Cole stopped directly in front of Ramarro, looking up. The torivor was tall and terrifying.
Ramarro held out a hand. “Ready?”
The nails looked sharp, so Cole grabbed his pale wrist.
The jarring influx of power jolted Cole free from all physical sensation. Power was everywhere. It did not present as something separate. It was not contained. Cole struggled to retain his sense of self. The power blazed above him, below him, around him, within him. It was like he no longer existed. Only the power remained.
Choosing his focus at random, Cole reached out blindly to touch the power, to connect, and raw shaping power sizzled through him. He crashed to the ground, dazed and suddenly detached from the flood of power that had engulfed him. He could not move.
“On your feet,” Ramarro ordered. “That was but a glimpse.”
Cole discovered he could move again, but his body felt achy. He rose gingerly.
“Allow me, Great One,” Owandell said. “This urchin is unworthy of your attention.”
“I decide what merits my attention,” Ramarro said. He held out a hand to Cole. “Would you care to try again?”
Cole stared at the white hand, long fingers tipped with silvery talons. What was he supposed to do against so much power? It would be like trying to outwrestle the ocean.
“No,” Cole said.
“A modicum of intelligence,” Ramarro said. “Do you now see the futility of resistance? You have inherited a problem that cannot be solved. I am free. The attempts to contain me have failed. Why perish unnecessarily? Why doom those who stand with you? Submit and survive.”
Cole shook his head. “You offered this before. I might not be able to beat you. But I will not join you.”
Ramarro gazed at him. “Though it makes you more interesting, it is also disappointing. Defiance will not be tolerated. Our interactions are drawing to a close.”
“Wait,” Lorenzo declared. He assumed an awkward stance and closed his eyes. The Wayminders with him struck poses of their own.
“What is this?” Ramarro asked. “Not an attack! A demonstration?”
A large, round wayport opened, the edges swirling like an eddying mist.
“We are the protectors of this world,” Lorenzo declared. “We may lack the might to defeat you in combat, but we can offer you an alternative.” He extended a hand toward the wayport. “This way leads to Earth, a larger, more firmly established world than this one. It has a far greater population and connects to a vast system of worlds and stars and space.”
“No!” Cole cried, staring at Lorenzo in shocked disbelief. “How could you?”
Lorenzo turned a sad gaze his way. “I’m sorry, Cole.”
“I know about Earth,” Ramarro said, stalking over to the wayport.
“Take care, Mighty One,” Owandell advised. “They are deceivers.”
Ramarro stopped at the mouth of the wayport, studying it. “This would indeed convey me to Earth and permit me to remain there. And you hope it will trap me there.”
“We would prefer for the Outskirts to continue as it is,” Lorenzo said.
“And to this end you offer Cole’s home world,” Ramarro said.
Cole was trying to think how he could stop Lorenzo. If he touched him and disrupted his power, would the Pilgrim Path close? How could he get near enough?
Ramarro considered Cole. “You fear for your world. You do not want me to go.” He regarded the wayport again. “There is no great complexity here. I could walk this path whenever I choose.” He looked at Lorenzo. “A brilliantly conceived prison in the echolands could not hold me. Do you honestly believe an indifferent planet could?”
“Perhaps it would distract you,” Lorenzo said. “Amuse you.”
Ramarro waved an arm, and the wayport vanished. “I sense much at play here. I will sort out the specifics later. You weary me. Owandell? Do you still wish to engage Cole?”
“If it pleases you,” Owandell said, head bowed.
“It does,” Ramarro said. “Do not expect aid from me.”
“That will not be required,” Owandell assured him.
“Wait,” Cole said. “Are you leaving me unarmed?”
“If you believe yourself unarmed, you are far simpler than I expected,” Ramarro said. “Owandell. I want Cole defeated. Not killed. Not maimed. Not transported elsewhere. Any of those alternatives would mean you have failed me, with all that entails.”
Owandell only hesitated for an instant. “Understood.”
