The faces vanished.
Finn vanished as well …
He stood on a flat, endless plain, as great shaggy beasts plodded by under a broiling sun that dropped into the bloody sea as the mighty vessel died, spewing gouts of flame, flame that reflected in the woman's chocolate eyes as the silver craft whined overhead, as the stars swept by in a spidery veil, a veil of deadly smoke that ate the soldier's eyes, eyes that looked out on a flat, endless plain as great shaggy beasts plodded by under a broiling sun, as the mighty vessel vanished, spewing gouts of Sabatino everywhere …
“You're coming apart,” Finn cried out in alarm, “you're just-going everywhere!”
Sabatino was gone, lost in a blink. Finn saw him dash through a bright crystal pane, followed him over a flat, endless-
Finn?
FINN?
PLEASE
Help
ME
FINN …!
“Letitia? Letitia Louise!”
“Who do you think,” Julia said, “how many people do you know in this place?”
“Shut up, I'm trying to think.”
“Don't waste your time. It's not allowed here.”
“You don't know, you don't know where here is.”
“Here is where you are. Here is where you're going, here is where you've been.”
“That's all I need, lizard philosophy talk. And what are you doing up there? You're in my pocket with the rest of your parts.”
Julia walked on nothing, upside down. Turning shades of amber, saffron and a horrid tone of green.
“Stop that, you're making me ill.”
“Stop what?”
“Whatever you're doing, don't do it again.”
“Whatever or when? I can't do both at one time.”
FINN …
FINN …
PLEASE,
FINN!
“Letitia, over here!”
“Let's not start that again,” Julia said, wherever she was, wherever she'd been.
“I'm coming,” Finn said, “I'll be right with you, dear …”
Letitia's scream shattered all the crystal panes, splintered every when, shredded every where, and suddenly she was there, or maybe not at all, maybe a vapor or a wisp, and all about her a pale luminescence, a nimbus of light.
Sometimes she flickered and was gone, less than a whisper, less than a fleeting breath of air.
“I can't see you well, love,” Finn said. “I'm not certain that you're there.”
“I might be, I can't really tell. I'm frightened, Finn, I'm really awfully scared.”
“Tell me what to do, tell me where you are.”
“I do love you, Finn.”
“And I love you as well. I'll get you out of there.”
“I don't think so, I don't think you can.”
“Don't say that, listen to me, I will.”
“Finn, something awful's happening, something's happening to me.”
“No, this isn't real, this is an illusion, it's magic, is what it is-”
“It's happening. It's happening inside-it's happening now.”
“Letitia, stop this, please, this kind of talk won't do us any-”
A moan, a wail, a sad lamentation, a grievous sound that rose into a shriek, into a cry of unbearable pain.
Finn stared in horror, in awesome disbelief as something moved in Letitia, something twisted, something seethed. Something crackled, sizzled, and burst into sight.
Finn shrank back, raised an arm against the blistering heat that surged from his love, not his love at all, but the creature she'd become, a grim apparition that wailed, shouted out his name, stared out at nothing with black and fiery eyes.
And, from this dark, charred cremation, this beauty with slender limbs and ashen hair, burst a nightmare from beyond nature's realm, from a place devoid of light. They spilled from her belly, from the fire that burned within, this foul and hungry blight, this hideous plague, lurching blindly all about.
Finn stood frozen in fright. The terrible horde kept coming, but Letitia Louise began to fade, began to waver out of sight, scarcely a shadow now, scarcely a wisp, as the magic of the horrid machine began to steal away her life …
Tears scalded Finn's cheeks as he cursed every dark incantation, every wizard, every witch, every hex and every spell. For magic was his ruination, magic had snatched away the only thing he loved, the being that made him whole, made his life worthwhile. Damned sorcerers and seers, damned-
“Letitia! Letitia Louise!”
It struck him then, like a quake, like a bolt that splits a mighty tree.
“The amulet-the amulet, Letitia! Grab it, hold it, squeeze it in your hand, whatever the hell you do with such a thing!”
She was gone though, vanished, nothing left to see.
“Come back,” he shouted. “None of it's real, it's magic, it's a spell. Ah, I take that back. The amulet part, that's real, all right? The rest of it's a trick, you don't have to go, you don't have to disappear!”
Nothing.
Nothing but the wheres, nothing but the whens.
A shimmer, then a glow, a flicker, a dim and phantom light. He saw her. She was there, lying quietly, curled in a ball, the way she slept at night.
His heart leaped at the sight. She was still very frail, no more substantial than fireflies winking in the night, but what could you expect? The seer's charm was clearly working well, but these things took a while. He'd wait, give it time, not even try to go to her, to hold her, till then …
“I'm afraid this is as good as it gets, craftsman. Bloody rules everywhere, you know.”
“What?” Finn started. Sabatino stood just beyond Letitia, a wraith, a phantom himself, better than a Coldie, but not a great deal.
“What do you mean? She's all right now, she'll be just fine.”
“She will, Finn, but not with you, I fear. We can't come there, you can't come over here.”
“Don't try your tricks on me, I can go anywhere I-”
Not a step, not an inch, no closer than a hair.
Sabatino showed him a wispy smile. “I shall be glad to take care of her, trust me on that. Wherever we are, though I'm not at all certain of that. We're comrades, you know. Brothers in arms.”
“No, we're not. Let her go, Sabatino, she doesn't belong to you!”
“No one belongs to anyone, Finn. We are, in the end, whoever we are. Ourselves all alone. Even a liar and a rogue knows that.”
“Oh, fine. Words of wisdom from a Nucci. I've heard it all now.”
“Sometimes I even surprise myself,” Sabatino said.
He bent then, raising Letitia's limp figure in his arms, both of them sheer, gossamer thin, perfectly clear.
“Put her down,” Finn demanded. “You can't do this, I won't allow it, you hear?”
“I don't know how it happened, I haven't the foggiest, Finn. But I do have the pleasure of besting you, though I can't take credit, I fear. Oh, if you can, I'd advise you to get out of here. I feel this illusion is rather shaky. I doubt it's going to last.”
“Damn you, Sabatino-”
“It could happen, I'll grant you that.”
“Get your hands off me, right now. I can't feel a thing, but if you touch me, you'll wish you were dead, or possibly alive!”
Sabatino's shade looked startled. Letitia began to pound upon his chest, which did little harm to flesh that wasn't there. Still, he looked annoyed, greatly alarmed.
“Is this how you intend to act? Can I expect behavior like this?”