Every day that goes by

Is time lost before we die

There are those who look behind,

Obsessed by what was left aside,

Me, able to blind myself somehow,

Of everything except the here and now.

And finally, there are those who contemplate what they gave,

The sages who rose above their condition of slave.

Impotence, Unknown bard.

Nay wasn’t getting lost anymore. After an hour wandering through the streets of Leïn, where she admired hangars, forges, then shops, food stalls and residential houses, she finally saw her objective. She was currently standing in a park, delightful just like the rest of the city. It was covered in Udeas, little white flowers growing in large beds. From there, she was easily spotting the cathedral through the tree branches. Though as she was currently seeing the two silver tower bells north-west, it meant she had gone off course quite a bit, despite the instructions given to her by the innkeeper the same morning. She resumed her walk through the city streets of Leïn, and the towers vanished behind the tall stone houses.

Ten minutes later, Nay asked her way to a newspaper vendor.

“Sorry to bother you, but I’d like to go to Leïn’s Cathedral.”

The teenager looked at her, at first surprised then smiling at her mockingly.

“It’s just through there, take the first road on your left. Or you could just look at the map on the billboard, it’s right there.”

Nay looked at where the boy was pointing. She spotted a billboard through the crowd and then proceeded to sigh.

“Thank you…”

“Are you interested in today’s news? Jarl the Bohemian came back last week from his mission to Gite, and he told what happened two days ago. We have even more details about it than yesterday.”

Nay trembled as she stared at the young boy’s happy mood. It was just another story to him.

She gazed at the paper he was handing to her. On the front page, she could read: “Nightmare on the Ducal Plateau”.

She didn’t say anything, her eyes stuck on the words.

“Miss?”

The young Legio recollected herself.

“No, thanks.” She said as she looked away.

“As you wish.”

Nay forced herself to leave. She desperately wanted that newspaper. She felt a pull to know what had happened. But if she did, she doubted she would have the strength to carry on with her search. She stopped thinking about it. She was going to find her family.

She turned left as instructed and was immediately faced with a large building rising through the sky. She sighed again. She had been circling around the building all this time. Then, she was surprised by music. Over the sounds of the city and the racket of the crowd, Nay could hear something akin to a song, coming from nowhere and everywhere at once. No, it was coming from the cathedral, but Nay had no idea what was causing such a weird phenomenon. The religious structure was surrounded by a plaza, but it was quite narrow, and it gave the impression the cathedral was stuck to the surrounding residential houses. Nay thought the greatest temple of Ja would have been taller, it was shorter than Vanni’s Keep, but at the same time, it was much larger than she expected. As she moved on to the plaza, she did not see the end of the building, whether she looked to the left or to the right. A wooden board informed her that the entry was east. As she was currently facing the southern wall, she turned right and walked through the dense swarm of people.

It took her another ten minutes to reach the eastern wall, but Nay didn’t go to the entrance immediately. There was an absurd amount of people grouped there, more than she had ever seen before. She recognized some as coming from Makaka through their colour of skin and assumed the others were from Gite. She didn’t see anyone she knew, but her focus was heavily strained. She had always abhorred crowds, their smells, their sounds, everything had always been beyond her ability to cope. A tavern had put out tables outside, but all seats were taken.

The young Legio went to an adjacent street and took position on a wooden box to have oversight on the situation. The cathedral was awe-inspiring. The dark stones were quite different from the buildings around it. As she examined it all, Nay finally understood where the music was coming from. It was the wind, furious in such a confined plaza, passing through the sculptures that littered the basalt and granite wall of the Cathedral of Leïn. Every stone men, every mystical animal sculpted, had been built and placed in such a way that the wind became melody. To create such a thing, to precisely fuse the wind to stone? Nay understood that impossible calculations had to have been achieved. It was the only explanation, but what about the artisans and sculptors? How had they managed to create it with such perfection? Whatever your faith may be, such work deserved worship.

Nay refocused on the task at hand. She saw the entrance and easily spotted the priests through their coloured robes. No green ones, but she spotted a few brown ones, Sage-Brothers then. She also spotted white ones, and decidedly opted to avoid them altogether. There were also a few red robes, Vanni priests, but most wore blue garbs, Ja worshippers.

Something much more important grasped her attention. Despite the storm of Rreicos around her, she could not miss the energy leaking out from some of them. Some had more than others, but those were mages, or God-Touched, and they were many. Sage-Brother Berth had taught her that all God-Touched were sent to the capital, but Nay never imagined dozens grouped up together at the same time! She had never seen even one in Gite.

She frowned. If her mother and sister had come here, Nay had to get in. But if a God-Touched looked at her, he would see the grey Rreico on her. The boy she had met in the caravan on the road had even spotted her through curtains. She had continued her training, and was pretty certain her Rreico was better hidden now, but would it be enough?