Mira appeared at Cole’s right. Jace arrived at his left.
Cole was surprised. They didn’t have weapons that let them leap there. They must have run.
“If you fight Cole, you fight all of us,” Mira said.
“Spare Cole,” Ramarro ordered. “Do with the others as you wish.”
“Peya,” Owandell said. “Get them.”
The Perennial Serpent slithered forward, head rearing up, hood spreading wide.
“We don’t have weapons,” Cole whispered. “Back off.”
Mira took Cole’s hand. “I’m all we’ve got.”
Cole felt the brightness of her power. Her shaping abilities were mostly untested in combat, but he knew she had a lot of raw strength. Maybe Sambrian shaping could help! He energized her with everything he had.
Mira extended a hand, and the ground rippled in front of the snake. A bulbous section of earth arose and took shape, with a pair of crude arms and a trio of slender legs. It reminded Cole of a larger version of the mount Mira had tried to create when they were heading to Carthage from Sambria.
“The mudball?” Jace cried incredulously.
Her impromptu creation toddled toward the snake and swung an arm, but Peya dodged the blow and came streaking at Cole and his friends. Cole ran left. Mira and Jace went right. The Perennial Serpent closed on Mira. Jace jumped in front of her when the serpent struck and disappeared.
Cole screamed.
The snake struck again and Mira vanished.
Then the snake wheeled on Cole.
He had no idea what to do. He tried to run as the snake approached, but within a moment it was encircling him, coils constricting. The thick body wrapped around him twice, pinning his arms to his sides and binding his legs together, immovable muscles clenching beneath smooth scales. Cole suspected the snake could crush his bones to dust if it desired.
“Will that suffice?” Owandell asked.
“Do you yield, Cole?” Ramarro asked lazily.
Focusing on the physical contact with the serpent, Cole connected to its power. Peya’s power was impressive, but, unlike Ramarro’s, it was comprehensibly finite. Could Cole attack so much power directly? The nature of the energy reminded him of the power he had reignited in Elegance.
Ribs creaking as he peered across the square, Cole saw Elegance watching. If only he could touch her, he could try to link her power to the snake.
Keeping his connection to the Perennial Serpent, Cole concentrated on Elegance. Her power was there. He could sense it. Cole knew he could hold a connection without touching her. Why not make one?
He had failed before. Many times.
Still, he tried, reaching with his power, searching with his mind.
He had a vague, general sense of her power. But nothing he could actually reach.
Cole remembered the dead center he had accessed when he reenergized her. The expired coal he had saturated until it flared to life.
What about that? Where was that?
Suddenly he was no longer just searching for her power.
He had a more specific target. A target he had not known existed.
He was searching for her center.
The heart of her power.
The core.
And he found it, throbbing in the midst of her power, small but intense. He had never noticed the core before. He had not known to look.
Once found, it seemed more tangible than the rest of her power. If her power was light, this was the lantern. Connecting
proved almost effortless.
“This is absurd,” Owandell said. “Yield. Peya does not have to be gentle.”
Peya had sent Twitch away. And Brogan. And Mira. And Jace.
Cole reached into Peya with all he had and heaved her power at Elegance. The transference developed quickly, and suddenly he was not pushing power from the serpent to the princess. It was flowing on its own.
The grip of the snake slackened. And then the serpent began to shrink. Cole felt the power gushing out of the snake as if a dam had burst.
“No!” Owandell cried. “Peya! Attack!”
The spasming serpent offered no reaction. Within moments it lay still, barely a foot in length.
Cole no longer perceived any power in it. He ran toward Owandell.
The robed man looked frightened. “Stay back!” he demanded.
“All right,” Cole said, reaching for him with his power. He had touched Owandell’s power before. The center had to be in there somewhere.
Finding it proved easier than expected.
Knowing what to look for changed everything.
Suddenly Cole was connected.
“So much darkness, Owandell,” Cole said. “Should I brighten it up?”
