As he stepped through the portal into the top floor of the Vardin City Tower, Chang-li braced himself to face a horde of ravening tower beasts. At the rate they had been exiting the tower, he expected to find several in the near vicinity. Instead, he found himself in a foggy plane. The fog stretched out all around him. He felt as though he was in a vast space. Joshi emerged to his left, Li Jiya to his right. Li Jiya looked around, frowning.

  "This isn't right," she said. "It's supposed to be a jungle with a network of rivers running through it. Most of the threats are various animals, and the tower guardian dwells in the top of the tallest tree in the jungle. This isn't it at all."

  "How do you know that?" Joshi asked suspiciously.

  “Xue Lan told me," Li Jiya said. "Her sect elders have been inside here before."

  “Xue Lan lied to you to get an advantage," Joshi said. “Or to get you into bed, perhaps.”

  Chang-li boggled. “Wait, what?”

  "No," Li Jiya said indignantly. "She wouldn't do that. We both wanted a fair competition. I believe her."

  "Doesn't matter," Chang-li interrupted. "We need to figure out where the guardian is and how to beat his challenge. Something about this place feels familiar."

  Magen shot out ahead of them, bobbing along and disappearing quickly into the mist.

  Li Jiya turned to the others. From seemingly nowhere, she pulled a finger-length crystal vial. The contents shifted color frequently, reflecting back green, blue, and purple notes. “This elixir will raise me to the Peak of Spiritual Refinement,” she said. “It’s time.”

  Chang-li shivered, staring at the liquid. “That will stop your progression permanently.”

  Li Jiya shrugged. “I’ve already planned to step off the Heavenly Climb and become one of the Brides of Heaven. Do you see the Dowager Pearl cultivating? It may be heresy to you, but progression isn’t everything.”

  “No,” Joshi agreed, “but the difference between setting your progression aside, and cutting it off, is stark.”

  “What choice do we have?” she demanded. “We have to find the guardian and pass its trial. All I know about that is I must be at the Peak of Spiritual Refinement. I’ve been working for months and I’m no closer. There’s no shame. Most cultivators fail at this step. I don’t mean you,” she said to Chang-li, who had opened his mouth to protest. “You’ll make it. You’re driven and clever. Moon Whispers were fools to turn you down. This is my choice.”

  Joshi bowed his head. “So be it.”

  Chang-li said nothing. He felt like a coward. She was right; they needed her to reach Spiritual Refinement, and he saw no other way. But it still didn’t set well with him.

  Li Jiya unstoppered the vial and lifted it to her lips. She drained it in a single gulp. A glow suffused her, starting at her midsection, then thrusting outward through her until her torso glowed, then her limbs, then at last her fingers and head. She raised up off the ground, hands outstretched.

  The glow died. Li Jiya sank back. She sighed, opening her eyes. “It’s done.”

  Chang-li checked over her. Her core felt like a blazing fire. There were other changes, too. Her channels felt stronger. She pulled in lux and cycled it smoothly.

  Joshi cleared his throat. "Magen's senses are no better than ours here. Let's pick a direction and start walking."

  Chang-li wanted to find a way to mark a trail. He turned and froze. "There's no gate."

  The other two turned. More of the dense fog filled in behind them. Like Chang-li, they stared in surprise. There was no sign of an exit to this floor anywhere.

  At last, Joshi shook his head. "That can happen. Remember the Golden Moon Tower, first floor?"

  Chang-li nodded, while Li Jiya gaped at them. "The what? FIRST Floor?! So you did find a secret entrance!”

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  "We don't have time for it now," Chang-li said. "Let's get going."

  He set off at random. With no landmarks or features to guide them, one direction was as good as another. The fog gave way around them as they walked. To Chang-li, the air felt dense. He sucked in lux, looking to replenish his depleted stores, and cycled as they went.

  "Does it seem to anyone else like there's a lot of violet lux here?" Joshi nodded.

  "Yes. Very much so. Did your lady friend mention that to you?" He shot a glance at Li Jiya.

  Li Jiya drew herself up indignantly and responded, "No, she did not. But why would she? Unlike you, it seems, she wouldn't touch forbidden lux."

  "That's enough," Chang-li said through gritted teeth. "We have a job to do here."

  "Magen senses something," Joshi said and pointed off to the left. "I told him to return to us ."

  They strolled in that direction. Chang-li felt the ground under his feet change subtly and glanced down. Before, they'd been walking on what looked like bare, smooth rock. Now it gave way to alternating square tiles about a foot and a half on each edge of deep black marble. He pointed, and the others looked. They went a little farther, and now out of the mist loomed pillars of red-painted wood framing the edges of the area. A few steps further on, the pillars bore colorful buntings hung with symbols.

