Son of Khyber_ Thorn of Breland - Keith Baker [47]
Thorn sighed. As much as she hated it, he was right. This was her mission. “Yes.”
Your evaluation?
“I’ll have to act alone. I’m sure I could get away from here. But they’ve got a strong defensive position at the main gate, and there’s an evacuation plan in place. As you say, the primary goal has to be to kill Daine, and a frontal assault would surely give him time to escape.”
Agreed. And truth be told, I don’t entirely trust the commanding officer of the Sharn Dark Lanterns. You have a plan?
“I believe I do,” Thorn said. “But before I get started … what about what he said? Returning from the dead? Is it possible?”
It seems unlikely. There are a few cults that claim that the Keeper saves the souls of heroes from Dolurrh so they may be returned when they are needed. But there’s no documented evidence of it ever happening. Although …
“Yes?”
There was a Daine who fought for Deneith in the War of the Mark, a master swordsman and commander of troops. But the accounts of the battles say that he was killed by Halas Tarkanan.
Thorn frowned. “Whose records?”
Almost all accounts of the War of the Mark were recorded by scribes of House Sivis.
“Who surely wouldn’t have any interest in skewing the story to avoid any mention of an officer developing an aberrant dragonmark and shifting sides.”
There was a pause as Steel considered this. I see your point. Nonetheless, I suspect it’s just a story he’s using to influence his troops.
“Good. Because if he has been pulled back to this world after being dead for fifteen hundred years and charged to change the course of history …”
Yes?
“I’d imagine history won’t be so pleased when I spoil its plans.”
Perhaps he has been chosen to change the course of history, and you’ve been chosen to change it back.
Thorn shook her head. “I hate prophecies.” She stood and spun Steel in one hand. “Let’s see if we can cut the threads of fate.”
Two guards stood on duty when Thorn finally made her way to Daine’s chambers. She did her best to ignore them, fixing her eyes on the hallway ahead, and as she’d hoped, the two sentinels barely acknowledged her as she walked between them.
Well done, Steel whispered. The dagger was in her hand, but thanks to the glamer she’d woven, he appeared to be a bone throwing wheel. Thorn’s skin was pitch-black, while her blackened mithral vambraces now appeared to be made of opalescent chitin. The guards didn’t see a half-elf recruit. As far as they could tell, she was Xu’sasar, the one person always allowed in Daine’s personal quarters.
It was a calculated risk. Odds were good that the dark elf was already down below. But even if the guards had seen her pass earlier, Thorn was trusting that they wouldn’t question the drow. Given the talent for stealth Xu’sasar had displayed when dealing with Thorn, she hoped that the guards would just think that they’d somehow failed to notice when Xu had come up from below. Thorn focused on mimicking Xu’sasar’s graceful gait. Her spell might give her the appearance of the dark elf, but it was a challenge to match her unusual movements.
She was carrying the sack she’d been given up on the surface—the bag she’d used to transport Fileon’s corpse and the Cannith child down to Khyber’s Gate. The plan was simple enough. Kill Daine, Xu’sasar, and anyone else she found below, then take the body of the dark elf with her. Once clear, drop the disguise and dispose of the body, leaving the “escaped” dark elf to take the blame for the murder.
No torches lit the hall below, and Thorn’s vision shifted into the gray