The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [94]
She turned her attention to Kin. The fey envoy troubled her. For all that he had human teeth, his smile reminded Xu’sasar of the innkeeper Ferric. Xu’sasar was a child of the natural world, and there was something fundamentally unnatural about Kin. His features were handsome enough, but looking at him, she was certain that another face lay beneath the warm mask.
“There it is,” Kin said. “The Bier of the Sleeper.”
They had crested a hill. In the small valley below, Xu’sasar could see a ring of trees surrounding a pool of still water. As they rode down the hill, Xu’sasar caught sight of a stone slab next to the pool—the bier from which the grove took its name. At first Xu’sasar thought that a man was laid out upon the stone, but as they drew closer, she saw that the figure was a statue carved from black marble. Kin dismounted at the edge of the trees, and the others followed suit.
Xu’sasar darted forward to examine the statue. It was the figure of a warrior, clad in chainmail, with a longsword by his side. Muscular arms crossed over his chest. Strangely, she found that she couldn’t see his face. At first she thought it was unsculpted, yet the longer she studied the statue, the more strongly she felt that some force was turning her eyes away, that the detail was there, just beyond her grasp.
“Who is this?” she said.
“The Sleeper’s far older than I am,” Kin said. “I’m afraid I don’t know the full tale. A soldier of your world, favored by the queen. When he died, the monument was erected to honor his memory and guide future travelers.”
“Where’s his sword?” Daine said, examining the bier. Only now did Xu’sasar see that the scabbard lying next to the warrior was empty. For a moment she thought of her own empty sheaths, and the daggers given to her by her mother, lying next to the corpse of her father in the monolith of Karul’tash.
“A fine question, Master Daine, and one I will explain. Please gather around the pool and bring your horses.” Kin produced a pouch from his own pack, and proceeded to sprinkle a sour-smelling dust over the companions and himself. “Now, Daine, if you will touch that empty scabbard—”
“What?” Daine said. “Why?”
“A gate can take many forms, as I would think you’d have learned from your time beneath the Hunter’s Moon,” Kin said. “The scabbard is the portal.”
“You’re going to make us small enough to walk through it?” Daine said.
“Not at all,” Kin replied. “Please, just do as I ask.”
As Daine laid his hand on the stone scabbard, Kin threw another handful of powder into the air above the water, and suddenly they were falling. The earth rose up, tumbling them down into the pool …
… and just as quickly, flinging them out onto dry land. They were standing by a pool of water. The trees were gone. The bier was gone. And there was no sun. Four moons could be seen in the sky, along with the faint glow of the Dragon’s Ring. They had returned to Eberron, although the stars and the Ring told Xu’sasar that they were far from the land of her birth.
“Was this supposed to happen?” Daine said. The others turned to look. Daine was holding a scabbard in his hand, and it wasn’t made of stone. The sheath was black leather, studded with purple dragonshards and chased in silver.
“Fascinating!” Kin said. “I wonder what effect that will have on the journey back. No matter.”
“I thought you said we’d go through the scabbard,” Lei said. “It seemed to me the pool was the portal.”
“Yes, it did,” Kin said. He shrugged. “We appear to be in the proper place, and that’s all that concerns me.”
“Are we?” Lei pointed to the sky. “I’ve never seen that before.”
There was a new moon in the sky, and it was a moon Xu’sasar had never seen. Or was it? It seemed hazy, indistinct, and Xu’sasar felt that she could see the stars shining through its heart.
“That’s your moon, Lady Lei,” Kin said. “Let us move swiftly before it arrives in full glory. Mount up while I change into something more appropriate to our new surroundings.”
With that, his face rippled. Darkness flowed