We moved toward what we thought was the exit, at as fast a pace as possible without provoking any suspicions.

Four steps away.

What we were doing was, of course, not illegal since we weren’t actually casting any spells, but if we were investigated, one would easily find a plethora of magical items in our luggage and that would be more than enough to get us in trouble.

“Myriam, my neck is tingling,” Kai said, and I looked over to see spots of gold appearing on his neck as well.

Three steps.

“We’re almost there,” I said. “Don’t worry.”

Two steps.

“Excuse me, Miss,” said a very tall man wearing ring armor, a shiny metal helmet and carrying a sword on his belt. “Can you please follow us this way?”

Name : Harold Hew

Race : Human

Class : Sword of the Gears

Level : 32

He gestured over to a door where a second guard stood, some steps away from the exit. Kai had pulled up his hood so that his face would be shrouded in darkness but I could tell by the way he was pressing the garments on his neck, that his skin was changing color much faster and in places he would have trouble hiding.

“For what reason, Sir?” I asked as calmly as I could manage, looking him straight in the eye.

“Just a routine check—” the man started saying but was interrupted by a deafening shrill sound some distance behind us.

“Get him!” the second guard shouted, and pointed at a young blond man who was now under two thick rays of white light originating from the ceiling.

“No… I… No, I didn’t do anything,” said the blond man, who seemed confused and afraid of what was happening.

The guards rushed toward him and tackled him to the ground. At the same time, I felt someone grab my arm and pull me out of the building while everyone else was distracted by the action.

“That poor guy will have a lot of explaining to do with that magic ring in his pocket,” a familiar voice said.

Darr, our so-called kin, released his hold on me and pushed Kai in my arms.

“Next time you’re rushing to exit a building, try to look less suspicious.” It was the last thing I heard him say before he winked at us and got lost in the crowds.

I held Kai’s arm and continued walking away from the building, not paying any attention at all to the people rushing to see the spectacle. Once we were a safe distance away from the crowds, I steadied Kai’s back against a wall and took a look at his face below the hood.

“How does it look?” he asked as I examined him.

“The neck shows,” I said, and produced a shawl from his bag.

I wrapped it tightly once around his neck and then a second time more loosely as I slowly pulled back his hood.

“Your face and hair are unaffected,” I said, and looked at his hands which were also fine. “Just make sure to keep your sleeves down and I think we’ll be ok.”

“What are we doing now?” he asked, as we started down a slope hoping it would eventually bring us to the ground.

“Let’s find a place to sleep and get some information on the location of the ship going to Snjokomu,” I said.

“Shouldn’t we just ask around and go directly to the port?” Kai suggested.

“We need rest, Kai,” I replied. “We don’t want to make mistakes because we overexerted ourselves and didn’t sleep.”

“You’re right,” he said before noticing a light sign spelling ‘INN’ some hundred steps away from us.

“Looks as good as any other,” I said, and shrugged.

***

The young woman working at the front desk was more than accommodating in providing us a room, which we paid for in Leka An currency as well as trading some of our money for the coins used in Guldan. What’s more, as she was just about to finish her shift, she offered to show us to our room herself.

The inn was a small two-story building and by the number of key slots behind the front desk, it looked like there were no more than twelve rooms in total. The entrance was small and the stairs leading up to the first and second floors rather narrow. The woman offered to carry our luggage, but we both politely refused and so she led the way up to the second floor where our room was located.

“This here will be your room, Madam,” the young woman said as she unlocked the door. “You may think it small compared to rooms near the port, but what it lacks in size, it more than compensates for in view.”

As soon as the door opened, colorful lights filled my eyes. The room was indeed tiny, furnished with only two small beds and a chair, but instead of a wall at the far end, it had a window which could slide down halfway, the same way the ones in the train would. Beyond the window, I could see lights in different shapes and colors, making me wonder how the engineers of Guldan were able to replicate this effect without the use of magic.

We were much higher above the ground than I initially thought we were, as the building stood on the edge of a hill overlooking most of the grand city of Guldan. People looked so small from the window of our room.

“Do you need anything more, Madam?” The woman interrupted my thoughts and I turned to see her standing at the door as Kai emptied his mundane bag on one of the beds.

“Yes,” I replied with a smile. “My brother and I are traveling to Snjokomu. You’ve heard of the place, I suppose?”

“Of course, Madam,” the girl said, nodding. “We get a lot of visitors from the capital of Fjalhun.”

“That’s good to hear,” I said, as Kai took a seat on the edge of his bed. “We were told that there’s a ship that will take us directly to Snjokomu. Can you please give us directions to the docks?”

“You can actually see the docks from here,” she replied. “Well, it’s a little dark now and the ship is out of the docks, but it will arrive around sunrise. You should be able to see it when you wake up.”

“But Miss!” Kai exclaimed, “There’s no water out there.”

“I am afraid you misunderstood me, young man,” the woman said, with a wide smile on her face. “The ship taking you to Fjalhun does not sail. It’s an airship and what I pointed at is Guldan’s airdock.”

“Flying?” Kai said and sprung up from his bed. “I’ve never flown before! How can a ship fly? Without magic?”

“Of course without magic,” the girl answered. “It is a marvel of our engineers. I can give you the schematics of a ship if you’re interested. Their work is public as is every other invention in Guldan.”

“That won’t be necessary, thank you,” I said, before Kai could say something that might draw more attention to us. “Is there something more we would need to know about buying passage to Fjalhun?”

“Not really, Miss,” the woman responded. “You just need to go to the dock, pay for passage and board the airship. It leaves daily, a couple of hours after sunrise. There shouldn’t be a delay for checks, since you’re leaving the country rather than arriving.”

“I see,” I told the woman, and slightly bowed my head in appreciation. “That will be all, thank you.”

“Enjoy your stay!” the woman said, as she backtracked to the door. “Travel safely.”

“Thank you!” Kai called as the woman closed the door.

We spent some time looking out the window before considering going to sleep, fascinated by the lights, the people, and the iron lines upon which multiple smaller trains ran. For a city that didn’t use magic, Tankara definitely looked more magical than any other city I had seen.

It was hard to believe how hellsbent the people here were on not using any magic at all. I guess it was somewhat similar to what people in Elysia did, but instead of using mana, citizens of Guldan used the earth, its minerals, its metals, and their brains.

So used were we to living in our chest-home, that we did not even consider sleeping in the beds of our room. Instead, we climbed down the stairs and after restoring Kai’s skin color where no one would see us, we simply rested in our own beds.

We did make sure we woke up around sunrise to make preparations and to look for the airship which would take us to our final destination though.

And saw it we did—a giant elongated balloon with several propellers on its back end and long balconies on all of its sides. The airship looked like it was docked, since it was standing still and we could make out people moving from and toward it via a long bridge.

“It’s magnificent,” Kai whispered.

“It is,” I agreed. “Let’s go.”

I strapped our chest on my back, made sure that I had our concealer coin in my pocket, and opened the door to the inn’s hallway. Pretty soon, we would be flying on our way to the last stop of our long journey. The monastery at the End of the World was just south of Snjokomu.

And the book that might bring an end to all this was waiting for us there.