by Brandon Mull
“We left her?” Jace asked.
“Not on purpose,” Cole said. “Things went bad fast. You were kind of pushy about it, Jace. You wanted to make sure I faced Ramarro.”
“Because I’m good in a crisis,” Jace said. “Except for getting killed with Mira.”
“Maybe I closed it on purpose,” Violet said. “To make sure you got away.”
“Would you do that?” Jace asked.
“I think so,” Violet said. “Or it could have closed if I got killed. Or if the snake tampered with my powers.”
“Or Owandell,” Cole said. “He can mess with powers.”
“Owandell was there?” Mira asked.
“I think so,” Cole said. “With Peya. He kept his face covered that time. I think he is the Ancient One. He showed up at the Far North Cache with the same robes when the serpent appeared. We stopped the snake and beat him, by the way, before Ramarro got us.”
“But Mira and I got bitten,” Jace said.
“Yeah,” Cole said. “I stopped the snake, if you want to be specific. With help from Elegance. I connected the serpent’s power to hers, and the rest was automatic. Oh! I can connect without touching now!”
Cole focused on Violet, found her center, and connected to her power. He shared energy with her.
“I feel it,” Violet said.
Cole turned to Lorenzo. “Why didn’t you tell me I just had to reach for the center?”
“The center?” Lorenzo asked.
“Of their power,” Cole said. “The core. To connect.”
Lorenzo gave a little shrug. “You’re teaching me now. I don’t know how to connect to the power of another. I’ve never felt another’s center of power.”
“Well, that’s the trick,” Cole said. “If you can find the center, you can connect.”
“What about Ramarro?” Jace asked. “Can we beat him this time?”
Cole sighed. “I don’t know, guys. It looks bad.”
“Really?” Mira asked.
“He let me touch him so I could try to attack his power,” Cole said. “It was like nothing I’ve ever felt. I had no idea where to begin. His power was everywhere.”
“And we can’t send him to Earth,” Jace said.
“I’m not sure he would go,” Cole said. “And no way can we risk it unless we’re sure it will strip his powers.”
“What else did you learn?” Lorenzo asked. “What should we do?”
“I learned we’re in huge trouble,” Cole said. “We need to take every risk possible if it might help. I learned if we do the same thing we did last time, Ramarro wins.”
“Did Ramarro kill you?” Lorenzo asked.
“Nope,” Cole said. “Last minute you opened a ton of wayports. I entered the nearest.”
“That was my plan,” Lorenzo said. “A plan I may never actually carry out now. If it turned ugly enough, I was going to use the local conduits to open a bunch of wayports. Hopefully enough to temporarily distract Ramarro. Were other Wayminders with me?”
“Two,” Cole said.
“Probably the two I have in mind,” Lorenzo said. “Grand Shapers. Anyhow, the wayport nearest you led out of Creon. By going through it, you came directly back to this moment.”
“Yes,” Cole said. “I went in. But I didn’t come out. I just showed up here. As if none of it happened.”
“It didn’t happen,” Lorenzo said. “Even though you remember it.”
“With all of you here, it’s like telling about a dream,” Cole said.
“What’s the plan?” Jace asked.
“You and Mira should go to the Iron Fort and give the youth potion to Brogan,” Cole said. “That was a brilliant call. Could you take them, Lorenzo?”
“I can take them to the tent before seeking out my associates,” Lorenzo said. “Where will you be?”
“Last time I couldn’t leave Creon,” Cole said. “I need Violet to help me make some visits. The first is the riskiest. I need to talk to Trillian.”
“Is that wise?” Lorenzo asked.
“For sure it isn’t safe,” Cole said. “But I think it might be necessary. We need all the help we can get to beat Ramarro.”
“Do you think Trillian will betray his own kind?” Mira asked.
“He might,” Cole said. “Mostly because you’re really smart. Something you said in the possible future. Look, I know it’s risky. I know I might not return. But without help I know we lose. Nobody can help us like Trillian can. It’s worth a shot. And time is short. Ramarro shows up tomorrow morning.”
