Whitehall sat in his office, hands on his face. He knew this day would be coming. The day when the poison would come, yet it had come so soon. And now he wished it would never come. He was so tempted to continue 'business as normal', but with everything that had happened, he could not bet on the future of Sacred Valley on a foundation sacred artist and the apprentice of a sage.

  He looked at the two spherical constructs on his desk, his hands trembling. "Time to go back to war," he muttered. He tried reaching for the orbs, but his hand trembled as he got closer. Cycling his madra to calm himself, he reached out for it.

  Someone knocked on his door before he could reach it. "Who is it?" He asked.

  "It's me," Sadi answered.

  "Come in then."

  Sadi entered Whitehall's office, shutting the door behind her. Whitehall activated the privacy scripts in his office, making it almost impossible for anyone to spy on their conversation. Sadi raised an eye.

  "The walls talk," Whitehall shrugged.

  "Can you imagine the scandal that could cause?" Sadi smirked.

  "Hah!" Whitehall laughed for the first time in a while. "You with an eight-year-old elder?"

  Sadi took a seat across the desk and pointed at the two constructs. "What's that?"

  "Took you long enough to get fully healed," Whitehall said. "How long has it been? Two, three months?" He asked.

  "Four," Sadi said, raising four fingers.

  "Well, then. I guess now would be a good time to tell you about what will happen."

  "Go on," Sadi remarked. "I've been waiting for long enough."

  Whitehall shrugged. "Remember the disciple that was with the Sword Sage's apprentice?"

  "The Unsouled?"

  "Yes, him. His name is Wei Shi Lindon. He told me he was visited by a messenger from the heavens, who showed him the future. In thirty years, we will be under attack by a dreadgod."

  "Dreadgod?"

  "Yeah. Remember those dreadbeasts that have shown up ever since the Sword Sage arrived?"

  Sadi nodded.

  "Imagine a bigger one, worse and larger than Mount Samara."

  Sadi grimaced.

  "Imagine one where even a thousand Sword Sage would not be able to defeat it, fighting together."

  Sadi's expression worsened further. "And did Wei Shi Lindon tell you all this?"

  "I didn't sense he was lying," Whitehall answered. "But our good old fox helped me fill in the blanks."

  Sadi nodded; indeed, Elder Whisper was more trustworthy than some unsouled.

  "So what now?" She asked.

  "I've been thinking," Whitehall said. "And I need your opinion on this. What?" Whitehall asked when he saw Sadi giving him a strange look.

  "Didn't expect you to want my opinion," Sadi explained.

  "Hey, you've known me long enough to know I don't operate that way." Whitehall pointed a finger at her and narrowed his eyes.

  "Fair enough," she replied, raising her hands in peace. "What do you need my opinion for?"

  Whitehall crossed his arms. "Elder Whisper told me that in our current state, we might be able to reach gold after about two or three decades outside Sacred Valley. And only if we spend every second of our lives dedicating ourselves to advancement."

  "Outside Sacred Valley?"

  Whitehall shrugged, "Fox said we needed to leave to reach gold. He didn't elaborate on why. But it makes sense, considering Lindon said he needed to leave." Whitehall waved his hand. "Anyway, that's not the point."

  "And the point is?" Sadi asked.

  "The point is both Whisper and Lindon said that we needed to reach beyond gold if we ever dream of even peeling dead skin off of the dreadgod."

  "So," Sadi said, clamping down her surprise. "There's a beyond gold, after all."

  "Yes," Whitehall said, shaking his head. "And in our current state, we'll never reach beyond it even if the heavens dropped us a pill."

  "And why is that? Isn't every child out there gold?"

  Whitehall took a deep breath and exhaled. "Because our foundation is flawed and is working against us."

  Sadi hung her head on the back of her chair, sighing. "Tell me we can fix it."

  "We can," Whitehall said. "And this is where I'll need your opinion. We'll need to empty our spirit and shrink our cores forcefully." Whitehall paused. "Yes, it's exactly what you think. We'll need to start over our advancement from copper."

