20
Alena woke well before the dawn the next morning. Her night had been long and largely restless. Whenever she fell into sleep, a fresh nightmare ambushed her. First it was the cold emptiness of the void she didn’t understand. Then it was visions of Jace, dead on a battlefield littered as far as the eye could see with corpses. Finally it became a variation of her last attempt to explore the gate, twisting and bending her soul in ways it would never recover from.
When she woke from that last nightmare she felt the twisting deep in her stomach. She saw little point in trying to sleep again. Her mind roiled with images she’d rather forget.
She slipped from the tent without disturbing Jace’s slumber. He slept with the same enthusiasm he lived his days with. Jace’s snoring threatened to collapse their tent while they slept inside. Already Sooni was half-joking about moving the siblings’ tent nearer to some mortal enemy for the evenings.
Alena walked until her brother’s snoring faded into the background, until all she heard were the crickets and the sound of the wind through the tall grass. She made herself a comfortable place to lie and watched the constellations lazily spin overhead.
They didn’t make her drowsy, but they did bring her a sense of peace. No matter what happened to her, the stars would shine on. Her life, for all that had happened, meant little when one considered the whole of history, and she always found that thought peaceful.
When the sun rose on the new day, she heard footsteps behind her. She sat up and saw Toren approach. He sat down beside her and offered her a cup of tea. She gratefully accepted it.
“How did you find me?”
“I could feel you.” His tone was matter-of-fact.
Alena frowned a bit at that. She didn’t understand the full extent of his abilities yet, but he seemed quite sensitive to soulwalking. One question troubled her, though. No one would have judged him for putting all this behind him. “Why join me today?”
“Curiosity.”
She smiled a little at that. Curiosity had nearly destroyed her life once. More than most, she understood its irresistible pull.
Toren wasn’t particularly verbose, even by Etari standards. But she trusted him. He’d caught her when she fell, supported her with Dunne, and brought her tea.
Thank you.
You’re welcome.
Alena sipped at the last bit of her tea. “Well, shall we?”
Yes.
They stood and returned to the tents. They found Jace, who had mercifully woken up, and together they approached the center of Cardon.
Alena’s stomach rumbled, both out of fear and hunger. But after her experience yesterday she didn’t think working with the gate on a full stomach was a wise choice. Toren, it seemed, agreed. The tea would suffice until they were done for the day.
Jace reached the center tent first, holding the flap aside for her to enter. The sight of the broken gate almost stopped her in her tracks.
The gates represented opportunity. Hanns believed as much, and one would be a fool not to realize the possibilities inherent in such power. But they presented a danger as well. Power without control, without understanding, was as dangerous to the wielder as to the wielder’s enemies.
Her legs carried her into the tent. The gate glowed, and she felt the power in the room.
The small group took time to prepare. They had nothing to gain by haste. Alena checked her connections with Toren and with Jace. Then she reached out and connected with the gate.
As always, the power was indescribable. Her imagination painted it as a river, impossibly wide, deep, and fast. She rode on top of the power, dragging Toren with her. When she felt enough control, she shaped the landscape with her imagination. She brought them to the plains of Etar, a place they both felt comfortable.
Toren gained his bearings with surprising speed. He stood and looked around. “Are we in the gate?”
Alena shook her head. “I don’t think so. Connected, but not in.”
Toren looked into the sky. He flexed his muscles and jumped. His leap took him forty or fifty paces high, but he landed softly. He saw her staring. “Imagination and will, right?”
She shook her head. His actions had never occurred to her.
She let him explore for a bit. He ran like the wind and created balls of flame in his hand. While he was otherwise distracted, Alena studied their surroundings. Her mindscape existed on top of the power of the gate, like a boat carried down by a swift current. She was connected, but that connection was weak, almost superficial.
Alena allowed her memories to pull her back to when they’d first encountered the Lolani queen. That environment had felt different. That wasn’t this. That was control over a gate. Command.
She suspected that any problems with the gate required a deeper connection to uncover. Which meant diving into that terrifying current instead of riding on top. She’d pulled Brandt out of that current before. It had almost killed him.
But she didn’t see a choice. She kept the Etari in the front of her mind. Without answers, they would fall.
She caught Toren’s attention. “I want you to imagine a place you feel very comfortable in.”
She felt him trying and let him overwhelm her. Once again they were by the sea. Alena nodded. This place would do. It felt solid underneath her feet. Toren had control over it, which might be needed. “I want you to anchor me.”
“From here?”
Yes. “I’m going to try to connect more deeply with the gate. I’m not sure how I’ll manage once I’m within. If you feel like I’m in danger of losing my life, I want you to pull me out.”
He signed his acceptance. In his hand a thin but strong line appeared. She held out her wrist and waited for him to tie it tight. He did, and she felt his emotion through the bond. His feelings were as calm as a mountain lake. “You don’t seem terribly concerned.”
He signed indifference. “I will do
