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in the room. "Remember-all of you. A time of darkness is coming. Theend of the
millennium means the end of the world.But whatever happens outside, this
kingdom isgoing to survive."
Throughout all of this, the little boy sat andstared at the place where the
old man had been.His eyes were wide, the pupils huge and fixed. Hisface was
white, but without expression.
Maggie struggled to breathe.
That's-that'sthemost terrible thing I've ever seen.She could hardly get the
words of her thought out.Theymade youkillyour teacher-he made you do it.
Yourfather. She didn't know what to say. Sheturned blindly, trying to find
Delos himself in this strange landscape, trying to talk to him directly.She
wanted to look at him, to hold him. To comfort him.I'm so sorry.I'mso sorry
you had to grow uplike that.
Don'tbe stupid,he said.I grew up to be strong.That's what counts.
You grew up without anyone loving you,Maggiesaid.
He sent a thought like ice.Love is for weak people. It's a delusion. And it
can be deadly.
Maggie didn't know how to answer. She wanted to shake him.All that stuff
about the end of the millennium and the end of the world-what didthat mean?
Exactly what it sounded like,Delos said briefly.The prophecies are coming
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true. The world of humans is about to end in blood and darkness. And then the
Night People are going to rule again.
And that's why they turned a five-year-old into alethal weapon? Maggie
wondered. The thoughtwasn't for Delos, but she could feel that he heard it.
I am what I was meant to be,he said.And I don'twant to be anything else.
Are you sure?Maggie looked around. Althoughshe couldn't have described what
she was doing, she knew what it was. She was looking forsomething... something
to prove to him ...
A scene flashed in the crystal.
The boy Delos was eight. He stood in front of apile of boulders, rocks the
size of small cars. Hisfather stood behind him.
"Now!"
As soonasthe king spoke, the boy lifted his arm.Blue fire flashed. A boulder
exploded, disintegrating into atoms.
Again!
Another rock shattered.
"More power! You're not trying. You're useless!"The entire pile of boulders
exploded. The bluefire kept streaming, taking out a stand of trees behind the
boulders and crashing into the side of amountain. It chewed through the rock,
meltingshale and granite like a flamethrower burning awooden door.
The king smiled cruelly and slapped his son onthe back.
"That's better."
No. That's horrible,Maggie told Delos.That'swrong.This iswhat it should be
like.
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And she sent to him images of her own family.Not that the Neelys were
anything special. Theywere like anybody. They had fights, some of them pretty
bad. But there were lots of good times, too, and that was what she showed him.
She showed him her life... herself.
Laughingasher father frantically blew on a flaming marshmallow on some
long-past campingtrip. Smelling turpentine and watching magical colors unfold
on canvasas her mother painted. Perch ing dangerously on the handlebars of a
bike while Miles pedaled behind her, then shrieking all theway down a hill.
Waking up to a rough warmtongue licking her face, opening one eye to see Jake
the Great Dane panting happily. Blowing out candles at a birthday party.
Ambushing Miles from herdoorway with a heavy-duty water rifle...
Who is that?Delos asked. He had been thawing;Maggie could feel it. There were
so many thingsin the memories that were strange to him: yellowsunshine, modern
houses, bicycles, machinerybut she could feel interest and wonder stir in
himat the people.
Until now, when she was showing him a sixteenyear-old Miles, a Miles who
looked pretty muchlike the Miles of today.
That's Miles. He's my brother. He's eighteen and he just started
college.Maggie paused, trying to feel what Delos was thinking.He's the reason
I'm here.He got involved with this girl called Sylvia-Ithinkshe's a witch. And
then he disappeared. I went toseeSylvia, and the next thing I know I'm
wakingup ina slave-trader's cart. In a place I never knew existed.
Delos said,Isee.
Delos, do you know him? Have you seen himbefore?Maggie tried to keep the
question calm. Shewould have thought she could see anything thatDelos was
thinking, that it would all be reflected inthe crystals around her, that there
was nothing he could hide. But now suddenly she wasn't sure.
It's best for you to leave that alone,Delos said.
I can't,Maggie snapped back.He's mybrother! Ifhe's in trouble I have to find
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