“What happened?” Jin asked.
“You don’t know?”
“If I knew, do you think I would have employed such a drastic measure? I couldn’t get through to you.” Jin’s confession held fear.
“I felt like I was in the painting,” Kira murmured.
It was more than that. It was like she’d become the Tuann inside it. Every feeling and sensation as clear as if she were the one experiencing them.
She could have lived with that, but it was the unsettling similarity to her own past that made her want to flee and never returned.
“You really didn’t feel it?”
“No,” he said finally. “I felt nothing.”
Kira didn’t know if she should be grateful for that fact or worried since the murals seemed designed to engender a reaction in those passing by.
At least as far as she could tell.
It was difficult to know for sure without other Tuann nearby to act as a control sample.
Despite her worry, Kira had no choice but to continue to climb. A story began to emerge as she did.
The first image she saw below was the one where the Tuann were at their lowest. Slaves to their ancient masters.
The second mural featured the fateful encounter that would lead to their salvation.
It was of a Tuann whose back faced the viewer as they confronted a massive lu-ong, its mouth open to reveal teeth the size of a person. The creature flared its crest, the colors a brilliant azure and magenta amongst the dark subject matter.
Vertigo tugged at Kira as the lu-ong’s gaze shifted past the warrior to look straight into the heart of her.
This time Kira was smarter, jerking back before she could fall into the painting.
She told herself she was imagining the drip of water droplets on a stone floor. The whisper of scales that pursued her even as she started climbing again.
And she definitely didn’t feel the hilt of an invisible blade digging into her palm.
Nope. Not at all.
“You alright?” Jin asked as she hurried up the stairs.
Kira hummed an answer, not wanting to speak any further with Baran standing right there and watching every move.
She had no doubt at this point that he was there to observe—exactly as he’d stated before.
He’d probably carry every word and gesture back to Graydon and the emperor. Without knowing what these paintings meant, Kira didn’t want to reveal too much.
Kira reached the end of the stairs, stepping into a long corridor with several doors opening off it.
Two of the rooms were occupied. The rest on the floor were still open.
Kira counted. There were exactly the same number of doors as there were initiates.
Solal’s words came back to her.
“Rest. Right.”
Kira hesitated for only a moment before crossing toward a door with the outline of the same tree she’d perched in what felt like days ago.
