Aria sank into her seat. The shuttle parked for the day in a ravine beside the forest. They had one way in and one way out, so they could avoid Era should she try to find them. But, Sotir said she still struggled. They stayed just close enough to keep Era’s tracking band loose and unhelpful.

Alban talked to his pilots. The rest of his crew slept in the back, taking their turns to rest. Alban let the arcanes rest first because he wanted them for a conference – a conference on strategy. Aria glanced at the man. Blue dominated his aura.

Aria looked at the rest of her companions. Pan sat beside her. Her aura showed grey, a dull purple, and washed out blue. The dull shades were a normal part of Pan’s aural biome but not Irini’s or Sotir’s. Their strong colors dulled, hovering on the edge of grey.

Alban strode to their little meeting place, not four feet from the control board. He grabbed a stool from the wall and planted it behind his pilots in a place from which he could see all of the arcanes’ faces. “Sotir, summarize how Soffigen arcanes are made.”

Sotir glanced up, but he didn’t make eye contact. “The Soffigen studied our genetics along with objects they believed belonged to the Visitors. Between these two sources, they gathered enough information and developed a process to make Soffigen arcanes. Somehow they inscribe whatever the arcane circles represent into experiments like Era.” Sotir shrugged. “As for the details of the process, I can’t say anymore. We’ll have to question the scientists. Though, they made some mistakes themselves. If they don’t fully understand the process, I certainly can’t.”

“That’s alright. We’re just establishing the situation,” Alban said. “Giving a little background to this wonderful person we know as Era. She comes from this place.”

Sotir frowned. “Yes, and no. She was born here, but she grew up somewhere else.”

“What about the supervisor? The person with Scaldin origins.” Alban crossed his arms and waited.

“That…is interesting. I don’t see any Scaldin when I scry through the records. But, it would explain the comment against use of the artificial wombs.” Sotir paused and ran a hand through his hair. “Scaldin appreciate things in their natural state more so than Soffigen. Maybe, there’s a built-in punishment for using the wombs.” Sotir shook his head. “It doesn’t matter right now. I have no idea whether the supervisor is Scaldin or if he or she even exists. That bearded scientist might be a good actor. Sorry, Aria.”

“That’s alright. I’d like to be wrong about the Scaldin helper,” Aria said.

Irini flashed with color. “Have you gotten more chances to look into the book’s past? With the arcane circles? I want to know what visitors looked like.”

Aria shifted and gave Irini her full attention. She read the usual yellow in Irini’s aura, coupled with bright curiosity and the blue of deep thought.

“Visitors?” Sotir shrugged. “I don’t see them well. They’re always heavily clothed in my visions. Wedding attire.”

“They have pointy chins,” Pan said. “And, that’s just the start.”

Aria perked up. “How do you know what a Visitor looks like?”

The Visitors arrived on Scaldigir, hooded and veiled. They showed no one their appearance, except for the people they mated with. Because of their secrets, most Scaldin only knew what a hybrid looked like. Those constituted Scaldigir’s earliest records of the changes made to their species. Pan had some of the best idea what a Visitor might look like, and she never shared it, choosing instead to tease others endlessly. Aria wouldn’t miss a word Pan now had to say.

“I think I’ve seen a Visitor ghost or two.” Pan took a deep breath. “They weren’t grey. And, honestly, I don’t think we were either, not before they came.” Pan looked into space and put her chin in her hand. “Visitors were banded, black and white. The bands ran down their arms and up their necks. They had big milky eyes, and…” Pan shook her head. “Their faces were like masks.”

Sotir’s eyes seemed to light up. “I second that. I’ve seen faces like masks. I thought they were actual masks.”

Pan pulled one knee up to her chest. She hugged her leg. “You might still be right. It’s always hard to judge what a person would look like if they were alive, instead of dead. Most ghosts are warped, mere shadows, or collections of smoke.”

Irini showed some of her familiar anxious yellow.

Alban narrowed his eyes and glared at Pan. “All this time, you knew what they looked like, and you never said anything to a historian or an archaeologist? Was it some kind of game to you?”

“No,” Pan said. “I didn’t think they were Visitors. For a long time, I thought they were mythical creatures – nature spirits. There are such things. Spirits that were never alive to begin with.” Pan paused. She rested her chin on her knee. “I only thought different more recently.”

“It’s best left unsaid.” Sotir folded his hands. “We’re only a small portion Visitor, and yet, we follow all their customs. I see the tree symbols associated with them. We now know the arcane circles belonged to them, and those circles are more important to Scaldigir than we ever realized. These are the things our history has been built on – for five hundred years. It’s what anyone would say makes a Scaldin.” Sotir paused, and his eyelids half closed. White trimmed his aura. “Yet, it’s all Visitor – not Scaldin. Everything we cherish is Visitor. And frankly, I find Visitors terrifying. When I see them in my readings, I don’t get a great sense of their appearance, but I do feel imposed upon. They’re scary. And, our ancestors thought they were as well.” Sotir looked Alban in the eyes. “I’m not proud to come from them. Others shouldn’t feel the same.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“They’re that bad?” Alban asked.

Between the group, grey, yellow, and blue swirled into a soup of despondency and anxiety.

“They’re that bad,” Sotir said.

“I’ll draw you one,” Pan promised.

Alban made a face. “Let’s table that discussion. We’ve set a background for Era. She comes from here, but she may not know it. We have a vague idea how she was made; now let’s discuss how to capture or kill her.”

