I read on, so immersed and invested in the life and struggles of my other self that I was barely aware of my own surroundings. Even the nsfw wallpaper of horniness had faded somewhat in the backdrop of my mind.

Day 17, Onyx Moon, 1236

I’m back in Odros. The winds were harsh and the trip was awful, though the monks at the storm temple we stayed at couldn’t have been happier.

I’ve asked my few friends in Soltras to watch my sister and to keep me informed. I doubt she’ll be able to find an Opal willing to attempt her commission, and if she does, it will almost certainly be a scam. If there were an Opal out there mad and skilled enough to do such a thing, I’d have heard of them.

So yes, I’m being over-cautious. But I can’t help but feel as though I should be.

For a few pages, it seemed as though Zia was trying to focus on other things. There was a drawing of a creature that resembled a scaly stingray, as well as accounts of her explorations and current projects. But it didn’t last long.

Day 5, Topaz Moon, 1236

Apparently Seri’s been seen with an Opal. He is called Prax the Clanless, but other than that, no one seems to know a thing about him. I have never heard this name before in my life. My friends are working to find out more, and I’ll ask and call around as well.

But not tonight. Apparently, it is the first night of the local lustrous bat colony’s mating season, and Erek is very insistent that I go.

~*~

I must give credit to Odros, they know how to throw a festival. I think I ate enough fried crawfish and crab and lightfruit to sink a small ship. The bats were like a swarm of dancing stars, and the kites were fantastic— painted up with foxfire pastes so that they glowed in patterns of every possible color. Their drummers are unmatched. I’ve never seen hands move so fast.

Erek drank too much. He’s passed out on the floor.

I’m going to sleep now.

On the opposing page were several sketches of kites made to resemble copulating bats, as well as a drawing of Erek—curled up and asleep, drool pooling beneath his cheek. I couldn’t help but smile a bit, at that.

The next few pages were mostly sketches again. There were more portraits of her friends and more bizarre animals, including one that resembled a puff of cotton with spindly birdlike legs, and another that was like a very short and fat snake suspended in a web of slime. There were a few relatively inconsequential entries, and then my eye hitched again on a name of interest.

Day 12, Topaz Moon, 1236

The void of information pertaining to Prax the Clanless is so absolute, I can only conclude that it is deliberate. A sigil-working. The breadth of such an accomplishment implies a terrifying level of skill on the part of the Opal responsible. And it begs the question—how even did Seri find him?

Perhaps I wasn’t being so over-cautious, after all.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I can’t let her do this, I can’t talk her out of it, and I can’t stop her on my own. So far, I have kept what Seri asked of me to myself. Not even my friends in Soltras know exactly why they’re informing on her. But that has to change.

Day 13, Topaz Moon, 1236

It turns out all of my discretion was in vain. Seri’s reputation was never in any danger of unjust sullying, due to the simple fact that no one was ever willing to think anything ill of her to begin with.

Oh, there are plenty who believed me when I told them what Seri’s up to. But they’re not concerned. Either they don’t think what she’s trying is possible, or else they simply don’t understand enough about sigilcraft to comprehend the risk. But the most troubling are those who believe it would be a good thing for all of us, to finally see if enough time has passed. If it’s safe.

People who actually want the Rend to reopen.

I’ve heard of these people, but I always dismissed them before. Apparently, they’ve been growing in numbers. With all the conflict of the eastern clans, the flow of exchange is suffering. I suppose I cannot blame those who have less than me for dreaming of a land ripe with untapped resources and unknown power. But it’s not worth the risk. There are better ways to fill our caches.

Erek and a few of my closer friends…they seem to merely tolerate me when I talk about this. They give me this look, like they’re exhausted with everything I have to say on the matter, but they feel too bad to say anything about it. It’s maddening. I would love to be able to just stop. But I can’t.

Day 2, Sapphire Moon, 1236

Seri called on me. She’s done it, seen beyond the Rend. She’s proud of it. Said that there is no sign of Corrupted activity on the Unseen Isle. There are only the descendants of its followers, whom she says are ordinary kobolds, living ordinary lives—save their isolation and unusual powers. I asked her if she was able to peer underground, into the mountain. She told me they had looked deep beneath the earth, and have seen no signs of the Corrupted save petrified remains. Said that even if Prax’s sigil had weakened the wards, it didn’t matter, because the other world was safe now.

In fact, she sounded downright ecstatic at the prospect.

I asked if that was what she wanted. For the wards to come down, and the Rend to open up. She said she thinks it would solve everything—the disputes between the eastern clans, the Gem shortages. Make life better for everyone. Open us up to possibilities we can’t even imagine.

She said I don’t understand because I’ve gone through my whole life never wanting for anything, and lack the empathy to compensate for my experience. She says I’m heartless.

I don’t think I am. I would love to believe it’s safe beyond the Rend. I would love to make the world better. But I know too much. Not nearly enough time has passed to be absolutely sure the Corrupted has surpassed dormancy and entered into true union with the depths. It might look dead. That does not mean it is.

I will speak to the Chieftain here and see if he will call upon the sea towers in warning, or else give me the mark to call on them myself.

~*~

He won’t.

I turned the page hastily. There were a few half-hearted drawings of an especially fantastic bridge, and then an entry that picked up long after the last.

Day 27, Sapphire Moon, 1236

I think I finally understand what’s going on. Why almost everyone’s been looking at me strangely, treating me differently. It’s not just what I’m saying about Seri. I think she has her own version of my watchers over in Soltras, only her watchers are talkers, too. Spreading stories about all the lies I’ve supposedly been caught in throughout my life. All the work Seri’s had to do to try to preserve my reputation until now.

But I know she’s the one behind it, crafting this new perspective of me as the mad savant—skilled in the arts alone, troubled and not to be trusted with anything else.

It’s too personal to be the work of anyone but her. She and only she knows I’ve always felt different, like my mind had forged a path unused by most of those I know. These days, now that I’ve mostly overcome the social difficulties that plagued me when I was little, it usually serves me more than it hinders me. I would not wish to be any other way. But I have wished that I could still be this way and not feel so…other.

Well. Seri’s making that wish more impossible by the day. And in doing so, ensuring that no one will ever believe my warnings about what she’s up to. My connections in Soltras have stopped speaking to me, but last I heard, Seri and her new friends were still working with Prax the Clanless. They’re creating sigils to reopen the Rend. I’m certain of it.

But I don’t have the power to prove it.

My eyes welled with tears again as shock and sympathy overwhelmed me. I knew what it was like to feel other, to feel and be that alone. Knew it all too well. I turned the page.

Day 29, Sapphire moon, 1236

My shunning grows more absolute by the day, so much so that it’s hard to believe that this is the result of rumor-mongering alone. All of my instincts tell me there is a sigil at work here, a shadow of doubt and distrust cast upon my name. If that is true, all chance of reconciliation is lost. With commissions drying up and father mysteriously deciding to reduce my allowance, it will take an absurdly long time before I can afford anything to counteract this.

I don’t know what to do. But at least I still have Erek. Our friendship is stronger than whatever it is Seri has done. I love him. It’s probably about time I told him so.