  Sadi sighed. "You're a disgraced Elder for failing to defeat an apprentice, and I'm a disgraced Jade for failing to defeat an apprentice two to one. So obviously, no one will listen to us if we ask for help."

  "Exactly," Whitehall snapped his fingers.

  "So," Sadi continued. "When do we start?"

  "As soon as possible, of course. But the question is, where should we do it?" Whitehall asked. "We could do it in Sacred Valley, where we will be relatively safe and could slowly advance back to Jade after one and a half decades. And get our names further dragged through the mud for returning to copper, of course," he added.

  "Or?" Sadi asked.

  "Or we leave Scared Valley in our current state, reset our advancement out there, risk ourselves being killed by an insect, and advance to gold in a quarter of that time."

  "We do have thirty years," Sadi said.

  "You do," Whitehall corrected her.

  "What do you mean?"

  Whitehall sighed, stood up, and faced the window. His back faced Sadi, and his hands clasped behind his back. "Whatever I did had cost me. You've heard the rumours," he stated. "I have a decade or even less before my body disintegrates. And that's me being optimistic."

  "I feel like you already made a decision," Sadi said.

  "No," Whitehall shook his head and turned to face Sadi. "You're my backup plan. If you want to stay in the valley and advance, I'll guide you to the best of my abilities and tell you everything I know from Elder Whisper. I'll make plans which I expect you to finish after I'm gone. If we leave in our current state, we will need to be extremely lucky, which is unlikely."

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  Sadi remained silent, thinking. "You saw how the Sword Sage treated us," she finally said. "To him, we were a waste of space. No one will come to our rescue. We can only rely on ourselves." Said clenched her fists. "We can't spend more than half of our time left to reach gold if we must go beyond it. I'm more inclined to leave now. We should gather everyone that can be trusted; I may know a few people."

  Whitehall nodded. "I agree. However, there's no one else we can trust. Tell me someone who wouldn't rat us out to the other Elders on a whim."

  Sadi grimaced. Greed. She knew it well; they would be ratted out when someone thought they could receive a reward. "You don't trust many people."

  "Not when it comes to this," Whitehall said. "I told you because I respect your drive. Even then, I bound you with multiple soul oaths. You're already in too deep to back out now. I've been able to steal treasures now and then to speed up your recovery. But since we're about to go against the whole school. We might as well steal everything."

  "Fine," Sadi agreed. "Give me a few hours to gather my things, then we can leave."

  Whitehall raised a hand. "Not now," he said. "All four schools are currently still on high alert. If we're going to do this, we'll need to prepare carefully. This," he gestured towards the two orbs on his desk, "Will absorb all our madra and empty our core. After we reset to copper, we must immediately refill our madra to fend off whatever dangers lurk out there."

  Sadi eyed the orbs, noticing Whitehall's grimace when he spoke. She knew the orbs would not be pleasant.

  "We'll need to set traps and create a route to escape, not to mention getting everyone used to seeing us together without raising suspicions." Whitehall pulled out a map.

  It could have been a better map, but it is detailed enough. It showed mainly Sacred Valley but with a few islands outside of it. She never knew they were this close to water.

  "I got this from the few merchants who occasionally trade with us. Cost me more than a year's stipend, but it'll be worth it.

  Sadi eyed the map. "We should go out through here, placing a finger west of Sacred Valley. I know the forest well. I can set the traps and clear our escape route."

  "Good," Whitehall. "Hoping you would say that."

  "You knew where I was going to point? She asked skeptically.

  "Oh no," Whitehall said, smiling. "Believe it or not, I never really explored Sacred Valley."

  —————————

  Whitehall entered the Elder Whisper's room.

  "It's been a while," Elder Whisper said. "It has been two months since your last visit. Can't say I don't enjoy the company."

  "Forgiveness, Elder Whisper," Whitehall pressed his fists together and bowed. "I've been busy."

  "Children these days," Elder Whisper mused. "Only come looking for the old when they need something."

