The Gates of Night

CHAPTER 27

Perhaps you’d introduce me to my new guests, Master Daine. I dislike surprises in my house.”

Daine felt dizzy, disoriented. The world was a blur of color and noise, conversation and laughter. And the woman’s voice, terribly familiar.

Alina Lorridan Lyrris.

The surroundings pulled into sharp focus. Alina’s hall in Metrol, the walls lined with stained glass, revelers dancing to the strains of ghostly music. The gnome woman stood before him, staring up into his face. Illusions were woven into the fabric of her gown, so that it too appeared to be made from stained glass. Crystal shards were pinned within her pale golden hair. Barely three feet in height, still she had the charisma of a queen-a stronger presence, in fact, than the young queen of Cyre whom Daine had seen near the end of the War. And there, at his side, stood Jode, dressed for a celebration in a doublet of red and brown. His dragonmark was unusually vivid, an even deeper blue than the glass panes in the windows.

“My apologies, Lady Lyrris.” Another voice, just as familiar. “May I introduce the Lady Lei d’Cannith, and her bodyguard, Pierce. My name is Jode, personal physician to the Lady Lei. It was never our intention to take undue advantage of your hospitality. My lady has swift business to conduct with your servant Daine, and then we will depart.”

“How intriguing.” Alina said, raising a perfect eyebrow. “I’ll expect a full report this evening, Daine-after our own swift business, of course.” Her smile was cold and predatory, and she departed without another word.

“You know, I’ve always wondered,” Jode said. “Did she reduce you or enlarge-”

“Leave it be,” Daine said.

“Jode?” Lei said, a note of wonder in her voice.

Pierce and Lei stood just behind Daine, and both appeared just as they had in the Riedran monolith. Pierce held his golden flail, and spots of ogre’s blood were still spattered across his armor.

“That would be me,” Jode said, with the brilliant smile that was forever fixed in Daine’s memory. He darted around Daine, and Lei knelt to embrace him.

“This is just a dream. You’re not-” Her words faded as she gazed into his eyes. “It really is you, isn’t it? How is this possible?”

“Doesn’t Daine tell you anything?” Jode said. “Blue bottle?”

“Yes,” Lei said. “The essence of your dragonmark.” Now her eyes became distant. “When I tried to touch your spirit, there was nothing there at all. You’re saying that they bound your soul to the dragonmark? And Daine drank it?”

“That’s about it,” Jode said. “Things are very vague before that, but once Daine drank the potion … it’s hard to explain. I was alive again. And I could feel Daine. I think our souls are merged, somehow.” He looked at Daine. “Is something wrong with our back?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” Daine said. He looked around the hall. It was much the same as the dream he’d had in Thelanis, and yet there was a fundamental difference. Everything was sharper, more focused. More than that, he felt completely aware. More often than not, he watched his dreams from a distance, the world and people changing around him. But now … if anything, this felt more real than the world he had left behind.

Jode looked up at Pierce. “As much as I’m thrilled to have this little reunion, the fact that you’re here suggests there’s something very odd going on,” Jode said. “Care to fill me in?”

Lei spoke first. “It seems that the natives of this place …” She paused, looking around at the party. “Well, not this place, but this plane-”

“I understand,” Jode said. “I’ve been here longer than you have. Trust me, you’ll know the difference.”

“It seems the natives of this place are preparing to invade Eberron. We inadvertently provided them with the key needed to restore passage between the planes. Now we must destroy it, and it seems that time is of the essence.” Lei looked around the party. “We were told that a guide would be waiting for us, but they said nothing about the form it would take.”

Jode cleared his throat.

“What?” Daine said. “You’re our guide? But you said you were barely conscious before I … drank you.”

“You wound me,” Jode said. “Haven’t I always made it my business to know the lay of the land? And as for time, you’ll find it’s not what you’re used to. It’s been over three months since our first conversation in dreams, Daine, and I’ve made quite a few friends in the fringes. Your story explains a lot of things. There’ve been rumors flying around about activity in the core. And I do mean flying around.”

