Silver Hooves in the Darkness

Chapter Thirty

The last place Paola Equina had seen Alessandro di Medico alive had changed. An iridescent green crystal tetrahedron floated above a pointed column of cerulean quartz, small bolts of light sparking between them. All of the glass and metal had disappeared as if someone had swept the room clean of debris and damage. The figures of the equinii trapped within the walls had also vanished. 

Could their spirits roam free in Dome Pasture?

They wait for you, Paola, to lead them there, came the amused thought that had the healer's voice. 

The space before Paola shimmered as it had done in the Dome of the Authority. Alessandro's twinkling form solidified. The holographic projection of the healer wore layered robes of multiple shades of blue. His only call to vanity was that he now possessed flowing black hair.

He could depict himself however he wished, for he had been the willing sacrifice that had saved the domes. Alessandro smiled. Without your action, there would have been no stability. Gerardo would have continued to disrupt the flow of energy and would have led us all to doom.

Paola flushed with embarrassment at his assessment.

Alessandro gestured and a door slid open in the chamber. The pearlescent walls of the outer dome now lay beyond, for the healer had vanquished the darkness. In the distance she could see Ercole's carriage and a herd of ghostly equinii. The large male stepped forward and waved back at them. Ercole the Grey's tail swished ecstatically in anticipation of her return.

After you lead the others to Dome Pasture, you and he can go back without worry to Dome Erba.

"But you are not with us. How can Ercole's account be settled with Celso?"

I have appeared to Lucia through the communication crystal she possesses; she has recorded my passing in Dome Scienza as a cardiac death. I put that information into Ercole's gem when I freed him. As a living dome map, you can add or remove any dome's signature from an equine's gem. You can touch his gem, and by your will alone, do this. Celso will not be any wiser."

Paola turned back to look again at Alessandro, but only the spinning tetrahedron suspended above its quartz pedestal remained.

The equina took a deep breath. Whatever life awaited her back at Dome Erba was sure to be another challenge. "Farewell, sir," she said and walked from the chamber.

Tell my brother that I am happy.

*****

The equinii bowed as she approached them. Ercole's gem gleamed a healthy green. Saving him must have been Alessandro's first act after becoming part of the core computer. The stallion was taller and broader than his kin and quite solid. The others who had been entombed within the chamber that had housed the Bound Child were but colorless phantoms.

"They cannot speak," Ercole said with sadness. "They do not remember who they are. I feel the pain they suffered. They died horribly, alive in the wall until it drained the energy in their gems." He added confidently, "But I know that you can help them."

From their appearance, neither she nor the big equino could tell which ghost equino was Ulisse the Black, but that no longer seemed to matter. "You'd best get into your harness," she said to Ercole.

As he prepared himself and his carriage, he said, "What is our destination, Paola Equina?"

She passed the grey stallion and his ghostly cohorts and walked toward the dome edge. The portal opened. She knew the way as an arrow flying toward its target. She said, "Follow me! We run together to Dome Pasture!"

The phantoms had forgotten that no dome could contain the intangible spirit. The ghostly herd raced into the Maze behind her; the sound of silver and platinum hooves echoed down the Runs with them.