“He crushed my banana,” Nimbus complained a couple of hours later. “My banana! And they are expensive. Right, Aaron?”

  I sat in a chair in the main room of the North Forest Codexium, rubbing my arms. I’d been lost in thought about Salome, Herod, and the bandits when Nimbus’s question pierced my ears. “Huh? Your banana—?”

  Nimbus rolled his eyes. “We looked in your bag, and all the bananas I hadn’t eaten were crushed. I have never been more disappointed in my life.”

  I blinked at Nimbus. I vaguely recalled finding a smushed banana in my bag on our way to the North Forest Codexium earlier, but that had been the last thing on my mind. I wasn’t even upset about wasting ten shekels on them, though that had been a decent chunk of change.

  I was more focused on how utterly helpless I’d been under Herod’s control. Sure, I’d been helpless against Jezebel and the bandits, but their threat had been primarily physical. It had felt like, if I’d been just a bit stronger, faster, and smarter, I could have taken care of them on my own. Having Salome’s help had been necessary, but it hadn’t felt that way.

  But Herod?

  I now understood, on a visceral level, the difference between a Chapter One, Page One Codexer like myself and a Chapter Five Codexer like Herod. I even understood the fearful look that the surviving bandit had given Salome when she allowed him to escape and deliver a message to Wolfbrand.

  But this time, I had been the bandit, and Herod had been Salome.

  And unlike Salome, Herod wouldn’t have stopped if Isaac hadn’t stepped in when he did.

  A cup of water appeared before my face, and when I looked up, Isaac stood there, still leaning on his staff, clutching the wooden cup of water in his hand. He raised an eyebrow. “I considered offering you alcohol, but that would mean sharing my stash with anyone. You look like you need water more than alcohol, anyway.”

  Nimbus, sitting on the floor beside my feet, nodded. “Yes. One must never share one’s private stash with others. Then there is less for you, and that is sad.”

  I briefly found myself comparing Nimbus and Isaac and their addictions before taking the cup and sipping it. The water was cool but tough. “Thanks. It’s hot out.”

  “In more ways than one.” Isaac sighed and glared at the door to the Codexium as if it were also an agent of the Obsidian Order. “I got that Codex Alert last night about Salome and the Obsidian Order, but didn’t realize they were operating here in North Forest. Because it was a Kingdom-wide alert, I just assumed that Salome had been spotted in Hebron or something.” He sighed. “Just my luck. I hate those Order jerks. Make the bigwigs in Hebron look like Goiim saints.”

  Isaac’s response confused me until I remembered that I hadn’t told him about my encounter with Salome and the bandits the night before. “I crossed paths with Salome last night.”

  Isaac looked at me with startled eyes, but before he could do anything, I quickly launched into my story, leaving out no details about my encounter with Salome and the bandits. Nimbus chimed in occasionally to provide details or information I didn’t remember or hadn’t known about, but for the most part, I did the talking.

  I could have kept my mouth shut, but I figured Isaac deserved to know the truth. He’d already heard Herod say that my memories had confirmed Salome’s presence in North Forest. And since Isaac was apparently a lot less drunk than I originally thought, it wouldn’t be hard for him to put two and two together. Best to be upfront with him about it. I also made sure to link my portable with Isaac, just to be safe.

  By the time I finished my story, Isaac was stroking his chin. He now looked like he was regretting not being drunk. “So, Salome deliberately spared you? She didn’t try to kill you or anything?”

  I shook my head. “No. She killed most of the bandits, but she didn’t lay a finger on me or Nimbus at all.”

  One thing I did leave out was that Salome and I had linked portables. Given how Salome was a wanted terrorist with a rap sheet, I felt like telling either Isaac, Herod, or even Miriam that I had her contact information would have gotten me in much bigger trouble than I was already in. I was surprised that Herod hadn’t noticed Salome in my portable, but then again, he’d only looked at my memories, not my portable, so maybe that was why he didn’t mention it.

  Also, when I checked my link list this morning after breakfast, Salome’s contact information hadn’t been listed at all. I wasn’t sure if I’d somehow deleted it the night before or if maybe I’d hallucinated linking portables, but either way, it had spooked me.

  Isaac pursed his lips. “You got lucky, kid. Salome must not have considered you worth her time if she spared you.”

