Week 16

  By the time Calanthe finished arranging the last of her medical supplies, the sun had already begun its slow descent behind the walls of Chang'An.

  She wiped her brow, then stepped back to admire the fruits of two hours’ labor: three sturdy shelves made from local camphor wood, a battered but perfectly serviceable examination table, and a screen of woven reeds to mark off the treatment area.

  “Tell me again,” Briar said, arms full of linen bandages, “how we expect to make any money if you keep insisting on this ‘pay what you can afford’ nonsense?”

  Callie suppressed a sigh. “Because, as I’ve already explained, nothing short of outright extortion would convince the locals to let a foreigner set up shop. If we don’t ask for money directly, then we won’t be accused of running an unlicensed Medical Hall. Hopefully.”

  Briar wasn’t remotely convinced. “You do realize you’ll be seen as more of a threat if you charge nothing, right?” She thumped her bundle onto the nearest shelf, and started folding some linen gauze. “At this rate, we’ll be living on leftover millet and pondweed again by week’s end.”

  From behind the reed screen, Tanith’s voice drifted out, soft and precise. “Some would consider the promise of affordable medical care a greater reward than coin.” The sound of mortar grinding against pestle punctuated her words. “And speaking as the person who keeps our books, I’d rather see us solvent than rich.”

  Briar stuck out her tongue, unseen, and resumed folding.

  The door creaked, and Zhao Tong entered, ducking his head to avoid the lintel. He was freshly shaved and dressed in his best tunic, the kind he reserved for formal audiences, which meant only one thing: something serious had happened.

  He set his spear against the wall and bowed slightly to Calanthe. “The city watch will be sending an officer to inspect the premises. They are, ah, skeptical that a practitioner of your description possesses legitimate credentials.”

  Callie grinned. “That’s fair. I don’t have any. Yet. I never did finish my third mission for the Healer’s Guild.”

  Zhao Tong shook his head, half-defeated. “If you say so.”

  He lingered near the doorway, fingers drumming on his belt. Briar caught the nervous tic immediately. “Out with it, big guy. You’ve got news.”

  He hesitated, then glanced toward the back room, where the soft scuff of footsteps betrayed its occupant. “My sister is… fully herself, for the first time since the treatment.”

  All three of them paused.

  “That’s wonderful,” Callie said.

  “She asked for me to stay with her. To help her save our clan.”

  Briar gave him a sideways glance. “You thinking about leaving?”

  He nodded, once. “Yes. She needs someone she trusts.”

  Tanith stepped from behind the screen, wiping her hands on a cloth. “Will you come back?”

  Zhao Tong’s smile was faint, but real. “Once she is stable. And if you will have me.”

  Briar reached out and poked his bicep, as if testing a melon for ripeness. “If you’re not back in a month, I’m raiding your personal stash of fermented plums.”

  A rare laugh rumbled from him.

  “Don’t worry, Zhao,” Callie said, brushing aside his unspoken worries. “I’m planning to spend some quiet time in Chang’An earning 10XP per patient. We’ll still be here when you return from wherever you’re heading off to.”

  Callie took a deep breath and turned to her friends. “Clinic opens at dawn,” she said. “Let’s see if we can bankrupt ourselves before noon.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  The others groaned, but followed her lead, as they always did.

  ***

  Week 17

  Five days later, Briar sat cross-legged on a battered cushion, her entire attention consumed by the Blue Ledger. She was using her best handwriting to record the 152 things the Bai Ze had endowed Callie with just over a month ago.

  Callie flopped onto the mattress. “You know, you could always just ask me whenever it catches your fancy. I remember every single line. It’s a Bai Ze thing.”

  Briar didn’t look up. “I write it, I learn it.” She finished the sentence she was transcribing, then licked her finger and turned to Callie. “Let me see,” she said.

  “Number three. The ritual to coax a shadowcat out of a mirror using only lullabies sung backward.

  Number fourteen. The ritual to summon the shared dream of Guanyin and Sophia; granting one question answered in perfect clarity. Place your hands in water drawn from a well that has never run dry, into which someone once wept without shame. Speak your question. Not aloud, not in thought, but in the space between one heartbeat and the next, when you are certain you do not want the answer…blah blah blah.

