Thomas Gown's connection to a group of powerful wizards who lived thousands of years ago is finally revealed, and he learns that he may be able to save his world and his civilisation, along with others beyond number, from a threat that will manifest...
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"Everything destroyed?" said Thomas after the long pause it took him to absorb the extraordinary statement. "But the Realms are more than a hundred times bigger than the planet Tharia! What could possibly destroy all this?"
"And all the Worlds of the Sheaf," added Lirenna. "What kind of disaster could affect hundreds of worlds in completely different universes? Is it to do with the Portal? It is, isn't it? That's the only thing linking all those worlds."
"The portal will expose the Worlds of the Sheaf to the catastrophe, yes," confirmed Barl, "but it will happen in Tharia's universe. And as for the Realms being big, well, yes, they are, but they're inseparably linked to Tharia. The Realms are, in effect, parasitic universes. They're offshoots of Tharia's universe and can't exist on their own. If any of the seven umbilici linking the Realms to Tharia were to be severed, the Realms would collapse and everything in them would be destroyed. The coming catastrophe will sever all seven of them. We've tried everything we can think of. Moving the umbilici deep underground where they'll be shielded from the worst effects. Narrowing them to a hair's thickness to reduce the amount of heat and radiation hitting them. Strengthening them so they'll be able to withstand the ordeal. None of them will work. The only thing we've come up with that stands even a small chance of success is to stop the catastrophe from happening in the first place. That'll save not only us, but Tharia as well, and all the Worlds of the Sheaf. It was Tak who came up with the solution..."
"Did it have anything to do with dragons?" interrupted Thomas. "Embryonic dragons growing in glass tanks."
"Not much," admitted the wizard, "but that image was the first that come to me. I used to dream of them. I'd wake up with that image in my head and wonder what it meant. So what is this terrible disaster? What's going to happen?"
"The red sun's going to blow up," said Barl.
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Lord Ruby refused to elaborate on that extraordinary statement until the other Gem Lords were present, saying that it would take all of them to explain it properly.
"I only understand it in the vaguest terms myself," he said as they returned to their steeds and mounted up. "Sheena's the one who really understands it. She spent a lot of time in another universe where they study such things. It became something of a hobby for her. She created a succession of identities for herself as one of them and lived among them for several generations, eventually becoming an acknowledged authority on all the various disciplines of natural philosophy. She was studying the stars of that universe, and she learned that there's a certain type of star that blows up at the end of its life. Derro is that kind of star. The natural laws of that universe and Tharia's universe are almost the same, and so she saw that we might be in danger, and when she explored the matter further the threat was confirmed."