“That soon?” Lorenzo asked.
“Count on it,” Cole said. “The sun was not very high in the sky. Are you up for it, Violet?”
“Why not?” Violet said.
“You won’t remember most of what happened here when you leave Creon,” Lorenzo warned.
“Hopefully when I show up at the Lost Palace, I’ll get the general idea,” Cole said. “Sit tight at the Iron Fort until I get back. I’ll try not to take too long. And if I don’t come back, I’m so sorry. Do you know where we’re going, Violet?”
A wayport opened.
CHAPTER
28
TORIVOR
The sight of the Lost Palace filled Cole with dread. Despite the moonless night, a greenish radiance glowed from the sickly mist eddying across the uneven grounds, all enclosed by a tall fence fanged with barbed spikes. Sagging walls and spindly towers rose out of the luminous haze like the charred skeleton of a castle. Cole remembered all too well who lived there. Contact with Trillian was strictly forbidden for good reason—he turned visitors into puppets. Many who entered his domain never left. Those who did served the torivor with fanatical devotion. Cole had barely survived his previous encounter.
Cole and Violet stood on the Red Road near a wayport. Though surrounded by wilderness, the perfectly maintained avenue stretched behind them to the limits of sight. Ahead, the gate stood open.
“Are you sure this is where we want to be?” Violet asked.
“No,” Cole said. His memories from before he emerged from the wayport were cloudy.
“I don’t like the open gate,” Violet said. “Feels like a trap.”
“It’s definitely a trap. Nobody should go in there unless they must. But we’re probably here on purpose. We came straight from Creon. You opened the wayport?”
The wayport wavered. “Yes. It’s mine. Are we really so desperate that we’re going to Trillian?”
“We could go back and check, but we won’t remember when we return,” Cole said.
“We’ll remember this moment,” Violet said. “If we come back again, it can be a signal that you really want to talk to Trillian.”
Cole stepped through the wayport, and Violet followed.
They stood inside the metallic vault. It was empty.
Cole remembered his previous experiences—the possible future he had experienced, his return to his friends, and his decision to visit Trillian. And he recalled going to the Lost Palace and feeling completely confused.
“We want to do this,” Cole said, stepping through the wayport. Violet came through as well.
“We’re back,” Cole said. “I guess this means we need Trillian.”
The wayport vanished.
“Should I come in with you?” Violet asked.
“Could you help me teleport out in an emergency?” Cole asked.
Violet held out her hand. Cole took it, connected to her power, and fed her energy.
“It’s heavily shielded,” Violet said. “Like completely. I can’t see anything inside there using my power.”
“Don’t trust your eyes,” Cole said. “Trillian can manipulate reality. It’s hard to tell what is real in there.”
“I’m not sure if a way out is shielded,” Violet said. “Sometimes you can see out of places that block you from looking in.”
“Up to you,” Cole said. “I don’t mind if you wait here.”
“I’ll come,” Violet said, straightening
her robes. “I want to see how it goes. Help however I can.”
“Then come on,” Cole said, leading her through the open gate.
The instant Cole passed the gate, the palace transformed. The castle became a gleaming monument to ingenuity and imagination, miraculously crafted out of pearl and platinum, reflecting warm light from the radiant crystals artfully arranged across the stylish grounds. The colors appeared more rich and vibrant than natural limits should permit, as if Cole had worn a dulling filter over his eyes since birth and it had finally been removed. The luxurious red of the road before them reduced all other reds to halfhearted attempts at pink.
“It’s beautiful,” Violet said.
“Bait for the trap,” Cole said.
A woman approached astride a broad, powerful stallion. She had hair like cascades of molten silver and possessed inhumanly flawless beauty.
“Hi, Hina,” Cole said. “We need to see Trillian.”
“We are intrigued by your visit,” Hina said. “Come with me to the palace.”
“It’s an emergency,” Cole said. “The faster the better.”
