Elder Shi, wherever you are please lend me the gift of your silver tongue, Jie prayed as she gave another elegant bow toward the elders.

"Thank you, esteemed elders, for giving us the chance to explain," Jie said as her mind worked furiously to find a way out of this, "we never had any intention of stepping into your sacred realm. We were making our way through your expertly made tests when our path was destroyed by a red statue that rose up out of the lake. She--"

"The goddess destroyed your path?" interrupted the male. Purple smoke spilled from his beak as he spoke.

"Yes," Jie said, "she--"

"See? It's the goddess's will for them to die by our hand," Vrethka slurred, "I'm sure the other elders agree."

"I'll go with whatever Kazzak decides," said one of the elders, her voice even more slurred than Vrethka's as she stared off into space as though looking at something only she could see.

Vrethka glared at her.

"Thank you," said the male that Jie assumed was Kazzak, "it's always so nice to have the support of my fellow elders."

He was the only male elder that Jie could see and several of the female elders preened at that though half of them looked too stoned to know or care what he was referring to. It only seemed to make Vrethka angrier.

"Please, continue," said Kazzak.

Jie inclined her head in thanks. "The great goddess spoke to us and told us that a smart cultivator always prepares as best they can. But that no matter how well you lay your plans, something will always happen to disrupt them. She asked us how we would handle a change in our plans as she summoned an army of blood elementals and broke our path.

"We were forced away from the main path and tried to find our way onto another one to get across. To adapt and overcome as the goddess instructed. We never intended to intrude on you when we are so very grateful for your hard work that gives us the opportunity to be tested by the great goddess," Jie said, "if you would only allow us to leave, we would go back the way we came and try to find another way through to the other side as the goddess wishes for us."

Jie tried to keep any emotion off her face while killing intent came off Vrethka in waves, weighing on Jie even from so far away and enhanced by the strength of her aura. Jie's friends trembled but remained standing.

"Please, control yourself, Vrethka. It's unseemly for an elder to behave in such a barbaric fashion," Kazzak said as smoke spilled from his beak and his golden eyes gleamed with mirth.

Vrethka glared at him. "And it is not a husband's place to tell his wife what is and is not unseemly," she hissed.

In response, Kazzak stroked one of his cloying admirers as she clumsily attempted to shower him with affection. Vrethka's feathers flared and her aura came off her in chaotic waves as she glared at him.

He watched her as though waiting for something with eager anticipation, but as she settled back down a flicker of disappointment flashed through his golden eyes. Gone so fast that Jie wasn't sure if she'd imagined it.

"Their test was to choose another path. They chose poorly. Death is better than they deserve," said Vrethka.

"Ahk. Perhaps," said Kazzak, "but, it's not our goddess's will for us to interfere in the tests. Only to help create them. Killing them now would be sacrilege."

"What would you do? Let them go? Such weakness. As expected of a male," Vrethka snapped.

"Is that you saying you wish to challenge me, Vrethka? If so, I happily accept," Kazzak said.

Vrethka looked furious. "I've beaten you before," she said bitterly. Though her dark red eyes widened as soon as the words left her beak as though she hadn't meant to say it, or not as loudly as she had.

"I remember," Kazzak said with a grim edge to his voice, "care to try again?"

She scowled at him for a long moment but retreated, her feathers settling back as she inclined her head. "No..." Vrethka said.

"No... what?" Kazzak pressed.

"No... Flock Leader. I do not wish to challenge you... yet," Vrethka said.

Kazzak looked at her with calculating eyes and bit down on his pipe again, sucking down a long draw. She did the same.

He looked back down at Jie and her friends.

"You cannot stay here, but we cannot allow you to simply leave after trespassing on our realm. And yet we are not to interfere in the test. You've certainly made our day more interesting," Kazzak said.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Many of the flock laughed including several of the elders. Some laughed so hard they couldn't breathe, though Jie didn't think it was that funny. But, then many of them looked baked out of their minds.

The laughter seemed to provoke yet more laughter and rapidly devolved into hysterics that drowned out all other sounds as the arak howled their amusement. All except for Kazzak and Vrethka.

After a long moment, it settled down into fitful giggles.

"What about a trial then?" Jie asked, "That way you wouldn't be interfering, you'd just be helping the goddess test us the way that she wants. You could pit us against a team of cultivators of similar strength. If we win, you could take us across the lake on one of your boats. And, if we lose we could leave and never bother you again."

The arak laughed again. All of them this time and so loudly that the building vibrated.

"Leave if you lose?" roared Vrethka. Which triggered fresh waves of raucous laughter from the other arak. All except Kazzak who stopped laughing and seemed only irritated by his wife.

The laughter continued before finally settling down into waves of sporadic giggles that rippled through the chamber.

"You will be tested in our arena. Win and you will have safe passage to the deeper parts of the dungeon. Lose, and the victors will claim your heads. Strength will determine your fates," said Kazzak, "it will take some time to prepare. You may rest in comfort until you are called."

