“You keep flinching.” Omid said as they passed by another pair of guards.

“You keep not flinching!” Taljir whisper shouted while looked over his shoulder at the animated stone horrors.

Omid gave his friend a sympathetic look while still keeping a cautious eye out. “Don’t let them see you flinch. They are...unsettling to me as well, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t fear running into them still. But if you keep flinching it makes you look suspicious.”

“And looking slightly terrified with downcast eyes all the time would be fine and normal here?” Taljir accused, finally looking back at Omid after he saw the guards round a corner.

He was met with Omid giving a pained grimace, mulling the idea over in his head before settling on a quick nod while still holding a frown.

“I can see why you needed my help, and it is good for you that I will fit right in with my cover as a simple stablehand while also secretly being a very handsome adventurer on a noble quest to return home.” Taljir put his hand over his heart, staring off into space to give himself a more majestic air.

Omid’s silence and a lack of a witty retort brought him back down to earth, or the moon as it were as he once again found his friend wearing a frown. “You’re killing me, Omid.”

“I just brought you back to life not twenty minutes ago.” He said with a scowl.

“And yet here you are, trying to strike me down once more.” Taljir crossed his arms, looking away as he marched on though his indignation was clearly mocking. Mostly.

Omid slowly reached out a hand to pat his friend on the back. “How...are you doing? Really?”

“Not 20 minutes ago, I was turned to sand and killed. And not one moment later I awaken to find out I was not killed and I am no longer sand...I think?” Taljir gave a broad smile and a shrug, and Omid was utterly incapable of telling how genuine it was. “Also, I am on the moon and my best friend is in some kind of relationship with the woman who killed me but not really.”

“Exactly! Not really!” Omid gave him another hard pat on the back and a smile even more broad than his.

Taljir’s eyes darted down to the left, then down to the right. “That is a suspiciously ambiguous answer.”

Omid kept patting him on the back, holding onto that smile for dear life as he leaned in close to whisper. “There are worse things out there to worry about, that we...we need to deal with them.”

“This would be a good time to tell me about those things.” Taljir insisted.

Omid half dragged Taljir along with his hand on his shoulder. “You know of The Old Men, yes?”

Taljir’s concern grew in proportion to his eyebrows pressing together so hard he was getting a headache.

“Yes, well they are of course very real and not legends. And they want to...end the world? And Sareen and the other Zallans do not want that. They maybe want to rule the world, but that’s better than an end right?” Omid was only barely hanging onto that toothy smile.

The pair of scouts arrived before the guarded exit tunnel to the stables as Taljir was once again confronted with several guards staring blankly ahead. “This is a lot to deal with all at once.”

“New stablehand, Sareen’s orders.” Omid commanded the guards, who to Taljir’s visible shock listened and parted to allow them through the passageway leading through that small tunnel out to the stables. “It is a lot, but I have something to make it up to you.”

Taljir shot another worried glance over his shoulder, failing to not be inconspicuous. Finally in a secluded tunnel away from prying eyes and inquiring ears, he wanted at least a few answers. “I must ask first, how did...how did all of this happen? How much did I miss and how are you...in her favor?”

It was Omid’s turn to stare down either end of the tunnel, coming to a halt as he confirmed that they were the only ones there and that speaking in low tones would afford them some privacy. “It has been...one trial after another. A week? Two weeks? And every day I dance on brittle ground ready to fall into a pit of oblivion waiting beneath, until she was taking my hand and pulling me into a duet where I’m not certain if she’s looking out for me or merely wanting to see up close my horror as I do finally fall in. But somewhere along the line I impressed her, and I now think she is far more earnest in wanting me as a dance partner. One in which we both try and fling the other into oblivion.”

His mouth hung open in concern, Taljir pulled his friend into a hug. “We all do what we can to survive, I won’t begrudge you for doing what you had to when it allowed me to live.”

That there had been a genuine interest in seeing the world of the supernatural, of being in that life, was true. But how much was Omid just doing out of necessity? Omid returned the hug, hiding any uncertainty creeping through on his face. “Speaking of things that must be done, let’s not delay.”

