Chang-li raced upward against the fleeing crowd, most of whom seemed to be seeking the lower petals of Vardin City. The tower shuddered and shook as he went. His heart pounded in his ears. Were his friends all right? Min, the acolytes—he needed to get back to where he had last seen them all.

  As he pushed forward, it got harder to move. His limbs felt sluggish, like he was running through water. There was a feeling like someone's will pushing against his, though there didn't seem to be a mind behind it. Chang-li strengthened his own will, twisting it around himself like a cloak, and that made it easier to move forward.

  He reached one of the ramps leading up to the Crown. People were packed shoulder to shoulder, shoved up against the thin rail. As he watched, the crowd jostled. A man lost his balance and fell against the rail, tipping over. He caught himself and dangled. No one seemed eager to help. Chang-li adjusted his path up the ramp, forcing his way forward until he reached the man. Just as his grip gave out, Chang-li reached down and caught his wrist. Chang-li braced and deftly swung the man back up to the ramp. As soon as the man scrambled over the railing, he vanished into the surging crowd without a backward glance.

  How was he to get through that mess? His lux reserves were diminished thanks to his encounter with Prism Nai Hong. All he had was his will. Chang-li focused on his will, pushing it out against the crowd. He felt them respond, their frantic pushing growing still.

  "Let me through," he told them. The first few ranks streamed forward past him, leaving a gap. As they more calmly passed down the ramp, Chang-li raced upward. He reached the crown ring just as it shook again, and looked about. There were screams everywhere, and more than screams—roars, shrieks, shouts from inhuman throats. Chang-li knew what had happened. This was a tower eruption.

  The crowd was pushing onto the ramp, threatening to trample each other in their fear and terror. Chang-li pushed back against them, only his will keeping him from being trampled underfoot until he shoved through to the edge of their pack. Here, near the buildings on the inside of the Crown, was a bit of space. He paused to catch his breath and check his bearings. Min could be anywhere. Where should he go?

  As if he’d called out, the door beside him opened and a man stepped out. "There you are, my disciple," Grandmaster Noren said cheerfully. Despite his greeting, he looked as though he'd had an intense time of it. His robes were disheveled, his hair falling down. He looked Chang-li over and nodded. “You'll need to hurry to catch up with Joshi and Li Jiya. They're about to enter the tower."

  "What? Why would they do that?" Chang-li demanded.

  "Because they, quite wisely, have decided the best course of action is to summon the Emperor to put an end to this eruption.”

  "Well, good for them," Chang-li said. "I'm going to find Min and the disciples and will protect as many people as we—"

  Noren held up a hand and Chang-li fell silent. "Listen to me just for a moment," the Grandmaster said quietly. "Part of being a cultivator is understanding the hard choices you want to make. What are you trying to do here?"

  "To protect people," Chang-li said automatically. What else would he be trying to do?

  "And how can you best do that? By putting an end to this eruption," Noren told him. "The fastest way to do that is to summon the Emperor, and we already have the means of doing it. When someone reaches the tower guardian and passes his test of worth, it will automatically summon the Emperor.”

  "That could take hours, even days," Chang-li pointed out. "We haven't even set foot on this floor. We don't know what to expect, what the challenge is."

  “You have a very good reason not to take too long,” Noren said. "Come with me," and led him inside the building. Chang-li bit back a protest. Noren clearly had a plan in mind, and for now at least his aims seemed aligned with Chang-li’s. He needed to put away his own resentment of the man’s intrusion into the sect. There was more at stake here. Besides, Noren might be the Oaken Band’s tool, but he knew about cultivation. And, apparently, about the back corridors of the Crown ring. Noren flung open a door, revealing a set of stairs leading downward. He and Chang-li dropped into a lower level of the crown ring Chang-li hadn't even suspected was present.

  "These corridors lead to the governor's palace," Noren said. "We have a better chance of getting there than on the street. Hurry."

  “What do you mean, I can’t take too long?”

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  “Because if this goes on too long, the tower will be irrevocably damaged, which will result in a lux pulse that kills everyone within, oh, forty miles,” Noren said, as though he were commenting on the weather.

  “Wait, what?”

  Noren brushed him off. “It doesn’t matter, because you’re going to get in there and summon the emperor.”

  The passageway was a utilitarian hall carved out of the same substance as the crown ring itself, undecorated. Every so often, they passed another stair leading upward, but otherwise, the place was empty. Their footsteps echoed.

  Chang-li’s mind was a whirl. “Did — did she know this would happen?”

  “Who?” Noren turned on Chang-li, his eyes blazing. “What do you know?”

  "Prism Eri ambushed Prism Nai Hong. They were fighting," Chang-li said.

  Noren's eyes widened. "You saw this? And lived?"

  "Prism Hong was tutoring me."

