R. Salvatore - The Collected Stories, The Legend of Drizzt

Jarlaxle’s smile melted into a look of confusion.

“Or are you hoping, perhaps, that your sneaky friend has already found it, and so when I open its case, it will not be there?” the woman went on.

“My lady …”

“He is still here. Why do you not ask him?” Ilnezhara stated, and she turned her gaze over to the cranny at the side, staring directly at the hidden Entreri.

“Play with my friends!” Ilnezhara cried suddenly, and she lifted her hand and waved it in a circle. Immediately, several statuettes-a pair of gargoyles, a lizard, and a bear-began to grow and twist.

“Not more constructs!” Entreri growled, bursting from his concealing cubby.

Jarlaxle sprang from the divan, but Ilnezhara moved with equal speed, slipping behind a screen and running off.

“Well done,” Jarlaxle said to Entreri, the two taking up the chase.

Entreri thought to argue that he had defeated every entry-way trap, and that he could not have expected Ilnezhara to be so prepared, but he stayed silent, having no real answer to the sarcasm.

Behind the screen, they found a corridor between the racks of artwork and jewelry cases. Up ahead, the woman’s form slipped behind yet another delicate, painted screen, and as it was very near to the curving back wall, it seemed as if they had her-and would get to her before the constructs fully animated and caught up to them.

“You have nowhere to run!” Jarlaxle called, but even as he spoke, he and Entreri saw the wall above the screen crack open, a secret door swinging in.

“You didn’t find that?” the drow asked.

“I had but a few minutes,” Entreri argued, and he went left around the screen as Jarlaxle went right.

Entreri hit the door first, shouldering it in and fully expecting that he would find himself out the back side of the tower. As he pushed through, though, he felt that there was nothing beneath his foot. He grabbed hard at the door, finding a pull ring, and held on, hanging in mid air as it continued to swing. As he came around and took in the scene before him, he nearly dropped, as his jaw surely did.

For he was not outside, but in a vast magically-lighted chamber, an extra-dimensional space, it had to be, going on and on beyond Entreri’s sight. Having served among the wealthiest merchants in Calimport, and with the richest pashas, Artemis Entreri was no stranger to treasure hoards. But never before in all his life had he imagined a collection of coins, jewels, and artifacts to rival this! Mounds of gold taller than he lay scattered about the floor, glittering with thousands of jewels sitting on their shining sides. Swords and armor, statues and instruments, bowls and amazing furniture pieces were everywhere, every item showing wonderful craftsmanship and care in design.

Entreri glanced back to see Jarlaxle at the threshold, staring in and appearing equally dumbfounded.

“An illusion,” Entreri said.

Jarlaxle shifted his eye patch from one eye to the other and peered intently into the room.

“No, it’s not,” the drow said, and he glanced back to the tower’s entry room.

With a shrug, Jarlaxle casually stepped into the room, dropping the eight feet or so to the floor. Hearing the clatter of the approaching constructs behind him, Entreri let go of the door, swinging it closed as he dropped. It shut with a resounding thud, and the tumult disappeared.

“It is wonderful, yes?” Ilnezhara asked, stepping out from behind a pile of gold.

“By the gods …” whispered Entreri, and he glanced at his partner.

“I have heard of such treasures, good lady,” the drow said. “But always in the care of-”

“Don’t even say it,” whispered Entreri, but it didn’t matter anyway, for Ilnezhara’s features began to shift and scrunch suddenly, accompanied by the sound of cracking bones.

A huge copper-colored tail sprang out behind her, and gigantic wings sprouted from her shoulders.

“A dragon,” Entreri remarked. “Another stinking dragon. What game is this with you?” he asked his partner. “You keep placing me in front of stinking dragons! In all my life, I had never even seen a wyrm, and now, beside you, I have come to know them far too well.”

“You took me to the first one,” Jarlaxle reminded.

“To get rid of that cursed artifact, yes!” Entreri countered. “You remember, of course. The artifact that had you under a destructive spell? Would I have chosen to go to the lair of a dragon, else?”

“It does not matter,” Jarlaxle argued.

“Of course it matters,” Entreri spat back. “You keep taking me to stinking dragons.”

Ilnezhara’s “ahem” shook the ground beneath their feet and drew them from their private argument.

“I could do without the disparaging adjectives, thank you very much,” she said to them when she had their attention, her voice sounding very similar to what it had been when she had appeared as a human woman, except that it was multiplied in volume many times over.

“I suspect we need not worry about the constructs coming in to attack us,” said Jarlaxle.

The dragon smiled, rows of teeth as long as Entreri’s arm gleaming in the magical light.

“You do entertain me, pretty drow,” she said. “Though I lament that you are not as wise as I had believed. To try to steal from a dragon at the behest of a fool like Tazmikella? For it was she who sent you, of course. The foolish woman can never understand why I always seem to best her.”

“Go,” Jarlaxle whispered, and the assassin broke left, while the drow broke right.

But the dragon moved, too, breathing forth.

Entreri cried out and dived into a roll, not knowing what to expect. He felt the wind of dragon breath passing over him, but came back to his feet, apparently unhurt. His elation at that lasted only a moment, though, until he realized that he was moving much more slowly.

“You cannot win, of course, nor is there any escape,” said Ilnezhara. “Tell me, pretty drow, would you have come here to steal from me if you had known of my true identity?”

Entreri looked past the dragon to see Jarlaxle simply standing there, vulnerable, before the great wyrm. His incredulous expression was all the answer Ilnezhara needed.

“I thought not,” she said. “You admit defeat, then?”

Jarlaxle just shrugged and held his arms out to the sides.

“Good, good,” said the dragon.

Her bones began to crunch again, and soon she appeared in her human form.

“I did not know that copper dragons were so adept at shape-changing,” the drow said, finding his voice.

“I spent many years studying under an archmage,” Ilnezhara replied. “The passage of centuries can be quite boring, you understand.”

“I do, yes,” the drow answered. “Though my friend …”

He swept his arm out toward Entreri.

“Your friend who still thinks he might get behind me and stab me with his puny dagger, or cut off my head with his mighty sword? Indeed, that is a formidable weapon,” she said to Entreri. “Would you try it against Ilnezhara?”

The assassin glared at her, but did not answer.

“Or perhaps you would give it to me, in exchange for your lives?”

“Yes, he would,” Jarlaxle was quick to answer.

Entreri turned his scowl on his friend, but realized that he really couldn’t argue the point.

“Or perhaps,” said Ilnezhara, “you would instead agree to perform a service for me. Yes, you seem uniquely qualified for this.”

“You need something stolen from Tazmikella,” Entreri reasoned.

Ilnezhara scoffed at the notion and said, “What could she have that would begin to interest me? No, of course not. Kill her.”

“Kill her?” Jarlaxle echoed.

“Yes, I grow weary of our facade of a friendship, or friendly rivalry, and I grow impatient. I do not wish to wait the few decades until old age takes her or renders her too infirm to continue her silly games. Kill her and arouse no suspicion from the authorities. If you can do that, then perhaps I will forgive your transgression.”