Finding the Lady’s new house was going as well as Tenthé expected. He had made it past the typical things lurking along the way and was looking at a burned-out shell, all that remained of her former residence. One thing of note, the tumbled down wall next to the alley contained the partial remains of a few skeletons of something he didn’t recognize. Some of the bones were being eaten away by glyphs that flowed slowly across their surfaces.
The remains probably came from the beings who kept trying to track down the Lady. Tenthé only wished the worst for them. Hopefully, their current state had been preceded by a slow and painful death. If they’d been successful in harming the Lady, he’d have had to chase them down and make them answer for their deeds. He was always surprised by how these sorts assumed there wouldn’t be repercussions for their actions.
But, back to the present. He was standing here like an idiot, looking for clues that weren’t leaping out to show him where to go next. He reached into a pocket and hauled out Bear.
“About time! I was getting tired of you staring at that wall. What did you expect? Magic writing to suddenly appear?”
“Well, yeah. Kind of.”
Bear sighed. “Look around. What doesn’t fit?”
Tenthé looked at the alley. It was filled with trash. The walls on each side were mostly intact, but falling apart in places, and there were a few piles of noxious substances that he didn’t want to touch. In a few nooks and crannies came furtive movements of various sorts: rodents, bugs, and other scavengers. Nothing unusual.
The Lady’s house was gone and the alley wall was just rubble, with the remains of the attackers sticking out here and there. Tenthé shrugged.
“Look at the bodies. See anything?” Bear prompted.
Tenthé studied them. After a few moments, it came to him. “They’re all laid out in one direction!” he exclaimed.
“Finally!” Bear answered. “Took you long enough. Even with me basically telling you the answer!”
“So, should we go the way the heads are pointing, or the opposite?”
“Well, that would be a good question… if it wasn’t for that great big wall on one side! Sometimes I wonder how many times you were dropped on your head when you were a baby.”
“I guess, but it would be sneaky to move next door when everyone expects you to run away.”
“Any decent searcher would check the neighborhood, you idiot!”
“Yeah, but they’d think the same thing and not expect anyone to be so stupid.”
Bear just looked at him like he was special, jumped down, and headed the direction the heads were facing. He continued until he ran into the barrier, where he waited impatiently for Tenthé to follow.
As they walked through the streets and alleys, Bear pointed out signs that were subtly wrong, graffiti for gangs that didn’t exist, small shrines that were new, and other things. Even so, they occasionally had to backtrack when Tenthé sensed a trap or ward that had the flavor of the Lady.
Eventually, it became obvious they were heading toward the South Side. Tenthé stopped.
“Wait!” he declared. “There’s no way. The Lady always said she’d live in the Tannery before she’d ever go there.”
“Well, there you are. The big clue: something only you’d figure out. Anyone else’ll end up searching the wrong place and I guarantee you that the Lady would know. Pretty smart. I sense the hand, or, er… whatever, of Mach-Anot in this.
“Now, we have to get to the Tannery without leaving any clues for someone to follow.”
“Why not just tell us? We could have avoided all this extra work.”
“Where’s the fun in that? The harder she makes it, the better the chance to throw off any hunters.”
“Yeah, but still…”
“Quit bitching, Time’s wasting. Wherever she’s staying won’t be easy to find.”
Tenthé sighed. Once they reached the South Side, he and Bear wandered around until they were next to a grate, which Tenthé pried up. He stuffed Bear into his pocket, then scrambled down into the sewer and pulled the cover back into place.
Tenthé followed a path that led into tunnels that were more like ancient passageways than sewers. It was very dark and deathly quiet. Tenthé felt himself approaching the Heart. The voices were more noticeable, and he could feel the pounding. He fell into his trance and continued walking. Eventually, the world slowly returned. The sounds and smells of the Tannery pushed into his perception. It was well known that most of the workers in this district needed regular treatments to counter the effects of the chemicals, but the Lady’s kids could bathe in the tanning vats and drink the contents with no problems.
