The Gates of Night: The Dreaming Dark - Book 3 (14 page)

It’s a weakness of the medium
. Who had told her that? She shook away the thought; this was no time for reminiscing. The gouges across Daine’s back were deep. Links of torn chainmail were crusted in dried blood. Lei picked up the rod and passed it over the wounds, slowly releasing the power held within. Muscle and flesh flowed before her eyes, knitting together. New skin formed over the injury, without even leaving a scab.

But something was wrong.

Daine began coughing as he returned to his senses. True to form, his first action was to reach out and grasp the hilt of his sword. “Where … Lei?”

He tried rise up, to turn and face her, but she pressed him back down against the ground. “Shh,” she said. “I’m here. Pierce is watching over us. Just lie still. I’m working.”

“I feel fine.” He started to stand, and again she pushed him down. Despite his words, he was far from his full strength.

“Please,” Lei said. “Be still. Just a moment more.”

“Will you at least tell me what’s going on?”

“Quiet. I need to concentrate.” Working as swiftly as she could, she wove two new enchantments. She studied Daine closely as she unleashed the first spell, a second charge of healing. She could feel the strength flowing into his limbs … but what she saw on his back didn’t change.

Clotted blood covered Daine’s torso. Two lines arched across his back, where Lei had healed the deep wounds. The skin
should
have been clean and unblemished. It wasn’t. There were mottled patterns of red and black, bright blemishes or bruises. Holding her breath, Lei activated the other charm she’d just woven … a simple domestic spell, used for cleaning houses and clothes. Daine’s chainmail was polished to a mirror sheen. Blood and dirt were forced from his clothes. And the dried blood around his wound vanished.

Lei staggered backward, stumbling away from Daine. Her foot caught on a root and she thought she was falling, but Pierce was there at her side, to catch her and hold her steady.

“What is it?” Daine said. He rose to his feet, and Lei could see the fear in his eyes—concern for her, she realized. But she couldn’t keep from flinching as Daine reached out for her, and she pressed back against Pierce’s reassuring bulk.

“Take off your shirt,” she whispered.

Daine took a step back, his brow furrowed. “This is a dream, isn’t it?” He glanced around. “Jode?”

“Your back,” Lei said. “I need to see it. Now.”

Daine nodded and began removing his armor. “Sure. I’ve actually been meaning to ask you about that.”

“You
knew?
”

“Knew what? I think I’ve got a rash of some kind. It itches like the Flame.” He pulled off his shirt and turned around. “How bad is it?”

Lei didn’t know what to say.

“What’s going on?” Daine said, trying to peer over his shoulder.

In the end, it was Xu’sasar who spoke. “You have red and black lines spread across your back, much like the wards of the warrior that grace my skin. Did you not earn this honor?”

“Lei?” Daine said. “What’s she talking about?”

“It’s a dragonmark,” Lei said, her voice little more than a whisper. “An aberrant dragonmark.”

Y
ou carry the greatest treasure of the house in your veins. Your blood is our power. This is a glorious gift, and a fearsome responsibility
.

Daine had abandoned House Deneith many years ago. Even as a child, he hadn’t paid much heed to his father’s lessons. At the time, it had seemed like so much arrogant propaganda, designed to preserve the power of the dragonmarked bloodlines. Daine had dismissed the warnings against mixing the blood of two houses, and the tales of the bitter war fought to purge this tainted blood. That was before Sharn. Now Daine remembered the wild eyes of the little girl who spoke to rats, and the chilling touch of the rotting man.

As our blood can produce champions, so can it produce monsters
.

Rage and fear warred within him. Daine wanted to shout, to deny it, but even as he drew in his breath he knew it was the truth. Now that he knew it for what it was, Daine could feel the mark on his back. It was as if three living serpents had been fused to his flesh. He could sense the pattern they formed, their coils intertwined and woven together in an intricate pattern. Worse than that, he could feel them writhing.
The terrible itching was no rash: it was the mark,
moving
against his skin.

“How?” he asked.

