The Shattered Land: The Dreaming Dark - Book 2 (45 page)

Seen through the lens of magic, it was an intricate web of golden threads, burning with pulses of light. “It’s an … information matrix,” she said, wonderingly. “I think it’s alive—not quite alive as you, but self-aware. Conscious. Just imagine—this must have seen the civilization of the giants!”

“How can we communicate with it?” Pierce said.

“That’s the strangest part. I think … it looks like it’s designed to interface with a warforged, to attach to your essence node, but it must be tens of thousands of years old.”

“So it seems that Cannith didn’t create the warforged after all.”

“I’m not sure I’d go that far,” Lei said. “It may be that Cannith explorers adapted a few design elements from Xen’drik golems, and the essence node was one of them.”

“There is only one way to be certain. Attach it to me.”

“We have no idea what it might do to you!”

“Harmattan said it was the key.”

“He also said it was a prisoner!” Lei exclaimed. “It could be a demon, a monster—who knows what?”

“Study it further. Do you think there’s a danger of it seizing control of my body?”

Lei closed her eyes, reaching out through the pearl. “I … I don’t think so, but it’s difficult to say. The design is like nothing I’ve seen before.”

“Attach it to me. If it can lead us to this Karul’tash, perhaps we can find Daine and the others. Lakashtai said nothing about a key, so she may not know it is necessary. It could be our only chance to find them.”

Lei grimaced, but eventually nodded. She examined his torso, and Pierce released the metal disk he had attached earlier.

“What’s this?” she said, pulling it loose.

“Harmattan gave it to me—it is the key that opened the gates of this vault.”

“Interesting,” she said, tucking it in a pouch. “Now … here it goes.”

She pressed the orb against his socket in his chest. As she watched, the node shifted shape; metal softened and flowed in to surround the sphere. After a few moments had passed, the orb had been almost fully absorbed into Pierce’s body—only a single red dragonshard could be seen from the outside.

“What do you feel?” she said.

“I … I do not know,” Pierce replied. There is a … presence, but it is distant. I cannot reach it.”

Lei frowned. “I felt the same thing. Stand still.” She placed a finger on the dragonshard. A moment later she could feel the presence once more, and the barrier between them. “I think that it’s—damaged, somehow. I’m going to try to repair it.”

“How?”

“I can’t explain it. I just … I think I know what to do.”

She closed her eyes again, and let her perception flow into the orb, spreading out along the many threads. Here and there she could
feel
where a connection had broken, where something had snapped, and she found she could weave new threads to bridge these gaps. It seemed to take hours, as her thoughts flowed along one brilliant path after another, but at long last it was done. The curtain was ripped away, and she felt the presence truly come to life.

And in that moment, the ground next to her exploded.

A wave of concussive force threw Lei to the side, and her face slammed against the soil. As her vision cleared, she saw a
cloud of black smoke rising up from patch of burning grass.

“
Do not move!”

The words were in Elvish; it had been some time since Lei had studied the language, and the speaker was talking quickly, flowing his words together. Turning toward the sound, Lei was amazed by the sight of the firesled. She knew they were in danger, and she had no idea what to make of these strange elves with their jet-black skin and orange and red tattoos, but looking at the sleigh with its ring of fire, her first thought was
how can they keep something so small in the air?

Pierce had no intention of standing still; as far as Lei knew, he didn’t even speak Elvish. His bowstring sang, and a feathered shaft struck the shoulder of the elf standing in front of the burning wheel. She cried out but held on to her fixed staff; an instant later she responded with another burst of flame, forcing Lei to leap away from Pierce.

As she rolled to the side, Lei heard her staff whispering—a quiet song, warning of malevolent motion. “A little late,” she muttered. Now shapes were moving all around her, shadows slipping through the foliage. An instant later two elven warriors darted out of the jungle. They were armored in leather and bronze scales, and their short spears were leveled at her heart.

“Surrender!” one cried in fluid Elvish.

Not likely
. Lei ran her fingers along her staff, whispering softly and weaving magic with her thoughts. She quickly planted a battle-bane in the staff: a furious hatred of elves that would guide Lei’s hands and amplify the force of her blows when fighting this vile foe.

As quick as she was, one of the elves saw her flickering fingers and must have guessed that magic was afoot. He lunged forward, but he was too late. Lei had completed her work. The staff seemed to move of its own accord, pulling her with it; she swept the spear aside, then smashed him in the face with the butt of the staff. The other soldier darted in as his companion staggered back, and Lei leapt out of his reach. For a moment they circled each other, trading tentative jabs, but Lei still had the enchantments she had prepared to fight Pierce woven into her boots and armor—and one of these was supernatural speed. It took only a
thought to activate this power, and her foes seemed to slow to a crawl. Within seconds, both elves had fallen beneath her furious blows, and Lei permitted herself a smile.

The smile was a mistake. The battle on the ground had drawn her attention away from the threat in the air, and the next thing she knew she was surrounded by flame. The heat seared across her skin, and the force of the explosion slammed her to the ground. Her ears were ringing, and the world was drifting in and out of focus—just staying conscious was a battle.
Healing wand
, she thought, but even as she struggled to reach her belt, the point of a sword appeared before her eyes—a sword wreathed in flame.

“Another move will end you,” a soft voice sang in the common tongue.

A drow woman stood over her. The stranger’s armor glowed with the heat of burning coals. Her eyes were surrounded by tattooed flames, and these glowed with their own inner light.

L
akashtai?
Daine thought.
This would be a good time for your paralysis trick
.

I am weary, Daine. I do not have the power, and in truth, I am amazed I was able to immobilize them all before
.

