Tavras had just brought up the matter of her passage to the Summit of Ascension. Now, he provided more details to his proposition, making it evident that it would not be so simple as merely traveling there.

“I will have a trial for you to test if you are worthy,” Tavras explained. “Pass this challenge, and I will see you to the Summit. Fail, and you will have to wait for me to grace you with a second chance. Whenever you take this test is entirely up to you, but the catch is, I will not inform you of the specifics until you have already agreed to do it.”

First, she rolled her eyes, then she gawked at him. “Why is this rule necessary?”

“It will be more fun this way, or entertaining for me, at least!” Tavras cheered. “Think of it like a game.” After that, he gave her a more serious explanation. “Oftentimes, you will be faced with unknown challenges. I feel like this is an entirely fair representation of real life. You must feel confident in your own abilities to see yourself through any difficulty.”

“Wow, that was deep,” Val said.

“Maybe for you.”

“No, definitely for you,” Val said with a laugh. “I don’t normally get to hear you talk like that.”

Tavras reached over to give her shoulder a shove, smiling all the while. “Well, I’ve given you your opportunity. It is your choice whether you feel that you are ready to take it or not. My offer stands so long as you do not take it and mess it up.”

Val sat there in quiet consideration for a moment. Most likely, this would be more than a test in her physical competency, but also a test for her personality. Tavras would offer her his trial too soon, expecting her to jump on the opportunity right away. Then, he would scold her for her arrogance.

Her eyes closed so that she could better weigh her options. The continuous cascade of the waterfall provided a backdrop to her thoughts.

While she knew Tavras’s offer to be a test all on its own, she still needed to knowingly fall into this trap. Somewhere on the Summit, Ross was waiting for her. It was her duty as the one who could see the past to find him in the present. This rationale, she decided to explain to Tavras.

“This is a test, more so than whatever challenge that you have in store for me. You want to offer this opportunity before I am actually ready and test my self-restraint. I’m supposed to identify when I’m in over my head, and look—I have.”

With a deep breath, she continued. “I know that I am probably ill-prepared to pass your test, but I have to try! I need to get to the Summit as quickly as possible. Not that I don’t love it here or anything, just....” Her voice trailed off. “I am looking for someone.”

A long pause held while Tavras considered everything that she had just rambled out. “Remember that you are not looking for anyone,” he said, a finger to his lips. “You are my son and as such, the closest thing that you have to any siblings are the creatures of the sea or maybe the other kids that I have raised.”

“Wait,” Val said. Did Tavras specify siblings for a reason? Such excitement rose inside of her that she could ignore Tavras calling her his son once again. Her voice reflected her eagerness as she asked, “Do you know that I have a brother?”

Tavras moved that one finger at his lips to place it over her own. “Shh. I can Read Blood. I had known that someone related to you had crossed the ocean two months before you had come through this way. Don’t let others know that you have any blood relations, though. That will only give you a weak point and could put your brother in danger.”

Val pursed her lips, trying to process this. If only Tavras’s finger had not been in the way, she would have licked her lips. “You’ve known this entire time that I’ve had a brother.” She merely stated this, too shocked to say anything more substantial.

“Do you not remember what I had just said?” Tavras snapped. “You do not have a brother because you are my child. If you want human siblings so badly, consider Fangarus and Iharu to be your family. I had raised them both about one hundred years back.”

Those names, she did not recognize. If either of them happened to be an official god or goddess, Val would have to feel bad for not having heard of them before. “Who are they?”

“You should know them. Iharu is a goddess of beasts, the She-Wolf. Fangarus is a god of wilderness, known as Brother Wolf.”

Val could only shake her head. Neither of them rang a bell for her. In her defense, countless people with divine blood had been granted the title of god and goddess, literally too many to keep track.

Beyond just the sheer number of deities, multiple gods and goddesses also resided over a single attribute. For instance, Tavras was the primary god of water, but there were some additional lesser gods and goddesses of water. Both Iharu and Fangarus must be lesser deities, as Val could think up the names for a more prominent goddess of nature—Mother Earth, herself.

“Sorry.” To focus on the bright side, Val offered in a tight voice, “I suppose that I have heard of them now, right?”

Tavras sighed. “To be fair, they took after me and became recluses. They even have their own island like me.” A small tone of pride lifted in his voice, followed by a pause. Then, he continued to say quite seriously, “Aside from me, Iharu, and Fangarus, you have no other family. Can you promise to hold to that? If not for me or yourself, then do it for your brother.”

Something smelled fishy about this, more than just all of their breaths from their diets on this island.

There had to be an overarching reason why she could not speak of her brother. Could this be the same reason why she also had to pretend to be a boy? Carefully, she examined Tavras with narrowed eyes, but his stony face gave away no clues.

Val wanted answers, and she would get them one way or another.