（外文电子版资料）02 - Exile - R A Salvatore.docVIP

PRELUDE The monster lumbered along the quiet corridors of the Underdark, its eight scaly legs occasionally scuffing the stone. It did not recoil at its own echoing sounds, fearing the revealing noise. Nor did it scurry for cover, expecting the rush of another predator. For even in the dangers of the Underdark, this creature knew only security, confident of its ability to defeat any foe. Its breath reeked of deadly poison, the hard edges of its claws dug deep gouges into solid stone, and the rows of spearlike teeth that lined its wicked maw could fear through the thickest of hides. But worst of all was the monsters gaze, the gaze of a basilisk, which could transmutate into solid stone any living thing it fell upon. This creature, huge and terrible, was among the greatest of its kind. It did not know fear. The hunter watched the basilisk pass as he had watched it earlier that same day. The eight legged monster was the intruder here, coming into the hunters domain. He had witnessed the basilisk kill several of his rothe, the small, cattlelike creatures that enhanced his table with its poison breath, and the rest of the herd had fled blindly down the endless tunnels, perhaps never to return. The hunter was angry. He watched now as the monster trudged down the narrow passageway, just the route the hunter had suspected it would take. He slid his weapons from their sheaths, gaining confidence, as always, as soon as he felt their fine balance. The hunter had owned them since his childhood, and even after nearly three decades of almost constant use, they bore only the slightest hints of wear. Now they would be tested again. The hunter replaced his weapons and waited for the sound that would spur him to motion. A throaty growl stopped the basilisk in its tracks. The monster peered ahead curiously, though its poor eyes could distinguish little beyond a few feet. Again came the growl, and the basilisk hunched down, waiting for the challenger, its next victim, to sprin