The Gates of Night: The Dreaming Dark - Book 3 (37 page)

The construct had a hunched, apelike posture. His arms were long and powerful, and he ran on all four limbs. His head and face were similar to Pierce’s, except for the mouth; he had a massive hinged jaw with blades fused along the rim, and this was gaping wide as the construct lunged at Daine.

Daine yearned to follow Lei, but if she was injured there was nothing he could do for her. He needed to clear a path so Jode could reach her. Was this when Krazhal died? he wondered. It was clear this creature wouldn’t fall easily, but right now Daine just wanted
him to move. He lashed out with his blade, catching a ringing blow on the creature’s head; as he expected, it barely left a mark, but it drew the metal monster’s attention.

“Come on!” Daine cried, darting back a few steps.

His plan worked all too well. The warforged charged. It was the very move Daine wanted the construct to make, but he’d underestimated his opponent’s speed. The metal beast crashed into him, throwing him back to the floor. Light filled the room—
Pierce’s flail
—but the warforged monster was already towering over Daine, iron fists descending to crush flesh and bone.

No
.

Once, Daine might have been too slow to evade the construct’s blows. In another time, another place, this might have been the end. Not here. He could feel the dragonfire in his blood, feel his anger and his concern for Lei, and it gave him strength and speed he’d never imagined possible. The warforged struck bare stone, scarring the finish. Daine was already standing, moving behind the creature, lashing out with sword and dagger. Pierce was at his side, and the enemy construct staggered beneath the blows of the glowing flail. But the fight was far from over.

For all his newfound strength, Daine’s sword was not the most effective weapon against the armored bulk of the iron beast. The construct turned his back on Daine, smashing Pierce with both fists. Pierce was stunned by the impact, and the enemy warforged grabbed him by both arms and lifted him off the ground. The construct’s intention was clear. He was going to tear Pierce limb from limb.

“No!”
Dropping his sword, Daine gripped the hilt of his dagger with both hands and drove it into the construct’s back. No mundane metal could withstand the adamantine blade, and the dagger sunk deep. Calling on every ounce of his dream-inspired strength, Daine pulled down on the blade, carving a deep gouge where a human would keep his spine. For a moment there seemed to be no effect, and Daine could hear the tendrils snapping in Pierce’s joints. Then a shudder ran through the frame of the iron beast. He fell forward, collapsing on top of Pierce.

“Pierce?
Pierce!”
Daine struggled to push the beast off his companion. The dead construct shifted, and then fell to the side.

“I … am functional,” Pierce said. He rose slowly, one arm hanging at an awkward angle. “I thank you for your aid, Captain.”

“Everyone in one piece?” Jode’s voice rose from below. “We’ve got a little problem down here.”

Daine cursed. Quiet and careful. Could I have made myself any clearer?

He pulled his dagger from the ruined construct. “If you can use your bow, get it out,” he said to Pierce. He headed for the forge, taking the stairs two and three at a time.

Lei stood by the central trunk, studying the stone pillar, while Jode followed the path of one of the roots.

“What are you
doing?
” Daine grabbed Lei by the arm and whirled her around. She seemed unharmed by her fall—thanks, most likely, to Jode—and Daine’s anger warred with his relief.

“Examining the forge,” Lei replied.

Daine expected more from her. Lei had led a sheltered life, and when they’d first met she was certainly
naive and arrogant, all too careless with her own safety. The war had changed her, and he’d come to rely on her courage and intelligence. But to indulge her love of research in the midst of an enemy stronghold, while Pierce was injured …

“Pierce needs help, now!”

Lei pulled away from him and turned back to the trunk. “You don’t understand. The forge—”

“—will wait,” Daine said, taking her arm again. “I need Pierce repaired
now
. The enemy could return at any time, and—”

The lights went out, and the room fell into utter darkness.

“Too late,” Lei said.