Nay focused, looking inside herself. Her Rreico was there, infinite, grey, suffocating. Deeply buried, but still visible. Moreover, Nay was sensing Rreico, but she had no idea what mages were seeing.

The young woman scratched her head. She was out of options; it would be a risk she’d take. She wasn’t going inside the cathedral filled with God-Touched without guarantees though.

She was going to test it first.

She spotted a God-Touched slightly isolated from the others. He was standing on top of a wagon with other priests lacking the external Rreico. They were distributing food to the refugees.

Her plan decided, she jumped off the box.

She went back inside the human wave, waiting patiently for her turn to come.

When she reached the wagon, one of the priests, unfortunately not the God-Touched, spoke to her.

“Where is your coupon?” He asked her.

“Coupon?” She answered.

The man gave her an annoyed look. “You need to go into the cathedral, your identity will be checked, and you’ll receive a coupon to get food. Don’t stand there, please.”

Nay nodded and pulled herself away from the people bumping and shoving her from behind.

She had what she was coming for. The God-Touched had turned around to look her over when the priest had started talking. He had not reacted.

She went towards the entrance next. She realized the God-Touched were simultaneously helping the others priests with the afflux of refugees, but also standing guard. The young Legio felt one of them look at her longer than necessary, and she met his gaze. It was a priest in white robes, with deep green eyes and a perfect jaw. She looked away but felt his gaze linger a few more seconds, before finally getting bored and losing interest.

She was breathing again. She didn’t know the method they used to spot magic, but she was definitely not completely safe. She put on her hoody, even though she was aware it wouldn’t help in any way, and entered the cathedral.

She stopped on the spot; mouth wide open.

Immediately to be pushed from behind.

“Don’t stay in the way.” Said a priest in brown garbs, clearly in a hurry.

“Oh, sorry I…” But he was already gone.

The young Legio went away from the traffic, her back behind a wall, and admired the central nave of the cathedral. The roof was unimaginable, so high and large it felt impossible for the large rocks to just stand there without crumbling under their own weight. There was not even a pillar to hold it in place. She didn’t feel any magic in play, but she had to be wrong, how else could such a thing be? It was a miracle of architecture, but also of art. The roof was covered in paintings, that, just like the mosaics on top of Makaka, were telling the story of a god. In this case, it was the greatest of them all, Ja. Ja’s myth was shorter than Vanni’s, and so everything was able to fit on the roof of the Cathedral of Leïn, with the most sumptuous colours and breath-taking beauty.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Magnificent, isn’t it? You are a newcomer, aren’t you?”

The voice was addressed to her, and Nay immediately lowered her head from the ceiling to see who had talked. She almost swore out loud. How could she get so distracted and miss the Rreico coming towards her? It wasn’t just anyone either. The man was in his fifties, wearing a green robe, and without a doubt a God-Touched. He had the stereotypical looks of Leïn nobility, blond hair and blue eyes. He looked tired and old.

“Yes, yesterday.” Nay responded truthfully to the Teller.

“I see. Are you looking for someone or are you here for the coupons?”

She was on the verge of panic. There were very few reasons why he would come to talk to her specifically when there were hundreds all around. She had lost her focus, her Rreico had shown itself. Sensing his rhythm, it had not been enough for him to grasp what she was, but he had been attracted by the energy, just like the boy in the caravan.

“Miss?”

“Sorry, yes. I’m looking for someone.”

“Do you have gold? We are providing miracles that let you find your loved ones.”

Nay looked at him, surprised.

“I…you ask gold in exchange…”

The man scratched the back of his head. “Yes. The money is entirely used to help the refugees. You are from Gite, aren’t you?” He pulled out a notebook from a hidden sleeve in his robe.

“Erm…yes.”

“Mhh” He wrote something in it, then put it back inside. “So, will you ask help to the Gods?”

Nay was unsure what to do. It was not a trap, his Rreico showed honesty. But he was also looking at her with great interest. He was suspecting something.

She couldn’t miss the opportunity though. It could have been her only way of finding her mother and sister.

“I have gold, how much…”

“We’ll talk about this elsewhere. Follow me, please.”

“I am armed. Should I give my weapons to you or…”

He didn’t seem surprised by her words, even though she was certain she had hidden her sword behind her cape pretty well, but his answer did surprise Nay.

“No, no. That won’t be a problem. I would recommend you don’t unsheathe your weapons or show any sign of violence inside those walls though, Ja’s wrath would be great.” On that particularly worrying statement, the Teller turned around and asked her to follow him.

She did not feel like she had much choice, and with slight apprehensiveness, she followed him through the crowd.

He made her enter through a lateral door next to the central nave, and the gigantic room was replaced with tight corridors she could swear were identical to those of the Ducal Plateau’s military complex. They even passed next to a cloister, albeit it had much more flowers than the one in Gite. The place was a true maze, and the young Legio quickly doubted her ability to find her way back. She hoped the God-Touched wasn’t deliberately aiming for that.