He set off at a brisk pace with a confused Taljir to follow behind in the awkward manner of someone spending equal time between walking and glancing over his shoulder out of a creeping dread that had not fully taken root yet. And so he followed his friend wearing nought but a bathrobe and having adapted quite well to the world he was roughly thrown into down a dark passageway until at the far end a door was opened, and light poured in as he could smell the familiar scent of animals and stables.

Taljir held a hand up to his eyes, taking a moment to adjust as he stumbled out from underneath an awning and stared up at the sky. A sky completely unlike any he had ever known, and yet if all Omid had said was true then that half-orb in the sky was home. “Is that really….?”

“You know I had the same question not but a day or so ago, and I am still adjusting to the answer.” Omid said with a sigh, staring at their home so far away.

“You didn’t answer the question.” Taljir stated.

“Is there a direct answer that will be both not upsetting and believable?” Omid said.

“And still no direct answer.” Taljir’s complaints were interrupted by a loud braying that instantly made his eyes go wide and turn to the sound of an all too familiar sight galloping towards him.

Riz hobbled after the beast for a moment, calling after it but gave up as he saw Taljir running towards the creature with joy in his heart and tears in his eyes as they reunited.

“NAZER!” He called out as he pulled his camel into an embrace, with Nazer wrapping his long neck around Taljir’s entire torso in a unique yet endearing camel hug.

Omid gave an approving smile, looking on with some rare satisfaction that he had done something unambiguously good before walking off to meet Riz who had long given up his attempts at a chase. “He is the help I mentioned I would find for you.”

Riz stared at the man hugging the camel, and the camel hugging back with its neck. “He seems qualified, and it seems you work fast.”

“Not fast enough.” Omid said, holding onto a smile and that good feeling. “Please find him a place to sleep around here, ensure he settles in. I have important matters to attend to.”

The stablehand didn’t meet Omid’s eyes, giving the smallest of bows and the slightest of smiles. “Of course, Prince Omid.”

Omid’s skin was sent crawling, though he didn’t acknowledge it as he left Taljir to reunite with his beloved camel and Riz to get acquainted with his new superior. A bit of a troublesome transition, but it would have to do. He passed by Masel on the way in, patting his side and brushing him for a short while before he steeled himself for the next vital part of this day.

All guards gave him only the most cursory of acknowledgement, and Omid would swear it was different than not only one day before where there had been an air of suspicion in those unmoving faces. He wasn’t sure if it was an actual change or if he was imagining things, but then this had been a common feeling for a long time now.

Justified caution or paranoia run rampant? Perhaps one leading into another?

It was impossible to determine the distinction at this point, and given that the confusion over the difference had kept him alive thus far Omid was in no rush to draw any distinct lines. He only continued on to his bedroom with that vague air of increased confidence that comes from snapping an Kirzallan’s arm and having them get...excited about it right before they reward you.

Somehow he made that sound far more suggestive than it probably was in his own head, and Omid cast a worried glance around as though someone would be able to hear his thoughts. He found only a wayward servant keeping her eyes down as she passed by as fast as she could.

“There’s no need to be afraid!” Omid called after her, though this only made the dark curly haired young woman scurry off faster.

Omid scratched the back of his head, frowning as he felt a braid coming loose. “Add it to the list…” He said with a groan as he continued onto his room.

As he approached, he breathed a sigh of relief that so far no guards had been posted here. That this would normally be a bad thing was not lost on him, but as he closed the door behind him and twisted the handle into a locked position he reminded himself that the number of people capable of getting past all of Sareen’s defenses to hurt him would be slim. And at that point there would be nothing he could do anyway.

It was an initially comforting thought made very uncomforting by the addition of overthinking.

There on his bed were placed an assortment of freshly crafted clothes in addition to his carefully washed scarf all neatly folded. “The bathrobe has been comfortable, but sadly I am not bold enough to take on the world one gust of wind away from indecency.”

