The Skraelings remained lost in their reflections and choices, completely unaware of what happened in the world. They had the ability to turn themselves back into River Angels if they so chose, and they could do this freely now they found themselves masterless with the mysterious disappearance of the One.

Would they like to change? Did they want to take this opportunity?

They could become creatures of beauty and of astounding power. Fairy-like creatures of water. Consideration of water gave the Skraelings pause, particularly as attaining their River Angel form meant drowning themselves in its vileness, but for the moment they passed over it and thought only of the beauty and power of the River Angels as Isaiah had showed them.

“But of course,” Ozll said into the Skraelings’ reflection, “the River Angels were not just beauty and power, were they?”

The Skraelings considered this also, and took pause to resent Ozll a little, for he’d begun to sound as if he were their conscience, and that they did not like.

“They were quite murderous,” said the female, Graq. “They were vile, too. Isaiah showed us that. Do we want to be that?”

One of the nearby Skraelings opened his mouth to say “Yes!” then shut it again without speaking. A puzzled look came into his eyes.

“We don’t want to think of that,” said another Skraeling. “We want to be River Angels. They were beautiful and powerful and . . . we would have no lords other than ourselves!”

“But do we want to be lords like those?” Graq said, earning herself many resentful looks, although none spoke against her.

“These reflections are truly painful,” Ozll said, “and they make me want to curl up and cry.”

At that almost childish admission, all the Skraelings relaxed. He remained one of them, after all.

“If we return to the form of River Angels,” said Ozll, “then we would return to being beautiful and powerful, but infinitely murderous because of that. We were once murderous as River Angels, we remained murderous as Skraelings. Do we want to return to that? Do we want to remain that?”

His voice was genuinely bewildered and emotional, and all the Skraelings listening curled their toes and dropped their eyes.

“Would a touch of beauty and a bit more magic really change us that much?” Ozll said. “Wouldn’t we be just as foul as River Angels, if more beautifully so? Wouldn’t we really prefer to be something other than foul, and murderous?”

Now thoroughly discomforted, many of the Skraelings wondered if they might murder Ozll, just to shut him up.

“Can’t we just make a decision one way or the other?” one of them muttered.

“We need to make the right one,” Ozll said, and everyone sighed, a great gust of regret and self-loathing that whispered over the plains of the central Outlands.

The Infinity Gate
cover.html
titlepage.html
dedication.html
contents.html
map.html
prologue.html
unknown.html
part01.html
chapter01.html
chapter02.html
chapter03.html
chapter04.html
chapter05.html
chapter06.html
chapter07.html
chapter08.html
chapter09.html
chapter10.html
chapter11.html
chapter12.html
chapter13.html
chapter14.html
chapter15.html
chapter16.html
chapter17.html
chapter18.html
chapter19.html
chapter20.html
chapter21.html
chapter22.html
chapter23.html
chapter24.html
part02.html
chapter25.html
chapter26.html
chapter27.html
chapter28.html
chapter29.html
chapter30.html
chapter31.html
chapter32.html
chapter33.html
chapter34.html
chapter35.html
chapter36.html
chapter37.html
chapter38.html
chapter39.html
chapter40.html
chapter41.html
chapter42.html
chapter43.html
chapter44.html
chapter45.html
chapter46.html
chapter47.html
chapter48.html
chapter49.html
chapter50.html
part03.html
chapter51.html
chapter52.html
chapter53.html
chapter54.html
chapter55.html
chapter56.html
chapter57.html
chapter58.html
chapter59.html
chapter60.html
chapter61.html
chapter62.html
chapter63.html
chapter64.html
chapter65.html
chapter66.html
chapter67.html
chapter68.html
chapter69.html
chapter70.html
chapter71.html
chapter72.html
chapter73.html
chapter74.html
chapter75.html
chapter76.html
chapter77.html
chapter78.html
part04.html
chapter79.html
chapter80.html
chapter81.html
chapter82.html
chapter83.html
chapter84.html
chapter85.html
chapter86.html
chapter87.html
chapter88.html
chapter89.html
chapter90.html
chapter91.html
chapter92.html
chapter93.html
chapter94.html
chapter95.html
chapter96.html
chapter97.html
chapter98.html
chapter99.html
chapter100.html
chapter101.html
epilogue.html
LandofNightmares.html
glossary.html
abtauthor.html
copyright.html
atp01.html