Hina snapped her fingers, and a pair of saddled horses galloped up to Cole and Violet. Cole swung up onto the black one. Violet mounted the white.
Cole glanced over at Violet as they rode. She looked nervous and amazed, her hair fluttering in the wind of their speed.
Graceful steps flowed down from the mirrored palace doors. They dismounted at the base of the stairs, and Hina led the ascent. Though there was no hurry evident in her fluid strides, Cole had to jog to keep up.
“We’ll go to sleep,” Cole told Violet. “Trillian will talk to us in a dream.”
Violet held out her hand. Cole took it and energized her power. Violet furrowed her brow and shook her head. “I can’t open a wayport here,” she whispered.
“No need to whisper,” Hina remarked offhandedly. “He hears your thoughts.”
They passed through the mirrored doors into a gleaming white hallway decorated with luminous crystals. Hina led them up a sweeping staircase, then invited Violet into a room.
“Alone?” Violet asked.
“We’ll meet in our dreams,” Cole assured her.
The door closed. A few more steps and Cole received a room of his own. He went straight to the bed and tried to relax. It was not difficult. No beds were this comfortable. Not home, not anywhere.
Soon he stood on a deserted beach, feet buried in the soft, warm sand. A cloud currently hid the sun, but most of the sky was a clear blue. Large waves reared up high before curling and crashing in a foamy tumble. The absence of civilization, together with the tropical air and the ferny shrubs behind him, suggested he might be on an island.
Cole looked around for company. Nobody yet.
He crouched and sifted a handful of fine-grained sand through his fingers. Warm, not hot. Like the air. Ideal. Soothing. Like the bed.
This was a dream.
“More than a dream,” a voice said behind him.
Cole turned to find Trillian where he had not been a moment before. An ageless man whose features hinted at mixed ethnicities, Trillian wore a loose golden robe with fur at the collar and at the ends of the sleeves. Light suffused his skin, as if his insides were glowing.
“Hello,” Cole said.
“I expected you would return,” Trillian said.
“Yeah?” Cole asked.
“If you lived, I knew you would eventually realize you were really fighting Ramarro. I did not believe you would submit to him. And if you wanted a chance to triumph, it would lead you back here.”
“I guess you were right,” Cole said.
“May I have full access to your mind?” Trillian asked.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not asking for control or even influence,” Trillian said. “Just complete access to your memories.”
“I thought you could read minds,” Cole said.
“I can see more with permission,” Trillian said. “Quicker results. Less guesswork. You’ve been in Creon. Some of your memories are shielded. I can access them for both of us with permission.”
Cole stared as the frothy aftermath of a wave spread flat over the sand. He was here. It was already a huge risk. He might as well get all the help he could. “Go ahead.”
A hand softly touched the back of his neck.
“Ah, yes,” Trillian said. “You have visited a simulation of the future. I see why you came to me. Let me help you recall.”
The events in Creon awoke in Cole’s mind as if they had never left. “I remember now,” Cole said. “No wonder I came here. Ramarro was going to keep you locked up. He admitted it to Mira.”
Trillian stood before Cole and studied him. “I suspected Ramarro would not be faithful to me, given the chance. But knowing is different from suspecting.”
“Different enough to help me?” Cole asked.
“Yes,” Trillian said. “I predicted you would become embroiled in the events surrounding Ramarro. I did not realize you would be at the center. And I did not realize you would come to understand your power so rapidly. The events in the echolands accelerated the process.”
“Can I defeat him?” Cole asked.
“In a direct contest? Not with all the aid I could offer.”
“Is there a way?”
“You explored an intriguing possibility.”
“Drawing Ramarro to my world?”
“I believe Lorenzo and Kendo were right,” Trillian said. “I believe a torivor would be rendered powerless if he followed the Pilgrim Path to Earth.”
“Can you be sure?” Cole asked.
