poured into the edges of his closed mouth, forced itself into his nose, his eyes, his ears, and finally closed over his head.
He felt the cold breeze blowing through his clutching fingers, then savage jaws closed about them …
Antyr opened his eyes. There was a bumping sound from the adjacent room, as if the envoy were drumming against the wall.
Antyr grimaced as indignation and horror swept over him. It was partly his own, partly that of Tarrian and Grayle. The power, the terrible skills of the men that had murdered Nyriall, that had been at the heart of all the events of the past days, stood clear in the envoy's dream.
Scarcely one jot of it had been of his own making. They had taken his most primitive fears and desires and woven them into the images of their will, to use him like some grotesque puppet. To the Dream Finder and his Companions, it was obscene beyond belief.
'Mankind unfettered is beyond all understanding,’ Tarrian said, scratching at the floor in bitter frustration.
'What's the matter?’ Estaan asked, yawning.
'The envoy's had his dream,’ Antyr replied quietly, wiping his forehead. ‘Poor devil.’ He sat up and swung his legs on to the floor. The two wolves stood up and came close to him. He stroked them both.
'You seemed quiet enough,’ Estaan said, wide awake now. ‘Not like at Nyriall's. Did anything interesting happen?'
Antyr, however, was still in quiet communion with his Companions. ‘If I had the power that these creatures have, I'd shine a great light into the souls of these benighted people,’ he said, voicing his thoughts. ‘Turn them away from their grim beliefs, turn them to knowledge and beauty. Not use it to deepen and darken their ignorance still further.'
He took the two wolves by the scruffs of their necks and shook them both gently. ‘What say you, dogs?’ he said.
'Whoever they are, they're powerful and skilful,’ Tarrian replied. ‘Who knows what devilment they intend. We must hunt them down and destroy them.'
'And you, Grayle?’ Antyr asked.
'They took Nyriall from me at a whim,’ Grayle replied. ‘I need nothing other than that to kill them.'
The wolf's single-mindedness was chilling. Antyr patted him.
'Please, tell me what's happened,’ Estaan said plaintively.
'We must waken the Duke,’ Antyr said, ignoring the plea.
'At this time of night!’ Estaan exclaimed. ‘Is it essential? I doubt he's had much sleep these past two nights. What's going on?'
Antyr looked at him thoughtfully. ‘You're right,’ he said, then he looked at the two wolves, their eyes yellow, their postures expectant.
He nodded, and lay back on the bed. Tarrian and Grayle lay down also and, with a grateful nod, Estaan relaxed back into his chair.
'Find the Duke,’ Antyr said to his Companions.
The Dreamselves of the two wolves hurtled into the darkness.
Chapter 25
Darkness. Twittering wisps of fading dreams.
'Sire?'
Recognition.
'Antyr? How…? I'm not dreaming. Am I?'
'No, sire. But you are asleep. I've sought you thus to tell you that the men who slew Nyriall and who have troubled us these past nights, have visited the envoy.'
'Visited?’ Alarm. Guards! ‘How?'
'Rest easy, sire. They came through his dreams. They conjured the form of the Bethlarii god Ar-Hyrdyn from him, and tormented him cruelly. He is Ar-Hyrdyn's priest.'
'I feel your pain and anger, Dream Finder. Are you certain it was they?'
'Beyond doubt, sire. Their presence is unmistakable. And they faltered and then punished him when he asked to see their domain again.'
'I don't understand.'
'They have perhaps tempted him before with some joy in the Threshold, but since my arrival there to protect Nyriall, they are uncertain about their mastery there.'
Appreciation. ‘To what end was this visitation?'
'I cannot say, but it was no good one. He was to have died here, at our hands, seemingly, but your will prevailed. Now, he is to live and return home.'
'Why?'
'They say his task is finished … or changed. He's been spying, and he'll spy further.
Indifference.
'He's a soldier.'
Silence.
'What did you learn of these … men … who can enter and change dreams thus?'
'They are powerful, skilful, and malevolent.'
'What is their intention?'
'I don't know. But it's evil beyond anything I care to think about. They said that Whendrak is now the lure.'
The lure …?
'To what?'
'I don't know.'
Anger.
'I know only that they must be sought out and destroyed.'
Surprise. ‘There is the law yet, Dream Finder.’ A reproof.
'They are demented in their evil, and beyond all law, save kill or be killed, Ibris.'
'I hear you, wolf, and shall weigh your judgement in due time.'
'I am not of your pack or your kind, Ibris, and thus am beyond your judgement, just as
Silence.
'I hear you still, wolf. And trust you. What shall I do?'
'Lead your people, pack leader. War is coming.'
'And what shall you do, Antyr?'
'Find them.'
'How? Where?'
Silence.
'And when you find them?'
'I am changed.'
'Indeed. I feel your power. But …?'
'Lead your people, sire. I shall tell you what I can, when I can, if I can. Guard our bodies as need arises.'
'But…'
'Do this, sire.'
Silence.
Doubt.
