“We need someone who can transport her out of the bindings,” Kar said. “Ann is busy,” Emeton reminded him. Sapphire was surprised. Up until the battle against Lyra, he had shown no faith in his daughter’s abilities. “He’s right,” Ti said. “Ann is the only one who could cast that spell with the eta-vie. “What about holding the gate open?” Sapphire suggested. “Nim might be able to do that,” Ti agreed. “But that’s the obvious answer, so it would be where the trap is,” Kar said. “What about Andy? He’s stronger,” Emeton suggested. “Will that matter?” Ti asked. “Unless we know what the trap is, then we can’t answer.” Sapphire shrugged. “I’m going in,” Ti said. “Kar’s stronger than I am, so I more of a liability.” “Until we have to tell Dae something happen to you,” Sapphire said. “You said it yourself. We need to know what the trap is.” “Joanne, what do you see?” Kar asked. “Not a whole lot, an empty room, the door and you four sitting outside.” There was a soft thud. “What was that?” Sapphire asked. “I tried to throw my flashlight out the door to see what would happen. It just bounced back.” “The gate in Paosij was held open with eta-vie. Can we do something like that?” Sapphire asked. “We might,” Ti said. “I’m going through.” This time, no one tried to stop him. It didn’t take much effort to open the gate, but it wanted to snap shut as soon as he entered. He had been expecting more resistance when he had opened it, so he was able to keep it open and wasn’t cut in half. “Jo,” he said. “Ti.” She gave him a hug. He pulled away. “Ow, watch the eta-vie,” he warned. Ti examined her bindings. He couldn’t see any way to get them off. He was running low on magic so he couldn’t experiment. He wasn’t even sure if he could open the gate again. His own magic would replenish quickly, so he wasn’t worried. ‘Kar, can you hear me?’ He sent. ‘Yes.’ ‘The gate is spring-loaded, so I need to replenish my magic before I can return. I think augmented magic would have more problems keeping it open.’ ‘Okay.’ ‘I think Sapphire’s plan will work, but we’ll have to be quick. Are there any floors below us?’ ‘I don’t know. Why?’ ‘I was wondering if maybe I took true form I’d be able to break through to the room below.’ ‘Better wait until we can see what’s down there. We’ll check it while we're looking for eta-vie to hold the gate with.’ ‘Ti?’ This time it was from Nim. ‘Is Jo free?’ ‘We’re working on it.’ He explained the situation. ‘We’ll be there to help.’