Although we pursued directly, I had no doubt the fey man was opening distance on us, since I was probably the slowest among us.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like the sensation of being slow, but the braided chainmail I wore was bulky, and my pace was metered by it.\u00a0 If it came to argument, I\u2019d say Karac was slower than I, but I brought myself a step closer to him in order to have him not feel that he was holding us up.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Again, the march went on without a visible passage of time, and we could have marched for a week or an hour and I probably wouldn\u2019t have been able to tell you the difference.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Eventually we came to a point where the track led us to a strange occurrence \u2013 a fence.\u00a0 A genuine fence, posts every so often and bars, three high.\u00a0 It extended to the left well into the dark, and to the right it vanished into mist just at the edge of vision.\u00a0 Inside it, a yard of white ground and farm animals \u2013 a donkey, several chickens, some sheep, a cow, all simply standing about.\u00a0 Ground-fog complemented the mists around the forest, drifting lazily across the floor of the yard.\u00a0 A large barn to one side stood silent and lightless in the tree-shrouded twilight, and a farmhouse with circular glassed windows to the other.\u00a0 The glass was a mix of colors, mostly aged brown, but some was blue and a very few panes were green.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We drew up at the fence, looking around at each other.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are we stopping for?\u201d\u00a0 Karac growled.\u00a0 Apparently looking up above one\u2019s feet is irritating for a dwarf.\u00a0 I can only guess what the halfwise would be feeling.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I rested my hands on the fence and looked over to him.\u00a0 \u201cIn the land of nightmares, ruled by Shan Duresh, who is like unto a god here, a person who can make a pastoral farm here \u2013 and keep it so well \u2013 would seem to me to be of some significance.\u00a0 Either as one who can demand peace of the lord of this land and get it, or someone who is so entrenched in that lord\u2019s good graces as to be a danger if angered.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cOr one who escapes notice through guile or insignificance.\u201d\u00a0 Zenith interjected.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll exchange fifteen minutes of talk or consideration to avoid the former.\u00a0 Our quarry tracks through this yard directly, and I can see no end to this fence.\u00a0 I think it would be wise to ask the occupant for permission to cross his or her land \u2013 trespass in the fey is a very serious offense, and can cause us a great deal of harm if the owner of this place takes aggressive offense.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe animals.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t breathing.\u201d\u00a0 Dex was leaning on the fence down the line, squinting at the livestock.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sure enough, the animals were standing there, occasionally twitching or moving their heads, but their breath wasn\u2019t visible.\u00a0 Looking closer, their sides didn\u2019t move in the manner a live thing\u2019s would, either.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this adds a few points to the score of the \u2018powerful or in favor\u2019 side, don\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0 I looked over to Zenith as I said this.\u00a0 He nodded reasonably.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, then, get your ass over there and ask for permission.\u00a0 All this waiting is making my cod-plate itch.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I hopped the fence and walked to the front door, then looking back at the others, knocked three times.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My footsteps crunched uncomfortably beneath me as I walked.\u00a0 I glanced down, and did not relate back to the rest of them what I saw.\u00a0 The yard, the white base upon which I was walking, was bone.\u00a0 Tiny chunks amid dust ground coarsely, it made a peculiar grating, grinding noise when trod upon.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They stood silent at the fence, watching me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The door clunked loudly a few times, and cracked open half a hand.\u00a0 Behind it, a lovely Eladrin woman\u2019s face peered out.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d\u00a0 Her voice was clear, if a little breathy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cMadam, my companions and I,\u201d I motioned back to the others.\u00a0 Bingo waved.\u00a0 \u201cWe track a man, a servant of the court of Taer Lian Doresh, through these lands to question him, and his trail leads through your land.\u00a0 I would ask your permission to cross your lands in order to continue our pursuit.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll not catch a servant of Shan\u2019s before he reaches his court, Shadrim.\u00a0 But you have my permission.\u00a0 Now go.\u201d\u00a0 The door slammed shut, and the locks in it ratcheted shut.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I turned and walked back, relaying the information to them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s all you got?\u201d Sered said.\u00a0 \u201cNothing else?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else should I have got?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cDid it occur to you that being so powerful as you suppose, she might know the way?\u00a0 We might not need this trail, if we have decent directions.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I banged my head against the fence once, and a second time for good measure.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, I try not to be a moron most of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t smile.\u00a0 \u201cYou are Shadrim, you\u2019re not to be blamed, it comes naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You know, someday I might just be forced to give him that new lifetime.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I walked back up to the door, but before I knocked I unslung my pack and dredged out a bottle of wine, a good red we\u2019d bottled at the distillery a few weeks before we\u2019d departed.