The Shattered Land_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [152]
“Can you hear them?” Lei said. Her voice was sluggish, almost slurred, and Daine turned toward her. Lei’s eyes were distant and confused. “So many voices …”
“Lakashtai?” Daine said, but the kalashtar was already by Lei’s side.
“Hear only my voice,” she whispered. “Set all else aside. Nothing here is real, all is illusion. Hear only my voice and let it return you to the light.”
Lei closed her eyes, her forehead twisting with the effort of thought. Daine and Pierce rushed forward, but Lakashtai held them back with a commanding gesture. The kalashtar leaned in, whispering in Lei’s ear. Her eyes flashed with light, and Lei convulsed for a moment; then she opened her eyes again, breathing deeply. Lakashtai squeezed Lei’s shoulder and stepped back toward Daine.
“She will recover,” Lakashtai said, “but her affinity for this place and the magic of this era is most unusual. Give her a moment of peace.”
Daine glanced over at Lei. “I’m … fine,” she said. She was pale, but she seemed to have regained her composure.
He returned to the study of the room. The fragile spheres covered the walls and ceiling. The center of the chamber was dominated by a dais of opalescent glass—reflective, pale white material lit from within, slowly shifting in color as Daine watched. This altar was ten feet long and six feet high, and two giants were sprawled around it. Standing across the room, they could see that there was something on top of the dais—pieces of broken glass, perhaps a shattered sphere. Whatever it was, it was dull and lifeless, a stark contrast to the gleaming platform.
“There …” Lakashtai breathed. “That is what we have sought. Help Lei climb onto the platform—the end of this quest is at hand.”
Lei still seemed slightly dazed, but she held Daine’s hand and clambered up onto the table when Daine and Pierce hoisted her up. Lakashtai leapt up beside her.
“Touch the shards, Lei,” she said. “Feel the pattern within. Reshape what has been broken.”
“What is it?” Daine said, standing on his toes and trying to peer up over the edge.
“It is the reason I came here, though even I did not believe it possible,” Lakashtai said, walking over to stand above Daine.
“You see—”
Then she screamed.
There was a distortion in the air around her chest, as if a fist-sized chunk of flesh was being twisted out of phase with the rest of her body. The aura faded, and Lakashtai dropped to one knee, gasping for breath.
“Surely you will not fall so easily, little sister.” The voice echoed through the hall. “After all you have put me through, I expected more of a challenge.”
It was Tashana.
Green eyes burned beneath the hood of a dark cloak, and a long braid of silver-white hair caught the light. Shadows were swirling about Tashana, and for a moment Daine thought he saw faces howling in the darkness.
“You have been most helpful,” she said. “I would never have found this place on my own. You shielded your mind well; I thought I had lost you until you reappeared only moments ago, but this chase ends here, in this chamber of broken dreams.”
“Just how does it end?” Daine said, walking slowly toward her. He motioned to Pierce—keep your distance, engage at range.
“This is no battle for humans,” Tashana hissed, dismissing Daine with a gesture.
He felt her mental grip tighten on his mind, but this time, he didn’t give in. He tightened his grip on his grandfather’s sword, and for the merest moment he felt the old man at his shoulder.
“Perhaps you underestimate humans,” he said, setting himself on guard. Behind him, he could hear Lakashtai talking to Lei, guiding her work. “One chance, and one alone. Leave. Now.”
The shadows were winding around Tashana, forming the ghastly silhouette he’d seen before. “Fool!” she roared, her voice distorted by the darkness. “Do you have any idea