The next day, Denziu said a farewell to everyone else, and took to the air with one thought in zir mind: the hint that Serafustin had given zir.

The great leap into the air, bearing wide zir wings to catch the shifting amicus breeze as it became what zie needed for flight... that was nothing but a great relief. The view, white with recent snow and dominated by the mountains of the Arrakra range? A distraction to the mental image that dominated zir thoughts: The kalla in the great fur coat.

Denziu fretted about spotting her. Zie was not a great study of kalla faces, as they were averse to settling anywhere so muddy as Denxalue, which would mire down their hooves and stick to their feathers. Zie had seen quite few of them. Colour would be a help if zie knew it, as dragons came in many colours and patterns, but Serafustin only came in one: crystal pink. So zie knew not the colour of the kalla who zie was looking for. Indeed, zie had not really caught much in the way of identifying details.

Zir hope of spotting the kalla rested on one thing: Serafustin's implicit prophecy that the kalla would be wearing a fur coat.

All other customers were secondary to the one that a land god had forewarned zir to look out for.

As zie hung over the landscape with zir wings wide, travelling greatly faster than Choave's caravan on the ground without any of Choave's dark magic, zie wondered if Serafustin had checked in on zir Fate after altering it with the warning to watch for the kalla.

From high above, the theomes were tiny. It wasn't just an illusion. Zie could see much farther and travel much faster in this way. Looking ahead, Evonthe was a city in the white tundra, fresh-dusted with snow. It was dense with grand stone buildings, not quite as awesome as swaivshon architecture yet showing off great skill in construction.

The main attraction in Evonthe was awesome, for there was a great landshaping arena where currently a cityscape had been built up from nothing by the power of Evonthe's land god Grezavent. This was the museum of Grezavent, which had a new exhibit every day, and which once per day would be altered by Grezavent in active motion. It served a double purpose of showing off just how grandiose the powers of the land god were, for "cities" rose and fell in that arena every day.

There were other dragons in the air, vashael and swaivshon for the most part. Denziu flew higher, circling and watching others to see where they went in the city of grand stone, and eventually zie landed near a building that looked like a warehouse attached to a domed caravanserai. One last check-in point for zir wagon to ensure that zie would have a safe place to keep it overnight, and this time zie did it zirself without Oghai or Chatulerin handling the details.

It was... just business. Easy. Zie was asked zir expected length of stay, charged accordingly, and bid to come back in the evening.

Looking for the best place to set up to sell pottery, zie took once more to the air.

Identifying a central market in Evonthe was complicated by the fact that the whole theome looked to be 'a market' of sorts. There were no sources of goods that Denziu could see. Evonthe had no mines, no fields, and no industry. It was all destination. It had hotels and merchantgon stalls and great big galleries everywhere, so that Denziu was agog and had no idea where to set up shop with zir wagon.

Zie decided to land near the obvious main attraction, Grezavent's arena. As there was no show current or imminent, there was no great crowd in that area. Denziu backwinged to a perfect gentle landing, wings full of zir amicus breeze, and walked along a heated stone sidewalk with pleasured surprise at the luxury of another theome with heated paths underfoot. How generous Grezavent was with the power of the land gods!

Behind Denziu, the floating wagon came near to the ground soundlessly, and came along behind zir as zie looked for a directory of some sort. Zie wasn't expecting to sell any pottery by randomly opening shop near Grezavent's arena. Certainly not! Indeed, zie was worried that there'd be no market for the last pot at all... Who would go to Evonthe and buy pottery? Especially such large, ungainly pots...

Anxiety set in as Denziu studied the area for clues about where different establishments might be. The fantasy of selling off zir last pot to a museum establishment in Evonthe fluttered in tatters through zir mind. Who else would buy "a piece of artistic history"? Oh, but who would buy "a piece of artistic history" from Denziu? Zie had no bona fides. No history in the area. Zie was selling "artistic history" from nobody artists who thought they could only sell grain storage pots.

Zie resorted to asking local merchantgon stall owners for directions, skipping those who asked for 'small' amounts of coin in exchange. Zie showed zir last pot to the merchantgons who were free with directions, and this yielded at length a recommendation: the museum of natural history, which had a ceramic seller out in front of it who traded in natural scenes.

The last remaining pot depicted a dragon poling a boat through a swamp. It was a natural scene.

When zie arrived at this last location, zir offer of the pot to the merchantgon was promptly ridiculed. "That is too big to carry home! Nobody goes on vacation to buy that!" said the merchantgon.

Denziu reacted in an immediately crestfallen way, and was turning to walk away when the merchantgon said, "No, wait. I made that sound awful. Look, I know which of these museums is about ceramic art. So how about I give you directions?"

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The directions revealed the 'Pan-Theoma Hall of Ceramic Sculpture'. Finding zie could not possibly enter with zir wagon in tow, zie flew it back to the caravanserai and stowed it safely, then returned at once and paid a modest entrance fee. The displayed pottery was very skillfully made, and true to the entrance title much of it was interesting for the way that it was sculpted rather than for the way that it was painted. Yet there were still painted pots on display, and Denziu felt very good about possibly getting zir pot taken up by the museum... if only zie could get an appointment with the museum's curator, for which purpose zie begged the attendant at the front.

