The Shattered Land_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [22]
The room slowly came into focus. Lakashtai stood by the bunk, and Daine could feel her concern as if it was a physical force pressing against his thoughts. Pierce and Lei were standing to either side of her—Lei, worried and weary, Pierce as impassive as ever.
“Hnh—What?” he said, trying to make sense of her words.
“Your dreams are the path our enemies use to enter your mind. With Tashana in hiding—it is best that you do not dream for now.”
Lei snorted, and Daine pushed himself up into a sitting position. “Oh, is it?” he said. His thoughts were still muddy. “Just … stop, just like that?”
Lakashtai nodded, as if this was a perfectly ordinary request. “I must be present when you are going to sleep. I can divert your spirit, and keep the gateway closed. As long as I am here, I can shield you from this foe and protect you from the attacks you have been suffering … at least, for a time.”
“That’s enough,” Lei said, her voice cold. “I’ve had it with all of this mysterious nonsense. This isn’t the first time Daine’s ever been asleep. If his head was going to rot away, why didn’t it happen yesterday? All I see is you showing up, threatening Daine, and then this other creature joining the fight … A woman who looked rather remarkably like you, looking back on things. Why don’t you tell us exactly what’s going on?”
“Daine has been at risk these last few nights. You have been losing consciousness during waking hours. When did this first occur?”
“Four days ago,” Daine said.
“This is when they first found your dreams. With each night, the bond grows stronger, and if you let them into your dreams, they can track us … and then all will be lost.”
“Them,” Lei said. “What ‘them?’”
“Il-Lashtavar,” Lakashtai said quietly. “The darkness that dreams.”
“Oh, well, that makes everything clear. Why didn’t you just say so in the first place?” Lei said.
Lakashtai looked at her, and as before the intensity of the kalashtar’s gaze silenced Lei. “We do not speak of this to those we do not know. This is our war: the battle of the kalashtar, the struggle we were born to. You and all those creatures who dream when the night comes—I would spare you from knowing of the horrors that await you.”
There was no trace of a smile on her lips, and though her voice was music, it was a cold and chilling tune. For a moment, no one spoke. Then Pierce’s voice filled the room, deep and calm.
“You may have chosen this battle, but we have been drawn into it, and a soldier who cannot identify his foe—one who knows nothing of the nature of the battlefield—cannot expect to triumph.”
Daine nodded. “I can’t avoid making mistakes unless I know what I’m fighting, and damn it, it’s my mind!”
Lakashtai studied each of them, then turned and walked toward the far corner of the room. When she looked back at them, the light had faded from her eyes.
“You are correct, of course,” she said softly. “I cannot say what lies ahead of us, and you must be prepared. Please, Lei, be seated. This will be a long tale, and I know that you have had a trying day.”
Lei glanced at Daine, and he gave her a slight nod. Grumbling, she sat on the bunk next to him. Pierce stepped back away from Lakashtai, creating as much space as possible in the small room.
Lakashtai turned to face them. Despite her torn clothing, despite the dried blood on her skin, she carried herself with the dignity of a queen. Her beauty was breathtaking, but it was the cold beauty of a marble statue—human perfection, yet fundamentally unnatural.
“I am kalashtar, born of two worlds. Over a thousand years ago, my ancestor bound her bloodline to the spirit Kashtai, and I am a child of that union. Kashtai moves within me. Her memories come to me as dreams, and at times her voice whispers in the silence of my mind. As long as at least one of my sisters is alive, Kashtai will survive—and as long as she lives, she will fight il-Lashtavar.
“While I can tell you of this struggle, it is far better if you see it for yourselves. Relax. Let your thoughts wander. Open your