“Turn around,” Leira said.

“Are you afraid of heights?” Gwil asked as he walked backwards along the narrow—and treacherous—cliffside path.

“I’m not afraid,” Leira said. “I’m just being careful, as anyone in possession of a brain would be.”

“You haven’t stopped hugging the wall, though.”

The beginning of the rocky shelf had been wide enough for four people to walk abreast, but it had narrowed to the point that Gwil and Leira had to go single file.

On the left side, a sheer cliff wall ran the entire length. It had an inward lean, the angle of which grew harsher as they progressed. It was getting a bit claustrophobic.

To the right, nothing except plummeting emptiness, a drop of some thirty stories. And on the far side of that chasm, another towering cliff that also leaned inward, meeting the other to form the jagged peak of a ridge.

The two half-toppled crags formed a roof above them. Gwil and Leira walked through what was essentially a huge tunnel in the sky.

“It’s kind of like something punched a hole right through this mountain,” Gwil said as he leaned over the precipice. “Ooh! What is that? Come look, Leira.”

“No,” she said as she sidled past.

A group of creatures that Gwil had never seen before clung to the wall about five meters below the edge.

They looked like a mix between a dragonfly and a lobster, with rocky carapaces. Six of them, arranged in a ring, all attached head to tail with each other.

“Wow, what a place for that,” Gwil said as he stood and skipped along to catch up with Leira.

“You can die, you know,” Leira said.

“Maybe I’d just come back to life again,” Gwil said.

“No. That cannot happen.”

“Hmm, are you sure?” Gwil asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. If your brain gets destroyed, you’re done. That fall, for example, could kill you if you had an unlucky landing. Especially since you don’t know how to reinforce yourself.”

“Ha! I’m not gonna fall. I wouldn’t die like that.”

A winged shadow swooped over them. Leira screamed. The huge bird squawked—a guttural, chugging sound.

A condor. Black, with white-tipped wings and a bulbous horn atop its head.

Gwil leapt to swat it away, which he did, but in doing so, slipped on some gravel.

Dangling over the edge, heart pounding in his throat, Gwil could only laugh as he scrambled back up.

***

“Woahohoh!”

They’d reached the end of the bizarre tunnel to find that it opened onto a vast stretch of gentle, grassy plains, swirled with greens and browns. This oasis was nestled within a wide, shallow basin, the distant edges rimmed with rock. It was like a spoonful taken out of the land. The space was enormous—they would not make it across today.

Gwil and Leira followed the switchback path down onto the flat. As they descended, they caught sight of a few scattered buildings among the hills and saw that a paved black road snaked its way through the landscape.

Reaching the bottom, they found themselves in knee-high prairie grasses. They started trekking up a slope, heading toward the ravine which held the presumed city. How they would get down was a problem for tomorrow.

“Do they have vehicles here?” Gwil asked.

Leira shrugged. “Everywhere is different. And again, I don’t know any more than you about this place. But this does seem like a weird spot for a road.”

“Erwin bought a car from a foreign trader once,” Gwil said. “But he got scammed. It was just an empty metal box—no mechanism or anything to make it go. He turned it into a fridge.”

“Tell me, Gwil, what do you know about these vehicles?”

“Hm. Big metal boxes, like carriages, but they don’t need an animal.”

Leira clapped poshly, with two fingers. “Very good. And how do you think it’s possible for that to happen?”

Gwil grinned. “With the power of the black smoke. You thought I didn’t know about it, eh?”

Leira laughed. “Calling it ‘the black smoke’ isn’t exactly knowing. It’s called Kaia.”

At the top of one of the taller hills, their path intersected with the road, and they were able to see down its length. It didn’t seem to go anywhere, rather it just looped around through the entire basin.

“Ah-ha!” Leira said. “That’s an important-looking building.”

The other structures that were scattered throughout the plains were just wooden shacks. But the dome-shaped building that stood against the cliff’s edge at the far end—large despite the distance—looked to be made of something crystalline. It was green, and radiant in the sunlight.

“Nice,” Leira said. “A building made of emerald points toward luxury. Ugh, I’d kill for a massage.”

The road appeared to lead to the building. They set out down the winding, tarred path.

“Robots run on Kaia, don’t they?” Gwil asked. “I really wanna see a robot.”

