The Shattered Land_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [74]
“It’s not magical,” Lakashtai replied. “Memories have been embedded in the crystal. Unlocking them, opening them—it’s a matter of thought. You must view the crystal as an extension of yourself, and reach into it as you would your own mind.” She placed a hand on the massive shard, and it began to glow—a faint blue shimmer that soon grew to a strong, powerful radiance, flooding the chamber with light.
Daine. It was Pierce’s thought, as slow and steady as his voice. Look to the ground. Look for the traces.
Daine studied the stone floor. He never would have noticed on his own, but after a moment he saw what Pierce was talking about. Blood. A faint trail of blood lead from the scaled corpses to the crystal he was standing next to. Whatever had killed the guards—it had come in search of the crystal map.
He turned to speak to Lakashtai, but Lei stopped him with a gesture. “Don’t interrupt her,” Lei whispered. “She’s—finding her way through it, I think. It must be like reading a book.”
Lakashtai’s eyes were closed, and a swirling web of light danced within the heart of the stone.
“Fine. Get started on whatever you need to do to get us back out of here—I want to leave the instant she’s done.”
Lei waved her hands, encompassing the treasures around them. “Look at this place. Don’t you want to explore it further? Think of what treasures might be down here?”
“What I want is to leave in one piece, instead of being split in half or having my candle blown out by a hurricane. Get to work. Now.”
Lei sighed, but found an empty spot against the wall of the chamber. She sat down, and produced the components she needed to generate another burst of teleportation.
Daine glanced around the chamber, studying the shadows cast by the statues and fragments of broken masonry. Was that a sound—the pad of soft leather against stone? With eviscerated corpses only a few lengths away, it was easy to imagine ghosts in the shadows. Still—
Danger! Pierce’s thought rang through Daine’s mind in the same instant that his arrow split the air. A dark-cloaked figure had stepped out from the cover of the tall shelves, one arm raised and pointing in Daine’s direction. Pierce’s arrow struck just below its upraised arm, driving into its chest and likely piercing a lung. It was a blow that would have dropped a normal man, but the intruder somehow stayed on its feet. Before Daine could fully comprehend the situation, a beam of light lanced toward him, missing him by inches.
Details slowly came together. A dark robe hemmed in silver, a glittering veil beneath a deep hood. It was one of the Riedrans—the woman who had wielded the crystal of pain. Daine could see others in the darkness behind her.
Pierce. Hold your position. See if you can keep them pinned down.
Acknowledged. Pierce loosed two more arrows, but the woman had darted back behind the cover of the shelves. Even as Daine tried to determine the best course of action, there was a distortion in the air next to him. What began as a ripple in the air became deadly reality; an instant later a man was standing next to Daine, and a crystal blade was flashing toward him. Daine turned just in time to block the blow with the edge of his grandfather’s blade.
I guess they don’t want me alive after all.
The Riedran swordsman moved with unnatural grace and speed, and like Lakashtai he seemed to be able to predict Daine’s intentions. It felt like Daine was fighting a ghost; the enemy danced out of the way of every thrust and cut, leaving Daine slashing at empty air. For all these tricks, he lacked Daine’s skill with the blade itself. Even though Daine couldn’t touch his attacker, by dropping into a defensive stance he found that he could parry each blow. This dance continued for a time, and for a moment it was actually relaxing; there was no room to think of anything but the battle itself. Then his enemy’s eyes flashed with blue light, and Daine’s thoughts exploded in agony. It was as if a hammer had struck him between the eyes, and in that moment of distraction the Riedran broke past Daine’s guard, striking