The Gates of Memory, стр. 72

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Sheren’s description of the strange beast was frustratingly vague. It took on different shapes, often those related to a person’s fears. And it devoured ghosts, but she wasn’t quite sure how. All in all, Sheren could tell her little that was useful.

Which meant if Alena wanted to learn more, she needed to find the monster and study it herself.

Jace argued vehemently against the idea. As night fell and the four huddled around a fire for their meal, he made his points. “We’re trying to get to Faldun as quickly as possible to stop Hanns from controlling the third gate. That will hopefully help the Etari gate in some way and allow them to keep using their gatestones. Right?”

Alena nodded, knowing well enough where Jace’s argument led.

“So why do you want to stop to fight a creature which sounds plenty dangerous and has nothing to do with the gate or saving the Etari?”

Put in such stark terms, Alena wasn’t sure she knew a good answer. Put honestly, it simply felt right to her. But she couldn’t say why. It was most likely curiosity. She’d just learned that ghosts were real. Of course she wanted to know more. But Jace’s point was valid. Staying here had little to do with their objective, and failure carried a high price.

Sheren interrupted before Alena could answer. “You’re traveling to Faldun?”

“We are,” Alena said.

“If you help me, I will show you a faster route. It will cut days off your travel.”

Alena gave Jace a satisfied look. He shook his head. “It’s still dangerous.”

“So is an unescorted trip to Faldun,” Sheren argued. “The war parties are more active than they have been in some time. You’re safe here, but as you get closer to Faldun, the more Falari you’ll run into. I can help you avoid most of them, and can help you negotiate with other war parties.”

Sheren didn’t completely convince Jace, but she made their reasons for remaining compelling enough to justify Alena’s decision.

After the meal, Sheren, Alena, and Toren soulwalked together. Alena tried to dissuade Toren, but he eagerly sought any opportunity to learn more. In that, he reminded her of herself. She was loath to admit it, but she appreciated his presence. He, at least, was familiar, and she trusted him.

They appeared in the village, richly detailed thanks to Sheren’s memories.

It didn’t take them long to spot their first ghost. The village, nearly abandoned in the physical world, teemed with life in this one. Alena watched, enraptured. Here, the ghosts appeared as real and as solid as Toren. But at the same time, something was missing. Some worked endlessly at tasks, digging in gardens or nursing children. Others wandered, their eyes fixed on distant horizons.

“Why so many?” Toren asked.

“They used to live here, and many of them died in an attack. Ghosts are nothing more than souls that don’t find the gate. Why they didn’t, I’m not sure.” Sheren’s frustration expressed itself in every one of her words.

“Why do you want to help them?” Alena asked.

“They deserve better than this,” Sheren said. “Death is natural. But they haven’t completed the journey.”

Out of curiosity, Alena reached out and touched a ghost, her hand resting on his shoulder. She fell deeper into the soulwalk, finding herself in a familiar and terrifying place.

An endless void.

Alena forced herself to breathe evenly. She searched for the threads tying her to the worlds she knew. It took time, but she felt the faint thread of her bond with Jace. She pulled on it and returned to the village, surrounded by ghosts.

Another ghost stepped by her and she flinched, not wanting to return to that void. Sheren was right. The ghosts needed to find the gate.

“What of the creature?” she asked.

“I don’t sense it. You’ll know when it nears. It warps the world around it.”

“Then let’s get these ghosts to the gate.”

“How?” Sheren asked.

“I’m not sure. But I’m going to try something. When you see it, don’t get too close,” Alena warned. “It pulls at you.”

She closed her eyes, imagining the gate, from the details of its construction to the way it made her feel. And then she imagined it standing in the main square of the village.

Sheren’s sharp intake of breath was evidence enough she had succeeded.

She opened her eyes to see the gate standing there. Already, ghosts had turned toward it, some of them breaking patterns of action they had been trapped in for lifetimes. Alena saw the desire in their eyes.

Toren, too, succumbed to its pull. Of the three of them, he was closest. Alena jogged to him and pulled him away. As she did, his eyes cleared and he shook his head, nodding a silent thanks.

From somewhere far away, something roared, shaking the trees.

“That’s the creature,” Sheren said.

“You two make sure the ghosts pass through,” Alena said. “I’ll hold the creature off.”

“Alena, don’t!” Sheren warned. “The creature is too powerful. Help us usher the ghosts, and when the creature gets close, we’ll come out of the soulwalk. It’s the only way to be safe. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

Toren chuckled. “She’s not going to listen.”

Alena didn’t. She turned toward the sound of the monster, then dashed forward. In this world she could become as light as her imagination would allow, and she skipped across the ground faster than any martial arts master.

The sounds of cracking trees made the beast easy to find.

But beast wasn’t the right word.

It was a creature of smoky shadow, its shape amorphous. As Alena watched, the shadow