sea on one side, and a world that he had only imagined in his childhood dreams. A green world. A world untouched and unspoiled by defiler magic. It was so beautiful, it took his breath away. “It is lovely, is it not?” Ryana said. He turned and saw her standing a short distance away, holding a red flower in her hand. She held it out to him.
“It is called a rose,” she said. “I never imagined that anything could smell as sweet.”
She held it out to him, and he sniffed it, savoring its delicate perfume.
“It is wonderful,” he said. “I never imagined that it could be anything like this.”
“We cannot stay, you know,” Ryana said. “Kara says we must go back. We do not belong here, in this time.”
“I know,” said Sorak.
“If only we could stay,” she said wistfully. “When I see that this is how the world once was and think of what it has become, it makes me want to weep.”
“Perhaps, one day, we can come back,” he said. “And now that we know what the world can be, we shall know why we walk the Path of the Preserver. It shall have new meaning for us.”
“Yes,” she said. “The desert can be beautiful, even in its desolation, but there is room on Athas both for the desert and for this.” She hesitated. “How do you feel now?”
“Strange,” said Sorak. “Very strange. There is an emptiness inside me that I have never known before.”
“They are all gone then?”
“Yes. All gone. I shall miss them terribly. I did not realize what it felt like, to be… normal. I feel like a mere shadow of my former self. Or selves,” he added wryly. “Yes, I shall miss them. But I shall have to learn to live without them.”
“You still have me,” she said, gazing at him, then looking down at the ground. “That is, if you still want me.”
“I have always wanted you, Ryana,” he said. “You know that.”
“Yes, I know. And I knew what stood between us. So… what stands between us now?”
“Nothing,” he said as he took her in his arms and held her close, kissing her neck softly. “And now nothing ever will.”
* * *
“It is time,” said Kara, as they stood in the top chamber of the tower. “The gateway is about to open.”
“Can we not say our farewells to the Sage?” asked Ryana.
Kara shook her head. “We are between the worlds now. If you go down those stairs now, it will take you back to Bodach. You cannot reach the Sage’s chambers, where he sleeps. And even if you could, you could not wake him. Someday, there will be another time. But for now, we must return back to the time from which we came.”
“Very well, then,” Sorak said. “We are ready.” Kara glanced out the window as the dark sun slowly dipped below the horizon and the last rays of its light faded from view. “The gateway is now open,” she said.
They started down the stairs. As they descended, the stone walls seemed to age, and a thick layer of dust appeared upon the steps. They passed the lower levels, which no longer had floors, and the fresh smell of the sea was gone now, replaced by the harsh odor of the silt that blew in through the narrow apertures. They were back in their own time once again, and it suddenly seemed even more desolate than they had remembered.
“It will be night outside,” Ryana said. “What of the undead?”
“We shall wait within the tower until sunrise,” Kara said. “They will not come in, and we will be safe.”
“You are a most persistent man, Valsavis,” Sorak said. “But you are too late. I have already fulfilled the object of my quest.”
Valsavis stared at him for a moment, and then he started laughing. Sorak and Kara both gaped at him with astonishment while Ryana hung limply in his powerful grasp.
“You know,” Valsavis said, “this is the first time in my life I have ever truly found something to be funny. So, you have crowned your wizard king, have you? And what a splendid palace he resides in! Hail the mighty druid king, hiding in a ruin, like a cowering rodent among the rotting corpses of Bodach. I had assumed this place held more than met the eye when I saw that the undead would not come in here. What a wail they set up outside when I came in. It seems they wanted me to