The city of Cyme sat on the outskirt of the spiral tree forest. It was encircled by a pale white wall that had no noticeable seams, and from where Mark and Piers had exited the forest a solitary gate was visible.

As Mark followed Piers to the gate he noticed there were three guards outside of it. Each of them wore what reminded Mark of a toga, with a sash about the waist and sandals on their feet. They each had spears made of wooden shafts and a metal blade at the end.

“Piers?” the nearest of the guards called out, though all three of them maintained their relaxed stances. “I didn’t know came back.”

“Course not, just got here after all.” Piers leaned against his stick and flashed a grin at the guards. “What you boys been up to?”

“Same as always, guarding against nothing,” one of the other guards commented.

“Bless Kit that you don’t deal with nothing,” Piers said, “I seen the other towns lately and they’re a bit broken.”

“I wonder if that’s why Niles was dispatched to the Castle?”

“Niles? That boy sure has rot chance.” Piers gave a small chuckle. “Right, Alec, I’m guessing Hali’s still in town?”

“In town and waiting to skin you still,” the guard named Alec responded, “who’s the fellow you brought along?”

“Erk? Ark...no no, Mark, yea, right boy?” Piers asked the man in question.

“Yes,” Mark replied as he rubbed at his eyes.

Alec glanced at the other guards before he stared pointedly at the gun in Mark’s hand. “I’ll assume you’re not going to be a problem, but what’s with the weird blackjack?”

“Ah it’s a nothing, don’t worry about his silly weapon,” Piers replied in place of Mark, “I took him through the Shrikes territory and we had to deal with some of them. He’s a bad one at dealing with climbing.”

Mark slipped his pistol into the waistband at the small of his back while the guard and Piers talked. With the now free hand he reached into his pocket, and then he paused at a familiar sensation that was impossible. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and dug around in his pocket for the card, and then he pulled it out.

“Hey, I’m looking for my sister,” Mark said as he brandished the picture of her on that strange card, “she looks like this.”

The reaction of the guards was instantaneous, as they all dropped to their knees. Each of them bowed their heads to Mark, and one of the three in the back visibly shook.

“We apologize for our lack of respect, oracle,” Alec said in a panicked voice.

Mark could only stare at the guards with a confused look, while he tried to figure out what in the world they were talking about. He looked to Piers for some guidance and was surprised to see that his companion had backed a few feet away.

“What?” Mark finally managed to ask.

Piers gave him an odd look before he walked up close to Mark and leaned in. “Do you really not know what that is?” Piers whispered.

“It’s some weird card I found,” Mark tried to explain, “it has a picture of me and my sister on it.”

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Piers grabbed ahold of Mark’s wrist that held the card and he roughly pulled him toward the main entrance of Cyme. “Alec, forget you saw any of this,” Piers asked of the guard as they walked past him.

For a moment Mark thought to break away from Piers, but he had started to trust the strange man. In the end it didn’t matter if he struggled or not since no matter what he’d walk into Cyme anyways.

They passed through the open gateway without interference, and as they walked into the city the bustle of the place hammered Mark. People walked openly on the streets without a single car or even carriage in sight. Muscular men who went without a shirt carried barrels on their shoulders, while crowds of random citizens gathered at every corner for open discussion.

Each of the houses were made of a smooth pale material that showed no sign of mortar. The houses had wooden doors and glass windows, but none of them had any sort of flags or signs on the exterior.

Piers shouldered his way through the crowds as he pulled Mark. After a few minutes of walking through the city Piers pulled Mark into an empty alley. It was only when they were within the darkened recesses of the alleyway that he released his hold on Mark.

“Right, look I know you’re addled but you need to tell me the truth,” Piers said as he pointed at Mark, “are you from the Castle?”

“I’ve never been to any castle in my life,” Mark said as frustration started to mount, “I’ve never been here I don’t know anything at all about what’s going on anywhere around here.”

“How’d you got your hands on an oracle card then!” Piers almost yelled at him.

“It was in a box in my house, it’s some creepy card that has changing pictures!”

“Boy, are you telling me you can actually see something on that?”

“Uh...yeah?” Mark looked at Piers look he was insane. “I mean the one is obviously me and the other is Sarah.”

“Nobody can see that you fool!” Piers shouted at Mark, “I’ve never met anyone who can. That’s an oracle card, only oracles can see what’s on it.”

“But I can?”

“That’s why you’re clearly addled.” Piers roughly leaned against one of the walls of the alleyway. “All we can see is the symbol of the oracles, and they only come from one place.”

“I’m not from the castle though,” Mark said in an exasperated tone.

“Obviously, you’re too dumb to be from near here. Problem is Keran and some other guy I don’t recognize saw that card.”

“Why’s that a problem?”

“Keran’s a bootlicker,” Piers said with a scowl, “Alec won’t tell anyone but Keran probably ran right to the council. You’re an oracle nobody’s seen, boy, and that is a bad thing to let run loose.”

Mark stood quietly for a few seconds, and then he started to shake the card at Piers. “Then how can I find Sarah? If nobody can look at this stupid card there’s no way I’m going to find my sister!”

“That’s simple, I know someone who’ll know.” Piers pushed away from the wall and started to head toward the other end of the alleyway.

The two of them exited the alley and emerged back out into the busy streets of Cyme. A few people glanced at them, but like the others who’d they met none bothered to talk to either of them.

Unlike before Piers didn’t grab Mark and instead calmly walked through the streets. His path took them deeper into Cyme though he consistently cut through side paths and alleyways constantly.

What had been residential housing changed to larger ones that seemed designed more for storing items. Each had a large door on the front that had visible railings they could slide on, and there were no windows on any of them.

The crowds of people began to thin out the further Piers and Mark walked. Eventually they started to only see haulers, the muscular men who carried barrels and crates.

“Here we are,” Piers finally said as he stopped in front of one of the warehouses.

Mark looked at the building, but like all of the others in Cyme he couldn’t see any sign to signify anything. “Are you sure?” he asked Piers.

“Course I’m sure.” Piers gave a shake of his head as he walked up to the front of the warehouse.

Before Piers could knock on the door it slid open and revealed a man who easily towered over the tumbler. There was an awkward moment where all three men looked at each other, and then the large man tried to punch Piers in the face.

Piers let out a yell as he ducked away from the fist. He lifted the thin stick he had up and whacked at the extended arm in retaliation. The wood barely made the arm move, and the muscle man swung his arm wide to knock the stick away.

“What are you doing here!” the man shouted at Piers.

“Come on Hagen, you know I don’t want to come here,” Piers responded, “but I don’t have a choice.”

Hagen crossed his arms and glared down at Piers. “What’d you do this time?”

“This addled fool needs help finding his sis,” Piers said as he jerked a thumb at Mark, “and I need to talk to the boss.”

Hagen scowled at what Piers said before he looked at Mark. “Yeah, alright, get in,” he finally said as he stepped to the side of the door.

Piers and Mark walked into the warehouse, while behind them Hagen closed the door and settled in to guard the exit. The interior of the warehouse was completely empty except for a few people gathered in the center of the room.

“Piers?” one of the gathered called out.

It was the name that brought a sudden silence from the others. A few whispers started a moment later, and then the group splintered and revealed the one at the center.

She was a thin woman who wore a long black robe with sleeves that went past her hands. She turned her dark brown eyes to glare at Piers, her face criss-crossed with ragged scars. Everyone near the woman looked at her, as though waiting for how she’d react.

“Well hey there Hali,” Piers said as he spread his arms out, “mind tossing me a kiss?”

She gave a warm smile in response before she said, “Kill him.”