Kolo's eyes opened halfway. At first, she couldn't tell what had woken her. Then a cat's paw prodded her face. She grunted. Weeks of constant training had caught up to her now, and her limbs ached to the point they felt boneless. The last thing she wanted to do was get up before sunrise.
"Really?" she grumbled.
The cat jumped down and stood up on two legs, changing its shape into a familiar human. Channei flipped her blond hair back. "Sorry, Kolo. I know you're tired, but we all need to talk."
Kolo sat up, smoothed her white hair, then looked around the room. The red light from her eyes several others. Azvalath, Lalek, and Rizval sat on the floor in various spots around the room. Jai-Lag lay stretched out by the door, breathing in slow rumbling sighs. Kolo cocked her head. "What's this about?"
Azvalath cleared his throat. "Rizval, mind taking notes? We can share them with Yayaba later. She should know too." Then he looked at Kolo. "We all think there's something really wrong with Master Xigon."
"Yeah, me too." Kolo almost laughed. "What took you so long to figure it out?"
"You know, it would've made sense if he were just tired from...recent events." Lalek averted her gaze.
"No it wouldn't," Rizval corrected. "Do you really think a bit of back talk would do him in like that? He'd be history if that were true."
"Not that." The muscular woman scowled. "I was talking about –"
"See, but that doesn't make sense either," said Azvalath. "He kills people all the time."
"Maybe this time was different somehow," Kolo twisted her necklace around her fingers. "He never did tell us exactly what happened. Neither did Qila. She didn't tell me anything when I asked."
"Master Qila wasn't there. Of course she wouldn't know." Rizval stretched their arms and yawned. "Though I think you could be onto something. Question is, how could this incident be different from the others?"
"We should ask him, maybe," Kolo suggested.
"No way." Channei shook her head. "He and Master Qila shouldn't even know we're talking about this. Got it?"
Kolo swallowed hard and nodded.
"Not like we'd get an answer out of him anyhow." Azvalath looked down. "He's not one to divulge any kind of vulnerable information. But there is someone else we could ask."
Channei seemed to catch the implication at once. "It'd be cruel to pull Dakko and Ido into this. They're still grieving, and I can hardly blame them. No matter how much that monster hurt them, it can't have been easy to witness that."
"Hm." Kolo bit her lip. "Well, we have to know what might be wrong if we're going to stage any kind of intervention."
Lalek looked startled. "Who said we're staging an intervention?"
"What were you planning to do?" Kolo raised an eyebrow. "Just stand back and watch? No way. It's hard enough to watch."
"I agree," said Azvalath. "We should do something. Master Xigon has helped all of us at some point. Isn't it time we return the favor?"
Channei balled her hands into fists. "Yeah, but can't we help without torturing those boys?"
"It's probably worse to let them bottle it all up," Azvalath pointed out. "Let me go and get them."
The man stood up, stretched, then left the room, careful to step over the sabretooth cat's gently swishing tail. He left them in a lull of awkward silence. The only sound was the scratching of a quill on parchment as Rizval scribbled their notes down.
Then Rizval interrupted the stillness. "Also worth noting, I think, is that I've been told to make a hell of a lot more pain medicine vials lately." They scratched harder at the parchment as the ink dried. "Masters say it's for Dakko, but does he really need that much?"
Kolo shrugged. "Seems unlikely."
Several minutes passed before Azvalath returned with Dakko. He looked at Channei. "I asked them both. Ido said he'd shock me if I made him talk about it. Dakko agreed, though."
"Thanks, Dakko." Channei patted the floor next to her. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm cold." He said it immediately, without hesitation or lies.
"Here." Kolo got up and brought him her blanket. "How's this?"
Dakko extended a trembling hand to take the blanket. "Thanks." He sat down between Kolo and Channei, clutching tight to the wool. Even though he was still cold, Kolo couldn't help but note how much better Dakko looked after several weeks with them. He was less emaciated than before, and more mobile thanks to the joint braces Rizval had made him. Even his demeanor seemed to have healed somewhat. It wasn't nearly as easy to startle him or make him cry now.
"Hey kid," Rizval piped up. "How often do you take your pain medicine?"
"Half a vial in the morning and half in the evening," he said. "Why? Did someone else need some?"
"Nah." Rizval squinted at their notes. "Just doing some calculations."
Dakko gave a slow nod. "Hm. All right, then."
Kolo put one hand on the boy's still-quivering arm. "What can you tell us about what happened that night?"
The boy's fingers clenched up and crackled with ice. "I don't know what to say."
"Maybe start with what happened when you ran off from the ceremony," Azvalath pressed. "Why'd you do that?"
Dakko took a deep breath. He looked up and down, then spoke barely louder than a whisper. "I remembered my own second ascension and I couldn't watch anymore. It felt like Haode was attacking me all over again." He brushed cold fingers against his scarred neck. "I couldn't calm down. I figured I would leave so I didn't...bother anyone."
Kolo bit her lip. "I don't think you could've bothered anyone more than I did that night. But go on. What happened next?"
