The Gates of Night: The Dreaming Dark - Book 3 (29 page)

“That’s ridiculous,” Lei said, rising to her feet. “I’m still learning the craft of artifice. I haven’t even mastered the arts of the fifth circle. There are a hundred heirs of the house more skilled than I—”

“Hush,” Thelania said, and it was a command.

Even as Shira warned him of the use of magic, Pierce felt a wave of calm settle over his thoughts, and he saw Daine and Lei relax.

“Sit,” the fey queen said, taking the seat at the head of the table. “And let us continue. Lei, you speak the truth. There are many in your house more skilled than you. But your nature allows you to touch magic in a way no human can.”

“Human?” Daine said. The calming effect kept his
voice steady, but it couldn’t stop his interest.

Pierce was thinking the same thing. Memories flashed through his mind.
I may even spare you and sister Lei
, Harmattan had said. At the time, Pierce had thought it was a figure of speech, as they were all children of House Cannith. Then there was another memory, a vision he’d seen when he lay on the verge of death, a dream that might have been the moment of his creation.
Protect my daughter
, a woman had said. Lei. A child. A child who had been lying on the slab next to his.

“I’m … warforged?” Lei said.

“No,” Thelania said. “Yet neither are you human. You are a creature of magic and flesh, a woman of two worlds. But this is not the time to discuss your future or your past. I brought you here to guide you to the path that lies ahead, so you may undo the damage you have done.”

“Why
us?”
Daine said. “You said it yourself. We’re not even as strong as the giants. You know what’s going on. Why don’t
you
fix this, and we’ll handle the next one?”

“I cannot. My fellow lords and ladies wield great power in Thelanis, it is true. But there is a delicate balance between the planes. We are but one aspect of your reality. Dream and nightmare are another thread in the tapestry, one beyond our dominion. We cannot bring our power to bear against Dal Quor without catastrophic repercussions, even worse than what will happen if the Dreaming Dark takes your world. But you are children of the mortal world, and you have a place in every plane.”

“And yet there are only four of us,” Pierce said. “Would not an army have a greater chance of success?”

“You begin to try my patience,” the queen said.
“An army could not enter Dal Quor undetected, nor match the full power of the Dreaming Dark in the region of dreams. There are other heroes in your world, but each has his own path to follow, his own destiny. Your journeys have prepared you for this task, in ways you have yet to realize. There is a web of fate, what the dragons call prophecy, and it falls to you to face this challenge.”

Daine slammed his fist on the table, drawing all eyes toward him. He pointed at the flagon in front of him. “Lady, if you want people to follow your stories, you shouldn’t serve goblin mead with the meal. Let me just get this straight. Lakashtai tricked us, and she used my weakness to get Lei to do what she wanted.”

“With the aid of others, yes. Lakashtai is an emissary of a host of malevolent spirits.”

“And now all those spirits are going to come to Eberron?”

“That is the least of my fears. Dal Quor has shifted from its orbit. I believe that the Dreaming Dark seeks to
merge
with Eberron—to make your world a living nightmare.”

“Fine,” Daine said. “I don’t care how you know all of this. If I follow your path, will we find Lakashtai at the end of it?”

“Dal Quor is beyond my sight, Daine. But I suspect that if you find the crystal moon, you will find Lakashtai at its side.”

“Then tell me how to get there,” Daine said. “Because that woman is going to pay for what she’s done.”

“Every time you dream, you touch Dal Quor,” Thelania said. “But in this instance you face many challenges. The bridge of dreams brings you only to the edge of the realm and leaves your thoughts distant and
scattered. Thus you can rarely remember your dreams or even fully control your actions. Furthermore, in this fractured state you would be unable to inflict any lasting harm upon the inhabitants of the realm. You must dream to reach Dal Quor, but you must dream in a place where the walls between the worlds are as thin as possible.”

Though Shira was not sharing her thoughts with Pierce, he could feel her rapt attention. He phrased a query in his mind but received no response.

“You’re talking about manifest zones,” Lei said. “Places where the planes merge. The very thing I was hoping we could use to get us back to Eberron. But there aren’t any manifest zones bound to Dal Quor.”

