Chapter 21 - Reunion

The road to the Skypiercer Tree was unlike the others I'd traveled in The Realm thus far. Unlit lanterns hung along the length of the gravel path, and once the sky's brilliant blue faded to the murky darkness of night, the lanterns clicked on without the slightest hint of outside intervention.

Wanderer and I had already slept a night by the side of the road, in the cold, unprotected from the wind, or at least I had. After a few hours of dragging my feet, he'd told me we should stop and rest a while, that we would take turns keeping watch. When I woke, he claimed he wasn't tired and we continued the rest of the day.

I had no clue how long it had been since I'd read Keeper's note. Five nights' time. I sighed. I hope I'm not too late.

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"I knew something was amiss," Wanderer broke the silence.

"What?"

"It should have been three nights to the tree, but look how close it is." He motioned with the tip of his blade. "We will be there in an hour. Or sooner, at this rate, it will be half that time."

"Maybe you're tired," I said.

"That I am, but it would do little to explain how we have traversed the land so much quicker. I expected it to take longer, given our level of exhaustion."

From this distance, the tree was absurd in scale. I craned my neck to find its top, but it only disappeared into the sky. "Now that you mention it, there was something else bothering me, too."

The wandering vigilante gave a quizzical look. "And?"

"In The Valley, you ran off ahead of me. I lost the path you'd cut and made it out The Valley alone, but…"

"You returned to save me?"

Did he really need me to answer that? It wasn't as if I had any other choice. "Your scream was terrifying."

Wanderer shook his head. "Twice you have saved my life, ridiculous."

"You returned the favor not long after—"

Wanderer struck me with the hilt of his blade, right in the rib, and chuckled. "So, what? Do you have some idea of what happened?"

Was that necessary? I coughed and rubbed at the spot. "Considering you run much faster than I do through a forest, and considering I never bumped into you, my guess is that we were traveling at different rates."

"At different rates?"

"Given we're moving at a faster rate now, I'd say it has something to do with me. And actually, I have a guess at what's causing it." I dug into my pack and pulled out Maker's map. "I'd be surprised if it weren't this."

"Your map?"

"Maker's map."

The vigilante leaned in closer. "This is an item from The Maker of Dreams?"

I folded it and tucked it right back into my pack. "Yeah. And my guess was that it hastens travel through The Realm, somehow."

"If it is real, I would not be surprised if you were correct," he said. "The Maker is likely the most powerful Name in The Realm."

"Maker is? Not, you know, Million Eyes?"

"Strength is relative. Besides, all beings perish eventually, even those with Names."

"FERROWILL!" A shrill scream came from further down the path.

The Wanderer stood stiff, reaching for his blade, and I reached my hand in front of him. "It's okay, I know her." I could feel the stupid smile forming on my face.

The girl came sprinting towards us, ridiculously oversized shears dragged by her side.

"Keeper! I—"

The blunt end, her handle, swung right at my face. I ducked and the chunk of metal barely grazed the top of my head.

"What in the bloody gods was that for?"

"YOU'RE LATE!" She attacked once again, this time with her arms spread out wide. She sailed into me and held on tight, her face squished against my shoulder.

I let out a soft sigh. "I… I'm sorry, Keeper. Now, would you let go? You're… suffocating me."

"Five nights!" she said. "How did you manage to take ten?"

"Ten? Dear Gods, I lost that much time?"

"And where's your blood?" The girl loosened her grip, only now looking at her surroundings. She spotted the man to our side and glared at him.

"A pleasure," he said.

"Who's that?"

"This is Wanderer, I met him on the way," I said. "He wished to repay me for… aiding him."

Keeper stood back up at that, staring the man down. "Wanderer?"

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Wanderer looked even more concerned. "I have no Name, I know not why the boy refers to me as such." And he shot me a glare.

"What?" Keeper smacked me over the head. "Ow!?"

They were both glowering at me.

"You can't just give him a Name," Keeper said. "Are you crazy? Do you want the Seers on your ass? On top of that you're already late, The Order wouldn't let you up the tree if you spent the next three years committed to the church. Let alone if they knew you were out Naming people willy-nilly."

"I didn't realize it was such a big… deal. Did you say 'the church'?" I asked.

"Come on, we don't have the luxury of time." She grabbed my wrist. "You've got an appointment with the head priest."

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At the entrance to the gates of the religious city of Root, I stood my ground.

"Absolutely not."

"You don't have a choice," she said, pulling at my arm to little effect. "If you want to climb the tree you'll need to earn their trust. It's not normally so difficult but they're touchy with time and you just had to be late."

Wanderer stood beneath the pale stone archway, looking back at the struggle. "I will wait inside, find lodging and such," he said.

"Don't bother, it's a fruitless effort." But he paid me no mind and disappeared through the city gate. "Listen, I've no care for what methods you attempt to convince me with, it's an astounding and resolute no."

