“Uh, yes,” Elian said. “So, do you believe me now?” He lowered his voice and continued, “About the Giant invasion and other things?”

  Jadewell sighed as she looked at her feet, hiding her face again behind her curtain of hair. “I… I can’t say. I don’t want to say, for the words that’ll leave my lips will change how I look at the world. Waiting for the Giants to come is my choice. It’s probably not the right one but certainly the easiest. I’ll push the burdens to my future self.”

  Elian smiled. “I approve of that strategy because I love to do it too. Thing is, I’m now my future self, and I have to deal with the things my past self pushed to me.”

  “I’m rooting for you,” said Jadewell with a weak smile, “though I’m adamant in not believing you. My heart tells me I should. Your skills… they’re too impressive for even a prodigy. I should know because my eldest brother is one. Might you have overflowing genius that turned you insane?”

  “Sadly, no. I’m just a normal guy in abnormal circumstances. Humanity would have more hope if I were a prodigy.”

  “I never did get to ask: why did you tell me about, um, your secret, anyway?” She looked him in the eyes. “Why chose me as opposed to… Thorren? You two seem like good friends. Have you told him?”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “Because he’s not well connected like me? I suppose you were thinking it’d be easy to gain the help of the Khaero family with me as your ally. We also fought together well against the jarlion, so you considered me trustworthy enough to share your secret with. Am I right?”

  “It’s those things,” Elian said with a nod.

  Another reason was he wanted to check the reaction of random people if he shared his time-traveling story. Choosing Jadewell, he figured the worst she’d do if she thought he was crazy was just ignore him. Of course, he wouldn’t tell Jadewell that he was testing her. And as a result, he decided to be even more discerning with who he’d involve even though it was the burden of all humans.

  “I’m sorry for dumping it on you,” he added. “When the Giants would arrive, the news would spread quite fast. At some point, I’ll return here to these hills and ask for help from the priests and Penitents. We can talk again by then, and you’ll be sure I’m not crazy.”

  “You speak as if you’re leaving,” Jadewell said.

  “No set date yet. I mean, I’m not going to study Aether Magic here forever. I don’t have money to pay for the advanced lessons.” Elian scratched the back of his head, wondering why he couldn’t admit he was no longer going to attend Immaterial school.

  “We might not meet again. Not here, anyway. Returning to my family is a possibility.” Before explaining further, she looked around to find them the only ones left in the room. She gestured for Elian to follow her outside and continued her story as they walked down the hall. “My family reached out to me, you see. Someone informed them I was here.”

  “It wasn’t me!” Elian was quick to reply. “I swear—”

  “I know it’s not you,” Jadewell said. “One of the teachers. And it wasn’t like she was reporting me. She wrote a letter to my father congratulating him that his daughter gained Aethersense. An innocent gesture. I should’ve known something like this would happen.”

  “If you could turn back time, a better plan is probably just to hide your identity.” Elian smiled to show he was just teasing her.

  Her frown turned into a smile to reciprocate his. “Even if I could redo my life—my escape from my life, I should say—I’m set on retaining my name. My goal was to succeed on my own. Be Jadewell Khaero, the renowned Aether Mage, without my family’s help. It wouldn’t be the same if I took on a new identity.”

  Elian nodded, knowing that she wanted her family’s approval. She couldn’t impress them if they didn’t know it was her. “Are they calling you back to Stoneholde?”

  “No,” Jadewell said as their footsteps striking the stone floor echoed. “Remember my response to Teacher Lyra about my reason for learning Aether Magic? That was all a lie. But it’s becoming the truth. My family wants me to stay here and become a famous Penitent using Aether Magic, just like my grandfather. In doing so, I’ll be making the family famous again.”

  “Wait… so returning to Stoneholde is your idea?”

  “Yes,” she simply replied. Elian didn’t question her further, hoping the silence would get her to explain more. After they reached an intersection of passages and headed to the building’s main entrance, she finally went on, “I want to do my family’s will. I want to live up to my grandfather’s achievements. I want to revitalize our school. But… I’m afraid of the Tribulation.” Her voice quivered in her last words.

