“Will he need any help thatwecan give him?”
“True. Move over.”
Kaylin rolled her eyes, but before she could respond, the eye that was covered by translucent wing caught movement in the haze. Something that looked like fog, but grayer, darker. It had no distinct shape, not immediately; it looked more like a body bag. She could not see it through her right eye. “I take it back,” she told the Dragon.
“What’s changed?”
“I think thereissomething in there.”
“Terrano?”
“He didn’t answer.”
“Maybe,” the Dragon said, glancing at Kaylin, “he couldn’t hear you.” It was just enough warning that Kaylin could bring both her hands to cover her ears. Or one hand; Spike was in the other and she didn’t think attempting to jam half of him into her ears was going to help her hearing much.
Bellusdeo roared. Kaylin was vaguely impressed that the roar encompassed syllables. Something in the fog, however, was not; it froze. The Dragon’s voice appeared to echo; the ground started to shift beneath their feet.
A head poked out of the haze. It didn’t appear to be attached to anything else, but Kaylin recognized it immediately. She also recognized the expression. “Will you stop thatright now? You’re panicking everyone!”
Bellusdeo folded her arms, but fell silent.
“Step back,” Kaylin suggested.
“No.”
“I don’t think he’s bringing anything through that can kill us.”
“Not us, no.”
“Fine. I don’t think he’s bringing anything that can killme.”
“That is inaccurate,” Spike said.
Her familiar hissed. The laughing hiss. “Nothing thatwillkill me, then.”
“That is conjecture,” Spike replied.
“Are you capturing this?”
“Yes. I am uncertain that you will be able to view it. Your vision is extremely limited, as is your ability to interact with the world.”
Kaylin sometimes felt like companions were just a form of portable criticism, like portable mirrors, but less helpful.
“I believe Terrano is attempting to engage the layer that you occupy now. He is having some difficulty.”
The small dragon withdrew his wing with a noisy, rattling sigh. He looked pointedly at his theoretical master, and she nodded. “Go.”
He lifted himself off her shoulder as Bellusdeo said, “He should stay in contact with you.” But there was a slight rise at the end of that statement, as if the sensible warning was uttered with some doubt.
If the familiar heard, he failed to reply; instead, he floated toward the visible haze. He didn’t disappear into it, which was good, but inhaled as if he intended to breathe on it, which was less good. Maybe.
He exhaled a cloud of silver mist while she was still considering.
Where the mist hit the haze, the two combined. She had half expected the haze to freeze, but it didn’t. It seemed to become more solid—and more silver—where the familiar’s breath touched it, but no distinct shape emerged from the combination. He inhaled and breathed again. The mass became harder, reflecting a light that didn’t have any obvious source.
As it did, Kaylin thought it looked like a cave, or a silvery, slightly melted version of a cave. And standing in its mouth, she could see Terrano. He had his left arm beneath the arms of another person, or at least something vaguely person-shaped, and as he approached the mouth of the cave, that person began to...cohere. She was a Barrani female, or rather, the ghost of one; she was transparent, but not in the way Kaylin’s familiar was. Terrano’s arm should have passed through her. It didn’t. But Kaylin was certain he would be the only person present who could touch her.
The stranger lifted her head; her hair was ghostly, all color leached from it by lack of solidity. She lifted her chin, straightened her shoulders, but did not pull away from Terrano. Possibly because she couldn’t. His grip was tight, his eyes the darkness of chaos or shadow. His form, however, did not waver.