\u00a0 From the look of it, it would travel well.\u00a0 The others began crossing the fence as I did.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I set the bottle on the doorstep, knocked again, and stepped back a bit.\u00a0 Again, the door clunked and clattered, and opened a hands-breadth this time.\u00a0 The same woman looked out, a frown on her face.\u00a0 \u201cWhat now?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cMa\u2019am, I apologize for the intrusion.\u00a0 Please accept this gift for my bothering you at this hour.\u00a0 I wonder if I might ask you if you can provide me directions to Shan Daresh\u2019s enclave?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A cloaked hand reached out and took up the bottle.\u00a0 She looked it over and set it down somewhere near the door.\u00a0 Looked back at me.\u00a0 \u201cSuch information is not given freely, and I have no intention of bartering upon my own doorstep.\u00a0 You may enter, alone, if you wish to.\u00a0 They must wait outside.\u201d\u00a0 She nodded at the rest to emphasize her point.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I looked back at the team slowly making their way across the fence.\u00a0 Karac was looking down at his feet, and hopped a short way into the air, then hopped again, arms held high.\u00a0 He was saying something urgently to the others.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Probably noticed the nature of the ground under his feet.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dex was watching me, and Sered, so I motioned to myself and made a talk-talk gesture with my hand and pointed inside.\u00a0 Sered nodded.\u00a0 Probably agreeing with Dex on something completely unrelated, or responding to his saying \u201cThat Shadrim is going to get us all killed.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I turned back to the door.\u00a0 \u201cAs you wish, ma\u2019am.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The door opened a little wider, and I slipped inside.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The smell of a great stew greeted me, the air inside smokey and full of different odors.\u00a0 The woman closed the door behind me.\u00a0 \u201cSit, please.\u00a0 Would you like to eat?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I looked around the room.\u00a0 \u201cMadam, I do not wish to impose, and I have little time to appreciate your hospitality.\u00a0 As a guest I would not wish to cause you any difficulty.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She paused at my use of the word \u2018guest.\u2019\u00a0 \u201cYou are no more imposition than the last to cross my yard, Azrael.\u201d\u00a0 She walked over toward the far side of the room.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The room itself was lined with many shelves, each with a horde of glass containers \u2013 jars, bottles, large and small.\u00a0 Each sealed, and in each a liquid of various colors in which floated shapes I could not make out.\u00a0 At the far end of the room was a cauldron, large and black, under which burned a fire of peat and pine.\u00a0 The resin smoke made my eyes sting a bit, though the smell of the stew in the cauldron was really stirring my stomach with hunger.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Beyond the cauldron I could see an alcove to the right that must turn into stairs.\u00a0 I kept seeing flickers of shade in the corners of my eyes, as well, as though something were there, but when I turned or glanced, nothing revealed itself.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The woman herself was bent over almost double, her spine showing lumpy and crooked through the thin shawl she wore.\u00a0 She walked with a wooden cane, and her hair was tied back in a dyed kerchief.\u00a0 A smell accompanied her, not bad, but \u2013 different.\u00a0 Like the scent of a rocky beach in winter, all salt and stone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, ma\u2019am.\u00a0 You have obviously divined my name, but I have nothing to call you.\u201d \u00a0I knew her for what she must be, a witch or hag of some kind.\u00a0 I remained guarded.\u00a0 My invocation of guest, and her failure to oppose it, was enough to warrant a certain level of security here.\u00a0 Harming a guest is a major crime in the lands of the fey, and I was hoping Shan Duresh would retain at least that semblance of law here.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She thought for a moment, while she used her free hand to stir the stew in the cauldron with a wooden ladle that had been set on a counter behind the cauldron.\u00a0 Her back still to me, she spoke in a voice that carried, in spite of its breathless nature.\u00a0 \u201cOh yes, I have divined much about you, Azrael of Bael Turath.\u00a0 And your companions.\u00a0 I read much in my cooking, it reveals a great deal about the surrounds of my farm.\u00a0 Would you like to see what is here?\u201d\u00a0 She glanced back at me over her shoulder.\u00a0 I still think back to that beautiful face on occasion, its discordant presence on her broken shoulders.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I stepped forward to answer.\u00a0 \u201cYou offer me a vision freely?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI do, but first you must sleep.\u201d\u00a0 As she said this, the handle of her cane protruded under her arm, and a spray of grey powder rose into my face.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I coughed and staggered back, and vision quickly faded from my memory.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I awoke to find myself sitting on the floor halfway between the door and the cauldron, leaning against the wall.\u00a0 My hands were bound before me.\u00a0 From the look of it, she saw almost immediately that I was conscious.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not struggle, Azrael of the Shadrim.\u00a0 No harm will come to you.\u00a0 I learn much from just having you sit in my home and sleep.\u201d\u00a0 She was standing by the cauldron, holding a half-full jar in her free hand.\u00a0 \u201cYes, already I collect a few snippets of dream from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Part of me wanted to crawl to my feet, flee as far and as fast as I could.