The air of the Labyrinth of Echoes was cold and tasted of dust and old memories. One moment, they were pushing through a final, shimmering wall of distorted reality.
The next, they were standing under the bright, artificial sun of the Crucible, the colossal space station where the God Games were held. The shift was so sudden that for a second, no one moved.
They just blinked, letting the real light wash over them.
Emma was leaning slightly against Ryan, her face pale. The mental strain of seeing ghosts of her old life had taken a lot out of her. Zara was checking her wrist-mounted datapad, her fingers flying across the screen. Her face was a mask of focus, but Ryan could see the faint tremor in her hands. She was shaken, but she hid it behind her work.
Then there was Chris "Boulder" Magnus. The big, powerful man looked like he had just wrestled a bear and lost. He was breathing heavily, his eyes wide.