“I am nearly convinced already,” Trillian said. “I can see the nature of your world through your memories. I know what happened to Kendo Rattan after he walked the path. I must confess it warms my heart to witness him powerless. After all, he did help imprison me here. His condition suggests that many of the principles of power that function in the Outskirts do not function in your world. Torivors are eternal beings. We are suited to eternal places. Your world is much more firmly rooted in time than the Outskirts. Here, time is more of an imitation. Still, to be absolutely sure I would need to investigate.”
“Could you investigate from here?” Cole asked.
“If Violet lets me borrow her power, I can replicate a Pilgrim Path,” Trillian said. “Now that I understand the possibility, it should not be difficult. The exercise will let me see into your world. I could not walk the path any more than I can leave my castle grounds. I am bound here.”
Cole folded his arms and scrunched his toes in the sand. “You can see my worries.”
“Sometimes I prefer a conversation,” Trillian said.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Cole said. “I know torivors supposedly can’t lie. What if it’s not true, and if you borrow Violet’s power, you will escape and destroy my entire world? What if you lie about what you see, and Ramarro destroys my world?”
“You want certainty that a torivor cannot lie,” Trillian said. “I understand why. Has anyone ever contradicted this idea?”
“No, people seem to believe it,” Cole said. “But what if you’re waiting for the crucial moment to tell the perfect lie?”
“I can mislead,” Trillian said. “But if I truly lie, my powers will unravel. The control I exert over my surroundings is a reflection of my sincerity. My wholeness of purpose. Torivors are not perfect. If we were perfect, I would work in complete harmony with Ramarro. He is not perfect either. But torivors are unconflicted. He never pledged total loyalty to me, nor I to him. We leave unpleasant matters unresolved. We do not lie about them. We are utterly true to ourselves and to our word.”
“What if you’re lying now?” Cole asked.
“Some examples from your life will help you glimpse the principle,” Trillian said. “In the echolands, you were tempted with the opportunity to go home. Could you have resisted that temptation if you did not sincerely want to save your friend
s?”
“I don’t think so,” Cole answered.
“When you fell into the slipstream in the echolands, could you have survived if your desire to rescue your friends was false? Could you have resisted the sweeping force of the slipstream and the bountiful summons of the homesong?”
Cole remembered that arduous moment as the slipstream stripped the impurities from his power. He could have let go and zoomed into the beckoning afterlife of the Other. But he still had work to accomplish. Unfinished business. He had needed to save his friends.
“No,” Cole said.
“Heed me, Cole,” Trillian said. “I experienced that moment in your mind as vividly as if I had lived it. If I heard the summons of the homesong as you did under those conditions, I would have advanced into the next world. As a caveat, I am not sure that I would have heard the same music you did. I may not have a separate essence as you do. What I seem to be may be all I am. To die in time could be the true end of a torivor. But if I heard that song calling me onward to a superior eternity . . . I’m not sure what desire would be strong enough to anchor me to this one.”
“You’re saying the slipstream worked like a lie detector,” Cole said.
“Among other things, the slipstream proved the sincerity of your desire to save your friends,” Trillian said. “Insincerity would not have survived the slipstream. And with a torivor, the power that allows us to bend reality to our wills derives from our integrity. Knowing what I know, being who I am, to lie would be to lose the source of my power. To lie is not enticing. There is no urge to resist. In fact, if for some reason I did not care what it would do to me and I wanted to lie with all my heart, I do not believe it would be possible.”
“That explanation is not proof,” Cole said.
“Many things that are real cannot be directly proven,” Trillian said. “Yet there is evidence. And there is reason. Much that cannot be proven can still be discovered and relied upon.”
“But can I risk my world?” Cole asked.
“Search your memories,” Trillian said. “Your world is already at risk. If Wayminders can devise a Pilgrim Path to your world, so can Ramarro. You know this. You watched him figure it out. Ramarro will find the way to Earth with or without your involvement. He would likely subjugate the Outskirts first. Perhaps even reduce it to ashes, depending on his desire for vengeance. But if luring Ramarro to Earth could undo him, why not attempt it at the start? Why not give the Outskirts a chance?”