“Everything does,” Leira said. “It’s the most precious substance in the World. But it’s dangerous and strictly regulated by the Leviathan.

“In some places—industrial hubs, mostly—it’s ubiquitous. But usually, it’s a luxury for Leviathan dogs. Barons, elites. Bait for them to dangle all up and down the chain.

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

“And it’s used for a lot more than just vehicles—factories, water systems, automatons, artificial lighting, all sorts of things.”

“Ubiquitous,” Gwil said.

“They do the same with weaponry,” Leira continued. “There’s a black market, of course, but criminals aren’t usually inclined to develop infrastructure, so.”

“Why?” Gwil asked. “Why isn’t it everywhere?”

“Another tool of oppression, obviously. Simple cruelty. But it is dangerous stuff. Toxic. Some faithful types believe it’s an abomination, something sinful.” Leira shrugged. “People who work with the raw stuff get turned blue.”

“A traveler passed through Reverie once, and he had a tube on his belt that cast a beam of light. He told me it was a laser sword, but he wouldn’t cut anything with it, so I dunno.”

Leira scratched her chin. “That sounds like a flashlight. But laser swords do exist. I’d love to have one. Ashkana’s Vermin commanders are famous for wielding them. Great, flaming blades that cut through a person like butter.” She laughed at Gwil’s gaping expression. “You’ll be in for a shock. There’s so much stuff you never could’ve imagined since you were stuck on those islands.”

Gwil looked over his shoulder in the direction of Alnam, but the walls of the basin blocked the islands from view.

“A settlement existing completely outside the Leviathan’s sphere is pretty rare though,” Leira said. “I suppose that’s a good enough reason to live like a primitive.”

Gwil shrugged. “It’s not so bad there, even if it’s boring. They help each other. They even helped me. Everyone’s poor, but no one starves.”

“Aye, that’s not nothing,” Leira said. “Rather be bored than starving.” She pointed toward the emerald structure up ahead. “Based on how ritzy that building is, I reckon you’re about to get a bad taste of things.”

“What’d you mean?” Gwil said.

“Well, you’ll see why I love Ashkana so much.”

Gwil scratched his head. “If things are so bad, why don’t people do something?”

Leira laughed. “Same reason ants don’t conquer the World even though they outnumber us like ten million-to-one.”

Night fell when they were halfway across the plains. The moonlight had a faint red tint tonight. The way it glistened off the dewy grass made the land look blood slicked.

When they came to a knoll that was staked by a jut of rock, they set up camp. The weather was nice enough that they did not bother with the tents. They intended to get an early start, anyway.

“Gwil, listen,” Leira said as she rolled out her sleeping mat, which had belonged to Caris. “If there’s even a hint that the Leviathan is present in that city, we just gotta keep moving. I can’t- We can’t risk that.”

“But-”

“No. I doubt they will be. It’s probably just some lesser vassal’s territory under control of his own personal forces. I wouldn’t expect any actual Leviathan presence somewhere this remote. But if they are, promise me, we go right on past and we don’t look back. If they show up, we run away immediately. No matter what.”

Gwil rubbed at his chin. “But what-”

“Promise me.”

“Okay, I promise.”

They laid down to sleep, their small fire flickering down into embers. The basin’s walls protected them from the wind. Looking up at the crimson sky, Gwil smiled. He was so glad to be in this strange place. Just a day’s journey and everything was so different. These great mountains that he’d spent years staring at. And the plants—nothing like this grew on Alnam. Already the World had surpassed his expectations.

“Leira?” he said.

She grunted.

“Airships are real, aren’t they?”

Leira lifted her head to look at him. “Of course. But only for them.”

Gwil really wanted to ride in an airship.

***

“Finally,” Leira said.

They’d come to a sign along the side of the road, a wide stone block etched with gold writing. It read: Chateau Podexia - Atelier and Resort.

“Ohoho,” Leira said, grinning. “I’m getting that massage.”

They continued down the road. The morning was bright and warm, the sky cloudless. About an hour later, Gwil’s ears pricked up at a humming sound. His eyes flicked to the sky, expecting another giant bird.

“Move,” Leira said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him off the road. She made to keep walking, but Gwil stopped as the humming grew louder, clarifying into a rumble.

A glistening red shape crested the road’s slope. It was moving fast.

