“Yeah, so that's pretty much what happened.” Edan finished telling Harvey his side of the story.

  He’d kept the details in line with what he had told his parents. Edan was tempted to ask him if he knew anything about the Four Star Heavenly Sect, but he didn’t trust Harvey not to question him.

  “Well, lad, it sounds like you had a tough time.” Harvey placed his elbows on the counter and steepled his fingers together. Resting his chin on his fingers he regarded Edan with a calm level look. “How have you come through it?”

  “What do you mean?” Edan asked, turning away from the display of vials he was trying to set up.

  “I have seen those with more raw talent than you stop cultivating for over far less. It is not an easy road you’re walking lad, power such as those achieved by the figures at the very top, is not something easily obtained.” Harvey’s light grey eyes took on a distant look. “Has your brush with death made you doubt yourself?”

  Edan adjusted the vials by size, placing little folded cards with handwritten prices next to each one. He thought quietly about Harvey’s question as he worked. Finally happy with the arrangement, Edan stepped back and admired his work.

  The vials had been set up next to the counter on a dias of wood. Each vial was clamped in place by delicate metal braces. Healing was at the very top, the thick red liquid looking so much like blood. Stamina and Mana took the next two levels down, yellow and blue liquid shining brightly. The final row was for the random vials, mostly to do with resistance, their contents all different colors.

  Turning back to Harvey, Edan chewed on his lip before shrugging.

  “Not really. I was scared for a bit, but it was fear at the moment. I don’t think I'm still scared. I just feel…angry. Really angry.” he admitted.

  Harvey watched Edan grit his teeth and ball his fists but didn’t say anything, instead simply letting him talk.

  “I’m angry because they treated my life like it was cheap! Aser tried to kill me, lower realms! He thinks he did, and for what? Because I threatened to challenge their status quo. Because I broke through to the top nine? Top nine! Not even the top three.” Edan could feel himself getting worked up and took a deep breath. “Sorry. I just…I dunno.”

  “It's the ideal, not the action,” Harvey said, before explaining when Edan gave him a confused look. “You threatened an ideal. You showed that the Sect's dominance was not as secure as they thought. To you, it was a small thing. A rank in a class. To those who use those ideals for their own ends, it was an attack.”

  “Well, fuck them!” Edan snapped before scrunching up his eyes hard enough that he saw stars. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get angry.”

  “Anger is an understandable response.”

  “I want to hurt them,” Edan admitted.

  “Also a valid response. Have you come up with a plan?”

  “I’m working on one,” Edan smiled, though his eyes remained cold. “I just need to see if it’ll work.”

  “I will be here if you need anything. Now, be a good lad and switch the sign to open.”

  Edan knew Harvey was perfectly capable of changing the sign without even standing up, but he also knew it was Harvey’s way of changing the topic to something less heavy. Edan was thankful for that. He disliked wallowing in his own dark thoughts.

  Done with the display, Edan wandered around the store straightening shelves and tidying up where he could. Customers popped in and out, the bell over the door chiming with each. Occasional Edan would peek over, interested to see the clientele.

  Edan was of course at the very back of the store, trying to de-web a barrel, when Harvey’s voice called him.

  Tali stood before the man, the counter between them like a shield. The Titan towered over Harvey, her head almost touching the ceiling.

  “You had a hand in Edan’s rescue,” Harvey was saying as Edan approached. “So that has earned you some trust. But we are watching you.”

  “Your guild is known to me,” Tali answered back, her gaze level and her voice soft. “Watch as needed.”

  She turned and smiled as Edan reached them.

  “Emge, you are well?”

  “I’m good. I was actually hoping to talk to you-”

  “And I, you.” Tali looked at Harvey before gesturing towards the door. “Accompany me?”

  “I’m not supposed to leave the building.”

  “You’ll probably be fine around the block,” Harvey said, settling back into his chair with a groan. “Most of the residents here don't take kindly to nosy questions and searching eyes. Keep your head down and don’t wander far and you'll be safe.”

  “Mum and Dad-”

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  “Are not here.” Harvey inclined his head towards Tali. “She knows what I mean when I say you’ll be fine.”

  Edan looked between the two before deciding it wasn’t worth worrying about. He trusted Harvey and if the man said he’d be fine, he’d be fine. If Reema and Sanik found out, he’d just throw Harvey to the wolves.

  “For the honored parents to hold importance to a man such as him, there must be a story,” Tali said as they exited the store.

  It was a gloomy day, the clouds in the sky dark grey and heavy. The temperature had dropped, a gentle breeze drifting through the streets bringing with it the smell of ozone and wet earth. Edan hoped it wouldn’t rain, but he wouldn’t bet against it.

  Tali gestured down the street and Edan fell into step with her. Around them people hustled past, their eyes darting upwards. A few store owners had come outside to collect their boards and standing signs.

  “I’m not sure what Mum and Dad did, they don’t talk much about their past or the jobs they work for Harvey, but he’s always been a part of my life.” Edan stepped over a hole in the road. Overhead thunder rumbled. “I trust him.”

