Robert Salvatore: Sojourn

“Dear Tephanis,” Ulgulu purred in an odd sort of grating sound. “Nathak, poor Nathak,”—The goblin didn’t miss the implications of that reference—”has informed me that my gnolls have met with disaster.”

“And-you-want-me-to-go-and-see-what-happened-to-them, my-master,” Tephanis replied. Ulgulu took a moment to decipher the nearly unintelligible string of words, then nodded eagerly.

“Right-away, my-master. Be-back-soon.”

Ulgulu felt a slight shiver on his shoulder, but by the time he, or any of the others, realized what Tephanis had said, the heavy drape separating the chamber from the entry room was floating back to its hanging position. One of the goblins poked its head in for just a moment, to see if Kempfana or Ulgulu had summoned it, then returned to its station, thinking the drape’s movement a trick of the wind.

Ulgulu roared in laughter again; Kempfana cast him a disgusted glare. Kempfana hated the sprite and would have killed it long ago, except that he couldn’t ignore the potential benefits, assuming that Tephanis would work for him once Ulgulu had returned to Gehenna.

Nathak slipped one foot behind the other, meaning to silently retreat from the room. Ulgulu stopped the goblin with a look.

“Your report served me well,” the barghest started.

Nathak relaxed, but only for the moment it took Ulgulu’s great hand to shoot out, catch the goblin by the throat, and lift Nathak from the floor.

“But it would have served me better if you had taken the time to find out what happened to my gnolls!”

Nathak swooned and nearly fainted, and by the time half of his body had been stuffed into Ulgulu’s eager mouth, the spindle-armed goblin wished he had.

“Rub the behind, ease the pain. Switch it brings it back again. Rub the behind, ease the pain. Switch it brings it back again,” Liam Thistledown repeated over and over, a litany to take his concentration from the burning sensation beneath his britches, a litany that mischievous Liam knew all too well this time was different, though, with Liam actually admitting to himself, after a while, that he had indeed run out on his chores.

“But the drizzit was true,” Liam growled defiantly.

As if in answer to his statement, the shed’s door opened just a crack and Shawno, the second youngest to Liam, and Eleni, the only sister, slipped in.

“Got yourself into it this time,” Eleni scolded in her best big-sister voice. “Bad enough you run off when there’s work to be done, but coming home with such tales!”

“The drizzit was true,” Liam protested, not appreciating Eleni’s pseudomothering. Liam could get into enough trouble with just his parents scolding him; he didn’t need Eleni’s ever-sharp hindsight. “Black as Connor’s anvil and with a lion just as black!”

“Quiet, you both,” Shawno warned. “If dad’s to learn that we’re out here talking such, he’ll whip the lot of us.”

“Drizzit,” Eleni huffed doubtfully.

“True!” Liam protested too loudly, bringing a stinging slap from Shawno. The three turned, faces ashen, when the door swung open.

“Get in here!” Eleni whispered harshly, grabbing Flanny, who was a bit older than Shawno but three years Eleni’s junior, by the collar and hoisting him into the woodshed. Shawno, always the worrier of the group, quickly poked his head outside to see that no one was watching, then softly closed the door.

“You should not be spying on us!” Eleni protested.

“How’d I know you was in here?” Flanny shot back. “I just came to tease the little one.” He looked at Liam, twisted his mouth, and waved his fingers menacingly in the air. “Ware, ware,” Flanny crooned. “I am the drizzit, come to eat little boys!”

Liam turned away, but Shawno was not so impressed. “Aw, shut up!” he growled at Flanny, emphasizing his point with a slap on the back of his brother’s head. Flanny turned to retaliate, but Eleni stepped between them.

“Stop it!” Eleni cried, so loudly that all four Thistledown children slapped a finger over their lips and said, “Ssssh!”

“The drizzit was true,” Liam protested again. “I can prove it—if you’re not too scared!”

Liam’s three siblings eyed him curiously. He was a notorious fibber, they all knew, but what now would be the gain? Their father hadn’t believed Liam, and that was all that mattered as far as the punishment was concerned. Yet Liam was adamant, and his tone told them all that there was substance behind the proclamation.

“How can you prove the drizzit?” Flanny asked.

“We’ve no chores tomorrow,” Liam replied. “We’ll go blueberry picking in the mountains.”

“Ma and Daddy’d never let us,” Eleni put in.

“They would if we can get Connor to go along,” said Liam, referring to their oldest brother.

“Connor’d not believe you,” Eleni argued.

“But he’d believe you!” Liam replied sharply, drawing another communal “Ssssh!”

“I don’t believe you,” Eleni retorted quietly. “You’re always making things up, always causing trouble and then lying to get out of it!”

Liam crossed his little arms over his chest and stamped one foot impatiently at his sister’s continuing stream of logic. “But you will believe me,” Liam growled, “if you get Connor to go!”

“Aw, do it,” Flanny pleaded to Eleni, though Shawno, thinking of the potential consequences, shook his head.

“So we go up into the mountains,” Eleni said to Liam, prompting him to continue and thus revealing her agreement.

Liam smiled widely and dropped to one knee, collecting a pile of sawdust in which to draw a rough map of the area where he had encountered the drizzit. His plan was a simple one, using Eleni, casually picking blueberries, as bait. The four brothers would follow secretly and watch as she feigned a twisted ankle or some other injury. Distress had brought the drizzit before; surely with a pretty young girl as bait, it would bring the drizzit again.

Eleni balked at the idea, not thrilled at being planted as a worm on a hook.

“But you don’t believe me anyway,” Liam quickly pointed out. His inevitable smile, complete with a gaping hole where a tooth had been knocked out, showed that her own stubbornness had cornered her.

“So I’ll do it, then!” Eleni huffed. “And I don’t believe in your drizzit, Liam Thistledown! But if the lion is real, and I get chewed, I’ll tan you good!” With that, Eleni turned and stormed out of the woodshed.

Liam and Flanny spit in their hands, then turned daring glares on Shawno until he overcame his fears. Then the three brothers brought their palms together in a triumphant, wet slap. Any disagreements between them always seemed to vanish whenever one of them found a way to bother Eleni.

None of them told Connor about their planned hunt for the drizzit. Rather, Eleni reminded him of the many favors he owed her and promised that she would consider the debt paid in full—but only after Liam had agreed to take on Connor’s debt if they didn’t find the drizzit—if Connor would only take her and the boys blueberry picking.

Connor grumbled and balked, complaining about some shoeing that needed to be done to one of the mares, but he could never resist his little sister’s batting blue eyes and wide, bright smile, and Eleni’s promise of erasing his considerable debt had sealed his fate. With his parents’ blessing, Connor led the Thistledown children up into the mountains, buckets in the children’s hands and a crude sword belted on his hip.

Drizzt saw the ruse coming long before the farmer’s young daughter moved out alone in the blueberry patch. He saw, too, the four Thistledown boys, crouched in the shadows of a nearby grove of maple trees, Connor, somewhat less than expertly, brandishing the crude sword.