Soon enough, they hurtled over the Tatian landscape, clinging to the sides of the giant acorn. Their previous trip had been at night, but now that Theo could see the farms and villages blurring underneath them, he was startled by how quickly it moved. Perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised, as it was fueled by a Ruler's cantae, but the wind against the front end was fierce.

Only Nanjuma stood atop it, fully focused on taking them toward the gate. The rest of their group clung to the back side of the vessel, carrying Navim's body along with them. Fiyu had refused to leave, always keeping one hand on the ropes as if worried he would slip away. Theo and Magnafor had locked each other in place with their statements, so they were obligated to join the group.

Nauda and two Farmguards had come with them, and Theo wasn't sure how to feel about that. If he'd been thinking faster, he could have asked Nauda to stay back, interrogating Kuber and checking if Magnafor had any accomplices in the school. But there hadn't been time, and it was equally possible that Magnafor intended to do everything himself, which meant that having Nauda along would be a good thing.

"We are still some time from the gate," Nanjuma said, making his voice carry despite the wind. "Once we emerge on the other side, where do we go next?"

Though Theo looked to Magnafor, it was actually Fiyu who responded. "He told me that he fell into Tatian while doing a survey of gemspires to the southwest of his school. I do not know where the gate is, but if we can locate the gemspires, we can find our way."

"Good enough." Nanjuma bent down and their speed seemed to increase even more.

For a time they flew in silence, the wind shearing away all attempts at conversation. But eventually Nauda carefully climbed along the side, finding a better seat close to him. She didn't make eye contact, but she slumped in her chair in his direction, speaking so that he could just barely hear her over the wind.

"You think that this is Magnafor's plan?"

"I think he's improvising." Theo resisted the urge to look over at him and just leaned back so their heads were closer together. "What about Kuber? I don't think he intended to hurt Navim, but do you think he would betray us?"

"He feels like he's failing his family." Nauda's sigh was immediately caught in the wind. "Though he didn't say much, communities thrive on rumor. His grandmother was an Archcrafter and there was a Ruler in his distant extended family. If he was promised a path to power, I think he'd take it and not think about the consequences."

"That armament is serious. Do you know anything about it?"

"A great grandparent who became a Ruler spent their life crafting a perfect armament for Archcrafters. But do you really expect that to be relevant? You saw how horrified he was."

"I'm not sure." Theo closed his eyes and tried to think back over everything. None of it made any sense unless there was another piece on the table. In the confusion of the preparations, Magnafor had been able to slip away briefly and could have sent any number of messages. Everything hinged on unknown variables, and he didn't see any way to find them.

Hopefully, at minimum, they would be able to get Navim back home in time. Theo looked over toward the bundle, though he couldn't see the core at the center. It had been more cracked when last he saw it, but not beginning to fall apart. In the past, he'd known a Mundhin warrior who survived for days with a nearly shattered sphere, so he hoped Navim would live.

When at last they reached the gate, it was larger than he expected, an arc apparently made from tree roots that towered over the surrounding villages. Though the surface was clouded by a yellow haze, he could just see a rocky landscape on the other side. He spotted Farmguards on duty below, but they looked relaxed, working more to keep anyone from harming themselves than repelling an attack. Nanjuma swept down to them, explained, and jumped back before their vessel even arrived, so they flew directly through.

Instantly Theo winced as the sun seared straight through him. Unlike the warm sun of Tatian, which glowed softly even when you looked directly into it, the white hot Arbaian sun was blistering. It loomed overhead, scouring his skin even before the first sand stung his face. The air itself felt unbelievably dry, as if water wasn't even a distant memory.

Several of the Farmguards groaned and winced, but Theo had been mostly prepared. More importantly, he thought he saw the bundle of Navim's body shift slightly. Just being back in Arbai would probably help him a bit, as the dry environment was as healthy for Mundhin as it was hostile to most other species.

"The sand is painful, even from up here." Nauda began using a small amount of cantae to defend herself from the stinging particles and Theo followed suit. "What about you, Fiyu? Are you okay?"

"It's awful." Though Fiyu had an arm over her eyes, she hadn't cried out and still looked alert. "If you hadn't helped me soulcraft a window, this would be hell..."

Theo almost wished he had a window of his own, because even to his eyes the light was blinding. He shielded them and peered below, getting a better look at the landscape as his eyes adjusted. It was nothing but rocks, yes, but not just rocks. They floated over a region with great striations of blue and red stone, and ahead of them he saw a massive plateau that appeared to be riddled with tunnels, perhaps even civilization.