"One of them is on the cusp of breaking through to the middle dantian," Vrethka said, "isn't your son of similar strength, husband? What an excellent chance for him to lead a group in combat. And, for the honor of our flock no less."

If Vrethka's words bothered him, Kazzak didn't show it. "Unfortunately, his friends are too strong for the rest of this group," Kazzak said.

"I can lend him some of my younger priestesses," Vrethka said, "unless you think he is somehow unfit?"

Kazzak's feathers rippled with the barest ruffle. He took a long draw from his pipe and looked at Jie and her friends. "Of course, they'll need to be of a slightly higher cultivation than our intruders. No doubt they have plenty of practice fighting together while the group he forms for this will not. It's only fair to compensate for that," he said.

Vrethka looked like she was trying hard to think of a reason not to do that, but could not.

Jie wanted to say that they didn't, but she didn't see how that would help. It would only force the only person who'd argued in their favor to call them liars. Each of them was strong for their cultivation level... she hoped that would be enough.

***

They were soon dismissed and their escort led them back out the way they'd come and continued leading them up the spiral town that wound around the massive block of stone. She ushered them into a two-story, cozy house with a large bath, artwork on the walls, potted plants, and a runed light on the ceiling that seemed to emit sunlight or something like it. Other than the front door, the doorways were covered with beads.

"You should be more than comfortable here," said the Elementalist arak, "would you like anything? A last meal perhaps?"

Jie gave the bird woman a flat stare.

The bird woman shrugged and walked back out.

Ithilix returned from the bedroom. "This one doesn't understand why anyone would want to sleep above the floor," she muttered.

Jie could sense the Elementalist Arak outside their door. She hoped they could have at least some privacy, but there was no way that she wouldn't hear everything they said. And, Jie had no doubt that she would pass it on.

Still, they needed to talk.

Jie turned to her friends. "What the hell was that?" she asked.

The returned blank looks.

"You're our leader, not me. Why did you make me do the talking? Are you crazy? Now look where we are," Jie said.

"I don't know this area and besides, you did well," Pan Tian said with a smile.

Jie resisted the urge to strangle the older girl.

Pan Tian rolled her green eyes. "Relax. You're the strongest of us and you radiate royalty. It's obvious to anyone that you have a powerful bloodline of some kind. My family is strong in this region, but these arak probably don't know or care. And, you're the strongest of us. So, you're obviously the one they were most likely to listen to. And you handled it well. I could give you some notes though, if you'd like? So you can do better next time?" she suggested.

Jie narrowed her blue eyes at the older girl but finally blew out a sigh. "Yes," she said, "please."

"I'll do that later then. For now, we should consider what to do about the coming fight. I suspect they'll try to gain every advantage they can. We have no idea what we're walking into and fighting flying enemies is going to be a challenge," Pan Tian said.

Jie pointed over her shoulder at the door where their escort would be easily overhearing everything they said.

Pan Tian nodded and a brush, inkstick, and ink stone appeared in her hands. She then pulled out wads of paper, paperweights, and everything else they'd need. And, they began planning. Using the brush to write notes and draw diagrams as they discussed their strategy in a way that couldn't be overheard.

They had no idea just what kind of fighting styles they'd be facing, or just how much stronger their opponents would be. But, they worked with what they did know and came out with several general plans for different scenarios.

The others took a moment to cultivate after they'd discussed and run through multiple scenarios, so they'd be at peak performance. But, Jie was still bursting with energy and her cultivation wasn't as stable as she'd like. So, she didn't dare add more to her cultivation until she'd had a chance to stabilize it.

Part of Jie hoped that this fight would be tough enough to give her something to help stabilize again. Yet, that thought made her feel guilty as the harder the fight was, the more her friends would be in danger.

Maybe I'm getting too used to this crazy world... she thought.

She paced the room and spotted the enclosed bed with only a single opening suspended above the ground in the bedroom. It looked cozy, if a little weird.

She chose to bathe, scrubbing the muck of the trials and tests off her skin. Her ghostly form that seemed somehow connected to her bond with Xue had allowed her to remove the metal from her throat and lungs. But, for whatever reason, it hadn't allowed the blood, water, and dust to drop through her the same way. As such, it was a relief to be rid of it and to feel clean for the first time in what felt like forever but in truth had only been a day or so.

After scrubbing, Jie allowed herself to soak. She'd worked every minute she possibly could since being brought to this world... and now simply waiting... she found her mind wandering.

She thought of Ming trying to heal himself within her room in the academy. As the days passed without any obvious signs of recovery, she increasingly felt that if she didn't find a healer, she would lose him. But, all she had to go on was a rumor. And one that would be a perilous journey to check on.

The Headmaster had made that journey, but how was she supposed to get him to talk about it?