The Gates of Night

CHAPTER 17

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

Daine could barely see Pierce and Lei in the shadows across the river. But the snake was still speaking through both its mouths. Daine and Xu’sasar stood on the far shore, where the serpent was wrapped around another pillar of dark stone. The creature was ignoring them, and its golden gaze was fixed on the opposite shore.

Shaper, Daine thought. That has to be Lei. Sure enough, a slender shape rose up onto the serpent’s back and began the crossing. Daine remembered just how treacherous that passage had been. The scales of the snake were smooth and slippery, its flesh yielding beneath his boots. His heart leaped every time he saw Lei miss a step, but she always managed to recover.

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

Daine saw Lei thrown into the air. He felt his feet pounding across the soil, breath filling his lungs as a shout built inside him. But the shout never came, and he never reached the water. A moment of pain, a swift blow against the back of his legs, and Daine tumbled down against dirt and grass.

Xu’sasar was upon him. She gripped his neck with one hand and pressed three fingers against the base of his spine. A surge ran through his nerves, a flash of adrenaline and pain, and every muscle in his body went rigid. Fury and fear for Lei flooded his mind, and he struggled against the treacherous drow, but to no avail. She held herself steady as a statue, and as long as she remained still, he found he was powerless.

“You have crossed the river,” Xu’sasar said. “You cannot return!”

Daine wanted to scream at her, to strike her down. Only when Pierce had risen from the river with Lei’s dripping body in his arms did Xu’sasar release him. A moment later he was by Lei’s side, driving the water from her lungs. She breathed, but her skin was pale and cool, her body limp and unresponsive. He was vaguely aware that he was shouting at her, ordering her to wake up, slamming his fist into the dirt.

Pierce was holding him, pulling him away. “She is alive, captain. You cannot help her.”

“Why won’t she wake up?”

“I do not know. But her condition is stable. Nothing has changed since I removed her from the water.”

Glancing back at Lei, Daine saw a dark shadow kneeling over her … Xu’sasar. Pulling free from Pierce, Daine smashed into the drow girl, striking her full on with his shoulder. She was caught completely off guard. She fell over Lei and barely kept from slipping into the water herself.

Daine’s sword was in his hand, blazing with the fire of his fury. “What have you done?” he said.

Xu’sasar rolled to her feet, crouching on the narrow strip of shore. The bone wheel was in her hand, and even in his frenzy Daine noticed the drops of greenish fluid coating the tips of the tooth-like prongs. “I have saved you,” she said. “Had you entered the river, you would have suffered a fate far worse.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Did you not listen to the Keeper of Secrets? The river is knowledge. The river is truth. It chose to bathe her in the waters, and ordered you to remain on the shore.”

“And what were you doing just now?”

“The dangers of the land are many, and my people must learn to heal as well as kill. It was I who tended you after our battle with Colchyn. I simply wished to study your companion, and make certain I knew what afflicted her.”

The rage that burned within Daine was dying now, the furious energy fading even as the gleaming blade of his sword became mere metal. “Tell me.”

“I have,” Xu’sasar said. “This battle is within her. Only she can fight it.”

“There’s got to be something we can do!”

“You can protect her body, but this battle is in her mind. It is an honor to be chosen in this way. If she survives, she will be the stronger for it.”

Daine’s anger grew at if she survives, but he fought back the fire. Xu’sasar wasn’t to blame for this.

Pierce stood next to Daine. His deep, familiar voice was an emotional anchor. “We have few alternatives, Captain. Her lifeforce is stable. I believe that our best course of action would be to find sustenance and shelter. It has been a long journey, and you must rest as well.”

Pierce was correct, of course. Even aside from Lei’s predicament, Daine knew his limits, and he was struggling with them. “We’re not staying here. I want her away from that snake and this water. There’s got to be something defensible around here.”

“Look.” Pierce pointed at the stone pillar the serpent had used as its anchor. It took Daine a moment to realize what Pierce was talking about, and then he saw it.

A path.

To this point they had wandered through untamed land. The pillars of the serpent were the first signs of civilization they had seen. But there was no question about it. Traces of a trail could be seen at the base of the pillar, growing wider and clearer as it went deeper into the woods.

