Anusha reached the tunnel fork where Yeva waited.
Yeva eyed Japheth, then glanced back along the way they'd just come.
"Is he following us?" Anusha asked.
"I don't see a Lord of Bats or anything else. The tunnel's clear as far as I can see."
"Good." Anusha shifted Japheth's bulk slightly on her shoulders. His weight was becoming easier to bear the longer she held him.
"Which way?" said Yeva. "Back toward the orrery, or into the egg tunnels?"
The larger obelisk-studded passage descended in wide loops to the orrery. That chamber hosted too many aboleths for comfort, some of which could see Anusha. Even those that couldn't see her would certainly notice an unconscious human floating in midair.
The other passage narrowed precipitously before splitting into a snake's nest of twisted, winding tunnels.
Quivering masses of white jelly dotted the rock walls, each containing a handful of pale orbs the size of a human head. A few of the white blobs were much larger, easily twice the size of a man. The obelisks of the larger corridor continued into the smaller maze of tunnels, though only one tunnel seemed lit with candlelike purple flames.
Anusha made up her mind. "This way," she murmured. She pushed up the slight grade leading into the egg tunnels. Though upward was closer to the Eldest, she hoped they could find a niche or some sort of aboleth version of a closet to shelter in prior to reaching the city's apex. Japheth needed tending. If they could wake him, maybe he could deliver them from Xxiphu in one fell swoop.
The rotting, salty smell redoubled as they plunged into the sinuous maze. Anusha took the first tunnel whose obelisks didn't burn with purplish radiance. The aboleth they'd seen earlier lighting the obelisks had gone a different route. Anusha hoped the branching tunnels without light contained no roused monsters.
The passage looped up and around in a wild curve. The regularity of its width suggested it wasn't quite a natural tunnel, but the chaotic way it wound around argued the other way. It didn't take long for the purple light to fail, leaving only the mucous green glow that seemed a feature of Xxiphu's air.
Every so often another tunnel split off, spiraling away on a separate egg-smeared path. She wondered just how many eggs were stuffed into the reeking corridors.
Anusha tried to track their course by taking every leftbranching corridor. Unfortunately, not all the passages diverged to the left or right-some dropped straight down, others led up, and several settled on some angle in between. Perhaps she should have asked Yeva to blaze a trail so they could retrace their steps? Maybe that was what the aboleth had been doing with its purple flames.
"Stop," she called. She was second-guessing how many left branches they'd taken.
The warlock groaned.
"Is he awake?" Yeva said.
Anusha carefully slid Japheth to the floor. The man appeared to be waking from his deep slumber.
"Japheth? How are you?" Anusha said.
Blinking was about all he could manage, but at least he was conscious.
Seeing him so defenseless and confused made her throat ache in a way she was unprepared for. He was the reason she was trapped here. But now… she was the reason he was here too. He'd been looking for her. How he'd managed to find her-what struggles and obstacles he must have overcome to reach her side-she couldn't even guess. And there he lay. He'd succeeded. He was the worse for wear, true, but even now he was coming around.
Japheth's powers had proved equal to the task of finding her against all odds.
Real hope flushed her, and with it came a swell of affection. It was good to see him.
She placed a palm on his forehead and willed herself into visibility.
"Japheth, wake up," murmured Anusha. Her voice drew his attention. His eyes focused and found her.
They were bloodred.
Anusha pulled her hand away.
"Where am I?" he said.
"We're safe, for the moment," Anusha said. "Long enough for you to get your strength back, I hope." Japheth took a deep breath.
"Anusha," he said. "Is it really you?"
"Yes, it's me," she replied. "My dream, anyhow. I hope you didn't leave my sleeping body back in that iron carriage you arrived in."
Japheth considered for a moment. He looked around, obviously trying to figure out where he was. The creases on the bridge of his nose deepened to canyons.
He tried to rise, and Anusha helped him to his feet.
He said, "No. I didn't leave your body in the trek bell. Good thing, huh?"
She surprised herself by laughing.
It was a release. Her reticence evaporated and she flung herself into his arms. At least she tried to-his hands passed right through hers.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said. Being insubstantial was as much a curse as a blessing.
She concentrated, willing herself to solidity, then grasped his hands in hers. They were warm and strong.
"Gods, I've missed you," he said, staring into her eyes. "We had so little time before…" The red pupils distracted her from the sentiment, but only a little.
"I'm still angry with you, you know," said Anusha. She blushed. Actually, she felt the opposite of angry just then.
He nodded, then leaned slightly toward her, his hands tightening on hers. She bridged the remaining distance to kiss him.
Her concentration tattered. She grasped emptiness and kissed only air.
Intellectually, she knew she'd lost the mindfulness required to evoke a solid form. Emotionally, in that instant, losing the embrace still felt like a punch to the heart.
"There's no time for this!" came a voice from behind them. "Reunions are wonderful things when safety is assured. But aboleths prowl these tunnels, and the Eldest wakes! Warlock, can you get us out of here?"
"Who said that?" said Japheth. He scanned the tunnel in both directions.
Anusha swallowed. Yeva's interruption couldn't have come at a worse time, but the woman spoke sense. "It's Yeva," she told the warlock. "She was trapped like I was."
"She is invisible to me. She is a dream spirit like you?"
Anusha nodded. "Yes. We met where I broke free of a wall of captured dreams. I think my escape triggered her release too."
"Captured dreams?" repeated Japheth. "More minds than just yours have been stolen by this city?"
Yeva broke in. "The Eldest lies in deathlike sleep, and his memories have settled out of mere conception over the eons. They coat the interior of Xxiphu like frozen dew. Those who draw too near without a body are snared like the rest of his memories."
Japheth narrowed his eyes, obviously unable to see the speaker. But he nodded, as if remembering something he already knew.
"Look, there," Yeva continued, pointing… a gesture Japheth also missed. Anusha followed Yeva's finger to another patch of ice like those she had misidentified in the orrery chamber. Even Xxiphu's nursery walls contained the cast-off recollections of the oldest aboleth.
The warlock continued to look around until he saw the ragged ice face on his own. His brow furrowed, but he didn't approach it.
"Where exactly are we in Xxiphu? The last thing I remember is falling through my cloak when the Lord of Bats burst the trek bell…" "We're in the spawning chambers," said Anusha, "safe for now from roving aboleths."
The warlock sighed. He turned back to Anusha. His eyes were just as scarlet as when she'd first seen them. She didn't remember his traveler's dust lasting so long.
He said, "If I'd known what we risked when I first gave you the elixir, I-"
"Hush," she murmured.
"We can make good our escape now. Though… your conveyance is destroyed, and I think your fiery-winged friend carrying it may be no more."
"An angel of exploration. Summoned by Neifion to pierce the distance between us. Yes… Gethshemeth caught the angel."