They stopped in front of the most peculiar pair of doors. It wasn’t a double door, but two fully separate doors, with their own little stone arches on top, almost stuck to each other and leading to the same room. They were both open. Now that they were away from the crowd, Nay could say without any doubts that the door on the left was emanating magic, while the one on the right was not.

“Ladies first.” Said the religious man innocently.

A test. Nay was sure of it. She chose the door on the right and entered with a decisive step.

“Mhh.” Said the Teller, before following her inside.

The interior of the obvious office was nothing else but normal looking. Nay sat on a chair facing the central desk, and the priest sat down to the other side. He pulled out maps from under the table and placed them in front of him.

“The price is ten gold pieces. I need a name, a physical description of the person you’re looking for, and an object belonging to him or her helps a lot. Miracles are not always giving results, but in the case I don’t find anything, I’ll reduce the price to one gold piece.”

One entire gold piece for a lack of results was still pricey, but Nay didn’t care.

It wasn’t exactly her money, after all.

She put down the required amount on the table but hesitated about the object. Finally, she decided to pull out the pan from her bag.

The priest looked at weirdly.

“I’m looking for my mother, her name is Ra’fa Jarket and she’s a chef.”

The Teller smiled in understanding. “Ah, of course. Ra’fa Jarket, you say?”

“That is correct.”

His Rreico blurred, as if he were trying to remember something.

“Sir?” She questioned.

“I apologize, I may have heard that name in the past, but forgot. My name is Sage Ghiruntabi, by the way.”

“Understood.” She answered without giving her own name in return.

The priest rolled up his sleeves. “Can you describe your mother to me, Ra’fa, her physical appearance I mean.”

Nay did exactly so. After a few minutes, he interrupted her.

“That shall be sufficient, thank you.” The Teller took the pan, and his other hand gravitated above the maps. He then started incanting a series of senseless words, but they were eerily like the ones Nay had heard the night before: “Let us look for the passage of time, let us look for the passage of time, where goes Ra’fa Jarket who loses her way?”

Nay felt the Rreico change shape. A much more compact colour, almost anchored in reality. Nay realized she was actually using her eyes there, not her sixth sense. Anyone would have been able to witness the magic at work. The impossible colour was exiting the man, channelling through his hand to land on one of the maps. Quicky, the energy gathered itself in one specific spot.

“Ah! Good news, your mother is here.”

Nay forgot everything she just saw.

“What? Where!?” She said as she stood, making her seat fall over behind her.

“Calm down, here.” He pointed towards the impossible colour, still stuck on Leïn’s map. “The Palace inn. A very nice establishment, they have a large terrace with a great view of the mountain, I went there myself a few times. It’s at a twenty-minute walk from here.”

“Thank you very much.” Nay turned around to leave. The priest made no effort to stop her.

In her hurry, Nay walked towards the door closest to her. She almost crossed the door to her right. Which in this direction, was the door covered in magic.

She stopped dead in her tracks, looking at the weird runic inscriptions on the stone arch on top of the door.

“Are you looking at something?” Said the priest, excitement filling his voice.

Nay turned around, laughing it off. “No. No, I just almost crashed into a wall. Too much in a hurry.” She looked at the man. Was she correct? Was she supposed to be unaware of the door’s existence?

He stared at her, his Rreico full of suspicion.

“I see.” He finally said. He rose. “I know you must be in a rush, but are you going to find your way back?”

This detail hadn’t seemed to bother him when she had gone for the door on the right.

“Erm…”

The man smiled.

“Let me accompany you to the exit.”

Nay felt the man’s gaze on her the whole way back. She was wholly focused on her own Rreico. He had suddenly become talkative, trying to know everything he could about her. She stayed evasive, especially when she noticed they weren’t taking the same path they had before.

They passed next to a big oak door. There was a large lock, stinking of magic, firmly keeping it shut. She felt something strange, but couldn’t get distracted, and didn’t try to explore the feeling. They simply walked past it.

“It is the wing for the young God-Touched.” Sage Ghiruntabi informed her, having seen the unease on the Legio’s face.

“Why was it locked?”

He grimaced. “Because they are not all here on their own volition. Children, teenagers if they were spotted late, oblivious to the gift given to them by the Gods.”

“You lock up children?” Nay had felt the Rreico beyond the door, and there were a lot, one hardly distinguishable from another. She understood better the bad feeling that had gripped her stomach now.

“Yes. I understand what you feel. But I was one such child, to be perfectly honest with you, so when I say it is for their own good, I hope you’ll trust me. Power given by the gods, if not guided through faith, brings horrible, horrible tragedies.”