\u00a0 That part was deep in the back of my mind, sheltered and cradled by the part that was not alarmed by this situation, that simply wondered what would be next.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, Azrael of Bael Turath, recently member of Fellbane, you are fortunate that I have eaten already tonight.\u00a0 What brings you to seek the domain of Shan Daresh?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe seek to free a soul in his keeping, the Feyan Eire \u2013 a friend of mine is burdened by an enchanted message begging freedom from bondage to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will tell your friends outside that tonight they are to sleep in the barn, you are spending the night here.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d\u00a0 I stood up and walked toward the door.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cOn second thought, you are all to join me for dinner tonight.\u00a0 Tell them that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you wish.\u201d\u00a0 I walked to the door and opened it, keeping my hands hidden.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I saw the rest scattered about the yard, investigating various things.\u00a0 They all stood up to look my way when I stuck my head out the door.\u00a0 Karac was holding a sheep in his arms, standing next to the fence.\u00a0 He seemed about to carry it off into the shadows.\u00a0 He looked at me, then down to the sheep, then back to me.\u00a0 A frown crossed his face for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not what it looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I felt it better not to comment on this.\u00a0 Instead I looked out at the rest of them, my gaze sweeping the yard.\u00a0 \u201cWe are invited to dinner here, and we\u2019re to spend the night in the barn.\u201d\u00a0 I closed the door, but left it unlatched as I walked back to the woman.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, Shadrim, attend closely.\u00a0 Watch the flames beneath the pot, not what is in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I watched, as the flames formed the shape of a crown beneath the huge kettle.\u00a0 The scent of the stew became almost intoxicating, and for a moment I heard the march of a booted army\u2026and then, in a flash, the almost-vision passed, and I realized where I was.\u00a0 A short burst of fear washed cold over me, before I flushed it away.\u00a0 No sense in worrying, I was already in deep.\u00a0 The shadows in my vision returned once again, but never became more than a distracting side-view.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw something, didn\u2019t you?\u201d She whispered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me what you saw.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cA crown, and I heard an army marching.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I saw that as a possibility here.\u00a0 Your dreams are troubled, Shadrim.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dreams are my concern.\u00a0 You are welcome to share them, but they remain mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is your dream that keeps you alive, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI can see you have regained your senses \u2013 but know this, Shadrim:\u00a0 had you been of little interest to me, you might have ended up in this pot with the man you pursue.\u201d\u00a0 She stirred sharply, to emphasize her point.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She looked at me, her lovely eyes almost broke my heart, in spite of her obvious nature.\u00a0 \u201cYou may call me Tatiyana.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a pleasure to meet you, ma\u2019am.\u00a0 I think.\u201d\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure what the nature of this introduction meant, but one can never be too certain with the Fey.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The others arrived.\u00a0 Karac opened the door, Sered behind him, the others mish-mash entering with wariness behind them.\u00a0 As the door creaked open, I raised my hands to wave briefly, and to make the bindings obvious.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy have you bound him?\u201d\u00a0 Karac was the first to speak.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cTo keep him from trying to kill me.\u00a0 Not that he would have succeeded.\u201d\u00a0 She replied without batting an eye.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sered looked around, and unlike myself, looked up. \u201cWhat are those?\u201d\u00a0 He asked, pointing upwards.\u00a0 I looked, setting aside my feeling the fool, and saw a number of crafted nets of spiderweb, bone, and other materials hanging from the ceiling.\u00a0 Each hung from a small hide strap, with feathers suspended in the webbing or hanging from threads attached to the constructs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are not your concern.\u201d\u00a0 Tatiyana said in a sharp, but soft, bark.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Zenith looked around at the walls, and I heard him mutter to the others, \u201cWe should leave.\u00a0 Now.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Karac answered him with the same tone, \u201cBut we only just got here.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bingo walked over to me, and cut my bonds.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sered was looking at the jars on the walls.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are all these?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Zenith answered before Tatiyana could. \u00a0\u201cDreams.\u00a0 All dreams, stolen from people.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The strange crone cut him short.\u00a0 \u201cNot stolen.\u00a0 Taken, yes, but not stolen.\u00a0 Dreams flow freely through this land, and I take what I will from among them.\u00a0 Think you to be the only dreamer here, Zenith?\u00a0 I know all of you, I dreamed of your arrival here.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sered looked over to her.\u00a0 \u201cSo you knew we were coming?\u00a0 You expected us?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cOhh, yes.\u00a0 Each and every one of you.\u00a0 The son of Cincti-Pur, the jeweled city,\u201d she pointed her cane at Dex, \u201cTo the scion of Hammerfast, to the Gith walker-in-dreams, to the deep-memoried one, this would-be princeling here,\u201d she smacked me ungently across the gut with her stick, \u201ceven the troubled halfwise, you have all passed through my home in dream already.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cEach of you has a place here, in spite of thinking you found me randomly.\u00a0 Have a seat, we shall talk a while, then you will sleep in my barn tonight.\u00a0 It will be safe to sleep there.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dex wondered aloud, \u201cSafe?\u00a0 What safety can be had here?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the land of dreams, dark-skin.\u00a0 You haven\u2019t slept since you arrived, have you?\u00a0 Do you remember how long you have been traveling?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