  Whitehall placed the bucket of fish in front of Elder Whisper before retreating to allow the fox to eat.

  "Tell me, child," a second Elder Whisper spoke from his side. "What knowledge do you wish to know?" Elder Whisper smiled. "Not that it seems you need much of my help as of late."

  "We're leaving soon," Whitehall told the fox. "Just wanted to tell you," He smirked. "Not that I needed to tell you."

  Elder Whisper laughed, which came out as a bark.

  "I came here for your blessings," Whitehall said. "And to ask if you wish to come with us."

  The main Elder Whisper stopped eating and turned to watch the valley below in sadness. "My place is here, Whitehall. My bonded entrusted this place to me; thus, I must remain."

  Whitehall had expected the rejection, yet he still wanted to ask anyway.

  "But you do have my blessings." Elder Whisper said and saw that it meant a lot to Whitehall.

  "Thank you," Whitehall said, bowing low. Very low.

  "I hope we meet again, Sinar," Elder Whisper said.

  Whitehall bowed once again and left.

  —————————

  Sadi crept out of her room in the middle of the night, carrying a bundle of clothes in her arms. She wore her standard outer robes, hiding the armour she and Whitehall had stolen underneath. A few other disciples spotted her, but none batted an eye. She had often been going to Whitehall's chambers in the night this past year. At first, some people were suspicious, and she was questioned by Elders who saw her sneaking out. But now, no one bothered to ask her.

  After all, she was a Jade, and Whitehall was an Elder. The rumours started to irk her, but their plans had borne fruit. No one questioned where she was going or her plans for the night. She did not knock on Whitehall's door; instead, she used her madra on the handle, automatically unlocking the door for her.

  "Got everything?" she whispered as she entered.

  Whitehall was arranging the most essential treasures for their journey. Sadi unfolded the cloth she had been holding. Since last year, she had gathered several robes, sowing them to make a makeshift backpack. A very large backpack.

  Whitehall has a slightly smaller bag pack, which he begins filling with the treasures they have stolen so far . She began attaching the clips to the giant backpack and activating the scripts to strengthen it.

  "Didn't expect you would come up with the idea to steal everything for ourselves. Not with all your charity missions," she remarked.

  "Tried to help when I can," Whitehall shrugged. "Gotta take a page out of the original run-aways though." He had long since admitted that maybe that bastard had a point.

  Having completed his mental checklist, Whitehall placed the smaller backpack on his back. "Ready?" He asked.

  "I've been waiting long enough," Sadi answered.

  "Let's go."

  —————————

  They walked together, Whitehall leading the way and Sadi following from behind. A few disciples saw them and bowed to Elder Whitehall as they passed. They reached the lesser treasure hall. Whitehall knocked on the door.

  "The treasure hall is closed!" He heard Elder Rahm yell.

  They had not expected anyone to be inside this late, but they had planned for it.

  "It's me, Elder Whitehall."

  "Heh?" Elder Rahm said beyond the door, scrambling to unlock it. "Elder Whitehall, what brings you here this late at night?" Elder Rahm said as he opened the door.

  "We have something for you, Elder Rahm."

  Elder Rahm eyed the two. "It looks like you're about to rob me with the bags you're carrying."

  Whitehall chuckled. "Oh, come on, Rahm."

  Elder Rahm began chuckling, too. "Come inside already," the old Elder said, moving out of the way.

  Whitehall and Sadi entered the treasure hall. "We developed a pill for you, Rahm." Whitehall gestured towards Sadi. "It was my apprentice's genius." He then gestured at Elder Rahm's missing arm. "Took a while to work, but we can bring back your arm."

  Sadi pulled a pill from her pocket and tossed it to Elder Rahm, who caught it with his remaining left hand. "It'll take a while to grow back, maybe a couple of months to a year," Sadi said.

  Elder Rahm looked at the pill, conflicted. "I... You've done more than enough for me, Whitehall. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be here." The older Elder rolled the pill on his palm. "I can't accept this."

