The Darkness Before the Dawn (Dark Sun: Chronicles of Athas 2)

"And I love you," Jedra said.

She closed her eyes. "I think that's the first time you've ever said that to me."

"I've said it hundreds of times," he told her. "Just not with words."

"I suppose you have," she said. She grinned again and moved closer, brushing her body against his. "You want to say it again?"

* * *

Later, after the cool water had drained all the heat from their bodies and they had climbed up the bank to soak up sunlight on the flat rock where Kayan's clothing lay, Jedra said, "Kitarak is probably getting worried about us. I hate to leave, but if we don't go out soon, he'll come in after us."

Kayan laughed. "I'd love to toss him in the water, too, but I suppose that can wait for later. Let's go see what he's done to my poor body."

Jedra winced. "I'm the one who did the damage. He's the one who fixed it."

Kayan squeezed Jedra's hand. "You did the only thing you could to save both of us. Don't torture yourself about it. Just don't make a habit of it, either, all right?"

Jedra smiled weakly. "All right."

"So then, let's go."

"How do we get out of here?"

"Hmm. I hadn't thought of that. This is my world; I suppose we could do it just about any way we want. How about... hmm." She stood up and walked across the springy moss to the base of a tree, grasped the stub of a broken-off branch that stuck out at waist level, and pulled on it. An oval door swung outward, revealing a dark interior sprinkled with stars. Kayan held out her hand. "This way."

Jedra got up and walked over to her. When he took her hand, she stepped through the doorway in the tree, and when he took the single step to follow her he felt a moment of disorientation and found himself lying on the ground on the hillside again. He sat up and looked over at Kayan, now little more than a shadow in the deepening night.

Kayan? he asked.

Here.

He was glad he was sitting on the ground; the relief that flooded through him would have sent him there anyway. He took Kayan's shoulders in his hands and pulled her up, holding her to him in a fierce hug. Their armor got in the way-it had never been removed in the real world- but he didn't care. He was holding the real Kayan, whole once again.

Kitarak stood beside them, his faceted eyes reflecting starlight. "Well," he said when their hug showed no sign of ending soon, "are you all right?" Kayan leaned back away from Jedra and patted herself on the sides and chest. "Everything feels like it's in the right place," she said.

"You can always go back into your crystal if you'd rather," Kitarak told him.

"No," Yoncalla said quickly, lifting his head. "Not that. This body isn't mine, and this world isn't paradise, but at least it's real."

"You should try the world Kayan made," Jedra said, reaching up to the crystal at his neck. "It's beautiful."

Kayan shrugged. "Actually, it's a lot like yours. I made the water a little warmer so I could get into it and pull myself around with my hands, but otherwise I just copied a stream and a pool like I'd already seen in your world."

"Swimming," the immortal said.

"What?"

"You were swimming. I do it all the time. Or did. I don't suppose there's enough water to fill a bathtub in this world anymore."

"Bathtub?" Jedra asked.

Kayan laughed. "We still have them in the palace."

Yoncalla didn't smile. "When I ruled here, even the peasants had bathtubs. And water flowed in mighty rivers over the surface of the land."

Kitarak said, "Many of us have dedicated our lives to bringing those days back to Athas. You would be a powerful addition to our team, since you know firsthand what we are trying to re-create."

"Not in a dwarf's body, I won't," Yoncalla said.