The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [10]
There are no crystal orb-eating ethereal whales. Pierce refrained from sharing Shira’s observation.
“—but if so, I’ve never heard of them. And if something does attack us, I could finish the transition with a word.”
“And then we’ll be somewhere,” Daine said.
“Yes.”
“And that will be?”
“Thelanis.”
Daine sighed and sat down. “I hate to disappoint you, Lei, but I don’t even know if that’s a city, a country, or a plane of existence.”
“Ignorant savage.” Lei sat up. “It’s a plane. Have you heard of the Faerie Court?”
“A magic realm filled with baby-stealing spirits, bottomless cauldrons of gold, and sinister hags who curse arrogant princesses?”
“You don’t have to go to Thelanis to find a hag,” Lei said. “But that’s the one. According to the stories, it’s much like the world we’re used to. There’s just more magic around. Spirits in the water and the trees, that sort of thing. What’s important is that it’s supposed to be one of the easiest realms to travel to or from. The reason we have so many faerie tales is because people accidentally fall into the realm, or because the spirits of Thelanis—the fey—make their way to Eberron. So not only is it not a lake of fire or endless tundra, but with luck we should be able to find a path home.”
It’s not quite that simple. Again, Pierce chose to ignore the alien thought.
“It’s not quite that simple,” Daine said. “Sovereign and Flame, what have we done? Tashana, Lakashtai … I don’t know what to think.”
“So don’t,” Lei said. “Sleep.”
Daine sighed, but he finally nodded. “You’re right, I suppose.”
“Was there ever any doubt?” Lei pulled blankets and pillows from her pack; the magical satchel held an astonishing amount of supplies, and within moments Lei was laying out two bedrolls.
“Do you have enough for three?” Daine said. He’d made his way over to the wounded drow woman and was studying her wounds. He carefully lifted her off the ledge.
“I only packed for the two of us.” Even Pierce could hear the slight chill in Lei’s voice. It wasn’t much of a surprise. Daine had had dealings with these dark-skinned elves, or drow as they appeared to be called. But Lei and Pierce had been captured by drow, Lei almost killed by them. This woman had helped to rescue them, and it was clear that she was of a different tribe from their enemies. But the half-drow Gerrion had also rescued them from one enemy, only to betray them at the end. This woman was a stranger, and after Gerrion and Lakashtai it was hardly surprising that Lei would be suspicious of strangers.
Then Pierce noticed something—an anomaly, a trivial detail that had slipped by even his keen eyes in the excitement.
“My lady,” he said. “Your hand.”
She glanced over at him. “What?”
“You are no longer injured.”
Lei dropped the blanket, and Daine almost dropped the woman he was carrying as he rushed to Lei’s side. She held her hand out, as if it were a treasure. Earlier in the day, the warforged Hydra had severed the smallest finger on her left hand. Her glove was still damaged, but her finger was fully restored. She wiggled it in wonder.
“I … I didn’t even notice,” she said. “I think it’s been back since I woke up. I knew something felt strange.”
“How is this even possible?” Daine said.
“I don’t know,” Lei said, shaking her fist happily. “And you know what? I’m not going to think about it until I’ve slept for, oh, a few days.”
“Well, I don’t feel right about leaving an injured woman on the hard floor,” Daine said, carefully laying the dark elf down on one of the blankets. “So I suppose you and I will just have to share.”
“Or you’re going to have to sleep on the hard floor,” Lei said. But she was smiling, and she let Daine pull her down to the other blanket.
Lei and Daine slept. The wounded elf still lay unconscious. Pierce studied the patterns on the walls. He always felt a vague discomfort when his companions were asleep. Even though he knew the experience was both harmless and necessary, it was completely foreign to him. The only time a warforged lost consciousness was if it