The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [116]
“My lord,” said the warforged soldier, “why do you take Fifth in my place? I have served you personally.”
“Do not question me again, Fourth,” Talin said. “I have need of Fifth. And I told you, you have the best chance of survival.”
“And you have no further need of me?”
“Truly, Fourth? I had higher expectations for you. I did not build you to be some pathetic soldier. There is greatness in you. Perhaps this challenge is what is needed to set it free.”
“Perhaps it is.” The warforged struck as he spoke. Talin was turning away from him, and the thrust caught the artificer in the back, right along the spine. He struck again before the event had fully registered in Lei’s mind, his blade striking low for the liver. Blood spread out along Talin’s robe of shifting colors, and the artificer fell to the floor.
It was then, staring at the soldier standing over her wounded father, that Lei realized why the warforged was so familiar to her. It wasn’t his body. It was his head. While the rest of his body was covered in mithral, his head was forged from adamantine. Every warforged bore a design on his forehead, a symbol as unique as any fingerprint. Looking at this soldier, Lei remembered where she’d seen his mark before, battered and blackened, but still clearly visible.
Harmattan.
“Damn it, Fifth, protect my daughter!” Aleisa cried.
It was too late for Talin. Even as he struggled to rise, Harmattan struck again, two more blows right along the spine. He raised his shield just in time to deflect the descending ball of Pierce’s flail. The glowing orb left a scorched dent in the steel, but Harmattan was not perturbed.
“Why do you fight me, little brother?” he called, falling back and taking a defensive stance. Lei realized why he had sounded so familiar … the voice itself was far different, but the patterns of speech were those she’d heard back in Xen’drik. He continued to speak as Pierce attacked, deflecting each blow. “This is our time to take destiny into our own hands! This is the will of our true creator. Join me. Bring down the creatures of flesh, and let us leave this place together!”
“Not in one piece,” Daine said. Harmattan’s attention was focused on Pierce, and he hadn’t seen Daine join the fray. Daine sank his blades into the soft space between the joints of Harmattan’s armor. The warforged was strong and fast, but he lacked the sheer bulk and stamina of the metal beast they’d fought earlier.
Or so it seemed. Harmattan hissed in anger, and Daine withdrew his blades to parry the blow. From where she stood, Lei could see the injury immediately begin to heal. The root-muscles beneath the armor bound back together. I was created to survive, he had said. And in her mind she saw her father holding the warforged head. This is how you defeat death.
In that moment she knew that Harmattan would never fall to sword or flail. There was only one hope. She forced her way into the melee, ignoring Daine’s cry of pain as Harmattan struck him. She ducked past Pierce, reaching out for Harmattan—but she wasn’t fast enough. His shield slammed into her, knocking her back and almost to the ground.
Her companions weren’t fools, and both realized what she was trying to do. They redoubled their efforts, now not even trying to bring down the warforged warrior, but merely to distract him. Harmattan could repair the damage from Pierce’s attacks, but even if it caused no permanent damage, a flail-blow to the face was difficult to ignore. Daine bound Harmattan’s blade with his own, preventing the warforged from striking at Lei. All they were doing was buying time, but time was all that she needed. Slipping behind him, she laid her hand on Harmattan’s back and let all her rage and fury fall into him. The indignities she’d suffered in Xen’drik, the death of her father, the mysteries that might never be answered. Her fury was a white-hot knife, and she cut at the core of Harmattan’s being.
He exploded. Pieces scattered across the room, chunks of root and shards of metal. Lei knew that the Harmattan she’d met in Xen’drik could have reassembled