“You.” Jesstin nursed his arm but was surprised to find it didn’t actually hurt. The beating he’d taken in the maze felt more like old wounds. His cheek was still on fire from Elloven’s chaotic outburst, but that, too, was fading. “Let’s go.”
“You cannot rush the Crossing.” Mon held out a hand. “Nor cross without a custodian.”
Jesstin dusted himself off. “I take it you’re a custodian.”
“We all are, when we wish to be. It’s a system of volunteers.”
“What if you don’t have enough volunteers?”
“Then it’s no longer a system of volunteers.” Mon’s smile died. “Those gates you lost to are the Golden Lattice, the formal entrance to Infinita Mori. Occasionally, a necromancer slips through the veil between worlds but finds himself trapped here, in the in-between, until another necromancer can fish him out. More often, they die here, because no one knows where they’ve gone. To cross, you need this.” He reached into his vest pocket and withdrew a pendant so luminous, Jesstin shielded his eyes again. “Bright, isn’t it? It will settle once you’re wearing it, though you will always have a glow. Like me.”
Jesstin regarded the strange necklace, the same as what all “custodians” were wearing and draping onto the newly dead. “What is it?”
“The more important question is... What will it be once you cross the Desidero and enter the Infinitum as a citizen?”
“Why are you asking any questions?”
“Only positing. No one like you has ever done this.”
“Do I even need it, if I’m not dead?”
“We’ll soon know enough.”
The last of Jesstin’s good humor evaporated. “Yeah, all right, let’s jump to where you tell me what’s going on without making me sing for it.”
Mon crossed his arms over his torso. The pendant disappeared in his glowing fist. “All of the dead are gifted their sacred flame before crossing. It affords them the freedom of passage and the gift of light, which you’ll find is a gift. Those soul lumens in Rivenholde? A very small piece of each flame is available to the living, which they use to ‘honor’ us.” He nodded downward. “My soul lives in mine, as others’ live in their own. My flame, it is unique. There is only one of its kind. There is nothing I possess that is worth more. It is my light in the darkest hours, my heat when the ice has forsaken us. It must be protected at any cost.”
Jesstin had heard those words before but couldn’t remember where. “You’re already dead, mate.”
“There are things worse than death there, Jesstin,” Mon said somberly. “Your soul connects you to your past, your future... yourself. It is what makes you uniquely you. Without you, you become a soulless specter. There are two—I get ahead of myself. We’ll discuss everything you should know on the ride. But I need you to wear this. No, we do not know if you actually need it or what will happen when you cross, but if there’s any chance it works the same way for you as it does for us, you won’t survive long without it. You must always be vigilant around others. Many will try to take it from you.” He withdrew the pendant again. It looked like any other gemstone, if not for the pulsing light. “Once you put it on, your soul should fuse to the stone, protecting you. You must never take it off. Never let another wear it. There is nothing, nothing more important for you to know than?—”
“Mon, will you put the fucking thing on me already?” Jesstin impatiently stretched his neck back.
Mon sighed, then approached to fasten it.
The metal was uncomfortably heated when it hit his chest, but the warmth soon turned pleasant. “Is something supposed to happen?”
“You’re not uncomfortable?”
“No, except I’m not used to wearing necklaces.”
“Hmm. Curious. For us, there’s a touch of discomfort, even pain, before it settles. How it works for you would be only a guess. Even so, I wouldn’t take chances. Protect it, as we protect ours. Are you ready?”
For what? He wished he could ask Daire. He couldn’t know if Mon could be depended on, but it was Daire who had to initiate contact, and they still didn’t have the first clue whether time would work for or against them. “First tell me what you wouldn’t tell me in the labyrinth.”
Mon glanced nervously at the sky. “We need to be across before twilight, or that pendant won’t be nearly enough to protect you.”
“Why?”
“You’ve come this far, Jesstin. If you stay here, you’ll never know why.”
Jesstin’s custodian thought he had all the power now, but information wasn’t his primary motivation anymore. “And Elloven?”
Mon’s poised posture faltered. “What of her?”
“She’ll be... across? On the other side?”
Mon directed a heavy frown at the river. “Yes.”
