–then ran forward, jumping off the ledge and vanishing into the impenetrable darkness below.
Travis was so stunned that he could only stare into the void. For a moment he thought he glimpsed a flicker of silver‑blue light, then all he saw was blackness.
“Your Majesty!” Larad cried, rushing forward, and he would have gone over the edge himself if Vani hadn’t held him back.
This wasn’t happening; Grace and Farr couldn’t have just leaped to their deaths. Only they had. Travis had seen them vanish into the endless dark below. A weakness came over him, a watery feeling, and his legs shook as if they were going to buckle. Avhir stood motionless at the place where Grace and the former Seeker had vanished. The sorcerer on the bridge had halted, his gold mask tilted at what seemed a quizzical angle, as if even he could not fathom what had just taken place. Then, before any of them could move, a strange thing happened.
Nim laughed.
The sorcerer’s grip on her had weakened, but he tightened his arm around her, stifling her mirth. Vani took a step onto the bridge, but the Scirathi raised the dagger, warning her back. She let out a low moan, a sound of both anguish and fury. Holding Nim, the sorcerer took another step along the bridge.
A ball of silver light burst into being just behind him.
The ball of light collapsed into a point, vanishing, and in its place, standing on the bridge, were two figures: a man in black robes and a woman with pale hair. Their appearance was so utterly unexpected that it took Travis a moment simply to recognize who they were.
“By the Blood!” Vani said, staggering back a step.
The two figures on the bridge were Grace and Hadrian Farr. They were no more than five steps from the sorcerer, with Farr the closest. Grace was fighting to keep her balance, but Farr was already moving, lunging for the Scirathi. The sorcerer whirled around, dagger flashing . . .
Travis didn’t know whom the sorcerer was trying to stab– Nim or Farr–but Farr was faster, grabbing the sorcerer’s wrist and wrenching it hard. The dagger spun into the chasm, and the Scirathi lost his balance. His right foot slipped over the edge of the bridge, and he fell onto his right knee. Nim slipped halfway from his grasp and screamed. If he let go of her, she would tumble into the void.
Only when he saw a dark blur moving along the bridge did Travis realize Vani was running. However, swift as she was, there wasn’t time to reach the Scirathi. Farr lunged again, reaching for Nim. The sorcerer twisted away. However, doing so caused him to lose what remained of his balance. The Scirathi tried to recover, but his foot snagged on his robe, and he tumbled off the bridge.
Farr threw himself forward, onto his belly, arms flung outward. His fingers brushed against Nim’s golden robe. And latched on.
Nim screamed again, a sound that echoed throughout the dome. The sorcerer was holding on to her legs. Their combined weight dragged at Farr, his body sliding across the bridge. Grace threw herself to her knees, gripping his ankles. However, she was only able to slow his progress toward the edge of the bridge, not stop it.
“Nim!” Farr shouted. “The mask. Take his mask!”
“Mother?” came Nim’s quavering voice.
The sorcerer looked up, trying to paw his way farther up Nim’s legs to reach the edge of the bridge. There was a sound of cloth rending as Nim’s robe tore in Farr’s grip.
Vani was halfway across the bridge. “Do as he says, daughter!”
Hanging by the back of her robe, Nim reached down and pulled at the sorcerer’s mask. It was loose, and came away easily in her hands, revealing the scarred ruin of the sorcerer’s face.
“Let go of me!” she shouted, and hit the sorcerer in the face with the mask.
The Scirathi let out a cry of pain. His hands gave an involuntary spasm, then tried to regain their grip on Nim. Too late. Weakened, slicked with blood, the sorcerer’s fingers slipped free. His robe billowed out like black wings, and with a gurgling cry the Scirathi vanished into the chasm.
“I can’t hold on!” Grace cried as Farr’s body started to slide over the edge. However, the dimness unfolded, and Vani was there; she pulled Farr up with one hand, hauling him to his feet.
“Mother!” Nim cried, holding out her hands.
“My daughter,” Vani said, taking the girl and holding her tight. Nim’s arms wrapped around her neck, and the girl, so brave a moment before, began to sob. Carefully, Vani, Grace, and Farr made their way back over the bridge to the others. A quick examination revealed that most of the blood on Nim was likely the sorcerer’s. There was a small cut on the girl’s arm, but it was already scabbed over.
Vani held Nim tightly, her own face–usually so stoic– streaked with tears. “I promise no one will ever harm you again.”
“I know,” the girl murmured, calm now, though her cheeks were still wet. She leaned her head on Vani’s shoulder and turned her gray‑gold eyes toward Travis.
Travis started to reach toward Nim, then changed his motion and took Grace’s hand in his. “How?” he said simply.
Grace held up her free hand. In it was a silver coin, a symbol engraved on each side. Even without looking closely, Travis knew what the two runes were; one was the rune Eldh, and the other was the rune Earth.
“How did you get that?” he said, reaching into the pocket of his serafi. However, his fingers found the silver coin he always carried with him.
“It’s Hadrian’s,” Grace said in answer to Travis’s confused look, handing the coin to Farr.
Then Travis understood. Brother Cy must have given the silver coin to Farr before transporting him to Eldh, just as the strange preacher once gave the two halves of the coin Travis now carried to him and Grace. The coins were bound runes– ones of unusual power. They had the ability to return the bearer to his home world, to the place envisioned. When Farr and Grace leaped into the abyss, Farr must have used the coin to transport them to Earth as they fell. Then, just as quickly, Grace had used the coin to bring them back to Eldh, only this time on the bridge just behind the sorcerer. It was brilliant.
And Farr had thought of it, not Travis. A strange, hollow feeling gnawed at his chest.
“Magic is getting weaker,” Travis said, looking at Farr. “When you jumped, how did you know the coin would still work?”
“I didn’t,” Farr said, the words crisp. “Though I had an idea it would. The Imsari still function, and the coins seem to be forged of a magic, if not so deep, then deep all the same. It was an educated guess.”
Travis squeezed Grace’s hand. “That was incredibly foolish.” Despite the gnawing feeling in his chest, he smiled. “And incredibly brave.”
“More the first one than the second,” she said. “I wasn’t sure Farr’s coin would work for me. But it did. I suppose because I had been granted one once.”
Where did you go, Grace?Travis leaned in close to her. You were on Earth for a few seconds. Where were you?
By the expression on her face she had heard his thoughts, but she looked away.
Vani moved to Farr. She laid a hand on his arm; her gold eyes shone like moons. “I can never repay you.”
He shrugged. “I don’t want payment. A simple thank you will suffice. For Grace as well as for me.”
Vani nodded. “Will all my heart, I thank you both.” However, as she spoke, her eyes were fixed only on Farr.
“So now what?” Larad said to Travis. “Do we leave, or will you enter the throne room?”
His words shocked Travis. He had been so focused on getting to Morindu to retrieve Nim that he had not considered what might happen if they succeeded. Three thousand years ago, secrets of sorcery had been buried with Morindu. Now the city had been uncovered again. What might he find if he entered the throne room? What wondrous powers might he gain?