"Tirala?" Nira's eyes shifted and her posture tensed, her shoulders hunching in ever so slightly and Zu Mari could see the effort it cost her to keep her face calm and her breathing steady. "I have nothing to do with Lady Tirala."

"Lady, is it? So she's not as young as Elvanis?"

"Master Elvanis," Nira said, lowering her voice, as though she could by speaking more quietly herself prevent Zu's words from echoing. "And, no, Lady Tirala is Master Elvanis's eldest sister. Eighteenth in contention for the Green Flame's heritance."

"Eighteenth, huh. Looks like Elvanis wants to jump the ladder quite a bit." Zu smirked and nodded approval. "If he were not at least that ambitious, he would be utterly unworthy of me. At least he isn't as completely useless as I'd begun to think."

Nira hunched even lower in her chair, hands flying up to cover her ears. "Please, do not say such things here," she hissed, even more quietly. "I thought you were a man of wisdom and strength, why would you court death so?"

Zu dismissed her silly concerns at once. "Death and I are old acquaintances. Elvanis knows me well enough. If me saying something like this were going to invoke retribution, he'd have killed me long ago."

Nira's eyes opened even wider. "You were a provincial," she said, almost a question. "You could not possibly have met Master Elvanis."

"That doesn't matter right now. I need to know about Tirala."

"Lady Tirala."

"Yeah, her. Where can I find her? What are her strengths? How many disciples does she have?"

Nira took several slow deep breaths before speaking, but the longer she looked at Zu the more her expression softened. "We should not speak of this here," she said at last. "Come, we will walk the lower city."

With a wave of her hand, a portal tore the world in two, twisting an ordinary plaza until it seemed to reside just beside them. She gestured for Zu to precede her, then closed the portal behind her as she followed him through.

"This way," she said, still in a subdued voice, and strode quickly through the streets. Zu followed confidently at her side.

This wasn't a part of town he'd seen before, the paving stones a greyish blue instead of the ivory white that suffused the upper streets. It gave the whole place a drab, mundane feeling, very different from the whites and golds of the merchant district or the pale jades of Elvanis's tower. A river meandered its way down through carved channels toward the valley below, lending its quiet murmur to the background sound of the hushed streets.

When Zu turned to look back toward the spires he was surprised to see just how far down the mountain they'd come.

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Nira hurried him along, past large buildings from which echoed the loud clangs and thuds of industry, sounds Zu found unfamiliar and vaguely unsettling in their regularity. They passed a cluster of boisterous young men with long poles prodding at a mass of cloth floating in the river to keep it from drifting downstream who all fell silent at the sight of Nira's green robes. Across a narrow bridge, down a twisting flight of stone steps, and they came to a small hidden courtyard tucked away behind one of the larger homes.

There was a slight shimmer to the air, almost like Luja Ni's amber bubble, but much weaker and of a different tenor. Zu found he could feel its presence acutely now, with his increased sensitivity after his months or years or decades of training to speak to the soul of a stone. He felt certain that if he reached out to this membrane of power and told it to collapse, it would do as he commanded.

But he was not here to destroy the protections on Nira's secret courtyard, so he left the bubble to do its job, and turned to his would-be teacher.

"I do not know why I'm telling you this instead of killing you on the spot for daring question one so far above you, but..." She placed a hand gently against Zu's chest, an uncertain frown on her face. "There is something about you."

"Of course there is. Now, tell me what I need to know."

Nira took a deep breath, visibly psyching herself up, and Zu knew she wanted nothing more than to flee. But she stood firm, taking strength from his calm demeanor, and finally spoke.

"Lady Tirala is known as the Shadow Blade, just as Master Elvanis is known as the Last Gatherer. Lady Tirala's disciples are few in number, but great in power. It is said that to face one of her scions is to sign your own death into being."

"Assassins?" Zu asked, a plan already beginning to take shape.

"More like demons. The sort of power you and I can perform, twisting space to suit our needs? That is but a light thing to the Disciples of Lady Tirala. They do not weave spells to move from place to place, they simply will existence to reshape itself to their whims and it does so without hesitation or question." She took hold of his arm, staring into his eyes with desperate solemnity. "If you seek to become one of Lady Tirala's adherents, you should reconsider. Master Elvanis kills for disobedience; Lady Tirala kills for fun."

"Even her own disciples?"

Nira's voice fell lower. "Why do you imagine there are so few?"

Zu nodded in understanding. Eighteenth was quite high in the hierarchy, and a name like Shadow Blade would appeal to a great many people. Tirala probably had more would-be disciples than anyone else. Especially if she looked as impressive as she sounded.

Zu could imagine young fools falling over themselves to win her favor, and smiled. He needed to do nothing. Nothing but reach her and stay in her presence long enough.

"How do I find her?" he asked.

"She lives in the central tower, the base floor of the Green Flame's own citadel. But I..." Nira's grip tightened on Zu's sleeve. "I don't want you to go. You will die, and be lost to me, and I... I want to see you flourish. I want to teach you everything I know. You can be a worthy successor; more, you can surpass me and make my legacy proud."

"I have my own legacy to worry about, but thanks for the offer. Just point me to the Green Flame's tower and I'll be on my way."

Nira looked at him as though she thought he'd lost his mind. Silly Nira. She should have known better by now. Zu Mari didn't need such insignificant things as sense. He'd long since transcended any such mortal restrictions.

She gave him the directions anyway.

"Luja, can you make this one immediate?" Zu asked, as soon as Nira finished. "I don't want to risk any word of this reaching anyone."

"Of course," Luja Ni replied.

Zu immediately burst into flames. Comfortable, golden-red flames. Like a phoenix who would die and be reborn.

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