And it was not touching the ground. Bright white-blue light gleamed from the vehicle’s underside.

It tore past them—shiny red, shaped like an almond. The cabin was stuffed full of the driver’s giant hairdo. Black smog spewed from the vents arrayed across the rear.

“Woah! Is that a car?”

“Nah, no wheels,” Leira said. “Those’re called skimmers.”

Gwil squinted, but the cloud of smoke and kicked-up dust obscured the vehicle.

“They’re pretty rare,” Leira said. “I guess I was right about this place being ritzy, even though it’s in bumfuck land.”

The curve of the road brought them near the cliff’s edge. They cut through the grass to take a look down into the canyon.

Gwil could see it properly now—the city. Five rows of stone buildings divided by roads. And the buildings were not just plain rock, but ornate, fantastic sculptures. And so many colors—swirling marble, shining gemstones. The tiny moving specks were people, as small as bugs from above.

Standing behind the city, far taller than any of the buildings, an enormous wall formed of natural rock. It spanned the narrowed tail-end of the canyon, separating the city from the cliffside.

Gwil gaped. The whole thing was so huge.

“It’s pretty small,” Leira said. “But very fancy.”

“I thought cities are usually made out of metal,” Gwil said.

“Mmm, no,” Leira said. “But I’ve never seen anything quite like this.”

“This place must have the best rocks,” Gwil said.

They went back to the road. It was still unclear how they might get down into the canyon, but they neared the emerald structure.

Before that though, there was a gate to cross. An ornamented golden arch stood over the road. The gate looked sturdy, but the thing provided no actual security, since you could just walk around it.

However, two armed, uniformed men emerged from the booth that stood beside one of the arch’s legs. They marched in perfect synchronization and then halted in the middle of the road and planted the butts of their spears on the ground.

Their strange harmony made Gwil think, robot! Alas, they were only humans, but so similar they might’ve been twins.

Both men were barrel chested with legs like chickens. They wore green cargo pants with white tank tops. And they both had silver badges pinned to their chests. And they both had cleft chins and buzzcuts.

The only difference was that one man chewed a toothpick, and the other smoked a cigar.

“State your business,” said Toothpick.

Gwil was quicker to answer than Leira, who might have been slowed by the depth of her scowl. She swore under her breath as Gwil began to speak.

“This place is cool,” he said. “What is it?”

“State your business,” said Cigar.

“How do we get down there?” Gwil said.

Leira either snickered or gagged behind her hand, which she’d clamped over her mouth.

“This is no place for ogling vagrants,” Toothpick said. “This is a place of commerce and pleasure.”

Cigar exhaled a puff of smoke. “This is the famed resort of the titanic tycoon, Burgermeister Stondemaier Jaqlov.”

“What?” Gwil said.

Toothpick removed his chewed-up implement and brandished it at them like a tiny sword. “I suggest you two keep it moving. You don’t belong here.”

“Eh?” Gwil said. “We just wanna look around.”

Cigar opened his mouth, but his lips just flapped like a dying fish. He swayed and gurgled. His hands went to his throat and his eyes bugged out.

Gwil caught a whiff of something sickly sweet. Clouds of pink spores billowed out of Leira’s eyeflower to cover the guards like snowflakes.

Cigar fell to his knees. Toothpick lowered his spear at Gwil and Leira, but the weapon fell from his hands, clattered to the ground. He stumbled, slipped on the rolling shaft and fell over, landing on top of his partner.

“Oh! That’s how you do it?” Gwil said. “I wish I had gotten a flower. That’s amazing and useful, Leira!”

“This place is a joke,” she said. “What is this weak-ass security? Two idiots acting like big shots. This bongermaier-whatever must be a cheap dumbass.”

“Can we still go?” Gwil said.

Leira bit her lip. “I dunno. We already assaulted their guards.”

“That was you,” Gwil said. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Piss off. They were immediately suspicious because of you.”

“I was honest and polite,” Gwil said. “C’mon, what about the massage?”

Leira threw her hands up. “Fine, if you insist. It should be safe enough if they’re this incompetent. But let me do the talking.”

She stepped over the fallen men to go around the side of the gate.

Gwil nudged one of them with his foot. “Are they gonna die?”

“I’m not that bad!” Leira said. “And don’t say anything—you were an exception due to special circumstances. It’s not poison, just an anesthetic.”