86. ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

Relos Var’s story

The Raenena Mountains

After killing Drehemia

When Relos Var returned to the camp, he carried the Name of All Things.

The very idea that the unification of a dragon and their Cornerstone might be reversible was a secret he’d kept hidden. It was a secret that he’d long suspected but never been able to definitively prove for all the obvious reasons, but mostly because he had no test subject besides himself.

And yes, he might have easily cured one of the dragons—Baelosh had always been approachable, with a real fondness for card games—and tested the concept on him as confirmation. But he hadn’t because it seemed unlikely that such an act would pass unnoticed. If it worked, he didn’t want his enemies discovering that this was a tactic that could also be used on Relos Var himself.

The other secret was that Relos Var could use the Cornerstones. All the Cornerstones, at the same time. He didn’t know if he’d successfully kept that secret. Some of the opponents he’d faced along the way had been obnoxiously, inconveniently smart. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that Thaena had guessed the truth and perhaps handed that suspicion over to the other Immortals during better, friendlier days.

But the time had come for all deceptions to end.

Drehemia would heal quickly from her murder. He’d guaranteed it, killing her so neatly that the worst damage to her body had been when he’d cut her heart from her chest. She’d be back to herself—the insane dragon form of herself—before the sun rose. Such was the price for knowledge.

He sat down with a stack of paper, a pot of ink, and a Capital-style quill pen. For this to work, he had to find out the identities of the new Guardians and strip them of their newly acquired concepts.

And then he would fix the world, starting with Vol Karoth.

Relos Var asked his first question.