "We'll be in town in about an hour, thanks to our run. Then we'll go see your friend Orwen. Alright with you?"

"It's fine with me," said Inriole, sounding very mature. She continued, "Just as long as you don't leave me Drizzt."

"Don't worry, Inriole. I won't," Drizzt said, and the drow elf set off through the forest, carrying the elven girl by his side.