Crimson light filled the room. The central pool and every line on the wall that had been glowing before now burned with a blinding radiance. Daine threw up his hand to shield his eyes. A vast roar filled the hall, the sound buffeting Daine and driving out all other thought.

Daine barely realized when the sound and lights faded. His head was pounding, his vision scarred by the terrible light. He could see movement around him, shadowy shapes. He raised his sword, but his reflexes were still scattered. He felt a chill in his back, a burst of cold that spread out through his muscles, freezing him in place.

Then his vision returned. He was surrounded by warforged, at least a half-dozen of them, every one different. Some were unarmed, while others had spikes, claws, or other weapons merged into their limbs. The pods ringing the forge … Daine saw that they were hinged like coffins, and that they were open.

“Well, this is a surprise.”

The voice came from behind him. Daine tried to
turn his head, but the magic holding him in place had paralyzed every muscle. He couldn’t even speak.

A man walked in front of him, a tall, lean man in a robe of shifting colors. His wavy red hair was streaked with gray, and his green eyes were hard as stone. He reached out and took hold of Daine’s chin, turning his head to study him.

“Daine of House Deneith, isn’t it? Now captain in the Cyran army?” The stranger’s voice was cold, and there was something terribly familiar about it. “Tell me, Daine, what have you done with my daughter?”

H
is creation forge was strange, like no design Lei had ever seen. She’d never been trained to operate a creation forge. The position of forgemaster was one that needed to be earned. But while she had no hands-on experience with these artifacts, she’d spent her childhood learning all she could about them. Living in a warforged foundry, it was hardly surprising that she’d be fascinated by the forges. One touch was all she’d needed to see that the forge was in the final stages of a production cycle. She’d tried to interface with the pillar, hoping she could find some way to disrupt the energies within. Even if Daine had left her alone, it was a hopeless task. She’d never seen anything so complex.

Knowing what to expect from the forge, Lei was able to cover her eyes in time to preserve her vision. But she could do nothing about the overwhelming noise. Struggling to stay on her feet, she reached down and pulled the darkwood staff from her satchel. Keeping her eyes tightly closed, she leaned on the staff, drawing comfort from its presence.

At last the thunder faded. Lei opened her eyes, but just as she feared, the containment pods were open and
warforged soldiers were emerging from each one. In a traditional Cannith facility, these newborn soldiers would be confused, requiring direction and instruction. Not so the warforged of Keldan Ridge, who seemed to have a clear purpose in mind: apprehend the intruders.

Daine was dazed. Jode was nowhere to be seen. Pierce, by her side, loosed an arrow from his bow, burying the shaft in the leathery throat of a warforged scout.

They’re warforged, Lei thought. I know how to fight warforged.

She readied the necessary patterns of magic in her mind, infusions that would shatter and destroy whatever construct she touched. She reached out for the nearest warforged—and everything went numb. She was frozen. Paralyzed. Pierce had drawn his flail, which was raised above his head, but he was frozen too, as still as a statue.

A panel opened in the wall of the chamber, a hidden door that had escaped her cursory search. A man stood silhouetted in the light, a slender wand held in each hand. He stepped into the light, and Lei saw his face.

Father!

Lei struggled to speak, but every muscle was paralyzed. There could be no mistake. This was Talin d’Cannith. There were a few new lines on his face, a little more gray in his hair. In place of the traditional blue uniform of the Cannith forger, Talin wore a glamerweave robe alive with shifting colors, and a leather harness lined with tools and wands. For a moment she thought this image was plucked from
her
dreams, but over the last year, whenever she’d seen her parents in her visions, they’d always been young. This was Talin as he might be today.

What was going on?

Had her parents been at Keldan Ridge all along?

A warforged soldier followed Talin out of the hidden room, a lean figure with mithral plating, armed with longsword and shield. Compared to other warforged of Keldan Ridge, he was remarkably normal. In fact, he reminded Lei of Pierce. There was something familiar about him, something nagging at Lei’s mind, but at this distance, she couldn’t identify it.

