Two footsteps, one breath.Three footsteps.Two breaths.
I hit the wall—or sensed I did.I could not see it here in the Other world, but a barrier of cold assaulted me.
My third inhale.The cold faded, and I carried on another pace, my entire body quavering.Fae dragonflies converged upon me, the humming swirl of their wings the only sound in the spectral realm.
Through their brilliant aura I made out other lights, reflections of Otherborn power trapped in the human world.They were blurred and dimmed, somewhere far above.
Mages.
I let out my third breath and drew my fourth.I held that last gulp of air, cheeks puffing.
We’re on the other side of the wall?You’re sure?I murmured to Tane.My skull rattled with a hundred horrific images—me returning to the physical world to be wholly encased in stone, or perhaps half-encased, a leg or arm or hip crushed.My blood would stain the whitewashing, and the pain would go on and on as Tane fought to keep me alive.
I am certain, Tane reassured me.Go on.
The dragonflies scattered as I let out my fourth breath in a long, tremulous gust.The Dark Water faded.I stood a pace inside the fortress’s curtain wall, wrapped in shadow.
Another wall, a whitewashed one footed by cobblestones, brushed the tip of my nose.I let out a strangled squeak.A stray dragonfly, clinging to my clothes, took flight and whirred dazedly up into the sky.
My knees wobbled with relief and terror.I staggered backwards against the curtain wall—cold and solid and unyielding, with dormant moss clinging here and there.Touching it only made me feel worse.I pushed off and huddled between the two barriers, contemplating lying on the ground and letting the snow fall on my face for a few minutes.
Then I heard the distant church bell and knew I had to move.Eleven bells.I needed to have Ben at the docks at twelve.
An hour in this place.Just an hour.I could do that.
I rose and put a hand on the white wall of the keep.Here, hidden from sight, I could afford a small risk.
Tane slipped from my skin, glowing softly in the night, and passed through the second wall alone.I saw the world beyond through hercautious eyes.The interior was plastered, once lovingly painted in intricate designs, now faded.A raw stone floor, a room full of barrels and crates and a staircase up a natural rise in the rock to empty, sleeping kitchens.
A pace and a half.Tane slipped back into my flesh.Let me guide us.
I hesitated.Tane and I might share a body, and occasionally she spoke through me when she wanted non-ghiseauto understand her.But letting her take control of my body was something that we had only ever done in the gravest of circumstances.
Are these circumstances not grave enough for you?she asked amusedly.
Fair.
I felt a strange rush, then I was moving without conscious effort.Again, Tane pulled us into the Dark Water.Again, I rematerialized beyond the barrier, this time possessed of a deep, knowing assurance that I wouldn’t end up half inside a wall or a barrel or a shelf or a door.I was still nauseous, but even that was not so intense.
Thank you, I said, and meant it.
May we continue this way?I can direct when need be.Otherwise, I will scout ahead.
Yes, please.
I started for the stair.Tane preceded me, half-manifested and serving as my spectral vanguard.
The kitchens smelled distantly of lemon and sage and grains, fermenting in huge pots on the sleeping stove.I crept on into an empty passage, past closed doors that failed to muffle the shuffles and snores of sleeping humanity—servants and off-duty guards, I guessed, as the rooms had no exterior locks.
Another passage.A stair.We stepped into the Dark Water again for four more breaths to reorient ourselves with the mass of captive magelight and then hastened across an empty hall lined with three huge tables.
Footsteps brought me up short.I grabbed the nearest door handle.Locked.
Tane?
Her light slipped through the wood, washing my face in a dangerous glow.A glimpse of the space beyond—a staircase—then she was back in my flesh.Without falter the ghisting stepped us into the Dark Water and through the door.
I rejoined the human world just as footsteps reached us.Then, to my horror, they stopped.I heard the jangle of keys.Low murmurs.A soft laugh.
