“He wanted to treat Kumi,” Yono said defensively. “The poor girl has joined Ethan in adventure after adventure, in places far from home or any proper source of life. She chose him over a probable century of servitude to her people as a priestess, and in return, he sees fit to reward her suitably. I, for one, am proud to serve such a thoughtful man. Are you not?”
“I am,” Choshi said quietly.
Nydarth muttered something about cooking squid, and I let the three of them fall into the back of my head to continue their little grudge match. It was difficult to manage the bickering of the three Immense Blades sometimes, but their guidance and raw power more than made up for it.
I caught up to Faryn and Kumi as they followed the beaten track away from the river. A steep road led up to the first rice field carved into the hill.
The Unwashed Temple rose up from a small plateau ahead of us, reminding me of my first few months in the Seven Realms. There, Tolin had first taught me to open my pathways, and the basics of Augmentation. Painting, cleaning, and practicing weapon arts under Tolin’s sharp eye had just been the icing on the cake after that.
“Do you think that Tolin is involved with the monks, Faryn?” I asked.
“That’s a difficult question to answer. You know him well, Ethan. He doesn’t care to give wanton answers. But if you were to press me on the matter, I’d be inclined to say no. Tolin guards his independence jealously, except when it suits him.”
“How did the two of you meet?” Kumi asked the other woman.
“I owe Tolin a great deal,” Faryn said. “When I left my home after the attack, he took me in. I was clanless and had no one else to turn to, yet he was there. Like a father. He nurtured my interest in herbs, showed me the wonders of Danibo Forest. When I’d finally recovered, he interceded for me with Radiant Dragon and Guildmaster Xilarion.”
“He found you a job at the guild?” Kumi asked.
“After some time. Xilarion wasn’t Guildmaster back then, and the previous master was a man above reproach and zealous for the fire element. Xilarion’s grandfather, actually. He wouldn’t have accepted someone like me, who knows not the pathways of fire.
“After his last campaign with the Emperor, Xilarion decided that he’d had enough of war and sought to heal his spirit through teaching. By then, my knowledge of the flora in Flametongue Valley was such that I could heal the wounded, alleviate the afflictions of the sick, and teach others the ways of my people.” Faryn smiled fondly at the memory. “I owe Tolin my life, truly. But to answer your question, Ethan, he never once mentioned the monks. As I’ve said, their disappearance was long before the campaigns against the upstart clans at the borders of the Empire.”
I smiled at her and thought back to my own meeting with the old man. Tolin had always struck me as ancient and knowledgeable, and the old hermit did his best to cultivate an uncaring and ragged exterior. But, much like Faryn, he had taken me in when I had no one else to turn to. And he’d sent me onward with a letter to the Radiant Dragon Guild, much like he’d done for Faryn.
“The old man is hardly the picture of nobility,” Nydarth said inside my mind. “He’s a decrepit old wreck. Powerful, perhaps, hiding knowledge, yes, but—”
“Doesn’t that perfectly describe you, Nydarth?” Choshi interrupted with a trembling laugh. “Old, proud, convinced of her own superiority? Didn’t that lead to your imprisonment?”
“You impetuous little—”
Yono’s laugh rang through my mind. “Children, behave.”
“I bear the name of his clan,” I reminded Nydarth. “Lo Pashat. He did exactly the same for me as he did for Faryn when I first arrived here. Without him, I never would have been reunited with you in the Ember Cavern.”
“It sounds like this Tolin is a man above reproach,” Choshi said.
I laughed. “Nah, he’s still a cranky old git who doesn’t bathe enough. But there’s no denying that he’s helped us before. I just hope he’s willing to help us again. If anyone knows anything about why the monks appeared, and where they went missing, it’ll be him.”
Faryn trailed her fingers through the ears of rice. A blissful smile crossed Kumi’s face as she splashed through the water puddled on the ground beneath the crops. She caught me watching her and offered a shy smile.
“I suppose you think I’m being childish.” She giggled.
“You look like you’re enjoying yourself,” I said. “Does it remind you of home?”
“Oh, yes. The air’s different here, but still, you can’t quite chase away the feeling of water meeting earth to bring forth life.” A sunny smile stretched across her face and alighted her features.
We ascended the hill, combed through the fields of rice, and found the main road that led up to the plateau to the Unwashed Temple. The curling pagoda roof caught the rays of the afternoon sun. The architecture was identical to that of the monastery, from the faded colors to the stone dragons, but the Unwashed Temple looked as if it had been abandoned for years. All the months I’d spent tending to the structure had cleaned it up a little, but now, it had fallen back into a state of disrepair.
Just seeing the place again strengthened my suspicions that, at some point or another, Tolin had been involved with the monks. The last of the paint that I’d brushed across the walls still held strong, but dust stood out on the ancient statues at the front of the temple’s entrance. Dirt caked the small stone balcony above our heads, and I grimaced at just how unkempt the place had become in my absence.
“What is it?” Faryn asked.
“The place is filthy,” I said.
“Isn’t that the whole point?” Kumi asked. “It is the Unwashed Temple, after all.”
I smiled at her. “You’d think the