“You have been to the heart of this realm?” Pierce said, a hint of surprise in his normally impassive voice.

“No, no,” Jode said. “But I’ve talked to a few who have. Archetypes, mainly-ideas that draw strength from multiple dreams. You know, like when you dream you’re supposed to be taking the Test of Siberys, and you suddenly realize you’re not wearing any clothing? I’ve met the anxiety that generates. Edgy, easily embarrassed, but not a bad fellow.”

“Hey, Daine!” It was another voice he hadn’t heard for years-the voice of a man he’d killed. Morim d’Deneith, another of Alina’s guards. Unlike Daine, Morim enjoyed his work. A cruel grin split his face, and there were spots of blood on the leather of his gauntlets. “One of the guests had an accident in the foyer. Lady Lyrris wants you to clean up the mess.”

“In a moment,” Daine said. The sudden appearance of the dead man was a jolt, bringing back memories Daine had tried to forget. “I’m in the middle of something right now.”

“And you can get back to it when you’re done,” Morim said, taking Daine’s arm. He was a stocky, powerful man, and his hand felt like a manacle around Daine’s wrist.

“Let go, Morim,” Daine said. He pulled at the guard’s grip, but his rival simply grinned.

“So you’re saying you have other business? Something more important than Lyrris’s orders?”

“That’s right,” Daine said.

“Too bad.”

Everything fell into slow motion. Morim raised his hand to smash Daine in the face, but there was a long blade of energy where his fist should have been. As this spike flashed toward Daine’s eyes, he ducked beneath the blow, using his momentum to pull at Morim’s wrist and fling the thug to the ground. For a moment Morin was suspended in the air, caught by the strange flow of time. As soon as his hand slipped away from Daine’s wrist, everything sped up. Morim slammed into the ground, and Daine staggered away from him.

Morim rose to his feet-but he wasn’t Morim any more. Both hands were curved, glowing blades. His flesh and clothes burst, revealing the red chitin armor of some monstrous insect or crustacean. His head was wider, flatter, and a host of burning eyes were pressing forward through his skin.

You’re an interesting one, traveler. The telepathic projection still held traces of Morim’s voice, but it was overshadowed by a malevolent alien presence, thick and cold, oil running through his mind. More awake than you should be. Let’s see what happens when you die.

Daine drew his sword and dagger, setting himself on first guard-and then blinked. The dagger in his left hand wasn’t his dagger. Instead of black adamantine, it was plain steel. It was a trivial thing, inconsequential in the grand scheme. But it was a distraction, and that was all the creature needed. The horror ripped free of the remnants of Morim’s flesh, lashing out with both blades.

And ran into Pierce and Lei.

The darkwood staff was in Lei’s hands, the striking end studded with vicious thorns. Pierce’s flail ended in a true ball of fire, a blazing orb that smashed through one armored shoulder. Daine recovered his balance and made a deep thrust, sinking the point of his blade into one of the creature’s blue eyes. A howl of pain echoed through his mind, and the creature vanished.

Daine whirled toward Jode. “Well, guide, what in Aureon’s name was that? And why aren’t they doing anything?”

The revelers around them continued to dance and drink, seemingly oblivious to the ruined mass of flesh on the floor.

“I told you that the locals were easy to recognize,” Jode said. “That was one of the weakest. These others, Alina … they’re just figments plucked from your memories.” He prodded the remnants of Morim’s body with a toe. “It’ll take some time for that spirit to reform, but I suggest we start moving. Give me your hand.”

Their fingers touched, and Daine staggered. Sensations poured through his mind, memories and images, just as when he’d touched Jode in the first dream they shared. Once again, he felt a sense of the world around him, and how it was no world at all-just one bubble drifting in vast darkness.

“Daine!” Lei cried.

“Let it go,” Jode said. “Don’t try to see it all. Focus on me. Follow me.”