“Not now,” Thelania replied. “The work of the giants broke all bonds, save those formed in sleep. But the spirits of Dal Quor have been working to restore this connection for centuries. In the realm you know as Riedra, servants of the quori have built monoliths of crystal and steel. These monuments are themselves anchors, pulling the planes back together.”

“So now you want us to go to war with Riedra?” Daine said. He poured another glass of murky mead, downing half of it in a gulp.

“Not at all. Stabilizing the planes in this manner is the work of centuries, and not all of those who build the pillars even seek to harm your world. It is a challenge for heroes of another age. The crystal moon makes all of this irrelevant and gives the aggressive powers of the moment a chance to strike.”

Daine finished his drink. “Then why are we even talking about this?”

“Because if you are to reach Dal Quor, you must sleep within one of these monoliths. Only there will you be
close enough to reach the plane.”

Lei shook her head. “You want us to go to Riedra?”

“Yes. My domain touches your world in many places, and there are many gates you can use when the light of Dusk strikes the ground. When we have concluded our business, Kin will show you the path. When next you sleep, it shall be in a Riedran monolith—assuming you survive the journey, of course.”

Something had bothered Pierce throughout this conversation, and now it rose to the surface of his mind. “You say the journey requires sleep. Neither Xu’sasar nor I sleep.”

Thelania smiled again. “I said there were many difficulties. More than you know, for Lei does not dream either.”

“What?” Lei cried. It seemed the calming magic was fading. “What are you talking about? I dream every night.”

“No, child, you do not. You only believe that you dream. Your visions are not the result of a spiritual journey. They are manufactured from within, assembled from memories and seeds long carried.”

“You’re lying! I don’t—”

“In Karul’tash, you came upon a room filled with a thousand spheres. Did you not hear the voices in those spheres, whispering to you?”

“Yes,” Lei said, her fury faltering.

“In dreams, the giants were most vulnerable to their foes. And so they sought to create artificial dreams, a sanctuary for the spirit at night. So it is with you, and so it is that you could touch those false dreams. Your visions have the appearance of dreams, but they are no more than a mask. You have never seen Dal Quor.”

“But …” Lei looked away. Tears glittered in her eyes, and Pierce’s mind filled with questions. What did this mean? What was she?

“So you’re saying I have to do this alone?” Daine said.

“No,” Thelania replied. “I told you, Daine, your journey has prepared you for the destiny that awaits. You have the bridge you need for your companions.” She turned to face Pierce, and her smile was chilling. “She calls herself Shira.”

“Explain,” Pierce said. It was both word and thought, but the queen responded before Shira.

“The realm of Dal Quor, the world of dreams, goes through cycles of change and rebirth,” Thelania said. “These cycles can last tens of thousands of your years, and even I do not know what causes them. When the giants of Xen’drik breached the planar barriers, the beings of Dal Quor knew that their age was at an end, and they sought some way to preserve their spirits. Their war with Xen’drik was a desperate act, an attempt to flee a ship before it sank. But they believed that those who crossed the barrier physically would still be bound to the plane of dreams and would suffer its doom. So they experimented with ways to sever the ties between dream and reality, to give a spirit an anchor in this world. You carry one of those few survivors with you: the spirit Shira, a refugee from a world forever lost.”

Is this truth?
Pierce’s thought was a demand.
Tell me, or I will rip you from my chest
.

Yes
. The knowledge flowed to the surface. Like all Shira’s communications, it seemed as if he’d known it all along.
She speaks the truth. I am of Dal Quor
.

Why?
Pierce thought.
Why did you not tell me what you were?
Why did you let Lakashtai betray us?

I did not know her intent. I did not know you were in danger. Understand this: Dal Quor was my home. I knew that this Lakashtai was a spirit of my homeland, and I recognized the purpose of the orb your Lei repaired. But in my memories, Dal Quor is a world of light, a place of beauty. This Dreaming Dark they speak of means nothing to me. I have been trapped in shadows for millennia, Pierce. I should have known that my world would be no more. But I did not want to know what had taken its place. I do not want to be the last of my kind
.

So you …you are a spirit of Dal Quor? A creature like Lakashtai?

We share a common origin, perhaps. But I am nothing like her, any more than you are like Harmattan
.

