"The formation will restore what it has taken. You may return to the altar as you were when you entered this last trial."
Weak, then, and still bound, but alive. The others would have the truth about the chains. Another native might do better. She thought of Albert standing at the altar, watching for the first sign of her return. He might even have the courage to come this far himself.
She was tired enough to find the prospect quite agreeable.
The ancestor spoke again.
"If you succeed, you alone will be free. You could walk away. Do you understand that?" Oddly enough, that was the first thing he had said that made her want to stay.
Throughout the trials she had pictured herself going back for the others. Only now did she appreciate how much she wanted the other choice as well.
To stand beneath an unfamiliar sky because she had a fancy to see it. To follow a road simply because she did not know where it went.
