The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [20]
Pierce leapt down from his perch, kneeling to study the grass. Traces of blood were already evaporating. Even the trail left by the beasts was faint, as if their feet had barely touched the ground. The blood on his arrows quickly faded. Within moments, there was no sign of the battle.
“Daine told you to remain behind,” he said, not looking at Xu’sasar.
“He is not of my family,” she replied, moving up beside him. Her bare feet were silent against the grass, and her voice was a quiet song. “I wished to hunt, and to find information. And I have done both.”
“What have you learned?” Pierce was truly curious. The drow woman seemed extremely pleased with herself.
“We are all dead,” she said, beaming.
Lei’s satchel was far larger than it appeared. During her time in the army, Lei had carried the supplies for her squad in her bag. These days she made sure that she always had an array of mystical tools on hand. She spread these supplies out on a blanket—short lengths of carved wood, polished semi-precious stones, envelopes of rare herbs, preserved body parts of strange creatures, scraps of parchment covered with intricate glyphs, and other odds and ends. She plucked a small piece of quartz out of a bag and began pulverizing it with a mortar and pestle.
“Thrice-damned drow!”
It had taken Daine a few minutes to realize that Xu’sasar had disappeared. Wherever she had gone, she’d left no trail that he could find. He had circled the sphere a dozen times, searching for any signs of movement or life. The plain was empty and silent; the only motion came from the slight breeze that ruffled the grass. At last he sat down next to Lei.
“I told you not to pick up strays,” Lei said.
“I know it’s not easy to sympathize with someone who’s just tried to kill you,” Daine said. “But things aren’t always simple. When we first met, I held her at knifepoint, tried to use her as a hostage. And she still fought to free you from the firebinders.”
“Well, if she gets herself killed, all we’ve lost is a healing charm,” Lei said. “If she comes back, I think you should be the next hostage.”
“At least I’ve got something to look forward to.” Daine studied Lei’s makeshift magical workshop. “Is this going to get us home?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Try me.”
“I know it’s possible to walk from Thelanis to Khorvaire,” Lei said. She added a few verynx whiskers to the mortar and continued her work. “There are soft places between the worlds, and all we need to do is find one. But … that’s like saying that there’s a tree in Breland with golden roots. Thelanis is another world, Daine. It’s another level of reality, and time and distance may not even work the way we’re used to. If we wander around blind, it could take us years to find our way home.”
“But you’ve got an idea.”
“Well … it’s the Traveler’s own odds, but yes, I have an idea.”
Daine set his dagger on the ground, reaching over his shoulder to scratch his back. “I’m listening.”
“We need an oracular vision.”
“And?”
“Augury and divination are forms of magic. The priests who practice true divination call on the gods for guidance.”
Daine frowned. “So you’re telling me our only hope rests in the hands of the Sovereigns?”
Daine’s voice was cold. Religion was a subject he preferred to avoid. Daine had been a devoted follower of the Silver Flame when he and Lei had first met, but over the course of the war, he’d slowly turned away from the Flame and belief in