  Whitehall smiled. He had always liked Elder Rahm. The older man was rough around the edges but always did his job to the best of his abilities.

  "Please, Elder Rahm. The School should've treated you better for your decades of service."

  Elder Rahm sighed. "Over the past year, I have finally accepted that I'll never have my arm back. Now," he held the pill up, " you gave me this."

  He tossed the pill back at Sadi. "My pride can't accept it."

  Sadi frowned. This was not going to plan.

  "How about an exchange then," Whitehall suggested. He could work with this. "How would that sound?"

  Elder Rahm frowned. "As long as you don't give me a mockery of an exchange."

  "Don't worry. I am requesting something of you that is slightly dangerous and will probably anger the other Elders. How does that sound?"

  Elder Rahm smiled. "Perfect. What do you need?"

  "Lindon's family," Whitehall said. "I want you to protect them while I'm gone. Free them if you have to."

  "And why would I want to help the family of the Unsouled that did this to me?" Elder Rahm pointed to his missing arm.

  "Because they had nothing to do with it. You know it. I know it. And you're getting your arm back," Whitehall said sternly.

  Elder Rahm sighed. "Fine, I'll keep them safe. And that's only because you're the one that asked." He turned to Sadi. "And what about you, apprentice? What do you want?"

  Sadi had not expected it. "Me?" She asked.

  "Your master said it was your genius that made this pill. I won't accept it without giving you something in return." Elder Rahm crossed his arm and stump.

  Sadi thought about it and had an idea. "My brother's knives. I would like to have it."

  Elder Rahm nodded, went to the archway separating the lesser treasure hall from another, and placed a hand on the wall. He grabbed a Jade token similar to the wooden ones used for the lesser treasure hall and tossed it to Sadi. "I've disabled the scripts for the greater treasure hall. The token will ensure the defence construct recognises you."

  Sadi pressed her fists together and bowed. "This one thanks the Elder."

  Elder Rahm looked uneasy when she thanked him. "The Karambits are towards the back. Just be careful there. It's the greatest of our treasure halls."

  Sadi left the two Elders and went through the archway, passing by another treasure hall on the way to the second archway where the greater treasure hall was.

  "You should take it now," Whitehall said, bringing Elder Rahm's attention away from Sadi. "The pill," Whitehall tossed it back to Elder Rahm. "The first time you take it may cause instability in your spirit. It's better that I'm here while you take it if anything goes sideways."

  "And where will you go?" Elder Rahm asked. "Now that I mentioned it, you said you'd be gone."

  "Secluded training," Whitehall said. "Ever since last year's festival, I've been rethinking my advancement."

  Rahm smiled fondly. "And here I wondered if your drive from advancement had disappeared. Can't say I missed it."

  "It had for a while," Whitehall answered. "But I realise now that I need it more than ever."

  "I hope you succeed, my friend." Elder Rahm said.

  "You really should take it now," Whitehall suggested. They were running on schedule.

  "Fine, fine," Elder Rahm said, looking at the black pill once before closing his eyes and swallowing it.

  Whitehall approached Elder Rahm, placing a purple pill on top of a glass display case of one of the treasures. "Take this when you wake up. The pill will rejuvenate your madra and vitality."

  Elder Rahm looked at Whitehall, confused. "Whaaaddd?" he tried to ask, but his voice came out slurry. His legs collapsed underneath him, and Whitehall caught him.

  "I'm sorry, Rahm, but I'll have to beat you up." Whitehall winced. "Just a little. And don't forget about Lindon's family, yeah."

  Elder Rahm tried to say something, but his eyes slowly closed, and he fell asleep. Whitehall placed Elder Rahm gently on the wooden floor and went to follow after Sadi.

  Sadi was busy filling the large pack with all kinds of treasures she could find. Whitehall noticed a pair of knives were attached to the back of her hips. "That was smart," Whitehall said. "Did you know the knives would be in the greater treasure hall?"

  "Of course," Sadi replied, continuing to fill her pack. "I asked for it after my brother passed. It was a family heirloom."

