“So, that’s it, then? Just like that?” Boomer asked.

“Just like that,” Terra replied. “She didn’t even hesitate. Once she heard the story about the whole… vision thing, she insisted on it. Said I would be an idiot not to go. That everyone would be counting on me. Then offered to help me pack, told me to take pictures.”

“Is that surprising?”

Terra sighed. “Sort of? Not really? I don’t know. She’s always believed in mediums and that sort of thing. I always heard stories of all the ghosts she saw growing up. I just… I dunno, I think I’d already decided and was hoping she’d talk me out of it. It’s just weird how well she took it all.”

“I’ve met your mother,” Boomer said. “Doesn’t sound that weird to me. She’s always been the type to cut through the bullshit with a smile.”

“Maybe,” Terra sighed. “I still don’t know what Nalya said to the Committee to make them agree to all this though.”

Boomer took a sip of his coffee. It had been a long day for everyone, and he’d been up since the previous night. Coffee was his best friend at a moment where he was pushing his third wind. He’d run into Terra just as she was coming into the apartment and got the strange sense she was upset. “So then you’re leaving in the morning?”

She nodded. “Early. God, I should start packing. I don’t even know what to bring. What does one bring to meet a King? Or a Seer?” She reached up to her blood-red hair. “Should I bleach this out?”

“Ah, you’ll be fine. Neither you nor Ryan are idiots. And you’ll have Constable Shepherd there too, right? Just mind your P’s and Q’s, wear a nice dress or something. Other than that I’d pack light. It’s gonna be a long hike.”

“Maybe not as long as we thought,” she said. “They said it’d be five or six days before we even crossed the border into Halen. The Emergency Committee had a better idea.” She leaned back in her chair. “They’re going to provide us with quads.”

“Quads? Will your… uhh... new friends even know how to operate one?”

“It’s not hard to learn,” she said. “I learned how to do it in minutes.”

“Yeah, but you also had the advantage of growing up on an acreage. Besides, I can’t imagine travelling that way in what for all intents and purposes is a medieval society isn’t going to turn a few heads. What if they burn you at the stake?”

“At least I’ll go out how I always envisioned it,” she replied. “But you have a point there. Might as well just fly a helicopter, that way we’d be there in a few hours. The airport crossed over.”

“Fuel’s an issue,” Boomer replied. “You would have to refuel once there, and I can’t imagine helicopter fuel is easy to come by. Too far a distance, and you’d need some kind of landing strip in place if you were going to fly.”

The sound of keys jingling at the front door attracted both of their attention. Boomer could hear Lily’s voice. She was talking to someone excitedly. He sat up straight at the table and looked over to her as she entered the room.

Behind him was a face he only saw once, at the address at City Hall. It was the younger girl from that world. What was her name again?

Lily looked past Boomer directly to Terra. “You’re back!” she exclaimed. “What did she say?”

“Looks like I’m going,” Terra said. She looked to Arie and smiled. “Hello again.”

“Hello,” the girl replied. “It is good to see you again.”

“Just like that?” Lily asked.

Boomer let out a snort.

Lily gave him an annoyed look.

With a nod, Terra said, “I’m leaving with Ryan in the morning. He’s already gone to pack and get an early night.”

“And how do you feel about it all?”

Terra shook her head. “Weird. Scared. Hopeful. Confident. I don’t know, there’s a lot going on upstairs I can’t quite make sense of. The more I think of those visions, the more I think I have to do this.” She looked to Arie. “So, what’s up with you two?”

“You weren’t at the address. Arie’s staying in town, working with the LRCA to help us sort out our… uhh… magic issues.”

“I will do what I can to help your people understand their abilities,” Arie explained. “Lily graciously offered me your sofa to sleep upon. She also mentioned I should make use of your falling water machine.”

“Falling wat– you mean the shower?” Terra asked. Her jaw dropped. “Oh my God, you’ve never had a shower before, have you?”

“I used to go to the women’s baths in Dey when I attended the Academies,” she said.

“Yeah, but they didn’t have high pressure pulse shower heads there I bet,” Terra commented. “Oh, Arie, you are in for a treat.”

“Should I be privy to this conversation?” Boomer asked.

Terra rolled her eyes. “This specimen of the male half of the species is Boomer. He’s got a dirty mind, but don’t let that fool you. He’s actually one of the good guys.”

“Boomer,” Arie greeted, nodding her head. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Boomer said, extending his hand.

Arie hesitated for a moment, wearing a look of uncertainty.

“It’s okay, he doesn’t bite,” Lily said.