Nay didn’t really know what to reply, nor did she know why he was telling her all this. She knew there wasn’t only faith that gave control over magic, but she had also learned, and seen with her own eyes, what kind of repercussions the death of a God-Touched could have, or what a mage who had lost control could do.

“Is it really the best way?” She asked.

The Teller seemed troubled by her question. “Maybe. It would be best not to question the will of the gods in this place though if you do not want to be branded as a heretic.”

“My apologies, Sage Ghiruntabi.”

“They are unneeded. You are ignorant, it is all, and that is not a sin in the eyes of Jormun.”

“I thank you.”

“In any case, we have arrived. Through this door is the central nave. I shall leave you here and wish you all the best in reuniting with your mother.”

Nay bowed politely, and left the maze of corridors, feeling the priest’s eyes on her back until the very last moment.

It only took Nay fifteen minutes to reach the Palace inn. It was situated in a very nice district, clearly housing high bourgeoisie. The houses weren’t stuck to each other, and all had their own garden. The inn itself was also luxurious, to the point Nay asked herself how her mother had managed to come here. She stepped decidedly to the front door anyway.

“Wait a moment!” A man, clearly a doorman charged in guarding the entrance, stood between the it and Nay. He was tall, albeit not as tall as the young Legio, and despite his impressive muscles, he was there to dissuade, not defend. Nay saw no signs of a trained fighter in him.

“Yes?” She answered, already on edge.

“You are not dressed appropriately, and I see the weapon on your belt. You may not enter.” He announced matter-of-factly.

“I am searching for my mother, Ra’fa Jarket.”

“And I don’t know where you think you are, girlie, but this is not the kind of place where you’ll find your mommy.”

Did the God-Touched make a mistake? No, the problem was not him.

It had been some time since Nay had last been called girlie. She smiled voraciously at the bouncer, suddenly uneasy.

The door behind him opened, and an old man, well dressed and with a beautifully maintained handlebar moustache, appeared out of the inn. “Jacques?” He said with a drawling voice. “What seems to be the problem?”

“Nothing sir, just a beggar who doesn’t know her…”

Nay flinched at the word beggar, she wasn’t that badly dressed, but her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a familiar Rreico coming from inside.

“Mom!?” She shouted, pushing the bouncer and the gentleman out of her way. If they had tried to stop her from entering, she had barely registered their efforts.

“Mom!” She repeated. It was lunchtime, and Nay saw plenty of people staring at her as she interrupted their meals and enjoyment of the beautiful view of the Imperatrix’s palace.

“Nay!?” She heard coming weakly from the room to the other side of the counter.

Time seemed to be slowing down as the young woman walked in a frenzy towards the voice that had answered her. She jumped behind the counter in one swift move, then looked for the door that would give her access to the kitchen.

She almost crashed into Ra’fa as she opened the door.

Despite her years of training, despite her reflexes honed to utmost perfection, despite the Rreico, Nay had no chance to dodge her mother’s grasp.

“NAY!”

“…Ma…” Exhaled Nay with difficulty, her broken arm painfully pressed to her ribs. She didn’t care. She was crying, and so was her mother.

“Someone stop that…!” The bouncer came behind them, then stopped. “Ah, Ra’fa Jarket, the new cook. My bad.”

His words were lost in the sobs of the mother and daughter.

“Oh Nay! How are you? You smell like moat cat.” Her mother held her shoulders like a vice, and pulled her away to look her over.

“M’a, stop it you’re…you’re thin.” It wasn’t a compliment. She felt joy, but also despair in her mother’s Rreico.

“I…it’s dad. You know. It’s all my…”

“If you finish that sentence, I’ll make you eat mushrooms until the end of times.”

Nay held her tongue.

“Marke…that idiot. Not that it’s any of your business, but I was aware of how it would end. He told me. When I heard about Redrick’s death, I knew he had to… No.”

“You knew? But, if I hadn’t been there…”

“They would have fought anyway, maybe sooner, maybe later. Marke’s fate had been foretold.”

Nay felt lost and sobbed once more. Her mother’s bones were almost visible, she looked like she hadn’t had a good night sleep for weeks.

“Is it my fault? Were you worried about me?” Nay asked.

“Stop blaming yourself. Nay, I am overjoyed, no, there are no words to express how I feel seeing you here. I knew you were alive, but I had no idea if you would return one day, if you would find us. I…”

“Where is Lisana?”

Silence.

Nay felt the Rreico.

Ra’fa cried again.

“Mum, where is Liz?”

“They…they took her, two weeks ago.”

“What!? Who? Why?”

“The God-Touched of the cathedral…when…they must have spotted her when we went to get some food…when we had just arrived.”

Nay felt her world tip over.

In the cathedral, this strange feeling she had, this hunch that had gnawed on her insides but had not explored because she needed to focus on her own Rreico.

Imprisoned children? No.

Her sister had stood behind that door.