Luccello’s feathers ruffled, light leaked around him as his fury rose. “What have you done, you fool? This is the master’s sanctuary. He’s not allowed here!”

  “I’m more curious how you got in without turning into smoked meat,” Pairi added, eyeing Skye with suspicion.

  “What’s this place?” Skye walked to the shelves, gazing at the orbs. “What are these?”

  “They are my legends,” Ku said with a smile. “Did you hear everything?”

  “I did,” Skye admitted without shame. “But I only understood what Rico translated. Is it true? That man was a student of yours, and now he’s dead?”

  The master nodded.

  “What happens to him now?”

  “His journey is complete, and his story is ended. He now awaits trial at the Twin Gates.”

  “I hope you meet him again in heaven. Will the same happen to me when I die?”

  “It will. Unless you choose to remove my spell.”

  “No, I want to keep it! It’s the best gift anyone’s ever given me, and won’t give it up for anything in the world.”

  The master’s smile widened.

  Pairi cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt this heartfelt moment, but my question remains unanswered. The maze’s traps activate for anyone whose fantasia isn’t cleared. How did you make it through?”

  “I’ll tell you!” Rico blurted, bouncing with excitement. “You’ll be so amazed your feathers will fall off, I promise! Show them, Skye.”

  Skye raised his palm, revealing an iridescent feather. A look of concentration passed over his face as he channeled, and the feather merged seamlessly into his skin.

  “Impossible,” Luccello breathed. “Fauna too?”

  “I haven’t been this shocked since I was struck by lightning,” Pairi said.

  Luccello’s gaze shifted from the boy’s proud smile to his astonished master, who rose from his seat. Skye’s ability to merge with fantastical flora was already extraordinary; adding magical fauna was beyond anything he’d ever seen.

  Who is this boy? Who cursed him and why?

  “I am amazed,” Master Ku admitted, taking Skye’s hand and examining it closely. “I sensed you coming, but I didn’t know how. Your fantasia’s wavelength has synchronized with Rico’s.”

  Skye grinned wider. “I don’t know what that means, but I bet it’s awesome. This will give me access to more powers, right?”

  “Most abilities exist in both the plant and animal kingdoms,” Ku explained. “But a rare few are exclusive to one. I wonder what possibilities this merging opens.”

  A chill ran down Luccello’s spine. The master’s tone was too curious, his gaze too intent. They couldn’t afford any missteps, not with the red-haired man monitoring them somehow.

  “That’s not all!” Rico piped up. “Tell them about the book, Skye!” He cut in before the boy could answer. “He can read Federian! Not fluently, just some words. Isn’t that amazing?”

  “Would that help narrow down where I’m from?” Skye asked.

  “Knowing Federian is like liking chocolate,” Pairi said. “Sure, some mad folk don’t enjoy it, but almost everyone does.”

  “Pairi’s right,” Luccello said. “This does not narrow down our search. And your curse would expunge any records that might identify you.”

  “Yet it remains a lead,” Master Ku said. “It confirms your origins lie outside Troqua.”

  Skye nodded determinedly. “That’s good enough for me.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Poor boy, Luccello thought. His task might be as impossible as ours.

  A whooshing sound arrived as Ka’ib emerged from the shadows outside this room. When the large raven saw Skye, he almost collided with a shelf.

  Settling high among the orbs, Ka’ib cawed. “My brethren watch the city. Houses stand under sky, unattacked. Guards patrol, many. Three days past, caravan ambushed, half dead, half return.”

  “Thank you, Ka’ib, and thank your brethren,” Ku said.

  “We serve master.”

  “How about Ficar?” Skye asked eagerly. “He has yellow hair, and his chin looks like this.” He pinched his chin. “Have you seen him?”

  Ka’ib flapped his wings irritably. “Foolish fool! All Adamians look same.”

  “I hope your friend made it back alive,” Rico offered.

  Silently, Skye glared at the wall beside him as if some invisible ghost had insulted his mother.

  Master Ku turned to the floating pieces of the broken asterism, his expression clouded. He wouldn’t succeed tonight, just as he hadn’t for the past fifteen years. But he needed the distraction.

  Luccello flew down to perch near Skye. “You should go to bed now. The master has duties still.”

  “I have a favor to ask first.” Skye stepped forward. “Master Ku, will you teach me how to channel?”

