The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [9]
Even Daine had heard of Dolurrh, the plane where the souls of the dead were drained of all memories of their former lives.
“Use your best judgment. But do it quickly!” Perhaps it was his imagination, but he thought he could hear the sound of metal on metal coming from the distant chamber where they’d left Harmattan.
“Perfect!” Lei said. Light flared around her hands, and one of the enormous orbs descended to the floor. “Well, not perfect, but given the alternatives …”
Now Daine was sure of it: a metallic roar came from the hallway. “Let’s go!” he yelled, sprinting toward the orb.
A portal had opened in the side of the massive opalescent sphere, and Daine vaulted up and through it. The interior was a disappointment. Aside from a tall ledge running around the edge of the chamber, the room was completely featureless; Daine couldn’t see any way to make the sphere move. But that wasn’t his job. Lei was right behind him, and Daine pulled her up and inside.
Lei sat crosslegged at the exact center of the chamber, and the room lit up. A complex geometric pattern spread out around her, traced in lines of fire. Runes and sigils appeared on every surface. Each letter was as long as Daine’s hand, a reminder that this was the work of giants. Lei studied the walls. She muttered a word in a harsh and unfamiliar tongue, and one of the glowing symbols on the wall flared brighter for an instant.
Pierce was at the portal. He handed the injured elf to Daine. Beneath her chitin armor, the woman was a waif and seemed like a feather in his arms. A moment later, the warforged was aboard.
“Lei! The door!” Daine cried.
“I’m working on it!”
Now the roar was growing louder, a hurricane howl combined with the gnashing of metal on metal. “We’re about to get another passenger!”
“I’m trying!” Lei said.
They saw him: a glittering cloud, steel death racing toward them.
“Hul’kla’tesh!” Lei cried.
It couldn’t have been any closer; a handful of steel shards fell to the floor as the portal snapped shut. A terrible scraping sound came from the walls, metal gouging at crystal.
“He’s all around us,” Lei said.
“Then get us out of here!”
Lei closed her eyes, her hands set against the floor. Patterns of color danced over the floor, and they felt the orb rising.
Height alone didn’t stop Harmattan. They could still hear the flurry of steel striking the walls of the sphere.
“Hang on!” Lei yelled. She sang a chain of harsh syllables, words flashing across the walls as she spoke.
And they fell out of the world.
This vehicle has just transitioned through a planar barrier. Your companions are suffering from vertigo and nausea as a result.
As always, Pierce knew Shira’s thoughts as much as he heard them. When he looked at Lei, her discomfort was a simple fact. Glancing at the dark elf warrior, Pierce could sense the extent of her injuries, how she hovered on the edge of death. He carefully set the injured woman down on the ledge that circled the chamber.
“Was that it?” Daine said. The scraping sound of Harmattan’s attack faded away, and the glowing lines on the floor pulsed.
Lei opened her eyes. “Yes,” she said. She lay back against the floor, her legs still crossed. “We’re safe now.”
“Safe? We seem to have very different ideas of safe,” Daine said, scratching his back. “Still … good work, both of you. Where are we?”
“Nowhere.”
“And how far is that from somewhere?” Daine said.
“About as far as can be. Until I complete the sequence and open the door, we’re caught between worlds. We’re … hypothetical, if you will.”
Ethereal.
“Ethereal,” Pierce said, echoing Shira’s thought.
“That’s right. We can stay here as long as we want.” Lei spread her arms, stretching against the floor. “I’m completely exhausted. If I’m going to tend your wounds—or help our drow passenger—I’m going to need some sleep first. We should be safe here.”
“Should be?” Daine said.
“Nothing’s certain.” Lei shrugged. “I’m not exactly a seasoned planar traveler. It’s possible there are, I don’t know, crystal