The Dreaming Hunt (21 page)

“Except there was no heat from the fire,” Will added. “And as soon as the hydra burned up, the crystal wall came crashing down.”

Raina nodded. “And when the whole thing was done shattering and the hydra's fire went out, a gem was left behind, sitting on the ground.”

Phinneas leaned forward in his chair staring intently at her. “Describe it,” he said tersely.

“It was bigger than my fist. Egg shaped. The color of fire. All the hues of flames flickered through it. And it … pulsed. Like a heart.”

“Do you have it?” Phinneas demanded.

“Umm, no. A creature came racing out of nowhere and grabbed it.”

“What creature, child?” With each question he fired at her, Phinneas was growing more tense.

She thought back desperately. “The being looked almost like a piece of the fog. It was shaped like a large humanoid but made entirely of, well, air. It broke off from the rest of the mist and scooped up the fire gem.”

Phinneas leaned back in what looked like dismay. He spoke heavily. “I know not what it was, but that was no simple fire gem, and that was no simple bit of mist. I expect it was a very clever phantasm, indeed, to have taken on the form of a large elemental.”

Aurelius asked quietly, “What sort of elemental, and for what purpose?”

“I do not know. But it obviously gathers items imbued with elemental powers. Because fire magics would not help a wind elemental, one must surmise he scooped up the stone for his master.”

“Who is his master?” Raina asked.

“That I do not know, either. But there have been reports that great elemental forces are at work on the dream plane.”

Aurelius interjected, “Why do elementals cross over to the dream realm? It is not their place.”

“That is an excellent and worthy question, my friend,” Phinneas answered gravely. “The dream plane is the one most closely linked to the material plane and the easiest to cross into this world from.”

“Are you suggesting that some sort of elemental invasion force is being assembled in the dream realm?” Aurelius asked, aghast.

“I'm sure it's not as dramatic as all that,” Phinneas answered mildly.

Raina frowned. “What would happen if an elemental fire creature, possibly a phantasm, got ahold of that gem? What power would it gain?”

“I cannot say. But it could not be good.”

Based on what she'd gleaned from Eben, she knew that elementals were eternally at odds with one another. One element gaining a significant advantage over its opposing elements—even on another plane—was a potential source of serious conflict or even violence.

Phinneas murmured, “What I do not understand is why the dream realm put creatures of such unusual power in your path.”

Rynn added, “And immediately after you arrived. Before you showed your intentions to anyone there.”

Raina traded glances with Will. They knew full well why the plane had tried so desperately to expel them. The creatures of the dream realm had been protecting the Sleeping King, perhaps one of the greatest treasures hidden in the realm. But since neither paxan had phrased their observations as a question, she refrained from offering any explanation.

“Continue,” Aurelius prompted them.

Will took up the story. “We walked a little way through a white fog and came into a forest. A man riding a great black lion came up to us.”

Raina held back a snort. The man had charged them and all but run them down before they could identify themselves.

“Did he have a name?” Phinneas queried.

“Aye. He called himself the Laird of Dalmigen,” Will answered.

Phinneas threw himself backward in his chair and stared back and forth between Will and her. “The laird himself?” the paxan finally gasped.

Will shrugged. “He had a black lion on his shield that was gold. And he called his lion Aegenis.”

Phinneas sent Aurelius a look of incredulity. “I see why you sent for me.” To Will, he said, “Tell me of him. What was he like? Was he stern? Fearsome? Noble in demeanor?”

Raina leaned forward and spoke before Will could. “What do
you
know of the Laird of Dalmigen?”

“He is one of the oldest and most powerful guardians of the dream realm. His purpose has been lost to history, and he does not make appearances oft in modern times. My colleagues and I have conjectured that whatever he guarded has also been lost to time, hence threats to it are few and far between. Beyond that, I know he is described in the annals as a just and fearsome knight, a flawless defender of his charge. Did he truly carry a spear longer than his beast?”

