“How was all of this made?” Seren asked softly. The new city stretching out below her was beautiful, and it reminded her of a late summer evening on the island. Blackness from the night sky mixed with the lights from fireflies looking for food and family. She and the others were carefully making their way down the stairs, Tairdi in the lead, then Seren, then Rive. They were taking longer since every few steps they stopped, bending over to check something about the metal chains.
“Bit by bit, with much more of it occurring naturally than most would think. In fact, history books state that when the first people stumbled upon this cavern, that first night was the same night they decided they were going to carve a city out of this inhospitable spot.” Tairdi gestured around xem. “Here is what they started. They were the ones to find which rocks were strongest, which were more delicate, which , when powdered or mixed with water, made inks and paints. From them we learned better ways to keep food rather than salting everything. We developed our own culture, one that was a mix of all those who founded the city. Our own words, holidays, ideas.”
“You’re acting as if you saw all this happen with your own eyes.”
“That, engineer, is what comes from reading. There used to be journals, sketches, maps, and so much more left over from that time period of foundation.”
Seren was half listening, trying to make sure her steps were steady. Her earlier worries hadn’t fled at such a beautiful sight, but now they were staging a... counterattack, she was labeling it as. Sure, her parents were probably going to kill her, revive her (somehow), and then kill her again. But that time wasn’t now, though, so why taint such wonderful adventures and experiences with thoughts of what would happen in the future? The far off future, if she and Rive had anything to say about it. So, she might as well enjoy everything while she could. Soak up the experiences, taste the unfamiliar, and savor the moments. Her thoughts of past and future led her to focus on what Tairdi had just said.
“Used to be?”
Tairdi let out an enormous sigh.
“Yes, were. You see the darkness, yes?” Xe looked behind xem, she was sure, to see if she was nodding or not. “With such darkness comes a need for fire to chase away the cold, and especially for reading, writing, and making progress for the one thousand and one projects a person tries to tackle during the time their mind and spirit allows them. Well, someone was a bit... careless. A lantern fell. Oil spread, and with it flames. There was some luck in that the entire library didn’t burn. But the loss was incalculable.”
“Ah... sorry I asked,” Seren said, playing with the long parts of her hair. Tairdi was talking, to use one of her dad’s favorite expressions, as if xe was chewing on fire coals. “Who’s the friend you’re taking us to meet?”
Tairdi laughed, the echo bouncing around their group. A few of the moving lights stopped and Seren could easily imagine that they were looking up and wondering who was making all that noise. Or maybe they were wondering who was that happy, and what the joke was? The three of them continued walking.
“That was a very abrupt change of subject.” Xe paused. “And thank you for that. But, and I will ask in my own straightforward manner, did you mean for it to be so obvious?”
Seren shrugged.
“Yes, and no? I wasn’t trying to hide my intent, though I could have. I also thought that it might get a laugh out of you by being so transparent.”
“Intriguing. A sheltered upbringing usually results in a being unable to smoothly change topics, insert a piece of information, or to do well in conversations that require speakers and listeners to know of society’s unsaid rules. Yet, you believe you have experience in those sorts of talks?”
This time Seren was the one laughing, her higher tone hitting the rocks much differently than xyr lower tone had.
“Everything I learnt about diplomacy and negotiation, I learned from my father, and I absolutely believe he’s the best at talking. He might have... not told me about things in recent history, but I’ve had sixteen years of practice defending my ideas and thoughts. Or working to phrase them in such a way that I was certain of agreement.”
“And you said your dad controlled air?” There was a thoughtful hum from Tairdi.
“Yes, dad’s a master of air. Why?”
She could see from the back of xyr head that xe was shaking it.
“I was remembering two men, part of an adventuring crew, one of who was well-mastered in air while they said the other was one of the smoothest, silver-tongued men ever to be heard. Or heard of, if that pleasure hadn’t been experienced.”
“Really?” Seren was instantly curious. Maybe those tales her father told weren’t just made up stories—they’d been about an adventuring group, and dad had always squirmed when father had talked about the air master. She’d put that down to just a coincidence, though, her father using the opportunity to needle her easy-to-blush dad.
“However, it took my brain a little longer to remember the rest of the story, and so I doubt yours are the two in question. They went up against Lord Melie’s group, and in the aftermath, both parties broke apart, perishing from their wounds.”
