He looked away, at a circle of huge, dead trees. “I don’t think so, but as things stand we have to be careful. Ready?”
She nodded, and they plunged into the whiteness again. A dozen worlds flashed in and out of sight, then a handful more. Dahli stopped on a cleared circle within a field of red plants with corkscrew leaves.
“I want you to take and hold as much magic as you can,” he said.
She looked at him in surprise. “But… that would strip this world of a lot of magic.”
He nodded. “Perhaps. The people here are unaware of other worlds and use little of the magic they create. Valhan often used this place as a source of magic when he faced a demanding task.”
Rielle wanted to ask what kinds of tasks could be that demanding, but Dahli was clearly in a hurry. Throwing her senses outwards, she stretched until she could feel the point where magic faded to nothing above her. Then she spread her awareness wide, following the edge of magic until she had the whole sphere of it in her reach. Doubting he meant her to strip the world completely, she drew it in radiating lines so that she took a little over half.
“I have it,” she told him. He nodded, then took them on through the worlds. When he stopped again they stood in bright sunlight in the midst of an icy mountain ridge. A chill enveloped her feet as she sank into snow. Feeling moisture seeping through the soft shoes she’d been wearing in the palace, she hoped they weren’t going to stay here long.
Then the ground below them began to rise–a circle of snow separating from the rest. She guessed that Dahli was lifting them with magic. They floated towards a cluster of snow-topped boulders and hovered over the gap between three of them. Dahli kicked the snow off the stilled air beneath their feet so they could see below. An opening appeared–a perfectly round hole lined with smooth ice. It plunged into darkness. Something told her it went a very long way down.
“Ready?” he asked.
She stared at him. “You’re not serious.”
“Travelling between worlds leaves traces,” he told her. “The best way to hide your passing is to travel within a world. The further and faster the better.” He grasped her shoulders, pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her.
“I’ve been through here before,” he assured her.
They fell.
She yelped, then closed her eyes despite it being so dark she could see nothing anyway. Dahli held her steady. The initial sensation of falling ebbed, and though she knew they were still moving, her stomach stopped trying to lift up into her chest.
Then, as she was beginning to relax, her body began to feel unpleasantly heavy. Her legs struggled to hold her up. Her stomach sank low into her belly. The slowing of their descent took an uncomfortably long time, but finally the pressure began to ease.
“Nearly there.”
She opened her eyes. The walls widened. Below her a floor appeared, lit by a source of light to one side. It rose up and touched her feet. Dahli let her go and stepped away.
Looking around, she took in a circular chamber. A quarter of the round wall was missing. Beyond was a sky full of ominous clouds, and the tops of distant mountains. Between her and the opening stood nine men and women. All were facing the newcomers and none looked surprised. They stood on the far side of an object, and as Rielle took in its dimensions she shivered, and a lump formed in her throat.
It was a coffin. A coffin made of ice.
She had no doubt what lay within. The Raen. Her Angel. Or all that was left of him. A man many hated and some loved. She looked up at the strangers and found them regarding her with equal curiosity to her own. They were all good-looking and not much older or younger than her in appearance, which probably indicated they were actually much older.
“Friends of the Raen, thank you for coming here,” Dahli said, addressing them but also glancing at Rielle to include her. “You were invited because Valhan knew he could trust you.”
He moved to the coffin and looked down at the icy surface. Rielle drifted over to the end of it so she could still see his face as he addressed the others.
“As most of you know,” Dahli continued, “during the twenty cycles Valhan was missing, the allies came to believe they did not need him. They began to do as they pleased, though cautiously in case it was all some trick.
“When he returned he made it clear that the agreements he made with them still stood. Most complied without complaint, others made new deals. Yet there was resistance, in thoughts and sometimes in discussion with other allies. They had come to believe that they did not need him. In time, they would have risen against him, and they would have won.”