None of us could answer.\u00a0 I had wondered as much myself.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis realm plays havoc with travelers.\u00a0 You must force yourself to rest and eat, or you will forget and simply walk until you die, not even noticing that you need to eat.\u201d\u00a0 She went back to stirring the pot.\u00a0 She pointed with her stick at a cabinet on the left.\u00a0 \u201cHalfwise, fetch bowls and spoons from in there.\u00a0 Gith, set the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The two did as she ordered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, you are new here, and once you reach the Spire, you will be faced with a place where your dreams and your reality mix.\u00a0 Both can kill you here.\u201d\u00a0 She ladled out helpings of stew for each of us.\u00a0 The steaming stuff smelled fantastic, even though I knew some of the man we had been chasing was in it.\u00a0 Somehow, it didn\u2019t seem to matter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSleep is not safe, either, for things can get into your dreams that want you \u2013 and they can hurt you far more than your dreams alone can.\u00a0 I will supply you with a potion that will grant you an undisturbed rest before you leave here.\u201d\u00a0 We all took positions around the table.\u00a0 She turned to us from the cauldron.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t wait for me, I already ate earlier.\u00a0 Otherwise little Azrael here would be in the pot, and you all in my larder.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you being so generous to us?\u201d\u00a0 Sered was \u2013 justifiably, I think \u2013 suspicious of the entire situation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you all have a chance.\u00a0 Not a good one, but a chance.\u00a0 If I thought you were bound for failure, I\u2019d have put you down and saved you for my next meal.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cA chance to do what?\u201d\u00a0 He pressed a little more conversationally, less rigid.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cA chance to cause her pain, my sister.\u00a0 Santiriana, she is Shan Duresh\u2019s Paranymph.\u00a0 His ambassador to the Courts, negotiator with the Devils, and thief of my birthright!\u201d\u00a0 She spat on the floor as she said this last.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYour birthright?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, the juddermaul, my mother\u2019s juddermaul!\u00a0 It whispers its secrets to her when they should be mine!\u201d\u00a0 She stamped her foot twice.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wish us to kill her, retrieve this juddermaul?\u201d I asked quietly.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI will speak no more of it!\u201d\u00a0 She whipped back to the cauldron, her necklaces clattering loudly against its iron side.\u00a0 The bright gold rings on her fingers glittered in the light of the fire.\u00a0 \u201cMy vengeance will be mine, no others.\u00a0 But you have a chance to touch the vision of the Taer Dian Loreash\u2026yes, and to bring it\u2026\u201d she cleared her throat.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I looked over at Bingo, then at Karac.\u00a0 Their questioning stares met no suitable answer from me.\u00a0 All I could do was shrug.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The hag was obviously out of her mind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I looked down at the stew before me.\u00a0 There was no recognizable piece of the man we\u2019d been chasing in it.\u00a0 I wondered for a moment, then decided to just assume he was hung up somewhere upstairs, or that she\u2019d eaten him already.\u00a0 I just didn\u2019t want to think about what might or might not be in this bowl.\u00a0 It smelled so good, and my stomach felt so empty, I couldn\u2019t resist it any longer.\u00a0 I ate.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It tasted as good as it smelled, thick and hot, plenty of meat, little fat, and just enough vegetables to satisfy.\u00a0 Before I was half done, the others had each begun on their own.\u00a0 Zenith alone pushed his forward into the center of the table.\u00a0 Karac observed this, and wordlessly pointed to Zenith\u2019s untouched meal.\u00a0 Zenith shook his head and held up a hand.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Karac shrugged and grabbed his bowl, and gulped down the rest of both his and Zenith\u2019s.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As we were finishing the meal, Tatiyana reached up above her to pull down one of the netted constructs.\u00a0 \u201cThis is a dream-catcher.\u00a0 When you get to the spire, and you are seeking the safety of the market, use this.\u00a0 It will shield you from Shan Duresh\u2019s vision for a short while, hopefully long enough to reach safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She handed it to Zenith, who looked at it skeptically before wrapping it gently into the folds of a leather cover he drew from his pack.\u00a0 She then turned back to a cabinet next to the one from which Bingo had pulled our bowls, and rummaged around in it for a bit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With an exclamation, she stood up \u2013 or at least, as high as her twisted back would allow \u2013 and came back to the table with three vials.\u00a0 \u201cThis is the potion I spoke of.\u00a0 There should be enough here for each of you to get two decent chances to sleep, but beyond that you are not safe.\u00a0 Use these wisely.