Chapter 89 Zehava (1/2)

Arran read the letter in his hands, then tossed it aside It held an invitation from a novice named Zehava, but it contained no ti the naht he could probably afford to ignore it, there was little point in offending a novice he didn't yet know He would pay the novice a visit the next ot into bed, it took hiht about his forbidden Realm Well over two years had passed since Master Zhao had sealed it, and still, the seal remained in place

Partly, this was a testah the lesser seals on Arran's Wind and Fire Real Pills at once, the seal on Arran's forbidden Real as the day it was created

Yet the greater part of the story was that Arran had been lazy in trying to open it During the past two years, his attention had been focused al Wind and Force Essence What little ti to fornored the seal on his forbidden Realm was not just due to laziness, however Perhaps lad just to be rid of it, and as long as the seal remained in place, it was easy to pretend that the Realm simply did not exist

Yet it did exist, and even if he would rather disnored Whatever power the forbidden Realm held, he was currently unable to touch or even study, and if the seal somehow failed, he had no way to restore it — not without learning hoorked, first

Decision an to study the seal

Once more, he found himself awed by the thousands upon thousands of strands of Shadow Essence froether in a pattern so intricate that just trying to study it left hi that this was just the first step in a journey that could take years Perhaps if he spent all his ti the seal it could be undone faster, but he simply did not have that luxury

Instead, he would have to use what little free time he had to work on the seal, and he would have to do so without neglecting his training Just the thought of it filled hi hi the seal, carefully analyzing the ways in which it resembled and differed fro work, and at soht, sleep overtook him even as he studied The sleep that folloas troubled, filled with dreams of shadoisted in impossible patterns

When he awoke,had already passed, yet he felt little ht

After a quick breakfast, the first thing he tried to do was find Darkfire With the tournament only days away there was much they needed to discuss, but ever since they had arrived at the Governor's palace, Darkfire had barely shown his face

He asked one of the Governor's servants where Darkfire was, and was unsurprised to hear that Darkfire had gone out to sohter Briefly, he considered waiting until his friend returned, but he soon decided he had neither the time nor the patience for that

Instead, he would visit the novice who had invited hio sooner or later, and perhaps he would be able to glean some new infor the guards for directions to the address that had been in the letter To his relief, it wasn't far, barely half an hour's walk from the palace

The address in the letter was in one of the wealthier areas of the city, but when he found it, he saw that the e Built out of bare stone and three stories high, it looked sturdy and sober, seely built with little care for appearances

He knocked on the large wooden door, and it opened aa broad-shouldered man with several facial scars, short hair, and a sword at his side

The man did not speak Instead, hefor the visitor to introduce himself

”I was invited,” Arran said ”By a novice named Zehava”

The man nodded ”Co behind the scarred man As he looked around, he saw that the interior of the mansion was much the same as the exterior — sober and functional, without even the slightest bit of decoration It reseht

The h several hallways, and he saw that there were more people inside — a few dozen, at least, all of them with the appearance of battle-hardened soldiers and mercenaries

Finally, they arrived at a closed wooden door The scarred , then turned to Arran and said, ”Enter”

Arran did as the e but bare room On the side of the room stood a plain bed, and in the corner were several wooden chairs, stood around a s woh so golden hair, and although she was sitting down, Arran could see that she was probably at least as tall as he was

As Arran entered the roo an eyebrow

Arran nodded ”And you must be Zehava”

”I am,” she said Then, she went silent for severalat Arran intently As she studied hihtful expression came over her face

”I see why the others are so interested in you,” she finally said ”Have a seat”

Arran sat down in one of the wooden chairs, then asked, ”So why did you invite me?”

”If Amaya and Stoneheart are interested in you, then so am I”