The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [46]
Daine looked down at the massive snake. “Fine. Xu, it’s your story. How do we do this?” He glanced around. “Xu’sasar?”
“Captain?” Pierce pointed.
The drow was already halfway to the serpent.
Cursing Sovereigns and snakes, Daine rushed after her.
Pierce remained at Lei’s side as they approached the serpent. He shouldered his bow, returning his last arrow to the quiver. He knew this beast could not be felled with one blow, and if he needed to protect Lei it seemed best to have both hands free.
Daine caught up with Xu’sasar, and the two approached the pillar together. As they drew near, the massive snake loosened its coils, turning its head to fix Daine with gleaming golden eyes. Then a second serpentine head peered around from the other side of the pillar, a great wedge covered with crimson scales. Two of them!
“I give you greetings, traveler.” The voice was the hiss of a thousand serpents, woven into words. Both mouths spoke as one, moving in perfect unison, and Pierce realized they were the opposite ends of the single serpent. “What is it you seek?”
Xu’sasar knelt, dwarfed by the immense snake. “I give you greetings, great Ko’molaq. My companions and I seek to cross the river you guard.”
“And will you pay my price and abide by my rule?” The serpent watched from each side of the pillar. Pierce studied it, considering how long it might take the creature to uncoil should they choose to retreat.
“What price is that?” Daine said, at the same moment Xu’sasar said, “We shall.”
The crimson head rose to regard Daine, while the black-scaled serpent kept its gaze on Xu’sasar. “Knowledge, traveler. Truth. Answer my question, and you may cross the river unharmed. But once you cross you may never return. Be certain in your choice.”
“And what’s so terrifying about this river, anyway?”
“Knowledge,” the serpent said. “Truth. It is a stream of consciousness, but no mortal mind can survive the pure knowledge that lies within.
Daine took a step back, turning to Lei and Pierce. “Thoughts?”
“I don’t see that we have a choice,” Lei said. “I don’t exactly understand what this thing is talking about, but we need to cross and we can’t touch the water. It may seem insane, but I think that’s fairly normal for this place.”
Daine glanced at Pierce.
“I will follow your lead,” the warforged said. Shira was silent, and he had seen nothing to suggest another course of action.
“Very well.” Daine turned back and walked up to the serpent, staring into the golden eyes of the crimson head. “Ask your question.”
“Questions,” the serpent said. “One for each who would walk my path. Answer, then cross, leaving all else behind.”
As it spoke, one end of the serpent entered the river, slowly making its way across. It seemed impossible for the beast to reach across the river, yet somehow it did. A few coils remained tightly wrapped around the dark pillar, and slowly it rose up above the water, apparently anchored on the far shore.
The serpent spoke only through the head with the blood-red scales, but its voice was just as strong. “You will be first,” it said to Daine. “You have led in battle. You have left many things behind. So shall it be here.”
Daine frowned, and Pierce could almost hear his thoughts—his reluctance to abandon the others, set against the need to evaluate the dangers of the other side. “Very well,” he said at last.
The serpent reared up, towering over Daine. “Tell me, traveler, and tell me truly. Where does your journey end?”
Daine opened his mouth, and then closed it. He looked at the others. “Is this some sort of riddle?” he said to Lei. “You know that’s not my—”
“This is your question, and yours alone.” The voice of the serpent drowned out Daine’s objection. “Think of what has brought you to this place, traveler. And tell me where your journey ends.”
Daine was silent for a moment and stood staring into the serpent’s eyes. Then he said, “My journey ends beyond the Gates of Night, at the end of my dreams. My journey ends when