Page 21 of Grave Situation

Amusement, and again, that sense of confidence. Yay. The rock believes in me.

I try again.This is a mistake. Tell them you’ve changed your mind. There are people who suit this task far better than me. And anyway, I have a life and duties here. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep first years alive?

A sense of curiosity is all I get in response. Is it asking me to tell it how hard dealing with first years is?

“Talon?” Master’s voice calls for my attention, and I look away from the stone—which is currently radiating smugness.

“Yes, Master?”

“Are you all right? You seem greatly preoccupied.”

It’s only then that I notice the silence that permeates the room and all the eyes on me. Fuck.

“This is a monumental task,” I say honestly. “I’m not certain where to begin.” To my master, I add,“The stone can communicate with me directly. No need for me to speak.”

He shows no outward reaction, but his mental touch is surprised and… afraid?“We’ll speak of it later.”

“We feel much the same, Mage Silverbright,” Master Cranch admits. “Perhaps we should turn again to the prophecy for guidance.”

~Yes~

The stone’s response surprises us all, since that hadn’t been a question. I guess it likes to take part in conversation too.

The prophetic scholars, though still shaken, take up the reins once more. “I-I suppose the next question we need to address as a group is specifically the danger that’s coming,” Master Gao ventures. All his usual bluster is gone, even though he was proved right in his theory. “That way we can determine how best to give aid to the champion.” He pales and looks at the stone.“Not that your champion would need aid,” he adds quickly. “But… but…”

“But we’ll need to tell the rulers of the continent something,” Master Samoine interjects smoothly. “And while the champion performs their vital task, we need to know if there is still likely to be some danger to innocents. So…” He turns to the scholars. “What are the theories?”

“Danger beyond death,” Master Leng mutters. “I don’t even know what I believe anymore.”

That’s helpful. Just the kind of support I’m going to need when I’m going fuck knows where to find fuck knows who to get them to do fuck knows what to stop fuck knows what evil. Yippee.

The stone pulses a warning in my mind. Only not a warning exactly… a minor chastisement. Is it telling me to be patient with them?

They’re not toddlers. These are supposed to be the wisest leaders we have.

It doesn’t reply.

Master Gao seems to have pulled himself together a little more, and he’s explaining the theories of “danger beyond death.”

“…obviously the key word is death. That is the catalyst for whatever creates this danger. We know it’s not anything living. The debate is in the meaning of ‘beyond.’”

I take a deep breath and try to be patient.

“Some believe that this refers to spirits—ghosts, poltergeists, and the like. Beings without corporeal form.”

“Wait,” the healer who scolded me before interrupts. “You’re suggesting that the spirits of our own dead will come back to harm us? Our loved ones?”

Master Gao harrumphs. “There’s also some debate on what the danger will be. Will the spirits cause direct harm, or will their mere presence drive the living to insanity? Or perhaps thoseliving will be overcome with the desire to rejoin their loved ones and take their own lives.”

Those are both very unpleasant theories. I’m not sure how believable they are, either. The person I loved most growing up—aside from Tia—was our nanny, Heather. She died just a few years before we came to the academy, and I know that if she came back as a ghost and I tried to kill myself to be with her again, she’d get out her willow switch and turn my backside red as a fucking cherry.

Around the room, nobody seems terribly excited about that theory.

“What other meaning has been given to ‘beyond’?” one of the riders asks.

Master Gao looks a little sick. “The corporeal dead, resurrected. The bodies of those who have died, brought back without their souls. Zombies.”

There’s a gentle nudge in my brain, so gentle that it takes me a moment to comprehend it. My mouth fills with bile.“Master,”I send,“Ask the stone if the prophecy means zombies.”

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