Twelve
Call Me Mother
They walked for what seemed to be a lot longer to get back to the place where they had started, assuming that the portal to the Void was still there. Finally, Sath spotted it with his keen Qatu vision—a tiny ripple in the landscape that just didn’t belong there. They headed for the ripple at top speed, slowing only as they were close enough to hear the hum of the ancient magic that kept it open. Gin paused a moment and looked back over at her shoulder. “What’s wrong?” Sath asked.
“Nothing. I just…she was so young, Sath, and so full of a warrior’s fire,” Gin said as she gazed wistfully back toward the cabin. “And the couple that we found…dead…Than and Mis, they were young as well. They couldn’t be fully trained as druids, and yet they were on the Council. They can’t be from the same period. How many others are trapped here, from how many different times? None of this makes sense…and I just wish we had arrived in time to protect them—I want to go get her and show her where this rift is—get her back home.”
“No, Gin, that we can’t do,” Sath said. “Think about it this way: Everything that has happened before influences everything that has come after. My kind are much more connected to our ancestors than most; we can see the progression through time that created each of us. This pocket of time may just keep repeating over and over, or time may have slowed so much here that it barely moves, but they are your people, and anything that you do could change your people’s future. They came here in the past, and bringing them back to our time could have consequences.”
Gin thought about his words for a moment and then nodded sadly. “I know, I just…”
“You’re just Momma Gin,” Sath said, smiling down at her. “It’s why I…well why all the Fabled Ones love you. Your heart is so big.” She turned back toward the rift and walked toward it, Sath following along behind her. “I know you want to help them, but their destiny is fated Gin. Like ours was.”
“What do you mean?” Gin asked, pausing again—this time turning to look up at him.
“I believe that your mentor crossed my path because you and I were fated to be in each other’s lives,” Sath replied. “I regret HOW she crossed my path, and that her death caused you pain, but I believe that it was fated.”
“Now that IS ridiculous,” Gin said crossly. “Besides, it was a long time between when you…crossed paths, as you say, with her and when I ran into you in the Netherbian Lair. I just don’t see how they are related at all.”
“It is not for us to see,” Sath replied. “Think about the Guardians that came to you when you faced Lord Taanyth. The spirits of our ancestors see and direct our lives, they control who we meet and when, and each interaction has a lesson for us to learn within it.”
“That is your people’s belief,” Gin said. “Mine is that every instance is a chance to learn. Our Mother Sephine has set before us this bounteous world that has much to teach us. How much of what we learn is up to us—up to how much we pay attention. I can only imagine what she must think of her children trapped here.”
“Interesting,” Sath said and found that he genuinely meant it. In the past, when Gin would wax on about her All-Mother Sephine, Sath would invariably become bored, but this time he wanted her to continue explaining it to him. They were close enough to the rift now that he could smell the magic churning within it, and it made him uneasy. “Okay, are you ready to try this thing going the other way?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Gin grinned at him, took his hand, and led him into the rift. The falling sensation hit them first, and though she was gripping Sath’s hand until hers shook with the effort, Gin managed not to throw herself into his arms. As long as she felt his palm touching hers, she was all right. The inside-out feeling did not last as long this time, and soon they made contact with the now-familiar dry ground of the Void. Gin opened her eyes and saw the starless sky, smelled the ocean air, and felt Sath’s hand in hers.
“Made it,” he said, his voice raspy. Gin nodded. “Look—Taanyth is gone.” Gin followed the trajectory of his arm, and he was right, the spot where the dragon’s body had been inexplicably standing before was empty—save some huge footprints in the dirt. Taanyth had moved elsewhere after they left the Void, but where? “This place is creepy.” Sath shuddered.
“Agreed. Let’s pick another portal and not hang around.”
“Gin, have you tried your transport magic?” Gin looked up at him with annoyance, and he laughed. “I can feel that embarrassment through the bond, you know, no matter how much your face tells me you’re annoyed with me.” She huffed loudly and stepped closer to him as she began reciting a transportation spell.
The magic rose within her, and she smiled as she said, “Qatu’anari!” loudly to finish the spell, but nothing happened. Gin’s face fell as she looked at Sath. “That’s what I was afraid of—whatever sent us here has seriously distorted my magic.” She looked around at the portals. “That was the one marked for druids, wasn’t it? The one we just left?” Sath nodded. “And we know that the one that looks like it should lead to the under mountain home of the dwarves leads to nothing. So. . .maybe that one?” She pointed at an archway to the left with no markings on it at all. “I’m thinking the others are marked to trick adventurers into going through them and then trapping them there.” She scratched her head for
