“You are very kind, milord,” Althy told him gently. “But I’m afraid we don’t know what questions to ask, knowing very little of this ourselves.”

“Are there any generalities regarding your research that you can tell me? Perhaps I can narrow the field.”

“We seek information on any runic spells that could cause this transformation. We have never encountered anything like this in the Willows before.”

The man thought about it. “No, I cannot say that I am acquainted with such a spell. I have looked through many manuscripts on runes, but our experiments were restricted without a silver heart to guide us. As such, we thought it best to turn over our research to the Isteran asha in the hopes they would make better sense of them, though they also found little. Sakmeet was always very private about her own findings.”

“If she knew anything about these runes, she didn’t write about them.” Likh was going through Sakmeet’s old notes, and he sounded frustrated. “Her handwriting is difficult to read.”

“What else can you tell us about Blade that Soars’ and Dancing Wind’s origins?” Althy asked Lord Garindor. “Perhaps we can find another connection there.”

“Ah. Unlike its popular version, the legend says little about Dancing Wind, for she had almost no agency in the story. Her role was simply that of Blade that Soars’ lover. A few colleagues have even gone so far as to theorize that her abrupt disappearance suggests she died long before Hollow Knife stole his brother’s heart—that her death may have triggered Blade that Soars’ war against the world.

“In the darashi oyun, which Vernasha penned, Dancing Wind takes on Hollow Knife’s role, and the latter is cast as its main villain. We scholars thought it was nothing more than a romanticized version of the legend. Scholars look down on embellishments, but we never thought Vernasha had another motive.”

“That Dancing Wind and Blade that Soars shared two halves of the same soul?” Rahim asked.

“I am afraid you are mistaken, Lord Arrakan.” The scholar took off his spectacles, wiping them vigorously. “Blade that Soars and Hollow Knife are two halves of the same whole. They are brothers. For Blade that Soars to gain power, he would have to take Hollow Knife’s heartsglass, not that of his lover.

“It was not Blade that Soars who formed the world. Older texts indicate a Great Creator shaped the world and begot a son for its stewardship. But then he split his child into two brothers, so their abilities were also halved. There are enough similarities between that ancient document and the Blade that Soars legend for us to say with certainty that this Great Creator was their father.