“Yeah... My parents are still alive.” She paused. “At least, I don’t think there’s any magic that would allow a person to come back if they died…?”
“No.”
Okay, that was good. It meant her parents weren’t going to murder her outright, since there was no way to bring her back to life.
“Though sometimes those with mastery over Fate can divert the most negative effects from one person to another.” Tairdi stopped, turning to point at a doorway carved into rock on their left. “Do you see the colors?”
Seren nodded, and when Rive looked up, they nodded too. At the top of the door were three glowing dots. She stretched up as high as she could, trying to see what the paint was made of, then stumbled backwards as she realized it was moving. Two warm hands pressed against her back, catching her and giving her the time she needed to righten herself.
“Thanks, Tairdi. I wasn’t expecting...” She looked back up and shook her head. “Whatever those things I saw were.”
“You’re welcome. What you saw are called ‘mood dots.’ They allow you to know if a person is up to talking with guests. If you don’t see these colors, then the door you’re looking at is going to be a business or council location. Possibly a storage room if a few people have run out of personal space again.”
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“What do the colors mean?” asked Rive. “They seem to be pretty important.”
“The first color from the left shows if a place is occupied, and usually a being picks whatever color they’re comfortable choosing; the main point is if it’s glowing or not. Dark means unoccupied. The second dot tells you if the person is a member of the council, or not. Again, any color is fine, and the point remains the same; this time a lack of light means they’re not on the council, and as you can imagine, that absence is most common in the community. The last two colors are when the ‘mood’ part comes into play. The third circle shows if the occupant is okay with socializing. This means we can knock on their door and expect an answer, or we can send a messenger. There are two colors this final dot can be; white or blue. Blue tells a person that it’s okay; we colored it after the river below. White, as in a blank page, means a person is not wanting to speak with others, and that’s fine.”
“Can a person have a white color for as long as they live?” asked Rive.
“If they want to, yes. We have one person on the council whose responsibility is conducting wellness checks, making sure that someone sick is getting better, and other actions like that. But there’s nothing forcing a being out of their house, or into a conversation when they don’t wish to speak. Anyone who chooses force will find themselves in a world of trouble.”
“That can’t represent everyone in the family, though,” Rive protested. “I mean, I have siblings, so I know what I’m talking about when I say we aren’t always on the same page.”
“There aren’t many families here with more than three people in their house, but when there is, then there is a sign with their names on it. Children don’t have names written until they’re ten years old. Before that, they’re normally seen as attached to an adult in the home. The adult is the one who puts the colors out, and if someone wishes to speak to the child, they route their questions through the adult.”
“That makes sense.” Seren hesitated, then continued with a question she’d been wanting to ask since Tairdi had pointed out the lights. “What is it that makes the light, though? When I saw it earlier, it looked like it was alive to me.”
“Living?” Rive took a step back and held up their hands. “Nope, not for me. No bugs.”
“You have good eyes. Yes, it was moving, and alive in some sense,” nodded Tairdi, “because the colors are made from the gut reaction of glow worms, eating what we have smeared inside the circles. The pastes are naturally made because they’re what’s left over when someone cooks other foods.”
“Ah.” Rive took another step back, but stopped before Seren had to worry about them falling over the side. “Great. Good, um... good use of natural resources.”
“Precisely.”
“All of that’s fascinating, and it’s interesting to know more about the culture here, but is there a reason you’re telling us all this? Or are you more rambling and we’re reaping the benefits of extra information?”
Tairdi snorted.
“You’re a very interesting mix of knowledgeable and naïve, captain. Yes, there’s a reason. This is where we’re going to split paths for the moment. I need to knock here and ask a friend for a favor, and you two need to find another friend of mine and ask her for work.” Xe shrugged. “I thought I could complete both actions in enough time, yet I rested for a bit too long after dowsing and so my time is fleeting.”
Rive and Seren looked at each other.
“Sure,” they said, nodding. “You’ll tell us where she is, right?”
“Absolutely. Thank you for understanding.” If Seren squinted, she almost thought someone had lifted a tremendous weight off of Tairdi’s shoulders. Xe was still calling this person friend, though, so it probably wasn’t about her? Maybe xe’d been worried about whatever else it was he needed to do? “My friend’s name is Vachlan, pronounced vash-lan, and she’s going to be at the absolute lowest level you can go, living in a small home near the river. The carvings surrounding her door are intricate murals of entwined flowers, and no one else has anything like those.”
