The Gates of Night

CHAPTER 16

Pierce had said little over the course of the last day. Even as he had grown closer to his friends, he had never developed a knack for idle chatter. He preferred not to speculate. If he was uncertain about a subject, he held his peace unless he was ordered to give his opinion. And so he had been silent for much of this journey, doing his best to watch Lei and to make sense of the things around him. So far he’d had little luck. The memory of Indigo lying on the floor of the Monolith lingered in the back of his mind, and his thoughts kept drifting back to that battle. The conflict with the Huntsman and the boar had been welcome distractions, but he seemed to be losing something with every battle. Indigo had shattered his flail, a weapon that had served him well for many years. And now he had but one arrow left for his bow. Pierce was far from helpless. His fists and feet were made of steel, and he could crush bone if he landed a solid blow. But he had minimal training in unarmed combat, and he felt curiously impotent, as if he were a sword that had lost its edge.

The mark on Daine’s back was another threat he could not battle. He could sense Lei’s distress, but he had no power to help either of his companions.

The mark resembles an archaic form of the Draconic language but matches no known character, Shira told him. This unusual coloration and atypical design indicates that this is an aberrant dragonmark. Such things appeared tens of thousands of years after my imprisonment, and all that I know, I know from your mind.

Pierce could feel her ghostly touch sifting through his memories. Traces of thought rose to the surface-

A history of House Cannith he’d read while studying the origins of the warforged.

His battle with an aberrant half-orc who fought with a blade of fire.

And Lei, expressing her fears at finding these aberrants in Sharn. When Daine expressed ignorance about the mark, it was Shira who suggested its possible origin, the blending of Daine’s Deneith blood and the concentrated dragonmark he had consumed. But she could provide no insights into its power or what threat it might pose to Daine himself.

The magic in this place is too strong, she thought. It is painful for me even to look through your eyes.

We are blunted blades, Pierce replied. I have lost my weapons, and you have lost your eyes.

You are my eyes, even when I cannot share your vision. We are one.

Even as he found some faint comfort in this thought, Pierce was frustrated by the mark. Daine was angry, Lei was afraid, and Pierce found himself stepping between them. For all that he respected Daine, he had to protect Lei from any threat. Pierce was relieved when they began moving again, but the tension remained. Pierce did his best to set it aside, to focus on his surroundings and on moving with silence and grace. He kept his last arrow nocked, listened to the sounds of the night, and tried not to think of Indigo.

“That’s your idea of a bridge?” Daine said.

“You seek a path across the water, and the spirits provide,” Xu’sasar replied.

“Not very well,” Daine said. “How is that a path, exactly?”

Following the dark elf along the shore, the companions came to a slight rise. Peering over, they could see the path she spoke of.

It was a snake.

A pillar of dark stone stood on the shore, and a serpent was wrapped around it. It was the largest reptile Pierce had ever seen, with jaws that could swallow a wolf-or a man. Its coils were deep black banded with uneven crimson stripes, and the sight reminded Pierce of the disturbing mark on Daine’s back. It took only a moment to evaluate its potential as a threat. Lei had pushed herself to her limits. Pierce had only one arrow. To fight such a monster in their current condition was an invitation for disaster.

“You still do not understand the ways of this world,” Xu’sasar said to Daine. The wind caught her silver-white hair, and she seemed to be shrouded in a cloak of moonlight. “Just as the great boar provided passage to this place, surely this serpent is the key to our next challenge.”

The drow warrior was still a mystery to Pierce. Her talents were impressive and somewhat disturbing. Pierce placed great faith in his senses, and it was troubling to deal with someone who could so easily elude him. And while Pierce might have fists of steel, Xu’sasar’s skills at unarmed combat clearly exceeded his own.

She is no longer unarmed.

Pierce could feel Shira indicating a point in space, and he let her guide his eyes. Xu’sasar held her right hand low and close to her side, and had casually placed her body between the others and the object she held … but Pierce caught a glimpse of a curved point of ivory.

“What is it that you hold?” he said.

