Waves of colors flowed in the far distance. The colors swirled, and rocked like waves… yet…

My eyes slowly slid upward, and soon enough I had to tilt my head back as well.

The wall of color went far, far higher up than any person or story had said it did.

It was so massive that the idea that it was a wall at all was… preposterous. Why had people described it as a wall? It was towering even higher than the clouds themselves and it seemed to extend for as long as the eye could see… I wasn’t even able to see the top of it!

Even if you discounted the swirling colors and magic and what supposedly laid behind it…

It was no wall. It was something all its own.

It was the Rift.

The colorful wall looked close, thanks to its size, but it was obvious how far away it were. Probably a whole day’s worth of travel, if not more.

But the city that was said to touch it didn’t seem so.

Our destination, RiftWarren, rested across the great river in front of us. A river that we really should have crossed hours ago…

“What’s taking so long?” I asked.

My uncle didn’t find my question worth an answer, but I knew I’d not have liked it anyway. The boat was about ready, and we would soon be boarding… my complaints were unwarranted.

For a moment I studied the wooden craft, but it didn’t take long for my eyes to once again be drawn to the colorful wall off in the distance.

It was so hard not to be distracted by it. It made me wonder how anyone ever got anything done here. How did they ignore it? It was so…

All my life I had seen paintings, and heard the stories of it… but none of them had done it justice. At first I had thought it would be similar to an ocean, something that was more amazing in person than not… but this was completely different.

It was nothing like the ocean.

After all, it was magic.

Magic beyond reason.

A flash of gold ran down from the clouds, like a lightning bolt. The colorful line arched along the wall, splitting off into uncountable branches. It was a beautiful sight, but it worried me.

Was it doing something?

Quickly looking around, at the rest of the crowd waiting for their chance to board the ferry, I wasn’t sure if I was pleased to find no one seemingly concerned. No one looked worried, or was even looking at the wall at all.

Everyone was instead focused on the ferry, as if it was somehow… more important.

Oddly even my own uncle seemed disinterested. He was instead smiling to the young woman to his right, opposite of me.

Forcing my eyes away from his stupid smile, I went back to watching the Rift.

The gold hadn’t disappeared, but it was now mixing and being absorbed into the myriad of other colors along the wall. They mixed as if by unseen currents. Parts of the wall suddenly became beautiful, shining brightly with vivid hues… while others became darker, and deeper. Although strange, it was indeed beautiful.

I could see now why there were so many paintings of it.

Why paint it so much, and nothing else? I had always wondered. Now I knew why.

The wall seemed to always be… different. Different hues and patterns. Different shades. Never ending, always changing.

Of course artists would be fascinated by it.

Intense and vibrant colors weren’t confined to just the Rift, however. The great city across the river was nearly as colorful. Great swaths of bright colors scattered everywhere along the river, and beyond it. In seemingly no apparent pattern as well. Obviously the city took its nearby monument of incomprehension to heart.

Even the boat was painted a strange orange color.

Anywhere else, the brightly colored buildings and objects would be an eyesore… but here before the giant wall of color, the buildings were oddly fitting.

When standing next to the strangest thing in existence, the odd became alarmingly normal.

“Mint, we’re next,” Uncle Buth gestured as he spoke.

I nodded, but kept my eyes on the looming wall of color. It was so far away, but… it gave off the presence as if it were about to fall upon us. It was as scary as it was beautiful.

Though… as terrifying as the wall of magic was, I knew it was the least of my fears.

Since after all, the Rift laid beyond it.

“Two? Head to the front,” a boatman said as Buth and I stepped up on the dock, next in line.

My uncle guided me along the dock, and then helped me board the large wooden craft. There wasn’t much room at the front, but it allowed me a clear view of the Rift Wall and the town we’d soon be sailing into.

Although not the largest boat, the thing didn’t rock very much as other people clambered on, filling it… rather fully.

It was surprising to watch person after person climb aboard. To the point people sat not only on the rows of seats, but the edge of the ferry itself. Like the two of us, it seemed there were many travelers… and all of them suddenly wanted across the river.

Glancing up and down the river, I could make out in the distance similar boats, of many sizes, shuttling people from one side of the river to the other.

You’d think with so many people crossing the river, there’d be… establishments on this side. Places to rest, or buy food and drink. My uncle and I had waited several hours before we’d been able to board, I’d have happily purchased something to eat if there had been something to buy.

But who was I to question the Rift Towns? After all, they were said to be countries of their own selves. Much to the chagrin of all the kings and rulers of the Lands of Man.

Maybe that was the very reason there were no buildings, or shops, here on this side of the river. Maybe by being on that side, they could… retain their odd sense of independence.

Either way… It’d make it hard to march an army there, that’s for sure… With the Rift on one side, and this massive river on the other.

“Keep seated!” a boatman nearby shouted, and the boat jerked as it lurched away from the dock.

While the boat rocked, I peered past my uncle and over the edge of the boat, behind us. The water rippled from the boat’s jerky movements, but otherwise looked… normal. There were no odd colors, and it didn’t smell or look strange.

