

### Long Days in Paradise

The First Book of the Shards of Heaven

Copyright © Amos T. Fairchild 2011

Smashwords Edition

Cover design copyright © Amos T. Fairchild 2011

Cover original photography copyright © Guylaine Brunet 2008

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

.o0o.

A map of the Domain (Maeruna) is available at:

<http://bcs4me.com/atf/maps.html>

# Other Books by Amos T. Fairchild

# The Shards of Heaven Series

Long Days in Paradise

The Time of the Dula Kaena

The Face of Destiny

# Mirrim Dawn Series

Mirrim Dawn

Mirrim Vale

# The Megan Series

Megan Evaluation

###  Prologue

The threads of tale are frail and thin

And have no liking for their kin,

Yet rope they weave, and weave it well.

The rope of tale that Aestri tell.

I

Paradise for some, but not the rat.

It had been doomed since the moment the eye of the predator had come upon it, a rat caught far from the sanctuary of the ship's bulkhead. It sniffed the musky air in the cool gloom of the hold, the aroma of the malting grain, and then returned to his meal.

A meal provided by the predator, a thinking beast who smiled to herself as she gazed upon the near-mindless prey. At the appropriate moment she pounced swiftly and silently, her short claws piercing the flesh of the rat, its cry brief.

She ate and frowned.

Her next meal would be fish.

II

Helen Garret gazed out across the blazing waters of the Atlantic; north toward the island of Corvo that she knew lay beyond the curve of her mother earth. For now she sat upon a rugged rocky point on the northern shores of Flores, one of the western-most islands of the Portuguese Azores. The edge of the cliff was near; the wind was brisk, the waves pounding beneath...

She continued to sit, an often wild sea now relaxing in relative calm before her. She sat because she could no longer stand.

Helen inched the wheel-chair closer to the edge.

_A holiday_ , she thought, _to forget all the pain and loss of mobility_. She was eighteen, life as she had planned it already at an end – all because of a man that thought drink driving was a way of life. Her parents were dead and she should have been as well. She had no right to live on while they did not.

So came the holiday, an idea of her current guardians, a time of joy that had indeed eased Helen's uncertain life, the last few dreamy days the most joyous of all. Now the thought of a return to Boston and its reality tore at her heart.

Aunt Dolly placed a hand upon Helen's shoulder, startling her. "We should get you out of this wind – and Julio says there's a nice beach a few miles further on."

Helen smiled and took the hand of the woman that had always been so close to her heart – now closer than ever. "A little l...longer." She filled her lungs with the damp salt air. "I feel more alive here than I have in w...weeks."

Dolly nodded. "Just remember that we have to be back in Ponta Delgardo by Wednesday. Then home," she smiled. "You know that your friends back in Boston must be missing you something terrible."

"I know. Most of my brain is still w...working," she slurred, knowing that a great deal of it still did not – and never would. "I j...just want to be alone a moment longer."

Dolly nodded and backed slightly. "And Dolly," Helen added as hastily as she was able, smiling her crooked smile. "I l...love you."

Her aunt smiled again and retreated toward Uncle and Julio.

It was not long before a vivid reoccurring dream returned to the mind of Helen Garret, a dream that was called into existence. Once her dreams had been of her future, the future of a promising young law student, a woman who planned to change the very way of life on her mother earth. Now her dreams drifted into fantasy, a world to hide within when the pain of reality came upon her shattered mind.

In the last few days such dreams had become more vivid than the painful world surrounding her, and Helen knew she would never see Boston. Not while such dreams could be shaped at command. During the long night it was always paradise, gelled to a reality all its own. In the daylight hours it was often otherwise, a darker nightmare that seemed more challenging than terrifying.

The creatures of nightmare did not bend easily to her will, as many before her had found. Some of those now tossed in restless midnight slumber on the other side of the globe. Yet without fear Helen welcomed darkness as it swept forward to embrace her.

Again the world of reality dimmed.

Darkness was surely death, but death was an ugly word; there should be another word. There should be no death. Perhaps there wasn't.

Again the world slowed.

Helen gazed upon the distant statue of Aunt Dolly, the more distant statues of her uncle and Julio, and shed a silent tear.

They would never know.

Helen drew upon the strength within and wheeled herself beyond the edge of the cliff.

III

Mainland Australia was a little over ten kilometres north of the water-borne test rig; Briggs was tempted to swim for it.

The oil fields of Bass Strait weren't the worst, he was sure of that. The North Sea was more deadly on a good day than the strait on a bad, but the local conditions weren't great either. He had prepared himself for the hard work and the rough seas and long lonely hours, even the time away from home, but as for the screaming seas and the talk of ghosts...

The rig shuddered again.

"That's freakin' odd," grumbled one of the uglier members of the crew as they sat in the bunk across from that of Briggs'. "Ten years I've been doing this shit, never had all that growlin' before." Nobody had. There was more going on than the company dared tell.

"Next you'll be seein' spanners flyin' around as well," laughed another, Briggs frowning as they did.

"Perhaps I will," the ugly one glared in return. "Perhaps we all freakin' will," he said ominously.

The few odd things that Briggs himself had seen he blamed on way too much beer, and since everyone in the room drank just as heavily when they had the chance he suspected that was their problem as well. But alcoholic delirium didn't explain all, he was currently too sober for that, and there had to be more to the seismic testing than was being let on.

Oil reserves were starting to look thin in the straits, everyone knew that, but there was too much invested in the field to pack up without getting every last drop. The new ultrasonic tests were going to ensure that, and it was up to the employees to ignore any adverse reaction that might result. That meant that there was officially no aftershock caused by any of the electronic _blasts_ , and no sea-life of any description was ever seen floating in the currents near the rig. Anything they saw floating was officially imaginary.

Briggs gritted his teeth and headed for the open decking, already having decided that it was last week on the rig – no matter what that might mean to his future. He was sick of the _blasting_ , often occurring every half hour, and more sick of the occasional wail of the aftershock. Then every few days the rig would move on, leaving behind the few dead fish that managed to make it to surface.

If it became any worse then he might even attempt leaving before the end of the week, even if it did mean swimming.

When he saw Peter Nelson from the control room leaning out of the outer rail, Briggs was tempted to confront him. He worked in the control room and had to know something of what was going on, and he was nowhere near as evasive as anyone else in engineering.

Yet Peter had problems enough of his own...

IV

Boston.

Sue placed the three daisies carefully at the foot of the headstone.

"Do you have to come here every day," Jillian complained again as she did on a regular basis. "It has been over three years. I'm sure Helen would understand." The thin redhead shrugged, glancing to her dark-eyed companion. "It's not as if she's even in there..."

"She's at the bottom of the Atlantic somewhere," Sue smiled. "I know, you've said that before. And I don't come every day. It's just that it's on the way to work, so... well I come past now and then."

"Twice a day."

"Every few days. Sometimes I'll come every day. I find it peaceful here; relaxing."

"Most of the people here are very relaxed," snorted Jillian.

Sue ignored the pun. "And whether Helen's body is here or not, her spirit is. I often feel that she's very near."

Jillian shook her head.

Yet Sue again felt the warmth and love of her lost friend.

### Chapter 1 – Transition I

Hear my word and know I lie,

There's less to this than meets the eye!

I

Jorden Miles felt like death warmed up. He wasn't a morning person at the best of times, but over the last week he had felt a lot worse than he had in quite a while. And it was Saturday. He hated feeling bad on a Saturday more than anything. He was sixteen, almost seventeen really, and feeling sick was something for a school day, not a weekend unless his mother was on a cleaning spree. He'd even mowed the lawn on Thursday to try and make sure the weekend would be relatively smooth.

It seemed like a waste now. Today he definitely felt worst than usual. He had never exactly been a healthy person. He had _bad lungs_. That was what his grandmother would always say, and then blame it on Jorden's father. Of course she had never liked his real father from day one.

There were times through the week when Jorden thought he was dying. It was like a few years back when he was twelve and spent several weeks in hospital, and yet somehow different as well. The last thing he wanted was to have to be dragged off to a doctor yet again. So he was dying. Everyone was dying. Sometimes Jorden felt that he was just doing it a little faster than other people.

Jorden was otherwise healthy looking. He was overly tall for his age and rarely suffered acne like others in his class at school. It just seemed that he caught every flu and cold that came through and avoided sport like the plague. It seemed like the entire school thought of him as the sickly kid, the one who couldn't even play sport in case he dropped dead on the field. He'd also missed so much school when he was twelve that his mother had insisted he repeat the year. Now his classmates were not only considerably younger than himself, he was already one of the older members of his class before being kept back, but some seemed like they were almost half his height. It all felt very strange and just served to isolate him even further.

It was bad enough they had moved town yet again and were now living in the middle of nowhere. Even the nearby township was tiny, and their nearest neighbour in the rural surrounds was nowhere nearby. The house they rented was falling down and Jorden's room felt more like an oversized hallway than a room. At least he didn't have any siblings to have to share it with.

He wondered if things could be much worse. That was doubtful and he just wished more than anything that he didn't feel so bad. The odd faint spells he had over the last week were not all that much fun either. Jorden did not like the feel of those at all. The last thing he wanted was to have to spend a week in hospital while they did even more tests that never really told him anything at all.

He decided not to mention such things to his mother as he stumbled into the kitchen and asked for his morning _juice_. She would only stress about it. She already tended to stress over things too much, at least all the silly things. Like girls. All her stress had helped cause the split with his father, Jorden was sure of that. And now he was stuck with the new guy, Bill. Jorden wasn't about to call him Dad.

Although he was cool enough, he just wasn't a father. He taught Jorden how how to weld and fix motors, and he bought him a dirt bike. Mother hated it, but at least it wasn't a girl. She was also happy it was broken at the moment. Jorden wasn't. He was hoping to take it for a ride up into the nearby hills this weekend, but it would take hours to fix and there was no way he was going to talk anyone into getting the parts for him in the near future, especially his mother. He would work on Bill later when he wasn't busy or drinking.

Walking would be better anyway. Walking made him feel better, maybe kept him alive. He wasn't supposed to over-exert himself, but the doctors did advise regular exercise. His mother would wrap him in cotton wool if he let her; so he used the doctors advise whenever he could. Saturday was walking and riding day, Sunday as well if he could get away with it, which was rare at best.

The increase in dizziness, blackouts, and shortness of breath over the last week were something of a worry. It had been years since he felt like that. Jorden blamed it on the bike. He had rode last weekend rather than walked. Today he would walk and maybe it was better the bike was broken down anyway. He very much did not want to spend weeks in hospital like he did when he was twelve. Better to keep his mouth shut.

The hallucinations were more of a worry however. Maybe he should mention those. That probably would mean more changes in medication and that could be a real pain. He hated the medication the most. The side effects always seemed worse than the symptoms. Most of what his mother put in front of him came from the local health food place and weren't even what Jorden considered real medicine, but there were a couple from a _real_ doctor. Real in this case was open to some debate however, and the worst medication was apparently for Jorden's _attention deficit_ problems. That was a joke. There was no attention problem; Jorden just didn't care much about school these days.

Jorden tried not to think about it all and walked out to the rear stairs of their shabby rented house, gazing down on the hideous red thing Bill claimed to be a motor vehicle. "Good morning Tasmania," he said loudly, but few heard. His nearest neighbour was 200 metres back along the road to Pyengana, and they had left for St. Helens an hour earlier. "Good morning Australia," He shouted north toward the 200 kilometre distant mainland that lay beyond the slightly nearer waters of the Bass Strait, the ferry _Spirit of Tasmania_ perhaps somewhere within.

He was not heard there either.

Jorden sipped more of the _juice_. It didn't taste great. His mother made it up and filled it with all sorts of _good stuff_. That was about all she would say about it. Some health food rubbish. She was something of a health food nut, but maybe it helped. Unfortunately it tasted like crap.

He gazed to the blue summer sky, then to the rural woodland beyond the road. Woodland and pasture that was now well known, he had spent enough time walking amongst it over the past year, yet he had no idea to whom it actually belonged. Between the road and the fenced pasture was some council owned no man's land. Great place for riding a bike. When it was going.

"Everyone is going to think you're bloody mad," Bill grumbled playfully as he brushed past on his way from the kitchen to the car, eager to return to work, there was undoubtedly another chrome manifold to be polished, or another air-horn to be installed. Even now the red pile of junk roared like a Trans-Tasman ferry itself.

"Whatever," smiled Jorden, "and I hope that bomb drops a valve or two on the way to Launceston." It was all in fun. Mostly. In some ways Bill was better than Jorden's real father. At least he was here.

Bill countered with an audio-visual insult.

Jorden planned to return the gesture, but soon lost all interest in the conversation. As the world dimmed about him he braced himself for the coming attack. He wondered if it would be the last ever.

Again the world slowed.

Jorden gasped for breath, the air suddenly thick in his lungs. Silence invaded the land; the cool breeze of the morning falling to nothing, Bill was strangely frozen on the path from the stair to the shed in the back yard. _If this is death_ , Jorden thought, _then let it at least be quick_.

It wasn't, and it lingered on.

The cup slipped from Jorden's grasp and fell ever more slowly toward the wooden stair below, a globule of liquid rising lazily from its lip. Jorden gave up on breathing and recalled a film that he had once seen, a documentary that had shown droplets of water in slow-motion splashing sleepily into a puddle of the same. And now he was able to see it happen _live!_ That was somehow cool. As the cup met the bottom stair and its fragments drifted mournfully to their own destinies, each one seeming less than eager to leave its brother, Jorden knew that he had to be dying.

II

His mother, Joanne, heard the crash of the china and ran out to investigate, always fearing that Jorden had collapsed. She was somewhat happier to find that Jorden had simply dropped the cup. He was still standing, but she noted his breathing.

"Are you okay?" she asked, "or are you going to lie to me again and say you're fine?"

Jorden patted his chest and coughed. "I'll lie and say I'm fine, then." He glanced to the cup again, then found that breath came somewhat more easily. Alive still. "Just choking on all the special herbs and spices." He looked again to the quiet, open fields and started down the stairs. "I think I'll go for a walk."

"I knew that was coming," His mother frowned. "Can we at least pretend to be a family for once? We get invited to one barbecue a year if we are lucky, and you are going, like it or not." Jorden kept walking into the yard, ignoring his mother as best he could. He was usually quite good at that. In any case he had heard the story before. She wanted him to have friends, especially friends who weren't girls. "Two hours," she shouted after him. "If you're not back by then you can go live with your father!"

Jorden continued walking, crossing the roadway and drifting into the woodland. What a threat. He doubted she even knew where he was these days.

"You're in the shit now!" came a muffled voice from beneath the red Ford.

"And you can shut it too, Bill." Joanne thumped back to the kitchen.

III

Jorden headed south, ignoring the headache that threatened to split his skull.

He was already worrying about the time and kept glancing at his watch. He'd have to get back in an hour or two or she would worry. She was always worried, even when she acted like she was angry. Jorden kept reminding himself of that, but he still found it annoying that she was always on his back about everything. He strode on and tried to forget about it all, at least for a while.

He was soon in open woodlands that thickened as he approached higher ground and he made good time for a dying person, coming upon a particular forested valley within the hour. It was not a path he had taken often, his treks and bike rides usually confined to the open fields and wooded gullies nearer to home, but it was a path taken at times when he wished not to be found.

He had last come this way the previous weekend, not long after his bike threw a chain and cracked the gearbox housing, spilling oil everywhere like black slimy blood. He found the quiet gloom somewhat comforting and relaxing, and he needed to chill out out after the bike died. It was around then he stumbled across a grove of massive trees that he had never managed to find on his numerous previous tours. As he slipped amongst the dim shade of the forested creek he hoped he might find his way to the grove again, and that some logging company wouldn't, even though the chances were against both.

Jorden attempted to coax free the memory of his previous journey, his mind throbbing with the effort, a slight nausea plaguing his every step. He was starting to wonder if walking this far was such a good idea, but shrugged it off and stepped down into a stony dry creek bed. Then he was at a loss.

It lay somewhere to the east, he knew, yet he couldn't count the number of times that he had crossed the creek and headed east only to find himself on a grassy ridge that he followed north toward home. He turned and followed the creek south hopefully, vaguely remembering that he had done something similar the week before. That was about as far as his memory would take him.

Then he noticed the two knotted trees on the eastern bank. Memory returned, logic leapt out the window.

Jorden was sure he had ventured east between the trees. He was also certain that he had not found himself upon a barren ridge heading for home. He had actually walked for some time amongst the grove of the giants before returning again to this very site and then making for home. He struggled with the problem momentarily, shrugged, then moved on between the trees.

It was a brief climb to the crest of the bank, then into misty gloom. It was then that Jorden was struck suddenly by a biting chill, the wind roaring suddenly, then blinding light. It was sharp and cold and...

Then calm.

Jorden braced himself for another attack, but so far he felt okay. Maybe a little better than okay. The trees rustled quietly about him, the air was warm and fragrant; birds chattered noisily above. He stood firm and took a deep breath and that seemed to come easy enough.

Ahead was the grove, an area studded only with the boles of enormous trees with canopies that seemed a hundred meters above, the ground devoid of undergrowth. Jorden ventured amongst them, thumping several of the largest, moving on to a path he could see amongst the trees.

And behind him a green crystal swung on its filament.

IV

The broad, clear path headed north, or so it seemed, and Jorden followed on, curious as to what would actually make such a path. There were no signs of track, either animal or bike, but it was a path that grew more distinct as he went, the forest changing continuously.

He came in time to an area that was thick with undergrowth, vines lazing amongst the small palms, and the land to his right rose steadily. Then the path turned left. Jorden paused momentarily, partly to rest, partly because the path wasn't heading in the direction he wished to go. He puffed several breaths, wondering if he pushed himself too far, before he realized that his head at last felt whole once more. He actually felt quite well, way better than he had when he left the house. Even the nausea had been left somewhere upon the trail. If he could just avoid tripping over it on the return journey...

It was about this time that Jorden noticed the doorway.

He instantly thought of it as somewhat odd: firstly because he had never seen it before, secondly because it is not often one sees a hill with a front door, and thirdly because it looked very old. Jorden thrashed his way closer, severely crippling two small trees as he did, and examined the door more closely, a door that had quite obviously not been used in many years. It wasn't just old; it was very very old, yet it was within ten paces of what seemed to be a well-worn footpath.

It had to be opened, Jorden knew that from the moment he got close, yet if he had known the effort involved he would never have attempted such. It took over an hour to dig the accumulation of dirt and humus from its foot and to tear away the shrubbery that had come to call the door home. Even then it refused to open, Jorden almost giving up in despair before thinking to turn the handle.

The door opened.

Jorden wasn't quite prepared for what he found when he moved inside, nor was he expecting the door to slam heavily behind him, nor did he enjoy watching the handle clatter noisily to the floor. He swore quietly.

It was dark but not completely dark. Jorden could see enough to know he was in a storage area of some sort and that there was no way he was getting out the way he came in. A few firm kicks confirmed that. As for the stores, they seemed as old as the door, the dust as thick as a heavy snowfall. There were a hundred clay jars that he could see – a guess, he didn't count them – all about twice the size of the biggest pickle jar he had ever seen and stacked on two sets of five shelves that drifted away into the gloom. A little stumbling further afield also made it apparent that there were many more sets of shelves in the storeroom than Jorden cared to count.

He had found a storeroom in Tasmania, no more than ten kilometres from the nearest town, that had not been touched in... Jorden wondered how long. Fifty years? A hundred? A find of some significance, surely – something to bring fame, and hopefully fortune, to anyone who stumbled onto something like that.

His joy, however, was somewhat short-lived.

As Jorden wandered amongst the stores, a room that covered the area of a modest sized home, the light grew in intensity. He could see more and more of the structure of the room: the numerous square posts and rafters holding the earth above at bay, the lanterns that hung on them – many of which had been used in recent years.

He noticed also that many of the jars had been dusted, or shifted from their original position. Then he saw racks without jars, then new jars... Jorden mourned the loss of fame and began to wonder exactly whose storeroom he was wandering around in and what they would think, and do, when they found out about it. He started getting that uncomfortable feeling deep in the pit of his stomach.

Jorden found the stairs, formulated escape plans and considered various explanations of his actions, one of them the truth. He briefly imagined a towering hulk of a man who ate salesmen for breakfast, and became positively irate when juveniles blatantly broke into his cellar.

V

There was some distraction to the worry at least, as the stairway lead to the one of the oddest dwellings Jorden had ever seen. It was a house of sorts built on the forested face of the ridge opposite to the cellar door and therefore shielded from the view of the well-worn path.

It appeared that each room was added as something of an afterthought, many set on its own level with a short stair leading to the next. And the structure and use of materials varied unbelievably. There were walls of stone, brick, timber, woven canes, coloured crystal... Beads hung in almost every doorway, woollen tapestries on many walls, and there were clusters of vegetables hanging openly in what appeared to be the kitchen.

Kitchen?

It was a room paved with irregular bluish stone slabs, the walls of red brick, the roof a conglomeration of round timbers and straw bundles. There was a stone hearth set in one wall, a large black pot simmering above the coals. Another wall framed an unglazed window, a cluttered workbench beneath. Other walls were lined with shelving, and a table was set casually toward the centre. Jorden attempted to imagine his mother in such a kitchen...

It was not a dwelling that attempted meeting any council regulations whatsoever, that much was obvious. That seemed strange as there had been a couple of times when the council had threatened the owners of his own house regarding it's condition. This place was primitive by comparison, but clean and tidy. Jorden glanced to a lantern in the next room, another sign of the complete lack of facilities, and began to formulate something of a picture.

An alternative lifestyle perhaps? Some hippies looking for the good life? Jorden wasn't sure he liked the lack of technology. He liked television and the occasional video game a little too much for that, and getting on the internet on his obsolete PC where he could chat with people who didn't see him as some pathetic sickly creature they should avoid. As he wandered into what seemed like something of a lounge, books and various ornaments lining its abundant shelving, he doubted the occupants would be hostile. That was the hope at least. He was also sure they would not welcome the intrusion. That was a certainty.

In days to come he would not be sure of either assumption.

For the moment all seemed quiet, the chairs of the room beckoning with their comfort, Jorden not daring to sit. He did brave a brief look into a thick volume that lay innocently on a low coffee table, the cover arousing the attention of an unusually sharp mind. Interesting, but unreadable, Jorden noted, a title of some seven characters. The first looked like a distant, mutant relative of an 'A', another might have been a 'V', yet the rest of the symbols might as well have been Chinese – except that they weren't.

He shrugged and glanced inside, not finding a page of text that made the slightest sense. The diagrams conjured images of an Egyptian star-guide to brain surgery. "Okay, so that's clear as mud," Jorden Miles mumbled, closing the book with a frown.

"Pyrene Holography is not an art that you would find useful," came a voice from behind, young and female. "Hence it is laid down in High Huran rather than common text."

Jorden swallowed and returned the book quickly to the timber slab. Then he dared a glance to the woman... girl who had spoken. "I... I came in through the storeroom. I didn't realize it was your home." He wiped his palms on his T-shirt. "I didn't even know anyone lived up here."

The girl smiled. She looked about his age, maybe a little less, and indeed was the equivalent of just fifteen years of age, dressed in a simple full-length gown that looked odd only in the respect of its excessive length and simplicity. And she said nothing more for the moment, looking almost in wonder upon the juvenile _man_ , her dark eyes shining beneath her darker fringe.

"Are your parents home?" Jorden continued nervously. Parents would be even harder to deal with. "I should apologize for coming in like this. I never realized we had neighbours up this way."

The girl cocked her head slightly. "Kaedith Mahanam has been called away," she put forth carefully. "I speak for her while she is absent, and you are welcome in my home." She nodded, almost bowed, in a manner that seemed odd to Jorden Miles. "My name is Tsarin. Please sit and relax, I'm sure you have come a long way."

Jorden cleared his throat. "Well, not really, and I should be getting back." That was only partly because his mother was expecting him and mostly because he was somewhat uncomfortable in the odd house.

Tsarin nodded. "Of course, you may leave if you must." Then, for no apparent reason that Jorden could fathom, she blushed and turned away. He stood in silence, somewhat uneasy but mostly confused.

Then she added, "I'm sorry;" then a stifled cough. "It is just that we seldom have male visitors and I fear I am unsure..." She paused. "A drink before you leave, in exchange for idle speech. My studies leave me isolated from the world about."

Religious cult? Over-protective parents? Few people that Jorden knew spoke anything like Tsarin, especially those his age, and for anyone to live without even a television... Jorden almost laughed. These people didn't even seem to have basics like electric lighting.

He glanced to his watch, noticing that he wasn't wearing it even though he was certain he had put it on that morning. "Well, I..."

"Good," Tsarin smiled, and vanished momentarily, leaving Jorden alone and uncomfortable. He sat nervously.

She returned a moment later, empty handed, and sat nearby. "I hope that Oil of Turpena will be all right, I forgot to ask what you preferred." An absent nod was returned, Jorden surprised by the direction she had entered the room. He wondered if there was another kitchen within the house, one that was perhaps more modern. "And you say you are from where?"

"Just down the valley," Jorden pointed, "toward Pyengana. The low block, white place." Tsarin gazed vaguely in the indicated direction. "You can't miss it. You've probably seen it on your way through to town." He was tempted to elaborate on the poor condition of the house, but decided against it.

"Py-en-gana," Tsarin mimicked badly, her puzzled frown obvious. "I know of Thagul beyond the Line..." Then she gazed again more carefully toward Jorden Miles: his clothing, his hair, his mode of speech. "The West-Pacific line is near, a brief walk from my door," Tsarin said, choosing her words carefully. "You are, of course, from the Western Pacific."

Jorden nodded without thinking, then puzzled briefly over her words, then thought he understood. "I'm from the mainland originally. We only moved to Tasmania a few years back. Better air, my mother said," he smiled.

"Tasmania, yes." Tsarin nodded slowly in her turn.

And then she laughed.

VI

The woman who brought the drinks was somewhat older, another of the commune, perhaps.

By that time Tsarin had stopped laughing, and so had Jorden who had laughed along with her without knowing in the least why he did. "My apologies," she said at last. "Drink, please. You are far enough away from home and deserve that much at least." The older woman set the drinks on the table before them, then departed quietly. "And I am sure you are eager to return. I hope that you have no difficulty in doing so."

"I've been lost up here before," Jorden smiled, which wasn't altogether true. Then he dared a taste of the drink. Not carbonated, and indeed somewhat oily, but otherwise enjoyable in a warm sweet sort of way, and Jorden soon found that he drank his third, then fourth. All the while he bored them with tales of his wanderings in the area, except they didn't seem all that bored.

"...and like I say," he continued with a log of his tours of the area about, "I've come this way dozens of times and never seen this place."

Tsarin shrugged. "It is well concealed... It is not a place you would find unless there was a purpose in you doing do."

Jorden glanced again to the room, realizing that he had done most of the talking and Tsarin most of the listening. "Well hidden, all right. No road in that I know of; no power or phone that I've seen. You must seem a bit isolated sometimes."

"In your terms of reference, perhaps," Tsarin said more openly, "but not mine." She sighed and gestured vaguely. "This is the Domain of Hura Ghiana, and it is the way she wishes it. Who am I to argue? And we are not so isolated as we may seem. I know something of the world beyond."

"Sure, as long as your happy," Jorden said, wondering what such a Guru as this Hura might do for him. More health food fanatics like his mother, perhaps. "But it doesn't hurt to get out and about a bit. I guess you don't go to a local school." There weren't many schools in the area, so he knew the answer to that. Home schooled or they went to some private school somewhere. There was no response anyway, and Jorden chuckled. "Probably better than my life." What there was of it.

"But I really should be going," he went on as he stood. "I'm already late." Way late. It had been a lot more than two hours, he was sure of that. His mother would be sending out a search party at this rate.

"Of course," Tsarin stood in turn. "And feel welcome to visit whenever you wish, ah..."

"Jorden," he prompted. "Jorden Miles."

Tsarin smiled. "Our door is always open. And if you should have any difficulty in finding your way home then please let me know."

He nodded, doubting he would. "If I keep heading downhill then I'll soon find myself somewhere, I'm sure."

And with that he left the odd house on the ridge, yet not before noticing several more women and two very large men who would have looked at home in a professional wrestling team.

VII

Jorden was somehow glad to be away from the odd house and the girl who seemed more the adult than most adults he knew. There was something not quite right, and it was something that he wasn't sure he wanted to be involved in. Or perhaps it was simply his antisocial behaviour showing through. He puzzled over the thought for some time without result.

He also found it harder to get home than he had counted on. He spent what seemed like over an hour heading downhill to no avail, the forest ever thicker, and was eventually forced to turn back as the light failed. That was when he knew he was really in trouble. It was already getting dark and he had spent a lot more time at the house that he had imagined. His mother had probably called in the police by now. He moved as quickly as he dared without over exerting himself, but so far he felt well as he had ever felt.

It was quite dim, a reddish sort of dim, when he at last made his way back past the cellar door of Tsarin's house, then on to the path, then the two trees.

As Jorden stepped down toward the creek he felt engulfed with flame, the air hot and stifling, his breath again short, the scrub still and quiet. He collapsed to the stones and gasped for breath, the light dim, the world slow. He started to panic. He had pushed himself too hard. The touch of Death again felt near...

And passed. He sat, concentrated on his breathing. Tried to relax.

In a few moments, it was cool and strangely bright, and breath came more easily. It didn't make all that much sense. It was a lot brighter now than it had been just a moment before. Perhaps it was overcast and not as late in the day as he had thought. Jorden shrugged and struggled to his feet and headed for the open woodland, the light ever brighter, the sun warm above. He felt as well as he had ever felt, better than he had felt in quite a while...

VIII

He arrived home still thinking that the sun was way higher than it should have been, and found his mother collecting washing calmly from the line. "I said two hours," she started somewhat harsh, but calmed and smiled. "But close enough. Looks like Bill is going to be the hold up anyway. He's blown something up on that stupid car again, running up and down the road like..."

Jorden sunk slightly as he started ignoring the rest of what his mother was saying. He was relieved that he got back quicker than he thought he had, but was also somehow annoyed that he did get back so quickly. He would have preferred to miss the barbecue. The Freeman boys were a pain.

It was a disappointment that was at least countered by other events. It would be fun to see Bill's red demon again upon the blocks where it belonged, and more fun to help him work on it.

Bill was good like that, and today he really saved the day. The car had blown up halfway to Pyengana, and that meant he had to ring Joanne to help tow it home. Jorden went for the ride and helped waste another hour on the car. He had a good roll under its belly with Bill to be sure it could be towed, which of course it could be, then a long warm splash in the steady flow of oil that had organized an escape through a crack in the gearbox housing.

Then there was a twenty minute discussion on the best anchorage point for the tow-rope, Joanne arguing about the time throughout.

In the end they were getting far to late for the barbecue. Bill pulled out, Jorden's mother was furious. Jorden was quite happy about it all.

There was a car to fix. A good, dirty job that would take a few weekends and afternoons and ruin any plans his mother may have had in introducing Jorden into human society. Mechanical things were his greatest joy anyway, even Bill's bomb, and people he could really live without. He never really got on with others, especially at school or wherever. He was always that sickly kid that nobody wanted to deal with.

There was Maria, of course. She had been cool. Joanne hated her, of course, and Jorden was sure she was a large part of the reason behind the last move of house and school. He was still not exactly happy with his mother over that one.

Still, all seemed well for the next few days, Jorden happy enough with life in general, and there were only a couple of small items that marred his world: How had he spent an afternoon wandering amongst the woodland and home of Tsarin without anyone noticing it, and where the heck was the hundred dollar watch he received for his birthday only six months ago.

It was some time before any of those questions were answered...

### Chapter 2 – Transition II

By powers great does she allow,

From there and then, to here and now.

I

It was a week since Jorden had walked within the strange house of Tsarin Whoever, or her Kaedith Mahanam, and he was starting to doubt he would see another week.

Things had gone well for the first couple of days after that visit and he had enjoyed the afternoons replacing Bill's gearbox, even though he knew the second-hand replacement wouldn't last long. Even school hadn't seemed so bad, especially with something to do when Jorden got home and Bill promising to help with Jorden's bike as soon as they finished the car. The attacks of breathlessness had been far less frequent, and all seemed fine...

Then, for no apparent reason other then it was probably inevitable, the attacks came with alarming regularity. In the past two days he had felt like he was about to pass out over twenty times, breath difficult for lengthy periods, the world oddly slowing about himself. Mother had already taken him to the doctor again, which was both good and bad. It meant most of the day off school at least, but the doctor started talking about more tests and perhaps hospitalization, which was the last thing Jorden wanted to hear. He tried to _look healthy_ , which wasn't altogether difficult in between the strange attacks he suffered.

Mostly he felt compelled to walk, to get out of the house for a while, his conscious mind being overtaken by some primitive instinct. He had always felt the need. Walking always made him feel better. And it was Saturday again. He always went walking on Saturday. His mother wasn't happy, but he promised to _be home soon_. Bill had friends coming to visit. Great. They were boring friends...

The further south amongst the fields and woodland he walked the better he felt, breath becoming easy. Strength that seemed to have been sapped from him returned and all was well. Walking was good like that. Then he came upon a shadowed creek in a forested grove. There was a path between two trees ahead that led to the House of Mahanam. He thought to turn from the way and return home while he still felt well enough, yet it was a thought that somehow made him feel worse rather than better.

It was then that Jorden noticed the glint of chrome near one of the trees and he stooped, brushed aside the leaf litter and revealed a watch, his watch, lost a week before. He smiled and returned it to his wrist, thinking that his luck had surely changed, then walked on between the trees. There was a slight rush, a touch of cool, a flash of bright, and an overwhelming feeling that he had come home.

He felt well enough to jog along the path, the fire of life suddenly pulsing within his veins, the mighty trees towering above him. The spell of the local Guru, he thought as he ran on, a spell that brought knew life to those who were perhaps beyond such things. He was beyond the frailties of life, the ills and weaknesses... Unfortunately reality returned shortly after, and Jorden ran out of steam and puffed to a halt not far from the cellar door of Tsarin's house.

He paused to regain his breath and smiled. It was a normal feeling of fatigue and not an attack of breathlessness that came without warning, which was at least some consolation. As he rested, Jorden glanced to the door that he had entered the week before, or what he could see of it, and recalled the conversation with Tsarin of that day.

Yet...

There was something about the door that did not seem at all right. Only a week ago he had dragged aside the tangle of undergrowth and dangling vine, and dug away the soil which had accumulated over the years upon the step. Today it was worse than it had ever been. Thorn bushes grew thick about it and broad-leafed grasses flourished in the knee-deep sediment that was banked against it.

And yet it hadn't rained...

Jorden shook his head and moved on along the path, a path that wound its way around the low, forested ridge to the odd house of Tsarin.

II

Even the house was not exactly as he had remembered it – nearly, but not quite. He was sure he could recall a thatched wing that had spread down the slope of the ridge, weaving its way amongst the trees, yet now only an open verandah remained and that overlooked a garden filled with three blue-green ponds and lush green shrubs. Garden? Jorden shook his head again. He could remember no gardens, just the overhanging forest.

He walked confidently to the verandah; he had been given an open invitation after all, and looked down over the slightly recessed and totally unfamiliar landscaping below. There were several ponds. He remembered a few shrubs, but ponds? He began to wonder if he hadn't stumbled on another house altogether, a tingling fear started lifting the hairs of the back of his neck. Jorden glanced nervously to his watch. He definitely didn't want to run late again... He stopped, and grabbed his wrist, then scanned the wooden deck at his feet. He swore quietly. He had lost his watch again.

He didn't like his chances of finding it twice so easily...

If it were not for the approach of two young, white robed women, then Jorden would have left: firstly in search of his watch, and secondly in search of food to satisfy his rejuvenated appetite. They smiled toward him from the garden, giggled to themselves, then left, Jorden watching their departure carefully. It was a really odd place.

Then a woman came to greet him. She was in her twenties, dark haired with eyes of ebony, eyes that were both young and yet somehow old. She was clad in a mauve robe with a white sash around her neck that was littered with flakes of amethyst. He felt suddenly self-conscious, dressed as he usually was in his shorts and yellow T-shirt, standing before a stranger that was more than just slightly familiar.

She nodded toward Jorden's vague smile. "Welcome to the house of the Kaedith Tsarin," she began. That answered one question. At least he was in the right place. "It's been a long time, Jorden Miles, but I have been expecting your return. Come, please."

He glanced around stupidly as if expecting to find another Jorden Miles standing beside him, then realized how foolish his actions might have appeared. Long time? Expected? Jorden was still sure he didn't know the woman that beckoned him to follow her into the house, yet it seemed she knew of him. Perhaps they thought of him as a new convert to the ways of their Guru? Tsarin must have guessed that he needed something desperately, and maybe she was right.

Jorden soon found himself again within the lounge, a room that looked much as he remembered, unlike many of the others that seemed to have changed décor in the past few days. He sat quietly as the woman did that same before him, and smiled.

It was the woman who broke the sudden silence. "You don't remember me, do you?" she said. "It has been just a few short days and you have forgotten while I recall the day vividly after many cycles."

"Well... Yes," Jorden lied, losing his smile in furious thought. "No, not really," he then conceded. "The face is familiar, but I have a terrible memory." He had remembered other women had been in the house, but that was about it.

She snorted. "I have an unfair advantage. I have changed much since our last meeting while you have remained the same. This was the House of Mahanam then, and now it is the House of Tsarin. I am the Precinct Kaedith now and Mahanam has left in the service of the greater consciousness beyond." She paused, shook her head, then stood and walked to the nearest shelving, her palm upon the assorted volumes that congregated there. "This will not be easy for you to accept, Jorden Miles, for you are away from familiar surrounds, but I can offer you your heart's desire and the fulfilment of dreams."

Jorden simply blinked.

"You don't believe me." She stated the obvious.

Jorden shrugged, ignoring the odd way the woman seemed to speak. "I just came for a walk... to clear my head. I haven't been feeling well for the last few days and... well to be truthful, I don't know why I ended here. I met Tsarin the last time..."

"The transition is difficult, and there will be times of lost synchronization," she interrupted. "You will have suffered those on your return home, and you will suffer others of a different form here. As for Tsarin, I fear that you will not know her. Indeed it seems you do not, for I am the Kaedith Tsarin, and you are within my precinct of the Domain of Hura Ghiana."

A vague stare was returned, Jorden wondering about the odd comment. He knew perfectly well that this was not the same girl he had met the previous weekend. There was something of a resemblance, a sister perhaps, yet it was quite obviously another girl. He wondered why she would state otherwise.

"I know that you don't believe," the woman claimed, "but that is because you do not understand as yet. In time you will. Perhaps you wish for refreshments while we speak."

Jorden mumbled uncomfortably, sitting forward upon the chair and thinking to stand. "I should be going. It's a long walk back, and my mother has visitors coming this afternoon..." Visitors he could really live without having to deal with. "Perhaps just a quick drink or something..."

The woman smiled. "Your mother, Joanne?" Jorden nodded in return. "I have learned that all has not been well for you: your health, the separation of your parents. I wish that I could be of more help, yet it is somewhat beyond my control."

"Yeah, whatever," Jorden shrugged uncomfortably.

But the woman simply smiled. "I don't mean to pry into your personal affairs, such things are no concern to me. My duty is simply to enlighten, to ease your journey, and make your stay within this house as comfortable as possible." She paused as a younger woman of no more than sixteen entered the room, a tray within her grasp, her white robe sweeping the floor in her wake. "Your drink."

Jorden offered quiet thanks as the tray was placed on the low coffee table, the girl smiling in return. "This is Perrin, a common woman within my service," she-who-claimed-to-be-Tsarin went on to say. "As I have other duties to perform, I fear I must leave you in her company for a short while. Treat my home as you would your own." Then to Perrin. "Whatever our guest should wish for..."

Jorden went to respond to her, but was at a loss for words. He watched the woman leave, a woman he was not sure he even knew, and wondered what was happening in the world around him. There was a growing fear that the people he had stumbled upon were perhaps part of some commune or cult that seemed eager to recruit new members into its ranks. Jorden had seen too many documentaries about strange cults and this place was certainly more than a little weird. _Treat my home as your own?_ Jorden wondered how literal to take such a statement.

Perrin sat in the chair the older woman had left vacant, glancing briefly to the departure of her master before returning her attention to the male there with her, her blue-green eyes contemplating his strange mode of dress. Then she brushed her golden locks from her brow. "Tsarin tells me that your name is Jorden," she said casually, clasping her hands in her lap.

"Jordan Miles, yeah, from just down the road..." He paused. He had tried that before, those of the commune apparently unaware of or uninterested in most of the lands about them. "I was just having a walk to clear my head and thought I might drop in and see Tsarin." It was somehow uncomfortable to be speaking with the unknown girl in a little known house, but if only he could feel so well at home. And he did feel well now – much better than yesterday.

She nodded and seemed genuinely interested. "She has been expecting you. It's unfortunate that you've come today when she is burdened with her work. Perhaps tomorrow she will have more time to speak." Perrin reached for her glass and paused to await Jorden to do the same. She sipped of the greenish fluid. "You must stay and join in our evening meal at least."

Jorden drank in turn, the green liquid sweet and fruity to his taste, the tang of citrus. "I can't, really. We have visitors coming and my mother worries if I'm gone too long..."

Perrin smiled. "My cooking would put any you know to absolute shame," she promised.

"I'm sure, but..."

"I know." The girl nodded. "If you must go, you must. I hope that are not unduly ill upon your return." And she stood. "Perhaps a walk in the garden first. We have a lovely garden..."

Jorden glanced to the small amount of green fluid that remained in his crystal mug.

III

The house was more than a little odd, the people a little more than strange. Things went on within its walls that were not altogether normal, or at least what he knew of as normal. Jorden wondered what sort of people they really were and what sort of things they were into. He'd never had anything to do with drugs that weren't prescribed. He had enough trouble staying healthy without that sort of thing. But he couldn't help but wonder what these guys were putting in the drinks.

Withdrawal, Jorden considered. For a few days after his last visit he had felt full of life, his mind clear, his heart and lungs performing the tasks they were designed for, then in a couple of days he felt terrible. For the past two days he had felt the touch of Death frequently, the effects of the drug perhaps worn thin, the craving for more growing within. And so he returned, and now he may well have been consuming more of their local brew.

And would he indeed be sick on his return home? More than just his _normal_ ill health, perhaps. That was about all he needed. "Sick, yes," he mumbled. "I hope not... I suppose if I stayed and drank some more of these I'd be all right," he added testily.

Perrin continued to stand, watching as Jorden thought to leave the chair himself. "Of course," she said without pause. "I'll get another if you wish..."

"No... Thanks." Although he indeed felt like another, the paranoia in him was wondering what kind of drug could be slipped within a drink, and how addictive it would be. "I'm not sure what you put in them," he said as he finally managed to rise to his feet. "And I don't think I can afford to get hooked on it." He felt uncomfortable after saying such, and forced a feeble grin.

The girl gazed into the cloudy glass mug that remained in her grasp. "I made this myself," she frowned. "Juice of the junea and syrup of the mape and powdered hydrae." She shook her head and gazed back toward the strange young male. "There are no hooks?"

Jorden cleared his throat uneasily. "Drugs." There was still an odd stare. "Sorry, bad joke. Some of your herbs and things might be a little stronger than what I'm used too. I've been feeling bad since leaving here last time, and I thought..." Enough said, perhaps.

Perrin nodded. "Tsarin has drugs and medicines for many ills, but not for those you have suffered, or so she has told me. Only Hura could offer you aid in the Beyond."

Tsarin's name was mentioned again, Jorden puzzling again over the odd statement of the woman who had not long left their company. "The woman who was here before," he began. "You know her well?"

"Kaedith Tsarin?" Perrin returned, again a slight frown, the word of the boy forever strange. "Of course."

Jorden shook his head. "Perhaps I will have another drink. I don't suppose you have anything that's more... Well, less... ah..."

Perrin smiled. "Milk? Orange juice? Water..."

IV

They walked on the decking that spread _east_ from the house, Jorden sipping his orange juice in the shade of the forest canopy that extended over much of the grounds. "And that is the only Tsarin here?" he asked again. "I met a young girl here last time, not the kaedith." Whatever _kaedith_ might mean. Guru, perhaps, or guru apprentice?

"The only one that I know of," Perrin returned after sipping her own pale green beverage. "And I have been within the House of Tsarin for two cycles. But many young common girls pass into the grounds each morning for day spells..."

Day spells? Jorden shook his head. "But not many guys, I see." He had seen two men on the previous occasion, great lumbering figures that could well have held greenery in their fingers and posed as trees of the surrounding forest, yet none on this occasion, and certainly none his own size, or age.

Perrin shrugged. "Men sometimes come to speak with the Kaedith if it is a matter of some importance, but more often it will be a woman of the village council. It would depend on the purpose of the visit."

Nothing that was said brought any light as to the purpose or function of the kaedith, or indeed to the commune as a whole, if that was indeed what it was. Jorden wondered on how best to learn more about it all. "What exactly does the kaedith do?" he asked for want of a better method.

The girl gestured vaguely, almost spilling her drink in the process, and moved toward a stair that led down amongst the garden. "More than most: a truthsay, a seer, a telepath. We don't have others here who can do such, not like the cities. She also performs more usual tasks such as the maintenance of village shields, and she gives powders and medicines for various ills, although there is an old woman in Tucaar that does the same. She knows most of crystallography as well..."

Jorden was almost sorry he asked. "Like a naturapath," he said when the girl at last completed the lengthy list, although witch-doctor seemed to be a more accurate description. He marvelled how such things could still be around in modern civilization, and be right on his doorstep. His mother would love this.

"Crystallography, eh," Jorden went on, "I've heard of that, I think." People who hung crystals over their beds for a good night's sleep and all that sort of thing."

Perrin shrugged. "Even I can use reds and yellows a little. It's the others that need a true Kaedith, and only Hura can produce and utilize those of green, although I'm not sure what they are truly for."

Hura again, Jorden considered. There was some hope he may learn something of his strange hosts before he had to leave for home. "And Hura is the head Kaedith I assume," he prompted. That would make her top witch rather than guru.

They had walked to the edge of the first pond by this time, an ovoid that was the size of an average back yard pool, the shrubbery thick around the edges. "Sigrid of Saljid is amongst the highest class of the Kaedith order; she chairs the Council," Perrin told him, then shook her head. "But Hura..." There was a lengthy pause, the girl glancing skyward momentarily. "Hura is all. She is the giver of the day and night, of the greater and lesser lights of the skies, of all the orders of the land, of the second forms of the lowly, of the shields against darkness. It is she who came in the great darkness before time, over a thousand cycles into the past, to give us law and the order of the Land..."

Ah, progress, Jorden considered. So Hura was God, which made sense. How this Hura made green crystals was something of a mystery, yet the statement _Domain of Hura Ghiana_ now seemed to refer to the earth, just as Hura referred to God. It was all clear once the rules were known. All was well, but only for the briefest of moments.

"She was here within the House of Mahanam only two cycles past," Perrin went on. "Mahanam was ill and Hura spoke with Tsarin, knowing that she would soon be precinct kaedith. I saw her for just a moment. She was so unlike anything I expected her to be."

_It's always difficult to look at God_ , Jorden thought. The place seemed ever more strange.

He stepped on the smooth stone slabs that surrounded the pool, wondering how to politely ask whether their god came to visit often. He doubted there was any polite method and gazed instead on the tiny yellow fish that darted in the clear waters beneath, then a large red one that peeked out from beneath the lilies and assorted water-plants.

Jorden crouched for a closer look, the fish like none he had ever seen, although he didn't know a lot about fish. Then he looked further out to the assortment of coloured flowers that the lilies sported, colours he had never imagined possible, yellows and reds, blues and emerald greens. Further afield he could see the stalks of some other unknown water-plant, a tiny bird clinging to one. He watched a moment, squinting to avoid the glare of the reflected sun. Sun?

Jorden gazed suddenly aloft and frowned.

The sky seemed an odd shade of white, or what could be seen of it amongst the greenery above, and Jorden stood and walked along the edge of the pond for a better view. White, but without cloud, or so it seemed. He could not remember it being overcast earlier in the day, and indeed, as he walked, he caught sight of the sun itself and smiled.

It was not a smile that lasted.

Jorden stared toward the sun. It was bright, yet not blinding as it should have been. It was also not the sun. He gazed a moment longer toward the odd wispy starfish shaped non-sun before shaking his head and turning to search for Perrin, a chilling fear welling within. His breath quickened.

And Perrin stood before him.

Then she smiled, quivered slightly, and vanished in a flash of blinding light, the wind roaring in his ears.

V

There was an icy darkness, a deep freeze of the mind that Jorden found himself within. He struggled to find the door.

It opened to a warm soft bed in a dim quiet room that held two other human forms and a great deal of elegant furniture. Jorden shivered a moment longer, then found that he warmed nicely, and he smiled toward Perrin as she sat on the bed to touch his brow. Then he glanced to the Kaedith Tsarin, the house witch-doctor.

He vaguely remembered walking aside the ponds of the garden, then the flash... "You collapsed onto the stone of the ponds," Tsarin told him before he thought to ask. "A loss of synchronization, perhaps. Hura said there would be such things."

"Just relax a while longer and you will be as well as ever," Perrin promised.

Jorden rubbed a blurred eye. "I feel fine," he put forth feebly, dreading to think of how long he had already relaxed.

There was a window nearby, that told enough. It was dark outside, a strange reddish sort of dark, but dark all the same, and he was surprised he could not hear his mother calling all the way from home. She had to be worried now for sure. Bill would be out looking, if not the police... "I really have to go," Jorden said with somewhat more strength as he rose to sit. "If I don't get home home – ow..." His head pounded.

Perrin helped him lay back upon the comfort of the bed. "I think you will not be going anywhere for some time," Tsarin stated firmly. "And it is already late into the night."

"You hit your head badly when you eventually fell," Perrin went on, "although you stood frozen for ages before that."

Jorden felt the lump, but it was the least of his problems now. "Oh hell," he said slowly. "I'll get thrown out of the house at this rate. I'd have to move in here," he tried to joke.

Tsarin smiled and seemed to take him seriously. "Of course. You may come and stay amongst us whenever you wish; yet I would suggest that you return home when the first light returns. You will find the journey of great benefit."

Jorden shook his head. "My mother will be worried sick. She'll think I've collapsed or something. I'll have to get back..."

Tsarin held up a hand. "Trust me, Jorden. She will not worry. All is in hand. Rest. You need not fear."

Jorden was still tempted to just go, but the attempt to rise made the room spin. By the way Tsarin spoke he wondered if she had rang home to tell them he was okay. "Maybe a moment or two," he thought aloud...

VI

Jorden woke refreshed. Worried, but refreshed. He was asleep before he even realized. In a flash it was dawn.

It had been a night with little dream except for a brief nightmare that saw the sky littered with an assortment of starfish and other creatures of the sea. Otherwise it had been a peaceful rest. Morning, however, brought the horrors of reality.

He stood and rubbed an aching head, knowing that sooner or later he would be forced to confront his mother and Bill and probably the local police. There was little time to invent excuses, and none had been invented that could possibly work. Perhaps if he broke a leg; said that he had fallen and had been forced to crawl home. Jorden shrugged. He would probably find it difficult to crawl anywhere unless it was something of a minor break. Perhaps if he simply died, that might just get him clear of trouble. Maybe.

Tsarin entered soon after he woke and offered breakfast. Perhaps she was telepathic, Jorden thought. "There are fruits of the forest," the Kaedith went on to say, "or others that are more familiar to your taste. And a warm beverage perhaps."

He was standing in a room of lace and silken floral fabrics in a pair of shorts and a wrinkled and faded and stained yellow T-shirt. The assortment of individualistic dark hairs of his scalp were brushed aside with his fingers, his eyes cleared by excessive blinking. Meanwhile Tsarin was dressed in another lavish robe, one of blue this time.

It was not that Jorden felt out of place, he simply was out of place. "I should be going, and I don't feel particularly hungry this morning." It was mostly a lie. He doubted he could eat with the knot he had in his stomach.

Tsarin nodded. "If you feel well enough to do so, then the choice is yours. Perhaps next time you shall join us for a meal."

Next time! To even think of being allowed out of the house again was overly optimistic. Jorden simply tried to picture himself living into the following day once his mother found out he was okay. "Perhaps," he returned without vigour.

The Kaedith smiled broadly in return. "You will come within these walls again, that I promise, and it will not be far into your future. And when you return, much will be explained."

"Like the next time I suffer serious withdrawal symptoms," Jorden wondered aloud, not really expecting a reaction this time.

And the woman nodded slowly, her dark eye flashing suddenly in the light that flooded from the nearby window. "In a way that is true," Tsarin admitted, surprising Jorden. "Although I fear it is not in the way you think. The truth is always far more difficult to accept."

VII

Jorden left in thought, wandering over the wooded ridge on a short-cut back to the path that Tsarin had told him of. And indeed, as she had promised, he climbed down the slope not far from the cellar door and found he had saved quite a walk around by the clearer way that he had taken in the past.

Again he came to the two trees, the two trees that seemed to grow aside the only easy path between his home and that of Tsarin's, and again he failed to notice the pencil-sized green crystal that hung on the finest of threads above. It was one among many that hung along the two lines of transition, its size belaying the power it held.

Jorden walked beneath.

As before he suffered the moment of ill, the lack of breath, and the touch of fire. It was worse than it had been on the previous occasion, though brief, Jorden sitting to lessen the effects. He swore then to never return, regardless how severe the symptoms might become.

Then he reached down into the leaf litter for his watch.

He checked the band, thinking it odd to have lost his watch in same spot twice, yet all seemed well. Jorden glanced at the time and frowned before pocketed the article. He was somehow eager to leave the woodlands, and on coming to the open fields he looked toward the sun as it hung high above. It was the sun that he remembered, one that blinded quickly, and he turned away. The watch and the sun were in agreement, it was definitely near lunchtime and he had slept longer than he had thought possible.

He swore aloud, then headed for home, still without anything that approached a viable excuse. The truth, perhaps. He fell and hit his head and spent the night within the house of a local neighbour, one that conveniently was without a phone. As if there was anyone that didn't have a phone. It was also unfortunately a neighbour that Joanne never knew existed, and a house that was filled with only girls and young women and no men. Though the bump and grazed scalp remained, Jorden doubted the story would hold up very well.

As he at last crossed the road and stepped within the yard of his home he knew it would be a difficult day.

He didn't realize exactly how difficult.

VIII

Bill's red monster roared briefly in the driveway, then died painfully. Jorden shook his head. He watched Bill climb over the engine and approached to watch him tear half the hoses from the carburettor in rage. "Pile of crap," he growled.

Jorden just stood and swallowed as Bill glanced toward him and waited for the trouble to start. Yet Bill simply asked, "what do you think?"

"Fuel pump?" Jorden suggested uneasily. "You said maybe the fuel pump was going..."

Billy nodded. "Yeah, right. Did too." He fiddled briefly with the tangle of black rubber snakes. "I don't suppose you know how all these hoses go back," he smiled. "This one's the vacuum, I think..."

Jorden was surprised Bill was taking things as quietly as he was, but then he could be a cool guy when he wanted to be. "I guess that book will come in handy now, huh." Bill smiled in response, but Jorden knew he had to face the music. "So where's Mum?"

"She's a bit pissed," Bill admitted, then he shouted to her. "Hey Joanne, Jorden's home."

Jorden turned to see his mother's head appear at a nearby window. "About time," she started, somewhat annoyed, but not anywhere near as frantic as Jorden was expecting. Indeed she was essentially calm compared to what he would class as even normal behaviour. "Bill has his friends coming over in an hour or two and you need a bath after wandering around all morning." She gave a stern frown for some time then softened.

Jorden stood, dumbfounded. He looked to the watch again, then checked the date. Nothing made a great deal of sense. It was starting to make the house of the Kaedith look normal.

He thought quickly. "I have to do something first," he tried. "Old Mr, Petersen asked me to help him get his mower going this afternoon sometime." Jorden knew he had to be crazy, but he had to find out what was going on. He noticed the return of his mother's frown. "Might take a while. He said I could sleep over if I like," Jorden added, just in case. It wouldn't be the first time he'd stayed over at the Petersen place.

Joanne thought to argue, but knew Jorden didn't think much of Bill's friends. She felt much the same about them. "Only if you are feeling well enough," she relented. "But make sure you have your medication."

Jorden nodded and headed for the stairs and then to his room.

It should have not been quite that easy.

### Chapter 3 – Transition III

Flies in amber, trapped they be,

But other worlds they never see.

I

A drug induced dream, or one hell of a hallucination, Jorden thought, anything else left too many questions unanswered. He couldn't have spent the night away from home without somebody noticing something. He spent much of the afternoon in his room trying to make some sort of sense of it all, trying to place it all into some meaningful time-line, but failed miserably.

Tsarin knew he'd be back; Jorden promised himself that he wouldn't. Yet again, just a few hours after leaving, he came back to the threshold of the dream, the gateway into fantasy. It was already late afternoon by then, the light poor in the shadow of the trees. A walk between the trees would again bring the flash and chill as it had done before, and again the wind would roar in his ears. He stepped forward and up from the stony bed of the creek, a hand on the left-most tree, and held his breath.

The land about seemed to brighten marginally, the slightest of chills within, but if it were not for the far more obvious changes about him Jorden would hardly have noticed the transition. It looked like morning, or at least it had the feeling of such, and the pillars of the giants about him were clouded in mist, and heavy droplets of moisture crashed from the canopy above.

It had been clear and dry a moment before.

Jorden inhaled deeply, knowing that all was not well, his mind definitely not necessarily under his control. Tsarin had promised that she would explain, but there was little she could say that could settle him now, if she really existed. All that he needed was to be soothed by a figure he had created within his own mind.

It was a dream, he knew, but the lines between reality and fantasy were ill-defined. Had the conversation with his mother that afternoon been experienced or merely dreamed, or did he simply fall into a vivid and lucid slumber each time he stepped into the woodland?

At present he found that he was becoming wet, and the water that fell from above felt remarkably like water should. He was cold. Jorden shook his head and walked on toward the house, wondering what changes had come about since his last visit. He had surly forgotten much of its detailed structure and would have much to fabricate: rooms to redesign, a courtyard to landscape, new girls to have stroll upon the verandahs. Perhaps this time he would dream of four ponds, each filled with blue swans and...

II

The garden still had three ponds, the open verandah remained; indeed Jorden could find little that had changed. It was just a little wetter than the last time he had seen it, but at least the rain had now eased, almost stopped completely.

He shrugged. It was a consistent dream at least.

Tsarin met him on the stair. It was almost as if she was standing there waiting for him, knowing he would return quickly it seemed, although she was dressed in yet another robe. "I had begun to think that you would not return until the next cycle," she said and smiled.

Jorden said nothing in return, looking over the misty courtyard in thought. "Perhaps you will join me for a late breakfast," Tsarin went on to ask. "Or perhaps you have already eaten?" Her words were soft and somehow consoling, the words of someone who knew more than she said.

With a puff of breath, Jorden shook his head. "I don't think I've eaten since this dream started," he said at last. "Whenever that was."

"I think that you will find it difficult to awaken," she returned. "This may well be something of a dream, but it is not yours, I promise."

"That's easy for you to say."

Tsarin shrugged. "If it is a dream then at least stay until you wake, and we can eat and speak."

"I just want to know what the hell is going on," Jorden groaned. "Either I'm going mad, or you're putting something funny in my orange juice."

The Kaedith placed a hand on his shoulder and walked him toward the shelter of the house. "In time I will tell all, and you will not believe. Surely then there is little urgency in me telling you." She gestured toward the forest that surrounded. "You may simply see this house as a refuge for the present time, a place of rest that is far removed from the troubles of yourself and your own world."

"I don't really need a place of rest," Jorden stated more firmly as they wandered within the house proper. "I just really want some answers."

"Breakfast, then answers." Tsarin led on. "I'm hungry even if you are not."

"Answers first," Jorden insisted. "When I was first in this house I met a young girl name Tsarin, and she was no kaedith then. Now there's this Kaedith Tsarin, renowned witch-doctor..."

Tsarin shook her head as he spoke. "I was born kaedith," she interrupted. "It is my order. One can no more become kaedith than one can become male if born female. We are born, not created. Then I was a simple kaedith novice, now I am Precinct Kaedith of Tucaar, just as was Mahanam before me." The woman gestured toward the west, or what was essentially south to her frame of reference. Jorden knew it as toward the door into reality. "The Western Pacific Line that separates our worlds is a barrier I do not fully understand. It seems not to care greatly for measurements of time."

"Worlds!" Jorden snorted. "That's crap, lady..."

"Please Jorden," Tsarin interrupted again. "Breakfast. Then I will show you things that you cannot deny. You can then either doubt me or your sanity, the choice will be yours."

Jorden shook his head, but remained quiet, Tsarin hoping that the truth could be kept to a minimum. She had little desire to tell of more than was absolutely necessary, and had not been told enough to remain convincingly uncertain.

III

Breakfast was served on a covered way that overlooked the garden, the clouds above dissipating as they ate. Jorden couldn't gaze toward the naked sky as yet, and doubted that he wished to. A memory lingered that he wished to suppress.

The meal was mostly fruit, but there were cold meats and fish amongst the somewhat generous servings. Some were fruits that he knew well, others more exotic, some completely alien to his experience. "Where's Perrin?" he asked, avoiding the issues plaguing his mind. He had noticed that it had been another girl who served breakfast, one of the many staff members, perhaps.

Tsarin swallowed the piece of slightly reddish pineapple she had chewed. "She has left for Thagul, I believe," the kaedith said absently, her own mind also upon other matters. "She began early and worked hard, her pledge completed sooner than most. Perhaps next cycle she will come again."

"Cycle?" Jorden murmured as he moved to sample a bright sapphire blue berry on his crystal plate.

"A year to those of Beyond. I keep a large staff for only half of that period. The rest I spend within the village of Tucaar, this house abandoned."

To Jorden that seemed a strange practice, but it wasn't high on his list of priority questions, questions that the kaedith seemed in no mood to answer. "Toocarr," he said awkwardly. "I don't think I've heard of it." He ignored Tsarin's mention of other worlds, preferring to think that she still spoke metaphorically – social worlds within and beyond the commune. Only he knew it wasn't a commune, just a house that shouldn't be.

"Of course not," she said with no hint of surprise. "You have heard of it no more than you have heard of Thagul or Saljid, Ponomilo or Boston. Conversely I know little of the world beyond, only those places of importance which Hura has told of: Pyengana, your home; Tasmania, your precinct..."

"I know Boston."

Tsarin shrugged. "There are names that exist both here and there, perhaps. You are not the first to have come within the Domain in the last thousand cycles."

Jorden ate another of the sweet blue berries, then sat back within the intricately hand-carved chair. Now to business. "Maybe you could explain this _Domain of Hura Ghiana_ thing. I just walked here from home..."

Tsarin stood suddenly, breakfast at an end it would seem. "If you are finished then I will show you to where you can stay, that is if you wish to remain here with us. Of course you will move on to Tucaar as the cycle continues." She noted the angry frown. "Then we will walk on to the village so that you may learn more of our land. Answers will soon come quicker than your questions, but they will prompt you to further questions."

He wondered if the kaedith, whatever race or breed they may have been, were always so evasive. "Why not," he grumbled as he stood. He at least had time to play with now. "It will certainly be more fun than Bill's friends, I'm sure." Friends that should have come the previous day, he reminded himself, only that had been today as well. Jorden tried to lock out logic.

Logic kept knocking.

Tsarin smiled, but it was not an easy smile, Jorden noticed. This was a woman who knew a lot more than she said. Then she led on to the stair that lowered them from the deck of the verandah surrounding the landscaped ponds to the neatly manicured lawns aside the path.

They walked, this time away from the trees that led home, the house of Tsarin vanishing amongst the woods that soon rose around them. It was a broad smooth path some three paces wide at that point, the woods open and well cared for about it. A moment later they came upon another house amongst the trees, smaller than that of Tsarin's, yet spacious enough for a modest family.

Tsarin moved into the clearing the house sat within, the lawns and gardens as immaculate as her own. Indeed by the way she confidently strode toward the blue and white abode Jorden guessed that it was also the property of the kaedith. "Nice," he said, but then most places looked nice compared to where he was living.

The kaedith nodded. "Then it is yours. I will have a staff appointed for you. A cook and someone who will clean..."

"Whoa," Jorden said as he backed slightly from the house, a hand raised in protest. "We've only talked a couple of times, and I'm not even sure about that. Then you want to give me a house. This is all really strange." He shook his head and smiled – he couldn't help but smile. "You can see how strange it is, right?" Strange but tempting, if it weren't for the catch, and Jorden wasn't sure what the catch was. He just hoped it didn't involve his sanity.

Tsarin nodded slowly, her words considered momentarily before she made them known. "Let us assume that this is your dream, as you have suggested, your paradise, perhaps." The kaedith began to walk in a circle about the man. "Surely such a place should be as comfortable as I can make possible. There are many things that I cannot provide to which you are well used, yet there are other things that were previously a part only of your fantasy." She held her arms outstretched. "I offer it all to you."

