Vanity's Brood - Lisa Smedman [52]
Pakal grunted. "I, too. Earlier, when I slept." His faco was difficult to see in the gloom, but the shudder that ran through his body made his feelings clear. "I dreamed of the jungle reduced to ash, like this place." He waved a hand, indicating a blackened tree that stood like gaunt shadow a few paces away.
They were almost at the peak of Mount Ugruth. The mountainside was bare black rock, freshly spewed from the volcano. Gray ash and chunks of porous rock covered the ground where they sat. Hot, sulfurous gases vented from a deep crack in the ground a few paces away. The landscape was desolate, like something out of the Abyss.
Nearby, at the bottom of a crater in the loose volcanic rubble, was a stone dais, much like the one in
Sibyl's lair. It too was of glossy obsidian-red obsidian. Glyphs, carved in Draconic script, encircled its rim. When the sun rose, they would activate.
According to Pakal, the portal was ancient. It dated to the height of the Serpentes Empire. Despite its incredible antiquity and the recent eruptions that must have pelted it with hot ash and chunks of falling stone, the dais looked almost new. Its edges were sword-sharp. Not a single chip had been knocked from them in all the centuries since its creation.
Arvin turned to Pakal. "Do you ever dream the future?"
The dwarf tossed back his braids. "No."
"My mother did. She dreamed of her own death- she couldn't prevent it." Arvin took a deep, steadying breath. "I dreamed about Karrell, and about our children. It was… terrible."
"Something has happened," Pakal said. "Dendar is not doing her job."
For a moment, Arvin wondered if the spell was translating Pakal's words incorrectly. "Her job?" he echoed. "I thought the Night Serpent was a monster who fed on mortal souls."
"Should she ever be released, that is what she would feed upon," Pakal said. "For now, she sustains herself on our nightmares. The dream fragments we remember upon waking are the crumbs she has left behind. Last night, for some reason, she did not feed."
Arvin sat up a little straighter. "Does that mean Dendar is dead?" he asked. If she was, he wouldn't need to worry about the door to her lair opening.
Pakal held up a hand. "I know what you are thinking," he said. "The answer is still no. The Circled Serpent must be destroyed."
Arvin nodded, feigning acceptance. He noted Pakal's wary look and the way the dwarf shifted his sack to his far hand. Arvin had been about to charm him but decided against it. He needed Pakal to show him how to use the portal. If the charm failed, Pakal would have even less reason to trust Arvin. As soon as they had stepped through the portal into the jungle, however, a charm would do the trick. If it failed, Arvin would take the Circled Serpent by force and amend Pakal's memory to erase any knowledge of the event.
Arvin glanced at the eastern sky. There was still some time before the sun rose. "Do I have time to meditate?" he asked the dwarf. "I need to restore my magic."
At Pakal's nod, Arvin adopted the bhujan asana and began his meditations. It felt good to slow his mind; it helped push the terrible images of his nightmare away. When he was done, the sun was peeping out from behind Mount Aclor. Slowly, it climbed higher in the sky.
Pakal climbed down into the crater, sending small avalanches of loose rock and dust toward the dais. Arvin forced himself to wait a moment before rising-casually-to his feet and following. The dais was knee-high on the dwarf but came only midway up Arvin's calves. One quick step would put him on top of it.
Together, they watched as sunlight crept across the dais, illuminating it like a waxing moon. As it did, the ash that had settled on that half of the dais vanished.
"What do we do?" Arvin asked. "Step onto it once it's fully in sunlight?"
Pakal nodded.
"Will Ts'ikil be waiting for us on the other side?" "She will come once I call her."
Good. That would give Arvin some time. As the sunlight crept toward the western edge of the dais, the symbols