“Here,” Alara said, pressing her index finger to the palm of my hand. “See foryourself.”
I cried out as a sudden jolt of power hit me. My own magic reacted, and I felt power swell inside me like a river during springtime, until I was certain I was going to burst before it finally settled back down. Frowning, I examined it—my magic was at a much higher level, I realized with amazement. Could this be a permanentchange?
“You say that’s just a tiny part of your magic?” I asked faintly. Now that I was looking closer, I could see that Alara had doubled my magic with a mere touch of the hand. It was uncomfortably similar to how Resinah herself had passed power down to her disciples, if the stories could bebelieved.
“Yes,” she said. “That was as much as you could safely absorb. I could try to give you more, but it would likely unmake your entirebeing.”
“No, no, that’s all right,” I said. I swallowed hard as I looked up at her. No wonder the Tua were considered legendary—they were practically divine beings, especially compared to those who possessed no magic of theirown.
“Are you all right?” Nalan said, gazing down at me with concern. “It occurs to me that your mind may have trouble grasping so much in such a shorttime.”
“I’m fine,” I said, waving away his concern. “And really, thank you for the gift.” It was going to take me a while to get used to the new magic humming in my veins, and I wondered if I was nearly as strong as Iannis now. “Unfortunately, this gift isn’t going to do me much good unless I can get out of here. You both are so extraordinarily powerful—isn’t there a way you can send me back home, toIannis?”
The Tua shook their heads sadly. “Unfortunately, our laws forbid us to interfere in the affairs of an older member of our race,” Alarasaid.
“However,” Nalan conceded, a thoughtful look on his face, “as we told you earlier, we can give you a bit of knowledge, to help even the playing field, as your race wouldsay.”
“I’ll take anything I can get,” I saidfervently.
“We wish you good fortune,” Alara said solemnly as she touched the nape of my neckagain.
I felt that strange sensation of my mind parting again, but this time, instead of something being pulled out, there was immense pressure instead. I gasped as it drove me to my knees, and heard Broghan squawk in alarm as my vision wentdark.
“Goodbye, young Sunaya,” Nalan said, his voice sounding very far away. And then everything wentblack.
When I openedmy eyes again, I found myself kneeling in the same forest where I’d first entered the Tua realm. Disoriented, I got to my feet, then took stock of myself to make sure that everything was in order. I was still wearing the leathers Arala and Nalan had given me, and to my delight, they’d replenished the food and water stores in my magical sleeve. Strangely, there was a snakeskin belt with a pretty copper buckle wrapped around my waist that I was fairly certain I hadn’t been wearing before. It was cool to the touch, and as I skimmed my fingers across the black and bronze scales, I wondered if there was anything magical aboutit.
Putting that question aside for now, I set up a ward around the perimeter of the clearing, then sat down and warily began to sift through my mind for the knowledge that the Tua had promised me. Sure enough, I found it, appearing in my mind’s eye like a beautifully fashioned trunk that needed to be unpacked. Carefully, I mentally turned the copper key and unclasped the latch, then lifted thelid.
Unlike Fenris’s knowledge transfer, this trunk contained no personal memories, just a treasure trove of useful information, like a whole lifetime of textbooks, encyclopedias, and dictionaries in one heap. I gasped as it rushed into me all at once, struggling not to go under in the tide of strange ideas and knowledge, and quickly erected a mental barrier to channel this new influx safely. I imagined a library inside my mind, like Janta’s back in Solantha, and that is where I directed the new knowledge, ready to be consulted whenneeded.
Suddenly, I understood the nature of the different dimensions. There was an infinity of them aside from Recca and the Tua realm, both dangerous and wondrous in their own ways. Despite their differences, some dimensions were contiguous, like squares of fabric stitched together into one giant quilt. It was possible to get from one to the other, though only a handful were easily accessible from any specific location, and some shifted erratically. Recca and the Tua realm were close neighbors, as dimensions went. The Tua had left the instructions for how to return from their dimension to Recca right in my head. The spell was based on some complicated mathematics, but since the dimensions were currently in close conjunction, simply speaking it would be enough fornow.
