Chapter 45: To the Sealed Land

The horses felt it first. Chris' bay gelding came to a sudden stop, nearly throwing her from the saddle. The animal shifted anxiously as she stroked its mane, whispering soothingly into its ear. The others had similar trouble with their own horses. Then Chris began to feel what the animals had felt.

The earth trembled. It lasted only a few moments, but the effect was not lost on any of them. When the tremor passed, Chris realized she had been holding her breath. She looked around to assure herself that the others were unharmed. Geddoe sat calmly astride his horse, looking as if what had just occurred was nothing out of the ordinary. Yumi and Nash both pressed themselves against their saddles, gripping their poor horses' flanks for dear life. Their mounts whinnied and turned in protest. Rina had leaped from her mare's back when the tremors started, and now stood patting the horse's flank and speaking softly to the animal to calm it.

"Perpetuator's balls!" Nash exclaimed. "What was that?"

Geddoe nodded in the direction of the ancient highway. "The Sindar weapon, lad." He nudged his horse into motion, carrying him forward on the trail. "That was merely a small taste of its true power. We'd best hurry."

Nash swore under his breath. Then he straightened in his saddle, gave his horse a sympathetic pat on the head, and slapped his reins to push the animal into motion.

Chris nudged her steed forward, settling in among the others.

The sun was setting, painting the Grasslands in colors of gold and ochre and smudging the horizon with purple and orange. The sun threw long shadows against the east, and the ravine along which they traveled.

The ancient highway lay ahead. Rina had revealed the location of the secret entrance, deep in the lands of the Saraak clan. For generations, Chris and her fellow knights had searched for the lizard clan's path into Zexen. Now that she would soon see that elusive cave mouth, Chris felt a mixture of dread and anticipation.

What would she find at the Ceremonial Site? Would her father truly be there? What would he do when he saw her? What would he say? Chris scolded herself. The Masked Bishop and his fellow Destroyers would be waiting for them within the Sindar ruin. She should focus on that. The battle they were about to bring to the Destroyers would be decisive. Now was not the time to worry about her relationship with her estranged father. There would be plenty of time for that later.

They were waiting for Chris and the others at the hollow. There, the land dipped into a narrow canyon, so well hidden from the cliffs above it that Chris found herself amazed at its existence even when she was on the path. At the end of the passage, they found a dark cave mouth choked with thorny bushes.

Half a dozen Saraak warriors stood guard at the entrance to the tunnels, hefting their distinctive glaives.

Chris hung back as Rina separated from their group and rode ahead. The chieftain dismounted by the cave mouth and straightened, waiting for the warriors to make the first move.

The Saraaks shifted uneasily, sparing uncomfortable glances at each other. One of the warriors approached, wielding his glaive as a walking stick. "You should know you are not welcome here, Chieftain." He motioned for the others with his weapon. "And you certainly should know your companions are not."

Chris squinted against the setting sun, studying the Saraaks from her saddle. There had been rumors that the Saraaks and the Harmonians had met on the field of battle recently, and that the Harmonians had handed the Saraak a stunning defeat. Seeing the warriors standing guard at the cave mouth, she could believe the rumors were true. These warriors' scales had not yet darkened. They were youths, one and all. Even so, several of them wore bandages over their tunics. They, too, had seen battle.

Rina raised a hand to calm the warriors. "No matter our differences, you must know that I would never do anything to harm my brothers and sisters of the Saraak. We wish only for safe passage through the ancient highway. Please allow me to speak with Chief Dupa."

A growl issued from the cave mouth as a great lumbering figure stomped out of the shadows and into the light. The Saraak warriors hastily parted to admit Chief Dupa's great bulk. The Saraak chieftain bore a fresh scar across one cheek, and he was missing several scales on his shoulder.