The chaos faded, his surroundings resolving once more. Jode tugged on Daine’s hand, pulling him forward, deeper into the great hall.

“Come,” Jode said. “Tell me where we’re supposed to go.”

“Draconic … eidolon,” Daine said, still catching his breath.

“It’s supposed to be a region formed from the dreams of dead dragons,” Lei explained. “Some sort of sanctuary for their spirits.”

“Oh, certainly. I think we can find a way,” Jode said. Daine laughed, and Jode looked up at him. “What’s so funny?”

“You,” Daine said. “Leave you alone for a day, and already you know your way around.”

“I told you, it’s been much more than a day for me. And this sanctuary you’re looking for … it’s the sort of thing the locals talk about. We’re in the fringes of Dal Quor, you see, where reality is shaped by mortal dreams. The quori spirits use these realms as a hunting ground, preying on dreamers and wanderers like me. This dragon realm, well, it’s one of the only places in the fringes that the quori are afraid to go. Of course, no one else who goes there returns, so it’s not exactly a popular destination.”

Their surroundings were changing, subtly at first. The revelers slowed in their dance, and the color faded out of the glass windows. By the end of Jode’s speech, Daine saw that the people around him were no longer flesh and blood. They were statues, and the paneled floor was covered with warm sand.

“What’s going on?” he said.

“We’re moving,” Jode replied. “Leaving your memories and searching for another dream. And let me tell you, it’s far easier with you here. It would have taken me hours to get this far on my own.”

“Two souls in one body,” Lei murmured.

“I think so,” Jode said. “It’s as I said. Our spirits are merged. Honestly, I don’t know what our potential is, but touching you I can feel power within us. A fortunate thing that you drank the potion, eh?”

“No …” Daine said. “No. It wasn’t luck. She told me to do it.”

“Hmm?”

“The sphinx. Flamewind. ‘You will be asked to give away the soul of your closest friend.’ When Harmattan challenged me, I remembered those words.”

“Interesting,” Jode said. “And it was Flamewind who led me to Olalia … and to my death. So was she predicting the future, or creating it?”

“Is there a difference?” Lei said. The walls of Metrol faded away, revealing an endless desert. Stone pillars rose from around them, etched by wind and sand into shapes faintly reminiscent of the revelers they’d left behind.

The words of the Morim-creature returned to Daine’s mind. “What happens if we die here?”

Jode shrugged. “Hey, I’m already dead, remember? Normally, you’d just wake up, I think. But now … there’s something different about you. All of you. I’ve met quite a few dreamers, and you’re more real than they are. More like the archetypes. I think, somehow, you’re really here. And if that’s the case, dying seems like a bad idea.”

“Shira concurs,” Pierce said. “Death would surely be a traumatic experience. Even if we survived, we might be left comatose, wounded spirits trapped within our physical bodies.”

“Oh, right. Shira.” With everything else that had been going on, Pierce’s pet spirit had slipped his mind. “Are you sure about her, Pierce? From what Thelania said, haven’t we just brought the dragon to the hoard?”

“I believe in her, captain,” Pierce said. “This is not her home, and these are not her people. She was as horrified to see that creature in the hall as you were.”

“If you say so.” Daine frowned. The desert came to an abrupt end ahead, with nothing but stars visible beyond the sand. “Jode?”

“Don’t worry,” Jode said cheerfully. “It’s only the end of the world.”

A vast chasm lay ahead. If it had another side, it was beyond the range of Daine’s eyes.

“So where do we go now?” he said.

Jode pulled his hand free and pointed to the sky. Daine followed the gesture and drew his breath in wonder. A dragonshard floated above them, a golden crystal burning with inner light. It was larger than any shard Daine had seen, as large as a wagon-and it was the first and smallest in a chain. A belt of golden dragonshards rose into the sky and curved across the horizon.

“The Ring of Siberys,” Lei said, her voice filled with wonder.

Jode smiled. “Welcome to the sanctuary of the dragons.”