No typically ore squabbling came from below regarding the food and drink; it was passed out in an orderly fashion, with enough set aside to feed those ores still working in the south upon their return.
Even more curiously, the guards rotated, with several caravan guards replacing those at the wall, who set out on the return journey to the north. The new guards, too, were dressed in the skull helmets and black tabards that seemed to be the uniform of Obould's minions.
Intrigued by the surprising orderliness of the ores, the two elves, moon and drow, moved back from the ledges R.A and put their mounts to the sky once again. They veered along a more northerly route, wanting to more fully explore the continuing organization of the ore army. They noted wooden pyres set on many hilltops-signal fires. They saw other well-guarded caravans moving out along the various trails like the tentacles of a gigantic octopus. The center of that creature, a huge encampment, was not hard to find.
They flew beyond it, continuing more north than west, and found new construction everywhere. Clusters of stone houses and incomplete walls showed across every snow-covered lea, and every other hilltop, it seemed, was set with the base stones of a new, fortified keep.
"Word does not spread quickly among the ores, it would seem," Innovindil said when they landed in a secluded vale.
Drizzt didn't reply, but his doubting expression spoke volumes. All those ores couldn't still be ignorant of an event as momentous as the fall of Obould Many-Arrows. Could it be that the cohesion Obould had spawned among his people would outlast him?
That possibility rattled Drizzt to his bones. The decapitation of the ore army, the death of Obould, was supposed to work like a cancer on the stupid beasts. Surely infighting and selfishness would destroy the integrity of their enemies. The nature of ores would accomplish what Bruenor's army had not been able to.
"The tale is early in the telling," Innovindil said, and Drizzt realized that his fears played out on his face.
"Not so early."
"Our enemies have not been tested since Obould's fall," Innovindil said. "Neither by sword nor winter's fury."
"They are preparing for both, it would seem."
Innovindil touched her hand to the drow's shoulder, and he looked into her blue eyes. "Do not abandon hope," she reminded him. "Nor make judgments on things we cannot yet know. How will these remainders of the ore too army fare when winter comes on in full? How will they manage when some tribe or another decides that it is time to return to the safety of its mountain hole? Will the others try to stop the retreat, and if they do, if ores begin to battle ores, how long will it take for the entire mass to feed upon itself?"
Drizzt glanced back to the distant trails and the working ores and let his gaze linger there for some time. "It is too early to make a judgment," he finally agreed. "Let us go to the west and finish our task. Perhaps the day will shine brighter upon our return."
Innovindil took his hand and walked him back to the waiting pegasi, and soon they were on their way again, flying due west, the miles to Luskan rolling out below them. They set their course and held it true, and they each tried to hold on to their reasoning that the events around them were not likely indicative of what they would find upon their return.
But they each glanced to the sides, and watched the continuing progress and cohesion of an ore force that was supposed to be disintegrating.
The sights of that day, the signal fires and coordinated flares of that night, and the sights of the next day, until they broke clear of the ores in the Haunted Pass to the west, did not bolster their confidence.
As a minor noble in a major House of Menzoberranzan, Tos'un Anngo had done many years of battle training at Melee-Magthere, the school of warriors. He had served under the brutal and legendary weapons master, Uthe-gental, who had distinguished himself among drow warriors with his fearsome, offensive style of battle. Never known for his subtlety, what Uthegental lacked in finesse he made up for in sheer strength and ferocity, and the Barrison del'Aringo warriors he commanded learned to strike hard and strike fast.
Tos'un was no exception. So when he descended upon a caravan of ores, Khazid'hea in his right hand and a second sword in his left, he did not hesitate. He came down from on high in a great leap, stabbed out with his left as he landed beside the lead ore, then spun across with Khazid'hea and cut the foolish creature shoulder to hip. A sudden reversal and backhand sent Khazid'hea slashing at the next ore in line, who lifted a sack of supplies to block.
The blade, with an edge as fine as any in all the world, slid in and out of the bag, through the ore's raised arm, and into its surprised face with such ease Tos'un wasn't even sure he had hit the creature.
Until, that is, it fell in a blood-spraying heap.
Tos'un planted his foot on the fallen ore as he leaped forward, scoring another kill by stabbing Khazid'hea through the planks of the caravan's lead cart and into the chest of the ore that had leaped behind it for cover.
More! the sentient sword screamed in his head. It sent waves of rage at the drow, telepathic impartations that agitated him and drove him on with fury.
A pair of ores moved to intercept, their swords out level to hinder him.
Out went Tos'un's second sword, tapping across left to right under the blade of the ore on his right. He rolled it under and tapped the underside of the other ore blade, then back again to the right and back to the left in a series of light parries. The ores didn't resist, for the hits were not strong, but neither did they realize that the drow was walking their blades up ever so slightly.
Tos'un stopped in mid-swing and tossed his second sword into the air to fly between the surprised ores. In the same fluid movement, the drow dropped low and spun, slipping forward to one knee and ducking under the ores' blades. Khazid'hea ripped across, shearing thick belts and leather tabards as if they were made of parchment.
Both ores howled and fell away, grabbing at their spilling entrails.
Khazid'hea howled, too, but in pleasure-in Tos'un's head.
Another pair of guards came at the drow, each circling to the side and prodding at him with metal-tipped spears. He analyzed their movements and ran through an internal debate about how to proceed, where to parry and which counter to follow through.
When the thrust came, Tos'un proved more than ready. With his superior agility and speed, he slipped his foot back and half-turned, dodging the stab that passed behind him and slapping aside the one in front.
One step forward had him in range, and Khazid'hea tasted more ore blood.
The other foolish ore pursued the drow from behind, and Tos'un executed a brilliant backhand, behind-the-back deflection with his more mundane blade, spun following his own blade as he continued to force the spear aside, and bore in to put Khazid'hea through the ore's heart.
The sword flooded Tos'un with appreciation.
The drow saw an opening to the left, where an ore began scrambling away. He started that way but then cut back having seen a pair of ores running right, abandoning the wagon to save their lives. He took a few steps in pursuit, but his delay had cost him any chance of catching them quickly, so he sheathed his swords and went to the carts instead to realize the spoils.
Khazid'hea went silent, but the sword was more intrigued than pleased. Tos'un was a fine wielder, a solid drow warrior, certainly superior to the human woman who had wielded the sword for several years before, a female warrior who too often favored her bow-a coward's weapon-over Khazid'hea's magnificent blade.
We have much to learn from each other, the sword related in Tos'un's thoughts.