The three drow had spread out in a semicircle, and Shen’kar was slowly walking toward him. Previously Daine had encountered these elves in the dark of night. Now, with the dim sunlight filtering down through the canopy, Daine could truly see his enemy. They wore less armor than the elves of the burning city, and instead of metal they seemed to rely on chitin, leather, and wood. There were a few exceptions—their long knives, the mithral chain—but Daine wondered if these might have been scavenged from elsewhere; the hilts on the daggers didn’t seem to match the style of the blades, and he suspected that these drow had scavenged the weapons or inherited them from previous generations. The minimal armor and clothing they wore revealed their tattoos, showing that the practice covered the entire body. Where the firebinders had occasional bands of flame, these elves were covered with intricate designs, stark white against their black skin. Daine imagined that Lei would know all about these tattoos and their significance and could probably give an hour-long lecture on the topic, and it was then that he realized how much he missed her. The last few hours had been a constant race to stay ahead of death; only now did he realize how empty he felt inside.

He held his hands up in front of him. “We don’t want to fight,” he said.

“The half-blood is gone,” Shen’kar observed. He paused fifteen feet away from Daine, his weapon poised to throw. “How is that?”

“Ah, that.” Daine scratched his head. “Well, he turned us over to his relatives, and they tried to burn us to death in a maze.”

“Maze?”

“Invisible, shifting walls, kills you if you touch it?”

“Ah,” Shen’kar said, tilting his head to the side. “It is as we thought,” he said quietly, speaking to his warriors. “The firebinders still seek outlanders for the opening of the gate.”

“Then let us kill them before they aid the Keeper of the Gate,” said the chainmaster.

“That’s really not necessary,” Daine replied. “We’ve met, and we’re not on good terms. All we want to do is find our friends.”

Shen’kar spun back to face Daine, and it took a moment for Daine to understand the reason for his look of surprise.
They were speaking Elvish!
Daine had grown used to hearing the language—he’d forgotten that they didn’t expect him to understand it.

“How is it that you speak the language of the land?” Shen’kar had adjusted his grip on his boomerang, and his eyes were narrowed.

“I gave him the gift,” Lakashtai stepped forward. Her Elvish was steady and flawless, though the accent was slightly different than that of the drow. “He cannot speak your tongue, but he can understand your words.”

“Right. See? Speaking the Common?” Daine pointed out.

“He speaks the truth, however, whatever tongue he uses,” Lakashtai continued. “We mean you no harm, and we have no intention of aiding your enemy. We were betrayed by our companion, whose true loyalties were unknown to us. We know nothing of your culture or these others who you fight. We simply seek to find our companions and to locate a ruin known as the Monolith of Karul’tash.”

The elves were listening attentively and seemed calm enough—until
the last word. The moment Lakashtai named their destination, the chain-wielder set his weapon whirling.

“Kulikoor!”
Shen’kar snapped—apparently the man’s name. “Hold your strike.”

“Let me guess,” Daine said. “Without meaning to, we’ve just made plans to desecrate your holiest temple.”

Shen’kar looked at him, and Daine could feel his disdain. “Not ours,” he replied. “You know nothing of this land, is that not so?”

“I think ‘nothing’ is a little strong, but …”

Lakashtai raised her hand. “Warrior. If we have given offense through our actions, I assure you it was unintentional. We are no friends of these firebinders, and we hold them as our enemies. It seems we lack knowledge. Perhaps you can help us overcome this flaw.”

“All things have their price,” Shen’kar said. “What is it you offer in exchange for this wisdom?”

Lakashtai studied him carefully; Daine wondered if she was probing Shen’kar’s thoughts or simply reading his expression. “Gold and jewels are the currency of cities,” she replied, after a moment. “We are not merchants or explorers. We are soldiers, and we are fighting a war. Now we have learned that your foe is ours as well. With your knowledge, we can fight them. Otherwise, we may be tricked into doing their bidding.” She paused. “We ask for vengeance. We offer the blood of your enemies and our strength at your side.”

Weak as she was, Lakashtai had lost none of her charisma. The drow glanced at one another, and even the chainmaster clicked his tongue in affirmation. Shen’kar turned back to Daine and Lakashtai, and began his tale.

“In the first days, the mighty ones enslaved the people of the land—”

“‘Mighty ones?’ “Daine asked.

“Giants,” whispered Lakashtai. “Don’t interrupt.”

Shen’kar glared at Daine then returned to the story. “In the first days, the mighty ones enslaved the people of the land. The overlords were great and powerful. Their size and strength alone would have made them masters of the earth, and they possessed deadly magicks as well. The mighty ones ruled for
age upon age, until the time of terror, when madness struck the minds of the mighty and tore through the veil of the world itself.”

Daine shot an inquiring glance at Lakashtai, and a second later her thoughts touched his.
I believe he’s talking about the invasion from Dal Quor. Even I know little of what the giants faced, but the battle would have taken place in both dreams and reality
.

“… host of horrors,” Shen’kar was saying, “but the mighty ones were wise as well as strong. They plucked a moon from the sky and used its power to force their foes into the darkness of the mind, where they were soon forgotten.”

The giants defeated the quori by severing the ties between Eberron and Dal Quor
, Lakashtai explained.
Ever since then, it has been virtually impossible for anything to physically travel between the two planes
.

And the moon?
Daine thought.

Legends say there was a thirteenth moon that disappeared long ago. He seems to be blaming it on these giants. Now hush
.

“… battle had left marks on the land and weakened the once-mighty overlords,” Shen’kar continued. “Their slaves saw this weakness and rose up against their cruel masters. Small and cunning were these people, and the great size of the overlords often proved a hindrance. The wise among them took a troop of loyal slaves and imbued them with the essence of night—with the power to shape darkness and see through its depths, the strength to resist magic and the courage to face it. These dark soldiers and their children swore an oath to the overlords, promising to die in their service, and to bring death to all who stood against the masters.”