"Haode must have used his future sight to find me. He caught me. And...I was so glad to be caught." Dakko let out a miserable chuckle. "It's funny, really. I was just remembering how badly he hurt me, but when he held me again, I felt so warm. I wanted him to hold me forever." He scratched at his scar, leaving faint red marks on his pale skin. "I would've done anything for him as long as he didn't let me go. It was pathetic."
"Hey kid, I know it's tough to swallow, but you weren't at fault there," Rizval interrupted. "Spiders tie little moths up tight, you know. The silk's sticky even when you can't see it."
Dakko squinted. "Yeah, I guess so."
"So we all saw you run off, then Ido followed you, and then Master Xigon left for seemingly no reason." Lalek twiddled her thumbs. "Whatever your commotion was, it must've alerted him."
"I don't even know how he found us." Dakko's eyes widened again. "It was like he showed up out of thin air. How the hell – ?"
"Were you in a potentially life-threatening situation?" Azvalath asked.
Dakko's head turned. "Huh?"
Kolo shrugged. "Hey Aza, Xigon gets drawn toward situations like that, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, you saw." Azvalath fussed with a loose thread on his shirt. "Back when Channei was injured, it was enough to pull him out of torpor. So if any of their lives were in peril, that's how he would have found them."
Channei groaned. "Don't remind me."
"Anyway." Dakko seemed frustrated with all the interruptions. "I suppose you could say we were in danger. Though I really don't want to think he'd kill either of us, no matter what we did." He looked down. "Maybe that's more stupid wishful thinking. I've always liked imagining good things."
Kolo's heart ached at that comment. "Did you notice anything odd? When Xigon put him down?"
"I...I don't know. I mean, I..." Dakko suddenly seemed unable to form words. He grabbed onto Kolo's sleeve. "I mean, his eyes turned purple, and he –"
"His eyes turned purple?" Azvalath's eyebrows rose.
"Yeah, like they did when he was healing me when I first came," said Dakko. "But I don't think he was healing Haode. That wouldn't make any sense."
Kolo shook her head. Wherever this was headed, it felt like a dead end. An intensely frustrating, depressing dead end. She wasn't entirely sure why she cared, but she found she did, and immensely so.
Before she could say anything else, the door swung open. It hit Jai-Lag, who flinched away with a shrill mew more befitting of a tiny kitten than a full-grown sabretooth cat.
Kolo gulped when she saw the old woman standing in the doorway.
Master Qila squinted. "What's got all of you up so early?"
"We were...um..." Kolo struggled to come up with an excuse.
"Just talking," said Azvalath.
"About what?" she asked, though Kolo suspected Qila already knew.
"Anatomy," Rizval blurted.
"Mm-hm." Qila hummed with the tone of a condescending mother. "Rizval, your nose always flares when you tell a lie." She came in and sat down on the floor with all of them. "What's really going on?"
Kolo scowled. "What's wrong with Master Xigon?"
The whole room went dead silent.
Qila shrugged. "I have no idea. But it's none of your business."
"It's entirely our business." Azvalath practically snarled. "What are you two keeping from us?"
"It shouldn't concern you." Qila leveled him a glare. "I'll have you know, I'm as much in the dark as you are. But I haven't come to scold you all for prying, even though you really should stop."
"What for, then?" Kolo asked. "Seems like that's all you're doing right now."
Qila pulled a folded sheet of parchment out of her pocket. "Your next assignments."
Azvalath rolled his eyes. "Brilliant timing."
She unfolded the parchment and read it out loud. "Lalek, Rizval, Dakko, Ido – where's Ido?" When she looked around the room and didn't see him, Qila sighed. "Someone let him know. You four will be assisting with construction and repairs in the town below. You're to meet the innkeeper of Naughty Nack's for more information."
Rizval cackled. "That oaf?"
Qila cleared her throat. "Channei, you're to monitor the unrest that's growing among the populace. Get a sense of who's saying what about us. Yayaba will relay your findings to us."
"I'll be in disguise, I assume?" Channei played with a lock of her blond hair. "Easy enough."
"Jai-Lag, Azvalath, and Kolo." She looked straight at Kolo. "Yayaba has observed...unusual happenings around the village of Morning. Xigon wants you three to investigate. You've been given clearance to carry weapons and to pursue any suspected descendants of the Iron God." She squinted back at the parchment. "Your contact's name is Talin. According to Master Xigon, he should be unmistakable."
Kolo wasn't sure if she'd heard any of that right. "Pursue any...what?"
Azvalath chuckled bitterly. "Isn't it a bit soon to put Kolo on the hunt, Master Qila?"
Then she understood. And she laughed.
She'd be hunting someone the same way Azvalath had hunted her.
What delightful irony.
"I understand this might be difficult for you, Kolo." Qila finger-combed her gray hair. "If you'd prefer it, I can override this order and put you on a different task."
Kolo looked up and down, then clenched her fingers. Her heart fluttered.
"Any questions?" Qila asked.
With a twisted smile, Kolo turned back toward Qila. "Only when we begin."