Daine stood over Lei, his sword still in his hand. “See what you can find,” he told Pierce.

He turned to the drow woman. There was no guile in her eyes, and he found that he believed her-that she had done what she thought was best for him. But his anger still needed an outlet, and at the moment, he felt a fire burn within him whenever he looked at the dark elf. Lei, Pierce … he knew what to expect from them. He knew what they would do. Which was far more than he could say for Xu’sasar. “You,” he said, perhaps more gruffly that he had to. “You don’t leave my sight, is that understood?”

Xu’sasar looked away and blew out her breath. “I am swifter than the man of metal, my steps are just as silent,” she said. “My eyes are sharper when the moon is high, and this land is bathed by moonlight. It is foolish to send that one in my place.”

“I don’t care how fast you are, princess. Pierce follows orders, and right now trust is more important than anything else. You were told to protect me, weren’t you? Why don’t you start by doing what you’re told?”

“I saved your life,” she said. Her words flowed together, but Daine didn’t know if the speed of her speech was a sign of shame or anger.

“There were better ways to do it,” he said. “We work together or not at all, is that understood?”

A moment passed, but Xu’sasar finally clicked her tongue. “As you will,” she said.

Daine knelt next to Lei and placed a hand on her cheek. Her skin was cold. He felt a stirring within him, a physical sensation more tangible than his concern or anger. It was the ball of energy at the base of his spine, the presence he’d felt when Lei had first uncovered the mark. At first he’d thought it was all in his mind, but he could feel it, a raw burn just beneath the skin-and this pain grew worse when he touched Lei. Looking back on the last few minutes, he couldn’t help but wonder about the frenzy that had taken hold of him. Was it just frayed nerves and the sight of Lei in danger? Or was it something more?

Kneeling over Lei, Daine watched the serpent coiled on the distant shore, fighting back the fury he felt and struggling to forget every story he’d been taught about aberrant marks.

The only sound was the faint flow of the water. Lei lay still, her chest barely rising and falling. For all that her stillness struck a chord of terror in Daine’s heart, she had never seemed so perfect, so beautiful as she did in the moonlight of Thelanis.

“Do you wish the watchers to be killed or taken alive?”

These were the first words Xu’sasar had spoken since Daine had rebuked her, and the sound pulled him from his reverie. Even as he tried to make sense of this statement, there was a flurry of motion in the branches of a nearby tree. It seemed that Daine wasn’t the only one listening, and the interloper wasn’t waiting for an answer. Daine caught a glimpse of dark feathers as a bird took to the air, but the creature wasn’t fast enough. Xu’sasar’s bone wheel whirred through the air, and-THACK! A dark shape fell to the ground. The throwing wheel didn’t fall with it. The weapon retraced its path through the air, returning to Xu’sasar’s hand.

Daine sprinted over to examine the fallen creature. It was a crow, about the size of Daine’s head. It seemed that Xu’sasar had opted against killing, as Daine saw no blood … but the impact of the blow might have broken bones, and the crow was staying on the ground.

“What makes you so sure it’s a spy?” Daine said.

“It’s a fair catch, I’ll give you that.” Though masculine, the voice was high-pitched, not unlike some male gnomes Daine had met. It was cracked and wheezy, forced through pain. It was the voice of the crow. The bird stayed on its side, tilting its head to stare up at Daine. “Your girl’s got a good eye. She could almost be an owl, that one.”

Xu’sasar said nothing. She held the bone wheel in her hand, with a reversed grip; a strike from the weapon would drive one of the three curved spikes through the crow’s flesh.

“First scorpions,” Daine said, “then snakes. And now you. Did all of the snakes on the other side of the river talk, or just the big one?”

“The snakes?” The crow gave a faint chuckle, a little blood bubbling from its beak. “Don’t be stupid. They’re cold-blooded, you know. Bastards don’t like anyone outside their little clan. Me? I’m a bird who likes to talk. Don’t have to go breaking my wing to get my attention.”

“You were spying on us, and you tried to flee when Xu spotted you.”

“Oh, that. Well. Yes. She didn’t exactly offer a good option for me there, did she? ‘Catch or kill?’ Not, ‘Have a nice bit of talk.’ Someone says, ‘Shall we beat the man or kill him?’ What are you going to do?”

