My ear chimes, my fingers growing icy. We don’t have time. Every second we waste is another second Daysum and Ty suffer. Another moment where I could lose one or both forever.
“Why don’t we ask him to help?” Aeri points up above us.
Cowering on the second floor, under a library ladder, sits a priest. He has the same bald spot as the one we were following, which explains how he is still alive.
He just got here.
Mikail speaks in Khitanese to the man, asking for help and promising safety. It’s funny how language suddenly comes back, even when you haven’t heard it in years. It’s like picking up a conversation with an old friend.
Though he doesn’t speak a word, the priest eventually climbs down the spiral staircase. He is a middle-aged man of medium height with a timid air. He’s a priest of knowledge, not a warrior or a blade—that much is certain. Even Euyn realizes he is not a threat and lowers his bow.
Mikail talks as the priest stands at the bottom of the stairs, clutching the gilded railing. There’s no response. He tries again in Yusanian.
“If he ain’t talking, I can make him talk,” Royo offers, shifting his axe.
I wonder why the priest isn’t saying anything, and then from some corner of my mind I recall that they cannot speak inside of the temple.
“He can’t talk in here,” I say. “It’s part of their vow.”
The others all turn to me, but the priest nods. Mikail waves him to the door, and then they disappear into the courtyard. A few minutes later, they come back inside.
“Our new friend, Luhk, is willing to assist us in exchange for helping him release the souls of the dead priests,” Mikail says.
The priest nods. Unsurprisingly, he understands Yusanian just as well as any of us. I imagine he speaks all languages fluently.
Euyn and Royo seem less than eager to agree, but it is a fair trade. Though I’m not sure where we can burn the bodies. Certainly not underwater.
“Royo and Euyn, I’ll need your help carrying the priests out, where we can build a pyre,” Mikail says.
“Great,” Royo says. He doesn’t mean it.
Mikail turns to the priest. “In the meantime, show them where to find the exceptions to the Rule of Distance.” He points to Aeri and me.
Luhk nods and gestures for us to follow him. Women are respected here, so he doesn’t find this odd. It’s only Aeri and me looking at each other, surprised to be tasked with something so important.
Euyn whispers his objections to Mikail.
“We’re trusting them with this?” he asks.
Mikail ignores him.
I expect the priest to take us to the ransacked room, but instead he brings us upstairs. As Euyn shifts his complaints from us to the mess, I wonder when the priests were killed. I’ve never been around my victims for long, and the girls who died in school were burned before their bodies went cold. But it doesn’t seem like they’ve been dead for more than a day at most.
Luhk goes to a random spot on the wall and pulls out two large, leather-bound volumes. I thank him in Khitanese. Even though he speaks Yusanian, it is always kinder to greet someone in their native tongue. He smiles, and we go back to the main floor.
“We also need all the information you have on the relics of the Dragon Lord,” Mikail says between deep breaths. He’s hauling a large priest by the shoulders while Euyn carries the legs.
I look away from the blood dripping on the floor.
Aeri turns toward Mikail. “Why is that? I thought we weren’t stealing the ring.”
Euyn pauses but Mikail keeps walking. The body’s long legs drop with a thud.
Mikail frowns. “Because Joon might be trying to reunite the relics.”
I’m not sure what that means, but Aeri’s fingers worry the side of her cloak, so I doubt it’s anything good.
The priest goes toward the room on the left but not inside it. He takes an armful of scrolls and a volume from the third shelf down. Then he goes to another wall. And then another.
