Daine caught the moonlight on the edge of his sword, watching the light shimmer across the steel. In the chaos of recent events he hadn’t had the time to study it, but he knew that something had changed. It wasn’t that he felt a living presence in the weapon, and thank the Sovereigns for that; between Lei’s sobbing staff and Pierce’s unusual behavior, the last thing Daine wanted to deal with was another strange spirit. Still, he could feel some force stirring within the weapon, a power he couldn’t quite touch with his conscious mind, which he could draw out in moments of anger. Just days ago the traitor Gerrion had been stunned when he’d tried to sunder the sword with Daine’s own dagger-a blade of Cannith-forged adamantine, which should have sliced through the steel with ease. In Karul’tash, Daine had been filled with rage and fear at the sight of Lei in peril. Somehow, that emotion flowed into the sword. He’d brought the warforged assassin to the ground with a single blow. He should have been pleased; it seemed he had a powerful weapon at his disposal. Still, he didn’t like mysteries. What were the limits of this power? How could he control it? And what was its origin? Daine had inherited the sword from his grandfather, and if it had a fabled history, Daine had never heard it. But it seemed there was much Daine didn’t know.
One more thought nagged at the back of his mind, the faintest fear. When Daine and his companions had first arrived in Sharn, Jode had pawned Daine’s sword. Some time later, the blade had been returned to by Daine by Alina Lorridan Lyrris, a gnome with considerable magical talents. Daine had scored the House Deneith sigil off the pommel when he had left the house, but Alina had restored it and refurbished the blade. Today, the sword was in better condition than it had been when Daine had first received it. Alina was a manipulator by nature. While she worked to increase her own wealth and power, her favorite pastime was toying with the lives of others-and she certainly wasn’t known for her altruism. Alina did nothing without a reason.
So why had she gone to the trouble of finding and returning Daine’s sword?
For that matter, how did he know that it was his sword? The balance was perfect. Refurbished as it was, it was the very image of the blade he’d seen his grandfather wield in battle. Still, could it be that Alina had given him a different weapon?
Daine sighed.
Lei led the way across the rocky plains, her staff held before her like a torch. Occasionally the staff would murmur, a fluting sob that sent a chill down Daine’s spine. After their experience with the Huntsman, he found himself studying each stone face buried in the ground with suspicion, wondering if a new warrior would rise out of the soil.
“How much farther?” Daine called.
“I don’t know,” Lei said. “It doesn’t talk. I just sense emotions, I guess. I don’t know what we’re looking for, or how far we have to go. Just that it’s …” She paused and changed direction. “This way.”
“There’s nothing out there!” Daine gestured ahead of them. The light of the full moon spilled across the plains, illuminating a seemingly endless expanse of grass and stone. “What are we looking for?”
“Dusk.” Xu’sasar and Pierce had been bringing up the rear. The two seemed well matched in the arts of stealth and stalking. Daine hadn’t noticed the drow girl’s approach, but now she stood between him and Lei. “The spirits say we must find our way to twilight. We wander through the deepest night, and head toward the day.”
“Lei?”
Lei shrugged. “I wish I knew more, but that is what I heard in the vision. The answers lie in twilight.”
“So why don’t we just set camp and wait for a day?”
Xu’sasar blew out her breath. “Do you truly know so little of the way of the world?”
Daine bit back an angry remark. Most of his experience was on the battlefield, but in dealing with enemy officers, he had learned a little about reading his opponents, and he could sense something Xu’sasar didn’t want to share. She was afraid. The drow woman had lost her companions, been thrust in among a band of strangers, and torn from her world. She didn’t want to admit it, but Daine could read the fear behind her carefree mask. Xu’s aggression, her search for conflict, was her way of pushing back the terror. Daine had to respect her skills. While Xu was at least a foot shorter than Daine, a fraction of his weight, unarmed, and barely armored, she’d taken on three of the Huntsman’s hounds and brought two of them down with her bare hands. It was hard to reconcile such deadly prowess with her youthful appearance.
“No, Xu’sasar, I know nothing of the world,” he said at last. “Enlighten me.”
“This is the night,” Xu’sasan said. “Even if it was dawn that we sought, it would not come to us. Dawn must be found. It is the way of the final lands. In life, we pass through all times, the world always changing around us. Not so in the final lands. The deep of night is a place, as is the dawn and the dusk. We must move through the night, and we must pay for our passage in blood.”
“The Huntsman?”
“He may return. He is a spirit of the land and not easily destroyed. Despite the silence all around us, the Huntsman and his hounds are not the only creatures that walk beneath this moon. The spirits of the wild and the spirits of the past both watch us, and either may send deadly challenges to test our worth.”
“Wonderful,” Daine said. “With that in mind, why don’t you keep a watch on our left flank?”
“Flank?” the girl replied, puzzled. Her knowledge of the Common tongue was remarkable but apparently not perfect.
“Follow. Watch. That way?”
The dark elf clicked her tongue. “I understand.” She slipped away, leaving Daine alone with Lei.
