My mind was trying to process what she’d just said without exploding.

“There’s a way to prevent people from getting infected?” I leaned forward.

“It was a start.” She shook her head, “They could have done more, but once the Corrupted learned…” Her words melted into a growl. She must have been able to see the confusion on my face because she shifted the topic. “What have you been told about the start of this?”

“The zombie outbreak?”

The Master nodded slowly.

It was a very commonly recited story. “No one knows how it happened, just that one day a Zombie appeared and started making more. Some people didn’t get infected and became Bokor…”

She hissed at my use of the word. But didn’t interrupt me further.

“And began fighting back. Now they patrol the world, keeping everyone safe from Zombies.” I swallowed the last part. There was no way I was going to add ‘and Touched’ at the end of that.

“The Corrupted did not protect humans from the plague, they started it!” She reached into her drawer and pulled out a Soulstone and a blue crystal that looked like the other two.

"There were humans who learned that they could draw on the power of these stones to do great things. It was a wonderful time…” Her voice trailed off like she had been there, but there's no way that she could have, that was too long ago. I didn’t know how long Touched lived, but I didn’t see how she could have gone that long without going crazy.

“But, the power of the raw stones was not enough for them, so…” Her voice was full of regret. “They decided to make them. But these stones must be grown.” She held up the raw heartstone. “The fastest way to grow them was inside a human, but to harvest the heartstone…” She looked at me and I knew exactly what it entailed. You had to cut inside a person’s heart. A living person couldn’t survive that.

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She nodded when she realized that I’d put it together. “There were some who just wanted the power, but most were too repulsed by the idea of killing a human. But…?” Her voice trailed off as she stood up and came around to sit on the front of the desk right in front of Eveth.

I could tell that the blonde woman was very uncomfortable, but she was also terrified to move.

“You’re saying the Bo…” I caught myself. “Corrupted made the Zombies just so they wouldn’t feel bad about having to kill a person to get their high?”

The Master eyed me and nodded.

“I don’t…” I remembered Master James’ lesson from last night. The Bokor did in fact, absorb the magic from the crystals to power themselves up.

“Why do the Corrupted care about a different stone then?” Jaz seemed a little less scared.

“How do you think the Corrupted began?” She reached into her shirt and pulled out a necklace. I could tell without even seeing it, that there was a raw heartstone that matched her eyes at the end of the chain. I could feel its power and how old it was. “Continued close exposure to the stone will eventually turn one.” She shook her head.

I looked at the other stone on the table. “Are you saying that there are zombies that bleed blue out there somewhere?” I was having trouble processing that.

“Seven continents, seven colors.” The Master looked at the two crystals on her desk, then put the purple stone down next to them.”There is no room for an eighth.” She gestured, “I have only found two.”

“So why are you here?” I motioned at the clear crystal. “Why don’t you want the Humans to learn about the purifying stones?”

“Because the Corrupted only care about those who may eventually become hosts.” She shook her head. The whole city will be purged so there is not a chance that someone develops an immunity and begins to spread it. So, before they are all purged…” The Master sighed like it was a chore that she had to do. “I must convert them all into my army.