His hands were steady and his vision unstained by dust. New abilities and insights swarmed in his blood, eager to manifest as spells should he call them. He was'almost elated, but couldn't quite allow himself that pleasure.
Whenever he recalled the ultimate origin of his new spells, a chill shivered down his spine.
One of those spells even allowed him to see Anusha in her golden armor, as well as Anusha's yellow-hued companion who walked ahead, without recourse to the tin of dust hidden in his cloak. Already his new pact was proving useful—above and beyond the usefulness of saving his life, of course.
The warlock realized his hope was on the rise. He knew full well there could be, in fact likely would be, repercussions following the drastic choice he'd made. It was even possible he could fall into the same sort of servitude that marked the first pact he'd sworn to the Lord of Bats. Well, probably even worse than what he'd endured under the terms of his first pact, before he escaped its strictures. The alien stars cared less about mortal kind than even bloodthirsty Neifion.
But no one had promised him his decision would be easy. He might hold on to his independence and sanity, or he might not. He wasn't naive, nor was his ego so inflated that he was going to promise himself a happy ending despite the reassurance he'd given to Anusha. No, he knew the risks. He accepted them in return for the chance to act a little longer on the stage, hopefully long enough to slip Anusha free of her dream form. And if fate was kind, perhaps even a little while longer.
In the short term, he merely had to be careful none of his new spells squirmed out of his control.
Anusha, who walked beside him, allowed her hand to fall into his. It felt warm and real. He was happy for the moment of contact. He knew she could only accomplish that much by paying careful attention.
"I am thankful, you know," she said.
"For what?"
"That you came looking for me. That I'm not alone in this awful place. Even if we fail, I want you to know..."
He knew pulling her into a hug risked breaking the illusion of her solidity. He just tightened his grip on her dreamwrought hand. He said, "I couldn't bear the thought of you down here by yourself. I had to come. There was no choice."
Anusha smiled at that and looked him in the eye. "Once you wake me, holding your hand won't take so much concentration."
"Yes."
"Which means I'll be able to thank you properly."
Japheth's heart jumped. Had he understood her meaning? He decided to interpret her words as his body wanted.
He said, "I look forward to that."
They grinned at each other like fools.
Walking in the lead, Yeva raised a hand. She whispered, "Something odd ahead!"
Japheth released Anusha's hand. They joined Yeva, who stood looking apprehensively around a bend in the corridor.
"What?" Anusha whispered.
"Another chamber ahead, filled with some sort of growth I haven't seen before. I heard voices too. Speaking Common."
Japheth sidled up and leaned to gaze around the comer. The corridor spilled into a wider space that seemed, at least from his limited vantage, overgrown with creepers thick with murky liquid flowing in spastic pulses. Overlarge pears or oranges the color of blood dangled from the growth.
But his attention was riveted by the sound of conversation. He heard his own name!
"Someone's talking about me!" he whispered. The voice was familiar.
Flush in the confidence of his renewed power, Japheth proceeded around the bend despite Yeva's whispered protest.
He advanced into a large space that held a circular pool and a dozen or more exits around the periphery.
And as he'd half expected, Captain Thoster and the wizard Seren stood near the pool as if waiting for him. Near one exit, a woman slumped, obviously exhausted. She looked vaguely familiar—Japheth placed her as a crew member on Thoster's ship. The only one missing was the crazy monk.
Recalling their last meeting, he raised one arm, fingers arranged just so, ready to cast.
Thoster raised a hand too, but apparently in a friendly greeting. "Hoy, Japheth! We have to stop running into each other like this."
The warlock studied the man, who looked far the worse for wear. He seemed to be suffering from some sort of body-wide skin condition. Seren, on the other hand, looked as dour as ever, though at least she'd changed into clothing more suited to exploring a dangerous, city-sized relic.
"Indeed, Captain," Japheth finally said. "You seem to have the advantage of me. You have been waiting here to talk to me?"
"In a manner of speaking, my friend," the captain said. "We're here on account of Raidon Kane, the last Keeper of the Cerulean Sign. He's gone on to take care of things above. But when we noticed you traipsing up from below, he asked Seren and me to have a chat with you."
Japheth eyed the captain. The man obviously had more in mind than a mere chat. The warlock glanced back.
Anusha and Yeva moved to join him in the chamber, but kept quiet as ghosts.
Thoster and the wizard gave no sign they noticed the two dream images, though the woman by the exit drew her sword.
The warlock addressed Seren. "So, what do you want to talk about? I don't have much time. The Eldest is waking."
The wizard said, "Right. Your imbecilic experiments have caused Xxiphu to wake from centuries of sleep."
"Nogah's theft of the stone triggered the Abolethic Sovereignty's awakening, not me," he replied, feeling warm blood in his cheeks.
"Sure, the priestess started the ball rolling, but the damage could still have been contained," Seren said.
"Problem is, you took off with the Dreamheart! Since then, you've continued to tinker with the relic, haven't you? It's directly connected to Xxiphu, idiot. The more you tried to save your little friend, the more the servitors of the Eldest stirred. If you'd given up the stone, Xxiphu might have fallen back into somnolence. Now it's too late."
The woman's speech stirred him to anger. He said in a cold voice, "I don't have to explain myself to you. Now stand aside. I have an appointment with the Eldest."
"I'm afraid not," said Thoster. "At least, not without handing over the stone." The pirate pulled his clicking blade from its sheath. Metallic disks inset flush in the blade whirred with golemlike precision. Poison pulsed within hair-thin conduits running from hilt to tip, whetting the blade's edge with an emerald sheen.
Japheth eyed the captain's weapon, then looked to Seren. "You are against me too?"
The wizard drew her wand and said, "You may be a natural charmer, my dark-haired friend, but you're not bringing the Dreamheart upstairs. If you do, the aboleths will take it from you, and all we've suffered to reach this nightmarish place will be for nothing."
"Don't be too sure," the warlock said. "I've reached something of an accommodation with the creatures of this city." Which was technically true, though Japheth lied by omission. He had an accommodation with the denizens of Xxiphu only insofar as he shared something of the same power they called upon. That didn't make him and the Sovereignty allies any more than it made allies of opposing armies who brandished swords forged by the same dwarf clan.
In any event, his admission didn't allay Seren's concern, it enflamed it. She exclaimed, "You've become a pawn of the Dreamheart!" "No. Listen, none of us have time for this kind of squabble. Aboleths are waking and hatching below, and the Lord of Bats is loose somewhere in Xxiphu too, looking for me so he can have his vengeance. I've wasted too much time already. Stand aside."
Seren sighed, then hurled a magical orb of force toward his head. He turned sideways at the last moment. The orb struck his shoulder. It burst in a flurry of slashing shards.
His blood made tiny ribbons in the air, but the cut was superficial. A few of the force shards scattered behind him. One caught Yeva in the stomach. The strange woman doubled over in pain. He saw Anusha draw her dream blade even as her helm shimmered into place over her head.
Time to try out something more aggressive from his new pact. Even as Thoster charged around the limb of the pool, Japheth called on one of his new star-born powers.