Sarah waltzes into the tent with Dax, Grant, and a raven-haired woman following her. When Dax notices Willow, her grabs the girl's arm to haul her away from me. "Go to Allison's tent and stay there."
"But—"
"Do it," Dax snarls. "Now."
Once the girl has left, Sarah approaches me. "Please tell my friends what you told me, Gabriel."
"Which part?"
"About what the Echo is."
She must have already told her friends that, but she wants me to explain it all over again. I guess the news really is a big deal to them.
"The Echo is a planet," I say. "Like Earth, only smaller. I think it's smaller, anyway. Since I'm not an expert on things like that, I can't say for sure. But it's definitely a globe. It has a horizon that curves down around the rest of the planet."
"Fascinating," Grant says. "How much of the Echo was devastated by the alchemy of worlds?"
"The what?"
"Oh, sorry. I forgot you don't know about that." Grant sits down cross-legged on the dirt floor in front of me. Then he glances up at Dax. "Should we tell him about it?"
The British Hulk shrugs. "Since you already mentioned it, there's no point in denying you said it. Might as well explain. This bloke did confirm the Echo is a planet."
"Okay." Grant sets his hands on his knees. "The alchemy of worlds is what Sefton Stainthorpe called the method he used to merge the two worlds. He combined alchemy, quantum physics, and dark magics to create the Echo, then he let the alchemical reaction transform the worlds. He intended for the Echo and the Earth to merge into one hell dimension."
Chapter Four
Sarah
"That didn't happen," Gabriel says. "I don't know where you guys get your information, but it must be from a brain-dead con artist. Both worlds got destroyed, mostly. Well, the Echo did. I don't know how Earth fared after that. But I know the worlds didn't magically merge into one planet."
"You are correct. The worlds did not merge," Dax concurs. "But only because we stopped the alchemical reaction before it could complete the transmutation."
Gabriel seems vaguely confused, though he tries to hide that. Whatever happened to him after he was thrown into the Echo, it clearly changed him in ways that he doesn't want to consider. I didn't know him before the apocalypse. Yet I feel I can trust him, and I feel that he has suffered more than he lets on, more than he wants to admit even to himself.
He shifts uncomfortably in his chair. "That does explain a few things I'd wondered about for a long time after I got thrown into the Echo. Like why I never saw any other humans in that world. And why the creatures were able to come and go as they pleased. I couldn't. That alchemical reaction thing must have been intended to kill all humans. But it was stopped before it finished."
"Indeed."
"So, did you people know Sefton Stainthorpe?"
Dax narrows his gaze. "Did you? Can't see why you would bother trying to breach the castle if you had never met Sefton. How would you even know the castle existed?"
"Because it's on top of a big cliff. Everyone in the Capital City can see it. Told you already, I never met Sefton." Gabriel seems incapable of stopping himself from getting annoyed with my friends. He grits his teeth, then loosens his jaw, and his words come out rough and almost snarly. "Are you people stupid? I thought you knew all about the Echo. You sure act like you do. But apparently, I know more than all of you combined."
"Do you?" Dax leans in, squinting at Gabriel, clearly trying to intimidate him. "You had no idea what the alchemy of worlds was. That means we know more."
"All right, boys," Erin says. "Time to dial back the testosterone so you can think like grown-ups again."
I love Erin. She never lets anybody push her around, and she always knows exactly what to do when an argument gets too heated. I don't have that talent. She also knows how to take down any type of Echo creature, another skill I lack.
Erin walks up to Gabriel and plants her hands on her hips. "It would be in your best interest to tell us everything you know."
"Why? If you're in league with the Echo creatures, or some other bad guys, you'll use that knowledge against me. I've been on this ride for long enough to know how things work."
"You're awfully cynical. Is that because you lost your Echo pals? Or because you're hiding something?"
He grunts. "Take your pick."