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Aldrec did the sa it fully rest on the surface of the glass Aldrec mirrored these motions as well

And then she waited

Aldrec had closed his eyes, and begun to speak

Riorrim ud srevart ua sneiv Oim zehc Oim zehc

The moment he ended the last consonant of the phrase, the rooic so powerful it was like the ringing of a great chilass, and before she could pull away, it was gripped by another, stronger one

She yelped in initial fright Don't be afraid, Tulyr, Aldrec quickly said as her hand sank deeper into the ave into the forward ed her entire body fully into the odd veil of nothingness that was once glass

All sensation of up or down vanished as Mericlou stepped forward, replaced by the sickening lurch of freefall Mericlou opened her eyes, and discovered that reality had vanished into a black void

She squeezed her eyes shut as she surrendered to gravity -or the lack thereof- still gripping her fingers securely around Aldrec's They should not have been there in this eic, they existed, deter her in this nowhere place

The fall, she discovered, was surprisingly brief The very next ht e- that had held onto hers in the fall

"It's okay, Tulyr," Aldrec's voice said as sensation returned to the feel of soft fabric upon her right cheek "I have you now"

Mericlou opened her eyes Her face was pressed to Aldrec's blue and gold-trimmed tunic; his soft, fresh scent was faly through her hair

Feeling free at last, she released all of her pent-up anguish in a gasping wail She pressed her face deeply into his chest, bawling torrents of tears into his shirt, saturating it unlike any time she ever had since he found her that day that they first htly on the fabric of his tunic "Aldrec … Aldrec … Thank God! I … I was so scared! S … so scared!"

"Shhh … It's okay now, ently as his hands continued running through her hair and on her back "You're safe No one is going to hurt you"