“Krachma hates puzzles.”
That wasn’t a surprise. “Thanks, big fella. Anyone else?”
“The Squalo do not understand the concept ofpuzzles.It appears to be a complicated ritual designed to burn oneself to death.”
“A puzzle is more like a game, Trax. It’s a problem you’ve got to persist at until you figure it out and get a reward. They’re supposed to be fun.”
“Land dwellers are very confusing.”
“I didn’t say they were all fun.”
Rade was coming at it from a different angle. “Perhaps you could use yourAscendand jump across?”
I’d considered that myself. “There’s still the matter of picking which tile to land on by the door.”
Sifuso was looking at the ceiling, which was now more visible with the cobwebs burned off. “I could climb. Stick to walls. Reach the door and slip inside. All without touching the floor.”
“You’re welcome to try, but you really think Korthican took the time to fortify this place this much, to hide his greatest enchantment, and he didn’t think of that?”
“Before Carnavon jumps or Sifuso climbs to blow themselves to bits, give me a second on the puzzle.” Azarin squatted at the edge and studied the tiles. “There’s seven colors. Red, blue, white, brown, green, black, and gold. Same as the elements.”
“Korthican was on the Council. They love their sevens. Seven gates, seven realms, seven days of the week.”
“Assuming they’re in the usual order, red should be first. Only you touched red and got roasted for it.” Azarin scowled as she looked over the first row of tiles. “There’s four red ones in reach, but each of those tiles has got a different sign on it. Circle. Mountain. Hands pushed together. And the one you pushed already, tower with a ball on top of it.”
“That’s a lighthouse,” Rade said. “Probably this one, I’d assume.”
“And the hands are palm-to-palm…” I noted. “Praying, maybe?”
“Interesting.” Azarin got so dangerously close to one of the tiles that she had to hold her hair with one hand to keep it from falling and touching the dangerous floor. “That’s not a plain mountain. It’s the Great Machine. The Nexus is thecenterof all the realms…” She squinted toward the next line. “From there is there a blue tile with a cloud on it? And yes, there is, assuming that’s what the swirly thing is supposed to be… I think I’ve got it.” She rose and took a deep breath. “Everybody, stand back.”
Azarin was alarmingly impulsive, but this was a really bad idea, even by her standards. Her saint blessed those who acted without hesitation, but that was ridiculous. “What’re you doing?”
She demonstrated she had a good memory, by repeating back the password exactly. “At the center of the matter cloud, across all realms entwined, shines forth the beacon. Pray to the gods and saints while the enemies of the council despair.There’s a symbol for each part of that. We just need to match the next symbol in the password to the colors in order.”
“Let’s consider it a bit more, and then I should be the one to?—”
Except she did it anyway.
We all winced as she hopped onto the red tile with the mountain, but she didn’t immediately explode.
“Oh, thank Naanwalla, I was only half sure that was going to work! But see? It’s the password. It’s not just to unlock the door, it’s the key to make it across the floor too.”
“What’re you doing?” My heart was pounding. “You could get killed!”
“Sure, but it’s not fair for you to take all the risk. We’re in this together. But we’ve got it now. It’s all in the password.At the center.What’s the center of everything? The Nexus within theGreat Machine.Of the matter cloud,which is all that everything of all the realms rolled together, and there happens to be a cloud, on a blue tile, and water is next after fire.” She lifted one foot.
“Wait, wait, wait! You don’t know if you’re actually right, or if the fire trap just hasn’t recharged yet.”
“Then logically, if I’m wrong, when I step on this next one, I’ll be promptly killed by some manner of water spell. Welp… I’m sort of committed now.”
“I am resistant to that form of magic. May I?”
“Hang on! Trax says he’ll do it. If you’re wrong, water spells won’t hurt him as much.”
“An excellent point.” Azarin put her foot back down on the red tile and breathed a sigh of relief. “After you, Master Bloodtrail.”
Trax jumped smoothly onto the indicated blue tile. He landed without incident.