“No, it’s not that,” Boomer said. “She just hasn’t felt human touch in a while. I’m not offended.” After he said it, he paused. What prompted him to say that?

All three of them blinked at him in surprise.

“How could… how did you know that?” Arie asked.

“Sorry,” he said. He shook his head. “I don’t know, it’s just… I dunno, intuition?” Even as he said that, he wasn’t sure.

Arie took an instinctive step backward. She shot Boomer a look of distrust.

“I… I didn’t mean to offend. I’m just overtired. I haven’t slept since yesterday–”

“What do you see when you look at me?” Arie asked.

Boomer cocked his head to one side. “I’m sorry?”

She stepped forward, crowding into his personal space and looked him in the eye. “When you look at me, what do you see?”

Boomer wasn’t sure how to respond. What did she mean? Oddly, he found himself drawn to her chest. He wasn’t checking her out, but he suddenly became very aware of the strange black pendant hanging around her neck. It was meaningful to her. Very. Almost as if…

…almost as if it was family.

“Jesus Christ,” Boomer said. “Is that… is your brother in that stone?”

“Wait,” Terra asked. “What does that even mean?” She looked to Boomer. “What’s going on?”

Arie grasped the pendant for a moment and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she removed it from her neck. “This is a Widow’s Tear,” she said. “When criminals are tried and put to death in Shavi, their souls are removed from their bodies by the Grand Summoner and entombed in a Widow’s Tear. Tam was tried, but–”

“He was innocent,” Boomer said. He suddenly shook his head. “How do I know this?” He looked to Lily and Terra. “This is fucking weird.”

Arie gingerly pressed the Widow’s Tear into Boomer’s hand. “What do you feel?”

Boomer looked down to his hand. “Sadness,” he said. “But… relief? He’s relieved you… you’re with him.” He looked back up at her. “I don’t like this, what’s going on?”

“The nine foundations of magic,” she said. “Of them, there is the magic of the mind. It is one of the rarest forms of magic. So rare that there are perhaps fewer than ten in all the Pactlands.” She looked to Terra. “So rare that no school can teach Mind Mages how to control their craft. Only another Mind Mage can, but they live in secret.” She looked to Terra. “A Mind Mage in the company of the Green Sight. This cannot be coincidence.”

“Boomer’s a Mage too?” Lily asked.

“I’m not… I mean. I don’t know if–”

“Do me!” Terra said.

Boomer pushed the Widow’s Tear back into Arie’s hand. “I’m not doing this right now. I’m way too fucking tired.” He wasn’t a Mage. He couldn’t be. He stood up. “I need to go get some sleep,” he said.

Boomer pushed past them.

As he walked toward the door, he heard Arie call his name. He paused, then looked back at her. “Mind Magic is regarded as the most dangerous and deadly of all magics. Even moreso than Soul Magic. Sleep, but be at peace in your dreams. When you have rested, seek me out. We have much to talk about.”

Boomer only looked back at her, and the two shocked faces to either side of her. Whatever was going on, he needed to sleep on it. He looked to Terra. “I’ll see you when you get back,” he said. He let his gaze linger on Arie for another moment, then stepped out into the hallway silently.

The air inside the apartment seemed thicker somehow after Boomer’s departure. The three girls sat in silence for a moment before Arie spoke. “Is he a kind man?” she asked.

“Boomer?” Lily asked. “I’ve never seen him be cruel or lose his temper if that’s what you mean.”

Arie took a seat at the table. “I suppose that is good. Is he a fearful type?”

“You’re really concerned about him aren’t you?” Terra asked.

“I don’t know him. It seems you do. I simply wish to understand whether or not he will be a threat.”

“Not at all,” Terra said. “Boomer’s got a justice boner.”

“A… justice boner?” Arie asked.

“She means he always tries to do right by people. He gets worked up real bad if he sees someone being taken advantage of or hurt without cause,” Lily explained.

“And family? Does he have loved ones? A wife? Parents? A child?”

“He’s got a mom,” Terra said. “I’ve never met her. She’s not from here. As far as I know they don’t talk very much.” She cocked her head to one side. “Boomer doesn’t talk about his past very much. He just sort of showed up one day a few years back. He likes to say that he sprung forth fully formed from his father’s brow.”

Arie blinked. “What does that mean?”

“It’s a joke. Something about mythology I think. Boomer’s knowledgeable about all sorts of things like that. He makes it his goal to figure people out. He’s always been intuitive. When I was dating my ex, he warned me what to watch out for. Truth told, I should have listened.”

“You’re trying to figure out if he’s dangerous,” Lily said. “Aren’t you?”

