The patrons of the bar emerged from their collective reverie all seemingly much calmer than they had been before. Addie quickly ducked out and away from the bar while the rest seemed to dawdle behind in the pensive state she'd put them in.
"Seeya Cully!" she shouted, waving, as she grabbed Safiya around the waist and walked out into the street. Safiya shook her head back and forth quickly, trying to clear it.
"Hush! She's coming!" Safiya hissed to nothing in particular as she emerged back into her right mind.
"Who's coming?"
"The Betrayer," Safiya sighed, her voice a soft wind. She blinked twice, and looked about, "What just happened? Are we going to the Academy now?"
"We are," Adahni said, "Can I ask what just happened?"
"The voices were back. But…"
"They told you to hush before I heard you," Addie guessed.
"Not you, the Betrayer," Safiya said.
"I am the Betrayer," Adahni said, her voice stony, "One of me is." She sighed, her features softening, "I wish you could tell me what is going on. I know you don't know, not consciously. I know you're not trying to."
"Trying to what?" Safi asked, "Trying to what? I have done nothing but help you from the moment I woke you up in the Bear King's Barrow."
"Nothing," Addie said, "I'm sorry. I need to tell you something, before we join the others." Being let in on the secret would kill whatever annoyance Safiya was feeling, being trusted with it and all. And she could gauge how much of what Safiya knew she was able to pass on to the rest of the Red Wizards - or whomever was truly behind this whole thing.
"What is it?"
"I'm with child," Adahni said, "I should have figured it out before, but I just didn't put two and two together given how much has happened since I last was… you know, with a man."
"That," Safiya said, running a hand over her bald head, "That makes a shocking amount of sense. I actually feel quite stupid not figuring it out myself. Gods. What are you going to do?"
"Keep going and hope for the best, I suppose," she said.
"And what would be the best?"
"Not spending eternity in the Wall of the Faithless, for one," Adahni said, "The rest I can deal with as it comes."
"Shouldn't you like… not be walking long distances or getting stabbed at and things?"
"I don't really have a choice now, do I," Adahni sighed, exasperated.
"Well that makes things more complicated," Safi said.
"I guess whoever planned this didn't really figure that in, did they," she said.
"Well, the sooner we get to the academy, the sooner we'll find out," Safi said.
"Do me a favor and don't tell the others," Addie said, "They won't understand."
"Certainly not Gann," Safiya snorted.
"Oh give him a break," Adahni sighed, "He's just a kid."
"Well you really do have to stop leading him on now," she said, raising her eyebrows, "Oh… Addie, no, it's not his, is it?"
"No!" Adahni exclaimed.
"That sailor lad on the ship, then? I saw how you…"
"You're making me regret telling you anything," Adahni muttered, "This isn't one of your trashy novels, Safi. It is just my luck you know. There might have been a couple of times in my life when this would have been good news. I thought I was barren, the last ten years, since I was a whore in Luskan."
"Did you want children?"
"No," she said, after a long silence, "But I didn't want the choice taken from me," She was quiet again. If things were different. If I were still Captain of Crossroad, if I were married to, oh Gods I don't know, Jem, or Casavir, would I want this baby? Or if I were a housewife in West Harbor, if things had all shaken out differently and it was Bevil's ma who'd been stuck with the Sword of Gith and not me? And I'd never run away with Dayven, and I'd married a plowboy, I'd probably have a herd of them around my skirts. "I don't know how I feel yet," she said, "This is another task. I can do perform the task at hand. I always have."
The midwife and her husband came out of the bar next, apparently in the middle of a tiff. "I had such a lovely dream though," Rafa was saying.
"It wasn't real," Shiren sighed with annoyance.
"Yes it was, just because the music gave it to me doesn't mean it wasn't real," he said, "You, Addie, thank you. I dreamed I was a seagull and I flew back home. My parents are fine."
"It was only a song," she said.
"But it was a pleasant one," he replied, "Shiren, you don't actually think we're going to go into the Academy of Shapers and Binders with them, right?"
"And why not?"
"Because they're hardened warriors, and I'm… I'm a boatman, and you're a midwife," Rafa said stubbornly, "If they have to protect us, they're going to be slow. And who knows what's going on in there, you heard the rumors in town, how there's been all but a civil war!"
"I can't go the rest of my life setting bones and delivering screaming demons in that disgusting town," Shiren said, quietly but angrily.
"Easy there," Adahni said, "Think carefully about what it is you're saying. We all get the choice between safety and adventure at some point in our lives. You're lucky enough to be mostly grown before the choice came to you, not all of us were so fortunate. Just remember, if you pick adventure now, you might look back and wish you hadn't. But there is no way back, not down this road."