Lei shook her head. Fear rimmed her eyes, and Daine couldn’t decide if she was afraid for him or afraid of him. Lei had taken the lessons of her house to heart, and Daine remembered her horror when they encountered the aberrants of Sharn.

Daine took a step toward her, and Lei shrank away from him. Pierce moved between them, and a chill settled over Daine’s heart. He was certain that Pierce knew he wasn’t a threat, that the warforged was simply acting to reassure Lei. Nonetheless, the two were the only anchors he had left in the world, and to have both desert him at once …

Vertigo swept over him. The world spun around Daine, the ground rushed toward him, and his head slammed into the soil. Then he felt Lei’s hand wrap around his. Drawing strength from that contact, Daine pushed back the nausea. He made a cage of his thoughts and wrapped it around the writhing vipers, crushing them into a ball of energy and forcing it into the darkness.

Daine opened his eyes. His face was still pressed against wet grass, and his skin was clammy with sweat. The woman holding his hand braced herself and helped pull Daine to his feet.

“Thanks,” he said. He reached out to embrace his benefactor, and then stopped short in surprise. A woman had come to his aid, but it wasn’t Lei holding his hand … it was Xu’sasar. The drow’s silver eyes were locked on his, twin moons gleaming in the dark woods. In the past her pale gaze had always been unnerving; now it seemed softer. Still, it was not the face Daine had expected to see, and he pulled away.

Now Pierce was there, towering over him. “Can you stand, Captain?”

“I think I’m fine now,” he said. And it was true. The crawling, itching sensation was gone. He could feel the spark of energy burning within him, but it wasn’t entirely painful. He found that he felt sharper, more alert. Even the smell of fresh grass seemed strong and clear. For a moment he wondered … “Is it still there?”

“Yes,” Lei said. “I—” Her voice caught in her throat as Daine turned to face her.

“Fernia’s flames!” he swore. “We’re in the middle of the thrice-damned forest of eternal night. I didn’t ask for this to happen, and there’s no time for us to turn on each other. Lei, I don’t care how scared you are, I need you to tell me what’s going on!”

“Perhaps you did.” Pierce’s voice was steady and calm, slow flowing water.

“What?”

“Perhaps you did ask for it to happen.”

“What are you talking about?” Daine said.

“The blue fluid you consumed last night. You said that it held the essence of Jode’s dragonmark.”

“Yes,” Lei said. “The blood of two dragonmarked lines … he’s right, Daine.” There was still fear in her voice, but now her curiosity was getting the better of it. She moved next to him. “Let me look.”

“Pierce, Xu, watch the forest,” Daine said. “See if you can find any signs of tracks. Sovereigns know what’s out there.” He turned his back to Lei.

“What does it feel like?” she said, searching through her satchel for tools. “You said it feels like a rash?”

“Yeah, sort of … itching, faint burning. I was trying to ignore it. It’s faded, though.”

“When did this begin?”

“Pierce is right,” Daine said. “I don’t remember noticing it until we were in the planar sphere … after I drank the blue liquid.”

“Let’s avoid any speculation right now,” Lei said. She produced a slender wand and chunk of crystal from one of the pockets of her bag. “At a glance, the pattern is reminiscent of a dragonmark. However, the pattern and color are inconsistent with any of the twelve true dragonmarks … which is, of course, the defining element of an aberrant dragonmark.”

Her voice gained strength as she spoke. Clearly describing it helped her feel more in control of the situation. Even Daine found himself feeling slightly better. This was what Lei did. Surely she’d find an explanation.

“What’s especially unusual is the size of the mark,” she continued. “I’ve never heard of an aberrant dragonmark larger than the least true dragonmark. They are invariably small enough to fit on the palm of the bearer’s hand. But this …” She walked around Daine, studying his skin. “I’ve only seen its like once before. In Metrol, one of my cousins was said to be marked by Siberys. He’s a legend in our house; he can create objects from pure thought, bringing imagination into reality.”