Though it was far away on foot, they were still moving at great speed. Theo was just beginning to hope that they would get Navim back safely when a beam of purple fire tore directly through their vessel.

Instantly it tumbled to the side, its momentum sending it spinning violently. It was all Theo could do to grab the side and make sure Navim didn't smash against anything, but they were spiraling downward. Fortunately, Nanjuma acted with great speed, green light wrapping around the acorn and two of the Farmguards who had fallen, guiding them all gently to the ground.

Another line of purple fire struck him directly.

An emerald aura lit up around Nanjuma, deflecting the attack, but the force of it propelled him across the rocky landscape. In the moment he had to look up, Theo didn't see any further beams of purple fire, but he knew they must be under attack by a Ruler, and perhaps other soulcrafters. They wouldn't have attacked from a distance like that if they had overwhelming force, but it still didn't look good.

Then they hit the ground, jarringly but not catastrophically thanks to Nanjuma's aura. Once it faded out, however, there was nothing more forthcoming. Theo felt the ground shudder some distance away and assumed that a battle had begun, but there was no time to think about that.

First, he checked that Navim hadn't broken apart further, but the Farmguards had bundled him well. The sphere had been banged around a bit, but his rapid shifts in the gravitational field had managed to keep it from smashing into anything. Suspecting a threat without having any sense of one, Theo carefully lowered Navim's body to the ground.

Around him, he saw that most of the others had scattered. Nauda was pulling herself up by her staff, apparently unharmed, while Fiyu stood with her hands at her sides, ready for an attack. The Farmguards looked more dazed... and beyond them, Magnafor was fleeing over the rocks.

Theo sprinted after him before he consciously decided to. This couldn't be a master plan or a pure coincidence, which meant that Magnafor had to adapt his schemes to the circumstances. It wouldn't take much to stop him, if he acted at the perfect moment.

As they sprinted over the rocks, Theo realized several things. First, they were definitely running back toward the gate, which suggested that Magnafor intended to make his attempt on the vault now. Second, he'd slipped into thinking that his goal was to stop Magnafor without thinking about it.

If they had been in a direct competition, that would have made sense, but he had the option of just ignoring Magnafor. He didn't really care what the other man did, and it could end up having nothing to do with him. Most likely no one would even be harmed, though if the soulcrafter who had attacked Nanjuma wasn't a coincidence, that suggested hiring mercenaries. The conflict between them definitely mattered less than Navim's life, but-

Then there was a man thrusting knives toward his face.

Theo had no time to counterattack, he just threw himself downward. The knives barely missed him and he managed to cancel his weight just before he fell very far, bouncing off the ground at a low speed. Though he wanted to keep sprinting, the rapid shift disoriented him, plus there was still a man racing after him with a pair of cantae knives.

Suddenly that man grunted and froze in place. For a split second Theo was puzzled, not seeing an attack and just looking over him. It was a Fithan soulcrafter wearing ragged leather armor. His motionless knives looked as though they had been well cared-for but heavily used, so possibly a mercenary down on his luck.

"Go!" The call was Nauda, forcing him to focus again. She stood behind them, her staff thrust out to bind the attacker in place. Theo immediately returned to his sprint, doing his best to catch up to Magnafor. He realized that he could move faster if he pushed off the ground and then canceled his gravity, which let him soar over uneven ridges that would otherwise slow him down.

Still, it was going to be close. He started to catch up to Magnafor just as they reached the gate, which was a smooth arch of stone from this side. Theo returned to running normally since he didn't want to blunder into an attack, but Magnafor seemed completely focused on escaping until they both broke into Tatian.

The wet air immediately enveloped him like a mist, but there was no time to think about that. Theo thrust out a hand, slamming a gravitational field down on top of Magnafor. His opponent grunted and his torso folded slightly, but he didn't fall.

"How much of this was your plan?" Theo asked. "Did you really hire mercenaries to attack us?"

"Why would I answer you?" Light flickered around Magnafor's hand, forming the shape of a gauntlet, and he immediately straightened.

Theo's eyes widened as he realized that Magnafor was entirely ignoring his gravitational field. Cracks were beginning to form along the gauntlet, but it held, and he probably had a second on his other hand. When Theo released a burst of pure cantae, it dissipated against a ghostly white breastplate that faded out a moment later.

From that, it was easy to intuit the design of Magnafor's soulhome: every chamber must manifest a piece of armor with a specific purpose. Such designs were inflexible but powerful, a good strategy for a first tier soulcrafter. The question was how many more chambers Magnafor had been able to soulcraft.

