“Old anger,” Orthos responded. “And deep sorrow.”

Blue sang a long, sad note.

“Bleed and bury them.” She was starting to think the Wei clan might be worth even less than the Heaven’s Glory School, though she suspected there wasn’t a rat hair’s difference between them. “Go anyway. Scoop up Lindon, and let’s fly ‘til we run out of sky. Let this whole place burn.”

Orthos’ head tilted upward again. “We were just discussing the sky. From what Little Blue tells me, that’s what we should be worried about.”

The Riverseed spread her arms and gave a high chime, emphasizing the size of the Dreadgod.

“Can’t contend she’s wrong.”

Yerin looked up to the rust-colored mountain, which had been stained with gold.

How much time did they have left? Two days? Three? Or would the Titan stop dragging its feet and just kill everyone already?

Yeah, it was time to leave. If anyone decided to stay after being warned and got crushed under a Dreadgod’s heel, that was between them and the heavens.

Something moved in the horizon, and she realized one of the distant peaks past Mount Venture had crumbled. No surprise there. With the earth shaking like it—

Her thought cut off as the Wandering Titan crashed through the mountain.

It swept through the mountain like it was brushing aside tree branches. Its dark silhouette was distant, and clouds cut off its head.

It walked a few steps closer, but those steps must have eaten miles. Only then did it move to its knees, disappearing below the reddish mountain.

The sound of a crash hit her like thunder a moment later, but her heart was racing.

The Titan wasn’t days away.

It was here.

It could make it to the Valley inside the hour, if it wanted. It was just taking its time.

Orthos took in a long breath. “The Wandering Titan…never did I think I would see not one, but two Dreadgods. And only a few years apart.”

“Trapped,” Yerin whispered.

They couldn’t escape in time. It was too late. Ziel and Mercy were too far away, and she couldn’t carry anyone in her Moonlight Bridge. She wasn’t certain how many more times she could use it herself.

They needed more time.

They needed help.

Yerin limbered up her shoulders, stretching herself as madra ran through her channels. None of that helped the soul-deep fatigue that came from the Moonlight Bridge, but she still focused her will.

“Grab Lindon,” she said. “I’ve got my own ditch to dig.”

Little Blue gave a whistle of alarm, and Orthos looked as though he agreed with the Riverseed. “What are you doing, Yerin?”

“Somebody’s got to slow that thing down. Heavens know I can’t do it myself.”

“You’re not from the Kazan clan!” Elder Rahm shouted.

Eithan held a hand to his chest, feigning offense. “Am I not? How can you be sure? Perhaps we’re very, very distant relatives.”

Elder Rahm thrust a finger at the small crowd of people hurrying into a two-story house. “Then what do you care about them?”

Unlike most of the other buildings in Heaven’s Glory, this house wasn’t made of rainstone, but of pale orus wood.

It was actually quite beautiful. Eithan wondered how much it had cost to import the lumber up the mountain.

“I consider myself a great humanitarian. How could I watch prisoners suffer, even when they are taken from a clan other than my own?”

These twelve prisoners from the Kazan clan hadn’t been abused as far as Eithan could tell, only confined. He suspected they were political hostages to keep the clan in line.

But the Heaven’s Glory School had planned to keep them here.

And unfortunately, he had only found them after his team of Akura Golds had all abandoned him. Shame on them, prioritizing things like “their individual human lives.”

The Heaven’s Glory School hadn’t listened at all when he told them about the doom that was coming, and indeed had ignored even his considerable charms.

Ordinarily, at this point, he would have resulted to threatening them until they were more frightened of him than of leaving their homes.

But he was already little better than a genuine Jade, and his bloodline senses were dull. He had to be careful…without looking like he was being careful.

He had given up on persuading the school, but he would take their prisoners with him. There were quite a few of those, it turned out. Several hundred scattered all over their territory. He had started with the Kazan hostages, but they needed somewhere to wait while the other prisoners were gathered.

So Eithan had co-opted Elder Rahm’s beautiful orus-wood home.

The prisoners filed through the door, huddling together, and Eithan waved at them to encourage them to head into the house. “If you don’t want to leave, I can’t make you,” Eithan said, though he regretted the truth of the statement. “But I would at least like to save those who are blameless.”

Elder Rahm spat on the ground. “Save. We are not children, to be led into death by obvious lies.”

“Let me ask: if I’m walking into certain death, why do you care if I take the prisoners with me?”

“They are not my enemies. They are the responsibility of Heaven’s Glory. It is up to us to preserve, protect, or punish them as they deserve.”

Eithan knew the real answer. Elder Rahm was stubbornly opposing anything Eithan wanted. He didn’t need a reason for it other than his distrust of outsiders.

They had no time for this. The aura was already in chaos. If the Dreadgod was more than two days away, then he had lost his touch. If they delayed any longer, the Akura cloudships would leave.

Eithan spread his hands and gave a helpless smile. “If I cannot persuade you, then so be it. As long as you allow others to leave as they wish.”

“You think too highly of yourself.” The old man’s glare was cutting. “It will be the ruin of you.”

“So I’ve been told.”

A shout for Elder Rahm came from behind Eithan, so he whirled around, striding across the street. “My apologies, but Elder Rahm is weary from diligent pursuit of his duties. How may I assist you?”

The Copper Heaven’s Glory disciple looked very uncertain, glancing over Eithan’s shoulder at Elder Rahm, but he quickly looked back to Eithan’s face. “This one was coming to tell the Elder that our envoy departed on time.”

With strands of his bloodline power, Eithan watched the Elder behind him. The old man stared furiously at Eithan’s back, gathering aura of fire and light.

A Ruler attack was the correct tool to use against Eithan, but the Sacred Valley Jade didn’t know that. Eithan raised his voice. “Don’t make a mistake you’ll regret, Elder Rahm.”

Rahm froze in the middle of his Ruler technique, then stubbornly continued pulling it together.

Something the Copper had said caught Eithan’s attention. “I’m sorry, young man. Your envoy to whom?”

“To…to the Wei clan.”

Lindon and Yerin were at the Wei clan. Eithan had just received a garbled transmission in Dross’ voice that he suspected meant the clan was on its way.

Heaven’s Glory had found out first and enacted a plan. That was galling. Eithan preferred to be the better-informed one.