The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [71]
“No,” Lei said. “He’s not a woodsman. He’s the Woodsman. He’s the lord of this forest, a being of fey magic.” She raised her staff. “This is what he seeks. This is why he’s hunting us. He wants the spirit of the woman who was to be his wife.”
“Why does everyone want that thing?” Daine said. “And if it’s the source of all our troubles, then why in Aureon’s name don’t we get rid of it?”
“Do you not remember the words of the scorpion?” Xu’sasar said. “Only the spirit bound within can open the gate that lies at the end of our path. It is the key that will open the Gates of Night.”
“My vision said the same thing, Daine.” Lei stared into the carved eyes of the staff. “And she wants to be free. I won’t let her go.”
Pierce had come to expect sarcasm from Daine. So I can’t have a bite of bread, but you can keep the haunted staff?
Not this time. There was no twinkle in Daine’s eyes, no sardonic note in his voice. Daine had been just as worried about Lei as Pierce had, and surely Daine could sense her distress as well. He nodded. “So what do we do? How powerful is this Woodsman?”
“I don’t know,” Lei said. “I think … I hope … the staff can shield us. He’s lord of this forest, but the spirit in the staff was once lady of the woods. Her power is diminished, but I think that if we stay close together—very close together—she can hide us from his eyes until we can reach these gates.”
“And your magic stick can show us the path?”
“Yes,” Lei said, as the staff whispered again. “Yes, she can.”
“And what’s the range of this protection?”
Lei walked to the edge of the clearing, about twelve paces. “About this far, I think.”
Daine nodded. Steel gleamed in the moonlight as Daine drew his sword, and he tossed his dagger to the warforged soldier. “Pierce, you stay with her. Xu’sasar, you’re with me. Eyes sharp. Bird, weasel, anything you see … I want it dead.”
Xu’sasar smiled, and her twin blades merged together to form the bone throwing wheel she’d used against Huwen.
“Very well, Lei,” Daine said. “Lead the way.”
Lei led them off the path and into the forest. The staff was singing a song without words, a soft and mournful tune. The wood responded to the song. Vines rose up and out of their way, while roots that could catch underfoot sank into the soil. A new path opened before them, closing after they passed. Glancing back, Pierce could see that the ground held no trace of their passage; plant and soil shifted to cover their trail. Pierce wondered why Lei hadn’t called upon these powers earlier, and Shira responded to the thought.
The power of the staff grows as we move deeper into these woods. If these woods were once the stronghold of this spirit, her strength should be greater in this place, just as the power of your enemy is. She paused, considering. Or perhaps Lei has changed since rising from her sleep.
Pierce had wondered this himself. He was pleased that Lei was functional once more, and the mere sound of her voice brought a sense of satisfaction, of a mission completed successfully. Yet he could hear the tension in her words. Human emotions were often difficult for Pierce to recognize, but he had a bond with Lei; he felt her sorrow and her joy as if they were echoes, faint but clear. She was angry, but Pierce could feel the fear and confusion beneath that mask of anger. At first he thought it was merely the aftermath of the battle in the Crooked Tree. But as time passed, the tension remained, growing stronger with each passing hour.
“My lady,” he said at last. He moved closer to her, so he could speak quietly. “What troubles you?” He didn’t touch her. For all that he felt concern, Pierce was warforged, and he’d never taken comfort in physical contact. He could feel pressure against the metal plates covering his body, and it was painful when a blade tore through his rootlike muscles. But these were tactical indicators, not nearly as sharp as human senses. Pierce knew when he’d been injured, but he took little pleasure in touch.
Lei glanced at him. Pierce thought she