Kern cleared his throat nervously. "Actually, I don't have an axe with me, er, Whorl." He wasn't really accustomed to talking to bumps on trees.

"Hmmm, well now," Whorl mused. His twig-nose twitched in agitation. "You could be hiding an axe, waiting until I let my guard down to start chopping away at the old oak."

Listle's eyes flashed dangerously. "I'm getting tired of this, Whorl. Now open the door or…" Her ruby pendant sparkled as she plunged a hand deep into the wood of the tree directly beneath the knot. "… or I'll squeeze off your supply of sap."

"You wouldn't dare!" Whorl squeaked in horror.

"Try me." Listle's tone was serious.

"Primul will hear of this!"

"I have no doubt," the elfsaid dryly. "Now open up!"

"Oh, all right!" Whorl's gnarled face screwed up in concentration, and suddenly the wood of the tree trunk melded and shifted, revealing a perfectly round portal.

"Why, thank you, Whorl," Listle said with mock pleasantry. The knot only scowled at her, drawing mossy eyebrows down over glowering eyes.

"Are you coming, Kern?"

He supposed he didn't dare say no. With a furtive glance at Whorl, he followed Listle into the dimness of the doorway. The portal snapped shut tightly behind them. Listle whispered an incantation, and a pale sphere of light appeared above her head. Thanks to the magical illumination, Kern could see a stairway leading downward.

"Listle, where are we?" he demanded.

"In the dwelling of the green elf, Primul," she replied matter-of-factly, as if it were common knowledge. "Now come on. Primul's arguably the greatest blacksmith in all Faerun-at least in his own opinion, and I've seen no reason to doubt it. If you need a hammer to fight magical foes, this is the place to get it."

She plunged nimbly down the stairs, with Kern hurrying after her.

They found themselves in a huge chamber illuminated by some soft, sourceless emerald glow. Kern looked around in wonder. The chamber was perfectly round, its lofty ceiling supported by a tangled web of tree roots. All around were countless glass cabinets filled with the most marvelous weapons Kern had ever laid eyes on: rune-carved broadswords and bright sabres, curved daggers and deadly maces, along with hundreds of other weapons, many of which he could not even identify.

"Listle, just who is this Primul?"

"You'll see."

Suddenly, two sparks of light fluttered into the room. The sparks were almost identical in color, a shimmering aquamarine. Except that one was just a little more green than blue, while the other was just a tad more blue than green. The brilliant sparks whirled about, almost as if excited. Abruptly the two points of light flared brightly and vanished. In their stead stood two of the kindest-looking elderly men Kern had ever seen.

Both of them were small and frail, their parchment-thin skin drawn over fine bones. Each had long hair and a flowing beard of snowy white, and each clung tightly to a staff with bony hands. By their pointed ears, Kern knew they must be elves, but he had never heard of any elves as wizened as these two. They were clad in robes as white as their hair, and their eyes were the exact same aquamarine hue as the sparks of light had been, one pair blue-green and the other green-blue.

Listle laughed for joy at the sight of the two ancient elves. "Brookwine! Winebrook!" she cried, embracing them jubilantly. They returned the embrace warmly, smiling two perfect, sweet smiles.

"It is wonderful-" Brookwine said in a warbling voice.

"-to see you-" Winebrook went on in a similar tone.

"-again, friend Listle." Brookwine finished.

Kern gawked at the two elves. They had spoken so rapidly in turn that it sounded almost as if only one person had been speaking.

"It has been quite-"

"-some time since we left-"

"-Sifahir's tower behind. Will you-"

"-stay with us for a-"

"-time, fair Listle?"

Listle sighed. "Much as I would love to, I'm afraid I can't. I've come on some dire business, Brookwine and Winebrook. It involves my friend here, Kern."

"Ah, yes!" Brookwine said, raising his snowy eyebrows. "It is the Hammer-"

"-seeker," Winebrook continued. "We are honored-"

"-to meet you, young human."

Unsure how to behave, Kern attempted a stiff bow with at least partial success. "Er, pleased to meet you," he managed to say. He wasn't sure which elf was which.

"We shall go-"

"-tell Primul of-"

"-your coming," the two wizened elves finished together. As quickly as they had materialized, they vanished. The two brilliant specks fluttered out of the chamber.

"How in the world can you tell them apart, Listle?" Kern asked when they had left.

"Isn't it easy?" the elf said in a miffed tone. "Brookwine's eyes are blue-green and Winebrook's eyes are green-blue."

"Oh, of course," Kern mumbled abashedly.

Suddenly the air of the chamber was shattered by a thunderous voice.

"Listle Onopordum! Is it truly you?"

Kern spun around to see what had to be the hugest elf in all the northlands stride into the room. He towered head and shoulders over Kern, his massive shoulders and chest knotted thickly with muscle beneath his forest green tunic. His broad face was open and strikingly handsome. Long golden hair was tied behind his neck with a silver wire. Around his waist was an intricate belt of fine golden links. Rumbling with laughter that shook the tree-hall like an earthquake, the gigantic elf crushed Listle in an embrace.

After a minute or so, she good-naturedly reminded Primul that she needed to breathe, and he set her down. Kern could only shake his head. So much for the general impression that all elves were delicate and wispy.

"Now, who is this specimen you've brought to my tree, Listle?" the big elf boomed. He turned his blazing, leaf-green eyes on Kern. "A human whelp?" Kern did his best not to shrink down into the floor.

"He's a friend, Primul," Listle soothed. "A good friend. I'd like to keep him in one piece."

Primul snorted. "Suit yourself. Although I'll have you know humans make terribly amusing noises when you pop their limbs off."

Kern blanched.

"Primul…" Listle warned.

"Sorry. Just having a little fun." He grinned broadly at Kern and winked. "No hard feelings, eh?"

"Of c-c-course not," Kern stammered.

Primul led the way to an expansive table where he firmly set his guests down and poured them each a cup of pale, sweet mead. The cup handed to Kern was beautifully crafted of silver, inlaid with lapis lazuli. Kern knew it was a vessel fit for a king's hall, but Primul seemed to treat the chalices as if they were made of ordinary clay.

"Did you see Brookwine and Winebrook?" Primul asked Listle as he quaffed his third cup of mead in as many minutes.

Listle nodded. "They look wonderful."

Primul rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, they're better than when Sifahir had them in magical chains, that's for sure. But something tells me they'll never really be their old selves." For a moment a look of sorrow crossed his broad face. Then his expression cheered. "Say, Kern, has Listle ever told you how she helped us escape from the tower of the evil wizard Sifahir?"

Kern shot a puzzled glance at Listle. What was Primul talking about? The young elf looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"That's how we met," Primul went on in his rumbling voice. "It was about ten years ago. You see, there was an elven wizard who lived on a small rocky island north of Evermeet, the homeland of the gray elves. His name was Sifahir, and you've never met a wizard with a darker heart. He brought all sorts of people under his enchantment, using them for his wicked purposes until the very life was squeezed out of them. Then he would throw their dried husks away without a second thought"