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“As did I, Captain.”

“Tonight, just make it Daine. You’ve been a good soldier, Pierce. The best I’ve ever seen. But you’ve been a better friend, and I count myself lucky to have known you.”

“We are equally lucky, Daine,” Pierce said. “And I do not intend to let you die tonight.”

Daine smiled. He looked at Lei and opened his mouth to speak, but she kissed him before he could utter a word.

Watching the two, Pierce felt a twinge of envy. For all that he had a sense of touch, he would never know what this moment felt like for them. Then he thought of Indigo, and the pleasure he’d found in her company … and simple satisfaction when Lei had held his hand. He might never know what love felt like for a human, but he knew what it was for a warforged.

“Don’t tell me goodbye,” Lei said, when they broke apart. “I’m not letting you go.”

Daine looked into her eyes in silence, and finally turned away. “Well, Jode,” he said. He reached down and took the halfling’s hand.

And slowly, very slowly, the jaws of the dragon opened wide.

“With me, Pierce,” Daine said. And together, they walked into the Tower of a Thousand Teeth.

Entering the tower, Pierce braced for battle. War was his purpose, and he felt a thrill as he prepared to engage the enemy. He’d calculated plans for a half dozen scenarios, based on the number and nature of enemies awaiting them.

But the chamber within the hall was silent and empty.

There were no guards, no beasts out of nightmare—at least, none that he could see. The floor was soft muscle, but Pierce felt the scrape of ivory against his feet. The room was utterly dark, and while Pierce’s vision was sharp enough to assure that there was no movement in the room, he could see little else.

A pale light took shape behind him. Lei, binding cold fire to her gauntlet. Now they could see the room’s barrenness. No furniture, no banners, nothing but flesh and tooth. Then Pierce took a good look at the center of the chamber. The floor of the room was one vast mouth. Pierce had just stepped onto the edge of a pointed tooth larger than he was. He didn’t know if the maw could open fully, but if it could, they’d all tumble down into whatever lay below.

Daine caught his attention, urging Pierce to move back against the wall, away from the massive mouth. Daine gestured upward. Long fangs protruded from the walls of the chamber, and Pierce saw that they formed a staircase, rising to an opening in the ceiling above them. The tower wasn’t that large, and this upper chamber would be its apex. The object of their search must be above.

Unless it lies below, Pierce thought, glancing at the grinning maw stretching across the floor. He thought Shira might respond, but she remained silent.

Daine wrapped his fey cloak around him as he ascended the stairs. He was shrouded in shadows, and Pierce almost lost sight of him. He followed close behind. The long teeth were slippery and felt all too fragile beneath Pierce’s feet, but despite his concerns, the stairs held his weight and he ascended into the upper chamber.

Six tusks rose from the fleshy floor of this room, curved pillars of ivory spread in a circle around the center of the chamber. Twice Pierce’s height, each was easily wide enough to provide shelter for an enemy. Daine gestured to the right and proceeded to circle slowly to the left, staying close to the wall. Pierce followed the signal, moving carefully along the wall.

Nothing.

The center of the chamber, the space between the tusks … there was nothing there. No monsters, no glowing orb, just a mosaic of interlocking teeth, drawn from dozens of different creatures.

Pierce continued to circle the tower. When he rejoined Daine, they could determine their next course of action.

But by the time Pierce reached him, Daine was already dead. His throat had been severed, a deep wound that cut through to the spine, almost decapitating him. Another blow had pierced his heart, puncturing chainmail and going straight through back and chest. His eyes were wide and shocked. Blood flowed from his injuries, but the fleshy floor