Justin took a step toward his sword but quickly stepped back again when Avagad threw a hand backward in a bored sort of way. Flames shot into the gold-filled room from which he had emerged. Indigo light raged as the room was turned, in an instant, from a treasury into a smelting furnace. Rivers of molten gold snaked out from the doorway.

"I was part of the Brethren when the Nameless One contacted me through the Kharon for the first time," said Avagad. "He made me his disciple. He ...