The Gates of Night: The Dreaming Dark - Book 3 (13 page)

“That’s no little boar,” Daine said. “You’re sure about this?”

Lei nodded, and her staff murmured in acquiescence.

They were clustered at the base of one of the massive stone faces, looking down into a valley. A minute ago, Pierce had seen what they’d first taken to be a torch, moving through the night. It was no torch. It was Colchyn, the Great Boar of the Hunter’s Moon. The beast was easily the size of a full team of horses. Black bristles covered its body, and a ridge of flame ran down its back; the same fire burned in its eyes, and sparks flew from its nostrils as it snorted and smelled the air. Pierce racked his brains, trying to come up with some sort of plan that would keep them from going toe-to-hoof with this monstrosity, but nothing came to mind. He studied the sheltering tor, wondering if they could climb it, but another glance at the beast dispelled that notion. He was sure the boar could reach them even if they did climb atop the sculpted face.

“This cannot be avoided.” Once again, Xu’sasar had slipped just behind Daine. “This is our trial. Let us face it with courage.”

“We’ll need more than courage. Lei, how about some haste?”

She nodded, reaching into her pack and producing her mystical tools.

Daine peered around the edge, studying the approaching monster. “Try the tangler. I doubt it’ll hold this thing, but we’ve got nothing to lose. Pierce, keep your
distance and just hit it as hard as you can. With Lei’s enchantment, your arrows are still our best weapon.”

“Understood,” Pierce said.

“Xu,” Daine said. “I know you held your own against those bloodhounds, but do you really plan to
punch
this thing?”

“I do not fight with only my fists. I strike with the scorpion’s sting and the chill night. I have no fear of this creature.”

Daine was tempted to tell her to stay back. Kicking a beast the size of a barn was madness. Still, Xu’sasar was swift even without Lei’s magics, and distraction was what he wanted. “If it breaks free, do what you can to keep it off-balance. If we stay on opposite sides and keep hitting it … we need to buy Pierce as much time as we can.”

“What about me?” Lei said. She’d just finished painting a silver symbol on a quartz disk.

“Stay out of the way.” Daine said.

“What? Are you—?”

“This isn’t a discussion. I know you can take care of yourself. But
look
at that thing. One kick and I’m bleeding out in the dirt. You’re the only one of us who can heal, and I need you to stay out of harm’s way. Stay back, and use that lightning rod of yours. Surely a blast from that will be more effective than a poke with your stick.”

He could feel her frustration, but he was right and she knew it. It made sense … and the fact that it kept her away from this monster was a fortunate coincidence.

“Let’s hope that scorpion wasn’t lying.,” Daine said. “Lei? Let’s have that speed.”

Lei closed her hand around the shard of stone and
whispered an indistinct word. Daine felt only the faintest tingle through his muscles, but he knew what to expect.
“Go!”
he said, darting around the edge of the tor.

The boar was at the base of the hill, trotting toward them. Thanks to Lei’s magic, the beast seemed to be moving in slow motion, barely crawling up the slope. Still, at this distance Daine could see just how huge the boar was, and the thought of charging such a creature seemed ludicrous. Its tusks were as long as Daine’s arms, and flames licked around its massive hooves, searing the grass as it lumbered forward. It was a creature of nightmares.

But they’d fought nightmares before.

Lei was first to act. She’d woven the entangling charm into a curled root, and she flicked the makeshift wand toward the great beast. Vines and roots flowed up from the ground around the boar, twining around its legs and holding it fast. Pierce’s first volley of arrows flew through the air, blazing with eldritch fire. The beast howled as the missiles struck home, and Daine felt a glimmer of hope. Perhaps the beast wasn’t as fearsome as it appeared.

Those hopes were soon dashed. The beast roared, its vitality undimmed by the arrows in its neck. Massive muscles flexed as it tore free from the binding roots, striding slowly across the treacherous ground. Pierce loosed a second volley as the boar emerged from the tangle, and lightning flared as Lei brought her wand into play. If the beast felt anything but anger, Daine couldn’t see it. It bounded forward, quickly closing the distance. It was time to move.

