After their warm-night sleep at kobolds' inn heathfires, Attentus & Liliana decided they will do as Kobolds ask.
They needed coin, and kobolds offered such reward. Besides, they could use them as cost-efficient allies for lesser tasks, and the Shivan Dragon-relation could be rekindled as well.
Liliana reached for a pouch at her belt, gathered some bones she kept there and cast a Skeletal Scrying spell.
'Spirits of the Ancient Past, i consult You. May the secrets you keep be revealed, i seek the counsel about Door of Destinies' - she incantated in a sinister song-like voice as she rose her hands, letting the bones slip past her fingers. She threw the remaining bones, placed a black candle in front of her and lit as an offering, then entered the meditative trance-state, surrounded by bones and dust.
Other times when she did that, she told Attentus that she's experiencing ancient-old chants in her head, praises to old gods sang by dead. The spirits flew by and were attracted to her until ones with answers appeared. If there were such, of course.
This time such meditation took her shorter than usual, mere twenty of minutes about.
With eyes closed, she spoke in a hushed, sinister voice to those nearby.
'Doors of Destinies can be reached from anywhere, seek the moonrise at dusk, follow the spirit bridge. Speak the name of a Dragon Guardian, Nyth and offer him something worthwhile. if he'pleased, Spirit Bridge will manifest in Reality, and ways will open'.
Shaking a little she let spirits depart, then opened her eyes, snuffed out candle, gathered cast bones to her pouch and rested in Attentus' arms.
Skeletal skrying took it's toll on her, drained her life force - so she had to do it in moderation, using minimal amount of power to achieve her tasks. This time, thankfully, not much of it was neccessary.
'What do you think of that?' - She asked looking at him, still shaking a little in his arms from the spell-damage.
'We might need to ponder about details of the spirit bridge's meaning, otherwise it's clear. It has to be related with Doors and that Dragon, for sure' - Attentus thoughtfully answered to her in a quiet voice.
'i'll consult our friend Dominika on that, she's quite well-versed in the Dragon Lore, and has excellent skrying abilities as well' - Liliana offered.
Dominika was old colleague of Liliana Vess when they studied in the Necromancer Academy back at their home plane, and Lily often borrowed Attentus to her as a husband-in-mind, for some whiles as a joke. During these times Dominika guarded Attentus, so Liliana could pursue other tasks.
Telepathic meeting was arranged, they gossipped for a while. Spirit bridge was indeed a way of thinking what to offer Nyth, something related to the creatures meant to visit the Doors, something that will bind their services to Dragon a little.
After some more of chit-chat and fairly-informal salutations, telepathic meeting was concluded.
Wise kobold was informed by a messenger, and Attentus left with Lilliana the Kher Keep. They had to find a proper place to form a spirit bridge, and day could prove to be barely enough.
They considered finding a glade, traditional place for reaching to the Moonlight - but they were in the mountains. If Doors could be reached from anywhere, they decided to find a high plateau in the mountains instead.
In a few hours of search, they found such, a little away from the Dragonskull Summit - otherwise Nyth could feel challenged by other Dragon's presence.
They lit the fire, and composed a spirit-bridge offering, considering the great kobold tribe in it.
'Great Nyth, the Dragon-Guardian of the Destinies Doors ... we call upon You. May the Great Kobold Tribe of Kher Keep in the Dragonskull serve You and Your kind once again. We ask You to open the bridge to the Doors so we can reach, so the alliance might be forged for now, and for future ... as it was in the past' - they chanted standing at opposing sides of the fire under the rising moon, and rose arms upwards. Chant was repeated by them three times in the unison, then they added some of the juniper wood to the fire to raise smoke and scent high.
The portal appeared next to them, shining light from beyond which a gateway of stone could be seen.
They corrected their uniforms, gathered their equipment and entered the portal lettting the fire still burn.
Dragon himself, didn't appear this time.
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