16
RETURNED
Liri arrived with a gasp. She felt cool sand that sizzled at her contact and let out that breath in relief. It was so very dark. Was she in their cave? She didn't recognize it at first. The sudden dark after ages in that ash-covered world told her all she needed to know. Next, she sensed the hum of magic, speaking of what the quiet wouldn't tell her. The gentle dark beyond her eyes and the profound quiet, after the rabid shrieks of demons, comforted her. She didn't need to fight, but unaccountably she did.
She thrashed against the hands of other Wise Ones who held her down. Liri found she couldn't move, though she felt desperate to scramble up and find Lar's body. She erupted in a fire to be free from them.
“No, Patha…Liri, hold still. We need to see…” That sounded like Ras
