Lawrence Watt-Evans: In the Empire of Shadow

“It will?” she asked, startled. “I thought that it sounded like things were pretty good before the matrix wizards got out of hand.” She wondered whether Pel was just making excuses, trying to convince himself.

She wondered, also, if he had any idea what he was talking about. Did he really know any of this stuff? If he’d learned it from Shadow, had she told the truth?

“Well, yeah,” Pel said, “but that was before the magic all got collected. It would disperse out to harmlessness eventually, I think, but if I just turn it loose now it’ll be like an explosion.”

“Are you sure?” Amy asked.

“No,” Pel admitted. “Look, Amy, you go on; I can always open the gate up again and go home. But I can’t ever come back -once I leave, the portal closes and the matrix comes apart. So I want to do whatever I can here first.”

Amy glanced at Susan’s corpse and shrugged; it wasn’t really any of her business if Pel stayed, and maybe he would do some good. She stepped through the portal, and as the throne room’s eerie colors vanished she saw Prossie coming close on her heels.

She emerged into the dim light of a single bare bulb-if there had been others, as she vaguely remembered there were, they must have burned out. She stepped quickly to one side, so that Prossie would not walk into her.

Pel’s basement was hot and musty; the house had probably been closed up all summer, Amy realized. Ted was sitting on the stairs.

“Hello,” he said, as Prossie appeared.

Amy glanced at Prossie, and then, reassured that she was safely through the portal, turned and blinked at Ted. Her eyes needed time to adjust to the dimness after the blinding glare of the matrix.

“Are you okay, Ted?” she asked, concerned. “I thought you’d be on your way home by now.”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Am I awake? Why am I in someone’s basement, if I’m awake? This is supposed to be Earth, isn’t it?”

“It’s Earth, Ted, and you’re awake,” Prossie said gently. “You’ve been awake all along.”

He shook his head. “No, no; that’s crazy.”

“Well, crazy or not,” Amy told him, “you’re in Pel’s basement, on Earth, and you’re safe. Open the door, and let’s go home.”

Ted shook his head, and Amy saw terror on his face. All through their adventures he had smiled, or simply looked blank, but now that they were safely home he was obviously seriously frightened.

“I don’t know what’s out there,” Ted said slowly. “I don’t know who you two really are, if this is real and the dream’s over. If I’m here, and not home in bed, it can’t have been an ordinary dream-so maybe I’m not awake yet after all. Maybe if I go through that door I’ll be back in that castle, or the spaceship, or something. There could be monsters, or slave-drivers, or anything.”

“Open the door and see, Ted,” Amy said, annoyed with his weakness. She marched across the basement and up the dusty steps, while Prossie trailed uncertainly after her.

For an instant, as her hand closed on the knob and Ted stared fearfully up at her, Amy thought that he might somehow be right, that anything could lie beyond that door-or beyond any door.

But then she swung it wide and saw only the Browns’ hallway, dusty and muggy, and she knew it was over.

* * * *

Pel sat on his throne, staring at the portal, for several minutes after Ted and Amy and Prossie had vanished.

None of them reappeared; they were presumably safely back on Earth, but for all he could see they might just as well be dead, or imprisoned. He considered holding the portal open for a moment longer, just in case, but then decided that was silly.

He let his link to Earth collapse into nothingness, glanced back at Susan’s body, and got to his feet.

Susan would have to wait; he wanted to practice on someone or something else first. Susan was a friend; he didn’t want to bring her back until he could do the job right.

And after he had brought Susan back to life, he would find Nancy and Rachel. Somehow, somewhere, some way, he would find them.