The Shattered Land: The Dreaming Dark - Book 2 (40 page)

Rolling back, Daine slapped himself with his hands. His scalp was burned, his clothes were charred and burnt through in places, but after a few moments, he’d managed to put out the fire.

Zulaje was standing above him, one point of her weapon leveled at his head. He could only see her silhouette as she gazed at him through her burning shield.

“The tradition of flame brings you to Holuar, outlander, but you need no legs to fulfill the prophecy. Will you walk?”

Daine sighed and slowly rose to his feet. “Fine.” Zulaje stepped away as he stood, and he could see that she’d perfectly matched his reach.

“Then you will walk ahead, with my blade at your back.” She gestured for him to move forward.

The other guard had disappeared, along with his injured comrade; Daine imagined he had gone in search of a healer. A trail of blood drops could be seen running down the hallway.

“I would tell you that his death will mean your own.” Zulaje’s voice was barely audible over the crackling flames that surrounded her, “but I suspect he’ll outlive you either way.”

H
armattan studied the patch of glass on the ground.
Can you feel it, little brother?

“Feel what?” The supposed door seemed completely unremarkable, and Pierce was more concerned with Lei. She was surrounded by Hydra on the far side of the clearing, and Pierce could see her glaring in his peripheral vision.

The spirit bound within the door. Watching. Waiting
.

Pierce looked down at the glass. “It’s alive?”

Alive as an airship is alive. A half-life at best, but it is a beginning. Study the glass. Look for the fire within, the reflection of a flame you cannot see. That is the spirit within. It was bound over forty thousand years ago. For tens of thousands of years it has waited for the key, destroying any who sought to force passage
.

“Destroying?”

“I did tell you not to touch it,” Indigo said.

It holds the power of an inferno. Look closely. There. Burnt bone. A tooth
.

Harmattan was right—looking across the clearing, Pierce could see a layer of ash and fragments of charred bone spread beneath the undergrowth.

“How do we open it?”

We do not, little brother. You do, and in the simplest way possible
. Harmattan held out his hand, and there was a rustling and rattling as the shards of metal that comprised his body shifted. A moment later, a small amulet rose out of his palm.
With the key
.

Pierce looked down at the medallion. He’d seen similar objects before: it was an essence disk, a magical tool designed
to enhance the abilities of a warforged soldier.

“Why me? Any warforged could use this.”

Not this one. This is a relic of this ancient land, a key of a most unusual nature. Only a warforged designed to interface with it can make use of it. Hydra, Indigo—it will not interface properly with their auras
.

Pierce wanted to look at Lei, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. “What makes you think I can use it?”

Because
I
could, if I still had a body, and you are my brother
.

“Indigo also calls me her brother.”

She speaks of our larger family, of the bond between the warforged, but you and I—we were built by the same hands, for a purpose beyond mere battle. Do you remember your creation, your first awakening?

“No,” Pierce said. “I … I have always assumed that age or damage has clouded my memory.”

Even as he spoke, he remembered his vision beneath Sharn, when Lei had almost destroyed him. The room with six tables. Lei, lying on the slab next to him. The woman’s voice, whispering.

“Protect my daughter.”

Perhaps
. Harmattan’s voice broke the reverie,
or perhaps the knowledge was buried in your mind. Your mind is a magical engine, little brother—how do you know which memories are real?

“This makes no sense. If I am the only one who can use the key … you came to Xen’drik without me. If we had not met, your mission would have failed.”

Faith. The warforged were not born by accident, little brother. We are part of a grand design, older than human civilization and far more ancient than House Cannith. When this key was placed in my keeping, I was assured that one would arrive who could use it—and so we found you
.

“What grand design?
Who
gave you the key?”

These are not my secrets to tell, and you are not ready to hear them. You must learn faith, brother. Only then will your destiny be revealed
.

Was he mad?
Pierce had never heard of warforged going insane, but if Indigo’s story was true—if Harmattan had truly pulled himself back from the brink of death—such an experience would be bound to challenge the strongest mind. Pierce remembered the ravings of the changeling Hugal, who claimed that the people of Cyre could harness the power of the Mournland and turn it against their foes. Was Harmattan insane? On
the other hand, his power was undeniable. Was a higher power acting through him? Did it have plans for Pierce—and for all the warforged? He glanced at Indigo, but she said nothing.

He took the essence disk from Harmattan’s massive hand. “What do you want me to do?”

Bond with the disk, than walk to the sigil. Stare into the glass until you see the flames, then command the door to open
.

“You said the door would destroy any creature that tried to force it.”

The key will protect you
.

“You may trust your nameless benefactor. I see no reason to do so.”

It doesn’t matter. You have no choice. You will do as I say. It is why you are here
.

“I am not your slave, and if you destroy me, you still cannot open your door. I want information. If you expect me to use this key for you, you will start by telling me who gave it to you.”

“Why are you doing this?” Indigo said, watching from the side.

“When I was a soldier, I served without question. You promised freedom. Do you even know what that is?”

