The Shattered Land_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [124]
Protect my daughter.
He took only a moment to make certain that silver orb was safe in his belt pouch, where he’d put it before turning to fight the giant. Then he slowly made his way up the long spiral staircase leading to the surface.
Pieces of Hydra were scattered across the clearing. It was a familiar sight, and Pierce knew what had happened even before he saw Lei. She was unbound and ungagged. She held the darkwood staff in her bandaged right hand. The left was pointed at him, and the air around it rippled with magical energy. Her face was a mask of fury.
“You,” she said. “We fought before, Pierce. This time you won’t be coming back.”
A drow warrior was watching Daine from the catwalk, crossbow at the ready. More than anything else, she seemed bored—supremely uninterested in the spectacle below.
I guess they don’t think much of my chances.
“Can Tashana guide us through this?” Daine said.
“What?”
Daine had never seen Lakashtai look confused until now. Perhaps it was the loss of her hood and cloak, which had always seemed to serve her as spiritual armor. Without it, she was a woman in a torn tunic, her pale skin glistening with sweat from the fire. Fear and uncertainty just seemed to add to her beauty; in that moment, she seemed more human than ever before. Looking at her, Daine felt that he was seeing her for the first time, and for a moment he was at a loss for words, but the searing heat from the wall of flame was a painful reminder that time was running out. He tore his gaze away and forced himself to pull his thoughts together.
“You heard Gerrion. This whole prophecy hinges on this voice in my head—the one you’ve been ‘holding at bay’. That’s what’s supposed to get us through this thing alive.” He glanced out across the apparently empty hall. “Or maybe it’s some sort of twisted game, and there’s no maze out there at all.”
Lakashtai shook her head. “That’s ridiculous. Tashana can only touch you when you’re dreaming, and even if you gave her possession of your body, she doesn’t have the power to guide you through this labyrinth.”
The wall of flame was drawing close, and Daine’s skin was slick with sweat. Reaching into his pouch, he drew out a copper coin. “I don’t know,” he said. “I can’t say as I’m keen to give that witch more of a hold in my mind, but the elves seem pretty sure about it—and I don’t see how things can get any worse.”
“She can’t help us, Daine.”
“What makes you so sure? Is there a thousand-year-old prophecy backing you up?” Daine threw the coin in front of him; it flew three feet and disintegrated, dissolving before his eyes. Daine sighed and took a step forward, staying just ahead of the encroaching flame.
“They’re wrong, Daine. I know Tashana. You don’t. She can’t help us. She wouldn’t if she could, and I’ll kill us both before I give you to her.”
“A few more minutes and you won’t have to.” Daine took out another coin and tossed it to the left; it went five feet before vaporizing. “Come on. I’ve got five more crowns to my name … That’ll buy us some time.”
It took two more coins to find a path that led ahead, getting them five feet further from the creeping wall of flame. Daine shivered—it was a strange feeling standing in an empty room, but knowing that death could be just an inch away.
“I wonder if these ‘shifting walls’ can move on top of us while we’re standing still,” he mused.
“Most likely.” Lakashtai idly traced a finger along the edge of the leather collar wrapped around her neck.
Daine looked up at the catwalk stretching above them. On a whim, he flung one of his remaining coins at the drow guard; it struck her squarely in the forehead. She glared down at him and spat, and her aim was just as good as his.
“Interesting,” he said, wiping his face. “No barriers above us. If we could just get