The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [34]
“You are not dead, traveler, though many perils still lie before you, and I make no promises that you will survive to see the light of evening.”
Daine considered this. “And you’re not planning to … eat us, tear us apart, marry us, or anything like that?”
“I am only a messenger, sent to offer guidance and advice.”
“Sent by who, exactly?” Lei said. Far from being grateful, she sounded suspicious. She still held her staff at the ready, as if she could fight the great scorpion with her little piece of wood.
“I heard your call earlier, child of Cannith. Have you forgotten the message you were given? Your answers lie in the twilight.”
“Beyond the Gates of Night,” Lei said. “And what does that mean, exactly?”
“You have already learned what you need to know. You stand beneath the Hunter’s Moon. The Gates of Night lie beneath the Deepwood Moon, in the domain of the Woodsman. You hold the key to the gates in your hand. Open the gates, and pass into Dusk and the domain of the one I serve.”
“And the danger?” Daine said.
“These are the realms of the Nine Brothers of Night. The Woodsman is the mightiest among them, and he has been waiting long for the return of the Lady Darkheart. He guards the Gates of Night, and he will kill you if he can.”
“Look,” Daine said. “Gates, woodsmen … I don’t pretend to understand any of this. I don’t care about the mystery. All I want is to get home.”
“Your answers lie in Dusk, traveler, as do passages to your world. Open the Gates of Night, and you will find the path to your future.”
“And what is my fate?” Xu’sasar said, finding her voice at last.
“For now, you must protect this one,” the scorpion replied, indicating Daine with the slightest twist of its mighty stinger. “Set aside your questions and place your trust in our guidance. Your kindred watch you with pride and await the night when you will fight alongside them once more. But you have yet to earn your way. For now your path leads back to the world of the living. Honor your ancestors, heed the spirits, and let no harm befall this man.”
The words burned in her ears. Protect this outlander? She had spent decades hunting his kind! But it was not her place to question the commands of the spirits or the wishes of the fallen. She bowed her head.
“Do I get any sort of say in this?” Daine said.
“No.” The voice of the scorpion grew cold, and the slightest shift of its stance served as a subtle reminder of its power. “You will need her aid if you are to survive the dangers that await you. Now you must make your way to the realm of the Woodsman.”
“And where’s that? We haven’t seen a lot of woods lately.”
“Xu’sasar is correct. You will have to pay for your passage in blood. Seek Colchyn, the Great Boar of the Hunter’s Moon. Lady Darkheart will guide you. Defeat Colchyn, and the path will be clear.”
Lei considered this. “If you want us to do this, how come you don’t beat this boar for us?”
“We must earn passage,” Xu’sasar said. “Another cannot earn it for us.”
“It is as she says,” the scorpion replied. “I can only advise. Were I to fight your battles, you could never leave.”
Lei nodded but still looked unconvinced. Xu’sasar blew out her breath. Humans!
“Your trial awaits,” The scorpion said. “Heed the voice of Lady Darkheart, child of Cannith. Beware and be wary. Many a hero has fallen to Colchyn’s tusks, and you will find him a formidable foe.”
With that, he was gone. There was no sound, no burst of light. One moment the scorpion towered over them, and the next they were alone. Even the grass was undisturbed.
Daine broke the silence. “Lei?”
The woman ran a hand along the shaft of her dark staff, which murmured slightly. “I can feel the direction she wants us to go. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. At least we’re not dead.”
Xu’sasar blew out her breath. To be so close and have eternity stripped away—this was nothing to celebrate. Still, she had been entrusted with a task by one of the mighty spirits. This was the stuff of tales—were there any other Jalaq left to tell them.
She watched the human she had been ordered