"If this were a dream," Jorden returned uneasily, "there wouldn't be a problem."

IV

Then there was the village.

Jorden walked quietly away from the house, following in the shadow of the kaedith, trying to come to terms with the world about him and searching for a meaningful explanation. He wasn't successful as yet.

He had glanced to the clearing sky as he had stood in the gardens of the house and again he had seen the odd sun floating in the off-white heavens. It was not the sun he knew, not the ball of plasma that warmed his home. It looked more like a flare that had been launched into the morning sky, its vapours boiling into space.

Then the woods parted and the path vanished. It was replaced by a narrow lane that ran between two dark buildings, then they strode on to the street of the village.

There were few others to be seen: an elderly woman on the landing of a small store, a man sitting on a wooded bench, a horse plodding slowly along the dusty roadway with a wagon-load of fruit in tow. It was not a village that would have been seen in Tasmania, Jorden knew that, yet where? And when? Paradoxes of space and time began to whirl within. He became dizzy with it before managing to calm himself.

The village did exist, he was looking at it, and it was just a collection of rough wooden structures that belonged in a distant past. He knew that it would not be difficult to create a village that belonged within his history, it had been done many times in the past. There were plenty of tourist towns around the world that mimicked a time long forgotten, but such places were well known, not hidden such as this.

And if it wasn't built to attract tourists, then why? "Tucaar?" Jorden asked feebly.

Tsarin glanced to him and chuckled. "Chodor, an unshielded light-time outpost. Tucaar is a true village." She walked him along the street until they came to an intersection. "This way leads to Tucaar and Thagul," she said as she pointed to the left, then she pointed right. "And that leads to Koter and Woodworm and even Bowen, but that is near a million footfall for the road is far from straight and follows the coast for much of the way."

They did not turn left or right, but walked ahead onto the continuing street of the village. Jorden glanced to the tiny shops, shops that weren't really shops at all. They appeared more like open stalls that traded anything that was available, many dealing in a variety of articles, tools of the soil and clothing hung side by side. And there were knives and swords, Jorden noticed uneasily, and bows and spears – things not often seen in his own safe, secure world.

The street did not go forever. It faded into a tiny track that climbed a meagre slope, a growing roar sounding in Jorden's ears. He tensed within. He hoped the sound was nothing more than the waves of a violent ocean crashing against rugged cliffs, yet even that presented it own problems. He lived over twenty kilometres from the nearest stretch of coastline. Imagination ran wild, a brief vision came into his mind of a perpetual landslide, then a boiling expanse of lava, then... then they came to the rocky crest of the rise.

It was only the ocean. Only! Jorden walked out on the ledge of rock and peered into the roaring turbulence below. The cliff was some fifty metres high and it stretched in a great arc to his left and right, the green seas ahead vanishing into the white skies. Jorden sat back onto a large rock and stared at the expanse of water. It was too green.

"Holy crap," he said at last, then shook his head. This wasn't happening. "So where are the answers." There weren't any answers, he knew that, only questions. Tsarin had told him that much in her own evasive manner.

"Answers? This is my world, Jorden," she said softly. "I am certain that the answers I seek are not those that worry you. I seek the future, the change of season, the times of rain, the perfection of my skills. I fear that you seek to put all you have seen within the bounds of your reality. It cannot be done." She squatted nearby, flaring her robe about herself. "In your reality, this world cannot exist, and in mine nor can yours. For this is but one of the shattered worlds, a shard of dream that now boasts life, a life and reality brought to us by the coming of Hura. It is she that has somehow tied this land to your own.

"But only Hura knows of such things, for she is oldest and wisest, and she knows but a tiny paragraph amongst a vast scroll."

"That's just rubbish," Jorden thought aloud. "If there was this boundary that joined two worlds then people would be crossing it every day... we'd know about something like this. You can't say that I walked into another world!"

Tsarin shook her head. "The line is merely a representation of transition points of minimum potential. There are also such lines upon your own world – lines that come near to the Domain, or another of the thousands of such shard worlds. The lines are weaknesses that sometimes fail. If there is a beast near to it when such happens then perhaps it will pass into our reality.

"And such things happen, but they are rare," she added. "And in such cases of chance the beast will often die, for the crossing is difficult without aid." She paused to glance to the thoughtful gaze of Jorden Miles. "The lines of weakness can also be opened by force. Hura has learned of such and has opened the way from your world in many places in the hope of bringing new blood and greater knowledge to this land. You may well have walked though such to come to the House of Tsarin."

Jorden sat and respired, listening for his breath but failing to catch it amongst the roar of the waves. There was only one question left that needed to be answered, the rest could stay and live with the kaedith if they wished.

"I only need to know one thing," he said quietly, Tsarin nodding in return. "I've been feeling worse than ever since I came to this place, when I go home for too long, and I've blamed a lot of things. Lately I've been blaming you, thinking that you've been spiking my drinks with something." He paused to think. "Well maybe you haven't. Maybe this world of yours does exist, and maybe it is hard to leave it without suffering some sort of withdrawal... and that's what it is, isn't it, withdrawal. I get sick from the lack of this place, not drugs at all." He watched Tsarin nod. She was wearing a somewhat sombre expression, several creases forming on her brow. "I just need to know if I can survive back home. I felt like dying there for a while, and perhaps I would have, but if I can live through it, then I'm getting out of here."

"You would leave paradise?"

Jorden nodded. "If it doesn't kill me." He knew that he had to be crazy. He was crazy because he accepted this world as real, and he was even crazier to want to leave it. He felt better here than anywhere. Tsarin had offered him a place of his own and even people to look after him. But he couldn't just leave home like that.

The kaedith herself was unsure. She could lie to him. She probably should lie to him. Yet it did not seem that he would be a great asset to the Domain. The ways of Hura were strange indeed.

She thought hard. There was time, always time. "You probably would not die," she told him eventually. "But you are not a well person, so nothing is certain. I would cease to exist in but a moment if I should pass through that portal to the Beyond, for I am of this dream, but you are not, you are still of the Beyond and remain within its power... for now. The longer you remain here, however, the more you become as one of the Domain, and the greater the risk there will be in returning.

"But as for now you are not truly of this world and though you may feel such ill that you would long to die, you should not. Indeed Hura might even spare you such agony if she were here. Unfortunately she is not, and will not be for some time."

Jorden stood. "Then I should really be heading home, I think. I can't just leave home like this. But I can come and visit maybe." He doubted that he would, however. He had answers enough, he was sure of that.

Tsarin remained sitting; staring out upon the Sea of Challenge. She had been faced with something of a challenge and had failed, the young man would return to his own world despite her efforts. She had done all she could. What did it matter after all. This was just another Man. "Then go, Jorden Miles, return to what pathetic life you have..."

That caught Jorden by surprise. "What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

The kaedith remained at rest. "Farewell, Jorden Miles," she said without emotion. "Go before it is too late."

Jorden stood a moment and thought to argue. But perhaps there was more to what she said than it appeared. Maybe it was better to go before it was _too late_.

V

Jorden almost trotted through the village, ignoring the inhabitants and their flimsy shops. It was harder to ignore the blue and white house. He wondered if he really could live in such a place instead of his crummy little room, wondered if he was passing up the greatest opportunity of his life. He doubted it. Nobody offered anything for free. They always expected something in return, and no matter how friendly and kind the kaedith seemed, he knew that she wanted something. He just didn't know what.

He walked carefully past the house of the kaedith. It was quiet, none of the girls visible on the verandah or the garden he could just catch glimpses of. In fact the only sign of life was an overly large, black bat that was sweeping by overhead, an unsettling glimpse of the local wildlife. Jorden kept to the path, deciding to take the slightly longer route in preference to the short cut across the ridge, a short cut that meant coming closer to the house than he wished. Although it seemed that Tsarin was willing to let him go, he also knew that she seemed overly eager for him to stay. He didn't wish to meet any more determined opposition.

But that was one thing in favour of the kaedith. She had tried to coax him in to remaining within her world, yet never did she attempt force. If he said that he was leaving, then those of the house had always politely said their farewells and let him go on his way. Tsarin had even shown him the short cut.

Unfortunately, today was different.

Jorden did not come to realize that until after he had passed the cellar door and came onto the path amongst the giant trees. Even Tsarin had not planned upon such action. She had not felt there was the need. Yet there she was, standing before the two small knotted trees that led home. She had come to that place by other means than Jorden had available, and although he was surprised by her presence, he was not truly concerned – not yet.

Now she stood in thought. She had come to have one last attempt at changing the mind of the Male, to offer one last argument that may keep him within the Domain. But Tsarin found that she had no words to give, no argument or plea that could hope to alter the mind of Jorden Miles, an entity who could now think of little but a safe return to his previous life. He could perhaps be useful in her land...

But why bother trying? she thought again. If it had not been for the odd visitation of Hura – and the speech that had centred on this young man, Jorden Miles – then she would not even have considered such a confrontation.

Jorden approached slowly, feeling suddenly very uncomfortable. "That was quick," he said softly, guessing that she knew of many short cuts. "Ah." He cleared his throat. "Sorry if I seemed ungrateful up on the cliffs. You've all been as nice as anything to me. Perhaps..." He paused, rebuking himself within. _Don't go too far Miles_. "Perhaps I'll come back next weekend..." And then perhaps not.

Tsarin shook her head. "I see within that you have no desire to return. You need not lie. You wish to control your own destiny and not have such comforts simply provided."

"I just don't know why you would want me here..."

"I am sorry Jorden," She said, and she indeed appeared genuine. "I really wish I also knew." For a moment it seemed Tsarin would burst into tears, then she composed herself and smiled toward Jorden. "Perhaps I could offer you employment within my precinct, there are many things that must be done, and you might pay to board within the servants quarters. This will remain a paradise, but if it makes you feel more comfortable, then you can earn your place amongst it."

"That's nice of you but..."

The kaedith shook her head. "There are no other options. You can stay in my home, or you can make your own way in the Domain which surrounds you... A world that is unknown to you!"

Jorden paused to consider the words of the kaedith, glancing to the trees. A chill began to creep within his soul, a distinct fear of the present line of conversation. What she was saying sounded way to much like a threat. He cleared his throat, wondering if he should make a dash for the trees. It was only five good strides. "Look," he put forth uneasily. "I just want to go home. My mother will go nuts if I don't get home. I've seen more weird stuff today than I really want to think about. I just want to get home for a while..."

Tsarin shook her head again. "One day perhaps you will, but not today." She stood almost within the portal itself, poised on the edge of oblivion, and reached up to touch the crystal. Jorden gazed on in something that sat between horror and wonder, the green shard glowing within her grasp.

She pulled, the thread which had supported the crystal snapping easily. A low rumble echoed through the woods. Jorden wasn't sure about what was going on, but it didn't look good. He glanced again to the trees; they shimmered slightly. He shouted, and raced toward them.

Tsarin held the crystal with both hands. It broke easily, the rain of green powder that it became drifting slowly toward the forest floor. It was then a mixture of red and brown dust, then a flash of blue fire, the snap of thunder deafening.

The trees vanished, and so did a substantial portion of the wood nearby. Jorden ran between two white posts that stood where the gateway had been. There was no creek, just more forest and more giant trees.

He stopped and stood in something approaching shock.

"My house is still your house," the kaedith said quietly, and walked away.

Jorden abused her momentarily, and ran off in search of reality.

### Chapter 4 – Paradise I

Home is heart and distant shore,

Where life is lived to full reward...

I

Reality was gone, and there was no waking up.

There was a line nearby, a line that marked the nearest points to his world, and Jorden had to follow that and find a way through. There had to be a way... He almost laughed at that. Even if there was some imaginary line nearby that was close to home he certainly had no idea which direction it ran, and he had a feeling the likelihood of finding some portal on the way we unlikely at best. He had enough trouble finding the one he had passed through to get home the last few times. And it was long gone. Gone with it was what he knew as reality.

As Jorden found himself further and further from the house of Tsarin, and apparently no closer to home, there was another _reality_ nagging at him as well. He tried not to think about it, tried to ignore the multitude of somehow very real problems he seemed to suddenly be facing.

He was alone in a very unknown forest, an unknown world it would seem. He was going to need food, rest, a place to stay. There was more as well, like clothing, all dependent on how long he was likely to be stuck. He recalled the village stalls, knew they had a lot of things her could use and eat, but then even here he knew that was going to take money, or whatever the locals used for that. Whatever it was he certainly didn't have any of it.

There was all that he needed back in the house of Tsarin, he knew that. Jorden just wasn't sure he wanted to be anywhere near the place. That was probably a good thing at the moment as he began to realize he wasn't even sure where the house was. The village was a better bet, and maybe he could find some work, enough to at least buy a little food. And they had other things...

Like weapons, Jorden recalled.

Fear is the greatest of motivators, and as the forest slowly came to life within the imagination of Jorden Miles, his sense of direction became extremely acute. Indeed there was very likely much to fear in the lands about the House of the Kaedith, Jorden considered, the weapons a stark reminder of that. This was, after all, a very odd land of dream, and it was a dream that could soon become a nightmare.

He made his way back to the house of the kaedith that afternoon, a house he actually planned to avoid, wishing only to find the path that passed near it and walk on into the village of Tucaar, a village that he hoped would be large enough to lose himself within and even possibly find some work. But there was the _question_. If it were not for the one nagging question that remained then Jorden would have indeed been well upon his way. _Why!_

Anger also remained. He planned his attack and marched on to the house . Kaedith Tsarin would not forget _this_ day. The few words of abuse that he had given before would be nothing in comparison to what he now planned. He didn't care she was a woman, or how much older than him she was...

Jorden lost his train of thought as he came upon that young woman who sobbed on the stair of her home. It was not the confident Precinct Kaedith that he saw, not really, it was more the child he had first met in the house. She looked away as he attempted to deliver his planned assault. Jorden found that he couldn't.

He turned his back to her, thinking to leave.

Silence was maintained a moment longer, Tsarin then finding the courage to speak. "I'm sorry, Jorden, I'm truly sorry. It was not my place to trap you here..."

Jorden spun about and glared toward the woman. Trap! "Nice of you to think of that now," he growled, then paused. He really needed friends more than enemies right now.

The kaedith nodded. "I simply wished to provide a place of peace for you to dwell within until Hura returns, nothing more. I am not sure why I acted so irresponsibly." She stood from her place of rest upon the stair and wiped her moist cheeks with the cuffs of her robe. "Now I can offer everything except that which you truly desire..."

"How am I ever supposed to get out of here," Jorden whined, yet was that really the question. If he could really have anything he desired then the question he should have asked himself was _why do I want to get out of here_. He even felt way better and healthier here than he did in reality.

If it wasn't for the catch...

"Why?" he said in a calm a voice as he could muster. "You've blown any chances of me ever leaving this place, it seems," although Jorden hoped that was not the absolute truth, "the least you can do is tell me why."

Tsarin approached the man as he stood upon the path, her breath slow, her thought deep. "How many people do you know who have passed into the Domain?"

Jorden frowned. Typical of the kaedith to answer a question with a question. "I don't know. What has that got to do..."

"How many?" she snapped.

Jorden jumped. The woman had passed again from child to Precinct Kaedith, and though her eyes were still reddened from the tears they now flashed in sudden anger. "I don't even know what this place is," Jorden said as angrily as he could fake.

"There is a reason for you being here Jorden," she stated firmly. "It is not an accident or a matter of chance that you walk within these grounds." Tsarin shook her head. "And there are no mere Precinct Kaedith that can open such a portal, a portal that was likely designed to open to one person alone." She did not need to tell of who. "And that is you, Jorden Miles, and none other."

Jorden's anger was cooled by a sudden chill. He fought to maintain his stern façade. "That doesn't really answer why you broke the portal thing and trapped me here." She had broken a crystal, a crystal that had brought him to another world. It was all a little too crazy.

Tsarin shrugged. "You were brought here for a reason... There is a purpose in you being within the Domain." Then she shook her head slowly. "I don't know what that purpose is, Jorden, only Hura can tell you of her mind." That was truth. There was much the kaedith did know that she would not tell, but that much was truth. "But I know that it must be at least of some importance, for such transitions are very difficult. Without the devices of Hura such a transition would leave you as a mere ornament to stand within our garden, unless your will was very strong.

"But you are here and you are well, and I know that things have not been as they should in our land. Perhaps that is the reason you have been brought amongst us." Tsarin smiled hopefully

Jorden wondered on all she had said. It seemed he was stuck within her care, at least for now, and had little need of enemies. Yet he also wondered what was not as it should be within her dream-world. "As far as I'm concerned there's nothing quite right in this world of yours, so I'm sure there's nothing much that I can do to help. Perhaps one of your chief witches saw me in their crystal ball and decided to cure me or something." That was more hope than anything else. And he did feel better after all.

Tsarin seemed to consider the possibility seriously. "Perhaps, yes, the great one is known to help those of the Beyond..." And she fell briefly into thought.

Before Jorden could speak again they were both interrupted by a sudden thunder of voice. Jorden jumped, Tsarin simply shrugging her line of thought and looking to the speaker. "Are you well, Kaedith Tsarin?" it boomed. "You do not look well. You have been crying."

Jorden glanced to the towering figure of the landsdraw, a house guard he had previously only glimpsed from a distance. Now one towered above, his dark red mane splashing upon huge shoulders, hands the size of base-ball gloves ending the thick arms hanging from each. Jorden gazed toward the woody brown nails that the landsdraw used to casually scratch his bare and hideously hairy abdomen. "Has the boy hurt you," the giant added.

"No, Hartwud, he has been trapped within the Domain by my hand," Tsarin said softly, her words slow and clear. "He was upset by my actions. I also felt sorrow for my deed." She smiled peacefully.

The landsdraw nodded and glanced to Jorden Miles. "This is a good place," he rumbled amiably, "do not be angry. There is light and much water, although the winds of Darkness are strong. Our Kaedith is kind and generous."

"Yeah, okay," Jorden returned carefully, fearful that the giant might take a dislike to any that spoke against his kaedith. "She has been very kind to me."

The landsdraw nodded, glanced to Tsarin, and wandered off into the grounds, Jorden surprised by his gentle step. There was a sigh of relief. "Big," was the only comment Jorden could manage.

Tsarin smiled. "These woods are home for several of the landsdraw, and they offer their protection freely. Unlike men they are free of greed and slow to anger, but they not an order to be taken lightly."

_Unlike men_ , Jorden thought, _if not a race of very large men, then what?_ "What about the women?" he tried to joke.

Tsarin sighed. "There are many things about this Domain that differ from your own lands, Jorden, and in time you will learn of such things. It would be best if such knowledge was gained slowly." Jorden frowned in return. "And now you learn that there is no female landsdraw, nor is there a male. There is simply the landsdraw."

He opened his mouth to speak, but Tsarin walked away.

II

"So where is my house," Jorden grumbled.

The Kaedith Tsarin frowned. "You are trapped here now, Jorden Miles, so I doubt that I need humour you any longer. Though perhaps one of the girls will take you home when you mature a little."

She was toying with him, Jorden knew that, and he thought to do the same in return. But if it came to a battle of wits then he was at something of a disadvantage. His wits were elsewhere, as was reality. "Girls, sure. I like girls. Maybe you can arrange one."

"If you would simply be yourself and accept that you are to live within the Domain, then you will find its population as pleasant as you could hope for." He caught the raised eyebrow of the kaedith. "There have already been several of the staff who seem to find you attractive, as strange as that seems to me."

No doubt the oldest and ugliest, Jorden thought, although he hadn't seen many of those. Indeed he had not seen anyone much past their thirties in the house itself and most often they were girls around his own age. Now he was again within that house, the kaedith showing him the room that he could call his own. It seemed that the offer of a house of his own had indeed been retracted.

The room was spacious in itself, and as comfortable as any could wish, and although Jorden remained less than happy with his forced confinement in paradise, he knew the home of the kaedith would offer a good base from which to launch his assault on the barrier.

There was only one thing that mattered now, and that was finding a way out.

III

In a few short days, however, paradise began to look somewhat more promising. By now he knew his mother was in a panic and had really called out every service in the district to look for him. The fact that he had not been found by them just reinforced the fact that this really wasn't the reality he knew, and there wasn't a lot he could do about any of that. Not yet anyway. All he could do was go with the ride for the moment.

Jorden, by then, had engaged in several entertaining chats with the girls about the house of Tsarin. Most were nice and like to talk. Jorden had always got on better with girls than guys anyway. That was great considering he had seen few males at all, and none his age.

Tsarin he remained unsure of. She was always pleasant, and kind of cute for her age, yet he was certain that she knew more than she said. There were times when she all but admitted such. He wondered if she really did not possess the power to return him to his home; wondered if it was not the kaedith herself that brought him there.

And what was the catch? Jorden kept waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did, not yet anyway. The kaedith seemed to have no use for him, aside from an interest in Jorden's world, so it seemed ridiculous that she would have gone to any trouble to bring him to such a place. He could only bide his time and try to explain television and the DVD player to people that had never seen electric lighting... although it seemed that some form of local telecommunication was available through the use of certain crystalline substances...

Then on the fourth day since the closing of the doorway to his world, Jorden Miles learned about what was not right with the world of dream. It was sudden and very alarming, an event that was felt rather than ever seen.

There was an earthquake.

It was not a severe quake, a tremble that would barely have registered on the scales of home, but for a guy from Tasmania it was bad enough. Earthquakes were not common on the island continent of Australia, indeed they were essentially non-existent, and the island state of Tasmania was no exception.

Jorden was in the garden at the time. He kept calm, surprising himself, and watched above for any limbs that might decide to fall on him. The quake lasted for about half a minute, although it was difficult to estimate and there were no clocks or watches in the Domain whatsoever. Then it stopped. In all it was something of a non-event.

The problem was that the Domain did not have earthquakes – ever. In the more than a thousand cycles of recorded history since the coming of the witch-god Hura Ghiana there had not been a single quake, not since the first had shuddered the homes of the kaedith some twenty cycles before. At first they were very mild and very rare, now they came every few weeks, shook the entire Domain, and they worsened. Some were severe enough to cause widespread damage.

Tsarin's theory of why he had been brought to the Domain seemed to go down the drain as far as Jorden was concerned. He was sure that there was nothing that he could do to prevent an earthquake that could destroy an entire dream. Perhaps it was simply someone waking up...

He told Tsarin as much over lunch, a vast meal of fruits and nuts, and the kaedith simply shrugged. "It is something that is of concern to me, and others of the Domain," she said quietly. "I simply thought that the coming of an outsider was something of an omen." And there had been the visit of Hura, Tsarin thought, the visit in which the Great One had spoken little of Jorden Miles or the shaking lands. "As you say, there seems to be little that can be done, especially by a mere common youth of Beyond. Even the Council of Saljid do not have an answer as yet, although they see great destruction clouding our future. Other shard worlds have suffered a similar fate in decades past."

"I knew this wasn't paradise," Jorden mumbled. "I better enjoy myself while I can ... Before I get crushed with the rest of you."

The kaedith shook her head. "Such destruction is many cycles distant, and the kaedith of the Council will learn of the answer, or perhaps Hura herself will need to come to our aid. Her powers are vast, but her mind is often elsewhere, I fear."

"That's just like God, isn't it," Jorden thought aloud. "Never there when you need her."

Tsarin nodded, ignoring, or perhaps entirely missing his sarcasm. "Her eye is too often turned to other worlds and not to her own, yet that is often where the greatest dangers lie. It is believed that the disturbances themselves originate from far outside the domain, perhaps even your own world..."

"So what's going on this afternoon," Jorden said to change the subject, not having any wish to ponder such death and destruction a moment longer than was absolutely necessary. And he hoped to be well clear of paradise before it collapsed into the pit of eternal oblivion anyway. "We've done the tour of the Chodor piggery and the stables, and we've seen that red and yellow crystals make very bad television sets..."

That had been actually somewhat interesting, It was totally unbelievable, of course, but interesting all the same. She had shown him a red crystal the day before, a simple hexagonal prism that projected an image onto a white wall. It was true that the image was very red and the subject was all but unrecognisable, but it was magic all the same, or an example of the warped science that ran the local dreamworld.

The yellow was better at the job and Jorden could actually see one of the staff as she walked amongst the garden. It was a very pale image, but it was accurate, and Jorden went out of the kaedith's seeing room to look at the girl that the crystal had shown. She was there, all right. Tsarin had later told him that combinations of certain reds and yellows made quite good images, but only the most rich and powerful of the kaedith would be likely to have so many.

Why not, Jorden thought to himself. In such a world of fantasy, who knew what would be possible. Obviously not everything judging by the way they lived. For the moment it seemed that some rules applied. So he knew of red crystals and yellow, and he had seen the green crystal which had hung above the door to Tasmania. "What about..." he tried to think of another colour. "What about blue crystals? I suppose you use them for..."

"Death," Tsarin said solemnly. "That is all that awaits any that look within the depths of the blue crystal. It is said that they are the source of great power, the place of all knowledge, but I have heard of only the gift of death. Perhaps all knowledge indeed hides beyond the barrier of death."

Jorden paused at that a moment. "Ah, okay. Might be difficult to appreciate with a rotting brain. All those poor dead nerve cells wouldn't know what they were missing..."

Tsarin stood, she had eaten enough. "I'm going into Tucaar to speak with those of its council," she said, noticing that Jorden had barely touched his food. He had spent most of his time talking rather than eating. "Perhaps when I leave you will have the time for your lunch."

Jorden glanced to the plate of cool fruits. He could certainly use another few mouthfuls, but would hardly do so at the expense of missing a trip into Tucaar. He had been dying to get the chance to see the nearest real village for days. "I'm not really that hungry," he lied, and Tsarin knew he was lying. "And Tucaar is one place I'd love to see."

The kaedith gazed toward him as he rose and snatched a large blue opalberry. "I fear that you will be disappointed."

IV

Jorden wasn't.

It was something of a treat to see what he hoped was the real world that lay beyond the House of Tsarin. Of course _real_ was a term that he used rather loosely.

Things made sense in the village of Tucaar, well most of the time. There were horses plodding along its damp roads, the moisture a reminder of the light rain of the past days, and the blacksmiths did good trade, their forges running hot and their hammers ringing throughout the rustic village and its roughly hewn timber walls and roofs.

It had been a long walk, Tucaar further than Jorden had guessed. It had been a good hour on foot at least, and the outsider wondered why the influential, and obviously wealthy kaedith, did not have more elaborate transport. Even her sandals were not in the best of health, and the robe she had chosen for the day was not one of her finest. Jorden could hardly talk. He still wore a faded yellow T-shirt that had not been washed since he went swimming two days before, and it still looked unlikely that he was getting any better clothes any time soon.

Now they were in Tucaar, and Jorden wished he had some money. That was if they used money. He saw a few shards of silver pass from the hand of a horse owner to the hand of a blacksmith. They had money all right, but he didn't. That was unfortunate, he thought, as there were several grimy little stalls in the scattered marketplace that puffed dark black smoke and smelled of the junk food of home. After days of fresh fruit and a few cold meats, Jorden craved some real food that tasted like it had been kept warm for a day or two, and the stall nearby looked like perfect place.

He went nearer to drool.

There was a large bearded man within the ramshackle structure, and Jorden began to wonder if everything in this Domain was on the point of collapse as the man lazily flipped a couple of _somethings_ that sizzled on his filthy black stove. Jorden nodded. Everything looked about right. The stove hadn't been cleaned in days, there was inadequate refrigeration, and the cook had the hygiene habits of a sewer rat. The bearded man spat again.

Then the stall owner noticed Jorden drooling near the stall, rubbed his nose, and seemed to snarl in Jorden's direction. "Something I can get you," the stall owner said, and his voice was actually quite pleasant, his snarl perhaps a habitual one. "I got rolls and pokers."

Jorden shook his head. "Sorry, I don't have any money, but the ah... those look great." He pointed.

"Bullshit." The cook smiled broadly.

"Looks better than what I've been eating," Jorden shot back. "I'm sort of staying up at the kaedith's house. She doesn't give me a lot of pocket money." He glanced around for her, seeing that she now stood in the middle of the street looking for him. Their eyes met and she began to move toward him.

The stall owner saw her too and nodded. "Kaedith tend to be big fruit eaters, old bats they are. You need some real shit in your belly." And he reached for a bundle of coarse brown paper. "Call it a gift to the needy." He passed the package.

Jorden was almost at a loss for words. "Thanks," he said uneasily, not having the slightest thought within of refusing the offer. "If I ever get any money then I'll pay you back." He took the brown package eagerly. It was warm and smelled delicious.

"It will be dark before we return home at such a rate," Tsarin said as she approached, Jorden frowning and moving from the stall. "I have much to discuss with the village council, and it is not a brief walk back to the house." They walked together along the street yet again. "I haven't the time to wait for you to buy food after sitting for a perfectly fine meal."

"Buy!" Jorden coughed. "Bit hard for me to buy anything. I only have this because the guy at the stall thought I could use some real food."

Tsarin sniffed. "If you want money, then I will provide it, but please move that smelly thing you are holding a little further away."

Jorden frowned and ate the smelly thing. It was as delicious as it smelled and he burped with contentment. Then he held out his hand. "Well hand over a few bits of whatever they use for money around here." There were currently several interesting structures that posed as local shops drifting by: those for clothing and those for wares, some for knives and tools, others for foods and supplies. And there were taverns, broad low buildings with dark smoky openings that had interesting signs above them. They said _saloon_.

Jorden thought the sign was a little odd, but as long as they served beer it probably didn't matter what they called the place. He wondered what the legal drinking age was here...

"I don't carry money," Tsarin return. "I haven't the need. Yet I am sure that I can arrange for you to be provided with a little, though as I have said..."

"I'm trapped, so you don't have to humour me any more," Jorden finished for her. "I know, but since you trapped me then you can make it nicer here, right. This is paradise, after all," he added with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

The kaedith smiled. "Yes, I told you that it was. I knew that you would find it so after you had settled."

Jorden frowned in reply.

V

They came to an open square amid the heart of Tucaar. There were no shops or stalls, or indeed much of anything except a large empty paved court.

It was an area the size of four of five tennis courts, Jorden considered; not really that large a space, but large enough for a village the size of Tucaar. In the centre of the square was a large grey... Jorden wondered how he could describe such a thing. It reminded him of the huge prayer wheels that certain cultures used, though he wasn't sure which cultures they actually were.

He started from the paved ground. There was a black pedestal at least five metres in diameter and a half a metre high, and upon that sat a large grey cylinder. It was stone, and it gave the impression of being solid, and its diameter was slightly less than that of the platform. It was also some three or four metres high. Inscribed into its curved face were a multitude of vertical lines, and between those were dozens of odd graphic symbols, Jorden recalling the books that littered the library of Tsarin.

And the grey stone turned.

That was the oddest thing about the massive pillar of rock, Jorden thought, the fact that it slowly rotated. There was no real noise, a low rumble perhaps, and there seemed no visible means of propulsion, undoubtedly a drive system hidden in the paving beneath his feet. He could only ask why, and he did.

Tsarin glanced to the stone. "The inscriptions are the ninety-seven prime laws of Hura Ghiana," the kaedith said casually, "although there are actually several hundred Council laws and numerous amendments. Those are just the primary motivations, the conventions of social behaviour and trade and such... it is not particularly my field of interest."

"Ah..." Jorden cocked his head and kept looking at the odd rotating stone. "So why go to all the trouble of building a huge rotating billboard to tell everyone what they probably already know? That seems to be a bit of a waste of time."

The kaedith snorted. "And the people of your world do not build monuments, I suppose. That is simply a symbol of the creed of the Domain."

"A monument that goes round and round. Great." Jorden knew that people of the real world also built such things. He thought they were stupid too.

"It is a grey kjar stone, Jorden," the kaedith said in her most condescending of tones, "it can hardly do anything but rotate." Tsarin pointed to a stone building on the far side of the square. "I have a meeting with the village council, perhaps you can stop the stone while I am gone." And she laughed and walked away.

Jorden frowned. Stop the village billboard, he thought. Why not. He doubted the village council would be pleased with such a thing, but it was worth a try. If he could just find the big key they wound it up with...

He moved toward the stone and knelt, his hand on the pedestal, and he swore. Jorden knew why the kaedith had laughed, but he still didn't believe it. There was a gap between the top of the black pedestal and the bottom of the rotating grey stone, a grey stone that he put a hand on to try and slow it a bit. He didn't have a hope.

And there was nothing but open space in the gap...

### Chapter 5 – Paradise II

Paradise, they say,

is a place of peace and plenty.

My paradise, then,

is here upon the sea.

I

It was quite some time before Tsarin returned to the square and Jorden Miles, but he was still staring at the stone, its carvings, and the lack of drive mechanism. "I still don't get it," was all he said.

"Grey kjar stones always rotate," the kaedith told him, "and those of black can be coaxed into platforms of levity. If it were not for the black stone then the grey kjar would soon grind itself to dust and be lost." Tsarin smiled. "And they are quite rare in these times."

Jorden could believe that. They'd all been worn away. It still was a tiny bit difficult to believe that the stone would continue to rotate if it didn't hover on its gap of nothing.

Tsarin demonstrated. She produced a short brass rod and a large crystal of amethyst from a pocket of her robe. There were a few moments of quiet murmur, then a low hum, the brass rod directed toward the stone and stroked three times with the amethyst. The hum continued and the grey stone sank toward the black, eventually grinding against its surface. It continued to rotate without slowing, the thunder echoing from the stone walls that surrounded the square, several curious villagers directing their gaze toward the kaedith.

Tsarin stopped humming and the grey stone again rose to its place. "That was just a short restraining spell. A great amount of energy has been granted to the black stone and it is difficult to overpower for long." That made sense, as much sense as anything else of the domain, and Jorden simply shrugged as Tsarin pocketed the amethyst and rod, and left the stone.

An hour stroll remained and little day left to waste in Tucaar it would seem, so the markets and stalls were left well behind, the forest again closing about them. Jorden didn't bother asking Tsarin what the meeting with the town council was about. She wouldn't have answered and he probably wouldn't have believed it even if she did. It didn't matter, it probably wasn't important. In fact it was probably downright tedious.

The demonstration with the stone was impressive enough, as were all Tsarin's little tricks, but it didn't help Jorden's present situation. He was still stuck in paradise with a bunch of nice looking girls who were apparently quite well off financially as far as the local world was concerned. There were also servants everywhere, and a nice place to live... Although he still worried about what his mother was thinking, he was beginning to wonder if he really wanted to leave _paradise_ at all, at least not yet. He'd have to wait and see what the catch was.

Tsarin herself was actually quite pleasant for the next few days, she even laughed once or twice, and life for the moment was quite comfortable. He felt great as well, and the witch had become a touch less evasive. All that could be said about Hura and the Domain and the shard worlds had been said, or so Tsarin claimed, and she would discuss other matters freely enough. Some more than others.

Jorden wasn't all that sure he cared about how svaeso – storage jars – were actually made, no matter how appetizing the pickled contents may be. Tsarin showed him anyway, from wet clay to kiln dry ceramics, from fresh fruits to pickles. There were soon another dozen jars for the cellar of the witch to replace those that were beyond their serviceable life, and svaeso jars were known to survive several generations and dozens of refills.

Tsarin had hundreds, she had to. Several local delicacies were poisonous unless pickled for three or four years, and most inhabitants of the Domain preferred pickles that were at least ten years old, if not older. A safety margin maybe, which sounded like a good idea to Jorden. Tsarin had five jars of kari fruit that were some thirty-five cycles old, and after the jar of twenty cycle vintage Jorden was quite prepared to risk his life with the rest of the witches stock. His chances weren't good, however. Tsarin guarded her kari better than her crystals.

II

Jorden had to be satisfied with the food of the village that he used to supplement the largely fruit diet of the Kaedith's table. For that Tsarin had supplied a few coins, the worth of such a little vague at best. It was currency that was seldom needed in any case, many of the food vendors and houses of ware quite happy to supply food and goods to a guest of the Kaedith free of charge.

The only real difficulty was that Tucaar was a long walk, the village of Chodor having far less to offer, and although the distance did not deter Jorden Miles, he did find that he was just as hungry by the time he returned to the house of the kaedith as he was when he left. He would then grab a pseudo-apple or coloured berry and relax beside the ponds in Tsarin's court.

It was a great life, but Jorden had no more idea than ever exactly why he was there. Tsarin expected nothing but casual conversation, and most others of the Domain ignored Jorden completely. Except the huge landsdraw bodyguards. They seemed to give any stranger, especially male, an ever watchful eye of distrust. Jorden had no idea why, yet assumed that was merely part of their job.

And that job was apparently to protect the kaedith.

At least the kaedith now seemed to have a genuine purpose in the domain. Once one knew, and hopefully believed in the magic or science of the land, the work of the witches had much more worth. The potions and powders really did seem to cure the ills in this world, and there were spells that apparently rejuvenated the crops of the field, although Tsarin always suggested water and fertilizer as a first try. There were pests to control, and tormented minds to ease, and village shields to maintain, and protective charms to construct.

Jorden wasn't so sure about the village shields. There was occasional talk about a _time of darkness_ , especially by the girls in the employ of the kaedith. Statements like: "I have family in Tucaar, and stay within the bounds of the village shield for the period of the Time of Darkness." Or a landsdraw might say. "I move from the cliff. The winds of Darkness are strong."

He wasn't real sure of the significance of this darkness thing, but it seemed that the Domain suffered severe seasonal storms for months at time, and perhaps the magic of the kaedith could combat the weather as well. As for the charms, little was said except they were expensive. They seemed to be bought to ward off certain evils, or sometimes animals. Jorden was unsure whether these spirits and species were real, and cared not to find out.

For the most part Jorden found he was left to himself to wander the surrounds on the house of Tsarin. On such lonely days, while the kaedith was busy with her potions and powders and the arts of her witchcraft, and the girls were about their duties, Jorden would sometimes walk along the boundary of worlds and think of home and his mother, and even Bill. At least he was getting some time off school. It was a waste of time anyway since he missed so much while sick in the past.

While he wandered, he was hopeful that a hole may just have opened for no other reason than to let him through. In movies back home, or those that concerned time and changes in dimension, whatever that was, there often seemed to be an imbalance developed, the time or dimension traveller often pursued and sucked reluctantly back into his own world. Unfortunately it seemed that such things happened only in fantasy. The real universe didn't seem to give a shit.

The line of transition remained quiet and invisible, and totally benign, Jorden pursued only by the dread of the _catch_. There was probably more to paradise than met the eye. He knew that and had always felt that, yet the _catch_ was very slow in coming.

III

Only the _catch_ didn't seem to exist. It really did look like he could stay in the home of Tsarin as long as he wished without fear of... of anything. Tsarin herself seemed to want nothing from him, and indeed really did appear to just to make his stay as comfortable as was possible until the reason for his presence was made known. And that had more to do with this Hura than the kaedith herself it would seem.

Jorden was also starting thinking that Tsarin was quite cute, for a twenty year old, and friendly in an evasive sort of way, and although she did not go out of her way to please him, she did see that he had all he required. She certainly seemed to like him well enough as well, even though she often tried to distance herself with the _Precint Kaedith_ thing.

Jorden worried that he was starting to get something of a crush on her. He didn't really want to think of it that way. He just wanted to be friendly and she was twenty after all. There were others there more his own age, but he spent more time with Tsarin than others, and most seemed to come and go at regular intervals. Some he met in the early days in the house, like Perrin, seemed never be around any more.

He tried to shrug it off and not do something stupid or impulsive. Like the time he stole a kiss from Jessica Falkner. Okay, it was cool for a moment, but she was totally not happy about it. Or at least she pretended as much. He'd heard a different story later, but Jorden wasn't sure whether to believe it or not.

It would be even worse if he tried something like that on Tsarin. She was older for a start. He tried to shrug it off and couldn't believe he was even thinking things like that. But she was often very close, like when she taught pottery. Right there pressed against him. It was all a bit weird, but then everything was weird. It was still very much like some sort of dream, and he did tend to do somewhat more adventurous things in his dreams than he would ever dare in reality.

Thoughts like that went on for some time, Jorden not even sure how many days had passed any more. And as crazy as it seemed, the day came, eventually. The day when Jorden dared the _kiss._

What the heck. It was just a kiss. He might, or more likely would, get rejected, but what the heck. It was a dream. He was starting to wonder if he really cared what happened in a dream. It was surely not an act he would regret all that much, even if Tsarin slapped him down, which was a good possibility. It wasn't likely she would do much else. It would be worth it just to see her reaction, and there were others to be friends with if she got all funny and nasty about it.

Of course deep down he was secretly hoping she would like it. She was still cute after all, and Jorden doubted he would regret trying the kiss, or the consequences, all that much.

Jorden Miles, however, did regret the kiss, but at least not quite for the rest of his life.

IV

It was a great day as well, the flare-sun hanging in the clear white skies, looking as much as ever like the starfish god rather that a sun. Tsarin was in the gardens, as cute as ever, taking a break from never-ending duties.

And Jorden made his move.

Even weeks later, Jorden could not recall exactly what came to pass that day. It all happened way to quick and it remained simply a series of images.

The first image was that of Tsarin herself, her smile broad and close, her dark eyes shining, her hair dark, her dress a waterfall of gold... Jorden could remember her lips at least, they were close, then moist to the touch. At least he remembered the actual _kiss_. He also remembered touching her gently on her thigh, which probably wasn't a great idea at the time either. It was about then that he noticed the hidden belt under the robe and the leather scabbard.

Then there was the sky.

There was a white sky peeking through the leaves above. Jorden lay on his back. He did not recall getting there. He remembered only kissing, and then lying. He was also sweating. Being thrown to the ground was one possibility he had considered, although in that case Tsarin was much stronger and quicker than he was expecting.

Tsarin was kneeling on his chest and she wasn't happy. That part was also a possible scenario he had come up with the previous day. The knife, however, wasn't really expected. Nope. That definitely wasn't part of the plan at all.

It was a long and apparently very sharp triangular dagger, one which had appeared from nowhere, it's edge glinting in the moving light and shadow streaming in from the forest canopy above. It shook in her grasp, its point firm against his throat. Jorden swallowed and felt the sting as the point of the blade cut. That was definitely not good. He waited silently. He knew that rejection was a strong possibility, even rage on the part of the kaedith, but this was a lot more than he bargained for.

Now she had made her point. Literally. The Kaedith Tsarin was not interested in the approaches of Jorden Miles at all and likely would never be. Now Jorden waited for her to back away, remove the knife from his throat, and tell him so. She didn't. Jorden was never sure how near he came to death at that moment, although he had his suspicions...

It was a long time before she did remove the knife from his throat, then she stood and backed silently.

Jorden just laid there a while longer, trying to think of some sort of apology that could possibly follow an attack like that. He might even have been managed to be angry if he hadn't been scared witless, but anger probably wasn't a good move right then. He stood slowly and carefully and cleared his throat, his eye flicking from Tsarin's frown to the long blade remaining in her grasp.

He mumbled. He almost managed to start an apology...

...when something between a vice and a forklift latched on his shoulder, the surface of the Domain suddenly snatched from beneath his feet.

A landsdraw.

Jorden knew it had to one of the huge men lifting him into the air as he grunted and swung his feet. He didn't even consider fighting the giant. Women of Tsarin's staff gazed from the decking, each one as silent as the next. No-one spoke. Jorden considered speaking again, but found breath difficult, the arm of the landsdraw soon firm around his chest.

It was the kaedith who in time broke silence. "You kissed me," she said angrily. She might well have been saying _you stabbed me_ with such a tone. "Is there is more? Are you just another stupid male after all?" She came forth, her hand falling on the forehead of the outsider. "Who is it that you think you are to dare such a thing?" she hissed.

The coarse hair of the landsdraw's belly rubbed abrasively against Jorden's back as he tried to secure enough breath to answer. "I was just... You said..." It was hopeless. He was going to suffocate.

"You must go. Leave this place and never return. I should take your life for such an offence, Jorden Miles. If you were not from the lands beyond... If you were not a youth..." She shook her head in disgust. "It is my own fault as well for forgetting what you truly are, and for that you may live. Leave him, Tacto, leave him to find his own way in the world. If there is a purpose for his coming then it will find him elsewhere just as easily as here."

Well, that was a little better, Jorden thought as he waited in hope. The landsdraw would soon return him to the land below, breath again possible, and he could get out of there. But nothing happened. "He will weaken the power of your work, Kaedith Tsarin," Landsdraw Tacto rumbled, "and bring the fear of Darkness to us all." A murmur sounded amongst the rapidly growing crowd on the decking, Tsarin noticing as much. "His death will silence his thoughts, and those of your own."

Jorden managed to suck a little more air, his death already too close to speak of such. He tried to protest, managing only a grunted "please."

Tsarin seemed to seriously consider the word of the landsdraw, Jorden whining and kicking. In a moment he would try tears. "My thoughts are clear, Tacto, and after my response I feel that any of his own desires will be reconsidered. And I fear that his life may have purpose to the Great One, for he has come from distant lands. I am loath to bring about his death.

"Leave him stand to speak in his defense," Tsarin said at last.

The landsdraw was slow to respond, Jorden wondering who really was boss and who was servant here. He recalled what Tsarin had told him of the race and their voluntary help...

Then he dropped to the grass of the court and gasped a good lungful of air.

All was quiet for a moment, and Jorden rose carefully to his feet. He was as confused as ever, a permanent state in the land of dream. "I'm sorry," he began. It was all he could think to say. "It was just a kiss. A stupid kiss..." He noticed that he had raised his voice slightly, which probably wasn't a good idea amongst a group of people who seemed quite willing to watch his blood water the grass. He stopped short rather than say too much.

Tsarin shook her head, her voice mellowed now. "I am kaedith, you fool, not a female of your species. And more importantly I am Precinct Kaedith for Tucaar. Desires and lapses of concentration can bring about the destruction of everything that I have done. Village shields could fail, charms could be unmade, thousands left to the mercy of the Darkness... But you are ignorant of such, and for that reason I will let you live, Jorden Miles. I only wish that I could banish you to the world of your origin and be sure that you were beyond reach."

Jorden stared. That actually sounded like a good thing. Before this she had wanted to keep him in her world, now she actually wanted him home. "Okay, great," he grunted. "Maybe you could have thought of that before..." He paused and wondered whether it was worth arguing over. He was alive and he was apparently free, it was probably too much to expect more at the moment. The _catch_ had come, and he had brought it about. A graceful retreat was likely now in order.

The only problem was he would most likely be left to fend for himself and wander alone along the endless lines of transition trying to find a way home. So much for _paradise_. "Okay then," he said, stepping away from the landsdraw, "I'll get out of here. The further the better. I'd rather be home anyway."

It was all a bit much. Jorden was sure that a stupid little kiss couldn't really affect the power of the kaedith. It was some code of order, or perhaps an ancient superstition. There was plenty of that sort of rubbish back home as well, it was just a lot worse here. There was only one problem with that theory, and that was the fact that the magic of the domain wasn't really possible back in reality, and Jorden had no idea how or why it worked. He also had no idea what adversely affected it.

None of that really mattered now, only getting away mattered, and a huge hand again grasping Jorden's shoulder did not fill him with a lot of confidence. "I fear that I can no longer just let you leave Jorden," Tsarin said very quietly. "You have left before and then returned, and you might wander nearby for weeks before you do so again. And the purpose of you being here remains uncertain. I fear I must allow the Council of Saljid to find that purpose, or at least decide your fate. It is something that perhaps should have been done long before now."

It didn't sound good, Jorden thought, but he had ignorance on his side. "I'm willing," he said. "I just want this over with and to get home. I'm just stuck in a nightmare, and nobody seems too interested in telling me what's going on. I don't even get the rules..."

"I am not sure you understand, Jorden Miles," Tsarin interrupted, "and so I will make it quite clear. You will be put before the Great Council, a body of high kaedith who will determine your worth and guilt. You need not fear, for they will know your mind and your ignorance, but they may see such ignorance as a danger in our world. Even so, I feel that you will again soon be free, but you will not be near me, and that is all that is important to the people of this precinct. Those of Saljid and the Council will be left to worry over you."

Saljid? Jorden knew of Tucaar and Bowen, but Saljid... "That's nowhere near here," he said uncertainly.

"Beyond the Sea of Challenge, yes. I just hope that all the vessels have not yet sailed already..."

V

The cage that Jorden found himself inside of was a collection of twigs and twine and little else. It sat on the rough floorboards of an old supply wagon, and was neither comfortable nor completely impenetrable, but with the landsdraw so close Jorden didn't really consider escape. Tsarin's security guards did not speak, and the driver of the wagon had words only for his horse, so he was left to bounce in silence as the wagon rattled away from the house of the kaedith.

So much for life of comfort, Jorden thought, but at least he still had leisure time. He could still just sit and think, and not need worry about where the next meal was coming from after all. And now he was no longer haunted by the fear of the _catch_. Now he knew all about the flaws of this paradise and he didn't really have too much to worry about, except for the Council of Saljid. Not a worry in the world. This world at least.

The incident certainly made a return to the real world even more satisfying. He wouldn't return with the wonder of whether he really was missing out on something... The real world! He thought of his mother and Bill and his his stupid car. He was even missing school. It was funny how he could miss things he didn't even like.

As the wagon thumped its way along unknown roads toward an unimaginable destination, Jorden wished with all his heart that he could just return to his own world. He closed his eyes in hope.

He peeked.

The nightmare remained.

### Chapter 6 – Katerina I

Before me now I think I see,

The changeless face of destiny

I

Jorden Miles counted the bars of his makeshift cell yet again to pass the time, again with the result of ninety-two. That made twenty-three a side, he considered, bigger than his last.

Still a cell.

This time it had bars of larger timber, or perhaps forearm thick vine. It was hard to be sure. In a few hours he could easily remove the binding of several, or work loose the dowelled and mortised joints of the hastily constructed cage, yet why bother, there was nothing beyond anyway. He looked to the light that issued from above. There was the smell of salt on the air, the ship now two days out from port, a journey of perhaps many weeks ahead. Or months, Jorden wondered, for although he had asked the overweight sailor who came in the evening for mealtime, he had received no more than a laugh and a flash of a hideous and toothless smile.

There was no way off the ship before the distant port of Saljid, unless he wished to drown in a foreign sea, and so little point in wasted effort. All he had to do was face those who would choose his fate, this Council, powers that would surely see his ignorance, his silly mistake. Then he had to get back to the paths behind the house of Tsarin. He had to find a hole – some way to get back home. To leave paradise forever.

If he could somehow open a portal...

Jorden sighed as he attempted to forget all that had happened over the last week, thoughts that would make this nightmare even less tolerable. He was still stuck in this world that could not exist. All within the confines of a twisted mind perhaps, he thought again, yet when it was something that resembled paradise it didn't matter. Only from hell did one need to escape. Yet it was not a mere nightmare. If it was it would be vague and horrifying rather than crystal clear and more tedious than his previous life out in the real world. Too real, he knew, and it had lasted way too long...

It had to be real, no matter how implausible that seemed. The sickening stench of the bucket that had been provided for him brought certain reality, a simple iron vessel to sit on when he had need. He wished it had a better lid. Then there was the dusty contents of the ship's hold that lay beyond the bars, and the occasional, and relatively large rodent that darted across the ancient timber. Everything seemed ancient in this world, the vessel now surrounding him no different. He had caught only a glimpse of it as he was loaded along with the rest of the cargo, a hideous sprawl of mast and rigging, it's grey sails billowing softly beneath the light of the starfish skies.

He recalled two huge outriggers, each bigger than the biggest racing yacht of the real world he had seen, and a broad, curved hull, and faded flags upon the masts, and dozens of seaman upon the layered decks and the rigging... Then he was plunged into the dim bowls of the main hull.

Now he could gaze at leisure at the store of svaeso-jars and timber kegs, each filled with the produce of the land, and racks of hides and sawn timber beyond the chests of kadastone, then more ancient stores that seemed to have spent their life inside the ship untouched, the dust thick on every surface. Chains rattled as the vessel rocked gently, the seas apparently calm, and ropes swayed nearby, and the timber creaked beneath like a weary beast longing for its distant home.

The light that issued from above dimmed and brightened, reddening and whitening as the days passed, a day without a real sun, a night without a real moon. And the time of the long darkness was ever nearer, whatever that was. And grey stones always rotate clockwise, and blue crystal is deadly... That was about the sum of Jorden's knowledge so far, aside from the knowledge of the sudden wrath of the Order of the Kaedith.

II

Today, however, fate changed for the luckless Jorden of Beyond, as some had taken to calling him. It seemed a very insignificant event, but it was one that altered his destiny, or at least the path by which he arrived. It was not an event that he recognized as being particularly spectacular at the time.

Jorden saw the figure scamper by, a figure bathed in the white, yet diffuse shaft of light that fell to a clear area of deck nearby. It obviously wasn't a rat, but then it wasn't his bulging seaman waiter either. That much he could tell very quickly, yet still he gazed on warily, nothing taken for granted. Meanwhile it seemed that a young girl watched in return, or another of the somewhat dangerous kaedith, he considered, instantly doubting the possibility.

More likely what Tsarin called a common woman, rather than a kaedith, and a tiny one at that, just a child by the looks, her huge eyes falling on Jorden. Unnaturally large, he thought, then almost laughed. As if anything about the Domain could be considered natural. They were dark eyes that were all but without whites, eyes that came ever closer. Then she gave a smile that flashed sharp angular teeth beneath moist cherry lips.

Okay, so perhaps not a woman at all, at least not as Jorden knew them. She was certainly unlike anyone he had seen in the House of Tsarin or the lands about.

Her long, thin fingers latched onto the bars as she came to the cell and scanned within, Jorden turning away from the intrusion for a moment. He felt something like an animal on display as he had now been for days, dragged across the countryside in a caged wagon. But she was young, and possibly the most attractive girl... thing he had seen since the house of Tsarin. That was probably as good a reason as any to avoid her, to run if it were at all possible.

And her voice was soft, her hands caressing the timber of his prison, a high smooth tone. "We have never had a prisoner on the Katerina before," were her words, Jorden snarling.

"Great, how nice for you," he growled angrily, re-positioning himself to try and prevent another limb falling asleep. He either sat relaxed against the bars, or laid on the rags that served as a bed, each less than comfortable. "Well now you have, so piss off."

A shrug was returned, and she seemed to take no offence as had been intended. "If you wish," she said, her tone unchanged, her odd smile still wavering on her lips. "You seemed lonely. I thought..." Her words trailed as she paced the side of the cage, her footfall as silent as that of the rodents Jorden had seen wandering in the hold. She was unshod and lightly clothed, yet moved with a certain grace. Then she smiled and approached the corner that Jorden sulked in, squatting on the dusty floor, her skirt tucked between her thighs. "Without company you would be mad before we were halfway to Saljid. As would I, but then I am not locked below decks."

Jorden grunted at the words, glancing briefly to the girl, then a longer gaze. She was nice looking for the most part, but appearances could be deceptive in this world. And she was young, perhaps three-quarters his height, and light of build. But judgements of age were difficult in a land where even the stones were not as they seemed, and though her hips bulged slightly, her breasts protruded hardly at all. Jorden thought her to be somewhere around his own age, perhaps younger.

Thin, he noted, but with legs curved as they should be, and a waist that slimmed, and coarse hair that hung to her elbows in knotted ropes. The salt, he wondered, for she seemed quite clean otherwise, although her clothing was little more than rags. It consisted of dark skirt that ended halfway to her knees, split near to the waist each side with a sash of plaited cord to secure it, then no more than a cloth wrap around her chest, a knot at the centre, the two frayed ends resting on a naked belly.

"I have a feeling I'm already crazy," Jorden said more calmly, catching her playful smile. "But I don't suppose I want to get any worse, and it is just a bit lonely down here." He dared a smile. Not all the girls could be as dangerous as the Kaedith.

She nodded, knowing well the loneliness of the sea, looking upon the prisoner in turn, his odd mode of dress. His tunic was without clasps, a yellow garment that was smooth and closed upon his chest, his short trousers much the same. "A common man, but a youth," she guessed. "What class?"

He stared blankly in return at the question, the social structure of the land was not exactly clear. "The lowest I'd guess," Jorden put forth somewhat harshly, then paused to consider, the girl merely beginning conversation as would any. "I've been called a lot of things. Idiot will do for now." That was close enough to the truth. As for his origin, it would be kept to himself. That was always a bit difficult to explain.

The girl brought her forehead to the bars and sniffed, her eyes flicking over the confined area. "Many of the sailors are of common stock," she returned in a tone that seemed to hint a lack of interest, "or dirge. And captain... she is sarisan of course." Her eyes flicked to those of Jorden's, her pupils small and elongated, even in the dim light of the lower deck. "And I am aestri, of course, and well used to being told to move away even by the lowest of classes," she smiled. "And I am told that I talk to much."

Jorden tried to ignore the girl's eyes, and the slitted catlike pupils within, and the somewhat canine teeth, and looked more to her more pleasant and familiar aspects. Hopefully she was the opposite of the Kaedith Tsarin who had seemed normal yet was a more dangerous entity. Of course even she wasn't really evil. What had happened was more because of the twisted laws and rituals of this world. Rules of conduct that Jorden had known nothing of. It was all a world very foreign to him still.

"I'm Jorden," he put forth more amiably, or at least as much as he could manage at the moment. "I'm a little unfamiliar with the ways of the world here, and now probably its least known prisoner." He held out his hand as a greeting, which was a gesture she returned, the touching of hands apparently universal. Then he recoiled slightly from the touch, startled rather than repulsed. The nails of her fingers were long and slightly angular and curved somewhat to resemble claws.

"And it's nice to chat with someone... anyone," he sighed. "Even the seaman who comes to feed me and empty the toilet bucket seems like an interesting guy after a few days in a cage."

The girl sniffed again, her first frown displayed. "I thought I smelled as much. I can empty it for you now if you wish, rather than having to wait until this evening."

She moved as if to stand, but Jorden was already shaking his head. "No. Thanks. It's okay." He didn't really want what was hopefully a new _friend_ having to deal with that sort of thing. "I am used to it now... Aestri... The toothless sailor can deal with it." The outsider mouthed the unfamiliar name before going on. "Aestri. That's an... interesting name." Actually it seemed a little odd, but then so was Tsarin.

The girl-alike smiled broadly. "My order, not my name silly, though few common folk would call me anything else," she said as she reconsidered the man. "When you say you are unfamiliar with the ways of the land you mean more than I guessed." Although aestri were not as common in the south, she thought, and perhaps non-existent anywhere but the ports themselves.

"I was named Aestri Finesilver, in the proper way of the order, but in the docks I am known to the aestri and the burgo as simply Taf, or perhaps Taffy. I like Taf if you wish to call me by name," she added hopefully.

Jorden nodded absently. Her appearance and her words told him a lot about the social standing of the aestri _species_. It was certainly not high, and perhaps below his own current level. "Sorry. I should have guessed there were other orders." Another pseudo-female like the kaedith. "I've only met a couple, like the kaedith, landsdraw, and some common people." The landsdraw he was not likely to forget for some time. "They were all I came across in the house of the Kaedith Tsarin. I don't suppose you know her." He paused. "It was Tsarin who put me in here actually."

Taf glared back. "I have not met even a lesser witch, and I know the names of only a few. Hycita, of course, and Sigrid of Saljid..." She paused to consider. "And you are the prisoner of such? Then you are evil. The kaedith would imprison no other." She feigned confidence yet actually knew little of the ways of the witches, guessing her prisoner friend to know even less. "You would have to have tampered with a city shield, or defaced its talismans. A vandal!"

She held to a large tooth that hung upon a leather cord around her neck – perhaps itself a charm, Jorden considered – yet she did not appear all that fearful or even angry, her face still somewhat unreadable. "I'm not that stupid," he smiled at last. At least not any more. "I'd be long dead if I had even thought about anything like that, not just in a cage. The talisman things seem very important here in the Domain."

"Of course." Her gaze came hard. "Then what is your crime."

Jorden turned away. "I probably shouldn't say, I think."

Curiosity gnawed at the aestri. Conversation was so interesting after so long without. "Tell me and I will do whatever you ask. I can get more food perhaps, or even wine from the stores of the captain herself!"

"I have all I need, obviously," Jorden returned, his hands coming to life, a gesture to his surrounds. "I have this nice little cage and more moulded grain and green stew than I could possibly wish for..." The aestri simply smiled in response to his sarcasm and his growing anger, and it was a smile that quickly softened his tone. He paused to sigh. "If you must know," he began, unsure what her reaction might be. "I kissed the Kaedith Tsarin, which is apparently..."

"Kissed!" Taf blurted, interrupting him. "A fool! You could have destroyed all she had ever achieved, thousands at risk..."

Jorden nodded, eventually halting the word of the aestri. "Yeah, okay, I've heard it all before. I have a feeling she would have killed me on the spot if I'd known what I was doing. I just didn't realize. It just seemed like a fun thing to do at the time. I'd been there a while and...." The difficult times were recalled, and the near-death then imprisonment. Then the mercy of Tsarin.

Taf smiled at his expression of despair. "Then you are indeed a child, and you make even me seem as a kaedith." And she laughed, an intoxicating splash of merriment brought back a smile to the lips of Jorden Miles. "How could you not know? No Common man should ever dare such a thing." She reached within and touched his arm, her nails sharp against his flesh. "And now you are exiled from your home in Thagul and sent to strange lands, locked in a cage like the beasts of the field."

"Not exactly my home, but exiled I guess. And you?" Jorden was eager to change the course of the conversation, and quickly. The past difficult enough. "Are there many aestri in the crew? You don't seem to be dressed like a passenger, so I assume..."

"Just one," she interrupted, "yet an aestri is hardly crew." Then the ignorance of the common youth was recalled. "In many ways a passenger, in others not. This has been my home for as long as I can remember, since I was very young, and I am thirty seasons now."

"Home?" Jorden considered her word. This was a girl... an aestri who was very much older than he had considered. "And you don't seem thirty. I'm sixteen, almost seventeen, and I thought you were maybe younger. You look like about thirteen or something. You've aged very well."

Taf shrugged. "And to me you appear older than you say, yet I will take your word. But I am young. The aestri are as long lived as the common, or any order."

Jorden accepted her word, his knowledge far to incomplete to argue things like that. "Some life," he said, "It doesn't look much better than the life of a prisoner. Why would you live in a dump like this. There is a world of sorts out there."

The aestri glanced about her, a deep breath drawn, a whine of contentment. "It is a good life, and this is a good seaworthy home, and I am much more fortunate than some others. I spend the Time of Darkness within the shield of Saljid, either on the Katerina or in a warehouse loft with friends, then the days of light upon the open sea.

"But not here in this gloom. This is a place for finding and eating food and having rest, perhaps, but not for living." Jorden just sat and listened to her bright speech. It was nice to have a conversation with anyone, especially one that didn't seem to care about his present state of bondage all that much. "Out in the light it is a joy to be upon the Katerina, the sea churning beneath, the air wet upon your skin, the salt on your lips," and she licked those lips with a tongue that seemed almost normal.

"Sometimes I lay for the entire day and watch the small sea dragon dance on the waters, as many as..." She glanced briefly to her fingers, nails flashing as she counted. "Fifty... or more," she said, although she only seemed to count to maybe twenty. And again she held to her charm, the jagged tooth. "And at times they chase the Katerina, and bite at the great rudder."

The simple necklace was removed and passed to the hesitant hand of Jorden Miles. It was not a charm then, he guessed, or she would never dare to remove it – certainly not a talisman of any power or expense at least. "I watched it bite and saw the tooth that remained in the timber. It was above the water-line, but only just, and I climbed down to it. It took ages to get it loose. It was that deep, it was." She held two of her near-clawed fingers slightly apart about half the length of the tooth.

Jorden nodded absently as he gazed at the trophy and the binding she had tied around the jagged roots. "Must have been a big fish," he thought aloud, or more likely not in this world. It could just as well have been a lengthy serpent, or a equivalent of a sea-lion. He returned the tooth.

"I'll show you, if you like," Taf said as she returned the necklace to its place around her neck. "It would be a chance for you to walk and breath the moist fresh air of the sea." She stood in anticipation.

Her words surprised Jorden, perhaps even angered him, and his reply was less than enthusiastic. "If I could drag my cage so far, maybe... or perhaps you know a quick teleportation spell?" He continued to sit, a deep frown flashed toward the girl.

"Of course not," Taf smiled, "the spells of the kaedith are their own, and I doubt you could drag your cage very far." She walked lightly from him, her heels rarely touching the timber decking, the dust barely disturbed. Then her hands came to the lock of the tiny prison. It was brass ring that held the hinged wall secure, a ring that thickened on one side with a hole there for the simple key of the seaman guard.

Taf probed the hole with the short claw of her forefinger. "A key maybe," Jorden suggested as he continued to sit. "That much I understand." The aestri took no notice. "A little rod, so long," he indicated, "with little bumps on it to work all the little parts inside that lock."

