The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [1]
The darkness was alive, and it saw him.
Terror flowed through Daine. He couldn’t even see the spirit that lurked in the shadows, but he could feel it—a cold giant reaching out to crush his tiny dreamscape. He felt icy tendrils clutch at his heart. But he could feel something else. A source of light and warmth. A force adding its strength to his.
Jode.
Daine felt his friend’s laughter flow through him, along with a flow of memories.
Flying through the air astride a huge, birdlike reptile, a barren plain stretched out beneath him …
Daine and Jode’s first meeting in Metrol, now seen from Jode’s eyes …
And a ghastly purple face, with a ring of writhing tentacles reaching toward him. The mind flayer beneath Sharn, the last thing Jode had seen while alive …
There was no longer any doubt in Daine’s mind. This was Jode, and the frigid darkness shattered against the two united minds.
Then he was back in the tunnel, staring at the face of his friend. Behind him, Krazhal and Kesht stood frozen. With his newfound senses, Daine could sense that they were empty, fragments drawn from his memory—as was the hall itself. But Jode …
Daine forgot about the darkness, about Lakashtai, about any of it. His sword slipped from his fingers as he moved forward and grabbed Jode around his shoulders, lifting him into the air.
“I know, I know,” Jode said with a grin. “It’s the miracle of me.”
“How is this possible?”
“You think I know? Out of the two of us, who’s been dead?”
“But you said you knew what I’d been through—”
Jode grinned. “And you’ve never known me to embellish the truth? After I was caught by Teral, everything sort of … fades. Every now and then I’d catch glimpses of the three of you or hear you talking to me. Occasionally your dreams—this place—would flash into view, and I could see the creature you were fighting, but I couldn’t reach you. Then everything changed. I was here, and I could feel your thoughts.”
Daine set the halfling down. “And how did you know what would happen when we touched?”
“It’s a dream. Sometimes you just know things in dreams.”
A chill ran down Daine’s spine, the force watching in the darkness. He could still feel it out there, watching, probing his defenses. But even though they were no longer touching, he could still feel Jode’s strength. He wasn’t alone anymore. And whatever force had been fighting him before, it couldn’t overcome them both.
“So tell me what I’ve missed!” Jode said. “I can see … an ocean voyage? A wall of fire? I want details. And how are Lei and Pierce?”
Lei! In the chaos of the dream, Daine had almost forgotten the battle he’d left behind. “There’s no time. They’re both in terrible danger. If this is a dream, we need to wake up. Now.”
Jode shrugged. “It’s your dream. That’s your job.”
Daine closed his eyes, then opened them quickly.
Nothing.
“Dorn’s teeth!” he swore, smashing his fist against the wall. Pain and numbness lanced across his nerves, but his surroundings never wavered. Helpless anger burned in Daine’s heart. He glanced back down the tunnel, searching for the concealed blast disk.
“I wouldn’t,” Jode said, responding to Daine’s unspoken thought. “I don’t know what death would do to us, but if Lei’s really in trouble, do you think that’s the first thing you should try?”
“What else can I do?”
“Be calm,” Jode said. “Remember this is a dream. Your dream. Close your eyes and take my hand.”
Fighting against his raging emotions, Daine blew out his breath and reached out for the halfling’s hand.
Wake up.
And he did.
Daine, Harmattan said, his voice a thunderous hiss, metal grinding in a great wind that seemed to come from all directions. It’s been a long time.
Harmattan