We sat in silence for a long time after that. It was good to just be for a while. I wouldn’t have traded that moment of quiet peacefulness with Clem for anything in the world.
“Time to get to work,” I said at last. “You can do this. The next time I see you, there’ll be a disciple’s core burning within you.”
Clem threw her arms around my neck without warning. She clung to me for a moment, her body shaking against mine, her breath gusting across the fine hairs on the back of my neck. I returned the hug until she whispered in my ear.
“You’re the only chance we have.” After a final squeeze, Clem released me and busied herself counting the vials of jinsei in the case.
“Study hard,” I said with a chuckle. “And thank you. For everything.”
The heavy case felt impossibly light compared to the weight on my shoulders as I took the jinsei and left Clem’s room.
It was almost do or die time, and I still wasn’t sure I was ready.
The Desert
ERIC AND I ARRIVED for our lunch break looking like we’d just run a marathon. Despite the ridiculous amounts of sacred energy we had poured through our systems, neither of us had reached the next level.
“You think they did any better?” Eric asked as Niddhogg slung plates piled with meaty, cheesy French dip sandwiches.
“Of course we did,” Clem said as she plopped down in a seat to my right and Abi grabbed a chair beside Eric. “Slow down, you’ll choke to death.”
I paused with half a sandwich crammed into my mouth, then shrugged and gobbled the rest of it down. Thick au jus ran down my chin with the second bite, and I let it drip onto the table in front of me. Constantly filling and emptying my core had left me ravenous.
“You’re looking at two newly minted disciple-level cores,” Abi said. He flexed his arms, and sparks of jinsei danced from his fingertips. “You guys weren’t kidding about being hungry, though.”
Abi grabbed half the remaining sandwiches off Niddhogg’s platter, then pushed the rest toward Clem. Eric and I finished our first dips and jumped into the second round before our friends got any bright ideas about swiping what was left of ours.
“You must learn to control your appetites,” Hahen admonished us from his seat on top of the table. “Indulging your hunger will only make it worse.”
“You’re wasting your time with that nonsense.” Niddhogg chuckled. “I’ll be back with more food soon.”
“Pizza this time,” the dragon crowed when he returned. He snatched a slice for himself before we devoured it.
I congratulated Clem and Abi between bites and gulps of water from the ice-cold glasses Niddhogg had brought along with the food.
Clem somehow chowed down on a whole sandwich and a piece of pizza without making a mess like the rest of us did. She dabbed at the corners of her mouth to clean some errant sauce, then swallowed half her water in a single gulp.
“No luck for you two?” she asked.
“None,” I sighed. “We don’t have time to wait around any longer, either. Our enemies won’t sit still while we try to advance.”
“Woulda been nice to reach artist,” Eric said. “It’s way harder than I’d imagined.”
That was an understatement. I’d been working on it for more than six months with no progress to show for it. Sure, the Weaver of Fate technique was neat, but I had no idea how it would help us on our quest. I ate half a slice of pizza, then pushed back from the table.
“I say we give it the rest of the night,” I said. “If nothing happens, we’ll finish this thing and worry about advancement later.”
Eric nodded thoughtfully and downed another slice. He looked like he was about to say something but decided to steal half a sandwich off Abi’s plate instead.
“Tell me it won’t be cold,” Abi said while he intercepted the sandwich and returned it to his plate. “I still haven’t defrosted from our trip to Siberia.”
“I wish I could give you better news,” Clem said as she patted Abi on the shoulder. “Looks like it’ll be somewhere around freezing.”
That was cold, to be sure, but not nearly as frigid as our last trip. If we timed our portal hop for the daytime, our cores would protect us from the chill. Even after nightfall, we wouldn’t need any gear to resist freezing temperatures. We were traveling light on this journey. I wanted us in and out before our enemies arrived to stop us.
I wasn’t sure that would be the case, though. If the warped had gnawed through the Design, they could already be at the Forge.
There was nothing we could do about that, though. Our best bet was to hit the Forge as hard and fast as we could. That had to be enough, because we were out of options. The longer we waited, the more likely it was that my mother or the warped would stop us in our tracks.
As lunch wound down, Clem checked the clock on the wall and tapped her finger on the table. “If we want to reach the Forge when it’s warmest out, we should leave here around four in the morning. I’ll swing by your rooms if I haven’t heard from you by then.”
“I’ll keep an eye on Eric,” Niddhogg said. “You don’t want to wake him up from deep meditation if he’s close to advancing.”
“And I’ll do the same for Jace,” Hahen offered.
With that, we parted ways. The next hours passed with excruciating slowness and sped by far too fast. My dorm room was littered with empty jinsei vials by the time Clem knocked on the door, and I’d fallen short of my goal.
“It’s nearly four,” she said when Hahen opened the door.
“Thanks.” I pulled myself to my feet. “Grab Eric and
