Read The Gates of Night: The Dreaming Dark - Book 3 for Free Online

wrong with that?”
    “You’re giving up.”
    Daine scowled. He felt anger and frustration building in his mind, and in that moment a bank of clouds passed over the sun. “And what should I be doing?”
    “Finding Lakashtai.”
    A peal of thunder shook the room, and outside the window, rain began to fall. Daine turned to Jode, and now he felt real anger. “And how would I do that? I don’t even know what she is.”
    “Or what she stole, or why she chose you. Or whether you’re still in danger. Or if your little adventure has placed the entire world in jeopardy!” Jode gestureddramatically. “Just imagine, the fate of Khorvaire could hang in the balance.”
    “You think so?”
    Jode grinned. “Well, no, but wouldn’t it be something if it did?”
    The fierce rain began to slow. “I suppose. I just …”
    Daine let the sentence trail off, looking away. Lakashtai had made a fool of him. He still didn’t fully understand the chain of events that had led him to Xen’drik. When it came down to it, he was ashamed. His weakness had set all of these events in motion.
    “Dorn’s teeth!” Jode bounced off the bed and smacked him in the kneecap. “You didn’t do this.
Lakashtai
did. Now you need to find out how and why.”
    “And how do you suggest I do that?”
    “I think that’s a job for the living,” Jode said. “And now, if you’re quite done with the rain, I think you owe me breakfast.
    “What do you expect me to …” Daine paused in midspeech as the smell of cinnamon and fresh-baked bread rose up through the floor.
    “That’ll do,” Jode said, pausing to savor the scents. “But first, let’s have a look at that arm of yours.”

    Daine’s back itched.
    Someone pulled at his left arm. He opened his eyes, reaching out with his right hand, grabbing hold of…
    Lei.
    “Sorry about that,” she whispered. “I was trying not to wake you.”
    “That’s fine,” he muttered. He sat up, taking in his surroundings. He was back in the sphere. The airwas chilly, and the only light came from the flickering sigils traced across walls and floor. Daine’s thoughts were fogged with sleep, and he had no idea how much time had passed.
    “Let’s have a look at that arm of yours,” Lei said.
    Daine glanced over at her, and for a moment he wondered if he were still dreaming. The situation hardly seemed real. Then his stomach growled … and this time, there was no fresh-baked bread to appease him.
    Lei heard the sound. “I’ve still got some rations in my pack,” she said as she examined his tattered sleeve. “Not much, I’m afraid, but …” Her voice trailed off.
    “What?” Daine said.
    Pierce had been standing at the edge of the room, but hearing Lei’s tone, the warforged turned to look at them.
    “See for yourself,” Lei said. Using both hands, she tore a hole in Daine’s sleeve, widening the gap where Tashana’s claws had torn into him.
    “Hey!” Daine said, but he fell silent when he saw the skin below. The wounds Tashana had inflicted were gone, with no trace of bruise or scar. “That’s good work. Can you do anything about—”
    “I didn’t do it.” Lei said. “I worked on Pierce while you were sleeping, and prepared a healing charm for you. But I didn’t use it.”
    “It may have been the same force that restored your hand, my lady.” Pierce had moved closer, to better examine Daine’s arm.
    “I suppose,” Lei said. “If her claws hadn’t cut through the skin, I might think it was all some sort of illusion—”
    “Jode did it,” Daine said.
    The others just stared at him.
    The dream was coming back to him. Unlike his visions from the Keldan battlefield, this one was more like a true dream; the details were faint and fading. “I remember now. He healed me just before I woke up.”
    “Woke up,” Lei repeated. “You’re saying that Jode did this in a dream?”
    Her tone irked him. “Do you have a better explanation?
Something
fixed your finger.”
    Lei sighed.