Pierce didn’t know what to say, or to think.
So I am a host body for you—just as Lakashtai wore a body of flesh
.

No. I told you. We were made to be together. To be one
.

Pierce pushed the thoughts away, forcing himself to listen to the spoken conversation. Lei was speaking, her eyes lost in thought. For her, the intellectual challenge was shelter from fear and doubt.

“… she has a natural bond to Dal Quor, being from that plane herself,” Lei said.

“Correct,” Thelania replied. “It is one she has broken, but it can be reforged.”

“And she has been designed to connect to warforged … to Pierce. So you’re saying that she can allow Pierce to dream through her own spirit.”

Is this true?
Pierce thought.

There was hesitation.
Yes
.

Why not tell me?

There seemed to be no need
.

“But where does that leave me?” Lei said

“You have only begun to reach your true potential, child. Remember your bond with Darkheart, with your wands. Remember what you felt when you first touched
that sphere in Pierce’s chest, when you repaired the damage. When the time comes, you must touch the sphere again and let it guide you both.”

“How do you
know
all this?” Lei demanded. “How can you know what I’ve done, what I’ve felt?”

“Because that is my nature,” Thelania said. “That is my domain. You know of the thirteen planes, child. Realms of order and chaos, life and death, dreams and madness. But what is Thelanis?”

“The faerie court,” Lei replied.

“The domain of the fey. But now you speak of the inhabitants of the realm, not the primal nature of the plane itself. What are the fey?”

“I … don’t know,” Lei admitted.

“We are magic, and we are mystery. We are the lure of the unknown, the promise of a mother’s tale. I see the stories unfold, and I know the secrets that shape the lives of heroes, and the paths your lives will take. This is not the first time we have spoken, and should you live, it will not be the last.”

“Flamewind,” Daine said.

“What of her?”

“Daine with no family name. That’s what she called me. When Kin brought us here, he used the same words. Was that you?”

Thelania smiled, and now it was a sign of pride, an artist taking satisfaction in her work. “I have many eyes in the world, Daine, and many voices to speak on my behalf. An oracle is a channel for knowledge, but that knowledge must come from somewhere. Yes, Flamewind carried my message, as did the weird on the water.”

“And what do you gain from this?” Lei said.

“I am no friend of Dal Quor. And should nightmares
overrun your world, I fear the impact it would have on Thelanis. I told you, Lei, we are the stuff of stories. What happens when no stories remain to be told?”

Lei shook her head. “No, Queen of Dusk. What do
you
gain from this?” Her hand dipped below the table, and she pulled out the darkwood staff. The carved face was a mask of sorrow. “I’ve met someone else who accepted your help, and you can see how well that worked for her.”

“And will you believe anything I told you, Lei? What if I told you that all that I’ve done for Darkheart, I did for you? If the staff hadn’t fallen into your hands, you would have died beneath Sharn.”

“So you just want to help us? Then free her.” Lei slammed the staff down on the table.

Thelania smiled again, and there was danger in her eyes. “Do not presume to issue orders in the seat of my power, child,” she said. “Darkheart still has a role to play.”

“Then I won’t help you,” Lei said. “We’re not going to be pawns in your game.”

The queen laughed. The sound echoed throughout the hall, and it was the sound of the last moment of light as the sun slips below the horizon. “It’s far too late for that, Lei. I am not asking this as a favor. I am not bargaining with you. I am offering you the chance to save your world from a horror
you
unleashed. You are wiser than I thought, but you are no queen.”

A chill had fallen over the room, and the light had faded. Thelania’s skin was paler, almost luminescent, and the gems in her hair glittered like stars. Now her beauty held a darkness that had been hidden before: they’d seen the sun, but dusk also held the shadows.

“You may be surprised,” Lei said, picking up the
staff. “Sometimes a pawn can win the game.”

“Enough,” Daine said. “She’s right, Lei. You said it before—Lakashtai is our responsibility. Let’s clean up our mistakes. But let me say this, your majesty …” Daine stood up, placing a hand on his sword. “For all I know, you may be all-powerful in this place. You may know everything we’ve done or will do. If so, you know what I’m thinking. When this is done, I don’t want to see one of your eyes or your agents again.”