Mikus leaned back in his chair and contemplated Maya’s tale. Still silent, he finished his drink, and poured himself another. He offered the bottle to Maya and Spanner, who both declined, before nodding to himself with pursed lips.
“So, if your Grandad was a Hazemaker, then you could be too. You could learn to make haze’s of all different kinds, not just hazeporting, right?”
Maya shrugged, “I’ve got no idea, I don’t know anything about it.”
“But you’re willing to learn?”
“Erm… yeah?” Maya shot a glance at Spanner who piped up.
“We were headed to Roland’s. I figured an alchemist would be the best bet.”
“Bah, that pompous do-gooder wouldn’t risk himself getting involved with the Fylguard. I on the other hand, have been known to be a little more reckless. Especially if there is profit to be made.”
Mikus smiled wide, then chuckled.
“I think I might be able to help you. I’ve got a place, discreet like, in Troust, near The Walk. I can set it up with most of the basic stuff you’ll likely need, and fund it. I’ve got contacts in the library too, reckon I can source some copies of certain useful tomes. You could study for a while and then get making. Finding the proper hazemaker’s tools might be an issue, but it’ll be a while before you need them.”
“Actually-“ Maya delved into her backpack and pulled out the leather roll “-are these the tools you mean.”
Mikus grinned, throwing his hands up in delight as Maya continued.
“How come you know so much about this stuff?”
“Oh, don’t get too excited, I don’t know much at all. Enough to know what you’ll need, and what I want in return. That’s about it.”
Spanner leaned forward and rested her elbows on the desk.
“And what exactly is it, that you want in return?”
“Just some hazes. Easy work for a hazemaker, I’m sure.”
“And what exactly is it, that you need hazes for?”
“I’m a businessman. A businessman always needs an edge!”
Spanner held his gaze and waited.
“Look, there’s a haze I’ve heard of, what lets someone control stone. They can cut it, shape it, move it, all sorts, with just their mind. With some of that, I reckon I could craft some pieces that’d set me up for life. Only if she can, mind. I’ll help either way. The basement’s sitting there empty anyway, and my friend in the library owes me a favour already, so it’s no real skin off my nose. Might be handy to have a hazemaker for a friend regardless. What do ya say?”
Maya turned to Spanner, “You did say it doesn’t make sense not to trust people.”
“I did say that.“ Spanner shifted forwards in her seat and locked eyes with Mikus “We’ll take you up on that, but we’ve likely got bigger and more pressing problems. If the Fylguard are waiting to barge in here of all places, then there aren’t gonna be many places they won’t muscle into. Also, we don’t know how they’re keeping tabs on Maya, how they found us. Next, if they’ve identified me, they probably know where I live. Which means going straight home is an issue. Lastly Piv, he’s with us, no arguments. He should be in Moen right now, but we need a message to him before he goes back to mine. Can you help with that?”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Mikus screwed his face up as though he had taken a bite out of a lemon. “I’ll get some bits so you can stay here overnight, just to wait things out. I’ll get a message to the old shop, send someone to catch your friend in Gomin, what station?”
“Southeast Eight.”
“Ok. Anything they can say to convince him it isn’t some sort of trap without me telling the whole story to my runner?”
Maya cleared her throat, “Tell him to say ‘Tandercaps’. He’ll know it’s from me.”
“Tandercaps, eh? Fair enough. I’ll get the message sent now, you two stay, we’ll work out how to move you later.” With that, Mikus stood, pushing his chair back into the wall. He rushed out of the room, leaving Maya and Spanner alone. Maya sat back in her chair, and fiddled with the bag straps.
“How will he send a message? You don’t have phones here.”
Spanner flashed a look of perplexity, “Phones? No, none of whatever that is. He’ll send a Flash.”
Maya’s blank expression prompted Spanner to continue. “It’s mirrors and lights and glass cables under the city. This buildings probably got it’s own one. Flashes light in a sort of code. They have runners at each Flashpoint that take the message. Most people use public ones, but Mikus has one at his old shop. A lot quicker than birds, and a lot less mess.”
“Like Morse code?”
“If you say so, kid. Anyway, how are you doing? I don’t know how you’re staying calm in all this.”
“Me either. It’s still all very weird. So, I am just sort of going with the flow. Mainly, I just feel guilty that you and Piv, and now Mikus are all getting involved and being put in danger to help me.”
“We’ve got our reasons, and to be honest, there’s more going on here than just you. The Fylguard shouldn’t be here. They shouldn’t be allowed in Nurba at all, and they definitely shouldn’t be able to walk around like they own the place. Something’s going on. It’s been happening slowly for a while, but their obsession with you seems to have kicked things up a notch. Don’t get me twisted, I’m not saying that’s your fault. I’m just saying, whatever’s going on, we’re all in trouble regardless. Anyway, just know, we’d rather be on your side than theirs.”
“But, I don’t know even know what they want with me?”
“They want you, because you could be a hazemaker. Think about it, everyone knows about hazes as a concept, but nobody knows much of use. That’s because they are rare, and in recent years, they’ve gotten rarer. When I was a kid, you used to see em. Not often, it was a big deal, but they were around. Now, I haven’t seen one for well over twenty five years. There are still some in Nurba, apparently, but you don’t hear about them anymore.”
“What happened to them all?”
Spanner shrugged. “Don’t know for sure. Rumours went around for a while that Ashta was rounding them up. Making offers they couldn’t refuse.”
Seeing Maya’s expression, Spanner clarified. “The Fylguard General you hear so much about. Her name is Ashta. They say she recruited the ones she could, and hunted the ones she couldn’t. The rest probably went to ground.”
“Do you think my Grandpa was here for that? Why would he have hazeports to Misvir if he hadn’t been here?”
“Couldn’t say kid. Would make sense if he’d been around at some point, but it would make more sense that he stayed away. Anyway, how do you feel about Mikus’ offer?”
“I don’t know, would be good to learn whatever I can I suppose, and it seems more and more important for me to have somewhere to hide. Will you go back to yours at all?”
“Not yet. I’ve got enough friends in Nurba to get someone else to check it out for me, grab some things. I’m linked to you now though, so its probably best if I keep a low profile too, until we know whats going on with the Fylguard.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Ah don’t worry about that, things were getting boring anyway.”
Spanner’s smile was warm and gentle, and easy to trust as genuine. The pair continued chatting for a short while until Mikus returned.
“Message sent. I’ve also sent a complaint to the Justice Office and the Guard Office about the Fylguard barging in and assaulting me. It’ll probably get filed in the trash, but worth a shot I reckon. I’ve also had a think. I say we move you two over night. My runner is gonna take your friend straight to Troust, and I’ve got an idea for getting you two out.”
Both Maya and Spanner leaned in expectantly.
“I’ve sent for some of my office furniture to be moved here. I was planning on getting rid of all this smoke stained stuff anyway. It’ll be boxed up, so you can go out in the boxes with the old stuff. Be delivered direct to the basement, means you’ll have something to sit on, and a table to work at. Might get bashed about a bit in transit, but we can use some of the straw the from the crates, and I’ll slip the boys a couple of discs to be gentle and keep quiet. What do ya say?”