The Sage's Vow

18.3 || A Risky Advantage

Josh wasn't sure a magic-enhanced blade could have sliced through the weighted silence that fell. The Sages stared at Kaitlyn, their postures stiff with some mixture of anger, unease, and maybe surprise that she'd actually come out and said this. The Paladins drilled holes with their stares at their neutral counterparts, everyone very aware that the Sages had tried to keep this information in their hands.

Xander put it best from the Sanctum. "How many secrets will you continue to keep from us, Joel?"

"I wasn't trying to keep secrets," Joel replied in a clipped voice. "The information wasn't relevant. My daughter, however, should know she doesn't have permission to release information without consulting others."

"When it's as relevant and important as this, I think matters change," Xander deadpanned.

Taking a deep breath, Joel nodded. "I will concede your point. Joshua, tell Kaitlyn to explain the rest. I think she is right that this changes how we must proceed."

Once again, Josh did his duty as messenger, trying his best to ignore the growing annoyance at the task. He really wished they could do things like this in-person rather than requiring a cross-realm communicator.

A few of the Sages looked like they wanted to argue the legitimacy of what Josh said, but Kaitlyn didn't give them the chance. "Unlike most of the other temples, this one has two keys to unlock it. If you have both present, the realm is more stable and less dangerous. If you only use one, you can get in, but you have a less stable pocket dimension with more dangers to face."

Jonathan crossed his arms over his chest. At that moment, he looked so much like Cale that Josh had to do a double take. Funnily enough, Cale also had both of his arms crossed, but they rested on his thighs as he leaned forward.

"How do you know this?" the older of the Michaels men asked.

At some point while speaking, Kaitlyn had lowered the dagger to her side. She bounced the hilt in her palm, throwing its illumination against the side of her thigh. "When the Paladins and Gamal used their sealing technique, they didn't instantly vanish. The essences which now take up residence in the temples remained in the realms for about an hour. This gave them time to form their gates, craft their keys, hide them away, all that stuff. On top of that, they said their farewells. Gamal only had his daughter left, and before his final moments, he told her of his temple's oddities before giving her one of the daggers."

"Why would he do that?" Mateo spoke up for the first time since Josh had arrived. There was no challenge to his tone, only genuine curiosity. Out of all the Soul-Bound there, he outwardly looked the most relaxed. Well, relaxed might not have been the right word. His face was more neutral than Josh thought he'd ever seen it, washed clean of even the good humor that he typically wore.

"Based on the daughter's own account, Gamal said something about wanting to test those brave or desperate enough to try to acquire their goal while the temple was more of a threat," Kaitlyn explained.

"A very strange thing to say given that, had they had the option, the Paladins would have made their temples entirely inaccessible," Cale pointed out.

Tuan shot Cale a glare. "Perhaps, but it's what our records show. Gamal didn't tell his daughter why, so we can only speculate on his reasoning unless we ask him ourselves."

"Yes," Cale said dryly. "These records that the Sages have kept around and grown about the seals that were meant to be secret. Perhaps we shouldn't be shocked he'd give the information to you."

Josh had to do a double take. It wasn't that he disagreed with Cale. It sounded very much like something he'd say himself, but that was what worried him. Josh was the one who bit out unfiltered snipes, not Cale.