The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [42]
“So if you touch me, it causes excruciating pain? Well, that’s just wonderful.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of this, Daine. There’s got to be something we can do about it.”
“Not right now,” he said, pushing himself up and grabbing his shirt. “We’ve wasted enough time on this. As long as you don’t touch me, I seem to be fine; it’s not even itching anymore. So if you think you can keep your hands off me, let’s find our way out of these wretched woods.”
“I don’t think that’s—”
“Lei, the mark has most likely been there for at least a day. I’m not dead yet. But we could all be dead in a few hours if we don’t find a way out of these Flame-forsaken woods. So let’s get moving!”
Daine whistled a call to Pierce as he pulled his chain shirt over his padded vest. The answering call came quickly, and the warforged emerged into the grove.
“No sign of anything I would consider a threat, captain. No humanoid tracks beyond our own, no creatures larger than a fox.”
“You overlook the dangers, man of wood and metal.” Xu’sasar appeared next to Pierce, sliding out of the shadows. “There are birds in the trees, owls and other night hunters. There are eyes in the darkness. In the land of the living, such a creature may not threaten you. But this is the realm of the spirits, and size alone means nothing.”
“Well, Xu,” Daine said, “why don’t you tell us what we’re supposed to do, since you seem to be the expert here?”
“Nothing has changed.”
“Everything has changed! We’re in a forest!”
“Yes. We have bought our passage further into night. It is as the great scorpion told us. The gates to Dusk lie in the domain of the Woodsman. We have come to this spirit’s demesne. Now we must find our way to the gates themselves.” She turned to Lei. “You still hold the key, shaper.”
“The staff,” Lei said. She’d dropped the darkwood staff to tend to Daine, and even as she knelt down she paused before taking hold of it.
“Lei?” Daine said.
There was doubt in her eyes, but she finally shook her head. “She’s right. The staff does know the path, and we haven’t reached the end of it. There’s just … such anger and pain within the wood.” She placed her hand on the shaft, and stiffened slightly. A faint moan rose through the air, the whisper of an elven voice. “She knows where we must go,” Lei said, rising to her feet. “And she knows that danger awaits.”
“And it’s been so peaceful so far,” Daine said. But his smile was forced. Traces of pain lingered in his memory, and he could still feel the spark burning at the base of his spine, a reminder of the mystery etched across his back. This is no time for fear, he thought. Accomplish the mission. Keep moving forward. “Lead on,” he told Lei.
Khorvaire had its share of vast forests and jungles, and this wasn’t Daine’s first journey through deep woodlands. Yet there was something disturbing about it, something that lent credence to Xu’sasar’s tales of spirits and ghosts. None of the trees stood straight. They were gnarled and bent, their outspread limbs suggesting giants contorted in pain. Daine would swear that he could see faces in the wood, distorting the bark—but when he turned to look, trunks and boughs were unblemished.
Trees or no, eyes were all around them. Rodents rustled in the low shrubs, creating just enough motion to keep Daine’s nerves on edge. He caught sight of an owl the size of his head, a beautiful bird with black plumage and golden eyes. The creature sat in a high branch, watching the travelers below with proud indifference. Daine considered having Pierce shoot the bird, but it seemed pointless; he felt as if the entire forest was arrayed against them, and it was hard to imagine the death of one owl doing anything more than annoying whatever spirits might be present in the trees and the beasts. Besides, Pierce only had one arrow, and it seemed unlikely that a bird would be the greatest threat the forest had to offer.
Lei forged a path, pushing aside vines and shrubs with her whispering staff. She had enchanted one of her gloves, and pale