"Train me?" replied Josef. "For what? And why?" Claudius had finally shown his hand. Immediately Josef wanted to know everything. He'd been so curious what the Sea Gwell's plans were and now a small window had been provided for him to look through.

Claudius let out a deep sigh. "Where to start…basically, from what I've understood, their goal is insurrection."

"Insurrection?" Josef said, slightly bewildered. "People usually get hanged for that right?"

"If they get caught. Hanging or depropagation. They contacted me through a travelling salesman not long after I started working for The Ba'ha Company. I'd purchased only a few herbs, but when I returned to the watching room, I found a small pamphlet tucked within. It provided me with all the details of what The Ba'ha Company were doing with their awakened goo-drinkers, what they were training them for — assassinations, infiltrations, thefts, and all things related to plunder."

"So they recruited you?"

"They provided me with information. Information I dearly needed to see. I had no idea what I was getting into, but they opened my eyes. And so a few times every septujinny, the salesman would return, and I would buy herbs, and a new pamphlet would be tucked within. It was only recently they revealed their name and gave me a contact. Apparently, they'd thought I'd studied enough of their material to be of some use. So I acted and tried to save the goo-drinker previous to you—"

"With disastrous results. Do these contacts have a name?"

"The Keen Ones," Claudius replied, giving each syllable more than its needed weight.

"And so I repeat," Josef said carefully. "What do they want to train me for?"

Claudius raised his webbed hands in the air. "Your guess is now as good as mine. I don't know how they work. I just received the pamphlets. I know they oppose restricting the freedom of new goo-drinkers. They fight to liberate the Southern Plate from the reign of the Rosecloak and the illicit plundering of The Ba'ha Company. I don't know how many members they have, where they're precisely located — all I have is a single contact."

"And what if I don't want to meet these contacts of yours?"

Claudius was still. He sat down and folded his hands against his chest. "I would respect that. I will rail and scream against such a decision, but ultimately I would respect it. There is one difficulty, however…"

"Go on."

"Ratification, while important, is merely the first step. The Ba'ha Company never had a problem with ratification, at least since they'd dominated The Crow Meadow."

"What are you saying? I need to get ratified again?"

"That would be interesting to try out, but no, not as far as I'm aware. Crucially, right now, we are within Mal's feld. This is the feld you're ratified under. Think of it as a kind of protection spell. As long as you linger within Mal's protective field, you will remain in a kind of post-ratification limbo."

"And when I leave?"

"The game begins anew."

"I don't like the sound of that."

Claudius patted Izzblum's Guide resting on the bed next to him. "This guide covers what comes next. We need to start preparing. We don't have to leave right away, but we need to start preparing for that eventuality."

"How come The Ba'ha Company didn't keep their goo-drinkers within the crows' feld?"

"It was debated, but The Crow Meadow kept only getting weaker as The Ba'ha Company grew and grew. It's ability to ratify was placed as the higher priority. Taxing it further was written off. Plus, The Ba'ha Company focused its efforts on its instructing process, learning to birth and train their new goo-drinkers with speed and precision for their intended missions."

Josef breathed a sigh of a relief. At least he didn't have to leave Mal's feld immediately; he had time to prepare. He desperately needed to relax and recover from his full-day sprint. He also wanted to appreciate his unmelted brain.

The training, however, did intrigue him — but Claudius's description was so vague. The Keen Ones working against The Ba'ha Company was a decisive mark in their favour, but it did nothing to reveal what would be in store for him if he joined their ranks…if they would even have him.

"I see you thinking, Josef," Claudius said. "What is it?"

"I need rest. My body is in pain. My mind feels clear but I need to rest and recover while we wait and see what the council asks. I'd also like to purchase some actual clothes. I'm over this rag cloth. I'm not looking for flair, but something a bit more pragmatic would be appreciated. I also could use some training with this sword if it's going to be of any use."

Claudius had his hand to his chin, nodding along. "Agreed, on all counts."

Suddenly a deep and bone-thrumming horn blast poured through the jalousie windows. "And there's our first blast. Night has arrived to Gangdrup, though one would be hard-pressed to tell," Claudius said all of this as he walked over to the window and peered out between its slits.

"Apparently," he continued, "there's a second horn blast later on in the evening to signal the day's completion. That's when most of the shops close. I've already made a pit stop at a reputable apothecary and acquired more merrycherry, gormulch, and teethbreeze."

