The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [57]
She felt his hand on her shoulder. She flinched slightly at the unfamiliar touch but raised her eyes. His expression had softened, and he pointed at the bed.
“I do not understand,” she said. Was this some sort of sexual overture? Despite the growing bond she felt with the trio, they were still outlanders.
“I believe that the captain is offering you the remaining space on the bed, so you may rest in comfort,” Pierce said. He paused, then continued. “I believe that he is unaware that your race does not sleep.”
Daine’s eyes widened slightly, and he glanced at Pierce. Not sleep? he mouthed.
“Indeed,” Xu’sasar said. “This weakness was purged from our kind in the time of horror, when darkness struck at the dreams of the mighty.” She looked at Daine. “Take this comfort for your own. I shall watch over you.”
Daine shrugged. He glanced at Pierce.
“I will guard the door, captain. Do you wish to obtain food before you sleep?”
Music had begun anew in the common room, and the sound of laughter rose through the floor—Daine’s laughter. Daine frowned as he heard, and he shook his head. He sat down on the bed, and for a time he stared at Lei. Then he removed his armor and settled onto the bed next to her. Moments later, he was fast asleep.
Xu’sasar looked at Pierce. The warforged towered over her, and he watched her with glowing eyes. Moments passed in silence, neither one moving. She wondered if he was evaluating her potential as a threat, considering the ways he would defeat her if they faced one another in battle. That’s what she was doing as she studied him. She knew that this man of metal was an ally, and she respected his skills as a hunter and fellow traveler in the night. But he was still a strange and unnatural creature. As she looked at him, the memory rose of the being who had transformed into a storm of razors—the creature who had killed her father and left her for dead. The desire for vengeance against this Harmattan still burned within her, and when she looked at Pierce it was difficult not to see the shadow of that monster.
“I will stand outside the door and guard the hall,” Pierce said. “From that position, I will be able to hear the events in the common room below, and any sounds of alarm from this room. You will defend my companions?”
“With my blood,” she replied.
Soon Xu’sasar was alone with the sleeping humans. She knelt in a corner of the little room, setting her back against the wall. She drew her bone knives and let her thoughts drift across the linked weapons, watching them ripple and shift in response. The Tooth of the Wanderer, the man had called it. A weapon of destiny, the blade you were born to carry.
And what destiny do we share? she’d said.
What would have happened if she hadn’t asked? Now, there was no way to know. She could only sit in the gray room, watching the humans dream and preparing for the battles tomorrow would bring.
Tell me, shaper, and tell me truly, where did your journey begin?”
Lei’s thoughts whirled. The others had crossed without incident, and part of her wondered if this was all simply a formality, if a wrong answer existed.
The staff whispered in her hand. The words slipped away before she could grasp their meaning, but she felt fear. There was power here, and danger.
Where did my journey begin? Which journey?
She sifted through a dozen answers, thinking of riddles she’d learned as a child, of tales told of trickster spirits. Finally, she chose her answer.
“My journey began in my mother’s womb,” she said.
Her heart skipped a beat as she spoke, then the serpent lowered its massive head. Lei slid her staff into her bag. She wanted both her hands for this, and the last thing she needed to worry about was dropping the staff into the deadly water. She made her way up onto the creature’s back and stepped out onto the scaled span. She was halfway across when it spoke again.
“You have much to learn,” the serpent hissed. Though she was far from either head, the voice seemed to echo around her.
The bridge