Dust of Dreams

let go of the very thing I have so easily flung away: the conceit that we still matter to each other.
    So much, yes, in a dream’s laugh.
    ‘Emurlahn is in pieces,’ he said. ‘And most of them are now as dead as this one. Would you blame me? Anomander? Scabandari?’
    ‘I’m not interested in your stupid finger-pointing. The one who accuses has nothing to lose and everything to hide.’
    ‘Yet you joined with Anomander—’
    ‘He too was not interested in blame. We joined together, yes, to save what we could.’
    ‘Too bad, then,’ Osserc said, ‘that I got here first.’
    ‘Where have the people gone, Osserc? Now that you’ve destroyed their city.’
    His brows lifted. ‘Why, nowhere.’ He gestured, a broad sweep of one hand, encompassing the rows of mounds around them. ‘I denied them their moment of . . . nostalgia.’
    She found herself trembling. ‘Come down here,’ she said in a rasp, ‘your death is long overdue.’
    ‘Others concur,’ he admitted. ‘In fact, it’s why I’m, uh, lingering here. Only one portal survives. No, not the one you came through—that one has since crumbled.’
    ‘And who waits for you there, Osserc?’
    ‘Edgewalker.’
    Kilmandaros bared her massive fangs in a broad smile. And then threw a laugh back at him. She moved on.
    His voice sounded surprised as he called out behind her. ‘What are you doing? He is angry. Do you not understand? He is
angry
!’
    ‘And this is my dream,’ she whispered. ‘Where all that has been is yet to be.’ And still, she wondered. She had no recollection, after all, of this particular place. Nor of meeting Osserc among the shattered remnants of Kurald Emurlahn.
    Sometimes it is true, she told herself, that dreams prove troubling.
     
    ‘Clouds on the horizon. Black, advancing in broken lines.’ Stormy knuckled his eyes and then glared across at Gesler from a momentarily reddened face. ‘What kind of stupid dream is that?’
    ‘How should I know? There are cheats who make fortunes interpreting the dreams of fools. Why not try one of those?’
    ‘You calling me a fool?’
    ‘Only if you follow my advice, Stormy.’
    ‘Anyway, that’s why I howled.’
    Gesler leaned forward, clearing tankards and whatnot to make room for his thick, scarred forearms. ‘Falling asleep in the middle of a drinking session is unforgivable enough. Waking up screaming, why, that’s just obnoxious. Had half the idiots in here clutching at their chests.’
    ‘We shouldn’t’ve skipped out on the war-game, Ges.’
    ‘Not again. It wasn’t like that. We volunteered to go and find Hellian.’ He nodded to the third occupant of the table, although only the top of her head was visible, the hair sodden along one side where it had soaked up spilled ale. Her snores droned through the wood of the table like a hundred pine beetles devouring a sick tree. ‘And look, we found her, only she was in no shape to lead her squad. In fact, she’s in no shape for anything. She could get mugged, raped, even murdered. We needed to stand guard.’
    Stormy belched and scratched at his beard. ‘It wasn’t a fun dream, that’s all.’
    ‘When was the last fun dream you remember having?’
    ‘Don’t know. Been some time, I think. But maybe we just forget those ones. Maybe we only remember the bad ones.’
    Gesler refilled their tankards. ‘So there’s a storm coming. Impressive subtlety, your dreams. Prophetic, even. You sleep to the whispers of the gods, Stormy.’
    ‘Now ain’t you in a good mood, Ges. Remind me not to talk about my dreams no more.’
    ‘I didn’t want you talking about them this time round. It was the scream.’
    ‘Not a scream, like I told you. It was a howl.’
    ‘What’s the difference?’
    Scowling, Stormy reached for his tankard. ‘Only, sometimes, maybe, gods don’t whisper.’
     
    ‘
Furry women still haunting your dreams?
’
    Bottle opened his eyes and contemplated throwing a knife into her face. Instead, he slowly winked. ‘Good afternoon, Captain. I’m surprised you’re not—’
    ‘Excuse me, soldier, but did you just
wink
at me?’
    He sat up on his cot. ‘Was that a wink, Captain? Are you sure?’
    Faradan Sort turned away, muttering under her breath as she marched towards the barracks door.
    Once the door shut behind her, Bottle sat back, frowning. Now, messing with an officer’s head was just, well, second nature. No, what disturbed him was the fact that he was suddenly unsure if she’d spoken at