“Oh,no, unfortunately.It’s quite hard to keep track of time, down here in thedark.The range of this little box is just around the catacombs, so I ...couldn’t even see the sun.You know?”
Hecleared his throat.“I’m twenty two.”
“Twenty-two!By Oerin, you’re still just a babe.Is that beard fake?Are you putting me on?”
Isaacheld up his uninjured hand, making an effort to matchhis father’s humor.“Yes, actually.You’ve seen through me.I’ve never learneda single spell.I’ve just been waving my arms andtossing bombs.”
Thepurple cloud puffed with laughter.“Actually, you say that, but Sarah and I metthat way, as a point of fact.Did Berith ever tell you this?”
BeforeIsaac could answer, the cloud began to ramble.
“I’d dothis trick in the taverns, right, where I’d shoot a bit of flame with thoselittle poppers in my hand.Add a scroll up the sleeve, and it was a shower offire wherever I pointed.”The cloud rolled and tumbled over itself.“Anyway,one day, Sarah was a scribe on one of the expeditions.She saw my little trickand decided to call me out in front of the crowd.I challenged her to dobetter, knowing she only had evocations, and what does she do but immediatelyturn and enchant her ale.It started to talk!Oh, it called me a fool!Ofcourse, I had to knock it over, just to save face, and by then she—”
Cainestopped, condensing back together.Isaac had the feeling that something wasshowing on his face.
Asilence lingered with the dust.
“Oh,”his father said, quietly.“You never met her, did you?”
Isaacshook his head.
“Sarahwas....”The wispy mouth twisted.“She was fiery.Diligent.Smart as a crow.Heading right for a director post in the collegium.Sometimes, she’d let mehave fun with her.”
Hedrifted along the edge of the device, rubbing against the barrier.
“Shewas very excited to have you.Reminding her I was the father just seemed tomake her happier, for some odd reason.She picked your name, picked the villagewhere we’d build the tower.The last time I saw her, she was drafting yourstudy lessons while rubbing her belly.She told me not to be long in thedesert.”The face inside the cloud seemed to stare at him.“You don’t look muchlike her.I’d hoped you would.It would help meremember....”
Isaacwatched the green fire burn above the dais, hoping hisvoice would sound steady.
“Sorry,”Caine said.“I don’t mean to go on like this.I had these—well, I had hundredsof speeches.Every possible apology, every answer planned, right down to howI’d stress the syllable.Then, of course, the second you actually walk in, Ijust....”
For amoment, the cloud grew brighter.
“It’sgood to see you, Isaac.You don’t know.It’s been....”The face inside beganto solidify.“You’re so big!A man grown already.You couldn’t have saved someof that height for me to see, could you?”
Isaaclooked everywhere but the device in front of him—the torches, the dustywindows, the half-finished experiments.There were words fighting to come outof him, words that he had also tentatively planned to say, but none of themfelt right, and he wanted things to feel right, because, after all this timeand training and effort, things needed to be perfect.
Butnone of this was perfect.
None ofthis was right.
“Well,”Caine said.“Let’s ...move on, for the moment.”
Isaacnodded, unable to look.
“Whathappened out there?”The cloud seemed to spin, like liquid in a centrifuge.Isaac realized his father was attempting to peek through a dusty window.“I hadto sever my senses to conserve energy.It seemed quite ...apocalyptic, for atime.”
“It’sover,” Isaac said.“The power grid is destroyed, and all the souls are gone.The colossus is in pieces.I’m not sure my anti-necrotics could destroy bonesof those size.”
“Berith?”
“He’sdead.”
Thecloud shifted to the side, still trying to peer through the dusty windows.Theglass was a dull gray, letting in specks of light.
“Whenhe called,” Caine said, “I almost didn’t recognize his voice.He’d agedterribly.Like a bitter old man.Even seeing his face was a shock.Did you seethe scars, where the necrotics had splashed?”
“Theyears took a toll,” Isaac said.
