Keith Baker - The City of Towers

She could hear the uncertainty in Daine’s voice, but clearly Chyrassk’s desires were worming their way to the foreground. He was shifting his weight, preparing to charge, and this time he would probably kill her.

Lei didn’t think her injured leg would take the strain of another jump, but Daine was still off-balance himself. If she timed it right, she might be able to trip him as he approached. He would certainly fall into the toxic fluid below, but she would live and she’d still have the staff to protect her.

But she couldn’t do it. She’d already sacrificed Pierce. She couldn’t hurt Daine, no matter the cost. She closed her eyes and waited for the blow to fall.

Even as Daine began his charge, there was a blur of motion at the entrance of the chamber-a massive steel shadow emerging into the light. Pierce raised his bow, drew the string back, and loosed. There was the whisper of an arrow in flight, and Chyrassk cried out-a weird ululating wail.

Daine froze, confused, as the mindflayer’s mental focus faltered. Had he really been about to attack Lei?

Pierce continued loosing, smooth and deadly. Arrow after arrow slammed into Chyrassk, and Daine could feel its fury. It lashed out with its thoughts, trying to crush Pierce’s mind once and for all, but the warforged fought with stoic determination. The next arrow pierced one of Chyrassk’s gold-flecked eyes. There was a terrible cry, a burst of pure pain that threatened to split Daine’s head-and then Chyrassk tumbled from the catwalk, disappearing into the vat of bubbling vitriol that lay far below. Lei and Daine peered down, looking for any sign of movement. But aside from a brief trail of blood, which quickly faded, there was nothing. Chyrassk was gone.

Daine knelt beside Lei and held her tightly. Her leg was still bleeding and she winced in pain, but she smiled. “Pierce …” she whispered.

“Pierce!” Daine called. “Are you all right?”

“I am functional, though damaged,” Pierce replied as he approached them. “I remember little after I first engaged that creature.”

“You arrived just in time, and that’s all that matters.”

“No,” said Pierce. “There is more. I believe … while I was incapacitated, I believe I had a dream.”

“Dream?” Lei said, weakly. She had pushed herself to the edge of her limits, and she was fading fast. Daine noticed that the darkwood staff was no longer singing, and that the face was again frozen in wood.

Going somewhere?”

Lei’s ribs were a single, massive ache. Every ounce of energy was gone. Even opening her eyes seemed not worth the effort. She was stretched out on a cold stone slab, but she was so exhausted that the discomfort seemed minimal.

But there was something … something important. The voice. She knew that voice.

She forced her eyes open. Her father was standing next to her, leaning over her and glancing at a sheet of parchment, as if he was comparing what he saw to notes on a schematic.

“Back now? Good.”

He made a note on the parchment. His expression and his tone were completely neutral-so much like the last time she’d seen him. But something was different. His hair. The color was richer and deeper than she’d ever seen it, the copper catching the light to burn with an inner fire. And his skin … it was free of lines.

She tried to speak, but she didn’t even have the energy to open her mouth. Her father seemed to notice her discomfort.

“Don’t struggle. There’s still work to be done.”

A young woman stepped into her field of view. “How is she?”

“She’ll be fine, Aleisa. I don’t think any permanent damage was done.”

Aleisa? Her mother? But this woman looked younger than Lei herself.

“And the others?” The pair turned away from her. She could see that there were a few other slabs in the chamber. A warforged soldier, each distinctly different from the others, was stretched out on top of each slab. Her parents were studying the figure on the next slab over, less than three feet away. No matter how hard she struggled, Lei couldn’t move, but from where she was she could still see. It was Pierce.

“The work continues apace,” her father said. “It was a traumatic experience for both of them, but the safeguards served their purpose. If anything, it may have helped to prepare this one for the task that lies ahead.”

“Good,” the woman said. She turned around and studied Lei, running her hand along her daughter’s cheek. “Don’t worry,” she said gently. “You’re doing fine. You’re doing everything you’re supposed to do.”

“I’m afraid a few adjustments will need to be made,” her father said. He had produced a few exotic tools-a long, narrow blade studded with dragonshards, and a pair of delicate silver tongs. “I imagine it will be painful for her.”

The woman stroked Lei’s cheek again, staring into her eyes, then she rose and turned her back on her daughter. “Do what you must,” she said, her voice cool. “I need to check on the others.”

Aleisa walked out of Lei’s field of view. Her father moved in. Raising the tongs and the razor-sharp blade, he brought the point up until it was level with her right eye.

And then he pushed.

Lei sat up. Daine had been half-dozing, but the sudden motion jarred him to consciousness.

“Lei! Lei, are you all right?” He reached out and took her hand.

Lei looked from side to side. Daine was sitting next to her, and Pierce was to her left. The sight of Pierce brought an involuntary whimper from her throat. His impassive metal face brought back the image of her dream and the blinding pain in her eye.

“Can you speak, my lady?” Pierce said, his voice deep and calm.

“I can.” Her ribs still ached with a dull, throbbing pain, but her energy was returning. She raised an arm, touching her forehead and her cheeks. “Where are we?”

It looked like a room in a small and comfortable inn-a considerable step up from the Manticore. There was a pillow beneath her head, and while the pallet beneath her was hardly remarkable, it was the softest thing she’d slept on in at least three years.

“It’s a Jorasco house,” Daine said. The Jorasco halflings were masters of the healing arts, and every large city had at least one Jorasco enclave. “We couldn’t rouse you, and we still had some money left over from Alina’s last advance.”

While her ribs still ached, after she’d had a moment to collect her senses, Lei realized that her legs felt fine. She pulled back the blankets. There wasn’t even a mark where Daine had stabbed her.”

“I … wanted that dealt with quickly,” Daine said, somewhat sheepishly. “I didn’t want you to have to limp around town because of me.”

The thought of Jorasco’s healing touch brought back other memories. “Jode?”

“He’s gone, Lei. It wasn’t a dream. He’s not coming back.”

Lei nodded. Her head was quickly clearing, but she felt empty inside. What had been a dream? She looked over at Pierce and started to reach out to touch him, but at the last moment she drew her hand back. “Are you all right?”

“I have fully recovered,” Pierce said. “I am grateful for your actions. Whatever the risk, I would not wish to be responsible for the death of a friend.”

I thought I was going to kill you, she thought, but she did not say it aloud.

“I do feel … different, however,” Pierce continued. “I cannot explain it, exactly. My senses seem sharper, my movements more precise. May I ask what you did when you stopped me?”

“I don’t really know, Pierce. I just reached within you, hoping to find some way to slow you down. I’m still not sure what the mindflayer was doing before I escaped. I was exposed to a number of different alchemical substances, and my memories are somewhat unclear.”