"You've been pretty quiet lately."

  I stepped out of my soul-space and into the courtyard, the familiar weight of spiritual reality settling back over me. Ted was pacing in tight circles while Dawn perched on the stone railing, her legs swinging.

  My voice cut through whatever mental spiral Ted had been caught in. He jerked his head up, and I glimpsed the cosmic display above us—stars and nebulae swirling in impossible patterns—just before it winked out of existence. This time, at least, I wasn't completely knocked on my ass when I looked at whatever cosmic database Ted used.

  "Huh?" Ted blinked, refocusing on me. "Oh... yeah, sorry about that. Dawn and I have been chatting about just how she's even here."

  I hopped up onto the railing next to Dawn, the cool stone solid beneath me. "Any luck?"

  Ted shrugged, taking a long pull from his flask. "Not more than you know, I think. Those Caretaker bastards you told me about branded her into your soul. Dawn's being frustratingly tight-lipped about questions I can't seem to find answers to, though." He gestured vaguely with the flask. "Which, frankly? Something's up, kid. First it was Hollowflame, then it was Dragons and their connections to the Spirit Realm and Towers. Nothing out there about any of that." He pointed at the sky where the stars had been. "But that's not even the big one."

  "What is?" I asked.

  "Arcadians," Dawn whispered, so quietly I almost missed it.

  "Exactly." Ted's voice carried an edge of frustration I rarely heard from him. "The name is familiar—I've heard it before, I just know it. But no matter where I dig, there's nothing of value on this side. Plenty of bullshit stories, sure, but now that I'm really looking hard at them? They're fake."

  "What do you mean?"

  Ted cleared his throat, his voice taking on a mock-academic tone. "Tarry a moment and hearken the tale of the Golden Explorer, the Arcadian who discovered the ruins of the ancient Ursine beast-kin's three-tiered city. Where each tier was built for differently sized inhabitants, the middle level suggesting an ancient understanding of optimal living spaces. Until the people thought long gone returned to investigate the disturbance, resulting in a lengthy battle ending in the Arcadian's defeat." He paused, eyebrow raised. "What does that sound like?"

  I stared at him blankly. Dawn snickered beside me.

  Ted's expression was deadpan. "That's Goldilocks and the Three Bears, kid. There's dozens of them out there. The Seven Guardians and the Crystal Maiden, the Beanstalk Ascension Texts..."

  "I like the Three Fortress Methodologies," Dawn added with obvious amusement. Ted got a distant look for a moment, probably cross-referencing that one.

  "The Three Little Pigs?" Ted's voice climbed an octave. "What the hell is going on, Dawn? None of this shit is real, and the only reason I can tell is because Ben's memories already know them all as bedtime stories."

  The weight of that hit me. Every spiritually "historical" Arcadian account was just a twisted version of Earth fairy tales?

  "Gary said dragon memories share knowledge across the multiverse," I offered, grasping for answers. "Could we ask him? He called the towers Signal Towers, so there has to be more to it."

  Ted shrugged, but his eyes stayed sharp. "Worth a shot, but this feels deliberate, kid. The Arcadians never existed. Someone made them up."

  A realization slammed into me—another group of people wasn't supposed to exist either. The words tumbled out before I could stop them. "Do you think…"

  "Humans are not Arcadian." Dawn's voice carried a finality that made my heart sink into my boots. Well, at least that question was answered.

  Ted's eyes narrowed at Dawn. "There's something you're not telling us. I know it."

  Dawn turned her gaze from the artificial sun overhead toward Valor perched on the distant mountaintop. "There are many things I'm not telling you. But Valor is more important."

  I followed her gaze—and immediately felt goosebumps ripple across what I could only describe as my spiritual skin. Was that even possible?

  "Uh." I pointed toward the mountaintop, my voice smaller than I intended. "That's a lot bigger than I remember."

  The progression from Valor sitting in my soul-space doorway to perching atop the mountain had been one thing. But now? Now it had transformed into a small replica of that colossal blue and white sun I'd seen with my mind's eye while awake. It smoldered, radiating heat and light so intense I could barely look directly at it. Threads of white energy arced outward in solar prominences, lashing against the mountain below and sending chunks of stone tumbling into the ocean.

  "It uses my power to grow unchecked," Dawn said matter-of-factly.

  Ted sighed, his tone shifting back toward the gruff mentor I knew better. "Yeah, about that, kid. I think before you can say you've mastered Valor, you're gonna have to remind it that it's your power—not the other way around."

  I turned back to Ted, remembering how Valor had forced me to stop my attack on Zachary. The memory sent another chill down my spine. "And how am I supposed to do that? I thought I was supposed to be Valor."

  Ted resumed his pacing, feet slapping against the courtyard stone while Dawn watched him with the intensity of a cat tracking prey.

  "You have to be your version of Valor, you know? On your terms, not whatever it decides." He gestured vaguely at the burning mountain. "With Dawn's power feeding it though... that might be easier said than done. And letting it influence you out there probably isn't helping."

