The Shattered Land_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [75]
Pain lanced through Daine’s chest, but his chainmail saved him; Cyran steel held against Riedran crystal, and only the very tip of the blade pierced his flesh. The pain fueled his anger, and even as he dropped back into guard position, he thought good trick—let’s see how you like it. Pierce!
Perhaps the Riedran was reading Daine’s thoughts; it seemed like he began to leap to the side, but he wasn’t fast enough. He shuddered under the impact of Pierce’s arrows, and in that moment Daine lashed out, a swift arc of steel that cut across his enemy’s throat. Black cloth was wet with blood as the man fell to the ground, three long arrows projecting in a perfect line running down his spine.
This victory had its price. The instant Pierce turned from his post, the woman in the shadows struck again, and this time the dark bolt struck Daine directly. For an instant he felt the same sensation he had when Lei had brought them down into the vault, or when he’d stepped through Hassalac’s gate—the cold disorientation that accompanies teleportation. This was immediately replaced by blinding pain. It was as if half his body had teleported a fraction of an inch, leaving the rest of him behind. Every muscle felt torn, his bones ached, and his mouth was filled with blood. It took every ounce of willpower to stay on his feet, and he knew that he wouldn’t survive another blow like that one.
Even as his vision cleared, he saw a green glow at his side. Lakashtai!
We have what we need. I shall do what I can against this one; see to our passage.
Right. Lei, what’s the status?
Daine turned toward Lei, and a new pain gripped his chest, worse than the magical bolt. Apparently the first beam hadn’t been meant for him. Lei was sprawled across the ground, mystical components scattered around her and the glowing staff across her chest. Her mouth and nose were smeared with blood. Daine dove toward her, but even at a distance he could tell she wasn’t breathing.
For all that the world seemed to be defined by this frigid silence, she somehow felt abstracted from this chill. It was the foundation of reality.
An eon passed before she realized that there was more. That she could feel a hard surface beneath her. She remembered Lei. Her friends. Her life.
She opened her eyes.
After an eternity of shadow, the light was blinding. Slowly her eyes adjusted. A magic lantern hung directly above her, mirrors within the casing shaping the light of the cold fire into a focused beam, shining directly down onto her. She tried to sit up, but her muscles wouldn’t respond.
“You knew this time would come.” A man’s voice. Familiar. This was all familiar. Calling on every ounce of strength that she possessed, she managed to turn her eyes toward the source of the sound.
It was her father. Talin d’Cannith. Suddenly it all came back to her. The vision, almost a year ago now, when she had collapsed in the tunnels beneath Sharn. She was back in that same chamber, stretched out on a stone slab. There were other slabs around her, the shapes upon them hidden in the shadows.
“After all this, all we’ve put her through, you’re just going to give up on her?” It was her mother. Aleisa. Lei couldn’t see her, but she could never forget the voice.
“It’s nature, nothing more.” Her father’s voice was calm. “We did all that we could for her, but in the end, it’s a weakness of the medium.” He bent over another slab, and when he stood he had something in his hand. A head? A warforged head? “This. This is how you defeat death.”
Her mother stepped into view and struck the head from her father’s hand. It fell to the floor with a clang, “Damn you! This is our daughter, not just another experiment.”
Talin retrieved the fallen head and returned it to the slab. “Everything is an experiment, my love. You know that as well as I do. Some are just more … complicated than others.”
“This isn’t over.”
Aleisa turned and walked over to Lei, gazing down on her. She was young, a woman Lei barely remembered from her childhood. It was a face Lei had almost forgotten, one that