"Even Lucian would not have been so foolish as to direct a human to their location. Not when he had his own plans for them."
"Lucian's plans had nothing to do with the gates. He not only wanted revenge on the Raziq, who'd made him less than he was, but to turn back time and once again become full Aedh."
An aim that seemed right up there with pigs flying, and yet Lucian had totally believed it was possible.
"Only the strongest magic raised on the strongest ley-line intersection could feasibly allow a human to achieve something like that."
I frowned at his slight emphasis on the word "human." "Meaning Aedh are capable of transcending time?"
"Of course." Amusement filtered through his words again. "How do you think Lucian came to spend so much time here on Earth? He was not only stripped of his ability to become full Aedh, but he was relegated to suffering eons of human development."
"And all it did was not only give him plenty of time to plan his revenge, but plenty of time to find a ley line strong enough for him – and his sorcerer buddy – to place their portal."
And it was so well protected we'd yet to find the damn thing. According to Ilianna, the sorcerer had to be using a containment spell to keep us from sensing it, but surely the amount of power he'd need to suck from the intersection just to change form – let alone access the fields – would not be so easily restrained…
I added, "I'm gathering Lucian would have been able to access the fields that way?"
"Certainly. But both he and this sorcerer would have to alter the composition of their bodies to that of energy, if only temporarily. Souls are the only other entity outside Aedh and reapers who can walk the fields, and only then with the help of a guide."
"What about the temples?"
"What about them?"
I bit back my impatience. I wasn't about to rock the boat too much when my father was being helpful. Or as helpful as he was ever likely to get.
Although it did seem somewhat surreal to be having such a calm and collected conversation with him after his initial entrance. "Would either Lucian or the sorcerer have been able to access the temples in their altered forms?"
"Lucian could have, as he was my chrání. The sorcerer has no need to enter the temples. The gates are within the grounds that surround the temples, not in the temples themselves."