Dark Tapestry

by Elaine Cunningham

  I willed my new, unblinking eyes to search for what I needed. The eye on the palm of one hand saw it first, and my seeing hand reached toward it.

  But by now, Tychilarius was also in my mind. The creature understood what I meant to do.

  My own writhing tentacles fought me as I reached for the opal on the bottom on the pool. I fought back with everything I was, everything I'd learned from the creatures whose forms I've borrowed. Finally, finally, I seized the gemstone.

  The whole world vanished.

  I awoke more slowly this time, and in considerably more comfort. Instead of a hard ebony frame, I rested on downy pillows and silk sheets.

  Lapis sat in a chair beside me. She smiled and held up a silvered glass for me to look in. To my intense relief, my reflection sported no more than the usual allotment of half-elven limbs and facial features.

  "It's gone?"

  She nodded. "Your timing was perfect. The opal only imprisons evil creatures. Had you waited much longer, had the creature gained too much of a foothold, you wouldn't have been able to pull free. Had you picked up the gem too soon, we might not have captured the creature at all."

  "Where is the opal now?"

  "It's back inside the box, which Vanir Shornish has proudly added to his collection." She held up a hand to forestall my protests. "The Reliquary has served its purpose, and cannot be used again."

  I thought that over. My mind was still foggy, so it took me longer than it otherwise might to grasp the implications.

  "The opal is the Reliquary," I said. "It was meant to capture a creature from the Dark Tapestry, but a creature that had already manifested. I suppose it never occurred to the artifact's creators that someone might use the summoning spell to bring a creature here."

  "Elves can be amazingly shortsighted," Lapis said, sending me a demure, sidelong glance.

  That, I would think about some other time.

  "If the spell can only be used once, that would explain why you wanted Vanir to cast it before the Night Heralds arrived."

  Silence hung between us for a long moment, heavy with the memory of my suspicions. For the lack of anything better to say, I observed, "The ‘litter bearers' took care of the Night Heralds, I assume."

  "Eventually." Lapis rolled her eyes. "Had they bothered to look in that coin bag I gave them, they wouldn't have wasted time trying to break through the door."

  I burst out laughing. It hurt, but the pain was worth it. "You stole Vanir's keys when you greeted him."

  She nodded, pleased. "It's a pleasure to work with a truly devious mind. You always seemed to think two steps beyond anything I told you. I don't know how we could have managed, otherwise."

  It was difficult to meet her gaze, but some things needed to be spoken. "I came late to some understandings."

  Lapis waved this away. "You were right to be suspicious of me. I would have preferred to be more open and direct, but the Night Heralds were watching you. I couldn't know how closely. I could say no more than I could afford them to hear."

  I nodded, accepting this.

  "My grandfather said your instincts were sound and assured me you would figure things out—" She paused to send me a wry little smile. "Eventually."

  She regarded me expectantly.

  It took a while, but I finally divined her meaning. "You're my new venture-captain?"

  Lapis cocked her head. "Are you surprised and pleased, or plotting my demise? The look on your face could go either way."

  That summed up my feelings admirably. I folded my arms and glared at her. "I suppose you're marginally preferable to a foul tentacle beast."

  "You know, I never tire of hearing that."

  My lips twitched; I couldn't help it. "Can we speak plainly now?"

  "Gods above, you've been holding back?"

  "Xanchara," I said, ignoring her sarcasm. "Did Gham ever find it?"

  My new venture-captain's smile was slow, sweet, and full of promise.

  "Not yet."

  Appendix: Gods of the Dark Tapestry

  Though Tychilarius is referred to several times here as a god, this is something of a misnomer. Unlike true deities, demon lords, and other such divinely powerful beings, Tychilarius is unable to grant spells. Instead, he's merely one of a large collection of strange and mysterious organisms that dwell in the Dark Tapestry, the dark spaces between worlds where entropy rules and even light slows and stills. There, beings with malignant, incomprehensible intelligences rule the aether, singing their songs of madness and commanding a mysterious consortium of emissaries known as the Dominion of the Black. While misguided groups like the Night Heralds sometimes attempt to contact these beings, such exchanges rarely end well for the greedy mortals.

  About the Author

  Elaine Cunningham lives in a fantasy world. Several of them, in fact. The Serpent’s Daughter, coming in 2012, will be her fourteenth novel in the Forgotten Realms. She has also written novels and short stories in such diverse settings as Star Wars, EverQuest, Spelljammer, and Ravenloft. Her other contributions to the Pathfinder campaign setting include the Pathfinder Tales novel Winter Witch and work on the sourcebook Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Guide to the River Kingdoms.