It worked! Zir appointment was the next day.

The museum curator proved to be a blue-tipped white swaivshon with a refined air and the scent of a fellow hermaphrodite. They met briefly in the museum operator's office, with Denziu promising a beautiful pot waiting at the caravanserai. Zie offered to bring it to the museum's front door if there was interest in it.

"Yes, we may as well see it," said the curator, though zie seemed doubtful.

So Denziu appeared with zir cart there shortly after, and extracted the last of the grain storage pots. Empty, it was light enough for one dragon to handle it. Zie set it up on its end before the swaivshon curator, who dipped zir head to examine the poling swampdragon closely.

The dragon poling through the swamp of Denxalue had survived to be the last of Denziu’s acquisitions. The simply depicted scene was one of ordinary, slow-paced life in Denxalue. Denziu thought it looked very central to the collection.

"My word. This is fine painting," zie said, and Denziu's heart thrilled. "But... I won't buy it from you." Denziu's heart sank again.

"Why not?" Denziu asked.

"I would buy it from the artist him-, her-, or zir-self, you understand, but a merchantgon who merely travelled to me, I will not compensate. The true value of the work must return to the true creator of the work," said the curator. "If you can arrange a meeting with the artist, and relinquish the pot to them-" Zie spoke this last word with a rising inflection and paused, waiting for an answer from Denziu.

"I will not," said Denziu.

"Then we have little to discuss," said the curator.

"I can arrange such a visit, and if you like this work I even might, but I will not do it uncompensated," said Denziu.

"Then come back to me when you have discussed an appropriate revenue split with the artist beforehand."

"Perhaps in a future year," said Denziu.

That was the end of their meeting. The last pot did not sell to the 'Pan-Theoma Hall of Ceramic Sculpture'.

Denziu walked off with zir wagon from that museum, but did not go far; zie went to a public sculpture park where vrash lounged on heated rocks amidst plenty of heated pathing, and sluices in the ground drained away the snowfall as the heated ground defeated it.

Zie was sitting dejectedly against zir wagon in that park for some minutes when a kalla happened to pass Denziu in a very specific fur coat. The sight of her took Denziu's breath away, and for an instant zie gaped after the kalla, not finding the words.

Had Serafustin said nothing, the chance encounter would have meant nothing. Denziu would not have noticed this particular face in the crowd.

Yet Denziu leapt to zir feet here, and called after the kalla, "Pardon! Pardon me, oh hello, you in the lovely coat-" and this call got three kalla, two izerah, and a vohntrai to look at Denziu, but most importantly it also got the right dragon looking at Denziu.

"Serafustin said I should watch for someone who looks just like you," said Denziu, when the kalla was looking at zir. The others discovered they had not been referred to, and went on their way.

The kalla looked between Denziu and the flying wagon, then said, "You are a travelling merchantgon, then? Is this a peculiar sales pitch?"

"It is a very peculiar sales pitch! Tell me, would you happen to be looking for a piece of art for one of the rooms of your house?" Denziu asked.

She folded her arms, and considered Denziu for a moment, staring at him with that fierce expression that is the default state of kalla, for with their predatory beaks they have only a little more expressiveness than a bird of prey. Denziu found it impossible to read a beak, zie had no practice, and so zie could only wait helplessly while the kalla thus-accosted considered what to do. At length she said, "Let us see this artwork you are selling."

So for the second time in an hour, Denziu pulled from the flying wagon that last eighth pot. A great grain storage pot it was, so that what Denziu could hoist and carry zie suspected the smaller kalla would not be able to. Hardly an obstacle; Denziu would gladly sell it with free installation, if only she truly wanted to buy it...

There was a tense moment while the kalla looked around the pot, and bent to look closer at the dragon poling the boat in the swamp. It was a beautiful pot. It had nearly sold before. Now it was the last. "I do have a place for it, I admit," she said. "How much are you asking for it?"

Denziu prayed to Serafustin. 'You led me here', the prayer started, and 'Let me ask a price she'll pay' ran the refrain.

Zie named a price.

It was a little low, perhaps, the price zie asked. Denziu had gotten a stellar price only once for a pot (the one of Raul in Akima) and after what happened at Polser zie had given up on asking for stellar prices. Zie did not want to sticker-shock another buyer so close to the finish line. Zie wanted to bring an empty wagon to Choave, and sell magic lanterns for the caravan for a while, then carry heavy things for him all the way back to Tekagol. Zie named a price that was a very excellent price for pottery, but probably much less than the price that the curator of the museum would have paid the artist.

"I'll take it. I have a room in green that this will fit perfectly."

Recording the sale with a lev-i-quill was hardly enough celebration, but Denziu was too good a merchantgon to cheer recklessly.