Reincarnated

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Day 5.

"You don't know? You don't know? What do you mean you don't know?" Hazel exclaims incredulously. "You're three thousand years old! How do you not know?"

"I don't know many things!" Ahmose snaps back. "Being immortal does not mean I immediately know all the secrets of the universe!"

"What?! Don't say that — now nobody will want to be immortal!" Hazel spits, her tone dripping with venomous sarcasm.

"Forty seconds."

"Guys!" I hiss, my sharp tones ripping through their mini show-down. They both stop, turning to me with equally irate expressions. "This is not helping! You can yell at each other when our entire lives are not depending on the next thirty seconds!"

"Thirty-five, actually." The Sphinx corrects me, her tail flicking lazily. "Tick tock."

"Sorry Keeks." Hazel grimaces. Ahmose grudgingly agrees with her with a near-unintelligible grunt. "What was the riddle again?"

Ahmose repeat the Sphinx's riddle. "Born of sorrow, grows with age, you need a lot to be a sage. What is it?"

"What's a sage?" I ask, my brow furrowing in confusion. "The only 'sage' I know about is the herb. It is a herb, right?"

"Twenty-five."

"Yes, it's a herb. Seriously Kiara, how can you not know that?" Hazel rolls her eyes.

"Hey!"

"But," She continues, giving me a look for interrupting her. "It's also another, very old term for someone who's venerated for their intelligence and wisdom."

"A wise-man?" Ahmose frowns, and Hazel nods.

"Born of sorrow, grows with age, you need a lot to be a wise-man." I mumble, more to myself than the others. "What's born of sorrow?"

"Ten."

"Okay, they get it. They don't have much time left." Hazel snaps, glaring at the Sphinx. "You don't have to keep counting it down!"

The Sphinx stares back at her, the expression on her beautiful face terrifyingly deadly. "Nine."

"Grows with age." I murmur, meeting Ahmose's gaze. He looks as desperately thoughtful as I feel. "What grows with age?"

"Any number of things, Kiara."

"Crap."

"Eight."

Then it hits me. I gasp, throwing my hands up in the air. Ahmose stares at me wildly, taken aback by my sudden exclamation. "We're idiots!"

"Seven."

"What? Why?" He demands, growing more frantic by the second. "What is it?"

"Six."

"It's been right in front of us the whole time!" I exclaim. "Hazel gave us the answer without realising it!"

"Five."

"Don't just stand there then! Say it!" He roars.

"Four."

I whirl around to face the Sphinx, tripping over my own words in my haste to get the answer out in time. "Wisdom! The answer's wisdom! It's wisdom!"

The Sphinx abruptly stops counting down, plunging the night into thick silence. All three of us stare at her. My heart ricochets around my throat as we wait for her res-pose. She holds me in an icy regard, her glare so withering that I'm half surprised I don't explode into a shower of ice on the spot.