Dupa regarded Rina with thinly veiled hostility. "My scouts told me to expect visitors…" He looked past Rina, fixing his gleaming serpentine eyes on Chris and the others. "I might've known it was you lot. Safe passage? For our enemies? Bah! I had thought your foolishness had reached its bounds. It seems I was wrong…"

With a sigh, Chris hopped down from the saddle. Yumi gave a sharp hiss at her side, and said: "Chris, no!" Chris paid her no mind. Dupa watched her approach with a curious look on his face. Rina turned to see what the chief was looking at, and upon seeing Chris approach, the Safir rune sage frowned thoughtfully, but kept silent.

Chris drew up before the Saraak chieftain, craning her neck to stare up into the warrior's eyes. "There is no time left to quarrel. We no longer have that luxury. The Destroyers have breached the Ceremonial Site in the Sindar ruins."

Dupa gave a guttural growl. "Let those fools pick through rocks and refuse if they will."

"You do not know the danger. If we allow them to awaken the ancient weapon that rests within, the whole of the Grasslands could be destroyed. We must strike while they are vulnerable."

Dupa stared down at her for a time with those cold yellow eyes. Then he turned to Rina. "You believe this?"

Rina smiled sadly. "You must have felt the earth tremble, just as we did. Deep down, in your heart, I know you believe us. Runes be damned, you know the Harmonians are our true enemy. It's your stubbornness that keeps you from accepting it. But you don't have to bend knee to anyone. Simply let us through. You know it's the right thing to do."

Dupa hesitated. His big nostrils flared like bellows as he looked between the two of them, and Chris felt just how menacing that giant figure could be. If he decided to strike her now, even the Gale Rune might not be enough to save her. She held her palms out in a pleading manner. "My father is on his way to the Ceremonial Site. The man you know as Jimba." Dupa's pupils dilated with shock, but the Saraak chief said nothing. "Jimba goes there to prevent the misuse of the ancient weapon, but he stands alone. He does not know how dangerous the Destroyers are." She drew a deep breath. "When this calamity has passed… When the Destroyers' ambitions have been stopped, and the Harmonians have been driven from our lands… If I survive, I shall offer myself up to Saraak justice. If you wish me to fight to prove my innocence, I shall do so once more. But please, Chief Dupa. Let me help my father."

The Saraak chief stared down at her. His fingers clenched around the glaive planted beside him, and she saw his chest rise and fall as he considered. He raised his weapon, and for a moment she thought he might swing the weapon down at her. Instead, Chief Dupa jabbed the butt of the weapon's shaft into the ground. He turned, sweeping his tail in his wake, and motioned for them to follow. "Come, then. As you said, there is no time left to quarrel."

The air in the passage shivered with the power of the ancient Sindar machine. The magic was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Wyatt crept towards the light spilling from the rear chamber, keeping to cover as he went. There, just ahead, he could faintly make out the outlines of two figures standing before the glowing machine.

It was only with great effort that Wyatt restrained himself from attacking at once. His fingers itched for the knife at his side. The True Water Rune on the back of his hand called out to him, begging to be unleashed against these defilers who dared to break the seal he and his comrades had set so long ago. Both the knight and the clan warrior in him cried out for justice.

But Wyatt would wait for his moment. He would set aside the knight, and ignore the clan warrior. All for the benefit of the wanderer, the rune bearer, the guardian. He had abandoned a great deal for the sake of the Grasslands' safety. A wife he'd loved. A daughter he ached to see. All to ensure that the terrible power resting in the Sindar ruins would never be misused again.

He wondered who these people were who had awakened the ancient machine. They had shown immense resourcefulness in breaching the seal on the Sindar ruins. What powers might they possess?

Wyatt padded closer, sinking down to peer over a low wall of rubble. From this close, he could make out more detail. A man and a woman stood there, bathed in the light of the machine. The man was taller, but only barely. A young boy, perhaps? Both were gesturing at the machine as they talked, but Wyatt couldn't hear a word they were saying over the whirr and screech of the moving machinery.

He vaulted over the ruined wall, and felt plaster tear under his hand. He shook the dust from his fingers as he walked up behind the man and woman. As he approached, he raised his hand and awakened the True Water Rune. The ancient rune stirred from its long slumber, coming alive with a flickering sky-blue light that enveloped his hand. Raw elemental power surged through Wyatt's body. He had forgotten this feeling. It was so potent, it left him feeling drunk with the power, and he almost stumbled.

