I knew the Grandmaster was hiding something when he ordered his second coffin of the month. I could understand why he'd ordered from Jiaola—if there was any carpenter in the Silent Peaks that you wanted working for you, it was one who'd built his own home from scratch—but the order itself was inexplicable. That, combined with the Grandmaster's tendency to inadvertently drop ancient secrets like so much candy, led me to believe that the Grandmaster wasn't what he appeared to be.

And if he was concerned enough about who he really was to go to such great lengths to hide it, that meant it was a secret worth leverage.

A core part of me hated using a hidden part of a person's identity against them—but desperate times called for desperate measures. I had a goal to achieve and misdeeds to atone for, and I needed a favor or three in order to get it done.

So finding out what the Grandmaster was hiding—and hinting that I just might let it slip—seemed like the best place to start.

I didn't know the Grandmaster's name—nobody did—but he liked going by a pretentious stack of titles. Grandmaster Water Magic Lord Sage Unmatched Crusader Knight, if I remembered correctly. I just abbreviated it to GWMLSUCK, and later, just SUCK. He was a wizened old man, with a cloak of leather that looked old enough to have been made last century, but the SUCK had a surprisingly youthful smoothness to his skin, an uncannily fluid spring to his step. The sun had long since set, but the pale orbs of witchlight on the streets still provided ample illumination as the SUCK made his way to Jiaola's house.

I cast a shrinking spell on myself—nowadays, I had ample fuel for the one spell I knew—and sprinted up behind him as he knocked on Jiaola's door. Jiaola's sun-tanned, wrinkled face broke out into a wide grin as he welcomed the SUCK in.

"How's my oldest customer doing?" Jiaola asked. "You haven't aged a day since we've last met!"

"Yes, yes, well... you have," the SUCK muttered, a slight hint of unease in his expression. "Do you have the resting place I ordered?"

"Of course! Hand-carved and enchanted with the finest quality spells, just how you like it." Just how... he likes it? How many times had the SUCK ordered new coffins? Was he burying people in secret? "Come in, come in."

In my shrunken state, neither Jiaola nor the SUCK noticed me sneak into the carpenter's house. I felt a pang of guilt as I snuck in—Jiaola and I were on friendly terms, even after that whole business with the demon invasion, and it rankled me to be sneaking around his home like this.

But I'd hurt people worse before. At least this time, it was for a good cause.

Jiaola walked downstairs, and I swore under my breath. He was headed for the safe room—a solid wooden box enchanted with, among other things, passive magic dampers. If I spent too long in there without a protection amulet I didn't have, the shrinking spell keeping me hidden would break, and I'd be exposed for nothing.

Thankfully, the last time I'd been inside the safe room, a haughty, arrogant witch had pointed out how to disable it, and Jiaola hadn't updated the safe room since then. Whispering an apology to Jiaola, I snuck in on the SUCK's heels and crawled up the wall, snapping three nodes of memorabilia. The oddly calming, draining sensation on my soul abruptly ended, and I maintained my secrecy as I watched Jiaola show the SUCK to a coffin.

Reverently, the SUCK ran one hand over the smooth bloodwood coffin, inlaid with dragonscale and puffwool. "It's beautiful," the SUCK whispered. "She'll love it."

Jiaola laughed, a craftsman's pride gleaming in his eyes. "I may be getting old, but these hands still remember what it's like to shape wood."

The SUCK paused, lost in reverie for a long moment, then said, "I could fix that, you know."

"Hm?" Jiaola asked.

"Mortality." The SUCK took a step back from the coffin, turning to Jiaola. He took Jiaola's weathered, calloused hand, studying it. "These hands have seen a lifetime of craft. It will be a shame when you perish, and your soul is scattered into thoughtspace."

Another one of those bizarre secrets the SUCK seemed to leave behind him wherever he went. He was the only person I knew who would casually mention what happened after death—and that was exactly why I needed him. I focused on the conversation as Jiaola took his hand—politely but firmly—out of the SUCK's grip. "What do you mean by that?" Jiaola politely asked.

"I could make you immortal," the SUCK said. "I could make you one of us."

And the leathery cloak on the SUCK's back unfolded into bat's wings, and the vampire held out a hand to the old carpenter.

I guess my nickname for him was more accurate than I thought.

Jiaola gave the vampire a long, considering look.

Then he smiled and said, "No thanks."

The vampire blinked. "I—excuse me?"

"I said, no thanks." Jiaola patted the coffin lid. "I was born in the Redlands. Death is a part of who I am. I've made my peace with it. I'll die as nothing more than human, just like the rest of us."

The vampire spluttered. "I—but—you—"

"I make good coffins," he said, "and I know what it's like to have to hide who you are. My husband and I had to deal with that for our entire lives. So don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

The vampire closed his eyes.

Then he folded up his wings, and he was once more nothing but a man wearing an oddly-shaped leather coat.

"Very well." He laughed. "I... to my surprise, I'm... not even angry. Simply... sad. I will miss you."

Jiaola gave the vampire a kind smile. "Don't you worry about me. I've still got some life left in me."

The vampire smiled, and despite the chill of the room, it somehow felt warm.

Then he tilted the coffin onto a wheeled dolly and began taking it out of the house.

I wished I could have left it at that. I really did.

But I had a question to ask. And now, I had the leverage to have it answered.

I scribbled a note on the floor and left it in a corner of Jiaola's room. If my gamble didn't pay off, I'd at least have a sliver of insurance.

As the vampire left the room and began walking down the street, I shadowed him until he passed through a quiet, empty street.

Then I broke the shrinking spell, expanding to my full size with a whoosh of displaced air. That nagging little whisper in my ear told me I was a horrible person for using his secrets against him like this, but it had to be done. The vampire spun around, startled, something... fluid... glistening at his fingertips.

"What are you—"

"I know what you are," I interrupted. "I know that you know things. And I've left notes in case I go missing, so killing or kidnapping me won't help you."

The vampire snarled, the fluid at his claws lengthening. "Then what do you want with me, mortal?"

"Answer me one question, and I will keep your secret forever."

"Then ask, insolent journeyman."

I took a deep breath, then said, "I know you know where souls go when they die. My question is: how can you bring one back?"