  "That is the symbol of the Sevenfold Court and the Emperor himself," Li Jiya said, pointing it out. "You only see those combined together in the Emperor's own palace."

  The fog seemed to thin. A light grew above them, golden, illuminating the place. They took another step forward and stopped as one. Up ahead was a cluster of people wearing ornate court robes: one in the violet of an imperial princess, the two others wearing dark robes of servitors. All three were faintly translucent. And now Chang-li knew what this reminded him of.

  "It's like the cultivator library in Fai-lan City," he exclaimed aloud. "And then those must be shades."

  "Shush," Joshi urged, but Li Jiya was striding forward. She stepped right up to them and waved a hand between their eyes. They didn't react. She turned back.

  "They're not shades," she said. "Shades still bear a trace of their own consciousness. These are something else, like a dream or a memory made solid."

  "Have you ever read of anything like this?" Joshi asked.

  Chang-li shook his head. "No, never."

  He was becoming suspicious that something here had gone terribly wrong. The tower eruption had started just after the two dueling Prisms had vanished. Chang-li had been busy not dying and hadn't seen where they'd gone, but perhaps they had come here and were continuing their duel.

  Noren had said this was caused by the death of a prism. One had killed the other inside this tower, and that had scarred everything. Chang-li was virtually certain of it. So now how were they to find the guardian? He had to trust there was one. They would push on and find him somehow. The sooner, the better.

  Mind made up, Chang-li stepped forward past the knot of people. A little ways farther on were more of the strange ghosts. These were all facing forward toward what would be the front of the throne room.

  After another step, Chang-li could see a raised dais behind which was a sunburst, each of the rays a separate color. Atop the dais stood the Emperor. Chang-li had never seen the man, but he was certain who it was.

  He wore robes of rainbow light. His long, dark hair cascaded past his shoulders, nearly down to his waist. He looked to be in his mid-30s, and as his eyes fell on Chang-li and the others, Chang-li would have sworn they narrowed for an instant before he turned back to the man in front of him.

  The Emperor and this man were the only ones of these strange memory ghosts who were truly solid-looking. The man in front of him looked to be about the Emperor's age, perhaps a bit younger. He had a receding hairline and thick dark hair on the rest of his head, pulled up in a topknot. He was wearing robes edged in purple. Chang-li couldn't tell in this light if it was violet or indigo. He knelt before the Emperor, holding out a crystal.

  The Emperor took it, held it up to the light, and it began to glow with a golden radiance. He presented it to the man, who took it and clasped it to his breast. Then the man stood and faced outward.

  "Behold," the Emperor shouted, "your newest prism. Do homage to his radiance, Nai Hong."

  The crowd around cheered, their voices thin in Chang-li's ears, and bowed low. The man, who must be a much younger version of Nai Hong, raised his arms, accepting their cheers. The golden crystal on his chest flared. This must be the ceremony where he had been elevated to prism. Who knew how long before? Chang-li was dimly aware that Nai Hong had been several hundred years old, at least. The room around faded even further. The Emperor disappeared.

  Only Nai Hong remained, still looking substantial. Chang-li sensed that this moment was important. He could feel the way the lux in the area was swirling around Nai Hong, as though being drawn into him. He hurried forward. "Your radiance."

  Nai Hong turned to face him. He'd heard Chang-li.

  "What are you doing?" Li Jiya demanded.

  But Chang-li ignored her. "Your radiance, do you know me?"

  Nai Hong's eyes focused on him. There was something like recognition. "Yes, I know you. I've seen you. The cultivator, the audacious young one. I remember you were there just before I died." He looked around and wondered, "Did I drag you in here with me? Is this part of Eri’s cruel plan?"

  "No, your radiance," Chang-li said. "We're trying to summon the Emperor to stop a tower eruption. We need to get to the tower guardian."

  "The guardian." Nai Hong looked around. By now, all the surrounding imagery was gone. The people vanished. The light dimmed as the fog closed in again. "Yes. The Emperor. Come, find me. Summon me, and I will help you take what you need."

  "The guardian," Chang-li said desperately. "Where is the guardian?"

  Nai Hong looked at him. The light on his chest began to glow brighter and brighter, as it threatened to swallow him up. "I suppose I am the guardian now."

  Then he was gone, leaving Chang-li, Li Jiya, and Joshi standing in the mist.