and ourselves more clearly than most people do. We understand those links because they are visible to

us. We can see them, touch them,feel them. And it can help us to understand how all of us, all life, is

ultimately connected."

and ourselves more clearly than most people do. We understand those links because they are visible to

us. We can see them, touch them,feel them. And it can help us to understand how all of us, all life, is

ultimately connected."

"Assuming we survive?" asked Merlin with a smile. "I honestly don't know. Your guess is as good as

mine."

"I never had any moral qualms about being a thief," said Kira. "But now I've become an executioner.

That's what we really are now, aren't we?"

"We are soldiers," Merlin replied. "Soldiers in a war that began ages ago and never really ended."

"But itwill end someday. One way or another, it's got to end. Doesn't it?"

"I sincerely hope so."

"And then what? What happens then?"

"You mean, what will the runestones do?"

She nodded.

Merlin shrugged. "Who knows? Perhaps they will remain a part of us. Perhaps, having finally fulfilled

their function, the spell will end and we will all wake up one day to find things as they once were. I have

no way of knowing. Contrary to the myth about me, I do not know the future."

"What willyou do when it's over?"

"You mean will I remain with Billy?" Merlin shook Billy's head. "No, I think not. He deserves to live his

own life, unencumbered by the astral spirit of a cantankerous ancestor. I am here because my work is still

unfinished. But when that work is done, there still remains the final mystery. The one that all of us must

face at one time or another. Those of us who are not true Immortals, at any rate. And I must admit, it is a

mystery that fascinates me. I think I shall explore it when the time comes."

"But what if it turns out that there's nothing to explore?" she asked quietly. "I mean, what if this is all there

is?"

"Is that what you believe?"

"I don't know," she answered. "I'm not really sure what I believe any longer. I saw Modred die, only he

didn't die and now he's part of Wyrdrune. I sawyou die, but you came back, as part of Billy. And what

about the Dark Ones? The true immortals? Unless something happens to kill them, they never die. They

can live forever. Not long ago, I wouldn't have believed that any of those things were possible."

"Everythingis possible, my dear," said Merlin. "Some things are merely more probable than others. I did

not cheat death, I merely delayed the inevitable for a while, as did Modred. Magic does not supersede

the natural balance of the world. It is merely a part of it. Despite the popular misnomer, it is natural, not

supernatural."