“We’ll get something to eat soon, Mint,” Buth said.

Glancing to the old man, I wondered if he had thought I had been hoping to see a fish.

Though… better he think I were hungry than scared.

“Here for the upcoming door?”

Buth nodded to the speaker, and I turned around to see the elderly woman sitting in front of us

“Hm. Quite a risk for one so young,” she said as she stared at me.

“Do a lot of people show up, normally?” I asked her.

“Oh yes. Though nowhere near as many as there used to,” she said as she gestured at the many sitting around us. “You two might even be the only ones here for it on this whole boat, odds say,” she added.

A few random listeners nearby nodded in agreement, and I realized most of them were on the older side. And weren’t carrying any large bags or pouches. If they weren’t like us, then what were they? If not travelers… what had they been doing over there? There were only flat prairies on that side of the river. And most hadn’t even looked like farmland. What had they been doing?

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Before I could ask and satisfy my curiosity, my uncle drew her attention to him. “You wouldn’t happen to know when the door opens, do you?” he asked.

“Of course not. No one does. Or can. But it should be soon… more and more of the lightning strikes are occurring, so it can’t be long from now,” she said.

Lightning strikes? “Like that gold one a few moments ago?” I asked.

“Yep. Pretty right? When one of those bolts of colors strike the earth, a great flash of light opens along the Rift and a door is made. The larger the bolt of lightning, the longer the door lasts,” she explained. She seemed happy to do so, like many elderly do when teaching the young.

“I see… is that why they call it a Rift Storm then?” I asked.

The old woman laughed at me, and a few others nearby who had heard my question seemed to smile and smirk as well. “No child, the storms are inside the Rift. Not out here. Good thing too, or life would be far harsher than it already is.”

Although her answer brought more questions, I took the hint and went quiet. I didn’t need to further terrify myself more than necessary.

With my silence, other conversations started to take place. Even the old lady who had taken an interest was brought into a conversation about the fishing lately. My uncle and I had both been forgotten.

Luckily such a thing would be easy here at the Rift. Nothing was unique here. No matter who or what you were. After all, everyone just saw you as another part of the Rift’s massive shadow.

Why wouldn’t we be? Visitors for the doors were probably… very common.

Thinking about such a thing, I glanced around and realized that there wasn’t a shadow covering us.

Searching the sun out, I found it not too far from the giant wall of color. Not behind it, but also not too far above it.

Did the Rift not cast a shadow? As odd as it was to realize that the thing didn’t cast a shadow… It was even odder I didn’t find it worrisome. After all, the Rift was magic. And magic was…

Odd.

Movement drew my attention, and I found RiftWarren suddenly close.

The sudden closeness of the colorful buildings shocked me. This boat had no sail, and the river was massive… yet we hadn’t been traveling that fast. At least so it had seemed.

Drawing closer to RiftWarren was a pleasant thing, since it meant we’d soon be able to rest… but it was also daunting. The closer we got to the buildings; it became steadily more obvious how difficult it was going to be to find our destination.

“It’s huge…” I groaned as we neared one of the larger docks.

“RiftWarren is one of the largest Rift Cities after all,” Buth said.

“And you know where this supposed company is?” I asked my uncle.

“Well… no. But we’ll find it easily enough. It’s one of the more prominent companies, here in the Rift,” he said.

Easily enough, he says. That was what he had been saying about getting here in the first place.

A whole year ago.

“Please wait a moment before disembarking!” A boatman on the other side of the ferry shouted.

“Seems rather easy to enter this town,” I said softly. We had paid for the use of the boat, but it hadn’t been very much. In fact it had been very cheap compared to some of the other fees we had paid throughout our journey here.

“They don’t have entry taxes, or customs. They don’t need them,” Buth said.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“No one can claim ownership of the Rift,” he said simply.

The boat bumped into the side of the dock, but I barely felt the impact through the solid wood. Some water splashed one of the people who had been sitting on the edge nearby, and he groaned while people chuckled at him.

“That I get… but the town surely?”

“Think of it like responsibility. Would you be willing to be responsible for this place?” he asked me, as some people on the other side if the boat began to stand up. We had finished docking.

“Well… no?” Magic was the last thing I wanted to be responsible for.

“Exactly. Also, thanks to the Rift there’s too much magic and power here. No one could claim it even if they wanted to,” he further added.

“So it’s lawless,” I said.

“I’ve heard it’s not like how it used to be… but it’s best to consider it as dangerous as if it were,” my uncle whispered as the people in front of us started to stand.

I stood quickly, to help the elderly lady up. She thanked me before disembarking.

“Last to board, last to get off,” my uncle complained as we waited for our turn.

What was wrong with that? At least we were finally here. It took… so very long…

Once it was finally our turn to exit the boat, the dock had become rather crowded. Not just by our fellow passengers, but other boats and their workers.

The familiar smell of fish was strong here, but not entirely recognizable. I made a mental note to check one of the nearby fish barrels, to see what kind of fish was inside it. This smell wasn’t like the fish at home.

“Oh, come on…” my uncle groaned as we went in line, waiting to cross the dock and enter RiftWarren.