  I took a deep breath. “I’m not so sure about that. She retrieved my stylus and my portable for me and even gave me advice on how to bind my portable to my soul later. I feel like if she had wanted to kill me, she would have.”

  “Which makes this whole situation even worse.” Isaac shook his head. “But that doesn’t justify Herod trying to pry your brain open and pick your memories apart like a toddler tearing apart a piece of paper. At your Chapter and Page, he could have permanently damaged your mind if I hadn’t stepped in.”

  I sipped my water again, grimacing, though not at the taste of the water. “Herod was … scary, but how do you know him? He just appeared out of nowhere. Like a ghost.”

  Isaac huffed. “Yeah, that’s how Enforcers like him operate. Appear out of nowhere, break laws, claim it’s for a higher purpose, and then vamoose as soon as someone tries to hold them accountable. And no one ever does because the Obsidian Order holds more power than most of the Codex Kings themselves. Bastards.”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Isaac spat on the floor again, though Isaac’s comments about the Obsidian Order piqued my interest. “Enforcer? Is that his Discipline?”

  Isaac gave me a look as if I’d just asked a dumb question. “No. It’s a title for agents of the Obsidian Order whose job is to hunt down and eliminate rogue Codexers, especially if those rogue Codexers are former Order members like Salome. Herod’s just the worst of them, and by worst I mean best. His Gravemind Discipline is scary—and effective, as you just experienced.”

  I shivered slightly when Isaac named Herod’s Discipline. “Gravemind? Sounds, uh—”

  “Like a party?” Isaac chuckled. “If your idea of a party is someone disrupting your Node, trapping you in a submission loop, and forcibly ripping through your memories and mind until they find what they are looking for, then sure.”

  I shook and glanced at the Stationary Node in the center of the room. “How do you even get a Discipline like that? I can’t imagine it’s something the Codex just hands out at trials.”

  Isaac shook his head. “Not all Disciplines are like yours, Aaron. You’re also assuming Disciplines are earned the same way. Certain kinds of Nodes, such as Forbidden Nodes, give out as rewards Disciplines you might not get elsewhere.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Forbidden Nodes? What are those?”

  “Something to worry about later,” said Isaac with a dismissive wave of his hand. “For now, I’d focus more on laying low. Avoid that clearing and definitely avoid drawing attention to yourself from the Obsidian Order. You got lucky with Salome and Herod, but let me tell you that luck runs out eventually. Best not to chance it again.”

  I nodded. I wasn’t planning on getting involved in inter-Kingdom manhunts for wanted Codexers, but at the same time, I still had a lot of questions about the Obsidian Order. “You said that the Obsidian Order is stronger than most of the Codex Kings. I thought they were just a Codex Guild.”

  Isaac laughed. “You could say that, yes, in the same way that alcohol is a liquid like water. But the Obsidian Order is on a completely different level from even Adventure Calls, our Kingdom’s biggest Guild. Though they are headquartered in Bela, they have outposts in every Kingdom, multiple outposts, even. There’s even one in Hebron, which I suspect is where Herod arrived from. The Obsidian Order is the biggest guild in all of the Nine Kingdoms. Only the Node Makers Guild comes close to their level, and that’s only because of the monopoly they have on making portables and repairing Stationary Nodes.”

  Nimbus thumped his foot against the ground. “They are also extremely corrupt and treat rabbits very unfairly.”

  I looked at Nimbus, raising an eyebrow. “Speaking from personal experience?”

  Nimbus looked away. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “I can’t speak to how they treat rabbits,” said Isaac, stroking his beard. A sly grin crossed his elderly features. “But the bunny isn’t wrong. They are definitely corrupt and aren’t afraid to use their power to get what they want. That’s how I ended up here.”

  I furrowed my brows. “Because you got on the bad side of the Order?”

  Isaac shrugged. “Basically, but that’s a story for another time. The point is, you don’t want to draw their attention to you, even if you aren’t doing anything illegal or wrong. Even just getting in their way is a good way to get stomped into the dust. Very much like dealing with a giant.”

  I shuddered, thinking about how massive Herod was. “I don’t know how you faced Herod like that. He was probably Chapter Five at least.”