Grandfather, guide my arm
, he prayed as he charged down the hill.

The beast snorted as it caught sight of Daine and Xu’sasar, dousing the warriors in a shower of sparks. Daine howled as he broke to the left, lashing out at a massive leg; he wasn’t sure if the monster noticed the blow.

Moments passed in a blur of sensation. Blazing hooves gouged great holes in the ground. Foul breath washed over him, long tusks sweeping down at his chest. Daine didn’t stop to think or plan; he just
moved
, instinct and supernatural speed keeping him ahead of the deadly blows. He slashed at its ankles, thrust at its nose, taking any opening he could find.

It was a masterful performance—but even a master could fall to such a monster. With each passing moment the blows came closer and closer, and Daine’s own strokes grew weaker. His back burned as a tusk tore through chainmail and flesh. The blow knocked him to the ground. He turned in time to see tusks descending—

And a dark shape flashed forward, diving into the jaws of the beast.

Xu’sasar.

Daine saw her for only an instant, but the image was burned into his mind. The web of silver-white lines tattooed across her inky skin gleamed in the faint light, but what truly struck him was her expression … a combination of grim determination and joy. There was no doubt, no fear. For a moment she was silhouetted, struggling to hold the creature’s jaws apart as it thrashed and gurgled. Then its mouth snapped shut, and Xu’sasar disappeared within.

There was no thought: only fury, a raw howl of
not again!
Daine cast his entire body into one final thrust, both hands wrapped around a blade blazing like the sun. As the sword sunk into the creature’s throat,
Daine heard the roar of an army, the clash of a thousand weapons.

And the boar exploded.

There was no fire, no heat. The flesh of the boar seemed to
expand
, flowing outward and
around
Daine, and the world changed as it did. The boar was gone, and so was the barren moor.

L
ei had watched many battles during her time with the Cyran Guard. In those days her first loyalty was to her house, not to Cyre. She was paid to repair warforged soldiers and to perform other supporting tasks, but she wasn’t expected to risk her life on the front lines. Once that had seemed normal. Breland, Cyre—why should she care who won the battle? All that mattered was her house.

Now she was an outcast, banished from her house for reasons she didn’t understand. Pierce and Daine were all she had left in the world. And once again, she was watching as they fought.

He needs me, she thought. Daine’s swordplay was flawless; he slipped between the legs of the mighty boar, slashing at an ankle and rolling to the side before the beast could find him. It was an amazing display, but how long could it last? Arrows studded the creature’s hide. Blood dripped from a dozen small wounds, the work of Daine’s swords. Xu’sasar had managed to leap on top of the boar, and she struck at its spine with elbow and fist. Yet the boar fought on, its fury burning hot as the fires in its jaws.

Frustration warred with despair. There had to be something she could do, some magic she could weave that could help turn the tide of battle. But what? She could produce a burst of fire or a blast of cold, but she’d already loosed two bolts of lightning at the boar and aside from two patches of scorched skin the creature had hardly seemed to notice. Watching the battle, she tried to reduce it to an equation, seeking shelter in her formulas. What could she do to even the odds?

The boar laid a mighty blow across Daine’s back, tearing through his armor and slamming him to the ground. Time shattered, and images flashed through Lei’s mind—blood dripping from the beast’s tusks; Daine on the ground, struggling to rise; Xu’sasar leaping into the creature’s gaping maw. And then Lei found herself beside the beast, its rank odor washing over her as she darted around a massive hoof. She didn’t remember moving. Rage, fear, and the howling song of her staff drowned out all thought as she lashed out again and again.

Her staff struck empty air. Flesh and blood transformed into black smoke, boiling out and over her. Warm wind and dark fog blotted out moonlight and moor.

