The Shattered Land: The Dreaming Dark - Book 2 (19 page)

Great
, Daine thought.
I needed more voices in my head
.

Who invited you?
It was Lei’s voice.
Wait—? Daine?

I have linked us all
, came Lakashtai’s thought, and there was a strange burst of emotion like the mental equivalent of a frustrated sigh.
Someone approaches, so do turn your attention to the task at hand
.

The priest was tall and heavyset, a man used to good food and easy living. He wore a robe of black silk with a golden cowl, and colorful dragons danced along the hem.

“Travelers have come to the house of the Nine,” the priest said, his voice low and resonant. His golden hair was scented and oiled, but lines of age could be seen beneath the powder on his face. “Olladra smiles on us all to lead you to this place. I am Maru Sakhesh, and in this place I speak with the voice of the Sovereigns. I fear the midday service is hours away, and many of my acolytes have yet to arrive, but perhaps you have come in search of more
—personal
services.”

Daine had no idea what the old man was talking about, but
something about this speech sent a shiver down his spine. The old man’s voice had power, but there was something fundamentally repellent about him. There was no emotion in his gaze, just cold calculation. This man might worship dragons, but looking into his eyes, Daine knew that to the priest he was no more significant than a worm.

“We have, good priest,” Lakashtai said. She met Sakhesh’s gaze, and Daine caught the faintest gleam of green light burning in her eyes. “We set sail tomorrow for the city of Trolanport. We have done well in our travels, and we wish to make offerings to Kol Korran and Olladra to thank them for their bounty and to ensure our safe return.”

She gestured at the empty air beside her, and for an instant Daine saw a host of servants, laden with coffers brimming with coins, gems and platters of rich foods. He blinked, and the image vanished.

“As you can see, we have brought a variety of goods,” Lakashtai continued. “Some we wish to sacrifice directly to the Sovereigns themselves, but it was our hope that you would guide us through the ritual of Olladra’s Feast—joining in the celebration, of course. Naturally, we would make a donation to the temple to compensate you for your time.”

Maru Sakhesh stared at the space she had indicated, and his eyes widened. “As Olladra wills!” he said cheerfully. “It is not my place to refuse her bounty.” He indicated a heavy wooden table at the very center of the chamber. “Let me sort through your goods, and then we can begin.”

It is done
, came Lakashtai’s thoughts.
He has a strong mind—I do not know how long I can maintain this vision. Move swiftly and as silently as possible. Sound may break the trance
.

Sakhesh was inspecting the row of servants that existed only in his mind, sniffing at imaginary delicacies.

Pierce, Lei—you can both hear me?
Daine thought. Affirmations quickly followed.
Flail out, Pierce—if we encounter enemies, it will be close quarters. You take the rear. Lei, you’re with me. Watch floor and door for any sort of defenses. Any opposition, I want you back behind Pierce. Understood? Go!

There was a large wooden door at the far end of the room. Lei examined it and nodded. Daine grasped the door and pulled gently—there was the faintest creak of old hinges, but
nothing the priest would hear over his loud conversation with Lakashtai and her imaginary companions. Daine ducked through, leading with the point of his sword, but there was no one on the other side—just a spiral staircase dropping down beneath the temple.

Daine gestured with his dagger, and Lei cautiously stepped past him, moving slowly down the stairs.

Normally, it would have been Pierce leading the way; the warforged was built for stealth and speed and could withstand the most punishment if it came to a battle, but Gerrion had warned them to expect magical countermeasures. As she made her way down the stairs, Lei cleared her mind of all stray thought. Her task was much like listening for a sound on the edge of hearing, a slight tone that an untrained listener would never notice. What she sought could not be caught with eye or ear. It was something that could only be felt in the mind: a shiver in the soul, the faintest trace of the unnatural in the air. It was beyond most people, but Lei had shaped flows of magical energy as a child, and she could she sense the world hidden in the shadows of reality.

She paused at the bottom of the stairs, stopping the others with a sharp gesture. Had she truly felt it, or was it just an echo in her imagination? She reached out with her thoughts, sending the faintest pulse of mystical energy through the air. Suddenly a web of pale blue light burst into view—a dizzying pattern of glowing lines and words in the script of dragons, forming a wide circle that completely blocked the narrow hallway.

Glyph
, she warned the others. It was a spell frozen in time, waiting to unleash its power on any creature that passed over it. The seal could hold any number of unpleasant effects. It might paralyze its victim, explode in a burst of deadly fire, or summon a fiend to dispatch the intruder. Studying the walls and floor, Lei couldn’t see any scorch marks or signs of physical damage, so odds were good that the glyph wouldn’t explode—but there were many lethal effects that would leave no marks on the surroundings.

Move swiftly. I cannot hold him long
.

Lakashtai’s thought pulled Lei from her reverie.
I know, I
know! Give me a moment
. Daine put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing slightly, and she gave him a brief smile. “I’m all right,” she whispered, feeling an irrational desire to keep her words from the kalashtar upstairs.

