The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [124]
“You’re clever,” Jode said. “But for all your false bravery, we’re still here. I don’t think you can stop us. Give us the crystal moon, and let’s be done with this.”
Lakashtai laughed, a terrible sound. “You don’t think I can stop you? You have no idea, halfling. The Dark has rewarded me for my faithful service, and my power is beyond your imagining. You are alive only because it amuses me … and I think I’ve had enough of you.” She looked at Daine and smiled. “Daine, why don’t you kill your friend for me?”
“Why would I—”
“Because if you do, I’ll let Lei go, and I’ll let the both of you wake up and have your last few days together. If not, she dies while you watch. Then I’ll kill your friend. And if you’re lucky, afterward I’ll let you die.” She held out her hand, and the darkness rose up to twine around her fingers. “You have to the count of five.”
“No,” Daine said. “There’s no need. You’ve won.”
Images passed through his mind. The vast army outside. Creatures of nightmare, tearing through High Walls and Sharn. And Lei. Lying on a bed in Thelanis, all but dead. The tear in his heart when he thought that he’d lost her.
“Daine—” Jode said.
“I’m sorry.” Daine forced all emotion from his mind. He raised sword and dagger, calling on all the speed and strength of the dragonfire that still burned within.
He struck Lakashtai.
For once, Daine caught Lakashtai unprepared. The point of his grandfather’s sword disappeared in her throat, while his dagger flashed toward a brilliant green eye. It was swift and brutal, and Daine took no pride in his work. But he could not risk letting her live another moment.
Yet she did. She dropped to one knee, blood spilling down across her pure white skin. But she did not fall. She opened her ruined eye, and now it was a pool of utter darkness.
In that moment, Pierce lunged at Lei, his flail a streak of light in the shadows. Daine heard a sickening crunch as the ball slammed into Lei’s chest, and blood flowed from her mouth as she staggered backward.
“No!” Daine cried. He forced Lakashtai to the ground, striking again and again. Rage overwhelmed all senses. When his vision cleared, his hands were covered with blood, and the life had fled Lakashtai’s body. He turned, afraid of what he might see.
Lei must have struck back at Pierce; both were stretched out on the ground. Lei’s green jerkin was torn and burnt, and blood flowed from her chest. Half of Pierce’s muscle cords had snapped, and his armor plates were pitted, some hanging from his body. Jode knelt next to Lei, and the dragonmark on his head burned with blue light.
Daine was there in an instant, kneeling between the two. “How bad?”
“I … am … functional …” Pierce said, his voice barely a whisper. He raised his head, though he seemed to have difficulty holding it straight. “Lei?”
“I’m doing the best that I can,” Jode muttered.
A moment later Lei choked and coughed, blood bubbling along her lips.
“Jode,” she said faintly, and Daine’s heart soared.
“Yes, Lady Lei,” Jode said. “You’re not rid of us yet.”
Oh, but I will be.
The new voice echoed around them, and Daine couldn’t say if it was sound at all, or all in his mind. There was nothing human in that voice. It was cold fear, the force a child sees in the darkness, a horror all the worse for not being seen.
You think killing one body means anything to me? You have no conception of what we are. I am your nightmares, Daine. I am every fear you’ve ever had, and horrors you’ve never imagined.
“Shield them, Daine,” Jode said, clasping Daine’s wrist. “We know we can do it. Don’t let her take them again.”
Once again, Daine felt warmth flowing from Jode and into him. He could feel the emotions of his friend, his love and his courage. He thought of Lei and Pierce,