“I didn’t think you could come here,” the assassin said.
“The Code says I shouldn’t, not that I can’t. Important distinction,” Rhyn replied and pulled
out a chair from the table on which the candle was placed. He straddled the chair and rested his
forearms on its back. “You left without saying good-bye.
“I didn’t think you could come here,” the assassin said.
“The Code says I shouldn’t, not that I can’t. Important distinction,” Rhyn replied and pulled
out a chair from the table on which the candle was placed. He straddled the chair and rested his
forearms on its back. “You left without saying good-bye.”
Gabriel rubbed his face, and Rhyn saw the shadow of stubble the assassin never allowed to
grow. Something was really wrong if Gabriel’s thousands-year-old habit changed suddenly.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Gabriel said with some difficulty. “Death owns me now.”
Rhyn understood without asking. Gabriel had always been a free man; now the humanturned
Immortal was a slave.
“Welcome to my world,” he said with a chuckle. “You’ll find making friends is hard when
everyone hates you.”
“I’m beginning to see that. Didn’t realize I liked having some sort of free will.”
“You still have choices. Just none of them are good.”
Gabriel snorted in response.
“Since I know I can drop in on you whenever I want, I promise to come back,” Rhyn
continued. “I need a hand finding an Ancient healer named Lankha.”
“Your girl hurt again?”
“I suppose you’ll be the latest to tell me she’s better off without me,” Rhyn said. “But no, it’s
not her this time. It’s Toby.”
Gabriel frowned and ran a hand through his hair. Rhyn watched him, concerned at finding
his sole friend so affected by the recent change in his life. He sensed much more amiss than
Gabriel would ever admit.
“The healers moved to the other side of the Immortal world, past Elisia and closer to Hell. I
can’t take you, but here.” He held out his hand. Rhyn stretched to tap fists with him, and the
portal information lit up his thoughts. He’d spent most his life in Hell and remembered little of the
Immortal world.
“I’ll come back,” Rhyn promised, rising.
“Rhyn,” Gabriel said quietly. “I don’t think our friendship will survive what comes.”
“We are both bound to our destinies, Gabriel, something you taught me. Whatever that
brings, you’ve been my only brother and friend,” Rhyn replied in the same tone.
When the assassin turned away, Rhyn stepped into the living forest. He opened the portal
and stepped into the shadow world, envisioning the place Gabriel had passed to him. One of the
portals glowed in response, and he strode through it, stepping into a world as sunny as
Gabriel’s was dark. He smelled the ocean and stood on a beach of red sand edged with small
shrubs. He walked up the beach and into the shrubs, finding a path that led to a small village of
red cottages. Far across the sea, he saw the black walls of Hell stretching from water to sky.
The healers’ village consisted of several dozen cottages around a central square, in which
many of the village’s people gathered and talked or cooked meals over red flames. They grew
silent when he appeared, and those nearest him scattered. He’d thought Lankha skittish when
he met the healer but soon found all the healers quaking and hiding.