  Whitehall bit back his tongue. "Sorry again for your loss. I can only imagine what losing a brother would be like."

  Sadi sighed, not expecting the topic to come up now. They would be living together for the foreseeable future and probably be dead in the next few hours. 'Eh, why not?' she thought.

  "I know you publicly called him an idiot," Sadi said. "You called all the Elders, who wanted to go after the disciple, an idiot."

  Whitehall cringed. "I mean... She was innocent."

  "I agreed with you, for the record," Sadi said. "But greed got the better of my brother."

  Whitehall sighed. "For what it's worth. I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

  "I know," Sadi nodded. "I know what you did for many of the people of Sacred Valley." She paused her work and turned to face Whitehall. "And some of those people you helped were close to me," she smiled. "For what it's worth, I trust you."

  Whitehall smiled. "Thank you."

  —————————

  They slowly crept out of the treasure hall. Whitehall had checked on Elder Rahm one final time to ensure that the pill was working and did not cause any long-term problems. Elder Rahm was bruised and battered, but other than that, he was fine. The night was still dark as they moved through the shadows of buildings and trees. Once they reached the mountain cliff, they activated their thousand-mile clouds and flew down under the cover of the trees.

  "That went surprisingly smooth," Whitehall commented.

  "Don't-," Sadi said but was immediately cut off by a roar behind them. "Say that," she finished.

  They looked back and saw a shadow growing larger and larger. "This way!" Sadi yelled, pushing her thousand-mile cloud forward and leading the way.

  The shadow was gaining on them, and not interested in finding out what beast it was, Sadi threw several scripted papers into the air behind them. The paper touched several trees with scripts she had etched in the last few months. The trees burst in an explosion of madra. The burst of light revealed a twisted-looking bear with a jaw expanding like a snake.

  "Keep throwing it!" Whitehall yelled.

  Sadi kept throwing the scripted papers behind her as she swerved through the preplanned route with Whitehall on her tail. She was running out of madra fast as she pushed her cloud faster. "I need madra!" She called out.

  "Take it," Whitehall threw a pill right in her path.

  Sadi caught the pill with her teeth and swallowed, cycling the injection of madra through her spirit. Suddenly, she heard another roar behind her, followed by complete silence. The roar was not one of intimidation but sounded like fear.

  She was about to ask Whitehall when he flew forward next to her with a finger on his mouth. She understood what he meant. Stay silent . She nodded. They moved through the trees quietly. Finally reaching the end of the mountain range and through the forest, they went out to a beach. Sadi turned back to see the mountain and Samara's ring glowing above it. It looked beautiful.

  Sadi felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Whitehall pointing. A giant sword was stuck on a mountain in the middle of the beach. Whitehall silently pointed in a direction, and she nodded and followed. They stepped off their thousand-mile cloud under the cover of trees at the threshold of the beach and forest.

  "Who can wield such a thing?" She asked quietly.

  "I don't know," Whitehall replied, staring at the giant sword. "But I wouldn't want to find out."

  "I feel like we eventually will if we're going to make it beyond gold," she muttered.

  "It'll be a good weapon to fight the dreadgod," Whitehall said as he set up their tent.

  "How'd you kill the bear-snake?" She asked.

  Whitehall shivered. "I didn't."

  "If it wasn't you, then who did?" She asked; chills ran down her spine from what predators they had just passed through.

  "In the dark forest, the hunters must be careful," Whitehall said, looking deep into the forest. "For in the dark forest are other hunters like them. If they find another hunter, there is only one thing to do. Eliminate them."

  "Stop doing that," Sadi hissed.

  "Stop what?" Whitehall asked, looking over his shoulder.

  "Monologing and freaking me out," Sadi said.

  "Oh," Whitehall said. "I just mean there's a lot of predators in the forest. If one is found, no one knows if they're friendly. Therefore, the best case for them is to eliminate it and find out later."

  Sadi shook her head. "Yeah, I get it."