Chapter 272: Home Before the Fire

Halvern stood at the far end of his garden with his hands behind his back, inspecting a plant Ren couldn’t name. He turned when Ren reached him and waited.

"Time’s reached the requirement," Ren said. "I’m ready to attempt Six."

"Then we’ll arrange it."

Halvern moved a leaf aside with one finger.

"There’s an advancement hall beyond the seclusion halls. You’ll have it at dawn. I’ll oversee the attempt; John will be at the door."

"How long should I tell people?"

"Tell them when you start. John will check your progress at midday. If the advancement is proceeding normally, we leave it alone. If he finds something wrong, he calls me."

"And if I’m still inside?"

"Then whoever’s waiting gets word that you’re still inside." Halvern let the leaf go. "There won’t be an announcement. Anyone who can sense it will know."

"Can you keep them away from the hall?"

"That’s what the door is for."

Ren glanced back along the path. He’d expected questions about Time, perhaps a request to show what he’d learned. Halvern was already examining another leaf.

"Thank you."

"Dawn, Ren."

"I’ll be there."

— • —

Selene came out of the first-year classroom carrying a stack of papers. Ren waited while she answered a student’s question, then walked beside her down the corridor.

"I’m attempting Six tomorrow. At dawn."

She looked at him, then shifted the papers under one arm.

"What are you doing with everything living in your world?"

"I was going to have the pack watch them."

"Where?"

He hadn’t chosen anywhere yet.

"Mine’s small," she said. "And I still had to think about where things could live. You’ve got a whole sea. If the water moves, can the things in the shallows get somewhere else?"

"Riptide can help them."

"And the ones that need deep water?"

Ren slowed beside a window. Below them, students were crossing the courtyard toward the practice grounds.

"I’ll need more than one gathering place."

"Somewhere you can keep track of each group," she said. "And leave a route clear."

"I can get them away from the shore."

"If you have to move them twice, which way are they going?"

He looked back at her. She waited, the papers beginning to slip under her elbow, until he admitted he didn’t know.

"Decide before you start."

He took the top few sheets while she straightened the stack, then handed them back. She had another class to prepare for; he left her at the stairs and went to work out which parts of the coast he could use.

— • —

Yuelan saw him coming toward the Terrace table.

"That was quick."

He’d said two or three weeks when he left. It had been days.

"I got what I needed." Ren pulled out his chair. "I’m going for Six."

Cassian looked up from his plate, his treatment slate face-down beside it.

"Volcano?"

"Didn’t get that far."

"When?" Iris asked.

"Dawn. Halvern’s arranged a hall."

She set down her cup. "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow."

Ren served himself while she watched him, then caught Lyra’s eye across the table.

"I’ll tell you both after dinner."

That let him eat, though Iris stayed beside him when the plates were cleared. Selene hadn’t come; Kaelen’s chair at the corner was empty too. Ren pushed his own chair back under the table and left with Lyra and Iris.

— • —

They sat in the flower field while there was still light enough to see the beach below.

Ren told them about reaching the Time requirement, then about the Burning Sea. There were people living there, and he’d helped some of them reach a Hearth that was still holding. Now the strongest presence the survey had found was awake. He’d seen the fires bending toward it from the shelf.

"I’m not going back through until I’m Six."

Lyra had her knees drawn up, her hands clasped around them.

"The people you moved. Are they staying there?"

"At Tide. Some of the others still have homes of their own." He pulled a bent stem free from beneath his boot. "They’re better off than when I found them. I don’t know how long that will last."

Iris looked toward the arch.

"You said weeks."

"I thought it would take weeks."

"And now you’re starting tomorrow."

"The requirements are met. I’ve got Halvern supervising." He paused, rubbing the stem between his fingers. "There’s something else. I’ve understood a law of my own. I’m still figuring out what it means."

Iris turned back to him.

"Does it change what you’re about to do?"

"No. Six first."

He waited, but she let the Law rest there.

"Where’s the attempt?"

"The advancement hall beyond the seclusion halls."

"And Halvern stays?"

"He’s overseeing it. John will be at the door."

"How long?"

"I haven’t got a finish time. John checks at midday. If it’s going normally, they leave me alone. If something’s wrong, he gets Halvern. You’ll get word either way."

"And if we don’t?"

"Go to Halvern. His door, not a slate. Don’t try to get into the hall."

She repeated the time, and he nodded.

Lyra reached across the grass for his hand.

"Come and find us before you go back into that sea."

"I will."

"After Six. Even if you think you’re ready to leave."

"I’ll come."

Her fingers closed around his. Iris rested her hand over theirs, and he stayed until they were ready to get up. On the walk out, Iris asked him to show her which turn led to the hall. He pointed it out from the path; she looked long enough to remember, then walked on with Lyra.

