Keith Baker - The Gates of Night

Morim rose to his feet-but he wasn’t Morim any more. Both hands were curved, glowing blades. His flesh and clothes burst, revealing the red chitin armor of some monstrous insect or crustacean. His head was wider, flatter, and a host of burning eyes were pressing forward through his skin.

You’re an interesting one, traveler . The telepathic projection still held traces of Morim’s voice, but it was overshadowed by a malevolent alien presence, thick and cold, oil running through his mind. More awake than you should be. Let’s see what happens when you die .

Daine drew his sword and dagger, setting himself on first guard-and then blinked. The dagger in his left hand wasn’t his dagger. Instead of black adamantine, it was plain steel. It was a trivial thing, inconsequential in the grand scheme. But it was a distraction, and that was all the creature needed. The horror ripped free of the remnants of Morim’s flesh, lashing out with both blades.

And ran into Pierce and Lei.

The darkwood staff was in Lei’s hands, the striking end studded with vicious thorns. Pierce’s flail ended in a true ball of fire, a blazing orb that smashed through one armored shoulder. Daine recovered his balance and made a deep thrust, sinking the point of his blade into one of the creature’s blue eyes. A howl of pain echoed through his mind, and the creature vanished.

Daine whirled toward Jode. “Well, guide , what in Aureon’s name was that? And why aren’t they doing anything?”

The revelers around them continued to dance and drink, seemingly oblivious to the ruined mass of flesh on the floor.

“I told you that the locals were easy to recognize,” Jode said. “That was one of the weakest. These others, Alina … they’re just figments plucked from your memories.” He prodded the remnants of Morim’s body with a toe. “It’ll take some time for that spirit to reform, but I suggest we start moving. Give me your hand.”

Their fingers touched, and Daine staggered. Sensations poured through his mind, memories and images, just as when he’d touched Jode in the first dream they shared. Once again, he felt a sense of the world around him, and how it was no world at all-just one bubble drifting in vast darkness.

“Daine!” Lei cried.

“Let it go,” Jode said. “Don’t try to see it all. Focus on me. Follow me.”

The chaos faded, his surroundings resolving once more. Jode tugged on Daine’s hand, pulling him forward, deeper into the great hall.

“Come,” Jode said. “Tell me where we’re supposed to go.”

“Draconic … eidolon,” Daine said, still catching his breath.

“It’s supposed to be a region formed from the dreams of dead dragons,” Lei explained. “Some sort of sanctuary for their spirits.”

“Oh, certainly. I think we can find a way,” Jode said. Daine laughed, and Jode looked up at him. “What’s so funny?”

“You,” Daine said. “Leave you alone for a day, and already you know your way around.”

“I told you, it’s been much more than a day for me. And this sanctuary you’re looking for … it’s the sort of thing the locals talk about. We’re in the fringes of Dal Quor, you see, where reality is shaped by mortal dreams. The quori spirits use these realms as a hunting ground, preying on dreamers and wanderers like me. This dragon realm, well, it’s one of the only places in the fringes that the quori are afraid to go. Of course, no one else who goes there returns, so it’s not exactly a popular destination.”

Their surroundings were changing, subtly at first. The revelers slowed in their dance, and the color faded out of the glass windows. By the end of Jode’s speech, Daine saw that the people around him were no longer flesh and blood. They were statues, and the paneled floor was covered with warm sand.

“What’s going on?” he said.

“We’re moving,” Jode replied. “Leaving your memories and searching for another dream. And let me tell you, it’s far easier with you here. It would have taken me hours to get this far on my own.”

“Two souls in one body,” Lei murmured.

“I think so,” Jode said. “It’s as I said. Our spirits are merged. Honestly, I don’t know what our potential is, but touching you I can feel power within us. A fortunate thing that you drank the potion, eh?”

“No …” Daine said. “No. It wasn’t luck. She told me to do it.”

“Hmm?”

“The sphinx. Flamewind. ‘You will be asked to give away the soul of your closest friend.’ When Harmattan challenged me, I remembered those words.”

“Interesting,” Jode said. “And it was Flamewind who led me to Olalia … and to my death. So was she predicting the future, or creating it?”

“Is there a difference?” Lei said. The walls of Metrol faded away, revealing an endless desert. Stone pillars rose from around them, etched by wind and sand into shapes faintly reminiscent of the revelers they’d left behind.

The words of the Morim-creature returned to Daine’s mind. “What happens if we die here?”

Jode shrugged. “Hey, I’m already dead, remember? Normally, you’d just wake up, I think. But now … there’s something different about you. All of you. I’ve met quite a few dreamers, and you’re more real than they are. More like the archetypes. I think, somehow, you’re really here . And if that’s the case, dying seems like a bad idea.”

“Shira concurs,” Pierce said. “Death would surely be a traumatic experience. Even if we survived, we might be left comatose, wounded spirits trapped within our physical bodies.”

“Oh, right. Shira.” With everything else that had been going on, Pierce’s pet spirit had slipped his mind. “Are you sure about her, Pierce? From what Thelania said, haven’t we just brought the dragon to the hoard?”

“I believe in her, captain,” Pierce said. “This is not her home, and these are not her people. She was as horrified to see that creature in the hall as you were.”

“If you say so.” Daine frowned. The desert came to an abrupt end ahead, with nothing but stars visible beyond the sand. “Jode?”

“Don’t worry,” Jode said cheerfully. “It’s only the end of the world.”

A vast chasm lay ahead. If it had another side, it was beyond the range of Daine’s eyes.

“So where do we go now?” he said.

Jode pulled his hand free and pointed to the sky. Daine followed the gesture and drew his breath in wonder. A dragonshard floated above them, a golden crystal burning with inner light. It was larger than any shard Daine had seen, as large as a wagon-and it was the first and smallest in a chain. A belt of golden dragonshards rose into the sky and curved across the horizon.

“The Ring of Siberys,” Lei said, her voice filled with wonder.

Jode smiled. “Welcome to the sanctuary of the dragons.”

The Ring of Siberys. The golden belt that stretched across the sky. According to legend, it was the remnants of a great dragon, slain at the dawn of time. Some stories said the first dragons were formed from the blood of Siberys, or that the Ring was the ultimate source of magical energy. Most of the sages of House Cannith dismissed these myths, but there was no denying the magical power within the golden dragonshards that fell from the Ring. And shards of such size-the wonders that could be forged with such things!

It’s just a dream! Lei looked away from the light, feeling foolish. Nothing here was real. This was someone’s imagining of the Ring, nothing more.

Daine’s concerns were more practical. “So where are the dragons?” he said.

“I never promised dragons,” Jode replied. “What lies ahead are the dreams of dragons, and dragons long dead at that. I don’t know what form this eidolon of yours will take. Whatever it is, it’s somewhere up there. In the Ring.”