Tif found that running through the inner streets of Sah’Sah was not as direct a trip as she would have preferred it to be. Unlike in Lercel where the main roads led straight from the lows all the way up to the Archon’s palace in the highs, the streets here split and dead-ended like cracks in a stone. The frustrating bit was that she could see the tower in the distance, but paths she chose veered away from it at the most inopportune times and left her wishing she had two seals of Tears so she could just port over the roofs of the buildings between her and where she needed to go. Her pounding headache didn’t help things and neither did the fact that her left arm was shaking enough for people she ran past to eye her askance. On the upside, that got them out of her way, and if they were out of her way, she was much less likely to accidentally send one flying like she had the table.

After what felt like three times as long as it should have taken her, Tif reached the large open central space of the island, which housed the Qichon’s tower. She had wiped sweat from her forehead many times already, but she did it again to keep it out of her eyes as she half jogged the remaining distance. Tif hoped very much that there was a well or similar near the tower because she was confident that she could drink a whole bucket right now.

“You there,” said a voice off to the side, and Tif saw a young man leaning against the wall of the wooden tower, well away from the door. He was using a hand fan to cool himself, and held a dark blue umbrella with designs of Tears ris in cream over his head. He seemed to be using the fabric stretched between spokes of light wood to ward off the sun, though Tif didn’t think it was especially hot out--or at least it wouldn’t have been if she was just standing around.

With his fan hand, he waved over.

Tif glanced from the stranger back to the entrance to the tower. The large double-doors to the structure were closed, and she didn’t see Udaru anywhere. She could knock of course, but she also didn’t want to be rude, so, after a split-decision, she ran over to the speaker as quickly as she could.

“Yes?” she asked when she reached him.

The young man looked her up and down, and then his eyes lingered on her left arm. “Bit of a problem, hmm?” he said.

“Exactly that,” she admitted. “Do you happen to know how to fix it?”

He snapped his fan closed in answer, with a sharp thwick. He then used it like a stick, poking her arm, but nothing happened.

“I tried pushing it out but it won’t go,” Tif said, hoping more information would help. If she could take care of it without Udaru finding out, too, that would be even better. She didn’t want him to regret giving her the seal as a gift, after all.

“If you actually pushed, it shouldn’t have been a problem.” The young man looked up at her. “Did you do so physically or just in your mind?”

“Physically? Like shoving someone? No, I didn’t do that.”

He shook his head, as if she had said precisely the wrong thing. The move swung his chin-length brown hair side-to-side, which he wore much longer than most humans she had seen in Sah’Sah. “The first seal does not create force, only accentuate it. So, to be used, it must be paired with some sort of strike.” He gestured to the packed dirt they stood upon. “Stomp on the ground or punch it if you prefer, and the power you have built for yourself will be discharged.”

While Tif was more than grateful to get the exact information she required, the way he said it had an air of practice to it, like the Gold ris masters she had listened to in Lercel. Tif felt a sudden lump in her stomach.

“Were you…waiting for me?” she asked, no longer nearly as concerned about her twitching limb. It seemed impossible that someone who appeared to be only a few years older than her could be a ris master, but looking at him more closely, she thought she saw some swirls of Tears poking up along his neck from underneath his stiff collar.

He gave her a friendly smile. “Student of Udaru’s? Yes, I am Melus. Your qiha to be.”

Tif tried to look happy at the news despite a large part of her really wanting to groan. She had gone straight to the exact person she hadn’t wanted to; a qiha must be what they called a master in Sah’Sah since there wasn’t anyone else she was supposed to be meeting. Taking her blunder back wasn’t an option, so, like she had told Jer the evening before, Tif did her best to let what was past go.

“It is an honor to meet you,” she said, bowing to him at the waist, just as she had seen disciples training in Lercel do. “I am also most grateful for your help and sorry that I tried to use the seal without first consulting you.” If she lost her first master because of her impatience, she’d have more than a little trouble forgiving herself.

“It’s natural to be curious, and I haven’t helped you yet.” He gestured again at the ground with his fan. “Release what you’ve stored before it builds further. Holding a charge like that too long can bruise your muscles or even tear them.”

“It can?” Tif asked in surprise. She didn't know any other seals that could harm the user like that. The blue ris on her arm was still beautiful, but she found its presence rather intimidating now, too.

“Only to the uneducated," the young man said, and Tif caught the playful wink he tossed her way, probably meant to calm her nerves. “But with me, you won’t have that particular ailment any longer. In time and with enough practice, you’ll be able to hold a charge for hours, if not days, without inflicting any ill effect upon your body.”

Tif nodded in relief as she squatted deeply, trying to make the packed dirt easier to hit with her hand. She knew he had mentioned stomping as an option, but with the humming happening to her arm, it felt more natural to her to use that limb to expel what she had stored.