The two women gazed at each other a long moment, "What are you saying?" Shiren asked.
"If we make it back, I promise we will take you on the the Dance of the Damned if that's what you want. You don't just start out as a brand new swordsman by storming into a fortress full of Red Wizards. That's how kids get dead."
"Piracy," Shiren sighed.
"It's the very definition of adventure," Adahni said, "I've seen things you wouldn't believe…"
"If you want to keep seeing things," Safiya said, clearly having no patience for these two children who'd showed up at their heels, "Instead of spending the rest of the time until the sun goes cold and all things perish in the dark in the Wall, then I suggest we come. These two can settle their next move while we make ours."
"I am grateful for what support you've given him," Adahni said, remembering how fiercely loyal Shiren seemed to be to him, "Think for a long time. I hope I have the opportunity to come back this way."
The younger woman nodded, her mouth in a grim line, and they shook hands before the bard and wizard turned to leave.
Safiya and Adahni found the rest of their companions playing a very odd game of rock paper scissors under a tree near the docks. It was odd because Okku's paw, of course, did not exactly lend itself to be shaped into a fist or scissors, so he had to call out whatever shape he wanted it to be, and when they arrived, he and Gann were arguing about whether he had called it out on time.
"There's a bridge a mile or so down, then it's a long walk up," Safiya said, ignoring their previous conversation, "We'd best be going if we're going to make it before nightfall."
"Where did you get off to?" Okku suspiciously.
"Had to hash some things out with my crewmates," said Addie. They started off down the dusty path by the river.
"Next time you should bring back some ale for the rest of us," Okku grumbled, "I can smell it on your breath."
"Can you even digest ale?" she asked.
"Well no, but it's the thought that counts," the bear said.
"Next time, I'll bring you… What do you even like in life? Afterlife? I'm still completely baffled as to the nature of your existence," Adahni said.
Okku made a motion then that it took her a moment to realize was a shrug, "I don't concern myself with things I can't change."
"That makes one of us," Adahni sighed.
They walked up, and up, and up through sparse, leafless trees. Though it was not steep, thanks to numerous switchbacks, but it did take a long time. She began to grumble inwardly, thinking how much easier it would have been if the portal just dropped them off outside the gates. Or, even better, inside the gates.
"A word of warning," Safiya said, beckoning their companions around her, "When my mother was headmistress, she put in a policy that forbade the slaughter of guests onto school grounds. My suspicion is that that ban may have been lifted. It is, of course, tradition that Red Wizards may kill at will - it's in fact, the only way that one may secure a spot as a student."
"So you mean, that you…" Kaelyn began.
"He deserved it," Safi said, "I was a girl of 12, he was twice that. If he couldn't best me in a wizard's duel, he didn't deserve his spot."
"Maybe he just couldn't bring himself to kill a little girl," Kaelyn muttered.
"Weakness in all its forms is despised within these walls," Safiya said, "Keep that in mind. Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to return to Mulsantir?"
"I have faced foes before," Kaelyn countered, "I was only observing that this is not how normal people behave."
"Red Wizards are not normal people. Don't expect to be able to behave like one in there - and live."
"We take your point, Safi," Gann interceded gently, "Is there anything else we should know?"
"If I think of anything, I'll let you know."
It was all Addie could to make herself breathe as they walked through the gates into the Academy proper.
She didn't know quite what she had envisioned the interior of the Academy as being, some cross between Ammon Jerro's Haven and the dungeon below Crossroad Keep where Garius had gone through with his heinous ritual. She certainly didn't imagine the pleasant and and well-lit building she found within the doors. It was well decorated, with beautifully painted portraits of people she assumed were former headmistresses and exotic plants in every corner. She could hear the murmuring of classes being conducted behind the doors which lined the hallway they stood in.
That made the presence of two corpses, evidently just forgotten and left to fester in the order, all the more grotesque.
Safiya frowned, and began to put her hands together to conjure some sort of spell, ostensibly to put the bodies somewhere more appropriate than in the middle of the foyer. The spell began to glow and bounce from hand to hand, when another bolt of light came out from around the corner and stopped it. It had come from an old man, who walked towards them from around the corner.
"Safiya! Thank Heavens I spotted you!" he said, "My apologies, I didn't mean to disrupt your spell so roughly, it's just that since the ban on the murder of fellow students and guests has been lifted, there's been a mandatory 24 hour waiting period before the disposal of corpses. You might've been killed if I hadn't stopped you."
