The Gates of Night

EPILOGUE

Lei opened her eyes.

Did it work? Even as her spirit was being torn from the crystal orb, she’d found the proper thread and sent the command. Had she acted in time?

She forced herself to her feet and staggered toward the nearest opening. Her chest ached with phantom pain, but there was no blood on her skin, no broken bones. She was awake, back in the Riedran monolith.

She reached the arch and peered out into the night. The moons had barely moved. It seemed that time passed more quickly in Dal Quor than it did on Eberron. She searched the sky, looking …

There! The dark orb was still in the sky, just barely visible. The thirteenth moon. Her heart sank.

Then the moon simply faded away.

We did it. There was no doubt in her mind. She knew the power that lay in the crystal orb. She’d felt it, merged with it. If the moon was pulled away, Dal Quor was trapped once more. Now they just had to return to Thelanis and find a gateway that would take them back to Khorvaire. With the help of the Dusk Queen, they could be home by morning.

Lei. Return. There is danger. Pierce’s thoughts flowed into her mind, and his concern shattered her sense of elation. She turned, and walked over to Pierce … and stopped short in surprise.

Xu’sasar was sprawled on the ground.

“What happened?” Lei said.

“I do not know. She is alive, but unconscious. Kin is nowhere to be seen.”

“What about … Shira?”

Pierce looked away. “Shira is no more. We have other concerns. Look to Daine.”

Lei’s heart raced. She looked across the floor and saw him still stretched out on the ground. Panic rose as she moved to his side, but she could see his chest rising and falling. He was alive.

Then Lei saw what Pierce was talking about. There was a circle around Daine, a pattern painted in silver and gold. It was a summoning circle, designed to aid in the conjuring or binding of spirits. Then Lei noticed something else. Daine’s sword … his scabbard had been replaced, and his sword now rested in the jeweled sheath Daine had taken from the Bier of the Sleeper.

Daine stirred. His eyes opened and he sat up with a start, glancing about wildly. Lei reached out to him, and he seized her hand as if it were a rope that might pull him from a stormy sea. Then he took a deep breath and smiled at her.

“It’s good to be home,” he said.