  A mounting sense of dread crept up from my stomach as I tried to grasp what he was telling me. "It's a battle for my soul?" The words came out as barely more than a whisper.

  "Yes," Dawn confirmed, her voice carrying no comfort whatsoever.

  "This isn't normal," Ted added, stopping his pacing to fix me with a serious look. "When Dawn saved you, a bunch of shit happened that threw fuel on the fire. You were doing great before, but now..." He shook his head. "You gotta put it in its place, kid. It's supposed to be a balance, but right now Valor is way ahead."

  The dread in my stomach turned to ice. "What happens if I lose?"

  Ted shrugged, but his casual gesture didn't match the worry in his eyes. "I only know it from this side, but normally you'd stall out. Some soul-burn, a bad time, probably the collapse of your Seal. You'd be starting over from scratch." He pointed back toward the ball of blue and white fire. "But..." Another prominence lashed out as we watched, carving a glowing scar down the mountainside. "I don't see that thing collapsing any time soon."

  "Your Eidolon is rooted in Valor."

  Dawn's now third matter-of-fact statement snapped me out of my spiral into panic.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Ted's face went pale. "She means you're both fighting to exist, and right now you're getting a preview of what happens if you lose. You'll stop being yourself for the most part, and you here?" He gestured around the courtyard. "I have no idea what would happen to us. And that scares the shit out of me."

  "Oh good," I said sarcastically, sitting down on the ground, shifting my gaze between the blue ball of fire and the golden fractal sun in the sky. "Get stronger or die trying."

  Morning light filtered through my room's windows as I woke, and this time I actively shoved back against Valor's creeping sense of assuredness. The Seal kept trying to worm its way into my thoughts, making me feel confident about a situation I definitely should be worried about. I needed something that would burn through massive amounts of mana, repeatedly, so I could expand my pathways as fast as possible.

  Rolling out of bed, I manifested yesterday's clothes and retrieved my manascript from my soul-space. Diana's neat handwriting outlined my schedule—apparently I had a personal lesson with her this morning in her office. Maybe she could help. She was clearly leagues beyond most Runebinders at the Academy, but how was I supposed to explain my situation?

  The whole thing felt strange, keeping Dawn and my spiritual side mostly secret. But with Arryava somehow showing up inside my soul-space, the cat was basically already out of the bag. Why was I still keeping it quiet, anyway?

  Red stretched dramatically from his sleeping position on the bed, arching his back until it looked like he might snap in half.

  The question came through our bond along with images of bacon.

  I shook my head, glancing toward Katie's still-sleeping form. "Diana has a lesson for me shortly," I whispered. "You can grab breakfast with Cass?"

  Red's tail wagged once before he flopped his head onto Katie's shoulder. She mumbled something incoherent and rolled over, still dead to the world.

  In the common room's kitchen area, I found Malcolm already up and tinkering with his Bunsen burner contraption. The sharp scent of heated metal filled the air.

  "Hey Malcolm, is it not working?" I asked, pointing to the device.

  "No, it's working too well, actually." He gestured at a small pot with a perfectly round hole melted clean through the bottom. "Turns out I need better temperature control."

  I raised an eyebrow. "Did you put water in the pot before heating it?"

  He shrugged, looking slightly sheepish. "I wanted to heat it up first. Plus, if I'm going to scale this up to help you and Cass make beer, I need to figure out some kind of flow control mechanism."

  Pulling two steaming mugs from my soul-space, I handed him one along with the coffee-making stand I'd cobbled together back in La-Roc. "I used this with lantern orbs underneath to heat water. Maybe it can hold a pot for testing?"

  Malcolm nodded, then immediately took way too large a gulp of coffee and winced. "Thanks! That's going to make experimenting a lot easier."

  I produced a bag of roasted coffee beans from Mo-Lei. "Think you can make more coffee once you get it figured out? I need to head to Diana's office."

  Malcolm's grin was answer enough. "I thought you'd never ask. You hoard that stuff worse than..." He stopped himself from saying Dara, understanding the consequences.

  After saying goodbye, I slipped out of our suite and used my bracelet to open a door directly into the hallway outside Diana's office. The familiar weight of her presence pressed against my aura even through the closed doors.

  "Come in, you're late," Diana's voice carried through the heavy doors.

  Shrugging, I pushed into the familiar room to find Diana seated behind her massive wooden desk, already looking irritated.

  "How the hell should I know what time it is?" I laughed, approaching her desk. "I haven't seen a clock or timepiece anywhere since I got here."

  She narrowed her eyes at me. "Have you thought to, oh I don't know, check your fucking manascript?"

  To my credit, I hesitated for only a second before pulling out the device and flicking through the white characters until they settled on the time. Military notation—which made sense with thirty-six-hour days. I was indeed several minutes late.

  "Well, shit. We even had something similar on Earth, but I never thought…"

  "Exactly. You didn't think." Diana stood and stretched, the motion sharp with irritation. "And that's becoming a problem. Half the shit going on is because you weren't thinking."

  Today she wore a light yellow dress with green accents, her long white hair twisted up in an elaborate bun that somehow made her look even more intimidating.

