“I can’t believe they didn’t let me do my Chapter Two Codex Trial out here,” said Jonah about an hour later as we found ourselves walking through the streets of Greenwood again, heading back toward the refugee camp to meet up with my family for lunch. He swung his trident onto his shoulders, narrowly missing a fish-shaped wooden sign hanging over the entrance of a nearby shop, earning a few startled looks from passersby. “Seriously, if this is how they treat Codexers trying to advance around here, then it’s no surprise Shinar is the weakest Kingdom. No offense, Aaron.”

I didn’t even notice Jonah’s jab at my Kingdom because I was too busy thinking about Silas. So it was Ruth—walking on my other side—who answered him instead. “You heard the Assistant Keeper. Since Keeper Deborah is still out of commission, they’re not allowed to supervise Arcane Simulations without her. It’s against the rules and regulations of the Shinar Node Authority—rules and regulations, I might add, that are basically the same across all Nine Kingdoms thanks to the Codex Constitution.”

Jonah lowered his head, though I could tell Ruth’s comment hadn’t made him feel any better. “It’s not like that in the Ninth Kingdom. Trust me. There, Assistant Keepers can supervise Arcane Simulations even without an official Codex Keeper. Don’t know why they do things differently here in Shinar.”

“I’d blame that Nullifier guy more than the SNA if I were you,” said Nimbus, perched comfortably on my shoulders as usual. He was eating a banana I’d bought for him from a fruit vendor on our way out of the Greenwood Codexium, clutching it with his front paws. He took another bite from it. “If that Nullifier hadn’t injured the Codex Keeper here, then it sounds like you would’ve been able to do your Arcane Simulation just fine.”

Nimbus’s comment finally pulled me out of my thoughts about Silas to focus on the conversation. Everything they said checked out with what had happened earlier in the Greenwood Codexium.

As usual, Jonah had marched straight up to the Greenwood Stationary Node—or at least the main one, as it had multiple Nodes—and attempted to initiate his Chapter Two Arcane Simulation. But he’d been interrupted by one of the Assistant Keepers, a man in his thirties who had apologetically explained that, due to SNA regulations, they couldn’t allow Jonah to do his Chapter Two Codex Trial today, even under their supervision. Apparently only an SNA-recognized Codex Keeper was authorized to supervise Chapter Two and higher Codex Trials. Assistant Keepers simply lacked that authority under current law.

Jonah, as expected, had argued with both Assistant Keepers, though I’d been too fascinated by the idea of Assistant Keepers themselves to get involved. Back in North Forest, Isaac had been the only Keeper at the Codexium, but in larger towns and cities, it was common for Codex Keepers to have at least one—often several—Assistant Keepers. Their job was to help the Uninscribed use the local Stationary Nodes, provide information to traveling Codexers, maintain the building, and handle all the smaller tasks that might otherwise distract the main Keeper from their primary duties.

I could only imagine how jealous Isaac would’ve been if he’d come with us and seen how Keeper Deborah had an entire staff devoted to helping her maintain the Greenwood Codexium. He probably would have drunk another whole bottle of his favorite alcohol before cursing out ‘those bastards at Hebron.’

Regardless, Jonah had still argued with the Assistant Keepers until it was clear that they wouldn’t budge. He did manage to register his portable with the Stationary Node, but he spent the rest of our time in the Greenwood Codexium muttering under his breath about what a waste of time the entire trip had been.

I felt a little bad for Jonah. I knew how much he wanted to get stronger, and it really did seem unfair that he couldn’t take his Chapter Two Codex Trial even though he was perfectly positioned to do so.

That didn’t stop Ruth or me from registering our portables with the Greenwood Stationary Node—which resembled the North Forest Node but was far nicer and clearly better maintained—and doing what we had come to do. For Ruth, that meant sending a message to the Research Branch of the Harbingers of Health back in Admah, detailing the fates of her fellow researchers and explaining that the research party had been wiped out.