Guilt was not an emotion Xu’sasar seemed to feel. Her expression was utterly innocent as she raised her hand. The object appeared to be a primitive double-bladed dagger. It might have been carved from the claws of some great beast, two curved spurs sharpened to hold an edge and joined.

“Where were you hiding that?” Daine said, surprised.

“I hide nothing,” Xu’sasar said. “The spirits gave me this gift as a reward for my courage, and to meet the challenges of the path that lies ahead.”

“The spirits did this,” Lei said. “And when was that?”

The dark elf turned to fully face Daine, ignoring Lei’s question. “I have shown you the way. The bridge awaits.”

“I know you fought a giant boar with your fists,” Daine said. “But do you really want to attack that serpent with a little knife?”

“That would be an act of a fool,” Xu’sasar said. “To fight such a creature, I should want a longer weapon, one with which to hold the creature at bay and force open its jaws.”

“Right, which means-Flame!” Daine swore.

The double dagger expanded in Xu’sasar’s hand, a leather-wrapped shaft of bone extending even as the claws on each end stretched into long, flat blades. Xu’sasar shifted her grip, and now she was holding a double-bladed halberd. The claw-like blades merged seamlessly into the haft.

There is great power in that object. Shira’s thought came before Pierce had even formed a query. I cannot see it fully at this time, but be certain-it has strength beyond the bones of any mortal creature. It may be impervious to physical harm.

“Yet this is meaningless,” Xu’sasar said. The polearm twisted and melted in her grasp, and an instant later she held a three-pronged wheel of bone in her hand-a bone variation of the wooden throwing weapons they had seen the drow use before. “I would no more fight this creature than great Vulkoor. Do you know nothing of the spirits? This is surely Ko’molaq, the Keeper of Secrets. We must buy our passage with our words.”

“So you want to talk to the serpent?” Daine said. “I-”

Lei grabbed Daine’s shoulder and pulled. “She may be right, Daine.”

This surprised even Pierce. Since their arrival in Thelanis, Lei had seemed unwilling to accept anything the drow girl said. It was clearly difficult, but she pushed the words out.

“Xu’sasar, your people have a tale of this? The serpent by the river?”

The dark elf clicked her tongue.

“That’s what this is,” Lei said. “The realm of stories. I don’t know if some force is shaping the realm to match her expectations, or if one of her people journeyed through Thelanis and returned to tell of it, but after that scorpion, I think we need to take her tales seriously.”

Daine looked down at the massive snake. “Fine. Xu, it’s your story. How do we do this?” He glanced around. “Xu’sasar?”

“Captain?” Pierce pointed.

The drow was already halfway to the serpent.

Cursing Sovereigns and snakes, Daine rushed after her.

Pierce remained at Lei’s side as they approached the serpent. He shouldered his bow, returning his last arrow to the quiver. He knew this beast could not be felled with one blow, and if he needed to protect Lei it seemed best to have both hands free.

Daine caught up with Xu’sasar, and the two approached the pillar together. As they drew near, the massive snake loosened its coils, turning its head to fix Daine with gleaming golden eyes. Then a second serpentine head peered around from the other side of the pillar, a great wedge covered with crimson scales. Two of them!

“I give you greetings, traveler.” The voice was the hiss of a thousand serpents, woven into words. Both mouths spoke as one, moving in perfect unison, and Pierce realized they were the opposite ends of the single serpent. “What is it you seek?”

Xu’sasar knelt, dwarfed by the immense snake. “I give you greetings, great Ko’molaq. My companions and I seek to cross the river you guard.”

“And will you pay my price and abide by my rule?” The serpent watched from each side of the pillar. Pierce studied it, considering how long it might take the creature to uncoil should they choose to retreat.

“What price is that?” Daine said, at the same moment Xu’sasar said, “We shall.”

The crimson head rose to regard Daine, while the black-scaled serpent kept its gaze on Xu’sasar. “Knowledge, traveler. Truth. Answer my question, and you may cross the river unharmed. But once you cross you may never return. Be certain in your choice.”

“And what’s so terrifying about this river, anyway?”

