"This is a disaster."

"Do not be absurd," Dar scolded ZEKE from behind his desk, Sierra's report of the incident laid out before them. "This is an opportunity."

"For your political aspirations, certainly. But for his training-"

The door swung wide, cutting short ZEKE's protestations. Elena was uncharacteristically ruffled, her clothing a set of loose robes, her hair tied back in a severe bun that failed to capture several errant strands. Her skin was pale, a telltale sign she had been training her void magic when the news had reached her.

"Is he alright?" she asked without preamble.

"He is fine," Dar answered.

ZEKE scoffed. "Severe internal injuries are far from fine. But he will live. Nothing life-threatening or permanent. No missing limbs. No new flaws."

"And growth drastically beyond our expectations," Dar added, "It was luck, but I can not argue with your results, tin man."

ZEKE started to speak, but Elena was having none of it as she spoke over him. "The report only told me they activated their escape icons, nothing more. What happened?"

Rather than explain it himself, Dar gathered the papers on his desk and handed them to his wife. The three sat silently for nearly five minutes while Elena skimmed through the details, her expression increasingly incredulous with each passing word.

"We have confirmed this?" She asked at last.

"Have you ever known Sierra to lie?" Dar retorted.

"Truth told, I barely know the girl. But no, not from that lineage." Elena looked back at the report and reread a few key passages. "This is…"

"A disaster?" ZEKE suggested.

"Dangerous, certainly." Elena frowned. "Have we sent invest-"

"For something like this? I sent them within minutes." Anticipating her next question, Dar quickly added, "Their last report indicates they are still searching. We may need to call in a specialist team once they locate the entrance. No one on staff has the earth magic or skills required to dig down quickly. But at the very least, the team should be able to find the clearing mentioned in the report. It is a matter of when, not if."

Elena shook her head. "I would not be so certain. Her report says this Revenant was only Rank II. It had to know that if it left survivors, we would show up to root it out. Doubly so given the magnitude of what it is concealing. Her report says the fiend controlled the entrances. It could bar the gateways, or collapse them entirely."

Dar scowled. "Even if it does, an expert can breach them. In time."

"And do we have such an expert on hand?" Elena cocked her head for emphasis as she continued. "We have the Trinity locked down on your command, husband, and we did so for a reason. Each outsider is an additional risk we can ill afford. Especially now."

"We can not possibly keep the island locked down. Not with a find of this importance." Dar's expression was concerned as he read his wife's body language. "You are not suggesting we conceal this?"

"There is nothing in the law-"

"Elena!" Dar slammed his fist upon the desk at the very idea. "I permitted your little gamble with the boy because the risk was worth the reward. But this? This is a matter of Imperial priority. The worst we would have received for a breach of induction is a minor censure. If we are caught concealing this, we will be hung by the neck until dead."

Elena met her husband's eyes, steady and unflinching in the face of his outburst as she uttered only one word in reply.

"If."

Dar stood abruptly, a low growl in his throat as he paced to the nearby fireplace. He plucked a log and shredded it into kindling with his bare hands, then quickly arranged the pieces into a base. No one spoke as he went through the motions, striking a match and carefully setting paper and wood to light. Only then did he speak. "Machine. Your thoughts?"

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"My interest is in Alarion," ZEKE answered honestly. "I was brought here for his training, and that is my singular focus. While I am curious about these ancient Steelborn, I agree with Mistress Elena. At least in principle."

"Expand upon that." Dar's voice was low, just barely papering over his irritation.

"If you take this news to the Houses or the Imperator, they will flood the Trinity with Vitrians within weeks. Most of those will be here to examine this anomaly, to be sure, but others will use the influx as a smoke screen to make a play for Alarion. The chances that he disappears or is killed become alarmingly high. And on a personal note, so do mine."

Dar was skeptical. "And you think they improve if we conceal this?"

