They reached the large planetoid on the far side of the huge stalk. Birds flitted here and there. A dragon with black and green scales flapped past behind them, joining a group of similar creatures that circled the falling form of the flagship. At Saul’s mental urging, they began to pick off every gern they saw with wild abandon.

  The small escape vessels flew away through the rapidly moving universe, forced away by Saul and Irene’s combined wills. He could swear he heard William yell in frustration even as the last escape craft shot out of the new universe and back toward Rokar.

  He and Olivia followed Irene and Hush through a field of tall grass. Neither of them seemed much the worse for wear from the earlier battle, but the reopened cut above Saul’s eye still trickled blood. He would have loved to blame Irene for the small burns on the fingers of his sword hand, but he felt wrong doing it now.

  We only stopped fighting because she got her way.

  Saul tried to shake the last thought as they trudged beneath twinkling stars through the darkening forest and brambles that covered the planetoid. The dense foliage blocked some of the wind, but he could still hear the howling storm at the center of this new creation. Hush’s wings lit up like embers, and he guided them into the shadows.

  Olivia nudged Saul’s arm. “So, are we really on her side now?”

  “Seems that way. It’s not like we can take this world apart now that it’s forming.” And I don’t think I would want to if we could.

  Olivia gave a solemn nod.

  Hush perched on a branch ahead of them. Light from his glowing wings glimmered on a pool of dark water beneath. In the shadows of the new trees on the other side of the water stood a figure in a dark coat, leaning on a cane.

  Luther looked up at the three of them, face wracked with pain. His other hand twitched around the grip of the broken hilt. His eyes moved from Olivia to Saul, and then fixed on

  Irene’s face. “You never told me this would happen.” The hand holding the hilt spasmed, but the hilt remained locked between his fingers.

  Irene walked to the edge of the dark pool, across from Luther. “You never told me you would try to shape the world yourself.”

  His lips twitched. He glared at her. “I have a spark. It may not be the same as yours, but why isn’t it working?”

  “You were never trained to handle the power of an aleph shard.” Irene shrugged her shoulders. She held out one hand. Hush fluttered over her and opened his beak. Irene’s sword fell from the bird’s mouth and into her grip.

  “Irene. What is happening to me?”

  “There’s no way to know.” Irene pointed her sword’s point at Luther. Flames flared along the blade and cast her shadow on the ground behind her.

  Saul walked to her side, but Olivia hung back.

  “I can’t control it.” Luther’s gaze moved to Saul. “But I can feel it, a presence. A mind.”

  He folded his arms. “The aleph splinter in that hilt didn’t come from just anywhere.” Saul sighed. “It’s part of an Aleph-Gern.”

  “How would you know? The gern you’re talking about is long dead.”

  “Wrong, Luther. I saw it. The same night a friend of mine died. In fact, I have trouble forgetting.” He closed his eyes and recalled the brilliant golden light of the aleph-gern Apahar shining over the pool of blood in the cavern under Gatewood Hall.

  He took a deep breath. “You took the blood out of the monster. You didn’t take the monster out of the blood.”

  Irene glanced at him, eyebrows raised. “Saul?”

  “This whole world stinks of it.” Olivia paced past Saul to the water’s edge. She looked down at the water.

  Even as she spoke, a whiff of burnt hair drifted to Saul from somewhere nearby. She’s right. His mind focused on the smell of the gern. The feeling of ultimate creative power drained away. He still sensed the ability, but the euphoria was gone. “This world may never be right.”

  Irene’s brow furrowed and she rounded on Saul. “Did you know this would happen?”

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  “I understood it was possible but if I had known for sure, I might not have chased you all the way here.”

  Olivia looked up from the water and walked toward Luther. The door man screamed, long and agonized. He sank down to his knees in the pond. Water soaked his trousers.

  Olivia paled and stepped back from him.

  His eyes turned murky as he glared at her. “I can feel it in there. It isn’t fair. It’s not. It’s not. It’s not.”

  Irene lowered her sword and swallowed hard. “That’s enough. He won’t live through this.”

  “You don’t know that,” Olivia said. “He’s still human.”

  “Is he? Hush, put him down.”

  Saul raised a hand. “Irene, he’s still holding more of the power than either of us. We don’t know what will happen.”

  A jet of flame shot from Hush’s beak and billowed toward Luther. Olivia dived and tackled the man into the water. She narrowly avoided the flames herself. The two of them fell into the pool. Hush’s fire died away into the air.

  “Why did she do that?” Irene asked.

  Saul shook his head. “Evidently she trusts me more than you.”

  “Please be quiet, Saul.” Irene peered out over the pool where Olivia and Luther had vanished. Hush circled her and then perched on her shoulder.

  The smell of burnt hair grew in Saul’s nostrils. The water rippled. Neither of them emerged. “Olivia.” He sprinted around the pond and then waded into the shadows where she and Luther had disappeared. Nat flitted from the surface and alighted on his shoulder.

