On one Restday in the fourth month, before their cult meeting, Xerxes and Katayoun strolled arm in arm through the bazaar. They halted. In the shadows of a yarn stall lurked a figure—Archon Shabadras.

Twenty minutes later in a secure location attached to a lamb butcher shop, he plied them with questions about their time in the cult. Both Xerxes and Katayoun provided summaries.

Xerxes wrapped up by saying, “None of it makes much sense to me, Archon,” he said. “Half of it seems like made-up drivel. The other half is simply unbelievable.”

“The low-level meetings tend to be like that,” the Archon explained. “They’re sort of like an extended vetting session. They want to see how you react to their version of reality, and also do their best to make sure you’re not spies. If you win approval, then they’ll eventually invite you to join a higher level. Sometimes it’ll happen after two or three months, other times longer. Hopefully you’ve made enough of an impression that it’ll be soon. It’s in those ‘real’ meetings that you’ll have a chance to start learning more about their leadership. Although you won’t meet anyone who’s truly in charge, you should be able to interact with people connected to them. By asking the right questions and steering the conversation properly, you should be able to get some clues for us to work with. Maybe even names.”

“So we’re just waiting for an invitation?” Katayoun asked.

“Exactly. If you get one, accept it. They’ll likely make you swear a blood oath before they let you attend any important meetings, and you’ll have to go along.”

“A blood oath?” Xerxes said. “There’s no way we can swear blood oaths of loyalty to the Eternal Father Cult.”

Archon Shabadras tapped the arm of his chair for a few seconds. Then he said, “Blood oaths are meaningless.”

“What?” Katayoun exclaimed.

Xerxes’ eyes went wide. “But….”

“Well, not completely meaningless,” the Archon said. “But in the grand scheme of things, they mean little. Even the best and strongest varieties wear off rather quickly. Incidentally, this is highly confidential information that you must not reveal to any of your classmates. Normally speaking, only High Mystics know the truth about blood oaths.”

“Hold on, sir,” Xerxes said, feeling like his mind was spinning out of control. “All of us took blood oaths before beginning our studies….”

“They were mostly formalities,” Shabadras said. “Besides, clever individuals can always ‌get around blood oaths, which is why they’re really only useful for short-term arrangements or deals. In any case, if you have the opportunity to get deeper into the cult, go through with it. Now, my time today is limited. Do you have any questions for me?”

“Yes, Archon,” Katayoun said. “We’ve heard rumors we might get shipped out to fight Abhorrent soon. Is that true?”

Shabadras hesitated, as if weighing his words. “Yes and no. The end goal was always to send you into the field within a few months. The only question is when, exactly. I don’t think the call will come early, but there’s no guarantee either way.” He rose. “I have another matter to attend to. Good luck.”

Neither Xerxes nor Katayoun said anything for a good minute after Shabadras left.

“I feel like my whole world was just shaken,” Katayoun said.

Xerxes let go of a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “Same here. Blood oaths are basically a… a…”

“A lie?” she said.

“Might as well be.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Well, it doesn’t change much, to be honest. We need to stay focused.”

The cult meeting later that day went as usual, with no indication that Navraj had any special plans for them.

Rumors raged about the supposed impending deployment to fight the Abhorrent. Xerxes tried to convince the Swordmasters that the rumors were false, but he couldn’t reveal his source, so in the end, they didn’t believe him. And the truth was that Archon Shabadras hadn’t outright denied that they would be deployed. Perhaps they would.

Mystic Rabya’s lectures seemed more intense. The training was harder, whether in the Epitome or in the standard sessions. Most interesting of all, an enormous structure of wood and metal pipes had been constructed on one of the back fields, that they used to simulate fighting an incredibly large Abhorrent.

On Fifthday of the week, at the end of the day, Mystic Rabya stopped Xerxes before he left the training field.

“High Seer,” she said, emphasizing his title, “I have something for you.”

She offered him a leather-bound book.

“What is it?” he asked, moving his hand to the leather string that bound it shut.

“Open it later,” she replied. “It’s an old text, a rare one, that touches on the Asgagu Sebum rune. I know you’ve been studying it. This should help. The parts you’ll need are in the fifth chapter, although the entire book would probably be worth reading.”

“Wow, thank you, Mystic Rabya!”

“You’re welcome. You’ve made a lot of progress, Xerxes. Probably more than anyone else. When you do get shipped out, being able to cast Minor Augmentation would be a big deal for you. So… good luck.”

After meditation, when he settled down for rune study, he cracked open the book and was flabbergasted.

On the interior title page it read: An Account of the Pontifarch’s Understanding of the Asgagu Order. It listed the author as Nanaya, a name that sounded familiar to Xerxes, but which he couldn’t place.

As he started reading the book, he realized ‌it was written as if dictated by the Pontifarch himself. Which made him think about the Monad. If the Pontifarch wasn’t real, had the Monad dictated this book? Or was the entire thing fabricated by this Nanaya person?

It didn’t matter. It soon became obvious to him that the insights of the book were very real. His understanding of the Asgagu Isten rune confirmed that. He flipped to the fifth chapter and started reading.

Only one paragraph into the text, something clicked in his head. I get it now. The fifth stroke. It’s based on the flow of a river….

Even after only a single night, he could sense that he was progressing faster. On Sixthday, he sensed that he would soon be in the position for another Flush.

By Restday, he was ready for another cult meeting. Everything went as normal. Until it came time to part. As Katayoun and Xerxes prepared to leave, Navraj pulled Xerxes aside.

“Do you mind staying a few minutes later than usual? I want to talk with you about something?”

“Just me?” Xerxes asked.

Navraj grinned. “Both of you.”

“Sure.”