The problem was, the transfer required a Tua-sized expenditure of magic. Would I be able to perform the spell on my own? With the extra boost in power they had given me, I might just be able to swing it, though from what I understood there was at least an even chance I wouldn’t makeit.
Excitement and fear coursed through me all at once, and I wiped my suddenly damp palms on my hands. If I could make this work, I would make it back to Recca, and there would only be one more test to go. But if I failed…I would end up in the void, and die ofasphyxiation.
Closing my eyes, I sent up a short but fervent prayer to Magorah to watch over me and make sure that my magic did not falter. Gathering my power, I clasped my hands together, then spoke the spell in the strange language of the Tua, which I now knew as well as Northian, thanks to Nalan andAlara.
As soon as I spoke the Words, the magic inside me was sucked away, leaving me weak and empty. I gasped as a sonic boom rendered me nearly deaf, and the next thing I knew, the world was spinning away from me. Pressure squeezed all around me until I was nearly certain that I’d been flattened into a pancake, and I clasped my hands to the sides of my head, trying to alleviate the pain and the ringing sound in myears.
Everything around me went black, and there was no air, no sound, no light. I gasped soundlessly for air as horror froze my blood, realizing that I was in the void. I’d fucked up. I was going to die out here, and Iannis would never see me again. He wouldn’t even be able to recover my deadbody…
But just as my limbs were starting to go numb, I felt a sudden push from behind, and I slammed into a giant glowing ball of light that appeared out of nowhere. I crashed into the ground on my hands and knees, panting hard, my fingers curling around fistfuls of dirt and grass. The meal I’d enjoyed with the Tua earlier came barreling straight up my throat, and I puked for what felt like endless minutes, heaving my guts up until there was absolutely nothingleft.
Finally, when the puking had turned to dry heaving, I flopped onto my back as far from the mess as I could manage. My limbs had turned to water, and everythinghurt. But my heart was still beating strong in my chest, and my senses still worked. I could smell the sweet grass and flowers of Ennartha’s garden, could feel the cool wind and tiny drops of moisture on my face. An echo of Ta’sradala’s scent made my stomach clench, but at least she wasn’t nearby just now to witness my abjecthumiliation.
Who had given me the push that saved my life? I’d probably never know, but whatever the cause, I had made it back to Recca. Perhaps not to Solantha, where I most wanted to go, but at least I had arrived back in my own world. And I was in onepiece.
13
Irestedin the garden for a good twenty minutes before I finally found the strength to move. Once the dizziness and nausea had subsided, I fished a piece of stale bread from my magical sleeve and gnawed on it to settle my upset stomach. The bit of food helped, and I struggled to my feet so I could get mybearings.
As I’d surmised from the scents, I was in Ennartha’s garden again. The position of the sun told me it was mid-day, and it was still high summer judging by the fact that the same flowers were still growing and the weather hadn’t changed. But was it the same year that I’d left? How much time had Ilost?
One thing at a time, Sunaya,I told myself. At least Ihadmade it back. From what I could tell, there was nobody around—surely my arrival would have drawn attention if anybody was home. Even if I’d made no sound, any competent mage, let alone a Tua like Ta’sradala, would have sensed the powerful magic I’d used for the dimensional transfer. Most likely they hadn’t expected me to survive and come back at all, and had all gone off to do somethingelse.
As I absently plucked some blackberries from a bush and popped them into my mouth, I had to admit I was feeling more confident despite the uncertainty of my circumstances. I had a much better sense of appreciation for Ta’sradala’s power now that I’d had a glimpse of the Tua realm, but I was also armed with knowledge of my own that might help me. I sure as hell wouldn’t be telling Ta’sradala or her daughter about what I’d learned—I had a feeling that would have dire consequences, both for me and the Tua who’d helped me get backhere.