With the flow of power came the voice of the rune. Whispers long forgotten awakened within Wyatt, given form and substance by the insistent power of the rune. He had tried to forget those whispers, but failed. For decades he had tried to shut them out, to leave them behind. Now they were back, and so loud as to make his skull quiver with the force.

With the halo of the True Water Rune's power surrounding him, Wyatt stepped into the chamber behind the intruders.

"You'd better have a damned good reason to be here, friends."

The man and the woman turned as one. Strongly backlit as they were, it was hard to make out their faces, but what Wyatt saw gave him pause. Wyatt had expected to see confusion, perhaps fear. Instead, the two faces that met him—both very young—had inviting smiles on their faces. As if they were greeting an expected guest. He saw now that the woman carried a staff, and above the staff's head, a half dozen runes hovered. Wyatt gaped.

"Welcome, Wyatt Lightfellow," said the young man. He raised his hand as if to match Wyatt's gesture. "I believe you have something that belongs to me." A pastel green rune flashed to life there on the back of his palm.

The True Wind Rune. Goddess and spirits, the damned boy has a true rune!

Wyatt reacted swiftly and violently. He summoned the strongest burst of magic he could gather, then thrust his hands forward and sent a howling cone of swirling ice surging towards the pair. The blast should be enough to freeze the pair in their boots before they had time to prime their runes for use.

A sound like a thunderclap slammed against the cavern walls. Then the swirling blizzard came howling back at Wyatt. He threw his hands up, squeezed his eyes shut. Snowflakes, ice crystals, and biting winds swept over Wyatt, shoving him back step by step. His hands numbed, and his cheeks stung. He felt his own magic freezing his limbs!

Desperately he cut the thread of the True Water Rune's magic. The storm died down as fast as it had arisen. Swirling snowflakes drifted to the floor around him.

The young man with the True Wind Rune remained where he had been standing. Gentle winds played with his mantle and his hair. He looked utterly unfazed by Wyatt's attack. His female companion stood motionless beside him, staring at Wyatt without expression.

Gritting his teeth, Wyatt gathered his magic again. It had been too long since he wielded the rune's power. He was out of practice, and he worked the strands of the magic sluggishly as a result. But he still had some tricks up his sleeve. This time, he would—

Wyatt felt something sharp and cold press against the back of his neck. "That's a sword tip, by the way," said a cold, serpentine voice at his ear. "Bit of advice—don't move."

A cold dread rose in the pit of Wyatt's stomach. He released the True Water Rune's magic. Slowly he turned his head to see who held the sword to his neck. The sight of blonde hair spilling from black armor chased with gold drained the blood from his veins.

Chris stepped through the doors into the Ceremonial Site just as the earth began to tremble again. This time, it was more than just a tremor. The ground lurched and shook. Rocks split from the cavern roof and fell, shattering against the slate-tile floor. Fractures appeared on the tiles themselves, spreading into cracks that split the tiles apart.

She steadied herself on the doorjamb, waiting out the tremor. Her fingers ached with the effort. Finally, the trembling died down. Dust hissed from cracks in the ceiling. Chris turned to regard Geddoe, and said: "This is the Masked Bishop's doing."

The look on the mercenary captain's face was the closest Chris had seen to concern. "His command of the weapon is growing stronger. We must make haste."

They ran through a maze of corridors and chambers, following a glowing light in the floor, as well as the intuition that came from Geddoe's True Lightning Rune. Chris had her heart in her throat. She was vaguely aware of statues, murals, and other great works of art and wonder left behind by the Sindar. She paid them no mind. Her mind was fixed on one thing and one thing only: she had to find her father before he found the Destroyers.

Goddess, do not let it be too late, she prayed.

By now, the shaking of the earth had ceased. They turned a corner and sprinted into a cavern illuminated by a cold light. In the middle of the chamber rose a great machine consisting of quickly spinning rings surrounding five spheres, four of which glowed with bright colors: red, yellow, green… and blue.

