“When Eluik talks to me with his own mouth,” said Wad, “then I’ll take the two of you seriously. Do you understand me?”

“You’ll kill Mother if Eluik can’t get back to his own body?” asked Enopp.

“I don’t know,” said Wad. “First I’ve got to figure out a way to prove whether she’s in there or not.”

“Eluik says she’s there, that’s your proof.”

Wad only smiled. “Eluik says nothing, so there’s no proof. I’ve been here too long. I’m going now.”

“If Danny never gets free of the Belmage, who’s going to teach me to be a gatemage?” asked Enopp.

“Nobody,” said Wad, “as long as you’ve got your brother trapped inside you.”

Wad stepped back into the Great Gate and arrived in the glade with Ced and the treemage. He immediately ate the gates that comprised the Great Gate, then saw that the two men were watching him intently.

“Just me,” said Wad. “I know Danny sensed it when the Great Gate was made, but he didn’t make a gate or try to find me any other way. As far as I can tell, he hid it from the Belmage.”

“Is that even possible?” asked the treemage.

“No,” said Wad. “But then, Danny’s the most powerful gatemage in all of human history. Just because other mages couldn’t resist the Belmage doesn’t mean that Danny can’t.”

And then Wad thought: What kind of mage has Eluik become, after the things he did in the caves to comfort his brother and, apparently, Anonoei? How can I be sure he doesn’t know what he’s talking about? And how do I know that in the moment of her death, Anonoei couldn’t possibly have leapt, inself and outself, from her dying body into the living flesh of Bexoi? How do I know what’s possible anymore?

“What are you thinking about?” asked the treemage.

“How ignorant I am,” said Wad. “And how many new things there are in the world.”

“Your face looked like hope,” said Ced.

“Yes,” said Wad. “That would be right.”

“What are you hoping for?” asked Ced.

“That maybe one of the people that I’ve loved might not be dead.”

“That would be cool,” said Ced.

“Why does he always talk in temperatures?” asked the treemage. “It makes no sense.”

“He’s from Mittlegard,” said Wad. “And so am I. It makes us strange.”

“Did you get rid of that Great Gate?” asked the treemage.

“I did,” said Wad.

“The Belmage wouldn’t have done that,” said the treemage. “So I guess that I won’t kill you this time.”

“Thanks,” said Wad. “I’m going to rest now until Bexoi is alone again.”

“Going to kill her now?” asked Ced.

“Maybe I won’t kill her after all,” said Wad.