“What lies beyond,” her father said, sitting down beside her. “Remember how Amelia said your death was a hollow carved into the magical landscape?” He pointed at the darkness. “That’s its mouth. The place where your hollow meets the rest.”
Marci’s eyes went wide. “You mean that black stuff is the magical plane?”
“We’re already on the magical plane,” Amelia said, leaning out on Marci’s shoulder to get a better view of the undulating darkness over their heads. “Remember, your death is just a scratch in the magical landscape. What you see there is the rest of it. The view from the ground, as it were.”
Marci’s eyes went wider still. “Hold up a second,” she said slowly. “You’re telling me that black watery stuff is magic? Like,themagic, the literal manasphere, the place where Tectonic Magic happens and all ambient magic rises from, the Sea of Magic?”
“Yes,” Amelia said, giving her a funny look. “Didn’t I make that clear earlier?”
She had, but hearing you were inside the magical landscape where spirits had their vessels and all magic originated was a far cry from seeing it with your own eyes. And not just seeing. This close, Marci couldfeelthe power radiating down from the upside-down pool. The black substance might have looked like water, but it was humming with power like a high-voltage wire, absolutely nothing like the soft, hazy ambient magic she’d worked with back when she was alive. This was the real stuff: the pure, unfiltered, untamed, concentrated magic that filled spirits and brought them to life.
“This is incredible!” she cried, shooting to her feet. “All that talk about magic acting like water wasn’t just a metaphor. It’s real. It’sright there!” She bounced on the balls of her feet. “Can I touch it?”
“Only if you want to lose a hand,” her father said, reaching up to pull her back down. “This is what I wanted to show you,carina. We’re safe here, but what’s outside isn’t our world. The Empty Wind released me so I could guide you back to him, but to do that, you’ll have to leave the shelter of your death.”
“So?” Marci said. “Why would I want to sit around here?”
“Because youcansit around,” he said desperately, placing her hand on the roof beneath them. “Your Julius has given you a great gift. Thanks to his memories, your death is large and comfortable, and because he’s a dragon, it will probably remain that way for a very long time. If you wanted, you could stay here for centuries in peace and safety. That is a treasure, Marcivale. Others are not nearly so lucky.”
She didn’t need the way his voice dipped at the end to know what he meant. “You’re talking about your own death, aren’t you?”
Aldo dropped his eyes with a sigh. “Bixby was a thorough man,” he said, dragging a hand through his graying hair. “When he killed someone, he made sure they wouldn’t be missed, and I was no exception. When I woke up after…after what happened in the desert, my death was no deeper than the ditch they left me in, and as time passed, even that began to shrink.”
“What do you mean ‘shrink’?”
“Exactly what you imagine,” he said sadly, looking up at the circle where the magic pooled like tar. “Our deaths are nothing more than scratches, the tiny nicks our lives leave on a much greater world. Some are bigger than others, but all of us are forgotten in the end, and with no living memory to keep our deaths open, they eventually wash away.”
“Wash away?” she repeated, voice shaking. “As in vanish?”
He nodded. “I know you didn’t come here intending to remain, but I don’t want you to throw away a treasure like this without knowing its value first. When I died, I had nothing. A scratch in the ground, and even that was closing as I was forgotten by everyone but you. I was on the edge of being forced out altogether when the Empty Wind appeared. He told me you’d sent him, which was good, because given his face, I never would have—”
“Wait,face?” Marci said. “Ghost has aface?”
“A horrible one,” her father said with a shudder. “But what else could he have? He’s the embodiment of humanity’s greatest fear.”
She scowled. “He’s not that bad. There’s worse things than death.”
“There are,” he agreed. “And the Empty Wind is one of them. To die is terrifying, but as you’ve seen for yourself, it doesn’t mean all is lost. If we are remembered, some part of us will always remain. To be forgotten, though, to have all proof of your life vanish from the Earth, like you never were at all…” He shook his head. “That is the end, Marcivale. That is oblivion, death beyond death.”
“You make him sound like a villain,” Marci said stubbornly. “He’s not evil!”
“I never said he was,” Aldo replied. “I’m just telling you what heis.It’s a definition, not a judgment,though for most people, I imagine that’s a moot point. The proof of our insignificance is never welcome, which means the Empty Wind isn’t, either. That’s why he hides his face. He doesn’t want you to be afraid of him.”
“I wouldn’t be afraid,” Marci said stubbornly. “I’ve never feared Ghost.” It was a big part of why he’d trusted her, but her father just kept shaking his head.
“You would,” he said stubbornly. “You wouldn’t want to, but if you saw him as the dead do, you would be afraid. Not because you’re not brave—you’re the bravest person I know—but immortal or mortal, no one wants to be forgotten.”
Marci still wasn’t convinced. “If he’s so scary, why did you go with him? Was it only because of me?”
“That helped,” Aldo said. “But to be honest, I took his offer because I had no choice. By the time he came to me, your memories were the only thing holding my death together. I was on my back in a shallow grave, face to face withthat.” He glanced at the undulating darkness with fear in his eyes, but Marci didn’t understand.
“It’s just magic,” she said. “Potent stuff, sure, but we’re mages. This is what we do.”
“It’s what wedid,” he said. “When we had physical bodies to shield us. We don’t have that luxury here, and as you can feel for yourself, that isnotthe same magic we worked.”
“I can tell it’s more dangerous,” she agreed. “But I’ve tapped straight into dragons. I’m sure I can handle whatever that is.”
“No, you can’t,” he said, frustrated. “I keep telling you, we’re sheltered here. What we’re looking at is just a glimpse, a pinprick in the floor of the Sea of Magic. All the magic in the world—the stuff that poured in the night of the return and whatever extra that’s come in since—is sitting directly on top of us. Even if you still had your living physical body to help shield you, the power up there could tear you to pieces. As you are now, a naked soul, just touching it would be enough to burn you away completely.”