Arie nodded. “Mind Mages can be… unpredictable. Powerful. They are feared all over the Pactlands, which is why they try to stay hidden once they discover their powers. It is good that they are so rare, but to have one here, now, and in your company, Terra…”

“What kind of powers are we talking about?” Lily asked.

Arie shook her head. “The scope of their powers are unknown even to our scholars. Several have been found over the years, but all tend to vanish without a trace. What we do know is that they can pull thoughts and memories directly from a person’s mind. They can feel emotions experienced by another. These things are relatively benign. But it’s also said that they can enthral a person with little effort, manipulate a person’s memories or perceptions. Some say they can make things act according to their wishes and kill with a look. There are rumours they can even manifest things from nothing. If your friend is capable of doing such things, I believe it’s important to know what kind of man he is.”

“I can’t see Boomer willingly harming innocent people if that’s what you mean,” Terra said. “I don’t even think I’ve ever seen him get into a fight.”

Arie looked at her. “Never?”

Terra shook her head. “I mean, I wouldn’t call him harmless. He’s tall, and he’s obviously strong, hence the nickname.”

“Boomer is a nickname?” Arie asked.

“Yeah, his real name is Cecil. But he hates that name, so never utter it in his presence. The point is that if he meant to do it, he could really hurt someone. But they would have to deserve it.”

“We have a saying,” Arie said. “You can never know a man until you’ve met the beast that dwells within him, and the master that controls him.”

Lily and Terra looked at each other. “It’s Boomer. He’s never said a bad word about anyone. I’m not sure he has a beast.”

“It may be because he’s never been pushed to his limits,” Arie said. “Everyone has a beast within them. Those who don’t believe they do are the most dangerous types of all when they’re inevitably pushed over the edge.” She sat in silence for a moment. “Lily, if you could arrange it, I would like to know him better. I think he should join us with the other Mages that have been awakened here.”

“I mean, I’ll put the bug in his ear,” Lily said. “But it’ll be up to him in the end.”

“I think it’ll be easier than you think,” Terra said, taking a sip of her coffee.

Lily looked up at her. “How so?”

She smirked. “His pupils dilated when Arie walked into the room.”

Arie cocked her head to one side. “I don’t understand,” she said.

“When you look at something appealing, your pupils tend to dilate,” Terra said. “Or so I’ve read.”

Arie raised an eyebrow. “You are saying he found me to be appealing?” She looked down at herself. “I haven’t washed in days. My clothes are tattered and filthy, and I am perhaps only a day out from my crimson days. I don’t see what he would find appealing.”

“That doesn’t mean much,” Lily replied. “Even I can tell you’re drop-dead. And what are crimson days?” Lily asked. “Oh, I get it. Wait.” She paused. “How do women here… uhh… deal with that?”

“We endure,” she replied.

“No, I mean… do you use wadded up cloth or something, or…”

“Oh. Yes, normally. In Dey it was also fashionable to use perfumed reeds. But in the absence of cloth or reeds we use grass or moss.”

“You use what?” Terra asked. “Oh no. No, no, no. That won’t do.” She stood up and went to the bathroom.

“Not the Diva cup,” Lily said.

“Hell yes the Diva cup!”

Lily shuddered. “She swears by it,” she said. “It's not for me.”

“Would you rather use a cup or grass?” Terra asked from the bathroom.

Lily thought about it. “Both are equally undesirable,” she replied. She turned back to Arie.

Terra returned with a Diva cup in her hand, and briefly demonstrated how it worked. “You can have this,” Terra said. “Just make sure you wash it. Speaking of which, we should get you cleaned up.”

“Ah yes, the shower you spoke of. I would be grateful to use it. I understand it’s indoors, like your toilets?”

“Yeah, it’s in the same room.”

Arie looked surprised at that. “You defecate and wash in the same room?”

“Modern technology at its finest,” Terra said. She paused and gave Arie a once-over. “You’re about my size. I figure you’re what… five foot five? Five-six?”

“I don’t understand,” Arie repeated.

Terra shook her head. “Never mind. Leave it to me. Lily, she’s about your bust size, wouldn’t you say?”

Lily picked up what Terra was throwing down. “Yeah,” she said. “She might fit into mine.”

“You get her into the shower,” she said. “I’ll start laying out some clothes. Throw out those rags you’re wearing. While I’m gone you can help yourself to my clothes until you get some of your own.”

Arie suddenly wore a look not too dissimilar from that of a deer in headlights. “I don’t understand,” she said. “What is happening?”

“You’ll find out,” Terra said with a mischievous grin.

