The Shattered Land

CHAPTER 26

It had all begun so well.

“Get up, damn you!” Daine grabbed Lei’s shoulders and shook her, but she did not respond; her neck lolled against the floor. A bolt of energy punched a skull-sized crater in the wall behind him, the ray missed him by less than an inch, and his skin tingled from the passage of the beam.

It’s my fault. She came because of me …

Two hours ago they’d been in the Ship’s Cat. He could still taste the meat and ale, and hear Lei’s laughter in the back of his mind.

Now she was dead.

“I can’t take this sober.” Daine gestured to the innkeeper, and three cats followed the motion in silent unison.

“You must,” Lakashtai said. “We leave as soon as you have collected your belongings.”

“No. We don’t.” Daine turned to the shifter matron. “Good food. Strong drink. I don’t care what it is. She’s paying.”

“Daine. This is not a matter for discussion.”

“You’re right, Lakashtai, it’s not.” Daine took a seat at the table. Lei glanced at Pierce, but neither said a word. “We go when we’re all ready to go, and this time, you tell us the plan from beginning to end.”

“You’re a soldier, Daine. You know there are times when a general has to keep secrets.”

“How many times have I heard that before? When did we join your army?”

“When my enemy chose to attack you. You aren’t in the army, Daine-you are the battlefield.”

Lei snorted. “You keep saying that, but why? What could your doom and darkness possibly want from Daine?”

“We cannot afford to find out.”

“That’s convenient for you, isn’t it?” Lei remained in her seat, but Daine could feel her mounting frustration from across the table. “We’re fighting a war against your enemy for reasons only you understand. You’ve got us robbing temples, killing priests, and now fighting sorcerers. Lucky for us the law seems even more lax here than in Sharn. What’s next? Overthrowing a king?”

Lakashtai was as imperturbable as ever. “If you had to kill a king to save your friend, would you?”

“How do I know any of this is to help Daine?”

“Enough!” Daine slammed a fist into the table. “If you want us to keep going with this, Lakashtai, we need answers. We’re going to rob Hassalac? Fine, but I want to know why. You say this is for my benefit-how, exactly? Use small words.” He glanced at Gerrion. “Isn’t this a job for an actual thief?”

“I don’t know who you’ve been listening to. I’m just a guide,” the gray man said with a smile.

Lakashtai ignored the comment. “Gerrion has other duties to attend to. It is Lei’s skills that will be required for this task.”

The conversation was brought to a halt by the arrival of Harysh with Daine’s lunch. The ale was served hot, mixed with honey and cloves. A large plate held boiled roots, dark brown bread, and a large empty space. With some surprise, Daine noticed a few strips of red meat floating off the right side of the platter.

“Displacer beast,” the shifter explained. “The marinade preserves the effect for a few days. Just feel around the center of the plate, you’ll find it. Trust me, it’s worth the trouble.” She inclined her head and returned to the bar.

“Apparently, nothing here is what it seems,” Daine remarked, stabbing at empty air until he found the invisible meat. “So tell us, Lakashtai. What’s the plan?”

Lakashtai studied the group spread around the table. Then, to Daine’s surprise, she sighed; for an instant her cold mask dropped away, and she looked weary and afraid. She looked away, and the moment passed.

“I do not wish to speak in this place. Finish your meal, and let us begone. I shall explain everything as we travel, and if my plan does not meet with your approval, we can return to the harbor and seek passage back to Khorvaire.”

Daine glanced at Lei and Pierce. The warforged soldier nodded gravely. Anger glittered in Lei’s eyes, but she eventually nodded. “Fine, but after this … no more surprises.”

“Of course.”

The second bell was ringing as they left the Ship’s Cat. Lakashati led the way, and when they arrived at the main road she turned south, heading away from the harbor. Gerrion had left earlier, and he was nowhere to be seen.

“Lakashtai-”

“Wait until we reach the gates of the city. There are far too many ears in this place. We shall not enter Hassalac’s domain without your approval; we could not, regardless of my desires.”

