Hunter helps group

  “I should be able to keep their bodies stable,” Hunter said finally. “You and Dalton need to get Joe quickly.”

  Dalton was on his way up the slope astride his horse.

  “Wait,” Cole said. “They’re alive?” Could he have been mistaken? Could Mira just be unconscious?

  “They’re in longsleep,” Hunter said. “The body can’t live without the lifespark. But when the lifespark is removed before the death of the physical body, a faint connection remains. If that connection is strengthened by weaving, the body can be preserved. As long as the connection persists, they’re not fully gone. In Necronum, an empty body can survive in stasis while the lifeforce is away. It’s how I left my body to slip into the echolands when Tuto bound us. It’s how mortal weavers visit the echolands without truly dying.”

  “Should I try some CPR?” Cole asked. “Blow in their mouths?”

  “We can’t restore the lifespark that way,” Hunter explained. “The body didn’t die. The spark was removed. But I can keep the bodies from rotting and help maintain the connection to their sparks. The heart barely beats, the lungs barely breathe, but the body can still accept the lifeforce if it returns.”

Chapter 12