Ren went to his room and wrote to his parents.

I’ve met the requirements for the next stage. Halvern has arranged a place for the attempt and will oversee it. I start tomorrow morning. I’ll write again when it’s finished.

He read it once and folded it for the usual delivery. Letters were how he reached them now; Halvern had moved them somewhere a search through the academy’s records wouldn’t find.

There was no mention of the sea or his deaths. He hadn’t named the new Law to Lyra or Iris, and he left it out of the letter too.

— • —

Yueying found him on the path back to his world.

She held out the seal slate. The record still read RISING, and the figure beneath it was higher than the last one she’d shown him.

Ren looked from the slate to her.

"I’m going for Six tomorrow."

"Six won’t be enough."

"I know."

She kept the slate between them for another moment, then lowered it and went back along the path. Ren watched her leave before stepping into his world.

— • —

The Fifteen were gathered along the northern shore.

Ren sat beside Keep’s cradle and explained what was coming. The world would grow with the advancement. Its shores and currents might change, and he wanted the residents somewhere the pack could watch them, with room to move if those places became unsafe.

He pointed out the gathering places he’d chosen. The pod would stay in the deep water off the beach, well clear of the sandbanks. The smaller keepers could gather along the sheltered shallows, while those that needed more water stayed farther out. Riptide went through each approach before Ward began bringing anyone in.

"Don’t crowd them," Ren told Ward. "Leave room between the groups. If something needs deeper water, let it have it."

Ward moved off, and Ren walked the shore with Snap while the first shapes came in from the drowned streets. He watched where each settled. One group stopped too close to the pod’s approach, so he had Ward bring them farther along before the whales arrived.

Hearth opened its mouth in the shallows for the small ones that could shelter inside. Ren waited beside it while they entered, then checked the water around its body. There was room for it to turn and leave without pushing through another group.

Keep’s spores marked the gathering places. Reports reached Ren as the residents settled; he checked each place himself before moving on.

The eastern channel stayed clear. It led past the rocks into deeper, open water, and Riptide followed it out and returned before Ren sent anyone to watch its mouth.

Anvil rested on the sheltered side with Balm still spread over the crack in its shell. Ren crouched to inspect it, then left Wick and Loom nearby. He wouldn’t put Anvil in the way of a frightened pod.

"Keep this entrance clear," he told Saber and Ribbon. "Nobody settles here."

He stood where Ward could see him and pointed from the gathering places to the channel.

"If we have to leave these spots, that’s the way out. Riptide checks ahead. Ward follows with everyone who can use the deeper water. Hearth carries the ones already inside."

He pointed next to the shallows along the shore. Some of the smaller residents had stayed outside Hearth, and sending them after the pod would put them in water they couldn’t use.

"Lantern, stay with these. If they have to move, follow the shore. Ward needs to know where you stop."

He walked that stretch too, checking that it didn’t end against a bank they couldn’t get past.

Knock came close enough to press against his leg.

"Knock gives the signal. Same call you’ve been using." He rested a hand on the calf. "If something’s falling on you, move. Don’t wait for a song. Ward chooses another place if this route goes bad."

They’d moved families out of the Burning Sea under worse conditions, but Ren went over the route until he was sure they had it. There would be no Spear here to guide them.

Bolt and Snap watched the approaches between the groups. Mosaic spread along the shore where Ren could see the gaps in its shifting body; Lantern lit the gathering places and the channel entrance. With everyone settled, he walked back along the beach and checked the route once more.

The field above the shore was quiet. He couldn’t move every growing thing out of the ground. He could keep the paths clear and have the pack watch for changes; he pointed out the bank below the flowers before returning to Keep.

"They’re ready, Ren," Kaia said.

He sat beside the cradle a little longer, waiting for the last report from the outer group. Then he left Keep with Ward and went to bed.

— • —

He woke before sunrise and checked the shore from inside his world.

Hearth was still in the shallows. Ward moved between the groups, and the eastern channel was empty. Ren waited beside Keep until he had heard from the residents farther out, then left the Fifteen at their posts.

The Terrace path was quiet. He followed it past the seclusion halls, remembering the door they’d waited outside when Selene went for Five. This morning he kept walking.

John stood at the advancement hall’s entrance in his grey coat. Behind him was a single door set into a windowless stone wall.

"Midday," Ren said.

"That’s the check." John opened the door. "The General’s waiting."

Halvern stood in the middle of the bare room. Ren could feel the wards in the stone as he crossed the threshold; he looked once around the walls, then back at the General.

Halvern indicated a place on the floor.

"There."

Ren sat down where he pointed.