The Tannery, in spite of the name, was actually several businesses. Tenthé kept moving through the various buildings, trying to find some sign of where the Lady could have hidden her family.
Suddenly, his defenses flared and he was hit in the back of the head by something heavy! As a horse’s skull bounced to the ground by his feet, a few suppressed giggles came from an alley he’d just passed.
Tenthé scrambled up to the top of the wall he was beside, and crept back to the alley. He looked down on a few tousled heads mounted on rotund bodies. He screamed and leaped.
The resulting fight resulted in everyone tossed into the air, at least once. Tenthé was dog-piled a few times, having to work to escape. The Lady’s kids were strong! Once the festivities died down, Tenthé passed around some breakfast buns. Once they had been inhaled, the boisterous group marched along the little alley. After turning in some directions that didn’t exist, they ended up at a very unassuming gate. Going through required that Tenthé avoid some extremely nasty wards. Of course, the kids hadn’t warned him.
Once inside, he was led across a garden surrounding an imposing mansion. It appeared the Lady felt secure enough to allow herself some comfort. The kids slammed open the door to a grand entryway and rushed down a hallway that emptied into an immense kitchen containing at least two hearths and kilo-paces of counters and sinks. There was a small dining area where the Lady sat with Mach-Anot standing beside her. Tenthé was pretty sure the god wasn’t built in a way that would let him sit.
The Lady was a surprise. She had on a white diaphanous gown and positively glowed. It was much more apparent that this was a person of stature. She was also hugely pregnant; faerie didn’t fool around with long gestation times.
Tenthé plopped down, or rather up, onto a chair, pulled out Bear, and placed him on the table.
Bear gaped at the extra-large figure of the Lady and blurted out, “Oh my gods! Is it going to look like him?”
“What? Don’t be stupid; it’ll look the way I decide,” the Lady declared, her washer woman accent noticeably absent.
“Good. That’s a relief. I’m imagining one of your kids covered in tentacles. Actually, that would be kind of cool,” Bear mused. “I wonder how you would tell if it was a boy or girl?”
Before Bear descended into inevitable lewdness, Tenthé asked the important question, “So, do you have anything to eat?”
The Lady and Mach-Anot laughed. Mach-Anot flowed to the counter and picked up a couple of plates and brought them to the table. Tenthé began stuffing his face with the cookie-brownie morsels that the Lady made so well. Bear just sulked when he realized he wouldn’t be given the chance to show off his wit.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Mach-Anot opened with, “Let’s get to business. You may have noticed that various things are in motion. Like that little House war, the other day.”
“Yeah.” Tenthé replied.
“Thank you. I was pretty sure you might have been involved when the rebellion disintegrated before it got going. One thing you may not have known, though, is that those Horde warriors had removed any identifying marks, leaving us to wonder which tribe they belong to.
“This led me to do some poking around. Some friends have informed me that there is a lot of unexpected movement among the various temples. Meetings and so on. In addition, something has really riled up the Turtle. About the time it started bellowing, a kid was seen fleeing Turtle’s temple. I’m sure you know nothing about that?”
This last probe was directed at Tenthé, who remained absorbed with eating his latest brownie. After receiving no response, Mach-Anot continued.
“Aside from that, there have been whispers of a mystery god meddling in the normal state of affairs. I, personally, am very interested in meddlers.”
Showing that he was listening, Tenthé broke into Mach-Anot’s explanation.
“Yeah, Isabell crashed a meeting that had a bunch of gods and stuff. They were talking about big plans, but started fighting and not much happened. She said there was a god that remained hidden, plus a few lurkers that she couldn’t identify. Also, Bear and I have run into something sneaking around the school and possessing people. One of them was a cook, and another was a person I met, too.”
Mach-Anot waited for more, but Tenthé was done and stuffed one more brownie in his mouth. The Lady heaved herself up and fetched him a glass of water to wash it down, then dropped back into her chair. Mach-Anot didn’t try to help. She was a big girl and could take care of herself.