  Isaac smiled again. “Herod’s tough, no doubt about it, but I’ve spat in the face of giants before and lived. Helps that I have a pretty good understanding of Codex law and jurisdictions. Being a Codex Keeper requires learning all that boring stuff, which occasionally comes in handy—when I’m not drinking.”

  I sipped my water again. It was already becoming lukewarm, though I paid little attention to its temperature at this point. “I appreciate it. Maybe I should become a Codex Keeper.”

  Isaac rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t recommend it. Steady pay, sure, but then you are expected to babysit new Codexers, learn boring rules and laws, and crap like that. You should be a dungeon diver instead. More dangerous, but also more lucrative, not to mention fun.”

  I gave Isaac a curious look. “Were you a dungeon diver at some point?”

  “A long time ago.” Isaac’s gaze became distant for a moment before he shook his head again and looked at me. “Anyway, that’s my best career advice. It’s worth as many shekels as you paid me.”

  I frowned. “But I didn’t pay you anything.”

  Isaac winked. “Exactly.”

  I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “Why did you intervene and save me, anyway? I didn’t think you liked me very much.”

  “Liking you has nothing to do with it.” Isaac jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “But pissing off a self-righteous Enforcer from the most corrupt and powerful Guild on the continent? On a legal technicality, of all things? I’d be a fool to pass up that opportunity. I just appreciate the little things in life.” He looked at me more closely. “The real question is, what were you doing out there? Looking for trouble?”

  I bit my lower lip and glanced at Nimbus, who had his back legs kicked out behind him, head on the floor like he was ready for a nap. “I was practicing my spells, actually, and trying to figure out how my Discipline worked.”

  “And trying to kill me with a broken spell,” Nimbus added. “So honestly, I don’t know if he or Herod was more dangerous.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Not intentionally. I just didn’t realize I needed to aim the spell. There must be a way to do that. I just haven’t figured it out yet.”

  Isaac chuckled. “Practicing on your own? Sounds dangerous. Especially if you don’t even know how to aim your own spells.”

  I looked up at Isaac hopefully. “Would you be willing to help me practice?”

  Isaac held up a hand. “You heard me yesterday. I have no idea how your Discipline works, and frankly don’t want to know. But if you want to train in the Codexium, feel free to do so. But outside in the courtyard, where you got your stylus. Not inside. Don’t want to have to file that damage report to Hebron. They’d never approve the funds to have it fixed.”

  My shoulders slumped. “Thanks, but I don’t really see the benefit in training here versus out in the woods or somewhere else if you aren’t going to actually guide me.”

  Isaac sighed and rubbed his face. “Stationary Nodes are built on ley lines, and Codexiums are built around Stationary Nodes. These ley lines give you ambient mana, which will make your spells stronger and easier to control. That’s why most Codexers practice and train at Codexiums.”

  I blinked. “Oh. I didn’t know that.”

  “Kid, there’s a lot you don’t know,” said Isaac. He frowned. “But why do you want to get stronger so fast, anyway? You’re acting like you’re in a hurry.”

  I pursed my lips. How could I explain to Isaac that I wanted to get stronger so I wouldn’t be so helpless again? It sounded childish even to think that. And it wasn’t just for me. Nimbus had been as helpless as I was, and I hadn’t been able to protect him at all.

  What if, next time, someone in my family got targeted instead of Nimbus?

  I thought about just saying I wanted to grow so I could be strong enough to dungeon dive and earn money for my family. That seemed like an acceptable excuse.

  But it didn’t feel right.

  So I finished drinking the water and stood up to face Isaac. “I want to get stronger so I can stand up to Codexers like Hebron and Jezebel without needing to be saved. And I want to be strong enough to protect those around me, too.”

  I expected Isaac to laugh at me, as it seemed like the sort of thing he would laugh at, but to my surprise, he just nodded. “Got it. I’d feel the same way in your shoes.”

  Then Isaac looked at Nimbus. “And what about you, rabbit? What do you want?”

  Nimbus rose to his feet and met Isaac’s gaze without hesitation. “Bananas, mostly. Do you have any?”

  Isaac sighed. “No, I do not.”

  “Okay.” Nimbus shrugged. “Then I want to sync with Aaron.”

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