"I do not think Mistress Elena is suggesting deception. Only… delay," ZEKE clarified. "His recent tribulations have advanced his level and practical experience well above my most generous estimates. He is already more capable than the overwhelming majority of provincial inductees. Six months of magical training should be enough to round out his skill set."

"Six months?" Skepticism dripped from each word.

"Or less. If need be," Elena offered. "Excavate the entrance to these ruins manually. Or search the island to be sure there are no more surprises before you issue a report. We are sitting on a tremendous find. There is no need to rush the announcement until we know what we have found."

The fireplace crackled to life as one log finally caught under Dar's careful ministrations. He gestured, and a small gust of wind swirled around the newborn flame, feeding it precious oxygen that allowed it to grow in a matter of moments.

"Are we certain the Imperator is unaware?"

Elena's brows were knitted together as she answered. "How could he possibly know? Do you mean to suggest a spy among the staff?"

"That has always been a concern," Dar answered. "But no, think of your history. The first Ashadi war."

"You think these ruins had something to do with that debacle?"

"I think that Imperator Gial might have been keeping secrets from the Curia. Secrets she took to her grave after the forced abdication," Dar said. "That would explain why she willingly parted with half of occupied Ashad in the peace negotiations. She knew something was here, something even more valuable than the challenge dungeon."

"The Ashadi certainly did," said Elena, still reviewing Sierra's report. "The Ashadi Research Institute is unfamiliar, but I recognize this Professor Vitali that Alarion mentioned. I think some of his journals are in the library. Most of them are about fiends. I always thought they were studying the boil."

"What about the Revenant?" ZEKE asked.

"Lamesh Setil." Dar returned to the desk and pushed a small ledger to his spouse. "While we waited for you, the Ordinates cast a record check and found 32 mentions of him within the library and some of his personal documentation in the cellar, such as his travel permits. A junior research assistant, apparently. No one of note. A few others whom Alarion named had similar records."

Elena frowned as a thought occurred. "There was an oddly high number of revenants on the island when it was claimed, as I recall."

"It would certainly be one way to liquidate a research team if they could not be evacuated in time," ZEKE noted grimly. "A failed one, if that was the goal. Though I've never heard of a revenant wanting to conduct research."

"That much I can explain. Or at least hypothesize," Dar said. "Most revenants are driven to expand, meaning they'll inevitably come in contact with more living things, keeping their bloodlust at the forefront. If it has spent decades on that island with nothing to kill, its personality might have reasserted to some degree."

"He is certainly intelligent, to have hidden from the sweepers for so long," Elena remarked as she flipped through his documents. "He was of low nobility?"

"Third son of some Ashadi lord," Dar waved away the notion as irrelevant. "And I give more credit to complacency than his intelligence. Even underground, they should have found him. It is a wonder your boy survived."

"What is his recovery time?" Elena asked ZEKE, knowing that, unlike her husband, the Steelborn would have cared enough to find out.

"With healers attending him, a few days."

"You are ready to begin once he is healed?"

Elena could almost hear ZEKE's smirk as he answered. "I was ready to begin before he left the island. The only issue is his affinities. We can't develop a proper curriculum until he is tested, and even with tools, it will take a few days to practice channeling."

The woman nodded, then looked to her husband. "Five months."

"Two," Dar replied sharply.

"Assume four, and we will reassess at two."

"We both know that just means four."

"Three months, and if he is not ready to Ezekiel's satisfaction, you give him Sierra as a bodyguard for the first six months of his induction."

Dar snorted. "She would kill me in my sleep."

"I would not be so sure," Elena tapped the papers on the desk for emphasis. "The way she talks about him here, you can tell she was worried. I think she is coming around on him."

"Machine?"

"Three months should be sufficient," ZEKE answered without a hint of annoyance at the disrespectful tone. "I have trained worse pupils in a shorter time. Though I caution, depending on his affinities, I may need outside expertise on such a short time frame."

Dar closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His head leaned back as he considered the risks and rewards. Then, he snapped back to reality with a simple answer.

"Fine. Ninety days, and not a moment longer."

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