Once the Lady was settled, Mach-Anot resumed. “Well, something you may not know is that I had a priestess once, back in the day. She was a treacherous worm and excelled at using her understanding of the little details to get her way. I was quite proud of her.
“When my temple blew up, I was sure she had perished, which, of course, removed her from the list of suspects who may have aided in my downfall. But I’m finding hints she has survived, and even more, has become a god in her own right. Just something I am looking into that I thought you might find of interest.”
The Lady injected, “Don’t ignore his hints. He’s still the God of Little Things. I haven’t changed that, and his hunches have helped me deal my enemies a huge setback, which permitted us to upgrade our lodgings, as you can see. I am quite proud of my Machy,” she gushed as she reached over and hugged one of Mach-Anot’s tentacles.
Tenthé looked over at Bear, who was gagging.
Mach-Anot continued, “As much as I feel for this goddess, I will warn you not to underestimate her. She is very good at what she does. You think you have everything under control, when… bam! There you are, being blasted out of your temple!”
Bear chimed in, “You realize you are talking to the king of clueless, don’t you? He never has any idea what is going on. He just does stuff. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes we spend years stuck in the ass-end of nowhere.”
He went on, “Like he said, we’ve run into your goddess a couple of times at least, and she wasn’t so sneaky. We figured her out pretty quick.”
“Maybe, but she’s subtle. Either she wanted you to know, or she’ll take what she learned and roll it into her future plans. Do not underestimate what she is capable of.”
“So, what’s her deal with the Turtle?” Tenthé asked. “If she was the one Isabell saw, why would they work together?”
Mach-Anot took a while to answer. “I have a few clues concerning that relationship too. He’s basically the god of organization and careful investments. She may have talked him into something, and if so, there’s a good chance that it has been in the works for a long time. The Turtle doesn’t do anything quickly.”
“Yeah, and Isabell thinks Turtle has the Dreamer stashed somewhere. It would explain why the City is running so smoothly.” Tenthé added. “I know it’s not a new idea, but nothing else makes much sense.”
“I agree. Every now and again, the gods try to control the Dreamer,” Mach-Anot explained. “It never turns out well, because gods have such a narrow view of the world. They overlook important details and usually their schemes melt down before reaching fruition. This means that the City’s economy fails, or we have a House war, or something similar. Once that happens, if the time is ripe, the Horde will swoop in and force the City to reset. The problem I have witnessed before is that the Gods involved are always convinced they’ve found a way to make everything work out, but, when it fails, the citizens are the ones who pay the price.”
“So,” Bear injected. “If Turtle and his friends control the Dreamer, why is short and stupid here? He wouldn’t be any help with what they want to do. All he does is wreck stuff.”
“I can’t say,” Mach-Anot admitted. “I don’t know why he was chosen to be the Hand. It’ll probably become clearer, in time.”
“Yeah, but that’s one thing we don’t have! If the Horde shows up tomorrow, we won’t be ready! The kid here’ll go down fighting, and he’ll take us all with him!” Bear whined. “I’m too beautiful to die!”
The Lady, who had been listening, spoke up. “It is not the time for despair, little thing. We,” she indicated herself and Mach-Anot, “have seen a lot over the years. With as many threads intertwined as there are, there is no one way to tie off this weaving. A snag just sends us in a new direction, resulting in a piece greater than the artist intended.”
Bear stared at her, then blurted, “What the Hells are you talking about! I’m the closest thing here to being a weaving and even I have no idea what that means!”
Mach-Anot stage whispered, “Between you and me, I blame the pregnancy. She’s usually quite pragmatic.”
The Lady smiled and looked fondly at her god, then backhanded him into a wall.
“My mother talked about cloth all the time and she was one of the most useless court ladies I have ever met. I’m glad you think what I said is as stupid as I do.
“There is something out of place, though. Turtle would never jeopardize its position by giving the City to the Horde. I am not yet sure what is going on, and I hope we can figure it out before this all goes to shit. And it will. There’s a reason why the gods don’t run everything.”