“So, her house should be easy to find then?”
“Absolutely. If you can’t find it, then the only answer to that is that the house has been destroyed.”
Seren nodded, then patted Tairdi on the back.
“Is there a time we’ll see you?”
“When I finish my errand, I will find you. I know Vachlan’s places, and it’ll be easier for me to figure out where you might be than it would be for you to find where I am.” Tairdi ruffled Seren’s hair again, and then started on a path leading off to the right. That wasn’t going down the depths she and Rive needed, so the two walked deeper into the darkness.
“Maybe we should have asked xem where to get a light,” said Rive eventually. “My eyes weren’t made to see in the dark. Yours any better?”
Seren shook her head, then let out a small laugh as she realized that Rive probably hadn’t seen her movement since they didn’t have a light.
“We at least have the lights on the street and stairs to go by,” she pointed out. “It would be even worse if we didn’t have those little spots of illumination.”
“Also, don’t you think xe was acting strange?” Rive continued. “Xe was ready to bring us to xyr friend, and then xe suddenly remembered an errand that meant xe couldn’t come with us. Like, right now? It couldn’t wait until later?”
She shrugged, moving from the steps to another landing.
“I don’t think so? I mean, I’ve forgotten things before and remembered at the last minute that I needed to do them.”
They stopped at the landing, trying to gauge how much further they needed to walk. Seren wasn’t sure, but it looked as if they needed to descend at least another two homes, so four floors in total. Rive looked over the edge; they were sniffing eagerly.
“It smells so good!” They said as Seren came closer. “Don’t you smell it?”
She sniffed the air and nodded.
“Pepper? Something spicy at any rate. And grilled fish? I think.” She felt as if she should know that smell well, her family had eaten enough fish on the island. And shellfish. “Our currency doesn’t work here, even if we had coin on us. Remember, we’re here to get money, not spend it.”
“It smells amazing, though. We’ve had tea today, but that doesn’t fill a stomach.”
As if her own body had been waiting for Rive to mention it, a growl curled out. Seren sighed.
“As much as I’d like something...” she snapped her fingers. “Wait, maybe we can ask Vachlan about food? Or, if that’s rude, maybe it’s possible to pay us a little in advance so we can eat something? Otherwise, we’re going to have to wait until we get back to the ship, and we don’t have much in the way of supplies there either.”
Rive nodded and licked their lips, joining Seren as they continued down to the lower floors. The lights were growing more numerous, and the beings carrying the torches had more detail than before. Most of them were like Tairdi—beastkin in some way. Xe was a bear, but as Seren and Rive walked, they saw other animals. Three identical cat folk were talking with a bull being, or at least, a beast similar to a bull. And as for the catkin, if they weren’t identical, then it’s possible some of their markings could only be seen with more light.
“I’m not sure if I’d do well living here,” Rive admitted, looking around themselves as they passed the four beastkin. Seren thought she heard a snort, but nothing else followed the sound, so she ignored it.
“Why not?”
“One thing I loved about Viadora is that you could climb almost anywhere and get a full bird's-eye view of the city. And the sunlight warmed my skin. It’s cold here.”
Rive was right. And the more they stayed in the darkness, the colder it was going to become. She rubbed her left arm to give it a little heat, and made sure she didn’t let go of the chain.
“Two more stories to go and we’ll be at the bottom,” she said instead. “And after we find this person, we can worry about getting warm.”
They descended and the air not only lost whatever little warmth it had, but... Seren drew a finger over a metal link and hummed. “Is there water on this?”
“No idea. Could it just be cold enough that it feels like it?”
“Or it could be moisture coming from the river.”
She was the first one to hit the landing, and that meant her feet sunk into the soft sand at the end.
“Stay up there!” Seren called out, leaning backwards. She tried to pull her feet up and it was like slogging through mud. “What is this stuff?”
“Not sure,” said Rive, crouching down and sticking their hand in. When they attempted to pull it back out, they had to grab with their right hand and actually push against the ground. “What the hell?!”
“What are you two doing all the way down here?” asked an annoyed, high-pitched voice from behind them. “This area isn’t for tourists.”