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.Then he became her, reading all those books in his library.He was seeing her time in the village, the trial and the fair, the wonder and horror of the coliseum.He suffered with her in the battle with the Sorcerer Guard, and felt regret at the lives she destroyed.He saw himself teach her magic, felt her battle the storm, and in one violent flash he saw their night together and the battle afterwards.He even saw the Spell Realm through Gala’s eyes and realized that she was experiencing it in a different manner.The spells, the strange being she’d encountered, even himself—Blaise saw it all.The culmination of the vision was an ecstasy unlike any other, an exquisite pleasure that was born of the mind, not the body.It seemed to last forever.When it did end, he felt her explore his own mind the way he just did hers, and the ecstasy began again.Chapter 52: BarsonThe day after the takeover, after all the corpses had been removed from the Council Hall and the room had been thoroughly scrubbed, Barson gathered his men and the sorcerers who had been spared.Looking at the faces in front of him, he felt jubilant.This was the moment he had dreamed of all of his life, ever since he had learned that he was a descendant of the rightful kings.Dara and Larn stood to the right of him, holding hands.On his left were his sorcerer allies and his closest lieutenants.All present were dressed in their best clothes, and Barson himself wore decorative armor that had been passed down from times of old.The only thing missing was the woman he had planned to have by his side at this ceremony—Augusta.Where was she? Where was the Council? The questions tormented Barson, interfering with his joy at this victory, and he knew his first order of business would be to find answers.But first, he had to get through the ceremony.Stepping forward, he surveyed his new subjects, watching as a pair of young women walked toward the throne, carrying a golden crown on a velvet-wrapped tray.As they got closer, Dara took the crown from them, raising it high over her head.Then she reverently placed it on Barson’s head.“Long live the king!” she shouted, turning toward the crowd.“Long live the king!” Their answering cry echoed through the hallways, filling the Tower with the sound of a new beginning.Chapter 53: BlaiseWhen the merging of their minds was long over, Blaise thought back to what he’d learned through the experience.He was particularly fascinated with whatever intelligences seemed to exist in this realm.“What do you think Dranel is?” he asked Gala silently, remembering the brief image he got from her mind.“I don’t know,” Gala responded, a bit dreamily.She appeared to be still under the influence of their joining.“He seems to be more like you than me, though his pattern is still quite different.”Blaise thought about it, remembering seeing his own pattern through her eyes and comparing them in his mind.He could not see any resemblance, but then he didn’t have Gala’s ability to process complex information quickly.Being in her mind here had been a very different experience.She was less like a human being here; instead, she was something different, something greater.Dwelling on it, Blaise slowly felt his thoughts fade as his newfound senses took over.It was so beautiful, so peaceful, that the nothingness lured him in.* * *“Blaise?” Gala’s thought brought him into consciousness.“Yes?” he responded, confused.“You have not thought for a while,” she explained, and he could detect a hint of worry in her pattern.What had happened? Did he pass out? Was it possible to do that in this place? Mildly disturbed, Blaise tried to refocus on something he almost forgot, though it was on his mind earlier.“How do we go back?” he thought, finally remembering his original intent.He had come here to retrieve Gala.To save her.To take her back to his world.“Do you want to go back?” she thought back, her pattern seeming to pulsate with a feeling Blaise could only describe as hesitation.He was not sure he did.This existence was very direct and pure.Blaise could feel what Gala felt, and she knew his innermost thoughts.But somehow, he still felt like an intruder here, though the feeling lessened with every moment.Yet as the feeling lessened, so did his sense of identity, of knowing what and who he was.It was only Gala’s presence that seemed to ground him somewhat, and Blaise had a bad feeling about the episode he’d just experienced.It was possible that he would have more periods of time without thought, his mind getting absorbed into the serene, mathematical beauty of the patterns around him.Could he slowly lose himself here? The idea was frightening.“Then I will go back with you,” she said simply.Blaise hadn’t voiced his thoughts, but she was answering them anyway.Blaise could also sense Gala’s feelings on this matter.She was much more ambivalent about returning [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]