Blood still seeped from the most recent wounds, but instead of falling toward the floor, drops of scarlet floated up around him, lazily drifting through the air. As I watched, first one then another flattened, spreading out and becoming miniature windows into other worlds.
In many of those windows, I glimpsed Juniper and the army camp that surrounded it.
They’re spying on us, I realized. No wonder someone knew to send Ivinius to kill me. They see everything that happens.
Suddenly everything in the tower grew flat, muted, distant. The colors washed out; the world around me began pulling back like a sudden outrushing tide. The tower of skulls—this world of strange geometries—receding into darkness—
Abruptly I found myself back in my body. It was a shock, like leaping into an icy lake, and I gasped.
“Drink…” a voice commanded.
I sat up, sputtering, liquid fire in my mouth and throat.
“What—” I tried to say. It came out as a muffled “Waaa.”
Opening bleary eyes, I found Dworkin crouched over me. He held a small silver cup, which he pressed to my lips. This time when he poured, I tasted brandy, old and smooth.
What had he done to me?
My whole body ached and refused to obey my commands. My hands shook. When I tried to push him away and sit up, I flailed like a fish out of water.
“Taine…” I gasped.
Dworkin jerked, spilling the brandy all over us both.
“What?” he demanded. “What did you say?”
I took a deep breath and summoned my strength. Raising one hand, I pushed him away. My limbs felt numb and weak, like all the blood had drained from my body and been replaced with lead. Rolling over onto my hands and knees took intense effort, but I managed it.
The room swayed dangerously. Grasping the edge of the closest table, I stood.
“Where… ?” I tried to ask. It came out more or less right.
“Give yourself time to recover, my boy,” he said. “You went through a difficult test.”
I frowned. “Yes… I… remember.”
As I sat on the edge of the table, trying to recover my sense of balance, he pressed the cup into my hands. Gingerly I took another sip.
“I know what I did was… difficult for you. But it had to be done.”
“What… had to be done?” I levered myself up on my elbows, sick and dizzy inside.
“I looked within you, within your essence. Turned you inside out, saw what needed to be seen, then put you back together.”
“My head hurts.” Groaning a little, I pressed my eyes shut and rubbed them. What felt like thousands of little needles piercing my skull resolved itself into the sort of headache I’d only had after a night of cheap rot-gut and too many women.
“Oberon…” He hesitated.
I forced open my eyes and gazed blearily up at him.
“You said something just now. It sounded like a name.”
“Taine,” I said, remembering my dream.
“What about him?”
“He’s hurt.”
“Where?”
“It was just a nightmare.” I shook my head. “I can barely recall it.”
“Try,” he urged. “Taine… you saw him?”
“Yes… in—in a tower made of bones, I think.” I frowned, trying to recall the details. “I heard a voice… a serpent’s voice. They had Taine on an altar.”
“They? Who are they?”
“The guards… hell-creatures… but not like the ones in Ilerium…”
“And Taine was alive? You are sure of it?”
“Yes. I think… they needed his blood for something… it dripped up!”
“Go on.” He spoke softly. “What were they doing with his blood?”
“I don’t know…”
“Think! It is important! Try to remember!”
I half closed my eyes, trying to see the tower in my mind’s eye, blood dripping into the air. “They were looking for us, I believe. I saw Juniper in a window made of blood… I think.”
I shook my head, the dream-images slipping away, elusive as will-o’-the-wisps. In another minute they would be gone.
Dworkin sank back on his heels. “Blood drips toward the sky in the Courts of Chaos,” he said numbly. “You have never been there. You could not possibly know…”
“It couldn’t have been real,” I said.
“I think it was. And if you saw Taine… then he is alive! That is good news. I had given up hope.”
“Better off dead, from the look of him.”
“All the children of Chaos heal fast and well. If we can find him… if we can rescue him—”
“Do you think that’s possible?”