The Shattered Land

CHAPTER 28

Get up, damn you!”

The voice was distant but growing loud. There was a sound of shattering stone. Suddenly the world exploded into pain. She remembered. She’d been weaving a charge of teleportation into the darkwood staff when there was a flash, a bolt of energy. She felt her body tearing itself apart as the power teleported pieces of her at a time. She was no healer, but she could feel the ruptures within-torn lungs that wouldn’t fill with air, shattered bones, severed tendons-but even as she became aware of it, the pain was fading. Warmth spread from her left hip, rippling out across her body, bone and tissue mending in its wake.

She took a breath, and the air was ambrosia, filling her newly-formed lungs. Taking another deep breath, she opened her eyes.

Tears did not come easily to Daine. The loss was like a fire; it burned all feelings away, leaving charred earth in its wake. All he had left was fury-cold hatred of those who had done this.

From the sound, there could be more than six of them. It was Pierce’s thought, traveling through Lakashtai’s mindlink. They are spreading out-soon they may flank us.

Most will not have such power, Lakashtai thought, but they are armed, and they have strength of numbers. How much longer until we can depart?

Lei … Daine couldn’t bring himself to shape the thoughts, but there was no time for pity. This was war.

Lei sat up.

Her skin was even paler than usual, and it shone with cold sweat. A thin stream of blood trickled from her mouth, and for a moment her eyes were dazed and unfocused. Then she caught sight of Daine, and for an instant her smile was all he saw, but there was no time for joy, even as there had been no time for pain. He barely realized what he was doing as he dove forward and pulled her to the floor an instant before a black bolt of energy filled the air where she had been.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” he hissed, and now it was even harder to hold back the tears. “Can you do it?”

“Yes.” Her breathing was ragged, her voice weak. “But the others … we need to be touching.”

Fall back! Now! We’re leaving!

Lakashtai was on the other side of a chunk of masonry, and she vaulted across it, a smooth, graceful motion that brought her down directly next to Lei. Pierce backed away from his post by the shelves. As Pierce retreated, a Riedran leapt out from the near corridor, a curved steel blade in each hand. Pierce paused just long enough to loose a single arrow, striking his foe directly in the right eye. The soldier moaned, falling to his knees and clawing at the shaft. Others were emerging from the shadows, but Pierce was already sprinting toward his companions.

“Staff …” Lei whispered.

Daine saw the darkwood staff lying amid the objects she’d scattered across the floor and snatched it up. It seemed unnaturally cold, but there was no time to worry about this, and he pressed it into Lei’s hand. She clung to his arm with her free hand, her lips twisted in a pained smile. Lakashtai and Pierce were there in a second, each reaching out to lay a hand on her shoulders.

Riedran soldiers were pouring out from behind the shelves in a flood of black silk and steel. Daine met the gaze of a black-robed woman, her arm outstretched and energy flaring around her fingertips, but even as he saw the blast flying toward him, the surroundings melted away.

After the dim light of cold fire and Lakashtai’s glowing eyes, the brilliant sunlight was as stunning as the pain from Daine’s injury. They had emerged on a side street, black mud paved with chunks of stone pried from an old, rust-colored ruin. A vendor dropped the purple fruits he was holding, staggering back against the thorny weeds covering the nearby wall, and a trio of colorful birds was startled into flight. The other people on the street didn’t even spare a glance; apparently Stormreach truly was a place where the fantastic happened every day.

We must move quickly, Lakashtai thought. Clearly we have concerns beyond Hassalac, and they may have others who can teleport. To the harbor.

“Are you injured?” Pierce said, looking to Lei. “I can carry you if you require assistance.”

“No, I’m … I’m fine.”

Miraculously, it seemed to be true. She began to lope after Lakashtai, and despite her initial unsteadiness, now she appeared to be in better condition than Daine himself. He staggered along, doing his best to ignore the pain that came with every step. Maybe Pierce could carry me.

Pierce took the lead as they made their way through the city, and most people were quick to move out of the path of the charging warforged. They drew a few stares from council watchmen and mercenary soldiers, but there was no hue and cry in their wake, and they made it to the harbor unmolested.

