Zachariah walked through the harbor town that was built on the edges of old

Riordiana. He looked out in the ocean. His old shop should be out there in the middle

of the new harbor. He felt a pang but there was nothing he could do about that.

Festus had destroyed the city with Primrose. It was the only thing he could do to save

the people who were trying to escape the thing that had been summoned in the middle

of the city.

Zachariah had no regrets the way he and Gold Bug had dealt with the other summoner

in Messer’s Reach. The one Green Light in the city would have had to do the same

thing to the Reach that Festus had done to his home city. And the Reachers had no

means to escape the unleashed carnage.

The machinist made his way down to the ferry set up to visit the New Riordiana. He

noted the walls out in the middle of the ocean. He supposed boats from other sea

countries were warned off by watchmen with flying daemons.

He walked down to the dock. He inspected things with his critical eyes, nodding at

the solid buildings around him. Daemon work stood out from other brick and metal

structures.

Daemons and their partners wearing badges of authority inspected the crowd

boarding the ferry. Zachariah wondered how many lived out in the sea, and how many

lived on land. He supposed it depended on how many were afraid of being caught out

at sea with no way to run from another thing summoned in their midst.

Zachariah admitted to himself he didn’t want to be stuck out in the middle of the

ocean with no way to build a life raft.

He boarded the ferry. He moved to take a spot near the bow. He noted that the craft

had been built out of something metallic. He supposed that daemons had shaped

things with their breath weapons. He heard the vibration of a motor. A machinist had

put that in.

The person and their daemon wasn’t as good as he and Gold Bug in his estimation.

The ferry sailed smoothly across the harbor toward a gate in the wall around the

island created by the Riordianians after the destruction of their city. Trees and various

flowers and plants grew everywhere to cover the barren rock they had started with at

first. Homes had been built, or carved from the rock, depending on the daemon

involved.

Zachariah saw signs of machinist workings in some of the outbuildings as the ferry

sailed to its dock. He supposed they were getting water from the sea with filters built

in those buildings. Maybe they handled waste removal depending on things.

He followed the other passengers off the ferry. He noted watchmen checking people

as he descended to the dock. He decided he might as well ask one of them for

directions.

“Hello,” Zachariah said. He paused at one of the watchmen. The man’s daemon

glared at him with feathers of fire from his shoulder. “I would like to talk to Festus.

Is he around?”

“I don’t know,” said the watchman. “I expect that he’s up at the government center.”

“Thank you,” said Zachariah. He started up the dock to the streets leading into the

city.

“Wait,” said the watchman. “What’s your name?”

“Zachariah Eight Arms,” said Zachariah. “Is that important?”

“We have to know what you’re doing here since you don’t seem to be a resident,”

said the watchman.

“I’m a machinist and I have been commissioned to build something to dive

underwater here in the harbor,” said Zachariah. “I plan to talk to Festus about this and

see if I need permission to build my boat here in a temporary shop, or will I have to

build it in Messer’s Reach and have it shipped here in pieces to be put together so I

can dive when that’s done.”

“There are daemons that can dive,” said the watchman. “Some of our fishing fleet use

them.”

“My impression on why I was hired is the water isn’t safe where I am supposed to be

diving,” said Zachariah.

“Sounds like the Demon Wake,” said the watchman. “It’s a poisonous spot in the

harbor.”

“Something new?,” asked Zachariah. He believed that confirmed why he had been

hired. If something was left over from the attack on the city, it might kill the fish and

any daemon unlucky to get close enough to it.

“Yes,” said the watchman. “It seems to be getting worse from what I have seen.”

“Hopefully I will have a solution for the problem,” said Zachariah. “Do you know if

Carson One Thumb is still in business?”

“Yes,” said the watchman. “He has a shop at the top of the street, to the left as you

head into the city.”

“I should talk to him in case I need more help than what I have at the moment,” said

Zachariah. “Thank you for your time.”

The watchman nodded.

Zachariah walked off the dock. He decided that the Government Center building

would be in the center of town, on the peak. He thought that would be the place for

a lookout on the ocean, and why build two different places when one would do.

He would check in on Carson on the way back down to the ferry. Talking to Festus

would give him more of a sense of what he would need to get started.

