Page 94 of The Song of Sunrise
The Jord Lord shrugs his fur-covered shoulders and adjusts in his seat. “If I recall, that was the last Summit the humans won. Interesting tactic to deploy this strategy again.”
Elder Markus winces only slightly. “Yes,” he hisses, “that was the last time the humans won the Summit, but that is not why I propose this change today. We have been instructed by the Lus’Civitas the nature of the third task. A maze. Which would mean first to the center wins the Helios Stone.”
I struggle to find how this will help Akemi win. While she worked her way up from eleventh place to sixth, a race wouldn’t be in her best interest. Lord Clayoq smirks, undoubtedly realizing the same thing. His champion, Leaf, is one of the fastest Watchers we’ve seen in decades.
The Jord Lord fights to restrain a snide expression, but I see it hidden on his too familiar face. “Let’s vote then. To strike out the point system and replace it with a race.”
“All in favor of the suggested change?” Elder Superior Markus asks.
The Jord Lord raises his hand.
Lord Clayoq raises a finger in support.
I keep my hand lowered as Elder Superior Markus raises his. With Lady Neda excluded from the vote, I lose. Fuck.
“The notion is passed,” Elder Markus claps his hands together. “I’ve been instructed that each nation’s magical creatures will once again be leveraged for this task. Please have your keepers at the ready. We ask for some additional time between now and the task”—Elder Markus looks to the Jord Lord, who is leaning back and picking his teeth—“considering recent events to get the Academy back in order.”
I dig my hands into my thighs, not caring that I’ll leave bruises. Something is off about this, and I’ll be damned if this hurts Akemi’s chance at winning.Terraguard’schance at winning.
“Understandable, Elder Superior,” Lady Neda says, also looking coolly at the Jord Lord.
“We will be notified by the Lus’Civitas not but hours before the task so that we are all approaching from an even level.” The Elder Superior stands slowly from his seat. “The meeting is now adjourned.”
I reach mentally toward Cadex and Damaris standing behind me.
Want to talk?Damaris asks.
Not now,I grumble back. As much as I want to rage and strategize with my General about this ridiculous change of the Summit, there is only one person I need to talk to, and she isn’t here.
32
Molten Gold
The cabin looks exactly as I remember it. The front window still bears two long cracks, spidering across the glass like old scars. The white-painted door hangs crooked on its hinges, weathered and slightly ajar, as if waiting for someone who never returned. Inside, the mustard-orange couch sags in the middle, its cushions worn thin by years of use and quiet conversations. It’s all just as it was.
This one-bedroom shed, tucked at the northernmost edge of Goldenpine, sits surrounded by eighty acres of dense forest. Nickel built it with his father a decade ago, cutting and stacking every log with care and calloused hands. Sometimes he let me help. Laying floorboards, choosing quilts at the market, pretending it wasours, if only for a moment.
Two of those quilts still remain, one slung over the back of the couch, the other folded neatly at the foot of the narrow bed. Little anchors of memory, untouched by time.
The air inside is cold, every breath a visible puff in the stillness. The hearth is dark.
How can nothing have changed here and yet so much has happened?
Heru launches into the sky, and I gather wood for the fireplace. Thankfully, there are still dry logs stock piled high outside under the overhang.
“I miss you, Nickel,” I say to the room that saw many late nights, the stove that cooked hundreds of overly salted bowls of onion soup, the couch where I had my first kiss.
Nickel was more than just a friend. He always knew how to make me laugh. In a terrible way, I am glad to be here, somewhere familiar, for a while. Well, as glad as you can be on one of the worst days of your life.
With no tears left to fall, I walk over to the small corner kitchen and open the cabinets to find canned goods and moldy bread. I throw the moldy bread out and get to work heating some of the contents in an iron pot over the fire. Onion soup.
Snow begins to fall outside as Heru returns with a few small rabbits dangling from her bloody beak. She pecks on the side of the cabin until I open the door.
“Thank you Heru. For everything. You can fly back to Garrot now; I’ll be staying here for a while.”
The overgrown bird did not take to that well, almost piercing my shoulder with a quick snap.
“Okay, okay, you can stay. Make yourself at home.” I hold my arms wide and roll my eyes. A full-sized roc wouldn’t be able to nestle by the woodpile under the overhang, but Heru is smaller than her kin. What might seem like a disadvantage for most can be a strength for those open to conquering it. She rests her head and closes her eyes.