It’s the third pier, Lakashtai thought, but Pierce already knew where they were going. He’d seen Gerrion’s boat the night before, and even if he hadn’t been able to recognize the battered black hull in the daylight, the gray man was standing on the deck waiting for them.

“We’re sailing in that?” Daine said. “Maybe I’ll stay and take my chances with the Riedrans.”

“That is your choice,” Lakashtai said, as she made her way across the wobbly gangplank and onto the deck. “I wish you pleasant dreams.”

“Great,” Daine sighed. He followed Lei across the plank, looking for holes in the sails.

“Welcome aboard the Gray Cat,” Gerrion said with a grin, once all four of the companions were aboard. “Everything is cleared with the harbor lord, and I’ve stocked the hold. Oars couldn’t hurt until we catch the wind; Master Daine, Pierce, if you’d care to lend your strength to the cause we can be on our way.”

Perhaps the Riedrans weren’t pursuing them. Perhaps the Riedrans were stranded in Hassalac’s caves. Whatever the truth, there was no sign of their enemies as the Gray Cat moved away from the docks and out into the water. Daine gritted his teeth against the pain that flared in his shoulders with every stroke of the oars. Gerrion was manning the lines, and soon he found the wind. As Stormreach fell away behind them, Daine pulled in his oars and finally fell asleep.

When he awoke, Lei was leaning over him. She was sitting on the deck behind him holding a short wand in her hand. He felt a soothing warmth as she passed the wand over his skin and realized that his pain was all but gone.

“Lucky for both of us that I finished the wand before our trip,” she said, smiling faintly.

There was no time for thought as he sat up, wrapping his arms around her. For a moment, he thought it was all another of his mad dreams, but she was there. “You’re alive. You’re still with me.”

She gently pushed him away. “Careful. I’m not quite done with you yet-your injuries were quite severe. I’m amazed you made it to the docks.”

“What happened?”

“From talking to Lakashtai, it appears that some of the Riedrans we were fighting have the power to shift the location of matter with their thoughts alone. This was-a sort of partial teleportation. It’s an interesting-”

He put a hand over her mouth, stopping her in mid speech. It was all he could do to keep from laughing. “What happened to you?”

“Oh!” She glanced away. “Well. It seems that I was struck with the same form of attack that you were.”

“You were dead, Lei. One moment you weren’t breathing, the next you’re running ahead of me.”

“I don’t know, exactly.” Her eyes were distant, and her voice had dropped to a whisper. “I …” she held up the wand in her hand. “This is livewood. It’s a perfect vessel for healing energies. By binding power into the wand, it becomes a reservoir of healing, magical power that can be released later-”

“Lei. I know what a wand is.”

Lei nodded, the corner of her mouth twisting down. “Yes. Well. I was carrying the wand. I thought we might need it. As best as I can tell, when I was struck by the attack, the wand healed me.”

“You were unconscious. It wasn’t even in your hand.”

“I …” She shook her head. “I know. Someone needs to activate a wand to release its power, but somehow-I can’t explain it. It’s as if the wand acted on its own, as if it sensed my need.”

“Is this a breakthrough, my lady?”

Dusk was beginning to fall, and Daine hadn’t noticed Pierce in the shadows. He might have just arrived, or he could have been there for the entire conversation. My lady, Daine thought to himself-it’s been a while since I’ve heard that.

“No. I don’t think so. I don’t know. Everything I did …” She studied the wand in her hand, holding it gingerly. “There’s nothing unusual about the design. A wand can’t act on its own.”

“And you felt nothing else? I too once stood on the edge of life and death. Did you … dream?”

Lei glanced at Pierce for a moment, and Daine could see the tension building in her. She shook her head. “I can’t talk about this right now.” She looked back at Daine. “I … I need to be alone right now.”

He just nodded. Confusion, pain, joy-his emotions were a storm within him, and at the moment he just wanted to close his eyes and let it all go. He gave her arm one more squeeze, then she stood up and walked away. Daine let his head drop back against the deck, glancing up into the sky. The boat rocked beneath him, and the sound of the surf seemed to wash away his thoughts. Pierce was standing over him, as silent as any statue, and the face of the warforged was the last thing he saw before he drifted off to sleep.