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The guide continued onward through the throng of reapers in the plaza. Gema could see a few of them eyeing her, though whether it was out of curiosity or suspicion was anyone’s guess. The Old Wardens were a peculiar bunch, to say the least. Personally, Gema had found that many of them were intensely interested in hearing all about the outside world, while many others were decidedly not so.

There seemed to be a divide, of sorts, within the culture here.

Which, she supposed, actually made it no different from most other places in the world.

The journey kept going for even longer than she expected. Each time she’d visited, the meeting place had been different, and indeed, this occasion was apparently going to continue that trend. They ventured all the way through another street full of peculiar buildings and into a more wooded area, where the trail was barely visible.

Soon, the trees grew so thick that she had to push closer to the guide in order make sure not to lose track of him.

Eventually, the guide came to a halt, though not for any obvious reason that Gema could see.

Rather than voicing her confusion, however, she merely waited.

The guide raised his gangly arms over his head, and then the world ahead of them shuddered visibly. The dark forest wavered for a moment like a tapestry caught in a sudden breeze, and then a bright slit appeared down the center of it before transforming into an entire doorway.

An illuminated corridor lay inside, though it thankfully did not appear nearly as long as the last one. She followed the guide through, and soon enough, they arrived in a much larger chamber, one that looked rather like the main hall of a castle.

An invisible castle, she supposed.

Huh.

More reapers were here, of course, but these ones appeared to have been awaiting their arrival. Gema spotted a few more Methusel, as well, which only made her wonder how many others might secretly be observing.

‘Paraya,’ said the centermost reaper as they approached.

That was a word she’d become intimately familiar with over the years. She’d been trying to learn all she could about their language here, but as in all things, they didn’t make it easy. Each time she’d asked for someone to teach her directly, she’d been refused. Even when she asked what a particular term meant, she’d usually been ignored or simply met with silence.