Keith Baker - The Shattered Land

“INDIGO, STAND READY!” Harmattan’s voice thundered through the chamber, louder than Pierce would have thought possible. “PIERCE, HYDRA, FIND THAT ORB!!!”

Pierce had seen the sphere fall, and he traced the path through the darkness. Behind him, he could hear the blade of the glass warrior smashing into the floor. Harmattan might be indestructible, but he was at his deadliest when fighting creatures of flesh; he was slowly chipping away the surface of the statue, but it would take time to bring it down.

“NOW!”

Turning, Pierce saw that Harmattan had drawn back from the giant and was reforming his humanoid shape. Indigo spun forward, her adamantine blades glittering in the darkness. Pierce had seen Daine cut through stone and steel with his adamantine dagger, and Indigo’s swords were just as strong. She moved with inhuman speed and precision, dodging a blow that would have split her in two and rolling between the statue’s legs. Coming up behind it, she slashed at its ankles, and her blades carved deep gouges in the stone.

The animated statue was faster than Pierce would have thought possible. Even as Indigo regained her balance from the blow, the giant caught her with a swift kick. The blow swept her off her feet and threw her back into the darkness.

For a moment, Pierce was torn. It was Harmattan who had threatened Lei. Pierce no longer knew what he believed about his destiny, his family, or his people, but he couldn’t stand by and watch Indigo die. He charged, drawing his flail and setting the chain in motion. Daine would have called out, issuing a triumphant battlecry. For Pierce, purpose was enough. The sentry had turned away from him to finish Indigo, and Pierce swung the flail as hard as he could, striking the damaged ankle with a resounding crash. Glass shards flew through the air. Despite his strength, Pierce’s weapon was mere steel, and it didn’t have the bite of Indigo’s strange blades, but he had drawn its attention. It turned toward him, the obsidian blade spinning down …

And Harmattan dove between them.

His razor cloak was spread wide, and it absorbed the full force of the blow without breaking. It was a wall of steel, and it came between Pierce and death.

Careful, little brother , Harmattan said. Your role in this game is far from over .

Pierce simply stepped to the side. Indigo had returned, and her blades were almost invisible as she slashed at the giant again and again.

“Brother!” she called. “Strike from the opposite side!”

He did, timing his blow to match hers. His flail could not match her blades, but his strength made the difference, and the obsidian leg shattered beneath the combined assault. For a moment the giant turned, trying to maintain its balance and spot the tiny creatures below, then it toppled. The terrible injury must have broken the animating magic, for it stiffened as it fell, and when it struck the ground it shattered into hundreds of pieces.

“Satisfactory,” Indigo said, looking at Pierce. “You are a dangerous opponent, brother, but do you truly think you can match me?”

“Perhaps we shall put my projections to the test,” Pierce said. He felt a strange … pleasure as he spoke the words. He had fought in more battles than he could remember. He had even served with warforged before, but with Indigo-somehow, their movements complimented each other perfectly. It wasn’t battle-it was music.

Enough , said Harmattan. The sphere! Where is it?

“I have not yet found it,” Hydra said, speaking from three corners of the hall. “If you could produce more light …”

Illumination filled the chamber-a cold glow emanating from Harmattan himself. Be quick .

Pierce returned to the region he had been searching before, over by the entrance to the hall. He contemplated the broken hallway beyond, touching the spirit that held the ceiling in place.

“You fought well.” Indigo had followed him. “But it was foolish of you to join the fray with such an ineffective weapon.”

“I couldn’t let you fight alone.”

“Why is that?”

Before Pierce could speak, Hydra called out, his three voices hissing across the darkness. “No! What is she doing?”

For a moment, Pierce stared at Indigo. She was beautiful, in a way no human could ever be. A weapon, swift and deadly. Just as he was.

“Stay down,” he said, and knocked her off of her feet with a savage blow from the butt of his flail. He was already turning as she fell, racing down the tunnel as fast as he could. Maintain, he thought.

PIERCE! It took only seconds for Harmattan to respond. Pierce could hear metal tearing against glass as his brother followed him, but he didn’t stop to look until he reached the chamber on the other side, with the spiral staircase rising upwards.

In his whirlwind form Harmattan was far faster than any man. He was already halfway across the hall when Pierce turned. Pierce could see the gleaming eyes within the storm of razors, beacons of fury. PIERCE! He howled again, a loud and deadly wind.

Release.

And the shattered ceiling came tumbling down.

It was over in an instant. Where there had once been a passage, there was simply a wall of rubble. Pierce thought of Indigo and wondered if she’d been caught in the tunnel or if she’d remained in the far chamber-and which would have been the greater mercy. He remembered the beauty of the motion as she struck the giant’s ankle with both blades.

Protect my daughter .

He took only a moment to make certain that silver orb was safe in his belt pouch, where he’d put it before turning to fight the giant. Then he slowly made his way up the long spiral staircase leading to the surface.

Pieces of Hydra were scattered across the clearing. It was a familiar sight, and Pierce knew what had happened even before he saw Lei. She was unbound and ungagged. She held the darkwood staff in her bandaged right hand. The left was pointed at him, and the air around it rippled with magical energy. Her face was a mask of fury.

“ You,” she said. “We fought before, Pierce. This time you won’t be coming back.”

A drow warrior was watching Daine from the catwalk, crossbow at the ready. More than anything else, she seemed bored-supremely uninterested in the spectacle below.

I guess they don’t think much of my chances .

“Can Tashana guide us through this?” Daine said.

“What?”

Daine had never seen Lakashtai look confused until now. Perhaps it was the loss of her hood and cloak, which had always seemed to serve her as spiritual armor. Without it, she was a woman in a torn tunic, her pale skin glistening with sweat from the fire. Fear and uncertainty just seemed to add to her beauty; in that moment, she seemed more human than ever before. Looking at her, Daine felt that he was seeing her for the first time, and for a moment he was at a loss for words, but the searing heat from the wall of flame was a painful reminder that time was running out. He tore his gaze away and forced himself to pull his thoughts together.

“You heard Gerrion. This whole prophecy hinges on this voice in my head-the one you’ve been ‘holding at bay’. That’s what’s supposed to get us through this thing alive.” He glanced out across the apparently empty hall. “Or maybe it’s some sort of twisted game, and there’s no maze out there at all.”

Lakashtai shook her head. “That’s ridiculous. Tashana can only touch you when you’re dreaming, and even if you gave her possession of your body, she doesn’t have the power to guide you through this labyrinth.”

The wall of flame was drawing close, and Daine’s skin was slick with sweat. Reaching into his pouch, he drew out a copper coin. “I don’t know,” he said. “I can’t say as I’m keen to give that witch more of a hold in my mind, but the elves seem pretty sure about it-and I don’t see how things can get any worse.”