He heard her again, farther away, an edge of panic and despair in her tiny voice. She was in trouble. Another fragment of his psyche returned to him. She needed his help.
With an act of will, he reassembled his essential being, transforming from the detached witness back into himself in an instant, willing himself toward the surface of the firmament, casting his awareness across the whole of creation and finding Chloe in a construct of her own making, oblivious to the plight of the world, lost in a fantasy that looked exactly like the Valley of the Fairy Queen.
“Short people aren’t supposed to be here,” she said chidingly, when Alexander appeared before her.
“Chloe, it’s me, Alexander.”
“That’s a good name, but you’re still not supposed to be here. The way out is that way.” She spun into a ball of light and vanished, giggling.
Realization of what was happening slammed into him and he snapped back to his own body, severing his connection with the firmament immediately, and by extension, cutting Chloe off from it as well.
He opened his eyes and found himself slumped over in his circle, pillows propping him up so he wouldn’t fall off the low table that the circle was set into. Jack and Anja were pacing, Lita was sitting nearby, and Jataan stood against the wall with his hands clasped behind his back, worry etched into his swarthy face. Chloe lay unconscious just inside the circle on a little pillow.
Alexander was suddenly overwhelmed with a sensation of thirst followed by hunger. When he stirred, everyone in the room came rushing to his side. Chloe woke a moment later, buzzing into the air, spinning into a ball of light, buzzing higher and higher with each spin until she was at the ceiling.
“He’s back!” she shouted.
Alexander tried to speak, but his throat was so dry he started coughing, a rough, dry, sharp cough that felt like he’d swallowed broken glass. Lita gently brought a cup of water to his lips. He seized it, gulping it down as quickly as he could, spitting most of it right back up in a spasm of coughing and wheezing.
Jack handed Lita another cup of water.
“Slowly,” she said, holding it up to him.
Alexander had to make an effort to sip the water. Every part of his body cried out for it like he was dying of thirst, but he took just enough to wet his mouth and throat, swallowing with effort, before taking another sip, then another, until he was able to drink freely. Then he drank until his belly felt full, but still he wanted more.
“That’s enough for now,” Lita said. “Any more and you’ll get sick. Let’s get you back to bed.”
He tried to walk but his legs wouldn’t do as he wished, so Jack and Jataan nearly carried him, easing him down carefully. His muscles were cramped and stiff, sore and disobedient. Once in bed, he relaxed a bit, but the pain mixed with his dehydration and hunger made the thought of sleep seem impossible until Lita started casting her healing spell. A few moments later he was out.
He woke hungry and thirsty. Fortunately, Lita and Jack were ready, offering him a cup of water and a meal as soon as he opened his eyes.
“How long was I gone?” he asked between a drink and a mouthful.
“Almost three days,” Jack said.
Alexander felt a little thrill of fear race up his spine. He’d become lost in the firmament.
Chloe buzzed into existence, floating over his plate in front of him. “We thought we’d lost you, My Love. I was so worried.”
“I’m sorry, Little One. Thank you for coming to get me.”
“I didn’t even know if I could do that, but we didn’t have any other choice. No matter what we did, you wouldn’t wake up.” She started to cry.
“Hush, it’s all right, you saved me, Little One.”
She floated down and landed on his knee, struggling to stifle her tears.
“How did you find me?” he asked.
“I didn’t … you found me,” Chloe said. “When we couldn’t wake you, I sent my mind into yours and immediately found myself in the firmament. I vaguely remember the first few seconds being disorienting and confusing. I called out for help, but then I was back in the Valley of the Fairy Queen with my family, living as we have for thousands of years. It felt so natural, so real, that I didn’t even realize it wasn’t. I would have stayed there if you hadn’t broken your link with the firmament and forced me to return.”
“What happened, Alexander?” Jack asked.
“I got lost in the firmament,” Alexander said. “It’s hard to explain. I was in a place of such profound peace that I didn’t want to leave. Time had no meaning … I was simply content to be. Even now, I feel a longing to go back there, like I’m being called home.”
“Well, don’t,” Anja said. “You almost died, just like I said you would.”
“I know,” Alexander said quietly.
“Any contact with Siduri?” Jack asked.
“No. In fact, once I got to this place of peace, I forgot all about him.”
“Maybe you ought to give it some time and some thought before you try that again,” Jack said.
“You’re not going to try that again, are you?” Anja asked.
“I have to,” Alexander said. “Siduri is too important to ignore. He can help me master my magic and he may be the key to destroying the shades once and for all.”
“But it almost killed you,” Anja said.
“I’ll be more careful next time and I have some experience to build on, but Jack’s right, I need to think about it for a while before I try again.”
Chapter 32
Several bandage changes, followed by further healing spells, followed by sleep, brought Alexander to the moment he’d been silently dreading. He was on his feet, his leg strong enough, though still a bit tender, his weapons and armor in place, Luminessence in hand. Jataan and Anja flanked him on either side with Lita and Jack well behind them.
Alexander looked to Jataan and Anja in turn; both nodded. He willed the door open, dimming the light in the room to almost nothing in the same moment. Silence and darkness. Alexander breathed a sigh of relief, bringing the light up a bit. Jataan peered outside, listening for any hint of a threat.
“I believe they’ve gone,” he said.
“Good,” Alexander and Anja said in unison.
“Keep an eye on the door while I have a look around,” Alexander said, going to his magic circle.
His leg gave him a few jabs of pain when he sat down to meditate, but once he’d cleared his mind, he slipped into the firmament easily, bringing his awareness into being above his head. He floated out the door and up three levels to the open-sided corridor they’d followed into the underdark, then to the door he’d opened, using only his aura vision to see. A steady stream of insects was moving into and out of the room, but the ones coming out were all going toward the main entrance, away from Alexander and his friends.
He floated toward the way they’d come in. The corridor was littered with the well-picked-over corpses of dozens of overseers, some insects stopping to search for a last scrap but most crawling over the stripped bones without pausing. At the next open door, about half of the insects turned into the underdark, while the rest continued on toward the entry hall.
He floated to the balcony and found a garrison of soldiers setting up behind a shield wall that warded the threshold between them and the entry corridor. The bugs had reached the shield and a few seemed to be stationed on the balcony, but the rest fanned out like search parties taking every viable pathway into the underdark.
Alexander drifted through the shield and into the enemy forces assembling beyond and found them wanting. While several of the ranking overseers were Acuna wizards, most were little more than organized thugs. Palace guards or even Lancers would have been better suited to the task, but the overseers had jurisdiction over the city proper and they weren’t about to give that up, even if it meant losing many of their own men.