"Stop teasing or I will leave you to yourself," Taf smiled. "The best rings are used on the wine and spirit stores," the device clicked in her grasp, "not on a cage of timber and string. I could chew my way free of this in a moment." She opened the hinged ring with a smile, clasping it together again on a nearby cross-member of the prison. It clicked shut and locked there, Taf then swinging the door of the cage open.

Jorden sprang to life, leaping to his feet in despair. "Close that before the sailor sees it, you idiot," the aestri backing in laughter as he spoke, Jorden attempting to unclasp the ring from where she had left it. He had no hope. It was locked there well and truly. "You'll have me killed."

Taf simply smiled, jumping to then crouch on a nearby keg. "You thought that I could not do it, after as long as I have lived upon the Katerina. Admit the truth. You thought that an aestri couldn't remove the simplest of rings."

"All right, I'll admit it, but please Taf..."

She leapt toward him before he was able to finish, hair flailing her shoulders. "No-one will come here until evening, and who would care that you have escaped? Do you plan to swim back to port?" She snatched his arm and dragged him from the cage. "Come and get some air and light. You can hardly remain in there forever."

III

Jorden couldn't disagree, anything after the days in the cage and the dim quiet. He gave in and followed the aestri as she led him away from his prison, the lower deck forever shifting and tilting beneath his step as the Katerina rolled on the gentle seas.

They walked for some time along paths that wound amongst the varied cargo and stores that were apparently for the long _darkness_ ahead. Along the way, Jorden realized they approached the stern. There were thick steerage ropes stretching the width of the hold, threaded amongst ancient tarnished blocks. Pulleys slowly rotated as the vessel rolled. He looked toward the huge square beam of the tiller, the dark timber bound with braces of well oiled iron. It squirmed and creaked within its rope tethers.

There was a power and mechanism there that Jorden Miles found fascinating. He had never seen such a thing, but could guess at what most of it was for. The aestri was not as intrigued, Taf eager to move along. Jorden turned away and followed her to the ladder that would take them even further below. The path they were taking surprised Jorden somewhat as it seemed to be a path that led them even further from the light and air of the outside world. Taf knew her vessel well, however, leading on to the small openings above the rudder, leaping out upon her place of rest.

Jorden paused right there.

The light was intense after the days in the gloom, the salt air stinging in the brisk breeze, the ship seeming to roll and pitch more than it had ever done, the horizon shifting dizzily. It was several moments before Jorden could look outside for any length of time at the boiling sea several metres below. Behind that was the churned wake of the great vessel as she plodded ever north.

He gazed at what could be seen of the huge rudder. There was a metre of visible wood that ducked often beneath the swell, and undoubtedly a lot more below that. The task of Taf and the tooth of the sea-dragon was having a new meaning, especially in the churning of deep green sea. It was a sea that stretched forever, it seemed, the hazy white sky above that. Jorden could not see a lot of the white sky at the moment, the decks overhanging the rudder by several metres.

Then he glanced to the beckoning hand of Taf, Jorden swallowing at the sight. The aestri had simply leapt out from the opening to the ropes, ropes as thick as Jorden's leg, and scampered on to the cradle of netting she had placed for herself – perhaps several years before by the looks of it. For Jorden it seemed a difficult journey, with a very possible fall into turbulent waters below to either quickly drown or be left upon the sea to die as the Katerina moved on.

He forced a smile and started crawling from the opening, two metres of rope ahead before the start of the netting. For the sake of safety, Jorden sat on the larger rope, using a smaller strand to steady himself as he slid on. It was not exactly the most elegant way to get across, he knew, but a way to increase his chances of survival. "Not a man of the sea," Taf chuckled as he came onto the flimsy netting, his life now dependent on the rope and knot skills of the aestri. "By the end of the journey you will run here and think nothing of it," she smiled broadly as she lay relaxed.

"It"ll be a while," he returned, his voice wavering, a voice that seemed like a whisper over the roar below. "Worth the risk, I suppose. Anything after that cage. But really I feel just like walking and walking. I haven't really walked more than a few steps in days."

Taf nodded. "Tonight, perhaps, if you wish. The Katerina is quite large, and there is much you might wish to see. We could even venture onto the upper decks, or go across to the outriggers, or climb right up onto the mainmast. We'll pass Point Twellin in a day or so, and you can see the cliffs even from the eye of the mainstay, and from the tressletree..."

"Please," Jorden begged for a little mercy as he spread himself over the netting, distributing his weight and attempting to ignore the foaming violence below. He was feeling a lot heavier than his tiny friend, Taf. "This is daring enough for me for the moment. And after this I'll probably be chained to the cell for the rest of the trip anyway." He filled his lungs, expelling the musty air of the hold. "Worth it, though. If only the sea wasn't quite so green. The white sky, perhaps..."

Taf gazed sleepily down to the waters below, the morning air calling her steadily toward dream. It was only the boy with her who was keeping such dreams at bay. "A little green," she said, "and the sky is very bright, if nothing else." She left her arms dangle below the netting in much the same way as her hair, and pointed to the rudder. "If you watch, you will see the hole left by the tooth last year... there!" Jorden nodded, although little could be seen amongst the foam and spray. "I had a rope tied to the trailrope eye above, then knotted it around the rudder post. It took me nearly all day, but the sea was not calm as it is here today in the shadow of the isles."

Her words brought Jorden to look again at the healthy swell. It was not exactly rough, yet it was a lot more than what he would have considered calm. The average wave height was at least a metre or two, the moderate breeze whipping the crests into foam. "Are the aestri always so daring?" he wondered aloud. "It's lucky you weren't washed from the ship. I don't suppose that anyone would miss you for ages. They'd be lucky to find you out there, even in a calm sea."

"I anchored myself well," Taf returned, "but there are always the trailropes." She pointed to the two that could be seen, heavy bundles of cord that were left to simply drag behind the ship, ropes of some length it seemed to Jorden. "You watch above and swim for the nearest, catching it where it meets the sea, or waiting for the first of the floats. I'll show you how it is done if you wish. It is a skill you should learn before you have a need to. The Katerina would never return for either of us." She crawled lazily to the supporting rope, gazing to the waters below, hoping for sign of life.

"Ah. Not just now, thanks," Jorden said carefully, the dark eye of the aestri flicking silently back toward him. "Later maybe," he added, gazing toward the strange smile. "You'll have to take things a bit slow for me." He also smiled awkwardly, somehow knowing, or at least hoping, that the aestri was a friend. He could certainly use a friend now. And she was a cute friend. Nice legs flashing as her skirt flipped in the breeze.

He shook his head. Some thoughts to were better to avoid. His encounter with the kaedith was recalled, as was the _kiss_. She had only really appeared to be a human female anyway, he reminded himself, and the aestri was just as likely to be much the same. He started to wonder how some of these orders even reproduced. Tsarin at least had suggested that common women were safe, but as for the aestri. He had no idea.

They were the only females he knew of, and then the landsdraw were all apparently male. They could have been grown from seed rather than born as far as Jorden knew. There was also the sarisan captain that Taf had mentioned, and that was another female order perhaps, or both, or even a higher class of the common woman. It was a confusing place.

"Great life," Jorden said at last, "but I'm sure you are supposed to be doing more than laying out here on the rigging watching the seas pass by." Words to turn his mind from his present thoughts. "I shouldn't be taking up your time."

Taf shrugged as she continued to hang over the supporting rope, gazing ever below. "I do as I wish, and truthfully prefer to sleep for much of the day unless I am watching for sea dragons or fish. I am the Katerina's aestri, nothing more, and work is for the seaman above." She yawned. "And this is a good place in which to rest after a night in the hold. And a good place to empty your bowels. Better than a stinking bucket."

Jorden considered her words. It was not a place he did thought he would find relaxing enough for that as yet. He could only imagine the difficulties of trying to do anything like that out on the netting. Then the aestri pointed to the overhanging decking above. "That's the rear of the crew's quarters. Those holes are where they empty their own. Once I was nearly hit when I was hanging on that rope..."

"I'll take your word for it," Jorden moaned. It wasn't really a subject he wanted to delve too deeply in with someone he just met.

Taf shrugged at the rejection of her conversation, not an uncommon occurrence. "Then what do wish to speak of... Yourself perhaps? That seems to be a favourite of the common and the dirge!" She flashed her toothy smile toward him, her lips glistening in the morning glare.

_No_ , Jorden thought, _the last thing I would want to do_. Yet this was no more than a wandering vagrant, it seemed, a gypsy of the seas. Some sort of stow-away at best. What did it matter if this aestri knew of his origins. Even people he had spoken to in Tucaar had not seemed overly surprised, or indeed particularly interested.

And his mind slipped within the past as he told his life story in the Domain so far...

### Chapter 7 – Katerina II

Life be own, live or die

by quick of hand, by bright of eye.

In darkness creep; in silence strike.

Rat we eat, but fish we like.

I

Jorden's monologue was not a particularly long one. It told of his recent life in the Domain, but not a great deal of his life in his previous world. Taf just sat and listened. Like most she didn't seem all that surprised, but appeared at least more interested than most.

"An outsider then," Taf said at last, the aestri now far from weary. Her eyes glistened, the vertical slits of her pupils now contracted to a no more than a dark line. "One of Beyond. That explains much. You should have said so before. No wonder you are so silly!"

Jorden glared back, the aestri knowing more about both worlds than he had at first assumed. "You know about it then? About my world? Everyone in this place seems to know about it, yet nobody there has any idea this place exists at all."

Taf shrugged. "I have heard enough to know that I wish to hear no more of it." She turned from him and relaxed back into the netting. "An evil, vile place like no other. The source of all evil, they say."

"Well this stupid place is no paradise either!" Jordan blurted. At first it had seemed so, yet they never were. There was always that catch to paradise. "I was quite happy and comfortable before I got stuck in this madhouse," he lied. He tried to forget about his poor health and lack of a real life. He felt too well in this world to think about what it might be like to go back now.

The aestri glared back, raising herself to her haunches on the netting. "And this was a world of peace before the coming of your kind. At least you are no more than an idiot!" Well, that might be true enough, Jorden thought. He couldn't argue with that.

Then, with a snort and a gesture that inferred disgust, Taf leapt from the netting, diving into the turbulence below and vanishing beneath the violent surface. Jordan gasped a cry, crawling rapidly to the supporting rope to peer below. He was almost tempted to dive in after her, but that urge was quickly overpowered by his inherent fear of certain death. But what of the aestri?

This was the one friend Jorden had thought he had made since the house of Tsarin. Now he was worried she was a friend lost because of some pathetic little argument, perhaps even literally lost at sea. She was probably close to the truth in any case. His world indeed a place of horror and death and war and famine. Although the corner of the world that Jorden had lived in was one of relative peace, it was hardly representative of the earth as a whole. An evil, vile place. Not far from the truth at all.

It was a difficult few moments for Jorden Miles, a period of quite some anxiety worrying over his new friend in the vastness of the green seas of the Domain. It seemed to be an eternity before he at last glimpsed the aestri scaling a nearby trailrope. He waved but received no reply, not that he expected one.

Jorden shrugged as Taf vanished somewhere amongst the deck above. He tried to convince himself that it wasn't important. She was obviously a just a girl who would be of no help to him at all. Just a pathetic creature as trapped as he was in the nightmare that surrounded him.

But no matter how he tried, he couldn't convince himself that he didn't need her.

Now he had only the company of the rolling sea, and the odd wisp of light that hung in the white sky. It was not a substitute for a sun, not the familiar sphere of blinding flame that comforted those of the real world, but a mere marker of time. As was its dim red sister of the night.

And what would fill the skies when the Time of Darkness came, he wondered. Indeed, what actually was this Time of Darkness that brought such fear to the hearts of those who called hell their home. If the present world was the best of it, Jorden mused...

He sighed and seemed to drift toward sleep, the sea racing to a blur, the flare of light dipping toward the horizon. It was much that same as what had happened within the lawn of Tsarin, something that seemed so long ago, and although it was not a pleasant experience, Jorden at least knew that it was somehow _normal_.

It would pass.

II

When the chill and nausea had subsided, Jorden dared raise the lids of his dream-eyes. The red flare-moon was already rising into the night sky, the sea still churning beneath. It was as near to normality as he could come in this place, his mind again at one with his surrounds. The reality of the sea was there. It was a sea beneath in which he would most certainly drown if he fell.

Jorden returned carefully across the ropes to the dim hold of the ancient vessel, stumbling through the dark and unfamiliar ways before coming at last to his tiny prison. At least he still had a sense of direction. The air stank more the ever, the dust choking even worse. It was bad to now have the memory of the outside world beyond the Katerina's belly as a comparison.

_God_ , he thought, _do I really deserve this?_ Alone again, sitting in a cage that wasn't even locked.

Time painfully passed him by.

One of the sailors eventually thumped into the hold with bowl and mug in hand. It was another tepid greenish stew that looked much like that of the previous day. He also had the best of the ship's water in the large mug. Jorden gazed on absently as the member of crew wandered toward the cage. He was an ugly little man that probably had a heart of gold. Looks were so deceptive, more in this place than most.

The seaman paused briefly, a flick of his eye to the open prison, then to the thin frame of Jorden miles. He sniffed and wiped the moisture from his hairy upper lip. "Shit ring," he grumbled, "I figured you'd work it soon enough. You look like a clever little shit."

Jorden's jaw dropped noticeably. Then he offered a vague gesture toward the stern. "Taf did it. I haven't touched it!" The sailor stared blankly on, little activity apparently within. "Taf. Young girl..." Jorden demonstrated her approximate height.

A grunt. Then he shook his head. "The aestri? Should've figured as much." The sailor deposited the meal. "Well you might as well stay out as in, you don't look the type that'd manage a swim to port. You ain't going nowhere, I think."

Jorden was almost at a loss for words. "Well... Thanks, I think. It feels so good to walk around again..."

"Don't thank me – gotta ask Captain first. I'll ask if I can get you on deck." Jorden nodded his approval. "You might as well work for your keep." The seaman paused to look at the green slop and actually managed a broken smile. "Captain might even give you something worth eating then!"

And with that the seaman left the food and departed, the cage left unlocked.

III

Jorden was still trying to eat the last of his meal when Taf returned and crouched at his side in the cage, the two large fish she carried tossed to one side.

She stiffed cautiously. "Doesn't smell worth eating." Her dark eyes flicked to Jorden's. "Probably days old."

Jorden snorted in return. "I don't doubt it, but I haven't much of a choice, do I. Eat this or starve." He watched Taf shrug in return and look away. Again he felt an attraction toward her. He felt that it was like they were both trapped in a nightmare, and although he had just met her it was as if she were some sort of kindred spirit.

"Sorry about before," he said eventually. "This world of yours gets to me at times, but it's hardly your fault..."

Taf flicked her slitted eyes back in his direction and shook her head. "You are man and I am aestri. You have no need to apologize." She reached for the larger of the fish, a coloured species that would have been unrecognisable to even the most experienced angler of the waters of the Pacific. To Jorden it was simply a fish. "I just want to be your friend," Taf added in her gentlest of tones. "I brought you this. I knew they would not feed you well."

Jorden gingerly accepted the gift, handling it as he might a live grenade. "Ah..."

"Nobody else on the Katerina will talk to me very much," Taf then said, "except for Johnathon, and he is busy much of the time."

"It would be nice to have someone to talk to..." Jorden began. The fish was wet and slimy in his grasp, and not as dead as he would like it to be. Dangerous looking spines jutted out at various angles from more places than he cared to count. But it was two spans long and potentially some nice fresh food food. "If we had somewhere to cook these," he said hopefully.

Taf frowned. "They are better as they are. Fresh and moist and juicy..." She smiled at the sudden look of horror on his face. "But you are man and not aestri, and prefer it cooked. I know." She snatched back the fish, holding it firmly with her hard angled nails, then picked up the other with the same hand. "Trust me, I know what is best. But we can hardly eat in this smelly place. You can come to where I sleep. There is plenty of room, and it is much more comfortable than this cage." She stood and went for the open door, pausing there to await Jorden's approval.

He glanced only briefly upon his lavish appointed quarters before standing to follow. Not a hard choice. "If you're sure you don't mind..."

"I wouldn't have asked, silly."

He wondered what his mother would would say. He also wondered if he cared. She was always worried about all the _bad girls_. Whatever they were supposed to be. He smiled. "Why not. Though to be truthful I was beginning to think that you were some sort of stowaway. I'm surprised you have a cabin at all." He was mostly just trying to make conversation and avoid the difficulties of the moment. It was like receiving a gift from someone you hardly knew and not knowing how to thank them, so you change the subject and act friendly.

Although at the moment he wasn't acting – he did like Taf – yet somehow it was difficult accepting her invitation. Perhaps it was the encounter with Tsarin, or just that he was so damn far from home. Or at least he thought he was far. It was getting hard to tell. Paradise, this wasn't, but then paradise couldn't exist, and if it did you'd likely soon be sick of it. That would have to be his new philosophy to brighten a dismal life.

Of course Jorden had also learned that the seaman who brought his food, and he used the term _food_ loosely, knew of Taf. So she was not a stowaway. It was true that the seaman did not seem to speak all that well of Taf, but at least he knew her, perhaps all too well.

"I don't have a cabin, silly."

Jorden's line of thought was lost. "I thought you said..."

"The Captain has, and the chief officers... and the Doc. Then the crew have quarters in the bow and stern, remember." She motioned for him to follow on into the reddish gloom. "But they don't give aestri anything at all. The council laws don't say they have to, so they don't. They expect aestri to curl up on a piece of rag and call it home. And then they think they are so generous if they give us the rag."

They moved toward the bow and slightly to port. "That's inhuman," Jorden began, his words fading. In this world there were apparently several shades of humanity. He knew that such levels existed even in his own world. "So why live like this? Why live in such..." He thought of poverty, yet somehow that didn't describe the situation. It was closer to voluntary slavery the way she was talking.

"I live better than some, but then most aestri live well enough." Taf stepped proudly on, her footfall silent nonetheless. "Perhaps Captain knows that I do, perhaps she doesn't. They don't care. They throw me a rag and it is my choice if I wish to sleep on it. If I find something better and it does not affect them, then I will have a better place to sleep than on a rag.

"If they want an aestri on the Katerina then that is the way it will be. Any aestri would think the same."

Jorden followed quietly, thinking. "You're right you know," he caught a final glimpse of her smile as he followed on into the ever darkening hold. "You do talk too much." Then it was really dark. Either that or Jorden had been suddenly struck blind.

Taf froze in her tracks, and he stumbling into her. "Do you think so? Every one says that I do, and they chase me off or say they are busy." There was not enough light for Jorden to see much of her face, but her voice told enough. She was at least a little worried he was being serious. "If you want me to talk less, I will. I'll be quiet until you want me to speak..."

"I was making a joke," Jorden admitted, "and you are going to have to keep talking or I won't be able to follow you. I almost need a lead now."

He felt a hand upon his own, cool to touch and wet with fish slime. "It is bright yet, but it darkens further on. I forget that you are not aestri." She led on into that darkness.

Jorden smiled in the dark. He had a feeling that Taf could see his smile even if he could not see her own. "And I'll try and warn you when I'm joking." The hand pulled him to the left, his knee striking something. He limped onward. "What I was going to say was: what if your captain throws you off the ship. I mean..." He wasn't altogether sure what he meant. He wasn't even entirely sure of what Taf was doing on the ship.

Taf glanced back toward him, Jorden totally oblivious to the fact. "They can't. It is against the very commandments of Hura as well as the council laws to throw the ship's aestri deliberately overboard – although some of the crew do it sometimes in fun – but they can't leave them to drown. If I fell off accidentally, I suppose, they could say it was my fault and they didn't have the time to return..."

Jorden interrupted the aestri. He found he needed to do that quite often. "What I meant was – ow!" Again his leg struck something solid amongst the pitch, a crate of some kind.

"Sorry," Taf moved slower and led him to the right.

"I feel like I'm blind. How can you see in this?" Jorden thought he could glimpse darker patches of shadow amongst the rest and attempted to navigate by them, only to find that his shoulder struck another something.

Taf's hand firmed on his. "I'm aestri, and I forget that you are not of this world. I could see a rat at fifty footfall in this, maybe more."

Rat? Jorden had forgotten that the hold of the Katerina was littered with such things, and the local variety was certainly large enough to worry about. He stepped more cautiously and hoped he didn't stand on one. He hated to think of what disease they might carry. "What I was saying," he attempted again, "is what if the captain decides to put you of in port and go on without you."

"Then that is their loss," she said easily. "If they wish to be without their aestri, then they are free to do so... and look there. You can see tracks in the dust where rats have crossed. There is one that has run straight off the edge of the platform and jumped to the lower deck." She pulled Jorden then to a halt. "We have to climb this. Be careful, there is no rail on your side."

Jorden found that the blotchy gloom started to slowly spin.

IV

There was more light on the higher decks, but it was still little more than shapes and shadows.

And Jorden found himself again alone.

Taf had wandered off mysteriously and left Jorden standing amongst the cargo. It was a collection of kegs and crates and svaeso jars and rough woven sacks, Jorden could see at least some of it in the gloom. It was all freshly loaded and bound for the city port of Saljid, tons of produce for this so-called Time of Darkness that everyone spoke of with such devout hysteria.

He checked some of the bags, opening one and feeling amongst the contents. He removed a odd shaped something, and held it up into the little light there was. Probably a potato by the look and feel. He dared a bite... definitely a potato. He was about to try another sack when something snatched his arm. He jumped accordingly.

"I have plenty here," Taf told him. He was glad to hear her voice. That was good as he could barely see her. "You can't eat cargo, only ship's stores, and we're not really allowed those either."

"What the heck _are_ you entitled to? These council laws don't seem to benefit aestri very much." Taf pulled him steadily on. "Why do I get the feeling that there aren't many aestri on this council."

Taf chuckled. "You say the most silly things." He suspected as much. At least the light improved.

Jorden was lost by this time. He could at least see a lot more now, although to him it was far from bright. It didn't do him a lot of good. They were against the hull, or so he assumed, yet Jorden was unsure of whether they faced the bow or the stern. He was also unsure of how far forward they had ventured and whether they were to the port or the starboard and how many decks down they were.

He did notice that they had moved into a crowded dusty hold that seemed not to have been touched in decades. Jorden was just guessing, of course, but it certainly looked untouched. Taf, apparently, came often. She had what looked like a well worn path in the dust that the two scuttled along, then she led through a low hatchway, the light better yet again. The area was lit by two shafts of the red light of the flare moon drifting down through two ventilation ducts.

"Storage," Taf told him, almost as if reading his mind. "They keep ropes and sails and lanterns and... well, everything in these. All along the outer hull, they are, but most of it has been here since the last aestri was my age. It's mostly old and rotten and useless, but they never touch it. The Katerina is now so old that she will sink with these holds as they are. The shipping masters do not waste much effort on a dying ship."

Jorden detected the note of sorrow. "There's still a few years left in the Katerina yet, I bet," he said, patting one of the thick timbers that rose vertically nearby. He knew nothing of such ships, but he did think the beast looked somewhat decrepit. That, however, might be quite common in the Domain. He was hopeful that it really did have a few more years in it, however.

Taf stood in the shaft of red light and looked upward, then she glanced to the hull. "It will sink before my time is through, but it will not be that soon." She pointed. "This way."

It was a narrow room, packed near to the roof. It was unclear exactly what it was packed with, but he could see mostly crates that could have contained anything. Jorden also saw a coil of rope, and something that may have been sail material, then just more crates. Crates that unfortunately seemed to be blocking the way Taf was headed. She continued regardless, sliding and weaving amongst the maze of timber.

She paused only briefly to speak, turning to Jorden as he squeezed between the crates behind. "I can trust you, can't I? If captain knew some of the things I had..."

"You can trust me," he said in return as he forced himself through the narrow way, somewhat surprised she would even ask. "Hell, who the heck would believe me anyway!" Taf smiled and moved on.

There was little to see, Jorden noticed as they came within the opening amongst the crates, but that was more due to the lack of light rather than an absence of items in the area. There was some light, it was true, a red glow issuing from a gap in the ceiling aside the hull – enough to see Taf toss the small sack she carried toward a makeshift table, but he could see little else. There were some other shapes, and levels of platforms fashioned from the crates, and swaying shapes hanging from above, and darker shapes attached to the walls.

He stumbled on toward one of the walls until his lower leg rammed into yet another obstacle, then reached down to touch what he guessed was something of a bed. It was as near to being soft and comfortable as mattered, and lined or covered with a patterned fur. That was really something of a surprise. "Nice," he thought aloud. "Your bed, I hope, and not something asleep on the table."

Taf giggled. "I know it is bright enough here even for a common man."

"Only just." Jorden sat on the bed. "I don't suppose the captain gave you this." Stolen more likely.

"I tanned the skins myself," Taf said with obvious pride. "Burgo Kaeina taught me how many cycles ago, but some of the powders are difficult to find anywhere but the warehouses of Saljid, and the spotted rat only lives on the Castle Isles, so it takes a long time to make a rug so big."

Rat fur. Great! He felt the many seams to confirm that they were at least not giant rats. They did feel a lot larger than those of the real world, however, and a even a little bigger than the huge rats on the Katerina he had seen. "Our own rats aren't quite so useful," he said as he attempted to overcome the sudden feeling of revulsion. It was a stupid thought, he knew. It was a nice, warm, comfortable rug that smelled only of Taf, and she didn't really smell much at all. "Our rats have hair like wire."

"So do ship rats," Taf told him, "and their hide is too thin to be useful. Only the Island hides are thick enough." Taf opened the bag and carefully placed the contents on the already cluttered crate she used as a table. Jorden could make out several bottles and jars of various shape, then the glint of steel and the flash of fish scales. "There is always a good store of vinegar and spices aboard the Katerina, and the captain wouldn't mind us having some." She paused momentarily. "I shouldn't really have a knife though, but I didn't steal it, and I eat fish more than I should.

"It is just so good to have something different," Taf went on. "In the open sea you seldom see fish, only sea dragon and they are far to big to catch. But there are plenty of fish here close to port. They follow the Katerina and are easy to catch. We should have plenty for days yet..." The knife flashed in the little light there was, Jorden watching as he could, yet he found he was depending more upon his other senses than usual.

He could hear the flesh being parted amongst the usual groan of the ship, then the odd crack of bone, and the aroma revived some of the appetite he had lost in the past week. "I'll try and make a meal for a man," she went on, "but I haven't done that before so it may not be to your liking. I can't cook it, of course, but with vinegar and spice..." She glanced toward Jorden who shrugged uneasily. "These have the sweetest flesh. I ate one before the setting of the first light. It was straight from the water and still squirming..."

"Damn, Taf!" Jordan recalled the tooth and claw of the aestri, and could imagine her shredding the fish live. "I'm not sure I'm that hungry after all." Okay so he really was hungry, but live fish... Raw sounded bad enough.

"Trust me," she laughed. "I wouldn't feed any man a live fish. Try this." She passed a sliver of cool moist flesh. It didn't move, but Jorden still held it as if expecting it would do so any minute. "They say it is good to soak the meat in vinegar and spice, but I don't like it much. That has just a touch of each. Nice for something different. I get tired of the same thing each day."

Jorden nodded in agreement, he was already sick of green stew. That only took two days. And there was a long voyage ahead. He put the fish to his lips and dared a bite, finding it more resilient than expected, then tore a shred loose with his teeth and chewed. Jorden hoped that even raw fish would have to be better than the hideous green stew, and he found that it was somewhat better than that. "That _is_ good," he said nodding, surprising even himself. He consumed the rest of the moist strip and looked for more.

"You're teasing again," Taf smiled, "but there is plenty here if you are hungry enough." She forwarded a narrow piece of timber piled high with more of the fleshy slivers.

"No, honestly." As proof of his word, Jorden ate until there was very little left and then reclined back onto the cozy rat-fur bed while Taf sucked on backbones and heads.

"You see. You can trust Taf to feed you well, and serve drink, courtesy of captain." She produced a dark bottle of what looked like some sort of local wine. "A treat to mark our meeting, not something I dare steal often."

Jorden smiled.

They drank to the occasion, neither sure that it was to mark beginning of a lengthy friendship, but both somehow hopeful. Jorden wasn't exactly sure what they were drinking either, but it was warm and fruity and maybe even slightly alcoholic. It was hard to tell, and it didn't seem to be affecting him greatly. "Well," he said as he sipped the drink. "That was a meal I doubt I would have attempted if I hadn't met Aestri Finesilver." He took another sip from the bottle they shared, allowing Taf to drain the last.

Then she pounced to the bed, curling her legs beneath her and relaxing against the wall of stores. "Now a late walk upon the deck, perhaps. The Katerina is a wondrous sight beneath the second light."

"After all the food and drink I doubt I can do much more than sleep. Maybe in the morning." He struggled to a sitting position. "I really should get back to my cage anyway..."

"You can stay here," Taf blurted. "After such a meal I deserve a little company, surely. You can even stay here to sleep, perhaps?"

Jorden glanced around the tiny area she called home. "I don't think you have room." The floor, perhaps. It looked as comfortable as the cage.

"You are afraid to be caught in the bed of an aestri, I know, and I don't blame you for that." She shook her head. "But nobody ever comes here, and I rarely sleep through the entire night anyway. Lately I have because we have been in port, but on the high sea I only nap while the second light is shining, and you can sleep here when I do. I hardly expect a man to sleep in the same bed as aestri..."

"It's not that," Jorden began. "It's..." He stood and stretched. " I don't want to take you're bed. You've been nice enough already, Taf."

"I just wish to be your friend," Taf put forth quietly. "I haven't much to share, but you can have whatever you wish. If you would like to return to the cage then I will take you. I didn't mean what I said about the fish."

Jorden stood quietly and considered the dark trek back, then the stinking torture of the cage, and watched Taf draw a soft white cloth over the warm and even softer fur bedding, and he felt the slightest of chills rolling in on the night air. "I have my hammock anyway," she added, "and the bed is yours if you want it."

Jorden watched Taf climb into the cloth sack that hung from above and turned his attention to the bed.

It was very hard to resist...

### Chapter 8 – Katerina III

The love of sea, of wind, of sky,

The love of warm, secure lair.

Such is love, the love of life,

The love that others cannot share.

I

It was brighter when Jorden woke.

He had decided on the rat fur bed, and it was luxury after the cage. He even had the room to himself for most of the night. He had heard Taf prowling briefly about the room, then nothing, the call of sleep overpowering after days in the discomfort of the cage. Even the nap of the previous afternoon had been of little help. That was possibly because it wasn't a real nap at all.

Now he felt somewhat more human: the bed soft beneath, his belly the fullest it had been since the house of the Kaedith. He also found that he was not alone, Taf lying snug against his back, now more scantily dressed than her usual. He cleared his throat and shifted slightly, the aestri moaning to wakefulness and smiling. Jorden rose and glanced about the cluttered room, scanning the shelves and boxes that were filled with Taf's trinkets, all the while wondering which of the multitude would place her in the wrath of the captain.

"You were warm," Taf said easily as she sprang to her feet, instantly alert. She was dressed only in loosely fitting wrap around her thighs, her top bare. Jorden looked away, now wishing it was a little darker in the room.

"I was surprised to find you there," he said as casually as he could manage. "You seemed to be out most of the night." He glanced toward her briefly. She definitely looked like a girl.

Taf nodded. "It was a night of such beauty I could not resist. It's seldom we have such nights this close to the Time of Darkness. The Katerina has left Thagul later than usual, and soon the days will darken. We will have to face high seas before this crossing is over." She stepped lightly to the makeshift table and filled a small bowl from a large copper jug that resembled a ship's lamp. She drank, then passed the bowl to Jorden.

He dared a sip. It was water, and not the best he'd tasted. He noticed with some relief that Taf had decided to casually dress herself. She snatched another simple skirt from where it hung, another strip of cloth to serve as a top, then a narrow band around her head. "I wished that I had something clean for you to wear," she said quietly, "but I haven't even much for myself ."

"I guess aestri don't need the luxury of clothing," Jorden said. "Aestri don't seem to deserve much at all."

"I don't need much, Jorden. It's too warm in the days of light. I would wear less except that the shipping masters say we would distract the crew – whether we are really women or not."

Jorden shook his head. "I don't get this place at all. You..." He paused uncomfortably. "You and the kaedith look like girls to me, and yet you're not supposed to be. Then there are other women that are really women..." He sighed heavily. "You look female to me." Without a great deal of modesty at that.

"I am female, silly, but I'm aestri first." Taf shrugged. "That seems simple enough. You've seen female pigs and horses and cows haven't you."

"That's a little different. You don't really look like a cow."

Taf shrugged again.

Jorden gazed to the ceiling, recalling all that he had learned, which was very little. "This world was built by an idiot. You have male races, female races... Must be great for population control. I don't suppose there's such a thing as a male aestri."

"Of course there is," Taf shot back, "or so I'm told. But they only live in the lands beyond the city barriers, and then only come out from their places of hiding during the Time of Darkness... and they have only their first form. There is an aestri in Saljid who claims to have seen one in her youth, but she is very old and her mind wanders. Perhaps it is only a myth."

"Damn," Jorden moaned. "I think I should go see if the captain has any work or something before this conversation kills me."

"You asked!" Taf rebuked. "Do you expect aestri to live beyond the city shields just to learn if there are truly males – to forsake the gift of Hura!"

"In our world we find that males are handy for reproduction. You seem to have conquered that."

"That's a problem of common man, not aestri."

"Are you coming on deck or not," Jorden asked again. "There must be more to life than sitting here in the hold arguing."

Taf shook her head. "I don't have the chance to argue very often, especially not with a man, even a young one like you." She moved toward the gap in the ceiling. "I'll show you the easy way up though, if that is what you want to do, but it would be best for you to be seen on deck alone. The crew might tease you if they see me come with you, but they won't think it strange if we meet later, perhaps."

II

Jorden attempted to memorize the twisting journey through the superstructure, while Taf warned him to keep the way secret. It was a crawl of several dozen paces along the hull, then a climb to a higher deck, then another narrow opening. He was going to find it very easy to keep secret.

It soon became quite bright, the two standing in the shadows of a narrow platform. "If you climb to that walk," Taf whispered, "then go aft to the stair at its end, you'll be on deck. Captain's quarters are three levels up at the stern, near the wheelhouse. You'll have to find Crew to take you there." She held briefly to his hand, and smiled. "I will find you later in the day, and remember that you have my bed to sleep in."

"I can hardly forget that." The first decent night's sleep in days.

Taf turned then and slipped quietly into the shadows, Jorden moving on as he had been instructed.

The open deck was somewhat bright after the hold of the Katerina, and it was some time before Jorden realized that the day was actually quite overcast, the flare-sun barely visible amongst the cloud. The salty wind stung his squinting eyes as he attempted to look out over the rolling horizon. But the sea was calm and the sails billowed lazily in the moderate breeze, and the crew moved slowly, apparently with little to keep them very busy. Many looked toward the slice of land that lay in haze to starboard, one of the last glimpses they would get before Saljid, unless they sailed near the Castle Isles. Tomorrow they might see the cliffs of Cape Twellin.

It was at this point in time that Jorden realized how bad the ship really looked. His first few glimpses from the cage were hardly preparation. It was a real pile of junk, a mass of timber strung together, then, as an afterthought, used as a vessel of the sea. The all but open decks above him seem to simply sit there awaiting something better, ready to jump overboard if the chance arose. And the outrigger he could see had to be a late addition. It looked like another smaller ship that had dared sail to close and was snared within the web of the Katerina, destined to sail with her until her final voyage.

That was probably the one he was on now.

Jorden crossed the decking to the outer rail and looked over the irregular conglomeration of rope and timber that held the outrigger in place, his home suddenly more distant than it had ever been. "This is just great," he murmured, and hung his head.

It was some time before Jorden was approached by one of the crew, a tall man that was well endowed with a grey stubble to match his fading hair. At least this one seemed brighter than the only other member of the crew that Jorden had met so far, and he stood his ground and tried not to look nervous. He was essentially an escaped prisoner after all. "Been wondering when you might turn up," the seaman said. "We had a quick look round for you at first light, then gave it in. Figured you'd either show when you were ready or that you'd swam for shore." He chuckled.

"I don't swim that well," Jorden tried a smile as he glanced to the distant shoreline, a few hilltops that had to be several kilometres to the... He paused and attempted to find his bearings. The flare-sun was now climbing in the white skies to starboard of the Katerina and would set to port – that made it east, he assumed.

"You'd soon be dragon-fodder, or worse," the seaman laughed. "Anyways captain wants to see you now. She might well let you stay out if you're lucky, and work for your keep." That would mean fresh green stew rather than day-old green stew, Jorden assumed.

He nodded. "Sure."

III

She didn't have a parrot or a hook on her left arm.

That was Jorden's first reaction to the captain, Sarisan Orani, otherwise she was just as about what he would have expected. If it was a pirate ship, perhaps.

She didn't really have a patch over one eye either, but the dark cloth she wore around her head came very close, and the scar on her cheek helped to fulfil the illusion.

There were four in the cluttered quarters of the sarisan captain, the two members of crew undoubtedly there to ensure Jorden did nothing he might regret. Such things were further from his mind than anything right then, he was already in enough trouble. In any case, Jorden was more interested in the artefacts and curious people that surrounded him.

Orani stood as they had entered, her face stern. Not unattractive, yet aged and scarred and somewhat weather-worn. The fingers of her right hand fondled a leather whip that was fixed to her metal studded and leather clad hip, her left was placed near to her broad-bladed knife. The sarisan also sported breasts, Jorden noticed, although they were well clad beneath her leather tunic. He wondered if it were a ill omen, the kaedith also had something of a breast whereas the aestri were given next to nothing... Of course it probably meant nothing at all.

"You are young and you don't look particularly dangerous," she began, her voice not particularly harsh, "but you are the prisoner of the kaedith, bound for the Council of Saljid. I am not sure I can allow you to wander about the ship as you please."

Jorden shrugged. "I can understand that. I'm sure that if you find a lock that the aestri can't pick..." He knew that he was being overly brave, yet in a world of dream it was sometimes difficulty to take things completely serious. And so far the crew and even the captain had seemed nice enough.

Indeed the captain smiled. "I doubt we have any of those. The aestri are difficult to restrain." She motioned toward an old, but ornate stool, the legs carved to figures of what looked like angels, the cloth cushion a work of art. "Please sit a moment, and perhaps we may resolve this. We have a journey of several weeks ahead, and I doubt that you would be in any condition to stand before the Council if left to rot in the hold until Saljid."

Jorden glanced to the stool and sat, Orani taking her place at her broad desk. "I'm not sure what I can say," Jorden returned as politely as he could manage, "this is all very new to me. I don't know very much about anything in this world, and I just hope this council of yours understands that. I just want to get home again." The captain gave a blank stare. "To my world," he added.

Orani continued staring. "Then your not of this world?" she moaned, Jorden shaking his head. "And your crime?"

He glanced to the two crew, noting the upward stare of one. He really didn't want to go there again. "I... I kissed the Kaedith Tsarin. That seems to be something of a major crime here."

The captain removed the cloth wrap from around her skull and smoothed her dark locks in thought. "I'm not sure I believe this," she muttered, then directed herself to the taller of the crew. "Did you know of this, Drey?"

The seaman, Drey, shook his head. "There was just a cage and coin for fare – and a shipping note that said he were bound for the Council. Though the Port-Master did say he were just Kaedith-bonded and not a murderer or the like." He shrugged. "He's just a lad, so we thought him unlikely to be dangerous anyways."

"Just a bit stupid," smiled the other of the crew.

"I'm sure," Orani droned. "Look..." The captain realized she had no more idea of his name than his origin. "You have a name?"

A nod. "Jorden Miles."

"As far as I am concerned, Jordenmiles, you may have the freedom of my ship while you are within my custody, as long as you don't interfere with the running of it, and there are bunks in the crew's quarters below if you wish for one" She paused and sighed. "But remember that you are Kaedith-bound, and must remain so. You will be turned over to the port authorities upon arrival in Saljid. I am bound to that by law, no matter how insignificant your crime may seem. Indeed even as an outsider you must realize by now that your action could well have led to great hardship."

Jorden had heard it all before, and the mention of it angered. He paused momentarily to keep calm, the captain hardly to blame. "Yes, so I've heard, and I'm willing to see this council if I must. It's probably the only chance I have of seeing home again. And I'm willing to work for my keep here, I'll scrub the decks or whatever you want me to do."

Orani frowned. "I've been given fair payment for your passage. The books balance and that is all that matters to the shipping masters. There's little work on the Katerina for the unskilled, and I have a good crew. Unless there is something particular you are skilled to perform..." Jorden shook his head. "Then it is settled. Of course if you wish to join in for the raising of sail perhaps..."

Jorden nodded absently. "I do tinker a little with engines and gearboxes... mechanical sorts of things, though I don't suppose there's much call for that here..."

Orani stared back again, then glanced toward a somewhat startled Drey...

IV

Taf gazed down amongst the tangle of shaft and gear, and to Jorden as he crouched somewhere within. "You didn't say you knew about machines," she chattered. "Hardly anyone I know understands machines. The crew patch the anchor windlass as best they can, but they always break again. This one has been broken since we left Saljid in the first day of the time of light. As soon as we passed the Point of..."

"Shut up, aestri," the first mate, Drey, said as he lowered himself into the winch-pit and stood on the massive notched pulley around which was looped the anchor chain before it went on further into a pit even further below. "Is this what you mean, lad?"

Jorden was standing deeper in the pit, perched precariously between sprockets and drive chains and greasy gears that could crush him in an instant if they were so inclined. He at least thought he had figured out how the anchor winch was supposed to work. That was a start. He glanced above to the pseudo-spanner that Drey held, hoping it would do the job. "Maybe," he said reservedly. "What I really need to do is find out what tools you actually have available here. What you really need to do is drop this bottom shaft out altogether and plate these mountings here." Drey struggled to gaze below. "If you welded plates here and here..."

"Aye, that's where it always breaks," Drey admitted, "but you'd have to weave a mighty heavy firespell to help any of that – and an immigrant thorian machine wizard I'm not."

"Spell, shit." Jorden mumbled to himself as he spread around more of the dark black grease on his forehead. "An arc welder would be a nice start."

Taf continued to sit upon the deck above, ever curious. "There's plenty of kadastone on board, and not just in cargo. Ship stores have lots."

"Stone, Taf," Jorden groaned. "Of course, why didn't I think of that. We could just chisel out a couple of new mountings and let them fossilize here for a few million years."

"The aestri's right, you know," Drey added. "And we've got plenty of iron."

Jorden gazed aloft in disbelief. "Witchcraft isn't exactly my line."

"Even I can work kadastone," Taf chuckled. "Enough to make fire, anyway. With all that is aboard Katerina, you could forge a dozen anchors. A man of machines should find a few small bars an easy task." The aestri considered Jorden in a new light. "That would make you Smith Class. You could get a really good job in Saljid. If the Council let you live..."

"Thanks Taf," Jorden interrupted. Again. "If this kadastone is so great then why haven't these mountings been fixed before?"

Drey shrugged. "Well you need a smith and some know-how to make the most of the flame, and to get some thorian to fix it professionally would cost a fair coinage. We use to have a fair smith with us, but he jumped ship in Ponomilo last..."

"Forget it," Jorden thumped his head against a shaft. "I'll need a few lumps of timber, and wire if you have it." He noted Drey's frown. "Rope then. I can patch in wooden bushes well enough to see the life of this tub. And that ratchet up there needs a spring."

Jorden was actually a little surprised when Drey gave a little salute and started barking orders for others to collect timber and rope. He couldn't really believe they were taking any notice of him. It was even more unbelievable that they hadn't been able to patch the winch better than the feeble effort he could see. He wondered how they kept the ship sailing at all.

He was sure he could do better anyway, and indeed it didn't seem all that hard to patch the winch. It didn't even seem to take that long, a couple of hours at most. When he finally climbed from the pit the crew leaned hard on the capstan. Jorden crossed his fingers and watched the windlass turn and drag the remainder of the slack in the anchor chain. The ratchet clicked nicely, even though the spring wasn't exactly what should have been used. It actually worked. He was almost as amazed as Drey and Taf.

Jorden wondered how long the winch would last. Judging by the condition of the ship he had a feeling that it would outlast the Katerina...

V

For the rest of the day, Jorden created a leather seal for a freshwater pump, fixed the ships back-up compass – an imported device that used a small oil flame and a set of clockwork spinning mirrors – and was called to replace several lamp-wicks. By then the flare-sun was falling into the sea in the west. The red flare-moon appeared almost instantly on the opposite horizon.

What little land there had been in the east, or at the fourth radial by ship's compass, was now well past. Now there was nothing. Jorden lay exhausted on the deck not far from the mainmast, gazing into a dark and starless sky, or what he could see of it amongst the tangle of rope and mast and sail.

"You look tired," Taf said brightly as she squashed another cockroach that dared scuttle too close. Jorden groaned in response. "You should go to bed before you fall asleep on deck. Captain will have the best bed on the Katerina ready for you after today. A smith of sorts, and a clever one too. If you can just learn kadastone you could rival the best that Thoria has to offer."

"Lamp-wicks," he grumbled. "I can't believe people on this ship can't fix a stupid lamp wick." Actually she suspected they could, but it was likely a tedious job they preferred was done by others.

"You could be lots of things in Saljid..."

"And I could have fixed that winch ratchet before I could walk."

"Really?"

Jorden shook his head. "I was trying to make a point, Taf."

The aestri stared blankly for some time. "On what?" she said at last.

"Are you really that stupid?" Jorden wondered aloud, "or is it your job in this nightmare to drive me insane."

Taf frowned. "You're being mean to me."

The outsider propped himself on his elbows and gazed toward the only friend he was sure of at the moment, although Drey seemed pleasant enough. "I get that way when I'm tired, and I've had all I can take when it comes to job opportunities. Back home I probably couldn't get a job no matter what I tried, and here I'll never get a chance to work because this council of witches will probably throw me to the sea-dragons. Even if they don't it will mean that I'll have a selection of jobs that I don't really want because I'd rather just be home again."

A nod was returned. "You really miss your home. It must be so hard for you." Her voice was smooth and soothing, and Jorden knew she was truly concerned.

"You only really seem to miss it when it's out of reach," he said thoughtfully. "Home is where the heart is."

Then from Taf:

Home is heart and distant shore,

where life is lived to full reward.

And where young purr, and wander blind.

Far set from tooth and darkness' horde.

In safe surround, with friend and kin,

is all the lowly know to need.

For those of new, the young of here,

suffer not the thirst of greed.

Jorden simply stared. "Wow," was all he could manage to say in return. He hadn't really expected that sort of thing from Taf. Then he reminded himself that he didn't really know her all that well.

"Home is where you are," Taf smiled, "but also where you wish to be. I would like to be at the side of Aestri Pandora and Midnight and Hambone, and Burgo Kaeina – and I will be soon. I hope that you can be where you wish again, and I would stand before Hura herself and plea for your passage to the Beyond. I know how loneliness can be; the fretting for your own kind.

"When I was young it seemed the voyages lasted forever, and there were none but men and dirge, yet now..." She shrugged and breathed deep and cool night air. "Now I can't imagine another life."

Jorden wondered if it was suddenly some other Taf sitting nearby. At times she seemed like someone his own age, and actually a lot younger, but then at other times her real age was a lot more obvious. "You really are thirty, aren't you, Taf," he said at last. "You sound like my mother sometimes. I'm glad that you'll be with your friends, and I'll be with what friends I have." All one of them. "There aren't many that I get along with back home anyway." Certainly none that were as close as Taf now seemed.

"And I never really thought that you read poetry," Jorden added. "To tell the truth I wasn't even sure you could even read. The way things are here I didn't think aestri would be allowed anything like an education." Of course it was more likely a memory, a _song_ learned by word and mouth. He had to remember that this was not like his own world.

Taf shrugged and squashed another cockroach, then surprised him again. "Midnight taught me how to read when I was very young, not long out of... childhood. But books are not easy for aestri to come by, and so I read very little of what others have written." She shrugged again. "And so I write my own songs. I know that I do not write well, but I tell of what I see and know and hear from others, and the aestri and burgo of Saljid enjoy the tales and rhymes. That's all that matters to me."

"You write your own?" Jorden blurted, the aestri quick to hush him.

"Don't yell," Taf rebuked. "The seaman will hear you. If they knew that I did such things, then..." She paused to think. "I do not want them to know." Then she sprang to her feet. "Come, I'll show you."

VI

It was dark in Taf's hideaway after the deck, the red glow of the flare-moon barely making the journey through the ducts and passages. Jorden could only guess what the aestri was doing as she dragged the book from beneath her bed.

"That's nice Taf," Jorden said as the aestri proudly displayed her work. "It is a shame I can't even see it."

Taf hissed a breath and slammed the book. "I wonder sometimes why men were given eyes at all. They work only in the brightest of light and the rest of the time they are blind."

Jorden felt suddenly very inadequate. He had always prided himself on having quite reasonable night vision. "I'm sorry Taf. I'd really love to see... If we had a lamp perhaps..."

He had no idea where Taf had stolen the lamp from, but it certainly brightened the tiny room of the aestri and it had not taken her long to acquire it. The _room_ suddenly had a much more wholesome and homely feel. "That's better," Jorden said, and his companion agreed. If her friend was happy then so was she.

The book was displayed again. The cover read: _Log of the Gordon Masters ship, the Katerina_ , but within was the verse and tales of Aestri Finesilver. The aestri caught the gaze of her new friend as he looked at the cover.

"They have more copies of the ship's log than they can use," she said in her defence. "Nothing of importance ever happens on the Katerina. I doubt that they ever notice that a few have gone missing from stores."

"But not the sort of thing you'd like the captain to see, I suppose," Jorden returned. Taf shook her head.

He scanned the many pages of the huge volume and was impressed the small elegant script that crammed each page. It was even in a language he understood. He hadn't really thought about such things very much, but of course the people of the Domain spoke the same language as he did, so it all made sense. He looked back to the page. The aestri's writing hand put his own to shame, and he dared not think how many words of text were set down in the thick log. There were also undoubtedly other such volumes.

There were perhaps ten short pieces of verse on the page he now read, and though some were not altogether memorable, there were some that were quite good. Good in Jorden's mind at least, and that meant that he enjoyed reading them. Whether they had any literary merit didn't mean all that much to Jorden if he couldn't understand it. Then there was a tale of the Katerina's voyage to the lands of the distant north, a risky passage that took the crew near to the edge of the Domain.

_Edge_ , Jorden wondered. In such worlds of fantasy the edge could quite easily be a literal one, as in something the Katerina could fall off of. He thought to ask the aestri, then reconsidered. Jorden was not all that sure he wanted to know.

Then he came upon another, and he read it aloud...

In dimmer days before the Law

Of Common Man indeed I saw,

A time of legend vast and strange;

A time of wonder, peace, yet change.

For then the aestri ruled the land

With flocks of burgo close at hand.

The Empress ruled from emerald throne,

No evil thought would she condone,

For she was truth and lived it well

From misty height to deepest dell.

And life was free and filled with ease,

No bloody war, no foul disease.

Then Common Man was close at hand

And dirge approached from distant Land,

And they sought power over those of old:

The aestri wise and burgo bold.

Then Kaedith rose to split the land

To days of light and dark so bland.

In such time fell the kin of old

As many tales have surely told.

And now the lands are as you see,

For that's the way of destiny.

Yet still one day such things may change,

The law of land again...

The last word was difficult to read. To Jorden it looked as if Taf had first written _rearranged_ , then crossed it out. There were several other words scrawled nearby.

He looked to the smiling aestri in awe. "Is this true?" he said in a hushed voice. He had always thought the Domain of Hura Ghiana was a little odd.

Taf gazed toward him, still smiling, and raised her eyebrow. Then she shook her head. "Of course not silly, can you imagine the aestri as rulers of the land? All of my friends liked it though, and we laughed when I first read it last dark. But you read it better than I do."

The aestri sat close to Jorden on the bed as he continued to hold the book, his eye returned to the page, the small lamp swinging slowly above. "There are legends of the time before Hura," she went on, "but there are few who believe all of them. They tell of dark days that are not like the land we know, and I think there was a lot of death and fighting... And there were no ships then. I would not have liked to live in a time when there were no ships," Taf said quietly, "or second forms."

"Hmm?" Jorden murmured questioningly as he read more.

Taf thought a moment and sniffed. "Nothing. I just love the Katerina and would hate to be without her..."

Jorden nodded as he listened to the sweet tones of her voice. He read on for some time, gaining an insight into the mind of the aestri. It all seemed difficult to believe, as difficult as the magic of the kaedith itself. He had met a young girl dressed in rags the day before, a girl who seemed to have to work hard to simply survive, and now...

Jorden closed the book and put it aside, he was too tired for any sustained reading tonight, and turned to the aestri who crouched at his side. Her tiny face glowed in the light of the lamp, her soft smile barely creasing her smooth cheeks. He had only known the aestri for two days, yet already he felt she was a close friend. There was something between them, something too insubstantial for words, yet it was there.

He smiled wearily in return. He really needed some sleep.

It was simply friendship, Jorden told himself. He liked Taf a lot and she liked him. But he had only met her the day before. He had made a near-fatal error once before in the Domain – not a mistake he should make twice.

He made the mistake anyway.

Her moist cherry lips were close and smiling sweetly. He approached slowly and kissed, regretting it immediately. Like the kaedith he had kissed earlier in the dream, the aestri remained unmoved as their lips touched, and like the kaedith she turned away a moment later. Unlike the kaedith, however, Taf didn't throw him to the floor and put a knife to his throat, she just sat with her eyes lowered, her smile vanquished.

Jorden rebuked himself within, and backed to his original position. He was not doing well in the Domain on a social level.

Then Taf gazed into his eye. She was no longer happy, indeed a small tear trickled upon her cheek. The tear surprised Jorden and he frowned. "I thought you liked me Jorden," she said quietly. "I really did."

He continued to frown. "Well I do," he said, and he did. Then he had difficulty in thinking of anything else he could possibly say. "I like you a lot, Taf. I'm just tired and not thinking straight." The aestri simply stared. "I shouldn't have kissed you." He felt terrible. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Taf. After the kaedith he really should have known better. This world just wasn't like home.

"Just be my friend, Jorden," she said a little less quietly. "A man should not need to do that sort of thing, not even those who are drunk and have not seen a woman in many weeks. I thought we were friends, and thought that you could share my room, but..."

"I'm sorry Taf," Jorden interrupted, "I really am. I'm just really tired. It's been a long day. It won't happen again, ever. I can promise you that." Twice bitten, Jorden thought. "If you want me to sleep elsewhere then I'll understand, I wouldn't want me here either..."

Jorden was indeed tired. He stood up and thought to return to his cage, wondering if the crew had perhaps thrown the stinking monstrosity to the sea-dragons. It would be hard to go back after the night in Taf's bed.

But Taf found a little of her smile. "You can still sleep here, silly," she said. "And you are a man and can do as you wish. I was... I shouldn't have..."

"I just need some sleep," Jorden promised. "And I should have learned not to do stupid things like that by now. Especially after the kaedith. I just can't do anything right, not even in this nutty world." Her smile was a touch brighter. "Why don't you read me some of your poetry while I drift off to sleep." He relaxed back the rat pelt quilt, hopeful that it was the end of it all.

And Taf quietly reached for the ship's log book...

### Chapter 9 – Katerina IV

When the storms begin they tear the soul,

for the sheltered ports are far away.

Then bows pitch low and hulls will roll,

and Dark has come to stay.

I

Taf was her bright and cheerful self the next morning, and Jorden was hungry. He remembered that he hadn't eaten the night before.

He glanced sleepily toward the aestri as she bounced around the _room_ , humming to herself and tidying her meagre abode, and he recalled the kiss. Jorden hoped that Taf had forgotten the incident. He doubted he would for quite a while. He had been just as surprised by the action of the aestri as he had by that of the kaedith, yet in the case of Taf he should have known better. Never take anything for granted in a nightmare.

At least Taf hadn't been tempted to cut his throat, he thought again, but she was hurt, deeply hurt by the kiss. Jorden couldn't imagine why, and he was sure he would never understand the Domain.

He sighed and rose, wishing he had some clothes to change into. He also wished there was something to eat. "I'm hungry," he said without thinking. "I was so tired last night that I completely forgot about eating."

Taf just laughed. It was good to hear her laugh. "I thought you would wake hungry," she said. "I ate during the night after you went to sleep." The aestri frowned playfully. "You didn't stay awake for me to read even two small lines." At least she didn't mention the kiss.

And she forwarded a plate of meat, or more accurately a board of meat, and Jorden accepted it readily. He had first had to deal with the abundant fruit of the kaedith's table, with the odd meal in the village of Tucaar, then the green stew of the ship. Now it was the meat-only diet of the aestri, it seemed. He would have to next see what the captain would provide him now that he was such an important member of crew.

The meat smelled reasonable. It was covered in a dark sauce and garnished with some form of herb, but it remained quite obviously raw. Jorden glanced again to the smiling face of Taf. After the incident of the previous evening, he could hardly refuse her generous breakfast. It was probably food she would have eaten herself.

He dared a bite. It was a tough red meat, and the sauce was somewhat bitter, but it was not a bad meal, although a little much for breakfast, perhaps. It certainly filled a void that had existed. "That wasn't too bad, Taf," he said truthfully enough as he finished. "I'm not one that usually eats raw meat, so..."

"I know," Taf shrugged. "You will have to eat with the crew this evening, or perhaps we can have a private meal with Johnathon. Sometimes he eats alone, and he could bring extra for you. Captain lets him do as he pleases."

Jorden passed the piece of timber back to Taf. "Johnathon?" he echoed.

"The ship's doctor, silly. Didn't I tell you about him before." She watched the man slowly shake his head. "See! I don't talk too much. If I did then you would know. Johnathon often talks to me. He's the nicest of the men aboard the Katerina. There are a few others, and one dirge that isn't too bad, but Johnathon is best."

More surprises, Jorden thought, now she was a friend of the Katerina's medical officer. "You'll have to introduce me sometime," he said casually.

Taf nodded. "Of course I will, but later. First we must climb the rigging to watch the passing of the cliffs of Cape Twellin, and then there may be machines for you to fix..."

Jorden swallowed uneasily.

II

He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. It was a long way down and the deck was very hard and solid. There wouldn't be much to scrape up if he fell.

Jorden clung firmly to what remained of the mainmast. On the deck it was a massive piece of timber, but above the topsail there was not a lot left. And Taf wanted to go higher!

The aestri compromised and sat on a brace just above Jorden's head, one hand casually upon a nearby rope, the wind whipping her hair against her cheek. "I told you it was beautiful," she said. "The cliffs are so white and tall. I'm glad that it was clear today and not raining."

Jorden nodded and tried not to look down. He did. The sails were taut beneath, the wind strong, the ropes and timbers creaking noisily. Other sails were hung above. He tried to keep calm, wondering how the aestri had talked him into the climb. He knew it was the guilt from the previous day.

The deck seemed a thousand metres below, but it wasn't, and the Katerina almost seemed small as it sliced through the slight pea-green seas. He concentrated on the cliffs. "Do you come here often," he said to busy his mind. If he thought too much more about the height he was worried he would pass out.

Taf jumped from the brace above. Jorden jerked in turn, his heart suddenly in his mouth, and he grunted in horror. Yet the aestri landed safely on the boom of the topsail, her hand reaching for a convenient rope. "Damn...Taf," Jorden groaned.

She chuckled. "I forget you are not a man of the sea. If you have seen enough then we can go down." Taf wasn't stupid. She had seen many of the crew on the rigging, and she knew fear. She also knew how difficult it would be to get Jorden back to the deck it he panicked and froze.

"In a little while," Jorden returned. "Wait until I recover from that jump of yours. You scared the shit out of me."

Taf laughed again. "I come here all the time, and I know the rigging as well as any of the crew. I usually climb to the tresseltree or the boom of the skysail to watch the cliffs."

"This is high enough," Jorden said. "We'll get short on air if we climb any higher."

The aestri snorted as a reply.

III

Jorden Miles enjoyed meeting the ship's doctor much more than Taf's tour of the rigging.

He was a tall quiet man, built much like Jorden himself, his hair already speckled with grey, the stubble of his chin still visible even though it was well shaven. And today he wore a white short sleeved safari suit that would have merged quite well into Jorden's world a few decades past. Jorden later discovered that Johnathon always wore such a suit and had dozens of sets.

Johnathon was also pleasant and well educated, as one would expect of a doctor, and unlike most of the crew he called Taf by name. He also invited the two for lunch within his relatively spacious quarters, which were a series of rooms that adjoined the infirmary, and obviously knew Taf quite well...

"Took you up on the rigging, I'll wager," the doctor had said not long after the introductions were given. "She tried that with me on my first voyage, but I don't go any higher than the bridge except in the case of risk to life and limb of the crew... Protected by shipping regulations, thank Hura." He flashed a broad smile.

Taf frowned, prompting Johnathon to laughter. "But she is not a bad thing," he added when he could, "as long as you keep a careful eye on the stores. She's stolen over five brand new logbooks over the years, but only Hura knows what she does with them."

The jaw of the aestri dropped in horror, the doctor laughing again. "I just hope you make good use of them. I've told the captain I borrowed them for my own notes." Jorden chuckled as well.

They sat together in a small sitting room of the doctor, a window looking out from the stern nearby, Jorden comforted to see the ocean was not a mile below and to have a firm floor beneath his feet. It was a well furnished room: the chairs were intricately carved, the table was polished until it glowed, maps and diagrams hung upon the walls, and shelves were filled with books nearby. Books with titles that Jorden could actually read, he had noticed, although the titles remained a little odd. One had read _Guide to Pulmonary Atrophy and Nerve Death_.

"She writes poetry," Jorden said to Taf's horror. "Great verse with some interesting local legends mixed in."

Johnathon shook his head, ignoring Taf's mumbled rage. "You should have told me you little fleabag, I can get you as many books and pieces of paper as you want. I never would have guessed, although I had a feeling there was more to you than met the eye. You'll have to bring some of your work and show me one day." The aestri nodded. She was still frowning but she nodded. "All these years and I didn't know you could even read. Have you plenty to write with?"

Taf nodded again. "I borrowed some of your quills, but I'm almost out of ink..."

"Well don't leave without it," he smiled. Then a sigh. "And you are from the world beyond the line at Thagul I hear," the doctor directed toward Jorden. "I've only met a few who were not of the Domain. Travel between shards is not all that common these days. There are said to be several Morgonians living in Saljid, and Thorians, of course." He laughed softly. "I have met a few Thorians, but they don't really count."

Jorden found that he liked the doctor the moment they had met. It was nice to see someone treat the aestri as a near-human. "Yeah. I'm not sure why I'm here, and it's certainly not what I'm used to."

"Strange things happen around the transition lines," Johnathon admitted, "and the planer line, of course. At present it seems that you can simply walk straight into Julis Katari, but unless you're prepared for the change of scale then you're in for a shock." The doctor calculated mentally. "If you came in around Thagul then..." He paused to think some more. "That would be Tasmania, right?"

Jorden grunted in surprise. "You know about Tasmania!"

The doctor smiled and shook his head. "Not really. Only that it's somewhere near Thagul. Most entries from your world are made through the Florida Anomaly or the big hole in the Atlantic Line, but only a few of the Florida entries ever live very long. And their ships usually sink," he added thoughtfully. "Ships like the Katerina, come through on Long Bay from Thoria, of course. Very deliberate and at great expense.

"As for accidental arrivals..." Johnathon shrugged. "Every hundred cycles or so there will be one who will come through the Atlantic hole. A lot of them go mad, they say, and speak in some incomprehensible language. That's if it's even a really a language at all. Hura sends those back that she can." He paused briefly. "But you don't appear to be going mad, young Jorden."

"Not yet," he returned slowly. "But I think I can understand why some do. It's an odd world here compared to where I'm from."

"You are a bit silly sometimes," Taf put in. "Perhaps that is the start of going mad?"

IV

Jorden enjoyed lunch, the doctor having access to the best of the ship's stores – bottled fruits, fresh grains, well preserved meats – and all would have been well if it were not for the coming of the first mate.

Drey had obviously come for other reasons. Johnathon had already hinted that several of the crew had _picked something up_ during the recent shore leave, most likely from some of the local professional women. But once Drey saw Jorden Miles he lost confidence and suddenly remembered that several pieces of apparatus were demanding Jorden's attention.

Jorden had been happy before that. It wasn't so much the thought of the work, it was just a fear that it was likely to be another list of trivial items like lamp wicks or something equally as pathetic.

He actually enjoyed most of the jobs once he got started, it was just difficult to get motivated. Taf was actually a big help, a technical assistant to an other-worldly mechanic, and the afternoon went well. Firstly another winch, another geared capstan really, that was used to raised a boom amongst the rigging, a boom that had been left in a fixed position all season. It was another piece of imported machinery that few in the Domain, or at least aboard the Katerina, seemed capable of understanding, much less repairing. Then there was another pump, then a rather odd rowlock on one of the landing-boats, then an strange musical instrument owned by one of the crew.