\u201d\u00a0 She offered the vials to Sered, who took them gingerly from her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She immediately grasped his wrists together, holding his hands in a grip that I could see caused him some pain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd remember this,\u201d she looked at all of us in turn.\u00a0 \u201cTake this message to my whore of a sister \u2013 I\u2019ll get her.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll get back my mother\u2019s gift.\u00a0 She will not be happy on that day, or any day after.\u201d\u00a0 He nodded cautiously.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will tell her,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u00a0 Now, all of you.\u00a0 I have one final offer for you.\u00a0 As you have guessed by now, I am a practitioner of more than simply reading dreams.\u201d\u00a0 As she said this, she drew a small wooden box from beneath her robes, and from it she extracted a set of thin ivory plaques, engraved and embossed with strange designs.\u00a0 \u201cI will offer to one of you an opportunity to take a single card from my deck of Fortune.\u00a0 It could result in good for you, or bad, I can\u2019t say which.\u00a0 But it will be fortune.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean, good or bad?\u201d\u00a0 Karac asked her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis deck possesses a strange magic, it bends fate around it.\u00a0 I have seen great things befall those who draw, and terrible things.\u00a0 Also slight ones.\u00a0 I cannot say what will come from it.\u00a0 I think even it does not know, but the presence of chance pleases it.\u201d\u00a0 She stroked a finger across the top of the deck.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sered and Zenith both backed away from the stack of cards.\u00a0 Sered nodded at it, \u201cI have heard of this thing.\u00a0 I have no intention of touching those cards.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Karac and Bingo both looked at it, Karac somewhat eagerly, Bingo with contemplation.\u00a0 I had a strange feeling, a hunch pulling me to it.\u00a0 Dex shook his head and leaned away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to draw,\u201d I said.\u00a0 Karac nodded, and Bingo said \u201cMe too.\u00a0 How do we decide?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Karac looked around, and pulled an empty bottle from the shelf behind him.\u00a0 He set it on the table.\u00a0 \u201cWe spin.\u00a0 Whoever it points to, draws.\u00a0 If it\u2019s not certain, we just spin again.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cSeems fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Karac offered the bottle to Dex, who took it, centered it on the table, and gave it a hard spin.\u00a0 As the bottle clicked and wobbled around on the table, I wondered what I had put myself in for.\u00a0 What was in there?\u00a0 I felt somehow certain that something good would come of this, but I\u2019ve felt that before and been disappointed.\u00a0 It sounded like disappointment would be the least of the worries of the recipient of a card if this turned out bad.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The bottle was slowing, circumscribing a perfect circle as it twisted on its axis.\u00a0 It passed us each, and came around one more time\u2026we could all see it would not complete another revolution.\u00a0 Bingo watched as it crossed over him, and looked almost sad as it rotated by.\u00a0 Karac also watched, white-knuckled, as the tip of the bottle swung past him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It came to rest pointed directly at me.\u00a0 For some reason, I didn\u2019t feel very good about this.\u00a0 I frowned.\u00a0 \u201cWhat now?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can always back out,\u201d Bingo volunteered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I thought it over, shook my head.\u00a0 \u201cSomething says I have to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tatiyana took up the stack of plaques, and quickly shuffled them, spreading them out on the table and mixing them thoroughly before deftly re-stacking them and laying the deck down before me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cCut?\u201d\u00a0 She asked.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I thought about it.\u00a0 \u201cMay someone else cut for me?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She nodded.\u00a0 I looked over to Dex.\u00a0 \u201cWould you, please?\u201d\u00a0 He shrugged, reached over, and took a set of cards from the top, laying them down next to the stack.\u00a0 Tatiyana then took up the rest and placed them on top of Dex\u2019s chosen ones.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, you draw.\u00a0 One card only, Azrael of Bael Turath.\u201d\u00a0 She grinned happily as she recited my name.\u00a0 I felt like she was writing me off into history.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I reached forward and took up a card, and turned it over.\u00a0 The picture was of three women, one holding a thread, one a pair of scissors, and one sitting at a spindle.\u00a0 Runes around the edge of the card molded themselves into something I could read:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Fates<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I recognized then that this was a boon, of sorts.\u00a0 I could retake one event, one moment, and divert my fate down a possibly different path.\u00a0 Only one, but it could be one that might one day save me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt has told you what this means?\u201d\u00a0 Tatiyana asked me.\u00a0 I nodded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She swept up the cards and returned them to their wooden box, which then vanished back into her robes.\u00a0 \u201cNow, all of you, out.\u00a0 Go to the barn, and drink a measure of the potion before you sleep.\u00a0 Go.\u201d\u00a0 The door to the yard opened quickly, and we filed out together.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you wake in the morning, move along.\u00a0 We have nothing further to discuss, you and I.\u00a0 When you reach his city, stay out of sight until you reach Nights Refuge, the marketplace.\u00a0 You should be safe there, for a time.\u00a0 Do not be caught out by patrols in the city, you\u2019ll be fair sport for them to dissect if you are.