Lo held up a hand. “You will wait,” he said quietly. “You will die on your feet, patiently waiting, if she requires it.”
“I don’t require it,” said the Sage of Silver Heart, slowly coming out of her trance.
Her eyes were a deeper purple than Mercy’s, and they carried a depth and an insight that reminded Yerin of her master.
But her master had looked like a man in his thirties. This woman looked like she might not be twenty yet.
She rose, gesturing to the block of stone. “What do you think this should be?”
“We would not dare to guess,” Old Man Lo said.
Bai Rou dipped his head down, silent.
“A dragon,” Yerin responded. “It’s the one you’d expect.”
Akura Charity nodded, as though she had expected as much. “Would that not be too obvious?”
Yerin looked from one statue to another. “If you don’t want them obvious, don’t make them so big.”
“On the scale of what they represent, they are no more than figurines.”
Yerin didn’t follow that, so she grunted.
Purple eyes moved to Bai Rou. They waited a moment, then the Sage said, “Take him from me and question him separately. I will question her.”
Lo moved in a blur, and in less than a blink, he had soundlessly moved Bai Rou out of the room and shut the door behind him. It was over so fast that it felt like a dream.
“We may release him when we learn what we need,” she said. “It depends on him.”
“Keep him,” Yerin said.
The Sage looked at her, expressionless.
“I’m stone-serious.”
Charity flipped the chisel like a coin. It flew up to the ceiling, spinning end-over-end. “We need to know what happened to the portal,” she said. At the very tip of its flight, the chisel brushed softly across the stone of the ceiling. Then it fell.
“Don’t have a hint myself,” Yerin said.
She caught the chisel, still watching Yerin.
“We’re working with the Skysworn,” Yerin said. “Blackflame Empire. Something was going wrong out here, something with Ghostwater, so we came to lay eyes on it. Three of us went in.” Her voice caught briefly as she added, “Three of us stayed out.”
“There was a transmission from one Skysworn to the other,” Charity said, flipping the chisel again.
“Multiple enemies. Told us not to run in.”
“And you tried to run in anyway,” the Sage said.
“...yeah.”
Charity caught the chisel on one extended finger this time, perfectly balanced.
Now she was just showing off.
“I have monitored the situation on the inside,” said the Sage. “I know exactly what happened in there. What I’m trying to decide is whether you are here, now, by coincidence or by design.”
“Not my design,” Yerin said, but what the other woman had said caught her ears. “My...fellow disciple ended up in there. I’d give two fingers and a pile of gold to hear what happened to him.”
Charity flipped the chisel up and grabbed it again. “After the great Northstrider withdrew his presence and protection from Ghostwater, six of the great Heralds in the world gathered to inspect the pocket world. They represented a significant portion of the world’s military power, and were they to do battle inside Ghostwater, they might have torn the world apart. So they bound their spirits to a truce.
“Once they had taken the greatest treasures, they departed, but they added one more restriction to their agreement. Every ten years, each could send a promising student to hunt for treasure themselves.”
The Heralds must have cleaned the place out, but a Herald’s trash might drive a dragon wild with greed.
“What about my Lowgold?”
“All the students we send are Truegold,” she said, ignoring the question. “They enter at different times, but to preserve a spirit of fair play, we have them wait in the entrance until all participants have arrived.”
She tapped the edge of the chisel against her arm, and for the first time, Yerin felt the sword aura around the tool. It was so condensed that it felt solid.
“The Blackflame Empire is not one of the contestants. When we realized who you were, we experts held a conference among ourselves to decide whether you should be permitted to enter.”
Yerin clenched a fist to keep from putting a hand on her sword. It wouldn’t help, but it would make her feel better. They had been a hair away from getting killed by a Sage, and they hadn’t even known it.
“As you were too weak to be a real threat,” she went on casually, “we decided to allow your entrance. At best, you may have served as training for our students. At worst, you would affect nothing, and perhaps have a few fortunate encounters of our own.”
She pointed the chisel at Yerin. “So, tell me why the Lowgold destroyed the portal.”
Yerin lost her breath.
“I understand how. The Path of Black Flame has one of the most famous variations of dragon’s breath. But he clearly targeted the portal with intention. I wish to know why.”
Akura Charity folded her arms and waited.
“...couldn’t tell you why Lindon does half the things he does,” Yerin muttered. “But I could throw out a guess or two.” She wanted to ask if Charity was sure Lindon hadn’t done it on accident, but the woman was a Sage. She knew.
“Sounded like he was fighting?” Yerin said, with a questioning tone.
Charity inclined her head.
“Then he could have been trying to lock the enemy inside. ‘I’ll take you down with me,’ that sort of feeling.”
The Sage waited for her second guess, but this one was harder to say.
“I couldn’t swear to it, but he might have...if I had to guess...been stopping someone from...getting in.”
“Stopping you,” Charity said quietly.
Yerin gave her one nod.
“My grand-nephew is inside. If I thought the Blackflame Empire or the Sage of the Endless Sword were making a move to upset the balance, I would move to maintain order.”
Yerin squared her shoulders, meeting the Sage’s eyes. Usually no one recognized her Path, even if they recognized her master’s title. Only those who had known her master.
“However, I suspect it is no more than coincidence,” Charity allowed. “We were not scheduled to return to Ghostwater for another year, but the Phoenix’s rampage assures that the pocket world will not last so long. We were not supposed to be here. Anyone who intercepted our plans and then sent you to disrupt them would be...beyond inept.”
Yerin couldn’t contain her question any longer. “The Lowgold. Is he still alive?”
“The last time I checked, he was.” The Sage watched her reaction, so Yerin kept it dull. “If he continues to survive, he could reap great rewards. But he will need to find a way out.”
“So there is another way?”
“There is another entrance to Ghostwater on this island. Map.” She extended one hand, and Old Man Lo appeared briefly, pressing a weathered sheet of paper into her palm before bowing and disappearing again. Yerin couldn’t track his movements.
Pinching the paper between two fingers, the Sage extended it to Yerin. “This is a rough map of this island, including the second portal.”
Yerin pressed both fists together and bowed to the Sage of the Silver Heart. “My thanks. You’ve been…so helpful.” Too helpful. It was suspicious.
The Sage pointed to Yerin. “Helpful to you. Not to my niece.”
“Ah.” That eased Yerin somewhat. Whatever was going on inside the Akura family, she could take advantage of it. “One last question?”
The Sage inclined her head.
“Why are you here?” Yerin asked. “I’m sure your grand-nephew is a generation’s star genius, but putting a Sage on guard duty is like sending a tiger to hunt rats.”