Jorden couldn't fix the accordion-like instrument. When he finally worked out how to open the case, it came apart all too easily, and a conglomeration of internal organs spilled out onto the surface of the table that Jorden was currently working above. Jorden was briefly worried about that, but then the thing hadn't worked in years and he could hardly be expected to fix everything.

It was later discovered that the owner of the instrument had not been aboard the Katerina for the last two cycles anyway and nobody else had the slightest idea how to play the whatever-it-was-called anyway.

As the end of the day approached, Jorden was again quite weary, but he remembered to eat. It amounted to little more than a couple of bread rolls he snatched from the crew's mess while passing by, but it would be enough after the filling lunch. He could have eaten with Johnathon and the captain and her officers, yet it was not a place where aestri were welcome, and though he liked Johnathon he preferred the company of Taf to the rest of the crew.

The aestri had a few slivers of fish for him in her room when he arrived there, so the meal was not all that meagre in the end.

Then there was a Finesilver recital, the aestri choosing some of her better pieces. There was a lot that Jorden was unsure of, many of the beasts and peoples unknown to him, yet he knew of enough to enjoy her first reading. He was actually quite glad to learn that the Domain was full of familiar animals like the goat and the sheep, and plenty of cattle. Then there were fettles and kabdah. Jorden hoped they were friendly, or at least cute and cuddly.

She paused after three lengthy pieces for a drink and a rest. Jorden was becoming quite relaxed and sleepy by then. It was quiet, the Katerina more behaved than usual, and the lamp was lit. Taf looked at her best in lamp-light, but then the aestri's trim lines seldom looked bad. "I'm sorry about last night," He eventually said. It had been on his mind all day. He knew it was not great conversation, but it had to be said.

Taf's smile was gone in a flash. She wasn't upset, just not particularly happy. She had obviously hoped the matter would be forgotten. Her eyes turned away. "You don't have to apologize," she said softly. "I've been silly, I know that. I've been alone for weeks, then suddenly I have a friend. I was almost thinking of you as another aestri. I've been told not to undress in front of men, but I forgot that you were a man. That sounds silly, I know."

Jorden shook his head. "You're not silly, and that wasn't the problem. You look great in clothes anyway," he tried to joke. "There's just something about you, Taf. In three days I feel like... Well, I like you a lot, Taf, and that might sound silly too, but it's true."

She frowned, her gaze intense, her words sharp. "Well that is no way to treat a friend. Next you will want to lay all over me and pant." She was direct, Jorden thought, if nothing else she was direct. "You just want to hurt me like the rest of them."

That stumped Jorden. He wasn't exactly sure he knew what she meant. Or wanted to know. "Ah... No. Not really." What others, he wondered. The eye of the aestri seemed to moisten. "What the hell are you talking about? Who hurt you?"

"Men," she mumbled, "Crew." Taf curled into the corner of the bed, her back against the wall. "They miss their women on long voyages, and they are sometimes drunk. An aestri can look a lot like a woman at such times." An aestri could look like a woman to Jorden any time, he thought to himself.

He remained quiet and listened instead. "It doesn't happen very often, and usually it is just one, and it is often that ugly one called Kavan, and then there are the ones who sometimes throw me overboard. Once they tied my hands and I thought I'd drown..." She was side-tracked as usual, but Jorden kept his mouth shut and waited patiently for her to return to the subject at hand. "They hold me down and... Do things. It's not nice, Jorden. I'm glad that I'm not a woman."

Jorden found that he was shaking. "Where I come from that sort of thing is against the law. You just show me this Kavan and I'll..."

The aestri looked into the eye of the outsider. Her cheeks were a little moist, yet she seemed calm for one that had put up with who knew what sort of abuse. "I'm only aestri, Jorden, not a woman. Laws protect women against attack but they only protect the lives of aestri. And Kavan is twice as large as you. He would easily kill you, and nothing would be thought of it. You are only a prisoner."

She should have been a lot more distressed by it all, Jorden knew that. He also knew why she wasn't. In this world it was all probably just part of life. She was only an aestri after all. "This is a hell of a world at times, Taf," was all he could think to say.

Jorden knew his own world was just as bad in places. But here the aestri seemed overly disadvantaged. This world had everything screwed up. The aestri were given a female form, but no-one had bothered to provide a male of the species, and they were left at the bottom of the social ladder. If all of this was the doing of Hura Ghiana, then the old lady must be more screwed up than her world. But then it was all supposed to be a much less habitable place before the witch-god came along. He wondered how bad that must have been.

"It's not like that, Taf." Jorden tried to sound positive. "Not between people who care about each other." She didn't seem overly assured. "Real women wouldn't put up with that sort of thing." Although he wasn't sure if that was the case in this twisted world.

Taf frowned a moment, yet she gave a little ground. "I know. But men have to be nice to women, that's the law. They don't have to be nice to aestri."

"Well there won't be any of that stuff going on while I'm here. Not until they kill me, at least." Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

V

For the next few days all went quite well for Jorden anyway. He continued to spend a lot of his time in Taf's room, had several meals of the raw red meat, and remained friends. The outsider also sat for meals at the captain's table, but the food was not all that much better. Perhaps he was getting used to raw meat. There were times when Jorden wondered where Taf's seemingly fresh meat came from, and he thought to ask. Some was fish, that much he was sure of, but the rest was too red. Sea-dragon perhaps. He decided not to ask.

And he tried to be extra careful around Taf, with what he said and did. She was happy and he didn't want to do anything to change that, but the happier she was, the more attractive she became.

Of course the day quickly came when something rather horrifying came to the mind of Jorden Miles. It was something that made the nightmare both a little easier and a hell of a lot harder. Before that point there was nothing that could have stopped him from leaving the hell he was stuck in, and even after the point of realization he still had every intention of leaving. Yet for the first time he actually felt it may be difficult to go.

He was falling for the aestri.

It was becoming a friendship he doubted he could live without. He had never had a friend he could speak so freely with. In the last few days he had found himself discussing his most guarded thoughts, thoughts that would have remained hidden from most people. Unfortunately his closest friend lived in a nightmare. She would never survive long in his strange world, indeed from the words of the kaedith he doubted Taf could even exist beyond the line of transition.

But there had to be a way.

Jorden couldn't really say, _I love you, Taf_. That would complicate matters even more. And he was not even seventeen while Taf was supposed to be at least thirty. That was just too weird. Maybe it was all just because he was alone in a big strange world, a world where he didn't really want to start something that would have to finish all too soon when he had to head for home.

Who was he kidding. That could take forever. He still had the council to face, and if they let him live then he still had to find someone who knew something about green crystals and he still had to make his way back to Thagul. None of that would happen soon. There was the hole in the Atlantic that Johnathon had spoke of, yet it would be even more difficult getting home from the United States, or wherever the other line lead too, than returning to Thagul...

Jorden gave up and thumped his head against a wall.

At the time of him doing this he was again sitting on the bed in the hiding place of the Aestri Finesilver, and she turned from her book of poetry that she had just been adding to. It was a quiet day, now some seven or eight days since their meeting, and Drey had run short of jobs for the Jorden. It was raining on deck as well, and although the flare-sun was high in the overcast sky, it remained quite dim.

The aestri had hung her hammock from the beams above in preparation for the rough weather of the coming few weeks, and now she laid within. "Are you all right, Jorden." It seemed silly to her for anyone to deliberately bang their head on a solid timber crate. "Going mad after all," she smiled.

"Something like that," Jorden returned. "This world is going to drive me mad eventually."

The aestri seemed to take him seriously. "I hope not," she said quietly, "for I like you the way you are, Jorden."

_I love you just the way you are too, Taf_ , he thought, and smiled. Then he spoke aloud. "I like you the way you are, and I don't think I'm going mad just yet. I just wish that things were a little different here."

Taf cocked her head. "Wish what was different?" She closed her book. It was nicer to talk than write.

The outsider shrugged. "I wish I wasn't trapped in this dream. I wish that I didn't have to face this council." But they were the least of his current concerns, and he decided to voice the worst of it. "I wish that I could say that I loved you..."

"Jorden!" Taf snapped back angrily. He knew she would, but he was sick of pretending. "You shouldn't say that. Everyone will think you are really mad and you will never get a job in Saljid! A man shouldn't love an aestri, it isn't right, women are for men to love. I don't love you, Jorden," she then said stiffly. "You are just a friend, a very silly friend."

Jorden smiled. "Thanks Taf. That is exactly what I need to hear. I'm beginning to think really strange things like: _Do I really want to go home and leave this nightmare_ and _How will I survive without the nutty Aestri Finesilver_." He paused and studied the face of his friend and the crease of her brow. "I'll miss you." It was likely they would be separated soon enough. He really had to accept that. He was certain it would happen, and if not by the Council then by his return home.

Taf was quiet. She stared for some time, her head twitching slightly. It was unlike the aestri to be so quiet. She was rarely at a loss for words and even if she could not say something meaningful she would say something that wasn't. But her words were a long time in coming. "I will miss you too, Jorden," she said at last, and she sniffed.

Indeed she knew that tears were near. She had rarely left the side of the man in the few days they had known each other. She was happy to help him with whatever duty Drey would give him. It had made her life a lot more interesting. "I will miss you very much," she went on. "I have never had a friend like you, not a friend that was a man. Johnathon is nice, but..." Taf slid from the hammock and came to the bed, sitting uneasily at Jorden's side, her hand coming lightly upon his cheek. He was warm and kind...

"I have a few friends amongst the aestri and the burgo, but not as many as I would like to think. Midnight says that I will never come of age, that I will always behave like a... like a child. The others listen to her and think that I am a silly aestri." Then she smiled. "But you like me the way I am, don't you? You don't want me to change?"

Jorden shook his head. "I love you just the way you are," and he added, "you little fleabag," for good measure.

She hugged him. It was a firm embrace. "I love you too, Jorden, I really do."

Well that was different, Jorden thought to himself. Very different. Something wasn't altogether right, but he wasn't sure he wanted to change it either. Life was getting more and more complicated...

VI

Jorden Miles forgot about his plan to throw Kavan to the sea-dragons at least. It was not a plan that would have changed the Domain. It would have made him feel better, though. He decided instead that he would just rarely leave the side of Taf. He had a feeling that Kavan would not wish to be caught with the aestri. If the rest of the crew – those _normal_ men and dirge who were not interested in the ship's aestri – were to find out, then they might well throw him overboard in disgust themselves and therefore save Jorden the risk of severe injury.

There were soon other matters for Jorden to worry over in any case as days past. The Katerina was well over halfway to Saljid and the weather had turned for the worst. Everyone's mind began to turn to matters of survival, and deck duties were performed with such in mind.

And by then Jorden had become very close to Taf.

He spent most of his time when not fixing things on the Katerina in Taf's makeshift quarters. As the weather worsened that was more and more time. He had fixed most of the easy things, and now the crew had other things to worry about. Unless there was some critical failure, Jorden was left to his own devices.

He and Taf also shared the comfort of the rat fur bed most nights. Jorden found her warm and soft and close. Jorden refrained from kissing or anything he thought would upset the aestri for many such nights, but Taf herself was less and less restrained. Until there came a time when Jorden kissed and she responded eagerly, her bare flesh against his own, their limbs entwined.

Something was again very wrong, Jorden knew, or very right. He knew then for certain that this was someone he never wished to be parted from, someone he could indeed spend the rest of his life with. That was both joy and yet it brought with it all too difficult thoughts.

Jorden was too far from home. He tried not to even think of home, for several reasons. He worried too much about the panic his mother must have been going through by now. She had probably given him up for dead. It had been weeks... He wasn't even sure how many weeks.

But then he had to return – had to try. And that would mean leaving Taf, at least for a time until he could sort out life and reality. Again he pushed such thoughts deep into a corner of his mind.

Taf was there and eager. It was their time, their moment. Jorden forgot the difficulties of life and the future and lost himself within the warm embrace and ecstasy of Aestri Finesilver.

VII

Although now very close in private, Jorden and Taf remained careful on deck or elsewhere on the Katerina, the aestri keeping a polite distance from her dearest friend. Someone now who was more than just friend.

Not that Jorden was on deck very often as the Katerina drew closer to the port of Saljid, and for several days he was not in the best of health. Johnathon helped as he could, yet there was little he could do. Jorden would simply need to become accustomed to the rough seas they now plied.

And those seas became steadily more rough with each passing day, and the rain fell heavily. At least to Jorden it was rough. From what he caught of the chat amongst the crew, far worse was yet to come, and most were not pleased that they had been delayed in Thagul for so long. Now had to face the coming of the Time of Darkness while still well out from port. If this is what the Time of Darkness was about, Jorden thought, then he wanted nothing to do with it, and it was certainly something to be feared.

As Saljid drew closer and the sea became more violent. Taf was calm, of course, she was used to such things. She trusted the Katerina like she would a mother... if she had a mother, Jorden wondered. In truth, Taf trusted the Katerina a lot more than her mother, and perhaps loved it more as well. But her unknown mother would probably live longer. Jorden was oblivious to all of that for the moment.

Then, when they were still some seven days out from their destination, the sheltered port of Saljid, Taf also became concerned, the Katerina's life perhaps shorter than she had thought. Taf's concern made Jorden a more than a little worried, although it was difficult to become more worried than he was.

That stormy evening the Katerina began to list badly, and that was not the worst of it by a long way.

The problem was a mechanical one...

### Chapter 10 – Katerina V

Seas roar,

Dragon's bite and breath.

Hulls split, masts break;

Crews left to Death.

I

Jorden clasped the oilskin firmly over the old safari suit Jonathan had given him. The suit was a size bigger than he would have liked and the oilskin was even bigger again. It felt like he was wearing a tent. At least he hadn't been sea-sick for the last few days, although at the moment he felt he would rather be violently ill and safe below decks. He drew a deep breath and walked toward the door, ready to brave the world beyond.

The deck continued to heave beneath Jorden's feet, and the Katerina seemed to list ever more to starboard. Already it was difficult to stand on the moving slope of the deck.

Johnathon had a hand on Jorden's shoulder in support. "Good luck," he shouted over roar of the violent sea. "If you don't fix this, then you realize that we're sunk for sure when it turns really rough." He followed that with a laugh that almost sounded real.

Jorden found it difficult to believe that things could be much worse, already the spray threatened to carry him from the deck and the gale howled in the all but empty rigging above. And they had an outrigger that was filling steadily with sea-water. When he first heard the news he assumed that the hull had been ruptured, and that was that, but he had been assured that it was just a matter of a few broken hatches. If he could fix the failed bilge pump, then all was well. Otherwise they were likely sunk.

No pressure.

Drey finished tying off his rope, a rope that they could use as support for the impossible crossing to the flooded outrigger. "Right, lad. We've got the hatches fixed as best we can," he shouted. "They still leak, but the pump will clear the bilge if you manage to fix it." He shook his head. "If you can't then we'll have to cut the bastard loose somehow and take our chances into Saljid."

That was a week away, Jorden recalled, and the seas were worsening. "I'll try," he yelled.

Drey nodded. "I know, lad." Then he produced a short thin length of rope, and swung it about the outsider's waist. "We'll loop this around the cross-rope in case you slip, and I'll be right behind you. Taf there will help pull you in if you get yourself into any trouble." The aestri smiled as she stood casually against the rail, wearing little more than usual and apparently oblivious to the chill, wet wind, her nails well fixed to the timber. "We have the shaft clear for you, but it's filling at a good rate and the lads on the hand-pump are a might weary..."

"Come on," Taf chirped as she leapt out onto the maze of heaving timber that lay between ship to outrigger. "Captain can't sail a sinking ship, and we are slow and heavy in the water, and she turns ever to starboard..."

"All right, Taf," Jorden grunted. He gazed again to the rugged sea, the swell now easily a dozen metres or more, the waves often mounting the bow of the near sunken outrigger, the superstructure flooded. He stepped from the tilted deck to the narrow walk, his grip firm on the all too thin rope.

The aestri smiled and walked ahead as the swell crashed amongst the open latticework below, the spray stinging Jorden's eyes, the talons of wind tugging at his oilskins. Yet they crossed in safety, waiting for the outrigger's deck to heave skyward and drain of it's wet burden before dashing to the waiting stern-ward hatch.

II

The heavy timber door thudded behind, one of the crew bolting it securely.

The small dim room stank of salt and sweat and lamp-oil. Several broad-shouldered dirge seaman sat panting in their corners, and several more worked the levers of the double action bilge pump that had been parked at the head of the shaft.

Jorden checked that his multi-purpose ship spanner was still hitched on his hip and walked with Drey and Taf to the shaft, falling often toward the ever moving walls. Indeed he was surprised he could walk at all in such weather, and feared he would fall headlong into the dark grave that lay ahead. Fortunately he didn't. Drey went for the ladder and began his descent into the dark, and apparently bottomless shaft, Jorden and Taf following him into the gloom. The pump itself resided in the all but flooded recess, several metres below at the other end of the shaft.

Jorden plunged into the waste deep ink that filled the tiny pump room, a fear of what may reside within ever present, and tried to ignore the steady fall of salty rain that sprayed from the walls of the shaft above. The flimsy walls kept several thousand tons of death at bay, by the looks, and that did not count the waters of the sea beyond the hull.

"She's run by a water-screw at the stern," Drey told him as he patted the dark cylinder that lay half submerged in the deluge. "That seems to be working the way it should be." Indeed when Jorden shifted he could see the gears and spinning shaft that provided power to the device. "And that pipe that comes up from the left takes water to the top of the shaft, then out to the hull... only it isn't."

The pump moaned, the water level rose. Jorden glanced to the other, smaller pipe nearby that kept the shaft as empty as it was and wondered how long those on the hand-pump might endure – they only drained one small fraction of the flooded hull. "Can you stop the drive shaft," Jorden asked in hope, dreading the answer. There was a ring of bolts around the face of the pump, yet little purpose in revealing the interior of a live, thrashing beast.

Drey nodded easily, then shouted an order up the shaft. There was a distinct thud above the groan of timber and pounding of waves, the shaft rotating twice before grinding noisily to a halt. "Thank heavens for that," Jordan mumbled then scanned the pump more thoroughly.

His foot rested on the thick pipe that entered through the forward bulkhead, an inlet that passed beneath the half-metre diameter pump, then through the rear of the pump casing below the drive shaft. There was the lever of what he assumed was a butterfly valve there, a lever he kicked closed to shut off the inlet supply. So far, so good. Without that valve, opening the face of the pump would flood the shaft in seconds.

Then he considered possible problems. A blockage perhaps, Jorden considered, yet unless it was in the pump itself they didn't stand a chance. The ring of twelve bolts on the face of the clock-like housing allowed the only way in anyway. He began on those below the waterline.

It was short work, and Drey helped as he could while Taf watched on. There was little room or need for others. After releasing the last of the bolts, Jorden grasped the plate and heaved, hoping against hope that it wasn't stuck. The level of the black and somewhat odd smelling water had risen more than he cared think about since he had begun, the rain from above ever more persistent. Then there was a hiss and a blast of salty spray that rattled the side of the shaft opposite the one which suddenly sprang a serious leak. Jorden listened to Drey curse and tried not to, then heaved again with what strength he could muster, strength that was fed well by the flow of adrenalin.

Then the plate came away with a bang, Jorden falling back with it, only then realizing the bulk of the item, a disk of what appeared to be brass that was easily twice as heavy as anything he could possibly lift. The wet darkness closed around him, air and lamp-light somewhere above. He didn't even have the time to shout.

So that was it, he thought, fated to die in the bowels of a crippled ship in the middle of an unknown sea – a coffin that would soon take him right to the bottom of that sea. He felt the hands of Drey, then a claw he hoped was Taf, and pushed as he could against the disk that had come to rest on his chest. He couldn't even breath water like most drowning people.

The lump of brass moved. Jorden lived. For the moment.

He rose and gasped for breath for several moments in the wet mist that now filled the air-space of the pit, but knew that time was short, the level of water rising steadily. He glanced to Taf who rubbed a strained arm, then to a thumping above as another seaman tried desperately to patch the hole in the shaft wall. The water fell even heavier.

Jorden shook himself and tried to ignore his surrounds. The pump. He had to fix the stupid pump, and soon, otherwise they'd have to dive to find it. There was an impeller within the dark cylinder, or what was left of one, something that Jorden understood. It was a very simple centrifugal pump, a simple spinning impeller, but it was dead. There was enough left for the outsider to see what it was, and it was cracked into enough pieces for him to know it would never run again.

Even Drey knew enough about machines to know it too, his word quiet and consoling. "Come on up lad, you've done what you can. Even if you knew kadastone you'd never get that tangle together again. We'll have to try and cut it loose and weight the other rig. If we're careful with sail.." He paused and tried to remain hopeful. "Well, we'll have a good bite at it, anyways."

"A heavy swell from port and we're sunk," Taf put forth confidently. "It is one thing to survive seas such as these..."

"If we had another impeller," Jorden interupted. "What if we get one from the other outrigger? They would be the same, right?" Jorden looked to Drey, knowing time was their greatest enemy.

Taf snatched a piece of the brass that Jorden held. "What does it look like," she said, frowning. "If there is not one in stores then there is not one in the whole of the Domain." She sniffed the yellow metal.

Jorden recalled the hundreds of crates in the holds near the aestri's hide. "You might be right Taf, but how do you find it amongst all of the other..."

"Just show me what it looks like." Taf seemed to anger, odd for the normally peaceful aestri.

There was a gleam in her eye that flickered in the lamp-light, her teeth white and moist. "It's probably too heavy," Jorden told her. "You'd need help." And Taf growled, a rumble of rage that surprised the outsider, her stare intense. It didn't seem like a good time to argue with her. "A disk, this big, with fins like so." He reconstructed enough of the device for Taf to see his meaning, then he snatched what remained of the central hub of the impeller from the spline of the drive shaft. "And it has a hole shaped like this in the centre." He paused and watched the aestri nod thoughtfully. "Take it with you for comparison. There may be other size pumps on the ship."

She clasped firmly hold of the brass shard and made for the shaft's ladder. "Trust me," she smiled before lifting her wet form from the pit. "Wait as long as you can. I'll be back with what you need." She then scuttled up through the falling torrent.

"I hope so, Taf," Jorden muttered as he watched the water level steadily rise. "For all our sake."

III

Jorden could still feel the pump housing that now lay in the watery darkness, the battle lost to the gush of moisture above, the recess ever more cramped, but it was well under the surface.

Again Drey suggested their departure, and word came from above that the rig may soon plunge beneath the waves for the last time, even though the captain had now steered them in lee of the worst. But Jorden held his ground for the moment. It wasn't really bravery. He just doubted there was anywhere to go. Fixing the pump was still their best chance.

Fear grew, a fear of death foremost, yet also a fear that Taf may have been lost to the violent sea with their salvation in hand. He feared unnecessarily, of course, for there were few waves that could dislodge the grip of an aestri on rope, though few aestri had been called upon to carry such a burden. They were stronger, of course, than Jorden knew, stronger than their meagre size suggested, and Taf could near lift the brass disk that had taken Jorden below. The impeller was far lighter, though a lot more fragile.

The aestri had actually found the artefact easily amongst the stock that she knew so well, and now she waited for the outrigger to surface from beneath the waves, then a dash for the hatchway, then a knock. A heart thumped in anticipation, the hull diving again toward the depths of the sea-dragon's world. The hatch opened and closed.

Water streamed in from around the door's border, the floor of the room at a hideous angle, the men and dirge within gripping the stays for dear life. Taf puffed and made her way to the shaft.

When the aestri splashed her way back into the recess, Jorden snatched the impeller with one hand and her with the other, kissing Taf without even thinking about it, Drey shaking his head and looking away. She struggled momentarily, fearful of what the crew might think.

Indeed Drey did think it an odd thing for the lad to do, the stress of the moment, no doubt, but he was not about to speak ill of him in their current situation. Instead he just grunted to gain Jorden's attention. "Can you do it, lad?" Jorden glanced to the impeller, then in the direction of the submerged pump, and nodded, even daring a smile of success. "Then we'll do what we can for you." The water now came high on their chests, higher on Taf's than any.

Drey moved to the base of the shaft, shouting up to his men and dirge. "Come on ya sluggards, pump like ya lives depend on it."

Lives did.

The impeller was fitted easily, even working blind, and the plate was soon salvaged and put in place, with the aid of Taf and Drey, yet the bolts were another matter, Taf diving into the gloom to fit most. In time that they didn't have, Jordan held his breath and lowered himself to tighten the last. Then he dragged the valve open and rose smiling. He held a fist aloft in victory.

The sea of hell had failed.

"Well, let's get it running before we end up underwater," Jorden shouted to the first mate. Drey winked and took to the ladder, climbing the shaft to give the order. The man and aestri waited below, ever hopeful that nothing went wrong. There could have been scraps of metal in the inlet, Jorden thought, shards that could tear the new impeller to pieces. He swore. He should have checked. It was too late now. He crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.

The pump whirred to life, the pipe thudding against the timber above as the water surged within. It sounded good to Jorden. No clash of metal from pieces that might have been left in the pump...

Then the weakened wall of the shaft at last released the cold waters it had previously withheld.

IV

Finding oneself in total darkness under the best part of several metres of water at the bottom of a narrow and partially obstructed shaft was not an experience anyone planned on, indeed it was something likely to bring certain panic. Jorden did just that.

There had been a snap, then a roar, then the oceans of wherever descended on him, striking like a runaway freight-train. He thumped heavily against the wall, his breath expelled, and he knew that this time he was truly dead. He told himself to keep calm. Sure, you can't see, you can't breath, and you haven't the slightest idea which is up or where in the writhing darkness the way out is hiding, but you're still alive and there are a dozen hardy seaman that can easily dive the dozen metres they need to get to you. Maybe.

Jorden gave in and panicked, clawing at the nearest wall.

For Taf it wasn't completely dark, just dim and fuzzy, the way to safety visible as a insubstantial trapezoid of light above. She waited for the buffeting to stop, rubbing her ribs where they had been thrust firmly into the body of the pump, then wondered on her next move. To leave the pit was not a problem, yet she could not leave alone. Somewhere in the misty gloom was a dear friend in need – a young man of poor eyesight and a dislike of the sea.

She searched the lower corners and worked her way up to the ceiling that extended behind the shaft opening. It was there that Taf found a wild dark beast that flailed its limbs madly against the roof.

The aestri held her breath and waited for the movement to ease at least a little.

V

There was a blur, a blur with a reddish tinge that was marred with mobile shadows and flickering red points.

Jorden turned to the brightest patch of red haze and coughed. At first it seemed an insignificant action, the rapid expulsion of air from his lungs. Air! He struggled to sit, only to be forced to lay, five sharp points on the skin of his bare chest. He moaned and coughed again.

"Just rest," the first shadow said to him. It had a voice like an angel that reminded him of Taf. He smiled. "There's nothing to fear now," it added. The cradle rocked gently beneath, the points of discomfort withdrawing from his flesh.

"You've done well, Jorden," came another voice. It was female also, not quite as smooth as the first, yet still comforting. "I'm not sure how I can ever repay you." A shadow moved toward a patch of red blur. There was a moment of what could be called silence, yet it was far from that. "But I feel that I must at least neglect to inform the port authorities of your bondage. Or perhaps you were lost at sea."

Jorden didn't see the sarisan captain smile, nor did much of what she said to him make sense at that very moment. He was tired and wanted to sleep...

When Jorden Miles woke again, the red blur had departed, only the ship's infirmary remained.

It was bathed in a grey light issuing from a nearby window, the two small lamps giving a little additional illumination. The Katerina continued to roll and pitch, and the glazing of the window was wet with spray, and the pea-green seas rose like mountains beyond, yet the floor seemed as level as it could ever be. Jorden assumed the pump had worked and they were safe, though safe was a term he used with a certain amount of caution.

There was an aestri curled at the base of the cot, Jorden's leg numb beneath her weight, and a man rummaged in nearby cabinets that tinkled like a thousand tiny bells. Johnathon turned to him and smiled. "A little more coherent this morning I hope," the doctor said cheerfully. "You seemed somewhat vague last night."

Taf stirred at his feet. "The last thing I remember is drowning," Jorden mumbled as he forced himself to a sitting position. He felt worse for the effort, the room swaying about him.

The aestri whined and rolled from the cot, thumping heavily to the floor. She grunted. "Taf here pulled you out," Johnathon told him. "Been with you ever since."

Jorden smiled. "I don't know where we'd be without her. If Taf hadn't found that impeller..."

Dark slitted eyes rolled toward him as the she sat up and stretched. "That was easy," she yawned. "There was a crate full of things like that one, probably more than one crate. It was much harder dragging you through that little passage."

Jorden shook his head. "I don't remember much of it," he admitted. "I was so scared I think I fainted."

"It took long enough. I had to wait ages for you to stop thrashing about..."

VI

At least the Katerina was again on an even keel and sailing true, even as the weather worsened. In the last days of the voyage the sea became a series of rugged, and rapidly moving ranges. Mountains that needed to be traversed. From the troughs they towered above, at times the bow of the Katerina pitching well below their surface.

Jorden avoided the deck completely, preferring to stay in the warm, dry, but somewhat noisy, bowels of the Katerina with Taf. He was sure that the much higher quarters of the crew and the captain would be preferable should the vessel sink, but that was a line of thought he wish to repress. What hope would there be in a lifeboat anyway.

He left the running of the ship to those that knew it best, tried to forget about what was going on outside, and hoped that nothing further would go wrong.

Especially something mechanical.

Taf's bed was warm. It moved more than Jorden would have liked, yet it seemed to him more comfortable than Taf's sailcloth hammock. She swayed to and fro with the Katerina, again writing poetry in one of her confiscated ship's log books. "What's something that rhymes with rain," she asked casually, sucking the end of her quill.

Jorden shrugged. "Pain," he suggested. "Brain, perhaps." As in the headache he was currently suffering. It was difficult when one knew nothing of the theme of the work.

"Sails will raise as seamen strain," the aestri mumbled. "Ich!"

"At least I don't have the Council to worry about," Jorden mused, "but that doesn't help me get home. At least everyone back home should have given up worrying about me and written me off as dead by now." Although that wasn't very likely. He wasn't sure how long he had been gone, and he also wasn't sure that time worked quite the same in the Domain as it did at home. It made it hard to know how long he had been away from home.

Taf glanced up from the page. "There are Kaedith in Saljid that you can see, ones who don't care for the Council. You'll need to find work first though. Spells like that would be expensive, I think." Actually she hoped that they were very expensive, and she doubted there were many that could perform such magic.

"What about you? Got a job waiting for you in Saljid?" He knew there would not be any form of welfare, especially for aestri.

"Aestri don't work, silly." She shook her head. "Anyway, I have the Katerina to watch."

Jorden nodded vaguely. He had asked Johnathon about the exact purpose of the ship's aestri, but the doctor had just laughed and given an odd tale of how such creatures were put within the Domain to scatter the wits of the sane. Evasiveness seemed a common character trait in the Domain of Hura Ghiana.

"What about Midnight," Jorden went on to say. "Does she have a ship as well?"

"She sailed with the Katerina when it was new. Now she has a wharf. You'll like her," Taf promised. "She's beautiful, and clever as well, and the best ratter in Saljid." And sometimes a little mean, Taf thought to herself.

Taf was known to say some strange things, and that was one of the more strange. "Ratter?" Jorden frowned.

The aestri stared in return. "She catches rats in the warehouse lofts during the darkness. Midnight is best." Her gaze flicked back to her book. "What rhymes with..."

Jorden had now known Taf for weeks now. He was not sure of the exact number of weeks, but it seemed like an eternity. However long it was, it had certainly been long enough. The change of subject suggested she didn't really want to talk about Midnight. She was holding something back, perhaps. It was the same reaction he received when asking about her purpose on the ship. He shrugged. Everyone needed their secrets, yet he couldn't help feeling he was missing something totally fundamental. Or maybe there was no real purpose. Maybe she really was just some wandering vagrant that like to ride ships from port to port. He couldn't imagine why, but then there didn't seem like a lot of career options for the lowly aestri.

He forgot about the matter until the evening meal.

Johnathon had invited them both to his quarters earlier in the day, yet the journey to the upper levels involved a brief crossing of the open deck. Jorden was in no mood for that. The movement of the Katerina was quite severe without adding to it, and the higher quarters of the doctor seemed to sway even more. He did not wish to get wet, either.

Taf was gone for quite some time before the meal. It always seemed to take forever for her to collect the evening's meat. It was always red-meat now, the last fish had been served when they had sailed near the Castle Isles. The Islands themselves had not been sighted, but the fish certainly were, and the diet was more varied for a day. Now there was only the tough red meat.

It wasn't bad, Jorden considered, but there were only so many ways to prepare raw meat. At least it seemed fresher than that of Johnathon's meals. It shouldn't have been that way, of course, and Jorden wondered where Taf found her supplies. It didn't taste preserved, though it was difficult to tell, and there was a possibility that it came from the ship's cargo rather than the invariably poorer stores.

Again Taf returned to her hide with the meat in a small cloth bag. She smiled toward Jorden, and he offered the same in return, her bounty emptied to the surface of her table. Again the meat was already cut into tiny pieces, though there was less than usual, Taf snatching the knife from her hip to trim a few that were larger than the rest. "It won't be long," she said. "I'm sorry that I seemed to take forever. I know that you are hungry." She came close momentarily.

Jorden noticed the sweat that beaded on her brow, although the hold had remained quite cool for the last few days, and she still puffed her breath. "I can wait," he returned. "You don't have to rush around and find me food. You're a friend, not a servant. I can go to the crew's mess if I'm hungry, and I can bring enough for you." He had done so in the past.

"I know," she puffed further. "But their food is not the best, and it is ruined by cooking." Taf bundled the meat together, adding her selection of her usual fluids and garnishing.

She served it all to Jorden, refusing to keep any for herself. "I've already eaten my fill on the way," she lied.

Jorden shook his head as he accepted the serving. He knew she wasn't telling him the truth. There could not be an endless supply of the meat. "I don't believe a word of it, Taf," he said as he began on the meal.

It was less enjoyable than usual, and it was actually quite warm. "What I would really like to know is where the hell you steal this from," Jorden went on to say. "I know that it isn't ship stores."

Taf was hungry, but she remained in a playful mood. Her evening had been exhilarating even though it wasn't exceptionally fruitful. She smiled. "I'm not sure a man would wish to know, Jorden, but you can trust me that it is fresh." The aestri chuckled.

The man snorted. The meal was warm enough to be freshly killed and Jorden wondered which of the crew had been sacrificed tonight. But it was the small piece of brown fur that brought all the shards of fact together, and Jorden wondered how he could have been so stupid as to have not realized the truth weeks ago.

He didn't want to throw up – he hated throwing up – and there was little point in trying to empty your gut of meals you had been eating for weeks. It was something he had no control of, however.

Taf saw it coming and understood. He had been ill quite often as the seas became more hostile. She snatched the remaining meal from his grasp and passed a bag that Jorden could use. He tried to thank her, yet was soon too busy filling the bag. She held to his shoulder and said nothing. Taf knew that she shouldn't have teased, yet she also knew that her friend would learn of the truth soon enough. Of course the aestri had not realized he would take the truth quite so badly. The common men were such funny things.

And while she waited for her dearest friend to calm his belly, Taf ate the last of the rat meat it had taken all evening to catch.

VII

"That is what an aestri does," Taf said when Jorden again felt like he might live into the following day. "And we do it well. One aestri can easily keep the rats aboard ship to only a few, although I try to keep numbers higher than Captain would like. They expect us to eat our fill and then starve."

Jorden nodded. That sounded about right, the lowest of classes could hardly expect more from their masters. "You should have told me it was rat meat before. It was the shock of seeing that hair that made me sick. I imagined that you were serving up marinated crew-members for a while."

"I thought about telling you," Taf admitted, "but then you would not have eaten it. You did not like raw meat very much, and I doubt that you would have liked raw rat at all." That wasn't really a problem though. "I thought you might not like me if you knew that I ate rat."

The thought of her chewing upon a live fish had been difficult enough. "Maybe, but the rest of you more than makes up for something as minor as what you eat."

Taf smiled and hugged her friend. There was more to her secret, of course, but he had learned enough for now. The rest could wait.

Jorden's mind was preoccupied for the final days into Saljid anyway, the room moved far too much and the air was far too wet. He did not know that much of the rigging had been stripped from the foremast by the cyclonic winds that roared in from the eight radial, or south to a man of Tasmania, and he did not set eye upon the hideous seas of the final days. If he would have glimpsed the rocky teeth that lined the opening of the protective sea-walls of Saljid, then he would not have worried, he would simply have consigned himself again to Death.

But Jorden slept through the most treacherous final hours of the voyage.

### Chapter 11 – Saljid I

Witches reign and powers be,

The future's not for all to see.

From it now the wise will flee,

The telling of one's destiny.

I

Jorden woke and all seemed well.

He was still hampered by the narcotic of sleep, his mind heavy, his eyes still blurred, yet all indeed seemed as favourable as possible in such a world. Taf was warm and sleeping nearby, the air was light and sweet... He could think of dozens of things that seemed right, yet still something gnawed within. There was something wrong, he knew, yet failed to put a finger on it. He knew it was important and he knew that he should have known what it was, but he didn't. Jorden sat up in the bed and roused Taf, the aestri moaning to wakefulness.

She simply slid closer and tried to hug Jorden. He forced her delicately aside. "Get dressed," he said quietly, his tone conveying his anxiety. "There's something wrong."

Taf sniffed and smiled. "No there isn't, silly, it's..." she paused to consider, shrugged, then leapt from the bed.

The outsider watched her dress a moment before snatching Johnathon's old safari suit and following her lead. Then, as he stood amid the frugal lodgings of the aestri, Jorden knew what it was that had worried him and he felt suddenly very silly indeed. No longer did the Katerina pitch beneath as it had done so violently in the past; no longer was the air wet with spray.

"We've stopped," he said in awe.

Taf simply smiled.

II

From the bridge it was quite a spectacle, the white sails that remained were billowing lazily in the strange twilight that lit the bay, the sky an unbroken grey above. After the storms of the last two weeks, it was a day that even made what was left of the Katerina look good.

The great protective walls were now far behind, vanished behind the curve of the inlet, dark threatening cloud still hanging on that horizon. Within the bay of Saljid the waters were calm, the weather mild, the Time of Darkness somehow distant. Jorden smiled to Orani and Johnathon, then to Drey on the deck below, the first mate busily shouting to his men.

They had survived the crossing to set eye upon the Port of Saljid, the city sprawled across the horizon. Jorden gazed to what appeared as the masts of sunken ships that lined the waters ahead, the line of the city shield. And so they indeed had a purpose, millions of crystals and stone talismans that could keep the storms of darkness at bay. He could see them hanging from the pseudo-rigging.

"There were times on this crossing when I doubted we would look upon this fair city," the sarisan captain said. She smiled toward Jorden. "I wish you well, Jordenmiles." Her ring cluttered fingers gripped firmly upon his shoulder. "And I hope that you might find a way to return to your world beyond."

Orani produced a small leather purse, decorated in reds and blues, and thrust it into Jorden's grasp. "Enough until you find work within the city, and with your talents I doubt that will be long. I would give you all the coin on the Katerina if I could, regardless of what the shipping masters might say, but they do not trust me with the key to the chests of the merchant banks."

Jorden shook his head. "Just to be free is enough," he said, but held firm to the purse. Money would certainly help.

The ship's doctor spoke in turn. "If you need any help then remember I have a room in Riechers Square, and perhaps we will sail together again when the Katerina makes sail for Ponomilo."

"I gather that won't be too soon." Jorden's logic told him as much.

Taf chuckled nearby. "The Time of Darkness is half the cycle," Johnathon told him. "And there are no ships that would deliberately sail in true night."

Jorden recalled the mountainous seas of twilight: the storms and the rain. The Domain was all one continent though, he recalled. "What about overland."

Orani snorted; Johnathon shook his head. "There are few men who would dare set foot beyond the protectorate of the city shields." The doctor glanced to Taf. "A few of the lower classes might venture out. First form burgo might survive, but as for..."

The aestri latched hold of Jorden's arm. "The outrigger," she interrupted. "Best view and easiest way to the wharf when we dock." She dragged Jorden toward the nearest stair, Jorden protesting.

He took the hand of the captain and thanked her, then Johnathon, but Taf was victorious in the end.

III

A few winged shapes continued to circle far above as they had done now for some time. Jorden watched them soar, large birds he assumed, very large, and if it were not for the approach of a low flying specimen he would have asked Taf to tell him something about them.

The outrigger was nice, as the aestri had suggested. There was ample room to sit or lay and the view was unobstructed. It was very unlike the outrigger that Jorden remembered. That was partly because they now sat upon the port-side hull and not the starboard outrigger that had been flooded a week before, but mostly it was due to the lack of mobile pea-green mountains and gale force winds.

Then Taf pointed to the winged figure that swept toward them, pointing. "Kaeina," she said and climbed from her restful pose.

Jorden gritted his teeth.

Things had settled down somewhat for the Tasmanian. He now accepted that he had somehow stumbled into the land of nightmare, and was now forced to live within its bounds until he could find someone to help him return home. _If only Tsarin hadn't smashed the crystal!_ It was a world of warped pseudo-physics, a mash of realities and fantasies littered with peoples that were slightly not what they should have been.

Yet Jorden Miles had grown used to his aestri friend Taf: her claw-like nails, her angular teeth, the eyes that belonged to a beast of the night. She was mostly human – pseudo-human in the ways that mattered – and she was a very dear friend. Even the huge landsdraw and the dirge weren't truly that odd. Rats were rats and fish were fish, and sea-dragons were only God knew what. There were horses and cattle and sheep and pigs, and a few crystals and rocks made the world go round.

Aside from the Time of Darkness thing, all was peachy.

Then there was Kaeina. Jorden withdrew to organize his thoughts as the burgo alighted upon the outrigger's bow and came to greet Finesilver and her companion. First the human-like features, the outsider thought, there were plenty of those. Kaeina was about Taf's height and had two arms, two legs, a head and a body, and they were all just about where they should have been. She had a face, a long thin face that was whiter than looked right, and ears that sported large and intricate earrings. She was also wearing a plaid vest that fit her thick chested but otherwise pathetically thin form well, and she wore a very short red skirt.

Jorden smiled. If it were not for the large white, hairy wings on her back and the huge yellow, slitted eyes – eyes which made Taf's look positively tiny – then all would have been well. Then there was the tail and the flare of flame orange hair that made it appear that her head was on fire. "I wasn't quite prepared for this," he admitted as Taf introduced him to a rat-skin tanner with a wingspan of over four metres.

"You knew burgo were flyers, silly," Taf smiled, noting his blank gaze. "Didn't you?" He shook his head in reply. "Sorry. Anyway, Jorden is a really good friend and..."

Kaeina had been staring cautiously toward the stranger ever since she had alighted on the outrigger. "He's a man," she interrupted in a vaguely human voice. Jorden added it to his plus list. Observant too, he thought.

"An outsider to the Domain," Taf said as if correcting her friend, though he was indeed still a man of sorts. "He's new to our ways, and he's a bit silly sometimes, but he has been the best of friends for the past weeks. And if it wasn't for his knowledge of machines then we'd all be sunk and feeding sea-dragons now!"

Kaeina extended a hand in greeting, Jorden taking it carefully, the nails of the burgo over three times the length of the aestri. "A friend of Finesilver is a friend of all the lowly, I am sure," she said in her slow melodic way. The hand was withdrawn.

The long, thick, and somewhat fuzzy hairs of Kaeina's wings wavered in the light breeze, hairs that lined a membrane wing more like that of a bat than a bird, and yet more attractive than the dark, bony appendages of the beast of earth. Six limbs, Jorden considered again, trying not to stare, and a tail that was almost a seventh, a long fleshy thing that came from beneath her skirt and writhed for a body-length behind. Then there was the small winglet that waved at its end.

"He'll be sharing my room in the loft," Taf went on. "Won't you?" Jorden shrugged. "Unless Hambone has laid claim to it."

Kaeina gazed again toward the outsider, her words slow in coming. "Hambone has the loft of Pandora now. She passed beyond this life during the Time of Light." An uneasy pause. "But I'm not sure that Midnight will allow a man in the warehouse lofts."

"Pandora!"

The burgo nodded. "She was very old, well over a hundred cycles. Few aestri can hope to live that long and well..."

Taf nodded in acceptance, a tear withheld. Pandora had once been a close friend, yet in recent seasons her mind had drifted to the lands of another place. All the aestri of the wharf knew the time of her passing was near. "Are all the others in dock?" Taf asked, hoping that no more had been lost.

Kaeina smiled, her teeth more disturbing than those of the aestri. "The Katerina is the last. We had begun to fear that it would not return this darkness. She is too old a ship to risk in such violent waters." The burgo shook her head. "I flew to the opening of the sea-wall yesterday, but the winds were too fierce for me to move near the teeth. I did not think that a ship could sail amongst such waters."

The aestri just smiled. "But there are few ship's masters such as Orani. She could sail the Katerina beyond the edge of the Domain and return it safely." They laughed. There was no-one, of course, who could achieve such a feat.

Jorden stepped away and allowed the old friends to chat between themselves, looking again to the wharves that drifted ever nearer. Then he glanced to the bow of the main hull and watched the waters of the bay churn as the Katerina continued to keep up a reasonable pace in the light winds. Then he thought again of the future, opening the pouch that Orani had given him.

There were a good handful of silver shards within, little silver sectors of a much larger coin that had been cut into several smaller ones. There was either a shortage of such coin – perhaps no facilities to mint more – or there was deflation problem, neither of which seemed unlikely in a world where everything else was upside-down. Jorden remained unsure of the current worth of his pouch. He had spent some time in Tucaar, and had been supplied a little copper coinage, but he had not used enough to be sure of anything. The keepers of the shops accepted whatever he gave them, and either he always paid to much or they took less because he was a guest of the kaedith.

Jorden didn't hear Kaeina leave. Actually he did hear a sudden rush of wind, but did not associate it with the burgo lifting her form into the air above the outrigger. He was surprised to find Taf again alone at his side. He glanced for the winged apparition, seeing that she had already attained a good deal of altitude. "Gone to tell the others that we're safely home," Taf said as she noted his curious gaze.

He nodded, then thought to show Taf the bag. "I don't suppose that this is much of a fortune." Orani would not have been quite that generous. Leaving the outsider free would be risky enough.

Taf looked and shrugged. "I don't know much of money," she admitted, "but it doesn't look like much. There are others at the warehouse who will be able to tell you."

Jorden nodded. Taf was a writer and a great ratter. He could hardly expect her to be a monetary expert as well. "That's if Midnight will let me stay there. I don't want to cause you trouble amongst your friends."

The aestri seemed unconcerned. "Don't worry about that. Midnight is now the watch of the greater wharves, and it is her duty to keep an eye out for those who dwell there. It is she who now decides the allotment of space in the crowded times of darkness, and if she feels there is no room for us then we will stay with the Katerina." Taf smiled. "That will not matter, although it will be a little further from Kaeina and Hambone than I would like."

Jorden shook his head as he returned the pouch to the pocket of the safari suit. "I can find a place in town until I get a job or something. I'm sure that the aestri and burgo don't want me in the coup."

"There are a few old common women too, and one or two pockhorns, so you would not really be that out of place. Although there are usually no common males. The dirge and their females live in city quarters, and the morelians prefer the sewers... those who bother to come within the city, anyway."

"This world makes me feel so at home," Jorden mumbled.

IV

The wharf area seemed to stretch forever, Jorden marvelling at the number of ships that were docked within it, the Domain a more populous land than he had ever imagined. It was a land populated mostly by the common man from what Taf had told him, although it seemed that they were not the ones who held power. Then there were the numerous lower classes beneath them that did not even begin to think of such positions of power. There were also many kaedith and sarisan, and that was where the power lay.

Jorden had also learned that although most of the population were native to the land, birth and death maintaining a relatively steady number, there were many that entered the Domain through other means. Of course the other means were not just the lines of transition that Jorden had passed through. Some of this had something to do with the planer line that the ship's doctor had mentioned, a connection with other worlds of dream.

What was most important to Jorden Miles was that this was a world of men that was run by the female classes of the spiritual kaedith and the financial sarisan, and he was a friend of a lowest class aestri. Now he approached the complex of the Great Wharf, the home of the great ships of the Gordon Masters Line, the largest of the Domain's shipping companies... or so Taf had said.

It was as true as mattered, although the sarisan masters of other lines would have quick to argue the point, and the Gordon Line was at least larger than most. It was certainly not the ferry service that had once plied the River Gordon in the distant past, and it was indisputably the richest of those in Saljid. Jorden also noticed that the Katerina was not one of their finest vessels, though she was amongst the largest. Most of the others did not look as if they were quite as ready to drop to the bottom of the harbour. Then he saw a man on a nearby jetty run to inform his foreman that the ship was about to dock.

Sarisan Yarda was also soon informed by one of her immense staff of the late arrival of the Katerina. She nodded and dismissed the common woman, then frowned and scratched out a considerable sum of money from her ledger. It was the insurance she had hoped to collect from the loss of one of the more worthless of her vessels.

Jorden and Taf were still out on the outrigger when the Katerina slipped slowly between its moorings, two narrow wharves which came snug against the outer hulls. The aestri did not wait for the vessel to come to rest and jumped to the timber of the wharf as it crawled past. It was a jump of less than two meters, with a fall of considerably more than that, so it took Jorden several moments of preparation before he dared follow. He grunted as he thumped to the decking, Taf reaching to steady him. The wharf ahead of them began to fill with the labourers who would empty the holds of the Katerina. Mostly dirge, Jorden thought. He was still not the best judge of order, yet he was sure that ordinary men were not as short, broad shouldered, and hairy as those workers he now saw.

Taf was smiling broadly, her lungs filling with the fragrant air of the harbour. To Jorden it stank, but it was perfume to the nose of the aestri. That was mostly because there were no sewage outlets nearby, just the wastes of the fish factories. The outsider to Saljid glanced beyond the edge of the decking to the dark water below. It was not a pretty sight.

He looked instead to the ship that sat in the berth aside the Katerina's. It was a ship of similar design that was not all that much younger than Taf's own _home_ , and it was as quiet as a graveyard. It had certainly not come to port in the last few days. The Katerina, though, was soon a bustle of activity.

"Come on," Taf chirped, and led him away.

It was not an easy journey amongst the crowd of dirge and the clutter of wagons, but Taf knew her way well and was often faced with such a gauntlet. And in a moment they were in a quiet alley between two of the smaller warehouses of the wharf.

There was a young girl waiting there. She had seen the Katerina dock, yet had little intention of making her way through the multitude of giant dirge to move closer. She knew Taf would soon make her way to the alley. Of course Jorden knew that the entity was not a girl the moment that he saw her. She was aestri. It was not that she looked all that much like his companion Taf, but it was hard to miss the eyes and nails of the lower classes.

In fact the aestri looked nothing like Taf. Her hair was light instead of dark, as were her hazel eyes, and she dressed far more conservatively. She was also a touch shorter and perhaps twice as heavy as the light footed Taf.

"Hambone," Finesilver squealed, and ran to greet her. Good name, Jorden thought. It looked as if she had devoured a few to many hams. Or perhaps the entire hog.

They hugged a moment before Taf introduced her friend from Beyond – Beyond apparently meaning anywhere that wasn't Domain. Hambone nodded and smiled. She had quite a nice smile. "Kaeina told us," she said. "We were so glad to hear that you were safe, Taffy. Everyone thought the Katerina had sunk." Hambone did not know that everyone included the Katerina's owners. "Suzy said that you weren't, but hardly anyone believes Suzy any more. She could see you right though all the storms..."

The art of idle conversation was something it seemed the aestri had mastered well, and the two chattered for some time about the difficult voyage. Jorden stood and waited. He had expected there would be such reunions, and tried not to appear bored. He was not that successful as an actor. Taf noticed him attempt to cover a yawn, and the two aestri agreed to move on to the nearest warehouse.

They scampered away, Jorden walking briskly in pursuit, and vanished through a vast door of a huge yellow building. The two warehouses he could see were simple featureless yellow blocks, and inside they were dark and filled with musty stacks of crates and bags. He didn't really expect much more, though he was surprised to find that the three of them were totally ignored by the two men who were at work within the building. Back home he would probably been arrested for trespass.

The _girls_ walked straight past the two workmen, Jorden in tow, and headed for a ladder. They started to climb. "I didn't realize this loft of yours was so near the dock," the outsider said, somewhat surprised. "By the way you were talking I thought it was a long way."

"It is a long way, silly," Taf returned. "These lofts are mostly for burgo and some of the young aestri. But it's easier to move about amongst the lofts and on the roof-tops than it is on the ground." She went on up the ladder.

Jorden shrugged and followed. The ladder rose some twenty metres up from the floor of the warehouse. It was not as high as the mast of the Katerina, but quite high enough, so he was glad to reach the safety of the loft. Not that it was truly that safe. The floor seemed to be of burgo manufacture, and that meant that the fliers had simply lined the thick timbers of the buildings superstructure with rough round sticks they had carried in from distant parts, and the loft was then divided into rooms by walls of old sailcloth.

Jorden had not expected luxury, yet neither had he expected quite such a slum. It was dusty, the rickety floor thickly lined with wing-hair, and it stank. It was also all but empty of its inhabitants, most of the burgo undoubtedly on the wind.

"What a dump," Jorden mumbled almost to himself.

He was surprised when Taf nodded in return. "The burgo of this loft are worse than most, but if they wish to live in such a way..." She would perhaps have said much more if there were no burgo near.

There was a narrow walk to one side of the loft that the three followed, Hambone in the lead, the two aestri still chatting together. "Is the man really going to share your room?" Jorden heard the larger aestri ask.

"I hope so," Taf smiled. "He does not know Saljid well enough yet. Later he might get a job as smith. He is very clever with machines."

Jorden thought to say something on the matter, yet was too busy watching his step on the shaky timber beneath. The aestri walked as if they were still on solid ground, while he saw the floor as far from that. He was glad when the passage came to an end. Then there was another brief climb.

This time they climbed amongst the timber roof braces, coming at last to a small opening. In a moment they were upon a grey shingle roof, and a sea of such roofs stretched into the distance.

It was a difficult panorama to take in one sitting. A sea of grey rooftops lay to the south-west, marked only by the jagged scar of demolished warehouses, or ones that had perhaps collapsed. Further inland stood the city proper, larger buildings climbing above the sprawl of dirty white. Smoke drifted skyward from a thousand fires, and bells tolled, and meaningless stabs of voice drifted on the wind.

"Civilization," Jorden thought aloud. "It almost makes home feel a bit closer."

Yet not Taf's it seemed. There were several roofs to walk, and several gaps to jump. Jorden was not impressed. The warehouse eaves were often quite a distance apart, and it was a very long way down into the dim lanes below. If he missed a jump then that was it, he would break every bone in his body, or hopefully die. He cared not think of what the local hospitals were like, or how well the kaedith spells worked on those not of the Domain. That was even if they would help some unknown common youth...

He also feared that the ancient roofs might give way underfoot, especially while thumping heavily down onto them after the jump. In all it was something of a nerve racking experience, and Jorden vowed to take to the lanes below in future if he ever survived this trip.

They also passed through numerous other dim lofts, which was better than the exposed roof, and some of them were grimier than the first. Taf was probably an unusual aestri for liking a neat dwelling...

V

The next entity they met was not aestri, she was a very old woman who lived in a corner of a somewhat cleaner loft than most. It was as dim as any of them, however, Jorden only barely able to make out the details of the woman.

Her hair was quite grey, of course, and she wore a selection of dark brown rags and a lot of beads. There were necklaces and bracelets and strings of crystal shards hanging from her rags, and she had a golden ring in her nose. She sat quietly in her clean swept corner, a lumpy pile of rag nearby that served as a bed and a collection of her belongings on some rough shelving, and she smiled as the three passed the sailcloth wall. Jorden liked her loft a lot better than any he had seen so far. It had a real floor.

"Guess who is here, Suzy," Taf said quietly as she went and sat on the floor beside the woman, Hambone choosing the softer seating of the bedding.

The wrinkled old woman snorted a laugh. "I wondered when that old ship would at last make its way out from those horrible seas," Suzy said in return, her voice sounding much better than she looked. "Another few voyages and no more, young Finesilver, the Katerina's life nears its end. Two more seasons, perhaps. No more."

Taf smiled. "Then two more seasons is all I will stay with her. We near foundered this last trip."

"I know," Suzy said. "I was concerned for you. Indeed I saw futures without you!"

"Then you can come with me," Hambone put in. "There is more than enough room on Brothfire, and more to eat than I can manage."

Taf laughed. "That is because you are getting too fat to catch anything but ship stores!"

Jorden could see that they would be with the woman for some time, so he sat against an upright timber support beam and relaxed. It was as good a place as any and it was not as if they were on their way to anywhere in particular. He remained silent and let the old friends catch up on the recent weeks.

"You are thin and starved from that old ship," Hambone countered.

"Who would live amongst aestri," the old woman moaned.

"You," Taf chuckled.

The conversation remained at such a level of enlightenment for some time before Suzy could ask Taf more serious questions about her last voyage. "And what of this man of yours, Taf, an outsider who is friend to the aestri. You must tell me of him..." She paused. "Ah, he is here, of course."

Taf nodded. "He's nice, and clever too, but he is a little silly." Jorden frowned. If Taf told one more entity he was silly...

The old woman smiled. "Like myself," she mused. "None of the sane would dare befriend such horrible little creatures. And I see that you are quite some friend, Jorden of Beyond. I can see that you are very close indeed." She shook her head and chuckled, Jorden's frown deepening.

"You wish to return home," she went on, "or so I hear. Only Hura herself could do such thing, I believe, but there are others in Saljid who would know more of it than myself. You will have to ask old Kaedith Ellin." Suzy reached toward the man, or at least in his general direction. "Come closer and I will see what I can of your future. Let us see if indeed you find the path back to the Beyond."

"No thanks," Jorden returned. "I'm not sure I want to know."

The woman frowned, though her frown was difficult to see amongst the already substantial wrinkles. "Come closer," she snapped. "Everyone knows that my view of the future is very poor, so you are quite welcome to ignore it." Jorden sighed and slid closer, Suzy speaking as he did. "Nice voice, Taffy, she smiled. If you were a woman I would tell you to marry him."

The outsider cleared his throat, Suzy positioning a shaky palm on his brow. Then she mumbled to herself for a moment before speaking aloud. "You have come a long way, Jorden," she said. _All the way from Thagul and Beyond_ , Jorden thought. _Brilliant!_ "And you have a long journey ahead that I can see." _Hopefully all the way back_ , Jorden added within. "Perhaps indeed to the Beyond, in time.

"Though I see many journeys, and many more dangers." Suzy shook her head. "Your paths are lined with death, young Jorden. I should watch my step if I were you!" She removed her hand. "Yet I think that your death is not very close." Then she turned toward Taf. "Avoid him, he could get you killed!" Then she laughed.

Taf smiled in response, even though she did not particularly like the predictions of the old woman. They were usually quite accurate. "He saved our lives aboard the Katerina," the aestri said. "I owe him mine."

Jorden had backed slightly from the woman, and now he shook his head. "You don't owe me anything, Taf. Anyone with half a brain could have fixed that pump." And after all it had actually been Taf who had saved his life in the pump recess.

The aestri smiled. "But you were the only one aboard the Katerina who had only half of his brain." Only Hambone laughed, making the sound of a small jack-hammer.

VI

Speech flowed on; the day waned.

It was quite a while before Taf rose to her feet and stretched, glancing to Hambone as she did the same. "I'll come back to visit you tomorrow," the aestri promised, "but we had best be on our way to the loft now. I have yet to see Midnight about Jorden staying with us."

Suzy nodded and remained seated. "If she will not allow it then send her to me. She knows that none other than the very best of heart can slip by Suzy, and if she remains difficult then I will tell her a fortune that will disrupt her sleep for weeks." The woman smiled.

As did her aestri friends. "Midnight will not mind," Taf said, "not unless she feels that it is too crowded or that the elder aestri will be disturbed by the sight of a common man. But he is young," she added hopefully.

Jorden struggled to his feet, cursing the absence of chairs. "I'm pretty harmless," he mumbled.

Suzy snorted. "And so is Midnight... Most of the time."

### Chapter 12 – Saljid II

There is to me no greater thing

Than a clear white sky on a piece of string.

I

"What an odd woman," Jorden thought aloud as they left her loft, though perhaps not as odd as the world she lived in. "Your local fortune-teller is she?" Taf frowned in response. "Psychic? Seer?" Jorden added.

The aestri shook her head. "Just a friend. Suzy was once quite popular as a seer in the city, before she became blind, but now she seldom does such things. There is too much of the future that she doesn't like seeing."

"Blind, oh. I didn't notice." Perhaps she wasn't quite as odd as he thought. Also perhaps more insightful than he first thought...

They were soon out on the roof-tops yet again – more of the treacherous gaps to jump – but it was brief by comparison to the last journey, another loft soon entered. Jorden hoped it was the last for a while. It was certainly one of the nicer lofts, the inhabitants having constructed somewhat more substantial walls and floors than most, and it was also one of the more populous. That was because it was the home of more aestri than burgo, and aestri tended to leave the lofts at night to hunt. So did the burgo, apparently, but burgo also spent a large percentage of their day soaring on the city thermals as well. Aestri could not partake in that relaxing pastime, and tended to lay about the lofts and sleep through the day instead.

The aestri in the loft were quite varied in appearance, as Jorden guessed they would be, and generally quite amiable. They did tend to be somewhat more light-footed than the heavier set Hambone, yet few were quite as thin as Taf, and their eyes and hair were most commonly a variation of the colour brown. They were all about Finesilver's height, they all had quite substantial claws, and they all had the teeth and slitted pupils that Taf shared. In all there were few surprises.

The burgo were another matter. The hair of their head ranged from blacks and browns to a fluorescent yellow, and many wings showed bands of colour and pattern. They also tended to be more shy than the aestri. The aestri themselves were not shy at all. The young man was a friend of dear little Taf, and that was enough for most. He was also an outsider that was new to the world, and there was a rumour that he had once been silly enough to kiss a Precinct Kaedith. He was not a man that sounded dangerous, except in a very clumsy sort of way.

Jorden smiled and greeted the aestri that Taf introduced as the three of them came within what appeared to be something of a common room or place of meeting. It was a very large room by loft standards, perhaps twenty paces by ten, the ceiling high enough for even Jorden to easily walk beneath. Most of the names of the aestri introduced were quite simple ones, unlike burgo names, yet Jorden knew he would not remember many. Even those he did remember would be difficult to recall a face for.

He did try to remember the names of those that seemed the closest friends of Taf, like Raindrop and Dustmite, Greywhisker and Yellowtail. Yellowtail seemed an odd name to Jorden, or odder than most, for he was yet to see an aestri with a tail. There were certainly none within the loft. To the aestri, Yellowtail was quite a normal name and it was Midnight that approached the odd. A name such as Pandora was totally unacceptable to most normal aestri, and old Pandora had suffered a great deal of ridicule in her younger days. She was a great aestri and much loved in her later years nonetheless, but many were glad when the horrible name was gone. Midnight was only just considered a proper name, whereas Deadrat would have been quite acceptable. There were no aestri in the lofts of the area who were called Deadrat, however.

But there was a Midnight, and although her name was slightly odd, as was another aestri before her called Daydream, the Aestri Midnight herself was well respected by those of the wharf.

Jorden did not meet her for quite some time as Midnight was away from the loft until that evening it seemed, but he met many others and talked to several. It was generally considered amongst the loft aestri that he was an acceptable entity, for a man, and that there would be no problem with him remaining in the loft. A vote was taken and only Hambone was not in his favour, and that was done in fun. The final decision remained Midnight's, however.

Jorden liked the aestri, and the two red-headed burgo who crawled in through the skylight late in the day. By that time many of the aestri had gone off hunting, although there would soon be few things to hunt amongst the warehouses with such an increase in the wharf population that was brought on by the Time of Darkness. In another week they would be forced to the river and the boundaries of the city shield. There was always plenty of food there.

As Jorden gazed around the group of new-found friends he noticed that some were dressed better than Taf, and some far worse. It seemed to depend mostly on their supply of rags and stolen cloth. Raindrop appeared to prefer nice new stolen cloth, and had fashioned herself quite a reasonable dress out of it. She was thin like Taf, but she was silver haired with greenish-brown eyes.

She spoke as well as any. "There is always the underwharf," she said as the seven aestri, two burgo and one common man sat on boxes and lumps of wood and pieces of rag and the floor of the common room. "All sorts of things go down to eat the fish waste."

They were discussing the night's hunt, Jorden again feeling somewhat inadequate amongst such hunters of the night. "We all know what things go down to eat the fish waste," Yellowtail returned, "but what about the morelian. The underwharf is their haunt, and they need to eat as well."

"Only a handful of morelian have come to the city this darkness, Yel," said another of the aestri, an older aestri that Jorden did not know. "The underwharf is crawling with rats and lungfish. I was talking to Morelian Scuz a few days ago and he said that the rats would soon be eating Morelian."