Safi rushed up to the old man, evidently knowing him, and threw her arms around his withered shoulders, "Master Djafi! I was worried that you might have... I mean, I was told that my mother..."
"I'm afraid so, my dear. I'm so sorry. If there was anything I could've done for her, I'd have done it. Nefris was a friend. But there was no stopping Araman once he'd gotten started. I'm sure she dragged some of Araman's pawns screaming to their deaths as she... as she made her stand," Djafi said.
Safiya sighed and put her hands to her head. "I know you did your best and... and I'm glad you did not share my mother's fate."
"He's looking for you you know," Djafi said ominously, "He's told the surviving masters to keep an eye out for you and your... friends here. I'm not sure where he is now. Word is, he's trying to find a way to kill the Founder, but that may prove difficult."
"Is the Founder too powerful?" Adahni asked, filing that name away for later. "The Founder," sounded like a title but something in their voices told her it a unique title.
"I suppose she might have matched him, but there's an even more compelling reason," Djafi mused, "The fact is, nobody's ever seen her before. The popular belief is that she lived most of her life in a private sanctum beneath the Academy, but who knows how that got started? The Academy was founded hundreds of years ago. Now, I don't teach numerology, but unless I miscalculate, I would say Araman is... oh... a few hundred years ago too late."
"Sounds like Araman's got his hands full," Adahni observed, the wheels of her mind turning. Sure, hundreds of years seemed to most normal people like more than a lifetime or two, but considering all the very ancient beings and forces at play in this strange little vignette, maybe it wasn't really that farfetched.
"Maybe his preoccupation will buy us some time," Safiya added.
"Unfortunately though he may be busy, you have the rest of the academy to worry about." Djafi said, "He has told faculty to avoid confrontation, but to everyone else, you're intruders here. And given your blood ties to the old regime, Safiya dear, I don't think threatening detention will have the impact it used to. Many here will be after your job. And you know how that works. You keep what you kill."
"Perhaps there are still some left who might aid us in making Araman's tenure a short one. He didn't... he didn't kill all the masters of the Academy, did he?" Safi asked.
"Not all – just those who resisted him or those he thought might resist. Master Poruset is working I his lab right now, and Master Inarus is teaching class. They may be willing to help you. I would avoid the others if possible, my dear. Now, I must return to my classroom before I am missed.
"I guess we should walk quietly," Safiya said.
"I want to know how a wizard here might be able to take a soul from a body," Addie said.
"The how of it would take a year or more to explain properly, but... actually Master Inarus does teach a class on it, Perhaps we can sit in."
"Lead the way," Adahni said, "Though I imagine that the bear might be a tip off that we're not exchange students."
"It sounds like it doesn't matter who we are," Kaelyn said, "They'll try to kill us anyway."
"'Try' being the operative word," Gann added.
"I trust Djafi when he says that Inarus remains loyal to my mother," Safiya said, "The lecture halls are big and poorly lit, anyway. Come on."
She was apprehensive as she followed her companion up the hall. She had had to work at not letting her know that she was suspicious of her since their dalliance in the dreams of the hags. But she didn't think that they would have gone through all that trouble just to kill her now. That was Safi, though, not the rest of these strange wizards.
The lecture hall was, indeed, large and poorly lit. It was an enormous room, made to sit five hundred or more, but only a smattering of twenty or so students sat in it. It must have been a bloody coup indeed. The blackboard up front was covered in various arcane symbols, but they seemed to be from another class, for the professor wasn't referring to them in the least. He paced up and down in front of the class, shouting to make himself heard to the back of the hall, despite the fact that none but the intruders were there to hear that far away.
"Now, what is the first thing you want to do when extracting a soul?" he bellowed.
"Gag the subject?" a student in the front row piped up.
"Wrong!" the professor ried triumphantly, "Can anyone tell me what was wrong with Odjit's suggestion? Bahiri?"
"You have to restrain the subject first, or he'll just remove the gag," another student piped up.
"Excellent Bahiri," the professor beamed, "A subject is only useful when he isn't fleeing. Try to think your answers through, Odj -" his eyes rose to the little party at the back of the room,
"Well bless my highborn blood, looks like we have a very special guest here with us today. Would you are to introduce yourself to the class, Madam..."
"Farishta. Adahni Farishta," she said, wondering why this professor was addressing her and not Safiya, whom he must have known.
"Araman mentioned you might visit our school. But to have a true spirit-eater here, in front of my class. What a treat. You are generous to share your guest with us Mistress Safiya. As always, it is a deep pleasure to have you in my room. Come, come down to the front! You must come join me, these students have as much to learn from you as from me."
