“Feeling better?” Kamagishi pulled a chair next to the couch I had been napping on. It was a surprise since the last thing I remembered was watching Sassoo give that goofy griffin a revelation. Now I found myself on a couch in Kamagishi’s study propped up on cushions and under a blanket. The three other high priestesses were sitting and talking at Kamagishi’s work table on the other side of the room.

“Where’s Fassex?” I wondered when I didn’t see her with the rest of the high priestesses.

“That was not the answer I was looking for, Great One,” Kamagishi smiled. “Fassex went to help Asgotl, whose head hurts.”

“Ah!” I smiled in sympathy for the poor griffin, “he has the dread post-revelation headache. Poor Asgotl.”

“So, does your head hurt too?"

“No, Galt promised me there would be no headache this time and he kept that promise,” I smiled. At least one god I knew kept his word.

“Seriously, little one, how do you feel?” Kamagishi looked sincerely concerned.

“Weak and lightheaded. I don’t think I could make it as far as your study door.” It was the truth. I was metaphorical roadkill.

“So you’ll be staying for the night?” Kamagishi asked.

“That’s probably up to Asgotl. He’s the one who does the flying. I usually fall asleep in transit.”

“Considering that you only woke up from your injuries in Black Falls three days ago, it might be best if you stayed overnight. Then we could leave as a group for the Crystal Shrine in the morning.”

“As a group?” That surprised me. Was the Convocation meeting? Did I miss something?

“The Convocation will be looking at the crystals you and the Queen found under the floor, followed by lunch.”

“So, Raoleer will be there,” I realized. “That’s good. I need to talk to her. I was thinking of stopping by Omexkel on my way home, so this will save me from making the extra trip.”

Kamagishi laughed, “you exhausted yourself to come here and now you want to take a trip to Omexkel to see Raoleer? You really are too much. No wonder you cause Lisaykos such worry. You need to rest now. In the future, Raoleer can come to you. As a revelator, you can ask that of her, and until you recover from your chronic fatigue problem, you probably should.”

Kamagishi had that worried mother look on her face, the one that left you feeling guilty for not doing what mommy knew was best for you. If it wasn’t genuine, she was a brilliant actor. Then she grinned at me, “it always makes me nervous when you want to talk to that unrepentant mekaner. You and Raoleer together are a recipe for trouble. Does this have anything to do with the revelation you received today?”

“Maybe a little,” I admitted.

“And what was the revelation? If it was anyone else besides you, Emily, he or she wouldn’t be allowed to leave this shrine until the revelation was written down.”

“It will be less than a page, Kamagishi," I admitted. "I could write out most of it now. Let's see, take nine parts glayon vine sap, one part zinc oxide, and one part elemental sulfur. Mix them..."

"Stop, I'll get a recording scroll," Kamagishi walked to her worktable, pulled a recording scroll from a drawer, and then placed it at my feet. She set up the magic pen and then sat back down. "Now start over," she smiled.

I sighed, “I confess to an advanced case of magic envy. Recording scrolls are amazing.” I was surprised when it wrote what I just said. That's when I saw Irralray, Rakkalbos, and Ashansalt quietly listening. That made sense since it would be the first time anyone learned the contents of the revelation.

So I started over: "First part: take nine parts glayon vine sap, one part zinc oxide, and one part elemental sulfur by weight. Mix them, adding the sulfur last. Pour the mix into an airtight mold for what you want to make. Heat the mix between 130 degrees to 140 degrees on the temperature scale where freezing water is zero and boiling water is 100. Remove from mold four hours later. This is the base recipe. Variations in heating time and sulfur content affect hardness, strength, and elasticity. Variations in zinc oxide affect strength and curing time.

“Second part: draw out a ring of glass mounted on a mandrel quickly to create a glass tube with a continuous hole inside. Remove the excess glass at both ends. Using a burner, close one end of the glass tube and blow a bulb at that end while the glass is still hot. Warm the entire length of the tube to create a partial vacuum inside and place the open end into a beaker filled with mercury. When the bulb is full, remove it from the beaker of mercury. Remove any bubbles or gaps in the mercury by first warming the bulb by immersion in boiling water, then cooling the bulb in water until ice begins to form. Close the top of the glass tube and calibrate using freezing and boiling water. If measuring higher temperatures are required, calibrate with melted tin (melts at 232) or melted lead (melts at 328) in addition to boiling and freezing water. If measuring lower temperatures are required, use colored ethanol in place of mercury.