  "I didn't really have much to do with Maris's vendetta," I said, settling into the chair across from her desk.

  Diana wheeled around the desk and leaned against it, arms crossed. "Telling off an heir to the Empire, for one. But most notably, whatever the fuck you said to Arryava." Her eyes bored into mine. "There are things you aren't telling me about what happened that night. Arryava won't tell me either, so it's your turn."

  I winced at the accusation. Arryava had found out, but I hadn't told anyone else about Dawn or the Eidolon situation. If anyone was going to help me, it was Diana. A weight I hadn’t realized I'd been carrying suddenly pressed down on my shoulders.

  "You might want to sit down," I said.

  Diana's smile started as if she was about to laugh, but something in my expression made her reconsider. She strolled over to her chair, lifted it effortlessly, and slammed it down in front of the desk with a sharp crack. Settling into it, she pulled a steaming cup of tea from her mana sanctum.

  "It's about fucking time, Ben. If I didn't have thousands of my own secrets, I might be hurt."

  I nodded, relief already seeping through me. "Sorry about that, seriously. I only recently sorted some of this out myself. I have several questions too that I think you might know more about. Question for question?"

  Diana's grin turned predatory. "You go first. Wait…" She gestured to the chair beside me without looking. "Just fucking sit down with us, Dara. Your snooping is irritating me."

  I hadn't felt a thing with my aura, but suddenly, Dara was sitting in the chair next to me, making a loud scoffing noise.

  "I wasn't snooping," she crossed her arms defensively. "I was merely checking for any threats to the Academy's safety."

  Diana shook her head. "You ask first, Ben. Don't worry about Dara—if what I've been told is true, then you and I both know she can be trusted."

  I wasn't entirely sure what she meant, but that mostly confirmed Diana knew about dragons. Why wouldn't she, given that Dara practically answered her beck and call?

  "What's a Sage?" The question tumbled out before I could second-guess it. Arryava had been called that repeatedly, but something nagged at the back of my mind about how Diana had referred to her as the 'Sage of Joy.'

  "Fucking hell, Ben." Diana pinched the bridge of her nose. "Have you ever heard of foreplay? It's always straight to the point with you." She sighed. "A Sage is like a Titan, but more spiritual. Hopefully you remember that the Emperor of the North Shores is the Titan of Law. Since a Titan can keep Rune Lords in check, Arryava could theoretically be an actual threat to the Empire as a whole. She’s far beyond most Runebinders in terms of power, basically a God by comparison."

  "I thought the gods were dead?" Arryava was definitely animated and strange, but she was still a person.

  Diana sighed. "I'll allow the dumbass follow-up because of my choice of words. Yes, as far as we know, the gods are gone. But that doesn't make what a Titan or Sage can do any less wondrous." Her voice took on a harder edge. "Arryava can enter souls, Ben. Her knowledge of the spiritual realm has no equal on Ark. Not even close. Someone with that sort of power just stepped behind you in support. So I'm really going to need to know what the fuck happened on that rain-slicked rooftop. Even Maris was tight-lipped about it, and Grace allowed it."

  I leaned back in my chair, feeling the weight of the moment. "I actually knew that Arryava could do that soul thing. She and I had a very odd chat in mine the other day."

  Diana's lips pursed into a tight line. "I'm going to want to know more about what the fuck that even means, but first I need to know…" She gestured at my eye. "Alexander says he saw you die."

  My eyes widened, and I couldn't help but smile. "I think I came literally a heartbeat away from it, yeah."

  Diana leaned forward, tension radiating from every line of her body. I felt something lighter settle in my chest as I resolved to tell her everything I remembered. Even more than I'd told Cass.

  "I swore an oath to an avatar of the Runeforged Realm of Light, I think? Pretty sure the Shi'an shoved her into my soul for some reason. Her name's Dawn, by the way." The words came faster now, the dam breaking. "She moved into my soul full-time after saving me, and in the process I became an Eidolon, which basically means my body and soul are... the same thing now." I paused, taking in their expressions. "You good, Diana? Dara?"

  Diana's blank stare and Dara's knowing smirk told me she knew and hadn't bothered to mention it to Diana. Come to think of it, Randall had said I felt a lot more substantial to him. Why wouldn't Dara have known? Oh, well—Arryava was supposed to be here soon, and I'd needed to tell someone.

  "Oh, can someone actually explain what a Beast King is?" I asked, since it was my turn for questions.

  Diana sighed, and Dara's smirk turned into a full grin as she watched the Archon of Sylvarus grapple with answering my question and wanting to ask follow-ups. I honestly enjoyed seeing her finally speechless.

  "Hey, is there anything to eat?" I asked.

  I was just being an asshole. Diana's eye was twitching slightly, and Dara looked on the edge of laughter.

  Instead of answering, Diana got up and walked back around her desk, reaching into a compartment. She returned with a thick glass bottle filled with straw-colored liquid and took a long pull straight from the bottle.

  "I need to be more than sitting down for this." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Let's start at swearing an oath..."