Adahni obeyed uneasily, comforted that Safiya, Gann, and Kaelyn stuck close to her side. The professor did not seem to notice, or care, that anybody else was there with her, "So tell me, Miss Farishta, would you be willing to show us your spirit-eating technique? I was just lecturing on the subject, but the students would surely benefit more from a live demonstration. There's a tremendous reward in it for you."
"So you want me to eat... Here?" asked Adahni, "Eat what?"
"There is simply no substitute for hands-on learning," Professor Inarus continued, "I'll offer you something lovely. Young Odjit here in fact. He's an abysamal student, it's only a matter of time before someone slays him in order to take his place."
"I consume spirits, not souls. I simply wouldn't know how to go about it," Adahni said, to the visible relief of the lithe young man identified as Odjit, "Plus he looks like he'd taste terrible."
The professor opened his mouth to counter, but realized that she was correct. He must have gotten the curse of the spirit eater mixed up with some other nefarious condition he had no doubt come cross or applied himself to some unfortunate.
"I'd be happy to eat a spirit for you, if that's what you'd like," she said, "And in exchange I ask nothing but a little knowledge."
"Information," said Inarus, "I will offer you treasures beyond compare, but information… that is valuable."
"When's the last time a full fledged spirit eater came through your door?" she asked.
Obediently, the professor mumbled some incantations under his breath and brought forth from a tear in reality a large air elemental. Adahni spoke inside herself, getting the attention of the dark presence in there.
Wait, you're letting me?
Before I change my mind, she said, Remember who works for who, now.
She was outside herself again, but like the time she had allowed herself to eat in Ashenwood, she found herself back in the Fugue Plane. She recognized where she had stared at herself when the hags had sent her here to the wall. Staring out not at her own face, but at someone else's. Someone familiar.
"She made her choice…"
Sand! She tried to exclaim, but her jaw was locked and her tongue frozen. She couldn't even blink her eyes, though she didn't feel the urge to and her eyes were not dry. Nor were they anything. She could feel nothing, except the cold existential dread that she had felt the last time. But she was too alarmed this time to truly savor the pain. Sand had aged not at all, Neeshka looked a bit frayed around the edges, but Kailana looked much older than the last time Adahni had laid eyes on her, wishing her luck as she teleported to the Mere of Dead Men.
They were looking for me. Now they think I'm dead. And faithless, she realized slowly.
Before she could hear any more of their conversation, she was snapped back into the classroom, where Professor Inarus was clapping his hands.
"Did you see the angle of extraction there! I hope you took notes, because I want you all to go back to your dorms and write a three page essay on what you can research about the Spirit Eater, and what we can learn from her about spirit extraction."
The class groaned - all but Odjit who seemed only too happy to do something to please the professor that had offered him up as a sacrifice. They filed out of the room silently, leaving the strange little group alone with Inarus.
"So," said professor, "You really have given me all I asked for and more. So, what information is it you need?"
"Soul extraction," Adahni said, "They do a lot of those here. Where do they keep the bodies?"
"Near the professors' quarters. There's a golem there that cares for them until they're reunited with the souls or… disposed of."
"What about bodies that have something else put in their bodies, like the Spirit Eater?" asked Adahni, "Where is my soul?"
"I wouldn't know, I'm not familiar with that particular aspect of your affliction," Inarus said, "But there was a young man that Nefris and her assistant, Tenisha, brought through here a month or more ago, they didn't tell any of us what they were doing with him. They took off with both the body and the soul, separate of course, without a word. I know that around that time, they were speaking and researching extensively about the spirit eater at around that time. Nefris is gone, but I believe Tenisha might have escaped. You'll want to look around the headmistress's tower. They sealed the exit there behind them, I imagine you'll find her somewhere beyond that door."
"There's a few things I'd like to ask Tenisha, in fact," Adahni said. Like why didn't she warn me she fixed my junk along with the rest of me. "Now, what do you know about rejoining a body and a soul?"
"As long as the soul isn't confined in something like a soul housing, or a place like the Wall of the Faithless - disgusting place - they should find each other pretty quickly. If you come down with me in about an hour, I'll demonstrate with a soul and body I've been intending to join for a bit. I just need to finish up a wee bit of research on the disembodied soul. I'll meet you down there, in fact. Feel free to look around while you wait for me. That demonstration was quite thrilling, I can't thank you enough."
"You have also been most instructive," she said.
"We should check out my mother's chambers, see if it tells us anything about the escape hatch they got out of," Safiya said.
"Lead the way," Adahni said. And if it's a trap, I'm taking all of you to that damned wall with me.