“You know how docks are, uncle,” I said, as I watched people pause to chat with one another. Boatmen talking to dockhands, passengers talking to people they knew… The sudden bout of conversations and meetings caused the mob of people to trudge slowly along.

“I didn’t travel a whole year to chit-chat on a dock. I coulda’ stayed home and done that,” uncle Buth said, a little too loudly. One of the nearby fishermen, on his boat, had heard him.

Doing my best to ignore the glare, I hoped that my uncle didn’t cause a scene. He was both far too old, and I was far too tired to deal with it.

Although my uncle fumed behind me, I found the conversations to be interesting as we passed them.

Some of them were of simple friends, seeing each other as they passed. But a few were unique. Business deals being conducted, where the fish were really biting today, something about a company going bankrupt yesterday… A murder in the docks last night.

While we slowly made our way down the dock, I glanced into the barrels and buckets we passed. Many of them were full of fish, most still alive. Surprisingly they weren’t that large, maybe as long as my arm. And silver in color. I didn’t recognize them at all.

Once we finally emerged from the crowded dock, and onto the dockyard, we got both some breathing space and a clear path to into the city. A large road wasn’t too far away from us.

Although the dockyards weren’t too packed of people, they were busy. And when one considered that the whole town had such docks lining all along the river…

Just how much fish did they haul from this river, every day? To warrant all this commotion?

Uncle Buth took a moment to ask a man covered in fish guts for directions. Pleased to hear his heartiness at getting us to our destination quicker, I had to hide my smirk when the fish cutter was able to get my uncle into a conversation about how to slice a fish properly.

“Uncle,” I ushered, and finally pulled him away before he became too enthralled in the conversation. He mumbled a passing goodbye to the worker, and went to lead the way for me.

He was just as bad as everyone else, and he had the gall to complain earlier!

“The city center is this way, Mint,” Buth said, guiding us down a smaller road.

Unsurprisingly the city was just as boisterous as the dockyards. Although not as smelly.

Dozens of people walked to and fro, passing us not just on the street, but in-between buildings and through alleys.

Everyone looked in a hurry, but few didn’t have smiles on their faces. It was almost as if this colorful city was enticing people to be just as bright. It was a good sign to see so many people out and about… I had heard rumors along the way here that the Rift and the cities surrounding it were destitute and dangerous.

This seemed anything but.

Rambunctious, but no one seemed worse for wear.

Though this was but one city. And I’d only just entered it.

And someone had just in passing mentioned a murder.

Following my uncle, I found myself getting engaged in my surroundings. Even though we had passed through some very interesting towns on the way here, this place was…

From the colorful buildings, to the multi-colored glass windows that glistened… to the streets lined with markets… This place was as vibrant and alive as some of the capital cities we had travelled through. If not more so.

The biggest difference though was the vibrancy wasn’t limited to the buildings and items clogging them up.

The people themselves were colorful and varied. Most of them were wearing clothes as brightly colored as the buildings. Anywhere else it would have been gaudy and off-putting.

Here it made them almost seem normal, and me the strange one.

“Careful Mint,” uncle Buth said, gesturing to a large carriage coming our way.

I joined my uncle, and several other pedestrians up against the nearby building. The carriage was almost too big to tread down this street. Its large horses that pulled it, decked out in colorful tapestries, looked very well groomed. Nothing like the horses back home. Neither the ones found on the farms or stables. I wondered I they were pulling someone important.

“This is probably not a main street,” my uncle complained, more so at our lack of finding a proper path than the carriage itself.

“Why not ask, then?”

“I was trying, and then you pulled me away,” he blamed.

Once the carriage passed, I got the attention of a brightly dressed woman. She seemed to be more than happy to give better directions, and it didn’t take long for us to find ourselves on a giant road.

“Now this is a main street,” I said, staring at the patterns beneath my feet.

Each stone was a different color than the next, yet they weren’t haphazard. There were little designs and…

“Sometimes too much color is simply too much,” my uncle said as we walked the road.

“I rather like it,” I said.

“You would.”

“Door entry spots are open! First come, first serve!” A young girl shouted from a balcony nearby, drawing the attention of crowds.

“Is that it?” I asked, excited.

“Of course not,” Buth said.

“Does it matter, though? As long as we get to pass through the Rift,” I said.

“You’d like to survive the passage, wouldn’t you?” he asked.

“Obviously…”

“Then we’ll go with the best. Choosing the cheapest and first we encountered like that is foolish. Here… it has to be this way. Those buildings look demanding,” he said with a point towards a part of the city that seemed to be even larger than the one we were in. The buildings looked… thicker. Taller. Wider.

I groaned as I followed, knowing it was probably going to take some time to find this supposed company of perfection. Chances were it no longer existed. Or it was no longer owned and ran by his friend.

While we walked, I began to catch the scent of something delicious. With the smell, came the hard truth of my hunger. Maybe Buth had indeed seen hunger on my face earlier, and it had been me who had mistaken my own desires.

“Uncle, let’s get food first. Before we get lost and can’t find any,” I said hurriedly.

Rather, at least before we couldn’t afford it anymore.