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Frentis nodded, stepping forward and turning to address the to force the words out “You have all done more than I could ever ask Wait here, Weaver and I will proceed alone”

There was no response, nor any change in expression as they all, as one, took a step forward

“I do not knohat awaits us in there,” he told the the note of desperation in his voice “But I knowtime, brother,” Draker said Beside hiaze with expectant eyes

He turned back to the arena as another roar sounded froth it seemed the Empress’s spectacle had reached some form of climax “Our objective is to secure Lady Reva and kill the E forward at a run “Show her no mercy, for she has none for you!”

CHAPTER TEN

Vaelin

Stars He blinked, trying to clear what he knewand bright And there were so hter than others, so bright it seemed they eclipsed those around the between red and black They were all reen and blue Not stars, he realised People

“Vaelin” She was there, floating nearby in the night sky, for he sa that they were flying far above the earth He could only stare at her, words choking in his throat, grief and gratitude co to make hi for his “I wanted to show you,” she said “I wanted you to see what I see”

“I” He sta her hands “I should never have”

She uilt “All choices were mine to make” She pressed her forehead to his, then drew back, turning and gesturing to the star-speckled earth below thee forever”

He held her hand as they drifted closer to the earth, approaching a landnised as that of the Unified Realm They paused above a dense cluster of stars in the centre of ould one day be known as the Fallen City, the stars resolving into shiures stood at the centre of the cluster, next to so a nise its foreshortened shape The Black Stone

One of the figures next to the stone differed froht one second then dark red another The flicker ained the impression of a tall ure at the Ally’s side was shorter and, judging by the stoop of his back, considerably older Unlike the Ally his light was constant and bright, the hue a warm shade of blue Vaelin watched as the Ally placed his hand on the older man’s shoulder in respectful assurance then stood back The olderstrength, his light dihtly, then he took a step forward and touched his hand to the absolute void of the black stone

For a second nothing happened, but then a red circle appeared in the centre of the stone It was s rhyth hand of the old rasp itThe circle gave off a sudden flare, its pulsing increased to a rapid thru erupted fro up and out in a h into the sky as a circle of pure energy spread out fro away to the horizon like a wall of flah without apparent effect, but here and there one would flare even brighter as the wall touched them The power, Vaelin recalled Burned into the bloodline

The spectral fountain faded slowly, the fiery circle in the stone di in size until it was no more than a pinprick, whereupon it vanished The oldin obvious agony, his light shiony subsided slowly, reaching up to take the Ally’s hand as he knelt at his side The Ally, however,down at the prostrate old ht nowdark above his head and bringing it doith all his strength The oldinto two faint glows, one big, the other smaller His head, Vaelin realised He took his head

The Ally bent to retrieve the head, raising it up until the stuht instantly turned a perlow that pulsed with the same rhythm as the fiery circle in the stone