After a short time, the shirt on Nua’s back was almost completely dry. She wasn’t in danger of dripping on the floor anymore, so she started heading back. At nearly midday, the streets weren’t busy. Those who did not work – which was a considerable fraction of the district’s locals - stayed home, protecting themselves from the sun, sleeping on stairs, or directly on the street under the sunroofs that shaded the entrances to their clay houses. Sometimes, they were accompanied by scruffy dogs and stray cats that belonged to everyone in the building and nobody in particular.

Here and there, work was being done. A laundrywoman tossed soapy water into the gutter. A different one was hanging wool and linen garments on a line. They were shouting at each other across the street, exchanging gossip. A nearby brothel opened its door and a wiry old cleaner was sweeping the floor in preparation for a busy night. A junkman was pulling his cart. Near the River’s God shrine, a beggar with his head covered in cankerous sores sat down and started to pray aloud.

Nua was well on her way when she heard a lengthy, piercing sound of a horn. She jumped aside on a reflex, then noticed people peeking out of the windows along the street. A shout followed – “Out of the way!” – and a surprising parade came forth.

In the front, two armed men rode musushu stallions. They had helmets of iron and bronze, adorned with crimson plumes, and polished cuirasses so smooth that they could probably be used as mirrors. Their mounts, graceful, large, and red-scaled, differed somewhat from the brown or green, ill-proportioned drakes that Nua usually saw at the market. Everything about them, from their three-toed, sturdy feet, to the elongated, black-speckled necks and slim heads with multiple horns, was thoroughbred.

Another mount was following them, not a living animal, but a machine. It was a bipedal automaton that reminded Nua of a large bird – or rather half of one because it didn’t have other body parts except for the legs and half of the torso. It carried an adorned palanquin. The curtains were pulled aside, so she could see an elderly man with a long, coiffed white beard and a circlet upon his brow. He was wrapped in a silk robe with patterns in silver and blue, depicting some sort of birds. He also carried a white, metallic rod-like weapon that Nua had never seen before.

She has heard a lot about them, though.

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The girl hid behind the barrel with refuse and observed.

“I gather that he’s someone important.” Anki inquired.

“Oh, that’s a mage-engineer, all right.”

“How do you know?”

“Well, he carries himself like one.”, Nua said. “He’s rich, he’s old, he has an automaton and a gun.”

“A gun?”

“You’ve never seen one?” Nua thought that was odd. “A rare etheric weapon that you can shoot with? You of all people? You had cannons.”

“Ah, etheric. Obviously. I shouldn’t be surprised that someone invented a workaround. See, in my youth personal firearms were non-etheric. Machinery and explosives, and that’s it.”

“What happened?”

“One of us cursed them. He devised a large sorcerous working that changed the world at its core and made all personal guns unable to ignite. It was a brilliant idea at the time.”, Anki sighed. “He won his war. Then, other weapons became prominent.”

“Wait, what. You lot had the power to curse the whole bonking world?”

“Well, not all of us.”

“Did you?”

“I could do it if I worked at it. Near my end I was one of the most powerful Autarchs on the planet. We were worshipped as gods. We were, effectively, gods ourselves.”

“That statue at the entrance. That was you?”

“Who else?”

Nua was shocked.

“By the River God. What killed you?!”

“That is a long story that I’ll tell in due time. Nua, focus. They’re heading to the junkyard if I’m correct. No other reason for them to be here. I’d like to be certain though.”

“I’m not following them.”

“Oh, but I am.”, Anki said.

“How far can you get away from me?”, Nua frowned. “I thought it was not too much.”

“Only that street’s length, true. But if I fly upwards, this will give me a bird’s eye view. That should be enough to figure out where they’re going, and also – if there are any other groups.”

“That’s smart. You think there’s more of them?”

“I hope not.” Anki mulled over something. “Go back to Hala’s place. This is a complication, but one we can hopefully circumvent. We need to start your training very soon. Even with your mind as it is.”

“You sure? Hala had a hard time teaching me anything.”

“Hala did not reside inside your head to notice exactly when you lose focus. Hala is also not an Autarch. I’m quite certain to achieve better results.”, Anki boasted.

“All right”, Nua was not convinced. “Let’s go to the market tomorrow then. Now it’s too late anyway. They start selling fishes before sunrise. Wake me up, so we can get some fresh cuts. Could you teach me to steal with magic?”

“Not so soon, I’m afraid.”

“Too bad.” Nua sighed. “I have to think of a good plan and I already hate it.”