“Then let us kill them before they aid the Keeper of the Gate,” said the chainmaster.

  “That’s really not necessary,” Daine replied. “We’ve met, and we’re not on good terms. All we want to do is find our friends.”

  Shen’kar spun back to face Daine, and it took a moment for Daine to understand the reason for his look of surprise. They were speaking Elvish! Daine had grown used to hearing the language—he’d forgotten that they didn’t expect him to understand it.

  “How is it that you speak the language of the land?” Shen’kar had adjusted his grip on his boomerang, and his eyes were narrowed.

  “I gave him the gift,” Lakashtai stepped forward. Her Elvish was steady and flawless, though the accent was slightly different than that of the drow. “He cannot speak your tongue, but he can understand your words.”

  “Right. See? Speaking the Common?” Daine pointed out.

  “He speaks the truth, however, whatever tongue he uses,” Lakashtai continued. “We mean you no harm, and we have no intention of aiding your enemy. We were betrayed by our companion, whose true loyalties were unknown to us. We know nothing of your culture or these others who you fight. We simply seek to find our companions and to locate a ruin known as the Monolith of Karul’tash.”

  The elves were listening attentively and seemed calm enough—until the last word. The moment Lakashtai named their destination, the chain-wielder set his weapon whirling.

  “Kulikoor!” Shen’kar snapped—apparently the man’s name. “Hold your strike.”

  “Let me guess,” Daine said. “Without meaning to, we’ve just made plans to desecrate your holiest temple.”

  Shen’kar looked at him, and Daine could feel his disdain. “Not ours,” he replied. “You know nothing of this land, is that not so?”

  “I think ‘nothing’ is a little strong, but …”

  Lakashtai raised her hand. “Warrior. If we have given offense through our actions, I assure you it was unintentional. We are no friends of these firebinders, and we hold them as our enemies. It seems we lack knowledge. Perhaps you can help us overcome this flaw.”

  “All things have their price,” Shen’kar said. “What is it you offer in exchange for this wisdom?”

  Lakashtai studied him carefully; Daine wondered if she was probing Shen’kar’s thoughts or simply reading his expression. “Gold and jewels are the currency of cities,” she replied, after a moment. “We are not merchants or explorers. We are soldiers, and we are fighting a war. Now we have learned that your foe is ours as well. With your knowledge, we can fight them. Otherwise, we may be tricked into doing their bidding.” She paused. “We ask for vengeance. We offer the blood of your enemies and our strength at your side.”

  Weak as she was, Lakashtai had lost none of her charisma. The drow glanced at one another, and even the chainmaster clicked his tongue in affirmation. Shen’kar turned back to Daine and Lakashtai, and began his tale.

  “In the first days, the mighty ones enslaved the people of the land—”

  “‘Mighty ones?’ “Daine asked.

  “Giants,” whispered Lakashtai. “Don’t interrupt.”

  Shen’kar glared at Daine then returned to the story. “In the first days, the mighty ones enslaved the people of the land. The overlords were great and powerful. Their size and strength alone would have made them masters of the earth, and they possessed deadly magicks as well. The mighty ones ruled for age upon age, until the time of terror, when madness struck the minds of the mighty and tore through the veil of the world itself.”

  Daine shot an inquiring glance at Lakashtai, and a second later her thoughts touched his. I believe he’s talking about the invasion from Dal Quor. Even I know little of what the giants faced, but the battle would have taken place in both dreams and reality.

  “… host of horrors,” Shen’kar was saying, “but the mighty ones were wise as well as strong. They plucked a moon from the sky and used its power to force their foes into the darkness of the mind, where they were soon forgotten.”

  The giants defeated the quori by severing the ties between Eberron and Dal Quor, Lakashtai explained. Ever since then, it has been virtually impossible for anything to physically travel between the two planes.

  And the moon? Daine thought.

  Legends say there was a thirteenth moon that disappeared long ago. He seems to be blaming it on these giants. Now hush.