\u201d\u00a0 She walked to the door as we made our exit, and closed it behind us.\u00a0 I heard the locks click shut with finality.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We stepped out into the yard, the gloaming twilight and mist throwing a chill into us as we milled around in the yard.\u00a0 As soon as the door closed behind us, I sat down on the steps.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat was\u2026unexpected.\u201d\u00a0 I looked up at the others, scratching the skin around the base of my right horn with the tip of my tail.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat exactly just happened there?\u201d\u00a0 Dex asked to anyone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI was sure she was going to try to eat me there.\u00a0 How did that turn around that way?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Zenith looked at the bundle in his hands.\u00a0 \u201cI think\u2026no, never mind, I don\u2019t know what to think.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I think Karac was looking at the sheep again.\u00a0 \u201cWell, do you believe what she said about time in here?\u201d\u00a0 Apparently he wasn\u2019t thinking about sheep, at least.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sered shrugged impassively.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose so.\u00a0 She seems to think our travel will benefit her in some way.\u201d\u00a0 He looked at the vials in Karac\u2019s hand.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve already seen that time here in the Feywild can pass differently, so it\u2019s certainly probable that it will be passing differently now.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I tried to see the stars through the mist, and had no luck.\u00a0 \u201cFaster or slower this time, I wonder.\u00a0 Being in a dream realm here, I would guess we\u2019re compressing this into a simple sleep if it\u2019s at all different from what we went through on the last trip we took here.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Karac looked down at the vials.\u00a0 \u201cI would think that she\u2019s probably speaking the truth about dreaming being dangerous here, too.\u201d\u00a0 He looked over at Sered with a frown.\u00a0 \u201cGiven how we were made to fight and duck away from each other at the shore, we\u2019re closer to the source of his power, so it could be worse here.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sered ignored the jibe.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bingo yawned a bit, and stretched.\u00a0 \u201cWell, we either sleep here in the barn, or we walk on.\u00a0 I vote sleep here, because I\u2019m tired and if she was going to kill us she\u2019d have poisoned us with the food.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Zenith looked at him. \u201cA bit more astute than I was expecting from you.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYeah, well, I know more than just shooting, you know?\u00a0 After all, I\u2019ve had plenty of time to talk with this ghost-woman I have to deal with.\u201d\u00a0 He tapped the spot on his chest where the strange sigil had settled in.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Zenith nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI meant no offense, I suspect my attempts at humor here are a little\u2026foreign.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bingo just looked at him, then walked to the door of the barn and started struggling to open it.\u00a0 He was strong enough, but he just wasn\u2019t tall enough.\u00a0 Sered walked over and helped him unbar the door, then swung it wide.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell?\u201d\u00a0 His pale blue skin looked grey-white in the eternal twilight of this place.\u00a0 For the life of me, he looked like a ghost standing there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I pulled a cigar out of my pocket and lit it up off a tiny flame from my thumb.\u00a0 \u201cGuess it\u2019s bed time.\u00a0 I\u2019ll watch first.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We actually did sleep that \u2018night\u2019 \u2013 each of us taking a sip from the vials before settling in.\u00a0 We each got about six hours\u2019 of time to rest.\u00a0 My own sleep was dreamless and swift, though I can\u2019t speak for the others.\u00a0 I felt well-rested when I woke, and my belly had stopped its tight grip on my ribs\u2026I hadn\u2019t even realized I had been uncomfortably hungry until I\u2019d filled up in Tatiyana\u2019s home.\u00a0 Even my skin felt\u2026fuller, as though I\u2019d been stretched and allowed to relax.\u00a0 The barn had fresh hay in it, which made for a reasonably soft place to sleep \u2013 though I have no idea where Tatiyana might have harvested hay from in this forest \u2013 and we forced ourselves to eat some dried trail rations when we woke.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We congregated outside the barn.\u00a0 The yard looked no different.\u00a0 This, more than anything else so far, depressed me.\u00a0 A changeless twilight feels more unnatural after a night\u2019s sleep than many things I\u2019ve seen in my life.\u00a0 I can\u2019t imagine how the peoples of the far north deal with it, when their year takes them into that period where the sun fails to rise or set for months at a time.\u00a0 I suppose it must be a nation of lunatics.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhich way?\u201d\u00a0 Karac was looking around.\u00a0 He yawned loudly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAll roads lead to the Taer Dian Loresh, I suppose it doesn\u2019t really matter, does it?\u201d\u00a0 Bingo chirped from behind the trees where he was taking care of his morning business.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Karac hefted his axe up over his shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cSuppose not.\u00a0 Pick a direction, and let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bingo looked around, then finally pointed up the path between the house and the barn.\u00a0 \u201cThat seems uphill to me, and anything like this trip can\u2019t be as easy as walking downhill.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, we walked.\u00a0 And walked.\u00a0 The now-familiar sense of time passing settled in almost like an old coat.\u00a0 This time, though, we had some slight breaks in the routine.