Four figures stood before the machine, outlined in its halo of rainbow light. Three of them she recognized as the Masked Bishop, the Chimera, and the dark knight, Yuber. The fourth, a man, lay on the ground, unmoving. A sky-blue rune floated above his body, pulsing with magic.

At the sight of the unmoving man, Chris felt a cold terror grip her. She squinted against the light, trying to see more, but all she could make out was a shadowy profile. A strong jawline. Smooth white hair gleaming silver in the light. She no longer remembered that face from her childhood, but she had stared up at the paintings bearing his likeness for as long as she could remember.

Wyatt Lightfellow. Her father.

The Masked Bishop beckoned, and the True Water Rune floated towards him. It came to rest hovering in the palm of his hand, illuminating his face in a blue glow.

For once, Chris did not think. She just acted. Snarling, she tore her sword from its sheath while awakening the power of her Water Rune with her free hand. She gathered the rune's power and summoned a jagged lance of ice that floated before her. With a flick of her fingers, she launched the lance at the Masked Bishop.

The Masked Bishop did not move. He flourished his hand, revealing the True Rune emblazoned there. Wind came to life between his fingers, built to a whirlwind, and spun towards the ice javelin. The projectile stopped in mid-air as if hitting hard-packed earth. The burst of wind did not stop there. It shot past the javelin, slammed into Chris, and pushed her back several feet. Her hair tossed madly about her cheeks.

Sarah raised her staff and called upon one of the runes circling its capstone. The True Fire Rune stirred to life, and flame leapt through the air. The fire washed over the ice javelin. In a heartbeat, the ice melted and turned to hissing steam. Sarah thrust a hand against Chris and her companions, and a wave of flame sprang from her feet. The wave became a wall of fire as it sped across the floor. By the time it approached Chris and the others, it had built to a raging inferno. Chris felt a punishing heat wash over her as the fire shot towards her.

Chris held out her sword before her. The Crown Rune on the pommel dampened the rune's magic, but it was not enough. Even the Crown Rune could not deny the power of a True Rune. Panicked, Chris drew upon the Water Rune again and gathered every scrap of energy she could manage. She held her palms up against the approaching flame, and released the Water Rune's power.

The raging inferno hit a wall of ice. Immediately the ice cracked, and a moment later it shattered. Steam hissed and melted ice boiled. The devastating clash of magical power threw Chris back. It sent her flying into the fall, where she hit with a nasty crack that sent a sharp pain up her back. She tumbled onto her knees, pushed onto her feet, and threw her hands up for protection. She knew it was in vain, but it was all she could think of.

A crack of thunder split the air. The wall of fire halted in its tracks, pushing up against an invisible barrier. Then that same invisible force pushed back, and the fire scattered into wisps of smoke.

Chris looked up to see Geddoe standing over her. The mercenary captain held one hand up, and the air around his fist crackled with electricity. The True Lightning Rune glared angrily. Thunder and lightning burst from Geddoe, rolling out in a cone towards the Destroyers.

Nash could not have explained it, but some instinct made him turn around and peer into the shadows between two tall statues at the edge of the great chamber. That instinct saved all of their lives.

A dark form dashed from the shadows, racing towards Geddoe. Twin longswords glinted in the light of the machine. Black armor chased with gold. The dark knight, Yuber.

"Watch out!" Yumi shouted. Had Nash not already been turned to face Yuber, the warning would have come too late. Now he had time to draw his own swords and leap between Yuber and Geddoe. The dark knight's blades met his with a terrible, mournful clang.

The dark knight snarled, showing sharpened teeth. His eyes were hidden under the visor of his horned helmet. "Nobody gets in my way," he said, voice dripping with venom.

Nash forced a laugh. "Well, I'm not a nobody. I'm famous around some parts of the world, you know?" He disengaged, and they began to dance, swords slashing and thrusting and clanging against each other. Nash saw an opening and thrust for Yuber's throat. The dark knight laughed as he swayed to the side, his long blonde hair leaping like a horse's tail. They traded blows a few more times, then the dark knight leaped back.

