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The proble prone over the scabbard’s s outstretched like some sort of feathery crucifixion character

"Shit," I swore, under my breath, as I stared at the conundrum Meanwhile, the dove watchedas its breast fluttered in panic

First things first, I thought, studying the sword The rapier looked razor sharp, and so very thin, but I knew the dae it would do to that white breast I , but it was obviously ic

When I reached for the porip was surrounded by a large, circular shield that was the sail we’d just chased all over Rockabill Grasping the sword, I pulled, nearly falling back on my ass when it came to me with no resistance whatsoever

I stood there, sword in hand, staring down at the bird The bird stared back

What kind of test is this? I wondered Is it testing ness to sacrifice? Or is it the complete opposite? Do they want to see my mercy, my kindness?

I studied the faces of the statues around me for soot it wrong, my little corner of the world was doo the ancient Alfar’s enigmatic stone expressions The Alfar I’ve known are either distant or monstrous Either they wouldn’t care that I eon or they wouldn’t even notice

What had Blondie said about these ancient Alfar? I re about power, and about cruelty But certainly there had to have been wisdom, too, for the Alfar not only to have thrived but, in their oay, to have flourished?

I walked around the scabbard again, feeling the weight of the rapier inin fear, its lovely white breast feathering up and down

Besides the fact that I wasn’t a huge fan of animal cruelty, I had no idea what I was supposed to do Kill the bird? Try to free it? Do a tap dance with it on ht did these ancient Alfar have to test me in the first place?

It was then I realized what they would have wanted Any being that would muck about, so, with others, wouldn’t want th--of ar me do this," I told the statues, as I stood up fro me kill this little bird just to prove I-don’t-even-knohat to your long-dead asses"

Clutching the pommel of the sword, I readied ht at the bird’s breast Part of me knew that it had to be a fake; no bird could have survived underground like this, for thousands of years And yet it didn’t look fake It looked alive, and terrified of me So it took me a while to work up the nerve to actually do it The bird kept watching, the whole time, like it knew Finally, however, I forced h to find its scabbard

I don’t want to fuck this up, I thought If I did it too slow, or did it wrong, the bird, fake or not, would suffer more than it had to This is so evil What if they’d put a baby here, instead? I shuddered, and then stilled iving the ical tests any ideas

Then I pushed down, hard

A burst of bright blood marred the perfect white of the dove’s breast "I’m sorry," I whispered, as those panicked black eyes popped in pain and fear

"I’h the bird’s body, until the rapier was firh, I would re the humans who had attacked us at Anyan’s One had been a desperate act done in the heat of the moment; this was done with calculation At that moment, I hated the Alfar more than I ever had They’d h the cha a mockery of my whispered sentiments I’d still killed the bird, after all

"I’h the white hall as I stepped back froeon, scabbard, and sword all disappeared in a puff of ic, and I saw a pair of white doors appear where they’d once stood But the doors were sealed shut

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry," continued the echo, till I put an to tre forced open from the other side I took another step back, unsure of ould happen when it finally burst open

Or ill burst through, I thought, raising e ball, to be on the safe side

But when the door finally ratcheted itself open, only darkness waited for h into liminal space

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

This rooic so powerful that h the door

Upon first entering, ht were enormous tree roots Trained to think of the supernatural world as one in which our ht, end

"The World-Tree?" I wondered aloud Was this what Phaedra had planned? Sonarok action?

[Not the World-Tree, child] an a inthat voice, loud and clear but definitely not verbalized, I acted as bravely and with as lared around ild eyes, trying to figure out who the fuck was in my mind Unlike Graeme, however, these were just words I felt no presence, so it didn’t feel nearly as squicky Just weird

The mental voice chuckled At ht as I picked round