“Let me start by repeating I am Omar Renfield,” said Renfield after he was done eating. “I'm one of the thirteen oracles. Most of us wander around, but a few have decided to settle in one place and help those around them. The thirteenth oracle only reveals himself when he has a need.

“The important thing is we can see the future as a tree. The past is the trunk. The branches are alternate instances of the future. Just talking to you now is pruning some branches and letting others grow.

“This part of the world is ruled by different factions. The one you are most interested in is Emil Grandview's Weapons. The Masks and Shapers are of lesser importance, but necessary for me to tell you when we're done talking about Grandview.”

Shanahan sipped at his ale. It was weaker than what he was used to back home. He supposed they were watering it down so they could stretch out the supply.

“Each faction has one master and twelve servants, just like the oracles. Grandview is the Weapons' master. That means he can use all of their abilities at will, separately or together.

“You have the horse power until someone kills you and takes it away from you. I imagine that's how you got it from the previous holder.”

Shanahan shrugged. The lightning could have been the transfer of power. He had thought it was the tube breaking apart naturally. Maybe he had wrecked it when he had jumped into the door and the lightning had chased him.

“All the Weapons have the same transference, but no one has combined any of them in one person. I personally have never been close enough to tell you what would happen if you killed another one and took his power. My advice is to find someone who will help you and use him to kill one of the Weapons and then send him on his way while you recruit someone else to help with the next one.

“Each Weapon has a name. The ones I have seen in use are the Sword, the Fist, Door, the Eye, the Phoenix, and the Storm. They are Grandview's chief enforcers. They go where he tells them and complete their missions.”

That was six out of thirteen. Shanahan's horse made seven. Grandview made eight out of thirteen. What could the other five do?

“The woman you came here after is the Eye. She can find anything she wants by looking for it. Rumors of her leaving Grandview's service have been going around for months,” said Renfield. “When I saw your arrival, so soon after hers, I knew they were connected.”

Shanahan didn't elaborate on their relationship. They really didn't have one beyond her paying him to help her with her work. Being able to find anything explained why she was able to find him whenever she wanted.

“Grandview will be able to use her ability to find you if he thinks you are alive,” said Renfield. “As long as he thinks you are dead, he won't bother. Once he knows you're alive, he's going to want to use you to keep his rebel in line and to have your power close by so he can transfer it to a loyal soldier.”

Shanahan would like to see him try anything like that if they were meeting on open ground.

“Now I saw you heading for Grandview's tower. It is on the other side of the area controlled by the Masks. They are like the Weapons except they draw power from masks they wear. It's said that if you get one, you can use the power as your own.”

Shanahan nodded. That was something useful. He didn't want to throw himself at a faction he could avoid if possible.

If he couldn't, he would just kill them too.

“I'm going to tell you what I know the Weapons can do,” said Renfield. “Then our meeting broke up, but I can see the future changing because now you have more questions than you originally had.”

Shanahan gestured for him to go ahead.

“The Sword wears red exclusively and can project a blade that can cut through most objects. The Fist is unnaturally strong. He's incredibly wide and bulky. The Door can move between distances without crossing the intervening space. The Phoenix has some control over fire. The Storm controls the weather,” said Renfield.

Shanahan thought he knew three of the men described. They had been with Gaunt when he had interfered with the kidnapping. He definitely wanted to meet with them again.

It would be a pleasure to give them the same thing he gave Gaunt.

“What does this horse magic give me?,” asked Shanahan. He wanted to leverage it for a way to deal with the other powers that be.

“As far as I can tell, and I admit I don't know for sure,” said Renfield. “It makes you stronger, faster, and surefooted.”

“Surefooted?,” said Shanahan.

“That's what I saw,” said Renfield. “It allows you to walk on uneven ground without falling down.”

That was useful if he was walking on gravel, and not on grass.

“I can't change your mind,” said Renfield. “I know you want to go to the tower and get some kind of revenge. Your efforts might bring a lot of death to the region. I think you would help the region more by finding the shaper that made the artifact to reach your place, and then go home.”

“Not without Wyndham,” said Shanahan. “Is she still alive?”

“I don't have any way to know that for sure,” said Renfield. “Some of the future is different things that happen to you, and she is in some of those. That doesn't make it a sure thing. If you want to rescue her, you'll have to hurry. The longer you take, the more paths will be closed off to you.”

“So if I want to get her back, I have to get to that tower before something happens to her,” said Shanahan.

“Something might have already happened to her,” said Renfield. “I only saw you walking together. She could have been wounded in some way that I couldn't see.”

Shanahan sat back in his chair and considered the information. Even if he got to her, got her out of the tower, and got her heading toward home, she might not be the same person. What should he do?

He decided that he owed her a chance. If her mind was wounded, or she had some sort of internal injury, he would deal with it. Renfield said you could change the future. He wanted the future of them returning to New York to become real.

If he had to kill all of Wyndham's former coworkers, he didn't have a problem with that.

“Are you going ahead?,” asked Renfield.

“Is there anything else you can tell me?,” asked Shanahan.

“The further you are from the future you want, the easier it is to change,” said Renfield. “Random factors are always in motion and shifting the stream against what you want to happen. I can't really tell you how to proceed from here except to move fast as you can. Everything depends on Grandview not thinking you are alive. Once he thinks you are and looks for you, he will be able to track you as you approach the tower. That will allow him to plan an ambush against you.”

“Any fast way there?,” asked Shanahan.

“If you could strike a deal with one of the Shapers, or Masks, they could give you access to instantaneous travel,” said Renfield. “But they would want something first.”

Shanahan knew that would be an unacceptable delay in any rescue attempt. And he didn't know enough about either groups to find the particular one that could help him get to Grandview's tower.

He was better on his own if he had some way to get across the distance faster than being on foot.

He stood and sipped the rest of his ale. He headed for the door and the street beyond. He knew once he had Wyndham back, finding a way home would be child's play. That's how she had crossed over to where she had found him.

He wondered if she had been looking for someone like him in the first place.

He thought it was likely. She had wanted someone to protect her from the other Weapons. He had let her down. He should have been more alert to the potential problems.

“What are you going to do, Mister Shanahan?,” called Renfield.

“I'm going to kill them all,” said Shanahan. He stepped out of the saloon and headed with the sun. He needed to cross the miles as fast as possible.

He started jogging down the street. It was the easy pace he had learned in the Marines. Drill sergeants loved making boots run all the time. He hadn't kept all of the conditioning but he felt he could run for a while without a problem.

Smoke drifted from his nose as he left the town behind.