"Let me show you the power of chaos," Yuber said. He turned his swords to face upright, and spoke a single incomprehensible syllable. A rune flashed to life inside his armor. Nash knew it—the Eightfold Rune. The Rune of Chaos Incarnate. For a moment, the rune's complex emblem floated between them, scarlet and black. Then the dark knight's body turned misty at the edges. His form split like water poured from one cup to another. Where there had been one Yuber, suddenly there were two, then four, then eight. The shadowy images fanned out, and Nash found himself facing down eight pairs of swords. Eight versions of Yuber grinned, showing their demonic smiles.

Nash cursed.

Luc braced himself for Geddoe's assault. Sheets of lightning burst from the mercenary captain's True Rune, and in the cavern's enclosed space, the crash of thunder became a series of deafening booms.

Heart pounding with excitement, Luc threw his hands up. The Sindar machine trembled behind him as he gathered its power. His skin hummed with overwhelming potential. Wind, earth, fire, and water. He had the elements at his fingertips. One last rune remained to be captured, and its wielder had fallen for his trap, and now stood before him. He gave a shout of triumph, and unleashed the power of the ancients.

The thunder simply ceased. Lightning flashed one last time, leaving only the afterimage burning on Luc's eyes. In the space of a heartbeat he had dispersed the thunderhead.

Shock rippled through the people assembled in the cave. Luc stared at his hands, saw smoke rose from his fingertips. His entire body quivered—how much from excitement and how much from raw elemental power, he could not say. "By the almighty runes," he whispered. A grin came unbidden to his face.

Chris wiped the sweat from her brow on her sleeve. In the brief lull after Geddoe's thunderous assault stuttered and failed, she took in the situation.

The power of the machine at the heart of the Ceremonial Site was too great. The Masked Bishop looked just as stunned as all the others. He could not be allowed—no one could be allowed—to wield such power.

She looked around. From near the entrance came the sounds of clashing swords, as Nash engaged the dark knight, Yuber. Yumi stood nearby, Earth Rune glowing on her hand as the Kinese shaman struggled to decide how to aid Nash without harming him. Rina stared at the Destroyers, her face deathly pale. Beside her stood Geddoe. As always, the mercenary captain had an unreadable expression on his face.

The battle was far from over, but her companions already looked defeated. Once the Masked Bishop resumed his attack, it could all be over in an instant. Her father was on the ground, unconscious or dying. The words of Captain Galahad came to her: To the brave, glory. To the timid, regret.

Chris grasped Rina by the arm and shook the woman from her stupor. When the Safir chief turned to regard her, Chris said: "Cover me." Then she awakened the Gale Rune from its slumber and dashed straight towards the Masked Bishop.

Rina stared dumbly after Chris. With the boost of the Gale Rune, the knight's body was a blur racing through the middle of the chamber. She was headed straight for the Masked Bishop.

Cursing, Rina shook out her sleeves and awakened her runes. Thunder. Resurrection. Mother Earth. The surge of their magic warmed her skin like summer sunlight.

"Geddoe," she called out, loud enough to draw the man's attention over the hum and whir of the Sindar machine. "On my mark, hit them with everything you've got." The mercenary captain nodded. His face was carved from stone. Rina gritted her teeth and prepared for the pain. She gathered every last bit of strength from her runes, as if filling her lungs with a giant breath.

"NOW!"

She unleashed the full power of her three runes at once. Geddoe's True Lightning Rune roared its fury, adding its tremendous, fundamental power to the mix. Incandescent brightness flashed through the chamber. The earth shook. They molded their magic around Chris' darting form, and threw it all at the Destroyers.

The Destroyers responded in kind.

Chris ran through a battlefield of warring magic. She leaped over buckling floor tiles. Lances of ice slammed exploded around her, pelting her with shards of frozen water. Fire bloomed and surged towards her in sheets. The Masked Bishop and the Chimera were trying to annihilate her. It would have been an easy task for them, if not for the multi-elemental barrier of Rina's and Geddoe's magic sheltering her.

