Five weeks after the work, Cassius sent word that Alaric's process was nearly complete.
"Nearly" was the word I held onto because it was honest — Cassius was not a man who gave false certainties — and because it meant we were in a different category now. Not waiting for an indefinite event that might arrive. Waiting for something that was actively in progress.
I went back to the Black Realm.
This time, I went alone.
I want to be precise about what I mean by that: Kael was at the boundary, and Aldric, and Helena with her kit. Giga, recovered enough to be mobile if not yet fully operational, had insisted on being present, and I'd given up arguing after the second attempt. They were all there. But inside the boundary, into the Realm itself, I went by myself.
Kael had asked if he should c