"Would you quit it? They're not going to pit you in an underground tournament this time, I promise." She pushed at my back. "And besides, it's not my fault that Blink was running a gambling cult. I don't even know why you went down there in the first place."

"Well if I didn't have to lug a metal globe with me wherever I went, maybe I wouldn't have been so tempted."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Would you have preferred I didn't eat the—"

"AH!" Her finger pushed against my lips. A man wearing dusty beige linen garments walked past, eyeing us suspiciously. "Careful what you say," she whispered. "Word spreads like a disease in these big cities, and I'd prefer people didn't know you were the second coming of… y'know."

"I'd prefer if you'd make it clear what information I should be keeping to myself. Moreover, you never told me Kafk was—"

"Jeez, I get it already! My bad. She was supposed to be asleep this time of year, anyway. The only way I thought you'd run into her was if you wandered straight into her house."

The statement caught me off guard, I coughed and cleared my throat. "Right, that would be foolish."

Keeper glared. "You. Did. Not."

"What was this about convincing a priest to let me climb his tree?"

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I did not think Keeper knew how to use her scissors for their original purpose, but watching her wield them to cut the frame of a shirt and pants from a solid piece of fabric certainly changed my mind.

"Do they always let you use these rooms?" I asked.

"You recite prayers and do chores as payment. Cleaning the floors, cooking meals, whatever you've got the skills for. It's a convenient system, isn't it?" She held the piece of fabric up to my chest. "That'll fit, right?"

"I've only ever gotten my clothes pre-assembled."

"Should be fine."

"Right. Did Wanderer say where he was going?"

Keeper raised an eyebrow, the one overtop her eye patch, of which was now a proper piece of fabric and not a thrown together bandage of whatever could stop the bleeding. "You're awfully cognizant of him."

"Forgive me, I'm a little abandonment sensitive at the current moment, I wonder why."

She huffed and pulled the cut fabric to her work table. Reaching from an ornate cup that held a plethora of sewing needles. Considering it was the most intricate thing in the entire building, I assumed it belonged to Keeper. The rest of the room was plain stone and rounded corners. Even the floor was smoothed into the walls as if the room had been chiseled out of one giant rock. Well, it probably had been.

"He's off to the outer layer, where all the markets were, we passed it on the way in."

"Mm." I watched Keeper work, she sewed nearly as quickly as she wrote. "And the head priest lives in…"

"The center. In one of the first buildings built in Root. There are laws preventing more development so close to the tree so most of those buildings have religious purpose."

"Yes, yes. Old buildings, religious significance, of course."

"Better to know than not. You'll be asked questions about your spiritual need to see the orb, after all."

"As the pinnacle of faith within The Realm, I saw it important to express my gratitude to the life force of all living beings. Oh please, oh please would you let me see the orb?"

Keeper likely rolled her eyes, I could only see the back of her head. "Everything except that last part. Who'd have known the monotheistic hater, Ferro, could fake a believer so well."

"If you'd told me I was stealing their object of affection, I might have warmed up to the role sooner."

"Noted," she said, picking up the piece of fabric she was working on and throwing it at me blindly. "Try that on."

And so I did. It fit perfectly.

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In the old priest's house, at the base of the Skypiercer Tree, he stood his ground.

"Absolutely… not," the drawling, tired man spoke.

"High priest, I guarantee you the boy is of sound mind and sounder soul. You know how it is, travelling through The Realm. Don't you remember your first years?"

The old man scoffed and waved his hand at an attendant. The girl shuffled over and whispered something in his ear.

"Yes… yes… yes…" he repeated slowly. "Tell them it's a most peculiar situation. Must be handled with care. And get me something to drink, will you? I've been waiting all day for what I was told would be an important matter."

"If I may," I said, "there is no greater matter than to honor the life force of all—"

"Yes, yes… You've done your research, but I care little for the words. I cannot allow those who do not respect The Order's time—do not respect my time—to take pilgrimage on holy land. There are a great many residents of Root who have yet to experience such a privilege. I understand you've The Keeper's good word, but of all people, I expect The Keeper to understand The Order cares little for—"

"Yes and I am not asking you as a Name," Keeper said. "I ask as an inhabitant of The Realm. You know me well, high priest, you know I am honest with you in all matters, and in this matter I ask one favor."

The old priest lifted his hand. "We are done. I have already fulfilled a favor to you, Keeper. You will not earn another." He closed his eyes and lowered his head. "Now leave me. I am tired, I wish to rest."

One of the attendants stepped forwards and motioned us to leave, but by the time I'd looked to the exit, Keeper had already stormed out. I nodded to the attendant, gave a meek smile, best I could, and made way for the exit.

"What a fucking loser."

If there'd been water in my mouth, I'd have spit it all over the place. "I'm fairly certain the attendant can still hear you."

"Let her. Too much of a saint to repeat it back to the high priest, anyway." The girl tapped her foot for a moment, then glanced up at the massive wall of bark beside us. Then, she looked at me. She needn't say a word for me to understand.

I grinned. "You know, I've been waiting for you to suggest that."