"The underwharf, then," said another. "Taf and Bony will be there to help."

"But all that mud," Yellowtail whined. "I hate mud." They continued to argue the matter, the Burgo Hascitta claiming the southern fields were much nicer places to hunt, wild midget goats often coming in from the surrounding darkness to the safety and slightly better grazing of the city buffers.

It then became suddenly much quieter when Midnight arrived.

Midnight was very unlike any of the aestri Jorden had come to know so far, but she looked her name. With her black wrap of coarse woven cloth, and her hair of jet, and eyes that were so deep a shade of brown that brown seemed a silly name for them, she was indeed a part of the night. She also seemed older than most, although not as old as some of the poor ancient creatures that Jorden had noticed amongst the lofts. He would have guessed perhaps fifty years if she was a woman.

That was Jorden's estimate, but Midnight was not a woman and she was actually now passed her seventieth cycle. She looked first to Finesilver. "Esodo-Kaeso," she said quietly. "We feared you were lost. It is good to see you safe in harbour." Taf simply nodded in return.

Midnight then came closer and scanned the young common man thoroughly. "So you are the outsider of Beyond." It was not particularly the sweetest of aestri voices, Midnight rarely having the need to act in such a way, but it was not a voice that hinted at any resentment either. In all it was reasonably neutral. "And you wish to stay amongst the lofts, I hear?"

Jorden stood and offered a hand in greeting, but like most aestri, and unlike Taf, Midnight rarely used the human gesture of touching limbs. "Taf wanted me to come, but if it's any trouble I'll..."

"It is unlike Finesilver to bring home a pet," Midnight said without bothering to wait for Jorden to finish. Her comment received a few coughs of laughter. "I fear I will need to find the consensus of the loft before I make any decision."

"There was a vote earlier in his favour," put in the one of the oldest of the aestri present. "Most of us were here then."

Midnight sucked air through her jagged teeth in thought. "Is there room for him here? I thought that all of your chambers were in use."

"He can share mine," Taf said. "He has been sharing my hide aboard the Katerina without giving any trouble, and I have plenty of room."

Midnight stared toward the younger aestri for some time before speaking. "Then I'm sure he will be no trouble." She smiled toward Jorden, although it was not the warmest of smiles. "You are welcome in the lofts, outsider, as are all those who are outcasts of common society, but you are not old and frail and so must contribute to our well-being."

Jorden nodded, though he hoped that did not mean he would find himself as rat fodder in knee deep mud. "I hope to get a job in Saljid," he put forth without conviction.

The aestri simply nodded. "I am sure we will miss your company when you do."

II

Then Jorden was alone.

Taf was off hunting with her friends, as were the burgo, and Midnight seemed to reside elsewhere. That didn't particularly bother Jorden Miles. Unlike nearly everyone he had met since the house of the kaedith, Jorden found Midnight strangely disturbing. She had the eyes of Tsarin, wells of knowledge and power untapped. The man shrugged the thought.

Now he sat in the small bedroom of Aestri Finesilver with himself for company. It was a barren bedroom at present, Taf yet to bring her bedclothes and logbooks from the Katerina. He spent a half hour dusting a room that had not been used in months, then gingerly went though some of the boxes of the aestri's trinkets. The most interesting item was another sea-dragon tooth. Hanging from a rafter above was a frail paper thing that he was certain had to be a kite. It was a brightly coloured double-diamond with a bundle of ribbons dangled below, a length twine attached and wrapped on a small white bone. It had to be a kite.

There wasn't much else in the room, but at least it was a room. Jorden wasn't sure what the walls were made of – something between the strength of sailcloth and timber – yet at least they were there, as was an imitation door. There were a few shelves hanging from the rafters on beaded strings, a bed that was not unlike the one on the Katerina, and a hole in the floor that looked down into the dim warehouse beneath. There was also a hole in the roof that let in the light of the flare-sun, and the rain, no doubt, although there was a makeshift shutter that would keep out most.

Jorden decided to return to the loft's combination common room and dining room, which is exactly what it was, a big homely room in which to do everything else that was important to life but sleep. Except for excrement, of course, which was done elsewhere. Unfortunately no-one had told Jorden where elsewhere was, and he was busting. He eventually went outside and urinated into the warehouse gutter, which was likely what an aestri would have done, the fluid trickling down amongst the storm-water drains for the morelians to eventually worry over. Not that they did. They were used to the smell of the sewers. Jorden still needed to know where the aestri went to empty their bowels, but for the moment he was happy.

That was until Taf and her friends returned in the late evening with their haul. The aestri of the loft had no reason to conceal the identity of the meat they consumed. Everyone knew what aestri and burgo ate, and that was essentially any sort of fish or animal. Anything that was fresh, at least, and Jorden knew that now. He had shared the meals himself. The knowledge made the sight no easier to bear, the loft aestri seldom bothering to go to the trouble of slicing the rats into tiny pieces, their teeth were quite efficient for the job.

The filthy rats were at least skinned, as were the lungfish, which was a creature that did not look anything like a fish and certainly nothing like a lungfish of the real world. It did however resemble a lung, and Jorden did try some of it. It was eaten quite raw, without the benefit of a lot of garnishing other than salt, and it was not particularly appetizing. Jorden ate very little, yet felt better when he found he was not the only one.

Taf did not think the lungfish was as sweet as other fish either, and she thought that the underwharf rats were fit for no aestri to eat. A lot of the aestri present did eat a few regardless, crunching bone and sinew to get the most from the pathetically thin rats. Rats which had been brought in by the numerous other aestri of the loft who had hunted elsewhere were huge by comparison, although all Domain rats were relatively large.

The few remains were thrown onto a rag at the centre of the room as the growing horde of aestri finished the carcasses, Taf and friends in general agreement that the underwharves and their rats could be left for the morelian, or the morelian for the underwharf rats. They considered other places suitable to hunt, the arrival of Kaeina and two other burgo making the decision considerably easier.

The burgo brought with them three midget goats, although if such goats were midgets then Jorden doubted that he wished to see the full sized variety. These would have stood waist high at the shoulders if they were still alive. They weren't alive at the moment, of course. They were quite dead and soon without hides, the aestri then feasting yet again. By the coming of midnight – the position of the moon and not the aestri of that name – the room resembled the sight of a bloody massacre, the corpses piled in the centre of the room. Kaeina later dumped the bones and bowels into the waters of the bay along with all the other city waste.

Jorden doubted he would stay amongst the aestri for long. He had a feeling he just didn't have the stomach for it. At least the aestri had eaten enough for a day or two apparently, so he could relax for now. He might get hungry, but at least he would not have to watch the carnage as the aestri tore midget goats to shreds in much the same way as would a pack of wild dogs. Although the aestri did not fight amongst themselves while feeding.

Jorden soon became very relaxed, as did the aestri, but unlike the outsider they did not fall asleep. There was much to talk about, and Taf had yet to collect her belongings from the Katerina, Hambone helping her do so after the meal had settled. Jorden slept though such things: the reading of her latest tales, the stories she told of the kind, but slightly odd man of Beyond, and the dawn of the following day.

By that time the aestri were also asleep, and Jorden woke. He was alone in the common room with an aching back from sleeping on a lump of rag. He groaned and wandered to the room of Taf, crawled onto the rat-fur beside her and went back to sleep.

III

Taf woke as midday neared and rolled from the bed. She gently roused the man she found with her. "You were lovely company last night," she smiled.

Jorden grunted and wiped his eyes, then glanced to the glare that streamed in through the hole above. "Unfortunately I'm not nocturnal. Do you always stay up all night?"

The aestri shrugged. "Until the early hours before dawn, then sleep until lunchtime. We see the day and the night that way. Then when we go to the city buffers, we hunt during the day and sleep some of the night."

Jorden nodded as he rose to sit. It would be good if they would be soon forced to roam the fields that surrounded the city, fields that were sandwiched between the line of city shield and the boundary of the Darkness. They would perhaps lose their nocturnal habits and would be returning with somewhat better meat. Yet Jorden did not wish to have them to support him any more than Midnight. He needed money and some sort of job and he needed to see a kaedith about a green crystal... "I might go in an have a look around this Saljid," he thought aloud. "I don't suppose you know where this Kaedith Ellin lives." He was not particularly fond of the idea of confronting another kaedith, yet he had little choice if he ever wished to get home. Taf had promised that the freelance kaedith of the city were of no threat to him, and were certainly not loyal to the more powerful, and somewhat more wealthy kaedith of the Council.

"I can find out. Suzy will know." Taf had hoped he would forget about his home for at least a little while longer, yet it could hardly be easy to forget his own land; his family and friends. "But there is no hurry, is there? You will not be able to leave Saljid until the next Time of Light."

"No, but I'd rather hear the bad news now than later. I don't want to sweat over it for the next six months just to be told that they can't send me back."

Taf nodded in agreement, hoping that the news would not be too promising. Though she cared enough to want Jorden to be happy, and that meant leaving the Domain, she cared too much to wish to lose him. Perhaps she could be sent with him...

IV

The kaedith shook her head. "No child of the Domain can live in that world as one of them. I won't go into the details of it now, but you can trust me on it. Even an outsider who has lived here for too long can find the return extremely difficult."

Taf sighed and sat back into the leather clad chair of the Kaedith Ellin. It had only been a very faint hope that she might be able to travel to Jorden's world.

The outsider continued to pace the kaedith's tiny smoke filled office. His decision to stay or leave would not be an easy one, and he doubted Taf would understand. She would be better off without him anyway, he was sure. "I'll pay whatever it costs to get myself home. I can raise the money, it'll just take a while."

The ancient kaedith continued to puff on her cigar. "You can't buy your way out, little man."

Jorden frowned. "Give me a price and I'll see."

The kaedith shook her head. She was very unlike the Kaedith Tsarin. Tsarin had been the proud Precinct Kaedith of the system, Ellin was just an old and very badly dressed witch who made her way in life by selling potions and powders and bits of crystal... And lying a lot. She was not lying now, that was usually done in predictions of the future that saw the immanent and unavoidable death of the customer. It was also bad for business to tell too much at one sitting.

She scratched amongst her tangled locks. "You can give me all the money you want, but you won't get any nearer to your home. Of course I would not take your money, because I can't transport people through the transition to your world, and I'm not altogether good at the planer transitions either. Not my field." She stopped scratching and relaxed back into her own chair, lifting her feet to rest them on the desk. "Young Kaedith Mariland will take your money though."

Jorden was becoming agitated by then, annoyed that the kaedith all seemed to be slow to answer the simplest of questions and were all extremely evasive. "Then I'll see her, maybe." He thought to leave. "Sorry to waste your valuable time." He made no attempt to make the apology sound genuine.

The kaedith laughed heartily. "I'm sure," she said when she could manage. "Please give Mariland my regards." Ellin waited until Jorden was ready to open the door to leave, Taf standing to follow him. "Of course Mariland has no more hope of returning you home than I have." The kaedith burst into laughter yet again.

Jorden cursed softly. He wondered what he had done in life to deserve such punishment. "You said..."

"I said Mariland would take your money, and she would." Ellin stopped laughing, removed her feet from the desk, and sat forward in her chair. She even extinguished her cigar. "Come and sit down, please," she said in a voice that was friendlier, and much more serious than any she had used previously. "Mariland would make a lot of promises that she couldn't keep, and make a lot of money, and she would avoid the truth of the matter."

Taf hissed a breath and returned to her seat. Jorden remained on his feet.

"Your aestri here is a friend of old Suzy, so you can trust me to give you the facts. That's more than you'll get from any back-street kaedith in the whole of Saljid." Ellin shook her head. "The truth of it is that leaving the Domain isn't easy. You might be here for quite a while before the old slug decides to look into your pitiful story, but it won't cost you a single sector. It might cost you a lot of time and effort though."

"You kaedith can never come to the point, can you?" Although Jorden thought that he could see her point. It was as he had originally planned. All he would have to do was follow the lines of transition until he found an opening. There were only two problems: Tsarin had mentioned something about the ports being set for specific purposes, and what the hell was this slug that Ellin was talking about.

Taf had given up on the conversation and was looking at the cluttered shelving. There were crystals and vials and books and dragon teeth...

"At least I know what the point is," Ellin smiled. "Which is more than you. And the point is that there is only one entity in the Domain who can help you, and she works for free."

Jorden stood, waiting. Ellin played with him and said nothing for several moments. "This would be more funny if you didn't already know," she said. "You've heard it all before. You don't need me to tell you. Your mind is like a crystal fish bowl. I can see right through it, and I can see that very little swims about in it! And I can see that you've been told about Hura. Yet still you come and waste my time."

"I just want to get home," Jorden said in a huff.

Ellin nodded. "Then you will need to make a plea to the divine Hura Ghiana. The best I can offer is a teleportation spell that would send you back to Thagul, and that would cost more than you could earn in a whole cycle and would probably kill both of us – although hopefully just you – and you would not be able to make the transition even when you got there."

"So I just waltz up to your witch-god and ask to go home," Jorden said with little regard as to whether the statement was offensive or not.

The kaedith nodded again. "That's about the size of it," she said, and lit up another cigar.

Jorden frowned, yet there was a touch of a smile upon the lips of the aestri. "I don't suppose you can tell me where to find her."

Ellin smiled. "Sure. Nowhere. Well, thereabouts."

Jorden grumbled to himself and left the dark smoky office of the Kaedith Ellin, his feeble intelligence abused enough for one day. He was now sure that he did not like kaedith, although that did not stop him from visiting another.

The Kaedith Mariland was far more pleasant, well dressed, and did not smoke a cigar. She made quite a lot of promises and asked the equivalent of three months wages for part payment of her services. Jorden was no longer in the mood for such things by then and told her to go to hell. Mariland simply looked at the odd young man and shook her head, saying that she had lived in Hell as a child and much preferred Saljid, although she did travel there every few cycles to visit her ageing mother.

Jorden eventually decided to find some real food to eat and then to perhaps spend the rest of the afternoon trying to get drunk perhaps.

V

Saljid was a lot like Tucaar, only bigger, and the little food stalls looked much the same. Indeed one seemed to have the same grimy stove and grubby bearded cook as he remembered.

Jorden paused to buy one of the oily brown things that the stall sold and had a brief discussion with the cook on the worth of the local currency. He hoped he could trust the man, and offered a little extra for the information. Fortunately for the outsider, the cook in question was feeling in an unusually pleasant mood that afternoon, and he gave the poor idiot a reasonably accurate description of the use of money: how it was minted, what you did with it, what it was worth and how you earned it. He took the cost of ten pork rolls as payment and gave the silly little boy one of those pork rolls.

Jorden went on his way with about a month's wages – more than he thought Orani would have given him – chewing a greasy piece of rolled pork.

Taf had been quiet, and kept a respectable distance as they walked the street. She could see that Jorden was upset and wondered how she could comfort him. "I'm sorry that you can't return home yet, Jorden, but I'm glad that you will be with me at least until the next light."

Jorden walked along the street in search of a tavern or saloon, or whatever they were called in Saljid. Maybe a drink would help. His mother would never let him drink at home, but she was a long way away these days. "Probably longer," he mumbled. "But like you say, I am glad in some ways. I'm not sure I want to leave you behind either. I would like to get home to sort a few things out and tell everyone that I'm okay. Then I actually think I would come back to this madhouse. It isn't really that much worse than home, and... well, there's you. And I feel so much healthier here..."

"That would be nice," Taf smiled. "I wouldn't be sorry to see you leave if I knew you were going to return."

A pause. "I'd love to see my mother's face," he smiled. "She doesn't really like me having anything to do with girls. She wouldn't be real happy I was hanging around you. But she must be worried about where I am..."

"Then you will try and return?"

"I might," Jorden said, "but I'm not sure what to try next." He saw a saloon and headed for it, noticing that Taf had vanished as he climbed the stair. He looked for her and saw the aestri walking in the opposite direction on the street below. "I need something to drink," he shouted to her. She nodded, smiled, and continued to wander on the street. "Coming?"

Taf frowned. "I can't go in there, silly. I'll wait for you out here."

Jorden grunted. He should have known. "Just be a moment," He said, but he was actually a little less than that.

VI

Jorden didn't see the man at the bar that had taken an instant dislike to the aestri lover who had wanted to bring one of the horrible little things in with him.

Pets were fine, in the right place, and near the common man Halford when he was drunk was not the right place. It wasn't that he really hated aestri, although he was not particularly fond of them, but he did hate idiot baby face youths who thought they owned the city. And when he was drunk there were always a lot of idiots around. They seemed to swarm to him as soon as he began to enjoy himself. Some idiot would come up to him and ask a pathetic question like _Do you want another drink?_ or _How are you feeling today?_

They weren't too smart for long, Halford quick to flatten the face of that sort of idiot. But some were really amazing, like a man that would bring an aestri into the very saloon where he was just getting comfortable, the twelfth pint of bullwhip beer still wet on his lips.

Another face to flatten.

Halford smiled to himself afterwards, and had another beer before collapsing to the floor of the tavern as he did on many darktime afternoons.

For Jorden it had been something of a surprise. One moment he was walking into the dim, but rather pleasant smelling tavern, and the next he was lying on his back, staring toward the blank grey sky of Saljid. And his face hurt. A wipe with the back of his hand produced a thick smear of blood, and his nose was numb and throbbing at the same time. He had a reasonable idea what had happened, he just didn't know why or when. He moaned and tried to move. It didn't feel that good when he did, but then he didn't like the way the people of the street were walking over and around him as if he wasn't there, and he wasn't sure when a wagon was likely to come rattling down the street. It felt like one had already run over him.

As he sat up he saw Taf sitting in the shade of a grain store nearby. He crawled over to her and collapsed again. "Thanks for dragging me out of the way of the traffic," he moaned. "Sorry to put you to such trouble."

Taf grunted. "If you wish to go into a place like that and get into a fight, then that is your problem. Don't expect my help."

"Fight!" Jorden glanced to the aestri, wondering if she were serious. "I barely got through the door, then wop – nothing. It wasn't much of a fight. Are the local bars always like that?"

The aestri shrugged. "I don't know, I don't go near them very often. I have seen men fall out of them before – almost every time I am near. They lay for a while then go back in and fight some more, or drink perhaps. I think that men like to fight." Her eyes were fixed upon those of the outsider. "Too much of such drink is never good, and the men get mean and silly like the crew of the Katerina. You don't want to be become like that, Jorden, it is best to stay away from such places."

He could understand her attitude. "Okay, sure. Maybe you know something better to drink."

Taf smiled. "Of course."

### Chapter 13 – Saljid III

Upon the fields we sneer at Dark

For he is kept at bay,

Yet never must the low forget

That Dark is here to stay.

I

The water from the river tasted like shit, probably a sewer outlet upstream, and it would undoubtedly kill quicker than alcohol, but at least he wouldn't get drunk on it. Jorden sat back from the water's edge and frowned. He would rather go thirsty than dare another sip.

Taf's next words surprised him. "Don't drink that, it's terrible!" _Yes_ , he thought, _I had noticed that_. "Sometimes it is even salty." Jorden hadn't thought about that, the sea undoubtedly quite near.

Of course there were no tides in the Domain that could bring the salty seawater in from the harbour, the river only salty during sustained drought. Jorden had soon guessed there were no tides, probably due to the fact that the sun and moon were fakes. Hura wasn't quite all-powerful.

But there was a river, and he now sat on its grassy bank. It was a shallow river that flowed from his right to his left, probably entering the bay some distance east of the wharves. There was nothing much on the opposite bank some two hundred metres away, just some hills and storm clouds in the distance and the line of the city shield. There was not a great deal on the bank Jorden sat upon either, the city seeming to end abruptly some two or three hundred paces back from the water.

The river often flooded, no doubt, and that would explain much. What wasn't explained was why Taf had brought him there if not to drink. She answered by removing her top and skirt and diving into the river. She was gone a long while, Jorden wishing he had a watch. He was sure that it had to be at least two minutes, and he was beginning to think she would never surface. The outsider knew that she was reasonably competent beneath a great depth of water – she had saved his life after all – but over two minutes...

Then Taf surfaced, drew a breath, and swam to shore. She had a few _somethings_ hanging from her underwear as she rose from the river, the aestri removing them and tossing them toward Jorden. Then she slipped back into her skirt and wrapped the strip of cloth around her chest. Jorden looked at the things she had thrown to him. They looked to be a cross between a squid and a jellyfish with a few extra eyes thrown in for good measure. They were blue and semitransparent, and looked about as appetizing as the sewer rats of the previous evening. The outsider was not sure where to begin.

Taf sat next to him and took hold of the largest blue thing. She didn't eat the jellysquid, however, just sucked on a small opening between its multitude of legs, legs that waved about as she did, then tossed it back to the river. Jorden just stared. He had been the recipient of some odd meals in his time within the Domain, but this was one local delicacy that he doubted he could ever bring himself to partake in.

"River squal," she told him. "The juice is better than anything you would get within that place in the city." She passed one to Jorden.

He didn't hold the squal for very long. It was as slimy as it looked, and it had far too many eyes, all of them looking at him. He thought they looked somewhat sorrowful. The squal, however, was not in such a mood at all. Indeed if it had anything which resembled a brain, then it would simply have wished for the giant to hurry up and suck its bladder dry and return it to the water. At present it was finding it difficult to breath.

Jorden couldn't, and he put the squal aside and shook his head. "I'm not really that thirsty Taf," he lied.

The aestri shrugged and drank the rest, then threw them back to the river to refill. She then tried to wring the water from her hair. "How is your nose now," she asked eventually. It didn't look at its best, and it was a deeper shade of purple than usual.

Jorden touched it carefully. "Just broken, I think. Not quite pulverized." There was a throbbing from the centre of his forehead down to his teeth, and back to his ears and jaw-bone. "I'll survive."

Taf nodded.

Gradually the mind of the aestri turned to other matters, thoughts that had been scattered by the fight at the tavern. She thought of the words of the Kaedith Ellin, and the words of Suzy.

"I would come with you if you decide to go," she said unexpectedly. "The Katerina is getting old and dangerous, and I would like to see more of the Domain." It was true that she would dearly miss the sea, but it was also true that she had spent most of her life out on the sea or on the wharves. A change would be nice.

Jorden had no idea what she was talking about. "Go where?" Not to his world, he knew, because he wasn't going there either.

"To speak with Hura, silly. The Kaedith Ellin said that only Hura could return you to your world, and Suzy said so too. I thought you might wish go to Hura and ask if she would help you."

The outsider mumbled to himself momentarily. "Perhaps," he then said. "I could always drop in and say hello, I suppose." Jorden picked up a small stone and tossed it into the slow moving water, wondering how much of the word of either kaedith he could believe.

"Will you?" Taf asked again. "I would like to come too. I would dearly love to see the lands of the Domain." Mostly she just wished to be with Jorden for as long as possible.

"If I knew how to find this Hura of yours then I would, but honestly I've never been really sure if she is real or mythical. Some talk of her as a woman that drops in for lunch every year or two, and others say she made the sun and moon themselves while waiting for something interesting to happen. If Hura had a less cryptic address..."

"Everyone knows where Hura lives, silly," Taf smiled. "She has lived there for nearly a thousand cycles."

Jorden frowned. "Perhaps she has, but where's there."

Taf shrugged. "About a hundred thousand footfall from Nowhere, more or less."

The outsider glared toward his companion. That was the sort of cryptic reply he expected of the kaedith, not his friend. "That's not much help, Taf," he put forth sarcastically. "It's finding _nowhere_ that's the problem."

And the aestri nodded in agreement. "Maybe," she said in thought. "But there should be road-signs and people we could ask along the way." She looked across the river. "It is a long way, though, and we would need to start as soon as the Darkness departs." That was a good time into the future, and there would be ample opportunity to prepare. The aestri began to feel excitement at the prospect of such a journey. That was until she remembered Suzy's tale of death.

Jorden stared at the aestri.

II

The road sign stood amongst some of the few presently productive fields of the Domain and pointed up-river on the southern boundary of Saljid. There were a multitude of names engraved on its one large arrow, the cities that lay along the road that vanished into the grasslands of the buffer. Some names were familiar, some not, and some where really odd names for cities.

The numbers next to the names were quite substantial, the smallest next to the name Lennon read 200, a small _TF_ trailing that. Jorden asked Taf the significance of the letters.

"Thousand footfall, silly."

Jorden cleared his throat and returned his gaze to the sign. That meant that the city of Hell, the childhood home of the Kaedith Mariland, was over a million footfall. That was a long walk, Jorden considered, but Hell was only halfway to Nowhere. "I always wanted to be Miles from Nowhere," Jorden joked, "and I always knew I'd go to Hell some day." He whistled. "It's a long walk from here though!"

Taf missed the humour of the statement. "It is a long way," she quietly confirmed. "Even if you made good pace you would be fortunate to cover more than..." Numbers were not the aestri's speciality, the calculation taking some time. "Thirty or forty thousand footfall in a day, and that would take you..."

"Two or three months if I walk non-stop," Jorden finished for her. "That sucks. Are you sure there are no coaches?"

Taf shook her head, then she shrugged. "I think that you would be best that you forget your visit to Hell and travel from Ponomilo, but Orani may make a special stop for you if you asked her. She will still be grateful that you saved the Katerina."

As was often the case, Jorden had lost the line of Taf's conversation. "Orani?" Memory was slow to return. "Ponomilo, right." The Katerina was going there next light. He checked the sign. Ponomilo was nearly as far as Nowhere. "I can take the Katerina to Ponomilo and go from there!"

"There would be ferries to Rome and coaches and wagons to Nowhere," the aestri told him. "That would be a very easy journey. Perhaps you will not go to see Hell then?"

Jorden hissed. "No, I'm not really all that interested in Hell, I just thought I would need to pass through it to get to Nowhere." He paused. "You do realize that Nowhere is a pretty stupid name for a city." Although perhaps Hell wasn't particularly inappropriate.

Taf cocked her head. "Is it?"

"It makes things even more confusing, that's for sure."

"It has always been called Nowhere, I think, and it isn't as silly as some names – like roam that is spelt wrong." The aestri looked to the thoughtful face of her friend. "Then you will go to Ponomilo next light?"

Jorden nodded slowly, looking to the empty road leading on toward the storms of Darkness. "I guess so." It was a long wait, a very long wait. First he had the equivalent of six months in Saljid amongst the aestri, then the voyage to Ponomilo of at least some weeks, then ferry rides and coaches... It would be the better part of a year before he would even see Hura, and then he had to convince the local God to help him!

"To be honest, Taf, I feel like starting now." He pointed to the storms. "What's it like out there."

Taf shrugged. "It's not really a place for a man or second-form aestri. Do you think that the people flock within the city shields for no reason?"

Good point. He had seen the storms that whipped the oceans into wild frenzy already, and it seemed wise for all ships to seek the shelter of the nearest protected port, yet what of the land. He could see there were storms by the clouds on the horizon, although there did not seem to be an over-abundance of rain as yet. The river had run well, but it was not flooded.

He doubted that the people feared a few storms. "Everyone?" Jorden asked. "The whole population of the Domain?" He watched Taf nod. "Why?"

It was a difficult question for the aestri. She frowned. "Because Hura has little power over the Darkness. She gives shields and protectorates, but they are expensive to maintain and few in number. It is easiest to protect the cities and larger villages and leave the lands to the... to the storms and rain and things."

Jorden frowned. "It's the _things_ I'm worried about."

III

The outside world of the Domain did not sound a wholesome place to be, though there was no-one that would give Jorden any exact details. Anyone that the outsider spoke to about such things would simply frown and say that it was no place for a man, especially one that wasn't much more than a boy, or respectable member of any order to be. Then they would leave it at that.

So it seemed Jorden was destined to remain in Saljid until the next light. He would need a job, perhaps even a place to stay if he could not become accustomed to the ways of the aestri. Then he would need to wait... and wait and wait.

But fate had other ideas.

In three days Jorden decided that he did not wish to stay within Saljid a moment longer than necessary, regardless of what the lands beyond the shields might have to offer. It was mostly anger that drove him on, yet there was also a certain measure of fear...

The incident had come unexpectedly, yet most conflicts do, and Jorden was beginning to feel that he could live quite happily amongst his aestri and Burgo friends. And they were indeed friends. Kaeina was more helpful than anyone Jorden had ever met, and would spend hours explaining the art of fire-making so that Jorden could cook his food. Or sometimes she would try to teach the preserving of skins. Then Aestri Raindrop made Jorden two sets of what she called _real clothes_ from some cloth that the outsider had bought. They consisted of nice heavy shirts and knee length skirts, or kilts as Jorden preferred to call them. He was somewhat reluctant to wear the clothing, yet as it was a gift from Raindrop, and as he had seen other men of Saljid wearing such things, he decided he could live with it.

He wore underwear beneath and knew he would never really get used to wearing a dress.

The food was good, especially the meat he cooked for himself, and there were no more hauls of sewer rats. There were also several offers of jobs in local thorian owned machinery shops. It seemed it would be a pleasant enough wait. He still worried a little about what his mother would be thinking at home, but there wasn't a lot he could do about it.

Even Midnight seemed pleased with his news of the coming employment. It was toward the end of a long sleepy day in the loft when the aestri guardian came to visit, again wrapped in her black shroud.

"I just have to decide which job to take," Jorden told her. "I like the carriage works the best, but it's on the far side of the city." And the city was not a small place, he and Taf had spent many hours pacing its narrow streets. "I'll probably take the position with the nearby shipping fitters instead. Orani has given me a great reference, and they seem to know her well."

They sat in a circle within the common room, a small group of only four who had not gone to the buffers that afternoon: Jorden and Taf, Midnight and Kaeina, the yellow eyes of the burgo flicking often toward Midnight.

"There would be better accommodation within the city than here," Midnight put forward. "And the carriage works pay well, I have heard."

Jorden shrugged. "I'm happy enough to stay here, if it's all right, and I'll pay my way. I haven't got much else to spend my money on."

Kaeina smiled, she was wearing a new vest that Jorden had also bought the cloth for. "But surely it must be crowded in Finesilver's tiny room," Midnight went on. Jorden began to wonder if she was trying to politely ask him to move on. She seemed as pleasant as any of the aestri, although perhaps not quite as warm, but there was always the hint that she would rather he was not there.

"It's not too bad," the outsider said quietly. Taf smiled and let herself fall gently against his shoulder.

Midnight managed something of a smile as well. "If you are sure you are comfortable, then stay. The loft aestri seem happy with you." Jorden hoped so, and he was certainly happy with them. He was just glad that Midnight was not one of them. He wondered briefly where the aestri actually lived, yet as long as it wasn't in Taf's loft it didn't matter.

The dark aestri then stood and straightened her dusty black wrap. "But I must be on my way and..." Then she frowned, and hissed a breath. "It's already late and I told Suzanna that I would come to collect some loma beads from her." She glanced to Taf and smiled. "Your legs are younger than mine, Finesilver. Perhaps you would be so kind as to run to her loft to collect them for me."

The younger aestri rose immediately. "Of course," she said and flashed a ragged grin. "I will be back before you could skin a rat."

Midnight continued to smile as Taf departed, yet it was a smile that vanished when the aestri was out of sight.

Then, for no apparent reason, Midnight frowned down upon the man, something she was only able to achieve while he sat. "I had hoped that you might leave of your own accord, outsider," Midnight hissed, "but I will force you if I must."

Jorden was caught unaware, the sudden change of mood quite unexpected. He stood, as did Kaeina, and noticed the frown upon the burgo's thin white face. His eye, however, tended to concentrate on the suddenly agitated aestri. "If you want me to leave then just say," Jorden said as politely as possible. He didn't need to make any enemies. "I didn't realize..."

"Then leave," she went on, her voice calm yet threatening, "for if you spend another night in the lodgings of Finesilver then you will be no more than dead flesh. I have taken the life of a man before, so the life of some pathetic outsider child that cannot be with his own kind means nothing to me."

"This is not the way, Midnight," Kaeina broke in.

The aestri flashed an angry glare. "This does not concern you, burgo." Kaeina stood back a pace and remained silent, her frown still present. "The lust and attentions of man are not for aestri, outsider, and ecstasy to Finesilver is to fly her kite upon the roofs of the warehouses, or to play with a field mouse like a first-form cub. She does not need a twisted man using her for his demented purposes."

Jorden glared in disbelief. "Use her! That's the last thing she needs after what she's been through with some of the crew on that ship." The outsider found that he was shouting, his heart in his throat. "I love Taf. She's a friend. I would never do anything to hurt her."

Midnight ignored all that she did not wish to hear. "The advances of the crew are something that all aestri of the sea have to face. I was their plaything often enough; Finesilver will not be yours." The black cloaked figure turned and walked to the edge of the room, then she paused and looked again to Jorden Miles. "You will be out of this loft before the setting tomorrow or I will claw your heart from your chest." And then, like a shard of darkness itself, Midnight vanished though the opening.

Jorden found that he was shaking. He shook with anger rather than fear, although he had no doubt that the aestri could carry out her threat. She would not have warned him if she planned to cut his throat in his sleep, so there was no immediate danger. Even the anger quickly cooled, only to be replaced with confusion. He had really thought that the aestri were not like that, not like the quick tempered kaedith.

He looked to Kaeina. "What the hell was all that about?"

Kaeina had thought it was all quite self-explanatory, but totally uncalled for. "Midnight is unlike many of the aestri," the burgo said quietly. "There are few pleasures in her life, and little joy. The aestri I love are light-hearted and carefree, but not midnight. And she behaves toward her offspring like no aestri should. For a mother to disown her cub in such a way..." Jorden stared toward the burgo. "Finesilver is the daughter of Midnight, although there are few who know of it. They knew that Lamplight was, Midnight and Lamplight were close, as aestri should be, but Lamplight is dead."

"Oh crap," Jorden murmured. He didn't believe this was happening. The nightmare was rearing its head yet again. He understood the anger somewhat better at least. Midnight would likely get on very well with his own mother. "It isn't like that with Taf, she's a really good friend and I'd never do anything to hurt her."

The burgo smiled and came close. "I know that Jorden," she said softly, "and the loft aestri know as well. We all like you very much, but that will not change the mind of Midnight. It would be safer for you to leave here and find another lodging."

Jorden nodded. "And better for everyone. I doubt if I'll just leave the loft though. Once I get going I'll probably keep walking right on out of Saljid. While I'm here the problem will be too."

Kaeina shook her head. "Don't leave alone, Jorden. It is not a place to go alone. Take Taf. She will wish to go with you." The burgo placed a hand upon the shoulder of the outsider. "And always be her friend, no matter what," Kaeina added, then even more sternly, "no matter what. She will always be your dearest friend, here and beyond."

"I don't know, Kay. If there is any danger out there, and I wished you'd tell me if there was, then I'd rather she didn't come. I'd rather just getting myself killed."

Kaeina smiled broadly. "In the event of any threat by those of darkness, I think that Taf would be much better equipped to survive. You might not do so well on your own."

Jorden stared. Again he was given more vague references to the land beyond the shield. But Kay was a friend. She wouldn't let him do anything that was too dangerous. At least Jorden hoped that was the case...

Movement at the door distracted him.

The Aestri Finesilver was frowning as she entered. "Where is Midnight? Suzy thought I was going mad."

"She wanted you away from here so that she could ask Jorden to leave the loft," Kaeina told her diplomatically.

Taf kept her frown. "I had hoped he could stay," she whined. "I don't want to go back to the Katerina."

Jorden shook his head. "You don't have to, Taf, I've decided to brave this Darkness thing and head for Nowhere. There's really nothing for me to do here now."

"Now?" Taf whined in dismay. "No Jorden, not now!"

IV

"But I do want to come," the aestri said. "If you have decided to go, and will not change your mind, then I wish to go too."

Jorden walked the street with Taf in tow. It was a fresh bright morning, the loft and its aestri left well behind, and his mind was well made. "I'm going Taf, even if it kills me," which it probably would. "And you can stay here. I don't really think your mother wants you to go off to certain death with some common boy."

The aestri frowned. "Who?" she asked as she trotted nearer to his side, no matter what the people of the street might think.

"Your mother," he repeated. "Midnight."

Taf grunted. "Is she?"

Jorden had not really considered that Taf would not know. When the burgo had said that few knew of the relationship, then he thought she had meant few others outside those concerned. "So Kaeina told me. I didn't realize that you didn't know."

She shrugged. "I only remember Pandora, although I knew she was too old to have been my mother. Aestri don't bear young much past seventy or eighty. Midnight was around a lot, but I never thought of her as much more than coven mother, and a teacher."

They walked further along the street. "So can I?" the aestri asked.

"What?" Jorden answered without thinking, then added "No" when he realized her meaning.

"That's just silly Jorden. You know that I will follow you anyway, whether you want me to or not. And who will help you find food? You wouldn't even know what to eat, and certainly couldn't catch it."

"I'll carry supplies," he said, and the realities of the trek began to throb within.

"You couldn't carry enough to reach the next village, silly, and you would soon run out of money buying food at every town."

The outsider sighed in defeat. "If you must come then come. I'm leaving today, so I hope you can manage."

Taf nodded. "Of course I can," she chirped, "but I will need thirty of your silver coins."

"What!" Jorden coughed. "That's over half of what I have, Taf. We'll need that. What the hell do you want it for?"

The aestri was quiet a moment, she knew the next few words would not be easy. "A protectorate." The outsider had that blank look that Taf knew so well. "A charm, one of the cheapest there is..." That was because there were few of the lowly who were silly enough to wish to wear one, and most had absolutely no need.

"Come on, Taf," Jorden moaned. "I need this for food and gear." Perhaps some clothes so that he did not have to wear the kilt all the way to Hura's front door.

"Please," Taf whined. "I love you Jorden," she said. It was the centre of the street and within earshot of several shocked residents of Saljid. "And I really wish to come. _Please!_ "

Jorden could not believe he was counting out thirty silver shards. There were not a lot left in the pouch when he had finished. Taf smiled and hugged him, bringing further looks and murmurs, and ran off with the cash.

The outsider stood and waited, feeling distinctly ill at ease. "Stupid aestri," he said to whoever was listening amongst the crowd, or most of them. "They're mad little things." Jorden smiled.

People walked off and ignored him, having their own thought as to who was actually mad.

V

It was not much to look at, just a clear piece of crystal on a length of leather cord that Taf hung around her neck. "I hope it makes you feel better," Jorden told her, "because it means I have to eat whatever you decide to give me for the next few weeks."

Taf smiled. "It does. It makes me feel a lot better."

Jorden was now broke, or near enough that it didn't matter. By the time he had bought a pack he could hang on his shoulders and a bed-roll and some decent shoes and a knife and a water bottle and so forth, he found that he would have to continue wearing his kilt. It was all he had except for the spare skirt and the old safari suit from Johnathon, and the long pants were too hot on his legs. Of course the kilt was a little on the cool side.

Taf had nothing except her charm and the clothes she wore, and her knife from the Katerina. She was barefoot and only partly dressed, yet seemed quite willing to walk out amongst the storms of Darkness. Jorden had tried to buy her a coat or at least a decent top, but she had refused. Too much to carry so far, she had told him.

The time of departure came, the city of Saljid at their backs. Life and friends now behind them. He had a fear that Midnight would really be out to get him now that Taf had decided to leave as well, but the aestri had taken care who she told of her plans. They walked beyond the sign on the southern edge of the city, the river flowing amongst the open lands to their left, and there met Kaeina who had come to bid farewell. She had been soaring above in wait, knowing they would soon take to the road. Now she stood before them.

The burgo smiled. "I guess that this will be farewell for some time," she said to Taf. "I did not think I would have to say this so soon after your returning for the Time of Darkness."

Taf shook her head. "Sorry, but I'll be back, and I will probably have plenty of time to spend with my friends if the Katerina sails without me... Unless I meet her in Ponomilo."

"I'm sure that you'll be back, although I do fear for you. To go amongst the wilds like this..."

Jorden stood and waited. He was primed and ready to be on his way, almost eager to see what awaited them in the darkened lands. He would not hurry the farewell, however.

"I'm sure that you can survive," Kaeina went on. "There are others who do." She came close and hugged the aestri. "I will miss you... we all will miss you." They remained locked together for some time.

It was only when they parted that Kaeina noticed the shard of crystal. Her smile vanished. "Oh Taf, no." The burgo placed her hand around the protectorate. "You don't need that, not out there. You can't..."

Taf backed and held the shard. "Yes I do, for now at least." She watched Kaeina turn to the man, her mouth open. "Please. I really need this. I'll be all right, and if things get bad..."

The burgo nodded, but was still obviously not very happy. "Be careful," she said. "I have things that I need to do in Saljid, but when I'm finished I might come and see how you're faring."

Jorden wasn't completely sure what the heck was going on, but he understood the burgo's last statement. "You don't have to do that Kay, I'm dragging one too many of my friends into this already." He didn't wish to involve another. And though he had known Kaeina for only a few days, he felt that she was already a very close friend.

"I know I don't have to," she returned, a touch of a smile upon her lips, "But I will. Until then..." And the burgo left abruptly, her wings beating the air above their heads.

"It would be wonderful to fly," Taf said. "And it would be much quicker."

Jorden mumbled and moved on, the aestri slow to do so. "Do we really have to go now," she asked for the last time. "The Time of Light would be much nicer."

The outsider shook his head and walked on, knowing that he was being stubborn and self centred. "You can stay," he said. "But I'm going."

"Then I must go too," Taf said, and followed the man on into the Darkness.

### Chapter 14 – Darkness I

The change is harsh, yet swift complete,

With grinding bones and shifting meat.

I

It was difficult to tell where Darkness began and where the influence of the city shield finished. The light simply faded slightly, the clouds grew thicker above, and it began to rain. It was not heavy rain, little more than a mist, yet Jorden found it uncomfortable.

Taf didn't mind. The rain was cool and the lands of Darkness were often very warm, and it was not as if it fell heavily. She walked lightly along the broad provincial road, the abandoned fields on either side, and hummed to herself. Jorden trudged on with his heavy pack.

Aside from the rain there was apparently not much to the Time of Darkness. It was not dark, or not completely dark, just dim as one would expect on a heavily overcast day. There was some wind, though hardly a gale, and the empty lands were somehow eerie. It was disturbing to see one farmhouse after another that was dark and quiet, left by its owners to the spirits of the night.

Of course the lands were not completely empty. Various farm animals seemed to remain: horses, cattle, goats, and something that resembled a pig. There were also animals that were not familiar, yet all had one thing in common and that was they grazed quite happily in the fields with little regard to the condition of the weather.

Jorden and Taf continued walking. Nothing changed except for the scenery, and that did not change much. "All right Taf, so what is the big secret about this place," Jorden asked when they were some ten thousand footfall out from the shield of Saljid. It was late afternoon and the light was fading, yet otherwise all was proceeding nicely.

The aestri smiled toward him. She had been unusually quiet, Taf seldom having such lengthy periods without speech, many things cluttering her mind. "The less that you know of it the better," she returned. "The creatures of Darkness do not see well, but they can taste your fear on the wind. It is best not to think of them."

Taf's words had the opposite effect of that intended, Jorden suddenly quite fearful. It was the first time any mention was made of creatures that lurked in the darkened lands, and he wondered why Taf had not spoken of such things earlier to try and discourage him. "Creatures?" he said uneasily. "You never said anything about creatures."

The aestri frowned. "Why do you think that the people go into the city. There are many things that come from hiding in the Time of Darkness, horrible little things that are best avoided. And there are some that are dangerous." Then the smile. "But I am here to protect you."

Jorden faked a return smile. "I feel better already." He wondered what to expect, and what nightmare could bring to face them. Taf wouldn't say.

He had to wait until the following morning to meet the first.

II

They camped at the edge of an open woodland, the fields of many farms stretched out into the north-west. The river now ran near to the road, its water dark and forever in motion. And it was not simply the current, Jorden noticed, but also the presence of a great deal of life, the fins of many often breaking the surface. He was glad it was several hundred paces from the camp.

It was a very sparse camp. Jorden had made fire, a technique learned from Burgo Kaeina, yet found that the worm-like animals that Taf had collected from the surrounding forest did not cook well. That was because they burnt substantially better than the damp timber that he tried to use for fuel. Taf ate hers raw, Jorden eventually following suit and discovering that they were quite tasty – something like a banana that wiggled until it was thoroughly beaten to death.

Jorden put away his pouch of kadastone. He was getting better at fire, he thought with a certain measure of pride, but had a long way to go. Kaeina had made it look so easy. She held the piece of stone between her palms, rubbed gently, then with a gentle breath produced a flame that leapt from her palms and ignited anything nearby.

During that first lesson, the outsider had tried to do the same. He placed the stone between his palms and rubbed, then dropped the stone and licked his hands. He had expected the kadastone to get warm, but not quite as hot as coals from a fire – although he suspected the flames that issued in step three would be somewhat warmish. The trick was speed and timing, and on Jorden's second attempt he was able to get as far as roasted fingers. He blew too hard.

Now it was becoming easy, but his hands inevitably received minor burns.

Taf wasn't interested in the fire. It was already quite warm and she could see quite well, and she certainly did not wish to cook the maetre larvae. She was tired, though, and ready for a good night's sleep before the first full day of walking. "We should get some rest, Jorden," she yawned. "It will be a difficult day tomorrow." And the next. Both would tire easily until they were used to the exertion. "There are pong trees in this wood, and they are the smoothest and most sheltered."

Jorden nodded. He was feeling quite weary himself and stood with his gear, kicking out the fire as he waited. "Lead on."

The aestri did, taking them at last to a thick white tree whose low, smooth branches were all but horizontal, and whose leaves were thick and glossy. As good a place as any, Jorden soon spreading his bed-roll upon the short green turf that grew in the pong's shade.

Taf watched him put his heavy hides onto the ground and slid amongst them, and then he spoke. "I think there is room in here for us both," the outsider told her. "Though it might be a little cramped."

"For what," she asked. "You can't sleep on the ground, silly. Come where it is cool and comfortable." As an example she leapt up the tree and clawed her way to a branch above him. "You can come to the branch beside me and talk me to sleep." The aestri allowed her limbs to dangle beneath, her torso firm against the timber, then she put one arm beneath her cheek so that she could better view her companion.

Jorden could see enough of the perch in the dark to be sure that he was better off where he was. "I don't think so, Taf, I have a bad habit of falling out of bed and that's a heck of a fall" It was twice his own height. That would be quite a shock while one remained in the land of dream, and he would be likely to break something.

The aestri smiled. He would learn, and better here than further from the influences of the city shield.

III

Jorden woke up with the creature – or creatures, to be exact, for there were quite a few more than just one – and luckily for him they were all fast asleep when he screamed. After the scream they were disoriented, and scuttled about on the bed-roll like a group of wayward pink spotted lizards that had just discovered that their morning meal was alive and well. Actually they scuttled in such a way because that was exactly what they were and what had happened.

Taf caught two of them before they had time to inflict any injury to her friend, and the rest lost interest when they saw that there was more than one live entity beneath the tree. Jorden was still trying to catch his breath long after the aestri had killed the two pink spotted lizards and eaten one of them. Like the local rats, they were quite large – a body the length of Taf's forearm with a tail that was longer again – and were as thick as two forearms.

"A good breakfast, Jorden, but that is not the safest way to catch them." The aestri handed him the other lizard, the skin already stripped from its flesh.

"No thanks, I'm not really a lizard fan." Especially not now. "I've heard that reptiles will come near humans for warmth, but I didn't think they meant quite like that."

Taf snorted. "They didn't come for warmth, silly, it is already quite warm enough. They came because they thought that you were breakfast – thought you were something that had died sometime yesterday." She shrugged. "They were so furious to find that you were not dead they may well have killed you, but that would be rare."

"Friends of yours, are they," Jorden puffed. Darkness was beginning to show it ugly side.

"I know their ways." She smiled. "Perhaps now you will listen when I say that the ground is no place to sleep."

Jorden nodded. "I get the point. You knew that the lizards would come, didn't you. You wanted me to find out for myself." He paused to consider other possibilities. "What if it wasn't the lizards? What if something else had come for me? You should have told me straight that the ground was dangerous."

"I thought that would be obvious even to a man," she chuckled. "And I was watching from above. I can hear a fish swimming from a hundred footfall. And if it were not the lizards then it would only have been the red jelly things that leave slime wherever they crawl. That would have been much funnier."

The outsider faked an evil glare. "I know where the most horrible creature is!"

IV

Jorden slept in the trees from that time on, though he found them intensely uncomfortable. He was tired throughout the days, and restless throughout the nights. It was a stupid journey. He should have waited until the next Time of Light. But he was committed now and would keep on his way, and hoped that the trees were mostly of the smooth varieties rather than the rough hairy ones they were sometimes forced to sleep in.

By this time they were several days out from Saljid and had left the open lands and abandoned farmhouses and were walking amongst the ever thickening woodlands. The wind was stronger, the nights were redder, and the rain often fell in torrents. It was intensely uncomfortable, and on the very red nights it often seemed that sheets of blood fell from the heavens, the lands howling in pain. The trees were slippery and even more uncomfortable on such nights, yet Taf did not seem overly concerned. Jorden had seen her shiver with cold on several occasions, but she never complained, and when he offered her the coat of his safari suit she politely refused.

Jorden was not as persevering. "This is no place to be," He said one night in the wet dark. "What a stupid idea!"

Taf smiled from her branch, the water beading on her bare back. "I told you that in Saljid," she said, and smiled.

The outsider knew that, but it did not make him feel any better. He was soaked and cold, and tired from lack of sleep. When he wasn't cold and wet he was hot and damp in the humid days of Darkness. Taf said more that was supposed to cheer his spirit. "But we are doing well, perhaps thirty thousand footfall a day. In another few days we will reach Lennon, and we have not seen anything that is really dangerous." She nodded hopefully. "We are doing very well."

Jorden was not so sure. What was _well_ for aestri was not really all that great for a normal person as far as he was concerned, and though she might be more than happy with her cold meals of not quite living things, and her beds of wet solid timber, Jorden was sure that he wasn't. He thought seriously about giving up when the situation became a little better... but also far worse.

It was better because the lands became more open than the dark and monotonous forest, and grew again into farms, the two friends able to sleep in the luxury of barn lofts a lot more frequently. They could have slept in houses, yet doubted the owners would appreciate such a thing, even though there was nothing the owner could actually do to stop them. Taf simply thought it was bad enough that the houses were occasionally the playgrounds of the wild things of Darkness without them also being the camps of grimy travellers.

It was worse because Jorden also came across a wild thing of Darkness. He had already seen the red jelly things that left a trail of pink slime wherever they crawled, and he had caught glimpses of fish that could strip the flesh from a horse in minutes, and he had heard of the hairy tree that ate pink spotted lizards, and he had watched the giant moths of Darkness eat sparrows that dared to fly at night...

Those things were not often a threat to man, although the fish were not fussy eaters. But if anyone was stupid enough to go swimming in darktime rivers then they deserved a painful and rapid death. The true wild things of Darkness, however rare they might be, were certainly a danger, and sought out their prey with vigour. And it was one of those wilder things that came upon two lone travellers who dared the darkened roads.

Jorden didn't see the creature, not really, it was far too dark for his eye. He saw a shadow, and a flash of ivory as a huge sharp tusk came all too close, and he reached for his knife. He cursed to himself, knowing the he and Taf had walked too long into the night before thinking to make camp. His fear had begun to grow, and the creature had likely latched on that.

Now he stood to face some nightmare beast that he was sure was much larger than himself, armed with a short sharp knife against dozens of razor sharp tusks. The task was made even more difficult by the fact that he could not even see their attacker. That was a good thing in some ways. If had Jorden been able to see the beast – a beast that was actually much his own size – he would have known just how useless the knife he carried really was.

In any case the incident was over all too quickly and the red night was way too dark and overcast. He knew Taf was near, then heard something of a struggle, and he heard the yelp of the aestri more than once. There was also the sound of something large and unpleasant groaning, then the thump of something running off into the night.

The shadow of Taf came near. "A tree," she said with some difficulty. "Before another comes this way."

Jorden nodded and assumed the creature could not climb, not realizing that it was simply that Taf felt she had an advantage over such beasts when out on the limbs of trees.

"What the hell was that anyway." He was surprisingly calm considering what had happened, mostly due to the fact that he had not seen the...

"Polythorn," Taf said quietly, and would say no more. She was very, very quiet for the rest of that night.

V

In the morning Jorden knew why, and the polythorn became a very much more real and threatening creature.

Taf was hurt.

She sat against the base of the tom-tom, a sprawling rough-barked tree that was covered with large, red, and very poisonous berries. She seemed alert – not happy, but alive. Taf sported several bruises, but more serious were the two ugly puncture wounds in her left arm and another in her leg. Then there were a series of scratches upon her belly that looked like the result of having a wire brush dragged across her skin.

She could still use her arm, and she demonstrated such to the man who crouched near. "See," she managed a near-smile. "Still works. That is more than I can say for most of the limbs of the Polythorn." She knew she hadn't caused it serious injury, but her attack had been enough. "I should have been able to kill that stupid thing. It was only a stupid little polythorn. I should have easily killed it. Instead it's main thorn came close to taking the life of Jorden, I think." Taf chuckled, but it hurt.

"I saw something," he admitted, "but not much." He shook his head. "I knew that I shouldn't have brought you out into this nightmare."

Taf snorted. "Without me you would now be dead, silly." She sighed and looked to the cloudy skies, or what she could see of the them through the leaves of the tom-tom. "Things will change, don't worry, and we will easily get to Nowhere. Anyway, I have always wished to speak with Hura Ghiana, and now I have a reason to do so."

Then the aestri lifted the leather string from around her neck and passed the charm to Jorden. "You can keep this for me," she added softly. "I won't be needing it for a while."

Jorden took the clear crystal amulet, annoyed. "Thirty sectors," he mumbled, "and now you don't want it?"

"I do, silly, just not right now." Taf managed to stand. It hurt. She was stiff from the night's sleep and the injuries of the polythorn, yet knew that the walk would help. "Now let us move on toward Lennon, and tonight I think we will find a loft to camp in. I have been being silly, pretending that I can survive the wilds as I am, and I have ignored the cold and rain. Now I feel like some warmth and comfort. No sleeping in a tree tonight." She smiled broadly.

Jorden couldn't believe the durability of the aestri. They were certainly like no feeble human. "Sounds good to me," he said.

VI

They did find a loft that night, and Taf rested in the relative comfort, but fitfully at best.

She had several more aches by then, as she knew she would, and her mind was elsewhere. Yet she cherished the close companionship of her friend Jorden as if it were their last time to be together in relative calm. She hoped that it wasn't, of course, but in such lands who could ever know for sure. Morning came slowly. Aestri Finesilver was late to rise. There were few parts that did not ache. She had felt like such for perhaps only a half dozen times in her life of over thirty cycles, yet this was by far the worst. And she was ravenously hungry.

Jorden had been awake for quite a while and had spent his time exploring the barn they had found the previous evening. It was perhaps a hundred paces from an attractive white house that stood amongst towering pine trees. The barn was not as impressive, and was built aside a few dark smelly stock yards. But in one of the yards was a young wild midget goat that found himself cornered by a man.

Jorden surprised himself and somehow actually managed to kill it. Then he was at a loss, and somewhat ill at ease over the amount of blood the goat had spilled. He was then not quite sure what to then do with the warm quivering corpse that was lying in a spreading pool of that blood. Only one thing was certain, Jorden was not quite up to killing to survive as yet.

Taf helped, although she felt in no fit state to do so. The goat was skinned, the skin unfortunately discarded, and gutted, the aestri showing the man how best to do so. It was fortunately a nice day for the Time of Darkness, which was not uncommon in the early days of such, and Jorden built a fire on the soft earth in front of the barn, using pieces of the barn, on which to cook a hearty breakfast of goat.

It would have to be a hearty breakfast, and a good lunch. Jorden doubted that the meat would last long in such heat, perhaps until the evening, and he had certainly killed more than they could eat between now and then. That was not something that occurred to him before he had actually killed the goat.

But he underestimated Taf's appetite that morning. There was enough for breakfast, and that was all.

Jorden found he could do little but stare as the aestri meticulously sliced every last scrap of meat from the carcass. It was true that she gave him quite a good share to cook, and told him to eat well while the opportunity allowed, but the majority went into her own mouth, and that included the goat's heart and liver and other less appetizing offal.

It was a small midget goat, but not that small, about the size of the goats of home, not small enough for anyone to eat the majority of in one sitting. Certainly not anyone as tiny as Taf, and she bulged with her fill of goat meat. It was an actual bulge, a substantial thickening of her middle that altered her familiar smooth lines. Jorden thought that she looked about seven or eight months pregnant.

He motioned toward the few bones and scraps that remained. "Sure you've had enough?" he asked. "I could go out and find another if you like."

The aestri smiled. "I've had enough for now. Perhaps later in the day." She gazed at Jorden's continuing frown. "I need my strength so that I can heal!"

"I suppose you do," he agreed, "but can you walk, eh, that is the question."

"Of course I can, silly," and Taf demonstrated. She felt a lot better with her belly full, but it wasn't easy to walk. She was bloated and felt like resting, and the aches were worsening. Her eyes were also sore, and she rubbed them. "Lennon couldn't be much more than a day or two away."

VII

By afternoon, Taf's eyes were worse, a lot worse, yet that was one problem amongst many.

She had walked quietly throughout the day, her pace a little more sluggish than days past yet still a match for the step of Jorden Miles. But Jorden could no longer pretend there was nothing wrong. He knew that Taf wasn't well, and he knew that she was keeping something from him. He recalled the puncture wounds of the polythorn.

Whether they were poisoned thorns or not, Taf wasn't saying, yet Jorden guessed they were. He also guessed, or at least hoped, that there were medicines or treatments available in Lennon. The aestri was certainly eager to be moving toward the city.

Jorden asked again as they walked the empty and endless road. "Are you sure they're not poisonous? You don't look so well, Taf." She didn't answer. Another farmhouse drifted slowly by in the dim daylight, the rain falling as an eternal mist. "Maybe it's a different creature than the one you're..."

"No, silly," Taf snapped. "Do you think that I would wake up and eat most of a midget goat if I was sick and dying from some poison?" She answered for him. "Of course not. I am just very sore and wish to rest. That is the way of things if a creature is injured: eat and rest. The healing makes me very very tired. I am not sick or dying."

The statement was quite clear, yet Jorden didn't believe a word of it. There was too much that was not right...

That evening, an evening spent in the home of some poor farmhand that was well clear of the main road, they sat close, a cold empty fireplace nearby.

By then Taf's eyes had begun to bulge, and her gums were red and swollen, and her skin in general had an odd colour and texture. Jorden touched her cheek gently. "Damn," Jorden swore, the tissues spongy beneath his touch, the aestri turning away. He was worried, damn worried, and his voice showed it. "Come on, Taf, don't lie to me any more. I need to know the truth. I don't want to lose you, not like this."

Breath was difficult, yet Finesilver managed to speak. There were several long minutes of silence beforehand. Time for her to consider her words carefully. "Poison, yes," she said, and though her voice did not sound exceptionally weak, it was not strong either. "But I won't die, I promise. It just makes you very sick."

Jorden frowned. "You could have told me. I thought you trusted me, thought you were a better friend than that. You know I care about you."

"I don't like for you to worry. There is nothing you can do for me, so why should you need to worry. I just get sick and then I get better."

"How sick?"

Taf closed her eyes, she was tired from the day's march, very tired. "Worse yet, I think, but I'm not really feeling that sick, just sore and tired. It just looks worse than it feels. Really." Jorden hoped so, because it looked bad. If Taf blinked too hard her eye would bleed, and her gums bled often.

She massaged a jaw, then reached within and casually removed a tooth. Jorden felt distinctly unwell, and felt tears forming within the pits of his eyes. He knew then that Taf was dying and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. The words of Suzy echoed in his mind.

In time she slept; Jorden didn't. He couldn't sleep, not now, not with Taf suffering. He knew she was. The aestri was just too tough to show a little pain, just as she refused to let the cold rains dampen her spirit. And it was not a peaceful sleep. She often writhed and moaned, bumping a jaw that would then bleed. The wounds of her arm and leg wept fluid, a clear, cold gel, and Jorden wondered how he could just sit and watch her die. But what else could he do? Lennon was still too far to go for help.

Then, in the dead of night and without warning, Taf grunted and sat up, startling the weary man. She seemed dazed a moment, then smiled a crooked smile. "Are you still awake," she said in much the same way she would always speak, her voice stronger than it had been. "You need your rest. It is a still good walk to Lennon, although you might get there by late tomorrow."

Jorden was shaking. "I'm not going anywhere without you." His voice wavered and almost failed.

"Then I will have to go too. I had hoped I could stay and rest a while. I would really like some rest." She smiled, yet it seemed to crack the smooth white skin of her face.

He attempted a smile in return. It was not a very good smile. "Then rest, and I will stay here with you until you get over this." But he knew now that there would be no such recovery, he wasn't that stupid, and he reached over to take the hand of a near-woman he had grown to truly love.

Hands were held a moment, but it was not a warm or comforting touch. And Taf's nails and small pieces of the flesh of her fingers remained in Jorden's grip when they parted. Yet there was no pain, Taf simply frowned and caused her lip to bleed again.

Jorden Miles ran from the house to vomit. He couldn't bear another moment of the torture, another second of the punishment that was being inflicted on them both. He wiped his hand upon the lawn of the house, the sight of Taf's fingernails churning his bowels yet again.

He wondered why he had ever met such a friend like Taf; wondered if it were not just part of the torture of this hell. How much more efficient it was to first give love and then take it away; how much worse is sadness after happiness. His jailer in nightmare knew how to torture him to the fullest, and his punishment in the Domain was more shattering than he ever imagined possible.

"Come and get _me_ you bastard," Jorden shouted to the polythorn. "Take me," he screamed.

But the polythorn would not attack an angry man, only one that walked in fear, and when the wounded beast felt the distant, violent mind of Jorden Miles, it scuttled to a not-so-distant river and threw itself to the sharks.

Jorden stood on the lawn for an eternity, doubting he could look upon Aestri Finesilver again. There was a part of his mind that hoped she was already dead, that she would no longer suffer. And the words of the seer, Suzy, were again recalled: Jorden's path of death. He cursed.

In time he went back into the house, he had to. He owed Taf that much, to be with her in her final moments. Yet when he came within the room that they had claimed for their camp, she was gone. Gone to die, Jorden wondered.

Only a bloody message remained, the words of the aestri poet scrawled in red upon the wall...

I know that you are sick of watching me fall to pieces, and I must rest. You must go on without me. Lennon is not far. Go there. Rest yourself. If I can, I will follow.

I will love you always.

Finesilver.

Jorden ran out of the rear door of the house to find her.

### Chapter 15 – Darkness II

In times of Dark is always best,

Before you shoot to always test.

I

It was a dim and stormy morning, a morning quite common to the Time of Darkness, and Jorden paused to look to the sky above.

His kilt flapped in the brisk winds, the light rain stinging his cheek. It was not a day for walking, he was sure, but he could not remain in the house forever. It had already been two days since Taf had left him, left perhaps to die, and now he was alone amongst the terrors of the lands.

He had searched for those two days without trace of the aestri and now wondered if she had thrown herself into the river to hasten the end. The note was remembered, a message that had tried to be hopeful where there was no hope. It did not sound like the note of anyone who was suicidal, and the aestri seemed little concerned with pain.

It hardly mattered, she would now be well beyond life, Jorden wishing he could have been with her in those last difficult moments.

Now he was alone.

He would need a weapon and hoped the few coins that remained would be enough, and he was determined to come to face the witch-god who had created the nightmare that had taken Finesilver from him. If it also meant his death, then so be it.

Jorden tried to forget, concentrating on his footfall and the muddy road ahead as he walked on toward Lennon. It would not be easy to forget, not as he had last seen her... _Concentrate_ , he swore within; _count the paces_. He lost count somewhere between two and three thousand and shrugged, starting again at two. Then at around fifteen thousand footfall he noticed that the weather cleared, the fields a touch greener, the rain a little less. At somewhere over thirty he came to the tee in the road.

Lennon did not lie on the main road from Saljid to Forbes, but it was not far from the tee. There was a sign at the edge of the road that pointed north. It said _Lennon 3 tf_. There were also arrows that directed to Saljid and Hell and perhaps a dozen other towns. Jorden was interested in Lennon only, and took the broad roadway that led in that direction. The line of the shield was soon visible, then the area of the buffer, and Jorden walked on into the nearest thing to sunshine that was presently available. And there was Lennon.

It was not as large a city as Saljid, not even near, yet it was similar in many ways. There was no port, as such, but the river was still deep and ferries would ply its course in the days of light. The ferry service actually went as far as Paris, although there were three cataracts between Lennon and the larger city upstream, the cargo transported by wagon past each. Jorden didn't know that and didn't care. The river, with its freshwater sharks, was not considered as a travel option. The journey was dangerous enough without having to fear the hideous jaws that lurked ravenously just below the surface of a river. Even the journey was not particularly on the mind of Jorden as he stumbled into Lennon that evening, just sleep. He was hungry as well, but could little afford food as well as a weapon, and without Taf...

