The next morning, Riven woke up alone.
Elara's bed was empty. Kael's too. Just him and the incense smell.
His hand felt fine. No pain. No swelling. Elara's healing had worked.
But he kept staring at his palm. Turning it over. Flexing his fingers.
She gave up a memory for this, he thought. A small one. But still.
He didn't know how to feel about that.
He got up. His body was sore from training. His shoulders ached. His legs felt like jelly.
Good sore, he told himself. Sore means you're getting stronger.
He walked to the lower hall.
The room was busy. Students eating gray soup. Talking in low voices. Some were crying. Quietly. Trying to hide it.
Elara sat at their usual table. She was alone.
He sat down across from her.
"Morning," he said.
"Your hand looks better."
"You fixed it."
"I remember."
She pushed her soup toward him. Same bland stuff. He ate anyway.
"Who's the healer?" he asked. "The one Kael mentioned."
Elara's face went blank.
"You don't want to meet her."
"I need to. For the trial. In case something happens."
"She won't help you for free."
"I know. Kael said she charges."
Elara was quiet for a moment.
"Her name is Seris. She's in the upper dorm. She has a fragment that lets her heal almost anything. Bones. Organs. Even some poisons."
"What does she charge?"
"Depends. Sometimes a favor. Sometimes information about other students. Sometimes blood."
"Blood?"
"Fresh blood. From the arm. She drinks it."
Riven stopped eating.
"You're joking."
"I'm not."
He looked at her face. She wasn't smiling.
"That's disgusting," he said.
"Welcome to Blackspire."
He pushed the soup away. His stomach felt weird.
"How do I find her?"
"You don't find her. She finds you. But she likes people who survive things. Survive the trial. She'll come to you after."
Riven nodded.
They sat in silence.
Kael appeared. Dropped onto the bench next to Riven. He looked tired. Dark circles under his eyes.
"You train last night?" Riven asked.
"Couldn't sleep. Kept thinking about the trial."
"What about it?"
"The choices. What I'll have to give up."
Kael rubbed his face.
"Last time, I gave up a memory of my mother. I don't remember her face anymore. Just that she existed."
He looked at Riven.
"You'll have to give something too. Everyone does. The trick is knowing what you can afford to lose."
Riven thought about that.
What can I afford to lose? he asked himself.
I don't even have a name. What else is there?
But that wasn't true. He had things. Fear. Anger. The empty space in his head. Maybe he could give that.
Give up the emptiness, he thought. Give up not knowing.
But that felt wrong too.
"I need to train more," he said.
Kael nodded. "Tonight. Same place. Same time."
"Bring bandages this time," Elara said. "His hand won't survive another broken bone."
Kael laughed. "No promises."
He left.
Elara looked at Riven.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Training. Preparing. Caring."
"I don't care."
"You do. You're trying to survive. That's caring."
He didn't have an answer.
"Maybe," he said.
She stood up.
"Be careful tonight. And tomorrow. The trial is almost here."
She walked away.
Riven sat alone.
The hall was loud. Students talking. Someone was crying louder now. No one went to help.
Everyone for themselves, he thought. Except Elara. And maybe Kael.
Maybe.
He spent the day walking.
Not training. Just walking. Through the corridors. Up the stairs. Down the stairs.
He wanted to memorize the layout. The turns. The doors. The symbols on the walls.
He found the face again. The one that looked like him. Still smiling.
He didn't touch it.
Just looked.
Kael said the tower knows me, he thought. That I'm marked.
Marked for what?
He kept walking.
The corridors changed. The torches got closer together. The walls got narrower.
He was somewhere new. Somewhere lower than he'd ever been.
The incense smell was stronger here. Almost choking.
He heard a sound.
Whispering.
Same as in his dream. Not words. Just sounds. Like someone trying to speak through water.
He followed it.
The corridor ended at a door. Small. Iron. No handle.
He put his ear to it.
The whispering was louder.
Then it stopped.
A voice came from behind him.
"You shouldn't be here."
He turned.
A girl. Young. Maybe sixteen. Long black hair. Pale skin. Her eyes were dark. Almost black.
She wore the same black sleeping clothes as everyone else. But hers were cleaner. Newer.
"I'm Riven," he said.
"I know who you are. Everyone knows the no-name."
"Who are you?"
"Seris."
His stomach dropped.
The healer, he thought. The one who drinks blood.
"I was looking for you," he said.
"I know. Everyone looks for me before a trial. They want promises. They want guarantees."
She stepped closer.
"I don't give guarantees. I give healing. For a price."
"What's your price today?"
She smiled. Her teeth were normal. No fangs. He'd expected fangs.
"Information," she said. "About Theron."
"What about him?"
"He's afraid of you. I can see it. In the way he watches you. In the way he talks about you."
"Theron doesn't talk about me."
"He does. To his inner circle. He says you're dangerous. He says you know things you shouldn't."
Riven said nothing.
"So," Seris said. "What do you know?"
"That's my information. I give it to you, and you owe me healing."
"Yes."
"One healing. For one secret."
"One healing. For one secret. No tricks."
He thought about it.
What can I tell her that won't hurt me?
Something true. Something small.
Something she can't use against me.
"I know Theron's real name," he said.
"His real name?"
"The one he had before he came here. Before Blackspire. Before he became the hero."
Seris's eyes widened.
"How?"
"I read it. In a book. In my world."
"That's not possible."
"It's possible. I'm a transmigrator. Same as him. I just got here later."
She stared at him.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Prove it."
"His name was Aldric. He was a nobody. A clerk in a small town. He read the same webnovel I did. He came here first. He cheated. He won."
Seris was quiet.
Then she laughed.
"You're insane."
"Probably."
"But you're not lying."
"I'm not."
She stepped back.
"Fine. One healing. For one secret. That's the deal."
She turned to walk away.
"What's behind that door?" Riven asked.
She stopped. Didn't turn around.
"Nothing you want to see."
"What is it?"
"The place where they put the ones who gave too much. The ones who became Hollows before they died. The tower keeps them there. Feeds on them."
She walked away.
Riven stood there for a long time.
The whispering started again. Behind the door.
He didn't follow it.
He went back to the dorm.
Elara was there. Reading a book.
"Where have you been?" she asked.
"Walking."
"You found something."
"Maybe."
He sat on his bed.
"Seris found me."
Elara looked up. "What did she want?"
"Information about Theron."
"Did you give it to her?"
"Yes."
"That was stupid."
"Probably."
He lay down.
His head was spinning.
Two days, he thought. Tomorrow is one day.
Then the trial.
He closed his eyes.
The whispering followed him into sleep.