The Gates of Night (The Dreaming Dark) by Keith Baker

Author:Keith Baker [Baker, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780786956630
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2010-04-12T00:00:00+00:00

Don’t even think about eating that,” Lei said.

Daine paused, a chunk of bread halfway to his mouth. “What?”

“By the Sovereigns, you’re lucky your voice was all that you lost. Don’t eat the food. Did you have a mother?”

“She was a swordsmith,” Daine said. “My bedtime stories taught me the dangers of battle, not traveling through other planes.”

“Just trust me. Leave it alone. I’ll make you a bowl of gruel when we find a place to stop.”

“Oh, gruel,” Daine said, regretfully tossing the bread into the bushes. “Now there’s an appealing offer. Aren’t you hungry?”

“I’ve got other things on my mind right now. You,” she said to Xu’sasar. “That weapon of yours. What is it?” Her voice was hard, her anger still searching for an outlet.

“It is nothing of your world,” Xu’sasar replied. “I said before, our people tell different tales.”

“Then tell me a story,” Lei said. “Because we’re not going anywhere until I choose our path.”

Pierce looked to Daine, but it seemed that the captain had chosen to leave this in Lei’s hands. Pierce himself was curious. While Xu’sasar seemed to be an ally, there was much they didn’t know about the drow girl. Where had this weapon come from, and what was it capable of?

Xu’sasar stared at Lei, silver eyes gleaming with the light of the moon. But Lei wasn’t backing down. Xu’sasar brought the bone blades together, and the two weapons merged, twisting into a longer sword with a blade made from a giant tooth.

The total mass of the weapon has increased, Shira observed. I am still unable to ascertain its true nature, but it holds great power, such that I can sense its energy, even over the ebb and flow of the realm.

“Behold the Tooth of the Wanderer.” Xu’sasar said. “The world is filled with spirits. You outlanders do not see them and do not heed their calls. Tree, scorpion, wind. Vulkoor the scorpion is predator and provider, and there is power and wisdom in his lessons.” She ran a finger along the opalescent vambrace covering her right forearm.

Scorpion chitin, Shira observed. Alchemically treated. Flexible but strong.

“The scorpion of our world is a symbol of Vulkoor, a lesson we must learn. So it is with all things in the first land, from the shifting panther to the foul giant.”

“I asked about the blade,” Lei said.

“Then listen,” Xu’sasar replied. “The great spirits are known by name. Hul’drac. Vulkoor. Kura’tra. Each one is a lesson, and each guides us down a particular path. But there is one who bears no name, who cannot be bound by a single form, a wanderer who follows every path, and none.”

Lei’s eyes narrowed. “And this Wanderer … does he give gifts, perhaps?”

The drow girl clicked his tongue. “Dangerous gifts, traps for the weak and unwary. The Wanderer is the lesson that remains unknown until the end, and those who survive will be stronger for it.”

“And you’re carrying his tooth? How is that even possible, and who would be fool enough to do such a thing?”

“The Wanderer is not bound to mortal flesh.

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