“It came through the canopy there,” Hatsch said, pointing up toward the gaping hole in the tree cover above. “Landed here. Like a young male, judging from the marks.” He took his canteen from his side and took a swig. Even under the canopy of the forest, it was hot.

“You see these footprints?” asked Lieutenant Ynnia.

“Yes,” he replied. “Odd sort of shoe, I’ve never seen markings like these before. He was running. The depression suggests it to be a heavy man. But the stride… favours his left side. An injury perhaps. The bloody wyvern probably spooked him.”

“Free Men aren’t known for their intelligence,” Ynnia replied.

“I hesitate to underestimate them. They’ve survived out here this long. Still, to flee like this from a wyvern. You’d think he’d never encountered one before.”

“As I said, not the sharpest swords in the rack.”

Hatsch stood up and followed the tracks with his eyes. The wyvern had landed, and continued on the ground for a ways. The tracks of the man seemed to head in the same direction. Wyverns were nearly blind, but could scent the freshly dead from up to a league away. Even if the man smelled of corpses, the wyvern would have ignored him once it realised he was living. They were destructive beasts. Nuisances, but no threat to anything but corpses and buildings.

“You figure it could be a refugee from that village they sacked last night in the pass?”

“It’s possible,” he replied. “But I suspect it’s more likely a fisherman that came ashore. I bet the beast caught the scent of his catch, and the man ran to try and get to it first.”

“Maybe the beast is still around. Alchemists will pay a premium for the lower teeth of a wyvern in Nostra. If we catch it sleeping–”

A third man suddenly called out from ahead of them. They both looked further up the trail to see Anton Mis running toward them. He seemed excited about something, but kept looking back over his shoulder.

“What is it?” Ynnia asked.

Mis saluted him. “Sir,” he said. “There is a village here!”

“A village?” Ynnia raised an eyebrow. “Not on any map I’ve seen.” He looked over to Hatsch. “Could the survey team have missed it?”

“It’s small. Only five buildings, but– he paused. “Sir, I’ve never seen a village like this. It’s down a steep slope surrounded by broken trees. Colourful and strange. Two of the buildings had lights so bright I suspect that at first I suspected an Illuminator had me, but they would have had to know I was there. There were strangely coloured wagons, and… some sort of beast growls there. But not like any growl I’ve heard. It’s steady and constant.”

“That doesn’t bode well,” Ynnia said. “The Lord General expects this coast to be clear of Free Men by the next full Dream. You’re certain there were only five buildings? How many Free Men? Did you see any arms? Defences?”

Mis shook his head. “I reported all that I saw.”

“Foolish,” Ynnia muttered. “Bloody Free Men are like tyl, popping their heads up where they’re not wanted.” He looked to Hatsch and grasped the hilt of his sword with a sly smirk. “We will have to take care of the problem.”

Hatsch cocked his head to one side. He’d served under this new Lieutenant since he was conscripted, and had unfortunately been favoured by him. Some might have found it an honour to be so favoured by the nephew of a member of the Vectoran Senate, but Hatsch found the man to be insufferable. He was too impulsive and quick to take extreme measures. “Should we not be certain they are Free Men first? We were warned there may be Halish interference in the area. Perhaps we should report this to General Ryde, then–”

“There you go again, thinking,” Ynnia spat. “Don’t think yourself so wise. Halen would never be so idiotic as to come into these lands after we exercised a rightful claim. They are a special sort of foolish, but not suicidal. They know what they’d risk,” Ynnia said. “Time for you to earn your keep, Errin Hatsch. I’ve heard you provincials were light on your feet. Mis and I will stay back and watch. We’ll wait for nightfall. You go down and discover how many Free Men reside there. Kill any who see you.”

Hatsch didn’t like it. He felt like he was being thrown to the lions. “Should we not make contact with the others? The three of us alone–”

“The three of us are more than a match for any Free Man,” Ynnia replied with a dismissive wave. “Now are you going to go, or will I tell stories of provincial cowardice to the General when we return to Anastae? I hear he is always looking for new subjects for his pet Summoner. What backwater village did you hail from again?”

Hatsch gripped the hilt of his sword. Part of him knew he could kill Ynnia right then and there, and Mis would likely look the other way.

But to return to Anastae without his Lieutenant and the nephew of a Senator would be another matter entirely. That would capture the attention of General Ryde, and Hatsch feared the General far more than he hated Burz Ynnia.

“I’ll go,” Hatsch replied.

“Of course you will,” Ynnia replied. He turned to Mis. “Come on then, let’s lay our eyes on this growling village of yours.”