Keith Baker - The Shattered Land

“You knew this time would come.” A man’s voice. Familiar. This was all familiar. Calling on every ounce of strength that she possessed, she managed to turn her eyes toward the source of the sound.

It was her father. Talin d’Cannith. Suddenly it all came back to her. The vision, almost a year ago now, when she had collapsed in the tunnels beneath Sharn. She was back in that same chamber, stretched out on a stone slab. There were other slabs around her, the shapes upon them hidden in the shadows.

“After all this, all we’ve put her through, you’re just going to give up on her?” It was her mother. Aleisa. Lei couldn’t see her, but she could never forget the voice.

“It’s nature, nothing more.” Her father’s voice was calm. “We did all that we could for her, but in the end, it’s a weakness of the medium.” He bent over another slab, and when he stood he had something in his hand. A head? A warforged head? “This. This is how you defeat death.”

Her mother stepped into view and struck the head from her father’s hand. It fell to the floor with a clang, “Damn you! This is our daughter , not just another experiment.”

Talin retrieved the fallen head and returned it to the slab. “Everything is an experiment, my love. You know that as well as I do. Some are just more … complicated than others.”

“This isn’t over.”

Aleisa turned and walked over to Lei, gazing down on her. She was young, a woman Lei barely remembered from her childhood. It was a face Lei had almost forgotten, one that had been hidden by age and stress, but now, it was like looking into a mirror.

“It seems to be. You have to be prepared for the loss. I told you that at the beginning.”

“No. She has the tools. She just doesn’t know how to use them.”

Now her father was looking down on her as well. She tried to speak, to question, but her jaws were fixed as stone.

“It is a shame,” he said. “Such promise, such potential. So much time spent teaching, but all that is flesh must perish. We knew that from the start.”

“Not yet.” Aleisa laid a hand on the center of Lei’s chest. Her touch was warm, and it seemed to drive away the pain and cold. “This is your battle, Lei. You have all the weapons you need, but you need the will to fight, and I can’t give you that.”

Talin watched, and she could read nothing in his eyes. “There’s no more time.”

“I know.” Aleisa’s voice was gentle, but resigned. “It’s all up to you now, my daughter.” Fingertips drifted across Lei’s cheek. The light was fading, and her mother’s voice was little more than a whisper. “Just remember that whatever happens-whatever happened-I always loved you.”

The room faded away, leaving her in shadow, but Lei could feel something nearby: a bar of white light, even though that light was hidden by the darkness that surrounded her.

The cold began to seep back through her limbs, but now there was hope. Clinging to the sound of her mother’s voice, Lei found the strength to raise her arm, to force her hand through the shadow.

She reached out for the light.

Get up, damn you!”

The voice was distant but growing loud. There was a sound of shattering stone. Suddenly the world exploded into pain. She remembered. She’d been weaving a charge of teleportation into the darkwood staff when there was a flash, a bolt of energy. She felt her body tearing itself apart as the power teleported pieces of her at a time. She was no healer, but she could feel the ruptures within-torn lungs that wouldn’t fill with air, shattered bones, severed tendons-but even as she became aware of it, the pain was fading. Warmth spread from her left hip, rippling out across her body, bone and tissue mending in its wake.

She took a breath, and the air was ambrosia, filling her newly-formed lungs. Taking another deep breath, she opened her eyes.

Tears did not come easily to Daine. The loss was like a fire; it burned all feelings away, leaving charred earth in its wake. All he had left was fury-cold hatred of those who had done this.

From the sound, there could be more than six of them . It was Pierce’s thought, traveling through Lakashtai’s mindlink. They are spreading out-soon they may flank us .

Most will not have such power , Lakashtai thought, but they are armed, and they have strength of numbers. How much longer until we can depart?

Lei … Daine couldn’t bring himself to shape the thoughts, but there was no time for pity. This was war.

Lei sat up.

Her skin was even paler than usual, and it shone with cold sweat. A thin stream of blood trickled from her mouth, and for a moment her eyes were dazed and unfocused. Then she caught sight of Daine, and for an instant her smile was all he saw, but there was no time for joy, even as there had been no time for pain. He barely realized what he was doing as he dove forward and pulled her to the floor an instant before a black bolt of energy filled the air where she had been.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” he hissed, and now it was even harder to hold back the tears. “Can you do it?”

“Yes.” Her breathing was ragged, her voice weak. “But the others … we need to be touching.”

Fall back! Now! We’re leaving!

Lakashtai was on the other side of a chunk of masonry, and she vaulted across it, a smooth, graceful motion that brought her down directly next to Lei. Pierce backed away from his post by the shelves. As Pierce retreated, a Riedran leapt out from the near corridor, a curved steel blade in each hand. Pierce paused just long enough to loose a single arrow, striking his foe directly in the right eye. The soldier moaned, falling to his knees and clawing at the shaft. Others were emerging from the shadows, but Pierce was already sprinting toward his companions.

“Staff …” Lei whispered.

Daine saw the darkwood staff lying amid the objects she’d scattered across the floor and snatched it up. It seemed unnaturally cold, but there was no time to worry about this, and he pressed it into Lei’s hand. She clung to his arm with her free hand, her lips twisted in a pained smile. Lakashtai and Pierce were there in a second, each reaching out to lay a hand on her shoulders.

Riedran soldiers were pouring out from behind the shelves in a flood of black silk and steel. Daine met the gaze of a black-robed woman, her arm outstretched and energy flaring around her fingertips, but even as he saw the blast flying toward him, the surroundings melted away.

After the dim light of cold fire and Lakashtai’s glowing eyes, the brilliant sunlight was as stunning as the pain from Daine’s injury. They had emerged on a side street, black mud paved with chunks of stone pried from an old, rust-colored ruin. A vendor dropped the purple fruits he was holding, staggering back against the thorny weeds covering the nearby wall, and a trio of colorful birds was startled into flight. The other people on the street didn’t even spare a glance; apparently Stormreach truly was a place where the fantastic happened every day.

We must move quickly , Lakashtai thought. Clearly we have concerns beyond Hassalac, and they may have others who can teleport. To the harbor .

“Are you injured?” Pierce said, looking to Lei. “I can carry you if you require assistance.”

“No, I’m … I’m fine.”

Miraculously, it seemed to be true. She began to lope after Lakashtai, and despite her initial unsteadiness, now she appeared to be in better condition than Daine himself. He staggered along, doing his best to ignore the pain that came with every step. Maybe Pierce could carry me.