\u00a0 Occasionally, great winged creatures, all feathers and tail, would fly over the trees, forcing us to take cover.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t think they\u2019d really see us through the ground-fog and mists, but better safe than sorry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At one point we actually found ourselves tracked by a pony-sized lizard, all scales and teeth, with eyes that oozed a blue glowing mist.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t take long to deal with it, though it provided us quite a fright when we realized it had six legs \u2013 a basilisk. Sered almost froze solid from meeting its gaze when we were dealing with it, but it died fairly quickly and he recovered before the mystical curse could run its course.\u00a0 During the fight, we did notice several of the winged things overhead, maybe two or three.\u00a0 I was pretty certain I caught sight of a rider on one of them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Scouts.\u00a0 No doubt reporting our presence \u2013 more appropriately, I should say progress, since I was certain he was aware of our being here \u2013 to the lord of the land.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I could detail all the minor happenstances along the way \u2013 such as when Karac noticed while he was peeing on a tree that the moss on these trees grew on different sides \u2013 but I don\u2019t want to burden you with meaningless events.\u00a0 Suffice it to say it was a surreal journey, which came to a merciful end after a period of time I can\u2019t honestly gauge for you.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But end it did, as we crested a rise to look down into a huge caldera or crater.\u00a0 The great city was several miles across, circled by an enormous wall similar to the one that bordered this land and a moat deeper than seemed possible to dig.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The wall was of black stone, and we could see six towers spaced equally around the edges, alternated with six enormous trees, which glinted like metal from the far distance.\u00a0 A huge bridge of stone cobbles faced us, directly pointing to our position.\u00a0 Huge griffons flew around several of the towers \u2013 each of which had a rider, we could see now.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Zenith squatted while looking down, idly playing with a pine needle in his teeth.\u00a0 \u201cThis is Shan Duresh\u2019s city, and his prison.\u00a0 It was here that Dal Quar threw his city down after tearing it from your world, and cursed him to live forever as a dream.\u00a0 Those towers, all around \u2013 they appear as great bone stacks to me.\u00a0 What do you see?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I spoke up first.\u00a0 \u201cI see twisted spires of my homeland, as though someone had taken the various houses and melted them like candles left too long near a fire.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bingo said, \u201cCrystal spikes, driven into the city like daggers.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sered next.\u00a0 \u201cGravestones.\u00a0 Enormously tall gravestones, inscribed with uncountable names.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Zenith nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYou will each see something different there, but the halfwise has the closest of it.\u00a0 Dal Quar\u2019s curse on Shan Duresh bound his city here with those towers \u2013 each one is a spike, like as which you\u2019d use to secure a vampire while you take its head, they hold the city here, and the city\u2019s walls are the boundaries beyond which Shan Duresh may not pass physically.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Karac looked over at him.\u00a0 \u201cAnything else you ain\u2019t tellin\u2019 us that you\u2019d like to unburden yourself of before I throw you into that moat?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI did not mean to keep secrets, these facts have no bearing on our purpose here, after all.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bingo tossed a small stone downhill towards the city.\u00a0 \u201cWhy not just break the towers?\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t he free himself and his people that way?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHis curse is not solely his city and its walls.\u00a0 His life is dependent on the towers.\u00a0 Each one is bound to a different chagram<\/em> of his soul \u2013 were he to destroy the towers, he would destroy himself in the process.\u00a0 He would literally be ripping his soul apart to escape his prison.\u00a0 As I am sure he has tried in the past, to find the boundaries of his prison.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sered nodded.\u00a0 \u201cTrapped forever, slain to leave.\u00a0 Not a pleasant curse.\u00a0 What of the trees?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cEach of the fey queens \u2013 mother, daughter, and matron, from both Summer and Winter \u2013 maintain a tree to see that Dal Quar\u2019s curse remains fairly enforced.\u00a0 Dal Quar is bound as strongly as is Shan Duresh, though obviously he remains free.\u00a0 His curse upon Shan Duresh was approved by the royalty, as rightful punishment for the wrong done upon him.\u00a0 They watch to see that the terms are kept as they were set at the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat did he do?\u00a0 It seems\u2026extreme.\u00a0 I can\u2019t imagine anything someone would do to me that I\u2019d want them and their entire city locked away like this.\u201d\u00a0 Bingo scratched his left foot while he asked this.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI cannot say.\u00a0 It is likely known only to Shan Duresh and Dal Quar now, though it\u2019s been so long even they may have given up remembering.\u00a0 The fey decide for themselves what is appropriate and what isn\u2019t, and it is not likely to make sense to us.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sered looked down at the city.\u00a0 \u201cI hate<\/em> bridges.\u00a0 Is there any other way in?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0 The path to the city always leads to its bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThen let\u2019s make it quick.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to get caught by those griffons while we cross.