“Ohhh, right,” she said. “I forgot. You’re Monadites.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Gandash looking extremely awkward, and suddenly, he remembered how embarrassed his friend was of the religion they had both been raised in. Gandash’s mouth hung open like an idiot, having clearly been caught off guard by the turn of conversation.

Clearing his throat, Xerxes said, “Members of the One Faith. We don’t call ourselves Monadites.”

“Oh, sorry,” Bel said.

“It’s fine. Anyway, you know the basics right?”

Lowering her voice, she said, “You don’t believe in the Pontifarch, right? But… who do you pray to in the morning? And how come the Nergal doesn’t come to punish you?”

“We pray to the Monad,” Gandash said. “Simple as that. And the fact that the Nergal doesn’t come to punish us shows that the One Faith is true. Think about, if the Benediction of—”

Xerxes held up his hand. “Gandy. Let’s not get into boring stuff.”

Gandash gulped. “Right.”

You think girls want to hear you jabber about hokey religious stuff like the so-called Monad? Xerxes thought. He resolved to have some strong words with Gandash later about this subject.

Hoping to steer the conversation back into a more normal direction, he said, “Bel, what do you think about this Ligish fellow? You really think he might be working on illegal technology?”

Finishing her last piece of cheese, Bel said, “You’re probably right that the accusations are fake. But… imagine if they turn out to be real! And we’re the mages who arrest him. Our names will go down in history for sure!”

“That’s true,” Gandash said excitedly. “Who knows, it could be our ticket out of this starisle.”

“Guys,” Xerxes said, lowering his voice.

The two other young mages looked at him expectantly.

“Is it bad that I hope this asshole really is a criminal?”

Bel and Gandash laughed.

“Hey,” Bel said, “if it gets us into a college on Sin-Amuhhu or Ku-Aya, then I’d be fine with it.”

“Hell,” Gandash said, “I’d settle for a college on Ira or Humusi.”

Bel’s fair hair danced as she nodded. “True. Just about anywhere else in the starsea would be an upgrade from Mannemid.”

About an hour after calling for the rest, Captain Ishki had them moving again. The forest canopy made it impossible to see the sun and gauge the exact time. After a full afternoon of travel, they reached another rest area, this one larger, and obviously designed for overnight camping. The trees had been cleared so thoroughly that they had a direct view of the sky overhead. As the soldiers set up tents and picketed the horses, it was just possible to see the final pinks and purples of the evening sunset.

By the time they finished with the evening meal, the stars were out. After cleaning up, the three young mages sat around a fire talking about their studies and their future. The discussion earlier in the day about colleges in other starisles had apparently stirred all of their imaginations. Gandash recounted stories of famous mages of the past, and wars fought on distant and exotic planets. They talked of remote corners of the starsea, such as the Far Regions and even the Nightmare Cove. Eventually they tilted their heads back to look at the vista of sparkling light overhead.

“Can you believe each one of them is another starisle?” Xerxes said.

“Well, technically, they aren’t,” Gandash said.

“Huh?”

“Not every single one is a starisle. If you want to know the specifics, the ratio of—”

“Not interested!” Xerxes interrupted.

They all laughed.

“Look!” Bel said, pointing at a streak of light overhead.

“Shooting star?” Gandash said.

Another streak appeared, this one seemingly much closer than the other. In fact, it was so close they could make out what appeared to be tendrils of fire surrounding the rock, and thick smoke left behind in its wake.

“More than a shooting star,” Xerxes said. “A meteor.”

“They’re the same thing,” Gandash noted.

“Technically, yeah. But the feeling of the two words is different.”

“The second one was close,” Bel said. “If we were out in the open, I bet we could track down where it landed.”

“Can you imagine what rare materials could be in rocks that fall from out there?” Gandash said. “Boggles the mind.”

“Well, my friends,” Xerxes said, “if this mission does turn into our ticket off-planet, then maybe you’ll find out sooner rather than later!”

In the morning, Captain Ishki had everyone do morning prayer individually before getting on the move again. An hour into the trek, they passed two woodsmen who said they were on their way to Kisiga with furs to sell on the coming market day. Other than that, they were alone. Shortly after that, they reached a wooden sign in the road. Carved into the plank were two lines of text, with arrows pointing in different directions.

The arrow pointing to the left was accompanied by the text: This way to Ligish Castle. One league.

The arrow pointing ‘up’ had text that read: Laughing Gorge, three leagues.

They headed left, and almost immediately, the path started to grow steeper. They were into mountain foothills now, though the surrounding foliage showed no sign of growing thinner or shorter. If anything, it grew thicker for a time.

Up they climbed, men and horses alike laboring at the steepness.

There were no forks in the road, so there was no question of which way to travel. Two hours after the lunch hour, they reached a bridge of black wood that crossed a steep gorge, at the bottom of which was a small river.

On the other side, it was a short hike up a winding trail before they reached a ridge that overlooked a valley of sorts. Across from the ridge was the castle.

Xerxes, having grown up in the capital, was accustomed to large buildings, churches, temples, and the like. After all, the main keep that towered over the city center was massive to say the least. But this castle was unlike anything he had seen before.

For one thing, it rose up from the surrounding forest as if it had grown that way. It was imposing, and at the same time, ancient, its architectural style unlike the buildings usually seen in Isin. There were many pointed arches, complex stone facades, and narrow windows.

It made him think of stories he’d been told growing up, about daring rescues carried out by brave mages, and dramatic sword battles of antiquity.

I bet Gem would have liked to see this, he thought. A pang of sadness rose in his heart at the thought of his old friend.

As the convoy made their way down onto the final stretch of road that led to the castle, and as they neared the immense structure, there was something about the place that struck him as odd.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it at first. But as they got even closer, he realized what it was: the castle was rotting. Black algae crept up its sides, and some sections had crumbled into almost complete ruin.

The battlements on the east side must have been damaged in some ancient war, and had never been repaired. In some sections, the windows were intact, but in others, there were only gaping holes where glass had surely staved off wind and rain in the past.

There had once been a moat protecting the castle, but it was now nothing more than a bramble-filled ditch. And while the entrance to the castle had once sported a portcullis and a heavy door, nothing remained of them but crumbling wood piled haphazardly to the side.There were some signs of life and maintenance, for instance, the fact that the path was mostly clear of leaves. But whoever was trying to keep the castle up, it seemed that they were fighting a losing battle.

Captain Ishki had them stop just before a rickety bridge that was the final portion of the path leading inside.

“Sergeant Tamharu?” she said.

“Yes, Captain,” the sergeant replied. Sending his horse out in front of the line, he cupped his hand by his mouth and yelled, “Delegates from the Mage Parliament, here to visit Master Ligish son of Ahazu, the Machinist of the North.”

The response came rather quickly. A stooped old man appeared, clad in livery that was halfway from being well worn to threadbare.

“Ey, welcome to Master Ligish’s castle! ‘E’s expecting you!”