Mustering all his will, Cole burned away the darkness, untangling the knots and healing the scars. Dropping to his knees, Owandell screamed like he was on fire.
When Cole finished, not much power remained within his foe. But it was untainted.
“Impressive,” Ramarro said. “You learn swiftly, Cole. I believe we have a victor.”
“No,” Owandell moaned, staggering to his feet. “I have served you faithfully. Rebuild me better than before. Empower me, Great One.”
“I will decide your fate later,” Ramarro said, waving a hand.
Owandell vanished.
“You are a problem, Cole,” Ramarro said. “You interest me, and you will not serve me. What is the answer? Destruction? Incarceration? Torture? Perhaps I could use your friends to persuade you.”
Jace and Mira reappeared.
“Mira!” Cole exclaimed. “Jace!”
“Whoa,” Jace said. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
“Where were you?” Cole asked.
“Not dead,” Jace said.
“The wilderness,” Mira said. “The middle of nowhere.”
“Not together,” Jace said.
“They were far away and back in time,” Ramarro said. “Simple to retrieve. Equally simple to kill. Cole, serve me or the girl dies. I mean now.”
“Don’t even think about it, Cole,” Mira demanded.
“This is over,” Ramarro said. “Nothing can stop me. Why not confront the inevitable with maturity? What good will be accomplished by losing your friends? By dying?”
“There is still Trillian,” Mira said. “He’ll stop you.”
“Trillian will never have the chance,” Ramarro said. “If you think the founding shapers could build a prison, you have seen nothing yet. Keeping him locked away will be as simple as subduing this absurd little world. Cole?”
Cole’s throat was so dry that he gagged when he tried to swallow. “No,” he finally managed.
Jace stepped in front of Mira. “You have to go through me first.”
“No, I don’t,” Ramarro said as Mira fell to the ground. “But I don’t mind killing you as well. Cole? Want to reconsider?”
“Never,” Cole said.
Jace dropped limply, part of him covering Mira.
“Now, Cole, here is an offer,” Ramarro said. “Last chance. Your world. Serve me and I promise to leave your world alone for as long as you live. Choose death, and I will oblige, but you get no promise.”
Cole glanced numbly at his fallen friends. He had lost them twice now within a few minutes. This felt like the end. Had Ramarro just offered to spare his world? Cole scowled. Could he let that opportunity pass? Wait. No. Ramarro had offered to spare his world for as long as he lived. Under those terms, Ramarro could just kill him and then attack Earth.
“Leave Earth alone forever,” Cole said. “Promise that, and we might have a deal.”
“You are in no position to bargain,” Ramarro seethed. “My offer stands as spoken.”
Maybe none of this was really happening. Did his choice even matter?
“What?” Ramarro asked. “How can this be a hypothetical future? It’s not possible. . . . No, it could be feasible if they were clever enough. Cole, is this a hypothetical . . . ? You don’t know. You’re unsure. Just as you were unsure about the wayport they opened. The Pilgrim Path, as they term it. If this is a trick, you will pay dearly. You will all pay.”
Ramarro turned to face Lorenzo.
“Go!” Lorenzo called.
Wayports appeared all over the square.
Including one beside Cole.
He leaped into it.
CHAPTER
27
NEW COURSE
It took a moment for Cole to absorb where he was.
He had leaped into a wayport.
No confusion there.
But instead of coming out the other side of the wayport, he was inexplicably sitting at a polished metallic table with Jace, Mira, Violet, and Lorenzo in an underground vault. There was no wayport in sight.
The transition was so seamless that it was disconcerting.
He held a flask in his hand. It felt empty.
Lorenzo studied Cole intently. “What did you feel?”
“No way,” Cole said. “I’m back.”
“Back from where?” Jace asked. “You just drank it.”
“No,” Cole said. “I drank it a long time ago. I’ve been busy. You all died. All but Lorenzo. And he was probably about to get killed.”
“You met Ramarro?” Lorenzo asked.
