“Tonight, my visions will be fulfilled at long last.”
“Visions?” Chandra repeated.
“The visions I have had for years,” Walbert said, “when meditating in communion with the Purifying Fire.”
Gideon’s head moved. It was a very small motion, but he had been so still until now, it caught Chandra’s attention. She glanced at him and saw that, although nothing showed in his expression, he was staring intently at Walbert now.
Evidently Walbert had never mentioned the visions to him.
“What are your visions about?” Chandra asked.
“Mostly, Chandra, they’re about you.”
“Me?” she blurted.
Walbert smiled again, and his expression was warm and serene as he gazed at her, his enemy and prisoner. “For years I have believed you would come during my lifetime. For years, I have awaited you.”
She glanced at Gideon. He kept his face under control, but she could tell from the redoubled intensity of the gaze still focused on Walbert that he was as stunned as she was.
“You are the herald of the chaos that’s on the verge of overwhelming this plane,” Walbert said. “Your arrival on Regatha threatens to usher in an era of ungoverned madness here.”
“I just came here to study and learn,” Chandra said. “Not to, er, herald and usher.”
“I knew you would come, and you did,” Walbert said. “I knew you would return, with or without Gideon, and you did. I knew you wouldn’t leave again, even though you could have left-and, indeed, should have.” He nodded. “You are the one whom I have seen in my visions, and it’s your destiny to change everything here.”
“No, it’s not,” she said firmly. “We each make our own destiny, and the only destiny I ever intended to have here-”
“Intended? You aren’t in control of your destiny,” Walbert said contemptuously. “You flow with your impulses and bounce erratically off your own emotions. I have seen you in the Purifying Fire, and I know who you are.”
“Fine,” she said in exasperation, “so your visions told you a fire-wielding planeswalker would come to Regatha and cause trouble.”
“No, an earthquake is trouble, Chandra,” Walbert said. “You are a cataclysm.”
“A cataclysm? Oh, for-”
“I have known ever since I first bonded with the power of the Purifying Fire that this day must come. I have seen in my visions how dangerous you are, what a deadly threat you are to the Order and our goals.”
“Goals like ruling the forests and the mountains?” she said sharply. “Dominating all the mages of Regatha with your own rules, your own-”
“You came to Regatha to destroy everything I have built,” Walbert said darkly. “You came here to prevent me from bringing peace and harmony to this plane.”
“I told you why I came here,” she snapped.
“You are the kindling of the cataclysm that I have foreseen,” he said with solemn certainty, “and I must stop you.”
“Your notion of a cataclysm sounds like other people’s idea of restoring balance to Regatha,” she said. “Or being left alone to pursue their own goals instead of submitting to yours.”
“I have prepared for this day for many years,” Walbert said, “and tonight I will begin a new era on Regatha. One that is free of the destruction that threatens us here.”
Gideon asked, “What are you going to do?”
He had been silent for so long, they both reacted as if one of the chairs had spoken.
Then Walbert recovered his composure and said, “I will give her to the Purifying Fire.”
Fire won’t kill her.” Gideon’s voice was quiet and without expression.
“As I said, I don’t intend to kill her,” said Walbert.
“What will happen in the Purifying Fire?” Gideon asked.
“It will cleanse her.”
“Cleanse me of what?” said Chandra.
“Of your power. It will purify you,” Walbert said with evident devotion. “The Purifying Fire will eliminate the destructive poison of fire magic from your existence. It will forever sever your bond with the corrupting force of red mana.”
“You’re taking away my power?” Chandra said, appalled. “I don’t understand. Why don’t you just kill me?”
“Because once you’re stripped of your power, you’ll be an example for others.”
“An example?” she repeated.
“You are the most powerful fire mage on this plane,” Walbert said. “And I will take away your power.”
“She’ll be bound to this plane,” Gideon said.
“Yes,” said Walbert, holding Chandra’s gaze. “No more planeswalking. You’ll spend the rest of your life on Regatha. Powerless. Defeated. Subject to my will.”
“No,” Chandra said, a sick dread washing through her. She had anticipated death, not being stranded for life on just one plane, robbed of her power and with no reason to live.
He ignored her outburst. “I won’t have to challenge the Keralians or invade the mountains again. They will see you stripped of all power and utterly impotent, and they will realize what they risk by continuing to oppose me. And so they will submit to the rule of the Order.”
“No, they won’t!”
“They will. I have foreseen it,” he said with cold satisfaction. “The woodlanders will see you, too, vanquished and humbled, and they will understand that the Order must not be thwarted or disobeyed any longer.”
“I thought I was coming here to die!” Chandra said angrily. “I agreed to be executed, not… violated, humiliated, and put on display!”
“Your message didn’t mention execution as a condition of our agreement,” Walbert said. “As far as your part of our bargain goes, you said you would surrender to my custody. And that was all you said.”
“I didn’t say that I’d allow you to feed me to the Purifying Fire!”
“The ceremony will take place tonight,” Walbert said. “I have a great deal to do before then, so this conversation is over.”
“I won’t let you do this me, Walbert!”