Claudius then returned to his rucksack and removed a tiny green pouch. He dangled it between his fingers. "Sewerbreeze powder. Don't know much about it, but I was curious so I bought a small amount. Apparently, they ferment the mushrooms first and then dry them out and then finally grind them up. I asked about their properties but they tried to sell me an entire book so unfortunately I had to pass. Our chunks, you should know, are reserved for necessities — namely, getting us to Kaway Mahay."

Josef brushed his fingers along the inside of his palm, tracing the flow of the jade-coloured seaweed tattoo planted there. Claudius caught him staring at it. "Like I said, Josef. We'll see if anything comes of it. My gut tells me we shouldn't go around advertising the fact you've been marked in such a way. In fact, I think we should go get you those clothes you wanted and a pair of gloves as well."

Josef agreed. He stood and straightened his rag cloth and left the room with Claudius, but not before peering down the hall for any sign of the old woman. Claudius locked the door behind them.

"She walked down there," Josef said, pointing down the candle-lit hallway.

"I have an idea," Claudius said as he began to descend the creaking stairs. Josef followed. Claudius, as they rounded the staircase, jerked his head towards Rayala. She was busy carting another two bowls of sewerbreeze soup over to more patrons. "I wonder if she knows something about the old woman."

"I thought you didn't want to make inquiries?" Josef reminded him.

"We can be sly about," Claudius whispered, lifting his chin and a two raising two fingers towards Rayala as she returned from a nearby table.

She saw Claudius's signal. "More food for the goo-drinker?" Rayala asked.

Claudius paled for a second as his stomach rumbled. "I just wanted to discuss a few security matters with you."

"Security? In Gangdrup? We have to pay Lancel over there a near fortune just to step foot within this city. We don't get many visitors. You and your goo-drinker are the visitors, and if you talk to certain people, you'll find out it's you two whom everyone's worried about."

Rayala's words stung Josef, but only slightly. Anyone would've interrupted that performance if their life had hung by that same, Moonsneeze-tethered thread. Earlier, he'd briefly hoped they'd be left alone as long as they kept their heads low and didn't make any more trouble. Since receiving the scroll, he'd let those dreams whither and die.

"I actually just wanted to enquire about the patrons you have staying on the same floor as us," Claudius said carefully.

"Other patrons?" replied Rayala, crossing her arms. "It's only Lancel and he's at the far end of the hall. The rest of the rooms are empty. A few rooms are rented out on the floors above, but no one you need to worry about. Why? Has a guest given you trouble?"

"Nothing of the sort," replied Claudius hastily. "Forget I mentioned it. We're off to buy Josef a more pleasant rag sack."

Rayala huffed, blowing her bangs clear from her forehead and then went back to work. As she walked away, however, she looked over her shoulder and inspected the two of them again, suspecting most likely that some off-brand form of skulduggery was afoot.

Just before they made to leave, the stone fountain in the center of the room once again caught Josef's eye. He pointed at it. "What's that doing in here?"

Claudius drew is finger up in the air. "Look closely."

Josef squinted, but all he saw was the chandelier. "What am I looking for?"

"The center of the chandelier. Like I said, look closely."

Josef turned his head sideways.

"Whatever helps," Claudius said, laughing. "It took me a while as well."

Then he saw it — a falling glimmer. A drip of water broke free from the middle of the chandelier and plummeted into the pedestal. Josef gave a slight jump. "I saw it!"

"Indeed. There's a churning waterwheel attached to The Backwards Flow. It's how the inn gets it's name. Rayala gave me the full run-down last night. Water is scooped up and purified through a small channel coated with sewerbreeze mushrooms. It runs through a series of pipes until filtering down through the chandelier and into the pedestal in front of us."

"So it's for drinking then?" asked Josef, striding towards it.

"Correct," Claudius confirmed, grabbing a mug from the bar and passing it to Josef. "Scoop in. Speaking of healing your body, a bit of hyper-purified water never hurt anyone."

Josef took the mug and plunked it into the blue-glowing water. It occurred to him that drinking this water must be how John and others acquired their blue-glowing teeth. He was now joining their club. He tiled back the mug and drank greedily.

He wiped his mouth with the bare skin of his wrist. "Never would've thought I'd find the most delicious water in a sewer city. How are my teeth?" Josef grinned expectantly.

Claudius cringed. "Put those away. You look like an overgrown gujai." Josef made to protest but Claudius pushed him towards the exit. "Clothing to acquire, young Josef!"

