“What were you thinking? She almost died!” Janus shouted and shoved her again.

The insolence, she thought. She didn’t know where to start. Them breaking their Oath and wounding Innocents. Or the audacity the mortal had to touch her with such aggression. When his hands pressed against her shoulders, she pushed back. Shoving him harder than he expected. He stumbled backwards but remained on his feet.

“It was your magic hitting my barrier that caused the blow back. Not mine! You chose an unequal battle, expect consequences.”

“Oh, you’re the one deciding the consequences now?”

“Stop! Both of you!” Saule stepped between them. “Janus she’s right. We could have seriously hurt them.”

“They started it Saule, they attacked first.”

“We aren’t supposed to attack Innocents, we swore our Oath.”

“So, we’re supposed to just let them kill us next time?”

“Disarm them,” Kelani shot back. “Disarm and disengage. What did the Academy teach you? If this was a misunderstanding, you ruined any chance to discover their intentions. If they were not true enemies before, you bet they are now.”

Janus huffed, yanking at his curls before pacing several steps in front of them. Her mortal was the only one showing regret, which was why she directed the next question to her.

“What would have happened to your soul in Paradise if you had killed them?”

To most mortals Alona, the Mother Goddess was compassionate to all that lived and died. But the elders knew the truth. She knew better than most. To Alama the cycle of life was never broken, sometimes tragic, but it must continue. It was never a death that upset her. She oversaw the cycle like a wife overseeing her husband's estate. She tallied checks and balances, and the mortal world spun in harmony.

To a Mage, the afterlife took a different path. While all souls face judgement at the Gate, those who swore the Oath to Zander face a harsher inquiry. There was little room for a Mage soul to negotiate. They either obeyed the Oath and Code of Conduct, or they didn’t. Even if Alama wanted a different outcome, the contract bounded her to keep her husband's word. Her mortal looked pale and hugged her staff to her chest.

“My soul would have been turned away...”

“This is dumb!” Janus shouted again. “I don’t care what you have to say, you’re just some foreigner. You don’t know how it works around here. We stood up for ourselves, we either fight or die. You don’t survive out here by hiding behind promises.”

“I hope you live a long life and accomplish everything your heart dreams of. And when it is time to face the Judgement, remember that line. Tell it to Alona with your full chest and accept her judgement with the same enthusiasm as you have now.”

He huffed again; red faced with his chest out. She dared for him to try to hit her, instead he stormed to the boulders at the edge of the cliff. Saule placed a hand on her arm motioning for her to walk with her.

“He just needs a minute or two. How about we get those thorns out. They look painful.”

She looked at the black thorns in her fingers. Her confrontation with Janus had distracted her from the painful swelling. But now, her skin was puffy, and a burning itch was becoming too much to bear. They found a place near a rock formation shaped like the water creatures with shells on their back. She had read a folktale about a great island resting on the creatures back far off in the ocean. They called it a sea turtle. The shade was a blessing, and as the sun dipped the air cooled. Saule pulled out a pair of tweezers from her pack and pulled the black thorns from her hands.

By the time Janus joined them, his anger had tempered. He had an armful of sticks and branches for a fire that Saule was setting up. He didn’t apologize. And she didn’t believe she needed too either. It was awkward for the most part but as the fire sparked and the sun began to set, a tentative peace had fallen over them.

“Do you think they’ll come back?” Saule asked roasting some of the vegetables from Janus’s bag.

“I believe they are in no state to attack us again.” Saule winced at her words. And Kelani tried a different approach. “I spoke to their leader, he adamant that we return to the Kingdom of Ancients. However, I told him that it was impossible, and we would continue our quest. I assume from his response our safety depends on whether we stay out of their way or not.”

“Wait, you’re still going through with this?” He piped up.

“I am afraid we have no choice.” She turned to Saule, “we have urgent business.”

“I thought you were out here doing training?”

“Not...exactly...”

“What are you two hiding?” He glanced from Saule to glare at her.

“Don’t blame Kelani, it’s my fault. I insisted. You see, Lord Orbit was wondering about Eyden’s Passage, and I agreed to survey the area for him and report back. Kelani only came with me to keep me safe.”

“How come that name sounds familiar.”

“Apparently he is a Guardian that is on bad terms with the Academy Headmistress.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“We’ll the entire Council altogether. They expelled his Mage from the Academy a few years ago and he’s back for some reason he won’t talk about.”

“That Guardian? Saule, why are you mixed up with him?”

“Can we drop it? I don’t want to get into that, right now.”

“Okay, fine then. If Eyden’s Passage is the plan, then how do we get there?”

Saule pulled a folded piece of parchment from her bag. She moved between them and flattened it out before them on the sand. Kelani's attention piqued as she studied the crude lines and scribbled symbols. They weren't in a language she knew. She half expected Ancient Umarian but it looked nothing like the Old Tongue.

It wasn’t until she spied the compass directions in the corner did, she realise it was a map. A poorly drawn one, but a map, nonetheless. Saule pointed to what appeared to be the gate they exited from and the river they had visited. Kelani moved her hand over the paper, using her second sight to read the memory attached to it.

Before her vision was a scene of a small two floor house, cramped with furniture and cooking pots. A mother was busy with a boiling pot near an open fire pit. Two young children, one barely able to walk on his own played with wooden toys on the floor. In a spare room off to the side was Saule and a man, hammering nails into decorative bookshelf.

