The woman, who was apparently named Loneth sat at our table, with her back to the wall, her brown eyes constantly flicking about, as if uncomfortable at being out from behind her bars.

“With careful prompting, you said that you had heard the name, ‘Risen Throne’, before?”

Loneth’s eyes locked on Reff for a moment as he spoke, before renewing their survey of the room. The seconds stretched on, and I could see Darina losing what little temper she was holding on to when finally, the woman spoke again.

“Yes. Did some work for the Earthen Sky sect; just reinforcing some roofs and gates. I’m a builder, if you can afford me; built this place too.” A sharp gesture around the room made it clear she meant the City’s Edge, and I had to admit I was impressed. It did not seem to have been built directly with any ability, but rather by mundane work, and to do so much alone was hard.

“I’m up on a roof, measuring and I remove a tile to check composition. Whichever idiot built the place hadn’t insulated, so it was just a hole into the room underneath, with a conversation going on. Now, I’m not an eavesdropper, I was just there to do a job, so that’s what I do. I’m checking the tile, minding my own business... when I hear the conversation stop, and a door close. I thought they’d gone, but then I hear somebody start asking if ‘the Risen Throne could open a portal.’ It caught my attention, because that’s not a real thing a person can do.”

The others and I shared a look, knowing that opening a portal was in fact something an Apex could do, as well as the Shadow Faced Guy.

“Somebody asked if the organization would open a portal? Who were they asking?”

Having spoken, it was my turn to have the ever-shifting eyes fixed on me for a moment, before they moved away again.

“Not like that. It was more like they were talking about a person; like it was their cultivation title. Since portals aren’t a thing, I looked to see which idiot was asking, and who was being asked, but there was only one person in the room.”

“And this was at the Earthen Sky sect, you said? I wonder if they’re allied? I wish Jorl would finish up, already.”

I had thought the man would simply fly over the city a few times, maybe move about a bit on foot and just read the information out of people, but I knew that was dumb; the Apexes could seemingly read emotion, and when somebody was lying, but as far as I was aware, it was not actually mind reading. It was not like he could just flash through the city and be done.

“That really is the Apex of the Crystal Drake then, flying around the city? And you’re all with him?”

“In confirmation, yes.”

“Huh. Well, hope the city doesn’t rile him up too much...”

Recalling the flick he had given me, I found myself hoping the same.

“Where can this, Earthen Sky sect be found, Mistress Loneth?”

I could see a glint in Toria’s eyes as she ask the question and I had the distinct impression she intended to head over to do some investigating, and perhaps to mete out justice, given her allegiances.

“Just Loneth. They’re east of the city, in the Inverted Mountain.”

“Inverted mountain? How can a mountain be inverted?”

Darina’s terse voice was challenging, and I could see the innkeeper’s face harden fractionally at it, but it seemed she was well used to the effects the city had on people, and was well schooled in controlling her own emotions. It probably helped with keeping the cost of repairs down...

“It’s a stone-lined pit, thousands of feet deep, as if some giant took the slopes of a normal mountain, turned it upside-down and inside out and hammered it into the ground. What could it mean?”

“I could mean any-”

“In pointed interruption, thank you for the information, Loneth. It has been helpful.”

The young healer was glaring at Reff and his less than diplomatic interruption, but he was pretending not to notice, though it was a certainly a difficult thing to ignore.

“Now, you’re welcome, but hang on; what’s all this about? Apexes flying around and kids investigating some group involved with the sects? Is this something I need to be telling the Blood and Bones about?”

My first impulse was an emphatic, ‘no’, as I certainly did not want to potentially have to deal with Tain again, but unfortunately, it did actually make sense to get the local authorities involved, I did however think that it was probably best to wait for Jorl to come back so we could check with him; the last thing I wanted was to mess with his plans in any way.

“We should probably wait for the Apex... don’t want to screw up his efforts.”

“And this, ‘Risen Throne’, who is he?”

“With clear reservation, we do not know. We had not heard of an individual referred to this way before, only as a group.”

I was nodding along to Riffa’s words, when something struck me – I recalled the letter I had found on V’s body, and how it had been signed - ‘DotRT’. Something of the Risen Throne? When put that way, it did sound an awful lot like a cultivator’s name; Darina the Ever Flowing. Reff, the Mountain’s Rage. Apex of the Crystal Drake. Could the entire organisation be based on one person’s name? I supposed most cults started with a single person, though this one was slightly more malicious than the average cult back on Earth...

Despite the sneaking suspicion rising inside of me in regards to Dave of the Risen Throne, I decided not to give voice to it, at least until we were alone.

“Well, I suppose if an Apex is involved, there isn’t much to worry about.” Her eyes flicked to Darina and stuck for the length of a few more words, after which she stood and walked across the room to vanish behind yet another hidden door.

“Don’t break anything.”

“Why’re you looking at me – hey, why were you looking at me?!”

“... It was probably a coincidence, Darina.”

“I’m not the idiot here, Hunter, that’s your job!”

“Then why ask? Get a hold on your shit, Darina.”

“I have no idea what that means, idiot!”

I was on the cusp of responding with some cutting remarks of my own, but managed to reel in my retort with some mental effort and a deep breath.