He shunned the thought and found his way into a back alley of the city, there were plenty of those. They were littered with aestri and burgo and other misfits of society. And pockhorn, Jorden assumed. He had never seen one before, though he had heard them mentioned, and he doubted that the tall freckled man sporting small bulbous horns could be called anything else. He was yet to see a morelian, but otherwise he felt he knew of the majority of the _civilized_ races of the Domain.

Jorden smiled to a few aestri who camped near him, climbed into the shelter of an open storm-water drain, and went to sleep.

II

He woke to the bright, but somewhat grubby faces of two young aestri, although young might well have been thirty or forty. He smiled and offered them a good morning, for it was almost that. It was morning, of course, and it could have been considered by some as good. Jorden just wasn't one of them.

"You're new here, aren't you," said the fairest of the aestri, her wide greenish eyes bearing down on him. Like most aestri her voice was quite sweet, and also like most aestri she stated the obvious and gave the impression that very little was happening in the mind behind those eyes. Jorden now knew that such impressions were deceptive, yet somewhat accurate at the same time.

He rubbed his eyes and climbed from the drain. "Yeah," he mumbled. "From Saljid." He yawned and sat on the rear step of a nearby building. "We walked from Saljid and only arrived last night."

"We?" the other aestri echoed.

Jorden remembered that it was no longer we. "I was travelling with a friend, an aestri, but she was killed by a polythorn, I think."

"That's terrible," said the first aestri. "You shouldn't have been out amongst the Darkness."

"Must have been a very large polythorn," said the other as she sat nearby.

Jorden shook his head. "I didn't see it. I guess it was." It was difficult to be forced to recall the incident, and the two aestri reminded him of Taf, the darker one especially. She even dressed much as Taf would, a short skirt and flimsy top. He found that his eyes had begun to water.

"I used to know of an aestri from Saljid," said the blonde, "one with a very odd name. Pangles or something."

"Pandora, stupid," corrected the other with a frown. "She used to run with the ferry until she got too old. She had that cub with her for a cycle or two. Silversomething." The aestri looked thoughtful.

Jorden swallowed. He knew then that the nightmare was rigged against him . There was no doubt. "Finesilver," he whispered.

The brunette nodded in recognition. "That's it, Finesilver. Beautiful. She was a silver grey. I can remember that from when I was..." Again it seemed that mathematics was not a strong point, or perhaps it was a failure of memory. "Couldn't have been much more than fifteen. That was some thirty cycles back. It's funny how you remember things like that after so long, but it's not often you see a silver grey..."

Also it seemed that all aestri, regardless of their city of origin, were habitual talkers. "She's dead," Jorden said when the brunette had finished, the statement somehow bringing the realization that he would not see her again. "She looked a lot like you." And Jorden cried.

"What a tiny world," began the younger blonde, her older friend silencing her with a frown.

And the man hugged the near-Taf, the aestri unsure of how to react. She simply shrugged to her friend and allowed the odd stranger to cry upon her shoulder.

III

Jorden left the alley. His farewell to the two nameless aestri was brief, he had embarrassed himself quite enough.

And he did not wish to continue recalling the memory of Taf. The Domain was not that small, the chances of him coming across another aestri that knew Taf in a distant city were too remote. They were put there deliberately to torture him, they had to be. And they wouldn't be the last. Jorden suspected that he would come upon many aestri who looked to him like Finesilver, and there would be many who knew of her, perhaps. There may be one who would try to befriend him, to seek his trust and friendship so she could later be taken by some other means.

Paranoia was taking over, and he tried to calm himself. Perhaps it was chance, perhaps there would be many that would know of the very odd name of Pandora, and Taf was very close to her... It could be chance. But the chances of it being chance were not good.

Jorden confused himself.

It wasn't important. Jorden had a purpose, and that was to get to Nowhere fast. Somehow the meaning of getting nowhere fast was lost within the Domain, as was going to hell. He wanted to see this Hura and tell her what he thought of her stinking world, even if that did ruin any chances of his return home. On the way he planned to slaughter every polythorn that came his way, even if it did kill him, which it probably would. For that he required a weapon.

Weapons weren't cheap. Jorden discovered that very early in the day. A good crossbow was over five day's wages, which on the local scale of things was actually very cheap, yet for Jorden it was quite a lot more than he possessed.

Fortunately for the outsider, but not so fortunate for the smith in question, there was a particular forge in Lennon that had not run properly in weeks, and the smith was losing a fortune on the sale of arrows. Good steel barbs were in short supply, the hunters of the city losing many to the wild game they hunted on the borders of Darkness. They also lost quite a lot more defending themselves against polythorn and things called the necromant and the rest of the wild things lurking in the Darkness, licking their lips in anticipation of the passing of another hunter.

Jorden thought he could fix the forge, and would do so in exchange for the best of the smith's crossbows and a good supply of arrows. The smith thought it sounded like a fair deal if the lad could actually do the job. Actually it was better than fair because it would cost him more than the price of ten crossbows to have it fixed professionally, and he would have to wait until the road to Saljid was open again. He took the deal. He had little to lose.

Jorden also thought he had also done quite well, and it kept him busy and helped him to forget. It took only two days to fix the bellows and help repair a hammer machine, and the smith fed and housed him for the period, and threw a few extra silvers into the bargain. The smith knew that he must have been getting a little soft, yet the odd wanderer had done a great job and was quite likeable in a strange sort of way.

"You're very kind," Jorden said to him upon receiving the additional payment.

The smith waved off the gratitude. He sat across the breakfast table from the traveller, little more that a boy who had dared face the Darkness, and without even a weapon. That had to take some guts. "I know," he said, "but don't spread it around. They will expect a fall in the price of arrows, or something equally stupid."

Jorden smiled. The smith, a common man with the very ordinary name of Kevin, was a rough spoken man of his fifties. He was large and bearded and generally threatening, but it was only skin deep. He obviously had a softer side, he just tried to keep it well hidden. He lived alone in a tiny earth hut that was tacked to the rear of his place of work on the outskirts of town.

"I don't suppose you could give me a few pointers on how to use that crossbow," Jorden asked hopefully. "I've used a rifle once..." He paused. They weren't likely to have guns in the Domain.

Kevin chuckled a moment. "Just point and pull the trigger. I'll show you how to load it." Strange how a man could know so much about a forge and yet not a crossbow. "You must be from up north," he went on. "They're big users of the longbow."

Jorden shook his head. "South. Thagul, actually." Kevin had heard of it, and nodded accordingly. "I came by ship to Saljid," he added.

Kevin thought that was a touch obvious, yet let it pass. "I know a few in Saljid," he began, and Jorden tensed. If the blacksmith said Pandora or Finesilver, then Jorden vowed he would throw himself in the river and end it all. "I have a brother there as well, name of Pitar. Don't suppose you know him."

"I wasn't there long enough to meet many people," Jorden admitted. He then realized that the man was not likely to know many of the aestri of Saljid, or even Lennon, especially being a professional man and not one of the lowly.

"Lucky for you," Kevin considered, "he's a bit of a bastard."

The smith eventually went to the alley behind his house to demonstrate the use of the weapon, Jorden watching with interest. It was simple enough to operate, of course, though requiring considerable effort to load, and getting used to the aim may take time. Still, Jorden doubted he would have any difficulty unless the beast was at the point of pouncing on him and he panicked. Which was likely how it would happen, of course.

Then Jorden bade him farewell, and began to walk the alley away from the house of the smith. "Are you sure you're not from up north," Kevin shouted after him, the outsider shaking his head. "They wear skirts like that up north."

Jorden shrugged, brushed down his kilt, and moved on, the smith returning to his place of work. "What an odd lad," he later said to himself, and began stoking the forge.

IV

There were supplies to purchase with the new-found wealth. Jorden would need food in case his hunting skills were less than perfect, which they would be, and a little extra kadastone for the wet fuel of Darkness. It took quite a lot of effort to get water burning, and not much less to ignite the soaked wood of the darkened forests.

The next city of Forbes was quite some distance, near three hundred thousand footfall by the road, and Jorden had no intention of heading cross country. And he would be alone. If he had to face another polythorn he wouldn't stand a chance, not if he couldn't see it. _Don't walk after dark, that was the secret_.

If he walked only in the dim daylight and kept the bow loaded and camped in the wet slippery trees, then at least he would stand a chance. It was only a slim chance, of course. He could still be within the shield of Saljid waiting for the coming of light if he had any sense, and waiting for Midnight to slit his throat. Midnight! He wondered if she would care that Taf was dead.

Then Jorden stood at the line of the city shield, wondering if he really wished to go out amongst the rain and wind and creatures. He was not even sure how long he had been in Lennon, perhaps three nights, two of which had been quite comfortably spent on Kevin's kitchen floor.

He braved the Darkness. It was somehow deeper than it had been before, the wind almost a voice amongst the fields, the rain quite heavy. It was warm rain, however, as was most of the rain of darkness. It was like having a tepid shower to save hot water. The rains of night were sometimes colder, and Jorden had bought a light, but water resistant coat for such times. As if knowing that he had, the rains stopped. That was about halfway though the first day's march toward Forbes, Jorden having stopped for a quick bite of some honey flavoured sticks of very hard pastry. There was still no visible sun, and the clouds were heavy, and the skies rumbled, and lightning often flashed upon hills that rose in the south, but it didn't rain. It didn't rain for days.

There were other problems now. The difficulty of the rain was replaced by the changing of the land, the road turning gradually into the south and into heavy woodlands and higher ground. Walking the flat lands aside the river flood-plain had been difficult enough, now there were hills, and Jorden felt there was always something watching him from the thickening forest around him.

Of course there was always something watching, often quite a lot of things. It was not common to see a man walking the roads alone, and less common to see one do so in the darker times, and many creatures found this interesting. Fortunately very few of them found it more than just interesting and thought that it looked quite appetizing.

But one did. It was his second day out from Lennon, Jorden tired after a bad night in a very hairy tree that he had found almost impossible to climb, and he surprised himself. The crossbow was loaded – the crossbow was always loaded – and the outsider heard the creature a long while before he saw it. Then it was on the road.

It wasn't a polythorn, or at least Jorden didn't think it was a polythorn. It wasn't thorny at all, and did not seem to have any of the ivory tusks that Jorden could remember. It did have a lot of teeth however, and several legs, and several more legs that had teeth. Its mouth gaped as it lifted itself to full height, which was only a little over half that of Jorden's. Not a particularly threatening beast as far as size was concerned, yet with a mouth large enough to swallow a man's head whole that was lined with razors and an assortment of icepicks, it was hardly a creature that had need of size.

The crossbow bolt struck the lurid red and green creature in the centre of what should have been its face, only it didn't have a face. That surprised Jorden. He had missed two trees that morning during practice. The creature was not altogether happy about this, yet neither was it mortally wounded. Had it realized that it could easily have shredded the man before he could possibly have time to reload, then it would have done just that. But the creature was not overly intelligent, its mind programmed to _seek out and eat_ and _run if outmatched._

The creature inaccurately predicted that it was outmatched, a polythorn by the feel of it, and ran. It was also somewhat more blind than the average bat. Jorden was quite pleased, although he was sorry to lose the arrow. With confidence boosted, he snatched another from the quiver and reloaded, then set off on his way, the road continuing to climb.

The next arrow was used against something that looked like a small hairy gazelle that Jorden found in a clearing on the crest of a ridge. The day was fading, the time ripe for making camp, and the evening meal was already on hand. He remained in the cover of the forest and sighted his prey, the gazelle standing some forty paces into the clearing. He shot. It was not a good shot, and although it struck the gazelle there was little chance that it inflicted a fatal injury. Although that was not totally correct. The injury could well have been fatal, but it would have taken the gazelle quite some time, and distance, to die of an arrow to its gut.

It didn't matter, for it seemed that Jorden was not the only predator. As he dashed to the clearing and attempted to reload before the gazelle was out of sight, he saw the cat that was also in pursuit. A cat it might have been, but it was certainly no tabby. It was like nothing he had seen, and yet so much like all of the great cats of earth. The size of a good she-lion at least, yet with something of a mane, long dark hair that sprouted from its head and neck and flapped in the air that rushed past the beast. And it was fast, damn fast, faster than an uninjured gazelle and certainly faster than the one that Jorden had wounded.

Jorden still hadn't reloaded when the cat pounced and tore the throat of the gazelle wide open, a flash of glossy grey that killed in seconds. The hairy gazelle tumbled, the cat overrunning the slower beast then returning to stand over its kill. The gazelle quivered, but was well on the way to death, and the stunning silver-grey cat stood proud over it, its dark eye falling upon the not-all-that-distant man. And it seemed to almost smile.

The outsider reloaded. He knew that this bolt had to count. If the cat saw him as a threat to its meal then he was in deep trouble. He couldn't outrun it, and doubted he could climb a tree quickly enough. It could probably climb quite well in any case. He could leave perhaps, back away and hope that the feline was happy with its meal, but he was too hungry for that. It all happened too quickly anyway, and he fired the crossbow a few seconds after the kill was complete.

The cat, however, was far to quick for such an attack, although it was surprised by the swiftness of the shot. It had gloated for far too long. The arrow cut through the air where it had stood, but the cat was no longer there. In three bounds it vanished from the clearing. But it would not go far. Jorden knew it wouldn't. He knew that he had to hit with the first shot or there would be trouble, and now there was trouble. Now there was meat lying out in the clearing, and neither was eating, and one was probably a heck of a lot hungrier, and quite a bit angrier than the other. What worried Jorden more was that he could have sworn that the cat grunted something quite uncomplimentary toward him before it disappeared.

But would a cat, even one of nightmare, be likely to call him a stinking rat...

V

It was a stalemate, and for the sake of living into the next day, Jorden decided to leave the gazelle to the cat and head for the nearest tree. He would be forced to eat more of his diminishing supplies and would be unable to even make fire to warm a piece of the dried beef that he carried. He climbed the tom-tom, cursing his ill luck, thinking of all the things that he should of done.

The red day faded.

Meanwhile the cat had ideas of its own. It could hardly allow the man to try and stick an arrow through it without some form of retribution. It also had the advantage in that it could see quite well in the dim twilight, although even the man could also see reasonably well in such light, and it could smell the man from a lifetime away. That is to say that his trail was imprinted upon the ground like huge fluorescent arrows, a trail that climbed a tree, and the tree positively glowed in the dark as far as the cat's nose was concerned.

It smiled again and leapt into the tom-tom.

Jorden didn't see the approach of the cat, it was careful to come from the far side, but he did feel the thump of something very large joining him in the tree. The worst scenario came quickly to mind, Jorden gripping the already armed crossbow, thankful that it was still just light enough for him so see. It was fading quickly, however.

The cat was slow to approach. It was not a cat in the sense of those of Jorden's world, and was certainly more intelligent than the outsider's last toothy foe. It also had ways of distracting the man. Surprise was on its side. It peeked from behind the cover of the central trunk of the tom-tom to view its very nervous and well armed foe.

Then it growled unexpectedly, but it more than just growled. "You had better make sure that your next arrow finds its mark," it said confidently. "It will be your last chance." The cat knew that it was taking an unnecessary risk in facing the man in such a way, yet what was life without risk.

Jorden was certainly caught by surprise. Although he couldn't see the cat, he was sure that nothing else could growl and gurgle in quite such a fashion, and he was sure it was in the tree with him. He had also not expected to carry out conversation with the local wildlife.

And worse was to come, if that were possible. Amongst the surprise of the cat's warning and an attempt to back along the branch, Jorden managed to drop the crossbow. It fell heavily and discharged its bolt, the outsider cursing. _Well that was it,_ he thought, _stuck in a tree with a feline conversationalist_. He wondered if he could talk his way out.

The cat saw the weapon drop and felt somewhat more at ease, daring to come out of cover and climb out onto the very branch where the man was stranded. It kept its distance, however. The man was still armed with a short sharp knife, and he waved it about quite a lot. "Do you think you would really stand a chance against me," it growled again. It was a harsh, laboured voice, the cat seeming to have difficulty in its speech.

Jorden was approaching terror. He would have been well passed terror if it were a lion or tiger on the branch, yet there was something just slightly comforting about a cat that spoke. It gave the impression of a certain reasoning power that the beast might have. It could well be intelligent. "Wh... What do you want with me," Jorden stuttered. It had food already, yet perhaps it was greedy.

The cat sniffed and looked toward the clearing. It couldn't see it, of course, but knew the direction. "There is a launcer in the clearing," it growled, then looked to Jorden "It is your kill too, although your shot was wild." It sniffed again. "Surely you wish to share it."

Jorden couldn't believe any of this was happening. He was stuck in a tree discussing the evening meal with a feline that easily outweighed him, and one that was perhaps three times as strong and five as deadly. "I'm not really all that hungry," he said sheepishly, hardly believing that he could think of anything to say in the circumstances. "I couldn't drag it all the way here and thought you might like to have it."

"Oh," it said. "Is that why you tried to stick me with that toy of yours?"

That was a hard one, Jorden thought to himself. "I..." he began, yet doubted the feline would understand. "Just scared, I suppose." His voice certainly gave that impression at present.

The cat smiled. It wasn't that pretty an expression, there were far too many long sharp teeth cluttering its mouth for that, but its laugh was more soothing and not as guttural as the voice had been. It didn't strike Jorden as that threatening a beast, a wild angry thing would hardly wish to share its kill, and it was quite a beautiful animal in a strange sort of way.

That was mainly due to the fact that its coat all but glowed in the dark. It was a silken grey that reminded Jorden of satin sheets that were straight from the packet, and its dark glossy horse-like mane flowed upon its shoulders, and the large brown eyes shone in the red light, the elongated pupils only partially open. But it had claws and teeth, and that made it something to be reckoned with.

"Afraid of me," it said, its voice softened and more natural. It was no longer just an it. It was a she. "You don't have to be afraid of me, silly," she said in melodic feminine tones. "So put away the knife before you cut yourself and I'll go to fetch our meal."

A chill came to the very core of Jorden Miles. He was no longer afraid of just the cat, there was far too much else to fear. He knew that voice all too well, he had listened to it too many times before not to recognize it. "What the hell are you?" he asked.

"You know, silly," she said, and he did.

It wasn't a cat.

It was silver grey.

Finesilver.

It was aestri.

Taf jumped from the branch and went off to collect the launcer before she starved.

She was still very very hungry.

### Chapter 16 – Darkness III

Burgo wing and aestri claw,

The horn of pock and morelian maw.

I

Night came quickly, the cloudy sky turning to a blacker shade of red, and Jorden Miles was still trying to come to terms with all that was going on around him. The voice was too alike the aestri he had known, but she was no feline...

Jorden considered the last weeks, a multitude of not so subtle clues coalescing within his mind, hints and pointers that had previously passed unnoticed. The eyes came first to mind. He knew those dark slitted eyes, and the dark mane could well have been the hair of Finesilver.

Finesilver. The coat of silver grey, the cub of Pandora, the ratter of the Katerina, the claw and tooth of the aestri...

But aestri weren't cats. Burgo could easily have been some hideous cross between bat and bird, yet aestri were far from being huge ferocious felines. They were light and frail, not the bundle of teeth and muscle that Jorden had seen blurred across the clearing. The cat would have to have been twice the meagre weight of the aestri, if not much more. Of course the aestri were far from frail, just light, though they tended to look quite frail.

Would a cat be so fond of water? Why was his new friend now a cat? Was this a permanent state? Was this cat really Taf...

Jorden would have questioned and argued himself into a stupor if it were not for the immanent arrival of the aestri, for it was indeed an aestri in her first form. She dragged the launcer beneath the tree, not the best of places to gut the beast, perhaps, but there were other trees in which to sleep. Jorden remained aloft, watching how easily those jaws carried the substantial mass of the corpse. It was true, he would not stand a chance against such a predator.

Aestri Finesilver dropped the carcass, then glanced above. "Are you still up there," she said quietly. "I thought that you would have had a fire blazing by now. Aren't you hungry?" She wondered if he had run out of kadastone. Or perhaps her _playful_ reunion had been a touch overdone.

Jorden still hoped it was a dream; hoped he had not truly fallen for a cat. He had known that Taf was not quite human, but a cat... "Tell me this isn't happening," he said. That was not really what he wished to say, however, and he tried again. "Damn Taf, is that really you." Mixed emotions welled. He dearly hoped she was indeed alive... But a cat...

The aestri frowned. Such expressions were now difficult, and were easily misinterpreted by those who watched, but not in this case. "Of course it's me silly," she said. "My voice is only a little deeper." She remembered the first contact. "Sorry about growling at you before, but you looked so frightened and you did try to shoot me first. I was doing nothing to hurt you. Would you kill an aestri, or even one of the mindless, simply because it was a better hunter than you? That was very mean, Jorden..."

The outsider felt substantially better, yet it was still very difficult to accept that his dear little Taf was now an huge grey lioness. But it was her, there was no doubt of that. Only an aestri could chatter on in such a way, and this aestri used far too many of Taf's favourite expressions. He collected his pack from a fork in the branch and began the decent to the turf below, but he kept his distance for the moment. An affectionate hug from his dear friend could easily prove to be fatal.

"I thought you were dead, Taf. You looked..." He shook his head. "Why didn't you just tell me."

She sat beside the launcer and sighed. "I told you that I wouldn't die but you wouldn't believe me." Her dark eyes were fixed upon the man. "It was hard to tell you the truth. I didn't know how." She tried to shrug. "This way it is easy. Now you see what aestri is, and now you see why you shouldn't love me." Taf looked away.

There were many things that were suddenly much clearer about the Domain, things that had never made much sense. He thought to ask why she had not told him the truth aboard the Katerina, yet that was a stupid question. He would never have believed her, and even if he did he would never have become as involved.

Jorden came closer. "I just don't understand. Why the change, why now. You were fine until... the poison?" he frowned. "A polythorn can do this?"

"Of course they can't," Taf frowned again. "I lied about the poison to keep you quiet. I was very tired, Jorden, the change is not easy." She looked to the red lands about them. "Hura's power is weakened by the darkness, her gift of the second form will not endure out here, not without help. That was why I wanted the charm, Jorden. I didn't want you to see me like this." Her voice belied a certain sadness.

Jorden reached to his neck and removed the leather cord, then gazed into the crystal of Taf's charm. It was clear, though it was difficult to be sure in the dim light, and looked like nothing more than a piece of quartz. Although perhaps it glowed ever so faintly. "Damn," Jorden mouthed before speaking more clearly. There were a lot of questions left. "Then why did you take it off?"

The huge feline laughed, though it was not a particularly merry laugh. "What chance does a second-form aestri stand out here," she said when she could manage. "Not much more than a feeble man. I was nearly killed by the smallest of polythorn. It would have been the evening meal if I was as I am now." Of course polythorn were not all that appetizing, but the point was made.

Then Taf sighed and went on. "It is also best that aestri return to their first form from time to time. It is refreshing and comforting to return to your original shape, and those aestri who don't seldom live as long and full as those who do. This will be my... eighth time since I was a cub, I think."

Jorden recalled the silver cub that the aestri of Lennon had spoke of. At that time the statement had meant very little, there was too much else on his mind, and the term could well have been the local slang for child. "When you were young," Jorden considered aloud. "I met an aestri in Lennon who saw you with Pandora. She said you were silver grey. It didn't really mean anything until now. I thought she was talking about your hair, not fur." There was a subtle difference.

Taf nodded. "Aestri are born in first form, and sometimes stay as such for as much as a cycle. I was slow to change." Jorden nodded and wondered if that was why Midnight had disowned her. Or maybe it was something else. These were things that Jorden was yet to learn of, and perhaps he never would. "I'm not really sure how to take all of this, Taf," Jorden admitted, then smiled. "You don't have any thoughts lurking within that involve me being eaten or anything." It was partly jest and partly the memory of the horror movies of home.

"I'm starving," Taf confirmed, "but we have the launcer for now. Why don't you skin it and get what you want of it, and I'll have what you leave." Jorden didn't doubt that. Although she did not look exactly undernourished, she did appear somewhat lean. "If I start on it with these," and she displayed a paw, "I'll end up shredding it. And it's a little hard for me to use a knife.

"But get a fire going first, and give me that." Taf pointed with a large silver paw, referring to the crystal protectorate.

Jorden was confused. After giving quite adequate reasons for the change to first form, it seemed ridiculous for Taf to wish to undergo the lengthy, and undoubtedly uncomfortable change back to her pseudo-human form. "I love for you to change back, Taf, but..."

He wasn't allowed to finish. "It is a form protectorate, silly, and will hold a current form. If I don't wear it then I can't enter the shielded cities without my fur shedding and I'd look terrible." It was quite a beautiful coat, and she loved it while she had it.

"Of course," Jorden grunted, "I should have known that nothing would be simple in this madhouse." He approached to place the necklace upon the huge cat, a still slightly disturbing sight. Taf rubbed her cheek against his arm as he did, the man instinctively jerking away.

"Still love me?" Taf purred, although the purr of a first form aestri was very similar to the rattle of a badly tuned engine.

Jorden nodded. "Sure, Taf, but it isn't easy." He thought to blame it on her rather horrifying reunion, but it was more than that.

"Then hurry up with the fire, and skin that launcer."

It was somewhat difficult to refuse her, and it was certainly obvious who was boss at the moment. Jorden wondered how aestri order had ever become one of the lower races of the domain...

II

The timber that Jorden collected from the nearby woods was drier than it had been in recent days, and the fire ignited easily, although he did burn his little finger yet again. There simply had to be a better way of lighting a fire. Then he skinned the launcer and cut a few slices of flesh from the shoulder and rump, dissected them into smaller chunks, and placed them upon a metal skewer that he carried. He propped the skewer above the flame on two rickety sticks.

Taf laid near and watched like the queen of the jungle, smiling often and helping only rarely. She was interested to see how the man had fared without her. She knew of some of the things that had befallen him, but not all. "You did well against the necromant," she said as Jorden completed his work. "I saw it running amongst the woods with your arrow in its head and brought it down. It wasn't very tasty though." Not like the launcher looked. "Do you mind if I eat?" she asked.

Jorden nodded, it would have been difficult to refuse, and he wondered why the aestri asked, especially an aestri who had killed that horrible toothy beast. Anyone who had sat near to a first form aestri while it was eating, however, or indeed a large cat of earth, would soon understand. It was not a pretty sight. It was also hard to remember that the beast was actually a peaceful, kind-hearted friend, and not a threat to the nearby human's frail life.

Taf tore the flesh from the bone quite easily, the small launcer soon just fodder for the local scavengers, then burped explosively in contentment. She then proceeded to lick herself clean. Jorden had to wait until that time to enjoy his own meal, aestri eating habits were just way too distracting, and by that time he had lost his appetite. He ate anyway.

Taf understood. "Sorry," she said, and came close to Jorden and the fire. "I should have waited for you to eat first, but I was so hungry. In another few days I will reach full weight and it will not be so bad, but lately I have had to kill twice a day."

The outsider could understand that, she had certainly gained some weight. He wondered what became of it on the return to her smaller form.

Jorden finished eating, Taf sitting near and carrying on her grooming, and then he drank. He shook his flask, there was not a lot of water left as it had not rained since the first day out from Lennon, the frequent puddles now vanished. "Thirsty," he asked, offering the bottle.

The aestri nodded, but refused his offer. "I'll go later to drink. There's a stream on the other side of the ridge that you can fill that in tomorrow." Taf yawned.

Conversation faded for some time, the two watching the flickering flames of the weakening fire. Jorden was weary from the day's walk, Taf still weakened by the change. But neither were quite ready for sleep, Taf moreso than Jorden. She was hopeful they could still be close as before, yet the aestri knew that the change in her was likely to be difficult for Jorden. She drew close and whined in contentment, and content she was. This was now her world, and her belly was full. There was little else that an aestri could want.

Jorden was at first disturbed by the touch of the beast who was curled about him, yet she was warm and soft and hardly a threat, and he soon found he was stroking the fur as he would a pet tabby of home. It was certainly the finest of fur, and so clean and glossy. Which is the way it should have been. It was all quite new and freshly grown, fur that had sprouted at an unnatural rate. Not that anything about the Domain was what he would normally call natural.

She made a very good pillow, Jorden almost wishing he could sleep on the ground. But Taf slipped from under him not long after he had relaxed against her. "Better climb the tom-tom," Taf yawned again, stretching. "We don't want to be pounced on in our sleep!"

Jorden thought there was little chance of that, Taf was not that heavy a sleeper, but it undoubtedly wasn't worth the risk. He moaned. The meant sleeping in another tree. He wished there was a more comfortable way to sleep. He looked up into the branches in dismay.

"You should have brought a hammock along," Taf said thoughtfully.

III

Aestri Finesilver woke with legs dangling. To Jorden it seemed strange to see the huge cat hanging in the tree, but she appeared as happy with it now as she did before.

She peered across to her companion, wishing he had more nocturnal habits, but there was little to be done about that. "Good morning," she said instead.

As good as any, Jorden thought. At least it wasn't raining. It wasn't even all that windy, just dim as always. He mumbled and sat on the branch, then yawned. "Another day. I wonder if I'll ever get to see this Hura." Then he smiled. "At least I'm not alone now." And he shouldn't go hungry while there was game about.

There were at least some advantages of Taf being as she now was, and she would be company, but it was still somewhat difficult to think of her as sweet little Taf. "It really is good to have you back," Jorden said, and it was. "I really did think you were dead. When your teeth started falling out..." The memory made him ill.

Taf nodded. "The change wasn't easy, I should have eaten more." She sniffed. In fact she sniffed often, perhaps a sinus problem inherited with her cat form. "I would have missed you If I died."

Jorden frowned. "Not as much as I would have missed you I think," he said.

The feline chuckled. "I would have found you again somewhere, sometime. In another life, perhaps."

He considered her word. He had not really given much thought to local theology, there had been too much else to fill his mind. There was the witch-god Hura, who may or may not have been a god, and that was about all he really knew. Every other facet of life seemed centred on survival, and even Hura seemed more concerned with the present rather than the afterlife.

Of course Taf may have been speaking metaphorically. "Who's?" he asked. "Mine or yours?"

Taf found she could not shrug while hanging on the branch. "Both, I suppose, unless you lived a very long time. It would be unlikely that I would be allowed back here. Of course I might not ever remember much more than an image of you, and that would take so long..." She sighed. "But I have been true to my order and served my purpose well, so death is nothing to fear." Not that she wished for death in the near future.

Jorden grunted. "I'll remind you of that when we come across the next polythorn," he said. "Death isn't something I'm looking forward to. It's been too close for me already."

"Pain is what you fear, silly, and dying can be painful. But not death. Death is peaceful, then birth is painful again, a nice sort of pain though."

A touch of sarcasm came to the words of the Tasmanian. "Something you do quite often, I suppose."

"I can remember one death," Taf said thoughtfully. "Just a glimpse. There was pain, very bad pain, then I became sleepy."

Jorden was not particularly impressed. "Back home we just die. People like me rot, but some have a god to go to..."

Then Jorden was interrupted very unexpectedly.

It had a lot to do with the sudden disappearance of the limb he was sitting on. Of course the tom-tom did not actually vanish, nor did any of its limbs. It was simply that the limb and the tom-tom, and indeed the Domain that in grew upon, was apparently shifted suddenly one footfall to the south.

Jorden found himself in free space with nothing between his rear end and the ground below. Fortunately it was not far, perhaps three metres at the very most, but it was not a jump Jorden would have consciously attempted. He swore and fell, there was not a great deal more that he could do.

Taf did not fall, not quite, but the movement had caught her as much by surprise as it did Jorden. It had taken most of the strength and speed she possessed to stay with the shifting, shaking limb, however, and now she hung below it rather than above. Like her companion she grumbled in disgust, yet unlike Jorden she made her way to the surface of the Domain voluntarily.

The land continued to shake for some time after that, then there were a series of very slow oscillations, then it was still. It also seemed very quiet after the deafening rumble that had began the moment the tom-tom had first shifted beneath the two travellers.

"Crap." Jorden rubbed the point of first contact with the turf – his ass. "I had forgotten about the stupid earthquakes." There hadn't been one in weeks, it seemed. He grunted. Of course there hadn't. It would be difficult to feel such a quake in the middle of the Sea of Challenge. Then he recalled the odd devastated warehouse that he had seen in Saljid. The quakes perhaps?

Taf had landed on her feet and now walked near Jorden. "I have never felt the land move like that," she said. "It shook a little last dark, but would never have thrown anyone from a tom-tom. What did you say it was?"

"An earthquake," Jorden told her. "That's what we would call them back home, but the Kaedith Tsarin told me that you don't have earthquakes here. Well, not until recently anyway." He smiled. "Unless you can remember one from a previous life."

The pseudo-feline frowned, although it took on more of an appearance of an angry snarl. "Don't be silly. Other lives are just glimpses and dreams, not real memories. You don't remember other lives do you?"

Jorden stood slowly, his back aching. "I'm not sure I've had any, but if these quakes get any worse then I might get to apply for one."

Taf surveyed the surrounding woods. "We should get out from amongst the trees before something falls on us. Get your pack and we'll head on to the stream, and then there is a shielded village somewhere along this road that we might be able to reach before nightfall."

He nodded without thought and it was several moments before he asked Taf about the practicality of her suggestion. In that time he packed his gear and prepared to be on his way. Then he asked, "are you actually going into a village like that? Won't someone be inclined to take a shot at you?"

"Like you did?" She flashed her array of canines and incisors, a smile perhaps. "I'm still aestri, silly."

Somehow it just wasn't quite the same thing as far as Jorden was concerned. A petite young girl was not exactly as threatening as a large and very much heavier feline with claw and fangs to match. Of course that was the thought of someone who had never seen an aestri truly angered, even as close as it had come with Midnight.

"Now come on," Taf continued, "or we'll never see Hura. It's not as if we can fly like the burgo."

Jorden nodded and followed the aestri's lead, another question forming within his mind.

IV

It was a full day.

A dimmer day than the one before, yet that was to be expected. As the Time of Darkness deepened then so did the days, but they would not do so forever. Soon it would be as dark as it could become, which was not altogether dark for the aestri, but it was a gloom the man would find difficult to navigate within. That was several weeks into an uncertain future.

Uncertain because there were many things that stood between the present position of the travelers and the castle of Hura Ghiana. And one of those many things was roaming near the road and chanced to smell something quite appetizing...

Early in the day, Taf killed another launcer and ate while Jorden continued walking, the man having had his fill of meat the previous day, and she caught up easily after a brief rest to allow the meal to settle. If only they could both move as quickly, Jorden thought, weary with the endless plodding. If only we could fly, considered Taf, her mind soaring if not her body. They both dreamed on.

Then they faced the creature.

It had never thought much of death, this beast, just the pursuit of nourishment in between bouts of hibernation, and it did not think of death now. It was not all that intelligent, but it was very large and very well armed, so it did not need to think of death. And even if it did have such need it certainly didn't have the mind to waste on such a thing. At the moment it was thinking of eating.

There was not much pleasure in life except eating, and now there was a tasty morsel nearby... no, two of them. Although blind as far as the ability to detect light was concerned, the beast could feel their minds. One was quite confident, the other faintly glowing with unrest. The beast slobbered. It would have smiled except that its jaws were not designed for such, they were inflexible and filled with teeth and impossible to even close properly. That was why it slobbered.

It wandered confidently out onto a hard stony surface, the smell of food very near. The first mind began to glow just slightly, the other flashed in fear like a beacon. It would eat that one first. There was a whistle of air and an annoying sting, the creature scratching its chest. Perhaps it was a polythorn, it thought. It didn't smell like a polythorn. It shrugged within. It would eat it anyway.

Then there was a somewhat more urgent message of pain. The creature had not been expecting that, there were not many things that could inflict such pain. It was pain that continued, and the beast scraped a limb along its side to dislodge the thing that chewed on its chest at that point, but the pain simply shifted position. Soon there was gripping sensation in its throat, a flush of warm cascading down its chest.

The creature considered its opponent. Surely only a huge and very fierce giant of the Darkness could inflict such pain, and so it surrendered its life. So this was Death, it thought, and at that moment it remembered that it had seen Death before. At that time it had been carrying a gun, there was a roar...

But that was another life.

Taf stood over the quivering carcass and puffed, surprised that the task had been so easy. Another kill. But this was one kill that she would not devour. That was firstly because it was huge, the size of a terrestrial rhino, and secondly because it had a dark putrid meat that even the hungriest aestri would leave to the scavengers.

Jorden stood motionless a moment longer, hoping the beast was completely dead, then tossed the crossbow into the grass that lined the road. It was useless. He might as well have thrown rocks. "What the hell is that?" he asked for want of a better question. He had already seen some hideous members of the local fauna, and each seemed larger or more vicious than the last. This was the largest and most vicious to date.

It was like something out of a cheap horror movie, a conglomerate of the most hideous attributes of an assortment of creatures. The jaws of some prehistoric lizard had been stuck atop a very large member of bigfoot's family with huge, crab-like claws attached to its hairy limbs. It would have stood over three metres tall, but now it didn't. Now it was dead.

"It doesn't really have a name," Taf told him between breaths, her coat dark with the blackish blood of the creature. "Most call it the lesser lizard beast of Darkness."

"Lesser beast?" Jorden echoed. "Lesser of what?"

Taf growled, her triangular ears folded back. "Lesser than the greater lizard beast, silly." She thought it was quite obvious even to the most ignorant. "The greater lizard beast grows twice as large and is much more dangerous. But they are far less common."

The man approached for a closer look. "Well I would hope so." Then he glanced to the relatively small aestri who had brought it down so easily. "How much bigger do these creatures of Darkness get, Taf. Even you couldn't kill something twice this size."

She nodded. "It would be more wise to run." Then she paused to think. "The mexin would be the largest, I think, a huge serpent that is said to eat greater lizard beasts whole. It hibernates in the deep seas and sometimes comes to land when darkness comes, but it does not like to leave the sea for long.

"There is also the saruto," Taf went on. "It is like a necromant, only larger." She leapt from the chest of the beast to the ground and began cleaning her coat. The blood tasted terrible and she coughed and spat often. "Midnight calls them the esoru-ilmato and claims they are rare, but very dangerous."

"And we're out amongst them all," Jorden groaned. "You could have told me about mexin and super necromants before we left Saljid. There is no way that I would have left the safety of the city if I knew about all of this."

Taf stopped licking. "Yes you would. You would not have believed in a greater lizard beast unless you first saw a lesser one, just as saruto means nothing unless you know of the necromant. You would have come to see for yourself, and you would have been much more fearful and would have attracted many more."

"And would have been killed," he finished. "Great logic, Taf." Then he moved to kick the beast. It seemed quite dead. "Well, our trail is littered by death, as Suzy said." An easy prediction if she had known he was heading out into the Darkness, which she didn't. "At least it isn't marked with your death." Yet.

The aestri nodded slowly. "Suzy is seldom wrong, and she said you had a long way to travel... And we have a village to find." And Taf bounded playfully away, a flash of silver beneath the grey skies.

### Chapter 17 – Darkness IV

A dragon floats of wings of lace,

With teeth all ready to embrace.

I

Taf didn't know the name of the village and there were no signs that gave any clue. Few of the inhabitants had the time or inclination to tell the travellers for the moment either. Jorden knew only that it was a small shielded village which lay somewhere between Lennon and Forbes, and even that was not altogether true. The village may well still have been in the same position it had always been, yet it was not altogether shielded at present.

The quakes, or the recent very violent quake in particular, had left their mark, the line of the village shield now broken. Several kaedith and several more carpenters could be seen at work amongst the rigging of two towers which flanked the road, the wind whipping at their cloaks. They were not the prettiest of towers, if any shield towers could be described as pretty, but ones that had been erected in haste to close the shield against the Darkness.

It was not the strongest of shields even when it was complete, for this was a mere village and not a great city that could afford much greater protection. Jorden could see that even without Taf's explanation.

"It won't be light here like in the city," she said as they walked toward the dim evening-red of the village street, "but the shield will keep the creatures away. If they fix it." The wind dropped only slightly as they moved beyond the partial shield.

They were instantly amongst a frantic crowd, a mingled mass of workers and messengers and spectators churning within the street and on out to the towers. _If_ , Jorden thought to himself, _that was a hell of an if!_ There were creatures out in the hills and woodlands that he cared not think about, and he was looking for some peace and quiet and a safe refuge.

But then in another day or two they would be back out there... Jorden shrugged. They had survived the Darkness and its creatures for days now and he had even survived without the fur-lined bundle of muscle and teeth who was now at his side. A companion who had provided the midget goat hind that was now in his pack awaiting the evening meal.

"I can live with a little darkness," Jorden said at last. "If we can just find somewhere that's warm and comfortable to sleep." He looked along the street. Finding a place that was even standing might be a problem.

The quake had certainly adversely affected the more flimsy of the village structures, indeed there were some mounds of timber and stone aside the narrow street that were difficult to envisage as anything but mounds of timber and stone. They had once been homes and places of trade. Stables had fared better, as had dark-time storehouses and hotels and taverns. And there were apparently few stable owners who would deny a first-form aestri a place within their loft.

Jorden and Taf soon found themselves within such a loft. They looked down over the crowded windswept street and its fallen buildings in the damp reddish darkness. It was all someone else's problem. Jorden knew that was a callous, self-centred way to think, but at the moment he had quite enough of his own difficulties. His dearest friend was a cat and there were still ten thousand creatures waiting on the road between here and home.

Then it began to rain. It wasn't just a light warm shower, or even a cool evening mist or cold night-time drizzle, it was the rain of a tropical monsoon, a warm waterfall from a cloudy river. And Jorden smiled. Jorden Miles felt suddenly very lucky. He was warm and dry, albeit in a loft above twenty or thirty stinking horses, while the kaedith struggled with out in the miserable weather with the shield.

It was a warped justice.

II

They ate cold raw meat, a meal that Jorden supplemented with his reserves of some local nuts and pastry sticks. He hadn't bothered cooking, the loft was certainly no place for a fire, and was not about to brave the suddenly very damp street in search of some local delicacy. Then there was money. Food cost money that he didn't have much of at present.

Jorden shrugged, knowing too well that he was not as hungry as Taf was sure to be. She had eaten the rest of the midget goat earlier in the day, yet that was no more than a snack to a first-form aestri. "Had enough to eat," he asked anyway, the aestri stretching as she lay on the dusty hay littered decking.

The roof leaked in several places, the droplets splashing occasionally on Finesilver's silky pelt. "Enough for tonight," she said softly. "The forest will have plenty to offer tomorrow." Indeed her appetite for meat was not all that great. She was content just to be back close to Jorden, especially in the relative comfort of the loft. Feelings that had once been alien to her now welled inside.

She slid closer to the man, noticing that he shook slightly in the night air. "Come close and let me keep you warm," Taf said. "I should be good for that if nothing else." Jorden hesitated. "I won't eat you, silly!"

The outsider wondered about that momentarily. If she were hungry enough or had a bad dream... He tried a smile and laid aside the feline, Taf gently sliding a paw across his chest. She was right, she was warm and soft and smooth. If only she wasn't fur-lined as well.

Taf smiled her toothy smile and licked Jorden's neck with her still very abrasive tongue. The outsider instinctively moved his throat clear of the fearsome jaws, jaws he had seen bring rapid death to several forest species. The aestri pulled him closer. "You are still afraid of sweet little Taf, aren't you?" the aestri said. "That's silly. You know I love you..."

Jorden coughed. "Sweet maybe, but you're not the frail little thing you used to be. The worst I had to worry about before was maybe a few lacerations from those nails of yours, now I'm afraid you might chew my head off." Taf was stroking him lightly with a surprisingly gentle paw. "I still love you Taf, but this isn't easy." Even the words of Midnight made a lot more sense to Jorden now.

She snorted. "I told you that I was aestri and you were man. I told you not to love me, but you would not listen." The aestri smiled a broad smile that would have appeared most disturbing on the face of a terrestrial cat and lifted Jorden easily from the floor of the loft, bringing him to rest upon her belly as she rolled onto her back. "Now I am glad that you did not listen."

He struggled momentarily yet found that Finesilver held him firm. "All right," he said with obvious anxiety. "Perhaps I made a mistake. You were right. If you would have told me everything..." That wasn't fair. He knew it wasn't fair to put the blame on Taf when it was really himself who had started everything. "Sorry," he added as Taf lost her smile and rolled him back to the floor. "It's just that where I come from this is all too weird. It's all going to take a lot of getting used to."

The aestri shook her head. "Things like this don't happen very often here either, silly. I've told you that before." She shrugged. "Do you think that would stop me from trying!"

Jorden looked into her dark eyes, eyes that glinted slightly in the dim red light. To those eyes he remained unchanged, he was the same as she had always known. Unfortunately the girl that Jorden had met and fallen for was gone, banished until the coming of the next Time of Light. Even then he doubted she would ever be quite the same.

What a hell of a place.

III

Kelvin Connor did not live in Hell, not in the city of Hell. He lived, in fact, not far from Forbes.

Connor's hell surrounded him. It was called the Domain of Hura Ghiana. It was not the fiery hell which had once haunted his sleep, and at times he had glimpses of a personal heaven, but it was still hell. He was trapped within a tiny plot of land that he could walk across in minutes. He had been trapped there for a lifetime.

Taf and Jorden did not stay within the village for long, Jorden preferring the terrors of the night to the difficulties of being companion to a very large feline. And the Darkness was more terrible than ever. It was darker, and the rain fell constantly, and the wind howled... There were also other things that howled without pause, creatures of night that sought the company of there own kind.

Jorden didn't like it. He went on into the forest regardless, there was little else to do. He wanted to leave the land of nightmare, perhaps forever, and he wanted to leave now. Unfortunately that meant finding the home of the local god and convincing her that he was out of his element. He no longer thought of why he was trapped within the Domain or why he had been brought there, he simply was and he wanted out.

He was trapped in a hell that grew worse each day. If the rain paused then they were circled by the huge moth-vultures of dreamland. If it was raining then the road was littered with the red slime creatures that bled red sticky jelly when they were stood on. And there were often pink spotted lizards watching from the woodland and the constant fear of necromants and polythorns.

It was therefore a surprise to come upon the bright clearing of Kelvin Connor.

He lived not far from the road and enjoyed watching the trade of the land crawl slowly past. But there was none of that in the days of Darkness, of course. Nothing plied the road in the dark. Nothing except the creatures of hell: the thorny misfits of dream, or the badly mismatched lizard creature.

It was therefore a surprise to see a man and an aestri walking the road together.

Kelvin Connor was insane, everyone knew that and so his oasis was avoided. Of course there were few who actually knew that his home was an oasis in the sea of Darkness, for there were few who had seen his home in anything but the time of light, and there was no shield surrounding it to give any indication of such. Insane people were simply avoided because they were insane.

Jorden Miles and Aestri Finesilver did not know that Kelvin Connor was insane, they saw only the bright sky that seemed to shine just above his tiny house and the absence of rain. They approached, surprising the apparently middle-aged man even further. No-one ever approached.

It was a tiny house in the middle of a well kept blue-green lawn that was surrounded by trees heavily in fruit. It had a earth-sky blue roof and white walls and a verandah. The man sat on the verandah and rocked in his rocking chair. He didn't speak. He had not needed to talk to others of hell in years and was not about to start now. He could still remember how to talk, of course, he talked to the trees quite often, and there were some that he had trained to talk back. Very difficult that was, and very impossible, but in hell...

"Hi," Jorden said to the man that rocked without pause, a man who simply stared toward the two that stood on his lawn. He didn't look like he was insane. He was clean shaven and his dark hair was immaculately groomed. "I'm Jorden Miles, and this is Taf."

So now they would talk to him. How odd, how very very odd. "Piss off, idiot," Kelvin said. That was good, he remembered how to swear. He smiled. "It's amazing the number of idiots you meet in hell." He looked to the aestri and wondered what provocation it would take for her to kill him.

Jorden was both surprised and confused. He was surprised at the odd greeting that the man had given and he was confused by the topography of the Domain. He frowned. "I thought that Hell was the other side of Forbes," he said innocently.

The man continued rocking. He shook his head and grunted. "Hell is all around you moron. What the hell do you think you live in?" He sneered unpleasantly toward the boy and his pet. "Now why don't you take your pussy bedmate out of my sight." That should do it. That had almost done it once before. A man had come very close to cutting his throat for a very similar insult.

Kelvin couldn't believe it when the man just stood there and glanced toward the aestri, and then the cat smiled in a stupid sort of way. It was impossible to get yourself killed in hell, completely impossible. He had tried so hard, so damned hard, and he was still alive. He thought about throwing himself on the aestri and trying a few good thumps to the ribs, but he knew that would never work. She would probably kiss him.

He resigned himself to live another few centuries. "I don't suppose I can say anything to get you to kill me, eh moron."

IV

To Jorden, Kelvin Connor began to appear to be the sanest entity of the Domain.

"Outsider, eh," Kelvin said as he learned of such, the two mismatched travellers now sitting – or in the case of Taf, laying – on his verandah. "It's nice to know that I'm not the only poor bastard stuck in this hell." He took another long suck on the aluminium beer can, something which seemed very out of place in the Domain. "I don't suppose you could do me a bit of a favour and kill me?" Kelvin noted the puzzled stare and chuckled. "Don't worry if you don't have the guts for it. I don't either. I pass out every time I try to do it myself, although I'm not sure if I really just faint or whether I get knocked on the head."

Taf frowned. He _was_ mad. "There are plenty of hungry creatures out there if you're sick of life," she said. "Why don't you go out and feed one."

And the man laughed. "Oh I would if I could, missy. While I stay here I can have pretty much what I like – hence this ever-cold can of beer – but out there..." He shrugged. "If I try and leave this sunny little hell-hole then I fall flat on my ass and wake up a few hours later with a bastard of a sunburn. It isn't worth the pain."

Jorden stared. He thought that he had it bad.

"You don't know yet, do you," Connor went on, and he chuckled again. "You don't know where you are or how the hell you got here!"

Jorden was somewhat unsure of the actual meaning of the statement. "Into the Domain?" he said uneasily. "I walked, sort of. I was walking near my home and..."

"Bang, you're in hell," Kelvin Connor finished for him. "Same thing happened to me, only I saw it coming. Drove my car straight off a freaking cliff. Bang, dead as a dodo." He sighed. "Now I'm in hell, same as you. Both of us must have been real bastards to deserve this, eh!" Kelvin suddenly burst into laughter yet again. "Funny how you can't kill yourself twice, isn't it. I've been trying for about sixty years. I don't suppose dead people can die again, but it don't stop me from trying."

Perhaps he was insane, Jorden thought, Taf was certainly sure of it. "I'm not dead yet. Well I don't think I am," Jorden put forth feebly. "I've been home from here twice before, and I hope to get home again. And at least I can move around in this madhouse, although there's not a lot out there that's worth seeing at the moment." Jorden looked toward the dim forest surrounding Kelvin's clearing. "I've come close to being killed a few too many times. Too close..."

"Lucky bastard," Kelvin mumbled. "Take my word for it. You are dead and this in definitely hell, or one of its suburbs. If you manage to get killed then consider yourself lucky. You might come back as something better!"

Jorden recalled Taf's tales of reincarnation, the local theology. But this man wasn't a local, he was a man of the real world, it seemed, a man who had been stuck in the domain for longer than Jorden cared to think about. "I'm going to see this Hura Ghiana," he said. "I'm hoping she can get me home again..." Jorden's words faded.

"Perhaps she might," Kelvin said. "I'd go myself but..."

Jorden attempted to carry the unconscious Kelvin Connor beyond the boundary of his tiny oasis.

As the not-so-insane man had said, Kelvin fainted within a few paces of the invisible circle surrounding his home. He simply fell to the ground without warning. But Jorden had no intention of stopping there and leaving the man victim to another severe case of sunburn. He would carry him... Somehow...

Taf tried to help, even to the extent of offering her services as a pack-cat, but the man's limbs would soon have worn to stumps if he were left to dangle on the back of the aestri.

It was a futile exercise anyway. The moment Jorden dragged Kelvin Connor into the shadow of the forest, the man vanished. He wasn't dropped and he did not run away. He simply became nothing.

Kelvin Connor, the small blue and white house, the lawn, the clearing, the sunshine – _everything_ – vanished. There was suddenly just a dim dusty hole in the forest that the steady rain turned to mud.

Jorden stood in disbelief and became very wet.

Taf sniffed and shrugged.

V

Days passed.

It was becoming difficult to tell night from day, the lands of Darkness becoming one continuous dim nightmare, and the two companions who braved such lands simply slept when they were tired and walked when they weren't.

And they avoided Forbes. There were several reasons for such, one was the lack of money, another was time. Taf's major reason was the lack of good fresh meat, Jorden's was simply that it kept a little distance between himself and Taf. In a town she would be close, a little too close, and Jorden still was not sure about how he felt about that. It was true that there were the lofts of deserted barns and stables along the road, yet they were few and seldom used. All for the same reason. Jorden's life had taken a definite turn for the worst since Taf changed.

This night it would again be a tree.

Jorden began to doze off to sleep, ignoring the odd noises of the damp evening, while Taf kept a silent watch from her own branch. He was tired and Nowhere was still a lifetime away. The storms were more fierce and the rain heavier and the creatures more vicious and huge... They hadn't actually seen any for several days, but Jorden was sure that they were.

Then there was sound and sudden movement.

Then nothing.

Jorden recalled a strange and painful nightmare, or was perhaps currently experienced it. Jorden felt that he was suffocating, that the darkness had become a solid living entity that had leapt upon him as he slept. Now it smothered him. He couldn't call, and the sounds of the night were dim and muffled. There was a roar, the roar of the African lion, and another deeper groan.

Then biting pain, and engulfing flame, and spinning colour, and deeper sleep.

Jorden woke slowly, his body aching as it often did when he slept within the trees. He rolled over, forgetting that he was perched on a hard, narrow branch. But he didn't fall.

It was not something that was instantly recognized as odd, there were too many other problems. The first was a burning sensation in his left arm, the bone itself seemingly hot iron straight from the forge. Then there was the pounding in his skull, then the absolute darkness surrounding him. It was some time before he noticed that he was laying upon solid stone.

That was odd. If he had fallen from the branch then he should now be lying amongst damp weeds and soggy earth and various thorn-bushes. He wasn't. He was laying on solid, and very dry stone. It was totally dark and the air was still as death and there was no rain. It was dry, very dry, and the area seemed to have an odd musty sort of smell. Jorden sniffed. It was more than that. There was a definite smell of death. He was suddenly afraid, very afraid, and somehow knew that the tree and the damp forest were a long way away. He thought to call for Taf, wondering if that might bring Death instead. He felt amongst the rubble that littered the floor, hoping for clues.

There were clues there, clues that did not ease his mind. Dry bones. Jorden backed and sat on a long toothy skull. It felt like the skull of the lesser lizard beast. He swore aloud.

A whispered voice hushed him to silence. "You will bring Death before its appointed time," the voice hissed. "Our end is already close enough without rushing it."

"There are juveniles in that passage," whispered another voice. "And there are eggs in that one. The chances of us all surviving are not good."

Jorden tried to approach the voices, tripping noisily over another skull. He recognized the second, or hoped he did, but the first was an unknown. "Is that you, Taf?" he said as quietly as he could manage, his hand coming onto a silky pelt.

"Of course it is, silly," she said in a quiet but recognizable voice. "And this is Morelian Sheba."

Jorden looked toward a hiss that responded to Taf's introduction. He couldn't see a thing, the darkness complete, and as he had not previously met a morelian, he was somehow glad. "Nice to meet you, Sheba," he said quietly. "At least I'm not alone. Perhaps you could tell me exactly where the hell we are, Taf."

Taf sniffed. There was no easy way of telling such a tale. "We are in a dragon's meat-safe – food for its young."

Jorden swore again. He had not heard of land-based dragons before, just the _sea-dragon_ , whatever they were. But why would there not be dragons in such a world, there was every other beast of nightmare. He wondered if they were related to sea-dragons. "Shit," he said more loudly than he should have dared. "Well now we really are screwed, aren't we. Kelvin Connor would love this..."

The morelian hissed him to silence again. "If you continue to yell then we will not live long at all. As it is we still have a chance, as little chance it is. More chance than that stunned polythorn over there." Sheba didn't point. Jorden could not tell whether she did or not. It didn't matter, he could no more see her lack of pointing than he could the stunned polythorn.

And if the polythorn didn't have a chance...

"Luckily the poison of the dragon affects mainly the creatures of Darkness," Taf said. "Although it makes men sleep for near a day."

"Now she has an aestri and a morelian prowling in her hive," Sheba hissed, a natural sort of hiss. Jorden wondered if Sheba was male or female, or either. "Stupid dragon. She will pay for this mistake with the death of her young."

Taf nodded. The morelian could see her nod, just as Taf could see Sheba perform a similar gesture, although morelian were not known for their range of gestures and facial expressions. "Jorden has a knife and may also be of use," the aestri said. "He has injured a necromant before." She did not mention that he had done so with the aid of a crossbow.

Sheba hissed and slid toward the man, her belly grinding upon stone and bone. "He does not look like much, and what use is a boy against even the youngest juvenile dragon..."

There was a sound. It was not a pleasant one. Sheba and Taf glanced toward the polythorn and the larval dragon that began to feed on it. The polythorn groaned but could not move. "It does not matter," the morelian went on. "When the dragon opens the safe it will be each entity for itself, and I fear that at best only two of this three will survive. I think the man's chances are the worst, no matter how much faster than morelian he may be, and the chances of the aestri are by far the best.

"But we must take care. This safe is certain to be built on high ground, perhaps in the face of a cliff that has no easy escape. A cliff might not have been the greatest of obstacles to morelian, yet to man and aestri..." Sheba liked the aestri, and even the man did not deserve death in the larder of a dragon, a slow painful death. She wished that they could all survive. She had great doubt that such a thing was possible.

The day passed slowly. There was little to be done but wait. The three trapped within the cave had little hope of moving the huge stone sealing the entrance. Jorden stayed close to Taf. Her different form was somehow not such an issue with the threat of Death so near.

Then, as hope ebbed and the three feared they would soon become the fodder of a young dragon that grew fat on the dark meat of the polythorn, the great stone that sealed one of the mother dragon's many hives was shifted aside. The dim light of darkness rushed into the cave, actually seeming dazzling bright after the depth of the darkness they had suffered. Shadows leapt onto the walls, a hideous variety of form against the rear wall of the cave. And a gurgled moan resounded through the caves, a sound that chilled the blood of both those who knew the source and those that didn't. Three entities froze, and even the juvenile dragons seemed to pause in their feeding lest they become mother's next meal. Gravel rattled and stones tumbled, an ill defined silhouette moving slowly, then the smacking of lips too huge to imagine...

Yet then a roar. Not near, but further afield, distorted by the howling winds beyond. And the black shape paused, listening, turning. More stones shifted under foot.

And the dragon was gone.

Two of the meaty parcels the dragon had stored began to run, another continued sliding.

Then the three paused upon the threshold of the cave, looking skyward in disbelief , one of them a touch more shocked than the others.

Ahead and far below lay the wide expanse of the Domain.

They were indeed far above the plains on a cliff.

They were dead.

Jorden could see that much at a glance.

### Chapter 18 – Darkness V

The air is home for many beast,

But aestri is not one at least.

I

Three entities stood near the opening of the cave, a damp windswept ledge that was bathed in blood red light, and only one resembled a human form, another was at least mammalian.

Jorden was not all that fond of the third. Although he knew that Sheba was a friend, or at least a fellow beast who had been trapped by the dragon, it was difficult to be at ease so near to the lengthy serpent. For the morelian was indeed a huge snake. And huge did not just mean very big, as in the largest serpent of the real world. Her scales shone in a dozen colours, colours that danced in the light of dragon fire, and she was patterned in diamonds. Her eyes were large and bright green, and slitted in the way of the aestri, her fangs long and curved. Sheba was also as thick as a good sized man and perhaps five times as long. Better friend than foe.

But what of the dragon.

Jorden looked aloft, for that was where the real spectacle hovered. Taf and Sheba already had eyes turned toward the heavens awaiting the outcome of a battle that waged there. They waited for there was no easy escape from the cliff-top larder. Taf also knew much that the outsider did not.

Jorden knew only that a dragon flew and fought above them, another beast in mortal combat. He wondered which would be best to win. He wondered what they fought over. Food, perhaps? And that was himself.

One was a dragon, that much was obvious. From tail to fiery mouth it could have been little else. It sported huge white wings the sized of a small aircraft, and four other limbs that wielded abundant blood-stained claws, and its long neck was crowned with a huge hideous head and long toothy jaw. Then there was the mane of flaming orange and the serpent tail and the huge yellow eyes and the blowtorch breath...

It was a dragon or there were no dragons. It was true that unlike the dragons of myth this beast was clad in brown and white fur rather than scales, but it was still a dragon. The legends were wrong.

The other beast was both more recognizable and more hideous at the same time. It was a dragonfly. It wasn't really a dragonfly, of course, it was far to big, but it was some reptilian monster that resembled a dragonfly. It had eyes that might have been weather balloons, and scales, and laced wings, and fleshy jaws. It looked like a cross between a biplane and a helicopter.

They were both dragons. Jorden hoped they killed each other.

They didn't.

There were several daring loops and evasive manoeuvres, but it was clear that the dragonfly was well outmatched. The dragon roasted its wings and clawed its body into ribbons. The remaining carcass plummeting from the sky into the deep gloom below.

It seemed they remained dragon fodder, and Jorden was surprised by the nearby roars and hisses of his fellow meals which seemed to attract the attention of the dragon. And it swooped toward him, the arsenal of its various organic weapons flaring, the dark blood dripping from its claws and fangs. Warm fluid also dripped from beneath Jorden's kilt as he backed away. He was dead. He wished that the young dragon would have eaten him while he slept. He would have cried if he had the time.

The dragon had already skidded to a halt on the cliff-side ledge near the man. And, of course, it spoke perfect English. "Thought you were dragon fodder, I'll bet," it roared.

Then Taf leapt toward the apparition and raised herself to full height upon her hind legs, her paws and claws outstretched...

But she didn't kill the dragon. She didn't even try.

She hugged it.

Jorden felt extremely faint.

II

The morelian smiled a smile that could not have considered friendly by anything other than a morelian. "Friend of yours, I hope?" she hissed as she slid closer to the man, "and not a wild one. Those of the wild are seldom reliable."

Jorden was still breathing heavily and doing little else, his heart on heavy duty. He even lost his fear of the snake. Too much else had happened. Then he mumbled a moment before the morelian was able to catch the meaning of his words. "... not mine. A friend of Taf's perhaps. I don't know a hell of a lot of dragons." He tried to regain a little of his composure.

The dragon snorted, folded her wings, and sat back onto her hind legs. She heard a little more than the morelian. "Not a friend of mine," it roared. Her voice was softer then; melodic and strangely familiar. "Hear that Taf? I am sorely hurt." The slitted yellow eyes turned toward the aestri.

Taf shook her head and smiled. "It was only a few days. He can hardly know you as well as I." The huge dragon reached forth with her paw and touched the shoulder of the bewildered man, blade-like claws cutting the air all too near his throat. He flinched, then froze. "We will have to spend more time together, I can see," the dragon went on, "and Taf will have to stop her secretive nature. I see that she has at least been forced to show her own true self." Taf hung her head briefly, then smiled toward her companion.

Jorden squinted in the howling wind, the rain beginning to fall yet again, a storm nearing, and he looked again to the yellow eyes and the orange mane. He knew that voice, and after meeting the lioness in that tree he should have known what to expect. "Damn," he said. "You bitch! You pair of bitches!" And then without further hesitation, he also hugged the dragon, their very unexpected saviour.

As he backed from her, Kaeina glanced toward the approaching thunderstorm. "Now I suggest that we fly from here before we are blown. A ride for you both, and your morelian friend, perhaps." The burgo actually hoped that the serpent would find her own way, Taf and Jorden would be burden enough in her weakened state.

The morelian indeed declined, Sheba glancing back into the cave. "Thank you greatly, but I have a promise to fulfil. There are juveniles to eat to make this capture worthwhile, and this mountain will not slow the decent of morelian."

Kaeina nodded and understood. She was also very hungry. "Then we will bid you farewell and glide into the lowlands for rest and food, I'm tired after that dance with your dragon friend."

Jorden again thought it was an extremely odd world.

Kaeina wondered about the morelian's name.

Taf was simply glad to climb aboard and be perched between the burgo's wings.

III

Jorden Miles was not normally adversely affected by flying, although it was something had only done twice before, but there was some distinct differences between the enclosure of a aircraft's fuselage and the open breezy flight upon the back of a tired dragon on a dark and very stormy night. The man was petrified, Kaeina often complaining that her mane was being pulled out by the roots.

Taf told him that he would distract the burgo while she executed the difficult glide manoeuvres, his hold released only slightly. The panic remained. It was too dark and too wet, the rain stinging their faces, and there was too little preventing Jorden from slipping from the shoulders of the burgo and plummeting to his death.

And it was not a good landing. Kaeina was exhausted.