“My dad’s a carpenter, and mom sells jams at the market, so they know a lot of people. A few weeks ago, a neighbour visits and asks for me. I don’t really know him, but mom knows his grandma, so we let him in. Turns out some noble is trying to acquire his grandmother's land along the river. To prevent the nobleman from taking it she needs to prove its hers. So, he asks me if I can go to the library and find anything to help.”

The image changes to her in a library late at night digging through old parchments and scrolls. Kelani spied the tall windows she saw from outside the Academy the day of the duel. Inside was everything she imagined. Walls of scrolls tucked inside square shelves. Worn carpets under heavy chairs and tables. candelabra scattered among the tables, providing enough light for a late-night investigation.

“While I was in the Academy’s library looking at old maps of land titles, I saw something else. A different map, a much older one. It had all these old names for places. And then I found it, Eyden’s Passage. I knew better than to take that old map from Fergus's special collection, so I copied it. As best as I could. Art isn’t my strongest subject.”

“So, you found this thing, and then what were you going to do? Set off to see where it led?”

“Yeah, at some point. We all heard about the creatures there, I was thinking I could train there over the summer. But I got scared and I hid it away in my room. Then Lord Orbit asked about it and well here we are.”

“If that’s true, then you both better keep your mouths shut. No one with any sense wants to be associated with that Mage or her Guardian.”

“Why is this topic taboo? What did this Mage do?” Saule wouldn’t look at her, but Janus reluctantly spoke.

“You’re not from around here, so I’ll give you the basics. That Mage, she’s a murderer. She lost control of her emotions and magic, and killed two people. We don’t talk about her, and she isn’t welcomed back into the Academy or the kingdom.”

“Is that true? Why are we helping a Guardian whose Mage committed murder?”

“Good question, Kelani. Saule, do you have an answer?”

“Because you’re wrong! Moira and Eclipse are the kindest people I know. And whatever happened that day, well. You have it all wrong.”

“Are you saying,” he began, "that you know something the Council doesn’t?”

“No. I’m not sure. I just know that, in my gut, there’s something they’re not telling us.” She rolled the map in a haste, which allowed her magic to graze her skin. It was only a flicker, but that image from before flashed in her mind. A woman under a bloody blanket. Then it was gone, and Janus spoke again.

“Who’s they?”

“I believe she is implying the Council is hiding something from you.”

“I don’t expect any of you to get it.” She rose to her feet and stormed off to the other side of the rock formation.

“I am afraid I do not fully understand.”

“You and me both,” he sighed. He reclined in the shade; it didn’t take long before she heard soft snoring. She summoned Jhee, to her palm. His weight on her lap was a comfort she forgot she needed. Like countless times before, when she had lost her direction, she flipped the pages. Hoping for anything, an answer, a path, something to show her the way.

As she flipped, her motivation diminished. Papa insisted they avoid that particular Guardian. She failed to understand why he was protecting him. His Mage murdered someone, why should she not confront him and shame him for his failure. Jhee offered nothing on the matter. She didn’t want to think the worse of her mortal either. She seemed to be the only one, who spoke of the Guardian in a positive way.

The pages sprung to life and flipped on their own accord. She glanced back at Janus, but the noise didn’t seem to disturb his sleep. Each crinkle and flip sounded like thunder. At any moment he could wake up and ask questions. She breathed a sigh of relief when Jhee found what he was looking for.

“Interesting…” she mumbled, running her finger over the text.

She read the passage explaining an historical of the Treaty of Restoration. According to the record it was a short-lived treaty between Chancellor Wyon and the Naymagi tribe. It was a promise of equal access to fertile land and unite the Mages and Innocents into a central kingdom. To her dismay Jhee lacked the details her mind demanded.

However, it was clear that Wyon had no intention to continue the peace treaty once he gained access to the lands near the river. He attacked the Naymagi and the land fell into another decade of war. She chewed on the passage, as Jhee flipped to another page. A similar event with a similar result.

Yes, I understand now. The Council has a history for betraying their word. But Janus seemed confident in his loyalty. The truth stared at her from the page. Saule was right to distrust the Council. Another difficult question bubbled to the surface; one she didn’t think of before. Does Janus and the others know of the Council’s hypocrisy?

The thought sat with her like vinegar in her stomach. It was one thing to read each passage on its own, but another to see the evidence formulating in front of her. But there was more to it than what Jhee found. She had seen it for herself.

The entire walls of engravings in the Passage of Prosperity. Where panels were erased and redone to tell another half-truth. She had to be imagining it. Papa built a strong civilization, with strong moral laws. There was no way the mortal authority would disavow all His work.

Then there were the men in the desert. The Innocents who didn't hesitate to attack. She felt the venom in their voice when he demanded her death. She doubted their hate was for a particular Mage. After all, her mortals were young and inexperienced. Barely known outside the circles they socialise in. The desert Innocents would not know who they were. No, their hate was brewing for decades, if not longer.

As unsettling as it was, perhaps it was all connected. Out there the Innocents were regrouping. Somewhere in the kingdom proper the Guardian was investigating his own mystery. And at the centre was the high authority of the Mage Order. She prayed to Alma they would reach the Passage sooner rather than later. Whatever they were a part of she wanted out of it as fast as the stars allowed.