Inside the dome, the air was surprisingly fresh and cool. Mordelain had expected sweltering humidity but instead found an oasis lain before them. Though the convection brought heat inside, the dancing lights on the inner dome showed magic had channelled it through the space and into the vents and stores below. The vacuum created by the dome gave life to the vast and once empty space.

“The water from the condensation caused by the system must have pooled here over time.” Mordelain traced the shore of the oasis and smiled at the sight of animals on its shore. Less an oasis, more a lake, she walked towards it with lifted heart.

“In the future this oasis will become the priestess’s tower. Once a wellspring of life, it will instead become a beacon of hope through challenging times. But what lies beneath the oasis?” Suresh, older and more tired than his charge slumped against his spear when he caught up.

“If the bedrock were stable, it stands to reason the stores and vents could still exist beneath Irrakam. The possibilities that creates are staggering.”

“Our ancestors sought to lift Fallien up, to subvert nature and tame the seasons. They failed. But we may yet harness it to our advantage.”

“You already have a plan, don’t you?” Mordelain poked Suresh playfully.

“With the docks dry and the Long Summer cracking the earth we must be quick.” He took a long pause for dramatic effect. “We must dig out the cliffs and bring water into the vents.”

“Yes!” Mordelain jumped for joy. “Noria and reservoirs could bring water from the sea inland and the process of evaporation could clear the water of salt.”

“That salt could be used to preserve fish and the stores could be filled in a season.” Suresh was pleased she was enthusiastic. It would be she who did most of the work. “But I am getting old, Mordelain. I have only ideas left to give.” He pointed at her. “You are the one who will give them life.”

“Old? You? Do not be absurd. You’ve barely aged a day.”

Suresh sighed. “I wish that were true. What may seem like days to you, young il’Jhain, has been nearly four decades for Fallien.”

Mordelain pouted. It was true she had forgotten what time was, each year of her life ten to the people of Althanas. She had spent almost a century exploring the nine ruined worlds after the volcano erupted, desperate to find a way for Fallien to endure. She was irritated it had been under their noses all along.

“Time is the one thing I have too much of Suresh. I’m sorry.”

“Do not apologise, child. I have made my peace with death. But just because I cannot break rocks and slay ant lions does not mean I am spent.” Suresh pointed to the dome overhead. “Can you see that?”

Mordelain craned her neck and peered through the gloom. At the centre of the dome was a device of glass and lightning fused into dizzying displays of power and motion. Mordelain had seen one before, several in fact, lain lifeless and spent across Fallien.

“I’d forgotten what they looked like.” She dropped her gaze back to her mentor. “They’re terraforming machines. They bend the laws of nature to create elements where there are none.”

Suresh smiled softly. Though the power of such devices was unseen in Althanas, he had studied Mordelain’s manuscripts long enough to have a basic understanding of what just one could do for Fallien. He had helped her scour the desert to find one, but their power was all but spent.

“We found one in Irrakam. With it, we brought rain back to the island. But that device was cracked, its matrix shattered when the Cataclysm sundered Fallien and set it adrift to sea. What do you think you could do with a working device?”

Mordelain wrinkled her nose. She had never considered the possibility that they would find a working one. Somewhere in the caverns of her mind, however, was the knowledge with which to use one.

“I could in theory replicate it.” Her inquisitive expression deepened. “It would take power the likes I have not seen and the purest of wyld glass to reflect the geometry required to stabilise the network…” She trailed off into her thoughts.

“So it is possible, then?” Suresh rummaged in the folds of his robes and produced a perfectly formed sphere of glass. Energy washed over them as he pressed it in his palm and brought it to life.

“Suresh…is that what I think it is?”