Clothing this nice almost felt...wrong to Omid. Whatever material it was, everything was soft yet durable while still being breathable. Looking in the mirror at the corner of his personal chambers he suspected that this would cost mere humans a fortune.

He looked over his new tunic that reached just above his knee, overall a green near that of his own scarf but patterned with regal blue geometric designs in a similar way to what he assumed was something of Sareen’s personal design. His trousers were a lighter green tucked into new boots that were quite a bit better in make than what he had been used to. It took him a good minute or several to get all the pouches from his old worn out belt onto the new one secured around his waist.

“Tell me how you really feel about green, Sareen.” Omid dryly observed, stretching his arms and legs about to get a feel for the ease of movement. Still on the bed, he noticed an indigo jacket that would reach down just past his knees. He tied his scarf in place around his neck before throwing on the jacket, finding the air up here decidedly cool still. “Perhaps some day I will find someone, anyone who will let me live any of this down. Right about the time where I manage to make it out of all this alive...whatever ‘out of this’ looks like. Don’t worry phantom Omid I’m sure you’ll figure it out along the way.”

Now properly dressed for whatever would be thrown at him, he pulled the glass disks from their pouches to contact Aiz. No sooner than the magical set-up had been activated did he hear a crashing sound which just about described his confidence at this point.

“There you are Omid!” Aiz’s voice rang through sounding distant before sounding slightly out of breath on getting closer to his end of the glass. “I was starting to worry something horrible had happened to you! Well, more horrible than your current predicament. A worsening of your predicament!”

“Not...not as such no.” Even though he wasn’t actually looking at him, Omid still avoided looking at the glass.

Despite the distance, he could feel the questioning look pointed at him. “Your hesitation is coming through loud and clear, my boy.”

Omid hesitated, gritting his teeth for a moment. “Good news is, Taljir is back!”

“That is wonderful news!”

“The other good news is, I think I forced Sareen to respect me more?”

“Still sounds like good news!” Aiz kept his upbeat tone. “How did you do that?”

“By breaking her arm.” Omid admitted in a wounded voice before clarifying. “She let me though, I think she just wanted to see what I was capable of? What I would do? The good news is that in spite of having her hand around my throat not two seconds later, she was smiling through it all and this led into her declaration that I had earned Taljir’s life. And I’m alive obviously so I believe all went well.”

A long silence followed that had Omid glancing around the room and back to the glass disks he was holding up in the light, clearing his throat to see if they were still functioning which did finally get a response from Aiz.

“I remember when I was young and chased after dangerous women as you are doing now. I still do so, and with age they only grow more fierce.” Omid could just picture the serious look in Aiz’s eyes at that moment with a fist held aloft and shaking. “Somehow you have outpaced me, and so I shall need to teach you the words of Fire as soon as possible.”

“It’s not like that! We’re not together!” Omid whisper shouted into the glass. “We’re just working together and I’m doing my best to ensure that she doesn’t see me as expendable.”

“I don’t believe that and neither do you.” Aiz said in a stern voice. “Whatever this is, literally and metaphorically you will need to learn to wield fire in your hands and in your mind. Now, find a way to set up those bits of glass to leave your hands free.”

Omid scanned the room, finding a small stone pedestal that could be easily modified. He spoke a word of control as he flicked his fingers to create some small holders for the disks out of the pedestal before setting it on a stone table.

“...who cast that?” Aiz asked.

“I did. First lesson in Earth. That’s how I broke her arm.” Omid said as he arranged the disks to leave his hands free.

Another long pause.

“Omid being a mage is about balancing caution and boldness at the same time. And then you add madness. A bit of madness to know just when to be cautious, and when to be bold. And then you add more madness to help you thread that ever shrinking eye of the needle of true power that lay between mundanity and oblivion.” Aiz was again fully serious before his jovial tone returned. “You seem to have already picked up on that, keep it up!”

Omid was thoroughly unsure how to take that, but knew Aiz meant it as a compliment. “I...thank you?”

“You’re doing me proud already! Now onto playing with fire!”