“Very well.”

Daine let Lakashtai lead the way, falling back to walk next to Lei. He offered her his hand, and she took it with a slight smile. Pierce was at the rear, studying the crowds. It seemed to Daine that Pierce was looking for something in particular-presumably, the Riedran soldiers they had fought before.

“Are you all right?” Daine murmured to Lei.

She smiled faintly and squeezed his hand. “I’m not the one with the beast in her head.”

“I know, which makes this my problem, not yours.”

Lei shrugged.

“I don’t know. You just seem tense. Angry. And you don’t have the excuse of bad dreams.” She stiffened slightly at the comment. Or does she? She spoke before he could raise the question.

“I’m not allowed to feel angry about this? About what’s happening to you?” Lei shot a glance at Lakashtai. “I don’t like this. Any of this. I don’t like her. It’s just … How do we know she isn’t using you?”

“Let’s see what she has to say. She did save my life.”

“So you say. Why didn’t you talk to us first?”

Why hadn’t he? Looking back, it was hard to remember. He’d been afraid, even embarrassed, and what could Lei have done? The kalashtar-all the stories said that they were creatures of mind and dream, and it has just seemed like the right decision at the time.

“You tried to fight this. It didn’t work, remember? She’s held it at bay, and that counts for something.”

“Still. She just happened to be going to Xen’drik? I just feel like we’re doing her dirty work.”

“A fortunate coincidence, I assure you.” They’d been speaking quietly, but not quietly enough; Lakashtai had keen ears. “It was fate that brought us together, and sometimes we must trust in the whims of fate.”

Lei scowled but said no more. She was holding her staff in her right hand, and the face carved on the shaft suddenly caught Daine’s eye; its expression was an exact mirror of Lei’s, as if the staff itself was angry. He gave Lei’s hand a gentle squeeze, and the frown faded from her face-but the staff was still scowling. Had it always been like that? For a time, they walked in silence, taking comfort in the physical connection.

They arrived at a wide plaza, the very edge of the city. Stormreach was surrounded by a wall of dark stone, and a pair of tall gates stood across the length of the square. Merchants of many races displayed their wares from simple hide tents and worn blankets. These were the people who dared to live beyond the city walls, and their goods were simple things: strange fruits, dried meat, furs. A pair of gnome scholars dressed in the blue and red robes of a Korranberg college were studying the fragments of stone and pottery offered by a scarred half-orc wrapped in a lizardskin cloak. Despite the many traders, there were fewer people in the square than they’d seen in the northern city; Stormreach was a port town, and the harbor was where its people made their living.

Lakashtai didn’t spare a glance for the traders. As soon as they passed beneath the worn arch and past the walls of the city, she turned to the southwest, leading them off of the wide, unpaved road that led toward the farms. The ground was scrubland, hard earth choked with stone and weeds, and Daine could see nothing of any possible interest.

For a few minutes they continued to walk into the wilds, then Lakashtai began to speak.

“Before I knew of your troubles, Daine, my mission was to come to Stormreach to catalog the artifacts collected by Hassalac Chaar-to ensure that he had not found anything best left undiscovered. While it would be convenient if he has discovered a weapon we could use against the forces laying siege to your dreams, I truly hope that he has not. I can think of only one place where he could find such a thing, and there are powers there no mortal should have.”

“So why-” Daine began, but Lakashtai silenced him with a raised hand.

“What we seek could only be found in one of the armories of the ancient giants-a place where they forged their weapons of war. My people have learned of one such place: the Monolith of Karul’tash. We do not know the location of Karul’tash, but I have spoken with explorers who have sold relics to Hassalac in the past, and I believe that he has a map that can show us the way.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Lei snapped. “We came all this way because we hope he might have a map to a place that may or may not still exist? If he had a map, why wouldn’t he have used it?”

“Because he will not have recognized its true nature. You will understand when you see it.”

Daine shook his head. “None of this explains why we’re in the middle of a barren field or why you had me kill a priest this morning.”