She drew a deep breath and turned her attention back to the glowing glyph. She closed her eyes and extended her perceptions, calling on the same techniques she used to craft her own magic. She touched the seal with her mind and slowly traced its path with her thoughts, running along each strand of energy until she reached the end. Every gleaming thread was bound together to form a greater whole, and she contemplated the beauty of the magical web. Finally, she directed a burst of energy at the heart of the seal—a blade that would either cut the thread or cause it to explode.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. The glyph had faded away. To the others, the experience had only taken seconds, but she was exhausted; it seemed as if days had passed since she first looked at the glyph.

Broken
, she thought to the others and continued down the hallway.

If Gerrion’s directions are correct, this is the chamber we’re looking for
, Lei thought.
I can’t sense any traps, but it is mystically sealed—the work of House Kundarak, if I know my auras. I imagine Sarkhesh has a token to deactivate the seal
.

“Remind me why we didn’t just kill him and take the key?” Daine muttered.

My, thief to assassin in less than an hour. You really are making quick progress
, Lei thought.
Now let me work on this door—I’m going to need to prepare an unbinding charm, and it’s a difficult task
. She pulled a small brass wand from her belt pouch and began whispering to it, weaving the energies she would need to break the arcane lock.

Three acolytes have arrived
. It was Lakashtai.
I have managed to draw them into my illusion, but there is a limit to the number of minds I can affect—should anyone else arrive, there will be trouble
.

Lei’s working on it
, Daine shot back. A moment later Lei completed her task and touched the wand to the door, producing a brief flicker of light. The door slowly creaked inwards.

Daine pulled Lei away from the door.
Pierce, point
.

Pierce had his long flail in one hand, the chain wrapped around the haft. He pressed the flail against the door, slowly pushing it open. Then he darted inside, swift and silent.

Safe
, came his thought.

Daine was the next to enter, blades drawn in spite of Pierce’s assurances. He glanced around, and his heart sunk.

The room was full of dragons.

There were wooden dragons, wyrms carved from gold and ivory, statues in a host of shapes and sizes. The doorway was flanked by two copper statues, and each of these rearing dragons was taller than Pierce. Dozens of chests and caskets were scattered around the chamber, seemingly without rhyme or reason. A mail shirt hung from the wall, white scales bound to leather. If there was a blue dragon scale in the room, it was hidden from view.

Lakashtai?
Daine thought.
You may have to maintain the ritual for longer than we’d planned
.

F
or a moment they were stunned by the spectacle. Daine had seen greater wealth in his life; he still remembered Alina Lorridan Lyrris’ garden of jewels in Metrol, but with Alina, one never knew what was real and what was illusion. Here treasures were scattered about with no concern for art or appearance. A gilded statuette with ruby eyes the size of Daine’s thumb was propped against a rolled tapestry.

“Blue scales,” Daine said, pulling his thoughts together. “Pierce, watch the door. Lei, I need to know if these chests are safe—it must be in one of them.”

“We could fit a lot of this in my pack,” Lei said, studying one of the chests. Her pack was a treasure of her childhood, though Daine didn’t know if she’d made it or inherited it; in the past, they’d hidden Pierce inside of it.

“I always knew you had the makings of a thief,” Daine said. “Greed suits you.”

He opened the chest as soon as she moved on. At first it appeared to be filled with shards of broken pottery, covered in gleaming enamel; as Daine sifted through the fragments to make sure no scale lay beneath, he realized that they were the remnants of enormous eggs.

Lei blushed. “I—this isn’t about gold. I’ve just never seen a collection like this.” She tapped the lid of a steel coffer. “Leave this one alone. I’ll come back to it.”

Daine nodded, sifting through a hamper of cloth bundles—old
flags or battle pennants, he thought.

“That’s a Seren sculpture over there,” she continued. “I’ve only heard of them, and if what Gerrion said is right, this man doesn’t deserve these things.”

“Let it go,” Daine said. “If we only take the scale, he might not even notice it’s missing until we’re gone. I don’t care about his faith; I’d just as soon we didn’t have to deal with the wrath of the gods right now.”

“Very well,” Lei sighed. “Oh, this is interesting—”

“Daine!”
Pierce’s thought was a hammer in his skull.

Copper flashed in the light of the cold flame lanterns, smashing the table beside Daine into splinters. A copper dragon crouched before him. It was the size of a tiger, and its head bobbed with the fluid grace of a snake, but its eyes were cold metal. A second ago, it had been a statue frozen at the door. Now it was all too alive—and if Pierce hadn’t slammed into it the instant it began to move, it would have been Daine lying beneath the creature instead of the shards of a shattered table.

The attack happened too quickly for Daine to recognize the nature of his foe. Without thinking, he drew his sword and launched forward in a lunge, striking the beast directly between the eyes. His wrist ached with the impact, and the point barely nicked the surface of the living statue. Then the creature was upon him. The blow slammed him to the floor. The dragon’s claws were pressing down through the rings of his chainmail, just piercing the skin of his chest. Metal jaws stretched wide and descended toward his face—but as glittering teeth filled his vision, there was a resounding
clang!
and the head was knocked aside. Pierce stood over him, and the spinning chain of his flail was a wall of steel in the dim light.

We don’t have time for this!
Daine thought. While Pierce’s blow didn’t seem to have caused any serious damage, it had struck the creature off balance. Daine threw his weight into it, twisting to the side and knocking the dragon to the floor.
Lei, keep searching!