“It’s your mind,” Alena answered. “Here, the power of the mind is even more real than in our world. Give yourself a few moments. Nothing you see is real, exactly, but is a representation your mind creates.”
“So this is a dream?”
“Of a sort. Except actions have consequences here.”
The images in his brain suddenly solidified, but what he saw was completely beyond his comprehension. He and Alena stood in a large open space, the ground lined with bricks.
In front of them, hundreds, if not thousands, of pale soldiers were lined up in formation.
Lolani warriors.
As startled as Brandt was by the warriors, though, his attention was drawn to two women standing about a dozen paces away from them. One of the Lolani was familiar.
The soulwalker from the cave. She was the one in contact with the gate. As Alena and Brandt watched helplessly, the soulwalker reached out her hand and grasped the outstretched hand of the other woman.
A shock ran through every bone in Brandt’s body. Though he couldn’t understand the source of his knowledge, he knew that a connection had just been made.
Alena understood before he did. “The gate is open.” She looked out over the assembled warriors. “She intends to lead them through. We’re too late.”
The second Lolani woman turned to them, somehow towering over them even though Brandt swore they were the same height.
The woman possessed an otherworldly beauty. Brandt found himself attracted to her in ways that he didn’t understand. She drew him toward her until he felt a pull on his arm. He glanced back and saw Alena grimacing with effort.
The woman waved her hand and Alena collapsed, hands to her chest. Though she made no sound, she looked to be in terrible agony. Brandt wanted to help her, but he wanted to be closer to the woman more. He turned and realized he was already in front of her, bending the knee.
He didn’t remember getting here, but it felt right.
The woman reached out and cupped his chin in her hand, pulling his gaze up until their eyes met. Her eyes were like deep still pools. Brandt knew he could dive into this woman’s soul and spend eternity there. He’d never met a woman like her.
Then she spoke, her voice creating a shiver that ran up his spine. He almost moaned in ecstasy. “It was foolish for you two to come to this place.”
Her gaze broke from Brandt’s, looking beyond him. She frowned. Brandt glanced behind him. Alena struggled to her knees.
Brandt’s heart pounded with sudden fear. He understood, for the first time, the danger they were in. With the speed of thought he had a knife in his hand. He stabbed out at the Lolani woman.
A scream broke from Alena’s throat and she collapsed again. She kicked wildly, apparently struggling for air.
But Brandt didn’t care. He was with the only person in the world that mattered.
Something in the Lolani woman’s demeanor changed, though. She watched them with an appraising eye. “I see why he let you live. Your will is admirable. Perhaps there is a place for you in my new world. Swear fealty and live.”
Brandt wanted to please her, but she needed to know the truth. Even in this place, he could feel his body dying. “I do not have long to live, my queen.”
“You are the one in contact with the gate, are you not? A problem easily remedied.”
For a moment, his world went white, a sharp blinding pain beyond any agony he’d ever experienced.
Then it was gone. He still kneeled in front of his queen, but his body was healed. It was weak but intact.
“A gift for you, a rare treasure given in honor of the strength you have displayed. Now, do I have your word?”
Alena gasped for air, the invisible, unbreakable grip on her throat gone. The woman’s attention had left her for the moment.
She didn’t dare move. Ever since she had stolen the gatestone from Zane Arrowood, she had been exposed to powers that stretched the limits of her comprehension. But here, in this place, she realized that all she had seen and experienced before were the acts of children beginning to explore their world. The woman that Brandt kneeled in front of exuded will, a boundless strength that dwarfed even Alena’s connection with her gatestone.
Such a power was inconceivable.
Whoever this woman was, she was the one behind every action. She had guided Kye and brought the Lolani to the shores of the empire.
The woman was the queen of the Lolani people. Perhaps they used a different title, but she ruled them absolutely. Even though the queen’s attention wasn’t on her, it took nearly every scrap of focus Alena possessed to keep her thoughts safe from the woman’s will. If Alena lost her struggle, she would find herself on her knees beside Brandt.
This wasn’t compulsion, not as she had seen it before.
It was one’s soul conceding dominion to another.
Such strength terrified her and sapped her will to fight. What was the point against such a strength? The whole empire would crumble against this woman.
She summoned her father’s knife. For a heartbeat, it wavered in her grasp, then became solid. She didn’t swing it or stab at anything. If she could get close enough to the queen she might try, but she doubted the queen would allow that.
And there was nothing here to cut. No threads of compulsion weaved their way around her.
But the knife served as a focus. So long as her gaze was on her father’s steel, she remembered what she was fighting for.
Sometimes, she knew, there was no chance of victory. But the fight still mattered.
Alena rose to her feet.
Beyond Brandt, Alena saw she had gotten the queen’s attention once more. The woman gestured, and the last soulwalker stood in front of Alena, blocking her path to Brandt.
A dozen strands of compulsion leaped from the woman, all aimed for Alena’s heart.
Brandt’s mouth worked