Will nodded. “He called it a lance, and it was at least twice the length of his lion. He carried it under his arm against his side with the tip well ahead of his beast's nose as it charged.”

Rynn sucked in a breath and murmured, “The strength that must take.”

Raina supplied, “He was built powerfully. Although he claimed to be failing with age, I saw no evidence of it. When the drakken came, our friend stayed behind to help him. Cicero reported that the laird fought ferociously and with extraordinary skill.”

“A drakken?” Phinneas exclaimed. “What color?”

“How big?” Rynn asked at the same time.

Will answered before Raina could intervene to stop him. “Green. The first one was huge—the size of a house—but the second one was even larger.”

“Second one?” Phinneas sputtered.

“Is it possible that Hemlocke herself sent them?” Rynn breathed. “Has the Green awakened?”

A green
dragon
? For surely that was what Rynn referred to in those hushed tones of awe. Foreboding skittered down Raina's spine. Everyone knew dragons were purely the stuff of myth and legend. Although she had seen things in the past few months that challenged her notions of what did and did not exist, she simply couldn't credit the idea of dragons being real. Even the dragon-like creatures she and Will had seen on the dream plane were, at the end of the day, imaginary. For what were dreams but random hallucinations of sleeping minds? The drakken must have been manifestations of children's hearth tales, given form by the insubstantial nature of dreams and the dream realm.

“Who are you?” Phinneas asked into the deep silence that had fallen over the room.

Will looked alarmed and silently passed the question to her with a beseeching look. She'd known for some time that there was more to Will's ancestry than he spoke of, but she had never pressed him for details. For her part, now that she was protected from harm by her White Heart tabard, she could afford to speak of her true identity.

“I am the second daughter of a minor house far west of here at the edge of the civilized world. An insignificant holding called Tyrel.” She added, choosing her words carefully, “Will comes from a village in the Wylde Wold. And Rosana has been in the Heart for most of her life.”

The healer's guild was known to take in young children who showed magical talent to raise and train. The Mage's Guild did it, as well. Raina had been lucky enough to be born into a family whose women were mages and could train her at home.

Phinneas assessed them for a long time. Neither she nor Will was inclined to volunteer more information about themselves for the man to mull over, and silence reigned once more.

At long last, Phinneas asked heavily, “Is there more?”

Raina answered quickly lest Will say too much. They had come to the part of the story in need of careful editing. “There was a cliff and some giant falcons. Eventually, we fell through the fog. When we emerged from it, we had landed back at the dream catcher door.”

“Did you accomplish what you intended to on the plane?” Phinneas asked abruptly.

A leading question. Will looked at her in distress. He, too, saw the trap. She answered carefully, “The journey seemed to stabilize Will's health, which had been failing until then. So, in answer to your question, yes. We accomplished what we needed to.”

“And your failing health, boy? What was the source of that? You look like a strapping lad in fine fettle.”

Will glanced over at Aurelius. The solinari nodded, and Will pulled open the laces of his shirt to show the paxan the wooden disk affixed to his chest just over his heart. “It is a piece of heartwood from an ancient tree and contains a tree spirit. It grows into me and cannot be removed without killing me. However, the alien nature of a plant in my human body was poisoning me until our journey to the dream realm stabilized my …
symbiotic relationship
with the disk.”

“Extraordinary.”

Raina had to agree with Phinneas. The fact that the disk had not killed Will still amazed her. Two such different spirits should not be able to coexist in the same body. And yet, he and Bloodroot managed it. She could not imagine the mental and physical fortitude that took. He had confessed once that it was painful and he felt sick all the time. If Will was occasionally grumpy or even surly, she could forgive him for it. If she didn't miss her guess, Bloodroot's connection to rage and destruction tended to bleed over to Will, too. Rosana was good for him. She made him happy. Distracted him from his misery and anger.

Phinneas stared long and hard at Will's disk. “I can only guess at why the denizens of the dream realm took you so seriously. Perhaps because of the particular entrance you used. But it is clear that they did. Whatever you are about is clearly of extreme importance.”

