Sebastian

young men who are training to be Bridges. They provide a different kind of excitement. But despite the power you and the others will ham to wield for the good of Ephemera, you are all, in many ways, still children. And children are not always wise, because they want to be strong and brave and adult —
    and, therefore, they do not always want to believe that the things adults are afraid of are things that truly should be feared, that should be left alone. That was true when 1 attended the school. I doubt your classmates will be any different .
    So you must heed this warning, Glorianna.
    "You there!"
    She walked toward the archway. Each step took a moment, took a lifetime.
    The Instructors will take you to an archway and show you the walled garden with the wrought-iron gate. Inside that old garden is a simple stone wall. They will tell all of you that you must never step through that archway, must never approach that sealed gate.
    But children will always want to prove their daring and bravery in front of their peers. So some of them will sneak out at night and go to the archway. They'll taunt one another into proving their courage by crossing that poisonous ground of thorn trees and bloated mushrooms — and then they will touch the gate to prove they aren't afraid of what was sealed behind that stone wall .
    "You there! Stop!"
    They'll tease you, call you names, say that you're afraid. But, daughter, you must not step through that archway. You must not touch that gate. You are not… quite… like the rest of the students. We come from an old lineage, a secret held by the women of our house. It must remain a secret for the sake of our world.
    Those children, your classmates… They won't believe what the Instructors tell them — that what is contained will become aware of their presence once they cross the archway and step on ground It defiles with Its existence. They won't believe something locked away from the world can truly sense them — or harm them .
    But sometimes It does sense them, Glorianna, and It can harm them. Those who approach without the respect due a powerful enemy… Well, things… happen. People get swallowed by the world, lost in the landscapes instead of making their life journey. Even Bridges. Even Landscapers.
    "You there.'"
    What is contained within that garden, Mother?
    The—
    The flagstone shifted under her foot, just enough to banish memories and make her see her surroundings with painful clarity.
    She looked down, then carefully lifted her foot and took a step back. Instead of hard earth, the space between that flagstone and the others was filled with rust-colored sand.
    Boots slapped the flagstones on the path behind her.
     
    She looked at the land near the archway—and shuddered.
    A hand clamped on her upper arm and yanked her around to face a stern, middle-aged man who wore a Bridges badge on his tunic.
    Not stern, Glorianna decided as she studied his face. Grim. Worried. Afraid.
    "What are you doing here?" he demanded. "This part of the school is forbidden to everyone. You should know that, Landscaper."
    Of course he knew she was a Landscaper. He'd be able to sense that power in her, just as she would have known he was a Bridge even without the badge.
    "The wall has been breached," she said. " It is out here in the world, Bridge, and the landscapes that were sealed by that wall are no longer contained. It is no longer contained."
    "Nonsense. That wall has stood for centuries."
    "The wall has been breached." She stabbed a finger in the direction of the archway. "Look at the ground.
    If everything was as it should be, that shouldn't be possible."
    He looked where she pointed—and she felt him tremble.
    To the right of the path, growing in the shadow of the wall, the ground was speckled with young mushrooms. To the left, dark seedlings rose up from the rotted fruit of the thorn trees.
    He shook his head. "The magics—"
    "Aren't strong enough anymore to hold back the things It shaped." She jerked free of his hold on her arm.
    "You have to warn the Landscapers to guard the places in their keeping and hold those places in the Light, regardless of how strongly the people there may resonate the darker feelings of the heart. You have to tell the Bridges to break the bridges they've created and isolate the landscapes. It's the only chance to find—"
    "Find what?" he snapped. "You want to spread a rumor that a myth—"
    "That wall wasn't created to contain a myth , Bridge," she snapped