Aria wished they didn’t have to drop all discussion about Visitors. She wanted to see what one looked like. She would accept Pan’s drawing and request it in Pan’s new technique. It would be the only scary drawing Aria commissioned.

Alban continued, “Let’s explore the option to capture her first.”

Pan sighed. “We’re not getting her. There’s no way I can capture her.”

“There is if you use the suppressant,” Alban said.

Pan’s aura churned. Her usual lavender wasn’t there. She was blue, grey, and a sickly green.

Aria knit her brow. What was bothering Pan?

“But, I have to injure her enough to get close and use it. I might just end up killing her.” Pan’s aura continued to churn.

Aria suspected a lie, but she wasn’t sure.

Sotir held up a hand. “Let’s see what the strategy is.”

Alban smiled. His aura changed. Genuine, bright excitement colored him in yellow. Alban removed pictures from a file and handed them to Pan. To Aria’s eyes, the photographs looked like colored rectangles. Pan took each one and spread them, like cards in her hand. Irini leaned over to see.

“I had to use an old piece of equipment to print them. We’ve been phasing out paper onboard ship for the past fifty years. Plus, I only had the shuttle available to me. They might not be up to...print quality,” Alban almost apologized.

With narrow eyes, Pan studied the pictures. “Resolution is a bit low. They’re about the same quality as that hand-made postcard I used to get to the gathering room.” Pan slowly moved the pictures, sliding them across each other. She glanced up at Aria. “There’s a snowy ravine, a desert canyon, a quarry, and a beach.”

Aria nodded.

Alban tapped one of the pictures. “I believe you should start here at the quarry. Now, Era can’t teleport. She tracks you, and her power is like a band. What happens if you keep moving location and yank that band around?” Alban smiled. Yellow continued to flow through his aura. “I’m guessing you can disorient her. At the very least, you can set up traps while you wait for her to find you again. You could even move her. The plan is to keep her confused and on the battleground of your choice.”

“I like that.” Pan held up the quarry picture and studied it. She showed an uncharacteristic shade of blue.

Alban’s blue matched Pan’s. It was the blue of plotting. “Right, we use the downsides of her powers against her. Moving locations gives you a chance to rest and plan. She won’t have that opportunity. She stews while she waits.”

Pan nodded. “How do we make her other powers suck?”

“I can’t do anything for telekinesis, but by moving location, you can make her use more energy to create fire or ice. If she favors fire, bring her to the snow. If she favors ice, bring her to the canyon. It’ll be dry, and she’ll struggle to get enough moisture out of the air.”

Pan grinned. Her aura remained grim – grey and blue – but some purple snuck in. Pan could set up a trap in each location and see which one caught the Soffigen arcane.

“We also have Sotir and Irini to help,” Alban continued. “While you prepare the battlegrounds, they can feed you information. You should be able to get close enough with the cuffs or the suppressant in record time.”

Sick green rippled in Pan’s aura. “How far apart are these locations? Can my portals reach?” she asked.

“They’re far flung, and they’re far from here as well. Your portals might not reach.” Alban held up a finger. “But I have a plan. We have three working shuttles. We’ll use them as jumping points for you.” Alban produced more pictures and stuck them in Pan’s card fan.

“You took a picture of the inside of every shuttle. They look like real estate photos,” Pan said.

“Thank you.” Alban ignored Pan’s sarcasm. “I’d also like you to study this map. It shows all the locations. I’ve guessed the distance of your portal’s range, using the jumps you made on Ischyros. You traveled a short distance to the gathering room, but you sent Era a much farther distance into space. Very far, in fact. We’ll test the range, of course, but I think the map is arranged well enough that you can get from one place to another. So long as you know where you can and can’t go from each location.”

“Okay.” Pan nodded. “Most of the places are a bit light on weapons. Do I take rocks from the quarry to use as weapons in these other barren places?”

“That’s an option. But, you can also use your telekinesis to move snow and water. Have you practiced that?”

“No.” Pan frowned.

“That’s fine. You’ll have to work with the skills you have.” Alban’s aura flared with a stern grey, but the shade faded to something a bit softer – understanding. “Now, I picked these locations because of how open they are. If Era uses her illusions, you don’t have to worry about getting hurt, with the exception of the quarry.”

“What about the beach? I could wander into the water and drown.”

“You could, but Era will probably keep the water visible because she doesn’t want to wander into the water and drown. She kept the pathways in the ship, correct?”

Pan nodded.

“In two hours, we’re going to practice.” Alban checked his watch. “Era will find you, but we’ll test what we can.” Alban stood up and walked to the back of the shuttle, where he promptly laid on a blanket. He set his alarm and seemed to fall asleep in an instant.

“Should we sleep?” Irini asked.

“We already slept for eight hours,” Sotir said.

Pan crossed her arms. “We could sleep again.” Her aura stretched for Sotir, and she eyed him. “Since all the pillows are taken, I call Sotir.”

Sotir’s aura reached back.

“Hey, who can I lay on?” Irini looked at Aria. “She’s so bony.”

Aria laughed, trying to keep herself as quiet as possible. She wanted Alban to get some good sleep. He was leading them after all. She put a finger to her lips.

Aria’s journey to grab Pan would end soon. She could feel it. She didn’t know whether Pan would come quietly, with joy, or kicking and screaming. But, if all went to plan, she might get most of what she’d hoped for.