I couldn’t get the image out of my head of her struggling to compose the message—how she’d freeze up, staring into space, clearly thinking about the last time she saw Martha, the leader of her research party, before Wolfbrand’s enslaved Codex Beast killed her right in front of her eyes.

How Ruth proved their deaths was unsettling, considering we hadn’t been able to recover their bodies after Wolfbrand slaughtered the group. Before we left North Forest, Ruth had recovered the portable Nodes belonging to each member of the research party—including Martha’s. That had been easier than expected. Even though Wolfbrand had done who knows what with their corpses, he’d apparently stashed their portables in one of the back rooms of the North Forest Codexium, probably to sell them on the black market for a nice sum of shekels.

In any case, Ruth had stored the portables in her inventory and synced each one with the Greenwood Stationary Node after sending her report to the research administrator. Apparently, portable Nodes automatically recorded the cause of death of their user if that user died while wearing or using them. Because each Node had belonged to one of the slain researchers, that meant Ruth now had definitive proof that every member of her team had been murdered by Wolfbrand—not lost to natural causes or a failed experiment.

According to Ruth, that evidence would prevent the authorities in Admah and Shinar from doing more than ask a few follow-up questions, since the murder of an entire research party funded with Guild money would obviously demand investigation.

It stunned me that anyone would even think Ruth had something to do with their deaths. But she explained that the procedure was standard—having those portable Nodes was her best defense. Without them, or if Wolfbrand had hacked and erased their death records, she’d likely have become the prime suspect in a criminal investigation that could’ve dragged on for months or even years.

So, in one very twisted sense, we had Wolfbrand not only to blame for the massacre—but also to thank for leaving behind the evidence that proved Ruth’s innocence before anyone had reason to doubt her.

That thought made me shiver. It also reminded me of my nightmare the previous night—Wolfbrand taunting me inside the North Forest Codexium, blaming me for the deaths of everyone I loved.

I tried not to dwell on that and instead focused on what I’d learned: that portable Nodes recorded the manner of death of their user. I had no plans to die wearing mine, but if I ever did, at least my family would know the truth.

When I asked Ruth how accurate those death records were, she said they were nearly one hundred percent reliable. That was why they were considered crucial evidence in Codex-related investigations. A single death record could mean the difference between proving someone’s innocence or condemning them to prison for life. No wonder Ruth had been so determined to recover her colleagues’ portables.

Fortunately, Ruth had received a message back from the Research Administrator overseeing the Harbingers of Health Guild. He expressed his sympathies and asked her to return to the Seventh Kingdom as soon as possible to deliver the portable Nodes and assist with the official inquiry. From the tone of the message, the Guild just wanted her to clarify details and complete the necessary documentation, which Ruth agreed to do.

But first, she planned to accompany Jonah and me to Hebron. The Harbingers of Health were sending someone there to pick her up and escort her back to the Seventh Kingdom within the next week or so. That meant she’d stay with us for a little while longer.

I won’t deny—it was sad knowing Ruth’s time with us was coming to an end. I also had to consider that Jonah wanted to return to his Guild once we reached Hebron. That meant our little Codex Party—the first I’d ever been part of—might dissolve once we arrived in the capital. The thought sat heavier than I expected.

It was a bittersweet thought, even though everyone had good reasons to move on. At least I’d still have Nimbus, who—despite his wishy-washy attitude about permanently syncing with me—wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Jonah grunted. “The Nullifiers really do ruin everything. Makes me glad that Silas guy took out that Nullifier who was getting in everyone’s way. I just wish I’d been the one to do it—but his stupid glyph barrier got in the way.”

I nodded. Jonah’s mention of Silas nearly distracted me again. “Yeah, Silas was interesting. I just wish I’d been able to catch up with him. I had a lot of questions for him, but it’s like he disappeared into thin air.”