When Lei’s vision cleared, everything had changed. The moonlight outlined the lean shapes of a dozen giants, reaching for her with emaciated limbs. She spun around, fighting back panic. The creatures were all around her, and her companions were nowhere to be seen. Even her staff had fallen silent. She was alone. Mastering her fear, she raised her staff and waited for her enemies to strike.

No one moved. Lei’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, and things became clear.

Trees surrounded her.

The moor had become a forest, and the trees weren’t the only change. Moist, warm air flowed around her, rich with the smell of moss and sweet flowers. Calls of night birds merged with the sounds of insects and frogs.

Lei cursed her stupidity.
Teleportation, I suppose
. At the same time, something about her surroundings was deeply disturbing, beyond the sudden change. The gnarled hulks of the trees seemed to move in the shadows, in ways that couldn’t be justified by the slight wind. At the edge of her vision the trees were twisted into contorted human shapes, and she could almost see screaming faces pressing out from the trunks … but when she turned to look, the shadowy images fell away, leaving plain wood and bark.

“My lady?”

Shock and relief rushed over Lei as the warforged stepped out from behind a tree. “Pierce! What happened?”

“I do not know. I had one arrow left, which I intended to use in close combat. I saw Daine rise to his feet and strike the beast. Then I found myself in this place.”

“Daine!” A chill ran through her heart. She’d thought she was alone, but if Pierce was here … Lei charged through the trees, ignoring clawing branches and leaping over roots as she tried to remember exactly which direction Daine had been in.

Lei found him sprawled across the ground, his sword a few inches from his outstretched hand. Blood glittered on the grass.

Xu’sasar knelt over him, and she glared at Lei like a challenged cat. Lei felt her fury grow … then she saw what Xu’sasar was doing. The dark elf had removed Daine’s cloak and cut it into strips. She had bound the
smaller wounds and was applying pressure to the deep cut on Daine’s back.

Lei stepped forward. “Let me—”

The drow’s hostile gaze stopped her short.

“I protect him,” Xu’sasar snapped. There was something in her hand, a curved rod of ivory.

“Then you’ll let me work,” Lei said.

“You know nothing,” Xu’sasar said. “You would send him to your cold and empty place of death.”

“Daine’s on the brink of death, and you’re arguing
cosmology?
Get back, girl. I know you mean well, but he needs my help. Out of my way, or we’ll all die together.”

Lei could feel Pierce behind her; he might only have one arrow, but his strength and speed could make all the difference if it came to a fight.

Xu’sasar held Lei’s gaze, her silver eyes glowing in the light of the moon. Then she vaulted backward, a swift flip that brought her down a few feet away.

“Save him, or we
will
all die together,” she said.

Lei barely heard the threat. She knelt by Daine, taking stock of the situation. Xu’sasar knew her work. Daine’s injuries were grave, but the dark elf had stanched the bleeding and done as much as could be expected with the limited tools at her disposal. Lei drew a small wand from her pouch, falling into the meditative state required to weave her magic. Reaching out with her mind, she grasped the magical energies that lay just beyond the everyday world and
pulled
, forming strands of mystical power. Working as quickly as she could, she spun these threads together, completing the familiar pattern of healing and tying it to the rod in her hand.

Lei opened her eyes. Her nerves were sore; using magic was always a trial, and she’d stretched herself
near to her limits. But there was no other choice. Daine could take days to heal on his own, assuming that natural healing was even possible in this place where the moon stood still. Taking a deep breath, Lei drew the wadded cloak away from Daine’s back.

She winced at the sight, holding back bile. Though Lei had seen terrible things over the last four years, she’d never gotten used to the stench of blood or the sight of wet bone. She was trained to repair warforged, to work with stone and wood, not unlike snapping the pieces of a puzzle into the proper shape. The body of a warforged made sense to her. Humans were blood and meat bound within thin skin. She hated the idea that her friends—that
Daine
—could be so fragile.