They used them to travel from world to world. Once they linked thousands of planets or so the Dragon Angel Adaana once told me.”

He stared at her. Once again she was alluding to conversations with beings who were legends.

“They were made by Angels.”

“Yes.”

“And yet you opened one.”

“They are devices, Rik, machines made by magic. If you understand how they work you can use them. You can open them and close them.”

“They were made by Angels.”

“You said that already, Rik, and please close your mouth. The slack-jawed look does not become you.

“It is simply that your statement astonishes me.”

“I can see how it might. But I can assure you that it is the case unless Adaana lied to me, and I doubt she did. Angels rarely speak anything but truth.”

“You closed the Gate.”

“To be more specific, I broke it. I did not want anyone being able to open it again after us.”

“And now you suspect that someone has opened one again.”

“I suspect someone is creating a new one. According to Adaana they took centuries to weave and grow. I did not think anyone else had that knowledge but apparently that was mere vanity on my part. The Princes of Shadow gained access to the knowledge of the Angels when they plundered their Temple-Houses. It was one of the reasons they rebelled in the first place.”

He simply stared at her. Perhaps it was the drugs that stupefied him but he suspected that it was the way she talked of matters of theology as if they were part of her personal affairs. She seemed abstracted, lost in thought.

“I did not think that there was enough power in this world to weave a gate, but if you had access to thanatomancy or rituals derived from it, you could conceivably make the seed and after that it would simply be a matter of shaping it. The trick is to create the fault into the Deep and link it to the Angel’s Roads.”

“You said that with access to a Gate, spells as potent as those on Al’Terra became possible.”

“Yes— power bleeds from the Deep through a Gate, like water flowing up from a spring. One who knows the correct rituals could tap it. For decades now the level of ambient magical energy has been rising. That’s when I had my initial suspicions. I ignored them at first because the level always fluctuates naturally. And I did not want to admit to the alternative. Foolishly, as it turns out.”

“You are saying that with access to such power a sorcerer could create this plague and animate the dead.”

“Yes.”

“And they could open a way through to Al’Terra and let the Princes of Shadow come here.”

“Yes.”

“It could already have happened.”

“I don’t think so. I would be able to sense the presence of a fully open Gate, so would you. So would anyone with a reasonably strong gift for sorcery. It would be as noticeable as the sun is in the sky to a man with eyes. I don’t think the Princes of Shadow are here yet, but I have been known to be wrong.”

“Let us hope you are. What now?”

“We wait for the Inquisitor to summon you and for the Queen to decide whether we march East.”

“How long will that take?”

“Messengers have already been dispatched. We await only her reply. I am guessing a week at the most. If the decision has not already been made.”

The invitation to visit Joran was waiting for Rik when they returned to their apartments.