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AND THE NEXT, THE staircase and the illuminated quartz walls of the catacombs vanished, only to be immediately replaced by the featureless landscape of a nightmare. Her brain struggled to make sense of the wild energy and produced hallucinations instead. Primordial creatures from the deepest recesses of her unconscious mind rushed at her out of nowhere. They screamed silently.
    It’s just a dream, she thought. Only a dream. You can handle this kind of thing. You’re a dreamlight talent.
    She summoned her will, and the visions receded. The devastating sense of disorientation did not, however. It was as if she was moving through a psi green thunderstorm. She could not tell up from down, could not even feel the hard quartz under her feet. Ghost lightning crackled around her.
    She had expected the vortex winds to grow stronger gradually, allowing time for her senses to adjust to the unnerving effects. Instead, she was instantly swept into the whirling tornado.
    A rainbow of energy encircled her wrist, dragging her deeper into the storm. She fought the urge to try to free herself.
    “I’ve got you. You’re safe with me.”
    Adam’s voice echoed from somewhere in the stormscape. She focused on it. She realized that she could also see the seething currents of his dreamprints. They should have been invisible in this wild energy field. The fact that she could make them out meant that he was even more powerful than she had thought.
    A small monster fluttered toward her through the swirling mists. The creature’s fur stood on end. It had four eyes and six paws and it made an anxious, chortling sound.
    “Gibson,” she whispered.
    He stroked through the green storm until he reached her shoulder. He perched there, murmuring in her ear. The fierceness of the storm receded somewhat. She could make out Adam’s dark shadow now.
    After what seemed an eternity but what was probably no more than a minute or two, she stepped out of the stormscape as suddenly as she had walked into it. The normal world settled into place around her, at least what passed for normal down in the catacombs.
    They were standing in a seemingly endless green quartz hallway. A dizzying maze of identical passageways intersected the corridor at various points. The entrances to an uncountable number of chambers and rooms of various sizes and dimensions were visible as far as the eye could see.
    And all of it glowed with the mysterious light that was characteristic of alien quartz.
    Gibson chortled on her shoulder. No longer concerned about her, he bounded back down onto the floor and fluttered into a nearby chamber to do a little exploring.
    Adam’s alchemist eyes were still hot with the remnants of energy he had used to get them through the vortex. He did not release her wrist. She glanced down and saw that the manacle of rainbow psi that he had used to bring her safely through the storm was rapidly fading.
    “How are you doing?” he asked. “That was a bad one.”
    “I’m okay.” She took a deep breath and realized that was more or less the truth. “I see what you mean about the disorienting effect, though. No wonder vortices are considered such a hazard down here.”
    She realized that he was watching her with a thoughtful expression.
    “You didn’t panic when the hallucinations hit,” he said. “I’ve had some experience taking people through hellholes. No one I’ve accompanied has ever handled the visual effects as well as you just did.”
    “Probably a side effect of my talent. I have an affinity for dreamlight, remember?”
    “You’re strong. You were fully cranked. I could sense your energy field.”
    His intense, watchful expression was a little unnerving. She did not need any more unnerving stuff. She tugged a little at the wrist he held captive.
    He glanced down as though surprised to discover that he was still chaining her.
    “Are you sure you’re back in the here and now?” he asked.
    “I’m sure.”
    He released her with obvious