The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [15]
There! Daine ducked to the side, and this time the kick brushed past him. He reached out, trying to touch her, but his hand fell on empty air.
“Enough!” Lei cried, and light flooded the room. She had her hand raised above her head, and her glove glowed with brilliant illumination, a magical radiance that shattered the shadows. “Enough of this! I don’t know what’s wrong with you, woman, but I brought you back from the edge of Dolurrh. If you want to return, I can show you the way!”
Even as the light revealed the presence of the drow woman, she was moving, a blur of shadow. She leapt into the air, spinning up and over Lei in an incredible display of agility; Lei had barely finished speaking when a dark-skinned hand appeared around her throat.
“Light the path, then, spellweaver,” the drow said. “I am ready.”
The dark elf was holding Lei’s neck with three fingers, but the effect was dramatic. Lei’s face went pale; she was struggling to keep from choking, and her arms were hanging limp at her side. The dark elf’s other arm was curved back, fingers and thumb drawn together to form a point, reminding Daine of the tail of a scorpion.
Daine’s sword was in his hand; he didn’t remember drawing it. Next to him, Pierce had an arrow to his bowstring and a second between his fingers, ready to loose in the blink of an eye. Daine felt fury building within, and if anything happened to Lei, it really would be his fault. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak another voice filled the chamber.
“Your anger is misplaced,” said Pierce. The words were sibilant and swift, spoken in the language of the dark elves. Lakashtai had granted Daine the power to understand the speech of the drow, but even he could not speak it. “We fear your fury, but know not why we face it.”
While the woman’s pale eyes widened a fraction, her hands never wavered. “I tire of this mockery, man of metal,” she said, answering Pierce in the drow tongue. “You have broken my path, and the last of my blood is lost to me. And you boast of your deeds!”
The point of Pierce’s arrow never wavered, but his voice was soft and steady. “We know nothing of your customs,” he said. “We sought only to save the life of a valued ally, and we would have done the same for your companion if it had been possible. If death is what you wish for, it is a gift easily given. But do not make Lei pay the price for our ignorance.”
“Kkk.” The drow made a sharp noise with her tongue. “Your gift of death is as flawed as your gift of life. Do you know nothing of the world that lies beyond? You have shattered my path to the final land, and now I must begin anew.”
“This was never our intent,” Pierce said.
The woman narrowed her eyes. “How can you not know these things? You are warriors. Why follow this path if you do not look to its end?”
Pierce was distracting the woman, but her fingers were still wrapped around Lei’s throat. Daine could see the pain and anger in Lei’s eyes, and it burned like fire. He still didn’t know what power the woman was holding in reserve, but if he moved swiftly, he might be able to push the distracted dark elf away from Lei before she could move. He tightened his grip on his sword, and a rush of adrenaline flowed through him. He prepared to move …
… and the sphere shook.
Previously, the floor had been perfectly stable—none of the motion of a ship, and it was easy to forget that it was a vehicle at all, and not simply some sort of windowless building. This was false security. A second tremor struck, and Daine staggered a few steps, struggling to keep his footing. Lei stumbled and fell to her knees, but the drow woman kept her balance and her grip on Lei’s throat. This was no storm. The second quake was accompanied by a heavy thud, a massive impact against the outer shell.
“What is this?” hissed the drow.
“Harmattan?” Daine shouted to Pierce.
“I think not,” Pierce called back. The room still rang with the sound of the impact, and sigils and lines were