The Chimera raised her hand and pointed. Chunks of stone and earth tore loose from the floor in front of Chris and floated into the air. Sarah flicked her hand, and the earthen mass shot towards Chris like a giant's fist.

Lightning struck from the side. It detonated against the flying rocks, shattering them into a million pieces. Chris drew on the magic of her Water Rune and formed a barrier around her head and shoulders. A shower of pebbles struck her, cracking the thin ice and bruising her arms and legs. Sharp pain numbed her knee, but she shook it off.

She was close now. Her father lay in the gentle glow of the True Water Rune, not twenty feet away. The Gale Rune's magic surged through her body, exhilarating and startling. Each step was like a leap of three strides. Her heart beat like a drum in her chest, as if trying to match the speed of her legs.

The chamber flashed bright yellow, suddenly. It was so bright, Chris had to squeeze her eyes shut or be blinded. She skidded to a halt, unable to see where she was going. Not far in front of her, the Masked Bishop screamed. Then the entire chamber shook. Chris felt tiles crack beneath her feet, and stumbled back and forth to stay on her feet. Something heavy—a falling brick, perhaps—struck her on the shoulder, forcing her to the floor and numbing her arm.

Chris opened her eyes into a narrow squint and looked up. The sight froze her heart. The ceiling was falling. Desperately she called on the power of her Water Rune and wove the strongest shield she could make. Heat drained from the air as the icy barrier formed around her. Rocks crashed down, smashing against the shield. Ice crystals cracked and fell with each impact, but the barrier held. More and more stones fell. Ice crunched and shattered beneath the weight of the rocks. Chris felt panic well up inside her.

She was being buried alive.

That should do it, thought Sarah, regarding the pile of stone that rose where the Silver Maiden had been standing moments before. A wall of rubble split the chamber in two, separating Sarah and Luc from the others.

Sarah leaned on her staff and allowed herself a moment of rest. The barrier wouldn't hold forever. By bringing part of the ceiling down, she had bought them some time, but at what cost? If she had misjudged the structural integrity of the chamber, the entire cave might collapse on top of their heads. She could use the Blinking Rune's power to escape with Master Luc, but the Sindar machine would be buried beneath the earth, perhaps destroyed.

The same thought had occurred to Master Luc. He looked up at the ceiling with something like panic in his eyes. The fear was so raw, it made Sarah flinch. He had such expressive eyes. Others couldn't see it, but to her his feelings shone clear as daylight.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said. "The machine—"

Sarah bowed low. "Forgive me, Master Luc. I feared for your safety."

Master Luc was taken aback by her gesture. He waved her apology away. "The True Lightning Rune… Bring me that man."

Sarah nodded. She raised her staff, beckoning the Blinking Rune that sat as its capstone, stirring it to life. She drew a deep breath, concentrated on a point well beyond the fallen rocks, and invoked the rune's magic.

Space and time tore, and Sarah was wrenched through a gap in the fabric of the world. One moment, she was standing beside Master Luc in front of the Sindar machine. The next, she appeared on the other side of the wall of rock.

As always, there was a moment of disorientation. She had time to take in the scene before her: Yuber, his true form masquerading among seven shadow clones, clashed blades with Sasarai's spy, Nash, while the magics of the Safir woman and the True Lightning Rune's bearer held him at bay. The Kinese shaman faced the wall of fallen rocks, straining her Earth Rune to the limit as she tried to shift the stone that separated the group from Master Luc and the Sindar machine.

They saw her, but they didn't react in time. Sarah had judged the distance well. She took three quick steps towards the mercenary captain and reached for him. The man saw the approaching danger, and pulled back. But he was too late. Sarah's hand grazed his arm. It was only a light touch, and only for a moment, but it was enough. Sarah called upon the magic of the Blinking Rune, sent it surging through both of their bodies. The man's eyes went wide with the realization. Then she released the spell, and the Blinking Rune flashed. The world lurched, and everything went black.

An instant later, they appeared together on the other side of the wall of rock.

Master Luc's smiling face greeted them.

