บท 29: Chapter 29: Steam Union

The sorcerer collapsed, Piers easing him to the floor. I crouched with him, Mom rushing over to check on us. My friend's face compressed in grief as he finally looked up and met my eyes.

"Syd," he choked. "She's made her bed."

I know he was talking about his mother, but I couldn't leave it there. "We can't let the Steam Union just vanish," I said, pulling him to his feet. "We're going. Now."

Piers followed me as I jerked open the veil and reached for the young man's mind at the same time. The image of an underground tunnel was all I had to latch onto, that and the feeling of danger.

"This could be bumpy," I said as Piers and I leaped through the gap I'd made. A moment of weightlessness followed, then the other end opened and dropped us into overly fragrant dimness. My feet splashed into water, stone tunnel roof overhead making me crouch, though it only appeared low. Piers grunted beside me, the bottom of his longcoat soaking in the stinking fluid washing past us.