Yerin had all six of her sword-arms driven into it for balance. Her steps cracked cobblestones, leaving footprints in rock.
Dross turned his attention to the bundle in Lindon’s arms. [It is rumored that this device was crafted in the very Soulforge Eithan ‘liberated’ from Reigan Shen during his…creative negotiations. It was made with the Path of the King’s Key to be the heart of an isolated new world, similar to my own Ghostwater. I think we should make this one with even more water.]
What about in Yerin’s vault? Lindon asked. He hadn’t been able to penetrate the vault’s protections with his spiritual sense, and neither had Yerin.
[I cannot know, but I can speculate. Option one…]
Yerin glared at Lindon, who gave an apologetic half-bow.
But he wanted to hear Dross guess.
“You fought a mighty battle, did you?” Reigan Shen asked.
Larian nodded seriously. “Top ten of my life. Maybe top three.”
“And yet—” Shen glanced down at a sacred instrument in his hand, then back up. “—it seems my city is still intact.”
“I’m proud of my delicate touch.”
Reigan’s isolated space was made to resemble his treasure vaults, all marble columns and golden display. He didn’t want to break it by hitting it.
So he slapped Larian instead.
She was a projection of her consciousness, so a hit wouldn’t greatly harm her, but he still expected it to land. He was surprised she managed to block in time. His hand struck her gold-armored forearm, and the air of the room cracked.
“Borrowing power from a Herald?” he asked. “For a friendly meeting?”
“That wasn’t very friendly of you.” She gave him a cold grin that, with her blonde hair, made her look uncomfortably like Eithan Arelius. “You’re treading close to a line I don’t think you want to cross, Shen.”
He leaned down into her face until she was forced to lean back. “I do not like it when humans lie to me. They stink when they lie. Especially when they lie to cover up their own stupidity. Do you understand what is at stake?”
“You’ll get your money back,” she said, as though that were what he cared about. “Besides, why are you worrying? The Weeping Dragon will take care of him before you get a turn, and we can take everything back then.”
Shen snarled in her face. “Am I the only one who saw the stars die?”
Larian spread her hands and danced backwards. “Hey, maybe the rest of us didn’t eradicate the Arelius family before learning that their founder was the interdimensional god of death. You know what they say about hindsight, don’t you?”
“You don’t have to see the truth! Just do your job!”
“Performance guaranteed or your money back. We don’t want the world turned upside-down any more than you do. But Shen?” She gave him another of those Eithan-like smiles. “Watch your mouth. There’s more of me than there are of you.”
She disappeared an instant before Reigan Shen tore the whole space to ribbons in his fury.
“I went to the Everwood continent myself for the first time not long ago,” Lindon said. “But it’s a big place. What’s the target here, again?”
Yerin looked to Dross, who stared straight ahead with no expression.
“Bleed me, he can keep his mouth shut. It’s called the Dreamway. Guess Emriss made it so she could slip into the dreams of people all over the world and teach them bits and pieces. Keeps lots of knowledge there. Figure it’s like the biggest dream tablet library we could get.”
Lindon’s heart pounded and he wanted to say something, anything, but he only nodded with mild interest and moved the labyrinth.
[Yes,] Dross said. [Surely there is much to learn from the Dreamway. So much knowledge to receive. Or even to s—grrk. Ahem. Sorry, I had something stuck in my…spiritual throat.]
Yerin leaned over to Lindon. “Are you stone-certain he’s patched up?”
“Oh, he’s fine.” Lindon couldn’t look Yerin in the eye lest he give too much away.
The heart of the Dreamway was buried beneath a tree the size of a city, with blue-green leaves that shone slightly under the starlight. A men’hla tree, the oldest in the world…or the second-oldest, if you counted the Remnant that had eventually ascended to Monarch.
There was security on the facility, but none of it was meant to stop a real opponent. Mostly, it seemed there to deter Lowgold vandals or children running in unsupervised. The Dreamway itself was open to all during the daytime, a fountain of knowledge.