With impossible clarity, one mind surged above the rest.
A demon. Jacen had never sensed one like this—it had to be Naxal. While most demons were difficult to perceive at a glance, Naxal was anything but hidden. Now that Jacen had taken notice, it refused to let him look anywhere else, almost as distracting as the Gate itself. As for the consciousness it inhabited . . . Beneath the crushing weight of the thing inside his head, Neri Semira was an echo, an afterthought.
Jacen rubbed his forehead as though it might rid him of the discomfort.It’s strong. Stronger than anything I’ve ever encountered.
Nines seemed genuinely frightened.I don’t like it.
Jacen could not say he disagreed. But he had come all this way for a reason, and to turn back now would be unfathomable.
What are they going to do to us?Nines asked.
Hesaya won’t hurt you.Of that much, Jacen was confident.She understands.
You trust her,Nines observed.
I do.
She mulled that over.What am I supposed to do? I suppose . . . whatever you want.
She found the prospect perplexing, even a bit alarming. But she said,I think I want to help.She hesitated.I want to helpso we can go back for everyone still trapped in the Cathedral. I don’t want what happened to Daru to happen to anyone else.To think her friend’s true name brought forth a surge of grief but also of warmth washing over both their minds.After that . . . if we survive . . . I think I want to go home.
To the Fractured Peninsula?Jacen recalled the name from the archives.Kasoa. Do you remember it at all?
No. But I realized, on the boat here, that I wasn’t afraid of falling in the water. I know how to swim.A real smile lit her face.It’s not all gone. Have you ever tried to remember?
She seemed far more comfortable with psychic communication. To Jacen, that made sense. Human beings were prone to obfuscating and exaggerating, putting on performances, saying one thing and meaning another. In one’s mind, however, they could speak only truth.I haven’t,he admitted. Until Elyas’s death, Jacen had believed in the righteousness of what had been done to him.After that, he was rarely sober enough to consider the matter. Now . . .I’m not sure I want to remember.
Nines didn’t try to argue. But she said,You speak Zal. I heard you, the first day we met. You weren’t allowed to learn it, but you did anyway.
He hadn’t hidden a blasted thing from this girl. He nodded.I think it was my first language.Suddenly, there was a lump in his throat.I suppose some part of me always knew.
Some parts of us . . . maybe they’re too connected to the rest, so it’s not possible to erase them without breaking something.Nines tilted her head at him.Does that make any sense?
It does.Jacen had yet to decide whether that was entirely a good thing, though, and Nines’ smile fell away as her thoughts followed a similar track.
I wonder if the Church is like that. If we try to cut it out, it would take too much with it.
Jacen had no response. When Hesaya returned, the question still nagged at him like a burr underfoot. With a heaviness in his soul, he rose to meet his fate.
They followed Hesaya through a maze of cramped sandstone tunnels. The four militiamen joined them as they left the docks, closing ranks around Jacen. Ogden and Urien came next, Seth trudging behind. Nines trailed at her own pace.
Jacen had the feeling of climbing through the bowels of some great stone beast, with some passages so low, he had to hunch. His shoulders cramped. He lost track of the way but sensed with increasing certainty that they approached the Gate. It was a dreaming, ageless thing. Its presence expanded, beckoning, and the atmosphere grew caustic.
Fear took root in Jacen’s mind. He had begun to work out what, exactly, these people might ask of him.
He finally asked, “Why are you taking us to the Gate?”
“The Source is our last remaining weapon,” Hesaya said. “Valak do not become valak unless they face the Trial of the Gate.” She paused. “Most of the time.”
“You mean to send me through,” Jacen asserted, very quiet.
“We lost one demon priest because of you,” said Hesaya. “Var Naxal has decreed that you can give us another or face the Source’s judgment.”
The words hit Jacen like a punch to the gut. When they stopped before a simple door, painted black, the corridor was spinning.
“Wait here.” Hesaya went through alone.
As soon as she’d shut the door behind her, Ogden said, “Hmm.” He scratched his beard. “I didn’t expect that.”
