Gilwyn nodded, already knowing this.
‘You are about to leave this world and enter another, Gilwyn, and you’ll need Lariniza to guide you. She’ll take you beyond the bonds of this mortal realm to the place where Ruana dwells.’
It made little sense, yet Gilwyn couldn’t speak. He merely stared at the amulet, unafraid.
‘Touch the Eye, Gilwyn. Take it in your hand.’
Slowly, Gilwyn did as Minikin commanded. He reached out and touched the smooth gold and gemstone, cradling it carefully in his fingers. Warmth flooded his hand, seeping quickly into his arm and body. Around him, he felt the world shudder. The light from the ruby dazzled his eyes, expanding in a scarlet sphere. The sensation panicked him, but he was unable to let go of the amulet. Just when he thought he would shout out for help, the red firestorm abated. .
And Gilwyn entered a whole new world.
He was alone, and the mountain was gone. So too were Minikin and Emerald. Instead, a forest surrounded him, green and chirping with life. Ahead of him stood a lake, its surface shimmering with fog. Dew gleamed on the grass and the leaves of the trees. The air felt warm and still. Birdsong tumbled from the tree limbs and the sun glowed opaque behind a canopy of moss. It was early morning, or it seemed to be, and the peace of the new day filled Gilwyn with calm. The lapping of the water on the shore called to him. Bewildered, he looked down at his hands to test their realness and found them translucent and ethereal. But he could stand; he had substance. And he was not afraid. Even in his confusion the strange new world delighted him.
‘Where am I?’ he asked. His voice sounded odd to him, as though it echoed before ending. He glanced around, thinking to find Lariniza, but the Akari was nowhere to be found. Had she transported him here? And where was here? It was not Jador, surely, because the land was lush and wet and even the sky looked different. ‘I’m dreaming,’ he told himself. It was like the greatest, most realistic dream he’d ever had. Here in this world he could do anything and he knew it. He took a step and found that his limp had fled. Though his mechanical boot still wrapped his clubfoot, there was no pain from the appendage now. Gilwyn laughed and took another step, staring at his feet as he did so, seeing a normal gait for the first time in his life.
Up ahead, the lake beckoned. He walked toward it, studying its shining waters and the way the fog moved across its surface. Like a black mirror it stretched out for miles toward a distant shore. As he neared it the trees parted, revealing its sandy shore. And more. Gilwyn paused.
At the shore a woman waited, leaning against a wooden boat. He could see her profile as she stared across the lake, the water lapping at her naked feet. She wore a dress of white linen, the hem of which floated in the lake around her ankles. Her hair shone gold, her complexion was milky fair. She did not turn to look at Gilwyn, yet she seemed to know he was watching her. Her lips turned up in a sly smile as her eyes moved across the misty lake. Gilwyn paused, amazed by her. Her whole body seemed to shimmer in the feeble light. This was not Lariniza, he was sure. This was Ruana. Somehow, he knew her instantly, and was enchanted. When he said her name, it was like a poem.
‘Ruana.’
The figure at the lakeside at last turned to face him. A pair of dancing eyes embraced him as she smiled. ‘Come ahead,’ she beckoned. ‘You are safe here.’
As the sand pulled at his feet, Gilwyn walked over to the woman. He could see she was very young, just as Minikin had explained. Ruana had died young, and apparently had never aged, at least not in this netherworld. She was lovely, too, with bright eyes and golden ringlets of hair that stirred in a non-existent breeze. What surprised Gilwyn most, though, were the tips of her ears, which were turned up in an elvish fashion, just as Minikin’s were.
‘You are Ruana,’ said Gilwyn. ‘I know you are.’
‘How do you know?’ asked the woman.
‘Because I feel it.’
Ruana nodded. ‘Precisely right.’
She leaned against her little boat as Gilwyn stopped to stand before her.
‘Ruana, what is this place?’ asked Gilwyn. ‘Is this a dream?’
‘This is the place of the Akari, Gilwyn,’ replied Ruana. ‘This is our land, as it was, as it remains in the world beyond yours. And no, this is no dream.’
‘I don’t know how I got here,’ said Gilwyn. ‘I touched Minikin’s amulet, and then I was here. I saw the lake, then I saw you.’ It was so absurd he laughed. ‘It’s so strange!’
‘Lariniza brought you here, as Minikin said she would,’ Ruana explained. ‘She brought you here so we could talk, and so you could see me.’ She smiled, and the warmness of it melted Gilwyn. ‘It is time that we met, no?’
‘Yes,’ said Gilwyn eagerly. ‘I wanted this for so long.’
‘As did I. I have known you all your life. I have been with you since you were a baby, Gilwyn.’
The idea was staggering, though Gilwyn had known it for some time now. ‘Yes, Minikin told me. She marked me as a child in Koth, gave you to me. And you’ve always been watching over me?’
‘In a sense.’ Ruana looked out over the lake. Her expression turned sad. ‘I have lived in this place for ages, but time has no meaning here. One moment is like the next or the one before. Still, I was given to you and I waited for you to come to me.’
Gilwyn noted the stillness of the lake. ‘This is the place of the dead.’ He glanced at Ruana. ‘Am I right?’
‘This is a place for the Akari dead,’ Ruana answered. ‘This is my place of death.’ She touched the boat and smiled. ‘This is where I died, Gilwyn, falling out of this boat. I drowned here, and yet I still come because I love this place.’
‘Is that how it is when we die?’ Gilwyn asked. ‘Like this?’
Ruana’s answer was cryptic. ‘For Akari, it is this way. For me it is this way. This is the world as it was when I lived, Gilwyn. Look around — is it not beautiful? This is the land of my people, before time turned it dry and the Jadori killed us all.’
It was lovely. No longer was Gilwyn in a desert surrounded by mountains and sand. The old Akari world was lush and bursting with life. Gilwyn could tell why Ruana didn’t want to leave it.
‘Why have you brought me here like this?’ he asked. ‘Is this how we’ll always communicate?’
‘No,’ Ruana chuckled, ‘not at all. Now is your time of knowledge, Gilwyn, the time for you to know me as I have known you, to see the world I came from as I have learned of your world. I brought you here to meet me, to see me as I was, when I was real and alive like you. That is all this is — time for you to learn.’
Gilwyn went closer to the woman. He touched the boat, then slipped his hand over hers and found it real and warm. The sensation troubled him. ‘I have so many questions, Ruana. About you, about my gift, about all of this.’
‘I will help you to understand,’ said Ruana. ‘But first. .’ She stepped into the boat then held out her hand. ‘Come with me and let me show you my world.’
‘You mean on the lake? I don’t know. .’
Ruana lifted a thin eyebrow. ‘Come now, Gilwyn — you must trust me.’
Gilwyn grimaced. ‘You’re right.’
Forgetting his hesitancy, he took her hand and let her guide him into the boat. There were no oars and no sail, yet as soon as he was seated the strange vessel disembarked, sliding soundlessly off the beach and into the swirling mists.
Within moments, the fog had swallowed the shore, and all the trees and birds disappeared. Ruana sat in the front of the boat looking out over the water. Her self-assured presence relaxed Gilwyn. He sat still in the seat behind her, not speaking, watching as the mists bloomed around the boat and the water parted silently beneath its prow. He didn’t know where she was taking him, or if Minikin worried about him back in the world. But he trusted Ruana in a way he’d never trusted anyone before. She was part of him; he could feel her presence in his mind as sure as his own. Suddenly, the million questions that plagued him abated, satisfied by Ruana’s mere presence.