As promised, the end of five days came to their end, as did the secret union between seer and metal worker. Returning to the House of Sarce, Vedric left the woman there without even a glance back; left her to seethe and despise him if possible; left her to her tears and misery. For this was her destiny, Vedric had been quite certain, to join Agamemnon in the Companioning Ceremony and to drink of the Wine. She was to bear his seed and become the binding mortar in a crumbling age-old dynasty passed down from the great Ubar of ubars, Marlenus himself.

It is what he'd seen in a vision long ago in The Barrens when he had participated in the Fire
Walk with the rest of the men. It was the urging of the shaman that he go back. Finish the unfinished business. Close the door between Ignis and Nereis, and save the City of Gleaming White Walls. For this was the prophecy of long long ago, as revealed to the Enemy Ancestors.

Déjà vu. That's some barbaric word you might not know, young Scribe. But it describes a feeling that you've either seen or done something before, just as you see or do it now. I thought I could turn it off at will. Just leave her there and be on my way, as if I'd never known her. But when she cried... just as before... I felt a piece of me wither and die in eternal darkness. Because my lover was in darkness.