  “Not while I breathe!” Luccello replied at once. “The master’s busy with matters far more important.”

  “Maybe you should ask again when he’s finished,” Pairi added lazily. “Could be a few months. Or decades.”

  “Please, please, master,” Rico pleaded, jumping excitedly.

  “Why do you want to learn?” the master asked.

  “So many reasons,” Skye said. “I want to feel what it’s like to fly. I want to go on adventures. But most of all, I want to become strong enough to save my friends.”

  Ku tapped his cane, humming thoughtfully.

  Luccello watched in growing horror. The master was actually mulling over stopping his research and breaching the imprisonment pact, just to teach this Adamian boy.

  That was unacceptable.

  Someone had to voice some reason before the master made his mind. Ka’ib would never question the master. Pairi couldn’t care less. And Rico was too na?ve to grasp what was at stake. His tail wagged like a leaf in a storm; he just wanted a play-mate.

  It’s up to me, Luccello realized If I don’t stop this, fifteen years of effort would be wasted.

  “What do you think, Luccello?” Master Ku asked.

  Luccello raised his head, his crown of feathers aglow with pride. The master had requested his opinion, and only his. Luccello wanted to voice his rejection again, to give reasons for why the boy must be refused. But the pleading in his master’s eyes gave him pause.

  He wasn’t just asking for advice; he wanted permission to take a student after a long fast from teaching.

  Why? Why throw the fate of the Dunya into my wings?

  Ku Lala, his adopted father, the kind scholar who’d spent centuries helping others, a powerful, and respected channeler, was now reduced to a broken old man, crying in solitude. Teaching had always been his solace, and he’d been deprived of it for too long.

  Could he be relying on the boy’s curse to avoid repercussions? It could work. If anyone could offer Ku the temporary relief he needed, it was this cursed child.

  “The best way to give the people of Troqua a chance to survive is to help Skye,” Luccello said at last, already regretting his decision.

  Ku’s face lit with a genuine smile. “It’s settled then. I will train you.”

  “Really?!” Skye and Rico shouted together. Laughing, Rico wrapped his wings around Skye, and they jumped in a joyous dance.

  Pairi fluttered closer to Luccello. “You know he only asked your opinion so you wouldn’t sulk about it later.”

  “Shut up, Pairi,” Luccello snapped.

  Once freed from Rico’s embrace, Skye dashed to Ku and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, master! I promise I’ll be the best student you’ve ever had!”

  “You’d better be,” Ku said with a chuckle, straightening the boy’s messy hair. “I’m known to be a strict tutor.”

  “Can we start now? I want to learn how to shoot fireballs! Oh, and fly on winds! And command lightning! Do you think I could learn three elements by tomorrow?”

  The master laughed vigorously, like a man freed from prison. Luccello couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his master so happy.

  “We will discuss which element you’ll start with early tomorrow,” the master said. “Now, Ka’ib, please escort Skye back to his room.”

  “Yes, master.”

  Skye looked less than happy with his companion. “Rico can take me back.”

  “I need Rico here.”

  Spreading his shadowy membranes, Ka’ib flew out the vault without a word.

  “I suggest you hurry,” Pairi said. “You wouldn’t like getting lost in the maze with all its monsters and traps.”

  Looking aghast, Skye fused with Rico’s feather, and darted after the raven.

  The master beckoned Rico closer. “Have you mentioned the Federacy to Skye? Any factions or locations?”

  “No, we rushed here directly when we found he could merge with my feather.”

  “Good. It’s vital he learns nothing of the Dunya for now.”

  Rico tilted his head. “Why?”

  Ku sighed. “My order has searched for the Keeper of Secrets for centuries without success. Skye is in… a fragile mental state, grieving, doubting, afraid. I worry if he were to know how vast this Dunya is, how difficult his task is, he’d lose all hope. He needs focus and strength first. Once he has something to rely upon, to be proud of, I’ll tell him everything.”

  Pairi nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll make sure Ka’ib knows not to share anything either.”

  Rico’s tail drooped. “I feel bad for him. But at least he’ll miss out on all those boring history lessons.”

  “What will you do now master,” Luccello asked. “Will you sleep or work on the asterism?”

  The master stroked his beard. “Neither. I have a new student, and I must prepare his curriculum.”

  ?????Days until Green Eve: 20?????

  END OF PART TWO