After Silas defeated the Nullifier and let everyone into the Greenwood Codexium, I spent a lot of my time looking for him. Of course, I also registered my portable with the Greenwood Codexium so I’d have information on the city—but honestly, I didn’t care about that anymore. Silas’s appearance, as well as the scan data my portable had shown me about him, had sparked a burning curiosity inside me. I wanted to ask him so many things—to find out exactly who he was and how he’d done everything he did.

But again, it was like he’d vanished into thin air like a ghost.

Still, I did learn a few things about him from some of the Greenwood locals, especially Amos the farmer. Apparently, Silas Dravyn had arrived in Greenwood about a week ago on a Codex Quest he hadn’t shared details about. He’d spent much of that week venturing into the woods outside the city, supposedly searching for something, though he offered his services as a Codexer to townsfolk whenever he had spare time. That was how he first met Amos, who had gotten trapped beneath an overturned cart and required Silas’ aid to escape.

The only thing anyone seemed to agree on was that Silas was from Hebron—at least, that’s what he’d told people. My portable had clearly listed him as being from the Second Kingdom. Either Silas had lied to the Uninscribed people of Greenwood about his origin, or perhaps he had merely passed through Hebron and people misunderstood him. Without speaking to him directly, I had no way of knowing.

But I did message Miriam via NodeLink through the Greenwood Node, or one of the Stationary Nodes. As I expected, the Greenwood Codexium had multiple Stationary Nodes, six, which was three more than the North Forest Codexium. I used mine to send Miriam a message updating her on our family after the North Forest situation, telling her to visit the family in Greenwood if she was worried about us. I didn’t get a response, but she was probably busy with her master, so I didn’t think too much about it at the time. I was sure she’d made her way to Greenwood eventually, especially once she read my message.

I tried to message Miriam through my portable, but since she was in Moab, she was well outside of the range of my portable. Using a stationary Node, like the ones in the Greenwood Codexium, however, allowed me to expand the range of my portable considerably, even to other Kingdoms. It was another useful feature of stationary Nodes compared to portable Nodes.

Nimbus scratched his ear. “Why do you want to talk to Silas so badly? Sure, it was impressive how he fixed that glyph structure you broke and took down the Nullifier at the same time, but he otherwise seemed like kind of a jerk to me.”

I shook my head. “His Discipline is interesting, but I’m mostly curious about his Codex data—it identified him as a potential Codex Architect candidate, like me.”

Ruth gave me a puzzled look. “Codex Architect candidate? What does that even mean?”

I tucked my hands into my robe pockets as we walked past an open café door, the rich scent of coffee wafting out. “It was one of the rewards listed in my Codexed Quest notification. It said I was a candidate for becoming a Codex Architect, though don’t ask me what that means—it didn’t say.”

Jonah frowned. “Codex Architect sounds kind of like a Node Maker, though I’ve never heard that term before. Maybe it’s some sort of Codex title or something.”

Ruth pressed her fingers to her temple, thoughtful. “I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before, but I just don’t remember where.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know either—but I doubt it has anything to do with the Node Makers Guild. Silas’s Codex data listed him as a member of the Arcane Researchers Guild from the Second Kingdom. Either of you heard of them?”

Jonah scratched his head. “Vaguely. I think they study the Arcane Codex and its origins or something like that. Sheminith and I once bought a guide to Shinar from one of their Outposts before we came here. Honestly, though, it wasn’t that great—it didn’t even mention Wolfbrand, his bandits, or the Verdant Seal.”

Ruth nodded. “What Jonah said. I’d add that they’re the biggest Guild in the Second Kingdom—and that they frequently partner with the Harbingers of Health to research Codex healing methods and medicines. But yes, they study the Codex for all kinds of reasons.”

Nimbus swallowed the last bite of his banana. “Maybe that’s why Silas is here. Perhaps his secret quest involves researching the local stationary Node or something. That would explain why he wanted access to the Greenwood Codexium.”