\u00a0 Do you know how to reach Night\u2019s Refuge, since you\u2019re being so forthcoming now?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Zenith was unwrapping the dream-catcher as Sered asked this.\u00a0 \u201cYes, I think so, but the streets and buildings of this city change constantly.\u00a0 I know generally where to find it, but the exact streets I cannot say.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I shook my head sadly.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t say so out loud, but I felt sure we were screwed.\u00a0 \u201cMight as well hurry then.\u00a0 As the lady said, we don\u2019t want to get caught in the open while we\u2019re on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We all prepared ourselves for the dash, some few hundred yards down the hill to the bridge.\u00a0 As we readied ourselves, I looked up and down the line.\u00a0 \u201cReady?\u201d\u00a0 I crouched.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Everyone nodded, and Karac let out a short bark:\u00a0 \u201cGo!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We dashed, full speed, down the hill \u2013 probably looking like nothing other than errant schoolchildren aiming for a swimming hole as we did.\u00a0 I was a little surprised at how fast the short ones got their stubby little legs to move, as they kept up with the rest of us very well.\u00a0 Sered was obviously holding back, his long legs would have carried him at twice a dwarf\u2019s rate if he really let fly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We reached the end of the bridge, and began across.\u00a0 Risking a glance over the side, I saw seawater, full of amorphous shapes which I was certain were sharks and merfolk.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sered chanted out over his pumping feet, \u201cWare the sides, I can\u2019t see a bottom to this chasm.\u201d\u00a0 Karac gave a quick look and belted back.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you talking about, Sered?\u00a0 I can plainly see it\u2019s a moat full of magma.\u00a0 And hurry, the level is rising!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Zenith spoke evenly over his jog.\u00a0 \u201cEveryone will see a different thing \u2013 this is the Moat of Fear, the thing you fear most will fill it.\u00a0 But be certain, whatever it might be will be quite real if you fall, so keep away from the sides.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bingo didn\u2019t even look down.\u00a0 He just glared up.\u00a0 \u201cHurry, one of those flyers is coming our way!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The bridge seemed \u2013 appropriately for a nightmare \u2013 to stretch out ahead of us and keep getting longer, prolonging our crossing with every step.\u00a0 In only a few moments, though, we were across and darting among ruined buildings and broken roads.\u00a0 Not a soul wandered the streets, it was entirely empty as far as I could tell.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We passed by winding tunnels, savagely overgrown parks and gardens, and fields of mausoleums, their gravestones mocking us with their restful repose as we jogged by.\u00a0 The smell of the city was that of wet stone, chilly like strange ice.\u00a0 Small pockets of mold and decay gave off vapors of strange odors.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The empty windows of the buildings we passed seemed to leer suggestively as we ran by, it made me nervous.\u00a0 The patrolling flyers occasionally crossed overhead and a ways off, but we had to make fast runs past the more open zones.\u00a0 I was uncomfortable with the almost-open nature of the terrain against flying targets, but there was little choice in the matter.\u00a0 It was dodge, or be caught.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As we passed the open spaces, occasionally the view would change \u2013 a flash of vision, as if looking through a window, at times vaguely as through a fog.\u00a0 I felt strangely light on my feet as they occurred, as if a careless trip might send me careening into one of the visions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We passed a graveyard, and when I looked over, I saw in the center of it a clearing, where a misty image of a floating cradle, painted white, hovered in the center.\u00a0 It was surrounded by six tall, thin creatures with abnormally stretched features and limbs\u2026they were not touching it, but they were very attentive to the cradle.\u00a0 I could see no occupant within it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When we passed it, we crossed into another street, apparently formerly a shop district.\u00a0 The buildings on the ground level had wide openings where glass may have once sat.\u00a0 More likely they had had wooden shutters, or perhaps metals of some form.\u00a0 The street opened at the end into a wide courtyard, with a great many small trees.\u00a0 As we edged around it, I realized those trees appeared to be man-shaped forms, as though each one were a transformed person.\u00a0 In the center of the clearing, I caught view of a man kneeling there.\u00a0 Blood ran from his eyes, and he clutched at his face crying out \u201cI\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m sorry\u2026\u201d\u00a0 His voice was lost in echoes, watery shapes in its sounds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I recognized him \u2013 it was Eben Vane, the sorcerer who had on occasion ventured with Fellbane.\u00a0 He\u2019d been in Al\u2019Veydra when we left.\u00a0 I wondered if perhaps I was seeing through some portal back to our Real world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dex managed to sprain his ankle as we crossed the clearing, looking at the vision with us.\u00a0 He cried out, and I heard another cry \u2013 almost as if in answer \u2013 away in the distance.\u00a0 One of the patrols no doubt heard us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sered got under Dex\u2019s shoulder and helped him struggle into the shelter of overhanging ruins nearby.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Although we pursued directly, I had no doubt the fey man was opening distance on us, since I was probably the slowest among us.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like the sensation of being slow, but the braided chainmail I wore was bulky, … Continue reading