  “… battle had left marks on the land and weakened the once-mighty overlords,” Shen’kar continued. “Their slaves saw this weakness and rose up against their cruel masters. Small and cunning were these people, and the great size of the overlords often proved a hindrance. The wise among them took a troop of loyal slaves and imbued them with the essence of night—with the power to shape darkness and see through its depths, the strength to resist magic and the courage to face it. These dark soldiers and their children swore an oath to the overlords, promising to die in their service, and to bring death to all who stood against the masters.”

  “Which brings us to the Oathbreakers?” Daine said

  Shen’kar clicked his tongue. “The masters used many tricks to bind my ancestors to their service—magic, promises of immortality, threats—but the bravest children of night saw through these lies and turned against them. The pale slaves did not trust them, so they fought alone, battling the mighty and those slaves who remained in their service. So it continued until the destruction of the land, the Wrathful Night that brought the masters low. Today we are the masters of the land. The mighty ones have been forced into savagery, and now they are our prey. The pale slaves fled in fear, but we are strong and wise. The spirits of the jungle guide us. The scorpion teaches us to hunt, to hide, to care for our young. They teach us to protect the land from those who would bring back the horrors of the past: the mighty ones, the outlanders, and the misguided children of night … the firebinders and their kin.”

  “Right. The firebinders. This whole discussion was so fascinating, I almost forgot it had a point.” Daine sighed. “At the risk of another lecture, what are the firebinders trying to do?”

  “My ancestors turned away from the brutal masters, but the firebinders served them faithfully. The Wrathful Night stripped the masters of their knowledge, but the slaves escaped the disaster. We turned to the voices of the wild, but others of their kind sought the knowledge of the mighty ones—the terrible secrets that have made them masters of flame.”

  “You’re saying they work for giants?”

  “No,” Lakashtai interjected, before Shen’kar could speak. “The giants are savages now, but they have reclaimed knowledge that the giants once had.” She glanced over at Shen’kar. “And this ‘gate’ of theirs? A path to greater knowledge?”

  Shen’kar clicked his tongue. “The hidden vaults of the mighty are all around. We seek to reclaim the tools of our ancestors, but the secrets of the masters tore a moon from the sky and shattered this world. They should remain buried.” He gestured at his two companions. “We are scorpion wraiths, the champions of our tribe. We do not have the strength to face the firebinders in their burning city, but we slaughter them when they venture into the darkness beyond. When the season of fire is upon the land, we come in force, to ensure that they do not open their gate of flame.”

  Season of Fire?

  It must be a planar conjunction, Lakashtai thought. The outer planes are shadows of the world, orbiting like the moons, and when they come into alignment … well, strange things are possible. I think that Fernia is aligned with Eberron right now—that must be what they’re talking about. It should enhance all forms of fire magic.

  Well, we certainly haven’t seen any of that.

  “This gate of fire …” Lakashtai said. “This is the monolith of Karul’tash?”

  “Karul’tash is its name in the language of the masters. It is surrounded by the invisible walls of which you speak, and none can approach it and live. Terrible powers lurk within, and the firebinders say there is a gate that will lead them to paradise.”

  “So?” Daine said. “Why not let them go?”

  “The legends say that those who pass through the gate will gain powers beyond those held by the ancient overlords and will return with an army of flame that will burn the world in their wake.”

  “Oh.”

  “So every cycle we come, to kill those who try to enter Karul’tash, slave and outlander alike.”

  “Why not destroy it?” Lakashtai said.

  “Such a thing would be impossible.”

  Lakashtai shook her head. “Not at all. If there are gateways or magic—anything can be destroyed.” She looked at Daine. “We must get inside the monolith. My companion will be consumed by madness if we do not, and the forces first fought by the mighty will return.”

  The drow glanced at Daine, shifting their grip on their weapons.

  “Join us,” Lakashtai said. “Together we will find a way to destroy the forces hidden within Karul’tash and end your long vigil.”

  Her voice was filled with passion and conviction, and Daine could feel the whisper at the back of his mind urging him to agree. Does she even know she’s doing that? He wondered.

