‘Perhaps more time with the tome?’ the magus ventured.

‘I’ve learned all I can,’ Zara muttered. She spoke for herself as much as her companion as she circled the Arch of Nisos, while the sorcerer and the slaves all hung back. ‘Whatever it does, it must be something remarkable, for it would have taken a long time to gather so much precious metal. Nisos built it as an older man, late in Aleuthea’s history. The war with the eldren was won many years before, and the last of the dragons had died in captivity.’

She rubbed her chin, circling slowly around the object of her attention.

‘Without dragons,’ she said, ‘it was difficult for the ancient Aleutheans to maintain their empire. Whatever the arch’s purpose, it was intended to solve this problem.’

She stopped circling and now faced it. Stepping forward, she examined it more closely, running her fingers over the metal. She finally narrowed her gaze at the angular symbol at the apex, far larger than any other.

‘Slave!’ she called to a scrawny lad with a scar below his eye. ‘Come here so I can climb onto your back.’

The slave apprehensively came forward and crouched on the ground, moving until he was on his hands and knees. Climbing onto his back, Zara stretched until she was resting her fingertips on the angular symbol at the arch’s highest point.

Closing her eyes, in the same way that she’d opened the sealed gates and the magically locked chest, she tried to link the symbol with gold, then silver, then copper, and finally iron. Nothing happened. She sighed and opened her eyes.

Then she had an idea.

Fingers still pressed to the symbol, she closed her eyes again. But rather than a single materia, she summoned the power inside her with a mixed flame, despite the danger of channeling more than one materia at once.

The fire of her magic surged up, suddenly drawn out of her like her lifeblood was pumping out onto the sand. So much was sucked out that she felt weak, and had to fight to keep her knees from buckling.

Hearing gasps from the people around her, she finally severed the connection and opened her eyes. She stumbled off the slave’s back and gazed up at the arch as the youth climbed to his feet. Zara felt a thrill of satisfaction.

The relic of Nisos had been activated. The entire arch was glowing and pulsing, radiant with the colors of the sun and moon, fire, and shadow. It fairly hummed with power, shimmering like a rainbow of molten metal.

Zara stepped back. She smiled and waited.

Slowly her smile faded. Nothing else happened.

The arch was functional; she could see that much. She frowned, returning to the first basic question she’d asked herself. Why an arch?

‘You.’ She nodded at the young slave. ‘Walk through it.’