The Shattered Land

CHAPTER 36

Lei was exhausted.

The tireless warforged were marching through the night, heading deeper south through the jungle. Lei’s hands weren’t bound, but there was no question that she was a prisoner. Hydra was shadowing her, following to either side, arm blades set and ready to strike. The little warforged was hungry for vengeance, but so far Pierce and Harmattan were holding him in check. Harmattan had agreed to spare Lei’s life-but only so long as she could keep up with the others. To her surprise, Pierce had agreed to this.

There were six warforged in the band that had captured them, but as it turned out, there were really only three. The four scouts weren’t just identical in appearance-they were controlled by one mind, a force that called itself Hydra. Lei had never heard of such a thing, but the evidence was incontrovertible. The scouts often moved in perfect unison, and when they didn’t speak at the same time, they would finish one another’s sentences. They even had the same ghulra-the mark of life on the forehead, a symbol that was supposed to be unique to each warforged. The consciousness of Hydra stretched across all of his bodies, and he had fought them on the icy beach. He’d felt the pain when Lei had destroyed that body-and given the opportunity, Lei was sure he’d take vengeance. Hydra rarely spoke, but he was always watching Lei with at least one set of eyes.

Harmattan was a greater mystery, a ghost of metal and wind. His body was formed from bits of broken armor, shattered blades, arrowheads, and splinters of steel too small to be identified. He had no skeleton, no frame-he was just a mass of metal pulled together by magic. What had first appeared to be a cloak was simply an extension of his body, a curtain of metal shards held aloft by invisible force. His head was surrounded by a cloud of powdered steel, his eyes glowing within this darkness. This halo had reformed soon after the attack, but the brief glimpse of his floating head was still fixed in Lei’s mind. It was blackened and worn, but it touched a chord within her. She couldn’t place it yet, but she was certain she’d seen that face before.

The third warforged was called Indigo, due to the dark blue enamel covering her body. Lei had grown up among warforged, and she’d seen a few “female” constructs, but it was still slightly unnerving; the male voice was far more common. Like all warforged, her body had no indications of gender, but she was lean, wiry, and remarkably graceful. Compared to the armored bulk of the typical warforged soldier, she did have a feminine appearance, and Lei could see why her creator might have given her a woman’s voice. She was swift and silent, and she and Pierce had quickly taken point and disappeared in the jungle. It was clear that she’d spoken with Pierce before. Lei had always thought of Pierce as a brother, and she’d never considered that he might have secrets; deception and treachery were human traits. Now she wondered what else he had been hiding and whether she’d been a fool to trust anyone.

You are weary. Harmattan’s words emerged from his body, ground metal carried on the wind. Why fight with your flesh? Your death is inevitable. Ask, and I will end your suffering.

“I’m fine.”

Harmattan rustled. You struggle with every step. How long until blood and bone collapse beneath you?

“I can stay on my feet as long as I have to.”

You know that’s not true. You walk toward your grave. Every step is more difficult than the last, and even if you survive this day, how many more do you have? In a century, your Pierce will still walk the earth, while you will be the dust beneath his feet.

Lei gritted her teeth and said nothing. Her stomach was knotted with hunger, and her knees and ankles ached-but she’d be damned before she admitted her weakness to this thing.

There is no shame in it, he said, as if reading her thoughts. Perhaps he was. It is not your fault you were forged of flesh instead of steel. You did not choose your design, and you are not to blame for your flaws. Why struggle against them? Death lurks within you, waiting to overtake your beating heart. Submit. Surrender. I can end it swiftly.

“Why do you care so much?” she snapped. “Or do you have this conversation with every human?”

Is that what you are? He rustled again. I suppose that it’s Pierce I am thinking of. He cares about you, that much is clear, and it holds him back. If I kill you-he’s not ready for that, but if you ask for death, if you choose to end your pointless struggle … it will be best for both of you.

“Well, thanks so much for looking out for us. I’ll make sure to let you know if I want to take you up on your generous offer.”

Do you remember Blacklion, Lei? The broken forge?

Lei stopped in her tracks. Blacklion was the forgehold where she’d spent most of her childhood-the Cannith workshop where she’d first manifested the Mark of Making. “How do you know about that?”

I was born in Blacklion, Lei, just as you were. I’m sure you saw thousands of warforged while you were there-It’s hardly surprising that you don’t remember.

She stared at him, trying to see the face hidden in the shadow. There was something gnawing at the back of her mind, but she couldn’t quite grasp it. “Somehow I think I’d remember you.”

It took time for me to reach my full potential … though Pierce is taking even longer.

“You-you’re saying that Pierce is like you?”

Keep moving, child of flesh. We still have far to go and no time for your weakness. He pressed a massive hand against her back and pushed her forward. Pierce has his own destiny, but we have been shaped by the same hands, and there is much he has yet to discover. He raised his voice, continuing over her question. The broken forge of Blacklion. Surely you remember the abominations it produced?

