The Gates of Memory, стр. 81
Weylen and their allies took cover, but no arrows came for them.
Instead, Regar spoke loudly. “Brandt. Ana. Will you join me?”
Brandt knew he risked his own death, but some part of him still trusted Regar, as unlikely as that seemed. He broke from cover and faced the prince. “Why?”
“This is needed, Brandt. The queen is not our enemy. She has shown me the future, and although you might not see it yet, this is what needs to happen. The only reason it is a betrayal is because my father has refused to see the truth.”
Brandt didn’t see it. Regar’s words hinted at madness, and he’d as much admitted to being under the queen’s influence.
He couldn’t be allowed the gate.
Brandt felt the power radiating off Regar. He didn’t know what chance he had, and yet he felt as though he had no choice but to at least try. Brandt pulled heat, not from the surrounding area, but from the prince himself.
Against most people, the technique was fatal. Without heat, the body froze. But Regar was connected to the gate, to an endless source of power. No matter how much Brandt pulled, he wouldn’t harm the prince.
It wasn’t as good as being connected to a gate, but it was an excellent second option.
Brandt attacked, and a thin line of flame no thicker than a rope erupted from his palm.
That flame would have burned through stone and barely slowed.
Regar slapped it away as though batting away a child’s plaything.
“Come now, Brandt. Be reasonable.”
The buildup of power happened so quickly Brandt almost didn’t have time to react. A wall of flame appeared between the two of them, the heat from it searing his skin even from dozens of paces away.
Brandt swore.
His attack had been the most powerful he knew. And it had done nothing.
In response, the prince would destroy them all.
In the face of such a strength, there was only one option.
Run.
The wall of flame pushed forward faster than Brandt could retreat. Behind him, his Falari allies scattered. Despite their determination, every warrior had a breaking point, and Regar’s power far surpassed it. Brandt leaped, but the flame caught Brandt before he could land.
Brandt tried to channel the heat.
But even though he served as nothing more than a conduit, it was too much. The power filled him, the same way it had the first time he’d touched a gate. His muscles swelled and sweat poured from every gland.
Some of that power gave him strength. He landed awkwardly, rolled, and came to his feet, running faster than before. But it was still far too much energy.
He formed a ball of flame, knowing it to be useless, but he launched it in Regar’s direction anyway. The prince laughed as he again slapped it away. The ball hit a stone wall and cracked it open with its strength.
But then Brandt was behind cover and he ran as fast and as far as his legs would carry him.
Behind him, the prince’s laughter echoed between the stone buildings of Faldun.
42
When Alena met Brandt in the soulwalk she found herself in a small courtyard surrounded by stout stone buildings and a tall stone wall. She had never seen this place before, yet she could guess the location well enough from the descriptions she’d heard. “Highkeep?”
Standing beside her, Brandt nodded. He looked haggard, even in this realm of the souls.
Alena’s curiosity pulled at her, but knowing that time passed differently here allowed her to approach the subject carefully. “Why did you choose Highkeep?”
“I’m not sure that I chose it,” Brandt admitted. “But it is a place that I’ve been missing these last few weeks.”
“Is this home for you?”
His eyes ran over the buildings and the walls, almost as if seeing them for the first time. “Maybe. But what I really miss is the routine and simplicity of monastic life.”
Brandt led her through the monastery. Alena let him wander, following a step behind as he gathered his thoughts. When he spoke, it sounded as though his comments were half for him and half for her. “I didn’t realize it then, but there was a joy to our days here. From the time the sun rose to when it set all I concerned myself with was training, a small set of monastic chores, and spending time with Ana. The world beyond these walls barely mattered.”
They entered a hallway lined with doors that opened into small rooms that Alena guessed served as the monks’ living quarters. Brandt lingered for some time on a single room. While it possessed nothing unique that would identify it, Alena noticed that more details were visible here than in other spaces.
This had been Brandt and Ana’s room.
Brandt eventually broke away from the sight and led Alena back to the courtyard where he finally explained why he had called for her. “You’re still on your way to Faldun?”
He barely let her nod before he continued. “Regar controls Faldun, and it’s suicide to approach. We escaped with the emperor and are returning to a town where we can regroup and determine our next steps. You should meet us there.”
Alena felt Brandt’s emotions more acutely in this space. Between her connection with him and her own intuition, he couldn’t hide behind his calm facade. A storm raged inside him, consuming him. She almost took pity on those he considered enemies.
Almost.
“What happened?”
“I fought Regar. With all my training, some part of me wondered if there might be a chance, some way to turn the power of the gate against him. But his strength made all my efforts and years of training seem like nothing.” Brandt clenched his fist. “But I will get stronger. I will challenge him.”
For a moment, the conviction in Brandt’s voice made Alena a believer.
She felt some of the same emotion that drove Brandt. What had begun as a journey driven by curiosity had become something more, a need that demanded fulfillment. After her failed soulwalk a few