Chris found herself entombed in darkness. Her ice shield had kept the rocks from crushing her, but only just. She shivered with cold; crushed ice from her shield had melted and ran down her neck and sleeves. Breathing was hard. Only a trickle of air made its way through the press of rocks.

She had been holding up the hand upon which the Water Rune rested. By now, the hand was shaking with effort. The rune's light flickered. Its magic was faltering. She had enough energy for one more solid burst. One last chance. Maybe.

I have to make it count, she thought.

Pressing her hands against the icy barrier that surrounded her, she called upon the faltering Water Rune's power. Water droplets formed as she drew the moisture from the air. She sent the water creeping among the rocks, running through every crack and crevice. Once she felt certain the water had suffused the gaps between the stones, she commanded the water to freeze. Ice crystals formed from the water. But frozen was not enough. She needed frigid. Straining her rune to its limit, she forced the cold to exert more and more pressure upon the ice-encrusted rocks.

A supernatural chill descended upon her rock prison. Her breath misted, and her teeth rattled in her mouth. Slowly, her limbs turned numb. Still she kept pouring more of the rune's magic into the effort. Soon it got so bad that she had trouble staying awake, as the horrible cold beckoned her to sleep. Only then did she relent. Drawing a shallow breath, so cold it cut her lungs, she gathered the remainder of her magic for a final blow, and slammed a wave of pure elemental energy at the icy rocks.

The rocks shattered like walnuts under a hammer. Light returned as the rocks fell outwards, and air and sound. The void in the wall of rubble caused rocks from above to tumble down, but the last shreds of Chris' ice armor sent them bouncing off of her shoulders.

She leaped from her broken cage. Behind her, the rubble collapsed upon the spot where she had been standing.

The Sindar machine loomed above her. Its rings spun furiously, while the elemental spheres flashed their bright colors inside. Three people stood before the machine, and all three now turned to look at the newcomer in surprise. Chris had expected to face the Masked Bishop and the Chimera. She was shocked to see that Geddoe was there, too.

Her father still lay where the Destroyers had left him. The True Water Rune's pale blue emblem hovered above his lifeless body, flickering in sympathy with the Sindar machine's revolutions.

With the Gale Rune's magic still coursing through her body, Chris saw all of this in the blink of an eye. There was a moment of confusion for everyone on this side of the wall of rock, and then everything happened very fast. Chris launched herself forward. The Masked Bishop and the Chimera both raised their hands, awakening True Runes. With the Gale Rune powering her perceptions, she could actually see the magic flow into their bodies. Her father's unconscious body lay between her and the Masked Bishop. She lunged, and reached out her hand.

Her fingers grazed the True Water Rune.

Time stopped.

The dark warrior stood beneath an empty black sky, on a desolate field of crimson dust. He watched as a ripple formed in the air, became a tear, and then wrenched open a gaping hole in time and space.

The dark warrior marched through the gate without looking back, returning to the world that thought him lost. He returned to darkness, but unlike the darkness that dwells in the World of Emptiness, this darkness was a thing of deep shadow—the absence of light. It was a darkness his eyes could easily pierce.

The ancient highway stretched out before the dark warrior. He began to walk. He walked slowly at first, like a cripple who had forgotten how to move his legs. Then, as he grew accustomed to sensations he hadn't experienced for what seemed like an eternity, he moved faster and with more certainty. The air in the underground passage was dank and musty, but to the dark warrior's lungs, it tasted like freedom, and things long forgotten.

By the time the dark warrior had reached the gaping doors to the Sindar ruins, he was all but reacquainted with the world of the living. He recognized thirst, hunger, and fatigue. There were other things, too, things that rattled through the back of his mind. He thought that, if he concentrated very hard, he might remember what they were. But his mind was distracted.

He could feel his quarry. Somewhere in the dark tunnels ahead, the servant of chaos, the one the living called Yuber, waited for him.

The dark warrior drew upon the power of Dharma and summoned King Crimson. Shadows swirled, red energy gleaming inside. In his hands, the shadows materialized into twin blades.