It was forest, the dragon's wings retracted to avoid the trees, and the soggy ground raced quickly toward them during the last twenty metres to the ground. Taf leapt clear, Jorden was thrown there, and Kaeina struck the ground like a disabled airliner. Fortunately she did not fracture or burst into flame, both of which were a distinct possibly.

She laughed instead, and held to aching ribs. It was not a pretty laugh. Then she coughed and started a healthy fire in the shelter of the trees, the rain eased to a gentle mist in the lowlands. "Ah," she said as Jorden instinctively threw several branches on to the oily flame, the man still dazed by the flight and just happy to be on the ground and alive. "Suzy gets better with each passing cycle, although she did not mention the morelian. I must tell her that when I return."

Jorden eventually stopped throwing branches and began to check himself for injury. There were just a few scratches, his greatest loss had been his leather pack. Then he managed to speak. "I just want to know what the hell you're doing here, and I want to know about all the creatures of this world and all their forms." When Taf changed he should have realized there was more, but there had been too many other things to worry over.

Taf shrugged as best she could. "You've seen most of them now, except perhaps pockhorn. They are like a horse, only patterned and much taller, but you rarely see pockhorn. I'm not sure about sarisan and kaedith, although it is said that kaedith can change to the form of a bat at will." Good, Jorden thought, that suited them.

"And dirge just get bigger and hairier," Kaeina added. "Well, they don't really change at all, but they get fat at the city bars and shave even less." Jorden assumed that what followed was laughter, but it was difficult to tell with a dragon.

"Then there are the trees I told you of," Taf said. "The ones who eat the spotted lizards. They are landsdraw." She shrugged. "There is little else to know."

Jorden frowned. It all fit nicely. "It really would have been nice to know all of this before!"

Taf just smiled. They all knew that he would not have believed.

IV

The fire roared nicely, even as the rain fell heavier.

"... and so I have been looking for you both for days, with the help of this." Kaeina displayed the darkish crystal shard which hung around the log sized neck. "But as Suzy foretold, I did not find you until the last possible moment." It seemed that chance ran the land of dream.

Jorden wondered how many midget goats, and lizard beasts and polythorns and necromants, it had taken for Kaeina to attain the size of her first-form. It seemed a waste, but he could hardly complain. Without her they would have been dragon fodder... or dragonfly fodder.

It was a really twisted place.

"Now I really should return to Saljid," Kaeina went on. "Every village I have seen has been badly damaged by the shaking lands, and I've been worried about the warehouses..." She sighed. "But I fear to leave you both out amongst this. This is no place for even aestri and burgo." It had been their home once, long ago, so long ago it drifted into legend, yet now it seemed an alien and hostile world.

To Jorden it was somewhat worse than alien and hostile, and he was strangely comforted by the presence of the huge, fire breathing dragon. That was it, he was mad. Not only was he quite comfortable within metres of a beast of his own legend that had terrified those of the western world for centuries, he was actually terrified of losing her. With Kaeina near they did not need to fear even the greater lizard beast. Perhaps now only the gigantic mexin would pose a threat.

"Perhaps you should go," Taf said easily. "You could fly to Saljid in a few days." Jorden hopes sank. "But I would like you to come back," The aestri looked out into the shade beyond the firelight. "I'm getting frightened of the Darkness. Before the dragon I thought that we were as safe as one could hope, but now..." She sighed. "I'm not ready to leave this life, not yet."

Kaeina nodded. "You are young and could well have a great service to perform in the distant future. Suzy has told me of such, and I would not doubt her now." The burgo licked her lips with a forked whip of a tongue. "And you are a friend I do not wish to lose as yet."

The pseudo-dragon paused to think, the weight of the two considered. "If I rest and eat well, then perhaps..." She thought more, distances considered. "Perhaps I could fly you to the castle of Hura Ghiana. It would not be easy, not in weather such as this, and it would take several days, even though the dragon has brought you much of the way."

Taf smiled. "Even if you could carry Jorden some of the way while I run, it would help."

"Then it is settled," Kaeina soothed. "First I will see you safely to Hura, then I shall return home." She stretched, her tail flattening several saplings and shrubs with a crash. "And now I feel in need of a snack before retiring." With that she rose on all fours and lumbered off in search of a clearing.

Taf watched her leave. She was also quite hungry, as Jorden was sure to be, but they would be safer aside the fire while Kaeina was away. And the burgo would be sure to return with a few extra morsels that were left over from her own snack of several launcer.

Jorden also watched her leave. He then laid against his Taf-pillow and baked in the warmth of the substantial fire. After what they had been through her current form was somehow less worrying. "You are sure that you've told me everything?" he asked. "No more surprises."

The aestri sighed. "None that I know, Jorden, although it is difficult to tell what might surprise someone of Beyond. What seems normal to me..."

"You're being evasive," Jorden interrupted. "That's for kaedith, not aestri. Aestri are just talkative." Bats, he thought, that was so perfect. If he just knew what Orani was when she wasn't the middle-aged female captain of the Katerina. The sarisan seemed quite normal, no slitted eyes or claw-like nails, they could quite easily have been ordinary women...

V

It was two days and several hundred thousand footfall later when Jorden again found himself in such a position. Taf was warm beneath his head and Kaeina was out hunting. Kaeina was always out hunting.

The burgo was always hungry. She worked hard to carry her passengers in the foul weather that tore the darkened skies, and it was always cold and always wet. It was not comfortable for Taf and Jorden either, perched upon the back of a dragon as she sped through the soggy cloud, the rain stinging and the wind chilling to the bone, but they had simply to hold on. It was Kaeina who worked and Kaeina who had to think and judge the wind and take the risks. At least the work kept her warm, and she did not fear falling as Jorden continually did. He was getting more accustomed to the flying at least, and it beat walking. There were also far fewer creatures at the altitude the burgo flew.

Now Taf and Jorden were alone near a large fire that was fighting a steady rain. The fires had all been large since the coming of the burgo.

And then there were three.

Jorden was startled by the appearance of a man. It was an appearance in its truest form. The man was not there, and then he was. It was startling only momentarily, then it seemed oddly mundane, and Jorden frowned slightly. Taf blinked.

It was Kelvin Connor, the insane inhabitant of a very odd oasis.

He was currently dressed in clothing other than that he had worn upon the verandah of his home, a vest of brass scales and a kilt of brass plates. There was also a sword at his hip and a helmet and fine red cloth issuing from beneath his armour. "Greetings, peasants," he said cheerfully, badly imitating an English Lord. "Somewhat out of my element, what?"

Jorden looked in disbelief to the man who had vanished from his very grasp. "Nothing is odd in this world . You should know that."

"Too well," he said, and rattled closer. "But it is true that I am no longer of this land, and I have come merely to offer my thanks for freeing me from that prison. A brief visit for I have battles to fight and dragons to slay..."

It was around this point in time that Kaeina dropped in from the heavens and thumped heavily to the ground, a launcer hind bouncing toward the brass knight. Kelvin swore and tried to draw his sword. It jammed in the scabbard and he cursed even louder and more explicitly.

Kaeina stared at the tiny man who struggled with his sword. "Friend of yours?" she asked quietly.

Kelvin gave up and looked to Jorden. "Sort of," Jorden said. "He's off to fight dragons in some other world. I think he might be looking for a little practice."

The dragon nodded absently, puffing a small flame in the direction of Kelvin Connor...

And Jorden Miles woke from a very silly dream.

At least he thought it was a dream.

Kaeina and Taf were near, as was the midget goat, and Kelvin Conner was not. They simply chatted quietly as aestri and burgo were known to do.

Jorden was left to wonder if Kelvin really was out there somewhere in a much better life.

VI

The storms of Darkness became quite violent as the days passed, and Kaeina began to wonder if she would ever be able to carry her two friends to the still distant castle of Hura Ghiana.

At least on this day they flew in relative calm, the storms below them, the rarefied air of the upper atmosphere whistling in the ears of the burgo. Taf hugged low upon the back of her long time friend, partly to keep warm and partly to reduce air resistance. Jorden crouched behind and froze silently. This was the place to fly, he knew. Although it wasn't much brighter, it was a hell of a lot smoother at fifteen thousand feet than it was at five. But it was cold, damn cold, and breathing wasn't easy. He was wrapped in his cloak and a green launcer hide and holding firm to the warm fur of the burgo. It helped only a little.

For Kaeina the flight was magnificent. It was cool, a breeze that could sooth the most weary wing or muscle, and the air was clean and fresh as it rushed within her nostrils.

Taf simply shivered, and held close.

Then came the decent into the turbulence below, the dark storms and the wind and rain. Then they skimmed across open moor. It was a gentle landing, Taf leaping clear and rubbing her paws. It took some time to thaw the near frozen Jorden Miles. He wasn't frozen, not quite, yet he felt that he was. Jorden was actually quite surprised that he did not received severe frostbite to his fingers and ears. That would have been difficult considering that the items had spent much of the journey tucked beneath the hind of the aestri.

His feet were another matter, and they did not look, or feel so well.

There was not a lot to use as firewood upon the moor, and the wind was brisk and the rain heavy. Warmth came in the form of communal sleeping, the burgo curled about her two smaller friends when she was not out in search of food. The night, or day, passed slowly. It was difficult to tell one from the other in the depth of Darkness.

Beneath the wing of the burgo they rested, or spoke if they were awake, the head of Kaeina curled to rest upon the flank of Taf. And the aestri would tell a tale from memory, or a piece of verse...

Seas of blue and seas of green,

Many seas have I surely seen.

For I am aestri of the sea

And so few others would know as me.

For though the men have sailed, 'tis true,

They know not truth as I tell you.

They know not the way of dragons sea,

Not the way that I tell thee.

For the serpents of the oceans green

Are little known and seldom seen

By others than those that live or die

By ocean food 'neath whitest sky.

And I tell you now, for I do know

Where dragons play and dragons go

To bear their young and mate for life;

To rear their children and take their wife.

I have seen, as few can claim,

A place that only I can name.

The ocean trench where Dragons dwell,

Beneath the ever rolling swell.

Taf fell suddenly quiet.

It was not her best piece of verse, yet there was something about it that brought a chill to Jorden Miles. Or perhaps it was just the cold.

"There are few men who know of the hole in the ocean," Kaeina said softly, her teeth meshing nearby. "There are some of the lowly who tell of a world of sea dragons, a real world, perhaps. You would be wise to keep such to yourself, Jorden Miles."

Taf sniffed. "Not a real world. I think a shard more likely. I would dearly love to visit such a world of ocean. They say that it is quite near to our own..." Taf had no idea who _they_ were, however.

Jorden had little intention of telling anyone, enough people thought he was quite mad already. He thought to change the subject. "How was Midnight when you last saw her," he said for want of a better subject. "I don't suppose she is happy that Taf came with me into this?"

A dark slitted pupil in a yellow field that Jorden could barely see rolled toward Taf. The burgo grunted. It was Taf who spoke, feline ears flicking toward the dragon's mouth. "Why didn't you tell _me_ that Midnight was my mother. I always knew it wasn't Pandora, but I would never have guessed Midnight."

A mountain of flesh heaved as Kaeina shrugged. "It was up to her to tell you, and the time for that was long past. She loved you just the same."

"I know that. She has always been kind." Taf gurgled a sigh. "I just wondered..."

Kaeina looked toward Jorden, then back to the aestri. "Do you know of Lamplight?" Taf nodded. "Lamplight was Midnight's first daughter."

Taf understood and there was no more said. Coven matters were best left to those concerned...

VII

In time the sky brightened marginally and the three were blessed with a sight that raised their spirits to new heights. That was after Jorden realized the significance of the wall bordering the moor some distance to the north.

Kaeina was more pleased than any. "The Planer Line," she pointed a finger-blade. "It can not be much more than a hundred thousand footfall now, perhaps less."

It was Taf who noticed the puzzled stare of the man as he stood and walked on the thick turf. It was perhaps a ten metre high wall that vanished into both the east and the west, a very long stone wall that was lined with often broken stone arches and stepped to actually make it quite easy to climb. It was not an architectural wonder that was created overnight.

"That is the Planer Wall," the aestri told him as she stood to all fours and padded nearer.

"A wall that stretches for a hundred and fifty thousand footfall east and west of the castle," Kaeina went on, speaking from where she still lay. "If we follow this then we cannot miss the castle." She gazed to the swirling sky, it was said that the winds of Darkness always revolve about the castle of Hura Ghiana.

"Planer wall," Jorden mumbled. "It sounds familiar. Tsarin said something about the Planer Line."

Taf sniffed and rubbed her nose against her foreleg. "Built in time of legend. It is the line of transition into other shards, other worlds like this. There are many thousands, they say."

"More," Kaeina put in. "And this is the gateway. I have seen only one, a world of flowers and blue skies and gentle rains, but nothing to eat except fruit. A kaedith paradise." She appeared quite thoughtful, an odd expression for several tons of dragon. "It was inhabited by naked pink men about so high." She held a claw about a metre from the turf. "They were intelligent, but not overly so, and therefore not edible by any but the most depraved entity. I had a friend who lived there, a first-form burgo. She ate the little men; said they were too stupid to be considered intelligent." Kaeina shrugged. "I disagreed and left her to her life. I dread to think what her next one will be like..."

The burgo blinked and looked east. "But now we have a castle to find, and hopefully this is the last flight I will have to make with a man and an overweight aestri. I will seem as light as a wing-hair after this."

Taf and Jorden climbed aboard flight burgo one into hell, or should that have been nowhere?

It looked a lot more like hell.

Lightning split the dark sky, and Kaeina was forced to ride with the wind until they were very high amongst the cloud strata. They could not rise above the peaks of the storm, not this storm, but the high winds did not buffet the wings of the dragon in the way of the turbulent air that whistled amongst the hills and valleys.

It was cold again, icy cold, and it was wet, and the air seemed to buzz with static charge. Jorden tried to ignore it. It was still dark and wet and...

Kaeina wasn't particularly impressed herself. It was not good weather for flying, not even for the strongest of burgo. If she were alone perhaps, and could manoeuvre as necessary, then it would be quite another matter. Now she was restricted. If she banked too steeply she could lose the man, and Taf's claws would sink into her flesh as she held for dear life. She banked gently and lost altitude, hoping for a glimpse of the wall, but it was still too far below. She kept descending. She knew she would have to land soon and let Taf and Jorden finish their journey to the castle on foot. But landing was not going to be easy.

When the wall was at last seen somewhat later in the flight, it was much closer, very very close. Kaeina's claws scraped the tops of the arches, the burgo sighting the wall only a few heartbeats before contact. She flapped. She was tired. With a flick of her tail her wings pitched up and the wall was cleared. Then she stalled. Kaeina trimmed frantically, lift dropping to nothing, her airspeed almost nil in a sudden tail-wind.

She flapped painfully to ease the impact.

The moor was thankfully quite soft.

### Chapter 19 – Hura I

Worlds beyond

the timeless void.

In life or death,

cannot avoid.

I

They had arrived.

Kaeina squinted and looked toward the wall that bounded the Planer Transition Line, the division between a multitude of very different worlds to her own. Then her gaze turned toward the still somewhat distant circular wall within which the great castle complex was built. There she saw many dark towers reaching for the sky, concentric walls surrounding that. It seemed to be built to withstand the siege of a thousand armies rather than the disorganized creatures of Darkness.

And now it was the centre of a violent storm, the castle within the relatively calm eye of a cyclonic disturbance that whistled across the open moor. Bolts of thick blue lightning struck the towers often, and rain stung the faces and pelts of the travellers... It was still not good weather for flying.

"It doesn't look the place for burgo," Kaeina shouted above the continuous roar of wind and thunder. "I doubt that the doors in such a place are big enough." And she was right. Although there were several doors that would have permitted a first-form burgo, there were many more that would not. "And I should be returning to Saljid. I will already be missed, and I fear for those who may have been injured by the shaking lands."

Jorden was still holding firm to the mane of the dragon as she squatted on the moor with wings held tight against her body. "You've brought us here, Kay, and that's enough," he shouted in turn, but Kaeina could barely hear. She twisted her neck and brought her head nearer to the man, and he repeated the statement, leaning toward those never-ending jaws and huge yellow eyes. "I don't know how to thank you," he added.

Kaeina smiled in her own way. It was a nice friendly smile, he was sure, but with the dragon-like burgo, and others of the lowly, there were far too many teeth for anyone to be at ease so near to such a smile. "Just return to us soon," she said, "if Hura grants your passage home. Taf will miss you as will I. Of course if the Great One does not accept your plea then perhaps we will see you very soon."

The burgo stumbled in the gusting wind, Jorden jumping to the turf to stand aside the aestri. "And now I must go," Kaeina shouted on, "before I am blown away and smashed against the transition wall."

Jorden nodded and waved, Taf smiled. "Thank you again," the aestri shouted, and the burgo leapt into the tortured sky, her vast shape vanishing into the Darkness in a moment.

Then the two were alone amongst the deluge, the mane of the aestri whipping her dark eyes, the man kneeling at her side, both hopeful that their companion of late would survive the dark perpetual storm. Now they had arrived. Now they had come to the place of Hura. After the difficult days of the road it seemed that their journey was almost at an end.

That was if they could survive the hurricane, Jorden finding that just standing was something of a challenge. Taf did not have that problem, and she led on toward the wall, the last direction that Jorden would have considered. But it was a wise choice, of course, for although the sloping wall was quite high, and the climb of the stepped surface was a difficult one in the howling wind, the journey was soon much less so along the smooth stone under the limited shelter of the arches.

Jorden counted fifty steps before coming to the top and following Taf through the narrow stone arch of the covered way that ran the immense length of the wall. It was more than just a covered way, though it served that purpose for the moment, for as Kaeina had said it was actually the marker of the many ports into a variety of other lands, most of which ports that were never used in such times. To Jorden the ports were just a third line of arches that stood between the two outer ones on each edge of the embattled wall. The numbers that were above each arch meant nothing.

He knew that this was another line of transition, one that was very unlike the West-Pacific Line, yet it did not occur to him that walking through any of the arches would have any effect. And under normal circumstances he would have been correct, yet the quakes had disrupted the Domain in many ways, and many of those disruptions had been passed on to even other worlds.

One of the disruptions was that the port the Jorden chose to walk through was currently active.

There was not any of the shortness of breath or flashes of cold or heat that Jorden had experienced in transitions of the past. In fact there was nothing to indicate that such a transition had even taken place. Except for the _slight_ change of scenery.

The most notable change was that it was suddenly a bright and sunny day, and there was a gentle breeze to replace the cyclonic winds of the Domain. It all seemed very ordinary... That was until Jorden began to look a little closer. It was then he noticed that he was standing in the middle of a large, but fortunately long deserted village, a village which had been abandoned earlier in the year when another entity had wandered in from the Domain of Hura Ghiana. In fact he was standing in what had once been their hall of meeting, or perhaps on their hall of meeting was a better description.

Jorden backed and destroyed another dwelling. He crouched. He was a giant. He had not noticed the village earlier, not until he had looked to what made the odd crunching sound beneath his feet. It was not often he thought to look down to see whose village he might be standing on. Suddenly it occurred to Jorden that perhaps giants were simply misunderstood.

He lifted the plate sized roof from a nearby house that looked a lot like a large, fat mushroom. It was empty, as was all the village, the population of finger sized entities well gone. He was glad of that at least. Jorden had no desire to injure or kill anyone, regardless of their size. It was also all quite impossible, he knew, but then what wasn't in the lands of dream, and he picked up a few pieces of doll house furniture.

Taf interrupted him. "I thought you wanted to see Hura, not get lost in yet another world."

Jorden glanced back toward her, noticing the ill defined arch that she stood within. "I didn't realize that I was going into another world, especially not Gulliver's. I didn't think the transitions were quite that easy."

"They aren't... at least I don't think they are. And this one could close at any time." The aestri was surprisingly nervous, and that worried Jorden. If a hundred kilogram cat was getting jumpy then it was time to be away.

II

It was still dark and windy back in the Domain, the rain heavier if that was possible. And it was not particularly dry amongst the arches and somewhat patchy stone roof, not with the wind howling in such a way, but at least the path was clear and it was slightly sheltered, and in a relatively short time the two companions stood upon the outer wall of the castle near to where it joined the planer line.

They were then within the eye of the storm and the wind had dropped to nothing, which was fortunate as they were presently standing atop open battlements. It continued to rain, although perhaps less heavily, and the lightning still flashed above, but now it was at least possible to open their eyes fully without fear of the removal, or severe damage, of an eyeball.

Jorden looked to the castle, a structure that towered above. It was as large as a small city, and the two could actually see very little of the complete structure. What they could see was quite enough. Below them was an open court filled with exotic plant life and paths and various ornaments. Beyond that were the shear walls of the castle and the multitude of towers.

"Okay, now what," Jorden muttered. He had not really known what to expect, and this wasn't really it. In a world of talking lions and dragons, everything seem unexpected.

He wondered how they were supposed to even enter such a fortress. Castles were designed in such a way for a reason, to keep unwanted guests out, and it would hardly be easy for an unknown outsider and his lion to gain entry. That was if they could even find a way down from the outer wall, although as the wall was connected to the public access-way of the planer wall, there had to be a simple method.

Which there was. It amounted to a broad stair leading down into the open court that lay between walls, an area some two hundred paces across. "Well this is nice, Taf," Jorden said casually. It was easy to be a little casual after surviving the hurricane that lay beyond the outer wall. "I thought it would be a little more difficult than this."

Taf sniffed and glanced to the gardens. They looked like any gardens would. "Getting in won't be a problem, silly, but to get to see Hura might. People build shells about themselves so that they don't have to speak with those they don't want to, and rulers build castles. They have servants and bureaucrats to talk with the people that they don't have the time for. We could be here a lifetime waiting to see her."

"I know, but at least we're here."

The castle was certainly designed to deter all but the most determined of callers by it's looks. It was huge. It was also not particularly pretty. Castles weren't supposed to be pretty, yet few were quite this dark and ominous, with such harsh jagged lines. And few had quite such a huge front door. Jorden paused in the open stone court to face it, Taf sitting nearby. It was one heck of a door, he thought, over ten meters high and nearly as wide, and must have taken twenty huge trees to build. The timber of the door was bound with dark iron bands and studded with rivets, and it was extremely old. Jorden looked to the aestri, Taf looking to the knocker. At least that was what Jorden assumed it was. If it were not so huge then it would have been easily recognized, yet few doors had a knocker that was larger than the knockee. Jorden knocked. It took all of his strength to lift the cast iron monstrosity, and he found he could knock once before he was exhausted. Which was quite enough, he was sure. The thump was like that of a battering ram and it likely resonated through the entire south wing of the castle.

The door then opened slowly into infinity, or so it seemed for an instant. It wasn't that the room was all that big, although it was immense, it was just so completely empty. It was like the arena of an indoor stadium that was inadequately lit and graced with one desk, and that was on the far side. The two walked in, each of the two doormen struggling to slow their half of the huge door and return it to the closed position. Jorden said "hi" to the nearest without response, even offered to help close the door. The doorman continued to ignore him. He shrugged and followed Taf out into the dim interior of the castle.

Jorden's footfall on the tiled floor echoed off distant walls, as did the odd touch of Taf's claws. As he walked, eyes were turned to the vaulted ceiling far above. It was the most idiotic thing he had seen within the domain: a room so vast that it took over twenty metres of chain to hang the chandeliers at a manageable height above the floor, and there were five of them. Five in a row between the door and the desk at the far end of an empty stadium.

It seemed to take forever to walk the distance to the receptionist. And that was all she was. The young woman would not have looked out of place in the foyer of any corporation of the real world, not once she had changed clothes at least. There were few secretaries of home that wore a flat black robe with a red sash about their waist and black lipstick. She was otherwise quite attractive. The real surprise was that there was such a person on duty during such a season. Jorden doubted that many would brave the storms to come to the castle. It was a wonder that the door wasn't just locked and forgotten about until the next Time of Light.

So this was it, Jorden thought as he stood before the barren black desk in the dim black walled foyer of the black castle of Hura Ghiana, witch-god of her Domain. He had come this far and now he needed a line that would attract attention, something that would compel the local god to give him an audience, an audience with the maker of suns and moons and the giver of second forms to talking lions and dragons. This was a being of power that was unknown within his world. He was starting to wonder if he could even speak with such a being.

The young receptionist waited for quite some time before speaking, apparently overtaxed by the single sheet of paper that lay before her. "Can I help you?" she then asked ever so politely.

Jorden found that words were slow to come. "I'd like... Well we're here to..."

"We've come to speak with Hura," Taf said easily. "If she isn't too busy."

The receptionist stared for several moments, then nodded toward the aestri and stood. "Of course," she said efficiently. "If you'll come this way. I'm sure that the shift assessment officer will see you quite soon. We are somewhat less busy with new arrivals at this time of the evening."

She led them from the room.

So far so good, Jorden considered.

III

The waiting room of the assessment officer was somewhat more intimate. It was a normal size for a waiting room, and much the same style as a waiting room anywhere in a thousand worlds. There were even pamphlets and things that resembled magazines.

In the two hours they waited, Jorden glanced through quite a lot of the material, most of which was not all that enlightening. There were documents concerning the spread of certain plant diseases in the farmlands of the Domain, and methods of weather prediction and alteration, and articles that told of ways to lessen the pain of severe injury. The list went on.

Taf read as well, flicking with a claw through the pages of a document that Jorden had tossed to the floor. "A disease is killing the river squal of Venice," she said. "That's terrible! If that came to Saljid..."

Jorden did not the see the loss of the river squal as that catastrophic, yet those that drank the slimy, leggy things might think otherwise. "Terrible, yes," he said without conviction, hoping that the assessor would see them soon.

He did.

The assessment officer was a tall forbidding male figure that also wore black, a black suit with black beard to match, and he frowned briefly when he first looked over the youth in the very damp and very stained kilt who waited with the aestri. Then he tried a more neutral expression and directed them into his office.

It was a very bare office, and less than pleasing to the eye, and it had nowhere for Jorden to sit. The assessor, therefore, did not offer a seat, rather he allowed his subjects of assessment to stand while he sat at the beautifully polished desk. Like the receptionist's, however, it was quite barren. Taf saw little need to stand, and so she sat on the floor and began grooming. "And so you have come to seek audience with the great and only Hura Ghiana," he said slowly. Jorden nodded. He wondered what other reasons brought the entities of the Domain within the castle. "You have a legitimate reason for such an audience, of course," the assessor went on.

The outsider hoped so, and now he had the opportunity to give it. It was not a time to be at a loss for words. "Yes, I've come to ask..."

"I knew, of course, that you would have," the assessor smiled. "No-one would be stupid enough to waste the time of the Great One, and thereby feel her wrath." He relaxed back into his black chair. "And such reasons are unimportant to me, they are a matter to be taken up by the private secretary at a latter date... if you should make it so far. My duty is simply to determine if the applicant is a threat to the person of the Great One, although by that I do not mean in a physical way, of course."

"Of course," Jorden echoed. Taf yawned.

The man continued smiling his most unfriendly smile. "There are none who could be a threat in such a way, yet threats come in many forms, and those who distract the Great One from her work are the ones I fear. If she were to be distracted from her work on these shaking lands for example..."

Jorden thought about the statement momentarily, the logic of it quite amazing. "But wouldn't my reason for coming here be relevant to whether I was a threat or not," he said when the assessor paused for a breath. "My problem itself could well be a distraction..."

His words faded as the bearded assessor smiled. "I doubt that you even know the real reason for your coming within the palace, boy" he said. "Very few ever seem to know why they truly come within these walls. The truth is known only by the very old and the very wise, and she is Hura."

The assessment officer stood. "And I doubt that you have the intelligence to be a threat, little man," and Jorden was indeed somewhat smaller in comparison, although that was obviously not what the man had in mind "But if you have any doubt, then I would advise that you leave the castle now while you have the chance." Jorden shook his head, the officer nodding. "Then you may progress to registration, as can the aestri. Hura has a fondness for her kind that is beyond the understanding of such minor beings as ourselves."

He showed them the door.

IV

They were led to registration by a young woman who did not wear black. It was a lengthy journey along dim arched passages lit by simple oil lanterns on the walls, their red light adding to the dismal atmosphere of the stone passage.

Registration itself was then the equivalent of taking a number in the waiting queue of various public services back in reality, and judging by the number of people within the substantial room, Jorden assumed it was quite a lengthy wait. He was not quite prepared for exactly how long, and was just the slightest bit surprised to find that the forty or more entities scattered about the room were those in the day-queue awaiting registration. It was also something of a shock to realize that many of the other entities in the room had also braved darkness to come to the castle earlier that very day, although most had come by means other than Jorden had available.

Registration, therefore, took most of that day, or Jorden assumed it was day. It had been impossible to tell day from night while amongst the storms of Darkness of late, and inside it was even more difficult. Perhaps the castle worked on a continuous shift basis to cope with the number of applicants, Jorden thought. There was certainly nothing to indicate the time of night or day.

They were eventually registered. The queue system itself worked upon a number between one and nine hundred and ninety-nine, and Jorden was given the number 237. Hura had last given audience to a squal farmer of Venice whose number had been 845. That made Jorden around four hundredth in line to be granted audience with Hura Ghiana. At least that was what he first suspected, but it was worse than that. Jorden was four hundredth in line to an interview with the office of the private secretary to Hura Ghiana, or in no line at all if he failed to inspire the secretary to the private secretary, as many did.

He was also dismayed to learn that the Time of Darkness was in fact the castle's more busy season. There was, after all, very little for the inhabitants of the domain to do at such a time, especially those of the farmlands, and so many came to the castle toward the end of the time of light and spent much of the Darkness within its walls. Those who had required aid or advice the precinct kaedith could not provide had invested large portions of valuable savings into telportation spells to bring them to the court of Hura, and even latecomers from nearby Nowhere had not dared walking.

Jorden asked the registrar if she could give any idea of a waiting period.

She smiled, and unlike the initial assessor, she was quite pleasant. "You should receive an invitation to an interview with the secondary assessment office within the week," she chirped, "and you will be appointed temporary quarters until that time. If you are found acceptable, then you may apply for permanent residency within the castle until such time as you are called for audience."

"Which will be..." Jorden prompted.

The registrar shrugged. "Applications are graded by further assessment, and the queue is regularly altered to accommodate important matters. Should your application be of importance then you could well be called before the private secretary within a few weeks. Otherwise it will be..." The young woman checked a ledger that lay open upon the desk. "About twelve to fourteen weeks... unless the matter is somewhat trivial." She smiled. "You would be surprised to know the number of people who come here without good reason, and such people often remain in the queue for as much as a cycle."

She recorded the name of Jorden Miles in a ledger.

Jorden had a feeling he was there to discuss a very trivial matter.

V

Now Jorden knew why the castle was so huge. Firstly it had an enormous bureaucracy to house, and secondly it had the queue. If only the great witch-god Hura Ghiana could manage more than two or three audiences a week...

Even the private secretary seemed to only interview one applicant per day, and only the secretary to the private secretary seemed to be up with the workload. Of course Jorden did not realize that there were several dozen secretaries and assessors within the office of the private secretary.

Jorden was tiring of the system already, and the fact that he could be stuck in the castle for years, yet Taf seemed happy padding about the halls, her protectorate swinging around her neck. "This way," the aestri chirped merrily to her friend as they walked the endless halls en route to the residential wing to apply for temporary accommodation. Taf had remembered the directions far more accurately than the depressed Jorden Miles, and he would have been lost several junctions back. "I hope they let us share a room," the aestri went on.

The outsider grunted. That was not a priority problem, although it would be a distraction for the long wait ahead, especially if Taf changed back to second form. "At the moment I'm just worried if we'll pass the next assessment..." If squal farming passed, surely he had a chance.

They applied to share a room, and although the rather plump old woman who handled residency applications gave the two something of an odd stare, she seemed pleased at the saving of a room, even if the rooms of temporary accommodation weren't much to save. Indeed they were tiny, and that was being generous. Jorden had to stoop to enter and there was barely room for a first form aestri to turn around. It was was also bare and poorly ventilated, the thin hard bunks folding out from the wall taking most of the limited floorspace. Even Taf's hide aboard the Katerina seemed spacious by comparison. It was only for a few days, Jorden reminded himself, then they would receive slightly better lodgings, or they would be thrown out of the castle altogether. Or perhaps there were other fates for failed applicants, as the first assessment officer had hinted.

Everyone in temporary accommodation spent most of their time in the common room, the private rooms too cramped for anything but sleep, and the talk bouncing about the group did not inspire Jorden whatsoever. There were people there with real problems, farmers who had lost everything to a new blight, and yet there were many who doubted they had legitimate claim to an audience with any but the lowest of the kaedith of the castle. Few actually expected to speak with the Great One herself.

Except one man, a elderly man who often tapped his staff on the floor of the common-room and claimed to know of the reason for the earthquakes which had caused so much damage to the Domain. "'Tis the big worms," he claimed. "Been more mexin about this Dark than e're before."

But nobody believed him, and he never received his audience.

VI

And Jorden Miles and Aestri Finesilver would not even receive their first interview, it seemed. Before the dawn of the following day, day and night being somewhat arbitrary within the castle, the two were ousted from their meagre lodgings and marched along the narrow corridors by two stern females who had very little to say.

That was that, Jorden thought. It was a little much to expect after all: an audience with the local god. But he had been hopeful. Now they were apparently being thrown out... or worse.

"I can explain," Jorden began as the two women directed them through the narrow ways. "I was simply told that Hura could help. The Kaedith Ellen..."

"You'll have to take that up with the private secretary," said the elder of the two women, and the most annoyed. "All I know is that we've been woken up in the middle of our sleep period to see that you two are shifted to guest accommodation where you belong."

"If you could have asked for your correct lodgings in the first place," began the other, "instead of that sewer you were in..."

"We were told to apply for temporary accommodation," Jorden interrupted as he walked, as confused as ever.

Taf growled, her ears pulled back and fur bristling ever so slightly. "If they would have told us to apply for nicer rooms then we would have." She shook her head. "We would hardly have wanted that tiny room if we could have had better."

The words seemed the anger the older woman. "You can be funny if you like, but if you weren't guests of the secretary then I'd tell you what I really thought of people that waste my sleep period. Spend half the night roaming around the castle looking for a couple of..." Her words faded and she grumbled to herself.

Jorden whistled a breath, unsure of exactly what was going on. It had been a long day yesterday, and he knew they both had been more than a little tired, but he was still confident they had followed the instructions given. It had been somewhat confusing, however. At least they were moving into a nicer part of the dark forbidding castle, a part that had white walls instead of black, the lamps did not smoke quite as badly, and the air was generally more breathable.

Then they came upon another residence employee, one who was dressed quite nicely in a neat sky blue uniform – earth sky – with a white apron. It was a touch better than the pond green of the two who had escorted Jorden and Taf from the temporary quarters. The blonde in the blue uniform was also much more pleasant, and smiled when they came toward her.

The woman in pond green didn't. "Here they are. Took long enough to find, and they didn't have any luggage so we wasted our time going to collect it..."

"Sorry," the girl in blue interrupted, a soft sweet voice that was not unlike Taf's, "there was a mistake in administration, or so I am told, and our guests were wrongly directed to the temporary quarters." The two women in green frowned and grumbled. "Again my apologies for the trouble, and I've been told that your rest period has been extended until the first shift."

The women brightened noticeably with her words, gave two polite bows toward Jorden, and wandered happily away. The girl in blue continued smiling and watching until they were out of sight. Then she whistled in relief. "It's been one of those nights," she said affably. "I am sorry that you've been inconvenienced in such a way."

Jorden was more at a loss for words than ever. "Well I... It wasn't really any trouble." He wondered who the poor girl thought they were, and what she would say when she found out that they weren't. "My name's Jorden Miles," he said with extreme difficulty, dreading having to be sent back to the temporary quarters, "and this is Aestri..."

"Finesilver," the girl said. "What other name could you have with such a beautiful coat." And the maid actually knelt near to Taf and stroked the fine grey pelt.

It was then that Jorden realized how desensitized he was becoming to the world of dream. His best friend was a cat, and it hardly mattered now except in the most intimate way, and now he had mistaken the maid for a girl. She was, of course, not a common female at all, and Jorden wondered how he could have missed the blatant signs.

"I'm a brown," the maid said as she stood, "and not a very pretty brown. My name is Moonwater." She offered a hand of greeting first to the man, then the first-form aestri.

Jorden took the hand and looked more closely at the blonde maid. It was her light hair, perhaps, aestri seldom had such hair. But the other signs were there, like the green slitted eyes and the jagged smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were aestri." He knew how stupid that sounded. "I didn't expect..."

Moonwater smiled. "Most people are surprised to find aestri working in the castle. There have been aestri here since the council ratification of the laws of Hura, but we are allowed only as assistants and maids of the inner court. The women of the queue residence don't really like us, but it is the wish of Hura..." She smiled again. "But I'm sure you don't wish to stand here discussing such trivial things. If you will come this way."

The aestri led on, the two grimy travellers in tow. "I am sure you both wish for a bath, and clean clothing, Jorden Miles. There is a bath in your room. You are sharing I believe." She glanced back to catch the nods of Taf and the common man, and it seemed that she blushed. "It is not often that we see a man and an aestri in such company."

Jorden smiled with some difficulty. "We're friends from way back."

"I think he preferred my second form," Taf admitted.

The maid seemed surprised. "You couldn't look any better than you do now, not with that coat..."

They came to a widening of the passage, a circular court with a gallery running the perimeter above. In the centre was a small fountain, and above that was a magnificent chandelier that did not burn oil, its crystal shards glowing with their own light. The two travellers paused briefly to look at the fountain and the pond and the plants that adorned the area, but not Moonwater. She had seen it all before.

Moonwater did not stop until she had delivered them to their new quarters. "The bath is there," she pointed, "and there are clothes for you here. I'll come back in about an hour to see if you wish for breakfast." And with that she left them, the door thudding behind her.

And Jorden knew that something was wrong, drastically wrong. The room told him that. It was simply not the room they should have been given. It was too large to begin with, and looked ready to accommodate an some foreign dignitary. There were three beds that he could see, though one may have been a couch. There was also a huge bath, or perhaps small swimming pool, in the centre of the pseudo-marble floor that continuously circulated warm and crystal clear water, and there were dozens of plush cushions and thick warm rugs and...

"This isn't for us, Taf," Jorden said. "Someone has screwed up badly and given us the royal suite."

The aestri smiled, she wasn't stupid. "Of course they have, silly, but are you going to tell? Enjoy it while you can, because they will soon find out their mistake." And Finesilver sighed in contentment as she slipped within the warm waters of the bath.

"Too true," Jorden sighed, "but this is going to make the next few months in this place seem like absolute hell!"

He sampled the liquid of a crystal decanter, then tested the nearest bed. It was soft, the softest thing he had felt since Taf's rat fur bed-crate.

He glanced to the bath. He could really use a bath, and he might just get time for that before they realized their mistake.

### Chapter 20 – Hura II

It matters little where one has been,

For things are seldom as they seem.

I

Breakfast was nice, as had been the bath and the nice clean suit that fit him surprisingly well, yet what Jorden really craved was sleep. He had not slept well in a very long time.

Taf, however, was hungrier than she was tired. She had not eaten properly in days and now she had been given all the raw meat she could manage. Aestri heaven. And one of her own kind had joined them in conversation, an aestri with a much different life to one upon the sea, and so the source of much interest.

"I've spent most of life in the castle," Moonwater told them. "Originally sewer cleaning as a cub. Even here it is difficult for aestri, even though the Great One sees us as," and then she whispered, "equal to other orders." Then she spoke again in her normal voice. "Well, nearly."

That was not very likely, and Jorden knew it, but Moonwater had been nice to them and so he attempted to be diplomatic. "I'm surprised that Hura doesn't give the aestri more rights then. It isn't easy for people... aestri like Taf and her friends in Saljid. They're just useful creatures that keep the rats at bay."

Moonwater frowned. "Hura is able to persuade the council to give more rights to the lowly each year, it can not be done any quicker. There is great opposition to such advancement. It was so difficult for me to receive a formal education that I was forced to quit while my studies were incomplete. The greater orders fear equality."

"But if Hura is so powerful..."

"She is, but she is not all of the law, and you cannot force people against their oldest beliefs. In the eyes of many we are still the wild beast that their ancestors hunted in the dim ancient forests, and now we approach equality. It is difficult for many to accept. Perhaps it is different in your world."

Jorden shook his head and wondered how the aestri picked him as not of the Domain. He also wondered if the _Great One_ was truly concerned with the order of the aestri, or whether it was just the hope of an inferior race that sought equality. The assessment officer they had first met had mentioned it as well, however...

It was not a time for such heavy thought. "What I really need now is sleep," Jorden said before yawning. "And those beds look perfect, if I can just decide which one I prefer." He glanced in the direction of the largest, wondering how they would be able to talk their way out of the hole they were slipping into. Someone thought that Jorden, or perhaps Taf, was some VIP who deserved such luxury, not some nobodies who had come to discuss the trivial matter of returning home.

"I'm afraid that will have to wait until later," Moonwater said with what seemed genuine regret. "The Kaedith Mara will wish to speak with you as soon as possible this morning."

"Kaedith," Jorden grunted very quietly, their life of luxury was to be extremely short lived it seemed. "I... I don't suppose that you know the reason for my coming to the castle," he probed. If he had some idea of his supposed purpose then it would help.

Moonwater shook her head. "I haven't heard." The aestri had an expression one would expect, a wonder of why the man would ask such a question. A test, perhaps. "The shaking lands, I assume," she added quietly.

That might do. If he could devise a theory, even a totally inaccurate one, then it would soften the blow. _It was an imbalance between the worlds caused by my coming to these lands, and if I were returned..._

Ok, so the odds were against him. "Good," he said to cover himself. "The less that know, the better."

Taf closed her eyes and shook her furry, whiskered head.

II

Moonwater bowed politely and left as the Kaedith Mara entered.

She was not a youthful kaedith as Tsarin had been, yet neither was she the great age of the Kaedith Ellin who was now well past her hundredth cycle. She was, however, more forbidding than either, and less comforting than the assessor had been. Mara certainly did not smile, and neither did she sit. Sitting would have been difficult in her stiff dark robe. Something that resembled a huge stuffed bat was perched upon her head and shoulders, and beads and crystals hung from wherever possible.

"You are Jorden Miles," she said in a voice that fit the harsh lines of her face, a face that was made up in the worst possible way.

The outsider wondered if her words were a statement or a question. It rang mostly of disbelief. "Yes, and this is Finesilver." There were two Jorden Miles', he thought. There had to be. That was the problem. It was a world of freak coincidence and now he was being mistaken for the other Jorden Miles.

"This way," was all Mara said, and walked away.

The officials of the castle were extremely talkative, it seemed, all so very eager to speak their intentions. Jorden sighed and followed on into the passage, as did Taf, still damp from her morning bath. "I don't suppose you can tell us where you are taking us." He said hopefully.

"You have been granted audience with the private secretary," the kaedith said, and she did not pretend to enjoy saying it. "Your visit seems to be of some importance, although I find that difficult to believe." She thudded on along the passage.

Jorden thought it difficult as well, especially since the administration was yet to learn of his purpose. He was receiving the interview he had wanted, but it was for the wrong stupid reason, and he doubted he would get a second chance after this fiasco. "Just incredible, isn't it," he said aloud.

They were led to a long room that was packed with many more servants of the Great One and given a casual body search, Hura perhaps susceptible to more danger than the bureaucracy cared to admit. They were then scrutinized by several other kaedith who like Mara said very little other than a quiet murmur between themselves. Then the two were taken through several doors, some guarded by two very sombre men in heavy leather garments.

The very old and very wise Hura Ghiana seemed to be in a state of hopeless paranoia if she felt she required this level of protection, although that would not be surprising for a poor old woman who had to be well past her prime. She was supposed to be in excess of a thousand cycles, and was perhaps not well liked for her changes to the status of aestri.

Jorden was too worried about what he would say next to devote too much of his mind to such matters, yet so far they had not been asked any difficult questions That did not stop his heart from racing. The hardest question came from what the outsider assumed was the private secretary, a woman they now faced alone.

"You are sure that it is today?" she asked as they came within her spacious office amongst the labyrinth. "I haven't been advised of a meeting with a Jorden Miles for today."

Jorden glanced to Taf; Taf glanced to Jorden. "I think so," he said. "We were directed here by a Kaedith Mara..."

"One of the women said there was a problem in administration," Taf put in with one of her gentler tones. "Perhaps that is it."

The common woman of her middle years hummed in return. "If this is where Mara brought you, then this is where you are suppose to be. I'll check whether you are perhaps due for a meeting with Hura perhaps." And she left the two bewildered travellers sitting within her deep blue office.

Jorden sighed as she left. "Like everything in this world, this castle is a madhouse. Everything is just so consistent and predictable. One minute you feel that you are being escorted to an audience with some feudal king, and must run the gauntlet of his guard; the next moment it seems that you are trying to see a bank manager about a loan or something."

Taf had absolutely no idea what the man was talking about, except that it was somewhat contradictory, but she nodded anyway.

She was glad when the secretary returned.

"You will receive an audience with the Great One as soon as possible," the woman told them. "A matter of some importance, it would seem." And her eyebrows rose with that hint of disbelief.

Jorden nodded and tried to smile.

III

Another waiting room, although not quite. It could well have been a meeting room.

It was quite large, with several plush red chairs arranged in an oval within a white room of a similar shape, and it smelled nice. There were no lamps, just more of the glow-crystals congregating on a silver chain above, and there was a large unlit fireplace. They sat for only a few moments before they were approached by an elderly woman. Finally, at last, Jorden considered, they were face to face with the god of the domain. Or at least a paranoid ruler of a twisted world who had been elevated to godhood.

Jorden stood and swallowed; Taf continued sitting on the rug. The woman did not look like a god, or even a great witch. She was more the image of the stereotype grandmother, a old grey woman who always smiled. She walked toward them, her step quite sure for one of such an unimaginable age, although age was a difficult matter where such magic was involved, and extended a hand in greeting. The multicoloured sleeve of her gown dangling as she did. "You are the young man, Jorden Miles, I believe."

He took the hand of the woman, a woman with a much younger voice than suited her aging frame. "Yes," he began, and wondered how to address a god. He had thought there would have been some form of preparation for the uninitiated. "Your... Ah, Highness." That wasn't it, he was sure.

The old woman just smiled. "Please, take a seat Jorden Miles, and perhaps you would like a cushion, Finesilver." The aestri shook her head, ruffling her mane. "This should not take long in any case." She sat toward the opposite edge of the oval.

"Such formalities are unnecessary with me, Jorden miles, for I am but Eva Tesan, private secretary to the Great One," she went on, noting the slight relief in the face of the man. "Hura herself is occupied at this time, but is eager to speak with you both. There are however matters to discuss before that time."

Jorden relaxed back into the chair and wondered how difficult the next few moments could be. He had options to consider: whether to tell all now or lie his way to Hura. Either way could spell doom. "Yes," was all he said, dreading to say anything more.

The old woman smiled the same grandmother smile. "You are to be taken to see Hura Ghiana quite soon, but there are certain preparations to be made. It is not wise to have audience with the Great One without some council. She is not what many expect, both far less and far more. She is oldest and wisest, the hand of all power, the giver of all strength, the bringer of all law. She is not one to be taken lightly, and never one to be angered.

"Looks are deceptive, Jorden Miles, although you would know something of that already, and Hura will not look as you expect, nor will she act as you expect. Her swings of mood are vast and, as I have said, she is not one to anger. Lives are lost easily in the presence of the Great One." The woman shook her head. "Do not be deceived."

Jorden swallowed again. There was a lot that wasn't right, and an image was forming that he didn't like. Facts were coalescing: age and power and might, the attributes of a god. And this was a god in a world of a variety of intelligent creatures like dragons and lions and odd giraffes. And then there was Hura.

Nobody had ever said that Hura was a woman, not that Jorden could recall, and none had even spoken of her as kaedith or sarisan, or any order. Perhaps Hura wasn't. The god of nightmare was something else, something far more powerful and long lived than feeble humanity. It had all come too far, and now the man sweated as panic approached.

"Look," he began, wording his admission within. "I just came to..."

"That is a matter for Hura," the old woman interrupted, "not I." Then she chuckled softly. "I see that I have brought you to fear Hura, and that is good, for she is certainly one to fear. You would be advised not to lose that fear, Jorden Miles." The voice may well have been grandma's, but the words were that of the Grim Reaper.

IV

Jorden stood before a door feeling naked and vulnerable.

The god, Hura, swept from above, her talons outstretched, five of her heads spouting flame while the other three hungrily gnashed their teeth... But Jorden shook aside the disturbing vision that plagued his mind, trying to concentrate on the nearest thing to reality that was available, and that was the endless halls of the witch-god's black castle.

Eva Tesan was not to accompany Jorden and Taf into the presence of Hura Ghiana, and that was not a good sign. In fact it brought a greater dread than her words could have hoped to bring, her last words being, "The Great One is at work within her tower and will not wish to be disturbed before she is ready to receive you." And that would have been all quite nice if it were not for the fact that the two travellers from Saljid had been left alone before a blank door that led to the work-place of the Great One without having any way of knowing if Hura Ghiana was busy or not.

On the other side of that door was the great and powerful witch-god of the Domain. She could well be salvation and a ticket home, or something much worse. Jorden tried not to consider the alternatives. He also tried not to imagine exactly who and what the God, Hura was. The vision of the eight headed beast was hard to surpress, however.

Jorden could not bare to wait any longer, and he swung the door slowly open, preparing himself for the worst. Death, perhaps, but if this other Jorden Miles was so useful he had a good chance he would not be instantly slain. It was someone else's mistake after all, not his.

The door lay open.

There was only one entity within the room beyond the door, and it was Hura. Eva had made it very clear that it would be none other, and for Finesilver there were few surprises. Jorden, however, found that Hura was precisely not what he had been expecting. The room was, it was the cluttered, grubby room of any of the practising kaedith, but not Hura. Few things were ever as expected in this world.

She was not a dragon. She was not a great and powerful beast, or some odd ghostly apparition or god or devil.

She was just a woman – almost.

Hura wasn't old or wrinkled, or particularly wise-looking. No flowing dark robes fell from her shoulders, no bubbling cauldron bubbled before her, and there was certainly no black peaked hat upon her brow. Jorden had not expected the last, yet even the lesser witches Tsarin and Ellin had seemed more powerful, a deep penetrating gaze and a mind within that seemed beyond their years. Yet this Hura...

Jordan approached unsure, Taf trotting at his side, gazing upon the relatively standard kaedith work-place. He cleared his throat to gain the attention of the witch-god, yet she continued at her work, a dozen crystals balanced precariously within her grasp, several of them reds and yellows. Seeing crystals, Jorden noted. The reds were inserted within the massive glass structure with surgical care, a sweaty palm wiped on small denim-clad buttocks after each operation.

She was just a girl.

The great and powerful Hura Ghiana seemed little older than Jorden himself, a girl of seventeen or eighteen at the most, a slight blonde with steel grey eyes and tiny breasts that barely contoured her green T-shirt. Another palm was wiped on her Levis, the bug-eye cluster of crystals all but complete, then she backed and stood to her full height, rubbing her lower back after leaning for so long over her work.

Deceptively young, yet taller than the diminutive Taf had been in her second form, a common woman who certainly did not appear to have spent a thousand cycles as she now was. Jordan watched as she moved silently to the far wall, a curved white wall that her shadow danced upon in the lamplight, and looked toward the hideous crystalline structure, squinting as she squatted.

"I'm Jorden Miles," he began, suddenly more brave. Hura was not one to instil fear in even the most fearful. "I'm from the world beyond..."

"Yeah, hi," Hura said, and that was all. She had a sweet voice for the greatest of witches.

She went on with her work, two huge chunks of amethyst shifted into place. Nothing happened. Hura frowned. "Crap," she said quietly, and decided to sit in her decrepit wooden chair and gaze upon her visitors. Then she puffed a breath that blew her fringe from her eyes.

Jorden wondered when the dream would ever end. "We were told that you wished to see us," he began hopefully, his own request withheld for the present.

"Oh? Did I?" Hura returned. "I thought you came within the walls of this castle to see me?" She sniffed and scratched her nose and leg, and generally behaved very much unlike a god.

"We did," Taf put in.

"Originally," Jorden added, "and we were given places in the queue..."

"And were destined to wait a lifetime for me to see you," Hura finished. She crossed her legs and relaxed into the chair. "In the hope that the great and powerful Hura Ghiana might one day hear your plea and return you to your precious Tasmania."

Jorden frowned. "Then you know?"

Hura grunted and looked away. "I'm god, remember, or so you've said. I know everything." She chuckled. "And who the hell do you think brought you here in the first place!" Then she stood and walked toward him, Jorden's jaw dropping as the witch approached, Taf gazing upon her momentarily before murmuring to herself and returning to the licking of a paw. "Do you think the portals create themselves?" Hura added as she came to him. "Some do, of course, but not a sustained bidirectional transference as you experienced. Some entries into the these lands are not so pleasant. Some die!"

She stood close a moment, the face of the outsider scanned in detail, deep memories welling. It was a face she had glimpsed only a few weeks before, and yet a young man she had known an eternity. As for his usefulness in the coming days...

Hura turned from him, moving toward the cluttered west wall, a wall that was largely hidden by shelving and dusty grey books, jars of fluid and powder, and the usual range of witches crystals, brass rods and the rest.

"Your cat is it?" The witch-god smiled, a thin gesture unseen by the two who had come so far to stand before her. Taf snapped her gaze toward the woman, something of a choked growl issued forth, Jorden frowning. "Perhaps you wish for some nourishment, outsider, and a bowl of milk for your pussy."

Taf snorted in reply, yet noticed Jorden smouldering at her side. She managed a gesture that resembled a shrug. "I am aestri, and she is a being of the highest order. She may call me what she wishes!"

"But I didn't come to be abused," Jorden flared, "and I don't care who you think you are..."

"Then why did you come!" The voice of Hura suddenly roared, Jorden buffeted by the force of it. It was a voice and power that seemed totally unsuited to what was not much more than a girl. She snatched a rod of silver from a cluster at the side of the shelving, a irregular fist sized chunk of clear crystal stuck awkwardly to one end. "Come for a taste of power perhaps," she hissed, "or a chance to return to the sad lonely life you left behind." Hura shook her head as she faced the two, the rod held firm within both hands. "And now you stand to defend your pet!"

Jorden shook suddenly in rage, the warnings of the private secretary forgotten, the wide-eyed rage of the girl before him ignored. "Taf is a friend and companion, not a pet!"

His shouted words did not echo, the room suddenly quiet.

In a moment Hura spoke quietly, the words of the weary, as weary she now was. "Hypocrite." A head was again shaken, this time more solemnly, the witch fondling her staff. "When Taf looked at least partly human you could barely keep your hands off of her, now you find it difficult to even look at her." Then a snort. "At least it seems that something remains, enough for you to defend her against another."

The aestri sighed, the Great One indeed knew much.

Hura directed the staff casually toward the aestri. There was a blinding flash, then a piercing scream that flooded the room.

Jorden glared first toward Hura, shouted, then turned to the wailing aestri as she arched back in apparent agony. Her eyes became glowing coals, then fiery voids radiating a hot red light. Other orifices soon issued the same light, as did jagged seams in the silver grey pelt. Muscles writhed, the red light replaced with cool electric blue. Jorden pressed his eyelids firm as the light threatened to blind him.

There was then a shock of wind and heat, then quiet.

His heart was still thumping wildly when he dared peek, Jorden fearful of what the wild-eyed Hura had dared do to Taf.

The aestri herself still sat panting on the floor, a silver-grey pelt crumpled in warm fat nearby. She remained naked, only now it was somewhat more noticeable than it had been before. Surprisingly she did not seem overly concerned with either her state of undress or the horrific transition she had just suffered.

Hura tossed Taf a short cloak she had collected from a hook on the rear of the chair. "Come," she then said, and like all the inhabitants of the castle, indeed the domain, seemed to do, she quietly walked away.

Jorden looked to Taf as she stood to full height and put on the coat. She sighed and stretched, then blinked several times before running fingers through her oily, shoulder length hair, her wet white skin glistening in the flickering light. "I think I need another bath," she said calmly, then followed Hura from the room.

It took Jorden several more seconds to do the same.

V

If Hura's tower was really a tower, then it was certainly a huge one, the garden was testimony to that. And it was a pleasant, sunny garden that was somehow not beneath the same cyclonic sky that shadowed the rest of the land. It was also a blue sky, but Jorden did not notice that immediately. He was still getting over seeing Taf peeled open like some over-ripe fruit.

"You not did take the advice of my secretary," Hura said as she came to a table of white iron lace surrounded by chairs of the same. "They say that it is not wise to anger the great and powerful one." She smiled wearily. "My servants are often over-enthusiastic in their work. They have an image of power and wisdom to maintain.

"Please have a seat," she then directed. "I hope things will be better between you now that Taf is returned to second form." They all sat, the aestri's smile now not easily misinterpreted, a show of cherry lips on smooth white skin.

The witch-god was now quite pleasant after the outburst earlier, and Jorden couldn't deny the truth in her words. He calmed accordingly, weighing the new difficulties within his mind. He smiled to the much nicer version of Taf, at least to his eye, the aestri playfully raising an eyebrow. "Better," he admitted. "I still loved Taf as a cat, but where I come from... well..." He held her hand, a cool comfort.

"You don't need to explain," Hura returned. "I was making a point. I make points such as that whenever possible keep nibbling at the class barriers. It's a private obsession." She sighed. "Now I fear we have more important matters to discuss, like your wish to return home, perhaps."

Jorden nodded. "If possible, but if you're busy at the moment I can certainly wait." What the outsider really wanted to know was why they were even in the presence of the Great One, and how they had jumped that enormous queue.

Hura hissed a breath. "You realize that the longer you remain within the Domain the more difficult the return. You have been within these lands for some time, Jorden Miles, and you were not completely healthy even before you came."

"So I've heard, but I still want to go," he said. "Just for a while. I need to sort a few things out and let my mother know that I'm still alive at least. Then maybe I could come back here."

The witch smiled. "Then it is settled." There was a brief pause. "It will take a few days to prepare, but I can't see that this will be a problem." The words of Hura surprised Jorden Miles, but she was lying, she had to be lying. "There will be certain conditions, of course." He shrugged. She might not be lying, but there was a catch.

And Hura Ghiana smiled even more broad. "I will be accompanying you."

The catch was a surprising one, and certainly had its dangers. "I don't think my mother would be all that pleased." If he showed up with a girl it would be bad enough, but with an older looking girl... Even worse.

"I brought you here for a reason, Jorden Miles," Hura said in a somewhat more sombre tone. "I brought you here to perform a function, and you will perform it. I will allow you a brief, and I stress _brief_ visit to your home before the mission, and upon completion of that mission I will allow you to do as you wish."

The god was making quite a number of assumptions. "Allow?" Jorden braved to say. "I'll help you if I can in exchange for the trip home, but just because you think you're some kind of god doesn't mean you can force me to do your work." Jorden knew he was being a little rash, Hura might wish no more of him than Captain Orani had. It was just the way she demanded it. More than that. It was the way she ran her whole Domain...

Hura Ghiana simply smiled an unpleasant smile. "Oh I don't think I will need to force anyone to do anything, Jorden. You will do this quite willingly." Then she shrugged. "If not then I will send you back into your world, and you would do well to say farewell to your dear Taf. You will likely not see her again."

The secretary was right. Hura was more vicious than she first seemed. The outsider felt his anger rise, a shaking within. "You wouldn't dare. If you ever did anything to hurt her..."

Hura shook her head, and there was a certain sadness that caught his eye. "I would save her for you, if I could," she said. "I would save all those that I could. But I fear I can't save the Domain, I've already tried and failed, and I will die with it if I must.

"But you can do it, Jorden, I honestly think that you can. You might say that it came to me in a vision, and so I have brought you here." The witch sighed and stood from the white iron chair to pace. "I don't deny that I hoped for better, yet I fear it was inevitable that it would be you. And now our time runs short, Jorden. In another two cycles at most, the Domain will not exist, not as it does now. It will be shards amongst shards."

Jorden couldn't believe any of it. "Me, how? I don't see how I can save this madhouse. I don't even know what's the matter with it." He paused... the quakes. He knew there were earthquakes that threatened to cause widespread devastation, perhaps more. They might destroy a world. "I don't see how I can help..."

Hura shrugged. "You know something of the machines of your world. I don't. You will be more help than you can imagine. But if you don't wish to help me... us, then don't. I might get lucky and fix it myself."

The outsider recalled the lack of mechanical knowledge that was spread throughout the Domain: Hura's Domain. The Witch-God had come to them, brought them out of the primeval slime, but had perhaps brought only her knowledge, and maybe she knew very little about machines. Jorden wondered how the machines were ever built in the first place, though he did recall that most things seemed imported from places like Thoria.

He also wondered why Hura wore such odd clothing for the world of dream, and where it came from, he had not noticed any of the clothing vendors advertising Levi jeans. He also wondered what mechanical gadget was in need of repair, perhaps the great clockworks that kept the Domain and its grey stones turning. He wondered how he would face his mother. He wondered why Hura would be there.

Jorden Miles wondered a great many things.

### Chapter 21 – Mission I

With purpose we die,

Shed no tears.

Before you cry,

Recall our years.

I

Taf stretched and glanced to her companion, one she hoped would again feel the same about her as he did before her recent changes. At the moment he seemed to think mostly of home.

For now they were again alone together in their suite, yet not for much longer it would seem. Hura had plans, and those plans included Jorden.

Taf stroked the silver fur that Moonwater had brought to the room that _morning_ , a gift of Hura. The aestri had never before been able to keep one of her coats, the hair usually shed over several days before the final shedding of flesh. "It's beautiful," she said, showing the expertly tailored overcoat to Jorden. "I wonder how Hura did such a thing. There are thousands of aestri who would give a limb for such a coat." A gift to be treasured and seldom worn, Taf hanging hers carefully on a hook.

Jorden glanced toward the garment and nodded. "Lovely," he agreed, yet it was obvious that his mind was elsewhere.

He was at present laying on a bed that was fit for a king, a broad expanse of silky red that was littered with dozens of cushions, still feeling overdressed in the remains of a dark suit Moonwater had insisted he wear on their last outing in the inner sanctum of the castle. Taf was wrapped in a blue skirt and a white blouse that smothered her chest and belly, Hura suggesting that any less covering might bring about the wrath of the castle kaedith.

Taf wandered past the bath toward Jorden. "Thinking of home," she said quietly, "or perhaps this great duty you have been brought here for." She sat upon the foot of the bed, dark eyes flashing in the lamplight. Her hair shone like never before, her skin smoother, and her face glowed. The transformation had rejuvenated the aestri, Taf more youthful than ever – as she had once said: _those who did not return to their first form seldom lived as long and well_. Jorden could believe that. Taf looked younger, and more beautiful than ever. It was hard to think of her as thirty. She still looked younger than himself.

"Both," he said at last. "I'm wondering what my mother is going to think when I turn up with Hura at my side, especially after all this time. I don't even know if she'll be home, but I'm guessing Hura knows more of what's going on out there than she is saying. And frankly I'm wondering what all of this is about." He shook his head. "I don't even know why Hura has brought me here..."

Taf smiled. It was a comforting smile of very white and almost human teeth. "I'm sure she will tell you when she is ready. It is important for you to be here, otherwise Hura would not have done such a thing."

The man frowned. He knew the aestri would not question the ways of the witch-god, a god who had supposedly brought the aestri and burgo out of the animal kingdom and into mainstream society – well, nearly – yet Jorden couldn't help feeling that Hura was not telling all. "I guess," he said, "but what I don't understand is why Tsarin didn't keep me at her place. If she knew Hura placed the crystal and that I was brought to this world to save it, then why have me locked in the bowels of the Katerina and sailing all over the Domain."

The aestri shrugged. "The kaedith may not have known all, just that you were wanted by Hura." Then she sighed. "But it would not have mattered. Tsarin still had her precinct to consider, and she could not have you running about kissing her and thinking evil thoughts, could she! Anyway, if it were not for her then we would not have met!" Taf crawled nearer and stroked Jorden's fabric-clad legs.

Jorden smiled. "And where would I be now?"

Little thought was needed, the aestri answering without pause. "Dead, several times. But I would do it all again. I would die for you, Jorden."

The aestri had a way of making life difficult.

Jorden was thinking of home; thinking of leaving the Domain forever. Taf was a cat, he reminded himself, a huge toothy thing with razor claws... But she wasn't. Aestri Finesilver was actually a very attractive woman, albeit one that looked quite young, that was slowly crawling up the bed toward him. She was also a woman who had indeed saved the life of Jorden Miles on numerous occasions, putting herself in peril that most _friends_ would have avoided. She had already come very near to dying for him.

And she really did like him, indeed perhaps loved him. There were no others in the whole twisted universe that she even thought of in such a way. Jorden considered what he had offered in return. Nothing. She had fed him and protected him and taught him the way of the land and remained his friend, no matter what, while all he wanted was to get out of the place. Jorden felt suddenly quite guilty.

