Gerrion had other ideas.
He had been gesturing repeatedly as he pleaded his case, and now he made one final gesture while snapping out a word Daine didn’t recognize. The painted flames on his leather gauntlet burst into brilliant life. Before Kulikoor’s chain even reached him, this mystical fire spread across his body. The radiance was blinding. In a split second, it had consumed him completely. Nothing was left, save for a charred outline on the path beneath his feet.
Daine charged forward, studying the pattern of ash on the ground. The image of the blazing figure was stilled burned into his vision. “Did he kill himself?” he said, taking a few idle swings at the air.
“No,” Pierce said. He seemed slightly distant, and Daine wondered what the warforged had been through over the last day. “Despite the fiery manifestation, this was a short-range teleportation effect bound to his glove. He is most likely within one mile of this location, and I suspect that the gauntlet is now drained of power.”
Daine glanced at Lei. She seemed as surprised as he was by Pierce’s sudden mastery of the arcane, but she shrugged. “I … I think that’s right.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe he managed to activate it without us noticing. I was looking right at him!”
“His mind is slippery,” Lakashtai said. “Even I did not sense the deception, and your thoughts were elsewhere.”
Daine wasn’t listening. His eyes met Lei’s, and the smell of blood, the sounds of the jungle, the memory of Gerrion, all of it faded away. In that moment, Lei was his world, and a moment later she was in his arms.
CHAPTER 48
How charming.
The words jerked Daine out of his reverie. Traveling with Lakashtai, he’d become used to the thoughts of others in his mind, but this was not the voice of Lakashtai, Lei, or even Pierce.
It was Tashana.
Daine stiffened, and Lei looked up in surprise.
How adorable Lei is. I’ve already killed one of her lovers. Perhaps, when you’re mine, I’ll make you kill her yourself.
“GET OUT OF MY MIND!” Daine roared, pushing Lei away.
“Daine, what’s going on?” she said, her eyes full of fear.
Lakashtai was beside him, and she set her hand against Daine’s forehead, closing her eyes. Her skin was smooth and cool to the touch.
“Be strong,” she whispered. “Feel my presence. Embrace me, and we shall drive her from your mind.”
Daine felt Lei stiffen slightly, but this was no time for jealousy. He put his arms around Lakashtai, and he could feel her presence, an ember of light in his mind. He pulled her close, and that coal burst into brilliant life. Joy and hope flooded his thoughts, and in the background he heard Tashana howling, fading with each passing second.
A moment later she was gone. Daine opened his eyes, reeling from the experience. Lakashtai was still in his arms; he disentangled himself and gently pushed her away, trying to ignore Lei’s glare.
“We must get to Karul’tash quickly,” Lakashtai said. “If Tashana can touch your waking mind … there is no time to waste. Gerrion knows we need to enter the monolith, so we must assume the firebinders know it as well; we must get there before they do.”
“I think you’re forgetting something,” Daine said.
“Yes?”
“Invisible, shifting labyrinth of death? Gaining entrance to the monolith even if we get through?”
“I can open the gates of Karul’tash, captain,” Pierce said calmly, “and I know the path that leads to the monolith, but we must move quickly. The monolith of Karul’tash is not far from the obsidian city of Gundrak’ul, and our enemy may already be on the march. Let us bind our wounds and heal the injured, and be on our way.”
Daine glanced at Lei, who shrugged as she produced her little wand of healing. “Is there something I should know about?” he asked.
“It’s a long story,” Lei said, passing the livewood rod over one of her burns. “We’ll tell you on the way.”
The path Pierce chose was overgrown, but they soon found traces of an old road buried beneath the vines and dirt. The warforged took the lead, along with the drow warrior Xu’sasar; together, these two carved a path through the underbrush, pressing forward with remarkable speed. Behind them, Daine and Lakashtai listened as Lei told them of Harmattan, the vault, and the curious sphere.
“I have no idea what it’s capable of,” she said, leaping over a chunk of rock, “but I assume it’s where he’s getting this sudden insight into local history. ‘Gundrak’ul’ is a phrase from one of the old languages of the giants, but even I don’t know what it means.”
Daine frowned. “You don’t think it’s …”
“Devoured his mind? Consumed his spirit?” Lei shrugged, watching Pierce up ahead. “He still seems like Pierce to me, and when I touched it … I don’t know. It was distant, hard to read, but I wouldn’t say it was evil.”
“Curious,” Lakashtai said. “If only there was more time, I should like to study it.”
Daine watched Pierce. If anything, the warforged seemed more content than he’d been on the frozen shore. He seemed … serene. Just watch, he thought. Make sure he’s safe.
An hour later the travelers reached the edge of the forest. A barren waste lay before them, and across a thousand feet of scorched earth, a spire of crimson stone rose up to touch the sky.
“Karul’tash,” Shen’kar sang. “Cursed and deadly, avoided by the wise.”
Daine studied the structure. It was roughly conical, with a wide base surrounding a single tower. It seemed to have been carved from a single piece of stone, but that was impossible; not even giants could quarry such a block. This was the work of magic.
“Think of it,” Lakashtai said. “This spire has seen the passage of tens of thousands of years. When its gates were last opened, this was a kingdom of giants. Your ancestors were likely still struggling to make fire.”
“Don’t you mean our ancestors?” Lei said, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes … of course,” Lakashtai said, still watching the tower. “Sometimes it is easy to forget my bond to humanity.”
Daine looked at Shen’kar. “So what’s waiting out there?”
“Death,” the drow said. He pointed. “The gate is there, burning at the base. Invisible fire fills the plain, and none can cross it and live.”
“I can,” Pierce said. “The orb will guide me.”
“We haven’t had much luck with guides recently,” Daine said. “Are sure you can trust this one?”
“No.”
Daine sighed. “Right. One way to find out, I guess. Lead the way.”
“I cannot,” Pierce replied. “The walls are in constant motion. Anyone following me could be caught in the flux.”
“You’re not going alone.”
Pierce considered this, then turned to Lei. “My lady,” he said, “It is possible that your talents will prove useful in opening the gate. If you are willing, I could carry you through the field.”
Lei looked at Pierce and glanced down at her bandaged hand. She’d wiped away her burns and scrapes with the healing wand, but the magic of the rod wasn’t powerful enough to restore her severed finger. For a moment she said nothing. Finally she nodded.
Daine opened his mouth, then bit back the complaint. “Fine,” he said. “Just … be careful. I just got you both back. I don’t want to lose you again.”
Pierce held out his bow. “I will need my hands. Will you hold this for me, captain?”
For a moment Daine hesitated, then he took the bow. Pierce gently picked up Lei, and Daine remembered the night they’d arrived in Sharn. “Good luck,” he said at last.
Pierce set out across the field.