  “It’s normal.” Elian thought of trying to be sympathetic though he had always sucked at it. “Many have died to Tribulations. Not just humans. I’m sure hundreds of catfolk have died—I’m not really helping, am I? What I want to say is that know your limits and don’t gamble. You’re not required to call upon the Tribulation if you think you can’t handle it.”

  “Unlike you?”

  “Yes, unlike me. All of your goals, go for them. But also know that you can stop and rest.”

  “I know,” she said. “I want to return to Stoneholde to ask my family for help. If they want me to do this, they won’t hesitate to support me. This might be what’ll unite the Khaero clan again.”

  Elian stopped himself from asking what she meant by that.

  “What’s more…” Jadewell hesitantly continued. “…when the Giants would attack Sarnival Port—by the way, I haven’t given up hope that you’re crazy—I want to be with my family when we hear about it. They won’t believe it; I know them. Many people wouldn’t. But if I’m there, I can convince them it’s the truth and prepare to…” She trailed off, probably ashamed to say she wanted her family to flee instead of fight.

  “If you can convince the people in your area the Giants’ return is real,” Elian said, “it’ll be a huge help to me. The more people recognize the threat, the sooner defenses can be organized and the fewer deaths there’ll be.”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Jadewell perked up at the suggestion that she could be helpful even if far from fighting. “I’ll do my best. Also, I have this.” She took out a shoddily-made notebook from her bag and handed it to Elian.

  “What’s this?” The notebook’s pages weren’t aligned; some of them were wider than the rest. The threading along the spine was frayed and had untidy knots. He opened the pages and found messy penmanship and splotches of ink. “Dates. More dates on each page. Is this a diary?”

  “I copied the diary of my grandfather before leaving home,” Jadewell said. “It’s in the manor library with enchantments binding it to a pedestal. I can only copy a few pages at a time, very hastily at that, before someone notices me. I thought it was going to help in my travels. But since I’ll cut short my lone adventure through the lands of Fellenyr because I’m too scared, I’ll give it to you. Most of grandfather’s recorded experiences might be outdated—it had been decades since he retired as a Penitent. But maybe you’ll find something there still useful. Think of it as my contribution to your fight with the Giants… and a parting gift.”

  “Thank you for—wait. A parting gift? Are you leaving Immaterial school already?”

  “No, but you are,” she said. “Oh, don’t give me that look. Too many absences, yet you’ve progressed so much. You no longer need to come here. I don’t know when you’ll attend classes next, if ever, or if I’ll be here by then. Promise me you’ll read the diary. Grandfather talked about a mysterious person who might’ve been Cursed by the Magistrate.”

  “What? Really?”

  “I don’t know if he’s truly Cursed. Grandfather didn’t expressly mention so. He only wrote of a Penitent with pointed scale tattoos instead of the usual roundish shape. He never witnessed that person’s Tribulation.”

  Elian thumped his chest with a closed fist and then made the hand signs of gratitude that Yanira had taught him. “I’ll put this to good use.”

  Leaving the school grounds, Jadewell headed in the direction of Vigor Hill. One of her cousins was waiting for her there. Elian stared at her swaying hair until she descended the ramp to the lower tier and was out of sight. As much as he’d like to have many allies, he should also accept that most people were not capable of sharing his burden.

  “At least she gave me this diary,” Elian muttered, flipping through its pages. He found there were maps and illustrations of puzzles, possibly the tests to obtain Boons. “I didn’t expect her to have such a messy hand—what?”

  A shadow passed over him.

  He looked up. More mages flew overhead followed by a giant bird golem. Some shouting. He turned to the ramp. Guards marched up. As they fanned out, the stone blocks paving the road outside of the school gates trembled and rose. Stone crumbled and mixed with the mound of soil that formed a large humanoid shape—a golem. The symbol of a fist on its chest meant it was a creation of Priestess Khalamundi.

  Something big was happening. Or had happened.

  One of the guards approached Elian.