Carson had been a rival in the old city. The man’s squid was a good daemon for

building things, but not nearly as good as Gold Bug. Zachariah had given him jobs

that were simple to do when he had been scrambling for time.

It was no surprise that he had become prominent after the destruction of the city. He

had been a solid worker, and most people didn’t need the odd constructs that

Zachariah worked on.

The machinist walked up the hill, looking around as he went. He nodded at the

construction and layout of the city. Three years didn’t seem that long a time, but

things looked better than he would have thought.

He shouldn’t be surprised. Daemons made things easier. They could alter

circumstances with ease with the right partner.

Zachariah found the government center after a few stops to ask directions. He noted

the ramparts for sighting on the ocean. He doubted any daemon other than Primrose

could hit the water from where the building stood.

He turned and looked back. He smiled at the city spread out below the point. He

wondered if he could have set up a new shop here. Had he made the right decision

moving to Messer’s Reach? He shook himself. You couldn’t change the past. You

could only change the future.

Zachariah turned to go into the building. He noticed Primrose for the first time as he

headed for the door. The dragon curled its massive length on the round roof. If

something happened to attract its attention, it could launch and be on the scene in a

few seconds.

He walked into the government center. Halls leading to offices branched off from the

lobby. The Watch’s offices and small jail seemed to be underneath the public part of

the building from the signs he could see. He went to the counter where a young lady

and her lizard daemon passed a small stone back and forth on the top.

“Hello,” said the lady. She passed the stone back with a flick of her finger. The lizard

caught the stone and held it. “How can I help you?”

“I’m here to talk to Festus,” said Zachariah. “Is he busy?”

“I’ll check,” said the lady. She motioned to her daemon. The green and yellow reptile

flickered on her desk. It shook its head. “Apparently not. He’s in his office at the top

of the stairs.”

She pointed at a set of stairs concealed in an alcove off the first hall to the left.

“Thank you for your help,” said Zachariah.

“It’s no problem,” said the lady. “I don’t know you. Have you been here before?”

“No,” said Zachariah. “I moved away after the destruction of the city. This is my first

time back. Zachariah Eight Arms.”

“Lydia Water Lifter,” said the lady. “Are you moving back?”

“I have been hired to find something,” said Zachariah. “I need to talk to Festus about

it before I get started.”

“Does your daemon find things?,” asked Lydia.

“Gold Bug and I are machinists,” said Zachariah. “I noticed your lizard can teleport.”

“Skate can only teleport himself right now,” said Lydia. “But his range is great. I can

get him to take messages all over the island from here.”

Zachariah nodded. If the lizard’s power kept growing, he would be able to reach at

least Messer’s Reach before he topped out. He could still reach the other city in a

series of jumps if he could get across to the mainland in one try.

He would probably never be able to take his human partner with him. The machinist

didn’t think his opinion should be said.

“Thank you for your help, Lydia,” said Zachariah. He walked to the stairs and headed

up to find the king of the island.

Zachariah walked down the hall until he found a closed plain door. A small sign told

him this was Festus’s office. He heard voices inside. He knocked.

“Come in,” said an older male voice. A little boy with blond hair opened the door for

Zachariah.

“Hello,” said the boy. Another boy joined him at the door.

“Hello,” said Zachariah. “How do you do?”

“Boys,” said a woman coming to the door. “I don’t think he’s here to see you.”

“Come in,” said Festus. He filled the door behind the woman. “I will be home on

time, Abigail.”

“You better,” said Abigail. She kissed her husband on the cheek before ushering the

two children out of the office. “Come on, boys.”

“Hello,” said Festus. He walked to his desk and sat down. Paperwork covered the top

as he gestured for Zachariah to take the visitor’s seat on the right.

“Hello, Festus,” said Zachariah. “I’m Zachariah Eight Arms. I’m a machinist and I

have been asked to build a diving machine to search the harbor for an egg from the

thing that attacked the city three years ago.”

“What do you mean an egg?,” said Festus. He leaned back in his chair.

“I am participating in the Continental Air Race,” said Zachariah. “Before lift off, I

was asked to build a diving machine to look for this egg. I was told that I have two

years before it hatches.”

“Hatches into what?,” asked Festus.

Zachariah shrugged.