Page 70 of Thorns & Fire
‘Unfortunately,’ Zavier said grimly.‘Selene Tinsley, Kyros Sorrell...Their memories were removed, and they were sent back to where they came from.’
Wren shifted in her seat, unease washing over her.‘It doesn’t seem right.’
‘They used the memory weave?’Dessa asked, looking up from her sketches.
Zavier nodded.
To Wren’s surprise, she gave a frustrated sigh.‘I would have liked to observe that again.’
Both Wren and Zavier stared at her.
‘Youwantto see that?’Wren asked, sure that she had somehow misheard her friend.
Dessa looked thoughtful.‘Well, I’m not sure I’d saywant, as such...But you know my opus is a memory device.It might have been useful to watch the process through an analytical lens...’
‘I would have happily traded places with you,’ Zavier muttered, pulling out his notebook and quill.
‘Perhaps next time you could take notes,’ Dessa offered helpfully.
Wren had to swallow a laugh at Zavier’s expression as she turned to him.‘About the chronicler...Did they ask you to contribute?’
He shook his head.‘Why would they?I wasn’t in the midrealms for the shadow war.’
His words made her pause.‘That’ssomething we haven’t talked about yet...Wherewereyou?What happened after the fall of Naarva?’
Zavier sighed.‘I knew this was going to come up sooner or later.’
Dessa reached over Wren and patted his arm.‘You don’t have to—’
‘Speak for yourself,’ Wren cut her off.‘I want to know.’
Zavier pushed Dessa’s comforting hand away.‘I’ve already had to go over this with the High Chancellor and Guild Master of Thezmarr a million times – one more won’t kill me.’He cracked his knuckles on the desk.‘It was years before the war you fought in...But Naarva was on the brink of falling to the shadows, and we ran.’
‘Who’s we?’Wren asked.
For a moment, Zavier pressed his lips together, and then he answered, his voice softer than before.‘My parents, my brother and me...I was young, so I don’t remember the specifics.I just remember there was a boat.’
‘Where did you go?’Dessa breathed.
‘Beyond the Veil.’
The Veil had fallen at the end of the shadow war, but before that, it had been a seemingly impenetrable wall of mist surrounding the midrealms.It was believed to have kept out monsters, a barrier between their kingdoms and the dark world beyond – a twisted lie whose origins were still unclear.
‘What was it like?Where did you live?Did you know what was happening back home?’Wren had a dozen questions on the tip of her tongue, but she was interrupted by the entrance of the Master of Warfare.
Master Crawford swept into the chamber, wearing the same dark clothes and an assortment of rings on his fingers.‘Welcome back, adepts,’ he said, taking his place behind the desk at the front and scanning the empty seats.‘I did warn you that all paths lead to the underworld, did I not?’It was a rhetorical question.He ran a hand over the scarring on his face.‘Today we will explore corrosive compounds...In the simplest sense: the creation and application of substances designed to break down materials.’
Wren straightened.During the war, she had experimented witha particular concoction of sun orchid essence that had been weaponized against shadow wraiths and reapers.Upon contact with their sinewy flesh, it had burned them, but she wasn’t sure if it would be categorized as corrosive.Was flesh a material?
‘For today,’ Master Crawford continued, ‘in groups, you will be given a specific material.You will need to create a compound that corrodes this material.Over the course of our next three lessons together, you will be required to present a formula, create the compound, develop delivery methods for said corrosive and specify safety measures for handling it.’The Master of Warfare pointed to each team.‘Oak.Granite.Copper.Birch.Ceramic.’He gestured to Wren, Dessa and Zavier.‘Iron.’
Wren tensed.Iron was arguably the hardest, and she suspected that Master Crawford had purposefully chosen the most challenging material for them.
‘What are you waiting for?’he asked.‘Get to work.’
For the next two hours, Wren and her teammates stayed hunched over their workbench, Zavier sketching out potential formulas for metal-corroding agents, Dessa and Wren pointing out potential issues with control variables and safety hazards.
Zavier ran his fingers down the list, his hair falling into his eyes, his brow furrowing in concentration.‘We have oxidizers for rapid rusting of iron, and therefore steel...Several multi-phase solutions for if the iron is layered and time-released compounds for penetrating particularly thick structures...’