  Moments passed as the drow considered in silence. At last, Shen’kar clicked his tongue. “We may fight together, but to destroy Karul’tash, you must first enter it, and the firebinders have waited more than six thousand cycles for the coming of the opener.”

  “We didn’t have much luck during our time in the maze,” Daine pointed out.

  Lakashtai frowned. “Yes. I did not know about these defenses, but there must be a way …”

  Her reflections were interrupted by motion in the trees. A shadow slipped out of the forest—another drow, long knives in her hands. It was the woman Daine had fought the night before. She stopped short when she saw Daine and Lakashtai and dropped into a fighting crouch.

  “Xa’sasar,” Shen’kar sang. “There is blood between you and this outlander, and you may settle it in time. For this moment he is our ally and not to be harmed. What is it you have seen?”

  The woman watched Daine. It was difficult to read the expression in her pale eyes, but her body language was deadly. “The firebinders move in force. There are outlanders with them: a man of metal and a woman in green, grievously wounded. They are to join with the first priest at the burning gate.”

  “Lei!” Daine exclaimed.

  Shen’kar ran a finger along the back of his scorpion, considering the news. “The first priest would not leave the walls of the city unless …” He turned to the other drow. “They believe they have found the two outlanders who can open the gate. We must go quickly. We are outnumbered but can still kill the outlanders.”

  “No!” Daine said. He rushed at Holuar, but the other drow were between them in the blink of an eye, weapons out.

  “This cannot be risked,” Shen’kar said.

  “You forget.” Lakashtai’s silky voice seemed to wrap around them, even more beautiful when speaking the Elven tongue. “If they can open the gate, we can destroy it.”

  “There are too many!” Xa’sasar cried, but Shen’kar was considering the matter.

  “Are you afraid to try?” The dark elves stiffened, and Daine could see that Lakashtai’s words had struck home. “You are the champions of the night,” she continued, “and we have crossed the ocean to see this done. This is destiny. Embrace it, and together we will strike a devastating blow against your ancient enemy.”

  Again the drow paused, whispering among themselves, but at last, Shen’kar clicked his tongue in agreement.

  “Very well. Let us move swiftly.” He looked at Daine. “We have faced one another in battle. Now we shall stand together. It is fitting that this be returned.” Reaching down, he unbuckled a belt and handed it to Daine. A sheathed longsword hung from the belt, its pommel emblazoned with the Watchful Eye of Deneith.

  “I suppose it is,” Daine said, taking the sword and belt. “Lead the way.”

  Daine had barely buckled the belt when the hunt began, with Xa’sasar taking point. The elves were swift and graceful, and it was all Daine could do to keep up.

  Just tell me we get to kill them when all this is done, he thought to Lakashtai.

  Hush, she thought, but even across the distance he could feel her smile.

  Firesled. A modification of the design pioneered by the elemental savants of the Sul’at League. The bound elemental provides motive power for the vehicle, and its essence can be channeled through the central staff as an offensive weapon, either in a focused blast or explosive burst. The sled is fire-resistant and spiritually reinforced to resist abjuration effects that could interfere with the binding enchantments. The top speed …

  It wasn’t a conversation. Pierce didn’t hear a voice telling him these things. He just knew the information, as if he had studied the subject long ago and forgotten it. At the same time, he felt a strange sensation in his mind—a slight sense of confusion, as if there was something he was trying to remember but simply couldn’t recall. He tried to dismiss it, to focus on the battle, but he couldn’t; it was as if another creature were trying to think with his mind.

  THOOM!

  Pierce threw himself to the side as the firesled approached, and he rolled with the explosion, avoiding any significant injuries. Rising to his feet, he loosed an arrow at the pilot of the craft, but between the vessel’s speed and the cover it provided to its controller, the elf was a difficult target. The flying sled passed overhead and out of sight. Pierce could hear soldiers approaching through the jungle, and a flock of brightly colored birds took to the sky, complaining in a myriad of sharp notes. An instant later the elves flowed out from the trees—a dozen warriors wearing bronze armor, wielding swords and short spears.