  Number fifty-five. Ash-Calling the Phoenix and the Bennu. By burning myrrh, cassia, and a single feather from a Zero Sparrow that died at dawn; one can summon a shared avatar of the Chinese fenghuang and the Egyptian Bennu. It grants one command over rebirth; but only once in a lifetime, and only for another, never oneself.

  Briar summarized. “Most are ridiculous like number three, and the rest are virtually impossible to perform because of the ingredients or circumstances or because they’re obviously nonsense meant as filler.”

  “Don’t sell Uncle Bai Ze short,” Callie replied yawning. “We each got ten million XP from healing Nüba and we couldn’t have done it without the Bai Ze’s hint. I’m like Level 35 again.”

  Callie felt like she should flex her bicep to show much stronger she was feeling but laziness overcame her. She started nodding to sleep as she spoke. “Anyway, didn’t Uncle Bai Ze say that the most any one person would really need in his or her life would be three out of the one hundred and fifty-two things… ?”

  “By the way,” she said yawning again. “Since dropping below Level 30 and releveling above it after treating Nüba, I can now choose two branching paths on the Healing Tree. I’ve chosen Verdant Weave (Level 35) and Aetheric Loom (Level 32). Add that to the ledger… “

  Callie fell asleep before she could continue.

  ***

  A sharp knock at the door brought Callie back.

  Briar looked up, startled.

  The knock came again, this time accompanied by a voice so formal it could have been chiseled from marble: “Open, in the name of the Axiomatic Kernel.”

  Callie sat up. “Tanith,” she called. “Visitors.”

  There was a rustle from the cot in the corner, followed by the soft slap of bare feet on wood. Tanith emerged, spectacles askew. She straightened her robe, and said, “I’ll handle this.”

  Tanith opened the door.

  Two mages stood on the landing, both in the formal robes of the Kernel. The first was a man in his fifties, sharp-cheeked and unsmiling. The second was a woman, younger and with a mouth set in a permanent line of disapproval.

  They regarded Tanith in silence, then the man spoke. “Professor. Your presence is required for our maneuvers on the Glass Road.”

  Tanith was expressionless but clearly unimpressed. “I am no longer a Professor. And I am currently engaged in an independent research contract.”

  The woman cut in. “This is not a request. Your expertise is needed to protect the World Tortoise.”

  From the next room, Callie could see Tanith’s hands clench, the air around her shimmering with suppressed heat.

  She forced her voice to calm. “I am not subject to your conscription.”

  The man’s lip twitched. “The Grand Axiom disagrees.”

  There was a long, tense silence.

  At last, Tanith bowed, very slightly. “I will consider your summons.”

  The man was having none of this. “Professor. We have clarified the urgency of your assignment. You are to report for service within the hour.”

  Tanith’s expression didn’t change. “No. I will not.”

  The mage’s lips pressed thin. “This is not up for debate. The fate of Esharra depends on your compliance.”

  The woman stepped forward. “If it is a matter of resources, the Grand Axiom is prepared to reinstate your stipend, with full seniority and research privileges.”

  Tanith’s fingers flexed, the knuckles whitening. “And what exactly is the mission?”

  The man was ready for this. “A simple deinfestation. You will accompany an elite team to intercept any demonic nodes corrupting the Way, and eradicate them. If successful, your record will be cleared and your… ” he paused, eyes darting to Callie, “…associates will be permitted to remain in Chang’An under your personal recognizance.”

  Briar made a rude gesture behind a fern.

  For a moment, no one moved. The clinic filled with the slow, inexorable swell of heat, as if the sun itself had crept indoors. The air curled and shifted around Tanith who stood unmoved and unmoving.

  “I see.” The man’s smile was thin as a wire. “We anticipated recalcitrance.”

  He raised his right palm, and with a snap of his wrist, invisible bands of force pressed in from every direction, pinning Tanith’s limbs to her sides and rooting her feet to the floor.

  Briar gasped, diving to Ember’s side, ready to unleash him.

  The female mage advanced on Tanith, preparing an Ice containment spell. A sadistic smile flickered across her lips. “I’ll try to make this as painless as possible.”