‘You must go to the cave in Novindus and tell something to the Talnoy there, with that crystal I fashioned, or the ring, either will do.’
‘What must I tell them, Nakor?’ asked Pug as he helped his friend sit down again.
His eyes suddenly tired and his face lined with age, the tiny gambler looked at his friend and said, ‘You must open a rift to Kelewan, near the Dasati invasion site. Then tell them one thing: tell them to go home.’
Magnus said, ‘We must find Martuch and have him send us back.’
‘No need,’ said Nakor. ‘He would tell you what I am telling you: stop trying so hard.’
‘What?’ asked Magnus.
Grinning even more, Nakor said, ‘Your father understands.’
Magnus looked at Pug who started to laugh. ‘It’s all a joke, isn’t it, Ban-ath?’
A voice inside his head said, ‘Sometimes.’
Pug reached out and took his son’s hand. ‘With all those things taught to us by Martuch on Delecordia, we began a process of trying to be here. Now, to go home, all we must do is—’
‘Stop trying,’ finished Magnus.
Pug gripped his son’s hand tightly. ‘Just let go, Magnus.’ He looked down at his old friend and said, ‘I will miss you, gambler.’
‘I will miss you as well, magician.’ Nakor yawned. ‘The end comes quickly as it must. That is good, for I am very tired and need to rest. The God of Thieves gave me a far longer allotment than most men have, so I do not feel cheated it ends now.’ He rested his back against the rear of the throne. ‘I’m going to start time again, so it will get noisy and unpleasant. You might want to leave now.’ He held up his hand and suddenly the wind and noise returned.
Pug said to his son once more. ‘Let go, Magnus.’
Magnus closed his eyes and tried to relax. ‘Father, it’s as if I’ve clenched my fist for a year. I can’t unfold my fingers.’
‘Slowly. Let go slowly’
Pug and Magnus stood motionless, concentrating the part of themselves that had been controlling the magic that allowed them to stay in the second realm, and suddenly, there was a wrenching pain, as if fire burned across their minds. Then their lungs burned and their skin felt as if lightning danced across it.
Both men fell to their knees and then lay prostrate on the ground. When the pain ebbed away and they at last could open their eyes, they found they were no longer in the deep cavern. Instead they were in a crater littered with stones and rubble. The noise and stench of the deep pit was gone.
Pug felt his lungs almost collapse from the pain of breathing, but with each breath the pain lessened. After a moment he sat up and saw his son, looking as he always had. Magnus groaned and then started to cough and finally managed also to sit up. Pug saw that his son’s illusion was gone and that he looked human once more.
‘Where are we?’ Magnus asked his father.
Pug stood on unsteady legs and looked around. ‘I recognize this! We are in a sub-basement—’
‘But there’s nothing above us,’ interrupted his son.
‘I know, but once this was the lowest level of the great arena in the Holy City.’
‘We’re back on Kelewan?’
‘Apparently,’ said Pug as he looked around. ‘Given the congruency of the two worlds, it makes sense that if we changed the realm in which we resided, we wouldn’t have any reason to change location.’ He pointed to the rubble surrounding them. ‘The Dasati raid… it was more like utter destruction.’
A pain erupted inside Pug’s chest and head, and he doubled over, only staying upright with his son’s help.
‘What is it, Father?’
‘Ban-ath,’ said Pug. ‘He’s reminding me I need to get back to Midkemia.’
‘Can you conjure a rift home, or should I fly us to the Assembly?’
‘I can make a rift and take us where we need to go,’ said Pug, though he was almost at the point of total exhaustion.