"I don't hate you, man. I don't care about you at all." Magnafor raised his other hand and a ghostly sword began forming in it. "If you wanted to steal everything yourself, you didn't move fast enough. Just stay out of my way and I'll ignore you."

Magnafor swung his sword and Theo moved to dodge, realizing too late that it was a distraction. Light flared around his opponent's feet and suddenly a boot formed of cantae smashed into his chest. Theo skidded back through the gate, painfully striking a ridge of stone and tumbling to a halt. He got up his in time to see Magnafor raising his sword again.

But it had never been intended for him: it swept to the side, chopping through the vines that formed the gate. Suddenly Theo no longer faced a view of Tatian, only stared through an empty arch of stone.

Could gates be easily repaired? Destroying a door had always been a good strategy to escape pursuit, but this was a large and well-established gate that had only been slightly damaged. The Farmguards on the other side had been too startled to act, but they'd be moving soon.

When Theo turned around, he discovered that most of the others had followed them. He saw the Farmguards first, stumbling toward the empty gate with panicked expressions, but ignored them. Nauda and Fiyu had disabled the Fithan mercenary and confiscated his weapons, which was a good first step. Theo strode over to them and grabbed the man's collar.

"Did Magnafor hire you? What did he offer?"

"Sublime materials like you wouldn't believe." The mercenary chuckled unpleasantly at him. "Are you Tatians going to kill me now? I don't think you have it in you... but you'd regret it when my boss gets here."

Despite himself, Theo did look up toward the region of rocky spires where Nanjuma had fallen. He saw no flashes of light, but an unnatural column of sand and wind was rising, generating a monstrous sandstorm in all directions. It would take a long time to reach them, not that they didn't have more immediate problems.

To his surprise, Fiyu stepped forward, generating a black aura around her hand. It seemed she intended to answer the mercenary's question with his death, but Nauda put a hand in her way. "There's no sense in killing him. He's just a hireling."

"There's no sense in keeping him alive." Fiyu's face was set grimly, but she did dismiss the aura around her hand.

"We have more important things to do. Could we just leave him tied up?"

"In this world, that would be the same as killing him."

One of the Farmguards whirled back to them. "All of you, be quiet! Nothing matters except opening the gate again! Do you have any idea how fast this place will kill us? We all need to work to connect with the Farmguards on the other side."

"How long will that take?" Theo asked. The Farmguard blinked and conferred with her companion, but they didn't seem to know immediately, which was answer enough. If they were worried about dying of thirst, that meant that they were thinking in terms of days, not hours. They didn't have that much time, especially since Magnafor probably had a way to return to Myufuru quickly.

"Do we have another option?" Fiyu asked. Theo rubbed his forehead in frustration, eyes wandering back over what little they had. When he saw Navim's body, he realized that they did.

"We can survive here for a few days, especially if we have water. But Navim might not survive that long, even if this battle doesn't reach us. We need to return him to his school as soon as possible." One of the Farmguards started to object, but Theo spoke over her. "The two of you can keep the mercenary captive and reestablish the gate. We'll make sure Navim survives and catch up to you later."

They couldn't disagree with a plan that focused on saving one of their fellow students, so Theo's group was off. As soon as he made Navim weightless again, they began to run as quickly as they could maintain, rushing into the endless rocky wasteland.

Before they were too far away, Nauda turned to look at him. "I want to help Navim too, but I don't believe those were your real motivations. Why are we doing this?"

"Because Navim said his master was an Authority in possession of many weirkeys. One of them must be for Tatian, which means that he can control where we return." Theo smiled grimly. "It will take Magnafor some time to return to Myufuru, no matter what method he uses. If we can jump directly back, our route might be shorter than his."

"Assuming that his master is willing to give us such a gift, despite being first tier soulcrafters with nothing to offer him."

"But we will return his student," Fiyu said hopefully. "He will wish to repay our kindness."

Nauda seemed to accept that, especially since they really did want to save Navim's life. Privately, Theo wasn't nearly as confident that it would be easy to convince the other Mundhin. On Ichil, most mentorships involved only two people with a close bond, but the philosophical schools of Arbai usually had hundreds of students. What made the decision for him was that at minimum this path might save Navim, which was the one thing he had some control over.

Though it would have been dramatic to sprint all the way to the plateau, they didn't have the stamina for it. His throat felt like it was entirely made out of sand and each breath became painful. When they slowed down to take a break, Fiyu revealed that she had a flask of water and he drank gratefully. It wouldn't be enough for an extended journey, but it would last them long enough.

Behind them, the gate lay dead. To the west, a sandstorm grew as two Rulers did battle. And ahead, a looming monument of dead rock hopefully contained their salvation.