  "I see." Noren's look grew even more intent. "Tell me everything."

  Chang-li described everything he'd seen. Noren looked more and more grim as they raced forward. "I see. So Eri has decided to make a push. Sooner or later, they all do. But if she's directly taking on a prism, it makes me think she has more support. This isn't just a single prism rebelling and trying to force the Emperor's hand. We may be looking at the start of another prism war. Damn." He looked pensive. "The signs were there, but I'd hoped to have another few decades."

  Chang-li stared. Who was this man? He spoke so casually of prisms and their designs, of time on the scale of decades. A gnawing uncertainty filled his stomach. "How did the Oaken Band Brotherhood come to hire you?" he asked slowly.

  Noren barked a laugh. "There's a story I'll tell you if we survive this. Suffice it to say, they didn't get who they thought they were getting."

  "You're a real cultivator, aren't you?" Chang-li guessed, "not some random sectless who's been cast out for his past crimes."

  "Again, when we have time," Noren said.

  Worry gnawed at Chang-li’s stomach. “What are we going to find inside the tower? It was supposed to be a challenge for the brides, I can’t imagine this has made it any easier.”

  “You and your friends will have to face it,” Noren said quietly. “I can’t support you. The portal was warded to prevent anyone above the rank of Peak of Spiritual Refinement. It won’t stop a prism, but I think Nai Lin has Eri locked down.”

  “I’m not — I should have trained more.” Chang-li shook his head, thinking of the time he’d spent working with the acolytes instead of improving himself. If he’d focused, would he be at the Peak of Spiritual Refinement himself, more able to take on this challenge? On the other hand, perhaps the time he’d spent would save the life of the lower-ranked students.

  Noren looked back over his shoulder, perhaps sensing his conflict. “You’ll make it,” he said. “I have confidence in you.”

  Unjustified, especially after he’d refused the man’s training. “I wish I’d listened better,” Chang-li said impulsively.

  “I wish I had seen more clearly,” Noren said. He paused at the next stairwell. “Here. You were trying the Mirage Blade, weren’t you, the other day? I told you to stop. It was a bit of a specialty of my father’s. Never something I favored, but I learned it from the best.” He wove blue and orange lux together between his hands, slowly, as Chang-li watched and listened to the tones of the lux. Now the scroll’s description made sense.

  Chang-li frowned. “I already have a sword.”

  “Which is better, as you can enhance it with lux and even use it to deliver techniques,” Noren agreed, “but Mirage Blade is designed to fool an enemy. Your current style is a bit… straightforward, Joshi’s even more so. Watch.” A blade formed in his hand. He swung it toward Chang-li, who kept himself from flinching. Just before it struck, the blade vanished. Noren continued his swing, the blade re-appeared on Chang-li’s other side.

  “I’m not going to have time to learn that much control,” Chang-li said.

  Noren shrugged and dismissed the blade. “Who knows. I just thought as I am sending you into danger, I ought to give you some advice.” An odd smile crossed his face, making him look almost youthful. “It’s… been a while since I had students. I’ve forgotten how nice it can be. Good luck, Chang-li. Try not to die.” He hooked a thumb at the stairwell. "Here you are. This leads upstairs. I have other work to do."

  Chang-li nodded as a new worry filled him, pushing aside his wondering at Noren. "What about Min? Is she all right?"

  "She's in the safest place she could possibly be," Noren said, which didn't reassure Chang-li at all. "Go now. The sooner you bring the Emperor, the sooner this is over. I'll do my best to protect your friends. Oh, and good luck, Chang-li. I look forward to resuming our training if you survive."

  There was no time to dwell on the mystery of Noren. Chang-li hurried up the stairs and found himself in an opulent hall, dashed along it for a few dozen yards before finding a door leading to the outside, wrenched it open, and stepped out into chaos. The courtyard was filled with people shouting, mostly cultivators in their robes. Junior disciples and acolytes were helping gem nobles and courtiers limp into the safety of the governor's palace. Chang-li had come out one of the side wings. The Dowager stood on the steps beside two grandmasters, shouting instructions.

  There, ahead of him, the entrance to the tower loomed. Before, it had been a great, dark doorway framed with timbers and hung with many-colored silks. Now the gaping door shone with shifting colors. Even as he watched, the colors bubbled upward, and three creatures arrived, like men without heads, eight feet tall, with spears for hands. A wave of cultivators fell on them, different sect robes standing shoulder to shoulder with each other as their techniques flashed. Chang-li's heart rose. This was what cultivators were supposed to do: stand between terrible things and innocent people.

  Chang-li turned and saw Joshi and Li Jiya hurrying toward him. "We have to get inside," Joshi said.

  Chang-li nodded. "I know. Master Noren found me and told me. Let's go."

  They pushed through the crowd waiting on the steps and into the yawning doorway.