  Elian raised his hands. “What’s happening, sir? I had just left school and—”

  “This way, please,” said the guard, ignoring his question. A certain tenseness strained his voice but he was polite.

  Elian decided to keep his mouth shut and comply. Whatever this was, it wasn’t connected to him. Best to keep it that way. Did conflict between the supporters of Faridar and Tharguras erupt again? He couldn’t think of anyone else if not them. So much for a few days of peace. And the situation must be bad for guards to mobilize in force.

  I need to return to camp, Elian thought as he followed the guard. Cancel his temple library for the day.

  Borlen and most of his group were at the Tribulation site, helping prepare for tomorrow’s event; they’d be safe there with their numbers. No way the supporters of Faridar would dare attack them there. Those too young and too old to help were left at camp. They were helpless if red robes would come to stir trouble.

  The guard led Elian to the towering golem, same as the other guards herding everyone around to form lines.

  The golem bent down so its faceless head was level with the people. It supported its heavy upper body on its arms and knuckles like a gorilla. Its head split open down the middle and exposed a giant eye. Where did that come from? This golem was made of the road, yet it suddenly had this organic part? The powers of Priestess Khalamundi were fearsome.

  One by one, the golem scanned the people in line with its eye. It nodded after it was done, and the guards let the person go. No one asked any questions. What was the golem looking for? Someone hiding his identity with illusions? Something hidden in the body?

  When it was Elian’s turn, he spread his arms and faced the golem. It’s not made of stone, he thought, examining the eye. Veins of blood spread like cobwebs over the white of its eye. He couldn’t tell what magic this was.

  “Off you go,” the guard tersely said.

  It was more of the same thing on the lower tiers. More guards. Golems checking everyone. There were even golem bugs scurrying on the ground, searching every nook and cranny for… something.

  “What is happening?” Elian loudly asked as the crowd thickened. Yet another checkpoint up ahead bottled the flow of people.

  “I heard there’s a huge commotion by the temple,” said the man to his left.

  “A fight?” someone else asked.

  “I don’t know. But I’ve heard everyone is shooed away from the temple square. It’s closed now.”

  Good thing I didn’t go there today, Elian though. That was the bright side. He was worried about the not-so-bright side of the situation.

  The same thing was happening at the Cauldron. Guards and golems of all shapes and sizes were everywhere, searching everyone. People not knowing what was going on. All colors of robes were made to line up before the eyes of the golems. It took Elian awhile to exit the Cauldron’s gates and return to camp.

  As expected, Borlen wasn’t there. The pilgrims sitting by the fire, making their signature stew, had no inkling of the troubled stirrings on the hills. But just as Elian was about to explain what he passed by, guards arrived at their camp, headed by Priest Thalman.

  “Keep calm,” said the priest as the guards searched the wagons. “This is just a routine search.”

  “What is happening?” Elian asked for the umpteenth time.

  “Is Borlen here?” Thalman also ignored Elian’s question like all the other guards.

  Elian explained where Borlen was. Thalman nodded and disappeared right in front of Elian before he could ask more insistently about details. The guards didn’t find whatever or whoever they were looking for and left. Elian began to suspect this wasn’t about riots. Was it another murder? At the height of the tensions, Elian heard that a leader of the followers of a lesser Penitent was murdered in her tent. They could be searching for a criminal.

  It was late at night when Borlen and the rest returned. Evident from their faces that they went through multiple checkpoints. And something else seemed wrong. Gone was their upbeat energy for tomorrow’s Tribulation.

  “What’s happening?” Elian asked yet again, hoping for an answer this time. “No one’s telling us anything.”

  “We’ve heard only but rumors,” said Borlen. “And the rumors say a complete set of armor was stolen from the golden hall.”

  “Huh? How did that happen? The priests are at the temple. What of the Tribulation tomorrow? Penitent Tharguras was allowed to borrow equipment from the golden hall, right?”

  Borlen gravely shook his head. “The priests declined his request. Many are accusing our Champion Penitent of the vile falsehood of being a thief.”