Cole nodded, looking around at his friends, fighting back tears. “I’m so happy to see you.”
Mira leaned over and gave him a hug. He pulled her close and held her tightly.
“I wish I could stop time,” Cole said. “So much is coming.”
“Are you all right?” Lorenzo asked.
“Not really,” Cole said. “None of us are.”
“What did you learn?” Lorenzo asked.
Cole pointed at him. “You opened the Pilgrim Path. Without permission. You invited Ramarro to Earth.”
“He didn’t go?” Lorenzo asked.
Cole shook his head. “I think he sensed it was a trap. But we had a deal! You weren’t going to risk Earth unless we were sure.”
Lorenzo sighed. “I need to come clean. I was conducting an experiment.”
“With the fate of Earth?” Cole asked.
“No,” Lorenzo said. “I told you I wasn’t sure if the potion worked.”
“Yeah,” Cole said.
“Torivors read minds,” Lorenzo said. “I knew the potion would work. I don’t remember what I did in the future you experienced, but I know my plan. There were certain things I needed you to believe in order to conduct my experiment. If you were certain you were in a hypothetical future, Ramarro might have sensed it.”
“He sensed I wasn’t sure toward the end,” Cole said. “He was mad.”
“He would have been mad,” Lorenzo said. “At that point he suspected we were gathering information. I’m sorry he didn’t walk the Pilgrim Path.”
“You were checking what would happen,” Cole said.
“Our last best chance to check was getting Ramarro to walk the path in the possible future you visited,” Lorenzo said. “Had he walked it, I would have collected what information I could and reported to you. But the attempt failed?”
“I don’t know what Ramarro sensed,” Cole said. “But he knew we were up to something with the Pilgrim Path. I was really worried. I thought you were risking Earth.”
“None of that was permanent,” Lorenzo said. “No matter what happened, it was going to be erased when you returned to this moment. And now you’ve returned. So we need a new plan.”
“We all died?
” Mira asked.
“You and Jace for sure,” Cole said. “Jace gave his life for you, by the way. Zero hesitation.”
Mira gave Jace a tender stare. “Thank you.”
“For failing?” Jace asked. “We died. The goal is to keep you alive!”
“I died too?” Violet asked.
“You maybe died,” Cole said. “When we kidnapped the governor.”
Jace whistled. “You were busy!”
“You kidnapped Governor Vass?” Lorenzo asked.
“We found out where Owandell is holding the king and queen,” Cole said.
“Really?” Mira exclaimed. “Where?”
Cole paused. “Good question. Oh no. I know this. It’s some fort in Sambria with lots of Enforcers. An island or something.”
“The Island Keep?” Violet asked.
“Yes!” Cole shouted with relief. “Thank you. The Island Keep. I would have felt so stupid if I’d forgotten!”
“I may have teased you a lot,” Jace said.
“You don’t know if I died?” Violet asked.
“The Perennial Serpent showed up and attacked us as we questioned Vass,” Cole said. “It’s named Peya. Of course I forget the keep but remember that! The snake got Brogan—”
“We made him young?” Mira asked.
“Yes, and he was awesome,” Cole said. “But the serpent bit him, and he vanished, like Twitch. You and Jace got bitten later. You vanished, but Ramarro brought you back.”
“Then killed us,” Jace said.
“He’s a jerk,” Cole said.
“Where did we go?” Mira asked.
“You told me you were in the wilderness,” Cole said. “Ramarro mentioned you were also back in time.”
“So Twitch is probably alive,” Mira said.
“Pretty good chance he is alive back in time in the wilderness,” Cole said.
“Which means he probably died a long time ago,” Jace said.
“Not likely,” Lorenzo said. “Unless the serpent found a way to keep him permanently back in time.”
“I’m still not clear what happened to me,” Violet said.
“I was getting there,” Cole said. “When Brogan got bitten, you opened a wayport for us to escape. Jace and I went through, but the wayport closed before you joined us.”