The memories play on. Kane is aware of his body, tense and on edge. It pains him to sit there. His consciousness ache s from viewing this.
He sees murder. Bodies flayed open and hollowed out. Vampire tanks and Razorwing fliers. B one giant s and two-dimensional skin golems. War wights in steaming armor. Vampire shock troops with curled blood blades and poison needle rifles.
Whatever it is they seek, Cross is the key to finding it. And the vampire’s enemies in the renegade necropolis of Koth want it, too. The undead nations will destroy each other trying to get it, and they ’ ll crush anyone who gets in their way.
It won’t be long.
Kane fell back from his vision. His stomach churned, and he almost vomited. Ronan, Maur, Jade and Sol had similar reactions. They all looked like they’d just been dropped off a cliff and then caught at the last possible moment.
Kane fell to his knees. H is face touched the ground, and t he concrete was cool against his burning skin. His body shook all over. After a moment, he understood why.
Dread whispers clawed through the air. They were just like the voices they’d heard in the desert before the Ebon Cities tanks had ambushed them. His head shook with pain. Blood dripped out of his eyes like tears and dribbled on the ground around his fingers.
Tortured cries, droning whine s, a high-pitched screech like a thousand wailing birds.
He saw Burke mouth something, saw Turner and Marcus struggle with the control stick. Everything was slow.
He saw Ekko’s face. He knew he was about to die.
Somehow, he stood up. He stumbled forward, seized the control s from Turner, and yanked the cable out of the screen. Sparks exploded across the floor. T he monitor cracked with a sound like a pressure cooker.
T he screech faded, and t he screams melted away. Kane’s arms still sh oo k, but he was a live.
Everyone gasped. Ronan help ed Jade to her feet. Maur and Sol were slow to stand up. Turner and Marcus looked dazed, but they weren’t as bad off as the others. Burke was shaken, but still standing.
Kane handed the ruined controls to Turner, stepped around her, and punched Burke square in the face.
“Dumbass,” he said.
Marcus pulled a gun and aimed it at the back of Kane’s head, but then he froze. Ronan had a kodachi to Marcus’s throat.
“You sure about that, tough guy?” Ronan asked in a quiet voice.
“Enough!” Burke roared. Blood ran down his nose and mouth. “Enough… God damn it, that shouldn’t have happened. The surveillance malfunctioned. Turner?”
“It worked fine the last time we used it…”
“What?” Jade demanded. “Used what?”
“Experimental technology, ” Turner explained. “ We call it a necroscope. It allows us to peer into the v ampire collective consciousness and transform their harmful thought stream into visuals and sounds that humans can comprehend.”
“And when it breaks, it makes our brains pop, ” Kane said angrily. “That’s awesome. Nice work.”
“I did n’t have a choice,” Burke said. “You saw what they’re up to. Four vampires have infiltrated Black Scar. They’ve taken my place, and the place of three of my closest Wardens.”
Ronan let Marcus go. The two men sized each other up, but Turner and Jade stepped in to settle things down.
Kane returned to his seat.
“So I get the fact that your people and Koth have teamed up and are looking for something, and Cross is the key to finding it,” Kane said. “ Great. And whatever it is, the Ebon Cities wants it, too. Swell. That just makes my butt pucker. The question is…what the hell is it? And what does it have to do with the beautiful people over here?”
The Grey Clan members had been largely unaffected by the malfunctioning glimpse into the vampire mind hive. They sat by, passive.
This concerns us greatly, one of them s aid. They spoke into Kane’s mind with his own voice, as usual.
I hate it when you guys do that.
Regardless… the voice continued. One of the entry points to the Whisperlands lies in our territory. That is wh y the Ebon Cities came into our lands.
“Wait…the Whisperlands?” Kane asked.
“Did you hit your head or something?” Ronan asked him. Kane realized that no one aside from he and the Grey Clan c ould hear the entire conversation.
“That’s what Greyface over there said…”
Raal, the voice corrected.
“Ok…sorry…wait, which one are you?”
The shorter, more human Grey Clan stood up.
My companion is Mourne.
“Figures.”
“Mike… who the hell are you talking to?” Ronan asked him.
“Them.”
Ronan and Maur looked at the two Grey Clan, who menacingly looked back.
“Maur thinks Kane is crazy,” Maur said.
“You’re probably right, B ro,” Kane said. “So there’s an entrance to the Whisperlands in your territory…I’m guessing it’s near tho se temple ruins where the Ebon C ities bushwhacked us, right? W ait…not to sound like a moron, but what the hell are the Whisperlands?”
“ One thing at a time,” Burke said. He sounded genuinely exasperated. “Let us explain.”
Kane shrugged. Jade, Ronan, Sol and Maur all sat down.
“The Whisperlands,” Turner explained, “is a transitional realm. The Black reconstructed reality, but not all of the changes — the shifting of creatures or locales, the re — fusi ng of spatial and temporal zones — was complete d. Some of it’ s still going on. Some of it outright failed. Some things that didn’t complete the transition between worlds still exist in exile in the Whisperlands.
“ The realm is finite, but it’s lar ger than one might expect. It’ s also just a shade of the worlds that have passed through it. Over time, any living creatures, structures, and even natural landscape s lo o se most of their original qualities a nd dissolve into darkness-infused version s of themselves. The land is literally drowning in shadow. It saturate s everything.”
“This is exciting,” Sol said. “When does this fairy tale start to make sense?”
“Open your mouth again, and I ’ll shut it for you,” Marcus said.
“Pretty boy, you couldn’t shut a toilet seat cover…”
“Dude, shut up!” Kane yelled. “I’m listening here!”
“ There’s been a recent development. ” Turner kept talking as if nobody had spoke n. Kane decided he liked her, even if he only understood about half of what she was saying. “ A group of m ages ha s discovered the means to enter the Whisperlands.”
“What?” Jade asked. “How?”
“It helps to not be a mage,” Burke interjected. “Though a warlock or witch can better acclimate to the dark environ, they have a more difficult time pulling away if they ever intend to leave.”
“That’s why you didn’t send Jade with us,” Kane said. “Why not Maur?”
“Gol are arcane creatures,” Maur said. “ They do not have spirits, but their bodies are powered by magic.”
“Exactly,” Burke nodded.
“And why did you send us there in the first place?” Ronan asked angrily. “We nearly died destroying that Ebon Cities murder squad and their little hidey hole.”
“There are ways to navigate the Whisperlands, if the right preparations are made,” Turner said matter-of- factly. “Because it’ s a liminal zone with its own spatial rules, it ’ s conceivable that one can travel great distances in our world without having to travel great distances there. More important ly, the Whisperlands can be used to