I could feel the tension around the table rising, the tones being used tipping everyone present towards aggression, and with only ourselves present, the only outlets were each other.

Before the situation could get out of hand, I spoke up again, this time my voice calm – or as calm as I could make it – and my gaze fixed on a point on the far wall. As I pointedly did not look any of my friends in the eye, I had a sudden moment of kinship with our hostess.

“Guys, this city has us all on edge; I know it’s difficult but we have to try and keep calm – and that means me too. It’s too easy to slip here. I’ll try to be less... me.”

“With receding irritation, Hunter is right. This place is bringing out the worst in us. If we are to solve our current mystery, we must work together.”

I saw everyone other than Darina nodding around the table, the diminutive – yet bad tempered – apprentice sitting with her arms crossed and wearing a scowl on her face.

“... Fine.”

I just nodded, not wanting to fracture the fragile peace. After a minute or so of tense silence, I realised that I would actually need to say something in order to progress the conversation.

“Maybe we should go to one of our rooms? Before we say anything more?”

*

***

*

We ended up in Reff and Riffa’s room, since it was at the end of a hall, which would limit the chance of being overheard. The siblings’ room was decorated in rich purple and actually had two beds; I wondered where the second bed had come from, as we had mostly chosen at random.

I sat down on the floor with my back to the wall, leaving the two chairs and beds for the others.

“Where did the second bed come from? Was it here when you checked in?”

“In curt dismissal, it was.”

“Weird. Loneth is pretty efficient. I wonder how they get it in...”

“Maybe we should concentrate on the matter at hand... Hunter?”

“... Sure.”

Okay, so maybe I was trying too hard to combat the incessant aggression and letting the fake frivolity distract me.

“Right. So, the Risen Throne are definitely in the city, and involved in some way with at least one of the sects. That probably means they’re not involved with the Blood Guard, because provoking one provokes the other; provoking both seems like wasted effort.”

“I also think it likely that if they are involved with one sect, they are involved in them all; if their goal is to destabilise the region, provoking one third of what appears to be a triumvirate doesn’t seem like it would be effective. The remaining two could simply intercede, ensuring defeat.”

“With careful consideration, I think you are correct, both of you. Should we investigate these sects ourselves, or await the Apex’s return?”

Riffa directed the question at the room in general, but none of seemed keen on making a decision, at least until her brother spoke up.

“In restrained agreement, it makes sense. We are only five people; however strong as we are, we cannot take on three entire sects. We should await the Crystal Drake’s return.”

“Yeah, I’m also nowhere near fully back up to top form, even discounting my ‘infection’. Damn, I should have asked that outrageously expensive alchemy seller if he had anything for me... Never mind that. Darina, how’re your reserves?”

“High enough to beat you bloody and heal you again.”

“... Pretty good then. That reminds me, has anybody noticed their recovery improving while here?”

“Marginally. It is difficult to ascertain, as my reserves were full upon arrival.”

The risi nodded along with Toria’s words, and I looked at Darina, who I knew was the most likely – other than myself – to have been less than full when we got here.

“What? Why are you looking at me?”

“Has your recovery been better here?”

“... Yes.”

I was starting to wish somebody would start a fight with us, if only so we - and specifically Darina – could work out some of our aggression. The apprentice was generally pretty short – tempered – but she was going above and beyond, and I was started to get concerned that if we did not either leave or find somebody to fight, she really was going to start attacking us. Maybe a sparring session...

“Coo-Uh, good. So, it seems like we’re opting for waiting for Jorl?”

Silence filled the room, but it at least seemed like everyone was on-board with waiting.

“Right. Back to theorising; we’ve confirmed the Risen Throne is in the city, so the problems we’ve seen crop up probably isn’t the result of the Multiplicious Self possessing people, which I think we can all agree is a pretty big plus.”

“In emphatic agreement, the absence of a psychotic, world-conquering Apex slowly becoming everyone in sight is certainly a good thing.”

“Though... I did think of one thing. The note I found, it was signed, ‘DotRT’. I didn’t know what it meant, but it occurred to me downstairs that it sounds like a cultivator name; ‘of the Risen Throne.’ Is it possible that they have an Apex? Other than maybe the Multiplicious Self, I mean? I know it sounds ridiculous, because Bo Ai’rong doesn’t seem the type to let an evil Apex go unnoticed, but as people keep telling me, ‘The world is wide and time is deep.’”

“Why an Apex, rather than a simple cultivator?”

I looked at Toria, somewhat embarrassed at my line of thinking, but knowing I would need to explain.

“Well... all the normal cultivator names I’ve heard are, ‘The Thing’ - like, ‘ the Mountain’s Rage’,” I gestured at Reff, as my go-to example. “But ‘DotRT’, if it is a name would include ‘of’, which I’ve only heard used in Apex names; ‘of the Infinite Blades’. Am I being dumb?”

“Always.”

I rolled my eyes at Darina, but looked around the room hoping they would agree with her; the last thing I wanted to be facing in Ouhl was an Apex, though on the bright side, at least we had our own.

It was then, as I looked around the room hoping to be told I was stupid, that we all received a message from Jorl.