Upon exiting The Backwards Flow, Josef and Claudius found themselves exposed to a teeming mass of evening strollers, carriages pulled by the same horse-like frogs Josef had seen earlier, and vendors of all sorts bordering Ferngloom Lake. "Get your scallops! Get your scallops!" a vendor shouted, "Wrapped in seaweed! Wrapped for taste!" Behind him towered the sewerbreeze mushrooms, drooping and expanding, blue water flickering beneath them.

They stood  along the same promenade they'd first walked on when they'd entered Gangdrup's massive cavern. It bordered the entire lake and appeared to serve as the main thoroughfare for Gangdrup's sizable population.

"I never imaged Gangdrup like this," said Claudius. "All of the stories I'd heard wrote it off as backwater dive, but there's something quietly magnificent about it."

Josef agreed. He was surprised such a large city — or at least it appeared quite large to the young goo-drinker — could exist in such a strange place. What was even stranger, however, was his sense of time: it now felt uncomfortably unlimited. After running for so long, it felt strange to stay still, to not have to dart off again and again. He savoured it.

"This way," Claudius said, pointing to the right. "I saw a clothier's shop close to the apothecary I visited." They walked alongside sewerfolk, one who pushed a wheelbarrow full of moss, while another, a tall woman, swaying in the evening air above her stall, sold necklaces, earrings, and other strange pieces of jewellery (even after minutes of solid contemplation, Josef could not discern to which body part they might attach themselves).

There was a damp coolness to the air and Josef found himself leaning into every torch they passed, letting his body gain succour from their brief flashes of heat. As they walked, Claudius turned and reignited their previous conversation about the object which the crows had bestowed upon Josef.

"What I wanted to tell you before we had to race to get you ratified, Josef, was that whatever the crows gave you is for you and you alone. I've heard stories of people receiving gifts from felds only to have them warp or shatter upon sharing the details with others."

"Is there a way to tell what effect speaking about it might have?" Josef asked as Claudius turned them to the right again. They now ambled along a bustling side street which angled steadily upwards along with the sloping cavern walls.

"I don't doubt it. But I haven't heard of such a skill. Receiving such gifts is rare enough as it is."

"I don't know if this is necessarily a gift—"

"Say no more! As I said, there's great risk in sharing. Even now we could be shifting the object they've given you in untold ways." Claudius came to an abrupt stop. "And here we are," he said, pointing at a small sign above a doorway: Dulwess & Daughters.

"Wait, Claudius," said Josef. "I can feel it there, vibrating in my mind. It doesn't hurt, but it's there. Is that normal?"

"No gift is free, Josef. Everything has a weight. I heard a brainsnake refer to it once as tarrying — reminded me of the small, shifting, and involved movements one must make to keep a makeshift raft afloat on a stream."

"Tarrying, I see," said Josef slowly. "But what if I want to get rid of it? What if I don't want it?"

Claudius shrugged. "Never heard of that, but I suppose it would be possible. I know there are shops in Kaway Mahay that specialize in dealing with feld relations. Perhaps there's something similar within Gangdrup. But be careful. I'm sure there are consequences to seeking out such services, never mind the potential cost associated with rejecting a gift, no matter how unwanted."

Josef watched as Claudius entered the clothier's shop. He knew the Sea Gwell had given him some excellent advice, but he still wanted to know what he should do with the seedling. It seemed the crows had decided to burden him as their final act.

He watched as the seedling spun in his mind. He felt its invisible weight. The burden was there, but it was light. He would leave it alone, for now. But he wondered how long he would have to carry it for? Was it even worth replanting if The Ba'ha Company could simply dominate the crows once again? There were no easy answers. He sighed, loosened his grip on his short sword, and followed Claudius into the shop.

Inside, the Sea Gwell was fondling a grey doublet, his webbed hands flicking at a loose thread. There were racks of clothes on all the walls, with the more promising pieces — embroidered cloaks, dyed tunics, bronze-studded breeches — splayed out on tables in the centre of the room.

Then Josef saw it. A pale blue tunic with three silver buttons extending from the collar to roughly the sternum. A delicate swirl of green seaweed anointed the collar. A black belt rested beside it.

"Help him, Sahva," came the voice of an old man. The young woman he addressed, presumably his daughter, grunted and strode over to Josef. But then she saw him, and in an instant, Josef could tell he'd been recognized.

"Father?" Sahva said, taking a step back, her voice rising. "Father!"