“So, you called us here to tell us something is going on,” Bear said sarcastically. “Gee, thanks. We had no idea.”
“Your faith is comforting. No, we invited you here because there are questions that will remain unanswered until Tenthé becomes more involved.” The Lady answered.
“Involved? What do you mean by that?” Bear asked cautiously.
“Well, all of this hinges on the Horde. We need to know more. Our wish is for Tenthé to go out and uncover what’s really taking place. And perhaps, give the Horde a black eye or two.”
Tenthé perked up at this. “Yeah, I’d like that! I haven’t traveled far from the City before. It’ll be an adventure!”
“No! No! No!” Bear objected. “There’s wild magic out there and things that eat you, and travel is incredibly boring. This is a terrible idea! Remember the campaigns in the first Pool? Just days of marching and lots of bugs and bad food, then screams and yells and blood!”
“So, when do we go! Right now?” Tenthé asked.
The Lady chortled. “It’s likely best if we take a little time to plan. You shouldn’t cross the Wildlands by yourself. It isn’t safe, even for you. There’s too much magic and things that will snack on you when you sleep. You’ll need to form a party. I’ll loan you a couple of my kids. If they survive, that’d be nice. In addition, you should scare up a few others to watch your back. I assume you have enough Pockets to carry supplies. You should find donkeys for everyone to ride. With them, it’ll still take at least a month or two to get to Angel City, depending on what you run into along the way and how the Wilds feels.”
The Lady held her hand out to Mach-Anot, who passed her a parchment and a purse, which he had manifested from somewhere. She, in turn, gave both to Tenthé.
“The parchment shows of the best route between the City Proper and Angel City,” she stated. “In the purse is enough money to buy what you need. At the moment, there aren’t supposed to be any significant challenges if you stick to the map. The mountains are gone for now, and the rivers are fordable.”
“Really?” Bear injected. “We were told the trail isn’t working. The College sent out people and no-one’s heard anything much from them.”
“They weren’t Tenthé. Certainly, I’d send someone to their death if it was necessary, but he is more than capable of overcoming any problems.” The lady answered.
“Yeah, but if he’s gone from the City, won’t he be missed?” Bear countered.
“Maybe, but after a few days…”
Bear sighed, “Right. Almost everyone will forget.”
“Yes, and although some of us, and the gods, aren’t strongly affected by the forgetting, we find it difficult to think about him when he’s not around. It’s like a dim memory. It comes back when we see him, but in-between we have to work hard to remember. We’re counting on this effect to minimize any issues.
“And, upon your return, assuming the Horde isn’t right behind you, Tenthé should be able to give us a new perspective on what’s taking place. That’s the plan, as sparse as it is. Don’t worry, it’ll be fun. You spend most of the time sleeping, anyway.”
She paused, then added, “Oh yes. I nearly forgot. You have a job too. Make sure the money is well spent. We’ll be checking.”
“What? You doubt me? I’m shocked! I certainly had no such intent,” Bear answered, convincing nobody.
The Lady looked over at Tenthé. He’d finished the brownies and was looking a little antsy. Without food for a distraction, he didn’t last for long in discussions.
“Okay, that’s everything,” she relented. “I’ll send the kids over tomorrow. They can wait at the stable beside the school. If I were you, I’d try to get on the road no later than the morning after. It’s very important we uncover what’s going on.”
Tenthé looked relieved, grabbed Bear, and hurried out the door. The sudden noise of an ambush filtered back into the kitchen.
Mach-Anot turned to the Lady. “Do you think that’s enough? We’ve put a lot of weight on his little shoulders.”
“You realize those shoulders and what’s attached to them could end us in a second without even trying hard,” she responded.
“Yes, but I hate to lie to him.”
“We didn’t lie, just changed the emphasis. We have to get him out of the City or no-one will survive. As it is, it’s not going to be pretty. You know that.”
“You be the one to tell him when he gets back.”
“No way in Hells.”