“What do you think?” Daine said. “She does seem to know quite a bit, but I have a little trouble taking the word of a woman who wishes we were all dead.”
“I still think it’s a coincidence,” Lei replied, shifting direction again. “The sulatar elves thought the realm of fire was some sort of paradise. Thelanis touches Eberron in many places. I know dozens of stories tied to the fey realm. That’s all this is-stories her people have developed through planar travel, twisted with the passage of time. She’s not lying. She’s just seeing things through a lens of superstition.”
“And this whole business of finding dawn?”
“I think she’s right about that. Look at the moon. We’ve been walking for hours, and it hasn’t moved at all. Nothing’s changed. I don’t know about buying passage with blood, or where my staff is leading us. But it knows where we need to go, so I say follow.”
Daine looked up to study the moon. He watched the sky, then frowned and grabbed Lei’s shoulder, pulling her to a halt.
“What?” she said crossly.
“Didn’t you say that we should watch out for floating lanterns earlier?”
“Yes?”
“Look up.”
A handful of lights drifted across the firmament, a careful, controlled flight unlike the swift motion of a shooting star. These lights were set against the darkness of the sky, and it was impossible to judge size, whether they were enormous orbs coasting miles above the ground or tiny sparks floating just out of reach. Whatever they were, they were moving toward the group.
“Cover!” Daine yelled. He threw himself against a massive chunk of stone, pulling Lei with him.
A trio of stars streaked past them. Now the lights were moving closer to the ground, and Daine could see them more clearly. The brilliant glow made it difficult to focus directly on the orbs, but Daine could see that they were balls of energy, approximately the size of his head. Each orb moved with the speed of a hunting owl, flying with eerie precision. Daine held his ground, keeping his back to the stone and his blade before him. Next to him, the darkwood staff sang quietly; Daine couldn’t understand the whispered words, but he knew a warning when he heard one.
The orbs swept past Daine’s position. They rose in the air, and he thought these fallen stars were going to return to the sky. Then they changed direction, shifting velocity and course to streak toward Daine and Lei.
The orbs were fast-but Daine’s allies were faster. Before the spheres could close the distance, Xu’sasar appeared, loping across the plain and leaping into the air in an astonishing arc that seemed to defy gravity. Shadows writhed around her fists as she struck at one of the fallen stars. As Xu’sasar’s momentum carried her back to earth, three arrows cut through the night. All of Pierce’s shafts struck the same globe Xu’sasar had attacked. The arrows passed directly through the globe, and for an instant it seemed as if there was no effect. Then the sphere shattered in a brilliant burst of light. A shower of golden sparks drifted to the ground, swiftly fading.
The orbs could be hurt. But whatever these spirits were, they were far from helpless. The two remaining lights orbited Xu, then in the blink of an eye they dashed forward, passing through the dark elf. Light flared and electricity crackled. The smell of storm and burnt flesh filled the air, and while Xu’sasar did not cry out in pain, the stagger in her step was proof enough of her agony. While one of the spirits continued to circle the wounded girl, the second darted at Daine. It was a streak of pure energy, and between the speed and brilliance it was almost impossible to see. Daine held his ground. He still had his hand on Lei’s shoulder, and without thinking he tightened his grip. Her presence filled him with comforting warmth, and that strength seemed to flow into his blade.
He made his attack at the same instant as Lei, launching into a long lunge just as she lashed out with the darkwood staff. Both blows struck home, and the orb shattered into a thousand golden shadows. He felt a burst of joy and glanced at Lei. Her staff had fallen silent, and her smile lit a fire in his heart. But there was no time to bask in such emotion.
Turning his attention back to the struggle, he caught a brief glimpse of the third orb as it circled the rock Daine and Lei were using as a shield. Xu’sasar was already in pursuit, and while he had misgivings-could it be leading us into an ambush? — Daine darted after her, drawing his dagger and hurling himself forward. He turned the corner as swiftly as possible, both blades at the ready, poised to strike against the foe.
He immediately regretted the decision.
Daine had expected to battle the floating light. He’d considered that there could be a number of the ghostly orbs, a squadron of spirits lying in wait. For all that the lights had hurt Xu’sasar, they seemed fragile enough, and Daine was ready to deal with more of them.
The scorpion was a surprise.
Daine couldn’t understand how the creature had come so close without their seeing it. It was the size of a wagon. Its massive pincers looked strong enough to cut a man in two, and its stinger was a long spear glistening with crimson venom. Pale opalescent plates that seemed to capture the moonlight covered its body, thicker than any armor Daine had ever worn. Its tail was raised high above its head, and raw panic filled Daine’s heart-sheer, primal terror at the sight of this arachnid monstrosity. He staggered back a few steps before he managed to force down the fear, mastering his emotions and raising his blades. His mind was already racing, trying to come up with tactics that might let them overcome this monster.
And then it spoke.
“You have done well, warriors,” it said. “But your trials have just begun.”