Alarm exploded in Raina's gut. He mustn't figure it out. A knock on the door announcing the arrival of dinner stopped the conversation abruptly, to Raina's vast relief. They'd been venturing onto treacherous ground.

Over supper, Aurelius and Phinneas chatted about trivial matters, mostly gossip and speculation about who the new landsgraves would be. Will and Rosana put their heads together during the meal, murmuring to each other, which left Raina to sit back and observe. If Aurelius and Phinneas spoke obliquely of anything important during the meal, it passed over her head. She did note that Rynn was every bit as keen an observer as she was. He also observed every nuance of the conversation. He would not be one to underestimate.

As the meal was winding down, Phinneas announced, “I would like to send my man, Rynn, with you to assist you with your future endeavors.”

“What endeavors would those be?” Raina asked boldly. She did not want an outsider traveling with them and certainly not one who would attract as much attention as a gorgeous, open-eyed paxan.

“I am sure I do not know, child. But I do know Aurelius, and he obviously thinks your work to be of vital importance. Furthermore, something dangerous gathers power in the dream realm, toward what goal I know not. But I do know you children drew a great deal of attention when you visited the dream plane. I worry that whatever force grows in strength there may come for you. Rynn is gifted at and experienced in navigating and fighting there.”

What was his angle? Did he send Rynn to spy on them, help them, or hinder them? Were they Imperial spies or not? She asked cautiously, “How would you describe your relationship with the Empire?”

Phinneas laughed heartily. “Well done, child. A feint within a feint.” He, too, chose his next words carefully. “Within my race, there are many factions. Many paxan who are native to Koth support the Empire fully, while those native to Mindor … do not.”

Mindor was the home continent of the paxan and wandrakin, and to her knowledge, it had not fallen to the Empire.

“As for Rynn and me—” A pause. “You will understand if I cannot be fond of policies that would put my favorite student to death for the mere fact of his existence.”

She leaned back in her seat, intrigued at his choice of words. He had skirted as close to criticism—which was, of course, treason—as anyone would dare to speak aloud anywhere in the Kothite Empire. But he had stopped well short of saying he opposed Koth.

Aurelius spoke up. “Your colors notwithstanding, Raina, you and your companions will need protection going forward. Rynn is an accomplished warrior in addition to having extensive knowledge of the dream realm. I believe he can be of assistance to you.”

She glanced over at Rynn, who seemed as shocked by this turn of events as she was. In fact, he leaned down to murmur to Phinneas, “But, my master, who will protect you if I leave your side?”

She approved. Loyalty was an important trait.

“I will be fine.” Phinneas reached out and touched his student on the temple. Rynn's eyes closed as if he was watching some moving image that Phinneas inserted directly into his mind. She'd heard of the paxan having extraordinary mental powers. Something called a mind touch. Was that what the two paxan did now?

Rynn's eyes opened, and he looked troubled. “As you wish. I will go with these humans and guard them with my life.”

Will spoke quickly. “Rosana will accompany us, and hopefully, our lizardman and jann friends will rejoin us. Will you guard them, as well, paxan?”

“Aye,” Rynn answered solemnly. “You have my word of honor on it.”

 

CHAPTER

13

Gunther fidgeted nervously in the line of dwarves awaiting permission to pass the roadblock a squad of Imperial soldiers had erected on the Imperial highway. He would not have traveled this route if there were any other way through the great pass south toward Waelan. But he did not have weeks to scale the mighty peaks to either side of the valley, assuming he could even make the climb with his cantankerous mechanical limb.

His turn to pass the roadblock came. Schooling his voice in politer tones than he usually took with troops in the black and red of Koth, he said, “What can I do for you lads, today?”

“We're searching for contraband and banned weapons.”

“Just got my prospecting pick for poking at rocks and a short dagger for cutting my meat.”

“We'll be taking a look in yon pack ye're carrying, old man.”