“Do you have your own school?” she asked as she readied her strike. “Other disciples?”

The questions seemed to steal some of his good cheer, and he snapped his fan back open with a flick of his wrist. “I've assisted Qiha Omlo for three years now, even helping with some of his most promising students. But,” he stared off to the side as if there was something important there to see, but Tif thought he might just be trying to avoid looking at her "you will be my first disciple.”

"That works out well," she said to him with a smile she wholeheartedly meant. "You'll be my first master, I mean qiha. We’ll get to learn how to do this together."

He slowed his fan waving, looking at her again but differently than before. Tif had seen many a person--human and otherwise--have that expression when considering her, one of sharp bewilderment, but Melus also seemed curious, which wasn’t all bad. The moment quickly passed, and he cleared his throat.

“Yes, well, we’ll see, won’t we. But in order for either of us to get anything out of the arrangement you’ll need to listen to what I say.”

“Yes, Qiha,” she said. He had told her to get rid of the charge, so that’s exactly what she did, punching the ground with her left hand. Tif didn’t retract her fist like she usually would, thinking the extra time her knuckles spent connected to the dirt might help the build up leave her body.

She needn’t have worried.

No sooner had she landed the blow, then she felt the energy leave her in a rush, and the dry earth beneath her cracked with a reverberating thump that raised dust in a circle all around. Tif pulled her hand back to see the break she had made better: nearly a foot long and a few inches wide. She couldn’t imagine what that would have done if it had been a person she had struck with her fist instead of the ground. It was both exciting and terrifying to consider.

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“Amazing,” Tif breathed out.

“Like no other,” he agreed, and Tif thought she heard something akin to affection in his voice. “So simple, yet so versatile, able to improve any seal. And I hear you have one of Death. Is this true?”

Tif nodded again, listening closely to him but also wanting to check her arm. The humming was almost nonexistent compared to what it had been, but much of her Tears ris was still there, though considerably duller than before.

“Fascinating,” he mused. “Absolutely, fascinating. You are truly a unique specimen; likely the only person in all the lands to have such a combination of seals.”

That brought Tif’s head up in a hurry. “Really?”

Melus closed his fan again, tucking it into his sash belt. He shifted his umbrella to his other shoulder and then looped an arm into hers, walking them away from the split she had made and toward the doors to the tower.

“Absolutely,” he confirmed, and under the shade of his umbrella it felt like they were sharing secrets. “As near as we can tell, Death reviles the other Aspects, so they would never try to cultivate one of Tears.”

“They definitely hated Gold, and taught their children as much,” Tif told him, a bit of frustration at not being able to correct those lies still niggling at her.

His light blue eyes flashed in excitement. “Now that is a story you will have to tell me the rest of sometime.”

“Of course, Qiha,” she said.

“As for Sah’Sah,” he continued, “no one here would ever begin to sacrifice to Death, not after the pain that tribe has caused us.” He gestured around them with his free hand. “Who else is there?”

Tif knew that bringing a new Aspect to life was a significant undertaking, something usually requiring many people and consistent work. However, she also knew that there were things in the world that people didn’t always know about: the crests and naga were proof of that. Still, whether or not there was someone else out there with the same seals as her, they likely didn’t have a trainer who was eager about helping them use both. And for that, Tif might just have to kiss Udaru like Plumya had challenged her to do the night before.

“Now,” Melus said, “you look like you ran around the whole reflection twice before getting here, and I can’t have my one and only disciple collapsing. Let’s get you something to drink.”

“That would be wonderful,” Tif agreed, the mention of water reminding her of how much her body was craving it.

They had reached the twin doors by then, and Melus had unhooked his arm from around hers to push on the one side with both hands when there was a croak behind them.

Tif turned along with her qiha to discover that Udaru was there; he must have just arrived for them not to see him before now.

The aquaros’s long snout swung between them. “I see you two have met.”

“Udaru,” Melus said, inclining his head. Tif had only just met the young man, but she could tell that there was something reserved in speech, cautious. Then, she caught it, too; Udaru stood as if ready to port away, his tail swaying behind him.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

The aquaros’s frill fluttered, and he turned his slitted eyes onto her. “Lercel will soon be under siege.”

Tif wasn’t sure if she responded, her mind racing a thousand directions at once. It was Death, of course, from their new hold so close to Lercel’s walls. She had known it would happen eventually but had fooled herself into thinking that she had more time than she did. Reflexively, she looked behind herself to the thread of Death that connected her to Atriat, who was surely leading the siege. Tif still couldn't believe that Death had two Chons and that she had come face-to-face with one of them. The grey thread had become so thin by the time she reached Sah'Sah, she had almost forgotten it was there, but it was, and now her parents and everyone else in Lercel was in danger.

“Ah,” Melus said, his voice holding none of the horror she was experiencing. “It seems our trip has ended before it had the chance to begin.”