“Gerrion spoke truly earlier this morning: a manor attracts thieves. Hassalac’s abode is hidden, accessible only by teleportation, and only when he decides to open the gate.”

“Why didn’t we do something when we were in his home?”

“You saw his power, Daine. We cannot challenge him directly, but we did do something: we gave him a gift.”

Daine frowned. “That helped us how?”

A new voice spoke. “You have tricked him into revealing his location?” It was Pierce. The warforged had been silent for so long, the sound took Daine by surprise.

“Precisely,” Lakashtai said. “I possess the ability to see the auras that surround both objects and people-and if I charge an object with my energies, I can sense it from far away. We needed to present Hassalac with a treasure of such value that he would place it in his vault.”

“You could have told us this earlier,” Daine said.

Lakashtai stopped walking, and turned to face the trio. “I have no doubt that at least one of our Riedran foes can read minds, and Hassalac himself may have this power. I can shield my thoughts-you cannot. It was necessary to keep these details hidden until now.”

Daine considered this. He didn’t like it, but it made sense; after all, they did end up meeting a Riedran soldier in the tunnels, and it hadn’t occurred to him that the man might be a threat even without taking physical action.

“Very well. So where is the vault?”

“Four hundred feet below us.”

Lei blinked. “In this field?”

“Beneath this field, yes.”

“Is there some sort of secret passage?”

“No.” Lakashtai looked at Lei. “You will take us there. I can show you the path; can you not craft a device that can transport us across this space?”

“I …” Lei looked away, and Daine could almost hear the thoughts racing in her head. “I understand the basic principles that govern the movement of motion, but to transport all of us at once-I’ve never tried to channel that level of power before. If my calculations are wrong, or if I lose control of the threads … it could be dangerous.”

Daine sighed. “How dangerous?”

“If we’re lucky, the energy I’m binding would be released in a burst of light and heat-like a charge from a fire wand.” “And if you’re unlucky?”

“We’re transported somewhere else. Into solid rock, or perhaps four hundred feet up instead of four hundred feet down.”

Daine glanced at the sky. “Well, at least the weather’s good for it. Lakashtai, you’re certain this is the only way to do this?”

“Yes, I believe that it is. Your only hope lies in Karul’tash, and if Hassalac does not have this map, we have no idea as to its whereabouts. In my weakened condition, it may only be a matter of days before Tashana overcomes the defenses I have woven and shatters your mind.”

Daine turned to face Lei, placing his hands on her shoulders. She met his gaze, and he could see the fear in her eyes. “You’ve risked your life for me just by coming here. I can’t ask you to do it again.”

“You didn’t ask me the first time,” she said softly. “It’s my choice. I’m not going to let you die.” She looked away. “Now let me get to work.”

She sat down on the rough earth and produced an assortment of crystals and wooden rods, which she spread out across the ground in from of her. Slowly she began to whisper, channeling the essence of magic with thought, gesture, and sound.

Daine watched her work. There was a chill in his heart he’d never felt in battle. She can do this. She’s never failed before. “Any other surprises, Lakashtai?”

“None. We go to the vault and find the map. No doubt Hassalac will have defenses in the vault, but hidden as it is, I doubt that he expects too many people to enter the vault directly. Gerrion will be waiting at the harbor with a boat prepared to sail as soon as we are on board. He takes us along the coast, and we land as near to Karul’tash as possible. Now you know the extent of my plans.”

Daine nodded, his eyes on Lei.

“I’m done,” she said, and Daine felt a weight lifted from his chest. “I think … if something was going to go wrong, it would have. Gather around. You’ll need to be touching me for this to work. And Lakashtai, I need the precise distance.”

Daine drew his sword. “Pierce, flail ready. No telling what’s waiting there for us.”

Each of the travelers placed a hand on Lei’s shoulders. Green light flashed from Lakashtai’s eyes; Lei’s brow furrowed for an instant, and she nodded.

They vanished.