“Just keep your eyes closed,” Terrano said.

She had tucked her chin, and her shoulders were curling toward what passed for ground. She didn’t need to see, given Terrano’s presence—and attempting to see what existed in portal space, as opposed to outlands space, never made things easier.

She felt the passage as if she were walking through molasses—or worse; the air felt heavy in her lungs, and her chest ached with the effort of drawing breath.

“We’re almost through,” Terrano said gently. He spoiled this act of kindness by adding, “I’d’ve been through to the other side ages ago if I didn’t have to drag you along. You can open your eyes but if you’re going to throw up, give me some warning.”

Kaylin opened her eyes slowly.

If she’d hoped that somehow, beyond the door, there would be actual geography, she was bitterly disappointed; she was standing, by Terrano’s side, in the outlands. Here and there light flickered sharply, as if it were lightning in distant, ground-level storm clouds.

She once again looked at Terrano; he was green, the green less vivid, less repulsive, than the green of the flower in the painting.

“Okay,” she said. “We’re here. We need to find a word.”

“No problem. I’ll follow you.”

That, an oddly familiar voice said, would be a waste of time—and I believe time is of the essence to you.

She turned to look in the direction of the voice, and saw nothing.

Terrano sighed. “I forgot about you.”

Apparently so did Lord Kaylin. As the words continued, they became deeper, the slight whir replaced by a rumble. Had she any doubt about whether or not this was the outlands, she lost it as Spike, invisible at the command of the High Halls, began to unfold.

In reality—which was increasingly becoming an extremely ill-defined word—Spike was a small ball with spikes that covered most of his spherical surface. In the outlands, Spike could become enormous, and clearly, he was doing so now.

The High Halls bid me follow you for a reason, Spike said. You cannot perceive what you refer to as the outlands with any subtlety. I believe Terrano can, but it requires work on his part.

“Did the Avatar tell you to tag along because he thought we’d end up here?”

You will have to ask. Spike towered above them. From a distance, he looked Draconic, but neither Kaylin nor Terrano had the advantage of distance. Long neck, long tail, six legs that could barely be seen above the constant, moving fog, only Spike’s eyes retained color, and it was the familiar speckled black Kaylin had always associated with Shadow. No, that wasn’t entirely true. When he opened Dragon-sized jaws, the interior of his mouth was blood red.

Perhaps you wish to ride, he told them both. We will have to cover a great deal of ground, as you call it, and you may lose me otherwise.