“Use of mercury should be in done in a place with excellent one-way ventilation where people are upwind of the mercury because mercury vapors are extremely toxic.”

Ashansalt had picked up that I was talking about glayon vines, which pricked her curiosity. “Great One, are you saying the sap from that glayon weed is actually useful?" she asked from where she was sitting at Kamagishi's work table.

“Very useful! There are three things I want to make right now out of glayon sap, Holy One. The sap is more useful than the vine itself unless you're a healer."

“If I remember correctly, glayon vines only grow on the wasteland next to the lava plains," Ashansalt frowned in thought.

“Didn’t you say there was a third part, Great One?” Kamagishi nudged.

“Oh right,” I glanced at the recording scroll to see that the pen included the exchange with Ashansalt. “The third part: men are now allowed to enroll at the Fated Shrine of Galt but may not be domiciled in the same building as women. Shrine students are allowed to eat and study together. There, Kamagishi, that’s the entire revelation. Hey, what’s with the fish face?”

“Galt really said that?” Kamagishi was a sight. In fact, all four high priestesses were a matched set of wide eyes and dropped jaws. The Fated Shrine was infamous for not allowing men to enroll.

“Kamagishi, I would never joke about a revelation. That would anger the gods, which is something to be avoided. The gods can and do meddle with people's lives in nasty ways. I do not want to give any of them a reason to mess with me any more than they already have." Some real anger had snuck into my voice as I was reminded of Mugash screwing with my health with Tiki's blessing.

“Emily,” Kamagishi whispered, horrified at what she picked up, “Mugash?”

I was saved from answering that question when I heard the sound of griffin talons on a tile floor. I looked up in time to see Fassex opening the double doors into the study for Asgotl. I was startled when all the high priestesses in the room knelt on one knee and made a full obeisance to Asgotl: “May the blessings of the eleven gods be upon you, Great One.”

I almost started laughing when I saw the panicked look on Asgotl’s face. Asgotl’s head drooped in defeat, “and also on you, Holy Ones. Please get up.” He looked across the room and saw me, “Emily!” He wove his way to the couch and laid down on the floor next to me, resting his beak next to my legs. “Are we staying here for the night?” He looked relieved to see me.

“I’m not going anywhere, Blubber Brain,” I put on my best apology face. “I have no energy left.”

“Could I head back without you?” He sounded desperate. “You can catch a ride back with the high priestesses.”

“Do you really w...want to face Aylem by yourself?” I asked him.

“Crap, I didn’t think of that,” he looked even more desperate.

“Worried about your reception over in the House of Mounts?” I prodded, guessing he wanted to hide right now.

“Maybe a little,” he conceded.

“Asgotl, they’ll throw a party for you. This is a huge deal for the mounts. You have nothing to w...worry about.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” he sighed.

“What’s with this humble routine?” I needled him because I could. He was such an easy target when he was like this. “Just who are you and what did you do with my friend Asgotl?”

“It’s just that...well, you know...she...”

“She?” This was getting interesting.

Kamagishi was interested too. She went straight for the kill. Scratching between his ears, she leaned toward him, “don’t tell me you have a lady friend at the House of Mounts?”

“Maybe I should sleep on Aylem's balcony?" a dejected Asgotl murmured.

“Asgotl,” I rolled my eyes, “you’re being silly over this. You’ll at least get fed if you spend the evening at the House of Mounts.”

“Oh.” Asgotl was motionless as he contemplated the one thing that motivated him more than anything else: food. Then he looked up, “I won’t starve if I skip dinner this evening.”

“He’s got it bad, whoever she is,” Fassex remarked as she strolled over and leaned against the arm of the couch.

“It’s not like that!” the griffin protested.

“So, who is this lady friend of yours?” I asked. If griffins could blush, Asgotl would have been red as a beet by now. “Does Aylem know?”

He sat up straight, his eyes looking down at me in panic, “don’t tell Aylem!”

