Page 43 of Starside

“At the Tower of Knowledge.”

He offers his hand to each of us, his expression a mixture of disgust and curiosity as he considers having to touch us.

Even after washing in the pool, red is soaked into our clothes. Our hair is dripping wet.

Kira shakes his hand first and recoils. When it’s my turn, I realize why. His skin is freezing and too smooth, like touching stone.

“Warm,” he says excitedly, taking a notebook and a quill from his robes. He looks at us as he writes while walking. “Warm everywhere?”

He reaches out as if to touch us more, and Zane snarls at him.

The immortal simply laughs before writing something else. “Territorial about warm skin. Fascinating.”

“Are you all not territorial over your skin?” Kira demands.

He blinks. “For knowledge, I’m not territorial over anything,” he says. “We are not. How old are you?”

“Twenty-two,” Kira says warily.

The immortal chokes on an excited laugh. “How short. How insignificant! I’ve been training to be Level Five for fifty years. You will be dead before I reach Level Ten.”

Kira is glaring at him.

“What happens at Level Ten?” Zane asks, and I don’t miss how his hand is scratching the back of his neck every few seconds in a ruse to be closer to his weapon, should he need it. And we might.

Pelas is an immortal. As lanky as he looks, he could likely turn around and kill us at any moment.

“Level Ten gets access to the peak of knowledge,” he says, eyes wide, as if entranced. “The forbidden floor. Enlightenment you couldn’t imagine.”

The light from his sparkling eyes dims as he turns to look at us. “Fewer questions from you. More from me.”

By the time the trees part, he’s already asked dozens of questions, and Zane looks close to burying his ax into his back.

I wonder what would happen. How hard is their skin? How are immortals killed? I want to ask my own questions, but I stay silent.

Then a great cone-shaped tower comes into view, the size of a mountain. It’s the tallest building I’ve ever seen.

“This … is your castle?” Kira asks.

“Oh, no. This is the Tower of Knowledge.”

“You live … in the Tower of Knowledge?” I ask.

He gives me a withering look. “Not in it. Next to it. All scholars do. At least the ones not on expeditions,” the immortal says, scribbling something that looks like not very intelligent in his notebook.

He thinks we’re idiots. Good.

A plan begins to form.

“Are we going into the Tower of Knowledge?” Kira asks, staring up at the structure in amazement.

Pelas spins to face her, and for the first time, he looks almost violent. “Of course not,” he spits. “Only scholars are allowed inside.”

Instead, he takes us to a building at the base of the tower. Before we reach the entrance, the door swings open, and a tall immortal walks through. He’s wearing similar robes as Pelas, though his are almost silver.

“I thought that color wasn’t allowed here,” Zane says.

Pelas sucks in a sharp breath. He almost looks like he’s going to hit Zane. “How dare you question—”