“Perhaps I’d avoid the situation by not spying to begin with,” Daine said. He drew his dagger and knelt next to the crow. “And I still haven’t answered her question.”

“Threatening the bird with the broken wing. Very nice. What’s next then? Torture? Plucking out the feathers one by one?”

“Nothing so slow,” Daine said. Another man might have found it difficult to see the bird as a threat. But even beyond Thelanis, this wasn’t the first time Daine had encountered a talking animal-or even an intelligent bird; the war-wizards of the Valenar often used avian familiars as scouts. “I’m in no mood for games.” He raised his dagger.

“Wait!” The crow twisted its head back and forth. “I can help you. I can help the lady.”

Daine kept his dagger hanging over the bird. “I’m listening.”

“You’re looking for shelter, yes? You’re wise not to rest in the open. That one may have seen me, but many powers walk these woods. Thanks to you lot, I need healing myself. I don’t want to die out here, under your blade or in the jaws of the night. You take me with you, I can lead you to a safe haven.”

“What sort of haven?”

“An inn,” the bird said. “The Crooked Tree.”

“An inn?”

“That’s right,” the crow said. “You know, bit of brew, bit of bread, roof over your head? What, you thought that was a human idea?”

“I don’t think of crows as needing any of those things,” Daine said.

“Well, it’s not always about need, is it? You people don’t give beasts many options now. Besides which, we’ve got your kind here as well. Ferric, who runs the Moon’s Rest, he’s handy.”

“Handy?”

“Has hands, see where I’m going? Not like me. And he’ll find someone who can take care of me, sure enough. He likes to make a deal, Ferric does.”

Daine considered this. “And you claim this inn is safe?”

“I did no such thing,” the crow said. “Ferric, he likes to make a deal. But he has no love for the Woodsman, and I think you have that in common, yes?”

Daine tightened his grip on his dagger. “What do you know about that?”

“Your killer there had it right. I’m a watcher. I look and I listen, and information is what I trade in. The news of Darkheart’s return has spread across the night, and the Woodsman wants her back. But what’s that to me? I may make a deal now and again, but I’m not one of his creatures. You get me out of this, I’ll keep mum about what I’ve seen. And Ferric, he’ll be right pleased to spit in the Woodsman’s eye.”

“Xu’sasar. Opinions?” Daine kept his eyes on the crow as he spoke. For all that the creature appeared to be injured, Daine wasn’t taking anything for granted anymore.

“Kill the bird,” the dark elf said. “And find our own shelter. This is not one of the great spirits. It is a spy and a trickster, seeking to buy its life with words.”

“All I have except feathers,” the crow chimed in. “But come now, what have I ever done to you?”

“Nothing yet,” said Xu’sasar. “And if you die in this place, nothing ever.”

Daine stared down at the wounded bird. He had no reason to trust anything the creature said. They were in hostile territory, and the crow could easily be lying. But he’d never liked killing human prisoners, and somehow there was little difference here. And if the bird spoke the truth, perhaps this was an opportunity to make a few allies in this strange place. And he knew what Lei would say if she were awake.

The call of the Cyran dusksinger came through the woods-Pierce’s signal. The warforged had heard voices and was calling for instructions. Daine gave an answering call-safe to return.

Pierce emerged from the woods. “The path is well traveled,” he said. “Both hooves and boots have passed this way, and not long ago. Far in the distance, there is a strong, flickering light … a lantern, or a fire.”

“That would be the Tree,” the crow said. “Not much of a walk for the likes of you. Bring me along, then, and I’ll put in a good word. That’s the least you can do, isn’t it? The Moon only knows when I’ll be flying on this again.”

“Well,” Daine said, “we’ll take you with us. Pierce, you carry Lei. I’ll bring this one … and I warn you, little bird, that if we encounter any trouble between here and your inn, you’ll be the first to die.”

“Fair, that is,” said the crow. “And if it’s friends we are, it’s Huwen to you, right?”

“Let’s get to your inn before we settle our friendship, bird.”

Daine took one last glance across the river, where he could see the shadow of the great serpent twined around the pillar, then he scooped up the injured crow and made his way into the forest.