The Shattered Land_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [0]
THE CITY OF TOWERS …
“… I ate it up. I read the novel in a single sitting and enjoyed it entirely … Baker’s characters are solid and believable, with real personalities and personal stories. The story is a compelling mystery with a hard edge. It’s a fun, fast-paced adventure with interesting characters and setting, and enough grit and dark tone for me to take it seriously.”
—SF Site
“… Baker has a deft hand for teasing out the plot, wrapping up one story with blazing action while leaving other stories—and other conflicts—waiting for the sequel. The City of Towers is a great lead-in to The Dreaming Dark trilogy and to Eberron as a whole.”
—Black Gate Magazine
The exciting saga of The Dreaming Dark begun in The City of Towers continues as the heroes embark on a desperate adventure to save one of their own. Their one hope for salvation lies across the Thunder Sea on the dark continent of Xen’drik …
… The Shattered Land!
THE
DREAMING DARK
Book 1
CITY OF TOWERS
Book 2
THE SHATTERED LAND
Book 3
THE GATES OF NIGHT
DEDICATION
To everyone who has
helped to make the dream
of Eberron into reality.
And to Patricia Baker,
who has helped me to shape
my stories and dreams since
the day I was born.
—KB
Daine dove across the makeshift barricade, but the enemy was right behind him. He caught a glimpse of the warforged soldier as it hurtled over the wall; in the firelight it was a nightmare of steel and sharp edges. Even as it landed, it lashed out with an elongated forearm covered with razor-sharp spikes.
Daine could barely remember the start of the battle. It might have been hours since the army of steel soldiers came bursting out of the night, tearing into the Cyran camp. The troop had been taken by surprise, and the butchery was all too fresh in Daine’s mind. It was this memory that gave him the strength to keep fighting, to overcome exhaustion and the pain of a dozen cuts and bruises. The reason for the attack was a mystery—and Daine wasn’t going to let the rest of his troop fall to this unknown foe.
Exhausted as he was, Daine had a lifetime of training to fall back on. The warforged was just a shadow in the darkness, and Daine let the image fall away. As the spiked limb flew toward his head, he remembered his days on the drilling fields in Metrol, duel after duel after duel. He could hear his grandfather barking instructions as he spun toward his foe and lashed out with his longsword, blocking the warforged’s clublike arm with all the force he could muster. Strength versus strength, speed versus speed. His forearm ached from the impact, but he forced himself to move. Close the distance, use the space! Pushing forward and twisting his blade, Daine held the ’forged’s arm in place as he stepped in close and thrust with his dagger. The adamantine blade slid into the gap in the ’forged’s armor where a human would keep his stomach, and Daine smiled as he cut through leathery cords and felt something shatter.
This triumph was short lived. Don’t expect one blow to end every fight, his grandfather whispered in his mind … too late. Pain lanced through his thigh, and he caught a glimpse of bloody spikes bristling on his enemy’s knee. Gritting his teeth, Daine stepped back into his guard position. His left leg burned when he shifted his weight onto it, but the ’forged was staggering as well; Daine’s blow had struck true.
The two wounded soldiers studied each other, waiting for an opening.
“You don’t have to do this,” Daine said. “Lay down your … arms, and you might live out the night.”
The warforged said nothing. For all Daine knew, it couldn’t speak. It was an unusual design, blackened metal studded with long spikes and sharp blades. Blue fire burned in its crystal eyes. It watched Daine and slowly stepped to the right.
Daine grimaced. It might be silent, but it wasn’t stupid; it wanted to force Daine to move on his wounded leg until the pain wore him down.
“Who are you fighting for?” he said. “What do they gain from your death?”
Silence. It continued the slow