“How many times do I have to tell you? The answer is no. Now give me more bananas.”

  I looked down at Nimbus as we walked. Well, I walked, but he hopped, as usual. We were back on the main road connecting North Forest to the North Forest Codexium. It was early afternoon, after we’d spent all morning and lunch with my family. Or I’d spent that time with my family. Nimbus had spent the time sleeping in the barn because I’d made it clear to him that I wasn’t going to get him more bananas unless he agreed to come with me to the Codexium and get synced.

  Miriam had already left town, surprising everyone. When she messaged Master Jethro through the NodeLink system and told him about Salome, Jethro had ordered her to return to Moab immediately, even though she’d been planning to leave tomorrow. Miriam had apologized to everyone for having to leave early, which did put a damper on things, but I didn’t blame her. If Salome was as bad as the Codex Alert said she was, then I could see why Miriam’s master didn’t want her anywhere near Salome.

  But it did make me realize that Master Jethro clearly valued Miriam’s life way more than ours. Perhaps that wasn’t surprising, seeing as she was his apprentice and we were just strangers to him. Yet as far as Miriam had said to me, Master Jethro hadn’t even mentioned Miriam staying in town to keep us safe from Salome. Not that I was entirely convinced that Salome was going to come after us—didn’t seem likely—but given how dangerous Salome was, I was surprised that Jethro didn’t come to Shinar to confront her directly.

  Then again, Shinar, despite its lofty title of being the First Codex Kingdom, lacked the prestige of the Eighth and Ninth Kingdoms. Even though Shinar produced most of the food consumed by the Nine Kingdoms, no one ever gave us much thought or invested in us at all. We just weren’t considered important enough.

  Maybe that was why Salome came. She thought no one would notice if she went into hiding around here, which probably would have worked if she hadn’t saved Nimbus and me from the Wolfbrand Bandits.

  Speaking of the Wolfbrand Bandits, I kept an eye out for them on the road but didn’t see or sense any of their presence. Granted, I was still a Chapter One Codexer, but if the Wolfbrand Bandits were waiting in ambush, I figured I would have seen them. Though without Jezebel being their Codexer, I didn’t know how dangerous they actually were to us anymore.

  But I did see the Ten-Year Reset Protocol still counting down in the corner of my eye. When I woke up this morning, the timer had gone down by a day, which indicated that this mysterious ‘Reset Protocol’ was still moving forward. I still had a decade to figure out what it meant, exactly, but that didn’t make it any easier to ignore.

  But I pushed all those thoughts out of my mind as I broke off another piece of banana from the bunch I bought with my shekels back in town and tossed it to Nimbus. The cloud rabbit leaped into the air and snatched it out of the air with ease, landing gracefully on the road as he continued to hop beside me.

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  “If your answer was really no, you wouldn’t have agreed to come with me to the Codexium this afternoon,” I said to Nimbus as we walked. I cocked my head. “And what happened to your whole ‘I’m gone in the morning’ deal? I thought you weren’t sticking around.”

  Nimbus grunted. “I changed my mind when I learned you had a banana. Besides, given what we now know about Salome, it is still in my best interest to hang out with you for a while. Between Salome and those bandits, these woods aren’t a safe place for a rabbit like me anymore.”

  I shook my head and tossed Nimbus another piece of banana. “Whatever you say.”

  Nimbus practically inhaled that next banana bit. “And anyway, your plan isn’t going to work. For a Codex Beast to sync with a Codexer, you need both of our consent. The North Forest Node won’t sync us if I refuse. So this is a waste of time for both of us.” He shot me a suspicious look. “Why do you want us permanently synced, anyway?”

  I shrugged. “It’s like you said, Nimbus. It would be in our best interest.”

  “Your best interests, you mean.” Nimbus snorted. “Selfish humans. You’re all the same. Always trying to meet your needs above everyone else’s. Banana.”

  Another banana piece, another catch from Nimbus.

  But this time, I didn’t bother arguing with him. I was thinking about my actual reasons for wanting to sync with Nimbus.

  Both last night and while helping my family with farm work this morning, I’d thought about the limitations of my Discipline and its Wordcasting ability. I still didn’t quite understand how it worked, but if I really did need to spend Words to cast spells, then that would probably hurt my progression. I needed Words to fill my Pages and filled Pages to turn the Chapters in my Codex. Yet I also needed to use Words to cast spells for combat and other purposes. It seemed like an unfair disadvantage to me, but I also knew I was stuck with my Discipline, at least for now. Maybe I would get to change it later.

  But I recalled how Nimbus and I had temporarily synced during my trial and how we had used something called the ‘spellchain’ to allow me to use some of Nimbus’s Words to cast a spell I didn’t have enough Words for at the time. I hadn’t had time to look into the spellchain, but if it worked the way I thought it did, then it might be a way for me to grow without having to worry about spending Words on spellcasting.

  Plus, Codex Beasts were rare and basically acted as a second portable for Codexers who managed to sync with one. There was no reason for me not to try to sync with Nimbus.

  It wasn’t just for me, though. I was also worried about what might happen if Nimbus left me and ran into the bandits again. Or some other group of people who might have bad intentions for him. Nimbus had made it sound like the bandits weren’t the only people who had tried to harm him, so it was obvious that he needed my help and protection.

  I just needed to convince him about that.

  But first, I needed to practice my spells.

  I turned off the path randomly and walked into the woods. Nimbus, who had been hopping beside me, suddenly screeched to a halt on the road and thumped his foot on the ground. A moment later, Nimbus blinked into existence beside me and resumed hopping through the undergrowth, though with a puzzled expression on his furry features.

  “Where are we going?” said Nimbus. “The Codexium is the other way.”

  “We’re not going to the Codexium,” I said as I ducked underneath a low-hanging branch. “No point if you aren’t willing to sync with me. Besides, you know how Isaac is about visitors, even this late in the afternoon. We’re going somewhere else.”

  Nimbus looked up at me again with curiosity in his golden eyes. “Where?”

  I smiled at Nimbus before looking ahead again, stepping over a low bush on the ground. “Back to the scene of last night’s crime, of course.”

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