Page 79 of The City of Zirdai
As expected, Rae protested. “Who are you going to take instead?”
“I’ll take Vashi. I hear she’s a pretty good fighter.”
Lian snorted. “Those Invisible Swords all think they’re good, but compared to our training…” She spread her hands and turned her palms up—unimpressed.
“You’re Invisible Swords now,” Shyla reminded her. “And we need to all work together.”
“That’s the thing,” Lian said. “We don’t feel like one of them.”
“I know. I’m working to rectify that.” Shyla paused. “When I have time.”
Shyla made one more stop.
“A hidden maze with booby traps? Count me in,” Aphra said.
“Ifwe find it. And just being in the temple will be dangerous,” Shyla said.
Aphra arched an eyebrow. “And how is that different from my life as a treasure hunter?”
“Fair point. But do you even know how to fight with that knife you carry?”
“You want to try taking it from me?” Aphra shifted her weight to the balls of her feet.
“A simple yes would have sufficed.”
“But it’s not as fun.”
Shyla grinned. “Another time then.”
“No magic. That’s cheating.”
She agreed. “No magic.”
While walking back to her room, Shyla considered her brief conversations with Rae and Lian and Aphra. Perhaps they should all train and spar together. They could spare fifteen angles a sun jump. Not only would it keep their skills sharp, but it would create a sense of kinship. Like all good ideas, she wished she’d thought of it sooner. Maybe then Rendor wouldn’t have left.
She pulled her thoughts from that direction. Those “should haves” and “could haves” would only drag her into despair. Instead, she focused on the mission, and was surprised to find Mojag waiting for her in her room.
He played with the sand in her practice bucket, molding shapes with his hands only to squash them and create something else.
“Is it true?” he asked without looking up.
No need to ask what he referred to. “Yes.”
“What if I lose my abilities to…sniff out people by opening up my magic?”
“I think it would enhance those abilities.”
“What if it changes me?”
“You don’t have to do anything. If you’re happy to remain this way, I won’t force you. No one will.”
Now he looked at her. “I can’t do that. It might help us.”
“Might is the key word, Mojag. No guarantee.”
He jumped to his feet. “You sacrificed your eyes for us. Your eyes! No guarantee then either! It’s the least I can do.”
A very mature reaction. She wondered what Jayden had said to him. “Why are you afraid of changing?”
