“I’ve never really figured out my past,” I admitted. “Not all of it. Not yet.”
The forgiving path is still one you should walk, Jack, but it was the essence needed formythreads. Each ward-bond is unique.
I was relieved, and troubled. “I’m not sure, then, how to ward this place.” She looked out across the Meadows at Cassius.You are good at staying,
Jack, and that isalsoa good thing.
A long silence fell between us. We shared it the way friends do.
At last, she said,I can rest now. Goodbye, Jack. Then she started toward the mountain of fire, born by the wind, voices rising from the other side, calling her home.
“Goodbye.”
As soon as the Ward disappeared inside the flames, Ella, Westy, the Parley twins, and all the rest merged with Cassius, becoming one in his body. Neither the fire nor the wind could move them. And with each joined soul their song grew louder and richer.
When they finally stopped singing, the old soul, my friend Cassius, walked through the howling wind, across the plain, and stood next to me.
“How . . . ?” I asked him. “Why?”
Because I wanted to finally stay a good course, Jack. For our third option.
In his shadow I could see the aching flare of his primal moment—the day he’d lost his family. “So you could become the ward.”
He nodded.And try to preserve the balance between your world and mine.
“So, instead of going into the mountain, you asked her to teach you her song.” His shadow shone bright with so many souls. “And the others?”
I sang an invitation that they might join me.
“You’re saving my ass again.”
Cassius smiled.There is no need for invective, Jack. And it is you who gave us the opportunity to make this choice.
It was so good to have my friend back. “Thanks . . . brother.” Cassius smiled.
He’d found a way to stay, to give us a chance to fight off a revolution.
It was everything.
Only a moment later, the barrier passed through me—the ward had collapsed. From somewhere behind me, screams rose and blades clashed. My friends in the Strata were still being attacked by Shiguan.
I offered Cassius my hand. He took it, and I let go of the Asphodel Meadows. Suddenly, we were back near the amphitheater in the Roman Stratum. Many of my friends had fallen, but the clashing of blades and war cries stopped when Cassius appeared glowing like the sun beside me.
Brach stood frozen, staring at the centurion. Then he raised and pointed his bow. “Take them!”
The Shiguan stormed toward us.
“Watch our back,” I called to my friends, then pulled Cassius after me as I raced down the Steps. Behind us, light flared, cries echoed, and steel clanged off the cold, hard earth. Brach and his mob took chase, playing assault strokes that shattered earth and stone around us.
Soon, I staggered out onto the Ancient Stratum. Clutching my aching head, I stumbled a few yards onto the long plain where I’d seen the Ward, dropped to my knees, and shoved my hands into the dirt.
The earth heaved. My mind exploded with images—a man weeping over a dead horse, a family huddled around a cook fire, Caswallawn charging into battle. It all churned up from the shifting soil.
I pulled my hands out of the loam and pointed Cassius to the spot. The old soul stepped to where the Ward had been and stomped his massive feet into the ground.
The battle spilled out behind us. Brach raged forward, blasting light at my friends and driving them back. His hundred Shiguan circled wide, hemming us in.
My friends closed ranks around me. Blades flashed in the lantern light. Church and Lady leaned on each other for support; Lakshmi waved one sword, using the other like a cane; Chuey could hardly hold up his macuahuitl; and Kincaid staggered, trying to defend Chuey.