“It’s Flavriansha,” Garki’s voice said from the still-open doorway. “He’s been chasing her and she keeps turning him down. This has been going on for at least a year.” Garki was standing in the doorway holding up a large round basket. “The king has sent some gifts for you, Great One,” Garki looked at me. Then he looked at everyone else in the room, placed the basket on the floor, and got down on one knee, “may the blessings of the eleven gods be upon all of you.”

“And also upon you, Garki," I said since I was the senior in the pecking order. "Please rise. Isn't Flavriansha the king's griffin?" I asked.

Asgolt dropped his head between his talons and grimaced: “I am so doomed! My life can’t get any worse than this.”

“Think again, feathers-for-brains,” a wind-blown Aylem said from behind Garki.

“Nooooooooooooooo,” Asgotl groaned.

“So,” Aylem leaned against the door jamb, arms crossed, “the two of you said you were going fishing.”

“Yep,” I smiled and hoped I looked innocent enough, “caught a big catfish too.”

“Yes, we watched the whole thing in the Great Crystal. I hope it’s a good revelation because Lisaykos is ready to chain you to your bed so you can get over this chronic fatigue you have. So what did Galt impart to you?”

I couldn’t stop the smile that broke out on my face, “the sap of the glayon vine is natural latex rubber. The revelation was the basic recipe for vulcanization, plus the methodology for making glass thermometers, and permission from Galt for the Fated Shrine of Galt to now enroll men.”

Aylem’s fish face was magnificent.

“I’m somewhat disappointed that I didn’t figure out the glass thermometer for myself because it turns out to be simple,” I admitted.

“Rubber? You said rubber, right?” Aylem was gobsmacked.

“I indeed said rubber,” I replied as if it was a minor thing but Aylem knew me too well by now to be fooled by my nonchalance.

"Is there something you want to do with rubber, Emily?" Aylem tilted her head and asked.

"If I have rubber, I can make Kayseo a decent wheelchair with rubber on the wheels to absorb shocks. I also want to make crutches for her with rubber pads on top that don't hurt her upper arms, hand grips with padding so she can support her weight correctly, and prosthetics that don't cause pain when she w...walks. It upsets me to see her in pain. She's hiding it from everyone. I knew I had to do something about it the moment I saw her struggling with those primitive crutches and barbaric peg legs the other day.”

“Are Kayseo’s crutches really that bad?” Aylem steered Garki out of the doorway and into the study. She grabbed a stool and sat next to Kamagishi.

I didn’t leave her in suspense: “The current T-shaped crutch design is horrible because there are no hand grips and it puts all of the body's weight on the armpits instead. The armpits were not designed for bearing w...weight, Aylem. You’re a healer and this hasn’t occurred to you? The armpit is a nerve-rich region and bearing the body’s weight on a crutch in the armpit can damage those nerves. The abuse of the upper arm can cause thrombosis of the blood vessels of the upper arm. Do I need to go further, Aylem, to ligament damage? To be honest, I'm somewhat appalled that no one has made a better crutch.”

“I must confess I am ignorant of the effects you mention, Emily,” Aylem looked troubled, “but I’m not surprised that no one has improved crutches. Crutches are rare. We should sit down with Lisaykos and discuss this,” she remarked. “So, Asgotl, what did Sassoo reveal to you?”

“Nothing much,” he picked his head up. “He wants the design of the new Singing Shrine to be accessible to all flying mounts, just like the Crystal Shrine’s dome openings and the Fated Shrine’s doors.”

“That’s a problem,” Aylem looked concerned, “because the spell for a permanent weather barrier, like the one at the Crystal Shrine, is a lost magic.”

“Sassoo said you would say that,” Asgotl commented. “He said to tell you that the spell is in High Priestess Yasknapa’s book.”

The reaction of Aylem and all the high priestesses present was so astounded that they could have started their own aquarium with themselves in the role of those bug-eyed goldfish that people used to breed. I really regretted not having a working camera in hand to capture their expressions.

The gathering in Kamagishi’s study broke up after that. Aylem and the five high priestesses went off to the palace to have dinner with the king. I didn’t have it in me to go with them. All I wanted to do was sleep. Garki took me down to 6 Brewer’s Row to spend the night. Kamagishi had already made arrangements with Oyyuth so I could sleep in that comfortable bedroom she and Hessakos set aside for me.