I scratched my chin as the three of us stopped to let a horse-drawn cart stacked with hay bales pass in front of us. “That might explain why he came here—but not why he disappeared after taking down the Nullifier. If he really wanted to research the Greenwood Codexium, this would’ve been the perfect time to do it.”

Jonah shrugged as we started walking again, the creak of the cart fading behind us. “Could be he’s just shy—though, given how much he hammed it up for the crowd, I’m skeptical about that.”

“Sometimes shy people can be big hams in front of a crowd,” Ruth said, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “Back when I was in school, I was really shy, but our teacher made us give presentations every month. I forced myself to create a chattier persona so I wouldn’t freeze up in front of everyone. Silas might be the same way.”

I kicked a rock out of our path in frustration. “Shy or not, I think Silas knows I’m a Codex Architect candidate. He was about to say something like that before the crowd swept him away. Yet now he’s ignoring me. I don’t know why—but what’s worse is that he might know more about my Quest than I do. I didn’t even know two different people can have the same Codex Quest.”

Nimbus tilted his head. “What more do you need to know about it? You already know we need to go to Hebron and deliver that Node Fragment to King Amphrael. After that, I’m sure that the rest of your Quest will become more obvious.”

I scowled. “But this is important. I really feel like I should go looking for Silas. I need to ask him about becoming a Codex Architect candidate. If he knows anything about my Quest, then he could be a valuable ally. If nothing else, we might be able to trade notes on our Disciplines.”

Jonah tilted his head to the other side. “Ally … or enemy?”

I almost stopped when Jonah said that. “Enemy? What do you mean? He stopped that Nullifier and saved us.”

“Just saying that people aren’t always what they seem,” replied Jonah as we walked. “I’m not saying Silas can’t be trusted, but I don’t know if I’d go and tell him everything about yourself and your quest to end the Codex Wars just yet. Wasn’t it supposed to be a secret or something?”

Jonah wasn’t wrong. The initial quest notification for my Codexed Quest—the highest possible difficulty level a quest could have—had mentioned that I needed to be circumspect about who I revealed this quest to. Knowledge was power and power was dangerous in the wrong hands.

So I nodded. “Fair enough, I guess. But if we do run into him again in Greenwood before we leave, I am definitely going to talk to him. If nothing else, maybe we can learn what brought him to Greenwood, which is a long way away from Ellasar.”

“Perhaps,” said Ruth, “though I think we’ll have to deal with your younger brother first, see if your parents are all right with him joining us on our journey to Hebron.”

Jonah groaned. “By the Logos, I hope not. Not a big fan of escort quests, and this isn’t even an actual Codex Quest.”

“We’ll deal with that when we get back to the refugee camp,” I said. “In the meantime, I’m planning to do some training after lunch. Do you guys want to join?”

Ruth shrugged. “Might as well. Someone has to heal you if you accidentally hurt yourself.”

Jonah nodded. “I was also planning to train this afternoon. Maybe we can do some team exercises. Blow off some steam.”

Nimbus raised a knowing ear at Jonah. “You’re the only one who needs to blow off some steam around here.”

Jonah huffed. “Whatever. I’m not going back to the Greenwood Codexium, even if Keeper Deborah is back tomorrow. I’ll just do my Chapter Two Trial in Hebron. Let’s me kill two birds with one stone since I was planning on reporting back to the Silver Swords, anyway.”

I nodded. I’d asked Jonah earlier why he didn’t message the Silver Swords via the Greenwood Codexium, but he had said that the Silver Swords prefer in-person reports as much as possible, especially when it came to the deaths of members. We had managed to recover Sheminith’s portable Node, which had been stashed with the portables formerly belonging to Ruth’s fellow researchers who had been killed by Wolfbrand.

I was glad that Jonah and Ruth were willing to train with me, though the reality was I wanted to linger in Greenwood to make sure my family got the aid they needed.

Then, and only then, would I be willing to continue my journey to Hebron.