The Gates of Night: The Dreaming Dark - Book 3 Read Online Free PDF Page A

back. “Still … good work, both of you. Where are we?”
    “Nowhere.”
    “And how far is that from somewhere?” Daine said.
    “About as far as can be. Until I complete the sequence and open the door, we’re caught between worlds. We’re … hypothetical, if you will.”
    Ethereal
.
    “Ethereal,” Pierce said, echoing Shira’s thought.
    “That’s right. We can stay here as long as we want.” Lei spread her arms, stretching against the floor. “I’m completely exhausted. If I’m going to tend your wounds—or help our drow passenger—I’m going to need some sleep first. We should be safe here.”
    “Should
be?” Daine said.
    “Nothing’s certain.” Lei shrugged. “I’m not exactly a seasoned planar traveler. It’s possible there are, I don’t know, crystal orb-eating ethereal whales drifting about—”
    There are no crystal orb-eating ethereal whales
. Pierce refrained from sharing Shira’s observation.
    “—but if so, I’ve never heard of them. And if something does attack us, I could finish the transition with a word.”
    “And then we’ll be somewhere,” Daine said.
    “Yes.”
    “And that will be?”
    “Thelanis.”
    Daine sighed and sat down. “I hate to disappoint you, Lei, but I don’t even know if that’s a city, a country, or a plane of existence.”
    “Ignorant savage.” Lei sat up. “It’s a plane. Have you heard of the Faerie Court?”
    “A magic realm filled with baby-stealing spirits, bottomless cauldrons of gold, and sinister hags who curse arrogant princesses?”
    “You don’t have to go to Thelanis to find a hag,” Lei said. “But that’s the one. According to the stories, it’s much like the world we’re used to. There’s just more magic around. Spirits in the water and the trees, that sort of thing. What’s important is that it’s supposed to be one of the easiest realms to travel to or from. The reason wehave so many faerie tales is because people accidentally fall into the realm, or because the spirits of Thelanis—the fey—make their way to Eberron. So not only is it not a lake of fire or endless tundra, but with luck we should be able to find a path home.”
    It’s not quite that simple
. Again, Pierce chose to ignore the alien thought.
    “It’s not quite that simple,” Daine said. “Sovereign and Flame, what have we
done?
Tashana, Lakashtai … I don’t know what to think.”
    “So don’t,” Lei said. “Sleep.”
    Daine sighed, but he finally nodded. “You’re right, I suppose.”
    “Was there ever any doubt?” Lei pulled blankets and pillows from her pack; the magical satchel held an astonishing amount of supplies, and within moments Lei was laying out two bedrolls.
    “Do you have enough for three?” Daine said. He’d made his way over to the wounded drow woman and was studying her wounds. He carefully lifted her off the ledge.
    “I only packed for the two of us.” Even Pierce could hear the slight chill in Lei’s voice. It wasn’t much of a surprise. Daine had had dealings with these dark-skinned elves, or drow as they appeared to be called. But Lei and Pierce had been captured by drow, Lei almost killed by them. This woman had helped to rescue them, and it was clear that she was of a different tribe from their enemies. But the half-drow Gerrion had also rescued them from one enemy, only to betray them at the end. This woman was a stranger, and after Gerrion and Lakashtai it was hardly surprising that Lei would be suspicious of strangers.
    Then Pierce noticed something—an anomaly, atrivial detail that had slipped by even his keen eyes in the excitement.
    “My lady,” he said. “Your hand.”
    She glanced over at him. “What?”
    “You are no longer injured.”
    Lei dropped the blanket, and Daine almost dropped the woman he was carrying as he rushed to Lei’s side. She held her hand out, as if it were a treasure. Earlier in the day, the warforged Hydra had severed the smallest finger on her left hand. Her glove was