“You’re welcome,” Christina mumbled. She shuffled toward the door, then stopped and turned back to me. “And thank you. I couldn’t have done any of this without you pushing me.”
When Christina had closed the door behind her, I turned back to the dragon and the rat.
“Time aspects?” I couldn’t imagine that was even possible.
“It does seem hard to believe,” Hahen said, shrugging. “But there it is. If she really is manipulating time aspects, she is in very great danger.”
“Watch her,” I said. “Closely. There’s no telling what effect messing with those aspects will have on her.”
“Agreed.” Hahen bowed low to me. “Something tells me your fellow hollows are going to develop interesting gifts in the coming months. We must protect them from predators.”
“Yes, honored Spirit,” I said, bowing at the waist. “My gratitude knows no bounds for your help in this matter. Unfortunately, I must ask another favor of you.”
“Whatever I can do for you,” Hahen said, “you have but to ask.”
“Can you round up the rest of my team?” I asked. “Except for Hagar.”
“Of course,” Hahen said. “Niddhogg will be happy to help me. We’ll have them back here in no time.”
“It’s not like I have anything better to do,” the little dragon grumped and flapped into the air. “Though I could use some bacon...”
The rat spirit dropped off my desk, scampered across the floor, and vanished through the wall. He’d be able to get through the School’s halls a lot faster than I could, and with Niddhogg helping they’d find the others quickly.
I took one of the vials and slipped it into my belt. The slowed jinsei wasn’t of much use to someone with a functioning core. Its slow absorption would make it useless in a fight, and I still wasn’t sure exactly how those time aspects might affect whoever used them. Still, it might come in handy during the competition. I closed the case and put the rest of the vials in my desk drawer.
I then retrieved the experiment I’d been working on for the past few weeks and placed it on the desk in front of me. The five medallions were each the size of my open hand. I’d used copper on the previous batch, but these were all made of solid gold that Hahen and I had scavenged from forgotten supply closets. These larger precious metal vessels would be able to absorb far more jinsei than the smaller, less expensive ones that had failed me during the last challenge. They were also scrivened with protective wards that would shield my core from direct attacks and harden my body against any outside dangers. Combined with the ring that hardened my aura from assault, I was as well-armored and prepared as I’d ever be.
I took a deep breath and began stitching my new medallions to my channels.
The Thief’s Shield talisman went over my heart. Borrowed Core was stitched to the opposite side of my chest. The Army of a Thousand Eyes attached to my right bicep, and the Thief of Souls went on my left shoulder. That just left the Eclipse Transplant, which I stitched along my left forearm. The talismans were bulkier than I would’ve liked, but I couldn’t skimp on size. Hopefully, none of these would melt if I pushed my techniques to their limits.
By the time I’d attached the last vessel to my channels, Hahen and Niddhogg had returned with Clem, Eric, and Abi. It was good to see my friends again, though it hurt my heart to exclude Hagar from this meeting. I wanted to tell her everything, but knew it was a bad idea. Her reports to the elders could cause a leak, and we couldn’t afford that with so many enemies aligned against us. She’d be there when the challenge started, and that’s all that mattered.
“What’s the big news?” Eric asked. “Hahen acted like you’d found the location of the Final Ark.”
“Nothing so important as that.” I laughed. “Well, maybe it is for us.”
I produced the lacquered box from inside my robes with a flourish and opened its lid. The orichalcum compass’s glow lit up my teammates’ faces.
“Where did you get that, my friend?” Abi asked.
“Nothing I tell you here can go outside this room,” I said. “But this is our reward from the second challenge.”
“Why didn’t they hand that over after we completed it?” Eric asked.
I filled my friends in on the whole story. Clem nodded at the right parts and offered me words of encouragement when I stumbled over the whole truth. It was hard to accept that the Church and the other schools were all willing to betray us, and humanity, for power and wealth. It was even harder to put that into words.
“That is not good news,” Abi said with a frown. “Shouldn’t Hagar hear this?”
“Not yet,” I said. “She’ll tell the elders, and then we could have problems.”
They all nodded at that, though the looks on their faces told me it was a bitter pill to swallow. I’d dragged my friends into a surreal world where anyone could be an unexpected enemy, and they didn’t like it.
“First, though, we have to figure out what this is for.” I lifted the strange bit of stone from inside the case. “And soon. The challenge is in two days.”
“That’s all we have to go on?” Eric asked. “That hardly seems fair.”
“Yeah, well, they didn’t plan on telling us anything. If I hadn’t stolen this from Inquisitor Rhône, we’d still be in the dark.” Everyone laughed at that. “I have a feeling all of these prizes were meant to work together. I’m not sure how, though. So far we have rings and a stone eye. Now we’ve got a key with the compass, and a piece of weird rock.”
Clem reach forward and plucked the bit of stone from my palm. She twisted it this way and that, frowning at the odd item.
“It’s covered