  Elves: a servant race. The information was there, rising to the fore without him even asking. Swift but frail. The Gyrderi employ a corps of elf war-wizards, and the species has displayed an aptitude for magic. Be prepared for arcane attack. As an afterthought: Elves do not sleep, though they require a period of trance and mental exercise to restore balance: they do not open a spiritual link to Dal Quor during this time. The unusual pigmentation of these elves could be the result of long-term exposure to magical forces.

  Pierce didn’t have time to analyze the thoughts. His last arrow had found the throat of an enemy soldier, and now his flail was in his hands. He swung low, lashing the chain around an opponent’s knees and jerking him off of his feet; as the dark elf tried to rise, the metal ball of the flail caught him in the face, and he fell for good.

  As skilled as he was, Pierce was terribly outnumbered. He tried to keep Lei in his peripheral vision, but the elves were moving around him. Even as he parried two swordsmen with a sweeping stroke of the flail, a spear-tip slipped through his guard and dug into the leathery roots under his right arm. Then he heard a voice—he didn’t know the language, but even as he heard the words he knew it meant “Stand aside!”

  The elves scattered. Pierce tried to locate the speaker, but the words seemed to have come from empty air, or was there something there? A vague shimmer? A …

  The flare of light was overwhelming. Dazzling, vivid colors filled his field of vision, and for an instant he was paralyzed by the brilliant radiance. The dark elves had known what to expect, and before he could recover they were upon him. The shaft of a spear knocked him to the ground, and as his vision cleared he saw a half-dozen weapons leveled down at him. Two of the spearheads were shrouded in flame. The firesled swept over him, and there was another explosion to the east.

  Even as Pierce considered his options, a thought occurred to him. Your companion Lei has been seriously injured. She is alive, but further strenuous activity could prove fatal.

  He knew it was true. He could sense Lei’s presence even though he could not see her, and he knew she’d been caught in the last blast of the firesled. The odds were impossible, and he couldn’t put Lei at further risk. Reluctantly, he released his grip on his flail and spread his hands.

  Pierce offered no resistance as the drow took his weapons and bound his hands. His attention was focused inwards. Your companion. It had seemed like his thought, but it wasn’t. Even now, he could sense that Lei’s condition had stabilized.

  Identify yourself, he thought.

  Why do we need names?

  The thought seemed natural, as if it had just occurred to him, a logical response to his question, but Pierce had been waiting for it, and he examined the thought the instant it came to him. He could feel a hint of the outside presence … like a voice he couldn’t quite remember, the faintest possible scent. Something vast, old, and ever so slightly … feminine.

  We are separate. You are sentient. Surely you have an identity of your own.

  Perhaps I am just a part of you … a part you’ve forgotten.

  The dark elves had surrounded Pierce and brought him together with Lei. Her skin was covered with burns and ash, and there were charred holes in her cloak, but she still smiled at him. He offered her his hand, and the drow did not stop her from leaning on him.

  A name. Make one up if you must, but tell me who and what you are or I’ll rip you out of my chest.

  Perhaps. For now, you may think of me as Shira. What am I? I am your destiny. I was made for you.

  I am less than thirty years old, Pierce thought. You have been in a vault for over thirty thousand years. You were not made for me.

  Then perhaps you were made for me. Is there so much of a difference?

  Pierce reached up to touch the orb, where the lone dragonshard protruded from his torso. He considered the mental command that would deactivate his essence node, forcing the sphere from his body.

  I wouldn’t. You need me.

  Why is that?

  Because I can lead you to Karul’tash and so much more besides. For example, you should really listen to what these elves are talking about, and you don’t understand the Elvish language, do you?

  If he could have, Pierce would have frowned. Instead, he simply turned his attention to the elves. The soldiers who had captured him were led by a woman with a flaming, double-bladed sword whose armor seemed to glow with inner heat.

 

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