«How many of those sodding things did the Fox make?» Yasmin groaned; but Rivi was already fixing Irene with a look of sneering superiority.

«See these?» Rivi gloated. «See what I've got, you addle-coved wee barmy? I've got you outnumbered, that's what I've got. Outflanked and out-firepowered, follow me, darling? Even your pathetic excuse for a brain should see you're beaten.»

«You will not surrender?» Irene said quietly.

«Why should I?» Rivi asked. «You're a loser, just like the rest of your pathetic wee band. You surrender to me!»

The wand in Irene's hand aimed straight at Rivi's heart. The old orc opened her mouth. «In nomine —»

«Uh-oh,» said Hezekiah.

«Irene, don't!» said I.

«Down!» said Yasmin… but I was already throwing myself onto the floor.

«– Vulpes,» Irene finished.

Not just one fireball. Three of them. From three firewands. Irene's and Rivi's, all triggered by the same invocation. All going off simultaneously in a single small room.

A moment before, the control room walls had been as transparent as glass. Now with a triple flash of fire, the interior was splash-blasted black: as black as a coat of paint, except that this blackness came from the incinerated remains of everything inside. All the people, all the control panels, even the air itself had been baked in an instant, vaporized to opaque black char.

Then came the sound of the explosion: an almost delicate CRUMP, as if the inferno was so sure of itself it didn't need to make noise. The walls of the room gave a tiny shiver, but that was all – whatever the room was made of, it was strong enough to stand a volcano.

Slowly, Yasmin and I stood up. The blackened hulk of the control room gave off heat like a cast-iron stove; touch a paper to it, and the page would burst into flames. No mere human could approach those sizzling walls without roasting his skin.

«Hezekiah!» I called. «You teleported away in time, didn't you? Hezekiah?»

No answer.

Yasmin turned a slow circle, eyes scanning the machine room around us. I did the same – no sign of the boy.

«Maybe he teleported to another part of the Spider,» Yasmin said in a low voice.

«I hope so,» I replied. «If he panicked and ended up out in the dust, he's dead. Hezekiah?»

My only answer was a sharp hiss of steam: a protracted hiss that sent a cloud of vapor roiling into the air.

«I just had a nasty thought,» Yasmin murmured. «All these machines must be controlled from inside that room, right?»

«Right.»

«And I'll bet there's not much left of the control panels in there.»

I stared at the charred walls, still radiating a blistering temperature. «No argument,» I told her. «We'd better get out of here.»

«What about the others?»

«Hezekiah was touching Miriam. If he managed to get away, he took her with him. They'll know enough to head for the gate to Mount Celestia. As for Irene and Rivi… they're gone.»

«Are you sure?» Yasmin asked.

I lifted my hand to feel the heat from the control room walls. «No chance of going inside to check for bodies. You won't find bodies anyway – just albino cinders.» In the rear of the room, a cog suddenly gave a loud clank, followed by a hideous grinding sound. «Come on,» I said, holding out my hand. «We have to go.»

By the time we reached the upper floor, it was obvious the Spider was sinking into the dust again – not a precipitous dive like the last time, but a slow swiveling descent like a screw twisting into a board. Some of the legs were walking; some of the legs had stopped. And so the Spider rotated gradually downward into the infinite sea of Dust.

«It's beautiful, isn't it?» Yasmin said, staring out the window at the endless gray expanse.

«It's stark,» I replied. «I suppose to a Handmaid of Entropy, that's the same thing as beautiful.»

«Sometimes,» she nodded.

In silence, I contemplated her face. In silence, she contemplated the ultimate desert. I thought of how fondly she'd talked about the Plane of Dust back in Carceri; so it didn't come as a surprise when she murmured, «I'm not going with you to Mount Celestia.»

«You're staying here?»

«For a while,» she nodded. «When I look out and see all that peace…» She tilted her head toward the dust. «I need this, Britlin. Just for a time. It's not your fault, but I need to let things sink in… see what I can put behind me.»

«Are you sure you can survive out there?»

«I have the spells I need,» she answered. «Besides, this plane is my spiritual home. It will sustain me.» She pressed one palm to the glass, then slowly let it slide downward. «Somewhere out there,» she said, «the Doomguard have a stronghold: the Citadel Alluvius. It's very quiet, very peaceful. I healed there once before.»

«There's no real proof you're my sister,» I told her.

She smiled and turned my way. «Trying to kick me out of the family?»

I shook my head.

Laying a cool hand on my cheek, she leaned in very close and whispered, «If you come across proof, one way or the other, come find me.»

«Find you here?»

«Or someplace else. It's really quite a small multiverse.»

She let her hand linger on my face a moment longer, then turned away. With one last look out the window, Yasmin smiled and began walking down the nearest arm of the Spider. When I moved to follow her, she gestured for me to stop. «I have to go alone, Britlin. I can survive out there, but you can't.»

«You think you can walk where you're going? This plane is infinite – the Citadel could be millions of miles away.»

«This plane is the chalice of my soul,» she said. «When my soul has walked for long enough, the Citadel will come into sight.»

«And if I walk long enough, will you come into sight again?»

She made no answer.

I stayed by the window. In time, I saw her white-clad figure slip into view, walking lightly on the dust. She left no footprints.

Slowly, the Spider continued to rotate, notching its way ever downward. Yasmin disappeared from sight; and when the Spider had come around once more to the same angle, my sister was gone.

«What'cha looking at?» said a nasal voice behind my shoulder.

I let my head thump forward against the window pane. It felt so good, I banged it again. «Hezekiah,» I grimaced, «I'm coming to believe that nothing in the multiverse can kill you.»

«Shows how Clueless you are,» the boy said. «Uncle Toby will slice me for sure if he hears I have a price on my head. How long have I been away from home? Two weeks?»

I turned to face him. Miriam was there too, her arm clasped tightly around his waist. Both of them wore grins that managed to be smug and sheepish at the same time. «What have you two been up to?» I asked.

«Nothing,» Hezekiah answered defensively. «I teleported away from Rivi in the nick of time, and a second later, Miriam's mind snapped back to normal. She was grateful to be free.»

«Grateful,» I repeated.

«Can't a woman be grateful?» Miriam demanded.

«You might have told us you were all right.»

«There was no hurry,» Hezekiah replied. «Rivi was totally incinerated, right? You two were outside the room, so you were okay. And Miriam was grateful.»

«Yes, I believe we've established Miriam's state of mind,» I muttered. «Do you still have the grinders?»

«Nah, I teleported them outside. High time they got lost in the dust again, right?»

«Best place for them,» I nodded.

«That's what I said,» Miriam put in. «Sod the piking grinders.»

«Anyway,» Hezekiah went on, «I was glad to get rid of the grinders but I was feeling pretty lowdown about Irene – and Oonah and Wheezle and everyone else – and Miriam said, Kid, you could use some cheering up…»

The boy continued to babble all the way to Mount Celestia.