"I know who's got the other half," Arvin said. "Dmetrio Extaminos."
Pakal's eyebrows shot up. "The yuan-ti prince from Hlondeth?"
It was Arvin's turn to be surprised. "You know him?"
"He claims to be on our side-to want to destroy the Circled Serpent. Why would he not tell us that he has-"
"Dmetrio is in Chult?" Arvin guessed.
Pakal gave him a look that made Arvin wonder if he'd spoken a little too enthusiastically.
"It's just that he disappeared from Hlondeth nearly six months ago," Arvin continued. "No one's heard from him since. I'm truly surprised to hear he's still alive. Everyone in Hlondeth thought he was dead."
"He's not dead," Pakal answered. He paused. "When we reach Ts'ikil, you must tell her what you have just told me."
"I will," Arvin agreed, uncertain whether he'd be able to keep that promise.
If Pakal was right about Ts'ikil not wanting the Circled Serpent to be used, maybe Arvin should grab Pakal's half and try to get to Dmetrio before the dwarf and Ts'ikil did. He was suddenly very glad of Karrell's ring. If the dwarf did turn out to have the ability to read thoughts, he wouldn't like what was going through Arvin's mind.
Arvin glancod up the path. "The portal is somewhere up above us, right?"
Pakal nodded. "Only a short distance ahead, but there is no hurry. The Talos worshipers are not following us."
"They're not what I'm worried about," Arvin said. He rubbed the scar on his forehead. It tingled again. "When I left Hlondeth, one of Sibyl's constructs was following me: a cobra, made of iron. I killed it, but my mind magic is warning me that Sibyl may have more than one of these constructs. If we don't get to the portal right away, it may lead Sibyl straight to us."
Pakal just stared at him.
"What?" Arvin asked.
"There is a problem," Pakal answered. "The portal can only be used at sunrise."
"Ah." Arvin thought for a moment. "We'll stay awake in turns until then and keep an eye out for the cobra. Maybe you can turn us to gas once we reach the portal. It may not be able to find us then."
"That I cannot do."
"Why not?"
Pakal sighed and spread his hands. "Thard Harr grants me only so many blessings each day. I can gain no more until I have prayed."
"Can't you pray now?"
"If I did, Thard Harr would not hear me," Pakal said. "The prayers raw t be said in daylight. The traditional time is when dawn first breaks."
"That's unfortunate," Arvin said.
He knew how Pakal felt. Arvin too was close to the limit of his own powers, already. His muladhara felt flat, a hair's breadth away from being utterly depleted. He needed to meditate.
He turned and stared down the mountainside. The stormlord and his worshipers were walking back to their temple, carrying the injured. Beyond the temple, the road vanished into darkness. Somewhere below, he was certain, another iron cobra slithered toward them.
CHAPTER 6
Arvin bolted awake, his heart pounding. "Karrell!" he shouted. "No!"
It took him several moments to realize that it had been a dream. A nightmare. Not real.
He could remember every detail. Sibyl, sending out waves of magical fear that turned into lava and burned the flesh from his bones, leaving him a walking skeleton that reeked of seared meat. Zelia, cracking open enormous eggs and slurping out the screaming infants they contained, her neck bulging grotesquely as she swallowed them down. The marilith demon, hacking open Karrell's pregnant belly with its swords-inside was a nest of dead snakes tied in an intricate knot.
Sweat trickled down Arvin's temples, and he wiped it away with a shaking hand.
The nightmare had been so vivid, so clear. Usually, in dreams, some of the senses were blurred, but in this dream every detail of smell, sound, touch, and taste had been present. Even though Arvin was wide awake, the dream wasn't fading. It hung in his mind's eye like a gruesome painting.
He closed his eyes and concentrated on Karrell's face, trying to contact her, but nothing happened. As before, his sending was blocked. The nightmare had left him more worried than ever-had the marilith found Karrell? Killed her? He remembered the prophetic dreams that had woken his mother, screaming, in the middle of the night. Was this what they had been like?
A hand touched his shoulder-Pakal's. The dwarf had been standing watch while Arvin slept.
Pakal muttered something, then spoke. Halfway through, his spell took hold and his words became intelligible. "-you dream?" he asked.
Arvin shivered. It was still dark, though the sky to the east was growing lighter. Almost dawn. "A nightmare," he answered.
Pakal grunted. "I, too. Earlier, when I slept." His faco was difficult to see in the gloom, but the shudder that ran through his body made his feelings clear. "I dreamed of the jungle reduced to ash, like this place." He waved a hand, indicating a blackened tree that stood like gaunt shadow a few paces away.
They were almost at the peak of Mount Ugruth. The mountainside was bare black rock, freshly spewed from the volcano. Gray ash and chunks of porous rock covered the ground where they sat. Hot, sulfurous gases vented from a deep crack in the ground a few paces away. The landscape was desolate, like something out of the Abyss.
Nearby, at the bottom of a crater in the loose volcanic rubble, was a stone dais, much like the one in
Sibyl's lair. It too was of glossy obsidian-red obsidian. Glyphs, carved in Draconic script, encircled its rim. When the sun rose, they would activate.
According to Pakal, the portal was ancient. It dated to the height of the Serpentes Empire. Despite its incredible antiquity and the recent eruptions that must have pelted it with hot ash and chunks of falling stone, the dais looked almost new. Its edges were sword-sharp. Not a single chip had been knocked from them in all the centuries since its creation.
Arvin turned to Pakal. "Do you ever dream the future?"
The dwarf tossed back his braids. "No."
"My mother did. She dreamed of her own death- she couldn't prevent it." Arvin took a deep, steadying breath. "I dreamed about Karrell, and about our children. It was… terrible."
"Something has happened," Pakal said. "Dendar is not doing her job."
For a moment, Arvin wondered if the spell was translating Pakal's words incorrectly. "Her job?" he echoed. "I thought the Night Serpent was a monster who fed on mortal souls."
"Should she ever be released, that is what she would feed upon," Pakal said. "For now, she sustains herself on our nightmares. The dream fragments we remember upon waking are the crumbs she has left behind. Last night, for some reason, she did not feed."
Arvin sat up a little straighter. "Does that mean Dendar is dead?" he asked. If she was, he wouldn't need to worry about the door to her lair opening.
Pakal held up a hand. "I know what you are thinking," he said. "The answer is still no. The Circled Serpent must be destroyed."
Arvin nodded, feigning acceptance. He noted Pakal's wary look and the way the dwarf shifted his
sack to his far hand. Arvin had been about to charm him but decided against it. He needed Pakal to show him how to use the portal. If the charm failed, Pakal would have even less reason to trust Arvin. As soon as they had stepped through the portal into the jungle, however, a charm would do the trick. If it failed, Arvin would take the Circled Serpent by force and amend Pakal's memory to erase any knowledge of the event.
Arvin glanced at the eastern sky. There was still some time before the sun rose. "Do I have time to meditate?" he asked the dwarf. "I need to restore my magic."