“Well, this is a surprise.” Talin tucked one of his wands into his harness and walked past Lei without a second glance. He stopped in front of Daine, examining his face. “Daine of House Deneith, isn’t it? Now captain in the Cyran army? Tell me, Daine, what have you done with my daughter?”

I’m right here!
Why didn’t he recognize her? Or was there something wrong with her? Had she been corrupted in his eyes?

Whatever the thought behind it, Talin’s question was rhetorical. Lei could see that Daine was paralyzed as well. As a result, Talin must have been quite surprised when a voice rang out across the chamber.

“You’re asking the wrong question.”

Jode stepped out from behind a containment pod, as cheerful as ever. Talin brought his remaining wand to bear on the halfling, and Jode raised his hands.

“You’re looking for Lei, aren’t you?” Jode said. “If so, you’d be wiser to ask what
you’ve
done to her.”

“Explain yourself, halfling,” Talin said.

“Lei is on the field above us, fighting these soldiers of yours. By now, she may be dead. And if so, who’s to blame? Daine—or you?”

Lei knew Jode. He was buying time, trying to learn what he could while he waited for the paralyzing magic to fade. And she knew Daine. Right now, her father had his back to Daine, and as far as Daine was concerned, this was the man responsible for the death of his soldiers. If Daine broke free, he’d strike to kill. She struggled against the spell, to no avail; her muscles might as well have been made of stone.

Then she felt the others, rising within her.

First came Darkheart, the staff stirring in her hands. The bond was weak, but the spirit was there. Darkheart’s life had been a prison, and now she was bound within this splinter of wood. She wanted freedom more than anything, and she let this desire spill into Lei, adding her passion to Lei’s flagging willpower. Darkheart wasn’t alone. Now Lei felt a second presence, a voice in her mind. Pierce.

Fight, my sister
. The thought was strong and calm, conjuring memories of all the times Pierce had fought at her side and shielded her from harm.
This is your battle, and my strength is yours
.

Once again, Lei laid her will against the magic that held her paralyzed, and the spell shattered against the combined resolve of her allies.

She was nearly too late. Daine broke free just as Lei did. Another instant, and his dagger would be buried in her father’s back.

“No!”
Whether it was the magic of dreams or sheer determination, Lei forced herself to move faster than Daine. Her staff snaked out, catching him off-guard and sending him tumbling to the ground, cursing.

The room erupted into chaos. Talin raised his wand, and Lei knocked it from his grasp. The warforged burst into motion, but the spell had finally broken, and
Pierce and Daine were ready for battle. These warforged were more skilled in battle than the typical newborn, but Pierce and Daine were true veterans. Lei was confident that they could hold their own, at least for a few moments.

“Father!” she said. “What are you
doing?
I’m right here!”

Talin met her gaze, and she saw only confusion in his eyes. Then she realized.
This is Daine’s dream. Drawn from his memory. I
wasn’t
there
. Perhaps she was playing the role of Krazhal. Perhaps he couldn’t see her at all. But as far as he was concerned, his daughter was still out on the battlefield.

Then a new voice echoed across the room. “Stop, all of you! There is terrible danger!” Strangely, it seemed to come from both sides of the room at once, from the top of the stairs and from Talin’s hidden chamber. Talin’s eyes widened, and Lei realized that she’d heard two voices, almost but not quite identical—two voices speaking in perfect unison. Her voice, and that of her mother.

Lei followed her father’s surprised gaze, and for a moment she saw
herself
, running down the stairs, a blast disk in her hand—the disk left at the tunnel, which she must have disarmed. Pierce was right behind her, his armor marred by the wounds of battle. For a moment, she was too stunned to act. And in that moment, the second Lei seemed to dissolve, fading into a column of light and flowing
into
her. A rush of memories flooded her mind. Building the false siege staff, struggling to hold the position against the warforged, the terrible discovery that forced her and Pierce to chase after Daine, and her shock when she saw her father in the hall.