Part of Tif realized that his comment meant her qiha had planned to travel with them, which would have solved her trouble with Teerog, but that issue seemed so tiny now.

“Udaru,” Tif said. “Can you have your people port us there? Please?”

The aquoros's frill flapped at the question. “Tif, I delivered this news to warn you away from returning, not to help you make haste toward an early grave.”

Tif was finding it hard to think, her memory taking her back to dark streets and disembodied cries of pain. The last time Death had broken through Lercel's walls, Awt's parents had died. Her ma and fa should be more protected in the Underground than in the streets of the lows, but last time Death hadn't had a Chon with them. If Atriat's mastery of the first and second seals were any indication of his power, she wasn't sure if the knights and arcknights could stand against him, especially without an Archon of their own.

“If it is payment,” Tif said desperately, “you can have the seal back.” She held her left arm and the blue ris it contained out to him.

Melus huffed beside her, and even Udaru's eyes narrowed. “I know you are distressed, so I will overlook the offense. Even if you were not trying to sell something freshly gifted, it is not about money. I know you and those you have brought her all have spirit, but you do not have the skill or experience to help. Either Lercel will push Death back, or they will fall, and Aspects help us all if they do.”

“You have the skill, you could help them,” she said, thinking of the power Udaru possessed with his new technique. She wasn't sure how well it would work against Death, but he was a great warrior, the First Warrior. Surely, his presence could help swing the fight.

“I cannot leave Sah'Sah undefended,” he said, his long snout swinging side-to-side.

“But you have before,” Tif countered.

Udaru angled his head, looking at her with one eye in the way of aquaros. “The Qichon is…undisposed, due to your words in fact, so the burden falls to me.” Melus looked at her, but she was just as confused by that news as he seemed to be. “Nor can I risk any of our warriors,” Udaru explained. “It is just as likely that the arcknights and knights will attack us as accept our help after how I left Lercel. Perhaps Blood or Life will come to their aid, but it will not be us.”

Tif felt like her options were slipping through her fingers like the sand from the beach. “Please, Udaru, my family,” she begged. “Let me try to save them, like you did with yours.”

“Tif,” he said, and his croak seemed as gentle as he could make it. “What do you think you can do?”

“I…” she said, looking between the two of them--one sad and the other seemingly reconsidering what he had gotten himself into. “I can see the Death ris. I can see all the bonds he has.”

“All who has?” Udaru asked.

“Atriat, the Sha'Chon who is leading the Death troops,” she said, the words falling from her faster than any others. She'd give them all the words they wanted if they'd only help her get home. “He has lots and lots of bonds. He told me that if he was stabbed in the eye he could just spread out the pain. But if I can see the threads, I can get rid of them. Cut them, break them, something.” Tif made herself stop there because she really didn't know what else she could do. She had come up with something though, hadn't she?

Udaru didn't immediately respond, bringing a clawed hand up to his narrow chin. This reaction seemed to worry Melus.

“You are considering this?” he asked in disbelief.

In answer, Udaru put a scaled hand on the young man's shoulder, and suddenly they were gone. After a few moments, Tif spotted them some fifty paces away, in-between the tower and the surrounding buildings with no one else around. Tif couldn't hear her words from this distance, which she was sure was the point, and she shifted from side-to-side nervously.

If they didn't agree, she could at least get them to take her to the beach. If she pushed herself, and with luck, she should be able to get to Lercel in five or six days. The walls were high and the knights were strong. She looked at Pep. They could hold that long. They had to hold that long.

She couldn't stand still and began to pace. Tif wished Teerog and Plumya and Jer were there, too. They were all good fighters and sure to have ideas. If Udaru and Melus took any longer, maybe she should go find them. They had all stayed at the same hostel and might still be there.

A shimmer in the air signaled the return of the two, and Tif held her breath even after they had reappeared. Melus looked far from happy, but Tif wasn't about to assume that meant her hopes were answered.

“If you wish to return,” Udaru said to her. “Melus will take you.”

Tif's heart popped into her throat. “He will?” she asked, looking uncertainly at the young man who now wore a grimace.

“Yes,” Udaru said. “It is part of a qiha’s oath to help those they train when the need arises and this is his chance to do so.”

Tif threw her arms around Melus, squeezing him hard. “Oh, thank you. Thank you. I'll be the best disciple you ever had.”

“Thank me after we survive,” he grunted sourly. He even rapped her arms with his closed fan, making his preference clear.

Tif released him and assured him she would, but inside she was planning. By porting, Lercel was only two days away, and Melus would need to recharge his seals at some point. That would give her time to take what she had told Udaru and turn it into something actionable. And Tif thought she might have an inkling of how to do that.

She bowed to Melus again, deeper than before.

“Before we go, Qiha, can you please help me find my friends?”