Faith of the Fallen

Nicci considered his question for a moment, but in the end let out a sigh. "I only know about the history of the dragons in the Old World as it was taught. As you know, words written that long ago are not always dependable. It would only be an educated guess. I would say it could be mere moments, possibly days-or even longer, but not a great deal longer. It's a much simplified version of asking how long a fish could live out of water.

Why do you ask?"

Richard raked his fingers back through his hair. "When the chimes were here, in this world, they drew away magic. All of the magic, or nearly all, anyway, was withdrawn from the world of life for a time."

She turned her eyes back to the road. "My estimation is that the withdrawal was total, for a time, at least."

That was what he had feared. Richard considered her words along with what he knew. "Not all creatures of magic depend on it. Us, for example; we are, in a way, creatures of magic, but we can live without it, too. I'm wondering if creatures that depended on magic for their very existence might not have made it through until the chimes were banished and magic was restored to the world of life."

"Magic was not restored."

Richard pulled his horse up short. "What?"

"Not in the way you are thinking about it." Nicci circled around to face him. "Richard, while I have no direct knowledge with precisely what happened, such an event could not be without consequence."

"Tell me what you know."

She frowned in curiosity. "Why do you look so concerned?"

"Nicci, please, just tell me what you know?"

She folded her wrists over the horn of her saddle.

"Richard, magic is a complex matter, so there can be no certainty." She held up a hand to forestall his cascade of questions. "This much, though, is certain. The world doesn't stay the same. It changes continuously.

"Magic is not merely part of this world. Magic is the conduit between worlds. Do you understand?"

He thought he might. "I accidentally used magic to call forth the spirit of my father from the underworld. I banished him back to the underworld with the use of magic. The Mud People, for example, use magic to communicate with their spirit ancestors beyond the veil in the underworld. I had to go to the Temple of the Winds, in another world, when Jagang sent a Sister there to start a plague which she brought back from that world."

"And what do all of those things have in common?"

"They used magic to bridge the gap between worlds."

"Yes. But there is more. Those worlds exist, but they are dependent on this one to define them, are they not?"

"You mean, like life is created into this world, and after death, souls are taken by the Keeper to the underworld?"

"Yes. But more, do you see the connection?"

Richard was getting lost. He hadn't grown up knowing anything about magic. "We're caught between the two realms?"

"No, not exactly." Her blue eyes flashed with intensity. She waited until his gaze steadied on hers, then she held up a finger to mark the importance of her words.

"Magic is a conduit between worlds. As magic diminishes, those other worlds are not just more distant to us, but the power of those worlds, in this world, diminishes. Do you see?"

Richard was getting goose bumps. "You mean, the other worlds have less influence, like. . like a child who has grown and his parents have less influence over him.» "Yes." In the fading light her eyes seemed more blue than usual. "As the worlds grow more separate, it is something like a child growing and leaving home. But there is more to it, yet."

She leaned forward ever so slightly in her saddle. "You see, those other worlds can be said to exist only by their relationship to life-to this world." At that moment, she seemed like nothing to him so much as what she really was: a onehundred-and-eighty-year-old sorceress. "It might even be said," she whispered in a voice that sounded like the shadows speaking, "that without magic to link those other worlds to this, those other worlds cease to exist."

Richard swallowed. "You mean, just as the child grows and leaves home, the parents become less important to his existence. When they eventually grow old and die, even though they were once vital and strongly linked to him, when they now cease to exist, he lives on without them."

"Exactly," she hissed.

"The world changes," he said almost to himself. "The world doesn't stay the same. That's what Jagang wants. He wants magic, and those other worlds, to cease to exist so that he will have this one all for himself."

"No," she said in a soft voice. "He wishes it not for himself, but for mankind." Richard started to argue, but she cut him off. "I know Jagang. I'm telling you what he believes. He may enjoy the spoils, but in his heart, he believes he is doing this for mankind, not himself."