Vesma re-read the letter, then rolled it up, and stuck it into her belt. “I haven’t met Cinder Wysaro before, but it sounds like she needs our help.”
With Vigor-enhanced strength, the weight of the corpse became nothing, and we started back toward the monastery at a swift pace. I tried not to focus on the smell of the dead body over my shoulder as we climbed a rocky slope, and the monastery came into sight.
“What if it’s a trap?” Vesma asked.
“I don’t think it is,” I said. “Think about it. The Wysaros are proud. They’d be the last people to turn to me for help. They sent one of their own up here. It must have taken at least a day or more to make the trip. If it’s a trap, it reeks of bad planning.”
Vesma grimaced. “Do you think Tymo will help us?”
“He sent me out on a mission to find his missing monks,” I said, “and when I found one of them, the guy was summoning demons. Then, when I wanted to find the others, Tymo gave us all a curfew and did his best to keep us from leaving the monastery.”
Color drained from her face. “You think he’s involved?”
“It’s a little too neat to be a coincidence, don’t you think?”
“You can’t seriously be thinking about fighting him,” Vesma said. “He has centuries of experience, and you know that the other monks will stand by his side if you try.”
“I don’t plan on fighting any of them if I can help it. They’ve taught us well, and last I checked, none of us have turned into insane cultists. It could be a coincidence, but I doubt it. If they try to stop us from leaving, then I’ll do what I have to. At the very least, the timing is unfortunate. The worst-case scenario is that they’ve all turned and want us dead.”
Vesma exhaled sharply and doubled her pace. “I hope you’re wrong, but even if you are, this won’t end well.”
“Clan Wysaro needs our help,” I said. “Of course, it won’t end well.”
A ghost of a smile crossed her face as we started up the last set of stairs toward the monastery. I made sure to keep my breathing light and only supply as much Vigor as I needed into my body. The corpse was heavy, but I owed it to the man to give him a proper burial and not leave him to the spinedrakes. He’d finished his mission, in the end.
I set the corpse down in front of a golden statue flanking the entrance to Dying Sun Monastery and leapt up the stairs in a single bound. I pushed the doors open with a heave. They loudly scraped against the smooth floor and echoed through the main hall.
“Not exactly the quietest way to make an entry, if you intend subtlety,” Nydarth warned.
“Fuck subtle,” I replied. “They’ll find out one way or the other.”
“Pick up some supplies if you have them,” I told Vesma.
I sprinted into the corridor of cells and banged on Mahrai’s door.
“Get up, get dressed, find provisions. We’re outta here!” I called.
A muffled thump echoed through Mahrai’s cell, and I heard her curse through the door. I pushed into my own room and pulled on a fresh tunic. I slung Faryn’s pouch of potions around my waist beside the Sundered Heart and stepped back outside to get the others.
A shadow at the end of the corridor caught my eye. I drew the Sundered Heart halfway from its sheath before I made out Tymo's figure. He folded his hands in his sleeves as he strode forward with slow steps. I sheathed my sword again and ran through my options.
I couldn’t trust the Archpriest. That much was certain.
But a pitched fight in the middle of the monastery would just take up time, and I wasn’t even sure that I could survive it.
Tymo's eyes flashed dangerously as he paused 20 yards away from me. The sound of my newly woken friends echoed in the background as I inclined my head in a respectful gesture.
“Nothing wrong with being polite,” Choshi said nervously.
“I left specific instructions,” Tymo said gravely, “that you were not to leave the monastery without permission or to spend frivolous time with your fellow students. And yet here you are, ignoring my commands a few days later.”
“Someone’s requested our help,” I said.
“And who might that be?”
I shook my head. “It makes no difference, Tymo. They’ve called for me, and I’m leaving to help them. What kind of Swordslinger would I be if I ignored it in favor of growing in power?”
“I thought I made the consequences of your disobedience clear,” Tymo said, his voice calm. “If you leave the Dying Sun Monastery prematurely, you will not be welcomed back.”
“Without the express permission of the teachers,” I countered. “I’ll do you the courtesy, then. Will you let us leave now that there’s a situation to be handled? We’ll return as soon as the mission allows us to.”
“Tell me your intentions, Swordslinger, and I will consider it.”
I met his gaze and considered the thought. If Tymo was innocent, there was no harm in telling him about the demons in Wysaro Castle. But if he wasn’t, and the monks were complicit in the demon’s presence in Flametongue Valley? Then I’d be giving an enemy a free shot at taking all of us out. I couldn’t run the risk, and I didn’t trust Tymo. Not after what I’d seen in Danibo Forest. There was no good reason to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“I shouldn’t have to,” I said. “If you trust in your own teaching, and in me, then you shouldn’t have to know. You said it yourself. Yours is the realm of knowledge and teaching, not of combat. So, let us leave.”
“I cannot allow it,” Tymo said.
“Then get out of the way,” Mahrai said.
She stepped out into the hallway. Her bronze-capped
