“It must have penetrated straight through you. How could you have healed so fast? There’s not even a scar.”
“Battle scars,” Kegohr said with a grin as he clapped me on the back.
“It’s the sword.” Vesma gestured at the Sundered Heart hanging from my belt.
“You retrieved it,” Faryn whispered.
“Of course. It took me a few weeks to get here, and we almost died a few times, but I got it in the end.”
“You are . . . remarkable.” Faryn stared into my eyes as a smile gathered on her face.
Vesma coughed. “We should get going.”
Faryn immediately blinked as though to shake herself free from my gaze. Then, she ran her hands down her robes and pressed out the crinkles. “Well, I suppose I should congratulate you all. You managed to reach the depths of the Ember Cavern, a feat even some center disciples would have failed to accomplish. I clearly underestimated you.” The compliment could have been for all of us, but her eyes were on me, and they held a familiar spark.
“We should head back,” I said. “I’m exhausted.”
I wanted to get off the mountainside and down to somewhere private, where I could have a proper conversation with the sword. But exhaustion wasn’t merely an excuse. It had been a long night of walking and fighting, one that had left me bone weary. I needed food, water, and a bed, in any order I could get them.
The others didn’t need much encouragement, and we were soon walking down the mountain, toward the shelter of the guild. Faryn, being better rested, had more energy than the rest of us, and Vesma was always impatient to get to the next thing. They were soon well ahead of me and Kegohr as we hauled our weary carcasses home.
With the dragon sword in my hand, I could feel Nydarth’s presence, her attention focused through me. Her gaze lingered on the women walking ahead of us.
“Aren’t you the popular young man?” she observed. “Two women all to yourself.”
I laughed.
“Huh?” Kegohr said. “Did I miss something?”
“It’s Nydarth again,” I said quietly. “Speculating about me, Vesma, and Faryn.”
“Right, right ,right.” Kegohr nodded. “I suppose she’s curious about your life.”
As my attention shifted, so did Nydarth’s, and I sensed her gaze lingering over Kegohr’s muscles.
“What about him?” she asked. “I would love to see those big, strong arms holding you tight, the two of you entwined together in—”
“Nope,” I cut her off before she could fill my mind with images. “He’s just a friend. Nothing more.”
For a moment, Kegohr looked puzzled. Then, his eyes went wide and his mouth fell open as he realized what was going on.
“No, no, no.” He frantically shook his head. “Not that there’s anything wrong with… I just ain’t into… What I mean is…” He cleared his throat. “I don’t feel the attraction of one with a fecund rod.”
I burst out laughing, and Kegohr blushed even more deeply than he already had.
“It’s all right, buddy.” I patted him on the arm. “I don’t swing that way either. I just hadn’t expected you to get all prudish about it. Or to talk about it like you were 300 years old.”
“It ain’t funny.” Kegohr scowled. “I’m just not good at talking about that stuff.”
I laughed all the more as we continued down the mountainside.
We were halfway to the guild, and I could see most of the way down to the rear door. A figure was running up the trail toward us, a servant in guild livery. Faryn and Vesma stopped to let Kegohr and me catch up before the servant reached them.
“What’s this about?” I asked as I watched the servant approach.
“Don’t know,” Vesma replied.
“I have an idea,” Faryn said. “But we’ll have to wait and see.”
The servant reached us, puffing and panting, and paused for a moment while she caught her breath. Then, she looked at me.
“You’re the initiate known as Ethan Murphy lo Pashat?” she asked.
“That’s right,” I said, curious about what was coming next.
“You’re to report to Guildmaster Xilarion immediately,” the servant said. “He will be waiting for you in his office.”
I tensed. Xilarion only summoned initiates if they had done something very right or very wrong. I’d snuck out of the guild and entered the Ember Cavern without permission, a place guarded and watched over by the guild. I’d dragged others along with me, despite the dangers they would face in the caves. And apparently, despite my best efforts, half the guild knew where I had been. I had a terrible feeling that I knew which sort of meeting this would be.
If Xilarion kicked me out of the guild, then I wouldn’t just be saying goodbye to my friends and to lessons in how to Augment. I’d be dishonoring Tolin, the man who’d sent me here. It would throw dirt on the Pashat Clan. Worse still, I’d be losing one of my best chances to learn more about the Seven Realms. To become stronger. Maybe even become an Immortal, not to mention finding out more about the whole Swordslinger gig.
But if that was coming, then there was no use avoiding it. Better to face the music and get it over with.
I squared my shoulders and marched on down the mountain toward a meeting with the Radiant Dragon Guildmaster.
Chapter Fifteen
I knocked on the door of Guildmaster Xilarion’s office. Most of the internal doors of the guild house were sliding screen doors made of paper or cloth over a wooden frame. This one was solid wood, planks of ancient mountain pine bound together with cold, unyielding iron. It was a door solid enough to keep those in the corridor from overhearing conversations within. A seal of privacy and of silence.
A servant hurried past carrying an armful of scrolls. The upper reaches of the guild’s grandest tower were where all the administration and governance took place. There were no initiates wandering from lesson to lesson, just masters, messengers,
