The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [76]
And then they reached the clearing. Nine towering arches formed of stone and wood, earth and water. The Gates of Night. Eight spread in a ring around the largest of the gates, an arch of black briars. Looking at them, Lei knew this was the very center of the realm, the heart of the Deepwood Moon … and the seat of the Woodsman.
“What do we do?” Pierce said.
The staff sang once more. Emotion raged within it, fear mingled with fury. Its anger still burned, but its song was faint and unsteady; it had used much of its energy in the passage through he forest.
“I’m working on it!” Lei said. What do I do? Her vision had said Darkheart is the key, and the dryad had led them to the gates. What happens now?
“Work fast,” Daine said, emerging from the treeline with Xu’sasar at his heels. Blood and sap covered his armor.
“Thanks for the advice,” Lei said. She walked toward the arch of thorns.
She felt the surge around her. Roots rose from the ground, branches lashed out like striking serpents, and a wall of wood rose around the clearing. She turned toward Daine, intending to rush to his aid.
No!
It wasn’t a word. It was a burst of pure emotion, an order so strong that it stopped Lei in her tracks. Even as her fury grew, Lei saw that it was too late. Pierce and Daine were helpless in wooden bonds, while Xu’sasar had vanished; if she’d fallen into the sea of writhing trees, there was no telling what might have become of her. Lei couldn’t fight that force. If she moved in, she’d simply be trapped herself. She took a step back toward the arch and waited.
Lei felt a surge of recognition as the Woodsman strode out of the forest—recognition and anger. He smiled when he saw her, and shifted the long axe that lay across his shoulder.
“So, beloved,” the Woodsman said. “You have returned to me at last.”
“Beloved?” Daine said. “Lei, wha—”
His words cut off as a branch wrapped around his head, gagging him.
“I knew you would return some day, my Lady Darkheart.” The Woodsman’s voice was deep and soft, wind rustling through a field of pine, and his smiling lips did not move as he spoke. “I thought you would travel in better company.”
“And I owe my friends an apology,” Lei said. “I told them you weren’t an idiot with an axe.”
“My axe is for flesh and blood. For your kind, vessel.”
“Show me.”
Lei lunged, remembering how deadly her staff had been in her battle with the Huntsman. In her mind, this fight was already over. She could hear the Woodsman scream as the staff pierced his body, see his mask falling to the ground.
Wood struck wood, the powerful blow shattering her dream. The Woodsman parried her thrust with his axe. His strength was incredible; the force of his stroke almost knocked her to the ground. Lightning flashed in the sky above, and the laughter of the Woodsman echoed in the thunder. “You threaten me, creature of flesh? Do you even know whom you address?”
“Torenas,” Lei said, speaking with all the confidence she could muster. “Youngest of the Nine Brothers of Night. An overweening youth, a preening pine-lord held in contempt by the true powers of this plane.”
Thunder rolled again, but the Woodsman wasn’t laughing. Lei saw his sculpted smile waver, and in that moment she lunged. The darkwood staff howled, and the Woodsman leapt away from her, barely avoiding the blow. He brought his axe down in an arc of silver and polished wood, and Lei raised the staff to block the stroke—but he checked the blow. He doesn’t want to hit the staff, Lei realized.
“Halt!” the Woodsman said, and Lei was gratified to hear a little concern in his voice. “I have no wish to hurt you, vessel, nor to harm my beloved Darkheart. Your companions are another matter.”
Daine’s mouth was gagged, but Lei heard the muffled cry of pain as the tree limbs twisted flesh and bone. While Pierce made no sound, Lei could see his wooden bonds flexing, and she recognize the terrible stress this was putting on his joints.