He sighed and tried to forget about all those little things that really weren't all that important, like the fact that Taf was a large toothy feline and that Hura had plans for him that could well kill him for all he knew. "You don't have to die for me," he said. "I couldn't live with myself. I care too much about you." Indeed the difficulties of her first form were passing, but that just brought new difficulties, like making it harder for him to leave the madhouse of the Domain.

She nodded and smiled. "I know. And I think I have loved you since the day we met, and believe that I always will." She paused. It was a long difficult pause. "But I will die for you... one day. Suzy has foreseen it, and she would not say such a thing unless it was certain. It will not be soon, I hope. She has promised me that much."

Jorden had lost his smile, the soft, prophetic words of the aestri more disturbing than any she had uttered before. These were thoughts that she had undoubtedly carried since Saljid. Then she kissed, Jorden backing away momentarily.

"I thought that you were one that liked the touching of lips," she said, her face close to that of the man.

Jorden was at a loss. His life became more complex all the time.

II

Jorden and Finesilver were still in each others embrace when Moonwater unexpectedly entered the room, yet only Jorden panicked and backed away.

Taf did not seem concerned, and simply smiled. "Embarrassed?" she directed toward Jorden. "Afraid that she might think we have been doing things that man and aestri shouldn't."

Jorden flicked his gaze toward Moonwater, thinking he caught the hint of a blush and a mouthed apology for entering without warning. He cleared his throat and wiped his face on a sleeve.

"She already knows we are close, silly. Everyone in the inner court knows. And if you should save the Domain then I doubt that any will care. We may be the first of many couples that are of different orders, Jorden."

He hadn't really thought of the two of them as a couple as yet, Taf looking into a hopeful future that Jorden was avoiding for now. But it was a different way of looking at it, that was true. They may well be trendsetters.

Moonwater approached with the tray of food, her eye first to Taf then to still somewhat uncomfortable Jorden. She tried a feeble smile. "Sorry," her eye flicked back to the aestri. "If I am disturbing anything..." She glanced back to the door.

"No," Jorden said unconvincingly, and added "of course not" for good measure. "And we're starving." That part was truth, but it didn't sound any more so than the rest of Jorden's words.

Taf glanced briefly toward Jorden before returning her gaze, and smile, to her fellow aestri. "Had you come slightly later you may have seen more," She teased playfully. "For now it was just a kiss."

Moonwater nodded. It was all a little strange to her, but her curiosity was high. She also noticed the unease of the common man. "Oh, Good," she said, unsure, and set the tray upon a low table near the bath.

"Jorden is still afraid of what others may think," Taf went on, "but I don't care any more..."

"Perhaps you can chat about that later, Taf," Jorden said as he approached the table to review lunch, or dinner, or whatever meal it was supposed to be. Twenty-four hour night made life difficult, and biological clocks went wild. "I'm sure Moonwater would love to hear all about it, preferably while I'm away.

"And how are you today," he then directed toward Moonwater.

"I am well," she said, smiling somewhat easier. "There are few guests within the court, and little work this morning."

Jorden nodded. "Any news from upstairs?"

"Hura would like to see you after your meal." Another nod. "Both of you."

Both? Jorden considered. It was odd that Hura would specify both. Taf usually tagged along anyway. "My last meal, perhaps." Hura had not mentioned any of the risks of the forthcoming mission, yet neither had she mentioned its ease. In fact she had mentioned very little at all, except that it was something to do with the quakes, and that was a bad sign in Jorden's book. The quakes had been quite severe at times and he recalled the damage they had seen. Anything to do with the quakes was likely to be dangerous.

"Suzy said that your death was not near, silly," Taf said as she peeked beneath the lid of a silver dish. Moist, fresh meat. "Sit and eat, Moonie, there is more than enough.

The two aestri sat and began the meal, chattering noisily.

Jorden moaned.

III

"I don't understand," Jorden said at last. There was quite a lot he did not understand, yet one line of thought was presently on his mind, and so he asked about that. "I don't see how you can leave from here. I thought the transition line near Thagul was nearest Tasmania."

There were several entities in the well lit room high in the tower, mostly common women and perhaps kaedith. Jorden was not sure. Hura was there and so was Taf, The others were not particularly significant as far as Jorden was concerned. In the centre of the room was a relatively small grey stone, small meaning that it was a mere three metres in diameter and two high, and attached to it were hundreds of short brass-coloured rods. Surrounding that were four banks of crystal arrays containing hundreds of huge violet gems that were connected to what looked like thick brown ropes, ropes that disappeared into the ceiling above.

Hura sighed. She was too busy for such idle chat, yet if she expected his aid... "The lines are merely the representations of lowest energy potential, and are therefore the ideal places for transitions, especially ones that are to be set up for some time like the one you came though. They require so little power that a crystalline representation can last for many cycles before dispersal." She noted the blank stare. "The green crystal."

Jorden nodded, as did Taf. "Oh," he said. "Obviously."

"Transitions from here, however," the witch went on, "take somewhat more excitement, hence the need for this." She motioned toward the grey stone. "It may seem like something of a waste, yet the power required for the transition will be negligible compared to what will be require in your world, Jorden Miles."

"Required for what?" he asked in response. He began to conjure images within his mind that were not altogether pleasant.

Hura smiled. "Nothing that will be noticed... well noticed perhaps, but not out of the ordinary. You will see in time, and will understand some of the difficulties that I have faced. It's a hard world for the likes of myself and Taf, and now it will be for you as well. We three will require this power simply to survive."

"Taf?" Jorden wondered aloud. "Taf isn't going... She can't exist..."

The words of the outsider to the Domain were drowned by the mechanism, the four crystal arrays thrust inward by four assistants to the witch-god. The room was suddenly filled with a chilling cold, the rumble of continuous thunder echoing from the walls.

Hura again ignored Jorden and left the room.

IV

There was not all that much in the transition room of Hura Ghiana. A square was marked upon the floor, four large green crystals at each corner, and there was an arch above. That was about it, the room essentially bare.

And the time had apparently come.

The three stood outside the square, Jorden feeling very overdressed in the suit Hura had supplied and Moonwater continually insisted he wear. She considered it far more respectable clothing for a common man than the kilt. Hura was again in her jeans, Taf dressed in her blue skirt much as she had always been while within the castle since her transformation. Jorden was still unsure of why Taf was going along, especially since he had been told repeatedly that she could not survive. All he could get from Hura was "trust me." Taf seemed unworried about any of it, indeed eager for the chance to see another world outside the Domain. "And you are sure my mother is home?" he asked again. "And Taf will be okay?"

Hura simply glared back at him.

Taf eased toward the square, glancing back to Jorden. "There is nothing to fear. Hura would never harm me."

Jorden remained nervous. "I really would prefer to see my mother alone if possible. This is going to be hard enough to explain without you two there..." He still had no clue what he was going to say, and he was hoping she would be so happy to see him that words wouldn't matter.

Hura shook her head. "She will not see either of us, believe me. Remember this will be a very brief visit, and it will be quite late in the evening. Your mother may well be asleep."

"Asleep!" Jorden whined. "Can't we at least leave it until morning, What the hell do you expect me to do, leave a note."

The witch sighed. "I would love to wait until morning, Jorden, but we must go now. This is not an easy task to achieve, and this one transition has taken months to prepare. If it fails then I want to leave myself ample time for other attempts. If your only option is to leave a note, then that is what you will have to do."

Jorden stared angrily. If it were not for Taf and her confidence in her god... "Well then, what are we waiting for. I have a mother to wake."

Hura smiled, then moved into the square.

The outsider did not like the smile, but followed anyway, on into the hazy green opening that had formed within the arch. There was a moment of weightlessness and the transition was complete.

It was that quick...

There were several things that came to the immediate attention of Jorden Miles. The first and most notable thing was that the transition had been extremely smooth, as had the transition into the land of Gulliver's fingerlings, another was that it was quite dim, another was that he was standing upon his very own front lawn.

These were not, however, the things that told Jorden something was drastically wrong. He knew that the world about him should not have been tinged in red as it now was, and he knew that it should not have wavered and moved about. Everything was somehow slightly ill defined, like a reflection in a murky pond. It also did not seem right that his arms should glow faintly the way they did, as did Taf and Hura.

In the driveway ahead was a car that was going nowhere fast, a statement that meant something in reality. Or did it? Jorden looked closer. There were two very well constructed mannequins in the front of the vehicle and a faint cloud hovering behind, and a statue of Jorden's mother waved goodbye on the verandah of his home. Jorden moved closer, finding the glow surrounding him slightly restrictive, and studied the car, a car which crawled from the driveway at the pace of an average snail. It took Jorden several minutes to notice that it moved at all. The people didn't. Attempts to rouse their attention failed miserably.

He turned to Hura, Taf gazing about in wonder at her side. "What the hell have you done," he said in what voice he could muster, breath somehow inhibited as well.

And by the magic of Hura, the others heard. "Nothing," the witch said as she approached. "This is your world as it appears to me, although I know it is not really like this for those who live here."

"Who is that," Taf pointed toward his mother, Joanne. "She's beautiful."

Jorden heard Taf, yet had other matters to clear with Hura first. "I want to know what the hell is going on, and I want to know now," he said angrily. "You've been screwing me around for long enough." That was an understatement.

"Everything?" Hura returned, and Jorden nodded. She shrugged. "You know who those people are, the friends of your stepfather that you came to the Domain to avoid. They have come, and now they are leaving. You have been away from home for..." and she paused to think. "A few hours, no more. Your mother hasn't missed you, fool, she thinks you are spending the night elsewhere to avoid these people." And Hura laughed.

"Bull," Jorden yelled, but it was true. It was all quite painfully true. He had been living a nightmare for weeks, fallen in love with a cat, been attacked by nearly every order in the Domain, and been lied to by its god – all in a few short hours. He let loose with a string of abuse toward Hura. Nobody would ever believe a word of it; he'd get locked away in minutes.

He calmed himself. A few hours. It was impossible.

The car kept rolling from the drive, yet Jorden doubted he would live long enough to see it back out on to the road to Pyengana. He went instead to stand beside Joanne on the verandah, glazed eyes staring through him as if he wasn't there. "Your mother?" Taf asked as she climbed the stair behind him, a nod received. "She's pretty."

"I suppose," Jorden said absently as he touched the face of the woman he had not seen in so long. There was a tingling as he did, and her skin felt like stone. It was her though, it had to be, and this was his home.

"Don't stand too long in front of her," Hura warned. "She will eventually see a shadow of yourself and it may frighten. Visitors from the shard worlds often frighten those of your world, I fear."

Jorden shook his head. "I don't understand, I just don't understand any of this. I've been gone for weeks..."

"My world exists in a different time-scale, Jorden, and this one is all but stationary by comparison. That is why time is on my side. That is why time is on your side."

"Why is everything so red in your world?" Taf asked. "It is so hard to see, even for me..."

"It isn't," Jorden barked angrily, then calmed as he noticed Taf's frown. "Sorry," he said more gently. "This is all just too much to handle."

It was Hura who offered an explanation. "There are a great many difficulties in us being here. We couldn't see the light of this world, or breath its air, or even walk with such ease if it were not the field that surrounds us. Local air has the approximate density of water, Jorden."

The outsider was sure that everything she said made sense, to another madman, but she did not answer the real questions. "Why the hell am I here? I can hardly do anything like this. I have things that I want to say, explanations to give..."

"Don't be so stupid," Hura said impatiently. "What exactly do you think you need to do or explain! Don't you get it yet, fool. You have all the time you want. You can live a lifetime within the Domain and return here next month. You can leave a note saying that you've gone off by yourself to think for a few days. Run away from home. Whatever."

"So I go to your world and get nice and old, then come back just so she can say how badly I've aged."

The steel grey eyes of Hura Ghiana were fixed upon him. "A man of this world does not age in mine, Jorden, not at any great rate at least. I offer something approaching immortality. What does your world offer?"

Jorden found it difficult to respond, moving inside the house and away from the sight of Hura.

V

Jorden began on the note. It was not an easy task, writing with a brick was never easy. True, the thing within his grasp was not a brick, and it wasn't really as heavy as a brick, but it was just as hard to manoeuvre. It was actually a pencil, a very sluggish pencil Jorden had seen lying next to a notebook on a small table so many weeks ago... or that afternoon depending on one's frame of reference.

It was all still a little difficult to accept, but then if he couldn't believe his eyes then he was already mad and it didn't really matter what he did. And if Jorden did believe his eyes then all that Hura had said made a lot of sense. He could live with Taf in her world for perhaps years without his mother ever noticing.

The past returned, and Jorden recalled how Tsarin had aged so greatly in the week he had been away from the Domain. When he first stepped into that odd forest, Taf would have been perhaps half her present age. It was all a little hard to take in.

Jorden eventually pushed the pencil aside, and watched as it drifted in space, continuing to write with the much lighter piece of graphite that had just parted from the rest. He glanced to the clock, a useless timepiece that was stuck at five to eleven. It didn't tell him that the note had taken the equivalent of half an hour to write.

He backed from the table and looked toward Hura who now stood nearby. "Immortal, eh? Easy as that."

Hura shrugged. "Immortal enough. After a few hundred years you tire of life and become sick of watching your friends age and die. You don't want it, believe me. It's a bit of a painful existence." Words of wisdom from one that knew of such, Jorden assumed. "It's surely enough to know you can remain in the Domain without losing any of your life in this world, although as I have said, the longer you remain in my world, the more difficult the return.

"In less than two cycles you must return, and you would need to remain for at least several days. Stay too long in the Domain and the transition is far from pleasant, and often fatal. But that's after many cycles. Of course there may not be all that many cycles left if these earthquakes are not put to an end."

"What a nice house," Taf was saying as she walked about in the kitchen, ignoring the others and wishing there was something that wasn't stone. Even the water had the consistency of hard clay, quite undrinkable even if she could lift the jug within a lifetime.

The earthquakes again, Jorden thought. Hura had been very vague about this mission of hers and the cause of the earthquakes, yet it was clear that Jorden's world was involved. "Okay, so how do you stop earthquakes, or Domainquakes, and how am I suppose to be any help?" He had asked that question before without a satisfactory answer.

Taf tried to dislodge a large red bottle from a shelf, yet no matter how hard she pulled, she succeeded in barely shifting it. She gave up in disgust and lifted a very heavy knife from the surface of the table and watched it float slowly toward the ceiling in awe. It was a really exciting place.

"I need a map to check my bearings," Hura said, ignoring Jorden's questions. "My own map of the waters of the Bass Strait was not the most accurate, and my last entry wasn't all that great. I was going to try a different approach this time, although it may take a little longer."

It took some time to retrieve the atlas from the shelf, and quite a while longer to open it at the right page. By that time Taf had managed to coax several dirty dishes and quite a few bottles into motion about the kitchen, and had now progressed to the lounge. There were several interesting items there: a large black box with a glass front that did nothing, a silver box with numerous silver knobs that did nothing, books that were all but stuck to the shelves.

The aestri then tired of such things and watched Jorden and Hura struggle with the atlas.

In time, the witch pointed. "There," she said. "We will try there."

Jorden didn't understand, but he nodded.

The car was nearly on the road when they went outside.

VI

Joanne watched her somewhat uncomfortable visitors leave, smiling and waving while she quietly cursed her new husband who had passed out from somewhat too much drink over an hour ago. She disregarded the shadow that passed before her, it was a dark night after all, yet she could not disregard the sounds of violence that suddenly erupted within the house. There was a roar, then the crashing of a large number of dishes, and a deep thumping...

She went to the kitchen and stared in disbelief. There wasn't anyone there, yet the signs were that someone had passed though the kitchen in much the same way as a tornado would pass idly through a town. Dishes were smashed against every wall, bottles of a dozen sauces and flavourings bled onto the floor, a knife was embedded to the hilt in the ceiling above, and a milk jug that had been left to soak in the sink was shattered.

Bill, she thought... No, he was comatose on the couch. Jorden. It had to be.

It was not until the next morning that she found the extremely badly written and very odd note.

It read:

Dear Mum,

I am starting to think I've gone mad and have been living in another world. I have met a nice girl who is also a cat. You would like her.

Don't worry about me, I will be back soon. I just need clear my head for a while.

Love, Jorden.

Joanne Miles, understandably, did not believe a word of it.

### Chapter 22 – Mission II

Together we strive on common ground.

Alone, such purpose is seldom found.

I

Jorden found himself standing in the middle of a highway. The world of dream had been odd enough, now his own world had been turned to nightmare. A car crawled nearby. It was travelling somewhat faster than the average snail, yet it was still no great danger to the three who strolled along the paving.

Hura led on, Jorden followed, Taf looked about for exciting things to do.

They walked past several picnic tables to a beach, an ordinary sandy beach that was lined with breaking waves, only these waves were hardly ordinary. The surf was as close to stationary as mattered, a disturbing sight. It did not seem right for the waves to simply stand motionless as if they had been snap frozen in full flight. And they didn't look frozen, of course.

Jorden shrugged. It was a nice beach, but now what. He guessed that they were on the southern coast of the mainland – that was where Hura had pointed to on the map – and Tasmania was a couple of hundred kilometres out there. But he was here and had absolutely no idea why. He asked, "Why?"

Hura pointed. "There is a ship out there, and we are going out to it. The ship is at the centre of the disturbance, indeed I believe it is the cause of the disturbance. Unfortunately it is difficult to place, exactly – it shifts slightly from time to time – and the disturbance also makes it more difficult. We will try from here rather than risk a transition on the water, it is only ten or eleven thousand footfall." Hura held firm to a very dark crystal. "That way," she pointed with it.

Jorden frowned. "So what do we do? Walk there!"

"Afraid so," Hura smiled. Taf was already testing the water.

It was firm yet somewhat slippery, and not quite solid, any who stood still for too long would certainly sink. Jorden dug in his toes and climbed a wave, the spray sharp and biting, then slipped awkwardly down the other side. It was possible, but it would be one hell of a walk.

A walk to what? Jorden wondered what a ship in the middle of the Bass Strait could possibly to do with quakes in dreamland. It was all a little too odd. He walked on, climbing another wave. "This is no good," he said, "it will take hours like this."

Hura nodded. "Perhaps," she admitted. "But that hardly matters. We have a few hours to spare. Ample time to get there."

Ample time perhaps, yet it would still be an eternity to those who were forced to experience it. Jorden looked out over the shimmering reddish horizon. The waves were not as sharp and rugged further on, but they were large... Not as large as the seas the Katerina had floundered within, of course, but large enough.

"Don't stand still for too long, Jorden," Hura warned, and he noticed that he did. "If you sink too far then you might be stuck for good, and we'd never pull you out." Then she shook her head. "Death would be painfully slow in coming."

A hell of a long time, Jorden thought. It would take many hours to sink into the near-solid slime and drown... or would he suffocate? He cared not think about it and walked on at a steady pace, not wishing to know the details of such a death.

The waves were much easier to traverse once the three were clear of the beach. It was calm for the waters of the strait, another reason why Hura had wished to come without delay no doubt, and an easy path was available to those who wound their way amongst the troughs and crests. It was still a long way, too many footfall upon a dim red sea without the chance of rest, but then it was still better than the long days out amongst the polythorn.

Indeed they walked the equivalent of an entire terrestrial night, or night of the Domain, before the ship was sighted. And it was not just a ship.

"What the hell," Jorden murmured. He had not really seen anything of its type, and though he knew he was near the oil fields of the Bass Strait he had always imagined drilling rigs as different structures altogether.

"A test drill rig, I think," Hura said in explanation, the ship slowly creeping nearer as they struggled on. "For core samples and seismic studies, or something of that nature."

Jorden shook his head. "I thought they used those huge platforms. Things with three fat legs and a dozen helipads..."

"For actual oil drilling, I believe. This is for some other purpose. Exploration, perhaps." They came to a high rounded wave crest, the view of the vessel unobstructed. Like the cars of the highway there were no visible lights, even though Jorden knew that it was night. There was just the continuous red glow that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere simultaneously.

"It has only one funny mast and no sails," Taf put in. "What a useless ship. Do the crew row for their keep?" And that seemed the least of the vessel inadequacies. There were no outriggers either. It was just a smooth iron shell with a conglomeration of steel decks and towers above. Taf wondered how it floated at all.

Jorden shook his head. "It has engines... machines that move it through the water. Quicker than sails, I'm afraid."

Taf frowned. "It isn't moving very fast now."

The outsider thought to argue, yet the aestri was smiling and prepared for a battle of illogic and there were more important matters. "Okay, so we're here," he said as he tried not to stand still while at the same time not move to far from the side of an all but stationary Hura. "What I want to know is why."

Hura pointed. "To stop that thing, of course. If it is not stopped soon then the Domain will be gone in a few of their days. They have come in contact with some transition point, or some lock or connection between worlds, or they are very near to such a thing. The blasts and subsequent disruptions to the strata have brought the quakes, a warning of far worse to come. Their work in other areas of this ocean over the past thirty cycles has devastated several of the shard worlds. Perhaps they test new equipment that has not been used previously. You must stop it, Jorden."

He stopped walking and looked first to the rig and then to the witch-god. "Stop it! How the hell am I supposed to stop a drill rig? I'm not an engineer." Or saboteur.

Hura sighed. "You have surely more chance of stopping it than I do. The last time I was here I succeeded only in terrifying a few of the crew and scratching the paintwork." She looked to Jorden's stationary feet, then her own. "Keep moving. We can talk when there's solid deck under foot."

II

Eventually there was...

"It's already stopped working," Taf said with a smile, glancing down upon the busy workspace.

It was more than just not working, it was a waxworks museum of oil exploration. The three offworldly entities walked across the death silent decking amongst the statues of the seaman and labourers to a gallery surrounding the base of the rig, a drill rig that seemed to pierce the centre of the ship. There was some movement: the clock-like creeping of a partly exposed shaft, the blue vapour puffing from a rusted exhaust like cloud from mountain ridges, the fan of water-lace that sprouted from a high pressure nozzle... It was not the familiar movement of reality.

There was undoubtedly quite a lot of damage that could be done by three entities who could move like lightning, Jorden just wasn't sure exactly what that might be. And although they could move about the ship much faster than the frozen corpses in the pit below the gallery, he reminded himself that anything they touched was as hard as stone or heavy as a lump of lead that was a hundred times larger than the article.

_Move like lightning_. It was impossible, even Jorden knew that. The whole dream of the Domain had been impossible, yet dreams were always that way. This, however, was supposed to be reality surrounding him. He couldn't pretend he was dreaming, not any more, but they should be breaking the sound barrier every time they moved.

Something clicked. "We're not really here, are we?" Jorden said. He was sure that they were, he could see that, yet he knew they weren't. It was the only thing that made sense. "We can't be."

Taf looked at him in the way she often did, thinking to call him silly yet again. She was surprised by Hura's response. "Yes and no... I'll be honest, Jorden. Even I don't know for sure... We are here, but not actually in a form that can be affected by the physics of this world. If it were not for the power of the crystals of the tower then we would have no influence here whatsoever. We would simply be the formless ghosts who often come to look over this strange land.

"The forms that myself and Taf possess are not forms that can survive in this world, but unlike yourself, Jorden, Taf and I do not have another form, another body if you like, that can exist here." She smiled an impatient smile. "Now if we can just finish our mission before we have a failure..."

"Other body?" Jorden returned, then he noticed the frown of Hura, an ancient woman who was quick to rage and his only ticket home as a real person. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

The witch shrugged. "I hoped that you could tell me that." She pointed toward some of the tools and machinery below. "When I was last here I tried to damage one of those and failed. They don't seem to be that important anyway."

Jorden frowned. "One of them is a welder, I think. You'd have to knock out a lot more than that if you wanted to put an operation like this out of action." There were at least thirty men in the pit or hanging from the superstructure, and plenty of equipment to deal with almost any conceivable breakdown.

"I have thought of setting fire to the ship, there are tanks of volatile liquid on deck, but I fear that there would be a substantial loss of life. The crew would never..."

"No!" Jorden shot back and shook his head. "It would be a fireball that could be seen from Melbourne, if not the Domain. There's got to be a better way."

Hura held to the chilly rail and sighed. "My thoughts exactly."

Taf sniffed and looked down over the statues, certain that she could wreak havoc amongst the machinery if given the chance. "Just break a lot of things. That would be easy." And fun, she thought hopefully.

"And they fix them, also quite easy." Although it was a suggestion that had merit. If they pulled enough levers and turned enough dials and threw enough switches, then they were certain to cause plenty of damage, but it wouldn't put them out of action for long...

Crap!

Jorden was beginning to think. For a moment he considered himself quite brilliant, a very brief moment. They didn't need to put them out of action for long. A breakdown of a few days was probably months of grace to those of the Domain, a week might well have been years.

Hura wasn't telling all, she couldn't have been. There had to be more, a lot more.

"You don't need me," Jorden said at last. He was angry, and considered that he had every right to be. "Taf could disable this rig for weeks without even trying, and you could do a lot worse without knowing one stupid thing about machines."

The witch continued to lean on the rails and ignored the flash of anger. "I could dump those fuel tanks I told you about," she said quietly. "This rig would be littered with more environmentalists than workmen. They'd be out of commission for months while the inquiry went on." She sighed again. "I've thought of that one. That's about the best one. It would be decades before I would have to worry again."

Jorden stared. She was exactly right, but he was surprised to hear her say it. "Then if you know..."

She shrugged "They might cover it up. Perhaps it would never be noticed, not a minute slick like that, or at least not soon enough for it to be any help. The Domain could be dust before anyone saw anything, and that is if they ever saw it at all. This isn't several million gallons of crude we're talking about."

She still sounded evasive, Jorden still confident she did not need him. "So you do a little damage to the rig to slow them down, and leave a note with the nearest conservationist. You still don't need me."

"True," she said, and there was no hesitation or doubt, just a faint smile. "But still, doesn't it make you feel great to be needed."

Jorden began to darken to an odd shade of red. He was furious. He couldn't think of adequate abuse to bestow upon the Levi-clad witch who smiled so stupidly in front of him. This was it, he'd had enough crap from the Domain and its weird inhabitants. He was getting the hell out. He was going home and leaving this insane nightmare...

Yes, of course. He could walk home across the frozen ocean and hitch a ride on a truck that might just get him three or four metres down the road before he starved to death.

"If you want the truth, then I'll give it," Hura said eventually, her face stern. "Partly you are here because it was inevitable. I know something of our future, and you were always here. You might say that we have met before on another plane of existence. But more relevant to our current situation, you are simply here to balance a transition equation and not a lot more. On my last journey I was able to stay about five minutes before I found myself rather painfully back in the tower. Once upon a time I could do it, but not now.

"Now I need a local," and she pointed toward him, "a tie to this world to balance out the energy requirements. You are like a piece of elastic which draws us here. As there were no fresh locals in the Domain, I had to look for one, one who hopefully had a little mechanical experience to show me the best way to delay this drilling, one who wouldn't be missed and one who wouldn't miss his home all that much. I killed a lot of birds with one little green stone, Jorden Miles."

Hura chuckled as she looked upon the dropped jaw of the outsider. "I'm a little do-good, you see, always out to help those who are in need, whether they like it or not." She shrugged. "The prerogative of a god-figure. I give you something to live for, balance my equations and get engineering advice all in the one operation.

"You should have listened to my private secretary. I am ruthless."

"And I found a friend that few aestri could hope for," Taf added. She hugged the man. There was no tingling or stone flesh, just warmth and comfort.

"You bitch!" Jorden said. He didn't shout, he was thinking too hard to shout. "I've nearly been eaten by every species of monster in the Domain, caged and nearly drowned, and forced to eat raw rat meat and sleep in wet slimy trees and watch Taf turn into a cat and..."

"What would you have done otherwise in your tedious world?" Hura smiled. "And I was looking out for you, sending the right messages to the right people at the right time. I have been kind. I could have let you wait in the queue for weeks, or perhaps left you for the dragon..."

Jorden glared. "You're mad. You're a raving megalomaniac."

The witch just shrugged. It was difficult to insult someone who had already heard every possible form of abuse over several lifetimes. "When you get passed ten centuries you're allowed a little insanity, and what minor god doesn't suffer a touch of megalomania."

"Can we keep that room when we go back," Taf said thoughtfully, the present conversation rather tedious. "I love that bath... and I'm starving. Some nice fresh..."

"Damn it, Taf," Jorden fumed and struggled free of the aestri's grasp. "I've been dragged out of my world by a lunatic so that I could balance her books and offer a bit of entertainment in her monster pit. I'm not particularly interested in food." His attention returned to Hura. "You are warped, you know that. The Domain is your little plaything, some entertainment to help you live through the decades. That's really sick."

Hura thought Jorden would have very little chance of angering her, yet perhaps she was wrong. "If you think that you could come upon a potential hell and produce a world better than my own then you are welcome to try. You have no more power against the Time of Darkness than I, and it was your ignorant choice to walk out of the safety of MY shields and go amongst creatures that have nothing to do with me." The witch noticed that her voice was raised. It was odd for that to happen unintentionally. She paused to consider that.

Finesilver turned to the man to await his response, Hura's argument sounding the best to date. She was the Great One, after all, one who had brought the man to her side, and the aestri wondered why Jorden was so upset.

At the moment he seemed at a loss for words, Taf snatching the opportunity. "Once you wanted to stay with me, but that was before you knew the truth. Now you long for home..."

"Which is exactly where he can go when we're finished with this mission," Hura growled. "I thought that he may have been an asset to the Domain, and it seems that I was mistaken. Perhaps my foresight and memory are not as accurate as I would like to think. I'm sorry you were dragged into it, Finesilver."

Taf shrugged.

Hura brushed past Jorden. "At the moment I have more important matters to worry about," she went on. "Our time here remains limited, and we might find ourselves suddenly, and rather painfully, back in the tower... and it may take weeks to rebuild the generator." She strode on toward the starboard railing, then turned toward the bow.

Jorden followed, continuing his argument, now more concerned than ever. "And what about me? How the hell am I supposed to get home?" So close and yet so far away.

Hura snorted, and actually took the time to face him. "As if I care, Jorden Miles." Then she moved on toward the solvent tanks she had spoken of.

Taf stared momentarily toward the man she thought she knew, moist dark eyes that said more than the aestri could possibly manage with voice. Then she turned and followed Hura.

III

It took some time to even begin to set the spoked handle of the six-inch gate valve in motion. Hura wondered again why the tanks were on the deck, and what they really contained, and why they had such a convenient drain in the bottom. It didn't matter. She knew that there were four of them and she knew that each one had to carry at least twenty thousand gallons, whatever that was in metric. One would be enough.

Taf glanced to the frozen man who stood near. He leaned on the outer rail, his gaze toward the sea yet rolling steadily in the direction of the slowly spinning wheel of the gate valve. He would soon see it moving, and soon see the fluid gush forth toward the presently clean ocean. Then he would probably stop the flow. The aestri told the Great One as much, Hura shrugging. There was little else to be done. Even if they disabled the rig for two days it would be of great aid. She could still foresee enough of the future to remain confident. And there was always the possibility that the rest of the crew would believe the poor soul who watched the valve wind itself open. They would leave the ship to its ghosts.

Jorden came to watch them work. He was now a little more quiet, thoughts turned toward Joanne and Taf, his world and that of Hura's. If it wasn't for the witch-god... "That man will see it open and close it," he said. That was obvious.

"Not if I light it up," Hura said casually. "And I should. I have a whole world to save, a few dozen men and a ship are surely not much to sacrifice." She watched the valve come to the end of its thread – gate valves being a mechanism that she did understand, even if many in the domain did not – and waited for the spinning wheel to part company with the shaft it spun on. "Of course I doubt that I need go so far. Our man will be more concerned with _why_ than _how do I stop it._ "

There was no fluid gushing as yet, but Jorden suspected the time-thickened contents would be slow in coming. "It's going to take a lot more than this to stop them," Jorden reiterated. "If they want to test this area of seabed then they're going to keep at it no matter what you try and do. You might slow it down, but your never going to stop it."

The handle of the gate valve remained spinning in mid-air, the frozen man gazing blankly toward it. "As I said," Hura sighed. "Delay is enough. Another chance will come." She looked back toward the stern and the core of the operation. "And as long as the transition lasts I plan on doing as much damage as possible."

Again Taf flashed her dark gaze and jagged smile. "Please help, Jorden. You could do it so much better..."

Jorden was unsure, almost willing, but he knew futility when he saw it. It was going to take something major to help him or the domain, and he couldn't see things getting any better. At least at that moment he couldn't see things getting any worse. There was apparently still plenty of time do deal with the situation.

Yet things could always be worse, a good rule of thumb in either the Domain or Reality. Jorden already knew that. It had happened too many times before. As he looked into the eyes of Finesilver, his stubborn stance softening considerably, the aestri spun in a blur and was gone.

Jorden frowned and tried to call for her yet found his chest locked solid, breath thick in his throat. The air surrounding him seemed hot from the forge and heavy with pain. Jorden braced himself against the unseen fire, finding his lethargic limbs offered no protection.

The fires cooled. There was a thud, a splash, then the roar of an ocean of reality.

Jorden collapsed to the deck, finding this the only action within his capabilities.

IV

There had been a lot of talk about ghosts on the rig of late, and there were few on board who were quite at ease with the frequent shuddering of the vessel. Peter Nelson just wanted to be as far from it all as possible.

As he stood on the deck he looked toward the unseen coast – it was too dark to see the mountains – wishing he had firm soil beneath his feet. He also dreaded returning to work, but at least he didn't have to work where it was said that the ghosts stole spanners and threw them against the welders. Nobody believed that, not really, only old Bob, and that was because he had was the one who claimed he saw such things. But there were the flashes of shape that Peter thought he may have glimpsed. Perhaps the ship was haunted. It was an old ship.

It was about this time that he heard the squeal.

By the time he turned toward the nearest tank, the valve was already spinning like a top. Then it hit the end of its thread and broke free before he could blink, the handle bouncing off the tank and flying like a Frisbee into the sea. He jumped and shouted before the unknown figure had fallen from the shadows and thudded heavily against the deck.

Peter's heart raced and he was yet to think of any explanation for the erratic behaviour of the gate valve, but he was certain that the man in the grey suit laying on the deck was no ghost, no matter how much he might moan. He stepped nearer and knelt, helping the stranger to sit. It wasn't anyone he recognized, but company people came and went from day to day. Then he noticed how young the guy in the suit was. He had to be one of the new systems techs. The latest batch to come aboard to work on the new servers all looked like kids.

Jorden didn't much want to sit up, but he wasn't in any condition to argue. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but he was certain it wasn't part of the plan. Hura had threatened that her equipment might fail, and that they might end up in the tower, but nothing was said about leaving him stranded on the ship. And then there was the talk of it taking weeks to fix. Jorden began to panic.

Peter put it down to shock. "That was a hell of a fall mate. You okay?"

Feeling like he was deep in enemy territory, Jorden was slow to answer. "Yeah... I think so." He gingerly fingered a throbbing nose that had never completely recovered from the _fight_ in Saljid.

It was then that they both glanced to the outlet of the nearby tank. Peter did so because he remained unsure of whether he had really seen what he thought in the limited illumination of the deck lamps. Jorden looked as he knew that there should be a little more activity at the opening than he currently observed.

Ignoring the crew member who had offered his aid, Jorden crawled nearer and reached into the outlet. It was definitely open. "It's empty," he said, and swallowed.

That seemed an all too obvious statement, but Peter had other things to worry him. "Lucky it was," he managed to say. "A lot of these tanks carry volatile solvents." He then took some care with his words. He didn't really want anyone thinking he was seeing things. "Did you, ah, open it?"

Jorden stared back to where the crewman squatted. Now he was in _real_ trouble. While back in the domain he had always had the cushion of fantasy. He could close his eyes and comfort himself by believing it was all a dream, even if it wasn't. But this was reality with all of its real laws and real police and real courts and real jails. He could get locked up for years.

He looked to the valve, trying to think how the incident must have looked from the crewman's point of view.

Jorden faked a smile. "Metal fatigue?" he tried.

Peter wondered if the tech had hit the deck a little too hard.

### Chapter 23 – Mission III

There are new wonders, darkened eyes can see.

From blood-red skies to the golden tree.

But there are lands beyond the mind.

Some mortals cannot hope to find.

I

Jorden wondered exactly what his next move should be. He contemplated jumping ship and trying to swim for shore, but that wouldn't help Taf and the Domain. More importantly it wasn't going to do him very much good either.

He thought of Kaeina and Moonwater, and even Midnight, knowing that every hour that passed could see their world rocked by the quakes. No matter how manipulative Hura might be, they certainly didn't deserve possible obliteration. To save them, and himself, he needed a plan, and he needed to think a lot quicker and smarter than he had in the past. Jorden was on his own in real time in the real world, and he couldn't expect help from the witch-god of the Domain in the near future. At the moment he was quite willing to have her and her _magic_. He sweated, glancing to the nearby member of crew. At least he didn't seem surprised by Jorden's presence.

The crewman was still squatting, staring bewildered toward Jorden as he stood and brushed off his suit. The only thing for Jorden to do was compose himself and look like he belonged. Maybe then he could fudge his way through until Hura managed to open a portal or something. Of course since they hadn't parted on the best of terms she might just leave him. Jorden discarded the possibility. It was to soon to accept defeat after surviving the Darkness of the Domain.

"Came in on the last chopper?" Peter asked as he stood. Jorden stared blankly in return. "Didn't get time to change?" the crewman then chuckled. "The suit, you know..." There was another difficult period of silence. "You'll settle soon enough. We dress pretty casual in the labs."

"Jorden Miles," Jorden tried quickly, regretting using his real name immediately, and forwarded a hand. He had to think smarter than that. He glanced to the suit Moonwater had insisted he wore. It could have been worse. He could have been wearing a skirt. "Yeah, I'll have to change. I was just... Having a look around first." Keep it vague, he thought. "Must have tripped on something..." He tried to stay confident. He'd survived the Darkness, this was just reality... "You are?"

Peter took his hand. "Oh sure, Peter Nelson," he said shot back, "from control systems."

So far so good. Unfortunately Jorden had no idea what to try next. Hura had left him short on information. He was an elastic band who might have been useful in knocking out some of the ships systems. As for exactly what the rig was actually doing, Hura probably had no idea herself.

In desperation Jorden patted his jacket and looked over the side of the ship toward dark waters which were actually in motion now, swearing quietly. "Damn... my wallet," he tried unconvincingly, then tensed. That solved the problem of not having any identification when whatever amounted to security personnel on the rig caught up with him. Of course a quick radio call was going to quickly put him on the spot. He had cleverly used his real name after all. Then there was the small matter of how he got on board.

Peter followed Jorden's gaze, then he looked back along the decking. "If it went over the side then its long gone now."

Jorden managed a more convincing sigh. "Not much I can do about it now..." He noticed the uneasy look that had come over the crewman. He had gone too far perhaps. "Maybe I left it inside," he then shrugged, quickly scanning the deck in the hope of spotting Taf or Hura. All he could think of earlier was getting away from her, now he would give anything to get her back. "So," he thought furiously. "How were things in, ah, control today."

Peter frowned uncomfortably, causing Jorden to tense even further. There was a distinct indication that he had said the wrong thing, and the crewman seemed more uneasy than ever. "Maintenance this morning, of course." He coughed then continued more quietly. "Then we ran a few low power tests before sunset. That was all cleared by the mainland as far as I know. The main seismic runs are still done at night."

Jorden just nodded. He was playing for time, all the while hoping for hints that he could use. He was still unsure why the crewman seemed to accept his presence or his age, but then Jorden was tall for his age, it was dark, and Peter appeared in his very early twenties at best anyway. It wouldn't last forever, but Jorden knew every moment he could stall gave Hura more time to get back thanks to the twisted differences in time. And he might also learn more about the rig and how to stop it. All he could be sure of for now was that the ship was some kind of test rig, and they had to be looking for oil. He smiled and propped casual against the rail. "So how are we going. Found any new reserves."

The frown Peter kept flashing was doing very little for Jorden's confidence, and he wondered what he said wrong this time. "I don't like their chances of that," Peter said eventually, "but the results might help get the most out of what's there. We should be able to pump the power up a few kilowatts on the next run and get a deeper trace. And if you guys can speed up the data analysis on the servers, then we should be able to do an extra run each night"

Jorden wasn't sure what he was talking about, but it was obvious enough that the next _run_ was not going to do the Domain or its sister shards any more good than the last one, regardless of whether they pumped the watts up or not. And he was not sure of what role Peter thought Jorden might play in all of this. "Sure," he said unconvincingly. Jorden tried to think of anything he knew about computers and servers and anything that could possible be relevant, mostly picked up from internet chat groups. "I'm mostly stuck behind a screen. Do a lot of C++ and some fortran. It's so... different being out here... Out on the ocean like this."

Peter appeared somewhat blank, worrying Jorden. "Right, sure," he said slowly. "You've lost me already. I started with the company on straight electrical work, then helping out in control. Mostly routing power lines and networking for a start, but lately just monitoring the high power side of things in control."

Jorden didn't want Peter thinking too hard, especially about details. Better to get him talking about himself. "Sounds a lot more interesting than the sort of... data stuff I do," Jorden tried as enthusiastically as he could manage. He began to think it had been easier facing the polythorn.

Peter shrugged. "I can take you up to the control room if you like. Its pretty quiet up there at this time of night. You see the front end first before slugging it out at the rear end," he smiled.

"Sounds great." Stay vague, Jorden thought to himself, and try not to look totally without a clue. "I don't see myself getting any sleep for a couple of hours. Haven't got my sea-legs yet, and I need to get to know my way around." With a little luck he might even find out enough about the operation to put it out for good.

That wasn't going to get him home, of course, but then maybe he was already close enough.

II

The control room was quiet indeed, and actually empty before Peter showed Jorden in. They had only seen other members of the crew from a distance and had not been confronted by any. Jorden knew that luck like that couldn't last long. He just wasn't that lucky.

As for the control room, there was not a lot to see. It was filled with racks of various electronics and displays that meant very little to Jorden Miles. The one that Peter sat in front of was just numbers. The one next to it showed a series of coloured bands.

"The transducer is down about three hundred metres," Peter was saying. "We run an ultrasonic pulse every forty to fifty minutes depending on the wattage, the capacitor banks are charging for the next. We used to only manage about one every two hours, but the new power generation plant really stepped up the schedule.

"The echoes from that pulse are picked up by the receiver array and the raw data gets fed from here into the servers down in analysis where you guys are. It's all your problem then," he smiled.

That was all very well, Jorden thought, but what he really would like to know was how to stop it, and preferably destroy it. It would be nice to show Hura that he wasn't just dead wood – or just an elastic band. Jorden doubted, however, that Peter would react well to such a line of questioning.

"The first blasts of the run usually knock out a few nearby fish," Peter went on to say, "even as deep as the transducer is. But by now the area should be reasonably clear." He pointed to a flicking number. "Only about three minutes before the next programmed pulse."

Jorden swallowed, that would mean another quake for those of the domain. He looked to the few glowing lights and sparse switches on the equipment lining the walls. "And this gear does it all," he speculated.

Peter was in his element and becoming familiar with the man he thought was a kindred technician, albeit from the data analysis team who liked to think they were somehow better than the rest of the crew. "The power transmission side, sure. All the control gear is for that side of things. The pulses are timed and directed from here," he said, gesturing to the display ahead. "After the run is finished the main CPU farm down where you are puts all the numbers together and gives us a picture of that quadrant. Of course the capacitor banks and the high current switch gear are actually back near the stern near power generation. I do a lot of the work down there as well."

Jorden looked carefully around the room, thinking furiously. Saving the Domain suddenly seemed all too easy, or at least delaying the tests for several days was. Actually getting away afterwards, however, might not be quite so easy. Sure, he could smash the computers up pretty bad, and he might just be able to jump ship before they caught him, but how long would it take for the authorities to catch up with him. He had conveniently given them his name after all.

The numbers were still ticking down on the screen, only seconds until the next disruption. There was a distant whine, a vibration more felt than actually heard, and Jorden tensed, expecting the worst. When the counter hit zero he flinched reflexively...

...only to find that the blast was no more than a faint click that echoed through the superstructure. He was about to sigh relief when the aftershock hit, a physical shudder of the ship beneath. It was brief, but the vessel groaned stress and lighting fixtures flickered. Only the data equipment seemed immune. Jorden murmured under his breath, knowing that the Domain had fared worse. He tried not to think of Taf and the rest of his friends there.

He glanced instead to Peter as he reset counter and then went through the rest of his procedures to prepare for the next run. Jorden struggled with possibilities and options. Time was passing fast this side and he knew he need to do something – anything – but he was clearly in the middle of a major research operation of a major company. Thoughts of futility returned, and Jorden knew that no matter how much he slowed the operation down he would never stop it completely. The shard worlds, whatever, wherever and whenever they were, would always be at risk. Perhaps in a few more of Hura's centuries, and after a dozen more such missions, the company just might consider the system a failure.

But even that was a big maybe.

III

"Well..." Jorden began, halting as the chill set in and gravity seemed to take a brief vacation. Then the computer displays flickered, scrolled, and were blank, the light of the room fading to red. Jorden caught his footing and watched the crewman's fingers snap freeze on the keyboard, coherent enough to realize what had happened. He scanned the room for Hura and Taf, thankful of the timely rescue.

He caught sight of the witch-god standing toward the centre of the cluttered time-frozen control room, but there was no sign of the aestri. "About time," was all he could think to say.

Hura came toward him quickly, ignoring the contents of the room. She was frowning and actually puffing breath, her hair and clothing more ruffled even than her norm. "I would have been here yesterday," she admitted hurriedly, "but another of the disruptions set us back quite a bit."

"And there are plenty more where that came from," Jorden told her, directing his attention toward the stationary crewman. "So you better do whatever you have to do and get us the hell out." If that meant destroying the room, or even burning the ship, then so be it.

She was shaking her head. "I have only a few moments here and the port could fail any second. It was the best I could do."

There were lines of stress and tones of genuine concern that made it difficult for Jorden to get angry, but the sinking feeling in his gut was impossible to ignore. "Okay so what's the good news? Can you at least get me out?"

The pause then was long and difficult. Hura's gaze locked to his own for what seemed like an eternity. When she spoke it was laced with genuine regret. "I'm sorry Jorden." She shook her head. "I can't. You're on you own." At least she was being honest, Jorden considered. She approached and held his shoulders. "But if there is anything you can do for us... for Taf..."

So that was it. He couldn't be angry. Hura was just doing her job, protecting her Domain. He had wanted to get home and he was home. Now there was one last thing he could do for Taf and the others in thanks for all they had done for him. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it," Jorden said carefully. It was the least he could do. "I have a feeling that this is as close to home as I'm going to get. I'll do what I can to delay the rig, at least for a few cycles, so if you could just say goodbye to Taf for me..." Words trailed.

Hura managed a faint smile and faded slightly. "All I'll say is until we meet again, Jorden Miles..." Then the witch-god flickered and vanished into the void of paradise.

There was a flare of heat as the ship's lighting returned, but this time it was far more mild, the shortness of breath more brief than Jorden had expected. Even so he stood staring at the spot Hura had vacated for some time, his thoughts of friends now well out of reach.

Then Jorden was aroused by the sudden movement of the nearby crewman, Peter looking for the young technician who had vanished suddenly from his side. There was a distinct air of defeat, especially when it came to escape, but at least Jorden knew that it had not all been for nothing. There wasn't all that much to fear on the ship anyway. There were no polythorns or lizard beast, it was just a few mere men with only a remote chance that any were armed.

"So," Jorden sighed, calm. "Which bit of this stuff did you say did all the work?"

Peter was still staring. He was certain that Jorden had been over his shoulder one moment, and on the other side of the room the next. And now he was fondling logic components that cost more than either of them earned in a month.

When Jorden received no answer he simply snapped back the clips and slid the component from its rack, tearing away the trailing metal and plastic ganglia and tossing it all toward the centre of the room all the while hoping it was excessively fragile. He was able to toss three more before the crewman even tried to stop him, yet that hardly mattered. The rest were screwed to the racks.

Jorden found that Peter's chair to be an effective tool in disabling the remainder.

The only difficulty was ignoring Peter Nelson's shouts of horror.

IV

Jorden Miles was dismayed to learn that there were at least two security personnel on the ship and both were armed. Fortunately they kept their weapons well secured at their hip, and neither seemed in the least interested in using them. There was no reason to. Jorden had offered no futile resistance, and now sat calm in the corner of the office. He actually felt better than Peter currently looked, and he had a feeling that the crewman who had taken him to the control room would be in just as much hot water. He shrugged. That was someone else's problem and he had enough of his own.

The office itself was spacious, considering it was on an otherwise cramped ship. There was a table and plenty of uncomfortable metal chairs, and a few locked filing cabinets, but otherwise very little within its chart filled walls. Security stood at the door and there was an expected absence of windows. Aside from Peter there were an assortment of company staff, some in suits, others in overalls emblazoned with the company logo. And no-one in the room looked particularly happy.

"I don't suppose you'd believe I was with the Environmental Protection Authority," Jorden tried. Or was that Agency, he considered. He should have listened in class...

One of the men in a suit glared back. They were speaking amongst themselves and ignored the remark, Jorden picking up only portions of the conversation, most of it directed toward Peter.

"He could have been some sort of industrial spy," one said, "and you were giving him the bloody tour." The words came sharp, Peter sinking further.

"And even if he is just some crazed environmentalist we're in trouble," spat another. "Today we have one. Tomorrow we might have a hundred."

The next speaker, a middle-aged man in overalls, was slightly more calm. "Panic isn't going to help the situation," he began in an obvious American drawl. "Okay, so we've lost some equipment and perhaps a few days survey. We just have to step up security and put it down to experience." He looked toward Jorden. "Just lock him up for the night and hand him over to the cops in the morning."

The second speaker wasn't convinced. "And we've got police and insurance investigators all over us for the rest of the week."

"Well then what the hell do you suggest," Overalls shot back. "Tie him to the anchor and toss him overboard?"

It was a moment before Jorden saw the humorous side of the suggestion. Back on the Katerina the crew might well get away with such a thing, but these men were trapped in a rigid system that forced their hand. The worst case scenario saw Jorden in a prison that would be equivalent to luxury accommodation back in the Domain. He laughed quietly to himself.

It was enough to gain the attention of the group, even Peter glancing up momentarily. "You see something funny about this, boy," Overalls then said. Jorden shook his head and returned to a more sombre expression, the American adding: "Then perhaps you can tell us exactly why you decided to jump our rig and start tearing up the god-damn control room."

Jorden opened his mouth but closed it just as quickly. It would be a real exercise in futility, even if he did know where to start. "I have a feeling you just wouldn't believe a word of it," he eventually managed. "But you might as well give it up, unless you just want to keep losing money on this deal." That caught their attention, Jorden considered, and he smiled. He also noticed that a few were ready to have their own word on the matter, so he kept it up. "I'm not the first one to come here, and I won't be the last." He shrugged. "Step up security as much as you like. You won't stop them." A few started to redden considerably in rage, so Jorden backed off. "Look. There's more to this universe than you people are ever going to know, and this rig is affecting enough of it to make sure that you are never going to get any peace..."

There was a growl. "Get him out before I wring his neck," Overalls interrupted. "I've already heard enough of this damn voodoo bullshit from the guys in maintenance."

Jorden stood and waited for his security escorts to take him elsewhere. He didn't really care whether they believed or not... Except that a little fear would always help slow them down for the near future, and days were likely years for Hura and the Domain.

V

Morning, however, and a long night of contemplation, brought a certain realization of the very real situation Jorden now found himself in. He hadn't slept well, all to be expected, but at least he need not worry over the current state of the Domain. He knew there had been no quakes in a very long time. It was knowledge that brought a certain comfort that might endure over the coming difficult days.

They were on deck, not far from the heliport. The aircraft that was soon to land there was still a mere speck above the horizon, yet it brought an inevitable chill. Jorden wondered what his mother would think of all of this. She would find it difficult to even accept that he had made it to the ship. This was, after all, only the morning after he had left the note. It was going to be very difficult for her. Jorden cringed at the reality of it. It was going to be very difficult for himself as well.

Fear began to set in. After the authorities did read the note and heard what he had told the crew, he was just as likely he would find himself committed. As Overalls had suggested, what sane person would come all the way to the rig simply to destroy their computer. The life he didn't have was definitely not taking a turn for the better. The Domain he had lost was starting to look like paradise after all.

Jorden wondered if things could get any worse than they were now. It seemed that they always could. He recalled the attacks he had suffered previously, his withdrawal from the world of dream, but even if they killed him it could only be an improvement. It seemed like he had been dying for years anyway. It was inevitable.

He might even come back as something better.

He thought of Taf, and her talk of Domain theology, the helicopter ever nearer. She was safe now, at least for quite some time. Years perhaps. And Jorden was home. He was alive and he was back in reality. And he was still technically sixteen. This was the real world and he was a juvenile. Things wouldn't be very easy for a while, perhaps a couple of years. But it would all blow over in time even if he did survive.

It was all worth it. He had done the job Hura had wanted and all was well. There was only one nagging thought that remained, and that was he had just bought his friends so little time. A few cycles in the Domain at most. He should have done more...

He sighed.

In the corner of his eye he caught sight of a dim shape that seemed to hover nearby, vanishing before Jorden could focus on it. He allowed himself a glimmer of hope, wishing, more than anything, that Overalls and the others who surrounded him on the deck nearby would get a healthy dose of unreality. The security guards certainly did, their guns flicking from their holsters and screaming seaward before they could slap their hips.

Jorden was unsure of whether to run or simply wait for Hura to appear. He waited, but she didn't. She had to be there. Only the magic of Hura could move material objects in his world in such a way. But for what. The guns of security were gone. An escape plan perhaps? Hura's last gift to Jorden. He glanced to the rail and the sea beyond. He could jump ship, but he would not get far.

Before he could move, other things started happening, and Jorden found himself as much in the dark as the rest. The ship was slammed forward, and those on the deck who didn't fall quickly crouched to make sure they couldn't. Alarms started wailing toward the stern, soon joined by a chorus of badly tuned bells. Overalls was shouting orders that very few were taking notice of, most eyes turned upward as the pale sky flared.

Jorden felt the bite of a promising coolness in the air and looked for Taf, yet sensed that all was not well. It was not a transition he had experienced in the past, the cold deep and slow to build. Chill winds began to sweep across the deck, icy vortices whipping about the railings, snap frozen raindrops smacking hard against the glazing of the nearby bridge. The helicopter was gone, faded into ever brighter skies, and with it vanished the mountains of the nearby mainland.

Sheets of wet ice formed on the decking and jagged spines soon sprouted on the nearby rail, Jorden catching only glimpses as he squinted through the sleet. He shouted, but cries were lost easily in the cyclonic demon winds that grew in intensity each moment. Jorden dug fingernails into the ice, knowing that at any second the gale could prove victorious.

As if trying to ensure such, there was a sudden surge, then a snap of thunder that echoed a flash of a thousand suns.

And it was over.

Jorden lay breathing, contemplating a daring peek.

VI

It was warm at least, the ice at Jorden's fingertips melting quickly.

Icy daggers dropped from the railing and shattered against the deck, the wind now no more than a casual sea breeze. Gentle waves broke against the hull and a single bell rattled forlorn in the distance.

Jorden rose to all fours and tried to ignore the pain, still too shocked by the ferocity of the transition to wonder why. When he stood and rubbed stinging eyes he could at least see that the ship and the ocean remained, but what didn't seem right was the way the ocean continued to move rather that lay in fixed dunes. Then there was the light...

A voice distracted him, familiar and comforting. As Jorden turned it attacked with unusual vigour, leaping into his grasp and threatening to take them both over the railing. After that he risked suffocation, its grip firm about his torso.

Jorden hugged briefly, then pried Taf free. "Its good to see you too," he puffed, "but give me a chance to catch my breath."

The aestri stepped back, hovering enthusiastically. "I've missed you so much," she was saying. "I thought we would never get you back."

Jorden had never seen the aestri dressed the way she was, but it was definitely Taf. There was a skirt and full top, as she had worn in the castle, but then there were the blue ribbons in her hair and the shoes. Jorden shook his head. He had never imagined Taf in shoes. She even smelt as if she had discovered perfume.

Hura stepped nearer, bringing with her the familiarity of jeans and T-shirts. Yet even she seemed to have taken the time to do her hair.

The nearby moans and mumbled conversation distracted Jorden, and he looked back to where Overalls and the crew were pulling themselves off the deck. One of the security guards remained latched firm to the railing and the other was nowhere to be seen.

Jorden glared and turned to Hura. "I don't get it. How the hell did you and Taf get here," he said, but that was only half of it. How were they there in real time. Jorden looked for the helicopter.

The white skies were empty, very empty, and the mountains of the mainland were long gone. White cliffs crowned in forest rose off to port, no more than a thousand footfall distant, and anchored near was another vessel that looked all too familiar. Its sails were furled, outriggers riding high in the green seas. And crystals hung on tiny towers that sprouted from buoys surrounding the rig, flashing green under the starfish sun.

"Holy crap," was all Jorden could manage for a moment. He never imagined that Hura would ever try anything so major. "This is going to take some explaining by the authorities back home. There was a police helicopter that would have seen the rig vanish." Jorden managed to laugh, but it was more in relief than anything else. He had doubted that Hura would ever try to help him once the quakes stopped.

Overalls was wandering nearby, but most of the crew were hanging over the rail pointing toward the Katerina and locked in noisy argument. Jorden shrugged when the bewildered stare of the crew was directed toward him. "Don't ask me," he smiled. "I just work here." He glanced toward Hura. "Where the hell are we?"

The witch-god returned his smile and looked out across the bow. "About two-hundred thousand footfall out of Thagul harbour... And a very very long way from Tasmania." Near the Western Pacific Line, Jorden considered, but then where else could she pull such a stunt. He had heard they imported ships from Thoria...

Longboats were heading out from the Katerina, Hura abandoning her smug stance to sigh. "So let's just clear this pile of junk as quickly as we can and sink it. Somehow it just doesn't fit the décor here..."

Jorden watched Overalls' face drop and tried not to smile. It had been a difficult day for them all.

"With a little luck we might have them home for lunch," Hura then added.

Jorden frowned. Time again elusive.

VII

Although Orani had tolerated Jordenmiles and allowed him the freedom of the ship, she was not about to do the same with the seventy refugees from the odd vessel of Beyond, even if Hura Ghiana herself should be aboard. And Hura had no intention of suggesting otherwise. They were less danger to themselves and the Katerina when stored safely below decks in the all but empty holds.

"The choice of ship was Taf's, of course," Hura admitted. "There was too much gear to teleport efficiently, and after your success with the quakes there seemed no rush."

Jorden was again on the open bridge of a ship he had doubted he would ever see again, or at least hoped he would never see again. Drey was at the wheel, Orani and Johnathon standing alongside Aestri Finesilver. The only new face was a Peter Nelson, an exception to the rule who had no intention of returning home to try and explain his involvement in the loss of the ship.

"Of course," Jorden echoed. "But I still don't quite understand what happened to the Time of Darkness."

Hura shrugged. "As I said, it took several months to set all of this up and we couldn't set sail before the Time of Light. And surely you must realize that the Domain is irrevocably tied to your world. The Time of Darkness occurs only during your Tasmanian night."

"Ah," Jorden considered. That made sense, or at least as much sense as the rest of the Domain. He glanced to Peter and wondered how he would cope with their next stop in Thagul. Jorden remembered his own difficult first days.

"This was all Taf's idea, by the way," Hura added. "I don't think I would have ever come up with such a crazy plan, and there was no way she was going to let me leave you stranded here."

Jorden smiled to Taf and could just imagine the trouble she must have given Hura. He should have known that, of course, known that there was no way she would allow him to be stranded on the ship, not when there was a chance to bring Jorden back to her world.

And her ship, Jorden looking over it yet again.

The sails were taught, a strong fourteenth radial breeze catching the Katerina from slightly forward on the starboard. The voyage into the southern city of Thagul would at least be relatively quick. Jorden glanced to the cliffs that law downwind, knowing they would pass near to Tucaar and the Kaedith Tsarin. He pointed. "I should drop in to visit Perrin and the girls as we sail past," Jorden joked.

Hura forwarded a playful frown. "I doubt that Tsarin would be pleased to see you, and I would like to see our guests over the Line while their minds have a chance of surviving their present nightmare."

Jorden snorted. She had never been quite so concerned over his own welfare. "Peter here seems to be coping okay." He gestured toward the man from control systems, Peter returning a strained smile.

Hura gave a faint nod. "And what about you, Jorden." Her words caught the attention of Taf. "Now that the ship is gone, and the word of its crew somewhat negated, it should be safe for your own return home with little to worry over." Her gaze caught that of Taf's. "Of course you are also welcome to stay for a little while longer. I have a bit of a trip planned and you would certainly be a great help. Just a few days, perhaps."

Jorden frowned. "Is that Earth days or Domain days?" He looked to Taf, the aestri looking better than she had ever looked. "I need to go home to sort a few things out..." He noticed Taf's downward gaze. "Of course I don't suppose another few hours will make much difference."

Or days...

###  Epilogue

And so an end, there has to be.

Yet tales go on eternally.

I

It was a difficult transition, Jorden could feel that. It was very much longer in duration than most and it actually brought about a certain nausea, and with it a sense of wonder. Why would someone undergo such a transition willingly?

He laughed within. He was doing it. At least Taf wasn't there. At least Taf had the sense to stay on the Katerina where she belonged. The aestri had seen quite enough, and done quite enough unnecessary damage in the last few days. Hura would probably not have let her come even if she had wanted to.

But Hura had managed to talk Jorden into the trip... to Boston of all places. The Katerina, and the witch-god's hastily constructed ship-board lab, was within a few thousand footfall of the West-Pacific Line, and that was effectively the other side of the world to Boston. That helped explain the difficulty of it. Jorden tried for several moments to calculated the local time before giving up. Hura said it was afternoon, and that was good enough.

All that was certain was that timing was important, and Hura had spent days setting up for it.

Then Jorden looked around. He was in a cemetery.

That was odd, but it was just another odd thing amongst so very many. So much about the witch and her world were odd that even his brief taste of reality had seemed positively strange. The cemetery itself was blue and it shimmered as if seen through extremely violent heat waves, and it was somehow fainter than his home and the rig had initially been. He knew that Hura was at the limit of her power and it would be a rather short stay.

For what? There was a solitary woman standing near a well kept grave, a statue of flesh that Hura went forth to hug. It was an unusual display of emotion for the witch. She seemed so hard most of the time, a hardness that did not suit her façade of youth.

Jorden looked to the headstone, it said:

Helen Garret

1988-2006

And nothing else.

An eighteen year old woman who had died three years before. It all didn't make a great deal of sense.

"Who's she," Jorden asked as Hura Ghiana backed from the living ornament of a woman she had hugged.

There was a touch of moisture in the witch's eye. She wiped it. "A friend of long ago, Jorden, so very long ago." She shook her head. "You see, my dear Jorden, this was once my world as well, and this was my city. Now there is just that reminder." She pointed to the headstone. "I have changed my name since."

Jorden looked and it clicked. Nothing made any more sense after the realization than before, yet the pieces of the puzzle fit nicely. "You're dead?" he managed to vocalize.

The witch chuckled. "I think that perhaps I am, but I did not die here and my body is not buried. I am dead to this world however. I can never return, not after so long. Even if I could return to the state in which I left, I wouldn't. I was not in the best of health."

"Damn," Jorden swore. "And you come here to give your old friend a hug even though she can't see you and... Three years!" The outsider said in realization. "You've only been away for _three years._ " He knew that time and life-span were warped, but not quite that warped.

"The point that I have been trying to make. Time is on your side," Hura sighed, "and I think that Finesilver is waiting for some of that time. I have taken enough, and she feels for you like no other could, Jorden."

A very old, and very tired mind gazed toward the man through eyes of youth. The twisted realities of the shard worlds had made him a very old friend, someone she felt she knew well even if he knew very little of herself. But that was something he was yet to face in his own very difficult future. "You will now be staying with us for a little while, of course," she added. "I offer all that I have." And the witch bowed ever so slightly, only a hint of a smile upon her lips.

"Yeah," Jorden mused, his thoughts of Taf and the other close friends he had made amongst the nightmare. "As I said, a few days perhaps."

Hura snorted and directed him back toward the portal.

.o0o.

About the Author:

Amos T. Fairchild is a farmer, writer, dog collector and destroyer of worlds too numerous to mention who is currently based in blissful and often cyclone ravaged northern Queensland, Australia. Born in April 1962 and author of several novels and short stories, he is currently documenting several significant events in a number of parallel dimensions over a period of some seventy-three million standard years and releasing the details in an ebook format of your choice.

For the latest news and releases please read the author's blog at: <http://amostfairchild.blogspot.com/>

The adventures of Jorden Miles and the entities of the Domain and beyond continue in the Time of the Dula Kaena – The Second Book of the Shards of Heaven.