  Tali inclined her head in acknowledgment and spoke no further on the subject.

  “I have been banished from the city,” she said instead.

  “That's a thing?” Edan asked in shock.

  “The Academy holds much sway in this city and a broken oath to them does not leave many doors open. They cannot risk me joining the Traders Guild. Their balance of power is fragile. This is their solution.”

  "And us? Are they looking for us?"

  "They are," Tali admitted slowly. "But they were distracted during my questioning and those that were present know better than to push me."

  “So what does that mean for us? Aren’t you meant to be my mentor and show me the way of the Va? Are you leaving the planet?”

  Tali’s hand settled on Edan’s shoulder, their height difference made it look comical as she barely had to bend her arm.

  “The oath sworn for entry to this world is different to the one sworn to the Academy. The original remains unbroken.”

  Edan’s heart rate picked up as he heard her mention the oath for entry into the world. He remembered what Kiba had said.

  “I may not be welcome in this city, but the Academy has no control of the wilds to the North. If I am honest, I am eager to leave the city. It is small and delicate.” Tali smiled.

  “You’re going to go stay in the forests?” Edan asked, incredulously.

  Tali nodded. “There is comfort in the familiar and it is a good place to train. You will come with me. I am your Te'Roro Bwaka.”

  “I'll what?” Edan thought he had misheard her.

  “You will come with me to the wilds. There are creatures to fight and I will train you.”

  “Ha! Right. I’ll just come live in the bush with you.” Edan laughed, shaking his head at the absurdity.

  “Do you not wish to get stronger? Do you now have something you wish to achieve? What of those that sought your death, do you let them walk away?”

  “I have plans for them.”

  “What are those plans?”

  Edan kicked a pebble and watched it skitter across the coble stone road before hitting the curb and rebounding. It narrowly missed a man walking past and he glared at Edan.

  “I’m going to take part in the Proving Tournament at the end of the year, in Solaris, and force the Sects to acknowledge me.”

  “You still seek their acknowledgment?” Tali sounded confused, her brow scrunched up as she tried to see his logic.

  “I seek their acknowledgment so I can throw it away while the whole world watches,” Edan said between clenched teeth, his hands balling into fists as he felt his nails bite into the palm of his hand. “ I’m going to win! I’m going to win and show them all the Sects aren’t needed. They don’t get to choose who stands at the top.”

  Tali smiled, her eyes shining bright.

  “Yes! There will be many fights!” She said, sounding thrilled at his idea. “And you will need strength. You will need to train. You will need me.”

  Edan didn’t have a response to that and Tali smiled victoriously.

  “You will come to the wilds with me.”

  “I don’t see Mum letting me leave.”

  “You are graded, no longer a babe to be coddled,” Tali said with finality. They had turned the block and were walking back the way they had come along a different road. Edan cast about, wondering if anyone was watching them, but most of the people passing by ignored them and the few that made eye contact were quick to look away. “You must walk your path.”

  Edan thought he detected a hint of desperation in Tali’s soft voice.

  He knew what she was trying to say. That didn’t mean Edan wouldn’t talk it over with his parents.

  “I have a question for you,” Edan said, looking to change the topic for now. He stopped walking, forcing Tali to do the same. His heart beat wildly in his chest.

  “Are the Four Star Sect going to destroy this world?”

  Edan blurted it out, never taking his eyes off of the Titan. He wanted to see her reaction. She froze, her body turning into a towering statue. The wind had picked up and it tugged at Edan’s hair and the corners of Tali’s robes, making the fabric flap in the breeze.

  Edan felt his heart sink.

  Her lack of answer was answer enough. Any hopes of Kiba lying vanished and Edan was left with the harsh reality of a future he wasn’t sure how to stop. With the hopelessness came anger but he forced it down deep.

  “What was the plan?” He asked his words coming out in a harsh whisper. “Take me under your wing, maybe take me off world, and hope I never questioned why my world and family just disappeared?”

  Tali remained frozen, her eyes watching Edan.

  “Or what? If I didn’t live up to your expectations you’d leave me here, clueless, to die with everyone?”

  Tali didn’t say a word.

  “Answer me, dammit!” Edan yelled, not caring at the attention his outburst had gathered.

  “Banishment can be the penalty for a broken oath,” Tali finally said slowly as if she were picking her words very carefully. “But that is not the worst. Some oaths, when broken, take a skill, or even levels, as punishment. And some can take your very cultivation.”

  Edan’s eyes turned wide with horror as he realized what she was saying.

  “Why would you agree to something like that?”

  “We all have our own goals, Emge. Your goal makes sense to me now and I will stand with you when the sects seek to destroy you.” Tali’s soft amber eyes drilled into Edan as she leaned forward. “But do not forget, I too have goals I must achieve, and I have already sacrificed much for them.”

  Edan felt like an idiot. He’d never thought to wonder why Tali was even on Terra.

  “Why are you here?” he asked.

  “I am here for you, Emge.” Tali responded as the first fat drops of rain began to fall.