She nodded, slowly. The creation forges were built during the Last War, and few members of the house understood the enchantments involved. One of the forges at Blacklion was unreliable, but with the demands of the war, it was often used anyway. Most of the time the warforged it produced were satisfactory, but she still remembered the failures-cripples and creatures with deformities that could never be shaped from flesh. She remembered a torso with a half dozen arms flailing about, crushing the skull of an attending magewright, and her father, stepping in and shattering the horror with a touch.

You destroy failures, Lei. It is the way of your house-and the way of the world. It is a mercy to end the suffering of such a thing. I merely offer you that same mercy.

Lei searched the trees ahead, looking for some sign of Pierce. She kept walking, and for the moment her anger burned away her exhaustion. “Is that what your Lord of Blades says? It’s a mercy to destroy humanity?”

The eerie rustling came again, a flutter across his form. We are guided by a force far greater than any one warforged, and I was not talking about humanity. I was talking about you.

“Then who-”

Her complaint was cut off by a song. A woman’s voice, faint and full of sorrow. Lei’s staff. She couldn’t quite hear the words, but somehow she knew their meaning. Death surrounds you, beyond your metal guardians. Strike the shadows, for the truth is not what it seems. Lei could feel anguish sweeping over her, and she knew this pain was trapped within the staff. She could almost touch the spirit within, but somehow it was just beyond her reach.

Lei had stopped the instant the song began, frozen by the despair that flowed from the staff. Hydra raised its arms, and she could see Harmattan’s gleaming eyes watching her from within the shroud of steel.

What is it?

“Danger.” Was he asking for her opinion, or did he know more about the power of the staff?

Harmattan hissed a command in a language Lei didn’t recognize. The four scouts spun in place, forming a perimeter with a pair of eyes at each cardinal point.

Stay between Hydra, little one. We may as well protect you until you choose to die. Harmattan strode out of the circle.

Lei scowled but held her ground. The staff was murmuring quietly, singing of circling death.

An instant later a long, low shape melted out of the undergrowth and raced toward the warforged. Lei caught a glimpse of a lean, black panther-like creature racing forward on six legs. A pair of long, whip-like tentacles flowed out from its shoulder-blades, each tipped with vicious bone hooks. Its gleaming red eyes met hers, its lips drew back in a snarl-and then she saw one of Hydra’s spiked arms pass right through its skull.

There was no blood, no sound of impact, and no reaction from the creature. Instead, it lashed out with its tentacles. It seemed to be flailing at empty air, until the attacking Hydra staggered back. A gouge appeared across his chest, accompanied by the sound of bone scraping against steel.

Lei remembered Daine’s last lunch at the Ship’s Cat-the meat that had appeared to be floating off the plate. Displacer beast! The creature she could see was just an illusion, a reflected image of the invisible predator that lurked nearby. Hitting such a creature would be a matter of luck as much as skill, trying to guess where it was by the blows it landed on its victims.

The hunter wasn’t alone. Even as Lei and the warforged turned to face the attacker, three more of the beasts leapt from the shadows. Two of Hydra’s sentinels reeled from invisible blows, and a powerful stroke dug a furrow into Harmattan’s chest-a wound that vanished an instant later. Lei paused, gripped by indecision. Should she join in the battle, or leave the warforged to fight on their own?

The conflict was over before she had time to decide. Harmattan seemed to explode outwards. A whirlwind of razor-sharp metal swept across the path, and Lei heard the sound of tearing flesh and agonized howls that fell silent within seconds. The steel hurricane swept around Lei and Hydra, leaving the mangled corpses of the four beasts in its wake. For an instant, Lei saw the head of the warforged soldier floating in a maelstrom of metal. Then the whirlwind collapsed in on itself, coalescing into the solid humanoid form of Harmattan. A rattling, intense shiver ran through his form, scattering blood and bits of flesh onto the ground.

Just like a dog, Lei thought. Her mind was almost blank with shock from what she had just seen. The displacer beasts had died in an instant, and their corpses could barely be recognized. She’d thought of Harmattan as a ghost earlier, but now she wondered-How can you fight something like that?

Indigo leapt out of the jungle, her adamantine blades extended. Pierce appeared behind her, an arrow to his bow. He glanced around the battlefield, studying the carnage.

“Excellent work,” Hydra hissed, four voices speaking at once. “Without your skills, we should certainly have been destroyed.”

“I am certain your role in this battle was exactly as significant as mine,” Indigo replied. Harmattan rustled, and she inclined her head toward him as her blades slid back into their sheaths. “My apologies to you. Pierce and I should not have let this go undetected.”

Pierce was keeping his eyes down on the ground, examining one of the devastated corpses. His bow was lowered. He’s … embarrassed, Lei realized, and it certainly wasn’t like him to let a threat slip by.

It is done, Harmattan said, but it seems we need more eyes in the darkness. We are close, and we cannot afford to miss the door. Hydra. Spread out. Three point search, serpent spread. His glowing eyes turned toward Lei. I think that I can watch our little cousin.

Indigo and three of the Hydras scattered into the jungle. Pierce paused for a moment and glanced at Lei, but he followed Indigo without speaking.

Lei shivered. Harmattan was deadlier than she’d thought possible, but right now … right now, it was Pierce that frightened her.