Daine twisted around, trying to look at his back, but he could only see a few vivid red stripes along his shoulder blade. Still, he remembered the pattern he had
felt
only moments ago, traced across his entire back. Lei was right. Daine had seen only one person with such a mark in his own house. And the size of the mark was always an indication of its power. “So what does this thing
do?
”

“I don’t know,” Lei said. Daine felt slight warmth against his skin as she passed the wand over it. “There’s
no aura of magic, but that’s not unusual. Sometimes it’s possible to draw conclusions from the pattern, but I can’t make sense of it. Have you had any sort of unusual visions, emotions, anything like that?”

“I don’t know. Something like talking to a dead halfling in my sleep and having injuries disappear?”

Lei chewed on her lower lip. “Yes … that would qualify.”

“That hardly seems like a terrible thing,” Daine said. “If that’s the worst—”

“What makes you think that’s the worst thing you’ll have to deal with?” Lei said, her voice rising. “It’s an aberrant mark. You know the stories as well as I do! Madness. Sickness. You think talking to our
dead
friend is a good sign?”

Daine’s frustration grew. “I know the stories. And what if that’s all they are? You’ve never seen anything like this before. So why do you still believe something just because your parents told it to you? After all the lies—”

The world dissolved in a flash of agony, and Daine cried out in pain.

Lei had brushed her hand along the path of the mark. In that moment of contact, the spark that had been burning at the base of his spine flared into fire, burning a twisted path across his skin. Lei jerked back, and the pain subsided. Daine gasped for breath.

“Daine,” Lei said. “I didn’t … I don’t know what that was. The red lines along your skin glowed, and there was a burst of heat. Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so.” The spark had flowed back into his bones, and he slumped against the cool grass. “I guess talking to Jode isn’t the worst thing I’ll have to deal with.”

“Hold still.”

Daine felt a spot of warmth, growing stronger and sharper. “Just bringing my finger close to the mark is enough to cause a reaction,” Lei said. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“So if you touch me, it causes excruciating pain? Well, that’s just wonderful.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this, Daine. There’s got to be something we can do about it.”

“Not right now,” he said, pushing himself up and grabbing his shirt. “We’ve wasted enough time on this. As long as you don’t touch me, I seem to be fine; it’s not even itching anymore. So if you think you can keep your hands off me, let’s find our way out of these wretched woods.”

“I don’t think that’s—”

“Lei, the mark has most likely been there for at least a day. I’m not dead yet. But we could all be dead in a few hours if we don’t find a way out of these Flame-forsaken woods. So let’s get moving!”

Daine whistled a call to Pierce as he pulled his chain shirt over his padded vest. The answering call came quickly, and the warforged emerged into the grove.

“No sign of anything I would consider a threat, captain. No humanoid tracks beyond our own, no creatures larger than a fox.”

“You overlook the dangers, man of wood and metal.” Xu’sasar appeared next to Pierce, sliding out of the shadows. “There are birds in the trees, owls and other night hunters. There are eyes in the darkness. In the land of the living, such a creature may not threaten you. But this is the realm of the spirits, and size alone means nothing.”

“Well, Xu,” Daine said, “why don’t you tell us what we’re
supposed to do, since you seem to be the expert here?”

“Nothing has changed.”

“Everything
has changed! We’re in a
forest!”

“Yes. We have bought our passage further into night. It is as the great scorpion told us. The gates to Dusk lie in the domain of the Woodsman. We have come to this spirit’s demesne. Now we must find our way to the gates themselves.” She turned to Lei. “You still hold the key, shaper.”

“The staff,” Lei said. She’d dropped the darkwood staff to tend to Daine, and even as she knelt down she paused before taking hold of it.

“Lei?” Daine said.

There was doubt in her eyes, but she finally shook her head. “She’s right. The staff does know the path, and we haven’t reached the end of it. There’s just … such anger and pain within the wood.” She placed her hand on the shaft, and stiffened slightly. A faint moan rose through the air, the whisper of an elven voice. “She knows where we must go,” Lei said, rising to her feet. “And she knows that danger awaits.”