CHAPTER 15
ReleaseWhen Bardek, Vallida and Bar-Melchis came within sight of the hill on which they expected to find only the ruins of the White Temple, they were amazed to see that there was a simple crystal structure raised in place of the previous complexity.
They started to scramble up the slope, now full of broken crystal and uprooted trenoids, but Bar-Melchis found that he could not stand the pace. He called to the two young people that they should go ahead and let him follow when he could. Most of his life he had waited for this moment, and he was now sorely afraid it had come too late for him. His chest ached and his breath came short as he tried to climb the hill. But he was determined to survive. As each pain came that warned him he must not push his heart too far he rested unti