  “I didn’t have enough warning to hop,” he said.

  “You’re lucky you didn’t get burned. Stay back for now.” Saul reached down into the pool, searching for Olivia. His hands passed through the cold dark. Finally, he found something warm, an arm. He grabbed and pulled without thinking. Olivia emerged from the pool gasping for breath. Luther’s arms were wrapped around her stomach, and his eyes were squeezed shut. He still clutched the hilt.

  Saul dragged them both back toward shore. Water-filled shoes sank into the muddy bottom of the pond. He could barely move. “Nat,” he said. “Get me out of here.”

  The little child perched on the back of his neck. “Give me a moment.”

  They hopped from the pond and returned from pure darkness on the shore. Luther lay on his side, his whole body spasming. His fingers were still wrapped tight around the hilt.

  Saul held Olivia to his chest. “Are you alright?”

  She nodded. Water dripped from her hair. Saul’s shirt and pants were drenched.

  Luther shook. Saul released Olivia gently. She stood on her own and looked down at Luther, breathing hard.

  Irene stared at them from across the dark pond. Her eyes were dark. She wore an expression of betrayal. “Saul.”

  He shook his head. “Irene, killing him won’t help anything.”

  “It looks like mercy to me.”

  Olivia looked up at Irene, hunched and shivering in her soaked long coat. “He could still have a chance.”

  “You know he’s a murderer. Merging with whatever gern is in that hilt won’t improve that.” Irene turned her sword over in her hand. “This world might be warped, but it belongs to me and Saul.”

  Olivia gave Saul a pleading look.

  He swallowed. “We don’t know that killing him will stop the merge.”

  “If we let the gern take him over the two of us definitely will not be able to stop it later.”

  “There are three of us here,” said Olivia. She looked down at Luther’s shaking body. “Not to mention him.”

  Saul walked past her. He crouched beside Luther. “Hey.” He shook the man by the shoulder. “Wake up.”

  The man’s eyes opened but appeared only an unseeing milky white.

  “Hey,” Saul said. “You in there, Luther?”

  The man shook. Water trickled from his lips. Luther’s voice spoke. “I’m home. Maker.” He squeezed his eyes shut.

  “Glad to hear it.” Saul looked at Olivia with a small smile.

  Luther’s eyes flew open. Golden light poured from his sockets, a light familiar to Saul. He grinned. Saul retreated toward Olivia, stumbling on the muddy edge of the pond.

  “Thanks for the help, maker.”

  “Apahar.” The breath evacuated Saul’s lungs.

  “Returned from my imprisonment.” The creature that had been Luther looked down at the hilt fused between the fingers of one hand. He cracked his neck. “Freedom is an incredible thing.” The water swirled upward from the pool and flowed toward Apahar in strands that reached upward from the air. Curtains of water floated around the gern in Luther’s body. The entire pond emptied in seconds.

  Saul stared, frozen by awe and the force of presence that loomed over him in Luther’s form. Nat stiffened on Saul’s back. At his side, Olivia trembled. Irene lowered her sword without a sound.

  The grin slipped. A glimmering silver blade emerged from the broken hilt where the old sword had been. “I have children to put in order. Goodbye, humans.” The blade flickered in a slash that opened a gash in the trembling air. Water wreathed the monster’s every movement. The bitter smell from the opening in the world overpowered Saul’s nose. He covered his face with his hands and turned away.

  When he looked back, Apahar was gone and the rip he had cut between worlds had sealed. Saul glanced across the water. Irene left the far shore. She walked away down the path without a glance back. He sighed.

  A warm hand patted his shoulder. Saul glanced at Olivia, surprised. She stepped back from him. “What do we do now?”

  “I’m not sure.” He shook his head. “But we can’t stay here.” He drew upon the dregs of Apahar’s power and forced it into mud that remained where the pool had been. An archway formed of the dirt and water and then hardened into a single piece of curved black stone. The colors of a world gate pulsed from within the arch.

  Olivia turned toward the archway. Saul bowed his head as the last of the world-making energy drained from him. Without the power of the aleph, he felt hollow, exhausted. He sagged on his feet.

  She held out a hand to him. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get out here.”

  He looked at her, tired and hurting. She looked the same as him. He nodded.

  “You know where that goes?” she asked.

  “It’s a world gate, so anywhere. If we want to keep this place from Hidria as long as possible, we have to go home.”

  Olivia looked up his face. “You mean, Earth?”

  “I suppose I do,” Saul said with a groan. Rult nuzzled into his leg. “Saul, what’s the Earth?”

  “It’s another world,” said Saul. “And we’re going to live there.”

  He leaned heavily on Olivia. They walked toward the arched world gate. She squeezed his hand. “For how long?”

  He brushed the back of her hand with his thumb. “For now.”