Harmattan rustled.
You are a fool, little brother. You cannot fight fate, and you cannot bargain with me. I have been given all the tools I need, even if I did not see their value right away. I have you … and I have her
. Harmattan’s glowing eyes turned toward Lei.
Disobey me, and she dies
.

Even as the words hung in the air, Pierce’s mind was racing, evaluating the positions of the combatants and the actions he could take. The results were disillusioning. Despite his bold words earlier he wasn’t sure he could defeat Indigo, though he would have the momentary advantage of surprise. Lei was surrounded. Even if Pierce could reach her in time and somehow scatter Hydra, he had no idea how to defeat Harmattan.

“Why should I care?” he said. The calculations had taken less than a second; hopefully Harmattan hadn’t noticed the hesitation.

So you don’t care after all? Good
. He gestured, and two of Hydra’s bodies grabbed Lei’s arms.
Hydra!
he called.
I’d like to make a point to our brother Pierce. Please remove one of his fleshling’s fingers
.

An instant later Lei cried out in pain. “Damn you!” she screamed, moaning.

Pierce moved toward her, but Harmattan slammed him to the ground with a single blow. He had no skeleton, but whatever force bound his body together gave him tremendous strength.
Do I tell Hydra to bind the wound, little brother, or should I move down to the wrist?

Protect my daughter
. It was a voice from a dream, but now Pierce realized that it had been with him all along, that on some level he’d known it was his purpose when he’d first laid eyes on Lei.
Protect my daughter
.

“I told you that I would destroy you if you harmed her.”

Fate seems to have other ideas
.

“Very well. I will do as you ask, but you will pay for this.”

I think not. I am doing this for you, little brother, and for all of us. In time, you will realize this. One day, you will kill her at my command
. He turned back toward Hydra.
Search that pack of hers. I suspect she has rope and bandages. Restrain her as you bind her wound—she won’t be coming with us
.

The scouts pulled the wounded Lei to the ground, but even as they worked a rope gag into her mouth, she straightened up, staring straight at Harmattan. “I remember you,” she said. “I
know who you are!”
The rope was pulled tight between her teeth, and any further words were lost.

We have work to do, little brother. Hydra will stay with your fleshling to keep her safe. Of course, he will also be with us—and he will be watching you. Challenge me again, and she will pay the price. Now let us begin. Open the door
.

For now, there was no choice. Pierce set the amulet against his essence node, a small hollow in his sternum. He focused his thoughts and reached out to encompass the disk. There was a shifting of metal as the medallion was drawn fused to the node, and he felt its energy flowing into him—very old, very alien, nothing like the scouting disks he’d used in the war. An instant later, the bond was complete. He looked over at Lei then stepped onto the circle. Gazing down into the obsidian surface, he could see a faint flickering—patterns of flame in black and white fluttering in the shadows. As he watched, these grew more focused and pronounced.

Open
, he thought. He could feel the disk grow warm, feel his thoughts being translated into some ancient tongue and spread across the ether.

The glass began to glow.

The shimmer of heat rose up through the air. As Pierce watched, the glass around his feet began to melt and flow, but it was contained, channeled—and a moment later it was cold again, and a spiral staircase led down into the darkness.

You see, little one? No danger at all. Now let us go. Indigo, join Pierce in the lead—I don’t want him setting off any defenses
.

Indigo walked up to Pierce. She’d slung her bow, and her blades were extended. She moved with a precision the human eye would never appreciate, and even now Pierce found her fascinating.

“Let go of this doubt,” she said. “We are your family. We belong together, and we shall change this world.”

“All we need to do is follow our orders,” Pierce said, drawing his flail.

“It is our fight,” she replied, studying the stairs and trying her foot on the first step. “Our leaders should not have to compel our loyalty. It is our duty to our race.”

“How many times has a human made that same speech?”

Indigo had no reply. She made her way down the spiral staircase, and Pierce followed in silence.

G
errion had dressed for the occasion.

The threadbare rogue Daine had met in Stormreach had been replaced by a dashing dandy. His clothes were black glimmersilk embroidered with red and orange flames, and he wore tall boots of red leather. His hair had been oiled and washed, and it was like a wreath of fire around his face. Only two traces of his old identity remained: the crossbow in his right hand and the glove on his left, black leather painted with interwoven flames.

“Daine!” He said, “I hope you enjoyed your rest and your meal. I do try to keep my promises.” He studied Daine with a critical eye. “Are those burns I see? Have you been getting in fights again?”

“Bastard!”
Daine yelled. He leapt forward, heedless of Gerrion’s crossbow, ready to strangle the half-elf with his last breath, if that’s what it took

He never reached the traitor. He’d forgotten about Zulaje, and even as he charged forward she swept him off his feet with a blow to the back of his legs. She could have easily severed his tendons, but she used the flat of the blade, so instead he found himself tumbling to the floor. He managed to catch himself before his face struck the floor, resting on his forearms.

“Bastard, but ours,” Zulaje sang from behind him.

Gerrion smiled down at Daine and shrugged. “I’d stay there, if I were you. From what I hear, she’s been in a bad mood.”
From his vantage point on the floor, Daine saw that his adamantine dagger was tucked into the wide belt Gerrion wore around his waist.