“Knowledge,” the serpent said. “Truth. It is a stream of consciousness, but no mortal mind can survive the pure knowledge that lies within.

Daine took a step back, turning to Lei and Pierce. “Thoughts?”

“I don’t see that we have a choice,” Lei said. “I don’t exactly understand what this thing is talking about, but we need to cross and we can’t touch the water. It may seem insane, but I think that’s fairly normal for this place.”

Daine glanced at Pierce.

“I will follow your lead,” the warforged said. Shira was silent, and he had seen nothing to suggest another course of action.

“Very well.” Daine turned back and walked up to the serpent, staring into the golden eyes of the crimson head. “Ask your question.”

“Questions,” the serpent said. “One for each who would walk my path. Answer, then cross, leaving all else behind.”

As it spoke, one end of the serpent entered the river, slowly making its way across. It seemed impossible for the beast to reach across the river, yet somehow it did. A few coils remained tightly wrapped around the dark pillar, and slowly it rose up above the water, apparently anchored on the far shore.

The serpent spoke only through the head with the blood-red scales, but its voice was just as strong. “You will be first,” it said to Daine. “You have led in battle. You have left many things behind. So shall it be here.”

Daine frowned, and Pierce could almost hear his thoughts-his reluctance to abandon the others, set against the need to evaluate the dangers of the other side. “Very well,” he said at last.

The serpent reared up, towering over Daine. “Tell me, traveler, and tell me truly. Where does your journey end?”

Daine opened his mouth, and then closed it. He looked at the others. “Is this some sort of riddle?” he said to Lei. “You know that’s not my-”

“This is your question, and yours alone.” The voice of the serpent drowned out Daine’s objection. “Think of what has brought you to this place, traveler. And tell me where your journey ends.”

Daine was silent for a moment and stood staring into the serpent’s eyes. Then he said, “My journey ends beyond the Gates of Night, at the end of my dreams. My journey ends when Lakashtai falls by my hand.”

“Then cross the river, and do not return.” The serpent lowered its flat head, and Daine gingerly stepped atop it. The creature raised him up, and a moment later he was walking cautiously along the snake’s length, struggling to keep his balance. Soon he was on the opposite shore. Pierce could just see him leaping down from the serpentine bridge.

Now the beast fixed Xu’sasar with its stare. “Child of the scorpion, tell me truly, what has your journey cost?”

Xu’sasar didn’t pause. “The lives of my family, the lives of my foes, and my place in Final Lands.”

The serpent lowered its head and Xu’sasar raced up and across its back, seeming as comfortable on the scaled bridge as she was on the ground. Now only Pierce and Lei remained, and the snake looked at Lei.

“Tell me, shaper, and tell me truly, where did your journey begin?”

Lei’s brow furrowed in thought. Pierce tried to imagine what answer he would give. Did the beast mean this recent journey, which began in the Monolith of Karul’tash … or perhaps in Sharn, depending how far back one went? Or was it speaking of a longer journey?

“My journey began in my mother’s womb,” Lei said. There was a slight tremor of uncertainty in her voice, but the snake lowered its head for her. Lei slid her staff into her bag, freeing both hands, and made her way up onto the creature’s back. Slowly, carefully, she made her way out across the river.

“You have much to learn,” the serpent hissed.

And it bucked.

The movement hurled Lei up into the air, and Pierce could see that she would come down in the water. He charged into the river. He’d forded rivers in the past; he had little skill when it came to swimming, but he didn’t need to breathe, and the water was calm and still. He wondered what dangers might wait in the water, but he had no intention of allowing Lei to face them alone.

The water barely reached his hips. This was no river; it was little more than a wide stream. There was a massive splash as Lei struck the water, followed by a disturbing stillness. She did not thrash about, or even rise to break the surface of the river. Pierce pressed forward, struggling against the mass of water.

She is alive. Shira’s thought brought a flood of relief, and even as he moved forward he knew Lei’s approximate location. He shifted his course and reached down, pulling a soaking Lei up from the riverbed. She lay limp in his arms. Her eyes were closed, her skin pale.

She is alive.